The Trump administration declares war on leaks

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The Trump administration declares war on leaks

Attorney General Jeff Sessions says leaks of classified material from U.S. intelligence agencies have 'exploded' this year; reaction and analysis on 'The Five'

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," August 4, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JESSE WATTERS, CO-HOST: Hello, everybody. I'm Jesse Watters along with Kennedy, Juan Williams, Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld. It's 9:00 in New York City and this is "The Five."

There is a leaking epidemic in Washington and it's going to come to an end. Today, our attorney general and director of national intelligence puts the culprits jeopardizing our national security on notice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEFF SESSIONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL: This nation must end this culture of leaks. We will investigate and seek to bring criminals to justice. We will not allow rogue anonymous sources with security clearances to sell out our country. If you improperly disclose classified information, we will find you. We will investigate you. We will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law and you will not be happy with the result.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Jeff Sessions says his Justice Department is pursuing three times as many leak investigations under President Trump then were open at the end of the Obama era. A staggering number.

Let's go to the White House for more on the crackdown. Ed Henry joins us live. Ed?

ED HENRY, FOX NEWS CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jesse, they're not talking about the palace intrigue leaks about who's up and who's down here at the White House. Those leaks may be childish but not necessarily illegal. Instead these officials are talking about leaks of classified information that may in fact be illegal. Potentially including those transcripts of President Trump's calls with two world leaders.

Jeff Sessions, under pressure from the President to get tough, revealed as you've noted, that they've tripled the number of leak investigations, press freedom group and the ACLU denounced this impart. Because the officials left the door open today to surveillance of reporters, to find out who their sources are. And why the administration stops short of saying, journalists will be prosecuted, they warned that government leakers may go to prison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SESSIONS: So, today, I have this message for our friends in the Intelligence Community, the Department of Justice is open for business. And I have this warning for would-be leakers. Don't do it.

DAN COATS, NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE DIRECTOR: Most importantly, as I have previously noted, these unauthorized disclosures endanger the safety and security of Americans across the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY: Squashing leaks is one of many big tasks here for the new chief-of-staff General John Kelly, as he institutes military-style discipline around here. The New York Times reporting, lingering staffers have been kicked out of high level meetings. Kelly's ordered the doors to the Oval Office closed to cut off random drop ins. The budget chief Mick Mulvaney meanwhile has told us now when he and other cabinet secretaries are on the phone with the President, Kelly's on the line too to make sure he knows exactly what's happening.

And I noticed something else interesting. When Kelly joined the President on Air Force One tonight on the way to the President's gulf resort in New Jersey, Kelly slipped into the press cabin for an off the record with reporters. So, he seems to also be trying to take at least some control of the message. And in fact, breaking just in the last few moments, the New York Times now reporting the Special Counsel Robert Mueller has asked the White House for records related to another retired General Michael Flynn, of course, the former National Security advisor.

Mueller wants details about whether he was paid by the Turkish government for lobbying, something that wasn't fully disclosed. This is the first time we know of that the Special Counsel has specifically asked for a record from the White House, a story that no doubt will be developing big time over the next few days. And another sign by the way, Jesse, these leaks are not stopping

WATTERS: That's right. They aren't. Ed, thanks very much. Have a great weekend.

So Gutfeld, the leaks have exploded. You heard him say that, three times as many. Why do you think that is? Is it because people are trying to hurt the President or do you think people are actually trying to take out the President?

GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: You know what, I believe the people in the media will try to portray the leaks as some kind of patriotic endeavor.

WATTERS: Right.

GUTFELD: That I am trying to save the country from a deranged president. So, I will leak as much as possible. My gut says, it's pure sour grapes and bitterness over the election because these previous leaks that just happened were six months old. Somebody is gone now but holding on to things. How do you crack down on leaks at the present stage? I had a boss who used to do this. He would tell each person on the staff a different story and see what story ended up in the press.

WATTERS: Smart.

GUTFELD: And then he would fire that person.

LISA KENNEDY, GUEST HOST: You know who else did that?

GUTFELD: Who?

KENNEDY: J-Lo.

GUTFELD: Really? That was my boss!

KENNEDY: When there were so many stories. And it might have been at the height of Bennifer --

GUTFELD: Yes.

KENNEDY: -- when she was dating Ben Affleck. And there were so many stories out. There are so many things have leaked.

GUTFELD: Yes.

KENNEDY: So, she assumed that it was one person from her beauty team, much like your --

GUTFELD: I was one of her beauty team.

KENNEDY: That's right. And she planted a fake story. It came out. She knew exactly who it was.

GUTFELD: Yes.

KENNEDY: And that's how you do it.

GUTFELD: So, Trump has to tell about 150 stories to different people and each detail slightly different

WATTERS: Okay. That sounds like a great strategy.

(LAUGHTER)

So, Jeff Sessions, let's listen to what he said about maybe cracking down on the media. Roll the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SESSIONS: One of the things we are doing is reviewing policies affecting media subpoenas. We respect the important role that the press plays and we'll give them respect. But it is not unlimited. They cannot place lives at risk with impunity. We must balance the press' role with protecting our National Security and the lives of those who serve in the Intelligence Community, the Armed Forces, and all law-abiding Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARLSON: And there's been moments in the past where journalists have gone to prison to protect the identity of their sources.

DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Yes. I mean, that was notably during the Valerie Plame special prosecutor investigation with Patrick Fitzgerald. But actually, looking back on it, none of that ever was necessary and it shouldn't have happened. But yes, it did happen. There are also things like when Greg is mentioning this, the transcript that is leaked that is from six months ago, that seemed petty and spiteful. Then you think of something like in 2006, I believe it was, when "The New York Times" was asked by the President of the United States not to reveal the information about the fact that the United States was holding Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

WATTERS: Uh-hm.

PERINO: Because we had active and ongoing intelligence were going with him in counterterrorism measures. They didn't listen to the President. They went forward. It actually blew up. This started the torture debate, all these things.

WATTERS: Yep.

PERINO: And so, you know, looking at it from The New York Times' point of view, I disagreed with it at the time and I still do. But I also understand that, you know, reporters, they are not the leakers.

WATTERS: I agree.

PERINO: Okay? They're not the ones that are committing the crime. The crime is from the people who swore an oath to protect the information. So, I think that -- I don't think the Justice Department will actually change this policy. I think they said this but it actually won't come to anything. I was thinking about Greg yesterday with words versus deeds, if this is meant to scare people, I actually don't think they'll change it.

WATTERS: And in my judgment, the media and the Democratic Party enjoy the leaks because the media gets the clicks and they get the headlines and the Democrats like it because it embarrasses the President.

PERINO: But they didn't like it under Obama.

WATTERS: They hated it under Obama.

PERINO: But what President Obama did to journalist -- what's happening now, if you can trace right back to the Obama administration, when name one after James Risen, our own James Rosen and others.

WATTERS: Uh-hm. That's right. Let's hear what Maxine Waters had to say about some of these leaks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a lot of Democrats that are disturbed by this because it threatens our national security. Are you disturbed by it?

REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF.: No, not at all. I am so glad they're telling us what's going on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But you don't need to hear these conversations. They are confidential. This threatens National Security.

WATERS: I need to hear these conversations. Unfortunately, this is his problem. He is in a White House where he's got people working for him that don't believe in him and don't like what he's doing and they're trying to tell the American public something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Juan, Maxine Waters right there, what she did is she said she supports the criminal leaking of National Security information.

JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: No, she didn't.

WATTERS: Yes, she did.

WILLIAMS: No, you know --

WATTERS: She says she likes it.

WILLIAMS: That's not what she said. And also, when you said, there are three times more leaks, no, no, no, there are three times more investigations under the Trump administration into leaks.

WATTERS: There's been a leak every day since --

WILLIAMS: Well, that's fine. But what you said was wrong. It's not the quantity of the leaks. It's the quantity of the investigations. So, let me just tell you, I find this whole thing a big distraction. Greg says, the media is going to say they're involved in patriotic activity letting people know. Let me tell you something. It is patriotic. It's something the founding fathers believe in which is why, press freedoms and press protections are First Amendment.

Number one, they prefer that we know what our government is doing rather than having the government running crazy, doing things without public knowledge. We can't be informed citizens unless we the people know what's going on.

(CROSSTALK)

Hang on. Let me finish this point, because I feel so passionately about this, Jesse.

WATTERS: There is a difference.

WILLIAMS: Between what?

WATTERS: A whistle-blower and a leaker.

WILLIAMS: Yes. But that's not what President Trump is up to. President Trump is mad at everybody who is leaking stories. And guess what. This is what Jeff Sessions is doing now. Jeff Sessions has marching orders from President Trump. He's trying to get himself back in good stead with the President by putting on this dog and pony show. But remember --

WATTERS: Juan, it's not a dog and pony show --

WILLIAMS: Let me just say, what was it when Republicans were so upset at the Obama administration for doing things like going after my colleague and friend James Rosen subpoena him. I've been subpoenaed when I was working at the Washington Post and threatened with jail. You heard what Dana said about what happened to Judith Miller and the midst of this. So, oh, is that what you guys really believe in all the sudden that reporters are supposed to be toss in the jail.

WATTERS: I don't think the reporters are a priority. I think the leaks --

WILLIAMS: Oh!

KENNEDY: Yes. I think you're absolutely right. And I think that Dana and Juan can both be right in that, yes, there is something sacred about press freedoms in this country and we certainly don't want to see members of the press, journalist rounded up and thrown into prison. But it's also a question of supply and demand. And, you know, we shouldn't be looking at demand which is where the journalist are. We should be looking at the supply.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

KENNEDY: And that is what Jeff Sessions and Dan Coats have to address. They have to ask themselves why are there so many leaks, who is leaking, and what can we do about it? And I think one thing that they can do to send a message, is if someone is actually compromising National Security and they have broken the law, they have to be prosecuted. There's a feeling in this country that if you are a powerful person, you are beyond reproach. And that goes back to the Hillary Clinton investigation under James Comey. Deal with the supply, deal with the leakers, and then the rest --

This guy, Jeffrey Sterling, who leaked to James Risen of "The New York Times" is in jail. And you know, the courts didn't tolerate it. The Justice Department tolerates it. So, the point that people especially Republicans said, what's Eric Holder doing? He's going after the press. Oh, I hear a different stories tonight.

GUTFELD: This is not about the press. Again, it's exactly what Kennedy said. The supply, the leaking in itself is an internal mutiny. It's a coup in the most cowardly sense. I mean, they don't even have the guts, they do want to overthrow the government, do it the old-fashioned way. This is such a cowardly --

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: Yes. I mean, I'm serious. This is baby stuff. It's cowardly. It's slimy. It's sneaky. But, would you want to talk about the press? And the press which drools over this information. So, you're talking about reporters searching stories. They're not. They're drooling over the little grapes that are given to them, old conversations, because that is more important than the actually goings on of government which is happening right now with terror, economy and jobs, which is what the people care about. They care about this stuff. Words versus deeds. I keep saying it and I'll keep saying it. They're obsessed with words

WILLIAMS: I don't think so.

GUTFELD: But you're going to go back and say it's about reporters be jailed. It's not.

WILLIAMS: No, no, let me argue with you.

PERINO: Words are not deeds.

WILLIAMS: Once you see something like warrantless wiretaps. And you say, "oh, is the government actually wiretapping me without a warrant?" And guess what, somebody leaked this --

KENNEDY: Yes. The government is spying on you.

WILLIAMS: Somebody leaked this and you say, oh, thank God, I will have this discussion, what's wrong with that, Greg?

GUTFELD: You're deflecting.

KENNEDY: Whistle-blowers are a critical part of keeping institution and bureaucracies honest.

GUTFELD: Yes.

KENNEDY: And there is a mechanism for dealing with whistle-blowers.

WILLIAMS: Yes. Fired him, throw him out.

GUTFELD: No. But you're deflecting from an absurd story from yesterday where six-month-old transcripts of conversations between world leaders were leaked. That's not heroic.

WILLIAMS: That's not a national security issue in my mind.

WATTERS: I disagree. When you call the President of the United States and it's not going to wind up in the Washington Post.

WILLIAMS: No. But you know what?

WATTERS: Give them all polygraphs. We've got to run. Chicago's bracing for another violent and perhaps deadly weekend. Why isn't the NAACP issuing another one of its travel advisories for the south side? We tackle that one up next.

(COMMERIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: Yesterday, we've told you about the NAACP's unprecedented travel advisory for African-Americans going, traveling, living in Missouri. Surprisingly, the NAACP hasn't issued an advisory yet for Chicago, where the murder rate is unpaced to break the record numbers set in 2016. More than 400 homicides in the city so far this year. And most of the people killed, blacks or Latinos. Here's a closer look at the crisis on the south side from an upcoming CBS News report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a Mac 10, a semiautomatic weapon originally designed for military used and illegal in Chicago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So why do you need guns?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Protection. It's dangerous out here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This south side crews is affiliated with the group The Titanic Stones. They cover their faces to conceal their identities. They actually told us they hate guns.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ain't with these guns. I'm just doing this for survival, bro, until I can pull my family and myself in a better predicament to what I need. We are just trying to keep ourselves protected

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: So, Jesse, President Trump has been very involved in this in saying that, you know, Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago needs to clean it up, suggesting he would send added federal people in. In fact, he's sent 20 additional ATF agents to Chicago. He also said that he's talked to police who say, one tough cop could clean this up in a few days. So, I'm not sure. What do you think?

WATTERS: I think Chicago is in another swamp that needs to be drained. Rahm Emanuel has been there for quite some time. And he's tolerating a lot of shootings. And if I was the NAACP, I would knock on the mayor's office and say, "how much black-on-black crime are you guys are going to tolerate?" If these were white people shooting each other, would the program still be the same?

You know, he came out with the program to fix this a couple of years ago and the murder rate went up. So, obviously what he's doing is not working. Remember what happened with the surge in Iraq where they went block to block and they invested heavily on boots on the ground clear hold and they brought in the local population to really turn the tables and it worked.

Now Chicago needs the same thing. A few ATF agents aren't going to do the job. There are a lot more DA, ATF, local law enforcement have them do foot patrols. Get them to know the local people and list the local clergy, local business centers, throw everything at it that you can. And I don't know if it's honestly going to work because they've tried everything. Maybe they need to give the National Guard a shot. The worst part about it is the politicians because they've thrown millions of dollars at this city over the course of the years. Where is the money gone? Probably into their pockets.

WILLIAMS: Well, you know, it's interesting. I was looking at the numbers today, Buffalo, Baltimore. The numbers aren't that different, Dana. And one of the things that just strikes me is so -- here, I listen to Jesse. And he says, really, you need a surge of law enforcement officials going in. And my thinking is, the seeds of this problem are broken families, lack of education, lack of jobs, and lack of job training and lack of character when people say, oh yes, I got a problem, I want to take a gun and shoot you.

PERINO: Well, but I wonder if you can't actually address those things before you have security. So, Jesse, the example of clear hold and build - -

WATTERS: Right.

PERINO: -- is that you had to have security before people would feel good, comforted that they can actually go back into their communities, raise their families and actually have a dialogue for political solution. If you are, like these gentlemen that were in this CBS report having to carry a Mac 10 just to protect yourself, you can't actually think five steps ahead in terms of like, lane down roots in getting married and like, all of those good things that you would want for people, and I just wonder, the premise of this segment Juan is that the NAACP calls for a state of emergency, or like a travel advisory, excuse me, in Missouri but they don't do it here. But is that an unreasonable request given what the NAACP, like a policy organization or do you think that they should be brought into this?

WILLIAMS: You know, I think that they should be brought into this? I've written, I wrote a book about what I think is the dysfunction among so many civil rights leaders. But one of the issues for me Dana is, when I think about drug dealers in the black community, when I think about people who are thieves and crooks in the black community, I don't understand why civil rights leaders don't stand up and say, that's not us, and make it very clear who the bad guys are because it breaks down community, it hurts retail business.

If you say, why is there a movie theater, why aren't there good restaurants over here, is that racial? You know, oftentimes, it's people saying, "I don't want to invest in a community where there's such a high crime rate."

WATTERS: Yes.

WILLIAMS: So, I want to argue with Greg Gutfeld. So, Greg, you and I have strong disagreements about guns. And you know that the police, in trying to do what Jesse was talking about, have gone and ceased guns. I think they've ceased 5,000 guns. And you just heard in that CBS report, the bad guys, Dana calls him gentleman, I would not go that far, say, you know, I really don't want guns, but I've got to have a gun because the other guy has a gun."

GUTFELD: Well, that was, by the way, that was fairly absurd, what we saw. It was, you know, I felt it was an attempt to portray them sympathetically. Did you feel that way?

PERINO: Well, that's why I called them gentlemen.

GUTFELD: Yes. I mean, so like, that was pretty absurd. Those are murderers. Let's not forget that. And let's not, you know, we keep being told that crime is going down and homicides are going down in certain places but going up in other cities. What we have to understand is there are fewer gun homicides not because of shootings but because surgeons in the ER are way better at repairing gunshot injuries than ever before. So, there would be, this could have been, this could be worse than their early 70s and the late 60s.

PERINO: Yes.

GUTFELD: It's just that we have best better doctors. It would be hard for me to get up in the morning to know that I was hurting THE FIVE. Like if this show wasn't a hit show and I knew it was my fault, I would probably quit. I don't understand how you can be the mayor of Chicago, how you can be a bureaucrat, get up in the morning and know that the biggest problem you face which is death, you can, you know it's going to happen.

PERINO: Yes.

GUTFELD: You know, the statistics are going to keep going. You know exactly what you're going to see in the news. And you don't or can't even figure it out. You should have the nobility to just step aside and say, maybe somebody else should take a shot at this. Maybe we need fresh thinking. And maybe I should go write a book or be a contributor at CNN or do something like that rather than be mayor because I'm letting people die.

KENNEDY: Yes. There are too many people whose lives are dependent --

GUTFELD: Yes.

KENNEDY: -- on what you do for a living as a public servant.

GUTFELD: Yes.

KENNEDY: And so much of that is spent in denial.

GUTFELD: Yes.

KENNEDY: And it's just sort of speaks to the fact that, you know, there are a lot of corrupt union politics in Chicago and Illinois in general. And the state is in financial dire straits for a number of reasons. One of the big ones happens to be, you know, the pension obligations and the union and whatever else. And the whole state is so dysfunctional that they are in denial about this stuff. But one thing I will say is, they have such prohibitive gun laws in places like Chicago and drone laws research has shown that places where people can legally own and carry guns, there's west gun violence.

GUTFELD: Yes.

KENNEDY: And it seems like a paradox, and no one wants people running around like a bunch of vigilante shooting each other but good people aren't able to protect themselves and bad people get guns on the black market and they hold an entire city, a great hostage. I mean, that's also what's so confusing and why people have shown vested in Chicago is because it is a wonderful city.

WILLIAMS: Well, you know, and what you mean Kennedy is that, it's not the city of Chicago. It's really is certain core mostly minority neighborhoods where the people are shooting. The young men involved in the drug trade are shooting each other. By the way, I don't understand why they're going to issue the advisory from Missouri. You wouldn't see civil rights activists, Chicago, the home of Jesse Jackson, stand up and say, "We're marching against you, the drug dealers, the gun dealers, and people who are shooting each other and making our communities into shooting range." It's bad.

Yes. Ahead, former DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, she is breaking her silence on the arrest of her former IT aide blasting critics who questioned, why she didn't fire him sooner? She's fired up. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has come under scrutiny for keeping this IT staffer on her payroll six months after she found out he was under investigation. Other House colleague stopped working with Imran Awan immediately, so why didn't she? The congresswoman has addressed the subject for the first time on tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, D-FLA.: Not only, I believe that I did the right thing, and I would do it again. There are times when you can't be afraid to stand alone and you have to stand up for what's right. So, it would have been much easier for me to just cut him loose and say, you know, I'm going to look out for my best interests rather than stand up for what I believe in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: The former DNC chair also believes so he was profiled because he is Muslim. She did end up firing her former aide last week after he was arrested while trying to fly to Pakistan. The full interview is on sunsentinel.com. So, Jesse, I'm trying to figure out, is there something about this story that doesn't feel right, but I can't exactly put my finger on it.

WATTERS: The fact that the media's bearing it means there's something really damaging to Democrats. This guy and hi family's work for about 15 years for the Democrats and house people and accumulated over $5 million, a lot of money and the family is accused of all sorts of crazy things, like other fraud and shady deals. So this guy does this work. And then he gets popped for doing some shady stuff. And then everybody drops him except Debbie who not only keeps paying him and he doesn't have any I.T. access anymore, so he can't work on computers.

So she keeps him around to help with the phone and the printers at the same salary. That is very suspicious. Then his family flees to Pakistan with a bunch of dough. He gets caught fleeing to Pakistan with a bunch of dough. And who represents him? A high-priced Clinton attorney, now what's a Clinton attorney? Getting involved, representing a low level I.T staffer for the House Democrats. Doesn't make a lot sense though at best the House Democrats brought in guy with a fraud tax payer of $5 million that they didn't catch on, at worst the Democrats bring in a guy who put national security at risk, was dealing with the foreign power and may have ended up exposing some secrets. We will find out hopefully.

PERINO: The thing that Greg that she did that is different and new today is that she added this piece that she thinks he was being targeted because of his religion

GUTFELD: You have basically a criminal family that has worked with top Democrats, getting tons of money through shady deals and having access to government's sensitive data. But enough about the Clintons, let's talk about this story. Whenever something bad happens, you see Democrats will scream Islam phobia. This false accusation acts as a kind of a barrier against -- pointing out behavior and exacting justice. Any time you try to criticize wrong doing, they try to find out if it's racist, sexist it is Islamophobic. If you talk about genital mutilation, if you talk about sexism or homo phobia in certain Islamic cultures that is Islamophobia, so they have been trained to yell Islamophobia whenever this happens, she is doing it just like she is told.

PERINO: Why do you think Kennedy that she is waited so long to say this? If this was her answer, why do you think she waited?

KENNEDY: I think that is one reason that she was unseated at the DNC. She is not very good at her job. And she is certainly not very good at responding to a crisis. And then there's that mysterious laptop that went missing. And she was clamoring for that as if there was some sort of information on there that might point to a reason why Debbi Wasserman Shultz hold onto this guy for so long. And I love how she tries to take the high road and say, I am such a good person. All these other people, my colleagues, the FBI, anyone in law enforcement, they're all racist. But I'm so good and pure. I don't care if his reputation is absolute garbage and the people in his family were working for congress members for years, but not actually showing up, which is why many people become libertarians. Because you realize how inefficient the government really is, when people don't even show up for work and they still get paid $160,000 a year, and now you're going to have not only people in conservative circles but also people who are Bernie Sanders supporters. They want answers, because this person --

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: Juan, people on the left wants answers to this too?

WILLIAMS: Everyone wants answers. The thing is that you have to be careful. What we've got is a bunch of suspicions or why didn't she act earlier, how can this had gone on for so long, what was in this computer? There is a tape of her talking to one of their capital police officials and she seems really incensed. And you think, "What's this about?" but I just want to point out, there is no evidence of any defrauding. Jesse says it was defraud. No such thing. There's no national security argument or allegation here. The biggest charge, the one that the man is actually charged with, has to do with mortgage fraud that he applied for a mortgage that is intended for your primary residents. Actually he was trying something else for the money and it was illegal. That is why he was stopped at the airport. No matter what your political stripes, you think something's odd here. But we don't have any evidence that there's an actual crime beyond the mortgage fraud.

PERINO: We will keep on it and we will bring more information to you as we have it. Ahead, a concerning new report on the impact smartphones are having on teens, this modern day technology destroying the generation, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KENNEDY: Hello, and welcome back. Many of us are addicted to our smartphones and it is not a good thing, sorry Martha Stewart particularly for the teenage generation. There is concerning new analysis that has been published in the Atlantic showing teens today are more likely to be lonely and depressed than ever before. The more time they spend looking at screens the more likely they are to report suicidal symptoms. Jesse, you have girls, I have girls, crazy, staggering statistics. Where do you stand on smartphones?

WATTERS: Well, the screens that I like my twins to watch are Fox News channel. I don't mind that if they watch "The Five." I give them my phone sometimes and they drop and crack the screen. That is the main reason why I don't let them use a phone. But it's kind of like a babysitter. It's kind of like you've failed as a parent.

KENNEDY: They're only five.

WATTERS: And if you have a five-year-old, you know what I mean. If you want them to shut up, give them the phone. The last time I gave them a phone, they deleted all my apps. So I had to download those. But when they deleted my apps, I stopped going on Instagram and Facebook and it was nice. I didn't feel so depressed.

KENNEDY: I think this is really for parents to consider. When you hear something like this, are we becoming so distant to one another? When you see teens let a man drown, when you hear what's happening on the south side of Chicago. Are we so wrapped in our own bubbles, we've lost the part of our humanity because of our electronic devices.

PERINO: Yes but we don't know what to do stop this. These phones are not going away. We're going to be born with them. You'll just be able to look into your hand and be like, "oh, okay, I can do all my stuff on my phone right here on my hand." it's not going away.

KENNEDY: The nice thing is the free market has allowed for more apparently control. Some kids have to have a level of independence, there was a stunning video that came out last year from (inaudible) manufacturer and asks kids what they like to do most and asked the adults what do they like to do most when they were kids, the adults said I liked fishing, I liked riding my bike. And the kids are like, I like playing video games. So I think as parents, as stewards of the next generation, take your kids outside. Take them skateboarding.

GUTFELD: I disagree with everything that is been said here. Don't take them outside. Then they get in my way.

(LAUGHTER)

I actually do disagree with a lot of this. What interesting to me is what the phones are telling us about ourselves as human beings? It's a communication device, and information device. It says that we've evolved into purely social animals. We're forgetting that these are to communicate. We are craving connection with other people. We look for things. We find stories to send to our friends. We are communicating now than we ever have before. The phone is now our car. It's now our way to travel into other dimensions. Every generation has its problems. I was lonely and depressed. But one of the problem here is they have so few problems.

KENNEDY: Wasn't that because your parents beat you with a shovel?

GUTFELD: Thanks for bringing that up, Kennedy, I am out of here. I try to be profound and --

KENNEDY: Juan last word, a little bit of wisdom.

WILLIAMS: People who spend time on Facebook are less happy. I didn't realize this. I thought, much like Greg was saying, I thought it's a way for friends to stay in touch and all the rest. But especially with young people, it seems to be isolating. To me, when I look at the suicide rates these days going way up for girls, I think it's a way that people are bullied, intimidated. We just did a story here I think it was two nights ago about a girl who was found guilty and then sentenced for encouraging her boyfriend to commit suicide and against she wasn't doing it in person. She is doing it over a cell phone.

PERINO: Yeah.

GUTFELD: It's not about technology.

KENNEDY: Speaking of fun technology, technology is great. I love my robot overlords. Facebook Friday is coming up next. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: Facebook Friday. Let's begin. This is some Larry app. I am going to go to you first, Dana. If everyone on the panel was to write a book about their time on the show, what would be the name of their book, besides "The Five"?

PERINO: What happened? Get it?

(LAUGHTER)

GUTFELD: No, I don't.

PERINO: That is his new book.

GUTFELD: That went right over my head, nicely done, Jesse. All right, Juan. I have Juan's title, but go ahead. Guess what.

KENNEDY: Check it out.

GUTFELD: Check it out. Guess what.

WILLIAMS: This has been a problem my whole life. So I was thinking about it. How about "Tlking Dead"? "The Talking Dead." how about that? I could call the show "The Deplorables."

GUTFELD: very good, what about you Jesse?

WATTERS: I might call it "Four Months." I don't know.

PERINO: The shortest book ever written.

GUTFELD: What about you Kennedy?

KENNEDY: Profiles in courage.

GUTFELD: That would be ghostwritten. And then you can get it in bulk sales. I would call it "The One." because without me, what would it be? I'm kidding. I would call it "the ten" because for every one of us, there was someone else.

PERINO: That is right. We're all replaceable.

GUTFELD: Yep. All right, this is from Dana K. This is a great -- I'm going to start with you, Kennedy, because I know you're going to love this question. What is your favorite breakfast cereal?

KENNEDY: Pre-celiac, it was crunch berry. Captain crunch does that. It always rip out the root of your mouth, it turn the milk light pink.

WILLIAMS: That is my favorite.

GUTFELD: You can't not -- not love it.

WILLIAMS: But the thing is the sugar content is out of the roof.

GUTFELD: They're all the same. Corn syrup made that industry.

WILLIAMS: man but it is delicious.

WATTERS: you know what, but on the other hand I do really like cornflakes.

WILLIAMS: Interesting.

GUTFELD: What about you, Jesse, if you say weediest I'm going to throw you out of here.

WATTERS: I am going to go for cocokrispies. And then you have the choc milk in the end, but anything like lucky charms with the marshmallows, stick those out one by one, you can't go wrong there.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: I love peanut butter crunch. Remember Alpha bits.

GUTFELD: It's an interesting taste. It's like a glazed sugar. You guys remember Crisp? I also liked sugar smack, even though it smelled like a dead skunk.

WATTERS: With the frog logo.

GUTFELD: Pepe, I think it was.

WATTERS: Making cereal great again.

GUTFELD: Yes, exactly. Rose R. asks, "Have any of you gone back for your class reunions?" Jesse.

WATTERS: Wasn't allowed back.

(LAUGHTER)

Yeah, they had a guard at the door. They were like, "sorry." no, I went back for my five year and then after that it petered out.

GUTFELD: Kennedy.

KENNEDY: I went back to two of them so far. And I had to take a picture, because I was voted most likely to be a talk show host.

GUTFELD: What about you, Juan?

WILLIAMS: No, I've never gone. But I went back this year to do a speech at my high school and it would have been my 45th high school graduation. The fear is either that they're doing really well, in which case I would be jealous, or they're dead.

WATTERS: They're not doing better than you, Juan.

WILLIAMS: That is true.

GUTFELD: What about you Dana?

PERINO: I went to one of my 20th high school reunion, Parker Colorado.

GUTFELD: What year is that? You were already kind of well-known? Did you go to rub their faces in it?

PERINO: I love my hometown, Parker, Colorado.

WATTERS: What were you voted most likely to what?

PERINO: I don't know. Sit next to Jesse Watters.

GUTFELD: I went to one class reunion. It was for traffic school though, because we got along so well. It was great. We had to watch a lot of film. One more thing is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: It's time now for one more thing. Juan.

WILLIAMS: So, Jesse, this one's for you. I want to wish a happy birthday to a very special person. Jesse, pay attention, happy birthday, number 44, Barack Obama turns 56 today, and this is his first birthday since leaving the oval office. This one will be a little bit more laid back. Check out this lovely tweet Michelle Obama sent. Another year older, but same phenomenal guy he married 25 years ago. Happy Birthday Barack Obama, love you so much.

WATTERS: And in honor of President Obama's birthday, Donald Trump went on vacation. Who do we have next?

GUTFELD: Is it me?

PERINO: It is you.

GUTFELD: Somebody on the prompter's is having fun. You've got to watch my show tomorrow night. It is mind blowing. We have Walter, he is a great writer he is a great podcaster, catch him it is going to be grand, 10:00 pm Saturday, Saturday, Saturday. Time for this, Greg's liberty corner, even pop stars get angry when they can't get an Uber, take a look at this. Here is Seal, angry because the Uber driver will not let him in. Stormed off, decided he would just swim across the channel and find a better way home. Lucky for him he was drunk so there was no drunk driving and he just did the right thing. Bye-bye, seal. Good-bye, Greg.

WATTERS: Ok. Can you top that one Dana?

PERINO: Well, I have a little bit of an update. I don't know if you will like this, this is something you have not seen before. There is Jasper who had surgery today. So people have been asking me what the update was. I found this little spot on his lip. I was a little concerned. It was a melanoma. That had to go back and they took a little bit more and they took the lymph node as well. He is groggy but home, and he is going to be fine. All of you pet lovers when you see something, say something.

GUTFELD: That is a great dog.

WATTERS: I would suggest Jasper has a popped collar. I like the look. (Inaudible) world this weekend, Saturday night 8:00, I have diamond and silk everybody. Also, a real Indian who's running against Elizabeth Warren in the Massachusetts senate race and then I have former Dolphin's cheerleader who is actually getting divorce from her husband, because she likes Trump so much. So, there you have that. Kennedy.

KENNEDY: Well she might be someone to cuddle with. It turns out the Trump presidency has been a boon for the cuddle industry. That is absolutely right. There are professional coddlers and this people are certified. They have cuddle parties where you are not allowed to touch where the bikini covers and you have to get affirmation, you have to get a text yes before you cuddle, but people do engage in spooning. There is lap-sitting. There is snuggling and a lot of it that the industry has exploded since Donald Trump's presidency.

GUTFELD: There is no industry. This story runs every year.

KENNEDY: $80 an hour.

WATTERS: Fake news. It's fake news. All right set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of "The Five." "Hannity" up next.

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