President Trump slams media over MSNBC's 'totally false' story

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President Trump slams media over MSNBC's 'totally false' story

Lawrence O'Donnell forced to apologize and retract an unverified report claiming President Trump had loans co-signed by Russian oligarchs; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," August 29, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JUAN WILLIAMS, HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Juan Williams along with Emily Compagno, Jason Chaffetz, Dana Perino, and Greg Gutfeld. It's 5:00 in New York City and this is “The Five.”

James Comey broke FBI rules but the Justice Department, they will not prosecute him. A scathing new DOJ inspector general report details how the former FBI director handled memos about President Trump. They report laying out numerous violations by Comey, among them Comey violated policy by giving one memo to a friend with instructions to share it with "The New York Times."

He also kept copies of the memos in a safe at his home. The inspector general saying the former head of the FBI set a "dangerous example" for the bureau. But Comey, he is insisting he's been cleared and even taunting his critics.

Here I'm quoting, "And to all those who spent two years talking about me going to jail or being a liar and a leaker, ask yourselves why you still trust people who gave you bad info for so long including the president."

President Trump, he is responding by saying Comey should be ashamed of himself. As someone who's been in our Congress, I'm going to ask, do you agree with what the inspector general found and the decision not to prosecute.

JASON CHAFFETZ, HOST: I wish -- well, the inspector general recommended that he be prosecuted. It's the Department of Justice in operating at a different level that decided not to do this.

I find it very troubling there are multiple times where the inspector general has made her recommendations to prosecute including the deputy assistant director and others and they haven't prosecuted.

I think that's a problem. I think it sets a terrible precedent. I think Michael Horowitz who was confirmed unanimously as an Obama appointee did a very thorough job. But if James Comey thinks that he has won the day, are you kidding me?

The first report on him said that he, you know, he acted as insubordinate. This is as damning as any report you will ever see from an inspector general. And I do think they should have prosecuted.

But James Comey is not out of the woods yet. You have two places of vulnerability. One is actually the chief justice of the Supreme Court because once the inspector general does the FISA report, they could very well hold people in contempt and James Comey's autograph is on one of those things.

And the Supreme Court should actually hold them accountable for misleading on the FISA abuse. The second one is the report on the FISA abuse. James Comey is not out of the woods on that yet.

WILLIAMS: Well, we haven't seen anything out of all the talk about FISA warrants and the like to this point. And Dana, just in asking about this, what do you think should be the penalty? He did, according to the report, violate policy but they are saying he didn't break the law. Apparently these memos were not classified at the time.

DANA PERINO, HOST: Right. So this feels a lot to me like something that happened back in 2015 and '16 when he was the FBI director. He's doing a victory lap sort of like Hillary Clinton did a victory lap after he -- James Comey declined to officially charge her for having the private e-mail server.

And a lot of these things are very similar, right? The retention and handling of government documents. It's almost as if it's kind of the mirror image because it's the same statute or the same policy guideline that he decided not to officially charge.

And now the Justice Department is saying we are not going to prosecute, but nobody is saying this is a good thing to do. I have a feeling that if somebody that worked for Jim Comey at the FBI had done this very thing and Jim Comey found out about it, that person probably would've been fired or at least put on a suspension and while there is investigation.

But his tweet, I have to say, it's good to be on offense if you can be. Even when it looks like you should be on defense, he's just on offense and he learned that from our recent politics. It works.

WILLIAMS: Yes, well, you mean he learned that from President Trump.

PERINO: Not only that. I mean, I think that if you look at Hillary Clinton, she walked out of that -- Jim Comey basically said she did all of these terrible things and she walked out saying I'm good.

WILLIAMS: Well, yes but --

PERINO: How dare anybody say that I did something wrong?

WILLIAMS: So, you know Greg, I was thinking thought that Democrats are angry at Jim Comey because it was 10 days before the election when he came out and sent a letter to Congress saying I'm going to re-open this investigation --

PERINO: Right.

WILLIAMS: -- never mentioning that there was an ongoing probe into Trump's campaign. So, do you think right now when you look at this and you say you know, he was talking to the president and the president was asking him to go light on Mike Flynn, do you see any way to justify his behavior or do you think he always got away?

GREG GUTFELD, HOST: I will always give Comey credit for having both sides hate him. He has managed to piss off everybody. So there is something redeeming about somebody everybody hates from a personal viewpoint.

But I have to go back to this victory lap, right? It was a one-man -- you know what it is? It was a one-man fist bump. He just went up like this. There's nobody there. There's nobody there to fist bump like congrats. He's doing a one-man high five.

He's claiming victory. It reminds me of me like claiming victory when my wife finds only four empty beer bottles and not eight. I mean, they only got me for leaking phony stuff to the press and I'm not going to jail. I win.

My worry is I hope this doesn't hinder his chances in becoming a CNN contributor because I think he just proved them right. But what did we learn from -- what did we learn from what he did wrong? So he designated a buddy to leak info from the FBI to "The New York Times."

That this was a guy who's always interested in the media piece. More than anything he was always into the spotlight and he always used to cover it up in this aw shucks jolly gee willikers Andy Griffith show mentality, but that camouflage a narcissistic man.

He should go to jail for life, Dana. If there was a death penalty, I'd push for it. This is double deep state. Double deep state or maybe it's deep double state. Either way, its deep dish double state.

PERINO: Space.

GUTFELD: Space theater.

WILLIAMS: Deep dish.

GUTFELD: Deep dish. This is a deep dish double state.

EMILY COMPAGNO, HOST: Can I just piggyback on what you were saying?

GUTFELD: Piggyback on my deep state?

COMPAGNO: Yes. No, I don't think that. It's just that the hubris, the narcissism and this I.G. report, you're exactly right. It is as damning as they come. It was one big "what were you thinking?" So in terms of, you know, let's go through the findings.

So first of all, no, it's not your personal diary. That is still classified information. And the I.G. comes out and says literally wholly unsubstantiated in law as well as plainly stated in the code. So you would think an acting director would understand that, right?

And in terms of disseminating that classified information, his defense in these interviews during the investigation was, well, I did it because I love my country. Meanwhile, all of the other actors went on the record saying they were shocked and stunned and disappointed and surprised.

So the I.G. was like, you're not a whistle-blower, bro. You were just straight up broke the law and you broke policy.

PERINO: Right.

COMNPAGNO: And the FBI learned about him giving the memos to his attorneys literally during his congressional testimonies and all of those guys, Baker and Strzok, they were calling during the testimony to try to get that classified information back.

WILLIAMS: Let me just -- let me interrupt you for a second. His argument was and I think that what the report says, these were not classified documents.

COMPAGNO: And the answer was yes, they were. Yes they were.

WILLIAMS: They were subsequently may be classified but not when he, and also --

GUTFELD: It's usually what happens --

PERINO: They know, but come on. It's not like he was writing down his to- do list of like things he needed to do around the house. He was writing actual information that had to do with this government, with this president.

And you can't just say that those are not government documents. I mean, as a press secretary, you take down notes in a meeting. Those notes have to go into the file. You don't get to throw them away.

WILLIAMS: Well, clearly -- but here's the point -- but here's my point to you --

COMPAGNO: -- they were official records and classified. There's two --

WILLIAM: But here is my point to you. This is a Trump justice department that just made this decision that in fact he is not to be prosecuted.

COMPAGNO: I will say this and answer that they declined to prosecute this but presently we have the I.G. investigating the FBI for their conduct during the entire investigation.

We also have two separate investigations by the DOJ, by the U.S. Attorney for Connecticut and top intelligence officials into the origins of the Mueller probe. He is not out of the clear or -- whatever it is --

PERINO: Out of the woods.

COMPAGNO: -- in the weeds. Out of the woods.

GUTFELD: Smoking (ph) weed?

WILLIAMS: OK. All right, but it sounds to me like you guys -- you guys are wishing that they caught him but they didn't catch him, but Jason before we go --

COMPAGNO: It's not over.

WILLIAMS: Andrew McCabe, where does that sit now because again, there's been no prosecution?

GUTFELD: CNN.

CHAFFETZ: Two things that happened.

WILLIAMS: Greg says CNN.

GUTFELD: Yes, CNN.

CHAFFETZ: Two things, real quickly. By separating out James Comey, there are a lot of people behind the scenes that believe that that is really bad news for McCabe, Strzok, Page, Ohr. These lists of characters, if they are going to treat Comey and give him a pass, these others have a great deal of vulnerability ahead of them.

And the second point I'd like to make is what I worry -- I think the Obama- Biden legacy is going to be the politicization -- putting politics into the worst of the worst. You're supposed to have an FBI, a Department of Justice, the IRS, the Federal Reserve, they are all supposed to be above and beyond politics.

And yet where we are eight years later, nine years later, is they have politicized some of the institutions that should be on politics. If there is nothing else from James Comey and what you saw in the first and second report from the I.G., it's that they used this for their own personal gratification, their own personal political agenda.

And they politicized these departments and agencies and that's in part what's tearing up this country because they don't believe there is an equal application of justice under the law.

GUTFELD: To summarize that, thanks, Obama.

WILLIAMS: There you go. But you realize Jim Comey is a Republican.

CHAFFETZ: Yes, right.

WILLIAMS: OK.

CHAFFETZ: No, he's not.

WILLIAMS: Yes, he's a Republican. He was a Republican for years.

CHAFFETZ: He is donating -- what did he donate, $20,000 to Democrats?

WILLIAMS: I don't know what he did, but that guy is very Republican for --

CHAFFETZ: Another thing, they had a list of where he has been disingenuous. He is no Republican, no conservative.

WILLIAMS: Wow.

CHAFFETZ: The guy is clearly in the Democratic camp.

WILLIAMS: I think the record says he's a conservative and a Republican and the same thing, you know, I mean, you stop and look at Robert Mueller. He's a Republican.

CHAFFETZ: To Greg's point, we both are upset with them and Hillary Clinton, he screwed over Hillary Clinton and he screwed over the Department of Justice. He has made that situation worse no matter how you look at it.

WILLIAMS: All right. President Trump slamming Lawrence O'Donnell and the media after the MSNBC host is forced to retract his unverified Russia report. We're going to show you that, in depth, next on THE FIVE.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHAFFETZ: They approve the music. Thank you! I had Taylor Swift yesterday. This is much better.

PERINO: Hey, that was good.

CHAFFETZ: Huge improvements. New fallout after MSNBC's Russia bombshell report completely implodes. Lawrence O'Donnell forced to apologize and retract an unverified report claiming President Trump had loans cosigned by Russian oligarchs. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: I did not go through the rigorous verification and standards process here at MSNBC before repeating what I heard from my source. Had it gone through that process I would not have been permitted to report it. I should not have said it on air or posted it on Twitter. I was wrong to do so. Tonight we are retracting the story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHAFFETZ: After O'Donnell's embarrassing correction, Trump blasting the MSNBC host and the rest of the media for their bogus reporting.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: Lawrence O'Donnell has been saying stuff for four years. It's just as wrong. But this was one that he was forced by NBC to apologize for and what they say is just -- MSNBC and CNN, and all of them for the most part, but they are just really despicable people. It's horrible. It's fake news and it's a shame.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GUTFELD: It's a shame.

CHAFFETZ: It's a shame, yes, that's right. Greg, did he really apologize?

GUTFELD: Yes, he did and I will say that at least he admitted that he was wrong unlike the entire CNN who has been doing the story line nonstop and never admitted they were wrong.

I would argue that Lawrence is a victim of the media's own narrative, right? He wanted it to be true because they all wanted it to be true except -- the best thing is always Rachel Maddow's response, like I don't even believe this crazy crap.

The media sees this though in a different way. They don't bemoan the carelessness or the bias that fueled the mistake. They worry that it put a cloud on all the future accusations that they are priming against Trump.

Because you know they are working for some other -- they haven't learned from this. They have the -- the G7, they were saying that Trump was in Putin's pocket, right? They were saying that, so they're never going to give up the Russia thing. And they're mad that this kind of put a cloud over it.

WILLIAMS: Well, I think maybe they're not giving up on blowing up hurricanes, right, even though Trump has denied that, and not giving up on Trump saying he's willing to pardon people who break the law and --

GUTFELD: What does that have to do with Russia though?

WILLIAMS: Because it -- the point is, you say they're digging up stuff and I think Trump has used this to now say all media reports are all wrong as opposed to saying Lawrence O'Donnell, and you said this, Lawrence O'Donnell apologized.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WILLIAMS: He retracted the story. He is an opinion guy. He is on the opinion side so it didn't go through the necessary vetting that would be required. I think there is confirmation bias and him leaping and using a single source in the way that he did. He was wrong. But then Trump says all media reports -- I mean, again, he just goes too far.

PERINO: But the thing about the -- Lawrence O'Donnell apologizing and look, if I ever make a mistake like that, I would want to --

GUTFELD: You never will, Dana. You are perfect. You're just perfect.

PERINO: Believe me, I wake up every day -- no, I am worried every day that I'm going to make a mistake like that, but it's not like --

GUTFELD: It will be a bad picture of Jasper.

PERINO: Never. I'd never -- ever will happen. I might be Glory but that would be my fault not his fault. What I was going to say, Lawrence O'Donnell was taking the fall for it but it's not as if there aren't a lot of people that saw that --

GUTFELD: True.

PERINO: -- that knew about it, that heard about it. You know many people it takes in order to put on a --

GUTFELD: Fire the teleprompter operator is what you're saying.

PERINO: -- a show like this. It's just (inaudible) so many other people saw it though. It's not as if you just like said, you're on live T.V. and you said something that turns out not to be true.

Like, it was planned for a whole day. And they teased it with Rachel Maddow. So they knew that it was coming, like there was a whole plan. So, there are a lot of people that are culpable.

CHAFFETZ: Yes, like when you make a mistake, the mistake is like, you know, misspelling something or, you know, at Costco something falls down and they --

GUTFELD: Mispronouncing a word.

CHAFFETZ: Yes.

COMPAGNO: Wait, wait. It was such a huge endeavor. It was like this huge production that ended up being built on sand. And to your point, for people who are waiting for there to be proof of that --

GUTFELD: Yes.

COMPAGNO: -- you know, the Russian connection, they are like, well OK, maybe not this one but it will happen on that corner (ph) --

PERINO: Next time.

GUTFELD: Right.

COMPAGNO: Eventually we will. And in that apology, we got the, well, you know, we don't know if it's wholly inaccurate yet.

GUTFELD: Yes.

COMPAGNO: There was definitely a qualifier and that was the whole point of Trump's personal attorneys, which was, look, this was a single source, it was totally verifiable and yet you ignored it, created the production, teased it to the detriment of us.

And meanwhile, there is a ripple effect of so many effects, right? We talked about this before, Deutsche Bank and the federal investigation into them, the House Financial Services Committee investigating Trump.

So, it didn't just stop with a couple of viewers having to be corrected in their intake of the information. It goes way deeper than that. But legally because of the retraction, they are now covered.

CHAFFETZ: And we saw multiple times, you've seen it in Congress, suddenly a story gets planted in the media then congress uses the media report as justification to go do an investigation.

They have been seeking to take down Donald Trump before he was even sworn in. They have presupposed the outcomes on all of these things. They know if he did something wrong supposedly and they want to go back and now find the evidence of it. And I think it's just another chip of trying to do that but I don't think they actually --

WILLIAMS: Well, I think you might -- hey, look, if you are talking about an opinion journalist which he is, I think you're right. But do I also think it's true that Donald Trump refuses to release his tax returns for some reason that something is hidden in there? I would be --

CHAFFETZ: Is that against the law? Is it against the (inaudible)? No. You know what, and if Congress wants to actually change the rules of the road and make that illegal, then go ahead and do that. They don't introduce that.

WILLIAMS: Fine. Right, but then you can't just say, all the press is just waiting, looking. You know what, they should be looking. They should ask questions about a president that won't release his tax returns.

GUTFELD: The greatest president that ever lived, Juan?

WILLIAMS: Thank you. I sometimes forget and Greg is here to remind me.

CHAFFETZ: All right, well, good. Let's end on that. Voters say they are dreading the 2020 election. Greg breaks down how the media may be to blame when we return.

GUTFELD: Yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: A "USA Today" survey claims Americans face the next election with a dominant sense of dread. Apparently, if the candidate a voter supports loses, then roughly 40 percent of those voters wouldn't be confident that the election was actually fair.

Meaning the election may be over on that first Tuesday in November but come that Wednesday, the debate over its legitimacy begins. So whose fault is that? The media.

They spent three years chasing the flame of Russian collusion only to turn up with empty, charred hands. You think that didn't mess with America's mind? That's the irony. CNN and MSNBC did way more to undermine our election system than the Russians simply by exaggerating that narrative in order to unseat the orange monster they despise.

Putin must be thinking about the upside of having a free press. Look what it did for him in America. He achieved more through Jeff Zucker and Rachel Maddow than a farm of Russian bots spending a hundred grand on Facebook ads ever could.

But that story collapsed, yet the obsessed media didn't stop. They are still seeing Russians in their sleep, which has hurt us. The media, out of bitterness over defeat, they could not move past, has left us with a country questioning whether any election could be legitimate.

And not because the Russians might collude with Trump, but because the media always colludes with the dems. Emily, can you blame Americans for being skeptic?

COMPAGNO: No, I can't. I actually kind of agree with this. It makes sense to me.

GUTFELD: Yes.

COMPAGNO: First of all, I think most voters view this as a total civil war and the results are going to be catastrophic --

GUTFELD: Right.

COMPAGNO: -- if their side loses which is perpetuated by the media like you were just talking about. And also I think there's a measure of fatigue, right? The first Democratic debate was held in June, that's 16 months before the election and that's literally an elephant's pregnancy.

GUTFELD: Is it really an elephant's pregnancy?

COMPAGNO: Almost.

GUTFELD: I'm glad you looked that up. It is an elephant's pregnancy. You know, that's a way to measure a lot of things. So, we want a mortgage for the house. What's it going to be? IT's going to be four elephant's pregnancies.

COMPAGNO: I was in the zoo earlier and --

GUTFELD: Or 36 months. I don't know how I -- stop it Greg. Juan, when Trump wins the election by a landslide, will we be able to have a congenial show?

WILLIAMS: Yes, because I'll be gone. I will have buried myself. Do I get a free pass to Canada?

GUTFELD: Yes, you do. Yes, yes, yes.

WILLIAMS: Thank you. Thank you. I think this poll, one, I think people anticipate it's going to be a very dirty election because Trump needs to dirty up the Democrats and that --

GUTFELD: Oh, dirty in that way.

WILLIAMS: Yes. And the Democrats will be fine if Trump -- so, it's just a lot of nastiness. But the second thing to say is, I think this poll is not good news for Trump and here's why. People are so highly engaged. People are paying attention right now. People have strong feelings right now.

GUTFELD: You agree that Trump has made America smarter.

WILLIAMS: Well, more political because things are so polarized that people are like -- I think you get tired of the fact that people are so upset daily about Trump's behavior, his tweets. He's like oh, stop it --stop it. It is what you say.

GUTFELD: I say this to my driver every night.

WILLIAMS: Well, I must be driving then, OK. So, but to my mind --

PERINO: Of course, you have a driver.

WILLIAMS: -- you know, it's Hillary Clinton, Emily -- Hillary Clinton accepted the results of the last (inaudible) the person who said --

CHAFFETZ: Do you think she accepted the --

WILLIAMS: -- and I don't know if I will accept the results --

PERINO: No.

WILLIAMS: -- that was Donald Trump who said that.

GUTFELD: You know, Jason, I think, you know, Juan talks about a dirty campaign but how can you get dirtier than it is already when you say that Trump is worse than Hitler, Mao, Stalin, perhaps insane.

PERINO: Where do you go from there?

GUTFELD: Yes, where do you go?

WILLIAMS: Well, I have an idea.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WILLIAMS: The devil.

GUTFELD: The devil. The devil, antichrist -- we can put them together.

CHAFFETZ: We usually use that on our side. We reserve that.

WILLIAMS: You guys always read the (inaudible) that's why we're uptight (ph).

CHAFFETZ: We get all the religions.

WILLIAMS: You have deep state too. You guys are really -- you're taking all the web (ph).

CHAFFETZ: We deep dish.

GUTFELD: Double deep dish steaks (ph).

CHAFFETZ: Wait until he gets space command up and running then --

WILLIAMS: Oh, no.

CHAFFETZ: Yes.

WILLIAMSL: Oh, you didn't tell me, Jason.

GUTFELD: Jason, what are you --

CHAFFETZ: The president just had a press conference.

GUTFELD: Jason, do you have any ideas on the poll or are you going to continue to talk to Juan?

CHAFFETZ: These things are way too long. I mean, it's August. Wait until - - we have until next August before the campaign actually really starts to ramp up. I do think there is a great disservice. There are a lot of people particularly on the Left, who felt like Bernie Sanders really got taken to the cleaners that he had the energy and in 2016, he was taken out of the process.

I do think that the Democrats have got a problem right now of disengaging a lot of people, the way they're dealing with the debates. Why can't they have two nights of debates. Hey, here's our top eight and here's the rest of the field. They're self-eliminating a lot of people.

And now they've got all these candidates going out there saying, hey, this isn't fair, you have people that like Tulsi Gabbard, I think have a real message that may not make the threshold. And I think that's disengaging to a lot of people.

GUTFELD: To Jason's point, there are three people, well Tulsi is not going to be there - Marianne.

WILLIAMS: No.

PERINO: I think that if you are not at 2 percent and everybody knew what the rules were, everybody - and they might disagree with the rules but one of the reasons why do they have these rules. Bernie Sanders.

GUTFELD: Right.

PERINO: Right. Because he complained that the system is rigged against him, so now it was more open and transparent. And if you aren't polling at 2 percent in the September 23 weeks before the first votes in Iowa, you're probably just not going to be president. And if something catastrophic happens, and these poll numbers are actually happening before the onslaught of ads.

So, imagine if you're in an early battleground state like Iowa, they're already seeing ads. So, I think that's one of the reasons these numbers get to be like this because if you had to deal with that all the time, plus you see it in your social media feed--

CHAFFETZ: When nobody's even at 30 percent to start eliminating--

PERINO: They are--

CHAFFETZ: People unilaterally. I think that - I think that--

PERINO: Do you think that Tulsi Gabbard could win the Democratic nomination--

CHAFFETZ: I think she can--

PERINO: Now after - she's been running for president for eight months.

GUTFELD: She could have been a VP.

PERINO: She could still be a VP possibility.

GUTFELD: Yes, maybe.

CHAFFETZ: But look at the Republicans what do we have like 18 different debates. I mean we've got a lot to look at. But then the Democrats--

PERINO: But they're also self-narrow and they don't even have any money left.

GUTFELD: I still think the media is going to believe if Trump wins, that's it. I just feel that way.

WILLIAMS: One last point on this was with all the Democrats on one stage, we're finally going to see Elizabeth Warren versus Joe Biden.

GUTFELD: Yes, that's true. All right, new hysteria about vaping details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: A new warning about a trend we've been telling you about. The city of Milwaukee now urging residents to stop vaping immediately. It comes amid an outbreak of lung disease cases possibly linked to e-cigarettes.

Wisconsin is among 22 states where nearly 200 people have been hospitalized with respiratory problems. One person in Illinois actually died after reporting similar symptoms. The CDC is investigating but has yet to release a conclusion. And now we discuss.

I'm not going to go to you first, because--

GUTFELD: You know I have 70 pages.

PERINO: I want you to be able to respond to somebody who is going to possibly disagree with you. So, Jason, you want to--

CHAFFETZ: I think I'm actually - I've got a libertarian streak in my blood and I've got to tell you, I think if you're an adult you can make this type of decision. There's a degree of personal responsibility.

PERINO: Yes.

CHAFFETZ: That they ought to take on. I think they need to have the proper warnings. But if - my mom died, she had breast cancer. OK. And she was addicted to smoking even with the height of her cancer, she could not give it up. And if there are people that can benefit by coming down off of cigarettes, I think that's good. But I am worried about youth who think oh well it's not as addictive as cigarettes I'm not going to get lung cancer.

PERINO: Also, Emily some of the youth are putting, adding things to their vapes that they probably shouldn't be doing.

COMPAGNO: 100 percent. The recent surge either indicates that something changed in vaping or a new product was introduced to the marketplace. Right. Something different has happened.

And I agree with the argument or the assertion that the CDC is being at the Fed or they're being unnecessarily vague right now. So, they're talking about vaping in general when most of those illnesses and deaths have to do with THC, so the question becomes, is it unlicensed dealers.

Is it synthetic? Is it butane hash oil? What exactly causes that lung Lippi Wade Pneumonia that up until now the alcohol based nicotine product didn't cause. So, I think as viewers and citizens we need to look forward to specificity and actual facts because right now we don't know what exactly the cause of this new surge--

PERINO: But do we know Greg?

GUTFELD: I have no qualms with what they're saying. I just have a qualm with how the media deals with this topic. This story needs to be taken seriously and scientifically. Basically, all vaping is, is you're delivering nicotine through vapor, not smoking. To your point, absolutely right.

50 years ago, if people were vaping, a lot of relatives would be alive right now if they had this nicotine delivery system which wasn't wrapped in tar, you know. Now to the victims, to your point. There was one study in Minnesota. They were mixing nicotine and pot, so that could have played a role.

In Wisconsin, and I think this is - I don't know if this pertains to the new patients, but all of them were dabbing, which means vaping THC oil, which has an uncertain purity and it's not about the nicotine.

So, it's not about the nicotine vaping, it's about street drugs. What are they buying and what are they putting in there? What we do know there's an independent review that if you switch from cigarettes to e-cigs, that leads to a risk reduction of 95 percent in lung disease. That's an independent review.

So, these stories need to be taken seriously. But if the hype reduces the use of this and people go back to smoking that will actually cost lives. And you could argue they could be held accountable. Also, I don't like this whole thing about targeting kids. Kids find stuff on their own. You know what I mean?

PERINO: Well, that's why I am going to ask Juan about the companies that produce these things, are they to be held responsible for kids finding ways to--

GUTFELD: Kids like what adults like.

WILLIAMS: You should check out their marketing fellows, because--

GUTFELD: I do.

WILLIAMS: Guess what, they were marketing like flavors like bubble gum.

GUTFELD: To me.

WILLIAMS: Candy.

GUTFELD: I like that.

WILLIAMS: Yes. You like--

GUTFELD: I'm a kid at heart, I guess.

WILLIAMS: All right. But I'm just saying that's not playing fair with young people because that's introduced--

GUTFELD: You have alcohol flavors.

WILLIAMS: Hang on. But here's what--

GUTFELD: What do you think piña colada is?

WILLIAMS: Thank you, Greg. I don't know, what's piña colada?

GUTFELD: I mean it has flavors.

WILLIAMS: Here's the thing, you have the head of Jewel saying, if you are not smoking - if you haven't been dealing with nicotine, you should not take up vaping because then it could have that negative effect. His words make me think that he knows there is a connection between people who have not been taking nicotine and have just one pot for vaping equals about two packs of cigarettes in terms of nicotine delivery.

And I think it makes some people sick and it could be causing some of this lung inflammation that we're seeing, but the larger point is, this is nicotine, nicotine is highly addictive.

GUTFELD: It's not nicotine, it's something else, I'm telling you.

WILLIAMS: No, it isn't because you know what--

GUTFELD: Nicotine--

WILLIAMS: People didn't smoke pot and then also have a cigarette, of course they do.

PERINO: Because there's been the case though that when people been - the nicotine piece has been there for years.

GUTFELD: Gum. There are people that chew packets of gum.

WILLIAMS: It's the delivery of the nicotine that the Jewel, the leader of Jewel is saying, hey, we think it's a problem if you haven't - don't have a relationship with nicotine, don't start vaping.

PERINO: The government is on the case, Jason.

CHAFFETZ: Yes, that's soft. I like that.

PERINO: All right. We've got to move on. Parents finding a new way to keep tabs on their college aged kids. A peace offering and the chicken war and the new Ghost video the Internet won't stop talking about, it's all coming up on the Fastest 7.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COMPAGNO: Welcome back. Time for the Fastest 7. First up, there's nothing like finally getting the freedom that comes with going off to college. But imagine your parents still being able to watch your every move. More and more worried moms and dads are reportedly using location tracking apps to monitor their college aged kids. Juan, you have kids, would you have done this if this existed?

WILLIAMS: I'm no helicopter parent. I think you go off to college. Call me if there's trouble. Otherwise have a good time.

PERINO: Right. Good job, Juan.

CHAFFETZ: I hate this story. Don't talk about it. It's just--

PERINO: Deep steep.

GUTFELD: Right here.

CHAFFETZ: Yes. I do, come on, we do - we watch. We pay attention.

WILLIAMS: Wait a minute.

PERINO: So, your kids are located you're saying.

CHAFFETZ: Yes. If we need to go find them and we want to match up with them and they have our stuff, so we can communicate. I actually like it; I don't think it's--

WILLIAMS: Wait a second.

CHAFFETZ: She doesn't watch Fox News and have cable television in college.

WILLIAMS: I thought you objected to the FBI.

CHAFFETZ: FBI off-limits.

COMPAGNO: Always an exception to be a dad.

CHAFFETZ: Dad told cool.

PERINO: Actually, I'm very surprised too.

CHAFFETZ: I'll show you. We could find out where she is right now.

PERINO: I don't want to do it.

WILLIAMS: Don't do it.

PERINO: Oh my God. I would not do that. Your job as a parent is to help raise productive citizens who will then be able to make good decisions on their own and you can't do that if you're always being watched. Plus, kids will figure out a way to get away out of this. They'll be like oh yes, it looks like I'm in the library but I'm really down buying the THC oil.

COMPAGNO: Greg, what do you think?

GUTFELD: I mean it's hard for me to comment, because I'm not allowed to watch college kids anymore. But I remember in 1974, I was 10 years old. I could be gone all day. If I didn't come home, they wouldn't phone until the next day.

PERINO: Right.

GUTFELD: Because you would just assume that everything would turn out OK. So, you didn't have to monitor. Nowadays, you have to know where everybody is. Every - you can't be a teenage runaway anymore. That's kind of depressing. Remember when you could just run away. Now, you have a choice, should I run away, or should I post something on Instagram. Because then they'll know where I am. So maybe if I don't post for an hour, they might get worried.

But you know we're running out of teenage runaways.

PERINO: I mean you wonder why you have children on their parent's health insurance until they're 26. The next thing you know it'll be 36. Family plan for life.

GUTFELD: I hate that Dana.

WILLIAMS: You know Huck Finn, Tom Sawyer.

GUTFELD: Yes.

WILLIAMS: How many American stories wouldn't happen if we had these helicopter parents.

GUTFELD: Exactly.

COMPAGNO: Well, I have to say, I think there is a spectrum between helicopter parents and safety. I came from a family with three girls and my parents always put safety first for us in certain ways that allowed us to use it like, they had an 800 number. So, because it was back with pay phones. Right.

GUTFELD: Right.

COMPAGNO: We could always go to a pay phone, dial an 800 number and could always reach them. We had a car phone that we can always use.

GUTFELD: So, you guys are really rich.

COMPAGNO: No. Anyway, I'm great, Greg. OK. Up next, poultry titans Chick- fil-A and Popeye's have been locked in an epic chicken war over who has the better sandwich. It's been a fierce Twitter battle but for at least a few moments a temporary truce. Chick-fil-A manager in North Carolina caught bringing sandwiches to Popeye's workers after their store ran out. He also told people waiting in line they could go to a Chick-fil-A across the street for a free meal. I think that's amazing. Truce, peace.

PERINO: Chick-fil-A is always getting the best PR. It doesn't matter. You could take any story that always end up with the best PR. I'm very impressed.

WILLIAMS: You know what I have been puzzled this week. I thought you know it's just somebody is a really good PR agent for Popeye's with these sandwiches. But I must tell you I just run into people and say hey Juan, have you tried that Popeye's and now I hear they're sold out. You can even buy one.

COMPAGNO: That's why we don't have here.

PERINO: That's good PR too.

COMPAGNO: We only have the Chick-fil-A ones.

WILLIAMS: But was it PR or reality?

PERINO: I don't know.

GUTFELD: It's a good sign for us that Popeye's and Chick-fil-A can get along. Because then the rest of us could get along. But it's just weird that people do take sides with fast food. Usually, it's corn on the cob and mashed potatoes.

COMPAGNO: OK. Let's go to the third topic.

CHAFFETZ: Well, I love them all. The one that's left out of this is KFC. But they've got to figure out how to get back. I grew up on - you don't get a body like mine by passing up on chicken--

GUTFELD: Buckets.

COMPAGNO: That's awesome. OK. I'm really excited about this topic. Possible paranormal activity reported in New York. The home security camera catching what appears to be a ghost with a dog. Apparently, they like pets. Let's take a closer look, so we can tell what it really is and come to a conclusion.

GUTFELD: What are we looking for?

COMPAGNO: That ghost.

PERINO: What?

COMPAGNO: Yes. I totally believe in ghosts. I had a whole discussion over dinner the other day where everyone was sharing their ghost stories. Do you guys believe in ghosts?

PERINO: I have no ghost story.

WILLIAMS: You can look at Dana's face and know that's dubious Dana.

PERINO: I don't know. I'm not on the ghost train.

GUTFELD: Look, the spirit world would have fixed this year. You're not going to - ghost is not going to show up on any camera because spirits have already figured that stuff out.

COMPAGNO: They've been caught on camera for - since the beginning of photographs.

GUTFELD: Really?

COMPAGNO: Jason or Juan back me up.

CHAFFETZ: You lost me, well, when you put chicken in front of me, totally distracted.

GUTFELD: He's ghosting you.

CHAFFETZ: I'm focused on the chicken.

COMPAGNO: Juan, is that real or was it data--

PERINO: It was a light.

WILLIAMS: Well, it could be light, it could be dust, right. It could be dead people though.

PERINO: No, I'm sorry.

WILLIAMS: We could see dead people. I don't know. I don't know what that is.

COMPAGNO: Look, I will say this--

GUTFELD: I see a large red circle.

COMPAGNO: Paranormal activity is likely surges an energy or some energy we can explain. I think it's egotistical for us to say definitively whether something or not is yes or is no. So that could be possibly something that we can't understand or explain which means it could be paranormal.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

GUTFELD: Does that make you paranormal?

WILLIAMS: You?

COMPAGNO: It makes me awesome.

WILLIAMS: No, you're hungry, that's what you are, you're hungry. But I think the homeowner said that his dad or grandad lived in the house had a dog and he died, and it was his birthday.

COMPAGNO: You're right. There was that element too.

CHAFFETZ: It's what happens when you vape.

PERINO: Then you eat chicken.

COMPAGNO: One More Thing is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: Time now for One More Thing. I'm going to go first. You know what, this Labor Day weekend I'm going to two weddings. So, this story caught my eye. Take a look at these newlyweds. That's John Cook. He's 100 and his bride Phyllis Cook, she's 103.

The two centenarians got married in Ohio in June. He loves their southern accent and they're terrific bingo partners. The wedding reception was held earlier this week at Kingston residents Sylvania Ohio where they first met. They had champagne and cake. Phyllis, I've got to tell you, my hat's off to you girl. Who would think a woman of 103 would be robbing the cradle with a guy who's 100?

PERINO: And they look great.

WILLIAMS: Congratulations.

COMPAGNO: That's adorable.

CHAFFETZ: Good story.

PERINO: They looked like in their 80s.

WILLIAMS: They're looking good. It's love.

GUTFELD: 100 is the new 80.

WILLIAMS: Dana, it's up to you.

PERINO: OK. A four-year-old boy with disabilities was really heartbroken because his therapy dog went missing. It is a French dog beagle mix and this little boy Mathis has a rare genetic disorder called Coffin-Lowry Syndrome.

So, the dog disappeared on May 13th and the family that's frantically looking for it. Everybody's looking for it and it almost given up hope. But the family put up a reward offer, and they were contacted and now they are reunited. And you just see how important it is. If you think about the Canine Companions for Independence or companions for heroes, all of these dogs that are helping people like Mathis, so glad that they're reunited.

WILLIAMS: That's wonderful. Greg, make us happy.

GUTFELD: You already had two upbeat stories, so I'm going to break it.

PERINO: Bring yourself.

GUTFELD: Animals Are Great. No elderly or kids in this one, I'll tell you. But you know you aren't going to get here. You can get some healthy eating. Check out this little fellow, there he is, getting some good green fiber in raw broccoli. You know there is a fun fact, Emily, broccoli in Australia is considered a meat and hamsters in Australia is considered a vegetable. Did you know that?

COMPAGNO: No, are you lying?

GUTFELD: Why would I lie about something like that.

COMPAGNO: Because he messes with me all day, every day.

GUTFELD: Yes. Isn't that great though. It's just a reason to look at this little guy nibble away. You know he's like the healthiest, he's going to be the healthiest. I think that's a hamster, it could be gerbils. We don't have an expert here at Fox, do we. On gerbils and hamsters.

PERINO: I don't think so. Not that I heard of.

GUTFELD: We used to.

WILLIAMS: That guy is in the ER.

GUTFELD: He's in ER, terrible. And that is why Animals Are Great.

WILLIAMS: Congressman.

CHAFFETZ: You've actually got to follow that. All right. First, I want you go to foxnews.com. I've got more on James Comey and what's going on there, an op ed that we put out. But I've also got a really good heartwarming story to cover for Greg's mess over there.

Coach Kris Sweet is the offensive coordinator for the Lyon College football team and he's currently battling cancer. Sweet was diagnosed with cancer back in July and his players wanted to surprise him with a stunning new show of solidarity. Check this out.

(VIDEO PLAYING)

CHAFFETZ: Every one of those players, they shaved their heads for their dear coach who in typical football guy fashion tried not to get choked up about it, but he said that even though he doesn't like the attention, this was the most touching and emotional thing he had been through. Great story.

WILLIAMS: That is a wonderful story. You know I've seen stories like that about cancer survivors going through treatment and everybody shaves their hair in order to--

CHAFFETZ: Those kids will learn more about that in that moment.

GUTFELD: Dana, you started touching your hair. You were thinking would I ever shave my head, that's what you were thinking. Is my hair OK.

WILLIAMS: All right. Emily, you're up.

COMPAGNO: OK. I'm going to end on a totally violent note tonight.

GUTFELD: OK.

COMPAGNO: To make up for Greg's sweet little thing. Just in case anyone had any questions about what species on this planet are really strong. Take a look here. That is an enraged Rhino. This video was just released out of Germany today flipping the zookeeper's car three times. And of course, the zoo is like, we have no idea what provoked him. But then they admitted he was just brought there as part of a breeding program and he's had trouble adjusting.

GUTFELD: He's actually in therapy right now.

PERINO: There was nobody in the car, right?

WILLIAMS: That's what I was thinking.

COMPAGNO: No, people were in the car.

GUTFELD: Oh, you left out that part.

PERINO: Emily, you buried the lead.

WILLIAMS: People in the car.

CHAFFETZ: The car is dressed as a zebra. What did you expect going to happen?

GUTFELD: Are they OK. Everybody's OK.

COMPAGNO: Everybody is fine.

GUTFELD: You should add that part.

WILLIAMS: All right. You guys stop the madness. Set your DVRs. Never miss an episode of “The Five.” "Special Report." Up next, my buddy Bret Baier.

BRET BAIER, ANCHOR: Congressman with the dressed as a Zebra car. I like that. Thank you, Juan.

WILLIAMS: That's right. There you go, Bret.

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