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WHO raises coronavirus threat assessment to highest level
Published February 28, 2020
This is a rush transcript from "The Five," February 28, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: We have The Ragin Cajun in with us right now. He's been a very big critic, that is, General Russel Honore on how we have not exactly done well.
DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Dana Perino along with Emily Compagno, Geraldo Rivera, Jesse Watters, and annoying Greg Gutfeld. It's five o'clock in New York City.
(CROSSTALK)
GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: You're not funny.
PERINO: And this is The Five.
President Trump commenting on the coronavirus just moments ago as there are now 62 confirmed cases in the United States. Here is the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We haven't lost anybody yet and hopefully we can keep that intact. There've been no deaths in the United States at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: The president also going after the media. Much more on that later.
But first, he's looking to loom large over another major Democratic primary. He set for a big rally in South Carolina in about two hours from now as Democrats get prepare to face off in the Palmetto State primary tomorrow.
The Democratic Party splintering as candidates continue to slam Bernie Sanders and warned that his message of socialism will doom the party's prospects in 2020.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that if Bernie Sanders gets the nomination, he will lose to Donald Trump. He will make sure that the Senate stays in Republican hands. He will flip the House back to the Republicans, and even down ballot he's going to hurt the Democrats.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fact that someone lists himself as an official independent adding to the Democratic except as president to run for the office of president, and then list himself as a socialist, that doesn't fly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: But Bernie remains defiant on it all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are building a movement that cannot be stopped.
(APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: And when millions of people stand up and fight back, nothing on earth can stop us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: Meanwhile, Joe Biden is looking for a game changer in South Carolina. Strong polling in the state is putting Biden in a good position but his campaign is still plagued by more gaffes, Biden fisting that he was never arrested in South Africa while trying to meet Nelson Mandela.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: And when I said arrested, I meant I was not able -- I was not able to move. The cops in Africa would not let me go with them, made me stay where I was. I guess, I wasn't arrested, I was stopped, I was not able to move where I wanted to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: We're going to get to all of it. I do want to play this sound for you though, from James Clyburn, the congressman from South Carolina who endorsed Joe Biden. This is what he had to say about Bernie Sanders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): I was in Texas about three weeks ago with Eddie Berniece Johnson doing the bank rift (ph) for her. I talked to the faith community down there and they were very, very concerned about whether or not you'll do something -- or have somebody on the ticket that will cause down ballot carnage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: It's interesting that they are talking about down ballot carnage now, Greg, after Bernie Sanders was in full position to win in Iowa, and then in New Hampshire, and then in Nevada. South Carolina he might not be do that well but pulling the panic alarm now it seems a little bit late.
GUTFELD: This is the big lesson that we talk about again and again. That the Democrats had four years to prepare for this moment --
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: -- and to beat this orange demon, apparently the worst human that's ever lived. And what did they do? They were like, instead of studying for the exam, they decided to play "Fortnite" in their underwear, they chased these phantoms of impeachment, and collusion, destruction.
And instead of like, devoting their intellectual energy to actually finding a candidate or figuring out a way behind-the-scenes or whatever to deal with Bernie -- I think the Dems -- you know how they always talk about voter suppression? They should worry about voter depression. Because when you look at how that feels --
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: I know.
GUTFELD: -- it is so flawed. The field is so flawed that you're not looking for a voting booth, you are looking for a bridge. And you're not going to go -- so I don't -- I think that like, there are going to be a lot of people that just aren't going to vote.
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: Because it's going to be like, you know what, just give me, going to have Trump for another four years, we can deal with it in 2024. Life goes pretty fast.
PERINO: And now they're going to have all of these ads, Jesse, that shows somebody like Congressman Clyburn saying that the down ballot consequences of Bernie Sanders would include carnage.
WATTERS: Yes. Bernie didn't have a good week. I think his Cuba comments and then his math not adding up on 60 Minutes and then at the debate really made people think again what they are doing and that's why Democrats are rattled.
But Joe needs a big win in South Carolina because he's kind of running on fumes and his coalition really is soft. He was supposed to be the guy that was going to win white working-class voters and he's gotten walloped by everybody in the field on those issues on the first three primaries.
And he's supposed to turn out Hispanics and he lost by 30 points to Bernie in Nevada with Hispanics. He only beat Bernie by 10 percent with blacks in Nevada. So, he's not even spending any money on Super Tuesday. He's only spent only 600,000 on Super Tuesday.
PERINO: Yes.
WATTERS: Bernie has spent $15 million. Bernie has twice the amount of stamp he has --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: And Mayor Bloomberg --
WATTERS: It's going to be bad.
PERINO: -- has spent $600 million there.
WATTERS: That's right.
PERINO: Here -- Geraldo, I want you to listen to Joe Biden talking about how South Carolina could actually be kind of a starting point for him. let's listen to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I've been deeply involved in this community, in the state. And I feel very good about it. I feel good about it from the beginning. It's been a launching pad for Barack and I believe it'll be the launching pad for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: South Carolina does punch above its weight in terms of this early states because it gets to be crunch time when you get there.
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE: And I think that people are underestimating the impact South Carolina will have on the Biden candidacy. I believe that he will win decisively and that will change the conversation. The question is will anybody be focused on politics when we really only care about public health right now?
Public health and politics are the same story right now.
GUTFELD: Right.
RIVERA: And what people want to know is how would you deal -- they don't want to see Biden sniping at Trump right now, they don't want to see Bloomberg sniping at Trump. They don't want to see politicians -- I am deeply, deeply distressed by what Pelosi and Schumer did in attacking Trump and undermining the confidence we have in our public health system.
This is -- this is really, really bad. But I think that Biden can pull off a miracle here. This is rocky. He's a decent person. He's not my guy. You know, I would not vote for him -- or may be, I don't know if I vote for him.
But I think that he will as a result of South Carolina, black people specifically in South Carolina will carry the former vice president across the finish line with the momentum and that a report Super Tuesday even though as Jesse rightly points out he spent about $0.06.
PERINO: You know what --
(CROSSTALK)
EMILY COMPAGNO, FOX NEWS HOST: May I respond to that?
PERINO: OK.
COMPAGNO: So, just, if I can, African-Americans in South Carolina comprise 60 percent of that Democratic voting bloc and the most conservative of that bloc. And in the past week we've seen Biden lead in on average between four and 20 points and averaging 12.
So, you could argue that it's his to lose. But at the same time, did you guys see those two polls from CNN about from Texas and California about Bernie?
WATTERS: Yes, he's beating.
COMPAGNO: So, yes, like by a million.
WATTERS: Yes.
COMPAGNO: Twenty-one points in California and 9 in Texas.
PERINO: Yes.
COMPAGNO: So, you could argue Biden is saying that's going be my a launching pad, but will momentum really --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Launching pad that --
COMPAGNO: -- will it -- will momentum be enough afterwards when we go to Super Tuesday with Bernie looking like the complete king of the --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Can I get one last thing from Greg?
RIVERA: I see -- may I?
COMPAGNO: Yes.
RIVERA: I believe that South Carolina will affect those numbers. You are right about Texas and California, but because it is so close two days later --
COMPAGNO: Yes.
RIVERA: -- South Carolina, the news will all be South Carolina, South Carolina, then in Super Tuesday.
PERINO: Yes.
COMPAGNO: I think they are --
PERINO: I do want to ask Greg one last question about two people that we haven't mentioned.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: I'm busy tonight.
PERINO: Yes. You got a show.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: Elizabeth Warren.
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: And Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Pete Buttigieg who actually did come in second in those two contests, but we haven't -- we kind of don't talk about him. Like, what's going on there with those two?
GUTFELD: Well, he's got to go back to school. Because you know, school starts, you know, -- he's going to be a sophomore in high school. You didn't know that, didn't you? I don't know. I think -- I mean, there's a lot of ego going on, on why people stay in these races. It was the same thing in 2016. It was hard to get people out of the race. You got to push them out.
PERINO: Well, a lot of race -- a lot of campaigns do not end because the candidate wants them to. It's because they run out of money.
WATTERS: Needs to go out a lot, though.
PERINO: I think on Wednesday you'll see this race narrow.
GUTFELD: Here's a dumb question because I don't know this. If millions of people are voting for Bernie Sanders, wouldn't they also vote for everyone with a D next to their name? That's why I don't understand about that --
RIVERA: I don't think so.
GUTFELD: No?
WATTERS: Some people go in and they split the ticket.
(CROSSTALK)
RIVERA: I think Trump got a lot of vote, Sanders voters --
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: Or you could go in if you are a Democrat, like 18 -- in our Fox poll it said 18 percent of Democrats said they would never vote for Bernie or for Bloomberg. So, you could go in and you could vote for your senator and your congressman and just leave that one blank.
WATTERS: Those people are just crazy.
PERINO: All right. Next up, President Trump is responding to attacks from the Democrats and the media on how he's handling the coronavirus.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Twenty-twenty Democrats and the media wasting no time playing coronavirus politics. They're trashing President Trump over his administration's response to the deadly virus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: The coronavirus crisis is going to get much worse for Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Should Americans trust President Trump to deal with this crisis?
BLOOMBERG: No. He has not prepared for a crisis like this.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, HOST, MSNBC: Our government is woefully ill-unprepared. It seems at least at this early stage.
BIDEN: No one takes the president's word for this thing. At a minimum, he exaggerates everything. And the idea that he's going to stand there and say everything is fine, don't worry, who's going to believe that?
O'DONNELL: He will probably stay physically healthy throughout the crisis but his mental health which is weak on his best day can only get much worse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: And here's President Trump calling out the spears at the White House earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think that CNN is a very disreputable network. I think they're doing everything they can to instill fear in people and I think it's ridiculous.
Some of the Democrats are doing it the way it should be, but some of them are trying to gain political favor by saying a lot of untruths.
So, some people are giving us credit -- quiet. Some people are giving us credit for that, and some people aren't, but the only ones -- they don't mean it. It's political, it's politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: So, Greg, the president declared a national health emergency, he restricts the travel on China, he brings local and federal health officials together, he organizes a task force. He asks for billions of dollars, he does the quarantines, accelerates the vaccines. What do the Democrats want him to do that he's not doing?
GUTFELD: And they're actually not even getting to that place of offering an idea. Like saying here's what I -- they can't even -- because the fact that he did act so fast that he gave the hospital's time to prepare --
WATTERS: Right.
GUTFELD: -- and that's the most important thing. As you saw this emergency unfold, you saw CNN and you saw the New York Times get their biased mode going. They -- you could see the obvious agenda before your eyes. Then when you pointed out, right, what did they do? They cause -- they accuse you --
WATTERS: Yes.
GUTFELD: -- of politicizing when you go, Brian Stelter is like secretly saying, you know, this could be it. And then Kaitlan Collins saying let's call it the Trump virus. When you accuse them and show their naked attempts at trying Trump to this they go, you're politicizing this. The -- I mean, I can't use the language that I want to use to describe them.
WATTERS: Geraldo will.
GUTFELD: Geraldo, because you can get away with it.
WATTERS: Geraldo, why do you think --
(CROSSTALK)
RIVERA: A gutter feeding punks.
WATTERS: That's exactly right. So, as Greg mentioned, you know, they said that the task force was too white.
RIVERA: What?
WATTERS: They said the travel restrictions were Xenophobic. You know, they said that cut the CD funding -- they never cut any CDC funding. And if you say you guys are politicizing it, they say, no, you're politicizing it. How does that make sense?
RIVERA: Anyone who exacerbates the fear, the real epidemic of fear, which is the real epidemic, not the virus yet in this country is, like I said, a gutter feeding, you know --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Scumbag.
RIVERA: -- scumbag.
GUTFELD: There you go.
RIVERA: They really are. Scumbag is a good word. Let me -- I want to read you something.
WATTERS: Please.
RIVERA: So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat in advance, 1933, FDR first inaugural address.
We have now a politician feeding fear, politicians for their own temporary advantage to cut the president in any way they can, to distinguish themselves from their rivals in this Democratic catfight. They say and do things that have helped tank the stock market. I've lost a fortune this week. Itis very, very disgraceful.
GUTFELD: But you had a fortune to lose.
RIVERA: Yes. Sure. But I mean, this is very, very unsettling. And anyone who is exacerbating the unease that the American people feel, shame on them. Reject them. Reject them. They are nothing.
GUTFELD: Wow.
WATTERS: I have to pixelate that.
GUTFELD: No, we're live.
COMPAGNO: It's going to be a --
WATTERS: So, you think this would be a time where news organizations would try to tell you the facts, give you the context, and not instill fear, but that's not what we are getting.
COMPAGNO: No, it's not. And to your point, this is exactly what turns people off about politics, is these guys using a public health crisis or a public health situation to advance their own careers, to further their own team.
It's what makes people turn off those news organizations because they need actual facts. I'm not getting my news from there. I'm not getting my actual facts. We're not getting the here's you wash your hands, you take that certain steps, the people at most risk are the infirm and the elderly. The average human will likely get it and won't be affected.
I mean, there are things that are important to disseminate, not that I'm the expert but that I'm -- I am responsible for transmitting accurate messaging and information. And to your point about the president, what else do we want our president to do? I would say take executive, decisive action and have a reassuring countenance. Right?
Do I want my president running around screaming like, we're all going to die? No. I love that he was like, there's, we are going to be OK. And by the way, I use my authority to take these actions that will ensure that the experts in the public health field in this country will secure that, will execute it accordingly.
RIVERA: We need a vaccine. That's the only politics that matter right now. We need a vaccine to reassure people. I mean, Japan is going broke, they've got the big Tokyo Olympics coming up.
PERINO: Yes.
RIVERA: Eric and I had a Japanese trip planned for spring break.
WATTERS: Like out of everything that happened, that might be the most tragic.
GUTFELD: Yes. Geraldo's travel plans --
(CROSSTALK)
RIVERA: I mean, the travel industry is tanking.
COMPAGNO: Yes. Eric and I --
RIVERA: -- people are going to be laid off, people are -- the supply chain of businesses.
WATTERS: But you know, pellets on, if you want to work out by yourself, not a bad call right now.
RIVERA: You're turning your back to me because of fear of contagion or what?
PERINO: Or maybe -- I haven't spoken yet.
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: No. I'm trying to pivot to Dana to give her chance to speak.
PERINO: I love the pellets on and I highly recommend it.
There is no evidence for the criticism yet.
WATTERS: Right.
PERINO: Right? So, it's obviously nakedly political. The president said that some Democrats have been reasonable and nice and helpful and one of them was Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois.
WATTERS: Right.
PERINO: Two -- the vice president called lots of people, two of them made comments. One of them through Twitter was Governor Inslee of Washington State. Do you remember he ran for president for a while --
WATTERS: Yes.
PERINO: -- on a climate change thing. He came out on Twitter and said, the vice president called me and I told him, you know, it would be nice if the president cared about science. And it was so wrong.
Dick Durbin said I'm so glad the vice president called me. We're all on this together, let's work on it. That's a difference between somebody who is just being political and somebody who is a real true public servant.
GUTFELD: Just to add, did you see Paul Krugman cheering that the stock market is dropping.
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: Because he wants so badly to be proven right. It doesn't matter if everybody's fortunes are suffering, it's because he's right.
I have a new -- I have a rule this might be stupid. Do you have -- because I don't look at stocks. Do you have to have the stock ticker up all day, because what that does is it just drives people crazy. You can't -- you know, we know it's bad. Put it away.
WATTERS: Yes.
RIVERA: I think it's an age thing also. The older you get the more obsessed do you --
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: And Geraldo needs --
GUTFELD: I'm still young.
WATTERS: Geraldo needs to see how much of his fortune is going. All right. Up next --
RIVERA: Who knows, it just be my kids.
WATTERS: -- what's the most important thing you need to know about the coronavirus? Dr. Marc Siegel is here to tell us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: There have been no deaths in the United States at all. A lot of that is attributable to the fact that we close the border very early, otherwise it could be a different story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERA: No deaths in the United States as of yet. No deaths. The president reacting of course to the coronavirus, spreading major fears even panic around the planet. Stock markets getting smashed again today as the total number of cases worldwide tops 84,000, almost 3,000 dead.
Making matters worse, there are conflicting statements over whether the situation is getting better or worse. The CDC director on the one hand is saying the outbreak may not be inevitable here in this country. The World Health Organization though, warning the epidemic could soon reach every country and every corner of our country.
Here to help us sort it all out, Dr. Marc Siegel, our pal. So, welcome. Who is right? The WHO or the CDC? Is it a may not happen here or is it inevitable here?
MARC SIEGEL, FOX NEWS MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, the World Health Organization is a bunch of alarmists and they always overstate the problem, they always make it seem like the world is going to end.
RIVERA: Who are they? Who is the World Health -- is that --
SIEGEL: They are part of the United Nations.
RIVERA: Are they part of the U.N.?
SIEGEL: Yes. And as a matter of fact, one of their main people who's in charge of communicable diseases was a Chinese health official for over 20 years. So, he has a certain vested interest and there's a lot of power coming out of China influencing the WHO in my opinion, and they haven't really risen up in this situation as they -- they are useful but I think they've been alarmists.
RIVERA: So, what's the answer to the question?
SIEGEL: So, the CDC, Geraldo, the CDC hasn't been alarmists until suddenly this week. They announced that it's not a matter of if, but when, and they suddenly got alarmists. Here's the answer --
(CROSSTALK)
RIVERA: Wait, do you think that's why Fauci got taken off the Sunday talk shows?
SIEGEL: Well, I don't --
RIVERA: Anthony Fauci who runs the CDC?
SIEGEL: He's not with the CDC, he's with the NIH.
GUTFELD: FYI.
PERINO: ASAP.
SIEGEL: Geraldo, it was Nancy Messonnier of the CDC who made that comment that it's going to get bad. And here's my answer to your question. And this is what the viewers need to know. We don't know how bad it's going to get, but here's what we do know.
The purpose of public health is to contain and to control it. All this frenzy from our side, from the health side, from the doctor's side, from the official side, health official side is to prevent it from getting bad before the genie gets out of the bottle.
If we get to a situation where we have embers of a fire here, the fire goes out at the end of the year. Emily, you get to the summer and the fire is out, there's no more virus. But if there's embers, it comes back in the fall. And then it can get worse --
(CROSSTALK)
RIVERA: I think --
COMPAGNO: Doctor -- sorry.
RIVERA: This day my wife is crazy trying to get, trying to get sold out on Amazon. I put this on. I put this on, is this to protect me or to protect you from me?
GUTFELD: It's your mustache, Geraldo.
RIVERA: Will you be serious we're getting --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTGELD: No. Facial hair is an issue.
RIVERA: We have a major crisis --
SIEGEL: You know what he's hiding in that mustache?
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: It's worse than coronavirus.
GUTFELD: No, but it's true.
RIVERA: Can you answer for us?
GUTFELD: It's actually true.
RIVERA: Is it -- is it to protect you from me or me from you?
SIEGEL: Your wife is lovely and I want to inform her right now. Here's the answer. The answer is the mask is only useful if you actually have symptoms. If you have a flu or a cold or a coronavirus and you're coughing or sneezing, the mask prevents those droplets from spreading to other people.
RIVRA: So, it's a public service, a public --
SIEGEL: Yes.
PERINO: But only if you are sick.
SIEGEL: Only if you are sick, if you're not sick --
RIVERA: Yes?
SIEGEL: You're spreading a fear message. I've got a mask. I've got to protect myself against. Why? It's not right next to you. It isn't coming down the street.
RIVERA: Would you wear one?
SIEGEL: And as a matter of fact, if you don't have -- if you don't have the illness and you've got the mask, do you know what happens? You rub the mask, you put something in your eyes, it collects viruses. That's most useful --
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: Doctor --
PERINO: Can I --
GUTFELD: Mask, yea or nay?
SIEGEL: No, if you are not sick. yes, if you're sick.
GUTFELD: I was just going to ask. One of the things I'm concerned about is when you should go to the E.R. and should you just like -- if you were sick, and I'm not talking about the coronavirus, but if you -- if you break your leg or something -- like what is -- what is -- it's not a good idea to go in the E.R. in the period like this, correct?
SIEGEL: You go to the E.R. if you need to go to the E.R. but you are leading, Greg, to a really important question that I just learned in Nebraska at the quarantine unit. This coronavirus is characterized by a high fever. So if you have a cough and a shortness of breath and a high fever, this is when you want to go to the E.R. But here's what we need. We need the test kits so that I can in the E.R. find out whether you actually have this coronavirus.
PERINO: And who's responsible for getting the test kits and why do we not have enough in the United States?
SIEGEL: Good question. The CDC is responsible for these test kits. They're there. Unfortunately, when they first tried to distribute them, one of the reagents in the kits was off, they had to pull them back. Now they're claiming they're going to be ramping that up over the next couple of weeks. That's the single most important thing because that will also treat the fear, Dana. Somebody comes in, you know, I got a cough, I got a fever. You don't have coronavirus go home.
WATTERS: And we just got some numbers. It says that the new cases in China are kind of going down. A couple of weeks ago there was like 1,500, 2,000 new cases per day, and now there's just a couple hundred. Is that a good sign in China? Do they have the right things under control?
SIEGEL: Well, if you believe that. I don't know how much I believe coming out of China from the beginning to the end. But assuming I believe that, this idea of quarantining a whole region is something out of the Middle Ages. We almost never do it that way. And now they're letting people go back to work there. They could -- they could spread the virus.
WATTERS: It could go back again.
SIEGEL: Yes. So, I'm very dubious.
RIVER: I think learning of the duplicity of the Chinese is one lesson the epidemic has taught us.
COMPAGNO: We've heard all day that a dog now has it. What are the implications for viewers of a species jump and can you relate it to something comparable that we know? Should we be afraid by that or do dogs also get common colds and this is something that happens often?
SIEGEL: You answer your own question. I'm much more concerned about whether it's actually percolating in areas of California or New York and we don't know about it.
RIVERA: In humans.
SIEGEL: In humans. When it comes to animals, this coronavirus started in animals. It started in mammals. It's a mammal virus. So it's not surprising that somebody, you know, that is -- the dog is licking them or they're touching them. If human has coronavirus and passes into a dog, that's a weak case.
RIVERA: That's Greg's dog.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: I'm looking at Jesse's face. He's like, oh.
SIEGEL: Jasper is safe.
PERINO: Jasper is safe, everybody. Fox News alert.
RIVERA: It is interesting -- it is interesting that the deaths have hovered around 2,800. They were escalating, spiking up and up and up, then they kind of --
PERINO: And it's mostly men, right?
SIEGEL: Well, more men, mostly elderly, mostly with chronic health conditions. And this is what they were treating in Nebraska, by the way, and they got better. Old men with --
RIVERA: Mustaches?
SIEGEL: No, no mustaches. If you had pneumonia, they've gotten better. They're actually out of the -- out of the --
GUTFELD: This is the most important information.
SIEGEL: They're getting better. They're getting better.
RIVERA: Tell us about this stuff. What do you want to -- what do you want to do?
SIEGEL: Well, no, I wanted to make the point that, of course, disinfecting this table especially is a really good idea. Because I like the idea of this being an alert. There should be an alert for people. It's not coronavirus that's out there, but by the way, don't sneeze and cough on people. If you're sick, wear a mask.
RIVERA: Don't go to work if you're sick.
SIEGEL: And don't got to work if you're sick. Not because the coronavirus is there --
RIVERA: Don't be selfish.
SIEGEL: Right.
RIVERA: And generally speaking, when you hear -- generally speaking, when you hear politicians talking about this disease, do you think that they are speaking with, you know, kind of credibility or do you discount just when it comes out of their mouth because they're politicians and just looking for their personal benefit?
SIEGEL: It depends on who you're talking about. You talked about Tony Fauci at the NIH, I think he's super. He's one of the top infectious disease experts in the country. Redfield at CDC, also a virologist. We have some people on this panel -- on this expert group that was appointed by the President that actually really belonged to be there.
RIVERA: I really like Mike Bloomberg, but I think what he said about the CDC funding getting cut, and you know, he made some charges that were absolutely untrue. Dr. Marc Siegel --
SIEGEL: One quick thing. I spoke to Cuccinelli the other day from Homeland Security, he said they have plenty of money left over from Ebola. So now the President is asking for 2.5 billion more. That's good.
RIVERA: All right. Ebola, guess who Obama picked as the Ebola czar. A guy named Ron Klain. He used to be the chief of staff of Vice President Gore. We pick -- I mean, Trump picks the Vice President, the sitting Vice President Mike Pence. So you get the vice president from Trump, he gets criticized and Obama picks the Chief of Staff of the Vice President.
Dr. Siegel, thank you very much. Some breaking news to tell you about President Trump tweeting just moments ago. He is nominating Congressman John Ratcliffe to be Director of National Intelligence. More on that when we get it up next on THE FIVE, the "FASTEST SEVEN."
GUTFELD: What?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COMPAGNO: Welcome back. Time for the "FASTEST SEVEN." First up, Hillary Clinton will likely never have president on her resume, but now she can add podcast host. She is planning to launch a new audio show in late spring just in time for the 2020 election. The format and style of the show will reportedly be influenced by Howard Stern. OK, so Greg, supposedly her lineup will be newsmakers.
GUTFELD: Right.
COMPAGNO: If she invited you on, would you say yes?
GUTFELD: Of course. You know -- but having a podcast right now it's like saying you have indoor plumbing. Everybody has -- but I have to say, I love this because now we have a treasure trove of her mad tackles to use for sound bites and sound effects on my show, because she like -- it's just going to be we're going to harvest the sound bites every day. Yes.
PERINO: It'll be interesting to see if she can actually ask questions rather than answer the question as well, right? Like will she -- like one of the great things about Howard Stern is that he asked a question then he -- then he steps back and he lets the interviewer or the interviewee talk. So I don't know. We'll have to see about that.
GUTFELD: Geraldo doesn't know that.
WATTERS: I don't even think her husband is going to listen to this thing. It's going to be a bomb. No one even showed up at her rallies when she was running for president. They had to cancel the tour with her husband and slash ticket prices because she wasn't selling. My mother wouldn't even listen to her.
COMPAGNO: Oh, my God. Geraldo, would you -- would you listen to it?
RIVERA: No, not necessarily, but I never liked listening to the person either. I don't know. Howard Stern is great, and he's really evolved as a radio host. It's not about Howard Stern, I know. But he has become one of the best interviewers on the air.
PERINO: Yes.
RIVERA: And if Hillary wants the model herself after him, she could -- then she couldn't pick a better role model.
COMPAGNO: Good luck, Hillary. OK, next up. People are doing all sorts of crazy things for social media fame, including dangerous stunts like this. Take a look.
PERINO: I hate this.
COMPAGNO: That social media influencer nearly drowned after getting trapped under ice filming a tick tock video. So a question for everyone. Is this just the new version of the former daredevils and adventure people where they die doing things for the thrill or the attention? These selfie deaths, these influencers, is this just the new iteration, or is this a whole new breed of Darwinism?
GUTFELD: Wait, so we're playing it so they actually get rewarded by it. We used to watch Jackass. Jackass was one of the greatest shows ever.
COMPAGNO: Yes.
GUTFELD: So now we have a lot of Jackass.
RIVERA: Why am I not surprised that you like Jackass?
PERINO: I like it too.
GUTFELD: It's one of the great -- one of the great shows of all time.
PERINO: But I think what's really upsetting about this is that he did it to his dog. Like the dog was like panicking and upset that his owner was distressed and the guy didn't even care.
RIVERA: The guy almost died, the distressed?
GUTFELD: That's what you're thinking.
PERINO: I don't care. I am -- I am thinking about the dog 100 percent.
RIVERA: I love it. I love it.
WATTERS: I mean, he's an idiot, but I'm fascinated by it. I think it takes a lot of skill and lung capacity to be able to do what he did. And the friend that filmed it. I liked how the friend didn't say anything and kept it quiet. It made it more dramatic. I mean, these psychos are made for each other.
COMPAGNO: All right, finally, grandma and grandpa are going to pot. There's been a huge spike in the number of senior citizens smoking marijuana and consuming edibles. Geraldo?
RIVERA: And the problem is No, I think that marijuana is a great substance. I think that the creakiness of old age is easily alleviated or mitigated by pot, edibles, or smoking, or vape. I think when you get to be over 65 years old, you should be able to do anything you want to. You know, you live that long and the state should stay out of it.
GUTFELD: But this is so stupid. In 1970, you were 16 if you're 65 now. So these are just the same people, right?
RIVERA: So what's wrong with that?
GUTFELD: I know. That's what I'm saying. That's why it's not a story. It's not that people who are old are smoking pot. It's the same people --
RIVERA: Are still smoking pot.
GUTFELD: Yes.
RIVERA: But only now like, Emily's state, it's legal.
GUTFELD: When you were 21 --
WATTERS: Yes, but Greg, now the pot is so much better.
RIVERA: Yes, that is true.
GUTFELD: Good point.
PERINO: Well, also, the other thing is didn't we just go through a whole thing where we eliminated vaping --
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: Even though we shouldn't have because people that were putting THC oil in the vapes were caused -- those are the ones who were having major trouble.
GUTFELD: Remember that? That epidemic that didn't happen.
RIVERA: But that's not the ones -- it's not like jeweler. They're legit company.
WATTERS: Are you high right now, Geraldo?
RIVERA: I've never been high on television, except when I told people I was about to smoke dope and then smoke dope on T.V. But I've never been high or drunk on television.
WATTERS: We need to pull that clip.
RIVERA: 50 years, never. But it is funny. That clip is funny.
WATTERS: That's a great clip.
COMPAGNO: All right guys, "FAN MAIL FRIDAY" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GUTFELD: Wow, that was great. "FAN MAIL FRIDAY." Let's get to it. What is the most spontaneous thing you've ever done, asks Christina K. Let's go to captain spontaneous herself, Dana.
PERINO: I think it was after meeting Peter on the airplane, I made a last- minute decision six weeks later to meet him in New Orleans.
GUTFELD: Oh, you little -- anyway, Jesse.
WATTERS: One time after work, I just drove straight to the airport and went to Europe without packing.
GUTFELD: Really? That is spontaneous.
WATTERS: I'm kidding. I never did it. It would have been good though.
GUTFELD: I don't -- spontaneity is overrated. I don't do it. You see my notes for the show? You think I'm spontaneous? Geraldo, you've probably have done some pretty freaky stuff.
RIVERA: I was engaged to someone and I got in a car and drove to California and married somebody else.
GUTFELD: Wow. So how did Cherrie take it? Emily?
COMPAGNO: I think all my --
RIVERA: She's my neighbor.
COMPAGNO: -- all my spontaneity is travel based. It would be when I'm already in a different country then we spontaneously decided to travel to another place or do whatnot, so it's not that exciting but --
GUTFELD: I guess when I moved to London, that was spontaneous. But I was unemployed so that's kind of what drives my spontaneity.
WATTERS: Yes.
GUTFELD: All right, this is a good question. What keeps you awake at night, asks LORENXO. Oh, Emily, your eyes just went wide.
COMPAGNO: My own mortality, obviously. That's when I lie in bed freaking out over diseases and when I'm --
GUTFELD: That you're going to die and that everything's going to go -- like that. Oh, Geraldo is starting to get sweaty.
RIVERA: I've got -- I've got a bad foot that hurts and that makes me -- it keeps me awake. And then you start thinking about things like --
GUTFELD: This is getting grim.
RIVERA: And you think about the children and the grandchildren and you worry about --
GUTFELD: That's why I don't have any. Jesse?
WATTERS: Laura Ingraham. You know, it's at 10:00. I'm trying to go to bed. I put it on, and I am like wide awake. It's so entertaining.
RIVERA: I thought you didn't watch Fox.
GUTFELD: I love how Jesse can turn that. Dana, what keeps you up at night?
PERINO: Ambulances.
WATTERS: Oh, that is annoying.
PERINO: And they've got a new sound over there at the hospital near us.
RIVERA: Yes, at Roseville.
PERINO: It's like -- it's like a British or European one and it drives me insane.
GUTFELD: How dare those injured people disrupt your sleep?
PERINO: They don't need to have it that loud.
GUTFELD: You what I realized? Everything that keeps me up at night, I never think about it the next day. Isn't that weird?
PERINO: It's true.
GUTFELD: I like lying back and I go oh my god, oh my god, and then I get up but I totally forgot about it. Which means whatever I'm thinking about in the middle of the night is totally worthless.
WATTERS: You just talked as fast as Emily right there.
COMPAGNO: Almost.
RIVERA: And you know, sometimes they just run those sirens to beat the traffic.
PERINO: Yes.
GUTFELD: Oh my god.
RIVERA: They have nobody in the ambulance.
GUTFELD: What makes you -- here's the next question. What makes You feel the age you are now? Jesse, you're almost 50.
WATTERS: I am getting aches and pains.
GUTFELD: Yes?
WATTERS: Yes, in my shoulders, in my elbow, in my -- in my shoulders and elbow mostly, yes. A lot of aches and pains. I should take an edible.
RIVERA: I just asked for the restaurant within limping distance.
GUTFELD: Emily? That is a request is a rude question to ask women though? You can't ask women feeling your rage.
COMPAGNO: Yes -- no, it's OK. Feeling like little things make me hurt like just breathing wrong. I'm like, oh, my back went out. But also, my total hatred of younger people and millennials and whatever generation is below them where I'm like, you've got like such inexperience and immaturity and I can't believe that, you know, then I like I really am at 80.
PERINO: I think what makes me feel old is in the pod upstairs, like --
GUTFELD: Yes.
PERINO: Well, I said I was -- I got to see Dionne Warwick, at the Ryman in Nashville, and none of those young people have heard of Dionne Warwick.
GUTFELD: Yes, yes, and that's the thing. Because remember, she did the psychic network. Isn't that who she is?
PERINO: No.
GUTFELD: I know. I'm kidding. No, but she did. But she's -- yes, she did. Remember later in life? No, it's true that when you talk about music and people -- or movies, when you say oh, you've got to see this movie Blue Velvet, and there's a kid who was born in like 1997 just looks at you like --
PERINO: My assistant --
GUTFELD: Is that with Clark Gable?
PERINO: Hamdah did not know who -- what Abba was.
GUTFELD: Oh my god.
WATTERS: Abba?
GUTFELD: Yes.
WATTERS: I don't who's Dick Van Dyke was.
COMPAGNO: Jesse --
(CROSSTALK)
WATTERS: I have no idea.
(CROSSTALK)
GUTFELD: All right, "ONE MORE THING" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: Time now for "ONE MORE THING." I want to celebrate someone's life. Harold Burson passed away recently. He was 98 years old. He was an incredible American. You should know about him. He was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1921. He graduated high school at just 15 years old. He went into the Army and he was a reporter that cover the Nuremberg Trials for the American Forces Network.
And then when he got back, he launched a P.R. company. And in 1999, he was described as the century's most influential P.R. figure. Many of you will remember the Johnson and Johnson, Tylenol -- what was it -- what was in there?
GUTFELD: Was it spike?
PERINO: It was spike but --
RIVERA: Cyanide.
PERINO: Cyanide, yes. And he was the person that helped Johnson and Johnson through that reputational crisis communications situation. And then I had a chance to work with him right after I left the White House and he was a really one of -- one of a kind individual, a wonderful person, lived to be 98 years old and his life was celebrated today up at Lincoln Center.
RIVERA: How nice for him that you did that.
PERINO: Yes, he's -- he was a wonderful man. Geraldo?
RIVERA: It was the middle school science fair and my beautiful 14-year-old Sol Liliana Rivera. That bear is not just the bear, it's actually it's Harley, the Heat Conscious Bear and it has sensors in it. So when a child is outside and it gets too hot, the bear has a sensor, the LED lights start flashing and the kid knows the little child knows to go inside, that it's - - that they're overheating and it's dangerous. So my beautiful daughter Sol invented this wonderful --
COMPAGNO: That's so neat. That's amazing.
GUTFELD: She should have named him Bret, not Harley.
RIVERA: She named him Harley, the Heat Conscious Bear.
PERINO: Good for her. Greg, you're next.
GUTFELD: All right, tomorrow night, we're still having a brand new show Saturday 10:00 p.m. We got Ed Henry. We got Kristen Soltis Anderson, Kat Timpf, and Tyrus. That's 10:00 p.m. tomorrow. You better watch it. Let's do this quickly, shall we? Greg, What does the sloth say? Good question, Greg. I've never heard a baby sloth speak. Listen to the baby sloth. What does it say? Isn't that interesting? Look at that.
PERINO: Looks like a cat.
WATTERS: Did you dub that?
GUTFELD: No. That is not -- that is not dubbed. Isn't that one of the most amazing things?
PERINO: I think he's saying faster, faster.
COMPAGNO: So adorable.
GUTFELD: That's what they always say. You can't go fast, Sloth. All right - -
RIVERA: Give him some edibles.
PERINO: Oh my gosh. Jesse, you're next.
WATTERS: I don't know if I can top that. This is some crazy Australian. He's a BMX idiot. And look what he does with his little recliner. That's a sport. And he lands it. He lands it.
COMPAGNO: Oh my god.
WATTERS: There he is. That's Jed Mildon. They call him a BMX athlete.
PERINO: I love Australians.
WATTERS: Yes. Just looking for --
GUTFELD: Yes, and they happen to own this company.
PERINO: That's true. That is true.
GUTFELD: I love them too.
WATTERS: Yes, they're the best.
PERINO: Australians are amazing people.
WATTERS: If I wasn't an American, I'd be in Australian.
PERINO: Yes, I mean, I think I'm an honorary Australian.
WATTERS: Yes, I feel that way.
PERINO: OK. All right, Emily, your next.
COMPAGNO: OK, you guys, tomorrow night, I'm so excited. I'm hosting Fox Nation South Carolina Primary coverage live at 8:00 p.m. I hope you'll join me and my all-star political panel as we break down the results as they come in. Go to FoxNation.com to join the fun. It's also free on Facebook, so accessible to all.
So if you're not a member of Fox Nation, you can still view it though. You should be and I definitely hope that you join Fox Nation. And before I go, take a look at this amazing pup showing out on the basketball court. This was at a Warriors-Lakers game. The Chihuahuas stole the show when he walked on his hind legs and dunked. Go, Warriors.
RIVERA: Go Warriors? Bad year for the Warriors.
GUTFELD: I don't know. I don't like dogs that do tricks.
COMPAGNO: Look at him.
PERINO: He's pretty good.
COMPAGNO: Look how gently he put it in.
GUTFELD: Yes, but how many --
PERINO: Why do you not like dogs do tricks? Why?
GUTFELD: Because that meant that like hours and hours that dog was forced to do that in order to do that?
PERINO: Do you know that -- but you know what, he got treats for doing it.
GUTFELD: I think it's torture.
COMPAGNO: So treats for the dog.
WATTERS: What do you care about the dog? He entertains.
GUTFELD: No, because I do -- I empathize, Jesse.
WATTERS: You do not empathize.
RIVERA: You empathize (INAUDIBLE) in your butt.
WATTERS: Yes, you ask a doctor if it was OK to go to the E.R. if you broke your leg during a pandemic?
GUTFELD: Yes, I'd say home.
COMPAGNO: Well, you were actually --
WATTERS: If you're worried about getting injuries during a pandemic --
GUTFELD: You should -- you should not expose yourself in an E.R.
PERINO: No, he's worried -- yes, he's worried about going to the E.R. to get the coronavirus.
(CROSSTALK)
PERINO: I totally understood where he was coming from. That's it for us, everybody. Have a great weekend.
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