Former Andrew Yang staffer challenging Rep. Nadler in 2020
Candidate Jonathan Herzog discusses his goal to unseat House Judiciary Committee chairman Nadler on 'The Ingraham Angle.'
This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," August 15, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JASON CHAFFETZ, HOST: Thanks, Sean.
I'm Jason Chaffetz in for Laura Ingraham. And this is "The Ingraham Angle" from Washington tonight.
President Trump just wrapped up a huge campaign rally in the battleground state of New Hampshire. Our power panel is standing by to break down the big moments. And shocking new information tonight about the suspect who shot six police officers in Philadelphia in that standoff you saw here last night.
New Jeffrey Epstein autopsy details raise serious questions about what happened in that cell. And more than 100 seizures and dozens of teens hospitalized with severe lung injuries possibly tied to vaping. Dr. Drew Pinsky is here with the prescription to end this. Plus, some information about what's going on in California with homelessness. Plus, the millennial who wants to unseat one of Trump's biggest headaches in Washington is here exclusively.
But first, we start with a Fox News Alert. President Trump holding a massive campaign rally in New Hampshire tonight. Trump hit all his biggest accomplishments in office and promised to keep America great if reelected.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: We are actually here today to officially launch our campaign to win the great State of New Hampshire in 2020. Three years ago, we campaigned across the country on a pledge to make America great again, and that's exactly what we've done.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: The United States right now has the hottest economy anywhere in the world. We're rebuilding that awesome might that we were just talking about, our United States armed forces. America is working again, America is winning again, and America is respected again, respected like never before.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: My administration is fighting to expand opportunity for citizens of every background and every race, religion, color, and creed. Very important. Because we are all Americans, we all share the same home, we all share the same heart, we all share the same dreams, we are all children of the same Almighty God. The forgotten men and women of America will never, ever be forgotten again. You were forgotten.
I've also taken the toughest ever action to stand up to China's chronic trade abuses. Earlier this month, the U.S. government officially labeled China for the first time ever "a currency manipulator," another promise kept.
It's globalism. I love our country. I'm the President of the United States of America. I'm not the president of the world.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: And as long as I'm President, America will never bow to a foreign nation like we were for so many years.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Vintage Trump. Here now is my political power panel. Kayleigh McEnany, National Press Secretary for Trump's 2020 campaign; Byron York, Chief Political Correspondent for the "Washington Examiner" and Fox News contributor; and Jamila Bey, radio talk show host and Democratic strategist who's joining us here in studio. Thanks all three of you.
I want to give you a chance, what's your takeaway from President Trump? A lot of energy, big crowds, and a good message. So how do Democrats fight back against that?
JAMILA BEY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST & RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: I don't know. That's a hard thing for Democrats to do. And to be blunt, that's what Trump's base wants. He did exactly what is expected of him. He went out there, he hit his talking points, and that's what his base wants. When you press on policy points, that's where I think the Democrats are going to have their opportunity.
CHAFFETZ: Kayleigh, as you watched - I believe you were at the rally tonight. What was the energy in the room and how is this resonating on the ground from your perspective?
KAYLEIGH MCENANY, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY: The energy was incredible. We had 12,000 inside, and getting here was difficult, Jason, because I had to navigate my way through 5,000 people outside. So, do the math. That's 17,000 people who showed up in a blue state. We are in New Hampshire. People came all the way for Massachusetts and all over the New England corridor because blue state voters have been left behind by Democrats.
And Jamila, I would challenge the point that policy is going to help the Democrats on the contrary. As President Trump noted tonight, our numbers go up when Democrats proliferate across Iowa. So, be out there 2020 field because you're helping us with your talking points that are radical socialism.
CHAFFETZ: Byron, there is a reason why Donald Trump went to New Hampshire. I mean, it's only got four electoral votes. But there's a reason why he's here more than a year in advance of the general election. Why - what's your assessment of why he was there? And did he do what he was supposed to do tonight for his own good?
BYRON YORK, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Well, obviously, Democrats have to concentrate on the primary states because they have primaries coming up. The President doesn't have those and he's looking at the general election states.
Now, where did he start officially his whole campaign? In Florida. Where was he most recently? In Pennsylvania. And we've heard a lot about these states that President Trump just barely want to put him over the top; Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin. New Hampshire is a state that he just barely lost by 2,736 votes. It was really, really close. And that's - if the election is close again, turning New Hampshire into his column could be a very big deal.
CHAFFETZ: Yes. Look at the numbers there. It was exceptionally close. And I think that Donald Trump thinks that he can actually win there.
Jamila, you - Jamila, you made the point about policy. Here's Donald Trump, but he assesses a policy. Look at him. Democrats versus the GOP - Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Democrats are now the party of high taxes, high crime, open borders, late-term abortion, and socialism. The Republican Party is the party of freedom. We are the party of the American worker, the American family, and the American dream. And I'm fighting for you each and every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: So - I watched that, and I think that Donald Trump is actually running on issues and things are going so well, as well as the economy. How is that - how are the Democrats going to make a case against that?
BEY: Well, we have to figure out, first of all, which Democrats are we talking about. Now, this thing is really open wide for anybody at this point. And I like to joke with my friends. I say, you know, I'm just dating right now, ask me who's ring I'm going to accept come next February or whatnot. To be blunt, the Democrats are in a bit of disarray. We don't know which people we're going to actually see duke it out come primary season. We have issues all over the board. And frankly, I will hand it to this President. He is talking about his base. Now, when we look at - he brings up--
CHAFFETZ: But it's broader than just his base because these things resonate with the American people. It's broader than just the far right side of the party.
BEY: Well, I'll tell you what. When we talk about making America great again and whatnot and we are talking about real Americans and whatnot, this China thing is blowing up farmers right now. American farmers are hurting. When the government shut down back in January, a lot of issues there. But the delivery on promised loans and subsidies and whatnot has not come through for our farmers.
We're going to see that when it's time to sit down at Thanksgiving and those prices for the staples are going up. The fact that we are in this war with China right now of rhetoric, American workers are hurting and American families are feeling that. It's great at a rally right now, and we're not hearing any specific Democrats coming out on those issues. But that's what I'm looking at.
CHAFFETZ: But - Kayleigh, there are a lot of people out there that finally see a Donald Trump standing up to China, standing up on trade, where other presidents have just let this continue to fester. But to her point, how long can this go on before a deal has to get struck before Donald Trump really takes a hit in the polls?
MCENANY: Yes. Farmers love our President. They support our President. They know they've never had a fighter like what they have in President Trump. So I - rest assured farmers support our President, as do the American people.
I can tell you, in our polling, we see in particular the Hispanic community coming toward the President because of China tariffs. They understand jobs have been taken. Wages have gone down because of China. So America is behind the President. Who they're not behind are the radical Democrats. You have AOC with a 20 percent approval rating; Ilhan Omar, 9 percent; socialism, 18 percent. And these are Democrat poll numbers.
So this President stands for America. He's patriotic. He has a roaring economy that's not stopping, and Democrats have embraced radicalism all the way from Bernie to Biden.
CHAFFETZ: So - Byron, I want to ask you about this. This is Donald Trump talking about open borders. I don't know how the Democrats survive with a policy that is an open border policy and how that would resonate with the American people. But here's Donald Trump tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They accuse our heroic border agents of running concentration camps. And they do an incredible job. And the Democrats don't want to fix the loopholes.
We have serious, serious criminals that want to come in. And if we had open borders, they would be flowing in like you've never seen before. Democrats want open borders. They don't mind crime. We do mind crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YORK: What he was referring to is in the recent Democratic debates when many of them raised their hands to support decriminalizing crossing the border illegally and offering government-paid health care to people who have come to the country illegally. There are a number of Democrats who were pretty nervous about this.
Jeh Johnson, who was President Obama's last secretary of Homeland Security, said that this amounts to virtually open borders. And indeed it does. I mean, this is one of the big, big vulnerabilities that they have. Otherwise, the President just kind of hit his greatest hits tonight. You played the biggest applause line, which is "I'm the President of the United States, not the president of the world."
CHAFFETZ: No. And I think he makes and drives home a really big point. I think we're going to continue to hear that time and time again. But I have never, ever seen a national party thrive nationally who goes after law enforcement, Border Patrol, ICE agents. How is that a winning formula come November of 2020?
BEY: When you say "go after," I want to talk--
CHAFFETZ: Disparage them. Talk about how they're running concentration camps. I mean, they - you don't see them patting them on the back. I'd tell you that.
BEY: Well, here's the thing. If you're going to show pictures of people with wire around them and laying on cement floors--
CHAFFETZ: You mean those pictures from the Obama administration, you mean those ones?
BEY: Oh, no, no, not those ones. The ones with the little crying children who are being denied access to showers and whatnot.
(CROSSTALK)
CHAFFETZ: (inaudible) buy that.
BEY: How do you not buy that? That's - that's what's--
CHAFFETZ: No. I don't think it's true. I don't--
BEY: That's what's actually happening at this point. And the bottom line is, it is not illegal to plead asylum. This country allows you to come here and say give me--
CHAFFETZ: It's illegal to come across the border and then try to do that. Coming across the border is against-- BEY: But how does one - how does one--
(CROSSTALK)
CHAFFETZ: You go to the port of entry. You go to the port of entry.
BEY: You go to the port - how do you get there? How do you get there? Look, I am in complete agreement.
CHAFFETZ: You can go to our embassies. You can go to our--
BEY: If you're - for people who believe that this is the best country in the world and that there is opportunity here, bringing your family when you say, OK, we're in danger of our lives, we're going to plead asylum, it's no different from Ellis Island. What is different? What is different is taking children away from their parents. And that's a problem. We - you want to talk about radicalizing people? You want to talk about--
CHAFFETZ: Then you know what?
BEY: an issue down the line?
CHAFFETZ: You should point - see this building--
BEY: Look at these children.
CHAFFETZ: See this building right behind me, the capital?
BEY: The capital.
CHAFFETZ: Point to the Congress because there's ICE agents and there's Border Patrol agents, they're enforcing the current law. I agree there should be changes. But you know what?
BEY: Right.
CHAFFETZ: But I - but what I see for the Democrats--
BEY: But that's not what Donald Trump--
CHAFFETZ: But - hold on. I've got to go to Kayleigh here.
BEY: OK.
CHAFFETZ: But what I see is them disparaging the men and women who put their lives in line to protect our country, protect our livelihoods, protect the safety. And there is a big contrast between what Donald Trump and the Republicans are saying and the Democrats are saying.
Kayleigh, I want to bring you in here because this is going to be a big issue. Whether Democrats want it or not, Donald Trump believes he can drive this issue all the way to November 2020, right?
MCENANY: Oh, no doubt. And the policies we just heard began under the Obama administration. It's actually President Trump who ended family separation. But anyway, nevertheless I digress from the Democrats who disparage ICE constantly. It wasn't just AOC comparing these detention facilities to concentration camps. It was Kamala Harris comparing ICE to the KKK. It was Marianne Williamson saying what is happening to illegal immigrants is like what Nazis did in Germany to Jews. This is horrible.
And then we see three attacks on ICE facilities. It's disgusting. It's hateful. And the American people stand behind ICE, which is why we stopped hearing the calls to abolish ICE. They were very loud about that. They kind of petered out. But they are back. And it's going to be much to the chagrin of the Democrats as their poll numbers plummet.
CHAFFETZ: No. And there'll be a lot more discussion on this show and others. But Byron, I want to ask you kind of here as the final question. The Corey Lewandowski factor in New Hampshire - again, four electoral votes, the President is going to fight to get those. But there's also a fight for the Senate. And there is the belief in the Republican side of the aisle that that current Democrat Senator is vulnerable. But is Corey Lewandowski the right solution there? Because there's a lot of articles saying out there that there might be some controversy to that. I'm just guessing.
YORK: Yes. Look, I think Corey Lewandowski could be a target-rich environment for some Democrats. And the fact is there was a very, very close race in 2016. Maggie Hassan beat Kelly Ayotte by two-tenths of 1 percentage point, really, really close. So obviously there is an opportunity for Republicans there. But Corey Lewandowski was President Trump's first campaign manager until he was fired. Nobody really leaves Trump world. He's been (ph) running close to the President the whole time. The President very warmly endorsed him tonight. Whether he would be a candidate who could actually get the support of New Hampshire's Republican establishment, a real, real question.
CHAFFETZ: No. This is one of the political dynamics that are going on there. But I would push back on the idea of somebody leaving the Trump world. I don't think "Mooch" is coming back into the Trump orbit.
YORK: Maybe he is not coming.
CHAFFETZ: Yes, maybe he's not coming back into the orbit. You know what? At the end of the day though, it's going to be the real men and women across this country who actually make the difference here. And here's - this is to me - personifies in a picture the difference between what Donald Trump is doing and what the Democrats are doing. This picture was taken and posted up. This is AOC with some of Hollywood's biggest elite. You see John Legend, Chrissy Teigen.
You see - you take a look at that picture. There are a lot of Hollywood celebrities there. And I'm telling you, this does not sit well because she can talk all she wants and the Democrats can claim that they are a party of the people, but when they go on to those big Hollywood photos like that, I'm telling you there are people across this country who just say, oh, yes, that's what they're really about, that's really where they're going. And I think you're going to see more of that in this election coming up.
I want to thank all of our power panel for being here. There's going to be a lot more to discuss.
Up next, disturbing new details tonight about the suspected gunman in that standoff that injured six policemen in Philadelphia. Former U.S. Attorney Andy McCarthy is here on why this guy should have been behind bars.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Shots still ringing out. Give me SWAT ASAP, Long guns, ASAP. (inaudible).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Please be advised we're still pinned down inside this location. The male is inside the kitchen shooting upwards and forwards to the opposition of the police.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Hi. Units use caution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: That's audio from the hours long Philadelphia police standoff last night that left six officers injured. The heroism there is unbelievable to me. These men and women is just - I've greatest respect. Amazing, what they do and how they do it.
We've learned the suspect has a very long criminal - violent, violent criminal history. The big question tonight, how was he not in prison?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KRASNER, PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This was someone who needed to be off the streets. These are more than enough charges so that Mr. Maurice Hill may never exit jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Chris O'Connell of our news affiliate WTXF in Philadelphia is live there with the late breaking details. Chris, tell us what's happening.
CHRIS O'CONNELL, REPORTER, WTXF FOX 29 PHILADELPHIA: Jason, investigators just a few hours ago were able to get back into that home where the gunman really paralyzed this section of North Philadelphia last night during that 7.5-hour standoff. Six police officers were injured, and miraculously they were discharged from the hospital before the suspect surrendered after midnight last night. Just miraculous.
Now, that suspect, 36-year-old Maurice Hill, he's being described as a career criminal. Police went to his home in North Philadelphia to serve a drug warrant, but they were met by gunfire. More than 200 rounds of gun shots were fired in a barrage of bullets. And at one point, in that were trapped two police officers and three prisoner hostages. They were in there for several hours communicating with police negotiators, but they were able to be freed, rescued by SWAT.
And for the next 2.5 hours, Maurice Hill held himself up inside that Philadelphia row home armed with an AK-15 assault-style rifle, and then when teargas was deployed, he came out with his hands up. But in his waistband, another handgun. He was then taken into custody without incident.
Tonight, police are just trying to deconstruct everything, especially what went on inside that house. They had to clear it with all the teargas. It took about 18 hours before police could get inside. But now the big question is, how this guy with a career criminal record got his hands on so much weaponry.
CHAFFETZ: Well - and let me follow up with that, Chris. Not only the weaponry but how in the world - why was this guy even out of jail? He shouldn't have even been breathing the air that we breathe here in the outside world. That guy should've been behind bars. Even the Philadelphia district attorney said so. What - how in the world was he not behind bars?
O'CONNELL: Well, that is a very good question, a question that many people are asking tonight. I can tell you 36-year-old Maurice Hill has been described as a career criminal, first entering the criminal justice system in 2001. He was arrested more than a dozen times, convicted six other times as recently as this year. He was arrested, but apparently the District Attorney decided not to prosecute the cases the last time he was arrested. So that is the big question tonight is, why Maurice Hill was out on the street in the first place?
CHAFFETZ: One other very quick question, Chris. Miraculously, how SWAT got up on the second floor and extracted five people when you have an active gunman just right below who was firing shots through the floor? Any other details you can give us about that?
O'CONNELL: Well, a couple other vignettes. First of all, the police won't give in the strategy on how those hostages were rescued, but they did say they were in constant communication with police officers, the Police Chief and the District Attorney by phone throughout these negotiations. So they were in constant contact. In fact, that information they were giving to police helped them make the decision on how to actually go into this house, especially with the teargas. They told this guy they're coming in at 11:45, and shortly after midnight, he came out with his hands up.
CHAFFETZ: We don't want the police to give away their tactics in the way they do things, but my goodness. I could not be more proud and more happy. I can't even imagine the joy within those families. So, Chris, thank you for the great report. We do appreciate it.
Well, it didn't take long for the Democrats to shamelessly play politics with the Philadelphia shoot-out. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR JIM KENNEY, D-PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA: No one should have access to the kind of weaponry and firepower that we saw in North Philadelphia yesterday.
GOV. TOM WOLF, D-PENN.: And I will do everything I can as Governor, but to get the General Assembly to step up and pass legislation that will start getting guns out of the hands of criminals like this.
SEN. BOB CASEY JR., D-PENN.: A ban on military-style assault weapons, which are weapons of war that should not be on our streets.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: News flash, the suspected gunman can't legally own guns under existing laws. He was breaking the law. One other law isn't necessarily going to change that. He's got a long criminal rap sheet that includes arrests for things like attempted murder, kidnapping, and his past convictions - he was a felon. He's a suspect. But he was a convicted felon, including drug dealing, aggravated assault, illegal possession of a gun.
And that's just a start. This thing goes on for pages. It's so frustrating that our men and women in uniform have to go in and clear out somebody like that because he should've been behind bars and he should've never, ever, ever be breathing the light - that light of day.
Joining me now is Andrew McCarthy, who's the former U.S. Attorney, one of the smartest people you'll ever meet, a Fox News contributor, and author of a brand-new book "Ball of Collusion: The Plot to Rig an Election and Destroy a Presidency." And you're not going to want to miss this. He's one of the great writers, a great minds. And I can't wait to go through your book. And Andrew, I thank you for being here and the great work you've done as a prosecutor along the way.
ANDREW MCCARTHY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: Thanks, Jason.
CHAFFETZ: Again, I've said it like five times, but how in the world is a punk like this even on the streets?
MCCARTHY: Jason, I think the problem here is, as you listen to the stuff, is we're bipolar on this. Right? So Monday, Wednesday and Friday, we're like "how does a guy like this get on the street?" and then Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, we want to be in favor of criminal justice reform. We're convinced that we're the carceral state that there are too many people in prison. And the pressure that that creates is what we're doing is precisely what we shouldn't be doing, which is--
CHAFFETZ: Well, wait. Andrew, I'm actually going to - I'm actually going to--
MCCARTHY: Yes.
CHAFFETZ: --push back on you a little bit. I was the original author of the criminal justice reform.
MCCARTHY: OK.
CHAFFETZ: It's not about punks like this. It's not against criminals who are hardened criminals, pedophiles, people who've got gun weapons. It is about dealing with how we deal with people with addiction and that sort of thing. But there is a huge difference with a guy with a rap sheet like this.
MCCARTHY: So you're going to tell me that - you're going to tell me - you're going to tell me that the federal prisons and the state prisons are teaming with nonviolent drug offenders? And I'm going to tell you that prison in this country, as Heather Mac Donald says, remains a lifetime achievement award for criminals. 99 percent of the people who are in prison belong in prison. And if you're going to make a priority into springing the people who are in prison to get them out, then you're going to have more guys like this out on the streets. So you've got to make up your mind what you want.
CHAFFETZ: I kind of disagree with you, because if you're there for a drug offense and you should serve your time, but we've got to reduce the rate of recidivism so guys like this are in the jail. The guys that have drug problems, yes, but if you have weapons charges, aggravated assault, robbery, attempted murder, those are the people we should put in jail and throw away the key. So that's where we need more space.
MCCARTHY: Jason--
CHAFFETZ: We've got to keep going here.
MCCARTHY: --the reason he's out is because the pressure is on the prosecutors to plead that stuff down to much less serious offenses so that we don't fill up the jails.
CHAFFETZ: Oh, and that's totally wrong. Exactly. And they should be prosecuting more gun - if you have a gun violation, they should be prosecuted and they should serve that time. And people should be scared to death. But you're right. They know they can plea this stuff out and they're going to be out of jail because no prosecutor thinks that this is going to be some big resume item. Right?
MCCARTHY: Well, yes. Well, if your priority is to get people out when they belong in, you're going to create an incentive system to plead things down, and the result inevitably is going to be that people like this guy are out on the street.
CHAFFETZ: No, I think the incentive is to get guys like this who have violent histories in jail. That's the - that should be the incentive. All right. Let me move on. All right?
MCCARTHY: OK.
CHAFFETZ: We'll continue to talk about this. I want to talk about the Epstein situation because he's on suicide watch, and then suddenly the defendant's attorney comes in and says, well, we want to take him off that. And it appears as if they did that. Does that ever happened in your situation? I mean, you've dealt with this directly in this prison?
MCCARTHY: Yes. No, Jason, it never happens. And the infuriating thing with this guy is that kind of thing happened with him from the beginning to the end. Everything that happened with this guy going back to 2007, 2008, was that he was given the upper grade of a two-tier system of justice, and he got cut every break imaginable, and then some that had to get made up as they went along. And right up until the end when he should've been on suicide watch, he should have been on a much higher level of scrutiny, and his lawyers when in and demanded -- think about it. You're the warden of this prison, a lawyer comes in and says we really think he doesn't need suicide watch anymore when you are two and half weeks after an incident where it looks like he might've tried to off himself, you're going to let the lawyer talk you into not doing your job and making sure that these prisoners are kept -- what if you are a federal judge in the next case where the government really needs to keep somebody in custody prior to trial because he might actually flee or intimidate witnesses? Do you want to be the judge to incarcerate somebody prior to trial if the government can't tell you they can protect the people they have in the system?
CHAFFETZ: No. This is too convenient and too fishy. I've only got about 20 seconds left, but tell us about your book. What is the main thesis, and what do you put out there in the book?
MCCARTHY: The real collusion, Jason, is that the Obama administration put the counterintelligence and law enforcement apparatus of our government in the service of the Clinton campaign and used our laws that are supposed to protect us from foreign powers to scrutinize and to monitor the opposition party's campaign.
CHAFFETZ: It is absolutely stunning, and I'm sure you got a great number of details. Andrew, thank you just much for being here, Andrew McCarthy.
Breaking news details in the investigation into the mysterious death of millionaire Jeffrey Epstein. A live report on what we just learned. Then Dr. Marc Siegel on what new reports --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: These bones are typically indicative, typically indicative of strangulation by another person. That doesn't mean that's what happened. We don't want to feed conspiracy theories. We just think at "The Washington Post" you need to have all the information that we can gather for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: That was "Washington Post" reporter Carol Leonnig on her bombshell new the report revealing shocking details about Jeffrey Epstein's autopsy. Dr. Marc Siegel is standing by and why these changes the entire narrative on the Epstein's death.
But first we begin with FOX News chief breaking news correspondent Trace Gallagher live in our West Coast Newsroom with the new details. Trace?
TRACE GALLAGHER, CORRESPONDENT: Jason, the autopsy showed multiple broken bones in Jeffrey Epstein's neck, including the hyoid bone, which is in the Adam's apple and most men. For clarity here, these types of breaks can absolutely happen those who hang themselves. But as your guest noted, forensic experts point out they are much more common in victims of strangulation.
That's not to say Epstein was strangled, but it does tend to boost the level of intrigue, especially about context and circumstances. Our corporate cousin, "The New York Post," says that Epstein hung himself with a bedsheet tied to the top bunk in his cell. But the correctional center has not released any details on exactly how he did it, meaning did he jump, roll, or fall off the bunk? Standard prison bunks are five and half feet high and forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht is skeptical about Epstein generated enough force to break several bones. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CYRIL WECHT, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: The nature of the hanging, no jumping, no falling through a floor like an execution, and no jumping from the top of a step ladder, there is no velocity. Where does the force come from?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: Remember, on July 23rd, Epstein was found with bruises on his neck and claimed he was beaten up and choked by his cellmate. Epstein's autopsy was completed Sunday, but the cause of death is still pending, though it's also important to point out the guards ignored Epstein for ours, so we could have been hanging for a while.
But in 2008, a Maryland teenager accused of killing a police officer died of an apparent suicide in jail, but two days later the cause of death was changed to homicide because the medical examiner found the teen had a broken hyoid. Nobody was every charged, but the teen's death to this day remains a mystery. Jason?
CHAFFETZ: Interesting. Trace, thank you very much.
Joining me, Dr. Marc Siegel, professor of medicine at NYU's Langone Medical Center, and a FOX News contributor. Doctor, I've heard you many times on FOX, and I appreciate your reporting. Going back to what the other doctor in Trace's report talked about, the idea of velocity. This is a detention center that's been place for decades. It's not as if they haven't dealt with this before. They do know how to deal with this. So to the other doctor's comment about velocity, this looks so suspicious. What's your medical take on it?
DR. MARC SIEGEL, CONTRIBUTOR: I want to start with what the medical examiner, chief medical examiner of New York, has had, which is that all information must be synthesized in order to determine the cause and manner of death. The fact that she is even saying that means that all the information is not in. And we are getting very sketchy information. It certainly looks like a suicide to begin with, right. "The New York Post" reporting the bed sheet, the bunk bed, which is ridiculous, that it was in the room, that he was alone, that the guards were sleep, that they falsified records, that he had been on suicide watch previously, that he was clearly depressed, all of these things pointed in that direction and pointed towards incompetence.
But now you have to wonder because of the report out today that talks about multiple fractures in the neck. You just showed Dr. Wecht talking about that. I spoke to add that I spoke to a trauma surgeon tonight, Jason, a top trauma surgeon, who says multiple fractures in the neck are more consistent, again, not definitive, but more consistent with homicidal strangulation than with hanging.
And the hyoid bone, as you get older -- I don't want to be too technical here -- as you get older, the chances of breaking that hyoid bone right around the Adam's apple, as Trace pointed out, goes up with hanging, but it's still far more common with strangulation, with homicidal strangulation. So we don't know yet. We don't have enough information. We don't know if the doors open. We don't know what happened to the arteries in the neck. We don't know where they fractures in the neckwear. We need more information. Were there bruises on the body? These things have to come out and they have to come out in the final report. But homicide in my opinion has been added to the possibilities here, and that is deeply disturbing.
CHAFFETZ: But my understanding, doctor, is that that autopsy was done days ago. Aren't they going to know at the end of that -- maybe I was watching "Quincy" when I was a little kid too often, but you pretty much know at the end of the autopsy, or they are legitimately waiting for some sort of lab report that takes a week. But it seems highly suspicious to me on such a high-profile case. They know, don't they, what happened at this point?
SIEGEL: Let me push back a little, Jason. It's highly suspicious, yes, that they haven't released the findings yet, and also that they brought in Dr. Michael Baden, who is a superstar at these things, but if he's on a case overlooking it, you better believe that there's a question mark here. What caused this, because, again, you know somebody suffocated but you don't know how. And with all these fractures, I am more suspicious than before.
And again, I can't rule out suicide here. That is still on the table. But now we need more information because homicide is a possibility. Dr. Michael Baden is famous for being brought on cases like this and overruling what the presumption is.
CHAFFETZ: Doctor, thank you so much. There is the whole medical side, I totally get that, but there's also the suspicion of what was going on in that prison facility. But thank you for your expertise and joining us tonight.
SIEGEL: You bet, very strange. Thanks.
CHAFFETZ: Dozens of teens hospitalized with severe lung injuries possibly tied to vaping. Dr. Drew Pinsky, one of our favorites, is here with new warnings to parents. Up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM SCIBELLI, ON-AIR PERSONALITY, BARSTOOL SPORTS: I'm 22 years old, so I'm using them legally. And honestly, they are just cool. They're cool. You rip them. There's nothing cooler than blowing fat cloud like that. They call me the colossus of cloud. It helps my swag. It helps my drip. I just love walking around. It's really good for getting chicks, too. So honestly I started about a year ago --
LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: What's your favorite --
SCIBELLI: -- I haven't looked back since.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Wow. That was Barstool Sports personality Tommy Smokes just in July telling Laura why he loves to vape with e-cigarettes. Millions of people are vaping for precisely the same reason. It looks cool, supposedly. But is looking cool really worth a trip to the hospital? Several Midwest states are investigating dozens of cases of teenagers being hospitalized with severe lung issues after reportedly using e-cigarettes. On top of that, the FDA is already looking into 127 reports of seizures possibly tied to vaping.
Joining me now is Dr. Drew Pinsky, radio host and medicine addiction specialist. Dr. Drew, thanks for being here. My understanding of vaping is if you have a cigarette addiction and you're trying to wean your way off of that, maybe this is a good way to do that. But we have millions of young people who are thinking hey, this is safe. Nothing's going to happen to me. I'm just vaping. It's not cigarettes.
DR. DREW PINSKY, ADDICTION MEDICINE SPECIALIST: Right. So it is a little complicated. That guy that was talking about his swag, that was just beyond imagination. You could imagine in the 1930s somebody saying that about cigarettes, right? So a similar kind of phenomenon going on here.
But the fact is medical literature shows repeatedly that vaping is one of the best ways to get off cigarettes. Tobacco is the problem, not nicotine. And for some reason we are in a moral panic about nicotine. Now, whether or not the vaping products themselves have something in them that could cause lung damage, for instance, that is a concern. In this particular case you guys are reporting on, these were all cannabis or CBD products. These were not nicotine products, at least every one I've read about. And so it may not be the vaping in this case. It may be something about the cannabis products or the way they are being prepared.
Now, even though the vaping is a great way to get off cigarettes and tobacco, it doesn't mean it's good for adolescents to expose their brain to nicotine, because we know for sure that nicotine when you are exposed to it early, you become permanently addicted to it.
CHAFFETZ: But they are targeting these -- watch, we're going to scroll up on the screen some of the ads. Some of these are targeted to very young people, gummy bears and those types of things.
PINSKY: Yes. They have been, yes.
CHAFFETZ: They have been targeting the youth market as a way to grow this segment of the business.
PINSKY: Look, when it comes to my eye, when I look at vaping, when I look at the cannabis products, they are all taking a page from big tobacco. They are using all the same mechanisms, the same ideas, addicting people early and young. It's all the same stuff. So that's where our focus should be. It shouldn't be a moral panic about vaping generally or about nicotine products. It should be about the marketing to young people and the fact that these companies, both the THC, CBD, really the THC and the nicotine companies, the vaping companies, are going at us in the very same way that the tobacco companies did.
CHAFFETZ: All right, Dr. Drew, I want to go to something you're just passionate about, and that is the homelessness problem in California. I want to show you Governor Newsom and what he said recently.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM, D-CALIF.: The folks that were on the street when we left, the vast majority of them were not from California. The vast majority also coming in from, and we know this, from Texas. Just interesting fact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Are you kidding me? He is dismissing this as if it's not a California problem. These people are coming from Texas. That's what's causing the problem.
PINSKY: One of the things that has me so passionate about this is the way our representatives are talking about the issue. They keep focusing on the economic disparity and the housing issue, which is not what this is. This is a mental health crisis. This is not something you see in third world countries because third world countries take care of their sick people.
We are allowing people -- we have privileged a symptom called Anosognosia. Anosognosia is something that happens when you get a stroke in the right side of your brain, let's say the left side goes out. You are unaware of it. It turns out that addiction, psychotic, psychiatric illnesses cause the very same part of the brain to shut off, and we have privileged that in the law now so we can't get near people to help them when they need it. That then sends them to the streets. They languish, and people are dying.
My question to Newsom and the rest, what's the body count? How many have to die before they are going to do something about this and change their rhetoric and focus on the mental health crisis this is?
CHAFFETZ: I only have 30 seconds, but in Hawaii they are doing something differently. What do you suggest California do?
PINSKY: Expand gravely disabled, expand our conservatorships, modify Prop 47, which has made drug use and essentially trafficking essentially legal, and then enforce the vagrancy laws so people are motivated into treatment. It's very simple.
But most importantly, always get a mental health team in with the police. It's working in the city of Pomona right now, which is becoming a model for this. We can do this if we focus on the fact that this is a mental health crisis as a result of shutting down the state mental health system.
CHAFFETZ: I love your passion behind this. Dr. Drew, I hope you keep it up and are able to continue to spread the word because I think you are part of the solution, not part of the problem here.
PINSKY: Appreciate it. I hope so.
CHAFFETZ: Coming up, meet the man who wants to replace one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington. It's an "Ingraham angle" exclusive up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JONATHAN HERZOG, D-CHALLENGING REPRESENTATIVE NADLER IN 2020: Last year I moved to Iowa to help build a grassroots presidential campaign. As the campaign took off, the question came up over and over again. How are we going to get this agenda through Congress? This is my answer. So join the movement and let's fix the system together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: That was Jonathan Herzog, a former top staffer on Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang's presidential campaign, and now he's formally announced since he left the campaign a bit of his own to unseat house Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler in New York's tenth congressional district. Joining me now for an "Ingraham Angle" exclusive is Jonathan Herzog. I appreciate and respect anybody who is willing to throw their hat in the ring of thinks that they can do something better, especially against a long-term in common. By the way, I took on somebody in my party who had been there for 14 years and I beat him. So it can be done with even a small amount of money.
Your platform, though, I've got to tell you is, when I look at it, freedom dividend, Medicare for all, this democracy dollars that you call, is that really what it takes in order to win in New York's tenth district?
HERZOG: Thank you for having me. And the reason I'm running on this platform is we are going through a fundamental economic shift, the greatest in our history where we are automating away the most common jobs in our economy. Working in retail is still the most common job. And so we need to enact meaningful solutions to help hundreds of thousands of folks here in New York and especially in the tenth district transition through this fundamental economic shift.
CHAFFETZ: So how do you beat Jerry Nadler? He's been there for a long time. He is a powerful Judiciary Committee chairman. How do you actually beat an incumbent like that in New York City?
HERZOG: It starts with proposing bold solutions that address the central challenges of our time. Again, if you have a $1 trillion tech company like Amazon, let's say, paying zero in federal taxes, then certainly we need to look up and say we need to pass freedom dividend of a $1,000 a month to put it into the hands, put economic resources directly into the hands of New Yorkers. And so putting forth bold solutions that address the challenges of our time is what will bring us across the finish line.
CHAFFETZ: Jonathan, are you following in AOC's footsteps and saying Amazon, don't come to New York. We don't want you here?
HERZOG: Certainly, we have to embrace technology and progress and all the great innovations that are coming our way.
CHAFFETZ: Come on, Jonathan. Do you want Amazon to come to New York, yes or no?
HERZOG: Look, we are pro-jobs.
CHAFFETZ: That was a yes-no question.
(LAUGHTER)
HERZOG: Yes, it is good to have job growth.
CHAFFETZ: So AOC was wrong? AOC was wrong?
(LAUGHTER)
HERZOG: We have to focus on the fact that if you go to the Amazon Go store, for example, in Brookfield Place in our district --
CHAFFETZ: No, no, no. Jonathan, Jonathan. I do this for a living. You're going to get a lot of it if you're running a race. Was AOC wrong or right?
HERZOG: Look, our focus is on making sure that the tens of millions of folks who work right now in retail have a meaningful path forward and a transition. And right here in the tenth district, we lost 10,000 retail jobs over the last number of years. And so we have to focus on the problems on the ground facing New Yorkers. We have a mindset of economic and social insecurity, and we have to put resources into our hands to help us move forward.
CHAFFETZ: Well, listen, I appreciate it. I think -- you were Harvard Law, you're very accomplished. I love that you have passion for being involved in helping out on a presidential campaign. We need good people on both sides of the aisle.
The only thing I'd challenge with, and I won't give you enough time to answer, unfortunately, is I think while you did well in Harvard Law, maybe not so good in math, because giving 250 million people, adults, a thousand dollars a month adds, it adds up to trillions of dollars. I think $3 trillion a year. I don't know how you get from here to there. I will give you 20 seconds before we wrap up.
HERZOG: So the headline cost is much lower. But really, again, we have to ask the question, we have to look up, how is it that these $1 trillion companies are paying zero in taxes, less than you and I? This is the key challenge of our time.
CHAFFETZ: There's a reason for that. We'll do that tax thing. I've got to wrap up here. Good luck. You're running against Jerry Nadler so we are rooting for you. So good luck for you.
(LAUGHTER)
HERZOG: Thank you.
CHAFFETZ: Stay tuned. President Trump with our Last Bite coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: The Green New Deal is a beautiful thing.
(BOOS)
TRUMP: No, it's a beautiful thing. We want it to continue onward until about a month before the election. I will let them have it like you've never heard before.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: I don't want them to change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Vintage Trump.
My book, my new book, it's called "Power Grab." It's coming out soon, September 3rd. But you can pre-order it and you'll love it. You're going to want to get it. I'll be back here again tomorrow night. Shannon Bream and the "Fox News @ Night" team take it from here.
Shannon?
Content and Programming Copyright 2019 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2019 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox