Gutfeld on media coverage of Mollie Tibbetts
MSNBC guest dismisses Mollie Tibbetts as some 'girl in Iowa' Fox News is talking about.
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," August 22, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: Hi, I'm Greg Gutfeld with Pam Bondi, Juan Williams, Jesse Watters, and she skateboards in a salad bowl, Dana Perino -- "The Five."
On MSNBC -- a network -- Tuesday, a guest mocked Fox News for devoting time to the murder of Mollie Tibbetts:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINA GREER, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: I'm sure we'll hear what he has to say about this at his rally. But Fox News is talking about, you know, a girl in Iowa and not this, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: Right, a girl in Iowa. She's right. And a girl in Iowa murdered pales in importance when compared to tax evasion, because if you talk about Mollie, you can't talk about the things that the media thinks is important. To the press, your sorrow over a young woman's death is got to be political. And that hush money among adults is more harmful to society than a brutal killing.
The media is obsessed with Manafort and Cohen -- victimless, gotcha crimes. But for most Americans, we know a true victim when we see her. It ain't the IRS or Stormy. And so we're smeared for thinking murder matters more than a bad 1040. So maybe we need to help the media find equivalencies. Let me ask you dear media: How many Mollies is a Mike Cohen worth? The answer: As many as it takes to undo an election and the facts be damned.
On Sunday, this story took off on Twitter: ICE had nabbed a guy on the way to the hospital with his pregnant wife. It was perfect media fodder, until we later found out the dad was a murder suspect, so mysteriously, that story went away. Or how about the Nazi death camp guard living in Queens? Obama's White House knew about him but ignored it even as the Nazi's Jewish neighbors called him out. Then we had an election and Trump, using ICE, deported him. So without ICE, we'd have at least one Nazi on the loose.
If this is the first time you've heard of these stories, I get it. These days, you stick to the story you want to tell, which is why to some, Mollie Tibbetts is just some girl in Iowa.
To be fair, I want to run this apology from the Fordham Professor Christine Greer who said -- apologized on twitter. It's a non-apology, but let's run it anyway. She said, yesterday, I've said something flippant that was unintended. Mollie Tibbetts was a promising young woman who lost her life. My hope is that her family will find peace and justice. And that her murder is not used to justify a discriminatory immigration policy. Dana, from a public relations perspective, she probably could have stopped that apology when it mattered.
DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Yes. It's one of my things I can't stand about, this -- like backhanded apology. If somebody says, I've never agreed with her in my entire life, but she had a good point there. They don't want to sully themselves with that.
GUTFELD: Whenever you see a but coming, it's not an apology.
PERINO: It's not. You just put a period.
GUTFELD: Yeah, exactly.
PERINO: Or an, and, and then say something more kind. The abolish ICE bumper sticker leaves no room for complexity or nuance. And so, you have a situation where Democrats are having to answer questions. Like, are you for abolishing ICE? Are you for abolishing ICE? And most of them are like, no.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
PERINO: I'm not for abolishing ICE. But because there are some left-wing folks out there that really want to try to get a rise out of people, and probably believe that we should abolish ICE, they have backed a lot of Democrats into a corner on this.
GUTFELD: Pam, welcome to the show, good to see you.
PAM BONDI, CO-HOST: Thank you. You, too.
GUTFELD: The -- CNN and MSNBC, they didn't take the arraignment for the suspect because they've believed that's not news, I guess. He has a private attorney. I was wondering who is paying for that. But also, how did he get through? I've read different stories. Did he -- did they do e- verify on him? Did he have a fake ID?
BONDI: Yeah. It's saying that -- like the farm owner says that he went through e-verify. He turned over completely cooperate to turn over all the documents. And then DHS, NHL, ICE, they're looking at it to see what happened with e-verify. This guy has been in the country forever. And he murdered a beautiful young girl. From being in a courtroom my entire career, that's who everybody in this country should be focusing on, that victim's parents, her family. Can you imagine what they're going through?
GUTFELD: Yeah, I know, it's unimaginable. And we've talked about families being separated. That's separation. I want to run, Juan, for you, some tapes from Elizabeth Warren. She was talking about this case, lamenting the crime, but then inserting a but.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MASS.: I'm so sorry for the family here. And I know this is hard, not only for the family, but for the people in her community, the people throughout Iowa. But, one of the things we have to remember is we need an immigration system that is effective, that focuses on where real problems are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: So, Juan, I guess this isn't a real problem that this young woman was murdered?
JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: No. That's -- I mean, you set it up as so prejudicial to our audience here. I mean, the clear fact of what happened is just horrible to this young woman. But it's also reminds me of the case, Steinle case, where her brother, Brad, came forward and said that he thought Trump was sensationalizing the death of a beautiful young woman. Why would her brother, why would Kate Steinle's brother say that? Because what you see is that people use this for their own purpose. And Trump's case, he's using this to distract and to deceive people in terms of the big news of the day, which is about the Michael Cohen plea deal, about Paul Manafort being convicted. I mean, at this point, you have the president's personal lawyer, his campaign chairman, his national security advisor, all convicted felons. And, oh, no, instead, we want to talk about a murder. Well, there're lots of murders in America. There's a lower rate of violent crime among illegal immigrants and immigrants than there is among native- born Americans.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: Guess what? There're some people who say let's not talk about Trump because it's bad news. Like, Trump -- let's talk about this.
GUTFELD: The point is essential, like there may be more people that are killed texting while driving. So, let's not pay attention to drunk driving. We can exactly tackle both, Juan.
(CROSSTALK)
JESSE WATTERS, CO-HOST: Juan -- I think Juan wants to distract from.
WILLIAMS: No, I just want talk about the news of the day.
GUTFELD: Which we did and we are.
WATTERS: And we're already talking about the Cohen and Manafort case in the B block. Now we're leading the show with this story. So, it seems like you're the one that's trying to distract.
WILLIAMS: No. Well, we're leading with the story about one woman's death.
WATTERS: You just sounded like the professor. There's some one woman.
WILLIAMS: Just one woman.
GUTFELD: Just a girl in Iowa.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: The presidency of the United States, Jesse, is imperiled by these decisions.
WATTERS: Yeah, according to you. But you know who's really imperiled? Mollie. Now let me just say something, what happened here was horrible and my heart goes out to the family. There's two levels to the story, I think. One, how many dead people are we going to tolerate in this country without solving the immigration problem? We have to have stricter borders. We can't have sanctuary. And we have to do something where you have to be able to verify the people that are in here. Now, on the other hand, the media does not report these stories honestly. And if you look at this one and the other ones that you've mentioned up there, they're misinforming the audience. They're not informing. I looked at that story about the arrest, about the guy driving his wife. And you had to read six paragraphs down to find out that he was wanted for a homicide beef. Now, that would seem like something that would lead and actually be in the headline, but they don't - - they don't inform their viewers. And they're doing the same thing. Now that it's found out that this person is allegedly here illegally, this has now dropped off the top row of a lot of cable news networks and a lot of newspapers. And it's a shame because the American people need to understand the facts about these things so they can elect politicians who can then solve problems.
WILLIAMS: Well, let me just say, I don't think there's any correlation between illegal immigration and violent crime in our country, but you make that connection. I don't think it's fair. To me, you know, what's interesting is if there was a mass murderer yesterday, all you guys would be saying, you know, this is not the time to talk about gun control. Let's not do that. That's what the right says. So, here I say, today, and you have one woman who was sadly, tragically killed in Iowa, and you guys want to start talking about immigration.
WATTERS: What happens in this country is that there's tragic events, and then politicians try to lead and try to have solutions. Just like if there was a school shooting, Democrats want to do gun control. Or if there's a hurricane, Democrats want to talk about climate change. I don't blame either side for doing it. That's what politicians do.
WILLIAMS: Oh, you do. In fact, you sit here and say this is not the time to talk about gun control in the aftermath of a mass murder, but now.
WATTERS: Not every mass murder.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I think the lesson here is we have a broken system that needs fixing. A fix-them, is a like to call.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Yeah, a fix-them. It needs to be fixed. I guess they claimed that they were wrong. He didn't get e-verify. That's what I'm learning.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: It's a different type of system is that what you verify. One thing about -- there's -- Lamar Smith has a legislation in front of congress right now, his e-verify system would add that you would be notified if your social security number was put through the system so that you could say, wait, hold on, like, I'm actually here. My social security number is being used.
BONDI: And that's why e-verify should be mandatory. And, you know, as a prosecutor, when you're in the courtroom every day for years dealing with victims, you look at -- the only way you can cope is looking at it one victim at a time, and how can we prevent more young girls, boys from being murdered? And that's why this is an important dialogue.
GUTFELD: Excellent. OK, we've got to move on. Donald Trump hammering his former attorney, Michael Cohen, I wonder why? New reaction from the president, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS: After blasting his former attorney on twitter, President Trump now saying he did not order Michael Cohen to make hush money payments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AINSLEY EARHARDT, FOX NEWS: Did you know about the payments?
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Later on I knew. Later on. But you have to understand is, like, what he did, and they weren't taken out of campaign finance. That's a big thing. That's a much bigger thing. Did they come out of the campaign? They didn't come out of the campaign. They came from me. It's not even a campaign violation. If you look at President Obama, he had a massive campaign violation, but he had a different attorney general and they viewed it a lot different.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: And that exclusive interview airs tomorrow on Fox & Friends. Meanwhile, Cohen's lawyer, longtime Clinton ally, Lanny Davis, is on a media blitz making new allegations against the President, while also trying to raise money for his client's legal fees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANNY DAVIS, MICHAEL COHEN'S ATTORNEY: He directed Mr. Cohen to make those hush money payments is a federal crime. And if Michael Cohen, with the prosecutors in New York agreeing, admitted to that, then certainly, Donald Trump is guilty of the same crime.
Mr. Cohen has knowledge on certain subjects that should be of interest to the special counsel. And is more than happy to tell the special counsel all that he knows.
He needs help for himself and his family, and the Michael Cohen truthfund.com go to site is for the American people who want to help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: OK. More go-fund-me pages. All right, Juan, you've seem like you've been chomping at the bit to tackle this issue. Let it rip.
WILLIAMS: I mean, I don't want to rip on anything. I just think it's a sad day, and you've got to wonder what's going on when the president is out there saying that Paul Manafort is a brave man, then it raises the question, oh, so he thinks Paul Manafort, who just, you know, been convicted on eight counts and faces 80 years in jail, a convicted felon, all of a sudden, he's a brave man. So, is he thinking about pardoning this man? Oh, because it's politically convenient and he knows Paul Manafort who was his campaign. And then you think, oh, he's out there damning Michael Cohen because he thinks Cohen may have additional facts that could be problematic for this president. It looks so awful that the President of the United States is in this position, and has put himself in this position, and surrounded himself, Jesse, I do this just to tease you, with the very best people.
WATTERS: Only the best.
WILLIAMS: Only the best.
WATTERS: Paul and Michael. Dana, I think when he was saying he's brave, he meant that -- he's looking at, probably, the rest of his life in prison, and he's not going to make up some phony story to satisfy prosecutors out of thin air. I think that's what he was talking about.
PERINO: I don't know.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: OK, thank you for helping with that. This is how I might have said it, which is I appreciated what he did for me on my campaign. I feel bad for his family that they're going through this. He has been convicted by a jury of his peers under our judicial system, and he's going to have to pay the price for that. Moving on. Like, you don't need to try to make him a synthetic character. He was stealing from the American people.
WATTERS: When I do something wrong, I'm going to have you write my tweets.
PERINO: OK, thank you.
WATTERS: Which could be any day now.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: Can I represent you?
WATTERS: No. You'll be my.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: Are you kidding? I would be a tiger for you, Jesse.
WATTERS: What's so funny because Lanny was the one with the Clinton team that set up this dossier in motion, and then got Cohen on the radar and that's when everybody started looking into him -- you know, hasn't been paying his taxes.
GUTFELD: I'm still in that world of I don't care. I mean, this stuff happened before Trump took office, so it's not an impeachable offense. You can't indict a sitting president. So why is this happening? It's just a mess with the guy. That's all this is. This is all about the election and undoing an election, and anger. It's really selective prosecution because there are people like this in Hillary's orbit. You can believe that for a fact.
PERINO: She had been on the hook is she had won
GUTFELD: Yeah, exactly. I mean, how did she pay for that dossier? I don't know. Did she declare it? (INAUDIBLE) I don't know. What about Harvey Weinstein? If she had won, would the Me Too -- would we have known about Harvey Weinstein? Of course not. All of that stuff would have been buried. So let's face it. We're not dealing with angels. But I've moved beyond that. I don't care if they're not angels. I don't care about the lawyers. Trump is not the greatest husband, you know. Stormy has really given porn stars a bad name. She -- when you.
WATTERS: It's such a good name to.
GUTFELD: The only thing she's doing is she's just mad she didn't get more money out of a deal that she's now reneging on.
BONDI: Right, agree there about giving porn stars a bad name. But in the real world, this happens all the time, OK? CEO's, millionaires, they get extorted all the time. All the time. And they often -- I've been called about it, what do I do? And I say report it to the police. Most of them don't want to report it. So what's their next option? Go to a civil lawyer. And that's what a non-lawyer, Donald Trump did. He went to an attorney. He could have given her cash. He could have paid her off. He went to an attorney and said fix this legally. And this is on Michael Cohen. This is.
WILLIAMS: Legally?
BONDI: Sure. Sure, you can sign a nondisclosure. You can sign -- this happens all the time in the real business world. You can sign a nondisclosure. You can make a payment.
PERINO: With campaign money?
WILLIAMS: That's the problem.
BONDI: No, but that's it. But.
WILLIAMS: That's the problem.
BONDI: . it's where the money came from. That is on the lawyer. A bad lawyer does not equal.
(CROSSTALK)
BONDI: . that's what he went to his lawyer.
WILLIAMS: But we have a tape, Pam. A tape in which the president is discussing this with Michael Cohen.
BONDI: And Cohen should have told him you cannot use campaign funds.
WATTERS: They thought you were on one of those tapes, didn't they?
BONDI: Isn't it funny? So I listened to it and they've said it was inaudible and I've said, he said Pam. I've heard that, it was Pam. I don't think it's me because I didn't do anything in South Carolina.
GUTFELD: It was Pam Dauber from Mork and Mindy.
WATTERS: I think what the president is saying is that these were personal funds that he used to, I guess, pass through a lawyer to have this woman sign an NDA, and it was a personal matter. Maybe it did affect the campaign, but the primary reason was to settle it to not cause any harm to the marriage, or not to cause any bad publicity, or just to get it out of the way because she'd been asking for money for quite some time.
PERINO: If it turns out that it is from his own personal checkbook and it didn't go through the campaign, then maybe he's got a point. But I don't see how the prosecutors could have gotten Cohen to plead guilty for something if it was not actually campaign money.
WILLIAMS: And what about the money for the National Enquirer? That came - - that was from the National Enquirer to, I think, Karen McDougal who is the Playboy model.
WATTERS: Did you think -- because, you know, Andrew McCarthy had a great piece in the National Review.
PERINO: Oh, wow. We've been quoting him all week.
WATTERS: Where he was saying -- probably bringing the pain on these other tax charges and saying you're looking at a lot of time, you know. Why don't you plead to these lesser kind of campaign violations.
PERINO: Possibly.
WATTERS: It's a thinner case.
PERINO: Possible. But then, also, and I don't know anything about this one either, but now Cohen has another subpoena.
WATTERS: Yeah.
PERINO: . about the Trump foundation.
WATTERS: Yeah.
PERINO: So, I mean, he's in a situation where he's in a downward spiral.
WATTERS: Yeah, they're going after him big time. And I think I agree with Greg. It's to avenge Hillary's loss and to bring a lot of heartbreak on the president.
BONDI: And he's useful to the criminal prosecution, unless they have other credible evidence because he's told so many stories.
WATTERS: Yeah, his credibility is shot.
GUTFELD: One thing to note, for the longest time we've been saying Trump has a thin skin. He's got a pretty thick hide to do his job while this is going on.
WATTERS: Yeah, that's tough. Tough day. More tough days ahead, I'm sure. The anti-Trump media ramping up impeachment talk, again, after these developments. That's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: The media revs up the push to impeach President Trump, this follows Michael Cohen's guilty plea. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: You now have the President of the United States accused of committing a federal crime. The way a functional Washington would work is that congress -- there's a process here. The judiciary committee and the House of Representatives will begin to look to see if there's enough evidence to start investigating and drawing up articles of impeachment.
UNINDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should the president be more worried about impeachment than before because of what have happened today?
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Are we in impeachment territory here?
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Today, the Trump presidency took a giant step toward impeachment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Well, the question is, is the media sort of salivating, especially left-wing media, or is there justification for this, Dana?
PERINO: Well, I think -- I feel that they're hoping that this story can keep going because there's not that much else actually going on in August. They would like to see impeachment. Guess who doesn't want to see impeachment talk? Pelosi, Schumer, like leading Democrats who are saying please do not try to suggest this because you will overplay your hand. And if you want to encourage Republicans to get out and vote in the midterms, you will keep on this nonsense about impeachment. I saw one Democrat suggest forget impeachment, go for the indictment, even though there's this -- you can't indict a sitting president. Some people think that that is an open question that should be taken to the Supreme Court. Regardless, I think, impeachment, it's going to be impossible for them to stop talking about it completely, but I think maybe there'll be a bat signal to all the Democrats to cool it.
WILLIAMS: So, Pam, you're the lawyer sitting here with us today, so tell us. Can you indict a sitting president? And, if not, is impeachment a legitimate alternative?
BONDI: If it's a legitimate case, of course. And that's probably what Mueller is looking in putting together now, an impeachment memo, which congress.
PERINO: Or not.
BONDI: . would love. Or possibly, right. But I don't feel they have enough to do it. We all know it's super high standard. You know, you've got to have a majority of the house, and then it goes to the senate. Two- thirds. It's not going to happen. And because of what I said earlier, you know, you cannot link the president back to this. First of all, it has nothing to do with Russia. You've got some guy, Michael Cohen, saying I'd take a bullet for Trump. Then next, he's going after the President of the United States. So he has zero credibility. They would have to have credible, substantial, independent information to corroborate anything Cohen says. I think, like you said, for Mueller to even write an impeachment memo, it's just not there. And they just can't go forward with it.
WILLIAMS: But, Jesse, yesterday in court, Cohen said that Trump instructed him to violate the law, and Cohen said this publicly in open court, right? And, apparently, then the question becomes, is the president an unindicted coconspirator, should, at least, the congress be looking at this and saying, gee, the president looks to have been named as having committed a felony?
WATTERS: It's their prerogative. They can look at whatever they want to look at. I don't know if I trust Michael Cohen that much. He's facing a lot of hard time. And it's a he said-he said. So let the chips fall where they will. Two-thirds of the senate -- all this is, is a talking point for the Democrats. And they do win the house, there may be a move to impeach. And to say, you know, we're going to run in 2020 against an impeached incumbent gives the Democrats some, you know, political credibility there. And it's harmful to the president, I think, politically to be impeached.
But, you know, it will also, maybe, hurt the economy a little bit and undermine his credibility as the commander-in-chief when he goes abroad. But, I just don't see it happening. Independents don't believe this is a high crime. Republicans, obviously, don't believe this is an impeachable offense. I don't think there's an appetite in the country for this. The story is probably going to fizzle out in a few days.
And the Democrats, with Maxine Waters, are going to have a hard time keeping lid on these feisty, you know, far left people on the far left and it's going to be a real headache for the leadership, Greg.
GUTFELD: The media can't stop talking about impeachment. It is their jasper. And I do believe it shows they can't even think things through. It's like if you actually do impeach Trump, you will have Mike Pence, a guy who was so conservative. He won't be alone with his wife. So I'm joking, of course.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh yes.
GUTFELD: I'm joking. But anyway, he's a -- he makes Trump look like Che Guevara. And if -- let's say you get your magical dream of impeachment, you will radicalize a lot of Americans who will feel that you have stolen - - stolen your -- their votes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
GUTFELD: And if you think that the America thinks you are fake news now, God knows what they're going to think of you then. I mean that they will - - I don't even want to talk about it. And also, lastly, we have now spent 21 minutes on this topic, Juan. We only spent 10 minutes on Mollie Tibbetts. So to your point, you were incorrect.
WILLIAMS: No, I think the top of the show was the distraction.
GUTFELD: No actually again, do you actually --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well wait, I see the eBlock because --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: -- Mollie Tibbetts is not a distraction.
WATTERS: Oh OK.
GUTFELD: And more people come into this show.
WATTERS: OK.
GUTFELD: If you look at the ratings, in the middle of the show because they're coming home from work.
WILLIAMS: No.
GUTFELD: So right now they're getting more news.
WILLIAMS: No, no they come in the middle of the show to see you Greg.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh.
WILLIAMS: But anyway Jesse, Jesse --
GUTFELD: I was going to say one more thing.
WILLIAMS: -- yes, yes.
WATTERS: In the '90s, the, you know, President Bill Clinton was impeached for covering up an affair. And the Democrats defended him. And now they want to impeach this President for covering up an affair. It's funny how the things changed.
WILLIAMS: How many chairs -- but I mean -- let me ask you, forget about the Democrats. Where are the Republicans? Why would the House Judiciary Committee be saying oh we're going to look at this because it's our president. Let's look at it.
GUTFELD: I don't think they believe it rises to the level.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
PERINO: Besides, there is the Senate Intel Committee is looking at it. Mark Warner.
WILLIAMS: Dana, Dana, I'm talking about the House.
PERINO: OK, fine because I think everyone has established the House Intel Committee can't do anything right so or well.
GUTFELD: Oh 32 minutes now, Juan.
WILLIAMS: OK, OK. Our brand new wild card, yes, our brand new wild car segment is back this week. You don't want to miss it.
GUTFELD: Yehey.
WILLIAMS: But first, the Democratic socialist star apparently steps in it again, the new controversy over her latest comments. That's next for you on "The Five".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BONDI: Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has another mess to clean up. A coffee shop where she used to work is now closing because of a policy that she supports. The congressional candidate saying she is sadden by the news while apparently ignoring that a $15 an hour minimum wage is partly to blame for the stores closing.
Dana, you know, no matter when I see a young woman like that who's -- we completely disagree with the politics, most of us, but a young woman like that who could have potential within her party is she just ill-advised? I mean what would you say about -- shouldn't her team have tried to rein her in and told her something?
PERINO: Well I've said this before. I think that the best thing right now is for her right now is that she's going to win her race and she will become a congresswomen, one of the youngest congresswomen ever. She's got a long career ahead of her. She does not need to be doing any of these interviews.
BONDI: Why?
PERINO: She doesn't need to be. She could sit back and also if she picks up the phone, she can call anybody she wants and they'll pick it up and they'll say, how can I help you? Could you come and talk to me about x, y, and z and just immerse yourself in the all the issues and then she wouldn't step in things like this.
BONDI: Exactly and, you know, it's she's unknowingly pulled back the curtain on an issue that we've all been talking about and exposed it. Juan, you know.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
BONDI: You know, we've got a socialist candidate and isn't this just another example of socialists basically destroying the village in order to save it?
WILLIAMS: I don't think so, but I like the fact that conservatives think they've caught a liberal socialist in hypocrisy. As you rightly said, Pam, this is only -- the minimum wage is part of the story. Rising rents are the other part of the story. She worked with this coffee shop. She was expressing sort of nostalgic sense of loss that the shop is closing. And then the media, oh gee that look that media. They pounced on her and said hey wait a minute, you're someone who supports a higher minimum wage like Seattle has passed and others. And that's part of the reason this place is closing so this totally legitimate. In fact, I would be harsh with her contrary what Dana was saying. You know, that she locked some reporters out.
WATTERS: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Of public thing.
PERINO: Yes, she had apologized for it.
BONDI: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Yes, I don't think that's right. I mean at some point, she's got to stand up and she's got to be who she is.
PERINO: That's right. She should just drop for a minute.
WILLIAMS: Like people know who she is. I don't have any objection to the argument about the minimum wage by the way because I think people need a living wage in our country with income inequality spiking. But I think that she got caught out here and I think for some reason, there is sort of nobody in terms of the 100 -- 435 members of Congress is now a star on the right.
WATTERS: Well, I loved this coffee shop. I've been to this coffee shop at time.
BONDI: You have.
WATTERS: I spend a lot of money in this coffee shop. Did you say in the intro that she was a waitress?
BONDI: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Right, I thought yes.
BONDI: Yes, she was a former.
WATTERS: And so I might have actually been served lunch by Ocasio-Cortez and I probably give her a nice tip because I expense it and always give at least 20%, so there you go. You know, I helped you out there, that socialism at its best, right or actually that's capitalism.
PERINO: That's capitalism.
WATTERS: Exactly.
PERINO: Not bad of capitalism.
WILLIAMS: Wait, wait don't tell the accounting department, you've spent it.
WATTERS: No, when I'm on my shoots, we go to the coffee shop there after the Union Square debacle.
GUTFELD: These are boost.
BONDI: So Greg, they want --
WATTERS: I didn't know that Greg.
BONDI: -- free health care, free everything, higher minimum wage.
GUTFELD: Whether a -- wherever the government dictates wage is, you're going to have a problem. And especially that since the minimum wage is the low -- it's a low temporary wrong. You're not supposed to hang out there.
PERINO: Yes, right.
GUTFELD: And that -- and especially at restaurants. The big problem with restaurants is turnover because everybody in New York is an actor or an actress. So they -- they are working on tips anyway so that you do not need the high minimum wage there and they don't plan on raising a family. Here's the -- our culture has risk takers reversed. We look at like adventurers and actors and actresses as -- and artists as brave types. The bravest types are people who open restaurants.
PERINO: Exactly.
GUTFELD: Because they got a deal with terrible customers, bureaucracy.
BONDI: Permits.
GUTFELD: Bad landlords, permits, unemployee -- employees who don't want to stay very long so you can't train them. They are the true daredevil's, not David Blaine or Evel Knievel.
WATTERS: Yes, they're brave like Paul Manafort, right?
GUTFELD: Exactly.
WATTERS: That is kind of bravery --
GUTFELD: Thank you.
WATTERS: -- we're looking for.
GUTFELD: Thank you, thank you Jesse for bolstering my point.
WILLIAMS: Why did you do that to him?
GUTFELD: That's what the President said.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: Thank you. All right.
BONDI: Our brand-new segment here on "The Five", Wild Card Wednesday is up next (INAUDIBLE).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: All right, let's pick another one.
PERINO: "The Five". Since we had so much fun in our wild card segment last week, we're bringing it back. We will see. OK.
GUTFELD: All right, that was quick jump, no confirmations. Yes.
PERINO: All right, it's wild card Wednesday. The five of us have each picked a topic that's not in the show. I tried to do better this week. We've written that topic down and put it into this hat and I'm going to randomly pick one of those topics for us to discuss.
WATTERS: Please.
PERINO: No one knows anyone else's pick.
WATTERS: Don't make it --
PERINO: And no one chose the same one like last week. OK.
WATTERS: I like (INAUDIBLE) Dana's.
PERINO: Number one, oh gosh, I hope it's not mine. I can't take it again. I can't take it again. I can't take it again. OK snowball fights Ban Delaware State University for fear of potential harm to others. This goes along with the "Everything is Fun".
GUTFELD: Do you know why?
PERINO: Taken away, basically we're going give you a quick story. Delaware State University banning snowball fights during the winter bans over fear of this potential harm. The university said necessary because students were throwing snowballs and resident halls and iced over snow balls were posing dangers to others. Students who violate the rules could be punished with warnings, reprimands, community service fines, or disciplinary probation.
GUTFELD: Isn't it ironic that the people banning snowballs or snowflakes?
WATTERS: Oh.
GUTFELD: We'll be right back.
PERINO: That's very good.
GUTFELD: Thank you.
PERINO: I have to confess this is my topic.
GUTFELD: Really?
WATTERS: That was my topic.
BONDI: Oh wow.
PERINO: No, this is my topic.
WATTERS: Snowball fights was mine.
PERINO: No.
WILLIAMS: This is the second week we've done that.
WATTERS: Yes.
BONDI: That's a great.
WATTERS: It's mine.
PERINO: Now we -- I learned.
GUTFELD: Like new.
WATTERS: I like mystery to --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Oh my god.
WATTERS: Great minds think alike.
BONDI: Great mind.
PERINO: And why did you pick it?
WATTERS: Because I wanted to see people getting hit by snowballs. I wanted to see up Greg for that money line about snowflakes. Mission accomplished.
PERINO: What do you think Juan about snowflakes being -- or snowballs being banned at the University?
WILLIAMS: Well I mean to me, it's like, you know, dodge ball, right? Dodge ball can be fun but sometimes you can get hurt so the question is then in this era of liability, you know, if you're in charge of the school, you say hey don't do it. Do I think that if a snow falls at the University of Delaware where people going to have a snowball fight, no.
PERINO: Well.
WATTERS: Next time it snows, I'm going to roll in up and peg you so hard.
BONDI: Yes, right. You don't really --
WILLIAMS: Thank you, you always go up to the black guy.
(CROSSTALK)
BONDI: I have not had much experience with snowballs, but I mean we can only go, as a press we can only go so far. We're taking the fun out of everything and we're going over the top, common.
PERINO: Now my grandfather --
BONDI: It's just kind of ball fight.
PERINO: -- on my father's side, up of the ranch, he was very against snowballs because he saw a child have his eye put out by one.
GUTFELD: It's always a child with an eye put that. That's the -- everything --
BONDI: And it happened.
GUTFELD: -- no, but every parent uses that with everything. Don't do that. You put an eye out. And it's like I'm just sitting there.
WATTERS: Yes, I must say that I had my girls this January, when snowed, makes snowballs and we've kept it in the freezer.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: And this August, we're about to unleash on some neighbors.
BONDI: Wait, that is a deadly weapon.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: Surprise with that.
BONDI: Jesse that is deadly weapon. And so yes, now be careful.
PERINO: Yes.
WATTERS: That's a little --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: A little ice, I think it --
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: You know what Jesse --
WATTERS: And they're probably going to mix --
WILLIAMS: -- Jesse I have a suggestion, BB guns, give them BB guns.
PERINO: It's a great idea Juan. We have time for another one of this topic, that's the snowball fights.
GUTFELD: Let's do it again. So anyway, isn't it ironic?
BONDI: I think not only one.
GUTFELD: Told you.
PERINO: That's snowflakes. OK.
GUTFELD: I never thought I would say the word snowflakes.
PERINO: I think we have to put this in different, OK. Microchip implants for employees. One company says, yes earlier this Monday with Consent Tech Company rolled out a new program where its employees can opted to get in a microchip injected between their thumb and index finger.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: It allows any test that have normally need a special I.D. card to be done with a wave of a hand. Oh my gosh, Greg its happening.
GUTFELD: Yes, but you know what's stupid about this, what they're using it for so they can buy food at the company cafeteria. It's like, if you're going to put something in your hand, make it worth it for something like you can get on planes faster. You can get -- you can wave it and pizza will arrive.
WATTERS: And so you swipe when you're in front of the cashier.
GUTFELD: Yes, it's a company cafeteria. You're going to mutilate your body so you can get a snapple that lunch?
WILLIAMS: Yes, but you can get in the building. So this was my topic. You can get in the building. You can pay for things and get through security.
WATTERS: Yes.
WILLIAMS: The question would be, you know, what happens if this little chip migrates elsewhere in your body?
WATTERS: Yes.
WILLIAMS: And also they -- are they going to start saying you know, Jesse, how long were you in the restroom? We have it right here.
PERINO: That's right.
GUTFELD: So Juan --
PERINO: That's what I might --
GUTFELD: But I'm not in confidence.
WILLIAMS: I know that. But I might tell you, it's something like 80 or 85%.
PERINO: No, if it's 50 of the companies, 80 employees have already opted in those program.
WILLIAMS: Yes, so people had no objection.
WATTERS: Those are brown dozers.
BONDI: That's a privacy issue, I just don't -- like that.
PERINO: You don't like it? Do you think they will have a case?
BONDI: No, no.
PERINO: Like you want to --
BONDI: I just don't like it.
PERINO: I know they say it's optional.
BONDI: Yes.
PERINO: You might feel pressure. I got time for one more.
GUTFELD: Yehey, with this one.
PERINO: Oh let's see. Yes, iconic animal cracker box gets redesigned after pressure from PETA. So basically PETA was mad because the old box used to have bars --
BONDI: OK.
WATTERS: Right.
PERINO: -- in their little pages. They had a big spite about it and now they're all free to roam around on the Sahara.
GUTFELD: So basically, the outrage is about imaginary animals in imaginary cages.
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: That's where we've gone. So this is an imaginary cookie and I'm biting the head of a hippo. Now, did I just bite the head off real hippo or a cookie hippo? PETA is this outrageous what I just did, I bit the head off a cookie hippo?
WILLIAMS: I call you, it's called the Elmer Fudd was the big game hunter? That's you man.
PERINO: I do love these. These are (INAUDIBLE).
GUTFELD: They are great -- these cookies are great. You know what, I wanted to bring the -- I want to have dessert. I want t have the cage back. I don't want these animals eating me.
WILLIAMS: I thought it was going to be ugly, but I actually new box is quite attractive.
BONDI: Everybody's find so interesting on that.
WATTERS: I think I'm pro-bars. I want these wild animals behind the bars. I think it's threatening to children to look at. I mean it's a zoo theme. That's what they are going for. If they're safe and they are not going to attack.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Pam, this was yours?
BONDI: Yes.
PERINO: Is Santa real? A version of Alexa's skirt, some kid questions?
BONDI: Children don't watch. If your watching turn it off right now.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I got yelled it for doing a Santa story on "The Five" our first year.
PERINO: I remember very well. I remember. All right, well that was fun.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: You didn't get any problem?
PERINO: I didn't start crying, which is good. All right, One More Thing is up next.
GUTFELD: We're tears of laughing.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: One More Thing, let's go to Juan.
WILLIAMS: Thank you Greg. Two-year-old being Phoenix Thompson is in a children's cancer center in Atlanta battling leukemia after her first chemotherapy session wrapped up, a nurse came in and she dressed the ailing child in a yellow princess gown. I want you to watch next what happened.
Yes, that's her dad Brett, in a suit and tie picking up the princess for a surprise father-daughter dance. They twirled away to Tim McGraw's, My Little Girl, in a hospital room filled with stuffed animals. Now, dad's usually home with the couples four other kids while mom stays with Phoenix at the hospital so it was a real surprise visit topped off by a surprise dance for that ailing daughter and it since gone viral. Now I tell you this make been joke on.
WATTERS: All right.
PERINO: She is going to get better.
WILLIAMS: God bless.
PERINO: Absolutely. All right, its back-to-school season, you know we love it and one New Jersey high school caught my eye. Going the extra mile to make sure students are starting off on the right foot, it has to do with laundry. West Side High principal Akbar Cook set up a free laundry mat in his school after learning that many of the students were being bullied for wearing dirty clothes. They were unable to wash at home. So Mr. Cook explained the bullying and why it was so important for him to step in and to look out for his students. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AKBAR COOK, PRINCIPAL, WEST SIDE HIGH SCHOOL: We found out the kids was being bully and they're being bullied because of cleanliness and they're fighting when SAT (ph), their final that test for you to say what your fighting for them, the stuff that they can't control so that's just who I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: So thank you to great principals everywhere and good luck all you students out there.
GUTFELD: That's a great solution.
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: All right, if you're in Florida, Saturday, I will be at the Barnes & Noble at the Villages.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Yes. I'll be there at 2:00 p.m. and then I'll be at the Books-A- Million in Kissimmee at 7:00 p.m.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: There before.
GUTFELD: What is it?
PERINO: Kissimmee.
GUTFELD: Kissimmee. Not right now.
PERINO: Kissimmee.
GUTFELD: Go to my ggutfeld.com to find out more information. And I got my podcast up with Toby Young, it's about public shaming, it's really good. And now --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: -- it's really good. Greg's Sea Lion News. All right, you going to check this. This is the most photogenic sea lion, you will ever see. Check him out when he gets up there. He must see phenomenally trained, but then I'm looking closer and I'm thinking maybe it's a dude and its sea lion out there.
PERINO: No. It's a real one.
GUTFELD: No, I think it's a dude. Look at that smile.
PERINO: Oh, went right there and they tell him to say cheese.
GUTFELD: Say cheese. And then --
BONDI: And then he smile.
GUTFELD: -- oh it could be Alec Baldwin, I'm not sure. What do you think? All right, I think we've seen enough the sea lion. Not much to see lion. Who's next? Jesse.
WATTERS: Well I thought I had more -- one more things than you.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: So you beat me. I don't get two. "Wednesdays with Watters", again on Martha MacCallum Show on 7:00, just rolls off your tongue.
GUTFELD: That it really does.
WATTERS: "Wednesdays with Watters". That will be all, we've got to update that profile picture.
Also check out this harrowing video, this is a father and a son driving through a forest fire they escaped from Glacier National Park in Montana on August 12th. They had to drive through flames, dodging debris, the car was heating up, that was just very, very dangerous. They made it out alive, they're OK. The car totally melted but just a great father-son moment I guess.
BONDI: Wow. They'll never forget that.
WATTERS: They're never going to forget that one.
BONDI: Geez.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Why are they driving?
WATTERS: Escaping a forest fire.
GUTFELD: All right. OK. Just checking.
WILLIAMS: That looked like on an (INAUDIBLE) like at the end of time, you know one of those novel?
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Let's get to Pam.
BONDI: I've got one, Officers Matthew Suddeth and Cory Glasscock in Alabama. If we could run the video went above and beyond. These officers look at this running into a burning home without waiting on firefighters. Geez.
So they've break the window and there's the clip there, they're not in the proper gear, they're running into harm's way instead of away. They take -- look at this grabbing this woman, taking her to safety and that's what all our great men and women do in uniform every single day. They run into harm's way instead of away from it.
And that's why it's so very important when you see a police officer, appreciate what they do and their spouses and their families. There's no ordinary day for a police officer.
GUTFELD: Exactly. All right.
BONDI: Well that was fun.
GUTFELD: It was fun. So set your DVRs, never miss an episode of THE FIVE. There's no rhyme to share, and eat it by bear (ph). Up next, Bret there. Hey Bret.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hi Greg. Thanks. I'm good.
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