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This is a rush transcript from "Ingraham Angle," June 12, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
LAURA INGRAHAM, HOST: We'll be watching tomorrow. I'm Laura Ingraham and this is “The Ingraham Angle” from Washington tonight. Why the media and Democrats could be misreading the polls, again. Two prominent pollsters react to my “Angle” and cut through the resistance noise, plus Victor Davis Hanson is back and he's going to share his predictions about what will dominate the 2020 news cycle; hint, it ain't Mueller.
And also tonight, Raymond Arroyo is warning parents about HBO's new and very explicit teen drama. And did the U.S. Women's soccer team goal celebrations at the World Cup cross the line? All that and more in a jam- packed seen and unseen.
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And for the third time, you're not going to believe this story. Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips is being targeted. He and his lawyer are here exclusively to tell us how they plan to fight back. But first, premature poll positioning, that's the focus of tonight's “Angle.”
Now, ever since the Mueller report flopped and were dropped of a new investigation into the origins of the Russia probe, Democrats and their media toadies have been desperate, desperate for some good news. And with new polling out, they think they have found it.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This Quinnipiac Poll shows him down by 13 points to Joe Biden there.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: In fact, the poll shows him trailing in head- to-head matchups with all the top Democratic hopefuls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is behind all the top-tier Democratic candidates by a significant amount.
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JOHN AVLON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Those polls that came out last night are trouble for him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's getting absolutely blistered by everybody in the field.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see a lot of signs of people trying to take back the country they love.
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INGRAHAM: Now, before the Democrats self-combust with excitement, a historical reminder. At nearly the same time before the last election, the same Quinnipiac Poll had Hillary Clinton beating Trump by 18 points, 50:32. Now, head-to-head national polls this early, they just tell us precious little. It's just a fact. During the 2016 election, Trump, what did he do? This is a much better way of looking at it.
He promised peace and prosperity and higher wages and voters, he has delivered on all fronts. Record-low unemployment, more money in most Americans' pockets, and we haven't gotten mired down in some new thorny military conflict, all good stuff. In other words, Democrats might want to hold off buying their tickets to the Biden Inaugural Ball.
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SUSAN PAGE, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF OF USA TODAY: 3 out of 4 Americans said their own personal financial situation was good or excellent. 7 out of 10 Americans said the U.S. economy was good or excellent. We have no history in modern times of defeating an incumbent President, if people are feeling that good about the economy.
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INGRAHAM: Susan Page of the USA TODAY is something called a real reporter, her point is accurate. Now, while Trump can run on this economy and an incredible record, Democrats still haven't really found a way to substantively challenge the President.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not settled at all that people know how to run against Donald Trump now. I mean no one cracked that code four years ago certainly. None of the Republicans did. Hillary Clinton did not. And even now, I mean he hasn't been on the ballot yet.
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INGRAHAM: And I think part of the reason Democrats are kind of in this flux mode right now is because they don't really have a governing strategy. And they certainly don't have a coherent agenda, not one that is going to raise your standard of living. And worse, what have they done with the power Americans entrusted to them in the last election, in the midterms?
Well, they have harassed the President and tried to resurrect a two-year investigation that put to rest the questions of Russian collusion or criminality. So, I guess there's always what, the Green New Deal? Good luck with that.
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So, with no credible policy proposals, Democrats have decided to turn on the American people. So, they are demonizing, they're boycotting and they're trying to censor any and all voices that they find objectionable. You can see that happening all over social media.
Now, to silence the opposition, they have deployed their own political and cultural shock troops like Congresswoman Marcia Fudge who decided to read this letter from a constituent and thus entering it into the Congressional record.
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REP. MARCIA FUDGE, D-OH: It is glaringly apparent that many who support the President Administration are either racists, steeped in religious beliefs, ignorant, or as my mother used to say, just plain dumb.
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INGRAHAM: And of course, Hollywood needs to get involved.
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ALYSSA MILANO, ACTRESS: These are the men who are voting on what goes on inside my uterus. This guy right here; this guy.
SPIKE LEE, FILM DIRECTOR: You've got to be on the right side of history, and the State of Georgia and those other states, they are wrong.
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BRYAN CRANSTON, ACTOR: I would like to dedicate this to all the real journalists around the world. The media is not the enemy of the people; demagoguery is the enemy of the people.
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INGRAHAM: They literally have nothing to offer the American people except their own derision and hatred. But, what if the unthinkable were to happen? What if Democrats did manage to retake the White House? Well, would their failed ideas work any better with a new figurehead?
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The failed policies of the Biden -- Obama Administration primed the country, don't forget, for a result-oriented leader like Trump. I mean, does anyone seriously believe that Joe Biden is the man who's like, let's going to say fix the border crisis?
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You got to help grow the economy. And the President just cut that all off. It was working. This is a crisis created by Trump. This is a crisis created by the Administration, and that's why he keeps these words (ph) coming.
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INGRAHAM: Only Trump has been willing to even recognize the real problem at the border, talk about the obscene loopholes in the system, rampant asylum fraud, the crime and the drugs allowed into the nation, even going to the mat with the threat of tariffs to try to stem the cross-border tide.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: Mexico is right now doing more for the United States on illegal immigration and all of the problems of crime and other problems on the border than the Democrats. We can solve our problem a problem on the border in 15 minutes if the Democrats would sit down, straighten out asylum and get rid of the loopholes.
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INGRAHAM: They aren't even talking about those things. And right now, Democrats have the luxury of avoiding serious probing questions about how they would deal with other issues like the massive trade imbalance with Beijing. Now, back to Joe Biden, despite dining out on his blue-collar appeal, he would be China's dream candidate, my friends, because there would be no more tariffs, no more demands that China stop stealing our IP, things would go back to the old days with American manufacturers and workers getting shafted.
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BIDEN: China is going to eat our lunch? Come on, man.
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INGRAHAM: Oh, this week Biden realizing how exposed he now is on this China issue trotted out a new supposed get tough position on China.
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BIDEN: China poses real challenges to the United States and in some ways, a real threat to the United States. We should be rallying our friends to take on China's abusive practices around the world.
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INGRAHAM: I mean, this man flips more than a short order cook at IHOP. He has zero credibility. His party supports boycotts of states like Georgia for their tough anti-abortion stands, but they have no problem doing business in communist China where a million Muslims are being kept in internment camps; nice going guys. And they claim to be for the little guy as they take billions from global menaces (ph) such as George Soros, they support open borders, and they lock arms with teachers' unions.
Remember Barack Obama, he kind of once embraced choice in education, but now the Democratic Party has moved so far stage left that they are now against charter schools. The polling data that has the Democrats so giddy tonight doesn't reflect any of what I just talked about. It's a snapshot in time. And in the end, the choice will be simple for Americans heading to the polls.
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Trump's message will be or should be, reelect me, so we can keep this economy humming and finally fix the problems that the old guard kept ignoring, like illegal immigration and prescription drug costs. Turning back would be the ultimate act of self-destruction for America.
Democrats meanwhile will have a much harder case to make. They need to convince you that even if it means that you have to give back some of the money you've made over the past four years, electing a Democrat is a moral necessity.
Now why? Well, because to them, Trump represents a racist America with an evil economic system that must be defeated and replaced at all cost. Trump supporters who wear MAGA hats will be shamed and attacked as this 2020 race reaches a fever pitch. They won't maybe call all Trump voters deplorable, but that's still what they think of you.
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Remember, Biden didn't always believe these things, but he now has to pretend to, and most voters, they can usually smell a phony a mile away.
Now, other top contenders such as Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders actually do believe a lot of this claptrap, which will be beautifully demonstrated in the upcoming debates. So, if this election is framed at peace and prosperity versus identity politics and dressed up socialism, this week's poll results will be remembered as fondly as maybe Michael Avenatti, and that's THE ANGLE.
All right, joining me now with reaction is Tom Bevan, Cofounder and President of RealClearPolitics, and John McLaughlin, Trump 2020 campaign pollster. Tom, let's start with you. How could the Left be falling for the obviously premature and I believe incorrect polls again?
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TOM BEVAN, COFOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Well, because the Left views Trump as - they viewed him as unelectable the first time and they view him as unelectable this time around. I mean, they believe that any one of their candidates can beat him, they believe that any position they take will be acceptable to the American people.
And so they read these numbers, even though they are 17 months away and they're based on a national head to head match-up as supposed to the states where it matters most, and think they are in really good shape. And I think that really underestimates Trumps strength, as you pointed out in THE ANGLE, with the economy that's this good, if it stays this good through next year, he's going to be tough - I think it's going to be very, very close election for sure.
INGRAHAM: And John, when you listen to the sheer elation in the voices and the delivery of so many of these media pundit Democrat types, I guess it's all they have to hold on to now. I mean, they can't talk down the economy, it's pretty impossible to do that.
And Mueller was a flop, so this is - they have to grab on to any strand that they can find to find now to find some optimism. But they do also point to some of the battleground state polls in recent weeks that also didn't look good for Trump. So, how does the campaign respond to those?
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN POLLSTER: Well, I'll tell you what, it's Groundhog Day again. I don't blame the President for being so cynical about these media polls, because Tom remembers, he keeps a good collection of these polls on his website. You know how many electoral votes they gave us right before the election? 164. We got 304.
Even on Election Day, the exit polls had us losing, even Frank Luntz at 653 (ph), he's a good pollster, was texting - was tweeting out that we were going to lose. Instead, we beat them. Our polls said Brad Parscale had our analytics and that Sunday we went over with Jared Kushner, our polls had it at a dead-even race, we could win on the turnout. The President was going to five or six states today, and we got the turnout - a historic record turnout of 139 million voters and we were able to win.
Because these media polls are skewed, they're biased, they are polls of adults, they randomly call people by their phone numbers, they are registered voters. They are not likely voters. The Rasmussen poll today had us 51%, the President had a 51% job approval with the likely voters.
INGRAHAM: Tom, I think that when - we can always play the old sound bites from 2015 of all of these people predicting that Trump wouldn't be the nominee, let alone win the Presidency. They were laughing him off. But, at the same time, you do want to go into this election season, do you not, as the incumbent with a very positive, sunny, optimistic message for the country.
And I think sometimes the White House can get bogged down in the controversy of the day or the attack of the day and kind of go down a rabbit hole of negativity, instead of saying, this is morning in America and it's only going to get sunnier. That's where I think - if I could give any criticism of what they are doing now, that's what I think where they think they should take it to the sunshine of tomorrow, not turning back the clock and going back to the failed stagnation - stagnating wages of yesterday.
BEVAN: Yes, people say Trump doesn't talk about the economy. He does talk about the economy. He tweets about it and talks about it all the time. The problem is he - he also tweets about five other things. And typically, one of those five other things is what ends up making the headlines. I will say though, the one thing where I think Trump needs to improve is health care as the number one issue. It was in 2018, it's still is right now, healthcare is the number one issue for voters.
And Republicans and Trump don't really have a healthcare plan to take to the American people. Now, they are lowering prescription drug costs and that's important and valuable. But meanwhile, on the other side, every one of the Democrats, all 24 of them, are endorsing some sort of healthcare plan, whether single payer or whatever. And so, that is the number one issue on the minds of voters right now and I think it's going to be that way in 2020. And I think Trump has to have a plan to take the American people to contrast with the Democrats.
INGRAHAM: All right, John, very quickly, Bernie Sanders gave another push for socialism today in a speech, is that going to help your messaging in the campaign?
MCLAUGHLIN: Well, he is trying to stave off Elizabeth Warren. There is one poll has her today, where she is passing him for second place. But I'll tell you what, you are right about it, it's about peace and prosperity. That's how Republican Presidents get reelected. And this President has delivered on the economy and he's delivered on keeping America stronger and safer.
And Tom's right about healthcare, but the President said in the State of the Union, he's going to cover pre-existing conditions, lower drug costs. But you know what, our biggest enemy is not any one of these Democrats, it's the media. 90% of their coverage is negative and these polls are skewed, and they're trying to sandbag us into believing that we can't win again.
INGRAHAM: I think - guys, I think it's - this is the brightest morning in America that we've had in this country for I don't even know how long. He should walk into every room like he just hit the Lotto, okay. That's my view of this, be optimistic and positive, don't get stuck in these side issues that frankly don't matter to most people.
Guys, thank you so much for your analysis. And by the way, polling is just one part of the 2020 equation. The other is what the news cycle will bring. Our next guest says that while the media will be reflexively anti-Trump, they will not have the reliable Mueller story to obsess over.
In fact, they might have to confront some hard truths about what really happened with these new investigations coming to fruition. Victor Davis Hanson, Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution joins us now. Victor, good to have you back. Okay, you have some big predictions about what stories will dominate ahead of the 2020 election, tell us.
VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, MARTIN AND ILLIE ANDERSON SENIOR FELLOW, HOOVER INSTITUTION: I think the Mueller story is pretty much through, Laura, and it's come like a boomerang effect, that now we are going to see the people who were instrumental in subverting the Trump campaign transition and the Presidency are going to be called to account. So, we heard that walls are closing in, the noose is tightening, but it's going to act in reverse.
So, Comey, Brennan, McCabe, Bruce Ohr and his wife, they are all facing either criminal referrals or likely criminal referrals. And this is going to be a slow, drawn-out process all the way to the 2020 elections.
And then when you see - you mentioned the good economy, that's something that Trump needs to focus I think even more on. But, the two areas in the news cycle where he might be vulnerable, we've had a million illegal aliens coming just in half the year, there is no alternative from the Democrats.
I mean this is the - he wanted to shut down the government and he did to stop illegal immigration. He put a tariff and he would've on Mexico. So, he's doing all he can, so that's not going to be an issue for the Democrats, because they can't say, well we would stop immigration, because they want more of it illegally.
And then finally, we got a big annual deficit and Trump might be vulnerable there. But the Democrats are not - they don't have a reputation for fiscal sobrieties, or areas where Trump might be vulnerable, they are not - they can't - they have no alternative--
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INGRAHAM: Yes, they are just going to be worse - they are going to be worst on all, they are going to be worst on the border, they're going to be worst on spending, they are going to be worst on all of those things that he might be vulnerable on in another type of election.
I have to get to this, ABC released part of a George Stephanopoulos exclusive interview with President Trump, and it's getting wall-to-wall coverage on the networks. Take a look.
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GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: If foreigners, if Russia, if China, someone else offers you information on opponents, should they accept it or should they call the FBI?
TRUMP: I think maybe you do both. I think you might want to listen, I don't - there's nothing wrong with listening. If somebody called from a country, Norway, we have information on your opponent, oh I think I would want to hear it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: You want that kind of interference in our elections?
TRUMP: It's not an interference. They have information. I think I would take it. If I thought there was something wrong, I would go maybe to the FBI, if I thought that there was something wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Victor, setting aside the question of why you would have George Stephanopoulos standing over the President in the Oval Office, I don't know who approved that, but what about this notion of accepting foreign intel about an opponent? Is that a risk for President Trump getting pulled back in the Mueller, again, why he was put in that situation is beyond me.
DAVIS HANSON: Well, you hit the nail on the head. You shouldn't ever talk to George Stephanopoulos, one. And two, any question about foreign intelligence, that should be the end of the conversation, because it can be manipulated and distorted.
What Trump was probably doing, saying - I think he intended to say something like Adam Schiff who got fooled remember by those Russian comedians have called him up and said I've got dirt, and Adam Schiff seemed very eager to hear it. That's what Trump might say.
And we hear all of these politicians hear this type of stuff from all sources. But I think the cardinal rule is in Trump's case you don't even discuss that, you just say, I don't want to talk about it or I'm not interested in it.
INGRAHAM: Yes, he's not replying. He seems like he's playing, Victor, with Stephanopoulos there a little bit.
DAVIS HANSON: He is.
INGRAHAM: I mean he joked about it when he said Russia, get the - get Hillary's emails. I mean that was obviously a Trump joke. But again putting--
DAVIS HANSON: It was.
INGRAHAM: --putting him in that situation, I don't get it. Victor, we're out of time, thank you so much, it's great to have you back.
DAVIS HANSON: Yes, thank you.
INGRAHAM: And coming up, for Democrats, the rules seem to always be changing. What shocked by crowds chanting Lock Her Up about Hillary, they're now pushing for the prosecution of the sitting President. So, what changed?
Bongino and Hahn next.
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SEN. CORY BOOKER, D-N.J., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You hear a whole convention center chanting Lock Her Up, which to me is things that dictators do, that autocrats do.
SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, D-CONN: The using of this police power against political enemies is characteristic not only of a Banana Republic, but of Saudi Arabia and Russia, whose rulers apparently Donald Trump really admires.
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, D-CALIF., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If the Attorney General is supposed to act on behalf of the people and not act as the President's henchman.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Well, that was then, and this is now.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you become President, if he was never impeached, would you want the Department of Justice now that he is no longer a sitting President to go forward with those obstruction of justice charges?
HARRIS: I believe that they would have no choice and that they should, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even if it meant a former President going on trial, serving jail time?
HARRIS: Well, the facts and the evidence will take the process where it leads.
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INGRAHAM: I wonder what changed. Well this of course comes mere days after Speaker Nancy Pelosi reportedly told her Democratic leadership that impeachment was cheap. What she really wants is Trump in prison.
Joining me now is Dan Bongino, Fox News contributor, and Chris Hahn, former aide to Senator Chuck Schumer and host of the Aggressive Progressive on Apple podcast.
All right, Chris, do you agree with Kamala's suggestion that her DOJ would go after Trump and potentially put him on trial post Presidency?
CHRIS HAHN, FORMER AIDE TO SENATOR CHUCK SCHUMER: Well, the DOJ should be very, very independent of any politically elected person. But any person running for President that thinks it would be okay for the former President to be put on trial is not telling the truth.
And if they became President, they would not do that ever. I don't care if it's Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, no one is going to do that. That is what they do in Banana Republics, we don't do that here.
Even if the President is guilty of crimes and the President may be guilty of crimes, it is not in the best interest of the American people to see those crimes go to trial. Any President would be forced to pardon this President, should DOJ bring an independent charge against this President.
INGRAHAM: All right, Dan, well Chris just called Kamala Harris a liar and said that she's not telling the truth. Apparently, she just wants to get her poll numbers up, which is starting to flag. A lot of people are noticing that, so she has to again outdo her comrades in the Democratic Party by moving in further to the Left. Is that what this is really all about?
DAN BONGINO, CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I mean this may be one of the first times Chris and I agree. Kamala Harris has a problem with the truth, no issue there (inaudible). But watching that mosaic of Democrats opening their mouths about how - this is now the police state or whatever may be.
Laura, this has to be comical to the listeners and viewers of this show, who are saying right now, really you're talking about the party, the Democrats under the Obama administration that used, let's go through the list here, human intelligence assets, national security letters, secret spying words to spy on a political opponent based on a dossier with information provided by Russian sources to another foreigner, and given to the Clinton team.
And you're talking about the police state in the Trump administration, are you serious?
INGRAHAM: All right, that's a good segue guys, move on. I have to get your thoughts on this new piece tonight in The New York Times. Justice Department seeks to question CIA officers in Russia inquiry review. All right, how important is speaking to CIA officers and getting to the bottom of this? Chris, you take a quick bite of that and I'll go to Dan for that.
HAHN: Well, I mean. I don't know. We'll have to see more about that, right? But, let's just all agree on one thing, any President that uses his office to instruct the Justice Department to investigate his political opponent--
INGRAHAM: He didn't obstruct the Justice Department?
HAHN: Should immediately be impeached.
INGRAHAM: Right. He didn't obstruct the Justice Department?
HAHN: Anybody who does it. I'm not saying he does; I'm saying even a future President, any President ever, anytime.
INGRAHAM: Yes. Well, I think--
HAHN: Should be impeached immediately.
INGRAHAM: Again, the Democrats are grabbing on to any morsel they can, polls, or Trump -- jawboning today with Stephanopoulos stand, standing over him in the Oval Office back and forth. But, this is wild. I mean this is not going to be some narrow inquiry, just focusing on one small aspect of the Russia probe.
HAHN: Yes.
INGRAHAM: This is now looking at the intelligence agency, the pre-eminent intelligence agency and this nation.
HAHN: Yes.
INGRAHAM: CIA officers, Dan. You have documented this on your podcast and in your book.
BONGINO: Yes.
INGRAHAM: This is a huge a development in this investigation.
BONGINO: Laura, here's why Brennan and his lieutenants are in trouble, not the rank-and-file intelligence officers out there. In August, he briefs Harry Reid about information - Brennan that is. That information he briefs him on is only in Christopher Steele's information, whatever you want to call it, the dossier. But he says he hasn't seen the dossier, Brennan, until December.
That's not possible if he told Harry Reid about it in August. And one more thing, Lisa Page of the FBI, when questioned on the role, appears genuinely astonished when asked by Mark Meadows about the fact that the CIA may have had information from Christopher Steele prior to when the FBI knew about it.
HAHN: Well.
BONGINO: Meaning there may have been parallel construction path going on here which is very bad.
HAHN: Let's have some hearings and talk it out, Dan. I'm sure Jim Jordan will do a great job--
BONGINO: Yes.
HAHN: --questioning these people and they will--
BONGINO: He's the best.
HAHN: --and they will make him look like a fool and it will hurt the President because we'll be talking about the President colluding with Russia.
BONGINO: Really? You've been a collusion hoaxer the whole time and you're call Jim Jordan a fool.
HAHN: The president basically -- come on, bring me some more information foreign powers.
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BONGINO: Collusion hoaxer --
INGRAHAM: All right, guys. All right, I've got to go.
HAHN: There should be a censure resolution introduced tomorrow.
BONGINO: He was a collusion hoaxer.
INGRAHAM: All right, coming up guys -- got to go. These guys, they're really friends. Coming up, is a former first lady participating in a dehumanizing sport for the sake of comedy? We are going to explain, "Seen and Unseen" with Raymond Arroyo next.
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INGRAHAM: It's time for our "Seen and Unseen" segment where we expose the big cultural stories of the day, like why are researchers calling a childhood game dehumanizing and oppressive? And if you have kids, we have a warning about a new show pushing dangerous boundaries.
Joining us now with all the details, Raymond Arroyo, FOX News contributor, "New York Times" bestselling author of "Will Wilder, The Amulet of Power." All right, Raymond Arroyo, first I need to get this warning out about this latest HBO show. Tell us.
RAYMOND ARROYO, CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. Well, it's called "Euphoria," Laura, and it targeted to teens. It bills itself as an edgy, true of life depiction of growing up today. But in reality, it's a boundary pushing, graphic sex acts, nudity, violence, crazy drug use among young people. It's sort of the old "Girls" show on crack. The show features former Disney star Zendaya in what is a play for tweens and high school kids. This show is so graphic I really can't even describe the events here, Laura, but one cast member was so disgusted by the content and the sexual adventures that were introduced into the script, he walked off the set. HBO's bosses were concerned about the male nudity in the show. And if they are concerned about it, you know this must be bad.
What my problem is as a parent, you are pushing boundaries and you're establishing as normative these deviant sexual behaviors, transgenderism, gender fluidity, ridiculous drug use, and passing it off as normative. Sam Levinson, Barry Levinson's son who created the show, this guy spent time in and out of rehab up until he was 16. Of course, this is normal for him living an elite Hollywood life. This is not normal for American kids, it shouldn't be.
INGRAHAM: I think I got rid of HBO after "The Sopranos."
ARROYO: You and me, both.
INGRAHAM: I was like, it's just not something I care to pay for, I'm not going to pay extra for it, and I'm not going to allow it in my home. We don't watch almost any TV anymore.
ARROYO: This is beyond pushing the envelope. It goes so far.
INGRAHAM: This is an agenda and they are pushing this agenda. We're going to be hitting this in the coming weeks and months.
Speaking of bad behavior, people are charging the U.S. women's soccer team with being poor sports after the World Cup victory over Thailand this week. What's going on with that?
ARROYO: This is the largest margin, Laura, in World Cup history, 13 to nothing. But some commentators and a few anchors thought the U.S. team was gratuitous in the way they celebrated after each point was scored. Late in the game they were still hugging and cheering and encouraging each other.
INGRAHAM: So they mean on goals nine and 10.
ARROYO: They thought it went overboard. And my problem is this -- whether you lose or you win, grace matters in sports. And let's face it, we have not seen a lot of examples of this. You remember Serena Williams last year yelling at the ref? She was fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. You have got football players who go overboard when they make a goal or they kick a goal.
INGRAHAM: The dance, yes, the dance.
ARROYO: We need to teach grace.
All of that said, I don't think this team crossed the line at all. They pushed it to the limit, as one of their own members said, you play to the whistle blows. That's how you play the game particularly at this level.
INGRAHAM: Every point scored matters. And the way this is done in the World Cup, we were just in Paris, it was just starting. The U.S. women's team is unreal, they are so talented. They're going to win it all.
ARROYO: They also consoled the Thailand team when they --
INGRAHAM: That's brutal. That's brutal to lose by that much, but maybe not put it in their face. All right, what else is happening?
ARROYO: Vancouver researchers in a new study, Laura, are declaring dodgeball in Phys Ed classes dehumanizing. They say it harms their peers. They also say it can be an outlet for aggression that leads to exploitation, powerlessness, and violence.
INGRAHAM: And it just hurts.
ARROYO: The cruelty of it, Laura, the cruelty.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You've got to learn the five D's of dodgeball -- dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shouldn't we learn by dodging balls that are thrown at us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what this sack of wrenches is for. If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any other questions?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
INGRAHAM: I love "Dodgeball."
ARROYO: Now we learn that James Corden late show will be hosting a trans- Atlantic dodgeball showdown next week in the U.K., Laura. Guess who will be leading the American team? You see her there, Michelle Obama.
INGRAHAM: Good for her. I bet she's good at it.
ARROYO: So in the spirit of let's move, Laura, it's your turn to move. Back it up, back it up. Got you. Got you. Do like I didn't bring a wrench.
INGRAHAM: Do you think I was usually picked first for dodgeball?
ARROYO: I was the guy. I would get behind the big guys and wait it out to the very end.
INGRAHAM: I loved dodgeball. By the way, it was a smart idea to invite Stephanopoulos into the Oval?
ARROYO: Do you know they gave him two days with the president, Iowa, then the Oval Office, a sit-down in the Rose Garden, a big special on ABC. We went all the way across the ocean and got 15 minutes. He got an hours.
INGRAHAM: We enjoyed ours.
ARROYO: It's a great 15 minutes.
INGRAHAM: Yes, but he gets two days? Two days. Well, we'll see how that works out.
ARROYO: See you.
INGRAHAM: Coming up, the third time, antireligious bigots are coming after the owner of Masterpiece Cakeshop. Wait until you hear what they are doing this time. Jack Phillips and his lawyer are here exclusively to expose the agenda. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: For the third time the Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips is being targeted by antireligious zealots. They not only want to force him to bake cakes that offend his religious beliefs, they want to destroy him financially and personally. And if you think this is simply about equal rights, you are sorely mistaken. This is about radical social justice warriors attempting to compel speech that they believe to be right and acceptable.
Here now exclusively is Masterpiece Cakeshop owner Jack Phillips and his attorney Jeremy Tedesco. Jack, I want to begin with you. You are obviously being targeted. Who is behind this latest attack?
JACK PHILLIPS, OWNER, MASTERPIECE CAKESHOP: This time, Laura, I really feel like I'm being harassed. I've been sued by the state twice now, and they've lost both times. And the attorney that instigated the second lawsuit against me is now taking it to sue me personally, and this time asking for damages and legal fees, which would lead me to bankruptcy and ruin my company.
INGRAHAM: Jeremy, hasn't this person harassed Kack over email as well. And again, this is now wanting to cake to celebrate gender transition. What does that cake look like? I'm not following that.
JEREMY TEDESCO, ATTORNEY FOR JACK PHILLIPS: Certainly. It's very unfortunate to see the kind of emails that were sent to Jack. But we can't forget the state's role in this, too. The state in its open hostility to Jack has clearly created a lack of tolerance for people like him. And now we see private individuals stepping into the shoes of the state and trying to do to Jack what the state couldn't do.
INGRAHAM: And the Supreme Court said you cannot target people and offend their religious sensibilities in the way that they were trying to do with the first go around when it came to the cake for the same-sex wedding.
TEDESCO: That's right. The Supreme Court said this kind of open hostility to religion has no place in our society, and Colorado and now its citizens didn't get the message.
INGRAHAM: And Jack, Governor Jared Polis, leftist, of course, governor of the state of Colorado, who ultimately had to pull back this lawsuit, but basically saying the private individual involved, well, that person can sue you, and that's what happened here. Are you an object lesson for the whole country if you dare to stand up for your own religious beliefs, you will be tarred, you will be demeaned, and frankly, yourself dehumanized, and they've really hurt you financially, really hurt you.
PHILLIPS: They really have. The state took away 40 percent of my business, which was my wedding business the first go around. And the thing is, I serve everybody who comes in my shop. I welcome everybody, and I would be glad to create cakes for anybody that comes in. But I don't create every cake and every message that people ask me to in a cake.
INGRAHAM: Jeremy, this Scardina person, this is just a -- this is a mission. This is a mission to send a message, don't you dare demand equal access to express your views, because our views and our beliefs trump yours, you are a bigot. That's the message. Any Christian conservative who thinks like Jack thinks is a bigot, that's what they want to say.
TEDESCO: The goal is to silence Jack, to banish them from public life, to financially ruin him, and to send a message of intimidation to people who share Jack's beliefs that they have no place in public life, have no right to earn a livelihood and follow their religious conviction simultaneously.
INGRAHAM: Jack, the attorney for the plaintiff here is saying this is about honoring the dignity of individuals transitioning. And that has to be honored across the board regardless of your particular conscience or religious beliefs. Your reaction, are you dishonoring people's dignity?
PHILLIPS: In this case the cake that we were asked to create was a cake that was blue on the outside and pink on the inside, and the colors were specific to celebrate that transition. And while I would be glad to serve transgenders or gays or anybody, I just can't create every cake that I'm asked to create. And in this case this was a message that I couldn't create, and we tried to convey that to this individual. We will serve you in any other capacity, but this is a cake. We will serve you, we serve everybody.
INGRAHAM: They serve everyone, and they are still targets. This is ongoing harassment. We'll continue to cover it. Both of you, thank you for being here tonight.
PHILLIPS: Thank you, appreciate it.
INGRAHAM: And coming up, Republican Justin Amash got the attention he was craving by calling for Trump's impeachment. But will it cost him his job? We reveal a stunning new poll that should have him worried. His challenger joins me next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
INGRAHAM: Congressman Justin Amash, he made a lot of headlines last month when he became the lone Republican of Congress to accuse Trump of impeachable conduct. He continued broadsides, and they culminated today in hold A.G. Bill Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross in contempt of Congress. But his stunts might be costing him back home. A new local poll has Amash down a whopping 16 points against his challenger Republican Michigan State Rep. Jim Lower. Mr. Lower joins us now. Your reaction to the Amash stunt this week about holding Barr and Wilbur Ross in contempt. He is really trying to snuggle up to the left here.
STATE REP. JIM LOWER, R-MICH., CHALLENGING REPRESENTATIVE AMASH: Hey, Laura. Last time you had me on, I believe you said that this challenge, quote, wasn't serious. It's obviously very serious, we are up 16 points in the polls. And it's very clear why. Voters are responding to our message of supporting President Trump, supporting border security, supporting pro-life issues, supporting conservative issues generally.
And his behavior, holding the A.G. in contempt, it's not surprising he has clearly basically left the Republican Party and joined the Democrats. He's going to continue to oppose everything that the president is trying to do, everything that the party is trying to do, everything that is good for west Michigan. And that's why he's going to be defeated in the fall.
But we need people's help on that. I would like to see the president get directly involved. It looks like they may be considering that. I think that would be very helpful, because if it's me versus Amash in the fall, he can't win. There's no pathway to victory. We'll blow him right out of the water. So I would love President Trump to get involved and endorse our campaign and for people to continue going to VoteLower.com and donating. The last time you had me on we raised $50,000 in about 48 hours. So that kind of response is very helpful in the campaign against a never-Trumper like this.
INGRAHAM: "Politico" actually, Jim, they published a piece today titled "Trump looks to squash Amash," reporting that the president is looking to endorse an Amash challenger. You haven't gotten that endorsement yet, but your message to the president should you actually --
LOWER: But it's been early. We just announced, and I think they are strongly considering endorsing our campaign. In the squash Amash they are having a rally on Friday here in Grand Rapids outside his office. There are a lot of voters that are very angry. And there was an article, he did some liberal exclusive article with a liberal newsmagazine in Michigan where he said, quote, the president's endorsement wouldn't matter in this race. It just shows how out of touch he is with the district, because voters in this district do support the president.
INGRAHAM: That's a really good question. Before we let you go, these head-to-head to polls and even battleground state polls that we've seen in the last month or so, some of them show that Trump is down in a state like Michigan. You are on the ground. Just anecdotally, do you think that is correct? Like if it's a Biden versus Trump in 2020?
LOWER: I really don't. Right. When I ran for state rep in 2016, a lot of the polls said the same thing, Trump's going to lose, he's way down, he has no pathway to the presidency or in Michigan. But when I was on the ground talking to voters as I was then and I am now, there's a lot of support for the president. But because of these vicious attacks that the left will just shower on anybody who even remotely likes the president, they don't want to answer a poll saying their supporting, they don't want their name tied to it. So that's what I think is causing that.
INGRAHAM: All right, Mr. Lower, we hope the president is watching tonight, and we're going to be watching this race.
LOWER: I hope so, too.
INGRAHAM: Old Justin is in trouble, that's all I can say. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, I-VT, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Democratic socialism means to me requiring and achieving political and economic freedom in every community.
I do understand that I and other progressives will face massive attacks from those who attempt to use the word socialism as a slur."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: It just doesn't work. People end up starving in the streets because of socialism. Look at what's happening with the yellow vest movement in France and all across Europe. Populism and more patriotic economic nationalism is winning the day.
Shannon Bream and the "Fox News @ Night" team take it all from here. Ms. Shannon, have a great show.
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