'The Five' slam Dems ripping Israel amid rise in anti-Semitic attacks
Sen. Bernie Sanders blasts aid to Israel saying America is 'supplying weapons of war to kill children;' 'The Five' react
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," May 24, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
DANA PERINO WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Dana Perino along with Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Katie Pavlich, and Juan Williams. It's five o'clock in New York City, and this is THE FIVE.
Pressure building on President Biden to confront China over where the coronavirus came from after the Wall Street Journal reported three researchers at the very controversial lab in Wuhan needed to be hospitalized back in November 2019 with symptoms that could be similar to COVID. Now that's months before the first official reported case of coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci who has dismissed a lot of theory in the past is now saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Are you still confident that it developed naturally?
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: I'm not convinced about that. I think that we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we find out to the best of our ability exactly what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: And former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is demanding the Chinese government be held accountable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE POMPEO, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: We need to get to the bottom of this, because this could happen. They are still conducting research in the same laboratories today that's been done in ways that were similar to what happened back over a year ago. This is dangerous. We know for sure that they covered up this virus, I am confident that we will find that the evidence that we have seen today that's consistent with the lab leak and I'm convince that's what we'll see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: OK. A year ago, Greg, Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, when he floated this idea, you know, we paid attention because he is the secretary of state, he's in a position to know. That there might be some intel out there that says something like this. But take a look at what he said just a year ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
POMPEO: I can tell you that there is a significant amount of evidence that this came from the laboratory in Wuhan. The best experts so far seem to think it was man-made. I have no reason to disbelieve that at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: Now other conservatives that brought this up, Greg, were ridiculed in the media. here are some headlines you can see from the New York Times, NPR, the Washington Post all saying media misinformation, for example, or fringe theories, what say you now?
GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS CO-HOST: Yes. And here we were blaming the pangolin, the little innocent pangolin. And it said anybody who brought up this, and not as a primary cause, but just one of many options, you are either -- you are either called a racist or xenophobic, right? Or the great phrase that is now used all the time, you are a conspiracy theorist.
So, this is where stories like the Wuhan lab, the hunter Biden laptop, the crime wave, this is where all the stories go to die under a suffocating pile of media sarcasm, right? And now, right now as we are talking about this make way for the self-edits. They are going to show up an article to make it seem like they didn't really make fun of it.
But it just -- I think that you have to remind yourself about a year ago, there are people all over the political map who are open to this idea, right? But it was one of many ideas. Yet the media acted as the narrative gatekeeper which it always does. And they get to label the dangerous ideas first and they go after you if you violate the norm.
If you look closely, you will see how the interest of China often coincide with the media's deliberate avoidance of stories that harm China whether it is the Uyghurs, whether it's the NBA, whether it's the lab incompetence.
So, you have to get to the bigger question, what is the incentive for China to cooperate over this problem when you still have Disney and you still have Apple and you still have the NBA working with China as they employ slave labor. I mean, why would China care about our moral outrage when we are still doing work with them while they use slaves?
I mean, they are like -- they are like -- seriously, a legitimate question, what are you going to do about it? Nothing, so we will continue on with this, we're not going to cooperate. There is no reason, and also, we only have ourselves to blame in chasing the impeachment while this thing just exploded all over the place.
PERINO: Remember in the green room we use to say, guys, shouldn't we --
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: -- the story, we got to pay attention to it, but impeachment was the story of the day. But this continues with Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary being asked today, Jesse, by Peter Doocy what could happen in order to get more information from China on this. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Why isn't President Biden pushing for more access and information to get to the bottom of exactly what happened?
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are, and we have repeatedly called for the WHO to support an expert driven evaluation of the pandemic's origins that is free from interference or politization.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: This was -- if it came from the lab, Jesse, this is the biggest manmade disaster in the history of the planet. Someone ought to pay a price.
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, I'm not always on the winning side of a conspiracy theory debate, Dana. So this feels pretty good, I do have to say that the real conspiracy was the effort to smear people looking for the truth as conspiracy theorist, co-conspirators, obviously the Democrats, they can only have one villain in this plot and that's Trump, it's too confusing to have China as another bad guy, you had to divide the country in an election year, couldn't have the country united against China.
Greg mentioned corporate media, heavily invested in China, didn't want to rock the vote there. Obviously, China is not going to own up to this, and then even these scientists funded by Fauci involved in these labs, came out early and said no, no, no, look the other way, and the media followed.
Even scientists not involved didn't say anything because it would jeopardize grants through the NIH. I remember you put up those full screens, was it six months ago? If you went near the story fact-checkers from an army of outlets descended upon you and you were basically called a pandemic birther in order to scare the be Jesus out of anybody that follow down that path.
But the cover-up started to crack recently. Conservatives online followed the money, followed where the grants went, even found the language in the grant proposals talking about gain of function research at the labs. Scientists started to speak up, even Biden's national security council said you know what, we are not really buying what China is selling.
And then that WHO delegation that was a complete disaster. They go over there, and they didn't present a shred of evidence for the natural theory. Not a shred of evidence while there is a mountain of evidence on the other side saying it came from the lab. I'm not going to bore you with that.
I bore the audience on my weekend show enough, but I know what the Democrats are going to say. They are going to say, why does it matter where it came from? Well, that's all that matters, because if you want to prevent the next pandemic you have to figure out the origin in order to save millions of lives. That's the point.
PERINO: Yes. I mean, it matters. It seems to me that the Biden administration knows, Juan, that Americans and our allies are going to want to try to get to the bottom of this. What's the next step do you think from the Biden administration on this?
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CO-HOST & POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I think that they want an answer. I think that's why, you know, everybody is talking in terms of clapping themselves on the back and saying, my conspiracy theory turns out to be right, but I think that this is something everybody wants.
I don't -- I don't think it matters. The difference at the moment is that you have now intelligence about those three people who went to the hospital with COVID-like symptoms as reported by the Wall Street Journal. You have experts in that article, Dana, on both sides saying yes, they could have had a cold, they could have the flu, but they could also have had coronavirus.
So now, there is a line to be followed and I'd love to see an investigation, I'd love to know the origins of this thing, I think that's just what everybody would want. But I got to say in all honesty, we are dealing with China. And I think the Chinese are an authoritarian society.
I think that anybody who tells the truth about something this big is at risk of death from government officials, everybody is in fear of those government officials and they, you know, I mean, we know what they've done with the Uyghurs and others, we know what's going on in Hong Kong. This is a very cruel regime and they don't want anything about it.
Now I know that the critics are going to say, well, you know, here in this country, there are certain things that we don't want to investigate either. You know, January 6th --
PERINO: OK.
WILLIAMS: Yes, yes. Look, we've got journalists, we got lots of people who are talking about it and aren't worried about going to jail. In China you go to jail or you die. I mean, that's why I don't know that we'll ever get to the bottom of it, but is it worth an investigation? Absolutely.
PERINO: Katie, meantime, the Chinese is telling its own citizens and others whoever will listen, but definitely the internal propaganda in the country is that Americans are making this up and that they are trying -- that America somehow is at fault here.
KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Dana, looking back on this it tells me two things about most of the media. It says they were either very ignorant about the way that the Chinese Communist Party operates or they were complicit. Immediately when we started hearing about this virus coming out of Wuhan I immediately thought, obviously there is a chance that this could come from a lab because it's China.
And then you had all of this cover-up going on. I mean, Taiwan which is an ally of the United States told the World Health Organization in December 2019 that they knew this was something that could be contagious human to human. And then the World Health Organization which is beholden to China ignored that, covered it up and continued to say to the rest of the world while travel was still going on internationally that this was not a virus that could be contagious from person to person.
And it is about following the money, because when you look at the lab and you look at the kind of research that they were doing, you know, it was very clear and obvious by the way that everybody in the media for the most part, not everyone, but most people except for the journalist who got kicked out of China, remember that happened --
PERINO: Yes.
PAVLICH: -- when they pounced all over this idea that we can't even talk about it, that was a clear sign and clue that there was more to the story there. And they have been doing this in labs in the United States, Chinese Communist Party members and members of the PLA, and they go back to China and they take viruses from nature and they take them into a lab and they Frankenstein them into viruses that can be -- that human beings can contract.
And you have to ask why. I don't think it's because China really just want to research viruses and to see what's happening in nature, I think there is a much sinister ploy there and we'll have to wait for more information on that.
PERINO: There will be more to come. Thank you, all. A shocking uptick in attacks on the Jewish community as progressive Democrats continue to criticize Israel. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS: Progressives continued to bash Israel despite an explosion of anti-Semitic attacks in America. Jewish people targeted from coast-to-coast after the recent fighting in the Middle East. Democrats like Bernie Sanders keep going after Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT): The United States of America has got to be leading the world in bringing people together, not simply supplying weapons to kill children in Gaza. Our job is not simply to put more and more military support for Israel, it is to bring people together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: And after days of waiting, President Biden and Vice President Harris are finally getting around to condemning the anti-Semitic violence. Both taking to Twitter to call it, quote, "despicable."
Juan, do you agree with Bernie sanders that the Biden administration is supplying weapons to kill children in Gaza?
WILLIAMS: I don't think that they are intending to cause violence against civilians, but I think that's the argument, Jesse. I mean, to my mind, you know, we have to be very clear here and not confuse anti-Semitism with legitimate criticism or debate about Israeli policies. That's a separate issue. That's not anti-Semitic to say I differ with Israel's policies.
You have debate among Jewish people including Bernie Sanders about what Israel is doing and how it conducts its policies. You have, you know, AIPAC versus J. Street (Ph) in terms of the Jewish American community taking different positions, so there's nothing anti-Semitic about criticizing Israel.
I think that the larger issue here is where do we go as an American people with regards to this violence that we've seen in the streets. It's reprehensible. It is to be condemned by every side.
I don't care if it's anti-Sematic violence against Jewish people, I don't care if it's anti-Muslim violence, I don't care if it's anti-white, anti- black or, you know, those people who want to say Chinese people brought COVID here and they are attacking the Asians in larger numbers. All of it tears at us as Americans and I think we all need to stand together in opposition to that kind of behavior.
I will just weigh on one last thing about Israel, though. I think there's a generational divide you can start to see it now on the poll numbers about Israel that didn't exist previously. Everybody just, you know, wanted to support Israel they were so vulnerable. I think Israel and president -- Prime Minister Netanyahu better be aware of the fact that there are more and more Americans who are critical of Israeli policy.
WATTERS: I haven't seen that, but your point about Israel being vulnerable. Greg, why do you think the Democrats always root for the so- called underdog even when the underdog is just firing rockets into civilian territory?
GUTFELD: They could just be stupid.
WATTERS: Yes.
GUTFELD: Or they could just be inconsistent. Why do you think there is more anti-Semitic attacks going on right now? There is a dramatic uptick. Why is there a rise in anti-Asian attacks, a dramatic rise? It's because all violent crime is up, right? All violent crime is up across the board.
We talk about this months ago. It was left off, but you cannot tease out specific hate crimes as something reprehensible without first condemning all of it as a group. So, this is all due to a reduction of policing, the lack of accountability. When you see repeat felons that keep getting out, no bail, it sends a message that when you get arrested, you're going to be out on the street before the cop is done doing his paperwork. That is a fact.
Some people are more important to your question, Jesse, some people are more important to the media than others, which is why the media and the Democrats respond inconsistently to violence even when it's well-documented with words, pictures, and statistics.
I don't know why it's so hard to maintain a consistent disavowal of all violence from the riots and the lootings to the police to the January 6th, to the gang crimes to the attacks on Asians, to the mentally ill attacking people on the street in New York City. If we were actually consistent about this, none of this stuff would ever happen and what you would to do is have a very strong support of law enforcement that would keep this from happening, because that's the incentive that one needs.
WATTERS: Yes, Katie, it goes without saying that politicians should condemn all violence. You know, we have a big headline in here that Biden and Harris condemn this attack on Jewish Americans. I mean, obviously but we didn't always hear that last summer.
PAVLICH: If you look at where this started, this implies that Israel is somehow purposely committing violence against Hamas in Gaza when the reason why they had to fight back at all is because Hamas, which is an Iranian- backed terrorist organization sent 4,000 rockets into Israeli civilian territory with the purpose of killing Jews.
Now in the process, they have killed Israeli Arabs. They have killed Palestinians. Four hundred of their own rockets misfired and killed Palestinians in Gaza civilians. You had one of the leaders of Hamas on Sky News admitting that they deliberately fire rockets from civilian areas in Gaza at civilian targets in Israel so that when Israel retaliates, they kill civilians, so then they are used for propaganda.
And so when you see this overflow into the United States with pro- Palestinian Hamas supporting people attacking Jews in the streets and they know, to Greg's point, that they are not going to get arrested or if they do, they'll get out of jail really quickly and then come out and say as that guy did yesterday, I would do it again after beating a Jewish man in the street.
They know that they can get away with it just like Hamas knows that they can get away with attacking Israel because the international community is going to say, how dare you be violent against Hamas when really, they are just defending themselves. This is not an equal playing field when it comes to exchanging violence.
WATTERS: All right. Pretend you are Jen Psaki, Dana, I'm Peter Doocy. And tomorrow I'm going to say, all right, Jen, you know, the quarter billion that Biden release to the Palestinians that Trump had froze, they purchased weapons from the Iranians and then use those weapons on Israeli citizens, does the Biden administration regret releasing that money?
PERINO: So, one thing I've never done is fallen for a hypothetical, Jesse, and that is what you're trying to get me to do.
WATTERS: You're good.
PERINO: I'm still not going to do that, but I would note one thing. So, the squad and progressives including Bernie Sanders, put out again, it's tweets, right? But they are putting out tweets saying that they condemn anti-Semitism violence, but they add, all of them added and the rise of Islamophobia.
GUTFELD: Yes.
WATTERS: No.
PERINO: So, I mean, and I think that we just need to be very clear about this, where is the data? Where's the inquiry? Like where you actually seen it. And I agree that Islamophobia is bad and it attacks against people because they are Muslim, it's terrible, but do we actually have data that shows that that's happening?
The last thing I'd point out is that it's very important that we all remember the struggles we have in this country are not a mirror image of every place that we look. And the issues, and Katie knows them very well, when you can understand what's going on between the Israelis and the Palestinian authority and all of that, is just it's much more nuance and complicated. It's much more difficult, it's not just a black and white issue, and so we have to be more thoughtful about how we talk about it.
And I would say that the president and vice president absolutely should do more than put out a tweet. Tweet matters for a blue check mark journalist, it doesn't matter to those who are actually on the streets fighting.
WATTERS: Nuance and thoughtfulness, thank you, Dana Perino. Ahead, exclusive video shows migrants storming across the southern border.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: Despite repeated claims that the border is closed, the migrants keep coming right in. Exclusive Fox News video shows around 40 illegal immigrants running away from a single border patrol agent in Texas, only half of them were caught. Republicans are calling out the Biden administration for saying the crisis doesn't exist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): The Department of Homeland Security has announced that the border is closed. But they lie like they breathe. When I hear the secretary say the border is closed, my mind went back to that image of President Clinton looking the American people in the eye and saying, I did not have sex with that woman. We know how that turned out.
I've been to the border, if you believe the border is close, you believe in the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny, and that Jimmy Hoffa died of natural caught causes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: From the border to the blue dress. Katie, so the border is closed. What is this close to exactly? UFO's, sea monsters?
PAVLICH: Alligators, regular travel, that's the irony here, right?
GUTFELD: Yes.
PAVLICH: If the border is technically still closed at ports of entry for COVID restriction reasons. But as you can see everything in between is totally wide open. And I remember when Senator Kennedy went down to the border with that delegation of Republican senators to see it firsthand, because it is a crisis. And they were being touted by cartel members from the other side of the Rio Grande because our border policy is technically a joke. And everyone keeps asking well -- asking, excuse me, why is the Vice President who's in charge of this situation, allegedly, not gone down to see it firsthand. Well, because that would validate that it's actually a crisis. I mean, why would you visit if everything is fine and the border is closed?
GUTFELD: Right.
PAVLICH: So, there's going to be fallout from this in the sense that those guys were running away when you can just turn yourself in and get processed and released anyway. Who are they? Do they have criminal records? Border Patrol catches child sex abusers almost every day down at the border, murderers who have been deported before who they catch. And it seems like the Biden administration and Democrats have no interest in stopping those kinds of criminals from coming into the country.
GUTFELD: You know, Dana, when I look at this footage, I think to myself, I wish I could run that fast.
PERINO: I was going to say.
GUTFELD: I mean, it's just like it my knees are gone. This is not going to happen. But shouldn't Joe -- President Biden put up some sign saying, hey, you guys, the border is closed? Could not solve the problem?
PERINO: Well, I think the other thing. And one of the reasons that these guys are running, these were single adult males, and they're all coming. And they -- if they are caught, they try -- like, if the Border Patrol agent have been able to catch all of them, they would all been deported. That's -- that is the actual policy for single adult males.
The problem is they say the border is closed, but if the children get over, they get to stay.
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: But if you come -- if you come with your children, then you'll be able to be here until you figure it out, etcetera. And the other -- the problem with this is that -- well, the political problem for the Democrats is that you could -- you could hear them say the border is closed or you could see with your own eyes what is happening.
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: This is a just video. It just happened to be there. And this is actually happening.
GUTFELD: Yes, Juan, it's hard to argue with these images, but by all means.
WILLIAMS: Well, I mean, you know, I've said it repeatedly, we had videos before, and they say, oh, it's exclusive, it's sensational. You can take these pictures anytime over the last 10, 20, 30, 100 years, people crossing at some point in the border. But in terms of the policy, it is as Dana just laid it out to you when they catch people, especially men, but, you know, anybody, but children, they are thrown out. And so that's what we mean when we say the border is closed.
I will say this. To my mind, the real Fox exclusive last week was George W. Bush, who has a book out now about immigration saying the problem is the Congress' failure to act. He tried to get something done when he was president, a group of Republicans tried to work with Democrats in 2013 to get something done, then it was a Republican House that stopped it.
What we need -- the President Bush on target, we need Congress to get off their ducks and get in action and let us get border security as part of a comprehensive immigration reform deal.
GUTFELD: See, Jesse, that's where you get to that comprehensive deal. It always ends up in the comprehensive -- it's never let's act specifically to enforce the border. It has to be part of this comprehensive deal, which then of course, negates any attempt to strengthen the border.
WATTERS: Yes.
GUTFELD: It's the same -- it's the -- it's the same lie.
WATTERS: That word is such a cop out. Juan says they're catching single adult males and sending them back. Did any of those men look like they were caught on that video? That's the whole game, Juan. You send kids and families across and the Border Patrol agents have to babysit them, and then just like hundreds of single adult men pour across and they're outmanned.
Greg, I'm boycotting immigration segments on THE FIVE.
GUTFELD: There you go.
WATTERS: I have nothing left to give. I have given everything, brilliant analogies, expert analysis, stories, statistics, facts. You want me to talk about narcotics trafficking, wages, financial burden, I've done it all. I have nothing left. I hear the same argument every time. It is normal, things are getting better, both not true, and Congress has to act.
What do you want Congress to do, Juan? What specifically do you want Congress to do?
WILLIAMS: I can --
GUTFELD: Build a wall.
WATTERS: You don't want a wall. You don't want to end catch and release. You don't want remain in Mexico policy. You don't want to get rid of the incentives, the free health care, the free college, free stimulus. What do you want because I want to give that to you? Please tell me.
WILLIAMS: Well, I'm glad to tell you. They're telling me I have to go, so I'll play by the rules.
WATTERS: OK, all right, you have to go. OK, tell me tomorrow.
GUTFELD: All right.
WILLIAMS: No, that's not me. That's the -- OK, all right.
GUTFELD: Up next, President Biden just broke a huge campaign promise that's going to set off members of the squad.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAVLICH: Well, grab your popcorn because Biden is about to set off the Squad. The President's upcoming budget proposal reportedly won't feature a key campaign promise wiping out about $10,000 per person and student debt. Something then-candidate Biden said he would do immediately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going to make sure that everybody in this generation gets $10,000 knocked off of their student debt as we try to get out of this god awful pandemic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAVLICH: So, Dana, does this have something to do with the inflation reports that we've seen and spending money?
PERINO: I think, but I also think it goes back to what he actually truly believes. A while ago, he said something like the idea that you go to Penn and you're paying a total of 70 grand a year and the public should pay for that, I don't agree. So, at one point, he said that. And I think that is actually his -- probably his true feelings. But I also think that he's starting to bow to reality, right?
Political gravity is starting to take hold. They're realizing that their second 100 days will be much tougher than the first 100, and that this idea of student loan forgiveness is a no-go when it comes to Congress. However, Senator Chuck Schumer has been wearing a mask that says cancel student debt as he cowers in fear of AOC primary potentially. So, they -- I don't think the left will give up without a fight. But I don't think this is going to happen.
PAVLICH: You know, Greg, I don't understand this because the left acts like therefore the little guy and the lower class. But student loan forgiveness actually overwhelmingly benefits wealthy people.
GUTFELD: Oh, it does. It does. And there's this fallacy behind all this that like somehow, these people that you're talking about are choosing between paying their student loan and eating. Oh, my God, this is such a hardship. If you look at the average student loan, right, it's roughly the same, give or take, as a car loan, an auto loan or truck loan. It might even be roughly the same as your internet cable smartphone bill.
So, I don't think people are having -- you can't compare it to something like rent. Why can't, and I've said this before, a sheetmetal worker who didn't go to college claimed that he wants his car payment canceled because it's roughly the same cost and his truck is contributing more to society than an art history degree by far.
So, why are these people so special that they can get their stupid college, you know, get it off -- no, that guy with a truck, he deserves it too. Then you get to that point of like, OK, then what other loans can you cancel? How do you exactly cancel them? Who pays for them? You think the bank is going to pay for them? Hell, no. It's going to be us. That's why it's not going to happen.
PAVLICH: All right, Juan.
WILLIAMS: Well, I would just say that education has a great social value. But I just want to point out that, in fact, when Chuck Schumer and others said that Biden should issue an executive order, he didn't act. He refused that. So, what we've got now is that this is not in a presidential budget proposal. But remember, the power of the purse is with the Congress.
So, if the Congress wants to pass legislation that contains this $10,000 loan forgiveness, then-President Biden has basically said he's willing to sign it if it's in legislation that comes from the Congress. So, Congress has that right.
But I think that the larger point here is that Biden has other priorities, which is the infrastructure deal, the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit for the working people. I think that he says, that's his priority, not the student debt forgiveness.
PAVLICH: Jesse?
WATTERS: I don't want to play into the whole Biden versus the Squad thing. It just makes Joe look moderate. It's crazy versus crazy. They're both crazy. Just because Joe is a little less crazy, doesn't make him sane. Like, they're using each other. The Squad saying, oh, yes, we're progressive. We're pushing this old relic to the far left. Look how powerful we are. And Biden saying, I'm not a socialist. I beat the socialist. I'm so powerful and moderate.
They're on the same team. It's a love fest. They control Washington. And they can do whatever crazy thing they want for two years until the country throws them out. So, the Squad saying let's go crazy for two years, and is saying, let's see how much crazy we can get away with in two years.
But this is a problem that Democrats, they created themselves. They don't fix problems. They just create problems, slap a crisis label on it, like it came out of nowhere, and they just throw our tax dollars at it and want credit for being compassionate. No.
GUTFELD: I like this I don't care anymore Jesse Waters.
PAVLICH: That is true.
WATTERS: Yes, I'm back.
PAVLICH: Jesse is going to be on so many topics we want to talk about. All right, Memorial Day is right around the corner and Americans are ready to bust loose. Our summer bucket list is on THE FIVE.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: Memorial Day weekend is almost here and Americans are ready to cut loose after being cooped up during the pandemic. Two-thirds of people are telling pollsters they're ready to go wild with what they call here, I'm quoting, summer bucket list. So, Dana, is American now an optimistic country?
PERINO: I think that people feel like things are coming back. If you saw some of the sports over the weekend, of course, there's the PGA tournament, and then I know the Knicks were big and there was a full crowd there, so like people are getting back out, maybe throwing a party or two. I realize my bucket list items are so boring it's embarrassing.
But I do want to get back out on the court. I got -- I'm a little rusty on the old tennis court. And I've been reading a lot. I read two novels this weekend, Jesse.
WATTERS: Oh, was one of them How I Saved the World?
PERINO: That's not a novel. That would be nonfiction. Although actually it might be fiction.
WATTERS: Are you saying I didn't save the world?
PERINO: I'm just waiting for my copy. You said you've going to --
PAVLICH: We're fact-checking.
WATTERS: OK. Yes, it's -- the publisher had some issues.
WILLIAMS: So, Jesse.
WATTERS: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Jesse, I think it was '67 was the Summer of Love. So, what will the summer of '21 be called and Jesse land?
WATTERS: I am rethinking this whole open up the country thing again, Juan. I sat in traffic for three hours on the way back from the beach this weekend. So, I just want to tell the audience something. There could still be some very dangerous variants out there. I think everybody needs to be careful.
All that stuff I said about COVID dying in the sunlight, what do I know? I'm not a scientist. I think you should trust your gut. If you want to hide in your basement, not a bad idea at least for the rest of the summer. I mean, traffic was a killer.
PERINO: It's bad yesterday.
WILLIAMS: Well, in fact, Katie, that what everybody is saying. The traffic's getting bad and especially traffic on any highway leading to and from the beach. And now, everybody is following the traffic reports again.
PAVLICH: Well, I know that Jesse saved the world, but I have a hard time feeling sorry for him, that he gets stuck in traffic coming back from the beach almost every weekend. I'm so sorry about that.
WATTERS: Three hours with a newborn and twins. OK, Katie, OK.
PAVLICH: I mean --
WATTERS: OK.
PAVLICH: Well, you know, challenges in life are good, Jesse. They really are. They build character. So, that will be good for you.
WATTERS: I got a lot of character then.
PERINO: But anyway -- that's true. We do know that. Good character. So, for Memorial Day, I always tried to make it a tradition if I'm in town to go to Arlington Cemetery, because Memorial Day is about respecting and paying tribute to those who died and made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
But in terms of the rest of the summer, I might get wild and eat like two hot dogs in a row.
WILLIAMS: Wow. All right, you could be the champ, Katie.
PAVLICH: I don't want that.
WILLIAMS: Greg, you got any special bucket list this summer?
GUTFELD: My bucket list is to be a nice, nice, and more supportive husband just because to what Katie just brought up. It's really interesting. This feels like a post-war events. You know, I was going down Seventh Avenue after work and people were out partying. They were just thousands of people on every corner drinking.
Everybody looked great. It was hot. It was like 85 degrees like around 6:00, 7:30 on Thursday night. It was just amazing. It felt like the war was over and people were celebrating except there are people that aren't there to celebrate it with you. And I think that that's an important thing to work.
You know, I was looking at I'm thinking about my wife who's with her mother right now who's a widow and they're trying to look for a place to live. And I'm thinking there's a lot of people like that out there right now who are looking -- and this reopening has a sweet feeling to it. You got through it, but not everybody got through it.
WILLIAMS: That's the truth, brother. "ONE MORE THING" is up next. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: It's time for "ONE MORE THING." Juan, kick us off today.
WILLIAMS: OK, thanks, Dana. So, last Christmas you may recall, I gave my friend Jesse Watters a plastic bonsai tree after he killed a real one. Well, this weekend, my son Rafi began teaching the family how to properly raise and shaped bonsai. Here he is teaching my grandson Eli and me how to properly grow bonsai. Here he is tutoring his mom. He also taught brother- in-law Patrick. And here's Eli showing off his beautiful bonsai at the end of that tutoring session.
So, with May flowers blossoming all around this time of year, it was a pleasure to see the love of gardening blossoming in my own family. My first job, you guys should know, was as a gardener at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, so it gave me a special pleasure.
WATTERS: Nice.
PERINO: Isn't it fun to see Eli grow up. He's getting so tall. He is. All right, so --
WILLIAMS: Yes, he is. He is.
PERINO: The last time you got a chance for this. I'm doing this graduation book promotion thing for Everything Will Be Okay. There's Jasper graduated, of course. You can go to that little TinyURL.com, Everything Will Be Okay grads. And this is what I signed a lot of books this weekend for this promotion.
Here's a mom. She read it first. And these are all the pages she thought were important for her daughter to read. So, I sign that for Abigail and good luck to you. And Congratulations, Class of 2021. Greg.
GUTFELD: Let's do this. Greg's are cats out to destroy you, part one. This hasn't yet been picked up by Fox Nation, but it's part one of an endless investigation into whether cats are out to destroy you. Let's take our first example right here. I believe this cat -- can you see it? This cat is indeed out to destroy you.
If you just stare at the cat, you could tell he has one primary motivation, and that is to end your existence. Now, you need to send all your cat videos showing cats trying to destroy your life to me, care of Jesse Watters work e-mail. So, you just send it to the Fox e-mail Jesse Watters and he'll get them to me. But please send them all and it will start the long investigation.
WATTERS: Thank you for that.
GUTFELD: They're never-ending.
PERINO: That's a good one. All right, Katie.
PAVLICH: All right. Well, today is a very special day for my family and for most importantly, my dad. After 40 years of teaching, Mr. Paul Pavlich is retiring. He's impacted the lives of thousands of students, some going on to become Rhodes Scholars. And of course, he had a major impact on my education. I had the joy of being in his class as a student in high school where I did many projects that are very embarrassing now.
As a little girl, he sat me courtside while he coached basketball. He celebrated my diploma when I was in kindergarten, and many years later handed me my high school diploma. He's had an amazing ride and has made a difference in countless numbers of students' lives. And this was always the first to volunteer his cooking skills, his outdoor cooking skills, for science camping trips (AUDIO GAP) at Spring for faculty cookouts.
And I'll admit, he once kicked me out of his class for violating the school dress code. But he also once gave me cover after planning the senior prank. So, congratulations on four amazing decades, dad. And as he taught me in Spanish class, Gracias and Buenas Suerte.
PERINO: I don't even knew what that meant, but that's great.
WILLIAMS: That was so sweet.
PERINO: Awesome. Jesse.
WATTERS: Well, Greg cyberbullied me so I feel a little victimized. I'm going to ignore that.
PERINO: Be best, Greg.
WATTERS: Also, Juan, I didn't kill the bonsai tree. Johnny did. I'm not going to be responsible for watering a tree. I have a lot of other stuff going on like writing a book called How I Saved The World. Boom.
PERINO: Boom.
GUTFELD: You can't save the tree.
PERINO: Awesome.
WATTERS: I killed a few on the book.
PERINO: All right, that's it for us. "SPECIAL REPORT" is up next.
Content and Programming Copyright 2021 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2021 VIQ Media Transcription, Inc. 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 VIQ Media Transcription, Inc. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox