Fauci lied to Congress about COVID-19 research: Rep. Gallagher
Wisconsin Republican Mike Gallagher discusses the origins of coronavirus on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight'
This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," September 7, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
BRIAN KILMEADE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: All right, good evening, and welcome to TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT. I'm Brian Kilmeade, and according to reports, I am going to be in for Tucker for the whole hour, keep your fingers crossed.
Now just hours ago, hundreds of pages of documents from inside Tony Fauci's agency, the National Institute of Health were published by the news outlet "The Intercept." They confirm -- now get this -- Tony Fauci's N.I.H. funded what's known as gain-of-function research -- there's that term again -- in Wuhan, there's that city again. Gain-of-function research includes any research that makes viruses more transmissible and more deadly.
According to the documents obtained by "The Intercept," the N.I.H. was specifically funding gain-of-function research to spike the genes from one coronavirus with the genetic information from other coronaviruses in the process. The documents revealed the researchers created a new more potent virus that could easily infect humans. What could go wrong?
Gary Ruskin, the Executive Director of the group, U.S. Right to Know, says the documents are, quote, "A road map to the high-risk research that could have led to the current pandemic," closed quote. That research includes a 2014 project funded by the N.I.H. for bat coronaviruses research in Wuhan.
The project was led by virologist named Peter Daszak -- there's that name again -- President of the group EcoHealth Alliance and the grant from the N.I.H. authorized Peter Daszak and EcoHealth Alliance to conduct quote, "Virus infection experiments across a range of cell cultures from different species and humanized mice."
We've known about that grant for months now, but the new internal N.I.H. documents obtained by "The Intercept" expose exactly what went on during those virus infection experiments on the mice.
According to Richard Ebright, he is a Professor of Chemical Biology at Rutgers University, quote here, "The materials revealed for the first time that one of the resulting novel laboratory generated source related coronaviruses was more pathogenic to humanized mice than the starting virus from which it was constructed." Uh-oh. In other words the N.I.H. was sending taxpayer funds to -- there's that guy again -- Peter Daszak -- to make coronaviruses more dangerous.
Remember, as recently as December of 2019, just before the pandemic began, Peter Daszak was bragging about how easy it is to manipulate the coronavirus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER DASZAK, CEO, ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE: Coronavirus is a pretty good -- I mean, you're a virologist, you know all this stuff, but you can manipulate them in the lab pretty easily. The spike protein drives a lot of what happens with the coronavirus -- zoonotic risk.
So you can get the sequence, you can build the protein and we work with Ralph Baric at UNC to do this -- insert into the backbone of another virus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
DASZAK: And do some work in the lab.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: After the pandemic began, Peter Daszak stopped bragging. Instead, he organized a letter to "Lancet," a respected journal from several virologists. The letter claimed the virus didn't originate in a lab. Isn't that nice?
Tony Fauci cited that letter on television as proof that the virus was not man-made.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: If you look at the evolution of the virus in bats and what's out there now, it is very, very strongly leaning towards this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated the way the mutations have naturally evolved.
A number of very qualified evolutionary biologists have said that everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that it evolved in nature and then jumped species.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: All right, case closed. That's what Tony Fauci was saying publicly, but from his private e-mails, we know that Tony was actually very concerned about whether gain-of-function research caused this pandemic and today's document dump reveals that everyone involved in the research was also very worried about that possibility.
Now, after reviewing the internal N.I.H. documents published by "The Intercept," one biologist, Alina Chan made this assessment, quote: "In this proposal, they actually point out that they know how risky the work is. They keep talking about people potentially getting bitten and they keep records of everyone who got bitten," Chan said.
So does EcoHealth have those records? And if not, how can they possibly rule out a research related accident? Now, some of this research is dangerous according to Richard Ebright and was occurring in facilities that have the same safety precautions as the average dentist's office.
Here is what one of the facilities looks like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is not a conspiracy to say there were live bats at the lab. It is a fact, and as you can see, this video shows bats in a cage at the Wuhan Institute. You can also see they're a researcher feeding a bat with a worm.
And in this image, we can see researchers out capturing bats and a bat even hangs off a researcher's hat.
In another image, there are mouse cages, hundreds of them. We know that the Wuhan Institute of Virology was using humanized mice for experiments to see which coronaviruses could infect humans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: Some of the most irresponsible video you'll ever see.
Now, in 2017, Tony Fauci authorized another grant in Wuhan, this time he funded quote, "cell entry studies." Three newly identified SARS coronaviruses.
Now this summer, Senator Rand Paul, you might remember -- of Kentucky asked Tony Fauci about that grant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): Dr. Fauci, knowing that it is a crime to lie to Congress, do you wish to retract your statement of May 11th where you claimed that the N.I.H. never funded gain-of-function research in Wuhan?
FAUCI: Senator Paul, I have never lied before the Congress, and I do not retract that statement.
This paper that you were referring to was judged by qualified staff up and down the chain as not being gain-of-function.
PAUL: You take an animal virus --
FAUCI: Let me finish.
PAUL: You take an animal virus and you increase the transmissibility to humans, you're saying that's not gain a function?
FAUCI: Yes. That is correct and Senator Paul, you do not know what you are talking about, quite frankly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: It now appears that Tony Fauci was lying under oath. According to Richard Ebright, quote: "The documents make it clear that assertions by the N.H.S. Director Francis Collins and Anthony Fauci that the N.I.H. did not support gain-of-function research, a potential pandemic pathogen enhancement at Wuhan are untruthful." And Tony Fauci isn't the only one who's been caught lying.
You've got Ian Lipkin, he is a professor at Columbia University, he is one of the world's top epidemiologists, he says he's heard about a major influenza outbreak in Wuhan back in December of 2019, December 15th to be exact, more than two weeks before China disclosed the COVID pandemic global health authorities. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. IAN LIPKIN, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INFECTION AND IMMUNITY - COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: I heard, I guess it was December 15th about this new outbreak --
QUESTION: That's when you first heard about it, right?
LIPKIN: That's when I heard about this in December 15th.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: It's a little early, right? What's the truth on where and how this virus originated? And why are the officials here and in China still lying about it?
Mike Gallagher has been pushing for answers like we have on the origins of COVID-19. He represents the State of Wisconsin and joins us now.
Congressman Gallagher, first off, what do you take from these hundred-page report?
REP. MIKE GALLAGHER (R-WI): To me, it confirms what we've known for months, which is that Fauci lied to us. He lied to Congress. He knew that our taxpayer dollars were being administered by his organization to third parties like EcoHealth Alliance to do cooperative research, gain-of- function research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and when questioned about it, he hid behind a highly legalistic definition.
But more to the point, he was lying, and the fact that he still has a job is an affront to the hundreds of thousands of Americans who have suffered, if not died under coronavirus.
And I would add on to this the fact that we now have the 90-day Intelligence review from the Bind administration which came back with nothing.
KILMEADE: Yes.
GALLAGHER: That's unacceptable and it said that we have -- we can't get to the bottom of this until we have the cooperation of the Chinese. That is bogus. That is a cop-out.
There are a ton of things we can do and let's start by subpoenaing Peter Daszak and his entire corrupt organization to get answers. We cannot accept these lies to be the final answer.
KILMEADE: Congressman, Senator Josh Hawley is demanding that Fauci step down, are you?
GALLAGHER: Absolutely, at a minimum, at a minimum he should step down and we should have a full transparent investigation to untangle the complex web of U.S. taxpayer dollars funding this type of research.
But where is the accountability from the Chinese Communist Party? Why is this administration effectively covering up for the Chinese Communist Party when it comes to this? Are we so afraid of offending their delicate sensibilities that we're not going to demand answers after they've perpetrated one of the biggest cover-ups in the history of geopolitical relations?
This is absolutely unacceptable, and we have to get to the bottom of it.
KILMEADE: Congressman, if Anthony Fauci is so vulnerable to this, why does he on every television show, 24 hours a day, and how unbelievable is it that he'd be on CNN today and not be asked about this "Intercept" report, not a FOX News report, not Congressman Gallagher's report, a report in "The Intercept."
GALLAGHER: Because the entire media has gone hook, line, and sinker for this narrative that was perpetrated, as you pointed out in your monologue, we had scientists who had profound conflicts of interest who were writing letters telling everybody this didn't come from a lab and the media went for it, and the media has been acting as useful idiots for the Chinese Communist Party and they are afraid to admit that they were wrong.
KILMEADE: Congressman, I look forward to your action on this and Anthony Fauci has got a book tour out, maybe he'll have a couple of tougher questions coming his way. He is coming out with a book in about a month. All right, appreciate it.
Meanwhile on this, college football stadiums were packed over the Labor Day weekend and at CNN, they weren't very happy about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Even though this surge is even worse in some states and in some parts of the country than at any other time during the pandemic, we are seeing relatively normal life like packed football stadiums this weekend.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: I noticed this weekend, watching a little bit of college football, we're going to show some pictures here now, big crowds in stadiums. Not clear who was required to be vaccinated, recommendations for masks, but as you can see in these pictures, folks just weren't doing it.
I mean, is this kind of behavior going to get us on the other side of this? Or if we keep doing this, are we going to be kind of stuck in in outbreak mode?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Amid holiday weekend travel and packed stadiums and celebrations, America is acting like the threat from COVID is over, even though the fact is, we're actually much worse off than we were a year ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: Really? So, we all should stay in the closet, stay in our basement. Do these people ever want us to get back to normal life?
Clay Travis is not normal, but he is the founder of "Outkick" and the host of "The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show" took over from Rush Limbaugh.
Clay, you were at a lot of these games. You watched almost all of these games. Did it feel normal? Did you feel guilty because you're at a stadium with people in it enjoying themselves?
CLAY TRAVIS, HOST OF "THE CLAY TRAVIS AND BUCK SEXTON SHOW": No, Brian. That's how we win. That's how we win.
There are so many people out there for the last 18 months, they've been asking a question that I think is the paramount one, how does COVID ever end? And my answer is, when people decide to let COVID end and live their lives.
And that's why, all over the country, I was so ecstatic to see millions of fans, Brian, finally saying it's been 18 months, it's time to take our lives back. We can't cower in fear and let these petty dictatorial tyrants like Anthony Fauci tell us what we can and cannot do. We need more people standing up like these awesome college football fans were, without masks, in stadiums, without fear living their lives.
I absolutely loved it. We need more of it starting with the NFL this weekend and running right through, I want football fans to help lead us back to normalcy by embracing normalcy in our own lives.
KILMEADE: From what you saw, I know football, some NFL stadiums are demanding vaccinated fans only. Did you see that in the college game?
TRAVIS: No. I mean, there are a few stadiums out there, Oregon, I think, Washington State where they are demanding vaccine passports and negative COVID test. Everywhere that I was, I was in Charlotte for Georgia Clemson, I was in Knoxville for Tennessee Bowling Green, zero difference at all.
You walked right in, you lived your normal life and you had a heck of a time cheering on your favorite team. That's what we need more of, that's how we win, Brian.
KILMEADE: And Clay, you're never home. I don't know how you're doing this, but here, I want to take a look at this. I don't know if you have a monitor there, but no one really cared that Nancy Pelosi had a big fundraiser, right? No one was looking at social distancing.
TRAVIS: Of course not.
KILMEADE: No one cared about masks. Remember those people who come across the border? I'm pretty sure they didn't get two vaccinations. They're coming at a dizzying rate.
We've got about over a million have come this year. They were infecting four separate states, not much concern about that. If you have a protest in the street, I don't want you to worry about that, but if someone's had an LSU game outdoors chanting or painting their chest with an L on it, that should be the problem.
We know the facts, let us live our lives.
TRAVIS: Do you remember, Brian, when CNN analysts went on and said that Obama's birthday party indoors by the way mostly was fine because it was a sophisticated educated crowd?
KILMEADE: Yes.
TRAVIS: Well, guess what? College football fans, we are sophisticated, we are educated, and if we need to get Dr. Fauci's permission to be outdoors celebrating, maybe we can say we're protesting the other team because protests were perfectly fine if you remember all the scientific analysis of the Black Lives Matter protest back in the day, Brian.
KILMEADE: Right. Clay, thanks so much. Always appreciate it. Go get "Outkick."
TRAVIS: Appreciate it.
KILMEADE: And there's always something happening on that.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden's State Department is trying to take credit for rescuing several Americans from Afghanistan, but the people involved in the rescue are telling a very different story. That story is straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KILMEADE: All right, Joe Biden's State Department said on Monday that it just helped four Americans escape from Afghanistan. Now this morning, I spoke to Cory Mills about that claim. He is a congressional candidate in Florida, Army veteran. He has got a group going, too.
He told me that he worked with a group of vets and lawmakers to get those Americans out himself and that the State Department did not help at all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CORY MILLS, CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE IN FLORIDA (via phone): Originally, our plan was to go ahead and do an air evac. That was absolutely thwarted by the CENTCOM Command and the State Department when we tried to land our plane, we had approved TPR to land in HKIA. We had approved flyover approvals in the F.A.A.
Our plane had been designated as an emergency humanitarian aircraft, which meant that we didn't have to meet just the seat standards, but we could actually do a weight and balance standard which meant that I could have put 25 Americans, Brian, onto that plane and as we were at like 9,000 feet in descent landing gear down with an approved TPR landing slot, they waved us off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: And I'm hearing this over and over again in different situations. Just hours ago, foxnews.com obtained documents showing the State Department has been blocking short of fights out of Afghanistan from landing at U.S. Air Bases even when the flights have U.S. citizens on board.
Brit Hume is a FOX news senior political analyst. He joins us now.
Brit, we're trying to put this together. We have no sources on the ground, but it's pretty impeccable. It's been cross-checked that Mills is a hundred percent right. The State Department came to this family once they crossed the border of this country that's going to be nameless.
What are your thoughts about what we're seeing?
BRIT HUME, FOX NEWS CHANNEL SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it's pretty clear, Brian, you can trace all this back to the original decision to try to get the military out before you had the civilians out and before you even had a reasonable plan to get them out.
So now, we are where we are. We've got people being helped to get out by individual groups. You've got disputes about who is responsible, who helped, and who didn't. You've got the situation in Mazar-i-Sharif with airplanes sitting on the ground with Americans on them.
The State Department may not want to clear them out because they don't know who else is on the planes. Indeed Brian, when you think about it, we don't know who we've gotten out so far.
We've gotten tens of thousands of Afghans out and you know, at first glance, that's a good thing, but we don't -- do we really know who they all are? Were they really all properly vetted there at that airport in that chaotic scene that we saw with people you know standing knee deep in sewage and being rushed onto the tarmac and gotten out of there as fast as they could get them out because it was the only way to do it?
I mean, this is -- this is an absolute train wreck and all these disputes that we're seeing now about people who can't get out and so on are all a result of the original decision.
KILMEADE: Absolutely. No one got to the airport that wasn't in Kabul already. It stands to reason they would be in other places in the country.
Chad Roberto also told me this morning on radio, he is a recon Marine working with a group called Save our Allies, he doesn't believe there's a hundred left. He believes, there's well over a thousand Americans left by the calls he is getting because the State Department won't answer.
The one thing that is pretty clear, I don't really believe anything the Secretary of State or President has been telling us on this because all has been proven untrue.
HUME: Well, we've certainly seen instance after instance where they said they were going to do this and they did something else, and the most -- you know, the most conspicuous one, which I think Joe Biden will never live down was when he promised in a televised interview that we would stay there until we got all the Americans out and then he didn't do that and that's manifest that nobody in the U.S. government is now pretending they did get all the Americans out, except for Chuck Schumer, the Senate Majority Leader, the Senate Democratic Majority Leader who has said -- and I've seen it on videotape where he said, we got all the Americans out who wanted to get out. That is not true, and nobody in the administration is saying that that's true.
So, this is the kind of thing we're confronted with and this is a stain, I think, that it is going to be a very long time wearing off if indeed it ever does. I suspect that it never will.
KILMEADE: So, Brit, I watched 35 minutes of "Meet the Press," not a word about Afghanistan and when he did bring it up, it was about poll ratings. "Face the Nation," second half hour. This is a lead story in any other era.
Why is this not a lead story now? The compelling video of a cargo jet, people falling off the side, human tragedy, the explosion that killed 13 marines as 18 others struggling for their lives. How could that still not be a lead story in American television?
HUME: I think the answer is pretty obvious, Brian, we don't have the kind of media we're used to where the news coverage was pretty neutral. Opinion reserved for the editorial pages and for the columnists.
Nowadays, journalists get to indulge their opinions and many of them are editors now who want to cover the stories that make their side of things, which means the left side look better and they don't want to cover stories that do the opposite.
And we're seeing this, you know, in spades now on the front pages of newspapers where this continuing crisis in and about Afghanistan is being pushed off the front pages in favor of you know, Joe Biden's $3.5 trillion spending plan or whatever the next thing is that the journalists would like to see the world move on to.
KILMEADE: I just have more faith in the American people when it comes to war and peace and the American lives, they care more than I think politicians understand.
I wish for that -- I wish they would rise up and make Afghanistan matter again. At least, I know the people we're in touch with still care.
Brit Hume, thanks so much.
Meanwhile, just around the bend, we've got much more show including Tucker straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KILMEADE: Welcome back. Barry Meier is an author who is best known for his investigative work in Purdue Pharma. Now, he is turning his attention to the role of corporate espionage in our democracy.
For a brand new episode of "Tucker Carlson Today," Tucker just spoke to Barry Meier about the role of one firm, you know it, FUSION GPS in digging up dirt on the former President. Fusion GPS was initially funded by "The Washington Free Beacon." Then they found a new client.
Here's part of that conversation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BARRY MEIER, FORMER REPORTER FOR "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Fusion's assignment was basically to go through Donald Trump's business, personal history, whatever and dig up whatever information that would be detrimental and flattering to Donald Trump and obviously, Donald Trump's had a long checkered business career, so there's plenty stuff and business records with his bankruptcies and various business problems there to dig up.
Come the spring of 2016, it has become clear that Donald Trump is going to be the Republican Party's nominee. Whoever -- you know, there's no interest in being on his bad side, so who is ever funding Fusion at that point says, sorry, guys we're done.
They then go to lawyers for the Democratic National Committee for Hillary Clinton's campaign and basically pitch them on continuing their political opposition work against Donald Trump, but they say, at that point, well, we'd like to start looking at his activities in Russia because we haven't really looked at that closely before.
They get the go-ahead and the money to do that and that's when they hire Christopher Steele, a person who has become sort of notorious in the aftermath of all.
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Now, who is Christopher Steele?
MEIER: He is a former MI6 agent who worked at a time -- for a time for the British government in Russia, headed their Russian desk.
CARLSON: As an Intelligence officer for the British government.
MEIER: Yes, as an intelligence officer, as a spy.
CARLSON: Yes.
MEIER: In Russia, and then headed their Intelligence operation or the Russian desk in London, and then like many former spies or former F.B.I. agents whatever the case might be, he became a corporate investigator and started his own firm in London called Orbis Business Intelligence that kind of specialized in gathering stuff about Russia or Eastern Europe for business clients and others.
CARLSON: So Fusion GPS was hired by people who didn't like Trump on the Republican side, switched and now is employed by the Hillary Clinton campaign, contracts with Christopher Steele's firm in London to learn more about Trump's involvement with Russia.
MEIER: Correct.
CARLSON: Then what happens?
MEIER: So what happens at that point is that Steele can't go to London, right? He's a former British spy -- I mean, go to Russia, excuse me. He is a former spy, so what he does is he retains an agent, a guy he calls his collector to go to Russia and to meet with people and to talk to them about Donald Trump, to talk to them about Donald Trump's associates and to feed back whatever information he gleans to Christopher Steele, which Christopher Steele then writes up in a series of memos of which there were something like 17 or 18, and those memos which were then passed back to Fusion GPS became known as the dossier.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: Got it? It's so interesting. You can watch Tucker's full interview with Barry Meier on "Tucker Carlson Today" by going to foxnation.com right now and I always suggest you do.
Now this, West Virginia is now suing the Biden administration over its reversal of the Donald Trump remain-in-Mexico policy. That policy forced migrants to stay in Mexico pending the outcome of their asylum hearings -- imagine that.
West Virginia's Attorney General Patrick Morrissey says suspending that policy will allow drug traffickers to flood the country with fentanyl and that's exactly what happened.
Now, over the weekend, "The Wire" star, Michael K. Williams possibly overdosed on that drug. Patrick Morrissey joins us right now. Mr. Attorney General, why target the remain-in-Mexico policy to help drug abuse in West Virginia?
PATRICK MORRISEY, WEST VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, in West Virginia, we feel the impact of the immigration debate and open borders most when fentanyl is surging across the borders and it ultimately flows into our state. That's how we see the terrible effects.
Most people, when they talk about it, they talk about the raw numbers of undocumented aliens that are coming in, we measure this problem through the amount of fentanyl and illicit drugs that ultimately make their way up to West Virginia. It's a very serious problem that's not being discussed enough, that's why we filed our lawsuit.
We think this should be a no-brainer for President Biden to turn around, but he didn't even think about the drug trafficking issue when he issued this rule and tried to rescind the Trump remain-in-Mexico policy. We're going to make sure that they do think through their responsibilities on fighting narcotics entering into our borders.
KILMEADE: I guess, they say the drug comes up from a major highway into Detroit and Columbus and comes right into West Virginia, where the drug abuse and drug deaths have doubled from 2019 to 2020, and I imagine it's going to be even higher at the end of 2021.
So, the remain-in-Mexico policy is now back in play because now, they're allowed to use it and Biden would be foolish not to. Does that kill your case?
MORRISEY: No, I think that you have a number of cases that are moving forward and we're focusing on the drug trafficking aspect of it. Once again, we're seeing a massive surge in fentanyl and whether it's reversing and going back to remain-in-Mexico or other priorities at the border, we think these guys need to put a lot more time and resources into going after a lot of these people coming over with backpacks.
We showed that in our complaint. We're seeing more and more people trafficking across the border and even as the administration says, if only one in five people slide through with the backpack, that's enough to destroy many counties in West Virginia or across the country and there's a lot of death that will result from it.
So, we want to keep the eye and the laser beam focused on the drug trafficking side. It's been a huge problem first with China moving product to Mexico, now with the Mexican drug cartels.
KILMEADE: And real quick, what's the schedule? When are we going to see this thing in court? When is it going to force or not force the administration's hand?
MORRISEY: Well, look, we wrote a letter a couple of months ago and they didn't act on it. We filed a lawsuit in the middle of August. I think you're going to start hearing about that in the upcoming months, but we're hopeful Biden can come to his senses and reverse this.
KILMEADE: It's just unbelievable what's happening to these border cities. We've been focusing on Arizona, New Mexico now, and Texas of course. California has always been a mess, but it's really going to -- they're going to pay the price in 2022. It's in their interest to get this under control.
Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, thanks for taking action.
MORRISEY: Thanks so much, appreciate it.
KILMEADE: All right, meanwhile major media organizations have just been caught spreading another completely false story on the coronavirus. Now, they're trying to pretend they didn't do anything wrong, but we've got the evidence straight ahead and the tape.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KILMEADE: Glad you're back. Hear this. "Rolling Stone" just published an article claiming that rural hospitals in Oklahoma are overflowing with patients who overdosed on ivermectin. "Rolling Stone" said the patients tried to use ivermectin to treat COVID. Predictably the rest of the media ran with that story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Ivermectin, that horse de-wormer that's led to a lot of emergency room visits. I see you shaking your head. People have been taking this thing trying to treat COVID, but it's led to a lot of folks getting poisoned.
JOY REID, MSNBC HOST: The dangers of COVID misinformation being spread by the right as ivermectin overdoses strain already overtaxed hospitals.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Ivermectin is something more often used to deworm horses. The C.D.C. says there's no evidence it works on COVID. Its increased usage has only led to a substantial increase in overdoses after a push by some on the far right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: Everyone looks so concerned, after all "Rolling Stones" just updated the story with a statement from the Northeastern Hospital System in Oklahoma. The hospital said that the doctor that the "Rolling Stone" interviewed hasn't worked for them in more than two months. The hospital added that they quote: "Have not treated any patients due to complications related to taking Ivermectin."
So they got the story completely wrong, just like they did with Jussie Smollett, just like they did with the Covington kids, and so on.
Steve Krakauer is the founder and editor of "Fourth Watch." He joins us now.
You know the story went on, Steve, to say that well, they had to turn down gunshot victims from emergency rooms because they were so filled up with people who took ivermectin.
STEVE KRAKAUER, FOUNDER, "FOURTH WATCH": I mean, it was so ridiculous on the face. I think it's a great example though, I mean there's a few things at play here. You mentioned some of the stories that the media has gotten completely wrong in the past, but I think there's a geographic bias thing here.
If this story on a local news channel was from New York or D.C., I feel like there might be a little bit more radar up that said, this seems a little bit strange, but Oklahoma? Rural Oklahoma? Oh, yes. I'm sure people are just going to their barns and getting the horse goo and eating it.
And then of course now, there are these gunshot victims that are waiting for the -- I mean, it's totally ridiculous, but this is what you get when you're trying to further a narrative and you don't really have this incentive to step back and say, is this really true? I mean, is this really the case?
Because what's the cost to "Rolling Stone"? You know, they got a ton of traffic. They put a little update on the top, they don't lose any real like journalistic integrity, you know, no one really trusts them to begin with.
So, what do you get from it? You know, the cost-benefit analysis, yes, we'll put it out there, maybe it's true.
KILMEADE: Right, and by the way somebody who tweeted that out was Rachel Maddow. She had great concern for the country Ivermectin was -- Dr. Kory went and spoke in front of Senator Ron Johnson's Senate committee, not a renegade organization in somebody's bomb shelter. He came in and spoke about it.
And social media took it down. They said it was too dangerous.
Ivermectin by the way however it turns out, whatever you decide to do was developed and awarded a Nobel Prize back in 2015. It combats river blindness and tropical maladies, sometimes drugs worked for different things. For some people, they chose to try it. It wasn't out there to make a mockery of.
KRAKAUER: Right. Exactly, I mean, our own C.D.C. right now is recommending that refugees to the country take it, again not for COVID, necessarily, that's being tested right now. But the idea that it's for horses and for cows, which is the storylines that's being pushed in the media now whether it's to combat Joe Rogan who is talking about that as one of the treatments that he used to take, you know after he got COVID.
This is being prescribed by doctors, this is not being -- you know people are not taking this from their horses and eating it, but this is what you get.
And I think really what it comes down to is there is this greater good aspect to this right now. You know, the media says, okay, well we got this story wrong, but hey, you know, if we could just maybe stop some people from taking Ivermectin, maybe we can get more people to take the vaccine if we put the storyline at least. At least, there's some greater good to it. You know, at least our heart is in the right place.
Well, that's not really the way you go about journalism. That's not how you gain any sort of trust and when we're talking about something as serious as COVID, as serious as this pandemic that has been going on for 18 months, you have a responsibility to get the story right and tell your audience what's actually happening in the country.
KILMEADE: Exactly, so when you say the vulnerabilities about the vaccine to the delta virus that you can get it, lessen the symptoms, but you're still going to get it, yes, we have to discover this breakthrough before the scientists tell us and then, why don't we hear more about Regeneron? Why don't we ever hear about therapeutics? Treatments? We just see people in hospital gowns trying, you know getting ventilators or struggling with fever.
Why don't we ever hear about the treatments that the VIPs get when they ask for it?
KRAKAUER: Right. I mean, you would think that a media that would be curious and also responsible might be interested in finding anything possible that can help people in this moment because obviously, the pandemic is real It's getting people sick and people are getting vaccinated on high rates and some of them are also getting very sick.
So, what can we do? Why are we not having a little bit more curiosity? Why is everything so one track about this? That's the problem and that's why this "Rolling Stone" story is so damaging. It continues this this further narrative that's only putting people in the wrong place.
KILMEADE: Why Rachel Maddow gave out bad information? Why is her account not suspended? I have no idea.
Steve, thanks so much.
KRAKAUER: Thanks, Brian. Appreciate it.
KILMEADE: Steve Krakauer. Meanwhile, Australia is continuing to descend into tyranny in the name of COVID control. They're implementing -- get this -- facial recognition apps that force residents to regularly upload their location to the government. People aren't allowed to speak to their neighbors.
Now, one Australian Premier is talking about completely banning the unvaccinated from participating in society.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA: When we get to those vaccination double-dose thresholds as part of the national plan, the notion of a lockdown of the whole community is far less relevant. But what will, I think become a bigger part of their response is a lockout of many, many venues for those who are not vaccinated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: It's unbelievable. Gideon Rozner is the Director of Policy at the Institute of Public Affairs in Melbourne, Australia. He joins us now to assess.
I always thought -- I always thought Australians would have it right. Man, when it comes to Melbourne, you couldn't be more wrong. You're the most locked down province, city in the world, 207 plus days. Why?
GIDEON ROZNER, DIRECTOR OF POLICY, INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS IN MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA: Well, indeed, Brian. It's because since the get-go, we have pursued in Australia a policy of basically zero tolerance for the coronavirus.
Now, the lockdown that Melbourne is currently going through, its sixth lockdown was triggered after just six cases -- not six deaths, not six cases of hospitalization, six infections. In Sydney, the lockdown that's been running since June was triggered over just 28 cases. This is reaching absurdity that Lewis Carroll himself couldn't come up with.
And as you said, Brian it is -- it has triggered the descent into tyranny in Australia. It is overwhelmed all of our checks and balances. It has extinguished all or suppressed all of our individual rights and freedoms and it has upended every norm of liberal democratic governance and if it can happen here in Australia, of all places, it can happen anywhere.
And I'm sorry to say that includes the U.S., so Americans need to worry about incursions to their liberty coming from coronavirus hysteria, because it can happen anywhere.
KILMEADE: And I did see about 200,000 people protesting in France over the weekend and multiple arrests because they're tired of the lockdown. What I find it strange is this app. Tell me how this app works?
If you get contact traced, you have to show your location through this app?
ROZNER: So, this is a proposal by the state government of South Australia for returning travelers who want to pass through the two-week quarantine system. Basically how it would work is if you are quarantining at home and you were supposed to be at home for two weeks under house arrest, you'll get a prompt from this app. You'll have to take a photo of yourself in the location you're supposed to be in and if you don't do that within 15 minutes, the police can show up at your door.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg, Brian. This is from the same state government that recently rounded up people and put them into quarantine hotels, not because they are actually sick, but because they visited a venue that a sick person happened to go to, a winery in South Australia whereby the way they have had extremely few coronavirus cases.
As I said, this has allowed governments to do things that we never thought possible in terms of breaching our fundamental rights and people arrive with it because of the fear and paranoia that governments have encouraged and unleashed in the population.
KILMEADE: On behalf of Americans -- on behalf of America, we always thought that Australia would be almost the live or let live society, but it's not. You could only leave your house for two hours to shop and exercise. The curfew is from nine to five.
It was triggered in June and Melbourne has now been locked down, the most locked down city in the world and guess what? There is no sign of a let up, but the rest of the country has a bit of freedom, correct? And they don't even let you leave the country and travel to those freer places.
ROZNER: Correct. Well, not only do they not let you leave the country, not just if you're an Australian citizen, but if you're a permanent resident of Australia who has a citizenship to another country, you cannot go home, which in any other situation would trigger a diplomatic incident.
But this, it was reported that Australian troops who have been deployed to Afghanistan are having trouble getting back into Australia. They are suspended -- they are stranded in Dubai now because the government of the State of Queensland will not give them an exemption for quarantine requirements.
So, Australians who have been sent in uniform to defend this country cannot return to it, Brian.
KILMEADE: And the story is, it's mostly unelected bureaucrats, not elected politicians making these decisions what makes it all so, so scary.
Gideon, thanks so much thanks.
ROZNER: Thanks, Brian.
KILMEADE: I feel for the Australians, a lot of which watch this network.
Gavin Newsom, by the way, now, has only seven days left to save his job as Governor of California. He is very nervous. He is resorting to truly desperate measures that no one saw coming. That story straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CARLSON: All right, there are only seven days left until the California recall election. The polls show that voters in this state have a very real chance to oust their sitting Governor Gavin Newsom. It is not hard to see why Gavin Newsom is nervous about that possibility.
At a rally with Elizabeth Warren on Sunday, Newsom admitted that he is not very good at his job. In fact, according to Gavin Newsom, literally anyone who identifies as a woman would be a better governor than he is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Women are smarter in politics, smarter in Civics. They are smarter and Economics. Women rule.
[CHEERS AND APPLAUSE]
NEWSOM: Man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KILMEADE: Caitlyn Jenner, that could be a big boost. Gavin Newsom is continuing to make the case for his own removal from office. In seven days, we will see if voters still believe in him.
Well, that's about it for us tonight and of course, tune in each and every night at 8:00 to that show that is the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink.
Also, don't forget to DVR the show if you haven't done that already.
Also, I have some good news, "The President and the Freedom Fighter," my latest book. It is coming out the first week in November, and I have some stage shows revolving around it. It is going to be in the following cities -- in Charleston, West Virginia, November 7th, that's Sunday; in Ponte Vedra, December 3rd; Orlando, Florida, November 21st; and Clearwater, Florida, December 4th.
So go to briankilmeade.com for tickets. It is going to be our personal winning the war on history, "The President and the Freedom Fighter." You can preorder it now.
And don't forget to watch the radio show, it is on FOX Nation. You could hear it all around the country, briankilmeadeshow.com.
Jennifer Griffin and Congressman Markwayne Mullin will be among our guests, and General Petraeus.
Have a great evening, but first, I'd like to see what Sean Hannity looks like.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: All right, Brian, and thank you. By the way, no excuses --because you worked tonight -- being late tomorrow and I'll be watching at 6:00 a.m., all right?
KILMEADE: Thank you, sir.
Content and Programming Copyright 2021 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2021 VIQ Media Transcription, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of VIQ Media Transcription, Inc. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox