Concha: I want to hear Biden questioned about the issues, not blind praise

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Concha: I want to hear Biden questioned about the issues, not blind praise

The Hill media reporter Joe Concha reacts to Joe Biden's 2020 run and the media's reaction on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'

This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," April 26, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRIAN KILMEADE, HOST: Good evening, everyone welcome to “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” I am not Tucker Carlson. I'm going to play the role of Brian Kilmeade filling in for the great Tucker Carlson. His whereabouts are unknown.

Meanwhile guess where we know Joe Biden is. Joe Biden has officially joined the Democratic presidential race. The instant frontrunner according to the polls. He hasn't bothered attacking fellow Democrats yet, instead he's gunning for this guy named President Donald J. Trump.

The former VP has no shortage of fans though in the mainstream media. They are obsessed with his aggression, his opposed authenticity and his aviator glasses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, he just decided to bypass the primaries and go right to the main event and kind of consign everybody else to the kiddie table.

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: That is Joe Biden at his best. That is someone who is authentic. It's the reason he connects with people.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Today, the man who has been a senator, a vice president and a big fan of aviators, he is joining the race.

GANGEL: The aviators are back. There they are. There are the aviators and he loves this. He is having fun. This is not heavy lifting for Joe Biden.

CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC HOST: I thought that message today was very, very thrilling to me. I thought it was very American. I thought it was great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: As it is Chris Matthews is always thrilled about something. Meanwhile, CNN and MSNBC were very happy, but they were nothing compared to the ladies of "The View" today. They treated him kind of like a god. No, that's a little bit too mild. They treated him like the second coming of his old boss Barack Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Former Vice President Joe Biden just answered the call millions of Americans have been begging for.

ANA NAVARRO, POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, I think it's exciting for so many people because it's like we're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

JOY BEHAR, ABC HOST: You think?

NAVARRO: We're off to the races. There might be a chance to wake up from this three-year long national nightmare.

BEHAR: Nightmare. And imagine four more years of that nightmare.

NAVARRO: No quero.

BEHAR: I can't. No, no. I have to take medication. Please welcome former Vice President, Joe Biden.

SUNNY HOSTIN, ABC HOST: You said something yesterday in your announcement video that really brought tears to my eyes. You said that we are in a battle for the soul of this nation and I felt that in my soul.

NAVARO: There's also so many people that in a moment of need, when they needed consolation, when they needed encouragement, when they needed a hug have been happy to get that from Joe Biden.

BEHAR: We were the very first daytime show to even have on a sitting President -- ever have on a sitting President Barack Obama, so here's my question, can we pencil you in for January 2021.

JOE BIDEN, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I am there, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Those are the only three words he said. We just got a lot of questions. We'll see. Meanwhile, if you want to get in so bad, why did you think so long? Joe Concha writes about the media for everyone that asks, especially "The Hill." He joins us now live from a studio, which is very close to his house.

Hey, Joe, first off, is it surprising he got such positive reviews after three weeks ago. You know, the touchy-feely Joe, didn't really explain himself too well.

JOE CONCHA, MEDIA REPORTER, THE HILL: Surprising? Is that a rhetorical question, Brian? I believe it is. Yes, look "The View" amazingly falls under ABC's News division. That's not even seen as an entertainment show, so I'll just leave that there and I watched this interview today and I didn't hear any questions in terms of who is Joe Biden?

He has been in politics for nearly 40 years and I honestly don't know what's at his core and in the end, Hillary Clinton made this mistake, because we saw that in those clips that you played.

As a Democrat, you can't just say, "Donald Trump is a bad guy, I'm a good guy," or in Hillary's case, a good woman and if you vote for me, that's good enough. No, people want to know what you're going to do to improve their lives. What's his position in terms of improving healthcare, immigration, the opioid crisis? In terms of raising taxes -- will you raise taxes or not raise taxes? What's your position on infrastructure? And so on.

So I want to hear those questions. I don't want to see what I saw today. I'm not surprised by it, and there are actually two Republicans that are on that panel and I get with Meghan McCain why she would want to endorse Biden considering her father's relationship with Mr. Biden, but at the same time, look, he is going to have to do some interviews with some tough people in some tough places if he expects to be President of the United States and answer the kind of questions that I would pose as I just laid out just now.

KILMEADE: Joe, look he's been in the business for 36 years since he was 28 years old. I get it, it's going to be tough. Maybe a decision you made in 1984, you wouldn't make in 2019. Totally understandable.

But if Donald Trump teaches you anything, it's don't run from it, embrace it, explain it, but don't apologize for it. I'm not sure what he's doing about two controversial things -- the Anita Hill situation, as well as the touchy feeling trend. He hasn't really apologized. He addressed it and the other thing he did, he mocked right after he addressed it in his a poorly done Instagram video. So far in term of damage control, you can't give him an A.

CONCHA: Oh no, you can't. He has been in crisis mode for the past two months before he even ran, right? And with Anita Hill, I mean doesn't anybody on "The View" or anybody else who interviews him going forward, didn't anybody find that completely disingenuous that only after he announced that he decides to apologize to Anita Hill? What was that?

Nearly 30 years ago, he hasn't had the time since then or even what he was running for Vice President? So to do that now and say, "Hey, I'm running for President. I think I feel bad about what I did." I'm sorry, that comes across as phoney and what we've learned, at least from Donald Trump winning, Brian is that people embrace authenticity -- good and bad or ugly, but be authentic. Don't be that guy.

KILMEADE: And what happened is he picked up the phone, he called Anita Hill. It's a disaster. She gave an interview to The New York Times" where she said I don't -- I essentially don't accept his apology and he didn't really apologize. What are they upset about? He didn't vote for Clarence Thomas. What did he do? Evidently, he didn't tell the truth according to her about when she would get to testify. It was not going to be first. She was -- she thought, it was the last. She wasn't allowed to bring up people to verify her story.

So just go out and explain what you were doing as Chairman with the Republican nominee and move on because nobody wants to re-litigate. We barely remember the story. I'm not saying it wasn't important, but if you're a politician and you have a staff and he's got money, he should be able to answer these questions. I mean, the other 19 contenders aren't seeing the undefeated heavyweight champ right now.

CONCHA: And good for Anita Hill by the way for not falling in line and doing what she was supposed to do, which was accept it so Joe Biden can get past this hurdle. Look, for people that are worried that Joe Biden is going to get a free ride from the media, Brian, here's all you need to know.

Before the 2016 election, 59 papers -- major ones -- offered their endorsements. Fifty seven went to Hillary Clinton, two went to Donald Trump. That got Hillary Clinton a concession speech, so that's all you need to know in terms of influence of our media today, at least on the political side.

And look, the bottom line is that, as far as the media putting their finger on the button for Joe Biden, we saw it obviously with Hillary Clinton, it simply doesn't work as half the country does not trust the messenger. It's all white noise. The punditry and the predictions mean nothing to the American people. They'll decide what happens here from debates and a concise message which Biden needs to establish besides Trump is a bad guy.

KILMEADE: And Joe, I've got to let you go, but one of the -- you understand how controversial it's going to be for him when he did not know how to greet the hosts. He said, "I didn't know what to do. To shake your hand, to give you a hug, to give you a kiss, because we're friends," but with Joe Biden to win in 2019, he can't be Joe Biden. That could be a problem.

Joe, you're released to go party and go to the club that's right near your house like you do every Friday night. Appreciate it.

CONCHA: In Jersey there's nothing like it, Brian, quite frankly.

KILMEADE: I know, absolutely. Don't go to Manhattan, you'll get yourself in trouble. Joe Concha.

CONCHA: Probably.

KILMEADE: Meanwhile, all right seven minutes after the hour. Not everyone is in love with Uncle Joe. Vox calls him 2020's Hillary Clinton, totally had a touch with the Democratic base. Elizabeth Warren says Biden sold out Americans and credit card companies -- I'll have to look that up -- and in an e-mail to supporters, Bernie Sanders blasted Biden for hosting his first fundraiser at the home of a top Comcast lobbyist, quote, saying this, "It's a big day in the Democratic primary and we're hoping to end it strong, not with a fundraiser in the home of a corporate lobbyist, but with an overwhelming number of individual donations."

So the question remains, is Biden liberal enough to lead the 2020 Democratic Party? I could only turn to one man who would answer the call on a Friday night, Chris Hahn. He is a former Chuck Schumer staffer and host of the "Aggressive Progressive Podcast." He's a great talk-show host. We share the same lineup on WRC into Long Island. Chris, is he liberal enough?

CHRIS HAHN, AGGRESSIVE PROGRESSIVE PODCAST HOST: We do. Yes, absolutely. Look, at the end of the day, my friend, Democrats are going to unite around the person who they think can beat Donald Trump and I think the reason why he is leading in the polls right now is because they think he can beat Donald Trump. That's really the ultimate goal.

I heard your previous guest talking about healthcare plans and everything else. I think a celery stalk with a good healthcare plan, it will be united around by Democrats if they're the nominee, if they think that person could win the presidency. That's the key for Democrats right now.

Now, there'll be a lot of talk between now and then. There'll be a lot of fighting. There'll be a lot of backstabbing. There'll be a lot of mud throwing, politics aiming beanbag, Brian. You and I know this very well.

But at the end of the day, Democrats are you going to unite behind whoever the nominee is and every single person running, all 20 or 30 or 90 that might decide to run this year are going to have to make that pledge at some point that they'll support the ultimate nominee.

KILMEADE: Well, we've got to find out who is going to support murderers voting, which is way overdue. Who is going to say Medicare-for-All, who is going to eat trillions of dollars' worth of student debt because you don't want students responsible for the loans they take out?

So I, mean I could read you a list of things that they say matter to the American people and then as a matter to the Democrats, I'm not sure where Jill Biden stands and if it matters. That's what makes this period so interesting to have a Chris Hahn on.

Another thing, here's what Bernie Sanders' former Press Secretary, Symone Sanders had to say back in November of 2016.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYMONE SANDERS, FORMER BERNIE SANDERS PRESS SECRETARY: In my opinion, we don't need white people leaving the Democratic Party right now. The Democratic Party is diverse and it should be reflected as so in our leadership and throughout the staff at the top -- at the highest levels from the Vice Chairs to the Secretaries, all the way down to the people working in the offices at the DNC.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: That's CNN and that's what she thought then. Now Sanders has been hired by Joe Biden. She's been hired by Joe Biden's campaign. Chris, how does she do that? Isn't Joe Biden still a white guy?

HAHN: Last time I checked, but look that's politics, man. I think Joe Biden can win. I think Symone Sanders wants to win. I think at the end of the day, what people want in politics it's competitive, man. You and I are competitive athletes our whole lives. Politics is a competition of people who are in it want to win at the end of the day.

Now what the positions are, you laid out some things that might change, that might move, that might move left, that might move right or might move center. But at the end of the day, it's the winning message and let me tell you something. The message that's going to win in 2020 might not even be around policy. I think everybody knows that Democrats are going to have a progressive healthcare plan that's going to cover more Americans than the Republicans.

I think what they're going to want to know is who can lead this country in the right direction and who is going to bring sanity back to the Oval Office.

KILMEADE: Chris, I was going to ask you, too, you can't have it both ways. You can't have Medicare-for-All and Obamacare. What's this plan you just referred to?

HAHN: Look, I think there's going to be Medicare-for-All who wants it, which is kind of like Obamacare with a public option that was ruled out five or six -- it was ruled out what Obamacare was originally passed. I think that's what you're going to see, a robust public option and a similar plan to Obamacare that's going to cover more people and give them more options even in states that don't adopt Obamacare through the exchanges.

KILMEADE: Right and Chris, we've just got to give the people time to realize they're no longer in an industry. It's been turned over to the Federal government and all private insurance.

HAHN: Obamacare made private insurance stronger, it gave them more customers and I think we could find a way to keep that system going and cover more people. We've got to -- but everybody has got to come to the table with ideas, Brian. It can't just be calling it socialism. It can't just be calling it names. Everybody has got to come to the table, work it out.

You and I talked about things. We work things out. The American people who govern have to do it as well.

KILMEADE: Right, but Chris, you're talking about something with the win -- whoever wins 2020, that's the conversation we have, but to get to 2020, there's going to be no compromise. There's going to be two sides totally separate and we both know that.

But first one person has to emerge from a group of 19 -- excuse me, a group of 20 that could grow even more. So it's going to be great having you on over and over again and watch you pull out your hair.

HAHN: Can't wait, man.

KILMEADE: All right. All right, now, Chris Hahn, thanks so much. You can now -- you're now released to enjoy your weekend.

Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein just criticized the Obama administration and even his former boss six-foot 11-inch James Comey. So what does that all mean? That story is next or I read the wrong prompter.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: What I think is a remarkable speech, it was delivered Thursday night, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein criticized the Obama administration to a degree, complaining that they did not tell the whole story about Russia's efforts to influence American politics at the time. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROD ROSENSTEIN, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Some critical decisions about that Russia investigation were made before I got there. The previous administration chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls and how they relate to Russia's broader strategy to undermine America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Well that's interesting. Meanwhile, the 2016 election is still driving militant anti-Russian rhetoric from the left. DNC Chair, Tom Perez says America isn't just combatting Russia, we're at war with Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM PEREZ, CHAIRMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Our fiercest foreign adversary attempted to interfere with our election to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton. We are at war right now, it is a cyberwar. Unfortunately, because our Commander-in-Chief is compromised, the Federal government is asleep at the switch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Commander-in-Chief is compromised? Didn't we go over this? Kim Strassel writes for "The Wall Street Journal" Editorial Board. She now joins us. Commander-in-Chief is compromised? I mean, did Edwin Dell talk like that? Did Ed Gillespie talk like that? Did Reince Priebus talk like that? Compromised?

KIMBERLEY STRASSEL, MEMBER OF EDITORIAL BOARD, "THE WALL STREET JOURNAL": Well, there's a couple of problems here, Brian. Obviously, that's overwrought, utterly overwrought, and we just had a two-year probe that proved that Donald Trump is not compromised and at some point Democrats are going to need to accept the findings of that report on the collusion front in particular.

But the other issue too is, look this is how we got here in the first place. Russia is certainly an adversary, someone that we need to be very concerned about and Putin and his authoritarian tendencies, but we have a lot of enemies in the world and to suggest that this is the only one and then also to suggest that anyone that attempts to forge a diplomatic compromise or treat with Putin in a way that tries to get him to behave more responsibly is somehow engaged in treasonous actions. Of course, our administration exists to interact even with rogue nations in an attempt to improve world order.

KILMEADE: Kimberley, you've kind of led this investigation in many ways through your column at "The Wall Street Journal" at a location to be determined later that you like a lot, but when Rod Rosenstein spoke on Thursday, I think everybody was listening. They wanted to see what he had to say. We haven't heard much from him.

What about the fact that he took some shots to the Obama administration and James Comey for holding on to this information and letting it go right in the heat of 2016 about Russia's infiltration?

STRASSEL: Yes, well look on the on the Russia investigation, I think Deputy Rosenstein, I mean, he put out a very important point. You get finished with this entire Mueller report and you find out that Russia was seriously engaged in some very concerning ways in the election; luckily, in no way that affected our election results, but still alarming ways and who was in charge when that happened? The Obama administration and yet no one heard anything about it.

We know that the Trump administration was not given a defensive briefing. It seems a lot of people were not warned about what was going on including state and local election officials, too. So a real failing of competence there in terms of dealing with this adversary that we have.

But also look, you've got to remember, Rosenstein, he's been subject to a lot of negative headlines. I've been critical of him especially when he was obstructing some of the House's efforts to get information on what the FBI and the DOJ did in 2016, but he's also been thrown under the bus by McCabe in particular and others and I think we're going to have a lot to hear from him going forward.

He was there in the thick of all of this, going all the way back for a couple of years and he may have some interesting tales to tell.

KILMEADE: Absolutely. We still don't know about that whole wire story -- was it James Baker who testified behind closed doors? That he offered to wear a wire and see about the competence of the presidency who he could flip. He denies that. He said, it sarcastically said.

I saw him at one event and he said to me, "Hey, don't believe everything you read. We get along fine." And he traveled out to Long Island to do an opioid conference with the President and I saw him talking casually with the President. He also made it clear in that speech, "I did not anybody I was going to turn over everything that we got in the Mueller probe. I was going to let everybody know if there were criminal referrals from that."

So the Attorney General overproduced from what Rod Rosenstein promised. Final thought?

STRASSEL: Yes, give Rosenstein credit. He has been right there at Barr's side and backed up the Attorney General's very reasonable decisions on this report about what would be disclosed. Look that was an incredibly fulsome report, Brian. You could read just about everything in it. The only thing redacted was stuff under law that really does need to be redacted or for, you know, sources and methods and important national security implications. But they've done a good job in that regard.

KILMEADE: And just yes or no, do you think the President would be better off not talking about it or talking about it from here on in?

STRASSEL: Stop talking about it.

KILMEADE: I agree. Kimberley Strassel, thanks so much.

STRASSEL: Thank you.

KILMEADE: He listens to you. Meanwhile, Baltimore's local government is melting down. Get this -- its Democratic Mayor Catherine Pugh who refuses to resign despite mounting evidence of severe corruption and criminal behavior. Several companies admit they bought thousands of copies of Pugh's children's book series called "Healthy Holly" while competing for lucrative city contracts. Pugh made at least $800,000.00 selling the self- published book.

The City Council has unanimously demanded Pugh's resignation. Instead, she has taken a leave of absence and hasn't appeared in public since. On Thursday, FBI agents raided her house and seized several boxes of materials including many copies of "Healthy Holly" so it is going to be very hard to get by the way.

Now, today, Pugh's attorney made this remarkable claim. He says her health is so bad, quote, "She is not lucid enough to make a decision about resigning." He says Pugh has been suffering from pneumonia and bronchitis and then at the earliest, a decision about resigning will come early next week. We'll continue to follow this story through all its twists and turns and find out what the truth is.

Meanwhile, the crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border is getting worse by the day, but Beto O'Rourke's solution is to have I.C.E. make fewer deportations. That's right. And then on the way out, can you have them take up the fence in El Paso? We're going to take a wide shot. The music will come up and we need another break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: For months, the press denied that anything was wrong at the border at all, especially with Mexico. Now the crisis that I call it is getting worse by the day.

On Thursday, at least 1,300 migrants escaped a detention center -- they are mostly Cubans -- that was in southern Mexico, 700 have been detained once again, but 600 are loose. Meanwhile, in Tennessee, an illegal immigrant who has already been deported five times now stands accused of murdering a four-month-old infant.

But in the Democratic Party, in some cases, the only immigration problem we have is the border still exists at all. Take for example presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke. He not only stands on counters on every good diner, but if he is elected, he has got an idea. He is going to cut back on the number of illegal immigrant deportations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BETO O'ROURKE, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In one year alone, in the previous administration, 400,000 deportations from inside the United States. We don't need those internal roundups and deportations and enforcement. Appreciate the question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So under an O'Rourke administration, will I.C.E. exist, yes or no?

O'ROURKE: Yes, it will, but it will not employ those practices that we've seen not just under this administration, but under the previous administration.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: So I.C.E. will exist, but it will be like the Maytag repairman. No one will ever come, they won't really do anything. Ethan Bearman host the "Left Coast News Podcast" joins us right now. Ethan, do you like Beto O'Rourke's answer? Does it represent Ethan's views?

ETHAN BEARMAN, HOST, "LEFT COAST NEWS PODCAST": I actually like what Congressman O'Rourke had to say and it's correct. We need to focus on violent criminals, gangs, the type of people that you just put up on the screen, but we don't need to be intercepting dads dropping their kids at school who have been here for 20 years and their kids are U.S. citizens to break up those families and stopping people randomly on the street to inquire about their immigration status. That's a poor use of resources.

KILMEADE: Right, so Ethan, that's one thing with I.C.E. and if I had Tom Homan here, he would tell you that rarely happens. It criminals with overstay visas and what-have-you, but to create order at the border, do you believe we should do exactly what we're doing now or what should we do to change things? Because Dick Durbin, Congressman Pete Aguilar, both Democrats; Benny Thompson, Katie Porter, liberal columnist Thomas Friedman and Senator Cory Booker have finally admitted there's a crisis. So if there's a crisis, you have to address that crisis. What should be done?

BEARMAN: Well, there's no question there's a humanitarian crisis at our border. These are human beings that are fleeing violence, food insecurity, non-functioning governments in Central America. They are human beings that deserve compassion not being called names, not being told that they're horrible people that provides cover -- excuse me -- for the cartels who are the bad people that we need to address, instead of spending trillions of dollars in the Middle East. Why don't we invest some of that money in our sphere of influence right here?

KILMEADE: I think you're right. I think you're right in this. I definitely think we need an approach to Central American governments where people aren't going to say this is infiltration, this is aid, I get it. Not just giving checks, but having programs. I understand it.

But what's happening at Central America is not unique. What's happening in Cuba is not unique, but the fact is, our policies make it a magnet. We stop the Mexicans coming over and we have them coming over orderly. How do we do it in Central America? Change the laws and this way asylum could be a system rather than anarchy, don't you agree?

BEARMAN: Well, the problem has been that the current Attorney General and the previous Attorney General have changed asylum rules. We have done this to ourselves during the Trump administration by making it harder instead of using the bonds -- remember, asylum seekers with children who put up a bond show up in court at 98 percent, 97 percent rates.

It was working and then we changed the rules to be more cruel toward asylum seekers which has actually added to the chaos at the border.

KILMEADE: But Ethan, I take -- I'll challenge you on the word "cruel." I think we're doing the best we can with people who cross in very dynamic, dangerous situations because we've given the idea that they can stay, instead of going through the embassy, going through an application, instead of trekking through Mexico, being taken advantage of and they get here and then we put them in soon to be tent cities. The way to do that is to change the laws. We could do it in a half hour and Jay Johnson sat on the "Fox and Friends" couch and said as much, the Flores rule -- the amendment -- would have hampered him. It got overturned in 2015, it's being abused in 2019. Final thought.

BEARMAN: Well again, we have to address root issues and we keep avoiding that. If we really want to address --

KILMEADE: We can't take --

BEARMAN: Why people view us as this beacon of liberty and want to come here, let's help them stay in the countries that they didn't want to leave in the first place.

KILMEADE: We can't take everybody. Ethan, you know we can't take everybody.

BEARMAN: I am not saying we take everybody. Let's fix their home countries in our sphere of influence.

KILMEADE: But they all want to come.

BEARMAN: No most of them are fleeing violence and food insecurity, Brian, and if we can solve that and get them some functioning government back in their home countries, get the cartels to not be in control, then they will stay at home where they can grow their food and we can help them with where they want to be in the first place.

KILMEADE: I don't know if you heard or have been watching, it's very hard to control other countries' policies even in the best intent with the best intentions, but there is chaos in the Central American countries. I wish we could control the border. The Border Patrol got a raise, that's the first start. Number two is to get Democrats and Republicans together and solve this. I appreciate you, Ethan. Talk to you soon.

BEARMAN: All right, thanks, Brian.

KILMEADE: All right coming up next, Kris Kobach is a former Kansas Secretary of State, he joins us right now. Kris, you have a different view, I know.

KRIS KOBACH, FORMER KANSAS CITY SECRETARY OF STATE: Yes, yes. I couldn't disagree more with what Ethan just said. You know, he said these individuals are -- he suggested they were making legitimate asylum claims because they were fleeing violence and food insecurity as he put it.

Asylum is when you are fleeing a government that is persecuting you because of your membership in a particular social group. The international definition of asylum does not include the fact that you are poor or that you are fleeing criminals in your own country. That is not a basis for asylum.

And what's happened Brian is, you know, 10 years ago, people would sneak into our country in the cover of night in small groups. Now, they come in in groups of 200 or 300 and walk straight up to the Border Patrol and then tell the Border Patrol, "Here I am, please take me to your station. I'd like to make a claim of asylum." A bogus claim. But here's the thing.

Right now, they're so overwhelmed with bogus asylum claims and the vast majority are being denied when they get heard. It takes six years for that claim to be heard, so the illegal alien has given a work visa for six years. They're getting food stamps and everybody knows that you can abuse the system now. So the asylum loophole has been blown wide open.

KILMEADE: I don't think guys like you were the President are vilifying these people. No one says anything bad about these people. I don't blame them. We all know we hit lottery when we were born in America. We know how great we have it and that's why I'm amazed at some attitudes with some people.

But we can't take in 300 million people. We can't -- there's been a system of immigration. The Russians have to annex countries to forget people to want to be Russian. Europe can't get anybody even if they pay them, they want to come here because of what we set up prior to this. We would blow that whole system up if we can't control our borders.

KOBACH: Well, as the Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman put it, you can't have open immigration and a welfare state. So if we just throw open our borders, which is essentially what we have right now. We have a crisis where people are just marching in and they're being allowed in.

If you have that system then our own welfare state collapses. I agree with Cher on this point. She said we have so many people in our own country who are needy and who need our help, we can't just have an open border at this point in time.

And you know, I talked to one Border Patrol agent a couple of weeks ago. She told me that the word among the Border Patrol is we are now Uber drivers for illegal aliens. They're frustrated because they're no longer enforcing the border. They are just trucking the illegal aliens to the Border Patrol stations so they can make a claim of asylum which everybody knows in most cases will be bogus.

KILMEADE: I'm getting told to wrap up, but what I hope is that if Nancy Pelosi wants infrastructure, the President says you get me immigration reform, I'll talk to you about infrastructure. We have to get this done. I don't want to wait until 2020. It's not fair to the men and women at the border. Get something done in Washington.

Senator Lindsey Graham says he is going to draw something up and get some votes on it, let's see it. Can someone type and hit print and then hit send.

KOBACH: Yes, we've got to start enforcing our laws. There's no more time to waste.

KILMEADE: Right, exactly. And no one is saying they're bad people coming across. We don't know who they are. We just know we have to control our country. Kris, thanks so much.

KOBACH: My pleasure. Take care.

KILMEADE: All right meanwhile, as the President likes to say, without borders you don't have a country and if you'd like to know about this country and how it all began, I have a series on Fox Nation called "What Made America Great." I'm going to be bringing that to the stage in "America: Great From the Start." It combines my books with what we're doing with that series.

I already have a 10 out there, five more coming and we're going to be streaming these live shows. They're going to be in Bonita Springs, July 19th. They're going to be in Orlando, July 20th; and then the 10th and 11th in Charlotte, North Carolina as well as Birmingham, Alabama. Go to briankilmeade.com/tour. I want to see in person.

I could only imagine what you're wearing. I want to see for sure that you are indeed dressed.

Meanwhile, it's the NFL draft and some San Francisco 49er fans are outraged that their team chose a Trump supporter with their top pick. That ridiculous story is next. Plus Arizona's Governor is under fire for celebrating Easter. He says he will not apologize and he shouldn't, right? That story straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: Sorry, I'm not Tucker Carlson, but I do have something important to say. The NFL draft is being held right now and one of the top picks, the San Francisco 49ers, number two overall, selected Ohio State defensive end Nick Bosa. It should be a fun family story.

Bosa is the third member of his family be drafted in the first round of the NFL, but instead, politics rules the day and could I say ruin the day. Many Niners fans are not happy with the pick, some suggest Bosa is a racist because he made tweets criticizing Beyonce's music and called "Black Panther" the worst Marvel movie ever. Others are mad that Bosa has voiced support for Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are a fan of Donald Trump.

NICK BOSA, NFL PLAYER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right?

BOSA: Big fan. He brings the charisma to the table that no other candidate I've seen in my lifetime, so they couldn't change --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: How dare he be a fan of the President? Britt McHenry is a Fox Nation host, former ESPN reporter, knows all about the Bosa fan with this remarkable story, but that's not what this is about is it?

BRITT MCHENRY, FOX NATION HOST: No, it's because to the progressive faction of this country, to just simply like any post that's conservative, to come out with a conservative voice or support the President of the United States. It's a cardinal sin, especially in the most liberal city in America, which let's face it, it's San Francisco.

I think that people should be more enraged that there's an estimated 10,000 homeless people living on the streets in San Francisco, 72 percent more than the national average in 2010 than what some football player is saying about Trump.

KILMEADE: That's a great point. San Francisco is a mess.

MCHENRY: Yes.

KILMEADE: And I know Tucker did a big feature on this. He deleted his tweets because in it, he called Kaepernick a clown for taking a knee. He called him "Crappernick." Beyonce's music is complete trash. So these are things that might be negative, but right away, you put in your column that some African-American players on his team tweeted out that they were happy he is on the team. They know he is going to be an impact player.

MCHENRY: Absolutely. Instantly, there were several of them, about three that I had counted at least in a quick search of it because what they want to do is win football games. They want more than four wins. And I guarantee you, as soon as he is sacking Russell Wilson or forcing a fumble even if you're liberal out there, you're going to start rooting for them because the 49ers need to reclaim their glory and he'll be a part of that process.

And I cover his brother, Joey Bosa when he was drafted to the then San Diego Chargers, now Los Angeles Chargers, great kid, great family. He is not deserving of all this condemnation, but I saw it coming years ago when Nick got on the scouting circuit and other media members started seeing his talents because he did have these tweets and it's a shame that they forced him to delete it.

KILMEADE: And you know who doesn't care?

MCHENRY: Who?

KILMEADE: John Lynch. John Lynch is the general manager, outstanding player with the Bucks, as well as with the Denver Broncos. He is making that choice. He knows what it takes to win and that's going to be the difference.

MCHENRY: Yes, and tell me the lie by the way about "Black Panther." I love Marvel movies. I'm going to see "Avengers" this weekend.

KILMEADE: But?

MCHENRY: It was overrated, so cut the kid some slack, right?

KILMEADE: All right, and it was not a true story. It's a fun story that you may or may not like, you have that option and then there are people out there that don't like Beyonce's music. I have not met them. There might be somebody in the studio. We're packed. We have 4,000 people here. They like Beyonce.

MCHENRY: I'm more of a Rihanna fan.

KILMEADE: All right.

MCHENRY: So just if you express that opinion now, are you written off? No. Give him a chance and they do extensive research on all of these players before they draft them.

KILMEADE: The guy can play.

MCHENRY: He can play and he is a good kid.

KILMEADE: And he's a good kid. Britt McHenry, thanks so much.

MCHENRY: Thank you.

KILMEADE: Meanwhile, I'm going to keep looking at this camera even though I fake going to that camera. Liberals in Arizona are apoplectic after Governor Ducey -- Doug Ducey -- released an Easter message. The Governor says he won't apologize or back down though. Trace Gallagher has more. Trace, what about this message?

TRACE GALLAGHER, CORRESPONDENT: Well, five days later, Brian, Governor Doug Ducey does not appear to be budging one inch on this thing on Easter Sunday.

As you mentioned, the Governor's Facebook post included a picture of a cross, a Bible verse and this caption quoting, "He is risen. Have a happy and blessed Easter." Apparently that did not sit well with the Secular Coalition for Arizona, the group wrote the Governor a letter that reads in part, quote, "Elected officials should not use their government position and government property to promote their religious views."

They added, "That if a government posts a greeting on a religious holiday, it should include all 1584 of the world's religions," to which Governor Ducey responded, quote, "We won't be removing this post ever nor will we removing our post for Christmas, Hanukkah, Rosh Hashanah, Palm Sunday, Passover or any other religious holiday. We support the First Amendment and are happy to provide copies of the Constitution to anyone who hasn't read it."

The post also led to a heated social media debate with some congratulating the Governor quote, "Good for you, Governor. Sharing your faith has nothing to do with government endorsement." While others sided with the secular group, quoting again, "Great sensitivity, Doug. That's the last time this Jew votes for you."

So far Governor Ducey has remained true to his word because the post is still active as we speak -- Brian.

KILMEADE: Trace, you never have easy stories, easy to explain, but certainly we must talk about them. Trace Gallagher, thanks so much, and have a great weekend.

Air traffic controllers, by the way are entrusted with the safety of thousands of people every single day, so it's absolutely essential that the best candidates available get their jobs. A single mistake can cost hundreds of lives, right?

Last year, on this program, Tucker revealed how the FAA has diluted its standards hiring less qualified candidates in an effort to promote diversity. They deemphasized job skills and instead rewarded applicants for irrelevant factors like how many sports they played in high school.

In the wake of Tucker's reporting, by the way, the administration got rid of the worst abuses, but there still has not been a return to purely merit- based hiring.

Finally, this year, bipartisan legislation introduced by Senator Jeanne Shaheen and Senator John Hoeven would fix the problem permanently and they did it. Tucker recently spoke to aviation attorney, Michael Pearson. Here's what they said to each other.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT: It doesn't seem like a complicated problem to fix. This is one of those rare jobs where it would seem -- this, heart surgery, a few others, where you would only want to hire on merit. Why has it taken a year to get there?

MICHAEL PEARSON, FORMER AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: You know, Tucker, there's still a lot of, I think administrative pushback. There's still people in the FAA that were part of this cabal to try to get rid of the CTI Program.

The controller's union, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association finally have come around and are also trying to support the current litigation you mentioned as well as the Association of Collegiate Training Institutions, but my belief is there are still people in the Department of Transportation and the FAA that are basically acting as institutional barriers to get this done.

So fortunately, Congress is stepping in with this bill and also the one that's been proposed by us. Senator Mike Lee to do to do the same thing. So hopefully, the FAA will get out of the business of social engineering and hire controllers based on merit for the safety of the flying public.

CARLSON: Well, it's completely demented and third-world that you would even consider hiring an air-traffic controller on the basis of anything other than relevant criteria. Have any of these people publicly defended their view that we should hire people based on how many sports they played in high school?

PEARSON: They've tried. The documents we've been able to get through Freedom of Information Act request show that this was purely done because of diversity. There weren't or there was a group within the FAA that felt there were too many white air traffic controllers and so they wiped out that list of approximately 3,000 candidates that had graduated with significant aviation experience knowing that they were the best candidates and that they had the best opportunity to certify at FAA facilities and be successful air traffic controllers.

Ironically, there are a lots of minorities on those lists because colleges quite frankly are very diverse, but behind the scenes, this was for diversity. Publicly, they came out and tried to say that the best qualified candidate was someone without experience. I akin to saying a doctor that the VA would hire, it's better to go get someone off the street and throw them through a VA medical training program versus going to our quality medical schools or quite frankly, the IRS hiring accounts without any accounting experience.

But the FAA actually for years has tried pushing forward the propaganda that the best qualified candidates are those without experience.

CARLSON: They should fire every one of those racist sickos who would do something like that. It's really over the top.

PEARSON: No, I agree with you, Tucker, and thanks for keeping hand on the pole. It's important.

CARLSON: It's too much. It's too -- you want to go hire some Sociology Professor on the basis of irrelevant criteria, fine, go crazy. But air traffic controllers, no, it's my country, too. You're not allowed to do that. That's ridiculous. Thank you for everything you've done on this.

PEARSON: And it impacts the safety of flight -- it impacts the safety of flight in your family and Tucker, if it wasn't for you and your show, this issue would not be where it is now. Hopefully, with the administration and our Legislative Branch fixing what happened to these kids is horrific here, so thank you so much to you and your show for keeping it up.

CARLSON: There's so much of this crap you can put up with. Thank you so much. Great to see you tonight. I appreciate it.

PEARSON: Nice seeing you again, Tucker.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KILMEADE: I echo Mr. Pearson. This show, this host, did a great job. Meanwhile, we forge ahead to close out this hour. It's time for "Dan Bongino's News Explosion." The former New York City cop who's done so much more will be here without a tie, to rank his biggest stories of the week. That story is very much next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: And that's the funniest thing I ever saw. It's Friday, which means, it's time for "Dan Bongino's News Explosion." Our favorite Secret Service agent is here to give his top three news stories of the past week. Dan Bongino joins us -- exploding your direction. Dan, let's begin in New York City with Mayor de Blasio. What did he do wrong?

DAN BONGINO, CONTRIBUTOR: What did he do wrong? Brian, you're a New Yorker, so am I. I was born in New York, I live in Florida now. But Story Number 3, Mayor de Blasio wants to ban hotdogs. He doesn't want the city to purchase processed meats, including hotdogs. Now, listen, there's two takeaways from here. Takeaway Number 1, if you haven't eaten a dirty water dog in New York, you are not an official New Yorker. I don't know what he's thinking, turn in your New York City card immediately, Mayor de Blasio.

KILMEADE: You can't be a cop. You cannot be a cop.

BONGINO: No. It is like illegal or something. I think it is on the application, have you eaten a Sabrett dirty water dog with the blue and yellow one? And if you have, you are banned. But secondly, this probably explains poor decisions like this. Why Mayor de Blasio went up to New Hampshire for a presidential thing and had 14 people at an event. And they were all panelists. The rest were media at an event. He is not really getting a lot of crowds in this because of decisions like this.

KILMEADE: All right, you also have something about steel and glass.

BONGINO: Story Number 2.

KILMEADE: All right Number 2, let's explode into, ready?

BONGINO: Yes.

KILMEADE: We've got to put the graphic up. My wife loves that.

BONGINO: Let's explode into it. Yes, yes, we love that. The Strzok text -- the Peter Strzok text. These things just keep getting better, and by better, I mean, worse. Peter Strzok, the FBI agent of course responsible as the lead investigator for the Spygate drama in the Hillary Clinton case. These texts keep getting worse.

We have texts from Catherine Herridge and Sara Carter and others who wrote pieces on this showing them what appears to be coordinating getting a mole inside of the White House. Now, Brian, listen, these are the top spy catchers in our government. I love the FBI. Don't get me wrong. I have worked with the rank-and-file agents. They are the best.

But these people at the top, this is like the greatest spy story ever told, except it is full of idiots. I keep telling people, it is not a James Bond story. It is like a Bond James story. There is no Jack Ryan in this, but there is a lot of Ryan Jacks. I cannot believe they were texting each other back and forth exposing their whole plot. What were you guys thinking?

KILMEADE: You are better at putting pieces together. But I think were trying to flip Pence. No one is going to flip Mike Pence.

BONGINO: No.

KILMEADE: Meanwhile, number three?

BONGINO: No, no. You're getting it backwards. This is number one. Come on. Three, two, one.

KILMEADE: Oh, sorry about that. I apologize.

BONGINO: This is the way this thing -- come on, buddy. For this week, this is the gold medal, not the bronze. The gold medal of course is Joe Biden which has to be the gaff of the century and you know, Joe Biden can be a gaff machine -- saying that the Obama administration, there wasn't a whiff of scandal.

Now, I am rarely as we know each other well, Brian, at a loss for words.

KILMEADE: Never.

BONGINO: But I don't even know where to start on this one. The GAO scandal, Fast and Furious, the IRS, Spygate. You know what this reminds me of? Is a scandalpalooza. You know when you went to Lollapalooza, the music festival, everybody was so good. You missed all the bands because they all just blended in, they were so awesome.

This is the exact opposite. It was a scandalpalooza. They had so many scandals in the Obama administration that Biden apparently is forgetting about all of them and they are legit.

KILMEADE: Right and they all clapped on "The View" on that. You know what, I missed one of the scandals because I was watching those pallets of cash arrive in Iran, which used to belong to us, which we were never told to us.

BONGINO: Unbelievable.

KILMEADE: But when we found about it, they said, they told us. So I guess, there's no scandal.

BONGINO: No. Not aware.

KILMEADE: Dan Bongino, you promised not to show up with a tie and you fulfilled that promise.

BONGINO: Never disappoint, buddy.

KILMEADE: You promised three stories and you fulfilled that promise.

BONGINO: Never disappoint.

KILMEADE: Could you explode into your weekend now? Is that okay?

BONGINO: Yes, I will. And I will see you Monday on "Fox & Friends."

KILMEADE: All right, I can't wait. I'm going to be changing outfits. That's about it for us tonight.

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