Dana Perino calls out Biden for distracting vaccine mandate during 9/11 weekend
'The Five' discusses GOP governors fighting against Biden's vaccine mandates.
This is a rush transcript of "The Five" on September 10, 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 P., Geraldo, Dana P., and Tyrus the champ. It's five o'clock in New York City, and this is The Five.
President Biden telling Republican governors to bring it on as they prepare lawsuits to fight back against the sweeping vaccine mandates that are going to impact up to a hundred million Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, I am so disappointed, particularly with some of the Republican governors, I have been so cavalier with the health of these kids, so cavalier with the health of their communities. This is, this is, we are playing for real here. This isn't a game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: And Republican sound like they are happy to oblige calling the mandates patently unconstitutional.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): I don't think it actually helps to get more people to ultimately do it. But I do not believe that people should lose their jobs over this issue and we will fight that.
GOV. TATE REEVES (R-MS): We live in America and you would expect words like that from the president maybe of communist China or of North Korea.
GOV. KRISTI NOEM (R-SD): This is not a power that is delegated to the federal government, it's unbelievable to me what he is doing. I knew he'd wreck this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: And it looks like these vaccine mandates are just the beginning.
The White House says buckle up because there could be more along the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Is he now considering mandating vaccinations to fly domestically?
JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We are always looking at more we can do to protect and save lives. Obviously, he made a significant and bold announcement yesterday so I don't have anything to predict or preview for you but we will continue to look for ways to save more lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATTERS: Al right, Geraldo, say this is an essential worker who worked during the pandemic, front-line worker there every day, maybe she caught COVID. And now because she doesn't want the vaccine because he has immunity, is going to get fired. What would you say to her?
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE: Well, you are asking an emotional, personal question. As a lawyer, I could give you the constitutional arguments.
WATTERS: But you are not an emotional person, Geraldo. I've never heard that before.
RIVERA: Jacobson versus Massachusetts.
WATTERS: Yes.
RIVERA: Makes very clear that individual liberties --
WATTERS: Yes.
RIVERA: -- like that lady very sympathetic person that you described. Her liberties are not absolute. The state has what's called police power. The state has the right in the state's wisdom or lack of wisdom to determine what the rules are.
WATTERS: Well, there was lack of wisdom with that precedent, they ended up sterilizing like hundreds of thousands of women, you know, decades ago because they were crazy and they were having imbecilic children. That was agreed upon consensus back then.
RIVERA: What irks me is to see all of those governors, most of them Republican or all of them Republican as I am, saying this is blatantly unconstitutional, this is unconstitutional. The Constitution of the United States -- they don't even read the Constitution. They have no idea what they are talking about. They are not lawyers and the law has been on the books since 1905, 1905.
In other words, even the Supreme Court would have to reverse over a century of precedent to give the individual the right.
WATTERS: Well, Katie, that's if Joe Biden can argue the science, --
KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes.
WATTERS: -- which he is having a hard time doing. If you are going to say you have immunity then why do you need the vaccine or what if you have 99 people under your employment? So, what is the difference there if you are going to let illegal immigrants cross?
PAVLICH: Yes.
WATTERS: No vaccine there? What's -- is it emergency? Not for them.
PAVLICH: Apparently, it doesn't affect them.
WATTERS: No.
PAVLICH: The Babylon Bee had a great headline this week saying the Constitution has died of COVID. I'm not sure that President Biden reads the Constitution either. And an argument that is being made is that this is the states right issue not the federal government actually doesn't have broad power to mandate issues like this.
But I wanted to dispel this myth first of all that's going around that if you are anti-vaccine mandate when you are anti-vaccine, that's something that the White House is trying to pin on Republicans. And also, Republicans have done a very good job of, Ron DeSantis is a great example of this, of getting the vaccine available to vulnerable communities.
I remember last time or earlier this year, Ron DeSantis was accused of a pay to play scheme because he was so efficient at getting vaccines into the public grocery system by 60 minutes. And it was such a bogus story that the Democrats were even defending him on that.
So, this idea that Republicans are somehow being cavalier or aren't concerned about people's health is a total lie, and in fact, a lot of Republicans like Arizona Governor Ducey has faced a lot of criticism for being too harsh on things like lockdowns for gyms and restaurants.
So, it's just not true what the White House is saying in terms of trying to force Republicans into this anti-vax box and act like they are the saviors of the country by now mandating this vaccine and ignoring natural immunity.
WATTERS: This could go on forever. If it mutates, if there is another variant, its booster after booster, it never ends, permanent pandemic, permanent emergency power.
GEORGE 'TYRUS' MURDOCH, FOX NEWS POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But here's the thing. This has nothing to do with the virus and that's what's shameful.
This is tribalism at its worst and the American people, Republicans and Democrats, it's all political. They're not -- if either one of them looked at the science and said, we are going to figure this out the right way, but the Democratic -- their new agenda is if you are not taking the vaccine you are a Trumper and you are against government. And it's Republicans, whatever they say, we're not going to play with anyways.
Instead of looking at just going back to the science, because if both parties were focused on the science, there would be some line of agreement but it's just tribalism. They can't even -- Gutfeld had an interview with President Trump, and in the most classy way he talked about how important it was to be vaccinated.
He tried to convince his wife, Gutfeld's wife to be vaccinated while respecting her, that's what you would expect from President Biden, that's what you would hope to get from governors but it's not about that. It's political. And who's suffering? Us. Small business owners, their necks are getting stepped on by this rule.
You have a hundred employees and if they get vaccinated and they get result, like they got a bad effect from the shot and they can't work, you have to pay their salary while they are out. That's not going to be open to fraud it all. That's not going to be taken advantage of.
So, they barely get through COVID, then in certain parts of the country you deal with the hurricane, and now you are telling them that they have to fire employees if they don't get vaccinated and support them if they get sick? How do you expect small businesses in America to survive this?
WATTERS: We talked about not following the science yesterday. He comes out there, he says, Dana, we need to protect the vaccinated from the unvaccinated. That makes no sense.
DANA PERINO, FOX NEWS CO-HOST: Yes, I just wrote down how incoherent that was. He wanted to make sure that everyone knew that the vaccines do protect you but we have to protect you from the unvaccinated. And I understand what they mean in terms of breakthrough cases but if you just look at the numbers, --
WATTERS: Yes.
PERINO: -- you have to -- you have to look at the numbers. You are talking about life and death decisions. You're talking about businesses and all of that. I am just continuously surprised of how the White House has a total blind spot in its communication to a huge part of the country. Did anyone here watch "The West Wing?"
PAVLICH: Yes.
PERINO: And remember Ainsley Hayes?
PAVLICH: Yes.
PERINO: Ainsley Hayes was the Republican that they hired and they put her in the basement and every once in while President Bartlett would call her up and say, what do you think of this? And she would say, you're crazy. You should not say that, you should say it this way. And I don't understand why they don't have someone like that there.
Do you remember yesterday I said I don't understand why he's giving the speech today? We are about to go into a very important unifying weekend to mark 20 years since the 9/11 attacks. It wasn't urgent. None of these things seemed to be urgent. It hasn't even been a month since he started the federal vaccine mandate, federal employee vaccine mandate --
WATTERS: Yes.
PERINO: -- so you don't know if that's working. And I have a theory.
WATTERS: What is it?
MURDOCH: This is a great theory.
PERINO: They wanted to try to change the subject --
WATTERS: Of course.
PERINO: -- from Afghanistan. Like he has not much to talk about 9/11 very much, though he's going to go to three places, but he's not going to give anywhere, just one video. I think they did this for Gavin Newsom, the governor of California because the Democrats in California really wanted this. What would -- what happened in the first hour after the speech? The L.A. County school district mandated that any student in that school district that was eligible for a vaccine must get the vaccine.
WATTERS: And gave Newsom cover.
PERINO: And gave him a little, you want turnout, you want Newsom to look like he is got an ally in the White House? I think that it would be interesting to ever find out.
WATTERS: You know, it's true because they rushed the rule. The rules aren't written yet.
PERINO: Right.
PAVLICH: Right.
PERINO: And they didn't -- why wait -- they couldn't wait until Monday after the 9/11 effect because the election is on Tuesday.
WATTERS: Exactly.
PERINO: That's my theory.
WATTERS: Dana Perino with another theory.
PAVLICH: She's right.
WATTERS: And usually right, usually.
PERINO: We'll see.
WATTERS: Up next, America sets to mark a 9/11 while the Biden administration gloats about with the, quote, "businesslike" Taliban.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAVLICH: On the eve of 9/11, the Biden administration getting blasted for working with the Taliban, the same terror group that 20 years ago gave safe harbor to Al Qaeda. The White House even praising them as the professional and businesslike while 100 Americans are still stuck in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, while White House press secretary Jen Psaki saying today this about accountability.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: I'm sure if there had been any offers of resignation from anyone in the chain of command or anyone involved in the decision with the evacuation.
PSAKI: No.
UNKNOWN: So, the president is still confident in those --
PSAKI: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAVLICH: So, Dana, we are seeing this break between generals, leadership in the Pentagon and veterans of the Afghanistan war in the past couple of weeks as people try to process how this happened to end this way.
PERINO: Well, it's interesting also, just that if somebody has something of yours that is of value and you need to get it back but they hold all the cards, you are going to have to be nice to them until you get it back. And it could be that one of the reasons they have to use words like businesslike is because they want to make sure that they can get the Americans or green card holders or the people who helped us in the war out, which is probably obviously not happening.
You've seen some of the pictures today, we know what the Taliban is doing.
I'm actually also in touch as I know a lot of you are with some of these groups, private groups, former veterans and others that are trying to get people out and the Taliban is hunting them.
PAVLICH: Yes.
PERINO: And they know that. And so, it's like they are one step ahead of the Taliban to try to get this done but they also are holding their fire because they need the cooperation of the State Department in order to help them.
Now you pay a price for not having anybody on the ground, it's one of the things that they keep saying at the State Department and at the White House. They said, well, we don't have anyone on the ground so we are trying our best. And I just think -- it's just such a debacle, I cannot believe --
PAVLICH: Yes.
PERINO: -- that we're -- that it's happened. And you know, I was just, you know, on Newsroom we had the interview with the interpreter, Carl (Ph), and we keep track of his progress. I mean, he is safe. But there is just very little that can be done outside of these outside groups.
PAVLICH: So, Jesse, if you look 9/11 tomorrow and the situation that the United States is in with very little leverage, if any, over the Taliban.
You have people looking back on the past 20 years, looking at the actions of the Obama administration.
The fact that some of the people they swapped for Bowe Bergdahl are now back in charge. We were told by the Biden administration that they would not make it back to the battlefield. Let's take a look at what Jen Psaki said about it in 2015 and we'll get you to react.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PSAKI: Was it worth it? Absolutely. We have a commitment to our men and women serving over sea -- or serving in our military defending our national every day that we are going to do everything to bring them home if we can and that's what we did in this case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAVLICH: Jesse?
WATTERS: Look at the lengths that we went to, to bring back a deserter. We did not go through the same lengths to bring back allies, Americans, stranded Americans and it cost us lives. Marines are dead because of it.
Tomorrow, 9/11, the 20th anniversary was supposed to be a major deal for the Biden presidency. If you think about this running mate launched that strike to kill Osama bin laden, Joe Biden was supposed to come in tomorrow and close the chapter in an iconic way on America's longest war.
And he's not going to do that, he's not going to speak tomorrow, Katie.
Because what is he supposed to say, he blew it so badly stranding Americans, we lost people we shouldn't have lost, we armed the enemy. And so now he is just going to go through ceremonies.
What would he say anyway, Katie, would it be well received by the crowd? I don't think so. Could he come up with the right words live in the moment to convey what he thought about it? I don't think he'd be able to pull it off.
So instead he is going to keep his mouth shut, the commander in chief after we ended 20 years of war.
So, when you hear about this heaping praise on the Taliban, I get it. Dana is right. It's a delicate dance. You have hostages there. So, you got play nice. But it leaves a disgusting taste in the mouth of everybody that here is it because the Taliban put bullets through G.I.'s chests.
PAVLICH: Right.
WATTERS: Shot limbs off of Americans. I have pictures on my phone, Afghan allies right now whips on their back, brutality like you wouldn't believe.
PAVLICH: Right.
WATTERS: So, the reason we are doing this is strategic but we're here because of Biden's dumb decisions.
PAVLICH: Right.
WATTERS: He got us into this situation where we have to heap praise and he'll have to own that for the rest of his life.
PAVLICH: Yes. Geraldo, this is a, you know, people are trying to act like in the administration that this just happened.
WATTERS: Right.
PAVLICH: Like there was no way to really plan for this but at the same time we plan for every single contingency. But Jesse is right. Everything that has happened with the last month with Afghanistan was a result of decisions that were made either by the administration recently or in years past.
And it's not just about the 20th anniversary of 9/11 tomorrow whereas Americans we should be remembering what happened that day, the Taliban is expected to announce their government. They are back in charge. They are going to embarrass us on 9/11. And yet they are saying, they are very businesslike. And we can work with them.
RIVERA: I think it was bizarre idea to want peace by 9/11 and to work so hard to bring it about so that instead of grieving over the 20 years in the event itself, the trauma that scared so many people, we are talking about the Taliban and whether or not they are going to keep their deal and we're, you know, we're totally, totally distracted.
A couple of quick points. Number one, there was a second airplane out of Afghanistan today, another flight they offered 40 odd American seats on that plane, 19 accepted. So, the Taliban, think back to the 18 months when no G.I.'s were killed in Afghanistan.
Everyone thought that it was because we held Bagram and we could hold Bagram with 2500 people, and why give up Bagram. It wasn't because of that.
It would be was because the Taliban wanted desperately to succeed in the negotiation so they played by their rules.
They negotiated with President Trump, they negotiated with President Biden.
They kept as the flight indicates, they are keeping their -- they are despicable, low down and dirty and I hate to have to continually convince people how much I hate them.
But the fact of the matter is they are abiding by their deal. I hate what they do, I hate the excesses, I hate their cruelty, their cruelty and all the rest of it. But the fact of the matter is they are playing by the rules that our negotiator and their negotiator.
PAVLICH: So Tyrus, speaking of playing by the rules, I have a feeling we are going to learn about maybe some pallets of cash or some recognition promises here in the next six months --
MURDOCH: Listen.
PAVLICH: -- about what's really being promised by --
MURDOCH: This is the simple story of the frog and the scorpion. This is the woke administration, they defunded the police, they dealt the same way, they defunded our military, they made deals, they gave them all the awards before they actually did the work, and now, we are surprised. And they come up with wonderful things like, can you believe their women not in their government? That's our administration.
PAVLICH: Right.
MURDOCH: The scorpion and the frog. Enough said.
PERINO: Enough said.
PAVLICH: Wisdom with Tyrus. All right. Ahead, Larry Elder slamming the silence from Democrats and the media after being attacked by a liberal mob.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RIVERA: California recall candidate Larry Elder calling out the left's double standard after an angry crowd of violent protesters including an apparently deranged woman wearing a gorilla mask of all things, threw an egg that nearly hit the candidate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Hey, you know what, we are getting egg from behind.
UNKNOWN: Take your hands off me (muted).
UNKNOWN: Don't --
UNKNOWN: Don't (muted) touch me again.
UNKNOWN: Don't touch her. Don't touch her.
UNKNOWN: Don't touch me again (muted).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERA: So far, there's been little outrage from the left and the mainstream media is being accused of downplaying what happened with headlines that minimize the violence. And make little mention of what seems to me at least, the racist nature of the incident. Isn't that the headline?
The racist nature of the incident? Larry Elder tearing into the silence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY ELDER, CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: The L.A. County sheriff, Alex Villanueva said that it was a hate crime. And you know, if I had been a Democrat can you imagine what could have happened? It would been talked about in Bangladesh. They would have called it an example of systemic racism. But because I have an R at the end of my name the story did not get nearly the kind of coverage I think otherwise would have gotten.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIVERA: So, what do you think, Tyrus?
MURDOCH: I mean --
RIVERA: They are so quick to call anything racist and these are clearly racist crazy lady and no --
(CROSSTALK)
MURDOCH: Well, and that's where, you know how much I respect you. And I disagree. Don't call her deranged. Don't call her crazy. Don't give her that out.
PAVLICH: Right.
MURDOCH: She knew exactly what she was doing. The only thing she didn't do was practice throwing things with the mask on. OK? That was the only thing that she didn't --
PAVLICH: Good thing.
MURDOCH: That's the only thing she didn't do. Bottom line this is 100 percent racist, it wasn't a hate crime but because the left has pitched him as an uncle Tom, you know, anyone who wants small government and fiscal responsibility can't possibly be black.
And this is what a lot of brothers and sisters out there says, it's like, Democrats only want to support you when you're with them. It's not racist when you're against them. It's literally laughable. We don't know who this person's name is.
If that would have been during the previous administration, all his questions after that speech he gave yesterday would have been his thoughts on what happened there and did he condemn this attack. But they don't because in that point. There was one on CNN where literally it was dismissed. They are going on another news.
Like this is what happened. They are not really concerned with racism unless it's used to support what's going on over there. You don't have to like Larry. I'm not a big fan, he talks too fast for me. I'm just being real. I'm a former California. I win vote for that. I like Caitlyn Jenner's policies better. But he has every right to run. He has every right to say and speak his mind and he shouldn't be attacked like that.
RIVERA: I like Larry and in fact if he beats Gavin Newsom, Gavin Newsom could take over the Relief Factor commercials.
MURDOCH: I'm going for that.
RIVERA: You are.
MURDOCH: Yes.
WATTERS: Yes.
MURDOCH: So, after wrestling.
RIVERA: The polls, though, seriously, Dana, looked like Gavin Newsom is going to walk.
PERINO: Well, yes. And recalls are very difficult and I think that Gavin Newsom if does win, he comes out stronger. And the Democrats need a new generation of leaders and I think he would be in a pretty strong position as the governor of California to be able to do that.
I do would point out that during this campaign Governor Newsom has spent a lot of time saying that Larry Elder is a black white supremacist and I think the question should be asked to him, like do you think that's OK? And does saying things like that about opponents no matter if they're black, white, it doesn't matter, Republican, Democrat, it's wrong. And leaders need to be the role models and in this case that didn't happen.
RIVERA: Do you think, Katie, that too much was made of Newsom's peril that he -- it was never that close?
PAVLICH: Well, I think it's really important to pay attention to the reason why he's being recalled. And if you look at the data, I mean, Democrats are registered two to one in, you know, against Republicans in California. So, it's just a tough uphill battle. But the idea that this many people in California got organized and were successful in even getting enough signatures for a recall petition, is a success in itself in a place where Democrats outnumber Republicans.
But I do want to talk about this incident. It's amazing to watch how much media oxygen was given to Jussie Smollett when he made up a hate crime, Bubba Wallace when he had a pulley in his -- in his garage, how much the FBI investigated that. You know, Nick Sandman's life was destroyed for a very long time by the media. They accused him of racism and he wasn't engaged in racism.
And now, you have silence from the media. And in fact, the media in California the LA Times when they wrote that headline saying that Larry Elder left a homeless encampment after an incident, they use a photo of Larry Elder making it look like he hit a woman. Like, they implied in the photo that he was the reason why he had to leave the homeless encampment, not that he got attacked.
So, the double standard is there. But the good news is Larry Elder has been fighting against this his entire life, which is why he was ready to run for governor of California.
RIVERA: What do you like about Caitlyn Jenner more than Larry Elder?
WATTERS: I never said that.
MURDOCH: I did.
WATTERS: But I would agree that he does talk quickly. And -- but that's not what I based my vote on. I based on looks. You were saying --
PERINO: Naturally.
WATTERS: -- in the green room, Geraldo, you thought the gorilla mask person throwed like a girl. I think that was sexist for you to say. I say she, you know, more throws like a liberal.
PAVLICH: She threw like Fauci.
WATTERS: She throws like Fauci. She actually throws better than Fauci.
PAVLICH: Yes, that's true. But notice this has not been covered on CNN. As of yesterday, Washington Post never picked this up. Newsom has not even condemned it. Kamala Harris, has she said anything? "WATTERS' WORLD,"
Geraldo, asked for statements of condemnation from all these players and we've heard crickets.
But if this had happened to Maxine Waters -- one T, no relation -- this would have been everywhere. As you said, it would have been in Bangladesh.
And this is how you rig an election in California, Geraldo.
RIVERA: Recall election.
WATTERS: This is how you rig an election.
RIVERA: Recall elections are dumb.
WATTERS: You don't report negative stuff that comes from the left-wing precincts like this, and at the same time you just slander that Republican opposition with racial attacks. Black White Supremacist, what does that even mean?
PERINO: I'm kidding.
RIVERA: I've got a right --
MURDOCH: It's like a dumb petition.
RIVERA: Right, a little direct. But you're right it is it is all you know, our cubbies. It's our "whatever team you're on." That's -- do anything you can regardless of, you know, morality, as long as it suits your team. I'm really sick of politics. And recall elections are dumb, just dump.
PAVLICH: OK.
RIVERA: Ahead, as America vows never to forget. We'll take you inside the hunt to kill Osama bin Laden. There are new details you might not have heard about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PERINO: Welcome back as America remembers 9/11 20 years later, Chris Wallace gives us a new look at the hunt to kill Bin Ladin. And it's all in his new book Countdown Bin Laden. And he is hosting a new special how we -- how we hunted down the most wanted terrorists in the world watch here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found the thing. And this thing is in a house. And this house is in a bowl in these mountains in this bowl of country. And you guys are going to go and get this thing. OK, cool. What's the thing? Well, we can't tell you. OK, what's -- where's the ball? I can't tell you. What country is this? I can't tell you. How are we getting there? I can't tell you. How much air support? None. OK, that's our only answer is no air support. And that's how it started.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERINO: Countdown Bin Laden airs this Sunday 10:00 p.m. Eastern. You don't want to miss that. Chris Wallace is the anchor of "FOX NEWS SUNDAY" and he joins us now to tell us a little bit more about the book and the special.
And we'll take it around the table here. Chris, maybe just start with, you know, why you wanted to dig into this a little bit more.
CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Well, thank you. Obviously, this was time for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It never occurred to me that the group that was in charge of Afghanistan in 2001 would be in charge of Afghanistan in 2021. But I think in a funny way, it actually makes the story of our successful mission to hunt down and kill Bin Laden even not more important.
A lot of people, myself included, feel pretty bad about the way our longest war ended. But this was a success, an important success. It's why we went into Afghanistan in the first place, to kill Bin Laden, to decapitate Al Qaeda, and to prevent an attack from Afghanistan on the U.S. homeland. And we were successful on in doing that for 20 years.
PERINO: I'm going to take around the table here, Jesse.
WATTERS: Just two quick questions, Chris. Bin Laden was in Pakistan. So, tell us about what went wrong there and what we knew and didn't know. And then quickly, there's been a big debate about what specific intelligence led us to the location? Was it gained through waterboarding? What exactly did you find?
WALLACE: Well, you're exactly right. In fact, two weeks before my book begins on August 27, 2010, when people come in to Panetta, CIA director Panetta's office and tell him we have this tip about a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, 162 miles inside Pakistan. A couple of weeks before that, Leon Panetta, the CIA director, had been interviewed and they said, where's Bin Ladin? He said, I think it is in that remote tribal area between Afghanistan and Pakistan in a cave somewhere.
They were entirely wrong about it. And how did they get it? Well, a lot of it had to do with enhanced interrogation, for instance, of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. One specific incident where KSM, he's waterboarded 183 times and is in what they call -- this is CIA (INAUDIBLE) compliant state. And they asked him about a man they think had been a courier for Bin Laden, a fellow named Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti.
And he says, you know, he was a member of al-Qaeda, but he's not anymore.
And he was never a courier. And then he goes back to the black site where it is being held. And he says to the other prisoners there, he didn't realize that the place was bugged, don't say anything about the courier.
So, they knew this -- they go into a great effort to protect a guy who supposedly isn't important in the first place.
PERINO: Tyrus.
MURDOCH: First, Mr. Wallace, thank you so much for doing this. And I'm proud to call Rob O'Neill a friend. What would your message be to the younger generation who becoming adults now? Because for the most part, it's been such a long time, they don't understand why we are in Afghanistan so long.
What would your message be to them? How important is for our younger kids who are now becoming adults to watch this special?
WALLACE: Well, thank you for that, Tyrus. I mean, the fact is, and obviously, we're remembering it today and over the next 24 hours, and for the rest of our lives, 9/11 was a horrible incident. It's the worst terror attack on the U.S. homeland in our history. 3000 Americans were killed. And just as important as that, they came to the center of our financial power, our headquarters in New York, the center of the Pentagon, and they took us down.
And one of the things that -- one of the people has never talked before, a guy we call Gary was the head of the Pakistan-Afghan department in the CIA set is they brought the battlefield to New York and to Washington and we brought the battlefield back to Pakistan and Afghanistan. And that, of course, is the key now to keep the battlefield over there, not back here in the U.S. homeland.
RIVERA: Did Rob tell you what they were watching on television when they brought bin Laden's body back to Jalalabad base? They were watching Fox News. I thought that's pretty clever. I wonder what Rob feels about the way this war ended. The man who killed Bin Laden, you know, the SEAL Team Six and the magnificent job they did, how did they feel now 10 years after their heroism to see that the bad guys won?
WALLACE: Well, they felt terrible about it. And in fact, Rob has said that, you know, when we had the all those Americans caught, and we were going through that awful evacuation, he said, I'd like to get some of my buddies from SEAL Team Six and go over there and just push the Taliban or whatever it took out of the way and get the Americans back.
You know, they -- I mean, one of the things, and you probably know this, Geraldo, they thought this was a suicide mission. I said, how dangerous did you think this was, Rob? He said, one-way ticket. I said, what's that mean?
He said suicide mission. There is no way if Bin Laden was in that -- in that compound, if we go there, we're not coming home.
But we're going to do it anyway for the woman went to the 90th floor of the World Trade Center that morning, and then had to make the decision, do I stay in where it's 2500 degrees Fahrenheit in the inferno or do I jump out and she decided it was better to jump out? So no, they don't like the way this war ended.
PERINO: Katie.
PAVLICH: Chris, Katie Pavlich here. Congratulations on the book. And thank you for putting together such an important piece of history for all of us to read. I have two questions. You're a newsman. And I remember this night that Osama bin Laden was killed. And the way that the news came out, do you talk about that at all in the book? And also, I would say what -- based on who you talk to what were people saying after Osama bin Laden was killed?
Because I remember people saying we're happy he's gone, this was our mission, but we have much work to do. And then in August of 2011, of course, two months later, we had extortion 17 happened where that Chinook helicopter was shot down with dozens of Special Forces. So, two different topics, but interesting ones to me at least.
WALLACE: Well, yes, they were devastated by the shooting down of that helicopter and a lot of their seal colleagues were killed in that. that struck them in a terrible way. The one thing that the people who were at the White House that night, and the people from the CIA, they -- Panetta and Morell, and Jeremy Bash, they were all there. They came to the White House. The President makes the big speech.
And the thing they all talk about is after the President's speech. They all went out -- some into the Rose Garden, some out to the front of the White House, and they could hear these crowds, young people that came from George Washington University in Georgetown or just from town, and they're in front of the gates of the White House, and they're chanting USA, USA, CIA, CIA.
And Leon Panetta, then the director of the CIA says, you know, he'd been through Vietnam, he'd been through some of the troubles with the CIA in the 70s. And he said the idea that people were in the street chanting CIA, he said it was the proudest moment of my professional career. And too bad in a sense that that kind of national unity and sense of common purpose and no polarization, no party lines at all, too bad that we don't have that every day.
PAVLICH: Indeed.
PERINO: Chris. It sounds like a fantastic book and an important book and we will look forward to watching this. It is countdown Bin Laden. It is out now and the special airs this Sunday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. "FAN MAIL FRIDAY" is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MURDOCH: I got my reading glasses on because it's "FAN MAIL FRIDAY." We're answering your questions. Waters --
WATTERS: Yes.
MURDOCH: I'm sure it's me, but who's your best work friend and -- you that you can turn to on a hard day?
WATTERS: Well, I've lost some work friends.
MURDOCH: Yes, you have.
WATTERS: But I think currently Gutfeld I would say --
MURDOCH: Gutfeld.
WATTERS: -- is a work friend of mine, probably my closest work friend at this point.
RIVERA: Tell us who you lost.
WATTERS: But Dana is probably my female work friend.
MURDOCH: OK, you know, I'm going to stop you there. All right, Mr. Geraldo, same question to you, sir. Who do you go to for advice, honestly?
RIVERA: Advice?
WATTERS: Advice? People go to him for advice.
MURDOCH: That's what I'm saying. Like --
RIVERA: I'm the oldest man in the building. I don't get -- I work with my brother. I have worked with my brother for 50 years. It's hard to replace, you know, your best friend, brother. And when you're together, work and play, they kind of merge.
PERINO: Yes.
MURDOCH: Katie?
PAVLICH: Well, I have a lot of great work friends. A lot of people at my town hall team, Swarm Pagla, Matt Fespa, Spencer Brown, (PA) and then of course Geraldo is one of my best friends.
WATTERS: Geraldo.
MURDOCH: There you go.
PAVLICH: He always gives me good advice.
PERINO: I have friends everywhere.
WATTERS: You have a lot of friends.
MURDOCH: Yes.
PERINO: I'd say Bill Hemmer is my probably my newest closest work friend since January when we started working together. But you -- hair and makeup, keep them close because otherwise, this would look really bad.
MURDOCH: Well, this is awkward because mine was Dana Perino I'm not hers.
So, you know what, I'm done with this. "ONE MORE THING" is up next. No one talk to me.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WATTERS: Before we get to "ONE MORE THING." I'd like to issue a retraction.
Only my third retraction of my career here at Fox, but this one's very important. Gutfeld is not technically my best friend at the network. My best friend of the network is Johnny who I love. I didn't think of Johnny because he's not talent.
MURDOCH: This could hurt. Wow.
WATTERS: Not in that way. He's very talented. But I thought we were talking about on-air people. It's Johnny.
RIVERA: You're retracting the retraction.
WATTERS: Johnny, final answer. I love you, Johnny. Also, tune in tomorrow for all-day Fox coverage of the 20-year commemoration of the 9/11 attacks.
THE FIVE is going to be live at Citi Field, and we're going to see you there. So, "ONE MORE THING." Dana.
PERINO: All right. And I'm Bill Hemmer and I will be there starting 9:00 to
11:00 a.m. as well tomorrow morning. So, we will have you. And Condi Rice is going to be on the show.
WATTERS: Oh, Condi.
PAVLICH: Fantastic.
PERINO: I want to show -- just show you this. There are over 7000 American flags that have been placed across Forest Park in St. Louis. That is in Missouri, of course. And this is to mark the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. And the flags are to honor each of the nation's men and women killed in military combat since 9/11, as well as the 412 first responders who died that very day.
And I just thought that that was a very powerful and touching tribute and a park that I used to visit when I was in graduate school.
WATTERS: Beautiful. Katie.
PAVLICH: Very good. All right, so more than 200 schools across America have participated in the 9/11 never forget project created by Young America's Foundation. Each memorial is made up of 2977 American flags, one for each innocent life stolen from us 20 years ago tomorrow. To date, more than 12 million flags had been planted.
And here are some of the photos from the schools. There's Harrison High School, Portland High School, Simi Valley High School, Villanova Prep, Texas A&M, Drexel High School, Concordia University, Dayton Christian School. So, thank you to all of the schools who participated and Young America's Foundation for organizing this every year. It started in 2003.
WATTERS: YAF, it's what they call them, right?
PAVLICH: YAF. Are you a YAFer?
WATTERS: Yes, among other things. Geraldo.
RIVERA: I have a frivolous "ONE MORE THING." Before I get there, commemorate tomorrow with your family. Don't let it go unnoted. So, you know, I'm lame. I have a cane. I got -- I got a great cane I got from Italy. I lost my cane. It's hundreds of thousands. It's made of Carbonite.
I lost my cane. You know, the weather -- so this is Geraldo's where is my cane news with Geraldo because -- even read a little ditty. What joy fame without my cane. Oh, the pain in the butt.
So, we did everything to find it. Sabrina Lee, my terrific producer and my brother Craig, we tracked -- they tracked down the cars. It was the car swap. It was that rainy Wednesday. It was terrible.
WATTERS: It's like finding Bin Laden.
RIVERA: It was really, really -- anyway the hotel check with the concierge, the car service, the driver, the official -- anyway, they didn't find it.
PERINO: Oh, they didn't find it? I thought that -- I thought that was the lead-in to finding it.
WATTERS: They didn't find it. Oh, no.
RIVERA: They didn't find it.
WATTERS: All right, well, if you find his Carbonite $500 cane, let us know.
You know where to find him.
PERINO: I bet he can afford that.
PAVLICH: He can't walk, so --
WATTERS: I want to wish Rookie a happy birthday. He turned three the other day. I didn't remember. Sophia did tell me. So, follow Rookie @RookieWatters on Instagram. There's a lot of amazing pictures of this famous dog right there. And I'm going to be petting him in just a few minutes when I go home. There he is with Jesse Jr.
And after the live FIVE at Citi Field, check "WATTERS WORLD" out. It's going to be live here and you will see me. And we have now Tyrus to take us away.
MURDOCH: My "ONE MORE THING" is sponsored by shovels which you'll need because you keep digging holes. But as a professional wrestler, I was a champion, we love fanny packs. And yesterday, the White Sox and Oakland A's game, a foul ball was hit off the bat of Josh Harrison. It made all the way to the back into the stands and caught by lucky fan's fanny pack.
WATTERS: Fanny pack.
PAVLICH: Nice
PERINO: Wow.
WATTERS: That's it for us. See you tomorrow.
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