Guest: Donald Trump

The Factor began with a Talking Points Memo about the controversy involving Donald Trump's complaints over U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is overseeing the class-action lawsuits against Trump University.

"Although appointed by Barack Obama, Judge Curiel is no raging liberal.

"In fact, he's a tough guy. At one point, a Mexican drug cartel threatened to assassinate him because of his anti-drug trafficking stance.

"However, the judge belongs to a group called San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association, which does advocacy work on behalf of Latinos.

"It's not associated with the radical La Raza group but confusion is understandable.

"Because of that, Mr. Trump believes the judge may be biased against him, as it is well known that the candidate has taken a strong stand against illegal immigration, including building a border wall.

"Summing up, the Trump U. case is certainly political to some extent and a very high-profile situation.

"Because of that, Talking Points believes the judge should recuse himself not because he did anything wrong - he did not - but to eliminate any doubt as to motivation in rulings.

"There are plenty of federal judges that could step in.

"It is valid that some may see any recusal as caving to intimidation, but stark justice at this level trumps (pardon the pun) any theoretical argument."

Donald Trump then joined the program and addressed his issues with Judge Curiel.

"Look, I have had very, very unfair decisions," Trump said. "People said this should have gone away a long time ago in summary judgment. The defendant in the case was a horror show for the other side. So they asked that the defendant get out -- you know, the plaintiff, the plaintiff in the case was an absolute disaster for them. And they asked whether or not -- they went to the judge and asked whether or not the plaintiff could get out of the case. I mean, she said all great things about the school.

"She has a tape of her saying great things and she has a written statement signed by her saying great things. And the Judge dismissed her from the case but left the case stand. We felt we were going to win the case. I don't care if the Judge is Mexican or not. I'm going to do great with the Mexican people because I provide jobs. So, I don't care about the Mexican. But we are being treated unfairly, Bill, very, very unfairly."

The Factor also asked Trump if he paid men on his campaign more than women, as the Boston Globe reported.

"The answer is no," Trump said. "I just checked it, Bill, and the answer is no," Trump said. "And, in fact, if you look at the Clinton Foundation, they pay a lot more to men than they do women. And you look at other things that she has been involved in, and, frankly, surprisingly, she pays a lot more to men than she pays to women. And that's come out over the last three or four weeks."

Guests: Mary Anne Marsh & Kristen Soltis Anderson

The Factor observed that the Democratic Party's strategy against Trump was to divide the electorate into ethnic groups and rally them around Trump.

Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic strategist, told The Factor it was Trump who had the "divide-and-conquer" strategy.

"I think what you can see here is the kind of campaign that Donald Trump is running is divide and conquer politics because he can't win a traditional general election where everybody votes," Marsh said. "But he can win one that looks more like a midterm election, the more white, the more male, the more likely it is that Donald Trump is going to win. And I think that's why you hear attacks like the one on the judge, on Muslims, Mexicans and others because it plays to his base and it reinforces them and they will turn out no matter what. But a lot of that stuff doesn't necessarily translate into outrage on the left and voters turning out and that's the battle you are going to see."


Kristen Soltis Anderson, a Republican pollster, responded to The Factor's interview with Trump.

"This interview [with The Factor] feels a little bit like he is backtracking," Anderson said. "I mean, the things that he said in the interview with you that, look, I just want the judge to give me a fair shake Mexican or not Mexican that doesn't matter. That is different than what he has been saying the last few days. And had he just said that from the get-go, look, all I want is a fair shake. Here are reasons, A, B, and C not having to do with the race ethnicity of the judge, and I don't think that he is fair, then we wouldn't be having this discussion. But he discovered this is a line too far."

Guest: Newt Gingrich

The IRS finally released a list of political groups it scrutinized, and most of them were conservative groups.

Gingrich said the targeting of conservative groups was consistent with the modus operandi of the Obama administration.

"Well, look, this is part of a larger pattern in which the Obama administration is secretive, changes history, and targets its people it doesn't like," Gingrich said. "And this is true across the whole administration in bureaucracy after bureaucracy they are, I think, either distorting or breaking the law for the purpose of imposing their values and forcing out a business people they don't agree with. And this is a good example."

Gingrich, who had previously criticized Trump for his attacks on the judge in the Trump U. case, said he thought Trump handled himself well on The Factor.

"Well, I thought he did a very good job of narrowing down his complaint which I think, by the way, if you look at the record is totally legitimate," Gingrich said. "This case clearly should be dismissed. It's an absurdity. It's being pursued by a Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton law firm. And I think the judge should have dismissed it. Imagine, the chief plaintiff turns out to actually be on Trump's side and, yet, they keep the case even though she is no longer valid in the case."

The Factor assessed the legacy of boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who passed away Friday at the age of 74.

"I met Ali just once in the Denver Airport," The Factor said. "He was gracious to fans, funny, seemed happy when I saw him. His legacy has many facets depending on your point of view. To me, he brought pride to his race and joy to children with whom he had a magical rapport. He was a fierce fighter as we all know. Most likely the best ever. But he was flawed like the rest of us. His country honored Muhammad Ali in his later years and he accepted the accolades with pride. For younger Americans, especially blacks, there is much to be learned from studying the life of Muhammad Ali. He called himself the greatest and in some ways he was. I believe history will be kind to Muhammad Ali."

Guest: Brit Hume

Hume began by responding to The Factor's analysis of Muhammad Ali's legacy.

"I met Muhammad Ali exactly once in a hotel in New York where I approached him, this was back in the `70s and asked him to write an autograph for my son which he very sweetly did," Hume said. "And my son promptly lost it. But it was for a moment at least a cherished possession because, you know, like so many people I thought he was an amazing athlete and a great boxer and he was on a personal level, I think a very sweet man which is why as you suggested children responded to him, I think people in general responded to him and were then and are now, you're going to be more willing to overlook what you might consider his foibles, his love affair for a while there with the nation of Islam. But I think over time he sort of worked his way away from that."

Hume also opined on Trump's improved odds to win the presidency, which started at 100 to one.

"I'm a little surprised by it," Hume said "I think he has been conferred as kind of an unexpected advantage here, Bill, by his early wrapping up of the nomination which is a very useful thing for a presidential nominee. It's a chance to sort of -- that's when you work to make sure the, you know, remaining elements of your party that might not have been with you are behind you. It's when you begin to build your case against your opponent who is still tangled up trying to shake, in this case her opponents.

"You know, it's when you begin to behave in a disciplined way, also to, you know, outline your own agenda in a way where you are trying to build on the base that nominated you and build that into a base large enough to elect you. It's a different electorate. Mr. Trump at the moment seems not to recognize that and he seems, you know, to be subject to distractions like this attack on this judge."

Guest: Jesse Watters

The Factor sent Watters to the Jersey Shore to get a pulse on the electorate before the Tuesday presidential primary in New Jersey.

Watters asked one woman who she's going to vote for. "I don't know," she answered. "They are all idiots."

Another woman said she's voting for Trump because "he is not a liar and he is not a socialist."

Another female said she's voting for Hillary Clinton. "It would be cool to have a girl president," she said. "I think she's better than Trump."

Another man just wanted the election to be about real Americans. "What about the Americans?" he asked. "There is no Americans anymore."

"In my area on Long Island, scores of people were killed on 9/11. Many of them leaving young children behind. Hard to believe but the terror attack was almost 15 years ago and now some of those kids are college age. So here is the 'Tip of the Day.' A charity called Tuesday's Children helps families devastated by the 9/11 attack. A big benefit tomorrow night on Long Island, but you can help them by going to TuesdaysChildren.org. TuesdaysChildren.org. And if you can provide any help, that would be a very patriotic act."