Ingraham: All but forgotten American tragedies

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Ingraham: All but forgotten American tragedies

American workers and taxpayers are tired of feeling like second class citizens in their own country. They want the life, liberty and pursuit of happiness that is their birthright.

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," March 27, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: Good evening from Washington. I'm Laura Ingraham. This is "The Ingraham Angle." We have a lineup tonight that you do not want to miss. The Trump administration is causing Democrats to lose their minds again. Announcing it plans to ask, a citizenship question on the 2020 census, how dare they? Plus, a beloved figure on the left is revealing what we already know and what we know liberals think deep down about guns and the Second Amendment. And the "political-correctness mob" puts one of America's most important historical figures at the top of its target list. But first, the all but forgotten American tragedies, that is the focus of tonight's "Angle." When Donald Trump announced his candidacy, the media reacted with horror to this statement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When Mexico sends its people, they are not sending their best. They are sending people that have lots of problems, and they are bringing those problems with us. They are bringing drugs. They are bringing crime. They are rapists and some, I assume, are good people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: While many, some, at least, quibbled with the formulation the president made there. They knew what he basically meant. Maybe he should have singled out Mexico, people are coming from a lot of places doing us harm.

I'll tell you tonight there is continuous and sad evidence to substantiate his claims of the underlying crimes. Every day in this country there are fresh American tragedies to report on. American citizens brutalized, abused, murdered by illegal aliens.

Yet most of these stories are buried at the back of the local metro sections in your local papers, and most of them are never heard national news broadcasts. The media are too busy doing, what? Capturing every utterance of a few specific porn stars.

So, tonight, we are going to report on a handful of these American tragedies. In San Diego, a Mexican illegal alien, Constantino Banda Acosta, after a night of drinking, was charged with running a stop sign and slamming into a family's vehicle. A little boy in the backseat of the vehicle suffered serious head trauma and now has cognitive issues. He fled the scene. In addition to being an illegal alien, Acosta had been deported 17 times, yes, at 17. Last week a judge declared a mistrial in his case because they couldn't establish if it was he or the illegal alien in the car with him, who is actually behind the wheel at the time of the crash.

Thankfully, he was turned over to federal custody following the trial, but given California's sanctuary state laws, I expect he will find his way back into the golden state. And then this, in Fairhope, Alabama, on Sunday, a twice-deported alien, Jose Luis Alonzo De Leon, is accused of crashing his truck into a local woman who was on her bike and killed her. He was also drunk. He too fled the scene of the crash. Authorities later found him in possession of a stolen gun and believed he has used seven aliases in the past, they are now investigating his criminal history. A law enforcement official and the sister of the victim will join us in just a few moments.

And last Friday in the suburbs of New Orleans, at 2:00 in the afternoon, this charmer sauntered into a Walmart. His name is Billy Yo (inaudible) Herrera. He allegedly approached a mother and her 2-year-old child with a machete. He told the mother if she didn't listen to his instructions, she and her child would die.

He then tried to kidnap the infant. The mother resisted and hid with her baby behind the deli counter. He then ran off and attempted to abduct another child from a shopping cart. Walmart employees and an off-duty officer ended up tackling him. He is charged with kidnapping, aggravated assault, and an immigration detainer has been placed on him. Look, I don't even have time to report on the other crimes that have percolated out there just in the last few days. Salvadorian illegal immigrant, a traveling pastor, no less, charged just last week with enticing a 14-year-old girl in Virginia to record a sexually explicit of herself.

Investigators believe this freak may have victimized many others or the Guatemalan, twice deported illegal, who allegedly raped a teenage girl. He posted bail in February and escaped before ICE could detain him, or the illegal in Dallas, who is charge with smothering a senior citizen and may be, according to authorities, a serial killer.

This only scratches the surface of crimes committed on a daily basis by those who should have never been in this country in the first place. Every life lost, every child harmed, every woman abused are victims of not only the criminals who committed those crimes but also of the government that allowed criminals to enter this country in the first place. And, frankly, I'm sick of this argument. I don't really care what percentage of illegals in the United States commit crimes and what percentage doesn't. Even one American life lost at the hands of an illegal is too much. It is unacceptable. And contrary to what the media tell us, those who have flouted our laws and the families they've drag with them are criminals. The people who cross this country's border are criminals. They are not victims.

Our policymakers, they are supposed to represent us, and address our needs, not cater to those of illegal immigrants. Donald Trump understands this, and he is right to step up enforcement across the board. The American workers, American taxpayers, I think are really tired of feeling like second-class citizens in their own country, like they are the interlopers as illegal immigrants to legally demand rights and legal benefits. That dynamic is starting to change because of President Trump. We Americans and all you hardworking illegal immigrants out there must demand that lawmakers stop protecting the lawbreakers and start protecting us, and that's the ANGLE.

Joining me now for reaction is Lieutenant Brian McGregor with the Kenner Louisiana Police Department. He is investigating the attempted kidnapping incident involving an illegal alien with a machete at that Walmart that we just told you about. And in Alabama, Sandy Best, the sister of Amy Hawkins, who we just told it was allegedly killed by an illegal immigrant, Jose Luis Alonso-De Leon, as she was cycling. And Baldwin County Alabama D.A., Robert Wilters, who is prosecuting Ms. Hawkins' alleged killer.

Let's start with you, Mr. Wilters, this broke my heart today to hear this story coming out of Alabama. I actually learned about it because one of my radio listeners called in to my show and said a colleague of his is the actual husband of the victim in this case, and that he was distraught and devastated. I looked it up and indeed this happened. Tell us about this case and any more details that you have discovered.

ROBERT WILTERS, D.A. BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala.: Laura, thank you for having us on tonight, and as for you and your listeners, please pray for Amy Hawkins' family as they go through this tragic time. It seems that on Sunday at about 12:25 p.m., Amy Hawkins was riding her bicycle on one of our roads on the eastern shore near Fairhope and Daphne.

And she was northbound, and the defendant in the case, Jose Luis Alonso-De Leon, was heading southbound. He swerved around the car to pass and struck Ms. Hawkins, who is riding a bicycle. He did not stop, and continued on, and was found a couple of miles away several minutes later.

He was highly intoxicated at that time when he was arrested by law enforcement. They also found a stolen pistol in the vehicle. We then have learned, through checking, that he has at least seven aliases and, according to ICE, immigration enforcement, he was deported twice during 2014. It is a tragedy that--

INGRAHAM: Should never have happened. This should never have happened. Sandy, this is your sister. I cannot imagine what you are going through at this moment, and it sounds hollow to say that, but I am praying for you and your family and everything that you have gone through, and her two children, her husband, her entire family, you.

If this thing could have been vetted and he could've been prevented from coming into this country, whether through a physical barrier or through effective deportation, I mean, your sister would be alive. Words don't even convey -- I am furious about these cases, and I am saddened and as devastated as I could be without having known your sister.

SANDY BEST, SISTER KILLED BY AN ILLEGAL: Yes, ma'am. She was a beautiful sister. She was a great mother, a great daughter. It is a tragedy.

INGRAHAM: Knowing that this is an illegal alien with seven aliases. They are trying to track down his criminal history now, and I'm sure Mr. Wilters, you'll be doing that, other crimes he could have committed, a stolen gun in his possession, could have very well gone on, if he hasn't already been committing violent acts against other people.

And it was your sister's death at his hands that caused his ultimate apprehension, and I assume will be put away for a long period of time. Further thoughts on the fact that this government was unable to keep them out of the country?

WILTERS: Laura, it's a tragedy.

INGRAHAM: Sandy?

WILTERS: Go ahead, sandy.

BEST: Yes. It is a tragedy. Nothing is going to replace my sister. I don't have the answers to that. I loved her, and, yes, he should have been deported. Somehow that we have to figure out a way that he wasn't able to drive a vehicle, that he wasn't able to drive drunk. I don't have the answers to that right now. I know my family is hurting over the whole situation.

INGRAHAM: Let's talk to Lieutenant McGregor. The reason I wanted to bring these stories to the American people's attention tonight, Lieutenant McGregor, these aren't just names on a piece of paper, these Americans are personally devastated by this type of crime.

And we almost had another situation unfold in Kenner, Louisiana, about 6 miles from New Orleans, and one of our contributors here from New Orleans, he brought this to my attention, got a guy with a machete in a Walmart trying to kidnap a little 2-year-old. He goes on to try to kidnap someone else, another person, and he should have been in this country. This is madness. Lieutenant? Lieutenant McGregor, your thoughts about this case now as it stands? How did he get into this country? He was deported twice, at least, we understand?

LIEUTENANT BRIAN MCGREGOR, KENNER LOUISIANA POLICE DEPARTMENT: There are still things we are looking into. We know on Friday at 2:00 p.m., he entered Walmart through the Garden Center and approach the deli section of the store. He engaged a female that had a 2-year-old in a grocery cart and he threatened that female.

He also threatened the life of the child as well and he also put his hand on his side to indicate that he had a machete on his side. That female asked for help. He reached to grab that child and, like any mother would, she fought for her child and grabbed the child from the cart and proceeded to get that child on the other side of that deli counter.

Some Walmart employees as well as citizens and everybody else that engage the suspect, he ran back to the meat and poultry section of the store. He drew the machete. He swung it at employees who create a distance, which allowed him to get back into the deli section where another mother who was coming through with infants strapped to the grocery cart, he tried to grab that child while he was still holding the machete.

Like any other mother would, she fought for her child as well. An employee that was there, and a police officer that was off duty, to engage the suspect, got him down on the ground, handcuffed him, took him into custody.

INGRAHAM: That's great. Those Walmart employees and the off-duty officer tackled him, ultimately walking into a Walmart with a machete. Lieutenant McGregor, you also worked on a case three years ago, as I seem to recall, involving -- I think it was a Herman Rivera, who raped a 10-year-old girl, another illegal immigrant? Was that you on that case?

MCGREGOR: I have had many cases. We just finished up a murder with a dismemberment. If you look on the news, it was just recently reported that we have a conviction of second-degree murder in addition to obstruction of justice, a murder that happened here in Kenner where an individual's body was cut up and dismembered and thrown into St. John's Parish.

INGRAHAM: In Kenner, it's a very safe community, for the most part, very safe retention, keeping the community safe, and the community in Alabama we are talking about, also a very safe community. But New Orleans itself is a sanctuary city, correct, and you have bleed through from New Orleans into your community?

You've got people worried about tearing down statues in the middle of the night, but meanwhile, worried about making their way into the community. I want to ask both of you, law enforcement, how important is that for local authorities to cooperate with the federal government on this immigration issue and to get these people imprisoned and then out of the country. We'll go back to you, Mr. Wilters.

WILTERS: Well, it's very important, Laura. And in the last year, there has been tremendous cooperation between local law enforcement and immigration authorities where, for eight years, we didn't have it.

So, having the knowledge that we can contact ICE and that ICE will actually come in and place a detainer on an illegal immigrant helps us tremendously. There are still some markings and at that have to be worked out, but the cooperation we've had in the last year has just been tremendous.

INGRAHAM: Well, we have entire communities in the United States that are refusing to cooperate. The entire state of California refusing to cooperate with federal officials, endangering the lives of Californians, individuals in the country illegally, violent criminals are released, they go on, and they create more havoc for the American people and illegal immigrants.

I want to close with Sandy. Sandy, if you could say anything to, you know, immigration officials, the government, given the fact that you have lost your sister just a few days ago, out for a beautiful bike ride on a beautiful day, she should be here enjoying her family tonight. She was an incredible person. As an American citizen, what would you say?

BEST: Let's figure a way out to fix the system. We need to fix the system. So that these types of tragedies don't happen to other families.

INGRAHAM: Sandy, God bless you. Thank you for coming on the show tonight. I know it was really hard, and I know our viewers really are praying for you and your family and thank you. Thank all of you.

Law enforcement, DAs, you guys have a lot of hard work to do across this country, and you guys don't get that much recognition. I know you're not looking at it, but we appreciate you and thank you all very much, and God bless your family, Sandy. Another day, another lawsuit by California. Now why are they suing the Trump administration? This is all connected, my friends. It has to do with citizenship. Be prepared to be outraged next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: The Trump administration announced last night that the 2020 U.S. Census will include a question about citizenship. Makes sense, right? It seems perfectly reasonable for the U.S. government to want to know how many citizens live in this country. Here is how far left immigration advocates reacted to the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What the Trump administration is trying to do is to weaponize the senses so that they can use it to undercount people in California and other states with high immigrant populations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The federal government, including President Trump, has to justify what he would be weakening any type of census count or census standards. He needs to uphold the rule of law.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is very clear what this administration is trying to do. They are trying to instill fear in the immigrant community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: I love the comment about the rule of law. That's rich. Naturally, the California Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration. It is at least the 27th time the golden state has sued the Trump administration, including overt DACA, the travel ban, the border wall, pretty much any time the Trump administration burps they get a lawsuit.

To debate this census controversy is California Congressman Brad Sherman, who is a Democrat. Congressman, first of all, I want to say, thank you for joining us. We invite Democrats on pretty much every night and most decline. Thank you very much. We love having a spirited conversation about these issues. Here's my first question.

REP. BRAD SHERMAN, D--CALI.: Laura, it's good to be with you, but first I need to correct the beginning of your show.

INGRAHAM: I love -- no, we're not correcting that. I want to focus on this first. You can worry about correcting me later. Let's keep us focused on citizenship. Why are Democrats afraid of the U.S. government determining how many illegal immigrants are in the United States?

SHERMAN: Well, first of all, this census question has nothing to do with how many illegal immigrants are in the United States. They don't ask whether you are an illegal immigrant. It's whether you are an immigrant. Second, we want to know so there is no attempt to determine that.

INGRAHAM: We want to know who is a citizen --

SHERMAN: And the purpose of this is clear. The purpose of this is to suppress not only immigrants from responding but anybody who has got a cousin who is an immigrant. The studies have shown, from the census departments last year, under Trump administration, that this question will depress responses. This is a two-part approach. First create a credible incredible fear in immigrant communities, castigate them, call them rapists and murders.

INGRAHAM: Congressman, are you defending the criminals that I talked about? Is that what you are doing? You are defending the abusers, the fentanyl traffickers? I will debate that morning, noon, and night, let's do an hour on El Gordo, who tried to poison millions of New Yorkers. Let's talk about El Gordo.

I mean, honestly. Democrats just lose the American people. You are more worried about illegal immigrants than the legal residents of your own communities, time and again, and now you don't want us to know --

SHERMAN: Laura, any chance I could get a word in edge wise?

INGRAHAM: And that's another tactic. Yes, you can, but don't start coming on the show and say, I'm going to correct what you said in the first segment. What I said was factual. We have a criminal alien problem, and your state as a sanctuary disaster. That's a problem. Go ahead.

SHERMAN: Laura, you came on, and you showed the president saying that most immigrants, especially from Mexico are rapists and murders.

INGRAHAM: He didn't say that. You tell me where he said 'most.' You tell me where he said 'most.'

SHERMAN: He said they are rapists and murderers and some, he listed it at the third category. First category rapists, the second category murderers, and then a footnote to indicate that if you were a good people. That is what the president said. What did the beginning of your show say? You put up a picture after picture of terrible criminals who happen to be people of color. Now, why don't you --

INGRAHAM: You don't want the truth.

SHERMAN: No, I -- Laura, any chance I can get a word in edge wise?

INGRAHAM: Like a valedictorian rescuing a puppy or a cat from a tree, that's your story. My story is the American victims who you and so many Democrats never pay attention to, and of course, there are good people who are --

SHERMAN: Laura, why do you invite me on the show if I'm not allowed to say anything? Laura, any chance --

INGRAHAM: Go ahead.

SHERMAN: The falsehood is that immigrants are disproportionately -- there are 11 million people in this country without documents, and you are showing pictures of some more terrible criminals.

INGRAHAM: How do you know how many are here?

SHERMAN: We have pretty good estimates. You can't certainly send out a questionnaire and find out how many immigrants there are without documents in this country.

INGRAHAM: How do we get it?

SHERMAN: We have very good estimators. We have -- look, you're talking about a country that has an intelligence worldwide. We certainly can come relatively close to determining how many there are. And, look, you want to say 10 to 12, go right ahead. I'm saying 11, you say 10 to 12 -- can I get a word in edge wise here?

INGRAHAM: We don't know how many, that's one of the points we are making here, citizens versus non-citizens --

SHERMAN: We certainly can find out through the census. The purpose of the census question is to destroy the census by getting people not to return their questionnaires. The purpose of the beginning of your show was to ignore the fact that crime is committed by all groups.

INGRAHAM: We need more crime in the United States that's such a bad argument.

SHERMAN: Every 10 million people -- look, you have more crime in California than Wyoming because you have more people in California than in Wyoming. Every group of 10 million people --

INGRAHAM: Are we tell the American people tonight that because of that, we have to sacrifice a certain number of Americans for this utopian idea that borders are pointless, that walls are bad, that the rule of law, when applied to a family crossing the border, you can't deport them --

SHERMAN: Any chance I could get a word in here, Laura?

INGRAHAM: I just think it's not a great argument. We want law and order across the border --

SHERMAN: Laura, why do you even need me on the show? It's your show, you can just talk. The fact is, if you want less crime, moved to the Cayman Islands. Got so few people there that you can go a whole week without a violent crime.

INGRAHAM: Is that your argument?

SHERMAN: Immigrants or any group of people -- if you're going to have people in this country -- illegal in this country. Every group commits some crime, and if you had to -- any chance I could get a word in here? Then have fewer people.

INGRAHAM: There is a difference between illegal and legal. Do you not know the difference? Does it matter?

SHERMAN: Any chance I can get a word in? The fact is --

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: There's a pause. You can actually talk during a pause. The census has routinely throughout its history asks questions about citizenship status, has it not?

SHERMAN: That's not true, they stopped in 1950. They stopped about the time I was four years old and before you were born.

INGRAHAM: And then the American family survey --

SHERMAN: It is not used as the official enumeration. The enumeration of this country is constitutionally required. And getting an accurate count in the enumeration is more important, is constitutionally more important, than having facts about how many bedrooms there are and how many bathrooms are in every house. That we give secondary priority two.

INGRAHAM: So you think illegal immigrants should be accounting for the apportionment of the number of legislators a state has. So in other words--

SHERMAN: The constitution says that. Felons can't vote. They have to be counted.

INGRAHAM: Right, so you are saying illegal immigrants are actually citizens when it comes to the apportionment clause. There is a debate about that in legal circles. It's not determined.

SHERMAN: The constitution says that. The Supreme Court says that. The Avit (ph) case reached that conclusion. And if you want to reverse that, fine. Try to pass a constitutional amendment. Stack the court and try to reverse the decision. But don't pollute the census in an effort to achieve a constitutional result that you can't achieve through the courts.

INGRAHAM: You have to respond to the census, so people aren't going to respond to census. It's another reason they are breaking the law. You have to respond by law.

SHERMAN: You don't have enough money to get everybody to respond to the census. They are deliberately underfunding the census and then they won't get people to respond to the questionnaires.

INGRAHAM: We'll have you back, and I appreciate you joining us very much.

The media and the left are attacking one of President Trump's cabinet secretaries forcing diversity isn't important, but that's not exactly what he said. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: CNN's website today ran a piece with the headline 'Sources, Zinke tells employees diversity isn't important.' The article quoted three anonymous sources that claimed interior secretary Ryan Zinke has repeatedly downplayed the importance of diversity in the workplace. CNN's sources said Zinke valued results over diversity and said, quote, 'You'll find we have the most diverse group anyone has ever had,' unquote. Which begs the question, dis Secretary Zinke allegedly say anything controversial at all? We should note an interior secretary spokesperson denied CNN's report, saying the anonymous claims made against the secretary are untrue.

Joining us now to discuss the issue in L.A., civil rights attorney Leo Terrell, and in Washington, Horace Cooper, cochairman of Project 21. All right, Leo, let's go right to you on this. It seems like Zinke is being offered on the altar of political correctness here. I think I know what he said, which he said, look, if you hire the best people, of course you're going to get a diverse workplace because we think everybody from every background is smart and they have merit, and they will be hired. And we do a pretty good job of that. And yet it became a lightning rod that basically Zinke is racist. If you look through all the verbiage, Zinke is racist. You reaction to this?

LEO TERRELL, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I'm glad you are a lawyer, because that is the conclusion he made. We don't need to worry about diversity because we'll get the best. Laura, this is an administration that does not have people of color. If you're going to have diversity, show me some people of color. In this administration, I don't see it.

And you know what, if he has the best and brightest, why does he have to say we don't have to worry about diversity. I would submit to you, Laura, that that statement, show me some data and I'll keep my big mouth shut. But for him to just make a statement like that in this administration, and you know as well as I do, lawyer to lawyer, this administration does not have a Colin Powell or a Condoleezza Rice. I don't see color in this Trump administration.

INGRAHAM: Ben Carson, I guess, doesn't count, because he is white.

TERRELL: Oh, please. One. We're going to play that one token game? One?

INGRAHAM: By the way, when Justice Thomas was put on the court, he didn't count. So let's not pretend that conservative African-Americans count on the diversity. They are ridiculed as uncle toms and everything else. I have heard this game many, many times played. But Horace, go ahead.

TERRELL: It's not a game. I'm talking about one.

HORACE COOPER, PROJECT 21 CO-CHAIR: First of all, it's not even clear that this statement was ever made. Secondly --

TERRELL: It was made.

COOPER: -- the people that he has actually put in place are very, very talented individuals. Black people—

TERRELL: You don't know that.

COOPER: I absolutely do.

TERRELL: Give me some names. Give me some names.

COOPER: The Bureau of Reclamation, the first, a woman was named there -- who?

TERRELL: One.

COOPER: Secretary of Insular Affairs is a Puerto Rican, the first assistant secretary there.

TERRELL: One.

COOPER: They named a Native American to handle, as one of their secretaries. There are a plethora of individuals who were named because they were talented, and it turned out --

TERRELL: Laura, Laura, Laura, can I talk to you as an attorney? How about some facts. Give me some EEOC data. Give me some civil rights data.

COOPER: I've give you some data.

TERRELL: No, you just named me one and one. Laura, you know this as well as I do. Give me some information. Laura, you know there are no people of color in this administration.

INGRAHAM: I have something full screens for you. Department of interior, this is the employee diversity, American, Indian, Alaskan, Native, 10 percent, Asian 2.3 percent, white, 73.7 percent, Hispanic, 6.2 percent, black, 5.6 percent. Federal workforce as a whole --

TERRELL: Can I submit to you --

INGRAHAM: Can I keep going for a second, please, Leo?

TERRELL: Please.

INGRAHAM: You asked for some data, some legal stuff. I'm giving it to you, so chill for a second. Federal workforce, here it is, black, 18.4 percent, white, 63.6 percent, American Indian, 1.6 percent, Asians, 5.8 percent, Hispanic, 8.6. I could play this numbers game all day long. So hold on one second.

TERRELL: Here is the point, Laura. I like those numbers. You know why? Because the white number is disproportionately higher than their actual numbers. And the blacks are disproportionately lower.

INGRAHAM: So that is what we are getting at.

TERRELL: Laura, come on. This administration does not have people of color.

INGRAHAM: Those numbers were Obama administration numbers, Leo. Tricked you.

TERRELL: They're worse now.

INGRAHAM: I didn't mean to trick you, by the way.

COOPER: I decided to look at this, too. And first of all, one of the things we should know is that black Americans are overrepresented in the federal government, including this present federal government --

TERRELL: In what positions? In what positions? In what positions?

COOPER: All across the federal government.

TERRELL: Where?

COOPER: All agencies, the department of defense, department of interior. But that's not the point. The point is --

TERRELL: I need to see some more minority people in the Trump administration.

INGRAHAM: Hold on, Leo, one at a time.

TERRELL: No, no, no. The federal government put these statistics out, and they do them every two years, but we also know that the federal government employees get paid almost 20 percent more. So here is the --

TERRELL: Can I just say this? It hurts me, it hurts me to hear this man -- thank you. It hurts me for this man, the same skin color, to deny the fact there are no people of color in positions of decision-making. We're not talking about low level jobs. We're talking about managerial jobs, and you know that there are no minorities in those high level jobs. You know that. Stop doing that to us. You are hurting us.

COOPER: That is just not true. SES's assistant secretaries, there are a number --

TERRELL: Here we go again.

INGRAHAM: I used to work in the government, they are the ones who actually do the real policy, Leo.

COOPER: This quota vision is dividing America, and this is one of the reasons why you guys aren't doing well.

INGRAHAM: Guys, I want to be a color-blind society.

TERRELL: Me too, Laura.

INGRAHAM: The best to the best, black, Hispanic, woman, there's going to be people from all backgrounds. But we are in this color coded, proportional representation, in the end, that is going to make more people miserable and angry at each other, in my view. But great segment from both of you. An icon on the left is exposing how liberals really feel about the Second Amendment. Could we have anymore hot button issues on this show tonight? Don't go away.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Retired Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens, who is 97 years old, wrote an op-ed in today's 'New York Times' applauding the students who marched for stricter gun control over the weekend. If he had stopped there, no one would have been surprised by the liberal justice's words, but he went a step further, a lot further, and he argued that demonstrators, quote, 'should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment.'

Joining me now for reaction from New York is Monica Crowley, senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, and with me in the studio here, Democratic strategist Joel Payne. OK, Joel, lay it on me. So now we are going right to what we thought all along, which is they want to get rid of the Second Amendment.

JOEL PAYNE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Listen, I completely understand. The NRA is on the retreat and they want to make a 97-year-old former Supreme Court justice and a bunch of 18-year-old kids the new bogeyman. Justice Stevens actually made reasonable arguments. He said look at the original intent of what the Second Amendment was supposed to be. Heller in 2008 changed that. You're a lawyer. You know that. You know that Heller fundamentally changed what the Second Amendment was supposed to be. I think the justice was making a reasonable argument.

INGRAHAM: Justice Scalia, we're not going to get into the legal issue, but Justice Scalia confirmed what I think most of us knew is that the Second Amendment today, it's kind of meaningful if it's not an individual right. So we affirmed that the Second Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms, was an individual right.

Monica, this is what a lot of us believed all along, that the left wanted to go for the guns, they wanted to take the Second Amendment. And now with John Paul Stevens, amazing that to write these op-eds at 97, but John Paul Stevens writes this piece in 'The New York Times,' and Bret Stephens, a big never-Trumper, by the way, he also is basically saying the same thing in an op-ed, the demonstrators should seek more effective and lasting reform. They should demand a repeal of the Second Amendment, from him. Yes, so we are being hit on all sides. Supreme Court justice and vaunted editorial writers.

MONICA CROWLEY, LONDON CENTER FOR POLICY RESEARCH: Laura, we do know that the left has long been at war with the constitution, and now we actually have hard evidence that they would like to actually rip up the bill of rights. They have long been attacking the First Amendment, and now they are ratcheting up their attacks on the Second Amendment.

There is a reason why the founding fathers made those two sets of rights a one-two punch, because there is no guarantee of the First Amendment without the Second Amendment. And the left, and maybe some others from ideological parts of the country are now starting to make this argument. This is extremely dangerous.

But I will say this, that Justice Stevens actually did us a favor because now no longer does the left have to pretend that they are interested in protecting the Second Amendment. Now the truth is right out there that they actually want to go forward and disarm law-abiding citizens. So now, actually, Laura, the battle can be joined.

INGRAHAM: The NRA responded and then you can respond to this. 'The men and women of the National Rifle Association along with the majority of the America people and the Supreme Court believe in the Second Amendment right to self-protection, and we will unapologetically continue to fight to protect this fundamental freedom.'

PAYNE: Laura, two things. Number one, icon of the left, John Paul Stevens is not an icon. He is not an icon on the left. He was nominated by Richard Nixon.

INGRAHAM: That means nothing. Bush nominated Souter.

PAYNE: Let's just be honest here about the record. He is not an icon of the left. He is actually got a pretty conservative --

INGRAHAM: He is more liberal than Ginsberg. He was liberal when I was clerking on the court.

PAYNE: Number two, number two, you guys do not wear this hysteria well on the right. You guys are concerned. You saw that Florida laws. You see what's happening. People are moving against what they know is an overreach on behalf of the NRA and of the people who are in staunch defense of the Second Amendment against everything. And we see now the sea shifting.

INGRAHAM: I think we will see a lot I think in the midterm elections and in 2020 just how going for the Second Amendment is going to go over for the American people in critical states. Monica, you can close it.

CROWLEY: I think you're right. I think actually Justice Stevens and those who support this radical position have given the Republicans a great gift, something to rally around. And by the way, Laura, NRA donations and contributions tripled in the month of February over January. So a lot of money coming in for the NRA. People want to make sure that the Bill of Rights is held sacrosanct.

INGRAHAM: Inalienable right, and I think this is one of them. We'll continue this. I'll have you both on radio.

The left finding some new targets in its crusade against American history and monuments. You do not want to -- you're going to miss this because you won't --

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INGRAHAM: It was only a matter of time until the left opened up a new front in their P.C. holy war against American history. A lot of monuments, numerous monuments tied to the Confederacy and the Civil War have been torn down in recent months. We knew it wasn't going on stop there. We warned you about this. Guess who is on the chopping block now? T.J., Thomas Jefferson.

Student activist at Hofstra University in New York are demanding a statue of him be removed from campus, claiming it belongs in a museum with proper context. They claim that white supremacists and neo-Nazi organizations embraced Jefferson as a hero. And this Friday, these students are even planning a Jefferson has got to go demonstration to further their -- advertising their ignorance about the whole thing.

The American founding is apparently not among the courses offered at Hofstra this semester. I'm telling you, you give the P.C. mob an inch and they're going to take every founding father we have and a few presidents along with them. This is frightening. This is Taliban-esque, and this isn't America. History should be respected, you bet, in the proper context. Don't put our values today on the historical moments of the past.

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INGRAHAM: That's all the time we have this evening. It's really too bad. This kind of was a slow-paced show, didn't have a lot of debate tonight. We're going to work on that for tomorrow night, though.

Tweet me @IngrahamAngle. See you on the radio tomorrow. We're going to try to read some more of viewer interaction in the future. So tweet me, tweet me, we'll read it. Shannon Bream and the "Fox News at Night" team up next. Shannon?

END

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