Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposes taxing the rich at 70 percent

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Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposes taxing the rich at 70 percent

NYC public advocate candidate Nomiki Konst and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski react to Ocasio-Cortez's radical idea.

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," January 4, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

RAYMOND ARROYO, HOST: I'm Raymond Arroyo, in for Laura Ingraham and this is “The Ingraham Angle,” from New York City tonight. Happy new year to you all.

The Democrats are in control of the House for one full day and they're already making their embarrassing priorities known. I'll explain in moments and President Trump says he could get the border wall build without Congress and warning this shut down could last years.

One of the border agents who spoke alongside the President yesterday joins us plus newly minted Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez making a splash on Capitol Hill comparing herself to Abraham Lincoln and saying that wealthy people should be taxed at a much, much higher rate, we'll get into it all with Corey Lewandowski.

And we'll compare the First Speaker Pelosi to the latest iteration, our panel will react. Also will he or won't he? Comedian Kevin Hart may get his academy award hosting gig back and Ellen DeGeneres is taking heat for giving him a pass on an old LGBT joker or two.

But first the Internet is exploding with people griping about Netflix's new interactive film, 'Black Mirror Bandersnatch.' It'd been hyped as a choose your own adventure experience where your choices can lead to unexpected and incredible story lines. I won't describe what happens to the lead character Stephan but suffices to say no matter what options you choose as you watch the film, you basically get the same endings.

The more novel choices I made, the more frustrated I became with the pre- ordained finales that continue to pop up and it got me thinking, this is what the American voter has been going through for decades.

Every couple of years we go to the polls thinking we're going to control the new narrative, we're going to change things, now we're going to get the ending we want. In 2016 Donald Trump ran on a couple of key issues reviving the economy, riding trade imbalances and -

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We'll build the wall.

CROWD: Build that wall. Build that wall. Build that wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Like those Bandersnatch viewers, people made their choice. In this case, Trump because he was a change agent who was going to finally give them border security and a wall. But due to establishment Republicans and Democrats, the people didn't get the ending the expected.

So they went to the polls again in the midterms Republicans held the Senate, the Democrats picked up 40 seats in the House mostly to be a check on Trump. Now voters didn't suddenly reject their desires for a thriving economy and a border wall, they just wanted some checks and balances in place.

Now we find ourselves in the midst of a government shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: We've been working very, very hard. The wall is - we've done a lot of miles of wall already so we're not just starting out fresh but we have large numbers of miles that we have to do and we can't let gaps because if you have gaps, those people are going to turn their vehicles or the gangs - they're going to be coming in through those gaps and we cannot let that happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there any situation that you would accept even a dollar of wall funding for this President in order to reopen the government?

NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: A dollar? One dollar? One dollar?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: This is not a policy debate at all. Democrats including Speaker Pelosi and Chuck Schumer have long supported and voted for border fences and barriers and the President ran on this so what we're seeing is a political standoff. The voter keeps hitting the fund government and border wall choice but nothing happens.

They hit it over and over again but they're trapped in the same old narrative no matter what they do. Ryan and McConnell didn't deliver but they somehow found billions for more defense spending while blowing right through those spending caps. Now Pelosi and McConnell are stiffing the voters as well.

The American people want both parties to work together because they imagine that adults can work across the aisle to soberly and responsibly keep the government open and protect their national security. They like the idea of parties collaborating to create the best outcome for the American people.

But hard as they press that button, no matter how many times they try to choose a different outcome, the same old story comes back at them like Bandersnatch. The people got a heavy sell this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Freshman class that came in a democratic wave and a freshman class that is more diverse, frankly looks more like the country than any freshman class in history>

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Notably this will be the most diverse Congress ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This new democratic caucus in the House will be very diverse, not only biographically as we've been talking, people from a lot of different backgrounds but ideologically as well.

PELOSI: Open up the government. Let's have an adult conversation about how we protect your borders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: But no sooner did speaker "Mimi's" grandchildren leave the dais than her caucus started sounding like well, nasty kids.

REP. HANK JOHNSON, D-GA: Americans elected an authoritarian, anti-immigrant, racist strongman to the nation's highest office, much like Hitler took over the Nazi party, Trump has taken over the Republican Party.

REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF.: And those who are going to say I'm going to spend all my time trying to get subpoenas and trying to do investigations. I'm just going to send some of my time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: This is newly minted Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib of Michigan last night.

REP. RASHIDA TLAIB, D-MICH.: And when your son says, mama look, you won, bullies don't win and I said, baby, they don't because we're going to go in there and we're going to impeach the mother******.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: If this Congresswoman and the Democratic leadership considered this their mission, they should have all run on it. It is clearly not what the people wanted. They didn't vote for more political acrimony and blood sport in Washington. They want solutions that affect their lives.

Armed with subpoena power, Democrats are planning to investigate the personal and professional life of this President and every official in his orbit with the goal of driving him from office. As for the voters, well, they're stuck in a 'Bandersnatch' like a loop having to suffer through storylines they never bargained for with no way out.

Should this continue, they might be tempted to do what so many Netflix viewers taking part in that interactive movie did during the holidays and just turned it all off. But that's just what the politicians want you to do. Look away so they can dictate how you live and what you'll spend your money on.

With so much at stake for American citizens, withdrawal is not an option. You'll have to stay engaged, our future hangs in the balance and by the way, the term 'Bandersnatch,' I found out this week comes from Lewis Carroll's "Through The Looking Glass" in one of his subsequent poems.

It is described as a creature with a long neck and snapping jaws but I'm sure it's only fiction one. Who would ever choose a storyline with something like that in it? Joining me now this Matt Schlapp, Chairman of the American Conservative Union along with Dee Dawkins- Haigler. She's a Democratic strategist, thank you both for being here.

Before we start, I want to play something very quickly for you both. This is Speaker Pelosi responding to Congresswoman Tlaib's impeachment threat, tonight. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PELOSI: I'm not in the censorship business. I don't think, I mean, I don't like that language, I wouldn't use that language. I don't - again establishing a language standards for my colleagues, I don't think it's anything worse that what the President has said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Did you notice the framing on that. It's all about the language and President Trump responded this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Well, I though her comments were disgraceful. This is a person that I don't know. I assume she's new. I think she dishonored herself and I think she dishonored her family. Using language like that in front of her son and whoever else was there, I thought that was a great designer to her and to her family.

I thought it was highly disrespectful to the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Matt, everyone is focusing on the crudeness from the Congresswoman and it really was crass but is the language really the outrage here?

MATT SCHLAPP, CHAIR, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION: No, not at all. What's going on, you know, I can't believe I'm going to say these words but I actually feel somewhat sorry for Nancy Pelosi. She has got a gaggle full of nitwits that she has to deal with.

People who are just, they're rambunctious, they're radicalized. She got like only two extra votes, you remember this. She got 219 votes to be Speaker, she's trapped in a crazy caucus where if she repudiates their statements which are clearly outrageous and over the top, she loses support of her caucus so she's - I actually feel somewhat sorry for her.

She's in a way the grown up in the room but she's stuck.

ARROYO: Dee, I was more taken aback by the hateful approach, kind of untethered from the facts, I mean, isn't it a little early to talk about impeachment and what do you make of Matt's comments?

DEE DAWKINS- HAIGLER, FORMER REP. D-GA: Well, actually I think that Nancy Pelosi has the best Congress ever with more diversity than we've ever seen in this country and so for you to say this conversation is new, people have been talking about impeaching Trump since he was elected.

I mean, I don't even know if he was truly elected. We had Russian bots and everything else happening in this country and so -

ARROYO: But Dee, Dee, you talk about diversity but the diversity, it's so diverse, nobody's reading from the same hymnal here. As Speaker, you've got to get a caucus to move as one, not moving 50 directions.

DAWKINS-HAIGLER: No, I think it is very diverse and I think they are going to move in the right direction. This is only really the beginning. I mean, we're only on a day two, we have to give it time to work through the process but the Republicans had two years to work on border control that they have done absolutely nothing.

And now that the Democrats are in control, maybe we'll actually see something happen.

SCHLAPP: Raymond, I applaud the Democrats on diversity. I think that is something the Republican Party needs do a much better job at. I think the numbers of Republican women in the House is really something we need to improve on but I love this new line of attack. The President doesn't need to be impeached because he wasn't lawfully elected, this is the kind of crazy talk we must stop doing.

The President was elected to be the President of United States, now just go beat him in his re-elect. But stop the insanity of somehow bots elected our President, that's insane.

DAWKINS-HAIGLER: Oh my goodness, the President didn't even win the popular vote.

SCHLAPP: You don't need to win the popular vote, ma'am.

DAWKINS-HAIGLER: You know that the Russians need to win the Republican party so we are -

ARROYO: One at a time, now there are congress people, today there were congress people that brought up the articles of impeachment as well as Bills to eradicate the electoral college Matt. So it is showing, I mean, this does show a rather extreme movement deep within the Democratic Party that, it's going to be very difficult for Pelosi to reconcile that with her talk of we're the only adults in the room, we have the ordered party.

But stand by panel as the shutdown showdown enters its second weekend, neither President Trump nor the Democrats are backing down from the border wall funding demands. Earlier I hit the streets of New York to see where people stand on this shutdown over the wall. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's difficult to keep the government closed because we do know people in the military and you know, they can't really afford for that to happen but at the same time we've got to draw the line somewhere and I do believe in a wall.

We do need to protect our borders, there's no doubt.

ARROYO: Do you believe the government should remain shutdown?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Until we get funding for the Wall, absolutely.

ARROYO: Really, why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, first of all we need a border security, it's very important in this country and Democrats just don't want to budge on it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I don't support at all. I think it's ridiculous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes and no.

ARROYO: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I support the wall but I think he needs to keep the government open for the families that, that's their living.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Very quickly, Matt, Dee brought up the point that McConnell and Paul Ryan did not deliver the wall funding for Donald Trump. Where was McConnell today when Trump stood with the other Republican leaders, where is he?

SCHLAPP: Look, I think the way, Mitch McConnell does not like shutdowns, he's never been for them, you know he's uncomfortable with this whole process. By the same token, I think he's done something very wise in saying, he's not going to let the legislation that comes out of the House even hit the floor in the Senate.

He's standing with the President during this shutdown. I actually think Republicans are amazingly united in this fight for wall funding.

ARROYO: Hmm. Dee, your take.

DAWKINS-HAIGLER: I think that McConnell's just doing what he needs to do because he knows that Trump is not going to sign the deal. I mean, it's really idiotic for the government to be shutdown behind a wall. You have millions of Americans who are being affected and can't even pay their bills because the government has shut down.

We should be concerned about border security but we should also be concerned about what's happening inside of our own borders right now and they are not safe. I mean, we have criminals and mass shootings almost daily so we need to look inside before we look with out-

ARROYO: Matt and Dee, I want you to react to this.

DAWKINS-HAIGLER: - and open the government back up.

ARROYO: Senators Cory Gardner and Susan Collins want to pass Bills to fund the government and end the shutdown. Now Republicans here seem to be breaking ranks, Matt. Where does this leave the President?

SCHLAPP: Well, it takes it more than a dozen Republicans to break ranks and join Chuck Schumer to work with Nancy Pelosi to come up with a democratic option to open up the government. Raymond, I just don't see that materializing at all.

You're going to have a handful of Republicans, maybe Mitt Romney will join them and a few others but basically as I said, Republicans stand united in this idea because this shutdown is about one simple but yet important thing. The wall, it's very clear, Republicans and conservatives and Trump supporters are for it and when we fight for it, we are united.

ARROYO: Dee, I'll give you the last word.

DAWKINS-HAIGLER: Thank you. The American people are against the wall, we're against the government shutdown and we need to be more concerned about the hundreds of thousands of Americans who are now working without pay. We need to be concerned about our people and how they're going to pay their bills and how they're going to take care of your families so we need to open up the government and then work on everything else after that.

SCHLAPP: They are not getting paid, they are not working, just to be clear, that's what the whole shutdown was all about.

ARROYO: Thank you panel. Today, the President floated a novel way to end the shutdown and get his border wall built. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you considered using emergency powers to grant yourself authorities to build this wall without congressional approval and second -

TRUMP: Yes, I have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have?

TRUMP: Yes, I have and I can do it if I want.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you don't need congressional approval to build the wall.

TRUMP: No, we can use them, absolutely, we can call a 'national emergency' because of the security of our country. Absolutely, no, we can do it. I haven't done it, I may do it. I may do it but we can call a 'national emergency' and build it very quickly and it's another way of doing it but if we can do it through a negotiated process, we're giving that a shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So is that a threat hanging over the Democrats.

TRUMP: I never threaten anybody. But I am allowed to do that. Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Here to debate what the President has raised is Art Del Cueto, spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council who shared the podium with the President yesterday along with Joe Alioto Veronese. He's the former member of the San Francisco Police Commission. Joe, what about allocating defense funds for the Wall, what's wrong with that?

JOE ALIOTO VERONESE, FORMER MEMBER, SAN FRANCISCO POLICE COMM: Well, first of all it's not legal. We know that if he did this emergency declaration, that the DOD owns probably about 5 percent of the land along that border and if any money is appropriated to the southern border that's not specifically for the construction of a wall, it would be illegal to use those funds for a wall.

So of course, we're going to see another legal challenge and I don't think frankly the President wants to go there, he hasn't been very successful in the past with legal challenges and I think he's right. I think the best route is to get back to negotiating. Now that he's got a Democratic Congress, he's got to deal with that and I think really that's what the people of United States want to see.

They want to see our government back to work and they want to see you know, compromise. They want to see a conversation of ideas. This whole thing about a wall that has been tossed around over the last few months or over the last two years, nobody quite really knows what that even means because Democrats -

ARROYO: It's a fence. What do you mean, nobody knows what that means, it's a fence, it's a barrier. It's a wall, it's a blockade. Everybody knows what it means.

VERONESE: For a lot of people it's - for a lot of people it's different things, it's for President Trump, it's an actual wall. You know, we can have a security wall down there that is a virtual wall that we use technology to -

ARROYO: That's doesn't stop the drug traffickers or facilitate apprehensions.

VERONESE: And the Democrats would -

ARROYO: There's a new poll out that 49 percent of voters consider immigration a top issue, that they'd like to see addressed this year. Art, does what we're seeing on the border qualify as a 'national emergency' as the President is floating the possibility of declaring it?

ART DEL CUETO, NATIONAL BORDER PATROL COUNCIL: It definitely does, the numbers - it's showing that the numbers are going up, there's more individuals that are entering. Listen, our agents have been getting attacked by some of these central Americans.

They've been very aggressive towards our agents. In the end we need to start thinking about the agents, we need to start thinking about the security of our nation's borders and I think that is what we're missing here.

ARROYO: Joe, there are 2400 troops on the border. The Department of Homeland Security is requesting more to reinforce existing fencing. Would you support that deployment?

VERONESE: Here's - here's what I would support. I would support sound immigration policy that deals with this emergency that I would agree with Art on. It's emergency that's existing at the border and I think that's really what Americans want to see but we've got this stalemate now where the executive and the legislative branch aren't working together.

We got to get them back working together. We need compromise, we need sound immigration policy, we need to fix this. Look, what what's happening in the United States is not good when it comes to immigration policy but you know the Mexicans aren't happy about the guns, the U.S. guns that are traveling into Mexico.

And the President had an opportunity when he renegotiated the NAFTA deal for some sort of cooperation along that border and I think that was a real missed opportunity.

ARROYO: Well, no, but they are cooperating, they're absorbing the refugees, they're keeping a lot of those refugees, that came hours after the NAFTA conversations, Joe.

VERONESE: That's partial, they're part of this problem, they're also part of the solution.

ARROYO: Well, he doesn't control Mexico and you've got a new President you know that he's dealing with. Now, finally your reaction to that? Should we deploy more troops there and then I have a quick piece of video I need to play for you.

DEL CUETO: You know, honestly every time we get more eyes down there and help the agents and it helps them be able to do their jobs and so you know the more hands we get down there, the better it is. In the end what you need is the agents to actually affect the apprehensions. Boots on the ground is what's important.

You know, when we talk about the wall, we've never said it's a be all, end all. We know that people are still going to find a way to get through but it acts as a very good deterrent and it gives the agents enough time to go to those areas and affect those arrests.

ARROYO: Art, very quickly, I got to play this sound for you. Donny Deutsch today referenced you alongside the President yesterday in the pressroom, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONNY DUETSCH: Well, that was very clear you have. I mean you do you have four white men, you have four stoic strong, white men of a certain age, not smiling by the way and you know, look, this is all Donald has left. He has one thing this wall is not a wall, it is a let's keep America white again and basically he doesn't have the economy anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Art, your reaction to that. He basically said you one of those stoic white men standing by the President.

DEL CUETO: Well, I think that's a little racist and I'm sorry if I don't meet the expectations of what a Latino is supposed to look like. I'm light skinned and I got green eyes and I'm Latino and I support the United States of America. I support this President and I'm very proud to be living in this country, the best country in the world and you know, hey, I'm sorry if I don't meet your expectations of what a Hispanic is supposed to look like. Who's the real racist here?

ARROYO: Art and Joe, thank you both for being here. Up next, Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has a great new plan to pay for her green new deal. Just double a few tax rates. We'll debate it next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, (D)U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, NEW YORK'S 14th DISTRICT: Last year, it inaugurated January 3rd (inaudible)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARROYO: Welcome back to 'The Ingraham Angle.' New York's newest Congresswoman, socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is already making waves on Capitol Hill. In addition to Medicare for all, free college and a plan to abolish I.C.E., the 29-year old now says she wants to radically tax the rich to pay for the left's environmental agenda known as 'The Green Deal.'

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OCASIO-CORTEX: Once you get to the tippy-tops, I'm your ten millionth dollar, sometimes you see tax rates as high as 60 percent or 70 percent. That doesn't mean all $10 million are taxed at an extremely high rate. But it means that as you climb up this ladder, you should be contributing more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Here now Corey Lewandowski, Former Trump 2016 campaign manager and co-author of the new book, "Trump's enemies" and Nomiki Konst. She is a candidate for the New York City Public Advocate. Now before I get your take both of you on this, here are some taxpayers reactions today. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The 1 percent does need to be taxed more than they are but at the same time it, Trump's tax policy is helping the economy and the economy is going well so I can't really take a side on that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes, I think that's fair. I think that's fair. I think that's fair.

ARROYO: At 70 percent?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 70 percent? I think it should be more than it is.

ARROYO: The 39 percent now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, right.

ARROYO: So I mean -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, top 1 percent, that's not me. So you know, fair's fair.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I guess, you shouldn't ask Nancy Pelosi or Bernie Sanders or the other one percenters of our party, what they think.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO:, is this a winning strategy to tax upper income earners in this way, really?

NOMIKI KONST, CANDIDATE FOR NYC PUBLIC ADVOCATE: Yes, income inequality is worse than it's ever been in America. We're talking after Wall Street crash of 1929, income inequality was not that bad. New York City in particular, generates more wealth than anywhere on the planet, yet we have the worst income inequality.

And a lot of that comes from the billionaires here who are not paying taxes.

ARROYO: Okay Nomiki -

KONST: The real estate class -

ARROYO: Doesn't this take away and sap the incentive to join that billionaire class, just strive for that, to be the next Oprah, to be the next Bloomberg, doesn't that deprive you of that initiative if you know, you're going to be taxed and in New York by the way, place you want to run.

If you took the 70 percent, if you took this 70 percent tax rate that she's proposing and slapped your local taxes on it, you're talking about an 82.7 percent tax.

KONST: Oh, whine, whine, whine. For the 1 percent who have had tax breaks, hundreds of trillions of dollars of tax breaks which have starved our housing, our schools, our infrastructure, our MTA, we're talking about a decrepit city that generates more wealth and it's because these 0.1 percent are not paying taxes.

We're not talking about you and me.

ARROYO: They are paying taxes.

KONST: You're not even talking about you.

ARROYO: They're opening new businesses and the economy, the reason the economy's exploding-

KONST: They are paying for helicopter tax.

ARROYO: Oh, come on.

KONST: Our taxpayer dollars are paying for helicopter tax.

ARROYO: Oh, I've got to move on now Nomiki, give everybody their time. Corey, Anderson Cooper challenged to his credit Cortez. Listen.

OCASIO-CORTEZ: I think that it only has ever been radicals that have changed this country. Abraham Lincoln made the radical decision to sign the Emancipation proclamation. Franklin Delano Roosevelt made the radical decision to embark on establishing programs like social security. That is radical.

ANDERSON COOPER, CORRESPONDENT: Do you call yourself a radical?

OCASIO-CORTEZ: Yes, you know if that's what radical means, call me a radical.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Corey, your reaction.

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP 2016 CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Oh boy, look, it's amazing, you know, she's been in office exactly about 24 hours and she's comparing herself to FDR and JFK and Lincoln.

Look, there's a long way to go but what she is advocating for is a tax rate of 83 percent in California, 84 percent-85 percent in New York City. To her close personal friends like Michael Bloomberg who's creating tens of thousands of jobs.

KONST: What?

LEWANDOWSKI: Right because they're the ones who are going to be paying for this.

KONST: What are you talking about. Donald Trump is actually gold with Michael Bloomberg. I think Michael Bloomberg was at Donald Trump's wedding. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez lives in my neighborhood in McQueen's. I don't know what you're talking about Corey, you live in another universe.

LEWANDOWSKI: She's the one who just said that the rich, the one percent should pay 70 percent on top of the 8 percent sales tax - 8 percent tax in New York.

KONST: Oh no, the rich have to pay taxes like us working people who are making $15 an hour.

LEWANDOWSKI: Right, so Michael Bloomberg should pay more.

KONST: Absolutely and Donald Trump.

LEWANDOWSKI: So Michael Bloomberg and so what stops those billionaires from paying more right now. There's nothing that prohibits them from paying right now.

KONST: Oh, because it bothers you?

LEWANDOWSKI: They can do that if they want to. Why can't they pay? If they're so concerned -

KONST: Because they're making money off the backs of working people.

ARROYO: I want you - I want you both to react to this.

LEWANDOWSKI: You mean like Jeff Bezos does.

KONST: Yes.

ARROYO: Okay, okay now, easy guys.

KONST: Like Jeff Bezos does.

ARROYO: The new numbers today, the numbers of jobs added to this economy. 31,2000 jobs added. 2.6 million jobs added in the entire year. You have all wages going up 3.2 percent, these are some record and incredible numbers. Are you worried that if you move to this type of tax system and by the way, Rosa DeLauro in Connecticut, she's proposing, hiking taxes, up to 5 percent.

From 0.9 percent to 4 percent for Obamacare, is this what we need more of and might this disturb the economic renaissance we're in the midst of? Corey, you first.

LEWANDOWSKI: : Look, it's very simple. Donald Trump has created more jobs in the manufacturing space in two years than Barack Obama did in two terms. And the bottom line is, if you raise taxes on people who are creating jobs, they are going to stop creating jobs. If you raise the interest rates, they will stop investing money. They'll stop borrowing money, and that has a trickle-down effect.

Donald Trump's tax policies of cutting taxes for everyone across the board has worked, and if you don't believe me, go look at the numbers of the unemployment rate for Hispanics and African-Americans in our country. They are at record lows because of the job creating opportunities that these tax cuts have put in place.

KONST: Because they're locking them up.

ARROYO: Nomiki --

KONST: No, that's true. They're putting --

ARROYO: The Hispanic number, the unemployment Hispanic numbers, look, I'm a Latino. The Hispanic numbers are at the bottom, historic lows of unemployment. You have more workplace participation among Hispanics than ever before. What's wrong with that? Isn't that an economy working?

KONST: No it's not an economy working.

ARROYO: Oh, it isn't. How would it work for Hispanics?

KONST: So let me explain it to you. Wages are lower than ever and you don't have benefits. So yes, people are working two jobs, but they're still not able to make the rent. Rent is higher than it's ever been, and wages are lower. So if you don't have benefits --

LEWANDOWSKI: Not true.

KONST: This is absolutely true, Corey. It's called the economy, and maybe you should read Jeffrey Sachs, because when you break your arm and you suddenly are bankrupt because you don't have health care, that is why when you pay for taxes and you pay into Medicare, it prevents you from going into bankruptcy. So it's not just that wages need to be higher. People are working more, and the cost of living is higher, and then they are going bankrupt for basic necessities of life.

ARROYO: Crime is down, unemployment is down, this is a wonderful thing.

KONST: And there are no benefits.

ARROYO: We have a thriving economy. There are benefits.

(CROSSTALK)

KONST: The numbers you should be looking at are income inequality. Income inequality is worse than ever in history.

ARROYO: Go ahead, very quickly, Corey, because I've got to get to one more.

LEWANDOWSKI: If this took place under the Obama economy you be praising him as the greatest president since probably Lincoln, oh, wait she already did.

KONST: I'm a Bernie Sanders socialist, that's not true at all.

LEWANDOWSKI: And by the way, Bernie Sanders wants to add 2.2 percent to the payroll tax amongst other things he wants to add more taxes, which I'm sure you're in favor of.

KONST: To give people health care.

ARROYO: I want to quiet it for a moment so you can fight over something else.

(LAUGHTER)

ARROYO: I want to get your thoughts on these new reports that Hillary Clinton is meeting with a possible 2020 Democrats because her own campaigns went so swimmingly. She reportedly met with Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren among others. Nomiki, why are Democrats coming to kiss this woman's ring, 36 percent approval rating in the recent polls. How is that a plus for them?

KONST: If you want to meet Donald Trump you have to have a movement, you have to have a working people's movement. I think too many Democrats, the majority of status quo Democrats are too worried about raising money. And what does Secretary Clinton have? She has a lot of donors and she has a lot of access to infrastructure that they think will get them to win against Donald Trump. I'm supporting Bernie Sanders because he has a movement of millions of working activists across America who are ready to fight and have been fighting for things like Medicare for all, cancellation of student debt, and the green new deal.

ARROYO: Corey, she makes a great point there about Sanders really did awaken a grassroots movement. If I were one of these Democratic candidates I would probably be beating a path to Michelle Obama's house and becoming her best friend given those book sales and the recent polls about them. Your reaction to all of these Democrats kissing Hillary's ring?

LEWANDOWSKI: I'll give you credit. Bernie Sanders had the second largest crowd of any candidate in the last election cycle behind Donald Trump, so he clearly had a movement behind him.

KONST: And no Russians.

LEWANDOWSKI: But the system was rigged against him. The only Russians that were involved were in the Clinton campaign when she took $5 million from a law firm and gave it to a British spy to go to the Russian and put together the dossier. That's your party that did that, not the Republican Party, so let's just be clear about that.

ARROYO: One more thing, hot off the live screen.

LEWANDOWSKI: But the bottom line is this -- any candidate who is looking for Hillary Clinton's endorsement is going to lose. She ran a terrible campaign, she had a terrible operation in place, and she lost a campaign that every pundit thought she should have won.

KONST: Why are we still focusing on her?

ARROYO: I'm going to run out of time and I want to show my people this. Be quiet just for one second. Hot off the live stream, beer drinking, down to earth, talk with real American Senator Elizabeth Warren is spending a weekend with voters in Iowa. And there's a drinking theme here, she's in a Iowa saloon tonight. She said this just minutes ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MASS.: I'm not a career politician. I never thought I'd run for about office. I never thought of this. What pulls me into the fight is that I got a chance as a kid. And that chance was because taxpayers invested in public schools.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: OK, who is buying this? I'll start with you, Nomiki.

KONST: You know the old adage, it's the politician you want to have a beer with. That's why supposedly George W. Bush won against Al Gore.

ARROYO: It looks like just discovered where the beer was. What do you mean you want to have a beer with? Corey, your take?

KONST: I have a sippy cup of wine in the back.

(LAUGHTER)

LEWANDOWSKI: Elizabeth Warren, she's a terrible candidate, she's had a terrible launch so far. She launched at a time when no one was paying attention. She took the DNA test to prove that she is no more Native American than I am, and I'm not Native American. I'm proud of that fact that I understand that and she doesn't yet, regardless of what my cheekbones look like, my family never told me I was and they didn't lie to me.

KONST: What are you talking about?

LEWANDOWSKI: The bottom line is -- if you know anything about Elizabeth Warren, she said she was Native American because she has high cheekbones.

KONST: Cheekbones.

ARROYO: I think you all have lovely cheekbones. Let me leave it there, great conversation.

When we come back, Ellen DeGeneres is doing her best to get Kevin Hart back in the Oscars host race, and she is facing some backlash of her own. Why's it so hard to find an Oscar host? Ellen will tell us. Stay there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELLEN DEGENERES: I called them. I said Kevin is on. I have no idea if he wants to come back and host, but what are your thoughts?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARROYO: He's in, he's out, he's in, he's out -- I can't keep up with this whole Kevin Hart Oscar saga. The Academy Awards is still without a host, and now Hart may actually be back in the running thanks to Ellen DeGeneres. But not everyone is so enthused. Trace Gallagher is in our west coast newsroom with the latest. Trace?

TRACE GALLAGHER, CORRESPONDENT: Raymond, good evening. Kevin Hart was confirmed as the Oscars hosted back on December 4th, but within 24 hours anti-gay tweets and jokes from eight or nine years ago resurfaced, ginning up bigtime backlash.

Two days later, on December 6th, Hart posted on Instagram video accusing critics of being negative, and another saying the Academy had asked him to apologize but that he'd refused. Later that night the comedian changed his mind, tweeting that he'd be stepping down because, quote, "I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past."

But his interview today with Ellen DeGeneres, who came out publicly in 1997, may lead to another about-face after Ellen revealed she personally called the Academy to ask if they would take him back. Watch.

ELLEN DEGENERES: They were like, oh, my God, we want him to host. We feel like maybe he misunderstood or it was handled wrong or maybe we said the wrong thing, but we want him to host. Whatever we can do we would be thrilled. And he can host.

You have grown, you have apologized, you are apologizing again right now, you've done it. Don't let those people win, host the Oscars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: After Hart said he would evaluate the possibility, Ellen tweeted, quote, "I believe in forgiveness. I believe in second chances, and I believe in Kevin Hart." But then DeGeneres got called out on Twitter with one person saying, quote, "Kevin's attacks were geared towards black and men. That being said, you have no authority to forgive him on behalf of a section of the community you don't belong to." And this, quote, "Forgiveness happens when someone sincerely apologizes, makes amends, and shifts spiritually. Still waiting on steps number two and three." And lastly this one, quote, "No, Ellen, just no. There need to be consequences for such vitriolic homophobia. Love you, but you are way off base on this."

So far, no word from the Academy on if they are considering a reinstatement, but the show will go on as planned on February 24th. Raymond?

ARROYO: Thank you, Trace.

Joining me now to react is actor Antonio Sabato Jr. and Megan Alexander, a correspondent at "Inside Edition." Megan, I want to start with you. What is Ellen DeGeneres about here? What's the game? When I read this, I thought maybe the Academy Awards are conspiring with her to rehabilitate Kevin Hart because they are out of options, they don't have a host.

MEGAN ALEXANDER, REPORTER, INSIDE EDITION: Raymond, regardless, words like "second chances," "forgiveness," words we don't often hear in our culture sounds an awful lot like the gospel to grace to me. So no matter what, I think it's very cool that Ellen decided to give Kevin this platform, a full hour. I encourage everyone to watch this interview. In a Twitter and soundbite culture it was refreshing. It reminded me of Oprah's interviews of the past where you got that long conversation with somebody.

I think there may be too much heated conversation here, and if that is the case, I actually believe the Oscars have an opportunity to go in a fresh direction. If it doesn't end up being Kevin Hart, and again, Ellen is making a big push here, I say connect with middle America, connect with the average person. We've long said that Hollywood is out of touch, and I would make the case that you actually have some people that could work. How about Chris Pratt? A box office star and somebody that talks openly about his faith. Maybe Reese Witherspoon, who although a very successful actress, still feels like the girl next door and someone we could be friends with. Raymond, they have a viewership problem regardless, and I think this is an opportunity for them to really take a look at who could bring back those middle America viewers.

ARROYO: Antonio, I remember when we were growing up, it was Bob Hope and Johnny Carson, and these were figures that we didn't know what their politics were, but they united the country. Maybe Chris Pratt is not a bad idea. What do you think of that?

ANTONIO SABATO JR., ACTOR: It's not a bad idea. This is a good time right now -- I really appreciate what Ellen has done, and Kevin is a good comedian. He made mistakes, we all make mistakes. At some point we want to ask for forgiveness and move on. This year I want to focus on positives, I want to focus on bringing Hollywood together, and this is a good chance to do so. We have to do a lot of work, but we'll see what happens.

ARROYO: Are you all both worried, and I'm concerned as I watch this, I'm going to play a clip of Kevin Hart, but it seems we are conscripting comedy and what comedians can discuss. So you can't now talk about LGBT people, we can't talk about Italians, we can't talk this or that. Pretty soon they will only be able to discuss cats and DMV lines. We've got to broaden their offering. Go ahead.

SABATO: Excuse me. They can do whatever they want, they can say whatever they want about our president or the Republican Party, but any time we don't agree with the Democrats in Hollywood, all hell breaks loose. And we've just got to change that. we've got to bring people together. I always ask people like George Clooney, people like that, just come to come out and help us, come together. Let's help the people of this country. Let's bring Hollywood together. Let's bring it like the old days like you said. And we have got a lot of work to do, and we can start right now.

ARROYO: I want to play this for you, and I think it's pretty clear Hollywood has a hate-hate relationship with the president, but actress and co-host of the Golden Globes Sandra Oh is saying this. She saying during her awards show, quote, "I'm not interested in talking about Trump at all. What I'm interested in is pointing to actual real change. I want to focus on that cause. People can pooh-pooh Hollywood all they want, but we also make culture." Is this a sign that Hollywood is finally realizing the divisive politics is not working for them, Megan?

ALEXANDER: I actually agree with Sandra, Raymond. I do think this is a step in the right direction. A lot of people say celebrate the art, celebrate the entertainment, give us an escape. And I would encourage Sandra to take a cue from Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley who hosted the CMA Awards in November. They had not one political joke, not one controversial subject on that stage, viewers loved it. So give us the art. And yes, celebrate movies like "Black Panther" that are breaking box office records with $1.3 billion, focus on the art and entertainment.

ARROYO: Antonio, do you agree?

SABATO: I agree 100 percent. We've got to do even more than that. We've got to bring the young community, the kids, the children who are watching these movies and bring them together. Let's bring the country together this time around. Let's not -- 2018 is gone. Now let's move forward, love, care, peace, and bring the country together.

ARROYO: The arts, film, theater, music, this once brought us together as a country. We need that glue as a culture again.

ALEXANDER: Yes, yes.

ARROYO: Thank you both for being here.

Coming up, a media meltdown, why is everyone so obsessed with this video of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? And Speaker Nancy then and now. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARROYO: Many in the media are melting down over newly unearthed video of everyone's favorite new Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. I'm going to learn how to say her name someday. But what's the big deal? She was in college, and a girl has got to dance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Joining me now to react to this is Candace Owens, communications director for Turning Point USA, and Cathy Areu, publisher of "Catalina" magazine here in studio with me. Ladies, your reaction to this. I'll start with you, Candace. This seems to my eye, I have to tell you, for people who know "The Breakfast Club," and I do, I recognized the dance the minute I saw it. What's the problem here, Candace?

CANDACE OWENS, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, TURNING POINT USA: There isn't a problem. I don't think that anybody is saying that there's a problem with this. It's simply went viral because she's a public figure and she's dancing kind of terribly, and it's something just people laugh at. It's totally harmless. I don't think there's anything wrong here.

What I see a problem with is they keep continually infantilizing her in the media. They're pretending that she is some 13-year-old girl who is constantly under attack by the bogeyman white GOP old men who are out to get her and want to ban dancing, and that's patently false. She is constantly under attack because of her poor ideas. She is pushing communism and socialism, ideas that were perpetuated by Lenin and Stalin before her. That's why she's become a target in the media, not because she's simply dancing.

ARROYO: Cathy Arue, I want to get your reaction. But first I have to show you this. Kamala Harris, she did a little dance to offset the criticism.

CATHY AREU, PUBLISHER, CATALINA MAGAZINE: Right, everyone is dancing.

ARROYO: Yes, everybody is dancing, and there she is. Including Cortez herself, who outside her office did her own spoof of this. What do you make of this? Is this a nonstory?

AREU: At the beginning they said she was a nitwit, so they did come against her. So Candace was saying that they weren't fighting against her. But they were. The GOP was saying she was a nitwit with her dancing.

ARROYO: Not the GOP. There people, there were individuals --

AREU: There were people, conservatives that were saying she was a nitwit. And that was actually the term that they used. But now they are saying she's adorable, but I think the more they watch it they realize it's G- rated.

ARROYO: I would prefer her on "Dancing with the Stars" rather than Congress. She has a better grasp of dance moves.

AREU: She wasn't in Congress when she did that.

ARROYO: I agree, but I don't mind that. I think it's fun, I think it's playful. As Candace said, it's the policies that are concerning.

I also want to get your thoughts on this. This float appeared in the Middletown hummers New Year's Day parade, and it has a lot of people triggered. You can see why. It has a sign saying border detention center with a nearly naked adult in one case and a child in a cowboy hat in the other. Candace, your reaction to this?

OWENS: I read the article surrounding this, and it's such a non- controversy. It just points to the same thing as last year. Welcome to 2019 where everything is racist and everything is sexist and everybody needs to be offended at every turn. We have to stop this.

And you brought this up in an earlier segment. We are killing comedy and we're killing humor, and that's a problem because that really is the glue in the fabric that keeps Americans together during such divisive times. Just a couple of decades ago we would all be making fun of each other. You would go and see Chris Rock at a stand up and he would make fun of me for being black and he would make fun of Cathy for being Cuban and we would all laugh together and walk out feeling better about ourselves. We can't do that anymore in this society. I think that's said. It's something that we are actually missing.

ARROYO: I wish I could bring Don Rickles back from the dead because he would be the perfect Academy Award host. He would offend everybody.

AREU: Right, but you have to know how to do it. You to know how to do it. I think this was tasteless. I think it was offensive.

ARROYO: This parade thing.

AREU: Maybe they are not racist but it appeared to be racist. It was just poor taste. They didn't do it well. So Chris Rock, funny. Don Rickles, funny. This was just not funny. It was offensive, it was wrong, and as a Hispanic, totally, totally inappropriate.

ARROYO: OK, one more thing. I have to get both your reactions to this. Be careful who you meet on dating sites -- I'm not talking to you, ladies. I'm talking to the audience. At least make sure you have no data limits on your phone. A Phoenix woman reportedly sent 159,000 text messages over 10 months to a man she went on one date with, just one. Love at first sight, maybe. These weren't all lovey-dovey messages, though. Here's one. "I'd make sushi out of your kidneys and chopsticks out of your hand bones." Is this overkill, no pun intended, Candace?

OWENS: This is definitely on the creepier side of stories that I've read recently. I definitely stay away from online dating. I know plenty of people that do it, but I've just seen too many kooky stories. And I really do think that this is just the birth of the Internet era that we are in is people get fascinated and get hooked, and this poor gentleman is really in it. So I'm just going to send him some luck tonight.

ARROYO: Don't you worry about the anonymity of the dating world? These people come into your life, you don't know what you're encountering. The profiles don't tell people enough. I'm so happy I'm married almost 25 years ago. I didn't have to deal with this. Thank you. Rebecca, she's probably -- but I'm happy.

(LAUGHTER)

AREU: Hopefully you're not going to eat any kidney.

ARROYO: No, she hasn't cut my kidney.

AREU: You look good. You look good. But really, thank goodness for the #MeToo movement. People are talking and there are conversations now about dating. We never heard so much about it before. People are questioning, is that appropriate, is that not appropriate.

ARROYO: But 159,000 text messages.

AREU: Not appropriate.

ARROYO: How much time is in the day.

AREU: I know. But now it's a story. You didn't hear so much about this dating world, so thank goodness we are talking about it.

ARROYO: OK, thank you both, ladies. A lot of fun.

We'll be right back with the Last Bite.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARROYO: You know what time it is. It's time for the Last Bite.

Utah Senator Orrin Hatch left Capitol Hill this week after 42 years in the Senate, an incredible guy. Here's how he decided to say goodbye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ORRIN HATCH, FORMER UTAH SENATOR: May God bless the Senate, and may he bless the United States of America. With that, Mr. President, I yield the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: That's how I'm going to end my last broadcast. I'm just going to drop the mic.

It's time for all of us to say goodbye, too. That's all the time have tonight. I'm Raymond Arroyo in for Laura Ingraham. And you can preorder a copy of my forthcoming book for kids of all ages. It's called "Will Wilder: The Amulet of Power." It's a fun adventure for the whole family and one of the few middle gradebooks where the family goes on the adventure with the hero and you can enjoy it together. Lots of action. Kids will love it.

It publishes in late February. Good night from New York. Shannon Bream is next.

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