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Trump campaign raises record $46 million in 4th quarter

Bernie Sanders raises $34.5 million; reaction and analysis on 'The Five.'

This is a rush transcript from " The Five," January 2, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

Dana Perino: Hello, everyone. I'm Dana Perino, along with Emily Compagno, Marie Harf, Lawrence Jones, and Tom Shillue, it's 5 o'clock in New York City. This is The Five.

[music playing]

Dana Perino: Tension is growing between the U.S. And Iran after Iranian-backed militants tried to storm the American embassy in Baghdad. The attack ending when the militia left the scene after just two days. The Trump administration responding by sending hundreds of troops to the area, but media coverage of what happened is getting major backlash. Some outlets slamming the president and even trying to label the incident as Trump's Benghazi. Here's a look at some of the coverage.

[begin video clip]

Male Reporter: You've got them, Steve, stoking anti-Americanism, potentially giving an advantage to Iran.

Female Reporter: This goes back to really strategic decision that the president made.

Female Reporter: We're engaged in a war of words, which is certainly not helpful.

Male Reporter: These are tough times and one worries whether the administration has the sort of horsepower and brainpower to deal with them.

[end video clip]

Dana Perino: And MSNBC's Joy Reid piling on with this tweet, calling the embassy attack, "Trump's Benghazi." And other outlets like The Washington Post under fire for label labeling the Iranian-backed militants as just protesters. The New York Times is also facing similar criticism for describing the attackers as mourners. A former Benghazi team member is blasting the Benghazi comparisons.

[begin video clip]

John Tiegan: It's not really similar at all. It wasn't another Benghazi. It's not Trump's Benghazi. To me, it wasn't even close to Benghazi. I kind of laughed when some said, "Oh this is Trump's Benghazi." No, it's not, because all -- again, all the non-essential personnel were evacuated. There's no ambassador there to be killed like they'd left the ambassador in Benghazi.

[end video clip]

Dana Perino: Lawrence, there wouldn't be comparisons to Benghazi if there wasn't a Benghazi.

Lawrence Jones: Right.

Dana Perino: Really -- it really is not comparable.

Lawrence Jones: At all. And Tig said it well. But Tanto also says there is a difference between a riot -- he was also there -- and a coordinated attack. And the response was also different. There were no lives lost. The fact is that President Trump immediately, and the Defense Department, the Secretary of State, all stepped in to make sure that there were people there, marines are already there, people are being shifted, and nobody died. I just think this shows you how far the media is willing to go to give cover to Democrats. And you think when it comes to national security, foreign policy, although we may have some differences when it comes to attack, we should be unified on it. And the fact that they are carrying the water, the Democratic Party, is pretty shady.

Dana Perino: Marie, you know, probably, more about this attack than anybody here. So, how do you -- what do you think about attempts to compare this? I mean, one of the things that happened in Benghazi was the video maker got arrested and basically, they did a perp walk of him saying that the video sparked the attack when that -- we of course, we know that wasn't true.

Marie Harf: They're very different situations. The compound in Baghdad is incredibly well-fortified. It's very well-protected. Obviously, the Benghazi outpost was in the front lines of an ongoing civil war. An actual better comparison to Benghazi, I think it was the attack in Niger, early in the Trump administration where four American service members were killed in a very botched operation. I don't think the comparison is good here. Some of the people we played, though, in those clips weren't talking about Benghazi. They were talking about what President Trump's strategy is vis-a-vis Iran and whether he has one, quite frankly. And I think my concerns here aren't about some Benghazi comparison. It's about the fact that much of what the Trump administration has done has emboldened the hardliners in Iran. The IRGC today feels like they can encourage their militias in places like Iraq and Syria to do this. And we have to figure out how we're going to respond. You know, the Israelis have taken a lot of kinetic action against Shiite militias backed by Iran in places like Iraq and Syria. But they do it much more quietly because they're trying to send a message, but not provoke some of the outrage that you've seen on the ground, which unfortunately can put our people in harm's way. Thankfully, we've evacuated the embassy, but a result of that is that we don't have people on the ground doing American diplomacy --

[cross talk]

Emily Compagno: We have Marines that are there to help protect them --

Marie Harf: For security reasons.

Emily Compagno: -- But one of the reasons that Iran has been able to train up all of these other militias is because they've got a lot of money during the Obama administration --

Tom Shillue: Pallets full of it.

Emily Compagno: -- The JCPOA

Tom Shillue: But what difference, at this point, does it make?

Dana Perino: Callback, that's callback right there.

Tom Shillue: The thing is that I want to shame the media on this because, you know, those headlines from outlets like The Washington Post, New York Times, they have to differentiate between -- there are protests in Iraq, since October. Real protests. And I -- this what you see on social media, you see people on Twitter saying, I'm one of the real protesters. I've been protesting this government because they are very angry in Iraq about -- they want reforms. Yes. And so, Iranians have come in and piggybacked on those protests. And the media needs to differentiate, and they're not doing their job and saying that they're very different --

Dana Perino: The administration has done that. We also have some sound here from President Trump. [laughs] I was like -- I'm like, Emily?

Emily Compagno: I know. I looked up and I was like, I got to remember your name because, you know, I don't even know what day of the week it is, actually. If you've been working this during the holidays and you're like me, you're like, is it Friday? Is it Monday? I haven't really no idea. And take a listen to President Trump, who -- he obviously knows what day is.

[begin video clip]

Donald Trump: The Marines came in. We had some great warriors come in and do a fantastic job, and they were there instantaneously, as soon as we heard. I used the word immediately. They came immediately and it's in great shape. As you know, this will not be a Benghazi. Benghazi should never have happened. This will never, ever be in Benghazi.

[end video clip]

Marie Harf: Look, it's not a comparable comparison for it on any level. We have made drastic efforts not to provoke Iranian- backed militias as we've been fighting ISIS this entire time. And the bottom line is that their continued aggression against bases could not be tolerated. So, I agree with you that there's a bit of nebulous-ness in strategy in the past couple years. But the bottom line is we've taken that hardline stance with a very articulable position that will serve us well in the long-term. And I think that, you know, the Iraqi government, obviously, they're in a difficult position. But regardless, they need to take a stance. They need to protect our embassy. And you know, to your point about the media, you know, their headline today -- not to jump issues, but about the Uyghur murder right now in China. They said as it detains parents, China weans children from Islam. So, we are no stranger, they are no stranger to the fact that all of their headlines are absolutely ludicrous in these times of -- what we deserve would be political specificity. And final point, my friend actually headed out to Baghdad today on behalf of the U.S. government. He said as he was checking in -- he flew commercial. And the woman who checked him in at the airline counter was like, Baghdad, like, are you aware of what's going on right now? And he goes, "More than the average bear.".

Dana Perino: Yeah, I think he was pretty well aware.

Lawrence Jones: The New York Times also referred to these terrorists, protesters, whatever you want to call them, as mourners. What were they mourning? The fact that they got attacked?

Dana Perino: Yes.

Emily Compagno: Yes.

Lawrence Jones: “Well, I was attacked.” You're mourning that?

Dana Perino: I mean, yes, they were --

[cross talk]

Marie Harf: But I mean, to Tom's point, I think it was a really smart point, that the people on the ground who are protesting, who are outside our embassy are a bunch of different people. Some are mourners, some are protesters --

[cross talk]

Lawrence Jones: -- is being killed, right?

[cross talk]

Marie Harf: Yes, they are. They're their bad guys. The Iraqis, as as Emily said, are in a tough position because they want this place to be safe. They want our embassy to be safe. They also see these airstrikes, at some level, as an imposition on their sovereignty. And so, they're trying to play this game where they're trying not to allow, you know, people to come on to their airspace and to do these things. But they also don't like these Iranian-backed militias. They're trying to play this middle space here. And that's really hard for the Iraqis, a government we want to be strong going forward.

Dana Perino: I think that comparisons to Benghazi that early, that the types of comparisons that we saw, that like, jumped the gun makes me think that they never really understood what happened in Benghazi in the first place. There's a great movie about that called 13 Hours. Catch it over the weekend because it's only Thursday. All right. President Trump getting a big boost for 2020 while Democrats continue to take aim at each other. We're going to tell you about it next.

[commercial break]

Lawrence Jones: Yeah, country. Things just got a lot harder for Democrats trying to stop Trump in 2020. The president's campaign with a massive cash haul, raising almost $50 million in the last quarter. It also has over $100 million on hand. The Trump campaign crediting the Democrats impeachment push for the huge numbers. On the other side of the aisle, Bernie Sanders is surging. The socialist raised over $34 million while Joe Biden struggles to keep up. This all happening while Democrat in-fighting intensifies. Andrew Yang going after Biden for saying, "Coal miners should learn to code." Take a look.

[begin video clip]

Andrew Yang: And let them do the kind of work that they actually want to do, instead of saying to a group of people that you all need to become coders.

[applause]

Like, what is that about? You know, maybe Americans don't all want to learn to code.

[end video clip]

Lawrence Jones: Wow.

Dana Perino: But everybody will be given $1,000.

Lawrence Jones: Is this --

Dana Perino: I'm here for it.

Lawrence Jones: -- right. But --

Dana Perino: [laughs]

Lawrence Jones: -- Yang puts, goes to a larger point, though, right?

Dana Perino: He does.

Lawrence Jones: Does it seem like -- is Joe Biden out of touch?

Dana Perino: Well, you know, he raised 22 points [spelled phonetically] and a million dollars which, as I understand, was a little bit higher than the expected. But still, when you look at Bernie Sanders, $35 million.

Lawrence Jones: [affirmative]

Dana Perino: This guy had a heart attack two months ago.

Lawrence Jones: Yeah.

Female Speaker: Literally.

Dana Perino: He got the AOC endorsement, and that seemed to give him a lot of momentum.

Lawrence Jones: [affirmative]

Dana Perino: It was funny that he said, or I saw a breakdown earlier, he said, his campaign, that a lot of campaign contributions came from employees of Amazon, which is so funny because, apparently, internally at the campaign, at the Bernie Sanders campaign, like, how do we spend $35 million? And they get mad if anybody orders office supplies from Amazon because Amazon is like this evil corporate giant. I think the thing is President Trump will have an advantage over Democrats no matter what. He's the incumbent.

Lawrence Jones: Right.

Dana Perino: He's going to have so much money, and they're divided. But you know, that could all change a month from tomorrow.

Lawrence Jones: Right.

Dana Perino: When you start to see if the, if the field can coalesce around a certain candidate. But right now, I would say -- if I were the Democrats, I'd be kind of worried.

Lawrence Jones: Marie, Biden is still leading in the polls, but you have Mayor Pete raising $24.7 million?

Marie Harf: Yeah.

Lawrence Jones: Is that -- should Democrats be concerned about Mayor Pete surging right now?

Marie Harf: No. I think what's interesting is that we all learned the lesson in 2016 that having the most money doesn't make you a winner. Hillary Clinton had a lot more money than Donald Trump. It's about a lot of different things. So, money doesn't equal victory, right? Joe Biden is competitive with these numbers. What's interesting, a couple of points. First, Elizabeth Warren, really tanking. I mean, she had a surge. She was going up and up in the polls and she has just flatlined.

Lawrence Jones: Why do you think she's tanking?

Marie Harf: I don't know. It's a good question. I think that she maybe thought she could steal some of the Bernie folks. But the resurgence of Bernie Sanders, as Dana said, he had a heart attack, a literal heart attack on the campaign trail. But if you look at how much Democrats are willing to invest in this cycle, if you add up all of these numbers, whoever the nominee is, is going to be very well funded. Democrats are focused. They're willing to spend, not just for the presidential, for the Senate races, for the House. They're very invested in this cycle overall.

Lawrence Jones: Emily, it seems like the impeachment push is backfiring on Democrats because the Trump campaign is still raising money, $100 million on hand, $50 million that they were able to raise. Is that a problem for them?

Emily Compagno: I think so, absolutely. A predictable one because, as there has been that civil war in the Democratic Party of how to approach impeachment and how to approach Trump, all that did was galvanize the other side of the equation who are rallying in support, clearly, as the donations indicate. I think it's also interesting that -- okay. So, we just got our quarter four numbers. In quarter one, two of the three highest fundraising Democratic candidates are no longer in the race --

Marie Harf: Yeah.

Emily Compagno: -- which is really interesting. And I'd like to make a point about the Julián Castro dropping out. Every run is obviously a vanity project, but his, like, off the charts, way more so. And this is not the last we've heard from him, obviously. And I think that the New York Times in 2014 said it best, which is basically that ever since he was the first Latino to give the keynote speaking address at the DNC convention that he and his twin brother have been seeking ways to stay on the national stage, to stay on the national radar, and they will continue to do so.

Lawrence Jones: How do you think impeachment is going for the Democrats, Tom?

Tom Shillue: Well, obviously, the president's fundraising like crazy. And Democrats are admitting that now. They're saying, "Oh. Obviously, the president's been able to fundraise off that." And so, it's been very effective for him for, you know, as far as money goes. He's also getting tons of small donors. I don't know the numbers on the Democrats, though, because that's what I want to see. Who's getting the small donors? I'm assuming it's Bernie.

Marie Harf: Bernie.

Emily Compagno: Bernie.

Tom Shillue: Yeah, it's Bernie. The richies --

Female Speaker: And Pete, I think.

Tom Shillue: -- love Pete, though. I mean, maybe he gets some small donors. But just from my experience, when I'm driving around the people with those big mansions, they've got a Mayor Pete thing sticking out of their lawn. Rich people love that guy. I don't know why, but they do.

Lawrence Jones: Dana.

Dana Perino: Do you think it's partly generational with Pete?

Lawrence Jones: Maybe.

Female Speaker: Yeah.

Lawrence Jones: I do think he's a lot more relatable to a lot of younger people. But I also think he's too polished and he doesn't come off as very authentic. It seems like they poll every single thing that he says.

Marie Harf: Young people love Bernie, too, though.

Dana Perino: That's what I was --

Lawrence Jones: Yeah, they do. They do.

Marie Harf: It doesn't make any sense to me.

Lawrence Jones: They do love Bernie. But I believe that you have someone that's closer to their age --

Marie Harf: Yeah.

Lawrence Jones: -- that's more relatable than Bernie.

Marie Harf: And I think a lot of Democrats are looking and searching for the next Obama.

Lawrence Jones: Yeah.

Marie Harf: And they think Pete may be the closest.

Lawrence Jones: And I don't think --

Marie Harf: To be clear, there is no next Obama.

Lawrence Jones: -- there's not.

Marie Harf: There will never be one. We've got to find something else --

Emily Compagno: There's a lot of --

Marie Harf: -- and that's okay.

Emily Compagno: -- Never Trumper Republicans that like Pete, however. And I don't know about the generational thing, but I see a lot of signs for him in Seattle. Like, I think he is actually kind of -- has a wider spectrum of appeal to people --

Tom Shillue: Seattle, land of Never Trumper Republicans.

[crosstalk]

Lawrence Jones: Dana, I want to get you to weigh on -- because the Democrats, they're eventually going to have to pivot from impeachment. So, from a communications standpoint, how can they pivot from this?

Dana Perino: Well, the -- well, the candidates themselves are not talking about impeachment. But they're basically being asked to run a marathon with 20-pound weights around their ankles, and that -- the weights are the impeachment. And now, it's advantaged Republicans, and even Mitch McConnell is besting Pelosi, for now. We'll see if that changes; but from a communications standpoint, it looks like a real loser.

Lawrence Jones: I think they have to blame the progressive wing of the party. I think Nancy Pelosi, the strategy, she did not want to do this. I think that she was kind of pushed by the AOCs of the world and that progressive caucus. And even the Maxine Waters of the world.

Marie Harf: It was the moderates who put her over the top, though, because it was about national security. It was those moderate members that were the ones that said, "We don't want to do this either, politically, but we think we have to."

Lawrence Jones: Yeah.

Marie Harf: That's what's so interesting.

Lawrence Jones: All right. We've got to leave it there. A New Year's Eve food fight erupts between liberal Mayor Bill de Blasio and Domino's Pizza. We'll tell you all about it next on The Five.

[music playing]

[commercial break]

Emily Compagno: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio celebrating the New Year by blasting Domino's Pizza. It comes after a store sold 30 dollar pies to New Year's Eve revelers in Times Square. De Blasio tweeting, “Jacking up your prices on people trying to celebrate the holidays, classy Domino's.” He also claims the chain exploited customers and suggests visiting other local pizzeria. A large Domino's pie usually goes for around 15 dollars and the pizza chain is now firing back, saying those locally owned stores provide jobs to thousands of his constituents. Now, first of all, I think this is indefensible, especially because everyone knows, apparently, except for the mayor, that, yes, these represent franchise franchises they are all locally owned, they're all local employees, and also, maybe he hasn't gone to Times Square during a ball drop, but it is so packed and that's economics when you're dealing with to a time when you're dealing with delivering food to a ton of people in a confined space in a constrained amount of time that's called supply and demand. What say you Lawrence? 

Lawrence Jones: First of all, who eats Domino's in New York City I think that's a problem itself. 

Female Speaker: A lot of people do. 

Lawrence Jones: Well hey, to each his own, that's not quality pizza. But from a poor --

Marie Harf: I agree it's not. 

Lawrence Jones: It's not. Thank you, Marie. 

Marie Harf: Yeah. 

Lawrence Jones: But the larger point here is Bill de Blasio dude you've been raising our taxes like constantly. So, I don't understand how he can have such hypocrisy I'll take a 30 dollar pizza over 50 percent in taxes every you know so that's just me.

Emily Compagno: Exactly Marie how do you feel about it?

Marie Harf: I get mad whenever I try and get an Uber and its surge pricing for some reason and it's more expensive and I'm like, why are they charging me more for this, but I understand it's supply and demand. We don't have to hate everything de Blasio does. 

Emily Compagno: I think it's-- 

Marie Harf: I think we just love to hate him. 

Lawrence Jones: I just think it's hypocritical. 

Marie Harf: No, he -- everything he does is hateable though. 

Emily Compagno: I think it's idiotic. It's totally idiotic. 

Marie Harf: Yes. 

Emily Compagno: First of all, you know, the people that thought it was worth 30 dollars are the people who bought it. 

Lawrence Jones: Bingo. 

Emily Compagno: Like if you're sitting there like a so if, like if you-- 

Tom Shillue: They loved it. 

Female Speaker: It's like, what is the method-- 

Female Speaker: Did they, though, love it? 

Female Speaker: Yes Enid Zanwar [spelled phonetically] of New Jersey said it's absolutely worth it. It was hot. It seems like it just came out of the oven. If he comes back, I will buy some more. Everyone, was loving it. 

Emily Compagno: He runs a city that's like the beating heart of financial and-- 

Lawrence Jones: Literally. 

Marie Harf: The world and like and he doesn't understand capitalism. I mean, I don't mean I don't I don't I'm usually not that mean but honestly, that was really dumb. 

Emily Compagno: It's not mean. You're accurate. What do you think Tom?

Tom Shillue: Dominos going to have to send a couple of free pizzas to that dumb Brooklyn gym he's always carting himself off to. 

Emily Compagno: See that would be funny. 

Lawrence Jones: Yes. 

Dana Perino: I wonder if he has to pay when to get in there. 

Emily Compagno: That would be funny. 

Tom Shillue: I'm sure but the Dominos isn't that bad. I mean, you know-- 

Lawrence Jones: It's terrible. 

Tom Shillue: Everyone has this attitude about New York pizza, you know, who has good pizza Boston. I grew up in Boston and we had great slices, little thin slices of pizza on Boylston Street. Then I come to New York and they all said it ay New York pizza you've got a full [unintelligible] New York pizza stinks compared to Boston. 

Lawrence Jones: You know how you're wrong when you get me and Marie to agree and look at you crazy you're wrong. 

Tom Shillue: Have you ever had pizza in Boston? 

Lawrence Jones: I have, and it's terrible. I travel all across the country and I always get the food. 

Emily Compagno: Chicago's pretty good. 

Lawrence Jones: Chicago is very good. 

Emily Compagno: Chicago style pizza I agree. 

Tom Shillue: You all have attitudes. 

Emily Compagno: You know how much hate Twitter you're going to get because you just said New York pizza wasn't good. 

Tom Shillue: You know what?

Female Speaker: No, how much love he's going to get from Boston. 

Tom Shillue: Go to little Stevie's house of pizza on Boylston Street and tell me that that is not better New York style pizza than New York. 

Emily Compagno: Chicago style deep dish pizza. 

Marie Harf: Delicious. 

Emily Compagno: Zachary's in the Bay Area. 

Marie Harf: This other thing is like when has de Blasio complained about big developers gouging. 

Lawrence Jones: No, they don't that's why-- 

Marie Harf: Has that ever happened no, because they are his supporters. 

Lawrence Jones: Yeah and they write big checks to his campaign. Look, look that's the thing I'm not upset at him for the comment I'm upset that he's so hypocritical about it and to pretend like he's for the people. Meanwhile, we're struggling having to pay all this money in taxes and meanwhile, all my friends that just came here from Texas to visit, they realize the surge pricing when it comes to New York. It does it's not because it's quality, because it's New York can you can do it. 

Female Speaker: I'm starving now also. 

Emily Compagno: The issue for me is that the ignorance you know and also at midnight, by the way, while he was tweeting that out or having an issue with Domino's, he ceded veto power on the fifty one point five billion dollar plan for the MTA here in the city because he wouldn't represent the city himself and he wanted he wanted somebody from the finance department to do it. So basically, because he got into a spat with the governor, he ceded veto power for this whole plan. So I think, you know, you talked about like we don't have to hate everything that he does, but literally everything he does is so hateable and so misguided and so ignorant. 

Female Speaker: He was a wife who had that lovely dance at midnight. 

Female Speaker: Oh, God, I don't care save it. 

Female Speaker: [crosstalk] Have you ever gone to a football or a baseball game or even go to the Rangers game here like how much do you think they charge you for a piece of pizza there? 

Lawrence Jones: I know. 

Dana Perino: A piece of pizza not a whole pie. 

Lawrence Jones: Happens everywhere. 

Emily Compagno: Well, see with Domino's it added up actually to thirty two dollars if you go by the slice, which is over what they were selling and that franchise has been delivering pizza in Times Square for 15 years over new years. Like clearly, something is working. 

Dana Perino: I'm glad that Dominos pushed back. 

Lawrence Jones: Yeah. 

Dana Perino: Right like just punch him right back in the nose. 

Emily Compagno: They should send a whole bunch of pizzas to City Hall. I think that would be funny. 

Marie Harf: I wouldn't send them free pizzas. 

Lawrence Jones: I wouldn't give them nothing. 

Marie Harf: It would be funny. Yeah ok. Try to be the bigger person. 

Emily Compagno: Ok, all right. 

Marie Harf: My New Year's resolution failing. 

Emily Compagno: Massive lines for legal pot and other controversial new laws popping up in liberal states that's next. 

[commercial break]

Marie Harf: It's a new year and some new laws and blue states across the country are causing controversy. Like in Illinois, where thousands of people lined up in Chicago to buy marijuana on New Year's Day. Even the state's lieutenant governor showed up to get some pot. People there are very excited about it.

[begin video clip]

Female Speaker: Honestly, better than Christmas when I got my Barbie dream house. [laughter]

Male Speaker: They let me buy the whole [bleep]. Some edibles, some weird kind of wax crumbles, some dabs.

Male Speaker: Just like the feeling, you know. I just like being high, I guess. [laughs]

[end video clip]

Marie Harf: Illinois is now the 11th state where pot is legal. So, polling in the country routinely over the past few years has gone up enough in terms of people supporting legalization of marijuana. And in some polls in the past few months, for the first time, a majority of Republicans also support it. So, this is one of those issues that I feel like it's trending in that direction. Lawrence, what do you make of this?

Lawrence Jones: I've always supported it. Actually, not true. Five years I've turned over a new leaf on it because I've --

Marie Harf: So, to speak, a new leaf. [laughs]

Lawrence Jones: Exactly. Nice play on words. I think that there is a lot of misinformation that goes out there, and especially when you're talking about administration that wants to combat the opiate crisis. Marijuana is the best tool to do that. There's also this thing that I hate being said, that it's a gateway drug. That has also been disproven. And I also think that it's terrible that we have so many people locked up over pot when alcohol does more damage to the body than marijuana. So, I celebrate.

Marie Harf: There you go. Something else we agree on. Dana, one of the conversations that surrounded the legalization of marijuana issues has been about veterans and PTSD and how -- I mean, you mentioned opioids, Lawrence -- but how marijuana can actually help people who are suffering from chronic pain or people, like veterans, who have real problems and they don't just want to turn to pills.

Dana Perino: Like, I'm for states being able to make their own decisions, right? And have these have elections that go into place -- in the direction that people want to go, except that the federal government hasn't kept pace with that. And we'll see. Policy-wise, I mean, they're way behind, and so it gets a little bit confusing. I also am just not woke enough to be up for this. [laughter] I'm just not. And I worry that this could be an experiment that goes bad in the long run. I'm for the veterans, and I know that there's a lot of benefits, especially for some veterans. But for, like, the young woman that's lining up there at 8:00, she can't wait. If she would've took a shot of whiskey at 8:00 o'clock in the morning before she went to work, would we all think that was cool?

Marie Harf: You don't do that? [laughs]

Lawrence Jones: No.

Marie Harf: Kidding. I think you're woke, by the way, Dana. Emily, you live in Washington, a state that is very progressive when it comes to marijuana. So, -- you've you know, you have people in your community, you have these stores where you can buy in your community. What do you make of it?

Emily Compagno: Yeah. And I grew up in California. I think that we need to be specific for viewers. So, first of all, Illinois is the 11th state to legalize it, recreational. We have -- it's the 30th states, or is among 30 states that have legalized it for medicinal purposes, which kind of dovetails into your question to Dana. I agree with Dana. And, I think, moving forward, you can say that this is a win for citizens, sure, and that it's reflecting a trend that polling has indicated. That being said, a) the federal government has not caught up so, frankly, we are all still confused, and legislatively we are still confused. And secondly, remember where this is coming from. It's all about the government see a dollar that you have is a dollar of lost income to them, to them. So, this is all about the amount that the share that they can recoup each state. That's also why, for example, out-of-state residents there in Illinois, what they are able to purchase is like half the quantity that in-state residents can. So, there's just a lot of, I think, additional things that stem from this that it helps to be knowledgeable about. And to your point about the information, I think we place a lot of stock in things like FDA approval and the federal government's attachment to things, where there's a whole host of other sources that are probably far more cutting edge and reliable that would help to educate citizens so they had less fear and worry about it becoming legalized.

Marie Harf: Tom, on day one in Illinois, nearly 3.2 million dollars of pot products were sold, to Emily's point about the dollars behind this. This is big business in many of these states.

Tom Shillue: Yeah, and they want the tax revenue, but I think we're very goofy about it. Like, we can't -- we don't have perspective. We just had a federal ban on the vaping products. Cigarettes are now almost illegal. They seem to be in many states now, they're more illegal than pot because --

Dana Perino: They're more expensive than a Domino's Pizza on New Year's Eve.

Tom Shillue: Yes. And they're --

Marie Harf: Way to bring it back.

Tom Shillue: You can't smoke -- I mean, you know, in my co-op, there's a guy who smokes. He has to leave the property and go, you know, down the street to smoke, and you can't smoke in front of it. So, we're making all these restrictions on tobacco and now we're embracing pot like it's this kind of magical thing. It's going to cause problems. And then people can say, oh, big pot. They're going to treat it just like big tobacco. And they're going to be complaining about that. That's what the people who are against these laws say, this is just like big tobacco. And it probably will be. Just give it some time.

Marie Harf: Another interesting law here in New York state that went into effect on January 1st. Judges in New York no longer be setting money bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent offenses, including many drug offenses of the kind we were just talking about. Under the new law, thousands of people currently in jail awaiting trial on bail will be released. You know, Emily, there's been a big debate in this country about whether cash bail is fair or not. You shouldn't be able to get yourself out on bail only if you're rich. Right? Our criminal justice system is supposed to treat everyone equally. What do you make of this new law?

Emily Compagno: I think it is an example of a poor solution to a definable problem. And I believe in this state in particular, it's a horrible solution. Here's why. The two issues in this state in particular are, one, that it removed judges' discretion to make that call, whether that person is injurious or potentially -- basically for public safety, that they can take that away. And secondly, it's the classification system of violent felonies. So, everyone accepts this aid, oh, well but it doesn't apply to violent felonies. Well, guess what's not a violent felony? A sex crime against a child. A home invasion burglary. Stalking. A lot of other things that are pretty violent to me. So, I think this particular law is absolutely poorly executed. And even before January 1st, we had 25,000 defendants released because the judges were like, well, it's coming around the corner. So, might as well.

Marie Harf: Might as well. Lawrence, this is a problem that a lot of people are wrestling with. Shouldn't be able to get out on bail if you're rich and not if you're poor.

Lawrence Jones: I do believe there is injustice. I've been fighting for criminal justice ever since I've worked in a juvenile court and I realized that the disparities existed. But I also agree with Emily that judges should have some discretion. I worked with a lot of judges before and they would say, you know what, I can't do it because the law requires me to do this. And when it comes to bills, it is true that a lot of poor people can't afford it. But I also believe that people should only be in prison if their a risk to society. And so, this has become a money-making business, just like when we were just talking about marijuana a while ago. Part of the reason why this hasn't been repealed and people can just buy it is because of the pharmaceutical companies, and that they give so much money to politicians and stuff. And so, we've got to take money out of this stuff. We also have to take money out of the criminal justice system. When it comes to civil asset forfeiture when you have --

Dana Perino: Yeah.

Lawrence Jones: -- people that continue to want asset forfeiture because it funds police departments. That's not justice, that's you serving your own interests. And the criminal justice system was not designed to serve government, it was to protect us all.

Marie Harf: Dana, what do you think?

Dana Perino: Well, I'm -- Emily and Lawrence know a lot more about this than I do. I just basically pay my taxes and I hope the government is going to protect me. And I'm sort of new to criminal justice reform, and I think one of the things that I would look at is can any of this funding go to preventing recidivism, right? So that you get people to get broken out of the cycle of going back to jail over and over again.

Marie Harf: Yeah. Last word, Tom.

Tom Shillue: Well, I'll just speed it up. I would do a trade. If you're going to, if you're going to cut bail and there's going to be more defendants who are out awaiting their trial, then cut the time to the trial. It's like get them into the court system. So, don't let them out and then six months, a year goes by. I would make a deal. I'll only -- I'll make a bail deal with you, but you've got to get them into the trial faster.

Marie Harf: Get the concept of speedy into the criminal justice system like it's supposed to be.

[crosstalk]

Okay. Don't go anywhere. The Fastest 7 is up next. Stay tuned.

[music playing]

[commercial break]

Tom Shillue: And now, time for the Fastest 7.

[laughter]

First up: We all know the panic caused when you forget to silence your phone, like in the middle of a movie or when you're out to dinner. Watch the hilarious way retired General Wesley Clark handles a ringing cell phone on live T.V.

[begin video clip]

Wesley Clark: So, they've taken out an attack, some Saudi oil facilities. They were put back in place.

[phone ringing]

They've shot down, they've shot down --

Male Speaker: [laughs]

-- the -- sorry about that.

Male Speaker: That's the best --

Wesley Clark: They've shot down a drone.

Male Speaker: -- that was the best reaction to a ring I've seen on the air. Nicely done, General.

[end video clip]

Emily Compagno: [laughs]

Tom Shillue: I like the general. Tosses his phone.

[laughter]

Female Speaker: It was great.

Dana Perino: The general, first of all, I don't know what his secret is. The general does not age --

Female Speaker: At all.

Dana Perino: -- he is, looks the same.

Tom Shillue: You're right.

Dana Perino: In, like, 25 years. It's -- I would love to know his secret. Maybe it's, you know, aggression with the phone.

Tom Shillue: [laughs]

Dana Perino: Maybe that could be a little attempt.

Tom Shillue: I always turn my phone off. And first of all, like --

Lawrence Jones: Me, too.

Tom Shillue: -- things, very important things, like church, drives me crazy. So, I keep it in the car. I don't even bring it in with me.

Dana Perino: Oh, yeah.

[crosstalk]

Tom Shillue: Yeah. But the idea that -- phones going off. I went to the movies the other day; phones went off three or four times.

[crosstalk]

They're going off in church. It's driving me crazy, Lawrence.

Lawrence Jones: The only place where I'm afraid for it to go off is on T.V. And it terrifies me, so I just turns it -- I turn it back on during --

Tom Shillue: But do you ever have --

Lawrence Jones: -- during a commercial break. But after we're on air, I turn it off.

Tom Shillue: -- I just, I don't ever have a ring on at all, Marie.

Marie Harf: Me neither.

Tom Shillue: No ring.

Emily Compagno: Then how would you hear anything?

Tom Shillue: I don't answer it. I never answer the phone.

Emily Compagno: You never answer?

Tom Shillue: I'll call you back.

Marie Harf: I am constantly terrified it will go off on T.V., so I'm --

Lawrence Jones: Me, too.

Marie Harf: -- you'll see I constantly check it. But my parents watch the shows, and they text me during them. So, I keep it on.

[laughter]

I want to get their feedback.

Emily Compagno: I have the funniest story about -- oh, sorry.

Marie Harf: Church is the one that scares me the most.

Tom Shillue: Yeah.

Emily Compagno: Okay. So, we were --

Dana Perino: I agree.

Emily Compagno: -- I was hanging out at The Standard Hotel in L.A. once, and my sister also hates when other people's phones go off.

Dana Perino: I hate it.

Emily Compagno: So, someone's phone was going off, like among our things on the grass, and my sister walks over to that person's cell phone, who was probably playing in the pool, picks up his cell phone and starts yelling, "Whose is this? Whose cell phone is this? This is -- it's ringing, it’s ringing." And I was, I was aghast. Like, "Natalie, you're going to get attacked."

[laughter]

[crosstalk]

Emily Compagno: And the guy was like, "Oh, that's mine." It ended up being okay, but it was a very aggressive move on her part.

Tom Shillue: Yeah.

Emily Compagno: But she did what we were all feeling.

[laughter]

Tom Shillue: She could combine it with Wesley Clark, pick up the guy's phone and whip it.

Emily Compagno: [laughs]

Tom Shillue: Up next, we've all seen plenty of stories of overprivileged millennials being coddled and pampered. This one may top them all. A concerned parent reportedly posted an ad on the jobsite Indeed looking for a nanny to cook and clean for her daughter, an 18-year-old college student. The parent says the student can't be bothered with "stress of laundry and cleaning, as her study schedule is very intense." Oh, and don't worry, the student already has a driver. Well, that's nice. Look, she has, she has needs, Emily. And she has a concerned parent.

Emily Compagno: Of course. Well, first of all, I -- this lady better save the planet later on. She better be working on the cure for cancer --

[laughter]

-- and I'll give her all the space she needs.

Tom Shillue: Yeah.

Emily Compagno: And also, I kind of was like she should just join a sorority and then all that stuff is built in.

[laughter]

Tom Shillue: Yeah, they have -- I was in a --

Emily Compagno: You were in a sorority?

Tom Shillue: -- a male --

Marie Harf: A fraternity?

[crosstalk]

[laughter]

Dana Perino: We are all firing on, we're firing on all cylinders.

Tom Shillue: -- I was in a -- what's the male version?

Multiple Speakers: Fraternity.

Tom Shillue: Fraternity. I was there and they had dinner, they had a cook, it was amazing.

Marie Harf: It really made an impact on you.

[laughter]

Dana Perino: But I don't think at the University of Leeds that they have that. No.

[crosstalk]

Lawrence Jones: I don't actually like this. I think this parent -- I know she was trying to, like, crack a joke, but my parents would have kicked me out. There's no negotiating this.

Tom Shillue: You think she was joking? She was trying to hire a nanny for her 18-year-old daughter.

Lawrence Jones: Well, do you think -- I think it was a joke. But I also think that it's crazy.

Dana Perino: I've lived in fear all day that this is a story about a person that has special needs and that we're going to find out --

Emily Compagno: Oh, gosh.

Lawrence Jones: Oh, no. No. No.

Dana Perino: -- that could be the thing, you know.

[crosstalk]

Tom Shillue: Dana, we will all be shamed.

Lawrence Jones: Well, I apologize if --

[laughter]

Emily Compagno: Lawrence, we don't mean anything by it.

Lawrence Jones: -- I love my job [laughs].

Tom Shillue: Yeah. Well, look. People need, they need help. This -- she doesn't know how to cook, Marie.

Marie Harf: But that's her parents fault.

Lawrence Jones: Yeah.

Female Speaker: And well, maybe, someone needs a job. Maybe it'll be a match made in heaven.

Tom Shillue: Yeah.

Female Speaker: To each their own.

Tom Shillue: Finally, don't mess with the pope.

[begin video clip]

Male Speaker: Whoa [spelled phonetically].

[end video clip]

Tom Shillue: The pontiff --

Marie Harf: He's feisty.

Tom Shillue: -- blessing a woman with a slap on the hand after being grabbed while he was greeting a crowd on New Year's Eve. The pope later apologized for setting "a bad example" and losing his cool. But look at the woman who grabs him. I don't like the way she yanked on his arm.

Lawrence Jones: Me either.

Tom Shillue: And I think she deserved a little slap, Emily.

Emily Compagno: Absolutely. She deserved to get choked out by his security guard. I found that was so violent on her part. 

Lawrence Jones: I agree. 

Emily Compagno: So uncalled for and you know what he's the pope. He's not Jesus. So, I am fine with him saying, get off me. He doesn't need to apologize. The only sliver on the other coin would be that he can let the security guards be the bad guy for him and he can just kind of be like the victim for a second and let them do their job. But if that had been me in his shoes, she would be out of here. 

Marie Harf: He has really tight security, too. When you watch the Christmas Eve midnight mass, there is more security for him than most people. So, I'm surprised they didn't--  Tom Shillue: The Pope shot. 

Lawrence Jones: I'd say-- 

Marie Harf: That's right. 

Lawrence Jones: Good for the pope. I'm a hugger. I love hugging people, handshakes and all that but I hate when people grab me it just-- 

Female Speaker: Right. 

Lawrence Jones: Puts me on the defensive it's like-- 

Emily Compagno: It's not ok. 

Lawrence Jones: I just don't like it it's like you're like pulling, taking me away or something I don't like it. 

Tom Shillue: You remember the video, Dana, when he was they were going to kiss his ring and he kept pulling away. He I think he's a bit of a germophobe. 

Dana Perino: Oh, maybe that's a hard thing if you're a pope, too. But I mean here's the thing he's human, who knew? 

Tom Shillue: He is. 

Emily Compagno: He never lost his cool, though he never loses his cool. 

Tom Shillue: He didn't he said he lost his cool but I think it's OK give her a little slap. 

Lawrence Jones: She landed a spanking. 

Tom Shillue: Don't yank on the pope one more thing is up next.   [commercial break]

Dana Perino: All right, it's time out for one more thing, we'll wrap it up here. So did you ever go to a party or a concert and you look around the room and you think, Oh, I'm dressed just like everybody else here happens to wo-- well I guess guys a lot too. Check out this is a McKayla Angelou I'm sorry, LJ, Ellejihoe [spelled phonetically] if I'm saying that correctly. She went to a Jonas Brothers concert and she realized she was wearing the exact same outfit as everybody else in Omaha, Nebraska it was a denim jacket, black jeans and white shoes and so she started she made this little video of it and it goes on and on and on. It really was almost a uniform at the show, but apparently it was a great concert. 

Tom Shillue: Yeah, I dressed up for the Jonas concert. 

Dana Perino: This would definitely happen at a Dierks Bentley concert for sure . 

Female Speaker: Definitely. 

Lawrence Jones: Who's he? 

Dana Perino: Who's he? You're joking, right? 

Emily Compagno: He, kids he kids. 

Dana Perino: Are you joking Lawrence.?

Lawrence Jones: No, I'm not joking. 

Dana Perino: Oh my gosh, Emily. 

Emily Compagno: All right I have a great story for you guys. So, you know that I love forensic DNA stuff and genetic genealogy and how it plays out with the court system. Well, there is a nonprofit called DNA DOE Project and they identify remains that have been found so that they can restore that to their family right they bring closure to family members. So, there was a missing outlaw from 1916 and a dead body was found in a cave in Utah and thanks to this nonprofit, he's now been identified. He was wearing the same clothes, by the way, that was on his last wanted poster in 1916. 

Tom Shillue: A denim jacket and a pair of pants. 

Lawrence Jones: With the boots with the boots. 

Dana Perino: And he does sing. All right, Lawrence. 

Lawrence Jones: You guys got to see this. Basketball loving and NBA-inspired brothers Valentino and Luca are 8 and 5 from Nevada and never miss a shot. You got to watch this. They nailed 38 straight baskets between them on a hyper shot arcade game without missing a single shot. 

Tom Shillue: I don't see the ball. 

Lawrence Jones: The mother later said the video on their social media page called Brothers Who Ball. Now the mother said they both hope to be in the NBA someday and be like Steph Curry and Seth Curry, who dad was also in the NBA. 

Female Speaker: And that's imp-- 

Female Speaker: Wow that's amazing. 

Lawrence Jones: That's pretty cool. 

Dana Perino: Very cool. 

Lawrence Jones: Those boys can shoot. 

Emily Compagno: And with that laser thing going on like I feel like-- [crosstalk] I feel like I got a bad acid trip. 

Dana Perino: All right, Marie. 

Marie Harf: OK we're talking a lot about drugs. So, we talk a lot about animals on this show and we wanted to raise awareness about a pretty sad situation happening right now in Australia. Bushfires are continuing to sweep across the country billions of animals, lives are at risk with millions feared perished by the devastating fires. Good Samaritans all across Australia have stepped in to help our animal friends you can see here this group stopping in New South Wales to give thirsty cows a drink of water as firefighters battle the nearby blaze on Australia's west coast. Animals have been given treats consisting of fruit and vegetables frozen in ice box to keep hyenas, meerkats, baboons and otters cool in the rising temperatures. So, we want to say thank you to the heroes who continue to battle the fires and to those who are helping the animals of Australia. We are keeping you all in our thoughts and prayers here. 

Dana Perino: That is an amazing, terrifying story down there for all the people that are evacuating as well. Tom. 

Tom Shillue: Christmas cards I love them. My favorite Christmas card every year the Lobely Family Sam, Jack, Bill and Pam. They always have a great card this was the card we got this year from them. You see, it's the elf on the shelf, but they're talking him down. They have a little uh they have a little safety device there. Every year they have good cards I saved them all. OK this is in past years. This is the out of control drone it's chopping up their Christmas tree. How about this one drinking game with Santa. Santa's almost under the table at this point. 

Female Speaker: These are your friends? 

Tom Shillue: Yeah this is a Lobely family. They go to great lengths. 

Female Speaker: They're Lobely. 

Tom Shillue: How about with this one, but they're all just dressed in the hunting gear. Look who's dead in the corner. Rudolph. 

Female Speaker: Oh, my God. 

Tom Shillue: It's great. How about this one? The distracted family this is my favorite. 

Female Speaker: Yeah that's reality. 

Dana Perino: That is reality. Did you have a good time on New Year's?

Lawrence Jones: I did hang out with my friends from Dallas, and they came here, and I got the experience New York City for the first. 

Dana Perino: Emily, did you have fun on New Year’s? 

Emily Compagno: Yes, I did thanks to your family it was awesome. 

Dana Perino: Yeah, she had a good time. I was in bed at 10:30 and you. 

Marie Harf: 11:30. 

Dana Perino: Alright. 

Lawrence Jones: What did you do? Did you fall asleep again? 

Tom Shillue: The Brian's had a great party. We rang in New Year we sang. 

Dana Perino: Yeah, I did that's why I am well rested and know everybody's name. 

Female Speaker: Right exactly. 

Dana Perino: All right set your DVR's never miss an episode of The Five special report is up next. Bret I hope you are more with it than I was. 

Bret Baier: 10:30. 10:30 Dana. Happy New Year. 

Dana Perino: You too.

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