This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," March 8, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: I'm Laura Ingraham, and this is “The Ingraham Angle” from Washington tonight. Are Democrats attempting a power grab to hurt Republicans' chances of winning future elections? Forget 2020. How about any election? And could the social justice obsession actually be the demise of the Democrats? Newt Gingrich is here with the big picture.

Plus, we expose the hypocrisy of the lamestream media's outrage over Paul Manafort's sentencing. We've got Ken Starr, Robert Ray, two former independent counsels who're going to be awesome. And breaking tonight, Jussie Smollett. Well, the Empire actor has been charged with 16 felonies for his hate crime hoax. That's a big one.

And then the fall of two music icons. Is it time to stop listening to any other music? Michael Jackson, R. Kelly? Raymond Arroyo here to break it all down in Friday Follies. And of course, it's Friday. So we have to reveal this week's worst media moments.

But first, the Democrats are on a mission to divide this country. As President Trump is rebuilding this country, these social justice warriors are doing everything they can to take us to the brink. So what's the latest obsession? Reparations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you are for some type of--

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: reparation? OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I am.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MASS.: America has a dark history of slavery. And we need to confront it head on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe in reparations? The idea that black people should get reparations as a result of slavery and discrimination?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have long thought that this country would be better off if we did find a way to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: That's going to unite the country. Here now to respond, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, host of the new fabulous podcast Newt's World, available now on Apple Podcasts.

All right, Speaker. The reparations. How they would determine that? Who is responsible? When you came into the country? De-lineage. How they do that aside? That's going to be the great thing that brings us all together as Americans.

NEWT GINGRICH, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Well, when you watch Elizabeth Warren, who has apparently been lying about being a Native American start to describe reparations. And you start wondering - first of all, it's not fair to only talk about reparations for African- Americans. What about Native Americans? And then you have to start thinking about what about Latinos who feel bad, what about people from Ireland who discriminate against when they first came over here?

INGRAHAM: Italians.

GINGRICH: I think all of us saw each of us, everything from each of us. And therefore we should all be happy when we all give each other whatever we do. This is insane. This is - you're watching a party not since George McGovern. Have we seen the quality of insanity that these people are now stooping to?

For example, Kamala Harris, who I believe says that she is actually from the Caribbean. So would she be eligible for reparations? Or having voluntarily come to America, is she not eligible for reparations? I guess if (ph) you start down this road and it becomes literally insane, then you have to wonder how these people talk themselves into it.

INGRAHAM: Well, Kamala Harris actually said the other day, we all have to acknowledge that we don't start on an equal footing. I'm like, sweetheart, welcome to the world. Yeah, that's kind of the history of human civilization. It matters what you do with what you have. But that's - and Tom Sowell told me today on the podcast, he said, Laura, does that mean the people came in at the turn of the last century? Had nothing to do with slavery? So those - those folks have to then like open up their wallets and payout? What?

GINGRICH: (Inaudible). Let's say you're a first generation Nigerian American doing pretty well, do we now increase your taxes to pay for somebody else whose family may have come here 400 years ago? And - or do you get to be eligible too? I mean, what's the basis for this?

INGRAHAM: This could be a - this one issue could end up being the downfall of the Democrats in 2020, just this issue. You mention this to people across the country, they go crazy. Like, "what?" It doesn't pass the straight face test. But Newt, I know you've been following the other nightmare stuff going on in the Democratic Party. These anti-semitic remarks of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Now today, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is making even more excuses for her. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I don't think our colleague is anti-semitic. I think she has a different experience in the use of words, doesn't understand that some of them are fraught with meaning that she, what, didn't realize.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Steve King got that trick. Right?

GINGRICH: No, no, no--

INGRAHAM: I mean, all these people - all these people get - make excuses for the left. But a conservative makes a mistake and it's over for them.

GINGRICH: Well, we have to understand what's going on here. Nancy Pelosi and her two leaders and the sidekicks are all almost 80 years old. They're grandparents. Omar and that entire group of younger radicals are like the grandchildren. And they walk into the room and they go, "Hey, you've already failed. You had 60 years to solve this. You haven't solved this."

So what you have - this is a huge change from 30 to 40 years ago. They have no automatic respect for her or anybody else in the leadership. And I think she is going to continue to lose control. And so now, of course, when somebody like Representative Omar says something that's utterly indefensible, but she's in Nancy Pelosi's caucus, Nancy Pelosi has to go out and risk looking like a fool, trying to defend somebody who's indefensible.

INGRAHAM: Newt, we talked to a Muslim reformer last night, a woman, incredible former Wall Street Journal reporter. She was up there filming Linda Sarsour on Capitol Hill, who was being escorted up to Capitol Hill by a member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. And it's like this has gone way radical sheik. This isn't the sheik new--

GINGRICH: No.

INGRAHAM: --freshman. This is a radicalization of the Democrat Party of - forget JFK and Scoop Jackson. It's radical for Joe Biden.

GINGRICH: What you're seeing happen is - what's happened to British Labor Party?

INGRAHAM: I was just going to say Jeremy Corbyn.

GINGRICH: Well, Jeremy Antoro (ph) Corbyn is such a - a Stalinist and such an anti-semite that his party is being torn to shreds. And I think you're about to see that here. They can't continue to have - what you've described here just in this few minutes. Policy insanity over reparations and simple decency insanity over anti-semitism. And they can't get themselves out of it.

INGRAHAM: Now, I know you served in Congress with Joe Scarborough. And he spends a lot of time on television talking about how Trump is bad. But this is one of the great, great, great examples of someone totally off the rails this week in the media. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCARBOROUGH, FORMER CONGRESSMAN: He's not just doing worse than Barack Obama. He is doing worse than every American President, and he is actually screwing up the border situation that Barack Obama's administration improved markedly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Well, Scarborough, a long time ago, decided that his future was on the left. His future was being the - this is classic of the modern media. He is an anti-Republican-Republican, which is the kind the media loves the most. And so what happens with the guys like this is they listen to themselves, they decide they're right, and then they get mad about how right they are and then they get more extreme and they listen to themselves again.

And I think most Americans understand lowest unemployment rate I think in 50 years, dramatic increase in salary for the poorest 10 percent of Americans, dramatic job creation, if that's what Scarborough thinks is a bad job, I mean--

INGRAHAM: And rising wages, which they said would never happen, and a rise - and a trade deficit. Yeah, it's high. It's been high for 20 years. Finally we have somebody trying to do something about manufacturing and so forth, we've got strong dollar, which hurts American exports. But our exports are still up. So this idea that - now they're worried about the trade deficit. Oh my Joe, where were you like 10 years ago?

All right. Another story breaking today. The Hill this afternoon reporting that HHS is moving up to $385 million from programs to house an overwhelming number of unaccompanied migrant children. That's a lot of money. $385 million, HHS has to take from other programs because of this massive border crush of family units and people who call themselves family units and unaccompanied minors. This just demonstrates in a small way the big cost of illegal immigration.

GINGRICH: Well, look, everything we've been told in the last week by Secretary Nielsen and the Department of Homeland Security is that this is a genuine crisis. They fully expect a million people to cross the border this year, and that's why they're saying (inaudible) to restrain them and to stop them. And the notion that the Democrats don't think it's a problem to have a million people illegally enter the U.S. in one year, I think, just tells you again how increasingly out of touch with reality the Democratic Party is.

INGRAHAM: I also want to get your thoughts on the political report today that Trump's advisors - it's hard to believe this - are telling him to cut back on rally appearances because "dignified settings like the Oval Office and the Rose Garden will carry more weight with voters than his signature free-wheeling arena speeches."

If that reporting is true, that's - I find it curious. I mean, I'm for him in historic speeches and really cool places. And I'm not saying rally as you can just do rallies because I don't think you can. But that's - he gets energized from the rallies. Does he not?

GINGRICH: I mean, first of all--

INGRAHAM: That's how he won in 2016--

(CROSSTALK)

GINGRICH: The rallies are a large part of what make Trump Trump. As he walks in the room, he's surrounded by people who like him. He and they interact together. He gains energy. He tests out a lot of his lines. Now I will admit the other day when he tested them out for two hours and 18 minutes--

INGRAHAM: That was a little long.

GINGRICH: Well - but I ran into people the next day who were there with--

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: They loved him.

GINGRICH: --it was like a rock concert.

INGRAHAM: Yeah.

GINGRICH: They were thrilled.

INGRAHAM: It's like spring's day. Go for another hour.

GINGRICH: I think when there are important moments, the Warsaw speech, the U.N. speech, the State of the Union, which was an extraordinary speech, yeah, he ought to be very Presidential. But what makes Donald Trump unique is he's Donald Trump. And we used to say years ago, let Reagan be Reagan, well, I'm for letting Trump be Trump.

INGRAHAM: Mr. Speaker, it's great to have you here--

GINGRICH: Good to be here.

GINGRICH: --from Rome and it's great to have you on the show.

All right. Well, the border crisis is spiraling out of control, as the Speaker just said. The Democrats are doing everything but trying to find a solution. So today, the House approved sweeping "voting reform measures." Election and ethics reform, it all sounds good, right? It's dead on arrival in the Senate. So why they do? It's called H.R. 1, or For the People Act. I love that.

But might it be more accurately called For the Democrats Act? And it includes this gem for immigrants.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: And these newcomers make America more American. And we want them when they come here to be fully part of our system. And that means not suppressing the vote of our newcomers to America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: All right. Joining me now with all the details, Chief Congressional Correspondent, Mike Emanuel.

Mike, tell us what is going on here.

MIKE EMANUEL, CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Laura, it was a party-line vote, 234-to-193 to pass the House at the end of the week. This bill, as you mentioned, has multiple components.

For example, on campaign finance, it would create a matching-fund system for Congressional and Presidential candidates, matching small donations with taxpayer dollars. On ethics, it requires that Presidents and vice- Presidents release 10 years of their tax returns and set up an ethics code for the Supreme Court. On voting rights, it allows citizens to register to vote on line and would make Election Day a federal holiday. The House Speaker is selling it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: So the Senate, as you receive this bill, you will also be receiving the aspirations, the mobilizations, the persistence, the relentlessness of the American people to have government work for them, for the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has blasted it, writing, "The whole package seems tailor-made by Washington Democrats to help their D.C. attorneys descend on local communities, exploit confusion and try to swing elections." McConnell adds, "They're trying to clothe this power grab with clich,s about restoring democracy. But their proposal is simply a naked attempt to change the rules of American politics to benefit one party. It should be called the Democrat Politician Protection Act."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-KY, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: This is a terrible proposal. It will not get any floor time in the Senate. But it is important to understand what they are trying to do here. I think our colleagues in the House have done a great job in educating the members of the House as to what's involved with it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

EMANUEL: McConnell notes it is dead on arrival in the United States Senate. Laura.

INGRAHAM: Mike, thanks so much for clarifying this for us.

And joining me now with reaction, Congressman James Comer and Dr. Dena Grayson, who ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2016.

All right, Dena. Now, explain to me how Democrats, with this legislation that has no chance in hell of passing, they aren't trying to completely alter the American electorate with this bill?

DENA GRAYSON, D-FLA., FORMER CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: No. What they're trying to do is the most American thing possible, which is empower people to vote. I mean, in order to have a functioning democracy, we need people to go to the ballot box and vote. And so what this is doing is allowing people to register to vote more easily, declaring Election Day a federal holiday, which by the way we're one of the only few - one of the only democracies in the entire world that does not have either Election Day on a weekend or have Election Day being a national holiday.

INGRAHAM: All right. But we have Election Day. Dena, we have Election Day that stretches for weeks and sometimes months.

How did we possibly survive, Congressman Comer, as a constitutional republic? My mother was a waitress; my dad worked at Pratt & Whitney aircraft. They somehow managed to get to the polls. It was only one day.

REP. JAMES COMER, R-KY: Right.

INGRAHAM: And now we need to have at-home registration, use your computer, same day registration.

COMER: Right.

INGRAHAM: Now, why is that happening? It sounds like, oh, it's so easy. How did we ever function before it? Nothing is legitimate until we have instant voter registration.

COMER: Absolutely. This is - just what McConnell said, the Democrat Political Protection Act, they're trying to build upon what they did in California. All the shenanigans, they polled in California with the ballot harvesting. They're trying to be creative. This is not the answer. People are empowered to vote. It's easy to vote. Same day voter registration, that's a backdoor attempt by the Democrats to get more people to vote that are not legal citizens. And that's their game plan to try to beat Donald Trump in 2020. And we're not going to let it stand in the House.

INGRAHAM: Dena, here's another thing that I'm disturbed by, as someone who's more of a federalist on these issues, is what's happening with states' rights in all of this? This bill would use state authority to set voter ID, also I believe on felons, whether felons could vote or not, and that's traditionally been a state prerogative. This is a sweeping (inaudible) of states' rights in my view. How do you react to that?

GRAYSON: Again, I can't think of anything more American than empowering our citizens to vote. Is the--

INGRAHAM: What if they don't want to vote, Dena? What if they have no desire to vote? And this bill, it require--

GRAYSON: Then they don't have to vote.

INGRAHAM: No, no, no. They require you to be registered. It's your right as American citizen to be left alone. If you don't want to be registered to vote, why the heck does the government have any right to tell you you have to register to vote? What's the constitutional provision you're relying on?

GRAYSON: They're not forcing you to go to the ballot box, Laura. I mean--

INGRAHAM: They're forcing you to register. What if you don't want to register?

GRAYSON: Well, we force--

INGRAHAM: Why is that not pro-choice?

GRAYSON: What about the selective service? We force everyone to register for the draft.

INGRAHAM: That's because of wartime provision. That's because of emergency wartime provision.

GRAYSON: No, that's--

INGRAHAM: That's not--

GRAYSON: --that's for everybody right now. And so, look--

INGRAHAM: That's - that's - yeah, that's because we--

GRAYSON: Everyone has to register. Every male has to register in 18 to--

INGRAHAM: Right. That's because--

GRAYSON: --for the draft, as every citizen should register to vote.

INGRAHAM: That's because in a time of national emergency, we have to be able to mobilize people quickly. This is not mandating that someone as an individual who does not want to vote, has no desire to vote, should not be - not have to vote or not have to be registered to vote. It's--

GRAYSON: Laura, come one. I mean--

INGRAHAM: It's the same stuff they want to do on gun registration -- national gun registration--

COMER: You're exactly right. Democrats think--

GRAYSON: Laura, that's being ridiculous. I mean, come on.

COMER: --more government is the answer to everything, and this is another example of more government.

INGRAHAM: Let's talk about what the Democrats think about 16-year-olds voting. I love this. OK? People think this is like an Internet - like total hoax. This isn't true. But that's right, because Democrats today voted to support the states that want to lower the voting age to 16. Dena?

GRAYSON: Well, my understanding is that provision actually did not make it in the final bill. There was an amendment that was proposed to allow 16- year-olds to vote that didn't pass.

(CROSSTALK)

INGRAHAM: A majority of Democrats voted for it.

GRAYSON: But it didn't pass. But what it is allowing is for 16-year-olds to basically kind of pre-register to vote. And again, don't we want our youth to get involved and be ready to vote and get excited to vote once they turn 18? And that is part of the bill, and I think that's a great thing for America.

INGRAHAM: Congressman, are you against the youth voting? Are you and the Republicans must just hate the youth and you don't want them to vote?

COMER: We want everyone to vote. But I'm astonished that the Democrats want to raise the age of Americans to be able to own a gun or to be able to purchase tobacco or alcohol, but they want to lower the age for voting. We have nothing that stands in the way of young people voting today. I'm all about more people voting. And I think that we have a great democracy. And the Democrats are continually trying to change that to benefit themselves.

INGRAHAM: Dena, do you think illegal immigrants should be able to vote in the United States?

GRAYSON: Well, they're not allowed to vote. I mean, the reality is--

INGRAHAM: Do you think - my question is, if the people - someone has been here 10 years. They maybe have fraudulent identification, but they are paying taxes out of their salary. Shouldn't they have - I'm talking as a - if I were playing a Democrat today. Shouldn't they have a right to vote?

GRAYSON: I believe in a path to citizenship. And once you have citizenship, I think that--

INGRAHAM: OK.

GRAYSON: --all citizens of our country should be able to vote.

INGRAHAM: You're a raging conservative in the Democrat Party, Dena. That's why we love having you on.

All right. Thanks to both of you.

Next we expose the hypocrisy of the lamestream media's outrage over Manafort's sentencing. He's been in solitary for like nine months. Former Whitewater Independent Counsels, Ken Starr and Robert Ray, react, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: All of the lamestream media and their Democrat pals, they're in total meltdown tonight because Judge T.S. Ellis of the District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, did not throw the book at Paul Manafort, put him in jail for 50 years. He was only sentenced to 47 months in prison. That's four years for tax and bank fraud. Instead of the 25 years, of course, that Mueller wanted.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARI MELBER, HOST, THE BEAT, MSNBC: Our legal system in America, it does not operate with equal force for everyone. And Paul Manafort got the special, clubby, Washington, elite, friendly treatment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He did not apologize. And yet this judge clearly taking his side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are two Americas when it comes to justice that if you are a wealthy white-collar criminal, you're treated one way, and if you're not, you're treated another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Making this about race was utterly disgusting and despicable. And every single one of those people who just played should know better. And by the way, a lot of the folks that were commenting were placed on these sound bites. They're the same people who were usually railing on against excessively long sentences and are against solitary confinement for even violent criminals.

Paul Manafort, by the way, has been in solitary confinement. He's a slit on the door and a steel place for a thin little mattress, no chair and no desk, I understand, for nine months. OK? Non-violent offender. Where are all the civil libertarians? Well, here now, two members of the former Whitewater Independent Counsel's office. Of course, Ken Starr and Robert Ray. I'm so glad to have both of you on tonight. It's my luck.

Ken, let's start with you. They are essentially accusing Judge Ellis, who has been on the bench for decades, of being a racist.

KEN STARR, FORMER WHITEWATER INDEPENDENT COUNSEL, FORMER SOLICITOR GENERAL: Judge Ellis is one of the most respected judges in our system. He is certainly extremely experienced. He obviously had some issues with the prosecution, but it was a righteous prosecution. But then it falls to him as a judge to evaluate everything, the pre-sentencing report and so forth, and then to say here is what I think is right and just for a 67-year-old person who is in ill health.

So I think we do over-criminalize and we do tend to over-sentence. The sentencing guidelines can be very, very harsh. Congress tends to ratchet only up. So I think the Judge was doing what he felt was just under all of the circumstances. My view is he should be praised and applauded.

INGRAHAM: And by the way, guys, just so people understand, Robert, I know you know this. But Judge Ellis has been just - he's been an advocate from the bench against these excessive sentences in many, many cases. Anyone who knows - I think I - I interviewed with Judge Ellis and I was trying to get a clerkship years ago. He's like a no-nonsense guy.

And so in this big case, this guy, Fred Turner, 37 years old, is convicted on a meth charge. Prosecutors wanted to throw him away, throwaway the key, have him in jail for decades. He went on and on about saying no, no, no, no, no, that is ridiculous. So he's been an advocate for more lenient sentences in these cases, little more reasonable sentences, I should say, for years.

But Robert, I want you to comment specifically on this race issue because one of the most prominent commentators from Princeton University, Eddie Glaude Jr., was on Morning Joe today, I believe, and said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDDIE GLAUDE JR., PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR: Underneath the sentencing gap, just like underneath the empathy gap, underneath the wealth gap, is this value gap. And the value gap, Craig (ph), is the belief that white people matter more than others, particularly white people with money.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: White people with money. The man has been in solitary confinement since midpoint last year. Robert.

ROBERT RAY, FORMER WHITEWATER INDEPENDENT COUNSEL: I went to Princeton. I'm a Princeton graduate. Laura, I don't happen to agree with that characterization. This is all being done for political reasons.

By the way, your point that Judge Ellis has a problem with these exceedingly long sentences, particularly when the loss calculation determines what the sentence will be under the guidelines. And I will say - by the way, he is not the only judge that has a problem with that - with those calculations. And that's true with regard to a broad spectrum of the federal judiciary on both the left and the right--

INGRAHAM: Yeah.

RAY: --based upon appointments made by both Democrat and Republican Presidents. Just ask Jed Rakoff in the Southern District of New York, a Clinton appointee, about what his views are with regard to bank fraud sentences. And he will tell you, as many other judges will tell you, "Look, this thing got ratcheted up as a result of a number of things; Enron, WorldCom, the financial crisis, and so on and so forth. But the sentences have gotten out of control."

Now, look, it wasn't a problem for the Special Counsel's office to ask for a sentence within the guidelines. But the point is, this is why prosecutors don't impose sentences. Judges do. And the judges are supposed to be and act independent of a prosecution to determine what is fair.

INGRAHAM: Yeah.

RAY: And anybody who thinks on MSNBC or CNN that they're going to second- guess a judge with 30 years of experience, that's ridiculous.

INGRAHAM: Yeah. We have so much to get too. We have so little time.

But Ken, this is what drives me crazy. When you go on Twitter and you see like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, all of 28 years old, not a lawyer, didn't sit in the courtroom, wasn't in the jury box, hasn't read the record, doesn't know the guidelines, doesn't know the point about discretion that a judge has, and she immediately blows up the Internet with "This just shows you we have two systems of justice" - I'm paraphrasing - "in the United States of America. Tell me about the corrosive effect briefly that that has on our faith in the judiciary.

STARR: Well, it does. It erodes our faith in the judiciary. And one of the glories of our system is that our judges are independent. They're independent of politics. They are appointed essentially for life. And so here is, as we said earlier, a judge with this rich vast reservoir of experience. And he had all the facts. So it's really very unfortunate when politicians, especially elected representatives, go sauntering out on the world stage and making what I think a really quite reckless and unresponsible - irresponsible statements and also condemning our judges.

INGRAHAM: Yeah.

STARR: I thought that there was great upset, and I didn't applaud when President Trump condemned judges, right, for taking certain actions. And now here it is exactly the same kind of thing. So I think everybody should just calm down. By the way, if the government feels strongly about this, it can mount an appeal to say this was a downward departure and we don't like this. So there are mechanisms. But--

INGRAHAM: Yeah. Yeah.

STARR: Here is the point. We have a great and conscientious judge who gave it his best judgment.

INGRAHAM: Yeah. And he has been sitting there watching this whole thing over the last several months, and he's the best person to sit in judgment of this case.

But gentlemen, I have to get your thoughts on the new FOX report on the House Intel Chair Adam Schiff's staff traveling to New York four times to meet with Michael Cohen for more than 10 hours ahead of his hearing on the Hill this week. Ray, let's start with you. Are there legal and possible ethical ramifications at play here, or is this just kind of normal court stuff?

RAY: I don't know about legal and ethical ramifications, but it certainly -- I would imagine the Republicans were not afforded the same opportunity. So it certainly would skew the whole process. And I think a reasonable argument can be made that it also affects the testimony.

Again, it leads to the perception in the public domain that this is not a fair process and that it is being done for political purposes as opposed to what they profess to say, which is that it's just a search for the truth. I think that argument is increasingly wearing thin.

INGRAHAM: Yes. And Ken, just to close this out. You have Mueller for two years. It looks like he's coming up short on what everyone thought, or what liberals thought, that Trump was spooning with Vladimir Putin to get himself elected. He went through all this stuff. Now the Oversight Committee in the House of Representatives, Judiciary Committee, their job is to go through a sitting president's former business dealings? Is that where this is?

STARR: I am actually very concerned about that dimension. It's one thing to engage in oversight on the operations of the presidency and of the executive branch. But to go back into business dealings, especially when there is no tether to Russia or Russian alleged influence on the campaign and so forth, I think there is actually a constitutional issue. It's not litigable, so no judge is going to decide this. But I think it's a constitutional issue in terms of is Congress, is the House of Representatives exceeding its Article One powers to engage in oversight?

INGRAHAM: Bingo, a fishing expedition.

RAY: I agree with that. And it's just there --

INGRAHAM: Real quick.

RAY: But if people think that the southern district of New York, for example, is going to be a stalking horse for the continuation of the Mueller investigation traveling down the road of endless investigation of the Trump Organization, I think that they are dreaming. And I think the Department of Justice at some point in Washington may need to rein that in because it's not appropriate and it does raise Constitutional concerns.

INGRAHAM: We all know Bill Barr. We've got to go, guys, but Bill Barr has a lot on his plate. But there is a lot of stuff that has to be addressed, sadly, from the federal level here because this has gotten completely out of control. Phenomenal panel, loved it.

Coming up, when musical icons fall, is it time to mute their tunes, just purge them from the public consciousness? We're going to explore the cases of R. Kelly and Michael Jackson with Raymond Arroyo. Friday Follies, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't do this stuff! This is not me! I am fighting for my -- life! You all killing me with this -- ! I gave you 30 years of my -- career!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Robert.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty years of my career!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AISHAH HASNIE, CORRESPONDENT: Live from America's News Headquarters, I'm Aishah Hasnie.

A judge orders former Army Intelligence Analyst Chelsea Manning to jail after she refused to testify about WikiLeaks to a grand jury. Manning was behind one of the largest leaks of classified documents in U.S. history. She claims she has already revealed everything she knows and opposes the secrecy of the grand jury process. Manning was serving a 35-year sentence because it was commuted by President Obama. WikiLeaks is at the center of the Russia investigation.

Job numbers for February fell short of expectations. Only 20,000 jobs were added last month, making it the smallest monthly gain in about a year-and- a-half. That's a dip from January where the number topped 300,000. Despite the slowdown, the unemployment rate fell to 3.8 percent.

I'm Aishah Hasnie. Now back “The Ingraham Angle.”

INGRAHAM: And we have a Fox News alert. A grand jury returns a 16 count federal indictment against "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett for his hate crime hoax. Joining us now with all the details, Raymond Arroyo, Fox News contributor, "New York Times" bestselling author of the brand new book, "Will Wilder, The Amulet of Power." Raymond, wow, this is a -- talk about a whiplash from just a month ago when people were thinking there were roving bands of MAGA-hatted wearing guys going into metropolitan areas looking for gay black men to beat up.

RAYMOND ARROYO, CONTRIBUTOR: Laura, just a week ago we have had major stars, Tyler Perry, members of the "Empire" cast, Terrence Howard and others coming out defending him. This is devastating, 16 counts, federal grand jury. And it's not only for falsely reporting a hate crime. Its' for other charges here that he has yet to answer. This looks really bad for him. And the question is, we're going to entertain this throughout the block, should he be off the show permanently given the severity of these charges?

INGRAHAM: Oh, my God. Here's my question. When the entire nation is transfixed, where you could have triggered riots. That's what the police said on this show.

ARROYO: Inciting hate.

INGRAHAM: Inciting hate, dividing people against each other. And the fear that that put in the hearts and the consciousness of Americans, especially minority Americans, that in and of itself in unconscionable. Then roping in -- there's a conspiracy, rope in two other people. You write a check. You write a check for something that -- a lot of people can be in trouble.

ARROYO: It's a conspiracy. It's a conspiracy to create hate and to drive more hate. And it's just what we didn't need in the pop culture and in our politics.

INGRAHAM: We have a lot more to get to tonight here on THE INGRAHAM ANGLE when it comes to the crazy news and the culture. There are calls to stop playing Michael Jackson's music after the airing of that explosive huge hit, that HBO documentary "Leaving Neverland." So wWhat is the story here?

ARROYO: Millions of dollars, Laura, is the story. Sony just paid $250- million dollars to distribute all of Michael Jackson's catalog. There is a popular Vegas Cirque du Soleil show featuring his songs and image. But with the arrival of this documentary where two victims allege horrific sexual abuse at Jackson's hand, all of that is in peril. Bear in mind, these two alleged victims knew Michael Jackson as minors. They sought money from the Jackson estate in 2013, and their claims were thrown out. They also testified on Jackson's behalf when he faced similar allegations in 2005. At that time, they claimed they were never abused. Now even Corey Feldman, who knew Jackson when he was a boy --

INGRAHAM: And stood up for him.

ARROYO: Right, is backing away from his support for the King of Pop. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREY FELDMAN, ACTOR: I don't want to be perceived as I'm here to defender Michael, because I can no longer do that. I cannot in good conscience defend anyone who is being accused of such horrendous crimes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: So what is happening now is even the "Simpsons" producers are pulling back an episode in which Michael Jackson's voice was featured. This is virtue signaling of the worst sort, Laura.

INGRAHAM: And Oprah interviewed Jackson, right?

ARROYO: Right. Well, she interviewed him in 1993, interviewed his family when he died. So they cashed in on him when he was living. Now they're cashing in on him when he's dead. This is a big problem. The media, Laura, and we will see this again and again. They are hedonists while these people are being built up. Then turn into puritans when they fall. I'd rather we invert the paradigm and police these people while they're big stars, be a puritan then.

INGRAHAM: While they're starts.

ARROYO: And it ties in nicely with this horrible case of R. Kelly that we're seeing who also went down in flames over a docuseries at Lifetime. We had the docuseries in January, last month, "Surviving R. Kelly." But should we, and this is the question we opened with, should we stop listening to these people?

INGRAHAM: I am not defending anyone. I don't know what happened. I have a problem with relitigating someone's life when they're not there to defend themselves.

ARROYO: When they are dead, yes.

INGRAHAM: I have a problem with that.

ARROYO: And Jackson stood trial for these charges before.

INGRAHAM: OK, but again, maybe it's because I grew up listening to the Jackson 5 or "Thriller" and it's part of my youth. But it's part of the youth of the entire country. So now to say the artistic product itself is toxic, boy, we have a lot of songs and a lot of artists that we better get big Sharpie pen and go through the entire Sony catalog and all the catalogs.

ARROYO: You have got Chris Brown, OK, beat Rihanna. You've got Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13-year-old cousin.

INGRAHAM: I'm going to see Jerry Lewis, Jerry Lee.

ARROYO: And then Bing Crosby. Remember, Crosby beat the kids with the strap with the metal spikes. I don't think we think of any of that when we hear "White Christmas." We just don't.

INGRAHAM: But I don't know where this ends. This awareness, and they pull down statues. They're trying to remake history. They don't let people live in the current time and then look at history and individual with the wisdom that we've gathered. They have to destroy it all.

ARROYO: The music is about us. The music is about our relationship with a time. It's often nostalgic and it captures a time for us. It's not about these people. So when you see R. Kelly, we watched this this week, these two women who are living with him, apparently. They interviewed with Gayle King. Watch this quickly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do we say this without being inappropriate? Is there a three-way relationship? Or do you each have a separate relationship with him? How does this work?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, both of those.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm curious. Both of those?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. We both have our individual relationships with him, and we all are a family all together. We have our moments where we sit and watch movies all together. We go to amusement parks all together.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am not talking about going to movies and sitting and watching, going to parks. I'm talking about it is a three-way sexual relationship?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sexually. Well, first of all, I am not here to talk about my personal life. I would never share with no one what I do in or outside of the bedroom. And as a woman I am sure you would not either. There are people all over the world who have multiple girlfriends. It's no different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: It is different. You know what the problem is? The man is a degenerate. R. Kelly is a degenerate. Of course, he's engaged in these horrible things. We should condemn on the front end, and choose your icons wisely. And, certainly, don't take moral lessons from then.

By the way, Laura, I'm at NYU 7:30 Saturday night at my alma matter talking about "Will Wilder" doing a book signing at 238 Thompson Street right on Washington Square Park.

INGRAHAM: OK, and you can find out more information on your Facebook page and on Twitter. So that's great. That could be fun in New York.

ARROYO: If I'm protested, I'll bring the video.

INGRAHAM: Fantastic.

And coming up, the worst media offenders of the week. THE INGRAHAM ANGLE, we have our eye on you. That's next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB SOBOROFF, MSNBC REPORTER: Donald Trump and his policies and his rhetoric are encouraging people in some cases, forcing people in other cases, to cross the border illegally.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: It's really, really easy to become numb about media bias these days, especially anti-Trump media bias. So we at “The Ingraham Angle” think it's our duty to keep track of the worst offenders each week.

Joining me now is Jeffrey Lord, former CNN contributor and author of a forthcoming book "Swamp Wars," along with attorney and psychologist Dr. Brian Russell. All right, guys, let's begin with MSNBC anchor Stephanie Ruhle who thinks Trump has an ulterior motive for running for reelection.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE RUHLE, MSNBC ANCHOR: He would run because if he's a private citizen, he will get indicted.

(LAUGHTER)

RUHLE: I'm just going to become president again because I don't want to get indicted. That's twisted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vladimir Putin has thought the same thing many times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: All right, Jeff, so Trump is not running because he loves the country. By the way, this experience has been so much fun for him, I am sure. I am sure it wasn't more fun for him in New York when he was doing "Celebrity Apprentice." But it's because he's afraid of being indicted, really?

JEFFREY LORD, FORMER CNN CONTRIBUTOR: The thing is, I checked this story out, and Stephanie Ruhle was referencing a "New York Times" columnist by Michelle Goldberg. And I looked at her, and you've got to say, she is a Trump hater. She gets up in the morning hating Trump. She goes to bed at night hating Trump. She talks to people who hate Trump all day long, and then she spews this stuff out as journalism. That's where this comes from, and it's junk. Fake news.

INGRAHAM: Brian, your comment, quickly, then we'll move on to the next offender. We have so many offenders, Brian.

BRIAN RUSSELL, ATTORNEY AND PSYCHOLOGIST: Everybody around that table shared the presumption that there are indictable offenses of which I have seen zero evidence involving the president, and I've seen nothing in his words or behavior to suggest to me that he would prefer not to be president or that he is anything other than totally enthusiastic about implementing his agenda another four years.

INGRAHAM: All right, well, sticking with MSNBC, one of its reporters, Jacob Soboroff, you see him trotting around south of the border with the migrants, he figured out exactly why so many illegals are crossing the border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB SOBOROFF, MSNBC REPORTER: The reason the numbers are going up are not because of some crazy phenomena we've never seen before. Donald Trump and his policies and his rhetoric are encouraging people in some cases, forcing people in other cases, to cross the border illegally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: All right, Brian, how did he crack that code?

(LAUGHTER)

RUSSELL: This reminds me of early in my career as a psychologist when I would do psych evals on low level criminals and they would say stuff to me like the mall was going to install new cameras and hire more security guards, so I had to shoplift now because I might not be able to later. Nobody causes illegal immigration except illegal immigrants, just like nobody causes shoplifting except shoplifters.

INGRAHAM: I'd say that the incentive to come into the United States, which is real, is caused, Jeff Lord, by a Congress who refuses to do what needs to be done. Seal the border as best you can with technology and a wall, and make sure you stop this asylum fraud, ongoing fraud, by reforming that system. Those are two simple things that have to be done. Congress is responsible for refusing to do this.

LORD: They are. And let it be pointed out that a lot of these people were coming to the borders and streaming across illegally long before Donald Trump ever announced for president. They were doing this in the Obama era.

INGRAHAM: Yes, 2014.

LORD: They were doing this in the Bush era. Yes, there is absolutely nothing new here. And I might add if Congress were as serious about protecting the border as they are protecting themselves with all of the walls around Congress, we might be in better shape.

INGRAHAM: Now onto a certain CNN host. Politicization. And this was startling to me, and I don't get startled very easily anymore, of beloved "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek's cancer announcement. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: At a time of shallow believes and rampant truth abuse in our politics and beyond, every night he makes facts first. We need him now more than ever. So Mr. Trebek, fight as you have never fought before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: State it in the form of a question, please. All right, Jeffrey, you used to work there at CNN. Is this standard operating procedure to take a serious diagnosis of cancer and turning it into an attack on Trump?

LORD: Yes, it's leftism. And if you remember, Laura, from the '60s, the personal is political. That's what Chris did in essence here with Alex Trebek's illness. And it never works out well for the people who do that. It boomerangs, and it shouldn't happen.

INGRAHAM: It's embarrassing. The guy has stage four pancreatic cancer and you use it as an opportunity to hit Trump on Ash Wednesday, OK.

LORD: With him well. Wish him well and stop there.

INGRAHAM: We've got to get to Kirsten Powers. She engaged in what- aboutism this week when she defended Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for her anti- Semitic comments. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRSTEN POWERS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: There has never been a resolution by anybody on the Republican side. So why is this woman being singled out in the way that she's being singled out and having the weight of all of Washington come down on her?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Damsel in distress, Brian.

RUSSELL: It's classic deflection. Let's excuse or minimize bad behavior by pointing to other people's bad behavior. It's fallacious, it's annoying. Kids, don't do this. Take personal responsibility for your behavior regardless of what anybody else has done or is doing, please.

INGRAHAM: I think Soboroff and -- probably Soboroff wins the award of the worst of the worst this week. Guys, thank you so much. We'll be right back with the Last Bite.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

INGRAHAM: All right, time for the Last Bite. And NFL player taking the high road. Suspended Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle David Irving announced to his Instagram followers that he's picking pot over football.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID IRVING, NFL PLAYER: This is my choice. I am living with it. I am not to be forced into doing something. I am not playing for free. As these things, people or fans of the media try to make me seem like the bad guy for it. I don't think I am a bad guy choosing this route.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: By the way, he smoked the blunt during the entire Instagram video. Another stellar example for our youth.

That's all the time we have tonight. Don't forget, my podcast, of course new one dropped today. Pay Buchanan on the border, you don't want to miss it.

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