White House defends Olympian who turned her back on the flag
Fox News host Jesse Watters says he's going to change the channel when Gwen Berry is competing on 'The Five'
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," June 28, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Dana Perimo (Ph) -- Perino. Monday! Monday. I'm on TV there. I'm Dana Perino with Katie Pavlich, Gerald Ford, Jr., Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld. It's five o'clock in New York City, and this is THE FIVE.
A crime wave plaguing major cities but a well-known Democrat says concerns about it our being overblown. Murder show -- shootings and other crimes are spiking the ball across our country and are highlighted by scenes like this in New York City where a 21-year-old man, he was a marine, shot in broad daylight in Times Square.
A manhunt under way for that suspect and police are flooding the area where it happened with more cops, but Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says concerns about rising crime are being exaggerated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): We are seeing these headlines about percentage increases. Now I want to say that any amount of harm is unacceptable and too much, but I also want to make sure that this hysteria, you know, this doesn't drive a hysteria and that you look at these numbers in context so that we can make responsible decisions about what to allocate in that context.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: And as crime appears to becoming a political liability the White House is now pointing a finger at - get this - Republicans, claiming that they support defunding the police by voting against President Biden's stimulus package.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CEDRIC RICHMOND, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER: Let's talk about who defunded the police. When we were in Congress last year trying to pass a rescue plan -- I'm sorry -- not the rescue plan, but an emergency relief plan for cities that were cash-strapped and laying off police and firefighters, it was the Republicans who objected to it.
So, look, Republicans are very good at staying on talking points of who says defund the police but the truth is, they defunded the police.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO (on camera): OK. More on Mr. Richmond's comments in a moment. Greg, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says do not go hysterical, do not -- doesn't want this to become a big problem.
GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: One thing I like about her she's as predictable as the champagne hangover. Didn't we talk about this last week? That like, the playbook always is it's never the crime or the injustice, it's how you respond to it, that's the real story because they can't defend the actual crime itself so they wait for you to, in their terms, exaggerated.
It's an interesting the sensibility if she was consistent about her own beliefs and her own actions because you can argue that her reaction to the Amazon with company moving to New York was a bit out of the ordinary. I mean, she literally went crazy over Amazon and Amazon did not move to New York.
When she talks about looters and arsonists, she is -- the response to defending them is also very, very strange. I think that when you're talking about crime, we have to go further than just saying, OK, somebody got shot here and somebody got shot here. Because we've been doing that for a while and nobody cares.
We got to show how the nature of this stuff has changed. The stuff that we are showing is now happening in broad daylight.
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: It's been happening in broad daylight for the last seven or eight months. That's the trend. It never happened and it happens now in previously safe and well, people, neighborhoods like Times Square, that's new. The statistics are absurd. Stores are closing and people are moving. And I think that we -- that has a package has to be shown.
Because every time you say that this crime happened or that crime happened, people -- people I know were like it hasn't happened to me yet. I haven't - - I haven't seen it. The Don Lemon school of, but I just went to dinner outside and it was great. And he didn't really care when it was affecting Biden's chances for election.
PERINO: The other thing is this idea that the Republicans are the one who defunded the police. I'm like, Jesse, do they really want to litigate that? Because --
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Yes.
PERINO: I think there's some tape for you to find.
KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.
WATTERS: The Democrats had a whole year, Dana, of coming up with a response to defund the police and their response was it wasn't us, it was you. That's all they came up with in a full year and he says, yes, well there were cities that were laying off police departments.
There are not one city that laid off police in the last year. I couldn't find one. And then now we actually have on the record about two dozen Democrat city councils vote to defund the police, the mayor slaps his John Hancock on it and crime rose so where is the Washington Post with Pinocchio's? Where are the Pinocchio's, Washington Post?
Then AOC says something that drives me crazy. She says we have to look at the context. Now when someone says we have to look at the context, that's just a ruse for simpleminded people. When simpleminded people hear our leaders say there's context, they say there's context and that works.
Later she said she doesn't even say what the context is but we assume the context is --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: But there's context.
WATTERS: -- crime was worse in the 80s. So what? What does that do to a mom who just lost a son?
PAVLICH: Right.
WATTERS: If AOC tells that mom who is burying her son, you know what, crime was worse in the '80s, don't be hysterical. You got to be kidding me. She is burying her son. You are going to tell her don't be hysterical? A mom like that wants to hear this is how we are going to stop crime in the future. Your son did not die in vain. This is why it's happening, and we are going to make the streets safer.
Imagine someone just gets assassinated, Dana, and I come out and I say hey, let's not get hysterical, political assassinations were in much bigger in the 60s, there's context here. I'd be laughed out of the room.
So, in the Bronx where she represents, I have some context, homicides are up 50 percent. Rapes up 10 percent, shootings are up 80 percent and that video we showed of that guy laying off lead in broad daylight, kids scrambling across the cement that was in the Bronx. She doesn't want to talk about that, though, she wants to talk about context.
PERINO: Context. OK. So, Harold, the strategy from the White House seems to be we don't have a new policy except for the gun policy that the president announced last week. There's no effort to show greater support for police, no commitment to reducing crime, it's like, it's just sort of like, actually, it's your fault. But if you are in government, do you like run to the problems rather than running away from them?
HAROLD FORD, JR., FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Look, politics is politics and everybody is going to try to put their spin on it. I think the most important statement about crime and politics in New York City is what happened in the mayor's race a week ago --
PERINO: Yes.
FORD: -- when you had a Democrat that came out first, it was the one Democrat who didn't call for defunding the police. If you look at two of the top three which make up almost -- more than 50 percent of the vote. They are against defunding the police.
Pelosi and Schumer are going to bring bills to the floor that defund the police. And frankly, no serious mayor or police chief I think the most important authoritative police chief in my generation in my life has been Bill Bratton. He's got a great book second only to Jesse's book called "The Profession" --
WATTERS: Thank you.
FORD: -- which he talks about slashing crime, professionalizing police forces and giving the vocation of being a cop something elevating in the minds of people and making clear that trust between communities and cops is how you get this done.
Look, I don't defend AOC's comments, there is no context in death or to those kinds of crimes, but you have to understand the kinds of things we have to do. I don't belittle what Biden did last week trying to find the source of these ghost guns. When you see kids unable to get a healthy lunch, a good book, a dental visit and a neighborhood that can find a firearm, I'm not against the second amendment but what I am against is kids and others who wouldn't be able to go into a gun show, going to a gun store and buy gun, finding their hands on weapon after weapon after weapon, that has to be a part of how we fight crime.
PAVLICH: It's already illegal but, it's already illegal to buy --
FORD: It's not --
PAVLICH: It's already illegal a gun and then transfer it to someone who is not allowed to have one no matter what state you're in.
FORD: Right. So, we should --
(CROSSTALK)
PAVLICH: So that's already a federal crime.
FORD: Right. But we should increase the funding to go after those people as well --
PAVLICH: Sure.
FORD: -- because something doesn't makes --
(CROSSTALK)
PAVLICH: Sure. But if criminals don't think that they're going to be prosecuted locally, then they are going to continue to commit crimes. You know that the White House is losing on this when it comes to polling and public perception of how they're handling it because of the insane gaslighting they are engaging in to now accuse Republicans of being the ones who are responsible for police departments across the country of losing retire -- you know, police retirement and having nobody new sign up.
This is an ideology that is pervasive on the left. The defund the police movement is pervasive in cities across the country. When you look at the chart of the cities, Portland, Baltimore, Chicago, L.A., New York, they all have D.A.'s who are not interested in putting criminals behind bars, they're interested in having a conversation and wondering why these things are happening.
And so if you're not going to put bad guys behind bars, police are arresting the same people over and over again which completely destroys their morale because every day they're like, look, I'm up against guys in Times Square who are shooting people randomly and you keep putting them back on the streets which not only endangers me, but endangers the community that I am trying to protect and they have no interest in doing that.
And when she wants to talk about AOC context, the context is exactly that. You have beaten down police departments across the country to the point where they have no ability to do their jobs, they're arresting the same criminals over and over again and there are real victims behind these crimes, hundreds of them.
If you remember during the Trump administration Operation Legend, that was a federal program where local jurisdictions work with federal government to solve crimes like four-year-olds getting killed in their beds at night. I'd like to hear more about that than ghost guns which aren't what these criminals are using anyway in these crimes and focusing on victims rather than propping up criminals in a lot of the circumstances.
GUTFELD: If AOC also cared about the criminals she should be, like, if you look at the shooting in Times Square from a couple of weeks ago where the guy hid behind the kids, --
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: -- he was out on a weapons charge.
PAVLICH: Right.
GUTFELD: So, it's like, if she cares about the -- if he was behind bars, he wouldn't be -- he would have been shot.
PAVLICH: Yes.
GUTFELD: So, you actually protect the suspects too if you keep them in jail.
PERINO: For context.
GUTFELD: Both the shooter and the guy being shot were both out of jail for previous -- one was a nice mugging, --
PAVLICH: Right.
GUTFELD: -- the other one was a weapons charge.
PAVLICH: Yes. And I mean, look, proponents of the second amendment always said enforce the laws on the books, stop trying to add onto things that we are not enforcing in the first place and there are plenty examples of that in the recent crime surge.
PERINO: Well, we've your context right here.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: It's come right here to THE FIVE.
GUTFELD: Good job, Debbie.
PERINO: Thank you. A U.S. Olympian causing controversy by turning her back on the flag and the White House just defended her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAVLICH (on camera): Olympic hammer thrower Gwen Berry sparking serious uproar for turning her back on the American flag during a middle ceremony at the U.S. track and field trials. She then covered her head with a t- shirt that said activist athlete. Berry claims organizers should have played it before she got on the podium and that she was the victim of a set up.
She says the anthem does not speak for her and that she represents the people killed by systematic or systemic racism. And Berry is defiant and she's refusing to back away from what she did and the White House is backing the athlete.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I know he's incredibly proud to be an American and has great respect for the anthem and all that it represents especially for our men and women serving in uniform all around the world. He would also say of course that part of that pride in our country means recognizing there are moments where we are as a country haven't lived up to our highest ideals and it means respecting the right of people granted to them in the Constitution to peacefully protest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAVLICH: So Jesse, the question from Peter Doocy was not about whether she had the right to do what she did. It was whether it was appropriate given her position as someone who wants to represent team USA at the Olympics. Big difference.
WATTERS: What do they -- they call that a lay-up, right, Dana? She tried to both sides disrespecting the anthem. If I was on the committee for the Olympics squad, I would sanction her not for the display of disrespect, I would do it for poor sportsmanship, she was third.
PERINO: Right.
PAVLICH: Right.
WATTERS: The other two women who had the gold and the silver that was their moment.
GUTFELD: I could point --
WATTERS: And that was the country's moment to reflect on a great event and instead, she poisoned the chemistry of the female track and field squad and she made it all about herself. She drew attention from them and from the country to herself and it was negative attention. No one is talking about systemic racism after we see this. We are talking about her --
PAVLICH: Right.
WATTERS: -- and the disrespect and the probable -- I don't think she knows that much about what she was doing up there. She doesn't have a long record of -- of writings with regard to systemic racism in this country. It was a symbolic act that was vacuous in my opinion. Hammer throwing is a beautiful sport.
GUTFELD: It is.
WATTERS: I dialed in on YouTube today, Gutfeld, and I was there for at least 40 minutes. It is graceful, there's power, there's precision and timing and she just took it from a positive and made it negative. If this country is so racist, why do you want to represent a racist country to the world?
PAVLICH: Yes.
WATTERS: And why do you want to reap the benefits of this racist country and then get up there, placed third, and then spit in our face. She can throw hammers. I'll change the channel. Click when she is on ever again and I think the rest of the country feels the same way. It's just another event that liberals ruin.
PAVLICH: I'm really glad that you mention the winner and the second place. The winner was DeAnna -- DeAnna Price and second place finisher was Brooke Andersen because they did get that taken away --
WATTERS: Yes.
PAVLICH: -- from them, Dana
PERINO: Well, so DeAnna Price actually destroyed the hammer throw record.
WATTERS: Yes.
PERINO: And she should be our lead.
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: I'm so excited because, I don't know if you've seen any of the Olympic trials, our athletes are really good. And America is going to kick some rear end at the Olympics.
GUTFELD: Watch your mouth, young lady.
PERINO: That's the best thing about the Olympics. Like, I will watch America against anyone. That I'll even watch table tennis. If America is going to be its friends (Ph) --
(CROSSTALK)
PAVLICH: It's true.
PERINO: -- in table tennis, I am totally there for that. I will watch hammer throwing. DeAnna Price deserves a lot more attention, there are so many patriotic athletes that are out there and some of these athletes young people or athletes if they are going to take a stand and exercise their right, fine. But then, you know, everyone else has a right to react and have their own feelings about it.
PAVLICH: And Harold, I think that's the big question. You know, if she wants to represent team USA ironically in Beijing which is part of a communist country that is, you know, engaged in genocide against people who for generations has sterilized women and enforce them only to have one child.
I mean, this idea that she is signing up for a job to represent the United States but doesn't want to be on the podium when the national anthem for the country plays, I think that's what's difficult for people to really come to terms with and except given she is signing up for that role.
FORD: No doubt about it. She didn't -- I don't think she announced her support for China so I don't -- I hear you and I hope she doesn't go over there. I don't suspect she will do that. You know, I've always been taught to honor the flag and the anthem and I do and I have, but dissent can co- exist in a country.
We still expand our patriotism and honor the symbols of our society. We shouldn't assassinate someone's character because we disagree with them -- and that's what cancel culture. They try to censor people. Now, I do think you do raise a legitimate question around, do you feel strongly enough about the country to go and represent us in the Olympics. And I think that's the question I'd love to hear her answer.
I have no issue with her saying that I want the country to live up more to all of the country promises to be there for their citizens and we are striving every day to be a more perfect union. But I do think that's the one question that perhaps this athlete will have to answer.
And if the Olympics wants every athlete to stand during all of this and to not -- they should make that a rule.
PERINO: Yes.
FORD: And it's my understanding when you are throwing a hammer, they don't ask you what your position is on the national anthem, they want to see how far you can throw that thing.
PAVLICH: Yes.
FORD: So, if she can win a medal, you know, we'll probably won't feel as strong about this as --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: I also want to make -- I would also ask them about their aim. like how good is your aim because where am I standing when the hammer is being thrown?
PAVLICH: That's a good question, Dana.
FORD: I'm going to watch it from the television.
PAVLICH: But Greg, this is, you know, when she put that t-shirt on that says activist athlete, she's replacing her uniform which she's trying to -- because the uniform she's going to wear if she makes that, she's going to be, you know, the USA. And so, she is making it all about herself rather than about the team which that's not what teamwork is about.
GUTFELD: It makes you wonder who the real tool is. We'll be right back. You know, she -- the best part about this is that she believes that the anthem was played deliberately at a specific time to set her up.
PAVLICH: Yes.
GUTFELD: That's a persecution complex. You're seeing the persecution complex arise in a lot of arenas and I really do believe it is coming from a white leftist condescension towards blacks that indulges a complex so they can be -- they can engage their savior complex. Like if you feel persecuted, then I can be your savior. But if you don't feel persecuted, what's the white leftist to do?
So, this is, I'm trying to figure out where this comes from and I think that's -- and it's almost like the Carly Simon song, you know, she actually thought that song was about her, she is so vain, but I have a solution. You are going to love this solution that I came up with this morning. I'm so excited.
We need -- we need an Olympics for activism. Think about how big this would be. People competing in various events, signage, chants, marches symbolism in every virtue signaling corporation that you know, would back this to the hill. And you could pick causes. You could do gay rights. You could do Black Lives Matter.
The advertisers would wet themselves because they wouldn't be canceled, they could put all this money in it and then you take that whole thing. The Olympics for activism and put it somewhere else but people can watch it, people can enjoy it and everything is great.
PERINO: Hey, who gets to be the judge?
GUTFELD: I don't know. Me?
PERINO: At the Olympics. Yes, exactly.
GUTFELD: No, I don't, you know what, there are no judges.
(CROSSTALK)
PAVLICH: LeBron James, Don Lemon.
GUTFELD: Because mathematics --
PERINO: There's not going to be a winner?
GUTFELD: -- is patriarchal. I don't know. I I haven't thought that far in advance.
(CROSSTALK)
PAVLICH: I think you're -- I mean, --
GUTFELD: Don't ruin my idea.
PERINO: No, it's a great idea.
PAVLICH: I think Greg is describing a college campus. Maybe many of them.
GUTFELD: Pretty close.
PAVLICH: pretty close. All right, up ahead, were major red flags missed? Shocking new details on the Miami condo collapse as the search for survivors continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS (on camera): Serious red flags could have been missed in the Surfside, Florida condo collapse as the death toll rises to 10 people and over 150 people are still missing, we are learning there were warnings of serious structural damage three years ago. And the building reportedly needed millions and immediate repairs.
Phil Keating live on the scene in Surfside. Phil?
PHIL KEATING, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Jesse, everything is being investigated, every piece of evidence that comes out, but the county mayor did specify and reiterated today the number one priority right now is the search and rescue operation. What's left of the Champlain Tower South is this brown building behind me, the rest of it about half of the structure that collapsed early Thursday morning is on the other side and that is where the search and rescue operation is happening. It is massive, intense, and around the clock.
News this morning, one more body recovered today on top of the four bodies found Sunday, bringing the confirmed death total to 10, none of them identified with 151 people still unaccounted for. Everyone is well aware that the window of survivability is shrinking by the hour and the day. The last survivor pulled out alive that was on Thursday morning, a boy just shortly after the building collapsed. His mother did not survive the collapse.
Over the weekend, the city of Surfside released a report by a structural engineer from 2018, just three years ago, who inspected the building and warned of, quote, "major structural damage that must be addressed. Cracks in the concrete, support columns and a major design flaw in that the underground parking garage was not poured in a way to properly allow rain water to drain."
That red flag absolutely will be explored further and the Champlain Tower South sister building which was built at roughly the same time and a few blocks away that will be thoroughly inspected tomorrow here in Surfside. Residents there have not been told to evacuate but if they do voluntarily, the city of Surfside will find them hotel rooms.
As for President Biden coming to Surfside to see this tragedy himself, as of now, there are no plans to do that. The White House is concerned that the massive presidential motorcade would really get in the way of the search and rescue and the hunt for survivors that is still going on round the clock two shifts, midnight to noon, noon to midnight.
And there are eight total urban search and rescue teams in the state of Florida. They have all been brought here to search site. Jesse.
WATTERS: Thanks, Phil. All right, so Dana, poorly constructed and then people were made aware of the poor construction, the cracking, very expensive to make these repairs was put off. It was put off, it was put off, and then that happened.
PERINO: And the Wall Street Journal and reporting today that the plans initially were for 12 floors of residential units. But then they got a special exemption to add the penthouse. And that was above the ordinance at the time, but they got the -- they got the exemption.
The other thing that is sad -- so sad as the people wait for closure, and like to find a loved one and the keep up that hope or to find out that they had passed that allows you then to move on. The other thing that's happening, I don't understand these real estate rules and laws as well as somebody like Cheryl Casone of Fox Business, but her report today about what happens to the people who own those condos, and now there are families that inherit that debt, that there's a mortgage payment due on July 1.
WATTERS: You have to pay mortgage for a collapsed condo?
PERINO: Yes, apparently so. And that they recommended that everyone seek out a real estate lawyer right away.
WATTERS: That's crazy. And it says that some of these owners of the condos, Greg, were taking out big loans just to pay for the maintenance fees that they were about to get hit with.
GUTFELD: You know, nobody there saw this coming, even when -- like there's a lot -- there's always a tension between, you know, spending money and future hazards down the road. If you -- anybody has ever been on a condo board, that is the bane of every conversation. It's like -- and because you're not able to experience the problem immediately, that always works against investment in the precautions for the future. And here, this might be a reason for that.
There's a very, very 911 feel to it, in the sense not obviously the cause of it. But the tragedy of it, it's a smaller version, but that the fact that the people are there, and that the community is doing whatever they can to help everybody. It's a horrible situation. And when the horrible situation -- when the dust settles, so to speak, and then the legal stuff starts happening, it's going to -- be it's going to be a smaller, intense 911 type thing. And I didn't even consider the whole thought of inheriting the debt. It's brutal.
WATTERS: Katie, your thoughts?
PAVLICH: I think it's an absolute nightmare for the families, for people who have lost multiple family members in one situation. Whether it's a grandmother, or mother, kids all in one go was just horrifying. It's been really interesting to watch how this plays out between the builder and the contractor versus the government and the local ordinances and the inspectors. You're already having fingers being pointed about what was approved, what wasn't approved, what they knew about, what was complaint about.
WATTERS: Yes, one guy says, oh, I never saw the report.
PAVLICH: Right? That means a whole lot of that. I think litigation will take at least a decade to figure all of this out, especially because there's so many families involved. Wrongful death suits, it's just going to go on and on. The only thing now is you can hope that people get some closure with this current situation.
And I think the fact that they brought in people from Mexico and Israel who deal with collapse, buildings like this really shows how horrific and unique the situation is. And that -- it just doesn't happen a lot in the United States so --
WATTERS: And people, Harold, are still hoping for survivors, although it is now getting very, very late in the game.
FORD JR.: You know, we may all have a friend -- I have -- I have an old pal who was waiting for news on his spouse. And our prayers continue to go out to him and his family. You all have said it. I mean, the litigation was sort of the liability here. I cannot imagine. It's just -- if Cheryl's right, that's just -- and it's heartbreak on top of heartbreak.
I think going forward, every building here in New York, every building in Miami, every building across the country, everyone is now got to revisit if the reports have come out in the last two, three, four years or for that matter, even sooner, shorter periods of time what steps need to be taken to try to be helpful here. But that does not erase anything that's said that this moment is tragic and terrible.
WATTERS: Absolutely unbelievable that it's happened here in the United States. Liberals can't move on from the pandemic and there's a new warning mask-wearing should be making a comeback. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: Liberals are refusing to return to normal and seem to be embracing the forever pandemic.
PERINO: Oh, wow.
GUTFELD: Coming up the forever pandemic. It sounds like cologne. Only four percent of Democrats believe the pandemic is over compared to 57 percent of Republicans. And it looks like mask wearing could be making a comeback. The World Health Organization is saying fully vaccinated people should cover up because of the Delta variant.
Dana, I think it's clear that this is CNN's fault.
PERINO: Oh, completely.
GUTFELD: Yes. They are awful, awful people over there and they want to keep people masks forever.
PERINO: There's a contributor who said that he thinks it looks like a horror show when he sees children without masks.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: When we actually know that they don't need to be wearing masks.
GUTFELD: Yes, it could -- it could be because children are ugly.
PERINO: No, that wasn't my point. That might be your point.
GUTFELD: That is my point. But I also believe -- I understand that they're concerned about the Delta variant. But that's also one of the reasons why, you know, early on, remember during the campaign, Harris and Biden were campaigning and they said they would not take the vaccine if it came out under Trump.
And so, the Democrats like to say red America is a reason we can't get more people vaccinated. But there's -- it's not really partisan. If you look at the numbers and the people who are concerned about vaccine, it is not just down ideological lines. So, vaccine efficacy should be shouted from the rooftops and that would be great.
GUTFELD: My wife still hasn't gotten the vaccine and she's -- it's driving me crazy, because I got it, but she's, you know, she doesn't think she needs it. It drives me crazy. Which leads me to this question, Harold. What Dana is saying is why does everything have to be like this duopoly? You're a pro mask, anti-mask pro-vax, anti-vax when it's -- why can't we just like -- is this some kind of artificial construct that we'll never get out of?
FORD JR.: Do you refer to me as Harold, Greg?
GUTFELD: No, I was talking to Harold.
WATTERS: OK, why are you looking at me?
FORD JR.: We both -- we both -- he and I both are looking at you.
WATTERS: Why is everyone looking at me? You're asking Harold.
GUTFELD: I was asking Harold, but I don't know why. Maybe -- do you think I have a wandering eye? Do you think I should see a doctor?
WATTERS: You should see a doctor about a lot of things.
PERINO: I think myself is starting the show off the way.
FORD JR.: My answer will be brief and it involves Jesse. The first time you guys -- you guys had me on the show, one of the first questions we talked about, the point you made was about if people get vaccinated, the chance of getting a virus is less than 0.1 percent. And whomever is to blame, whomever is at fault, the political -- the political rhetoric on both sides has been out of bounds and open and overheated at times and not as focused.
But there's no question. If you have -- if you are vaccinated, you are more likely to avoid the Delta variant and you should feel more comfortable not wearing a mask. The reason I feel comfortable not wearing a mask is because I'm vaccinated and my family members are vaccinated. And that's what we ought to be encouraging people to do.
Now, the four percent, 57 percent -- you know, who knows? I don't --- you know, I don't think Democrats want the virus to come back. I don't think Republicans are hoping that the virus only affects certain people or doesn't come back or comes back. We all want it to go away. But the reality is everyone is not vaccinated, and that's what the focus should be on from all of it.
WATTERS: Well, I'm just happy you remember the point I made, Harold.
FORD JR.: Absolutely. And I remember --
GUTFELD: I just feel euphoric without wearing the mask. Like -- almost like you're at a nude beach.
WATTERS: It feels great. Well, I wouldn't know what that feels like, Greg.
GUTFELD: Oh, come on.
WATTERS: Is there something you want to tell us?
GUTFELD: Remember that weekend in Montauk?
WATTERS: Can I make a sweeping generalization?
GUTFELD: When did you not do that?
PAVLICH: I don't know. I don't know about that.
WATTERS: Democrats did not handle the pandemic very well. They thought if you went outside, you were going to die. They thought that because of misinformation, that this thing was much more dangerous and contagious than it actually was. So, it doesn't surprise me that they think the pandemic is still thriving.
Did you know that more people died from gunshot wounds in Chicago last weekend than died from COVID? Zero people died from COVID in the whole state of Illinois. But you can't convince liberals with facts. I've tried. Crime stats, border facts, COVID facts, they don't listen.
PAVLICH: Border facts.
WATTERS: They do not listen.
PERINO: And that they're sweeping generalization.
WATTERS: Always -- yes, another sweeping generalization.
GUTFELD: He did -- but he did give us a trigger warning on that, so it's OK.
PAVLICH: Well, that's a banned word now, a banned phrase. Trigger warning is a banned phrase. Look, this is the problem with the World Health Organization and scientists in America are losing trust on this from the beginning. Because if something else comes along, and that's a big if, that is worse than before, a lot of people aren't going to believe them because they flip-flopped a lot didn't really explain and lied a lot about a lot of what's happening.
And quite frankly, a lot of these Democratic governors who had the worst lockdowns were breaking their own rules from the beginning, which made people say, well if it's that serious and why is Gavin Newsome out at a dinner party inside with more than just his family members? Why is Andrew Cuomo having people over? Why is Gretchen Whitmer flying to Florida which was supposed to be this really scary place with COVID everywhere, right? So, they've really lost a lot of trust and I'm not sure they can get it back.
GUTFELD: All right, maybe that's a good thing. I don't even know what that means. Coming up, the Tour de France fan that caused a major crash could be in serious trouble if the police might -- can find her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FORD JR.: A disaster at the Tour de France this weekend after fan holding assign caused a massive crash. Dozens of riders were involved and now police are looking for the woman who caused it. She fled the scene and has reportedly left the country. Tour de France organizers plan to file a lawsuit if they can track the person down.
We have seen unruly fans at games. We now -- it looks as if this this person here -- I've watched video. It doesn't seem to have been intentional. But if she's fled to country, does that -- does that make you think something else is --
PERINO: She should Bezos if she can get on that rocket because that's where -- they're going to find her. So, basically what she wanted to do, she was trying to get attention with the -- from a camera. She was trying to get a picture taken. So, she's there to watch the Tour de France, but she can't even watch these cyclists as they come by because she wants to get a picture taken. And she causes this huge crash. It's so reckless.
And you know what? If you go to an event, just watch the event. You don't have to watch it through your phone. This is -- this might be a new concept for people. Do you know what I mean?
GUTFELD: You are so heartless. That's obviously AOC at the Tour de France holding a defund the police sign in German. She's already left. Police don't know where she is but they are looking for signs. Anyway, OK, maybe this is how you make cycling more interesting, right? Have bystanders double as moving obstacles, like a gentler version of Death Races 2000 -- Death Races 2000. You tried to kill the people. Now, you just try to avoid them because I really do think that France has a problem with interesting sports.
And we wouldn't be talking about the Tour de France if it wasn't for this. This is the most exciting thing to happen to the Tour de France since that last Kraftwerk album.
PERINO: Don't forget the steroids.
GUTFELD: Oh, the steroids.
WATTERS: (INAUDIBLE)
FORD JR.: The sheet -- the sign, in fairness, the signs I think said hello to her grandparents in German.
GUTFELD: Grandparents, right.
PERINO: Well, you can send a text.
FORD JR.: No, no --
PAVLICH: Dana have no mercy today. Dana is not having it at all. She is not having it.
FORD JR.: So, Dana, if they find her, what should they do?
PERINO: Send her in a rocket. I don't know. No, I think she should be fined. I think there has to be consequences.
PAVLICH: I'll back up Dana's point.
GUTFELD: Do you think it's the grandparent's fault.
PAVLICH: I'll back Dana's point. I think cycling is very stressful to watch because everybody is so close together and it's a very dangerous sport. But I texted one of my dear friends, her name is Erica, to ask her because she's a diehard Tour de France fan, about what she thought about this. She first said a very, very bad word that I cannot say on air. And then she said --
GUTFELD: What did rhyme with?
PAVLICH: It's something I'm not going to say because I don't want to actually say the bad word.
PERINO: Like you did that one time?
PAVLICH: Like I did that one time, allegedly. She said that brain-dead social media vultures care more about the perfect Insta than riders' safety. She says it's idiotic. She thinks that she should be charged with criminal negligence. And that cycling is a great sport because you can be up in the action. But now the problem -- I've met some rule where everybody gets punished for this behavior, and now you can't be in the middle of it. So, she's the expert and no mercy just like Dana.
FORD JR.: No, no, the expert I'm going to go to next. Jesse, what do you think about this?
WATTERS: Here's the thing about idiots. They're everywhere. I'd say about 30 percent of the human race are idiots. And the thing about idiots --
GUTFELD: That's not a generalization, is it?
WATTERS: No.
PAVLICH: It's billions of people, right?
WATTERS: I would say that idiots are actually more dangerous than evil people.
FORD JR.: You have to look at me when you say idiots?
WATTERS: Because evil people are more predictable, and you can contain them. Idiots, you don't know if an idiot is an idiot until they demonstrate their idiocy. And that could be on a Southwest flight, you know. They could be at a 7-eleven. They could just wander into a zoo. We've covered these stories. It happens all the time. So, all you can do is you could just throw your hands up and you say what an idiot.
PAVLICH: Fair enough.
GUTFELD: I think this is a Fox Nation series.
WATTERS: What an idiot.
FORD JR.: "ONE MORE THING" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: It's time now for "ONE MORE THING." I have some advice. Like, if you ever really want to try to get somewhere in life, you have to persevere. You have to keep trying and keep trying like this little guy who just really wanted to get over to his big brother, and he just figures it out. This is like Rookie trying to get over to see Jesse Jr. And he's just like, I'm trying with all my might.
That's pretty ingenious, right?
WATTERS: That's smart.
PERINO: Dogs are smart. And I like how the other ones just like totally unfazed. He's like, I'm just going to eat my dinner and ignore you. Keep going. Keep persevering. Greg?
GUTFELD: All right, let's do this. Greg's what the heck is in the sink. You know, as a guy, we leave a lot of things in the sink. We hope someone will clean it like this here, left this in the sink the other day. It's wondering. I don't know what's going on in there. But I left it there for a few days, right? I left it there for a few days.
WATTERS: Is that a paw?
GUTFELD: I went away on Friday. I forgot to empty -- I forgot to do the dishes and I went away for a few days. I came back this morning, and it's been an absolute mess. It's been --
WATTERS: Front leg or the hind leg?
GUTFELD: You guys have any idea what this might be? Because I frankly, I left some old Mexican food, Chinese food, and then it just kind of like -- and then it poured out an old bottle of Chablis. And so, this is all that's there. You guy --
PERINO: Please tell me it gets up.
WATTERS: Is that a cat or a dog?
GUTFELD: I don't really know because whoever cut this made it way too long.
PAVLICH: It's a cat.
PERINO: Please tell me it gets up.
WATTERS: Oh, it's a cat.
GUTFELD: It is a cat. Well, maybe -- why don't we show the cat now, everybody.
PERINO: Did you see the cat? Is he stretching?
PAVLICH: My sister will like that.
GUTFELD: I can't believe you guys don't even show the -- you made me talk for 40 seconds, and you don't show the damn cat.
PERINO: Does he get up?
GUTFELD: Unbelievable.
PERINO: Is he alive?
GUTFELD: We don't know. Do we?
PERINO: But do you know?
GUTFELD: I don't know. Maybe he's dead because they didn't show it. Unbelievable.
PERINO: While we find out if the cat is alive, Jesse will entertain us with his "ONE MORE THING."
WATTERS: How I saved the world hit stores in eight days, everybody. I know it feels like it's out already, but it's eight days away on Thursday. I told you about a special online event, very exclusive. It is a day in the life of Jesse Watters. Here is a sneak peek.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to do a little workout when we get back?
WATTERS: Yes, what do you want to focus on?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's do abs.
WATTERS: That's what I was afraid of.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: It is so good this thing. That was great.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: That was -- that was as fat as my ONT.
WATTERS: That's a day in my life. And so, go to wattersday.com. Purchase a ticket and get a copy of my book. And then you watch the special 6:15 p.m. on July 1st. And I also told you about something last week that you need a little reminder about. I'm hosting "FOX NEWS PRIMETIME" all week. So, tonight at 7:00, check it out. We have Senator Tom Cotton.
PERINO: Excellent.
GUTFELD: Interesting.
PERINO: Katie?
GUTFELD: I'm on tomorrow.
WATTERS: You are.
PAVLICH: I'm also -- I will also be on primetime with Jesse hosting.
PERINO: I guess Harold and were not invited.
PAVLICH: It'll be a good time.
GUTFELD: Trust me.
PAVLICH: All right, take a look at this 17-month-old named Joshua. Joshua has Taekwondo instructor who happens to be dad. He's going to be the next Karate Kid. Look, he can kick these bottle caps off of these bottles. It's amazing. His dad has trained him. His name is Cezar Galvao.
WATTERS: Katie, what was the last name again?
PAVLICH: I'm not going to say it again.
PERINO: Galvao, like that?
PAVLICH: Galvao. I'm pretty sure that's the name.
PERINO: Awesome. Harold, what have you got?
FORD JR.: Heather -- I'm sorry -- this kid, I don't -- I don't want to get away from his kid. Heather Duplessis and Lauren Bagneris, two LSU medical students saved the life of a fellow midflight. They recognize what the problem was. They left right into low blood sugar. Congratulations to them. And it hurts me as a Tennessean to say, go Tigers.
WATTERS: Low blood sugar.
PERINO: Look for the helper.
WATTERS: That's what that was?
FORD JR.: That's what that was.
PERINO: That's what that was. That's it for us. "SPECIAL REPORT" is up next. Hey, Bret
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