'The Five' rips Texas Democrats begging for care packages
Texas Democrats are running low on supplies after fleeing the state to avoid a vote; 'The Five' reacts
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," July 26, 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 Dagen McDowell, Richard Fowler, Brian Kilmeade, and she's back from her extended rehab --
DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: Thank goodness.
GUTFELD: -- Dana Perino. Good for you. THE FIVE.
A new poll says Americans think the country is moving in the wrong direction, optimism about where we are headed as a nation over the next year dropping nearly 20 points since May, with 55 percent saying they felt pessimistic about the future. But can you blame them? Try walking down the street in any major liberal city.
NYPD releasing new video of a brutal mugging showing the effects of an unpoliced city, a low life repeatedly punching and kicking a 68-year-old man, as old as Kilmeade, knocking him unconscious and then rifling through his pockets. I wonder if the press will be as attentive to these videos as they were for those in which police were involved.
But progressive Democrat who push for less police aren't worried. They are too busy hiring their own private security to keep them safe. Campaign filings reveal squad member Cori Bush spent 70 grand on private security while calling to defund the police. Trey Gowdy ripping into the hypocrisy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TREY GOWDY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I don't know about your city or state, but $70,000 would get you your own personal police officer in South Carolina. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Cori Bush tells us she is progressive. The better word might be hypocritical. She wants to defund your police while she has a robust personal security detail in Washington and St. Louis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: That's Trey Gowdy, Dana, and you are aware of him.
PERINO: Yes, Trey. Great guy.
GUTFELD: Great show on the weekends. Congrats. Welcome back. Good to see you. And you are so brave.
PERINO: Thank you, I feel a lot better now.
GUTFELD: Yes, exactly.
PERINO: Help me keep strong.
GUTFELD: Yes. That's good. So, anyway, we're seeing videos now. The police are, I believe realizing how important it is to show what's going on the street because, for so long, all you saw were the things in which they were involved in and now we are seeing what happens when the police aren't arriving.
PERINO: I'd like to coin a phrase this is what you do when you fight fire with fire.
GUTFELD: There you go.
PERINO: But I think that the videos are the things that the people are reacting to.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: And we saw that, as you mentioned, obviously when there have been videotapes of police brutality, we have seen that and there is a big reaction to it. I think that some of these videos, I don't know why all of a sudden, the NYPD is doing this but I would imagine it's because they realize that we need to be explicit and be persuasive. One of the ways you are persuasive is to show.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: They have the video and it's there for everyone to see. And something like that can spur action.
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: Can I comment on the poll?
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: Because it takes a long time to build up enough trust to get to a 64 percent approval rating and just like a moment to lose it but they are blowing past all the stop signs. I guess they don't watch Fox. You can do like a Fox News alert. FYI, immigration.
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: Time. The pandemic response, the inflation, education, all these things, but they are so focused on trying to pass $5 trillion in long-term spending and all these things that they want to do which on the merits look like have a fight about it. But if that doesn't pass, or even if it does pass, all of these other things are happening and we are living in the middle of this political realignment --
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: -- that they might really have something that they are going to have to deal with. The fact that they are at the White House thinking oh gosh, maybe we should do something. A speech is not going to fix this.
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: The only thing that can fix this is a policy pivot and I don't think we are going to get one.
GUTFELD: Yes, they can't admi. They can't admit that they were so wrong for so long. Brian, you are used to that. The experts -- experts say the rise in pessimism is directly related to you hosting the 7 p.m. primetime.
BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX NEWS HOST: I wrote this study -- I didn't say anything about that. And notice I'm not doing it this week. So, I guess people will be (Inaudible).
A couple of things. So, I have to ask permission every time I want to follow up like Dana where this is --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: You can do whatever you want.
KILMEADE: OK, fine. I thought it's pretty -- one thing is pretty clear. If the reason why people are pessimistic is the fundamental issues that have gone wrong, not little things. It's not like a cultural issue that we're on the other side of it where you can sit there and have a good debate at a barbecue. Can I continue?
GUTFELD: Yes.
KILMEADE: Thank you. You talk about, if you talk about voting that's fundamental part of our democracy. We're debating that. And I think it's totally inaccurate way they are being portrayed. When you talk about crime, that's a fundamental way in which we live. When you talk about inflation, that's things we buy from the smallest to the biggest, everything that seems to be challenged on a regular basis.
So, it's going, I do no longer feel confident. And I can actually see the 20-point drop over the last three months just from talking to people. And when it comes to crime, this really has changed.
Remember six months ago it was all about the cops are the problem. And the cops just took a step back and say take my badge and I'm going to retire or I quit. And now, every single one of these major cities is depleted. It's like breaking up with a girl, and say, see how life is like without me, and then watching her life spiral down.
GUTFELD: That's never happened to you.
PERINO: And also, you have to ask permission before you use analogy.
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: Look, do you assume when they break up with you their life gets worse?
KILMEADE: Yes, I saw it too. I'm just saying.
GUTFELD: Every guy thinks that way.
PERINO: And it's not true.
GUTFELD: It's not true.
KILMEADE: You're ruing my analogy.
GUTFELD: OK.
KILMEADE: And now you brought them in. But that's what I'm saying. And then in front you watch that person miss you in front of you and say do you want back in?
GUTFELD: Yes.
KILMEADE: That's what the cops are doing. They are out there going what is life without me? That's all I got.
PERINO: Like in Baltimore where they are asking for 100 federal agents now to come in and help.
GUTFELD: Yes. I don't -- I don't even think that the opposite of optimism is pessimism. It's hopelessness, you know. And hopelessness, Richard, arrives when you feel like you have no impact or your influence is futile. Like you are talking about how much crime there is but no one is doing anything. That's more hopelessness than pessimism. And I think that might be driving this. What do you think?
RICHARD FOWLER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Look, when you watch videos like the video we just saw there or you see a video of a police officer beating somebody up. It doesn't matter, it's disgusting to watch either of this case. Right? And neither these things should be happening in our streets.
And I think that is where -- that's, I think, where people are. I think where people are and I think a Gallup poll points to this that was done last year, especially in black communities they're saying look, we want -- we like the presence of police. Oftentimes, we feel like we are not treated with respect and dignity and encounter the police officers.
So, how do we create a balance here? How do we ensure that when police are in our communities were treated with respect, but how do we also deal with crime that's happening in our community whether it's solving the case of little Nyiah in Washington where I live, or it's ensuring that here in New York City 65-year-old men don't get beat up by crazy people, right, which is what's happening.
GUTFELD: Right.
FOWLER: And so, we've got to figure out how we rebalance this which where we are. Right now, the system is unbalanced. And to some extent to Dana's point, you know, yes, I think the White House has to do a little bit more and the president has to have a little bit of a stronger footing. He has put out a plan.
KILMEADE: Only about guns. He seems to only care about guns.
FOWLER: No, but I think that -- because that's part of the problem. Right? When you --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: No. And more police, right? He said you can use COVID relief money to hire more police.
KILMEADE: Yes, dig into your savings.
FOWLER: But that's part of it. You have to hire more police, remembering that the number one killer of police last year was coronavirus, right? That's according to Officer Down (ph). The number one killer of police officers last year was COVID-19. So, in order to get more boots on the ground we have to hire more police. That's what Muriel Bowser is doing in the city of D.C. She's taking the money from the American rescue plan and she's using it to put more police on the ground.
GUTFELD: You know, I want to get to Dagen. Richard brought up the black communities. I find it interesting that I don't -- I think you're right. It's the black communities that are concerned about crime. But all you see are the white leftists, the antifa --
KILMEADE: Absolutely.
GUTFELD: -- and the activists that are out there talking about defunding more than anybody and they don't have to live with the consequences.
DAGEN MCDOWELL, FOX NEWS BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right, I think I use the term soft bigotry.
GUTFELD: Yes.
MCDOWELL: It's the soft bigotry that they -- that people on the left ignored this for the last year and a half when it was hurting communities throughout major cities particularly black and Latino communities. But only when it arrives at their doorstep like the shooting down in D.C. did, they start giving a flying damn about it, right? OK.
PERINO: I'm a diplomat.
MCDOWELL: I left my --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Yes, a diplomat.
MCDOWELL: A diplomat.
GUTFELD: You might have heard of that restaurant, Dana, Jim Acosta goes there. He is a lousy tipper.
MCDOWELL: I left my doorman building and I heard shots when I was out dining with my fancy friends. And now I start hearing --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Don Lemon and I had a great meal there.
KILMEADE: Right.
MCDOWELL: You admit to that?
GUTFELD: No, I'm kidding.
MCDOWELL: What amplifies the pessimism or hopelessness that you're talking about or exacerbates it is the total disconnect between what people are seeing and hearing in their everyday lives, otherwise known as reality, and the garbage that the left and liberals in power have been regurgitating in people's faces.
And what I mean is our city is dangerous -- let me -- you just don't understand --
GUTFELD: Right.
MCDOWELL: -- or Gavin Newsom saying well, crime is -- I don't know what you are talking about.
GUTFELD: Crime is down.
MCDOWELL: Crime is down in the last 30 years. Or Joe Biden saying defund the police, we never said defund the police. They are lying about it or inflation. It's running at the fastest pace in 13 years to 30 years if you look at core prices. That's just transitory. That's just a right-wing talking point.
The left, they are compulsively dishonest and also irretrievably stupid that they can't see what is in the face of every American. And just one thing that's happening, I found this really interesting. Gallup did a poll on confidence in institutions that came out a couple of weeks ago.
Confidence for all institutions is down this year except for one. The police.
GUTFELD: Right.
MCDOWELL: Down the most for public schools because the teachers unions essentially trampled on children across the country for their own power and the medical system in part because of the poor messaging from Washington.
GUTFELD: Yes.
FOWLER: But I think -- but I think just to think about it is just the police is not the way to look at it. When you think about a community where little Nyiah died right in Washington. You see there's also community that doesn't have access to broadband internet, right? This is a community that doesn't have resources, they don't have jobs. So, if you look at -- if you look at a map in D.C. where is the --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: That didn't kill her.
FOWLER: But no. But I'm talking about a broader problem that exists in this community.
GUTFELD: When you make the --
FOWLER: But if you just think -- but if you just think --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: -- broader, you never focus on the problem just a broad issue.
FOWLER: No, no. But if you just here -- if you're sitting here and just having a conversation about, how do we solve the crime, one way to solve the crime is by providing opportunity. If you can't get online and look for a job in this community --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: I'm for opportunity.
FOWLER: -- because you don't have broadband internet, then you have a problem.
PERINO: I'm for opportunity and I'm for people bad guys having to stay in jail.
GUTFELD: Exactly.
FOWLER: Fair enough.
PERINO: The chief of -- well, no.
KILEMADE: Not enough.
PERINO: The chief of police in Washington, D.C. just had a press conference this weekend.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: And he is furious about it.
FOWLER: Absolutely. Because the ports aren't open.
PERINO: He said I'm mad as hell. He even used --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I think we need -- we have to make a right-wing talking point pro-crime. Because that's the only way the Democrats are going to be anti- crime.
KILMEADE: Right.
GUTFELD: Because this is all politically motivated.
MCDOWELL: Yes.
GUTFELD: Coming up next, Dr. Fauci, aka, the pope, says mask mandates for the vaccinated are now under active consideration.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: Masks for vaccinated Americans gaining some momentum amid rising COVID cases. St. Louis becoming the latest major U.S. city to revive its indoor mask mandate which goes into effect today, leaving many to wonder if moves like that actually could wind up disincentivizing unvaccinated people from getting the jab. Dr. Fauci says changes could be coming at the federal level.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: This is under active consideration if you are asking, am I part of the discussion. Yes, I am part of the discussion. But I think what you are seeing, even though as of our conversation at this moment, the CDC still says and recommends that if you are vaccinated fully that you do not need to wear a mask indoors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: But so far, the White House says they will leave it to local officials on what to restrict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: For many of these recommendations, we are always going to be guided by our north star and that is the CDC and our health and medical experts. And there, of course, is an active discussion about a range of steps that can be taken as there has been from the first day of this administration. There are going to be localities that have higher rates of outbreaks that they may make additional recommendations. They may take steps to keep their communities safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: But it's not all about masks, the NFL will reportedly fine unvaccinated players nearly $15,000 for each violation of the league's COVID protocols. Let's go our sports expert, Dagen. I'm just kidding. I mean, you are the sports expert, but you want to talk about the NFL?
KILMEADE: I do because they are leading the charge and a lot of the controversy. The same controversy you would have if you mandated, I need proof that we have vaccinations. We don't really have that but if you are not vaccinated, we are taking your word you are supposed to wear a mask.
The NFL is so -- there is so much money on the line. They came out and said, if you are not vaccinated you basically have to wear a mask and have all these other protocols. And if your team actually has to forfeit a game, we are not moving the game. You guys lost.
So, people like Leonard Fournette who is now standing running back -- it was now the Tampa Bay Bucs came out and goes, I'm not doing it. And you have other players that have said I'm just not going to get vaccinated. So, instead of mandating and yelling at them, you should do what Chris Christie mentioned on Sunday that focus group reveals. They don't want to hear from politicians, they don't want to hear from coaches. They want to hear from experts.
So, Ron Rivera of the Washington Redskins got a doctor in and he put the doctor in front of his team and he said ask any questions you want. Go over the technology, the health, because it's not because people aren't educated. They are not educated in what this vaccine is and the emergency use as people freaked out to a degree.
So, by putting people down or by having politicians yell into a microphone or anchors or hosts, --
GUTFELD: Hey.
KILMEADE: -- I think it's a problem and that you are not convincing anyone. If you put a mask on the American people that got vaccinated, you are not getting more people vaccinated. One of the main reasons people did it is because they want to get back to their life. You start taking their life away again, goodbye.
FOWLER: Well, this is a rarity I agree with Brian Kilmeade. Jesus takes the wheel.
PERINO: All right. You can take the wheel. What else do you want to say?
FOWLER: No. I mean, I actually agree with that. I think that part of the problem here, because I agree. I think we need to -- you need to go have a conversation with your medical professional whether that's a doctor or nurse in your family or a nurse in your community, ask them all the questions you need to ask them about the vaccine and if you can, you should go get the vaccine.
If your health allows you if you are not immunocompromised go do, go talk to that person and make that choice and go get it because here's the truth. The only way we are going to stop the Delta variant from spreading in many of these communities that are now seeing a high spread of it which is where a lot of these mask mandates are going back in place, is by more and more folks getting vaccinated and that's where these deaths are happening. And so, I agree with you.
KILMEADE: Can I just add real quick?
FOWLER: Now don't ruin it.
KILMEADE: I have a good friend that has a 17 and 19-year-old, they both got the shots. The 19-year-old has no problem. The 17-year-old got swelling of the heart. He can't even take a deep breath for two weeks it hurt every time his heart beat. He is 100 percent healthy and elite athlete. The dad feels terrible.
So how could I sit here with a microphone and say go get vaccinated. What if you listen to me and I'm responsible for the swelling of that kid's heart? I don't want that responsibility because I am not qualified to give you medical advice. I'm willing to admit that.
PERINO: I wonder what the White House --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I'm not. I am an expert.
KILMEADE: OK. Take it away, Greg.
GUTFELD: You make my heart swell.
KILMEADE: Thank you very much. But that's for another time.
GUTFELD: Yes.
KILMEADE: And another show.
PERINO: You make his head swell.
GUTFELD: Yes. I agree with, what's your name, Brian. My theory like a Greg chain yanking theory. So, when we've been burned so many times by people in the media who lied to us about crime, who have been lying to us for decades on climate and ginning up a racial war why the hell should we listen to them. That's why you shouldn't listen to us. You shouldn't listen to anybody.
On top of that, you have a government in bed with these people pushing all sorts of phony narratives whether it's the insurrection or the fine people hoax or the big lie or injecting bleach. Don't listen to them. Why should you listen to them? The American public has had their chain yanked so often the chain is broken.
So now what they are doing, to your point, they start yelling at you and lecturing you and hectoring you as if, and judging you as if that's going to help when in reality most of the morons from cable news and from network news they just like they like feeling superior. This is what it's about. They love telling people in rural America you suck.
People are going to do the right thing. They are going to get the vaccine. People are getting the vaccine. We are -- we are -- I don't know where we are.
KILMEADE: Big uptick over the weekend.
GUTFELD: Yes. And we hope that's the case. I am obviously very pro- vaccine. I have been for a while. So, I just think we need to stop pitting people against each other.
KILMEADE: Yes.
GUTFELD: We have to -- we have to stop worrying about who is vaccinated and who is not. Just if you talk about it with friends, you give them your advice and you say I'm no expert, do you what you think is right. Yes, it's true. It's like if people are having side effects, you don't want to be the person responsible for that either.
KILMEADE: I'm not, yes. Thirty percent of the healthcare workers have not gotten vaccinated. That flipped me out.
GUTFELD: Well, same thing with the small pox vaccine back in early 2000s. You know, they wanted to vaccinate half a million people. They got 40,000. Those were healthcare professionals, the people who know.
PERINO: Well, the other thing is, Dagen, just from, I guess, politically or even from the business perspective, masks and mandates are not going to get you out of phase four of the virus.
MCDOWELL: No. And all these mask mandates do is punish the people who got the shot.
KILMEADE: Yes.
MCDOWELL: And then it basically says we don't trust unvaccinated people to mask up. So, if you got the jab, then you need to start wearing a mask. May I use a sports analogy? Sports analogy is --
KILMEADE: Great.
GUTFELD: Too (Inaudible) in front of the sports.
KILMEADE: Yes.
MCDOWELL: OK. And you can tell me if this is not a good one.
FOWLER: Knock them --
MCDOWELL: But this is like the coach who makes the whole team run three miles when two players show up late.
GUTFELD: That's the one.
MCDOWELL: When they are tardy. So, the entire -- what it does is you are trying to create anger among the most of the team --
PERINO: That's happening.
MCDOWELL: -- who did the right -- you know, they were on time, but they want to make the team then put pressure on the minority to fall in line. It's extremely divisive and extremely dangerous.
And just can we give a Fox News alert to Governor Gavin Newsom who continues to prove that he is a royal idiot every day. On CNN earlier he compared unvaccinated people to drunk driver. He said this. It's like drunk drivers, you don't have the right to go out and drink and drive and put everybody else at risk including your own life.
Well, you are basically telling that vaccines don't work. If everybody is at risk because there is one person who is unvaccinated out there spreading the disease, that basically says don't get the shot. Shut the hell up.
PERINO: That was a much better analogy than Brian's in the a-block.
GUTFELD: Yes. And he is a sports guy.
PERINO: As the analogy judge --
GUTFELD: That's pretty embarrassing, Brian.
PERINO: I mean, the ex-girlfriend whose live went down in flames after she broke up with them.
GUTFELD: Yes.
KILMEADE: I actually, I still hold (Inaudible). I like to play in both back at the end. That will be my one more thing and let people be the judge.
PERINO: All right. Up next --
GUTFELD: You should do an analogy (Inaudible) --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: -- Texas Democrats now asking supporters to send their run away lawmakers care packages.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KILMEADE: All right. The Dallas Democratic Party is getting ridiculed online for a very good reason. They ask people to put together care packages for Texas lawmakers who fled the state for D.C. rather than work with Republicans on voting reform. Some of the items the Dems think can only be found in Texas include, Dr. Pepper, salsa, hard candy, hair spray, toiletries and sanitizers and sewing kits, sewing kits. But that's not all. One Texas state rep has been making an outrageous claim about Governor Greg Abbott.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JARVIS JOHNSON (D), MEMBER, MEMBER OF THE TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: The governor put out the call and he said that he was going to round us up and corral us up and bring us back. My son drives my car which has state plates. And I just don't want some real cop or some fanatic of the Republican Party that listens to Governor Abbott as they say they need to bring us back because we are fugitives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: Wow, this is so poorly played over the last two weeks. Can anyone play this game? Dana, what's going on? How does Texas -- how do these Texas Democrats plan on winning over the American public between the COVID-19, and now their desperate plea for basic goods?
PERINO: It's hard to imagine a publicity stunt ever going worse than this one.
KILMEADE: It's terrible.
PERINO: This is the -- they are the TicTok Texas Democrats. They got on a plane without a plan --
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: They're completely ineffective. And then they had to ask for hairspray? I mean, that is something. I mean, I kudos to the Texas democrats who tweeted that they needed hairspray. Here's the thing. These people are still getting --
KILMEADE: And salsa.
PERINO: Well, you know what? Actually, they have a point about the salsa in D.C.
KILMEADE: Right?
PERINO: Not good, except for one place, La Lomita Dos 13, Pennsylvania southeast, amazing. But wait, no, I will tell you this.
GUTFELD: What?
PERINO: Do you realize that they're getting $221 per day per diem from the taxpayers. So, if you are somebody who's going to put together a care package for these people, think about the homeless in your area, the people who are going to a food bank in your area. Do not send one thing to these TikTok Texas Democrats.
KILMEADE: Do you know who's running this, Richard? It looks like Beto O'Rourke is running this. He's their coach. He keeps Zoom calling. He says demand President Biden to get on a Zoom call with you. That's kind of scary. Your quarterback stands on countertops.
FOWLER: Listen, I can't speak to better O'Rourke or the Texas Democrats, but I will talk about the issue that they're fighting for because I think it's an important issue that serves --
KILMEADE: Salsa?
FOWLER: No, voting rights.
GUTFELD: (INAUDIBLE)
FOWLER: Look, I think we do -- and listen, the John -- the john -- the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which is the Voting Rights Act that we pass in this country from 1965 onwards, every president whether they were Democrats or Republicans, I'm pretty sure Dana worked on that bill when George Bush was president, right? And it's something that every party -- every party has signed this bill. Why we can't get it done in this Congress is beyond me. And why Mitch McConnell is standing in the way of this bill, which something that is the foundation of this country.
KILMEADE: You mean, not For the People Act?
FOWLER: I'm talking about the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
GUTFELD: What's different then? Tell us what's different.
FOWLER: The John -- the John --
GUTFELD: You know what's different.
FOWLER: What's wrong with the John Lewis Voting Rights Act?
GUTFELD: No, no, no. You know, what's different. There's something different about this bill, right?
FOWLER: No. No, there's nothing different.
GUTFELD: Yes, there is. Go take a look.
FOWLER: No.
GUTFELD: We had the same conversation last week.
FOWLER: Yes. And I'll continue to have this conversation until we pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, because the idea that states that have a history of voter suppression, have a history of voting rights disenfranchisement. And what the John Lewis Voting Rights Act says that these states should have preclearance in the Justice Department, whether the Democratic Justice Department or Republican Justice Department on how their voting laws pass.
KILMEADE: All right.
FOWLER: They should be basic and fundamental.
GUTFELD: Well, why is -- why do you think it's not being passed? I'm just curious.
FOWLER: I don't know. You should ask Mitch McConnell, because I don't know.
GUTFELD: I don't have his phone number. But I would assume you would have the answer because you keep bringing this up. But you don't know why.
FOWLER: Because we cannot get Republicans to vote on this.
GUTFELD: Why?
FOWLER: They voted on an every presidency before. You should ask them.
GUTFELD: What's different. That's my point. I just -- anyway, I'm delivering the point.
KILMEAD: Dagen is 20 -- this is some of the things that they're in hibernation for. 24-hour voting, since when you go 24-hour voting? Almost no state or county has that. Drive through voting, since when you want to be in a car? It's supposed to be private voting. Why do you want to have pressure from the backseat to vote in certain way?
PERINO: And that was for social distancing.
KILMEADE: Yes. And that was for social distancing. They do two weekends a year, 13 days early voting. They've expanded the actual hours of voting. They demanded to give you a day off for the voting. What's the problem here?
DAGEN MCDOWELL, FOX NEWS CHANNEL ANCHOR: There is no problem. Like -- oh, you don't -- like in middle of the night voting, drive through voting, there aren't --
KILMEADE: (INAUDIBLE) regular voting booths.
MCDOWELL: Right, that doesn't disenfranchise individuals if you don't have 24-hour drive and voting period.
FOWLER: You'll also --
MCDOWELL: Let me --
FOWLER: Go ahead.
MCDOWELL: OK, I've got the floor. These Texas Democrats are doing nobody any favors. I did some research and tried to figure out the last time that people after taking a private jet flight halfway across the country, requested care packages, even though they were making money. I'll just end with this to give Greg the floor in the words of Livia Soprano, poor you
KILMEADE: Really? Which episode was that? I don't remember --
MCDOWELL: There's a lot of them.
KILMEADE: OK.
GUTFELD: I think --
MCDOWELL: I have no -- I just have no sympathy at all for these --
GUTFELD: If I were --
KILMEADE: They didn't gameplan this out.
GUTFELD: If I were a real jerk, I would find out -- and it's probably very easy to find out the addresses for the care package and send I don't care packages, and just be --
KILMEADE: Empty.
GUTFELD: And just be creative. It could be empty. It could be filled with something fun and cheeky and clever. But I would never tell people to do that. But I'm sure it's very easy to find the address and send an I don't care package them. It's oddly very specific. Dr. Pepper, why Dr. Pepper? It's ironic given the fact that they didn't listen to their doctors to begin with --
KILMEADE: Oh, very good.
GUTFELD: -- and spread COVID. And then you got the hard candy and hairspray? It sounds like a scavenger hunt for a carnival sex worker.
KILMEADE: Absolutely.
GUTFELD: Not that I would know.
KILMEADE: Not that anybody would know.
MCDOWELL: Well, somebody -- or who -- no, I'm not going to even say this out loud because it'll get taken out of context.
KILMEADE: They're going to be doing this for another two weeks, Dagen.
MCDOWELL: But I do -- I do have some ideas for what could possibly go in the care package. I can't share it though.
KILMEADE: OK.
GUTFELD: You don't set it on fire.
KILMEADE: Right, absolutely.
MCDOWELL: No today.
KILMEADE: 26 minutes before the top of the hour. Coming up next --
GUTFELD: Did you really say that? This is not "FOX AND FRIENDS."
KILMEADE: Can I finish?
GUTFELD: No.
KILMEADE: Environmental justice, radical Democrats want you for their Civilian Climate Corps and waiting to hear the staggering price tag. You're not going to believe it. At least I hope you're not going to believe it because that's what I said.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOWLER: Democrats are pushing for a taxpayer-funded climate corps. The $70 billion Civilian Climate Corp Bill aims to put young people back to work creating government jobs, conserving public lands and investing in climate resiliency. But progressives pushing the bill have already shown what they really want the program to do.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): We all have a moral calling to transform the relationship between our environment and the economy into a mutually beneficial one where we put people to work in well-paying union jobs in service of our planet. I'm excited about the idea of the climate -- the Civilian Climate Corps that connects environmental justice with economic and racial justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOWLER: Now, there are multiple of these -- there's multiple bills moving around, but this one has a $70 billion price tag. But Biden -- the Biden White House has another bill moving that is a $10 billion price tag very similar to this. Now, all of these ideas came from a program created by FDR after the -- after the Great Depression, which built 100,000 roads and bridges, 318,000 dams, also string pipelines and telephone poles, and etcetera. It was a program that helped build the country.
PERINO: The River Walk in San Antonio.
FOWLER: There you go, Dana.
GUTFELD: River Walk is overrated. Wait, what does that have to do with this, though?
FOWLER: Because they're trying to revive a program that once --
GUTFELD: That's not what she was talking about. She didn't say any of that.
FOWLER: I'm not saying I agree with her particular program. I'm saying that there are -- there's -- the Biden -- the Biden White House is pushing a program that has a smaller price tag that would actually help the country and benefit the fact that, you know, there's a high unemployment amongst young people. But Dana, what's your take on this?
PERINO: Well, I think that the longer the infrastructure bill hangs out there, and it's really hanging out there now. It looks like today --
KILMEADE: The bipartisan one?
PERINO: Yes, the not so bipartisan at this point, and they're --it's having trouble. The longer it hangs out there, the more difficult it is for the Biden team to actually get it done when things like this are going to get attached to it.
So, one of the things that they say is they'll say, well, this is environmental justice. And then, so how can you be against -- how can you be against that?
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: Are you not for the environment? Are you not for justice? They want to spend the $70 billion. It's extremely vague. If you read the language in the bill, it's like, we're just going to create these jobs, and they're going to be union jobs, and everything's going to be great.
GUTFELD: (INAUDIBLE)
PERINO: Like, so what is actually are going to be able to do, I am not against the country deciding to do things like shoring up subway systems or infrastructure programs because if we do have rising seas, or we have problems with -- additional problems with extreme weather as this thing goes on, then you could actually pay for things like that.
But just promising green jobs, that's like it's not -- it's -- one it won't work, and also, the American people have said over and over again, they don't want to pay for it. I believe there's a Pew study, 75 percent of Americans when they're asked, do you want to pay for things like this, say no.
FOWLER: So, Brian, is there some middle ground here? I mean, Dana's point - - there could be potential for some middle ground.
KILMEADE: I think it's the greening of this bill -- I think we got two bills, the infrastructure bill that we were supposed to see today, it doesn't look it's going to -- we're going to see today, something over transit. And the other one, which is going to be everything Democrats want.
So, I heard about this climate -- the Civilian Climate Corps, and I always want to what is that -- what exactly is it? So, President Biden saw it and he goes, I say, $10 billion. I go, OK, what's that going to be? Then I was stunned to see that AOC and company want 132 billion. What are you going to get for $132 billion? Can you please put something underneath the check and tell me what exactly you're going to do?
GUTFELD: Yes, you know, she said in service of our planet, but it's in service of the radical left. I don't even think Democrats are for this. There used to be so much more clever about this. But it's so obvious what this is. It's like the theory of everything. They want to connect climate to economic inequality to race. And why, because then there would only be one solution for all of that, and it would be their solution, right? And that would be taking trillions from taxpayers to fund their radical policies.
That's how -- that's all this is about. That's why it's intentionally vague. But they probably could address it up a little bit. So, they sat -- they're more than willing -- oh, by the way, no mention of crime in that. Why couldn't they put the crime in the theory of everything, right? But they left that out because they know that they are tied to that. They're responsible for the crime epidemic.
So, the rather sacrifice the lives of minorities and elderly trapped in their cities who can't leave to go to their second homes to pour all the money in this total left-wing boondoggle. And I don't use the word boondoggle lightly.
PERINO: It's a big word.
GUTFELD: It is.
PERINO: That's a big word.
KILMEADE: I think you do though. I think you use it lightly. I think you use it a lot.
GUTFELD: I do.
KILMEADE: You overused boondoggle.
FOWLER: I agree with that. That sounded like a boondoggle through his (INAUDIBLE) but Dagen?
KILMEADE: Yes, it did.
GUTFELD: No, it made sense.
MCDOWELL: I just find it astonishing that they want to take money from taxpayers and then use our money to take our rights away and tell us what kind of automobile to drive and impose fines if we don't bend to their will. This is hiring potentially a few million socialists. Oh, do you get a Castro cap or Guevara beret?
I make a joke, but this is incredibly dangerous and frightening what they're talking about. This is, you know, this is out there. There was a bill that was introduced by Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley and four other Democrats to take away gasoline-powered vehicles in this country. That mandate that you have to buy -- mandate 100 percent cars sold by 2035 would be electric. Do you know what that would do? Without government subsidies, these cars are exceedingly expensive. Do you know what that would do to people who actually have to commute to work?
KILMEADE: Right.
MCDOWELL: And Kamala Harris proposed the exact same thing that she was campaigning.
KILMEADE: We're going to get more coal for the power plants to charge the cars.
MCDOWELL: So, it's -- this is extremely -- it's an army of socialist. I guess they can't watch the news and see what's going on in Cuba.
KILMEADE: It's going to be in the reconciliation package.
FOWLER: I'm not sure if that's going to be in the reconciliation package. I think that what --
PERINO: The $10 billion might.
FOWLER: Yes, I think -- but I think the $10 billion proposal put out by Joe Biden is one that would actually put young people back to work, many of them from inner cities who don't have jobs, in this -- in the country fixing up a lot of the roads that need to be fixed already. That was Biden talks about.
GUTFELD: You know, the young people make up I think the largest percentage of people who are working right now.
FOWLER: But they also have -- they still have high unemployment rate.
GUTFELD: Because everybody else is sitting home.
FOWLER: They still have high unemployment rate. And also (INAUDIBLE) is already down so --
GUTFELD: Don't it to other groups.
FOWLER: Ahead, Americans are glued to their phones more than ever. Why are they doing this? We'll find out why we can't survive a day without being glued to our screens.
KILMEADE: I recognize those.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MCDOWELL: How glued are we to our devices exactly? A whopping 73 percent of adults say they can't imagine going a full day without looking at a screen, which is terrible news for eyesight. Dry eye, Greg.
GUTFELD: Yes.
MCDOWELL: Do you have dry eye?
GUTFELD: Yes, I have a lot of problems. I won't get into it here. But if you see this as a separate entity, then it does seem kind of weird. But if you reframe it and see it as part of you, because really, it is part of you -- we now have two brains, right? We got the one up here, and then we got the one in our hand. So, it's like -- it's almost like a shiny lamb that can think for itself.
And so, you have -- you have all the information in the world and the history of the world in the palm of your hand. That's why we can't think without it.
PERINO: And all that knowledge and all I do is look at dog videos.
KILMEADE: Right.
MCDOWELL: But is it like a crutch? Is it crutch where it makes you less smart?
PERINO: So, you know how I found out about this segment? Because I was reading my phone while I was walking and I tripped. As I was reading with the segments we're going to be today, I was like, I must be addicted to my phone. I'm one of those people. But I was very proud of myself last week. When I was off, my little weekly screen things said I was down 18 percent. That's pretty good.
KILMEADE: I'm actually affected more. You wonder why your eyes are dry?
GUTFELD: Why?
KILMEADE: Because you normally blink 20 times per minute. When you're on a screen, it's only three times per minute. That's why it just -- all I ask from you is to blink. And number two is I have a question for myself, if you guys -- how much would I look at this if we didn't need it for work? Like, I don't know -- I don't look at this for fun. I look at it just to keep up. It does save time. We want to ridicule this, but it does save a lot of time, don't you agree?
PERINO: Do you want me to show you how to look at dog videos?
KILMEADE: Well, I have my own dog video. It lives in my house.
GUTFELD: People dressed up as dogs. It's very, very --
FOWLER: Listen, I have a cat, so I look at cat videos. I'm also the youngest person at the table, so I was raised with this.
PERINO: How dare you?
FOWLER: I have one, two, three screens.
PERINO: Multitasking.
MCDOWELL: I'll take one screen, a TV. I can't do without them.
KILMEADE: No one puts it on in this -- the 20-something generation.
FOWLER: I got TVs too.
KILMEADE: DO you?
MCDOWELL: Your TV is actually a smart device too.
PERINO: It's just a big iPhone.
FOWLER: My TV is also a smart device. "ONE MORE THING" up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: "ONE MORE THING." I get to go first. Let's do this, America.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: It's Greg's international, global, amazing, awesome National Josh Groban Appreciation Week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: On the heels of the global phenomenon National Flattery Week which took the world by storm, we're now doing Josh Groban Appreciation Week. Let's go to the map shall we and see how it's going so far. It's only been a day. You can see the pro-Josh Groban factions growing in most of the country, but we've got some red anti-Josh Groban holdouts in North Dakota or getting caught rather.
KILMEADE: How much are you going to be doing this?
GUTFELD: The neutral zone if you can tell is down in the south. Not too hard on Josh Groban, but we're going to change that. Alaska is still maintaining strong dedication to him. Some Josh Groban facts. You know, he defies characterization, Dana.
PERINO: Oh, wow.
GUTFELD: Yes. And he often sings in Italian, which is a language, Brian. And his middle name is Winslow. We'll be doing this all week, Josh Groban.
PERINO: How will you persuade Colorado?
GUTFELD: I don't know. You know what? If they don't understand Josh Groban, that's on them. Dana, you're up.
PERINO: All right, great. How about Dana's crazy tricks? Here we go.
GUTFELD: I hope this is with an animal.
PERINO: It is. Well, no, not really. It's a human.
GUTFELD: OK.
PERINO: OK, Tom Brady, did you check this out? He's taken the internet by storm, breaking the internet. OK, real or a trick? Do you guys think that this is real when he throws that ball and then he could --
KILMEADE: I think it's real. It's got to be real.
PERINO: You think it's real?
KILMEADE: Yes.
GUTFELD: It's what's he's doing. That's what he does for a living.
FOWLER: Yes, that's real.
KILMEADE: Yes, that's what he usually throws. That's throws. That's -- that is just --
PERINO: I don't know. I think -- anyway, I thought that was kind of cool.
GUTFELD: Did you know that him and I went to the same high school?
PERINO: I did. I did. Also, in case you get tired of going to Greg's book events with Tom Shillue, Brian and I are going to do one. We did one last - - when did we do that, March, April down in Florida?
KILMEADE: In Jacksonville.
PERINO: So, this is going to be in Asbury Park, New Jersey. This is where Greg Gutfeld did an event there.
GUTFELD: It was a great place.
PERINO: Paramount Theater, September 25, two months from today. You can get tickets at BrianKilmeade.com or even Ticketmaster.
KILMEADE: Yes. You can get there. It's going to be fun. It's going to be laughter and liberty. It's going to be mixed.
GUTFELD: Laughter, liberty, and love.
KILMEADE: Right.
PERINO: Who gets to bring their dogs?
KILMEADE: You know, it's so crazy I've never seen Greg jealous and this is the first time --
PERINO: I don't think he's jealous. He's happy.
KILMEADE: I think he's a little bit.
GUTFELD: Brian, you know what, the more you talk, the less time these people have.
KILMEADE: So, this is amazing. So, while the -- while at the Olympics, while the U.S. was losing to France at halftime --
PERINO: Oh, France.
KILMEADE: This 6-10 robot came out.
GUTFELD: You stole my show.
KILMEADE: This is CUE. There's three versions of CUE, one, two, and three.
PERINO: His name is CUE? Are you kidding me?
KILMEADE: You dotn know what it is. I find this absolutely crazy. He does not miss. Then he goes deep into three-point land, then he hits a shot from half-court. People didn't know whether the cheer or not because it's hard to believe that this is happening. Where do we get the technology for this? And why do we waste it on basketball players? We already have people that big -- shots like that. Let's work on some other war-type device to beat China.
PERINO: Wow, you're upset?
(CROSSTALK)
FOWLER: It's called artificial intelligence.
GUTFELD: Yes. It's like you just discovered robot. He's like, where did this come from? It's a robot.
KILMEADE: It's a Roomba.
GUTFELD: Dagen? It's a Roomba.
MCDOWELL: I know you're asking, how should I eat a blueberry? Well, cuddles will show you. Cuddles is a rescued opossum. This comes via the Wild Bird Fund here in New York City. They rescue mostly birds that are injured. He was injured. He was caught in a rat trap. He's in the hands of an experienced opossumist. Now, I love opossums. They're marsupials.
PERINO: You do?
MCDOWELL: Yes. They eat ticks. They don't get rabies. And they're all around awesome animals. The only marsupial that lives in the United States.
GUTFELD: You got 20 seconds.
FOWLER: All right, let's do it. Tony Carter has been playing the piano for 13 years and he used -- now, you listen, she has kidney disease and this amazing motivational speaker Carlos Whitaker saw her, posted on his Instagram and raised her $70,000.
GUTFELD: Very good. It's very good. All right, that's it for us. "SPECIAL REPORT" is up next. Hey, Bret.
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