Civil rights activist responds to Sen. Warren's new forms of racism
Civil rights activist responds to Sen. Warren's new forms of racism
Sen. Elizabeth Warren calls out multiple forms of racism; reaction from The Woodson Institute founder Bob Woodson.
This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," July 31, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST: Good evening and welcome to a special Democratic debate edition of "Tucker Carlson Tonight."
We've told you in the past that Democratic primary voters don't seem to have much of a choice this year. There are an awful lot of candidates in the race, but all of them seem to have identical far-left positions on the issues that matter: on immigration, climate change, gun control, the economy -- you name it.
Until yesterday, that was our view, and then we watched last night's Democratic debate. And we're going to have to revise that assessment. It turns out that not everyone in the field is a lunatic. We stand corrected on that. In fact, there are a couple of sane ones.
Unfortunately, they're getting crushed. Watch, for example, what happened when Congressman Tim Ryan tried to remind his fellow Democrats that most Americans don't actually support open borders, much less giving free taxpayer funded healthcare to foreign nationals who break our laws. Ryan suddenly became the most unpopular kid at the party. Watch.
REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, in this discussion already tonight, we've talked about taking private health insurance away from union members in the industrial Midwest, we've talked about decriminalizing the border. And we've talked about giving free healthcare to undocumented workers when so many Americans are struggling to pay for their healthcare.
I quite frankly, don't think that that is an agenda that we can move forward on and win. We've got to talk about the working class issues, the people that take the shower after work, who haven't had a raise in 30 years. If we focus on them, we'll win the election.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Congressman. I want to bring Congressman O'Rourke. Your response, sir?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Not a lot of applause. In fact, dead silence. It turns out the Democrats in the room, didn't want to talk about working class issues or people as Tim Ryan put it who take a shower after work.
Progressives wrote those voters off as disgusting a long time ago. They're poor. They're uneducated and yet, at the same time, they are deeply privileged. It goes without saying that they must be racist, every single one of them. Tim Ryan is probably racist for thinking about them. The modern Democratic Party has zero use for these kinds of people.
They've been excluded from the emerging Al Sharpton private equity coalition that defines the Democratic Party. So apparently, is anyone who cares about what voters think.
Several times last night, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders personally attacked any candidate who dared point out, there might be a limit to how many unpopular ideas you can impose on a nation that is supposed to be a democracy. The very idea that you'd have to win popular support for your policies seem to enrage them. Warren, especially.
At one point, they all but accused that the CNN anchor of being a secret Republican plant, probably the first time that's ever happened.
TAPPER: You do not support Medicare-for-All, is Senator Warren correct? You just not lack the will to fight for it?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Jake, your question is a Republican talking point. hey will be advertising tonight with that talking point.
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What you want to do instead is find the Republican talking point of a made up piece of some other part and say, "Oh, we don't really have to do anything."
We should stop using Republican talking points in order to talk with each other about how to best provide healthcare.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: So, what you just saw -- that last clip -- that really was the story of the whole night. Elizabeth Warren jumping up and down and barking at anyone who asked too many questions, or seemed insufficiently left wing.
But not everything Elizabeth Warren says is wrong. We actually like her views on manufacturing and trade, for example, they're smart. And we've said so repeatedly on the show. We're not partisan, actually.
But holy smokes, is Warren unbearable in a lot of ways. Pedantic, dishonest, nasty as hell. Watch how she treated former Maryland Congressman John Delaney who is by the way, one of the nicest men in politics, when he encouraged his fellow Democrats to make promises they can actually keep.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN DELANEY, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, I think Democrats win when we run on real solutions, not impossible promises, when we run on things that are workable, not fairytale economics.
WARREN: You know, I don't understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for President of the United States just to talk about what we really can't do and shouldn't fight for. I don't get it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: So, if you're not a red in the face, dishonest demagogue, Elizabeth Warren thinks you're a wuss. When Montana Governor Steve Bullock questioned the wisdom of open borders with free health care for everyone, Warren twisted his point into something completely unrecognizable. See if you can follow this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. STEVE BULLOCK (D-MT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You are playing into Donald Trump's hands. A sane immigration system beats a sane leader and we can do that without decriminalizing and providing healthcare and for everyone.
WARREN: What you're saying is ignore the law. Laws matter. And it matters if we say our law is that we will lock people up who come here seeking refuge, who come here seeking asylum. That is not a crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Laws matter? Elizabeth Warren, yes, of all people just said that. And amazingly nobody in the room dared pushback against her saying that. There are a lot of weak men in the Democratic Party, not just on last night's debate stage. It's one of the party's biggest problems actually.
A normal candidate would have roasted her. Laws matter? Please. Elizabeth Warren's entire immigration position is built on the premise that laws don't matter at all. That's the whole point of it. If laws mattered, we wouldn't have 22 million illegal aliens living inside our borders.
Democrats wouldn't be working really 24/7 to give amnesty to every single one of them, which they are. If laws mattered, we wouldn't have sanctuary cities. If laws matter Democrats wouldn't be sharing Spanish language guides, telling the illegals how to evade immigration enforcement. If laws mattered, Kate Steinle and Mollie Tibbetts would still be alive.
In a night of absurd declarations, Elizabeth Warren claiming the mantle of the law was the most incredible, but there was nobody there to call her on it. The moderates had all been gilded and silenced.
Dana Perino hosts "The Daily Briefing with Dana Perino" and she joins us tonight.
Dana, thanks a lot for coming on. You watch this and probably had the same reaction. It really seemed like orthodoxy enforcement. That was the task that Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders to some extent set out for themselves to make sure that nobody else in the party could get to the moderate end of their positions. Do you think they succeeded?
DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, I think that the hopeless plight of the so-called moderates was really, you know, shown last night because the gravity of the party has shifted so far left that several of the people on stage last night, and you point them out there, you have them on the screen, Amy Klobuchar, you mentioned John Delaney, Tim Ryan, Governor Hickenlooper, Governor Bullock -- they all 10 years ago would have been considered to be right there in the mainstream of the progressive movement.
But now it has shifted so far to the left that they're considered -- we're calling them moderates or conservative Democrats, that's not how they describe themselves.
But because Warren and Sanders decided to keep their alliance for now, that won't always last. We can talk about that in a moment. But they decided to link arms, it was like "Red Rover, Red Rover, send Delaney right over," and he got bounced back and the audience couldn't even -- they couldn't even give him a courtesy clap.
And what was interesting to me is I feel like even Barack Obama would have had a hard time in that crowd. He would have been in the group that was trying to be intellectually honest. But it was a political loser for the moderates last night.
CARLSON: Do they know something that we don't? Can you win a presidency - - I mean, based on the polling data that you're looking at, can you win a general election on the idea that we should decriminalize the border -- we should have open borders is what that means, and then that we should give free healthcare to everyone who comes here legally or not? Can you win an election on that?
PERINO: Well, don't take it from me. Okay. Let's take it from a couple of other people that care much more about whether Democrats win. Tom Friedman of "The New York Times" and Rahm Emanuel, former Governor of Chicago and longtime democratic operative, Claire McCaskill, former Governor -- I'm sorry -- Senator of Missouri, all three of them have been - - and those are just three off the top of my head.
They've been sounding the alarm bell saying, "Whoa, Nelly, Democrats tap the brakes." Tom Friedman, I think has the headline of his column that week was "The revolution is not going to happen in 2020."
They are desperately trying to get them to realize that if you actually want to win a general election, in your fantasies, the Electoral College doesn't exist. In reality, the Electoral College exists, and it probably will for our lifetime, Tucker. But I worry about it. We've talked about it.
Remember, a year and a half ago, I said watch the Democrats. They are going to start talking about structural changes so that they could win.
CARLSON: Of course.
PERINO: Establishment Democrats, if I could use the word "establishment" are saying, "Guys, we cannot win a general election against a very popular -- with this party -- incumbent President that has a very good economy. History shows that that doesn't work," but also just culturally they are way out of whack.
That's what the polling -- the internal polling for the Democrats is telling them forget what I think, like they're begging them not to do this.
Now, tonight, Joe Biden is going to have to be the one that tries to figure out the way forward for the moderates. And I don't know if he can do it.
CARLSON: I mean, at this point, can we call Joe Biden a moderate? I mean, he is temperamentally moderate in that he is friendly.
PERINO: I think, well, for one thing, and he is not for Medicare-for-All, right? So, you'll see a real strong contrast between him, Kamala Harris and others if they get to talk about healthcare. That'll be very strong. Because he is saying, "Look, Obamacare is great. Let's just improve upon Obamacare. We tried so hard to get there." That's not where the party is.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez last night, one of the things she tweeted was "Single payer is actually Medicare-for-All," and a lot of conservatives, "Yes. Thank you. That's what we have been trying to explain to you all along."
I don't know if Biden will be able to thread that needle. However, you know, we've long been saying, well, Biden doesn't seem like he's got it all there. He has like really faltered in the debate. He is not doing that well.
But Tucker, Democrats seem to like him and his poll numbers have not gone down. We'll see how he does this week. But right now, I think a really interesting debate would be Bernie Sanders and Warren, up with Biden, and I don't know who else it might be on their side. There's not many moderates left.
CARLSON: I think we're going to see that debate before long. Dana Perino, who will be watching tonight's debate so that you don't have to at home and back tomorrow to assess it for us a lot.
PERINO: Yes, I'll be here.
CARLSON: Dana, thanks a lot.
PERINO: Okay. Bye-bye.
CARLSON: Well, the big star of last night's Democratic debate wasn't a front runner. No. It was essential oils expert and spiritual guru, Marianne Williamson.
Williamson was the most searched candidate online immediately after the debate. She didn't always make perfect sense if you're one of those linear types, but at least she seemed to be motivated by some desire to take care of her fellow Americans rather than enumerating all of their moral faults.
Lisa Boothe is a senior fellow at Independent Women's Voice. She joins us tonight.
LISA BOOTHE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Tucker.
CARLSON: Who is this Marianne Williamson? Great to see you, Lisa. Who is this person, Marianne Williamson?
BOOTHE: Well, I did a lot of research and she has been known as Oprah's spiritual advisor. She's also advised the Clintons and Aerosmith's, Steven Tyler has credited with helping him get sober. She's also made "The New York Times" bestselling list seven times.
And regarding her faith, she says that she is Jewish, but she's also a student of the Course in Miracles, which he said is not a religion, but a system of psychotherapy. And this is actually not her first run either.
She's ran for office previously. She ran for California's 33rd congressional district and lost and Alanis Morissette wrote her campaign song. So, just a little information.
CARLSON: Okay, that's a lot of tread to digest all of this.
BOOTHE: It's a lot to take in, Tucker. It's a lot to take in.
CARLSON: Does she have a conventional program? What is she running -- and not that I'm against her by the way. She seems a little bit maybe touched by the Great Spirit, but she doesn't seem sinister. But what does she -- what does she want?
BOOTHE: Well, so she believes in reparations, which she talked about last night. She also wants a Department of Peace which she has vocalized as well. And she actually supported Bernie Sanders in 2016.
But I want you to listen to some of her highlights from last night. It will give you a little bit of sense of why she's making so much noise. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIANNE WILLIAMSON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And now it is time for a generation of Americans to rise up again, for an amoral economic system has turned short-term profits for huge multinational corporations into a false god.
Everything that we're talking about here tonight is what's wrong with American politics. And the Democratic Party needs to understand that we should be the party that talks not just about symptoms, but also about causes.
If you think any of this wonkiness is going to deal with this dark Psychic Force of the collectivized hatred that this President is bringing up in this country, then I'm afraid that the Democrats are going to see some very dark days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOOTHE: So, it's a lot different than obviously what you're hearing from a lot of the candidates who are running for office. And I think what's interesting is part of the reason why President Trump and then candidate Trump in 2016, drew so much attention was simply just for the fact that he was so different than the 16 other candidates who were running for office.
And I think part of the reason why she is getting so much attention is all the Democrats are basically saying similar things to each other, and she is really the only one that's, you know, standing there speaking differently. And it's just very unique in comparison to everyone else.
CARLSON: Has anyone criticized her or asked what a Dark Psychic force is? Or the other candidates just kind of pretending like she is not there?
BOOTHE: I think the candidates for the larger part are kind of, you know, looking at her as if she is not there. And she has received a lot of President criticism from you know, the punditry, and obviously, people on cable news, and she also received criticism, because she had previously said that vaccines or government mandated vaccines were draconian, and had kind of taken a hit for that.
But I want to read you a couple of the tweets from last night in reaction to her.
CARLSON: Let me just pause and say, you're not allowed to think that or criticize the Federal Reserve, just so you know.
BOOTHE: Well, and she learned that the hard way with receiving a lot of criticism from that, but I want to read you this tweet from Donald Trump, Jr. if we can put it up on the screen there. So he says that, "People are going to think that I'm trolling, but compared to what else is up on the stage, I think Marianne Williamson is actually winning this thing. This is amazing. No question she seems to be doing the biggest applause of the night."
And he is right, because if you watched last night, I mean, she really did seem to draw the biggest applause lines of the night. And I also thought another tweet was interesting as well from "National Journal's" Josh Kraushaar and he tweeted this. He said, "I bet Williamson hits five percent in post-debate polls," because right now, Tucker, she has really just been polling at one percent, and for the next set of debates in September, the stakes rise, you've got to hit two percent, I think in four polls. And then I believe it's 130,000 unique donors.
And there's a different variation of that from you know, I think 400 from 20 different states, so the stakes do get higher. So, she is certainly going to have to reach those goals if she wants to be in the next set of debates.
CARLSON: I suspect she has got a whole different set of goals, Lisa, that we're not even aware of. And in fact, she spits on your conventional bourgeois goals, and we'll find out.
BOOTHE: Yes, there's probably some crystal -- you know, I don't know what's going on. I probably should be nicer. I don't know. It's like -- you know.
CARLSON: I'm enjoying it.
BOOTHE: I know.
CARLSON: Lisa Boothe, great to see you tonight.
BOOTHE: Thanks, Tucker.
CARLSON: Thank you.
BOOTHE: Have a great night.
CARLSON: We've got more lowlights from last night's Democratic debate. They just keep coming. When she wasn't calling a rivals Republican plants, Elizabeth Warren was revealing newly discovered forms of racism in America. You thought you'd heard everything. Wait until you hear this. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Welcome back to our Democratic Debate Special. Before she became a United States Senator, Elizabeth Warren was a Professor at Harvard Law School -- very impressive. She was the first tenured Professor of color -- you'll remember -- at Harvard Law School.
So, she is a researcher. She has got an academic mind. It's not surprising, she has been able to discover countless new forms of racism permeating American life, the kinds you've never heard of before. She listed them last night during the debate. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WARREN: We need to call out white supremacy for what it is, domestic terrorism, and it poses a threat to the United States of America.
We live in a country now where the President is advancing environmental racism, economic racism, criminal justice racism, healthcare racism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Well, she's a lot of fun. The question is, what is she talking about? What is healthcare racism, for example? What is environmental racism? We're trying to be open minded here, but huh? We're going to need some help figuring out what those even are.
Bob Woodson is the Founder of the Woodson Center, and he joins us tonight. Mr. Woodson, thank you very much for being coming on.
ROBERT WOODSON, FOUNDER, WOODSON CENTER: Nice to be here again, Tucker.
CARLSON: So you've been in and around politics and Civil Rights world for more than 50 years. What is healthcare racism? Do you have any idea?
WOODSON: I have no idea. But as a veteran of the Civil Rights Movement, I find her comments insulting, condescending and patronizing. It also acts as a barrier for the exploration of real solutions that exists for places like Baltimore and low income blacks.
And I think that her continuing to harp on it is really harmful to any kind of discussion. But it also conceals the kind of real problems that exist.
As a veteran of the movement, I remember back in the 60s, I left that movement, because many of the blacks who suffered and sacrificed most did not benefit from the change.
Dr. King said, "What good does it do to have the right to eat in a restaurant if you don't have the means to exercise it." But middle income blacks used the demographics and the behavior of low income blacks as the bait and switch came when the money arrived. And that's why the biggest problem in black America today isn't between whites and blacks, it is internal.
And Elizabeth Warren and people who continue to emphasize the external enemy are preaching a false solution. Black America's destiny has never been determined by what white people do or do not do.
But yet -- but that's what we are left with, and so what I think that it deflects attention away from the real problems, and that is the people who are supposed to be serving those communities, racism is not the most formidable problem -- it is a problem.
The real problem is the kind of betrayal by the leaders of these cities in the last 50 years. The urban communities where you have the highest crime, the most drug infested have been run by liberal black Democrats for 50 years. And the question is -- and we've spent $22 trillion in these places -- and yet, the problems are getting worse.
In Forsyth County, Tucker, in 1914, the Klan drove a thousand blacks out. In Washington, D.C., 20,000 blacks in the last 20 years have been driven out by gentrification.
But you don't see these leaders addressing issues -- economic issues like that -- and it is because they can dodge, they can avoid confronting those issues because they use race as a shield.
CARLSON: Yes, I've noticed.
WOODSON: Racism -- white people could all go to Europe tomorrow and the conditions of the inner city will not change. And not all blacks are suffering equally. There are three zip codes in Prince George's County where the median income for black families is $170,000.00. They are three times richer than most whites.
If racism was a pervasive problem, then why are not all black suffering equally? And so I think it's time to stop this preoccupation with race and recalibrate and come together to address the problems of low income people of all races, and because answers exist. Jack Kemp is your perfect example.
CARLSON: You're a courageous man for saying that. You're a courageous man for saying that. I guess what are they going to say to you? But most people can't say what you said and certainly can't say it as clearly and insightfully as you just did. And we're grateful for it. Mr. Woodson, thank you.
WOODSON: But these people are traitors. They really are and they need to be called out for it. But there are solutions Jack Kemp exemplified that, Stephen Goldsmith, Dick Riordan - the first mayor of -- so answers exist, and we just need to pursue them. But we can't do it as long as we stay stuck on the race, bereavements issue.
CARLSON: Of course, it just divides people. But Elizabeth Warren benefits in the short term, she got tenure out of it to, so obviously she sees another side. Great to see you tonight. Thank you very much.
WOODSON: And thank you, Tucker.
CARLSON: Robert Woodson. Well, four months now Pete Buttigieg has been doubling as St. Pete, Father Pete. Buttigieg claims to be very in touch with a Christian God, and knows a lot about what God thinks about American politics. Here's an example.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D-IN), MAYOR, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's also important that we stopped seeing religion use as a kind of cudgel, as if God belong to a political party. And if He did, I can't imagine it would be the one that sent the current President into the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Yes, God doesn't like Republicans. St. Pete, by the way, is an Episcopalian and yet, he is lecturing other people on whether or not they're good enough Christians.
Last night, he said Republicans are basically going to hell because they're not willing to raise the minimum wage. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUTTIGIEG: The minimum wage is just too low, and so-called conservative Christian senators right now in the Senate are blocking a bill to raise the minimum wage when Scripture says that whoever oppresses the poor taunts their maker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Jonathan Morris is a theologian -- an actual one -- an ethicist and a Fox News contributor. He joins us tonight. Jonathan, thanks very much for coming on.
JONATHAN MORRIS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Tucker.
CARLSON: So here is Pete Buttigieg, an Episcopalian of all things, and I can say that because I am one, barely a Christian denomination.
MORRIS: That's okay.
CARLSON: I guess, it's okay, but here he is, he is lecturing everyone else and how they're not good enough Christians because you're not voting for a specific piece of legislation. I'm wondering is there a scriptural basis for that claim?
MORRIS: Well, first of all, I like Mayor Pete. I mean, I'm from Cleveland, Ohio, I love the fact that a Mayor from a small town can be on the stage to be the candidate to be President of the United States of America. It's awesome.
But you also have to have good ideas. And this idea to say, "The so-called conservative Christian senators," that was just a very bad idea, because he is saying they are just so-called Christians.
I would never call Mayor Pete a so-called Christian. What does it mean to be a Christian? Let's just be very clear. It is not whether or not you believe $15.00 an hour is the perfect amount for a minimum wage. Why not make it $25.00? Why not make it $20.00 or $10.00?
CARLSON: Exactly.
MORRIS: But I would also say that he is smart. And he should know better than to take one Scripture passage, pull it out and say, "This is what it means to be a Christian." Let me tell you what it means to be a Christian, and this is not me judging anybody else. It's just the definition.
It means that you believe that Jesus is divine, and that he has a redemptive mission, and it can be for you. That's what it means to be a Christian. So let's not call people so-called Christians.
CARLSON: Yes, I wonder if he believes that. I mean someone should ask him. Why doesn't someone ask him? Look, if he -- people used to beat up on the Christian right for being sanctimonious, and there's some truth in that?
MORRIS: Yes.
CARLSON: But I never -- I don't remember Jerry Falwell or Jimmy Swaggart, even at the height of his fame, being half as sanctimonious as this character, as a Christian left.
MORRIS: Let me tell you what's even more dangerous on why being so smart, this was not so smart. How about if somebody asks him another question, Tucker, what responsibility does a mother have to an unborn child who is about to be born?
CARLSON: Exactly.
MORRIS: What's what Scripture passage can you pull out to justify killing a baby that is being born? That's the problem with taking a Scripture out and saying, so-called Christians have got it wrong, because they don't agree with my understanding of a very complex economic issue like minimum wage.
CARLSON: Exactly. That's exactly right. We've invited him on the show repeatedly to have that -- to have a civil conversation along these lines. Tell us about your faith? What are the parameters?
MORRIS: Yes.
CARLSON: How can you support this and remain a Christian? Of course, he is too much a coward to come on our show, but that invitation stands.
MORRIS: Yes. And he is -- I think he is a good guy. And I think he is a smart guy. And yes --
CARLSON: Well, I respectfully disagree with you on that, but he could certainly come on and explain his views on this, but I mean --
MORRIS: Allow me to come on. I mean, to be with you and him as we discuss.
CARLSON: Good to have you. Jonathan Morris, great to see you tonight. Thank you very much.
MORRIS: Thank you, Tucker.
CARLSON: So, how long does the Earth have -- this is a word problem here - - before global warming kills you and me and every other human being on the planet? Well, science says it is 12 years. No, I'm sorry, science says it is 10 years. Well, Democrats can't quite agree on what science says. But they're still flying private jets to a Climate Summit to figure it out. That's actually happening. Irony alert. Details after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Welcome back to our Democratic Debate Special. We want to brace you for some genuinely upsetting news. This week's Democratic debate could be the last political debate or one of them that we will ever see. That's what the top Democrats appear to think.
On Tuesday night, they competed to see who could predict the most imminent apocalypse while keeping a straight face. St. Pete, Mayor Buttigieg said we have just 12 years to save this planet, and the only way we can do it is by electing him President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUTTIGIEG: an economy that's not working for everyone, endless war, climate change. Science tells us we have 12 years before we reach the horizon of catastrophe when it comes to our climate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: So think of Beto O'Rourke as a slightly dumber Pete Buttigieg. And that means he's even more worried. He's also got a shorter time horizon. Beto says we don't even have 10 years before the Earth collapses. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETO O'ROURKE (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I listened to scientists on this and they're very clear, we don't have more than 10 years to get this right. And we won't meet that challenge with half step or half measures for only half the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Beto has been talking to a lot of top scientists. A lot of top scientists, they're all on speed dial. "Top scientists, this is Beto. How many years we got left?" Excuse me.
Like most televangelists, the Democratic candidates aren't letting their prophecies change their own behavior though, no, that would be terrible. So, St. Pete, Mayor Buttigieg flies on private jets, not just occasionally, but more than any other politician running for office right now. But who can blame him? He is just trying to fit in with all the other climate activists.
This week, countless celebrities are flying private jets to Italy for a Google-run Summit called Google Camp. It's in Sicily. It's a secret Summit, and the top item on the agenda, global warming. Fox's Jonathan hunt has more on this amazing and delicious story. Jonathan Hunt has more on this amazing and delicious story. Jonathan Hunt.
JONATHAN HUNT, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Tucker. It's perhaps the most exclusive summer camp on the planet created by Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin for celebrities and people of influence to exchange ideas about issues of the day.
Although the agenda isn't public, so we don't actually know for sure what they're talking about. We do know the retreat is also designed like any summer camp for everyone to have a very good time. Many on the high- powered guest list flew into the Italian island of Sicily on private jets, dozens of which were reported to have landed at the airport and partied on private yachts.
Allegedly invited were Katy Perry, the world's most boring musician; Chris Martin of Coldplay; Bradley Cooper; Tom Cruise; Mark Zuckerberg; Leonardo DiCaprio, and even President Obama although the guests list is a closely guarded secret, too and we can't independently confirm the presence of anyone other than the designer Diane Von Furstenberg who broke a no social media rule by posting on Instagram from the retreat.
DVF also posted about one of the issues that may be being discussed, the need for more women in the fields of Engineering and Science. Other issues that might or might not be on the secret agenda: online privacy, politics, human rights, and the environment. Those would all be very similar issues to those discussed by political and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland earlier this year; another global gathering that also involves a lot of people flying on a lot of private jets, although there are a lot less yacht parties, Switzerland being landlocked, of course, tough to sail a yacht there -- Tucker.
CARLSON: Jonathan, great report. Thank you for that.
HUNT: Sure.
CARLSON: Robby Soave is an Associate Editor at "Reason." Author of the great book, "Panic Attack: Young Radicals in the age of Trump," and he joins us tonight, Robby, thanks a lot for coming on.
So, I just want some perspective on this. It seems to me that if you charter a private plane for personal travel for any reason other than, say flying a loved one for imminent medical care. But if you fly voluntarily in a private aircraft, you have forfeited your right to lecture the rest of us about climate change. Do you think that's a fair standard?
ROBBY SOAVE, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, REASON: I do. I mean, this is what we call virtue signaling, when you're all worked up about some injustice in the world and you're very loud in condemning it, but then you won't take any -- even the most basic personal steps, you won't sacrifice anything to live up to these ideals. It's pure virtue signaling. It's what all these people are doing.
If you are going to, you know, have an interesting Summit about discussing strategies for possibly reducing mankind's impact on the environment and so on, you're not going to invite a lot of these people who got invited, right? Bradley Cooper, et cetera, they're lovely people. I'm sure they're good actors.
But you bring rich celebrities to events if they are parties, if they are to have fun, which is clearly what this is.
CARLSON: Right.
SOAVE: These people should not be lecturing the rest of us and it's always about the sacrifices other people have to make often lower income and less fortunate people, the changes they should make to their lifestyles to save the planet or whatever, that none of these people would be even close to willing to make.
CARLSON: Of course, it's a revolution that is aimed downward, at people below you. What's interesting though is that private -- I don't think we're overstating this for polemical reasons -- flying on a private jet, if you believe that carbon is driving warming is one of the worst things you could do short of like setting a tire fire in your backyard. Is that true?
SOAVE: Yes, no, it's absolutely true. It's -- and so that hints at something that always ends up being the case is that the tactics preferred by or the solutions preferred by climate activists, social justice activists are always either ridiculously far reaching like we're going to fundamentally revolutionize society akin to the Green New Deal, or their dumb things that will inconvenience everyday Americans, but would actually make no difference to climate change.
I think of like the bans on plastic straws now that have appeared in many cities in America. Actually, plastic straws are like 0.001 percent of the plastic in the ocean. Most plastic in the ocean is commercial fishing equipment that's been left behind. This isn't doing a thing to help the environment. But of course -- it disabled people who need to use plastic straws. We don't care about them. We're going to ban them everywhere so that we social justice liberals feel better about ourselves.
CARLSON: It's a form of class warfare needless to say. Thank you, Robby. Watching this, it's starting to drive me crazy. Pete Buttigieg lecturing me about climate change, but flying around the country in a private plane? Am I going nuts? And you've confirmed that in fact I'm not going nuts. And I appreciate it.
SOAVE: That's right.
CARLSON: Good to see you.
SOAVE: You, too.
CARLSON: Well, the new leaders of the New Democratic Party want to quote "decriminalize illegal border crossings.' What effect would that have on the border? What effect did that have on the country? Acting Border Protection Chief Mark Morgan knows the answer to those questions. He joins us after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Well as we told you at the top of the hour, there are a few -- we're being honest now -- Democratic candidates who can see that quote, "decriminalizing illegal border crossings would destroy the country." It would be unprecedented, and kind of nuts, actually.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Congressman Ryan, are Senator Sanders' proposals going to incentivize undocumented immigrants to come into this country illegally?
RYAN: Yes. And right now, if you want to come into the country, you should at least ring the doorbell.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Of course, since this is the 2019 Democratic Party, it was Bernie Sanders who got applause while Ryan got silence, a scowling angry silence, "How dare you?" So, if the Democrats retake the White House, and it could happen, don't lie to yourself, decriminalizing illegal immigration is going to be at the very top of the agenda. Now, that is going to be great for illegal immigrants and for people living -- billions of people -- living in poor countries around the world.
What will it mean for America? Well we told you we were going to talk to CPB Chief Mark Morgan about that. He just got called emergency meeting at the White House. So, we are proud to have stepping in for him tonight, Robin Biro, he is a former regional campaign manager for Barack Obama. Robin is great to see you tonight. Thank you very much for coming on.
ROBIN BIRO, FORMER REGIONAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER FOR BARACK OBAMA: Thank you, Tucker. Appreciate it.
CARLSON: So what would this -- this is a new idea. It's never been proposed by any mainstream politician in the history of the country that I'm aware of. Certainly, it's something that Barack Obama never would have said.
BIRO: Thank you.
CARLSON: And now it's a mainstream position among Democratic candidates, it's the popular position. What would happen to the country if we enacted this into law?
BIRO: Well, that's -- I can answer that quite easily because Obama's former DHS Secretary, Jeh Johnson said that this would be a catastrophic problem that it would create an overburden on our system of government here.
So, I take him at his word. Obama knew what he was doing when he put him in that position. That's why I was his Campaign Director. He knew what he was doing. He was once labeled the deporter in chief, and we caught a lot of flack for that, but he was upholding the laws of our country.
I think right now, you know, honestly, in my party, there are members who are -- they're missing an opportunity here because every credible poll shows that immigration is in the top three concerns for most American citizens in our country.
And we're just not doing -- the best I heard last night was a casual mention that we're all for secure borders. I'd like to know how. Talk about that. What worked on Obama's plan and how you can make it better?
CARLSON: What do you think -- just spit balling here off the top of your head -- what do you think the constituency, the percentage of the American population is that is for giving free government paid-for healthcare, taxpayer paid-for healthcare to people here illegally? Twenty two million people and anyone else who comes. How are going for that, would you say?
BIRO: It would be in the single digits? I mean, let's be intellectually honest. And there, there were some moderate Democrats last night, who were being just that and Senator Klobuchar, very -- she was very intellectually honest. And she said, "Hey, some of these sound like great ideas, but they'll never pass Congress." They just won't work, and we need to be honest.
You know, I have all respect for everybody that was up on that stage last night. But honestly, some of their proposals sound to me like they were written for press releases, rather than for policies that may actually stand the chance of passing.
CARLSON: One of these people and probably one of the more radical ones, if I had to bet, it would be Elizabeth Warren or Kamala Harris who is going to be the nominee and pretty soon really, and they are going to be stuck with these positions. Can you win a general election promising free healthcare to the world?
BIRO: You know, that comes back to election politics. We're talking about winning the Democratic nomination, so that they're talking about the primary. So, I understand that the pivot to the left to capture the hearts of our voters. But we'd also need to look past that at the general. You'd have -- you can't just completely change your position come the general election.
There can be some nuance changes, but you can't just all of a sudden on a dime, change your position to try and be more electable to the general public.
CARLSON: Yes, I mean, people have TiVo like they can get recordings tonight.
BIRO: Thank you.
CARLSON: Robin Biro. Great to see right. Thank you for that.
BIRO: Thank you, Tucker.
CARLSON: Well, CNN spent more than two years, two of the longest years of most of our lifetimes obsessed with Russia. And yet last night, there was not a single question about Russia. Weird, since the President is a Russian plant. Amnesia has set in. We will tell you why, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Well, between 2016 and about 20 minutes ago, the cable news network had a single obsessive focus, Russia. For two and a half years, every day at CNN revolved around finding the proof that Donald Trump, Carter Page and Roger Stone teamed up with Vladimir Putin to make America a Russian fiefdom.
And then last night happened, suddenly the country that supposedly hacked our democracy -- hacked our democracy -- didn't exist anymore. Russia barely came up at all last night in the debate. CNN did not ask a single question about Robert Mueller's two-year investigation.
Just because Russia was gone doesn't mean that CNN is now a serious news network again. Far from it. Instead, CNN's Don Lemon ask candidates what they plan to do to stop President Trump's racism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Congressman O'Rourke, President Trump is pursuing a reelection strategy based in part on racial division. How do you convince primary voters that you'd be the best nominee to take on President Trump and heal the racial divide in America?
Senator Klobuchar, what do you say to those Trump voters who prioritize the economy over the President's bigotry?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Chris Plante hosts "The Chris Plant Show" on radio which you should listen to because it's excellent. He joins us tonight. So Chris, I realized watching those clips of Don Lemon that basically racism it's just the -- it's just the new "R" word after Russia. It's the same storyline. They have given up on Russia, now the just moved to race. Right?
CHRIS PLANTE, RADIO SHOW HOST: Right, exactly right. I mean, you know, the Russia bone had to be pried from their cold dead hands, but after two and a half years, as you said, every hour, every block, every panel, every anchor, every furrowed brow, Magilla Gorilla, you know, Chris Cuomo late at night rubbing his chin and the latest conspiracy theory and all of it turned out to be false.
All of it turned out to go up and smoke. They put all of their eggs in this basket, the Russian collusion and then the Mueller investigation, the Mueller report, then the Mueller testimony, and all of it has blown up in their faces.
And now they kind of act like -- it's like Emily Litella -- never mind -- and they just moved on. And now the new conspiracy theory is racism.
If you're talking about crime and Baltimore, it's racist. Rats in Baltimore, it's racist. Poverty in Baltimore, it's racist. And it is just the new "R" word.
And as you said, they didn't even bring it up. How can you spend -- if you were a viewer watching CNN and trusting them and believing them for the last two or three years, and you were watching last night, didn't you stop and say, "Well, what about what you've been telling us for the last two years?"
CARLSON: Yes.
PLANTE: If you bring up Fusion GPS, they accuse you of sowing a conspiracy theory, but they've been peddling and conspiracy theory for the last two and a half years, and now, they're just pretending as though it never happened. It's extraordinary.
CARLSON: Well, that is such a good point. I mean, if you took CNN at face value, literally, then we had a Russian operation that had hacked our democracy, the highest level of government in this country was controlled by the Kremlin. How can they not be interested in that? How can they not follow up on a story that momentous? I'm confused.
PLANTE: It's extraordinary. They -- well, look, I mean, it does -- they have egg all over their faces if they stopped to think about it. There's not a lot of self-analysis going on there. But they've been humiliated by their own fraudulent reporting for a couple of years.
And maybe they just don't want to draw attention to it in the meeting beforehand, "Maybe we just don't want to bring that up, because it kind of makes us look bad." And certainly, the candidates don't want to talk about Russian collusion. They don't want to talk about Mueller's testimony. They don't want to talk about any of this stuff, because they'd look stupid.
And CNN would of course, look stupid, too. They don't want that, which is why they brought Don Lemon out.
CARLSON: You worked at CNN for a long time. I did, too.
PLANTE: I did.
CARLSON: It does seem different under Jeff Zucker who runs it now. It does seem harder edged, more political, dumber, and the ratings are lower.
PLANTE: Yes.
CARLSON: How is he still running the place?
PLANTE: Well, you know, they insist, I'm sure you run into CNN people, they insist that they're making more money than ever. They have some magic trick for making more money with lower ratings. I don't know how that works.
But then with the anchors like Don Lemon, the organization is a complete embarrassment. I was -- I was wondering whether we might be able to sue them for sort of ex-post facto defamation of character or something. Because it's a disgrace to have to admit that I worked there for 17 years and I was in the news business and look at the place now, it's a disgrace.
And Don Lemon, I think is their finest journalist. He's the Walter Cronkite of his generation in CNN.
CARLSON: Don Lemon.
PLANTE: In modern world, he is journalist extraordinaire. The whole thing is a tragic embarrassment. They should be embarrassed, but I don't think they are capable of embarrassed.
CARLSON: It's hilarious. I know. Chris Plante, it's great to see you tonight. Thanks for being on the show. Good to see you.
PLANTE: Thanks, Tucker. Thanks a lot.
CARLSON: That's it for tonight's Debate Special. We'll be watching tonight so you won't have to. Recap tomorrow, 8:00 p.m., the show that is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and groupthink. Have a great night. Sean Hannity is next.
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