1 HONORABLE BRIAN MCDONALD Department 48 2 Noted for Consideration: May 21, 2020 Oral Argument Date to Be Scheduled 3
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7 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF KING 8 WASHINGTON LEAGUE FOR INCREASED 9 TRANSPARENCY AND ETHICS, a NO. 20-2-07428-4 SEA Washington non-profit corporation; JOHN 10 DOE and JANE DOE 1-1,000,
11 FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS Plaintiffs, FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT 12 v. 13 FOX CORPORATION, a Delaware 14 corporation; FOX NEWS NETWORK, LLC, a Delaware corporation d/b/a FOX NEWS 15 CHANNEL; FOX BUSINESS NETWORK, a for profit company d/b/a FOX BUSINESS; 16 JOHN MOE and JANE MOE, 1-100
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25 1 This motion uses the caption from the Amended Complaint, as the Fox Defendants will not oppose the pending Motion to Amend the Case Caption. FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 1 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 INTRODUCTION & RELIEF REQUESTED
2 Plaintiffs launch a frontal assault on the First Amendment by seeking a gag order and a
3 retraction by judicial fiat against Fox News for airing allegedly “deceptive” commentary about the
4 Coronavirus outbreak. Anointing themselves as both the Committee on Public Safety and the
5 Ministry of Truth, they seek to punish Fox for speech that they deem “false” and dangerous because
6 it does not conform to the official viewpoint of the government and their own proclaimed
7 omniscience and certitude. Plaintiffs request a prior restraint prohibiting Fox from airing future
8 speech that contradicts the government’s proclamations. Worse, they request an order forcing Fox
9 to recant past commentary and affirmatively endorse the government’s viewpoint. They also seek
10 “treble damages” based on vague and unspecified harms that they claim to have suffered as a result
11 of Fox’s commentary. By this lawsuit, Plaintiffs seek to restrain, control, and penalize what
12 commentators and opinion hosts may say about the most pressing public controversy of our time.
13 Fortunately, neither the First Amendment nor Washington state law allows such brazen interference
14 with the freedom of the press. The case must be dismissed as a matter of law.
15 STATEMENT OF FACTS
16 In recent months, the country has been gripped by an intense public debate about the
17 Coronavirus outbreak. The debate has encompassed many pressing questions of political and
18 scientific controversy: How serious of a threat does the virus pose? Which, if any, public officials
19 should be blamed for its rapid spread? And what measures should be taken in response?
20 Plaintiffs dive headfirst into this national debate by filing suit against Fox Corporation, Fox
21 News Network LLC, and “Fox Business Network” (collectively, Fox) for political commentary
22 regarding the Coronavirus.2 In particular, they allege that commentary aired by Fox unlawfully
23 “contradicted the formal position of the Trump Administration, Governor Inslee, [and] the urgent
24 messages of public health experts” about the Coronavirus, thereby “sowing significant public
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2 “Fox Business Network” is not a proper defendant. It is not a legal entity, but a channel operated by Fox News Network. FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 2 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 confusion regarding the threat of the disease.” Amended Complaint, Dkt. No. 25 § VI(5.4).
2 Plaintiffs cherry-pick 18 different statements about the Coronavirus that aired on Fox News
3 and the Fox Business Network between February 27 and April 13. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 4.43-77. After
4 selectively quoting the statements and plucking them out of context, Plaintiffs characterize the
5 statements as falsely “contradict[ing]” the views of “the Trump Administration[]” and “Governor
6 Inslee” by “minimiz[ing] the lethality of COVID-19.” E.g., Am. Compl. ¶¶ 4.43, 4.48.4. Based on
7 that mischaracterization, the Complaint claims that Fox’s commentary violated the Washington
8 Consumer Protection Act (CPA), which prohibits “[u]nfair methods of competition and unfair or
9 deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce.” RCW 19.86.020.
10 In an attempt to state a claim under the CPA, Plaintiffs allege that Fox’s commentary
11 “persuaded consumers and persons . . . to fail to properly prepare to stop the spread of COVID-19,”
12 and “to ignore Governor Inslee’s directives . . . and the warnings of the Trump Administration.” Am.
13 Compl. § V(5.6). According to the Complaint, the failure to heed the government’s warnings then
14 caused “longer closures of businesses, schools and other enterprises” in order to “combat the spread
15 of the virus.” Id. This in turn caused unspecified persons to suffer damages in the form of “time
16 taken from work or business, inability to conduct business, loss of jobs, business or occupation [and]
17 additional costs from not having prepared sooner (including paying higher prices for masks, paper
18 products, hand sanitizer, etc. which could have been ordered or purchased earlier).” Id.
19 In their prayer for relief, Plaintiffs seek an extraordinary prior restraint ordering Fox “to cease
20 and desist televising any misinformation regarding COVID-19” in the future. Am. Compl. § VI(1).
21 They also seek an injunction affirmatively “directing Fox to issue specific retractions of each and
22 every false and/or misleading statement televised through its cable television stations relating to
23 COVID-19.” Id. § VI(2). In addition, Plaintiffs seek both “damages” and “treble damages” for a
24 vague litany of harms supposedly caused by Fox’s commentary. Id. § VI(3)-(4).3
25 3 Plaintiffs filed their original claim on April 2 asserting claims under the CPA and the tort of “outrage.” See
FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 3 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 STATEMENT OF ISSUES
2 1. Whether the First Amendment protects Fox’s right to publish commentary that contradicts the government’s official viewpoint regarding the Coronavirus. 3 2. Whether Fox’s commentary on the Coronavirus falls under the CPA’s prohibition 4 against “[u]nfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce.” RCW 19.86.020. 5 EVIDENCE RELIED UPON 6 This motion relies on Plaintiffs’ First Amended Complaint (Complaint). In addition, the 7 motion references transcripts of the telecasts referred to in the Complaint and contemporaneous 8 media reports. The transcripts are available on LexisNexis and reprinted in the Appendix. While not 9 essential to this motion, the transcripts are judicially noticeable because the Complaint refers to the 10 contents of them, Rodriguez v. Loudeye Corp., 144 Wn. App. 709, 726, 189 P.3d 168 (2008), and 11 the media reports because they are “not subject to reasonable dispute” and are “capable of accurate 12 and ready determination by resort to sources whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned.” ER 13 201(b). 14 ARGUMENT 15 Fox’s commentary on the Coronavirus is core political speech on a matter of public 16 concern—how dangerous the Coronavirus is, and how society and the government should respond 17 to it. Under both the First Amendment and state law, the value of this type of speech must be resolved 18 through free and open debate in the marketplace of ideas—not through litigation seeking to impose 19 legal penalties on statements alleged to be “false” or contrary to official government 20 pronouncements. Even more clearly, a court cannot order a “prior restraint” on this type of speech, 21 much less order a media outlet to affirmatively endorse the government’s viewpoint on this type of 22
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25 Dkt. 1. The case was first assigned to Judge Schubert, but on April 8 WASHLITE struck Judge Schubert and the case was reassigned. After Fox filed a motion to dismiss the original complaint, Plaintiffs filed their Amended Complaint on April 15, dropping the “outrage” claim but keeping the CPA claim. FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 4 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 public controversy. Accordingly, the Complaint should be dismissed because it violates the First
2 Amendment and fails to state a claim under Washington state law.
3 This suit should be dismissed immediately, because “[s]erious problems regarding the
4 exercise of free speech and free press guaranteed by the First Amendment are raised if unwarranted
5 lawsuits are allowed to proceed to trial.” Tait v. KING Broad. Co., 1 Wn. App. 250, 255, 460 P.2d
6 307 (1969). Indeed, “[t]he chilling effect of the pendency of such litigation can itself be sufficient to
7 curtail the exercise of these freedoms.” Id. It is “essential” that this type of frivolous suit be dismissed
8 as early as possible because “the stake here, if harassment succeeds, is free debate.” Rye v. Seattle
9 Times Co., 37 Wn. App. 45, 53, 678 P.2d 1282 (1984). “Unless persons, including newspapers,
10 desiring to exercise their First Amendment rights are assured freedom from the harassment of
11 lawsuits, they will tend to become self-censors.” Id. (quoting Washington Post Co. v. Keogh, 365
12 F.2d 965, 968 (D.C. Cir. 1966)). “And to this extent debate on public issues and the conduct of public
13 officials will become less uninhibited, less robust, and less wide-open, for self-censorship affecting
14 the whole public is ‘hardly less virulent for being privately administered.’” Id.
15 I. The First Amendment Protects Defendants’ Speech.
16 The principal basis of the Complaint is that Fox’s political commentary is illegal because it
17 “contradict[s] the formal position of the Trump Administration, Governor Inslee,” and “public health
18 experts” about the dangers of the Coronavirus outbreak and the appropriate societal response to it.
19 Am. Compl. ¶ 5.4. Based on this supposedly illegal commentary, the Complaint seeks a prior
20 restraint against Fox prohibiting any future commentary that contradicts the government’s
21 viewpoint, and an order requiring Fox to issue “retractions” that affirmatively endorse the
22 government’s viewpoint. Every aspect of this theory is contrary to the most fundamental principles
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FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 5 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 of free speech. The very purpose of the First Amendment is to protect the freedom of the press to
2 disagree with the government about such important matters of political and scientific controversy.
3 A. The First Amendment embodies “a profound national commitment to the principle
4 that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open.” New York Times Co. v.
5 Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270 (1964). “[S]peech concerning public affairs is more than self-expression;
6 it is the essence of self-government.” Garrison v. Louisiana, 379 U.S. 64, 74-75 (1964). For that
7 reason, “speech on public issues occupies the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment
8 values, and is entitled to special protection.” Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 145 (1983).
9 Speech on matters of public concern cannot be censored or penalized under the guise of
10 protecting the public from harm. See Snyder v. Phelps, 562 U.S. 443 (2011). In Phelps, for example,
11 the Supreme Court held that speech on a “matter[] of public import” could not be restricted even
12 though it directly harmed the plaintiff by intentionally inflicting emotional distress in violation of
13 state law. Id. at 460. Although the speech “inflict[ed] great pain,” it was fully protected under the
14 First Amendment in order “to ensure that we do not stifle public debate.” Id. at 460-61. If the rule
15 were otherwise, “the free and robust debate of public issues” would be impossible. Id. at 452.
16 Accordingly, in order to protect vibrant public discourse, speech must be fully protected whenever
17 it addresses “a subject of general interest and of value and concern to the public.” Id. at 453.
18 Nor can a plaintiff defeat the First Amendment’s “special protection” by alleging that speech
19 on a matter of public concern is “false.” Opinions on public controversies cannot be deemed false
20 because, “[u]nder the First Amendment, there is no such thing as a false idea.” Gertz v. Robert Welch,
21 Inc., 418 U.S. 323, 339-40 (1974). “However pernicious an opinion may seem, we depend for its
22 correction not on the conscience of judges and juries but on the competition of other ideas.” Id. The
23 very purpose of the First Amendment is to foreclose public authority from assuming a guardianship
24 of the public mind” on public issues. Thomas v. Collins, 323 U.S. 516, 545 (1945) (Jackson, J.,
25
FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 6 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 concurring). “In this field every person must be his own watchman for truth, because the forefathers
2 did not trust any government to separate the true from the false for us.” Id.
3 Even when it comes to pure factual statements, there is no “general exception to the First
4 Amendment for false statements,” which are “inevitable if there is to be an open and vigorous
5 expression of views.” United States v. Alvarez, 567 U.S. 709, 718 (2012) (plurality op.). Instead,
6 restricting allegedly false speech is allowed only in the few “historic and traditional categories [of
7 expression] long familiar to the bar.” Id. at 717. These traditional categories recognize that allegedly
8 false statements can be restricted only when necessary to protect against “defamation, fraud, or some
9 other legally cognizable harm” that cannot be prevented in any other way. Id. at 719. Policing alleged
10 falsity has never been allowed in the course of public debate in the news media about matters of
11 public concern, because in this context the Constitution trusts that “the dynamics of free speech, of
12 counterspeech, of refutation” will “overcome” any falsehood. Id. at 726. Indeed, “suppression of
13 speech by the government can make exposure of falsity more difficult, not less so,” because it makes
14 it harder to learn what views people actually hold, and to see those views publicly debated (and
15 rebutted if they are erroneous). Id. at 728 (emphasis added). For all of these reasons, “[o]ur
16 constitutional tradition stands against the idea that we need Oceania’s Ministry of Truth.” Id. at 723.4
17 Even the dissenters in Alvarez recognized that “there are broad areas in which any attempt
18 by the state to penalize purportedly false speech would present a grave and unacceptable danger” to
19 free debate. Id. at 751 (Alito, J., dissenting). Accordingly, “[l]aws restricting false statements about
20 philosophy, religion, history, the social sciences, the arts, and other matters of public concern” are
21 impermissible. Id. “The point is not that there is no such thing as truth or falsity in these areas or that
22 the truth is always impossible to ascertain, but rather that it is perilous to permit the state to be the
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24 4 Stated differently, courts apply strict scrutiny to content-based speech restrictions, and universally reject any 25 suggestion that censoring alleged falsehoods on matters of public concern is the “least restrictive means” to advance the truth. Alvarez, 567 U.S. at 729 (plurality op.); id. at 738 (Breyer, J., concurring) (censorship on public issues cannot be justified because “more accurate information will normally counteract the lie”). FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 7 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 arbiter of truth.” Id. “Even where there is a wide scholarly consensus concerning a particular matter,
2 the truth is served by allowing that consensus to be challenged without fear of reprisal.” Id.
3 B. Here, the commentary at issue is fully protected because it plainly addresses “a matter
4 of public concern.” Snyder, 562 U.S. at 458. Even accepting Plaintiffs’ tendentious characterization
5 of the speech, it addressed the “dangers” posed by the Coronavirus and the appropriate social and
6 political response to it, including the “appropriate action” that should be taken to “mitigate its
7 spread” and “protect [the public] from the disease.” Am. Compl. ¶ 5.4. The speech thus easily
8 satisfies the “public concern” test because it covers “a subject of general interest and of value and
9 concern to the public.” Snyder, 562 U.S. at 453. For that reason alone, the speech is entitled to
10 “special protection” and cannot be punished under state law. Id at 452.
11 Fox’s statements do not fall into any “traditional category” of unprotected speech, such as
12 “defamation” or “fraud.” Alvarez, 567 U.S. at 718-19 (plurality op.). Plaintiffs claim that Fox should
13 be punished for somehow deceiving the general public about the dangers of the Coronavirus. But
14 that is directly contrary to the rule that “the First Amendment precludes punishment for generalized
15 ‘public’ frauds [or] deceptions.” State ex rel. Pub. Disclosure Comm’n v. 119 Vote No! Comm., 135
16 Wn.2d 618, 629, 957 P.2d 691 (1998). Plaintiffs contend that censorship is necessary here to protect
17 public health and safety, but that type of restriction is the “most difficult to sustain.” Alvarez, 567
18 U.S. at 717 (plurality op.). Safety-related bans on speech are allowed only when absolutely necessary
19 to prevent a truly “imminent threat” that cannot be addressed through “counterspeech.” Id. at 717,
20 726. The classic example is falsely yelling fire in a crowded theater, which is not protected because
21 it causes “an immediate panic” that cannot be dispelled by the truth. State v. Pauling, 149 Wn.2d
22 381, 389, 69 P.3d 331 (2003). In public debate in the news media, by contrast, censorship can never
23 be justified because opportunities for counterspeech abound. As one court has put it, “there is a vast
24 constitutional difference between falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater and making precisely the
25 same statement in a letter to the editor.” Citizen Publ’g Co. v. Miller, 210 Ariz. 513, 520-21 (2005).
FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 8 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 In all but the most extreme circumstances, “[t]he remedy for speech that is false is speech that is
2 true.” Alvarez, 567 U.S. at 727-28 (plurality op.). “This is the ordinary course in a free society.” Id.
3 Indeed, the ongoing debate over the Coronavirus is precisely the type of context where
4 censoring allegedly “false” statements would undermine the robust public discussion that the First
5 Amendment protects. After all, if journalists can be sued for allegedly understating the dangers of
6 the virus, then they can also be sued for overstating the dangers (thereby damaging businesses that
7 are forced to close). If that type of censorship is allowed, then nobody will be free to express an
8 opinion on either side of the debate without risking costly litigation and legal penalties.
9 C. The danger to the First Amendment is especially pronounced here because the
10 principal thrust of the Complaint is that Fox should be penalized for (and restrained from) expressing
11 a viewpoint that “contradict[s] the formal position of the Trump Administration” and other
12 government officials on matters of public health and safety. Am. Compl. ¶ 5.4. Plaintiffs thus seek
13 to impose an official government-backed viewpoint that everyone must adhere to. That is the type
14 of legal regime that prevails in totalitarian countries such as Russia and Iran, which recently enacted
15 new laws criminalizing speech about the Coronavirus that they deem to be “false” or dangerous. See
16 Jackson Diehl, The Pandemic Is Killing Truth, Too, WASH. POST (Apr. 12, 2020). But that is exactly
17 the type of censorship that the First Amendment was designed to prevent. “If there is any fixed star
18 in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be
19 orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by
20 word or act their faith therein.” W. Virginia State Bd. of Educ. v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624, 642 (1943).
21 Indeed, the entire point of a free press is to allow dissenting viewpoints that criticize the government
22 for being wrong on important public issues. Accordingly, Fox cannot be penalized for airing
23 commentary that dissents from the “orthodox” governmental view of how dangerous the
24 Coronavirus is or what types of health and safety measures people should take in response to it. 25
FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 9 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 Plaintiffs’ contrary argument would authorize wholesale viewpoint discrimination against
2 anyone who disagrees with the government about the Coronavirus. That would violate the cardinal
3 principal that “the First Amendment forbids the government to regulate speech in ways that favor
4 some viewpoints or ideas at the expense of others.” Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free
5 School Dist., 508 U.S. 384, 394 (1993). Even worse, the thrust of Plaintiffs’ argument would allow
6 similar censorship on virtually every important political issue. For example, it would allow speakers
7 to be penalized for contradicting the “formal position of the Trump administration” regarding the
8 “public safety” threats posed by everything from illegal immigration to medical marijuana to global
9 warming. By Plaintiffs’ logic, anyone who “misrepresent[s] the dangers” or spreads
10 “misinformation” on these topics (as defined by the government) could be punished for causing
11 others to “fail to take appropriate action to protect themselves and others” from harm. Am. Compl.
12 ¶¶ 5.4, 5.6. Indeed, Plaintiffs would make it unlawful even to “persuade[]” others to “ignore . . . the
13 warnings of the Trump administration,” whenever such persuasion results in any “quantifiable [or]
14 non-quantifiable injury.” Id. ¶ 5.6 (emphasis added). It is hard to imagine a greater threat to the First
15 Amendment, which protects the expression of dissenting viewpoints especially when it comes to
16 arguing that the government is wrong on important public issues.
17 D. The full context makes it even clearer that the speech at issue here is fully protected
18 under the First Amendment. Plaintiffs have cherry-picked and distorted a handful of statements by
19 certain Fox opinion hosts and guests, while ignoring other (including conflicting) views also aired
20 on Fox.
21 First, the Complaint contains multiple inaccuracies that badly distort what many of the
22 commentators on Fox actually said. For example, Plaintiffs allege that “during his evening program”
23 on February 28, Sean Hannity “stated that COVID-19 was an invention of the political left in an
24 effort to ‘bring down the president.’” Am. Compl. ¶ 4.44.4. In fact, as even the most basic pre-filing
25 investigation would have shown, Mr. Hannity did not even appear on his show that night; there was
FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 10 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 a fill-in host. See App. 002. The fill-in host also did not make the statement that Plaintiffs attribute
2 to Mr. Hannity. A statement similar to that alleged in the complaint was made by then-Acting White
3 House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney—but not on Fox News; it was at the Conservative Political
4 Action Conference (CPAC). And even then, Mulvaney did not say the virus was an “invention of
5 the political left,” but only that some political actors were unfairly blaming the President for the
6 outbreak, “because they thought it would bring down the president.” Erik Wemple, Would The Media
7 Skew Coronavirus Coverage To Damage Trump? Sure, Say CPAC Attendees, WASH. POST (Feb. 29,
8 2020, 11:15 AM PST).
9 The Complaint also repeatedly asserts that Mr. Hannity elsewhere called the coronavirus a
10 “hoax.” Am. Compl. ¶¶ 4.53.3, 4.54.3. But as the publicly available transcripts show, Mr. Hannity
11 has used the term “hoax” to refer to the media’s attempts to blame President Trump for the
12 Coronavirus—he never called the virus itself a hoax. See App. 0034, 0046, 00113. The Complaint
13 also claims that Hannity and Geraldo Rivera “falsely” reported on February 27 and 28 that nobody
14 had yet died of the Coronavirus in the United States. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 4.43, 45. But as the Complaint
15 itself later admits, “the first reported death in the United States” did not occur until “February 29.”
16 Id. ¶ 4.45.5 While authorities later reclassified two deaths from February 26 as Coronavirus-related,
17 that reclassification did not occur until early March. See Mike Baker & Karen Weise, Coronavirus
18 Deaths Tied To Nursing Center Came Earlier Than Anyone Knew, N.Y. TIMES (Mar. 3, 2020).
19 Second, Plaintiffs take many quotes out of context, deceptively omitting the accompanying
20 warnings about the dangers of the Coronavirus. For example, the Complaint ignores Hannity’s
21 statements that “the coronavirus is a serious disease,” and that “all of us” “need to take necessary
22 precautionary steps,” while people who have a “compromised immune system in any way” need to
23 take “take extra, extra, extra caution.” App. 0035, 0047. The Complaint likewise derides Laura
24
25 5 For the announcement of the first known Coronavirus-related death in the United States, see Press Release, Governor’s Office, “Jay Inslee Issues COVID-19 Emergency Proclamation” (Feb. 29, 2020), available at https://www.governor.wa.gov/news-media/inslee-issues-covid-19-emergency-proclamation. FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 11 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 Ingraham for saying that “the facts are actually pretty reassuring,” Am. Compl. ¶ 4.53.1, but ignores
2 her statement that “elderly person[s]” and those with “serious underlying condition[s]” should take
3 precautions. App. 0052. The Complaint criticizes Judge Jeanine Pirro for comparing the Coronavirus
4 to the flu, but it ignores her explanation: “[T]hey say the mortality rate for coronavirus is higher than
5 a flu. But consider though that we have a flu vaccine, and yet in 2019, sixteen thousand Americans
6 died from the flu. Imagine if we did not have the flu vaccine, the flu would be a pandemic.” App.
7 0022. The Complaint also says that Trish Regan “minimized the lethality of COVID-19,” Am.
8 Compl. ¶ 4.43.4, but it fails to note that she urged people to “take [it] seriously and . . . to exercise
9 caution.” App. 0091.
10 Third, the Complaint seeks to hold Fox liable by cherry-picking a tiny fraction of the
11 commentary that it has aired regarding the Coronavirus. There is no allegation that Fox’s
12 commentary has exclusively minimized the dangers of the Coronavirus, and indeed the opposite is
13 true. Plaintiffs simply ignore the fact that the totality of Fox’s programming on the Coronavirus has
14 repeatedly acknowledged the dangers of the disease while also providing a forum where diverse
15 views can be aired and debated. Tucker Carlson repeatedly warned primetime viewers, more than a
16 month before Governor Inslee declared an emergency, that the Coronavirus is “a real threat” and “a
17 major concern” that they “should worry about.” App. 00125, 00127. Other Fox News hosts and
18 commentators told viewers “to be concerned” and “very careful,” App. 00127 (Ethan Bearman), that
19 the outbreak “could be serious,” id. (Dr. Michael Baden), to “expect tens of thousands, eventually
20 hundreds of thousands of cases in the U.S.,” App. 00128 (Maria Bartiromo), and that it was “wrong
21 to compare this to a past flu,” App. 00129 (Greg Gutfeld). See also App. 00125-00132.
22 Fourth, numerous statements in other media outlets illustrate the chilling effect that
23 penalizing this type of speech would have. For example, on March 4, CNN’s Anderson Cooper told
24 viewers that “[i]f you’re freaked out at all about the coronavirus, you should be more concerned
25 about the flu.” App. 00139. A number of medical correspondents made the same comparison or
FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 12 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 otherwise minimized the threat. See, e.g., App. 00134 (Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC) (“People should
2 be more concerned right now with the flu in this country.”); id. (Dr. John Torres, NBC) (“[T]he
3 reality is comparing it to the flu, for example, it’s not even close to being at that stage.”); App. 00135
4 (Dr. David Agus, CBS) (“Coronavirus is not going to cause a major issue in the United States.”); id.
5 (Dr. Natalie Azar, NBC) (“[T]he fatality number is not nearly as striking or concerning as some
6 outbreaks we’ve seen in the past.”); id. (Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN) (“[T]here does seem to be
7 similarities between the coronavirus and the flu.”). The New York Times likewise published articles
8 comparing the Coronavirus to the flu and arguing that banning travel with China was unnecessary.
9 App. 00134, 00136 And the Washington Post published an article subtitled, “The Flu Is A Much
10 Bigger Threat Than Coronavirus, For Now.” App. 00136. In light of all of all these statements and
11 many others, singling out Fox for punishment would be nothing short of rank speaker-based
12 discrimination. And if all such statements are to be censored throughout the media, then free and
13 open debate is a dead letter. That would ultimately do great harm to the public, because nobody has
14 the gift of omniscience about the Coronavirus or any other issue. Even if certain opinions turn out
15 to be wrong, they are all part of the ongoing public discussion that advances the truth by provoking
16 criticism and counterpoint. This is way the First Amendment works—not by enshrining one
17 privileged viewpoint as the Absolute Truth and suppressing all others.
18 E. Finally, the Complaint also fails because it not only seeks damages (which are
19 themselves impermissible under the First Amendment), but also requests two extraordinary forms
20 of injunctive relief that defy Supreme Court precedent and strike at the very heart of free speech.
21 First, Plaintiffs request a prior restraint that would bar Fox from “televising any misinformation”
22 about the Coronavirus. Am. Compl. § VI(1). This type of prior restraint bears “a heavy presumption
23 against its constitutional validity,” which cannot be overcome by a plaintiff “attempting to stop the
24 flow of information . . . to the public.” Org. for a Better Austin v. Keefe, 402 U.S. 415, 419-20 (1971).
25 Indeed, the Supreme Court has rejected prior restraints even when critical national-security interests
FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 13 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 are at stake, as illustrated by the landmark “Pentagon Papers” case in New York Times Co. v. United
2 States, 403 U.S. 713 (1971). In that case, the Court struck down a prior restraint on the publication
3 of “top secret” information leaked from the Pentagon that the Attorney General certified would cause
4 “irreparable injury to the defense interests of the United States.” See Margaret A. Blanchard,
5 Revolutionary Sparks: Freedom of Expression in Modern America 370 (1992). Here, by contrast, no
6 government official has even suggested any need to suppress media coverage about the Coronavirus.
7 To the contrary, the FCC has specifically considered and rejected the notion that dissenting
8 viewpoints on the Coronavirus should be censored. See FCC Order Re: Free Press Emergency
9 Petition for Inquiry Into Broadcast of False Information on COVID-19, DA-20-385, at 1 (Apr. 6,
10 2020) (explaining that restricting allegedly false statements and commentary regarding the
11 Coronvairus “would dangerously curtail the freedom of the press embodied in the First
12 Amendment”), available at https://tinyurl.com/y8wmg22b.
13 Plaintiffs’ second request for injunctive relief is even more extreme: It asks for an order
14 “directing Fox to issue specific retractions” confessing that its prior statements about the
15 Coronavirus were erroneous. Am. Compl. § VI(2). This would not only prohibit Fox from airing
16 disfavored viewpoints, but also force Fox to affirmatively endorse the viewpoint urged in the
17 Complaint. This type of forced confession on matters of political controversy is anathema to the
18 Constitution. When “individuals are coerced into betraying their convictions” in this manner,
19 “additional damage is done” beyond mere censorship. Janus v. AFSCME, 138 S. Ct. 2448, 2464,
20 (2018). As the Supreme Court has explained, it is a bedrock constitutional principle that no person
21 can be “force[d] . . . to confess by word or act their faith” in an official government viewpoint about
22 matters of public concern. Barnette, 319 U.S. at 642. But that is exactly what the Complaint requests,
23 which is yet another reason why it fails as a matter of law.
24
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FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 14 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 II. Plaintiffs Fail to State a Claim Under Washington Law.
2 Even putting aside its myriad constitutional infirmities, Plaintiffs’ Complaint also fails under
3 Washington law. The CPA does not regulate speech about public-policy issues in the news media.
4 It applies to deceptive commercial speech that induces the victim to act in a way that causes
5 proximate harm to his business or property. No court has ever thought to apply that commercial
6 consumer-protection statute in the context of a political debate in the news media, which would make
7 the law grossly unconstitutional for all the reasons explained above. Nor has any court ever accepted
8 a CPA claim based on the type of extremely attenuated causal chain that the Plaintiffs rely on here.
9 The CPA requires a plaintiff to satisfy “five distinct elements: (1) unfair or deceptive act or
10 practice; (2) occurring in trade or commerce; (3) public interest impact; (4) injury to plaintiff in his
11 or her business or property; (5) causation.” Hangman Ridge Training Stables, Inc. v. Safeco Title
12 Ins., Co., 105 Wn.2d 778, 780, 719 P.2d 531 (1986). Here, the CPA does not apply for at least four
13 reasons.
14 First, the CPA regulates commercial speech, not speech about matters of public concern by
15 the news media. It applies only to deceptions that harm consumers “in the conduct of . . . trade or
16 commerce.” RCW 19.86.020. “Trade” and “commerce” are defined as “the sale of assets or services,
17 and any commerce directly or indirectly affecting the people of the state of Washington.” RCW
18 19.86.010(2). A “news article . . . is not published ‘in the conduct of any trade or commerce,’” and
19 thus “does not fall within those activities governed by RCW 19.86.020.” Fidelity Mortg. Corp. v.
20 Seattle Times Co., 131 Wn. App. 462, 468, 128 P.3d 621 (2005). It makes no difference if the speech
21 is part of an “advertising” strategy “to drum up interest” and increase revenue. Delashaw v. Seattle
22 Times Co., No. 18-537JLR, 2018 WL 4027078, at *15 (W.D. Wash. Aug. 23, 2018). If the “claim
23 is based on [a] news article[],” it fails because this type of speech “is not actionable.” Id. That simple
24 principle decides this case: a media telecast, like a news article, is not “trade or commerce.” The
25 CPA thus does not apply. Indeed, the CPA cannot be read more broadly: If it went beyond
FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 15 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 commercial speech and tried to regulate “falsity” in the news media, it would run into all the First
2 Amendment problems described above. See Riley v. Nat’l Fed’n of the Blind, 487 U.S. 781, 796
3 (1988) (distinguishing between “merely commercial” speech and “fully protected expression”).
4 Second, the Complaint does not allege any “injury to plaintiff in [its] business or property.”
5 Hangman Ridge, 105 Wn.2d at 780. There is no allegation that Fox’s speech harmed WASHLITE’s
6 own business or property. That by itself is dispositive, as the CPA does not give non-profit
7 organizations a right to bring CPA claims on behalf of their members. “[P]rivate rights of action
8 under the CPA belong only to the individual allegedly deceived in a consumer transaction.” Satomi
9 Owners Ass’n v. Satomi, LLC, 139 Wn. App. 175, 181 (2007). But in any event, the Complaint does
10 not even allege any injury to the business or property of WASHLITE’s members. Instead, the
11 Complaint implausibly alleges that Fox’s speech somehow caused the Coronavirus to spread, which
12 caused vague “damages” and “unspecified injuries” to some unspecified victims. Am. Compl. ¶ 5.6.
13 To the extent the supposed victims are identified at all, they are described only as “consumers” and
14 “persons in Washington State.” Id. That is not enough to state a claim.
15 Third, the Complaint also fails to adequately allege that Fox’s commentary caused injury to
16 anyone’s business or property. Under the CPA, the “causation” element is not satisfied unless “the
17 defendant ‘induced’ the plaintiff to act or refrain from acting.” Robinson v. Avis Rent A Car Sys.,
18 Inc., 106 Wn. App. 104, 113, 22 P.3d 818 (2001); see also, e.g., Patrick v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.,
19 196 Wn. App. 398, 409, 385 P.3d 165 (2016) (rejecting plaintiffs’ CPA claim because defendant did
20 not “cause[] their injuries by inducing them to default”). In Fidelity, for example, the court found
21 that the plaintiff company had not satisfied the inducement requirement because the defendant “did
22 not induce [it] to act or refrain from acting.” 131 Wn. App. at 469. Instead, the company’s claim
23 “rest[ed] on the assumption that the ‘misleading’ [speech] induced unknown third parties to act.”
24 Id. (emphasis added). The same is true here. The Complaint does not allege that WASHLITE (or its
25 members) were induced to act on the basis of Fox’s commentary. Instead, it alleges that Fox’s
FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 16 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 commentary “caused widespread confusion, and persuaded consumers and persons located in
2 Washington State to fail to properly prepare to stop the spread of COVID-19.” Am. Compl. ¶ 5.6
3 (emphasis added). That allegation is deficient for the same reason it was in Fidelity: at best, it rests
4 on the assumption that WASHLITE was somehow indirectly harmed because Fox supposedly
5 induced “unknown third parties” to fail to take proper steps to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.
6 Finally, even putting aside the lack of any inducement, the Complaint also fails to explain
7 how Fox’s commentary was the proximate cause of any injury to Plaintiffs. It is well established
8 that “proximate cause . . . is required to establish the causation element in a CPA claim.” Schnall v.
9 AT&T Wireless Servs., Inc., 171 Wn.2d 260, 278, 259 P.3d 129 (2011). This means that the causal
10 connection between the alleged harm and the defendant’s conduct cannot be “too remote.” Fidelity,
11 131 Wn. App. at 470.
12 Here, saying that the causal connection is “too remote” is an understatement. The
13 Coronavirus is a global pandemic that has caused, and continues to cause, economic devastation all
14 around the world based on a complex combination of causal factors, quite apart from any Fox
15 commentary. Private individuals and organizations have made their own decisions about how
16 “properly prepare” for the outbreak (Am. Compl. ¶ 5.6), and the diversity of opinions expressed in
17 the media have played at most an indirect and attenuated role in influencing anyone’s actions.
18 The lack of proximate cause here is especially clear because, as noted above, the CPA covers
19 only injuries to “business or property,” and does not cover “[p]ersonal injuries.” Panag v. Farmers
20 Ins. Co., 166 Wn.2d 27, 57, 204 P.3d 885 (2009). Plaintiffs accordingly must show not only that
21 Fox’s commentary somehow proximately caused the spread of the Coronavirus, but also proximately
22 caused the “closures of businesses, schools and other enterprises” in Washington state. Am. Comp.
23 ¶ 5.6. That is impossible because the thrust of the Complaint is that Fox’s commentary argued
24 against the need for such closures, which is the opposite of causing them. The clear proximate cause
25 of the closures were the closure orders issued by the state government. Moreover, the state began
FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 17 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 issuing the closure orders on “March 12” and “March 15,” which was after the vast majority of Fox’s
2 commentary cited in the Complaint. Am. Compl. ¶ 4.56, 4.59. Thus, based on the Complaint’s own
3 allegations, Fox’s commentary could not possibly have meaningfully interfered with the state’s
4 “directives,” which did not even exist until later. Id. ¶ 5.6.
5 For all of these reasons, the Complaint fails to state a claim under the CPA.6
6 CONCLUSION
7 For the foregoing reasons, the Motion to Dismiss should be granted.
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23 6 Plaintiffs also fail to satisfy the “public interest” prong of the CPA. In an attempt to satisfy this prong, the 24 Complaint claims that Fox somehow violated Washington’s Pandemic Influenza Preparedness statute, codified at chapter 70.26 RCW. Am. Compl. ¶ 5.5. But this statute applies only to public officials, not private 25 parties, and certainly does not purport to prohibit speech in the news media. See RCW 70.26.010 (instructing “local public health jurisdictions” to develop and implement “adequate pandemic flu preparedness and response plans”). FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 18 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 DATED this 23rd day of April, 2020.
2 HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP
3 By s/Tyler L. Farmer ∗ 4 Tyler L. Farmer, WSBA #39912 Kristin E. Ballinger, WSBA #28253 5 999 Third Avenue, Suite 4400 6 Seattle, WA 98104 Tel: (206) 623-1700 7 Fax: (206) 623-8717 Email: [email protected] 8 Email: [email protected]
9 JONES DAY
10 Christopher Lovrien (pro hac vice) 11 555 South Flower Street, 50th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90071 12 Tel: (213) 243-2316 Fax: (213) 243-2539 13 Email: [email protected]
14 Emily Faye Knox (pro hac vice) 555 California Street 26th Floor 15 San Francisco, California 94104 Tel: (415) 875-5815 16 Fax: (415) 875-5700 17 Email: [email protected]
18 Michael A. Carvin (pro hac vice) Anthony J. Dick (pro hac vice) 19 51 Louisiana Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20001-2113 20 Tel: (202) 879-3939 Fax: (202) 626-1700 21 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] 22
23 Attorneys for the Fox Defendants
24
25
∗ I certify that this memorandum contains 6,051 words, in compliance with the Local Civil Rules. FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 19 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
1 APPENDIX
2 Fox News, Sean Hannity (February 28, 2020), https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/1fa3de5c-287d-446f-99d8- 3 4ec51b20d158/?context=1000516 ...... App. 002-0018
4 Fox News, Justice with Judge Pirro (March 7, 2020), https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/25424da9-71b5-463b-88cb- 5 ed5efd2dd3ed/?context=1000516 ...... App. 0020-0032
6 Fox News, Sean Hannity (March 9, 2020), 7 https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/90eebef7-dc7f-4191-bd15- 0b80faa72070/?context=1000516 ...... App. 0034-0048 8 Fox News, Ingraham Angle (March 9, 2020), 9 https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/7743057e-a193-4160-b2ba- 73ea630e86a4/?context=1000516...... App. 0050-0068 10 Fox Business Network, Lou Dobbs Tonight (March 9, 2020), 11 https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/2b383c93-eff5-44a7-b8a5- 2ce30db9da5a/?context=1000516...... App. 0070-0087 12 Fox Business Network, Trish Regan Primetime (March 9, 2020), 13 https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/d1f5a001-beac-428c-9995- 15c0b1c63265/?context=1000516 ...... App. 0089-00102 14 Fox News, Sean Hannity (March 10, 2020), 15 https://advance.lexis.com/api/permalink/24e1f755-659e-4c25-a214- 16 61006544c1a4/?context=1000516 ...... App. 00104-00123
17 Other Fox News Statements Regarding Coronavirus ...... App. 00125-00132
18 Other Media Coverage of the Coronavirus ...... App. 00134-00139
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FOX DEFENDANTS’ MOTION TO DISMISS LAW OFFICES HARRIGAN LEYH FARMER & THOMSEN LLP FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT - 20 999 THIRD AVENUE, SUITE 4400 SEATTLE, WASHINGTON 98104 TEL (206) 623-1700 FAX (206) 623-8717
Appendix A
App. 001 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Fox News Network FOX HANNITY 9:00 PM EST February 28, 2020 Friday
Copyright 2020 Fox News Network LLC All Rights Reserved Section: NEWS; Domestic Length: 6876 words Byline: Jason Chaffetz, Lawrence Jones, Susan Li, Dan Bongino, Tammy Bruce, Trace Gallagher Guests: Matt Gaetz, Tom Cotton, Reince Priebus, Joe Concha, Jeffrey Lord, Matt Schlapp, Jenna Ellis
Body
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST, "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT": Jason Chaffetz is in for Sean Hannity next. He takes over.
See you Monday.
(MUSIC)
JASON CHAFFETZ, FOX NEWS HOST: Welcome to this special edition of "Hannity". I'm Jason Chaffetz live in Los Angeles tonight for Sean.
For the hour, we'll keep you updated on the coronavirus outbreak and explain how the left is trying to score cheap political points with the deadly disease. At this hour, U.S. Intel agencies are monitoring the worldwide spread of the coronavirus.
Today, South Korea, Iran, and Germany saw a pretty significant rise in new cases. Meanwhile, in China, the epicenter of the infectious disease, new cases actually declined.
Right here at home in the United States, less than 70 people have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. And so far, there have been zero reported deaths inside the United States.
But we should note there is a new case tonight reported out of northern California which we're monitoring.
Tonight, as part of the Trump administration's response, a new coronavirus response committee has been formed. The committee is filled with top scientific and medical experts who will guide the administration policy going forward. This is the latest development in what has been an ongoing months-long effort to counter the virus.
App. 002 Page 2 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Sadly, instead of working hand in hand with the administration. Top Democrats and some in the media are playing the blame game. Moments ago at his rally, the president sent a clear message to those who would rather attack the administration than actually prevent the spread of the deadly disease.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now the Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. You know that right?
(BOOS)
They're politicizing it. We did one of the great jobs you say, how is President Trump doing? They go oh, not good, not good.
They have no clue. They don't have any clue. They can't even count their votes in Iowa. They can't event count.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: What do voters think about the left's politicization of the coronavirus. Joining us now with a full report live from CPAC is Fox Nation host, Lawrence Jones.
Lawrence, what's the latest?
LAWRENCE JONES, FOX NATION HOST: Good evening, Jason. Thanks so much for having me.
It was a busy day here at CPAC, the largest gathering of conservatives in the world. I asked them about the dirty politics of today, just when you thought Dems couldn't get any lower in their desperate attempt to take down this president, they are now spreading fear by politicizing the coronavirus. A new report from "The New York Times" says president Trump can't handle the situation.
I talked with folks at CPAC about this, and they aren't surprised at all. They says that's what Dems do when they're back are against the wall. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: So, there's a lot of talk about this coronavirus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
JONES: And do you think that the Democrats are politicizing this?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, 1,000 percent they are politicizing it, because it is their next game. We go from one thing to the next. This is after impeachment failed, Russia failed, so now this is what we're doing.
App. 003 Page 3 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are doing that only to try to attempt -- to make the economy tanked, so in order to keep President Trump from being reelected.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is nothing that they would not do that is not hypocritical or undermining or dishonest to undermine this administration.
JONES: So, you think the Democrats are doing this to target the president?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. Absolutely.
JONES: How does that make you feel?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's just -- all they're doing is stirring up the pot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't politicize this kind of stuff. This is ridiculous. We have to pull together as a nation. We've got to pull together as people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JONES: A fired up crowd here supporting the president, Jason. And they say back when President Obama had his own health care, they did not bash the president. They feel like the country should be coming together. Unfortunately, Democrats are just trying to score easy political shots, but they don't think it's going to work -- Jason.
CHAFFETZ: Lawrence, thank you very much.
This week, as coronavirus related fears spread, financial markets suffered. White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow reassured Americans that the virus will not wreck the American economy. Instead, Kudlow warned of a much bigger threat. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KUDLOW, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC ADVISER: Numbers coming in on the economy have actually been quite good, including today. Business investment is up. Personal income and spending, consumer spending is up. Confidence is up.
The virus is not going to sink the American economy.
(APPLAUSE)
What is, or could sink the American economy is the socialism coming from our friends on the other side of the aisle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: So have we seen the worse of the coronavirus-related downturn, or is there more to come?
Joining us with the very latest from the Fox Business Channel is Susan Li.
Susan, what is the latest from your perspective?
App. 004 Page 4 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
SUSAN LI, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK: Well, Jason, I have to say, to quote Warren Buffett, who is arguably the most successful investor of all time. He says when people are fearful, that's when you get greedy and, yes, you have seen fear this week with stock markets seeing worse week since 2008 in the financial crisis.
But I would say that today's market actually should give you some confidence because on a Friday, typically, we head into a weekend and investors don't really want to hold all that risk which they see in stocks. So, today, you were down 1,000 points in the morning. But guess what? In the final 30 minutes of the trading session, 630 points up. And some people see that as an inflection point.
And I also want to walk people away from this talk of recession as well, Jason. Because a recession is characterized as two straight quarters of negative growth. We haven't even seen one yet, and there are a lot of fundamentals, as you heard from Larry Kudlow, to support the U.S. You have consumer spending, finding jobs, and, by the way, companies are making a ton of money.
CHAFFETZ: Susan, question about the Federal Reserve. Are they going to cut rates or what is the perspective on what the Federal Reserve might do in this case?
LI: One hundred percent, according to the market by March of this year, 100 percent. There's even a 60 percent probability they might even go to 50 bases point, which is half a percent. That is really panic mode.
I don't really see that right now. As I said to you, there is a lot of good in the economy. I spoke to Tim Cook, who is the Apple CEO. And he says, long term, fundamentals are still in place. Nothing has changed, really, in the last four weeks, and you heard that from Larry Kudlow and the White House as well.
We're not expected to take that big of a hit, and even if we do, we have the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates.
CHAFFETZ: Yes, it does strike me that there are a lot of buys in the market right now, and people panic for a moment.
Susan, thank you very much.
Without a doubt, the left is now using the coronavirus as a political weapon. 2020 Democratic candidates were just caught spreading false information in order to bludgeon the president. One "New York Times" columnist renamed the disease "Trump virus."
And Pelosi and Schumer have all but blamed the worldwide spread of corona on the Trump administration. This morning, Donald Trump Jr. criticized the Democrats' shameful, hyper- partisan tactics. And one Democratic congressman didn't take it so well. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president's son, Donald Trump Jr., was on this morning and suggested or said outright that Democrats are taking a pandemic seemingly hoping and I'm
App. 005 Page 5 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) quoting, quote, it comes here and kills millions of people so it can end the president's streak of winning. He called that a new level of sickness.
I wanted to give you an opportunity to respond to that comment from Don Jr.
REP. JOHN GARAMENDI (D-CA): He should not be near me when he says that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why not?
GARAMENDI: There would be a serious altercation. That is just totally outrageous. That is totally outrageous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Wow.
Earlier today, we reached tout to Donald Trump Jr. and he called the threat of violence disgusting. And told us, quote: Almost as bad as the fact that MSNBC host Hallie Jackson sat by and allowed it to happen with no attempt to push back.
Don Jr. said the political violence is unacceptable and is calling on Democratic members of Congress to condemn Congressman Garamendi's threat.
Joining us now with reaction is Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, and FOX News contributor Dan Bongino.
Gentlemen, thank you so much for being here.
Congressman, I want to start with you.
Look, being in Congress, I know, you know, it's tough enough, let alone having another member advocating and actually talking about lashing out with violence. What's your reaction?
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): I would give John Garamendi a little advice, not only would he not want a physical altercation with Donald Trump Jr., I think Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle would make quick work of John Garamendi.
So, it's probably best we make our arguments verbally, not through any physical altercation.
I do think the country can take great comfort in the fact that President Trump has built teams to solve problems his entire life. Now, with the establishment of the best scientists in the world to analyze our way to blunt this virus, I think America will be in a better position.
But certainly, the coronavirus is a wake-up call to the fact that we got so much of our supply chain for our medical equipment and our drugs in China.
I was shocked, Jason, to learn that 95 percent of ibuprofen comes from China. It's like we can't even have an America first headache anymore.
CHAFFETZ: Dan, when you see Congressman Garamendi lashing out like that, look, I've known the man. He's a pretty rational, even-keeled person. But for him to do this and then not even apologize for it really does strike me as beyond the pale.
App. 006 Page 6 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
DAN BONGINO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: And as a former Secret Service agent myself who actually protected people and the first family, this is really gross.
But, you know, Jason, every time, as I have said before, I think the Democrats have hit the depravity floor, they crash through the floor and they rush into the basement. They can't even make a coherent point.
And I don't want to hear from these left wing rags like CNN and elsewhere, these biased media outlets, that Republicans politicizing it.
No, we're not. The Democrats, sadly, started a fight that they shouldn't have started. They can't even make a coherent point. Can I give you a quick example here?
Nancy Pelosi jumps on the air the other day to complain. And she tries to make the point that we spent 500 billion -- excuse me, $5 billion, forgive me, on Ebola. She says, so we should at least spend the same amount on coronavirus.
Then she makes the point in the exact same little sound bite presser she is doing that there is money left over, $500 million from the Ebola spending that Donald Trump wants to spend on the coronavirus. So, what's your point? Spend less because we didn't use all the Ebola money or spend the Ebola money we didn't spend? They can't even make a coherent point.
One more, the lies about how Donald Trump cut CDC spending and NIH spending. Jason, that is inaccurate. Even the left-leaning "Associated Press" had to call the Democrats out. This was easy to fact-check.
It's nonsense. The Democrats should be ashamed. This is a new low, even for them, in an era of seemingly daily new lows.
CHAFFETZ: Congressman, I've got to tell you, I was in Congress when Ebola happened. We did nothing but support the president and the administration, because you know what? It's really not the politicians that do the work. It's actually these doctors who run to the sound of the sirens and put their lives on the line to fight this disease.
Now, at one point, the Democrats were blaming Donald Trump for being too sensational. Now, they are trying to blame Donald Trump for underreacting.
GAETZ: Coronavirus does not belong to a political party. And it should not be a political tool. We all have a stake in curbing this. But, again, I am encouraged by the work that's being done.
For example, Jason, right here in the state of Florida, where I am, the vice president was ensuring that we had capability for local testing, so that if we do see any outbreaks, we're able to contain them as rapidly as possible and get local officials on the front line, the most relevant, factual information.
That is actually what is going to help us defeat this virus, not a bunch of Democrats trying to use it to weaponize politics against the president.
CHAFFETZ: And, Dan, I want to go back to the point you made, because there was talk of $2.5 billion, and then, all of a sudden, Schumer came up with this magical $8.5 billion. I don't think
App. 007 Page 7 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) there's a politician in the room that actually knows what the actual dollar amount is, nor do they understand what they have spent and have banked up previously in terms of knowledge, equipment, and supplies.
But, does the American people, do they get that? Do they understand that, or do they buy into this Schumer stuff that he throws out there?
BONGINO: I don't and I'm trying -- listen, I'm a conservative. That's not a secret. But I'm trying to say that is objectively as possible -- I really don't think the American people are going to fall for this stunt.
Jason, you were in -- congressman (ph). Congressman Gaetz is there now. Does anybody in this viewing audience right now, with a straight face actually believe if we had on paper a specific amount of money we needed to combat this potentially deadly virus and the ramifications it's had on our economy already, that Donald Trump is going to sit there in front of a camera and go no, no, no, thanks, we're going to pass, we're going to just let this thing run its course? Do you realize how stupid?
You know, you need an I.Q. of like sub-62 to be dumb enough to fall for this media narrative. Of course, it's in the best interest of the president morally for the country and as a leader to combat this immediately. Do you think a congressman or the president of the United States is going to nix (ph) money to potentially solve this problem?
But you're signing a blank check, let's make it $20 billion, $50 billion, and spend it on, what? The entire budget of the Secret Service I used to work for is only a billion dollars. What do you are going to -- you got to produce something. We're going to spend it on something. Produce the numbers, and he'll come through.
CHAFFETZ: Gentlemen, thank you.
For "The New York Times" op-ed to come out and call this the Trump virus was totally irresponsible.
Congressman Gaetz, Dan Bongino, thank you for coming on tonight.
Well, coming up, Congressman Adam Schiff is now using the coronavirus to attack the president. We'll explain.
Plus, breaking tonight, President Trump is nominating Congressman John Ratcliffe to be the next director of national intelligence. Senator Tom Cotton reacts to it all next as this special edition of "Hannity" continues.
CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to this "Hannity" special.
Democrats continue to politicize the coronavirus, and even the grand inquisitor himself, Adam Schiff, is entering the fray. When leading the coronavirus briefing at the Capitol earlier today, Schiff told FOX News that, quote: The president and vice president don't inspire confidence.
App. 008 Page 8 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Well, last night on this program, the great one, Mark Levin, had some choice words for the Democratic leadership, who were critical of the White House's response to the coronavirus. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK LEVIN, FOX NEWS HOST: The last people I want playing doctor with me or the American people would be Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. They attack the president of the United States. Not one negative word for the dictator of China and the way they have mishandled this entire thing.
From January 16th to February 5th, the United States Senate was paralyzed by the House Democrats and Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi with this outrageous impeachment trial where the senators had to sit on their hands and shut their mouths and couldn't conduct any business. They couldn't pass a bill to increase funding. They say they want more funding. They couldn't do it. They couldn't hold hearings on the coronavirus. They couldn't do anything because Pelosi and Schumer shut down the United States Congress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: More on that in a moment.
But, first, also breaking tonight, President Trump announced he was nominating Congressman John Ratcliffe to be the next director of national intelligence.
Joining us now to react to all of this is Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.
Senator, thank you so much for joining us.
I want to first go to John Ratcliffe, who you served with. One of the most consequential appointments a president can make is the director of the DNI, the director of national intelligence.
What's your perspective about this nomination of John Ratcliffe?
SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): I know John Ratcliffe pretty well. His district in Texas borders Arkansas. So, we've worked together on a number of issues.
John is a seasoned prosecutor. He's now served many years on the House Intelligence Committee. I think it's a sound pick, and I suspect that John will get a lot of support among the Senate.
I can't say that many Senate Democrats will support him. They're still suffering from Trump derangement syndrome and opposing every person the president nominates to any office.
But I think John Ratcliffe is a good pick. I commend the president for it, and I thank John for his willingness to serve in this new role.
CHAFFETZ: He really is immensely qualified and it just -- a great, solid person, and I can't imagine there's a single Republican that would oppose his nomination. But we'll see how it goes. It is Washington, D.C.
App. 009 Page 9 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Senator, you've been highly critical of China throughout your career. How do you -- what's your reaction or perspective on how China has handled the coronavirus in general, and are they doing enough today?
COTTON: No, they're not doing enough, Jason. China has -- had engaged in rampant malpractice, dishonesty, deceitfulness from the very beginning. If they hadn't concealed the outbreak of this virus in early December from the World Health Organization and from their own people, they might not only have protected their own people more effectively but prevented it from spreading so far around the world already. They are still lying to their own people. They're still lying to the world.
They are responsible for the spread of this virus outside of their own borders. That's one reason why we need to take a new look once again in our entire relationship with China, in particular, the relationship we have in trade where we have so many of our medical devices and equipment or even basic pharmaceuticals manufactured in China.
I think that's a real surprise to most Americans. It's something I've been working on for a long time to try to change. I suspect that's going to change in the months ahead.
CHAFFETZ: And then "The New York Times" op-ed is calling this the Trump virus. You have Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer initially, there were criticisms that Trump was overreacting. Now they're saying he's under- reacting.
Again, what's your perspective?
COTTON: Yes, this is just an example of the president's critics criticizing anything he does. Remember, the single most consequential and valuable thing done to stop this virus from already spreading throughout the United States was when President Trump decided to shut down travel to China last month.
What happened then? Joe Biden accused him of xenophobia. "The Washington Post" accused him of overreacting. But even the so-called experts who opposed the decision at the time now admit that it bought us valuable time to prevent the spread of this virus in the United States so we can do more to stockpile drugs and medical equipment, work on vaccines and therapeutics, and getting testing kits out to the front line.
This is just another example though, of how the president is going to be criticized no matter what he does. I know that he is working to make sure that we protect the health and safety of the American people, irrespective of what his critics say.
CHAFFETZ: Senator Cotton, thank you for joining us tonight. We do appreciate it.
All right. Coming up, tomorrow, voters head to the polls for the South Carolina primary. It's make-or-break for Vice President Joe Biden. And today, he is actually walking back a false claim he has made. We'll explain next as this special edition of "Hannity" continues.
CHAFFETZ: This is a FOX News alert. The "Associated Press" is reporting that Governor Kate Brown has confirmed the first case of coronavirus in Oregon. We will continue to follow this story.
App. 0010 Page 10 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
But, first, as the Trump administration takes bold action to combat the coronavirus, Democrats are shamelessly playing politics, and trying to use this serious public health threat to attack the president. Here's just a small sample. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And yesterday, Donald Trump and Mike Pence decided to silence our leading national medical experts.
MIKE BLOOMBERG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president is not a scientist. That's a nice ways to put it.
Hard to believe, but he doesn't even believe in science. He is not leading. He is reacting, and he is reacting much too late.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You would think that you'll have a president of the United States leading -- working with scientists all over the world, bringing people together to figure out how we're going to deal with this crisis. He is here in South Carolina. He doesn't even have any opposition in the Republican primary. Why is he here? He is here to try to disrupt the Democratic primary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: And meanwhile, Joe Biden is still doing clean-up after being caught telling another lie. This time about being arrested in the 1970s while trying to see Nelson Mandela, because he is now claiming that he just misspoke, despite telling the same story multiple times. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: They had me get off a plane, the Afrikaners got on in their short pants and their guns, led me off first and moved me in a direction totally different, I turned around and everybody, the entire black delegation was going another way. When I said arrested, I meant, I was not able -- I was not able to move. Cops, Afrikaners would not let me go with them, made me stay where I was. I guess I wasn't arrested, I was stopped, I was not able to move where I wanted to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Now, as Biden bets his campaign in a South Carolina win this Saturday, he is being praised for a moving moment with a pastor earlier this week. And just listen to how the ladies of "The View" suggested that Biden might actually be the one to save the party after all. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGHAN MCCAIN, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": I saw this last night, and I started crying. It's pretty long. We just cut it. This is Joe Biden at peek Biden. He has this way of empathizing with pain and people. He is almost like the anti-Mayor Pete. Nothing is scripted.
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": It's interesting to me that religious people, some who are on Trump's team like evangelicals, I don't really understand how they don't go with Biden.
App. 0011 Page 11 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
SUNNY HOSTIN, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": I believe that a man like Joe Biden is the person that can change sort of the tenor of this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Although President Trump isn't buying a Biden comeback, just listen to him earlier tonight in South Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: The unemployment rate in the great state of South Carolina, you ever hear of that place?
(CHEERS)
Now, sleepy Joe would say the unemployment rate in the great state of Ohio -- no, no, you're in South Carolina. Joe, Joe, you are South Carolina. Come up. Ever see the guy come up -- no, no. It's South Carolina. It's not Ohio. OK.
And then he goes, all right. Iowa, did you say Iowa? No, no. He did that like seven times. If I did that once, it would be the end of the road, right? It would be the end of the road.. They would say Trump has lost it. They like to say that anyway, I guess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Joining me now for reaction, former White House chief of staff Reince Priebus and FOX News contributor Tammy Bruce.
Thank you both for being here.
Reince, I want to start with you, because you have an interesting theory about the actual Trump support. It's actually probably larger because, in 2016, there were a lot of Republicans that stayed home that have now converted to actually being Trump supporters.
REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Yes. That's right, Jason. If you look at 2016, certainly it was close. And everyone can agree to that.
But you take a state like Wisconsin and Michigan and Ohio and all the rest of those battleground states, the president probably left hundreds of thousands of Republican votes on the table. Take Wisconsin, for example, and it's Friday, so I will I show you a note card, and you look at these two numbers.
Now, the president won Wisconsin by 22,000 votes. A little bit more than that. The first number, the 74,000, that's how many more votes a conservative U.S. senator, Ron Johnson, got than President Trump. People were not sure, but they were going to vote for Ron Johnson. They weren't 100 percent sure on Donald Trump. Now, he is at 95 percent approval in the Republican Party. Those 74,000 people are not voting for Bernie comrade Sanders.
And then, the second number is how many votes Gary Johnson got in Wisconsin, a libertarian got 106,000 votes in Wisconsin. They're not voting for comrade Bernie Sanders. So, if you take
App. 0012 Page 12 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) the 22,000 that the president won Wisconsin, the 74,000, the 106,000. That's plus 200,000 votes, just in Wisconsin, in 2020, that President Trump could get that he didn't get in 2016.
The party and the Trump campaign, I'm sure, are tearing through that data and identifying the exact people that they need to identify that will bring more to the table for Trump than he had in 2016.
CHAFFETZ: That's -- it's interesting. And very Karl Rove of you.
So thank you, Reince Priebus.
Tammy --
PRIEBUS: Hey, listen, being party chairman is being in charge of a lot of boring things. So, that's what party chairman do.
CHAFFETZ: Amen to that.
Tammy, I have got to tell you, Democrats more than anything, they just want to win. I don't think they even necessarily care who, they just want to win. But Joe Biden, who very well might win in South Carolina had to apologize again for spewing a lie.
TAMMY BRUCE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. And you know, where there is a lack of enthusiasm -- remember, now, the Clyburn endorsement will make a big difference because of the infrastructure that that brings in the get- out-the-vote effort. But when you go past South Carolina, there's a problem. The big news for Joe Biden within the last couple of days was a super PAC was going to spend I think like low six figures for him during Super Tuesday.
Now, you've got millions that need to be spent and are being spent by the other candidates but it's because the money isn't there for him. And you are looking at infrastructure that still doesn't exist there. So, this is really one state after the other. And he may have, you know, some lead- off from South Carolina going in to Super Tuesday, which is just obviously a few days later.
But the fact is, if there's no money and there is no real infrastructure, what's going to happen here? And I think, to your point, the earlier clip that you played, Jason, all of those things were lies that the Democrats were saying about the president and his response to the coronavirus dynamic while he was gearing up for this and dealing with flights and how to get Americans back and keep everyone safe. They were still going with impeachment. They were still going after fake Russia hoaxes, and even more recently, they had pivoted right back to Russia.
Don't forget that this is -- I know we used the word "unhinged" a great deal but all the American people should be extremely concerned that this is a major American party that has moved into this framework of lies and obstruction without any -- knowing, by the way, that this is a life and death dynamic for all of us. It transcends, it doesn't matter what party you're in, what gender, where you live, you could be a governor, just a regular worker, it doesn't matter.
But the Democrats know this and they do not care, it appears.
CHAFFETZ: Well, America wants us to come together when you're fighting a disease. That's not some political party that put that forward --
App. 0013 Page 13 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
BRUCE: Well, why are we the only ones saying it? Only the Republicans are saying it.
CHAFFETZ: Yes, but I think America will see through that.
BRUCE: Yes.
CHAFFETZ: Tammy and Reince, thank you so much for joining us this evening. Really do appreciate it.
BRUCE: Thanks, Jason.
CHAFFETZ: All right. Up next, it is not only the Democrats trying to use the coronavirus against President Trump. The mainstream media is digging in. You won't believe what they have said in the past 24 hours, when "Hannity" continues.
CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity."
Just like the Democrats, the liberal media has been using the coronavirus outbreak to try to bludgeon President Trump. CNN, in particular, is being called out by critics. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our government is woefully ill-prepared, it seems, at least at this early stage. You are just getting the sense that the snowball is just starting to go down the hill.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Politically speaking, this president may have to reap what he has sown when it comes to the public trust or lack thereof in the institutions built to keep this democracy healthy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president, in front the president, in front of all of us, we could all see it, struggling to accept the reality of the situation. And what you have seen today and last night when Dow futures fell while that press conference was going on is a no-confidence vote from financial markets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHAFFETZ: Joining me now with reaction, "The Hill's" Joe Concha and conservative columnist Jeffrey Lord.
I want to go first to you, Joe.
Is the media overplaying their hand here? Are they building sensationalism where there isn't as much as they say there is?
JOE CONCHA, THE HILL: Well, Jason, fear sells, right? It's a great motivator and ratings are up this week as a result of coronavirus and rightly so. It's something that we should take seriously.
But, you know, I saw a headline just yesterday in "The New York Times" opinion section that said we might as well just call this Trumpvirus instead of coronavirus, and that was by Gail Collins who has been with the paper a long time.
App. 0014 Page 14 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
Now think about this. Now we are going to blame President Trump for coronavirus when this virus originated in communist China. It is easily the stupidest headliner 2020, and we are not even outside of February. I don't care for the next 10 months. That wins it, no question.
But this has been going on for a while now where we take a situation and we automatically blame the president. For instance, just last year, "The Washington Post" runs a headline -- and this is from the editorial board, by the way. When it comes to extreme weather, and in this case it was about a hurricane, Mr. Trump is complicit. In other words, a hurricane is about to hit the mainland U.S., therefore the president somehow is to blame.
Also, CNN a couple weeks ago ran an analysis a few weeks back that said coronavirus task force, another example of Trump administration's lack of diversity. You have to expect at this point that the Houston Astros cheating scandal is going to be blamed on President Trump because of the culture he created and the fact that he and Russia cheated to win the 2016 election, at least that's the allegation. Therefore, Trump is to blame for everything, including this virus.
We should be educating the American people at this point. There's a lot of things that people to understand in terms of fatality rates, in terms of who is most at risk, and that is what should be going on right now. Not the stupid blame game that everybody is sick of, Jason.
CHAFFETZ: So, Jeffrey, I mean, the American people -- I think do see through this the absurdity of it all. But when you have "The New York Times" in an op-ed calling it Trump virus, that is pretty over the top, isn't it?
JEFFREY LORD, "SWAMP WARS" AUTHOR: Ooh my goodness, absolutely, yes.
And, first, let me say, the vice -- I'm at CPAC. And the vice president was here yesterday. He is doing -- newly assigned to this. He is doing a great job. Secretary Azar is doing a great job.
But look, here's the problem. CNN, back in early February, was running a story that said that the Trump restrictions on travel from China were not good. They were going to backfire. Now they are saying, oh, oh, he is not doing enough.
You know, this is something where the liberal media has damaged their credibility incredibly with the whole Trump-Russia collusion hoax.
And that "New York Times" headline, I'll tell you what they didn't say in that story that Joe was referencing. They -- after going after the vice president for being put in charge of this, they never mentioned a word that way back in the way back, when the Ebola situation was happening, the Obama administration put not the vice president but the former chief of staff of the vice president, then Joe Biden, and a Washington lobbyist in charge of their response team.
Hello, hello. Not a peep about that in "The New York Times" in the day, as I found out today in doing some research for a Newsbuster's column tomorrow. They were glowing, glowing with all sorts of wonderful things to say about this guy.
This is all about double standards. They shot themselves in the foot with their credibility in terms of the American people, and this is not going to help them.
App. 0015 Page 15 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
CHAFFETZ: No, I would argue that having a former governor like Mike Pence, the current vice president, he knows what these governors are up against all across the country because they are going to actually be the front lines, and their counties and their health departments are going to be the ones that are going to have to deal with this. And having a former governor helping to lead and spearhead this effort, I think is probably going to do as much as anything to instill confidence particularly when it comes to state and local governments.
Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us tonight.
Well, coming up, Senator Ted Cruz and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez exchanged some heated jabs on Twitter after AOC lashed out at Vice President Pence. We'll tell you exactly what was said, coming up next.
CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to this "Hannity" special.
Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez is fanning the flames of coronavirus hysteria. But Senator Ted Cruz is giving the freshman rep a much needed check, writing to her on Twitter, quote: We see evolution every day. The Dem Party is rapidly evolving into an angry, anti-scientist social ideology. You insulted Pence, and I asked you three real questions regarding science. You ignored all three and responded with your resume and ad hominem attacks. Instead of insults, address the substance.
Joining us now for reaction, American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp and senior legal advisor to the Trump 2020 campaign, Jenna Ellis.
Matt, I want to start with you. First of all, congratulations on an amazing CPAC. You get great crowds, amazing speakers, and a huge crowd there. But I want you to react specifically to this battle back-and-forth, and AOC, and what she is trying to spew now.
MATT SCHLAPP, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION CHAIRMAN: Yes, you kind of never know what's coming from the Squad and what's coming from AOC. You know, I don't know whether it's a lack of just education or knowledge or just a desire to constantly propagandize. And I think Ted Cruz has a mean Twitter game, by the way.
I think that's what we all have to do in this day and age. We've got to push back on the facts because they don't have them. Socialism doesn't work. And thank God for people like Ted Cruz, who are making the case.
CHAFFETZ: Now, Jenna, when you see this battle back-and-forth, and AOC trying to disparage and take down Vice President Pence. What's your reaction?
JENNA ELLIS, SENIOR LEGAL ADVISOR, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN: Yes. This is just yet another low blow and an attack that is based not in fact but just trying to take down Vice President Pence. And, you know, her tweet started out saying that the vice president literally doesn't believe in science. I mean, this is the party that refuses to see the evidence that shows that an unborn child is a human being that is living and valuable inside the womb, and wants abortion on demand. This is the party that believes that there's 37 genders and whatever one feels, that can be their identity.
App. 0016 Page 16 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR)
I mean, let's remember, why was it such a joke when Elizabeth Warren, 1/1,024th element of her DNA proved that she wasn't actually the American Indian that she claimed to be. Why? Because of science. And we can look at DNA, and we can see that the Democrats are completely on the wrong side of the truth here.
And so, for her to make that claim -- AOC to make this claim against Vice President Pence is just ridiculous, and Matt's right. It's just trying to propagandize, it's trying to just start a battle that she can't win and so she needs to -- yes, she just needs to be quiet, and I think that Ted Cruz's Twitter game is great.
CHAFFETZ: No, I think Ted Cruz did put her back in her place.
But Matt, CPAC there, conservatives from all over the country, really the world that are coming there, what's the reaction to socialism in the type of future that an AOC is trying to convince America that they should change to?
SCHLAPP: Yes, our whole theme is America versus socialism, not capitalism versus socialism, because socialism is not just a terrible economic system, but it strips each individual of their human dignity. Tonight, our keynote address at our Reagan dinner was Trump's national security advisor, Ambassador Robert O'Brien. And he told the crowd what the Trump doctrine is overseas on socialism, and, of course, we never want it to seep into this country.
We have the son of President Bolsonaro of Brazil here talking about what socialism does. It destroys, it wreaks havoc. It creates poverty, human misery, and you know what, Jason, you know, this it has absolutely never worked anywhere ever.
CHAFFETZ: No, it hasn't. It hasn't. But I'm glad you are doing that. Robert O'Brien is one of the best editions to the Trump administration.
Matt and Jenna, thank you so much.
Well, coming up, you won't believe the puff piece "The New York Times" did on Hunter Biden. Trace Gallagher has the full report next as this special edition of "Hannity" continues.
CHAFFETZ: Welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity."
Amid an ongoing paternity suit and the total exposure of his corrupt dealings, Hunter Biden is attempting to paint a new picture of himself for the public eye.
FOX News chief breaking news correspondent Trace Gallagher joins me here in studio at Los Angeles.
Good to be in person with you, Trace.
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CHIEF BREAKING NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Great to have you here, Jason.
You know, Hunter Biden says he took up painting after his brother Beau died from brain cancer back in 2015. He admits doing something artistic is a big step considering that during his years as a crack addict and an alcoholic, he didn't, quote, read, write, or think, going on say, quoting
App. 0017 Page 17 of 17 Hannity Special; Interview with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL); Interview with Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) here: For years, I wouldn't call myself an artist. Now I feel comfortable saying it. You have to be really focused in order to be able to alert or alter it to your imagination. His art has been described as psychedelic florals.
Biden was also involved in a lengthy paternity battle with the former Arkansas stripper who used DNA to prove he fathered her child. Now, Biden has been ordered to appear in an Arkansas courtroom settle child support payments by reviewing years of his financial records, including his lucrative, controversial and baffling stint as a board member of the Ukraine energy giant, Burisma.
Incidentally, despite only painting for a few years, one art expert said she thinks Biden could have a big career in the art world. Of course, because of his last name.
CHAFFETZ: I can't wait to see this piece of psychedelic floral art that you talk about.
Trace, thank you so much.
GALLAGHER: Sure.
CHAFFETZ: An honor to be with you.
Unfortunately, that's all the time we have left this evening. As always, thank you for being with us.
Sean will be back on Monday. You don't want to miss it.
Have a great weekend.
Let not your heart be troubled, Laura Ingraham is up next.
Load-Date: February 29, 2020
End of Document
App. 0018
Appendix B
App. 0019 Vice President Mike Pence Discusses The Fight Against Coronavirus; Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Talks About GOP's Actions Regarding Coronavirus; Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) On The Big Republican Voter Turnout For Trump On Super Tuesday; Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) Talks About Race For 2020 And Texas Voters
Fox News Network JUSTICE WITH JUDGE PIRRO 9:00 PM EST March 7, 2020 Saturday
Copyright 2020 Fox News Network LLC All Rights Reserved Section: NEWS; Domestic Length: 6264 words Byline: Jeanine Pirro, Aishah Hasnie Guests: Mike Pence, Tim Scott, Dan Crenshaw, Kevin McCarthy
Body
JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. "JUSTICE WITH JUDGE JEANINE" is next, and remember, I'm Watters and this is my world.
JEANINE PIRRO, FOX NEWS HOST: Hello and welcome to JUSTICE. I'm Judge Jeanine Pirro live tonight in our nation's capital.
Thanks for being with us, and thanks again for continuing the streak. JUSTICE was number one in viewers all weekend last weekend. Thanks so much.
But tonight, it's a JUSTICE exclusive as Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the coronavirus efforts here in America joins me for a two-part interview here in Washington.'
Also ahead, G.O.P. Minority Leader, Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senator Tim Scott, and Congressman Dan Crenshaw, all of that in just a few moments. But first, my open.
If you've ever had a question whether the mainstream media distorts, whips up, throws things out of focus or has an agenda, especially when it comes to the Trump administration, look no further than coronavirus.
If you listen to the mainstream media, it's time to buy the family burial plot, visit the cemetery where the dirt is definitely cleaner than your kitchen counter or your bathroom handles.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST: The coronavirus outbreak has the potential to become a global pandemic.
JOY BEHAR, ABC HOST: Don't listen to Trump. Don't listen to him. Let's face it, the President is a reality --
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: The response to the coronavirus in the United States is being led by the most incompetent and ignorant President in history.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
App. 0020 Page 2 of 13 Vice President Mike Pence Discusses The Fight Against Coronavirus; Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) Talks About GOP's Actions Regarding Coronavirus; Sen. Tim Scott (R....
PIRRO: So what's the downside of their Doomsday reporting? The downside is predictable. When people are scared, when people think it's just a question of time before they start dropping like flies, they go into survival mode.
They don't spend money. The economy suffers. They don't invest. The market suffers.
They talk about taking their children out of school, education suffers. They talk about canceling March Madness, Coachella and local businesses suffer.
And canceling airlines and cruise ship reservations, the economy suffers.
They go into depression mode because their quality of life is over.
And who better to trumpet a slowing economy than CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN HOST: Wall Street is rattled by the worldwide outbreak of the coronavirus. The Dow closing down more than 350 points today for a total loss of more than 3,000 points over the past week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: My, my. You want to focus on the Dow now? Where were you when the Dow, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ all repeatedly reached record highs under President Trump? You weren't interested then, were you?
Where were you when the Dow closed at a record high more than 100 times since Donald Trump's election? Where were you when animal spirits were driving this country to new economic heights?
And for your information, our economy can sustain a 3,000-point drop because we are at record highs. Job numbers just came out and they're up beyond expectations.
The stock market is up for the week. Long-term interest rates are plunging, so people can refinance and those who need subsidies are going to get them.
And the media complains that there was a lackluster initial response by the Trump administration. Say what?
Let's start with the fact that the U.S. has one of the best healthcare systems in the world. And on January 31st, the Trump administration restricted entry into this country from China in an effort to counter the spreading coronavirus outbreak.
Even "The New York Times" noted the administration barred entry by most foreign nationals who had recently visited China. American travelers were under quarantine, as the administration declared a rare public health emergency.
The President did this knowing that it would send shocks through the stock market, that it would rattle industry between the world's two largest economies.
He immediately put together the smartest, most sophisticated team of doctors, scientists and healthcare professionals to deal with his declared coronavirus health emergency.
And most important, he assigned to Vice President Mike Pence the job of organizing, monitoring a team to contain, mitigate and treat the problem working with states and local governments.
His efforts have been non-stop, keenly focused and heralded the political criticisms by the left like Governor Inslee of Washington State and Governor Cuomo of New York State are nothing more than political gamesmanship that have no place in this effort. The effort to develop a vaccine making testing kits available to every state lab and available to every doctor in this country with a minimum of $4 million going to each of the 50 states is underway.
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So, what to do? It's a virus, like the flu. It actually can be mistaken for the flu, a sore throat, a cough, a fever. And by the way, it is flu season.
You say, but people are dying. Sadly, that's true. And not only are condolences in order, but we owe it to their families and all Americans to come up with a vaccine.
Like the flu, tests for coronavirus are now being made available to every state lab. Clinical trials will begin within five weeks for the vaccine.
The Federal government is working continuous, vigorously and forcefully to cut the bureaucratic red tape that often slows down vaccine approval.
And rest assured the best, the brightest, and the resolute are working nonstop to create this vaccine.
Now, they say the mortality rate for coronavirus is higher than a flu. But consider though that we have a flu vaccine, and yet in 2019, sixteen thousand Americans died from the flu. Imagine if we did not have the flu vaccine, the flu would be a pandemic.
So all the talk about coronavirus being so much more deadly doesn't reflect reality. Without a vaccine, the flu would be far more deadly.
Now, what we do know is the mortality rate is much higher among elderly adults. According to reports, the risk of dying if infected with the coronavirus is higher the older you are, which might explain why they say children are not really affected by the virus.
But in addition to age, as Dr. Anthony Fauci has said, the risk is greater if you, as an elderly person, have an underlying medical condition like diabetes, heart disease, asthma, it is certainly higher if you're a smoker, which might explain why China has such a high mortality rate.
Some studies have estimated that as many as 50 percent of Chinese men are smokers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL MAHER, HBO TALK SHOW HOST: I'm sick of the virus, but not from the virus. People die. That's what happens in life. The BP oil spill was going to end the world and every other [bleep] we've ever had.
And it didn't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: So what to do? Wash your hands. I know everyone thinks there's got to be more to this. The reason you wash your hands is to get the germs off. The reason why you need to get the germs off is because you can then transfer them to your eyes, your nose, your mouth, risking infection to your respiratory system.
You're looking now at a California genius, a medical doctor from their state health department, lecturing how not to touch your face as the woman repeatedly touches the surface then her face and literally puts her fingers in her mouth.
Whatever you have to do, don't touch your face. And gloves won't matter because the virus can last for hours on them and surfaces.
So whether you need to borrow your dog's shock collar or go out and buy a straightjacket, don't touch your face.
Don't share drinking glasses, eating utensils, clean all high touch surfaces everyday like counters and table tops and doorknobs and stay at home if you feel sick.
And as the Surgeon General said on JUSTICE last week, you don't need a mask unless you're sick and there's no need to go out and clean out the store shelves.
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As the weather warms, fewer and fewer people will get sick with the virus. Some of the meds need to be left for people who may need them.
And if you want to complain about something, complain about the fact that we rely on China and even India for ingredients for some of our medication, even the meds themselves.
Like Nuclear Medicine and Moly 99, it is time to have a supply chain for our medicine in the United States. Time to make America first there.
So maybe Bill Maher has the right attitude. Stop panicking, fear mongering, hiding under your bed and freaking out. In fact --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP OF MOVIE "MOONSTRUCK")
CHER, PLAYING LORETTA CASTORINI IN MOVIE "MOONSTRUCK": Snap out of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: And wash your damn hands, wash them and then wash them again.
And that's my open. Let me know what you think on my Facebook and Twitter #JudgeJeanine.
As the coronavirus spreads across the globe, people are extremely concerned. Some even panicked about what's to come.
I sat down for an exclusive interview with Vice President Mike Pence who is heading up the White House Coronavirus Task Force to talk about exactly what the administration is doing to combat the known cases and contain the coronavirus spread in the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PIRRO: Mr. Vice President, thank you for taking time to talk to my viewers on JUSTICE and to talk to me. I know you're exhausted.
And in light of that, I thought it was so unusual to hear, you know, certain governors making rude comments, governors saying, you know, we don't have enough of the tests available, when you made it clear at the press conference that all of the labs will have the testing skills available and even make them available to local doctors. Is that -- is that correct?
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oh, we're in that process right now, but every state lab in the country can actually conduct coronavirus tests today.
And that's just because a week ago today, our leader at the F.D.A., at the President's direction changed the rules of governing the development of a test so that now the state laboratories can do it.
We've all already distributed over a million tests. But I have to tell you the biggest news this week was that the President brought together the leaders of the top commercial laboratories in the country, huge businesses, and he said we need you to work together to put together the test so that the American people at their local doctor, at their pharmacy, at their -- we used to call them a MedCheck when my kids were little -- you know, can go in and get that.
And at the end of this week, two of the largest commercial laboratories in America said that they would have a test ready to go to market on Monday. That's real leadership.
PIRRO: Mr. Vice President, let me ask you, what is that test? You know, sometimes we see people, you know, with something taking the temperature and then we hear about swabs. What is it the test for coronavirus?
PENCE: Yes, what the doctors tell me is that it's a cotton swab in your nose and -- but we send it in and process it. The test takes about four to six hours.
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But the state labs can do it once they receive the swab and hospitals can do it as we've distributed these tests around the country.
But the exciting thing about having these commercial laboratories is because they can transport these materials all over the country very rapidly overnight and give that level of reassurance to the American public.
I will tell you though, you know, we've seen -- you know, we've seen this community spread of the coronavirus in Washington State where I was just yesterday and in California I want your viewers to know that as we've been ramping up the tests, since the coronavirus first really came ashore in the United States that we've been focusing tests at the point of the need, where states have requested them, state labs said they needed them and particularly in the Seattle area and in parts of California that have seen multiple coronavirus cases and tragically, families have seen the loss of life.
PIRRO: But when does someone go for the test? If someone has a cough or a sore throat, do you self-quarantine? Do you call your doctor and hope that it goes away? Or do you, you know just insist on getting a lab test?
PENCE: I think that's an individual decision for everybody, but remember, we're still in cold and flu season, even though March has finally arrived.
And so it's just -- it's a good time of the year to use commonsense to, you know, if you know of someone who is ill, encourage them to maybe stay home from work for a day.
Wash your hands on a very regular basis, hot soap and water for 20 seconds is fine. But I would -- for me personally, if I came into -- if I came -- became aware that I'd been in contact or in proximity to someone who was found to have the coronavirus and then I had the symptoms, flu-like symptoms that might be the right time to go to your doctor and to seek a test.
PIRRO: Now, you talked about the Grand Princess and 19 of those who have the coronavirus were crew members, and I suspect that the healthcare professionals as we go forward and it's a good thing that it's March and spring is coming and I suspect the number of cases, although, we expect they'll increase, might go down as the weather gets better.
But are health care providers, in -- you know, in a more -- in a in a danger zone that where normal people might not be?
PENCE: Well, they are. I mean, the President made it very clear to our Task Force from early on. We want to make sure that anyone that contracts the coronavirus has the support and in the resources and we're working with companies not just to develop a vaccine that could be ready within a year and a half, but the kind of therapeutic medications that would give relief.
The good news is that the risks to the average American of contracting the coronavirus remains low, and even for those who contract the virus, the vast majority, other than a small few percent at the top, will go through flu-like symptoms, in some cases serious, but they'll recover.
But for our part, we're just -- we're focusing on the patients, focusing on Americans' health first, but the reason I was in Minnesota this week, Jeanine, is because we're also focusing on making sure that our healthcare workers have the protective equipment, have the masks, have the gloves, have the eyewear to be able to work with patients without being concerned about their own health.
And I was very encouraged in Minnesota to hear from 3M that they're actually, as of January, at full capacity. They ramped up when they heard about the coronavirus. They're producing 35 million masks a month, and we're going to work with Members of Congress to make sure that all 35 million can be available to healthcare workers.
PIRRO: And speaking of masks and mixed messages, Matt Gaetz, the congressman is walking around with a full on gas mask. If the administration's message is, you know what, pretty much to what you're going to do unless you're a senior with some kind of underlying illness. Just keep clean. Just watch yourself and pretty much monitor how you're doing
PENCE: Right.
PIRRO: How do you deal with these mixed messages?
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PENCE: Well, you put it exactly right, and in the press conference on Friday, I thought Dr. Fauci explained it very well.
For the vast majority of healthy Americans of every age, the risk of contracting the coronavirus is low, and even if the contract it, the risk of any serious outcome is also low.
But for any elderly American with a serious underlying health condition, this might be the time to reconsider certain activities and we want to make that message really clear because as we look at the data around the world, and Dr. Debra Birx, who is one of the leading experts in Infectious Disease on the planet, she is my right arm in all of this.
She actually looked at the data in Italy, Jeanine, and found that the average -- the average age of people who had passed away from the coronavirus in Italy is 80. The average age of people that contracted the coronavirus in Italy was 60.
And so we're really focusing at the President's direction on elderly Americans with serious underlying health issues.
As Dr. Fauci said, not if you're on high blood pressure medicine, but if you have a serious health condition, it might be a good time for you, for your family to have a conversation about keeping yourself safe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PIRRO: And next, part two of my exclusive interview with Vice President Mike Pence, including what the President is saying to leaders in China about the virus.
PIRRO: And now for Part 2 of my exclusive sit down with Vice President Mike Pence on the fight against the coronavirus and the administration's message all Americans need to hear.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PIRRO: You're the tip of the spear. You were on JUSTICE just a few months ago, and we were talking about the 2020 ticket and your role on the ticket.
Well, right now, you're the most essential person in this country and dealing with probably the biggest issue you have ever dealt with in your career, and you have a very esteemed and a long career in government.
PENCE: Thank you, Jeanine.
PIRRO: How does that make you feel?
PENCE: Well, I'm very humbled by the President's confidence in me in this role, and I think he asked me to lead this, not just because I was his Vice President, and he wanted to make sure the country knew the priority that he was placing on our nation's response to the coronavirus.
But also because I'd been a Governor. In fact, the very first MERS case, which is much more deadly than the coronavirus came to Indiana when I was Governor in 2014.
It was then that I realized the vital role that local healthcare providers, state health officials and the Federal government and the C.D.C. play in dealing with the threat of serious Infectious Disease.
And as a President and I talked, he asked me to help lead this effort and I'm going to continue to bring the best and brightest minds in America together, and with the kind of decisive leadership that the American people have already seen from President Donald Trump, I know that we'll get through this together.
PIRRO: There's an issue that's very important. As you go into supermarkets and some of these bigger stores, you see, the shelves are empty.
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And you know, is this stockpiling? Is it making any sense? Or is it overreacting? And more to the point, when people start buying medicines that might be necessary for other people who are getting the flu or coronavirus, doesn't it bring home the whole idea that we have to have that supply of medicine in the United States?
And the President, of course, is you know, America First, we shouldn't have to rely on China. After all, you know, a lot of this started in China. We shouldn't have to rely on them for the medications or ingredients or India or anyone else.
When can the American people start to see that the supply chain is in America than everywhere else?
PENCE: The President raised that issue with pharmaceutical companies right around the Cabinet table this week when we were talking about the coronavirus, and no one has done more to reset our trading relationship with China than President Donald Trump.
But the President has always said it's about the strength of our economy, but he also understands it's also about the health of the American people and we will continue to drive in that regard.
But let me also say to you, there's no need for Americans to stockpile food, stockpile water. The risk to the average American of contracting the coronavirus remains very low, and the risk of a serious outcome, even if you contract the virus is also very low.
And Jeanine, we're just going to continue to bring the facts to the American people, but to your point, it is very important if people understand how they can be helpful, I think -- I think there's two ways.
Number one, they can make sure that the supplies that Americans that are struggling with the coronavirus and other health challenges have are available, the supplies our healthcare workers need. The American people don't need to buy masks.
And frankly, when people go out and buy masks and buy other personal protective equipment, it reduces the overall supply for healthcare providers in communities that need it.
The same goes with many medicines, but you know, I think it's the thing that the American people can do is to make sure that those resources are available at the point of the need, and the American people can also avail themselves of that great wellspring of American strength.
And it's a good time to pray for those in this country who have contracted the coronavirus and around the world. The vast majority of people who have contracted it here are recovering and doing well.
But just praying for the communities that are facing this, praying for our healthcare workers, it is something that the President and I would be grateful for all of your viewers to do.
PIRRO: And finally, what can you tell us about the President's contact with China and President Xi about how they first handled this outbreak?
And is the Trump administration looking to hold them accountable in any way for not doing a better job in the early stages?
I mean, I know that the President, as soon as he knew, started quarantining and preventing travel, that kind of thing.
PENCE: Well, I appreciate the point you made that the American people should know that the reason that we don't have a much greater prevalence of coronavirus around this country today is completely owing to the unprecedented decision that President Trump made to suspend all travel from China, and to quarantine Americans that returned from China, and from the cruise ship.
No American in history -- no American President, rather, in history had ever done that, Jeanine. And it's really given us space as a country to deal with this in a much more thorough and effective way.
But with regard to China, I will tell you, the President enjoys a strong relationship with President Xi. He took a strong stand on trade, but he's had interactions I know with President Xi on this issue.
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And we are encouraged, at least, that according to publicly available data, there's actually less new cases in China every day for the last few days than there are in other places around the world.
That represents the beginning of a hopeful trend, if correct. And the President has made it clear that that while we're always going to put America first and the health and safety of America first, we're also going to develop these therapies. We're going to develop these medicines, we're going to be there to help people around the world.
PIRRO: All right, well, Mr. Vice President, I know that you've had a long day and I want to thank you very much for joining us.
And I just have one more request, can you put an end to Daylight Savings for everyone who is frustrated with their clocks this weekend.
PENCE: I'll let you know.
PIRRO: Okay. Thank you so much.
PENCE: Thanks, Jeanine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PIRRO: Senator Tim Scott and Congressman Dan Crenshaw still on deck tonight.
But next, what is Congress doing to keep you informed and safe from the coronavirus? G.O.P. Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy joins me live right here in Washington to talk about that and respond to my interview with the Vice President, next.
AISHAH HASNIE, FOX NEWS CHANNEL CORRESPONDENT: Live from "America's News Headquarters," I'm Aishah Hasnie. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arriving for their final official engagement as members of the Royal Family.
Both Meghan Markle and Harry attended the Mountbatten Festival of Music in England after stunning the world in January with an abrupt announcement that they would be stepping back as Senior Royals.
The couple's next public event will be on Monday where they will be joined by the Queen, herself.
And moments ago, President Trump participating in a working dinner with Brazilian President Bolsonaro. The leaders of the Western hemisphere's two largest economies reportedly talking about everything from trade, infrastructure and most importantly, Venezuela.
Brazil has been America's strongest ally against the communist dictatorship.
I'm Aishah Hasnie, now back to JUSTICE WITH JUDGE JEANINE. For all your headlines, log on to foxnews.com.
PIRRO: Welcome back. You just heard in my exclusive sit down with Vice President Pence that every state lab in the country can conduct coronavirus tests today.
House Minority Leader Congressman Kevin McCarthy joins me now right here in D.C. to react to my interview with the Vice President and all the developing news today. Welcome.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): Well, thanks for having me.
PIRRO: Thanks for having me here in Washington. I always love coming here. Let's get right to it. You saw in my interview with the Vice President a bit of discussion about China, and I'd like to know about China's role in the coronavirus.
We know it started in the Wuhan Province, but what can you tell us about that?
MCCARTHY: Well, it started there, but the real problem is, President Xi denied it, where he did not allow when President Trump requested bringing American scientists doctors in to help, he did not allow us in.
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We would have had more information. We would have been able to combat this sooner, maybe we would have been able to contain it for the entire world right there in China.
The doctor who warned him in November, no longer with us, but no longer allowed going forward that they knew it was happening. That's a problem that happened.
Thankfully, President Trump ended flights from China so early when the Democrats criticized him.
PIRRO: Right.
MCCARTHY: Now, we just -- he just signed more than $8 billion that focuses on testing, treatment, and also telemedicine which is very important on how to deal with this, so you're not running into the hospital, you could be home.
You could go over the phone, rural areas as well. This is an ability to actually treat it better.
Now, the sad --
PIRRO: The doctors always say that, well, I have to see you. You have to come in before I can even give you a prescription.
MCCARTHY: Yes, but technology today, so we waived it. So have you seen a doctor in the last three years especially in rural areas or others? Should you really be going into the emergency rooms and making everybody else contagious?
PIRRO: Yes.
MCCARTHY: And so it's a better way about treating it. That's the way we're looking at it. Remember, in the last five years,, we've increased funding to N.I.H. and C.D.C. by more than 40 percent.
The Republicans even created the Infectious Disease Rapid Response Fund. We are prepared for this and that's -- we've got the best minds.
Remember, Gilead is already in a trial testing how to best treat it. You've got Johnson & Johnson already working on a vaccine and other companies as well.
This is the ingenuity of America and I give the President a lot of credit for bringing not just government, but the private sector.
PIRRO: Right.
MCCARTHY: Look what he did last week, the pharmaceuticals in looking for a vaccine and treatment, down at the N.I.H., down at the C.D.C.
This is a place of how we should treat this with the leadership and get it done. We should have had this done last week, but the Democrats held up the supplemental bill, $8 billion.
PIRRO: Why?
MCCARTHY: So they could run ads against Republicans. This is not a time for politics. But that's what the Democratic Campaign Committee did on seven Republicans last week.
PIRRO: Well, you know, speaking of Democrats, when Chuck Schumer this week, criticized two Supreme Court Justices put there by Donald Trump, Gorsuch and as well as Kavanaugh, basically threatening them with violence, you'll pay the price, you won't know what hit you.
You know, should he be impeached? Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader in the Senate? What should happen to him?
MCCARTHY: I'll tell you what? If this was a Republican going to the Supreme Court, intimidating individuals -- America is supposed to be an exchange of ideas, not just when you agree with them -- to intimidate them and incite violence against them, I think Republicans would change their leadership. Democrats should do the same.
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PIRRO: But they're not.
MCCARTHY: It tells you a lot. So do they support what he is saying? I would stand up against this if I was a Democrat. I would say, I've watched before where a Republican leader had to leave office based upon something they said.
PIRRO: Yes, yes.
MCCARTHY: And I think the same thing should happen here. Look what the Democrats are doing. They didn't like the President that he won, so they impeached him. They don't like conservatives on college campuses, so they try to intimidate them.
He doesn't like what's happening in the court system, so again, they're trying to intimidate him.
This is what the new socialist Democrats believe. They want to -- they want to control your production. They want to control what you're saying. They want to control your thought.
If we had the Democrats plan for healthcare here, we wouldn't be having the money to work on a cure, we wouldn't have the private sector out there working on a vaccine and others.
This is dangerous, that if they were able to win in November and go forward, that's why we have to take the House back.
PIRRO: Okay. And, you know, it's rather amazing that they would delay a vote on the money in order to put out ads.
Anyway, it's always good having you here and we appreciate it. It's good to have you.
MCCARTHY: Well, thank you, Judge.
PIRRO: All right. Okay. Congressman McCarthy, thank you. And thanks to Senator -- and hello to Senator Tim Scott of joins JUSTICE next. Sorry about that.
PIRRO: This past Tuesday -- Super Tuesday -- support for President Trump was through the roof. That's right. I said President Trump, who doesn't even have a Primary opponent, but you wouldn't know how well he did for the mainstream media.
Here to talk about that and more South Carolina Republican Senator, Tim Scott. Senator, welcome to JUSTICE. It's great to see you tonight.
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): Thank you.
PIRRO: We've got a two-person race on the Democratic side and I'll talk about that in a moment. But first, some of the numbers of people who are voting for President Trump in the Primaries last week were amazing when you compare them even with President Obama's voter turnouts in the same Primaries in his election year.
What do you attribute that to and do you think this is another reason why we shouldn't trust these traditional polls when it comes to the President?
SCOTT: Well, President Trump taught us to not trust pollsters in 2016. He blew them away. Here's what I've seen at the rallies.
He had a rally here in South Carolina just a couple of weeks ago, and the momentum, the enthusiasm, and frankly, at capacity in the Coliseum, thousands outside the Coliseum for one reason, the Trump economy blows everything we've seen in my lifetime away.
The enthusiasm around his presidency is palpable. It is one of the most amazing scenes I've ever been a part of, and the electricity in the room.
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He actually attracts more folks to the party and when you look at the cross section of who is coming to the rallies, who's voting for President Trump, the one thing you find is not just your traditional Republicans, it is Democrats attending the rallies. It is Democrats coming across the aisle to vote for him.
It's African-Americans and Hispanics, the women, all coming together because we are celebrating the success of the Trump years.
We haven't seen anything like this since the Ronald Reagan years.
PIRRO: Very interesting. But, look, we've got Primaries this week including states like Michigan and Washington and Missouri, all delegate rich. Do you think the Biden momentum continues or does Bernie draw or even take delegates away from Biden?
SCOTT: I think it's still a two-man race. Here's what we're seeing. I heard earlier this week that the Empire strikes back. That really is the Democratic leadership deciding they do not want Bernie Sanders as their nominee. They've all got on one page to do one thing, not help Biden win, but to stop Bernie from taking what seems to be in many ways his rightful place on top of a progressive liberal socialist agenda.
And they are doing everything in their power to rebrand their party that supports socialism into something that's more moderate and mainstream, and I don't think Biden gets across the finish line in November, but he will do so between now and the Democratic Convention in July.
I suspect that the party leadership plus the strong Biden bounce from South Carolina where he put together African-American voters plus church goers to create his coalition, but that's a coalition that may actually help us elect -- re-elect President Trump.
PIRRO: All right, but speaking of that, I only have a few seconds left, since one of Bidens' greatest assets is the fact that he is so strong in the African-American community, what does it mean if it comes down to a Trump-Biden race in the battle for the White House?
SCOTT: Well, for President Trump, it's good news because promises made, promises kept. Strong employment numbers. Stronger wage growth. Criminal justice reform. Historically Black Colleges and Universities receiving permanent funding and opportunity zones -- all done by our President, President Donald Trump.
PIRRO: And I have to commend you, Senator Tim Scott, for the opportunity zones and all that you've been doing.
SCOTT: You're very kind.
PIRRO: Hopefully, next time, when you come on JUSTICE we can talk about it. But that's all the time we have. Thank you so much.
SCOTT: I look forward to it.
PIRRO: Okay, great. All right, and G.O.P. Congressman Dan Crenshaw joins me next.
PIRRO: Texas will be a huge factor in the 2020 race, and Congressman Dan Crenshaw joins me now to discuss that and more.
Congressman Crenshaw, thanks so much for being on JUSTICE. We very much appreciate it.
I want to talk about Texas. You know, there are polls that have some matchups in the 2020 race where Trump is 47.8 percent against Biden at 45 and Trump is 47.8 against Sanders at 45.4.
Those numbers Congressman are closer than we've seen with Donald Trump certainly in the last election, and obviously, we don't know if we can always believe these polls.
But is Texas turning purple?
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REP. DAN CRENSHAW (R-TX): Well, you know, we can't ignore the data. We can't ignore those polls. You know, we have to speak to all kinds of Texans.
I speak a lot to young Texas and when we are worried about Texas turning purple, I think it is because our kids tends to vote for Democrats. Democrats have a very -- you know, they have a very -- kids are susceptible to the Democratic message. Okay. It's will revolution. It's about feeling good. It's about giving you stuff.
And it is up to us to explain to our students and our youth what that really means. What those false promises really are. You know, I pointed out today that -- after Bernie tweeted to young voters that this is their election -- what I had to point out was, you know the Democrats' plan is to actually increase senior citizens' benefits and tax young people in order to pay for that.
These are totally unsustainable policies. It is making our Social Security go broke and we have to point this kind of facts out to them.
PIRRO: And you know, the amazing point is though that unemployment for young people is up along with all of the other categories and yet, they seem to be attracted to socialism.
CRENSHAW: Yes, it is mind blowing. I mean, unemployment is down across all categories. There is a plethora of jobs out there. There is a huge amount of opportunity.
And you know, young people fundamentally want a gig economy where you can choose to sell your own labor in your own time. What do Democrats do? They attack the gig economy.
All right, one of the recent bills that they passed would all but destroy that ability to independently contract and sell your labor and time as you want to do. I don't think young people understand what these Democratic policies actually are.
Because again, they are susceptible to this romantic language of revolution and socialism and everybody living together and looking out for one another.
And of course, we should look out for one another, but we have to do it at the community level. You can't pretend that you are more moral because you ask the government to do something you yourself are not willing to do. All right, that's basically what socialism is.
PIRRO: Well, and finally, I mean, with the significance of Joe Biden's win, as you look at the election going forward, Joe Biden has to, it would seem to me, implode before the next election, assuming that he even is the candidate.
CRENSHAW: Yes, I mean, he doesn't seem to have the energy to keep going. But, we need to pointing out a very simple fact, life is better now than it was four years ago across every metric.
So Biden has to make a very difficult argument which is that we should go back in time four years ago into the Obama presidency, when we were on the slowest recovery that we've ever had after a recession.
And here is an important statistic that we need to point out. The C.B.O. estimated we would have five million less jobs than we do back in 2017, so what does that mean?
It means the baseline of job growth was way lower back under the Obama presidency. After the Republicans took control, and we implemented conservative pro-growth policies, we had five million more jobs than expected. We have got to point that kind of stuff out.
PIRRO: All right, Congressman Crenshaw, thanks so much for being on. And we'll be right back.
PIRRO: Finally tonight, thanks for watching. I'm Jeanine Pirro advocating for truth, justice and the American way.
"THE GREG GUTFELD SHOW" is coming up, and I'll see you next Saturday night from the capital. Have a good night.
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Appendix C
App. 0033 Media Uses Virus Coverage As Political Weapon; Biden Under Increased Scrutiny Given Numerous Campaign Gaffes; Interview With Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA); Interview With Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA); Interview With Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ)
Fox News Network FOX HANNITY 9:00 PM EST March 9, 2020 Monday
Copyright 2020 Fox News Network LLC All Rights Reserved Section: NEWS; Domestic Length: 8014 words Byline: Sean Hannity, Katie Pavlich, Sarah Sanders, Sara Carter, Gregg Jarrett, Melissa Francis, Pete Hegseth, Trace Gallagher Guests: Mehmet Oz, Devin Nunes, Doug Collins, Andy Biggs
Body
TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Have a wonderful night with the ones you love.
We're going to turn over to the great Sean Hannity who is standing by in New York City to take the reins for the hour.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: That is really nice. Have a wonderful night with night with the ones you love, you know?
CARLSON: Yes.
HANNITY: It's like the president ends his rallies, one glorious nation under God. We are one American family, to make America safe, prosperous, healthy, great again.
We should be able to get along, I think, if we solve all the world's problems.
CARLSON: Amen.
HANNITY: All right, Tucker. Great show. Thank you.
Welcome to "Hannity" tonight.
If you are over the mass hysteria, if you're over politicizing and weaponizing the coronavirus, you are not alone. That's why tonight, we are focused on two major stories. First, we're going to call out anyone and everyone who's using this virus as a political weapon against the president.
It's sick, it's sad, but predictable. I'm sure in the end, the mob and the media -- well, they will be advancing their new conspiracy theory and their newest hoax. Probably, they will come up with, hypothetically, I'm just guessing, wouldn't shock me, President Trump, Putin, mad scientists of Russia and Ukraine are manufacturing the coronavirus on purpose so they can hurt innocent children and kill grandma and grandpa, before they throw them over a cliff, before they feed them dog food.
Look, it is time, in all seriousness, for simple, fundamental truths to protect our fellow Americans. That means Democrats. That means Republicans, liberals, conservatives and libertarians and everybody in between. Viruses do not have a political identity.
So, tonight, we will separate cold hard truth from what is the mob's latest, manufactured, irresponsible, over-the-top rhetoric. Our medical A- team and Dr. Oz tonight will explain.
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Plus, coming up, we will show you how Democrats and the media now want you to ignore real concerns about quid pro quo Joe and his apparent and his increasing inability to complete thoughts and deliver a cogent speech. It is now serious campaign issue.
By the way, it was serious to Democrats when Ronald Reagan was running for re-election. We have the evidence.
But we start with the media mob's ongoing effort to now use a virus, an infectious disease, as a political weapon all to bludgeon President Trump yet again. I've said many times, if he cured cancer, they would likely want to impeach him for curing cancer.
Now, the coronavirus is a serious disease.
Now, should you and your family be concerned? Of course. You should be concerned about the flu. You should be concerned about a cold. You should be concerned about any health risk.
Should you be informed? Absolutely. Do we all need to take necessary precautionary steps? Yes, all of us.
But the coverage we are seeing from the media and the mob is beyond despicable and political.
For example, Sunday, you got Chucky Todd boasting the coronavirus, that could actually help President Trump like the Iran hostage situation hurt Jimmy Carter. "The Washington Post" editorial calling it, President Trump's Chernobyl.
And over there at state-run, conspiracy TV, MSDNC, poor liberal Morning Joe saying Trump's stupidity will cause Americans to die.
And meanwhile, Joyless Reid -- well, actually, telling her viewers that the children of Trump supporters were more likely to spread the coronavirus to other kids. Just made that up, I guess. That's what they do.
The lies, the conspiracy theories, the psychotic anti-Trump rage -- well, it's been nonstop. Sadly, this is all we've gotten for three-plus years. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": What is government really for? The government is there to protect you from terrorism, for a health thing -- just exactly this thing. This is exactly the function of government and our government is screwing up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But this may be Donald Trump's Katrina. This is an event that could take down a president.
CHUCK TODD, MEET THE PRESS: What -- the Iran hostage crisis was the final year of Carter's presidency. Not his fault but it's a test in real-time.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC HOST: The president is doing nothing but playing in his political sandbox while this virus continues to spread silently across America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right. These people sound like they really care about the country, protecting human life or are they just looking for any and every way possible to bash President Trump?
Last week's "New York Times" editorial spelled it out pretty clearly. They named the coronavirus, the Trump virus, and they wrote, if you're feeling awful, you know who to blame. It's getting close to that lab conspiracy theory I was kind of joking about. That's how sick it is.
Now, this kind of coverage has serious ramifications why people panic. Chaos ensues. Recently, a group of shoppers caught on tape -- what were they doing? They will brawling. What were they brawling over? The last pack of toilet paper.
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Now, we've also witnessed a recent market selloff, although today's drop likely had a lot more to do with an oil supply battle between the Russians and Saudis than anything corona-related but markets are skittish.
Let's cut through all the hysteria and all the B.S. Let's give you some simple truth and facts.
Here is the surgeon general of the United States of America. You don't believe Dr. Hannity? Let's listen to him. I'm not a doctor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VICE ADM. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: People over the age of 60, they are much more likely to develop complications from the coronavirus and to be hospitalized from the coronavirus. The average age of death is age 80.
Now, what we also want communities to know is that if you are a child or young adult, you are much more -- you are more likely to die from the flu if you get it than you are to die from coronavirus. So there is something about being young that is protective. We want people to be reassured by that. We want people to know that we are really focusing in on those groups that are at highest risk for complications.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, just to recap, according to the surgeon general of the United States, people over 60, they are most at risk for corona-related complications or hospitalization. Now, the average age of mortality is 80. Young people, unlike H1N1, that tended to impact younger kids more than older people. But now, in this case, older people are much more likely to die from this -- or from regular flu actually than from coronavirus, believe it or not.
And, remember, despite early reports the likely mortality rate could be as low as 1 percent. Dr. Fauci was out there in the New England Journal in the first few hundred cases in China, he wrote, quote: There were no cases in children younger than the age of 15. Either children are less likely to become infected or their symptoms were so mild that their infection escaped detection.
By the way, as an older person, I'd rather it be on me. Let's be honest. Kids have their whole lives ahead of them.
And it's important to remember this administration took unprecedented steps on the coronavirus, seriously and a lot of criticism to boot. No president ever, except Donald Trump, ever acted faster, ever acted sooner, or have done more to stop the spread of an infectious disease.
Keep in mind, the virus was not officially detected and named until January 7th. WHO recognized it on December 30th of last year. That's pretty quick.
And then on January 31st, the president declared a public health emergency and he is the one that ordered the travel ban and quarantine, which we hadn't done in decades and, by the way, he did it against the advice of many, by the way, that were offering him advise out of an abundance of caution. That's the travel ban to China. That's when that began.
Three weeks later, quid pro quo Joe Biden and others called the president for doing in this ban was xenophobia, fake news CNN suggesting the president is stigmatizing people from other countries.
And for the better part of February, now, what were the Democrats doing? Oh, that's right. They hardly addressed the virus at all. They were too busy and too focused on impeaching the president over nothing.
Now, they seem more interested in scoring what is nothing but cheap political points than actually working with the administration to protect our American family. We ought to protect every American life here.
Today, the president asked for lawmakers to help with the payroll tax cut to ease corona-related economic concerns. That is really going to help and be impactful to small business, hourly wage earners around the country. Well, hopefully, Democrats will come to the table and do what's right for America. Will they alleviate the economic fallout of corona or will they do nothing to continue to use it as a political weapon, politicizing a disease?
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Again, coronavirus is a serious matter. It's not the end of days. Sadly, pandemics, like this, happen more often than any of us would like. H1N1 worldwide killed over about half a million people according to estimates. The U.S. has the best doctors.
By the way, H1N1 we lost nearly 14,000 Americans. We have the best doctors. The best researchers, the best scientists anywhere in the world and the Trump administration will continue to aggressively stop the spread of this infectious disease.
We also forget people that get flu every year. Some years, tens of thousands of people died from the flu. Every year, people die from the flu. Now, should we be smart, wise, learn things, how to be neat, clean, not -- yes. Of course. Let's protect our families. But let's do it in a thoughtful way.
Here with more what you need to know about coronavirus, he is the host of "Dr. Oz's Show", the real Dr. Oz, the real Oz. He's the wizard of Oz and he is not behind the curtain, I'm kidding.
How are you, sir? Great to see you again.
DR. MEHMET OZ, MD, "THE DR. OZ SHOW" HOST: I'm doing very well. Thanks for having me on.
HANNITY: Look, you know and I know that we lose people to the flu every year. Some years, we lose a lot of people. H1N1 impacted young kids. That was scary. We didn't declare a national emergency there for six weeks.
The president acted in record time. Travel ban in three weeks. And then, of course, he had the quarantines.
Now, with that said, tell me if I am wrong on any fact here -- is it true that this virus if you don't have underlying health issues and you don't have a compromised immune system, and you're not above 60, the odds of you dying are dramatically like negligible? Is that -- is that a true statement?
OZ: Well, I think the risk of dying is unclear just because we haven't been able to study it in this country. What we do know is that in China, it was a problem. But we've also learned, I just got this data before walking at here to do your show, from the Korean CDC that the mortality numbers in young otherwise healthy people is very similar to what the traditional every year seasonal flu virus is.
So we have lost already 20,000, 30,000 people. It's hard to tell sometimes because people die from related causes from the flu. And so, if you are equating to that and young age groups, certainly, it's comparable and if you haven't gotten the flu shot then you shouldn't be that worried about this either.
But you pointed out something earlier I want to highlight. You are a student of human motivation, what is it that is scaring people? I think deep in our psyche, there is this fear about viruses and things we don't see because human species has been attacked by viruses and bacteria for all of known history. So people inclined to worry about it and then if you feed that concern -- that potential hysteria like data we had from the Chinese CDC with 3.5 mortality rate, which is still what the World Health Organization is reporting concerning the mortality figure, then, of course, you're going to get worried.
To your point, once you're over the age 60 and a surgeon general is coming on my show tomorrow for a broader discussion. But once you get over the age of 60, the numbers do increase a bit. You still pretty well off if you don't have chronic illness like cardiovascular disease --
HANNITY: Yes.
OZ: -- if you don't have an issue with diabetes or cancer or pulmonary problems. And certainly, if you're smoking, this is a good excuse to stop.
HANNITY: All right. So, compromised immune systems, that certainly is a big factor. Age seems to be a big factor. I might be reading different numbers than you are in South Korea. I would rather not split hairs here.
But I want to make sure Americans are safe. The vast overwhelming majority of people even if they were to contract this virus will end up being fine. We've got to be really concerned about the elderly. We've got to really be concerned apparently people
App. 0037 Page 5 of 15 Media Uses Virus Coverage As Political Weapon; Biden Under Increased Scrutiny Given Numerous Campaign Gaffes; Interview With Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA); Interview .... with high blood pressure that are elderly and people with compromised immune systems. And then short of that, your advice would be, I'm sure, take all the precautions, use the Purell.
OZ: Well, here, I made this one sheet which yours viewers have. I saw it on the FOXNews.com site.
HANNITY: Go ahead, yes.
OZ: This is one sheet. It's my effort to make it simple. And here's what we said.
We are a can do people. Americans mobilize, right? We've done it for wars. We've done it for crises. We're good at that. We need clear direction to what we can do for ourselves. We are not sitting around trying to figure out what's next.
And the one sheet works through the things you pointed out. I put some ideas around potential foods you might want to eat, some ideas around hygiene, basic sort of cutting through a lot of the ideas. The best concepts that I've been told by experts who've come on the show and share them with me, to make it upper easy for folks to take charge of their health.
In the meantime, I agree with you. We've got the best docs around. We're mobilizing folks. Seema Verma I spoke with today, the head of CMS, the government is moving aggressively to provide more of their testing kits, for more ventilators, more ICU beds.
But if you get this virus and it's a virus that is so contagious, that there's good chance most people will either get the vaccine or get the virus. It's not going to kill you but you're going to get touched by it. We want to be smart about trying to reduce our chance of contaminating others. If we do it together, we'll be fine.
HANNITY: And viruses, the last time I checked are neither Republican or conservative. I'm just checking, right? You're sure about that, Doctor? You went to medical school. You have been doing this for a lot of years. Are you sure?
OZ: A hundred percent positive. It's apolitical. It's an American problem, it's a human problem.
HANNITY: Let me tell you something, we want our American families. I have to say, I want to cure cancer, Dr. Oz. I hope one day, we find a cure for cancer. We've gotten so far so fast.
Look at Hodgkin's disease 30 years ago. I lost a cousin. He'd likely live today.
All right. Thank you, Dr. Oz. Appreciate it.
Now, tonight, which is 239 days until you have a chance once again to shock the world. You're the ultimate jury. It is important that we vet the Democratic Party's frontrunner.
Now, we will know a lot more tomorrow night. Our coverage begins usual time 9:00 Eastern, six big primaries right here on this show. Big race tomorrow to watch in Michigan where it looks like quid pro quo has racked up a lead there. He's racking up endorsements as well, picking up steam in the polls.
But there are serious glaring questions that, yes, Democrats and the media look at when Ronald Reagan was running for president that need to be addressed here.
First and foremost, does quid pro quo Joe have the stamina, the strength and the focus and alertness to be president? It is now a legitimate concern.
The president of the United States must be able to endure the single hardest most grueling job on earth 24 hours a day, four years. Presidents, yes, they play golf. They go fishing. They do what they do. But they rarely get a day off.
Over the weekend, Biden could not even, well, make it through a seven- minute speech. That's how short now his staff has cut down his rallies, seven minutes. We can't test (INAUDIBLE) here.
Anyway, several moments, utter confusion. Take a look.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Turn this primary from a campaign that's about negative attacks and one about what we're for because we cannot get reelected -- cannot win this re-election -- excuse me, we can only reelect Donald Trump if, in fact, we get engaged in this circular firing squad here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: At one point, Biden even struggled with his own name. Some days, he forgets the day. Some days, he forgets the state he is in. Sometimes, he forgets his own name.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BDEN: So, folks, you want to nominate a Democrat, a lifelong Democrat, a proud Democrat, an Obiden-Bama Democrat. Join us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: An Obiden-Bama Democrat -- it speaks volumes, he's only doing seven-minute appearances now.
If this was an isolated incident, of course, it would be easy to write this off as a normal campaign gaffe. But it's not isolated incident. It's a long pattern and it seems to be accelerating and getting worse and the confusion seems to be increasing.
Just today, he mistakenly said Democrats, they need to win back the House. You probably already know at home, they have the House for 250, Alex. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I hope you will all join us. Together I think we can win back the House. We're going to keep the House, increase it, and flip Senate. We talked about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: What is -- they have the House, Speaker Pelosi.
Now, I don't know Biden. I'm not going to pretend to be a doctor on air. But what we are witnessing is concerning and, by the way, it is sad.
Look at your screen, if Biden ever had a fast ball I will say it's gone. Clearly struggling with what is an intense campaign.
These campaigns are hard. I have been out on the road myself. It's a grind. These are just a few of the examples from the past few weeks still top Democrats, they are trying to act like it doesn't exist, lining up behind quid pro quo Joe to take on President Trump.
But it wasn't so long ago, many of these same Democrats were actually questioning Biden's fitness for office, including New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. Over the weekend, he endorsed quid pro quo Joe. But after -- remember after the debate in September, this is what Booker had to say about Biden's ability to serve -- interesting turn around. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): There are definitely moments when you listen to Joe Biden and you just wonder but I don't know -- look,.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, are you saying he is too old to be president?
BOOKER: No, I'm definitely not saying that because I've listened to Joe Biden over the years and often felt like there were times that he is going on or meandering in his -- in his speech. Look --
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(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And Cory Booker was not alone. Many in the mob and the media, they actually chimed in as well, although they're trying to forget they did. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is not that good at this. I mean, he is clearly not that strong a candidate thinking on his feet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Obama warned Biden's aides to make sure Biden didn't embarrass himself.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is Joe Biden too old to be president? Has he lost his step? Is he -- is he too shaky? That is an actual conversation that is happening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Talk to any Democrat, there are questions, does Joe Biden have what it takes? Whether that's an age question? Whether that's a discipline question? Whether that's a focus question? There are questions about Joe Biden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And Bolshevik Bernie's campaign also attacks Biden's stamina, claiming -- well, he wants the next scheduled debate to be seated instead of standing.
But because Biden is the Democratic Party frontrunner, they are trying to sweep all of this under the rug. Some are even claiming that you're not allowed to even question Biden's fitness for office the way they did Reagan, which brings to us a quick Hannity history lesson tonight.
Biden is not the only presidential candidate to face questions about his mental acuity. 1984, well, many in the mob and the media then openly questioning Ronald Reagan's mental fitness for office. Judy Woodruff reporting that Reagan, quote, seemed less alert and less in control of the subject matter. "Houston Chronicle" writing that a press conference was a critical look at Ronald Reagan's mental acuity. "Wall Street Journal" wondering if the president was showing his age.
And, of course, Reagan ultimately received another term as destroying Mondale in debate number two when he promised not to use my opponent's youth and inexperience against him in this campaign.
As can you see, critical questions about a presidential candidate's ability to serve are not out of bounds. Now, sort of like know these truths to be self-evident all men and women are created -- by the thing, you know, the thing. The thing.
Joining us with more, FOX News contributor, former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders, and FOX News contributor Katie Pavlich.
Katie, the thing would be God, our creator of everything. That's the thing he forgot about the thing.
KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: You know, Sean, this reminds me of when Hillary Clinton had that medical situation when she collapsed on 9/11 in New York City. We were supposed to ignore it as if it wasn't some kind of big concern for the biggest job in the world.
You know, Joe Biden has clearly made some misstatements on the campaign trail. Just two weeks ago on "FOX News Sunday", he had a lengthy interview with Chris Wallace and at the end of the interview called him Chuck and then said that he doesn't understand how people do early mornings.
So, there are serious questions about his ability to keep up on the campaign trail. I think President Trump is probably pretty happy about this looking like it's going to be his eventual opponent because President Trump has been campaigning for over a year now. He loves doing it. He has a lot of energy. And he is efficient when it comes to getting -- to running the White House at the same time as being able to go out and campaign for re- election.
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HANNITY: You know, Sarah, one thing I will say, I may surprise people. Bolshevik Bernie, he doesn't seem like -- he has had a heart attack. And, by the way, I don't even -- with all the modern medicine treatment technology, stenting, bypass, everything in between, the guy -- he's got a lot of Bolshevik energy in there. He doesn't seem to be struggling on the campaign trail and he's a year older than quid pro quo.
SARAH SANDERS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Certainly has the energy but not the ideas.
One of the things I feel like is lost, anybody that has been watching Joe Biden on the campaign trail or the debate stage knows he is a terrible candidate. But, let's not forget that anybody who is also paying attention knows that his extremely liberal policy ideas would make him an even worse president. He's a bad candidate. He would be even worse as president of this country.
He is supporting taxpayer funded abortion, free healthcare for illegals, the Green New Deal, which would be disastrous for the American economy and American jobs. He is not a moderate that they're claiming to be. His policy positions are liberal and he would be a terrible president for so many reasons just like Bernie Sanders would be terrible.
And I think the president, whether it's Bernie or Biden, he's in good shape going up against either one of these two guys.
HANNITY: Look at the position on, OK, healthcare, Katie for illegal immigrants, open borders, their radical position on the Second Amendment, their radical position on guns and -- oh, Green New Deal, less oil and gas, the lifeblood of our economy. First time in 75 years where energy independent, we'll go back on that? What? We're going back to driving mullahs in Iran? We're going to go back to, what, 13 million more Americans on food stamps, 8 million more in poverty and the lowest labor participation rate since the 1970s? We are going to go back to that?
He's got a record. And Burisma, by the way, Katie, is not going away either.
PAVLICH: No, it certainly is not going away. That can of worms hasn't even been completely open yet.
But, yes, Joe Biden has admitted that he wants to raise taxes. He wants to repeal the Trump tax cuts which for good for the vast majority of Americans, especially in the middle class in this country. He's put Beto O'Rourke in charge or Beto O'Rourke in charge of gun control policy, which that means gun confiscation, which is completely unconstitutional.
And if everybody believes in the Democratic Party that somehow Joe Biden is going to swing the party back to the middle from the left, they're completely against what the reality of the situation is in that party. Joe Biden is going to get eaten alive by the left wing of the party. The AOCs, Ilhan Omars, Nancy Pelosi couldn't even handle keeping them together in the house which led them down this road of impeachment of president Trump.
Not to mention Joe Biden who can't even stand up to these ideas and put forward his own platform when it comes to being out on the campaign trail in a real moderate way. His policies are very far left. And, yet, we're stuck with this talking point that he is somehow the normal one who everybody should be voting for.
HANNITY: And look at -- Sarah Sanders, you've been around President Trump. I have been around President Trump. You know, he's got the energy of like 10 40-year-olds.
SANDERS: You know, he has more -- I'm under 40 I'm proud to say. And Donald Trump had more energy than me every single day that I worked for him --
HANNITY: By the way, I have the story I can tell.
SANDERS: -- that to the point, it's almost embarrassing how many circles he ran around the rest of us.
HANNITY: He goes, I go home on this trip -- I was talking to him. He was leaving Vietnam and I just had this interview with him, yes, and everybody is going to be sleeping. I'm only one going to stay up. He goes, they are all laying out on Air Force One. True story.
All right. Thank you both.
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When we come back, it doesn't appear Congress has enough votes to renew FISA. I say good.
Unless you can stop the weapons weaponization of tools of intelligence and use it against the American people, it has to stop. You can't allow this to happen. Come up with a better plan.
Also, the 21 words that our friend John Solomon talks about changed the world with FISA court. Christopher Steele refuses to cooperate with the Durham probe.
I say, extradite him. He can leave Assange. I'll take Steele.
HANNITY: All right. Key provisions of FISA set to expire now in days. GOP lawmakers, they are making it clear, unless major, major reforms are met to prevent future surveillance abuse of these spying tools will not be renewed, especially as the deep state remains defiant. There's Christopher Steele, there's a guy I want extradited.
Forget Julian Assange he is part of a media group I don't think you are going to win that case, in my own opinion. It's called the Pentagon papers, freedom of the press.
Anyway, it was that guy's dirty Russian dossier that was used as the bulk of the information in the FISA application that illegally spied on and took away the civil liberties and constitutional rights of Carter Page to spy on a candidate he hated, to spy on a transition team he hated and a president he hated. Now, he recently told an audience at oxford that he will not cooperate with the Durham probe. Fine, let's extradite him. Assange can stay.
The good news is we are inching closer and closer to truth and justice because the as Solomon points out, scathing rebuke of FBI agents involved in the Page warrant by a federal judge just last week -- look at this -- 21 words uttered by FISA court that change the Russia collusion case forever, effectively barring those agents from appearing in front of a court.
Here with reaction, Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, FOX News contributor, Sara Carter, FOX News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett.
All right. I want to get to the bottom of this. These 21 words are dead on accurate, Devin Nunes. This makes all the difference in the world. Finally, finally, the FISA court gets to be heard from.
Do -- would you get to bring them before your committee?
REP. DEVIN NUNES (R-CA): Well, we don't get to bring the court before our committee, Sean, but it's really too little, too late. I'm glad that the new justice there is actually taking some action. But like you said in the monologue, the Congress really has to open up all of FISA. It has to be looked at.
Tonight, just got out about an hour and a half meeting with Attorney General Barr. He's got some great ideas. We still are suspect that the Democrats who control the House are actually going to allow us to get the reforms we need because, look, at the end of the day, we need FISA to protect this country, but not if it comes at the sake of our liberties that we would have to give up. And that's really what we're -- what we're dealing with right now.
HANNITY: The 21 words, Gregg Jarrett, I'll read them to you. There is thus little doubt the government breached its duty of candor to the court with respect to those applications.
Let me interpret it and put it in Hannity speak, because we know they were warned numerous times -- premeditated on the FISA court to take away one American's constitutional rights and spy on a president. It sounds like the FISA court either watches this show or they read the inspector general report that vindicated all four of us.
GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: It took 21 words from a judge to essentially say, hey, they lied to us. Americans have lost faith in the FISA court because they have lost faith in the FBI and the Department of Justice to tell the truth, to present honest evidence. And instead, in this particular case, they presented 51 lies, deceptions, omissions, the concealing of evidence and, as you point out fraud.
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And the reforms I've seen so far suggested by the independent monitor and endorsed by the FISA court isn't nothing but pretend reforms. These are things that the Department of Justice and the FBI is supposed to do under the law.
So, in my judgment, the only solution is to abolish FISA or adopt what Senator Rand Paul is advocating and that is no more FISA spying on Americans. In other words, put "foreign" back into the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
HANNITY: I -- if we don't do it right, I can't support it. And we need FISA. This is an evil, dangerous world.
Sara Carter, main question I get everywhere I go -- are these people going to be held accountable? The court is absolutely seeing everything we reported. It took us three years to get there. Devin told us the truth while the congenital liar lied.
Will we get justice?
SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Sean, it's absolutely imperative that there's justice. Otherwise, there is a two-tiered justice system in the United States and the American people can clearly see that.
And as far as FISA reform, I agree completely with Gregg Jarrett on this. The changes have to come through Title 1 and that's electronic surveillance of American citizens on U.S. soil. And we can't allow what happened to Carter Page to happen to anybody else because that's a violation of the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.
It's completely unacceptable. It's wrong. And unless they can make severe changes, like he said, maybe what Rand Paul says is true. Take it back to foreign, let's deal with that, and abolish the system the way we know it and maybe rebuild it differently.
We shouldn't trust that they're going to do their job.
HANNITY: Oh, well --
CARTER: And this is what's really frightening here because we don't know all the facts.
HANNITY: Devin, let me go back to you. We know we are spending time to get Julian Assange. OK, WikiLeaks, I interviewed Assange about this topic, asked him tough questions. Did you get it from Russia? Did you get it from Russia? Did you get -- asked him 10 different ways.
Whether you believe him or not, WikiLeaks never been wrong on what they printed. We may not like how they get it, but we do have a First Amendment, freedom of the press, and we also have something called the Pentagon Papers. The guy I want extradited is Christopher Steele. Why aren't we going after him?
NUNES: So, remember -- well, I think -- I think he should be extradited if Durham is in fact. Look, we're only relying on what Steele is saying publicly. So, we don't really know what the truth is there.
But remember this, you have Steele over in the U.K. talking about a dossier that he didn't even write. Let that sink in for a second.
So, remember, this was written mostly by Fusion GPS. We know that because of the Lee Smith's investigative work that he wrote about in "The Plot Against the President".
HANNITY: He had an agenda. Kathleen Kavalec noted his agenda. He put out lies that impacted our election.
And I want America to know one last thing -- Devin Nunes, the guy over there, right side of the screen, Devin Nunes is the guy that told us the truth. Devin Nunes warned us in 2014 the Russians were trying to interfere in the 2016 election. Nobody listened to Devin Nunes.
You were right then. We're right today. Thank you all.
NUNES: You're very kind. Thank you, Sean.
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HANNITY: When we come back, coronavirus, that scare is making the markets nervous and frazzled. Melissa Francis is here to explain why she thinks the panic is overdone and it might have a lot more to do with oil and Russia and the Saudis.
Also, Congressman Doug Collins, one of few congressmen, Senator Cruz among them, that are quarantined tonight. He will join us on the phone to update his condition and more as we continue busy breaking news night -- 239 days, you are the ultimate jury. You can shock the world again.
What are you going to do? It's called freedom. I hope you use it.
HANNITY: All right. Now an oil price fight between Russia, hostile regime of Putin and the Saudis, along with uncertainties surrounding the coronavirus, it spooked the ever so jittery stock market again today. The Dow plummeting over 2,000.
But the president is taking bold action today, in a press conference proposing a payroll tax cut and relief for hourly workers, for small businesses that might be impacted by corona, which I would argue would likely have a positive impact on the markets. We shall see tomorrow.
Joining us now with reaction, the host of "After the Bell", FOX Business Network, also co-host of "Outnumbered" here on the FOX News Channel. They never invite me on that show. I have never been invited on that show.
MELISSA FRANCIS, CO-HOST, "OUTNUMBERED": I'm officially inviting you on that show. We would love to have you on the show.
HANNITY: I'm only kidding.
FRANCIS: And now, you're stuck because you said it.
HANNITY: No, Brian Kilmeade goes on the show every other day, but I mean, you know? It's a great show, by the way.
FRANCIS: Thank you.
HANNITY: Congratulations on both of your shows success. I have to do this thing called "The Sean Hannity Radio Show". It's hard.
FRANCIS: Yes.
HANNITY: But that's the only reason.
But serious question -- so, we watched the markets today, but we also see this prize price fight. What -- I don't remember oil dropping 25 percent the day before.
FRANCIS: Yes. They have gone to the mattresses. Saudi Arabia and Russia are trying to fight each other to the bottom to see who can withstand lower prices longer.
Here's what's really is going -- when you look at the volatility in the stock market. It's not about the coronavirus any more. They are trying to figure out all traders everywhere, are we headed into a recession? Low oil prices can indicate or can even cause a recession. That's what's going on.
But, Sean, this is what's really important. We've never had a team in the White House -- you can love the president. You can hate him. We have never had a president and Larry Kudlow and Steve Mnuchin and folks in there who know more about a balance sheet, about credit, about how to help businesses as they are slowing down and about what to do for households.
These are people who understand credits and understand money. Tomorrow, they're going to talk about a payroll tax supporting small businesses. A number of different targeted measures.
HANNITY: A tax cut.
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FRANCIS: This isn't Congress randomly spraying the globe with a fire hose full of money and no direction. This is very targeted and specific.
So, I would say, we are in better hands than we have been before. In the meantime do not sell your stocks on the way down like an idiot. Instead, refi something.
There's cheap money out there. Refi your mortgage, refi your student debt. Take advantage of low interest rates. But don't cash out at the bottom.
HANNITY: What is the 30 year? Melissa, what is a 30-year?
(CROSSTALK)
FRANCIS: It's free. It's basically free right now.
HANNITY: I'd say free money. What is a 30-year average fixed rate mortgage?
FRANCIS: I couldn't tell you overnight. Mine is connected to Libor. But I don't want to bore with all these intricacies.
HANNITY: About --
FRANCIS: But basically, you don't even borrow money, Sean. What are you talking about? You're not -- you have money just laying around on the ground.
HANNITY: Oh --
FRANCIS: If it pulled out in the studio, we would see piles of money everywhere.
But for everyone else out there, you can refi --
HANNITY: It's hard, it's hard.
FRANCIS: -- anything cheap right now, that's the move. And trust the administration. They know what they're doing on money.
HANNITY: I'm not a big market guy. I don't like the market. I like something I can feel and touch, bricks and mortar. My own personal tastes.
FRANCIS: Cash.
HANNITY: But right now, it is a good time to refinance something if you have it.
FRANCIS: Yes.
HANNITY: Rates are low. We may never see these numbers again.
Melissa Francis, thank you.
FRANCIS: My pleasure.
HANNITY: Appreciate it.
All right. Over the weekend, we learned that a man who has coronavirus, in fact, attended CPAC, the one year I didn't attend -- oh, except I did go there to interview Vice President Pence. Several Republican lawmakers decided to self-quarantine, apparently, they might have had impact with the patient.
Congressman Doug Collins is one of them and now joins us live on the phone from his home.
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He's really not sick at all. He's using this as a vacation time. No.
Welcome back, Congressman. First of all, I hope you're feeling well. I heard you are well.
I wrote Senator Cruz today. He's doing well. Mark Meadows told me he's fine.
And we certainly understand Matt Gaetz, I don't know, he was wearing a gas mask last time I saw him on Twitter.
But in all seriousness, I think we got to be very real with the American people. I don't like how we are scaring people unnecessarily. And that is that unless you have a comp -- an immune system that's compromised and you are older, and you have other underlying health issues, you are not going to die 99 percent from this virus, correct?
REP. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA) (via telephone): That's correct, Sean. It's good to be with you again.
HANNITY: All right. So that's the point. I mean, scaring the living hell out of people and I see it again. It's like oh, let's let bludgeon Trump with this new hoax.
COLLINS: Yes, and I think what we're looking at here, though, Sean, is something that the American people needed to talk about. It's what (INAUDIBLE) myself and others are following the guidelines that the administration has put out, and we're making sure that people know that just like coming in contact with someone doesn't necessarily mean you get it.
It's also just like coming up with the comments that you always had, you do the proper procedures. You wash your hands. You stay away from people if you're sick.
If you get sick, go to the doctor. The administration has done a wonderful job -- if you need a test, the Trump administration has made sure that doctors can give tests to those who need them.
I have not had a test. I'm passed the incubation period. But we're wanting (ph) to make sure that when people follow the rules, when they follow what is out there, there's no need for panic. There's no need for what we're seeing and there just needs to be a calm assertiveness that you do what is right and things will -- and this virus can be contained in a way it has. It's going to still continue to grow, but we are not going to see it in ways of fear.
And I think that's one of the reasons why I'm wanting, you know, to talk to you tonight and also say, look, I may be healthy. I'm going to be and I will be out of this in a few days.
HANNITY: It's fascinating, though, the political side of this no president ever acted faster. He put in and got criticized by Biden, by fake news CNN. Why? Because in three weeks from the day we identified the virus, he put a travel ban in effect, and then quarantined people. He hadn't done that in decades, and he still can't win with the mob and the media or the Democratic Party.
COLLINS: No, he's not going to win. Look, Sean, we've been -- look, I want (ph) everything else to you that I've been talking about for years, they're not going to -- will let him win on anything because they don't like the man, they hate the fact that he's president, they hate the fact that the country is doing well.
And I think, look, even the other day, we found out that the CDC on the day that China actually said they may have a new corona strain, the CDC began to kick into action that day.
HANNITY: Right.
COLLINS: So, this false narrative that the Democrats and the mainstream media are kicking around out there is simply a way, unfortunately, to try to get back at -- to make some doubt in the minds of people that the president is not doing his job. He's been doing his job from day one, and I think that's what we just need to make people concentrate on because when you concentrate on the truth and the facts, fear does not exist.
HANNITY: All right. Thank you, Congressman. Wait -- can't wait to have you back.
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If you do have an elderly family member that maybe has gone through chemotherapy, has a compromised immune system in any way, underlying health issues take extra, extra, extra caution. Almost treat them like quarantine, be very careful. We'll get through this together.
Coming up, Biden family corruption team, the mob of the Bidens, running deeper than we first thought. Now, Joe's brother facing fraud allegations. That story next, as we continue.
HANNITY: Cloud of corruption hanging over Biden mob inc. That's even darker tonight.
According to a brand new report from "Politico", Joe's brother whose name is James allegedly defrauded multiple medical service firms, claiming that his last name could deliver not just political clout but even an influx of cash.
But, of course, using their last name to infiltrate and profit off the Washington swamp is nothing new for the Bidens like zero experience Hunter. His legal problems, they continue to worsen tonight as well. In a brand new trial motion, he is being accused of willfully defying a court order by failing to turn over key financial documents in his ongoing paternity case.
Joining us now with reaction, Republican Congressman Andy Biggs, along with "FOX and Friends" weekend co-host author of the new book -- look at this guy with all the tattoos. How many tattoos -- we, the people, the American flag, guns, you know, freedom and fun.
I love you, Hegseth. That's what I love about you.
PETE HEGSETH, FOX NEWS HOST, "FOX & FRIENDS": That's what it's all about, that's what it is all about, Sean.
HANNITY: I'm such a baby, I'm not getting the tat -- I bet it hurts. I'm not looking for extra pain.
HEGSETH: It's not too bad. It's not too bad.
HANNITY: I had pain day in martial arts, that's enough.
All right, serious question to all of this. We have a Ukraine investigation going on, Andy Biggs, in Ukraine. We got Ron Johnson -- he has an investigation. The media mob would like to ignore that. They'd like to ignore Biden Obama's terrible foreign policy record, Iran, and their economic record.
They like to ignore that Joe has lost a fast ball, a slow ball, and any ball if he ever had any ball. Just because they wish it to go away, it's not going away.
REP. ANDY BIGGS (R-AZ): No, it's not going to go away. They've acted like some kind of aristocracy or some kind of mob where they've tried to capitalize on the power of the vice -- former vice president, Joe Biden. And it's coming home to roost but they continue to defy it and where is the media outrage? That is the part that just blows my mind.
And the American people that I talk to, they are fed up with this two- tiered justice system where people like Hunter Biden is going to defy court orders and James Biden is going to be hauled into court because of allegations of fraud. And we haven't seen anything happen to these folks.
HANNITY: You know, Pete, by the way, seriously, I have been reading the book. It's an awesome book. I urge everyone to get it.
HEGSETH: I appreciate it.
HANNITY: I like to kid Pete about his tattoos. But he served our country. And we always thank you for that.
HEGSETH: Thank you, Sean.
HANNITY: And what you did for Eddie Gallagher was amazing, too.
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All right. So, you look at this, you see all the corruption. If this was Donald Trump, what would be happening?
HEGSETH: Oh, my goodness, it'd be entirely different story. Listen, the Trumps got rich and then they decided because they saw where the country was to get involved. The Bidens got involved in politics and realized it was great opportunity to get rich.
James Biden was involved in these international healthcare issues. He said, I can get you money for the Middle East because my name is Biden. Frank Biden had the same thing, real estate, I can get you access. You'll get better real estate deals.
Hunter Biden, he doesn't want to give up his tax records now. Why? Well, because they might reveal something tenuous about his father who is running for president.
HANNITY: Yes.
HEGSETH: Listen, it all stinks, Sean, and without you, without you and this network, no one would get to the bottom of it because the Democrat media protects them.
HANNITY: They're the mob.
HEGSETH: Yes.
HANNITY: And you got two mobs here simultaneously -- the Biden mob family and the media mob.
All right, congrats on the book. Congressman, thank you.
When we come back, Republicans, they are pushing forward. They are going after Chucky Schumer. We'll explain, next.
HANNITY: All right. Chucky Schumer threatened Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Kavanaugh last week. Now, Republicans want him to be held accountable.
Trace Gallagher live tonight in our West Coast newsroom.
Trace, what's the latest?
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: And, Sean, even with the primaries and coronavirus dominating headlines, Chuck Schumer is getting major pushback for those alleged threats to Supreme Court justices. It drew a rare rebuke from Chief Justice John Roberts who called the comments dangerous. Liberal Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe said the comments were inexcusable, and liberal CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin called them a physical threat.
Now, Missouri GOP Senator Josh Hawley has introduced a resolution signed by a dozen conservative lawmakers for Schumer to be censured, meaning consequences very much still on the table for Schumer -- Sean.
HANNITY: All right. Trace Gallagher, thanks for that report and that update.
All right. Unfortunately, that is the all the time we have this evening. As always, thank you for joining us. We'll always be fair and balanced. We're not the hate Trump media mob.
Our election coverage, six big states tomorrow, usual time.
Let not your heart be troubled. Laura Ingraham is back.
I know you haven't been feeling well. We missed you.
Load-Date: March 10, 2020
End of Document
App. 0048
Appendix D
App. 0049 Democrats Use Coronavirus To Attack Donald Trump; Trump Working To Help America While Democrats Engage In Coronavirus Hysteria; Left Cheering For Trump Supporters To Get Sick; Media Speculates President Trump Possibly Exposed To Coronavirus; Documentary About Hillary Clinton Released; Video Clip Of Joe Biden Seemingly Endorsing President Trump Draws Controversy; Biden Campaign Releases List Of Possible Presidential Cabinet Nominees. Aired 10-11p ET
Fox News Network INGRAHAM ANGLE 10:00 PM EST March 9, 2020 Monday
Copyright 2020 Fox News Network LLC All Rights Reserved Section: NEWS; Domestic Length: 7671 words Byline: Laura Ingraham, Raymond Arroyo Guests: Kevin McCarthy, Matt Schlapp, Amesh Adalja, Horace Cooper, Allie Beth Stuckey, Scott Bolden, Charles Hurt
Body
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: All right. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have this evening. As always, thank you for joining us. We'll always be fair, balanced without the hate Trump media mob. Our election coverage, six big states tomorrow, usual time. Let not your heart be troubled.
Laura Ingraham is back. I know you haven't been feeling well. We missed you.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: And I did not self-quarantine because of anything except the usual -- remember Hannity, when you do radio. This used to happen to me in radio. I would lose my voice and it would go into a cough and it goes on for weeks and weeks and it's a nightmare. Did you ever get that?
HANNITY: You should have asked me. I've got absolutely every medication you need lined up, but my doctor is listening to me now saying, he hates me.
INGRAHAM: OK.
HANNITY: Right now. That's all.
INGRAHAM: Got it. All right, Hannity, I'll talk to you later. Great show tonight.
HANNITY: Have a great show.
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INGRAHAM: As always. I'm Laura Ingraham and this is THE INGRAHAM ANGLE from Washington tonight.
Some conservatives now as you just heard me reference are self-quarantining after interacting with someone infected with the Coronavirus at CPAC. Matt Schlapp is one of those in self- quarantine. Now he's the head of CPAC. He explains what happened and he responds to the grotesque commentary from some on the Left.
And Joe Biden is already picking who will be in his cabinet. OK. It's basically everyone from the Obama administration who've been waiting in the wings for the last three years. OK, and plotting away.
Charlie Hurt breaks it all down later on in the hour. Plus, Hillary Clinton is decrying her innocence or crying for her innocence in a new documentary. And did Biden really endorse President Trump, no, he didn't. It's a special edition of Seen and Unseen with Raymond Arroyo straight ahead.
But first, Trump confronts the panic pushers. That's the focus of tonight's ANGLE.
All right. Being sick, losing your voice as I did last week, it's good and it's bad. It's bad because I couldn't be with you last Thursday and Friday. But it's good, because it gave me time to sit back and listen and watch. I couldn't say anything, this is for hours and hours and hours.
Now frankly, a lot of it was completely depressing and utterly predictable. Now leave it to the Democrats to try to turn a virus that started mysteriously in China into a political attack against a U.S. President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This question still remains whether or not the President gets it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The President is still just not being honest and upfront about the impact and the spread of Corona. Corporate America knows it is coming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't have an effective strategy to fight something if you won't acknowledge what it is that you're fighting and the risk that it poses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: All the panic pushers, they went into overdrive after the market closed. It was a terrible day on Wall Street. Now this is part of what was said in just a four-minute period on CNN after the market closed.
All right. Well, let's just say that it was a series of well, it's going into recession. Well, it could fall further into recession. No, it could be the worst. It could be the perfect storm, one commentator said. Well a perfect storm with a lot of bluster and hot air.
Now even when Austan Goolsbee, he pointed out an interesting possibility of an unusually fast market recovery maybe in the summer, things settle down. Notice where CNN's Jake Tapper quickly took the conversation. App. 0051 Page 3 of 19 Democrats Use Coronavirus To Attack Donald Trump; Trump Working To Help America While Democrats Engage In Coronavirus Hysteria; Left Cheering For Trump Supporte....
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, ECONOMIST: There is one glimmer of optimism for a virus business cycle. There is the possibility that this thing comes roaring back in a way that is not normal for a business cycle that's driven by other things.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Let's talk about the travel and tourism industry because it's been hit hard by Coronavirus. We're showing some images now from northern Italy, they're virtually empty. Ghost towns.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Enough of that good news. Let's go back to the bad news. Italy. Are you kidding me? Democrats don't even support locking down our own borders, now they're suddenly going to get on board with locking down entire U.S. cities and towns what with National Guard. Oh! I can't wait to see the ACLU on that one. Give me a break.
Now despite all this, the public in some ways seems a lot more levelheaded than all of the experts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 68 percent very or somewhat prepared if indeed somebody in their family gets Coronavirus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Well, they're getting ready. Right. And the facts are actually pretty reassuring. But you never know it. Watching all this stuff. Now, while the number of infected persons is more than 650 now, the death toll is increased to 26. The risk to the average person does remain quite low.
We need to take care of our seniors. If you're an elderly person or have a serious underlying condition, avoid tight closed places. A lot of people. Don't take a cruise maybe. Everyone else, wash your hands. Use good judgment about your daily activities, pragmatic thinking especially if you've been overseas recently and one of the hardest hit areas.
The President's Coronavirus team is literally working around the clock to fight the epidemic spread and to give the public the most up to date information and guidance. They should continue to have these no-nonsense briefings to the press, preferably I think at the same time every day that would also be very reassuring.
Now, as I said weeks ago, total transparency, even about the bad stuff is going to go a long way to calm things down. Public is going to know; we're going to get through this. We're America. We do big things. We get through tough stuff.
But apart from fighting the medical issues and the public health aspect of this nasty virus, there are four steps the President himself can take in an effort to protect America from sustaining deep economic wounds. Steps by the way that harken back to his original America First agenda.
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Number one, immediately send your infrastructure proposal to Capitol Hill. No more delays. If the parties were working in good faith, it should have happened years ago. Call Pelosi and Schumer. Bring him back to the White House. No more drama, no more finger pointing by Nancy or running out or photo ops or running to the mic or the cameras, just get it non.
Number two, this morning, I wrote that the President should propose a temporary payroll tax cut for workers. This afternoon, it seemed like the White House was reading my mind.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Tomorrow, we're seeing the Senate and discussing a possible payroll tax. We're also going to be talking about hourly wage earners getting help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, the President is 100 percent committed that we will provide whatever tools we need.
MIKE PENCE, VICE PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We're going to stand by those hard-working Americans and make it possible for us to put the health of America first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Yes, a targeted payroll tax cut will put more money in Americans pockets. An important stimulus in rocky times, push the House Democrats to make this happen.
Number three, propose a new U.S. industrial policy that's good for businesses and workers. We need to get back to made in America, especially when it comes to essential items that we cannot do without like medical supplies, medical devices, prescription and over-the-counter medicines. China has a virtual monopoly on the ingredients used in antibiotics. We should never have allowed that to happen. It's time to decouple, incentivize companies to bring manufacturing back home.
We need to be less dependent on global markets and more self-sufficient. This latest crisis makes the wisdom of Trump's America First agenda all the more compelling.
We can't keep flooding America with migrant families on the bogus asylum pretense either. We've got to be stronger on these borders. My final point. While some people are being flown back to Mexico pending their cases, thousands are still getting in. Impossible to screen completely for health. You bet. It's impossible to do this.
Now is not the time for us to take in any extra burdens on our schools, my son's schools, by the way, are closed all week in Montgomery County, Maryland. We don't need any more burdens on the schools or the health care system.
And finally, although Trump can't order the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates and impending agency, we all should keep pressure on the Fed to do that. Rates should be lowered. Another stimulus needed. You bet.
App. 0053 Page 5 of 19 Democrats Use Coronavirus To Attack Donald Trump; Trump Working To Help America While Democrats Engage In Coronavirus Hysteria; Left Cheering For Trump Supporte....
If America enters a formal recession, well, Americans across every socioeconomic group, every age group, every ethnicity, every state, every county will suffer, many greatly. If Democrats want to stand in the way of these commonsense measures, let them go to their constituents and defend that move.
Look, bad things happen. This virus is one of them. But setting off panic around the world is not the answer. We need to calm everything down. Proposed smart legislation will help do that.
Now think about this. If Trump, like day after day, is saying that he has a plan that's going to save the U.S. economy and yet Pelosi just grandstands. She won't meet. She won't compromise. She won't even allow a vote. Then Americans will have all the information they need to make an informed choice in November and inoculate the United States from the Democrats virus of failed leadership.
Remember, a President Biden? He's going to make it more certain, not less certain, that we're dependent on the very country that allowed this virus to spread. China. And that is not the way to go. And that's THE ANGLE.
All right. Joining me now as my voice is holding up, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. Congressman, Schumer and Pelosi floated some options for a stimulus today, but more regulations, more government handouts. What do you think about the four or five points I laid out?
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): I think your points are right on. I think the payroll tax is smart. It will increase the economy. Let people keep more of their own money. But you know what, we're doing in Congress this week. The Democrats are going to pass the No Ban Act going after the President's ability to ban people from flying into this country.
INGRAHAM: Wait a second. Can you explain that, explain that, that just--
MCCARTHY: Remember when the President went after certain countries to not let the terrorist in?
INGRAHAM: Right.
MCCARTHY: So, they are going to pass a No Ban Act. What it will do, it will make it harder for this President to keep America safe. It's a 212-section code. This is what they're bringing up in Congress. Unbelievable.
You know, the other thing I was sitting with Mick Mulvaney today, when they came to brief Congress the first time in January, you know why people didn't pay attention? Because the Democrats were spending all their time impeaching during that time. They've been working on this Chinese Coronavirus back then, preparing for it. And now the Democrats, they can't say any of the wrongdoing about China. They only want to try to go after the President.
INGRAHAM: What about a new industrial policy in the United States where we really start taking a sober look at all of this stuff made in China, from medicines to key ingredients--
MCCARTHY: Critical minerals.
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INGRAHAM: Critical, critical. They have rare earth material monopoly.
MCCARTHY: Yes.
INGRAHAM: That is in every cell phone, every computer we have. I mean, I think a lot of people knew a lot was made in China. But I don't think they knew a majority of our elements of our antibiotics are made in China.
MCCARTHY: 3M has a plant there that makes mask. They also have surgical mask. We also have them in America, but what China did, take over their company, take over their production. The President has been right on this since he's been running for president. This supply side that we have, we're also going to look from a distance--
INGRAHAM: We've got to pull our supply chain out of China, bring it back home. That is a stimulus to our economy. It's American job.
MCCARTHY: But he already started doing that ahead of time. We saw some supply chain move back--
INGRAHAM: Because of his tariffs, which Biden's against, by the way. By the way, did you see Buttigieg is going to be in charge of trade in the Biden administration because South Bend is such a big exporter and importer. What is - so that basically means, I don't know, Bloomberg's running trade. I don't know who's running trade. But I mean, I laugh out loud today with my bad voice.
MCCARTHY: What's he going to do? He raised his hand. He cares more about someone here illegally than an American. The illegal person is going to get free health care. Who's that going to bring--
INGRAHAM: Do we need more burdens on our health care system? All thousands of illegals come across our - do we need more burdens?
MCCARTHY: No, and especially the burden that we're going to have right now. But you know what? We were able to get into that supplemental funding for this Chinese Coronavirus. We had Telehealth. So, people don't have to rush to the hospital, make other people sick. They can do it simply by their phone and others. A very smart move.
INGRAHAM: Bernie - that's fascinating. I could have used that.
MCCARTHY: Yes, you could have.
INGRAHAM: At a town hall tonight, Bernie Sanders does not think that Donald Trump is up to the task. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have an administration in Washington that has shown the world that it does not believe in science. Its attitude toward climate change, which it thinks is a hoax, is telling the whole world, how do we trust this
App. 0055 Page 7 of 19 Democrats Use Coronavirus To Attack Donald Trump; Trump Working To Help America While Democrats Engage In Coronavirus Hysteria; Left Cheering For Trump Supporte.... administration dealing with an international crisis? We have a President of the United States, you know, doesn't matter. Go to work. We have a President who says absurd things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Apparently, Bernie wants to shut down the entire economy and where your health records, Bernie. That's what we want.
MCCARTHY: It's amazing to him attacking the President on the environment. All those countries that are in the Paris Accord. None of them have lived up to it. You know, who have lowered more carbon emission, America than all of them combined.
INGRAHAM: What about the self-quarantine of your House members. We got Collins, Gaetz, Julia Brownley, Democrat, Gosar, Ted Cruz and now Mark Meadows about self-quarantining. Are you worried about that an outbreak of absenteeism and--
MCCARTHY: None of those individuals are sick. None of them are showing signs. I just talked to their doc. They talked to the doctor.
INGRAHAM: Are they vacationing beyond this.
MCCARTHY: No, no. Many of them called me and said, I'm about to get on the plane, but just a precaution. I'll stay here. I've been more than nine, 10 days, but they show no signs of it. Just making sure.
INGRAHAM: It's because they're at CPAC or because is that why?
MCCARTHY: The ones that I know they were at CPAC and they could have interacted in some way or come by this individual that is that does have Chinese Coronavirus.
INGRAHAM: There is a piece in The Washington Times today, Chinese state run media outlets have increasingly been promoting a new disinformation theory, Congressman, that the virus originated in the U.S. Reports that have prompted rumors spreading throughout China and Asia that the CIA was behind the outbreak. How good is that?
MCCARTHY: That is so offensive because you know, in January, President Trump asked President Xi to send our doctors, our scientists--
INGRAHAM: They wouldn't let the CDC.
MCCARTHY: They would not let them in until it got into Italy and everywhere else. We could have contained this in China, if China would allowed us in. What were we able to do with Ebola when our experts came in and kept it to Africa? Everything this President has done has been right and smart. The Chinese are the one to be blamed here. But you never hear that over on Capitol Hill. All they want to do is take away his ability to ban and they want to take away his ability to keep this country safe. That is wrong.
INGRAHAM: The panic spreading to the markets is a real problem.
MCCARTHY: It's a real problem.
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INGRAHAM: And the policy will go a long way to calm things down. And those policies, America First stimulus, you've got to have a stimulus out there for the economy. It's got to be done.
MCCARTHY: We've got to, and I agree, this will bounce back. Today was a lot about oil, it was a lot about Saudi Arabia fighting Russia. And what are they most concerned about, America being able to come energy independent.
INGRAHAM: I'm going on vacation on Friday, I'm going to fly all over the United States. So that's how--
MCCARTHY: It's a better place to visit anyways.
INGRAHAM: Absolutely. Great to see you. Thanks so much, Congressman, for coming in. And as I just mentioned, some GOP congressmen are voluntarily going into quarantine after one CPAC attendee tested positive for the Coronavirus. The American Conservative Union made the announcement over the weekend, but stressed this attendee had no interaction with the President or the Vice President, never attended the event in the main hall.
But my next guest did, because he's the head of CPAC and that's Matt Schlapp, ACU Chairman and he joins me now from self-quarantine. Matt, I've never seen you on Skype. It's very interesting. I'm looking at you. You look pretty good as Mercedes holding up a lamp to light you up there. You look pretty good there. Do you have any symptoms?
MATT SCHLAPP, AMERICAN CONSERVATIVE UNION CHAIR: We have no symptoms. Let me tell you something. It's better than that. Not only I not have any symptoms, none of these congressmen who have any symptoms, none of my children have any symptoms. My 80-year- old mother doesn't have any symptoms. The 10,000 people that came to CPAC, Laura, we can't find anybody, anybody who has symptoms after having one case of the Coronavirus. We don't have two. We don't have three. We still have one. It actually shows that this - it shows that this virus is very hard to contract.
INGRAHAM: Well, what's sickening, Matt, is that some on the Left, not everybody, but some are hoping, actually hoping that the President and his supporters get sick. I'm sure you've seen some of that trash on Twitter. But Denver City Councilwoman retweeted and claimed solidarity with this post.
For the record, if I do get the Coronavirus, I'm attending every MAGA rally I can. Another Twitter troll said the Coronavirus has been detected at an attendee at CPAC, an event that many Trump officials attended. The Trump administration may have to be quarantined, which is actually good news for America.
Matt, are you worried that because you shook hands with the President the day after this attendee was there, that somehow you passed it on to the President, thus you are going to be responsible for the all White House shutting down?
SCHLAPP: The panic that I think too many people in the media tried to fan at CPAC simply because out of 10,000 people, there was one person who was infected. I think it was completely irresponsible. And I think that - I think we've learned something after the CPAC experience.
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It can't be the conservative Coronavirus. Right. If the press wants to try to cover the Coronavirus, they have to cover it wherever it goes, including two liberal events where a lot of Democratic senators and congressmen gather. And I think what we're going to learn with this virus is, yes, we all have to listen to our doctors and the health care experts, and that's what Mercy and I have been doing.
But part of that is if you're older or your immune system is compromised, you need to take special care, healthy people that run into one person that may have the virus. We have to be careful about this idea that all of America has to shut down. And I think that's what we're going to realize as we move forward.
INGRAHAM: Hey, Matt. Today it came up at this briefing, that fantastic briefing that the White House Task Force did late. This is exactly what they should do every day. Maybe not that many people, but every day they should have at the same time. It's very reassuring to people.
But at this event, the press people asking whether the President got tested, did the President get tested. And I don't know if he got tested or not, but it's just like ridiculous. They're actually trying to argue that because the President's over age 70, that he is being, I guess, careless, irresponsible and spreading it all around the world, that's implicit in the question.
SCHLAPP: Let me tell you. Let's get to the facts. Once again, we were in the state of Maryland for CPAC, Laura, and we dealt with public health officials in the state of Maryland who were fantastic. They did 2,000 screens all around the hotel. They found nothing.
Several days ago, they came to us and said, there is nothing to be alarmed about. Nobody should be restricted for movement. No quarantines. Right. That is - that's responsible public health, calm thinking in a crisis like this.
Well, I saw the President at CPAC and the Vice President, they're scrubbing their hands all the time. They're taking every precaution. Neither one of them is sick. None of these congressmen are sick. We had 10,000 people in a ballroom, and no one got sick even though the virus was there.
INGRAHAM: But, Matt, what about the idea of and we're out of time on this. But you know the individual, right. You know who tested positive?
SCHLAPP: I do.
INGRAHAM: OK.
SCHLAPP: Yes.
INGRAHAM: So, when does the public's right to know Trump that person's right to privacy on a health issue?
SCHLAPP: It's a great question and you're the great lawyer. And there's a balance there. I think the public health officials thought that making the name public would have helped save anybody's health. I think they would have released it. But in this case, there was nobody with
App. 0058 Page 10 of 19 Democrats Use Coronavirus To Attack Donald Trump; Trump Working To Help America While Democrats Engage In Coronavirus Hysteria; Left Cheering For Trump Supporte.... any symptoms at any time. Nobody got sick because he was there. And so, the balance they took was that it was better to hold confidentiality.
INGRAHAM: All right, Matt. They're trying to get Trump to cancel rallies and just stop campaigning altogether. We're going to get into this later in the show, but unbelievable.
SCHLAPP: Everybody needs to calm down. Calm down.
INGRAHAM: But isn't it convenient? No, no rallies, no campaigning. Apparently, tweeting will also be, you know, spreading the virus soon. All right, Matt, I hope you continue to stay well, give my best to Mercedes.
SCHLAPP: We're fine.
INGRAHAM: All right. It's great to see you. And speaking of which, do mass quarantines really work? Dr. Amesh Adalja has the answers up next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you been tested? Have you been tested? Have you been tested? Mr. President, have you been tested? Has he been tested? Have you been tested?
PENCE: I have not been tested.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: That was a very exciting part of the presser today. Now, just moments ago, the White House confirmed that President Trump has not gotten tested for the Coronavirus. Do they want a special counsel for that, by the way? Nor does he have any symptoms of it, or spend any prolonged with someone who did have the Coronavirus and the Coronavirus' global outreach, has governments putting more and more people on lockdown?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Outbreak. More deaths, more cases and more under quarantine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are about 3500 in total aboard this ship. They will be quarantined for at least 14 days.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Italy overnight imposed very strict quarantine measures.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In all of Italy tonight is on lockdown. That is more than 60 million people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: But are mass quarantines always a good idea? Joining me now is Dr. Amesh Adalja is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security. All right, Dr. Adalja, can mass quarantines like we see in Italy do more damage than they help in certain circumstances?
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AMESH ADALJA, INFECTIOUS DISEASE DOCTOR: It's definitely the case. When you quarantine a big area like that, you end up making it much harder to actually deal with the virus there. You make it logistically hard to get supplies there. You panic the population and it sends the wrong message because other countries will start following suit.
INGRAHAM: Also, how would you do it here? I mean, people have to see operationally how would we actually put a mass quarantine into effect? We're going to bring the National Guard out there like lock lockdown entire. I mean, it just makes - to me, it makes no sense.
ADALJA: This is not something that should happen in America. This would violate individual rights. It would be the worst way to do it.
INGRAHAM: The hysteria over what's happened in the last three weeks, the United States and the panic that's ensued in the U.S. marketplace. As a medical professional, how would you describe the reaction thus far in the public? People are fighting over toilet paper at the Costco. I saw that video and I thought it was - I thought it was actually something from The Onion or like a joke. I couldn't believe it was real. But what's going on there?
ADALJA: So, it's hard to strike this fine line between panicking people and getting them actually prepared. So, there is going to be disruption when we get this virus in our cities. It's going to be something that will cause hospitals to be inundated with patients. It's going to be something that's difficult to handle. But it's not going to be cataclysmic or catastrophic. We just have to be proactive and plan and not hoard things, not take - make the shelves bare. We just have to really think about how we're going to deal with this, we dealt with this in 2009 with H1N1.
INGRAHAM: The MSNBC had a doctor on today that made an unusual claim about the mortality rate. I want to show it to you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSEPH FAIR, MSNBC SCIENCE CONTRIBUTOR: This is not to fear monger. This is - it would be irresponsible for us to create panic when it's undue. That being said, we know 80 percent of the population is going to survive. And typically, a 15 to 20 percent rate of mortality for those individuals that are both elderly or have underlying condition.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: The key on that it's not 15 percent of everybody who contract the disease.
ADALJA: Right.
INGRAHAM: But it is a fairly high percentage of those who are susceptible populations.
ADALJA: Yes. And elderly populations, you might see mortality rates reach that high. That's my friend on there that actually talked and actually reached out to me. He said he misspoke. He went to say 20 percent have mild cases and he put a tweet out to correct it, but he said he's been up all day, up all night, like I had been basically.
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INGRAHAM: Yes. You've been working and you're working out. But that's the kind of thing that maybe in good faith, someone trying to get people information, putting in good faith, they say something on television and then people run to Amazon.com to buy masks. And you still say today about the masks. What?
ADALJA: Don't wear them if you're in the general public, it's really a panic buy and it's making it harder for hospitals to get them.
INGRAHAM: And same thing with all these other extraordinary measures, people walking around like rubber gloves and planes. I mean, believe me, I kind of get that given how gross planes are. But all of this seems to add to the overall sense of panic.
ADALJA: Right. You have people buying Coronavirus kits, lots of things that you can find that aren't going to do any good for you unless you're going to a costume party. You really just have to do basic stuff that we do during flu season. Wash your hands a lot. Touch your face less. If you're elderly or have medical conditions, be wary about going out in public just like we tell people to do during flu seasons. Those types of simple ideas are what's going to help us.
INGRAHAM: But you would fly today.
ADALJA: Yes, I flew two days ago.
INGRAHAM: I've flown like three times and I'm flying Friday and flying next week. I mean, but that's the kind of stuff that scares me, is when people, I'm not flying, I'm not going on vacation. That's the kind of stuff that could end up hurting our country and the global economy at large.
Doctor, great to see you. Thanks for coming on, especially with your schedule. I really appreciate it.
And sadly, it is no secret that the media is responsible for much of this panic that's gripping the country over the coronavirus, but now they are actually using the virus to attack the president's health.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: There is deep concern right now that the president himself could possibly, possibly have been exposed to the virus.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Gaetz, we should point out, was also just on Air Force One with President Trump this afternoon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Schlapp's potential exposure might put Donald Trump just two degrees of separation away from the virus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Wait a second. Joining me now is Horace Cooper, Project 21 co- chair, and Allie Beth Stuckey, host of the "Relatable" podcast.
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Horace, why not the same focus on Sanders or Biden, who are also attending large conferences, shaking lots of hands, taking lots of selfies, and we know how Biden likes to touch women's shoulders? That could be passed -- think about all the shoulders that have been touched just in the past two weeks.
HORACE COOPER, CO-CHAIR, PROJECT 21: It's definitely more true of Sanders than Biden. Sanders is getting thousands of people, and Biden is getting tens of people. But still, if the media were really interested in covering what is going on in America, they would present that information.
INGRAHAM: Allie Beth, this have gotten to the point, again, when people are fighting over toilet paper rolls. Is all of our toilet paper made in China? I don't think so, but maybe I missed that. We have to now just all take a breath and say it is going to be OK. Some people are not going to make it, as it happens every year with the regular flu. It is a serious, but we are going to weather the storm. It's not going to destroy the whole U.S. economy. And this is a time to pull back some of this manufacturing from China and do it all in the good old U.S. of A.
ALLIE BETH STUCKEY, "RELATABLE" PODCAST HOST: Yes, I think we should be prepared in that we shouldn't panic. I don't think that's good for anyone, not just the economy, but also people's own immune systems, that negative energy, that negativity that people unfortunately, a lot of them are spewing on Twitter about this, ginning up the outrage and chaos isn't good for your own ability to find out this virus.
So if we all just lay down our political swords, take a deep breath, like you said, and realize that all we can do is take the necessary precautions, pray and hope for the best, be wise about this. But like you said, all of the panic, it's not helping anyone individually or collectively.
INGRAHAM: John Brennan, one of the main Russia hoax crazies, of course he thinks Trump is too selfish to actually put the country first. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Donald Trump, who throughout his entire life he has looked at the world through a prism of how things affect his personal and financial political fortunes. And I wonder if he is psychologically capable to put the country's well-being first and to subordinate to his own interests in trying to spin things in a manner that is not going to reflect badly on him. Politics need to be damned at this point.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Let me just remind everybody that Donald Trump left a very successful company to go through the hell that he has had to go through of the last three years of investigations. But now he is selfish? John Brennan, what a fraud he is.
COOPER: This president has sweated blood, toil, and dollars as a way of showing his interest and love and devotion to this country.
INGRAHAM: Thank you very much.
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COOPER: He has done a really good job at it, and we ought to appreciate that.
INGRAHAM: And when I see people on Twitter, Allie Beth -- Twitter is the lowest form of human life. Sorry, it is just awful. To wish the coronavirus on anyone, anyone, especially the president of the United States, or just anyone, forget the president, but with such glee. There seems to be an enjoyment factor when the market collapses today, or when the virus is spread, or where there is another death. There are actually people on Twitter who are celebrating, that is the state of American politics today. Allie, close it out.
STUCKEY: If you feel any kind of morbid satisfaction whatsoever from anyone, whether you disagree with them or not, getting the coronavirus or getting any kind of deadly illness, I think it is time to check your heart.
INGRAHAM: Exactly. And actually, maybe you should offer something positive to the country and not a negative viral solution. Horace and Allie, thanks for coming on, great to see you both.
And coming up, Hillary Clinton, well, she is not going away. Her new Hulu documentary inadvertently exposed another glaring hypocrisy on the left. And did Biden actually endorse Donald Trump over the weekend? Raymond Arroyo reveals the truth in a special edition of "Seen and Unseen" Monday style. Don't go away.
INGRAHAM: It's time for our "Seen and Unseen" segment where we expose the stories behind the headlines. Hillary Clinton's new Hulu documentary is offering some troubling insight into today's Democratic Party. Joining us with all the details as Raymond Arroyo, FOX News contributor. Raymond, why won't Hillary just go back to her Scooby-mobile? Why won't she go away? Why is she back?
(LAUGHTER)
RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Because Hillary hasn't gotten over 2016, Laura. And apparently, she can't recede from of the public with grace, her public life with grace. She went to great pains in this documentary to mention that Biden is assembling the same coalition that she did in 2016. Someone needs to tell her she lost. Then there was this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am the most investigated innocent person in America.
(LAUGHTER)
CLINTON: See, that's why this is not just politics. It's deep cultural stuff. Anyway, I do want to talk you about all that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, me too.
CLINTON: OK. Anyway, clunk, clunk. Here we go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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ARROYO: I love how she grabs the coffee and shuffles off, Laura, off the set while maintaining her innocence. This four-hour documentary could have been called "Kill your Enthusiasm."
(LAUGHTER)
ARROYO: And by the way, Laura, that first episode is called "Golden Girl." She does have a Bea Arthur vibe there with the coffee mug.
INGRAHAM: Oh, yes.
ARROYO: She wants you to forget about travel-gate, BleachBitting her private server, Benghazi, the Clinton Foundation foreign donors while she was secretary of state. She was innocent. Just remember, she was innocent. But one of the most egregious wrongs that she may have committed along the way was defending her husband's abuse of women. The former president uses the documentary about his wife to explain away his affair with Monica Lewinsky. He said it was a therapeutic way to deal with the tensions of office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: Here something that will take your mind off of it for a while. Everybody's life has pressures and disappointments and terrors, fears of whatever. Things I did to manage my anxieties for years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARROYO: Laura --
INGRAHAM: I was surprised by that, actually.
ARROYO: I was surprised, Laura, by the lack of reaction from Hulu. Last week employees over at the publishing house, Hachette, they staged a walkout to protest the publishing houses Woody Allen memoir, forthcoming Woody Allen memoir. He is accused of sexual abuse, but nothing has ever been proven. Following that walkout, Hachette canceled the Woody Allen biography.
Look, I think Woody Allen is as creepy as the next guy, but here you have Bill Clinton, an admitted abuser of women, so far as I can see, not one Hulu employee has protested. There is no staged walkout. And here he is using this documentary to clear up his name, justify his actions. I guess it's Me Too, but not you, Bill. I guess that's how this works over at Hulu.
INGRAHAM: I don't think he admits he abused women. I think he admits that in his mind, obviously, it was the power differential, it's just beyond gross.
ARROYO: Right, power inequities, and then there are the other charges.
INGRAHAM: But I don't think he is really admitting anything except a mistake and that it was unfortunate and he was driven by his anxiety.
ARROYO: Working out his anxieties. Not with other people, you don't get to use that.
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INGRAHAM: I want to get into this video of Biden that was making the rounds over the weekend. This clip was sent out by the Trump campaign. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot get reelect -- we cannot win this reelection -- excuse me, we can only reelect Donald Trump --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Some online said what? What were they saying?
ARROYO: They said he was endorsing the president in the video. And Twitter, Laura, has since labeled this clip manipulated media. They are both wrong. Manipulated media is when you have deep fakes and they use it to put words in people's mouth or distort their intention. Obviously, Biden was not endorsing from. But it does speak to his inability to assemble sentences on the fly, Laura, and it raises questions about his cognitive state and ability to even read a script. Watch the full clip for context.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot get reelect -- we cannot win this reelection -- excuse me, we can only reelect Donald Trump if, in fact, we get engaged in this circular cycle here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARROYO: I'm sorry, Laura, I don't think that makes him look any better and context. He is still wandering and lost. And you have all these proxies jumping in. They are going to need more than that to clean up his syntax.
INGRAHAM: Ray, tell us about the conflict between Sanders and the Biden camp over the format now of the next debate, quickly.
ARROYO: Yes, the Sanders campaign is complaining Biden doesn't want to stand toe-to-toe and debate Bernie. They say apparently the DNC and Biden campaign agreed to a seated town hall style debate, Laura, with audience questions. The Sanders campaign is now balking. They say wait a minute, we want a say here, too. So there may be some compromise along the way. But Laura, they are electing here, and for the first time voters are being asked to support not a presidential candidate, but a vice presidential candidate. Joe Biden is not the man he was, and I think that is partially what the Sanders campaign is pointing out.
INGRAHAM: If you can't stand for debate, unless you have a severe disability, that's not a great sign.
ARROYO: I agree.
INGRAHAM: Raymond, thank you so much for a special Monday coronavirus edition of Seen and Unseen.
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ARROYO: Thank you, Laura. Feel better.
(LAUGHTER)
INGRAHAM: All right, Ray, thanks so much.
And Joe Biden is already planning for Obama's third term. Wait until you see who he wants to put in charge of his cabinet. Scott Bolden, Charlie Hurt, they are going to break it all down next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Normal is not enough. Normal, we have to move beyond normal, whether it's health care, the environment, whatever it is. We have to build on what we had started in our administration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Beyond normal, that is actually a good name for a show. Maybe next time. Biden's caretakers have other ideas. "Axios" is reporting that Biden advisors describe a return to normal plan. Biden wants known, trusted people around him, many from the Obama years. Who was unmasking whom here? That includes swamp creatures like John Kerry, Susan Rice, and good old Sally Yates.
Joining me now is Charlie Hurt, "Washington Times" opinion editor, FOX News contributor. Also with me is Scott Bolden, attorney and former chair of the D.C. Democratic Party. Charlie, it looks like he is planning for Obama's third term, and a lot of these people have been waiting in the wings working with consulting groups and itching to go back in and do exactly what?
CHARLES HURT, OPINION EDITOR, "WASHINGTON TIMES": Exact what they did for the eight years that President Obama was there. But it's interesting, first of all, the pivot for Biden to suddenly start running on Obama's record, after the past two years we have seen them running away from it, because, of course, the Democratic Party is running away from Obama. Obama could not get nominated to the Democratic Party leader in this environment based on his positions. So that pivot is really interesting.
And then the other thing is, as you point out, there is this thing that we see every couple years where you have people who are signaling to all of the swamp creatures that if you just help me get the nomination and get me into the White House, I will put you back in the White House. I'll give you --
INGRAHAM: It's back to the good old days. I talked about this before, Scott, but we read in this "Axios" piece that -- I think it was "Axios" or "Politico," I can't remember now, I think it was "Axios" -- that Buttigieg would be the U.S. trade rep.
(LAUGHTER)
INGRAHAM: I heard that. I'm like, are you kidding me? Honestly? That is basically just saying China, don't worry, you will get everything you want in the next administration. What is your reaction to that?
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SCOTT BOLDEN, FORMER D.C. DEMOCRATIC PARTY CHAIRMAN: I think it's real early. We have got nine months before the election, or eight months before the election. This is projecting, if you will. But I am not so surprised that Biden is running on Obama's record because he has beaten Bernie Sanders pretty badly. And if you look at the Obama economy, he inherited the worst from Bush II and he created 16 million jobs, he put 20 million on health care. That is not really a bad record to run on.
And by the way, the media focuses on Bernie Sanders and the far left of the party, but I've argued with you and on the show several times that it is the middle Democrats, the business Democrats, the conservative Democrats that are putting Biden I had. And Biden is headed towards this nomination.
INGRAHAM: They want to go back to business as usual where we have these endless global trade deals where companies are allowed to offshore and outsourced labor and manufacturing. We are running into a problem now, Charlie, where people are like, wait a second, we make what in China? We make all these antibiotics and all these prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs? Are you kidding me?
HURT: You can't undo what President Trump has done, President Trump for whatever faults you find in him, he has ripped the wool from people's eyes about places like China.
INGRAHAM: The coronavirus has too, plus Trump.
HURT: And all of the trade deals.
But my question is this -- could you imagine Bernie Sanders playing some silly game like this right now where he goes and gets some willing reporter, sends some signals that this is who we are going people our administration with. Bernie would not do that, and that is exactly why Democrats are so fearful of Bernie Sanders, because they want the safe bet. And Joe Biden is making the assessment that I am a safe bet, look you say, we will go back to normal, we will put everybody back in their positions. And we'll get --
BOLDEN: They got a lot of good experience from those positions, and they did a really good job while they were there. You may disagree with their politics, but Bernie Sanders isn't winning this nomination anytime soon, at least he's not projected to.
HURT: We can get back into bed with Iran.
BOLDEN: Oh, stop it. We're not doing that.
INGRAHAM: Speaking of Sanders, guys, speaking of Sanders, speaking of Sanders, he refuses to give an answer on whether or not he would have Elizabeth Warren as his vice president. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, (D-VT) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My gut feeling is that it must be a woman. I would look to women first. But they would be women, by the way --
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(APPLAUSE)
SANDERS: -- who hold my political views.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: So one of those is Elizabeth Warren. You said it would be nice to have Elizabeth Warren's support. Have you asked her?
SANDERS: Have I asked for it? Elizabeth and I talked, we have talked for 20 years, we talk on a regular basis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: You called me a liar.
HURT: That seemed a little icy, if you ask me.
INGRAHAM: Yes, that was cold.
BOLDEN: They talked, and they support each other, But that's about it. Warren doesn't bring anything to this ticket, though. She didn't do well in the Democratic Primary. She hasn't endorsed anyone yet, I don't think. I don't think she is going to endorse soon.
INGRAHAM: Warren, no, she is not going to -- Warren is the weakest sister out there. She gets out and says I'm going to wait until -- I'm going to think it all through. Are you kidding me, think it all through?
BOLDEN: You don't want a process?
INGRAHAM: She's going with the winner. She is going to go with Biden.
Gentlemen, thank you.
BOLDEN: Like the rest of us.
INGRAHAM: In moments, I get some of your emails. "Ingraham Inbox," next.
INGRAHAM: My voice lasted through the whole show. I had no voice for five days. I know, there's a good side to that.
I still can't believe the left is trying to say that Trump should cancel his rallies because of the coronavirus. So they don't want 10,000 plus people showing up to go to a Trump rally. That's convenient.
That's all the time we have tonight. Shannon Bream and the "FOX NEWS @ NIGHT" team take it all from here.
Load-Date: March 10, 2020
End of Document
App. 0068
Appendix E
App. 0069 Trump Administration Considering Paid Sick Leave And Help For Small Businesses; Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) Self-Quarantining After Exposure To Coronavirus At CPAC; Dow Falls Over 2,000 Points, Worst Day Since 2008 Crisis; A.G. Barr On Capitol Hill To Discuss Plan To Reauthorize FISA; China Exports Fall Following Coronavirus Outbreak; 352 Delegates Up For Grabs Tuesday In Six States; Texas-Based Genetic Engineering Company Claims To Have Vaccine For Coronavirus
Lou Dobbs Tonight LOU DOBBS TONIGHT 7:00 PM EST March 9, 2020 Monday
Copyright 2020 Fox Business Network LLC All Rights Reserved Section: NEWS; Financial Length: 6874 words Byline: Lou Dobbs, Michael Pillsbury, Michael Goodwin, Ed Rollins Guests: John Lonski, Tom Fitton, Mehmet Oz
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ELIZABETH MACDONALD, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK HOST: And not children. So, interesting stuff. Thanks for joining us. Jam packed hour. Lou Dobbs is next.
LOU DOBBS, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK HOST: I'm Lou Dobbs in New York and you have been watching a press conference initially with the President and members of the Corona Task Force talking about what they are doing to protect Americans from the corona outbreak and which many are calling including this broadcast a pandemic because it now affects 111 countries and territories around the country.
Good evening, everybody. We want to talk first about what happened on Wall Street hard hit by selling in the stock market, a free fall from the very open of trading in New York.
The Dow Jones industrials plunged 2,000 points, the largest one-day loss in history, and for the first time in two decades trading was halted, trying to break the selloff.
The circuit breakers slowed, but didn't halt the dramatic decline. Wall Street hit from almost every direction today. The national leftwing media playing up fears of the coronavirus that has now infected at least 113,000 people, as I said, in 111 countries and territories around the world.
We'll turn to the dimensions of the pandemic here at home later in the show.
Selling this morning started on global markets when Vladimir Putin refused to go along with Saudi Arabia and OPEC plans to cut prices and push up production.
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The Saudis slashing prices after Russia refused to boost their oil production. The result oil prices suffering the worst collapse since 1991.
And for the day, the Dow, the NASDAQ and S&P dropping more than seven percent. Look at those numbers.
The losses amounting to two and a half trillion dollars in lost market cap. We'll have much more on today's market carnage and what to expect in the days ahead.
The worsening outlook for the coronavirus pandemic also driving investor fears. Another cruise ship drawing national attention to the outbreak, a cruise ship carrying 3,500 people docking in Oakland today after spending the past five days offshore.
Twenty-one people aboard the ship tested positive for the coronavirus. After they're removed from the ship, all passengers will face a 14-day quarantine at least and in this nation, to put it in perspective, there have been a total of 607 cases of the Wuhan virus and they've been confirmed and 22 people have been killed.
Those numbers pale in comparison to the number of flu cases over this flu season, and to put all of this into context, the relative scale of the coronavirus and the flu in this country, consider these numbers.
Since October in the United States alone, the Centers for Disease Control reports there have been at least 34 million cases of the flu; 350,000 people, at least, have been hospitalized. And these are estimates I should remind you, these are some of the widest ranges of estimates you'll see in anything but particularly in public health.
At least 20,000 Americans have been killed by the flu. At most, it has killed 52,000 Americans over this flu season, going back to October. Obviously wide ranges, but sobering estimates by the C.D.C.
Well, the coronavirus making an impact on Capitol Hill, as well tonight, five lawmakers deciding to self-quarantine themselves after they came into contact with someone who had the coronavirus. Four of them are Republicans who had contact with a man at last weekend's CPAC event in Maryland. That is 10 days ago.
Congressman Doug Collins is one of those lawmakers and he joins us tonight by telephone. Congressman, good of you to take time and I'm going to begin by asking how do you feel?
REP. DOUG COLLINS (R-GA): Lou, thank you for having me. We feel great. We really are asymptomatic. We don't have any symptoms. We've been going hard as you well, no for the last, you know, 10 days ever since the CPAC conference itself.
And -- but after an abundance of caution, after finding out today that we had come in contact, we did not find out until almost one o'clock this afternoon, that we had been one of those people. We just decided to say, we need to take our precaution just so that everyone would know that when you follow the precautions you do what's right, that we can control this.
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And it also goes to show that just by simply being, you know having some contact, minimal contact with someone, you don't automatically get the virus.
So we feel good and thanks for asking, we're good to be on the show tonight with you.
DOBBS: Well, Congressman, I want to compliment you first for doing the right thing, and that is self-quarantining, which is what all of the public health agencies are recommending that any of us do when we find out we've come into contact with someone with the virus or some place that might be hosting the virus -- surfaces, whatever it may be.
Your thoughts on -- and I want to put up the others who have self- quarantined if I may -- congressmen and senators. Congressman Gosar, Congressman Collins as you are now aware, Senator Ted Cruz and Brownley are all self-quarantining.
Let me ask you this because the question is out there right now, how closely in contact were you with the Vice President or the President during your time at CPAC?
COLLINS: We weren't at all during CPAC at all with either one of those. Now, we have had contact last week, of course, you know, it was a regular work week and we worked with the President on FISA which you and I have talked about.
DOBBS: Right.
COLLINS: Of course, he came down to the C.D.C., but I think it needs to be also confirmed is the fact that I'm not symptomatic. I don't have the, you know, any symptoms and I'm also past the normal incubation period which it would have shown up.
So we wish we would have, you know, found out sooner. If we had found sooner, we would have of course self-quarantined quicker.
But I think, this just also goes to show that what the President the Vice President has said to calm our markets, to calm our folks is that this is something to be taken seriously.
It is what we've always said and I've always said, it is just do the basics and make sure that you're taking care of yourself and we will get through this.
So I think, you know, as we look forward. This is the example we wanted to show and just remind people and I know you've done a great job with this, just doing the basics like your -- like your mom used to tell you, wash your hands, avoid people that are sick. And if you're not feeling well go to the doctor and go forward with that.
And the doctors that I've talked with, the House physician knows, they say that I didn't even need to be tested because I'm not showing any symptoms. They'll keep watching, and we'll go from there.
DOBBS: Well, and we need to keep this in context as we have done up the top of the show, and have done repeatedly throughout our coverage of this outbreak.
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We're now talking about 22 deaths, 607 cases, and we're talking about an influenza season that ranges from October to April, and we know that there's a range, but it's only that range of somewhere between 20 million and 46 million Americans who have died.
It seems that the national leftwing media, if I can put it that way has lost all sense of context here.
COLLINS: Well, and I think that's what we're seeing and that's why I'm wanting to do what we did. That's why we're talking to you tonight.
I mean, I've got a lot of things I'd like to be doing, you know, being in D.C. working on the FISA, and doing the other stuff here in Georgia from the Senate, but we're making sure that people know that if this is a precaution, even in the normal flu season, these are things that will work for all of these communicable types of viruses.
So that it is just a heightened reminder to do the basics, make the disinfectant and do the cleaning, and just do personal hygiene that is respectful for everyone during this time of the year.
And I think when we do that, it calms the markets. And unless people know that we will -- although it may continue to rise, and there will be more cases -- it just says that we will get through this and you know, and our folks and our economy are strong. And I think that's what the President and the Vice President and his Task Force have done today.
DOBBS: And Congressman Doug Collins, you've set a terrific example for all of us and we appreciate it. Thanks so much.
COLLINS: Thanks, Lou. Take care.
DOBBS: Congressman Doug Collins. Stocks today pummeled by the coronavirus fears, the price war between oil giants Saudi Arabia, Russia and OPEC, of course.
Crude oil falling almost 25 percent today to $31.13 a barrel. Let me say that again. The price of crude oil tonight is $31.13 a barrel. Brent crude fell 24 percent to $34.26 a barrel.
The three main stock indexes posting their largest decline since 2008. The Dow down 2,014 points. The S&P 500 down 226 points. The NASDAQ down 625 points. You'll forgive me for rounding that off, I presume and all of the index is down more than seven percent on the day.
Joining us tonight is John Lonski, Managing Director and longtime Chief Economist at Moody's and great friend of this broadcast.
Great to have you here.
JOHN LONSKI, MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CHIEF ECONOMIST, MOODY'S: Same here.
DOBBS: You and I have seen a few markets. This one I've never seen the likes of going back to 1987. This is something special, something unique and something unprecedented about it. Your thoughts?
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LONSKI: Lou, it is an invisible Black Swan. You know, we really haven't had anything like this since the Spanish flu. You remember that from 1980. I can remember that vividly.
But again, there's no template, no precedent for this for people that are alive today. So we're dealing with a lot of uncertainty and it's understandable that markets are very jittery.
DOBBS: It is understandable. It's also understandable that there's not a big applause for $31.00 barrel oil, particularly since then 25 percent decline occurred in, of course, a matter of hours over overnight.
This is -- this is a destabilizing event in the global economy, which is already fearful of the impact of the coronavirus, even though -- and fearful of the uncertainty because people have judged what that effect will be.
I can't think of a time in which there have been more unknown surrounding the market, surrounding the economy, indeed, surrounding the globe than right now.
LONSKI: That is exactly right, and that's one of the reasons why we now look at Treasury bond yields. They're all under one percent. Even the 30- year bond yield incredibly enough, is less than one percent.
The argument had been that when we would see Treasury bond yields so low, that would be in reaction to a recession. But the good news is, we're not there yet.
DOBBS: We're not there yet, and the reaction seems to be the worst case. The reaction in terms of policy seems to be toward the worst case scenario. Not that it's here; not that it's at hand, but rather that we are --
Whether it's the Federal Reserve, whether it is policymakers in the White House or on Capitol Hill -- they're looking at the worst case scenario and then that is being compounded by a --
And I'm going to say it this way, the leftwing national media who wants to make political hay out of this.
LONSKI: The last thing some people want to see is to have Washington actually do something to help lessen the negative impact of this virus.
You know, you're going to have a lot of households, small businesses that may have problems meeting their payrolls in the small businesses, making good on their debt obligations.
We need to have some support in Washington, some sort of backup that compensates for this act of nature.
DOBBS: And the idea that there are some -- some steps being taken. The White House has made it very clear, not only today, but in days previous, that they're going to do whatever they can for people who do not have insurance.
They're going to give tests for anyone who requires them and perhaps even beyond that. These are all steps. I hope personally, that the White House make certain that money goes to individuals, and not to necessarily N.G.O.s, and nonprofits, but rather directly to individuals. App. 0074 Page 6 of 18 Trump Administration Considering Paid Sick Leave And Help For Small Businesses; Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) Self-Quarantining After Exposure To Coronavirus At CPAC....
LONSKI: We have a learned a lot --
DOBBS: Exactly the lesson in 2008. We watched, instead of giving that money to people who were being foreclosed upon, they were giving it to banks. They were giving it to various other entities, rather than moving that money directly to the people who needed it most.
And we learned a lesson in 2008, and then as you can save a lot of money by spending it directly for the people who need it most.
LONSKI: It has to be well thought out and the aid has to be targeted. You're exactly right. And we have to think of those groups that are most vulnerable.
What first comes in mind are elderly Americans and people with preexisting conditions. That's what we have to be concerned about.
Perhaps that's where we first have to go out of the way to see that these groups are protected.
DOBBS: And you know, and I have a personal aversion to some of these words that are used -- communities, elderly -- I mean, we're old people, if you're over the age of whatever it is, 66 -- you pick that number.
Let's talk about -- and if you've got infirmities, you're sick, whether you know, whether you're at that moment actively sick or not, you're a person that has an illness of some sort.
Define it. Say it. Talk straight. We're Americans.
And our public policy people want to divide this into nonsense in my opinion.
LONSKI: That's why when they talk about being -- of people being hospitalized because of the virus, I think they should point out what the average age is, whether or not they have a preexisting condition. That might help lessen the fear factor that has arisen from this problem and this issue.
DOBBS: And certainly, older folks have every reason to be fearful here in this contagion if it does reach their city, their community or their neighborhood.
And that is because it obviously is hitting people hardest who are 80 years or older. Next hardest are 70 and older and anyone 60 and older, who also is sick in some fashion. It makes sense -- compromised immunity.
And this -- and I'm pleased to hear the President and the Task Force talking about doing most for those who need it most.
LONSKI: And that's exactly the way it should be and let's not forget about those businesses that are now being hit hard by this unexpected event.
DOBBS: Yes. And, and I think that this is a country that -- we're rich enough and we're strong enough, we can set a standard for the world. And I'm pretty sure that that's exactly the way this period that is so uncertain right now will be remembered in the years ahead.
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LONSKI: Yes, you have to go beyond broad-based interest rate cuts or tax cuts and again, target the age so it does the most good.
DOBBS: Absolutely. John Lonski, how soon do we get out of it?
LONSKI: Well, I hope --
DOBBS: Aren't you glad I asked that?
LONSKI: I am going to go ahead and make this forecast, and if I am right, of course, I get the Nobel Prize in Economics.
DOBBS: You'll get the Dobb's Prize.
LONSKI: I'll say -- okay, we'll get out of it perhaps when the summer -- the heat of summer comes.
DOBBS: Thank you very much. A rate and a date as they say.
LONSKI: Okay.
DOBBS: Thanks so much.
LONSKI: Getting me in trouble now.
DOBBS: John Lonski. Up next, some American technology companies are more than willing to sacrifice national security for their own bottom line.
And they actually have the chutzpah to stand up and say they're just worried about the trade deficit, forget national security.
We'll take that up with someone who never forgets about national security. The Hudson Institute's Michael Pillsbury joins us here next.
And Attorney General William Barr on Capitol Hill talking FISA reauthorization with Republicans. What kind of deal are they making? Or are they making a deal? Well, we'll find out.
Judicial Watch's Tom Fitton, who watches such things closer than anyone joins us next. Stay with us.
DOBBS: Breaking News tonight, Attorney General William Barr meeting with House Republicans to talk about a plan to reauthorize provisions of the FISA Program set to expire at the end of the week.
Fox News is being told that both sides tonight appear close to a deal. Republicans saying there are several items being pushed in any reauthorization package, and by the way, the President has said he does not want reauthorization without reform first of the FISA legislation and operations.
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They include making the Department of Justice show their work in order to justify any FISA investigation. Penalties for any who politically abuse the FISA process and the production of a transcript of a secret FISA Court proceeding -- any and all of them.
We will be watching this and taking it up tonight with Tom Fitton.
Be sure to vote in our poll tonight. The question is straightforward. Should FISA absolutely be reformed before any reauthorization is considered?
Please cast your vote on Twitter @LouDobbs.
And joining us tonight is Tom Fitton, the President of Judicial Watch. And he is, as always watching this closely as he does almost everything that takes place in the swamp.
This has a -- this has a certain smell to it, Tom, to me, at least. Your thoughts?
TOM FITTON, PRESIDENT, JUDICIAL WATCH: Well, Congress is being asked to reform FISA and we still don't know the scope of the criminality behind those who abused the process to target Carter Page, Donald Trump and Lord knows who else. It's just incredible to me.
Look, the requirement of transcripts for FISA hearings? You know, we asked for the transcripts of the FISA hearings for the four warrant applications targeting the candidate for President, then President of the United States. The court didn't bother the hold hearings.
This is a scam that we're being sold here that we need FISA to protect our national security. The President has inherent authority to conduct surveillance related to foreign intelligence operations. He doesn't need FISA.
What we do need is to put people in jail who violated the law, and to make promises to put people in the future in jail who might violate the law in the future. It's just absurd.
DOBBS: Absurd and it is also disappointing, and that's the word I'll use -- frustrating -- because Attorney General Barr. We are told repeatedly from friends, close associates, that he is the man for the job, and that we can trust him.
What we are in effect being asked to do in this instance, and our Republican and Democratic legislators in Washington. We're being asked to trust Mr. Barr to do what's right, to take care of all of those breaches and abuses of trust by Federal officials, namely those in the Department of Justice and the F.B.I. and our Intelligence Agencies, in some cases, the chiefs of those agencies and just not worry our pretty little heads about the details.
FITTON: Yes, you know, the concern about FISA supposedly is it's, you know, the opportunities for abuse, and they're not policing the abuse that's already taken place. So this is just a lot of noise about nothing. The reform isn't going to fix it.
As I said, we don't need FISA. We didn't have FISA to the left pass to try to restrain the President back in the 70s. It's like the War Powers Act. It's a sort of an unconstitutional imposition on the President's powers.
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But the whole point is, what do you do if the law is broken? If there's an abuse of power? Nothing is being done. And I'm not hearing anything for reform that's going to reassure me that A, there's going to be accountability for what went on or certainly if there's no accountability for what went on in the past. Why do we expect it's going to change in the future?
DOBBS: It's an important question to ask particularly if Kevin McCarthy, the Minority Leader in the House, it is of course, of particular interest to the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, who has made it very clear who her friends are in high places in the Department of Justice and the F.B.I.
The Democrats seem to have more friends than the Republicans, I'll put it that way, in the permanent bureaucracy and the Deep State. I don't know why any Republican would accept this nonsense whatsoever, not a single reason.
Let me turn very quickly to the Hillary Clinton-Judicial Watch deposition. Where do you stand with it? The time is running out?
FITTON: Yes, the court ruled she has to be deposed on the e-mail case within 75 days and that runs on May 16th. We don't expect her to appeal it and we hope to set a deposition date soon.
What's interesting in that ruling, Lou, is the court excoriated this Justice Department and this State Department for trying to pretend there were no more questions to ask.
And on top of that, we had the Fifth Amendment also being asserted, at least indirectly one of the lawyers for one of Hillary Clinton's e-mail vendors.
He said his client is going to assert the Fifth Amendment again. So the judge says, well, we're not going to go through that. So again, the Fifth Amendment raises its ugly head here.
And on top of that, Hillary Clinton after all of this is happening over the weekend, says that the concerns about the e-mails are bogus.
So we have an indication of her view of the court's concerns about what she did with her e-mail system.
DOBBS: Tom, I would like to take up so many things, including the Biden criminal enterprise, but we'll save that for another day. We're out of time, but I do want to, quote Judge Royce Lamberth's order I think that the audience would be well served to see this. If we could put that up.
"Clinton e-mail system was one of the gravest modern offenses to government transparency," that from Judge Royce Lamberth in his court order.
Tom Fitton, thank you very much. Appreciate it, as always.
FITTON: You're welcome, Lou.
DOBBS: Up next, one CEO says his company has a vaccine ready for human trial to fight the coronavirus. He says it'll be ready for the open market. We take it up with Dr. Oz later here tonight. App. 0078 Page 10 of 18 Trump Administration Considering Paid Sick Leave And Help For Small Businesses; Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) Self-Quarantining After Exposure To Coronavirus At CPAC....
And China's economy feels the pain of the virus. We'll take it up with Michael Pillsbury. Stay with us.
DOBBS: Joining us tonight, Dr. Michael Pillsbury, Director of the Center for Chinese Strategy at the Hudson Institute, author of "The Hundred Year Marathon" and it is great to have you with us, Mike.
Let's start with a report from "The Wall Street Journal" today. If we could put this up and it's a stunning report.
Exports by the Chinese from January and February versus a year ago, exports down 17 percent. Is that in your judgment, a direct impact to the corona -- from the corona virus outbreak in China?
DR. MICHAEL PILLSBURY, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR CHINESE STRATEGY, THE HUDSON INSTITUTE: Yes, Lou, I don't know what else it could be. It fits with their reports of all their large factories in Central China being shut down.
They've been debating whether to reopen these large factories or not. They want to reopen the ones that are far away from Wuhan, but the ones in the central area are still largely closed.
DOBBS: And are you suspicious of the numbers we're seeing? That is a fairly stable rate of cases, a stable rate of deaths and actually a very impressive recovery rate. Are we looking at something that is less than transparent?
PILLSBURY: Well, as you know, the United States have built the system that's producing these statistics. Our own C.D.C. went over in the 1980s and constructed their system.
So it'd be pretty risky and a pretty elaborate fraud on their part to try to fake these numbers. My hunch is what they're really afraid of, what they tell me by phone, I have not been over there recently, what they tell me they're most afraid of, Lou, is if they prematurely open up factories, put everybody back to work in the social distancing and the quarantines, there could be relapses.
They could -- they could have either people who had it have it again, or people being exposed for the first time drive the numbers back up to where they were last month. That's seems to be the greatest worry from the Chinese.
They wanted President Trump to come over and visit them, but they postponed that I think.
DOBBS: Yes, well, someone would, I would believe.
PILLSBURY: Yes.
DOBBS: The other thought I had as you were explaining their rationalization, that sometimes rationalization is obfuscation itself.
PILLSBURY: Yes.
DOBBS: So that is also something we might consider as well. Let's turn to - -
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PILLSBURY: They are holding back some important information. Every now and then, they come out with a study. The one last week about how those over 80 are being hit 15 percent lethality.
So they're dribbling out these this information to us and they're trying to make a point to the world, that they're still in charge of the virus. They know the most about it.
DOBBS: Well, if they -- I think then we should probably call it the Wuhan virus so that they get full credit for their contribution to global public health.
PILLSBURY: Yes.
DOBBS: Which by the way, we do refer to it as Wuhan virus on this broadcast quite often. Now, why do you think we're seeing such reluctance on the part of the World Health Organization to call this a pandemic? Why was there such an extraordinary haste to call it COVID-19 or rather than the Wuhan virus? Was this an accommodation of the Chinese?
PILLSBURY: It is part of a much larger problem that the United Nations specialized agencies are now largely under the control or the heavy influence of the Chinese.
We've neglected these U.N. specialized agencies. I'd say there's three or four that are definitely under Chinese control. They just tried to nab the -- believe it or not, Lou -- the World Intellectual Property Organization was going to elect a Chinese as their leader.
DOBBS: No, I am quite aware of it.
PILLSBURY: We beat them on that, a very aggressive American Ambassador in Geneva orchestrated an effort to stop that.
The W.H.O. is largely lost in terms of their Chinese attitudes. They just can't say enough positive about China, when it's not justified.
DOBBS: And the and the President is maintaining the tariffs against the Chinese, shows no sign whatsoever of softening despite some influence within his administration to do so. We have about 30 seconds, your response?
PILLSBURY: I think a lot of the friends of China inside our government had been activated by the Chinese as a humanitarian gesture, you know, please lay off on some of these things, but I don't think the President is going to do it because some of these are core issues to his own election.
Intellectual property theft, the China 2025 Program. It is not going to change --
DOBBS: I'm going to use up 15 of your seconds. Have we seen any sign that they are pulling back in their theft of our intellectual property?
PILLSBURY: No, I don't think so. We're waiting for a company to file a case, Lou, and use the system that's been set up.
DOBBS: Dr. Michael Pillsbury, as always, great to have you here.
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PILLSBURY: Thanks, Lou.
DOBBS: We'll be right back.
DOBBS: Joining us tonight, former Reagan White House political director, Republican political strategist and savant, Ed Rollins.
ED ROLLINS, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you.
DOBBS: Also, Fox Business political analyst. Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for "The New York Post," Fox Business contributor, great American, Michael Goodwin. Both of you, great Americans. I just say it more often in connection with -- good to have you both.
ROLLINS: We appreciate it. Thank you.
DOBBS: Let me let me turn first to the race tomorrow. Bernie was supposed to break through in Michigan to stop Biden. Biden, in the most recent poll is up 25 percent. Is this thing over?
MICHAEL GOODWIN, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK CONTRIBUTOR: It certainly feels that way. Michigan was supposed to be something of a firewall for Sanders because he won it four years ago over Hillary Clinton.
The polls showed her running away with it and so naturally, she sort of loafed around and he worked hard and pulled off a surprise victory, but it's hard to see any surprise this time around.
You get the sense that the air is coming out of him pretty quickly.
DOBBS: Three hundred and fifty two delegates up in all of the races tomorrow. Who do you think will prevail across most of those?
ROLLINS: I think that Biden will. Hillary lost Michigan by one point and four delegates last time. And it was viewed as a big victory for Bernie for a turnaround.
I think at this point, the Governor has endorsed Biden, I think Biden is now that flavor of the year for the Democrats. He is their placeholder.
He sees none of the above for Trump, and I think with the exception of possibly Idaho, I think everything else, Washington's caucus last year, Mississippi, I think is a black state or a bigger black population in South Carolina. So my sense is it is going to be a good day for Biden.
DOBBS: A good day for Biden, and this could be -- this could be it driving forward.
GOODWIN: Yes. Very hard to see how Bernie catches up if tomorrow turns out the way I just suggested, and I think there's no reason not to think it will.
DOBBS: Does any part of you secretly hope that there is a big surprise and that Bernie breaks through?
GOODWIN: Yes, it would be -- it would be nice to.
DOBBS: A better story.
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GOODWIN: And also, I think -- I think Biden remains untested in so many ways. And if there aren't going to be real debates, if Bernie is sort of out of it. I mean, in the primary system.
DOBBS: I have to take exception, sir. There is going to be a real debate, but they've just made it just so Joe Biden wouldn't have to stand up for the whole debate.
ROLLINS: Poor Bernie.
DOBBS: Poor Bernie. But I mean, what is this? All of a sudden, Biden can't stand up for an entire two hour debate?
ROLLINS: Well, interesting tonight on another show that was pre-taped today, he wants the President to be quiet. He said the President is making too much noise relative to the virus. For 40 years --
DOBBS: What show was that?
ROLLINS: It's -- I think, it's an MSNBC show. So it's either Maddow or whatever. But it was taped earlier.
GOODWIN: I didn't know your watched that.
ROLLINS: I heard the promo. People have been wanting Biden to be quiet for about 40 years and they definitely want to be quiet for the next 235 days until the election.
DOBBS: So what have they got to hide here? Because he makes absolutely disastrous remarks day after day, time after time. Is it their strategy then to hide him?
GOODWIN: Well --
DOBBS: And spring the surprise on the American people when he goes into a debate with President Trump? I mean, that would be awful.
GOODWIN: Well, the more you see him, I mean, he does make you nervous when he -- you kind of wonder what's going to come out?
DOBBS: It doesn't make me nervous.
GOODWIN: Well, I mean --
DOBBS: I just can't wait.
GOODWIN: Yes. But over the weekend, he basically said, we have to reelect President Trump. I mean, he could not get through a simple sentence. And this is not just gaffes or mistakes --
DOBBS: Or maybe he is saying what he really means.
GOODWIN: Well, maybe.
DOBBS: But what do you think?
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ROLLINS: Well, he also said last week, he had a big day on Super Thursday. You know, I think the reality is, is he's not what he once was and he never was particularly articulate.
And I think the thing that bothers me is that all the mainstream media is saying, well, you can't go after him now. He's a decent man, and it's unfair to go after all of these things.
Well, we're going to go after him and we are going to go after big time because there's a lot of things that he and his family have done, a lot of things that he's done that are part of the record.
DOBBS: One of the most atrocious things he's done is pretend to be all right. His family is pretending -- no, I'm serious.
GOODWIN: No, I agree.
DOBBS: He is not well. His time is obviously passed. And no one wants to say those words. I mean, is this, and I have to ask, is this a strategy to move him forward? And in the months ahead, it becomes too much for even the Democrats to take, and they pivot to a chosen one in the background?
GOODWIN: Yes. And I think if they ended up doing that, Hillary Clinton would be one of those who would be an option because you think of all the others who have dropped out this year, all of them were rejected.
They have no real backup plan at this point and I don't see --
DOBBS: Do you think it might well be their thinking?
GOODWIN: Well, I think it wouldn't be their first choice. I think they'd like to see Biden do it, but I agree with you. You cannot imagine him being President this way.
He's not going to get better six months from now, a year from now, two years from now, what kind of President would he be?
ROLLINS: I think the Speaker is rattling her rosary beads on a regular basis to make sure there's divine intervention that gets him through this process.
DOBBS: An ecclesiastical analysis from our resident savant, and we are impressed. Ed Rollins and Michael Goodwin. Thank you both so much. Appreciate it.
Up next, one company says they have a vaccine ready for the coronavirus. One small change might accelerate their production. We'll take that up and more right after this quick break. Dr. Oz on the other side. Stay with us.
DOBBS: A Texas-based genetic engineering company, Greffex, says it has a vaccine for the coronavirus and is very confident in its efficacy and will soon begin testing in animals.
Their Chief Executive Officer says the vaccine will be ready as early as the end of the year, but adds one thing could make that process happen much faster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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JOHN PRICE, CEO, GREFFEX: Yesterday was the first time I heard people say it's a pandemic. If it's truly a pandemic, then you can pretty much do whatever you want.
The process is roughly four weeks for the first animal testing, and then you go into human trials and that's the part that will be determined by the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DOBBS: Determined by the government. So what's going on? Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of "The Dr. Oz Show," Director of Columbia University's Integrative Medicine Center. Great to have you with us.
DR. MEHMET OZ, DIRECTOR OF INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE CENTER, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: Thanks, Lou.
DOBBS: There you heard the CEO, say, with the designation because I've been asking this question of everyone, whether it's Alex Azar, H.H.S.; whether it's Dr. Fauci, whomever.
Why not make it a pandemic? Because it is a pandemic by any other definition than that of the World Health Organization.
OZ: I think it got caught up in the internal nomenclature battles within the W.H.O., and why it hasn't happened? Colleagues of mine have been arguing the same thing you've been saying.
I don't know if it makes that much of a difference anymore. I'm not concerned about an epidemic or pandemic, I'm concerned about an endemic virus, which means the virus is always with us, right, SARS was all over the place, but it disappeared by itself. There was no vaccine made. It literally died out. It burned out.
MERS -- these tend to die out because they're too virulent. This virus and it is a mutated virus, it's not manmade. That I'm pretty confident of based just on the studies that I've seen.
But this thing somehow came about where it had just the right amount of virulence, so it doesn't kill you, because viruses that kill you kill themselves.
DOBBS: Right.
OZ: But it's incredibly contagious. So we've got to get out with these vaccines. I think the U.S. government is already pushing as hard as they can. But the real worry is that we'll rush a vaccine out, give it to a few hundred million people and run into consequences we never anticipated.
DOBBS: Like what?
OZ: Well, you could affect, for example, the fetus in a pregnant woman, and that's a population that's at risk. You could hasten the death in some people with chronic illnesses. They're the ones that are at risk.
And here's the thing, just before walking out on the stage, saw some of the data from Korea, which is very different from the data that the Chinese C.D.C. shared us. It's a much lower
App. 0084 Page 16 of 18 Trump Administration Considering Paid Sick Leave And Help For Small Businesses; Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) Self-Quarantining After Exposure To Coronavirus At CPAC.... incidence of death, which means if I've got a population that's not dying any more commonly than the flu virus kills us, why would I take a big chance with a vaccine?
I do want to slow it down. Certainly, we don't want to waste time that otherwise is in a bureaucracy, but move it along, but expect that to take a year, which is what everybody I trust in the space has told me is a reasonable expectation.
DOBBS: A reasonable expectation. Dr. Fauci saying very clearly -- Dr. Anthony Fauci of N.I.H., Head of the Infectious Diseases Program, saying that he expects a year to a year and a half, even though we hear others saying that they have a ready to go vaccine.
And the definition by his reasoning, at his firm, with a vaccine that's ready to go is that that W.H.O. designation, or designation by the Centers for Disease Control, makes it possible to expedite and you know, one of the great political issues here will be when we are in a few months ahead.
We're looking back on what was decided and what wasn't, they are going to be asking, did we do everything we can as quickly as we can, if we have, God forbid, a huge number of fatalities?
OZ: Well, I spoke to Seema Verma today actually on Fox News, and she is pretty clear about the fact that they're doing everything humanly possible to deal with the acute issues like, do we have enough hospital beds? Do we have enough ventilators? And do we have enough testing?
DOBBS: Do you think we do?
OZ: No, we don't have enough any of those things.
DOBBS: But, I mean, they're not dealing with the problem if they're not solving the problem.
OZ: They have --
DOBBS: They're aware of a problem.
OZ: They are aware of the problem.
DOBBS: There is quite a difference.
OZ: And it's been about 50 days since the first case, so people are starting to get a bit agitated. But long term, you want to make sure the vaccine you put out is effective or you really undermine the confidence of the public.
Here's my argument.
DOBBS: Surely.
OZ: We're telling people not to panic. It's really hard not to panic. It's difficult -- Nike doesn't say just don't do it, they say, just do it.
So our argument is ought to be, we are a can-do population. Americans go out there.
DOBBS: Absolutely.
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OZ: We mobilize. We get things done. Give us our marching orders, let's do what we can do for ourselves. There is one sheet that I noticed that is on your desk is that we're putting it out on all of my social sites, you should pull it up, if you don't mind.
It's a one sheet primer on the simple things to do.
DOBBS: Let me interrupt you.
OZ: Please.
DOBBS: This sheet is what Dr. Oz's referring to. It is up on @LouDobbs on Twitter and available to you. And it'll be on Instagram and everything -- and Facebook.
OZ: So do those things while the American public is doing what they can to become a firewall for the virus, including social distancing, the U.S. government has an obligation back, which is to deal with the things I mentioned, plus making sure this vaccine gets out.
And there are a bunch of companies developing vaccines, I know of a few that have gotten enough promising data, they're going to move into animal trials. Let's get these guys going.
I don't think a nomenclature designation is going to be a game changer here, and that's just a matter of U.S. government --
DOBBS: And we're going to have to solve that issue because that issue is now very much alive for the first time. And it's the only thing that explains to me rationally and effectively why there would be such an institutional reticence to use a designation for what is obviously -- this is not a game -- this is -- you know, this is not a place for PC nonsense.
A pandemic is what this is. And I think you agree with me.
OZ: Yes. It spread to more than -- it is that.
DOBBS: In line with what you're talking about, we're dealing with adults here and we don't need to be worrying about them panicking.
I say it a different way. America is not a nation of buttercups and daffodils.
OZ: Right.
DOBBS: We are used to being treated with respect as citizens and adults and we expect our government to do the same.
Your thoughts as we look at this now with the cruise ships. We are now -- Dr. Fauci has said -- no cruises, end the cruise thing right now. Your thoughts about why people particularly in the 60 to 80 age group should be worried about.
OZ: Well the age is important, but whether you have a chronic illness is even more important. So if you've got cardiovascular disease, lung issues, asthma, diabetes, that population should social distance, which means don't go in the subway in rush hour if you don't have to. Don't go to big ball games. I would avoid major trips.
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But I don't want the rest of the U.S. population shutting down. I don't want them panicked about what they may have heard.
DOBBS: All right. Dr. Oz, great to have you with us. Thanks so much. And as I've said, on Twitter @LouDobbs. Stay with us. We're coming right back.
DOBBS: In our poll Friday, we asked the question, if you think the radical Dems will ever give up their pursuit of overthrowing President Trump? Ninety seven percent of you said, no. I couldn't agree more.
That's it for us tonight. Dr. Mark Rupp, Colonel Doug MacGregor among our guests here tomorrow. We hope you'll join us. Follow me on Twitter @LouDobbs. Good night from New York.
Load-Date: March 10, 2020
End of Document
App. 0087
Appendix F
App. 0088 Italy is under a full lockdown and President Trump is continuing his ban on travel from China to the U.S.; Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik now says she received a horrible threatening note, just while grocery shopping in the weekend; The media taking its hysteria to a new level, predicting a 15% to 20% death rate in the United States tied to coronavirus; Politico is reporting that Joe Biden's brother James is possibly involved in a fraudulent scandal that involving the healthcare provider AmeriCorps. Aired 8-9p ET
TRISH REGAN PRIMETIME TRISH REGAN PRIMETIME 8:00 PM EST March 9, 2020 Monday
Copyright 2020 Fox Business Network LLC All Rights Reserved Section: NEWS; Domestic Length: 6895 words Byline: Trish Regan, Tomi Lahren, Lisa Kennedy Guests: David Harris, Jr., Janette Nesheiwat, Charlie Kirk, Diamond & Silk
Body
DR. DOUCH MARK, FOX NEWS HOST: --percent of you said no, I couldn't agree more. That's it tonight for us. Michael Robe and Colonel Doug Maccgregor among our guests here tomorrow. We will join you. Call me in Twitter @LOUDOUGH. Good night from New York.
TRISH REGAN, HOST, TRISH REGAN PRIMETIME: We reached a tipping point. The course of hate being leveled at the President is nearing a crescendo as the Democrats blame him and only him for a virus that originated halfway around the world. This is another effort to impeach the President. And sadly it seems they care very little for the destruction they are leaving in their wake.
Losses in the stock market, and all this unfortunately just part of the political casualties for them this is the time to be united. Not to be pointing fingers. Not to be encouraging hate AND YET what do w see, we see the absolute opposite from the left tonight.
Good evening everyone, I'm Trish Regan. The hate is boiling over many in the liberal media using Coronavirus in an attempt to demonize and destroy the President.
(BEGIN VIDO CLIP)
REP. JACKIE SPEIER (D-CA): I don't think the President is capable of telling us the truth about the Coronavirus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have to plan.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The virus is going to kill Americans regardless of their stupidity.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This administration right now will slightly going o organize one corporate. He is not going to be able to have these rallies and it has been will psychologically torment him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The President should lead or else he should lead or else he gets out of the way. They are on the golf course.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may be Donald Trump's Katrina. This is an event that could take down the President.
JOE BIDEN (D) FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is no confidence in the President in anything he says or does. I wish he would just be quiet.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REAGAN: I see. This is impeachment all over again. And like with the Mueller investigation, like with Ukraine gate they don't care who they hurt. Whether it's their need to create mass hysteria to encourage a market sell-off, unlike anything we have seen recently or to be to create mass hysteria in order to stop our economy dead in its tracks. They told us how much they crave a recession as a way to get rid of Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIIFED MALE: Do you see now why I say we need a recession I know it is going be painful. But we have to get rid of this guy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A recession is a survivable event. What Trump is doing to this country is not. Recessions are survivable events.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have been hoping for a recession, people hate me for it but it would get rid of Trump so you shouldn't hate me for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean recessions are really bad. People lose their jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We shouldn't worse it--
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's worth it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REAGAN: You know of course these are people's jobs that the left does not mind seeing them lose. These are people 401ks that are being decimated. And that's okay with them. That's okay with the left yes, you know in some ways they almost seem to be cheering it on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Containment has failed and mitigation is the next objection.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm glad that CNN is calling this new Coronavirus outbreak for what it is, which is a pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The is sort of a perfect storm.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The ship has sailed here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here CNN is calling the Coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To say this is contained that is a flat-out lie.
UNIDENIFIED MALE: IT's important I think to call this a pandemic.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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REAGAN: This is impeachment all over again complete with a whistleblower to complain about our health and human services committee. It is critical you know what that we look at these numbers with a clear lens. I want to remind everyone that the CDC estimates that this year's seasonal flu has resulted roughly in 34 million cases and 20,000 deaths in the United States alone.
The season flu from 2009 to 2010 nearly 6 million Americans got swine flu and more than 12,000 Americans died as many as 575000 people worldwide died of the swine flu. And was there any criticism? No. Because why? The media didn't want to insult their precious President Obama, I suppose.
I spoke with a doctor on Friday who told me that the World Health Organization others they typically do whatever they can to get the word out it is critical that people are aware the problems. So the public can improve hygiene routines and health routines.
This is what helps in terms of lessening the infection rates but you know what the media's reaction. The global town halls and CNN treating this like it's some missing plane story. Did they do this during Ebola? No. We didn't even see this insanity for SARS and SARS and Ebola those viruses were far more deadly so why the melodrama on such an alighted scale right now?
[08:05:00]
REAGAN: And why are the markets reacting like this? I'll give you two words. Donald Trump. And the media doesn't like him. People including the media and some investors are allowing their own hate and their bias against him to spiral out of control leading to massive sell-offs in the market.
Any time there is this kind of disruption in the supply chain any time people cut back on spending there will be economic softness which can lead to a recession. And we are probably due for one now. But we'll recover. We always do.
For the media to spin a narrative that this sell-off and this virus are all a result of President Trump is just wrong. But unfortunately I guess they needed someone to blame. They were to blame him for literally anything they can and they have no real interest, shall we say, in finding who is to blame. Who is the root cause of all this?
From what we can tell, this all originated out of China you know when Donald Trump as their political target, that's all they need. That's tonight's Intel. Joining me, Trump 2016 Deputy Campaign Manager David Bossie. David good to see you.
I get it, people are frightened, they're scared but when you look at the actual statistics and I'm not saying that people should not take seriously and everybody should be urged to exercise caution and wash their hands and not going to work if they're sick. But this kind of hysteria this kind of sell off today down 2000 points I mean come on.
DAVID BOSSIE, TRUMP 2020 DEPUTY CAMPAIGN ADVISER: It's an outrageous act the Democrats and the media are perpetrating on the American people. It is dangerous, it is divisive. They hate this - well I would say this to you all the time, they hate this President more than they love our country.
Bill Maher and others, those clips you showed, they want America to fail so that they can defeat Donald Trump. They know what he has built over the last three years is the strongest economy America has ever seen. Every American is prospering from, and it is this virus which is caused by the Chinese, this Wuhan virus which now even the media is saying you can't say it's the Wuhan virus anymore because that makes people feel bad.
REAGAN: I have a whole segment coming up on that, by the way because you told me that's absolutely ridiculous.
BOSSIE: It's the political correctness run amok. Where are the Democrats in the leading? When Barack Obama had problems in his administration, Mitch McConnell was there to lead for the American people, for all the American people. They made deals whether we conservatives liked them or not. Whether it was in Bill Clinton's time, George Bush's time or Barack Obama's time the Democrats need to sand up and be candid.
Where are Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer? They want this President to fail.
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REAGAN: Chuck Schumer is too busy issuing threats to Supreme Court Justices tactfully care about anything meaningful in terms of vaccines that could be on the way. But when you look at this hysteria what you think is really - I mean, we know the media hates and we know the left hates him. We know that lawmakers at this point have proven how willing they are to effectively choose themselves over any kind of patriotism.
So that's all out there anything else to explain this though? Because I look at it and say you know the closer we get to the vaccine, the closer I think some relief will come in these markets. But you have to face the facts for what they are.
BOSSIE: And Trish, I think the facts all Americans are going to come to grips with. We're going to see a big spike in numbers in the number of cases in the next couple weeks. As the testing become more available, what this President did in his decisive action in shutting down travel to this country was incredibly important.
It bought our government, the federal and local governments, time to be able to get ready for what we are about to embark on. We now know there are lot of cases people don't present they don't have it - they think it's a mild cold but they had it.
People are going to see a big increase in cases and the American people just have to be ready for that and then we'll work our way through it. That's what the markets I believe are playing to. There was always little bit ahead. I think they are seeing the down side.
And I think these are good buying opportunities for a lot of people. Every metric of our economy of is incredibly strong. As soon as we get back through this, our economy will be back on fire.
REAGAN: But I agree with you.
[08:10:00]
BOSSIE: But do I think the president should take some dramatic steps in halting the payroll tax for a little while. I think there are multiple things that he can do to stimulate the economy to give some tax breaks.
REAGAN: I mean, you looking at doing that. He told us today.
BOSSIE: Absolutely and I am excited to hear what he's going to do tomorrow. It's only through this leadership. We don't see any Democrat nowhere to be found a Democrat who is willing to help this President help America.
REAGAN: Bow just pointing fingers. That's what they would like to do. David Bossie, it's good to see you, thank you so much. All right, tonight forget that the nation is going through a health crisis. Democrats and Liberal media not missing a beat here always making time to call something a social justice crisis, right as well.
Liberals now accusing Republicans of racism for calling it "Wuhan virus" you just heard Mr. Bossie about that. Forget the fact that news organization and he says actually okay using the term, oh, and CNN has also used the term. Don't mind them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIENTIFIED FEMALE: The Wuhan Coronavirus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Wuhan Coronavirus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REAGAN: Conservative Host and Author David Harris Junior are here to call out those liberal. He will also react to find a segment diamond and silk calling out who they say is the real racist. Liberals like Spike Lee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look at a person like Spike Lee. I look at him as he perpetuates racism on a daily. He makes movies about racism keeping you stuck in the pain of your ancestors. Look a mirror takes a look in the mirror and look at himself and instead of calling white people racist; he's being a racist towards black people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REAGAN: Wow! Also tonight more fallout from a top Democrat gleefully threatening Trump Appointed Supreme Court Justices.
(BGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER, SENATE MINORITY LEADER: I want you to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released a whirlwind and you will pay the price.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REAGAN: Republican Congressional people Elise Stefanik now says she received a vial, threatening note while grocery shopping over the weekend. Coming up Charlie Kirk is here and his reactions all the details. If you remember - has been the victim a terrific liberal violence. The first liberal media still breathlessly hoping the Coronavirus will be President Trump's downfall.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got to have to have some kind of leadership.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is very, very concerned with the way that this administration is handling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The world is not looking for President Trump to lead on this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may be Donald Trump's Katrina.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REAGAN: My next guest says don't do anything but blame the real the culprits China. Fox Nation's Tomi Lahren, she is here and she is speaking out. That's next.
REGAN: Tonight, the world in a state of shock. The entire country of Italy is under a full lockdown and our President is continuing his ban on travel from China to the U.S. But, do we need to go further? Israel has already enacted a two-week quarantine for anyone trying to come into their country. So, can we and should we be considering a temporary ban on any and all foreign flights? Or should we look at mandatory quarantines for everyone coming into America? I think it makes sense.
And why allow any foreigners into our country right now, at a time when we are trying to figure out who is here and whether they are healthy or not. Joining me right now, Fox Nation host Tomi Lahren, who I have a feeling agrees with me as well.
Tomi, I mean, Israel has don't, why don't we?
TOMI LAHREN, FOX NATION HOST: We need to do whatever is necessary but if President Trump does move forward to protect the United States in that way, actually a very effective way, the Left will call him a racist and a bigot. And then on the other side of their mouth, they say that he's not handling this crisis properly. But I ask them, what else would you have this President do? He's doing everything effective to actually solve the crisis and he's trying to keep people calm, which is what - exactly what a leader should do in times like this. But they are never going to be happy with it. It's President Trump and it is going to be his fault no matter what.
REGAN: So, he's going to be racist, right? I mean we have already heard about the xenophobia, right, because he said anybody from China. But my goodness, I mean, China was the epicenter of this and he certainly urged caution and there is travel
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I do think it's a little bit overblown, as I said in my earlier segment. I mean when you compare this and contrast it, Tomi, with say swine flu and just the regular old flu. But nonetheless, if we are that concerned about making sure people here are safe, shouldn't we be willing to kind of go the extra measure and you know what, the Left be damned.
LAHREN: Well, absolutely. We should be doing things that are effective and a travel ban is effective. If we have areas where the disease has spread, we have areas that are highly impacted, then it makes sense that we should ban travel to those areas, from those area. However, I live here in California, kind of the epicenter of the coronavirus issue right now. We have got, of course, the cruise ship in Oakland and there is hysteria over that.
But I often ask people, Nancy Pelosi, Gavin Newsom and the rest of our leaders here that are really trying to blow this up and make it this hysterical moment for us, you don't care about the heroin needles in the streets? You don't care about the feces, the trash, the typhoid, the rats? Those things are not problematic and a health concern, but suddenly coronavirus with the cases that we have, suddenly that is a case for hysteria, and it is President Trump's fault? No, I don't buy it, Trish.
REGAN: Yes, I hear you, Tomi. Let me ask you this. I know there has been a lot of concern about where exactly this virus came from, how it originated. We are told by the Chinese and I would just say, obviously, you have to take it with a grain of salt because this is what the Chinese are saying. Tomi, they are saying it originated via livestock.
They are in China; they do have a tremendously awful record in terms of how they treat their livestock. So that's certainly plausible, but Tomi, are you buying that? I mean, you have got Wuhan which was actually a location that had two bio-warfare labs. So, do you think that our intel folks should be maybe doing some digging as to just exactly what the origins of this thing really are?
LAHREN: Well absolutely. I think that it's very wise that we not trust China in anything that they say or at least take it with a huge grain of salt, with really a gallon full of salt, we should be concerned. And also, we are talking about products that come from China that may have resulted, if their livestock or the other even more of a reason to make sure that we have American grown products, we use American livestock.
We've got plenty of that here. I'm from South Dakota, that's a ranching state, we can get our beef right here from the United States of America and not have to worry about possibly contaminated goods and products from China. I think that sounds like a win-win for us.
REGAN: Well said, Tomi Lahren, thank you so much. Good to see you tonight.
OK, coming up everyone, more fallout from Schumer's threatening comments.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh, you have released a whirlwind and you will pay the price.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik now says she received a horrible threatening note, just while grocery shopping this weekend.
Coming up, Charlie Kirk is here to react to the details. And if you remember, he too has been the victim of horrific liberal violence. But first, the Democrats and the liberal media proving once again they can make racist accusations about absolutely anything, absolutely anything because you know what, they are now accusing Republicans of racism, for get this calling the coronavirus the Wuhan virus. Forget that Wuhan happens to be the epicenter of where this all originated from, and a news organization in Asia also uses this term. Oh and CNN has used it as well.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Wuhan coronavirus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Wuhan coronavirus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: Coming up next, conservative host and author, David Harris, Jr. is here to call them out. He's also reacting to Diamond and Silk calling out, who they say, is the real racist, and it's Spike Lee. That's next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROCHELLE RICHARDSON, VIDEO BLOGGER: When I look a person like Spike Lee, I look at him as - he perpetuates racism daily. He makes movies about racism, keep you stuck in the pain of your ancestors. Look at the mirror, take a look in the mirror and look at himself. And instead of calling white people racist, he is being a racist towards black people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: The liberal media crying foul tonight over a Republican Congressman referring to the coronavirus as the Wuhan virus, despite the fact that Wuhan is where it all started. One MSNBC anchor tweeting just astoundingly gross to call it the Wuhan virus. A so called journalist for The Daily Beast adding it's racism. And others saying it's xenophobic too.
But hang on, wait a second, where were these outraged liberals when we named, oh I don't know, West Nile virus, which is at the West Nile, German Measles out of Germany. Bunch of other ones - Lassa, Nigeria, you had the Lassa Fever. Rocky Mountain, spotted fever. Guess that would be right out of the US.
And then of course Lyme Disease, after a town in Connecticut. MERS, Middle East respiratory syndrome. Norovirus, do you know that one was out of Norwalk, Ohio. I could go on and on.
Joining me right now, member of the Black Voices for Trump Coalition, author of Why I Couldn't Stay Silent, David Harris, Jr. David, good to see you.
DAVID HARRIS, JR., BLACK VOICES FOR TRUMP COALITION MEMBER: So good to see you, Trish. Blessed to be back on with you.
REGAN: Correct me, it's like they just look for opportunities. They find them wherever they can. And in this particular case, it's now what racist to say Wuhan virus?
HARRIS JR.: It's is absolutely unbelievable yet it's believable because it's coming from the liberal mainstream media. I would say wake up America. I ask the American people, are they awake yet, do they not understand that the majority of the liberal media has an agenda, and their agenda is to try to paint this President everything mean, everything derogatory and despicable in the book.
And the biggest thing for most Americans is, if you are a racist. So for them to just say that, oh because it originated at Wuhan, now that's racist to call it Wuhan, it's like everything else you said. The German measles had nothing to do with measles in Germany. It lad to do with the German physicians that were actually describing the measles. Are we going to go restrict that now and change all of that history based on people's feelings?
REGAN: What about the norovirus? I like that one, that was right out of the Norwalk, Ohio, I didn't know that actually until today.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS JR.: Yes, like Lyme Disease.
REGAN: Yes, right from Connecticut.
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I mean, at some point it just gets a little bit silly. And at some point, they are going to have to recognize that it's like a little boy that cried wolf a few too many times.
HARRIS JR.: (LAUGHTER) Yes. They are crying wolf an awful lot. That's all they can do is cry wolf, because here is the thing. The liberal mainstream media and Democrats don't want Americans to actually use their brains with it comes to facts, when it comes to the truth.
What they want is Americans to write off emotions, they want to get Americans emotionally riled up and not look at the facts that we do have the best economy that America has ever had. And it's because of this President's leadership that black unemployment is at a historic all-time low in this country, because of this President's leadership. They don't want people to look the facts. They want to try to rile them up over emotions and they are crying wolf way too much.
REGAN: You know, that brings me to Diamond and Silk who were on the program, David, on Friday. And Diamond and Silk are saying that, look for Spike Lee to go out there and call them effectively the equivalent of house slaves in the pre-civil war era, that's pretty bad. And in fact, it's the Democrat Party in their view that are the real racists, people like Spike Lee. I want you to see this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNNETTE HARDAWAY, VIDEO BLOGGER: It's time for black people to wake up and smell the coffee here. You don't have any part of the Democrat Party. They don't want us at the Democrat Party.
ROCHELLE RICHARDSON, VIDEO BLOGGER: That's right.
HARDAWAY: They look at us as a commodity, something that could be bought and sold. That's why they try to buy us with free stuff. They are truly the party of racism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: I know that you were there in the Oval Office, so you were one of the people that Spike Lee was also equating with pre-civil war house slaves.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS JR.: The house slaves, yes.
REGAN: How does it feel to you to be called a house slave by Spike Lee.
HARRIS JR.: You know, I have to step back and ask my American fellow brothers and sisters and members of the black community to step back and ask themselves, how much does Spike Lee really have in common with most average everyday Americans?
His net worth is over $40 million. He's made movie after movie, some very divisive, a lot about race. He used to be hopefully a champion for the black community. But for somebody with his stature, with his presence in our country to then call out individuals like myself that was in the Oval Office with the President of the United States and equate us to house slaves, it's digusting, it's derogatory and it's nothing that anybody should champion, it's nothing that anybody should stand up for Spike Lee about.
Same with Keith Boykin on CNN, with Don Lemon, all of them laughing at us, calling us clowns. Guess what, Obama didn't invite a bunch of us to the White House. He invited all the celebrities, he invited J-Lo, he invited - or Jay Z, he invited Beyonce. He wasn't inviting the average everyday Americans that are out here appreciating the President for what he did.
REGAN: I like that, I am glad you brought that up, because I'm going to give you a funny shine that Diamond and Silk said to me. They said - I believe it was Silk at the end of the interview, who said, look Obama may have had Beyonce and Jay-Z, but Donald Trump has Diamond and Silk.
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(LAUGHTER)
And it was a powerful statement.
HARRIS JR. And David Harris Jr., and Dan Moore (ph), yes.
REGAN: And David Harris Jr. But to your point, every day people that care about the issues in the community, that has a bigger effect. And I think it's in some ways more meaningful than getting the celebrities to stand up there.
HARRIS JR.: Absolutely, yes it is.
REGAN: How do you see what's happening right now, I mean the softening markets, the hysteria, if you would, surrounding coronavirus, how do you see that affecting employment, including for the black community right now?
HARRIS JR.: It's hard what we are going through right now. Obviously, I think there's a lot more hysteria that's going on with corona than should be. Again, the liberal media is pushing the narrative, trying to paint Donald Trump as the bad guy for this.
When, just like every other virus that is supposedly - was supposed to take out our economy, take out our country, take out the world has passed - coronavirus too will pass. And we'll be back to the brass tacks knuckles of what this administration is doing to bring jobs back. Thank God that President Trump brought back 600,000 manufacturing jobs.
And I also see this as a way for the President to continue to pull back the supply chains. We have too much to rely on China. We need more manufacturing in the United States, we need to supply ourselves with everything, and I think that with this administration, we are going to get it.
REGAN: It's a wake-up call right now for sure. Thank you so much, David, good to see you.
OK, coming up everyone, more trouble for Joe Biden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If the prosecutor is not fired, you are not getting the money. Son of a [bleep], he got fired.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: No, no, no, not the Biden quid pro quo scandal, that's being investigated in the Ukraine. It's actually his brother, James Biden. Here's a hint. The FBI is involved. FBI, coming up, we are going to have some details for you. But first, the liberal media just isn't happy unless average Americans are literally running for the hills and blaming President Trump, while they are doing it. An MSNBC guest today warning against fear mongering right before fear mongering. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not to fear monger. It would be irresponsible for to us create panic when it's undue. That being said, we know 80% of the population is going to survive and typically a 15% to 20% of mortality for those individuals that are both elderly and/or have underlying conditions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: My next guest is here to call out the irresponsible liberal media and she should know, because she's an emergency room physician herself. Dr. Janette speaking out next after this.
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REGAN: The media taking its hysteria to a new level tonight, predicting a 15% to 20% death rate in the United States tied to coronavirus. As this headline reads, MSNBC expert predicts 15% to 20% coronavirus mortality rate. What? OK, just watch so called science contributor over at MSNBC talk about this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not to fear monger. It would be irresponsible for to us create panic when it's undue. That being said, we know 80% of the population is going to survive and typically a 15% to 20% rate of mortality for those individuals that are both elderly and/or have underlying conditions.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: I'm sorry, only 80% of us are going to survive this thing? Only 80%? Yes, that's what you call crazy talk. You can tell what the media is doing here. I mean, I would say, they are being hugely irresponsible, trying to create mass hysteria.
In this particular case, this guy is talking about 80% living. And I made the point MSNBC can't do math before, and then he turns to 20% - 15% to 20%. But I think, I think - and maybe I'm just giving him the benefit of the doubt, he was trying to say maybe 15% to 20% of those people that were elderly or had compromised immune systems could suffer from it.
But you know, that's not how the media interpreted it. And I suppose the best way to look at this, at this point in time, might be through South Korea's lens. At this point, with their numbers, since they are testing the most people. There in South Korea, the death rate is about 0.6%, and it's primarily among the elderly.
How does this whack job paid contributor over there at MSNBC get from 0.6% to 20%? You got me. Here to call out the quacks, family emergency room physician, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat. I know we are joking around a little bit about it, but I think that it's really critical that people in the science field, doctors like yourself, be articulate and forthcoming and also at the same time not try and promote any kind of hysteria or fear. What is your sense?
DR. JANETTE NESHEIWAT, EMERGENCY ROOM PHYSICIAN: Yes, absolutely, you are absolutely correct. We have to be clear, because we don't want to create anxiety and fear and panic in patients. It's already difficult for us to take care of them as it is, especially being in flu season.
So, you can't just spew out these numbers, especially when we know we don't have this exact data. We won't know the exact data, Trish, until this outbreak is over. But, if you look at China, if you look at South Korea, the way you calculate the mortality rate is look at the number of cases and look at the number of deaths, and that gives you an idea, it gives you an estimate.
What he said about 80% will survive, 80% of people, according to CDC, that data will have either no symptoms or require no medical intervention. The CDC also said about 5% of people may have critical symptoms and maybe end up in the hospital, and you are right, those are the people that have severe underlying medical, heart disease, heart failure, lung disease, they are on chemotherapy, they are undergoing dialysis, that sort of thing.
REGAN: How do you think about this as a doctor right now, when you see the media coverage?
NESHEIWAT: So it's - whenever I see this fear mongering, it's quite disheartening and disturbing to me, because the goal right now should be to take care of our patients and to educate our patients and to educate the community.
The focus right now should be to make sure everyone knows, keep your hands washed and clean, stay home if you are sick. From day one, our President, Trish, has done everything in his power to protect us, from putting the ban on foreign nationals coming in from China, doing the 14-day quarantine, doing the screening at the airports, funneling people from different parts of the world. So, all these things together, if we collectively take our own personal responsibility, our own action, we can help prevent the spread of this virus.
REGAN: So, realistically, I mean are we looking at possibly January of next year before there's a vaccine?
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NESHEIWAT: That's realistic. So, they say next month that they are going to begin Phase I trials of this vaccine, which is really exciting. But it takes, according to Dr. Franchis (ph) of CDC - I'm sorry, our National Institute of Health Director, about a year or a year and a half to get on the market. Because you have to have trials, you have to make sure it's safe, we have to make sure it works, and we have to look at the side effects that could potentially happen.
So, that's exciting, a year, that's just down the road from now. In addition, they are looking at experimental drugs and therapeutics that hopefully will be available soon.
REGAN: But judging from numbers we've seen thus far, I mean the flu itself, right, can be even more deadly. I mean, I look at the numbers, and again it may be that this one is more challenging for the immune system, coronavirus that is.
But just numbers as we have them, give us a sense that--
NESHEIWAT: Yes, if you look at the data, if you look at the numbers, right now, influenza A, influenza B sadly kills thousands of people in this country and it affects millions. But the mortality rate is still low, if you compare the number of cases to the number of deaths. We can't say that for certainty with the coronavirus. But as of it is right now, the mortality rate is low.
REGAN: Calm down, deep breaths.
NESHEIWAT: Yes, absolutely.
(LAUGHTER)
And take common sense precautions.
REGAN: It's good to see, thank you so much.
NESHEIWAT: Good to see you too, Trish.
REGAN: Okay, coming up everyone, uh-oh the Bidens are in trouble, again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Why, why, why, why, why? You are getting nervous, man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: Not that time Joe Biden lost it on that reporter, this time his brother, James Biden. And an FBI raid, coming up, I've got some details. But first, Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik now saying she received a horrible threatening note while grocery shopping over the weekend.
Next, a guest who had experienced this kind of liberal violence from time to time is going to talk all about it. He's got a new book out too, Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk is here, and he's speaking out next.
REGAN: Tonight, a disgusting display of intimidation, New York Republican Congresswoman Elise Stefanik getting harassed over the weekend by an anonymous hater who left this note for her on her car, while she and her husband went to the grocery store.
It reads, "rot in hell, fascist pig." Now, you would think a disgusting malicious act like this would actually be widely condemned, right, by everyone. But instead, the former head of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean basically excuses it writing on Twitter, "I don't condone this, but as you sow, so shall you reap."
Then again, why would we expect him to act any differently, considering the examples that have been set by his fellow Democrats.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You get that from them, and you tell them, they are not welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They go low, we kick them.
(LAUGHTER)
That's what this new Democratic Party is about.
HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, FORMER FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for.
SCHUMER: You have released a whirlwind and you will pay the price.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
REGAN: Joining me right now is Turning Point USA Founder and author of The MAGA Doctrine, Charlie Kirk. Charlie, good to have you here.
We thought you would be a really appropriate person to talk about this, because I know you've experienced a lot of the hate firsthand yourself. What is it that some of these people like Chuck Schumer right now need to understand about civility?
CHARLIE KIRK, TURNING POINT USA FOUNDER: Look, words have real consequences and real actions. It was about a year and a half ago, I was in a breakfast diner in Philadelphia with the great Candace Owens and we were stormed out by left- wing activists.
Mind you, that was not covered very much by the mainstream media at all. And this has been a pattern by the radical left, going after Trump supporters, after the rally in Minneapolis when they were assaulting young women that were in MAGA hats.
At Turning Point USA, we have had students bear sprayed, we have had them punch in the face at University of California, Berkeley, as you saw recently. We've had students completely targeted for their beliefs. And Congresswoman Stefanik did a heroic thing by standing up for the truth and standing up for the President during that impeachment sham.
And now you are seeing that she's being targeted because of it. But look, we are on the frontlines of what's happening on our college campuses across the country. And I can tell you that, when you wear a Make America Great Again hat, unfortunately there is a price with it. And sometimes that price means that the radical left might come after you physically. And that's a sad state of affairs, if that happens in the United States of America.
And Howard Dean, how dare you, how dare you validate these sorts of threats and this sort of indecency. And I for one am so tired of hearing, oh President Trump is dividing America. Wait a second, your side is tearing up the State of the Union addresses. Your side is punching Trump supporters in the face. Your side is validating these sorts of attacks from someone like Howard Dean, who was once a leading Presidential candidate and former head of the DNC.
REGAN: It's mean, it's mean and it's dangerous and we see it all the time, and they keep getting away with it, Charlie? Why do they keep getting away with it?
KIRK: Yes, I mean, they get away with it because the media covers for them and they refuse to publicize the indecency or the threats that come at Trump supporters. And let's not forget, it's just about 14 months ago when a young man wearing a Make America Great Again hat at the March for Life with the name of Nick Sandmann did nothing wrong except have someone have a drum be put in his face and he was immediately stigmatized by the media as being someone that was instigating.
I want you to manage, if when Candace and I got stormed out of that breakfast place, if it was conservatives or people wearing Make America Great Again hats wreaking this sort of havoc and this sort of incivility, and it's a very - it's a very dangerous time right now when the Democrats refuse to condemn this sort of violence.
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In fact, Chuck Schumer encouraged it against Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh as recently as last week.
REGAN: There used to be such a thing as tolerance. There used to be such a thing as an appreciation for intellectual diversity. And Charlie, I mean those feel like light years frankly away. I mean, I think back as a kid, and there was certainly growing up in New Hampshire, you had the ability to put out whatever sign you wanted, right, for whatever Presidential candidate you wanted.
The neighbor next door may be on the other side of the fence politically, by you still got together to watch the Super Bowl. I mean, it was a very different time and I think it's a dangerous dangerous road we are going down here, Charlie, and I'm not sure how to change it or how it gets fixed.
KIRK: Well look, I mean the final thought on this is that, conservatives continue to be the ambassadors of decency and dialog and mutual respect. You don't see conservative Trump supporters waiting outside of Bernie Sanders rallies and insulting them and getting in their face.
You don't see conservatives wearing masks in the streets of Portland beating gay Asian journalist like they did to Andy Ngo, because he dared to film them and he dared to try to figure out what's going on.
And so, look, it's a dangerous precedent being set here, and I'm afraid that the leadership of the Democratic Party, Maxine Waters, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, you played the clip - the very effective clip that portrays this.
They are encouraging it. It's as if they want uncivilized dialog, if not political bedlam in America. We have to reject that, because the more we are able to be decent with each other, it's actually how we are going to be civil in our country and reject the radical left's impulse to try to divide our country.
REGAN: Well said sir, thank you so much Charlie Kirk.
KIRK: Thank you.
REGAN: Okay. Kennedy joins us right now with a peek at what's coming up on her show. Look, it has to be said. Kennedy, it has to be said. And we need to be more civil.
LISA KENNEDY, FBN ANCHOR: Don't I look great?
REGAN: You do.
KENNEDY: Thank you.
REGAN: You always look great. Hey, nice hair.
KENNEDY: Thanks.
REGAN: New do.
KENNEDY: I just clipped it on. You have got a Charlie; I have got a Charlie. It's a big night for Charlies. Charlie with our Pulitzer Prize winning journalist and native Michigan will forecast the race. What do people in the wolverine state really want from the next or this president? He's going to break it down for us.
REGAN: I look forward to it. Thank you, Kennedy.
KENNEDY: Heavily.
REGAN: We'll see at night. Okay, coming up next, another doozy for the Bidens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have got hairy legs that turn - that turn blond in the sun.
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(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
REGAN: Not that doozy. We just couldn't resist playing it for you again. Being creepy is not criminal. This time, it turns out it's his brother James Biden and an FBI raid that's causing all the commotion. We have got some damning details next.
REGAN: Politico is reporting that Joe Biden's brother James is possibly involved in a fraudulent scandal that involving the healthcare provider AmeriCorps. After the company was raided by the FBI, one of its executives is now claiming Joe's brother made all sorts of false promises and pushed his political ties in order to secure a massive loan for himself, which he promised to pay back and now, it's up to the courts.
Kennedy is next. I will see right here tomorrow night; have a good one.
KENNEDY: Fake news. The President blaming media--
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Appendix G
App. 00103 Fox News Projects Biden Wins Michigan; Interview With Lara Trump
Fox News Network FOX HANNITY 9:00 PM EST March 10, 2020 Tuesday
Copyright 2020 Fox News Network LLC All Rights Reserved Section: NEWS; Domestic Length: 8134 words Byline: Sean Hannity, Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Bill Hemmer, Ari Fleischer, Geraldo Rivera, Dan Bongino Guests: Reince Priebus, Lara Trump, Anthony Fauci
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TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: Have a great night with the ones you love.
"HANNITY" is next.
Hey, Sean.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: Hey, Tucker, thank you. And great show as always.
Welcome to HANNITY.
We begin tonight with a FOX News alert -- three, two, one, it is 9:00 in the East. It is 6:00 out in the West Coast, 352 delegates are up for grabs in six states tonight in the Democratic primary.
FOX News is projecting Joe Biden will win Missouri and Mississippi. Polls have just now finally closed in Michigan. And FOX News can make a call in that race. My opening monologue in just a minute.
But, first, we head to our decision desk. Bret and Martha standing by with the big news.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hey, Sean, it is 9:00 in New York. And FOX News decision can now project that vice president, former Vice President Joe Biden, will beat Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in the crucial state of Michigan, which Sanders won, of course, four years ago.
MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: It is the biggest victory of the night for Biden who earlier, as you said, Sean, won Mississippi and also Missouri. The FOX projection is based on our polling of both early voters and those who cast their ballots today, as well as data from sample precincts.
We're going to be back with updates throughout the evening and we will have an 11:00 p.m. roundup of all of the election news tonight, Sean, as we send it back to you.
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HANNITY: All right. Bret and Martha, thank you.
We now bring in our own Bill Hemmer now for who is going to -- who is going to be impacted delegate-wise in terms of the delegate count. You get to 15 percent, it's proportionate distribution of delegates.
Bill, what do you got? Bill Hemmer is somewhere.
BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Sean, I can hear you. You want to hang with me a moment here?
HANNITY: Of course, I do.
HEMMER: I'm going to tell you a story. OK? Tell you a story that I'm seeing here that is very significant for people to understand.
I'll take you to Michigan. I want you to focus on two things, Sean. This is right now, your 41 percent of the vote, Biden, we've already called for him over Bernie Sanders. But this is where Sanders is underperforming and Biden is over-performing.
Very significant, too, this is Washtenaw County, university of Michigan. Bernie Sanders was there Saturday night, 15,000 people. The congresswoman, AOC, was there as well. Bernie is 49 percent over Joe Biden. But four years ago, this is where Sanders was in the same county. He was at 55 percent. He's 5 percent underperforming at the moment, four years later.
This is Detroit, Wayne County. Oakland County is just north other, suburbs, critical in the fall, right? We talk about the suburbs in Virginia, the suburbs out of Detroit. Joe Biden is almost at 50 percent of the vote there in Oakland County. Four years ago, Hillary Clinton was doing 51 percent.
Again, Biden is overperforming in some of these critical areas in Michigan. Now, hang with me a moment, Sean, OK? Because here is your calendar in March. In two weeks, you have the Georgia primary, 105 delegates in two weeks.
Next week, we have some big ones, too. You got Arizona, Florida, Illinois and Ohio. Florida is the biggest one of all next Tuesday at 219 delegates. Here's what we find in terms of polling in Florida. As of today, Sean, in the state of Florida, Joe Biden is clocking 61 percent. Even if it's not accurate, if it's close to being accurate, you can make a fair argument for the following way the race is -- the race is shaping up today.
All of this area in the Southeast, we called Mississippi for Joe Biden. Look what he did in Alabama, 63 percent of the vote there. Ten days ago, remember, Sean, it was only ten days ago, South Carolina. Ten days ago he was almost 50 percent of the vote in South Carolina.
My point is you can now start to make an argument for Georgia in two weeks, maybe Florida next week and the whole part of this country goes Joe Biden's way. It's starting to shape up a race in favor of the former vice president in a significant way.
He's outperforming Bernie Sanders in places where he should not if Sanders wants to catch up - - Sean.
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HANNITY: All right. Great analysis. Bill Hemmer at our big board. We'll be checking in throughout the evening.
That tells the story tonight. We'll bring you those live updates throughout the hour as this critical primary night does unfold. As it stands now, quid pro quo Joe has pretty much cemented his frontrunner status over Bolshevik Bernie Sanders.
But Joe Biden is struggling. There's no doubt in anybody's mind. Everybody sees it. The media mob and Democratic Party may try to ignore it. It is now official and it is beyond alarming if we're going to be honest and truthful as a country.
Frankly, it's even hard to watch. The confusion, the inability to finish thoughts, the never-ending daily gaffes, the bursts of outrage and anger should concern every American tonight, as it looks like he will be the Democratic nominee. And this should be regardless of any political view.
We now on multiple occasion, he's now forgotten Barack Obama's name. He confused his wife for his sister. He called Super Tuesday "Super Thursday". He mixed up Chris Wallace for Chuck Todd, which was an insult to Chris Wallace.
He said that 150 million Americans died from gun violence. Not true. He told a crowd in South Carolina he was running for the Senate. And I can go on and on.
As a matter of fact, well, we have examples just from the past few weeks. We have our list. It's ongoing. You can read it at the side of your screen.
Now, he cannot control his agitation. And this became apparent again earlier today. Totally enraged Joe Biden when a construction worker at an auto plant dared to ask him about this clip. We're going to show you the clip first because it turns out, the construction worker at the auto plant was right about Biden talking about taking assault rifles.
Here's the clip that proves the guy is right which we'll play in a second.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So to gun owners out there that say a Biden administration means they're coming for my guns.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Bingo, you're right if you have an assault weapon. The fact of the matter is, they should be illegal, period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Illegal, period, he said it. So, maybe Biden again just doesn't remember saying that. He only said it in August of 2019.
Maybe he doesn't remember that he recently anointed Bozo Beto O'Rourke to lead his gun confiscation policy. Remember, Bozo is the same guy who said hell yes, we're going to take your AR-15s, or in Joe's case, 14s.
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And yes, maybe Biden doesn't remember or maybe just can't control his temper, whatever the case may be, what I'm about to show you should be concerning to every American. This is one incident of many incidents that have been taking place. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WORKER: You are actively trying to end our Second Amendment right and take away our guns.
BIDEN: You're full of (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
Shush! Shush!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: You're full of -- the only problem is, the construction worker at an auto plant was 1,000 percent right. His point is valid. And Joe says he's full of beep and he wants his vote. And then aggressively he shushed his staffer.
Now, watch this part. And that's not all. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I support the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment -- just like right now, if you yelled "fire", that's not free speech.
From the very beginning -- I have a shotgun, I have a 20-gauge, a 12-gauge. My sons hunt.
Guess what? You're not allowed to own any weapon. I'm not taking your gun away at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Joe Biden comparing the Second Amendment to yelling "fire" in a crowded room, uses an absurd liberal talking point. Oh, my sons love hunting and then says he's not trying to take away any guns when he was on tape saying that exact same thing, which then he immediately contradicts. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Take your AR-14s away.
WORKER: OK. This is no OK, all right.
BIDEN: Don't tell me that -- go outside with me.
WORKER: You're working for me, man.
BIDEN: I'm not working for you. Give me a break, man. Don't be such a horse's (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Your a horse's ass.
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In all my life, I thought that I owned AR-15s. I didn't know they were 14s.
What you just saw was the frontrunner of the Democratic Party, their likely presidential candidate, shushing a woman that appears to be on his staff. By the way, who kind of seems to be trying to help him get out of another troubling situation.
Great way to treat people, trying to save you from yourself, Joe.
And then sticking his finger in the face of a construction worker at an auto plant calling him a horse's ass saying that he's full of bleep.
And according to one CBC reporter on the scene, Biden even threatened to slap the man. On top of it all, you just heard it, he can't distinguish between an AR-15 and 14. I don't have 14s. I have 15s.
Staff tried to rush him out of the room. Shush, get out of the way.
Normally, maybe not a big deal. But with Joe, it is now cumulatively a huge deal. This type of agitated behavior is part of an increasing, disturbing pattern.
In the past few months, he's called, let's see, one voter fat, a damn liar. Called a young woman a dog faced pony soldier. That's the tip of the iceberg. We have tape of all of it.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Iowa is a Democratic caucus. You ever been to a caucus?
No, you haven't. You're a lying dog faced pony soldier. You said you are, but -- now you got to be honest. I'm going to be honest with you.
You're a damn liar, man. That's not true. Nobody has ever said that. You want to check my shape? Let's do pushups together, man. Let's do whatever you want to do.
You said I set up my son to work in an oil company. Isn't that what you said? Get your words straight, Jack.
Look, fat, look, here's the deal -- here's the deal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to stop building and replacing pipelines.
BIDEN: You have to go vote for someone else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Go vote for someone else. New campaign slogan. Now, does that seem like the behavior of a grounded, balanced, lucid individual? Because Joe 30330 or on other occasions, Joe 233 -- better get it right, 30330, is running for the hardest, the most demanding, the most powerful job in the world. There's no harder job than being the president of the United States of America.
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So I'll ask again, does this 77-year-old guy we're watching every day now, does he have the stamina, does he have the strength, does he have the focus, does he have the alertness, does he have the mental focus, mental toughness and even the mental stability to be president? It's a fair question.
Is this how he's going to treat world leaders? Quid pro Joe kind of looks frail to me. Is he going to invite Putin to a fight or pushup context or even little rocket man? Because I think, frankly, anyone will be able to kick his ass.
Now, it's so bad that the Biden campaign, they are trying to cover for quid pro quo Joe. They're trying to keep him out of the public spotlight. In other words, they're hiding him from the world.
A great campaign strategy. Hide your candidate. We can't trust what he's going to do or say. This is a disaster.
According to "The Washington Post", during his rally in St. Louis this weekend, Biden spoke for a whopping seven minutes. Seven minutes. I can see people waiting in line for hours to hear that in Kansas City. He spoke for, wow, 12 minutes.
And his longest speech of the weekend, it didn't hit the 15-minute mark. His big rally tonight in Ohio was cancelled after the campaign cited coronavirus concerns, although he will speak at a separate event in Philadelphia.
By the way, like father like son, Hunter Biden, he is using the coronavirus as an excuse. Remember, he denied paternity in a case down in Arkansas. Now, he's skipping out of child support hearing in Arkansas because of the coronavirus.
I would argue it's probably because he doesn't want to turn over his finances. That would expose him in the Burisma case and the China case, and whatever other countries was paying him millions with zero experience. And, by the way, Arkansas currently has zero cases of corona.
We get back to quid pro quo Joe. Right now, he cannot be trusted to speak more than seven minutes by his own campaign. And that seven minutes with a teleprompter. He wants to lead the free world.
Let's pause. Let's take that in. Let's think about that. Now, of course, when quid pro quo Joe actually does hold an event more than seven minutes, it's a struggle. Every time a struggle is guaranteed to ensue.
For example, Monday's rally in Detroit became totally derailed after an interruption from a few anti-NAFTA protesters. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOI CLIP)
BIDEN: I didn't -- are you a Donald Trump?
That's all right. Let him go. It's not a Trump rally. It's not a Trump rally. Let him go. Let him go. Let him go.
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The Bernie bros are here. Let him go. Folks, folks, let him go. That's OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Herein lies another serious problem for quid pro quo Joe. He can't hide from what is a real horrific track record.
Look at your screen. Here's a few of Joe's top accomplishments. Let's see. NAFTA, disastrous trade deal. Oh, giving mullahs that chant "death to America", yes, let's give them $150 billion in cash and other currencies.
Remember Obamacare? He brags about Obamacare. Millions lost their doctors, millions lost their plans. We have 37 percent of the country that only has one exchange -- Obama exchange care option. That's it.
And our premiums, average family, did you save $2,500 on average? No. We're all paying almost 200 percent more.
And let's not forget the horrific economic track record. I tell it often, 13 million more Americans food stamps, eight million more in poverty, lowest labor participation rate since the 70s. Then, of course, we have the lowest homeownership rate in 50 years, we have the worst recovery since the `40s, more debt than the four previous administrations combined.
Not a good record compared to eight million new jobs under Trump. All new trade deals, we got the wall being built, we got promises made and kept on all those trade deals and guess what? America is doing better than ever, record low unemployment for every demographic in this country.
Now, by the way, an attack against the administration over a virus, apparently, that's fair game. And don't forget that around 17,000 Americans, yes, they died from H1N1. That was the swine flu virus. That was handled, you got it, under Biden-Obama.
Now, Biden also voted in favor of the Iraq war, but he did an interview and he told Lawrence O'Donnell over at MSDNC, state-run conspiracy television, he did vote for a war to prevent a war from happening. He voted for a war to make a war from happening. Excuse me? Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: The reason I voted the way I did was to try to prevent a war from happening because remember, the threat was the go to war. The argument was because Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. So he said that I need to be able to get the security council to agree to send in inspectors to put pressure on Saddam to find out whether or not he's using -- he's producing nuclear weapons.
At the time, I said, that's your reason? All right. I get it. That was the -- the rationale was, that's the way not to go to war, because I didn't believe he had those nuclear weapons.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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HANNITY: I voted for a war so we wouldn't have a war. OK.
Now, it doesn't matter how short Biden's speeches get. He can't hide from his horrific track record. He can't hide from the fact that you're not getting a billion unless you fire the prosecutor investigating my zero experience son Hunter who, by the way, was paid millions. He can't hide the investigation ongoing that is happening in Ukraine. Donald Trump had nothing to do with it.
It's also happening with Senator Ron Johnson in the U.S. Senate. And, by the way, how many other millions of dollars did zero experience Hunter make there? That will be fair game in the next 238 days.
And he sure as hell can't hide the increasing amount of -- let's be charitable -- senior moments on the campaign trail.
In potential head-to-head matchup with President Trump, no stone will be left unturned. You the American people will be the ultimate jury. In 238 days, you have the opportunity to shock the world again.
Here now with reaction, FOX News contributor, Ari Fleischer, former White House chif of staff, Reince Priebus.
Good to see you both.
Ari, let's start with you tonight. Things he can't hide from. This is getting alarming, his behavior. The Democratic Party wants to admit it or not or the media mob wants to admit it, these moments are now troubling. A, he can't hide from the fact that he did leverage a billion dollars and bragged about it and his son was paid millions with no experience, and that's one with the tip of the iceberg. China is next, the countries after that.
He can't hide from the track record that I just mentioned as it relates to Iran and as it relates to the economy after eight years. So, he's probably the likely nominee tonight.
How does it shape out?
ARI FLEISCHER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it shapes up -- it shapes as a good donnybrook I think between Biden and Trump if that's what it comes down to.
First of all, I don't think it's over. I think it's in the late innings this year. It's late for Bernie to come back but it's not over.
But here is what is dogging Joe Biden going forward with his five-minute, seven-minute and 12- minute speeches. Is Joe Biden OK? Nobody gives five and seven, 12-minute running for speeches when they're running for president unless the staff gets you off the stage. That raises that question.
HANNITY: You know, and Reince, you've been out with President Trump. I mean, he has endless abundance of energy. He has more energy than 40 40- year-olds, for crying out loud. His rallies go on, ad-libs half way through, most of them. Well, that's the truth. I think the hardest job is being my teleprompter guy or being Trump's teleprompter guy, because I ad lib all over the place.
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And the problem is, if you can't give more than a seven-minute speech, that means you're not up to run the job as president. Doesn't it mean if you're blunt and truthful and honest tonight?
REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, and one other tough job is being chief of staff, because I -- you know, the secret to my life has been -- people ask me, it's always outworking everyone around me. He truly is a person that I have not -- I had not been able to outwork. And I don't think John Kelly could, I don't think Mick could, I don think Mark Meadows can. It is really difficult.
But here's the thing, like to your point, it's not really a weekend at Bernie's type campaign, but it's something like that, where if you're the Biden campaign -- and this is real. It's not satire, they're going to hide Biden, they're going to have hit totally scripted. We have a very simple campaign.
They talk a little bit about gun violence, a little bit about healthcare, but it's all going to be about Donald Trump. A referendum up or down on Donald Trump. So, they're going to give the ball to the Trump campaign.
And what the Trump campaign is going to do and hopefully what they're going to do is what you just said, which is talk about all the great things that have happened, the economy, jobs, wages, ISIS, the world is safer, America is safer, stronger. And they're going to give us all the time on the clock. So, we're going to have to remind the American people the truth because they're going to sit back and wait and put the referendum on the ballot and say, hey, do you like Donald Trump? You want Donald Trump, yes or no? That's the election right there.
HANNITY: All right. So, now, these moments, issues of corruption. His record is now front and center. Whatever is going on with Biden and I think the American people can see it all in spite of the media basically having a blackout on these moments, Ari, it doesn't look good. They're not starting from a position of strength by any stretch of the imagination.
So, if you're running the Biden campaign, what are you advising him tonight?
FLEISCHER: Give five-minute speeches. I really think there's something about Joe Biden when you see all these gaffes, the question is the old Joe Biden that use put together a relatively coherent sentence or the new Joe Biden who really is stumbling and bumbling every day that he's on the stump. If it's the latter, which it seems to be, you have to hide him. Everything is a canned, staged event.
The Biden advantage is going to be the mainstream media, Sean. This is where there will be a segment of the left that is barely ever going to want to see these gaffes and stumbles. They don't have reason to wonder about his capacity because they won't see it. That's the real problem. It means the Trump campaign has to tell everybody.
HANNITY: All right. Last word, Reince?
PRIEBUS: Yes, and I think Ari is right. Biden is surviving because he's surviving on the 2012, 20 -- you know, 2008 Joe Biden. Not the 2016, 2020 Joe Biden. So, that's his survival. So, you limit his exposure and you keep the 2012 Joe Biden in the minds of the American people. That's what they're going to try to do.
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HANNITY: All right. Ari Fleischer, Reince Priebus, thank you both.
Now, let's turn to an important update surrounding coronavirus. Without a doubt, this is a critical issue. We care about every American life. Wouldn't it be great if our scientists, our medical researchers, the best in the world, those that advance our lives, cure our diseases, advance treatments, you know what, wouldn't it be great if we could cure everything one day?
They're in the process of doing all of that. We have the best people working on behalf of the American people to keep us all healthy. Great people. Thank you if you're in that industry.
But the weaponization, politicizing, the hysteria surrounding in this particular case, coronavirus, it is reckless, it is responsible, it is dangerous.
Here's just one example, courtesy of "New York Times." remember them? Yes, that would be the newspaper that said it's the Trump virus and if you're feeling terrible, you know who to blame.
Here's Bret Stephens. He's a little later than his colleagues. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRET STEPHENS, NEW YORK TIMES: When coronavirus broke out in China, people said, this is China's Chernobyl. Actually, it's Donald Trump's Chernobyl because there's some things you can't lie and spin your way through, above all, something like a virus which is out of control, just as the Soviet government couldn't lie its way through atomic particles going through the air in Ukraine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, here's what we discovered on this show based on the investigation. We've been right for three years and the things we've told the American people. Those people are lying and peddling conspiracy theories and hoaxes. But the exact same people who pushed Russia, Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine, impeach, impeach, impeach -- those exact same people, we've identified them as the leaders in politicizing a virus, and scaring Americans and, of course, blaming Donald Trump.
If the dog bites, bee stings, you're feeling sad, blame Trump. We're going to show you all the worst examples coming up tonight. But, first, let's lay out some key facts because truth matters, context matters, especially when you talk about a disease that puts fear in the hearts of people.
Now, that's what we do on the show because we want truth. We're not the media mob. You think working together to keep Americans safe, this is not - - you know, we might agree on this. Apparently not with Trump rage psychosis unfortunately.
So far in the United States, there's been around 30 deaths, most of which came from one nursing home in the state of Washington. The average age of mortality is 80 in this country. And the most at risk, and this is very important, are older people with underlying medical issues, the elderly. And, people, by the way, you know, that have compromised immune systems.
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People getting chemotherapy, that are in need of -- have some type of immune deficiencies. Healthy people, generally, 99 percent recover very fast, even if they contract it.
And, by the way, still any deaths are tragic. We want everybody to live. Put it in perspective. 26 people were shot in Chicago alone over the weekend. I doubt you heard about it. You notice there's no widespread hysteria about violence in Chicago. And this has gone on for years and years and years.
By the way, Democratic-run cities, we see a lot of that. Meanwhile, senior director --senior director of infection prevention, Johns Hopkins University, just wrote "as of yesterday, the flu is showing much more of an impact on Americans than coronavirus." The flu.
Now, again, perspective. The standard flu every single year kills tens of thousands of Americans. Now, does truth matter? Does perspective matter?
Well, I wish nobody died from the flu. I hope nobody else dies from coronavirus. We don't want any people dying. I lost my parents. It sucks.
At the very epicenter of coronavirus in China, new cases are now in a dramatic decline. About the 80,000 hospitalizations in China, 56,000 released, 19,000 are on their way to getting well. They lost 3,000 people. Three thousand is a lot.
In this country, H1N1, we lost over 14,000 people. This is the China coronavirus.
By the way, not enough has been said about this. China has not been forthcoming. They've not been helpful. We could have been there from the very beginning. They weren't telling us the truth. They've not helped the world.
And according to multiple reports, China has muzzled their own scientists, suppressed information. Finally, I talked to my sources. They're now accepting some American expertise in health that they denied in the beginning.
They're even spreading conspiracy theories. The United States and Donald Trump is to blame for the creation of coronavirus. I told you that was going to come and I was kind of making it up last night. I said you watch. Next thing you'll say, Donald Trump created it with Putin in a laboratory with Ukrainians and Russians.
Let's be clear. The disease started in the Wuhan area, province area of China. The totalitarian government there grossly mishandled the situation. Now, the entire world is paying for China's widespread negligence this needs to be dealt with, but later.
Meanwhile here at home, look what the Trump administration has done. They've taken unprecedented aggressive action to slow the disease and to save lives and prevent Americans from contracting the disease. By far end of sentence, the single best decision that was made for the safety of the American people so they wouldn't contract this disease was made by the president.
We identified corona January 7th. Three short weeks later after we identified it, the president unprecedented, he issued in record time a travel ban from China. Oh, he also implemented mandatory quarantines which hasn't happened in a long time, decades, almost from day one.
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Now, OK. Where were the Democrats on this? Biden was calling the president and his decision for a travel ban, he's xenophobic.
These are two key actions, the most important decisions from the get-go that likely prevented thousands of Americans from contracting this virus. By the way, no Democrat would do it. Bernie said he wouldn't have done it. Joe excoriated the president from doing it.
Then fake news CNN says we're going to stigmatize the people from other countries. Probably would be worse in the president did not act that quickly. By the way, it was the fastest ever implementation in history.
More recently, the president signed off, let's see, $8 billion response package. We need it. Good. Let's help Americans. Now the president has said he will help, offer tax relief, financial aid for those industries.
For example, if you work in the cruise industry, you're doing to be impacted by this. We're going to help you.
By the way, maybe you're an hourly wage worker. We're going to help you too. If you're not feeling well, we'll make sure that your job will be safe and that you will get the money you deserve so you're not put in a crisis.
Now, some might say, well, we didn't have enough test kits. OK, that has been rectified in just the last week. We now have the test kits. They're all going out.
The overwhelming response to this disease has been aggressive and thorough from day one. And recently, even the liberal governor, I have to give a shout out, I never thought I'd do this on this program, that guy, Gavin Newsom, praising President Trump and his current response. He told reporters, the administration said and did everything I could have hoped for and they followed through on all of their promises.
Now, the coronavirus pose as lot of serious risks and a lot of serious challenges. This is not, though, the end of days. It's not the end of the world. Sadly, these viruses pop up time to time. Pandemics happen, time to time.
Here with reaction, FOX News correspondent at large, Geraldo Rivera, FOX News contributor Dan Bongino.
OK, H1N1 is a good indicator. OK. By the time, we lost a thousand Americans and 20,000 contracted the disease, Geraldo, now, the health and human services secretary of Obama- Biden said -- say it's an emergency to get funds. But the official emergency by the president was six months later, 1,000 dead Americans.
I don't remember this hysteria, do you?
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE: No, there was not the same hysteria. There was some. I mean, swine flu, Ebola, West Nile virus. In each case, there was an initial, real apprehension, real anxiety. And then things calmed down when people realized that the federal government had control of the situation.
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When you look at the panel the president has put together led by Vice President Pence, you have Anthony Fauci coming up from the National Institutes of Health. He's on the panel. The CDC on the panel. The surgeon general is on the panel.
They're doing everything possible, they're extremely competent and they are doing an excellent job. I think that they will calm people as the -- you know, we're going to go up before we go down in terms of the number of cases. The more we soothe people now but we want people to use precautions. Wash your happened. Stop shaking hands.
I want you to tell the president, when you talk too him tonight, that Geraldo said, Mr. President, for the good of the nation, stop shaking hands. It's a bad example. We don't need it. I know you're brave and all the rest of it.
You want to be engaged. Fine. We get it. You're doing a terrific job. Now, everybody follow the same simple steps.
HANNITY: I don't want to shake your hand, Geraldo. I mean, I'm kidding. We'll do the elbow. The Hannity elbows.
Dan knows about it because he's a martial arts guy like I am. Just basic common sense. Listen, if there's any good news here, it is the 99 percent, if God forbid you contract it, you'll be fine. We have to worry about mostly the elderly, those with underlying medical conditions, compromised immune systems.
But what they're doing, you know, Dan, is unconscionable, what we're saying. The same people that did Russia, lies for three years. Ukraine. Impeach. Same cast of characters.
DAN BONGINO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: No, it's been abhorrent, Sean. I mean, think about this, the media's primary focus, a lot of them, not all, but their primary focus among some of them, some over at MSNBC, has been to call you racist if you refer to it as the Wuhan virus.
This isn't a joke, this is -- I'm not talking about B teamers. I'm talking about prominent personalities on other networks that are concerned about calling people racist that refer to a virus that originated in Wuhan like the Ebola virus originated near the Ebola River, and Ebola Zaire, one of the sub-species, near Zaire. I mean, this is phenomenal. This is like a new low.
But what is the important take-away from this, Sean, why focusing on that, there's an opportunity cost. Think about what they're not focusing on. Telling the public what the Trump administration is doing to clear up regulations to allow these tests to get out there.
Ambassador Birx mentioned it today, lightning speed, getting regulations clear. Multiple tests overseas, on foreign soil for people before you get on a plane and come to this country. Are you hearing about that in the mainstream media? Probably not.
I'll give you one more. What about the nursing homes? Where a lot of the problems in nursing homes can be severe, but they told regulators, primary thing now, infection control. We're going to do this and we're going to stop this.
You're not hearing about that because they're calling it the Wuhan, the Wuhan virus is racist. This is what they're wasting their time on.
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HANNITY: Last word, Geraldo.
It is the Wuhan virus. What are they going to say in West Nile?
(CROSSTALK)
RIVERA: West Nile, the West Nile River is near Uganda. That's you know, that's why they call it the West Nile virus.
Legionnaire's disease, the American Legion Convention in Philadelphia. Lime disease, Lime, Connecticut.
You know, come on, China. Get over it.
But one thing this has revealed, Sean, and this is very important, this epidemic has revealed that we are dependent on China for many of our vital pharmaceuticals. How can that be? How come we rely on our strategic enemy for our -- something as vital as antiviral medication?
HANNITY: Who is stopping that?
RIVERA: Anti -- we need a strategic reserve in pharmaceuticals like we have a strategic reserve in oil.
HANNITY: All right, guys. Thank you both, Dan, Geraldo.
Now, the Trump administration has taken unprecedented, bold action to combat the coronavirus. The mob and the media can't help but they echo their colleagues in the Democratic Party, using what is a serious health threat to bludgeon President Trump.
Of course, if he cured cancer, they would impeach him for that. How many times have I warned you about that?
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: This is the worst case scenario that you get from a government that doesn't know what they're doing and is willing to lie to the people about things that will keep them alive.
JOHN BRENNAN, FORMER CIA DIRECTOR: Donald Trump who throughout his life he looked at the world through a prism of how things affect his personal and financial political fortunes. I wonder if he's capable to put the country's well-being first.
JOY BEHAR, CO-HOST, "THE VIEW": The government is there to protect you from terrorism, health -- just exactly this thing. This is the function of government and how government is screwing up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This may be Donald Trump's Katrina. This is an event that could take down a president.
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CHUCK TODD, MEET THE PRESS: The Iran hostage crisis was the final year of Carter's presidency. Not his fault but it's a test in real time.
JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC HOST: The president is doing nothing but playing in his political sandbox while this virus continues to spread silently across America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Same people lied to you for three years, claiming the president colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election, the same people. We've got the evidence. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: We're about to find out if the new president of country is going to do what Russia wants when he's commander-in-chief of the U.S. military.
BRENNAN: I think he's afraid of the president of Russia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?
BRENNAN: Well, I think one can speculate as to why. The Russians may have something on him personally.
BEHAR: Do we have to wait until the hammer and sickle is on the American flag before we stand up to this guy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it turns out that Donald Trump stole the election that he conspired with the Russians to undermine our democracy.
TODD: I'm obsessed with how many fingers the hand of Russia had in Donald Trump's world.
SCARBOROUGH: Donald Trump is either an agent of Russia or he's a useful idiot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Joining us now, senior adviser to Donald J. Trump for President, Lara Trump, is with us.
Lara, good to see you. Thank you for coming back.
The exact same people --
LARA TRUMP, SENIOR ADVISER, DONALD J. TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT: Yes.
HANNITY: -- the exact thing.
And yet, your father-in-law, nobody ever acted faster and he got crushed for the travel ban and quarantine.
L. TRUMP: Yes, absolutely.
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Well, the good news, Sean, is none of these people have any credibility left because what you just heard there is it's so obvious to the American people. They've been lying to you for years about everything to do with Donald Trump.
The truth for anybody that has been paying any attention is that while the Democrats were busy still trying to impeach Donald Trump, he took decisive action. He made sure that people were not coming into this country on flights from infected areas of China. He, of course, got called racist for that because that's the default for Donald Trump whenever these people don't know what to say about him because he's actually doing the job that the people elected him to do.
But you have to look at other things, Sean. You know, the president constantly gets hit by the left and by the mainstream media for having strong borders on our southern border. This is a perfect example of why you want strong borders. You got to know whenever you have a pandemic situation going around the world that it's not going to come here to the United States.
These people have no credibility. It's absolutely ridiculous. You heard none of them -- I heard you talk about this earlier. H1N1, it took six months for the Obama administration and 1,000-plus deaths before anything really happened in this country. Yet, it was crickets from the mainstream media.
It's so obvious what's going on to people. Donald Trump and the administration have done an amazing job here.
HANNITY: OK, fastest travel ban quarantine implemented in history, billions of dollars already done. Billions now going to industries impacted record time. Money for workers impacted. Our scientists, we know coronavirus dangerous to one group of people.
Does this backfire again?
L. TRUMP: Oh, they look so stupid. When this is all over and the economy rebounds and everything is back to normal, these people have completely lost any support that they had out there. Their ratings are going to go even lower if that's possible, Sean. So, too bad for them.
HANNITY: All right. All right. It's about the truth, especially when it's our health. We've got -- we've got to give people the truthful information.
L. TRUMP: That's right.
HANNITY: Lara, thank you.
All right. When we come back, New York has created a, quote, containment area in one part of the state because of coronavirus and the outbreak. We'll have a full report.
Also, Dr. Anthony Fauci, he's the adult in the room. Well, we know everyone is worried. Well, we'll ask him the things you need to know for your family to protect your family. The truth, straight ahead.
HANNITY: FOX News alert. Today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the state would establish a containment area in a New York suburbs in order to combat the virus.
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Joining us now is the member of the White House's Coronavirus Task Force, Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Dr. Fauci, I have a lot of respect for you. You've been around many administrations and done a lot of work.
I want to do a quick lightning round and then I want you to expand out so people fully understand.
The travel ban and --
DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, WHITE HOUSE CORONAVIRUS TASK FORCE: Yes.
HANNITY: -- the quarantine that the president did within three weeks. Do you believe --was the fastest ever, do you believe it likely prevented thousands of Americans from contracting the virus and was a smart thing to do? And the president --
FAUCI: Yes, I think there's no question. Yes, there's no question that if we had not done that in a timely way, there would have been many more travel-related cases from China. And as you know, the outbreak that we're having here in the country, these cases originated from travel- related cases that came from China and the then we had the issue in Washington state and what we're seeing now in other states.
So, coming from outside within was the thing that started it. So, I think doing that saved us a lot of -- a lot of concern and a lot of suffering, I think.
HANNITY: And that was fairly unprecedented. You've been around for a lot of these pandemics, a lot of these viruses.
You do this for a living. You're a professional guy, professional virus guy.
FAUCI: Right.
HANNITY: But it was unprecedented. You've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anything like it, right?
FAUCI: Well, no, I have not. The reason is that there's a lot of skepticism about whether when you do a travel ban, whether or not you're really going to interfere with any aspect of an outbreak, because you might delay it, but what's going to happen is that you'll wind up having a big outbreak anyway. That's true. When you have multiple different countries at the same time who have outbreaks and you can't exclude the entire world.
But the unique situation with China back at the end of December, the beginning of January, was that they were the sole source of that at first. And to block them from coming in was unquestionable the right move. Even though it was a controversial move, it was the right move.
HANNITY: Well, the president was called xenophobic. We're in a political season, so everything has to be seen through that prism of politics. In 238 days, there's an election.
But now, we have approved billions of dollars for every aspect of this. The president and his economic team have put aside -- putting aside money specifically for industries directly
App. 00120 Page 18 of 20 Fox News Projects Biden Wins Michigan; Interview With Lara Trump impacted, for hourly workers that are impacted. So, if they're not feeling, they're not going to lose their job. There are no co-pays to get a test.
That's fairly unprecedented, too. Did the president do the right thing in a timely manner on these issues?
FAUCI: Well, the reason for that, it was an important decision. You know, we discussed that about the kinds of things that would happen if you say the way that you mitigate an outbreak is that if a person is infected or exposed, they need to stay home. And when they stay home for the incubation period, if you have an hour by hour job, it becomes untenable for you.
So, in order to make it that you give an even playing field to someone, to give them the opportunity that if they want to abide by the recommendations that we make the public health recommendations, they have to have some sort of safety net. Otherwise, it wouldn't work.
HANNITY: Yes.
FAUCI: So the decision was made, we're going to give those people backup and that's what we did.
HANNITY: Let me -- I have one more very important question. So, is it -- so the average age mortality for corona is 80. So, it -- this virus is --
FAUCI: Right.
HANNITY: -- impacting people with compromised immune systems, underlying other medical conditions are the most vulnerable. What about the other 99 percent? If people got the virus, worst case scenario, how dangerous is it to them --
FAUCI: Well, you know --
HANNITY: -- compared maybe to the regular virus -- regular flu?
FAUCI: OK. So that's a good question. About 80 percent of the people that get infected will do well. They'll get sick. They're going to be uncomfortable. They're not going to feel well. But they're going to spontaneously recover.
About 15 percent of them, according to the data from China, Korea, et cetera, that those are individuals that are going to get into trouble and the mortality in that group is very high.
But, Sean, to make sure your viewers get an accurate idea about what goes on, you mentioned seasonal flu. The mortality for seasonal flu is 0.1. The mortality for this is about 2, 2.5 percent. It's probably lower than that. It's probably closer to 1.
But even if it's 1, it's ten times more lethal than the seasonal flu. You got to make sure that people understand that.
HANNITY: No, no, no. I think -- now, are we doing everything possible that you would do up to this point?
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FAUCI: You know, I believe so. I mean, always, when you have an outbreak, there's a little bit of the fog of war associated with that. You're trying to do the right thing, you're trying to keep up with an evolving situation.
But I think in the context --
HANNITY: All right.
FAUCI: -- of what we're being challenged with, I think everybody is doing really well.
HANNITY: All right. Dr. Fauci, you're a voice of reason. Thank you for being with us.
The architect, Karl Rove. Can Bolshevik Bernie come back? Straight ahead.
HANNITY: All right. Now, more election results moments away. Breaking moments ago, James Clyburn of South Carolina told NPR, the DNC should step in and cancel the rest of the debates so, oh, Biden doesn't do anything risky. Karl Rove joins us on that in the whiteboard.
It's all yours, Karl.
(MUSIC)
KARL ROVE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Good evening.
HANNITY: They're afraid he will make a mistake. Cancel those debates quick.
ROVE: Yes, that would just inflame Sandernistas even more, and it'd be -- it'd make them even - - more difficult enough to unite the party. It's already going to be difficult enough because Bernie is not a conventional Democrat and he's not going to act like a conventional politician in all this.
HANNITY: All right. What do you got tonight, Karl? Can Bolshevik come back?
ROVE: Yes. Well, it's going to be hard for Bernie, and this is why. This is coming in tonight. Biden has 670 delegates. He needs 1,321 for the nomination, which means that going into tonight, he only needed to win 51.4 percent of all the delegates who remain, about 60 percent of the delegates remain to be chosen tonight and in subsequent weeks.
But he's running ahead of that in Missouri. He's like 63 percent. In Michigan, he's 57 percent.
He's on the verge of taking all the delegates in Mississippi unless Sanders who's at 14.9 percent can inch above the 15 inch mark, in which case he'll take a larger chunk of the delegates.
But right now, Biden is on the verge of taking virtually all, if not all of Mississippi's delegates.
Now, Sanders on the other hand, he got 574. He needs 1,417. That means he's got to win 55.1 percent of all the delegates starting tonight and to the rest.
He's not going to win -- he ain't going to win it tonight. We don't know what Washington state and Idaho and North Dakota look like. But the three contests that are in -- he's not going to -- he is well below that 55 percent number.
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And next week is not going to be any better. He lost all four states last time around who are going to vote next week.
HANNITY: Karl, real quick --
ROVE: Arizona, Illinois, Florida -- and yes, sir?
HANNITY: What about Joe Biden? It's obvious. He's got problems here. Seven- minute speeches, 12-minute speeches, nothing more than 15. And now, well, shush him away.
ROVE: Yes, no, they're trying to find the right way to handle all this, but it's clear he's got difficulties stringing together two sentences. And, you know, frankly, this all -- the coronavirus may give him a respite he needs. They need to get his act together or he's going to have big problems by the time the fall rolls around.
HANNITY: All right. Karl Rove's whiteboard is brought to you by -- we should get a sponsor for this. That's a great idea.
ROVE: Yes, we should. Yes, it'd be nice of you to say sponsor, but it's my white board. It's not your whiteboard. You keep claiming you're going to send them to me and they've never shown up.
HANNITY: I ordered you a whiteboard, wait until you see it.
ROVE: Oh, yes, right, right. Well, I brought two of my own from Texas.
HANNITY: Oh, no, no, you have to use mine. You have to use mine.
ROVE: No, no, forget it. Not happening, because you had your chance, my friend. These are sponsored by the Texas Cowboys and the Houston Texans.
HANNITY: All right. Karl Rove, thank you.
When we come back, oh, Hunter is using the coronavirus to not be deposed or give over financial information on the paternity case, ah, in a state where they have no known cases of coronavirus. Trace Gallagher, next.
HANNITY: All right. Hunter Biden's attorneys -- they are saying he cannot appear for his deposition for financial information about the paternity case in Arkansas because of the coronavirus. His wife is due to give birth.
Unfortunately, no coronavirus outbreaks thankfully in Arkansas. Sounds like an excuse.
All right. We'll always tell you the truth, fair and balanced. No hysteria here.
Let not your heart be troubled. Laura Ingraham is live right now.
Load-Date: March 11, 2020
End of Document
App. 00123
Appendix H
App. 00124 Other Fox News Statements Regarding Coronavirus
Speaker Show Air Date Statement(s)
Tucker Tucker Jan. 24 • “[T]he Chinese coronavirus, which is something you should worry about, is spreading around Carlson Carlson the world. There are now multiple confirmed cases in the United States.” Tr. 7. Tonight Source: https://tinyurl.com/Carlson-Jan-24 (LexisNexis).
Tucker Tucker Jan. 28 • “[A]t this very moment, a serious viral outbreak is spreading across China, the world’s biggest Carlson Carlson country. In just a matter of weeks, this new strain of coronavirus has generated almost as many Tonight new cases as SARS did. Remember SARS? And SARS did in three full months. So two weeks versus three months. More than a hundred people have died so far, and that’s just the official total, the real number likely higher than that. Hong Kong has closed its borders with Mainland China, but as of tonight for reasons that are not at all clear, planes are still landing in this country from Chinese cities. So by any objective standard, that is the biggest story of the day, maybe of the moment, a potential pandemic rising from Asia.” Tr. 1-2. • “[T]he Chinese coronavirus is starting to look like not a small thing, but possibly a serious threat.” Tr. 6. • “All of a sudden the Chinese coronavirus is looking like a real threat that could be a global epidemic or maybe even pandemic. It’s impossible to know. But it’s the kind of thing that could be very serious -- very serious. Thousands of cases already confirmed, more than a hundred are dead, and with the two-week incubation period, more cases are a certainty.” Tr. 6. Source: https://tinyurl.com/Carlson-Jan-28 (LexisNexis).
Tucker Tucker Feb. 4 • “[T]he coronavirus is a very serious concern to the Chinese and . . . we should be vigilant as Carlson Carlson well. We have infections already in this country.” Tr. 8. Tonight Source: https://tinyurl.com/Carlson-Feb-4 (Lexis Nexis). Tucker Tucker Feb. 14 • “The Chinese coronavirus continues to spread tonight. Friday brought another 5,000 confirmed Carlson Carlson cases in China. Again, these are the official numbers. That includes at least 139 new deaths; 1,700 Tonight healthcare workers have been infected themselves hindering efforts to stop the disease.
App. 00125
Speaker Show Air Date Statement(s)
Fortunately, there’s still only 15 confirmed cases here in this country. But last night, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control said the virus will likely be a problem for months, if not years and will eventually have a sustained presence here. So despite many people in the media ignoring this crisis or downplaying it, Americans ought to be paying attention to the story.” Tr. 12. Source: https://tinyurl.com/Carlson-Feb-14 (LexisNexis). Tucker Tucker Feb. 25 • “In this country, there are more than 50 confirmed cases. Today, the Centers for Disease Control Carlson Carlson confirmed that a generalized outbreak is inevitable here, ‘It’s not a question of if this will Tonight happen, but when.’ Officials warned Americans to be ready for severe disruptions to their lives.” Tr. 2. • “So what exactly will a coronavirus pandemic mean for this country? Well, of course, you can’t really say, it’s impossible to predict with precision. But here’s one forecast that caught our eyes from The Atlantic. It is titled, ‘You’re Likely to Get the Coronavirus.’ That piece quotes extensively a Harvard epidemiologist. The article describes him as a cautious professional, the kind of person who carefully considers every word and then backs it with data. What the professor told the magazine is this, ‘I think the likely outcome is the coronavirus will ultimately not be containable.’ He went on to predict that in the next year 40 to 70 percent of the people on Earth will be infected with coronavirus. No, not all of them will become ill. Many he says will be asymptomatic or feel no worse than they do with a cold. But nevertheless, 70 percent of the world’s population -- that is a big number. In fact, it’s 5.4 billion people. Currently, the coronavirus appears to kill about two percent of the people who have it. So let’s be generous for a moment and imagine that asymptomatic carriers are not detected and the real death rate is only say half a percent that would be one quarter of the current estimates. Even under that scenario, there would still be 27 million deaths from coronavirus globally. In this country, more than a million would die. And according to The Atlantic, many experts fear this may not be a one- off epidemic. Cold and flu season could become cold, flu and coronavirus season for the foreseeable future. Will that happen? Well, obviously we’re praying that it doesn’t. But we know one thing. Right now, as of tonight, America is not ready for this or for any major epidemic.” Tr. 2.
App. 00126
Speaker Show Air Date Statement(s)
Source: https://tinyurl.com/Carlson-Feb-25 (LexisNexis).
Laura Ingraham Feb. 26 • “If you’re worried about the spread of the Coronavirus, well you’re obviously not alone.” Tr. 2. Ingraham Angle • “[The numbers coming out of China] could be a lot bigger than what they’re saying.” Tr. 9. • “Officials have already confirmed one soldier station[ed] in South Korea has contracted the disease and more than 1200 have been infected in South Korea up from just 51 people last week. So last week, there were 51. Now there are 1200. Now, just to give you a sense of how fast this could explode. There are now 50 Americans with confirmed cases.” Tr. 12. Source: https://tinyurl.com/Ingraham-Feb-26 (LexisNexis).
Ethan Fox News Feb. 27 • “We need to be very careful about this. This is changed in a way that scientists had predicted Bearman @ Night was going to happen. We don’t have the technology to stop this yet. We need to be concerned. We need to stay focused on finding solutions and working together to find them.” Tr. 16. Source: https://tinyurl.com/News-Night-Feb-27 (LexisNexis).
Dr. Fox & Feb. 27 • “I am worried about [coronavirus], yes. Because it’s a new virus that’s come into the Michael Friends community. We have no antibodies against it, no experience with it before. With the flu, we have Baden had experience, people have partial immunities. With the flu you get one death per hundred thousand people who get sick, with this one so far and the small numbers, thirty deaths per hundred thousand. So it could be serious.” Source https://video.foxnews.com/v/6136461723001#sp=show-clips
Tucker Tucker Mar. 2 • “Coronavirus remains a major concern . . . .” Tr. 10. Carlson Carlson • “[T]he coronavirus epidemic is .” Tr. 10. Tonight far from over. In fact, it’s barely begun Source: https://tinyurl.com/Carlson-Mar-2 (LexisNexis).
App. 00127
Speaker Show Air Date Statement(s)
Maria Fox Mar. 4 • “I’ve been told to expect tens of thousands, eventually hundreds of thousands of cases in the Bartiromo Business U.S.” Tr. 3. Source: https://tinyurl.com/FBN-Mar-4 (LexisNexis).
Tucker Tucker Mar. 9 • “The Chinese coronavirus epidemic turns out to be just that -- an epidemic. There’s no denying Carlson Carlson that now. Tonight According to the official count, this country has recorded more than 500 cases of the virus and suffered at least 24 deaths. The real number is without question far higher than that, soon we will have a better sense of just how much higher. By then, this epidemic will have caused economic damage whose effects may dog us for years. People you know will get sick, some may die. This is real.” Tr. 1. • “The Chinese coronavirus is a major event. It will affect your life. And by the way, it’s definitely not just the flu.” Tr. 2. • “The overall death rate for this virus, by contrast [to the flu], is as high as 3.4 percent. That’s 34 times deadlier. But even that number masks the true effects because the mortality is not distributed evenly. For those aged 70 to 79, the death rate is about eight percent. Those over 80 is nearly 15 percent. Death rates are also higher for those with diabetes, respitory ailments or hearth conditions. That’s a lot of people.” Tr. 2. • “Early evidence suggests it takes about six days for the number of coronavirus cases to double. If that trend holds here in the United States, it will be just a few weeks until we are where Italy is now. In a few months, if nothing stops the virus, there will be millions of cases here.” Tr. 3. • “None of this is justification to panic, you shouldn’t panic. In crisis, it is more important than ever to be calm.
App. 00128
Speaker Show Air Date Statement(s)
But staying calm is not the same as remaining complacent. It does not mean assuring people that everything will be fine. We don’t know that.” Tr. 3. • “The time of containing coronavirus with widespread testing and individual quarantines, blocking the borders are useful, but that time is over. There are too many cases here now. We cannot stop this epidemic. We can only limit the damage that it does.” Tr. 4. • “The Chinese coronavirus will get worse, its effects will be far more disruptive than they are right now. That is not a guess, it is inevitable no matter what they’re telling you.” Tr. 4. Source: https://tinyurl.com/Carlson-Mar-9 (LexisNexis).
Sean Hannity Mar. 12 • “Now, let’s start with facts, not fear. Make no mistake, the coronavirus, every viruses we’ve been Hanity telling you, you must take it seriously. It has been and it is being taken seriously. As a nation, we must take every and all necessary precautions. But we also -- we need to be calm, we need to be strategic, we need to be smart, we need to have the right perspective.” Tr. 2. • “Make no mistake, all viruses are dangerous. Serious stuff. Make sure to keep an eye out for your older loved ones, your grandparents, your parents, those that perhaps have underlying medical conditions, immune compromised of some kind, COPD, lung disease.” Tr. 6. • “I actually don’t mind the closings because that will help isolate the virus and probably help us level this off as quickly as possible and hopefully end this.” Tr. 8. Source: https://tinyurl.com/Hanity-Mar-12 (LexisNexis).
Greg The Greg Mar. 14 • “[W]e must cancel events. You’ve got to self-distance and avoid large groups.” Tr. 3. Gutfeld Gufeld • because we don’t know where this could end up. It’s Show “[I]t’s wrong to compare this to a past flu like comparing last year’s Super Bowl to next year’s. Crucial info is missing -- the future.” Tr. 4. • “The good news, you can gain control by doing productive things. First, realize that we’re all in this together, even washing your hands and self-distancing reduces risk for everyone.
App. 00129
Speaker Show Air Date Statement(s)
Staying in, checking on your older relatives, exercising at home -- these acts are more important than you realize. You’re reducing vectors of transmission. You save lives simply by staying in and that is fantastic.” Tr. 4-5. Source: https://tinyurl.com/Gutfeld-Mar-14 (LexisNexis).
Steve The Next Mar. 15 • “[E]very single person I’ve spoken to in the real workd, including doctors, academics, business Hilton Revolution people, they are truly exasperated. They talk about a massive overreaction. It’s insane is a common refrain. Now, I don’t agree with that. But I understand why you might be thinking that.” Tr. 2. • “One answer we’ve been given [regarding why we are closing down America to fight the coronavirus] is that it’s the death rate.” Tr. 3. • “[W]e know that this virus is more contagious than normal flu, which has infected up to 90 million people in America in a bad year.” Tr. 3. • “One estimate by an Infectious Disease specialist projected 96 million infections in the U.S. with five percent needing hospitalization or 4.8 million people. If even a fraction of that number is concentrated at one point in time, it would totally overwhelm our hospital system and you ned up with patients dying in corridors, like in Italy. So we hve to reduce the number of hospitalizations at any one time, spread it out -- in the jargon, flatten the curve.” Tr. 3. Source: https://tinyurl.com/Next-Revolution-Mar-15 (LexisNexis).
Dana The Five Mar. 16 • “We are doing things a little bit differently today and going forward. As much as we love sitting Perino elbow to elbow . . . [w]e want to set a good example for everyone and practice physical distancing.” Tr. 1. • Source: https://tinyurl.com/The-Five-Mar-16 (LexisNexis).
App. 00130
Speaker Show Air Date Statement(s)
Greg The Five Mar. 16 • “I have friends that are kind of bumming me out, who keep saying that we are overdoing it. And Gutfeld I kn[o]w that we are all hearing it. But I say I would prefer to look back and be wrong and look back and be foolish th[a]n thing about, oh, I didn’t do enough. So I am willing to btie the bullet now, peel that band-aid off. And you may never know if your overreaction help. Because -- and the people who under reacted are going to gloat and say, see, it was no big deal at all, even though it was the over reactors that might have helped.” Tr. 2. Source: https://tinyurl.com/The-Five-Mar-16 (LexisNexis).
Jessee The Five Mar. 16 • “I didn’t take the social distancing that seriously Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. I went out Watters to dinner in the city. And I woke up this morning and I realized that was not the right move. I am no longer going out to dinner.” Tr. 4. • “I urge all fellow Americans, no matter where you are, to respect the social distancing urging from the president of the United States.” Tr. 4. • “[T]his time, in order for us to overcome, we need to separate ourselves from each other. . . . [Y]ou have to do it.” Tr. 4. Source: https://tinyurl.com/The-Five-Mar-16 (LexisNexis).
Jesse The Five Apr. 2 • “We have never seen anything like it. Americans are getting slaughtered. Businesses are being Watters shuttered. We are on the precipice of either a recession or another depression. There is really no way to sugar-coat this thing. And nothing the federal government can do is going to be good enough. This is just going to be a dark and painful chapter in the history books. There is a lot of sacrifices that are being made by all Americans. We are sacrificing for ourselves but also for other people, because in this country, every life is valuable. We are hurting tens of millions of people to save tens of thousands of lives. It’s sad, but it's also inspiring. And it is
App. 00131
Speaker Show Air Date Statement(s)
something the American people should be proud of. There is still a lot of work to do, though.” Tr. 2. • “You have to social distance, one to save lives, but to save football season. It’s not necessarily a joke, but it is kind of a joke, because we have to have something to look forward to. And right now, Americans are getting a little stir crazy.” Tr. 2. Source: https://tinyurl.com/The-Five-Apr-2 (LexisNexis).
App. 00132
Appendix I
App. 00133 Other Media Coverage of the Coronavirus
Air / Speaker Outlet Show Pub. Statement(s) Date Dr. John NBC Today Jan. 24 “[A]t this point you should definitely listen to the news, listen to the health authorities Torres Show what they’re saying but don’t be too terribly concerned about it.” Tr. 2. Source: https://tinyurl.com/Today-Show-Jan-24 (LexisNexis).
Dr. Jennifer ABC Good Jan. 25 “People should be more concerned right now with the flu in this country.” Tr. 2. Ashton Morning Source: https://tinyurl.com/GMA-Jan-25 (LexisNexis). America Dr. John NBC Nightly Jan. 25 “A lot of people are concerned about the Coronavirus because they’re hearing a lot Torres News of news about it right now. But the reality is comparing it to the flu, for example, it’s not even close to being at that stage.” Tr. 2. Source: https://tinyurl.com/NBC-News-Jan-25 (LexisNexis).
Dan Vergano Buzzfeed N/A Jan. 28 “The risk of getting infected is high in China—but people in the US should be way News more worried about the flu.” Source: Don’t Worry About The Coronavirus. Worry About The Flu, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/danvergano/coronavirus-cases-deaths-flu (last updated Mar. 16, 2020).
Farhad New N/A Jan. 29 “So far, the Wuhan coronavirus is not much more frightening than the outbreaks Manjoo York of other recent coronaviruses like SARS in 2003 or MERS in 2012, each of which Times killed fewer than a thousand people around the world. The new virus’s death toll has just exceeded 130; for context, according to the CDC, about 15 million Americans have been sickened by the seasonal flu so far in the 2019-2020 flu season, and 8,200 have died from it.” Source: Beware the Pandemic Panic, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/opinion/ coronavirus-panic.html.
App. 00134
App. 00 Air / Speaker Outlet Show Pub. Statement(s) Date Dr. David CBS CBS Feb. 8 “Coronavirus is not going to cause a major issue in the United States. If we have Agus This it here, we’re very -- we have health care institution that can cordon people off. We Morning can take care of them. Give what we call supportive care. Remember, this happened in a part of China where there wasn’t great medical systems, which is why they had to build these thousand-bed hospitals in a matter of a week. So in the United States, it won’t be an issue. But it just begs you and pushes you, why that -- why isn’t everybody getting a flu vaccine? We’re going to have forty to sixty thousand deaths this year in the United States from the influenza and it’s preventable.” Tr. 5. Source: https://tinyurl.com/CBS-Morning-Feb-8 (LexisNexis).
Dr. Natalie NBC Today Feb. “We throw out these numbers. That for flu it’s about 0.1 percent mortality, for Azar Show 25 coronavirus, it’s about two percent. SARS was ten percent. Ebola, the average was fifty percent. And I think that that is just something that people need to keep in mind because we are going to be seeing more cases in the U.S. that are currently tabulated, but for the vast majority of people it’s going to be a mild illness and of course, the fatality number is not nearly as striking or concerning as some outbreaks we’ve seen in the past.” Tr. 1-2. Source: https://tinyurl.com/Today-Show-Feb-25 (LexisNexis).
Dr. Sanjay CNN CNN Feb. “[A]s you know, the news around coronavirus changes every day.” Tr. 3. Gupta Early 27 “[T]he president has been likening this coronavirus to flu. And in some ways he’s Start right. I mean, the transmissibility, the contagiousness, there does seem to be similarities between the coronavirus and the flu.” Tr. 3. Source: https://tinyurl.com/CNN-Early-Start-Feb-27 (LexisNexis).
Dr. Sanjay CNN CNN Feb. “You’re still exponentially less likely to have the coronavirus infection versus the Gupta Tonight 28 common cold or the flu.” Tr. 9.
App. 00135 Air / Speaker Outlet Show Pub. Statement(s) Date “80 percent of people who get this infection have minimal or no symptoms. They don’t go to the hospital. They don’t go to the clinic, they don’t get tested. Therefor they don’t count in terms of that bottom number. So, we don't really know for sure what the ratio is.” Tr. 12. “Lemon: . . . Are we in pandemic mode yet? . . . Gupta: “. . . Officially, no.” Tr. 13. Source: https://tinyurl.com/CNN-Tonight-Feb-28 (LexisNexis).
@voxdotcom Vox N/A Jan. 31 “Is this going to be a deadly pandemic? No.” Source: @voxdotcom, Twitter (Jan. 31, 2020, 2:01 PM).1
Lenny Wash. N/A Feb. 1 “But this year, a new coronavirus from China has focused attention on diseases that Bernstein Post can sweep through an entire population, rattling the public despite the current Blogs magnitude of the threat. Clearly, the flu poses the bigger and more pressing peril; a handful of cases of the new respiratory illness have been reported in the United States, none of them fatal or apparently even life-threatening.” Source: Get A Grippe, America. The Flu Is A Much Bigger Threat Than Coronavirus, For Now, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/time-for-a-reality-check-america- the-flu-is-a-much-bigger-threat-than-coronavirus-for-now/2020/01/31/46a15166-4444- 11ea-b5fc-eefa848cde99_story.html.
Rosie Spinks New N/A Feb. 5 “The coronavirus travel ban is unjust and doesn’t work anyway.” York Source: Who Says It’s Not Safe to Travel to China?, Times https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/opinion/china-travel-coronavirus.html.
1 This Tweet has since been deleted. @voxdotcom, Twitter (Mar. 24, 2020, 12:42 PM), https://twitter.com/voxdotcom/status/1242537366620966912?lang=en (“We have deleted a tweet from Jan 31 that no longer reflects the current reality of the coronavirus story.”).
App. 00136 Air / Speaker Outlet Show Pub. Statement(s) Date Max Fisher New N/A Feb. “Of course, it is far from irrational to feel some fear about the coronavirus outbreak York 13 tearing through China and beyond. Times But there is a lesson, psychologists and public health experts say, in the near-terror that the virus induces, even as serious threats like the flu receive little more than a shrug. It illustrates the unconscious biases in how human beings think about risk, as well as the impulses that often guide our responses — sometimes with serious consequences.” “Assessing the danger posed by the coronavirus is extraordinarily difficult; even scientists are unsure.” Source: Coronavirus ‘Hits All the Hot Buttons’ for How We Misjudge Risk, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/13/world/asia/coronavirus-risk-interpreter.html.
Carl Wash. N/A Feb. “I am in my late 60s, and the sickest I’ve ever been was when I had bronchitis Goldman Post 28 several years ago. That laid me out for a few days. This has been much easier: no Blogs chills, no body aches. I breathe easily, and I don't have a stuffy nose. My chest feels tight, and I have coughing spells. If I were at home with similar symptoms, I probably would have gone to work as usual.” Source: I have the coronavirus. So far, it hasn’t been that bad for me., https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/02/28/i-have-coronavirus-so-far-it-isnt- that-bad/.
Dr. Sanjay CNN Anderson Mar. 2 “So it’s bad new and good news. Bad news because people are going to hear about Gupta Cooper this sudden increase in numbers but I think it’s also going to be reflective of that 360 point exactly, that there’s a lot of people out there who did not, you know, get particularly sick with this. And if you look at the data, some 80 percent of people really don’t have much in the way of symptoms.” Tr. 6-7. Source: https://tinyurl.com/AC-360-Mar-2 (LexisNexis).
App. 00137 Air / Speaker Outlet Show Pub. Statement(s) Date Steven Forbes N/A Feb. “The mortality rate is probably much, much less than 2%.” Salzberg 29 “The number of people who have no symptoms or very mild symptoms is likely to be ten times as high as the number of reported cases. (This is only a guess.) That would mean the mortality rate might be only 0.2% or even lower.” “2,933 deaths is a tragedy, but it's a tiny number compared to the annual deaths from the influenza virus, which we have learned to live with.” “[I]n terms of numbers, the world is definitely over-reacting to the new coronavirus.” Source: Coronavirus: There Are Better Things to Do Than Panic, https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensalzberg/2020/02/29/coronavirus-time-to-panic- yet/#505927b57fa6.
Dr. Jennifer ABC Good Mar. 2 “I think it’s important as we’re looking at this number count, and everyone is so Nuzzo Morning focused on those numbers, to really ask the better question, which is out of how America many people. If you don’t know that denominator, those numbers really don't have a certain level of significance.” Tr. 1. “We do know, again, the virus tends to be mild in most case[s].” Tr. 1. Source: https://tinyurl.com/ABC-Mar-2 (LexisNexis)
Dr. Jennifer CNN Anderson Mar. 4 “[W]e’re . . . going to hear about increasing numbers of deaths. . . . [I]t’s Nuzzo Cooper important to put those numbers into perspective. These are individuals who are 360 unfortunately very vulnerable to severe illness and death, and the situation there is not necessarily reflective of the number of deaths we might see just in the general community.” Tr. 4-5. Source: https://tinyurl.com/AC-360-Mar-4 (LexisNexis).
App. 00138 Air / Speaker Outlet Show Pub. Statement(s) Date Anderson CNN Anderson Mar. 4 “[H]alf of the people in America do not get a flu shot and the flu right now is far Cooper Cooper deadlier. So if you’re freaked out at all about the coronavirus, you should be 360 more concerned about the flu. And you can actually do something about it and get a flu shot.” Tr. 6. Source: https://tinyurl.com/AC-360-Mar-4 (LexisNexis).
Dr. Sanjay CNN CNN Mar. “School closings, I think is still a little bit of a question mark, in terms of the real Gupta Live 10 impact of that.” Tr. 9. Event “I don't think there’s a right answer here. And people were going to have differing opinions on [closing colleges] I know.” Tr. 9-10. Source: https://tinyurl.com/CNN-Mar-10 (LexisNexis).
App. 00139
1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
2 I, Erin Fujita, declare that I am employed by the law firm of Harrigan Leyh Farmer &
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