'The Five' on Biden's policies, Chris Cuomo

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‘The Five’ discuss Biden’s ‘disconnect’ in response to ongoing crises

The panelists weigh in on the administration’s handling of pandemic, economic concerns.

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," November 30, 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 Emily Compagno, Geraldo Rivera, Dana Perino and Greg Gutfeld. It's 5:00 in New York City and this is THE FIVE.

Americans are losing faith fast in the president who promised America freedom from the virus. Joe Biden's flailing in the face of a new strain of COVID and not taking the possibility of new lockdowns off the table. His solution is more of the same, doubling down on vaccines and masks to stop the spread and here's what he said just a few moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: This new variant as a cause of concern but not a cause to panic. On Thursday, I'll put forward a detailed strategy outlining how we've gone -- we're going to fight this COVID this winter and not with shutdowns and lockdowns but with more widespread vaccination, boosters, testing and much more. In the meantime --

(APPLAUSE)

In the meantime, the best protection is getting fully vaccinated. Getting the booster shot.

(APPLAUSE)

I urge all Americans who haven't yet to get that done. Get it done today. We are going to keep fighting through this with every tool we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: But Americans aren't buying what Joe Biden is selling when it comes to the pandemic. Only 48 percent of voters thinks he's done a good job with COVID compared to 64 percent just six months ago. And then there is the big problems with inflation and the supply chain crisis that the White House has repeatedly blamed on COVID. Jen Psaki has some new spin to pass the buck.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are out there. Democrats and Congress are out there, many of them. We welcome Republican support I will continue to say, taking steps to lower costs. What is the Republican plan for lowering costs, for addressing inflation? Something they were very concerned about but they don't seem to have any solutions for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATTERS: And you buying that spin, Ms. Perino?

DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, like, I would say the Republicans are not for dumping a whole bunch more money into the government that would actually lead to inflation. Like, that's a plan. A plan to not spend is still a plan. Just because you're not adding more money to the deficit or to the budget doesn't mean that you don't have a plan that you do.

I actually think that what President Biden has done the past couple of days is pretty good, right? He said we're not going back to lockdowns.

WATTERS: Yes.

PERINO: I think he knows that that's one not necessary, but also politically untenable because he maxed out on his COVID credit card, right?

WATTERS: Yes.

PERINO: And now he wants to continue to swipe it but everyone's like no, you're maxed out.

WATTERS: Well --

PERINO: You don't have any more room to run on that. Plus things are different now. To his point we have vaccines. He doesn't bring up the fact that a couple of the companies, maybe even three now have a therapeutic pill --

WATTERS: Yes.

PERINO: -- that can be used for treatments. Plus, we're still waiting to find out more about the omicron variant. It could be that it is more transmissible but less deadly and possibly might have mild side effects for people so that that means that more of us get immunity and we can move on with our lives from there.

WATTERS: What are these new things that are going to be in this plan, do you think, Thursday, Greg?

GREG GUTFELD, FOX NEWS HOST: I don't know. You know, whenever I talk in absolutes I'm 100 percent wrong.

WATTERS: At least you're consistent.

GUTFELD: Anyway. This all comes down to good faith. Do you believe that the leader operates in good faith under similar circumstances? And he hasn't, you know. He spread lies when he was running for president about the vaccine. He allowed violence to unfold because he knew that it would hurt the Republicans.

He never really cared about the American people. He cared about his party. So, he had an issue with labeling half of America as racist or deplorables or whatever he called them. The fact is, you can't trust him. He is disconnected from reality. He is exempting federal workers from the restrictions that he's applying to everyone else. Again, that's an un-level playing field. He is not a unifier.

My point is if we thought he was operating in good faith and that he was cognitively capable, we probably would be okay with him, but there is too many mistakes that he has made. And this is -- this is a huge -- the pandemic is probably one of the biggest recent problems in history. And crises make the leader, but what if the leader is so disconnected that he can't be trusted to make sound decisions?

I don't believe he's capable of making sound decisions because I've been watching. This guy makes Mr. Magoo look like Winston Churchill. So forgive me if I'm just like, I'm not there for this, and I think to your point, which is everybody is saying now. Do you notice that? To your point --

PERINO: Yes.

GUTFELD: What was I going to say?

WATTERS: Think about what her point was.

GUTFELKD: That he's overused the COVID credit card and I think that we've had enough. The idea of a shutdown ain't going to happen. You do another shutdown, there's going to be -- there's going to be actual, you know, credible resistance. Not the kind of hashtag resistance you saw when Trump was elected. This stuff will be for real so, that's not on the table.

WATTERS: And Emily, his vax mandate got shot down by the court and then he just delayed his federal vax mandate until after the holidays. So, it's kind of everything he's done has been defanged.

EMILY COMPAGNO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely, but to hear him talk about it, you would think that it hasn't. And remember, to your point about him being full of --

PERINO: Oh, to your point.

COMPAGNO: -- of hot air that, remember back in March when he was a candidate and he said no wall stops the coronavirus, no travel ban stops the coronavirus, cut two. All that has changed is who is sitting in the White House because according to him, well, all that has changed just sitting to the White House, but the policy is exactly the same. But back then it was xenophobic and now it's working for some reason.

PERINO: Yes.

COMPAGNO: And, you know, bringing up now that he has said, well, I'm pushing back any type of punitive behavior or punitive repercussions to these people in the military who are choosing not to be vaccinated. Right now, there's a tremendous fight going on between the National Guard and the Pentagon under his watch, under his direction and those guys aren't going to get paid.

And just today, they were going back and forth with the press secretary of the Pentagon saying they are not going to get paid, they're not going to do operations, and that's a real threat to those families who are trying to earn their livelihoods and put food on the table.

And that's just one more disconnect that his credit card has been sort of overused by and that we see right through him. And he couldn't even get the name right, by the way. He was calling it omnicron. You guys hear that?

WATTERS: That's a tough one.

PERINO: I don't blame him though.

COMPAGNO: I do.

PERINO: It's a tough one to me.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS HOST: It sounds like a Marvel --

PERINO: -- nothing on that.

RIVERA: -- a Marvel character, Omnicron.

GUTFELD: No, it's the president of -- he's the president of France.

WATTERS: Macron. All right, Geraldo, your thoughts?

RIVERA: Well, my thoughts are I think that the analysis so far has been very harsh and partisan of President Biden. I think that he has taken the best steps he possibly can, given the fact he doesn't know very much. But by saying no new lockdowns, I think that's a very important moderation.

It hasn't worked to calm the markets. We had another awful day today, but it's two out of three so we're down well over a thousand points since Friday. But I also think, you know, having just returned from the newly independent Republic of Barbados --

GUTFELD: Of course.

RIVERA: -- as you know, over the weekend. They, you know, they don't have a travel ban. You come in to the country. You get -- you have to show your proof of vaccine -- vaccination, an up-to-date vaccination, and you have to take a test. That, I think, is the key to life. Show proof of vaccine, take a test and go wherever you want to.

WATTERS: That's the key to life?

RIVERA: I think that travel bans are ridiculously disruptive. We've seen that proven time and time again.

WATTERS: Well, they worked with China.

RIVERA: They work in a communist repressive country where they could lock people down and take their fingernails out.

WATTERS: No, no. They worked when we hit China with a travel ban, Geraldo. Fauci said it saved hundreds of thousands, if not, millions of lives. They do work, you have to admit.

RIVERA: I think that travel bans are ridiculous. I think national boundaries are arbitrarily drawn. When you start saying that you can go from Vermont to New Hampshire, I mean, what the hell are you talking about?

GUTFELD: But instead you want people to show their papers.

RIVERA: I want people to show that they are vaccinated.

PERINO: But I mean, to have a travel ban but have our southern border completely wide open does seem a little ridiculous.

WATTERS: Yes. That's when we're going to know that Biden is taking this threat seriously.

PERINO: Yes.

WATTERS: When he closes the southern border. Anymore ridiculous commentary, Geraldo? Are you done?

PERINO: (Inaudible) metaphor and we would like you to -- everybody --

RIVERA: Well, brace yourselves, brace yourselves. I think that you got to give the guy a few days to get his arms around this new variant. Let's see --

COMPAGNO: He had 15 years in service.

(CROSSTALK)

RIVERA: GUTFELD: You want to see -- you want to see -- with all due respect, you want to see what this thing is all about and whether we should be, you know, in a panic about it. I hope not. I don't think so. I think that the cases that have been presented so far has been relatively mild. I don't think there will be a big spike in hospitalizations. I think all eyes should be on hospitals though. When that starts ticking up, then we'll know there is real fear behind this omicron.

WATTERS: Okay. Well, it would help I think if he redirected some of his anger away from the American people and hit China with some of that. Maybe that would help with the goodwill Greg was talking about, you know? Confront China. Hold China accountable.

RIVERA: Oh, I'm not sure what -- what does China have to do with this (inaudible)?

WATTERS: What does China have to do with the China virus?

RIVERA: Today.

WATTERS: You know, you should have stayed in Barbados, Geraldo.

GUTFELD: Yes. Yes.

RIVERA: I thought this came from Africa.

WATTERS: Up next, CNN corruption on steroids. Chris Cuomo allowing on air despite shocking reports on what he did to his brothers accusers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COMPAGNO: CNN's credibility crisis just got a whole lot worse. The liberal network allowing Chris Cuomo on the air last night despite newly released bombshell text messages showing Chris trying to dig up dirt on the women accusing his brother Andrew Cuomo of sexual harassment.

The anchor texting a top aid to the brother about one of the accusers saying, "I have a lead with this wedding girl." In another text with the same aide, she writes, "Rumor going around from "Politico." One to two more people coming out tomorrow. Can you check your sources?" Cuomo responded, "On it. No one has heard that yet." The messages contradict what Cuomo told viewers back in August.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: I'm not an advisor, I'm a brother. I wasn't in control of anything. I was there to listen and offer my take. And my advice to my brother was simple and consistent. Own what you did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: Really?

COMPAGNO: The liberal network says it is reviewing the documents and seeking additional clarity on what Chris did. Like they need any more time, Greg. And meanwhile, Chris says he calls the criticism not legitimate and blames media noise.

GUTFELD: All right. I'm going to defend Chris Cuomo saying this knowing that if a Fox anchor had been doing this, CNN would demand of that scalp until he looked like Brian Stelter. You notice that -- you notice Stelter is not defending him because Stelter thinks he's going to get the 9:00, fat chance, literally.

My theory is as long -- my theory is as long as Joy Reid is employed, no one should ever be fired. Cuomo is a pompous, self-involved ass, that's why we love him. You get rid of him, I lose at least three to five segments a week of fun on my show. I am so pro-Cuomo, I'm going out there to protest for him. I want him to keep his job, but -- so watching MSNBC talk about him being fired, that's rich. That's too much.

Because Cuomo isn't a racist. Reid is a bona fide out of the closet bigot who repeatedly uses the word white as a derogatory adjective which she talks about white tears or white people. It's as though they are inferior. This is 2021 and there is a major network -- MSNBC is kind of a major network -- where they employ a racist in primetime who literally is derogatory towards an entire race. And she says the words out loud. Cuomo is nothing like that. So until she hasn't -- until she' gone, I'm on team Cuomo.

COPMPAGNO: Okay.

WATTERS: That was good.

PERINO: That's a tape (ph).

RIVERA: Has she ever responded?

GUTFELD: She's a racist. Why would she respond?

PERINO: It's terrible.

GUTFELD: She hates white people.

COMPAGNO: All right. So, Dana, one of the more insidious revelations I thought that I touched on in the intro is the fact that we now know Chris was leaning on his sources to potentially -- to contribute or potentially contribute to witness or accuser intimidation. I mean, this is a really big deal.

PERINO: Yes.

COMPAGNO: This is insidious.

PERINO: So, there is lots of things here. One is what he told the audience, right? So you saw that in the clip. He's like, I was just being a brother. Now, if he had said that from the beginning or even said I'm going to take a leave of absence. I'm going to try to, you know, I'm going to help my brother. I shouldn't be reporting on this and set (ph) -- fine. That would have been one thing, but he didn't do that.

And it's not just, you know, MSNBC calling for him to be fired. It's the accused -- one of the accusers for Andrew Cuomo who is saying that he should be fired. To me that's all a bit more credible, right? And then the Me Too Movement is well and truly dead if they don't do something about this.

And also, how much does he disrespect the bosses at CNN? And one last thing. What we have our e-mails and text messages because the attorney general is doing this. What you don't have is what was set on any phone call because that, you know, everybody knows the phone call is where you figure out exactly what you're going to say. You give the advice. I mean, we know that you've joined conference calls because of all of that. So I think that -- I think it's an incredibly terrible judgment on his part.

COMPAGNO: He did try unsuccessfully to get rid of even that text evidence by saying delete this thread to her. And Jesse, to Dana's point about the higher-ups at CNN, his former executive producer published an op-ed detailing a physical sexual harassment encounter which he didn't deny. In fact, he apologize for it in writing.

And let me point out, it was the exact same scenario that his brother is being criminally prosecuted for. It's forcible touching on the buttocks, under his watch, under his policy that Governor Cuomo instated. The irony of this is not lost on anyone and he sits there night after night on air.

WATTERS: So, he's already on thin ice. So, if you are Zucker, you have to act like you're going through the motions and pondering the future of Chris Cuomo to look like you're a legitimate news organization. They are disinformation outlet for DNC. That's what they really are.

So they're pretending and you got to look at the resume. The guy is the highest rated guy on CNN. You just re-signed him to a deal. He's still getting slaughtered at 9:00 by Hannity and by Maddow. So, you'd have to cut him loose.

Is he damaged goods? Is he worth all the trouble that you're getting right now or could you kind of weather the storm and instead maybe just suspend him for two weeks, take stock afterwards and then give the guy another shot and hope no one really notices?

Is he going to be contrite if you suspend him? It doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would be contrite, so I don't know. But Zucker is in a jam because you're looking at the ratings, CNN. I mean, they got three more years of Biden's poison. They are in deep, deep trouble. And so who do you replace Cuomo with at 9:00? Have you groomed anybody? I mean, do you have a strategy? It doesn't seem like they have a big strategy here.

COMPAGNO: As long as that person doesn't sexually harass or contribute to witness intimidation, you would think it would be a safe choice. Geraldo, the liberal media is calling for him to be fired as well. "Rolling Stone" leading the charge --

PERINO: Yes.

COMNPAGNO: -- published an article with the headline that said "Chris Cuomo getting caught for Doing Something that any other journalist would be fired for." NPR on board, "The Independent", the list goes on. He has no one in his corner it seems except for Zucker.

RIVERA: Well, I don't believe any of those liberal organizations. I think they are all hysterical from time to time. A couple of things. You know, Chris Cuomo is my protAcgAc. I helped him learn the business. He was my host on my talk show as I was trying to transition out to being --

GUTFELD: Look at Emily's face.

RIVERA: He is a friend so I'll give you that first. Secondly, as far as I know there was no allegation at least from August on that he used his program in any way to help his brother. So that's the difference between what he does behind the scenes as a private citizen and what he's doing as an anchor using CNN to manipulate what's going on. I think that would've been much, much, much worse.

And thirdly, I hear no one mentioning anymore, Letitia James, the attorney general of New York State, is the most hysterically left-wing public official. She is rabid in her ambition to be governor. She announced her candidacy for governor even as she was trying to get rid of Governor Andrew Cuomo. It is fraught with politics. This whole thing is filthy and I think that Zucker is right to keep his powder dry. Let's see if indeed Chris used his position to steer CNN --

PERINO: That's the standard?

RIVERA: -- that is the standard, I believe.

GUTFELD: But you know what -- you know what -- so that -- when you put it that way, it's kind of enjoyable because it's not like Cuomo is a conservative that he's been no friend to an independent thinker. He's a lockstep leftist. To watching them devour themselves is actually enjoyable. So -- but Letitia James going after -- he's not much less -- he's as liberal as she is if you listen to his editorials.

COMPAGNO: I think rabid is hyperbolic. I think she has just declared her interest, her candidacy. And remember who signs the paychecks.

PERINO: She didn't block for the text messages.

COMPAGNO: There you go. And the New York taxpayers thanks to open the books, we now know paid almost $5 million in legal fees for the elder brother Cuomo. So, you're this -- all right, fine. Got to go.

RIVERA: Wait, but the fact that she drops this the same time she announces her candidacy, that's not relevant, the timing?

COMPAGNO: You called it rabid. I don't think it's rabid.

RIVERA: I think rabid is --

COMPAGNO: I think, whatever. All right, coming up --

PERINO: It's not Letitia James' fault that Andrew Cuomo was an ass.

GUTFELD: You watch your mouth young lady.

WATTERS: Dana.

PERINO: Sorry.

(CROSSTALK)

RIVERA: I yield to that. I yield.

COMPAGNO: Okay. Coming up, Americans loading up on guns at a record pace as Biden's crime wave explodes across the country.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: Americans raising to arm themselves while crime surges across country. The FBI running nearly 190,000 background checks on Black Friday alone. That's way up from last year, and perhaps this could be why. Smash and grab rampages not just happening in California but breaking out all across the country in places like New York, Chicago and Minnesota. It's forcing some stores to beef up security and is causing some people to decide it maybe they shouldn't go shopping and just buy it online, Greg.

GUTFELD: Black Friday, more like Glock Friday.

PERINO: Okay.

GUTFELD: We'll be right back. I said this a million times, gun control is dead and it was killed but the leftists and the media. They killed it by pushing riots as protests and pushing the defunding and demoralization of law enforcement. All that's left is the Second Amendment and it's dawning on everyone like a giant red nuclear pill that it was detonated over America, that the only thing between you and anarchy is self-protection.

The problem with the Democrats and it's a problem in every facet of life, from immigration to self-protection, they don't understand human nature and the incentivization of human nature. They have been incentivizing gun purchases by decriminalizing crime and putting the criminal on a pedestal while putting victims in jeopardy.

No cash bail means that if you call the cops because you were assaulted, that guy is going to be out and now he's going to be pissed off because you called and he's going to be out. If he's in your neighborhood, you're screwed. Your only recourse is to protect yourself. This is why you can no longer crackdown on legal guns because it's going to be a war. Because, you know what, it's the lawful citizen who is armed.

PERINO: So, that is actually another interesting point, Geraldo, that about just the support. So, some people used to say like the NRA was the worst thing possible thing. But now there's all these new gun owners that are law-abiding gun owners. They went to the background check and got their gun.

RIVERA: The biggest job of government is to keep citizens safe and if there's a feeling of insecurity then people are taking it into their own hands and that's why they're buying these weapons. I think bail reform as - - will join defund the police as among the most failed public slogans in modern political history. It's horrible.

You know I've said it many, many times. Look at Chicago. Look at the Philadelphia now, 506 deaths in the city of brotherly love. New York, hundreds. My little town of Cleveland almost approaching 200. It's a -- it is appalling. There is a ghetto civil war. We have to recognize it.

Anarchy rules when you can loot a luxury store or a Walmart with 30 strong, 40 strong, 50 strong. Why isn't someone taking the license plate numbers of all the people who are participating? These aren't random acts. These are - - these are criminal conspiracies. These are, you know --

PERINO: Also because they blacked out their license plate.

RIVERA: Well, some of them did. But they there must be a way when 40 cars show up to identify them. This one has a bump in the left fender this one - - it takes a little more detective work, perhaps, if they're covering their license plates, but you can identify, you can track them down, you can treat them as organized -- with RICO statutes, as organized criminal enterprises, and show that the government has some balls.

GUTFELD: They use temporary paper plates that are -- that are fake, so they just tear them off.

WATTERS: But they don't have what you said, cojones, in your native language, Geraldo. They don't have that. Because Joe Biden this summer announced this big anti-gun trafficking task force. Did they make one big bust? They have not made one big bust, right? And I found out the only bust they made, Trump initiated the sting two years ago. So, they actually took credit for the bust Trump did.

As a statistician on THE FIVE, we found some interesting information.

PERINO: OK.

WATTERS: When I say we, I mean Johnny found. As gun ownership grows, gun homicides go down.

GUTFELD: Exactly.

WATTERS: Because you don't usually mess with someone that is probably armed. And that's why you see a lot of gun homicides happen in urban America because they have such strict gun control measures it's very hard for people to get a legal gun. The only people that have the guns are the felons.

And to your point, you can use weapons, and then you can then get arrested and liberal DAs will not prosecutor for you. For instance, in Chicago, big bloody weekend, 52 shot -- little while back -- 10 dead. They arrested 19 gangbangers in this gang sweep. Almost all of them had prior gun charges on them. And the next day, 11 out of the 19 were back walking around on the streets.

So, you can talk tough about, you know, I'm going to get tough on guns. They never get tough.

RIVERA: But where is stop and frisk? We are our police roadblocks? Where are the obvious steps necessary to disarm --

GUTFELD: Remember, stop and frisk is called racist.

PERINO: Yes. I mean, Emily, so, from the prosecutor standpoint, and the pullback by police, the prosecutors wanting no cash bail or not even prosecuting the crimes, there's going to be a recall of Gascon in Los Angeles. And that could -- that could actually send shockwaves if it were to succeed.

EMILY COMPAGNO, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. And she said -- Boudin as well, the District Attorney in San Francisco that's up on the recall ballot in June. It's because the American people got duped when they vote for criminal justice reform, what they think might lead to criminal justice reform, and instead, they got ushered in these radical progressive left, absolutely ridiculous prosecutors who don't even deserve to be called prosecutor --

GUTFELD: (INAUDIBLE)

COMPAGNO: -- who absolutely dropped the ball. But let's take San Francisco for a second. So, they defended their police, they've absolutely emasculated all types of law enforcement there. They refuse to prosecute anything. Crime has skyrocketed. Livelihoods have been destroyed. And now a San Francisco supervisor has proposed oh, we're going to make it easier for businesses to hire sheriffs armed and also in their uniform, but paid for by the business and it's on off duty hours.

So, when you said the biggest role of government plays is keeping it citizens safe. Exactly. That's what our taxes pay for. But there in San Francisco where taxes are sky-high, their residents pay to be safe, and yet the city lets them down in that regard. And so, retail business owners have to pay twice for the same law enforcement officers to stand and be potentially killed in the line of duty like law enforcement officer Nishita who was gunned down during one of those lootings which we can't say because it's racist, because he was protecting, ironically, a news crew in Oakland.

GUTFELD: Right.

COMPAGNO: That same media that fails to call this for what it is. It's an abomination.

PERINO: On that note, is a new free speech crackdown coming? What Twitter's new CEO said that has conservatives worry.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

RIVERA: George Harrison later in the program, there will be a special regard to George on the 20th anniversary of his passing. But this segment's about Twitter, and it's going through a major change in leadership. Conservatives worried a crackdown on freedom of speech could be coming as a result.

Jack Dorsey, the guy with the big beard out as CEO of the social media giant. He's been replaced by his former Chief Technology Officer Parag Agrawal who is raising eyebrows with these past comments. "Our role is not to be bound by the first amendment, but our role is to serve a healthy public conversation and our moves are reflective of things that we believe lead to a healthier public conversation."

Before I address that, I have to say that the real scandal is that the Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen still has more Twitter followers than I do. @GeraldoRivera please, if you're a true patriot, let me pass Suhail.

GUTFELD: He also had a mustache.

RIVERA: I don't think he does, Greg. It's obscured by that big bushy beard. So, should Twitter be bound by the First Amendment, it's a private company?

GUTFELD: This is -- it's the private company lie because this thing didn't exist before. And the fact is, we're using these things as though it is a public domain, so it is -- in a way, it is censorship. And we know that he is biased because in his previous tweets and stuff, he does show an alliance towards kind of like --

RIVERA: You mean the new guy.

GUTFELD: Yes, the new guy -- wokeism. If he had real -- and may I say the word -- balls, he would -- he should reinstate Trump and I'll tell you why.

WATTERS: Yes.

GUTFELD: Because Trump showed everybody the primary reason why Twitter matters. That you use it to bypass legacy media and the elite classes by creating your own carpool lane, right? You jet by everybody else.

At times, of course, he was hilarious, that he was cruel, he'd be insane, that he'd be brilliant, but it was trans -- more trans -- more transformative. I almost said something else. So, Trump understood Twitter better than the people who run Twitter which is no wonder why they threw him off. But it would be -- if he actually like had some stones, he should put -- he should put Trump back up.

But he won't because he said things that make it clear that he's more to the woke than Jack Dorsey was.

PERINO: Yes.

RIVERA: Well, Dana, can I ask you the same question? Is the Trump ban legit given the fact that they believed he was fomenting civil disorder and distrust in our institutions? Was the Trump ban legit from their point of view?

PERINO: Well, as long as -- well, I think -- like, as long as you're on the private company train, yes. I mean, you can do whatever you want. They could ban me today and they just might after what I have to say.

RIVERA: Fasten your seatbelt.

PERINO: Do you really think it can't get worse than Jack Dorsey? Like, America, think about this for a second. You know, he was flawed person. He admits that. He's going to go on and do other things.

RIVERA: You're talking about Jack Dorsey, yes.

PERINO: Yes, Jack Dorsey. But at least you could get to him and he would be somewhat responsive. Basically, this guy is just saying like, we're going to determine what a healthy conversation is. And now, there's legislation in Congress, bipartisan legislation actually, that would require these companies to be more of a neutral platform. I don't know if it'll pass.

RIVERA: Unconstitutional.

PERINO: Well, see, and there's the point. So, does -- is Twitter allowed to ban people? Yes, of course. But if you think that it can't get worse, I think that it will. Plus, also the new CEO has all these tweets from like going back 10 years. Some of them are ridiculous. You're about to take over this company and you don't know how to delete tweets? I mean, that seems kind of strange.

RIVERA: But you know, talking about deleting tweets, isn't it you know, worrisome that your tweet lives forever and no matter how many times you delete it, it could still surface if you were running for this or that. Even these guys running for president, in Dana's words, you know, they can't delete to effective -- they can't get rid of your history.

GUTFELD: I can't -- I can't see another shirtless tweet of Geraldo, yet every day somebody sends a tweet.

RIVERA: Yes.

GUTFELD: Everybody sends a tweet.

RIVERA: That was eight years -- eight years ago.

GUTFELD: I know. It hasn't aged. It has not aged.

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: That hasn't aged. Let's leave blunt Geraldo. This --

RIVERA: I have one from the bottom.

WATTERS: All right. Oh, Geraldo. God, you are a sick man.

RIVERA: Keep it moving. Keep it moving.

WATTERS: Sick.

RIVERA: OK. I was -- I was talking -- I was thinking of my native language which was English.

WATTERS: Don't -- skip talking, Geraldo, for the rest of the segment. You're banned. But the new guy sucks. The best part about having this phone --

PERINO: You're going to get banned.

WATTERS: -- is because people send you memes they find on Twitter. My friends send me the Pelosi meme. I get Fauci in here. It's like the best part of the day. Or you see all these guys that go film people looting or they film Antifa, you're not going to be able to do that anymore.

O'Keefe, he's hunting people down in parking garages. They're not going to allow that. This reminds me of the future, you know. Like, when everything goes wrong in the future, everybody wears gray and you have some overlord in robes walking down a hallway that's all been disinfected.

And he looks at me and I have a microchip in my abs, and I have nice abs in the future, and it shows him my social credit score.

RIVERA: Well, that would be a change.

WATTERS: Very funny. And then he bans me to like Montana and puts me in a timeout because I have negatively contributed to the healthy conversation.

RIVERA: May I -- may I move the conversation?

WATTERS: Xi Jinping love this guy, Geraldo. And that's why we should be so scared.

RIVERA: May I move the conversation? But you have TikTok, you have Instagram. You know, younger folks like yourself are abandoning Twitter anyway. Why worry about one social media platform when there are so many?

COMPAGNO: Well, first of all, I love that in your hellish future, everyone wears gray. Like, that was your first complaint.

WATTERS: They do.

COMPAGNO: The monochromaticness of it or whatever. To your question, I think, unfortunately, Twitter is a used platform among the youth. That's why almost 90 percent of pre-teens reference including Twitter the online harassment and bullying they suffer is contributing directly to suicidal ideation.

The scariest part to me of Parag's comments was when he said Twitter's role is moving towards how we recommend content, how he direct people's attention to leading a healthy public conversation. So, the notion that people think they're actually like free to read what they run, that people are seeing their thoughts equally, conservative or not, is such a joke.

These guys are manufacturing what you see, what pre-teens see, what anorexics see on all of those platforms and we just laugh it up. To your point, I would take that red pill in the future. And if it meant we were banished to Montana, I'll take it all day.

GUTFELD: I love Montana.

COMPAGNO: But Twitter is the worst, the worst of all those platforms.

RIVERA: But why don't the conservatives mount a rival that's formidable?

PERINO: They tried.

COMPAGNO: They have. They've tried. And Apple prevents them -- it prevents people from using it on IOS.

RIVERA: But the market -- the market tells you ---

WATTERS: But it's a fun idea to mix it up, you know --

COMPAGNO: They effectively --

(CROSSTALK)

RIVERA: Up next, as we mix it up, the Biden administration once again proving that they too can be clueless and out of touch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: The Biden Administration once again proving how out of touch they really are. Check out this solution from Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg for soaring gas prices.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, U.S. SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: Families that once they own that electric vehicle will never have to worry about gas prices again. The people who stand to benefit most from owning an EV are often rural residents who have the longest distances to drive, they burn the most gas, and underserved urban residents in areas where there are high gas prices and there are lower income.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: So, Emily, I am aware that you have a crush on him. I've got some bad news for you. He's not going to return the favor. But I wanted --

RIVERA: He's not that into you.

GUTFELD: Yes. Put aside the infatuation and tell me, did what he say makes sense?

COMPAGNO: I think it makes sense in a vacuum and that's the problem, that this is emblematic of this administration. Head in the clouds, nowhere near reality or what normal Americans are thinking about and care about.

And Buttigieg to me is like a dog with a job. You know, at the airport, like, so excited for his job. So, he's earnest. He means it. Like, I'm like, OK. But the problem is, instead of the 55,000 average cost of an electric car, people just want to be able to afford the gas for the car they have now. They want to afford the products at the store that the trucking losses in the supply chain are contributing to there being a dearth in the shelves and everything. So, he gets an A for effort.

GUTFELD: Oh, A for effort, Dana. What grade you give him?

PERINO: Well -- oh I hate that question, the grade question.

GUTFELD: All right, how about rate him from one to ten.

PERINO: But basically, this is his get a green job moment.

GUTFELD: Right.

PERINO: Right? So, remember when John Kerry was like, oh, you lost your job. Well, that's cool. You could just get a green job. Well, guess what? There are no green jobs. And all of the subsidies that they're going to throw at electric vehicles will mean that they're so much more expensive than other cars.

I understand there will be a transition. That's fine. What if you park on the street? Where are you going to plug that thing in? Also, he said you want to pay for gas. Well, you're going to have to pay for electricity. You think that's not going to go up?

GUTFELD: Exactly.

PERINO: Of course.

GUTFELD: And I love -- I love that they're going to have the electric -- the electric stations in inner cities and rural areas because everybody there, they can afford these cars, Jesse.

WATTERS: They're going to put a half a million electric car charging stations over the country. It's going to be such a mess. I can't wait. I'm going to deface every time I see one of them. That was a joke. I'm going to leave them alone.

I think they should put Mayor Pete on the price is right. Do you ever see someone go on the Price is Right and they have like no idea how much stuff costs? Like, a vacuum cleaner. That's $30.00.

PERINO: That's a great bid.

WATTERS: He needs to do that. Mayor Pete needs to do that.

COMPAGNO: My sister won Price is Right in college.

WATTERS: No way.

PERINO: Oh, wow.

COMPAGNO: She went on it. (INAUDIBLE)

(CROSSTALK)

WATTERS: How did she do on the showdown?

COMPAGNO: That's where she lost, the final showdown.

RIVERA: Nobody asked me but yeah smog is real, electric vehicles are the future. Let them try. Give it a tax credit. Give it a shot.

WATTERS: They're not ready yet.

RIVERA: Batteries will get better. They'll get the higher capacity. We'll get rid of --

GUTFELD: I'm pro-batteries.

WATTERS: Do you own an electric vehicle?

RIVERA: Not in my lifetime.

WATTERS: Do you own an electric car, Geraldo?

RIVERA: I own a Bentley.

WATTERS: Case closed. I rest my case.

COMPAGNO: That's amazing.

GUTFELD: "ONE MORE THING" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: It's time now for "ONE MORE THING." Greg.

GUTFELD: All right, it's time for Greg's year in history, history, history. This happened exactly one year ago today.

PERINO: Oh boy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PERINO: As a conservative woman, you just are like -- you know, you're not going to get the glowing profile, so you just get (BLEEP) on, right?

GUTFELD: Oh, yes.

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CONTRIBUTOR: True.

PERINO: Stuff done. Get your stuff done.

GUTFELD: Yes, yes. Best Monday after Thanksgiving ever.

PERINO: I had another great point. But I --

PAVLICH: Amen, Dana.

WATTERS: Christmas came early.

GUTFELD: It's always Dana who swears.

WATTERS: Well, I could never get away with something like that.

PERINO: I apologize. I didn't mean to say that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Oh, memories. Memories of a filthy, filthy woman. Do you remember how awful that was sitting like that in that -- in those social distancing days?

PERINO: Yes. And like, when my feet didn't reach the rung of the stool.

GUTFELD: That doesn't happen to me. I'm six feet tall.

WATTERS: Very good. I like looking back at that.

Cyber Monday, guys. It's over but you can still get some good deals at the Fox New Shop, 20 percent off, people. So, we have some good items here. Not only do we have this long sleeve T and I like a tumbler which I think Emily took up, but we have a "WATTERS' WORLD" Christmas ornament. This is the only thing they've ever made for me, this stupid ornament.

GUTFELD: My brother-in-law bought it.

WATTERS: But I love it. Merry Christmas. Get your "WATTERS' WORLD" ornaments. Get your shirts, your socks.

PERINO: At be like -- be a globe. No?

WATTERS: Yes, Dana. We're not happy with it. We know. But I'll put it on our tree anyway. We love the Fox News Shop.

PERINO: I'll put it on my tree.

WATTERS: Check it out. Yes, they're flying off the shelves. Dana.

PERINO: All right, well, Christmas is around the corner, as you know. Everyone is writing their wish list to Santa including these penguins. Let's show them up. They got to get their little letters to Santa in the box --

COMPAGNO: Oh, cute.

PERINO: -- and then they get fish --

COMPAGNO: Adorable.

PERINO: -- if they -- if they get it right. And my producer, Karen, got them exactly what they wanted, which is my book, Everything Will Be Okay. There's actually a wonderful independent bookshop in Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the Little Point Bookshop. They're having a special sale this week.

If you order my book by December 5, you'll get a personalized copy signed by me just in time for Christmas. So, if you go to littlepointbookshop.com, you can order it.

GUTFELD: It sounds so precious.

WATTERS: Yes.

PERINO: The Little Point Bookshop? It's adorable. And everybody should buy their books at independent bookstores.

WATTERS: Yes. It is a good time to start --

PERINO: That should be your New Year's resolution, everyone.

WATTERS: -- plugging our books again. Thank you for that, Dana. Geraldo?

RIVERA: 20 years ago this week, George Harrison, the quiet Beatle passed. He was a great guy. 15 years before his death, almost exactly, I interviewed him for Entertainment Tonight. I was working for Entertainment Tonight just before we started our daytime show. And here is a clip of George Harrison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERA: For how long are you going to rock and roll?

GEORGE HARRISON, MEMBER OF THE BEATLES: I don't know. I just supposed until I fall over.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIVERA: He's going to rock forever.

WATTERS: I love it.

RIVERA: Taxman, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Got My Mindset On You, My Sweet Lord. I met him back in 1971 when they did a concert in Madison Square Garden, the concert for Bangladesh with Ravi Shankar and Ringo Starr. The Beatles, great.

WATTERS: Very good. Very good.

COMPAGNO: That's awesome.

GUTFELD: He's on the Beatles?

COMPAGNO: That's really cool.

WATTERS: Emily.

COMPAGNO: All right, you guys. So, my family's winery, Ardiri, we have our annual Howliday Fest this Saturday. That is where people bring their dogs to take photos with Santa and all proceeds benefit the Oregon Humane Society. It's from 11 to one. The Oregon Humane Society rescues, heals, and adopts more than 11,000 pets each year. And what you're looking at are a few of our favorite photos. Ardiri Winery this Saturday. Merry Christmas!

PERINO: That's cute.

WATTERS: Very cute.

RIVERA: Oregon.

COMPAGNO: Yes, in Oregon.

WATTERS: Howliday, I think I get it.

RIVERA: Oregon.

PERINO: Howliday.

WATTERS: That's it for us. "SPECIAL REPORT" is up next with Bret.

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