Cities, states take unprecedented action to slow spread of coronavirus

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Cities, states take unprecedented action to slow spread of coronavirus

Schools, restaurants, businesses close to prevent virus spreading; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," March 16, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Dana Perino, along with Greg Gutfeld, Jesse Watters, Juan Williams, and Kennedy. It's 5:00 in New York City. This is THE FIVE. All right, as you can see, we are doing things a little bit differently today and going forward. As much as we love sitting elbow to elbow and we mean that sincerely.

We want to set a good example for everyone and practice physical distancing. So here we are. Oh, are we going to see? Like, we're separate - - so Greg and I are here, having to face each other, Juan and Jesse are up there. You can see them. Kennedy, we see you there in the pod, hi, Kennedy. So we're all trying to do the right thing here.

And the reason, of course, is because life in our country is changing by the minute. In an unprecedented effort to help contain this Coronavirus, millions of Americans are working from home. And school closings across the U.S. are impacting more than half of young students in the country. Cities and states closing bars and restaurants with the exception of take-out, Greg's happy about that.

GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: Yup.

PERINO: And San Francisco and surrounding counties telling residents to shelter in place for the next three weeks. Earlier today, the White House issuing new guidelines to slow the spread of the virus over the next 15 days, and that includes limiting social gatherings to less than 10 people to help stop the spread of the virus. Here is more from the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: My focus is really on getting rid of this problem, this virus problem. Once we do that, everything else is going to fall into place. We're not thinking in terms of recession. We are thinking in terms of the virus. Once we stop -- I think there's a tremendous pent-up demand both in terms of the stock market and terms of the economy.

If you don't have the symptoms, if your doctor doesn't think you need it, don't get the test.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: The president also weighing in on the progress being made on a vaccine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: A vaccine candidate has begun the phase one clinical trial. This is one of the fastest vaccine development launches in history, not even close. We're also racing to develop antiviral therapies and other treatments that we've had some promising results, early results but promising.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: Greg, let's start with you. I don't know whether to look at you. I will look at the camera.

GUTFELD: It's weird because basically you are just across from me.

PERINO: Yes.

GUTFELD: And so I can block -- I can touch your face without touching your face, which is really freaky.

PERINO: Don't touch my face. I can't even touch my own face.

GUTFELD: Yes. So anyway, first of all, the -- you can not now meet beyond a group of 10 people, which means Sunday's Lou Dobbs' hot tub party -- we're going to have to reschedule to August. But I'm actually pretty tired. I have friends that are kind of bumming me out, who keep saying that we are overdoing it. And I knew that we are all hearing it.

But I say I would prefer to look back and be wrong and look back and be foolish then think about, oh, I didn't do enough. So I am willing to bite the bullet now, peel that band-aid off. And you may never know if your overreaction helped. Because -- and the people who under reacted are going to gloat and say, see, it was no big deal at all, even though it was the over reactors that might have helped.

And I also want to say something very positive. Yesterday, my neighbor, who was about 80, came over and let me know that she had plenty of food.

PERINO: Sweet.

GUTFELD: And she said me and Elena are welcome to come over. And I was thinking about how when you watch these movies about the apocalypse or -- the entertainment industry makes us falsely believe that during times of crisis, human's turn on each other, like, we are fighting over toilet paper and chicken. It's not the case. The innate reaction among human beings is to help.

You know, if you have a problem carrying something or you can't pick up your kids, someone else is going to do it. And I think that's what we are going to learn here. I would also add a lot of people talk about social distancing. We should be social distancing from social media, because I find that when I'm around and I'm on Twitter a lot.

I am filling my brain with a lot of stuff that is unreliable. And I think I should step away. It's also like the stock ticker. I wish they would take that down because it just makes me -- I don't need to watch it.

PERINO: As you said in green room, we're talking about watching water boil, doesn't really get you anywhere. Kennedy, I know that you are experiencing what many parents across America are experiencing. Your kids are home. How is that going?

LISA KENNEDY MONTGOMERY, GUEST HOST: It's very interesting. The whole process, it unfolds so quickly. So I have two girls in public schools here in New York City. And last week, toward the end of the week, there were fewer and fewer students who are attending. My girls both went on Friday, and there was almost no one there.

And you really got the sense with the threatened teacher stick out and a couple of the city council people here in New York City that they were going to shut down schools. And for them, it's interesting because they have a ton of work on Google classroom. So they've got everything laid out. But also, it's an interesting period where we get to work as a family figuring out how to deal with the crisis.

And the most important thing you have, and Greg kind of touched on this, is your attitude toward it. So if you face it as a challenge and you work on it together and we figure what we have and what we need, then you can work from there instead of worrying about what you don't have and trying to get as much of that as possible even if you don't necessarily have a need for that.

I know the president's addressed that today. And I love the idea that Greg's neighbor reached out to him. And I would say the same thing. If you have older neighbors, make sure that they have everything they need so they don't have to go out and get it. And if you're making soup, if you've got extras, freeze some and take it over so they've -- to put their minds at ease and get them whatever they need from the drugstore.

PERINO: And also your household will benefit from the fact that you are a fabulous cook. I am not, though I tried a little bit this weekend. Jesse, how about you? How is the weekend and what are you thinking about things today?

JESSE WATTERS, CO-HOST: Well, I went to visit my mom this weekend. And she made me wear gloves to come inside of her house. She is suspicious that I might have Coronavirus. And I wore the gloves all afternoon in the house. And that's what it is. I didn't take the social distancing that seriously Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. I went out to dinner here in the city.

And I woke up this morning and I realized that was not the right move. I am no longer going out to dinner. I was trying to help my local restaurants.

PERINO: Yeah.

WATTERS: And we have stocked up on all the groceries and we went to the liquor store, and I bought about five bottles of wine and some vodka. So I'm good for about a week. Not two, but at least one week. But I urge all my fellow Americans, no matter where you are, to respect the social distancing urging from the president of the United States.

And, you know, it can be a good thing. You can relax with your loved ones. You can watch THE FIVE. You don't have to go out to the bar. You know, take it easy. But with that said, it is bizarre because usually when there's a challenge facing this country, Americans unite. They come together. And then they overcome.

But this time, in order for us to overcome, we need to separate ourselves from each other. We are almost dividing ourselves in order to unite and in order to defeat this virus. And that is a very counterintuitive thing to do. But you have to do it. And you have to think when this is all over, and it's got to be over within the next couple months.

But when it is, Mother Nature has taught us a lesson. We are going to be more self-reliant. We are going to be less dependent as a country and as individuals on other people and on other countries. And that may be a good thing, because right now this looks like it's impacting the United States of America worse than terrorism.

Thirty percent got knocked off the stock market. Whole industries are shut down, schools closing, professional sports. Nothing like this we've ever seen in America. And at the end of the day, we are going to have to find out what happened, why it happened, where it happened, and the lessons will be learned.

PERINO: And of course, with terrorism is a threat that you know and you know how to combat it. When you're fighting against a virus that is mutating as we speak, that is harder. Juan, let's get you in here. And tell me about how you're feeling about things. Congress did pass or is about to pass some legislation to try to get to phase two of helping out these Americans who are going to need it.

JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: I am glad you reached out to me, your elderly neighbor here, Dana, because at 65, I am in that group.

PERINO: No, I hear you. I know. I know.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: So I mean, if you guys have soup, bring it over, you know? I am right here, you know? I will lap up Kennedy's soup or tacos or whatever she's got.

PERINO: I will make some queso.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: We're going through enough problems, Dana.

WATTERS: One emergency at a time.

WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think that toilet paper rush will be justified.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: You know, I've had a crazy day just living in America today, because, you know, like all of a sudden, I hear Maria Bartiromo this morning on the debate last night. Then they say, OK, you can rush and get the 7:50 a.m. train. No, they cancelled all the Acela's that go between New York and D.C. And then they say we will put you on the milk train that leaves at 9:30, makes every stop in America.

And then the people on the train are like in masks. They are huddled away from each other. Nobody wants to sit next to anybody. And of course, both towns, it looks like a ghost town because the schools are closed so the school buses aren't working. And you go in the restaurants, they are shut. You hope some that of the carry out places are open.

But some of them are shut. So it's kind of puzzling. I mean, to me, we are in a moment where you have to just, you know, stop and trust in each other in a very intimate way. So, you know, to my mind, it's not about distancing. I see neighbors. The neighbors are coming over. They are talking. And I even saw a wonderful clip this weekend where an elderly couple was in a shopping -- outside of a grocery store in the parking lot.

And they were shouting, and a lady came over and they were afraid to go in the grocery store. So they gave her 100 bucks so she could go shopping.

PERINO: Well, and in fact, you know, corporate America and small businesses are really stepping to the plate, Greg. We're talking about, like, the public-private partnerships. But I believe Stop & Shop is going to have some hours in the morning, early hours that where you, as a senior citizen, you can go and shop early in the morning and feel a little bit safer, so people being quite innovative as well.

GUTFELD: I'm used to doing that, because as a world recognized celebrity, I can only grocery shop in the early, early morning, so I don't get mobbed. We do hear about the large companies asking for money. But to Jesse's point, if you aren't going to the restaurant, those restaurants are suffering. And I -- and believe me, all of my money that I make goes into bars and restaurants.

I am a walking, like, bailout for downtown. So what you've got to do is you've got to find out how you can pay them now for future goods. That's like the order of gift cards for the restaurants that you like. Join the delivery services, like Seamless or Grubhub or Caviar. These are delivery services and -- where any restaurant that you like can deliver food to you.

That way, they can pay the staff. They can pay the cook. They might be able to help out the waitresses. But you should definitely -- if you buy the gift card, it gets into their system, and then you can use them when everything gets better.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: -- some people are complaining of that, because obviously if you are a waiter, you are living on tips.

GUTFELD: Exactly.

WILLIAMS: And so, you know, all of a sudden they say you have unemployment. And the bill that was passed yesterday by the House has some additional funding for that. But basically those people are being denied their tips. And so they are upset. And then a lot of people say if you buy the gift cards for the restaurants or whatever services, personal services you may need, it goes to, again, the big company. But it doesn't go down to the people who provide the services.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: We all have to be thinking about them.

WILLIAMS: Just as we focused on people who making sure they can afford a test as well treatment alike. We just want to make sure that people who are, you know, kind of working class people don't get scrunched here or forgotten.

WATTERS: Obviously, politics dominating, and the president facing a new wave of criticism over his handling of the Coronavirus pandemic. Former White House Communications Director turned never-Trumper, Anthony Scaramucci, comparing the president of the deadly virus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Donald Trump is the virus. At the end of the day, what he has done, he's affected and replicated through the executive branch. And he's destroyed the crisis management elements of the executive branch that we need right now, not only here in the United States, but globally. It's a national tragedy born from one person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: And New York Democratic Governor, Andrew Cuomo, piling on by blasting the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): This is a national problem and we need federal leadership. It's chaos. I think it actually feeds the feeling that the country is out of control. And there is no clear direction. And there is no clear path. It makes no sense. It is also counterproductive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: President Trump firing back after a teleconference with the nation's governors, tweeting, quote, "Cuomo of New York has to do more." Kennedy, I like Anthony Scaramucci. I respect his opinion, but it's just a lazy analogy. They've used that in the New York Times, like, three weeks ago. It is not going to stick. What we need from everybody is a little sense of common purpose here.

KENNEDY: You're absolutely right. And it doesn't mean you have to pat the president on the back and extolled his virtues and enumerate all the wonderful things that the administration has done. But being so negative and backward-looking, it is not helpful to anybody. And to destroy morale even further when people are scared and they are panicked.

It doesn't do anything for this. And it just -- frankly, it makes him look bitter, because if you talk to Anthony Scaramucci after he was fired, he was essentially begging for his job back. And he has taken aim at several people in the administration that have been incredibly personal with his attacks. And I just have to wonder what his end game is, and if it is to make the country better then offer some solutions.

WATTERS: Right. And Governor Cuomo, Dana, he's really stepped up, I guess, as the governor here in New York and taken it upon himself to issue a lot of directives, and has been holding a lot of press conferences. But doesn't he really kind of want to form a strong working relationship with the president of the United States, because this thing is going to continue for the next couple of months.

PERINO: Yes. I actually think that they probably have a better relationship than we might think.

WATTERS: Posturing may be.

PERINO: Well, yeah. And so remember Cuomo went to the White House not too long ago to talk about taxes and other things. And look, they've known each other for years, and so maybe they can take shots at each other like this. But everybody gets a choice every single day of how they want to position themselves, what they want to say. Do you want to help?

You get to make that choice 100 times a day. I did think that the governors today were doing the right thing. Now remember, the federal government cannot do everything for you. The governors are actually the ones that can make these decisions about closing schools and closing businesses. The president of the United States does not have that legal authority even if he wanted to.

The governors are responsible for that. And I saw many of them stepping up today. I really have to say something really positive about Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey who gave his prepared remarks today, talked about having to close the bars, and then set aside the script and just spoke from the heart. And he said this is on me.

And this -- I am doing this because I'm the one that's supposed to be in charge. I'm the one that is supposed lead. And so I'm making these decisions because I'm -- my credibility is on the line, because I'm here to -- as an elected leader to try to protect you. And I think you see that across the country. And I believe that there's a lot better cooperation between the federal government and governors that you see may be on Twitter.

WATTERS: Juan, do you think that certain states are going to have to make their own decisions? And there's one case of Coronavirus in North Dakota, do they need to treat Coronavirus the same way New York treats Coronavirus which has nearly 1,000 cases?

WILLIAMS: No. I mean, I think everybody has to sort of tailor it to their needs. But I do think that you need national leadership. And I think like last night at the Democratic debate, Bernie Sanders basically said Trump's rhetoric has exacerbated the problem, because Trump downplayed it and said, you know, it's the media.

It's the Democrats. It's those people. And now it turns out, hey, there's a real problem here, and we should have been informing people about this very real threat to all of our health but to our public safety in terms of a health crisis long ago. And so he was saying, you know, it will go away. Don't worry about it. It will disappear like a miracle.

Well, it's not disappearing like a miracle. So when it comes to the governors saying, you know, we like some more direction. The CDC reports to the president. You can't blame Jerome Powell, the Federal Reserve Governor, the Chair. He's done everything. Yesterday, he cut the interest rates to zip. It still didn't help the markets.

He wants to blame Obama. He wants to blame foreigners. Where is a president who says the buck stops here?

WATTERS: I think with the president was saying is that if there's one case in Alaska, Juan, you don't just say from Washington, D.C. I'm going to close every school in Alaska.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: -- flexible and dynamic.

WILLIAMS: Nobody was saying that you should take away flexibility. What you're saying is the national leader, the president of all of us, of Republicans and Democrats might offer some direction instead of giving us sort of happy, fluffy talk that, in fact, it distorted the reality that we are dealing with. And I didn't think, and I don't think anybody on THE FIVE, I don't think any of us here on THE FIVE -- just a second.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: -- communicated to the public every day.

WILLIAMS: Jesse, he has not. Jesse, let me make this point. I don't think one of us here sitting on THE FIVE thought we would have to be sitting in little boxes because of this.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: And you didn't, Juan. I did. I talked about this in the third week of February. Anyway, anyway, can I actually weigh in on this, because you've been talking for a while? All right, number one, number one, Scaramucci, when you were booking Scaramucci to talk about a pandemic, that means seven to eight people turned them down beforehand.

He is not the bottom of the barrel. He is the stuff leaking out of the barrel. When you are booking him, it's a political booking, so let's be clear. Two, people are conflating again with words and deeds. What Trump is doing imperfectly is he initially was trying to address the panic that he saw in the stock market, because he is our nation's cheerleader.

Everything's going to be better. We have to get this thing going, because optimism is his blood, all right? As for the virus, that's the experts' turf. Make no mistake. He got out of that way. He let them do that. And let's not forget, Cuomo was slow getting up to speed on this too, because he was doing the same thing Trump was, which was just trying to slow the panic in the economy.

So Trump was initially focusing on the psychological effects of panic. While his intention is good, he could've found his voice sooner about the actual concern. But he's -- this is new to him. I think he was trying to focus on trying to quell the panic while letting the experts deal with the virus, deeds, words. And right now, you cannot match the deeds of this administration. They are doing amazing work.

WILLIAMS: Yeah. That's why we have so many tests to find out who has it. That's why we have a vaccine. Although, the president said the vaccine is coming in a couple weeks and now we know it is years.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: -- in the NSC, we don't have an office of global immune threats.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: plenty of -- look what's happening in Italy.

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: Now, we want to compare our government to the Italians, very good, very good.

WATTERS: Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders face-off in the shadow of this Coronavirus pandemic, Greg's monologue ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: Last night's debate felt like you are watching a Lawrence Welk rerun. Something from the past that holds no relevance now, talking about porous borders as hardworking people close shops and restaurants, climate change predictions that never predict anything? Sorry, we are dealing with real threats now. Promising to shutdown the oil that helps families during a crisis?

Give me a break. Yup, watching two candidates try to out-left each other when nothing left really works is surreal. So let's note what their priorities were for so many months. Check out Joe Concha's tweet. These candidates in debates didn't address the virus until a few weeks ago. What did they fill the time with? Did they bash big pharma, you ask? That's a good question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have a bunch of crooks who are running the pharmaceutical industry. You need to take on the drug companies. We tell the pharmaceutical industry. We tell the big money interests that this is not a time for profiteering.

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should be able to sue drug companies.

SANDERS: You have got people in the pharmaceutical industry saying, wow, what an opportunity to make a fortune. The drug companies will not rip us off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Wow. I guess that nonsense wouldn't fly right now, or last night, as we rely on drug companies to find a vaccine and save lives. But I'm sure there was something else that preoccupied their minds during those debates.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Impeachment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Impeachment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Impeachment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Impeachment.

SANDERS: These impeachment hearings.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have an impeachment trial.

BIDEN: He has, in fact, committed impeachable offenses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Impeachment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Impeachment.

SANDERS: The impeachment process.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The impeachment must go forward.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Impeachment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Impeachment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Impeachment.

BIDEN: We get an impeachment proceeding.

SANDERS: I hope that he is impeached.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Ah, those were the days when they wasted precious time because all they wanted was Trump's scalp, which prevented them from eyeing real threats which did three things. It occupied efforts that then distracted us from other things like a really weird outbreak in China. Some saw it. It further discredited the media with its boy-who-cried-wolf addiction.

Everything that is apocalyptic, so nothing is. It enforces Trump's belief that the media and Dems are out to get him, because they have been out to get him all along. We always suspected that the Dems and media couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time. We were right. If only they could walk and keep going. Dana, you and I have talked about this a lot.

I find it hilarious that last night I don't think they've mention the pharmaceutical industry at all, because they need the pharmaceutical industry. They are a bunch of fatuous hypocrites.

PERINO: Absolutely, fatuous hypocrites.

GUTFELD: Sorry, I'm upset.

PERINO: It's kind of interesting. I remember in one of the debates, they have had so many where Coronavirus didn't come up at all. And you are thinking wait. This is actually happening. Now, in 2000, neither Gore nor Bush was asked about Al Qaeda in the lead up to that in any -- never once by the media or in any debates. But we actually knew about Coronavirus.

So, you know, last night, I thought that Biden could have said I'm not debating you. But obviously, the Democrat across the country have rejected your ideas, Bernie. So I don't even need to be here. Instead, he goes to the debate after Bernie, as Trump -- as Chris Stirewalt said, Biden got foamed like an under-ripe melon in Super Tuesday.

There's going to be more elections tomorrow. And we know that Bernie is not going to do well in those either. So instead, Biden goes to this debate. And what does Bernie do, but pulls him further and further to the left on all sorts of things, like on student loans, etcetera. And I just think that it wasn't necessary.

I don't think that the DNC has done themselves any favors. And obviously, it had good viewer-ship, but we are in the middle of a crisis. Like, people aren't going to focus on this.

GUTFELD: It felt weird. Kennedy, I -- when Bernie was hammering Joe, and I thought he was doing a powerful job. All Joe was doing was denying it. He kept saying no, I didn't. No, I didn't. And he did on almost everything. It was like a fight in a Walmart parking lot between two seniors over a parking space.

KENNEDY: And I know Joe Biden is trying to play defense. But I also think people aren't buying into Bernie Sanders' offense. You know, and he's right to go after Joe Biden on his hypocrisy, because he really is forcing him to do a 180 on some pretty big issues, including foreign policy and criminal justice reform.

My biggest issue was with Bernie Sanders saying that we have a dire lack of medical personnel in this country right now. If you think it is bad now, give every doctor and nurse a 40 percent pay cut, and see what your medical personnel looks like in 10 years when no one is going to medical or nursing school because they won't be able to make a decent living.

And, you know, I want to go back to what Bernie Sanders also said about big pharmacy. It is the urgency right now that as acting upon these companies and it is the competition they have with each other, in addition to this health crisis, to try and save thousands and potentially millions of lives. And if it is the competition with each other that's going to get us there faster, then I would say that's the best thing that's happening right now and the best thing that will come of this in the future when we're able to fast track other vaccines and biologics for viruses like this.

GUTFELD: Hey, Juan, both candidates misidentified the coronavirus as either Ebola or H1N1 or something like that. But who do you think won, the old guy or the other old guy?

WILLIAMS: I think it's your old guy. That guy in the White House. I think they're a bunch of 70-year-olds, but I will say this. I thought Biden had a great debate. I mean, I think lots of people, especially -- I don't know -- Dana, I really disagree with you on this idea that he shouldn't have shown up for the debate. If he hadn't showed up for the debate. Lots of people would say oh, you know what, he's afraid. He's like sitting on the ball. He tried to run out the clock.

PERINO: He wouldn't last 10 minutes.

WILLIAMS: Oh, let me just say. He needed to show up and he needed to demonstrate a strong commanding presence, and he did it last night. I think we should all say, you know what, that was a good debate. First of all, I thought it was a good debate. But secondly, a very good debate for Joe Biden.

And then the news coming out of it, I think is partly that he was going left because he wants to win over Bernie Sanders support and I think that's very important.

PERINO: I did like it that there was no audience.

WILLIAMS: And then finally, I think he said he's going to pick a woman, as his vice president. I think --

PERINO: Why just say he's going to pick the best person.

WILLIAMS: Because guess what?

GUTFELD: It has to be a woman.

WILLIAMS: If the best person had been a woman for all of our history, she wouldn't have been picked, Dana. So it seems to me for him to say, let's get the best person who's a woman and that woman are thoroughly qualified, including Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar --

GUTFELD: Tulsi Gabbard is in.

WILLIAMS: Right. Whatever you like, Greg. You can make a suggestion.

GUTFELD: No, because those guys --

WILLIAMS: But I'm just saying what -- I mean, that's real -- that's a breakthrough for American women in this day and age, and I think that you got to stop and salute it, especially when you consider the coalition --

PERINO: But do you salute John McCain?

WILLIAMS: I'm sorry?

KENNEDY: Yes, exactly. Great question.

WILLIAMS: Yes, sure. In fact, you know, Sarah Palin is the best. You had -- she was a great performer. But I just wanted to say, his coalition includes suburban white women. Guess what? They will be turned on by that.

GUTFELD: Turned on? Really, Juan.

WILLIAMS: Yes, yes, yes.

GUTFELD: You disgust me.

WILLIAMS: I said that for you.

GUTFELD: Jesse, last word.

WATTERS: I don't even think Biden realized he was committing to picking a woman fifi. He just kind of walked into it and then had to say, oh, yes, that's what I'm going to do. But that's -- I don't care who he picks right now. That's not going to make people vote for him.

I have to be honest, and I can't believe I'm agreeing with Juan, but one was right. Joe Biden had a much better debate last night. He's spoken cleaner sound bites, he was much more eloquent, much more in control. He had a much more soothing voice and he only started getting rattled about 45 minutes in and a lot of people after 45 minutes are looking to watch something else.

He was easily pushed over to the left by Bernie Sanders. And that's where Bernie started to make some headway that said, Joe, you have not been leading. You've been behind the curve on gay marriage, on the bankruptcy bill, on Hyde, on war on trade. And Biden got very, very defensive and didn't handle that well.

But do I think that Bernie landed a knockout punch? Absolutely no. Joe is going to technically win that debate and continue to do well in these next few states.

GUTFELD: I think that's a fair assessment.

PERINO: Fair.

GUTFELD: On that note, up next President Trump telling Americans to stop hoarding supplies. Plus, we'll tell you which Democrat is saying the federal government may have to take over grocery stores.

PERINO: What?

GUTFELD: Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: Welcome back. The Coronavirus pandemic is getting worse in America. The widespread fear, anxiety, causing Americans to stockpile food and supplies. Some stores across the country have been completely cleaned out. And companies are struggling to keep up with the demand. President Trump telling nervous Americans, relax.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There's no need for anybody in the country to hoard essential food supplies. They said to me, could you please tell them just go and buy, enjoy it, have a nice dinner, relax, because there's plenty? But you don't have to -- you don't have to buy the quantities because it's hard to refill the stores on a basis as rapid as refilling them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: And New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warning the government may need to get involved if the hoarding continues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, D-NYC: The Great Depression and the new deal are very instructive here. I don't -- I'm not saying breadlines, but let's be clear. We're getting close to a reality where the government has to ensure the food supply, that it is not only available, but as equitably distributed. We're going to have to get into a heavy intervention in people's economic lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: So Jesse, you know, this is an interesting moment, because you have people who are intent on getting all the toilet paper, all the water, all the hand sanitizer. We had those two brothers out west who not only do they buy it up, but then they were trying to make money by selling it at a high price on Amazon. What would you do?

WATTERS: Well, I think you do whatever you can within the law to punish people that are gouging? I don't think you can put a limit on people buying things. But if you watch the mayor, he's almost gleeful with the prospect of having to ration and get heavily involved in the economic lives of the regular American consumer. And when someone like that in power gets happy to be able to do that, that makes me really, really nervous.

I went and stockpiled a couple of days ago and I bought more toilet paper than I ever would need. Why did I do that? I don't know.

GUTFELD: I do.

WATTERS: But I saw -- not for that reason. I just saw this huge thing a toilet paper and I said, I got to get it. And I don't even have room in my apartment to put it. So I have that, I have all this other stuff. I ordered groceries to be delivered to my house today. And it said, the next available grocery delivery date would be Friday. So you know what I had to do? I had to go to the grocery store myself.

WILLIAMS: Oh, no.

WATTERS: And hand carry out groceries. I don't know what this world's coming to, but to Greg's point earlier at the top of the show, if this is last call tonight in Manhattan with bars at 8:00 or, you know, we're hearing news that liquor stores could be closing soon.

GUTFELD: Don't.

WATTERS: Go in there.

PERINO: No. What?

WATTERS: Only deliveries, only delivery.

GUTFELD: Oh, I can do that.

WATTERS: OK, right, so when you go if it's last call or if you have a last- minute item you need to pick up, give these people a nice fat tip.

WILLIAMS: Oh, you're a generous. So Kennedy, I know you stay in shape, and the gyms are now closing.

KENNEDY: That's a really good point. And I'm going to go out and run in Central Park. I've got my bike on a wind trainer in my bedroom and that's, you know, through the cold months, that's how I have to train in the winter. That's fine. My concern is my girls. And so we're going to do just dance and yoga and run up and down the hallway and stuff like that because they're normally in a gymnastics gym. And you know, they've got yoga and (INAUDIBLE) and stuff in school.

So, you know, like every other parent out there, we're just going to have to get creative. And I will -- if worst comes to worst, I'm going to have to pay them $5.00 for every 100 jumping jacks.

WILLIAMS: All right, Dana, did Jasper insist on hoarding anything?

PERINO: No, he didn't. He didn't. And I here's the here's the thing. Like, you know, the farmers and the truck drivers and the store owners, they all want to make this work. People are going to be able to work. This is not necessary. I read one of the CEO said, you don't need to buy all of that toilet paper. If you -- because you're not going to use it.

If you bought three bags of Doritos, you'll eat those when you really only intended to buy one. So I think that the free market is going to -- you'll see these shelves get back to normal pretty soon. There's no need to be so extremely drastic as De Blasio was talking about.

WILLIAMS: You know, Greg, I noticed though that in fact gun sales are going up. And so it makes me think, gee, that's dangerous. That's panicky behavior. I don't know but the government can't say anything because the gun owners have a right. But it just seems like they're ready for, you know, what is that novel, you know, that apocalyptic novel, end of the road, you know?

GUTFELD: Yes. It's called The Road. They're obviously want to protect their toilet paper. But people should buy weapons, even in good times and in bad so that -- I'm OK with that. The reason why people are hoarding toilet paper, it's mimetic theory. We desire things according to the desire of others. So when you see some people by X, then more people buy X, and then that creates an escalation as rivals compete.

You see this every Black Friday when a group of people are pulling a really crappy shirt because they want the crappy shirt and they don't even know why they want the crappy shirt. So that's what's happening with the toilet paper is that it's pure imitation, psychological imitation. I am so thankful in terms of exercise for Lord Peloton, and all the knights of the Peloton roundtable.

PERINO: I love the Peloton.

GUTFELD: Ben, and Jenn, and Hannah, and Brody, all the instructors who make me so --

PERINO: Dennis.

GUTFELD: Dennis. You can't forget Dennis and his rock ride. Dennis has a great rock ride. Ben does a good Tabata ride that I did this morning. You know what, I should have bought stock in Peloton.

PERINO: Who's laughing now? The Peloton wife.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WILLIAMS: Yes, really. Well, you know, you guys are going to have to make some recommendations to me as to what to watch because I don't have any sports to watch.

GUTFELD: Watch Peloton.

WILLIAMS: No, thanks. Up next, the head of the DNC and top Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn attacking President Trump and some of his supporters. That video ahead on THE FIVE.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KENNEDY: Oh, it's getting a little nasty. Top Democrats launching some mad attacks against President Trump and his supporters. DNC chair Tom Perez going after Trump's supporters and voters and questioning their faith. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM PEREZ, CHAIRMAN, DNC: I think the challenge that I see among a lot of people that go to Donald Trump rallies and then they will go to church on Sunday, and I'm not -- I don't know what faith they are worshipping.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

PEREZ: Donald Trump has done more to hurt the least of us, among us, than just about any president I can think of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: The great theologian, Tom Perez. Top congressional Democrat James Clyburn who is endorsing Joe Biden with this smear against the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JAMES CLYBURN, D-S.C.: I do believe this country, this electorate is not definitive in this election. This year, this country could very well go the way of Germany in the 1930s. I really seriously feel that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: Talk about burning down the reg stock. So, Greg, I will start with you. We are in pretty drastic times right now. I think the most drastic measure would not be engaging in this sort of hyper-partisanship. Is that possible for someone like Tom Perez?

GUTFELD: I think it's a hard habit to break even in times like these. And it's like, I would hesitate to go after even them because I think it's actually -- I can't believe I'm going to say it -- beneath me. Because I will tell you, there's almost nothing that is beneath me.

WATTERS: Greg, it's not. It's not.

GUTFELD: Then here's what --

KENNEDY: Turning over to Jesse.

GUTFELD: Turning over to Jesse. Yes, Jesse?

WATTERS: You know what? Listen. Every time I come on the show, I have things that I write down before I say them so I don't get fired. And sometimes I'll write things down and I'll say like the Nazis or like Hitler or something like that. And then I think to myself, wait, I cannot ever compare anything to Nazi Germany or Hitler. Because every time we do this show, at least once a week we're talking about some idiot on the left, that does that exact same thing. So we don't do that here and I hope other people don't do that.

Now for the chairman of a party that promotes partial-birth abortion, that promotes people saying Happy Holidays, instead of Merry Christmas, that has not been very strong with Israel, and that has ObamaCare regulations that like ran the nuns out of town, he should not be going after the religious faith of other people.

KENNEDY: It is -- it is belittling, Juan, and it's a very, very slippery slope because when you attack something as personal as someone's religion, and use it to criticize them based on their politics, it really -- it cheapens your position.

WILLIAMS: Oh, well, let me do it. Because I think the evangelical --

KENNEDY: You're better than that, Juan.

WILLIAMS: The evangelical community in this country knows that there is a great dissonance in terms of their support for President Trump. And they make the case that in fact he delivers for them in terms of right-wing judges who are opposed to abortion, you know, in terms of that support moving the capital Jerusalem in Israel, and all these things, they say, oh, you know what, yes, we know about the three marriages. Yeah, the wall hasn't been built. Yes. The deficits exploding. Yes, we understand about all the troubles in the chaos, but he's our guy.

And I think lots of people say, hey, evangelicals, why don't you live up to the principles that you espouse all the time? Why don't you live up to Jesus? Because it wouldn't be with this guy.

GUTFELD: But Juan, you're pro-choice.

WILLIAMS: What?

GUTFELD: You're very religious, yet you're pro-choice.

WILLIAMS: I am pro. What does that have to do?

GUTFELD: I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy that you have while you were pointing out the hypocrisy of theirs.

WILLIAMS: No. I don't think -- what do you mean? Because I'm religious, I can't be pro-choice?

GUTFELD: Yes.

WILLIAMS: I think that's exactly wrong.

GUTFELD: I am saying --

WILLIAMS: I think that -- I don't think that's true at all, Greg.

GUTFELD: I do.

KENNEDY: I don't think -- I don't think it's up to anyone else -- I don't think it's up to anyone else to dictate to an individual what their faith is, and how their faith and those deep-seated beliefs are somehow to translate to their support for a politician. Dana, last word. We need a voice of wisdom.

PERINO: Well, we are in the middle of -- well, not in the middle, we are at the beginning of a very strong testing of our country. We should not question each other's faith. We should not question each other in any way. We should help each other. We should love each other. We should make sure we're helping each other and we make sure that we're doing everything we possibly can to hold this country together.

We're going to get through this. But it's terrible that this is happening in an election year. But try to be better. You get a choice every day for what you want to say. And if you want to like win over the other side, maybe not basically call them deplorable.

WATTERS: Yes, be best.

KENNEDY: Well said.

GUTFELD: Be best.

KENNEDY: All right, be best and even better than that. "ONE MORE THING" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: So it's time now for one more thing. I'll go first. You know, in Italy, they're going through a lot. You might have seen this over the weekend.

His name is -- that's tenor Maurizio Marcini. And he was serenade in Florence just to give them a little bit of a lift. And I had him and his wife on the show today. Here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Music can lift up spirits. And now there are many people who are suffering. He's trying to help them in the way he can. So he's a singer and he sings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: And the best thing was their little kid jumped out in the middle of it. So I think we'll probably see a lot of this as we all Skype with our guests. And we wish -- we wish Italy the best for sure. Jesse?

WATTERS: New segment alert. Jesse's Vacation News. There we go. I wonder what's in that cup. All right, so the coronavirus pandemic is making everybody cancel their vacation plans and their cruises. So a couple from Australia took matters into their own hands. They just did a little cruise in their living room. They threw the robes on, threw some ocean views onto YouTube on their big screen, put their feet up and that's how we like it. You know what they call that? Fake cruise.

PERINO: I love it. I love it. Greg?

GUTFELD: You know, you didn't listen to the press conference. You're not allowed to be around a tanner. Let's do this. Greg's Attack of the 50 Foot Kitty News. Now I know we're going through some rough periods in our city, but check out this town. Going through some tough times themselves. A giant kitten has been walking over the local highways and trees.

PERINO: Scary.

GUTFELD: Yes. They had to shut down the highway and it's been going on -- this has been going --

PERINO: He's huge.

GUTFELD: This has been going on for three weeks.

KENNEDY: You better run if you ever see that.

GUTFELD: We can get through this. If that -- if they can survive the kitten, we can survive this.

PERINO: We can. All right, Juan.

WILLIAMS: All right. So Happy Birthday to my son Tony Williams. It was an unbelievable birthday not only for Tony but for me, because now I'm the father of a 40-year-old man.

GUTFELD: Wow.

WILLIAMS: Yes. I was 25 when the little guy was born. Take a look. There we are. Here he is at his christening. Here he is as a Presidential Scholar. And here is Mr. Corporate America at the World Series game with his mom and dad and his sister. By the way, she made him a beautiful cake. Here he is hitting the big floral at a dinner Saturday night.

PERINO: Gorgeous.

WILLIAMS: Happy birthday, Tony.

PERINO: Yes. Happy birthday, Tony. And Kennedy, lead us out.

KENNEDY: I love that cake. People are trying to cope with their quarantine. One woman invented the quarantini. It's an emergency packet and gin. And that was your drink. Emergen-C said do not mix our product with alcohol. One gin company said no, it actually sounds like a good idea if you're healthy. I don't know how you're coping with the crisis, but for many, they have become amateur mixologists. I don't know. What is your choice -- drink of choice during coronavirus, Greg?

GUTFELD: Booze.

KENNEDY: Any kind?

GUTFELD: Anything that's within six feet of me.

PERINO: And not 10 people ore more.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: All right, set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of "The Five." We're going to be here for you and we're excited to keep bringing you the news.

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