Jesse Watters on the countdown to the first 2020 Democratic debate

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Jesse Watters on the countdown to the first 2020 Democratic debate

Here's a tip for watching the first Democratic presidential debates: Don't.

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," June 25, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JESSE WATTERS, HOST: Hello, I'm Jesse Watters along with Kennedy, Juan Williams, Tom Shillue, and she naps on a dryer lint, Dana Perino. “The Five.”

Greg's out today, but he wrote this monologue which was so good we just had to salvage it. So here's my best attempt at being Greg Gutfeld. By my math, each candidate in tomorrow's debate gets 11 seconds of talk time, which may be 11 seconds too much. Here's proof.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will be bold without the bold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: That was less than 11 seconds. He's certainly no Klobuchar, but so what? The big plus of our system is also its big minus. Anyone can run, and they can run for any reason at all. Hence, an odd-ball parade.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, everybody, we're at Chema's in El Paso getting a haircut.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is about the closest I'll probably ever have in my life to an I am Spartacus moment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hold on a sec. I'm going to get me a beer.

JOE BIDEN, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: My name is Joe Biden. I'm running for this case, running for President of the United States. Look me over. You like what you see, help out. If not, vote for the other person.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning. Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's so appropriate that you gave us all the same t-shirts because I believe our candidates are a part of The Avengers. We're here to save America. The Republicans, that's The Hunger Games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: So let's dispense with the lies that this is about being president. It's not. Some realize their last gigs up add, and the thought of a real job terrifies them. That's de Blasio, or Beto, this could be a step to a job in a new administration, a network, a book on Amazon, and a lifetime on MSNBC. It's about fame, battling the orange Godzilla, boosted by a press that hates him, guarantees more slobbering coverage that a convention of basset hounds, especially if you keep saying dumb stuff about concentration camps.

And that turns them into political versions of snail darters, insignificant and annoying but protected. They and their type -- I'll include AOC and Omar, garner immediate media mob protection. You can't attack a darter without feeling the wrath of social vigilantes because no one wants to be accused of dangering the tiny fish. And running for president or anything is a great gig for a tiny fish.

It's a movie in which the plot simply develops around you. You puff yourself up, you sucker some dumb saps into supporting roles, boost your public speaking, and cram your journal with enough direct for your next book called rolling up my sleeves. So, here's a tip for watching the debates. Don't. It will be like watching snail darters school when the tide comes in. They'll just be gone.

JUAN WILLIAMS, HOST: Wait, how I'm going to criticize, Greg? I don't get it. I've got to go after Greg in the form of you?

WATTERS: Yes. Give it all you've got, Juan. So what do you think? Are you going to watch these debates against Greg's advice?

WILLIAMS: Wait, hold on. Are you sincere -- wait. I want to talk to Greg and you're here. OK. But you sincerely, or Greg sincerely wants me not to watch the debates?

WATTERS: I think Greg think -- you know, I'm not going to speak for him. This is over. The monologue is done.

WILLIAMS: What do you think, Jesse?

WATTERS: The monologue is done. I think I'm watching the debates. I think they're going to be great entertainment. And, you know, I think Biden has a lot to lose, don't you?

WILLIAMS: Not on the first one. He's not on the stage.

WATTERS: I mean on Thursday, he's got a lot to lose.

WILLIAMS: Well, sure. Everybody -- he's the front runner so everybody will potentially go after him. But I think, you know, to me, the response to the monologue is to say I remember 2016, and I remember that it was all about personality on that Republican stage with 10-plus candidates, right? And I -- you know, boy, talk about follies. How about Marco Rubio and President Trump comparing hand size? That's pretty low. That's pretty low for a so-called --

WATTERS: I don't think that's going to happen on the Democrat side.

WILLIAMS: I hope not because I think that the idea is and what I'm hearing is that you want a debate policy. You want to introduce yourself. So many of these people are not known to the audience, Jesse, so it's an opportunity to introduce yourself. It's an opportunity to say I'm a serious person who really is worthy. And they've got to convince people that they're sufficiently able to beat President Trump.

WATTERS: Do you think this is going to be about policy or do you think this is going to just devolve into zingers and one-liners and things like that?

KENNEDY, HOST: If they're good, they'll do both, and that will be entertaining for everyone. But there aren't too many people who can actually do that. And it's going to be up to the moderators to take all of these candidates out of their comfort zone because no one wants to see that. No one wants to hear Beto's platitudes. But I would like to see them challenge Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, although they're on different stages on different nights on their math.

But what it really comes down to is they have to play it like survivor because, of course, everyone wants to be the ultimate winner. They want to outwit, outplay, and outlast each other, but you can do that unless you take out the favorites. And right now Joe Biden is the guy who's winning all the challenges and he's good at puzzles, but the secret is he's really not.

So he doesn't just have an Achilles' heel. It's as though his mom latched on to his entire thigh. He's got an Achilles femur. So there's a lot of vulnerable real estate on Joe Biden's political body that they have to go after.

WATTERS: And the person that will probably be doing that is gonna be Bernie Sanders because he's going to be sharing the stage with Joe on Thursday. That's going to be a great matchup. Do you think Bernie is going to go right for the jugular immediately?

DANA PERINO, HOST: I think -- gosh, you know, it's almost like with Elizabeth Warren, he sees her as more of a kindred spirit and he doesn't really want to take her on directly. But I think with someone like Joe Biden, he has no problem.

WATTERS: Yeah.

PERINO: And so, debates are really about muscle memory, and if you think about who's has the most recent debating experience, it's Bernie, and then Biden may be.

WATTERS: I mean Biden hasn't debated a Democrat for -- since --

PERINO: No, no -- didn't really have tough races. But you think when he prepped for the Sarah Palin debate, and then the Paul Ryan debate. That's as close as you get. Most of the candidates have cleared off their schedules and figured out a way to spend some time practicing. You have to practice like you play.

Bob Barnett, who's my lawyer, I think everybody knows Bob Barnett. He's been involved in every presidential election since 1976. He's so smart when it comes to all of this. He was talking about how you pick your lane, if you have one, and pick your moment, and then you prep based on that strategy. And I think a lot of those guys are doing it. It's going to be really hard. There's not much time to make a point.

WILLIAMS: It's 5 minutes or something.

PERINO: It's not a lot. And then you can't interrupt. You can't --

WATTERS: And there's a 30-second limit --

KENNEDY: There's also no opening statement, so you don't have the chance to set the table --

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: That's a waste of time, anyway. What do you think Biden --

(LAUGHTER)

WATTERS: What do you Biden is going to do? He's the alpha dog. He's ahead on the polls, former V.P. He's going to have a lot of people coming after him. How does he handle it?

TOM SHILLUE, HOST: Well, I think his job is to just deflect that, be nice to the people who are attacking him, and just keep saying over and over -- every answer should be I'm the guy who can beat Trump and here's why. I can win in Pennsylvania. I can win in Wisconsin, because that's all anyone cares about is who can beat Trump.

WATTERS: Right.

SHILLUE: They don't really care about the details of these policies, or maybe they do, but if you have someone who cares about the details of policy, if you have someone who really cares about student loan debt, they're going to vote for Bernie or for Elizabeth Warren. So you've lost them anyway. So he should just drill. I'm the only guy.

WATTERS: What happens when Bernie starts attacking Joe and say, you know, you're out of step and goes after his record. How does Bernie handle it?

SHILLUE: There you go again.

WATTERS: Or how does Joe handle it?

PERINO: Well, I think --

WATTERS: In a charming way?

PERINO: Well, there is something -- it just happened today, it was revealed that in his post vice presidential career, which only has been about two and half years, former Vice President Biden has a list of demands when he goes to give a speech and they're pretty elite.

WATTERS: Oh. Are those going to be coming out?

PERINO: Well, they were released today. And I would imagine that this is the kind of thing that really hurt Hillary Clinton with the Bernie supporters that she was out of touch. That she was out having like -- getting $500,000 a speech and enjoying this great life. In the meantime, Bernie Sanders will say I'm the one who's there working for you and to progress on these policies that we care about.

WILLIAMS: So that's personal.

(CROSSTALK)

KENNEDY: Bernie wants to go after the establishment candidate, just like he did -- I mean, Bernie's been waiting for that. That's what his followers want and that's what he's going to do. And he's going to relish every moment. And also, side-by-side, Bernie Sanders has so much more energy than Joe Biden. And he was probably a senior when Joe was a freshman.

(LAUGHTER)

WILLIAMS: I do think that he's going to try to get Biden to look uncertain. I don't know if you read today in the Times, Michelle Goldberg saying he's that -- Joe Biden is not looking great out on the trail. If you can demonstrate that without a direct attack, that would work.

WATTERS: Juan, that's what I've been saying.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: I think she actually went on the campaign trail. But the other thing to say --

(CROSSTALK)

WILLIAMS: The other thing to say quickly is they've got to react to what's news right now, so -- because that would feed to the viral moments they're all seeking. So what's going-on on the border, the terrible treatment of children? What would Democrats do about it? This is Trump's issue, but Democrats need to respond.

KENNEDY: They probably wouldn't be lauding segregationists.

WATTERS: All right. New video released in the Jussie Smollett case from the night of his alleged hate crime attack, including footage of Smollett walking around his apartment with a noose around his neck, details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: The Jussie Smollett saga continuing as Chicago police released nearly 70 hours of video yesterday, hundreds of files also from the night of the alleged hate crime attack. One of the videos shows the moment when cops walked into the actor's apartment for the very first time. They observed him wearing a noose.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, so I was explaining why you were going and the reason I called is because of this [bleep].

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Do you want to take it off or anything?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, I do. I just wanted you all to see it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's bleach on me. They poured bleach on me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're filming us, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, this is all being audio and visually recorded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are filming you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't want to be film, so can we turn it off?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please shut it off.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Oh, my. But that's not all. Bizarre footage from inside a taxi the same night shows the Osundairo brothers whom police believed worked with Jussie in staging the attack, wearing hazmat suits and gloves. What is going on? Kennedy, you can't keep it together. What is going on here?

KENNEDY: What is going on? This story gets more and more bizarre. The visual of them, it's like that Woody Allen movie that's all about reproduction.

SHILLUE: Yes. Sleepers, is that it?

KENNEDY: No. It's --

SHILLUE: The other one, I know.

KENNEDY: That's exactly. But they're --

(LAUGHTER)

KENNEDY: They're in the vessel wearing all white suits waiting to emerge into the world, and that -- never mind.

WILLIAMS: I see. I see. Well, Jesse, when you look at the video and you see that the police had put out all this information, and now, by the way, a special prosecutor has been appointed to look into the prosecutor who made the decision to get rid of the case. Are we ever going to find out the truth here or --

WATTERS: We know the truth, Juan. He staged the attack.

WILLIAMS: OK.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: Now they're just embarrassing him by releasing all these stuff, and they're going to have all of these people looked into and potentially re-prosecuted. But anybody in show business, and he should know this, this is not how you stage a crime. You have MAGA insults, you have a noose, you have bleach, and you have a beat down. Pick one. I mean, it's like -- you don't need all of them for the hate crime. It's like when my daughter's cook. You pour like hundreds of ingredients in the pot and stir it up. It's nonsensical.

And the noose as a symbol of so much hatred and pain and suffering, to leave around your neck afterwards it doesn't -- it's counterintuitive. Anybody would want that away from their neck no matter what. It's like if you escape from a kidnapping, do you just keep the ropes around your wrists to show the cops that you were tied up? No. it doesn't make any sense at all.

WILLIAMS: All right. So, Dana, here's -- Jesse makes an important point. He says we know the truth. So, do you think the truth here is pretty obvious that we have a liar, and is it worth -- maybe the prosecutor made the right choice. You've got $100,000, I believe, in restitution.

PERINO: Ten thousand.

WILLIAMS: OK, 10,000 in restitution, and she says, you know --

PERINO: A bunch of zeros.

WILLIAMS: -- it's not worth the time for the public's money.

PERINO: But, see, if that were -- if that is what she had said originally, then that would be great, but that's not. And Jussie Smollett himself, he smeared the police. He said that they lied. He said that the Osundairo brothers lied. He is the one who has said they all lied. He's smeared all of them, and he gets to be let off scot-free for $10,000, which would be like $100 to most people because he makes so much money.

I think that this is the police saying, OK, you want to have a full investigation? We'll do that, absolutely. Let's just see at all. I'm all for it.

WILLIAMS: He didn't call for a full investigation, Dana. I think that the police -- I mean, what you've said sounds right to me, but I just think it sounds like the police --

PERINO: No, he would prefer that this all went away.

WILLIAMS: Hang on. Let me finish my point. That the police are exercising a vendetta. They went out on a limb and found him guilty before the prosecutor acted.

PERINO: They actually did --

WATTERS: That's what police do, Juan. They find the evidence, they present it to the prosecutor --

WILLIAMS: Yeah.

WATTERS: -- and the prosecutor prosecutes the case.

WILLIAMS: They're not -- they don't prosecute.

WATTERS: No, I understand that.

SHILLUE: They were too fair from the very beginning, and it was hamstringing me on shows like this. I couldn't get my real feelings. I was thinking to myself, this seems like -- it seems like a hoax from the beginning.

WATTERS: Yeah.

SHILLUE: But we -- I was being politically correct. Oh, I don't know. We'll see when the facts come in. Because the police --

WATTERS: Right.

SHILLUE: -- they had all this information. I wish that they were less nice and they came out with all this information at the very beginning and said, look, this is fishy. Here's the video.

PERINO: Also, because they spent something like $350,000 pulling resources off the streets in order to go look for all of these fake incidents, right? So if they knew from the jump that it was a hoax, then they could have saved the city a lot of money.

SHILLUE: And -- but I think you are right that it is -- this is all on Jussie Smollett because if he didn't -- I didn't need a full throated apology. I felt bad for the guy. After it was revealed it was a hoax, I thought, OK, maybe he'll have to apologize, but I'm never for the big full throat apology.

KENNEDY: But if he had just come out and said something, all of this would have gone away. And the FBI, and Chicago P.D., and even retired judges in the state wouldn't be sitting here going this is not right, and we cannot have the world thinking that this is how we need our justice in Chicago and in Illinois. We have to make this right because it's so wrong and it's so weird. And he was wearing a little sweater --

WILLIAMS: OK, hold on.

KENNEDY: And it was --

WILLIAMS: But your point -- OK, but here's the thing, Kennedy, prosecutors do have prosecutorial discretion.

KENNEDY: Sure.

WILLIAMS: And so, here's the case now, I don't think you can charge him again, right? Because this thing has been settled --

KENNEDY: No, actually, you can charge him again.

WILLIAMS: Oh, you can.

KENNEDY: And that was the ruling from the judge in the --

WILLIAMS: I think -- it couldn't be -- I thought they say --

KENNEDY: It is not double jeopardy.

WILLIAMS: -- see what they can do. But it just strikes me that, you know what? They're going after this guy that -- like a vendetta.

PERINO: And also, it's about a fight between the prosecutor's office and the police.

WILLIAMS: That's what I think.

PERINO: And the police are saying you're not going to smear us. They've been working very hard to develop better relationships in the community to reestablish trust in the community, and they're just not going to put up with it. I'm glad that they're pushing back.

WILLIAMS: Well, I just wonder if it's a case that the police don't like an outcome, and so they're going somebody.

WATTERS: Well, Juan, I feel bad for the police. I don't feel bad for Smollett.

KENNEDY: It was the mayor, it was several judges, all sorts of people who, you know, aren't necessarily politically in line with President Trump, and it has nothing to do with the political nature of the attack. Kim Foxx said she recused herself, and then she came out later and said I only colloquially recuse myself. I didn't actually, legally recuse myself.

WILLIAMS: Yeah, because it was someone on her staff who made the decision to drop the case.

KENNEDY: There was no precedent for her to anoint someone, the acting state's attorney.

WILLIAMS: All right. The homeless crisis in California's cities, it's getting worse, as San Diego takes costly new measures to get the situation under control. We're going to tell you about that. It's so interesting. Next on “The Five.”

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: California continues to grapple with an out-of-control homeless crisis with San Diego ranking as the fourth city with the highest homelessness rate in the United States. According to a recent HUD report, and taxpayers are now being forced to shell out $11 million to build elaborate tent cities to house them. The mayor signing off on the plan in hopes of tackling the problem head-on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN FAULCONER, SAN DIEGO MAYOR: One of the things that we're doing in San Diego that I think is really having a dramatic effect of getting people off the streets is we've established bridge shelters with health and wraparound services, a storage center for belongings that's helping to clean up our streets and our sidewalks, and really a sense of, you know, an over-all attitude that says a sidewalk, a tarp, or a riverbed is no place for a home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: As you've mentioned, Kevin Faulconer, a good friend of mine from way back when. When I lived in San Diego. Jesse, did you know that I lived in San Diego?

WATTERS: No, I did not know that, Dana.

PERINO: Oh, you should read my book.

KENNEDY: Were you homeless there?

PERINO: No.

WILLIAMS: That was the obvious question.

PERINO: We're getting off topic. We've been talking about homelessness as a problem growing in cities all across America. Jesse, what do you think about this particular tactic as -- proactive way to try to get ahead of it? It's expensive though.

WATTERS: Yeah, I mean cities have a choice. They have to either facilitate homelessness or fight it. Some cities are facilitating it by building these tent cities, or almost encouraging it by saying you're allowed to sleep here, you're allowed to bring all your stuff here, and they'll kind of quarantine you into certain areas. But other cities, I believe, should try to fight homelessness, and that's very expensive.

And you need to almost have health care units that kind of surgeon to these precincts, help people with their drug addictions, their mental illnesses, and trying to clean them up, trying to get them back up on their feet. I know there's a civil liberties debate there about how much the government can do to kind of move you around and kind of curtail your freedom.

But at the same time if you have 99 percent of the city being affected by kind of an out-of-control while 1 percent of homeless, what kind of decisions does the leadership have to make? They have to decide. I represent 99 percent of these people who are being affected by this 1 percent. We need to take action.

PERINO: Kennedy, compare what San Diego is trying to do here with what is happening in Los Angeles, for example, like pushing people just to skid row and being like, OK --

KENNEDY: It's not just skid row. You've got a nice neighborhoods like Venice, and there are, you know, tent cities that pop up, essentially, in all these communities, Santa Monica as well. But if you drive around downtown L.A., it used to be -- every once in a while you'd have a side street that was kind of littered with garbage, and now it is constant and it is chronic, and they cannot clean it up fast enough. And the problem is -- there's a couple of things that are going on in California, particularly in Los Angeles, and this is also why I think Eric Garcetti can't run for president because the homeless problem is really enveloping his entire --

PERINO: The mayor of Los Angeles.

KENNEDY: Yeah. But cops are getting typhus, and they're requesting to be transferred out of these areas because there is now so much human waste and rats that they are spreading diseases that are really third world problems and that's really unfortunate. So the amount of money that they're throwing at it, they're not throwing in the right place. And they really - - what they really need to do in California, truly, is deregulate some of the housing law so more people can build dwellings bigger than single family homes.

And that's essentially what all these places are zoned for. They need apartment building. They need affordable housing and they don't have that. So when people don't have affordable housing like, well, I guess we'll just pitch a tent.

PERINO: The governor of California, Gavin Newsom, had another thing to complain about. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GAVIN NEWSOM, CALIFORNIA GOVERNOR: I remember doing a survey as mayor. We started with about 7,000 people on the street. When I end up we had about 7,000, even though I can point to addresses. I can tell you names of 12,000 people we got off the street. The folks that were on the street we left, vast majority were not from California.

I'm not suggesting that they're not our responsibility, in fact, quite the contrary. We took responsibility. We were dealing with -- by the way, vast majority also coming from, and we know this, from Texas, just interesting fact.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: Interesting fact, Tom?

SHILLUE: Very interesting fact. The -- this is a public health thing when they talk about -- there's two different issues though, Kennedy. I agree with all of the libertarian stuff you were talking. But most of it is, everybody knows, substance abuse, mental health, drug addiction that kind of thing.

So that's the way they have to deal with it in in these cities and they're not doing it. You're hearing it, San Francisco, Los Angeles that's what you hear the most of it all, I do - and other cities - Miami - all the cities people who come here as guests on Fox News. They come in they say. You know it used to be this way, but now it's really bad. They're all admitting it is.

So this is an opportunity for - I mean, I don't to make it all political, but this is an opportunity for Republicans to come in and start dealing with this, because this has been something they've ceded to Democrats - America's cities. And now's the time to come in and say, "Look they have failed on this in such a big way opportunity".

WILLIAMS: OK. Wait a second. Hold on, so let's speak to just that point, because I think that's the underlying premise and so much that I'm hearing this afternoon.

But, guess what, Kevin Faulconer is a Republican.

PERINO: Yes, he is.

WILLIAMS: So these are Republicans trying to deal with homelessness and homelessness is at a high rate in Seattle, San Francisco, LA, Dana and I were talking about D.C., go through Philly, here in New York. There is a high rate of homelessness in America. Why? More and more income inequality. There's not a sufficient affordable housing--

PERINO: Addiction--

WILLIAMS: So we--

(CROSSTALK)

SHILLUE: 90 percent mental health addiction. I'm say--

WILLIAMS: No, in fact there is a lot of people who have full-time jobs, that's the most shocking part who are homeless. They can't afford a place. They can't instead a porch to live.

MONTGOMERY: But I think what we can agree on is instead of focusing on drug addiction and criminalizing it, we have to see it as a mental health and health crisis in general and treat people for drug addiction.

WILLIAMS: I think we also have to say honestly, "Hey, you know what, something's changed in America. There's more income inequality, more people who can't afford a place to live and we need to deal with it".

WATTERS: OK. Juan, income inequality does not cause homelessness, number one.

WILLIAMS: Of course it does.

WATTERS: Number two, Juan, the people in Skid Row do not have full time jobs.

WILLIAMS: A lot of--

WATTERS: They are staying in Skid Row and they don't leave. No one is working in McDonald's and coming back after their shift to leave think Skid Row.

WILLIAMS: They are. That's what - I think that's what a shock to you.

WATTERS: Juan, no true.

WILLIAMS: But there is a high percentage of people--

WATTERS: Well, I've been to Skid Row, isn't that true. No one leaves.

WILLIAMS: I'm just telling you there's - but here is the thing. What you hear from Mayor Faulconer - a Republican in San Diego is - he is willing to spend $11 million. That's a lot of money as you've said. So exactly what is that that's splitting the parties?

I think everybody says we need a solution--

MONTGOMERY: But they are spending more and more money on that in Los Angeles--

WILLIAMS: Right.

MONTGOMERY: And the homelessness has - it's growing by the thousands.

PERINO: I think one of the attempts in San Diego is to try to - for people who are short-term homeless, try to interdict early, try to help them to make sure that they are not long-term homeless, and that's a little bit different than what's happening in Los Angeles. We got to move.

Next on THE FIVE, President Trump ups his troll game against Joe Biden. This time asking why Obama hasn't endorsed his ex-VP?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHILLUE: President Trump once again proving he is the MVP of trolling his competitors. In this least interview, the President taking aim at Dem frontrunner Joe Biden, questioning why Obama won't endorse him?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: How he doesn't get President Obama to endorse him? There has to be some reason why he is not endorsing him. He was the Vice President. They seem to have gotten along.

And how President Obama is not endorsing him is rather a big secret. If you know the - if you know the answer please let me know, because I think it's very - and then he goes and lies and says I asked the President not to endorse me. Give me a break.

He said he asked the President, because he's embarrassed by the fact that Obama is not endorsing him. So he goes out and says, I asked President Obama not to endorse me. Well, he was trying to get the endorsement, so it could be that President Obama knows something. But there is something going on in the brain of his.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SHILLUE: He does this a lot. When he talks about Biden, he does the point to the head. That's something. Dana, this is politically brilliant, because he's going at the big strength of Joe Biden, which is his association with Obama.

PERINO: Obama.

SHILLUE: And he's creating mystery. The big mystery is, what's it all about?

PERINO: President has a knack for picking a political scab before it can heal. Right. So this was almost like done.

SHILLUE: Yes.

PERINO: And then here he comes back up again. Though, if I were Biden, I would say, "Well, didn't you just refused to endorse Pence for 2024?" I think, Presidents don't usually do that. Obama didn't endorse in '08, I mean, sorry in a '16. He waited until.

He might - people might - like, I think the Bernie Sanders people feel like he had his thumb on the scale for Hillary Clinton. That didn't work either.

KENNEDY: It did. He went on "60 Minutes" and said that she did absolutely nothing wrong, when he also said "oh, but I don't have any Intel at all". It's like well how would he know that to make--

PERINO: Well, I'm talking about early on in a primary process when there was like eight of them running, Obama didn't say anything.

KENNEDY: I don't know man. Well, OK, we can--

PERINO: He made the choice between Hillary and Joe, and he picked Hillary and it was a bad choice.

SHILLUE: Kennedy, we're going to talk this--

PERINO: OK. But Joe - but - Joe Biden wasn't actually running. I think that he talked Joe Biden out of running, because he thought that it - I don't think it was because he thought he's a bad candidate, I think it's because he was grieving about his son who had just passed.

SHILLUE: How is - I think he may use that line, Dana, he may--

PERINO: Which one?

SHILLUE: --to turn - well about but Pence. But we're going to--

PERINO: But also President Trump was - President Trump benefited from having no one endorsed him early on.

SHILLUE: Yes.

PERINO: --as he was the anti-establishment candidate. So if I were Biden, I would not even want an endorsement.

SHILLUE: The press is - Kennedy, there's - I read there's an - he's - that's a baseless claim, an unfounded claim. We all know. I heard Democrats. The day after he made that claim that he that he asked him not to endorse him. A lot of Democrats had come on, we know he's lying. So President Trump saying what we all know isn't he?

KENNEDY: Well, that's like me going up to the most popular, handsome quarterback in my high school when I was a dorky sophomore saying, "Please don't ask me to prom. I just - you know I can't do it this year". Like he was never going to ask me to prom in the first place. So that's a ton of hot garbage right there.

But then why is Joe Biden doing everything he can in the clumsiest ways possible, trying to tie himself to Obama in his legacy. Remember, the bracelets Joe and Barack for Best Friends Day. That was the goofiest social media post - and everyone especially, Democrats, even David Axelrod saw right through it.

So what he's trying to do is, create this mystique that they are still together. They're thick as thieves and that the President Obama is only withholding out of respect and that is not true. He chose Hillary early on. He - even if his endorsement wasn't explicit, she was the chosen one, because he thought she was going to win, and that was a bad idea.

SHILLUE: Jesse, the - if President Trump had made a lie like this. If he had said, "He asked him not to". Wouldn't that be on the list of the "Washington Post 1001 Lies"?

WATTERS: That's only a 1001 they have. Juan know the number.

WILLIAMS: Yes, really.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: --they've got a few in there. I do agree with you - what you said. This is more like mischief. No one really follows the endorsement, it's early in 2008. There's a - this is about what you read at the supermarket checkout line in a tabloid. Mystery reason why Biden is not getting the endorsement. Is there something going on up here?

So the President, like he does, because he understands the soap opera aspect. He's driving a wedge in the relationship. He's just asking questions. He's just raising issues. He seems different. Not the same, we don't know. Everybody else sees it, though.

And I think it's really smart, because, Biden right now, as you agreed, because "The New York Times" report it, not me - "The New York Times". They were the ones who've been saying that he does not look smooth or in command. He's got trouble with the prompter. He said some flip-flops. He's done the apologies. He needs to look sharper in these debates.

And right on the eve of the debates the President raising issues about Biden's sharpness--

SHILLUE: Yes. Juan, now that Michelle Goldberg has said it, what do you agree?

WILLIAMS: With what?

SHILLUE: That Biden's not the - not sharp as a tack?

KENNEDY: Sharp as a basketball?

WILLIAMS: Sharp as a basketball, that's great, Kennedy. I haven't been out to see him. So I ran into him the other day and he seem fine to me. But I always am interested in seeing people when they're in the moment of contest, you know, how do you react, how do you respond, can you play this game.

Now let me just say though that, the game that I see going on here is that Joe Biden is renting space in President Trump's head, because he constantly is talking about Joe Biden. And the polls that are out today - we have a poll out new Emerson poll - Biden would beat him by 10, Sanders would beat him by 10. So if President Trump--

KENNEDY: They should have election day today.

WILLIAMS: Well, if they did - I'm just telling you, because that's what polls are. They give us a snapshot and clearly Biden is consistently - because this is not the first time - ahead of Trump in polls and Trump is preoccupied. And you know what, it's sometimes the President's own polls that indicate Biden is beating him.

WATTERS: Juan, when the President was going after he - how he calls Pocahontas--

WILLIAMS: Yes.

WATTERS: --for all those months. Was that because she was living rent-free in his head, was that because he obsessed--

WILLIAMS: Because she was so critical.

WATTERS: --and scared--

WILLIAMS: No, no that was before.

WATTERS: --of Elizabeth Warren?

WILLIAMS: No that was before.

WATTERS: He just goes after everybody.

SHILLUE: Juan, I'm just--

WILLIAMS: --she was going after him on the money.

SHILLUE: We got to go, Juan. But I'm just glad you admit the Trump is a brilliant businessman. He's able to rent out space in his own head.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

SHILLUE: Desperate anti-Trump Hollywood actors performed a live reading of the Mueller report. We'll play you the cringe-worthy highlights next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KENNEDY: You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave. Hollywood celebs have never been the same since Trump won the presidency in 2016. From Johnny Depp's assassination fantasy to Madonna's desire to blow up the White House, they've had a really hard time processing Hillary's loss. What happened.

And after their Russia collusion narrative failed, they are now coping with a star-studded live reading of the Mueller report. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"Obstruction of Justice".

ANNETTE BENING, AMERICAN ACTRESS: According to Comey's account, at one point during the dinner, the President stated--

JOHN LITHGOW, AMERICAN CHARACTER ACTOR: I need loyalty.

JUSTIN LONG, AMERICAN ACTOR: You will always get honesty from me.

LITHGOW: That's what I want honest loyalty.

BEN MCKENZIE, AMERICAN ACTOR: Then if it's what you say, I love it, especially later in the summer.

LITHGOW: This is terrible Jeff, it's all because you recused.

KEVIN KLINE, AMERICAN ACTOR: If we had confidence that the President clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that.

BENING: They did their job. Robert Mueller did his job. The question is will we do ours.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: Jesse, I think there's something wonderful about people participating in civics through theater, you?

WATTERS: That was awful. I was too embarrassed for them. I have some suggested reading materials. How about Hannity's monologue? Pick one - doesn't matter, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, just one. That be interesting.

How about the IG report or "Liars, Leakers, and Liberals" that could freshen up on some of their true facts about the real Russia hoax, the witch-hunt, possible abuse of power. They don't want to read that. They can't handle the truth. They can't handle the truth.

WILLIAMS: Maybe Jesse could be Greg's monologue.

KENNEDY: So, Juan, let me ask you this.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

KENNEDY: If the Inspector General report that deals with fallout from Hillary's e-mail server scandal, if that is unfavorable to the Obama administration and to the former Secretary of State, do you think they'll have a public reading of that?

WILLIAMS: Well, I don't think that she's President. So I think that what this is about is something--

WATTERS: Say that again, she's not what?

WILLIAMS: She's not President.

WATTERS: Exactly now the words--

WILLIAMS: Your guy is President, so I think that's why - but you know what I think, the Democrats are very frustrated--

KENNEDY: But I think if they impeach him, she automatically becomes President.

WILLIAMS: Oh, is that right?

WATTERS: That's new fake news--

KENNEDY: All those people on stage were like, that's all we have to do you guys.

WILLIAMS: Well, I don't - well, I won't get into Pence. But I must say this - there seems to be a growing chorus of that they are talking about Nikki Haley--

KENNEDY: You mean 46?

WILLIAMS: Anyway. It seems to me that the Democrats are frustrated on this point that the Mueller report is written in legalese is boring. Most people haven't read it. And so they want to dramatize it.

SHILLUE: I'm going to destroy your point in a minute Juan.

WILLIAMS: Why? Go ahead.

SHILLUE: Because it is not dry, it is not lawyerly, that Mueller report - the interesting thing about this is not that crazy actors are reading a dry report, because there's such weirdos, it's that the report is a bit of drama. The report is written like a script. The drama queen is Mueller.

WILLIAMS: It's not. Mueller is a drama - well, maybe Mueller should do--

SHILLUE: Yes, he is a dramatist.

WILLIAMS: Are you making an argument for Mueller to testify?

KENNEDY: I was just going to say, if he is a master thespian shouldn't he go before some of these Congressional Committees?

WILLIAMS: Yes. Go, Tom, go. I'm surprised, but please.

SHILLUE: I totally dismantled your point, and I'm so right, am I not, Dana? That that report is written like a play?

WILLIAMS: Oh, get out town.

PERINO: Because I actually read it.

SHILLUE: As did I, yes.

PERINO: Permission to make an analogy?

SHILLUE: Permission granted.

PERINO: This is like getting kids to eat their vegetables. You have to dress it up.

WILLIAMS: There you go.

PERINO: Because the frustration that a lot of liberals had was that you're not reading the report. If you just read the report you would agree with us. If you just read the report you would realize that we should do impeachment. Just read the report.

So then they're like, well, they're not reading the report, so let's put some cheese on it and maybe they turn the broccoli into a forest.

WATTERS: Put a little lift guy on top of it.

PERINO: --something and then oh now they're going to read it.

KENNEDY: I didn't get a crowd shot. I wonder how many people left--

WILLIAMS: But I think you are exactly right. And I think it's a counter to the fact that Bill Barr, the Attorney General, he put out his spin for weeks and then President Trump reiterates no obstruction, no - what's he saying? No collusion?

KENNEDY: No Collusion.

WILLIAMS: And he keeps repeating it. And yet the report is sitting there and people aren't reading it.

WATTERS: No obstruction, no collusion.

PERINO: put some cheese on it.

WATTERS: Yes.

KENNEDY: That's right. You put a little of--

PERINO: Ranch dressing--

KENNEDY: --avocado, whip it up and its pudding. You are something. "One More Thing" is up next. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: Time now for "One More thing". We have a new addition of "Jesse's Feeding Frenzy"

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TEXT: "Jesse's Feeding Frenzy"

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: So everybody knows 7-Eleven they have the best Slurpees. But sometimes you're not near a 7-Eleven, sometimes you're just at the house or the apartment and you have to have a Slurpee. Now they deliver.

KENNEDY: Oh, my god.

WATTERS: So you can go to the 7NOW app. Get it now and you can then just punch it in and they will deliver a Slurpee to your house. Or say you're like out at Central Park or something, getting a little Sun. They will deliver it to you at a random location. All right?

So if you want your Slurpee fix from 7-Eleven you can do it. So go to 7- eleven.com for more details and check it.

WILLIAMS: Do you spoil - will they deliver it to your limo? Holy smokes.

WATTERS: Delicious. What is this blue? Who knows what flavor that is? Dana?

PERINO: All right. You can celebrate the 4th of July with us if you get your Fox News gear. We are very excited about this. You can go and shop - you love to shop. These are items that you can find at shop.foxnews.com.

If you use the code FOX4TH - F-O-X the number 4 "T-H" You're going to receive 10% off your purchase. You can get the cute baseball cap. There's the tumbler. That's Jesse's favorite.

WATTERS: Tumblers are hot. They will fly off the shelves.

PERINO: I like the coffee mug. Also a tote--

KENNEDY: What? With the American flag - glory, look at that on the other side.

PERINO: Also there are t-shirts.

WATTERS: This is soft too. Really soft.

SHILLUE: Can I put the hat on?

PERINO: Yes, you can put the hat on, sure. And this is pretty exciting, because people have been wanting to be able to purchase their Fox News gear. Well, now you can. Again, its shop. foxnews.com and use FOX4TH and you get 10% off.

KENNEDY: Everyone knows the Fox News fan so this is a great 4th of July gift, yes.

WATTERS: All right. Juan Williams.

WILLIAMS: All right. So Greg regularly tells you about animals being so great. Well what about people pretending to be animals? Take a look at this video out of Japan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: At the Tobe Zoo they decided to use a man dressed in a furry lion costume for an emergency drill on how to handle an escaped lion. As you can see, the lion is wandering around before the zoo staff simulating a different capture scenario, including use of a net and shooting the lion - Mr. Lion with a tranquilizer dart.

And while this charade was going on, take a look at the real zoo lions. They're like, "Huh, this is pretty funny. Look at these foolish humans". All I know is I can't wait to see what the Japanese aquariums are doing for Shark Week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: It's like a mascot that stuffed with the tranquilizer gun. All right, who is next? Kennedy?

KENNEDY: "Animals are Great, Animals are Great". And keeping with Animals are Great theme, miss you so much Greg.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: A man loved his dog so much. He didn't marry him, because that's not what Scottish people do. But when he married his bride they met at an animal rescue center. His dog, Jack, was his groomsmen. And isn't that the sweetest thing? So the most beloved and loyal creature in his life was there to witness their union and their vows.

SHILLUE: One with the huge crowds.

KENNEDY: That was a private fair, because everyone's worried that people are going to marry their dogs now, which you know Jack is such a handsome fella, then why wouldn't you?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: But it also goes to show that you can never have enough love and four-legged friends.

SHILLUE: So true. OK. What do you do when your 5-year-old - you suspect your 5-year-old is stealing from the cookie jar? Of course you set up a camera and do a sting.

WATTERS: Nice.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHILLUE: Well let's see if they caught the little girl. They thought it was their 5-year-old girl stealing Oreos. It was not. It was their half year old Glen doodle Max. Max stealing Oreos. Look at that very dexterous.

KENNEDY: Wow. Not good for dogs, Oreos.

SHILLUE: Not good for dogs, but he didn't care.

PERINO: But who would have thought that the dog was doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Yes, Rookie would never do that. He is very well trained. By the way he misses you.

PERINO: I love the Rookie.

WATTERS: He is really looking forward to seeing you. Set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of THE FIVE. "Special Report" is up next with Bret.

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