Jesse Watters: The battle to reopen schools
Fox News contributor Bill Bennett discusses the fight between parents and teachers for in-person learning this fall amid the delta variant outbreak
This is a rush transcript from "Watters’ World," July 31, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Welcome to WATTERS' WORLD. I'm Jesse Watters.
Permanent pandemic: That's the subject of tonight's Watters' Words. Fear gives them power. That's what Democrats do. They make you so scared that they can control you. They want to keep us in a forever pandemic. So, the left isn't doing the one thing they always tell you to do -- follow the science.
The C.D.C. issuing guidance this week telling vaccinated Americans to wear masks indoors, in public places with high cases. Do average Americans follow case counts county by county? No. Case counts are kind of irrelevant at this point.
If you're vaxxed, this virus isn't deadly anymore. Your chance of catching COVID is small, and there is more than a 99 percent chance you won't die from it or even go to the hospital. Out of 161 million Americans who have been vaccinated, just a little over 1,000 have died. These are C.D.C. numbers. And almost all these deaths were older Americans with health problems.
Now, any death is one too many, but big picture, you have a 0.0007 percent chance of dying from COVID if you are vaxxed. Low risk there is an understatement. You have a bigger chance of dying from a car crash whose death rate is point 0.0009 percent, but we still get in the car every day, don't we?
But the left is hysterical. They are just being absolute Karens about all this, and they can't stop yelling about how some people aren't getting vaxxed. So, they're just deciding to punish everybody. The left keeps talking about COVID cases are up. But they're not talking about the low number of deaths. The average is just a couple hundred deaths a day in the U.S., this is the least deadly month since the pandemic began.
We're talking about cases now because deaths are so low. The left overreacts because that's what they do. It's not possible for the country to function if Americans aren't willing to put up with the tiniest amount of risk. But again, back to masks.
They want you to be like Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin here. Can you believe that? Wearing a face shield and a mask? How embarrassing. First they said, don't wear a mask. Then they said wear one. The left shamed everybody and everyone that didn't.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't want to wear a mask, but everybody has --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So what?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are people that are just not worried about it, Cal, they're not worried about their own personal safety.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see here, this row, nobody is wearing them. Nobody is --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Including your cameraman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you go. Including the cameraman.
[Bleep].
GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): This is a wake-up call for people all across the country to wear their mask.
[Bleep]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: And then they said, no masks. Americans are confused. Biden promised if you get a vaccine, you can take them off. And when the C.D.C. said take them off in May, Biden followed suit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When your country asked you to get vaccinated, you did. The American people stepped up. You did what I consider to be your patriotic duty.
That's how we've gotten to this day. If you've been fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask.
Let me repeat, if you are fully vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: And now they're taking it back again. Biden tried defending his turn around on Thursday and flipped out on FOX's Peter Doocy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: In May, you made it sound like the vaccine was the ticket to losing the mask forever.
BIDEN: That is true at the time, because I thought there were people who were going to understand that getting vaccinated made a gigantic difference. And what happened was, a new variant came along. They didn't get vaccinated. It was spread more rapidly and people -- more people were getting sick. That' the difference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Threatening Americans, telling them it is a matter of life and death. And now, he is telling Federal employees, they have to get faxed. Our military now has to wear masks, social distance, regularly test, and have travel restrictions if they can't or won't get vaxxed.
The left just wants a permanent pandemic. They want to control you, what you put on your face, what you say, how you run your business.
They don't have the facts, so they push the fear.
They are devoted to dividing Americans into bitter camps for political gain. The vaxxed and the unvaxxed. It's like the new race hustle.
D.C. is going crazy. They re-impose their indoor mask mandate, even if you're vaxxed, anybody over two years old. Ready? There's been one COVID death in July, all of D.C. -- one, which has a population of 700,000 people. There were more homicides in that time frame in July. And yet, they decided, let's punish those who actually got the shot.
The White House says D.C. is a hot zone. Yet, there were 21 COVID patients at D.C. hospitals as of Monday. It gets worse though.
Now, if you're visiting the Capitol and not wearing a mask, you'll be arrested. But across the border with COVID illegally, and you get a free bus ticket to any city you want. By the way, who brought COVID to the Capitol in the first place? It was the Texas Democrats who fled their state, yet Pelosi is calling House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a moron.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I have nothing to say about that except we honor it, that's why I have my mask.
QUESTION: Leader McCarthy says it's against the science.
PELOSI: He's such a moron.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: What's moronic is punishing the good people of D.C. Congressman Chip Roy ripped Democrats for their moronic behavior.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHIP ROY (R-TX): We have a crisis at our border and we are playing footsie with mask mandates in the People's House. I mean, it's absolutely absurd what this body is doing in the People's House. It's an embarrassment. It's a mockery. And the American people are fed up.
They want to go back to life. They want to go back to business. They want to go back to school without their children being forced to wear masks.
The Speaker comes down here at 10 o'clock in the morning saying we've got to wear masks in the People's House. Well, we've got thousands of people pouring across our border, and Democrats don't do a darn thing about it, heavily infected with COVID.
We are absolutely sick and tired of it, and so are the American people.
This institution is a sham and we should adjourn and shut this place down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: If Democrats are really so worried about COVID, why aren't they doing anything about our open borders? Biden was elected on the promise of stopping COVID, but he is the one letting it in, and then blaming us for rising cases.
At the Mexican border, there was just a 900 percent increase in the number of COVID positive migrants who were detained in the Rio Grande Valley, and that's just one section of the border.
He closed the Canadian border, but not the Mexican one. Canada cases are down, while Mexico's cases, way up. It's ridiculous. Why should we take anything he says about COVID seriously? And then when will the C.D.C. recommend we close the border?
Fauci, meanwhile, at the center stage again of the mask and COVID confusion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TEXT: February 29, 2020.
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: There was no need to change anything you're doing on a day by day basis. Right now, the risk is still low.
TEXT: FEBRUARY 22, 2021.
FAUCI: It was just bad. It is bad now. I think these numbers are so stunning.
TEXT: May 9, 2020.
FAUCI: If you're a healthy young person that there is no reason if you want to go on a cruise ship to go on a cruise ship.
TEXT: January 27, 2021.
FAUCI: It is not a good idea to travel. Period.
TEXT: March 8. 2020.
FAUCI: In the United States, people should not be walking around with masks.
TEXT: January 29. 2021.
FAUCI: Well, if one mask is good, it makes common sense that maybe two masks are better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: And now, he is saying the C.D.C. hasn't flipped-flopped at all on masks. You know, it is bad when even MSNBC is questioning them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKA BRZEZINSKI, MSNBC HOST: Can you explain why we are discussing vaccine mandates and why we're looking at a mask mandate all over again? Because there are some who say, oh, well, the C.D.C. doesn't know what it's doing. What is it going to be today?
FAUCI: The C.D.C. hasn't really flipped flopped at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: And why are these fully vaccinated media personalities urging the government to mandate that they wear masks again? If they're fully vaxxed, why would they have to wear masks? And if they want to wear one, go right ahead. No one is stopping you.
Now, Donald Trump handed Biden a vaccine and an economy on the rise. But Joe is blowing it. He is botching the economic recovery. Businesses are now scared to bring back their workers after this mask guidance. People are canceling their plans, planning to stay home now because they're all freaked out.
He is shattering confidence in the vaccines, and he keeps changing his tune and guidelines every single month.
The only thing he and the C.D.C. are thing is scaring us, or confusing us, or just annoying me.
Speaking of annoying, CNN's Don Lemon has a message for the unvaccinated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Don't get the vaccine, you can't go to the supermarket. Don't have the vaccine, you should, can't go to the ballgame. Don't have the vaccine, can't go to work. You don't have the vaccine, can't come here. No shirt, no shoes, no service.
All these people were saying, I don't want to put this stuff in my body. They're out drinking on the weekend and putting other substances in their bodies. That's way worse for them than a vaccine. So come on, let's be real.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: There it is. All about control. The left wants to tell you what you can and can't do. Why wouldn't you be able to go to the supermarket when over half the country is vaxxed, but you could go to the supermarket last year when nobody was vaxxed?
Democrats are also continuing their quest for control by pushing vaccine passports. Now, vaccine passports aren't about saving lives. They are about punishing people who aren't vaxxed. Biden is even looking into if the Federal government can impose mask mandates on the whole country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YAMICHE ALCINDOR, MSNBC POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Why not push for vaccine mandates in states, private companies, schools? Do you want to see those entities pass vaccine mandates?
BIDEN: Well, I'd like to see them continue to move in that direction, and that's why I've pointed out, I had asked the Justice Department to determine whether that is -- they're able to do that legally, and they can. It's still a question whether the Federal government can mandate the whole country. I don't know that yet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Although I got the vaccine myself and encourage everybody to, you can't punish Americans for not injecting themselves with a brand new vaccine. Encourage, but you can't punish. Without freedom, we have nothing.
The U.S., our Constitution, our entire social fabric is not going to be permanently changed by a virus that we nearly defeated. We basically beat this thing in a year. Daily deaths at an all-time low and COVID-19 isn't even in the top five leading causes of death in America right now. But we're stuck acting like every day is D-Day. No, we're in mop up mode, basically.
Everything is open and has been for months. More than half the country is vaccinated and more continue to get shots every day. Everyone is flying, eating, making out, and enjoying their lives.
If this was Ebola, then yes, you push hard for a hundred percent vaccination. But COVID, even before vaccines had a 98 percent survival rate. And now that is even higher, if you're vaxxed.
Americans have all this information, they know the risks. You can only push so far, but the left won't stop. They are pushing and keeping us in this permanent pandemic. The left is always saying the right wing is moving towards authoritarianism, but they are the ones that want to force injections into Americans arms, then censor you for speaking out against it.
What's more authoritarian than that?
Joining me now to react, author of "The Authoritarian Moment: How the Left Weaponized America's Institutions against Dissent," Ben Shapiro. All right, Ben, before we get to the book, which is great, what is your reaction to this craziness regarding masks?
BEN SHAPIRO, AUTHOR, "THE AUTHORITARIAN MOMENT": It is madness. And it's not rooted in anything resembling logic or data, and the simple fact of the matter is that as you mentioned, Jesse, if you have had the vaccine, you're essentially safe from this virus. And if you haven't had the vaccine at this point, it's been out there for months, you've had every ability to get it, you can get it today if you want it, but you are a rational adult, you can make your own risk assessment. And now whatever happens is on you.
The notion that we have to mask up everybody who is vaccinated to protect the unvaccinated, or that whatever Joe Biden says about masking is going to be effective anyway across the country is asinine on its face.
Beyond that, the undermining of confidence in the vaccine is the big takeaway, I think, for a lot of Americans who are sort of on the fence. If you go out there and you keep saying over and over and over, that people who are vaccinated are still transmitting, people who are vaccinated are still creating risk, a lot of people out there are going to say to themselves, that their big takeaway is the vaccine is not working the way that you said it was working, which of course, is not true.
The vaccines are working, they are working to prevent hospitalization. They're working to prevent death. But at a certain point, you have to say to the American people, you're on your own now. Go back to regular life.
The movement of the goalposts here has been astonishing. At the beginning, it was two weeks to slow the spread, don't overwhelm the hospital system. So we did that. Then it was, wait until the vaccines are available, then we did that. And then it was wait until all adults have had the opportunity to get the vaccine and we did that.
So, what are the goalposts now other than something that is utterly impossible, zero COVID and yet, that's what the Democrats and the White House seem to be focused in on.
WATTERS: Treat us like adults. That's all we're asking for. All right, so I was flipping through this the other day, "The Authoritarian Moment." I thought it was really great and I highly recommend it. We're looking at this movement which you describe a few pillars, this constant revolution and destruction of everything that's come before us. This censorship from the top down and this kind of moral superiority that everybody that disagrees with you is evil.
Tell us what this left-wing authoritarian movement looks like, and are you scared of it?
SHAPIRO: I mean, I think most Americans are scared of it at this point, not only from the government, but I think predominantly these days from sort of the social sphere. So, every major institution that impacts our lives has now been re-normalized by a group of very aggressive radical leftists who have taken those institutions and weaponized them against us, whether you're talking about the entertainment sphere, or whether you're talking about education.
Whether you're talking about the institutions of science, or whether you're talking about the media. Whether you're talking about social media or whether you're talking about the corporation you work for, there is a feeling by most Americans that if they say what they think that they could be ostracized from everyday society, fired from their job, excised from the body politic. You are not wrong to think that.
By polling data, every single political group in the United States with the exception of people who consider themselves, staunch far leftists feel that they are not able to speak up publicly for fear of repercussions.
WATTERS: And you spelled that out well that the majority of the American people actually agree with us, but we are being dominated by a very tyrannical minority and we're letting it happen to us.
In the book, you describe, and I want to zero in on this, something people can do in order to resist the -- you know, the cancel culture and the oppression that a lot of people on the right feel especially predominant in Corporate America. What would be your suggestion, when you know, you're just being inundated with this diversity training all the time, and you feel like you can't speak freely at your office? How do you suggest Americans counter that?
SHAPIRO: The best way to do that is to organize and unify with other people at your company, and it doesn't require 50 percent of your company to push back. To understand what you have to do, you have to understand that what the left really has done is they've taken about 20 percent of each institution, and then they've been very aggressive and very intransigent, and they've waited for all the people in the middle to just collapse out of fear, or risk aversion, or conflict aversion.
Well, you can do the same thing from the other side. If you can get 20 percent of your company to write the bosses and say, listen, these guys over here, they want us to have Ibram X. Kendi in here to indoctrinate us about the evils of whiteness, we're not going to do that. Perhaps your boss says, in response, okay, you know what, we're not. We're just going to be neutral on these issues.
Because all that the right has to do here is push these institutions back into neutrality, not into right-wing orientation, just back into neutrality would be good enough.
WATTERS: All we're asking for is respect and neutrality. And you mentioned something in the book about hatred, and I talked about it in my book, and Mark Levin discussed this, the kind of mass psychology that is involved in these radical movements.
Explain what you mean when you say, "They hate us."
SHAPIRO: One of the elements of radical left-wing authoritarianism is this feeling of unending moral superiority, the feeling that people they oppose are not just wrong, those people are evil and that justifies anything that you want to do against them. And you can feel that, right? Whether you're getting Twitter mobbed for an old comment or whether at your corporation, you didn't post the right black square at the right time of the year, and now your bosses are screaming at you and people are targeting you.
I mean, there is no question that the polarization is coming from the left at this point.
WATTERS: And you mentioned that, too. The people that you were friendly with on the left wouldn't wish you "Happy Birthday" publicly. They'd have to do it behind closed doors or direct messages because they could not be seen being nice to Ben Shapiro.
So again, "The Authoritarian Moment." It's a good book. I don't know why I'm promoting this. You're just going to knock me farther down the bestseller list, but it is worth reading. And I appreciate, Ben, you coming on to WATTERS' WORLD.
SHAPIRO: Thanks, Jesse. Appreciate it.
WATTERS: Okay, rival monkey gangs clash in Thailand. You've got to see this.
And up next, parents going nuts over some of these mask mandates. You should see what the left is planning for schools in the fall.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: (Chanting "No more masks.")
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're all hypocrites. You're sitting here without masks and you want our kids masked. No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do your job and take the masks off our kids and stick to education.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hands off. Hands off my children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Furious parents gearing up for another battle as one of the largest teachers' unions in the country refuses to commit to kids go into school in person this September.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDI WEINGARTEN, PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS: What's happening now is that delta threw us a real curveball. And you know, the lack of the herd immunity and enough people being vaccinated and you know, kids not being able to get vaccines, 12 and under, has really thrown this curveball.
So the bottom line is, we're going to keep kids safe. We're going to keep our members safe and we're going to try to open up schools and we're going to try to move through this political battlefield.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Joining us now to discuss, former education secretary and FOX News contributor, Bill Bennett.
All right, Mr. Bennett, so I have a theory about what's going on here. They say this is a curve ball, delta, that's BS. They're either squeezing us for more taxpayer money, or they're lying about the amount of teachers that have been vaccinated because probably they haven't and don't want to go back, or some of these teachers just don't want to go back to the classroom. They want to stay at home and do the remote thing.
In your opinion, what's going on here?
BILL BENNETT, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: I'll take C. That is, I think they've gotten used to -- gotten used to sedentary life or the vacation life. They're getting paid full-time salaries, and they will continue to get paid. Every hint, every suggestion of a virus, maybe even just a common cold, and they're going to say, maybe we ought to shut it down.
So Randi Weingarten has given warning that this could be their disposition. Parents are furious. They are right to be furious. Several things to be furious about the schools, the fact that they're not opening is one of them.
WATTERS: Yes, when you combine critical race theory with not opening again ...
BENNETT: That's right.
WATTERS: ... in the fall, I think --
BENNETT: That's right.
WATTERS: There's going to be another Million Mom March if the Biden administration is going to have to contend with something really sickening and disturbing. It is happening in LA.
I believe what they're doing there is testing every single teacher, student, and administrator every week, whether they've been vaxxed or not, and everybody has to wear a mask. I feel like that's almost borderline abuse at this point.
BENNETT: Yes, now, it's crazy. And I think what they've done here is they will infuriate the parents even further and they'll make the teachers angry, and the teachers may go on a strike and this will give them another reason not to go back to class. But you're right about critical race theory.
I'm ambivalent about whether the school should open. Given what they are teaching in a lot of our schools, I am ambivalent.
Here is what I want to see. I want to see full choice in the State of West Virginia. The money is attached to the child's backpack. It goes wherever the child goes -- public school, private school, Catholic school, homeschooling. You don't like what's going on? The teachers don't show up, school isn't open. You don't like what they're teaching, you go somewhere else, and more options are opening up.
This could be the pivot point, Jesse, for real change in education and I'm hoping it is, and they can thank their own bad behavior on several fronts, not showing up and then showing up with bad stuff.
WATTERS: Well, Greg Gutfeld made the exact same point that Bill Bennett did. So, if Bill Bennett and Greg Gutfeld agree on something, it's got to be true.
All right, Secretary --
BENNETT: I did my PhD thesis -- I did my PhD thesis under Professor Gutfeld.
WATTERS: Yes.
BENNETT: I studied with him.
WATTERS: Yes, Professor Gutfeld, I think that should scare every child in America. Thank you very much, Secretary. We really appreciate you coming on WATTERS' WORLD.
BENNETT: Thank you, Jesse. My pleasure.
WATTERS: Crime watch: Shocking crimes caught on camera. It's happening all over the nation, and we're going to analyze with our favorite Philly detective, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
EMANUEL: Welcome to "FOX News Live." I'm Mike Emanuel.
California Governor Gavin Newsom is asking President Biden for more help fighting raging wildfires. The Dixie fire in the northern part of the state has become the 11th largest wildfire in California history. It has burned more than 240,000 acres, an area larger than New York City.
Police have identified a suspected a deadly road rage incident earlier this month, 34-year-old Gerald Wayne Williams is accused of shooting 17-year-old David Castro in the head as he sat in his father's pickup truck while leaving a Houston Astros baseball game.
And the U.S. is slapping new sanctions on Cuba, the announcement ahead of President Biden meeting with Cuban-Americans at the White House yesterday.
I'm Mike Emanuel. For more on these and other stories, check out foxnews.com.
Now back to WATTERS' WORLD.
WATTERS: Now, for a new edition of Crime Watch. Crime surging all across the country, especially in cities that defunded the police. Murders, shootings, robberies, it is getting worse by the day.
Some big cities are starting to panic, crying for more help. But it's too late, no one wants to be a cop right now, even retirements are at an all- time high.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me tell you something.
[Bleep].
[GUNSHOTS].
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Gunfire in Philadelphia after a wild fight between two dudes outside Pat's King of Steaks, a famous spot for tourists. It all started over a parking spot, one man was killed, but the gunman says it was self- defense.
Here to analyze caught on camera crimes, former Philadelphia police officer Nick Gerace.
Nick, your take on the Philly situation. I'm sure you've been down there and had a steak --
NICK GERACE, FORMER PHILADELPHIA POLICE OFFICER: Hey, I've had many steaks down there, you know.
Unfortunately, we have a situation here where calmer heads should have prevailed. Lame-stream media was really quick to jump all over this that the racist white citizen killed a person of color, shot him, but when you watch the video, it tells a different story. You actually see that, I believe his name is Padro. Padro, he is the actual aggressor. You see him charging Burkert from probably about 10 yards away.
And when you're in a physical altercation like that, Pennsylvania law states, if you feel as though your life is threatened or even at serious bodily harm, it could happen to you, you have a right to defend yourself. You don't have to flee or retreat. So, when you go off screen, you hear this shot. Before they go off screen you clearly see that Burkert is, you know, in pretty much an area of distress. He's in a headlock. Padro has complete control over him. So, it is definitely --
WATTERS: Yes, and you really have to be cautious. You can't start throwing hands in the middle of a cheesesteak spot. You don't know who has guns. Anybody could be packing, and then look what happens. The guy gets shot and he is dead.
Then look at what happened up in Brooklyn, my neck of the woods, shocking video. A masked gunman just spraying bullets on the street broad daylight. You can see a woman pushing a baby stroller nearby. She takes off running. One guy was shot in the foot. It is just kind of brazen when you look at it. You don't really expect, Nick, to see this happening in broad daylight.
The guy has a mask on, it looks like. I mean, you don't -- this is New York City. This isn't -- I mean, it's like a third world country.
GERACE: You know, well, that's exactly where we wanted to head. In 2008, Barack Obama said, let's level the playing field, you know, and apparently that's to bring us down to a third world country.
So by design, they went and collapsed our criminal justice system. But you know, this isn't Kevin Costner and we're not watching "Untouchables" with the baby carrier scene. This is real life with bullets flying.
I mean -- and before, we were so desensitized that that's what is going on. Look how calm and collected this guy is, walking out in public shooting, and it looked like that guy in a stripe shirt might have been his target.
Regardless how calm, it was just as though --
WATTERS: Yes, I mean, he measured up the shot behind the car. It looked like he didn't have a care in the world.
GERACE: It's scary.
WATTERS: And this is a similar situation.
GERACE: Just walking.
WATTERS: Yes, there is no police there. I don't know what's going on here with de Blasio and the police department. It's a mess.
There's some surveillance video I want to show you right now, this nightclub parking lot in Texas. It's a wild gunfight, it just erupts, again broad daylight. Three people injured. You can see one man holding a baby trying to get away.
And again, it just kind of the casual nature of these guys letting off rounds in broad daylight. It almost seems like a game. I mean, they're not great aim, obviously. I mean, these aren't marksmen, but that's what makes it so dangerous because you know, anybody could be a victim.
GERACE: Absolutely, there's no consequences to their actions. My favorite part about that video, though, is the guy hiding behind the particle board door and he shuts the door and there was a shot, like, you know, bullets won't penetrate that little bit of particle board.
But I mean, yes, look at all the guns that are available. And you have -- you know, you have people start giving the Second Amendment argument and push for gun control. There are no long guns, there's no AR-15s that were involved in these gun fights.
WATTERS: These are hand guns.
GERACE: I'll guarantee, most of them came from the border right across with everything else along with COVID.
WATTERS: Yes.
GERACE: Right. But we're not going to shut them down. Everyone wear masks, we'll be safe. They'll stop bullets, too.
WATTERS: Yes, exactly. Right. All right, Nick, thanks for coming on WATTERS' WORLD Crime Watch. People love it. Thank you.
Is cancel culture killing comedy and Hollywood? I think we know the answer.
(VIDEO CLIP OF "HOME IMPROVEMENT" PLAYS)
AL BORLAND, FICTIONAL CHARACTER PLAYED BY RICHARD KARN: The first you want to find a stud.
[LAUGHTER]
BORLAND: I said stud, not dud.
[LAUGHTER]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS: Cancel culture is killing comedy. Everyone is so offended by everything. Remember the good old days when it was okay to laugh at an inappropriate joke?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIM ALLEN, COMEDIAN: And another one was, it was the slip and slide, and the big -- big gangway of rubber, you put the holes on it and gas it up and then it makes kids go like 60 to 70 miles an hour across the lawn. If it did (Inaudible) --
[LAUGHTER]
ALLEN: [Bleep] goes down and smiling because it's so much fun. Whack. Throw the teeth like chippers flying out of his mouth. And you'll get it -- there is no lawyer involved. He's like, that's the sign of -- the rest of the slide, look at that, and I've done that.
Now his dad comes running out of the house says, let me try that. That looked fun.
[LAUGHTER]
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Comedian Tim Allen has spoken out against cancel culture and the left's war on free speech, and now he's returning to stand up, a little worried about the PC police, Allen tweeting this: "Very nervous as I've been offstage for over a year. Wonder if government agents will be policing comedy from the back of the house." He might be right about that.
Joining me now to react, comedian, Adam Carolla. All right, Carolla. I want to read to you a quote from Tim Allen a couple years back and he said this. "I like pissing people off. And I say there's nothing especially in this area that pisses people off more than a very funny conservative, a smart, funny conservative that takes shots and is certainly self-effacing." Would you agree with that?
ADAM CAROLLA, COMEDIAN AND AUTHOR: Yes, I do. For some reason, you know, comedy used to be a counterculture thing used to push back against the man and as I've always said, I live in California. The man is not Donald Trump. The man is Gavin Newsom and the man is Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, and no one wants to push back against the actual man who is running here live.
We do these sort of foe-man, you know, Trump is somewhere in Florida golfing right now. He is not in charge of you or mask mandates or anything else. So, at some point, comedy turned into a sort of popularity contest when it used to be a contest to see who could make the most people think, agitate the most people and get the most conversation started.
WATTERS: And I never even cared the politics of the comedian. I was just laughing at everything if it was funny, and this is pretty funny. You took a shot. Your material is pretty good. Here is Adam Carolla on Gavin Newsom. Run it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROLLA: No business with more than 18 employees shall have a Boardroom that does not have a bi-curious llama in it, a bi-curious llama of color. We're going to need an owl that's transitioning. The [bleep] state is on fire and we're broke, okay?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Bi-curious llama of color. You've hit on the absurdity of liberals in 2021 and that's funny. Do you feel like you've been marginalized because you're conservative? Because I just think that's funny whether you're right or left.
CAROLLA: Well, if you're going to live in Hollywood and you're going to be conservative, then you shall be punished. The question is, to what extent can they punish you?
I have my own podcast, I write books, I make documentaries, I go on tour, and I play at clubs and theaters. So it's a little tough to pull the plug on me. Now, if I just worked for the Disney Corporation, then I would absolutely be punished.
Now, none of my documentaries make it into Sundance, which is the biggest film festival in the world, so I'm punished that way. But it's a small price to pay for speaking your mind.
WATTERS: And you're just making people laugh. Because if there are 27 genders, and you do have a therapy llama now allowed on flights. That is ridiculous. And everybody should be able to laugh at that, no matter what your political background.
I just want to thank Corolla for having me on his podcast. Hopefully, I didn't ruin your brand too significantly. I had a good time and I hope everybody goes and check out that podcast.
Adam, thanks so much for coming on.
CAROLLA: Thanks, Jesse. Appreciate it.
WATTERS: Wild monkeys flood the streets and a trailer park for swingers wants you to go there and share houses and spouses.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS: Time for WATTERS' WORLD Triple Play. Up first, breaking up is hard to do. Just ask this guy. Home surveillance video in Baltimore capturing a woman trying to run over a man, probably the ex. I think it's the ex. He wasn't hit, but not for lack of trying. The guy dodged the car like it was an Olympic sport.
Joining me now on this, FOX News contributor, Raymond Arroyo. That's how women act when they break up with you, Raymond. They're just so passionate. They want to hit you with their car.
RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Look, you know the reportage on this is it's a Honda, Jesse, and I when I watched this, I thought Honda has no worry like a woman scorned. You know, I mean, the poor Honda got the hell beat out of it.
But look, they broke my first cardinal rule of female-male relationships. You never break up with a woman if she is behind the wheel. Very dangerous.
I mean, and I guess it was his car. So, she had no qualms about smashing it into the neighborhood. The insurance rates are going through the roof. She didn't care. She bashed the whole block. It's unbelievable.
WATTERS: It was his car. Interesting. That explains a lot of that story.
ARROYO: Could be.
WATTERS: Another story that needs explaining and only you, Raymond could do this for the audience.
ARROYO: Oh, thank you.
WATTERS: There is a trailer park that has become a swingers club. They call it the swinger trailer park, Southern Louisiana. Here's the guy that's running it. Let's roll it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can come into Mamou for many a good things. This will be one of them. There's a big community of it. I think a bunch of them are not shy, there are ones that are shy. To hell with them. Grow with it. It is a good thing compared to most things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: The floor is yours, Raymond.
ARROYO: You know, first I want to thank you for bringing me the high- minded topics to really delve into. When you look at this guy, his motto on the side of the shack there in the wilderness of Mamou, Louisiana. He writes, "Bring your house and share your spouse."
Now looking at this guy, you're safer sharing the house, Jesse. Okay. This is kind of like campgrounds of America for the STD set. You get a plug-in and a vial of penicillin and you know, he shows you to the "Chainsaw Massacre" suite. I mean, who would want to go in the woods with this guy?
WATTERS: I think -- I think there's -- COVID -- it is better to catch COVID than some of the things you could catch at that trailer park.
ARROYO: I agree.
WATTERS: All right. So, Thailand out of control, monkeys are running wild. I guess, there was a shortage of food, lockdown is over. Now imagine going into a little vacation in Thailand and you're walking out for breakfast and you see a mob of monkeys. I don't know. I mean, this looks scarier than Antifa.
ARROYO: Well, for a moment, I thought this was Steven Spielberg's new mounting of the "West Side Story," maybe with a monkey cast. I didn't know what he was doing here. But then I thought, it looks like the green room of "The Five" when catering doesn't show up, Jesse.
With all the mauling and yelling over each other. I've seen it.
But no, this is what happens when animals don't eat. They need to feed these poor things. The best part was the end. Thank goodness, when Dr. Fauci came out, and he called all the unvaccinated monkeys back into the C.D.C. to get their masks, so then they could go out and terrorize the populace.
That was a -- that's my favorite part of this redemptive video that you help me opine on.
WATTERS: Yes, are these swingers, these monkeys, Raymond?
ARROYO: I hope not. Because I don't think old tea boy is ready for this crowd. You know, the tails are a little longer than he anticipated, so one would hope not.
WATTERS: We're going to have more high-minded stories for Raymond in his next appearance.
ARROYO: Oh, thank you.
WATTERS: We don't want him slumming it too hard in WATTERS' WORLD.
Thank you, Raymond, as always.
ARROYO: Thank you.
WATTERS: Up next, Last Call, and you might get a picture with moi.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS: Don't forget, I'm on tour for "How I Saved the World." Have you heard of it? I'm going to be in Manasquan, New Jersey tomorrow. And unfortunately, the event is sold out, maybe you can sneak in.
But don't fret, you can still catch me in Northvale, New Jersey on Wednesday. Wednesday around 7:30 in the evening, right after "The Five." I'm just going to bike up there, a little motor scooter. Get your tickets now.
And I'll be signing books, I'll be shaking hands, and kissing babies. Maybe you can even touch me. I could let you touch me.
This past week, I was at the Nixon Library and thank you, guys so much for supporting my book. It's doing really well, and that's thanks to you.
That's all for tonight. Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. "JUSTICE WITH JUDGE JEANINE" is next and remember, I'm Watters, and this is my world.
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