Kamala Harris laughs when Biden tells her she can't ban guns with an executive order

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Kamala Harris laughs when Biden tells her she can't ban guns with an executive order

Dan Bongino wraps up a wild week in news with News Explosion on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight.'

This is a rush transcript from "Tucker Carlson Tonight," September 13, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

BRIAN KILMEADE, HOST: Hi, everybody. Welcome to “Tucker Carlson Tonight.” I'm Brian Kilmeade. I am filling in for Tucker, but he will make a special appearance this hour, I promise.

Meanwhile, the 2020 Democratic presidential race has been running for more than a half a year, believe it or not. But last night was the first time that all the top candidates shared a stage at the same time. They did not let that opportunity go to waste. It was all out war from the get go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My friend for a month thinks that the employer is going to give you back if you negotiate his union all these years, he has got to cut in wages because you've got insurance. They're going to give back that money to the employee?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I-VT, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Matter of fact, they will.

BIDEN: Well, let me tell you something, for a socialist -- for a socialist, you've got a lot more confidence in corporate America than I do.

JULIAN CASTRO, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm fulfilling -- fulfilling the legacy of Barack Obama, and you're not.

BIDEN: That will be a surprise to him.

SANDERS: ... to providing health care to every man, woman and child in this country. I wrote the damn Bill, if I may say so.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR, D-MINN., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And while Bernie wrote the Bill, I read the Bill.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, D-IND., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The problem, Senator Sanders with that damn Bill that you wrote, and that Senator Warren backs is it, it doesn't trust the American people.

SANDERS: I am proud that year after year, I had an F-rating from the NRA, and as President, I will not be intimidated by the NRA.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MASS., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When 54 senators said let's do background checks, let's get rid of assault weapons, and with 54 senators, it failed because of the filibuster.

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, D-CALIF., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bottom line is this, Donald Trump in office, on trade policy, you know, he reminds me of that guy in the Wizard of Oz, you know, when you pull back the curtain, it's a really small dude.

SANDERS: Let us be clear, Joe. In the United States of America, we are spending twice as much per capita on healthcare, as the Canadians or any other major country on Earth --

BIDEN: This America?

SANDERS: Yes, but Americans don't want to pay twice as much as other countries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: As usual, the biggest thing the candidates competed over was how left they can go on many cases. Joe Biden, the man labeled as the moderate in the race declared that nobody in America should go to prison for nonviolent crime. You want proof?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: What's happened is that we're in a situation now where there are so many people who are in jail and shouldn't be in jail.

Nobody should be in jail for nonviolent crime.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Exactly. So please let Bernie Madoff go. Al Capone, if you are still alive, I think it's your time to open up the gates. That is Joe Biden being moderate. Take another former Obama, i.e. Julian Castro, he launched a direct attack on Biden's mental fitness, drawing some gasps from the audience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: They do not have to buy in.

CASTRO: You just said that. You just said that two minutes ago. You just said two minutes ago that they would have to buy in.

BIDEN: They do not have to buy in if they can't afford it.

CASTRO: You said they would have to buy in.

BIDEN: Your grandmother would not have to buy in, if she qualifies for Medicaid, it is automatic for her.

CASTRO: Are you forgetting what you said two minutes ago? Are you forgetting already what you said just two minutes ago? I mean, I can't believe that you said two minutes ago that they had to buy in and now you're saying they don't have to buy in, you're forgetting that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Joe turned to Bernie, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm getting confused." Dana Perino hosts "The Daily Briefing" with Dana Perino. She joins us now for the big winners, losers and the non-entities.

DANA PERINO, HOST: The non-entities.

KILMEADE: Hi, Dana.

PERINO: Hi, how are you so much?

KILMEADE: So, I'm glad to see you. It was hard to watch all of those hours. Right?

PERINO: I gave them the first two hours.

KILMEADE: And then?

PERINO: And then I said, if anything happens in the third hour, I'll wake up --

KILMEADE: Wake you --

PERINO: I'll awaken and I'll find out in the morning. That's all right.

KILMEADE: All right, let's start with the good. You have two winners?

PERINO: Well, first of all, I mean, overall, I don't think that that debate changed the dynamics of the race in any demonstrable way last night, but I would say if you had -- if you forced me to pick two winners, and you did, that's what your producers did earlier today. I think that Biden and Warren come out pretty good.

The media narrative for a long time and amongst others, competitors of Biden's have believed for a while that he is going to crater, that he is going to stumble, and that that will be the end of his gimmick. That did not happen. And in fact, I think he acquitted himself very well.

Warren, I think she set herself apart from Bernie Sanders, who I thought was a nonentity. That's the person I say -- it just doesn't seem to matter. But this is the third debate. Bernie Sanders keeps that base of support, but it doesn't improve. And I think that while he shouts, the statistics at you --

KILMEADE: Same thing.

PERINO: All the time.

KILMEADE: Every day.

PERINO: Elizabeth Warren says, "Let me tell you a story. Let me explain why I'm here." And I think that's why I think that the two of -- Biden and Warren I think probably come out the best out of the debate.

KILMEADE: The decision by the Warren camp not to go after Biden and vice versa.

PERINO: Well, interestingly, she also didn't -- Warren and Bernie didn't go after each other either. Right? So the three front runners like I basically think that they were saying, "Okay, we are still going to be in the lead." And while others might have had a better debate, I think Booker had a fine debate. Klobuchar did better than usual. Beto O'Rourke, he had a better debate. But I also think that he closed off any future elected office for himself with his position on guns.

KILMEADE: Yes, we're going to go into Beto O'Rourke in a lot of detail in a little while. But real quick, a push back on Biden just a little bit. I mean, when he was asked about slavery and his comments that he made earlier, "I'm not going to be held accountable for the sins of my father's and my grandfather's." And he ends up talking about schooling and playing records. He got really confused between Iraq and Afghanistan.

PERINO: I didn't say he had a great debate. I'm just saying that he didn't crater or crumble. I don't believe that his base of support is going to go down after last night's debate. I think it will actually go up.

KILMEADE: So you mentioned nonentities, really Bernie Sanders who says the same thing over and over again.

PERINO: I think that you heard it all in 2016, and he just is not going to get any more support.

KILMEADE: So then we move to, would you think are the losers, and she had the best roll out of anyone, certainly with the most promise, with the most interesting background. The former Attorney General of California, now the Senator from California, Kamala Harris. You would say she, is she the bet?

PERINO: I think -- I think that her answers that she -- her answers were canned. She did plan to take it to President Trump. She did it over and over again. But the lines didn't land. It seemed inauthentic. And what I've read today is that she is having a hard time with big money donors, thinking that she can go the distance, and I imagine that they will probably start thinking, "You know, maybe Biden is actually going to be the one that we support." I think she's having a lot of trouble. And I don't see how she gets back out of it.

KILMEADE: And the question is, if she's not going to get back out of it. How does she kiss-up to Joe Biden, again, and say, "Sorry, about that first debate where I turned on you"?

PERINO: Well, there was a lot of Vice Presidential timber last night on the debate stage.

KILMEADE: Julian Castro said if Biden gets the nomination, I guess, I'm going to eliminate myself as the number two. What do you think was the tactic around that?

PERINO: Well, I think that somebody was eventually going to raise this question of -- has Joe Biden lost a step? And Julian Castro decided it was going to be him. The thing is, he went after Joe Biden and the audience felt like it was a low blow, that it wasn't even correct. That isn't what Biden actually said, and it looked mean. And that's just not what the Democrats seem to want this time around.

KILMEADE: Theory. Can I share?

PERINO: Oh, I love a theory, yes.

KILMEADE: I don't have much time. But do you think people in the Biden camp -- in the Obama camp, understand that Biden lost his fast ball and almost gave him a wink and a nod, "Go for it and prove it"? And that was the test.

PERINO: I think that was one of those things, "I'm thinking of running for President." "Well, you don't have to do that. But okay, we wish you the best," kind of thing and that they probably realized that there is not a lot that they can do to try to help him. I don't think that the Obama's will endorse before the convention. This could go all the way to a contested convention next summer, which should be really fun. I asked Brit Hume, "What it's like to cover a contested convention." He said, "Never done it."

KILMEADE: Wow. But you must have done it.

PERINO: Yes. So I am like, this could -- it could be history making.

KILMEADE: There's nobody else to ask because Brit Hume has seen it all and he doesn't age. Dana, I'm getting reports that you can start your weekend. Can you confirm that?

PERINO: I think I'm going to --yes. And you know, and I get my dog back because he had to go the dog sitter, and then anyway, so yes, it's going to be a good weekend. Thank you.

KILMEADE: Dana Perino. Thank you so much.

PERINO: No, thank you. Thank you.

KILMEADE: All right. Better O'Rourke used Thursday's debate stage to define himself as the most aggressive gun control candidate. Yes. He says he is going to send the police to your house to take away your guns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: Are you proposing taking away their guns and how would this work?

BETO O'ROURKE, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am. If it's a weapon that was designed to kill people on a battlefield.

Hell, yes. We're going to take your AR-15, your AK-47.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Wow. It was a planned line. Yes. Before the night was over, Beto's campaign was selling T-shirts with that line on top of it. That's the only way you could conceive that he had this whole thing planned ahead of time.

So a debater's promise, Texas House Member Briscoe Cain tweeted this. "My AR is ready for you, Robert Francis," close quote. Beta is so very brave when promising to take away constitutional rights. Immediately. Beto whined back, "This is a death threat, Representative. Clearly you shouldn't own an AR-15 and neither should anyone else." Game On. Twitter took down Cain's remark a little bit later. Beto bragged on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'ROURKE: You know, I think Twitter took it down because you have somebody with a weapon of war, threatening to use it against somebody who is talking about gun violence in this country. That's exactly why Briscoe Cain should not have an AR-15.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Really? Representative Briscoe Cain joins us right now to respond. Thanks for joining us. I appreciate it. Briscoe, you've had quite a day. Are you rethinking your tweet or underlining it?

BRISCOE CAIN, R-TEXAS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE: We are going to underline it for sure, Brian. You know, Robert Francis, of course is the one who made the threat that he wants to rob millions of Americans of their property, right?

He has threatened to trespass on my property and the property of others in order to kick down our door and take from us. You know, what I wrote really is just another way of saying, "Come and take it." Many are familiar with that flag with the cannon, it's called the Gonzales flag. It's from 1835 here in Texas when we stood up to a radical Federal government who demanded we give up our arms. And again, all that was, was saying, "Come and take it."

You had mentioned that he made T-shirts and of course, he is trying to fund raise off this, maybe he wants to -- maybe send a remark to that, they can actually go to my website, briscoecain.com and maybe pitch in 15 bucks for AR-15 to let Beto know that, he may have been in D.C. a little long.

KILMEADE: Of course, I'm very familiar with that cannon. The cannon was supposed to be taken back. Mexicans decided they want to take it back. The Texans said they wanted to keep it and they earned it and they ended up keeping it. So that's what you're referring to?

CAIN: Yes, absolutely.

KILMEADE: And you're saying too, were you astounded or were you expecting him to make a statement like that? Because in Texas, the most pro-gun state in the Union, perhaps although very concerned about mass shootings, obviously, were you wondering why a former congressman in that state would make that statement or were you expecting it?

CAIN: Well, we had actually made a statement similar to that recently. I mean, I tweeted something similar in September 5th, but Twitter didn't take it down. And it's just amazing because really, he is the one making the threat, right? And all we're saying is that if someone wants to take it from us, they're going to have to, right, do it. Maybe we could say, from our cold dead hands.

And you do recall his flip flop, right? And people keep pointing it out that in his failed Senate race, he was saying, "No one wants to take your guns." You know, they were trying to say that Americans are just panicking and freaking out, and now here we have a presidential candidate wanting to rob us and steal our rights. It's disgusting.

KILMEADE: So for this, there has been -- according to what we use as a criteria, four plus dead in a public setting without any underlying crime. I asked, "Since 2009 to present day, how many assault rifles AR-15s or AK- 47s were involved in mass shootings?" There's been 44 and they were involved in 11. So do you blame the rifle? The hand gun? Or the shooter?

CAIN: Well, it's of course the shooter. We need to be going the correct way on firearms, right? And for Texas we need to at least reform laws that allow for women, you know, under threat of violence be able to carry for their own personal protection, and not have to get from the government for a license to jump through hoops.

It's safer and I know you know that and your listeners know it as well that of course, it's the guy -- and you know what, it's the driver. Remember, Beto's DWI, when he when he tried to flee from police. We should be taking his license away and not the guns from law-abiding citizens.

KILMEADE: So you're saying if you look at some of his writings in high school, and if you see his track record, maybe he would be -- fall under the Red Flag Law.

CAIN: Well, okay, I'm not going to go there, though. I actually really don't like Red Flag Laws. I care more about due process and as much as I may not like Beto O'Rourke, his constitutional rights should be protected just like everybody else who doesn't agree with me.

KILMEADE: And finally, just to underline it, were you threatening him today?

CAIN: No, absolutely not. It's come and take it. Their threat was against Americans.

KILMEADE: Okay. And lastly, El Paso he says changed him. Odessa of course is horrific. How do you process both those issues?

CAIN: Those are sad things, but what Beto has done by the way, my family is under police protection right now. There's DPS out -- that's our State Police Force throughout the house and the death threats that have come against us. So how do I process it? Look we need to heal, but the way to stop violence is not to take guns and property away from people.

KILMEADE: Your family is under death threats? You've gotten death threats?

CAIN: Yes, yes all -- all-day long. Very disgusting things and being doxed. I was doxed. My business partners were doxed. People are calling and contacting my wife and messaging her and making threats against her and my children and family. It's so -- they are so tolerant the left, right? Of course, not.

KILMEADE: I get the sarcasm. Well, Briscoe, he says he didn't know your name before this. Briscoe Cain, he knows your name now. Thanks so much.

CAIN: Thank you, Brian.

KILMEADE: All right. Dana Loesch is an author, a nationally syndicated radio host is knowledgeable about gun laws and gun rights as anyone I've ever met or you will probably ever talk to. Dana, he made that statement last night, the t-shirts ready to go. He mentioned -- Briscoe just mentioned he had flip flopped. I had forgotten that from his Senate run.

DANA LOESCH, RADIO SHOW HOST: Yes.

KILMEADE: Where is this conversation heading?

LOESCH: Well, and Brian, I'm so glad that you're talking about this, and yes, everybody knows Briscoe Cain's name now. The T-shirt, I am absolutely amazed that a lawmaker, someone running for the highest office in the land would actually try to raise money off of threat to the public.

And I want to be really clear about this, when you tell law abiding Americans that you are going to forcibly steal their lawfully owned and responsibly used property, that's a threat and saying that "No, you're not. I want to be able to defend myself in return." That is not a threat.

I mean, saying -- telling someone like Beto O'Rourke has been doing, that's a threat of promised action. And I mean, do -- I want to take everyone back to one of the earliest attempts at mass confiscation of firearms in the United States, and that was Wounded Knee. So I don't know if that's what Democrats and Beto O'Rourke are trying to move us towards? I sincerely hope not.

I hope they respect the law of the land. I hope they respect the Constitution. But I just find this talk reprehensible, and I think that the party needs to show where they are with Americans and condemn it.

KILMEADE: So I'll use the word "trigger." And of course, it's appropriate here. It's a trigger for Republicans and pro-Second Amendment, which everyone should be if you endorse the Bill of Rights.

They say it's a slippery slope. When you want to contain, when you want to curtail, when you want to dance around the edges. It's the beginning of taking the guns away. But when he comes out and actually says it, what does that do to the debate?

LOESCH: Yes, I know. Well, exactly. What does that do to debate? I mean, this is -- the talk that I've been hearing from this particular party is not one of good faith. I mean, these are individuals who are purposefully conflating terms.

Brian, when they use phrases like "weapons of war," they're talking about all semi-automatics. Let me ask this question, and I hope that Mr. O'Rourke can answer. When he is talking about going out and confiscating all AR-15? .223? .556, well what about a Tavors? What about, you know, SKS? What about all of the other platforms?

Or is it just specifically the AR-15 platform? Or is it specifically the lower .223 and .556 caliber, but yet, he is totally fine with 30 OT 6 and 3OA. I think if you're going to talk about these issues, you need to demonstrate a working knowledge of these issues. Otherwise, it would be like me, Brian regulating the NFL. I know nothing about football. I would say something to the effect, "Well, let's ban all pastel colors on the field because I don't like pastel colors." It would be that stupid.

So I think our lawmakers when they're talking about restricting our rights, they need to show the respect of understanding the issue about which they are legislating.

KILMEADE: It would be -- I'll give you the best sports analogy. It's like someone on the outside worried about head injuries and sports, so they say no more of the big guys tackling the little guys. Is that okay.

LOESCH: Right.

KILMEADE: No, of course, it's not possible.

LOESCH: Yes, there you go. Right there or just toughen up. Get a thicker helmet.

KILMEADE: Well, yes. But we'll work on that for another segment. But Dana, your knowledge is extremely needed. And I think Beto O'Rourke had any chance of anything getting done from the White House with what Republicans agreed by making that statement.

LOESCH: Yes.

KILMEADE: Because he is going to lose a lot of popular support in staying in the --

LOESCH: Yes, Beto O'Rourke just tried red flagging Americans, so I hope all those Republicans, this is where Red Flag Laws get you.

KILMEADE: All right, Dana. Thanks so much.

LOESCH: Thank you, Brian.

KILMEADE: All right. Meanwhile, last night's debate was another tough one for Joe Biden, in my estimation. Will he even hold it together until Iowa? We're going to discuss that next, but watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Play the radio, make sure the television -- excuse me, make sure you have the record player on at night, sure the kids hear words.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: All right, just a few years ago, Barack Obama was the left's champion. Last night, kind of the villain, and that was bad news for Joe Biden, when Jorge Ramos pressed him on Obama's deportation of illegal immigrants. Biden had to back away insisting, "Hey, I was just the Vice President. I wasn't responsible."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JORGE RAMOS, AMERICAN-MEXICAN JOURNALIST: You served as Vice President in an administration that deported three million people, the most ever in U.S. history. Did you make a mistake with those deportations?

BIDEN: The President did the best thing that was able to be done at the time.

RAMOS: How about you?

BIDEN: I'm the Vice President of the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Okay, it was just one of many episodes and made you scratch your head a little bit, and I thought it was a long night for the Democratic front runner. As you know, earlier, Dana Perino thought it was really good. Let's find out what Lisa Boothe thinks. She is a Senior Fellow at Independent Women's Voice, a Fox News contributor and joins us now. Lisa, first off, was Joe -- was this good or bad for Joe Biden?

LISA BOOTHE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: So I think it's -- remember David Axelrod said after the second debate for Joe Biden, basically the good news is for Joe Biden, this is the best he can do. The bad news is for Joe Biden, this is the best he can do.

I think it's sort of the same. I mean, he has not had any stellar standout performances in any of these debates.

KILMEADE: Right.

BOOTHE: He has kind of glided by. But here's the thing, he can because he is tied to the Obama legacy, and I think you cannot underestimate how important that Obama legacy is for him. That is essentially what is propping up his candidacy, and what protects him from all these gaffes and mistakes that he has made.

KILMEADE: He can't have it both ways. He can't say, "Well, I was just the Vice President." And when they like something that President Obama did, he will say, "Well, I was with them every step of the way." In a way, Castro was a hundred percent right.

BOOTHE: Well, and that's what Vice President Biden is doing. Right? So he runs an ad in Iowa, basically touting being tied to the Obama administration, Vice President. He ran a pre-debate ad yesterday also doing that with him and Obama hugging.

And so -- but then, he divorces himself on the deportations thing, and this is what Castro had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASTRO: But my problem with Vice President Biden and Cory pointed this out last time is every time something good about Barack Obama comes up, he says, "Oh, I was there. I was there. I was there. That's me, too." And then every time somebody questions, part of the administration that we were both part of, he says, "Well, that was the President." I mean, he wants to take credit for Obama's work, but not have to answer to any questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOOTHE: And he is right. So when asked about mass deportations, "No, I was just the lowly Vice President. Nothing to do with that." However, he also says this, so listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: By the way, Barack and I as President and Vice President, we provide money for voluntary busing.

He pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord that Barack and I helped put together.

That's why Barack and I fought so hard to continue to see you're funded.

Barack and I agreed we were going to give them the chance.

He is always actively working to undo every bit of the progress President Obama and I and our administration did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOOTHE: So he is clearly trying to have it both ways. He is saying, "We need to build upon the Obama legacy. I'm essentially an extension of that." But then when it comes to bad things like mass deportations that are now immensely unpopular among the left, he's like, "I didn't have anything to do with that." So you can't have it both ways. Castro seems to be the only one calling him out on it.

But Biden also made another comment last night, that's getting a lot of attention as well. He was asked about reparations, and some comments he made previously about segregation, and so he talked about the need for more money for schools and teachers. But then somehow he ended up talking about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Play the radio, make sure the television -- excuse me -- make sure you have the record player on at night. Make sure the kids hear words, a kid coming from a very poor school or a very poor background will hear four million words fewer spoken by the time they get they're gone. There is so much we can -- I am going to go like the rest of them do. Twice over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOOTHE: So he is being criticized by this comment, one sort of showing the age talking about record player, but then also some of the things he said previously or prior to that, because he talks about the fact that parents don't know what -- African-American parents don't know what to do with their kids. I'm paraphrasing here, they need help.

And so some people on the left are saying that's a tone deaf comment, and are not happy with Joe Biden's response when talking about reparations.

KILMEADE: This is not the first time a politician has answered a question, but to paraphrase --

BOOTHE: It certainly not going to be the last.

KILMEADE: So to paraphrase a quote that they threw back in his face, it said, you said 20 years ago or 30 years ago, that I'm not going to be penalized for what my father and my grandfather had done in the past, I'm worried about now. And then he went on to say, poor kids don't hear enough words. And let's put on the record player. If I'm a voter, or if I'm a democratic strategist, and you do this stuff for a living, or did, I'm worried about the way he loses himself.

I'm worried that he gets so confused. He can read a prompter, but every single event ends up in a problem. This is a pattern.

BOOTHE: But see, this is where I think Joe Biden has been underestimated, including by myself, is that support still for President Obama and being part of that legacy. You look at his support among African-Americans, it is so strong. You look at states like South Carolina, where he is doing so well, particularly because African-Americans make up about 60 percent of the electorate there. So I wouldn't underestimate how much that Obama legacy matters for him.

KILMEADE: Okay, Lisa Boothe. Thanks so much.

BOOTHE: Thank you.

KILMEADE: All right, see you soon. Meanwhile, we're not done yet. Democrats went hard on immigration last night. In a way, they agreed with President Trump, there's a crisis at the border. But to them, the crisis is that it's too hard for migrants to get to America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'ROURKE: The Democrats and Republicans alike voted to build a wall that has produced thousands of deaths of people trying to cross, to join family, or to work a job.

BIDEN: We immediately surge to the border. All of those people are seeking asylum. They deserve to be heard. That's who we are.

WARREN: A system right now that cannot tell the difference and the threat posed by a terrorist, a criminal, and a 12-year-old girl is not a system that is keeping us safer, and it is not serving our values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: So you always wonder when you see politicians out there, what it means for the people that actually do this for a living like Mark Morgan. He is Acting Commissioner of Customs and Border Protection under President Trump. And he was Chief of Border Patrol under President Obama. So I want an expert because as a person who is in this country, I think most Americans want a secure border. Were they sounding like people that could secure the border?

MARK MORGAN, ACTING COMMISSIONER, CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION: Absolutely not. And look, Brian, this is not -- I'm not a politician. I don't want to be a politician. As you said, I've been in law enforcement for a long time and I've been involved in this issue, this immigration issue for a long time.

This is not a manufactured crisis. We're not turning people away who have legitimate asylum claims, and if they want to talk about what's going on right now, because of our broken asylum laws, the only people who are benefiting from those loopholes are the cartels.

They are a multibillion dollar industry and because of our laws, because Congress fails to do what they need to do to change those laws and protect this country, it's the cartels who are getting rich. They're the ones exploiting this vulnerable population. That's the truth. That's what the American people need to understand.

KILMEADE: So people who say, "Well, you've got to have an open heart ..." to you know, President Trump and the people that work for him in the Trump administration, these people who are walking thousands of miles, they want a better life. Why be so hard hearted? What do you tell them?

MORGAN: So there's two things. First of all, we have a legal system, Brian. This country allows more individuals to become citizens and into this country than any other nation in this world. That's a fact.

And the other thing, we care about this vulnerable population, because we're saying, "Don't mortgage your house. Don't give thousands of dollars to cartels and be taken advantage of to make this journey." If you're truly seeking asylum, if you're truly being persecuted, what we want you to do is seek relief from the first country you get to, that's what they should be doing.

They shouldn't be taking this dangerous track across multiple countries, giving their money to the cartels, risking their lives to come to this country. Seek asylum. Seek that relief from the first country, Brian.

KILMEADE: Mark, if they -- if certain people get their way, they're going to give free healthcare to illegal immigrants. What will that do for the flood at the border then?

MORGAN: So Bryan, that's a great point. And this is what the American people need to do. We always are talking about pull factors and incentives. With each additional element such as that driver's license, free education, free healthcare, it only continues to add to the pull factors, added to those incentives to risk their lives, to pay the cartels, to make this dangerous trek.

We know the majority of these individuals are economic migrants. What we want to tell them is, do this in the right way. Do this in a safe way.

KILMEADE: Exactly.

MORGAN: When we continue to do this. We're actually incentivizing these individuals to risk their lives.

KILMEADE: You're going to have an aneurysm if you watch any more debates, so I am forbidding you to do it. You were the right person for President Obama and you're the right person for President Trump. Thanks so much, Mark Morgan.

MORGAN: You bet. Thanks, Brian.

KILMEADE: All right. Straight ahead. Jorge Ramos made it very clear last night how he felt about President Trump and current U.S. politics. So why was he allowed to be a debate moderator? Shouldn't he be fair and balanced so to speak? We'll discuss it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: All right, Thursday's debate had four different moderators, but the standout to a degree so to speak, was Univision anchor, Jorge Ramos. Ramos made it obvious how he feels about the current U.S. President and U.S. politics and prompted Pete Buttigieg to call half the country racist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RAMOS: Pete, eight out of 10 Latinos in Texas for another mass shooting targeting them. This is according to a new Univision poll. President Trump has called Mexican immigrants rapists and killers. He tried to ban Muslims from entering the country and separating children from their parents. His supporters kept chanting, "Build a wall" and "Send her back." Do you think that people who support President Trump and his immigration policies are racist?

BUTTIGIEG: Anyone who supports this is supporting racism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KILMEADE: Okay, Joe Concha writes about the media for "The Hill." He joins us to react to that, plus the performance of the other moderators and he joins us right now. Joe, what's your reaction to that? I was shocked at the point of view that we're getting from the guy asking questions.

JOE CONCHA, MEDIA WRITER, THE HILL: I wasn't so much shocked because we've known, Brian Kilmeade, that this is Jorge Ramos. This is who he is. He is not a journalist. He is an activist. He is a partisan. Here's what he had to say in 2016 before the presidential election. He said, "Donald Trump is the most divisive, polarizing, and disrupting figure in American politics in decades. And neutrality is not an option for journalists when covering him."

So if you're ABC News, and you see and hear the things that Jorge Ramos has said in the past, and then you say, "You know what? Let's make him a moderator." Just like MSNBC put Rachel Maddow in the moderator seat, just like CNN put Don Lemon in the moderator seat.

This is why the American public isn't learning too much from these debates because they're being asked questions that are really speeches being given by activists and partisans, and we're not getting to the core issues.

Even Ramos last night, asked Senator Warren, "Should American foreign policy be based around the principle of climate change"? This isn't journalism. This is a joke, Brian.

KILMEADE: It is. A couple of other things, Joe, I'm very curious. When Rahm Emanuel opens up on the Sunday show this week with George Stephanopoulos and says, "What are the Democrats doing insulting President Obama and decriminalizing people crossing the border and offering free healthcare?" He goes, "That's what Democrats believe."

And it just so happens that ABC never asked any of those questions. They never said, "Do you believe the decriminalization at the border? Do you believe that all immigrants, illegal should get healthcare?" They would have answered, yes and it would have went right back to insulting the previous President. But they avoided all of that.

CONCHA: It's amazing the questions that weren't asked last night, Brian, and you look at any poll, whether it be from Reuters and Ipsos, whether it be from Gallup, when you ask American voters, "What issue is most important to you when going into presidential elections?" And we didn't get, "It's the economy, stupid," for nothing back in 1992. It's the same election cycle.

Every time the economy is number one, yet none of those four moderators last night, Brian said this word "jobs." In other words, how are you going to create jobs if we do go into the recession that Biden, Warren and Sanders say, and the media for that matter, say that we're going into? Also the word "deficit" never brought up once, or "Federal spending" or anything really resembling taxes or the economy. And that's what matters to people most.

And instead, now we've had five debates, and all of them have been about social issues for the most part, and not about the things that matter to people in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and the rest of the country.

KILMEADE: Absolutely. The other thing to keep in mind, too, is deficit. It could be a weakness for President Trump. We've got about a trillion dollars in deficit already this year. They might have welcomed that question.

Meanwhile, Joe, another thing Federal prosecutors recommended charges this week against former Acting Director of the F.B.I., Andy McCabe. CNN had a pretty interesting reaction to that news. What do you make of it?

CONCHA: Well, they didn't have much of a reaction when you looked at their prime time last night, for instance. Remember prime time on CNN, unlike say, Fox. Fox -- that's the opinion side of the newspaper, so to speak. Tucker, or Sean Hannity or Laura Ingraham -- those are opinion hosts. And that's fine because the newspaper has the news side and the opinion side.

On CNN, Anderson Cooper, Chris Cuomo, and Don Lemon are all listed as anchors. Therefore, those are news programs. And last night, none of those programs broached even for a second, the news around Andy McCabe.

And then if you even go on to their website or on their Twitter feed, they have a headline that says that McCabe is going -- maybe under indictment, yet they don't mention until seven paragraphs down to the story that, "Oh, yes, by the way, he happens to be an employee at this network." So it's the bias of omission. And that's the most insidious bias you could have, Brian.

KILMEADE: Hey, they recommended for a criminal indictment. Four times he lied, according to the Inspector General, one time under oath and one time on tape, and he still got the job. So believe me if he gets exonerated, if they don't press charges ...

CONCHA: For leaking to the media.

KILMEADE: That will be the lead story on CNN all night. And he will come out of hiding.

CONCHA: Probably.

KILMEADE: Joe Concha. Thanks so much. All right, let's talk a little entertainment and a little legal. Felicity Hoffman learned her punishment today for her role in the Varsity Blues college admissions scandal. Trace Gallagher has all the details next. Plus, Tucker will rejoin us for a special look at the fires raging through the Amazon forest. Is it a real crisis or are manufactured by activists. We will examine that and have more in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: Welcome back, everybody. Actress Felicity Huffman spent $15,000.00 to get her daughter into a better college that she didn't deserve to get into. Today, she learns her punishment and handling that story, Trace Gallagher because he handles all breaking news. Trace, what happened?

TRACE GALLAGHER, CHIEF BREAKING NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, appearing before a Judge, Huffman was nervous and tearful, Brian, apologizing to the students, parents and colleges impacted by her actions, saying she was deeply ashamed and did more damage than she ever imagined.

Huffman attributed her actions in part to the bewilderment of being a mother, but the prosecutor shot right back saying, "Motherhood does not make you a cheat and a felon." The judge agreed that trying to be a good mom was no excuse, saying, "The college system is already distorted by money and privilege." And yet for Huffman that wasn't enough, so she took one more advantage for her child.

But the judge also noted that Huffman immediately accepted responsibility, is not a threat to her community and has apparently regained her moral compass. So she will now serve two weeks in Federal prison, pay a $30,000.00 fine and perform 250 hours of community service.

The judge noted that without this sentence, the community around Huffman would ask why she got away with it. The actress is hoping to serve her time at an all-women's low-security prison in Northern California.

After leaving the courthouse today, Huffman said there are no excuses or justifications for her actions. Period. And she hopes her family, friends and community will forgive her.

Remember, Huffman is the first parent to be sentenced in this scandal. "Full House" Lorie Loughlin and her fashion designer husband are charged with paying a half million dollars to bribe their daughters into USC. They have pled not guilty and are fighting the allegations, but could face up to 40 years in prison.

KILMEADE: Wow. So we're going to be going back to you for that. That's going to be a lot more serious because she couldn't have been more contrite. Trace. Thanks so much.

All right. Meanwhile, it is time now, for Tucker.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TUCKER CALRSON, HOST: Well, for weeks now, press outlets around the world have acted like a world ending catastrophe is unfolding in the nation of Brazil, after a wave of fires in the Amazon rainforest, celebrities in the United States and Europe went on a Twitter rampage. They tweeted photographs of rain forest fires attributed to Brazil, many of which were actually years old.

All of this, of course, is political. It's a coordinated attack on the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, newly elected. He is a populist. His government is frequently compared to that of Donald Trump and he is about as popular with rich people around the world.

Ernesto Araujo is the Foreign Minister of Brazil. He says the fires are no different from fires that have been going on in the rain forest for decades, and only now being used as an excuse to attack Brazil and undermine the new government. He joins us tonight. Mr. Araujo, thank you very much for coming on tonight.

So as a factual matter, put these fires in context for us. In the United States, we're being told that this is a new phenomenon, and it's a result of the Bolsonaro government's unwillingness to acknowledge climate change.

ERNESTO ARAUJO, FOREIGN MINISTER, BRAZIL: It's not, but it's great to be here first of all. It's not at all true. This is a normal phenomenon every year in the time of the dry season. There are fires, they are partly natural occurrences and partly farmers clearing land that had already been cleared before. And in some way, it's also illegal deforestation that we want to combat.

But basically, in terms of the amount of fires, we are -- this year, on average, compared to the average of the last 10 years, it's more than last year, but is half of what we had in the years of 2004-2005 when we had the leftist government in Brazil, and back then, no one said anything, no one cared about it. It was normal. This year. Different government, suddenly -- yes.

CARLSON: May I stop you right there? So you're saying that that fires this year -- if I heard you correctly -- are one half the size the fires that Brazil experienced under the previous government? Do you know that to be true?

ARAUJO: Yes. If you take the years of 2003 to 2005, more or less, it was double what we have today. Yes.

CARLSON: Okay, so I'm assuming that's true, I haven't checked. But if it is true, that means a lot of people are just lying about what's happening in Brazil right now.

ARAUJO: Oh, yeah, that's true, and it's amazing because information is out there. The European Commission themselves, they commissioned a study that was just out one week ago, showing exactly what I said. We are, on average, more than last year, half of what we had some years ago.

So it's not only us saying that or the Space Institute saying that, it is also international data, NASA data, European Union data. So it's totally fabricated. It's the question of, "Okay, let's fabricate the crisis and then sell a solution." So the solution they want, or some people want is to limit Brazil's sovereignty over the Amazon, and maybe have access to the riches that we have there, to the mineral resources that we have there.

So they fabricate a crisis that doesn't exist in order to sell the solution that they were thinking about in the first place.

CARLSON: Well, what's interesting is that, of course, it's not simply Brazil that has jurisdiction over the Amazon basin, it is also Colombia and Peru. But you haven't heard anything about Colombia or Peru. It's all been focused on Brazil.

ARAUJO: Exactly.

CARLSON: Why do you think that is?

ARAUJO: Yes, well, for the same reason, but Peru had a little bit of fires. Colombia, not a lot. But it's interesting because Bolivia had maybe more occurrences this year, it was more serious, the situation. And no one said anything about Bolivia because, basically because Bolivia has a left-wing government.

So you see by now the political aspect at play and not the facts. All we want is to show the facts. But apparently that's not what people want, because it doesn't combined with their narrative.

CARLSON: It's nice to hear what the Brazilian government has to say about this. Thanks very much for joining us.

ARAUJO: Thank you so much. Thanks for the opportunity to be here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KILMEADE: Well, meanwhile, it's Friday and that means it's time for "Dan Bongino's News Explosion." Our favorite former Secret Service agent will be here to comment on last night's debate and other top stories that happened this week. Let's take a wide shot and bring up the music.

TEXT: News Explosion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KILMEADE: All right, it's Friday, so it's time to close the week out with America's favorite guy, Dan Bongino. It's the "News Explosion." Our news exploder is here to break down the stories that were just crazy this whole week. Are you ready, Dan?

DAN BONGINO, CONTRIBUTOR: Wow, that's a lot of pressure -- America's favorite guy. Jeez, better be this better be good. Yes, I am ready. And listen, it started like a kind of a slow news week, but it ended kind of hot. So here are my three best stories of the week.

Let's start with story number three first. Kamala Harris giving it a go with the old comedy act last night during the debate. I guess she's trying to kind of rescue this floundering presidential campaign.

She threw out a bunch of poorly timed awful jokes. One about Trump being the little dude in the Wizard of Oz and then when asked about an executive order, she wants to impose to take your guns away. And someone asked her about the Constitution, but she kind of laughed it off. She thought that was a joke, too. It wasn't really funny. Dave Chappelle and Sebastian Maniscalco, your careers are just fine. Don't worry about Kamala Harris.

So story number two, Elizabeth Warren. You know, Brian, one of these things that's super frustrating about these candidates. I did this last week with Bill de Blasio. They're like professional boxers the way they can duck a jab and duck a question --

KILMEADE: They don't answer.

BONGINO: It is unbelievable. They never ever, ever answer the question. Elizabeth Warren was asked directly if her Healthcare-for-All -- which is really going to be healthcare for none -- plan would raise middle class taxes.

She went on this five minute diatribe and never answered the question. Let me just say answer it for you all, whatever she told you until today is a lie. Okay. Your taxes will go up. There's no money fairy, America. Newsflash, the viewers in this network probably know this. There is no money fairy. Nothing is free. Doctors don't work for free. The janitor in the hospitals don't work for free. Somebody's got to pay for this stuff.

And they just continue -- at least you know, good Republicans, at least, you know, we have our problems, too. But good Republicans are honest. They just will not tell you the truth, these Democrats, "Your taxes won't go up." It was infuriating watching that last night.

KILMEADE: No doubt about it. But at least Joe Biden called out Bernie Sanders on one thing, but not Elizabeth Warren. Go ahead.

BONGINO: Yes, he let her go. All right. Story number one. I mean, listen, at what point with CNN do we just acknowledge that this is reality TV and that this isn't a news network anywhere? Astonishingly, they blew it again on Trump fake news. This is incredible.

KILMEADE: I know.

BONGINO: Of course, they reported earlier in the week about this spy story that the spy had to be exfiltrated from Russia, all because of the evil Donald Trump, you know, petting Mr. Bigglesworth on his lap and that he screwed up and shared some information with the Russians that ironically, Brian, had been reported on the same information by CNN a month earlier. You can look that up, folks.

This network -- listen, it's over guys. I get it. You're pandering to 10 people in an airport in East Tuna Fish, but it's over. It's a reality network. It's not a news network anymore. I can't believe they blew it again. Unbelievable.

KILMEADE: And they jeopardized the security of the person that they think was the Russian asset that is now in Washington. So there is hell to pay for that.

BONGINO: Yes.

KILMEADE: But then you kept your blood pressure somewhat low, and now you were waiting to go out to eat.

BONGINO: Somewhat.

KILMEADE: It is date night. Go out on a date with your wife, please.

BONGINO: This is my favorite night of the week, buddy.

KILMEADE: All right. Hey, I that's it for our show tonight. That's the great Dan Bongino. Make sure you watch this show every night. It's the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and groupthink. By the way by book "Sam Houston: The Alamo Avengers."

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