Fox News holds a relighting for newly-built ‘All-American Christmas Tree'
‘The Five’ and other Fox favorites are joined by NYPD and FDNY to debut the rebuilt All-American Christmas Tree a day after the original was destroyed in an arsonist attack.
This is a rush transcript of "The Five" on December 9, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: Hi, I'm Greg Gutfeld along with Judge Jeanine Pirro, Jessica Tarlov, Jesse Watters, and she takes her mistletoe with a shot of tequila, Dana Perino. It's THE FIVE and it's an All-American Christmas tree lighting.
(MUSIC)
(THE YULETIDE CAROLERS SINGING)
GUTFELD: Excellent work, I'll see you after the show. Take that arsonist. We are live here at Fox Square for a reason. As you know yesterday, a cowardly Christmas creep burned down our all-American Christmas tree. We put the tree up outside of our building, not for ourselves, but for all of you. The NYPD and the FDNY arrived at the scene quickly to put out the flames and made sure everyone was safe.
At a time when law enforcement is constantly criticized and disrespected, we are once again shown how important their work really is, and we're grateful for their service.
(CROWD CHEERS)
GUTFELD: Yes. We want to take this moment now to give a special shout out to the officers and quick - who quickly apprehended the suspect. They are actually here tonight to join us in the relighting.
We're also joined by members of the FDNY. I speak for everyone here when I say thank you for all your sacrifices to keep us safe. And even though the arsonist is already out on the streets, probably working at CNN, we want the bad guys to know that you can keep burning down our trees cause we're just going to keep putting up another one, because that's the real holiday spirit, Jesse.
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: All right, thanks Greg. Fox wanted to create a space where people from all over can come together without fear and celebrate this joyous holiday season, because when you take away all the parties and all the presents and all the decorations, what really matters? What are we left with? The answer is simple. Look around you. It's the people that truly make this time of year special.
(CROWD CHEERS)
JEANINE PIRRO, JUDGE, FOX NEWS HOST: And when our beautiful tree was burnt down by a repeat offender arsonist, we knew that we couldn't let it stop us. We knew that we wouldn't be deterred, and we were determined to rebuild so memories could once again be made right here on Fox Square. And - and rebuild we did in record time.
(CROWD CHEERS)
JESSICA TARLOV, FOX NEWS HOST: Tonight as we relight the All-American Christmas tree, we are joined by Fox News talent and executives along with members of the NYPD and the FDNY, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, FDNY Chaplain Rabbi Joseph Potasnik and Fox News Contributor Reverend Jacques DeGraff are also here and will share remarks in a moment.
DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: We are so grateful for the overwhelming support from our viewers, corporate, colleagues right here in Midtown Manhattan and our fellow Fox employees. Thanks to the hard work of so many, including the American Christmas Company, we are now standing in front of a brand-new tree. Yes, that's right.
(CROWD CHEERS)
PERINO: This holiday season serves as a reminder that, at the end of the day, there will always be more that unites us than divides us.
And before we like this new tree, as a silver lining and an act of kindness during the holiday season, both Fox News Media and Fox Corporation have made a $100,000 donation to Answer the Call, which provides financial assistance to the families of fallen service members of the NYPD and FDNY, the two agencies who responded immediately to our very own emergency. So, thank you to Fox for doing that, indeed.
(CROWD CHEERS)
PERINO: I mean, it's amazing we can be here -- nobody stopped working for the last 36 hours to make this happen.
PIRRO: Yes.
WATTERS: Yes, Fox really knows how to bounce back, don't we?
GUTFELD: I think - I think we've got to thank Dana and the fellow elves who worked all night -
PERINO: You're welcome, you're welcome. Build back better -
GUTFELD: - putting up that tree.
PERINO: - build back better the Christmas tree.
GUTFELD: Yes. This actually works.
WATTERS: You're not that much shorter than she is, Greg.
PERINO: I am in heels, though, in his defense.
GUTFIELD: Yes, so am I, by the way.
(LAUGHTER)
WATTERS: You will be later. No, but seriously, thanks to all the technical staff and the producers of THE FIVE, you guys did a great job, and it's a real honor to host this relighting, and we're just very also thankful for the security team that tackled this punk and the firefighters who put out the blaze very, very quickly, and the police that showed up immediately. Thank you guys very much.
(APPLAUSE)
TARLOV: And thank you to all of you for coming out. There are a lot of people here -
(APPLAUSE)
TARLOV: - so, welcome to Fox Square. What do you think, Jeanine?
PIRRO: I think it's great. And here's the bottom line, we are united in enjoying this Christmas holiday together, and we won't give up, it doesn't matter what they do to us.
GUTFELD: There you go.
PERINO: There you go, indeed.
GUTFELD: All right. We now want to welcome our first guest of the evening, Fox News Contributor Reverend Jacques DeGraff.
REVEREND JACQUES DEGRAFF, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Somebody asked me, why are you here? I'm here because these colors don't run.
(APPLAUSE)
DEGRAFF: Eighty years ago, this week, they tried to extinguish the darkness at a place called Pearl Harbor. We didn't fold then, and we won't fold now, because we've come this far by faith.
In our tradition we say this little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine - and the red, the white, the blue and the light of America, we're going to let it shine.
(APPLAUSE)
DEGRAFF: And so, we go to the throne of grace (ph) together. Our father and our God, the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - we come before your throne as humbly as we know how to say, thank you, we remember the reason for the season and our faith.
We have a faith that the fire could not incinerate. We have a faith that bullies cannot frighten away. We have a faith that mad men cannot terrorize us on.
We come to say thank you and Merry Christmas. We ask that you would bless the greatest country on the planet. We ask that you would keep (ph) us and bless us, and God bless America - and together, the best is yet to come. And the men and the women who love God said -
CROWD: Amen.
DEGRAFF: - and the men and the women who love God said -
CROWD: Amen.
DEGRAFF: - and the men and the women who love God said -
CROWD: Amen.
UNKNOWN: Way to go. (Inaudible). Wow.
PIRRO: Thank you, Reverend. Also with us today is FDNY Chaplain Rabbi Joseph Potasnik.
CHAPLAIN RABBI JOSEPH POTASNIK, FDNY: Thank you. I'm here, your Reverence - Reverend, I'm here for diversity.
(LAUGHTER)
POTASNIK: I want to say to everyone here, the words united and untied are spelled with the exact same letters. We have to stand together because we live in the United States of America, not the Untied States of America.
I said to Frank Siller of the Siller Foundation, Tunnel to Towers, shortly after 9/11 we observed Hanukkah and Christmas at Ground Zero. The Christmas tree arrived 20 feet high, the Hanukkah menorah arrived nine feet high - a group of carpenters - all of whom were Christian, volunteered to build a platform so that the Hanukkah menorah and the Christmas tree would be the exact same height.
We live in a country where Hanukkah and Christmas can stand together as equal partners, and I'm here to say that an act against Christianity is an act against Judaism.
(CROWD CHEERS)
POTASNIK: We are united, we are not untied.
(APPLAUSE)
POTASNIK: So, you have Christmas, we have Hanukkah. You have Easter, we have Passover.
Together, united, we have Thanksgiving - we are thankful that we live in a country where we can believe in different faiths, but we can belong to one family.
Amen.
CROWD: AMEN.
TARLOV: Thank you, Rabbi. And now we welcome Timothy Dolan the Cardinal - Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
CARDINAL TIMOTHY DOLAN, AMERICAN CARDINAL OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: Folks, I got the high honor - an honor for which I'm very grateful of blessing the new tree. So, you ready? Let us pray.
Lord, our God, we praise you for the light of creation, the sun, the moon, and the stars of the night. We praise you for the light of Israel - the law of the prophets and the wisdom of the scriptures. We praise you for Jesus Christ, your son. He is Emanuel. God with us, the precipice who fills us with the wonder of your love. Lord, our God, let your blessing come upon us as we soon illumine this tree. May the light and cheer it gives be a sign of the job that fills our hearts, may all who delight in his tree come to the knowledge of joy and salvation. We ask this through Christ our lord. Amen.
CROWS: Amen.
DOLAN: Hallelujah blessed Christmas. All right. There you go.
PERINO: All right, thank you Cardinal Dolan. Jesse?
WATTERS: All right, so let's go talk to some people here.
Cardinal, I haven't seen you since confession.
(LAUGHTER)
DOLAN That was (inaudible).
WATTERS: So, what is the symbolism in your opinion of a relighting Christmas tree here?
DOLAN: Look, the purpose of this season is that light always conquers darkness.
There's going to be setbacks. We saw that in the petty act of a unfortunate fellow who did this. But we don't let that stop us.
God's way, God's providence always triumphs. Light conquers darkness. That's Christmas, hallelujah. We need a little Christmas right this very moment.
WATTERS: All right, hallelujah. And after this, can we baptize Gutfeld?
DOLAN: I --
GUTFELD: I am baptized.
DOLAN: Bring him on up.
WATTERS: Bring him up.
DOLAN: Only if we can use eggnog. (inaudible) --
WATTERS: All right, all right. Steve Doocy, I know you have to get to bed soon, so we'll make this quick. Your thoughts on the ceremony?
STEVE DOOCY, FOX HOST: It's very nice. I'm glad everybody was able to come out tonight. Thank you very much for showing up at Fox Square tonight. We're not going to let one guy with a lighter ruin Christmas.
WATTERS: Ainsley, back up in 24 hours, what a miracle.
AINSLEY EARHARDT, FOX HOST: I'm just so happy to be here.
I'm so glad that we're building it back and that so many people have turned out when I pulled up tonight. I was just in awe of all of our fans and people who have come from all parts of the United States and all over the world to come and celebrate this night with us.
And you're right, we're not going to let a grinch steal our Christmas. We're back. We're better than ever. And God bless all of you.
(APPLAUSE)
WATTERS: God bless. I think this crowd is bigger than the crowd at the Rockefeller tree. Do we have that right? All right.
GUTFELD: It's a better-looking crowd.
(LAUGHTER)
WATTERS: Because you're here, Greg.
GUTFELD: Absolutely.
WATTERS: All right. So Abby, take two, right? You guys did a great job last week with the light. We're just going to do it again.
ABBY HORNACEK, FOX HOST: Yes, I was saying earlier it's such a blessing to be here because, you know, it's rare that all of us get to be together because everyone has different schedules, right? I think we should take the Fox News Christmas card tonight in front of the tree.
But yes, I mean, this guy lit the tree on fire, but he reignited the light in every single one of us as we celebrate the holiday season.
So it's great to be here. And again, we're thankful to all of you guys back here and everyone who showed up tonight.
WATTERS: All right, and we're --
EARHARDT: Jesse, Mike Rowe's behind you --
(CROSSTALK)
DOOCY: The number one --
EARHARDT: Number one Christmas song.
DOOCY: -- recording artist in America is here.
WATTERS: Mike Rowe, and Mike's -- Mike's going to be joining us on THE FIVE after this. But he wants more attention.
Would you like to say anything with your beautiful voice, Mike?
MIKE ROWE, FOX BUSINESS HOST: You're too kind, Jesse. But look, I was out here last around 12:30. I don't know where you were, but you should have seen the power washers and welders working. It was freezing cold.
Talk about a dirty job, those guys got it done right and they got it done first (ph).
WATTERS: Well said.
DOOCY: Ask him about the song he sang on "Fox & Friends" yesterday.
WATTERS: You know, I'll do -- I'll do -- I'll do the M.C.ing (ph) here, Doocy. This isn't "Fox & Friends".
All right, let's talk to one of these guys -- the Chief here. First of all, Chief, thank you so much. The response time was phenomenal. How did you guys do it so quickly?
MICHAEL AJELLO, FDNY DEPUTY ASSISTANT CHIEF: Well, thanks for having us. And thanks for acknowledging the good work that the FDNY and the men and women of the NYPD do, day in and day out --
(APPLAUSE)
-- to protect the citizens of this great city.
WATTERS: Thank you so much -- and no injuries. Everybody's here looking very festive, Janice.
JANICE DEAN, FOX METEOROLOGIST: Anytime I can wear a hat, you know I'm going to do so.
But can I also say, on behalf of the FDNY family, I'm -- I'm married to a battalion chief with the FDNY, thank you to your service. Of course, to all the police officers here tonight, we're so grateful for your service. We're grateful for your protection.
And thank you all. Merry Christmas.
WATTERS: Merry Christmas. All right, are you guys ready to get this started?
CROWD: Yes!
WATTERS: All right, before we get to that, FDNY Engine 65, who responded to the scene yesterday, was supposed to join us tonight but can't be here because they're responding to another fire.
So are you guys ready to light it up or what?
CROWD: Yes!
GUTFELD: You're talking about the tree?
WATTERS: We're talking about the tree, Greg.
PIRRO: Oh, you're so bad, you are so bad.
WATTERS: So, we're going to push a button. The borough commander is here so we're going to start it with a countdown, all right. Here we go.
(CROWD COUNTS DOWN)
(APPLAUSE)
PIRRO: It's beautiful.
GUTFELD: It's very nice.
PIRRO: It is stunning.
(THE YULETIDE CAROLERS SINGING)
PERINO: Swell (ph) time to be here with all of you tonight, with all of the - any thoughts Jessica and Judge?
PIRRO: Well, first of all, I just think that the tree is beautiful. I'm thrilled that it's back - back up. And you know what, we are as happy as we were two days ago, and we're not going to let anybody dampen our spirits.
PERINO: And Jessica's here, she - her due date is six days from now, and so there's going to be a wonderful Christmas baby this year.
TARLOV: So, this is like my Christmas.
PERINO: This is your Christmas.
TARLOV: And it - it was great to hear the story also about lifting the menorah on 9/11.
GUTFELD: Only one - one or two sets of presents?
TARLOV: For the baby - oh. Well, I'm going to have my first Christmas tree ever actually.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: All right. That's - also, I just think that if we can just all just do a round of applause for our CEO Suzanne Scott who led us in this and Jay Wallace, President of News. Thank you so much and for everyone who helped make this happen. It's a very good looking tree. Please enjoy some hot chocolate from Jacques Torres.
We appreciate you all coming out to see this happen. Another big thank you to everyone involved -- the hardworking people who helped get this done in record time, the American Christmas Company and our lighting and technical crews, the religious leaders for the remarks, but not least, we once again want to thank the FDNY and the NYPD heroes. Thank you so much.
Okay, Greg's cold -
GUTFELD: I'm very cold.
PERINO: - so we have to go inside. We're going to go back and do the rest of THE FIVE. Stay tuned.
(CROWD CHEERS)
(THE YULETIDE CAROLERS SINGING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: And magically just like that, here we are back on set. Welcome back to the show. What an amazing lighting ceremony for our new all- American Christmas tree. It's good to be back inside the warm studio. And Mike Rowe is defrosting here with us. I loved it. What do you think?
MIKE ROWE, TV HOST: It's just so weird, man. I was walking on the street looking for a hotdog and I found the lights so I'm like, what's happening? And I walked over and I got pulled up and now I'm here, and it was -- it's --
PERINO: And we gave you another dirty job sitting right here on THE FIVE.
ROWE: It's a Christmas miracle.
GUTFELD: Yes. You're sitting next to Dana. That's a dirty job.
ROWE: Well.
GUTFELD: Her language -- her language is so coarse.
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: Yes, I know. It's because she's filthy. She's just a filthy person.
PERINO: All right. Let's get this (inaudible) holiday. Jesse?
ROWE: You're a mean one.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: That is a really deep voice. Mike Rowe. So what you're talking about Mike? You got a big song or something like that?
ROWE: It's -- like I said, man, it just couldn't get stranger. This Santa Claus got a dirty job thing, is the number one downloaded song in the world.
WATTERS: How that happened?
PIRRO: It's a Christmas song.
ROWE: I was on -- I was on John Rich's show, "The Pursuit" and we were talking about music and then we were talking about "Dirty Jobs" coming back. And he said, Mike Rowe -- he can't call me Mike and everything -- he's, "Mike Rowe, you know who's got a dirty job?" I said, "Who?" He said, "Santa Claus." And I said, "Yes."
He said, "We should sing a song." I guess we could. And then he walked on the bathroom during a break and he came out and he had his iPhone in his hand and he had recorded the chorus of the song. He was, "Mike Rowe, I just made --
TARLOV: In the bathroom?
ROWE: In the bathroom.
PERINO: Okay, I think, it's an important detail.
ROWE: Because as he's playing it for me --
WATTERS: It's where I do my best work.
ROWE: I'm listening to the song, but I can hear everything else that's going on in the bathroom. I'm like -- like "John Rich, you got to be kidding me." So two weeks later we recorded it. He called the Oak Ridge Boys. They came in. They sang. And then he called his people and now it's the number one hit.
WATTERS: And it's --
PERINO: Well, that's the second number one hit that he's had with somebody.
WATTERS: That is true. We did do a little thing and it was for charity. And this is for charity, too.
ROWE: Oh, yes, yes. Every charity --
GUTFELD: Sure it is.
ROWE: Well, you know, charity.
PERINO: It goes to your foundation.
ROWE: It goes to the -- half goes to me and half goes to Folds of Honor, which is his foundation which is terrific. So, yes, we're very nice people.
PIRRO: You know, people might see you as like this hero of the working class, I mean, dirty jobs. And then I hear that you were an opera singer. It's almost like either you're a renaissance man or you're a schizophrenic. I'm not sure.
ROWE: Why is it got to be binary? You're right. I mean, you know --
PIRRO: Well, everything is binary today, isn't it?
GUTFELD: No, it's non-binary. Everything is non-binary.
PIRRO: Non-binary.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: Mike can be whoever Mike wants to be.
GUTFELD: I'm not binary.
PIRRO: What are you?
GUTFELD: I identify as Mike Rowe.
ROWE: Now, see. That's where it gets weird. When I'm watching this at home, I always say to myself, when it's going to get weird? And then it's usually when you start talking.
GUTFELD: Yes. I start talking.
ROWE: Yes, just like that.
PIRRO: How to go from opera to a dirty job?
ROWE: Look, it's a super crooked road, but, you know, once you're in front of people singing at the top of your lungs, it's only a matter of time until somebody says you want to crawl through a sewer for literally hundreds of dollars, and then you say yes and then you're sitting here with you guys. You know, the business is strange.
WATTERS: Did you ever find that hot dog out on the street or not?
ROWE: Not yet, but the night is young.
WATTERS: Okay.
TARLOV: Mike, I'll tell you where all the best hotdog stands are actually in the near vicinity.
ROWE: Well, I can -- you know you can smell it everywhere. You walk down the street --
TARLOV: You can smell it anywhere.
ROWE: -- they're like, man, you should go over there.
PERINO: Let me ask you what it was like because, well, you two were up on the stage and you were able to -- you were up a little higher so you could see the crowd that was gathered. What was that like?
ROWE: Honestly, so you've got the fireman behind you, you've got the clergy in front of you. You've got all these familiar faces all around you. You got this giant Christmas tree behind you and you guys are doing your thing.
But what I said up there I meant. Last night around midnight, I was just walking around as one does, Greg.
PERINO: Yes. In Midtown Manhattan.
ROWE: Yes. And I'm --
GUTFELD: Telling the office of yours that you're walking a dog. I know.
ROWE: And I'm watching the guys tear down the old rigging. And you should've seen it. I mean, power washers, welders, guys hanging from the superstructure, sparks flying all over the place. And if -- like if John Rich had been there, I had gone, Santa Claus got a dirty job. But he wasn't so I didn't.
PERINO: It must be interesting singing with John Rich because he's got a great voice and you've got a great voice.
ROWE: John is a -- he is more than a good singer. He's a producer and he really understands his fans. And so this, I mean, he literally wrote this song. I helped a little bit, but it was mostly him. And he did in about 10 minutes.
And then literally an hour later, we're in the booth. And then the Oak Ridge Boys are there. And then I just said, you know something, I'm just going to get out of the way and let John do what John does, and then here we are.
WATTERS: I got out of the way when we had the hit song with Rich. I think I did the -- I clapped may be a few times. I screamed, but you did a lot of the heavy lifting.
GUTFELD: Well, I wrote the song like John would tell you. John would tell you he did, but I -- what was the sone? "Shut Up About Politics."
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: Yes. I came up with everything. I have a question for you, though. I was thinking about, could we start a new tradition like a speed tree trimming contest because that's like -- that's got to be a guinness record.
PIRRO: Yes.
WATTERS: Twenty-four hours.
GUTFELD: Twenty-four hours. Imagine if you did that out like have some kind of event every year where people -- you pitted group of people to trim the tree the fastest.
ROWE: What could possibly go wrong?
GUTFELD: Nothing.
WATTERS: Like an Olympic event.
GUTFELD: An Olympic event. Better than -- our Olympics. That's for sure.
WATTERS: That's right.
GUTFELD: We don't have to do it in China.
WATTERS: Yes.
ROWE: Look, the big story to me and what do I know about stories, but this is -- I mean, this is the classic when you get lemons, right, you make lemonade. And to your point, you know, you made the lemonade fast, like super-fast.
GUTFELD: Yes, exactly. I often make it fast. You know --
ROWE: It doesn't even matter that it's a holiday, does it?
WATTERS: No, it doesn't.
PERINO: No, it makes it worse.
WATTERS: I think we lit the tree. Greg might have lit something else when we were out there.
PIRRO: Yes.
TARLOV: It's meatloaf.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: How can you get away with that?
GUTFELD: Speaking that -- can you believe the dude got released?
WATTERS: Today.
GUTFELD: Today! Amazing! Where is he? He's on supervised --
PIRRO: Of course, he got released. It's only arson reckless endangerment and criminal mischief. Why not release the guy with a criminal record.
GUTFELD: What is supervised release? Yes, he is --
PIRRO: Supervised release. Let me explain what supervised release is.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PIRRO: Supervised release is that you're supposed to call up or visit someone.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PIRRO: Usually, you call up, they don't answer and you visit they're not there. So that's supervised -- it's a make-believe world.
PERINO: Is this a law that could be changed? Is it a city law or state?
PIRRO: Yes. This is a state law. It is a bail law. So everybody wants to know what they can do about the criminal justice system, it's really easy. Change the law so there isn't mandatory release upon arrest. Lock him up, and if they can afford it, you let them out depending upon the seriousness of the crime and their connections to, you know, the city. This guy is homeless. He's got no connection to New York City.
PERINO: And what about allowing judges to have --
PIRRO: Discretion.
PERINO: -- discretion and use their judgment --
PIRRO: Yes, yes.
PERINO: -- as to whether he's a danger.
PIRRO: Yes. And you know what, the law was founded on a particularly good concept. And that is in some places you have someone extremely poor staying in jail for an ordinate amount of times because he had some kind of judge who was a jerk or some D.A. who was a jerk.
But the truth is all of us. When I was a judge, the guy has no money, all right. I want to make sure you're going to return. We had a pre-trial release. They stay in touch with you. But I don't want to get on the (inaudible). Here's the bottom line. The dirt bag is out.
GUTFELD: Yes. He's staying at Kilmeade's.
PIRRO: Talk about dirty jobs. You might want to hire him.
ROWE: Listen, I feel like if we could get you out of your show, you'll surely have a bold and exciting future.
GUTFELD: Maybe on the weekends. She didn't like that.
ROWE: I mean --
PIRRO: No, look, I mean --
PERINO: Oh, we're having --
(CROSSTLK)
PIRRO: They're telling us we have to go.
PERINO: -- this is a big deal. We have Smollett verdict. (Inaudible). All right. So, Mike Rowe, you might want to stay around for this.
PIRRO: OK. All right, let me tell you what's going on.
PERINO: OK.
PIRRO: If the verdict is in, here's the issue. A verdict has been reached, what's going on as they're calling in all the attorneys.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: The judge is making sure that the jurors are ready and about to come out and speak. Here comes the defendant, apparently. And now they're going to read, they're going to hand up the verdict sheet to the judge. The judge is going to look at it, make sure that that sheet is covering all of the charges, that they've answered every one of the blanks before they allow the jury to speak. Then the defendant will stand up and they'll ask the foreperson of the jury, whether they've reached a unanimous verdict, and apparently they have or else they wouldn't say --
PERINO: OK, we're going to -- we're going to allow Mike to get out of here and go and do your -- the rest of your work because now we've got news.
PIRRO: Well, what do you think?
MIKE ROWE, TELEVISION HOST: Well, I'm pretty sure it's not the sixth, and here I am.
WATTERS: It is the New Year.
PERINO: They just told me I should let you go.
ROWE: Listen, I don't want to make any trouble. I'll do whatever you tell me.
PERINO: Yes, thank you so much.
WATTERS: He's been dying to talk Smollett the whole day.
PERINO: You've been cleared.
WATTERS: He won't shut up about it.
ROWE: I just saw George just stand up and walk away right now. Is that what I do?
PERINO: Thank you so much. Yes.
ROWE: Thank you so much.
TARLOV: Thank you. Thank you.
ROWE: Merry Christmas.
WATTERS: Merry Christmas to you too, Mike.
TARLOV: Merry Christmas. Happy New Year.
WATTERS: Good to see you, buddy. Thank you so much.
PERINO: Thank you. Great to see you. Merry Christmas.
WATTERS: Good to see you. Go get that -- go get that hotdog.
PERINO: Congratulations on the song. Congratulations on the song.
ROWE: You know what, I'm going to take that.
PIRRO: Yes, don't get on the hook.
GUTFELD: Don't go to Subway.
PERINO: All right, Fox news alert here. Jussie Smollett who has had a trial for the last two weeks for a hate hoax trial, fake hoax trial, he had testified in his own defense. The jury deliberated for how long, Judge, about --
PIRRO: I think about eight hours in total.
PERINO: Total.
PIRRO: I think it was a couple of hours yesterday and maybe five or six today.
PERINO: All right, so the verdict is in. Of course, we don't know what the verdict is, but they'll be making their way to the courtroom. Do you think, Judge, that we will get this news before Bret Baier does at 6:00?
PIRRO: Oh, absolutely. What has happened in the past, sometimes they would take a long time to get all the lawyers in, then the court stenographer and the family in. But this judge knows that its deliberations, and they should be able to be returned to the court and be able to read the verdict.
As long as the judge has seen the sheet and the sheet is complete, it's time to ask for the verdict. As long as the attorneys are there, that's enough.
PERINO: OK, but -- and I remember in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, they asked everybody not be more than 10 minutes away from the courtroom.
PIRRO: Yes, exactly.
PERINO: Is that about right?
PIRRO: Exactly. You know, it depends on the judge. In some cases, if the defense attorney has another job, they may ask for 30 or an hour. But lately, it's been a lot quicker, a lot shorter response time. And it doesn't appear that it's a hung jury because we would have heard of some charges to the jury to go back and deliberate, make sure you all agree.
This tells me based upon what we have not heard, that the verdict is unanimous, whether it's guilty or not guilty. It doesn't appear to be a hung jury. And of course, for a hung jury, all you need is one juror to not agree to the -- with the other 11.
But it must be unanimous on every count beyond a reasonable doubt by all 12 jurors. Those jurors can be questioned individually about whether or not they agree with the verdict. And they will either -- they have to either assent or disagree. God forbid they disagree, then we're in a real mess.
But yes, this is relatively quick, relatively quick. They got the case yesterday for two hours. It's just enough time for them to figure out what rules are going to use, how they're going to break it up, how they're going to discuss the counts, and how they're going to go down the counts.
Today was the final assessment obviously, that they did in five or six hours. So, I think --
PERINO: Jesse, this is the moment you've been waiting for.
WATTERS: Well, we all know what's going to happen. They're going to come back guilty. The guy is a narcissist. He testified himself. I mean, what a Hail Mary, so cocky. He thinks he could get up there and act? I mean, you saw him with the ABC News interview. He gets up there. What was it, like an hour primetime interview? He cries. He says, you know what, they beat me up because I went after 45. I went hard after Donald Trump and they did this to me.
This guy is a great actor. Now, apparently, there's like a film crew following him around. He wants to rehab his career. He's obviously a talented actor, but he's so delusional. He thinks he can go up there and sway this jury. The jury has looked at what, text messages, video evidence. They got the two eyewitnesses, the brothers, testifying against the guy. They got the police. The DA hammered him under cross-examination. This is a slam dunk case.
Judge would know more about what the repercussions are going to be. They say he's got a clean record, this is a non-violent crime. But the fact that he wasted so many man-hours which costs so much money in the murder capital of the country, Chicago, spinning their wheels over some hate crime hoax when they could have been locking up real hardcore criminals, gang members, shooters, narcotics traffickers, to waste their time on this punk, the judge has to send a message here when they do the sentencing. You got to give them something besides a fine and community service.
PIRRO: Well, it's the kind of -- it's the kind of case where he probably is going to get probation because he has a clean record if he's found guilty. But here's the thing, the judge can also mandate as a condition of his probation that he paid back for all those police hours.
TARLOV: How much does 3000 hours cost? It's a lot.
PIRRO: 3,000 hours, yes, pay it back.
WATTERS: That's under (INAUDIBLE) thousand dollars.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: Hey, and you know what, he got on the stand and he doubled down on it, so there's no remorse there.
PERINO: That's the thing, Greg. He's a rich man. So, the punishment here would -- if he doesn't do jail time --
GUTFELD: They got to make it -- that's why they got to hurt him. They got to give him some jail time. But you know what it to the point about doubling down, I'm going to quote my friend and squash partner, Jonathan Turley. That he didn't try to convince the jury that he was innocent. He didn't even bother trying.
What he tried to do was get them to believe the judgment to acquit him was a decision against injustice, overall. Like, it was a symbol -- never mind that this was a hoax, never mind that I'm lying to you. You have to do this to protest systemic racism and systemic injustice.
So, it's not -- it's not -- no longer even about him being guilty, it's about you know, this is bigger than me. That's why he sucked so bad. He didn't care.
PERINO: And you just see Black Lives Matter last night, their statement that they said --
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: We can never believe the police. So, we have Matt Finn standing by, but Jessica, we'll get a comment from you about this.
TARLOV: Oh, I was going to bring up that statement and say how interesting it is because there have been people who would typically be supportive of Black Lives Matter Organization statement, who on Twitter were shying away from it and just said, well, it's pretty clear that he hoax this thing. So this is not the time or the place to be talking about police telling lies or not. And these are coming from people who would typically be allies.
PERINO: OK, let's try to get an update from Matt Finn. He's been covering the trial much to Jesse's chagrin. Jesse wishes he was there. Matt, you're live at the courthouse in Chicago with the latest. What can you tell us?
MATT FINN, FOX NEWS CHANNEL NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Obviously, a lot of buzz right now. Word is sweeping through this courthouse that there is a verdict. The jury deliberated for seven hours today, two hours yesterday, so about nine hours in total.
We were not made aware of any questions or any difficulties today with the jury. Everything was very quiet here today. Before the jury left yesterday, they had one simple question. They asked for a copy of the prosecution's calendar which had red X marks on it, indicating important dates in this case.
Jussie Smollett, our understanding, is not in the courthouse yet. Every day during the trial, he would arrive locked arms with his elderly mother and his brothers and sisters. But today, Jussie and his team decided to wait until there was a verdict. Now, there is one. The judge told Smollett attorneys that he would like the attorneys and Smollett's team here within 30 minutes after the announcement of a verdict. So, we expect to see them perhaps walk into this building at any moment.
Smollett is charged with six low-level phone accounts of lying to police. The prosecution and police say that represents a time. They feel that Jussie Smollett lie to them six different incidents. And there are varying charges here. There's long about hate crime because Jussie Smollett is a black gay man. There's lying about a battery because Smollett was injured. And there's lying about an aggravated battery because his attackers were marrying wearing masks.
Smollett's lead attorney, Nenye Uche, he told the jury yesterday before they headed into the deliberation room that he "wanted constitutional warriors in that deliberation room." The defense challenging the jury to accept that Jussie Smollett was a real hate crime victim. Smollett telling the jury that he still has a scar under one of his eyes and a permanent black eye as the result of his attack.
The prosecution told the jury before they went into the deliberation room, that Smollett not only lied to police, but he also lied to them under oath. If convicted, Smollett faces up to three years in prison. As you have been mentioning, there is the possibility of probation and community service. We will keep you updated.
PERINO: Matt, we're going to take it on the table for questions. You were there for the entire time. Judge, do you have anything from Matt?
PIRRO: Matt, on the question of the jury asking for the calendar, did the judge simply send the calendar into the jury or do they have the jury come into the jury room and look at it? Were they able to take it back so that they could then discuss it?
FINN: My understanding is that they were provided that calendar. I'm not sure if the judge provided them with it himself or if it was sent into the jury room, but we did not hear any objection for that request for that exhibit, Judge.
PERINO: Jessica?
PIRRO: The point of that is there is some judges who will not allow the jury to actually take these exhibits into the jury room, that they would have to actually look at it in the courtroom, so that both attorneys might be able to at least look at how they're looking at it. And then, if there were to be a conviction, that appeal based upon that the wrong interpretation or something.
PERINO: Jessica?
TARLOV: Hey, Matt. I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about the vibe there. You've obviously been there for a while. Has the mood shifted at all from the beginning of this, you know, to the end of the trial? You know, how are people feeling?
FINN: You know, Jussie Smollett had a very large team walk into this courthouse with them every day. His elderly mother who at times had trouble walking, I think all five of his siblings were in the courtroom at one point, his one sister is pretty famous if you will. She's an Emmy nominated actress. So, there is that presence of you know Jussie and his family walking into the courthouse.
And then, Smollett also had a large team with him, some activists here. Some who got in front of these very cameras and told news crews that they felt that the Chicago Police Department is racist, that they feel that the judge is biased. They were not holding back on it. They feel like that's why Jussie Smollett is here.
So, that that mood kind of grew because as the days went on, Jussie Smollett's representatives continued uh to reinforce how they felt about why they were here.
TARLOV: Thank you.
PERINO: Jesse?
WATTERS: Hey, Matt, yes, as Dana mentioned, I'm very jealous that you were there and I was not because some of the reporting out of this trial especially Smollett's testimony, it just looks like comedy. What was his demeanor when he was testifying? Was he deliberate? Was he defensive? How would you describe it?
FINN: You know, you could tell that Jussie Smollett has spent the majority of his life in front of cameras and in front of people. During direct examination, he was a very warm when he was talking about his mother and his siblings and his upbringing, talking about, you know, his craft and his love of his art.
But then, during cross-examination, he got pretty snarky. He got pretty irritated. There were several times that the judge had to step in and tell him that he was only allowed to give yes or no answers to the prosecution.
So, his mood varied uh greatly across the two days that he was on that stand. While he was in the courtroom, there were times that he was upset. There was times he would, you know, go back to his team and his attorneys during breaks and he would be very frustrated. You could see in his face it would turn red at times.
And after almost every single break, one of the first things he did was immediately rush over to his elderly mother and put his arms around his elderly mother to comfort her, Jesse.
PERINO: I have a question then about that, Matt, because -- so every day, we saw his family walk in with him. But I just have to wonder. Like, did you get the sense that they believed what he was saying on the witness stand?
FINN: What's that, Dana?
PERINO: I was just wondering if the family seemed to actually believe what he was saying. I know they walked in there every day with him, but I just wondering what it was like in the courtroom because it all sounds so farcical that could -- you know, maybe his family could keep a straight face, but the rest of the room?
FINN: Yes. They clearly believed their brother. In fact, the eldest brother got up in front of these cameras and said it's very difficult to listen to their brother be charged with something that is false. And each and every day, nearly all of his siblings walked into this courtroom, sat in that courthouse, you know, they shook their heads in disbelief at times.
So, at least on the surface, they are trying to send out the message in the visual that they do believe in their brother, they stand by their brother. There are social media accounts. I think it's called a coalition for Jussiee or something along those lines. They're trying to get that to gain traction each and every day.
They're posting things on social media, suggesting what they think is inaccurate in this trial, you know, claiming that the Chicago police were lying, claiming that the Chicago police are racist. So, Jussie has built a coalition here. His family is definitely supporting him. At least the optics would suggest that, Dana.
PERINO: All right, Greg, anything?
GUTFELD: Yes, I read somewhere -- I didn't click on the article because I'm lazy that Jussie Smollett shook the hands of the jurors at the -- can he do that?
PIRRO: No.
GUTFELD: That was a headline I read.
PIRRO: Where did you read that?
GUTFELD: I don't know, national enquirer.
PIRRO: Matt, do you have an answer for that?
FINN: Greg, I'm sorry. You're breaking up. Can you -- can you ask that one more time?
GUTFELD: Should I ask it one more time?
PIRRO: Yes.
TARLOV: Probably not.
GUTFELD: Probably not? No, I read -- I read -- because I'm not prepared. I read that he shook the hands of the jurors. Is that true?
FINN: You know, I did not see that. I don't even know if that's allowed.
PIRRO: That's --
FINN: But I will tell you one thing. When he was leaving the courthouse one day, I asked him what he was thinking or how he's feeling, and he put his fist up in the air. That was a response that I got from him, Greg.
PERINO: Matt Finn, thank you so much for all of your work out there. The vertical, I guess, will be in any moment, so we'll have to get back to you in just a moment. We'll take it around the table again. Judge, you have additional thoughts?
PIRRO: You know what's interesting? He's laying the groundwork preemptively to say that, you know, the police are terrible, you can't trust the police. And there's the sense that he was snarky or arrogant when he was on the witness stand.
So, you know, my question is if Black Lives Matter is saying you know that this is such an important case and it's even bigger than Jussie Smollett, is there going to be any kind of reaction if he's found not guilty? Do you think he's got a team out there that really believes this guy was a victim?
Yes, are you raising your hand?
GUTFELD: Yes, I'm raising my hand. I realized that I had misread something. Jussie Smollett case in juror's hands. I misread one word.
WATTERS: You should not have had all that eggnog when we're out there lighting the tree.
PIRRO: Yes, I didn't -- I didn't think so.
GUTFELD: I was going to swear I read it.
PIRRO: I would never let that happen.
GUTFELD: It though it said shake the jurors --
PERINO: The case is in the juror's -- case and shake.
GUTFELD: Yes, I love this show.
PIRRO: But what do you think? I mean do you think that there's going to be some kind of reaction because you know, Black Lives Matter --
PERINO: No, I don't.
TARLOV: No.
PERINO: I absolutely do not.
WATTERS: No.
PIRRO: Nobody does. Not you?
WATTERS: He has been mocked by members of the Black community mercilessly. Some very high-profile comedians and athletes just shamelessly destroying this guy.
PIRRO: Oh yes. Like Dave Chappelle.
WATTERS: He's a joke. He is a joke throughout the land. And there's not going to be any violent or crazy reaction. I'm interested to see when he does walk in if he has this huge disfiguring scar on the side of his eye that he claims he got from this beat down because we've never seen it.
We never saw it in the ABC interview. We haven't seen it when he's coming in and out of the courtroom. He says he's disfigured but the physician who examined him right afterwards say a little laceration on the wrist, and that is the only thing he had.
So, I think that was another lie. And if you were beaten up by these two bodybuilders, I don't know -- if I was beaten up by two guys that looked like that --
PIRRO: Yes.
WATTERS: I'd probably have broken bones throughout my body.
PIRRO: But he was friends with them.
GUTFELD: You should try that.
WATTERS: Bring it on, Gutfeld.
PIRRO: He was friends with them. They were in that bathhouse together.
WATTERS: Of course, they were friends.
GUTFELD: A lot of people go to bathhouses together.
PIRRO: Together?
PERINO: The part that I -- what I'm really interested to see is if the media covers the verdict afterwards. Let's take a look back at the initial media coverage when Jussie first came up with this in January of 2019.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't like that it's being put out there in the media that this is a possible hate crime.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of questions in this case, but I know Jussie Smollett is a really, really good guy. I just want justice to be served in this case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the media has really cast so much doubt on his story which I find so personally offensive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's given a detailed account, an account that Chicago Police have said has been consistent. He hasn't changed his story. They also said it's credible. Police have said that. And also, that he has been very cooperative.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: You know, some people, like, when reporters get a story wrong and it's like you -- they've talked to a source like in the Russia thing.
GUTFELD: All right, just -- what I just did now when I made a mistake and I've told you what the mistake was, it's -- I was wrong and I'm never embarrassed to be wrong. It feels really good to be wrong because you get better at it. But there's so many people in the media that cannot report stories anymore because they were wrong.
And you can go with the Russian collusion, you can go with Smollett. You know, if you report the accuracy of the story now, it calls into the question everything you said before. That's why CNN cannot touch Smollett, they cannot touch Russian collusion, especially that, because they were the ones pushing that stuff. And defunding the police.
TARLOV: There's also -- there's a big difference when you're wrong also with something that like you made up versus a source, right, that misled you, which is how a lot of these mistakes happen, right? These are well- intentioned reporters that have gone out and they're talking to people who maybe had shown up for them before, and suddenly they have bad information.
And the ownership of it is, it's first of all liberating.
GUTFELD: Yes.
TARLOV: You know, because it's scary when you say something and you're unsure about it --
GUTFELD: Yes.
TARLOV: -- you know, on air. And it's nice to be able to have the opportunity to then say, hold on, I Googled it, I read one word wrong.
GUTFELD: Yes.
TARLOV: That was incorrect there. But I was thinking about that, that it's been almost two years of this and what will it go out with? Will it be a bang, will it be a whimper?
PERINO: No, I think --
TARLOV: Will it just be like uh a byline kind of oh there was a Jussie Smollett verdict.
PERINO: Yes, I think that -- I think that they'll just try to sweep it under the rug.
WATTERS: Sweep it under the rug. And I'm curious to see how Don Lemon over at CNN is going to cover it.
PIRRO: Oh, yes.
WATTERS: Because as we know, he was texting Smollett, tipping him off to what the Chicago PD was aware of, raising doubts about the story. He had -- covered it the other night and didn't even mention it.
PERINO: Yes.
WATTERS: He didn't even mention it. So, we'll see if he covers it on his show tonight.
PERINO: The other thing to watch here is we have the initial interview, the long-form interview he did with Robin Roberts at ABC. Let's watch Jussie Smollett here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSSIE SMOLLETT, ACTOR: And I heard (BLEEP). So, I turned around and I said (BLEEP) did you just say to me? I mean, I see the attacker masked and he said, this is MAGA country (BLEEP) and punches me right in the face.
There was a second person involved who was kicking me in my back. And I look down and I see that there's a rope around my neck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: Who says that Chicago is MAGA country? I mean, really, Chicago in the middle of the night is freezing, is MAGA country. Not a chance.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: There's just no skepticism to the initial coverage, Jesse.
WATTERS: Well, and you heard one of the women on the talk, I don't remember what her name was. And she said, and some in the media are raising doubts about this story.
GUTFELD: But you -- it's because --
WATTERS: There's so many doubts about this story.
GUTFELD: The media -- the media exists in a bubble that primes that belief. Like, if you are being told over and over again that America is racist and you know -- then, do -- you prime these people. They want to believe it.
The funny thing is he's -- you know, he can lie well because of he can maintain eye contact really well. Like, it's hard to do that.
PIRRO: Yes, yes it is.
GUTFELD: And he does it. And if he just had a more practical hoax --
PERINO: Yes.
WATTERS: You mean, just use either the noose, the bleach, or the beatdown at all three?
GUTFELD: Right, yes, exactly.
PERINO: And no sandwich.
PIRRO: Hey, and I didn't see anything --
GUTFELD: No sandwich.
PIRRO: No, he went for eggs. But I didn't see anything under his eye.
WATTERS: I have never seen anything under his eye. But to your point, and Matt Finn brought it up when he just did the hit, he was very smooth when he was testifying. And he's a trained actor. He said he's very, very nice around people. He can be warm, he can be bubbly, and he can be convincing. And even if the jury comes back with a guilty, he will still insist --
PERINO: He will say he's not guilty.
PIRRO: Not guilty, not guilty.
WATTERS: -- that this was a real thing.
GUTFELD: And we live in a culture where we like to fill up space and time with interesting things. Having this guy guilty and being -- you might want him as a guest, that you might want to work with him because it's the -- just for the -- just for the car crash element of it.
WATTERS: So, you're saying exclamation point will be reaching out?
GUTFELD: He's going to be my guest co-host.
TARLOV: But he's only 39 years old. And so, that's a lot of time for things to be --
PERINO: He's also old enough to know better. I do recommend that everybody if you can, Dave Chappelle in his special from last year, he talked about this.
PIRRO: Yes.
PERINO: If you go -- I think it's on YouTube, Dave Chappelle on Jussie Smollett. Just watch. It's four minutes and 52 seconds. And i think it explains it perfectly, Judge.
PIRRO: Yes, yes. I did Dave Chappelle on this is fantastic. And you know, I think the saddest part of all this is that for those people who believe him, you know, it creates further division in this country. So, when I look at him, it's not just a question of his lying to the police six times, it's a question of his further chipping away and making sure there's more division in this country.
GUTFELD: Right.
PIRRO: You know, and cutting back -- you know, pulling back the scab, you know, of racism in this country. And to me, that's even more damaging than you know, lying to the police. It's a terrible thing that he did, I believe.
WATTERS: Because when you have the political leadership on the left, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden himself put out through how many million followers on their social media pages they have, just makes this so much worse and painful for the country. And you're not going to hear anything from them.
I think our very own Steve Doocy might have to ask Jen Psaki if the President might --
PERINO: Let's put up that -- let's put up that Biden tweet.
WATTERS: I just -- I just ran into the elder Doocy.
PERINO: Where is the Biden tweet? I believe we have it somewhere. They're going to put it up for us to read.
WATTERS: But I mean, this makes two things, the Rittenhouse and Smollett that the President of the United States and the Vice President --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: I'm sorry, it was in the prompter.
WATTERS: -- that just had blown up in their face.
PERINO: I'm sorry. I didn't realize it's in the prompter. It says that "What happened today to Jussie Smollett must never be tolerated in this country. We must stand up and demand that we no longer give this hate safe harbor, that homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts. We are with you Jussie."
PIRRO: We are with you, Jussie.
PERINO: You know what would be amazing? What if -- what if the president came out and said he was wrong?
GUTFELD: What? Pardon me?
PERINO: Like, if President Biden tomorrow actually said, oh I was wrong. I mean --
GUTFELD: Yes, he still hasn't done that about the fine people hoax or the drinking bleach or all the other crap he said. Why would he do this? He doesn't even remember what he just lied about.
WATTERS: Well, I don't even think he typed that tweet. The guy has people for that.
PIRRO: Yes, I don't think he put it out. I really don't.
PERINO: Judge, we are waiting right now, they're telling me in my ear, I don't see anything, that Jussie Smollett, they're just awaiting him to go into the courtroom.
GUTFELD: We should --
PERINO: Yes, why are we waiting so long for him? He should be the first person that should be in there waiting for that verdict. Why is he so far away, you know?
WATTERS: He's probably getting dressed really nicely, fixing his hair, making sure the scar has make up on it.
PIRRO: Yes, covering up the scar, right.
WATTERS: That's right.
PIRRO: Yes. You and I think alike. That's not good.
WATTERS: That's trouble.
PERINO: So, I was hoping we were going to get this verdict for THE FIVE but just -- I think that it might be --
TARLOV: I think it's a "SPECIAL REPORT" kind of day.
GUTFELD: I want to get it soon so I can put it in my show.
TARLOV: You'll got it by your show.
PIRRO: Look, we still got -- we've got six minutes.
PERINO: OK.
PIRRO: Six minutes is a lot of time.
GUTFELD: So, let's do "ONE MORE THING."
PERINO: So, when they sit down --
PIRRO: No.
WATTERS: So, let me ask you though, Judge. So, what was it -- they deliberated for how long?
PIRRO: Nine hours.
WATTERS: So, nine hours is not a long time? This is a guilty verdict.
PERINO: It feels like a long time to me.
PIRRO: No, nine -- no, it's not a long time because they had six counts.
PERINO: OK, OK.
PIRRO: And they had to get everyone's opinion. And they had to make sure they agreed. And yesterday they slept on it. And today they said we've got nothing else. You know, it's a long process. And you know what, jurors are very deliberative. They are really -- they try very hard. I really believe that in all the years that I did this. Whether I was the litigator or the judge, they try hard.
PERINO: OK.
WATTERS: And the makeup of the jury, do we know anything about that?
PERINO: Yes. We have the whole thing.
PIRRO: Five women -- five white women, five white men, and one African American.
PERINO: But you know who can also tell us? We can go back to MATT FINN. He's in the courthouse in Chicago. Matt, what is the hold-up on Jussie Smollett getting into the courtroom?
FINN: Yes, we are waiting for Jussie Smollett. Dan Webb, the special prosecutor just walked by. I asked him if he had any comment. He obviously did not. The attorneys agreed not to make any comments as usual during the ongoing trial. We're waiting for Jussie Smollett. That 30-minute clock is ticking and the judge specifically said yesterday that he wanted everyone here within 30 minutes. He doesn't want to stick around once there is a verdict in.
And this Judge, I will say throughout the trial, kept the jury here until as late as 8:00 at night. And this judge, Judge James Linn has been known to challenge the jury late into the evening hours. So, here we are at about 5:00. So, this is not that late for the judge.
He would like to keep things moving. He did not like keeping people waiting. So, we expect to see Jussie Smollett at any moment.
PERINO: But Judge, would there be any consequences for him if he's late.
PIRRO: Well, no. I mean, the Judge is going to be smart enough if they're - - if they're -- if there is a verdict of guilty to not let this interfere with his final sentencing decision. But the judge will be furious because a judge who works until 8:00 at night is a judge who likes to move his calendar.
That's the kind of judge who doesn't tolerate people being late especially people who are the very reason that everyone is being you know imposed upon in the first place.
WATTERS: That's a great point.
WATTERS: It shows disrespect to everybody involved in this case to show up late when they gave you 30 minutes.
GUTFELD: What if he -- what if he's got an excuse. He might have just been attacked.
PIRRO: Yes. Are they still in Chicago?
GUTFELD: Yes. He's probably being attacked. What?
PERINO: OK, Matt Finn is no longer with us. OK, let's --
PIRRO: All right, well, let's keep talking.
GUTFELD: What happened? He was such a nice young kid.
PERINO: I mean, he's no longer on this --
WATTERS: God bless Matt Finn.
PERINO: For the next three minutes, he's not going to be on this show.
PIRRO: What time did this happen, at 2:00 in the morning?
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: 2:00 or 3:00.
PIRRO: Who goes out at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning for eggs?
GUTFELD: Or for anything.
PERINO: Well, because he said he needed it for his workout but then he couldn't get the eggs at the Walgreens --
PIRRO: Who needs eggs for his workout?
PERINO: -- and so he went to Subway for a sandwich.
PIRRO: OK, and so, he went to Subway and ate bread instead because bread is better for his diet?
TARLOV: It's how he figured it out, the carb counting.
PIRRO: Well, I mean --
WATTERS: Judge, who hires two people to be your personal trainer? You only need one person.
PIRRO: That's true.
WATTERS: You don't hire brothers to train you. You hire one guy.
PIRRO: But he liked -- maybe he liked the one guy in the bathhouse.
GUTFELD: Maybe he wanted them to make a sandwich.
PERINO: Well, the other thing is --
PIRRO: Oh.
PERINO: The other thing that they tried to --
WATTERS: Egg sandwich?
PERINO: -- saw doubt in is that they said that the Osundairo brothers were wanting a security contract to be able to protect Jussie Smollett when he was back and forth on the Empire set.
WATTERS: Yes.
PIRRO: Yes, can you believe that?
WATTERS: Because you beat up the guy that you want to hire you to provide security. That happens all the time.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: And he has no injuries from getting beat up by these two guys.
PIRRO: And by the way, the people who attacked him were pale-skinned.
WATTERS: Pale skinned.
PIRRO: Yes.
GUTFELD: But he changed it from white --
PIRRO: They don't have pale skin from Nigeria.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: The palest from Nigeria you'll ever see.
GUTFELD: He said they were white and then he changed it to pale --
PIRRO: Pale skin.
GUTFELD: -- because he felt that it was insensitive?
PIRRO: Yes, insensitive.
WATTERS: Yes, yes.
PIRRO: They're from Nigeria.
WATTERS: And he was about to pin a racial crime on every white Trump supporter in the country but he doesn't want to be insensitive.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PIRRO: You know what, if I were the judge -- I'm sitting here on this show, but if I were the judge, I'd be furious. I'd say, how dare you keep us waiting.
WATTERS: Are we at 30 minutes right now? I think we're at 30 minutes.
PIRRO: Definitely. Definitely at 30 minutes.
WATTERS: I would add another year to the sentence.
PIRRO: No, you're not --
WATTERS: Just on tardiness.
PIRRO: The judges are smart enough to isolate that.
WATTERS: But it factors in. You have to admit it factors in.
PIRRO: No, it wouldn't factor, and I'm furious.
TARLOV: But this was --
WATTERS: You're a better judge than me.
PIRRO: Yes.
PERINO: Go ahead, Jessica.
WATTERS: You are a judge.
TARLOV: But this was the judge also who was accused of giving bad face by the defense team, right?
GUTFELD: Yes.
TARLOV: And one of the defense attorneys -- like an objection literally to the judge's face mean looks from the defense attorney who then cried.
PIRRO: Oh, please.
TARLOV: I mean, it has been a bit of a showboating courtroom.
PIRRO: Oh, now we're going to blame the judge? Don't even go there.
TARLOV: I'm not. No, no, no. I'm saying --
PERINO: Did anyone ever try to blame you, Judge?
TARLOV: To your point about being --
PIRRO: They didn't after a while.
TARLOV: -- that they have a right to be angry.
PIRRO: Yes.
TARLOV: That this has been going on for a couple of weeks.
PIRRO: Yes.
TARLOV: He's aggravated.
PERINO: Disrespect.
TARLOV: Disrespect of the --
GUTFELD: You know who's been vindicated in all of this?
PIRRO: Who?
GUTFELD: The Nigerian Princes. You know, always made fun of them about their e-mails, sending the e-mails.
WATTERS: What was the line? It's just the first American to scam the Nigerians?
PIRRO: Scam the Nigerians.
GUTFELD: Yes. Yes. Now, I realize, you know what, we should listen more to the Nigerians, right? We had an American try to scam the Nigerians. You know, the turnabout is fair play.
PERINO: OK, we have one minute left. We're not going to get this verdict for THE FIVE which is a darn shame. A real darn shame.
PIRRO: I am amazed. I am amazed.
PERINO: But you're going to get it soon because that clock is ticking. This verdict is going to be in any minute now.
PIRRO: You know, it's interesting. We've got all this focus, which I love, on criminal justice whether it's Rittenhouse or, you know, Smollett, or --
PERINO: Elizabeth Holmes.
PIRRO: Yes, Elizabeth Holmes, right now?
WATTERS: I didn't have to go to law school.
PERINO: What about Ghislaine Maxwell?
PIRRO: Yes.
WATTERS: I just have to cover it.
PIRRO: Oh, Ghislaine Maxwell.
PERINO: That. How did we -- we haven't even talked about it.
PIRRO: Yes.
GUTFELD: There's not -- there's not much to talk about there because there's nothing that's come out of there that we don't already know.
PIRRO: Oh, those sick pictures. Did you see the pictures yesterday?
GUTFELD: What--
PERINO: No. I didn't see it?
GUTFELD: A foot rub -- a foot rub, that's sick to you? Come on.
PERINO: Oh, that's not -- well, in front of some -- I kept saying, who's taking the pictures of him with his foot on her chest.
PERINO: Yes, that's a great question. But that is a different topic. All right, stay with Fox for the breaking news on the Jussie Smollett verdict. It was a wonderful re-lighting of the Christmas Tree. We loved being there.
That's it for us. "SPECIAL REPORT" is up next. You lucky guy, Bret, you get the verdict. There you go.
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