'The Five' on Biden and COVID

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President Biden admits he 'dropped the ball' on omicron response

'The Five' offer insight and analysis on White House COVID strategy.

This is a rush transcript of "The Five" on December 23, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello, everybody. I'm Jesse Watters along with Katie Pavlich, Sean Duffy, Kayleigh McEnany and Richard Fowler. It's 5:00 in New York City and this is THE FIVE.

Fox News alert, former police officer Kim Potter found guilty in the shooting death of Daunte Wright. Garrett Tenney is outside the courthouse in Minneapolis. Garrett?

GARRETT TENNEY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening. You may be able to hear a bit of the crowd that is still here outside the Hennepin County courthouse celebrating this verdict which came after more than 27 hours of deliberation.

The panel of six men and six women found Kim Potter guilty of first and second-degree manslaughter. This outcome was by no means a sure thing. Just a few days ago, the jury indicated they may not be able to reach a consensus. But with this verdict the jury indicated they believe the former Brooklyn Center officer was reckless and culpably negligent when she shot Daunte Wright with her gun instead of her taser.

In the courtroom, Potter showed almost no emotion as the judge read the jury's decision and she learned her fate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REGINA CHU, JUDGE, FOURTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA: We, the jury, on the charge of manslaughter in the first degree while committing a misdemeanor on or about April 11, 2021 in Hennepin County, state of Minnesota, find the defendant guilty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TENNEY: A short time later, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison whose office prosecuted the case said this verdict brings a degree of accountability to Daunte Wright's death and while he is pleased with the outcome, his said his heart goes out to Potter and her family.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP))

KEITH ELLISON, MINNESOTA ATTORNEY GENERAL: She was remorseful. I mean, who -- what decent person wouldn't be brokenhearted and sad if they were involved in something like this? So I -- for her -- I don't -- I wish nothing but the best for her and her family. But the truth is, she will be able to correspond with them and visit with them no matter what happens, but the Wright's won't be able to talk to Daunte.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TENNEY: Kim Potter is facing up to 15 years in prison for first degree manslaughter, 10 years for second degree manslaughter and the judge will decide her exact sentence at a hearing in February. Back to you all.

WATTERS: Thanks a lot, Garrett. Another big story we're following, President Biden finally admitting he dropped the ball with his COVID response. The commander-in-chief being pressed on some serious problems with COVID testing across the whole country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't think it's a failure. I think it's a -- you could argue that we should have known a year ago, six months ago, two months ago, a month ago. I've ordered half a billion on the pills, 500 million pills. Excuse me, 500 million test kits. That are going to be available to be sent to every home in America if anybody wants them. But the answer is, yeah, I wish I had thought about ordering half a billion pills two months ago before COVID hit here.

DAVID MUIR, ABC NEWS HOST: You're a year into the presidency, empty shelves and no test kits in some places, three days before Christmas when it's so important. Is that good enough?

BIDEN: No, nothing has been good enough.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: But Biden keeps making excuses for all of his failures doubling down on the claim that no one could have seen the omicron surge coming.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUIR: The vice president said in recent days that you didn't see delta coming, you didn't see omicron coming. How did you get them wrong?

BIDEN: How did I get it wrong? Nobody saw it coming. Nobody --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: Okay, Katie, it's a lot to talk about here. Let's just start with the tests. So you can't get a test anywhere. And he's asked if this was a failure and he says it's not a failure but in the very same answer he says, oh, boy, why, I really wish I had thought about ordering up some more tests months ago. I don't know.

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEW CONTRIBUTOR: It's a total failure. He was confusing 500 million pills with 500 million tests. That's also a problem and the president doesn't know exactly what he is referring to when he's about to spend taxpayer money and enormous resources to send 500 million tests to Americans who sign up for them.

And here we go again, right, with the government not setting up the system, the infrastructure necessary to actually get that done. It's a ridiculous idea given the tests wouldn't even get there until January. It's reminding me of the Obamacare website and Peter Doocy actually asked about this today, which ended up costing $2 billion.

So I'm looking ahead at this 500 million tests project and thinking this is going to turn into a very expensive, you know, bureaucratic endeavor for the sake of Joe Biden looking like he's doing something when he's actually not doing a lot. In the same week that the White House kept saying that they have saved Christmas. That the shelves are stocked.

They are not stocked with tests. And they wanted to be efficient about getting Americans tests and they would get all these test to the pharmacies. People want to go and buy them at the pharmacies. They're unavailable. There are clinics all over the place, so on every corner in New York City right now and they can't get the tests that they need.

So instead of taking on this brand-new, massive project that hasn't even started yet with the website and people signing up with their address and then who's going to ship them all out and make sure the label on the package the right way, they should be focused on the infrastructure that's already in place, but they can't do that because they are focused on enabling the government to do this instead of the private sector.

WATTERS: Kayleigh, I remember President Trump caught a lot of heat because he didn't have test up and running a month into this pandemic. What are we? What are we, 18 months in at this point and still no tests available?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, FOX NEWS HOST: Yes. Yes. That was one month into the Trump presidency when literally the FDA was approving the test. That was a totally different situation. Here we are, as you note, two years down the road and you have the president of the United States, this guy in his basement with the secret COVID plan to crush COVID coming out and admitting he has failed.

And indeed, he has failed, Jesse. Right before coming to air, I see "Vanity Fair," left wing news source, out with an article that Biden was presented with a testing plan in October. So when he says I wish two months ago I had thought about buying these tests, literally two months ago, in October, there was a meeting in the West Wing where a 10-page plan was presented to have 734 million tests a month.

The White House rejected the plan. This was all entirely avoidable. I talked to a senior source in the Trump administration that I worked with who said, literally Abbott scaled back testing, producing these test in the summer because the administration wouldn't give them an answer as to if there was any demand for test. So, thank you, Joe Biden. You are the reason the pharmacy shelves are empty. At least you're admitting to your failure, I guess.

WATTERS: And he couldn't be worried about how much the testing would cost because he's already spent trillions of dollars. What's another couple billion? All right, in this interview also, Sean, he says, well, nobody saw the mutation coming. And then he said it's a possibility that the mutation would come. And then he says "What do you plan for? You plan for what you think is available. That is the most likely threat that existed at the time." I don't even know what that means? Do you even know what that means?

SEAN DUFFY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Listen, you can have a full-time career trying to decipher what Joe Biden is saying or what it means. I don't know, Jesse. But what is interesting is we know the vaccines -- viruses mutate. You know, we have the delta variant and now we've had the omicron variant.

And so when they mutate and they could potentially be more virulent and spread more, you think you would say, hey, maybe back in August or at least at Thanksgiving when omicron came on the scene, you go, hey, we're going to order a whole bunch of testing to make sure that people can get tested.

The fact that he hasn't actually contracted with any of the suppliers yet to get the 500 million out to the American people, but he is coming out and saying I have this ready to go, this is idiotic. This is a lack of preparation and planning.

But I think we should get to the basics, Jesse, too. This is a pandemic. You're going to see it spread. We want to test people so we can make sure they don't spread it to other folks, but why don't we focus on making sure you stay healthy, go to the gym, eat better, lose some weight. Maybe take some vitamin D and vitamin C.

Let's talk about the differences between the vaxxed and the unvaxxed. In the last week, I know over 10 people who have been vaccinated with the booster that have all got COVID and all got sick. I don't know anybody who has been vaxxed. I'm sure there are some who had been unvaxxed that have gotten sick, but this is a vaccine that doesn't actually stop people from contracting the disease or spreading the disease. And it's a real problem that the White House isn't handling it based on the science.

WATTERS: Yes, I mean, it does help prevent deaths and hospitalizations, but --

DUFFY: It does.

WATTERS: -- omicron, you're vaxxed and still get it and still spread it. All right, I'll finish up with you, Richard. I don't know. I mean, everybody wants to get tested before they go see their parents and grandparents. I get that. That should have been foreseeable.

But going forward with omicron, are you going to have millions and millions of 30 and 40-year-old and 20-year-old vaxxed Americans asymptomatic, just testing and testing all day. That is going to surge these case numbers sky high. It's going to panic the politicians and then we're back to lockdowns on a mutation that's not nearly as deadly as delta.

RICHARD FOWLER: Good to see you, Jesse. And listen, I got a couple of things here. I think number one, I think most importantly is that two months ago, we didn't even know of the omicron variant. We knew about the omicron variant about a month ago. The omicron variant came to the United States about three weeks ago.

Within the last week, the omicron variant went from being 3 percent of the population to 73 percent of cases of omicron. Given all of that, what I do -- I understand and I feel the frustration. I do think that this White House is slow to act. But when Joe Biden ran for president, what he said to the Americans very clearly is I will not lie to you. I will always tell you the truth.

And what we saw in that interview there was the president telling folks the truth. When omicron came, nobody thought it was going to be this infectious. But since we now know this and we now know it's really sort of centralized on the East Coast. It will continue to spread throughout the United States.

So what can we do to ensure that hospitals are prepared? What can we do to ensure that the folks can as -- folks can get tested? What can we do ensure that the American population stay safe and healthy? That's what this White House is focused on now. Is it a day late? Yes. But they are focused on it now and I appreciate his honesty.

WATTERS: Well, it's just that the CDC director and Anthony Fauci both have shot back and said, no, no, Joe, Kamala, we warned you guys. We warned you about delta and we warned you about omicron. So, again, this time it's the Democrats not listening to the science. Where have I heard that before? Got to go. Up next, are you ready for a Trump/Biden rematch? What the current president just said about facing his former foe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAVLICH: President Biden trying to reassure everyone that he's running again in 2024, but he may have made things worse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUIR: Do you plan to run for re-election?

BIDEN: Yes. But look, I'm a great respecter of fate. Fate has intervened in my life many, many times. If I'm in the health I'm in now, if I'm in good health, then, in fact I would run again.

MUIR: And if that means a rematch against Donald Trump?

BIDEN: You're trying to tempt me now. Sure, why would I not run against Donald Trump being the nominee? That increased the prospect of running.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAVLICH: Biden's comments coming just days after his own V.P., Kamala Harris, said the two haven't even talked about running for a second term. And speaking of Kamala, she is ack to complaining about the press. According to a new report, Harris has been privately griping that the media coverage would be much better if she was a white man. So, Kayleigh, first to you. What about a Trump/Biden match up 2.0?

MCENANY: Oh, that would be very interesting, indeed. It's really funny to watch Joe Biden grin like a Cheshire cat at that prospect. Lucky for Joe or unlucky for Joe, he won't be able to remain in the basement. I mean, America has woken up to what it's like when you elect a president who hid from the American people.

Didn't share with us the secret COVID plan. So, matchup 2.0 would be excellent, but what's interesting Katie, this is the first time he's kind of caveated his answer of will he run again. This time he had that nuance of his health. And what's fascinating, his members of his own administration refused to shut down talk of him not running.

You know, Pete Buttigieg, when he was on Air Force Two with Kamala Harris, he was asked are you going to run in 2024. And rather than saying no, my boss is Joe Biden, I work for Joe Biden. I fully expect President Joe Biden to run and be re-elected as President Joe Biden, he didn't do that.

He said, oh, it's 2021. The same thing Kamala essentially said, oh, we haven't talked about 2024. It's interesting because I can tell you this, if Alex Azar or other members of the Trump administration cabinet had entertained running or not shutdown that kind of talk, they'd be called to the Oval Office real quick.

PAVLICH: Yes. Absolutely. So, Jesse, shouldn't Joe Biden run for a second term just to try and salvage his reputation considering his approval ratings are lower than Jimmy Carter? It's like you just have to get above Jimmy Carter and then you can bow out.

WATTERS: I think he's one and done, Katie. He told the truth. He said honestly if I'm feeling okay I will run, if I'm not in good health, I won't run. But when you're an honest politician, you open up a lot of problems. And he opened up huge problems with his answer. How's the world looking at this? Joe just lame ducked himself in front of our allies, in front of our enemies.

They can just wait him out if he's only going to be around for maybe three more years. What about the country? The country is thinking to themselves, wait a second. If his health is an issue tomorrow, well, is it an issue today because we got a pandemic, we got rocky recovery here. And the Democrats, they better start making contingency plans.

I'm sure Mayor Pete's donors eyes lit up when they saw that David Muir interview or Kamala is probably launched an exploratory committee this afternoon. But they need to start planning ahead for something like this. The squad might be looking at this guy like he's politically wounded, like they can roll him.

But he introduced this on a network television interview. This is now front and center, his health, in mainstream conversation. This isn't, you know, a conservative commentator saying, you know, the guy has lost his fast ball. This isn't a Democrat whispering in the halls of Congress, you know, he's not the same as he used to be.

He introduced this on network TV. Now, everyone is going to see everything he does in the context of his failing health. Every cough, every stumble, every time he has a light schedule, you're going to look at this and Siegel said last night on "Tucker." He said this guy had a nice bill of health when the doctors looked at him, but he had this really new gait that wasn't really right.

And they ran a bunch of neurological tests on him. We haven't seen the results of this. Maybe Joe has seen the results to this. Maybe he's reacting to those results, we don't know, but this is -- this is a whole new ball game now.

PAVLICH: Yes. You know, Richard, you know, a week ago the deputy press secretary insisted that Joe Biden was running again. He has now said that there is a possibility he won't run. The vice president has said that she hasn't talked to the present about running again, which is an indication in itself. So, who would be the one to take his place?

FOWLER: Oh, I think the president is running but with that being said, just like the president, I too am a man of fate. And while I plan on celebrating quizzes with my family, it's very possible that I could get sick tomorrow. It's very possible anybody on this panel could get sick tomorrow.

And so I think what the president was trying to say very clearly is my plan is to run, but we have to understand that we live in the real world. Three years ago when Kayleigh and the Trump White House was planning for Trump's re-election, they didn't expect COVID-19. We live in a world that's dynamically changing and I think the president was acknowledging that change very clear in that exchange there.

WATTERS: No, just to interrupt, Richard. Every politician says, yes, I feel great and I'm running. Just shuts down the conversation. Shuts everything down and the self-starting (ph) issues.

FOWLER: Well, (inaudible) now is that Joe Biden is an honest man so he's just being honest with you. I don't think the married people should appreciate that. (Inaudible)

WATTERS: I think he was too -- I think he was honest to a fault with this one.

PAVLICH: Yes. Let's get -- Sean, I have questions about, you know, Jesse mentioned that Joe Biden lame ducked himself in that interview. That's true, but his agenda was killed this week with Build Back Better. Is he a lame duck or is he going to be able to kind of revive his Build Back Better plan in the spring?

DUFFY: No, listen, I think they're going to keep pushing, you know, aspects of Build Back Better, but just the way the congressional calendar works in midterm elections work, they only have until, you know, late February, late March to actually get these things done before everyone calls it quits and goes home and campaigns again.

But I think when you talk about Joe Biden, again, it calls into question what does good health actually mean because I think, I mean, many people would say he doesn't look like he's in good health right now. And he brings it up because he's getting really old.

But I mean, three years is a long time before the 2024 election. But I don't think he's going to get different results. I mean, when you look at the border, crime, inflation, no oil and gas, the problem is these are all self-inflicted wounds by Joe Biden. And if he doesn't change course, we're going to be living with this for three years and when you see Hispanics and independents bail from the Democratic Party, it's going to get worse than it is right now, three years from now when he's trying to run for re- election. Democrats are going to beg him to retire to get someone else and to get a fresh slate.

PAVLICH: Yes. Speaking of fate, right? All right, straight ahead, the White House thinks Americans should praise President Biden for saving Christmas this year. Up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DUFFY: Despite countless empty shelves, record high inflation and mass shipping backlogs, the White House bragging how it saved Christmas for Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETRY: Good news, we have saved Christmas. The stocks on shelves is at about 90 percent, retail stocks on shelves at about 90 percent inventory. It was about 91 percent pre-pandemic just to give you a sense. So, people can go purchase presents even at this point if they haven't done their shopping.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUFFY: And President Biden going one step further claiming the supply chain crisis never really existed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: The much predicted crisis didn't occur. Packages are moving, gifts are being delivered, shelves are not empty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUFFY: We're blessed on this show because we have the original foot soldier on the war on Christmas. He also saved the world, so Jesse Watters, did Joe Biden actually save Christmas?

WATTERS: I did. He plagiarized my book, chapter nine "How I Saved the World." Still available. That will get there in time if you order it right now. I don't want to throw too much mud if people are getting gifts under the tree in time. That's a good thing. If Biden deserves credit, I'll give him credit. I don't know if he does deserve credit because what did he do? He told the ports to stay open 24/7, they didn't.

But according to reports, things are a lot better than they were in November. I think people just shopped smarter and the ports threatened to find a bunch of these cargo ships. There's still a ton of ships idling off shore. We're still going to have supply chain problems, shortages, empty shelves in 2022.

So, if I were Joe Biden, this is what I would say. Everything should be made in America. I don't want to pick up something and see that it's made in China. So, we're going to bring the jobs back, the factories back. Bring them back to America or at least North or South America. Just get it closer so that ships don't have to come all the way across the Pacific from a communist country with a history of slave labor and viruses.

DUFFY: So what you're saying Jesse is channel Donald Trump. Let's go America first again, right?

MCENANY: Yes.

WATTERS: Made in America.

DUFFY: Right. Made in America. But you make -- you make a good point because as he said "I saved Christmas," I scratched my head and go, well, Richard, what actually did he do to save Christmas? What policies did he implement to save Christmas to make the supply chain work better?

FOWLER: Well, look, I'll say this. I agree with Jesse a little bit at the beginning so, I appreciate your honesty, Jesse. But with that being said, look, I hear folk's frustration. But remember, in August and September, the conversation that we were having on "The Five," on other shows across this channel and all across the news media was, will the Christmas shelves be empty? Will you be able to get your child the newest G.I. Joe toy or will you be able to get your child a PlayStation 4?

The truth of the matter is, is you can get your child all those things, right? And so, the fact that that's the truth, means that the president and his team did the work they said they were going to do, is there more work to be done? Absolutely.

We are living in a current inflationary market, which is why what I want to see in the New Year is the president focused on how he helps working families bring down the cost of childcare, how does he help senior citizens to bringing down the cost of prescription drugs. And how does he help so many families out there looking for housing because the cost of the rent is too high.

SEAN DUFFY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, but Richard, I think you make a good point, which is, it works now. But the question was, did Joe Biden do anything to make it work, despite the private sector that actually stepped up and tried to figure out how we get rid of the kinks?

FOWLER: Well, I do think -- I mean, I do think the fact that this president at the time we had, there's still ships at the ports waiting to unload.

But with that being said, this president and his team made sure that the port stayed open, they work with UPS and FedEx and corporate leaders to ensure that the packages were getting to people and folks are getting the packages.

(CROSSTALK)

DUFFY: There are no specific policies that the administration implemented. But, to you Katie, I mean, is there more supply out there because of inflation and rising prices that people just had to buy less? Because I've talked to a lot of, you know -- you know, working class people who go, listen, I just -- I didn't have the money to buy what I normally would buy, I had to buy less. So, does that mean there's more things on the shelf?

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, I would say it's always interesting when politicians want credit for doing their job.

I mean, first, the administration claimed that there wasn't a supply chain crisis, and now they're claiming victory for eliminating the supply chain crisis.

And OK, sure, the stores may be more stocked than they were a month ago, but families can't afford it. Their natural gas bills are up by 40 percent, thanks to this administration. Their gas that they fill up their car to go Christmas shopping cost twice as much as it did a year ago.

All of their savings are getting wiped out by inflation. If you look at their paychecks, if they've gotten a raise, all of that has been wiped out by inflation.

And if you look at wholesale prices, they just keep going up. So, sure, there's stuff on the shelves, but families can't afford to buy as much as they used to.

DUFFY: All right, Kelly, final thoughts to you? White House taking credit for something they probably created themselves with paying people to stay home and you know, having schools shut down so one parent has to stay in Zoom with their kids?

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL ANALYST: Yes, I saved Christmas. Wow. That is not an effective talking point because the American people don't agree.

I mean, what the White House is saying is look over here, ignore everything over there. Ignore the testing crisis. Ignore the fact that Joe Biden has the worst economic approval rating since Jimmy Carter, negative 13 is where it stands. The average president in the last 44 years has been plus five, so he's literally 18 points below on the economy of an average president in the last four decades.

So, go ahead, say you saved Christmas, it's not going to help you save the House in the midterms.

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST: Yes, but you're not allowed to celebrate Christmas that he saved unless everybody including the dog and cat is boosted.

DUFFY: 100 percent. And by the way, get it right Joe, you did not -- you did not save Christmas, Jesse Watters saved Christmas.

WATTERS: Thank you.

DUFFY: End of story, all right.

PAVLICH: And the world.

MCENANY: And the world.

DUFFY: Coming up -- and the world too, that's right.

Coming up, two defund Democrats just learned the hard way about crime, that's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCENANY: America's crime crisis hitting close to home for two Democrats who supported defunding the police, both law makers getting carjacked just days apart. And now, all of a sudden, changing their tune praising their local officers.

Pennsylvania Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon got robbed at gunpoint when two men took her purse and then her car. This happened less than 24 hours after Illinois state Senator Kimberly Lightford and her husband were carjacked in a Chicago suburb.

The White House addressing the Philadelphia incident by saying they're already doing their part.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It is absolutely unacceptable for any American, whether they're a member of Congress or not to be victimized by crime like that.

We have been stepping up, federal law enforcement efforts for some time now obviously prior to this carjacking, and we're -- while we're giving communities historic levels of funding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCENANY: Wow, the irony is rich, Jesse. Scanlon comes out and she says "I thank the Philadelphia Police Department." Illinois Democratic state majority leader comes out, I want to especially thank the Broadview Police Department. All this from the defund crowd.

WATTERS: Yes. Well, first you never carjack a congresswoman. I mean, that's like they teach you that in finishing school on the first day.

A lot of these carjackings are up almost double in cities like Philly and Chicago because of the defund movement and these soft bail policies.

But also, because inflation, you get top dollar for a used car, Kayleigh. It's up like 50 percent. You could sell it hot, you could sell it to a crooked dealer, you could strip it and sell it for parts.

And one of the main reasons this always happens with politicians because they don't understand the policy until it affects them personally.

For instance, you know, you're all for securing the border until you realize you can pay someone cash under the table for the same project and half price.

Or you know, you're all for solar power but whoah, you're going to to put a windmill, you're going to ruin my view in Nantucket? No, no, no, we can't put that wind farm there. I don't know.

You're for lockdowns until you realize you hate your wife and then you're stuck with her and when can I get back to work, my goodness? Lift these lockdowns.

Unfortunately, you have to have this really sad personal situations like what we see with these Democrats getting jacked. Maybe they're going to change their position. That's all I can say, maybe.

MCENANY: Yes, I'd love to ask her, Katie, because she was one of 125 co- sponsors of a bill to enable, essentially states moving their money away from police. So, I mean, is she going to change her tune? This is crazy.

PAVLICH: Well, this is the examples -- the two examples that we have here are -- you know, of the pie in the sky leftist ideology that comes out of academia crashing into a brick wall of reality about police reform and their ideology when it comes to crime.

And I'm sorry that this happened to them. I'm glad that they're OK. But they've pushed this policy onto everybody else, on to the most vulnerable communities that we have. They defunded the police and then they've not allowed people to defend themselves.

For example in D.C., last summer, there was an Uber driver who was carjacked by teenagers and he was killed. He was an immigrant from Pakistan, he was killed, those girls just got let out of jail.

Just last week, there was a father walking on Capitol Hill with his baby. And he was assaulted by a man with a brick. He assaulted the baby and the man.

And so, these are policies that affect real people. There are real victims all over the country. And Democrats for really a year and a half, starting with the summer of 2020 when entire cities were being burned down, justified this kind of behavior.

And I would hope that now they're seeing the results of it coming home to roost essentially, that they would change their policy positions, because real people's lives are at stake.

MCENANY: Absolutely. I mean, and you mentioned 2020. Sean, so defund the police starts and what happens in 2020, we see a record increase in homicides alongside that movement. And then, now we're in 2021 and the numbers are even up over 2020 in Philadelphia, for example, where this representative was carjacked. Homicide is up 13 percent, shooting is up eight percent carjacking is up 80 percent. You'd think they'd see the light?

DUFFY: First of all, I don't know where they get their money because one of them was driving an Acura MDX and the other one was driving a Mercedes SUV, right?

So, when I was in Congress, I was not driving those kinds of cars and still don't, right? But let me -- let's be clear, they're not going to change their ways --

WATTERS: I don't think there was electric vehicles that were jacked either.

MCENANY: Great point.

DUFFY: They do -- they do not live like we do. So, when when she's car jacked as a congresswoman, the police come rushing to her aid, they actually show up. If you're just the average Joe and you get carjacked, they don't come because there's not enough people to respond to a carjacking.

Not only that, she has the sergeant-at-arms and the Capitol Police. They're rushing to help investigate, make sure she's safe. The FBI was actually involved in recapturing this car in Delaware.

So, all the resources of the federal government and local government police forces help her out. Were all of us that live under her policies, don't have cops show up and help arrest the people who steal our cars and put guns in our faces.

So, she's not living in reality still, even though she's carjacked. Which is why she'll never change her ways.

MCENANY: Yes, and Richard, you know, is your party seeing the like? Because you're -- the San Francisco Mayor who wanted to defund police, $120 million taken away. Now, she says, oh, wait, crimes up, more money to them. Same story in Oakland.

I mean, is -- are they just seeing the political ramifications of this?

FOWLER: Oh, I beg to differ at the premise of that question. I think what you have is I think during the 2020 movement after the death of George Floyd, I think there was a real call all across the country from various different avenues and alleys, corporate America, community saying we need to do something to make sure that we do policing better in this country.

Now, I think people have turned it into what seems to be a defund movement. But if you actually look at President Biden's record, what you see is during the American Rescue Plan, he actually gave more money to police.

In the Build Back Better plan, there's money -- more money for community policing and crime intervention policies.

So, what you have is a president that's committed to bringing down crime and to a certain point, (INAUDIBLE) the congressman here is that every time I seem to call the cops, the cops seem to show up and I live in the nation's capital.

MCENANY: Oh, I think you have a president who played footsie with the defund movement and now he's reading the political tea leaves but that's my view.

All right, "THE FASTEST" up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RICHARD FOWLER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR (on camera): Welcome back. It's time for "THE FASTEST".

First up, everyone loves jamming out to their favorite song when they're behind the wheel. But a new report shows that listening to the top Christmas songs while driving can lead to more accidents.

The study was based on how many beats per minute each song has. The most dangerous song is Frosty the Snowman, apparently, followed by Mariah Carey, All I Want for Christmas Is You.

So, before I go to the panel, last week alone, Mariah Carey song was streamed 37 million times. And every time you stream the song, Mariah Carey gets a cent.

Last year, she made $1.9 million off her chart topping hit, All I Want for Christmas Is You. Jesse, what do you think?

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS CHANNEL HOST (on camera): I'm wondering why you call the cops so much in D.C., Richard.

FOWLER: Oh, no, I was -- you know, because, you know, your books that come into my house, and I don't order them. So, I have to keep calling the cops, so that (INAUDIBLE) --

WATTERS: OK. You said you call the cops a lot in D.C. I'm just -- I'm just wondering, you know, what could you be calling the cops so much for? I don't know, Richard. I saw that --

FOWLER: I only want that Amazon packages of Jesse's book. Sorry about that.

WATTERS: I saw the study was -- the study was commissioned by a -- Irish insurance company, and I looked into it, and it's called Chill Insurance. So, I'm beginning to think they made this thing up just for a little publicity. I don't buy it at all.

FOWLER: Katie, what's your take?

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR (on camera): I'm surprised Jessie didn't say this is just part of the war on Christmas. They want to eliminate people from listening to Christmas music in their car. So, I say, bah humbug, also don't believe it.

FOWLER: So, Sean, I'm thinking you and I we could record a new Christmas single and see if we can just rake in some Mariah Carey's money. But let's see. Well, what do you think?

SEAN DUFFY, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: I love that. First of all, I think those boring Christmas songs actually do make you fall asleep when you're driving, but the good ones like Baby It's Cold Outside, the new one with Santa's Got A Dirty Job. Those are all great songs that keep you going. But again, I find the ones that you can sing along with keep yourself awake.

FOWLER: How about you, Kayleigh? Do you like to sing along to Christmas music on your way home to see grandma and grandpa or with the kids?

(CROSSTALK)

KAYLEIGH MCENANY, FOX NEWS ANALYST: Yes, Yes, especially Mariah Carey. I mean, I'm all with you guys. I'm not -- I love Mariah Carey. But Richard, I mean, you just played the most dangerous Christmas carol and there are people who listen to Fox News on radio.

So, if you're listening to Frosty the Snowman, put your foot on the brakes, don't get too wild out there.

PAVLICH: Be careful.

MCENANY: No reason for that.

FOWLER: Up next, Wheel of Fortune fans are up in arms over this controversial moment that led to the contestant losing out on a brand new car.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLENE RUBUSH, CONTESTANT, WHEEL OF FORTUNE: Choosing the right word.

PAT SAJAK, WHEEL OF FORTUNE HOST: You know, this one's tough because you said all the right words including the word, word, but as you know, it's got to be more or less continuous. We'll allow for a little pause but not for or five seconds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOWLER: But don't worry, Santa Claus is still in the miracle making business. Audience processing getting this woman her car for Christmas. So, a win for this woman, boo on Will of Fortune. What do you think, Jesse?

WATTERS: I didn't think that Pat Sajak remember the rules to Wheel of Fortune. I mean, that -- you have to go deep into the Wheel of Fortune rulebook for that one.

FOWLER: Katie, your take?

PAVLICH: This is not a win for her. She's going to have to pay a lot of taxes on that Audi. It's not a free car.

FOWLER: That is very true. Sean Duffy, how do you feel about her getting an Audi for Christmas after Pat Sajak's mistake?

DUFFY: You know, I love it. It's great. And again, there was there a four second or five second rule. That they had is kind of like at my house, we have the three second rule, and when it falls on the floor, you can quick pick it up, and if it's only there for three seconds, it's fine to eat right? You guys -- you guys have that, Jessie? Kayleigh?

WATTERS: We have five second rule.

DUFFY: To see I get (INAUDIBLE) by timeframe.

MCENANY: I have 20 second rule.

DUFFY: We only three of my house.

FOWLER: Kayleigh, your take.

MCENANY: Yes, I've got a 20 second rule on my house. But look, even Vanna White was clapping for the guy, Come on Pat, Vanna White, you know, why her call the shots, she was clapping, give him the Audi.

FOWLER: One more thing is up next and we'll have Audis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: And before we get to "ONE MORE THING", tune in tomorrow for our "CHRISTMAS SPECIAL". We have a lot of holiday fun in store, so just don't not miss that.

Now, it's time for "ONE MORE THING", and I can't believe I'm doing this after shamelessly promoting my book the whole show. But it's what was on my sheet? So, I guess I have to promote it. Merry Christmas by the book.

Also, Merry Christmas. Watch "TUCKER TONIGHT". I'm filling in at 8:00 Eastern. And then, watch "WALTERS WORLD" on Christmas at 8:00 Eastern, Saturday night. That is my gift to you. All right? Unwrapped me.

Richard, don't -- Richard, don't unwrap me. I'm just saying the audience.

FOWLER: I'll pass.

I already passed. I already passed. That's OK.

WATTERS: Just don't call the cops.

FOWLER: Let's do this. Let's talk about an MVP. A third grade teacher in Washington, D.C. is exactly that.

Kathleen Fitzpatrick, also known as Miss Fitz, promised to treat her students to hot chocolate if she made this shot across the court. And needless to say her kids are pretty happy because Miss Fitz made the shot.

Big up to all the teachers out there. Happy Holidays educators.

WATTERS: Ah, the Knicks could use her.

PACLICH: So cute.

WATTERS: Katie P.

PAVLICH: They could. All right. So, if you have a puppy or even a cat, sometimes, when you have a Christmas tree they tend to get into the ornaments. So, this woman had a great idea knowing that her puppy is terrified of the vacuum. She put a bow on it and parked it right in front of the Christmas tree so that the puppy is no longer getting in trouble with the tree.

So, it's a little wall action going on there. The puppy's name is Hugo. It's a good idea for you Jesse, if Rookie starts getting in trouble.

WATTERS: Yes, little Christmas tree hack. I like it.

Sean, what you got?

PAVLICH: Yes.

WATTERS: Don't tell me it's the All American Christmas book. Don't tell me.

DUFFY: Wait. Don't spoil it, Jesse.

WATTERS: OK.

DUFFY: Yes, well, that is I, too wrote a book, All American Christmas.

WATTERS: Yes.

DUFFY: Actually, as Jesse would point out, Rachel is the top line Rachel Campus-Duffy. I'm a little smaller and beneath her. So, if you're -- if you're there, you're like a day before Christmas. You know, like I haven't bought Aunt Shannon, Aunt Bridget, Uncle Tom, Uncle Patrick a gift, This is a great gift for you, you late shoppers.

We have Jesse Watters. We see little pictures of Jesse and Dana's in the book, and Geraldo is in the book, sharing those traditions and recipes and pictures from our childhood Christmases, but also how we celebrate them today.

So, go out and grab it, and let's lean into Christmas, lean into our tradition. Let's make Christmas great again.

WATTERS: Yes, buy one for Aunt Shannon. All right, Kayleigh, take us home.

MCENANY: Yes. Well, Baby Blake, my daughter so excited for her third Christmas. We cut down a Christmas tree. My brother did.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: Oh, beautiful.

MCENANY: He's an emergency medicine doctor, one of our COVID heroes. Then, she went and told Santa what she wanted for Christmas. We could not get her to smile. There is that furious smile, smile, you know, ring a bell, here is a toy, But she didn't really smile. She's a little scared.

And then finally, she told Santa what she wanted for Christmas and I'm sorry for the shameless plug, but it was, of course, for such a time as this, my faith journey through the White House and beyond, full of pictures of Blake.

So, pick up your copy wherever books are sold.

WATTERS: All right, a lot of book shopping. I'm sure you guys are on it.

That's it for us. "SPECIAL REPORT" is up next with the Mike Emanuel.


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