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, April 8, 2016
The Factor Rundown
Guest Host
Jesse Watters
Top Story
Campaign 2016
Unresolved Problems
Impact Segment
Personal Story
Watters' World
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Special Edition of The Factor: Election 2016
The Battle of New York
Jesse began by welcoming Republican Andrea Tantaros and Democrat Jessica Tarlov, who examined the latest campaign news as both parties' candidates hunt for votes in New York State. "New Yorkers are upset at Ted Cruz for his 'New York values' comment," Tantaros began. "Also, as much as he tries to paint himself as an outsider, he runs into trouble because his political action committees takes money from lobbyists and big banks. But the Clintons have been in office for so long and they have made so much money from being in the public sector." Tarlov acknowledged that Hillary Clinton's credibility has taken a hit because she has accepted so much cash from foreign nations and big banks. "There is no evidence of a quid pro quo, but there certainly is a murkiness. That is what drives her problem with the honesty and trustworthiness ratings. It doesn't benefit a Clinton supporter to say she is squeaky clean, because she is not. But there is no smoking gun of any quid pro quo. On the other hand, Donald Trump is the number one opportunist in this race."
More on the Empire State
Jesse spoke with Fox News correspondents John Roberts and Ed Henry, who also examined the race for New York State's treasure trove of delegates. "Donald Trump still has a big lead in New York because Ted Cruz is not very popular here," Roberts reported. "And then there is John Kasich, who always says that everyone else wants to divide the country while he wants to bring people together. He is now trying to be sunny and optimistic with a new campaign ad in New York." Henry turned to the Democrats and Bernie Sanders' aggressive new tone. "Sanders has for months been saying he would not unleash negative attacks and took the email scandal off the table, but this week he came out with guns a' blazing and took Hillary Clinton head on. He is going after her directly because New York may be his last stand. Even though he has the momentum, she has the math and the delegates."
Confronting Black Lives Matter
When some Black Lives Matter protesters tried to interrupt Bill Clinton, the former president hit back hard, accusing the group of defending gang leaders and murderers. One of their beefs is that Hillary Clinton once used the term 'super-predators' to describe young criminals. "The 'super-predator' comment that Mrs. Clinton made," said attorney Andell Brown, "has since been debunked many times over because the statistics didn't support it. But those types of comments and that mindset produced numerous policies that criminalized children and tried them as adults. Do the Clintons want to go back to those policies of 1994 or are they moving away from that?" But Kisha Hebbon, a black attorney married to a police officer, took issue with Black Lives Matter's priorities. "A lot of people forget about the victims' family members. One of the things I don't agree with Black Lives Matter is that they are not looking at the underlying issues, they are vilifying police officers." Jesse concluded, "This shows how extreme the Democratic Party has become because the Black Lives Matter folks are protesting a president who brought down crime and reduced the welfare rolls in the 1990s."
The Unpopular Frontrunners
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is viewed unfavorably by more than half of Americans, while Republicans Ted Cruz and Donald Trump are viewed even more negatively. FNC's Kirsten Powers looked ahead to the possibility that the general election may be a fight between hugely unpopular candidates. "It could be that these numbers are as bad as they are," she said, "because this has been such a rough campaign. The candidates' favorability ratings have dropped as this race has gone on, and it's been much worse on the Republican side, a lot of people just don't like the way they have behaved. But I think Trump and Clinton have likeable sides and they could change their numbers by showing that more." Jesse suggested that Trump may have an easier time turning his favorability ratings around, saying, "Donald Trump is an entertaining guy, but no one wants to have a beer with Hillary Clinton."
Hillary's Email Troubles
Jesse scrutinized Hillary Clinton's email situation with Republican strategist Lisa Boothe and former Clinton advisor Richard Goodstein. "Hillary Clinton has been patently dishonest with the American people," Boothe accused. "She wants to be commander-in-chief but we can't even trust her with classified information. And she keeps trying to portray this as a partisan witch hunt, but it is a full-blown FBI investigation. They are interviewing her top aides and they will be interviewing her as well. She has lied about this issue in so many ways." Goodstein scoffed at those accusations and the Republicans' hope that she will be indicted. "Hillary Clinton wallops Donald Trump and beats Ted Cruz handily, so Republicans are holding out that hope. I'm waiting for Republicans to talk about how they'll beat her on the issues rather than nonsense like this! There is no evidence at all that anyone ever breached her system."
Campaign 2016
Jesse introduced a few highlights from his past Watters' World segments. Here is what some folks told him: "I'm going back to Kenya if Trump is elected" ... "He's too ridiculous and the stuff that comes out of his mouth is crazy" ... "America's not stupid, Hillary" ... "I can't vote, I have felonies." As an unfortunate but telling sign of the times, quite a few of the younger people couldn't identify the current vice president or even the first president of the United States.
Obama on Fox News Sunday
Finally, Jesse welcomed Chris Wallace, whose Fox News Sunday show will include an extensive one-on-one interview with President Obama. "It only took me eight years to get this interview," Wallace joked. "The last time I interviewed him on Fox News Sunday was when he was running for president in 2008. He sat down with us now because he is trying very hard to get Senate Republicans to change their course and to give a vote to his Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. He thought Fox News Sunday was a good forum to make his case." While the content of the interview is embargoed until Sunday, Wallace reported that it is an informative and hard-hitting interview. "While he has certainly has had problems with Fox News and with my show, he generally feels that I treat him respectfully and fairly. He was in an exceedingly good mood and he was in no hurry to leave."