This is a rush transcript from "Ingraham Angle," January 24, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham. This is THE INGRAHAM ANGLE.

Now, last week, Glenn Youngkin, signed an executive order. You might have heard about it. He ended mask mandates in schools. But that did not stop the COVID crazies in some of the school districts in Virginia. They began suspending kids and teachers who refused to play their game. We speak to two of them exclusively tonight.

And my response to Saturday Night Live later in the show. Oh, you don't want to miss it. But first, "Stumbling on the Warpath, " That's the focus of "Tonight's Angle. " Now over a month ago, President Biden assured a very war weary nation that putting troops in or around Ukraine was not on the table. Well, now it looks like that's right up there with the other promises he made. Like if you get back - you can go back to normal and just 100 days of masking.

Just hours ago, the Pentagon put 8, 500 troops on high alert for possible deployment to Eastern Europe. Now anyone paying attention to Biden's presser last week heard the sounds of the war drums beating. The media desperately wants to get off the raging crime, raging COVID, raging inflation story that's driven Biden to another new low in the polls today. Harvard/Harris has them at a pathetic 39 percent. So Ukraine has to be their new shiny object.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Tensions with Russia over what could be an imminent invasion of Ukraine are escalating.

ANTHONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: There's a path to diplomacy and dialogue. But there's also a path of its renewed aggression and massive consequences that we had been building now for many weeks.

MAX BOOT, SENIOR FELLOW, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: We should be arming the Ukrainians like crazy. We should be preparing for guerrilla warfare if the Russians go in--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Guerrilla warfare. Now, it's ironic and laughable that the American press corps is now kvetching about Russia, because no group has done more to weaken the U.S. and strengthened Vladimir Putin.

Let's look at the record. First, Putin doesn't have to spread anti-American propaganda, because our media does it for him. For the last six years, the U.S. press has told the world that Americans are evil racists who are destroying the planet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONNY DEUTSCH, BRANDING & MARKETING EXPERT: One in three Americans are racist.

EDDIE GLAUDE JR. , PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: I think the idea of appealing to White resentment and White cheers, drawing on a particular understanding of America as fundamentally White--

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In making this country there was a lot of pain, there was a lot of killing and murder and genocide--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now, the editors probably couldn't done much better, and we can't forget the profoundly damaging and destabilizing effect of the whole Russia hoax, which of course, the media spread with glee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: Donald Trump is a Russian operative.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 101 contacts between Trump's team and Russia linked operatives.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Why can't President Trump condemn Russian election interference with the same vociferous. .

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Russia hacked our election. That was a 9/11 scale event- -

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Putin doesn't even need to spend money crippling Washington, D. C. when our own press corps does it for free.

Second, the media has helped Putin by supporting policies to increase the price of oil and gas. Now, most Americans understand that cheap energy is bad for Russia. But the media doesn't want Americans to have cheap energy. They've done everything possible to stop drilling and to smear the fracking revolution that promised energy independence. Soaring energy prices are helping Putin buy more weapons.

Third, the media have undermined our military readiness. Now for years we suffered disaster after disaster in Afghanistan capped by the utter failure to successfully end that war. Now rather than demand changes at the Pentagon after all that, our media protected Defense Secretary Austin and General Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

The media wants the Pentagon led by people who believe that being woke is more important than killing our enemies. For months, we've shown you examples of how Hard Left ideology is weakening our military by lowering standards, wasting money, and simply protecting incompetent leaders. Of course, Putin doesn't fear our military, he knows that diversity is no match for excellence.

Fourth, the media have helped increased our dependency on China. Last week at the same press conference where the media complained over and over about Russia, a reporter from the Wall Street Journal urged Biden to lift the tariffs on China.

My Lord, how much more do these people want at this point? Just in the first 11 months of 2021, we bought almost $457 billion worth of goods from China. Apparently that's not a lot enough. Now for years, elites and both parties have attacked anyone who questions using tariffs or any other policy to move supply chains out of China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN THOMAS, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, WALL STREET JOURNAL: --you mentioned China. Do you think the time has come to begin lifting some of the tariffs on Chinese imports? Or is there a need for China to make do on some of its commitments in the Phase One agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Indeed Americans should know that a bipartisan group of senators actually wants more Chinese solar panels to be sold in the U.S. So both destroying our oil and gas sector and giving the Chinese an edge on green power, that's great.

Fifth, the media have attacked countries that might have helped us with Ukraine. They were and are vehemently opposed after all to Brexit, because the media are slavishly devoted to the EU. In fact, our media regularly trashes anyone in Europe from Polish leaders to French nationalists, who dare to criticize the EU.

Instead, what they usually do, the press stand with Germany, which itself is dependent on natural gas from Russia. They also want the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and they actually oppose sending weapons to Ukraine. In fact, sharing German made weapons with the Ukrainians is out of the question. We've been told. The U. K. is even careful now to avoid German airspace when it ships weapons to Ukraine itself. So it's easy to see that the more reliant we are on Germany, the more it helps Putin.

Now finally, for the last two years, our media has done everything possible to promote chaos here in the United States. During the summer of 2020, come on, they cheered for the rioters. Rioters who ended up burning and looting cities across America. They support DAs who don't prosecute crimes. They downplayed the threat from inflation that caused real wages to fall. And they protected their hero and mascot, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who would still have us in lockdown, if he could.

How is it, by the way, that a country that can't send its kids to school is going to somehow promote freedom abroad? How can a country that refuses to enforce its own borders also expect to its citizens to cheer enforcing another country's border? It just doesn't work that way.

The truth is the Democratic Party's worldview, which has been fully adopted by the scribblers and talking heads is fatally flawed. For decades, they thought by weakening America, they could promote justice. Instead, the real winners from their successes have been Putin and Xi.

America cannot and must not dilute the strength she has left on another hopeless crusade urged on by the same people who screwed up in Afghanistan. Our real threat, militarily and economically, is the CCP, which loves it when we squander our resources on pointless foreign ventures and quagmires, makes them thrilled.

Of course, the CCP can always count on the American haters though to downplay the threat they pose. Two days ago, "The New York Times" published what can only be described as a fawning personal tribute to President Xi.

"With the games only days away, China has delivered - well, China no longer needs to prove its standing on the world stage. Instead it wants to proclaim the sweeping vision of a more prosperous, more confident nation under Mr. Xi, the country's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. "

Wow! But that's nothing compared to the slobbering praise the CCP gets from our very own elites.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL GATES, CO-CHAIR BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION: Since the onset of the pandemic, China has worked hard to not only contain the virus, but also contributed to closing the equity gap by supporting other countries with many different supplies, great vaccines. I look forward to once again being able to travel to China to see all of you and this work in person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: It is shameful. Now, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has a lot of war hawks in his Senate caucus, including himself. But if he wants to avoid being thrown out by another populace uprising in 2024, he needs to resist the war machine's temptation.

Now, this may be wishful thinking. But he ought to make it very clear to Biden that the GOP does not support sending our troops to Eastern Europe. Well, the folks who think we're fundamentally racist, who think our military is filled with extremists, let them own this. We have enough failed war baggage in the GOP.

And for the rest of us, we have to focus on finding leaders in both parties who can build this country up, instead of always tearing her down. And that's "The Angle. "

Joining me now is of course, Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover Institution, Senior Fellow. Victor, it is said by many of the elites we referenced in "The Angle, " that Ukraine is too powerful of a problem for us to look the other way, and you say?

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, SENIOR FELLOW, HOOVER INSTITUTION: Well, for the reasons that you delineated about, you know, everything from being $30 trillion in debt and to having a military after Afghanistan, it seems still obsessed with climate change and White supremacy, we then look to NATO and we say, well, NATO - this is a NATO problem.

There's 30 countries in NATO, Laura, they have a population of 1 billion people, they're seven times an aggregate GDP larger than Russia. If NATO is as powerful and as numerous as it is, then this is in their backyard. And yet, we can't get more than six countries to spend what they promised, 2 percent of their GDP.

The German people, according to polls, they poll anti-America. That's the richest country in NATO. About 54 percent don't have a favorable opinion of us. The Turkish people, which has the largest army in NATO are even more anti-American.

Germany is wholly dependent upon Russian natural gas now, and Turkey has a lot of bilateral defense and industrial contacts with Russia. So the idea that NATO is going to rise up and go - empty the coffee shops of Europe and go in and support Ukraine is not going to happen. And as I said earlier, if Ukraine was a NATO member, and it evoked Article V, there wouldn't be a lot of people coming in, and that would be the end of NATO.

The second thing is that, you know, I don't know how to say this, because I don't want - none of us want Putin to go into Ukraine. But the Ukrainian government has lost a lot of political capital. They were deeply involved trying to buy influence - members of that government with the Biden consortium. And they enriched the Biden family - Hunter-Burisma, we went through all that.

There were some ex-patriots that are American-Ukrainian citizens were involved in the impeachment of Donald Trump. In fact, Alexander Vindman, was offered supposedly the Ministry of Defense in Ukraine after he colluded with a so-called whistleblower to initiate and fuel the impeachment. So they have lost a lot of goodwill with some people in the American population.

And then why did we give up this idea that Kissinger establishes the cornerstone of American foreign policy that Russia would be no friendlier to China than it is to us and vice versa? So we should be--

INGRAHAM: Yes, that didn't work.

HANSON: We should be trying to be in a realistic fashion say--

INGRAHAM: Yes, but Victor.

HANSON: --common enemy China.

INGRAHAM: Victor, what happened there? Is it just - it's the Russia hoax that prevented what, I think, Trump probably wanted to do, right?

HANSON: Yes.

INGRAHAM: Is to try to box out China--

HANSON: Yes, I think so.

INGRAHAM: --by having some alliances with Russia.

HANSON: I think we did - yes, I think we gyrated. During the Obama-Biden years, we appeased them. We dismantled missile defense. Remember the hot mic conversation? We had the failed reset. And Putin went into eastern Ukraine and Crimea, because he thought that we were not going to do anything and we wouldn't know.

And then we went all the way over when Trump came in, with the Left saying that there was this collusion and there was a Russian under every bed, and we really offended the Russian people because there wasn't collusion. And then during the only time that Putin didn't move was in this four year period when Trump, you know - he did things like, take out Soleimani, Baghdadi, destroy ISIS, except to get tough with North Korea and Russia didn't move.

Biden, the first thing he came in, is he asked for certain targets to be taken off the Russian hacker list. So in other words, if you're going to hack companies, please don't do this company. Then the Afghanistan tragedy and we've lost all deterrence. It's very hard to recapture it. But there was a four year period so ironic--

INGRAHAM: Victor, I want to play - yes.

HANSON: --Laura, but don't do - we don't move during the Trump period.

INGRAHAM: I want to play something from Senator Menendez, like it's not just the media that seems hell bent on - not everybody in the media, but a lot of the same figures that we heard during the Bush years and some of the more liberal ones. But Menendez is - he's a Democrat, Senator, obviously, from New Jersey. And he spoke out in a extremely aggressive way toward Russia, which kind of shocked me. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ): Is it conflict that Putin chooses? And then if he does, how many body bags does he want to count going back to Russia of Russia's sons? Or is it a off ramp, and a diplomatic solution that deals with security guarantees?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: The body bags going back to Moscow. What about that?

HANSON: I don't think I don't think that's a good metaphor for this, because in World War II 5 million Russians and Ukrainians - about 4. 5 million Russians and about a million Ukrainians, more than 5 million died on Ukrainian soil, defending Mother Russia from the Nazi invasion.

So the idea that we're going to lecture the Russians on body bags after the terrible blood costs that they incurred, it's kind of obscene, I think.

INGRAHAM: Victor, it's great to see you, as always. Thank you tonight.

And in response to Governor Glenn Youngkin's order ending mask mandate, some Virginia School districts have started suspending students and teachers for not wearing masks. A parent and a teacher reveal what has done - what was done to them and to their kids for this noncompliance, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Last week, newly minted Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin issued sweeping orders to end COVID mandates, including those that forced kids to mask in schools. Youngkin wanted to give parents the power to make these decisions, but Northern Virginia said no.

School officials there are targeting kids who listened to their parents and go mask less, if they want to. And Fairfax County schools have been told to suspend students without masks. And in Loudoun County unmask kids were removed from classrooms, and then confined, almost imprisoned in the auditorium there.

Joining me now is Megan Rafalski, Loudoun County parent of a fifth grader who has been kicked out of school until he mask up. And Karen Mineo who is not just a parent, but a Loudoun County Public School teacher. Now, for refusing to wear a mask, she says, she was sent home and put on leave without pay.

Megan, this is a mess. Now your son's home from school? How is he reacting? And this is - it's - I mean, I said it's child abuse. I'll say it again, it is child abuse. What's next for him and how's he doing?

MEGAN RAFALSKI, LOUDOUN CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENT: I'd say today was a really hard day. I'm not going to be - I'm not going to try and fluff it up anything more than what it was. It was - we were feeling really, really good, and he was very excited to go to school this morning.

We met up with a group of friends and peers and he was excited to walk in to school without a mask on, because he had that right. And we were met with resistance at the door. And he was asked multiple times in a really an intimidating way. Listen, you can put the mask on and go to class or you can sit here and be bored through the rest of the day.

To which he pretty much had a breaking point at around 11: 30, and after being confined to his Principal's office with the door closed, he had had enough and I can't blame him.

INGRAHAM: Well, they're trying to force him to submit against your view as a parent and his view as a student after the government - the governor issued his executive order. I mean--

RAFALSKI: That's correct.

INGRAHAM: --this is lunacy.

RAFALSKI: It is--

INGRAHAM: And Karen, it's almost as bad for you. Like, we asked Loudoun County, by the way, if they were in fact separating unmask students from the rest of the school. And they responded, "Our protocol for students that" - I think they mean who, "refused to follow the school division's mitigation protocol was to send them to a common area, such as the auditorium where they could access the Schoology platform to continue their work. "

Karen, yes, separate them, have them sit by themselves. Do teachers actually support this madness?

KAREN MINEO, LOUDOUN CITY PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER: Absolutely not. Actually, my daughter was one of those that was secluded. She went to the Academies of Loudoun today and the assistant principal called her to the office and secluded her. We went and picked her up. We figured what was the point.

She was going to be allowed, though, Laura to go have lunch with her friends, unmasked, but then go back to her segregated isolation area to finish out the day with some adaptive lesson for her. Teachers do not support this.

RAFALSKI: At least she got a lesson.

INGRAHAM: You were - right, but you were sent home yourself, right, as a teacher--

MINEO: Oh, yes.

INGRAHAM: --for not. So you can't teach. You're sent home, because you followed Governor Youngkin's order.

MINEO: Yes.

INGRAHAM: How long is this going on for?

MINEO: Well, I mean, it was a #NoMaskMonday. And, again, it was in celebration of his executive orders, getting rid of the Virginia Department of Health's mandates where K to school - K to 12 schools were to wear a mask. We didn't have to wear the mask anymore. That was gone as of today.

So I went there expressing my freedoms. And yes, my principal - I did actually get to teach one class before the principal came in and said mask up, or you're out, leave without pay. By the way, Laura, I never--

INGRAHAM: Who is the--

MINEO: I've never been brought into the principal's office before, so this was my first infraction.

INGRAHAM: Who's the principal John Cornely. Is he otherwise a reasonable guy or?

MINEO: He is at Mill Run.

INGRAHAM: He's actually otherwise a very lovely individual. I love all the administrators at that school. And I'll be honest, Laura, it really sounded - because he is such a nice guy, and he really sense that in his demeanor. It sounded like it came from up above. And I've actually talked to a couple of other teachers that were also asked to leave without pay. And it's funny, it's kind of the same language. So sounds a little suspicious.

INGRAHAM: He might be nice--

RAFALSKI: Yes, it was very clear that they might

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: Yes. I mean, again, they might be nice, but they're weak and weak people in times like this, it's really tough, because we all have to unite. And, frankly, you have to resist unfair and abusive policies like this. And Megan, this comes from a place of politics, I guess, then, not science, because there was an exchange at the White House today about this. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Who does the President think knows best for students: school board members or parents?

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, the President believes that public health officials have the best guidance on what we can all do to protect ourselves, including teachers, administrators and students.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Megan, your response to that? Government knows better.

RAFALSKI: There's so much to say. I mean, yes, she's still quoting the CDC, who - whose own person whose own head came out and said, basically, if you're not wearing an N95, you're trying to catch mosquitoes with a chain link fence.

I mean, it's absurd that we're continuing to put these things on kids' masks - I mean, on kids' faces. The emotional toll that this has taken on children is absolutely despicable and deplorable. There is no science behind this at this point. I mean, I would like to believe that at one point there actually was, but it is so clear, that is - this is all about power and money now.

And it has been very clear, myself and lots of other parents are working very hard to uncover why this continues and it is becoming clearer by the moment by the day that this is all about funding. This is all about getting money, because our Loudoun County Public Schools wanted more money this year, even though their enrollment numbers are way down.

And after this, they're going to continue to take - and you know, what, they can't get teachers in classrooms, they have people at the administrative building that have to come and fill in. And you know why? Because they're losing good teachers, because who wants to work in that environment. And I encourage any teacher, like Karen, who is experiencing this hostile work environment, they're being bullied from within, go to HR. This is disgusting, what they have done to the good teachers that are in our schools.

INGRAHAM: This isn't going to end till it ends in court and the Virginia Supreme Court is going to have to settle this, or the U.S. Supreme Court. This has to stop. And all students and parents, I would hope, would have a stake in this. If you want to wear a mask, wear mask. If you don't, you shouldn't have to.

Ladies, thank you both for standing up for what's right. You both have an enormous amount of courage, and you're not weak.

My next guest used to work as an executive for a big pharma company. He recently resigned, though, over the company's decision to force vaccines on employees, writing, "I'm vaccinated, but I told the company that, if I as a top exec, were expected to cheerlead for such an immoral and anti-science imposition of brute economic force, I would have to resign. "

Former Insmed executive, John Soriano joins me now, John, now you noted that quitting wasn't a painful decision, because you have means but what about others? Because I talked to so many people who want to quit, but they can't in similar circumstances, not for pharma, but for other companies.

JOHN SORIANO, FORMER INSMED EXECUTIVE: Yes. Thanks, Laura, and that's exactly right. At the end of the day, it was a very easy decision to make because when the company decided to promulgate the policy of get vaxxed or you're fired, I knew as a top executive I am obligated to support the decisions the company made, but I could not. And so therefore my decision was easy.

Since I resigned, I've heard from countless employees, not only at my former company, but from other former companies, because a lot of them are emerging in lockstep in doing this. And they have all said to me, gee, we really admire what you did, and we also appreciate your saying what others aren't in a position to do it because we can't afford it. We need to keep our jobs. One person I spoke to in my former company said that he is not going to get the vax for reasons that he had of his own, and he was fired he would have to sell his house. So I think there is a lot of -- this is really a decision where, again, the economically strong are taking advantage of economically weak in enforcing this mandate. And it just a bridge too far for me, and I couldn't support it.

INGRAHAM: Yes, it's despicable. It's despicable to make people choose between a livelihood and a medical choice that you feel is right or is not right for you in any given circumstance. That doesn't seem like United States of America.

By the way, "The Washington Post" is reporting that stressed hospitals are increasingly asking staff who have the coronavirus to work while potentially infectious. Though vaccine requirements are common at hospitals, many health care workers are coming down with the virus, exacerbating staffing issues. John, the vaccines aren't stopping the spread, from people from getting sick. So when can we end this "mandates works" charade? They obviously don't, and in fact, positive people are allowed to come back in certain overstressed hospitals now anyway.

SORIANO: Yes. That's exactly right. That's actually happening in the pharma industry. Again, I've been hearing from lots of sales reps from lots of pharma companies, and it is very common. First of all, it's not uncommon, unfortunately, for sales reps to get fired if they don't get the vax. But in other companies, the unvaccinated sales reps are not allowed to go to visit with customers, which in our case are doctors, even if they are virus free. Conversely, if you have gotten the vax, you can go to the doctors' offices, and you may well be carrying the virus.

So it makes no sense economically, morally, science-wise. It's just belies common sense. I think whenever the CDC or Dr. Fauci say something, very smart, nice, intelligent people suspend critical thinking and just march in lockstep with whatever the health authorities say. And I don't think they deserve it.

INGRAHAM: Well, there were thousands and thousands and thousands -- there were thousands of Americans who showed up in harmony from all different backgrounds, all different races, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, to stand against these mandates over the weekend. And it was a powerful statement. Huge crowd. And look, they put it together at the last minute, and they still had a great crowd. They had a lot of doctors there, too, and a lot of nurses. So John, we really appreciate your voice on this tonight. Thank you.

And a manhunt is underway in Houston after a constable became the second police officer killed over the weekend. So with violence against law enforcement at a 20 year high, why is Joe Biden pushing police reform? A full report in moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Over the weekend, we lost two of America's finest in the crimewave that liberal policies are responsible for and liberals can't solve. And one of the killers is still on the loose. FOX's chief breaking news correspondent Trace Gallagher is live in our west coast newsroom with all the details. Trace?

TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Laura, we are in day 24 of 2022, and already five New York City police officers have been shot. This weekend, 22-year-old officer Jason Rivera lost his life after being ambushed during a domestic violence call. His partner, Officer Wilbert Mora was also shot in the attack and remains an extremely critical condition.

Officer Rivera's funeral will take place on Friday at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan. And as the NYPD readies to honor its fallen, the politics is in full swing with both New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York Governor Kathy Hochul blaming guns instead of the criminals who fire them.

And the war on cops extends across the country. In Houston, Deputy Constable Charles Galloway was also ambushed, shot, and killed during a traffic stop. Now there is a nationwide manhunt for the suspect described as a Hispanic male. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a very dangerous individual, and we are going to move his butt off the streets as soon as we can. We have video evidence of him shooting our constable. This is our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: And in northwest Washington, D.C., an officer was shot and wounded. Luckily, he will survive. While police departments continue to see their officers quit or retire, the country continues to see crime rise. In Chicago, eight-year-old Melissa Ortega, a third grader, was shot and killed by a stray bullet fired in a drive-by shooting. The girl had just arrived in the U.S. from Mexico back in August and was hoping to live out the American dream. Instead, she becomes the fifth Chicago child under the age of 15 to die by gunfire this year.

And how is President Biden responding to the rise in crime? He reportedly is now planning in the next few weeks to push his police reform agenda by executive order. Of course, police reform is far left code for increasing things like body cameras and decreasing or eradicating the tools and tactics police use to limit crime and protect themselves, Laura.

INGRAHAM: Wow, this is horrific. Trace, thank you for that report.

And the murder of eight-year-old Melissa Ortega that Trace just mentioned didn't seem to him bother BLM or the Dems, but it has greatly angered my next guest. Joining me now is Pastor Corey Brooks, CEO of ProjectHood.org. Pastor Brooks has been on with us before during our town halls in Chicago where we were addressing the issue of crime, and sadly, it has only gotten worse in Chicago, not better. Pastor Brooks, this is a simple question for you tonight. Is there any hope for Chicago under the current political leadership?

PASTOR COREY BROOKS, PROJECTHOOD.ORG: As bad as it looks, there is no hope as far as if we continue the same type of leadership that we are getting right now. Everything rises and falls on leadership, and we have to take responsibility for those we put in office and allow them -- not allow them to allow us to continue to be in these types of situations and this cycle of violence. We have to put our foot down and we have to declare that there is something that has to be done and that we have to hold people accountable.

INGRAHAM: Now, it would seem to me that it would be pretty important, Pastor Brooks, right now, when you have such a deficit of police officers and morale among polices so low, and they are devastated about all this violence, that it is important to bolster them. But Mayor Lori Lightfoot has been busy chastising them. This is from Friday. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR LORI LIGHTFOOT, (D) CHICAGO: What I hear in this anonymous reporting is, frankly, people who are cowards. We need people, men and women who understand the moment that we are in. If you are not willing to make sure you are accountable for the work that you do every single day, every shift, then you don't need to be in the Chicago police department.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Pastor Brooks, your response? Cowards, using the language of cowards.

BROOKS: That's very unfortunate. I really do believe wholeheartedly that those who choose to serve the Chicago police department or courageous, especially in an environment like we are experiencing in Chicago. They are going out every single day. They're giving their lives. These are individuals who have families that they want to go back home too. But at the same time, they are trying to protect and serve our communities. So at no time should we declare or call them cowards for doing such a courageous job, and doing it under a lot of stress and a lot of duress, and being overworked. And that's something we need to take light of, and that's something that we should not tolerate from anyone, calling our police officers cowards.

INGRAHAM: Pastor Brooks, during the school closures that are still off and on affecting communities, including Chicago, you had a lot of kids with nothing to do, some not having the greatest home life, some OK. But what did that do to this mix of despondency, violence, and the cycle of violence?

BROOKS: Well, we already are experiencing a large dropout rate in Chicago with our public schools, with our boys in the first place. Now we're going to add to the situation by not having them in classrooms and not having them in school, where we leave them to be preyed upon by gangs and other individuals who want to commit crimes in our community.

We cannot allow our young people to go without education. They are already behind. Just in our neighborhood, their reading levels of one of the public schools in our neighborhoods, four percent reading levels, six percent in math proficiency. That's only going to get worse. And when those educational levels get worse, those individuals become frustrated, they drop out of school. What do they do? They commit crime. So we cannot allow this type of atmosphere to continue or we're going to continue to see the crime accelerate every school day.

INGRAHAM: Pastor Brooks, you have been on the front lines there in trying to help families and at risk youth. We really appreciate it. Thank you for your words tonight.

And up next, I have a little bit of a modest proposal for Kate McKinnon and "Saturday Night Live" next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATE MCKINNON, COMEDIAN: Well, we're finally done with year one of Biden's presidency, and can we all admit it's a disaster? Inflation is out of control. Gas is at $19 a gallon, and the green M&M has been canceled just for being a whore. Why don't you tell your side of the story while I stare into the camera like it's a raw piece of steak.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Laura.

MCKINNON: Please welcome my one black friend, Candace Owens.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Now, there's a reason I like Kate McKinnon. I have so much respect for her as a talent. She is so evenhanded in her political commentary. But seriously, think of all the low hanging fruit provided by Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi. Little bitty b and the squad on a new daily basis. I think this is kind of comedy gold, don't you?

I can do a pretty decent Nancy Pelosi -- I like doing Kate McKinnon doing me, because she is kind of fun. She was very evenhanded in her political humor. People say she doesn't make fun of the other side. I'm sure she does. They are telling me she doesn't? She has to. OK. I'll come in. Here is my deal. I will come in to "SNL," I've actually hung backstage a few times. You didn't know I was there. I will do Nancy Pelosi, the impression of Pelosi for free. I'm a member of SAG, but I'll do it for free, OK?

Joining me now is Mike Huckabee, who has been on "Saturday Night Live" himself, and has been skewered a few times. I guess, Mike, I join you in the illustrious crowd of those who have been tweaked a little bit. I guess it's kind of fun. People don't believe me, but that was the first time I had seen that sketch. I had seen her when she did it a couple times ago, or years ago. But that was the first time I saw it. But I don't talk like that, Governor, do I? Not quite.

MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: No you don't. And the interesting thing about it, Kate McKinnon is an incredibly talented and amazing comedian and actress. I'll give her that.

INGRAHAM: You bet.

HUCKABEE: But I don't care how good the singer is, you've got to give her a song. And the problem was the comedy writers who wrote that sketch just weren't on the game. "Saturday Night Live" could be funny, but it isn't. And in part because they just don't seem to have any sense of self- awareness that there is another side of the political aisle where the real comedy is going on right now. And that's tragic. But hey, look, you should be honored. They took you on, and you were the opening.

INGRAHAM: It's great. I literally am watching this now for the first time. My guys in New York are like look at me, don't look at the thing.

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM: But it's actually -- it's actually kind of fun, I guess. Do I do this? I guess I should do that more just so I help her make it look a little -- OK. But you went, did you actually go on the set?

HUCKABEE: I don't think you've ever done it.

INGRAHAM: I don't think -- not much.

HUCKABEE: I think you would be wonderful. It's one of those things that would really kind of unsettle them if you showed up and showed the truth is conservatives have a sense of humor.

INGRAHAM: No, they don't want us to.

HUCKABEE: But a lot of the people on the left don't.

INGRAHAM: No, no, Governor.

HUCKABEE: What you should do, Laura, you should say what Abraham Lincoln said when they ran him out of town. If it weren't for the honor of it, I'd just soon pass. So collect the honor and be grateful to have Kate McKinnon take you on. It was really not a great performance. She's a great performer, but the script was bad, and she just does not have you down. Not even close. So they're going to have to work on it.

INGRAHAM: I think I should go. Remember when Palin showed up and she actually went to the sides. You went to the set. You were just a few years younger. You look great. But comedy has gotten too political. Everyone should mix it up, Democrats, Republicans. It is all supposed to be at the coming together and getting along better. I'm happy to cross the bridge, Gov, just like you did. I'm happy to come in and just mix it up a little. It will be a lot of fun. I will even bring the greenroom food.

Governor, it's great to see you, by the way. I'm digging the beard. Very cool.

What can Neil Young teach us about the dangers of pot? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: Neil Young is living proof that smoking pot doesn't make you any smarter. In a now deleted letter to his management team, the rocker demanded all of his songs be taken off Spotify over alleged COVID misinformation. He wrote, "They can have Joe Rogan or Neil Young, not both." I think he might find himself on the losing end of that battle. But don't let it get you down, Neil.

END

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