Gutfeld on Trump withdrawing from Iran deal
The Iran nuclear agreement was about legacy, not security.
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," May 8, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: Hi, I'm Greg Gutfeld with Kimberly Guilfoyle, Juan Williams, Jesse Watters, and she lounges on a dust bunny, Dana Perino -- "The Five."
So, Donald Trump nixed the Iran deal, which he said he'd do all along:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I am announcing today that the United States will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal.
We will be instituting the highest level of economic sanction. Any nation that helps Iran and its quest for nuclear weapons could also be strongly sanctioned by the United States. America will not be held hostage to nuclear blackmail.
Today's action sends a critical message: The United States no longer makes empty threats. When I make promises, I keep them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: Before that, apparently, John Kerry spoke to Iranian leaders about saving the deal. I don't blame the guy. Kerry's legacy is unraveling faster than a mummy on a merry-go-round. His legacy is right up there with New Coke. And the whole point of the Iran deal was legacy, it wasn't security. Before this bone-headed deal, Iran was on the ropes. The economy was headed into North Korean territory and the place was about as stable as Jim Carrey on a skateboard. Then we threw them a lifeline, so the left could have something to write about in their history books. Stupid. We went to negotiate with a bunch of apocalyptic theocrats and we sent this guy. What's the matter? Kathy Perry was booked? One question, did James Taylor strum a little mood music while the mullahs screwed us?
So now, for Kerry the Iran deal is like a crappy shack on a vital plot of land and the new guy, Trump, tore it down. So, does this mean war? No. If you think the current president harbors a grudge against Iran, you'd be wrong. He seems willing to talk to just about anyone. The only thing he hates is dumb deals. He'd rather start clean. This is his version of a reset, a reset with leverage. Listen:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Iran's leaders will naturally say that they refuse to negotiate a new deal. They refuse and that's fine. I'd probably say the same thing if I was in their position. But, the fact is, they are going to want to make a new and lasting deal, one that benefits all of Iran and the Iranian people. When they do, I am ready, willing and able. Great things can happen for Iran and great things can happen for the peace and stability that we all want in the Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: So that's nice. So, for those of you in a panic, remember you felt that way about North Korea too. Trump's pattern seems to do that to people, as he deals with the worst on the planet. As he scratches off ISIS and North Korea, Iran seems next. It's a skill set that history will be kinder to than to John Kerry.
All right, Dana, on a scale of one being super awesome, to 10 which is super, super, super, super, super, super, super, super, super awesome, where would you put this speech?
DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: I thought it was -- it was right up there.
GUTFELD: All right.
PERINO: Way up there.
GUTFELD: No, you have to say the whole thing.
PERINO: Super, super, super, super.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: Awesome. Here's the other thing, not only did President Trump keep his promise that -- remember, we are 18 months into his presidency.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
PERINO: He gave the people that wanted to keep this deal intact. He gave them a chance to persuade them. He was not persuaded. Not by people here in America, or not by the visitors from Europe that came to visit, and he decided -- and wasn't just going to take a little piece out of it. Like, we're actually pulling out of the entire thing. And he made his case, whether he's persuasive enough across the board, I don't know, but it doesn't actually matter. The person wasn't persuasive enough, initially, was President Obama, because he did not decide to have the senate vote on it as a treaty, that meant that he did it by executive action. If you look at the things that President Obama did under executive action, President Trump has been able to dismantle those quite easily. An exception is Obamacare. Obamacare was passed by the congress and it was upheld by the Supreme Court. That is naturally something that has been -- chip away at it, but it still exists. So, President Trump took decisive action, but it was really not -- I don't think it's that unprecedented given that it was not a treaty. It was a decision President Obama made. And there might be consequences from it, but I think that -- I think it was a good decision.
GUTFELD: All right. Jesse, welcome back.
JESSE WATTERS, CO-HOST: Thank you.
GUTFELD: Much better than Kilmeade.
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: You know, Trump does this all the time.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Yes. I just have to do it just because, you know.
KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, CO-HOST: Here comes the mean.
GUTFELD: Yes. Isn't this what Trump always says? There's chaos and confusion, but that's his starting point. It's like if you're going to start a deal, it's got to be -- you shouldn't be the predictable one in this deal.
WATTERS: Right. Sometimes tearing up a bad deal makes you safer. My mother has already texted me, though.
PERINO: That's a long one.
WATTERS: She said this, I prayed this morning that Trump doesn't withdraws from the Iran deal. If you choose to support and applaud that decision, I am feeling that it is probably likely that I will need to take a break.
(LAUGHTER)
WATTERS: You, of course, know that I love you.
(LAUGHTER)
WATTERS: So, mom, I will say this, now that the Obamacare mandate is gone and the Iran nuke deal is gone, probably the presidential library might lose a wing, because this legacy now has shrunk pretty quickly. I can't think of a very funny pun, Greg, like a mummy pun. But it's shrinking and it's shrinking fast. I would say this, you're exactly right on the monologue, they had the sanctions in place and had max leverage and we're squeezing them hard. And instead of ratcheting that up, they caved and gave him a sweetheart deal. They gave him billions of dollars in cash, which they used on missiles and terrorism. They were violating the deal. They exceeded the heavy water capacity. The inspections were a joke. They've actually let them self-inspect. Can you imagine that? The Iranians self-inspecting.
They were banning inspectors from their military sites. Satellite images shows that the military site inside a bunker and a mountain that's being moved around. They're opening up doors and they're doing some refurbishing there. So that's very suspicious. You know the Israeli spies smuggled all those documents out of Iran to say the guy lied just to facilitate the deal in the first place. So, the entire thing was about they let the ballistic missiles stay. They, you know, did really nothing to make sure the deal was enforced.
The worst part about it was Ben Rhodes, the national security advisor, bragged about how he sold these lies through the fake news media about how good of a deal it was, because of you actually put the deal to a senate vote, like a treaty would go, no one would have voted for it because it was so ridiculous. They allow to spin centrifuges, 6,000 of them. And they have a sunset provision that says they can ramp it up in just a few years. So, it's a terrible deal. And, like he said, there's still going to be a deal on the table potentially if they make a smart decision.
GUTFELD: And, Juan, Chuck Schumer says this was a mistake, but he was one of the people against this deal, right?
JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: Right.
GUTFELD: So, I mean, little hypocrisy there.
GUILFOYLE: He's a ventriloquist.
WILLIAMS: No, I think you're talking politics. I've noticed that everybody who's spoken says the president kept his pledge. And he said he's going to do it, and he did it. So, if that's what this is about, well, then I guess you can get your super, super, super, and keep going, right? But if it's about America, well, I don't think -- I think then you have to go like sad, sad, sad, sad, very sad, very sad, very sad, to poke the president.
GUTFELD: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Because, here's the thing, when the president spoke today, he didn't say, oh, yeah, here's a major violation that proves these people are not to be trusted. No, couldn't do that. And guess what, you know why he couldn't do that? It's because People like Michael Hayden, Dan Coats, the intelligence community -- Dan Coats is his own guy, has said we know of nothing, nothing within Iran's action that would constitute a violation of this deal. That's the same thing he was hearing from his advisors before he got Bolton and Pompeo over at CIA. So, this is a victory for Iran because it creates distance between the United States and our European allies.
Secondly, it accelerates regional insecurity in the Middle East. It also has -- going to have an impact on global oil supplies. We don't know where that's going to go, could drive up prices. And then, finally -- you know, it's so funny. In the speech, he said, oh, you know, in seven years, Iran is going to be free under the terms of this deal to create nuclear weapons. Well, guess what, the Washington Post writes that they've gave him four Pinocchio's. In other words, no chance, not true, but it doesn't seem to matter. I mean, you always say this is team sports, and if this is about team sports and politics, well, I guess Trump's people are going to say great. But if you care about preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, I think you have to say sad, sad, sad.
GUILFOYLE: Awesome, awesome, awesome, super awesome, super, more awesome. So here's why, because it's not about the president fulfilling campaign promises. The reason why he made that decision and came to that analysis because he studied it and because he listened to smart advisors, so, therefore, he made that pledge. But he didn't do it in a knee-jerk fashion as soon as he became president. He, actually, still continues to listen to toppled deliberation on it and then came to the conclusion. He has shown that he is somebody that's not afraid to change his mind when presented with persuasive factual evidence through the contrary. In this case, he determined that this was not a good deal for the United States. In fact, it's a billion-dollar push to help reach a greater nuclear Iran. That's why he wanted to pull out of it. Why would we subsidize a nuclear Iran? And that's what this was. There was no bite or teeth to the inspections. They were self-inspecting. It's like Jesse looking in the mirror in the morning and deciding whether he looks awesome or not.
(LAUGHTER)
GUILFOYLE: They're going to say we're complying, right? It's very similar.
WATTERS: Great analogy.
GUILFOYLE: Thank you so much.
WATTERS: Better than the mummy.
WILLIAMS: So, guys, what's plan -- what's the plan B? So what exactly.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: North Korea is a good example.
PERINO: Well, I also think that it's OK not to know. One of the things the president said at the end is that you're going to hear from Iran and they're going to refuse the deal, and if I were in their shoes, I probably would too. But, you know, I'll be here when they want to talk. And I think, eventually, they have to -- I think that the allies figure out a way to come back. I mean, unilateral sanctions are fairly toothless. And I do think one vulnerability here is that you do put sanctions on a country to change their behavior. If Iran had not actually done anything to violate the deal, as all of these people had said, then there might be a problem there. But the president was also careful to do something else. He drops in the news in the middle of the speech that Secretary Pompeo has landed in Pyongyang.
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: . and that they're working on that deal as well. There's some critics that say, well, why would North Korea want to enter into an agreement with the United States if it shows that it can't keep its word with Iran. I actually think -- it's a different word. And I think that you also are seeing some really impressive coordination between the president's new national security team of John Bolton and Secretary Pompeo. And -- OK, thank you. I'm trying to think of the other one. Gina Haspel who will have her confirmation hearing tomorrow. They're all in the same page. It might not be the page that your opponents want, but there were a lot of opponents to this Iran deal and it wasn't just Republicans or conservatives.
WATTERS: I would say with the North Koreans that they would see that President Trump doesn't want to make a deal for a sake of a deal like John Kerry did. Who John Kerry -- you know, as a private citizen discussing sanctions, Juan, with a foreign power. That could be a violation of the hijack. Also.
PERINO: Logan Act.
WATTERS: Yeah, the Logan Act.
WILLIAMS: I can see you're familiar with this.
(CROSSTALK) WATTERS: To your point about them not violating, you don't know because you can't get inspections in there. How do you know they're not violating if you can't see the military.
WILLIAMS: Let me just say.
WATTERS: Let me just finish, Juan. The E.U., of course they want to keep the deal. The E.U. You want to know why? Because they get a lot of energy, natural gas and oil from the Iranians, and their corporations to billions of dollars in trade deals with the Iranian regime. So, it's in their best interests financially to keep those business deals.
WILLIAMS: But, you know Boeing is an American company. Boeing does business with Iran. So, imagine the Boeing response.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Guys, we've got to move on.
WILLIAMS: It goes beyond that, because, guess what, you keep talking about Obama and the wings on his library, is that what this is about, Jesse?
WATTERS: It's what it's about with Obama and Kerry.
GUTFELD: I think we can conclude that John Kerry is no Dennis Rodman. And on that note.
GUILFOYLE: What a summation.
GUTFELD: Thank you. Thank you.
WILLIAMS: I think you win on that.
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: A longtime adversary of President Trump is now out of a job. The explosive allegations that brought down New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, that's ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: Welcome back. We turn now to the explosive new reports that led to the resignation of New York's attorney general Eric Schneiderman. He was a rising star in the Democratic Party and longtime antagonist of President Trump. The Manhattan district attorney's office is opening a criminal investigation into accusations that Schneiderman physically abused and threatened four women who gave their accounts to the New Yorker. Long Island prosecutors also say they're investigating. Ronan Farrow was one of the reporters who broke the story. He described how hard it was to get these women to speak because some were warned not to say anything for the good of the Democratic Party.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONAN FARROW, REPORTER: This was doubly hard because this was a prominent and powerful figure in Democratic politics. And many of these women were very connected to Democratic political players. You know, these are formidable women with careers that intersected with his in some cases. A lot of their friends and loved ones said don't do it. Don't speak out against him. So, in some cases, Allison, those friends warned them off of talking because they thought that he had the power to do too much good for the Democratic Party.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: Schneiderman denies the allegations of assault. He says he engaged in role-playing and other consensual sexual activity. Of course, the women are disputing that. Kimberly, those who scream the loudest fall the hardest, and Schneiderman had been talking about Harvey Weinstein and others, and all of their problems and how they had done women wrong, and he was going to go after them. And now he gets bit by it.
GUILFOYLE: Yes. And this has been, you know, a long time coming, because he used fear and intimidation and threats to keep these women silent so they wouldn't come forward, you know, with their story. I've been following this, you know, for quite some time. There's more to come. And he is looking at criminal charges not only with the Manhattan D.A.'s office, but Long Island as well. This is a very, very serious case. You have multiple accounts that are pretty consistent of different women coming forward with really a tale of horror and physical abuse, really difficult.
When I was prosecuting sexual assault, physical and sexual abuse cases in Los Angeles and in San Francisco, they are -- Ronan is rights. They're the toughest to do in terms of the vulnerability of the victims, the fear of reprisal coming forward, especially someone who is incredibly powerful, well-connected in the Democratic Party, someone who had an eye towards a presidential bid, and was able to go, you know, undetected for so long because they were afraid to come forward to say anything against him. And there are those that are still afraid, as we sit here tonight, to come forward.
PERINO: Your thoughts, Juan.
WILLIAMS: You know, to me, it's like there's a conversation going on in my head, I'm not sure I should have on television, but the man says everything was consensual. These were long-term relationships. And the women say it was not consensual. And as you've heard, as you've read at the top, he says this was role-playing, in which I guess you had some kind of dominant thing going on. I mean, he's calling -- asking women to call -- to admit that they're his blank, or, you know, you're my brown slave or whatever, you know, with different women. I don't know. I think sex talk should not be the basis for going after somebody's life. But, Kimberly sitting here.
GUILFOYLE: You know why? Because there's actual physical proof. There are medical records. Doctors that can testify to this that the women went to and actually sought medical attention, and may what we call fresh complaint. So, it's not role-playing to get punched.
WILLIAMS: I agree.
GUILFOYLE: . or get slapped across the face to the point where you get blood in your ear or you have to seek medical attention for the severity of your physical injuries. That is not role-playing. That is physical abuse that is criminal. And I'm telling you this is a fact.
WILLIAMS: OK. So here's the question then, Kimberly, from his perspective, one, his wife says that for 35 years this is inconsistent with the man she knows. But the second thing to say is if these women were as injured as you describe, why didn't they filed charges? Why didn't they go to the police? In fact, they did not.
GUILFOYLE: We've just discussed that, they were threatened and intimidated.
WILLIAMS: I don't know. I don't know that. I haven't heard part of the story. When you say there's more to come, I believe you. But I don't know that. But my point to you is, Dana, that I think that when you look at powerful men in American politics, Donald Trump and his troubles with women, or this guy in Missouri, the governor, Eric Greitens, you think, boy, something is going on in our culture with regard to men and women.
PERINO: Well, I do want to say -- point out one thing, Jesse, that the Democrats dispatch with Schneiderman pretty quickly. And it's like they're trying to figure out a way to not do what they did in the 1990's with Bill Clinton.
WATTERS: Yeah. The Me Too Movement really accelerated those types of decisions. It's a 24-hour thing now. I mean, everything that Schneiderman accused Donald Trump of being a racist, sexually aggressive and a fraud, he is himself, so richly ironic. And he was probably one of the loudest and most effective anti-Trump crusaders. When you think about.
GUILFOYLE: Against Weinstein.
WATTERS: Right. All of the lawsuits that he brought against the Trump Foundation, Trump University, legal action against DACA, and sanctuary city defunding, against -- I think the travel ban as well. Census reform, health care reform, almost every Trump initiative, he tried to fight. So, he's gone. If you take away -- Ronan Farrow is doing a story about you, you're in deep trouble. This guy is good.
GUILFOYLE: And Jane Mayer.
WATTERS: And Jane Mayer, also very tenacious reporter. So, I mean, this guy, his credibility is really rising after these latest report on Weinstein and Schneiderman. And then, I think this office, the New York Attorney General's office is curse, with Spitzer and Schneiderman, I would think twice if I was considering running for that office. Of course, I won't because I'm not a lawyer. And, thirdly, to the point about these Democrats coming forward and trying to silence the victims, this happens on both parties where you can make a choice between your ideals and victims or choosing the powerful and the money, and a lot of the times in the past people have choose to side with the powerful and the money. And now, people are not doing that anymore. I think that's pretty refreshing.
PERINO: Greg, I'll give you the last word.
GUTFELD: Yeah. To your point, I used to use the phrase the progressive pig pass. As long as your heart is in the right place liberally, your hands could be anywhere else. And I think that -- the most disturbing -- apart from the threats and the violence, is the so-called friends that tell these women not to say anything.
WATTERS: Friends.
GUTFELD: Yeah. Because they don't want you to want to hurt the party.
PERINO: Yes, because he might run for congress.
GUTFELD: Yeah. You don't want to be -- he's really a promising guy. The other thing too is like you have to understand this is a political hit job. These are well-connected, prominent Democrat women. They were feminists. This isn't a team sport thing.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: This is hard. I mean, you think of it like it's got to be hard for -- if you're a team sport person, they're going nuts.
GUILFOYLE: But there's a reason, you know, that he resigned -- three hours. Get that, right? Because there's significant evidence to back this up, so this is.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I know you can't say this, but do you believe that there are more women, do you think?
GUILFOYLE: I know for a fact.
GUTFELD: OK. That's what I was wondering, because you sound like you do. That's why it's like.
PERINO: OK. That's what you call deep tease. All right, first lady Melania Trump taking on some harsh criticism about her newly announced official platform. You'll hear about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUILFOYLE: A brand-new example of liberal hypocrisy. Some members of the media and left-wing tweeter users mocking first lady Melania Trump following her the best initiative announcement. CNN contributor, April Ryan, making this shocking statement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
APRIL RYAN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: This is a first lady who is not culturally American, but she is learning the ways. This is not just an American issue. These are not just American issues. These are international issues. You know, cyberbullying is an international issue. Social media is international. And also, the opioid addiction issue. So, it's not just here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUILFOYLE: And New York Times reporter, Glenn Thrush, tweeting, for non- English speakers, preferably those from Eastern Europe, is the best in idiom in your language? Others on twitter ridiculing Mrs. Trump's accent and appearance. I don't really -- there are no words. We did this on the show yesterday. One more to thing to celebrate -- how can you be against a program that benefits, you know, children and say these are against cyberbullying? We know that that's international. Does that mean that we cannot focus and do something about it in our own country? And to mock her appearance, mock her accent, I mean, it's just unbelievable to me, what poor judgment it takes, Greg.
GUTFELD: Well, first of all, I do believe we can conclude that Glenn Thrush is an A-hole for what he said.
We've said this -- we've said this before. If you -- any one of us was thrust into the political limelight in a foreign country, let's say your spouse became president of Estonia, and you had to go speak before Estonian television. Or let's say it's in Russia before millions of Russians or in the Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians. You would not do nearly as well as she is, because you wouldn't know. She knows, what, three or four languages. She -- none of her critics could do what she does without having medication.
They also accused her -- I saw this on MSNBC at the gym. They accused her of plagiarism. That her -- the "Be Best" brochure was somehow just like the other one. As if anybody would actually read the previous brochure. Here's a fact. Nobody reads those brochures. Period. The only people that reads brochures that have to do with any kind of, like, issue are the people that have to put it together, because they're so mundane and bland. No one has ever read them. And they only read them now in order to bash Melania.
GUILFOYLE: It's unbelievable. Yes, Dana, I mean, here's the first lady, that goes into a French classroom, and she speaks French to the students in their native language. She's well-versed. She's doing a great job. Her approval rating is quite high. It's like 57 percent.
PERINO: Well, first ladies are usually the most popular of any administration. She's no exception. She radiates when she's talking about children. So it's not surprising that this is what she wanted to talk about.
I do give any first lady a wide berth. Whatever you want to talk about, whatever your issue is going to be. Now, there was a lot of criticism of Michelle Obama. A lot of criticism of Laura Bush [SIC]. Right? Remember the whole, like, "I'm not going to stay home and bake cookies" type of thing? Like, there was that kind of pushback. It's never appropriate.
This cuts a little bit, even, closer to the bone, because they are actually mocking her for her being an immigrant.
I do think, though, staff-wise, though, when you look at the slogan "Be Best," they could have probably saved her a little bit of heartache on this, if you just add -- she could call it "Be the Best," whatever -- whatever you want it to be.
But first ladies can do whatever they want to do. And it does come with some criticism, but it's not widespread. I do think that we have to remember that the people who are being A-holes --
GUTFELD: Dana!
WATTERS: Dana, no!
PERINO: -- they're few and far between. No, I just repeated Greg. I'm quoting Greg. But they're few and far between. The -- most people actually adore the first lady, and I think that to make too much -- I don't want her to think that people are making too much of this.
GUILFOYLE: Good.
WATTERS: The language.
PERINO: I'm quoting him.
GUILFOYLE: This is a problem.
GUTFELD: I was quoting America.
GUILFOYLE: The fall from grace, following this guy.
WATTERS: I leave the show for a few days, everything's off the rails.
WILLIAMS: Welcome back.
GUILFOYLE: So much better.
WATTERS: What has happened to you?
I would just say that liberals are supposed to be these worldly people that are so sophisticated, and they're the ones mocking someone for an accent. They're supposed to be pro-immigrant, and they're making fun of immigrants.
I bet Melania can speak more languages than almost every single one of the White House reporters that are covering her. She's done nothing to invite scorn or sarcasm. She hasn't been extremely controversial, like Hillary Clinton was.
But I do think, yes, you're right. People did make fun of Michelle Obama.
PERINO: Well, her policies, yes.
WATTERS: Not the "Let's Move" thing, the lunches. Now you remember what those lunches looked like? Those were disgusting. And let the kids have some chips. I mean, I think that was a legitimate criticism.
GUILFOYLE: Right?
WATTERS: But people use the first ladies as proxies to attack their husbands, usually, and that's how it's always been. But I think this is distinctly a little harsher from what I've seen about Melania.
GUILFOYLE: Those lunches would definitely not make "Food Court."
WATTERS: I mean, those were disgusting lunches.
GUTFELD: It's also part of a larger context. CNN did a piece on how she's not traveling with -- with her husband. It's all part of a larger attack.
WATTERS: Right.
GUILFOYLE: This is an attack. Imagine if they did that, you know, with Michelle Obama. I mean, it's just unbelievable to me. Juan, you agree with us, don't you?
WILLIAMS: I do. In large, I just give them, I think Dana said, a wide berth for first ladies. I mean, I just -- you know, I don't think she's that political. In fact, I don't think she's very political at all. And I think she's been forced into this role. Now you might say that's -- I don't think that's criticism. I just think that's an apt description.
I mean, when you talk about copying the brochure, I think that picks up energy, Greg, because remember during the convention --
GUTFELD: Yes.
WILLIAMS: -- it was said that she used Michelle Obama's speech, I think it was, at the convention, or elements of it.
But the bigger point of criticism would be, "Oh, my gosh." And this gets back to what you were saying, Jesse. She's a stand-in, in a sense, for people who don't like her husband.
WATTERS: Right.
WILLIAMS: And then you have the husband, who's had his own issues with cyberbullying. She is taking up cyberbullying. She's taking up cyberbullying.
WATTERS: He does not cyberbully anybody, Juan.
WILLIAMS: Oh, my God. Oh -- OK --
WATTERS: He just hits back on Twitter.
WILLIAMS: All right. OK, I'll tell you what. You -- we report. You decide.
GUILFOYLE: Catchy slogan.
WILLIAMS: Thank you.
GUILFOYLE: All right. Ahead, some news that's not going to sit well with the Trump-hating media. Uh-oh. Right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS: The liberal media is always trying to take down President Trump, but their efforts are only helping raise the president's poll numbers.
The RealClearPolitics average shows Mr. Trump's approval rating actually climbed from 37 percent in mid-December to around 42 percent at the end of last month. That is a big jump, despite 90 percent negative coverage during that approximate time period on the broadcast evening news tallied by the Media Research Center.
I mean, Greg, we've been saying this for a long time. The harder and harder the media hits this president, the more his poll numbers.
GUTFELD: Yes, I'm not sure it's, like, his numbers are rising despite the attack. Are the numbers rising because of the attack? Because the over top -- over-the-top, manic, chasing every possible story about Stormy is, like, revolting to America?
They're, like, this guy -- Trump can't -- it's physically and mentally impossible for him to be all of these things. It just -- it all can't be true.
And so I think they start looking at the media as though they're at a carnival sideshow and they're looking at, you know, the two-headed goat. And it's the media that is completely in this hysterical, tulip -- you know, crazed bubble. That the Americans are, like, going, "These guys have got problems."
WATTERS: Do you think that the numbers rising are a result of the negative coverage? Or despite the negative coverage?
PERINO: I think that it's just based on reality and results. Because, you know, I was on that seven-day road trip. I went to Houston and Nashville, met a lot of people. Saw a lot of people. Watched a lot of local news. No one is talking about Washington, D.C.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: People are just saying, like, "OK, life is a little better." They see the, like, passing information. "Oh, like, unemployment rate is way down." They might hear a little bit here and there.
One of the things about the broadcast evening news is that the demographic that's watching it, it's really not that big, and it's not that widespread. And there's not that many people that are actually watching it.
GUTFELD: Except for FOX.
PERINO: Most people now -- well, yes, the people that watch FOX News, that might be different, right? But this is based on the evening broadcast news. Name anybody who can actually -- do you know anybody who watches it? Your mom probably does.
WATTERS: Yes, every single night.
PERINO: You might watch the Friday --
WATTERS: I try to get her to watch "Special Report," though.
PERINO: I try to watch on Saturday and Sunday, because I think it's high- quality sometimes. I can filter out the politics.
But I think most people are getting their news and information on their phones.
GUTFELD: I don't even know who their anchors are any more.
PERINO: Right.
GUTFELD: We used to know that.
PERINO: That's why -- we talk about how influential they are. I actually don't think they are that influential.
WATTERS: Juan, what do you think? Big numbers for the president.
WILLIAMS: Well, I don't think they're big numbers.
WATTERS: Bigger.
WILLIAMS: Oh, bigger. Right. You're right. They're bigger. Huge, huge. But still, historically for a president at this point in his presidency, I think it's the lowest we've ever seen in modern times.
WATTERS: It depends what poll.
WILLIAMS: I don't think there's any question here.
WATTERS: Yes, it does.
PERINO: His numbers are better. His numbers are certainly, and that's undeniable.
GUTFELD: The trend is upward.
WILLIAMS: But I think -- I think what you guys are going to have a problem with is that --
GUILFOYLE: Winning?
WILLIAMS: -- when Democrats -- when Democrats are asked, "Is the country doing good enough?" In December it was about 25 percent. Now those same Democrats, who are not fans of Trump, are saying the country is doing good.
So I think that this picks up on your sense of reality. You know what? Unemployment is low. I don't think wages are rising and stuff. But most people don't see any big crisis, except for the concern about Trump and the Russians. The polls still show that most people think that Mueller's investigation should be allowed to persist, continue.
WATTERS: Yes, the wages are up, Juan. And according to the polls, Kimberly, 53 percent of Americans say the Russia investigation is politically motivated.
GUILFOYLE: Because it is, indeed.
Yes, so when you look at, actually, the list of accomplishments and you turn out -- like, turn out the blind white noise that you see in the rest of the media, with 90 percent negative, just bashing, bashing at saturation to literally, like, brainwash people into a certain ideology. And you go, "Whoa, let me put on little, like, earphones, block it out. Noise- cancelling. And let me look at the facts."
The facts are that the tax cuts are working. The facts are that he's working on immigration. He's working hard on the border. He pulled out of the Iran deal. He said no to the crazy Paris climate change accord. All right? We're winning in national security and against ISIS. We're having historic talks as it relates to North Korea and South Korea. You know, he's tough with Iran. He's been tough with Syria. And he stood up for women and children, the genocide that was been happening there and did something about it. And guess what? He's been very tough with Russia, as well.
So when you look at this across the board, you say, "Wait a second. This should be reflected in the numbers." And he is doing better with women, with minorities, with black Americans, as well.
So that's very positive. It's positive for the country. It's positive for all of us. It's positive for families thinking about how they are going to support and educate and feed their family members.
WILLIAMS: Can I -- can I just jump in and say he's not doing better with black folks. He's not doing better with women.
GUILFOYLE: Yes, he is.
WATTERS: I think he doubled the approval of black Americans.
WILLIAMS: No, he did not.
WATTERS: And we attributed that to the Kanye bump.
WILLIAMS: Oh, my God. This is mad.
WATTERS: We've got to go.
WILLIAMS: This is madness.
WATTERS: Cheerleading controversy, up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: A New Jersey high school upsetting students and some parents after implementing a new policy to make the cheerleading team more inclusive. The school saying the squad must now accept everyone or be disbanded.
This decision coming after one parent complained when her child didn't make the cut following tryouts last month.
So Greg, is this a case of, you know --
GUILFOYLE: He was a cheerleader, right?
GUTFELD: Yes, I was.
WILLIAMS: Is that right?
GUTFELD: Yes.
GUILFOYLE: No, Greg was a cheerleader.
WILLIAMS: I didn't know that, so I said, "Is that right?"
GUILFOYLE: Yes.
WILLIAMS: I didn't know if you were having fun at his expense.
GUILFOYLE: No, no. It's good to go to him.
GUTFELD: Terrible, Kimberly. That was a secret. That was a secret I was trying to keep from America.
WILLIAMS: So do you think this is weakening our children?
GUTFELD: I am -- I don't know. Here's my feeling. It's a small local story over a beef over a cheerleading choice. Some parent cut ticked off. Now it's a national story. I'm a little scared.
None of the teachers or coaches make enough money to be forced to deal with a transient spotlight seeking the latest raw meat. That's why I feel -- I guess I feel ambivalent. Is that -- I know I am not supposed to. This is a terrible story!
WATTERS: You are not --
GUTFELD: I am outraged! This is political correctness run amok.
WILLIAMS: There you go.
GUTFELD: That's what you wanted.
WILLIAMS: That's why I called on you.
GUTFELD: Where's the steady cam?
GUILFOYLE: Sometimes there's things just percolating below the surface.
WILLIAMS: So there were five hopefuls, Dana, who didn't make it, because they didn't score 87 or higher, but they did score 78 to 86. So the school said, "You know what? You guys can participate."
PERINO: OK. So I'm not outraged, because it takes a lot to get me outraged. But I will say this. They are not doing them any favors for when they're going to enter the job market. And it's a super competitive world right now for -- to get a job. And guess what? Twenty people don't get the job. One person will get the job.
GUTFELD: That's good. That was a good point.
PERINO: That was powerful?
GUTFELD: As a cheerleader, former cheerleader, yes. I agree.
WILLIAMS: So Jesse, what about positive reinforcement --
GUILFOYLE: You said "cheerful," so it's kind of weird.
WILLIAMS: -- like saying to young people, "Yes, we are going to reward you for your effort"?
WATTERS: Right. Because if everybody makes the team, then you don't try hard to make the team.
WILLIAMS: No, no, I was saying that even people who are trying but don't make the cut are being encouraged to continue participating.
WATTERS: Too bad. You know? That's why they have a team. You either make it or you don't make it.
This country's soft. I hate these stories. I think this is totally lame. When we were growing up, there were cuts. And you found out if there were cuts. You'd look on the sheet.
GUTFELD: I hated that.
WATTERS: And you didn't play. Sorry, maybe next year. Try later. I mean, come on.
PERINO: Better if it's just texted to you. You don't have to go -- you don't have to walk up.
WATTERS: Everybody looks at the sheet.
GUTFELD: I hated that.
PERINO: Everything's better now.
WATTERS: And then people scurry away.
GUILFOYLE: Did you ever not make something?
WATTERS: Yes, I did get cut in eighth-grade basketball. But I, like, weaseled my way onto the team somehow.
WILLIAMS: You know what?
PERINO: Whoa!
WILLIAMS: You know what? Michael Jordan got cut.
GUTFELD: Nothing's changed.
WATTERS: Yes, Jordan got sent back, too, Gutfeld.
WILLIAMS: That's right. Michael -- but Michael Jordan didn't quit.
WATTERS: Not that I'm so important (ph).
WILLIAMS: This is really interesting, Kimberly.
GUILFOYLE: Yes.
WILLIAMS: They say there's a difference --
GUILFOYLE: That Greg was a cheerleader and not me? I love.
WILLIAMS: Well, I bet you could have been if you wanted to be. But I'm saying there's a difference, apparently, between dance and art for cheerleading and then people who are acrobatic cheerleaders.
GUILFOYLE: This is so true.
WILLIAMS: And then question then is --
WATTERS: Juan is in the weeds.
WILLIAMS: -- who gets -- who gets points and who doesn't get points? And I'm saying it doesn't make a big difference.
GUILFOYLE: Well, sometimes -- I know a lot about this. What happens is, sometimes you can have, we used to have at my school. We had, like, song girls and then we had, like, the cheerleaders. And the cheerleaders would do more of, like, the acrobatics, like the rough and tumble. And then the song girls did more of, like, the dance routines and stuff like that. So it was, like, kind of separate and distinct.
So -- but you also have to be in very good physical shape to be able to do this. There's a lot of the pyramids and stuff, and you can fall. And they do flips and everything.
So it's not the easiest thing. It's kind of like being a fireman. You've got to be in shape to be able to do it. What?
WATTERS: Isn't cheerleading sexist?
WILLIAMS: What?
WATTERS: I mean, isn't -- this is the whole thing. So, like, what are liberals doing here? They're forcing their young girls.
WILLIAMS: Wait a minute. How do you know that the principal is a liberal?
WATTERS: Oh, come on.
GUILFOYLE: I don't know where he went with that. I was going to say this.
WATTERS: We shouldn't have cheerleading.
GUILFOYLE: When I was -- when I was in second grade, right, there was no girls' team for soccer. So my mom convinced the coach to give me a tryout, and she said, "Listen, if she's good enough and she's as good as, you know, whatever, any of the guys playing, then put her on the team. And if she's not, cut her."
And I made the team, and my friend Karen Hurst (ph) did. I liked that. But it taught me, like, rely on yourself, practice, work hard and do it. And then eventually, they had a girls team.
GUTFELD: Do you remember on "The Brady Bunch" when Peter Brady became a Sunflower, which was the Girl Scouts? And then Marcia Brady joined the Boy Scouts? That was in the early '70s.
WATTERS: How old are you?
WILLIAMS: All right.
PERINO: "The Brady Bunch."
GUILFOYLE: "How old are you?
GUTFELD: "The Brady Bunch" explains everything.
WATTERS: All your references are from the early '70s.
WILLIAMS: Well, I just want to say to Kimberly, Kimberly, you belong at the top of the team.
GUILFOYLE: Thank you.
WILLIAMS: "One More Thing" up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: Time for "One More Thing." Let's go to Juan.
WILLIAMS: Wow, talk about it getting hot in here. Talk about that. Take a look at this neighborhood.
It's lava flowing from a Hawaiian volcano right into a residential area. That's right, it just consumed that car that you saw, and when you can see what it did to the house. Oh, my God.
So far, no deaths or major injuries. Thirty-five buildings, though, destroyed, most in private homes. There's also sulfur dioxide gas at high levels all around. Kilauea is one of the world's most active volcanoes, and its lava usually flows into the ocean. Not this time.
GUTFELD: Wow.
WILLIAMS: Vacationers are canceling, and residents have to run and get the pets and everything else, because the lava continues to flow.
GUTFELD: Wow. Dana.
PERINO: All right. One of my recommendations is people try to take a road trip to Shanksville, Pennsylvania, so that they can see the Flight 93 Memorial. There's an additional. The colleges of -- Washington and Jefferson College, excuse me, they became partners with the memorial, and they have created an exhibit talking about how important baseball is in times of national tragedy.
And one of the examples they have here is after 9/11. So there's the baseball that George W. Bush threw out at Yankee Stadium. You can also see the former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani's windbreaker that he wore. And I think we have a picture here of the Washington and Jefferson College students. Their assistant history professor is David Kieran. He helped create the exhibit for the memorial. If you can, try to get there.
GUTFELD: Great place. OK, K.G.
GUILFOYLE: All right. Thank you so much.
So Paws of War is a nonprofit organization that trains and places shelter dogs with military veterans who suffer from PTSD. And through the organization, I came across the story of U.S. Army Specialist Zachary McIntyre who was stationed in Afghanistan. It was really a compelling story.
He actually climbed down 50 feet down a garbage burn pit to save a puppy that he later named Mimi, and the two bonded immediately, as you can see from the photo. He's trying to bring Mimi back to Texas with him. And it sounds like a simple thing to do, but in fact, it is not. It's expensive, as well, and complicated. So they have this wonderful relationship.
And I think if there can be anything we can do for our veterans to help bring them joy for all that they do and serve. You can go to PawsofWar.org to check out more about it, to get involved.
And then I'd like to kindly invite you to go -- 7:25 tonight, FOX News Channel, Martha MacCallum. I will join her on "The Story" to discuss more of the details of the Eric Schneiderman case.
GUTFELD: All right. Time for this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRAPHIC: Greg's Fraidy Cat News
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: "Greg's Fraidy Cat News." You know, if you ever have a problem with a bunch of cats, take a look at this in your house. You know, they just can't -- they're just bothering you. The best thing you can do -- this happens to me. I get a bunch of cats in my apartment. I turn on my Roomba, and it's amazing what a Roomba can do to a bunch of cats. It's going to happen just about now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CATS FOLLOWING ROOMBA, THEN SURPRISED BY A SUDDEN MOVEMENT IT MAKES)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: I timed that perfectly.
All right, Jesse.
WATTERS: That was purr-fect.
GUTFELD: Ohhh!
PERINO: Nice.
WATTERS: A massive brawl broke out at a cornhole tournament in Georgia. Look at these parents letting loose on each other here. Trying to raise money for scholarships for their sons and daughters but ended up humiliated.
GUTFELD: Wow.
PERINO: My gosh.
WATTERS: Adults throwing each other across the cornhole tournament lawn. And --
GUTFELD: What happened to cornhole?
WATTERS: I don't know, you should get cornhole for your --
PERINO: It's not on the beach.
GUILFOYLE: Bill Hemmer has this.
GUTFELD: All right, enough.
WATTERS: It's great.
GUTFELD: OK. He's tough and fair. His name is Baier. Bret Baier. Up next.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS: Some transitions are better than others.
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