'Gutfeld!' on the unemployed Cuomos

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CNN exists to create 'fake news': Greg Gutfeld on Cuomo firing

Greg Gutfeld discusses CNN firing Chris Cuomo after information revealed he was more closely involved in helping his brother battle sexual harassment allegations than previously known

This is a rush transcript from, ‘Gutfeld!,' December 6, 2021. This copy may not be in final form and may be updated.

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Happy Monday, everyone. What a great show we have to kick off this week. But first, some sad news report. Chris Cuomo is dead. Lifting a lot of weight now that he's unemployed. Yes, this dumbbell is taken his aggressions out on the barbells. But in all seriousness, our show lost an important ally this weekend, someone who's been a hell of a supporter deeply involved in the success of this program since day one.

You could say he was our shining light, our lodestar, our muse second banana in his own family, but number one in our hearts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Has a lot of work put into that. In a blow that is left all of us reeling. Chris Cuomo was terminated from CNN, after the network allegedly just learned that he had been accused of sexual misconduct by a woman who had worked with him previously at ABC. Yes, just learned. They also just learned the P.P. tapes were fake. Jussie Smollett is a liar and Don Lemon can't read.

Of course, this tragic news is leaving a huge hole in my show when it came to laughs Cuomo provided more than a bus full of nitrous huffing clowns. The shock has left many of us in denial.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GENE NELSON, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. so my job is kind of a lot harder having Chris gone. I mean, the amount of idiotic things he would say on T.V. made my day so easy. Not anymore. Merry Christmas.

JOE DEVITO, COMEDIAN: Five thousand Chris Cuomo jokes were never used. What a waste of two hours.

KAT TIMPF, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I think it's awesome. All right. Now he's going to be able to focus all his attention on making the shirtless workout videos. I mean, these are (BLEEP) great.

TOM O'CONNOR, GUTFELD! EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: It's just that he said so many dumb things. I just can't believe we're going to have to cover the news now.

EMILY COMPAGNO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Wait, there's not going to be those nightly dumbass handoffs between him and Don Lemon? God, what am I going to talk about? Whatever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Yes. Been a rough day for all of us. Everyone here. Let's go to Carl Bernstein. Tell us, is this worse than Watergate?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: What we are watching is worse than Watergate. Are there echoes of Watergate in this and there are -- we're also witnessing something we did not see in Watergate, which is a meltdown. What we're seeing is worse than Watergate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Yes. For once Carl is right. Obviously people handle the news differently. Some people are weeping. Others are lashing out in anger. And some are just trying to eat away the pain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, the crunch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: That never gets old. And there are others who after more Cuomo crap hit the fan happily threw him under the bus pretending they were always critical of his behavior.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN ANCHOR: There were just so many headaches time and time again involving Chris Cuomo that even though many viewers loved watching Cuomo Primetime, look forward to his show. He was causing so many headaches for the network and for CNN staffers that ultimately this decision was reached.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Yes, he says that now but you got to hand it to the pudgy pontificator. He puts the company man in company manatee. In case you forgot this bloated broadcaster does his show nobody watches called Reliable Sources. But apparently when it came to the Chris Cuomo story, those sources weren't reliable at all because he remained silent for months on the Cuomo scandals, preferring to spend his time playing clips of Fox News and complaining about our huge ratings.

And now he's trying to rewrite history. Meanwhile, Cuomo is now claiming that Zucker was aware of everything. His spokesman telling the Wall Street Journal owned by our parent company, the Olsen twins. That Chris said CNN President Jeff Zucker were widely known to be extremely close and in regular contact, including about the details of Mr. Cuomo support for his brother.

And now CNN snapping back to In the journal that Cuomo has made a number of accusations that are patently false. This reinforces why he was terminated for violating our standards and practices. So it's about to get uglier than a sheet with a bikini wax. But whoever wins this battle, it can't look good for CNN. If it's no longer the most trusted name in news at regional airports or Delta terminals. Even the broadcasting Balloon Boy wonders, has CNN lost trust as a result of this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STELTER: Has CNN lost trust as a result of this?

DAVID ZURAWIK, PROFESSOR OF MEDIA STUDIES, GOUCHER COLLEGE: Well, I you know, I don't know that's hard to say if CNN has lost trust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: He just said it. But maybe it is hard to say. I mean, how can CNN lose something they destroyed with their own hands? Where's this trust to lose after the collusion hoax? The fine people lie, the injecting bleach hoax, Covington, Kavanaugh, Smollet, but like newborns with a pacifier. CNN is so cute when they suck. As you know, we were the first to discover the charms of Cuomo and supported him all the way.

And like all these CNN clowns out angling for his job. They're despicable. As you know Chris Cuomo was their highest rated host. True. That's like having the most fingers at a leper colony. The skin biopsy I got last year drew a larger audience than Cuomo. Turns out that skin tag was a Honey Nut Cheerio. But it still be Cuomo in the 18 to 54-year-old demographic, which is important.

So what does this mean for the 9:00 p.m. slot? Who should CNN put there? I smell a Nexio. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gutfeld in association with Jiffy Lube presents, who wants to be a prime time CNN host?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: So what's it take to make it on CNN other than a ton of low self- esteem or famous parents? Well, it turns out getting hired has nothing to do with talent brands or even good hair. Nope, the less engaged you are with the American public, the more likely you'll get hired. You see, CNN is not about ratings. It's about reach. Meaning that the network exists only to create angry clips of fake news which they then disperse on the internet, where its influence is really peddled.

It's like a baseball farm team that develops talent to send up to the major leagues, where they will be watched by a bigger audience. So instead of appeal, CNN seeks the opposite. I mean, let's take a look at their current anchors. So, are you angry and petulant? Are you the product of famous parents? Are you miserably arrogant? Are you just plain stupid? Do you look like you passed away 10 years ago?

If you fill -- fulfill most of that criteria, CNN is hiring. Because like a very lazy paper boy, CNN is not interested in delivering news. Their real profit model is to attract eyeballs from conflict. Think of the Jerry Springer Show, but in tiny bite sized servings fired like a glitter gun into the population. And the worse you feel about America, the better they do. That should be their slogan or an uneducated consumer is our best customer.

So will they find another Chris Cuomo? Maybe we should leave CNN with some lasting words of hope to make them try. Let's say it one more time, shall we?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say?

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get after.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say?

CUOMO: Let's get after it. Let's get after it. Let's get after. It's a big night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you say?

CUOMO: Let's get after it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Period.

GUTFELD: Let's welcome Tonight's guests. He's so sharp his brain sets off metal detectors. Former White House press secretary and Fox News Contributor, Ari Fleischer. She talks so fast your ears will need a double espresso. "OUTNUMBERED" co-host Emily Compagno. Caution, his advised on addiction may be habit forming. Ask Dr. Drew host, Addiction Medicine Specialist and author of the new book, It Doesn't Have To Be Awkward, Dr. Drew Pinsky.

And finally she lights up any room with her smile, and also her blowtorch. Fox News Contributor Kat Timpf. Dr. Drew as a humane loving human being, I am conflicted.

DR. DREW PINSKY, AUTHOR, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE AWKWARD: Yes.

GUTFELD: Because I don't like to cheer when people lose their job.

PINSKY: I understand. But I just have to say I'm the perfect person to be sitting here to not to counsel you about losing somebody and beginning canceled. But you remember I was on HLN CNN for seven years, from 2010 to 2017.

GUTFELD: That's right.

PINSKY: And you've heard a whole evenings worth of insults at me tonight about what a loser I am for having been there. But that's OK. Let me just say that I was -- and by the way to even add to it further, my executive producer whom I love and is a brilliant television producer was the producer creator of the Jerry Springer Show.

GUTFELD: Oh really?

PINSKY: And so, and we ?

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: You're not just the solution but the cause of all ?

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: That's what I'm thinking, right.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PINSKY: And I would be on CNN essentially every night. I was on HLN every night and I would do some sort of promotional thing usually with Don Lemon.

GUTFELD: Right.

PINSKY: And I got to know Chris very well, he's a smart guy. He's a good guy. I feel terrible about this. But, you know, he's clearly something needed to be done. I mean, that's unfortunate. And like you said, it's a -- we feel conflicted about it, but something had to be done. And I'm going to say that maybe it will improve the sort of outlook people have towards journalists.

GUTFELD: Emily, you claim to be a lawyer.

COMPAGNO: Sometimes.

GUTFELD: If Chris is found innocent from the sexual misconduct allegation, could he sue and he sounds like he wants to sue CNN.

COMPAGNO: Yes. He's already threatened to make good on the $6 million per year contract to what he has left of those four years. I will -- I will say, however, respectfully, it gives me great joy and glee to see him without a job and to see this Donner Party cesspool happening at CNN, which is them eating each other.

GUTFELD: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

COMPAGNO: To be clear, because after he was fired, for example, now they're firing shots across the bow. We have Zucker coming out and saying, well, he was terminated not only for violating standards and practices, but also for his untruth, this his lack of candor, and back and forth there saying, well, who knew what when. But these kinds of monsters aren't created in a vacuum. He was enabled by Zucker.

When was it over two, three years ago, when he said to Michael Cohen, do I look like the kind of guy that needs to bring a woman up to the hotel room and open my bathrobe? That hubris is the kind that leads to him thinking he can get away with anything, thinking that he's untouchable and thinking that there's going to be zero accountability. So I see this as bringing someone like that with a head too big to fit through the door, but it's bringing him back down to earth and have no fear because I'm sure they will replace him with an equal idiot and we will have plenty of material ?

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: Maybe I'll get my job back.

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: I think that's what Emily say. I think that's ?

GUTFELD: I always leave my bathrobe on because I have too much hubris. Too much hubris. I don't even know what hubris is. Ari, did you ? in you ? did you ever work with Cuomo or having run ins with him? What's your impression of this whole thing?

ARI FLEISCHER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, my name is Ari Fleischer. I too used to be a CNN contributor. I'm in a step by step program. I watch the show to get over it.

GUTFELD: Yes.

FLEISCHER: Which makes me about 33 percent of their audience.

GUTFELD: Right.

FLEISCHER: You know, look, I mean, that the problem that Chris has, and I don't take joy in this, I really don't. I mean, this -- he's lost his job and in a very publicly embarrassing way. But here's CNN's problem, it's really Jeff Zucker's problem. When this story broke, The Washington Post broke it in May, that was six months ago. And the Washington Post reported that Chris, Chris Cuomo, "joined a series of conference calls with Governor Coumos.

Top staff, lawyers, communications team and outside advisors." Well, what did CNN think the Chris was doing on those calls? And then in August, the Attorney General of New York released her investigation, and she wrote in August that Chris was on the calls to "Control and direct the governor's response." Now, what does control indirect mean? What do you think there were no e-mails?

GUTFELD: Yes.

FLEISCHER: Do you think there were no phone calls on the phone call?

GUTFELD: Oh, it's going to get bad.

FLEISCHER: So, CNN has been asleep at the switch on this. Afraid to take action until now. So what changed now other than the existence of the e- mails came out? Well, this was the investigation CNN did not want to investigate.

GUTFELD: Right.

FLEISCHER: And that was to protect their number one ranked anchor whose ranking was pretty low compared to all the other shows on cable T.V. But it's -- if you're going to be in the journalism business, to journalism, don't be an activist. That's CNN's problem.

GUTFELD: Yes. That's the whole entire CNN lineup. This could be an opportunity for CNN to actually reboot and become something that they once were but I don't think that's happening. Kat, let's play hypothetical situation. I watched Brian Stelter, the moment that Cuomo was gone. Basically just did the company, the company motto or whatever you want to call it, would you do that if they unloaded me? Would you be that fast? Would you go on and go, you know what? He was a problem. It's about time.

TIMPF: Is there something in it for me?

GUTFELD: Yes. Well get ? I mean ?

(CROSSTALK)

TIMPF: It depend on what's in it for me.

GUTFELD: Yes.

TIMPF: But Stelter, I mean, whoa, are you bad at your job? I mean, five days ago he was saying, yes, you know, Chris Cuomo, you'll probably be back in January. Like, nice job chief media reporter.

GUTFELD: That's true.

TIMPF: You're the chief media reporter. And you're in a better Intel of the media company that you work at, like to report on this you don't even need to put your coat on.

GUTFELD: Yes, exactly.

TIMPF: How are you that bad?

GUTFELD: Yes, no, it's such a good point.

FLEISCHER: He channels Jeff Zucker.

GUTFELD: Yes.

FLEISCHER: Jeff talks to him and tells him the CNN line on background. And then Brian reports it.

TIMPF: Oh, what an ? what an easy job.

GUTFELD: I know. It's great. Being the -- being the media reporter at CNN means you only report on Fox.

TIMPF: Exactly.

GUTFELD: That's all -- that's all you have ? so you have to sit there and watch Fox.

PINSKY: You must the media port reporter on Fox.

GUTFELD: Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

PINSKY: Because you only report on CNN.

GUTFELD: I only report on CNN. And ? but I do ? I do a lot of Joy Reid. She's marvelous. Problem with the media is they will find a replacement for Chris Cuomo because this industry attracts vain, egotistical, insecure arrogant people case in point. All right. Up next, meet the boss who lowered the boom over Zoom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: He was afraid he'd sob while he terminated their jobs, but was the CEO a buffoon for firing them all via Zoom? Vishal Garg. Yes, that Vishal Garg. I was wondering where he was. Been a long time since I heard from Vishal Garg. The CEO of the online mortgage lender Better.com. Well, that sounds up and up. Fired nearly 900 employees during a recent Zoom call. The reason for this surprise downsize, well, in addition to changing market conditions.

Yes, of course. Apparently workers were being unproductive. And that was tantamount to stealing from customers. I would have been outraged to if I knew what tantamount means. Isn't really necessary, the word tantamount? For the holiday season, it should be Santamount. According to Garg, so -- it's so garg of him to do this though I have to tell you. The company started taking a closer look at employee productivity metrics.

And that's when they noticed the lack of performance. But the CEO says the decision to fire so many, it wasn't an easy one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VISHAL GARG, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BETTER.COM: This is the second time in my career I'm doing this and I do not -- do not want to do this. The last time I did it, I cried. We are laying off about 15 percent of the company. If you're on this call, you are part of the unlucky group being laid off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Terrible. That takes some serious stones to expect sympathy from the people he just fired. It's going to make him cry. But I guess he is the real victim. I mean, he still has to work for (BLEEP) that's him, Emily. Anyhow, here's how my cat fired his last assistant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: You know, I learned as -- when I was inspired three times in my career in publishing. Sometimes you need a little push. You need somebody to push you out the door. Sometimes firings can be really good, Emily. But was this the most practical way to fire people on Zoom?

COMPAGNO: I love it.

GUTFELD: Really?

COMPAGNO: One word.

GUTFELD: Terrible person.

(CROSSTALK)

COMPAGNO: -- I am a great person.

GUTFELD: You love that Cuomo got fired. And now you're dancing on these people.

COMPAGNO: My True Colors are coming out.

GUTFELD: They are and they're all black. You're a dark person.

COMPAGNO: I am. Here's why.

GUTFELD: So first of all, I love that these guys on average were clocking eight hours a day and yet their productivity was two hours a day. They're like 900 employees, they are stealing your money. And yet this guy had the right -- Garg, had the reputation for high expectations and getting upset over tiny infractions. This isn't a tiny infraction, this is straight up theft. When I was a federal attorney, I was managing one. So I was in charge of firing.

GUTFELD: Right.

GUTFELD: And when I fired people, first of all, everyone lost their mind, I would freak out. I would have to notify security ahead of time, I would have to have all these things in between me and the person and like a letter opener in my bun in case I had to defend myself. So this guy doing it over Zoom, I'm like absolutely wipe the slate clean. Your safety is insured and get these guys out of there because they're probably all Generation Z or millenniums -- millennials who don't know the value of time and hard work.

Why am I the only person saying this? I feel so strongly about this.

PINSKY: You'll be seen on TikTok later ?

(CROSSTALK)

COMPAGNO: Fire them all.

GUTFELD: Kat, I love the fact that it's called Better.com. That's slightly ironic.

TIMPF: Yes. It's like better than what?

GUTFELD: Exactly.

TIMPF: Well, this guy -- look, this guy is (BLEEP) like I did -- I did some research on him. And it sounds -- seem like he's a bad guy. You know, he's got a reputation for being (BLEEP) but when I was fired from my traffic reporting job, they made me drive to fire me which I would have rather been fired over Zoom because it's like, I had to spend money on gas for you to tell me you'll no longer be paying for my gas.

Could you not have done it over the phone? So, I feel like that's nice. And also how do you fire 900 people individually? That's a lot of people.

GUTFELD: It's a lot of work. Ari, you probably have fired more than a few people in your time? What do you -- how do you grade this?

FLEISCHER: Well, first and foremost, the good news is there are now 900 openings for Chris Cuomo.

GUTFELD: There you go.

FLEISCHER: So he's got a future potentially.

GUTFELD: Be careful when you use the word openings.

FLEISCHER: That's a later story.

GUTFELD: Yes. That's for the D-block.

TIMPF: Stay tuned.

FLEISCHER: Right. Between Kat and Emily. I'm leaning toward Emily.

GUTFELD: Really?

FLEISCHER: I think Emily's onto something here. Look, the source of the information about people we're clocking in for eight hours but only working for two because when you work from home, when you work from Zoom, you've got a lot of freedom, don't you? The source of it was the guy did all the firing. The CEO of the company previously, anonymously and he shouldn't have done it anonymously should have his name on it, sent an e-mail to all the employees complaining about that fact that he did a search, the data shows.

GUTFELD: Wow.

FLEISCHER: You guys aren't logging in. You're missing meetings with clients. You're not showing up for customer appointment.

GUTFELD: Blame COVID.

FLEISCHER: Well, they were taking advantage of COVID.

GUTFELD: Yes, yes. You're right. Yes.

FLEISCHER: I mean, there is something going on in society now where it's good to have people working from home. I like working from home. But are you really working?

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: Like when you can get away with something easily, you tend to get away with it. Like we have this free damn food in this company because to keep us from going out during COVID. All I do is I eat packaged snacks (INAUDIBLE) 10 pounds because it's easy.

FLEISCHER: You're fired.

GUTFELD: I'm fired up to talk to Dr. Drew. I'm afraid I'm going to have to let you go forward with an interesting comments. Dr. Drew, I want to focus on the thing that ? actually, Ari is kind of convinced me that maybe the crazy mean lady is right. But ? that's you, Emily, not Kat. Kat's crazy nice ?

(CROSSTALK)

TIMPF: He told his former business partner that he was going to "Staple him against the (BLEEP) wall and burn him alive. I'm just saying probably not a nice guy.

GUTFELD: All right. That is ? it's good evidence. This is like a real court case. Dr. Drew.

PINSKY: Yes.

GUTFELD: I love the part that he was telling people how hard it is for him (INAUDIBLE) Is that a good strategy?

PINSKY: No. This is so hard for me.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PINSKY: You're losing your job.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PINSKY: Yes. It's not good. But this interesting that now employers have to realize that disgruntled employees have a whole new set of ways to get really revenge.

GUTFELD: Right.

PINSKY: Put it, bring the camera in, tape whatever you're doing, put it on TikTok. Here we go. And disgruntled employees as you know, you have to -- you -- that's why you wear that thing in your hair. I didn't know that. In case you have to shave somebody. You can't get to be a problem. I had to do this once. I had a web company back in the day and we had to fire like half our company which was 75 people.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PINSKY: Got to bring them all into a room and go, worst thing ever have to do. I'm available for as long as you need to talk about it. That's what he should have ?

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: I would -- if that -- if you did -- I would have been calling you up on Loveline heckling you when you used to do that show. You still do that show?

PINSKY: No, I don't. You used to heckle me?

GUTFELD: No, I would.

PINSKY: You would. OK.

GUTFELD: I would. That's what I would do to get back at you. You know what drives me crazy and then I'll leave it there. Why is everybody in the tech industry wearing sleeveless down vests? Like even when you're firing people? Do you have to wear the sleeveless vest? That everybody -- look, everybody's wearing this. You see this (INAUDIBLE) Like, oh, they're a Davos or they're in Aspen.

They're all wearing this little -- you're firing people. Why are you wearing G.D. tie for God's sake with your sleeveless (BLEEP) Thank you. All right. On that note, is working for Kamala causing staffers traumala?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: She'll destroy your soul and eat your heart whole. Yes, I'm not bluffing. She'll reduce you to nothing. That's not a word. Yes, Kamala's rage is out of control and staffers say it's taken a toll. The V.P.'s office has become a revolving door of staffers with former aides too terrified to give their names sharing their war stories with the Washington Post. One ex-staffer saying with Kamala, you have to put up with constant amount of soul-destroying criticism, and also her own lack of confidence.

So, you're constantly sort of propping up a bully and it's not really clear why. But at least one of her minions wants the world to know everything's unicorns and lollipops over there, check out this tweet: "Hi, my name is David Gins. I work for V.P. Harris on behalf of the American people as Deputy Director for Operations and absolutely love my job. Just thought some of you should know."

All right, David, blink twice, if you're in danger. He even included proof, a picture of him happily working away at his desk. I'm surprised he's not holding a copy of USA Today for proof of life. But what's on his computer screen? Let's take a look. All right. Ari, you worked in the White House? Isn't this just kind of part of the deal.

ARI FLEISCHER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: First, please tell me he didn't tweet that. That has to be -- wow!

GUTFELD: He just, he said -- he's the White House version of a teacher's pet.

FLEISCHER: Yes. Look, when this story broke, I was actually inclined to give Kamala Harris and her staff the benefit of the doubt. It is a grinding, grueling burnout job.

GUTFELD: Yes.

FLEISCHER: And then, I saw Kamala Harris do an interview where she said it's really no big deal. And then, I stopped giving her any credit. Here's the problem. She was asked about her communications director, her press secretary's departure. And she said, I really wish her well. I wish her well. And I'm really sincere about that.

GUTFELD: Yes.

FLEISCHER: As soon as she said, I'm really sincere about that. I knew she wasn't sincere. That's the problem. And if you really wish somebody well, you wish them well, end of sentence.

GUTFELD: She works really hard at not doing the job.

KAT TIMPF, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Happy birthday. No, I mean it. Really, please.

FLEISCHER: That's right. So, there's, there's a problem in the office.

GUTFELD: Yes.

FLEISCHER: Yes, and burnout accelerates all these problems, that is legit. But there's also such a sense of psychic income to these jobs, and you typically last longer than a year before you burn out right.

GUTFELD: Right. You know.

FLEISCHER: Something's wrong.

GUTFELD: Kat, I think this is a true achievement in diversity that a female person of color can be just as awful as an old white. I

TIMPF: I thought you said you weren't going to use your talking points from "THE FIVE."

GUTFELD: Damn you.

TIMPF: Look, yes, but people are saying that it's because she's a woman that this is happening, which makes no sense. Like people have fled from me before. Also. It's got nothing to do with me being a woman. It's the woman that I am. Which I think it'd be better if you could just admit that. Like, she could be like, yes, I'm psycho. I'm crazy. I have so much respect for a mean person who's like, I'm a mean person.

GUTFELD: Right.

TIMPF: Just be a mean, lady. You, like -- two of your senior staffers. Only two of them had worked with you before last year. Clearly, there's been a lot of turnovers throughout your entire career. You're a mean lady be like, yes. You know what, that's because I mean, I would respect that.

GUTFELD: Yes, me too. I think if you embrace your money mean, Doc, you actually don't have to deal with any of this stuff. It just comes with the territory. If this criticism were coming from anybody on the show, it would be called racist or misogynist, correct?

DR. DREW PINSKY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Right, it's now coming from inside and look, I think Kat is exactly right. It's, it's the cover up that makes people uncomfortable. It's the, the lack of sincerity in the name of sincerity. Trust me, I'm lying is what sort of what she's --

GUTFELD: Yes, yes.

PINSKY: And it's written -- the laugh and everything makes it really uncomfortable to watch. If she would just own what she is, I think we'd all be a lot more comfortable with what's going on there.

GUTFELD: Yes, I bet you're conflicted, Emily, because you have a strident character and personality yet. You know -- I don't know where I'm going for this. You hate bellyaching, underlings?

EMILY COMPAGNO, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Wait --

FLEISCHER: She fires them?

GUTFELD: Yes.

COMPAGNO: I fire them. Here's the thing. It's not -- the issue is not mean, it's incompetence. So, you read it in your intro, the issue is she is a lack of confidence, because she knows that she doesn't have an actual leadership quality about her. The reason that she's made it this far is because she has been propped up by the people of California that were duped into believing that oh, she checks a box.

And therefore, we're going to take her from position to position to position as the eight families in San Francisco that have money supported her campaigns along the way. Those of us that lived under her watch as D.A. as attorney general, as Senator understand that she was just simply incompetent, that these stories of civil war have fractioning within her staff, the fact that she can't commit to some type of messaging or some any type of platform.

She capitulates to those who are donors, but then turns around and flops on what she's committed to that has plagued her this entire time. So, what we got, what we voted for, what they voted for, is exactly what we're getting now as vice president and you don't run a staff where 30 of them run to CNN, anonymous sources. 30 of how many? 32 without there being a ring of truth. Doesn't matter if she's mean, she's incompetent.

GUTFELD: Yes, this is what happens when you go by one variable. That's a talking point from today, which is identity because then you don't know who the person is if you only go by identity and tick that box. You never know what, what's inside. She disproved the whole idea, the whole idea of identity politics.

PINSKY: I'm just thinking that she typifies what goes on in California, though.

GUTFELD: Dr. Drew you're cutting into the next segment about you know what.

PINSKY: I can't wait.

GUTFELD: Coming up --

PINSKY: And finally, the medical topic.

GUTFELD: -- can you shove a landmine where the sun doesn't shine?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: Was there an ammunition dump inside his rump? They wanted to avoid a blast from explosives in his ass. Yes, they feared the scene might turn heinous because of what he had shoved up his -- anyway. According to The Sun, the paper, bomb squad rushed to an English emergency room after a patient arrived with a World War II artillery shell inside his rectum. Fire in the hole, literally.

It's amazing what people like but it sometimes makes me wonder if I have a problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Yes, I mean, I thought about playing pro ball, but they told me my muscles were too big. It would have been a hindrance and I could -- oh no, not another intervention. Is this an intervention?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GUTFELD: What's it this time?

JOE DEVITO, COMEDIAN: Greg, the poop jokes, the fart jokes. Now, you're just doing butt jokes?

GUTFELD: I'm not doing bad jokes. This is legitimate emergency. People are in danger.

DEVITO: No, it's not. Can we do something above the beltline?

GUTFELD: I'm sorry. This is like, this is what people want. They want emergency room disasters involving the butt.

DEVITO: No, they don't.

GUTFELD: Shove it up your ass.

DEVITO: That's what we're talking.

GUTFELD: Shut up!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: After removing the landmine from is behind doctor said Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, worried that it might explode and they call for help. Thankfully, the shell was just a lump of metal and there was no risk. But it raises a pressing question: how did the shell, like the one seen here, get there in the first place? And did he at least take it out to dinner first?

Guy claims it was just a freak accident that he put the shell on the floor and then slipped and fell directly on it. Yes, it sounds like it's not the accident. That's the freak. But did people buy that? I'm asking for, for any -- definitely not myself. But how likely is it that this actually happened? We break it all down on.

ANNOUNCER: "GREG'S SCIENCE CORNER WITH DR. DREW"

GUTFELD: Thank you, Dr. Drew for flying all the way across the country to discuss this actual incident. Quickly --

PINSKY: Finally, a straight medical topic.

GUTFELD: Yes, is his --

PINSKY: Your preoccupation with that anatomy is a pleasure to serve.

GUTFELD: Is his -- tell me about it. Is the patient's explanation plausible?

PINSKY: Here is the comedy. If you work in any emergency room in this country for longer than two weeks, you will see somebody come in with something (INAUDIBLE). And they, and they --

TIMPF: It's a verb?

PINSKY: It is now. And it all they always say the same thing. And I mean, always that either -- they always say the same thing. I sat on it or I slipped and fell on it just like this guy said.

GUTFELD: I would have said sat on it.

PINSKY: I thought you're going to say they always say it's from World War II.

GUTFELD: People do have their favorite wars. You know, it's like, you know what I noticed with these, these incidents, they totally overlooked the Korean War. It's so unfair. It's so unfair. They just shove stuff from World War II up their butts, but they ever give the Korean War the respect it deserves.

FLEISCHER: This is why they're called the greatest generation.

GUTFELD: That is true, Ari. That is true.

PINSKY: Now, they're the greatest penetration. I'll be here all night, everybody.

GUTFELD: That was pretty -- that was pretty damn good. What happened --

PINSKY: The little green army men are up there sometimes too, they are.

TIMPF: Wait, so the guy that I dated in high school that he said fell --

GUTFELD: What did he fall on? What did he fall on?

TIMPF: I just remembered something from my past.

COMPAGNO: Oh my gosh!

TIMPF: He said fell on, like, a pole up his ass.

GUTFELD: There you go.

TIMPF: Are you telling me that's not what happened?

GUTFELD: That's why we do these topics so people can learn a little bit more about themselves.

TIMPF: No, but I'm not joking.

GUTFELD: You know, we sit here and we laugh but then I think to myself, we have these --

TIMPF: He has a baby now.

GUTFELD: That's beautiful.

PINSKY: That's reassuring.

GUTFELD: Let's just don't use his name, Kat.

TIMPF: I won't.

PINSKY: Don't begin a sense again with a guy I dated in high school. Just rule it out.

GUTFELD: And the weird thing is, it's just a few months ago. I mean, he's in high school.

PINSKY: Something happened he didn't fall on it.

GUTFELD: Look, look, Dr. Drew, we got to we got to move on, but --

PINSKY: Do we really have to go?

GUTFELD: We have these competitive Hot Dog Eating Contest. So, I'm just putting it out there.

PINSKY: Yes, why not?

GUTFELD: Why not?

PINSKY: If people need to do that? Why don't we make it a competition?

GUTFELD: Exactly. Thank you.

PINSKY: Thank you, Greg.

GUTFELD: I would go to tease if I had to tease. All right --

PINSKY: Before you do.

GUTFELD: Yes.

PINSKY: These things, often with the, the --

TIMPF: I'm listening.

PINSKY: Yes, they can be quite serious.

GUTFELD: Yes, of course --

PINSKY: -- or die.

GUTFELD: People die.

PINSKY: -- perforate to colon and rectum.

GUTFELD: Yes, this is not a laughing matter. We said after laughing for four minutes.

All right, we got to go. I got a great interview coming up next. The man who's digging deep into the COVID start in a new book that's a work of art.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: They claim the evidence was weak over that Wuhan lab leak. But now we're beginning to see why that the story was a lie. Understanding how COVID-19 started is crucial for the future of mankind. The book "Viral" by Matt Ridley, maybe the most incisive and authoritative book about the search for the source of the virus. And how do I know that? It says so right on the books flap. But also, I read it and it's one hell of a compelling page turner. Joining me now, Author, Columnist, and Member of the House of Lords in the U.K., Matt Ridley.

MATT RIDLEY, AUTHOR AND COLUMNIST: Just one point, it's a co-written book, my co-author is Alina Chan, a brilliant young scientist at MIT.

GUTFELD: Yes, tell me why? Tell me what's special about her? Because that's kind of a big deal.

RIDLEY: Yes, she's, she's a very talented young scientist. She got interested in the origins of this pandemic, she says, it's really important we find out. She began piecing together the story, she found some things that surprised her. She started laying them out. I began to rely on her as a source for some writing I was doing. I was also curious, where did this virus come from.

Both of us thought, well, it's probably out of that wet market, the Chinese said it came from, and then we began to find that the wet market theory fell apart. And the laboratory leak theory got stronger. We haven't ended up concluding that it's definitely that we don't know enough. But we've tried to take the reader with us on an exploration of everything we know, and everything we don't know.

GUTFELD: Everything in that book. I mean, you know, I read it, I read it, in one day, because it's so compelling, and it is like a detective. It's a detective novel. And I even think -- even the conclusion, if the viewer knew the conclusion, it doesn't matter, because it's the journey there. I found it was, what was -- go ahead.

RIDLEY: Yes, yes, no, exactly -- it's, we were worried that the problem would be solved before the book came out, and then people wouldn't be interested? Well, it's not so. We still don't know the answer. We don't claim that there's enough information to decide one way or the other. But it's pretty clear, it's one of two possibilities, either there was an infected animal in the market, or there was a leak from a laboratory.

And the evidence for the latter has got really quite compelling, and it needs to be taken seriously. But a lot of the scientific establishment, a lot of the journalistic establishment just doesn't want to talk about it, which is, which is a pity, because it's a really important issue for the millions of people who've died, and so that we can prevent the next pandemic.

GUTFELD: Absolutely. And to that point, I mean, the lesson in your book is to look for the dog that's not barking, the conspicuous absence of a variant or location. So, you have all these experts pushing out all this information, but somehow, they're not talking about the bats in that little cave in that province, or the or this variant that seems to be almost 100 percent like COVID. And that's what kind of triggered your, your fellow author which I like, it's the thing they're not talking about that's the thing.

RIDLEY: Yes, there's a very nice example of that, where they describe the spike protein right at the start of the pandemic, in this virus. And in a - - and they, they just don't point out that it's got a feature that no other SARS-like virus has ever had in it.

GUTFELD: Yes.

RIDLEY: And Alina says that's like describing a unicorn. And not mentioning the horn.

GUTFELD: Exactly.

RIDLEY: And, and that, you know, when, when you find out what that feature is, which it takes us a long time to explain in the book, it's a feature they've been putting into viruses deliberately, in various places, in order to make them easier to grow in laboratories. And they had a plan to do exactly that with SARS- like viruses in Wuhan. And that's disturbing, because they knew Western scientists knew about this plan back in 2018. When the pandemic started, they didn't tell us, we found that out from leaked information just a couple of months ago.

GUTFELD: Yes, it's -- I mean, you come away believing that this was a cover up in a way. I mean, they, in a sense, they succeeded in gain of function before creating a cage for it. I mean, they, they thought that, oh, we could anticipate new strains, that's like, they created a machine to create lottery numbers, right? And they said, oh, look, maybe we could just create the fact the create the strain that's going to come up. It is, it's absolutely mind boggling that they did this.

RIDLEY: Well, the purpose of the research they were doing in Wuhan, not more than anywhere else on the planet. This is the place doing SARS Coronavirus research on a bigger scale than any other town anywhere in the world. The purpose of that research was to predict the next pandemic or prevent the next pandemic.

GUTFELD: Right.

RIDLEY: Well, it certainly failed at that.

GUTFELD: They created the next one.

RIDLEY: And it may have helped cause the next pandemic.

GUTFELD: Exactly.

RIDLEY: Really worrying possibility, and we need to confront it. Because otherwise, you know, there's tons of labs all around the world, not just in China doing similar kinds of work on dangerous viruses. And somebody needs to get a grip on this. I'm a great fan of biotech research, and so as Alina. You know, we're not against this kind of work, but we think it's a bit odd to be doing it on really dangerous viruses in a way that makes them even more dangerous.

GUTFELD: Well, I got to say, your book is excellent. It's viral. Alina Chan and Matt Ridley. I also have to recommend "The Evolution of Everything," which is one of my all-time favorite books that you wrote, that's got like, I've marked that book up with so many "AHA" and exclamation points. It's really -- you're an amazing writer.

RIDLEY: Because not very many people read that book.

GUTFELD: I was one of them. I read -- I think I've read it twice. It's amazing. I recommend that. Get two of them. All right. Thanks, Matt. Don't go away. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: We are out of time. Thanks to Matt Ridley, Dr. Drew, Ari Fleischer, Emily Compagno, Kat Timpf, our studio audience. "FOX NEWS @ NIGHT" with evil Shannon Bream is next. I'm Greg Gutfeld --

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