Florida shuts down some beaches to crack down on spring break partying amid coronavirus

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Florida shuts down some beaches to crack down on spring break partying amid coronavirus

COVID-19 pandemic hasn't stopped some breakers; reaction on 'The Five.'

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," March 19, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello, everyone. I am Dana Perino, along with Jesse Watters, Juan Williams, and Greg Gutfeld, and Dagen McDowell. It is 5:00 in New York City, and this is The Five. All right, so we are going to catch you up. The federal government and states are ramping up responses to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Cases in the United States hitting a milestone with an increase in testing, over 10,000 Americans are infected, and more than 150 have died, and this just in, the State Department advising all Americans to avoid international travel. And earlier today, President Trump announcing that the FDA is fast tracking possible treatments for the virus, it includes a drug used to fight malaria, the president is cautiously optimistic. Take a look a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I've directed the FDA to eliminate outdated rules and bureaucracy so this work can proceed rapidly, quickly, and I mean, fast. And we have to remove every barrier. There are a lot of barriers that were unnecessary. And they've done that to get the rapid deployment of safe, effective treatments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: And Americans struggling to deal with the economic fallout of the disease may be getting a much-needed boost. Senate Republicans moving very quickly to pass phase three of the Coronavirus stimulus package. The plan is worth upward of $1 trillion, and it would provide loans to small businesses and direct cash payments to Americans affected by the outbreak. Here is the president on that earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We are working with Congress to provide major additional relief to the workers, small businesses, and the hardest hit industries. We want to make sure that everybody is able to continue on. Some companies, as you know, did stock buybacks. And I was never happy with that. It's very hard to tell them not to, but I would tell them not to.

I can't say strongly enough. We will be helping small businesses. That's where it's complicated, because a lot of -- well, you know, that's the engine of the country. We will be helping small businesses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: And the president had a little fun with the media's attempt at physical distancing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You're actually sitting too close. You should -- really, we should probably get rid of about another 75, 80 percent of you. Just two or three that I like in this room, I think that's a great way of doing it. We're just beginning a new way of doing it. But you're actually much too close. You should leave immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: I don't know if the FDA commissioner, who was looking on, realized it was a joke. Because -- OK, I want to do three things here, I want to talk about the possible health benefits of the pharmaceutical companies working together and quickly at the president's direction with the FDA. I want to do economics. And then, of course, we can do a little bit of the politics if there is any today.

Greg, on the point about the FDA and trying to fast-track it, I mean, it still could take a while, the FDA commissioner said up to a year. But there is some promise that there are drugs that are on the market that maybe with a little modification could really help.

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: There's a -- actually, there's a lot of good news out there right now. That's why I was shaking my head about -- I don't care about the politics. There is good news that's kind of ironic that this will go on longer because the measures are working. If it's slowing the spread in intensity and flattening that steep peak, so it's more like a rolling hill. It will go on longer, but that's because it's working.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: -- and it doesn't overwhelm the --

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: Exactly. And so now you're talking about this anti-malarial drug, Chloroquine. It's been around for 70 years. So that means it's been -- humans can tolerate it. They know the side effects, so unlike a vaccine, it doesn't have to be, you know, tested for months and months. Bayer just donated three million tablets to the government.

So they have it. So that is also good news. The -- you know, you can argue that the predictions are gloomy, and they're gloomy in real. But they haven't factored in the human response. That's why I'm optimistic. All of these numbers that you hear are as if we did nothing, but you're seeing a lot of good news. You're seeing ingenuity.

You've got seven billion brains targeting one virus. I kind of feel bad for the virus. I think it's going to get destroyed. So the DOW is going to go up and down, because psychologically, we are all going up and down. I have to say this, though. When I'm sick -- and then I'll shut up, I am sick of me thinking that I'm sick all the time. Like, I swear --

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: That's not new.

GUTFELD: No.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: This is why we have the pharmaceutical ads on Fox, I sing during the side effects. Because I don't -- yes, because I get so easily influenced by the news and this stuff. It's really hard not to think you have something when all you hear about is the sickness. And that's why you've got to go outside and go for walks by yourself and get away from the influx because it messes with your brain.

PERINO: And Dagen, tell me a little bit about the economic package that they're working on in the Congress right now, big enough, fast enough, and can we get it to the right people in time for them to be able to pay some of their bills? Since -- as the president said, this was no fault of their own.

DAGEN MCDOWELL, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, they are trying, because cash is the medicine that the economy needs. But on the individual side and on the business, the business side is a great deal more complicated, because you're talking about bailouts. Are we going to take equity stakes and say the airlines -- basically taxpayers going to own part of Delta Air Lines or American, and then it falls to the hands of politicians.

On the individual side, they are looking at trying to get checks out in a matter of weeks. It could be $1200 per person, $500 for a child, family of four. It would be about $3400. There would be a cut off, say, if you make 95 or $99,000 a year. You're not going to get anything. But I was communicating telepathically with Greg.

And I looked into this. I'm a huge fan girl. And I love Richard Rubin at the Wall Street Journal. How do they get the money to the people? And it's exceedingly complicated. In 2008, under President Bush, he signed the checks into law in February. They didn't even start going out until April. So you're talking about -- you could get benefits through the Social Security Administration, through the VA, if you get direct deposit.

PERINO: What we need is some whiz kid to figure out how to do Venmo to the people that need it from the Treasury Department.

MCDOWELL: There are 23 percent fewer people working in the IRS than a few years ago. There is nobody who understands Venmo.

PERINO: Well, can be innovative, Jesse. We can find somebody like Al Fair (ph) that's thinking about this. I mean, you did see a lot of companies that are figuring out how can they do the right thing, as Greg mentioned, Bayer donating the money. Some companies saying that they would be willing to change their production in order to manufacture some of the healthcare products that might be needed like ventilators and masks.

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, that's why the administration seems so inspired today. It's is because they've started to realize they have they to harness the power of the private sector. And they should've done that weeks ago. And they're beginning to do that now. The president's slashing a lot of red tape so you're getting fast-tracked.

Hopefully, therapies coming out soon, overseas therapies, experimental therapies, therapies for malaria that can be repackaged, so the market really responded today when they discussed that at the press conference. But just to put a little point on what Greg was saying, it's all about the vaccine. And remember the space race?

I mean, probably you do, Greg. You're a little bit older that I do. But, you know, we need a race for the vaccine, like the Manhattan Project where you get the sharpest brains in the country in a room working 24/7 around- the-clock, because the vaccine is the key. And you've got to get it out in under a year. That's absolutely critical.

And CEOs have stepped up, Carnival Cruise offering their ships for extra bedding off the coast. Construction CEOs donated masks. GM CEOs say you can build the ventilators in our facility. So that's a good thing. Mike Bloomberg stepped up to the plate and donated $40 million to fight Coronavirus. He spent about a half billion on a presidential campaign.

Maybe he could dig a little deeper in his pockets. But it is very clear that the president is focused on getting money to small business and workers, and that's the key.

PERINO: Indeed. And Juan, I had two quick questions for you. One is that I don't know if you saw, but Jerome Powell, the nation's surgeon general, he made a call out today to Americans to go consider going to give blood, because of all of this. And people staying homes, the blood banks across the country are really low. And he was saying it is safe to give blood, and we really need people to do that, so there's a call for that.

JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS HOST: That's good news. I mean, we should have done so much of this long ago. I mean, to me, a lot of the actions that are now being taken by the White House should have been taken sometime before. And that's not a political analysis. I mean, it's just -- I mean, for example, if you look at a Republican like Governor DeWine in Ohio.

He has been proactive in terms of saying here's what we should be doing, in creating a model for lots of governors and mayors around the country.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: But isn't that where it's supposed to come from, though? I mean, in our system, the state and local governments are on the frontlines. And so they are the innovators.

WILLIAMS: I disagree. I think that what you need here is leadership from the top, because the top has the resources, just as we are talking with Dagen a moment ago about the money and trying to inject money into a faltering economy at this time. So much of it has to come from the federal leadership. And that's why when you see the president, you know, try to say, yeah.

You know, we knew this was coming. You say what, what is going on? He's just trying to distract. I think he denies a lot of this stuff. I think in a moment like this, you know, I think in my mind back to 9/11. After President Bush began to react with some empathy and also the capacity it seems to me to be honest at a moment of crisis with the American people.

You saw his poll numbers and the trust level just skyrocket, 90 percent. But today, I do think it's comparable. We are going through a crisis in our society. And what you see is that the trust coming from the American people is much lower in this situation, because the transparency is not there.

GUTFELD: You know when somebody says that, you know, something good should have been done sooner? It's absolutely meaningless, because all good things could be done sooner.

PERINO: And also, history has a long arc. And people will be able -- we are in the middle of a crisis right now and that will sort itself out.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: We couldn't keep the politics out for one damn block?

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: -- Tulsi Gabbard dropped out today, and nobody even noticed. OK, coming up, some positive developments in the fight against the Coronavirus, up next.

GUTFELD: Unbelievable.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: The Coronavirus is creating a lot of fear and panic around the country. But there is some positive news. If you're worried about there being enough food at the grocery store, suppliers say there is plenty to go around and sold out items will be restocked, Ford and GM reportedly in talks to make rush orders of ventilators if needed.

And if China's telling the truth, for the first time since the outbreak began, there are no new cases in the city of Wuhan. And politicians appear to be getting along to solve the problem. Here's President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE) the governors -- even Gavin Newsom who, you know, I am usually fighting with over the fires. And I think you should do a different kind of a job in the forest and lots of things, we argue a lot. But Gavin Newsom has been very, very generous. Andrew Cuomo has been really, very generous. I mean, they're saying we're doing a great job, and everybody is saying it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: And even though he's running for president, Bernie Sanders says he doesn't have time to worry about it right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are dealing with a global crisis. And you're asking me these questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Greg, you don't have a lot in common with Bernie Sanders. But maybe that is -- right there. I don't have time for politics right now.

GUTFELD: There you go. He actually understands the priority over politics is this. And by the way, we left out -- we have to give credit where credit is due. Ilhan Omar also praised Trump very strongly about his actions. Remember, like, four days ago? People were taking pictures of empty shelves. Now, we have people on Twitter taking pictures of full shelves, as if it's somehow magical.

No, it's America. It's industry. It's capitalism. Three cheers to our truck drivers, you know our farmers. Our -- and truck drivers who are self- distancing every day in a truck. I mean, what does it say about our system when in the midst of a crisis we can still eat and we can still function. Those shortages are artificial and short term.

People are running out of coconut water. I feel terrible about that. But I'm also happy, you know, when you see that we've eliminated red tape so that, you know, doctors can now practice over state lines. When we see how that works, that should be -- that should remain permanent. A lot of these positive things should become permanent. Like, Brian Kilmeade staying away from me is really positive.

WATTERS: You like the social distancing among anchors. Yes, I see that. How did you know that I had run out of coconut water?

GUTFELD: Because I saw your assistant bringing you a six-pack of it, you sick little man.

WATTERS: I need it for my smoothies. I've got to stay healthy. Dana, to Greg's point --

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: -- this is not something I'd like to discuss on live television. Let's move on to the substance, Dana. As Greg said, even Ilhan Omar giving the president good marks, you combine that with the governors of New York and California. It seems like the country is rallying together and trying to get things done for the American people.

PERINO: Well, I mean -- we all knew this, like, underneath. Like, I think that the partisanship and the polarization in the country is quite exacerbated in our minds. I don't think that the country actually is as far apart as you think. And there's nothing like a crisis to focus the hearts and minds of people, including politicians and those in Washington.

I -- and they all need each other right now. The governors know that they absolutely need the president. And the president needs the governors to do what their responsibilities are at the frontlines, doing their innovative things, and trying to help them where he can, and then providing FEMA assistance. Like, that's how our system works.

And it's unfortunate that it takes a crisis to bring everybody together. But when we do it, we do it well. And this is a time also -- if I could just say one thing about the truckers. OK, so these are people who already are treated pretty badly in society, right? So it -- well, I shouldn't say all of them. But for example, right now, a lot of the rest areas are closed.

OK, where are they supposed to go if they need to rest, if they need to get some coffee? They need to use the restroom. A lot of rest rooms, they're closed. Well, we have to all think about this. The truckers are really important. And I know a lot of them listen to this show. I want you to know we are thinking about you.

And I hope that the government -- and I mean state governments can really think about how they can make our system work a little bit better for these people who are working so hard for us.

GUTFELD: Are you offering them your bathroom?

PERINO: I will let them use my bathroom, absolutely.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: You might regret that, Dana.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: I will not regret it. I will not let you use the restroom after all the coconut water.

WATTERS: OK. Yeah, I'm going to be in there for a while. Dagen, what do you think about the support that the president and governors have gotten from businesses throughout the country?

MCDOWELL: You know who gets a big woo-hoo, Greg Abbott of Texas, less than 24 hours ago. Restaurants in Texas can now deliver alcoholic beverages with food purchases to customers, not the only state that's doing it, but again, getting out of the way so these restaurants can stay in business. To Greg's point and to Dana's point, I've actually started stopping anybody who I know is humping it and on the job.

Restocking shelves, delivering packages, and just stopping them in the street, and saying I appreciate you. Thank you. And I've been tipping like a crazy person, actually just -- I am not joking. I've been handing out cash to people. If I've got a 20 in my pocket, I literally will give a UPS driver a fun ticket.

WATTERS: Oh, maybe I can deliver groceries to your apartment later.

PERINO: Maybe we should give it to your assistant for bringing coconut water.

WATTERS: OK, very good, Dana. Moving on, I should never have brought that up. Juan Williams, a lot of good things happening in this country that -- this country is a resilient nation. And the people are very resourceful and innovative. And I think the innovation and the ethic and the work ethic, that's what's going to be critical in recovering from this situation.

WILLIAMS: Yeah. We talk about heroes. I just wanted to talk about the doctors. Because to me, the doctors who are on the frontline and I, you know, have relatives working in emergency rooms. My brother-in-law is a big doctor here in D.C., my father-in-law. So these doctors are at tremendous risk for exposure to the virus.

Nonetheless, we have to keep them well. And they are being very brave, often times working extreme hours in order to staff these hospitals, emergency rooms, even some of these checkpoints that have been constructed to test people for the virus. So I just wanted to say hats off to them. The other part of this is I think you guys are so quick to talk about the governors.

And even now, apparently, you have a new favorite in Ilhan Omar. But I think a lot of the politicians in the country realize you've got to kiss up to the government right now, to president Trump and others, and the CDC and the rest, in order to get attention at a critical moment. And I think it's important to understand how that relationship of those very, you know, key gears like relationship can work.

But when you talk about giving out money, when you talk about bailouts for big business, gee, I think, this was the party that was running against socialism, running against Andrew Yang and Bernie Sanders just a few minutes ago.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: And I say this with all due respect.

WILLIAMS: Yeah.

WATTERS: You are really misreading the room.

WILLIAMS: Oh, yeah.

WATTERS: You are misreading the country.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: We are doing a segment about the positivity of Americans coming together from all walks of life, from the private sector to the public sector, from everyone. And you keep on ruining it. So maybe think about that after the commercial break.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: -- a little more positive, Juan.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: -- a little more positive in a time when the country really needs positivity, all right?

WILLIAMS: I think you should go listen to some of the Trump rallies.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: -- shut down spring break after college students went wild on the beach.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: It looks like the party is over for spring breakers in Florida. They've been crowding the beaches during the Coronavirus outbreak. But now, Governor Ron DeSantis is weighing in on that dangerous situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So the message, I think, for spring breakers is that the party is over in Florida. You're not going to be able to congregate on any beach in the state. Many of the hot spots that people like to go to, whether it's Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Clearwater Beach, are closed entirely for the time being.

The bars are closed. So you're not going to have a place to congregate there. So we would just tell those folks, you know, maybe come back next year when things are better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: New CDC numbers show that 30 percent of U.S. Coronavirus cases impact young people. But these hard-partying kids either don't know about it or don't care about it. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If I get Corona, I get Corona. At the end of the day, I'm not going to let it stop me from partying.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's really messing with my spring break. What is there to do here other than go to the bars or the beach? They're closing all of it. I think they're blowing it way out of proportion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are more serious things out there, like hunger and poverty.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just turned 21 this year, so I'm here to party. So it's kind of disappointing. But we are just making the most of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: So Jesse, I go back to you, the young man on the panel. And I was thinking to myself, should Governor DeSantis have shut this down before these young people got there in the last two weeks?

WATTERS: Perhaps he was thinking that young people needed to get some fresh air, you know? Maybe the -- not the spring breakers that wanted to get out and get a little breeze and maybe that was healthy. But once they started inundating these beaches, he had to do what he had to do. And he made the right call. We're going to have two of these spring breakers that partied during the pandemic that you saw there on the clip on Watters World.

This weekend at 8:00, so check that out, but it's a messaging war. And I think in the beginning of that messaging war, a lot of the focus was on the elderly and the people with weak immune systems. And that gave a lot of young Americans the thought that, hey, I was immune to this thing. And I could slide by, but they didn't realize that they could then get it.

And infect older Americans, AKA the people that pay their tuition. So I think it's smart now that the taskforce is doing a lot of outreach. They're talking Barstool Sports. Dr. Fauci's doing a Facebook Live with Mark Zuckerberg. And it really is just getting educated about it.

WILLIAMS: So let's take a look at that. That was so interesting to me. Here's Barstool Sports, and here's Dr. Fauci talking to them like they're eight years old.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speak to us like we're eight years old. How does something like this even start?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would you say to young people out there that might be thinking like I'm young, I'm spry, I'm healthy.

ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We need the young people to help us to protect the vulnerable because when an individual who's young gets infected and either has no symptoms at all, or even mild symptoms, that individual will continue the virus spreading in the community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: So Dagen, when you're in New York City, I don't -- I think the bars are closed, the clubs are closed. What do you see from young people in an urban setting?

MCDOWELL: Well, they closed on because people wouldn't stop going to the restaurants and bars. And I'll add that idiocy and arrogance do not disappear when you start getting crow's feet, gray hair, and a pooch.

We're just not showing video of how many 30-something women are out in groups in this country last night going out. I'm getting married, I finally found a man, let's party. We're just hitting on -- we're just hammering these young people because they just happen to be in the bright sunshine.

WILLIAMS: Wow. Dana, what do you think? How was the New York City behavior?

PERINO: Well, pretty good. I mean, like there's -- I feel like there's nobody out. But again, I don't go out. I go home and I'm just trying to be very responsible. I thought that the Barstool Sports, having Dr. Fauci on, it was great for Barstool Sports. Thank you for having him on.

And Dr. Fauci, he's a national treasure. I think he should get the National Medal of Freedom when this is over. Dr. Birx probably as well because they are working -- they have worked nonstop for two months on this.

And the other thing I'm a little concerned about, though, is so Governor Desantis makes this decision, and now all of these young people are just going to go home. And then what? I mean -- and you can see those simulations as things spread, that's how it happens.

WILLIAMS: Yes. That's why I was curious about why he didn't do it earlier. But let's -- you know, I think he reacted to the aerial photos showing the beaches being crowded. So Greg, when you look at New York City, or you look at the beach, the question occurs to people well, what happens when people start to feel a little bit like cabin fever in a week or two, because the government saying this is going to take much longer than just two weeks?

GUTFELD: Well, I'm going to have to disagree with Dagen for the first time ever. Young people are stupid is a headline you could use in every single decade. Being a human is interesting. In order to get to adulthood, you have to survive your own stupidity as a teen because your brain isn't fully formed.

So you can run someone over in a car, you could get drunk or overdose and kill yourself. You can -- you can permanently alter your life by being a dumb teen. And the only thing that gets that teen into adulthood is something mysterious. It's called parents. Where the F are these parents?

These parents paid for their GED trips. These parents knew they were going there during this pandemic. The parents said, oh, be safe, and please don't drink too much, and don't get you know -- don't hook up. There's a -- there's a disease out there that's going to -- they're going to bring back and kill you and your parents.

So it's -- yes, kids are stupid, but we created a family structure so that the teenagers can make it to adulthood through the mentoring of parents. But when the parent abdicate that responsibility, you have spring break with a bunch of people who just see short term benefit, partying, and not the long term risks which is death. Teens favor short term benefit over long term risk. This is showing you this, and the parents should have stopped this and they didn't and they're losers.

WATTERS: Greg, I have to say something. I can't believe I'm saying this. You'd make a great father.

PERINO: You would.

WATTERS: It's not too late.

WILLIAMS: All right, up next, up next, President Trump calling out China after brand new information shows that country could have slowed the coronavirus outbreak globally by acting sooner. That's next on THE FIVE.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCDOWELL: What did China know and when did it know it? A new report shows the coronavirus outbreak could have been contained by 95 percent if the communist regime acted sooner. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushing for answers saying if we do not figure out where China went wrong, we could face another crippling pandemic in the future. And President Trump addressed the cover-up earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, it would have been much better if we had known about this a number of months earlier. It could have been contained to that one area in China where it started. And certainly, the world is paying a big price for what they did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCDOWELL: Jesse?

WATTERS: Well, the first case of coronavirus surfaced in mid-November. That's four months ago. And when the scientists identified the virus, the Chinese government told them to destroy the samples, and they gagged the scientists and told them to lie about it. Then they allowed these wet markets where the contamination started to remain open.

They told the WHO, World Health Organization that it was not contagious, human to human. They allowed the New Year's celebration and Wuhan, 11 million people to go on. Everybody drinking and eating and having a great time together. And that was a colossal mistake. Then they allowed thousands of Chinese citizens to fly all over the country. The Chinese government dragged its feet in releasing data to the rest of the world on this.

And when the Trump administration offered to send U.S. scientist to Wuhan to investigate and help, they said, no, you're not allowed. So now when they say, oh, the U.S. military, they were the ones that planted the virus in Wuhan, and they say we're going to withhold drugs from the United States during the pandemic, that's just crazy. And the fact that the President calls it the Chinese virus, he just wants to make sure that there's a little accountability and truth to what happened.

MCDOWELL: Juan?

WILLIAMS: Jesse, I think you're misreading the room. It's supposed to be a happy show today.

WATTERS: I'm talking about the Chinese government, Juan, covering things up.

WILLIAMS: Oh, I see. I see. We don't talk about -- we don't talk about us.

WATTERS: You seem to want to blame the President instead of the Chinese communist government, and that's where you're wrong.

WILLIAMS: I know who I elected, OK. So here's the thing.

WATTERS: Yes, you elected President Trump.

WILLIAMS: Yes, that's right. That's my president. That's what I say I speak about him.

WATTERS: Yes, he's our president, Juan, not the Chinese communist.

WILLIAMS: But I will say this. We have time -- we have time -- we're going to have time for after-action reports. I think it's inevitable. We're going to have a 9/11 commission style review of what happened. So we will be able to know exactly what happened and where this came from. I think it's so important. But I want to underline something that you said, which is something actually Senator Rubio and others have said, which is that we are so reliant on the Chinese.

Right now, we have I believe it's Governor Cuomo of New York over in China trying to look at them in terms of whether or not they have ventilators that they can sell us to help our hospitals. We are reliant on them in terms of our prescription drugs delivered in large part from China.

And so when they get vengeful or angry or whatever, you know, we have to somehow step in and say, you know what, this is too much. We can come back and make some of these things in the United States. Now, I understand it's going to be a higher cost.

MCDOWELL: Which is actually, Greg --

WATTERS: I agree, Juan. I agree.

MCDOWELL: Yes. And that's actually what President Trump's tried to do over the last three years is extricate ourselves from our reliance on China as a manufacturing hub. But Greg, what do you say?

GUTFELD: I, as a member of the media, I am absolutely disgusted, how we're saying these negative things about China. I mean, I just can't believe I mean, really, that's racist. This entire segment is racist, because we're pointing out the disease -- the disease's origins, and we shouldn't be ashamed of ourselves with dealing in facts. That's awful.

My suggestion I actually agree with Juan. Let's -- we need to turn our focus away from blaming people and make a list of the people who need to pay. And six months from now, we go back we look at the list, because right now, I want to get people well. I want to find the -- find the treatments and do all the good stuff. And you know what, screw the Chinese government. We'll deal with them later.

MCDOWELL: But Dana, I'll point out that the China, Jesse was mentioning, is waging a disinformation campaign on social media platforms that are created in the U.S. that their own citizens don't see, but we certainly do.

PERINO: That's why I actually think we have to -- I think we have to fight that part now. The after-action report on our actions and things, we can save that for later. But I would not rest on these propaganda pieces. We should try to get as much information in there as possible. Authoritarian regimes, that's how this kind of thing happens.

You had journalists there that were trying -- Chinese journalists, that were trying to raise the alarm. They're the ones that were put in jail. They're the ones who were rounded up. They're the ones who are now trying to use emojis and Morse code in order to get around the censors because they're worried about it.

I think we need a lot more of a push of social media into that country. We've got to talk to the younger people of China. Because the propaganda war, that is a serious one. And the only way to really deal with it is to have a lot of truth. And if we don't hold China accountable for this now, you know it's going to happen again, and it could be worse next time.

MCDOWELL: Indeed. More of THE FIVE next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: Welcome back. Time for the "FASTEST SEVEN." First up, Hollywood celebrities teaming up to make us all feel a little bit better by singing John Lennon's classic Imagine, but maybe making things worse or better. Listen at your own risk.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAL GADOT, ACTRESS: Imagine there's no heaven.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's easy if try.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No hell below us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Above is only sky.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Imagine all the people --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Living for today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: See, I liked it all the way up to that point because she blocked me on Twitter. But that's -- you know, here's the thing. I can't rag on this Dana, because I'm telling people to do productive, constructive things with their free time, and that's what they did.

PERINO: Honestly, what would we do without social media in the time of corona crisis?

GUTFELD: Exactly.

PERINO: I mean, basically --

GUTFELD: How would I talk to my wife?

PERINO: -- corona crisis, not coronavirus, corona crisis. Did you hear that? I just coined a new term. So, I mentioned yesterday that when I walked home the other day, I didn't have -- I did not have to look both ways crossing the streets. There's nobody here.

So this morning when I walked to work, I was listening to Go Ahead and Break My Heart by Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani, there's no one -- I sang out loud. For the first time in my life in New York City, all along, nobody have videotaped me, nobody judged me, I just sang.

GUTFELD: Wow. You sang like --

PERINO: And I have the worst voice.

GUTFELD: You know, it's -- the other reason why you don't have to look both ways, Dana, is the cars usually go right over you.

PERINO: Yes, I mean, it's handy.

GUTFELD: Yes, it really is. You know, Jesse, people would expect you to bash these celebrities. But you know what? I bet you're not I bet you're going to say, you know what, good for them.

WATTERS: That's where you're wrong, Gutfeld. No, I'm kidding. I would say this. Their heart's in the right place, but I don't like the way they did it as much as I liked the way Arnold Schwarzenegger did it.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WATTERS: Arnold Schwarzenegger is sitting in a hot tub at his mansion with a cigar and his dog telling everybody to stay home and stay at a spring break. That's the way to do it. Make it an educational message, maybe not just singing and say it's all about me, even though, Greg, their heart's in the right place.

GUTFELD: Yes, you know, Juan, I have to applaud it even though I don't know at least 80 percent of the people there.

WILLIAMS: Right. I wasn't sure. I wish they kind of put up chyrons to tell me who's that singing. But I like it, and I tell you why. Because I think anything, anything to give us a little joy and fun and even if you don't like it, even a little humor, a reason to make fun of somebody, bring it on. We needed.

Humans are social animals. And at this point, when we're all kinds of, you know, distancing and isolating and sheltering in place, I think the internet and the web and all that, it's playing an important and new role for us as humans.

GUTFELD: Yes. Dagen. OK, this has been overwhelmingly positive and I'm going to have to change my mind and say it's a terrible video because I can't be around this positivity.

MCDOWELL: Yes, only if narcissism killed the virus. No, I'm going to say -- I'm going to say positive things about this because they all -- I do know who they all are because I never leave the house. I don't get out. I have no friends, too. They all sing better than I do. I would just pick a different song. Search and destroy --

PERINO: Yes, something a little --

MCDOWELL: No Search and Destroy the Stooges.

GUTFELD: There you go.

PERINO: I don't know that one.

GUTFELD: You know, you don't know the Search and Destroyed by --

MCDOWELL: I'm a street walking Cheeto with a heart full of napalm.

PERINO: I'm going to listen to it on my way home.

GUTFELD: Oh, you'll love it. Sing it out loud, Dana.

PERINO: OK.

GUTFELD: All right, oh, wow, we got a special one more thing up next with these little furry friends.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: Look, she's back and we will explain in a moment. It's time for "ONE MORE THING." Greg, explain.

GUTFELD: All right, let's do this. Yes, look at that. It's a live version. OK, Cats vs. Cancer is a charity nonprofit site that is run by volunteers to help people battling cancer. They have this thing called March Meowdness which cats compete and you can vote by going to catsvscancer.org to -- for the -- for your favorite feline and all money goes to cancer and --

PERINO: Yes. And this is the first round.

GUTFELD: Yes. So here we are. We have two cats. So the first one Danna has, this is her assistant Hamdas' cat. She doesn't get her coconut water but she does eat cheese and yogurt is what this cat. Sahar.

PERINO: She's Sahar which means desert. Oh, look at this thing.

GUTFELD: She likes to play with cats.

PERINO: We get our hair done at the same place.

GUTFELD: Apparently, Sahar is fair and balanced. I don't know what that means. All right, let's go to Pishi. Jesse?

WATTERS: I don't know the name of this cat I'm holding.

GUTFELD: This is -- this is Jackie Heinrich's cat. Her office is in between me and Jesse's. So that's kind of scares me about my vote. But --

WATTERS: What have you heard Jackie?

GUTFELD: Her name means Kitty in Farsi. Oh, and when Jackie cuts a lemon, he comes running because he thinks tuna is next. So we have to vote on which one is the better cat. I'm going to tell you right now that I was blackmailed by Dana's assistant who said that if I didn't vote for her cat, Dana wouldn't do my show Saturday night. So there's that.

PERINO: I'm also an emergency fill-in for your show. And I think I'm doing a very nice thing. And I think this cat -- look at how fluffy this cat is.

GUTFELD: All right, how do they vote?

WATTERS: I have not been bribed, so I'm open to it.

GUTFELD: OK. Do people vote for this online?

PERINO: Yes.

GUTFELD: All right, vote online.

PERINO: Just get in the Web site catsvscancer.org.

GUTFELD: Yes, beautiful cats, beautiful cats.

PERINO: All right.

GUTFELD: I'm voting for -- I'm voting for yours, Hamda.

PERINO: Hamda's cat, Hamda's win.

GUTFELD: Sorry, Jackie. You know how it gets on my show.

PERINO: OK, the contest is still going on. OK. Jesse, your next.

WATTERS: That means Jackie doesn't have to help protect your secrets anymore, Greg. See, here's everything. Be careful with your book. All right, remember how yesterday we showed you the video of those Italians playing racquetball outside of their quarantine department buildings. Well, Italians are very innovative. Look what they do with the espresso. Attach it to a little line. Hey, you want some espresso? Sure. Coming your way. There you go. People coming together.

PERINO: I love it.

WATTERS: Isn't that what this is all about?

GUTFELD: Yes.

PERINO: I love them.

GUTFELD: Or people saying apart actually.

WATTERS: Right, apart together.

PERINO: I'll do this one quickly. So a lot of concerts have been canceled. You know that. And a number of country music stars have started putting their concerts online for you to see. So last night Levi Lowrey played for nearly an hour on Facebook. That the latest show he's put on this week. He's great. And superstar Brad Paisley is going live in just a few minutes at 6:00 p.m. Eastern. And he even gave people his phone number and you can call and have a request.

And then tomorrow, if you want to tune in, we were doing a Storytime with Dana. That's where you know, if you want to flatten the curve, and you've got little kids and you want to give them a little time with Dana for Storytime, that'll be tomorrow at 4:15. All right, Juan, you're next.

GUTFELD: All right. So here's no random act of kindness. Here's a coordinated effort and it's being launched by athletes and team owners to help out workers at arenas and stadiums that are now quiet because of the coronavirus pandemic. Every major league team is donating a million dollars to help stadium staff according to Commissioner Rob Manfred. And here I am, by the way, with Usher at two of my favorite stadiums, Nationals Park and Orioles Park.

Meanwhile, the NBA teams and its players are making similar donations to help out staff at their arenas. Milwaukee Bucks MVP Center Giannis Antetokounmpo is donating $100,000 to workers at Pfizer forum in Milwaukee. These guys are real good sports.

PERINO: Dagen, I'm sorry, earlier my -- the cat was covering my microphone. I had a really good "ONE MORE THING." But Dagen, you go next.

MCDOWELL: Thank you. I will be brief. This cat hates Jesse, by the way. Once we're off the air, he's going to eat Jesse. People on social media are encouraging everybody do decorate their homes with Christmas lights. There you go. Lift people's spirits.

PERINO: Yes, OK. Well, vote for Sahar. That's what I said. Set your DVRs.

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