Several Democrats now regret forcing Al Franken to resign

close

Video

Several Democrats now regret forcing Al Franken to resign

Sen. Al Franken resigned in 2017 over sexual misconduct allegations after widespread pressure from within the Democratic Party; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," July 23, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JESSE WATTERS, HOST: Hello, everybody. I'm Jesse Watters along with Dagen McDowell, Juan Williams, Katie Pavlich, and Gregory. It's 5 o'clock in New York City, and this is “The Five.”

The Democrats are desperately pinning their Trump impeachment hopes on former special counsel Robert Mueller's testimony tomorrow. While they're obsessively clinging to the collusion narrative that's already been debunked, President Trump shrugging off the left's Mueller mania. Instead, he's focusing on what really matters, the battle for 2020. With Democrats distracted, the president is using the moment to relentlessly hammer his opponents as far-left socialists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: Even the Democrats they laugh, but now they're getting dragged into a radical left position. We're gonna do the green new deal, which is the craziest thing I've ever heard.

When I'm up there in the debate all along with some maniac that they chose, and that maniac is saying, we're going to do this for you, we're going to do that for you, we'll gonna give you everything. We're gonna give you -- everybody gets a free Rolls Royce, every family. And we're gonna take better care of illegal immigrants than we take care of our own citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: OK. The Rolls Royce line he loves. It's the second time I heard that this week, Katie. So, tomorrow is gonna be a good day. Obviously, it's going to be wall-to-wall, but, you know, who knows how many days it's gonna last afterwards, and we're going to be right back to the presidential election.

KATIE PAVLICH, HOST: I've always said that during Nadler and Adam Schiff's continuation of the Mueller investigation after it ended, even though they said his -- and the report was going to end-all, be-all, is really just an opposition research campaign for the 2020 Democrats, who, like, Kamala Harris have called for the president to be impeached over the, quote, findings, in the Mueller report even though there was no collusion, no obstruction.

So tomorrow, Robert Mueller will be saying a lot of things, maybe not saying so many things. The DOJ said today that he's the one who ask for the letter to confine what he's supposed to be saying, which is what's already in the report. We're also hearing he's going to submit his report for the record. But when it comes to 2020 and President Trump, he's winning on issues that really matter.

There's a new merit poll out today showing that his approval rating is as high as it's been. The number of people who are voting against him has gone down. The number of people who are voting for him has gone up. And all of the issue that Democrats are talking about on the campaign trail, health care for illegal aliens, Medicare for all, support for that among independent voters especially has gone way down.

So he's winning on that. And tomorrow is just gonna be a show that we've seen before.

WATTERS: And Trump sums up seven point, Juan, with independents, which is pretty interesting considering all the heat he gets in the mainstream media. Another poll that I found interesting, the American public care about health care and taxes, almost quintuple the amount they care about Mueller and Russian --

GREG GUTFELD, HOST: Quintuple.

WATTERS: Quintuple. That's five times for those watching at home.

GUTFELD: That's amazing.

WATTERS: Do you think the Democrats risk anything by, again, focusing on Russia, and the American people are focus on kitchen table issues?

JUAN WILLIAMS, HOST: No, gosh. They're focused on health care what does Trump have? What the Republicans have if they're focus on –

WATTERS: They have the greatest health care plan ever. They're working on those details right as we speak.

WILLIAMS: Oh, my gosh. And spending? Gee, I think it's Republicans who have problems with this deficit, heavy deal that the president sign on to. That kind of spending used to be -- to Republicans, but now Republicans are just Trumpians and they say, oh, we don't see anything, nothing here, nothing to worry about. What if we're big spenders? No problem. We used to say about the liberals and the left, but when we do it, fine.

Look, you guys are all saying, it's Democrats who are obsessing. The one who is obsessing is President Trump, this is a witch hunt he tweets. He keeps saying, oh, this is ridiculous. Ridiculous. Oh, yeah, he says this is a second bite at the apple. What a waste of time. Don't do it.

You know, this is, to me, I just don't understand. You guys, and I just heard it from Katie, no collusion, no obstruction. Well, if that's the case, you guys should be saying, please, Robert Mueller, get out there and talk.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: A lot of Republicans are excited to ask Mueller questions on their own.

WILLIAMS: And to contrary, what you hear from members of the judiciary committee who are Republicans is, you know, we don't know why we're doing this. This is going to be a big nothing. President Trump says I'm not even going to watch. I'm not gonna watch.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: Is Greg going to watch tomorrow?

GUTFELD: Hell, no.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: I've got a life. This isn't the second bite, this is the 14th bite. You know what the Democrats -- you guys are like? What you guys are like? You're like civil war reenactors for the losing side. You'd dress up every day to play the losing side hoping for a different outcome. You're holding mock hearings as though this is a high school rendition of Fiddler on the Roof. It is so pathetic and laughable.

Look, the Democrats face the same problem that their parent company, CNN, does. In times of prosperity, how do you gin up conflict? And they only have two clubs in their golf bag, that's Russia and that Trump is a giant orange monster. So I have a prediction for 2020 because of all of this media fakery. They're gonna create a repeat surprise in 2020 based on preference deception. If you take the politically correct climate and now you add this constant race smear and this collusion thing, they're going to create an illusion of uniformity.

Because if everyone you know said Trump is evil, then no one is actually going to say the truth because they don't want to be -- they don't want to confront you while you're having these confrontational, you know, tantrums. So this is why Brexit surprised Europe, and why Trump surprise the world in 2016. As they keep ginning up this hysteria half the people are going to move to the other side just like they did before.

WATTERS: Yeah. You keep calling him a racist every single day it's going to turn a lot of people off. Dagen, I want to show you something from Cory Booker who was on one of the late shows the other night and had this to say about the president. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump is a guy who -- you understand it, he hurts you. In my testosterone, sometimes, makes me want -- feel like punching him, which would be bad for this elderly, out of shape man that he is if I did that. Physically weak specimen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Physically weak specimen, that some really good trash talk right there.

DAGEN MCDOWELL, HOST: Any woman knows that if a man has to talk about his testosterone, you got nothing. This is the end of your road to nowhere, and the same for the Democrats conducting this Mueller hearing. My favorite line from the Wall Street Journal editorial a while ago was charge Donald Trump with obstructing, and investigation that wasn't obstructed into a conspiracy that didn't exist.

Again, you've got nada, knit day, zero, zip, zilch. My favorite quote from Albert Brooks from broadcast news as his character, wouldn't this be a great world if insecurity and desperation made us more attractive? If needy were a turn on, guess what? It's still not a turn on. And that's why --

(CROSSTALK)

MCDOWELL: -- will lose.

GUTFELD: What Cory did, though, is -- I think he's violence signaling. You heard about virtue signaling? You saw the start with Kathy Griffin and the head, and then it move to Madonna saying she wants to bomb the White House. Johnny Depp making the assassination joke. What happens is they're actually violent signaling to the hard left that they actually agree.

He's part of the Antifa. You know, he's saying, you know, I'd really like to punch him, but it is kind of sad to see him act this way because it is a sign of insecurity as he's fading away. And he just keep talking in this word vomit. It's like, where is he going?

WILLIAMS: So I've got to say, Trump often talks in terms of violent rhetoric, and I'll pay your bills, punch them out. Oh, my gosh --

GUTFELD: I'll pay your bills?

WILLIAMS: Trump didn't -- I don't think Cory Booker called his opponents horse --

WATTERS: Well, no. The difference is, Juan --

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: It's not violent.

WATTERS: They need someone macho enough to take on Donald Trump. And then they always say, but we're gonna fall into that trap. We're not going to get into the gutter. But what do they do? I'm gonna punch him out. I'm gonna challenge him to a push-up contest. I'm gonna throw him in prison. They're right in the gutter where he wants them.

MCDOWELL: He's actually trying to out-macho Joe Biden. How pathetic is that?

GUTFELD: and you know who beats both of them? Marianne Williamson, who is actually smart and coming at a different direction with love. She's like, I don't need to play this game. That's why she's so much smarter than those guys.

PAVLICH: And she doesn't have any toxic masculinity, which is clearly driving all of these Democrats to engage in violent rhetoric --

WILLIAMS: Is this a rally? Is this a Trump rally for Marianne Williamson? I wonder why?

(LAUGHTER)

GUTFELD: Why do you not like Marianne Williamson? She's your smartest candidate?

WATTERS: And that's saying a lot. Coming up, outrage growing over viral video showing police officers being attacked, is the left anti-cop rhetoric to blame? But first, President Trump says he's making straws great again. Greg's monologue is going to explain that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: While most political campaign sell tacky t-shirts that nobody wants. What does Trump campaign selling? An attitude in the form of recyclable plastic straws. Since the campaign tweeted, making straws great again, the first batch of 140,000 sold out, that's 200 grand in sales. Now, you can call this silly or mean, but it's really pretty hilarious. The Trump straw targets key liberal weaknesses. They're strident humorlessness and misplaced priorities, and pokes them right in the eyes.

The crusade to ban plastic straws is yet more proof of how liberals try to distract us from the harm they've done to our cities, our law enforcement, our job markets, and our border. Maybe no one will notice what they did to the humans of downtown L.A. and other Democratic hellholes if they save a turtle from a straw. Yep, an actual headline said, someday, a turtle may end up with a Trump-branded straw in its nose. Wow. Who knew reptiles did coke.

So Trump saw this absurd crusade as a perfect opportunity for the new Republican Party, one that finally understands the power of fun and the muscle of mockery. Long the turf solely owned by the smirking left. The script's been flip. It's now the left the left who shriek like nosy neighbors and the right who are laughing out loud.

The paper straw is a perfect symbol. A failed soggy replacement for something that work just fine. A paper straw is socialism to capitalism's sturdy plastic. How funny is it that the straw's purpose it to suck. So you think the left would do that well. Wrong. They even suck at sucking.

I have to say that Trump might be the first president -- well, is the first president in history to galvanize trolling for fun and profit.

MCDOWELL: Yeah.

GUTFELD: Right?

PAVLICH: So the campaign manager for Trump 2020, Brad Parscale tweeted last week that he's so over paper straws, hashtag liberal progress. This is exactly what they would do to you -- the economy as well, squeeze it until it doesn't work. And then they started selling real straws to raise tons of money, which -- this is the reaction, right? Like when you go so far to the left and you tell people they can't do something, they're going to continue doing it in the most troll worthy way possible and to make campaign donation to buy real straws. I would do that.

GUTFELD: What other things, Juan, should they sell? Lawn darts?

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: I want everyone to listen because I'm going to give President Trump some credit. I think he is just genius of getting people to separate themselves from their money. So it's not fear we're going to take your guns, now we're going to take your straws, and you can mock the liberals -- oh, yeah, that's great. Mocking people --

GUTFELD: It's fun.

WILLIAMS: It's now -- it's not like, you know, it's silly and ridiculous. It's fun, so go right ahead. To me, you know, I just think the Bible says, you know, we should be good stewards of the earth. And now, oh, no, don't pay attention to that, just go ahead, do whatever you want.

GUTFELD: What was the Bible printed on?

WILLIAMS: Yeah, paper --

GUTFELD: Trees. Those poor trees, Jesse.

WATTERS: Greg, I'm going to have to agree with Juan on this.

GUTFELD: OK.

WATTERS: And here's why. I get that he's tap into this guy and say this is a brilliant marketing plan to raise a lot of money for the campaign --

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: That's fine. I'm not like on a plastic straws jihad. But, we will eventually phase out plastic straws and here's why.

GUTFELD: OK.

WATTERS: They're the top -- in the top ten most polluted items on the world's beaches. And they clog up the streams and the waterways and the lakes and the rivers and the oceans because they're so thin they don't get collected up. So, when I'm on a beach I don't want to see a straw, I want to body surf without straws. I want to tan without straws. I know you do, too.

When I fish because the fish eats the straws and then they die, I want to eat the fish before they die. I want to kill the fish, I don't want the straws to kill it. I think we can all agree on this that paper straws are better for the environment, and they don't disintegrate. I mean, how long do you take to sip an ice coffee, an hour? You sip it, it's over.

PAVLICH: This last like two seconds.

MCDOWELL: They don't work.

GUTFELD: Yeah, they don't work.

WATTERS: Hold on a second.

MCDOWELL: By the way, they try to give you metal straws --

GUTFELD: Yes.

MCDOWELL: -- is what they chip your damn teeth.

WATTERS: It works fine.

MCDOWELL: So unless Medicare in there --

(CROSSTALK)

MCDOWELL: -- unless Medicare for all --

(CROSSTALK)

MCDOWELL: Unless Medicare for all is going to pay for my venire --

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: Let me throw to the president talking about this, then, we'll get a response from you, OK? Let's do that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I do think we have bigger problems in plastic straws. You know, it's interesting about plastic straws. So you have a little straw, but what about the plates, the wrappers and everything else that are much bigger and they're made of the same material? So, the straws are interesting. Everybody focuses on the straws. There's a lot of other things to focus, but it's an interesting.

(INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: You know, Dagen, the Washington Post wrote a piece, you know, saying like, you know, this is going to harm turtles. They're paper. The newspaper often comes in a plastic container. You know, it's hypocrisy all around.

MCDOWELL: It is hypocrisy. I love the liberal lunacy and say San Francisco that bans plastic straws but the city is covered in human excrements, that's not just the stench of sanctimonious if you smell -- when you're walking around San Fran. And just one other thing, at the beaches you know what's a bigger problem than plastic straws? I don't know. Cigarette butts, candy wrappers, beer cans, condoms.

WATTERS: OK. So get rid of those --

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: You're turning into a liberal.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: We can do it here, too.

PAVLICH: We're doing it here,

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: And look, this straw is fully intact.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: Juan and I are on the same side.

WILLIAMS: I agree with you because I'm going on vacation. I don't want all that junk on the beach.

WATTERS: That's right.

GUTFELD: So this is all selfish.

WILLIAMS: We can sell everything. He says what about the plastic --

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: I love plastic. I love plastic.

MCDOWELL: I do, too.

GUTFELD: Someday I'm going to have a lot of it in my face, so I love it even more.

(LAUGHTER)

GUTFELD: When you see liberal celebrities arguing against plastic as they shoot Botox into their face.

WATTERS: And other places.

MCDOWELL: I'm really worried about poisoning people.

GUTFELD: Yes. All right, some Democrats now regret their takedown of former Senator Al Franken, we'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: Democrats are having serious regrets about forcing former Senator Al Franken of Minnesota out of office. Franken resigned back in 2017 over sexual misconduct allegations after widespread pressure from within his own party. But now, a New Yorker article reveals several Democratic senators wished he never stepped aside. And Franken said he, quote, absolutely regret, end quote, his decision, while adding -- and here I'm quoting again, the idea that anybody who accuses someone of something is always right, that's not the case. That isn't reality, end quote.

Now, while some Democrats say they made a mistake, one of Franken's biggest critics, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, is doubling down,

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, D-N.Y.: Senator Franken wasn't denying anything. It's his decision and his alone, whether to wait out his ethics committee hearing, whether to wait for his next election. The decision I made is whether or not to carry his water and stay silent. And to somehow blame me for a man's actions and a man decision is pretty absurd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Jesse, do you think Franken should have resigned? He didn't have anything in the court of law, no due process, so I'm thinking, sometimes, you know, these cases can be subjective because time change, perspective changes, so I get people who said, yeah, he should get out saying now I'm not sure.

WATTERS: Well, he was pretty low on the Me-Too totem pole. I think everybody agrees with that. But this was in the context of the Democrats wanting to look pure while they're trying to attack Roy Moore. And it was fresh off the heels of the Weinstein situation, so they were going to get killed with what-about-ism if they have stuck behind Al Franken.

WILLIAMS: At this table?

WATTERS: No, just in the media -- in the media. But I think the real deal is the Jane Mayer who did this piece is not a real journalist. She's an advocate for Democrats. This was a puff piece to rehab his images and his career, and she didn't treat anybody the same way as she would have treated Al Franken. Why doesn't she look at some of the sexual harassment lawsuit settlements in Congress the taxpayers have to play for? No.

She was a headache for the Bush administration, slimed CIA agents let Obama off the hook, and now she's back helping Trump -- helping people who hate Trump. This is what happens here with Democrats. They only care about due process for Democrats. Whenever there's an accusation against a Republican it's conviction. She says she pokes holes in the accuser's story? She -- what hole? The accuser said the photo with this was taken December 24th. She says oh, no, it was taken December 21st.

GUTFELD: Whoa.

WATTERS: Whoa, big hole. I mean, I think they're much more holes poked in the Kavanaugh accuser's story than that. But ultimately, the Me-Too movement still strong. I think maybe it's swinging a little back and it's not as hysterical as it used to be. But men now, I think, are behaving better and women are reporting things immediately. But I still think -- bring back the slap rule. Once a man gets fresh, slap them right in the face. That will sting a lot.

WILLIAMS: All right. So -- but, Katie, you know, I'm thinking to myself about standards now. Jesse rightly mentioned that Jane Meyer had written a piece about the Kavanaugh hearings. And so I'm thinking to myself, what is the standard for elected officials with regards to inappropriate sexual behavior? Because it looks to me like, you know, when the charges are against the Democrat you don't get away, but when it's against Kavanaugh, yes, get away. Where's the due process?

PAVLICH: Well, first of all, we should mention that the Kavanaugh case -- the senate judiciary committee came out with a 400-page report after all the committee hearings were over and he was confirmed showing that not a single accusation against him panned out and didn't have any kind of evidence.

So you asked what the standard is, the standard is evidence, not jumping to conclusions, not necessarily believing women, but taking them seriously making sure you weigh both sides of the story.

WILLIAMS: But there's no such thing --

(CROSSTALK)

PAVLICH: -- especially as a writer who's claiming to be a journalist --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: Right. But I'm saying to you that there's no such evidence presented in the Franken case.

PAVLICH: There were photos that were presented. There was, you know, information --

(CROSSTALK)

MCDOWELL: She was asleep. She was asleep. And, oh, it's a joke.

PAVLICH: There's no information or evidence presented at all outside of accusations from 30 years ago. In fact, there's lot of evidence to show that they're connected, the accusers, to Democrats who was trying to take down Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

So the standard is, everybody take a breath, if we want women to actually be taken seriously, you cannot continue to push forward false allegations or jump to conclusion because it actually hurts people who have real cases against men who are abusers or who are sexual predators.

WILLIAMS: So you think he should have resigned?

PAVLICH: I don't -- I mean, I don't know what he should have done. He definitely didn't get the due process that he should have. And for Kirsten Gillibrand to sit there and say that, you know, I have nothing to deal with this, she was one of the first people to call --

MCDOWELL: She was the first senator -

PAVLICH: She was leading the charge on it. So she certainly had something to do with the pressure on him.

WILLIAMS: So, Dagen, Trump's been accused many times. He denies in every case. So all you have to do is deny and then the women aren't heard and, you know, is that all you want? Really, is that fair?

MCDOWELL: I think that the women have been heard in plenty of forums, quite frankly, Juan. And I will say this about Al Franken, what's the point of this article in the New Yorker for him? He's the victim. When you talked about that photo of Leanne Tweeden, she was asleep, and he got away with it, in part, and they're making excuses for it now because, oh, he's a comedian.

There were seven other accusers which are mentioned in the article. And what is the point of this article in the New Yorker to send the message to Democrats and liberal men of like, next time, we'll go easy on you. But to the Republicans, they will bake fry and microwave you until there is nothing left.

WILLIAMS: Well, I think he's President still.

WATTERS: Say it again, Juan.

WILLIAMS: I think President Trump is still there.

WATTERS: Yes, he is.

WILLIAMS: All right. So, Greg.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WILLIAMS: I was thinking about this and I thought to myself well what sanctions are in place like you know you get someone like that guy Steve King with all of his white nationalist rhetoric, Republicans have sanctioned and stripped them. But they don't make him resign. The Democrats made Franken get out.

MCDOWELL: They didn't make him do anything.

GUTFELD: His party ate him alive. It's the shoot first ask questions later world of the Me-Too movement. He was right there. However, he's not innocent. I mean I know personally two people he did this to. OK. We talked about it, not just Leeanne. We know that Kathie Lee - if Frank Gifford were alive today, he would beat the crap out of Al Franken.

So, I think everybody knew this about Al Franken that he used to grab people, kiss but he bragged about it on Howard Stern or he talked about it in the green room, which was then brought up on Howard Stern. And there is visual evidence that Jane Mayer ignored. She used gossip to destroy Kavanaugh. But no, there is actually stories about Al Franken.

I wish he had due process. I wish he stuck around. I wish he had actually been questioned. We could have seen with this go. But I think like a lot of people he had the progressive pig pass, which is like Bill Clinton, Harvey Weinstein, Epstein, they survive and thrive as long as you support Democrats. They look the other way.

WILLIAMS: So, you're saying you thought he should have had due process before leaving.

GUTFELD: Yes. But I think that there was - he was guilty, but he should have gone through. He should have stuck around, but maybe he knew - maybe he knew it was going to get ugly.

WILLIAMS: Well, you can't say that Greg isn't fair.

GUTFELD: Yes. Thank you.

WILLIAMS: Up next, shocking video shows New York City cops getting drenched with water and hit with buckets. Upsetting. Next on “The Five.”

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAVLICH: The left's anti-cop rhetoric is being blamed for outrageous video showing New York City police officers being attacked. The cops were hit with objects and drenched with water and too wild scenes. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(VIDEO PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh! My God, they came over here to talk, they violated. They're not stopping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAVLICH: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling the incident completely unacceptable. But former Mayor Rudy Giuliani says, de Blasio is to blame for routinely disrespecting the police and former NYPD Commissioner Bernie Kerik is also blasting de Blasio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE KERIK, FORMER NYPD COMMISSIONER: It makes me sick. Obstruction, disorderly conduct, harassment and a number of other charges but they won't be charged because you have a mayor in New York City that won't allow.

LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: He's a disgrace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAVLICH: Greg, so there has been plenty of rhetoric about how police should react. There's social media everywhere. They probably hesitated because they didn't want to be on video.

GUTFELD: Yes. We're seeing a moral crisis right now. Indecision makes police second guess because they know they will not get the support of upper management or the mayor. And that sets the tone for their behavior. It's a policy set by City Hall.

If they do something, if they do the right thing which is to arrest and do this stuff, will the mayor just say no, it was just water. And I tell my son every day to watch out for you cops. Remember the New York Police Department is minority, majority. It's made up of minorities and they do the kind of work that keeps de Blasio in his job that allows him to run for President and run his mouth off.

If they didn't do their jobs, he would be nowhere. This is a problem I feel. This is so upsetting to me because I know what's going on in the cop's minds.

PAVLICH: Right.

GUTFELD: They know that if they overreact or if they act and it's perceived as an overreaction, their lives are ruined, because it'll be on TV. However, they have to act. That's their job.

So, I don't know. Should they be disciplined? What should you do? We have a lot of law enforcement that watch this show. I'd be interested in what you think. Should the police be disciplined or are they in a hopeless situation? This drives me crazy.

MCDOWELL: You mean disciplined for not acting.

GUTFELD: Disciplined for not acting or I mean you can't just tell people that what you did is wrong. People doing wrong things almost never listen.

PAVLICH: Yes. So, Jesse in 2016 there was a case of a Chicago police officer, a female and she was beat almost to death because she didn't want to react to the suspects who were beating her, because she feared backlash in the public sphere. And she almost lost her life over it. So, there are consequences just not with rhetoric but with policies that these cities are putting in place on the police.

WATTERS: It's part of the Ferguson effect. Remember the Mike Brown Hands Up Don't Shoot tragedy, the Hands Up Don't Shoot was actually a myth. But there were massive amounts of riots and then police departments pulled back all over the country within the midst of paladins and you saw a spike in violent crime.

They could have easily been charged with obstruction disorderly harassment, but because of the viral video now, everybody has a phone. It's like instant replay in sports. You make a decision and it's just going to get blasted all over the world in a loop and there is going to be less contest because bad camera angles and you're never going to win that argument and you're always going to be judged and you're always going to look bad.

So, the mayor doesn't want a problem like that. And the police departments in the communities don't want a problem like that. So instead they hand back. But it's also this. There is less respect for authority figures in this country. I've seen parents get cursed out by their children in public.

You've seen flight attendants be punched. We've seen ICE agents be disrespected. Teachers body slammed in schools, so it starts at home because parents aren't teaching young people how to respect their authority figures.

Brownsville, Brooklyn where this happened. It's like one of the most dangerous streets in all of New York City. They had; I think it was 13 murders just in one precinct last year. So, it said these guys who are saving lives in the community are being humiliated like that. What if that gunshots went off; they'd be the first ones there to respond?

PAVLICH: Juan, your reaction of the video.

WILLIAMS: Well, I guess you can't assault a police officer. That's ridiculous. This makes it harder even when you have bad cops to have people come to your side and understand that cops sometimes abuse their authority.

In this case, no one has said that these policemen were doing anything wrong. They're arresting someone and apparently with good reason otherwise, we would have heard about it by now.

So, what you have is a bunch of juvenile jerks I think abusing these officers as human beings and I feel for the officers. I mean to me it's the police that demonstrated extraordinary restraint in this situation. And by the way I disagree with my colleagues here. I think the cops are to be saluted for demonstrating that kind of restraint because--

GUTFELD: I think it sends a message, Juan.

WILLIAMS: Hang on. Let me speak. I just think that when you have police who clearly act as adults when other people are acting like juvenile jerks, it sends a clear signal to all of us. The cops are right in this situation and we should back the cops.

If they had overreacted which was the first word out of your mouth, overreacted. If they suddenly say oh this guy threw some water on me and now, I'm going to lock him up or I'm going to hit him.

GUTFELD: You have to arrest him.

WATTERS: You don't have to hit somebody, just put him in handcuffs.

WILLIAMS: I said I think that would have been for water on your head, that would have been too much. So, to me you know this is wholly different like those cops down in Louisiana that were fired today because they were threatening--

PAVLICH: Case-by-case.

WILLIAMS: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is like, we have bad cops, but this was not it.

PAVLICH: I want to Dagen in.

GUTFELD: No one even raised that they were bad cops. What we're saying is that if nothing is done that sends a message to the street that it can be repeated.

PAVLICH: Law and order breaks down right away if you aren't going to hold them accountable.

MCDOWELL: But Mayor de Blasio has put these officers in a position like you said that they can't react, that they know that he doesn't have their back. There has been a massive reduction in low level crime arrests in this city. And you know why, they're closing Rikers Island.

GUTFELD: Yes.

MCDOWELL: They've got to reduce the prison population in the city by thousands of people. They don't - they know that they are not supported by the leadership here. Instead like when the lights go out here whereas de Blasio, he's in Iowa. It's the same thing. You need to arrest these - they need to go out and find out who these people are as they would in any reasonable place and arrest them.

WILLIAMS: We have real crime, but I must say I don't know why you guys go after de Blasio. We have the lowest crime rate in decades.

GUTFELD: Because we aren't going after the crimes.

WILLIAMS: And de Blasio has more budget for the cops. But the cops Giuliani, the Republicans you know Claire, these guys just hate on de Blasio. I don't know why, but that's apparently--

GUTFELD: An incompetent lurch.

MCDOWELL: You might be the only person in New York who likes de Blasio. Anyway, you better think twice before posting a negative review online, it could land you in legal hot water. That outrageous story is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCDOWELL: You've all had an unpleasant experience or two at a business or restaurant. And maybe we left a scathing review or two or 10 later on Yelp but can posting something negative land you in legal jeopardy.

A growing number of people across the country are actually being sued over their online reviews. With one case going as high as a million dollars and businesses are fighting back, they range from doctors' offices to theme parks and we'll take the other side of this because we've turned into a culture of complaint where everything is a hardship.

Oh! My God, I went to this restaurant and they were closed on Labor Day, one star. I had a delicious meal, but the chef didn't come out and kiss my ring, one star. So, maybe people do need to get sued. We used to stand in the yard and yell at the neighbors' kids or like shout into the belly of our toilet.

GUTFELD: Yes.

MCDOWELL: And we don't do that anymore.

GUTFELD: This is the correction that we've been waiting for. Social media has democratized the bullhorn. You know we are now all critics without the responsibility of being a critic. So, let's say I'm drunk at a bar and I get thrown out and I can go on Twitter and say that I got food poisoning, or I could say that they're racist, bigoted which - and because I had a bad experience.

Remember the college bake - I think it was a bakery that ejected people for shoplifting. And the college accused them of racially profiling. The restaurant almost lost everything and ended up suing the college and they won millions. That's the correction you need. Lawsuits as much as I hate. Lawyers, lawsuits maybe the only correction for the unsubstantiated smear.

WILLIAMS: Yes, I agree. So, I think you know the question is, is this the first step in eliminating online trolls who tell lies and just make stuff up. I mean you have no recourse right now. If you're the target of this kind of calumny, I mean right now this is a lawless landscape social media. And I think people have to understand that there should be repercussions.

GUTFELD: Right.

WILLIAMS: If you are liable, if you are unfairly treated, maybe now you know people be less having to do it. I know like the last book I wrote, before the book was out, my publisher said, we're getting all these trolls, we're getting all these bots and I'm like what. And they said, well you know you can't control, nothing we can do about it. I mean--

GUTFELD: That was me Juan.

WILLIAMS: Remember when we were in Dallas, a guy comes up to me and says, I'm one of your trolls. I love it. And I'm just what is going on.

MCDOWELL: Just less than 5 percent of reviews are negative. So, I just wanted to point that out. So, it's kind of weeds out the bad actors, but Jesse again it's about self-editing.

WATTERS: Well, I'm with you Dagen about this. You're not a food inspector. You don't write for travel and leisure magazine. You know you're not a film critic who goes out to dinner, not every dinner is a 10. Let's be honest. If you go out to dinner, rushes home, goes on Yelp and says the food sucks.

GUTFELD: This happens all the time.

WATTERS: Who does that.

GUTFELD: No, no, the worst are the people who travel - people we know, right. The blue checkers--

WATTERS: We know who we're talking about.

GUTFELD: They had like they've got a delay on their flight and so they start crapping all over the airline. Maybe the airlines trying to save your life.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

WATTERS: Right. It's the same thing with Twitter. I didn't go on Twitter all weekend. I log in on Monday and I check out what's going on. Everything is racist. Everyone is racist and someone's getting obliterated and eviscerated for saying something racist on Twitter.

It's a sick horrible place, Yelp and Twitter separated at birth. They're disgusting people. I think these businesses should just pay a bunch of these lawyers to just overwhelm and steamroll these trolls and just bankrupt.

GUTFELD: Basically, do a pull a Gawker.

MCDOWELL: Yes.

GUTFELD: Do a Peter Thiel on Gawker.

WATTERS: Yes.

PAVLICH: I would say if the reviews are lies or libelous, there should be a lawsuit. But the majority of the reviews are five stars or 59 percent of them. So, most people who leave reviews are positive and usually if you're thinking--

WILLIAMS: I think most of those five stars are paid for by the company.

GUTFELD: I would say, a lot of people do pad, a lot of places also pad their places with fake rods.

PAVLICH: So, what you're only allowed to review if you like the place?

WATTERS: Fake reviews.

PAVLICH: Fake reviews.

MCDOWELL: I took photos of the license plates of everybody who cut me off or flipped me the bird in the last week and I haven't put him on Twitter, because I'm afraid of getting sued.

GUTFELD: There you go.

MCDOWELL: There you go. See, it does change behavior and I'm bananas and I haven't done it. One More Thing, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: It's time now for One More Thing, Greg.

GUTFELD: Time for. Animals Are Great. This is so popular. People chanting in New Jersey. They love it. They love it. Oh! My God. I thought I was sick of the bottle cap challenge until I saw this precious Pomeranian. It is a Pomeranian. Check this slow mo. Look at this, beautiful, fluffy cloud of magical bliss. Boom.

WATTERS: Nice.

GUTFELD: Could we do it one more time. Just do it. Yes. Look at that. What a beautiful, beautiful do that dog has got.

WATTERS: Use your hind leg Pomeranian.

GUTFELD: But so clean. That's a clean dog. And then that. All right, I've seen enough.

WILLIAMS: You must have missed Jesse. Jesse was great. Jesse did it. You kicked the bottle?

WATTERS: I kicked the bottle over.

GUTFELD: I just drink the bottle.

WILLIAMS: All right. Today, the music world is mourning the passing of Grammy Award winning New Orleans music legend Art Neville of the Neville Brothers. He's also the father of Fox News anchor Arthel Neville known as Papa Funk, he helped to shape the soundtrack of New Orleans music over the last 50 years. In fact, you're listening right now to his New Orleans Carnival anthem, Mardi Gras Mambo.

And here he is performing one of my favorites, Fire on the Bayou.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

All right. Our condolences go out to Arthel and the entire Neville family with a special note to his brother Aaron Neville, a man with a deep soulful voice. The whole family just musical geniuses, our best to them.

WATTERS: Very inspiring artists. All right. Also, very inspiring this young man named Tim who is an attendee at NubAbility camp where kids who are missing their limbs or you know had an accident or were without limbs do things and get better, check him out trying to land a 20-inch box jump.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

All right. There he is Tim. You know I thought I did something a little more uplifting and inspiring than my usual.

GUTFELD: So, this was--

WATTERS: Fight videos and firework videos.

GUTFELD: This was choreographed by Jesse. You're just trying to look--

WILLIAMS: Come on. That was terrific.

WATTERS: You're saying that's a virtue signal.

GUTFELD: Yes, your virtue signal.

WATTERS: I am about to violent signal you.

WILLIAMS: No, I loved it. I think in the gym when I see people like that, I think those are the really tough guys.

WATTERS: Well, I don't do that. White men can't jump Juan. I get about to--

PAVLICH: Not good.

WATTERS: All right, kidding.

PAVLICH: All right. Well, if you have thought that you had a cool birthday. Jesse definitely does because of the day before my birthday. Check out Jamie Brown. She was born on July 11th aka. 7-Eleven at 7 11 PM. And if that wasn't enough, she was born weighing seven pounds eleven ounces.

So, after hearing about her birth 7-Eleven, the company reached out to her mother. And they gave her a gift basket with diapers, onesies and other treats and a convenient store also celebrated her birthday by starting a college fund and pledged $7111.

WATTERS: Cool.

GUTFELD: Is there a Slurpee--

WATTERS: Slurpee in the - yes.

PAVLICH: 7-Eleven.

WATTERS: That's right. All right, Dagen.

MCDOWELL: Hotdogs and Slurpee. So, I hate scooters and I hate the people who ride scooters. So, check out this video. This is Josh Weatherall in Dallas. He was on his way to work. When he saw this dude yes, riding a scooter down the highway. He was wearing a backpack with headphones, not a care in the world. So, apparently scooters, you can drive them on the streets with speeds limits of 35 miles per hour or lower used on the interstate. Again, if you believe in Darwinism, you will not regulate the use of scooters.

WATTERS: And guys, by the way, this paper straw still working fine.

PAVLICH: Not true.

GUTFELD: Liar.

WILLIAMS: No, it's true.

GUTFELD: You're a Trumpologist. N

WATTERS: Set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of “The Five.” "Special Report" is up next with Bret.

Content and Programming Copyright 2019 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2019 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.