The O'Reilly Factor
A daily summary of segments aired on The O'Reilly Factor. A preview of the evening's rundown is posted before the show airs each weeknight.
Friday, January 6, 2017
The Factor Rundown
Guest Host
Eric Bolling
Top Story
Unresolved Problems
Impact Segment
Impact Segment
Factor Followup
Unresolved Problems
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The Latest on Ft. Lauderdale Shooting
Eric began with Friday's massacre at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport, where 26-year-old veteran Esteban Santiago shot and killed five people in a baggage claim area. Fox News correspondent Jennifer Griffin reported the latest on the killer. "What I'm hearing from senior law enforcement sources," she said, "is that Santiago was a Private First Class in the Alaska Army National Guard and he had been investigated on numerous occasions. He was discharged last August for poor performance, and the FBI has confirmed that he came to them in Alaska and said that he believed U.S. intelligence agencies had gotten control of his brain and were trying to convince him to join ISIS. He was taken to a psychiatric hospital but the FBI did not find any connection to foreign terrorist organizations." Griffin posed a question that is on the minds of many, namely, "Why was he allowed to have a weapon after being investigated by various agencies?"

Terror experts Jim Hanson and Aaron Cohen also analyzed this most recent attack on American soil. "I don't know why we put up with the counter-terrorism malfeasance of the Obama administration," Hanson pronounced. "They have handcuffed law enforcement and stopped them from doing the basic things they should be doing to keep us safe. Whether or not Santiago is crazy, ISIS told everyone to commit these acts and he did it, which is a dot that needs to be connected. We don't know why he was not on a no-fly list after he came in and talked about ISIS." Cohen urged authorities to vastly step up security at United States airports. "This guy may be crazy, but I still contend that the real failure is that we have to look at airports as a total security package, and not just the planes in the air. We cannot allow any areas in the airport to not be completely sterile." Eric agreed that it is time "to harden every single airport in America."
Airport Insecurity
For more on the Florida airport carnage and ensuing panic, Eric turned to former Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy. "What the police did right today," he began, "was to isolate and contain the target and take him into custody fairly quickly. But there are some holes in the system and we do have to look at airports outside of the checkpoints." McCarthy theorized that Esteban Santiago may have been influenced by radical Islamic terror groups. "It's likely that this young man had mental issues and became susceptible to ISIS rhetoric. They have a very powerful propaganda machine and he may have been watching those videos online."
Hacking and the Election
U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that the Russian government, under the guidance of Vladimir Putin, tried to influence the recent presidential election by hacking into the Democratic National Committee email system. Eric welcomed Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway, who analyzed the report. "We learned two things today," she stated. "First, the DNC ignored the FBI's request to turn over their servers and failed to have the proper defense mechanisms in place. The Russians also tried to hack into the Republican National Committee, but the RNC had a much better system. Second, we know that there is no evidence that one single vote was moved because of this. Hillary Clinton lost because she was a terrible messenger without a message." Conway added that her boss has been monitoring the situation in Florida, saying, "The president-elect has been in touch with Governor Rick Scott of Florida and he has expressed his condolences to the families of the victims."
The Trump Health Care Plan
Returning for a second segment, Kellyanne Conway turned to the fate of ObamaCare, which President Obama continues to defend. "We had a Republican conference this week," she said, "and the main topic was repealing and replacing ObamaCare. This was a very substantive conversation because we know that millions of people rely upon it and that coverage of pre-existing conditions is popular. Remember that ObamaCare was the first major entitlement passed in this country without a single vote from one of the two major parties. The Democrats own this and it will not be a great part of the Obama legacy because Americans are paying higher premiums and have fewer choices. Donald Trump and Mike Pence will now allow people to buy insurance across state lines, they will have health care savings accounts, they will permit individual pools, and they will block grant Medicaid to the states." Conway put forth an extremely optimistic vision of what is coming after January 20th. "We are ushering in a new era of buoyancy, fresh blood, hopefulness, and excitement. You'll see Donald Trump quickly deliver and be held accountable, the tone and content in Washington will be brand new."
Obama on Russian Hacking
President Obama now says that it is crystal clear that Russians were responsible for hacking into the Democratic National Committee. Cyber-security experts Arash Aramesh and Scott Uehlinger scrutinized the newly-released report that indicts Russia and Vladimir Putin. "The FBI, the CIA, and the NSA came out with this report," Aramesh declared, "and it says there was an organized and orchestrated effort by Russian officials to try and influence our elections. We have to make sure that we have the necessary tools in place to stop this going forward." But Uehlinger implied that President Obama and other Democrats are obviously playing politics. "Most of the things in the report existed at least ten years ago. This administration has never indicated an interest in Russian operations against this country until it seems to have hurt the Democratic Party. They have become aware of the Russian threat a day late and a dollar short."
Border Wall Debate
Will Mexico actually pay for a border wall, as Donald Trump has repeatedly promised? Eric posed that question to Democratic strategist Jessica Tarlov and former Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson. "The wall was never contingent on Mexico making a one-time payment," Pierson said. "Donald Trump has outlined several ways that Mexico will pay for it, whether it involves tariffs or increasing visa fees or withholding remittances to Mexico. There are many ways to recoup that money and the wall is a foundation of Donald Trump's immigration policy." But Tarlov declared that a wall will never even be built. "There are always inconsistencies in 'Trump-world,' and polling now shows that the American public doesn't want this wall. 58% of Americans are against the wall and even 70% of Republicans favor a pathway to citizenship."