Mike Huckabee: No elected official who orders a lockdown should get a paycheck as long we're shut down

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Mike Huckabee: No elected official who orders a lockdown should get a paycheck as long we're shut down

This is a rush transcript from "The Ingraham Angle," June 17, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

RAYMOND ARROYO, FOX NEWS HOST: I'm Raymond Arroyo filling in for Laura Ingraham and this is "The Ingraham Angle" on a very busy Friday night. Today's jobs report made it clear that a permanent lockdown is not sustainable. So why are some governors tightening their restrictions? Former Governor Mike Huckabee, with a can't miss message, in moments.

Also, tonight, we learned yesterday that former President Obama knew about the investigation into General Michael Flynn. Should that set off alarms? Who else knew? The first ever Assistant General of Intel at the FBI is here to tell us why this rot probably started at the top and what it means?

Plus, I couldn't forget "Friday Follies," because I'm hosting. Well, we're going to get into Joe Biden's very bad week and a coronavirus challenge that is all wet. But with Laura out, who'll join me? You'll find out. Stay there. And Laura will be here later in the show with an important update to a story we did two weeks ago.

But first, on this 53rd day of America in shut down, if you look closely across the country, we are seeing a confrontation, one that will likely be with us for a while, liberty versus lockdown. As the virus burns itself out, which appears to be the case throughout the United States, there is an urge to return to life. But some blue state governors and mayors are unilaterally extending their stay-at-home orders despite the situation on the ground and the will of the people.

Now granted New York is a COVID exception. It is the hot spot of the country. And according to a new analyst by - a new analysis rather by a Yale epidemiologist, New York was likely the gateway for the spread of it to many other parts of the country. Here's Governor Andrew Cuomo on shutdowns. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO (D-NY): I'm liable, show me the facts and the numbers kind of guy. We've seen what happens when you go by gut instinct and by emotion and by politics. Now this science is contrary to emotions and politics--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Of course, that depends on how you read the politics as well as the science. Here are some facts and numbers for the governor courtesy of the USAFacts and the COVID-19 project. 54 percent of the COVID cases and 61 percent of the deaths are restricted to five states - New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Illinois and California.

And when you burrow down to the county level - and this is important, things are even more stark. 52 percent of U.S. counties have zero COVID deaths. 80 percent have five or fewer deaths and 89 percent of those counties have fewer than 15 deaths.

Look, every death, every loss of life is a tragedy. But we can't use the metrics of New York and extend them across the country into the rural areas to justify a national lockdown. The data, the numbers simply don't justify it. And if Montana or Utah were epicenters of a viral outbreak, do you actually think New York or California would shutter all activity over it? I rather doubt it.

The prolonging of this COVID crisis is being used to deprive citizens of essential liberties and expand the welfare state in, frankly, breathtaking ways. In Texas, an undercover cop part of the COVID-19 task force enforcement detail. Did you know that existed? They busted two Laredo women for offering cosmetic and beauty services from their homes. The women were in prison for violating the Emergency Ordinance.

Now Governor Abbott has since issued an Executive Order, forbidding the imprisonment of Texans who violate these shutdown restrictions. But in Ohio, the Republican led Legislature took on their own governor, passing a bill that would limit the ability of the State Health Director to issue lasting health state orders, including lockdowns. We're going to talk to one of those representatives in a moment. The governor has promised a veto.

Michigan's legislature has sued their Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer for unilaterally stretching her stay-at-home order until May 28th without the involvement and agreement of the legislature.

Look, I understand, we're all in uncharted territory here. But before continuing the forced quarantine of healthy American people, which knows no historical precedent, shouldn't legislatures have some say, shouldn't the people have some voice?

Governor Cuomo talked about science, well here's some Science Forum. In 2018, the latest numbers we have from the CDC, heart disease and cancer killed more people over a 2-month average than coronavirus has over the last two months.

Are we going to mandate the closure of all fast food establishments? Got to stop that heart disease, shut your mouth, save lives. Should be ban saturated fats and fried foods? Let's require all Americans to eat kale, quinoa and skinless chicken.

It would be less onerous and destructive than the shuttering of American life and livelihoods that we are experiencing now. But in America, people have a choice to take risks in what they eat, how they recreate, even where and how they choose to live.

We now have more than 33 million unemployed Americans. And every day this lockdown endures the economic and cultural toll will deepen. In the wings, politicians are only too happy to use this crisis to purportedly help you and themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have an opportunity not just to rebuild the economy, but to transform it. Building a new green economy that will position us to own the 21st Century.

REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): I'm excited to introduce a bill to cancel all rent and home mortgage payments through the duration of this pandemic.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): We've got to get rid of that student debt that is crushing young people. We're going to build out America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Oh my goodness. A government like roaches are the only thing that continues to operate when all other life has ceased. After a $2 trillion bailout package passed in March, Speaker Pelosi is also working hard on a sequel with another $2 trillion price tag. Maybe the Met and Lincoln Center will get payouts this time.

Senators Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders want the government to send monthly $2,000 payments to every American until three months after the government declares an end to this public health emergency. By the way, that's retroactive to March.

How about sending Americans back to their jobs, to their businesses? Where is the money coming from to pay for all this free stuff? It will come from you - all of you, whether you return to work now or much, much later in some cases, you'll be paying for this. The manmade disaster created over a viral one.

Americans deserve to be heard before they're presented with the bill by the same bureaucrats who have compounded their suffering and deprived them of their liberties. And those are my thoughts at the end of day 53, America in shut down.

Joining me now is Mike Huckabee, Fox News Contributor and former Governor of Arkansas. Governor, thank you for being here.

Some of these governors in the states I mentioned and mayors, they seem drunk with power and utterly uncaring about what their people desire. Governor what's your message for them?

MIKE HUCKABEE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, my message is pretty simple. If the people of your state or your county or your city are not being able to go to work and get their paychecks, then the government official who issued the order should not take a paycheck until those other folks can go back to work.

Raymond, if we did that, this ends pretty quickly. No member of Congress should get a paycheck as long as we're in shutdown. No governor, no mayor, no county official who orders other people to stay home and not get their paycheck, shouldn't take a paycheck. If you want to see how fast that we can retool this country and get back to work? Mandate that and you'll see it pretty quickly.

ARROYO: Governor I'm going to play this for you. Eric Garcetti, the Mayor of Los Angeles, he flexed his literary muscles today, courtesy of Stan Lee. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC GARCETTI, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORINIA: We are taking baby steps forward today from the lessons learned over the last two months. But we've been warning people to paraphrase Spider-Man, "With great freedoms come great responsibility." And you have to take those responsibilities seriously. I won't hesitate for one second to shut things back down if we see numbers going up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Of course, the actual quote is "With great power comes great responsibility." I wish he'd gotten the quote right. But governor, it seems he set himself up as the master of citizens constitutional rights. What did you hear there?

HUCKABEE: Well, I think, somehow he's missing the point that this is America. I've traveled all over the world, Raymond, and one of the things I've noticed is that when I go to a country that's totalitarian and where the government is really heavy handed, it reminds me how grateful I am to be an American.

I visited some police states before. I don't want to live in one. There's a big difference. We have freedom in this country. We should be treated like Americans and like adults. Americans means we have some freedoms and liberties and we make some choices.

Adults, that means that we're not treated like first graders. Line up, we'll tell you when you can go to the restroom, and we'll tell you that you're going to stand in line and wait for lunch and you're going to have something on your plate that's good for you, and you better like it. And if you don't then that's all you get.

This is not how this country is supposed to work. We've got to change that, Raymond. It has to be now.

ARROYO: Well, governor there's got to be an end to these emergency orders. There must be some end. Now the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, she justified the extension of her stay-at-home order until May 28th. This was her justification, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MI): We need to continue practicing strict social distancing. We know that even in this phase we are still safer at home and that's why we'll be extending the order through the 28th, because we are still safer at home. While we can re-engage in more things, we've got to be smart about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Safer at home. She keeps saying safer at home. I guess she wasn't watching Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday when he presented this chart and it revealed 66 percent of new coronavirus hospitalizations are from people who were staying at home and practicing social distancing. Now, given those facts Governor, what is Whitmer talking about at this point?

HUCKABEE: Well I want to be very clear. I'd like to stay socially distance from her, because I couldn't stand that kind of heavy handed governing. Look, here's the point she's saying we're safer at home. You know what, I'm safer at home if I don't get in the car. I will not have a car wreck if I never get in the car.

I'm safer if I stay at home than if I get on an airplane. We're safer at home doing a lot of things. But the point is, life is filled with challenges, risk, rewards and we have to take a few and I think a lot of Americans are really ready to go to work.

ARROYO: And I agree with you. Governor, thank you so much for your insights. Say stay safe out there. But you know get in the car right now and then, that's a good thing.

HUCKABEE: Absolutely.

ARROYO: As governors wield more power during this pandemic. Some local officials are fighting back. In Illinois, the state's GOP is slamming Democratic Governor J.B. Pritzker's whose five phase plan to reopen his state.

But as the billionaire, governor keeps most of his state in lockdown and slow walks getting residents back to work. His wife reportedly skipped town and went to the estate in Florida. Funny how the rules don't apply to everyone.

Joining me now is Illinois House Republican Leader, Jim Durkin. Representative thank you for being here. You said the governor's plan would destroy most businesses in the state. What's your plan to fix it? He says he's putting the health and safety of people first, is he?

JIM DURKIN (IL) HOUSE GOP LEADER: We can do both and that is the role of the legislature. And as the governor extended his second Executive Order, it has come to us very quickly that we've lost a good portion of our hospitality industry.

We've got to look at the numbers. We're at 923,000 Illinoisans who filed for unemployments. We have a hospitality industry which is 10 percent of the workforce in Illinois, which is roughly 550,000 lost over 300,000 jobs just within the last month and a half.

The governor's plan doesn't make sense. It creates different regions that will - that are based on metrics and when they will be phased back into opening up.

ARROYO: OK. But you and the Republicans in your conversations with him, you suggested a regional plan, right?

DURKIN: Yes. But his regional plan does not make sense, because what he does is that he incorporates the City of Chicago with distant suburbs in DuPage County of maybe 100 to 200 people or in Kendall County that all have to live by the same metrics that are going to be imposed upon the City of Chicago.

A lot of these areas do not have corona cases. They are not experiencing the same suffering that they have in Chicago. And that's why it doesn't make sense. The House Republicans, we've presented a plan which is going to invest more control and authority with the counties. We have a state where we have a great diversity. We have many people in the Chicago area where I live who've been struck with the illness, many people have died.

But there's parts of Southern Illinois that have absolutely no experience with the coronavirus, but they are forced to have to live under the same rules as we do in Chicago, because the governor has taken it upon himself to rule the state by executive power without bringing the legislature into the equation to help this problem. That is my biggest problem that I have right now is that--

ARROYO: How long could you do that? How long can he do that Representative Durkin - I've got 30 seconds - without legislative approval?

DURKIN: Well, he can do it every 30 days and there's a lawsuit that it's currently pending before the Supreme Court of whether or not he extended his authority. But the governor can call us back in. He has the power to call a special session for us to be able to change the rules where we can actually work remotely.

We can do this. His Department of Public Health has put together a plan in which the legislature can meet in the healthy, in a safe environment to do our work. We're in the month of May. Almost done with our legislative calendar.

ARROYO: Before I let you go - Congressman before I let you go, there was a very controversial part of his reopening plan that includes houses of worship, people of faith. He's saying no more than 10 people can meet in any church. Now that strikes me as absurd. I know there's a lawsuit going forward. Your reaction to that when you're dealing with huge cathedrals, not little chapels all over Chicago and throughout Illinois?

DURKIN: I can walk in the Costco and there will be a thousand people who are walking around unchecked, but a church is limited to 10 people with social distancing. It just doesn't make sense. There's so many inconsistencies in this order and I would hope that - again, this is where the legislature needs to step in to make sense of what is going on. We need to save Illinois. I need to put people back to work. That's the bottom line.

ARROYO: Representative Durkin, thank you, and we will be following your efforts.

Now over in Ohio - we want to take you there, Republicans passed a bill limiting the state's health director's stay-at-home orders to a maximum of 14 days, putting a limit on this unchecked power. Joining me now is Ohio State Representative Scott Wiggam who voted for the bill.

Representative, Governor Mike DeWine says he plans on vetoing your legislation. He says you were creating uncertainty regarding public health and safety. You'd say what?

SCOTT WIGGAM (R) OH STATE REPRESENTATIVE: The uncertainty is caused by the governor rolling out planned hours, maybe days, but sometimes hours before they go into effect. In certain cases, the uncertainty comes from people that are 700,000 Ohioans have not received unemployment benefits yet. 1.35 million Ohioans who are now on unemployment. The uncertainty comes from your business not knowing when your business is going to be coming back up or whether or not you're going to have people coming back to you, that's where the uncertainty is.

And the certainty becomes when I get 80 phone calls a day or 60 to 80 phone calls and e-mails a day as a representative, there's 99 of us, we're close to the people. We represent Main Street. We represent - we have neighbors and the legislature has to be involved with this. We have to know - I would have to have some oversight and input.

ARROYO: I get it. I want to play one of your state's local journalists. Here's what they had to say about Ohio's version of Dr. Fauci, your Health State Director, listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA CASO, LOCAL OHIO ANCHOR: lockdown has really pulled in a lot of people right for her compassion, for vulnerability--

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

CASO: In a time like this, Chuck, all we really want is comfort and she is comfort to many Ohioans - and the Facebook fan page which - 134,000 fans on it for Dr. Amy Acton, she's on T-shirts--

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Your State Health Director has Facebook fans and T-shirts for goodness sake. Is that what it takes to wield unelected power over the lives of Ohioans, congressman.

WIGGAM: Well, it's certainly become a part of their persona. People - some people look forward to the 2 o'clock Wine with Dewine hour, where Dewine talks about what's going on in the state. But the fact of the matter is that I have people calling me all the time. I - I know that the majority of the people I represent thought that this would be all over May 1st and that we would see a fast rollout, because we crashed the curve.

We never really had a problem in Ohio. Some of our hospitals were ghost towns. The local hospital here in Worcester, basically had - two weeks before May 1st had 25 patients and 170 bed hospital and only six COVID patients max.

Now I am very concerned about the estimated half - one half of 1 percent of Ohioans who currently have COVID-19. These aren't statistics, they're real people. But I'm also concerned about ninety 99.5 percent of the other Iowans facing a range of health challenges as well, including anxiety, stress, mental health and do all to their businesses shut down and their jobs going away.

ARROYO: Congressman Wiggam, I thank you for your insight. We'll check in with you in the days ahead.

Up next, why was former President Obama so interested in Michael Flynn's case? The first ever Assistant Director of Intelligence for the FBI is here with answers.

Plus, does the testimony of Obama officials in front of House investigators match what they said on TV? We will play you the tape. Sarah Carter, Gregg Jarrett react in an "Ingraham Angle" exclusive expose next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARROYO: Welcome back to "The Ingraham Angle." Within the documents released by the House Intel Committee yesterday there was an interesting Obama revelation. He knew all the details of the wiretapped Michael Flynn phone calls with Russian Ambassador Kislyak.

Now, a detail that was even surprising to top DOJ official Sally Yates, but should it have been? Not really. Given Obama's attention to all the politically tinged investigations at the time from the Hillary Clinton e- mail probe to the Russian election meddling inquiry, but Obama's involvement in the Flynn case is troubling for a number of reasons. Not the least of which is the fact that Obama and Flynn had an ugly breakup in 2014. Most people forget this.

During his tenure at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Flynn spoke out against Obama's world view. He was fired as a result. So what to make of all of this? Here with a unique perspective is Kevin Brock. He's the former Assistant Director of Intelligence for the FBI.

Kevin, with all of your experience why did the FBI continue to pursue Flynn when they had a transcript and knew he'd done nothing wrong talking to Kislyak? Why do you think Obama got in the middle of all of this?

KEVIN BROCK, FORMER FBI INTELLIGENCE ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Well that's the million-dollar question and what we know is that it's been pretty firmly established the FBI had no business to be in the room interviewing General Flynn. That's been exposed. They didn't have a legal basis to be there. That's the first part.

There's three prongs to this Raymond and that is that the FBI had to - we had to establish firmly that Michael Flynn - there was injustice done to him. I think the Attorney General has settled that with his Motion to Dismiss.

ARROYO: Right.

BROCK: Secondly, there has to be some examination of what the motivation was behind that. And then thirdly, somebody has to be held to account. So the second part is what you're addressing here.

We know that from the 302 that Peter Strzok wrote that the interview was focused on policy differences between the outgoing Obama administration and the incoming Trump administration. I have authored and read thousands of 302s. I've never read one like this where the interview was centered on policy issues and didn't even address any possible criminal or counterintelligence predications. In the Logan Act there's a deflection that's - it was never taken seriously.

ARROYO: Yes. That's old--

(CROSSTALK)

BROCK: --not to be considered.

ARROYO: That's an old relic, should never have been invoked. Andy McCabe flat out denied any wrongdoing on CNN today. I want you to watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW MCCABE, FORMER FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR: General Flynn was not targeted. He was properly investigated in a well predicated case. A case that's been - a case's validity has been proven not just by those of us who were involved, but later by the Mueller investigation. We had reason to believe, he presented a threat to national security. I still think that those things are worthy of investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Kevin, us what happened to General Flynn your idea of a properly investigated case, first of all respond to that?

BROCK: What Andy McCabe just said there is an untruth and it's been established if you look at the FBI own documents that have been released - and these documents are very telling. They document that there was never sufficient predication to open up a case against him in the first place.

They found no derogatory information. There was no reason to keep the case open, and they were not to continue with an interview of the general. Peter Strzok in Andy McCabe grabbed that before the case could be closed and decided to construct some type of artifice to go in and talk to the General. They took advantage of Comey's word of a disorganized Trump administration. They had no business being in that office.

ARROYO: Kevin, all day long I've been hearing that this is normal operating procedure for the President to be involved in these national security issues. There was no problem here. Why was Sally Yates surprised then that he had knowledge of the surveillance? Very quickly.

BROCK: Well, I think the fact that the conversation took place between General Flynn and Ambassador Kislyak was of interest to the Obama administration. A: because of possible change in policies; and B: because of their distaste for General Flynn. I think they saw this as an opportunity to disrupt the General.

And I think what we have to find out, Raymond, this is critically important. Did the FBI conducted this interview at the behest of the White House or was it motivated by their own now well-established personal biases and prejudices against the President? That has to be determined. If it's the former - well if it's either, it's abominable--

ARROYO: Lot of questions--

BROCK: --but it's the former then then it has to be fleshed out, Raymond, yes.

ARROYO: Yes. Breaking just minutes ago, Yahoo News is reporting that President Barack Obama in a private call with former members of his administration said this. "The fact that there is no precedent for anybody that anybody can find for someone who has been charged with perjury, just getting out scot free, that's the kind of stuff where you begin to get worried that our basic understanding of the rule of law is at risk." Kevin your response? Final.

BROCK: My response to that is the abrogation of the rule of law was conducting an investigation that was not legally predicated. So if I go in and I talk to you Raymond about something - about a federal - about something that is not a federal crime as an FBI agent and I accuse you of doing it and I have proof that you did it, but it's not a federal crime.

And - then - and you lie to me, there's no materiality there because there's no reason for me to be investigating in the first place, that's what--

ARROYO: Because I'm lying to you about things that are not criminal and not relevant to the investigation.

BROCK: Exactly that and that's what Attorney General Barr took pains to point out in his Motion to Dismiss.

ARROYO: Very good.

BROCK: Its untethered--

ARROYO: Kevin, we're going to leave it there. But we will restart this very soon. Thank you so much, Kevin, for your insight.

Yesterday, the House Intelligence Committee released the transcripts from its long running Russia investigation. Perhaps the most significant revelation was that a slew of Obama officials under the Committee, they told the Committee under oath that they saw no evidence of collusion.

We at the "Ingraham Angle" thought wouldn't it be interesting to see if their closed door statements matched their public television appearances. Let's start with Susan Rice, Obama's former National Security Adviser best known for lying on every single Sunday show about Benghazi. Rice said this to ABC during the summer of 2018.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Does that mean you think it's an open question whether or not he's compromised by Russia?

SUSAN RICE, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: George, I don't know what his motivations are. I think that's a legitimate question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: So she tells America, it's a legitimate question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: So she tells America it is a legitimate question, but just months earlier she told the Intel Committee, again under oath, she didn't "recall intelligence of a conspiracy prior to my departure." Then there is James Clapper, the former director of national intelligence and virulent Trump- hater, who peddled this on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Do you agree with Andrew McCabe that it's possible that the president of the United States, the president, is a Russian asset?

JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Well, I completely agree with the way Andy characterized it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: But to the House Intel Committee, Clapper said, quote, "I never saw any direct, empirical evidence that the Trump campaign or someone and it was plotting/conspiring with Russians to meddle with the election." And then there is Ben "echo-chamber" Rhodes was sure Mueller was building an airtight case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN RHODES: Bob Mueller is just methodically building a case that I think leads up to very high levels around Trump.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Be specific, when you say very high levels around Trump, what do you suspect is going to happen?

RHODES: Only Bob Mueller knows that, Wolf, but I think there's a lot of smoke, and I would suspect that there is fire there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: But he wasn't so confident some nine months prior, telling the committee under penalty of perjury, I saw indications of potential coordination, but I did not see, you know, the specific evidence of the actions of the Trump campaign."

We could go on and on. We knew intel officials could be two-faced, but the craven duplicity on display from these Obama administration partisans only fanned the flames of a divisive impeachment fight. Joining me now is Sara Carter, FOX News contributor, host of the Sara Carter podcast, and Gregg Jarrett, FOX News legal analyst.

Sara, I'm going to start with you. They knew all along it was a sham and they still trotted out the same attacks. Your take?

SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: This is a cabal of liars of the Obama administration senior officials. And you have to ask yourself, Raymond, one question. They all stuck with the same exact propaganda, the same exact his information, that the Trump administration, that the Trump campaign conspired with Russia, even though they had no evidence whatsoever, and they manufactured that evidence against the president.

And this is why, Raymond, all of them need to be investigated, because what they did here is not only in effect of our national security, they basically told a lie across the globe and divided our nation for more than three years, and eventually someone is going to pay the price for this. And I think this is exactly why John Durham and Attorney General William Barr are conducting this investigation so thoroughly, because what they did was a crime against the American people.

ARROYO: The left is now using Flynn's vindication really to justify so much here as an excuse to resurrect the Russia hoax. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANK FIGLIUZZI, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR FOR COUNTERINTELLIGENCE: The dismissal of charges against Flynn and the conversation by the president with Vladimir Putin, that is not a coincidence.

JEREMY BASH, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO CIA DIRECTOR UNDER OBAMA: I actually think that's what Donald Trump wants. He is going to welcome again Russian interference. So this is a gift to the Kremlin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's his Russian guy. Bet on it. If he can get Flynn in the back of the door, he will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Gregg, will the resistance ever move past the Russian collusion conspiracy theory?

GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: No, they will never give up the ghost. What was amazing about, with 53 people who were interviewed, and we saw the transcripts over the last 24 hours, these were people in government who had access to evidence, and yet when asked do you have any evidence of collusion, they all to a person said no. And then most of them said, but I've been reading stories about it and hearing on television, the media has been saying it. Think about how incredibly stupid that is. These people are either terminally biased or they're incredibly dumb.

The collusion hoax was driven in large part by Adam Schiff and his sycophants in the media. They didn't have the evidence, so they invented it with poorly sourced stories. They were being fed disinformation by people like Brennan and Clapper. Clapper is the one on MSNBC who told Andrea Mitchell that there is evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia. Brennan said Russians have something on Trump and they're going to expose it. And then, of course, Andrew McCabe last year when he was peddling his books said on CNN he thought it was possible that Trump is still a Russian asset. All three of those people I named knew that was untrue, but they didn't care.

ARROYO: Sara, I want to go to you for moment. Why is it that Obama asks Comey and Yates, how should we treat Michael Flynn? Why does he ask that question to them in a private meeting in the Oval Office?

CARTER: I think that is pretty evident, because he along with Michael Flynn had a very divisive relationship. When Michael Flynn challenged him on the narrative that he was spreading that Al Qaeda was on the run and that ISIS was just this jayvee team, Michael Flynn was not going to accept that. He also was not going to accept the fact that there were serious problems within the intelligence community, and he challenged President Obama on that. I think in the beginning it was a good relationship. I remember that, they had a good relationship, and then it broke apart.

And I want to remind you of one thing, Raymond, that a lot of people don't remember, was that meeting that President Trump, very first meeting he had with President Obama at the White House. When President Obama put a seed in President Trump's head, saying, I only have one person I want to warn you about, and that is Mike Flynn. And the reason they wanted Mike Flynn out was because he was the only one in the administration that really understood the intelligence community, and he was going to catch all of them and what they were doing, which was what they were trying to do was break the administration apart and remove President Trump.

ARROYO: Now, this morning President Trump spoke. Very quickly, Gregg, I want your reaction to this. He spoke about what may come next. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's more to come, from what I understand, and they're going to be far greater than what you've seen so far. And what you've seen so far is incredible, especially as it relates to President Obama, because if anyone thinks that he and sleepy Joe Biden didn't know what was going on, they have another thing coming.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Gregg, could more revelations come forward to show that this was orchestrated from the top? And what do you make of Biden's involvement, very quickly?

JARRETT: There was a pivotal meeting on January 5th, 2017, before the inauguration in the Oval Office -- President Trump, Biden, Comey, Clapper, Yates, Susan Rice. And the product of that meeting was the acceleration of an investigation of Michael Flynn that the field office in Washington had already shut down. It was resurrected by Peter Strzok at the behest of Comey and McCabe. So I think you're going to find out that the Obama White House had their fingerprints all over the Russia hoax.

ARROYO: We shall see, and we will be in touch with both of you. Thank you both for your tireless work on this story, for years detailing what happened. Gregg, Sara, have a great night. Thank you.

Coming up, Joe Biden and his terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. Plus, a disgusting new coronavirus challenge, in Friday Follies with a special guest, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARROYO: It's Friday, that means it's time for Friday Follies. A Biden town hall that was truly for the birds, and a social media challenge that's, frankly, all wet. Joining me now to hash out all the details, our surprise guest, FOX News contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy. Rachel, thanks for joining me for the frolics here.

By now we've come to the conclusion that Joe Biden's virtual town halls are not working. Every single one of these nightmares produce a moment that goes viral. Yesterday's was no exception. Biden somehow missed his grand entrance at a virtual rally in Tampa. This man never seems to know where he is or what's going on.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Introduce me? Am I on? Good evening. Thank you so much for tuning in. I wish we could've done this together. It would've gone a little bit more smoothly, but --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: He is the Max Headroom of 2020. But Biden truly saved the best for last. He ended this, Rachel, with a flourish, but nature couldn't cooperate, or wouldn't.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We could come out the other -- so much more kinder, so much more resilient --

We need to remember who we are. We're the United States of America. There's nothing we cannot accomplish if we work together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: I think I liked it better with the bird aria.

(LAUGHTER)

ARROYO: Rachel, given the missteps, the basement may be the safest place Biden can be during the campaign here.

RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: This was the disaster for the Biden campaign, and those birds were channeling how we all felt. We all felt like -- I don't think I could've watched that had you not put me up to it, Raymond.

ARROYO: I'm sorry.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: It was unwatchable, and it says so much about his campaign that they couldn't even get this right. When they're not managing travel, advance teams. This is all they have to do to get right, and they're telling the American people that they want to hand over the country to them. It's really shocking.

ARROYO: It's a tragedy. The poor man, he can't read a prompter either. Rachel, I have to show you this. The Biden campaign released this video. I haven't seen anywhere. This is how Joe Biden is passing his time in quarantine with pal and comedian Keegan-Michael Key. I have got to say it looks more like visitation day at the rest home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Keegan, do you have any threes? Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's 41 down, "Comedy duo Key and blank." How many es in Peele?

BIDEN: Three. Keegan, I do everything 46 these days.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's 20.

BIDEN: Do 30, Keegan, 30, 10 more.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ARROYO: Rachel, if you are trying to project a positive, strong image, don't show him eating the tapioca. It's not a good look.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: Exactly, you hit the nail on the head. This is an absolutely bizarre ad for them to put out. This is a campaign that is trying to dispel the idea that their candidate belongs in a nursing home, and here they have him doing crossword puzzles, and at one point in the ad, Keegan needs to go because he is so bored, and you have Biden saying please don't leave. He's so lonely. This was a horrible ad. I don't know what's going on with this campaign. They are really not doing a good service towards their candidate.

ARROYO: The image is absolutely backwards when you're talking about Joe Biden. We've long been discussing the mental health challenges this quarantine has created, Rachel, and if you need evidence that people have truly lost their minds, there is a new TikTok phenomena called the "Pee Your Pants Challenge." A comedian posted a first image of himself urinating, and now other idiots have posted videos of themselves wetting their pants. This will look great on the college application. These people behave worse than animals. Rachel, your thought on this and what this tells us about where we are in this moment in our sad history?

CAMPOS-DUFFY: What's interesting is social media influencers, and this is why these people are doing it, they want to be really famous on social media platforms, they actually have more reach than many of us who are on television. And what you are seeing from these people to Ava Louise, the one who was licking toilet seats in airplanes, these are people who care more about being famous than they care about their health, the health of other people, their dignity. And it's very sad, and it says a lot about our culture, because a lot of kids look up to these influencers.

ARROYO: Rachel, it shows the moral depravity of people in isolation. Very sad. We will be back in a moment. Thank you, happy Mother's Day, Rachel. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: Nearly two weeks ago we brought you the story of an Atlanta barbershop owner who was reopening in the wake of Governor Brian Kemp's lifting the state lockdown. He had such a great perspective on the risks he was taking, why he needed to be taking them. At the end of the interview, I said that we could check back in with him after some period of time, and tonight we are. Taurean Overall, owner of Blessed Up Barber Shop, I love, love, love the name, he joins me now.

TAUREAN "BAE BAE" OVERALL, BLESSED UP BARBER SHOP OWNER: Appreciate you, appreciate you.

INGRAHAM: Taurean, it's great to see you. How have things been going since you reopened?

OVERALL: Things have been great. Everything is moving smoothly. The right safety procedures, everything is clockwork at the moment. Business is great, feels good to be back, doing what we love to do, put a little bit of money in our pocket and just help take care of our families.

INGRAHAM: And Taurean, there's been so much criticism of Georgia, the media just in a chorus of criticism about the reopening. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: States like South Carolina and Georgia, it's just absolutely terrifying, and it's reckless governance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By trying to push a false opening of the economy, we risk putting more lives in danger. And there's nothing about this that makes sense.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an invitation to new and dangerous spread of this deadly disease.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very hard way to learn a lesson.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

INGRAHAM: Taurean, it looks like the numbers that I've seen, and they change every day, is that the numbers of cases are pretty stable, but those folks think that you Georgians can't think for yourself and can't operate responsibly. What's your response after a few weeks back in business?

OVERALL: Well, start a business back, like I said, you can't put in strict, strict safety rules. As long as everyone is abiding by the rules, know what they need to do, I think everything works smoothly. The strategies that we use, like I said before in the last episode, I use disposable ponchos, hand sanitizers, I even have letters on the door saying all the rules and regulations.

Businesses and owners of any business, we can operate. We're fully functional adults, know how to abide by rules, and we have been doing it for so long. The virus is a big deal. But with the right rules and safety put in place, we can move, move forward safely.

INGRAHAM: Taurean, how does it feel just to see your old clients? I know you employ a number of barbers, but that must have felt really good after that period of separation, just to have that human contact.

OVERALL: Definitely, for sure. What most people really don't realize is that as a barber, we are more than just a person that cuts your hair. We are your psychiatrist, we're your friend. We have that communication back and forth. People come to the barber shop every Friday for that one-on-one conversation, so it feels great to be back. But one thing I can say that for months being out with no haircuts, a lot people look a lot different when they come to the shop. They look a lot different.

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM: Taurean, I told you we were going to check back with you. And believe me, if I could get down there, I desperately need a haircut. So I would be there.

OVERALL: I could take care of you, for sure.

INGRAHAM: Oh, my God, you have got my haircut next time, Taurean. It's great to see you. We will check back in a few weeks and see how you're doing. Thanks again.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ARROYO: OK, coming up, I have news about one of the most important upcoming events in many months. I will share details when we return. Stay there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ARROYO: If we have learned anything over the last few months, it's that mothers are the backbone of our families and the core of our society. They've held us together during these trying times with extra meals and tutoring lessons, calming nerves, breaking up fights. To all the mothers out there, happy Mother's Day. To my mom and Linda, my dear Rebecca, who occasionally calls me a mother, and to Laura and Sam and all of the moms out there, we love you, thank you for what you do.

And a special thank you to God for my friend in California who is out of the hospital. He was suffering with COVID. Glad you're back.

That's all the time we have tonight.

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