Former CIA official: Left pushing hoaxes for fear and monetary gain

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Former CIA official: Left pushing hoaxes for fear and monetary gain

Democrats hint they may accuse AG Barr of a cover-up; reaction from former CIA operations officer Bryan Dean Wright.

This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," March 29, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

TUCKER CARLSON, HOST: Good evening and welcome to “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” It's probably hard to imagine being more cynical about the news media than you already are. You watched the coverage, you know how totally dishonest it is, you read their tweets, you know how a vindictive and unimpressive they are.

If one of your kids went to work at CNN, would you even tell your neighbors? You might be more tempted to say he was in prison. It's less embarrassing, so it is going to be hard to shock with more stories about corruption in the news business, but prepare yourself, we have got a new one.

Today, an independent journalist called Yashar Ali wrote an account of an experience he just had with Dafna Linzer. Linzer is a former "Washington Post" reporter. She now oversees all political coverage for both NBC News and MSNBC. Ali did not expect to be talking to her, he just got on the phone with the Democratic National Committee. He had a scoop about the dates of the first primary debates, it's not a big deal, but he wanted to make sure that his facts were right.

The DNC confirmed his story, but then asked Ali to delay publishing it. They wanted time to notify their state parties about it first. Ali refused. He doesn't work for the DNC, he just wanted to break his story.

That was it. And then he got an unexpected call from Dafna Linzer, again who works at NBC News. Here is Ali's account of what happened next, quote, "She asked if I could hold the story and I said, I couldn't. She was agitated, "Why not?" I said, I am not going to lose a scoop, and then she got angrier and said, "Why not? It's not a big deal, let them make a few phone calls." My jaw dropped. I realize that Dafna Linzer, the head of all political coverage for NBC News and MSNBC was not calling to advocate for her network, she was calling to advocate the DNC's position. She wanted me to wait to so they could call state party leaders. The head of the political division was trying to bully me at the behest of the DNC over a dumb scoop." Unquote.

Pretty shocking. Now before you dismiss it as hearsay, keep in mind that Yasher Ali is not a conservative, hardly. He once worked for Gavin Newsom, he was a fundraiser for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. He is not a right winger. He is the opposite. He has no reason to lie about this.

The head political executive at NBC News was doing errands for the DNC. She's a hack. This kind of behavior is par at NBC News. During the last campaign, the Chairman of NBC, Andy Lack leaked the "Access Hollywood" tape to "The Washington Post." Why? Because he wanted to make sure Hillary Clinton won the presidency. Then he lied about it and crushed the career of Billy Bush because he was on the way.

A year later, NBC tried to protect Hillary Clinton's close friend, Harvey Weinstein. They tried to kill a story about his sexual assaults and then they lied about that, too. They got caught. Last fall, when the creepy porn lawyer was making wild gang rape allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, during his confirmation hearing, NBC News knowingly sat on evidence that would have cleared Kavanaugh's name, but they didn't release it.

If Chuck Schumer demanded the United States invade Belgium tomorrow, NBC News would dutifully produce a report about WMDs stockpiles in Brussels. The Walloons are the real threat. Whatever it takes.

Hours after Robert Mueller deflated the Russia hoax, Nancy Pelosi commanded the press corps to start covering healthcare. She said that out loud in a press conference, so CNN immediately scrapped its entire lineup.

The next day, every show on CNN from six in the morning until midnight, every single one without any exception repeated Democratic talking points about Obamacare. These are not journalists, these are faithful servants of the Democratic Party. It might be easier if they just admitted it, we all know it.

Chris Plante hosts a radio program, "The Chris Plante Show," one of the best things ever on radio and he joins us tonight. We are happy he is here. How exactly would this happen -- the mechanics is a little bit confusing to me. How would the Director of Political Coverage at NBC News know that Yasher Ali was working on this story?

CHRIS PLANTE, RADIO SHOW HOST: Well, she got a call from the DNC and someone at the DNC when Yasher Ali called and then said, "I've got this scoop and I'm going to run for your fun for a couple of minutes." They said, well, who do you call to kill the story? And I'm sure they have a long list of people, a phone book of people in the news media, but they choose to call for this purpose, Dafna Linzer, who as you said is the Director of all political coverage for NBC and MSNBC.

And what did she do? Did she say, "Well, I can't do that -- that would be unethical." She dutifully called at the request of the DNC a freelance reporter. This is a woman who has great power in the news media. If you are a freelance reporter, NBC and MSNBC are possible sources of revenue for you and for your wife and your children and for their college fund, and Yasher Ali very much to his credit took umbrage with her acquiescence to the DNC's call and he sounded the alarm.

Now he is going to be hurt for this professionally because Dafna Linzer does not appreciate, and NBC News does not appreciate that Yasher Ali went public with this because theoretically, at least, it is embarrassing to them, but the DNC knew. Who do we call? We want to spike this story. How do we put this on ice? Let's call Dafna, she can dangle a little bit of a thread over his head, he is a freelance guy. He can't alienate network people. She is a bigwig. She call and put him on the ice. She called -- can you imagine doing such a thing.

CARLSON: Well, but that's actually the question I was going to ask you. So you are an out of closet conservative and you do multiple hours every day on your own views. You don't hide your views from anyone.

PLANTE: Right.

CARLSON: If the -- and I am sure you vote Republican most of the time.

PLANTE: I do.

CARLSON: If the RNC called you tomorrow morning and said another reporter has a story that's inconvenient to us, would you help kill it? What would you say?

PLANTE: I would laugh in their faces. And it's funny we're having a discussion about this this morning. I do conservative political talk radio and we were talking this morning in our morning meeting with Bill Hess and Victoria and Michael about how much higher my standards are as a journalist.

I'm not even technically a journalist anymore but my standards are so much higher. My ethics are so much higher than Dafna Linzer's and the Joe Scarborough's and shall I continue -- Chuck Todd's and the list goes on and on, and Jim Sciutto and so many others. That really, journalism is dead. And I was thinking about it when I was driving over here, Tucker, and I was a journalist for a long time. I worked for CNN for a long period of time.

CARLSON: We worked there together, yes.

PLANTE: I worked there for a period of time. I didn't leave journalism, journalism left me to paraphrase the great Ronald Reagan. Journalism is just on the ropes, and they are beyond that. They are dead. This thing is so bought and paid for at this point. Every day is a prize fight. And the referee is paid off. He is bought and paid for.

CARLSON: But at a certain point, if a channel gives itself over to the specific instructions of a political party, which I think CNN and NBC News both have, and MSNBC right now is running an infomercial right now as we speak for the Green New Deal, okay, shouldn't they have to declare that as an in-kind contribution?

PLANTE: Well, I've been talking about that in my radio show also. President Trump brought this up as a tweet about three weekends ago and the news media became apoplectic and when we said, maybe we should take a look at the FCC licenses of the networks.

And my first thought was, "Well, that's not a great idea," and I thought about it for a day or so and I said, "You know, I've got to tell you, these are not political organizations. They are not journalistic organizations or least the balance has shifted from being legitimate journalistic organizations that serve a very important function in our republic.

These are the guys that are supposed to be calling balls and strikes. And every day, it's crooked. Every day. It's not the thumb on the scale, their elbow is on the scale.

CARLSON: No, it's totally correct. They are not even --

PLANTE: And corrupt is -- you know, Bernie Goldberg years ago, a former CBS News correspondent wrote a book called "Bias." The book and the idea of bias in the media is a quaint notion of a bygone era. The word is "corruption."

CARLSON: No that's exactly -- and last thing, NBC leaked its own internal video the "Access Hollywood" tape ...

PLANTE: Right.

CARLSON: ... to "The Washington Post," okay, two old friends from Harvard, two separate news organizations leaked it. They've never faced any penalty for that. They've never had to explain how that happened. No one even mentions it anymore. Why?

PLANTE: They win awards for this. There is no punishment. There is punishment if you leaks something that hurt the Democratic Party. There's going to be punishment for a Yasher Ali.

CARLSON: No, you're right.

PLANTE: Because he told the truth. One of my favorite phrases of my own, and that is "nothing gets you in trouble in Washington like the truth."

CARLSON: It's true and for the record, I don't even like Yasher Ali, I never have.

PLANTE: Yes, I don't know him personally.

CARLSON: We don't share the same politics. I am not a fan.

PLANTE: Right, no.

CARLSON: But he is being honest and he will be punished for it. You're absolutely right.

PLANTE: I'll take the truth wherever it's coming from.

CARLSON: I will, too. I totally agree with that. Chris Plante, an honest man.

PLANTE: Thanks, Tucker.

CARLSON: From Russia, to Covington, two basic human biology -- the left for some reason keeps falling for superstitions and conspiracy theories, why is that? We'll investigate after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: A huge number of well-known people disgraced themselves during the two years of the Russian collision hoax, but two of them stand above the rest -- former CIA Chief John Brennan and former FBI Director Jim Comey. We expect lawmakers to grandstand on flimsy pretext, that's what they do for a living. We don't expect much of anything from the news media, they are toadies and buffoons.

But our most powerful bureaucrats are supposed to be, they need to be impressive. They have a lot of control over this country and the people who live here. We need them to be fair and smart and level-headed.

John Brennan has shown himself to be none of those things. During his years serving Barack Obama, Brennan was known mostly for lying. Under Trump, he's become a full-blown wild-eyed conspiracy nut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: He is feeding and fueling hatred and animosity and misunderstandings among Americans.

I used the term that this is nothing short of treasonous because it is a betrayal of the nation. He is giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Treasonous is defined as a betrayal of trust, as well as aiding and abetting the enemy and so that was the word that came to my mind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Aha. Jim Comey meanwhile is smarter than John Brennan, not that that's hard, but he's a political partisan something that no FBI Director should ever be. At times his judgment has been bizarre. Watch him for example suggest that the most lurid portions of the obviously fake Steele dossier might in fact be real.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: I honestly never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but I don't know whether the current President of the United States was with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow in 2013. It's possible, but I don't know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: These people are a joke. Those are the two most powerful unelected bureaucrats in Barack Obama's government and you would not hire them to run a CVS. They are idiots. They are self-agonizing narcissists who believed an absurd story about a "pee tape" that ran on some cat blog and they're not alone.

Congressman Adam Schiff is still rambling on like a mental patient about Russian conspiracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ADAM SCHIFF, D-CALIF., CHAIRMAN, HOUSE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: From the puppet you might think it's okay that their only disappointment after that meeting was that the dirt they received on Hillary Clinton wasn't better. You might think that's okay. I think it's immoral. I think it's unethical. I think it's unpatriotic and yes I think, it's corrupt. And evidence of collusion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Immoral, unethical, unpatriotic. People didn't use to talk like that, particularly those who are already all three, but it's not just Adam Schiff. The rest of his party is already joining the new conspiracy theory and it's this -- Bill Barr, the Attorney General may look like a decent guy, in fact, a living stereotype of the traditional moderate Republican, but looks deceive.

In fact, Barr is an enemy operative, a Putin stooge working secretly for Mother Russia. He cannot be trusted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, D-N.Y., SENATE MINORITY LEADER: For Mr. Barr to quickly issue a four-page report in his attempt to try and exonerate President Trump as to much of the odor of political expediency to help the man who appointed him, President Trump.

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CARLSON: So if Chuck Schumer says it, you can be sure the entire herd of brainless Democratic presidential candidates say it, too.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER, D-N.J., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm deeply troubled by Barr himself, one of the reasons I voted against him. I mean, he should have recused himself in my opinion, so I have a lot of problems with Barr.

STEPHEN COLBERT, LATE NIGHT SHOW HOST: Do you trust Barr's judgment on obstruction here?

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MASS., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, D-N.Y., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think what the Attorney General did is undermine the purpose of the Special Counsel's job and I think Speaker Pelosi's is quite right when she says, it was not only arrogant, but very disrespectful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: You know, it's really hard to overstate how dumb this is. We're searching for the words. We know a lot about Bill Barr. He's been in the public eye for 40 years. He was the Attorney General under George H.W. Bush. He gave money to Jeb Bush's 2016 campaign. In fact, it's hard to imagine that Barr even voted for Donald Trump -- not his kind of guy and yet now, for some reason, Bill Barr has developed such a deep loyalty to Donald Trump that he is willing to destroy his own reputation, subvert American government and commit crimes. Why?

In order to help Donald Trump, his new love, hide his criminal Russian collusion. That's what they're telling you. It's ridiculous. It's insane, but they tell you a lot of things like that with remarkable frequency that people were supposed to be the most impressive in our society, fall for hoaxes that no normal person would ever believe.

Jussie Smollett's transparently bogus hate crime, a dozen more just like it in the past two years. The fake Duke rape case, the even faker UVA fraternity rapes. The Covington high school kids. They hated American- Indians. Weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. The fraudulent FDA food pyramid that helped make America fatter and less healthy -- eat more breakfast cereal, that'll slim you down. They bought all of this and much more without even pausing.

When creepy porn lawyer told them that Brett Kavanaugh was a sex criminal, they believed him. Then they told us that creepy porn lawyer would make a good President. These are the people who bragged about how much they revere science, "We're the party of science," and at the same time insist that you can change your biological sex by wishing it so.

Forty years ago, these same people warned us a new Ice Age was coming. Now, they shriek about global warming. They will literally believe anything.

On the left, the enlightenment is over. Superstition reigns in its place. This is what happens when conventional religion, the ones we all mock, die. People who say, "Well, I'm secular, just find something even more implausible to believe in and impose on the rest of us," but with way less self-awareness and therefore, far more dangerously.

Brian Dean Wright is a Democrat, a former CIA officer and he joins us tonight. I can't get past this, Brian not that politics -- and I know we've put clips up of politicians nodding in their bovine way agreeing with whatever ludicrous conspiracy is out there. But that's what they do. They're not geniuses. They'll say whatever it takes.

But the head of the CIA and the head of the FBI ought to be sober, restrained, wise people and now we know they're not. How did this happen?

BRIAN DEAN WRIGHT, FORMER CIA OPS OFFICER: Well, you would think that they would have been, but they violated not only their oath to the country, but there ought to fellow officers such as myself. I mean, are we are taught very explicitly that you don't violate that line between America's politics and the Intelligence Community, Brennan and Clapper and Comey, all three of them have done it.

But if you step back, I think there are a couple things happening why Democrats are falling for these kinds of hoaxes, the Brennan's and the Clapper's, that's stuff -- that's coup d'etat stuff. If you look at liberal journalists like why do progressive journalists do this? It's about money, right?

More of stories about bad orange men mean bigger, you know, clicks and views and that means bigger your money and book deals and so forth, right. And then Democratic politicians, why are they doing it? Well, more of that stuff means more fear; that means panic, hysteria. That brings in donations and that brings in votes.

So that's the short answer to your question, but actually, Tucker, I think there's something bigger happening here that actually is more frightening to me and that is as a Party, we are telling you through these hoaxes that you were a victim, right, whether it be the Smollett case, the Covington kids, right?

If you are a victim, then you belong to us and even if you haven't been a victim, you will be at some point, so that I think is the underlying issue since we have embraced identity politics, we have to get people to the polls based on fear, on panic and that's the stuff that look, Trump would be gone in two or six years, right?

CARLSON: Right.

WRIGHT: The Democratic Party -- what it is creating, its coalition. How it gets people to the polls. If we're telling people that they have to be victims, then we have to believe these stories about Smollett or the Covington kids. That's the issue that's not going to go away, that's going to be part of the Democratic Party and I hate to say this, but a part of the nation for a generation to come, because we're telling people, don't think critically, don't think for yourself, just say what you should say when a person of color or a gay person or a woman says that they've been a victim, just automatically believe them. Stop thinking.

That's what the Democratic Party is becoming and it is horrific.

CARLSON: So what will happen, I mean, we're not at war right now and there's no financial crisis, but we will be and there will be because that's just the nature of running the world's most powerful country and so when there is a lot of outward pressure applied on this country and society is really tested, its cohesion that is really tested.

I mean, what's it going to look like when people immediately retreat into their tribes and rely on conspiracy theories to explain things?

WRIGHT: Yes, you need a national identity to get through those moments.

CARLSON: Yes, exactly.

WRIGHT: But I have to tell you, we already -- brother, we already are at war. I mean, those of us in the intelligence community know we are in a covert war against the Chinese government, unquestionably. It's been happening for about ten years.

It is only going to become, you know, a greater and greater, more obvious problem of those who don't know. But I'm telling you, I work with folks in the military, the intelligence community, we all know it's happening.

So we have to get ready now for this. It is already happening so what will occur in the next five or ten years when it becomes more overt and we have spent the past two and how many knows, you know, more years focused on well what did the Mueller report really say and then it was redacted, so now we need it un-redacted, but now, I mean it's never-ending. I mean, we might as well be looking for Hitler and Jimmy Hoffa opening up a bed and breakfast in Argentina.

I mean that's what we're doing right now. That's what we're -- and we're not preparing for the things that matter and as a Democratic Party, why don't we just put behind the Mueller thing, it's done, it's solved, now let's have the reasonable conversation of is Trump the best that we can do for this country now and moving forward.

CARLSON: That's exactly right.

WRIGHT: That's a great debate. Let's have that ...

CARLSON: It is --

WRIGHT: This conspiracy crap, it's an unwinnable debate.

CARLSON: He's a Russian agent, not winnable, I would say.

WRIGHT: Yes.

CARLSON: Brian, thanks very much for that. Very wise, your point about China is.

WRIGHT: You bet, it's a pleasure.

CARLSON: Something we should meditate on. Well, the Jussie Smollett saga is getting weirder by the day. The President has gotten involved. Well, his Smollett's lawyers that his attackers -- and this is very stealthy, you'll be impressed by this -- wore a white face during the attack. Just another set of muggers in white face. We will have these surreal details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: Well, there are bunch of weird new developments in this season's weirdest news story, the Jussie Smollett hoax, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is demanding that Smollett repay the City of Chicago for all the police time, the investigators time. He's also saying we're not going to bother explaining because it's impossible to explain that Trump is responsible for Smollett's stunt. Smollett hates Trump, blame Trump voters -- whatever.

Meanwhile, Kim Foxx, she is the prosecutor who let this all happen, who prevented Smollett from being prosecuted now admit she never actually recused herself from the case.

Matt Finn has been following this from day one. He joins us tonight from Chicago -- Matt.

MATT FINN, CORRESPONDENT: Tucker, right now, the City of Chicago is demanding $130,000.00 from Jussie Smollett. The city says that's how much it costs in overtime hours during its meticulous investigation into Smollett's alleged attack.

An attorney for the City of Chicago wrote to Jussie Smollett in a letter demanding that if Smollett doesn't pay the $130,000.00 within seven days, the city is threatening to bring new charges against the actor for filing a false report.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel who has feuded with the President for years alleges the only reason Jussie Smollett could take advantage of a hate crime is because of the toxic environment Emanuel claims the President created.

Meanwhile, the Mayor and the President do agree that Jussie Smollett is a liar and Emanuel says Smollett, all of a sudden stopped demanding justice since his charges were dropped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAHM EMANUEL, MAYOR, CHICAGO: Has he said a single word about any hate crime? Against a gay man? A black gay man? No. Nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FINN: Kim Foxx who suddenly recused herself during the height of this investigation for texting with Michelle Obama's former aide about Smollett's case now admits she used the word recused in a quote "colloquial sense," not legally.

And Jussie Smollett is nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Award at tomorrow's NAACP Award show in Los Angeles. Fox News confirms Smollett flew to LA late Wednesday, not clear if he'll appear at the show. Project 21, a black conservative group which says it has 60,000 members demanding Smollett's nomination be rescinded. Meanwhile the host of the awards show says he hopes Jussie Smollett wins -- Tucker.

FINN: Sure.

CARLSON: So many threads, Matt. I don't know where to begin. Thank you for that update. Pretty amazing. So as you just heard, the prosecutor in this case, the one who let Smollett go without any charges at all after he volunteered for two days at Jesse Jackson's fake lobby organization is saying that she used the term "recused" colloquially because she is not a lawyer or anything.

Meanwhile, Jussie Smollett's attorney argued in the "Today Show" that the actor was not lying when he said his attacker were white. He wasn't acting out of some racial stereotype. In fact, they were in white face, she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, HOST NBC: According to the court records Smollett was very clear with the police on the night of the attack that his attackers were white. He said, they had masks on and gloves, but he saw their eyes and he saw the skin surrounding their eyes, that he saw the skin surrounding their eyes. Was that a false statement?

TINA GLANDIAN, ATTORNEY FOR "EMPIRE" ACTOR JUSSIE SMOLLETT: Obviously, you can disguise that. You could put makeup on. It took me all of five minutes to Google, you know, I was looking up the brothers and one of the first videos that showed up actually was one of the brothers and white face doing a joker monologue with white makeup on and so it's not -- it's not implausible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Whoa Robby Soave is Associate Editor at "Reason," author of a fantastic book, "Panic Attack: Young Radicals in the Age of Trump," and he joins us tonight. Robby, great to see you.

So from what I can tell, Jussie Smollett and his attorney are in a straight faced way taking the position that this all really happened, but he never lied.

ROBBY SOAVE, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, REASON: That's what they have to do, right, to just kind of power through this so he can keep his career. He has to thunderously deny that he was involved in this, even though we pretty clearly know that he was. They have to come up with these crazy sort of explanations.

I mean, if your theory requires you, right, to be wearing a disguise under your disguise, is it to be in white face under ski masks? I mean, that's like absurd, clearly. But you know what, that's what she has to say. She is his lawyer, and of course, he is going to deny at this point.

It was the job of Chicago -- of Kimberly Foxx to prove that he was guilty, right? It wasn't his job to prove he is innocent. They have to prove he is guilty, and they decided not to do that.

So ultimately, at this point the people I'm most upset with are the State's Attorney.

CARLSON: The problem now with Smollett continuing to lie is that it allows people to believe that there is in fact a rash of hate crimes ...

SOAVE: Right.

CARLSON: ... in this country. And there is not. They are actually quite rare. California is the biggest state, I think recorded like a dozen or less than hate crime convictions last year, so this is like a tiny thing.

And this allows Kamala Harris and all of these other demagogues to pretend, "No, no, it's totally real."

SOAVE: Right, and I think that's what Rahm Emanuel was getting at when he tried to spin this on Trump as saying, "Well, you know, Trump has made this country so unsafe, so of course we believe that it's ultimately Trump's fault," when of course it's the opposite of that.

We have been misled about hate crimes being off the charts in the country, so we were prepared to believe this or the people in the media were prepared to believe it.

CARLSON: Right, so in other words if people don't like your politics or you, personally and then they lie in order to hurt you, it's your fault?

SOAVE: Right. I guess that's what he was saying, and I understand why he is mad because they did this investigation and even she says, even Kimberly Foxx, the State's Attorney says we would have won if we brought this to court. The evidence was good and for some reason, she just decided not to actually get him to plead guilty, which would have been -- you know, I am fine with community service.

CARLSON: Sure.

SOAVE: A fine --

CARLSON: Me too.

SOAVE: I don't think anyone really -- you know, our jails already have too many people.

CARLSON: I agree. I agree with that.

SOAVE: I don't think we need to lock up, you know, people who are not a violent threat, but she needed to get him to plead guilty. That's like how it works. So we would have had the catharsis of having it proven for all ...

CARLSON: Exactly. That's exactly right.

SOAVE: ... of these people who said, I don't know what happened. We know what happened. We do know what happened, but we needed that verdict there or that acknowledgement on his part and she just decided not right go for that.

CARLSON: Right. I could not agree with you more. That was the critical thing, just to know the truth and just have it acknowledged. We don't need to hurt Jussie Smollett. He is obviously a very wounded person, already. But this is infuriating indeed.

Robby, thank you.

SOAVE: My pleasure.

CARLSON: Great to see you. The left has been calling its enemies racist for years. They call this show that all the time, "racist." Now, as the 2020 race ramps up, they're calling each other racist. Of course, they are. The revolution always eats itself. We're going to enjoy that after the break, plus time for "Final Exam." We have a showdown between two of our own anchors tonight -- Martha McCallum and Bill Hemmer -- two of the well -- most well-versed news people I've ever met. Who will win? We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: Well, for years the left's go-to insult for anyone they want to stop talking or crush politically has been racist, "You're a racist. Be quiet." Now, Party leaders are jockeying for 2020 and Democrats are turning on each other. What epithet are they using? "Racist." It's amazing.

Stacey Abrams says racism is to blame for Beto O'Rourke getting more attention than she gets. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... Stacey Abrams is the darling of the media.

STACEY ABRAMS, FORMER GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE OF GEORGIA: I don't think that success is zero-sum, so I don't want to disparage or take away from the reaction and the legitimate response people had to his campaign.

But I do want to take it -- to call the question. I think race plays a part. I think region plays a part. I also think phenotype plays a part.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: When asked, Cory Booker agreed with Abrams. Meanwhile, over at CNN, Joan Walsh just argued that Joe Biden should not run for President not because of his political views or anything he's done, but because of the color of his skin. The left is even segregating the press now.

In Savannah, Georgia this week, a public event concerning an upcoming mayor's race was closed to everybody who wasn't black. Savannah's Alderman Van Johnson defended his attendance of the meeting by saying, "Hey, not my business."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think the message there on the door is progressive?

ALDERMAN VAN JOHNSON, MAYORALTY CANDIDATE, SAVANNAH, GEORGIA: It's not my meeting. Again, I was asked to come and give a statement and so I came and I gave a statement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: It's totally cool. I'd go to a segregated event, but not a big deal. Chris Hahn is a radio host and a former staffer for Senator Chuck Schumer. He joins us tonight. Thanks a lot for coming on, Chris. What's the Democratic Party's position on segregation? Now, I noticed that Harvard, the epicenter of American liberalism has segregated graduation ceremonies every year, as you know and now, there's a Democratic Party event in Georgia that is segregated by race. It said so on the door. Is this something that Democrats are for?

CHRIS HAHN, RADIO SHOW HOST: Not to my knowledge and I think that any event that is political should be open to all press at all times. I believe in full transparency of everything. So no, I think that's about --

CARLSON: Well, it's not really about in transparency, it's about -- it's about segregation. So why hasn't the DNC said anything about this?

HAHN: They should.

CARLSON: Or why haven't the many very sensitive -- what about the Presidential candidates, where are they on this?

HAHN: If they are asked about it, they should respond the same way I did, and say that it was an abomination.

CARLSON: No.

HAHN: It shouldn't be happening. And as for Stacey Abrams --

CARLSON: A segregated Democratic Party event, okay. I mean, this will be -- I think that would be like maybe front page --

HAHN: Yes, I think a local -- a local city council event is not necessarily the entire country. If you want to start going trading event for event, let's start looking at events that are happening in a deep south that are probably whites only even if not told that way by intimidation.

CARLSON: That's insane. It's insane.

HAHN: So let's be careful.

CARLSON: It's pretty fun.

HAHN: It's insane? No, it absolutely happens everything single day.

CARLSON: This is going to be fun. And so there -- yes, there are a lot of Republicans events that say whites only on them. Are you joking? The DOJ Civil Rights Division would be there with the FBI that would lead every paper in this country and every newscast for the next year. That has not happened. The segregated south was run by Democrats.

HAHN: Okay.

CARLSON: And here's a segregated event, a Democratic event --

HAHN: Well, let's start looking.

CARLSON: Start looking, okay, please.

HAHN: Start looking.

CARLSON: So Beto O'Rourke was asked about reparations recently and I want to play you his response to it. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a "Washington Times" article saying that you oppose reparations, traditional reparations for black people. So why should I, as a black man vote for you when you oppose reparations?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: So what's the right answer there?

HAHN: The right answer is because he's for equality, he's for lifting people up. I mean, reparations is not going to be -- hey, look, anybody who says they're for reparations, they haven't been able to pass reparations at this point, but that doesn't mean we can't have real affirmative action that lifts people up for lower income status and bring them into the mainstream society's income earning, so --

CARLSON: I think that's a fair -- that's a fair answer, so but why not start with the Democratic Party? So the Democratic Party, a hundred percent of its Presidents have been men, ninety-three percent have been white -- one exception.

HAHN: Yes.

CARLSON: The Democratic Party is the progressive party, the racially aware party, the woke party. So why not award a hundred super-delegates -- I'm serious -- to every candidate of color and every female candidate in this race? Why not apply those affirmative action standards you're talking about to your own presidential race?

HAHN: I think that the Democratic Party celebrates diversity. I think that we have a great field of candidates running in the Democratic primary of all races, genders and even sexual orientation, and I think it's going to be an interesting primary and I don't think the Democrats run away from the diversity that's bringing this country up.

CARLSON: Really? It doesn't --

HAHN: I think Republicans ---

CARLSON: So I look at the polls --

HAHN: ... with the country over this because they are -- but Republicans are --

CARLSON: Yes, okay, they are racist. They are racist. I know. I know. Right, they are bad.

HAHN: Republicans are tailoring to the fear of people who are worried that this country is changing.

CARLSON: Yes, okay.

HAHN: When really what they've done is just modify --

CARLSON: Okay, I know what the talking points are, but I'm just saying since -- hold on -- if you've got the woke party and your leading presidential candidates or white -- Beto and the former Vice President, Joe Biden -- then why wouldn't you apply the affirmative action standards you apply on the rest of the country to your own primary? Why wouldn't you give super - I'm dead serious. Why wouldn't you do what they do at Harvard in your own primary if it's so good for the country?

HAHN: Well, here's the thing, you know here's what I would say to that, Tucker. I think it's important that both parties make sure that there's diversity in their delegates through the campaign -- to the convention, both parties.

CARLSON: I think it's a great idea. And by the way, nobody ever wants to live by their own standards, do they?

HAHN: And I would love to see the Republican Party have like five percent of their delegates be people of color so let's be very clear.

CARLSON: Yes, I would, too.

HAHN: One Party is going to have a very diverse convention.

CARLSON: I am not against that. I am for that.

HAHN: And one Party is going to be very, very white. And it's not going to be the DNC.

CARLSON: That seems like a lot of white people in the Democratic Party running, anyway.

HAHN: We'll both be there.

CARLSON: Whatever.

HAHN: We'll see it.

CARLSON: Okay, Chris Hahn. Thank you. Good to see you.

HAHN: Thank you.

CARLSON: Time now for a "Final Exam" where two of the smartest people in the news business face off against one other to see who's been paying the closest attention to what's going on this week.

So tonight, a special New York anchor showdown -- Martha MacCallum, of course hosts "The Story" every night right before this show. Bill Hemmer hosts "America's Newsroom" every morning until two years ago, they hosted that show together. They are friends. Tonight, they are competitors.

I cannot believe you've agreed to face off against each other.

BILL HEMMER, ANCHOR: Yes, we talked about it.

MACCALLUM: Yes, just like old times.

HEMMER: Yes.

MACCALLUM: Yes, we faced off every day, but now it's just tonight with you.

CARLSON: a little more bloodthirsty tonight. Good luck to you both. Normally, I'd bet big money on the outcome of this, but tonight, I have no idea who's going to win.

HEMMER: Bet on Martha.

MACCALLUM: We'll see. Yes, we'll see.

CARLSON: So you know the rules. But I am going to repeat them for our audience at home. Hands on buzzers. I ask the questions. First one to buzz in gets to answer the question, you must wait until I finish asking it before you answer. I'll say your name and then you can go ahead. Every correct answer is worth a single point, incorrect answers detract a point from your total best of five wins.

MACCALLUM: Oh boy.

CARLSON: Make sense?

HEMMER: A lot of rules.

MACCALLUM: I think so.

CARLSON: A lot of rules.

HEMMER: Just keep it on Mueller and we'll be fine.

CARLSON: Keep it on Mueller. We may get a little lower than that. We'll see. Question one. Everybody has things that annoyed them, even the Pope. According to a new video, Pope Francis says he doesn't really like it when people do what? What bothers the Pope? Martha MacCallum?

MACCALLUM: Sin.

HEMMER: That's what I'd say.

CARLSON: Sin. You are such a good person, of course, that's what you'd say.

MACCALLUM: It's annoying.

CARLSON: That is such -- that's such a revealing and sweet answer.

MACCALLUM: I don't know the answer. I don't know the answer.

CARLSON: It is the correct answer. Sin.

MACCALLUM: No. it's wrong and it's going to get --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many people lined up to kiss his ring and after about 10 minutes of ring kissing, the Pope had had enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: So our judges have said that theologically, that's correct, of course, but for the purposes of this show, it is technically incorrect.

MACCALLUM: I don't think that answering sin should count against me though. I think that would be really bad.

CARLSON: You know what, I agree with you. But I don't make the rules here. I'm merely a marionette controlled by New York like all of us.

HEMMER: She is a good Catholic, Tucker.

MACCALLUM: I don't know about that.

CARLSON: All right, question two. A British Airways flight upset a lot of passengers on it this week when it landed at the wrong destination -- very wrong -- it was supposed to fly from London to Dusseldorf, Germany but turned up hundreds of miles away in which country? Martha.

MACCALLUM: Scotland?

CARLSON: Scotland, that's very wrong. Is that the right answer though? Scotland

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A British Airways flight headed to Germany mistakenly touches down a thousand miles away in Scotland. The plane landed in Dusseldorf nearly two hours later. The airline says a German company that chartered the plane submitted the wrong route to air traffic control. What a surprise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: I think you both knew that Martha, you are lightning fast.

HEMMER: Yes, you know what --

MACCALLUM: It felt like he hit the buzzer before I did, but --

HEMMER: I just heard "Hemmer, press and hold." So that press is going to be my strategy now.

CARLSON: They are giving you tips.

HEMMER: Yes, I need them.

CARLSON: All right, so now we're back at par zero-zero. Question three. Dunkin Donuts which does not make health food is teaming up with which sporting event to produce a pair of sneakers?

HEMMER: You want to guess or you want me to?

MACCALLUM: You guess.

CARLSON: Sneakers maybe the key word. It has something to do -- Bill Hemmer.

HEMMER: Sport.

CARLSON: Sport. Which --

HEMMER: Basketball.

CARLSON: Which sporting events has teamed up with Dunkin Donuts to make --

HEMMER: This is terrible.

CARLSON: A new pair off --

HEMMER: This is not going well at all.

CARLSON: Running shoes, how is that?

HEMMER: Track and field at the Olympics. We are going to play the tape.

HEMMER: Please.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE WATTERS, HOST: Dunkin Donuts has teamed up with the shoe company Saucony to create probably the best shoes ever for the Boston Marathon. You know, America runs on Dunkin. Get it. Look at these Dunkin Donuts shoes right here. They've got the colors. They've got the coffee cup on the tongue. Boston is on the little --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to move your feet.

WATTERS: How about that? How about that, right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Boston Marathon. Okay, so what we have here is ...

MACCALLUM: The Boston Marathon, I was going to say that.

HEMMER: Exactly right out of Boston.

CARLSON: ... the most informed two contestants, and yet the lowest score in the history of this show.

HEMMER: It's all right, we're having fun.

CARLSON: No, no. It just shows how serious you are.

MACCALLUM: We thought maybe it would be slightly more newsy.

CARLSON: Like real news? Yes, no, not on this show.

HEMMER: Okay.

CARLSON: Question four. This one is multiple choice, so you have to wait until the end to answer. Jimmy Carter has now lived longer than any American President. How old is he? Is he A. 94? B. 96? Or C. 101? Martha.

MACCALLUM: I think he is 94.

CARLSON: Ninety four. Is Jimmy Carter 94 years old?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jimmy Carter has just passed a major milestone. He now has lived longer than any other former President. It's not a birthday, it's a notable milestone. Today he is 94 years old and 172 days. The previous record holder was the late President George H.W. Bush who lived one day younger than Carter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: You are absolutely right. Martha McCallum, ladies and gentlemen.

HEMMER: How about that?

CARLSON: Ninety four was the correct answer. That puts you up one to Bill's down one. Going into the final question, which is worth points.

MACCALLUM: Oh okay.

HEMMER: Oh.

CARLSON: This is another multiple-choice. We can get it back to zero. Here's the question. A painting worth $28 million dollars was found this week, 20 years after it was stolen off a yacht owned by a Saudi sheikh. Who painted the painting? Was it A. Pablo Picasso? B. Vincent van Gogh? Or C. Salvador Dali? Martha.

MACCALLUM: I think it was van Gogh.

CARLSON: You think it was van Gogh, for two points. Was it Vincent "one ear" van Gogh?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A painting by Pablo Picasso worth over $28 million has been tracked down by renowned arts sleuth, Arthur Brand after years' long search. The (inaudible) had previously hung in Piccaso's home until his death in 1973.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: You know this has really been the most remarkable the segment we've ever done. You're back to -- you know what? This is perfect as longtime partners and friends, I'm not surprised that you wanted to end on the same number, but the rules require we have one tiebreaker question.

And this is a very esoteric question we've asked it before.

HEMMER: Okay.

CARLSON: What is the capital of the African nation of Burkina Faso?

MACCALLUM: Now, I know this. You should know this. You always know this kind of thing. What is the capital -- I know.

CARLSON: It is Ouagadougou, and I am telling you that because I don't want to wreck the perfect symmetry of the show. You came in friends ...

MACCALLUM: Thank you very much.

CARLSON: ... and you leave friends.

MACCALLUM: We will, yes.

CARLSON: Nobody wins and yet everybody wins.

MACCALLUM: Everybody is a winner.

HEMMER: Thank you, Tucker. Next time, we'll just do the Mueller report, we'll be fine.

CARLSON: You guys are the best. Thank you, great to see you tonight.

MACCALLUM: Thanks, Tucker. You, too.

CARLSON: Thank you. That's it for this week's "Final Exam." How did you do? How are you going to do next week? Pay attention to the news every day. Tune in Thursdays to see if you can beat our experts. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CARLSON: A really distressing new video out of California appears to show on elderly pro-life activists being beaten savagely buying angry leftists on the street in the city of San Francisco. The video you're about to see begins when a man tries to walk off with a banner that says, "Forty days for life." The banner is owned by an 85-year-old. He attempts to stop the thief from walking off from it and this is what happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Old man, stay on the ground. Stay on the ground old man, unless you want to get hurt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: Eighty five years old. He went right to the hospital. San Francisco police say they are investigating this attack. We will see. The attacker's face and voice are clearly recorded on the tape as you just saw. If you recognize him, you ought to give the police a call immediately.

In the meantime, we look forward to seeing how CNN covers this, if at all, they are always telling us about the rise of hate crimes. How can they ignore this one? We'll find out.

Well, it has been an almost unbelievable week in the news. Certainly, one of the most remarkable we've had since the show started two and a half years ago. So what better way to end it than a week summary by former Secret Service agent at Dan Bongino -- who has thought long and hard about the week's craziest stories, and he joins us tonight. Dan, great to see you.

DAN BONGINO, CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.

CARLSON: So what stuck out to you as you watched?

Bog Well, let's rank them, okay, this is my top three. Here's number three first. Number three is clearly CPL. Avenatti, Avianti, whatever you want to call him. I believe Trump calls him Avianti. This was never a serious person, okay. Can we all agree on that that Avianti, the creepy porn lawyer was never a serious person.

Yet, this guy was discussed despite the recent news about him getting into some new trouble here. This guy was discussed as a presidential candidate on other networks, Tucker. That actually happened in the real world.

CARLSON: Yes. Well, and by the way, he was promoted by CNN and MSNBC as a legitimate candidate. They fawned over him. He is their kind of guy. Not surprising. I agree. That is a terrific number three. What's number two?

BONGINO: Yes, you made me say, gosh, if that was the number three, what beats that? This Jussie Smollett case. I can't get over this case with Jussie Smollett. Listen, I don't know Jussie, Tucker. And everybody has got the right to be presumed innocent. Unlike the left, the police state left, I actually believe in the Constitution. But you know, the kids they have this thing on Twitter, where they say, "Just take the L."

Like take the loss when something breaks bad for you and move on. Just take the loss, guy. Jussie, I don't know, I've got no dog in this fight, but the evidence that your initial story about the bleach carrying, MAGA hat wearing dudes, it's just not looking good right now and Tucker, that maybe be understatement of the millennium. The story doesn't look good. Stop threatening lawsuits against the city. Just move on and take the L, buddy.

CARLSON: Al Sharpton never admitted it. It worked out well for him. He's the model. So I can guess what number one, but I am --

BONGINO: He has got an MSNBC contract.

CARLSON: Well, it's true, it's unbelievable. I want you to tell you what number one is.

BONGINO: Number one is the Mueller report. I mean, obviously, this is -- you know, I was sitting there, I was putting on some scar stuff. I'm having surgery in my bathroom when this thing breaks on the weekend, this summary.

This is just a monstrosity because it's just a story about so many different things. Media bias and the radical left, this lurch by the left towards a police state, but here is the take away in this, Tucker. Remember this, and don't ever forget this to everybody listening.

Mueller didn't exonerate Trump. Trump exonerated Trump. He never did anything wrong. The real question right now that I ask, and I want everybody to ponder. I'm pretty sure I have the answer is when exactly did Mueller find out there was no collusion, Tucker?

Of course he was going to exonerate. I mean, he didn't do anything wrong. And my best guess here, based on some research I've been doing for my follow up book is that as early as June of 2017, right after he is appointed and the latest is July of 2017, which begs -- 2017 -- which begs one final question and I will move on here, what the hell was Bob Mueller doing for 600-plus days if he knew Donald Trump was innocent?

CARLSON: Well, threatening people with life in prison. Putting them on trial. Totally innocent people -- Roger Stone among them.

BONGINO: Bingo.

CARLSON: It's bingo. Exactly. Dan Bongino. Great to see you. I hope you have the best weekend.

BONGINO: Yes, buddy. See you next week.

CARLSON: See you, man. That is it for us. We are out of time. We will back Monday at 8:00 p.m.; as always, the show that is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and especially groupthink. Good night from Washington. Have a happy couple of days with the people you love. Sean Hannity ...

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