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Trump campaign sues New York Times for libel

Trump campaign sues over 2019 op-ed; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," February 27, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: There are laws against that with gas stations and others that do the same during hurricanes or natural disaster events. But, man, oh, man, with everything that's going on, forget about losing your shirt in the market. You should lose a lot more when you pull that stunt in the middle of a crisis.

Here comes The Five.

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Juan Williams along with Emily Compagno, Jesse Watters, Dana Perino, and Gregory Gutfeld. It is 5:00 in New York City, and this is The Five. A big political battle in Washington over the Coronavirus, President Trump, trying to reassure Americans, meanwhile, top Democrats are criticizing his administration's response.

We'll get to that later. But first, some 2020 politic, new reporting indicates the Democratic Party is worried over Bernie Sanders' surge. According to the New York Times, a good portion of Democratic super delegates do not want to hand Senator Sanders the nomination if he falls short of a majority of delegates before the convention.

And after saying she rejects socialism, Speaker Nancy Pelosi now says she will back Sanders if he becomes her party's presidential nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): Unity, unity, unity. Whoever I nominate is -- we will support with respect for his or her positions, and hopefully with their respect for our positions as well. So we have made a decision to win. And as I say to the members, if you make a decision to win, you have to make every subsequent decision to win. No friction, no nothing. Just stay on the path to victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: And Bernie Sanders has been causing controversy with comments about Cuba. But as you know, he is finding some support in the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They accused Dr. King of being a communist. Every major leader in the 60s, they tried to call a socialist a communist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have folks who are so afraid of Bernie Sanders, so afraid of Elizabeth Warren, so afraid of the progressives, and they are willing to say that if the Democratic Party nominates a progressive, and what they are saying to me in that moment is that they are more comfortable with the white nationalists in the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Jesse, you know, this is so interesting. It looks like there is resistance on the Democratic Party side. But on the Republican Party side, it looks like they are salivating to run against Sanders and the claim of socialist.

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, one of those reasons, Juan, is just in an hour on Wednesday, Bernie called our strongest mid-east ally a racist. He said that Castro was a great guy, even though he had Russian missiles pointed at our country, and says he wants to give taxpayer money to black Americans so they can grow and sell weed. That was just in one hour, Juan.

That's why people are nervous on the Democratic side. His coalition -- in terms of the Electoral College is not as strong as he believes. If you think are seniors going to turn out for Bernie Sanders? Are suburban women going to turn out? Is he going to get black turnout in Charlotte, in Philadelphia, in Detroit? We'll see about that.

He wants to ban fracking. Is that going to help him in Pennsylvania? Are his Castro comments going to help him in Miami-Dade? Are union voters in Michigan, who have great healthcare plans going to vote for a guy who says you can't keep that plan? I don't know. I don't think he is positioned perfectly, well, not perfect. Donald Trump, when he was running, won 41 out of the 50 early contests.

I don't think Bernie is going to hit 41. He is going to lose in South Carolina. And he's down by 20 points to Biden in Florida. Those are key contests. The rest of the Democratic voters, they have major differences with the core issues that Bernie supports. They are not behind the Green New Deal. They are not behind Medicare for all.

They are not behind free college. And they are not behind raising taxes on middle-class Americans to pay for it.

WILLIAMS: But wait a second. Are you a Democrat now? It sounds like you are a super delegate.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: I'm super.

(CROSSTALK)

DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: He is not at all delicate.

WILLIAMS: So Dana, let's come to this point, though. So Pelosi says unity, unity, unity. If this is the nominee, I will back him, even though there is open, open anxiety among Democrats about the impact Sanders might have down ballot.

PERINO: But what do Democrats really want? What does any political party really want? And the Democrats really want to get back into power. So if Bernie Sanders is their only ride out of town, you're going to buy the ticket and you will get on board and you'll help. But I don't think -- the story is not over yet. And one of the things that the media loves to write is anything that shows a pivot or a comeback.

And if Joe Biden all of a sudden does well in South Carolina and winning looks good on him and then on Tuesday, it's a mixed bag where you have Bernie win some, Sanders wins some, maybe Pete Buttigieg wins a couple. I don't see anyone else winning other states. Maybe Klobuchar wins her home state in Minnesota. Then the media is going to write this story that will help get this contest into another place, which what we've been talking about this possibility of a contested convention.

Watch very carefully what all of these candidates are saying. There is a question with the Democrats at their convention. Do you think you need to have a majority to win or a plurality to win? Because right now, it looks like none of these candidates are going to get to the convention with a majority plus one. So then the question is, well, Bernie Sanders says I should get it because I'm in the lead.

But everybody else is, like, that's not the rule. You go to a second ballot, and in that case, I don't think Bernie Sanders --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: By the way, I hope you saw that Elizabeth Warren really took him down yesterday on this idea. Because the last time around, in 2016, he said that nobody should be given the nomination if they don't have a majority of the delegates at the start of the --

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: -- one other thing. I talked to a Democrat today who works on House and Senate races for Democrats. And I said on a scale of 1 to 10, how concerned are you about the effects of a Bernie Sanders candidacy as the nominee on those races that you're working on? And he said we are at an 11.

WILLIAMS: Yeah. OK, so, Greg, you and I have had these discussions about parallels between Trump and Sanders.

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Absolutely.

WILLIAMS: But now, so, you know, CPAC is starting their convention. Their theme is America versus socialism. I think that they think that Sanders is going to be easy pickings for Donald Trump. What do you think?

GUTFELD: I wouldn't be so sure. OK, the Democratic Party right now is the guy who wakes the morning after his bachelor party in Vegas, realizing he just married the bearded lady from the circus. You know, they are handcuffed in the hotel room to Bernie Sanders, and they realize he's got a lot of kinks, right? So -- and the convention is like that quick and dirty annulment you do before anybody finds out.

But I think people -- this is the period of reckoning for everyone who laughed at the Republicans in 2016. What the Democrats are feeling right now is what the Republicans felt almost to a T about Trump. First, you saw that it was a just a joke or a novelty. Then you realize it's more than a novelty as there is some kind of connection going on.

Then, there's a sense of panic, that it's more than a connection. And as people drop out, the plurality just kind of grows and that the argument about him not having all the other people doesn't make sense, because all the other candidates aren't running together. So that thing goes away. And then, you have this resignation. But there was a difference.

Trump then won. That's the difference. And the thing is what's missing is the belief that Trump will win. But then, that was missing before. And the one good thing about Sanders is its getting people to think about socialism, right? That why is socialism popular among the young, because it offers free stuff? And then people start realizing that it's not really free.

It's a pretty good education, and you dig further into what his compliments about Cuba. You find it's actually re-education, literacy program in which they force you to digest communist propaganda and turning your parents. People start to learn these things. So I think it's helpful. And what if he wins? What if he wins?

WILLIAMS: Yeah, he could win.

WATTERS: Everyday will be like today on the stock market.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: You lost money.

(CROSSTALK)

EMILY COMPAGNO, FOX NEWS HOST: -- super delegates actually --

(CROSSTALK)

COMPAGNO: -- the plurality versus the majority. I think that what matters is whether in fact they make a difference in this nomination. So if they are truly responsible, those 93, for sinking his nomination, then A, we are going to see that the factions between the Democrat -- it's going to be unlike anything we've ever seen.

And at a minimum, it's going to depress voter turnout. That will 100 percent cement Trump's win. Not really like they needed any more reason, because there is no way that a large amount of those voters are going to turn out after that. They're going to blame it for everything. And it's the kind of thing that gives rise to third parties.

And even though it doesn't seem very plausible, it's 100 percent possible with the amount of anger and the amount of rage that would come out of the Bernie bros and that socialist aspect of the party. And then if they just kind of symbolically go against him and it's not enough to sink him, then after that, his entire campaign will have to divert their resources to patching up the party in addition to winning the general. And that's going to be a big amount of haemorrhaging and they are still going to be --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: But just to pick up on what Greg said, when Trump won, everybody says, oh, some of these, you know, moderate Republicans aren't going to support. They did. Everybody lined up. Everybody got behind Trump.

GUTFELD: Because he was a great president.

WILLIAMS: Thank you. Thank you. One other point, on Saturday and Sunday, guess where Bernie Sanders was going to be? Not Texas, but Massachusetts. I think he wants to knock Warren out.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: And they have a very good campaign.

COMPAGNO: And to your final point, that's why Pelosi is softening her rhetoric, because she is already taking those steps to be, like, well, I'm either going to have to defend this or sort of tiptoe around it if he's the nominee. So eventually, they will all likely get in line.

WILLIAMS: Good point. Thanks, Em. Coming up, our reaction to President Trump's Coronavirus news conference, plus, Gregory's monologue, yes, he's next on how the media is reacting to that story. Stay with us on The Five.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: So let's review the media's reaction to the Trump Coronavirus presser.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sheer volume of things that are not true that have been said by the president and by some of his aides does not inspire credibility.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Trump administration's war on science has left us vulnerable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I found most of what he said a little incoherent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's surprised that 25,000 to 69,000 people each year die to the flu. That just tells you how little he actually knows about public health. He just revealed how ignorant he is about the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: And then there's CNN's ball of hysteria. Brian Stelter tweeting this, since the dawn of the Trump era, countless experts have warned that the president's lack of credibility would imperil the country in the event of an emergency. As the Coronavirus outbreak worsens, those fears maybe coming true. That one tweet defines the media's dark desires for something bad to happen so that all of their previous Trump hatred is validated.

The fears maybe coming true, Brian wish tweets, relying on the word all CNN's false fantasies bank on may. Every story that collapses hinges on may. Trump may resign. Trump may not leave office. Avenatti may run for president, Brian. It's a word that provides cover for the press' delusional dreams. And today, that dream is a disease.

This time, people will surely die, but it will be Trump's fault. And then finally, I will be right and Jeff Zucker will give me a lollipop. It's a diabolical deal, welcoming a grim hell just to say I told you so. Meanwhile, Gail Collins in the New York Times says let's call the disease the Trump virus, to which I say let's rename dementia the New York Times.

Because only a truly mindless paper would still run Gail's laughable drivel, an example of how they rather politicize than help. So as these jackasses claim to champion credibility, their own credibility is a joke. CNN, The Times, can't be trusted on any topic, because their deranged filter spits out the same answer on everything.

Orange man bad, I would call it a plague, otherwise known as Gail Collins' disease. Nobody knows anything, Dana.

PERINO: Nope.

GUTFELD: So let's politicize it.

PERINO: Yeah. One thing I did admire, Ro Khanna, the congressman from California, who is the poster (ph) of the Bernie Sanders campaign. He has refused to do that, even though Bernie Sanders obviously really would love to take on Donald Trump in the election. The correct answer is humanity is in a race against these biological changes.

Mother Nature is, like, oh, you know what? I'm going to tweak this little virus. And those people who work in public health, thank goodness for them. They spend 24/7 racing against this virus. And if you look back in history, we've known that this was going to happen again. That's why you have public health. That's why you have doctors who are dedicated primarily to dealing with flu's and the Coronaviruses like this.

I thought last night that the reporters in the briefing room were actually really respectful, smart, responsible, asked good questions. It's when you get into the commentary side of things that things get off the rail.

GUTFELD: Yeah. You know, Emily, one of the people in the montage was Ezekiel, was bashing Trump, because he did -- he was surprised how many people died from the flu every year. Everybody is surprised by how many people die of the flu, because everybody is so used to it. Does that mean that Trump is some kind of idiot that lacks credibility?

COMPAGNO: Well, not to me. And I think, you know, first of all, the president is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't. So no matter what he says, everyone in the commentary is going to have that ridiculous reaction. And I think in things that actually matter, which is this public health and actually, you know, a threat of an actual fatality, then exasperation leads to zero tolerance.

So when the Russia, Russia, Russia, and everything in the last three years that we've been fed by CNN and MSNBC and everything else in those commentators, you know, here we go again. Yes, everything is his fault. But when it's something like this where actually the public needs true, reliant information, no one is going to watch that.

And by the way, when I went to Walgreens earlier to stock up on antiseptic hand gel and everything, it was all gone from the shelves. Everything, including temperature takers, what are those called?

GUTFELD: Thermometers?

COMPAGNO: Thermometers. And now -- by the way, don't forget. SARS which was -- is a Coronavirus more deadly than covid-19 was reduced to 30 to 15 percent entrance simply by hand washing. So there are little things like that as usual, we have people who are putting their own hatred of the president over disseminating simple actual facts that will help all of us. So I just washed my hands like homicide style now, like, up to the elbows.

GUTFELD: Yeah, like, Alan Alda in MASH when they would just sit there for 10 minutes and do a scene. What bothers me, Juan, is that somebody like Gail Collins has no interest. OK, I should put it in a positive way. When people come here on The Five, and we actually have -- offer solutions and we are talking about it.

But it seems like on the other side, the Trump haters, they don't have solutions. They just want to politicize, Gail Collins, Stelter. We actually sit here and talk about stuff, like, travel restrictions and hygiene and things like that. I think we're the good people in this and they are evil, Juan.

WILLIAMS: Well, I think we are the good people.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: I do worry when you don't say, hey, wait a second. There is real news there when you see the president contradict the woman at the Center for Disease Control. She says it's not a matter of if but when. The president comes back and says very low probability. One person say even though we know there are, like, many more, dozens more sick.

And so then I think, there's a real argument here you can say is being politicized. But I would say the president, in terms of his own argument, has made a very political because he comes at it with calm down. I'm going to reassure you. No reason for any -- I like that. I like the president acting in that way because I think that's presidential.

But on the other hand, I want to hear the facts. And the other part of it is I'd say is this president does have a credibility issue. This is the guy everybody makes fun of that map with the hurricane, but he's the guy who said the inauguration attendance is so great.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: Biggest economy in the world and it's highly effective. I would say that both things, whatever the CDC said are directionally true. They can both be true.

WATTERS: But I think the media has the worst credibility problem than the president. The American people trust the president more than they trust the media. The president was saying when the CDC person said it's inevitable that it's going to get larger. The president said nothing is inevitable. It could get larger. It could get smaller. We just don't know.

The guy is a germaphobe who is tough on China and is a border hawk. He is the perfect president to take on this virus. And -- early travel restriction bought us time as now everybody acknowledges. Yet, he was called a racist for doing it. Now, the containment strategy so far is working. Not one single American has died in the United States.

And according to Johns Hopkins University, America is the best prepared country in the entire world for this. Doctors and administrators have been mobilized. And I'm very, very happy with the fact that in a new year, we are going to have a vaccine. And in a couple months, you're going to have a therapeutic drug. Now, I think we are on the frontlines.

We are the ones who have to wash our hands. We are the ones who have to cough like this, not go to China and make preparations. The federal government can only do so much. And it's the hospitals and the administrators and the nurses and the localities, not Washington, D.C. They are the ones that are going to have to handle this. And so far, they are doing a really, really good job.

WILLIAMS: I agree with you. The deep state is doing a great job.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: I didn't say that, Juan. I didn't say that. I just want to know what the Democrat plan --

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: Because I don't know what it is? Is it open borders? Is it turn the healthcare system upside down?

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: If I hear a good idea from them, then we can --

GUTFELD: All right. That was constructive. CNN, they blame people. We are trying to come up with answers because we want to help you, America. All right, the Trump campaign fighting back against the Russia collusion smear with a lawsuit against the New York Times, more to come on The Five.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: President Trump's campaign fighting back hard against the Russia collusion smear by suing the New York Times for libel, and claiming the liberal paper is trying to influence the outcome of the 2020 election. The lawsuit is over an op-ed that claimed there was an overarching deal between then candidate Trump and Russia to help him win the 2016 election. Here's the president reacting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When they got the opinion totally wrong as the New York Times did. And frankly, they've got a lot wrong over the last number of years. So let that work its way through the courts. It's beyond opinion. That's not an opinion. That's something much more than an opinion. They did a bad thing and there will be more coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: So Emily, this is after Mueller found no collusion. This is after the New York Times reported there was no collusion. So the New York Times runs a column that says there is basically collusion. There's a conspiracy. There's a deal. Is that libellous if they know it is wrong and do it anyway?

COMPAGNO: Right. Well, we will see in that lawsuit and its outcome. And certainly, that's what the president thinks. I think if I were him in that moment, here's how I would've said it, though. It's basically the basis for that lawsuit. I would have said, look, they are claiming it's merely an opinion piece.

But that being said, if you have a malicious intent and you disregard truth and diligence and you publish it anyway, and you know it to be false --

WATTERS: And you know it is going to hurt their reputation.

COMPAGNO: And it did, in fact, cause damage, because you have to prove actual damages. It did, in fact, cause damage to my campaign. And that is why we are suing. That is why we are suing. So that's what I would have said in that moment. But I think the issue here will be whether, in fact, there were impactable damages.

At this point however, it's simply an echo chamber. So go ahead. Keep publishing whatever you want. Obviously, it's from 2019. But I think more importantly, it's the statement this makes, which is the president saying I'm sick of this. And guess what, I have endless bankroll for this, so you guys can use your bank to try to defend it.

WATTERS: Why do you think The Times will run a fake column like that, Juan?

WILLIAMS: I don't know. It's like you and I have opinions on many issues. I don't say that your opinion is fake. I just say it's an opinion, Jesse. And I think this is an opinion. This is a frivolous lawsuit. I mean, it's intended to intimidate the press and intimidate people. And maybe it's red meat for the base. But I think it's really low grade red meat.

WATTERS: Can an opinion be wrong if the facts are wrong?

WILLIAMS: Look, if their facts are wrong --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: Again, the New York Times -- this is not a news article. This is an opinion piece. You know what I'm reminded of? At the moment, there is great pressure on the Wall Street Journal because they ran an opinion piece that the Chinese government didn't like, and they threw the Chinese -- The Wall Street Journal reporters out of the country. This is an intimidation tactic. Wall Street Journal shouldn't back down. And I don't think the New York Times --

WATTERS: I don't think the President is going to toss the Times reporter out of the country.

WILLIAMS: Well, what is he --

WATTERS: He's just making him burn money on lawyer fees.

PERINO: Well, it helps him because can -- he wants to push back. He wants to punch back. So they're like, OK, well, we could try this. And you might not win in court, but you know what, we can try it and then he gets a lot of publicity about it. Now, we're talking about it again.

But here's the other thing. I think it also helps the New York Times. Their subscriptions have gone up and up and up. Everybody in media has been doing better during a Trump presidency. So now they get to close ranks and let all their subscribers --

WATTERS: Do you think they'll think twice about running false stuff?

PERINO: No, I do not.

WATTERS: No.

PERINO: Well, I also -- I think that they'll find a way to protect their opinion writers.

WATTERS: OK. Greg?

GUTFELD: The problem is though, their opinion writers also report. I mean, I find their opinions on the front page.

WATTERS: Yes.

GUTFELD: You know what I mean? It's --

PERINO: Yes. I mean, they can say that this one was on the comment, but I agree.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: When a news reporter writes analysis on the front page, how he supposed to see the difference.

GUTFELD: Yes. And, you know, I don't want to be sued when I'm wrong. But then again -- but generally, I always admit that I'm wrong. Like I --

WATTERS: You do?

GUTFELD: Oh, I admit that I'm wrong on everything. It actually really feels good. And maybe if these people admit they're wrong, he dropped the suit. However, what sparked this whole thing is probably the biggest story in the media world, which was the Covington case. I mean, the Covington case encapsulated all of the very bad elements of media instincts and bias.

You know, this the Covington story began with that guy looks bad, that other guy looks good. This story gets me emotionally excited. And my story might catch fire on social media. So that was what -- that's what how that story rolled, and it resulted in a lawsuit that they had to settle. And I think that has changed the way people look at the media that they can fight back.

WILLIAMS: But I might say, isn't it ironic that Republicans who are normally opposed to this kind of frivolous lawsuit, you know, digging up lawsuits on people. Now, oh, yes, go right at it, Mr. Trump.

WATTERS: I think people don't think it's frivolous, Juan. Coming up, is Sleepy Joe Biden's last chance to stop a socialist takeover of the Democratic Party? But is it too late? That's next on THE FIVE.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: So this Saturday in South Carolina, it could be Joe Biden's last stand. The former V.P. leading in the polls heading into voting in that state. But will it be enough to stop Bernie Sanders in the end? Here's Biden earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you were not the nominee, what does that then say about the Democratic Party?

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It says to me that we have moved away from our roots, our basic rationale for being existence as a party. I think that what's at stake here is this notion that somehow -- like, for example, a revolution, people are looking for results and looking to get things done. They're looking to build on what Brock and I did in our administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: Have Biden and other Democrats already lost the battle for the soul of the party? Well, a new poll finds three in four democrats saying that they would vote for a socialist. So Bernie Sanders won, is he winning hearts and minds out there and the Democratic Party?

WILLIAMS: Look at those results in the elections, Dana. Clearly, people think that Bernie has something to offer. And you know, there was an interesting op-ed today, I guess it might result in a suit, in the New York Times, in which the argument was made that so many Democrats, especially younger voters, really say hey, you Democratic moderates, you have failed us.

You just let the Republicans come hard and come tough, and they went all the fights, even though they don't have most of the votes in the country. They run over, they elect Trump president and you guys are always like trying to be rational and reasonable and get things done and have a conversation.

WATTERS: Democrats are being rational?

WILLIAMS: I think -- I think so. But I mean, the other part of this is that I think the socialist tag for Bernie is, hey, you're going to help me with my medical bills, you're going to help me with my kids get into school, and people like that. They don't see it as a socialist --

PERINO: They want a wholesale change.

WILLIAMS: They do.

PERINO: Like Bernie's people, Jesse, they want the whole kit and caboodle thrown out and start something new because they think that the system hasn't worked for them.

WATTERS: Well, for many years, it hasn't. But it's beginning to work again for regular Americans. And if you're voting to just get free stuff, it's a shortcut you have to work for it. You see young Americans every day trying to apply for jobs. And you know, they're there for two weeks and they say, oh, well, can I have a raise? Oh, can I have a title change? It's not how it works. And I think that's where a lot of Democrats feel right now.

PERINO: They think this is --

WATTERS: They think you can become Jesse Watters overnight.

GUTFELD: No.

WATTERS: It takes a long time, people.

GUTFELD: Years.

PERINO: I heard Democrats today on a podcast, Greg, talking about how -- they think that Democrats will ultimately coalesce behind Bernie if he's the nominee, because the truth is, nobody has to worry that he'll actually be able to accomplish anything that he wants to get accomplished because the Congress will stop him. I'm like, that's not a very good message.

GUTFELD: Well, you know what, there is a truth to the limited power of the executive branch. Don't I sound good when I say that? But it is. It's like you're in a box. And what can Sanders do if you have a Republican House and a Republican Senate? He can introduce idiotic ideas that, you know, that people could just laugh at and he could just sit there for like, a couple of four years and then they get rid of them.

But it's like, the thing is, the reason why so many people are interested in socialism is they see it as a buffet. It's like they don't have to take that, you know, the means of production, they just want a tax. They don't understand that the taxing actually affects the means of production and kind of screws up all the thing.

What I want to see is I want to see somebody asked Bernie Sanders how you reconcile government-run health care and child care and forgiveness of loans with open borders? Because that is incompatible. A really good socialist who believes in government-run everything wants a closed system. You have to -- yes, you have to have a closed system because if you have -- you can't have both. That's why the libertarian likes open borders, because once you get here, you got to fend for yourself.

PERINO: You got to work.

GUTFELD: You got to work. The socialist is exactly the opposite. How do they -- how is he going to reconcile that? Somebody has got to ask him that question. My feeling is -- and Juan, I bet you agree. If he gets elected, he won't change much of anything that Trump is doing. He'll be for the trade wars. He'll be for the wall. He'll be for -- you know what I'm saying?

WILLIAMS: Wait, wait, wait. I don't think he's for open borders, by the way. But let's say he's for more open, he's not for building the wall is your point?

GUTFELD: He loves the wall.

PERINO: He thinks that in his heart.

WILLIAMS: But I say --

PERINO: I don't know what's in his heart. He had a heart attack.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: Then I'll ask you. What happens if Biden does win in South Carolina and does OK and Super Tuesday, and then -- and then what?

COMPAGNO: Here -- OK, if Biden wins in South Carolina, then what's going to happen is we go into Super Tuesday with the media narrative that it's Bernie versus Biden. But the reality is that Bernie has one every state going into it, and likely he will also get the delegate-rich states coming out of Super Tuesday. Because guess what, there's a lot of early voting happening on happening, right?

You've seen it in Texas, in Virginia, in North Carolina, so he has a lot of momentum. And what Biden's camp better hope for is that if Biden wins South Carolina, that the never Bernie's and the centrist Dems really rally around him, and they eat into the margins that up until now Bernie has in those states.

PERINO: What I want to know is when are people like Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker, and others that have dropped out Michael Bennet, like where are they? Why don't they get behind one of these candidates?

GUTFELD: Kamala is going to be Biden's V.P.

PERINO: Well, then she should endorse him tomorrow.

GUTFELD: And then who's going to be Sanders' V.P., Liz or Kamala?

PERINO: I don't think so. Nope, I don't think it's any of those people. I don't know, but I don't think it's anybody that we --

GUTFELD: Pat Paulsen?

PERINO: Who?

COMPAGNO: Maybe he'll take Yang from Bloomberg.

PERINO: I don't know. I don't know what Greg just said but he's going to tell me in the break. Coming up, Saturday Night Live comedian Pete Davidson now backtracking on his apology for mocking Congressman Dan Crenshaw's war injury, plus some outrageous new comments from Jussie Smollett.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COMPAGNO: OK. Two controversial celebrities making some new ridiculous comments. First, there's SNL is Pete Davidson. He's taking back its 2018 apology for mocking Congressman Dan Crenshaw who lost an eye serving in Afghanistan. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE DAVIDSON, COMEDIAN: So I meet one of these guys with an eyepatch. And then like I kind of got forced to apologize because like, people were like threatening to like to shoot me in the face. The only thing I did do, which I am guilty of and I apologize for is I did make that guy famous and a household name for no reason.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: Wow. What I jerk.

COMPAGNO: This just reminds me that this 26-year-old is a child. So, we have 17-year-olds who are deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan and they are men. And this is a boy who dyes his hair green and gets to sit courtside at the mix or wherever with some hot celebrity that's eight times him in the stratosphere of irrelevance, and he gets to say that on stage.

I think he is an absolute waste of flesh. And for someone who has said that he advocates for mental health awareness, I think he's doing a pretty piss poor job of being a good in any way, model in any of that for others. That's how I feel. I feel real strongly about it.

GUTFELD: I like how you restrained yourself. I can see you stopping before you were going to -- you know, the thing is, he tried to make it a bad a joke about himself and said that I made Crenshaw star the way Ariana Grande made me star.

The only difference is Davidson couldn't hold Dan's eyepatch, you know. But he -- I think he knows that and I always -- I always feel bad for the parents of the women he's dating because he's such a wreck. And he pours all of that emotional pain onto that poor girl and the parents are freaking out half the time. Not that I would know anything about it.

COMPAGNO: Dana, what do you think about this?

PERINO: Well, I really admire Dan Crenshaw. I don't really admire Pete Davidson, though I feel for him because of the things he's gone through. And I hope that he finds somewhere in his heart to be a more forgiving person in an honest way, not because NBC told him that he had to.

Because actually, if you think back to that moment, because Dan Crenshaw was so gracious about it, and he laughed about and he forgave, he's the one that forgave Pete even if he thought the apology was fake, whatever. He was willing to say, look, we can all get along and that was a really great moment, and the country came together for a minute. And then to walk all over that seems like a real shame.

COMPAGNO: Jesse, why is even going back to that? Why doesn't he just stay quiet?

WATTERS: Well, he made it part of his act. And it didn't look like the job landed very well. I didn't hear a lot of laughs. Dana Perino made Crenshaw famous.

PERINO: No, Crenshaw himself is famous.

WATTERS: Yes, you did. Yes, you did. You had him on your show and he was a big deal after that. And listen --

GUTFELD: You also made fun of his eye. It was terrible. Yes, it was awful.

PERINO: I did not.

GUTFELD: Davidson stole your bit.

COMPAGNO: (INAUDIBLE) before you write that.

WATTERS: You know, he said one thing about Crenshaw on Saturday Night Live. Crenshaw can go on "HANNITY," and it's the same number.

PERINO: Yes.

WATTERS: I mean -- and he's going on "HANNITY" more than once so people know him more than they know Pete Davidson.

PERINO: Absolutely.

WILLIAMS: You know, I think we're making --

WATTERS: But -- one more thing. I do like the idea of taking an apology back though. I respect that. I respect that.

COMPAGNO: You noted.

WILLIAMS: You know, that's exactly what I don't respect.

WATTERS: You don't respect that?

WILLIAMS: No, because I think --

WATTERS: But not if it was a fake apology to begin with, because he didn't really believe that apology.

WILLIAMS: No. So, I was listening to what he said, even though was part of his act, I think that's an important point to be made. And he said it was not because NBC executives told him to take it back that it was wrong, it's he said people were threatening him, right?

WATTERS: He did it for survival.

WILLIAMS: So, is this -- is this cowardice? I mean, I just think, you know, especially when you compare it to the -- to what the congressman had to go through in real life, the kind of sacrifice he made for us as Americans, you think, wait, I'm saying -- so you're saying, now you're going to two years later come back and tell people that was a phony apology. I just think that's --

PERINO: Well, now what should happen is everybody should go and watch Dan Crenshaw's video that he did against socialism that started -- that came out yesterday. I think it was on Twitter. You go to his page. Now Pete Davidson just made him even more famous and hurt Bernie Sanders.

COMPAGNO: Yes. All right, now to our second topic. There's Jussie Smollett. He is maintaining his innocence despite being charged again in the alleged hate crime hoax that falsely implicated Trump supporters. Take a look. Oh, got it. OK, so --

PERINO: So what happened is --

COMPAGNO: Yes, basically he said he's going to fight or die to this. He maintains his innocence. I say he can fight or die all he wants on his own dime. Stop wasting everybody's tax dollars. Bye, girl.

WILLIAMS: Wait a second. Wait a second. He got -- they took him back to court. He didn't offer to go back to court. I don't know what the fancy could have, but let's see.

COMPAGNO: He just -- OK, fine.

WATTERS: I think -- I think the only thing he can do is he has to do an interview and he has to tell the host, this is how I lied, this is how the whole thing went down, and I am sorry. And only then will he become someone that people can say, you know what, let's give him a pass, he's OK now.

PERINO: On "WATTERS WORLD?"

WATTERS: But until he does that, he's going to be hated.

GUTFELD: On "WATTERS WORLD?"

COMPAGNO: Yes. Would you take -- would you --

GUTFELD: I'm ready to receive him.

COMPAGNO: Yes, you are.

PERINO: I think it's terrible that he lied, and then he put the police at - - well, in this position of making it look like they lie, like they were part of this. But also, think about those two Nigerian brothers that are -- that he roped into this.

GUTFELD: Literally.

PERINO: Yes, literally. And these guys cannot get jobs again, take care of themselves, and he is still lying about it. It's pretty rude.

COMPAGNO: Totally. Take us home.

GUTFELD: To make it interesting, innocent until proven guilty. I'm going to believe he's innocent until proven guilty.

PERINO: So that you get the interview.

GUTFELD: Yes. Jussie, I'm with you 100 percent, OK, you and O.J.

COMPAGNO: All right, everyone, "ONE MORE THING" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: Welcome back. It's time for "ONE MORE THING." Emily?

COMPAGNO: Hey guys. OK, I was so excited to share this with you. So it was my absolute honor to be part of Helicopters for Heroes this weekend in Ennis, Texas, which is veterans and patriots honoring combat wounded vets with a helicopter hog hunt, tons of festivities, live music, and fellowship, and witnessing the impact that these organizations have on veterans.

It's such a blessing. I was humbled to have given the opening remarks to these guys. And this year, the event included veterans who are beneficiaries of the Independence Fund, the foundation for Exceptional Warriors and Sons of the Flag. I got to share the stage with General Bolduc and I was floored, I have to say, when I received coins from U.S. Army Medal of Honor recipient Robert Patterson, and Lieutenant Colonel Bruce Stacy. I could not be more grateful for this experience.

And I just want to tell you guys, if you have time, please go to my Instagram. Please go to Helicopters for Heroes Instagram so you can learn more. I put the names of every single veteran that was honored and participated and I think it's important that we all bear witness to them.

WATTERS: So you shot hogs from a helicopter?

COMPAGNO: I missed but I did shoot at a helicopter.

WATTERS: What kind of gun were you shooting?

COMPAGNO: I don't even know. Those guys, they were -- they shot 530 --

WATTERS: You don't know.

COMPAGNO: No. What?

WATTERS: Was it like a rifle? No, it was like --

WATTERS: Was it like a handgun?

WILLIAMS: Was it legal.

COMPAGNO: No -- yes, it was definitely legal. If I -- if it was in my hands, it was definitely legal. Yes, I don't know what kind of gun. I'm sure I'm sounding terrible right now.

WILLIAMS: No, no, but it sounds like you had a great time.

COMPAGNO: Yes. It was -- it was really amazing.

WILLIAMS: All right, Gregory.

GUTFELD: I haven't done this in a while. Let's do this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: I hate these people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: You know, I don't post on Instagram very often and sometimes I get in trouble for posting food. But you know what I hate? I hate when I post a picture of my wife and everybody says how much I married up. Do you think that's cute?

PERINO: Way up.

GUTFELD: It's like 1,500 replies.

WATTERS: No, they mean like literally. She's taller than you.

GUTFELD: That is true. She has to pick me up sometimes to kiss me. It's kind -- it's kind of adorable. And she does change me. I mean, literally, she has changed me.

WATTERS: Yes, yes.

GUTFELD: But you know what? I have some qualities too. It's not all about physical appearance, you shallow jerks.

WILLIAMS: Wow.

WATTERS: She married up, Greg.

GUTFELD: Yes, she did marry up.

WATTERS: She married up.

GUTFELD: Thank you, Jesse.

WILLIAMS: All right, so we're having a problem with our video system here at Fox News at the moment, just momentarily but --

GUTFELD: Act out your "ONE MORE THING."

WILLIAMS: So we could -- we could play charades.

COMPAGNO: Yes.

WILLIAMS: But I have another idea. I want you, Jesse, to tell me the most interesting thing that you encounter today.

GUTFELD: Do the what -- yesterday, what happened yesterday in the subway.

WATTERS: No, I'm not going to talk about that. You know what, Juan, I'm going to act out my "ONE MORE THING."

WILLIAMS: Go for it, baby.

WATTERS: All right, so there was a truck driver and they got stalled out a railroad track. So stuck, all right, on a railroad track.

WILLIAMS: This is charades.

WATTERS: The train comes and barrels into the truck and it's like boom. No one's hurt though. Everybody survived, so you got to look out.

GUTFELD: Is that you "ONE MORE THING?"

WATTERS: Yes.

GUTFELD: Wow, that was great.

WATTERS: And also, I'm on "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT." The quiz at 8:00 Eastern.

GUTFELD: You're up against Lou?

WATTERS: No, Pete Hegseth.

GUTFELD: Oh, it's interesting.

WILLIAMS: All right, Dana, it's your turn.

PERINO: OK, so mine was just about this. We don't really need a video for this. I thought this is really cool. To Kill a Mockingbird, everyone knows the great book.

GUTFELD: You would kill a bird?

PERINO: No.

GUTFELD: That's a terrible "ONE MORE THING."

PERINO: That would be Emily.

PERINO: OK, so well, that book is a play here on Broadway. And there was a really cool history made last night at Madison Square Garden. They had 18,000 public school children come to Madison Square Garden and see Harper Lee's iconic book performed by Ed Harris, who's Atticus Finch right now. That's the main character. And it was amazing that they got a chance to do this. This is the first time that a Broadway play has been done in Madison Square Garden and I wish I'd been there.

WILLIAMS: I thought it was just fabulous. And so my "ONE MORE THING" had to do with a school teacher who for Black History Month, you know, it's at the end of it, came dresses a different character out of black history every day.

PERINO: Oh that's neat.

WILLIAMS: Even President Trump is today having a meeting about black history.

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