Gen. Kelly makes presence felt on first day at White House

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Gen. Kelly makes presence felt on first day at White House

New White House chief of staff ushered in, communications director escorted out; reaction and analysis on 'The Five'

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," July 31, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JESSE WATTERS, CO-HOST: Hello everybody. I'm Jesse Watters, along with Kimberly Guilfoyle, Juan Williams, Dana Perino, and Greg Gutfeld. It's 9 o'clock in New York City and this is "The Five."

Another big shakeup in the West Wing. President Trump's Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci is out, less than two weeks after being hired for the job. This is retired General John Kelly took command as the new White House chief-of-staff. Press Secretary Sarah Sanders explains why the change was made.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, the President felt that Anthony's comments were inappropriate for a person in that position, and he didn't want to burden General Kelly also with that line of succession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: And take a look at how the broadcast news networks covered Scaramucci's firing tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The staff bloodletting at the White House claimed Anthony Scaramucci today, ousted this afternoon after a stormy six days on the job.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was one of the fastest, crudest flame outs in West Wing history. Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, known simply as "The Mooch" just 11 days on the job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So far, in the Trump presidency, there have been nearly half as many firings at the White House as an average season of "The Apprentice."

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: Oh my God!

(LAUGHTER)

WATTERS: Let's bring in chief national correspondent Ed Henry from outside the White House. So, personally I was sad to see the mooch go. I thought he was bombastic, very loyal guy, very fun to cover, created a lot of life into the communication shop for a very short period of time. So, there's two theories about what happened. Kelly comes in. He's disciplined, he's military brass, can't have anybody running wild to the press and saying these things, it didn't look good outside the chain of command, goodbye.

And then there is other people that said, this guy flew too close to the sun. He was kind of a mini Trump, big ego, took a lot of attention, didn't look good for the Trump brand. So people close to Trump said, good night. How do you see it?

ED HENRY, FOX NEWS: The sense of my reporting tonight, Jesse is that it is both, frankly. I mean, if you go back to his one and only briefing where he did that little kiss to the media at the end. You know, Anthony Scaramucci says, as an entrepreneur, he knew all about, you know, incrementalism, and that you don't want to say or do anything too outlandish.

You just basically want the three yards and a cloud of dust and just keep gaining grounds. That's not what he did. He did flame out from the beginning, he was all in, then the profanity laced interview with the New Yorker, one thing after another just piled up. And the second part of this, as you mentioned about General Kelly, this was served up to him on a platter. What better way for General Kelly on day one, our one practically this morning, to say there is a new sheriff here, we are turning the page.

Scaramucci, basically with all the antics and all of the rest, made it actually quite easy for the new chief of staff to say, here is somebody I can throw aside. And, you know, some of the other folks inside the White House, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and others, they wanted to see Reince Priebus go. So, for them, Anthony Scaramucci took care of business if you will, got Priebus out, got Sean Spicer out, and now you have General Kelly, hopefully for, if you're Jared Kushner or Ivanka Trump, hopefully starting a whole new chapter for their father and father-in-law.

WATTERS: Man, maybe this is all an elaborate plan to bring in Scaramucci and --

HENRY: Nothing was planned. But yes.

WATTERS: Anyway, we will go around the table. Kimberly Guilfoyle.

KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, CO-HOST: Yes. So, I was listening to the press conference earlier with Sarah Sanders and then the press release. And there was also a statement earlier. I know Dave Bossie was on with Tucker about the next steps and whether or not he is going to do any other position.

HENRY: Yes. Well, the press release was interesting. You're right, Kimberly. Because it said that Anthony Scaramucci had gone to the new chief of staff General Kelly and said he wanted to offer him a clean slate, so he can put his own team in place. That put it, you know, sort of framed it, as Scaramucci stepping aside and resigning basically. When Sarah Huckabee Sanders came out, she made it sound like a lot more of a firing saying that the President was offended by some of the language that Scaramucci used in that New Yorker interview, that maybe there's too much going on.

And it sounded more like he was pushed out, and frankly, it was confusing about whether or not he was going to go back to the export import bank, which is where he was before he came in as communications director, because you're right Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, flatly, he does not have a role in the administration right now, basically. So, maybe the door is open after the dust settles for him to go back to the Export Import Bank, but even if he does that, that is a whole lot different than the job he was boasting about ten days ago when he said, I have got access to the Oval Office. I report directly to the President. I don't have to go through Reince Priebus. Things have changed, and they have changed directly.

WATTERS: And now for someone who was very sad to see Scaramucci go, Juan Williams.

JUAN WILLIAMS, CO-HOST: Hey, Ed.

HENRY: Good to see you.

WILLIAMS: I am still not clear on sequence of events. As I understand, that the President over the weekend, some people say soured on Scaramucci and the profanity lace tirade give to the New Yorker. But then I hear other people say, oh, no, it was the new chief-of-staff Mr. Kelly who said he has to go. What is the case?

HENRY: Well, I think the idea and I'm glad you brought that up again. I mentioned in a moment ago to Kimberly that, you know, the story going around from the White House is the President was offended by the profanity from Anthony Scaramucci. That has a lot of the President's critics tonight kind of rolling their eyes, saying, really, the President, locker room talk? He was offended like that? That sounds a bit more like cover.

What was really going on here was General Kelly wanting to put his stamp as the new chief of staff on this White House. And with Anthony Scaramucci, he had a great opportunity to do that. And in fact, there are people close to Scaramucci suggesting over the weekend, he was trying to get some sort of a vote of confidence from General Kelly, and it never came. And it is interesting that we got some pictures of Scaramucci, in the Oval Office, when the press got in about 9:30, 9:40 this morning after the new chief-of- staff was officially sworn in. He was in the Oval Office, and then about a half hour or so later, the President has a cabinet meeting, with no sign of Scaramucci. So, he was pushed out pretty quickly.

WATTERS: Dana Perino.

PERINO: Well, it's interesting if you hear anything within the White House in terms of the staff just feeling, maybe a sense of relief that the marines have landed, and there is going to be just some calming of the seas in the West Wing.

HENRY: Well, it is interesting, because when you talk about calming, the President started today with a tweet saying that with the stock market rising to a record level with the Southern border being secured, some of his accomplishments being laid out that he doesn't think the mainstream media is giving him credit for, he put out this tweet saying, there is no chaos here at the White House. Making it like, yes, General Kelly is coming in and it is all going to be tranquil, and then a couple of hours later, yes, there is even more tumult.

So, frankly, what I have been hearing from advisors of the President and some staffers around here, is that they are hoping that General Kelly is turning the page and bringing, restoring some order here in the medium term. But in the short term, this with Scaramucci leaving so abruptly is yet another example of why a lot of people in this administration are on edge, because they don't know how many more people General Kelly will bring in to put his own stamp on the White House, and how many people will be moving out. So, in the short term, there is a lot of uncertainty.

WATTERS: Brace yourself, Ed. Greg has a question, it could be a statement. We're not sure.

GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: I have a hypothetical question.

WATTERS: I don't answer hypotheticals.

GUTFELD: Well, answer it then. Do you know who lasted longer than Scaramucci at the White House? Anyone who has ever taken the tour?

(LAUGHTER)

I don't want to hammer him too hard, he'll end up working here. I don't want to make it awkward in the men's room. But I don't think it's about restoring order at all. It's about establishing order. We haven't had any order, and maybe you can agree with me, because that's what I'd like you to do, I think this is a good thing.

And the reason why I think it is a good thing is because all of these reporters, Jesse included -- are sad to see him go for purely the entertainment value. That he will always be giving these gasps. He is an endless fountain of craziness. So, it is a good thing to deprive the media of this opportunity for gasps. It might mean an establishment of order, of everything settling down as Dana says.

HENRY: Yes. You know, if you strip away all of the other media gibberish about this and that, and what's going on, some of what the President is tweeting about is absolutely true. The stock market keeps reaching record levels. General Kelly at the Department of Homeland Security has been cracking down on illegal immigration. People, you know, sharply reduced number of people, illegals are trying to cross the border, because they know there is literally a new sheriff in town.

He is actually succeeding at some of the things he promised to do. But there are other big things, like tax reform, like health care, that he has not yet succeeding at, or struggling at in the case of health care. Tax reform, glass half-full, because they are just starting to tackle that. And so, the bottom line is, you go back to the Obama days, you can use the pen and the phone, and do all the executive actions you want.

That is larger what this president has done, but I think the lesson of the Obama years, among other things is, a new president comes in and undos all of the, as many as those executive actions as they want. You have to lock in legislative gains. So the sideshows with Scaramucci if that is out of the way, this president can finally, maybe, maybe, maybe, focus on those legislative goals he promised the American people.

WATTERS: Okay. And just in my defense since Gutfeld attacked me unfairly, I don't like Scaramucci for the gasps, I like him for the laughs. But it's also --

GUTFELD: But it's the same thing.

WATTERS: No. I think he has a different sense of humor, Gutfeld.

GUTFELD: Thank God!

WATTERS: But I thought in this first press conference, he was very effective and kind of disarming the media at the same time, coming out swinging.

HENRY: Yes.

WATTERS: Now, I want to ask you before we let you go, about this "Washington Post" story that is making some headlines.

HENRY: Yes.

WATTERS: Trump's dictated sons misleading statement on meeting with Russia lawyer saying, on Air Force One, when the Trump, Jr. Russia meeting story was breaking, the father, the President came in and said no, no, no, no, we are going to write it like this. They say it is misleading, and it's not very well sourced, so I'm wondering what your take on this is.

HENRY: Well, some of this is probably hyped. Because "The New York Times" had already reported that on the way back from the G-20 Summit, the President and some aides were on Air Force One crafting that statement and had a direct role in what Donald Trump, Jr., was going to say at the New York Times when that story first broke about the Trump Tower meeting in the summer of 2016.

What is new tonight from the Washington Post is they're saying, it wasn't just the President and his aides on Air Force One crafting a statement, they are claiming, from their sources, that it was the President himself sort of ripping up the statement, almost disavowing the advice of his advisors, to be more transparent and getting all the details out there. And instead, the President, they are claiming the Washington Post tonight, directed this himself and put out a misleading statement. This was about Russian adoption, it wasn't about the campaign.

And as we all know now, new details keep dribbling out after that. So, bottom-line tonight, that is something that a lot of people are going to be hyperventilating about overnight, there is no crime, though in a misleading statement that is put out. The question for the President is going to be, wait a second, is this a part of a larger pattern of firing James Comey and other things that made it at least look like he didn't want the truth to come out, the facts to come out on Russia.

Of course, the President would reject that narrative, but that is the case "The Washington Post" is trying to make tonight. I can tell you, I just spoke a moment ago with one of the President's top advisors outside the White House, who told me after reading this "Washington Post" story, this advisor said, this is a problem, because it is making it look like the President directed the misleading statement, and was more involved in it than we knew before.

A lot more facts are going to come out, as we have seen with other stories. There is the screaming headlines at night, and the next day, sometimes, other facts come out that make it sound a lot less innocuous, but tonight, I can tell you talking to one of the President's advisors, they are a little concerned about this.

WATTERS: And we don't know what happened, because no one was there on Air Force One. But if it's true, I don't know if it's true, but if it's true, someone within President Trump's inner circle on Air Force One is leaking to "The Washington Post," and that's a big, big problem.

HENRY: Right. And a part of the whole Scaramucci thing was, okay, all of the leaks are going to stop. And then now all of a sudden, this comes out. And think about what you just said, Jesse, I'm not taking on you but this is the frustration of the Trump White House. If this is true, it would be a big deal, and be really bad for the President. And yet, a lot of news organizations are putting out stories that are, well, anonymous sources say this, were not sure, you know, really, whether, you know, if we're going to lock this down or not. And they are deeply frustrated that one time after another, if this is true, it is going to be a big deal. David says, it's not true.

WATTERS: All right. Ed, thanks very much.

HENRY: Yes.

WATTERS: As President Trump praises his new chief of staff, one Democratic lawmaker is condemning the pick. Her stunning remarks when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUILFOYLE: This morning, President Trump welcomed his new White House chief-of-staff, General John Kelly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We just swore in General Kelly. He will do a spectacular job. I have no doubt, as chief of staff. What he has done in terms of Homeland Security is record shattering. If you look at the border, you look at the tremendous results we have had, and you look at the spirit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUILFOYLE: But not everyone is pleased at the President's pick. When the news of Kelly's new role broke on Friday, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee slammed the President's choice tweeting, by putting General John Kelly in charge, President Trump is militarizing the White House and putting our executive branch in the hands of an extremist. And yesterday, Lee defended her remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. BARBARA LEE, D-CALIF.: While I'm talking about it, his tenure as Homeland Security secretary. And the very extreme policies of promoting family dislocation, deportation of innocent men and women and children, breaking up families, promoting a Muslim ban, promoting a wall between the United States and Mexico, those are extreme policies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUILFOYLE: All right, Dana, is this a fair criticism?

PERINO: Well, I thought that she was going to talk about his long, you know, 45 year career as a public servant, serving as a four-star marine general. He has been in the Department of Homeland Security for literally five months.

GUILFOYLE: Yes.

PERINO: He was the one who was willing to go back and redo the Muslim ban, the travel ban to make sure that he could pass the muster in the courts but it just looks like it's going to do. He was also basically implementing the law that is on the books. If you don't like it, maybe you can try to change it. The thing is for General John Kelly, this is a man with a public servant's heart. So, he was offered the job in May apparently and he said no. He has obviously given this a lot of thought.

GUILFOYLE: Yes.

PERINO: It is not a rush decision on his part or about the President. So, it might look like today, like, all of these moves are quite sudden, but I think that they were sort of in the works for a while.

GUILFOYLE: Yes.

PERINO: And if I were the President, I would be so relieved to have a chief of staff that I have confidence in.

GUILFOYLE: Sure.

PERINO: Because a chief of staff makes sure life is easier. You don't have to worry about anything, you say, talk to John. All of us need a chief of staff. First of all, I need a staff, but then I need a chief to organize it, because it makes your life easier just the flow of information to and from a president. It's so important. And I think that they should just dismiss her comment altogether.

GUILFOYLE: Right.

PERINO: Irrelevant.

GUILFOYLE: Okay. So, Jesse, you know, General Kelly coming in, he has an excellent reputation and from all the reports, the President was very happy with the job that he was doing at the Department of Homeland Security, and, as Dana said, the reports are that this has been something that the President has been contemplating for some time in terms of making a change at the chief of staff level.

WATTERS: Yes. What is so extremists about supporting a border wall? Does Barbara Lee not have walls in our apartment, people can just waltz on in. I mean, what's so, like you said, extremists about supporting the travel ban. It was a 9-0 decision from the Supreme Court. Is Ruth Bader Ginsburg an extremist supporting innocent people? That is extremist. I guess MS-13 some sort of choir group?

Barbara Lee is the extremist, but she leaves in Oakland so she doesn't even realize it. Barbara Lee was the only member of Congress to vote against authorizing the use of force after 9/11. Barbara Lee has voted for creating a department of peace.

GUILFOYLE: Uh-hm.

WATTERS: Guess what, Lee, we have one, it's called the Department of Defense. Barbara Lee hangs out in Cuba, she hangs out with black panthers and other communists, she hangs out with Castro, she's totally out of her mind. And it's usually people that denigrate the military are the first ones that raise her hands and they need help, when stuff hits the fan and they need the military to protect them, I would not trust Miss Lee in a foxhole.

GUILFOYLE: Okay. I'm sure she doesn't want to be in one either. So, Greg, do you think it's fair to criticize somebody for serving their country and to say that that somehow should be held against them because they've obtained the rank that he has.

GUTFELD: I mean, they could do it, but it's stupid. It makes no sense. This appointment is refreshing on another number of levels. One, the specific experience that he has goes against generations of infatuations with the self. We live in a society where all we care about is us. And so, when we look at the military, they see something bigger than the self. And it's a natural anecdote to these decades of identity politics which she has embraced.

GUILFOYLE: Sure.

GUTFELD: That's why she doesn't understand the military because it is completely antithetical to identity politics. Military says, you are joining this one thing. Identity politics says, we're divisive. So, this appointment has already is done, rejected and highlighted millerphobia, year of the military.

GUILFOYLE: Wow!

GUTFELD: Yes. And it's been around forever, banning the ROTC on campus. For decades, the military has been vilified as something evil, while defending the very same people who are calling them evil. And you've got to ask yourself too because we've been hearing about the word militarization forever.

GUILFOYLE: Right.

GUTFELD: When we're talking about --

GUILFOYLE: -- about the police.

GUTFELD: Police.

GUILFOYLE: Yes.

GUTFELD: The militarization is cast as a negative trait here.

GUILFOYLE: Right.

GUTFELD: But if you look at what is militarizing, discipline, order, manners, bravery, the ability to defend yourself, the people you love, the people around you, who cannot defend themselves. If that is militarization, every damn arena in this country should be militarized. We should be taking those values and inculcating them in every way. I mean, think about it, would you rather have a campus illizeration (ph) or politicization, no, you want militarization because it's the only values that really work.

GUILFOYLE: Juan?

WILLIAMS: No. Not at all. In fact --

(LAUGHTER)

GUTFELD: I was waiting for that.

WILLIAMS: We have a civilian society, a civilian leadership --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: -- American chief is elected, not the generals. So, you see here is a situation where, you know, you get General Kelly coming in. You also had General McMasters in there. You have --

GUILFOYLE: Mattis?

WILLIAMS: Mattis obviously as defense secretary. And you have all these military people that Donald Trump seems to be very impressed with, but the question is, why? I mean, are we turning the whole country over to an authoritarian figure, who then says, oh, you better believe in the military. The military is very popular, just do what the military says. The military told me to do it, it's okay. I think this is not American in so many ways.

WATTERS: But Juan --

GUTFELD: Wait, wait, wait, you're saying it is not American to actually appoint somebody in the military?

WILLIAMS: Let me finish my point.

GUTFELD: No, you did finish your point!

WILLIAMS: No, I haven't. Let me just tell you something.

GUTFELD: There is more.

WILLIAMS: I think the war of the military, but I don't think the military should be in charge of running the government. That is the difference here.

GUTFELD: No, they're not.

WATTERS: They're not.

WILLIAMS: And, by the way, nobody said that she was critical of Kelly for his military service.

GUTFELD: Just call them an extremist.

WILLIAMS: No, what she said was, supporting innocent --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: No, this is what she said, here is how she explained it, deporting innocent, breaking up families, a Muslim ban, and the wall. So, he was essentially just following --

GUTFELD: I get it.

WATTERS: Oh, so you mean, he's following orders from a civilian. Isn't that what your point was? He is following orders from the civilians and the Supreme Court! How is that militarizing the government? You just made your own point.

WILLIAMS: So, you think it's an extreme --

WATTERS: No, you just made your own point.

GUILFOYLE: I have a follow-up question. Dana, thank you. So, Dana, have you ever heard of this in the past in terms where somebody would say, perhaps due to the military service or being a general wouldn't be someone that would be suitable for a position like that?

PERINO: No. I don't like what Barbara Lee is saying? No. But I think what Juan is saying, yes. There have been concerns starting with the founding fathers.

GUILFOYLE: Right.

PERINO: So, this goes back a long way, but I do think that there is some room here for some sensibility. I've also heard that the person that the President is looking to replace General Kelly with that DHS --

GUILFOYLE: Ahah!

PERINO: -- is not from the military. Tom Bossert who has been working on Homeland Security issues for the President and - for the previous administration, well, Bush administration as well.

GUILFOYLE: And what do you think about that pick?

PERINO: Great. Excellent.

GUILFOYLE: Okay.

GUTFELD: And also, I would almost agree with some of what Juan said if Barbara Lee wasn't so antimilitary before. It's not like you had nothing to do with the military.

WILLIAMS: No, she is about peace like there's no question about that. And let me just say this about Kelly, he lost a son.

GUTFELD: Exactly.

WILLIAMS: And so, to me, I mean, you can't have a greater sacrifice.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WILLIAMS: And he has also served, not only honorably with exceptional capability in Afghanistan, but that is different and saying, oh, I want the military to run my government.

WATTERS: He is not running the government, he is following orders from a civilian.

GUILFOYLE: Well, let's see it, hopefully he is going to do a very good job. All right. When we come back, the left continues with their anti- Trump smears. Greg breaks down the latest on this accusation, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: Last week, a video showed President Trump ignoring the outstretched hand of a handicap boy. It was retweeted thousands of times by thousands of people, including celebrities. Here is the highlighted portion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(DONALD TRUMP MEETING WITH CHILDREN)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: When I looked at it, I knew it was off. I mean who ignores a handicapped kid? There had to be more to it, because there is always more to everything these days. All things must be verified and even then, you should hold off tweeting about it just in case. But few did, figuring that Donald Trump is so evil he doesn't deserve such courtesy. So here's what really happened at the event's start.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Isn't that amazing? Talk about fake news and the kind you can easily check.

So who really benefits from this kind of attack? I think it's the president. The more you demonize him, the more it guarantees him greater sympathy. America will trust him more, while trusting the media, academia, people on Twitter and celebrities less. And it raises a few questions: Why is it always the left but does this stuff? Whether it's MSNBC editing footage to hide the race of a black man with a rifle at a town hall, remember that? Or Katie Couric's doctored gun documentary. They're always employing tricks to create truth, it is like they can't depend on the facts.

Which leads to a final point: If Donald Trump is so evil, why would you need to make up evil stuff about him? The stuff should be there right in front of you. Maybe you realize in quieter moments that he may not be as bad as you think. Perish the thought.

If you hate somebody so much, Dana, you are more likely to believe anything bad about them and suspend your skepticism.

DANA PERINO, FOX "The Five" SHOW HOST: It's before you can see on Friday when these tweets started coming out, all the celebrities follow each other, so it becomes a groupthink exercise. I agree with you. When you first look at that, there is no way, there has to be more. And in this day and age, you just have to use your brain, hit pause, you don't have to tweet everything that you see. It's almost as if, if you wait a day, or sometimes even a couple of hours, the truth will come out. I felt bad for the President on this one. It was unfair to him, but it does actually play into what you're talking about. If you distrust in the media, or twitter, and celebrities, this will reaffirm your beliefs.

GUTFELD: The child's mother Jessie actually went on Facebook to implore people that this didn't happen, and that finally helped stem a lot of this.

WATTERS: By that time, it is too late, because the initial tweet gets millions. And the apology only gets a few thousand. They think Trump is evil, and here's why. This is my gut implementations.

(LAUGHTER)

The Democrats base all of their policies on intentions. If you have intentions that are good, then you are good person. The Republicans have the opposite policy, so they must not have good intentions, therefore they are evil. So, when Trump doesn't shake a boy's hand who is handicapped, it's because he is evil. If you want a border wall, it's because he is racist, when he wants tax cuts, it's because he hates poor people. And the Democrats need to keep this charade up, because it allows them to smear Republicans, and when they lose their moral authority, then they can still - they don't do the ends justify the means. They can't get away with anything in breaking the law, shredding things because they believe they are so inherently good, that they can afford to draw outside the lines.

GUTFELD: Juan, I have an interesting question for you. Chelsea Clinton tweeted this video and then took it down when Piers Morgan called her on it. But afterwards, she said, the President should have shaken the boy's hand at the end. She really is a stupid busybody, isn't she? Do you agree with me on that?

WILLIAMS: I don't think it is fair, because I think it is obvious from the tape that you showed that this was fake news, with fake news done by the left. I didn't like it. I think that is illegitimate.

WATTERS: What other kind of news is there?

WILLIAMS: I was kind of taken aback when you set up. I think about the pizza parlor where the made up news, then they have a right wing guy going in there with a gun. I could go on and on, but I don't want to get into the argument. But I would say that when J.K. Rowling was made aware of this, she apologized.

GUTFELD: That is true. It took her six hours.

WILLIAMS: And the second thing I want to say about this, remember Donald Trump did in fact know fake news, mock a disabled reporter.

WATTERS: No he didn't.

WILLIAMS: Yes he did.

PERINO: Jesse, how can you say that? That is unbelievable.

GUILFOYLE: Unbelievable.

GUTFELD: Kimberly, thoughts?

GUILFOYLE: So obviously, you hate to see something like that happen, because you want to get the truth on the facts out there. When you see the beginning part of the video and you see that he reached out and pay special attention to the child, it is a disservice to everybody.

GUTFELD: I thought it made him look great, it was a genuine gesture.

GUILFOYLE: He likes children.

PERINO: He loves children.

GUILFOYLE: And the left hates this, the kids like him.

GUTFELD: I could never be a politician. I can't kiss a baby.

GUILFOYLE: Even if a little Trump baby dress.

WILLIAMS: Wait a minute, what if I wanted to kiss you?

(LAUGHTER)

GUILFOYLE: He would let you.

GUTFELD: Directly ahead, some on the left, they are still analyzing the driving force behind Trump's election victory, their revelations up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: In a rare moment of candor, we are getting a glance into what some on the left and mainstream media really think about President Trump.

Here is CNN Fareed Zakaria on why he believes Trump won the election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAREED ZAKARIA, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS SHOW HOST: A real sense of cultural alienation that the older white, non college educated Americans have, since of their country changing because of immigrants, because, maybe blacks are rising up to a place in society, because gaze are being afforded equal lights. Because, frankly, a lot of working women. Everybody is sort of muscling in on their territory, if you think about it, that the white working man had.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: And in a cabinet meeting this morning, President Trump said his administration accomplishments are going unnoticed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We have the highest stock market in history. We have a GDP on Friday that had very little mention. Unemployment is the lowest it has been in 17 years. Business enthusiasm is about as high as they have ever seen it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: Unfortunately, the good news is not usually covered. That is the way it is, so they have to go out there and talk about it. Greg, let's start with Fareed Zakaria. Basically, he is trying to give explanation into the bigotry that he thinks exists sort of underneath everything.

GUTFELD: The only time Fareed isn't wrong is when he is plagiarizing, because whenever he tries to employ an original thought, he is an absolute moron. What he just did, he just smeared an entire group of people saying that the decisions they made is based on hatred and racism. I would like to say that Fareed said that because he hates white people, he is a racist. He is an impulsive bigot. I'm merely using his tactics. Why would Fareed say that? Clearly, he is a bigot, because why did you vote for Trump, because clearly you're a big. The problem with his logic is that it can be used right back at him. There is nothing that he could say about it, because he is a repulsive bigot.

PERINO: Juan this week, Democrats have their own research done, and it showed that they are actually quite unpopular, and it looks like if the election were held today, President Trump would win today, and the House member, looks like the Republican are kind of in pole position, so do you think comments like this help, or is this a part of the problem?

WILLIAMS: No, I think it is part of the cultural divide, I think everyone would acknowledge there is a huge cultural divide in America today, and reflected in the election. When Trump starts talking about the birth thing with Obama, Mexicans, rapist and murderers, about the Muslim ban, I think that since a real strong message to a lot of people who feel like, hey, this guy was really appealing to folks who feel, somehow, displaced. There's too much demographic mix, and that is what Fareed Zakaria is talking about. I don't think there's anything so radical about what he is saying.

GUTFELD: He said more than that.

WILLIAMS: Ok.

GUTFELD: He said that people were scared that black would be coming more successful, that women would become, he was saying we are racist, sexist, xenophobic, you know what, there were a lot of people probably agree with that, that watch his show that agree with it.

WILLIAMS: I don't think that is true, by your discretion, I think that you can, prove, by going into counties were Obama won that Trump comes back one --

GUTFELD: I agree.

PERINO: that is right. That is what he was saying.

WILLIAMS: Let us not ignore the cultural reality that there was touching, I mean we see more anti-Muslim, anti-Semitic behavior in the country since President Trump's election.

GUTFELD: That is another segment. We can dispute that, because a lot of that stuff has turned out to be hoaxes.

PERINO: What Fareed Zakaria said is not a new concept. This is what has been set over a while, but they continue to lose elections, so maybe this is something that they should curtail.

GUILFOYLE: I think you're right. I mean I surprised to see him continuing in this way, because it is not helpful, it is not working, and it does expose, and I agree with Greg, that the argument could be put on him that he is coming off as racist or bigoted, or xenophobic, and I don't see what his goal, his ultimate objective is. I don't think the rhetoric is helping. He is framing his argument, this conclusive proof that this hurt the Democratic Party.

PERINO: Jesse do you want to wrap this up?

WATTERS: I think racism is another excuse like Russia, to make sure Hillary doesn't accept responsibility for losing to Donald Trump. And I think Trump got more votes from Hispanics and blacks than Romney did. And as you are saying, they had counties that flip from Obama to Trump. Do they just become racist in the last couple of years? I think that Trump one not just because of white voters, but because of people like Fareed Zakaria who are so out of touch for the last eight years. Thinking that everything was going so great in the economy, everything is going well, and they kept talking about back bathrooms and occupy Wall Street, while the rest of the country was saying, hey we are getting hammered over here, what about us. Trump spoke to those people, and that is why he won.

PERINO: All right Next, President Trump wants lawmakers to continue with health care reform, but will congress listen to his new ultimatum. That he just gave up this morning. Details when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: Republican Senators gearing up to make a strong push for tax reform now. But President Trump is an apparently quite ready to move on and leave health care behind. Kellyanne Conway explains.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KELLYANNE CONWAY, WHITE HOUSE COUNSELOR: The President will not accept those who said it is time move on. He wants to help the millions of Americans who suffered with no coverage. They relied to the last president, they could not keep the doctor, and they could not keep their plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: So now we have a situation Dana, where it looks like the party and the President once more out of sync.

PERINO: I don't know if they want to call for this, but Senator Lindsey Graham had appoint on earlier today, used some pretty colorful language. Can we toss to it?

WILLIAMS: Sure, go right ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN LINDSEY GRAHAM, R-S.C.: We should be politically horse whipped if we don't try again. The best idea, we haven't even brought up. Take all the money under Obamacare and lock granted back to the states. That in single-payer health care. The government closest to the people is the best government. The health care closest to the people is the best health care.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: Ok so I think that, with President Trump, one of the reasons he wanted was people were tired of belief that Washington doesn't have to live under the same rules that they ask everyone else to live under. In the health care bill, that Obama passed, basically all of the employees of the government have to get a plan, and the employer contribution, the government contribution is like what a Fox News employee would get if they have insurance through their employer. With the President is saying, I'm going to take that away if you guys don't fix this, and Lindsey Graham is agreeing with them saying let's get back to it and try to solve this problem.

WILLIAMS: Kimberly, it might be seen as the President kind of bullying members of congress, who set, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. He said look it's time to move on. Really, what Republican voters have said is we want tax reform.

GUILFOYLE: I think they should do tax reform, but I think the President is trying to honor his commitment to the American people, regarding health care, and yes, he is pushing them, because he wants to get it done, and he is frustrated. That is his prerogative to do so, but of course, he is putting the squeeze on them and putting spurs in them.

WILLIAMS: Jesse that is not the way to make friends with numbers of congress. Do you think?

WATTERS: Do you really want to be front of congress? I mean they are not really friendly with you. Trump maybe needs to start running against congress, he was very effective in the fall, he ran against congress, ran against both parties, and he won that way. He is running against the media right now, and they don't have a very high approval rating. Running against congress, their approval rating is down. It couldn't hurt. I think the only thing right now is holding Obamacare together is the bail out for the insurance industry, take those away, the thing says goodbye, you know if you take this little goodies from congress maybe that will motivate them.

WILLIAMS: You know, Greg, the question is, if you have a legislative agenda, you want congressional support, especially Republican support. Is this the way to go about it?

GUTFELD: Just take it out of their hands. This people are incompetent. We are stuck in the prison of two ideas. There is one idea here, when instead, whenever we are trying to do anything, whether it's building any kind of product, an automobile or a hotel, you embrace market solutions. You take ingredients and innovation from all over the place. You take in ideas from other people outside your own expertise. We don't do that with health care. We just sit there and say, it's either this or this. There are two viable options that are pretty simple but you can come up with, I pay for the small stuff, the government handles the catastrophic. Or, the government pays for the small stuff, and I pay for the insurance product for catastrophic. Those are two solutions like you could probably implement now if you took it out of the hands of the politicians and let people outside the government --

PERINO: And what he saying, Lindsey Graham, take all the money that is there and give it back to the state and let the state handle it.

WILLIAMS: I think the Republicans have a lot of egg on their face with this one. They have looked at a lot of ideas. "One more thing" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: Time now for "One more thing." so Chris Christie got into it with a fan at a baseball game. Here's the take.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) NEW JERSEY: Appreciate that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did he say to you?

CHRISTIE: I don't know. Do you want to act like a big shot?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Chris Christie, having a rough stretch this summer but he will be ok. All right Kimberly.

GUILFOYLE: All right this week and I have the great honor of being a part of culture cities autism fundraiser in Birmingham, Alabama. I want to thank the founders. They have done an extra ordinary job with this organization. The charity founded in 2013, Culture City, it is the world's first start up nonprofit for autistic individuals can be accepted. That is Dr, Julia, the founders and his wife, Dr. Mitchell Cong and that is Dwight Howard, accepting his award. And I was also along with some of my friends. I don't know if you know this, but one in five people have a disability, and out of this group, 84 percent have invisible disabilities like autism. One of 68 in fact had it. It is the fastest growing developmental diagnoses in the United States. There is a lot of work to be done, a lot of families affected by it.

WILLIAMS: On Saturday, the baseball hall of fame honored Claire Smith with the prestigious sphinx award for baseball writers. It is the first time a woman got the award. Smith is known for her groundbreaking work for women. In 1984, she was ordered out of the clubhouse during a playoff game, because it a ban on women in the locker room. Star player Steve Garvey came outside to help her, on Saturday, she remembered what he told her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAIRE SMITH, PINOEER IN SPORTS WRITING: I will stay here as long as you need me to, but remember, you have a job to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Wow. Many were in attendance, and they stood to give her a standing ovation.

WATTERS: All right Greg.

GUTFELD: Time for something new. Greg's great mysteries, tonight, avocado toast, what is it? Where does it come from? How did it suddenly show up on every menu all over the world? Why is it everywhere I go? There's avocado toast, because it is the work of the avocado board to come up with another absurd way to smear our other foods with this horrible green mess that I happen to love but has made me very, very fat. What is next, avocado bacon, avocado-avocado, avocado soup? I have had it with avocados.

GUILFOYLE: Don't you like guacamole?

GUTFELD: I love guacamole.

WATTERS: Wow, the avocado industry very angry with Greg Gutfeld. All right, set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of "The Five," Greg is going to be eating avocado till later tonight. "Hannity" is coming at you next.

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