'The Five' on reconciliation bill, migrant surge at border

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This is a rush transcript of "The Five" on September 30, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS HOST: Not really clear where they go next. We shall see. Here's "THE FIVE."

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello everyone. I'm Martha MacCallum along with Dagen McDowell, Jessica Tarlov, Jesse Watters and Dan Bongino. It's 5:00 in New York City and this is THE FIVE.

So what a day. Deep divisions, big battles between Democrats threatening to the derail President Biden's multi-trillion dollar cradle to grave government expansion plan. A plan that all top Democrats have promised would transform the country in totality.

At this point, no one seems to know what's going to happen or how many trillions Democrats will ultimately agree with each other that they should spend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I plan on moving forward in a positive way. Let me tell you about negotiating. At the end, that's when you really have to weigh in. You cannot tire. You cannot concede. This is the fun part.

SEN. JOE MANCHIN (D-WV): And I have voted pretty consistently all my whole life. I don't fault any of them who believe that they're much more progressive and much more liberal. God bless them. And all they need to do is we have to elect more, I guess for them to get theirs, elect more liberals.

REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): The senator thinks electing more Democrats is how you get it done. Then that is something he should state to the president because this is the president's agenda.

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We're on a path to win. I don't want to even consider any other options than that. We're in it to win it. The president's also in it to win it. That's what we're working toward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: So, as for the moderate senators like Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, they have become public enemy number one for many Democrats. Just watch all across the media.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOY BEHAR, ABC TALK SHOW HOST: Manchin and Sinema are standing in their way. They are the enemies right now of the democracy.

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Now, I personally don't think it's an accident that the ones that a lot of lobbyists love are in the much smaller underfunded bill.

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: They are Republicans. Come on.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN HOST: No, that's your opinion. They're both Democrats.

LEMON: That's not an opinion. You just look at the way they go.

CUOMO: They are both --

REP. CORI BUSH (D-MO): The fact that one person who was not affected by what would come out of this Build Back Better Act. He's not affected by it personally, but the people in our communities all across this country are.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Fascinating to watch this play out. You know, Dagen, it strikes me that there's this overwhelming desire for a win because they've had a really, really tough month. Between Afghanistan and inflation and all of the failures that they have seen they really need a win. But I can't -- every time someone says that I'm looking at this, (inaudible) well, does it really cost $3.5 trillion just to put something in the win column because this has major ramifications.

DAGEN MCDOWEL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, they're not happy, the left, with 1 trillion plus win on infrastructure, bipartisan package that's been passed out of the Senate. A win for the far left could be, to your point, a loss for Joe Biden.

But I want to get back to that "Star Wars" cantina media montage that we just played. The (inaudible) cattle walling and mask free hack fest (ph). They don't even know what they're talking about. They are for this new age welfare plan simply because the Republicans are against it. They don't have any idea of the impact on the future of the United States.

They have no grasp of what is in it. And Chris Hayes had this embarrassing all caps rant on Twitter that got fact-checked with actual figures over and over again. But it goes to kind of extremely harmful and this is on the right to view, widely accepted view that if you're elected to office, if you're a senator elected by a state, if you're a congressman elected by your district in your state, you're fully expected to ignore your constituents, ignore your conscience and just vote along party lines.

Don Lemon, the men who cried laughing when that odious Rick Wilson was talking the boomer rubes who voted for President Trump, he doesn't care a flying damn about the people of West Virginia or the people of Arizona. And it just also goes, and I'll wrap it up, it goes to craven power grab that these Democrats are so desperate to cling to this control.

Just look at Chuck Schumer. This plan, the $3.5 trillion is really $5 trillion would hurt the economy of New York and hurt his -- the constituents who voted for him, but he is more worried about Ocasio-Cortez primarying (ph) him. So, they do not, you know, the shatter boxes don't have to best interest of the American people at heart. And they actually have no idea what's in these plans.

MACCALLUM: Jesse, I want to play this sound bite from Joe Manchin today because it was almost like he was talking from another planet and to a lot of people, I think it made a lot of sense. He's talking about who he is, who he's always been, and what he believes in as an American senator. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANCHIN: I cannot accept our economy or basically our society moving towards an entitlement mentality. That you are entitled, okay? I'm more of a rewarding because I can help those who really need help if those who can help themselves do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MACCALLUM: Jesse?

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: The senator is welcome to cross the aisle and come to the Republican Party any day he wants and that would be quite nice. So here's what happens. So Biden's unpopular and Bernie Sanders is crazy. So you have crazy and unpopular get together and they are trying to nuke through a 50/50 Senate, the most expensive bill in American history.

Joe Biden hasn't read it. Joe Biden didn't run on this. This thing is like this thick. I can't even pick this thing -- Bongino could probably pick it up.

DAN BONGINO, FOX NEWS HOST: I don't know. I got to try this out.

WATTERS: I mean, even Dan Bongino can't curl this thing.

BONGINO: It's all show muscles.

WATTERS: Right. So, if you look at what's in it and this is what, billions for AOC's green army. Billions to rig elections and to buy votes. Billions of freebies, you know, free babysitters, free lunches, freebies for illegals. It's like a wet market for welfare. It's got everything.

So why are we here? Martha? Because Georgia voters didn't show up. And we handed the Democrats the Senate, right? That's why we're in this position. But the great people of West Virginia sent Joe Manchin to Washington and Joe Manchin's basically went up there with a sword and sliced this socialist monstrosity in half. He says, no, no, no, 1.5 trill, knees tested --

MACCALLUM: Which is still a heck of a lot of money.

WATTERS: Still wickedly expensive. But, you know, we're not going to give people free stuff if they don't actually need it. So now this is Joe versus Joe. It looks like Manchin is derailing this crazy train, thank god. They may get something passed, but it's not that type of money that we're talking about, 3.5. It's going to be less and thank you, people of West Virginia. And as I said, Joe Manchin is welcome to cross the aisle any time.

MACCALLUM: I think the idea of means testing is sort of like not in fashion. And it's such a basic common sense idea.

WATTERS: Shouldn't be controversial.

MACCAKLLUM: You know, Joe Manchin says, Jessica, you know, we should give things to people who maybe need a little help. That's what the safety net was designed for.

JESSICA TARLOV, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Right.

MACCALLUM: But this -- this goes to (ph) everybody. So like you guys have to pay for everyone else's childcare and you have to pay for everyone else's ability to stay home for 12 weeks a year at $1,000 a week. You know, companies cannot afford to do that kind of plan. So, I mean, do you think this was a folly? Is this a bad way to go down the road or does this make sense?

TARLOV: It looks like how, unfortunately, it always looks before we get to the finish line and if you saw Nancy Pelosi on the phone last night during the congressional baseball game, you know, that she came to play and she usually wins and she's going to figure something out.

MACCALLUM: It must be of means testing make sense at all.

TARLOV: Oh, means testing, in some instances for sure I think that there are certain things blanket (ph) like with COVID where I do think that people when you have a national emergency like that who earned under X amount, just everyone should get it not irrespective of what they have. Actually, respective -- is it irrespective ir respective? I always get that one wrong -- of what they have in their bank accounts.

But this dance Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema do it regularly and on the big stuff, Joe Manchin has sided with the Democrats and been there for a really important bills that we needed to get. There is signature legislations certainly down -- during the Obama years.

In terms of the West Virginia voters and the Arizona voters, you know, we didn't pick up seats in states that we thought we could win. We thought Susan Collins was going to lose. We didn't win that seat. Joe Manchin has performed an incredible feat that he wins by a lot in West Virginia. I don't believe there is any other Democrat that could win that seat.

And so, if you have to come down a little bit to meet him in the middle of where he is and he's been saying this also for months that he's going to end up at $1.5 trillion. That's what you do so you can't get the good stuff in the bill because there's still a lot of good stuff in there.

MACCALLUM: Yes. I don't know. I mean, I don't think Americans and I don't think it's just West Virginia. I think its places like North Carolina, Virginia, Texas, Dan, where people are starting to pull away from these ideas and the support of these ideas when you look at their support for President Biden.

BONGINO: Well, I disagree, Jess. Shocker. But there's no good stuff in there. I mean, this thing his is a forest fire of -- you might as well just flush your money down the -- folks at home -- flush your money down the toilet before the government gets it because it will actually be better spent.

Like whatever the government spends money on, it destroys it. You have a $3.5 trillion spending bill, the largest in American history. You think we would ask the basic question, right? Like, well, what are we buying? Well, we're buying government. Well, this government not suck? No, it sucks. Like whatever government does, it wrecks. I mean, seriously. I mean, think about it, right?

So we spent a fortune on what? Public education, yet liberals are always complaining. Oh, no, no, no, we need more. It's so terrible. We need more. You guys are paid. It's your program like private school aren't complaining. And what else is government heavily involved in? What's the other sphere outside of education? Healthcare where they about 40 to 45 percent of every dollar.

What are liberals always complaining about again? Healthcare. But they never have the big argument. They're like, really, my gosh, let me scratch my head. So I think big government is a good idea. Where big government is the biggest, everything sucks and we're always complaining, and yet we want bigger government to fix the bigger government that really sucked before.

It's like, are you guys ever going to wake up and be like, this is kind of a dumb idea like government is really terrible and maybe the private sector can do this better. There is nothing in this bill. This is the largest transfer from -- I'm not saying this (inaudible) -- from poor people and wealthy people to the upper middle-class in American history. Read the "Wall Street Journal" article.

You could be a Massachusetts family earning 300K a year you could entitle yourself to about $20,000 of government benefits. Please explain to me in what universe that's a good thing to your means testing --

MACCALLUM: It's like that in the United Kingdom or France or lots of places. So, well, I mean, look at how unstimulated their economies are and how much they have declined for decades.

BONGINO: For decades. For decades.

MCDOWELL: We have 74 million baby boomers retiring, a $112 trillion haul, and so screw their Medicare?

BONGINO: And that's not even factored in the debt.

MCDOWELL: Medicare runs out of money, the hospital trust fund in five years.

MACCALLUM: All right. We got to leave it there. Coming up next, thousands of migrants under a bridge was only a start. A staggering number, we understand, according to the reports, are now heading north.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MCDOWELL: If you are shocked by these images from under the bridge in Del Rio, Texas, get used to it because the border surge is just getting started. Panama is warning up to 60,000 mostly Haitian migrants are heading north. That's double the number that we saw crossing to Del Rio earlier this month.

Making matters worse, the Department of Homeland Security is reportedly preparing for a record surge at the border in October. Jesse, I wonder why. The slogan is come on down.

WATTERS: That's right. And I heard the Panamanian woman say that we warned Joe Biden months ago that caravans were coming and Joe didn't listen. Does that sound familiar to you guys? He's warned about Afghanistan, warned about inflation. Manchin warned him about what his top dollar number was in July.

What does he do all day? He sits in his soft chair in Delaware and let's Susan Rice run the country. If you think you can turn Texas blue, you have a generation to do it. That's the goal. But it's going deep red in the short-term. Poll came out. Texas Hispanics, he's at like 30 percent approval with Texas Hispanics.

Only 25 percent of Texas Hispanics support what Joe Biden is doing on the border right now. "Remain in Mexico" policy is such a gift Trump gave this guy and Joe is just spitting on it. Let them stay in Mexico and apply for asylum there.

We have so much leverage over our southern neighbor. What do we do? Hundreds of billions of trade each year with Mexico. We protect their security. Monroe Doctrine. And how about the vaccine diplomacy? If I was Joe Biden this is what I'd do. I'd say, you are a country, what, they have about 130 million people in Mexico. We just gave them a million COVID shots. Joe Biden just gave them a million. I'd dangle about 20 million more shots over Mexico City. I'd say we do this for you guys. All you have to do is stop the caravans. Why doesn't he think of that?

MCDOWELL: Yes, Jess, why doesn't he think of that?

TARLOV: I think that --

WATTERS: If I can think of it, surely Joe can.

TARLOV: I believe that for sure and it's interesting. There's a meeting next week on the 8th, I believe. Blinken, Mayorkas and Merrick Garland are all heading down to Mexico City to have a chat about what's going on. And it will be interesting to see what the news that comes out of there. Today I was reading (inaudible), he said, you know, we're not sure if they will talk about immigration. They're going to be talking about immigration and what they can do.

And we can't just tell Mexico to keep everybody. There has to be incentives to do that and we have to broker some sort of new deal that is going to work. Right now, the Biden administration is in court still over the "Remain in Mexico" policy which actually came out of effect even during the Trump years because of the COVID-19 pandemic because they didn't want people just freely crossing or hanging out in Mexico, frankly, with the disease. But it will be interesting to see what comes out of that meeting.

MCDOWELL: Chat (ph). A chat is going to solve it. Meantime, you want to talk about the demonization of border patrol, demonization of border patrol on horseback with these hideous lies. What does that do the enforcement? It certainly discourages anybody from joining the patrol and it puts people back on their heels, Dan.

BNGINO: Yes. I mean, I remember being in FLETC, the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and we had -- we were at the border patrol. They usually the biggest constituency down there. And you know, in the weekends when you're off, you just you hang out at the pool and (inaudible). They were just great guys and women who did it. And you think to yourself like, why would you do this anymore? I don't understand it.

We don't have a border. Can we just please, I mean, stop this silliness that there's a southern border? What does a border? Do you understand the definition of a border? It's a delineation point between two land masses. Here's our country, here's yours.

So if the theory is, well, you can kind of walk back and forth however you want. And by the way, when you come in, we'll admit you in and we'll give you benefits as well. Then why are you even saying we have a border? You can call it uni-country (ph). You can call it a land mass. But the border is not designed to be a suggestion.

And again, like to the Democrats on this. I get tired of this whole -- the Sergeant Schulz, I don't know nothing, I don't see nothing. So the highest numbers we had under President Trump of borders encounters were about 60,000. I think their highest ever was 100,000.

We've had about 180,000 to 200,000 a month under Obama. The Democrats are like, oh my gosh. And Jess is like, what the hell happened? Gee, I don't know. We stopped building the wall. We stopped the "Remain in Mexico." And we told everybody to come here. Like Democrats aren't dumb. Like you think they don't know this. This is clearly intentional and we should stop pretending it isn't, you know.

WATTERS: It is.

MCDOWELL: Well, (inaudible) speaking of which, the warning to Mayorkas was about 350,000 to 400,000 migrants possibly crossing the border in October. That's the --

BONGINO: Double what they (inaudible).

MCDOWELL: Exactly. I have a hard time, Martha, organizing, you know, a small family gathering to go to dinner. A dozen people is just undoable, unfeasible to go out to a restaurant. How is it that these tens of thousands of people managing to make their way from all these countries in such organized fashion, making it into the United States?

MACCALLUM: I mean, because now is the time, you know. Most of them have been in these countries for two or three years. So they've decided that now is the time and they look at what happens. They hear what Mayorkas says that the border is closed, but they don't need to listen to that because they see what they see with their own eyes.

And that is that their relatives and people that they know are getting in. And who can blame them for wanting to come? But the fact of the matter is that Joe Biden said during the campaign, you know, we could, in a heartbeat, we could take two million. Our numbers are too low in terms of who we're taking in.

So the strategy has been quite clear, and that is to allow people to come. But unfortunately for them, we had a drone at the southern border and we had images that were captured by that drone that started to change people's opinions and that is why, and I think Jesse brings up a great point. What's happening in Texas is something that the rest of the country needs to watch very closely.

There are three very contested congressional races down in the border in Texas currently held by Democrats. When you look at Hispanic voters who are increasingly wanting to elect a Republican or someone who is going to take the border seriously, you have a very interesting trend. The last election, President Trump got more Hispanic votes than the prior elections. And in that election he got more than previous Republicans had before. So, watch these trends because this is not something that is popular with voters that have been typically Democrat voters.

MCDOWELL: And talking about incentives, illegal immigrants can get more than $15,000 from New York --

MACCCALLUM: SO why wouldn't you come?

MCDOWELL: -- in COVID relief.

MACCALLUM: I would come.

MCDOWELL: Fifteen grand.

MACCALLUM: It's a better place to live. There's more jobs and you get free money and healthcare. So why wouldn't you come?

MCDOWELL: Ahead, you won't believe the White House's pathetic excuse for Biden's plunging poll numbers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BONGINO: President Biden's poll numbers are cratering and for good reason. It's how he got out of Afghanistan, the border crisis, and the COVID confusion going on. It's pretty easy to see why. But get a load of the spin from the White House on what to blame on a key -- on what is to blame on a key issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNKNOWN: The president's poll numbers on COVID have dropped. Is the White House concerned about that? How does it plan to address that issue? Specifically because having people trust his opinion on this is a big question -- people following public health guidelines?

PSAKI: Well, we think it's more a reflection of people being sick and tired of COVID. And tired -- some of that is a reflection of people who are vaccinated being frustrated that there is still a percentage of the population who are not vaccinated, and that is impacting their daily lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BONGINO: So Dagen, they blame everything on COVID. What did we just hear the other day with the crime spike was COVID, too? It's like everything is COVID. I mean, this is inflation, Afghanistan, lockdowns, taxes. I think there's more than just COVID.

MCDOWELL: Yes. And it's not -- and it's not the delta variant. Actually, it's the Joe Biden standing in front of the American people and vilifying the unvaccinated and telling the vaccinated you have every right to be angry with the unvaccinated when -- if you're vaccinated, you're okay. You don't need to be angry at the unvaccinated. Oh, it was Hunter's daddy telling the American people how to raise their kids at the same time.

BONGINO: Yes.

MCDOWELL: You have an entire administration untethered to reality and went they're caught in an untenable situation, their gut is to just lie. Lied about Afghanistan over and over and over again. Al Qaeda, gone from Afghanistan. Oh, Americans can get to the airport in Kabul if they want. Our allies are with us. How much more do the American people have to tolerate?

You know, when a 3-year-old gets caught with his hand in the Cool Whip and they're afraid to write any laws about it (ph), that's cute. But not this old coot, this commander-in-chaos and all his minions lying over and over to the American people. Stop acting like we're stupid.

BONGINO: Dagen, you got to stop holding back. It's ruining the show. You just got to let us know how you feel. Jess, I mean, honestly, there's a lot going on here. You can track the numbers with his negative -- his negative incidence. Like after Afghanistan, his numbers went down. It's clearly not all COVID.

TARLOV: No. It's a whole breath of issues that are going on right now and Martha mentioned in the A block, the impact of inflation where you have 80 percent of the country that's concerned about it and that includes Democrats and a majority of independents.

We talked about this last week and I mentioned that what I would do is actually own slipping poll numbers by saying I take responsibility for these decisions. I think in that that we're going to be better off. This is a rough period, but I have always been someone that listens to the public and I'm going to go back and I'm going to look at my policies to make sure that they are more in line with what you want.

And Joe Biden won the primary, a huge primary because he was the poll guy. He was the guy who said they don't want free healthcare for people who are here undocumented. They don't want to defund the police, et cetera. And that really set him apart. So, that opportunity still persists. And on the COVID numbers, there's something within it that's more important, I think, which is the trust issue on this. And it used to be, and this is I think why Biden won the general election against President Trump, he was trusted more to handle this.

And now there's not trust in the CDC, the FDA, or in the Biden administration at the same level. And I think that's what's really hurting him.

BONGINO: You know, to Jess' point, Jesse, when is he going to have that Sister Souljah moment like Bill Clinton had. Like, Biden hasn't had that. He hasn't woken up to the fact that the country didn't vote for a radical, you know, Lenin leftist. He hasn't had that. Clinton had that moment and wound up getting reelected.

WATTERS: Yes. He might have to shiv Bernie at some point. We haven't really seen any sign that that's going to happen yet. But --

BONGINO: Don't let him sharpen a toothbrush.

WATTERS: No, no, you know, maybe some cool whip to the face, Dagen. But you're right. It was immigration and Afghanistan that drove his numbers down. There in the 30s there and it was the searing images that people just can't forget about.

Now, the economy, he's underwater with the economy, and that's inflation, and that's the labor shortage. His COVID numbers have deteriorated. They've gone from 60 to 50. So, he faces a tough fourth quarter now because Delta could go up. But right now, Delta is going down. That wave that his head is going down, so that's good news.

But if he could put a win on the board with these two spending deals he's doing, the 3.5 and the infrastructure, that could give them a little momentum going into the midterms. So, this is a weak, wounded guy, no political capital, credibility shot. Independents don't want to touch this guy. Hispanics are running from the hills. White males, not a chance.

MACCALLUM: I would actually agree with Jen Psaki to a certain extent, and that is that I do think there's a lot of COVID fatigue at this point. Everybody -- nobody expected that Delta was going to happen. And so, people are sick and tired of it. And I think anybody who was president at this point would have a little bit of weakness based on that number.

However, when we did our poll, the Fox poll, and we asked people what is it that you are unhappy about with this presidency, the largest amount of people's reason, 22 percent I think, if I remember correctly, was that they were concerned about his competence.

WATTERS: Yes.

MACCALLUM: So, that -- that's big. And then it was Afghanistan, I believe, next in line. So, that is not something that you can blame another wave of COVID that was unexpected on. That's a serious concern that almost a quarter -- a quarter of the people who were polled have.

BONGINO: Yes. They say the most damaging political narratives are the ones that change a pre-existing notion of who you thought someone was. And if Biden ran on competence, that's why that's just so destructive. And right now it's just not true.

Up next, the new warning about fentanyl and how the dangerous street drugs becoming even deadly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TARLOV: The DEA issuing a serious new warning about deadly street fentanyl. Officials are seeing a quote alarming increase in fake prescription pills containing fentanyl flooding the country. The agency says the majority of the counterfeit drugs are being manufactured in Mexico with the help of chemicals supplied by China.

Martha, I want to start with you here. There's another stat that we've seen the 30% rise in overdose deaths over the last year. Obviously, we've had an abnormal year. Do you think that there's any hope that this will go down as life resumes more normally post COVID or do you think that this problem is really here to stay?

MACCALLUM: No, I think it's a problem of what's coming across the southern border. And I think it's also being perpetuated by China. These are chemicals that we've known for a long time. This is a problem. It's really a shame that we don't hear more about this in terms of putting pressure on China and allowing fentanyl to come into the country.

And when you're -- when you have an open border, essentially -- and you know, I know you guys talked about this yesterday, but President Obama, former President Obama said, look, when you've got an open border, it's just not sustainable. And the other impacts on the country are myriad. It's not just allowing people into the country that are here illegally, it's what else is getting across the border.

I mean, if you're a bad actor, whether you're a terrorist or a drug dealer, or a cartel, you've got a great avenue to get into this country. And I interviewed a mom a couple of months ago whose daughter had one pill at a party and died. So, this is a devastating problem. And I don't think that this is, you know, accelerated by COVID. I think it's accelerated by what is coming in these drugs.

TARLOV: And to that point about the one pill and you die, we were just talking about this in the break, right, Jesse, that it didn't used to be this way that you could go to a party and take a pill and end up dead.

WATTERS: Well, I had friends that did that. And I never touched the stuff growing up.

TARLOV: I was not implying anything.

WATTERS: But I heard stories about the 86 Mets mostly. No, it was like Russian roulette now. You never know when you're going to drop. But it does start in China. China is a police state. They know where these drugs are being manufactured. They know the ships they're going out on and they know the ports in Mexico that they're landing in.

And once it gets to Mexico, it doesn't matter. I mean, the cartels bring it from the ports to the labs, cook it up and then smuggle it north. The choke point is China, all right. And if you have 100,000 Americans dying from fentanyl every single year, that's drug warfare. They're slaughtering us with drug warfare.

You add that to the what, almost 700,000 Americans that have died from COVID-19. That's germ warfare, accidental, sloppy lab, still the same result. So, Joe Biden, as commander in chief, needs to take it more seriously. And as someone who has a son, Hunter, with a major drug problem, you'd think this would be something close to his heart. You don't hear about it from Joe Biden, though, do you?

TARLOV: We -- he's definitely talked about this issue in his town halls --

WATTERS: Not enough.

MACCALLUM: Not at the U.N.

TARLOV: We can certainly all be doing more about this. To the China point, Dagen, what would you recommend the administration does in terms of pressure on them and then obviously, this is a great thing to talk about in that Mexico meeting next week as well?

MCDOWELL: Number one, stop calling them overdoses. These -- to quote Greg Gutfeld, these are poisonings. And anybody involved in drug trafficking, anybody who's involved in the death of any American should be charged with and prosecuted for murder, because that's what it is.

This is, to Jesse's point, this is a second plague brought on -- brought upon us by China. 700,000 dead here from COVID, as you said, and now just the numbers are growing of people who are being poisoned by fentanyl that comes in from China. And then China, of course, mocks us.

There was a real congressional report finding that Beijing had failed to stop synthetic opioid reaching the United States, even though a few years ago, like a couple of years ago, they banned the production and sale of it. Well, that was for show. And then they turn around and mock us.

And our point man really on China is John Kerry, the stupidest person in Washington D.C. according to Larry Kudlow. And that that's a tall order or a short order, but that's -- but he's talking about tough choices. There are no tough choices. We stand up for Americans and we stand up for the grieving families who've lost people to COVID and to fentanyl poisoning.

TARLOV: Dan, I'd love to hear your perspective from the law enforcement angle.

BONGINO: Well, you brought it up. This is the real border crisis. You notice we always talk about, well, people want to come here, the United States is so great. Yes, I understand that. But having been a federal agent, I remember someone of my first counterfeit cases. I said, how is all this stuff getting in here? We had these P notes and then these big supernotes. They were really good counterfeit.

And we'd work with the DEA and a taskforce and goes, it's the same mules. And he said the same mules crossing people aboard -- the across the border, they bring the drugs in and they bring the counterfeit in. And to boot, also, if you ever read that 11,000 word -- I think was a political article from like five years ago about the tribe border reason in terror. The terrorists were coordinated with the exact same mules.

So, this is why when I hear this whole, like, oh, let's be compassionate to people. You know, open border is about compassion. No, it's about kids dying from fentanyl, kids being sex trafficked, our money being debased by counterfeit, and terrorists getting access into the United States.

You notice how they leave that part out? It's always about, you know, give us your grade --you know, they read the poem from the Statue of Liberty as if that was like the law. And you know, that's great. But a country has a border for a reason. So we know who, and most importantly, what's coming in. And right now, we have no idea.

WATTERS: I don't think Joe Biden has ever mentioned the cartels since he's taken office, not once.

BONGINO: I haven't heard it.

TARLOV: Well, I guess we have an activity for the break to figure out if that actually is true.

(CROSSTALK)

TARLOV: Straight ahead, everybody is talking about this crazy alligator video. But how did it end? Find out in "THE FASTEST."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WATTERS: Welcome back everybody. Time for "THE FASTEST." First up, we showed you this crazy video of a Florida man capturing an alligator in the trash can which is probably the most Florida thing you'll ever see. But what happened next? Here's the guy dumping the trash can near some tall grass and then he had to go back to get it. I mean, this guy's got skills, Bongino.

BONGINO: The fact that he does it in sliders, that's the best part. He doesn't have kicks on. He's just on a slider.

WATTERS: It's true. '

BONGINO: Listen, I live in Florida. I love it, but it is like Jack Hanna's Animal Kingdom on any given day. And they got palmettos down there. You know palmettos, right?

MACCALLUM: Wow. Yes.

BONGINO: You have to hit these things with like a howitzer to kill them. Baseball bats don't work. You know, up here, they call them roaches. Down there, they have a fancy name, palmettos.

WATTERS: Yes, so, the degree of difficulty with the flip flops, you call them sliders, Martha, that's impressive.

MACCALLUM: It is impressive. I love that. The tail is like thrashing but I would just be like -- but I would have gotten a little closer to the water, I think, because I would be afraid that it was going to climb right out and chase me again.

WATTERS: You wouldn't be afraid, would you, Jessica?

TARLOV: I fight alligators all the time in Tribeca. No, I love this and the patience that he showed because I watched it a bunch of times thinking like this is going to -- he got to move faster here. And he's just really sticking with it. I mean, just part of life. And then he restored him -- the alligator's natural habitat which is a nice conservation --

WATTERS: Very environmentally friendly. Dagen, you'd probably make this thing a purse.

MCDOWELL: No, actually, I was thinking -- I was watching boots.

WATTERS: Boots, yes.

MCDOWELL: Yes, exactly. But see, you've got kids around, you pull out a pistol and shoot the thing, you know, that's not real smart. He's an army veteran. So, thank you -- thank you for your continued service Eugene Bozzi.

TARLOV: Service always.

WATTERS: We're forever indebted. Up next, is this creepy or cool? Amazon unveiling a new $1,000 home assistant robot named Astro that's going to follow you around. And it can be used to bring stuff from room to room, video chat, play music, and keep an eye in your house while you're away. Are you suspicious, Dagen, that this thing might just spy on you instead?

MCDOWELL: Oh yes. Do you ever -- by the way, be careful when you go into somebody's home and you're looking -- you know, shopping for a new home. They've got like a drop cam on you, watching you.

WATTERS: They do?

MCDOWELL: Yes, and they can hear you. My dogs would destroy this, so it's not worth the money. They would chew it to pieces and it would freak them out. So, it's a waste --

WATTERS: And after a glass of wine, Jessica, you might just slip and fall over this thing. Not -- I'm not directing that at you. I'm just saying.

MCDOWELL: She's pregnant, Jesse.

TARLOV: I haven't begun my third trimester drinking while pregnant days. I'm sure I'll get there. But this combines two great fears for me, home tech and robots. So, absolutely not.

WATTERS: Would you have this in your house?

MACCALLUM: No, I wouldn't. But you know why it's named -- isn't Astro the name of the dog in the Jetsons?

WATTERS: Yes.

MACCALLUM: Anybody? No, I would -- I don't even have one of those -- you know, the thing that you talk to --

TARLOV: Alexa?

MACCALLUM: No. It's bad enough that if I even think about something, it shows up as an ad on my phone. So, no, I don't want this thing in my -- imagine what it would do. He was watching you all the time.

WATTERS: No, don't get undressed in front of Astro. Bongino?

BONGINO: You know, they are listening to you. Have you ever had this experience where you're home and you're talking about something and then an ad --

MACCALLUM: Yes.

BONGINO: Like, the other day, I was talking about -- I want a new adjustable dumbbells. I was scrolling through Facebook --

WATTERS: Of course you did.

BONGINO: And it says, Nuobells. And I'm like, they're all listening. There's no way this isn't a spy. I'm not -- forget it. I'd throw that thing out the window.

WATTERS: I know. I know. And it's probably Chinese too so, go figure. This little -- this might be a little too low. Americans caught to checking their smartphones nearly 96 times a day. Guilty Bongino. You're on your phone probably twice as much.

BONGINO: I can show you. I get that thing on Sunday where it gives you a screen. And last week, true story. It said, your average screen time is down like five percent. It's so great. It's nine and a half hours a day. That not a joke. I'm on it all day.

WATTERS: That's all right. Well, you're embattling for the soul of the country. What about you?

MACCALLUM: No, that -- 96 is once every 10 minutes. I mean, that's low.

WATTERS: Yes.

MCDOWELL: I think that's very low.

TARLOV: For an on-duty police officer?

MCDOWELL: Unfortunately. Mine is probably three times up.

WATTERS: Yes, you're doing a lot of online shopping probably. And you, what -- are you on the phone that much you think?

TARLOV: I don't --I don't think nine and a half. That seems intense. But I have been trying to not look at my phone while I'm watching something because I do that too. I'm watching a show, even if I love the show.

MACCALLUM: You could leave it in the other room. Like, just -- there's times when you just have to put it somewhere else.

BONGINO: Yes, I have no attention span either anymore.

WATTERS: You can't multitask?

BONGINO: I can't. I know everything.

WATTERS: Dagen?

MCDOWELL: I'm cutting back because I noticed on the show yesterday, like, I've got a double chin and kind of a triple chin going on. So, I think it's from like looking at my phone too much. So, I'm just going to just walk around like this.

WATTERS: Yes. You're supposed to hold the phone here. But then anybody can see what you're looking at. And you don't want to see what I'm looking at, a lot of online shopping.

MACCALLUM: No, I'm sure we don't.

WATTERS: "ONE MORE THING" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACCALLUM: It is time now for "ONE MORE THING." Jesse, you're up first.

WATTERS: So, I miss exclamation point. He's down in Nashville. I don't know where he is. Here was just to Greg. You know, animals are great. We got some footage of some animals down in Nashville. Let's listen.

Yes, buddy. Look at that iguana. That iguana has had to shake. It I liked that Suavemente by Elvis Crespo. So, there you have it. It's how you get down in the boogie down.

TARLOV: Very cute.

MACCALLUM: Jessica?

TARLOV: So, you all might remember when this happened.

PERINO: You got something new coming?

TARLOV: Yes, and now the audience knows. So, I'm pregnant.

PERINO: First of all, I thought people knew. I'm so sorry.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TARLOV: She definitely didn't think people knew already and to alleviate a lot of stress, I didn't have to do a reveal. But I just want to thank everybody for their well wishes. I've gotten amazing cards, notes, tweets, a lot of I don't like your politics, but I'm happy that you're reproducing and the baby will vote for Trump in whatever year.

But I want Dolores from Las Vegas who made me -- crocheted me a baby blanket in yellow because I didn't know the gender at the time, and sent an adorable journal for me to document my mom adventures which will probably just be like the sleep and poop blog or whatever it's supposed to be. But thank you to all of you for making this a very special time in my life.

WATTERS: That's very nice.

MCDOWELL: This is awesome, by the way.

(CROSSTALK)

TARLOV: Dolores mailed it.

MACCALLUM: I bet Dolores is the type of person who can make that really fast.

TARLOV: She did.

MACCALLUM: Yes.

WATTERS: Remember that Seinfeld?

TARLOV: No.

WATTERS: It runs with it. I'm sorry. It's a reference. It's a cultural reference. Does anybody remember that episode?

BONGINO: I saw that one.

WATTERS: Yes. But thank you very much for the nice crochet.

MACCALLUM: All right, so I want to remember a World War II veteran who had a 100th birthday. And a North Carolina organization -- look at this man. Look at this smile. Look at -- I mean, don't you just want to hang out with him? He is just obviously a great guy. And he's a wonderful hero. He was in the Battle of Iwo Jima which is, of course, something that I wrote a lot about in my book, Unknown Valor. He was at Saipan. He was at (INAUDIBLE). And he was at Tianian.

Let me tell you, these are very, very fierce battles. And this man is a tremendous hero. And we're grateful that he is 100. And look at this parade, that Jeep owners. I'm one of those too. So, I think that's a great idea. We did this fantastic parade for him. They put 100 flags on his front line to honor him on his big birthday. And I just want to say happy birthday to Coy Shue.

WATTERS: Happy Birthday!

TARLOV: Happy Birthday!

MACCALLUM: Dan.

BONGINO: You've been doing a real public service. I've watched most of your interviews with these people, these older warriors -- no, really, you know, they -- I watched them and they're just so compelling. I sit there and I turn the volume up. They were great. It really is.

MACCALLUM: It's my honor.

BONGINO: I am that half the person these people are so -- I'm just going to engage in some shameless plug right here. Today is international podcast day which is really just an excuse for me to plug my podcast. I really love for you check it out. It's available on Rumble or wherever you get your podcasts.

And also, please check out my show Saturday night after Jesse, "UNFILTERED." So, if he has a really great lead, then our ratings will crush. And check out my show on Fox Nation too everyday 12:00 to 3:00.

WATTERS: Pluggery.

BONGINO: Pluggery, shameless pluggery.

WATTERS: Shameless pluggery.

MACCALLUM: Dagen, bring us home.

MCDOWELL: Wait. Are you here tomorrow? Why are you here tomorrow on the weekend today? It's Thursday.

BONGINO: Because I --

(CROSSTALK)

BONGINO: And I figured this is like the top-rated show so I better take advantage of it for free advertising, if you really -- if you really want to know, you know.

MCDOWELL: I've got nothing except a couple of dogs at a hardware store. Here are Nelson and Rose just having a blast, shopping for some pike and some tube. It looks like a tub of caulk, Nelson and Rose there, under the king majesty on Instagram.

BONGINO: Is that a bulldog? My eyes are --

MCDOWELL: Yes. Those appear to be English Bulldogs.

MCDOWELL: Very impressive. It's very impressive cart-pushing.

WATTERS: Very stout.

MACCALLUM: All right, that is it for us. "SPECIAL REPORT" is up next. Hello there, Bret Baier. I don't know what I would do if I saw that coming down the aisle. I'm not sure. All right, Martha, thank you.

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