This is a rush transcript from “Tucker Carlson Tonight," August 14, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Good evening and welcome to TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT.
Joe Biden has not waded too deeply into questions of public policy recently. In case you haven't noticed. Whatever else Biden may be doing, looking at funny cat videos on the internet, shuffling to his mailbox every afternoon, it's fair to say that he is not running a campaign about ideas.
But Biden has made at least one campaign promise so far, he has pledged that if elected, he will force you to wear a mask when you go outside.
Now, Biden didn't specify which epidemiological studies would justify a law like that, that's probably because there aren't any. Not a single one -- but whatever. Biden has never been much of a science guy, he is a lifelong politician. His specialty is not public health, his specialty is power and coercion, so he does what he knows.
Instead of explaining how wearing a mask when you ride your bike alone could possibly save anyone's life, Biden instead demands that you forget about your so-called rights as an American and obey his orders, no questions allowed -- otherwise you're unpatriotic.
If it sounds familiar, that's because we have seen a lot of this lately. Democrats have decided to use our public health emergency as a political weapon to win the election. It turns out that is easier than trying to fix the country.
Terrified, unhappy populations want change and that's welcome news to the party trying to take power, that's why they are doing it.
But what's the cost to the rest of us? To America? It's profound.
Thanks to restrictions that are rooted in politics rather than science, children cannot go to school or play with their friends. Parents can't go to work. People can't get married or attend funerals.
Human contact has been drastically curtailed. These are not small things. They are essential human needs. Without them, we can't live.
In May, we talked to a father whose teenage son killed himself, he believes because of isolation caused by the coronavirus lockdowns. It was a crushing segment and hard to watch, but it's worth watching. Here's part of the conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRAD HUNSTABLE, FATHER OF 12-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE: My young 12-year-old boy, three days before his 13th birthday took his life. Hayden was a normal kid. He wasn't depressed. He died of the COVID virus. He didn't die of the coronavirus, but he died certainly because of the COVID virus.
Isolation has created what I believe and what I worry and I'm warning every parent in America tonight, an emotional tsunami that is sweeping this nation and I'm very concerned about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: He had reason to be very concerned about it, that was nearly three months ago, the country has become sadder and more isolated since.
In fact, the lockdowns had driven Americans to the edge and that's not speculation. According to new data from the C.D.C., fully a quarter of all young people in this country between 18 and 24 recently have considered suicide, seriously thought about killing themselves. That is a massive and a terrifying increase over previous surveys. It's a tragedy.
Anxiety and depression are at record highs. Many Americans have fallen into a spiral from which they will not escape.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Because of coronavirus, many people are now unemployed or isolated at home, and as a result, the drug epidemic has intensified.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You shoot up. You smoke. You do whatever it is you do, pop a pill, and the world goes away for a while.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over); Joe Cordovano runs Fresh Start Ministries in Orlando and says they are seeing more relapses and more stories of drug abuse as a result.
Nationwide, it's the same story.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse estimates that since the outbreak, overdoses are up between 30 and 40 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: People are depressed, you see it all around you. They are depressed because they are cut off from one another, they are depressed because their lives are moving backwards.
According to data collected last month, 12 percent of American households in the richest country in the world are now routinely short on food.
More than 20 percent of all renters in America are behind on payments. Keep in mind, these data were collected before Federal unemployment benefits expired.
People are abandoning their pets. Prescriptions are going unfilled. We could go on.
Big parts of this country are becoming poor, but you don't hear about it much because to the media and our leaders in Washington, it's not a very big deal. They can't imagine worrying about money.
In Washington, they live in a city with guaranteed full employment, always and forever, thanks to the Federal government and it affects their attitudes.
Here is Tony Fauci, the most political man in the most political city in America telling you that going broke isn't really a big deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I know it's difficult, we are having a lot of suffering, a lot of death. This is inconvenient from an economic and a personal standpoint, but we just have to do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: It's inconvenient, says Dr. Fauci? Remember when you respected that guy? Remember when he seemed like a legitimate public health expert?
We do. He was on this show. We treated him like a physician.
Now it is clear, Fauci is just another oily politician on an ego trip, just like the rest of them.
In case you haven't been to a supermarket recently, Fauci is featured on the cover of "In Style" magazine photographed by the pool, a man of science. What a buffoon.
But Fauci isn't suffering during the lockdowns, he is loving it. Tony Fauci is enjoying the hell out of himself.
So is CNN. Jeff Zucker understands that the lockdowns are the only way his personal friend, Kamala Harris is ever to going to run the country, so his anchors dutifully berate the public for not obeying even as they ignore the rules they demand that you follow.
Watch the body builder's 'roid rants on the subject.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, so while most Americans are staying inside or should be, right, if they are not out protesting like fools -- they are not happy about being told to stay home.
Staying home saves lives.
And the rest of us should be staying at home for our mothers and the people that we love and to keep us farther apart will ultimately bring us closer together in this cause.
Our collective conscientious actions -- staying home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Stay home. That's the order, except of course, when you are pledging allegiance to the Democratic Party, then in that case, feel free to fill up the streets. It's healthy.
In New York City, for example, local politicians gathered in front of Trump Tower to paint Black Lives Matter on the street. Social distancing was not required.
Even old Bill de Blasio showed up high as a kite as usual and did his best to make a straight line.
Jeff Zucker didn't complain, of course, the media loved it.
But keep in mind, not all public gatherings are equally safe. Some are incredibly dangerous. It's hard to know the difference unless you are politically attuned.
In New York, the city just announced it will not commemorate 9/11 as it always does this year. The traditional twin beams of light over Manhattan will be dark next month. Why? Because officials say they can't risk the safety of the crews they would need to set up the Memorial.
Turning on two lights is just too dangerous right now. There's a pandemic out there. Do you take them at their word? Do you think that's a real problem? Come on. You know what's going on.
Anything that brings people together, that unites us as a nation, that gives people pride in their country must be stopped. Anything that causes division, fear, panic, anxiety, and hatred must be amplified, no matter how many kids kill themselves as a result.
There's an election coming up. Here's Dr. Biden explaining the rules.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: If I were President today, I would roll back re-openings in a number of places.
And everyone wherever there is a significant percentage of people with COVID should be required to keep social distancing and masks. Bars should not be open. There should not be congregations of more than 10 people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Oh, so after consulting with his advisers -- all of them political advisors -- Biden has located the core of the problem. It turns out America isn't shut down enough. People might be tempted to go to church or have dinner with their friends or work for a living.
Kids could wind up in school and learn things that haven't been prescreened by Google. Somewhere, a young couple might decide to take a walk through the woods without masks to enjoy nature and fresh air and if things like that continue, happiness might return to America.
We can't have that, not until people learn how to vote correctly.
Ned Ryun is the founder and CEO of American Majority, and the author of the book, "Restoring Our Republic." We are happy to have him on tonight.
NED RYUN, FOUNDER AND CEO, AMERICAN MAJORITY: Good to be with you.
CARLSON: So Ned, these numbers from the C.D.C., actual science, apparently, surveys of people's attitudes show that a quarter of young people have thought recently of killing themselves.
You would think a number like that would cause the political leaders tamping down the country to maybe reassess, has it, do you think?
RYUN: No, I mean, we were warned about this, Tucker, back to the end of June, the American Academy of Pediatrics warned us and said its relatively low risk for children with coronavirus, but what is a high risk which dwarfs the risk of coronavirus is the developmental damage, the psychological and physical damage that will result with kids not going back to school and it's fascinating now to see it play out in real time.
And the people that have been fighting to keep the schools closed, who attacked Donald Trump for trying to reopen the schools, they are the real science deniers. I should point it out, they have denied real science.
But now, you are seeing some of them realize perhaps, just maybe like Chuck Schumer, we should pivot on this because they realize their response to the virus is causing such damage to families, to children, to our society as a whole that perhaps their response is doing more damage than the virus ever will.
And I would remind the American people, we are less than 12 weeks away from an election and it's time to stop and think, to ask yourselves, what do you truly believe? What do you believe about yourself as the American people? What do you believe about God-given rights? What do you believe about the role of government in your lives?
And quite frankly, who is actually in charge? And who do you want in power?
Do you want the Democrats and their propagandas, to force you to be inferior, to cower in your basements as our society, as our economy goes to hell in a hand bask basket, or you want responsible leadership? Or are we going to actually going to approach this in a responsible and thoughtful way?
Actually trust the real science and realize we are not going to have a utopia with this virus just magically ceases to exist, we will protect the most vulnerable, but we are going to go back to our regular lives. That in many ways, among other things is what is at stake in November.
CARLSON: What is so striking is the total unwillingness of anyone on the left with some noble exceptions, Matt Taibbi, I would say would be one, Glenn Greenwald. There are some --
RYUN: Exactly.
CARLSON: But in general, they will not criticize their own team. Period.
If some Republican politician -- and Ned, you've gone after Republicans, I would say more harshly than anybody we've had on the show, if some Republican politician were doing this in order to win an election, would you stand by and let it happen?
RYUN: No, absolutely not, and I think this is a thing that is horrifying to watch, the death of any real journalism. I think we can all at some level we can agree the death of real journalism has taken place.
These people are propagandists. They are interested in pushing a narrative, and I will say this, the propagandists and the Democrats, they stopped caring because the American people a long time ago because it was inconvenient for their narrative.
I mean, think about it, they are supporting Black Lives Matter who are looting in Chicago, stealing Gucci, saying, well, this is reparations as the middle class is literally dying.
They are out of jobs. They are losing their businesses, but they were forgotten and abandoned by Democrats, and I would argue some of the ruling class Republican years ago.
It's time for the American people to say enough of this madness. We are actually going to be manipulated anymore. We are actually going to take a stand and we are going to say, we are going to put an end to this in November. We are the ones in charge.
I would remind the American people in a Constitutional Republic, all power flows from the people, start acting like it.
CARLSON: That's exactly right. When they start telling you, you can't commemorate 9/11 with lights, but you can loot the Gucci store, this is not -- you know, we shouldn't put up with this.
Ned Ryun, as always, great to see you.
RYUN: Thank you, Tucker.
CARLSON: There is suddenly indiscriminate violence throughout the country, it's on the rise. Our leaders have decided to accept it. But maybe this crime will get the entire country to pause and ask where are we going?
It was the execution-style murder of a five-year-old boy last week in North Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Five-year-old Cannon Hinnant was riding his bike outside of his Wilson, North Carolina home over the weekend when police say a neighbor, 25-year-old, Darius Sessoms came out and shot him in the head.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cannon was the kind of kid that was always polite.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You just could not help to be changed when you met Cannon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really, everybody just wants answers, you know, for why this was done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice over): Cannon's father is confused by his son's murder saying there is no explanation for why Sessoms would target his son.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUSTIN HINNANT, CANNON HINNANT'S FATHER: There was never anything between me and him, any bad blood whatsoever.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CARLSON: It's just -- it's really beyond. The suspect has been charged with first-degree murder. The question is, why haven't the media covered this story? What about it don't they like?
Nancy Grace is the host on Fox Nation. She joins us tonight.
Nancy, thanks so much for coming on. Make sense of this, if you would for us.
NANCY GRACE, FOX NATION HOST: Thank you for inviting me.
Well, you know what, when you put the picture up just then of Cannon Hinnant, just five-year-old. By the way, he was set to start kindergarten this week.
And I think back on my children, as you know them, John, David and Lucy, when they went to kindergarten and what a big day it was and now, he is gone forever.
And you're right, this case has not been covered and I wonder why, too.
This is what I know. I know that the families were friends. There had never been any bad blood between them at all. Now, according to family members, the motive was that this little boy, it's a Sunday afternoon, 5:30 broad daylight. They had gone to church. They had gone to lunch.
They were out in the yard playing. The little boy rode his bike into the neighbor's yard and the defendant according to eyewitnesses -- multiple eyewitnesses -- 25-year-old, Darius Sessoms comes out, holds a gun up and shoots the child point blank in the head.
I predict this will be a death penalty case.
CARLSON: Look, I've said many times and I mean it that I don't think you should draw broad societal conclusions from a single horrific crime. The media specializes obviously in that and some of those conclusions are misleading, if not lies.
But to ignore something completely, and they ignore murders, by the way, every day on the Southside of Chicago as well, you really get the feeling that news coverage has guided purely by political imperatives, purely.
GRACE: Well, it seems to me that right now, with the concern over COVID and not going to back to school and the issues surrounding that and the protests all around the country, even attacking a Ronald McDonald house while sick children were inside cowering, that's all the headlines.
What about this boy? What about justice in this case? What about my children and your children? They deserve to get just as much attention as all of the other headlines.
CARLSON: Yes, they are liars. Nancy Grace, one of the most direct people on television. Always a pleasure to have you. Thank you for doing this.
GRACE: Likewise. Thank you.
CARLSON: So, at the core of the Russia scandal was a couple of deeply corrupt American Federal agencies, not Russian -- American, and today, we got a glimpse of that corruption. An F.B.I. lawyer expected to plead guilty for corruption, maybe the sign of more prosecutions to come, we'll have the very latest on that.
But first, one of the most beautiful places in the country is in danger, we don't do a lot of environmental stories, but this one is worth doing.
Johnny Morris who is the founder of Bass Pro Shops is here to talk about it. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: If you hunt or fish or spend time outdoors regularly, you've probably heard of something called the Pebble Mine. It's been talked about for many years.
It's an enormous mine, just proposed at this point, not in operation, a gold and copper mine that will be built on Southwest Alaska's Bristol Bay and the concern is, it could be devastating to the fisheries there and to the wildlife, many of the world's salmon spawn there.
And so conservation groups have been fighting this proposed mine for quite some time. Now, it could potentially become a reality. Permitting is before the administration right now and will be decided soon.
Interestingly, in most environmental controversies, there is a clean partisan split. Republicans are on one side, Democrats on the other.
But this is not so clear, suddenly you are seeing a number of Republicans including some prominent ones, including some very conservative Republicans saying, "hold on a moment," may be Pebble Mine is not a good idea, maybe you should do whatever you can not to despoil nature and maybe not all environmentalism is about climate.
A lot of interesting questions. We are honored to have Johnny Morris, he is the founder of Bass Pro Shops, probably the greatest outdoor retailer in the history of the world, some of us think so, and we are happy to have him. Mr. Morris, thanks much for coming on.
JOHNNY MORRIS, FOUNDER, BASS PRO SHOPS: Thank you, Tucker. Thank you for your enthusiasm for Bass Pro Shops. I am coming to you hear from our headquarters, Granddaddy Store.
We started here about 50 years ago and I feel so blessed in my life to be introduced to the sport of fishing along with my sisters by my mom and dad, and I just want to say to you, I hear you like to fish and I just want to say as a fellow angler, thank you from all fellow anglers and everyone that loves the outdoors and nature and for future generations for spotlighting this issue that you are raising tonight, because it's extremely important.
It's such an amazing, fragile, special resource, not just for here in America, but for the world. It's amazing.
CARLSON: Well, I think that's right and the reason I'm so eager to talk to you is that I don't think of you as a political figure, I've never seen you weigh in one way or the other on a political issue. I don't think it is a political issue.
Explain for us, to our viewers who aren't familiar with this. As crisply as you can, why are you concerned about the construction of a massive mine in Alaska? Why is this Pebble Mine a problem, do you think?
MORRIS: You're right. Conservation should be a uniter of people, right?
CARLSON: That's right.
MORRIS: Of everybody. So, this mine is proposed really in the heart of the largest spawning grounds in the world, one of the most pristine areas, watersheds really in the world. Over 50 million salmon have already spawned there this year.
Approximately half of all the wild salmon that's harvested for the world comes from this region. A lot of jobs. I hear this proposed mine maybe 2,000 jobs. There are 14,000 plus jobs currently serving recreational fishing, commercial fishing, ecotourism, so there's a lot of economics with this.
But beyond that, you know, I was hearing you speak earlier, Tucker, about, you know, just we hear the news and not all that's happening. There's a lot of issues that are bad in the world and for people to have a pristine place to go and this is sought after by people really all over the world to come here.
And so to me, it's worth fighting for, standing up to say this, this mine has some value.
If I have a minute, I would like to share with you a quote that's very profound from President Roosevelt who is really the Father of Conservation.
CARLSON: Amen.
MORRIS: "There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country. We must conserve the soil so that our children shall have land that is more and not less fertile than our fathers dwelt in. We must conserve the forests not by disuse, but by use, making them even more valuable at the same time that we use them."
"We must conserve the mines. Moreover, we must ensure so far as possible the use of certain types of great natural resources for the benefit of the people as a whole."
And I do applaud our President, because I think he's helped us regain our energy independence and you know, the impact on our economy and also our safety and security, to be independent from some of our foreign enemies. It's very important.
And I think these things can go together hand-in-hand. We can harvest in a healthy, responsible way and still have, you know, like Roosevelt said, enhance our resources.
CARLSON: Anybody who doesn't spend a good part of his life outdoors is not a credible voice on conservation or the environment and you are the opposite. You spend an awful lot of your life outdoors.
Johnny Morris, it's an honor to have you on the show tonight and I should say that Trout Unlimited and a lot of conservation groups with actual sportsmen in them, people who hunt and fish, and use the outdoors have the same position that you do and God bless them for that. Thanks a lot.
MORRIS: One closing thing.
CARLSON: Of course.
MORRIS: My son and I. How do you put a price on that grin? It's not just me and my boy, but it's fathers, sons, daughters, grandparents. Go fishing, it's a happy thing. We appreciate you, Tucker.
CARLSON: Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Well, you've heard a lot recently about institutional racism. It is the cause of every one of America's problems -- that's not true.
But it doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It does exist. The Department of Justice just found a clear-cut case of institutional racism at an Ivy League University.
But for some reason, the left isn't interested in hearing about it. We've got details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are hardly deep thinkers, that's the whole point. It's the water bug campaign on the surface.
But if you ask them, rouse them from a dead sleep, what is an existential threat that America faces? Russia? Iran?
But number one on the list would be institutional racism. That's the biggest threat we face. Neither one of them can define that term, obviously. Joe Biden gave a speech about it this summer. He didn't even try to define it, he just declared that institutional racism is everywhere.
And apparently it is, and they are telling institutional racism cost Kamala Harris to drop out of the presidential primary, just as she was about to lose her home state. It's what made that Minneapolis cop murder a man.
When the crops failed in Ancient Rome, the authorities blamed the gods, but when Democrats don't like something, they blame institutional racism. You've seen a lot of this.
But that does not mean that institutional racism doesn't exist. The Justice Department just made a pretty strong case that it does exist.
The D.O.J. has concluded that Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut systematically discriminates against Asian and white applicants.
There's not really any question about the evidence. It's overwhelming. The D.O.J. looked at Yale's admission practices over an 18-year period. What did they find? Quote: "Asian-American and white applicants have only one- tenth to one-fourth the likelihood of admission as African-American applicants with comparable academic credentials."
They caught Yale cold. Yale hasn't even denied it, really. It's true. And by the way, everybody knows it's true. Ask any Chinese or Korean American parent you know. They are highly aware of hits. Their kid could have straight A's and an amazing SAT score, but he's not going to Princeton. He will be lucky to get into Boston College because he is the wrong color.
Is there a single American who doesn't know this? Everybody knows it. Are we okay with that? Shut up, say Democrats. Stop talking about it. Is not a real problem.
As one "New York Times" writer put it, quote: "Justice Department working overtime for those marginalized, depressed upper-class white students able to go to Yale, looking after Main Street," as if that's what it's about.
What would be funny would be to see what would happen if Ivy League schools stopped admitting these low IQ children of famous liberals. What will they think of that?
Peoples like CNN's Chris Cuomo who went to Yale because his dad was the Governor of New York. Would "The New York Times" support that? Shutting down the pipeline for the kids of Democratic politicians to Brown, Yale, Princeton, Harvard? Oh no. That would hit them where they live.
But discriminating against some Korean kids so we can feel virtuous, oh yes, we are for that.
Another "New York Times" writer put it this way, quote: "It is not discrimination to take into account systemic inequality." Right. So in other words, it's not discrimination to discriminate as long as I'm the beneficiary of the discrimination.
Okay, so that's how it works, but isn't that how the Jim Crow South worked? Yes. But, the left doesn't care about details.
According to "The New York Times," if you're an African American student who got a Mercedes from your parents for your 18th birthday, you are the victim of systemic inequality. You need a 200-point bonus on the SAT.
But if you're a kid from Appalachia who grew up in a trailer park without parents, had to work your way through high school at Crystal Burger, you are the beneficiary of systemic racism.
Not one person believes that. It is absolutely ridiculous. It makes no sense. It's insulting to all of us. It's degrading to all of us -- because it's too unfair. But they don't care.
The goal isn't to convince you, the goal is to make you as cynical as they are. They think they can accomplish that and maybe they can by rubbing their total lack of moral standards into your face.
Just weeks ago, the media that doesn't care about Yale's overt discrimination against Asians was horrified about the term Wuhan coronavirus because it could hurt Chinese Americans, they said. They never explained how, but they said it. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The President referred to the coronavirus as a quote, "foreign virus."
And I think it's going to smack -- it is going to come across to a lot of Americans as a smacking of xenophobia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Xenophobic wartime Trump where he thinks the only path now is to basically declare the virus public enemy number one, painted in somewhat racist terms.
KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__MOVEON.ORG&d=DwICAg&c=cnx1hdOQtepEQkpermZGwQ&r=tgDLkJy54PfJyWJwul3dKe54qGxqO7b7d5vjo7RcZds&m=J5180z5W1i7j-4ZVvg79MvzPevrI8vx1sdGS71BVz0M&s=ZG-Jgu7IVRBDyOUzTTPCHT6TAEZhiDZWIbjSCEMnTn4&e= CHIEF PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER: The xenophobia and racism in an outbreak is such a common thing and it is incredibly dangerous. It is problematic and it is scary, and I just really want to call that out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do you keep calling this the Chinese virus? Why do you keep using this? A lot of people say it is racist.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is not racist at all, no. Not at all. It comes from China. That's why.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: It is quote, "problematic and scary" to criticize the Chinese government but not to openly discriminate against Chinese American children. But you cannot criticize the government of China, anyone who does must be silenced.
White House adviser, Peter Navarro was actually thrown off the air for the crime of telling CNN's viewers where the coronavirus came from.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I will say that this virus that is affecting the United States right now is --
PETER NAVARRO, DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF TRADE AND MANUFACTURING POLICY: The China virus. The CCP virus
BERMAN: You know what, we let you say that once, Peter, please don't say it again on this show. I know what you're saying it.
NAVARRO: The China virus.
BERMAN: All right, Peter Navarro, we appreciate you being with us, I know what you're trying to do there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: "I know why you're saying it," the anchor scolds. Right. You're not allowed to say certain things on the air on CNN or MSNBC or else you might start thinking for yourself. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Wuhan coronavirus has now surpassed the 2003 SARS outbreak.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: The first U.S. case of Chinese coronavirus was confirmed at one of her hospitals.
KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Inside that building is the world's first lab grown copy of the Wuhan coronavirus outside Mainland China.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Chinese coronavirus death toll has jumped to at least 26 million people.
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: The death toll from the Wuhan coronavirus spiked today.
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: The Chinese virus, the coronavirus that is worrying the whole world.
MIKA BRZEZINSKI, MSNBC HOST: This comes as the Chinese coronavirus death toll has jumped to at least 26 people and sickened at least 835 people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARLSON: Oh, so it was okay to call it the Wuhan coronavirus, because it is from Wuhan, probably from a Chinese lab, actually, the evidence shows. But once that became a public relations problem for the Chinese government, you are racist for saying it.
So what can we conclude? Actual racism means nothing to these people. What matters is whether they can use racial division to advance a partisan political agenda.
Where is the ACLU in all of this? The ACLU spent, I don't know, about a hundred years worrying about racial discrimination. They were always leftwing. They did some pretty virtuous things, but they announced on Thursday that they have no problem with systemic racial discrimination in college admissions, quote: "Calling for an end to consideration of race in college admissions threatens the future of campus diversity."
Oh, in other words, says the ACLU, we need racism because it brings us diversity.
This, it goes without saying, is totally grotesque, that's why almost nobody says it out loud. They don't want you to talk about it because they can't defend it.
And in fact, once the words hit the air and people look at them, they realize, wow, this is disgusting.
And yet, Kamala Harris supports it. Along with the ACLU, she is pushing to eliminate the core anti-discrimination law in California. We can't say this enough. That's how shocking this is.
In the 1990s, Californians passed by popular vote, Proposition 209. That recognized that giving racial preference is wrong, it is morally wrong.
But Democrats have changed their view. Now, they understand that discrimination is key to their goals. A caste system, a system in which Americans are rewarded or punished based on how they were born allows them to take and maintain power.
So in some ways, the man who started this debate, at least in the modern era is a man called Ward Connerly. He is the President of Californians for Equal Rights. He is the author of the original Californians Discrimination Law that Kamala Harris and others are now trying to overturn, and he joins us tonight.
Mr. Connerly, thanks so much for coming on.
WARD CONNERLY, PRESIDENT, CALIFORNIANS FOR EQUAL RIGHTS: I'm delighted to be with you. Thanks for calling attention to this problem.
CARLSON: It is a little bit stunning. I mean, I can't -- I've thought of you many times because I'm old enough to remember when you got this ballot initiative through in California. How do you feel seeing the leaders of the modern Democratic Party work to overturn it?
CONNERLY: I am saddened, disappointed. I long for the days of John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey and all of those who were champions of Civil Rights.
But this whole business of "diversity" in quotes has taken over the country and the name of affirmative action, we are doing discriminatory acts against people who are largely who are white and of Asian descent, primarily Americans who are Chinese in descent, but Americans.
We are doing it and nobody seems to care, and the entire political structure which is a monopoly of Democrats in California believes that they are doing God's work by discriminating against people.
It's wrong. It is morally wrong and in the fullness of time, we will find if we keep on this path that it is going to lead to the economic destruction of our state.
One of the things that we are faced with in California is a ballot initiative, Proposition 16, which would repeal the initiative that 55 percent of the people in my great State of California approved.
And that initiative, Proposition 209 reads, quote: "The state (that's a small S) shall not discriminate against or grant preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in the operation of public employment, public education or public contracting."
Tucker, 37 words, hidden words, no secret to it. It is simple and it is direct, but they want to repeal it, and the ballot label that will guide the voters says that this is an effort to allow diversity.
It is corrupt. It is morally corrupt. It is a plague on our democracy to mischaracterize it and we are worried, because we don't have the dollars that they have. They've had two people contribute a million dollars apiece.
The founder of Netflix and another billionaire, they've kicked in $2.5 million to do this and I'll bet you they can tell you what they were doing if their life depended upon it. But that's where we are.
CARLSON: It's the saddest thing I've seen in a long time, and as I've said, I've thought of you a lot, Ward Connerly, and I'm grateful that you came on tonight and put that as clearly as you just did. Thank you.
CONNERLY: Thank you.
CARLSON: So the question before us now is, "Can coronavirus survive in frozen foods?" Is it in your popsicle this August? Dr. Siegel joins us to separate fact from fiction.
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CARLSON: The island nation of New Zealand went 102 days without a single local coronavirus transmission, but now, they are panicked because a small number of new cases they believe might have come in frozen food.
Meanwhile, Chinese cities say they found small traces of coronavirus in chicken wings they got from Brazil. So should we ban frozen food and what is the future of popsicles?
Dr. Marc Siegel is a Fox News medical contributor, we are happy to have him on tonight. Doctor, what is the truth?
DR. MARC SIEGEL, FOX NEWS MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Tucker, this is politics of fear, the international edition tonight, and let's start with China, exporters of the coronavirus.
Now, they are claiming, whoa, we are importing frozen food, as you said, chicken wings from Brazil and also Ecuador shrimp that they found traces of coronavirus on. Wouldn't that be international justice by the way if the exporters of the virus suddenly were reimporting it?
Well, that's too good to be true because the truth is that having traces of this coronavirus doesn't lead to infection.
We found in Nebraska when we were out there, it was found in all the surfaces. It doesn't mean that you are going to get sick from it.
The World Health Organization, by the way agrees with me. I wish I could add that to the list except we know from covering it on this show how often they have been wrong. So I won't count that as a reason.
But nevertheless, it's not the case.
Now, secondly, New Zealand. Well, New Zealand is panicking tonight, Tucker, because of 30 people got COVID-19. They are tracing it to a ship, a freight ship, but they are saying, how do we know it's not in the frozen food that the ship brought ashore?
Well, I'm going to tell you something in New Zealand, it's in one of the workers, I'm sure that came ashore illegally. That's got to be what it is.
They broke the quarantine and you know what you're doing, New Zealand? You're reacting -- overreacting for 30 people by shutting down the City of Auckland. Tucker, 1.7 million people have to stay at home now.
So, here's my prescription for the weekend, Tucker. Take that popsicle out of the freezer. Do not boil it. You can eat it as it is and the chicken wings in your freezer, I want you to cook them, but not because of coronavirus, because of E. coli -- Tucker.
CARLSON: A greater threat than coronavirus in this case. Dr. Marc Siegel, happy to have you tonight, thanks so much.
SIEGEL: Happy weekend.
CARLSON: You, too.
Well, as promised, an F.B.I. lawyer expected to plead guilty to falsifying evidence that was used to spy on a Trump campaign aide. Are more criminal convictions on the way? That's all next.
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CARLSON: Sources have confirmed to Fox News that a former F.B.I. lawyer called Kevin Clinesmith plans to plead guilty to falsifying evidence -- evidence that the F.B.I. use to get a surveillance warrant on Carter Page. Page, of course, the former Trump aide whose life was overturned in the Russia nonsense.
According to the Inspector General of the Justice Department, Clinesmith deliberately altered a C.I.A. e-mail to make it seem that Page was hiding his communications with Russia.
In fact, the C.I.A. said, Page was disclosing those communications and was acting as an informant to the U.S. government.
Clinesmith reportedly showed the full e-mail to others at the F.B.I. and D.O.J., so where are they? Are more prosecutions coming?
Nobody knows more about this topic or can explain it more clearly than Mollie Hemingway, a senior editor at "The Federalist" and a frequent guest on this show. We are happy to have her tonight.
Mollie, I am just going to throw it to you. What have we learned from this? And what is coming?
MOLLIE HEMINGWAY, SENIOR EDITOR OVER AT "THE FEDERALIST": Well, we already knew that Kevin Clinesmith had doctored evidence to in order to illegally spy on Carter Page. Today, we actually have the guilty plea or we believe that that's coming, the guilty plea showing that that happened.
This is the beginning of the possibility that people will be held accountable for the conspiracy to target the Trump campaign through an illegal campaign to spy on the Trump campaign and the Trump administration, to criminally leak about them, to doctor evidence.
There is a lot of wrongdoing. Unfortunately, a lot of the wrongdoing might not meet the criminal threshold, but when it does, Attorney General Barr has said that people will be held accountable and when it doesn't, he says, we are still going to find out what happened and how it was that so many people within the government, the Democratic Party, the never Trump movement and their co-conspirators in the media were able to perpetrate this scheme against the Trump administration.
CARLSON: So we find, apparently find, we haven't seen the guilty plea, but it looks like an F.B.I. lawyer has admitted corruption.
Corrupt F.B.I. lawyers are a danger to every American no matter who they voted for, so you'd think the left would be celebrating this cleaning up operation. Are they?
HEMINGWAY: Tucker, it is so rare for anyone affiliated with the F.B.I. to actually be held accountable for something like this, so it really speaks to how serious of a problem it was and how much they had the goods on him.
And you know, when every little thing was dripped out by the media for years claiming that there was collusion between the Trump administration and Russia, now that we actually have our first example here of criminal wrongdoing, the media are kind of downplaying it and acting like it's not a big deal.
And that's understandable because they were implicated in this as well. In fact, they were some of the worst offenders in perpetrating this collusion hoax on the American people. The last thing that they want is for anyone to be held accountable and they are trying to make sure this story goes away as quickly as possible.
CARLSON: You don't want a corrupt F.B.I. In just one sentence, when a Democrat finally does get to the White House, do you think they're going to clean up the F.B.I.? Do you think they are going to be afraid of the F.B.I.? Will everyone be afraid of the F.B.I. forever now?
HEMINGWAY: This should never happen to anyone, and you know, everyone is pointing out that today, we are talking about this one guy who actually doctored evidence, but in that court document today, it also showed that the F.B.I. actually knew the entire time that Carter Page was an operational contact of the C.I.A. They withheld that in all of their spy warrants and that is a really big problem.
CARLSON: Former Naval Officer, Carter Page, destroyed. Mollie, thank you. It is great to see you.
That's it for us. Conventions next week. We will be here every single night, eight Eastern. "Hannity" next.
Have a great weekend.
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