Rep. Kevin McCarthy says Nancy Pelosi put party over country in face of coronavirus threat
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joins Laura Ingraham on 'The Ingraham Angle.'
This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," March 2, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham. This is "The Ingraham Angle" from Washington tonight. Joe Biden's win in South Carolina, well force Amy and Pete to drop out and they're both in Texas tonight and they're at the rally to endorse him and that's where our own Raymond Arroyo is tonight. You've wondered where he was for the past week. He was just getting ready for tonight. He's going to join us throughout the hour, and he's been all over these rallies.
And while Pete and Amy came out for Joe, well Bernie spent his Super Tuesday eve with Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is here on what that might mean. Plus, HHS Secretary Alex Azar is here for a Coronavirus update. Dr. Drew Pinsky, he's going to tell us why the media coverage of this virus has been actually dangerous and counterproductive.
Also, former NFL player Jack Brewer, he was viciously attacked after he called Trump, America's first black President. He's here tonight to defend those comments and respond to the haters.
But first, and now there are four. Well at least serious ones. That's the focus of tonight's Angle.
After the New Hampshire primary, I warned Democrats that they didn't have much time. Bernie won New Hampshire and won huge in Nevada and then old Joe Biden won big in South Carolina on Saturday. Remember winning Iowa which Pete Buttigieg did by a hair meant absolutely nothing. He dropped out last night and Klobuchar today. Of course, she's gone, both endorsing Biden.
Now, tomorrow is Super Tuesday and the moderates, they're out of time. For the progressives, its Sanders and Warren and in the moderate lane, Bloomberg and Biden. Because of early voting, which we conservatives have always been against. Biden's Joementum may be blunted.
Bernie's followers were jacked up very early in this whole process and if Biden does, let's say, he does really, really well, better than expected tomorrow. Well, Bernie's at that point of real trouble. The Beltway media will work to write-off Bernie completely and quickly. But if it turns out the way most people think and Bernie does well tomorrow, enormous pressure will be brought to bear on Bloomberg to drop out to help Biden out.
And frankly, also on Warren to drop out to help Bernie finish off Biden. And then prominent elected Democrats, they're going to begin lining up for their choice.
Now, even if they manage to pull off this Biden rescue effort, the question is, can Biden himself really withstand the rigors of a grueling campaign.
He seems to be having a lot of trouble lately. And it's pretty apparent that if Biden wins the nomination and somehow, and somehow beat Trump, heaven forbid, he'd just be a figurehead President doing whatever Washington wants and then the swamp wins again.
It will be donors who set the policy on China and immigration, and then throw a bone at the hard left. They'll get to pick the judges. A power coalition from hell, if you ask me. Now what we're seeing is the beginning of the Democrat establishment's rebellion against the will of its own voters. They don't want Sanders, a socialist to get the nomination despite the fact that he's the frontrunner in the polls and has won two of the last four primaries and caucuses.
But what's happening to Bernie, if you think about it is somewhat similar to what the GOP establishment tried to do to Trump back in 2016. They hated him. They tried their hardest to rally the party around Jeb Bush. But that dog wouldn't hunt. Jeb dropped out after South Carolina, even after George W., Nikki Haley and Lindsey Graham all tried to stop Trump there, but guess what, Donald Trump won anyway.
And then Marco Rubio, he dropped out after Florida, lost that, that was his home state. Then Kasich flopped. You know you'd forgotten about him, right.
Well, he flopped everywhere, except Ohio. But he hung on until he lost all credibility. It was so bad for him that he didn't even speak at the RNC which was held in the state in which he's governor.
But watching everything play out over the last 72 hours or so, it's clear that the Democrat machine is trying desperately to claw back power. Claw back power from the radicals that they let run free in Washington for the last year. They made huge mistakes underestimating the power of the AOC crowd over the last year and of course, the Democrat establishment. They're not helped by the fact that it has a terribly weak candidate, Joe Biden.
It's far more difficult to prop up Biden now who is mentally collapsing in public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tomorrow's superstar Suzie. I was waiting for a black man to pick me up and take me to a total of 147 miles south to Washington D.C. to be sworn in as President and Vice President of the United States of America.
We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created by the - you know the thing.
Jack, thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, its Chris.
BIDEN: Chris. I just did Chris. No, no. I just did Chuck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: The fact is most of the excitement and the momentum is on the Left and it's behind Bernie. And it's reflected in the polls. Nationally, Bernie is polling eight points above Biden and his lead is even starker and most of the 14 states set to vote on Super Tuesday tomorrow. He's currently polling on average of 15 points ahead of everyone else in California, the state with the most delegates. Bernie is pulling ahead in eight of the 14 states set for tomorrow. Meanwhile, Biden leads in just four states.
And until those states, North Carolina and Oklahoma, his lead is a very narrow one and he's almost out of cash.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The problem is a former Vice President, two-term Vice President, Obama's guy should be just sucking in money, he's broke. That shows a lack of enthusiasm not just at the grassroots level where he needed that, but also at the top. He's not filling stadiums like Bernie Sanders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: No, he's not filling stadiums, he's not in close, he'd be lucky. Look at fill the local Elks Club. Just look at the massive crowds Bernie drew in California yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I-VT., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The establishment is getting very, very nervous. The corporate elites are getting nervous and the political establishment is getting nervous as well. And some of the leaders in the Democratic establishment are saying, my God, look at the turnout here. What's going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Back up. Meanwhile, Joe Biden, he's just relegated to - I don't know after he wins in South Carolina, he did this little video that I saw on Twitter where he and Jill, his wife were essentially begging for money.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: South Carolina, I'm going to use all the time, all the time, you're the launching pad. This is the biggest deal so far in this campaign. So, thank you, thank you, thank you.
JILL BIDEN, JOE BIDEN'S WIFE: Thank you for your love and your kindness. And so, we're going forward, so can you chip in $5, $10 because we're going to power forward and win this race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Won't you help, Joe. This was sad with. The audio quality wasn't so great either, but it's just a presidential campaign. I was thinking about this tonight. Democrats remember how they love to scream power to the people. But in the end, it may just be power to the donors who were all pulling out, all the stops to end Bernie's second quest for the presidency. And reports tonight say, he's starting to bring in the cash, but Democrats should really learn the lessons of history. Biden is the new Jeb, except he's old and make zero sense.
Both are kind of low energy, but nice guys with good resumes. Neither generate the type of excitement that successful candidates for the presidency usually need to have. The battle in November should obviously be Bernie Sanders versus Donald Trump, not Trump versus Obama nostalgia.
If Obama's policies were so effective, Hillary would have glided past Trump in 2016. But Obama's policies didn't deliver the rising wages or business optimism that Trump's have. And for his liberal supporters, this failure has only driven them into the arms of a socialist.
Americans deserve a real choice. Capitalism versus socialism. That's a choice and letting people decide for themselves will tell us what the country thinks of Trump's America First conservatism versus Sanders collectivism.
May the best man, not the most influential block of donors wins. And that's The Angle.
Speaking of Bernie Sanders, on the eve of the most important day in the 2020 primary, he chose to host a rally with Ilhan Omar. Now, it just goes to show you that she and the rest of the Squad are the political force to be reckoned with that I told you they were back in March of last year, when I was scoffed at for saying that.
They're not the amateurs who Nancy Pelosi once tried to brush off. Joining me now, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Congressman, given Omar's past anti-Semitism, kind of a denier of al-Qaeda. What does this tell you about Bernie Sanders values?
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY, R-CALIF.: It tells a lot, because of the contrast. Look, where he was in Minnesota, you know what's happening in Washington today? APAC. Here is Bernie. He'll promote communist Cuba, but he will not praise Israel. Who does he want introducing him tonight? Omar. Omar who introduced a boycott divestiture and sanctions bill against Israel themselves. That shows that Pelosi folded to these socialist freshmen at the beginning of this year.
Do you remember when AOC at the very beginning had a meeting with Speaker Pelosi. AOC didn't tweet out the picture. Pelosi did. The Speaker of the House tweeting a picture out with the freshmen. She has succumbed to letting these socialist take over.
INGRAHAM: You see my point and THE ANGLE tonight. I mean you saw what happened in 2016. The people wanted one thing and a lot of the donors wanted something else. And Donald Trump said basically, I'm going to beat the Bush's, the Obama's, the media, Hollywood, I'm going to take them all on because I think they're all destructive to America. And he clear cut the whole field. He clear cut the Republican, the Democrat, the moderate, because he was bold, and he had the energy. The Democrats are in a pickle here. They're in a real pickle.
MCCARTHY: And he did it with about one-third of all the money Bloomberg has already spent. That's things no one talks about.
INGRAHAM: There's going to be pressure on Bloomberg correct to get out.
MCCARTHY: Oh! Yes.
INGRAHAM: So, he and Warren are both going to have huge pressure brought to bear to get out. Clarify this race after tomorrow.
MCCARTHY: I personally believe beating Biden would be easier for President Trump. And I don't know where these Democrats get behind. Bernie has a crowd. Biden does not. Bernie knows what states he's in. Biden does not.
Bernie knows that he's running for President, not the Senate. Biden does not.
INGRAHAM: I personally think that debate is actually really important for the country to have because these kids are getting taught all about collectivism and socialism and the wonders of Sweden and France and its heyday and if we only did socialism right, it would be great. And it's not fair now. This is what they're being taught. So, it's kind of time we had this debate once and for all. And I would love to see Bernie versus Trump debate that the wonders of socialism versus the power of the Trump economy. I think that's necessary frankly.
MCCARTHY: I think it has to. I think it's something that's been brewing for quite some time. You look at what's been happening in Congress, another with the Democrats. It's a fight about to happen and we ought to have it, but we better make sure we win it. Socialism versus freedom.
INGRAHAM: There was an interesting moment where Biden's campaign manager, or spokeswoman Katie Bedingfield was asked about the Obama endorsement and is it ever coming, does it matter? This is how she tries to answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the Vice President disappointed that he hasn't gotten that sort of public show of support at this sort of very critical point in the race from Barack Obama?
KATIE BEDINGFIELD, JOE BIDEN 2020 CAMPAIGN DEPUTY MANAGER: No, of course not. He said from the outset that he didn't want it, that he didn't think that that was right. And that coming out of the gate, he needed to earn this on his own merit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCCARTHY: Look, there's only four left and he still can't decide if he's going to endorse Joe Biden. If there was any power to that endorsement, it would have happened today. It's not going to matter anymore. And I think what you find with Obama. He sees that Bernie is going to win this thing, that Bernie has the momentum. This is where the Democratic Party has moved, a Socialist Democratic Party.
Look, how much politics they want to play. The dirty little secret. We have a Coronavirus. We have government funding that we need to fund this. You know what, Nancy Pelosi, the speaker did. She withheld the bill last week. You know why? So, the DCCC could run ads against seven Republicans.
INGRAHAM: How many people ran ads on the Coronavirus fundraising appeals?
MCCARTHY: I don't know how many ran but they actually took the Democrat Congressional Campaign Committee, spent money, went into these seven Republican seats to campaign against them about the Coronavirus, when she's the Speaker of the House. Instead of putting America first, she put her politics first and held the bill from coming to the floor.
INGRAHAM: But she said last week that this is the time for the parties to come together, Congressman.
MCCARTHY: She is politics all the time. That's exactly what she did from the Powerhouse. And think of this, all those Democrats had an opportunity last week to denounce what Bernie said about Cuba. Not one of them voted against what he said.
INGRAHAM: Obama, he's smart. He's not - he is not going to jump on this grenade right now. He's a - but if his policies were so smart, Hillary would have won in 2016 and they like Obama the man and the personality, because he's cool and he's a great campaigner and he has a great family. I don't think the policies ended up being as popular as the man. That's the problem.
MCCARTHY: You had to have a magic wand to have this economy. We just needed somebody who understood the economy.
INGRAHAM: Congressman, great to see you tonight. Thanks so much for coming on.
MCCARTHY: Thank you.
INGRAHAM: And Joe Biden tonight hosting an event in Dallas after snagging endorsements from 2020 also ran, Amy Klobuchar, Pete Buttigieg and Beto O'Rourke, our own Raymond Arroyo is at Biden's event tonight. And it's still going on. Raymond, what did the voters tell you?
RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Laura, we're here at Gillies where several hundred Biden supporters are here. Now, they have some lingering concerns about the Left's or the Democrat establishment's last best hope.
Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARROYO: There are a lot of stories emerging about the mental acuity of Joe Biden. People worried about his recall, the slippage of facts. Does that concern you in a debate situation?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it does.
ARROYO: What particularly?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think the slipups matter. I think where he stands in his heart and in his mind and who he surrounds himself with is going to make the difference.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I wish he was younger, but he's the best we got. So, you've got to just go with the best.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am concerned about it as far as the debate performance with - you know going up against the other side with Trump. But like the gentleman before me said, I'll take that any day of the week compared to the vile man that sits in the White House right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We volunteered for him in 2008 when he was running back then, and I see no difference between now and then.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we're going to talk about a few gaffes here and there, let's talk about the President tongue tied that we currently have.
ARROYO: Are you concerned?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little bit. Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's one of the reasons why I could not vote with my conscience for Joe Biden. I don't have to worry about mental issues. We already have mental issues in the White House.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Absolutely. It's very concerning. I mean when he's getting softballs thrown at him and he can't answer the question, it's going to be even rougher, it's getting rougher. It hasn't - the hard times haven't even started. He needs to get some rest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARROYO: Laura, these were the Democratic supporters of Joe Biden waiting to get in here tonight. There are only a few hundred people, maybe 700, 800 people here tonight, but there's almost a defeatism in the air that he's their only hope, so they've got to keep going with this.
But the feeling here is odd. There's not the excitement or the drama of a Trump rally for instance or even a Bernie Sanders rally. This is very different. It has the feeling of the Bob Dole campaign without the war hero.
INGRAHAM: Well, Raymond, it looks like Beto. I'd almost forgotten about him. He just wrapped up there.
ARROYO: Yes. No, it's like a reunion of all the also ran, Laura. They have come together, and you know Joe Biden, he talks at the audience. He doesn't talk with them. And you know somebody told me where I got talked to on the way in. Gillies is known for urban cowboy and though there aren't many urban cowboys. There was a lot of mechanical bull tonight. So, I'll leave it there.
INGRAHAM: All right. Raymond, thank you so much for being there. We'll check back with you later in the hour with more. Be careful out there. All right. Ahead, he was called an Uncle Tom for calling Trump the first black President. Former NFL player Jack Brewer is next. He'll respond to all the critics and then Candace Owens and Leo Terrell debate. That's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK BREWER, FORMER NFL PLAYER: I've got to say this it's Black History Month, man, you the first black president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Though he obviously didn't mean it literally, the remarks you just heard from former football star Jack Brewer sparked outrage on the Left.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEITH BOYKIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The reality is, he doesn't care about black people, except as a potential voting bloc. He has not made any serious effort to reach black people. The idea that anybody would sit in the room with Donald Trump and call him the first black president after we had Barack Obama as the President of the United States shows just what kind of Uncle Toms were sitting in that room in the first place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Joining me now is Jack Brewer, former NFL player. Jack, CNN analyst calling you an Uncle Tom. Your reaction.
BREWER: You know what Laura, I have been called so many names, this attack on me started a long time ago after I wrote my first article telling the truth about the Clintons and exposing them. And you know I'm a black man and I have served the black community all of my life, and I've done it tirelessly. And so, for me it goes back to all those poor kids in Haiti that I serve and watching the Obama administration misappropriate over $14 billion leaving the first black nation in the world in desolate, just destruction.
And it was terrible--
INGRAHAM: Let's keep on Trump. We don't have time to get to Obama. But with Donald Trump, it is - Fox's poll, registered voters, not likely voters say that his approval rate is 13 percent among African Americans. I think it's probably higher than that and especially among likely voters.
BREWER: Yes.
INGRAHAM: But he only got 8 percent last time of the black vote. It's been a ceiling it seems that figure although it's a little higher than some would have thought. You know, I'm stunned that he can't get more than that in this election, if he can't get more than that, because to me, he's been pretty good for all Americans, especially those at the - who have been really struggling to you know make more money in a blue collar economy.
BREWER: Laura, it's misrepresentation. It's people that are uneducated on the facts. And so, the reason I said what I said was to stir the pot and expose the evilness that is really going on. I mean for folks to really deny the fact that Donald Trump has helped black people as much as he has, the policies, Laura. I mean the man gave HBCUs long-term funding when the administrations before him would never do that. They made these black schools continue to come back and beg and beg for money.
I mean the criminal justice reform. You look at criminal justice reform Laura, and you say, the Obama administration sat there with Joe Biden who actually wrote the crime bill that locked up a mass incarcerating millions of black men, taking the fathers out of our homes. How can that not upset black America when President Obama sits in office for eight years and doesn't release these folks. Why does Donald Trump have to give Alice Johnson clemency? I mean these things go on and on again and you can't argue the facts and the facts are that Donald Trump has passed more policies for black folks than any President since Lincoln.
INGRAHAM: You stand by your comment. He's the first black president, you obviously didn't mean that literally, but your comment was really--
BREWER: Not literally. Laura listen, blacks called President Bill Clinton the first black president because--
INGRAHAM: Good point.
BREWER: He sat in the Oval Office and had a woman give him oral sex and bragged on that, and now the fact that I say that, now I'm getting bashed. They're talking about me and my family. Listen, I take the high road. I'm a man of God and I know that spiritually in this nation, there has been over 20 million black babies aborted and we've completely changed and went against the Bible. Change what the Constitution of marriage means. I stand against that Laura, adamantly as a believer of Jesus Christ. I walk by faith and not by sight.
INGRAHAM: Jack, thank you for coming on. I think that people need to know--
BREWER: Thank you.
INGRAHAM: That there is not a monolith among African Americans about this President because it's distorted and it really, really bugs me. Thank you so much for coming on.
BREWER: And I will be in the community serving our people, I'll tell you that.
INGRAHAM: All right. Joining me now is Candice Owens, Founder of the Blexit Organization, author of Blackout. Also, with me Leo Terrell, Civil Rights Attorney. All right, Candace, you were with - at that meeting with Jack Brewer. What did you think about his remarks?
CANDACE OWENS, FOUNDER, BLEXIT ORGANIZATION: Look, plain and simple. It was absolutely amazing. The meeting was extra special and especially because you've seen in the pass, the Left, they have these meetings when they're with the President, always hip-hop artist and rappers. I mean was it pandering when Bernie Sanders sat down with Cardi B, was it pandering when Hillary Clinton brought up hot sauce and did a Beyoncc concert. Was it pandering this past weekend when Bernie Sanders did a Public Enemy concert?
Anybody actually realistically thinks Bernie Sanders listens to Public Enemy and Cardi B. Absolutely not. That's pandering.
Trump sits us down in the cabinet room and asks us what we need and how he's doing as a President. If he's actually uplifting our communities, that's offering us a literal seat at the table to make the decisions, that's actually respecting black Americans, not because there's some novelty of you rap and disrespect and tell people that are younger than you that they should continue this pattern of disrespect. He actually genuinely respects black America and that's why I view him as the first black president. I respect that.
INGRAHAM: Leo, your reaction to what Jack said and also to what Candace just said.
LEO TERRELL, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Thank you very much, Laura. This is sort of very embarrassing for what Jack said, ignored the fact that we had a black president in this country. And you mentioned the poll, the numbers that are staggering. Wall Street Journal. How can he or Candance call Trump, the first black president when less than 12 percent of the black population supports Trump right now. That's not even a majority. That's nothing. 12 percent.
Here's the other part, Laura. I saw the picture of Candace, Diamond and Silk Jack in that room with Trump. I would ask you, ask the Fox viewers, where are the qualifications of these African Americans, where's the experience. Laura, your resume - you can go in the government right now, but none of the people, look at those people in that picture, what's their college education? What's their government experience? How can they sit there and tell us what policies are for blacks? I don't know any of their qualifications.
INGRAHAM: OK.
TERRELL: That is not true representative, Laura. They're not representatives.
INGRAHAM: Well, when the Obamas entertained--
OWENS: Jay-Z and Beyonce, what were their qualifications.
TERRELL: Let Laura talk, Candace.
INGRAHAM: No, they're very talented in their field, their talented in their field. And I would never deny that. But when we're bringing in celebrities to offer advice on policies, which look a lot of administrations have done this. Republican and Democrat.
TERRELL: Oh! Yes, Laura.
INGRAHAM: We don't - people sit there and criticize that and oh, you can't criticize celebrities, because they're celebrities and they do work in the community. And when conservatives do work in the community, they also deserve credit, Leo, for doing that and not condescension in my view.
TERRELL: Two quick points, Laura. Two quick points. There is no Condoleezza Rice in that meeting with Candace. There is no Colin Powell on a bloody Sunday. I didn't see Candace or Diamond and Silk or Jack in Selma, Alabama. I think any Trump representative said what Black people wanted to see, Laura. And that's one--
INGRAHAM: They also want to see results.
OWENS: They want to see results.
TERRELL: They were there for a photo op.
OWENS: This is truly the difference between the Left and the Right. People on the Left want to focus on the past. They always want to focus on black history. Right now, we have--
TERRELL: My God, black history.
OWENS: Focus on black future.
TERRELL: Yes, black history.
OWENS: Stop, don't cut me off, I just let you speak. He is focused on--
TERRELL: This is Black History month.
OWENS: What are the qualifications, every single person in that - that was sitting in that room has lived through being black in America under Democrat rule and has watched their families suffered tremendously. You had Angelista and King (ph), who was literally handcuffed to a bed in prison.
TERRELL: Qualifications and experience--
OWENS: And had to give birth. So, if you don't think that is meaningful--
TERRELL: News flash.
INGRAHAM: Quiet Leo.
TERRELL: Black history month, Candace.
OWENS: Stop cutting me off, Leo. Stop cutting me off.
TERRELL: Candace, we celebrate Black History Month.
OWENS: You don't think it was meaningful for somebody who was handcuffed to a prison, had to give birth, was forced to give birth, to sit next to a president and talk about what his policies, uplifting --
TERRELL: There are no heavyweights in that room, Laura. There are no heavyweights in that room.
INGRAHAM: So as long --
OWENS: Leo, that's what you routinely do is discount the fact that there
are experiences of black --
TERRELL: We celebrate Black History Month, Candace, if you don't know that. Black History Month is celebrated. You should be proud of that.
OWENS: Black future moving forward --
TERRELL: And let me tell you right now, 13 percent of African-Americans,
13 percent of African-Americans do not qualify calling Trump a black president. Shame on you. Shame on you.
OWENS: First black president.
INGRAHAM: We have got to roll.
TERRELL: Thank you.
INGRAHAM: Leo and Candace, always fun.
TERRELL: Always.
INGRAHAM: Ahead, HHS Secretary Alex Azar brings us the latest coronavirus updates. How does this compare to the regular flu?
And has the media been irresponsibly hyping this virus? Dr. Drew Pinsky says yes. He is here to tell us why.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT: The risk to the American people of the coronavirus remains low. There is been a seamless relationship between all the agencies with the federal government and states thus far. Within the next 12 hours, there will be 100 percent screening all direct flights at all airports across Italy and across South Korea.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: It's good, it's about time. And today, the coronavirus claimed the lives of three senior citizens at a nursing home outside of Seattle, bringing the death toll in the U.S. to six. So far the only virus deaths have been in Washington and mostly among the elderly. There are now over 100 confirmed cases reported throughout the country, and that figure includes Americans flown back from that Diamond Princess cruise line. This comes as President Trump met with pharmaceutical executives today about when we might see a coronavirus vaccine on the market.
Joining me now with all the latest is HHS Secretary Alex Azar. Mr. Secretary, thanks for being here. I know you've had a jam-packed schedule. How is the administration feeling about where we are today given the number now that is ticked up somewhat over the past week?
ALEX AZAR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: What we are trying to convey to the American people is the risk remains low for any individual American. The president has taken very aggressive actions, historically unprecedented actions to protect the American people so that risk has stayed low, but that can change at any time. As you mentioned, we are seeing some person-to-person transmission in the United States. We are seeing some community spreading. That's where we don't have anyone tied to travel to China or to Japan.
But we had and an important announcement just before I came on this show about America's preparedness for you that I'm going to give to you, which is we have expanded access to these N95 respirator masks for health care providers with a deregulatory action that I took this evening.
INGRAHAM: OK, so everybody who needs the masks working in health care facilities, because that's where this thing spreads a lot, they have the mask.
AZAR: So they have masks now. We are increasing the available supply. What we've done, people don't realize this, these masks are used by construction trades and miners. We have now approved an emergency use where those could be used for health care workers. It increases our supply in the United States dramatically for health care workers.
INGRAHAM: Six corona deaths, as I said so far as of today, and so people get some sense of perspective. As of February 22nd, for the same period of time, we had 74 flu deaths. That's not to minimize the death of any individual. It's all tragic when it happens to you. But there is a panic in the United States. I was at the CVS pharmacy earlier today because I'm not feeling so well, and it really is like all of the antibacterial wipes are gone off the shelves. So how do you minimize and lower the panic factor of everyone just going about their daily lives, because that has obviously affected people.
AZAR: I'm glad you're talking about that, Laura, because it's important we be balanced. There is no need for panic. There is no need for any individual person in America to change their daily life. You should always be prepared, but I'd tell you how to prepare today the same way I told you six months ago in terms of basic supplies and preparedness. CDC.gov has great advice on how to prepare.
INGRAHAM: Wash your hands. Finally, people are washing their hands. That drives me crazy.
AZAR: Yes, wash your hands. Just good old soap and water for a long time under warm, that is as good as that antibacterial soap.
INGRAHAM: The attacks on the administration have been so disgusting on so many levels, and the media in particular, I think more so even than the Democrat folks, are using this to smear the administration in a number of ways. This is their favorite way. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This administration has been decimating the scientists.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a president who tried to change science with a sharpie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is going to go short on science and long on science denial.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is also a president who hates science, right, and has no use for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Totally. Mr. Secretary, what is your reaction?
AZAR: That is such colossal nonsense. Listen, back in the beginning of January when we were informed by the Chinese that they were facing this novel virus, we are standing up the National Security Council apparatus. I'm briefing the president of the United States. We are getting scientific advisors in there with the president. We are actually served doing surveillance of people coming in from Wuhan. We enact unprecedented controls on travel, the first federal quarantine in 50 years. And those same people attacked President Trump for taking those actions, and now the rest of the country is thanking him because he bought us time by doing those things.
INGRAHAM: Bloomberg was on with Bret Baier tonight in a town hall, and he dove into this. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEATHER ALSUP-MORTON, U.S. ARMY DOCTORATE OF NURSING PRACTICE AT GMU: How would you respond to the current coronavirus if you are president?
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, D-FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: For a start, we wouldn't be in this situation.
The president has been involved in trying to influence the reporting of what is going on, how many people have caught it, how many people have died.
The real thing that leaves me uncomfortable is we haven't done the planning and don't have the right people in place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: No planning, I think testing kids, don't have enough testing kids.
AZAR: Laura, do you mind if I take that on? The notion of no planning, because I personally led our pandemic flu planning efforts in the Bush administration. We just in 2017 updated our pandemic plan, which is the playbook that we use for this.
And then, the right people? The right people -- Tony Fauci, Robert Redfield, Bob Cadlack (ph), Deb Birx. The right people, this is the best public health team you could ever assemble to protect the American people.
INGRAHAM: So he is a virus killer, too, Bloomberg. The virus wouldn't be here. I don't even know how to respond to that. But it has got to be frustrating on the front lines of this, as you guys are, when you hear this kind of stuff, and it is taken seriously by the other party.
AZAR: It is absolutely frustrating. I'll tell what's also frustrating is the fact that we are doing very bold things. As I told you, the president has taken unprecedented steps on my advice with Chinese flights, with federal quarantine. We stood up federal quarantine facilities on DOD bases because of our great relationship with Secretary Esper. This is unprecedented. And you know what, it's ruffled some feathers. And so they go to the media, and our political opponents try to politicize things. But we're going to take the hard measures to protect the American people.
INGRAHAM: And we have the drugs that we need? We are not worried about drugs from China, getting all these drugs from China? We have to reexamine that?
AZAR: So we do worry about our drug supply, Laura. President Trump is the one who brought to the fore concern about the supply of drugs coming through China. We only have 20 drugs that we have identified where we are sole sourced through China, and we've had one generic drug that is readily replaceable with a shortage identified so far.
INGRAHAM: We've got to bring that home. We've got to bring that manufacturing home, but you can't get that done tonight.
AZAR: Not tonight.
INGRAHAM: Great to see you. I won't shake your hand because I'm not feeling well.
(LAUGHTER)
INGRAHAM: See, that's the rule. I'm violating the rule.
AZAR: We'll do the Ebola bump.
INGRAHAM: Exactly. Good to see you, Mr. Secretary, thanks so much.
Now, it's not just the Democrats who are recklessly politicizing the coronavirus threat. Their media lapdogs are at it as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The coronavirus outbreak has the potential to become a global pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a global health process, the spread of the coronavirus in the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is a serious threat, and Donald Trump needs to do his job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It could get worse, and it could be precipitated by actions taken by the administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: My next guest says some of those in the media need to sit back and let the professionals do their work. Joining me now, Dr. Do Pinsky, an addiction medicine specialist, host of "Dr. Drew After Dark" podcast. Dr. Drew, how much damage is the media causing now the way they're covering this?
DR. DREW PINSKY, ADDICTION MEDICINE SPECIALIST: Essentially the entire problem we are having is due to panic, not the virus. I was saying this six weeks ago. We have six deaths from the coronavirus, 18,000 deaths from the flu. Why isn't the message, get your flu vaccine? This is amongst us. It is milder than we thought. The fatality rate is going to drop as we identify more cases. The entirety of the problem now is that people are being pushed into bankruptcy. Travel is down. The supply chain is being interrupted because of panic, not because of the virus. The flu virus in this country is vastly more consequential, and nobody is talking about that.
INGRAHAM: And Dr. Drew, I was traveling over the weekend, four different flights. And people are wearing masks on the plane. Now, it makes traveling kind of interesting, you can't really see their facial expressions. But that does zero to prevent you from getting the flu. Zero, correct?
PINSKY: It's panic. It's panic. That is panic. That is people engaged in panicked behavior. And that is what concerns me. It is a press-induced panic that will have real consequences. It will not be the virus.
Listen, "The Journal of the American Medical Association" published lead articles this week about what they were reporting on the coronavirus. But one of the things they asked was why did the Chinese government clamp down so hard? Was there something special about this virus? The report was the reason was the holiday, the Chinese New Year was coming, and during the new year, apparently everybody travels, and they wanted to get it under control before the holiday, so they clamped down quickly. They got it under control. The holiday came, people traveled. It did not spread. They did exactly what they needed to do. And then we need to calm down. It is here, it's mild, and the press needs to shut up. It's really getting to be a problem.
INGRAHAM: Dr. Drew, I love having you on. Thank you so much for joining us tonight.
PINSKY: Pleasure.
INGRAHAM: Will Biden supporters vote for Bernie if he is the nominee?
Raymond Arroyo has more from Dallas when we return.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Would you support Bernie Sanders if he ends up being the nominee?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I would not. I would write my own name and before checking his.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'd have to think about it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would support a sandwich over Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will never support Bernie Sanders. He is too old and I think he's too far left.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would stand behind him.
ARROYO: He is so at odds Joe Biden. It is night and day from Joe Biden's policy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know he is, but we have to get Trump out.
ARROYO: No concerns about democratic socialism?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have concerns about it, but I have way more concerns about Trump.
ARROYO: Would you support Bernie Sanders if he is a nominee?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. No, I don't believe in what he is saying, plain and simple.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Fascinating, Joe Biden supporters telling our own Raymond Arroyo what they really think about Bernie, and some of it is ugly. And it suggests a huge problem down the road for whoever gets the nomination, which famed pollster John Zogby warned about in an op-ed today. "Democrats in 2020 face a serious dilemma, if not a crisis. We can expect a real war for the nomination, and it will not be pretty. If Sanders outright wins the nomination, do not expect establishment figures and consultants to display support and party unity."
Back with me now in Dallas is Raymond Arroyo, along with John Zogby, senior partner Zogby Strategies. All right, John, if Sanders does not get the nomination, will his supporters vote for his opponent in the general election?
JOHN ZOGBY, FOUNDER OF THE ZOGBY POLL: Some will, but many will not. And even if he shakes hands and embraces Joe Biden, 18 to 29-year-olds, I think, are pretty clear that they're not ready to support someone other than Bernie. So I don't think they will vote for Trump, but I do believe they will not show up to vote.
INGRAHAM: Raymond, we have been hearing forever that it's just anybody but Trump. But you found out when you were at the rally tonight, and it's still
going on, people still trickling out, that that is not --
RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: They're gone.
INGRAHAM: They're gone now. It's just the music in the background, or are you at bar? Where are you?
ARROYO: It's just the music on me. I'm looking for the bar now, Laura.
INGRAHAM: You're getting the broom and sweeping up for the crowd. But a lot of them said they aren't going to vote. They will not vote for Bernie.
It's fascinating.
ARROYO: Laura, what unites the party at this moment, the Democratic Party, is their hatred of Trump. That seems to be it. Beyond that, when you start digging down to policy, when you start talking about Bernie Sanders, there is great divisions here.
And frankly, this was a lackluster even tonight. This should have been the high point of Biden's campaign. It's certainly the most important and consequential rally of this primary season on the Democratic side. It didn't feel like it at Gilley's tonight. You had 700 people or so, and nobody out on the street. I think that's a real problem sign for the Biden campaign.
And his speech tonight was kind of the boilerplate, and you almost felt he was going through the motions as well when he should have been grabbing that brass ring and saying, we're going to take this all the way home. It didn't have that feel.
INGRAHAM: John, when I watched Amy Klobuchar get up tonight, she is endearing. There are something and something endearing about her as a person and as a candidate. And seeing her next to Joe Biden, I was like, they picked the wrong person here. The establishment is getting behind the wrong person. This is part of what she said. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, D-MINN, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I cannot think of a better way to end my campaign then joining his. It is because of your undying belief that for all of us, the best is yet to come.
Tomorrow is Super Tuesday. What I want all of you to do is vote for Joe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: And the huge applause, John, after that, even though they ripped off Trump's best is yet to come line. But she kept it together. She had really nice stories. There was no malapropism. She didn't have a mental blackout. If I had to guess now, he is going to pick if he gets the nomination as his running mate.
ZOGBY: He may very well, and he could do worse. She is a good candidate, period. Let's not underestimate Joe Biden, however. There is a fundamental problem of disunity within the party between the left and the center, but Joe is still uncle Joe to many. And Joe was still vice president under a very popular Democratic president, and someone, Barack Obama, who is still very popular among independents as well. So I wouldn't underestimate Joe Biden's story going into this. But with a good running mate, I think it will be a competitive race anyway. The numbers just show it would be competitive race, Biden versus Trump.
INGRAHAM: I want the conservative populist versus the socialist. We have to have a real debate in this country. That's going to be it. That's what I hope for, at least. All right, gentlemen, thank you so much.
And coming up, we found the real reason Tom Steyer dropped out of the race.
Don't tell anybody. Next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: It's time for tonight's Last Bite. Before Tom Steyer said goodbye from the campaign, he left us with this gem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC)
TOM STEYER, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: OK, you guys, let's see what you got!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Didn't old white guys realize they just cannot dance on stage in a political environment?
That's all the time we have tonight. Shannon Bream and the "Fox News @ Night" team take it all from here.
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