This is a rush transcript from "The Five," September 18, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
ANDREA TANTAROS, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Andrea Tantaros along with Bob Beckel, Eric Bolling, Dana Perino, and Greg Gutfeld. It's 5 in New York City, and this is "The Five."
We are just 47 days away from the midterm elections and there's some serious in-fighting in the Democratic Party. The knives are out for one the most powerful female democrat, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. A scathing report out today paints an ugly picture of the White House trying to remove Debbie from the top spot at the DNC. Today, the White House was asked what it thought of Ms. Wasserman Schultz, and here's how Josh Earnest framed it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Based on the strong track record of leadership that she's already demonstrated at the DNC, the president has strong confidence in her ability to lead that organization.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TANTAROS: Not exactly. Bob...
BOB BECKEL, CO-HOST: Why are you coming to me?
TANTAROS: Because, you know, look...
DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: You have inside info.
BECKEL: I do.
TANTAROS: You said you have inside info, and for anyone who's work the in media and work in Washington D.C., this clearly was a planted story, it was a coordinated effort not just in politico but buzz feed. And my take on this is, that the White House's prints are all over it, and they are trying to do damage control and use Ms. Wasserman Schultz as a human shield before they see huge losses in the mid-terms. So, let's blame her and say, oh, that she spends more energy tending to her own political ambitions than helping democrats. Let's throw her under the bus, make ourselves look better.
BECKEL: If you know Debbie, you'd understand why some people would say that. But it's two schools who thought that (ph). There are people in the White House who do think she should go, there's others who think it would be crazy to do it before the election. The people who think she should go think the democrats are in such difficult straits then would be a minor shake-up, what was going on? I don't buy that for a second. I don't think she's going anywhere, but she sure got the knives out for, and I have to ask Dana what she thinks about that comment from the press secretary but it didn't sound overly enthusiastic.
TANTAROS: What about that, Dana?
PERINO: This -- it's surprising to me it's taking this long because I do think she has been a major problem for a long time, but she was President Obama's choice. OK? So, there were other recommendations and he said, no. I want her. So, the fact that in the article in politico and buzz feed there's one quote in particular that's very cutting. Where president -- for every time he sees her he says, what? You need another photo, Debbie? Right? Which means, you're coming around too much, why you don't go do a job, that everything that in that quote is the theme of the article.
I think, also, that Hillary Clinton doesn't like the way that Debbie Wasserman Schultz has run the DNC, and she's gonna want a change for after this midterm. I don't know why they waited so long -- I'm sorry. I don't know why they didn't wait until after the elections, because it does seem unfair to do this to Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She has been accused of lying on-air and defending things that President Obama has said. It's not her fault that President Obama said it. That, it goes to the top. That's his fault.
BECKEL: She said the president lied about something?
PERINO: Yeah. ObamaCare and you can keep your doctor -- you know, you can keep your doctor one was the biggest one. That other is -- I don't understand why the White House doesn't blame Harry Reid. He is actually -- I think he's more unlikable. I think he's more of a problem for the democrats, and he's also the one who is about to lose the senate. Why blame the house person? She was never gonna be able to flip the house. I think -- I would have blamed Harry Reid.
BECKEL: Well, I got to spend the night with Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell, he's talking about Sominex sales plummeting.
TANTAROS: Eric, doesn't it seem a little odd for a White House that -- I mean, they've run this playbook before, right? They run it like a jury trial. So, they create doubt in the minds of democrats and Americans that Debbie Wasserman Schultz is doing a really bad job, and so -- and she actually has been doing a fairly bad job. She screwed up on an immigration message, she compares the Tea Party to wife beaters, her recent comments about Scott Walker, saying that he raised his hand, and he's pulling the hair of women. Isn't this the White House, though, raising their hands to Debbie Wasserman Schultz, or, perhaps, pulling her hair?
ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: Democrats are giving Debbie Wasserman Schultz the back of their head. I wrote the exact same thing. So, here's how they do. They leaked the story, politico writes it. Now, the White House says, oh, no, no, she's been great. And they planted the seed that they want planted. Now, they water it a little bit here and there. When the midterms come and they got slaughtered across the board, they lose the senate, the house maybe gain a few seats in the house, they can go back and say, well, you know, we -- she bungled that message out, that women, that she really blew that force. So then, she can be the scapegoat. I mean, it's fairly obvious isn't it?
BECKEL: Well, before we hear Greg had to say about this. You know, for you guys who sit here everyday, how valid -- the incompetent this White House is, you just outlined a strategy that take as very constructive White House to do that.
(CROSSTALK)
TANTAROS: But no, it doesn't, Bob.
BOLLING: It's a story to a reporter...
TANTAROS: Right, this is politics.
BECKEL: We're gonna get the story leaked that...
TANTAROS: This is politics 101 and the White House is pretty good at politics, and smearing others. What I don't understand is why they're going after a woman.
GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: Well, you know, the democrats want her head, which is 98 percent hair. She's not a scapegoat, she's escape poodle. In terms of whether this is sexist or not, everyone knows that liberals cannot ever be sexist. It's like a tree falling in the woods. If the media isn't reporting on it, it never happened. So, as long as it happens to a democrat, it's just normal. Her time has come. But you know what? You should not take any comfort in any of this in-fighting, because Wasserman Schultz beat the republicans twice as an incompetent. So -- do you really have to worry about, the republicans who keep getting beaten by people who aren't very good?
Beckel: It's an impossibility to lose the senate right now, if you're a republican. If anybody compare (ph) how to do it, it's gonna be republicans. Two times in a row they've done this, now they've got better candidates. The democrats are weaker, don't have a message. But I'll tell you, do not count this thing locked up. I think it's gonna happen, but the republicans is just so incompetent. I mean, they out there campaigning ObamaCare, nobody cares about ObamaCare.
TANTAROS: Isn't that a danger, though, Dana. And I was thinking about this because, if the republicans win the senate, which a lot of people think that they will, they're gonna pat themselves on the back as if they did something right to win the senate. And I'm not sure that necessarily there is a cohesive message coming out of the party. So, the danger is that they we win and they say, wow, we did such a good job, they get too confident.
And then, they never really do get a strategy for 2016.
PERINO: I actually don't think that that's how most of the people that are running the party now and that are looking at -- are in a position to win it and in part position of leadership on the house and senate side, I don't think they think of themselves as in great shape. I think that they think that it takes a lot of hard work. They've been humbled, they've been much more disciplined. If you look at Louisiana, this is a state where the senate race, most people thought that Mary Landrieu would be able to win re-election. The poll that came out today shows that she's actually in deeper trouble than they thought, the most electable republican won every primary. But it doesn't mean they're gonna waltz into it.
This is really difficult. Forty-seven days, you can imagine there's gonna be some October surprises. The other thing that Debbie Wasserman Schultz has been able to do very well, and president Obama, they've raised a ton of money. And they're continuing to raise a lot of money. The other things republicans have done, for the ones that are gonna win, that will be great.
Think of how much money republicans have had to spend in races where they didn't actually need to. I mean, that was a lot of resources that the democrat didn't have...
TANTAROS: The democrats are doing it, too, Bob. They're forced to spend money in a lot of states disciple that they never thought...
PERINO: But because of republican, not because of other democrats.
TANTAROS: Right.
BECKEL: We can outrage. I mean, but -- I think what Dana said is right. For once, the republicans have not figured out how to screw things up with bad messages. They seem to me to be fairly disciplined, which is an unusual situation when you got a bunch of airheads.
BOLLING: They have one message. They figure -- the message is we're not Obama. And guess who else is figuring out that that's probably the right message for the mid term, it's some democrats. They're literally pushing away. (Inaudible) they're pushing away from President Obama.
BECKEL: I would not -- I don't thing she expect to see President Obama in New Orleans. I mean, put it that way.
BOLLING: Or some of the tightly contested races, they're absolutely not.
They want his money, they just don't want his face there.
GUTFELD: The republicans have to understand, though, that they have to be better than the left in all in this, because the media only cares about the flaws that are performed by the right. So, the media is like Rooster Cogburn, he only sees half of the story. And the media can always jump in.
So, no matter how well the republicans are doing, the media can always jump in and reverse momentum, I it crawling, when candid to a debate. A crawling could happen at any time. When you think it's going well, the media will go, this is going -- this is happening. We must do something. We must find the guy saying something really stupid. Which is...
BECKEL: That's one thing. I tell you, I would expect an October surprise.
I'm telling you, I think I know what it is, and I can't it here. But I think I know who it is and he's gonna shake things up.
TANTAROS: Eric, don't you think -- Eric, don't you think republicans have to do a bit better than just we're not Obama? I mean, at the end of the day, you have to give...
BOLLING: Right now?
TANTAROS: Maybe not right now. You eventually have to give voters a reason to pull the lever for your own party.
BOLLING: No. This is -- you can just coast right now. I mean, all the polls are. And they're even going further. Like, you know...
TANTAROS: But that's so short-sighted.
BOLLING: It looks like it was -- it could be a tie, then Biden, you know, cast the deciding vote. Now they're looking at seven or eight, some of the big polls, some look at maybe eight senate seats. I mean, I love what -- the message is working. We're not Obama. We don't want more of that. Why would you want...
TANTAROS: OK. But we're not Obama next year and the year after that and the year after that? I mean, I'm not trying to give the party a hard time, but that's not -- but there is a cohesive message. What's the cohesive message, Dana, from the Republican Party right now?
PERINO: There's not somebody at the top, but there's not going to be until there's a presidential candidate. They have it on the democratic side. They had Obama for six years. The republicans kind of had it with Mitt Romney.
Not really. In each of these races you have to look at them individually, because that's how they're being fought and that's how they're going to be won. In Alaska, the issues are very different than they're gonna get in Louisiana and in North Carolina.
TANTAROS: I'm talking long term, not midterm.
PERINO: OK. Well -- OK. Well, then, yes. I mean, of course I can say -- I can agree with that, but I thought the question was about the mid-term. I also think that on the republican side for the first time in a long time, and it's because of a lot of efforts, I think, by the biparty leadership including Reince Priebus. The communications from the republican is so much better this time around than in many years past. They are faster, more professional. They've not been on TV saying stupid things.
And they've also been in these states where they hadn't been for a long time. Think about Michael Steel, the republican chairman for under -- when President Bush was the president, and in 2006 he had those huge losses of the republicans. I mean, the equivalent of the Debbie Wasserman Schultz being trashed by the White House is, if President Bush had done that to Michael Steel, imagine the outcry that would have happened then. So, I just think that there's been a lot of change, a lot of positive ones. They've been hard-fought. It takes six years, but I think it's starting to pay off.
BECKEL: The strongest poll numbers Obama had was the national security, which is interesting for democrats. Democrats finally got that issue back about eight, or ten years ago, but Obama fell because of what's happened.
The impact -- I'm not a big believer in foreign policy, in fact, in mid- term elections. But this has been insistent every single day he's gotten beaten up on the ISIS thing.
PERINO: Because of his own doing.
TANTAROS: The security moms, Greg, are coming back to the republican side.
They were originally -- it's funny, Bill Clinton won so many women, because he was doing well...
(LAUGHTER)
TANTAROS: People were doing well financially and they were doing well because they had peace in the world. Now, a lot of women that voted for George W. Bush who we lost, the republicans, I should say, lost for the election of Barack Obama are coming back to the republican side because of this ISIS threat, and ObamaCare is a huge reason why. So, republicans actually have an opportunity to win back women, if they could not stick their foot in their mouth.
GUTFELD: Our country does not have the luxury of quibbling over division anymore. The three steps that I mentioned before is, the united country against to the gender-driven media. America is ready to be America again.
That should be the solution, that should be the slogan for republicans, for the long term is that we're tired of being black American, gay American, Hispanic-American. Let's just be Americans again, we got these people we have to kill. Number two, we have to start finding people who charm and do not chafe. We should have a zero tolerance for the shrill, the hysteric, the witch.
BECKEL: You're having a tough time with that.
GUTFELD: And then, and we also has a conservative, we have to win and overlook slivers of differences. If you have a credible winner, a candidate with an 80 percent ACU, pick him, or her, over the quack with 100 percent.
BECKEL: Yeah. There's one thing -- one thing it reminds me of. In '84 Ronald Reagan ran on that platform basically. I can tell you, because I was on the back end (inaudible), got his tattoo right here, always as a good politician. But he figured out the division in America was a theme that was a negative theme, it was knock it down. And he campaigned on This Morning America, remember that?
PERINO: Yeah.
BECEKL: I think if somebody could come along -- but you don't have any Ronald Reagans.
TANTAROS: You probably know, this is most --
GUTFELD: Well, they'll find one.
TANTAROS: ...in the battleground states now is, that voters don't think republicans have their back at all. So, they have to become the Populist Party that has the back of the middle class, which is something that they could do.
BECKEL: You think they could become the Populist Party?
TANTAROS: I do think they can, with the right message.
BECEKL: The party of Eric Bolling (ph)...
TANTAROS: Coming up, a sweeping counter-terrorism raid in Australia foiled ISIS plans for public executions. We'll tell you about that, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: A terrifying ISIS plot foiled in Australia today. The Islamic Terrorist wanted to hunt down innocent civilian and conduct a public random beheadings. More than 800 police officers were involved in the largest police raid in Australian history. Today, Prime Minister Tony Abbott described their plans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY ABBOTT, PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA: Direct exhortations were coming from an Australian who is, apparently, quite senior in ISIL to networks of support back in Australia to conduct demonstration killings here in this country. So, this is not just suspicion, this is intent. And that's why the police and security agency has decided to act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: So, that was quite chilling to hear -- to learn about that. And, Greg, I wanted to ask you, though, about -- they needed 800 police officers, or 800 people were actually used to try to take down these individuals that intended to do the beheadings. I mean, that is huge amount of force.
GUTFELD: There's oddly good news to this in the sense that this is the kind of terror we've come to expect as opposed to planes flying into buildings, that they have to do these fanned out attacks. The important part of the story, though, is the terrorists were getting operational direction from ISIS to Australia, NSA, our NSA, helped -- helped Australia find these creeps, which marginalizes Snowden and Greenwald to be nothing but mere footnotes in our history, because now we know what matters in this world.
Here's the problem, though. If political correctness forbids you from profiling, then all you can do is blanket surveillance. So, what do you do?
What do you do?
BECKEL: These guys didn't get any direct control from ISIS. They got to web pages, which is what's happening now.
PERINO: That's not true, Bob.
BECKEL: Why don't we get the credit to the FBI and the Australian Police?
It seems to me the police should...
PERINO: We are. That's why we are giving them credit, and we are saying that they are being vigilant -- what is your...
BECKEL: My point is, is that I think that we could defend our homeland just fine with the police that we've got and not worry about increasing military in Iraq and doing the kind of things you're talking about, some people are talking about. And the other thing...
GUTFELD: I'm talking about spying.
BECKEL: I know. But I look at that NSA story. What that says is, you have to believe that somebody in ISIS is actually sitting back there in a command and control situation, talking directly to people...
PERINO: That's exactly what happened.
GUTFELD: They're here.
BECKEL: I don't believe that.
PERINO: OK.
GUTFELD: Well, if you don't believe it, it's got to be real then.
PERINO: The world according to Bob. Let's go next to this sound bite, because the Iranians weighed in and, of course, they tried to mock our president. Look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN ROUHANI, IRANIAN PRESIDENT: Our Americans afraid of giving casualties on the ground in Iraq? Are they afraid of their, you know, soldiers being killed. And in the fight, they claim it is against terrorism. If they want to use plane and if they want to use unmanned plane, so that nobody is injured from the Americans, is it really possible to fight terrorism without any hardship, without any sacrifice?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: All right. So, Eric, he's basically trying to tweak our president and I don't like it.
BOLLING: Who likes it? Who does like to? Listen, ISIS is a threat. There's a bigger threat and those guys, it's the Iranians.
PERINO: Absolutely.
BOLLING: They're the state-sponsored terrorist, they finance all terror around the world. And for us to back off and pull sanctions up is just -- it's so tone deaf right now, we should be increasing sanctions. They're not gonna do us any favors. They're not gonna help us out at all. They -- please, they're backing Syria. It's a scary, scary thing what's going on with that country. The best way to screw them all, just drill and frac your way into oil independence and then you don't have to worry about those...
GUTFELD: That's a solution, Bob. That's actually a solution.
BOLLING: And then stab you in the back.
BECKEL: You got a solution but you still have...
PERINO: Let me get Andrea in here. I wanna ask you, because next week the united general -- United Nations General Assembly will gathers in New York.
Do you think that there will be any sort of coalition -- ability to build a coalition when they all get here? Maybe talk in person?
TANTAROS: No. I don't think so. I mean, the opportunity was a long time ago. And if you're looking at both of them, I do think ISIS and Iran are both threats. They're threats in different reasons. I agree with you, Eric.
Iran is a bigger threat. But if we crush ISIS, if we do, then we prop up Iran's friend Assad. However, if you look back, we've already chosen Iran twice, historically. I mean, we went into Iraq and we crushed Saddam Hussein, who was one of the greatest gifts that we ever gave Iran, by crushing Saddam Hussein. We put in a government in Iraq, which became stepchildren of Iran. And so, we watched Christians get slaughtered in Iraq for how long, but made certain to install an ally to Iran. So if you look historically, I mean, that's the problem with democracy building. I mean, it's a great question like ISIS or Iran? But we've chosen Iran twice, historically.
BECKEL: You know, this guy -- this was airhead -- whatever his name is.
They like talking about the United States being gutless and not -- they have not put a single person involved in this fight, and they're the ones who could get killed. And this was an opportunity, by the way, for Obama, which I really cannot believe they didn't take, to respond.
BOLLING: So they put some People into the fight, the word is...
BECKEL: They said they wouldn't take Baghdad.
BOLLING: Yes, yes. OK. But here's the problem, that was the Rouhani, right?
That's the Iranian president. Even worse is than him, is the mullahs.
PERINO: Can I give the last word to Greg?
BOLLING: The Supreme leader is even more hardcore, even more Islamic. And if you get into digging to what he has to say, that will scare the heck out of you.
GUTFELD: It's crazy town. Iran, you know, heckling the U.S. if they're like that name-calling clown at the carnival drunk tank. So we only go there, you know, we go to the fair once a year, but that's his life. Iran is a big, stupid clown, and we're America. The apology toward, though, it has to end here, because this is how we got here. They have no -- the Middle East chaos is borne on our weakness. We have to have the apology toward (ph) has to end, there should be no encores, and it should end with a big bank.
PERINO: All right. We got to go. Ahead on The Five...
BECKEL: Two thousand years of...
PERINO: We got to go, Bob. Ahead on The Five, a new survey says the American people have very little confidence in the press. And later, a big vote in Scotland today on whether the country should be independent. Forget what it means for the Scots, what does it mean for us? That's up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: Bill Maher recently lamented the polarization of public discourse.
And guess who he blamed it in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL MAHER, COMEDIAN: I feel like the reason the people are so polarized is Fox News. I think of all the things that changed in America, Fox News changed the most.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: He's right! If it weren't for Fox we'd all be in lockstep because of the rest of the media is as compliant at pizza dough. So, Maher is really whining about competition. We'd all get along if you just agreed with him. It's a nostalgia shared by the president harkening back to when liberals own the playing field the teams, the refs, the cheerleaders. So now, a new team arrives, FNC kiss your butt and it screams polarization.
See, leftism thrives absent of competition, which is why lefties hate competition. If Maher were a tennis player, he prefers hitting against the backboard than facing an opponent. The seal flapping audience of his is been-gay. Here's what Jerry Seinfeld had to say to Maher's point.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRY SEINFELD, COMEDIAN: I think you'll be on a better argument that each side just talks to its side, listening to its side.
MAHER: Right.
SEINFELD: That's polarizing to blame it all on Fox News doesn't seem completely fair.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: He's right. We like having our assumptions met, especially when we're old like me. But this thought segregation thrives on campus where polarization is enforced disguised as tolerance. The left beans are (ph) position hateful, which allows for their mob rule. Then maybe it's time for us righties to move beyond confirming ideas and try some converting. The hot tub of agreement is comforting. But what's better is persuading others why it feels good to be there. Articulating your position to people who really, rarely hear it, takes guts, charm, and homework. It also means getting out of your comfort zone, which can be fun, especially if you're drunk.
Do you think, Andrea, Seinfeld makes a decent point that we've -- the discourse has become segregated, which is natural, because we like being around people who agree with us?
TANTAROS: Of course. But before FOX News there was nowhere to get the other side of the story.
GUTFELD: Yes.
TANTAROS: So FOX News did the country a disservice. They would like to believe that FOX News is so big and so powerful and they dominate all these other news organizations. That's what Maher went on to say.
But you look, Greg, at all of stories of this White House actually coordinating with news networks.
GUTFELD: Right.
TANTAROS: Relying on MSNBC and CNN and putting their people, while President Obama is currently in office, there to do their bidding. I mean, there have been a number of accounts of organizing for America, working with outside groups, Media Matters, writing newscasts.
GUTFELD: Right. DOJ.
TANTAROS: One ex-MSNBC employee said, "Basically, Media Matters was writing our newscast every night."
GUTFELD: Yes.
TANTAROS: So they're upset, because they used to have a viewpoint monopoly and a total domination.
But your point about getting outside of the circle is a really good one.
It's get comfortable being uncomfortable.
GUTFELD: Right.
TANTAROS: And not a lot of people like to go into areas and talk to other people and other voters. It's easy to talk with someone who agrees with you. It's tough to talk to somebody who doesn't. And that, I think, is an important point for the Republican Party to note, if they want to stay relevant.
GUTFELD: Right. Eric, I've noticed you're one of the few people that actually does talk to people who don't agree with you. Like I know that you -- you drank with people from MSNBC. Got disgusted by, but...
BOLLING: And by the way, they don't buy drinks back. That's the only weird thing.
I do, because I want to hear their side of it, but I'm trying to figure what Bill Maher -- what's the problem here, Bill? You've got NBC, CBS, MSNBC, CNN. Media Matters, Huff Po, Politico, the White House briefing room. All on your side. You don't want to see the other side?
GUTFELD: Yes.
BOLLING: It's some of the most interesting stuff when you listen to the other side. Just put the other channel on for a while and listen to it and you go -- "I'm going to talk about that tomorrow on FOX, because that is ridiculous. That's what they're thinking? They're out of their mind."
Showing the other side is just fantastic. And I won't drink with them anymore.
GUTFELD: No. You can still drink with them.
Bob, I'm going to go to you last, because I want to see your head explode.
BECKEL: Because I've got so much to say. Go ahead.
GUTFELD: Exactly. But really, what they're saying is they don't want competition. That's all it is.
PERINO: The competition is actually really good. I was talking about I think that the Republican communications apparatus of communications is better than in years past. But I also think conservative media, the writing is better, the reporting. You mentioned, Steve Hayes, his reporting on Benghazi compared to anybody else, second to none and the quality is better. Now, the presentation won't necessarily be so. Look at some of the conservative magazines that come to my house and like guys, update the fonts. OK?
GUTFELD: Yes. They still dress like P.J. O'Rourke.
PERINO: I love P.J. O'Rourke, and I love the conservatives. But...
GUTFELD: But don't wear khakis to the beach.
PERINO: No.
GUTFELD: You know? Come on, people.
All right, Bob, latest galley -- Gallup survey found that 60 percent of Americans don't trust the media to report the news at all. It's an all- time low. Is that so bad?
BECKEL: It's not all that bad. Let me get a couple things straight.
First of all, we don't like competition. We don't have to get any competition from you guys, No. 1.
No. 2, the idea, talking about polarization. I wrote a book on polarization. It started in '85, before FOX News was on.
And the other thing is, if you want to get some great competition out of the White House, Dana's White House, when they had the right-wing radio talk show hosts all the way down this line.
PERINO: That was a brilliant event, by the way. Talk Radio Day? Oh, my gosh. Media Row, that was a brilliant, brilliant P.R. move.
BECKEL: It was. But it wasn't as if the Democrats thought of it.
PERINO: Totally media. You had the -- all of the rest of the media. Give us one day.
BECKEL: All the rest of the media...
TANTAROS: Isn't Bill Maher polarizing himself?
BECKEL: Oh, no. You think that?
TANTAROS: I mean, it's a pretty ridiculous comment coming from him.
GUTFELD: He's a big fan of polls. That's for sure.
BOLLING: Polarity rates.
GUTFELD: That's true. I meant stripper poles. Not the other polls.
All right. When "The Five" returns, politics are now front and center at the NFL. But could that ruin America's favorite pastime? That debate, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLLING: All right. Welcome back. Time for a little...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAPHIC: Fastest 7.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: Three sporty stories, seven speedy minutes, one spry host. We have a lot of video to get to, so quick thoughts on all of these, please.
First up, the NFL has been all over the news media, print and cable, but not for the right reason. Not for their play on the field. Unfortunately covering the national felon league's criminal woes, but Rush has thoughts on the league, the media, and American culture.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: The overall arrest rates in the NFL are only 13 percent of those for the general public among men aged 25 to 30, and yet what are we on the verge of doing? This is an illustration of the power of focused, intense agenda-driven media. And what is the agenda here? The agenda is, liberalism and its own sociological revolution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: It's all your fault.
BECKEL: You know -- first of all, I'll really glad to see Rush back on.
We don't -- very rarely get him on, about every three or four years.
BOLLING: Back to what you say (ph).
BECKEL: Yes. It's a ridiculous statement. Look, first of all, let's go back to the NFL for a second and not listen to that crap about liberals.
Once you blame liberals for everything, we take it. It's all our fault.
Like Greg says.
GUTFELD: Finally, you agree.
BECKEL: I finally agree. Now you start winning, you'll be fine. But the fact of the matter is one thing that has gotten away with this, the NFL has taken a bad hit. We talked about this yesterday, and they should. But the teams that these guys are under contract to, as you pointed out before, I think they're getting away with murder here.
I mean, has anyone heard anything about the Ravens? Have they done anything?
BOLLING: No, what we're hearing now is some of the big advertisers saying that, "Listen, NFL, get your act together or we're going to start pulling the ads." Now, that's creating change, but, again, I think that's misfocused. No?
PERINO: If I'm correct, they've said that they're concerned, but they're continuing to advertise while there -- while there is a decision to be made. So I think that let's just wait and see what happens there. I don't know if the NFL is the place to set societal norms. I'm not -- so I agree with Rush in that sense.
BOLLING: I kind of think it might be. I mean, it's the most watched television. It's the most followed. Bob was reading that the box scores.
When the rap sheets are...
BECKEL: The "Wall Street Journal."
BOLLING: You were not. You were reading this. This is a sports page.
Yes, we've got to move on. But when the rap sheets get longer than the stat sheets, it's a problem.
GUTFELD: Yes, but you know, the increased scrutiny is because it's easier for people who aren't into sports to talk about sports. Most hacks, most of these hacks will not say a peep regarding worse or -- worse or apocalyptic evils, but suddenly they're brave and outspoken about the NFL.
They could talk about the culture of NFL but not about the culture of certain destructive beliefs.
So when they start writing about honor killings, then I'll take you seriously. Until now, just shut up. You know?
TANTAROS: Well, Rush is right on one hand, where the left has been clamoring to get involved in the NFL for a long time. They would love to feminize them. The White House has been weighing in on the NFL on concussions and other issues.
The reason I think you're right, Eric, is because if we're not going to have this discussion in culture and society, if the left doesn't want to have the discussion, then this is an opportunity for us to have it via the NFL. And yes, I would rather talk about sports with the NFL, but it's the only way to shine on a light that there's a failed culture. A failed culture. That they have confused the...
(CROSSTALK)
BECKEL: We've got to go. Bobby, we've got to do this one.
TANTAROS: ... for a long time.
BECKEL: NFL superstar Adrian Peterson switched -- hit -- his 4-year-old son to the point of bleeding. When he did that, he opened up the debate on spanking and punishing your kids. How much is acceptable and how much is too much? Bill O'Reilly tackled that one last night on "The Factor."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: I'm not going to condemn Americans tonight who have spanked their children gently or lightly. I'm not going to do that here on "The Factor." I don't think it's right. Because each child is different, and if you're trying to protect your child from something and you give him a little whack when they're younger and they remember that whack because it startles them, that might accomplish it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: Thoughts on this, Greg?
GUTFELD: You know what's interesting about the media hypocrisy in this, because that's what I love? Opinions on spanking vary by race. Blacks find it more acceptable. And that's got to make the media crazy, because they love injecting race into stories about treatment but are terrified of it when it comes to behavior -- Ands.
TANTAROS: I think there's two separate things, too. There's spanking your kid, and there's what Adrian Peterson did to his kid. And you cannot conflate the two.
I don't think people who are spanked grow up to be violent. I don't think they grow up to beat their kids. When I lied I got spanked, and you know what? I deserved it. I didn't grow up to become a violent person but guess what I'm not? A liar.
GUTFELD: That was just last week, too.
TANTAROS: Yes.
BECKEL: There's a very big difference between...
TANTAROS: And you were -- you were the spanker.
BECKEL: ... getting the hell kicked out of you every day. That's a big difference. And this guy, he has no clue what he's talking about.
BOLLING: Yes. And Dana, we need to point out, you're talking about a defenseless child versus maybe, you know, they're trying to conflate it with the women who get domestic violence put upon them. There's...
PERINO: Maybe there is something. I don't have children. So I can't say as a parent. I know as a child I got spanked. But it wasn't -- I mean, it was just -- it was more disciplinary. It was never with an instrument or something, except for the wooden spoon.
TANTAROS: Ah, the wooden spoon.
PERINO: That would hurt, yes. But never like a belt.
You can buy them one now.
BOLLING: That's a note (ph).
PERINO: I love you a lot, Mom.
BOLLING: I hope we have time to talk about it. If we don't, just watch this. With all the bad news, football players head butting wives, switching kids, punching out fiances, how about a little feel-good video.
a Derek Jeter did it his way, a class act on and off the field. Gatorade took notice. So should kids. Here's a refresher.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEREK JETER, PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PLAYER: You know what? I'll walk from here.
(MUSIC: "MY WAY")
JETER: What's happening, fellows? Who's winning?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are.
JETER: Hey!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeter!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: On that one, Greg?
GUTFELD: I do not feel any kind of sympathy for him. He betted more models than Sealy Tempurpedic.
BOLLING: Very nice. He did.
TANTAROS: I was going to say, no comment. He's a class act, but I don't think I'd want to date him. To Greg's point.
BECKEL: Date him? The thing is he has been with a lot of women. The problem, he has sex with a genital (ph) disease when he did it.
PERINO: Oh, Bob. Geez, thanks.
TANTAROS: Thanks, Bob, for saying...
BECKEL: I don't know that. That's what I heard.
BOLLING: Clean this up.
BECKEL: I've heard that. I've heard that.
PERINO: We started this segment talking about advertisers and why a brand would want to connect itself to a sport or to a player. This is why.
Because you remember it fondly.
BOLLING: Absolutely. Nike and Gatorade.
All right. We're going to leave it right there. Coming up, a huge vote in Scotland today. The polls just closed. Could this be the end of the British empire.
And later a huge winner on the "Wheel of Fortune" last night and the woman who won the prize. The big prize has a great story. You're going to hear all about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKEL: Excuse me. Just talking to some wusses.
Now the polls are now closed in Scotland after an historic vote on independence measure that could break up the British empire. Citizens there are very much divided.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today is the day that the people of Scotland reclaim our nation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're a family together. We're the same people. Why should we be broken up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest mistake would be to go independent. They need -- we need to stay together. We're all cousins. And it's worked for over 300 years.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I keep our fingers crossed that it's going to be yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKEL: All right. What would Scotland's independence mean for the U.S.?
My pal, Stuart Varney, says it could be a disaster for America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUART VARNEY, FOX NEWS: America faces some real challenges. America will face a broken Britain, because this is the break-up of Great Britain. It would face a disunited, unstable Europe. There are all kinds of independence movements which will be very much strengthened if the Scots vote for independence.
And we also face -- America faces a diminished NATO. Britain has nukes.
Those nukes are lodged in Scotland. If they vote for independence, those nukes have to be moved. Where to? We don't know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BECKEL: You know, we're going to have to do this very quickly, because I've got to go apologize for what I said about Jeter.
BOLLING: Very, very -- very, very quickly. I think it's a mistake. I hope we don't decide to break off from Britain. Because they're basing it on using North Sea oil as their basis for the new economy. North Sea oil is drying up, Scottish. It's on the downward decline. They're going to end up having to reunite with Britain, or some form of euro again later to bail them out. I hope they don't do it.
PERINO: You know my grandkids, the 8-year-old twins, they call me Grandma America. I hope for their sake -- they live in Forfor (ph), Scotland -- this does not happen. I don't think that Scotland will be better off if it's not a part of Britain. I understand the desire to be separate. But it won't -- doesn't necessarily mean that there's going to be, like, rainbows in Europe.
BECKEL: What does your husband predict?
PERINO: He -- well, he doesn't want them -- like what does he predict?
BECKEL: Yes.
PERINO: I don't know.
BECKEL: OK.
PERINO: I should have asked him.
BECKEL: Greg.
GUTFELD: Well, I admire Scotland. I'm a huge fan of their adhesive tape.
But I will say this: It's a great time to be a map maker. Because you get to change. You're going to get paid a lot to change Great Britain to just OK Britain, which is going to take a lot of time.
PERINO: Average Britain.
GUTFELD: Average Britain.
BECKEL: Are you upset about this?
TANTAROS: Oh, yes, broken up. I can barely sleep.
I don't understand it. It's like the couple that gets divorced when they're in their 70s. What's the point? Right? Why now, guys? I agree with Dana. I don't think they're going to be better off.
BECKEL: I'm going to get in more trouble. That's when producers started whistling on me about this one. The -- let me say this about Scotland, is they talk about the British Empire. What British Empire? What's left of it?
TANTAROS: I was going to say, the beginning of the end was in 1776.
BOLLING: Weren't we supposed to do something?
BECKEL: No. So I've got to get -- "One More Thing" is up next, so I can apologize.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TANTAROS: It's time now for "One More Thing." And Bob's going to kick it off.
BECKEL: All right. I read a couple of stories about Derek Jeter and apparently were not sourced. I have no evidence, so I want to say I'm sorry and it was a joke. And someone get a laugh here for a second.
Now, my "One More Thing" is, I've got here in the audience three friends of mine who together many years ago we climbed the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, swam out into the river, got up and climbed on top. We've got evidence of it.
It was a scary night, but I'm glad to see these guys here with me tonight.
And I'm sorry they had to get beat up by -- anyway, I'll let it go at that.
TANTAROS: And you better not climb the bridge tonight with them like you guys were talking about.
BECKEL: No, I think we should climb it tonight.
TANTAROS: I don't.
BECKEL: I've got a few people I'll take with me and throw them off.
TANTAROS: Dana.
PERINO: Well, it's been a great week for people to have talent and skills.
GUTFELD: Thank you.
PERINO: Two $1 million winners within this last week. First, on the "Wheel of Fortune," the math teacher from Silver Spring, Maryland, and then Mat Franco, the magician on "America's Got Talent." Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Loud laughter! Yes!
PAT SAJAK, HOST, "WHEEL OF FORTUNE": Could you use $1 million?
NICK CANNON, HOST, NBC'S "AMERICA'S GOT TALENT": The winner of the $1 million and the star of the headline show in Las Vegas is Mat Franco! Wow!
Congratulations!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: I'm a big fan of "America's Got Talent." And I got to go to the finale the other night with my friend, Kenna Flory (ph), who was in town promoting her new shoe company called Beak (ph). And also we took our producer, Joshua, who got to sit in the front row. It was a great night, and I can't wait to see what Mat Franco does next. I'm excited.
TANTAROS: I think you should use that music for your "Fool of the Week."
BOLLING: Really? That one?
TANTAROS: That music, I liked that.
BOLLING: By the way, those two are the two best. That was a fantastic finale.
PERINO: Yes. America won.
BOLLING: OK. So this is fact. There's a $60 million high school being built in Chicago. They were going to name it after Barack Obama. And this is also fact, that they decided today not to name it after Barack Obama.
But I can't confirm the reasons. No. 1, it isn't that Obama didn't want Obama High. And still discussing things like Socialism 101, You Didn't Build That, Pay Your Fair Share, How to Tax and Spend, How to Turn 45 Million Americans into Food Stamp Recipients, and How to Eat Lobster and Sushi.
BECKEL: Do you have any facts about that? Because if you don't have any facts, you ought to apologize right now, because what you're saying...
(CROSSTALK)
TANTAROS: Greg.
BOLLING: I apologize. I'm sorry to the president.
GUTFELD: That's the best name of the school, Obama High.
PERINO: Oh, believe me. There will be.
GUTFELD: You know it. All right. It's time for...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: Greg's Secrets to Happiness."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: Anyway, check this out. This is a ferret and a cat getting along. You know, I talked about the need for unity in America. We've got to get together, Democrats, Republicans, gay, straights, blacks, Hispanics.
It doesn't matter. If a cat and a ferret can hang out together, then all Americans can unite as one and ignore the past and ignore the divisions that have hurt our country and join together to eradicate evil. A cat and a ferret can kill a snake. A cat and a ferret can kill a snake.
BECKEL: Where's your evidence of that?
GUTFELD: I don't have one.
TANTAROS: That wasn't a very happy "One More Thing," but it made me happy.
GUTFELD: Good.
TANTAROS: OK. So Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, the very progressive mayor has taken aim at charter schools in the city, decides now it's not just charter schools he wants to go after. It's New York's elite public high schools.
And he's decided now, and he's announced that he's going to make it easier for kids who don't speak English to gain admission to these schools when other kids are really studying for the tests and working very, very hard, giving them, really, I think, an unfair advantage.
And Mr. De Blasio is set to go to Scotland on our dime. He's a jerk.
BECKEL: Now, what's your evidence of that?
TANTAROS: Don't forget to set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of "The Five." That's it for us. "Special Report" up next.
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