This is a rush transcript from "The Five," August 21, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: The doctor actually took a picture of it.
Hello, everyone. I'm Greg Gutfeld, along with Kimberly Guilfoyle, Bob Beckel, Eric Bolling, and she packs her lunch in a thimble, it's Dana Perino.
This is "The Five."
(MUSIC)
GUTFELD: When someone has a problem and it's someone you care about, you should confront him. You've got to sit him down and say: this is serious. President Obama, you have a problem. Not with drugs or women or booze, it's worse. You have a problem with golf and it's getting weird.
Even for me, I never once cared, but now it's strange. Think about it. You played golf after that press conference, after an appalling terrorist act. How was that possible? I have no problems with vacations and have grown to like your aloof take on our country's decline.
I know you can't change, but now something is wrong. You have a problem. You can't see it, but it's there. We all see it now. Golf is your Lewinski, it's your bimbo eruption, it's your blue dress, it's your compulsion that blinds you to the hell unfolding around you.
How much of it occupies your head? How much time do you think about golf? Do you find yourself promising you'll cut back? Do you find your life empty if you don't a have round on the horizon? Do you see golf as your oasis in a world far beneath you?
Look, we all have compulsions and golf hurts no one. It's legal and relaxing. But for God's sakes, man, it's time to lead. Plot a course instead of walking one. Show some drive instead of making one.
After an American is beheaded, no president should be heading to the course.
So --
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, CO-HOST: You're pretty talented.
GUTFELD: Kimberly, golf, it's great exercise. And we could all stand to lose five pounds, according to Keith Ablow.
GUILFOYLE: He and I are in a serious war like "West Side Story."
GUTFELD: Yes, he's in great shape, by the way. Is it time for a golf intervention?
GUILFOYLE: Yes, it is. It's getting actually uncomfortable for everyone -- his obsession with golf. And Alonzo Mourning is disturbing.
I mean, seriously, I think they're spending enough time together. We get that they're BFF. But we would like our president back, kind of. We kind of want him back, because we want him to at least appear like someone is in charge. And I know he has an aversion to going back to the White House. But could he eventually do so and could David Cameron call him to be part of this intervention?
GUTFELD: Bob, should we be grateful it's just golf? Think about it, it could be worse.
GUILFOYLE: Monica Lewinsky.
BECKEL: I can't even have this face (ph), man. That was one of your more unique monologues.
I suppose you could argue that golf doesn't look good when something's going on. What if he were playing croquet or what if he were playing poker? Or -- he's on vacation, right?
GUTFELD: Yes.
BECKEL: Now, he doesn't have to leave his vacation and come and sit to the Situation Room. He could get it all up there. And I don't -- I think this is such an inside game, that everybody's talking about it. It's just ridiculous. I mean, it makes no sense.
I thought we're used to president like W. (INAUDIBLE). Don't listen to Gutfeld.
DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Ha ha ha.
ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: It's not that he plays golf, Bob. I don't think anyone begrudges the president -- the golf game. It's the timing of his golf games.
I mean, literally, it was six minutes after he delivered that five- minute speech on the beheading and how terrible ISIS was, which was fine. But then he didn't offer any solutions, what he plans to do, he didn't threaten ISIS, he didn't ask any questions. Six minutes later, he's on the golf course.
The problem is, while he was on the golf course, the family of the Foleys were doing a press conference and they were speaking, they were weeping, they're teary, they're talking about what a great kid he was and how terrible this was that was happening, how awful ISIS was.
So, at the same moment that he's grasping his putter, the Foleys are delivering --
BECKEL: What did you expect him to do? Go to the TV set and watch?
BOLLING: No, maybe wait. I don't know, Bob. Maybe wait, maybe cancel the afternoon round of golf.
GUILFOYLE: How about not golf today then again? I mean, he can't stop.
GUTFELD: Dana, the issue here, I don't know if it's fair, or unfair, you know, you have the British papers and the papers here in New York -- they're juxtaposing this incident of terror with Obama playing golf. You know, he tees off -- as Eric says, he tees as the parents grieve. Is that unfair? Does he deserve this?
PERINO: They could have seen this happening. Remember? So, two nights ago, the night that we learn of the beheading, I sent a tweet that was part prediction, part advice, saying, I'm sure there will be no golf tomorrow.
It wasn't because I don't care if he plays golf. But he does have a choice when he's on vacation. He could stay out of sight on a day like that. Or if he had canceled the golf game, let the press know you canceled the golf game you take it so seriously.
America wants the tone of the country to be set by the president. The problem with these hastily arranged statements, that they've done I think four of them while he's been on vacation -- they do them around 12:45 p.m., so that by 1:06 he can make his tee time.
And they might think that it's just an inside problem. It actually -- when it is leading all of the national newspapers with the juxtaposed picture, the photographs are what people remember. This is what sticks in your mind. So, you have the grieving mother and father, and President Obama laughing and fist bumping with his buddies.
That is a perception problem. The president has a unique ability to shape his own perception. But maybe he doesn't care.
GUTFELD: Thank God it's not miniature golf.
GUILFOYLE: Yes, but -- yes, interesting.
Dana, what about President Bush? He even took a golf break that he didn't feel comfortable. He stopped golfing and said because we have men and women serving in Afghanistan. They didn't want to be doing that while they were over there suffering and giving their lives.
PERINO: That is true. Let me give you another example. On the morning of Hurricane Katrina, when President Bush was going to be flying back from California to Washington, D.C., and they do the flyover, that became a photograph that was -- that encapsulated that moment. And he was bludgeoned for it. It was a PR mistake.
What the president -- the president has bigger problems than just PR problems. They have optics problems that are turning into ethical ones. And that is the risk that they are in a unique position to be able to have power over, and they decide not to.
GUTFELD: Yes, he should be worrying about the sand trap in the Middle East.
BOLLING: Can I add a little something here? I've heard this nonstop. I've heard it from Bob, wherever the president is, it's the White House. He's always on call. He's always being briefed.
This week, I believe it was this week, it was Sunday or Monday, Jay Nixon called in the National Guard and the White House said, oh, we didn't know about it. They didn't know that a seated governor with a heat of the race riot going on in Ferguson, Missouri --
GUILFOYLE: Right.
BOLLING: And they didn't know he called in the National Guard. Yet, they claimed that he's always on call. He's always briefed. So, you can't have it both ways.
BECKEL: I think maybe just take his 7 iron out, 3 wood out and maybe one of his putters and he'll be fine.
I think it's the most ridiculous, we just saw on the front page of all these newspapers is because the publishers think it's a great, funny thing to put up there. And you're right, it's perception. They've earned it. But it is such a ridiculous sophomoric argument that I cannot even -- it's going to be like that -- that thing I don't want to talk about. I don't want to talk about his golf anymore.
GUTFELD: All right.
BOLLING: Oh, that's another one.
GUTFELD: Yes, it's ridiculous.
BOLLING: Oh, we can't talk Benghazi, you can't talk golf.
GUILFOYLE: Bob, if you were advising the president, you wouldn't tell him it's a good idea to go and golf and whoop it up with his buddies after an American was brutally and savagely murdered? It's not a good idea? Be honest.
You wouldn't tell him to do it? Wouldn't you say, Mr. President, with all due respect, let's sit this one out?
BECKEL: What has happened to you this week? You got --
GUILFOYLE: Because you know what? This is the truth.
PERINO: It's just principles and standards.
BECKEL: Well, it's --
GUILFOYLE: And I expect my commander in chief too, as well.
BECKEL: What would you refer him to do, go back to his vacation?
GUILFOYLE: Pay attention to ISIS.
GUTFELD: He does have options. He does have options. Don't golf. That's one.
PERINO: Do an activity where you are not at risk of having photographs released of you. And maybe choose not to go to the Vineyards. Maybe go someplace more secluded, because basically you go to the Vineyard, you go there to be social and to be seen and to be a part.
GUILFOYLE: Go to Camp David.
BOLLING: Is there a history? Is there a pattern? Nelson Mandela's funeral, he's taking selfies and kind of laughing it up. Does he not just get it? I mean, that's just not scripted, right? He's that -- that's just an impromptu, let's take a selfie with the Denmark --
BECKEL: If you were sitting next to that woman, you'd take a picture with him, too?
BOLLING: At Nelson Mandela's funeral?
BECKEL: Yes, you'd take anywhere.
BOLLING: No, I don't think I would, Bob.
GUTFELD: Let's I want to go to this sound on tape. You've got the former CIA deputy director, Mike Morell, and former Vice President Dick Cheney talking about the threat of is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE MORELL, FORMER CIA DEPUTY DIRECTOR: If an ISIS member showed up in a mall in the United States tomorrow, with an AK-47 and killed a number of Americans, I would not be surprised.
DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: There's no question but what the developments in Iraq and Syria, the development of a caliphate with the ISIS organization in charge, is very much a threat to the United States, when you see them behead an American reporter, as they did today. That's obviously a terrible development.
But magnify that a million times over, because that's what's in store for the rest of the world if we don't deal effectively with this crisis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: Dana, is this hyperbole or is this on the money?
PERINO: You're talking --let's just talk about Mike Morell in particular. So, the former CIA director for President Obama, he also worked in the Bush administration. But he was a CIA director for Obama.
He is sounding the alarm because he was in a position to know, and a position to worry.
GUILFOYLE: Exactly.
PERINO: So, he's in a position of responsibility and leadership. And I think that they are trying to sound the alarm to say, we take this to seriously. In fact, today, just a couple of hours ago, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel was on television doing a briefing, and he said that ISIS is a threat unlike the world has ever seen before.
So, that then begs the question, what then are we going to do about it? And what I think that the problem with the golf thing also is that the nation needs to be led to understand that we are in a multi-generational war against ideological killers, and we have to have a sustained program to deal with it.
Look at what we were able to do with some U.S. Special Forces, and some ground -- some support against ISIS, when it came to saving that Mosul dam. That is not an argument for doing less, it's an argument for America doing more. And there's a mosquito.
(CROSSTALK)
BECKEL: I don't -- I'm sorry we missed all the other SOTs of Vice President Cheney.
GUTFELD: We've got another one.
BECKEL: Oh, we do? OK, good, I figured we would. The -- is it hyperbole to say this threatens us here? They have the intelligence community saying just the same day, no, it is not.
PERINO: Which one? Where? Who said that?
BECKEL: The national defense -- the Defense Department --
PERINO: Intelligence agency?
BECKEL: Yes.
PERINO: You mean the department where the general just retired, and basically under protest, saying he could not support how un-strategic the president's policies have been? That one?
BECKEL: That's one -- is that going to be --
(CROSSTALK)
BECKEL: Listen, I would be very careful about talking about intelligence all the way around, if I were Cheney, particularly. But -- who got -- who somehow found weapons that were not there.
But leaving that aside, we're making this into a situation where we say, you go -- you think any of these people with the passports are going to get back into this country?
GUILFOYLE: Oh, my God!
PERINO: Bob, you better hope that you don't have to eat those words. That is so irresponsible.
BECKEL: What?
PERINO: That's the most irresponsible thing I've ever heard you say.
BECKEL: Oh, that's ridiculous.
PERINO: They have western passports, of course, they --
GUILFOYLE: They already have it.
(CROSSTALK)
GUILFOYLE: One was stopped at JFK two weekends ago.
BOLLING: Can I give you another --
GUILFOYLE: Bob, whoa!
BOLLING: Can I give you another option?
BECKEL: Yes.
BOLLING: I don't know, 100,000 people coming across -- 100,000 kids coming across the border in the last few months, hello? ISIS is smart. They said we're not stopping until Americans are swimming in their own blood. We're going to be in your streets and in your White House.
BECKEL: A lot of people have said a lot of things.
BOLLING: And 100,000 people who we don't know who they are or where they come from are coming through the border. Hello. It doesn't take a genius --
(CROSSTALK)
BECKEL: You guys want to go back into the war the way we had it, which we didn't do very well at it? And we want to go back and do it again? Fine.
GUTFELD: What would you rather do, simply avoid a threat.
BECKEL: I don't believe ISIS is a threat to this country, period.
BOLLING: OK.
PERINO: OK.
GUILFOYLE: Well, that says it all, doesn't it?
BECKEL: Well, you can say it says it all.
PERINO: Will you say that to Mr. Foley's parents?
BECKEL: No. But this was not in the United States where this happened.
PERINO: Last week, two weeks ago, Tony Blinken, the deputy national security adviser to President Obama, said that none of America's ideals or interests were at risk of ISIS, and then because of the -- because we were able to push and use a little bit of muscle from the United States, ISIS does this desperate move to -- this act of savagery. And it shows to me we should be able to do more. If the defense secretary is going to say to the nation, on live television, that it's a threat unlike we've ever seen before, then that means we should have to do something about it. That includes, Bob, doing more in Syria.
BECKEL: I agree with that.
PERINO: But what are you going to -- why are you saying it's not a problem?
BECKEL: It's not a problem in the United States. It's not a problem --
GUILFOYLE: Ay ay ay.
BECKEL: You tell me why it is. Tell me why it is.
(CROSSTALK)
GUILFOYLE: You want to get an education.
BECKEL: Yes, tell me.
GUILFOYLE: They'll be coming here next.
BECKEL: Oh, they will. You think they're going to be down here at Sixth Avenue?
(CROSSTALK)
GUILFOYLE: And even your team that you play for, Bob, is saying it is a serious, credible threat to the United States unlike which we have ever seen.
BECKEL: OK. What do you want to do with it?
(CROSSTALK)
GUILFOYLE: Golf, according to your guy.
BOLLING: Hey, Bob, what about homegrown? What about ISIS recruiting Americans? We see video of them putting out British and Australians saying they come join the fight.
PERINO: Through their digital capability.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLLING: By the way, empty tweets. Ridiculously well-produced videos for recruiting. You're telling me they're not going to get any disillusioned teen in Denver who said I'm going to blow things up?
(CROSSTALK)
BECKEL: No, I assume they've got Americans over there right now. I assume there are a bunch of them over there.
BOLLING: I know, here, Bob. I'm not talking about -- I'm talking here, here, Americans, saying they want to join the cause.
(CROSSTALK)
GUILFOYLE: (INAUDIBLE) up in Ferguson, ISIS is here.
BECKEL: So begs the question, you're raising all these potential things, that's frightening the American people. What do you want to do about it?
PERINO: I think we should be honest with them and preparing them for what's to come. It's a intergenerational -- I'm sorry, multigenerational war against an ideological threat of radical Islam.
GUTFELD: All right.
BECKEL: Well --
GUILFOYLE: End it there.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Got to go. Got to go.
Directly ahead: outrage is growing after details were released about a failed mission to save James Foley, and other American hostages in Syria. Why did the White House reveal this secret information? We'll debate it next on "The Five."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: Following news of the brutal execution of James Foley at the hands of ISIS, the Obama administration revealed Special Operations team tried and failed to rescue the American journalist as well as other hostages. The secret mission took the special operators into Syria this past summer.
Some critics are outraged over the release of details on the operation, details they say should have been kept quiet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CHIEF INTELLIGENCE CORRESPONDENT: I can't remember in recent memory when we had on-the-record confirmation from the Pentagon and from the White House about a mission that was not successful.
GEN. JACK KEANE, U.S. ARMY (RET): We really shouldn't talk about these operations, and certainly an operation like this is no reason to disclose it.
JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: I think this is a stunning breach of security for the United States, obviously ordered by the White House. This is exactly the sort of thing that should remain completely confidential for 50 years. Number one, because it tells people what we tried to do. Number two, it's an admission of failure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: Moments ago, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey attempted to justify the release of the operational details.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHUCK HAGEL, DEFENSE SECRETARY: There were a number of news outlets that were aware of the action, of the raid. And it was a decision made by the administration, which we concurred with.
GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIRMAN OF JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: The military advice that was rendered in response to your question was, as long as sources and methods are not revealed, that it would be a policy decision on whether to release the information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: So, last night, Eric, there were -- there was a report out from the White House saying that some news organizations had this information, so that's why they went ahead and released it all. They won't say who the five news organizations are.
And I would be curious who would were the irresponsible people that were going to release America's handbook. I think the administration would have been well within its rights to push back and say, I don't think you should release it. Please don't. The president of the United States is asking you not to, because it tells operational details to our enemy.
BOLLING: So, I'm trying -- these five news outlets had it prior to the operation? Prior to them trying to rescue James Foley? Or in the aftermath of them failing, then they got the information so they went and released it? I understood it was in the aftermath.
PERINO: Aftermath, yes.
BOLLING: It's going to be fine. So, you know what, go ahead. If you want to leak it, leak it to the press. Because this is the game that you guys, Bob, you guys play all the time. As a person who watches, and wants -- and an American I want to know. We tried to rescue them.
GUILFOYLE: Why would you want to know if it jeopardized the safety of the special operators?
(CROSSTALK)
GUILFOYLE: With all due respect, the people who actually do the jobs and work in the fields, say that it does, and that it did.
BECKEL: It did not reveal any --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Bob, you just said in the A-block that we shouldn't listen to anything that Chuck Hagel says and listen to the people in "The New York Times," that's why we're saying it's a problem.
BECKEL: I will take it -- when he says it was -- both said it was a flawless mission. I assume that means these guys did a good job, that the hostages were not there.
PERINO: We got to listen to him in other case, but the one about ISIS.
BECKEL: I don't -- so let me see. People around this table were arguing Obama was doing nothing about ISIS. And yet this rescue operation was going on. We're dropping drones. We've got air force going in there from ground bases.
A lot's going on that you all don't know about. I don't know about. But you all sit back here and say he's done nothing when, in fact, there was an effort to get this guy out.
PERINO: So, do you think that's why they revealed all the information about how --
BECKEL: That's not all the information.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Maybe in "The New York Times" case, Greg, basically you were saying how we track ISIS and how we know where they are, that's the most important thing. It's not just the tactics of how you go in and a rescue mission doesn't work. I respect them for trying.
But how do you locate them? Do you think the hostages, the remaining ones are still there? Or have they gone -- if I were ISIS, I would move them someplace more secure.
GUTFELD: They're hot on their trail. The government was worried. Our government was worried about the image. That's what it was. So, it gives you the impression it's the media controlling how our government works and how it handles international issues. The White House was worried and they wanted to say, look, we tried. So, it was in response to how they were being perceived as Bob was just saying, as not doing anything.
It makes us wonder, I don't know, do we need every piece of information of what our government does? Does anyone in the media ever actually think about how our enemies watch everything and how they use it against us?
BECKEL: The enemies of the administration in this country say they were doing nothing. And --
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: An administration that --
BECKEL: Wait a minute.
PERINO: I would support the president doing more in Syria.
BECKEL: Yes, they probably are doing a lot more in Syria, we don't know.
PERINO: A hundred and seventy thousand civilians have been killed --
BECKEL: I know. But we don't know what's going on in Syria. You don't know, I don't know.
PERINO: OK. Well, if the administration is willing to tell us this, why don't they tell us.
GUILFOYLE: We all agree that more, I think that more should be done. If this didn't get everybody's attention, I don't know what will.
BECKEL: Then, why are you assuming nothing's being done?
GUILFOYLE: I did not say that, Bob, I said we all agree we would like more to be done. I didn't say nothing.
BECKEL: You agree that they were doing nothing.
GUILFOYLE: That's not what I said.
BECKEL: Two weeks ago, you were saying it.
(CROSSTALK)
GUILFOYLE: I can't compete with that kind of illogical statement.
PERINO: Last week, one of my more thing is about these inspectors general letter, there were 47 of 73 inspectors general saying they've never been stonewalled for information as much as they have by this administration, including from the Peace Corps, also DOD and EPA and others.
But if the president of the United States, assuming that was him, be declassified this type of information with a snap of a finger, couldn't they at least answer some FOIA request as well and that's the kind of transparency --
BECKEL: You think he did that with a snap of your fingers. Do you really believe that?
PERINO: I think it takes days to declassify things like that. Yes, actually, I know it takes to declassify.
BECKEL: Yes, so do I.
PERINO: There's only one person that is allowed to do it over -- within an hour. That's how quickly --
BECKEL: So, you're suggesting the president of the United States in a snap decision has decided to do this.
PERINO: Do you -- well, all I know is that the news organizations were apparently about to reveal it, and then all of a sudden, within an hour or two, they released it all. So, you tell me, how do they get everybody on board? There's only one person in the world that has the power to do that.
GUILFOYLE: Now you know.
BECKEL: That's the security adviser can do it.
PERINO: They cannot do it without the permission of the president.
BECKEL: By the way, if we --
(CROSSTALK)
BECKEL: -- they said it was a flawless operation, and the sources of methods were released.
PERINO: OK.
GUILFOYLE: But you know what? Good luck to the next team like Spec Ops team that walks into an ISIS ambush or multi-tier defensive tactical situation --
BECKEL: Is that Obama's fault? That's Obama's fault, too, right?
GUILFOYLE: My point is, protect our own so they can do their very best. It's not about politics.
BOLLING: Am I wrong in interpreting this, that they say they tried to rescue him in lieu of -- we've learned in the last couple of days that the ransom they wanted, ISIS asked for $130 million ransom for Foley, right.
PERINO: In the Bergdahl situation, we traded five Gitmo detainees for Bergdahl. That was probably I would say, OK, fine decision. In this case, you could also say that was the right decision not to accept the ransom --
GUILFOYLE: Even though that was illegal to do.
BOLLING: That was going to leak also because the way I understand it, Foley's parents were made aware of that a couple of weeks ago.
PERINO: Same as Bergdahl's. OK.
BOLLING: Right.
PERINO: All right. Up next, Attorney General Eric Holder shares his personal thoughts with the residents of Ferguson. But were his remarks of police appropriate given his role as our nation's top law enforcement official? Details on that when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUILFOYLE: Eric Holder sat down yesterday in Ferguson as tensions still ran high following the Michael Brown shooting. He struck a personal tone, saying he's not just attorney general of the United States, but also, quote, "a black man."
Today, he went even further by making the stunning remarks about trust, and the police.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HOLDER, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The national outcry we've seen speaks to a sense of mistrust and mutual suspicion that can take hold in the relationship between law enforcement and certain communities.
I wanted the people of Ferguson to know that I personally understood that mistrust. I wanted them to know that, while so much else may be uncertain, this attorney general, and this Department of Justice, stands with the people of Ferguson.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUILFOYLE: Given his role as our nation's top law enforcement official, is that type of language from Holder appropriate? And I want to ask him: Will he seek justice not only for Brown, but also for Officer Darren Wilson? Justice is supposed to be blind, correct?
GUTFELD: Yes. The good news is, they're officially now more oppressed than protesters. So hopefully, we can now move on to another crisis and turn it into a media circus as soon as possible.
But the question about Holder is, will he accept the facts or leave the uncomfortable ones on the cutting room floor? The problem with ideology, it has no room for facts. He's driven more by emotion and by his past.
BECKEL: Well, maybe -- well, there's a fact. He said he was a black man. That's a fact.
GUTFELD: But the...
BECKEL: And he said -- and he said that there's been tension in the black community against police forces in a lot of places. And that's true. That's the truth. You can argue with him and say, "He shouldn't say that." Why shouldn't he say it? It's true. It's flat-out true.
GUILFOYLE: What are you yelling at me for?
BECKEL: I'm not yelling at you. You're yelling at me. What I'm saying that -- I'm not yelling. What I'm saying is, what he said was factually accurate.
GUILFOYLE: But let me tell you something. Is it appropriate for him to say that as attorney general of the United States?
BECKEL: Absolutely.
GUILFOYLE: No, it's not.
BOLLING: Bob, what bearing is the fact that Eric Holder is black, what bearing does that have on the case? What does -- why would he even mention that?
BECKEL: He was trying to relate to an angry community.
BOLLING: But he can't.
BECKEL: Why can't he?
BOLLING: He's not there to relate to an angry community. He's there to provide -- to bring out the facts and provide justice to Darren Wilson and Michael Brown's family.
BECKEL: He is a black man so I think he has a pretty good sense of what's going on.
GUILFOYLE: It's not appropriate. He is supposed to be.
BECKEL: ... with a community that feels very much...
BOLLING: No, no, no, don't get me wrong. You want to do that, knock yourself out. But if he's going there on a fact-finding mission to decide whether or not there's going to be some sort of federal indictment, you know, the indictment by the state of Missouri, if he's going to do that, then he being black or white or brown or Asian or whatever, has no relevance whatsoever.
GUILFOYLE: And it shouldn't come to bear on it.
BECKEL: One of the facts is -- one of the facts in Ferguson is the people don't trust the cops. That's a fact.
BOLLING: So fix that later.
BECKEL: Oh, fix it later.
GUILFOYLE: Bob, how is Eric Holder making it better by interjecting race into it in a personal way? He is supposed...
BECKEL: It's a story about race.
GUILFOYLE: Bear with me here. He is supposed to be impartial. He is supposed to go there to seek justice, to help with the investigation, and not to interject his own personal experience. That is not the job of any prosecutor, let alone the attorney general of the United States.
BECKEL: This was a black and white issue to begin with.
GUILFOYLE: That's the problem. Why does he say that he stands with the people of Ferguson? What about the people of Ferguson that work for the police department there, too? He blanketly [SIC] just disregards all law enforcement? He doesn't stand with them?
BECKEL: Does that mean the people of Ferguson don't include police?
GUILFOYLE: I'm outraged (ph), Dana. I'm just telling you, it's wrong.
BECKEL: Well, he said he stands with the people of Ferguson. That includes the police, I assume, right?
GUILFOYLE: You made a very bold statement to say that he stands with the people of Ferguson.
BECKEL: What do you want him to say?
GUILFOYLE: Completely abandons the idea...
BECKEL: Forget the fact that I'm black. Is that...
GUILFOYLE: ... of impartiality and standing for law enforcement, as well. Because guess what? Someone else might need justice here, too. Because none of us know exactly what happened.
BOLLING: I could have sworn this was all about Michael Brown saying he -- there were witnesses saying Michael Brown had his hands up when he was shot, right? How does Eric Holder being black have any relevance, any -- any emphasis on what the -- of why Michael Brown is dead?
BECKEL: If you look at the Pew poll, blacks, when they saw something like that, they believe -- they believe -- they may be wrong -- but they believe, and they've had a lot of experience believing, that the police would certainly do that. That's what they think.
GUILFOYLE: Well, he's not helping by his rhetoric.
BECKEL: I see.
PERINO: Well, something that would have been surprising, and welcome, and I think healing, would have been if he had had multiple meetings, and allowed some cameras and photographs, and maybe some video of the chief law enforcement official of not only making the point.
Obviously, he is a black man and brings his personal experience to this, but also, what about meeting with some of the law enforcement officers, as well...
GUILFOYLE: Yes.
PERINO: And having that as -- and using his role as that chief law enforcement officer to try to heal the community that way.
BECKEL: You believe they didn't?
PERINO: That's the thing. The photo-ops -- what is driving all of this is it is a race-based story. But it doesn't have to be. And I think he's in a unique position to try to draw...
GUILFOYLE: To be a unifier.
PERINO: And raising expectations that there will be a trial. And if that there's not a trial, there are -- there should be grievances. Without having acts and information beforehand does, I think, cause a problem.
GUTFELD: Holder is as impartial as a Russian judge at the Olympics. But it's not because he's black. It's because his perspective, he's viewed this country maybe through his history through an angry prism of race. He has mentioned we're all cowards except for those who agree with him.
So that's why when you think of Eric Holder, you don't exactly think he's going to lead -- or create a calmer atmosphere. However, it is calm. So maybe it was good that he went there. And, I don't -- you know, if again, though, I'm not -- people who were looting, people who were looting care -- I don't think they care about Eric Holder in any way.
BECKEL: Who doesn't -- do you think Anthony Scalia does not view it as something that is right wing?
GUILFOYLE: What?
BECKEL: Everybody has a view. I'm just saying.
GUILFOYLE: Keep it out of the courtroom. It's not helping. He could be a unifier. We would welcome that opportunity.
And up next, what do Chris Christie, the Super Bowl and Little League baseball have in common? They're all in Eric's "Fastest Seven" when "The Five" returns.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLLING: Welcome back to the fastest six minutes in all of TV. You know the drill: three stories that amaze, seven minutes that blaze, one host who is crazed.
First up, Governor Chris Christie getting awfully testy when a reporter asked a simple Bruce Springsteen question.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it was, like, six or seven Bruce Springsteen songs before you got here? But I was under the impression, I thought I heard that Bruce asked that none of his music was played at your event, because he didn't believe in your politics?
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: No, never did that. Bruce has never asked me to do that. And he never has. No, you're wrong. In fact, I saw Bruce a week and a half ago.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were dancing with Bon Jovi maybe in the Hamptons?
CHRISTIE: No, that I was doing this weekend. And I wasn't dancing to Bon Jovi. Actually, I was dancing with Jamie Foxx. So if you're going to be cute, we should get the story right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLLING: He's got to get control of that temper. Greg?
GUTFELD: You know, I watched the whole thing. It was kind of painful. It's like Christie's debating a troll on Twitter. You know? It feels -- it's beneath Christie. And you never want to be beneath Christie.
BOLLING: That's very interesting. I get it.
GUILFOYLE: Well, some people do.
BOLLING: Oh, God.
GUILFOYLE: But not me.
BOLLING: Dana.
GUILFOYLE: I mean, I'm sure there are.
BOLLING: Is Christie -- so he's known for speaking his mind. Is this another example of that, or is this -- has he gone too far?
PERINO: I think on some of these things, he's going to have to take a pass. Right? You know what? I love Bruce Springsteen. I'm sure you do, too. He's never asked me not to play his music, and I really love it. He's a great American talent. Next question.
BOLLING: Bobby? First-name basis with Springsteen? You, too?
BECKEL: I don't care about Christie.
BOLLING: What's your problem?
GUTFELD: Oh, come on, Bob! You said Springsteen was a communist. Didn't you say that during the break?
BECKEL: Who?
GUTFELD: Springsteen. You said that during the break.
BECKEL: I didn't say he was a communist.
GUILFOYLE: He was Bob Beckel.
BECKEL: I didn't say he was a communist. I really didn't say that.
I mean, I just don't think it's -- I don't know why we're making a big deal about Christie's dancing. The guy lost some weight. He's dancing. It's a nice thing.
GUTFELD: You weren't even paying attention. That wasn't even about dancing.
BECKEL: I know that. But she said that he's not allowed to play Springsteen records, right? And he said yes, he was.
GUTFELD: You lost interest after the...
(CROSSTALK)
BOLLING: ... nothing to do with this.
BECKEL: Go ahead. I lost interest well before that.
GUILFOYLE: Can I address the issue real quick about him, you know, kind of biting back. I don't mind. I don't think that was a bad temper. I think he's just saying, "Look, get your facts straight."
BOLLING: OK, very good. Next up, we told you yesterday that the Super Bowl is looking to sell the opportunity to instant stardom. For an undisclosed amount, you and your band can load up the van and drive to Phoenix to headline the halftime show at Super Bowl 49. You'll be seen by over 100 million people. This was your "One More Thing" the other day. Thoughts on that? I kind of like this. Free market, baby.
GUILFOYLE: You like it?
BOLLING: Yes.
GUILFOYLE: You want the artist to pay. You were kind of suggesting that yesterday.
BOLLING: Why not? American way.
GUILFOYLE: If you're that big of an artist, unless you're somebody trying to make a comeback, why would you ever pay the NFL? Last time I heard, they ain't broke.
BOLLING: A hundred million worldwide. You would become an instant star. Bob, your thoughts?
BECKEL: Yes. The Super Bowl has a responsibility to just give a halftime performance for its fans.
BOLLING: Agreed.
BECKEL: And so why in the world should they have to ask people -- they have to do it anyway. Why should you charge them to do it? I mean, it is ridiculous. You're right, the NFL is about the wealthiest single league in the world and has no antitrust.
BOLLING: And maybe -- I don't know, Dana. Maybe they want to see new acts, new bands.
PERINO: I think they underestimate the power of the P.R. that the NFL has when they reveal who the act is going to be. That is actually -- that's worth more money, and they get more viewers and people buying stuff and going to the tournament. And the increase -- you can increase your ad rates if you have a really good act. If you start asking people to pay it, I mean, then it becomes less special.
GUILFOYLE: And they're making a ton of cash on ads and everything else. Come on!
BOLLING: It's not a money thing. I'm pretty sure that...
GUILFOYLE: What is it, then? You just said free market.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: The NFL should pay us to watch their halftime shows. The decline of professional football is directly linked to the ostentatious travesty of halftime. We need to bring back the marching bands, the baton twirlers, the cheerleaders. If I want to see Red Hot Chili Peppers, I'll go to a rest home.
BOLLING: Can I take the other side of your decline of the NFL?
Porter thinks it's been a long week, filled with some depressing news. He thinks this post-loss speech by a Little League coach will lift your spirits. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to bring back with me, and the coaches are going to bring back something, OK, that no other team can provide but you guys. That's pride. OK? Pride. You're going to take that for the rest of your life, what you provided for a town in Cumberland.
You had the whole place jumping, right? You had the whole state jumping. You had new England jumping. You had ESPN jumping. OK? Because you want to know why? They like fighters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUILFOYLE: Aw!
BOLLING: We only have about a minute. So 15 seconds or so each. Do you want to start it? Do you want to kick it off?
GUTFELD: I think it's offensive that he would talk to little people like that.
GUILFOYLE: You OK?
BOLLING: She loved this. She sent this around.
PERINO: I said it on Saturday and you said it was the wussification of America.
BOLLING: Right.
PERINO: I just Beckeled you on the pitch.
BOLLING: It's true.
PERINO: But aren't there worse things than, like, having your coach try to -- look at that little boy's face. He's so upset. And he's like you know what? It's going to be great." Wouldn't you love to have your kid get that message?
BOLLING: No, I want them to know what it's like to lose and get yourself back up off the field and win. There's no crying in baseball, Beckel.
GUILFOYLE: Bob's crying?
BECKEL: I don't care. It didn't inspire me at all. So I...
PERINO: Bob is nonplussed.
GUILFOYLE: ... Porter to give you that type of a pep talk before "The Five"?
BECKEL: No, that's the last thing I want Porter to do. I want Porter to go to Turkey.
BOLLING: K.G., last up before we've got to go.
GUILFOYLE: Literally. No, I thought that was a great speech. I like it. I'd be proud to have my little Ro-Dig (ph) suit up for that guy and play for him.
PERINO: Exactly.
GUILFOYLE: Happy ending.
BOLLING: They lost.
Up next, with summer winding down, why aren't more Americans like my good friend Bobby boy right here taking their paid time off from work for a little R&R? Details when we come back. It's going to be a good one.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BECKEL: A new survey says Americans only take half of their paid vacation. A whopping 40 percent of workers don't use their paid time off. Why? Fear of losing their jobs and too much work may be to blame.
Now, it's been suggested to me by some of the people that run the show that perhaps I need a vacation, because I've been a little bit testy. And you're right; I've been testy. I've been called on the carpet four days in a row. I've had, you know, not a single segment that goes down my (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but it's OK. Because you know why? This is the truth. I should take a vacation, and I'm going to take a vacation.
But why don't these people take it? You think it's because they're afraid they're going to lose their jobs? Really?
BOLLING: I want to talk about you a little bit.
BECKEL: Why?
BOLLING: Because you've been a little cranky lately.
BECKEL: Certainly.
BOLLING: You whine about your segment. You whine about what the topics are. You say, "I wear the clown suit every day. I'm wearing the clown suit."
GUILFOYLE: This isn't helping.
BOLLING: It is time for a little vacation. I think our viewers after last night would agree. "Tell Robert G. Beckel to stop being a baby about his segment. He's got a pretty good job."
And this one, I love this one. David Harris says, "If you don't like it, Bob, then jump off the gravy train."
PERINO: Bob does need -- you don't take much vacation.
BECKEL: Can I say...
BOLLING: Believe me, there were...
BECKEL: Can I just say that there's a certain part of my anatomy to kiss.
PERINO: Why don't you read him the nice ones?
GUTFELD: The largest part.
PERINO: There are a couple of nice ones, Bob.
BOLLING: All right. "Bob, if the show was all doom and gloom, I wouldn't watch it. I love some humor in the show. It's entertaining."
And "#The Five, I don't know why Bob complains. We need to fund a stupid segment after all that, and it's delivered the laughs."
BECKEL: That was great. OK. Now, does anybody think that people really don't take vacation time because they think they'll lose their jobs?
PERINO: I think there is a concern that we're in a competitive environment, and that if you're not there, you know, you might be usurped by somebody younger and more energetic, or something like that.
BECKEL: Greg (UNINTELLIGIBLE) younger?
GUTFELD: I don't take vacations very often, because they're overrated. Vacations are for me just a different place to drink. And I can do that anywhere. And they remind me of death.
GUILFOYLE: You're being honest right there.
GUTFELD: They remind me of death. You leave for vacation, you're excited about the whole seven or 10 days in front of you, and then you blink your eyes and you're already getting back, going back to work. That's like death. You're on your deathbed and you go, "Wow, what happened?" That's because you slept through your vacation.
BECKEL: Do you like going on long vacations?
GUILFOYLE: No. I actually don't like vacations.
BECKEL: I don't either. By the way, I'm not -- vacation's not going to help some things that I have a problem with. But it's OK. Because I love this place. And I have to sit next to Bolling. That's a little tough, but sitting next to Kimberly is nice.
GUILFOYLE: Where are those tears (ph)?
BECKEL: I can deal with it. And I will say this. Porter, have a good vacation. Serious.
PERINO: Managers need to -- I think that managers need to encourage their employees to feel comfortable to take time off. So we are saying to you, Bob -- I'm not your manager, but Porter is saying maybe you should have a couple of days where you get to go and do something fun.
BECKEL: The only problem is we've got to spend four weeks to finally deliver them. That's the problem. OK. "One More Thing" is up next.
GUILFOYLE: You don't need to take four weeks off, geez.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: Time for "One More Thing." I'll go first.
I'll be hosting O'Reilly tonight. I'll have fantastic guests. And Dana Perino.
Also, I've got a banned phrase. Let's do this quickly, please. It is "in fairness." Whenever this precedes a sentence, everything that comes after is unfair. When they say "in fairness," I don't like you. In fairness, you're a jerk. "In fairness" is a fake phrase. Do not use it.
All right, Dana. You're next.
PERINO: That's what Ed Henry was just saying in the green room.
GUTFELD: That's why I said it.
PERINO: Why you did it? OK. BECKEL: Why is Ed Henry around here so much? Does anyone know.
PERINO: I don't know. Maybe he's thinking you're going to take some time off, Bob.
BECKEL: Oh, good.
PERINO: OK. "The New York Times," they are bashing East Coast elitism.
This came to me from Julie Gorelick (ph). I saw her blog. The new Times is going to have a panel on feeding the world. "Food for tomorrow. Farm better, eat better, feed the world."
Interesting thing, though, they didn't invite any farmers to the panel. They have writers and activists and think-tank guys. It's basically environmental activism dressed up as a farmer. I just hope that they would add a farmer. We need farmers in our lives. And they know a lot more about it than people who get to cook food. They actually grow the food.
BOLLING: All right. Very good.
Monsanto, I'm sure they're invited, right?
OK. So the world's Strongest Man competition earlier in the month took place. Check out some of this video. Roll it. Roll it. Look at this guy. He picks up this -- it's called the game of stones. And this man right here, Hafthor Bjornsson, is now the world's strongest man.
GUILFOYLE: Oh, my God.
BOLLING: Here's the interesting part, guys. He's an actor. He's the Mountain on "Game of Thrones," 6'9" Icelander. You watch this show, right?
PERINO: No, I don't. He does.
GUTFELD: No, I don't.
PERINO: "Game of Thrones"?
GUTFELD: No, no, no.
BOLLING: Bob watches "House of Thorns." Is that what you watch?
GUILFOYLE: Oh, my gosh.
BECKEL: That was the worst television series I've ever seen. And you recommended it.
BOLLING: K.G.
GUILFOYLE: Bob, there's hope. There's hope for you and I, Bob, but not together. Because in order to boost your odds of a successful marriage, apparently, you should have a really big wedding, invite at least 150 guests or more.
GUTFELD: Who sponsored this?
GUILFOYLE: Now, my first wedding had 600 people. My second wedding had about 80. Destination wedding. So now I think I have to go over 600?
PERINO: Elope. That's what I'd do.
GUILFOYLE: But they said at least 150. And don't have too many sexual partners.
BECKEL: I would say -- I would say that I know as much about getting married as I do some of these -- this -- that, what's his name, Christie.
I'm not going to have time for my "One More Thing," but I will say this. I had 480 at my wedding, and it lasted -- my marriage lasted five years. That's pretty good.
GUILFOYLE: That's pretty good.
BOLLING: So Dana and I each eloped, and we are still married.
GUTFELD: I did.
BOLLING: You did, too?
BECKEL: There you go.
BOLLING: You're still married. So "The Five..."
GUTFELD: We're still married.
GUILFOYLE: All right! Elope this weekend!
BOLLING: All right. Never miss an episode. "Special Report" is up next.
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