'The opposition party': President Trump accuses press of working with Democrats

close

Video

'The opposition party': President Trump accuses press of working with Democrats

Trump goes on a tear against the media after their coverage of Wednesday's meeting with Democrats; reaction and analysis from 'The Five.'

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," January 10, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

DANA PERINO, HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Dana Perino along with Jedediah Bila, Juan Williams, Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld. It's 5:00 in New York City and this is “The Five.”

Fox News alert, President Trump in Texas today for a firsthand look at what he calls the humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border two days after a major Oval Office address and day 20 into the government shutdown, which remains at a stalemate.

Before he left, the president vowed not to cave on his desired border wall with Mexico and said he has the absolute right to declare emergency if he can't reach a deal with the Democrats.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I have the absolute right to declare a national emergency. I haven't done it yet. I may do it. If this doesn't work out, probably I will do it. I would almost say definitely. If we declare a national emergency, we have a tremendous amount of funds, tremendous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: And while on the ground in McAllen, Texas, the president doubled down on his claim that Mexico will be playing for the wall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: When I say Mexico is going to pay for the wall, do you think they're going to write a check for $20 billion of $10 billion or $5 billion or 2 cents? No. They are paying for the wall in a great trade deal. Billions and billions of dollars a year will be made now as opposed to NAFTA which was a disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: Trump let a border patrol agent explain the need for a wall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAUL ORTIZ, CUSTOMS AND BORDER PATROL: Just yesterday we apprehended 133 people from countries other than Central America and Mexico. That includes individuals from India, Pakistan, China, Romania, Ecuador, Nicaragua, on and on and on.

And so, I know we keep talking about the family unit and unaccompanied children. And that makes up about typically about 60 to 70 percent. We've seen a change over the last couple of weeks where that number is less then 50 percent of the apprehensions we make here in South Texas.

We have 55 miles of fence within the sector. We started the job in 2006. We need to finish that job. We've got the personnel. We need the technology and we need the resources. We need the infrastructure in order to control this border and manage it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: All right, we're going to take it around the table. Greg, let me start with you. The border patrol agent, that's -- you've been recommending this, like let the border patrol agents speak for the need because they know what is going on down there.

GREG GUTFELD, HOST: Well, it is not just the agents. It's also engineers because we need -- this kind of conversation requires a lot of nuance. Unfortunately, when you inject politics into anything, the first thing that disappears is nuance and compromise.

Politics is the carbon monoxide of thinking. It's odorless, it's colorless and when it enters the room, all ideas die. And so what they do -- so nuance and compromise drives me crazy, is replaced with the prison of two ideas.

So, even though Chuck agrees with Donald Trump and has agreed with him, he has to go to his respective prison. He has to go to that other prison cell, and he can't come out, even though he agrees with Donald Trump. So everybody has to choose their side and they have to live in their own prisons and every day this goes on it creates more and more libertarians or people who are so disgusted by politics, they are forced to talk to their family instead which is good.

But by the way, the real winner at this border visit, Ted Cruz's beard. He went from ted Cruz to cruise missile. I mean, I look at that and go, I'm not messing with that guy. He should -- if he had grown that beard in 2015 --

JESSE WATTERS, HOST: I agree.

GUTFELD: -- he might be president or vice president.

PERINO: He will not be lying Ted.

GUTFELD: No, that would be --

WATTERS: We don't need the wall. We just have Ted Cruz stand there with the beard.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WATTERS: And a jacket, just scare them away.

PERINO: Have you ever thought of growing a beard?

GUTFELD: I have tried. I think I grew a beard e3xcept it stops around the chin and it looks --

PERINO: You mean like, you have hair here but not on your --

GUTFELD: Yes, I have like mutton chops. Is that what they are called? Mutton chops. And then I get food in it, which is great.

WATTERS: You look Amish. I remember that.

PERINO: What about you? Any bear?

WATTERS: This is like two weeks I haven't shaved. I'm like a baby. I haven't hit puberty yet, Dana.

PERINO: Juan, any beard for you?

JUAN WILLIAMS, HOST: Yes, I can grow a beard. I had a beard over vacation. But I might say, I was worried about, you know, those terrorists crossing the border when I saw that guy standing behind the president and I realized it was Ted Cruz trying to make up for not a border wall but the absence of a chin.

PERINO: Oh, Juan.

GUTFELD: So you're saying all terrorists have beards? All terrorists have beards?

WILLIAMS: No, I'm saying just like you said. What did you say, cruise missile?

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: All right, let me ask you Jesse about this on today, there is an article this morning that a couple of the Democratic freshman who just won, the Democrats, who beat Republicans, right, in the close races, but they beat them fair and square.

Now, they are starting to say, we are actually for border security and this is not necessarily good that we are going to be in a position of not being able to build any coalitions or get anything done if this is our first attempt out of the gate. Do you think that there cracks in the Democratic opposition to getting President Trump this money for the wall?

WATTERS: I think the cracks are coming from the folks who are burning up the phone lines. That's what politicians respond to, is letters and phone calls. If you start calling and clogging up the phone lines, they think their constituents are angry and they want border security and they will respond.

That's the best part of democracy. Just pick up the phone and tell these guys what to do. They work for the people, not the other way around. So, you could see the needle moving a little bit. I honestly think this is the first time Trump has used the traditional presidential squeeze play on an issue.

You do the Oval Office address. You do the little photo op with the white hat. You do the social media. You ask people to call their congressman and maybe have a couple of rallies or something like that.

PERINO: Take a trip to the border.

WATTERS: You take a trip and then you threaten something, and right now it could be working. What the Democrats are trying to do though is they are trying to prolong this so the paychecks aren't paid, one week, and that inflicts new pain into the conversation.

And that may affect the dynamic a little bit. So if they can time the paycheck miss a couple more weeks, even time it with the Mueller report.

PERINO: You know what I think though --

WATTERS: Could you imagine that double whammy right there?

PERINO: Yes, I don't -- I still think that --

WATTERS: You said he was wrapping up.

PERINO: What, who was wrapping up?

WATTERS: Mueller. Imagine that comes at the same time as they are still shutdown.

PERINO: Well, I keep saying that. I keep saying that. Well, here's the thing. I'm going to run -- this is my theory. I don't have any. No one has told me this, but I think that the president, Jedediah, tomorrow is going to usurp the Democrats that he will declare this national emergency and be able to say I ended the shutdown because the Democrats wouldn't do it.

I have the authority to do this national emergency. There is controversy around that but that he will be able to say, I'm ending the shutdown. I obviously approved the need for this border fence.

JEDEDIAH BILA, CONTRIBUTOR: Then he will get credit for ending the shutdown, but then you will have everyone coming after him for, oh, you acted unilaterally. You don't care about Congress. You know, you didn't do this the right way.

So, I mean, I think that would be -- I really think it would be a mistake for him to declare a national emergency even though I do think he has the authority to do it in this case. I think it would be a political mistake.

PERINO: Don't you think he's like marching his way up to --

BILA: Yes, absolutely because he keeps saying now, oh yes, you know, I am within my right to do it and if Democrats don't help I'm going to have to do it. But to answer a question before too, I think that a lot of Democrats are coming forward and saying to people, other Democrats, this is one-tenth of one percent of the budget we are talking about here.

Do you really want to be on record as not wanting to give $5.6 billion for the border when we are asking for a $27 billion in foreign aid? I mean, this is not a good position to be in. This is a fraction and these are the very Democrats who have been on record, as we said in the past, as coming forth in favor of border security.

When you look at the polling around the country, people care about this issue. They want the border secure. They may not want the wall because that wall has been tied with President Trump and now they associate that with him, but they want border security.

So I think Democrats have to be really careful about this. And frankly, if they are held responsible for the shutdown, I think that's going to be a big --

PERINO: But see, I think that, Juan, Democrats are not being held responsible for the shutdown up to now. That's all obvious.

WILLIAMS: No, the polls are pretty clear. But so, in fact, David Drucker in the "Washington Examiner" today said, it looks to him like the Republicans have taken themselves hostage and they are trying to do things like, you know what, you can get your tax refunds, food stamps won't be delayed for people.

They are trying to ameliorate the damage that comes from what is now I think 20-day shutdown, second longest in history. And the difficulty for Republicans especially Republicans in states like Colorado with Cory Gardner or even Lisa Murkowski up in Alaska states, either with Hispanic population, significant or a lot of federal workers, is that they feel that this is going to hurt them with voters.

So they are starting to hear from their constituents, hey, this isn't such a great deal. And to go to what Jedediah was talking about, I think the news of today was that he didn't declare the national emergency. And I think that part of that is that Republicans, maybe I shouldn't say Republicans. I should say conservatives.

Remember how strongly conservatives criticized presidents in the past for acting in a tyrannical or despotic way and just saying I am going around Congress. Never once in American history has an emergency been declared when the president could not get funding for an issue through the Congress of the United States and went around the Congress. That is not in keeping with our constitution. I think a lot of conservatives have real problems with it.

WATTERS: I thought the news of the day was that there were people from 140 different countries or 40 different countries besides Central America that were trying to cross the border that they apprehended. It's like a United Nations migration into the United States of America and the border patrol said Pakistan, India, Romania -- people from Romania, Juan. They are coming too. You can't call the president racist. He's trying to stop Romanians too.

WILLIAMS: Let me just tell you something. Check the airports if you really want to see people from all over which is the primary source of illegal immigration. Let's actually have a conversation. One last thing before we go --

WATTERS: So if they get to the airport you'd let them in to?

GUTFELD: It's not primary harmful, harmful effect.

WILLIAMS: There is no harmful effect. No terrorist --

WATTERS: Really no?

WILLIAMS: No terrorist has ever crossed the southern border --

GUTFELD: Interesting. You sound like a rich Californian, Juan.

BILA: One in three women gets sexually assaulted.

WILLIAMS: Look, that's a side --

GUTFELD: You sound like a rich Californian who wants your cheap labor. That's what you sound like.

WILLIAMS: Here's the real issue. Right now, "Politico" is reporting that Republicans in the Senate went to the president and said let's make a deal to reopen the government and then let's talk about upgrading border security.

BILA: Now that's waste (ph).

WILLIAMS: The Democrats said OK, but the president said no. BILA: That's a waste of time. You're never going to get the border security.

WILLIAMS: No, you'll get the wall. You might not get the wall.

BILA: How many Ronald Reagan -- how many Ronald Reagan mistakes do you have to make when you go to Democrats and you say, you know what, we'll do this. OK, you cave and then you never get your end of the deal.

WILLIAMS: Democrats care about border security.

BILA: People are dying as a result of this.

GUTFELD: They don't act like it.

PERINO: We have so much more show to get to so I've got to tease.

GUTFELD: I thought you say -- you weren't going to say show.

PERINO: What was I going to say?

GUTFELD: It sounded like something else.

PERINO: I don't know what it was. Once again, I don't get the joke but I'm going to get it in a commercial break. Trump blast reporters for their coverage of yesterday's meeting with Democrats. We'll play that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: President Trump has been on a tear against the media over the past 24 hours, labeling them the opposition party after their coverage of yesterday's meeting with Democrats. It all started with a late-night twitter storm, "The mainstream media has never been more dishonest than it is now. NBC and MSNBC are going crazy. They report stories, purposely, the exact opposite of the facts. They are truly the opposition party working with the Dems. May even be worse than fake news CNN, if that is possible." Then as he's leaving for the border, Trump said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The media which I call the opposition party, a lot of the media, in coordination with the Democrats, they are not talking about the Democrats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You walked out on the Democrats, are you going to bring them back? How can you get a deal if you're not talking?

TUMP: I didn't pound the tables. I didn't raise my voice. That was a lie. I very calmly said if you're not going to give us strong borders, bye-bye and I left. I didn't rant. I didn't rave like you reported. I very calmly walked out of the room. I didn't smash the table. I should have but I didn't smash the table. And that's the story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: And while the media continues to try to trap Trump in a lie, CNN's Jim Acosta botched this attempt to take down the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Here are some of the steel slats that the president has been talking about, right here. As you can see, yes, you can see through these slats to the other side of the U.S.-Mexico border. But as we're walking along here, were not seeing any kind of imminent danger. There are no migrants trying to rush toward the fence here in the McAllen, Texas, area.

As a matter of fact, there are some other businesses behind me along this highway. There is a gas station, Burger King, and so on but no sign of the national emergency that the president has been talking about. As a matter of fact, it's pretty tranquil down here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Pretty tranquil because walls work, Jim. I think you just made the president's point for him. Greg.

GUTFELD: That was paid for by the Donald Trump 2020 reelection campaign. I mean, he is in a spot at a wall and says, see, there is no problem here. He may be dumber than we initially thought, which says a lot or I think it could be a really long prank like, you know, Andy Kaufman, when Andy Kaufman pretended to be this character all the way until his death.

I think that he is playing this role and by the way, it's amazing. Look, the media has no credibility on this issue because just weeks ago, they called this a humanitarian crisis, right? There were people rushing the border. There are caravans where people died and they are suffering.

And then, when Donald Trump agrees and says this is a humanitarian crisis, they turn into this mocking tone, what crisis? There is no crisis here. Look at this wall. I mean, they are the biggest hypocrites. It is hard not to -- it's hard to like them. It's easy to despise them.

BILA: The problem is that Obama called this a humanitarian crisis. Trump tweeted that out and the media is on record so many times as having defended him and so many times as having come in to defended Chuck Schumer and all those Democrats that voted for border security that now, they are panicked about how they conflict that now, to hate Trump for espousing the very same things that all those Democrats did that the media back them up on. That's their problem.

WILLIAMS: I don't get that at all.

BILA: They are. They absolutely are.

WATTERS: -- all the questions for you, Juan. So the media, all of them gathered down there to look at the photo op here and you have the border patrol and they make an announcement that 90 percent of the traffic comes in this sector where there is no barrier, OK. Only six percent of the traffic comes where there is a barrier.

You'd think the media would take an expert opinion like this and maybe write it down in one of their news stories and show hey, the experts on the ground say walls work.

WILLIAMS: No, that's again, that's how you distort numbers.

WATTERS: Juan, I didn't distort the numbers. This is what the guy said.

WILLIAMS: Yes, you -- here's the reality. There's not a wall across most of the border, Jesse.

WATTERS: I understand that, Juan. They have a certain wall --

WILLIAMS: OK. And by the way, I didn't understand --

WATTERS: -- in a very specific sector, it really slows down traffic.

WILLIAMS: OK. OK. OK. Let me just say the media went down there. The president himself and I think a lot of the anger at the media came from the session with anchors that was supposed to be off the record. "New York Times" reports the president said he didn't want to give the speech on Tuesday night.

He didn't want to go to the border. He didn't see the purpose. And then pointing at the people behind him, Kellyanne Conway, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Bill Shine, and said these people think it's a good idea. Apparently he didn't. But here's the reality, you have a situation now.

WATTERS: So they violated the off the record --

WILLIAMS: Also then, if -- you know what, I thought this was the most transparent president ever. Have it on the record Mr. President.

GUTFELD: You guys certainly mind reading that --

WILLIAMS: Oh my god.

GUTFELD: You know exactly what he's thinking every time. He didn't want to go. Who cares?

WILLIAMS: All right, so, he didn't -- but so then he retweets. What's in the retweet? He doesn't retweet the meeting. He retweets Brad Pascall (ph), Dan Bongino, Charlie Kurtz. He's like he's in a conservative echo chamber.

WATTERS: OK, so Trump is active on social media. Thank you, Juan. Dana?

PERINO: Yes, Jesse?

WATTERS: So, you have these off the record things and then you go down there for this opportunity to showcase the border. The media is following along. Do you think this is going to make any impact with the press whatsoever?

PERINO: Well one, on the thing about the off the record being violated, that is -- I don't think it was that egregious. I would not like it if that happened to me, but I also would not be surprised if there weren't other people who were calling Maggie Haberman, the "New York Times" reporter and telling her that exact same thing because we know this is what happens.

The White House will say that's not true and then three months later you found that, oh, that is exactly what happened. On the fact that the media - - how did we find out today that the Democrats have cracks in their coalition? I read that in a "Politico" piece today because the reporters are out there doing their jobs. It's not all fake news. Some of the reporting has actually been pretty good.

The other thing though that bothered me is that the other day on "The Daily," "The New York Times" podcast, they turn this crisis thing into -- the headline was, "It's a crisis of his own making." Right, because they said he changed the asylum rules and how you apply for asylum, so that's why all these people flooded the border.

But that doesn't -- if you go back to, as Jedediah was saying in the Obama administration, remember when that was a humanitarian crisis. They didn't say that was Obama's own making. And so that is a frustrating thing because there is clearly a bias there or unwillingness to look back into a fair comparison.

BILA: Also, the Mexican drug cartels and all the drug trafficking and what's going on in Mexico is also not part -- that's not Trump's fault. He needs to broaden this discussion. People don't like the term wall. He needs to talk about, yes, he needs to talk about barriers but he also needs to talk about going after these cartels.

He needs to talk about problems he has with the State Department that wants diplomacy all the time and doesn't prioritize going after these cartels. And he needs to talk about the humanitarian crisis that Democrats have been making that case for years and the media backed them up. That needs to be the priority, not just the fence.

WATTERS: All right, just how far the left is the Democrat party going? We will examine some of their most outrageous proposals up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: Is the Democratic Party moving at a more progressive direction? Some possible 2020 contenders are toying with liberal friendly policies like the green new deal. That package aims to eliminate much of the U.S. fossil fuel consumption. At least eight potential Democratic candidates have voiced support for it or touted aspects of the proposal.

Meanwhile, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio set to embark on a cross- country tour. He wants to explain his progressive vision after announcing plans to launch guaranteed health care for all residents of New York City, including illegal immigrants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY: I will definitely be going around the country talking about ideas like paid personal time. It's an idea I think is needed across this whole country now. This is a national crisis so I'm going to go all over the country and talk about that.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: And remember, all of this is coming on the heels of California governor Gavin Newsom announcing that he wants health care for all Californians. Jesse, do you see the Democratic Party sort of going too far to the left? I noted that there is a new poll that indicates now that half of all Democrats say they are liberals, which is a historic high point.

WATTERS: Well, selfishly I'm going to agree with Mayor de Blasio. I think paid personal time is a brilliant idea. Two weeks paid for personal time. I think the Democrats -- I think I might change parties. Wow. I mean, it will wreck the economy, if you can do that but I mean, personally, I think it's a great idea.

I think what's happening is the Democratic Party is shifting left from the ground up. It starts in these little laboratories in the cities, on San Francisco and New York City. And you get these radical mayors that have no resistance. They are the resistance but there is no one resisting them in these locales.

Ans they are just kind of pushing and pushing and pushing and no one is pushing back. You know, it used to have Rudy here or you'd still have some conservatives out west. It doesn't exist any longer. So, they are just going to go as far as they can possibly go and then the people that are running for president are then going to listen to them because that's where the base is.

And they are going to say, you know what, that sounds great. And that's why you see Ocasio-Cortez say raise taxes to 70 percent and then all these other people are agreeing with her that her running for president. So it's mainstreaming radicalism.

WILLIAMS: Hang on. Marginal tax rates for people who make more than $10 million.

WATTERS: Well, I would like to get there one day, Juan, and I don't want to pay 70 percent.

WILLIAMS: OK, all right. So Dana, you have a situation where people say, well, we have increased income inequality in America. We have a health care crisis in America. What you see is the Democrats responding to the realities of our time. Do you buy that?

PERINO: I think that if younger people in America say that they believe socialism is better than capitalism, that we ought to take that very seriously. That it's not a passing fad. They talk about it amongst themselves. They're learning about in school. And one day, they will be running for office. And it's like every generation seems to have to relearn this lesson.

Today in The Wall Street Journal, Jesse, there was an op-ed about how Sweden saved itself from socialism, that their idea of what is actually happening in Sweden is not true. They have deregulated transportation. They actually have competition for the post office. So --

WATTERS: They've privatized your Social Security, and they've cut taxes, as well.

PERINO: So -- but on the flip side, it's interesting to watch somebody like Gavin Newsom this week and now Mayor de Blasio, in the same week, Democrats, progressive Democrats, talking about the No. 1 issue from the last two years, and that's health care. While everybody in Washington is talking about $5 billion for border fence.

So I think that they've got the right idea, but I do feel for some of the Democrats, like for example, Congressman Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, moderate kind of guy, problem solvers kind of guy. He actually has a bill to restore the SALT deductions, right, for all the people that live in the northeast in California so that they can actually have those tax deductions back. He wants to cut taxes, while the new progressive energy in the party is talking about raising taxes to 70 percent.

There's a big disconnect there and they -- the moderates are going to have to speak with a much louder voice.

WILLIAMS: So Jedediah, when you hear these conversations about health care, income inequalities we've been discussing, it also extends to energy efficiency and climate change. And I know that's the devil for conservatives.

BILA: No -- I mean, no, but think about what they're saying. I mean, it was so ridiculous that, when AOC did that interview with Anderson Cooper, who is not a right winger, he was like, "Are you saying everyone's going to be mandated to drive an electric car in ten years?"

And she's like, "Well, I know it's hard." I mean, it's absurd what's being proposed. You can have a conversation about climate change, but what's being proposed now is making Barack Obama now sound like a moderate. I mean, this is a crazy, crazy left-wing advocating for benefits for -- let's broaden benefits for illegal immigrants.

Let's create -- this Green New Deal would bankrupt the country, would cost hundreds of thousands of jobs. And these energy sectors that they're trying to promote aren't ready yet. So we would -- I mean, it would skyrocket costs for the poorest of us the worst. So yes, you can care about these issues, but these things don't work.

WILLIAMS: OK, and so Greg, one of the questions then is, is the -- is this representative of the whole Democratic Party or just a left-wing fringe? Because when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez took this to Congress, the leadership said, "No, we're not going to establish a committee to look at this green - - green energy proposal."

PERINO: But they are.

WILLIAMS: No, they didn't. There's no such committee.

PERINO: She's on a special climate committee.

GUTFELD: I think the party -- these are not new ideas in the party. The extreme left has always been there. It just grew more legs.

You look at something about de Blasio, when we talk about a humanitarian crisis, what creates that? Incentives that have forced adults to risk the lives of their kids to come here. When you are dangling free health care, you are actually creating death and horror for families.

There's this myth that we are somehow obsessing over these young Democrats. No, actually there are people -- I would call them survivors -- of socialist regimes who are obsessed with that idea never coming back.

PERINO: Yes.

GUTFELD: To them, socialism is a scourge that ruined their lives. And as -- socialism being seen as a cure for inequality, it is: simply by crushing everybody down into being equally poor. There's no opportunity under socialism. There's only a top down, from the government up, destruction.

Socialism is seen as Santa Claus, but it's with claws.

PERINO: Right.

GUTFELD: It will shred you. It will shred you. And for some reason, to your point, it always seduces the next generation, as though our memories are wiped clean. So that "Hey, I just found out this new idea for paying for -- paying down college debt. It's called socialism." No, that will destroy you. "But I just discovered it, so it's real."

And then they point to the U.K. or Sweden. What they're actually saying is, "You know how socialism works? If they -- if it's actually not socialism; if it's socialism ameliorated by capitalism."

So why don't you give up the socialism? It's toxic.

WILLIAMS: All right, Fox News alert here. President Trump's former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, has agreed to testify before the House Oversight and Reform Committee on February 7. That's one month before he reports to prison for campaign finance violations, tax evasion, and lying to Congress about Trump's past business dealings in Russia.

President Trump offered his reaction while touring the border in McAllen, Texas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back in Washington, there's some big news about Michael Cohen, who's agreed to testify before the House Democrats next month. What do you think of that? Are you worried?

TRUMP: I'm not worried about it at all. No. Go ahead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: So it doesn't concern the president.

Up next, Kevin Hart issuing a strong rebuttal to those who say he needs to apologize even more for what he had to say about gays. Hear Greg's take right here on "The Five," straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: Kevin Hart was on Colbert last night, where the talk show host pressed Hart for refusing to host the Oscars. Colbert seemed to suggest that Hart hadn't done enough genuflecting, groveling or apologizing to the mob, or what Colbert refers to, oddly, as an audience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHEN COLBERT, HOST, CBS'S "THE LATE SHOW WITH STEPHEN COLBERT": Is there anything about the way you've handled the situation over the last month that you would go back and change if you had a time machine?

KEVIN HART, COMEDIAN: No, I wouldn't change anything.

COLBERT: No, really?

HART: No.

COLBERT: Really?

HART: No.

COLBERT: Because you didn't apologize at first, and then later you apologized.

HART: I'm just over it. There's -- it's an onion. It's an onion. So no matter how many times you keep peeling it, it's just -- it's just endless.

COLBERT: It's not over until the audience is over it, not when I'm over it. So do you have a sense that the audience is over it?

HART: Well, here's the difference. You can continue to live to please others, or you can have a position when you know that you've literally done what you can to try to please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Good for him. If there's something we've learned from this recent hysteria, while apologies matter, some people refuse them; because to accept them kills the story and the fun that's found in persecution.

That's Colbert's concern, I guess. He seems to ask, "But Kevin, how dare you end this story without getting proper approval from myself or Don Lemon or the mob on Twitter?"

But Hart stood his ground, and I hope he still does.

We now live in a panicked state in which social media has made the mob the moral decision maker in all things. Forgiveness is banned, apologies mocked and careers ruined. The low bar for destruction means lonely losers with free time can make every day on Twitter the Roman Colosseum. And there's always fresh meat to be made of someone who screwed up, even a decade ago.

The worst of it: companies now cower before basement dwellers who galvanize hysteria, ginning up illusions of outrage. The result: H.R. throws employees under the bus rather than stand their ground.

Hart stood his. But he can. He makes millions a year, so he'll be fine. You won't be so lucky if the mob comes for you.

All right, there's no host, Juan. Should they have a host?

WILLIAMS: I don't think it's necessary. Obviously, it's a lot of publicity for whoever is there, but I mean, in terms of what you and what all of us experience when we watch, is we want to see the winners. We want to see less yakking.

Any I think for you, I know these guys here at the table, you guys say you want less political talk --

GUTFELD: Right.

WILLIAMS: -- and less mockery of conservatives and all the rest.

But I will say in response to you, that isn't it curious that, from my perspective, I think it's the conservative mob that goes after and oftentimes belittles people.

GUTFELD: You are so -- my God. This began with the left, and they went after -- they even -- you know what?

WILLIAMS: No, but here's what. By the way, Colbert said he's done even worse than what Hart's done.

GUTFELD: Oh, yes.

WILLIAMS: I know. So I mean --

PERINO: Why not --

GUTFELD: Have you seen his movies? Go ahead.

PERINO: I was going to say, for Colbert, I feel like this was a -- like, he's a leader in the industry.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: He -- and he's a faithful person.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: So why not practice that?

GUTFELD: Right.

PERINO: And offer him forgiveness. And you're in a position of leadership to help somebody with a handout.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: What are you afraid of? To -- like, give this guy a chance, because he has apologized.

I absolutely think Kevin Hart should be given a -- the grace that all of us deserve in this situation.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: He has apologized.

GUTFELD: Nobody wants to share the risk, Jesse.

WATTERS: Well, Colbert lied when he said that the audience isn't -- isn't over Kevin Hart, and they want to hear an apology. That's not true. Ninety percent of this country, the people that watch, they want Kevin Hart to host the show. It's only a small, loud, annoying 10 percent that are overly influential, because they're in the media and they create these types of controversies.

The left-wing mob is becoming what they used to hate, which was the right- wing mob.

PERINO: Yes. Yes.

WATTERS: The evangelical Christian right, in the '80s and '90s when something came on television, they would say, "No, that's inappropriate. Let's boycott. That's bad. You can't do that." And now they've become the ones of no fun, that's inappropriate.

GUTFELD: Fair. Dean Wormer from "Animal House." Jed.

BILA: Yes, I think he saw that Ellen took so much heat publicly when she stood up for him --

PERINO: She was the leader.

BILA: -- that he decided, "You know what? I'm going to be the hero. She took all the heat. I'm going to go out, and everybody's going to love me, because I'm going to tell him that, you know, until we say, Kevin, that you're allowed to stop talking about this, you've got to keep talking about it."

But it plays so badly, and I think Kevin Hart has played it so well. First of all, I think he would have been a great host, and I think everybody knows that. And secondly, the fact that the guy apologized. He's talking about stuff he did a decade ago. And he's just cool about it. He's like, "Look, I'm done talking about this."

That drives him crazy.

GUTFELD: Yes.

BILA: Crazy. And it's great to watch.

GUTFELD: All right. A new study claims that traditional masculinity is harmful. What could this mean for men? We'll discuss it next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BILA: Some are calling it an escalation in the war on men. The American Psychological Association stirring controversy with publicly-released new guidelines aimed at combating, quote, "traditional masculinity in men and boys." which they claim is harmful.

Their research describing traditional masculinity as, quote, "marked by stoicism, competitiveness, dominance and aggression" and, quote, "is on the whole, harmful."

Greg, you know, this is the kind of stuff that drives me crazy that they teach, actually, in a lot of schools now. Where you have boys going to school, and they're being completely vilified for being boys from a very, very young age. Some of these qualities they are talking about men, like competitiveness, for example, is not a bad quality.

GUTFELD: But also it's biological. And right now, it's not a war on boys. It's a war on biology. If you look anywhere in the media, they seem to look down upon differences between genders. And somehow that -- somehow you could somehow change somebody. Which you can't because, you know, boys are boys. Girls are girls. And they're -- of you do the studies.

The problem is, why are these studies necessary? It's because we've created an artificial polarization. Right? It's like women are -- women versus men, as opposed to complementing each other. You can't have women without men. You can have men without women. But now we've turn it into this some kind of like -- we're pitting them against each other. It's sad. This is more identity politics that is basically creating a toxic environment for all of us.

BILA: It's also because, Dana, you know, boys, when you're in school, in middle school, they're more -- they tend to be more rambunctious, and they tend to be more adventurous.

And now they're having to be suppressed, because these qualities are being labeled as wrong or bad. So now you're having the APA come out and say, "Yes, we were right. You know, they need to be more effeminate. They need to be more X, Y and Z." And it's dangerous, actually.

PERINO: Also -- you know, I'm very fortunate, like, the men in my life, from my father, my grandfather, my husband, my stepson.

GUTFELD: Your personal trainer, Vito.

PERINO: My brother, Greg Gutfeld. Yes, and John Alfredo (ph), the trainer. Like, I'm --

GUTFELD: And what about your chef, Sven?

PERINO: I don't have a chef.

GUTFELD: And your masseuse, Carlos? Keep going.

PERINO: Anyway, I -- I've been surrounded by really good people. I've worked for really good people. I've worked for good men and women. But I -- David French wrote a piece in National Review about this.

WATTERS: I read that.

PERINO: Oh, did you?

WATTERS: Yes.

I'm thinking about Carlos. Is he available? I'm tight up here.

PERINO: All right, all right. Anyway, yes, I think the study is baloney. How about that as a point? Yes.

WATTERS: I will admit that there's toxic parts of masculinity, but if I admit that --

GUTFELD: It's the stuff in your hair.

PERINO: Flammable.

WATTERS: You know what some guy tweeted me the other day? He goes, "Jesse, has your hairstylist been furloughed from the shutdown?"

(GESTURES AT HIS HAIR) We're going to call this the Furlough.

So if so I admit that there is --

GUTFELD: Fur-high.

WATTERS: -- toxic masculinity, will you guys admit that there's toxic femininity?

BILA: Yes, of course.

WATTERS: You will?

BILA: Of course.

WATTERS: I don't want to say with the attributes are. But what would it be?

GUTFELD: You can't.

WATTERS: You go first.

GUTFELD: You go first.

PERINO: He's starting the toxic femininity.

WATTERS: It's for the table.

GUTFELD: It's a great point, because there is. If there's toxic masculinity, there is toxic femininity.

WATTERS: Yes, the gossiping.

BILA: Yes, I think that's true.

WATTERS: Is that a nice -- first start?

BILA: You don't want to say it, though. You just said it.

What do you think about all this?

WILLIAMS: You know, I was just saying --

GUTFELD: Be careful, Juan.

WILLIAMS: I think to myself, in the -- in the hashtag #MeToo era, there's real instances of men acting badly. And I don't want to come on -- "No problem here." Yes, sometimes men act badly.

Second thing is you're talking about, you know, sort of aggressive and people viewing you as too masculine and determined to be dominant. I think, oh, look at black boys in schools getting suspended. Much more so. And I think wow, this is very interesting.

But I do worry that we, you know, even as we can say men are going to be men, women are going to be women, you can't get away from the fact that men commit suicide more.

GUTFELD: Right.

BILA: That's true.

WILLIAMS: More instances of violence.

GUTFELD: Very true.

WILLIAMS: More instances of domestic abuse. And you think, you know what? Somebody has got to say, "Hey, guys, stop it."

GUTFELD: That's not what that's saying.

PERINO: Well, wait. But doesn't this have a lot more to do with the fact that we need more fathers?

WILLIAMS: Absolutely. I'm a big father. Yes.

PERINO: The fathers, the father figures, I think that is, like, a big point of all of this. That's how you channel the energy of a young boy as he becomes a man.

WILLIAMS: Amen.

BILA: And this vilification of men, it's happening mostly in your school system. Go look at your kids' schools. Go look at the courses they're taking now. I'm telling you. That's where it starts.

"One More Thing" is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: It's time now for "One More Thing." We start with Juan.

WILLIAMS: Thank you, Dana. FOX Nation has a fantastic new series called "Big Story." It takes an in-depth look at major events that have shaped our nation's history. The premiere episode, on Ronald Reagan. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So help me God.

I've spoken of the shining city all my political life.

WILLIAMS: People had such a strong, powerful reaction of Reagan using this biblical language to describe modern America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: As you can see, the show focuses on Reagan's farewell speech after two terms in the White House. The 40th president spoke about America as a shining city on a hill. That phrase coming from John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, and it's inspired presidents from JFK to Reagan.

"The Big Story: Reagan's Farewell Address" is available now on FOX Nation. The first of many great stories in that series, focusing on key American moments and people. Please subscribe and tune in.

PERINO: That looks pretty good.

OK, Greg.

GUTFELD: Not as good as this.

PERINO: All right.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD (singing): Animals are great. Animals are great. Animals are great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Oh, baby. Baby, you're going to love this one. Check out this little fella.

It's a pug, and he's having the ride of his life on a Roomba.

BILA: Awww.

GUTFELD: And I'm going to tell you why -- America, why animals are so great. Because they can make a baby dance. They can make the baby dance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(PUG ON ROOMBA RIDES NEAR A TODDLER IN A DIAPER, WHO DANCES JOYFULLY IN RESPONSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: That baby has got a life of memories ahead of him, but nothing's going to match a pug on a Roomba. And this is why, ladies and gentlemen, that --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD (singing): Animals are great. Animals are great. Animals are great.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: You're welcome, America.

PERINO: Thank you, Greg. Jesse.

WATTERS: I went to bed in -- with that in my head last night. Thank you. Thank you, Greg.

All right. So this is a great haircut story. This guy wants to get a new haircut; lives in China. He's going through the Internet, trying to find different styles to show his barber. He shows the barber on the phone one style that he wants. He puts the phone up. Can you guys show that? There he goes. "This is what I want." He shows the barber this picture.

And the barber actually cuts the play button into the guy's head. Look. See the arrow, right there? He actually shaved the play button from the screen grab onto the side.

PERINO: That's pretty -- he's very diligent and detail-oriented.

WATTERS: Yes. That's exactly what he did.

GUTFELD: I would've done the same thing.

WATTERS: A little too literal. Maybe -- yes.

PERINO: You know what? That actually looks good.

WATTERS: Maybe not very tech-savvy. That's what it would look like on me.

GRAPHIC: JESSE WITH A PHOTOSHOPPED "PLAY" TRIANGLE ON THE SIDE OF HIS HEAD

BILA: That's a good look for you.

WATTERS: Do think I should do that?

PERINO: That's the furloughed triangle.

WATTERS: That's the furlough triangle.

WILLIAMS: You know what I would do? I would push the button.

PERINO: I want to tell you about something that Jedediah is going to love. It's the Man O'War Project. This is in partnership with Columbia University.

It's the first program testing and studying horse therapy and its effectiveness --

BILA: Aww.

PERINO: -- in helping people that have PTSD. The goal is of this trial is to try to figure out if there's other programs that can be adopted for this. We all know that horses have a lot of great qualities.

The project was founded by former U.S. ambassador Earle Mack. Of course, he's got a lot of background in military service and philanthropy.

So it's MOWProject.org. Check it out, and maybe support.

WILLIAMS: Yay.

PERINO: Jedediah.

BILA: Well, I have something that beats a pug on a Roomba. That's right, Gregory. I have a bulldog on a skateboard. Check it out.

GUTFELD: Hey.

BILA: Pumpkin, 14-month-old bulldog.

GUTFELD: Sorry.

BILA: She learned how to skateboard all by herself, her owner says, when she was just eight weeks old.

PERINO: Wow.

BILA: She's now 14 months. She just naturally jumped on, and the rest is history. The owner is saying she just climbs on.

PERINO: A lot of bulldogs can do this. I think it must be their, like, low center of gravity.

BILA: Yes.

PERINO: But you know --

WATTERS: And that's why --

PERINO: She's also wearing a --

WATTERS (singing): Animals are great. Animals are great. Animals are great. GUTFELD (singing): Animals are great. Animals are great. Animals are great.

BILA (singing): Animals are great. Animals are great. Animals are great.

WATTERS: Oh, no.

PERINO: Set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of “The Five.” "Special Report" is up next.

Content and Programming Copyright 2019 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2019 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.