"Recently released emails show that as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton and her crew tried to manipulate the American media. The most embarrassing revelation in the Clinton email dump was that CNN commentator Paul Begala used that network to secretly disseminate Secretary Clinton's talking points on a variety of issues. Begala actually asked the Clinton people to send him stuff he could throw out to CNN's audience under the guise of commentary. That's bad. Another disturbing email says that former New York Times reporter Leslie Gelb offered to work closely with the Clinton team on a piece for Parade Magazine, assuring them the story would be positive. Talking Points has been lamenting the decline of the American media, which has become increasingly ideological. There are many politicians who will not come on The Factor because we never agree to any ground rules. No deals are ever made here, but that is not the case with other media. It is perfectly acceptable for a newsmaker to tell an interviewer there are certain areas he or she will not discuss. If Hillary Clinton or anybody else doesn't want to answer a line of questioning, they have a perfect right to make that known. Famous people are attacked all the time by smear-merchants who put out defamatory things. Secretary Clinton most likely leads the league in that department. For her to have to defend every smear that comes her way would be grossly unfair. President Bush the younger was in the same position. In an interview with me, he simply would not talk about his detractors, saying it was a waste of time. Summing up, all politicians want favorable coverage and will try to secure that. But journalists who make secret deals are corrupt. And there are plenty of them."

Bernie Goldberg joined The Factor with his take on the Clinton emails. "There is a revolving door between politics and journalism," he lamented. "Politicians become commentators on television and very often the audience is cheated because they're getting partisan talking points. What Paul Begala did is worse because he crossed the line - you can't pretend to give an analysis of how Hillary Clinton is doing by calling her people at the State Department and asking how she's doing. It's ridiculous!" The Factor concluded, "If you're in the media, you have an obligation to tell everybody what is going on, not to secretly call up a campaign and ask for something to tell the audience."

The Factor asked Fox News correspondent Ed Henry to compare Hillary Clinton's media strategy with that of President Obama. "President Obama sees the media as a distraction to his agenda," Henry surmised, "and as too negative and unable to see the long view. He does interviews with people who are pretty soft on him. Hillary Clinton is keeping the media at more than arm's length, it's like Obama's treatment of the media on steroids." The Factor contended that President Obama has been treated with kid gloves: "He has gotten the most favorable media treatment of any president, but it still seems he has disdain for the media."

Macy's has announced that it will no longer do business with Donald Trump because he disparaged illegal immigrants from Mexico. It turns out that far-left MoveOn.org pressured the department store to sever its ties with Trump. The Factor spoke about the dustup with business expert Michael Parrish Dudell and investment advisor Ed Butowsky. "Mr. Trump made a spur-of-the-moment statement that was actually correct," Butowsky said. "Macy's has a double standard because if they're going to do this to Donald Trump, they should start looking at P. Diddy. He was charged with assault but his stuff is still selling at Macy's!" But Dudell argued that Macy's is doing the right thing by disassociating themselves from Trump. "There is a consumer push to stop working with Trump, and Macy's has a responsibility to their shareholders. If consumers are saying they have to take action, then they should."

As part of a series focusing on Fox News on-air personalities, The Factor welcomed anchor Bill Hemmer. "I grew up in a traditional, conservative, Catholic family," Hemmer began, "and the first interesting job I landed was as a sports producer in Cincinnati where the newscaster was Jerry Springer. I got the job at age 21 and was making $9,000 a year." But Hemmer quit that job when he contracted a severe case of wanderlust. "I had my mid-life crisis at age 26. I had saved $15,000 and my grand ambition was to backpack around the world. So I left my dream job and went to China, Vietnam, Indonesia and India, where I spent about two weeks at Mother Teresa's clinic in Calcutta." Back in the states, Hemmer worked for CNN and eventually landed at Fox News. "When you come from another network to Fox," he said, "it is a substantial change because we don't have as many employees. We do so much more with far fewer people."

Former President Jimmy Carter has scorched President Obama, saying our relationships with most countries have grown worse. Foreign affairs analysts David Tafuri and Simon Rosenberg reacted to that assessment. "President Carter has a point to an extent," Tafuri said, "but I can not agree that we have lost prestige and influence since President Obama took office. I think our prestige and influence were at an all-time low when President Bush left office and American standing is much stronger right now." Rosenberg also took umbrage at Carter's indictment. "I have tremendous respect for anyone who served in the Oval Office, but he's flat-out wrong on this one. The president has been dramatically engaged in Latin America and Asia and Europe." The Factor opined that the Obama administration has presided over a decline in U.S. influence: "People around the world see America as weaker. Putin doesn't fear President Obama, China doesn't fear him, and ISIS should have been taken care of a long time ago."

Fox Business Network anchor Sandra Smith entered the No Spin Zone to analyze allegations that four major U.S. airlines colluded to fix prices. "The Department of Justice is opening an investigation," she reported, "saying that the executives of these airlines got together and limited the number of flights and the number of seats they sell in order to drive prices up. They could potentially charge $600 for a commuter flight rather than $200 if you limit the number of flights. But there is no smoking gun and the airlines say they are actively working with the DOJ."

Scott Colella, Athens, AL: "O'Reilly, great debate on a tough issue - the rights of all Americans in the gay marriage debate. Julie Roginsky argues that you choose to be a Nazi, but you can't choose to be gay. Really?"

Kelly Clemensen, Loma Linda, CA: "Bill, you blew it. There is no peer-reviewed study that indicates homosexuals are born as such."

Sheree Gravely, Bentleyville, OH: "Should a black caterer be forced to work with the KKK?"

Thursday's tip was directed at President Obama, suggesting that the White House be bathed in red, white, and blue lights on July 4th.