President Trump trades barbs with Democrats over partial government shutdown as battle over border funding continues

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President Trump trades barbs with Democrats over partial government shutdown as battle over border funding continues

Trump stands firm on border wall demands; Nancy Pelosi says the president is using scare tactics.

This is a rush transcript from "Special Report," December 26, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

DANA PERINO, HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Dana Perino along with Katie Pavlich, Doug Schoen, Lawrence Jones, and Tom Shillue. It's 5 o'clock in New York City, and this is “The Five.”

Fox News alert, President Trump and the first lady set to make another unannounced stop after a surprise trip to visit troops in Iraq. You're looking at brand-new video of the president's first visit to a combat zone as commander-in-chief.

President Trump making the 11-hour flight under the cover of darkness on Air Force One, the lights were off, the window shades drawn, and with a military jet escort, President Trump addressing the troops and praising their efforts in the fight against ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The other reason I'm here today is to personally thank you and every service member throughout this region for the near elimination of the ISIS territorial caliphate in Iraq and in Syria. I looked at a map and two years ago, it was a lot of red all over that map, but now you have a couple of little spots and that's happening very quickly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: The president adding that he has no plans to pull troops out of Iraq and says that country can be used as a staging area to strike Islamic state. This comes after President Trump announced he's withdrawing troops out of Syria, he defended that move today saying, quote, a lot of people are going to come around to my way of thinking, and so we shall see if that happens. But that's kind of fun for the troops, right? Like, very moving experience to see the commander-in-chief.

TOM SHILLUE, HOST: They looked like they really appreciated it. I'm wondering, now in your experience in the Bush administration, how far in advance to they have to plan these things? This is something --

PERINO: A lot.

SHILLUE: So this was in the works for a while.

PERINO: About six week I think they're plan and then, you know, you have to keep it very secret. I think that was one of the hardest things I ever did was try to figure out how to plan a whole trip because you can't actually ask -- you can't have your deputies help you.

SHILLUE: Yeah.

PERINO: So there was only two people in my shop that knew anything about it, but you have to go and meet with all the reporters and the photographers and the puller and get it all organized. But, you know, they can really keep a secret, and so this trip was able to happen.

And, yes, of course, it takes some planning. But, Katie, this is a different region than before. I mean, it's obviously a lot safer in Iraq than it was in years past, a lot of because of the great work the men and women in uniform have done there.

KATIE PAVLICH, HOST: Yeah, and to the point about this stopping plan. I wonder if President Trump wasn't actually going to go to Florida, and this was the plan all along for him to visit the troops --

PERINO: I think they've said that they were -- one of the reports is that they would have left from Florida if the shutdown had not happen.

PAVLICH: But to your question about Iraq and the situation there, I thought the most important thing that he said was about striking ISIS from Iraq. He specifically said that we're not going to be taking troops out of that country, which I think reassures allies in the region that, look, although we're taking our troops out of Syria, we're allowing the Israelis to bomb Iran to take care of the Iranian problem.

Saudi Arabia stepping up with money. There are concerns still about the way Turkey is going to handle the Kurds as an ally against ISIS in the region. However, him saying today we're not leaving Iraq, there are 5,000 troops there, we're going to strike ISIS if we need to from this position.

It shows we're still in the fight despite -- they're very specific about their language. They say territorial caliphate which indicates the fight is not over. We've taking a lot of their land back, a lot of the cities have been taken back thanks to the United States and people in the region.

However, the fight is ongoing. We saw Christmas day ISIS attack in Iraq just yesterday. But one fun thing too that is joyful as that -- the Iraqi government declared for the first time officially just before Christmas a national holiday for Christians there after ISIS tried to wipe them out in a genocide over the last couple of years. So, lots to celebrate and I think lots of calm nerves in some ways from the president on what he said today.

PERINO: And we should mention, Doug, also, it's not just the military that the president gives a lift to, it's the diplomatic corps that is there as well. I mean, people across the government, from the State Department, but also, even, like USDA that helps get agriculture back up and running --

DOUG SCHOEN, HOST: Dana, I can't say enough -- look, we're all partisan. We all have views here. I'm sure we'll hear a little bit later on. But we're all Americans. And as an American, I'm very proud of the president for going particular at a time, as Katie said correctly, there are questions about our foreign policy vis-a-vis, the pullout completely from Syria, and half the troops from Afghanistan. I think this is real good for America.

And I just think on a day like today, we ought to just say thank you to the president. Again, I've many differences with him, we'll hear -- but thank you for standing up for our troops. The battle against ISIS is not over. I'm glad he made that clear. And hopefully we hit them not only territorially but where ever they are.

PERINO: And we have a new -- and the new government in Iraq --

SCHOEN: Yes.

PERINO: -- is there, so they can be reassured as well --

SCHOEN: Exactly.

PERINO: -- there is going to be somebody there to help.

SCHOEN: Precisely.

PERINO: But also that's important for our national interests as well in the long run.

LAWRENCE JONES, HOST: And there's been a lot of question mark on where the president actually stands when it comes to foreign policy. And so, yes, this was an opportunity for him to go meet with our troops because they're -- obviously, they're serving while everyone else is celebrating the holidays.

But the president -- this was a moment for him as well because a lot of people wanted to hear with him on what exactly his military strategy is. And, you know, there is this conflicting view of the more libertarian point of view of having a strong military presence but also not getting involved with every single country.

But the thing that people are going to run into when it comes to this and I don't -- we'll get to it later on the show is what happens when you're already there in a nation and fighting that war and you have this war, not wanting -- this view of not wanting to nation build but you're there and you cannot withdraw those troops and open up a vacuum like the last administration did.

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: I wouldn't say nation build, but if we're there we can't open up a vacuum.

PAVLICH: Dana, to your earlier point too about the State Department and other people working in Iraq on behalf of America, this also boosts the morale of local forces and local Iraqi leaders to know that the President of the United States is there, not only as a show of force but to listen to what they have to say, to get briefings on the ground from the people who are working on these issues, and talking to our military leaders as well to get some perspective.

I know the president gets criticized for maybe not taking the advice of people around him, but he does go and meet with people and listen and then makes his decision. So getting that information from the ground --

PERINO: Yeah, nothing like a first-hand account, Tom.

SHILLUE: Yes. The reason that I was wondering about the advanced planning of this is, wouldn't this have been an excellent time for him to announce his changes in Syria after having visited Iraq?

PERINO: Especially if he was going to say that he has no plans to withdraw troops from Iraq because those troops can be staged to deal with ISIS, then you might not have had ten days of confusion.

SHILLUE: Yes. And a lot of -- I thought the overreaction to -- you know, the fact that he announced it, Mattis resigned, and then the talking heads were saying, this is it, everything is imploding. Mattis is the only one we've ever trusted. He was the only adult. I thought it was overdone. But, just for the -- if I want to second-guess the president's decision, this might have been a nice time to announce a serious strategy.

PAVLICH: Well, when he made the announcement to take the troops out, you know, the reason there was confusion is because there wasn't this explanation that he gave today. He didn't say when he announced this that, look, we still have this place in Iraq. He did generally talk about allies being able to take care of these problems not on our behalf but stepping up to the plate in their own backyard and defeating ISIS in a way that is beneficial to their own countries.

So, it would have been helpful at the beginning if he said, look, we're getting out of Syria because we have plenty of resources in Iraq to deal with the ISIS problem. We're going to continue to fight ISIS, to start taking away their territory. Of course, that war against the terrorist group is not done because they do exist in places like Europe and the United States. So I think he could have avoided some of that by putting --

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: It was rocky and it seemed like the president was more concerned at the time. I get what he was saying, but it seemed like he was more -- reassure America because he was trying to keep a campaign promise, instead of actually telling us what he plan on doing.

SCHOEN: We have serious problems. ISIS is not defeated. Syria is a cauldron. And Afghanistan where, frankly, the Taliban is doing better and better and President Ghani is on the ropes, politically. All of this is bad for the United States. So, while I absolutely applaud this visit and what the president said, we have huge national security challenges in the region that we have to deal with.

PERINO: Doug, I did want to ask you one last thing as -- minute we have remaining, which is the importance of a president, any president, to be able to use not just the bully pulpit but the entire echo chamber to their advantage. And announcing something just on twitter doesn't seem to scratch that itch.

SCHOEN: You know, what I learned when I worked for Bill Clinton is getting that echo chamber going, orchestrating it as you were describing as a senior press officer and then press secretary, it is hugely important task. And while President Trump controls the narrative frequently with twitter, he doesn't have the echo chamber and the support --

PERINO: Doesn't dominate it.

SCHOEN: He doesn't --

PERINO: He could have. But, anyway -- we're like -- the media, we're like a bunch of raccoons in a room full of disco balls. It's like looking all over the place.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: That's right. When you come to The Five, Tom Shillue, with me, it's going to be a party for sure. All right. It's day five of the partial government shutdown and neither side is budging. Brand-new video of President Trump, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCHOEN: It's day five of the partial government shutdown over border wall funding and both sides are refusing to budge. President Trump not backing down. Here's what the president said just hours ago in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How long do you think the shutdown will last, Mr. President?

TRUMP: Whatever it takes. I mean, we're going to have a wall. We're going to have safety. We need safety from our country. Even from this standpoint, we have terrorists coming in through the southern border.

We have some drones and we have technology. Technology is bells and whistles. You have to have a wall. You have to have protection. So when you say how long is it going to take? When are they going to say that we need border security? When are the Democrats going to say? Don't forget, the Democrats all agree that you need a wall until I wanted it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOEN: House minority leader and soon to be speaker, Nancy Pelosi is pushing back against the president, claiming, quote, he's using scare tactics that are not evidence-based and it's wrong. Former acting ICE director Thomas Homan is responding to Pelosi by saying she's the one who has it all wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS HOMAN, FORMER ICE DIRECTOR: She's 100 percent wrong, so let me educate Ms. Pelosi. As far as crime come across the border, ICE arrested 138,000 criminals last year. These are people entering the country illegally and committing crimes against the citizen's country.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What kind of crime?

HOMAN: Over 2,000 homicides, over 11,000 weapons violations, over 11,000 - - almost 12,000 sexual assault crimes, sexual crimes. So crime does come across that border. They didn't just miraculously appear in the United States, they've entered the country illegally.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOEN: You know, my take on this is this is a huge opportunity to do comprehensive immigration reform. Both sides are dug in on positions I think don't make a lot of sense for the country and indeed even their political positions. Wouldn't it make sense to do a wall, enhance border security, a fence, as the president talked about, in exchange for a path to citizenship for the dreamers and some right for those 10 or 11 million who are here illegally to stay? Doesn't that make sense, Dana?

PERINO: Well, I think so. But I do want to defer to Katie who was there for that interview this morning and it was from Arizona. I mean, we talk about comprehensive immigration reform for years over three different presidents.

SCHOEN: It doesn't make it wrong.

PERINO: No, I agree.

PAVLICH: Well, here's the problem with comprehensive immigration reform that it's too big of a project to do when you have a serious crisis at the border at this point in time. Border security is different than amnesty for millions of people who are either here illegally or who brought their children over when they were children without having gone through the proper process for citizenship.

And so, when the president talked about wanting a wall or a barrier, he's correct when he says that where we built these things in Yuma, Arizona, for example, and places in El Paso and San Diego, the traffic there has stopped. And if you look at the criminal element that is bringing these children and these people up through Mexico and using them as human shields to get into the country, you have to take a look at the real issue of the lobbying change there.

And I've always said that open borders are inhumane borders. You have the report today of the second child dying while in border patrol custody. That is not a result of border patrol. That is a result of a sick kid showing up at the border and the United States giving them care that they have not seen for 2,000 miles along their journey.

So it complicates things enormously when you throw in comprehensive immigration reform when the president is trying to solve a problem that is an emergency right now.

JONES: Look, I agree with Katie, but I think you're an optimist but --

SCHOEN: I tried.

JONES: Well, you're not where your party is right now --

SCHOEN: I know.

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: You're very reasonable. But as it relates to your party, it's become an open border party. And they have gone from wanting to ban ICE to -- and let me say this, the president tried to move on this last week and he got major blowback.

And I said it last week, the president -- if he wants to lose his base, this was the moment that he was going to lose his base because he was caving. And so now the president is going to the opposite direction to say, look, I can't budge on this. I tried to go with my people with this. I tried to get some type of reasonable approach. They're not having it.

And so the Democrats, you've got to give me some wiggle room right here. What you guys want to put on the table is let's just talk about DACA. Well, that doesn't solve the problem that's on the border, and we went through this with Ronald Reagan before where we gave you amnesty and said, hey, you're going to get border security and it never came. And so, the American people just aren't going to go for it.

SCHOEN: Tom, am I off-base?

SHILLUE: Well, where you were off-base was adding those 10 or 11 million that's -- you know, if he wants to throw DACA into some deal, I think people would go for it, but they're not going to go with broad amnesty.

SCHOEN: So the deal in 2013 included the 10 or 11 million, it got 68 votes in the Senate, that's why I've said it.

PAVLICH: The DACA is more complicated than just giving citizenship to people who are brought here as children from Mexico or Central America, because then the question is, well, if their parents are still in the country illegally, do they then get to stay?

It's a complicated issue of family units whether they get to stay. It's not just a simple piece of legislation. There're serious questions surrounding how that gets done. But when it comes to the president and what they have offered, incoming chief of staff Mick Mulvaney was on Fox News Sunday over the weekend and he actually said that they've come down from their $5.7 billion number --

(CROSSTALK)

PAVLICH: They did not say what the number was, but Democrats, they're hoping, will come to some center when it comes to the funding. And we're talking about maybe, what, $3 billion here. I mean, come on, for political reasons.

SCHOEN: I think we're talking about fundamental political positioning.

JONES: They don't like the optics of the wall. That's what it is.

SCHOEN: Yeah, I agree with that.

(CROSSTALK) JONES: They know -- but the president evolved. We know you're not going to just get a physical wall in all aspects of the border. They've called it the border wall system. He's talking about adding technology to it. But the symbolic measure of the president having an accomplishment when it comes to the wall is what Democrats are against.

SCHOEN: Right. And I'm saying that's exactly right. There has to be a compromise around a fence, enhance border security, and some path to citizenship for DACA residents, notwithstanding the issues --

JONES: But that's a separate issue. I don't understand why Democrats keep lumping it together. There's border security and then it's taking care of the people that are already here. But you can't talk about fixing a problem -- fixing the problem with the kids that are here that have nothing to do with the border.

SCHOEN: Yes, sure you can.

PAVLICH: I think the Democrats even if -- I think Barack Obama would have decided to build a wall to stop an influx of illegal immigration the Democrats would have gone for it.

(CROSSTALK)

SCHOEN: Do you agree, Dana?

PERINO: Yes.

PAVLICH: We've seen gross hypocrisy between what Barack Obama --

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: And they should hammer that a little bit more, I mean, because the Democrats did vote for border security, fencing, things that look like a wall. But it's not just the -- symbolism of the wall, so a lot of this is a political symbolism fight. The other thing is a shutdown, so far has been a little bit symbolic.

Now, if you're one of the 900,000 being furloughed, that is a big deal to you. And they hope -- I hope they can take comfort in the fact that the government has done back pay for them. But the first real day of the shutdown is actually today, because the president gave Christmas Eve as a holiday as well. So there's -- this is actually the first real day. We'll see what sort of pain comes, but I think they end up like 3.3 --

(CROSSTALK) SCHOEN: Quickly, isn't this ridiculous, the whole thing? The shutdown, the fight, all of these, isn't this the worst?

SHILLUE: I don't know. I don't know if it's ridiculous. I don't think it's bad for the president to throw a temper tantrum say give me my 5 billion or you're not going to get your government back. I think to me it's -- that is a --

SCHOEN: To me, it's a bad mistake politically and substantially.

PERINO: We'll see.

PAVLICH: Well, OK.

SCHOEN: We will see. Well, we will come back and talk about UMass Amherst taking campus P.C. to a new level after asking a student to remove a sign condemning Nazis, really the case. Just wait until you hear why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JONES: Another new example of showing how political correctness is going too far. The University of Massachusetts Amherst coming under fire after requesting a student remove a sign she put up on her dorm window that cursed at Nazis because it created a mixed emotion on campus and was not inclusive.

The student reportedly put the sign up after someone drew swastika over a happy Hanukkah message. The university now releasing a statement on its Facebook page saying, quote, emphatically, the university emphatically rejects Nazis, and any other hate group, and respects the student's right to display the sign.

You know, Doug, we were talking about this before this segment, and my problem with leftist is this, they really don't understand freedom of speech. They think hate speech is not protected by the constitution, which it is. What is your viewpoint on it?

SCHOEN: Well, my view is I don't have any trouble with the sign. I don't have any trouble with the language. I do have problems with the student who defaced a happy Hanukkah sign with the sign and symbol of the Nazi party. I wish UMass Amherst spent more time trying to figure out who had defaced the sign and disciplining the student rather than making a ridiculous statement that means nothing at a sign that absolutely is right, reasonable, and appropriate.

JONES: So, Katie, there's two parts to this. First of all, it is -- obviously wrong for them to deface the sign. Nobody stands up with Nazis.

PAVLICH: It's vandalism and they should be charged for it.

JONES: Vandalism, period. That's what you charge them with. And then there's the end of freedom of speech, you can't kick the student out, but you can have students on campus that disagree with Nazis and say, hey, actually we don't like you. We don't support you.

PAVLICH: Yeah. Well, vandalism and defacing signs is not freedom of speech.

JONES: Right.

PAVLICH: But, I will say I'm just confused about this. So, you know, leftists want to punch Nazis, but this university is saying, well, we're not going -- we're going to condemn Nazis, but we're not going to do it by using the F-word, and if you use the F-word we're going to take your sign down and then ask you maybe to use nicer language when you're condemning Nazis.

This is a problem when you pick and choose, right? This is a college campus. All these people are adults. Maybe they can make the case that because it's being displayed from a dorm room that not everybody should have to look at the F-word, but the bottom line is universities completely try to redraw the rules every time, and therefore, nobody knows what the rules are.

The first amendment covers it everything. And the point is when a phase is de-sign -- a sign is defaced, excuse me, you have freedom of speech which allows you to then condemn that action.

JONES: That's right.

PAVLICH: More people are going to see her sign condemning it, rather than being on the side of the hate group, right? But them trying to regulate this by sending letters and feeling unsafe it's absolutely ridiculous. Grow up and deal with it.

JONES: So, Dana, my day job at Campus Reform, we covered all of this type of anti-free speech stuff every single day. Do you think we, as a society, have done our kids a disservice by not educating them on the freedoms of the world? And we --

PERINO: Oh, yeah. I mean, you look at some --

JONES: The babies.

PERINO: -- you know the polls that say that they'd be happy with striking the first amendment. That is also -- that's like a big one. I do think, though, that the university itself goes on in a Facebook post to say a poorly worded email from resident life staff asking students to take down the sign does not reflect the values of the campus. So, I don't know if they're just trying to blame a student for this. Maybe -- on a campus, this is what you'd call a teachable moment.

SCHOEN: How about some more holocaust education? That would be a good thing.

JONES: Well, it's just not that, Doug. And to Dana's point, maybe it was one of those moments where one person just goofed up. But this is not an isolated event, there's school after school after school not understanding what freedom is in this country. Isn't that a problem?

SHILLUE: It's a huge problem. And the thing is, there's a reason we're confused about this and we didn't know what they mean because they don't know what they mean, because if they see the word Nazi everybody freaks out and they start firing off emails.

The other day, a high school in New York did Sound of Music, and they had to write a disclaimer in the program because there was a swastika in the Sound of Music. We know why there's a swastika and because there's Nazis in it. And they had the disclaimer and they say we abhor hate in all its forms. And my nine-year-old said to me, dad, don't they realize the Nazis are the bad guy in that play. I said, "Yes, they - they should realize that."

PAVLICH: Well, Lawrence - yes.

JONES: Because it seems like, Katie, their whole issue with this entire thing was the F-word.

PAVLICH: Well, the problem is that there is actually a very, very serious problem with anti-Semitism on campuses across the country.

JONES: That's right, correct.

PAVLICH: The BDS movement is alive and well.

JONES: It should be condemned.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely.

KATIE: But - but because - but because the left has called everybody a Nazi who dares to be a conservative, they've completely devalued the term. So when you have a real incident of a Hanukkah sign being defaced with a swastika, this - the focus is not on that, the focus is on a woman who decided to condemn the Nazi sign with her sign that happened to feature the F-word that was being used against Nazis.

JONES: This is what happens, the boy who cried wolf -

PAVLICH: It's - it doesn't address the real question of anti-Semitism on campus.

SHOEN: That's why anti-Semitism and anti-Holocaust education is so important, because Katie's absolutely right.

JONES: Yes, we got to educate our kids. We got to get them (ph). Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is being called out for politicizing Christmas with her Jesus comparison. You'll see next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAVLICH: While a Democratic it (ph) girl, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, creating a new controversy after tweeting out a Merry Christmas message, and implying that newborn Jesus was a refugee.

The (inaudible) politician is being slammed for politicizing the holiday, but it's not the criticism she's receiving. Outgoing Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill with some harsh words about the incoming congresswoman.

[17:35:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

SEN. CLAIRE MCCASKILL, D-MO.: I'm a little confused why she's the thing, but it's a good example of what I'm talking about a bright and shiny new object came out of nowhere and surprised people and she beat a very experienced Congressman.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PAVLICH: Senator McCaskill not stopping there, she's also calling out Ocasio-Cortez's big government ideas.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

MCCASKILL: I hope she also realizes that the parts of the country that are rejecting the democratic party, like a whole lot of white working-class voters need to hear about how their work is going to be respected and the dignity of their jobs and how we can really stick to issues that we can actually accomplish something on. The rhetoric's cheap, getting results is a lot harder.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PAVLICH: OK Pastor Jones, I first want to get to the Jesus analogy and then we'll get on to McCaskill's comments. Is this an accurate thing for her to say?

JONES: Well no, it's not. And it's important for the left to understand the messes of Christ. They only want to use Jesus when it's convenient for them, and they got the whole story about Jesus wrong as well.

PAVLICH: So he wasn't a refugee? And neither were his parents?

JONES: He was not a refugee -- exactly.

PAVLICH: OK just wanted to be clear.

JONES: But the pivot on this -- when it comes to the democrats you guys are way too emotional. You guys don't vet your candidates, you guys get so invested.

SHOEN: Obama, whatever he thinks he's Mister Cool.

JONES: Get so invested in the personality of a candidate, "The Guardian" just did a article today going through Beto O'Rourke voting record, right? He talks about how.

PAVLICH: Finally.

JONES: How such a progressive he was -- he voted republicans for the majority of the time until he decided that he was going to be the next president of the United States, or (ph) senator of Texas. But everybody loves Beto. But it's not really about Beto and what he will do, it's about how Beto makes you feel.

PAVLICH: Well let's focus on.

JONES: And I think that's the big problem with democrats.

SHOEN: Isn't feeling part of politics?

PAVLICH: Yes.

SHOEN: As to Claire McCaskill, she's certainly right. I mean you have to be a moderate in most of America on the two coasts -- not so much. But in middle America where the democrats reclaimed seats in states that Donald Trump largely won, it was moderates not progressives who won.

And Claire McCaskill is a proof positive of somebody who fell victim to the leftwing drift of the democratic party. I wish I didn't have to agree with you on that Lawrence, but sadly I do.

PAVLICH: Dana we are seeing this far-left shift nationally with the new freshman class of Congress women, in particular. Is there a way for them to kind of swing back, or is the party in this place (ph) -- the democratic party in this place where they're really having this struggle between the moderates and middle America, and the leftists (ph) on the coasts?

PERINO: It's going to be one of the most exciting things to watch in 2019 and going in to the 2020 election. Red state democrats are definitely on the endangered species list. Claire McCaskill's been on this goodbye tour, she's done a lot of interviews. I think that we're going to see a lot more of her.

JONES: She's mad.

PERINO: And actually I think that would be good.

SHOEN: I think that would be very good.

PERINO: I think it'd be good.

SHOEN: Very good.

PERINO: I mean she's actually quite liberal but she tries to talk as if she were moderate. It didn't help her win in Missouri, obviously she lost. And I think that as a check on some of the newer energy, but the democrats needed that new energy too.

PAVLICH: Right.

PERINO: So they wouldn't have won back the house without it.

PAVLICH: So Tom.

PERINO: So they've got their intention.

PAVLICH: The question is, are the kids -- right, the younger democrats going to tell people like Claire McCaskill, "look, your time is over you're a loser. I won my district," you know, "we're the new party now, we don't need your lectures."

SHILLUE: Yes, and to Claire McCaskill's playing dumb there (ph), I'm a little confused as to why she's so popular -- she's not confused. She knows why she's popular, and she did unseat the establishment. And I think Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez is -- she's anti-establishment and I think people in the -- we talk about the forgotten people and the Trump voter, there could be some cross-over here.

PAVLICH: Definitely.

SHILLUE: And I think President Trump should take note, because the establishment democrats they don't like these fiery leftists and I think there's some cross-over there to be taken advantage of.

PAVLICH: She says a lot of things that I vehemently disagree with, but she does say interesting things about the Federal Government, and she was a Bernie Sanders -- Bernie Sanders was essentially her mentor, and a lot of people who voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary voted for Donald Trump, so.

SHOEN: As the only one on this panel who probably wants to see a democrat elected in 2020, I'd like her to just go away, be quiet.

PAVLICH: She's not going away.

SHOEN: Well I hope she does.

PAVLICH: It's not happening -- nope.

SHOEN: And I hope Nancy Pelosi gets to her, and says to her she'd do better for herself to be silent for a while because she is not either the face or the voice of the democratic party that I grew up with, know and continue to support.

PAVLICH: But she's the new face of the democratic party, she's 29 years- old, do you think that they're underestimating her?

JONES: Look, they're underestimating her and I think republicans are underestimating too. You can't laugh at socialism when they start winning.

SHILLUE: Don't laugh -

JONES: She's not the only one -

PAVLICH: (Inaudible).

JONES: She's not the only one, though. There are - there are waves of these Democratic candidates -

PAVLICH: There's a lot of the Freshmen in the house.

JONES: - and it's because of the rise on these college campuses, where these kids are taught that socialism works, they feel like it works. We got to stop laughing at them, but to go back to Claire McCaskill. She is the Jeff Flake, OK, of the Democratic Party. All these people start talking once they lose, and so, it doesn't matter after you -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Inaudible).

JONES: If you're really bold - if you're really bold, talk before you lose.

PAVLICH: He didn't even lose, he resigned.

(CROSSTALK)

JONES: He's a loser.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: OK, all right, but she lost. I mean - I mean at least we could recognize that (ph).

JONES: At least she went on the ballot.

PAVLICH: At least she had the courage to run and fight it out and lose with dignity, instead of retire early because you knew you couldn't win a primary in your home state and the magically think you can win against Donald Trump in 2020.

I think that Claire McCaskill actually has some legitimate things to offer when it comes to what she's saying about red districts that are red because of Trump that were blue before, during Obama's years.

PERINO: I think also like - Greg had said last week that AOC says things that are directionally true, which is - he said that President Trump does that. It's like it's not actually accurate that Jesus was a refugee when he was born. Was he a refugee later? Yes, when they go to Egypt. Right, so they're fleeing Herod. So like is it directionally true? It's like not actually, but at - but at this point, who on the right is actually caring about facts?

SHOEN: I think - I care about facts. So I mean if the Democrats -

PERINO: But you're not on the right.

SHOEN: Well, actually, I'm in the middle. And I - and I - on some issues, I support right-wing principles, some left-wing principles. But for the Democratic Party, what Claire McCaskill said is right. Talk about issues we can win on, not get into biblical analysis, and -

JONES: I pray to God that -

PAVLICH: Politics is though enough to debate, let's not get into theology.

SHOEN: Exactly -

JONES: Right.

SHOEN: - exactly.

PAVLICH: But we can get into this though. Up next, are alcohol and coffee the key to living past 90? We're going to debate, but I think we all agree.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SHILLUE: Welcome back here are three fun stories that also caught our attention. First up if you want to live past the age of 90, start drinking more alcohol and coffee. Yeah! You heard that right, a new study says drinking moderate amounts of both beverages can help you live a lot longer. I think I already knew this, Katie.

PAVLICH: I mean, the first question is whether you really want to live past 90?

PERINO: Yes.

PAVLICH: I mean that's something that not every.

SHOEN: My mother is 92 and I'm very proud of her.

PAVLICH: OK good, my husband's grandma is 97.

SHOEN: And that's good too.

PAVLICH: I think that's correct? It's great, but not everyone wants to get there.

JONES: That is true.

PAVLICH: But I do agree.

SHILLUE: Does she drink a little coffee, a little.

SHOEN: She has a little coffee and a little wine, and my mother is in great health, so.

PERINO: How do you mean little, what is little?

SHOEN: Two glasses of wine tops -- one usually, and two or three cups of coffee.

PAVLICH: Every day?

SHILLUE: That's what they say, the study says Lawrence two cups of coffee, couple of drinks that's what I do -- I like it.

JONES: Yes, I think it's fine but I think you've got to watch it. I think there is a real addiction problem with some people out there that they can't -- they don't know what moderation is. But I love a little glass of wine every other day, maybe?

PAVLICH: Really?

JONES: Yes.

PAVLICH: Every other day?

JONES: Maybe every -- well OK, every.

SHILLUE: How about two full-on whiskeys a night, that's my game.

PERINO: You do (ph) whiskey?

(CROSSTALK)

SHOEN: I worry about people drinking too much, and I am very cautious having seen some of my friends suffer grievously as a result.

PERINO: Yes.

SHILLUE: Well Dana, it's about moderation that's what the two drinks.

PERINO: I know the thing is though that moderation is -- just depends, like sometimes they'll say like, "one drink a week is moderate."

SHILLUE: Yes that's.

PERINO: That's not moderate to me.

JONES: No.

SHILLUE: It's a little much, I like to wake up with my coffee, I like to have a drink when I go home.

JONES: No that is moderate.

PERINO: I don't drink coffee -- I like tea.

SHILLUE: No coffee -- tea.

SHOEN: The problem is there's some people wake up with a glass of wine, that's the problem.

PAVLICH: Well yes, but that's not what the study was about.

SHILLUE: How about this.

SHOEN: Yes but there are people -- that's the real world people who have that problem.

SHILLUE: Districts -- school districts across the U.S. are banning homework after complaints of students being overloaded. Some classrooms have stopped assigning it altogether while others are saying, "homework can't be handed out on weekends and during school vacations," other districts have just stopped grading homework. I like this.

JONES: Yes, yes.

SHILLUE: These backpacks are too big, Lawrence.

JONES: Yes -- you all have eight hours with kids every single day -- every single day. I'm not saying some homework isn't OK, but all of these homeworks these kids are stressing out over this homework. They can't spend time with their family, by the way can you all just let the kids go outside?

That's why we have an obesity problem, because you don't let the kids go outside -- you sit them there, and most of the times you don't teach. You put them in front of a computer, the iPads today -- and then you want the parents -- with you teaching them stuff that -- not the same style that the parents learned from, you want them to sit down and stress over homework instead of spending time with their parents.

SHOEN: Yes, I think that's what makes our country what it is, it's what I did -- it's what most kids did. It's part of discipline and what it takes to be a success in this world. I played sports badly.

SCILLUE: You're the mean principal Tom.

SHOEN: No I'm not, I'm a rational American who is proud of what this country is all about. And given our performance relative to other nations on things like science, I think we need more.

PAVLICH: I think the problem is that in our schools they're not teaching science, and math, and reading.

SHILLUE: Bingo.

PAVLICH: They're teaching about what -- how you feel and what your gender is that day.

JONES: Yes, social justice.

PAVLICH: So maybe if they would focus on basic principles of learning and education, both K through 12 and in college then they wouldn't have so much homework at home.

JONES: I don't.

SHILLUE: Also I don't think Doug had his as young as -- when you were young, in grammar school you didn't have a lot of homework did you?

SHOEN: Yes, I went to Hunter Elementary School.

SHILLUE: Oh OK, yes.

SHOEN: You can look it up.

SHILLUE: He was really -- all right you're a big success.

PERINO: (Inaudible).

SHOEN: We had homework, trust me.

SHILLUE: What's that Dana?

PERINO: Why aren't we for letting the teacher decide? (ph)

PAVLICH: Yes.

SHILLUE: Well.

PERINO: This just sounds like a mandate, like why not let teachers -- let them figure it out.

SHILLUE: They can't figure it out because they have all of this testing that needs to be done.

JONES: That's right.

SHILLUE: And the state.

PERINO: I'll tell you that when I got home from school, I liked to play school.

SHILLUE: Oh you wanted more of it. Wow.

PAVLICH: Of course.

SHILLUE: You gave out homework. OK, Air Canada causing a controversy after a Christmas Eve flight that was halfway to Hawaii was forced to turn back due to a maintenance issue. Why not just go the whole way?

One passenger claims she was only given a $10 food voucher for the trouble. The airline saying it also gave passengers a discount for future travel, free meals onboard and a special buffet meal at the gate -- that's what I want when I arrive at the gate, a buffet meal. Right, Katie?

PAVLICH: And the buffet - the buffet's like, "Do you want to some old pretzels, maybe some peanuts? Do you want some old chips?" I don't know.

JONES: Yes, this is a problem of customer service. There's a growing trend in this country. They don't understand customer service.

PAVLICH: Well, airlines have never cared, really (ph).

JONES: No, they -

SHOEN: It's getting worse and worse, much worse.

JONES: Like just give everybody free food. That's pretty simple.

PAVLICH: But what kind of food, Lawrence? Because -

SHOEN: Edible food would help.

PAVLICH: - I'm sorry, the pretzels aren't good.

(CROSSTALK)

SHILLUE: Don't you want to just land in Hawaii, you can fix it.

PERINO: I'm sure that the pilot probably had a good reason, right. They wouldn't do it for - I don't think they - they're not stupid people, obviously, they're flying a plane. But here's what I'm for in 2019, I am done with people complaining about their travel on Twitter.

JONES: Oh, come on.

PERINO: I'm going to unfollow them.

SHILLUE: I don't even believe this woman. She says all I got -

PERINO: I started - my Twitter following was started by my complaining about the Oscilla (ph), or my observations on the Oscilla (ph). I didn't always complain.

JONES: They're getting a lot better on the Oscilla (ph).

SHILLUE: So you used to do it, but you don't do it anymore?

PERINO: No, it just - it got to be too - I did it as sort of a laugh. Like I would like obverse people, like people like that bumped their head on the train, whatever.

SHOEN: To me, it's competitiveness.

PERINO: But complaining and trying to shame -

SHOEN: America can't move people like other countries. It's sad, it's a problem, and it goes back to how our country's being run.

PERINO: I'm just saying that trying to shame a company on Twitter because you're a blue checkmark is pathetic.

JONES: Yes, that is a little -

PERINO: I am - I am done with you

(CROSSTALK)

SHILLUE: Do you know how many followers I have?

(LAUGHTER)

PAVLICH: So Dana has a point, because there are actually people working hard to try and - I mean there is a - there will be a flight attendant here and there who doesn't treat you well, but overall, people are trying to get the done job and get you where you need to go.

JONES: Don't get crazy on us.

SHILLUE: Yes, yes.

PERINO: Yes.

PAVLICH: Public shaming is not always the best option. Sometimes it is.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: All right it's time now for One More Thing, I'm going to go first -- you know the thing I get asked the most after Christmas is what did Jasper get? I'll show you what Jasper got, this is Peter's son Barry (ph) - - he's visiting from Scotland. And he and Peter shared a porterhouse for two, but there was leftovers so Jasper got handfed one by one, on Christmas eve.

PAVLICH: Very fancy.

PERINO: And then the next day we had to take a big, long walk around Central Park. Took a little stop there to get a picture of Barry and Jasper, that's Jasper's favorite Uncle Barry. He's having a great Christmas.

PAVLICH: Cute bowtie too.

PERINO: Indeed. Oh that was from Carl Rove (ph), thank you Carl Rove for the bowtie, and happy belated birthday -- birthday was yesterday. Doug?

SHOEN: You know my One More Thing is Brady Singer, a prospect in the Kansas City Royal Organization who did a very, very good thing and paid off the mortgage of his parents, and said I couldn't have done this but for you. And really, holiday values to me -- whether you be Christian, Jewish -- whatever, really reflect family, family loyalty, commitment to really enduring values and to me Brady Singer represents everything as we'll hear that America's.

PAVLICH: It's true I read a study yesterday that you feel better for longer, the more you give rather than the more you receive.

SHOEN: Absolutely.

PERINO: Yes. Tom?

SHILLUE: ‘Tis better to give than receive, I agree. How about this, this is the most conscientious rock musician I have ever seen, he's the lead singer of a band, it's People Who Could Fly -- the band mates name is James Mills.

He's taken a hot solo here, and in the middle of his guitar solo he -- a girl loses her balloon and he grabs it, look at how he works -- watch him again. He's playing the hot solo, she loses the balloon, he gives it right back to her.

PAVLICH: That's pretty great.

PERINO: Smooth moves, man.

PAVLICH: That's pretty great.

JONES: Oh that's pretty cool.

PERINO: What kind of music do they play?

SHILLUE: They're standard rock.

PERINO: Standard.

SHILLUE: Yes.

PERINO: You listen to (inaudible).

SHILLUE: I don't know, I just saw the video, I thought it was great.

PERINO: I like the video -- I like the video, Lawrence?

JONES: All right, so I got two One More Things, so.

PERINO: Oh is that how you're going to roll now that you're a contributor at Fox News? Congratulations -- oh I'm sorry I stepped on.

JONES: Yes you stole it.

PERINO: Because you're so excited that you're here.

JONES: Yes, I'm part of the family finally.

PERINO: I'm sorry we're so happy to have you. I'm sorry.

JONES: You took my second one. You know that this new thing about gender reveal, it's this cool way of announcing to everyone the gender of the child that you're going to have.

But you've got to nail it or the internet is going to get you. This dad, look what he does. And he misses the shot -- how do you miss the shot? The gold is right there, and it ended up being a girl. And so this dad is embarrassed, they're destroying them on the internet.

PERINO: Why did he put it on the internet?

PAVLICH: He must not watch "The Five" enough to know that we make fun of gender reveals.

JONES: I love it.

PERINO: You do?

JONES: It is so cool.

PAVLICH: One caused a wildfire in Arizona.

PERINO: In Arizona, that was very bad.

JONES: Then you got to be smart about it.

PAVLICH: That was very bad.

SHILLUE: What was his reveal? If he hit it it was a boy, if he missed it was a girl?

PERINO: No it was just supposed to hit the backboard and then.

(CROSSTALK)

PAVLICH: But you know what we're glad they're having a baby girl.

SHOEN: Makes no sense.

PERINO: Why?

SHOEN: I mean, you have a baby -- you either know the gender or you don't.

JONES: You're taking the fun away.

SHOEN: What's the fun of shooting a basketball.

JONES: Because it's an exciting moment.

PERINO: (Inaudible)

SHOEN: It makes no sense.

JONES: He doesn't get invited to our gender reveal party.

SHOEN: I guess not.

PERINO: All right, Katie's next.

PAVLICH: OK so I also have two, I'll be in tomorrow for Ainsley Earhardt on "Fox and Friends" in the morning, bright and early (inaudible). So I can see you there.

PERINO: So you're burning the midnight oil.

PAVLICH: Yes, and my second One More Thing, Lawrence started a trend is look -- I'm not a surfer, always wish that I was but hundreds of Santa Clauses left their sleighs at home and took their surfboards to the waves this past Monday for an annual Santa Surf in Cocoa Beach, Florida. It's pretty cool, I feel like you might drown in that outfit, but they made it through.

The yearly tradition is a part of a fundraiser for the Florida Surf Museum and also a charity for cancer patients that has been continuing off the Florida coast for an entire decade. About $40,000 was raised this year as thousands of spectators cheered on the surfers, donned in their best Santa suits, elf costumes and Christmas sweaters. So taking the Christmas charity to the beach.

JONES: Santa's got balance.

PAVLICH: that's pretty cool.

SHILLUE: Douglas just wants to give them all homework.

PAVLICH: On Christmas break.

SHOEN: If you've got thousands of people there, couldn't you raise more than $40,000?

SHILLUE: Oh my god.

PAVLICH: Surfers are cheap, Doug.

SHOEN: Apparently so.

JONES: Doug is the Grinch today.

SHOEN: I'm not a Grinch, I want to raise money for causes -- magnificent.

PERINO: All right everyone, happy boxing day, set your DVRs never miss an episode of THE FIVE, "Special Report" is up next. Hey, Bret

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