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Gutfeld: Unlike Obama, Donald Trump wants to win

The president is asking questions and listening to answers

This is a rush transcript from "The Five," March 14, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GREG GUTFELD, CO-HOST: Hi. I'm Greg Gutfeld with Kimberly Guilfoyle, Bob Beckel, Eric Bolling, and she plays tennis against the curve, Dana Perino.

(LAUGHTER)

GUTFELD: "The Five."

At a dinner with the press, the ambassador from Afghanistan was asked about Donald Trump. He said he was warned to keep it short when talking to Mr. Trump because of his short attention span. But when they did finally speak, he was delightfully shocked. Donald Trump asked three questions that President Obama never did: One, how can you win in this fight against terror? Two, what do you need to be financially independent? And three, how can American business invest in your country?

The ambassador's conclusion: Donald Trump wanted to win whereas before, President Obama just didn't want to lose. The hesitancy over commitment was gone, but also, Trump happened to listen to his answers. Funny how this flies in the face of the media's portrayal of Trump as always ballistic and incurious. President Obama, he just so much more giving, so much so he looks fantastic even when he's losing his shirt. Meanwhile, Trump is going full salesman as he fixes ObamaCare, meeting with congressional leaders, working his phone, holding listening sessions, lunching with old rivals. It's in his blood: sales. Which is good. Trump has something to sell, but it's way more complex than a lie about keeping your doctor.

What a contrast, Trump is feisty, but flexible. Obama, cool but rigid. But he had no reason to bend. The media already bought into his shtick. His giddy fan base ate up every white-coated lie. ObamaCare was a lemon, but the media were his lemonheads.

So in a surprising turn amount, it is Trump who was listening and critics who refused to hear. The press won't notice, but somehow the economy has. Guess which one you should care about?

So, Eric, this article in the Independent Journalism Review.

ERIC BOLLING, CO-HOST: I love those guys.

GUTFELD: Yes, very good.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: He was at this dinner and I think it offers a very rare unique insight to the people we are claiming to help, you know, the Afghans.

BOLLING: I love the fact that you pointed out the three questions that President Trump asked. They were all business related. This is the thing, the whole primary, the whole election season, give the businessman a chance because maybe doing things differently might work. He asked about what do you need to win? Number one. Number two, what you need to be financially independent, and how can businesses invest in your country? Those are three important questions. Forget Obama, maybe they had never heard those questions.

GUTFELD: Exactly.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: It is doing foreign policy a little bit differently and clearly, it resonated.

GUTFELD: Yeah. Dana, do you think that the ambassador said those things because of the new guy or did he really mean it? I think he did.

DANA PERINO, CO-HOST: It seems they wouldn't have any incentive to say it if it wasn't true and if they didn't believe it. And I also think that while the business aspect is interesting, I believe that President Trump is asking those questions because it's in America's national interest for Afghanistan to be successful. So for them to have a good and growing economy means that they are less likely to become a safe haven for terrorism again. And then the question becomes what does success look like to you? You can't have success militarily if you don't have the soft power that comes from diplomacy and a strong and growing economy. I do think it will be interesting to see if President Trump will accept the recommendation from the Pentagon for more troops because I do think that request is probably coming. And I think there's good reason for them to consider it. And they will probably do it.

GUTFELD: Kimberly, you look fantastic in white today.

KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, CO-HOST: Oh, thank you so much.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: What am I, chopped liver?

GUTFELD: You look great in red. But you know, everybody looks good. All right. Kimberly, I find it interesting that the most abrasive president is the one who relies on personal tax, you know, which comes from I guess real estate deals. You know, he has to get in front of the person and then work it out. With Obama, it was like, I already know the answers. So I don't need to talk to you.

GUILFOYLE: Well, it is really true because he has the professorial elitism that he thinks he knows better than everyone else. That was one of the criticisms during his presidency. He was lecturing to the American people. I know better, you do not. You are impulsive and petulant, and I'm going to show you the way. And part of this, you saw was it the way he handled Afghanistan and other areas, geopolitical areas that we came into conflict with.

With Afghanistan, his plan was just to withdraw. When he saw that wasn't going to be you know a good idea and there were problems there that were ongoing, what did we see him do? He has essentially punted to the next presidency and said I'm going to let them handle this. He made the most restrictive rules of engagement that cost American lives, 3 out of 4 of the lives lost in Afghanistan were under Barack Obama's presidency. That's a fact.

(CROSSTALK)

GUILFOYLE: It is, Bob. Sorry.

(CROSSTALK)

GUILFOYLE: OK. Well, the point is, now President Trump is going to have to go in there and fix this. And one of the first things he did was turn the rules of engagement back to what they were before, with anybody who's involved in the theater there militarily, special ops forces, that was the thing that hurt them the most. Not having the resources but being so restricted that they weren't able to take the fight to the Taliban to begin with, which now led to this abysmal flare of failure we are seeing in Afghanistan.

GUTFELD: You know, Bob, here's an easy question. Has President Obama ever admitted once that he was wrong about anything? Trump seems more willing to change his mind.

(CROSSTALK)

BOB BECKEL, CO-HOST: That's for sure.

(LAUGHTER)

BECKEL: We agree on that. Let me tell you this in the nicest way possible, but usually when people don't know anything, they ask a lot of questions.

GUILFOYLE: Oh, my God.

(CROSSTALK)

BECKEL: I have to listen to you.

BOLLING: Don't know anything, they never asked the question. Otherwise, they would know things.

BECKEL: Listen, do you think he knows anything about Afghanistan, seriously?

BOLLING: I don't know if he does, but I think it's amazing and perfect that he asked.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: It's important to know what you don't know.

BECKEL: I understand that. It's important to ask the questions. And I understand that but the idea that somehow we're giving him credit for being diplomacy on his part. If you ask him about the healthcare bill, he would know nothing about it. Afghanistan has a very complicated history. It's driven out the biggest powers in the world. And it's not going to get fixed. It's not going to get fixed by us. The Soviets went back home. And we are going to go home.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: Are you done?

GUTFELD: Bob, you didn't answer my question. Has Obama ever admitted he was wrong about anything, including ISIS?

(CROSSTALK)

BECKEL: Most of the time, he wasn't wrong.

BOLLING: What Dana pointed out, will President Trump listen to the generals and send ground troops in Afghanistan, if needed?

PERINO: I said more troops.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: More troops, more troops, but we found out today they did send -- the generals did recommend sending troops to Syria and he went with it. This is something he said he wasn't in favor of, but he's listening to the generals. So, Bob, it's important to listen, if you don't exactly have a completely full understanding of what's going on the ground in Syria and every foreign theater, it's good to hear and listen to the generals.

(CROSSTALK)

BECKEL: I think we're saying the same thing. He doesn't know what he's doing.

(CROSSTALK)

GUILFOYLE: No, we didn't say that.

(CROSSTALK)

BECKEL: Do you think he knows something about Syria?

(CROSSTALK)

GUILFOYLE: If you know anything about Donald Trump and you know him personally for many years, like I do, and many people do, that he had interactions with in a business environment, he's going to equip himself with the facts, to be able to succeed. He's not going to go into the presidency and then say sorry, I didn't do a very good job and fire himself. He's going to try to get it right. And if you see he is relying heavily on the advice of generals and people in his cabinet because he wants that type of strength and intelligence and previous success from people who actually know what they're doing, so he can incorporate that into his foreign policy plan.

(CROSSTALK)

GUILFOYLE: And following up by asking questions, so that he can learn, so that he can make good decisions. That's what a president should do.

BECKEL: What do you think he was talking about, how do you do business in Afghanistan? If I was the president and he said that to me.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: Every president, every foreign leader should be asking that question.

GUILFOYLE: Yeah.

BOLLING: How can we get business investment to come to our country? Because when you have that, you have growth. And when you have growth, you basically solve all your economic problems.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: What?

BECKEL: What are you going to do in Afghanistan? Mining? Mining, that's right.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: Agriculture.

GUILFOYLE: You want them to have a good economy to stabilize the region. That's a very important piece of the puzzle that a lot of times people don't think about. When you see the kind of stripes that happening with ISIS and the rest of them, they don't have jobs. Remember that?

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: You liberals are the ones who said that half the reason for terrorism and ISIS was economic reasons. So here he is. He said what's it going to take to bring business investment to Afghanistan, so these people have an option, an alternative to joining us. They can start a business.

GUTFELD: A Trump hotel in Afghanistan.

(CROSSTALK)

BECKEL: You are assuming that George Bush and Barack Obama didn't encourage business to go to Afghanistan?

BOLLING: Did I say that?

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: Greg pointed out the guy said no one ever asked me that question before.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: How long has he been in office?

GUTFELD: The other thing he brought up was the thing we talked about that President Obama would say what he was going to do before he would do it. And that would drive Afghans crazy.

PERINO: That's right. Basically, he said that we're leaving.

GUTFELD: Yeah.

PERINO: And so, that basically created this vacuum and this problem. The other thing is President Trump has shown some willingness and the media has picked up on it to change his viewpoint based on meetings he's had. Leading up to the joint session of congress speech, he had two weeks worth of meetings with CEOs. And remember on that day of the joint session speech, he said -- he floated the idea that maybe was going to change his approach on the immigration bill. And, Bob, that is true that he did do that. Presidents are allowed to change their minds. President Obama, remember after the push back, he kept the Bush tax cuts.

If I could down one last thing about the ambassador, one of the ways you develop good relationships is by showing an interest in somebody else, maybe ask them, ask their opinion about something. It doesn't happen all the time, frankly, for a lot of people. From his business perspective, that's a way you can establish a relationship, probably be able to pick up the phone and call each other and that's actually good.

GUILFOYLE: And that helps with your soft diplomacy, what you were talking about. Good relationships.

PERINO: Soft power.

(CROSSTALK)

BECKEL: Maybe Trump can do something that no one's been able to do for 300 years. I doubt it. I guess he grows opium.

GUTFELD: I get Bob's point. Nothing seems to work in Afghanistan, but at least, it looks like he's listening.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: But also, remember the purpose of it is not just because he wants Afghanistan to have a good economy in Afghanistan. It is actually in America's national interests.

GUTFELD: Yeah.

PERINO: So it will not be a safe haven from growing up -- growing there again.

GUTFELD: All right. On that note, coming up, top Democrats in the house and senate are urging Republicans to scrap their ObamaCare repeal and replacement bill. But will their fear tactics work? Details ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLLING: In an effort to derail President Trump's pledge to repeal and replace ObamaCare, some Democrats have apparently resorted to scare tactics on the American people to spook them about the Republican healthcare bill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS, VERMONT SENATOR: If this legislation is passed and millions of people are thrown off health insurance, not able to get care when they must, thousands of Americans will die.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D-CA) HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: In terms of insurance coverage, it's immoral. In terms of giving money to the rich at the expense of working families, it's indecent and wrong.

CHUCK SCHUMER, SENATE MINORITY LEADER: Trumpcare would be a nightmare for the American people, causing tens of millions to lose coverage, millions more to see the costs of healthcare go way up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLLING: Meanwhile, the White House announced it is working with lawmakers to shape an amendment to Ryancare, the GOP healthcare bill. And I still say, the GOP has two options, jam this lousy bill through and watch it fail in phase two, then you own it, Mr. Speaker, or fix it fully right now. And the Democrats vote it down, they are going to eat the mess that the failed ObamaCare will leave and it will leave a mess.

KG, your thoughts on what the White House said they're going to work with some Republicans to see if they can add amendments to the bill now.

GUILFOYLE: Yeah. But I think that's a reasonable reaction to sort some of this, I guess, evaluation of it, the people who are studying the bill and say OK, wait a second. Does this have all sort of the ingredients in it that we need to make it successful? So that's what you do. That shows a healthy interest in doing your best and putting forward policy that was actually going to help the American people. If they were being close minded and saying, we are not open to anything, that would be a problem. So take that, don't just say you're going to do it. And in fact, incorporate it to make it the best it can be. Because they were very vocal in terms of criticizing ObamaCare to begin, so gives people a reason to choose this and want it, not just like take the medicine with this grimace on their face.

BOLLING: Is there a way for Republicans to win with this bill?

PERINO: Well, I guess, sure. I mean, I think that the president has said that they are inextricable linked. This is our bill, that's what he said. And I appreciate you are trying to call it Ryancare. However -- not just you, but there are attempts to brand it as Ryancare, ObamaCare. The Republicans had to put something on the table. And I thought today, Sean Spicer at the press briefing was very much in line of what you would want in terms of the beginning of the negotiation, which is this is phase one. We're willing to talk to people, I'm meeting with people. He's talking to people. The president has two rallies next week. I do think something like Senator Sanders is being so ridiculous. He said thousands of people will die. Health insurance doesn't mean less care, whether you have it or not. People get care. If they don't have health insurance, they can get it under Medicaid. It may not be the best, it may not be what you want, but it's not like people are going to die if this bill passes. That's ridiculous.

BOLLING: Again, my biggest problem with the bill is they want us to wait for phase two and phase three.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: That's what the president said.

BOLLING: I know, but here's the problem. If you don't get 60 votes and you're putting the easy stuff up front, so you have a simple majority to get it through. And you're never going to get 60 votes for phase two or phase three. We are never going to get the promises made down the road. This is what I'm saying. Let the Democrats eat this. Let them own this thing.

GUTFELD: Just to Sanders, any time you try to reform government, the left shouts three words, people will die. While in cities actually run by liberals, people do die.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: In most cities where there is high crime, liberal policies. Liberal policies kill more people than conservative principles ever will. So I find it hypocritical that they are shouting about hypothetical deaths when there is death in Chicago every day.

BECKEL: You know, that's a very good point.

GUILFOYLE: I like that point. So true.

(CROSSTALK)

BECKEL: . four years and this is about death panels for three years. While you're high intellectually from Alaska who said there is a death penalty, Democrats, you're going to die. You've got to be kidding me.

(CROSSTALK)

BECKEL: Hypocrites. You say stuff about Obama that was much more scary that this. And the people on the Hill did and they were stupid and they couldn't do it right.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: So, Bob, what about that idea?

(CROSSTALK)

GUILFOYLE: There was a compliment in there somewhere.

BOLLING: Put phase one, two, and three all together and say this is the bill. Democrats, either vote for it or ObamaCare is going to be yours to eat.

BECKEL: But you're not voting. This gets done with fundamental questions because legislatively, it's not that well negotiated, this Medicaid expansion.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: Here is my point. Let the Democrats eat this.

PERINO: The president has already said that would be the irresponsible thing to do. He said I could do that. It would be politically expedient, but I wouldn't do it. So I don't think it's easy for him to backtrack on it.

BOLLING: Also, they did. Also, Paul Ryan and they said they were going to be will to deliver a bill that would be able to pass the house, and they didn't.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: There hasn't been a vote yet.

BECKEL: I don't see how you can put together something, negotiate a deal, with the positions where they are. And Medicaid is a central part of it.

BOLLING: You know what the thing is? We are talking about health coverage, nothing in these bills that really need to tackle health costs. You get the health costs to come down, the trouble is going to come down.

BECKEL: This is an insurance bill.

BOLLING: All right, KG, your thoughts.

GUILFOYLE: Bob, just so you know, for your team here, Bernie Sanders is really working his best magic to try to split the Democratic Party and make a new faction, a Democratic Socialist Party.

BECKEL: She has witnessed that.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: Unfortunately for the Democrats, Sanders has been successful.

GUILFOYLE: He has been successful, and the election was proof positive of that, because a lot of people that actually supported him as well were enjoying and embracing the policies of Donald Trump and that kind of reform.

BECKEL: We have had that split since.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLLING: Up next, a major winter storm just days before spring is slamming the northeast. We will have an extreme weather update with guess who, when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PERINO: A powerful nor'easter is pummeling much of the country dumping more than a foot of snow and rain in some places. Major cities along the east coast from Washington have gotten clobbered. Six states have declared a state of emergency. Shepard Smith joins us with the latest on the winter weather. Shep, it sort of felt today like when you're walking, like ice pellets being shot into your face with a gun.

SHEPARD SMITH, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Like on a boat that's going too fast in the rain.

PERINO: Yeah.

SMITH: Very uncomfortable. Forecasters predicted the blizzard today. And that's exactly what we got. But it hit further inland than they expected. New York City, D.C., Philly really dodged the worst of it. Other areas on the north and west got nearly two feet of snow. Here's a look in Boston. A wintry mix there now. And forecasters say it will most likely turn to rain there very soon. It looks like it may already have.

Utility companies reporting the storm has knocked out power to nearly a quarter million people from Virginia to Massachusetts. So they are doing a good job getting a lot of his backup. For instance, this area here Medford, Massachusetts, more than 90 percent of all customers were without power. Now, down to four customers. They have done a whale of a job. And there are some other problems associated with the system. Actually, two systems that converged over the northeast at the same time, New Jersey, this is one of the coastal towns, the Stone Harbor, New Jersey, 150 miles south of New York City. Right on the southern tip of Jersey, water taking over the streets there. And people wandering in boats today today.

We're starting to get some snow totals as well. It looks like D.C. is going to finish up with just a couple inches. Parts of the New Jersey Shore with about half a foot. New York City, about 8 inches, we now think when all is done. A little less in Central Park, little less down around JFK Airport, a little bit more in Boston, though, but to the west of Boston, about a foot and a half. West of New York, same thing, 18 inches. As we go far west in Pennsylvania. I want to show you the current radar loop. This thing has just come right up the coast.

These are the snow totals that we are expecting from now until it's all over. Less than an inch here, less than an inch in Boston, but look up there in Burlington, another 10 to 16 inches. That would put them around 30 inches. So don't tell anyone in Burlington this wasn't a big storm. That's what is left of this, less than an inch here, still 4 to 8 in all of the area. Forecasters say the storm could drop more and more than a foot in Burlington, Vermont.

I want to show you here, for travelers, it's been a nightmare. More than 6,000 flights have been grounded. This is in Dallas and Washington, a white wintery mess this morning. Things starting to get back to normal at Dulles International, just outside of D.C., slowly up and running at New York City Airport, but the delays could ripple for days.

There was some fun, though, case in point. Pennsylvania, this woman, not a brand new woman, snowboarding down a hill in her backyard.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: Nice work. She was about 65 miles north and west of Philly there. And let's not forget, Dana, America's dog makes a cameo.

(LAUGHTER)

SMITH: We happened to spot Jasper. Apparently, she was in Central Park today. Was she there unattended?

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: She is a he.

SMITH: Oh, I'm sorry.

PERINO: I've got to get you a calendar and it will be very clear it's a he. Just ask Kimberly.

(CROSSTALK)

SMITH: Hi, Jasper.

PERINO: The dogs were having a good time. Kimberly and I have a secret thing.

(CROSSTALK)

PERINO: We're going to take it around the table and ask some questions to you. Let's start with Kimberly.

GUILFOYLE: Super cute. Oh, my God. So adorable, right. Let's talk about the cherry bloom. Apparently, they are encased in ice and it's a big problem for the festival going forward, because I don't think they are going to survive.

SMITH: They think they may not, some of them because so many of the cherry blossoms in D.C. had bloomed early.

GUILFOYLE: Yeah.

SMITH: So they have the little blooms there. And they were open, and the ones that were already open, if they're iced over, those most likely fall off. But they're still telling us there will be plenty of cherry blossoms for people to come to see. So if you're planning...

BECKEL: Shep, this is...

GUILFOYLE: Because that affects -- that affects the tourism.

BECKEL: Yes, it does affect tourism, but it's a good thing, because I'll stay home. That's my home town, and the Japanese got equal with us for Hiroshima. They put those things around there.

SMITH: They're beautiful.

BECKEL: Everyone stops. And traffic accidents. They all ought to go home.

Hey, Shep, let me ask you an important question.

GUILFOYLE: Oh, my God.

BECKEL: Do you think that -- do you think if we had better microwave situation up and down the coast, we would have better weather control?

SMITH: We can see it through the microwave cameras.

BECKEL: Yes, OK. All right. I thought so.

PERINO: Great question, Bob.

GUILFOYLE: Yes, Bob.

BOLLING: Shep, how is the weather in Palm Beach, Florida, right now?

BECKEL: Around Mar-a-Lago?

SMITH: Delicious. It was 72 earlier this afternoon. Today they had a high about 84 in the Palm Beach. I had a live camera in Palm Beach earlier. I would've dialed that up for you, Eric, if I had known you were interested.

BOLLING: All right, brother.

PERINO: Shep, I have a question. What do you say to people who are then critical? Because the storm shifted and didn't hit D.C. and Philly and New York as they thought, then you know, there's criticism of the National Weather Service, which I don't think it's warranted but I guess I just told you what I think.

SMITH: I don't either.

PERINO: What do you think?

SMITH: I don't think so at all. You can't tell exactly where weather is going to go. We always talk about hurricanes. If they take just a little bit of a trek. Well, they were originally predicting that this be 50 miles off coast.

If it had been 50 miles off coast, the warm water from the Atlantic wouldn't have come into Boston and New York and Philadelphia. It would have been in the mid-20s instead of the low 30s. So all of this freezing rain we got all day would've been snow. So we we'd have had two inches in Boston, two inches in New York -- I mean, two feet in Boston, two feet in New York, a foot and a half in Philly, just like they projected. Instead it moved 40 miles to the west, so they got it all inland. They can't be perfect. They were close.

PERINO: Right.

SMITH: And they were right. And they...

BECKEL: Did you ever notice people get upset, Shep, when they say, "Gee, there was supposed to be a big storm, and it doesn't happen"? They should be happy.

SMITH: It did happen. It just didn't happen to you.

BECKEL: It certainly did.

PERINO: Exactly.

BECKEL: You should have seen it at 4 a.m. in the morning in Times Square, man. It was rough.

PERINO: Bob. I don't know -- I'm not even going to ask what you were doing up at 4 in the morning, but Greg needs to get in here, because of course, that's always the best question.

(CROSSTALK)

GUTFELD: Hey, Shep, I read -- the New York government offices were closed today. Did anybody notice?

SMITH: Oh, gosh. Greg, you're a one-trick pony. I love ponies.

GUTFELD: You do?

GUILFOYLE: And he loves unicorns.

BECKEL: And he is one trick. There's no question about that.

GUILFOYLE: All right, Bob. All right.

GUTFELD: What? What?

PERINO: Shep, I saw that you said that New York couldn't handle two feet of snow. And I've been here for -- well, I've been here for a couple of big storms, but you had me a little nervous.

SMITH: Well, they were predicting, the National Weather Service was predicting one to three inches of snow every hour for six hours. Blizzard- like conditions. That means winds above 25, 30 miles an hour and gusts to 50. No matter how good the sanitation department is at getting rid of the snow -- and they are very, very good at it -- if it overruns you, it overruns you. Mother Nature can eventually beat you. It didn't happen this time. Very pleased.

BECKEL: They told me not to talk about politics, Shep, but you notice plowing under de Blasio is in the poor areas, and the rich people's area doesn't get plowed?

GUILFOYLE: Oh, my God.

SMITH: They say this every cycle. I don't even know. I hope it's clean in my neighborhood.

BECKEL: It won't be. It won't be.

PERINO: All right. Bob, you're going to -- we're going to cut you off, and we're going to thank Shep.

BECKEL: What else is new?

PERINO: Thank you so much.

SMITH: You betcha.

PERINO: All right. President Trump has a potential new strategy to target radical Islamic terror. Will it bring us closer to defeating ISIS? Details when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUILFOYLE: President Trump turning up the heat in the fight against radical Islamic terror. The Wall Street Journal reports the president has given the CIA secret new authority to conduct drone strikes against ISIS and other terrorists. The move is a departure from the Obama-era policy, under which the Pentagon carried out the operations after the CIA identified targets.

Retired four-star general Jack Keane explains the potential change in strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JACK KEANE (RET.), FOX NEWS MILITARY ANALYST: I think the Trump administration is largely going back, not because one agency does it better than the other, but for this reason: because it's covert, it's classified, and it doesn't get discussed. When the military is conducting an operation, it's much more open; it's considerably more public.

I think this is fine. This is about keeping it secret and doing it covertly and doing it in places we may not want to talk about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUILFOYLE: I think this is fantastic. I agree spot on with General Jack Keane, but then again, I do love everything about him. Isn't that true, Dana?

PERINO: It's true. You do.

But the other thing is, he went on to say -- and we didn't show it -- that it doesn't mean there wouldn't still be oversight from the Congress or involvement by the Pentagon. It doesn't mean that the CIA is now some rogue operation that is going to go out and do drone strikes. It just means that, if the CIA has a target of opportunity, they can take it, and it doesn't have to be disclosed publicly. So...

GUILFOYLE: Smart strategy.

PERINO: And I think this also shows that there's probably a better relationship between the White House and the CIA than we have been led to believe in the last few weeks.

GUILFOYLE: All right, fantastic. Bolling, you like this move?

BOLLING: And General Keane has said exactly that. In an interview later on, he said, "Look, here's the deal. When its military, just by nature, it's going to be a lot more light shed on it. You're going to hear about it a lot more. The CIA would be able to keep it quieter."

But remember, President Obama first started with the drone strikes, the just unilateral drone strikes. We're killing these people. And then later on, he got pushed back. And remember, we said, "Hey, he's not going through proper channels." And then they changed the strategy, I guess, in the last year or so to the drones will be used for intelligence gathering. And then they would send in the military to go clean up the mess.

GUILFOYLE: All right.

BOLLING: So this is going back to the original Obama drone strike, wipes out everything, which I'll tell you, if they're bad guys, kill them.

GUILFOYLE: Absolutely. I think this is very smart militarily, and much in keeping with what one of the criticisms that candidate Trump was making about President Obama at the time, was that he was telegraphing too much. Telling the bad guys what we were going to do. And this allows, like he said, more covert operations and a more secretive nature, which I think is going to be more effective, plus the new drones, the new Reaper drones.

BECKEL: I was surprised, because didn't Trump say he knew more than the generals? Why doesn't he just control the drones himself?

GUILFOYLE: All right, Bob.

BECKEL: The other thing, the -- that ain't bad, ain't bad.

GUILFOYLE: Ain't bad.

BECKEL: One of the places will Trump be? You'll get that invitation. Don't worry about it.

GUILFOYLE: Oh, please.

BECKEL: You know, this is all -- this is all -- I mean, you guys sat around this table...

GUILFOYLE: I already have it.

BECKEL: ... and criticized Barack Obama every day about drone strikes, how inhumane it was. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

GUILFOYLE: No, I liked it.

BECKEL: You did?

PERINO: No.

GUILFOYLE: I did not criticize President Obama about that. I said that was the best thing.

PERINO: I said that they should capture more so that you could gather intel.

GUILFOYLE: Kill them all.

BECKEL: All right. I agree with that.

BOLLING: Well, we're agreeing with you.

GUILFOYLE: OK, perfect.

BECKEL: You know, but -- it's all going to go this way. Right? We're going to do electronic -- stuff.

All right. Go ahead, sir.

GUILFOYLE: Don't eat up the block on my killing segment. Please.

Greg.

GUTFELD: I mean, it's interesting that as the bad guys get worse, I mean, it always seems that, as we progress, evil gets even more evil. So ISIS is actually worse than a Nazi, I think. I believe that's the case.

But as they become worse, our killing becomes oddly more humane. We will never repeat the world wars where we sent waves upon waves of men to their deaths in horrible ways, where they're blown to pieces. Now the droning is purely surgical. You know it's like -- it's the equivalent of a prostate, you know, surgery, where we try to avoid the precious ligaments.

We go after the people. We kill them, and we try -- and we do our best not to hurt the innocent and people...

GUILFOYLE: But we'll have (ph) collateral damage.

GUTFELD: The collateral damage. But it is -- I think it's important that we are more concerned with how to kill than what to call them. So that's a refreshing return to common sense.

But it is interesting. This is the way it's going to be. It's going to be technology. It's going to be fewer -- fewer men on the ground, and we are going to be eliminating them.

BECKEL: That's right. You know, by the way, ISIS is about to be blown out of Mosul, which means they're out of Iraq altogether. Now -- and of course, you've got to credit Trump on that one, right? I mean...

PERINO: OK.

BECKEL: ... it's Trump who did that, right? Google.

PERINO: That's what you want to do?

BECKEL: Of course we will. This is a show, it's "The Five," and it has to be Trump.

BOLLING: Was President Obama responsible for bin Laden's killing?

BECKEL: What's that? Yes. Sure he was.

BOLLING: So then we can credit Trump with this Mosul win.

BECKEL: You couldn't credit...

BOLLING: I'm just saying, Bob.

BECKEL: That's fine. Give credit for Mosul. First, ask him where it is, and then we'll find out.

GUILFOYLE: Oh, boy. Honestly. I'm not going to let you ruin...

BOLLING: I see where it is.

GUILFOYLE: ... my nice mood about this. The CIA in charge, the new drones. And winter snow angel white. Perfect.

All right. When we return, Senate Democrats led by Chuck Schumer are threatening a government shutdown over funding of the border wall. Details next on "The Five."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC: DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS, "COME ON, EILEEN")

BECKEL: Who the hell is that?

PERINO: Bob.

BECKEL: Who's that? I'm sorry.

GUTFELD: "Come on, Eileen," by Dexy's Midnight Runners.

BECKEL: OK. Yes. Very good.

Now, here's someone who I can agree with. Senator Chuck Schumer and his fellow Democrats are threatening a government shutdown over the funding of President Trump's wall along the Mexican border.

The outraged Senate minority leader is warning Republicans that this caucus will not vote for any spending bill that might reportedly strip funding for some government agencies to pay for the wall.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: It would be inappropriate, in our judgment, to insist on the inclusion of such funding in a must-pass appropriations bill that is needed for the Republican majority in control of Congress to avert a government shutdown. It is truly a poison pill, and we would urge our colleagues not to allow the president to include this in a a must-pass bill that avoids shutdown of the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECKEL: The spending deadline is April 28. If the bill doesn't pass, the government could shut down on April 29. Eric, what is -- what do you think Trump says after he campaigned on the fact...?

BOLLING: They'll find it, Bob. It's $12 billion. I mean, that's $12 billion to $15 billion over the course of -- I mean, this is -- you want to talk about 30 -- remember yesterday, when we talked about the healthcare savings? Thirty-three point seven billion per year, and you called it a drop in the bucket.

BECKEL: No, you called it a drop.

BOLLING: This is a third of a drop in the bucket. So it's like -- I think it's 0.00045 percent. We spent three and a half trillion...

BECKEL: He said that they were going to pay for it. So what does he say?

BOLLING: They'll find it somewhere else, Bob. And $12 billion is -- in this -- Dana...

GUILFOYLE: Dana.

BOLLING: I defer to Dana. Can they find 12 billion easily?

PERINO: In the scheme of things, could you find 12 billion? Well, especially if the rumors are true that they're going to axe even more people from EPA. Kidding. But no, really.

GUILFOYLE: Yes.

BECKEL: The -- what's this wall...

PERINO: I think the idea of a government shutdown is terrible, and I have always felt that way. And I also think -- you remember that Chuck Schumer and other Democrats said that, when Republicans tried this a few years ago, that it would hurt people who were dependent on government services.

So do the Democrats no longer believe that shutting down the government would hurt people who depend on government services? Instead, why don't they try to -- like, if they can't figure out a way to stop that funding from being in the bill, then figure out a way to stop it from actually being appropriated in the budget.

BECKEL: Both parties should -- are hypocritical on this. They use it every time that someone comes up for something. And once in a while it winds up in a government shutdown, usually by Republicans.

Greg.

GUTFELD: Yes, I believe that Schumer is an obstructionist. We are talking about thousands of shovel-ready jobs. Actual shovel-ready jobs. And I thought, as a Democrat, you would want to create more jobs. Building a wall will create more jobs. Therefore, he is a communist, and he should be thrown in jail forever.

GUILFOYLE: Yay! Winning speech and debate.

BECKEL: The -- now, Kimberly...

GUILFOYLE: Yes.

BECKEL: I take it, it doesn't bother you that we're going to spend U.S. tax dollars on this wall?

GUILFOYLE: I want the wall.

GUTFELD: I love it. Bob cares.

GUILFOYLE: Bob cares.

GUTFELD: About our tax dollars.

GUILFOYLE: And by the way, I think it's a great point. Why not have the jobs? Why not put this forward? It will help. I think it is necessary, because clearly, what we've been doing in the past has not been working. This is going to help in terms of national security, public safety. It's going to help in terms of the economy. It's a win-win situation.

People are just looking to find fault with Trump, and I agree, like, Schumer is an obstructionist. He is the head of the failed state known as the Democratic Party. So if he wants to try and do this for Supreme Court justice hearings -- by the way, Chuck Schumer, responsible for the longest presidential transition in history, blocking President Trump. He's just a bad actor. This is the bottom line. He's an ineffective leader.

BECKEL: What about the Republicans blocking the Supreme Court nominee for a year? That doesn't matter?

GUILFOYLE: OK. Well, let me tell you something. That -- I think they brought up Merrick Garland, who -- you know, nothing against him, but they brought that up at the last minute, which was very different, in terms of President Obama's term. And that's not going to work.

BECKEL: It was a year. It was a year.

GUILFOYLE: The next president, they should have made sure that Hillary Clinton got elected and took the White House, because then they wouldn't be crying about it.

BECKEL: Let me just ask you this. If this wall is so important, I drove through the Lincoln Tunnel here on Saturday. For an hour and half, I sat in that wreck. There's a lot of places that need to be fixed in this country, seriously need to be fixed. There's going to be...

BOLLING: That...

BECKEL: And that's not...

GUILFOYLE: That's infrastructure jobs, and he's going to do that too.

BOLLING: That's the infrastructure spending. That's a trillion dollars. Which will a tough pay-for. That is going to be the tough hurdle, not this $12 billion for the wall that Mexico is going to end up paying for anyway. But the trillion dollars. And they're going to have to come up with a way to find some pay-fors and get a public-private partnership going on where companies get involved and help...

BECKEL: But you're still going to need cash flow, right, on the wall? Seriously, you're just going to spend 13 billion, and then you've got -- you're up against...

BOLLING: Do you think the wall was built in the year? It's probably going to take, whatever, two or three years. So you're talking a couple of billion dollars. Yes, someone will -- they'll figure out a way to appropriate some money and get Mexico to pay them back for it. It will happen. It will happen.

BECKEL: Will -- OK. I'm sure.

GUILFOYLE: Say it nicely, please.

BECKEL: And look, I was going to say if we just rent it from the Chinese, we could get it all done at one time. "One More Thing" is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GUTFELD: All right. It's "One More Thing." I go first, I guess.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: I hate these people!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GUTFELD: Do you know who I hate? I hate people who tweet pictures of beaches on rainy or snowy days. Do I send pictures of smooth roads to places where there are earthquakes? This makes no sense. Everybody is on the West Coast tweeting pictures of sunsets and beaches.

PERINO: Right.

GUTFELD: Do I tweet pictures of jobs to the unemployed? I would never do that. Do I tweet a picture of love to Rosie O'Donnell? I wouldn't do that.

PERINO: No. You wouldn't do that.

GUTFELD: All right.

BOLLING: I just sent you this. When I asked Shepard, how's the weather in Palm Beach, Matt sent me...

GUTFELD: There you go.

BOLLING: I saw it, Matt.

GUTFELD: I told you. Don't you hate -- all right. Dana Perino.

PERINO: All right. So some news to announce. You can now download this show as a podcast while you're on the go. "The Five" podcast is available on iTunes, Tune In, Google Play and more. And guess what? It's free. Worth every penny.

GUILFOYLE: Yay!

GUTFELD: Yay.

PERINO: Go to FONewsPodcast.com. You can get more information. But this way, if you're on the go, you can listen to it on your commute or the next day so you don't miss an episode of "The Five."

GUILFOYLE: You know how good that is?

PERINO: And I also have a book to promote. This is a new book called "The Shroud" by -- well, it's "The Shroud Conspiracy," excuse me. It is out today. It is by John Heubusch. He is a much accomplished man. He is currently the executive director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute.

I have not had a chance to read this yet, but Greg has. And Greg's a tough critic, and he liked it.

GUTFELD: Well, you know what I said? I said that I hate it when people give me books, because they're usually bad writers. He's an amazing writer. He's an incredible writer.

PERINO: That's high praise.

GUTFELD: I was, like, going, "Oh, man. Now I have to read the book."

PERINO: I look forward to reading it, and I hope everyone takes a look at it.

GUTFELD: Oh, and -- Bob. BECKEL: Well, I was going to dump on Paul Ryan, but the producers made me stop doing it. So...

BOLLING: I will.

BECKEL: The -- I know you will, so we'll get equal opportunity on that.

But I do want to say something about the president. You know, I gave in the other day. I said I accept it. That's all right. But now, I remember distinctly not once, not twice, probably 150 times that President Reagan, excuse me. President Trump, when he was on the trail, said this.

GUTFELD: Honest mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This has got to be covered. This is an un-Republican thing for me to say, because a lot of times, they say no, no. They'll lower it 25 percent; they can't afford private. But...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Universal healthcare?

TRUMP: I am going to take care of everybody. I'm...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BECKEL: Well, here's a little problem. And I know you Trumpsters are going to forgive this guy, like you do everything else, lying.

GUILFOYLE: Oh, Bob.

BECKEL: But -- "Oh, Bob." You had to sit here -- I had to put up with Obama, and you guys dumped on him, so I can dump on this guy.

But anyway, so he says universal health. Twenty-four million people will be without healthcare insurance, thanks to Donald Trump and the dude from Wisconsin whose long legacy stretches back to his -- and anyway, the -- and also the wall. We weren't going to pay a dime for the wall. Remember that? We just had a discussion, 13 billion. Drop in the bucket. But once again, Donald Trump gets away with that. Barack Obama and he tapped his phones. Now his counselor says, "Wait a minute. It's microwave ovens they're doing."

GUILFOYLE: All right. Is this a filibuster.

GUTFELD: All right. It's a Bob-abuster.

BECKEL: I've been on for 40 seconds.

GUTFELD: A Bob-abuster. Eric.

BOLLING: OK, so I'll take over. Ryancare -- and I'm calling it Ryancare, because I don't think Donald Trump should put his name on this.

GUTFELD: It is -- it's Trumpcare.

BOLLING: No, it's not. It came from Paul Ryan. It's Paul Ryan's bill that -- that they're trying to push through.

GUTFELD: Are you saying the president really isn't the president?

BOLLING: No, I'm saying he should -- he should stop right now and send this bill back for fixing. Especially for this reason.

Under this bill, and I'm not sure if we even realize it. Two categories. If you're 50 to 64 years old -- this is in 2026. Fifty to 64 years old -- now these two groups, over 65, these are the two of Trump's highest voter total groups.

Check this out. Under -- if you make $26,500 or less, under ObamaCare in 2026, you would be paying $1,700 per year. Under Ryancare, you're going to end up paying $14,600. You're only making $26,000 You're going to pay more than 50 percent of your income to have -- to have care under this plan. So that's why the CBO numbers show 52 million people off, because it's too expensive for older people, and they'll drop off the rolls. And that's why...

GUTFELD: OK, you've got to explain the math.

BOLLING: ... we need to fix this.

GUTFELD: I have 106 percent.

BOLLING: Where?

GUTFELD: Fifty-three and 53.

BOLLING: No, no.

GUTFELD: OK.

BOLLING: Fifty-three percent of 50- to 64-year-olds...

GUILFOYLE: Oh, that age group.

BOLLING: ... voted for Trump. These are his two highest categories.

PERINO: I think Paul Ryan is on Martha's show tonight at 7.

GUILFOYLE: Yes.

GUTFELD: A plug.

GUILFOYLE: You've got to check out the 7 p.m. Eastern.

Dana, I'm going to follow in your footsteps and actually do some recommendations in terms of reading. "Wall Street Journal," great publication. Michael Bender has a fantastic article.

GUTFELD: Put that out.

GUILFOYLE: "Steve Bannon, The Making Of An Economic Nationalist." Read this article, and you get a lot of insight into his political mind and his background and where he came from. And it's very fascinating.

Last thing is, there's a great video about self-defense. This woman, Kelly Huron, who took a self-defense class right here and fought off her attacker, saved her life and locked him in the bathroom.

GUTFELD: That's it for us.

GUILFOYLE: Yes, amazing.

GUTFELD: Got to go.

BECKEL: She was...

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