Guest:Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani
"We have received letters criticizing me, Charles Krauthammer, and other Fox News analysts for saying the grand jury's decision not to indict a New York City police officer in the death of Eric Garner may have been faulty. Mr. Garner, a low-level offender, was not a threat, and American police are held to a high standard because they have power. As we proved on Monday, police generally do a great job; the charlatans who say police are targeting young black men are completely shut down by the statistics. But in the Garner case, excessive force may have been used, and that should have been adjudicated in the court of law. Now, on to the bigger picture. Last night the NYPD did an amazing job of controlling protesters who wanted to disrupt the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The police stopped the chaos and conducted themselves in a restrained and ultra-professional manner. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, who totally botched the Ferguson situation, should take notice. And so should New York City Mayor de Blasio, who continues to denigrate his cops. I can tell you that many police officers here in New York City despise Mayor de Blasio. They believe he is intimidated by the likes of Al Sharpton and does not support them. So we have a situation where the nation's largest city has a mayor who has lost the support of his 35,000-member police force. That is a recipe for disaster."

The Factor was joined by former New York City Mayor Giuliani, who commented on the Garner case and Mayor de Blasio. "The mayor's insertion of race into this case is absolutely unwarranted," Giuliani proclaimed. "This was not a racial case, the sergeant in charge of this entire operation was an African American woman who was one of the witnesses at the grand jury. She did nothing to interrupt or stop the operation, and I'm presuming she supported the police officer. If Eric Garner had been a white man and refused to comply with the orders of the police, don't you think they would have done the same thing?" The Factor generally agreed, but reiterated that the cops could have been less aggressive: "When you hear a man say, 'I can't breathe,' you have to stop. So there is the possibility that a mistake was made."

Guest:Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani
Returning for a second segment, Rudy Giuliani turned to the overall state of race relations in the USA. "The narrative that the police are the cause of everything," he said, "gets people like Al Sharpton great attention. Another problem is that for many people it's very difficult to assume responsibility - most people point fingers somewhere else. So if you ask why 75% of the murders in New York City involve blacks killing other blacks, that is a tough question they have to answer. It has to do with family and an education system that is a disaster." Giuliani also explained why he totally froze Al Sharpton out of City Hall. "I realized that by dealing with Al Sharpton, former Mayor David Dinkins was elevating him. My rule was that I would not deal with him, I would only deal with people who had a legitimate interest in solving a problem. I turned New York City from the crime capital of America to the safest large city in four years, and the major beneficiary of that was the black community. What have Al Sharpton and the others done for the black community except watch people get killed and blame it on the cops?"

Guests:Andrea Tantaros & Jennice Fuentes
Andrea Tantaros and Jennice Fuentes also opined on the Eric Garner "choke hold" case. "Watching that video," Tantaros said, "was pretty horrific. I am pro-police, but that seemed a bit overly forceful for something so small. But the progressives don't even want the police to be able to question anybody." Fuentes praised the protesters who marched in New York City Wednesday night. "There is a dead man who was unarmed, a married father of six children. But the protesters were peaceful, this was not Ferguson." However, The Factor testified that some protesters seemed to have skewed priorities: "I was out watching and they were partying, drinking, having a great time. More were doing that than were worried about Eric Garner."

Guests:Howard Kurtz & Lauren Ashburn
Major media outlets jumped all over a story when an obscure aide to a GOP Congressman scolded the Obama daughters for their attire and attitude. The Factor invited media analysts Howard Kurtz and Lauren Ashburn to weigh in. "Clearly this is a story," Kurtz said, "but look at the volume. All three network newscasts, the New York Times, and the Washington Post covered this - those same organizations took days to even mention Jonathan Gruber, the architect of ObamaCare who was caught on tape saying the plan was sold deceptively." But Ashburn actually argued that criticism of the girls is a huge story. "Are you going to tell me that children are not more important than politics? Sasha and Malia definitely should be off limits, we are a country that protects children. That should have been as big a story as Gruber!"

Guest:Bernie Goldberg
Bernie Goldberg recently wrote a letter to the New York Times. Since the "paper of record" ignored his missive, The Factor invited Goldberg to elaborate. "The Times had published a story," he said, "about what Officer Darren Wilson could have done differently to deescalate the situation that led to Michael Brown's death. I wrote that this was a legitimate news story, and I added this: 'Times editors might want to consider doing a story on what Michael Brown might have done differently - given how many needlessly provocative things he did that led to his demise.' Too many liberals will look at what the police officer should do differently, but they won't look at what the Michael Browns of the world should do differently. They treat black people as hothouse flowers who can't stand up to criticism, we don't see nearly enough coverage of dysfunction in black communities."

Guest:Laura Ingraham
Attorney General Eric Holder has vowed that his Justice Department will investigate the Eric Garner case. Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham examined the prospect of a federal case. "This is different from Ferguson," she began, "with the way the guy was thrown down and had his face ground against the pavement. For a civil rights claim you don't have to prove intent, but you have to prove that the officer was not acting reasonably. That standard is difficult to meet, you have to show that reasonable officers would not engage in this behavior." The Factor concluded that a civil rights case might be difficult to win, saying, "There's enough testimony put forth that this man was committing an illegal act, albeit a minor act."

William Santelli, Westchester, IL: "Bill, like the mayor of New York City, you are throwing the police officers in the Garner case under the bus."

Jim Richardson, Los Angeles, CA: "Mr. Garner is dead, but not necessarily from an illegal choke hold."

Santhosh Ananthakrishnan, Sterling, VA: "Bill, your Talking Points on the Garner case were spot on. You showed your fairness and class."

Jim O'Connor, Vero Beach, FL: "Come on, this is just a homicide. Police abuse. Pathetic."

Thursday night's pithy advice came from a viewer in California: "Never bet against a Sicilian ... never get involved in a land war in Asia ... and never, ever confront a zealot on Facebook."