‘The Five’ on Afghanistan, Biden's Ghani call

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'The Five' blasts Biden over leaked phone call with Afghan president

'The Five' panel discuss reports that Biden was warned weeks prior about the Taliban takeover in Kabul

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," September 2, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

DAGEN MCDOWELL, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. I'm Dagen McDowell along with Jessica Tarlov, Will Cain, Shannon Bream and G.G., Greg Gutfeld. It's 5:00 in New York City and this is "The Five."

Republicans demanding answers while the White House refuses to talk about President Biden's controversial July phone call with then Afghan president Ghani. We're getting new details of that leaked transcript where the president pressured the Afghan leader to say the Taliban wasn't winning.

Ghani reportedly telling Biden, Mr. President, we are facing a full scale invasion. Republicans now want the full transcript released and are slamming President Biden over the phone call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AK): It's just one example of the disastrous miscalculations that brought us to where we are now with hundreds of Americans left behind in Afghanistan because of Joe Biden's feckless execution of his decision to withdraw.

SEAN PARNELL, U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE FOR PENNSYLVANIA: They don't call him quid pro Joe for nothing. And the most horrible thing about all of this, Tammy, is that he -- the fact that he had to lie means he knew six weeks ago that things were going to go bad.

TAMMY BRUCE, FOX NEWS HOST: That's correct.

PARNELL: Yet he didn't -- he didn't address this strategy. He didn't warn Americans in that country to leave.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCDOWELL: Meantime, White House press secretary Jen Psaki is being called a hypocrite for refusing to give any details about that call.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Was the president in any way pushing a false narrative in that call with the Afghan president?

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's pretty clear. Again, I'm not going to go into details of a private conversation, but what we saw over the course of the last few months is a collapse in leadership. And that was happening even before Ghani left the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCDOWELL: Greg? We'll get to you in a second. Back in 2019, Psaki cared a whole lot about phone calls when it came to President Trump's chat with the Ukrainian president, Zelensky. Psaki tweeted, "It is not just the call transcript. The whistleblower complaint would likely have more details. We need both. And not just the call." What did you utter, Greg?

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: When they -- when they said that it was a collapse of leadership, I was trying to figure out which country she was referring to.

MCDOWELL: Yes.

GUTFELD: OR he was referring to.

MCDOWELL: Do you want to continue or you want to --

GUTFELD: Okay, sure. Why is this lie important? It kind of tells you how regular lying is in this process. That we've been lied to for so long. How can a war last 20 years? It can if it's tolerable to a point of almost invisibility.

So we've had 20 Super Bowls of this. You know, 20 Christmases. How is that possible? The secret to a long war is settling in and making it mildly okay through fibbing. Everything is going well. Oh, the war is great. Everything is fine. It's the lie that kept this thing going.

So, even -- and he did. I mean, he did -- what he did was unethical. Is it impeachment level? I don't think so, but then again, I'm not a liberal. I'm not a Democrat. I don't work at CNN where everything was impeachable.

And I mean, I suppose -- you know, what is it? Turnabout is fair play? You know, people should be shouting for impeachment. But I think what bothers me is that it's just another sign that the entire picture was never ever told and it's never told to us. And that's why I think this is why Afghanistan fell so fast because these happy little stories were for us and not them.

MCDOWELL: Will, listening to Jen Psaki, you don't respond to a question if you don't have a good answer and she doesn't have a good answer for this.

WILL CAIN, FOX NEWS HOST: Because she's full of hypocrisy. It's hard to answer questions when you have to account with yourself from a previous time period. And let's play the previous time period game for just one moment. Let's play the switch to (inaudible) game. You brought up impeachment. If this were President Trump --

GUTFELD: Right.

CAIN: -- would there be a push for impeachment? I think we know the answer is yes. If this phone call didn't happen, it was simply the Afghan's stay and debacle, under President Trump, would there be a push for impeachment?

GUTFELD: Of course.

CAIN: Absolutely, I think. I think a story we're going to do a little bit later. If two top FDA executives resigned under President Trump, would there be a massive controversy? The answer would be yes. So clearly we're not playing by the same rules we were a year ago.

But really quickly on the lie. We need to lay out how cynical this is. What this reveals is President Biden knew the nature of what was going down in Afghanistan. He knew how bad it was so he made decisions knowing the potential consequences.

We can play the degree game. Was he sure exactly how bad it would be? But he made a calculation to accept that chaos and I think that he made that calculation because he thought he could play the blame game and lay it off on President Trump. That has failed. The lie failed.

MCDOWELL: Jess, the poll numbers, let me just bring these in. Oh, as they fall, drop to 43 percent in the new poll, the NPR/PBS News Hour poll. And the facts are we know that the intelligence community warned President Biden even before he announced the withdrawal in April that the Afghan National Army would collapse. And so again, why the cover-up? What's the political gain because clearly that was the motive?

JESSICA TARLOV, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, so far, we won't know what the political gain is for quite some time, right, until we get closer to the mid-terms because this is a huge (inaudible) issue right now. Then we have the Texas abortion case that came down in the last couple of days, and that's now front and center and that's really activating liberals who were kind of sitting around saying we don't actually love the way we exited out of this. This was the right policy decision. I think it gets --

MCDOWELL: I mean, I like -- go ahead, then I'll interrupt you. Go ahead.

TARLOV: I'm excited. Just give me like 40 seconds.

MCDOWELL: All right.

TARLOV: I think it's all that I need for this one. Okay. The poll numbers are obviously slipping. They're not as well as President Trump's were at this point. And President Obama actually never hit this point until the third year of his presidency. So both Trump and Biden are struggling more than Obama was necessarily.

But to the point about this phone call and the cover-up of it. President Trump asked for a personal favor from the leader of another country. He didn't say something to Zelensky about having anything to do with diplomatic relations. He asked the Ukrainian president to dig up dirt on his political opponent so that he could win a presidential election.

That is why that is impeachable. If Biden had said, hey, President Ghani, say that everything is going well and also, if you could dig up dirt on Tom Cotton, he's getting a little hot. You know, I think maybe he might be running in 2024, then we would be talking about impeachment.

And I believe that every single liberal who advocated for with President Trump would do that with President Biden. But that's not what had happened here. And I was listening to Andy McCarthy talk to you this morning on "Mornings with Maria" and he said I don't see anything wrong with this call between Biden and Ghani here.

MCDOWELL: In terms of impeachment. But it is so deep --

TARLOV: It's not abuse of the office.

MCDOWELL: But the call itself is deeply troubling given the fact that Biden has lied over and over again to the American people about what went down blaming everybody but himself for literally the death of 13 American troops, of service members. And that's what's so appalling is. And there is a need whether it's true or not, there's a need to project a different picture, which is what he is still doing even after the fact, Shannon.

SHANNON BREAM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Well, and it gets to Will's point. I think that -- I think we all know if this was the previous administration, people would be outraged. I think everybody should be outraged and rightly are right now that we've lost 13 people who are brave in service to this country.

But I think the reaction would be obviously different from the mainstream media and how it was handled. But the American people don't like to be played for suckers. I think that's reflected in the poll numbers. They don't want to think that you're telling them one thing when you might believe something else, whether it's about COVID and mask and French laundry and whatever is going on.

And people are going to have more questions about, okay, the vetting is an example. Do we know that people are being fully and thoroughly vetted as they should? I got a message from a former military pilot who now flies commercial, flew one of these big jets out of there. He said we thought we were on this great humanitarian mission.

Then when we got to the states, we were stuck for hours on the tarmac at Dulles Airport outside of D.C. because these people hadn't been vetted. We had to seat there for hours with crying babies and barefoot people and people who hadn't eaten, you know, or had something to drink. And he said they weren't tested for COVID either. So, when you don't tell people the full truth and we're saying now things like these people are fully vetted, everything is good to go, they're going to have questions about everything you say.

MCDOWELL: Why would you leave hundreds of reporters behind? Why would you leave a majority of translators behind if this was planned? Just a couple more things. Somebody leaked this transcript and there are people who are pissed off within this administration. And don't you expect it more and more of this is going to come out?

GUTFELD: Yes. And I mean, it's just show -- it's just weird. It's like when you look at how we've abandoned our Afghan allies especially, all you can say is what did you expect from a racist country run by a racist president? Oh, wait, whoa. I thought I was at CNN and Trump was president because that's exactly what I would say.

BREAM: Well, and you got to think, in Washington, people will start to turn on each other. I mean, the Pentagon, the White House, the intel community, they're all going to be leaking as they point fingers at each other. No one wants to get thrown under the bus over this. So I predict more leaks to come.

MCDOWELL: One more thing to say before we go. You look hat this transcript. It shows Joe Biden very much in charge of what was going on. So he is not the cream of wheat slurping cognitive --

TARLOV: Remember she said that. And the next time you say that --

GUTFELD: Don't knock cream of wheat. One of the underrated breakfast treats.

TARLOV: Enough brown sugar to eat it down.

GUTFELD: Yes.

MCDOWELL: Gruel slurping, cognitive --

GUTFELD: Don't bash the gruel.

MCDOWELL: -- cognitively gone guy. Next up, some in the liberal media now racing to protect President Biden at all costs over his disastrous Afghanistan exit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BREAM: The media was initially critical of President Biden's handling of Afghanistan. But now, some are providing cover for the commander-in-chief, especially when it comes to his call with the former Afghan president. MSNBC's Chris Hayes is tweeting, "Telling the failing Afghan government to fake till you make it as a means of extending its reign as long as possible is a sad statement on cumulative failures in Afghanistan but not a scandal any more than the war itself was."

And take a look at this commentary over President Biden facing intense criticism for leaving Americans behind in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: I think people should stop beating up on the administration so much because no matter how it ended, everyone wasn't going to be happy with the way it ended because you can't get them all out in five minutes. You can't get them all out yesterday. So what happens going forward, we continue with this effort to get them out and we start getting them out as many out as possible. Then I think that we should stop all, you know, running around like, oh, my gosh, I can't believe he left so many people behind. We don't know if we left them behind yet. We don't know yet.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: I know, but here's the one thing that you're forgetting. I hear you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BREAM: All right, Dagen, let's start with you. Again, Don Lemon goes there to you can't get everybody out in five minutes. It's sort of this straw man again like well, we couldn't stay there forever. Nobody is saying you stay there forever and nobody is saying everybody gets on five minutes.

MCDOWELL: Well, he said we don't know if people were left behind. Actually, we do because Joe Biden said --

BREAM: I still think --

MCDOWELL: -- Joe Biden said --

BREM: Admitted.

MCDOWELL: -- that we left people behind. CENTCOM Commander General Frank McKenzie the day prior on Monday said we left people behind. I didn't think it was possible for him to have less credibility, but I guess if you're a repellent gas bag, you want to be the most repellent gassiest gas bag that you can possibly be.

It's the same person who Greg has talked about over and over, dismissed and scoffed at violence and mayhem in the street and said why I went out to eat dinner. And, you know, we didn't see anything. We just saw -- I digress.

But I -- they're trying to prop up somebody who has had the worst record of any politician on foreign policy ever. This commander-in-chief, again, wasn't for the raid to get Osama bin Laden. So, what's the motive other than just to hear themselves talk?

BREAM: I mean, there's a lot to dissect in what has happened over the last couple of weeks. And I'm hoping, I think we all do that we'll have transparency and we'll get some answers about this. But Jessica, I'm old enough to remember when there was talk of the 25th amendment over President Trump because the way he held a glass or walked down a ramp. So, it seems like there is a different standard for where the media is handling some of these presidential decisions.

TARLOV: Yes, they don't like President Trump and they like President Biden. I mean, it's pretty simple. Like, I like my friends and don't like people that are not my friends.

BREAM: I like transparency.

TARLOV: I have been consistent, which I'm thrilled about that -- I don't like talking about anyone's cognitive state. It is reckless. None of us are any one's doctors, physical, mental, any of it. And I think all of that should have been left out of the conversation.

So the point about the coverage, it's interesting because there is something going on the far left media, so I know to a lot of conservatives, they just think like anything left is far left. It's not true, right. So there's like progressive then there's establishment and then there's, you know, people drifting towards the right.

And the far left has been screaming at the medium left from the beginning that they are being too harsh about -- on President Biden like how, you know, he's making good on all these promises. This is all Trump's deal. Trump is the one that released 5,000 Taliban fighters, et cetera.

And when you look at the fact that the investigation into the withdrawal is being led by Bob Menendez who is a huge ally of President Biden. When you look at how much airtime someone like Congressman Seth Moulton is getting, right?

He's leading MSNBC shows to talk about why he and Congressman Peter Meijer's, a Republican, went over there and came back and said it is a complete debacle, that every -- there are so many different realities to this coverage going on depending on what denomination of political affiliation you are.

BREAM: So -- but Will, this -- that may be then what people thought the media was 20 years ago. That there were diversions of viewpoints and they were covering everything and trying to be fair and asking questions of the left and the right, so?

CAIN: Yes. Not to be argumentative out of genuine curiosity, who would you define as the medium left media because I find it very hard to distinguish in 2021. It feels to me like they're all radical far left. So, I'm curious who is medium left within the media.

TARLOV: Well, you don't have the special glasses I have where you can figure out what it is?

CAIN: Yes. That's right.

TARLOV: No, it's obviously, I mean, within networks as there are anywhere, there are certain hosts that you know are more extreme that aren't. Like if you watch Jake Tapper's coverage for instance on CNN --

CAIN: Right.

TARLOV: -- for the first couple of weeks of this, he had more veterans on criticizing what was going on in Afghanistan than I would say some conservative leaning media did. So it's --

CAIN: Well, I would suggest we should ask all the medium left media members who are not men can get pregnant then we can find out if anyone truly has any rationality left within the medium left or the same as the radical left.

I'll tell you what they are though, is they're consistent. So, Dagen, we can give CNN some credit. So their media coverage is a little bit like their foreign policy advocacy. Close enough. That was close to truth. You know what, we kind of got them all out, like a game of horseshoe's, you know. We're kind of close to the pin. We might have left a couple thousand. Close enough.

That's what Lemon seems to be advocating for. Close enough is good enough, just like his adherence to the truth. I think really quickly, Shannon, the more offensive tweet you could have showed from Chris Hayes is the one where on the day 13 service men died, he said, well, for context, 13 Americans died from COVID today. He compared an act of terrorism and violence to a pandemic.

And the reason he did that is because while there's a clear bad guy when it comes to terrorism, the left increasingly wants to paint their fellow American as our true enemy, as the bad guy. And the true American there would be masking or vaccination. The bad guys in their mind are their fellow Americans and that's why on that day he wanted to point it to COVID.

BREAM: Greg, I feel like you have something to say. You're itching over here.

GUTFELD: No, I'm not. I'm just -- I like your color against the blue. It's very nice.

BREAM: Thank you. Do you want to see it again?

GUTFELD: Yes. It was very -- look at that. It pops. I love how Don Lemon says lay off Joe because we don't know. We don't know if he left anybody -- if we left anybody behind. Since when did ignorance of facts keep CNN from saying anything? If that were the new criteria, CNN would just be one long test pattern punctuated by the voice of James Earl Jones going "This is CNN."

Because they would -- that's all they do. They never cared whether they knew something or not. You know, our problem is other countries have propaganda, but it's directed outward to their adversaries or their -- other countries, their rivals. Our propaganda in our country is directed inward. You have people that claim to be news anchors but they are actually commentators. We don't claim to be news anchors except for Shannon because she is. I'm not. We are -- we're just -- we just talk.

BREAM: That's news to me, Greg.

GUTFELD: Yes, it is. But they -- over at CNN they pretend to be commentators and they are propagandizing for Joe Biden. So, you know, so all of a sudden what you're going to see is you're going to see them pivot which they did on MSNBC this morning. I think they led with January 6th, the phone call that Jim Jordan made to Trump. That was what they led with.

BREAM: At least we're back to phone calls.

GUTFELD: Yes, we're back to that phone call. So what you're seeing, is you're going to see the pivot and they're going to try -- they're going to treat January 6 like a CPR dummy and just keep trying to revive it all the way through next year because that's the only thing they have. And meanwhile, they see this as no big deal. That's propaganda and we direct it at ourselves.

BREAM: All right. Ahead, dozens of Americans dead after severe flooding and storms. Now, Democrats being accused of politicizing that tragedy to push their climate agenda.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAIN: Well, Democrats are wasting no time politicizing the severe floods and tornadoes that have left a path of destruction in the northeast. At least 40 people are dead including a 2-year-old boy after remnants of Hurricane Ida smashed into the area. Rescue operations happening all day to save stranded Americans.

All that not stopping AOC from tweeting, "Experiencing all of this flooding in New York City right now and thinking about all the politicians who told me that pursuing a Green New Deal to adapt our national infrastructure to climate change is "unrealistic" & "too expensive." As if doing too little is the responsible adult thing to do."

And top Democrats including President Biden are using the destruction to push their climate agenda.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Global warming is upon us and it's going to get worse and worse and worse unless we do something about it.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDET OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: These extreme storms and the climate crisis are here. We need to do -- we must be better prepared. We need to act. When Congress returns this month, I'm going to press further action on my Build Back Better Plan.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAIN: Jessica, I think the way that works is never let a crisis go to waste, right?

TARLOV: I think that everybody knows that maxim and that's what happens on both sides when this happens. And liberals get accused of doing it obviously when something is related to climate or when there is a school shooting.

But I remember and it's obviously an awful tragedy when Kate Steinle was murdered in California by an undocumented person who I think have been released five times or six times out of custody. And then that was all we talked about. That the illegal population in the country are a bunch of killers.

This is a climate problem and what Joe Biden has been able to do is to show the country that actually you can have robust climate agenda and infrastructure agenda without supporting the Green New Deal, which cost way too much money. It was completely impractical and was only supported by, like I was saying in the last walk, the far left of the Democratic population.

So when you look at those pictures of what happened in the subway -- New York City subways last night where Philadelphia is right now, obviously what happened in the south and you think that a hurricane that was supposed to hit Louisiana and Mississippi is now a problem in New Jersey. How can you thumb your nose at people that are talking about this is a climate problem? This is not normal to have rainfall two extra inches in Central Park than the last time that we had great rainfall like this.

CAIN: Well, I looked this up, Dagen, earlier today. I looked at some data. I know it's worthless in the world of narrative, but I did look up some data. Deaths from flood, lightning, tornadoes, hurricane and natural disasters all below 10 and or 30-year lows in the year 2020. We are on a decline for deaths according to or caused by natural phenomenon.

MCDOWELL: And I don't want to make light of what's going on given the deaths of people from flooding, people trapped in their cars, people throughout the south who are still without electricity and access to fuel and food. But it's very convenient flooding is global warming, drought is global warming, snowstorm is global warming, if it's hot, hot, hot heat, it's global warming. It makes it easy because mother nature provides all of that. It's a political season, you know, four times -- you know, all year round.

I want to add, though -- I think that what you're saying down south and even here is a reason to not give government and bureaucrats and politicians another set because, again, why does it take so long for them to get people help? There should be fuel trucks and aid at the ready.

I was talking to a congressman this morning. He said always take several days after a storm hits to kind of get the ball rolling, that it's the private sector, it's the large retailers that jump right into the fray, opening their doors to get -- to provide food that's going to go bad to people.

And quite frankly, the fuel lines, that's exactly what AOC and her ilk want. They don't want the use of fossil fuels. They want supply shortages. Why would you get rid of the Keystone pipeline? Why would you get rid of new oil and gas leases on federal land which was shut down by a judge? That's exactly what they want, supply shortages and high prices, so people don't drive gasoline-powered cars.

CAIN: Well, I think -- and the ones that are capitalizing or -- and or making light of these deaths, the ones that would immediately push their political agenda, to stand on graves for their own platform. And Greg and Shannon, I'll put this to both you.

Justin Trudeau, for example, who's the Prime Minister of Canada, he laid this out very clearly. He said, we will be applying the lessons of the COVID crisis to the climate crisis, housing crisis, to jobs to career crises. We'll be applying this everywhere.

GUTFELD: How can he say that with a blackface?

BREAM: He has.

GUTFELD: Yes.

GUTFELD: There you go.

BREAM: Well, you think about that. And for people who don't like the government action that happened during COVID, they're going to not like that either. I mean, in Canada, it's been extreme. They've been putting people in jail for trying to go to church and that kind of stuff. I mean, if you like the government telling you what to do with your personal life, then -- the way they did it with COVID, you'll love it when it comes to climate change.

I mean, I grew up in Florida. We had hurricanes on a regular basis. You go through the cycle. You know what happens. I just thought -- it struck me last night when I saw this tweet from the Congresswoman that when it shows up in your neighborhood, then it's like all hands on deck, we got to get back at this.

Meanwhile, there are people in Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, all those Mississippi down there that had this kind of regular problem all the time. You know, they're used to dealing with it if infrastructure can be worked on that, something that seems to have some bipartisan agreement. But the green new deal has things like, you know, Citizen Climate Corps to go out and enforce things and all kinds of other things that I think average Americans probably wouldn't be down with.

GUTFELD: Yes. First, I just want to let everybody know that Tyrus hasn't been on our show, because he's been dealing in Louisiana with a whole lot of strife. He probably doesn't know I'm saying this because he doesn't have any power. And he has no access to fuel and everything. So, it's been very tough for everybody.

But you know, going back to what Biden said, he's lying. And it and whenever you actually kind of push at the climate change, the claims they make, and ask for data, it's never there. So, they always say it's an increase in weather events, without ever saying the severity of it, which goes to your point about deaths, right?

So, the severity has been on the decline. And we've been starting to keep - - keeping track of this, maybe it's been over a half a century, not quite, but the amount of death has been in decline. So, I would say, after these extreme weather events, and you start hearing the climate cluckers spring out of the trees, go and read Bjorn Lomborg. He's not an Abba, Jessica. Bjorn Lomberg is what you call -- he's an expert on data having to do with climate, not opinion, data.

He's a lukewarmer. He does believe in climate change, but he doesn't -- he rejects the hysteria that's often undermining the science. When you go to him, read him, you will actually -- he has incredible detailed charts and data on the real facts about the about the incidence of -- and I would -- I guess you'd call it increased climate disasters or extreme weather and why it's on the decline. It's really important stuff.

CAIN: Well, hysteria is the keyword. I think that's what Trudeau was talking about. Hysteria and fear, we learn to use in the COVID crisis. We will apply it to every crisis.

MCDOWELL: Well, I can use -- wait, I can use my line. Fear equals control, control equals power. That's all the politics they care about.

CAIN: Absolutely. That's perfect. Up next, top FDA vaccine officials reportedly resigning and blasting the White House for not following the science in pushing booster shots.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: President Biden promised to follow the science.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We follow the science.

We follow the science and find the answers.

We know what we need to do to beat this virus. Tell the truth, follow the scientists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: But some top FDA officials think Biden is not following the science when it comes to COVID booster shots. Two of the agency's top vaccine regulators will leave this fall. They're reportedly upset and don't think there's enough data yet to justify a third shot. What do you make of this, Will?

CAIN: Red alert, big sirens screaming. This is a huge story. I'm serious. If the top FDA regulators, the top two in charge of the vaccine program were saying the Biden administration is outrunning the science, the process. They're saying these booster shots, they're not vetted, there's not data. There's only scientism, you know, science, the science in all caps to back it up. It's a political motive.

And that should tell us what we need to know going forward. But it should also make us look backwards because we're now looking at information you're simply not allowed to share, not allowed to say which is for example, there's a New England Journal of Medicine story out today that the vaccines are down to something like 60 percent effectiveness in -- within by the way five to six months.The American public deserves the truth. Joe Biden is right about that. But he is not the one giving it.

GUTFELD: Jessica, Donald Trump was the father of Operation Warp Speed, Where is his Nobel prize? And why do you hate America?

TARLOV: Hang out at Mar-a-Lago. All of it is at Mar-a-Lago. I'm happy to give Trump credit and Operation Warp Speed, the scientists, and Biden for the rollout. I think that is the diplomatic thing to do. With the booster shot, it's interesting, because Israel has just shifted their guidelines that now you're not vaccinated fully if you're just a two shots, only if you're at three.

So, I understand how big of a deal it is to have FDA officials resigned, but then you look at a country that has a bunch of really great scientists working there too, and they're saying that you won't be fully vaccinated or safe until then. And unfortunately, this is just life with COVID. Now that we're going to be living in, I fear, in perpetuity.

GUTFELD: Yes. Shannon, I mean, the question is, do you need a booster shot or not? And no one is forcing anybody to do it. I feel like everybody's doing the wait and see approach, which is what everybody kind of did at the beginning. You know, we -- if you look at the trends towards vaccination, from a small population, which was a high risk elderly, they got it. And then it kind of gradually moved across -- you know, all segments of the population. And then people just waited and sit until they got comfortable. It's not just -- I mean, is this really a debate?

BREAM: Well, we've even been told though, there's been admission that the goalposts have been moved --

GUTFELD: Right.

BREAM: By people like Dr. Fauci. And so, it's a shame that any of this is political, because we are talking about life and death issues for people. If they feel like the White House is running ahead of the FDA, if they feel like the science isn't there, they begin to doubt. And you don't want people to doubt things that are factually substantially proven.

We want data. Everybody wants to see the data, whether it's on master vaccines, or boosters, or anything else. So, when you lose people, because they don't think you're giving them the full story or that there's not data for it, that's actually a dangerous thing. None of us should want any of it to be politicized, including this administration. They shouldn't want that appearance to be there.

GUTFELD: Yes, it's -- the real villain here, and surprise, is the media, who politicizes everything including something as deadly as a pandemic. That's why -- so people can't trust what they're getting anymore because we've been lied to so much as Will points out.

MCDOWELL: And Joe Biden needs to look like he's doing something on COVID. This is all political. It's just -- his favorability is falling on COVID. And remember, he ran for office, I'm going to save you from COVID, that Trump's going to kill you, I'm going to save you. The whole who's not at the dinner table, which was turned into an ad, it was ads of empty chairs in America because of COVID-19. The tagline was over 220,000 lives lost because of failed leadership.

Well, 242,000 people have died from COVID since Joe Biden took office. It was 400,000 on Inauguration Day, almost 250,000 have died under his watch. And what's he doing other than, you know, throwing political wiffle balls at Republican governors, but not talking about the Democratic governors who are failing as what -- you know, failing their population.

And Biden can't talk about the Wuhan virus, the China virus that likely came from a lab, talk about the truth, get to the bottom of the truth because he let that go. It was all about Trump. And now it's all about Biden.

CAIN: That will be ads of people with four shots yelling at people with three shots and yet calling them anti-vaxxer. That's coming soon.

GUTFELD: That's the other problem is that people are conflating two perspectives, but it's happening on both sides. If you say people shouldn't be forced to get vaccines, then you're called anti-vax, right? And then, if you say, I believe the vaccines are safe and effective, other people on your side will say, how dare you tell me to get the vaccine. It's like, no, I just think that vaccines are safe and effective. You make your choice, I made mine. That's it. Why can't we just agree to be normal?

MCDOWELL: I've convinced a lot of people to get vax, though, because I have my ways.

GUTFELD: Yes. Of course, you do. All right, "THE FASTEST" is up next. They're yelling at me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TARLOV: Welcome back. It's time for "THE FASTEST." First up, a driving sale too painful to watch but you should a person in New Zealand mocked after doing a 150 point turn to leave her parking space instead of just backing out. It took her almost four minutes to leave.

CAIN: I didn't know my wife is in New Zealand.

BREAM: And I love that somebody is filming it. Like somebody stopped --

TARLOV: Eating ice cream, the guy was just sitting there.

BREAM: This is like performance anxiety though because it's like this -- I hate parallel parking or getting --

TARLOV: Yes.

BREAM: But with people watching, the people on the curb just kind of on their phone watching. And you're like, I'll just drive around the block a few more times because I'm not going to park in front of these people while they're watching me. But that would --

TARLOV: Your wife?

CAIN: I didn't know she was out of the country.

GUTFELD: I imagine that's what it's like when Brian Stelter is trying to fit into leather pants. He's have to keep going back and forth, back and forth. There's -- this should be an Olympic sport. I could watch this stuff forever. And I do. I'm out in my apartment window, when I look, I watch people park downtown. It's awesome.

BREAM: Do you watch it -- these people are in anxiety.

TARLOV: And when the car that wants to get in is like, waiting.

GUTFELD: Yes, the car behind starts honking.

BREAM: Even worse, even worse.

GUTFELD: It's performance anxiety.

BREAM: It is.

GUTFELD: It's like, when you're in the bathroom and somebody is behind you, it stops.

MCDOWELL: you can get into a small car though without Mazola corn oil. That could be my grandmother if she was alive. She drove up on the sidewalk once. She couldn't back out of the space and just drove up on the sidewalk in Main Street Brookneal, Virginia and drove down and we got like 15 phone calls about she's on the sidewalk. Anyway.

BREAM: You do what you got to do.

MCDOWELL: Yes, go ahead.

TARLOV: OK, up next, surprising new studies suggests that mumbling is actually a desirable trait in men. That's right. Speaking less clearly was seen as attractive by women because it is linked to being macho. This totally blew my mind.

GUTFELD: First of all, I like to always do -- what if this was a study about women? Like, it's really good if you can't hear women. You would be in so much trouble. But here's the deal. Here's the deal. It's not about mumbling, it's about attractiveness. An ugly guy who mumbles probably a woman will see him as a sick, heinous creep, right? But if he's a hot guy who mumbles, he's mysterious, he's sensitive and he's deep. He's probably thinking so hard.

BREAM: He's shy.

GUTFELD: He's shy. I could change him.

BREAM: You never date someone that you think starting --

TARLOV: You will only date people you think you can change until you --

BREAM: No. I like the finish products. Well, yes, what they said, macho -- so, I'm thinking in my mind, is it like you, Adrian, like the whole rocky thing? I don't know.

TARLOV: That's quite the reference.

CAIN: I feel like -- I feel like the situation is --

TARLOV: It's great for TV.

CAIN: Was that sexy? Was that sexy? I think -- here's my theory. You have a theory. Here's my theory. It's linked to the whole caveman thing. It's more macho, you're more primal. You're less evolved. Like, there's an element of that attractiveness involved in it.

TARLOV: But those were a few words, but they were clear.

CAIN: Mine?

TARLOV: Like the caveman -- No, I heard -- yes, I heard you.

CAIN: I should have mumbled more?

MCDOWELL: Mumbling is a pickup technique.

GUTFELD: So the woman had to get closer.

BREAM: So, leaning closer.

MCDOWELL: Yes. So -- and I've experienced this. Like, somebody starts talking like this. Can you hear me?

GUTFELD: That's like -- that's like --

MCDOWELL: You want to come in close. So, maybe when you get close enough then the kind of pheromones grope you.

GUTFELD: You talk like this -- you talk like this and you talk about your - -

MCDOWELL: Well, now you -- now you sound like Hannibal Lecter.

(CROSSTALK)

BREAM: Which is the same (INAUDIBLE)

GUTFELD: Got to have a nice keg of beer.

TARLOV: Fava beans and a nice chianti. "ONE MORE THING" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCDOWELL: Time now for "ONE MORE THING." GG.

GUTFELD: Tonight, :GUTFELD!" It's going to be a great show. I have this very evil person on the show named Shannon Bream. And I got Larry Kudlow. There she is. There she is. I mean, she was Miss Pepto-Bismol 2018.

BREAM: It was '17 but --

GUTFELD: OK. And we got Jimmy Failla and of course Kat. And let's do this really quick. Greg's doppelganger news. We haven't done this in a while. We've actually done it twice. Haha, a joke there. Check out this picture at an aquarium. Not me, picture. There you go. Look at the little baby and the stingray. Do you know that stingrays have very nice faces?

CAIN: I did not know that until I saw it right there.

BREAM: It's so cute.

GUTFELD: They're adorable. But they could be twins. They could be twins.

CAIN: Yes.

GUTFELD: It probably thinks the baby is his mother.

BREAM: Or lunch.

GUTFELD: Or lunch.

TARLOV: it Reminds me the Adam Driver cat. You know, the cat that looks like Adam Driver.

GUTFELD: That looks like Adam Driver. Yes.

TARLOV: Or Adam Driver looks like a cat.

MCDOWELL: Rays are very soft. It's like baby's bottoms.

GUTFELD: How do you know?

MCDOWELL: I've touched a ray many times. I'm serious. You know what's better than a ray or a bunch of rays? One elephant, but two elephants. These are twin elephants born in Sri Lanka. It's the first time in nearly 80 years. This is a sanctuary Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, a sanctuary for rescued -- wild elephants that need to be rescued or treated, a huge tourist attraction if you're in Sri Lanka. There you go. Twin elephants.

GUTFELD: Two elephants with trunk.

BREAM: That poor mama. OK, she had a lot of work to do. OK, check this out. Personal pie from above the sky. Check out these astronauts having a pizza party in the International Space Station. The crew enjoying their gravity- defying pizzas with big smiles. Look at this. They're putting on their own toppings, the whole thing. It looks like a lot of fun, but I'm not sure how these get cooked in the space.

GUTFELD: It's fun going in.

BREAM: But listen, when you're up there, you have limited options for the astronaut --

CAIN: It doesn't fall off. It doesn't fall off.

BREAM: Look, at everything that is on there.

GUTFELD: That the whole point of becoming an astronaut is the --

BREAM: Just that? You do cool tricks.

GUTFELD: When the women, when their hairs all over, they should do --

BREAM: I love it.

GUTFELD: They should do a calendar on that.

BREAM: They're eating each other's pizza.

MCDOWELL: OK, Will.

CAIN: All right, I'm up. I was just telling you, guys. I'm excited. College Football comes back tonight. UCF, Boise State, Ohio State, Minnesota. Nebraska started last weekend so they lost Illinois. But this is a win for Nebraska. Look at this video. What you're looking at is Damian Jackson. He's a walk on at the University of Nebraska and he's also a former Navy SEAL.

He carries that flag down the streets for this commercial. And it just shows so much pride in our country. You know, a positive message that we need at this time. I don't think it's just in the last couple of weeks, but this time in our country in general. Celebrate guys like Damian Jackson, celebrate those other veterans right there, and don't forget on 9/11.

MCDOWELL: Wow, that is powerful.

MCDOWELL: I still hope the Dogs lose to Clemson on Saturday though.

BREAM: They will.

CAIN: I think they will.

BREAM: They will.

MCDOWELL: OK. All right, good.

GUTFELD: I'll be watching Fox News.

BREAM: All day.

GUTFELD: All day.

BREAM: On commercials.

MCDOWELL: Jessica.

TARLOV: OK. So, this story really hit home for me because I love weddings and I love being in weddings. But due to COVID, so many people can't have their weddings and then what -- for those who love people that can't get there. So, we have a loyal bridesmaid who delivered her wedding speech from London via hologram after COVID travel restrictions meant that she couldn't get to her best friend's wedding in Ontario. It was enabled by a Toronto- based organization ARH team media. Everyone was obviously over the moon that she could "be there." It's very Whitney Houston-like but for bridesmaiding.

GUTFELD: What is she going to do in the divorce? You know, people always remember the weddings, but they never remember the divorce. Like, you know, where is the wedding albums?

TARLOV: Unless it's really good.

GUTFELD: Where's the hologram divorce?

BREAM: Could you do like a photoshoot for divorce? Like, you show up and you have like a little photo album of that? If they start doing that, let me know.

TARLOV: If it's amicable, I'm sure there are cute like pictures signing. We signed the ketubah, then we sign the divorce papers. MCDOWELL: Alienate all your girlfriends before they get married so you don't have to be in the wedding. "SPECIAL REPORT" is up next.

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