Trump lashes out at media in fiery attack
Trump lashes out at media in fiery attack
President Trump slams CNN, anonymous sources and 'fake news' in tweetstorm; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," August 30, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Dana Perino along with Emily Compagno, Juan Williams, Lawrence Jones, and Greg Gutfeld. It's 5 o'clock in New York City, this is "The Five." Let's get after it.
All right, the war of words hits a whole new level as President Trump unleashes on the media in one of his fiercest attacks yet. The president slamming much of that press on Twitter today as, quote, totally dishonest, who says -- he says don't care for the truth, writing fake books and using anonymous sources that are pure fiction. This comes after Trump blasted CNN and veteran journalist Carl Bernstein over the network's Trump Tower report, the president saying that the network has been caught in a major lie. CNN and Bernstein firing back at the president saying they stand by their reporting. Greg, lots of tweets overnight.
GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: Lots of tweets. I'm glad he was tweeting about this and not about the funeral. But Trump is like a heckler behind the dugout. He senses -- he can sense the central weakness of the pitcher. In this case, the pitcher is CNN. And he won't stop until the guy throws the mitt down and runs to the stands to fight and he's getting that. And what he's doing is he's giving CNN the CNN treatment because they made that meeting story into a relentless bombshell. Every newscaster was having a conniption about it. And now that story seems to be falling apart and Trump is giving CNN the relentless falling-apart story and he won't let go. So now, I think it's even Stevens and blast point.
Whenever I get like a little bit upset or annoyed about the tweeting, I remember that the media spent decades punching at conservatives, for decades, probably since the Vietnam War. Now, somebody is punching back and they're crying foul. So, I -- it's hard for me to sympathize with the media when they're complaining since they in the left have been, essentially, interchangeable since Vietnam. We're going to need a lot of Trump tweets to kind of even the score, I think.
JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: Wow. You know what I think.
PERINO: There might be a lot where that came from, Juan.
WILLIAMS: You know -- first of all.
GUTFELD: You like that, Juan?
WILLIAMS: No, I didn't. I mean, even if I was on the right, I would say, oh, so Rush Limbaugh to William F. Buckley didn't exist? There's no conservative thought expressed.
GUTFELD: Nothing like this.
WILLIAMS: Oh, not like.
GUTFELD: I mean, coming at you like -- I mean, obviously, twitter is a new vehicle so that's different.
WILLIAMS: Yeah. But I think -- I mean, to me, what was incredible was in the middle of a funeral for a statesman, John McCain, what's our president doing? He's not saying, oh, you know, my thoughts, my prayers -- no, no, he's attacking CNN. He's so obsessed with them that right in the middle of a funeral.
LAWRENCE JONES, GUEST CO-HOST: They're obsessed with him, too.
WILLIAMS: I don't like this because it's not only the story, Lawrence. Because the story.
JONES: A lie?
WILLIAMS: Well, he tells a lot -- I mean.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: This has been the media narrative that they are there to hold the president accountable.
WILLIAMS: They should be.
JONES: Part of the reason why they're losing credibility with the American people with their approval rating is lower than congress is because they don't tell the truth sometimes. It's a simple fix. Tell the American people, hey, we've mess up on this. We issue a retraction.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: They're not doing that, Emily, because CNN says there's standing by their story.
WILLIAMS: Exactly.
PERINO: . and I imagine that this -- have gone into journalism school, that that's because they say they have another source. It might not be true, but I don't imagine that they're totally lying about this.
EMILY COMPAGNO, THE FIVE CO-HOST: Yeah. I mean, my biggest issue with this is the fact that -- of course the president can take issue with any organization that he thinks is skewing coverage of him. That has called his a malignant administration, whatever. But I think at a certain point, it's beneath the office of the presidency. And to me, like everything, it's distracting. And when this becomes the story then it's totally detracting from what's really is the story to me, which is the fact that this large-scale investigation has been undertaken right now with our tax dollars, and it's either pursuing nefarious conduct or furthering nefarious conduct.
And we have a ton of unanswered questions about intelligence gathering, protocol, and breaks in chain of command, and the interplay between the DOJ and FBI and congress and this administration and whether uncorroborated, unverified information is being relied upon by law enforcement and potentially the courts and then being leaked tactically by officials in the government that are rogue. So, to me, these are all the larger questions. And when the story becomes the social media warfare or media warfare, it just does everyone a disservice.
WILLIAMS: Well, I think that's all a great conspiracy theory because I think if you're going to say that so many judges, the FBI run by a Republican, the Department of Justice run by them. But here's the thing to me. He's going on about alternative facts, fake news. Oh, gee, I wonder what the FBI had to say this week when he picked up on some conservatives, you know, report. Oh, Hillary Clinton's emails were hacked by the Chinese. The FBI comes out -- I mean, I guess it's some political risk for themselves given this presidents antics and says no, there's no evidence that Hillary Clinton's emails were ever hacked. And then he goes on.
PERINO: By the Chinese.
WILLIAMS: By the Chinese.
GUTFELD: But he didn't go to journalism school.
WILLIAMS: Well, let me just finish. Then he goes after Lester Holt on the old.
GUTFELD: God forbid, Lester Holt.
WILLIAMS: And what he said is, oh, Lester Holt fudge that. This is the first time we've ever heard that there's any -- so exactly who has the trouble telling the truth? I think it's not NBC, not CNN, I think it's one guy named Donald Trump.
GUTFELD: But, Juan, I think most of America understands that Trump plays fast and loose with the facts. But he's generally directionally right.
JONES: What politician does that?
GUTFELD: Exactly.
JONES: They all exaggerate every single detail. The question is, though, is it the media's job to be doing this? I mean, CNN literally calls him a racist every single night. And so, what is the president -- and they do this at every Republican (INAUDIBLE). The difference with Donald Trump is that he responds and his base loves it. There are sometimes I would agree that the president gets off-base with his tweets. I think we can all agree with that. But in large when it comes to the media, it's a winning issue for the president. That's why he continues to fight them.
WILLIAMS: I don't know that it's a winning issue. We'll see. But, I mean, to me, it's like he's just -- is a snowflake president. He's got a grievance and he can't get beyond.
GUTFELD: Oh, I hope he's watching right now. I feel a tweet coming at you, Juan.
WILLIAMS: You know what? Greg, I want to give him a safe space.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I have this prediction, 1970's will be -- known for disco. The '80s was known for like Betamax.
PERINO: Reagan.
GUTFELD: Or Reagan or big hair. The 90s was grunge. I think the teens, which is what this is, will be known for Trump's tweets. This is the thing that everybody looks back at as the thing.
PERINO: The decade of twitter.
GUTFELD: Yes. And everybody will be laughing about it because it will be something that either came and went or established the whole.
PERINO: Can I ask you something about -- on your podcast yesterday, you interviewed -- his name.
GUTFELD: Jerry Eisenberg.
PERINO: Eisenberg. And one of the things -- this is a great podcast, by the way. He created -- he did all the creations for.
GUTFELD: He did the Jetsons, Flintstones, Scooby Doo.
PERINO: And one of the things he said that he loved the most is working on the Flintstones because -- I'm sorry, the Jetsons because he could use his imagination. And basically he invented Skype.
GUTFELD: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
PERINO: Or face time. But he didn't invent twitter.
GUTFELD: No, he didn't.
PERINO: I mean, that is the one thing that nobody saw coming.
GUTFELD: Yeah. I did. No, no, when I was in second grade, I used to write on the bathroom wall, anonymous stuff about people in my class. That's twitter.
PERINO: That is also another point of this. He is -- the president is complaining about anonymous sources, which every president complains about, but every White House asks to be quoted on background for certain things. He talks about a fake book. I imagine that could be Bob Woodward's book that is coming out September 11.
WILLIAMS: Yeah. Do you think that's why he's attacking Bernstein?
PERINO: . fire or fury. I don't know. But also, remember, he also used to be his own anonymous source here in New York City.
GUTFELD: I know, that was great.
COMPAGNO: But I think -- oh, sorry. I feel like he's partly -- this is why he's used to it. He's used to driving the narrative and asking these questions. And I don't understand why he is expected -- again, I think there's a certain amount of decorum associated with the office that we'd like him to hold, but I don't understand why challenging the coverage and challenging these questions means that he should have a target on him for doing so, and regardless of the message. Because I do think it's important to ask those questions and for him to say, look, why aren't you covering this or cover this fairly? Or why am I not getting the benefit of the doubt when X has happened and Y.
PERINO: Well, he said also -- like, twitter is a great tool for him. And one of the things he could have tweeted today was, check this out, 51 percent of workers in America say they are happy. That's the first time and.
WILLIAMS: Oh.
PERINO: . happen in years.
WILLIAMS: Why doesn't he do that?
PERINO: Why doesn't he do that?
GUTFELD: Because it's not him. You know what it is? Trump was radicalized by something, OK. Because he was a Democrat for a long time. He was fairly -- he was pro-choice, liberal and many things. He was radicalized. What was he radicalized by? Us, Fox News. Fox News -- when Fox News happened.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: You started watching Fox News.
PERINO: And the world starts to make sense.
GUTFELD: Sense to him. And then -- so all he's doing, Juan, is what we do, which is we bash the media. So he's just doing -- he's turned the White House into kind of like an alternative Fox show where he sits there and he.
(LAUGHTER) (CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: I thought you're trying to help him.
GUTFELD: No, I'm actually saying it's kind of refreshing.
WILLIAMS: Kind of refreshing? You know what it reminds me of?
GUTFELD: What?
WILLIAMS: You know Chuck Todd at NBC said? It's like one of those old guys going down the sidewalk mumbling to himself, except he has a million- plus twitter followers.
GUTFELD: You're just jealous of his hair.
WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah.
PERINO: Lawrence, I'll give you the last word.
JONES: Well, I think that part of this is that the president once had a great relationship with the media as well.
PERINO: Yeah.
JONES: And they turned on him. All the way into the primaries, they all wanted him to win. And now.
PERINO: They wanted him to do interviews.
JONES: Exactly. And everyone was screaming to cover him, everybody wants the latest interview, and then they flipped on him. And so, I think the president is also ticked off about this.
PERINO: Yeah, indeed. All right, President Trump's team just took out one of the most dangerous terrorists since Bin Laden, but few noticed. Greg has the details, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: While the media feasts on crocked lawyers and porn stars, one story slips by. According to the U.N., Al Qaeda's chief bomb maker was killed during a U.S. drone strike late last year. Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri is his name.
If this is the first you've heard of this, it's because, to the media, tax returns are more important than terror. The true irony, the Trump administration has been so good at killing terrorists that the media can focus that much more on hating the Trump administration.
But this progress shouldn't be much comfort. What was al-Asiri known for? The marriage of technology and terror. He was the Thomas Edison of mayhem. Bombs hidden in printer cartridges and electronics that could sneak by scanners and dogs, non-metallic suicide vest, underwear bombs -- remember those? He didn't just design them, he also trained other designers who are still alive and ticking.
Meaning Al Qaeda and ISIS are still coming for you and me, but that pales in comparison to a porn star payoff. For the longest time we've heard about climate change but terror change matters more. Even when terrorists fail, they evolve, even if their goal is to return us to the seventh century. That will always be the next really big headline.
So we should be thankful for the intel that we get from our allies and our national security folks who remain vigilant while we call each other racists and complained about tweets. Lucky for us, these are great people who aren't distracted by thousands of hacks who give us poop and call it a scoop.
You know, Dana, I like to rhyme, especially if I can include the word poop.
PERINO: Yes. Can I compliment another line though?
GUTFELD: Oh, sure.
PERINO: Still alive and ticking?
GUTFELD: Yeah, thank you very much.
PERINO: Very good line.
GUTFELD: The problem with complacency -- the problem with success is complacency. And we've talked about this, prior to 9/11, we were talking about Chandra Levy.
PERINO: Yeah.
GUTFELD: Remember that story?
WILLIAMS: Shark week.
GUTFELD: Shark week, that's right.
PERINO: And also, I just know of a story, on September 10th, 2001, the White House communications team stayed late at the White House, so about 10 PM working on this big problem because the New York Times is going to have a front-page story the next day and it was going to be a doozy. It was going to be bad. It was going to make your whole week terrible. And it was the Dick Cheney energy task force.
GUTFELD: Right.
PERINO: Did anybody remember that story? The big scandal because he allowed something who'd actually worked in the energy industry to brief him on energy policy, 9/11 happens the next morning and you never talked about the Dick Cheney energy task force again.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
PERINO: . because it was important. I mean, we are living in good times, and that's what happens. Your point about the intel community, one of the most important things that we can ask of them is to be vigilant, but also to have wild imaginations. Like, imagine, what is the craziest thing and the meanest, the most evil thing that these terrorists would want to do to us, and that's what we have to prepare for.
GUTFELD: Yeah, that's why Hollywood helps because they come up with great plotlines. I remember, New York Times, 9/11 that day, you know who their guest columnist was? Bill Ayers.
PERINO: Wow.
GUTFELD: Isn't that crazy? A little piece of trivia there. All right. Lawrence, you're libertarian.
(LAUGHTER)
GUTFELD: Do you think I'm to -- do I have too much terror on my mind or do you think -- there could never be enough vigilance?
JONES: No, I actually believe in a strong national defense. I just believe that every government agency likes to waste and abuse their money, and I don't think the military is exempt from that. One thing I will say about the president. Part of the reason why we don't hear about the military so much even though he has, you know, so much respect for our generals, is that he said he didn't want to talk about his military strategy.
GUTFELD: Yeah, it's true.
JONES: And he made that one of his -- either time, remember the press asked about the military, he'll tell them. No, I'm not going to talk about that. He's had great success in it. And part of that is because before he got into office, President Obama really didn't listen to the generals.
GUTFELD: No, except when they were on shows.
JONES: Exactly.
PERINO: And the rules of engagement.
JONES: And the rules of engagement. And so, I think this president is going to lead, this is one of the issues that people are going to remember him for is having a strong military.
GUTFELD: Yeah. But it only takes one thing, Juan.
PERINO: Yeah.
GUTFELD: Takes -- only one -- Terrorists only have to be good once.
WILLIAMS: By the way, as we do this mission accomplished segment.
GUTFELD: Yes.
(CROSSTALK) PERINO: No, that wasn't the point.
GUTFELD: I'm saying mission unaccomplished.
WILLIAMS: Oh, no. But wait a second, I thought you were the one. Every day, you say to me, hey, look at all these great things.
GUTFELD: Right.
WILLIAMS: . Trump has done. I believe your number one is defeated ISIS.
GUTFELD: Yes.
WILLIAMS: Oh, but then when I read the newspapers, I see they say ISIS.
GUTFELD: I said decimated.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: The inspector general, 28,000 in Syria and Iraq.
GUTFELD: Yes, it's true.
WILLIAMS: . right? And the Pentagon says they're well-positioned and growing. And I think, but, gee, Greg said that they've been defeated by.
GUTFELD: I've said they were decimated.
WILLIAMS: Oh.
GUTFELD: There's a difference.
COMPAGNO: Speaks to everyone's point here, too. You guys are absolutely right. And this is part of why we have a tactic and strategy that's working, which is the fact that the president pushed the decision making capabilities in the hands of the tactical and strategic commanders. And that's why, for example in Afghanistan, the strategy is surgical air strikes and counterintelligence. And it's working, and there're ebbs and flows and some weeks are better than others. And after 17 years, obviously, it's a bit exhausting. But members of the military referred to it as mowing the lawn.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
COMPAGNO: They basically say we -- it's our constant presence and our efforts against the -- its counterterrorism efforts there. But we're supporting the Afghan government that we've helped in state, and to maintain that chaos between al Qaeda, ISIS, the Taliban, and the Afghan government. But the bottom line is, from what we have and what we have inherited, we absolutely are in the best position possible even in the face of good and bad weeks, and it's because of pushing that autonomy to the commanders.
WILLIAMS: So here's what I would say. Thank you, Obama. Thank you. And thank you, deep state.
GUTFELD: Thank you, Ronald Reagan.
WILLIAMS: . is able to find -- because, remember.
GUTFELD: Let's go way back.
WILLIAMS: Weren't you going after Obama for using drones to attack.
GUTFELD: No, no, I've always been pro-drones. A pro-dromo.
WILLIAMS: Intelligence sending intelligence and we do it in a way that is specific and targeted.
GUTFELD: Exactly.
WILLIAMS: And we have been having success, and thank goodness we got this guy.
COMPAGNO: But that was after the August campaign.
WILLIAMS: . to get through security.
COMPAGNO: That was after the August 2017 campaign. So this thing that you just cited that was after -- after President Trump took over. And that was his surge -- I mean, the surge occurred under President Obama, but this was a campaign, a targeted campaign, and that was the guy.
WILLIAMS: I'm saying -- but the strategy was basically Obama's strategy.
GUTFELD: It's always Obama's.
PERINO: Our allies are helping us as well, don't forget. Like the U.N. announces. But I would also say, you know, President Trump just announced today that he's canceling the 2.1 percent annual raise for federal.
WILLIAMS: Federal workers.
PERINO: . employees. That includes those intel people that you're talking about that do all that work.
GUTFELD: All right, Lawrence, respond to that as a libertarian.
PERINO: Don't you dare.
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: All of them need to be cut.
PERINO: Nope.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: Oh, no.
GUTFELD: Well, I don't know. We'll see.
PERINO: But the president could say look how much better the economy is under my leadership.
GUTFELD: Yeah.
PERINO: Look at all these tax revenue coming into the treasury. I will now give this race because Obama starved you of these raises, and that's why federal employees, you should love me. Even if you don't, that's fine.
(CROSSTALK)
WILLIAMS: But here it is. We give a tax cut to the richest people in America. We refused to pay federal workers, including those who killed this man. How absurd.
JONES: They also have better health care than us, too.
WILLIAMS: Oh, stop.
GUTFELD: All right. A major debate reignited over a report about the federal government's secret war on weed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WILLIAMS: The table is about to explode.
(LAUGHTER)
WILLIAMS: Here's the topic, is the White House about to wage a war on pot? According to a BuzzFeed report, the Trump administration is starting a committee to counter pro-marijuana messaging, 14 federal agencies working on collecting data showing the negative aspects of weed in an effort to try to balance what they think is an unbalanced public debate on the drug. But some activists, some Democratic lawmakers in states where recreational pot is now illegal, they're pushing back, calling it a misguided smear squad led by President Trump. What do you say?
COMPAGNO: All right. Here's my two biggest issues with this. The first is that the reconciliation between the states and federal approach it needs to be addressed. And right now there's too much confusion with law enforcement, especially, and with citizens. And, obviously, we have a bipartisan bill that has been introduced. It's making it was through the senate and I'm all for that. My second biggest issue is a waste of resources in the criminal justice system being spent pursuing this.
Of drug offenders in the prison system about 10 percent are for cannabis, and their sentences are statistically the shortest, so think about how much we're wasting prosecuting, arresting, prosecuting, incarcerating these criminals. They're essentially low-level, nonviolent in that -- you know I'm not starting with the exceptions in that pot, no pun intended, to put them behind bars. And to me, the larger national conversation is, especially coming out with the White House is recent commitment to a criminal justice reform. It doesn't make sense with, A, this coming out and, B, kind of the -- as Senator Gardner said, putting the ketchup back in the bottle. It's a little bit too late for that. And I just think moving forward, nationally, that it would behoove us to be as efficient as possible and to realize, again, the amount of waste and abuse that's being spent pursuing what really is a -- it's a non-ripple effect.
WILLIAMS: So, Lawrence, Emily makes the point, she says why is this a priority? Why is the White House putting energy and thought in 14 federal agencies on this case? What do you think?
PERINO: Because the president wants him to.
JONES: Well, no. I don't think this is the president. I think this is Jeff Sessions. Jeff Sessions never stood on this issue. He hates weed. But if you're anti-opioid -- if you're anti-opioid, then you should be pro- marijuana.
PERINO: The picture behind your head.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Like this is great, Lawrence.
JONES: So.
GUTFELD: You're really a pothead.
(LAUGHTER)
JONES: The president is a practical person. He realizes that we shouldn't be spending money on this, prosecuting people on this. He realized he's pro-veteran. This has stopped the veteran and suicide in many of the states where it's been passed. He's anti-opioid. This prevents people from going to those addictions. So, the president is a logical person, but his attorney general is anti-criminal justice reform and anti-weed.
WILLIAMS: Wow.
PERINO: The president is definitely all of those things. But also, if you listen to the president's speech, like he doesn't like drugs. He doesn't do them himself. He doesn't think it's a good idea. He thinks there's better ways.
WILLIAMS: Wait, wait, I don't think he drinks alcohol.
PERINO: I know.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: But I think this whole committee thing, it wasn't just about, like, turning back all of those very progressive and smart things, especially for veterans in treating PTSD. It's about not having any counter programming to say that smoking marijuana it's not like taking a vitamin.
GUTFELD: I have to interject here.
PERINO: Yes, I know.
GUTFELD: Because I have six pages of notes to get through. All right. Just because you don't like something doesn't make it wrong. Number two, the White House does believe that the prevailing pro-marijuana narrative is too one-sided, but that's after 70 years of it being one-sided in the opposite direction. Do you remember the demon weed, it's a gateway drug. A lot of this stuff had no statistics to back it up. So what we're trying to do is to reach a reasonable midpoint where we are with alcohol, where we know that it offers benefits but it can be abused. You shouldn't be smoking pot in the morning. You treat it like a martini after work. Once you're successful so you're not a dirt bag.
Everything -- everything with benefits that offers relief in life comes -- and alleviates suffering. Whether it's opioids or marijuana, it can be abused. But the state should not be involved in legislating your oblivion. As a human being, you have an individual right to ease your own suffering. It's a mistake.
I do think -- I agree with you. This is more Sessions than Trump. I agree with you. I think -- and by the way, I don't see much evidence that the legalization has led to more violent behavior. Most of the violent behavior, the increases in the country are in Chicago and Baltimore, which is not about pot. It might be gang land drugs.
PERINO: Or its about fentanyl.
GUTFELD: Fentanyl. Or just drug warfare, which is based on illegal drugs.
PERINO: I think -- I do think there are communities in the country, especially, like, where I went to college in Pueblo, Colorado, it's not been all sunshine and daisies out there when they moved forward on legalization.
GUTFELD: It would be if you smoked.
PERINO: Might be. Might be.
I mean, I asked Lawrence in the break and he asked me not to ask him, but I'm going to ask him. Would you, like -- it's -- like, a little bit of counter programming is good. I understand the whole thing about 70 years of one way. And they're also finding, like, some really great benefits. But if you look at what taxpayers are having to pay for increased hospital stays.
GUTFELD: We do that with alcohol. You know?
PERINO: Right. So should we add another one?
JONES, GUEST: I don't think it's because of marijuana, either, why they're increasing the hospital stays.
GUTFELD: It's not killing anybody. Marijuana is not killing the users.
JONES: You don't have overdoses of marijuana.
GUTFELD: I don't think you could find --
PERINO: No, it's not the overdoses.
GUTFELD: I don't think you can find a single overdose. Maybe viewers can find one. But I don't think there is -- I don't think there is a marijuana -- I don't think there's a marijuana overdose.
PERINO: Back me up.
COMPAGNO: What deserves our attention to nationally, I think, is more the fentanyl pouring over the border.
PERINO: Yes.
COMPAGNO: Through especially the shipping system. And you know, our United States Postal Service has an exemption against full screening. China is literally flooding the country with fentanyl, and we are struggling to come up with overdose statistics.
PERINO: Senator Rob Portman has a bill about this very thing, to try to prevent it, and it's moving forward in the Senate. And it actually might move forward in the House, as well, this fall.
WILLIAMS: By the way, I just wanted to conclude on this note. I think a lot of this is acting as if, oh, it's those young thugs out there who are doing marijuana. Let me tell you, the marijuana legalization, I think is being pushed by our seniors --
GUTFELD: Yes.
WILLIAMS: -- by people who, you know what, just want to be able -- I'm just telling you. So I don't know where -- you think it's Sessions.
JONES: Oh, it is.
WILLIAMS: I'm worried that you're just attacking Sessions for Trump. Bu I don't know that the president --
JONES: Well, that's how he gets back at Sessions. Make him pass criminal justice reform. Make him cooperate with these local states, and I guarantee you, he'll resign by himself.
WILLIAMS: Is that -- wow.
JONES: That's how much he hates weed.
WILLIAMS: Wow. I think maybe you're having a smoky dream there.
The Democratic governor of New York taking swipes at ICE and President Trump during a testy primary debate yesterday. Controversial remarks for you to hear straight ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: It's the new liberal litmus test. Democrats are replacing the battle of ideas with a competition to see who hates President Trump and his policies more. That's what happened during the tense face-off between New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and his opponent, Cynthia Nixon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, D-N.Y.: Today you have to fight Donald Trump, who is the main risk to the state of New York.
CYNTHIA NIXON, D-NEW YORK GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I would say that Donald Trump did tweet at you about whether or not America was great, and you backed down pretty quickly. You stood up to him about as well as he stands up to Putin.
CUOMO: On immigration, nobody has stood up to Donald Trump the way I have. New York state is the state that said, "We will not cooperate with ICE. They're a bunch of thugs."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Wow. The showdown also getting downright nasty with personal attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CUOMO: My opponent lives in the world of fiction. I live in the world of fact. Let's just do a few facts. OK? The subway system is owned by New York City.
NIXON: The MCA has been controlled by the state since 1965.
CUOMO: Can you -- can you stop interrupting? Can you stop interrupting?
NIXON: Can you stop lying?
CUOMO: Yes. As soon as you do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Wow, a lot of craziness happened. Juan, I will throw this to you. It seems to me, as a former Obama supporter in 2008, that the Democrats had a message. And with him, it was hope and change and positivity, getting young people involved with the movement. But it seems now that the Democrats don't have a message, and they're trying to out-Trump Trump. So what is you guys' message?
WILLIAMS: Oh, I think there's a strong message talking about the midterms. But the thing that you are picking up on, I think you are right, is they compete in terms of their animosity towards Trump. And I think it's sad to say they imitate a lot of the Trump-type behavior. I remember Trump, at his debates would talk about Lying' Ted, Little Marco and Low Energy Jeb and all that. Remember that? And I think they might as well have said that: "Stop interrupting." "You stop lying."
I mean, it's just -- you know, to me it's like schoolyard again, and it's, you know, Trumpian. I was hoping for a better debate, Lawrence. I thought this was not a great debate. This business about, you know, first of all, how hot was the room? I want to know. How hot was the room?
But it seems to me that coming out of this, I thought Cynthia Nixon did a better job than I would have ever guessed.
PERINO: She did.
WILLIAMS: I was surprised.
JONES: Emily, it didn't seem like the American people or New York residents got what they wanted in that debate. They didn't hear about what the candidates were typically for.
Part of the whole Trump effect that I think people discount is that it's real; that's him. That's who we is as a person. And many of the other candidates in the Republican process that have tried to be like Trump and are -- that are inauthentic, it didn't work for them. Do you think it's going to work for the Democrats in this race?
COMPAGNO: I don't. And I hear what you're saying. And I think it's interesting that you brought that up, because as people are -- candidates are bringing up that strategy of who's more anti-Trump, but what happens to the voters if and when they get elected and then if their only status is resistance, how can we rely on them to get anything done when all know there has to be some type of balance bargaining once you assume office.
And I think, when I watch the debate, I just felt like it was like when you put your dog in a rabbit costume for Halloween. It's like it's still a dog. It's not a rabbit. And that's how I feel about Governor Cuomo and these people who are these Democratic candidates who are being pushed more progressive because of their more progressive challengers.
But in reality, they're just going to go right back. I mean, within two months of Cynthia Nixon declaring, Cuomo literally reversed public positions on recreational marijuana, and plastic bags in New York, and public housing, and restoring voter rights to felons, and on all of these issues, while at the same time threatening unions and community groups if they ever gave money to anyone supporting Nixon. "You're going to lose my number."
It's like you're still the entrenched politician that these progressives are arguing against. So again, you're still just the dog. You're not the rabbit costume.
JONES: Dana, there was a lot of anti-ICE sentiment. And you know, even at campus reform, we reported on them at UC Berkeley telling kids to report to the police.
PERINO: I don't think they got the memo earlier this week there was that AP poll that said, like, only 21 percent of Democrats think that's a good idea. So I think they waste their time on that, but it does get them press coverage.
I make a prediction here. I think this primary is going to be a lot closer than people think. I think that he gave her a chance to have a lot of headlines. The headlines for him were terrible. She got a ton of free airtime.
Debates can move votes. If you think about how -- go back to New Hampshire of 2016, when Marco rubio and Christie went at it. And that absolutely hurt Marco Rubio in that debate. So it can make a difference.
Cuomo looked thin-skinned. He looked very rusty. I'll tell you something else about her. Women have -- sometimes have a hard time when they're up against a man, because their voice drives people crazy. Her voice does not drive people crazy. They're used to it from television, and also, she's got a lower register. It's an important thing for her.
And De Blasio [SIC] was able to go after Cuomo, and it was a very effective attack on the subway system. So watch. She might actually do better than you think.
WILLIAMS: Yes, yes -- go ahead.
GUTFELD: I was going to say, when you say drive crazy, you mean it's because -- when they have to raise their voice to get past the guys.
PERINO: Hillary Clinton, it like, drove people crazy. Sarah Palin. They would say, like, maybe she needs a voice coach, because it's hard when women get -- when you get animated, you tend to --
GUTFELD: Raise your --
PERINO: -- increase your octave.
GUTFELD: I was listening to Andrew Cuomo, and I was trying to figure out who's the smarter Cuomo brother. And that's like saying what is the squarest frisbee.
But you know, two -- you saw two candidates out there. One, she was definitely better. No question. But two candidates were diminishing the importance of law and order, which is what Trump won on. So you had ICE being thugs, and then she made a comment about how law and order doesn't need as much input as other things.
And I think it's because they have the luxury of the resurgence of law and order for the past three decades in New York City, which has dramatically reduced crime, made the place safer. So now that they've had the cure, they don't need to cure anymore. That's not how it works.
WILLIAMS: Let me just say before we close, you know, Gillum is upset in Florida against establishment Democrats. He was down double digits. And guess what? Octovio-Cortez [SIC], Alexandra, here in New York was down 35 points --
PERINO: Right.
WILLIAMS: -- to Joe Crawley. And guess what? Nixon is down 35 to Andrew Cuomo.
JONES: It's definitely anybody's race.
WILLIAMS: I'm telling you.
GUTFELD: The one thing is she was likable, and he wasn't.
JONES: Yes, that's a good point. Up next --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Red Rover, Red Rover. Send Bobby right over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Red Rover, Red Rover. Send Bobby right over.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Red Rover, Red Rover. Send Bobby right over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: Are kids games like Red Rover really too inappropriate for schools? A state's no-fun list is sparking outrage. Ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAM SANDLER, COMEDIAN: Now you're all in big, big trouble.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DECICCIO: Outrage in Alabama after games that most of us grew up playing, like dodgeball, tag, and musical chairs, were told to be off-limits. The state's superintendent is now trying to calm down angry parents, saying it's up to public schools to decide their own physical education activities.
OK, you guys. So apparently two years ago, the state of Alabama issued guidance and said that during physical education classes at these schools, you literally could not play tag and Red Rover and dodgeball and these fun, normal games. And some of the reasons cited were, you know, it makes people feel uncomfortable. They get hurt. They're left out, whatever.
But the superintendent now came in, and he basically was like, "Look, this wasn't on my watch. You guys do you."
So OK, here's my question. So Greg --
GUTFELD: Yes.
COMPAGNO: -- growing up on the peninsula, what was recess like for you? I feel like I can imagine you being a total maniac, and everyone taking you - -
GUTFELD: We were an unusual school. We had a fight club, where we'd pit one child against another child in a bare-knuckled cage match. And the one that survived could then have lunch. And they did it day after day. It was ugly. Only two kids made it out of that school.
I think that they -- I think they should change dodgeball so that everybody gets a ball and, instead of throwing it at people, you just hug it in a dark room, listening to soft jazz.
PERINO: That's nice.
GUTFELD: Wasn't that nice? Yes.
COMPAGNO: Dana, what about you? What was your favorite recess activity in Colorado?
PERINO: I was thinking about this this morning.
GUTFELD: You were getting high a lot.
PERINO: Yes, I was with the smokers. No, I wasn't. I was boring. No, not the smokers. Mom, no.
JONES: No.
PERINO: Mom, I was not. OK --
GUTFELD: Taking strange rides on planes?
PERINO: Do you remember tetherball?
GUTFELD: Yes. I loved tetherball.
PERINO: Tetherball was like -- and I liked it so much that my mom and dad put one in our backyard in Parker, Colorado, where we grew up. I also loved Foursquare.
GUTFELD: Foursquare was great. Should have been an Olympic sport.
PERINO: And I also did love kickball. I was actually pretty good. I was pretty fast.
GUTFELD: Wow.
PERINO: Fast runner.
COMPAGNO: I can see that. Like zipping around.
PERINO: Yes.
COMPAGNO: OK, so Lawrence, in Dallas, what was the scene like for you?
GUTFELD: There was a scene.
COMPAGNO: Describe it for us.
JONES: Well, we dominated in all sports, and so everyone is being prepared for the whole sports routine.
But honestly, though, I think eliminating these activities is why the stress level for these kids are going up. They have no diversity.
PERINO: Outlet.
JONES: They have no way to get rid of that. And maybe you fall down and you scratch your knee and all that, but you get back up and you go. But right now, everybody wants a participation trophy. Everybody wants to be, you know, coddled. And I think it's just destroying the next generation.
COMPAGNO: Yes. So in Brooklyn, Juan, growing up, A, set the scene. And B, what changes do you see there? I know you love your grandkids. You talk about them a lot. What changes do you see between your recess activities and how you grew up and what they're engaged in now?
WILLIAMS: Well, I don't think I've ever been in their playground, because I think --
GUTFELD: Thank God, Juan.
WILLIAMS: But I think things are more organized now, as we see by the -- what the Alabama school district was trying to do.
Because you know, I liked dodgeball and, you know, Red Rover and all that stuff. I thought that was a whole lot of fun. But I do know that people got embarrassed, even humiliated. And once in a while, somebody would and up with a knot on their head, because they got hit in the wrong spot or fell on their face, et cetera.
So you know, I guess -- I don't know if it's because we're a more litigious society, and the school district wants to protect itself. I don't know. But I don't think this is about kids being snowflakes today, because I --
JONES: Yes, it is.
WILLIAMS: In Brooklyn, kids would fight and kids still fight. I mean, that just goes on. I prefer, by the way, things like, you know, races, stickball. I mean, we used to play those games, too. What's wrong with that.
PERINO: The other thing I loved, where those -- the bar --
GUTFELD: Monkey bars.
PERINO: Gymnastic bars, monkey bars, but also -- the ones that you climb across are the monkey bars, but just the solid one. Because I could do a daddy backflip -- no, a granddaddy backflip. Like, whatever. What is that called?
COMPAGNO: I literally was -- I can throw up just thinking about it.
PERINO: It would give my mom a heart attack all the time. Because it was like, the bottom was just gravel.
WILLIAMS: Yes, but you know what they have.
PERINO: The landing.
WILLIAMS: Well, now they have -- the ground is this kind of rubbery Styrofoam. Yes.
JONES: You like that, don't you?
WILLIAMS: It does protect the kids.
GUTFELD: I sleep in parks. I like that stuff.
WILLIAMS: Oh, my goodness.
DECICCIO: "One More Thing" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: I have a new "I Hate These People."
PERINO: We're changing "One More Thing" up as we go along. It's time for "One More Thing" -- Juan.
WILLIAMS: Right. So these are the dog days of summer. Baseball stadiums have bring your pup to the park day. What about these racetracks? Well, how about putting the dogs right on the race track? That's what happened at Minnesota, Canterbury Race Track. Watch these basset hounds go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready, set, go! One of the dogs was sleeping! All right. And they're off. And Douglas has got keen early speed! Here comes Charlie! Charlie is there! Maroney is there. And look out for Rufus!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WILLIAMS: Oh, my goodness. The Bark in the Park championship, sponsored by the Star-Tribune newspaper, will resume on Labor Day. There will be a special battle of the breeds featuring basset hounds, corgis and wieners.
GUTFELD: And wieners.
WILLIAMS: Top dogs from each championship battling the other to be crowned -- yes, you guessed it -- top dog.
PERINO: I really want Jasper to do that. I think that he would excel wildly.
GUTFELD: He barely moves.
PERINO: All right. My turn, lions and tigers and hyenas? Oh my. Look at this. A Beijing wildlife park put eight cubs including Siberian tigers, spotted hyenas and an African lion to nurse with a golden retriever alongside her own puppies after the cubs were abandoned by their own mothers. And visitors have been enchanted by watching the unlikely pack have a good time there, you know, get to know each other a little bit. It's a wonderful site, watching animals play and grow together, and you can see more of this on our Facebook page -- Greg.
GUTFELD: They're cute when they're babies. They're horrible when they're adults. Hyenas? They're disgusting creatures.
By the way it's time for --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: I hate these people!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GUTFELD: This just came to me. I have allergies. So I sneezed, and Emily goes, "You don't do the arm crook thing!" No, I don't! Because this is an expensive jacket. Do you know how much this jacket cost? I'm not blowing snot into my forearm.
COMPAGNO: You have germs. You don't sneeze into your hands and then --
GUTFELD: Germs are underrated, Emily.
COMPAGNO: Oh, my gosh.
GUTFELD: Germs are for the immune system! I'm not going to ruin this jacket!
PERINO: It's a generational thing.
GUTFELD: I mean, I'm not Count Dracula!
PERINO: I think it's a generational thing. Because you're younger a little bit. Right? And so then that's a new thing for, like, young people.
GUTFELD: I'm not speaking to you anymore.
WILLIAMS: Wait a minute. You hate Emily?
Don't hate Emily.
DECICCIO: For my One More Thing, I want to shine the spotlight on a truly remarkable man, Special Agent Jeff James, United States Secret Service. Just retired this week after 22 years of serving with the Secret Service presidential detail.
I've had the honor of calling him a longtime friend. It's my honor right now to direct appreciation for his exceptional, selfless and truly heroic service to our country and our presidents, regardless of party, regardless politics, for over two decades.
He's protected George W. Bush, Donald Trump, Condoleezza Rice, numerous heads of state. And he's now come full circle. This is the best part. He was an English teacher before he joined the Secret Service 1996, and for his next chapter, he's been tapped by the Seneca Valley School District just north of Pittsburgh to be their head of security and safety.
PERINO: All right, I know him well. Congratulations to you, and thank you for all your service -- Lawrence.
JONES: The --
PERINO: Take us out.
JONES: Those audience members out there, you know that I love hip-hop. And I love it because of the capitalism message that's in it. Rapper T.I. is putting his own wealth fame to good use, spending millions of dollars of his own money to revitalize his neighborhood where he grew up. He's spending $2 million to build new businesses, low-income housing in his hometown in Atlanta.
PERINO: That's amazing.
JONES: That's my brother T.I.
PERINO: All right. That was a great show everyone. Set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of "The Five." And then "Special Report" up next. Hey, Bret.
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