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CNN Tonight

Four U.S. Citizens Attacked, Kidnapped In Northeast Mexico; NTSB Investigating Sixth Runway Incident This Year; Tucker Carlson Airs January 6 Footage Given To Him By Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA); Tucker Carlson Delivers January 6th Video Given By Speaker McCarthy; Chris Rock Addresses Will Smith's Slap At The Oscars; Novak Djokovic Withdraws From Indian Wells Tournament. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired March 06, 2023 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:00:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. I'm Alisyn Camerota. Welcome to CNN TONIGHT.

Four Americans are missing in Mexico tonight after they were attacked and kidnapped at the border. Officials say they went to Mexico for medical procedures, so was it mistaken mistaking identity? And where are the Americans now?

Plus, Arnold Schwarzenegger taking on hate and anti-Semitism, using his macho image to send a message, don't be a loser.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, FORMER GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA: There has never been a successful movement based on hate. I mean, think about that. The Nazis, losers. The confederacy, losers. The apartheid movement, losers. And the list goes on, and on. I don't want you to be a loser.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: And, more unsettling an airplane incidents. One flight -- on this one flight, passengers experienced the cabin filling with smoke, on another flight, a passenger allegedly tried to stab a flight attended and open emergency door, on one private jet, a passenger died from Turbulence, and in Boston today, two planes clipping wings on the tarmac. Is it getting less safe to fly?

Okay. Let's bring in our panel to talk about all of this. Here with me, we have our crime and justice expert, John Miller, also political guru hat lover Mark McKinnon, the always unfiltered S.E. Cupp and tennis great Patrick McEnroe. Guys, thank you very much for being here. Great to see all of you.

John, let's start with Mexico. This doesn't look good. This video is really chilling of what happened to these Americans. What do we know, tonight? JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, what we know is they went down there because the woman in the group was going for surgery, cosmetic surgery. The three males who were with her were part of her support group. They came from both North and South Carolina and drove down there. The working theory is that they were mistaken for Haitian smugglers who are doing both some narcotics smuggling and human trafficking on the border getting Haitians through Central American up to the United States by that Brownsville crossing.

But that's an area that has been long controlled by the Gulf Cartel. They do not like competition or anybody who is not paying in. And the theory that they mistook this group in the vehicle, although with North Carolina license plates, as part of the competition and did a vehicle interdiction, opened fire, wounded at least one of them and kidnap the rest. So, it is very fluid.

CAMEROTA: How does he was law enforcement find them?

MILLER: Well, U.S. law enforcement has no authority in Mexico but they do have a presence. You've got the FBI, a legal attache working out at the embassy. You have got the DEA and the U.S. Marshals. They all have very close relationships with their Mexican counterparts and do joint operations, where the U.S. role is really to supply information, intelligence, support.

But this is -- in Mexico, kidnapping isn't a federal crime and this is a no go area. You know, Matamoros, that town over the border, is a level four do not travel to the U.S. State Department because, they say, people are robbed on tourist buses. They're pulled out of cars. There are carjackings.

But the Gulf Cartel knows that kidnapping Americans is going to be bad for business. I think the FBI and the Mexican state police in that state are going to be using all of their sources and intelligence to see if they can get these people back quickly and hopefully alive, even though at least one of them has been wounded.

CAMEROTA: There are six states, I'll put them up right now, the map of six states in Mexico that are on the do not travel list. It is scattered obviously around Mexico. I mean, all of this is horrible on every level, and also Mexico is a great place to go on vacation. And it's horrible that Americans are feeling scared and certainly this is chilling.

MARK MCKINNON, FORMER ADVISER TO GEORGE W. BUSH AND JOHN MCCAIN: That's what really strikes me. All the time, I used to go to Mexico, it was so fantastic. I remember taking my two daughters to Michoacan, to the origin of the monarch butterfly migration, and the island of Patzcuaro, where the Day of the Dead originates. And it was spectacular. And that's one of the most dangerous places in Mexico.

[22:05:00]

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: There are so many great places to visit, safe places to visit, and always check the travel alerts. Definitely don't drive over border into a warring in drug cartel territory. I mean, not to blame the victims here but like these are terrible mistakes that can be deadly.

CAMEROTA: I'm just not sure that all Americans do checked the travel advisories from Mexico because Mexico is such a common place.

CUPP: It is you. But as you put on that map, not everywhere in Mexico is a common place to go or a safe place to go. Look, we're not checking Canada every five days but we should check Mexico. There are drug cartels down there. There are places that are unsafe especially for American tourists.

MILLER: And what are they looking at? What are they thinking? I mean, this is medical tourism. They're going down there to get a cosmetic procedure. This can be a tummy tuck, a breast reduction, but they're talking about a procedures that would be $8,000 to $10,000 here, that they're getting to $5,000 to $6,000 there and with mixed results. I mean, the flipside of this story is they've had people die from these operations, but, I mean --

CAMEROTA: Our reporting is that it was a medical procedure. Do you have new reporting that it was cosmetic procedure? You do have no reporting?

I mean, to pivot to medical tourism for a second this is very popular. I mean, this is a growing industry. It's not just Mexico, because, as you say, everything from -- here are the most popular medical tourism procedures, dental care, because it's much deeper elsewhere, cosmetic surgery, fertility treatments, which, as you know, can be so expensive here and other countries not as much, organ and tissue transplantation and cancer treatments. I mean, obviously, people will go wherever they need to.

PATRICK MCENROE, FORMER PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: Well, to me, this is really the biggest issue. I mean, obviously, the safety, the issues of the hope for the people are going to be okay, the American citizens there.

But when I think about something like this happening, the first thing I think about is why did these -- John just explain to us why they went there, but there's also a lot of other reasons that people go there, whether it is a procedure, whether it is getting medicine, and why are they going there. Because it is too expensive to get it in this country, because our health care system doesn't support a large percentage of the population with either getting treatment, whether they're voluntary or not, or getting medicines that a lot of people need.

Again, we don't know specifically about these people, but that -- I look at it from 50,000 feet. Why are these people taking the chance to go to this part of the world? Is our health care system that dire in this country, that they are forced to go there? I found that pretty depressing.

CAMEROTA: Well, I don't know that we can blame our health care system. I mean, certainly, the cost is definitely cheaper in other places, other countries, not just Mexico.

CUPP: But so is the care, not as good sometimes.

CAMEROTA: Not as good in other countries?

CUPP: Right.

CAMEROTA: Sometimes -- I mean --

CUPP: What you get, what you get what you pay for.

CAMEROTA: For sure. And I am sure that there are people watching tonight who are considering medical tourism because it seems as though it would be more affordable in other places. But, again, John, I mean, I don't know that we have a lousy medical system in this country. It's just that things cost a lot. And if you think you're able to get a bargain, I just wonder if they knew that they were heading into the lion's den.

MCENROE: I didn't say was lousy. I said it wasn't working for everybody, for a lot of people, for certain people that could pay for it, they could afford certain things. I mean, we've got the best medical facilities in the world. But for a lot of people in this country, I feel like they feel like they go somewhere it's considerably cheaper, and in this case, very dangerous.

CAMEROTA: So, John, what is next. How are going to find out what happened here?

MILLER: So, the Mexican authorities are working with their American partners and they're trying to, A, use human sources, B, use other intelligence methods, and, C, frankly, use all to get that message to them, saying if have these people and they're hurt, let's move them to somewhere safe. And I think that the subliminal message there is not that subliminal, which there're four Americans killed because a cartel messed up and thought that they were involved in some other criminal operation and slaughtered them, that's not going to be good for the cartel. That's going to come with a price.

CAMEROTA: What would we do?

CUPP: Yes, what would our response be to something like that?

MILLER: Well, we've done it before. And that requires a cooperation of the Mexican government, but that would mean a crackdown. I mean, there was a showdown in that same town between the FBI, the DEA and the cartel, where they -- it was literally a standoff that worked without the agents getting killed but it was followed with a crackdown, which is a message that, you know, there are lines.

Even for places where if the perception is that there's a separate government run by a criminal enterprise, the Gulf Cartel has controlled that area for literally decades. They had an enforcement group called Los Zetas that they gave birth to, that then went to war with them.

[22:10:00]

So, I mean, this has been -- those towns where this occurred were ghost towns because of the war. People had to flee. And the army had to come back and bring them home and maintain a presence just to get to something back to normal. So, what you are seeing today is a symptom of something much larger.

CAMEROTA: But meaning the Mexican government would hand them over to the U.S. for prosecution? That is what would happen if some --

MILLER: Well, that happens often with big cartel bosses, not all the time, where they know you are going to be able to contain this person over a period of time in a Mexican prison. So, you know, they will extradite them to the United States.

In this case, the pressure point just to get the cartel to hand these victims over as quickly as possible and hopefully alive.

CAMEROTA: And does that happen?

MILLER: We'll know when we know.

CAMEROTA: We certainly hope so. We certainly hope so. Their families are obviously panicking tonight and praying.

Thank you, everyone. Stick around, if you would. More unsettling events on airplanes in just the past 24 hours. We have one from Boston to Havana, we have other ones flying across the country. We will tell you what is happening in the skies.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: A United Airlines passenger is facing charges tonight after allegedly trying to open an emergency door to jump out and trying to stab a flight attendant with a broken metal spoon. This happened on a flight from Los Angeles to Boston today.

[22:15:00]

Also today, one United plane clipped another on the tarmac at Boston's Logan Airport. This plane was being towed, so moving very slowly, and, thankfully, no one was hurt. But Logan is the same place where two other planes nearly collided last week.

Let's bring in our panel. I'm not trying to be alarms, guys. I'm actually not looking for these stories.

CUPP: I hate that this is becoming a common segment on this show.

CAMEROTA: It is a recurring -- I never intend this to happen.

MCENROE: So much for like real spoons. Now, we're going to have to get the plastic spoons on the plane now because of this. It was just the knives.

CAMEROTA: We thought the spoons were safe but they're not, that we have lost knives, and now spoons. He actually went into the bathroom and like broke the metal in half. And so that makes it really jagged and (INAUDIBLE).

MCKINNON: I'm going to skateboard to D.C. tomorrow.

CAMEROTA: You should. That would be safer on the highway.

But, I mean, I don't even -- well, let's just dive into some of these because one that is really frightening is the clear air turbulence that we've had two incidents of this in the past few days. This one was on a private plane going from New Hampshire to Vermont. It had to be diverted to Connecticut. And somebody died on this plane as a result of this --

MCKINNON: From the turbulence?

CAMEROTA: From the turbulence. I mean, that is so frightening on every level. Here is what Peter Goelz, who's a former NTSB, says about how that can happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER GOELZ, FORMER NTSB MANAGING DIRECTOR: It is a dangerous environment at cruise altitude. People have laptops out and the flight crew are servicing the passengers.

The carts that they're moving can weigh in excess of 300 pounds. And you hit some clear air turbulence. That cart hits the ceiling, you, know the roof of the aircraft, it can kill people.

The most important thing for passengers to do is to keep their seatbelt on from the moment they get on the plane until the bell rings and they can exit. If they have to go to the restroom, don't linger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That's a wakeup call for me. I mean, it really is. Like when they say, keep your seatbelt on, and you're like, yes, yes --

MCENROE: I was on a cross-country flight in fact a week ago with my daughter, and she said, dad, this is ridiculous. Why we get to keep the seatbelt on when you're in middle of the flight. I said, if there's turbulent you can jump up and here it is. I mean, I hear these rumors, these stories about is it global climate change, has something to do with this? I certainly don't know the answer to that. But for someone who spent a big part of my life on planes, usually, I feel like I can get on the plane, I can relax, I can catch up on all my reading, I mean, it's just scary stuff.

MCKINNON: Is there evidence here that this is being caused by more flights, climate change, I mean, whatever? I mean --

CAMEROTA: Whenever we have one of our airline experts on, there are a few different things that are happening, as we know. So, yes, they're trying to catch up, that there had been, as you know, a lull during COVID, and now there's a backlog and they're trying to catch up and they're doing more flights. But they also say that obviously systems need to be upgraded. They haven't done. Obviously, Congress needs to appropriate more money for systems to be upgraded. And there is an aviation trust fund that we all pay into that has billions of dollars waiting around, and they could do that, but they haven't appropriated that yet.

MCKINNON: Well, that will be top of the list on the debt ceiling discussion, I'm sure.

CUPP: And confirm an FAA, right, confirm a director, right, who could maybe oversee some of these problems because we talk about this all the time. I'm always quick to remind, flying is very safe. But the guy that tried to stab the flight attendant and open the emergency door. I have long said, the people on the plane what scare me the most. Because I am on TikTok and I see all the bad actors and the freak-outs and the flight delays because of people, not turbulence and wing clipping and all these other things that are --

MCKINNON: Well, that is one of the things that has changed. There is just more anxiety, more stress, more crazies.

CUPP: Yes. And that is what terrifies me. I'm getting on a plane Friday to go to south by Southwest, Austin, which is where one of these things that you're just been talking about happened from. It is a little unnerving now with all these stories in the news I feel like that constantly.

MCENROE: It's a scary side, the people's side, the scary side. Someone is going to lose it, someone is going to get drunk on the plane and these issues --

CUPP: Drunk is fine. Losing it --

MCENROE: Losing it because they're drunk. And then there's the other side, which is, you, know the old argument, get government out of our lives, right? Well, government is who's supposed to be monitoring these things, whether it is the trains, whether it's the subways, whether it is the planes, right? That's the money, our taxpayer dollars are supposed to go to the government so that they can keep us all safe.

CAMEROTA: John, speaking of what S.E.'s biggest fear is, which is the people, you know, there are terrorism experts who do behavioral profiling, as you well know, at airports, so that you can weed out some of the people who are going to go crazy on a flight.

[22:20:13]

But I don't think we're doing a good job of that.

MILLER: Well, I think the behavioral tells that they're looking for are the professional terrorists, who is examining security closely and looking at screening and secreting things. The person who's on an emotional rollercoaster that may snap in the middle of a flight because of other stressors, that is a different kind of reading. CUPP: The professional Karen or the professional not -- or the professional person who is going to lose it because some guy is sitting too close or some crazy reason that you just have to predict.

MILLER: I mean, when you look at our bigger picture here, you know, from the 1970s, when we used to have 2,000 people killed in air accidents every year, and that was 1,900 and then 1,600 and it is gone down steadily overtime as flights have gone up, but we are seeing some perfect stormy stuff here. You have got a highly regulated industry that is also highly competitive and also operating on very thin margins. I mean, we've seen -- how many airlines have we seen go away or have to merge?

But you also have the highly regulated industry, as S.E., pointed out, being regulated by an understaffed and underfunded agency as you are seeing small airports that aren't getting any bigger, more crowded runways and more flights trying to cram into the same airspace, closer together, moving faster. What did our aeronautic experts tell us last week about turbulence? It is not as bad if you slow down. But if you're running on that schedule and you have got to stay on that ball, slowing down is counterintuitive to the commercial model. So, something needs to balance this.

CAMEROTA: I think we've all gotten very good at articulating the problem now, and so now we hopefully will come up with these solutions soon since the problem --

MILLER: When we come back.

MCKINNON: We need another COVID outbreak.

CAMEROTA: Okay. Next, Tucker Carlson is airing the January 6th footage that he was given by Kevin McCarthy, claiming that the rioters were just sightseers. Everyone stay with us because we have a lot to say about what is on these new tapes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:25:00]

CAMEROTA: Now, Speaker Kevin McCarthy gave Tucker Carlson exclusive access to hours and hours of previously unreleased video from the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. And tonight, Carson aired some of it.

Let's talk about this with John Miller, Mark McKinnon, S.E. Cupp, Patrick McEnroe and our Senior Media Reporter Oliver Darcy is parachuting in toward this segment.

Here is what Tucker just said, Oliver. The crowd was enormous, he says. A small percentage of them were hooligans. They committed vandalism. You've seen their pictures again and again. But the overwhelming majority were not. They were peaceful, orderly and neat. They were sightseers.

I mean, that wasn't the news part of that they. The news part of the day was that there was an insurrection. It was the hundreds of people who cause damage and injury and insurrection. I think he's missing the headline from that day.

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: And how they got in the Capitol? By overrunning the Capitol police. That's a key part of this, obviously. What we saw tonight, Alisyn, from Tucker is nothing new. He has been trying to sanitize the very real violence that we all saw unfold at the U.S. Capitol in real time for quite some time now.

I think what is really notable here is that he had a very key assist from Kevin McCarthy, someone who was at the Capitol on that day, who condemn the violence in the immediate wake of that attack but has since tried to get back in the good graces of Trump and the MAGA fan base.

And so what is so key here is that he helped Tucker Carlson try to rewrite history by giving him this surveillance footage, surveillance footage that he denied to actual news organizations. And now, Tucker Carlson is back at his usual game of trying to -- I mean, not even trying to, lying to his audience about the events of that day.

CAMEROTA: Guys, they were sightseers, according to Tucker.

MCKINNON: I think this is a huge strategic misfire from Carlson, for McCarthy, for that whole ecosystem. Because the last thing common sense Republicans want to do is re-litigate January 6th. They want to move on. They want to move forward. And this I sjust bring it all back up. And anybody who sees this tape is also seen the other type of cops being terrorized, beaten and incredible violence inflicted upon them. So, this is only going to move and hurt Republicans (ph).

CUPP: It just shows -- sorry.

MCKINNON: No, that's okay.

CUPP: It just shows how little Tucker and Fox News think of their audience, that they could play a type that is so edited, right, and only mentioned the part that is convenient for his argument, forgetting that we have all seen the rest of it and we all know the big story. He can just say that they are sightseers, which is like saying Pearl Harbor was just an air show.

I mean, it is absurd but the entertainment side of Fox News has taken the news side of Fox News and the entertainment side started pushing the news side to do what they were doing. And a number of them followed suit. This is a joke. You should not call Fox News news because anyone editing film and footage like this and it lying to viewers' faces is in the entertainment business and not even particularly entertaining at that.

MILLER: This is the part that I just find confusing, because, I mean, you talk about a strategic misfire on the political side.

[22:30:02]

On the media side, on any other day, this might be just Fox being Fox. But I mean, as (inaudible) would tell us, you know, we've just been through two weeks of discovery in a civil suit where we're seeing memos coming out from people like Tucker Carlson saying we know the truth that the election wasn't rigged, but our audience might not like that so we've got to keep pushing the fake story.

That, for a major media organization, considered one of the companies' networks is a great deal of ethical exposure out there. Would you pick that particular moment in time to say I'm going to take the star who was at the center of this deception, push him forward, and have him say hello history, get me re-write. I need these tapes re-edited and played like it was garden party.

MCENROE: Speaking of ethics, I don't -- I mean, I'm the rookie here, okay. I'm the rookie on the panel, but can somebody explain to me how Kevin McCarthy can get away with giving these tapes to one person or one network? I mean, whether it's CNN or Fox or whomever. How in the world can you get away with that?

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Yeah. I mean, he claimed to say, you know, sunlight. We should get some more sunlight on this. That doesn't cast any sunlight.

MCENROE: Why not just give it to everybody from the news media?

CAMEROTA: Why not? Oliver, what's the answer.

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: I think this just shows that Tucker Carlson is the real king inside the GOP. And so, you see Kevin McCarthy now grovel before the feet of Tucker Carlson. Last year, you remember, when Ted Cruz called January 6th, he said it was a terrorist attack. He had to go plead with Tucker Carlson for forgiveness in a really awkward interview.

This shows that Tucker Carlson really calls the shots not those traditional GOP lawmakers. The power dynamics inside the GOP has completely shifted to people like Carlson on Fox News. And I'd also note that tonight, Tucker Carlson was back on his program, sowing doubts about the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

This is really, you know, when I watch Fox, this is really what drives it seems like the audience. They don't want to believe that the election was fair and Biden was rightfully elected. They want to believe in this fantasy that has been sold them by bad faith actors. And Tucker Carlson is happy to capitalize on that and give them what they want, no matter how shameless it really is on his part.

CAMEROTA: I want to also talk about the victims here and how they are feeling. As we know, 140 police officers were injured that day. Some of them grievously. Some of them died. And, so as you know, the Sicknick family, the people who are still grieving because their son was killed. So here is what -- they have put out a statement tonight about this.

"What will it take to silence the lies from people like Carlson? What will it take to convince people that the January 6th insurrection was very real, was very violent. That the event was orchestrated by a man whose every bit is corrupt and evil as Vladimir Putin. The Sicknick family would love nothing more than have Brian back with us and to resume our normal lives. Fictitious news outlets like Fox and its rabid followers will not allow that. Every time the pain of the day seems to have ebbed a bit, organizations like Fox rip our wounds wide open again and we are frankly sick of it. Leave us the hell alone. And instead of spreading more lies from supreme leader Trump, why don't you focus on real news."

S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yikes.

CAMEROTA: That would be wonderful if we can get a response from Fox to the Sicknick family about how they feel about that. One more thing about Tucker and his show. You'll remember in 2020 he was sued; I think in McDougal versus Fox News Network. And the judge there, or maybe it was Tucker's own attorney.

"The general tenor of the show should inform a viewer that he's not stating actual facts about the topics he discusses. He's instead engaging an exaggeration and non-literal commentary." Let's just all remember that at all times.

I mean, it is just, okay, we are segueing now, Mark. Tell us about this clip we are about to see from the "Circus" and what you were working on when you're not here.

MARK MCKINNON, FORMER ADVISER TO GEORGE W. BUSH & JOHN MCCAIN: I think this is our colleague and guest host Tim Miller interviewing Kari Lake and raises the issue of if you're trying to expand the party, why did you tell John McCain supporters to get the hell out of the room that she was in and then she has some observations about Tim's fashion choices (inaudible).

CAMEROTA: Oh, let's watch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM MILLER, FORMER JEB BUSH COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Haley and Pompeo in there saying that we've lost three straight elections. That it's time to change the strategy, maybe if you allowed to more moderate voters. You just lost an election, what say you to that?

KARI LAKE, FORMER ARIZONA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Well, they like to say we lost elections. We're having corrupt stolen elections, okay. We're having corrupt stolen elections. President Trump won that election in 2020. He did, there was corruption. I know you don't believe it and you don't want to look at it. And they stole the election from me and you guys --

MILLER: But don't you think you really lost the election because you didn't reach out to the McCain voters? The fact that you --

[22:35:03]

LAKE: I did reach out to them.

MILLER: -- you told the McCain voters to get out of the room.

LAKE: No, I didn't.

MILLER: And you campaigned hard MAGA.

LAKE: That's fake news.

MILLER: I went to your last event. It was Steve Bannon; it was all these guys. It was hard MAGA. You weren't going to my people. You weren't going to moderate Republicans. Maybe you would've won if you would have done that.

LAKE: May I have a word? Did you want me to interview you?

MILLER: Sure. Yeah. Please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKINNON: So, the clip ends with her saying that she gets a little -- he clearly gets under her skin and she says, how old are you? And Tim says 41. She says, well, you dress like a 13-year-old. Now, she calls Steve Bannon a stud muffin. That fashionista Steve.

CUPP: High minded stuff. Really high-minded stuff. That's a great counter argument from Kari Lake.

MCENROE: Need to bring out the old fake news. Bring out the old fake news.

CAMEROTA: Yeah. There's nothing we can't stand through that because she can.

MCENROE: When in doubt -- when in doubt, it's fake news.

MCKINNON: It is true. It's true he dresses like a 13-year-old, but I --

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Who side are you on?

MCKINNON: I like his choices. I like it. (Inaudible).

CAMEROTA: As someone who was also accused of being a fashionista, Marc McKinnon. All right, thank you very much for bringing us that clip. Stick around everybody. Chris Rock is now talking about that Will Smith slap in the middle of the Oscars and we're going to tell you what he saying, next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN/ACTOR: Words hurt. That's what they say. Got to watch what you say because words hurt. You know anybody that says words hurt has never been punched in the face.

(APPLAUSE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:40:00]

CAMEROTA: It's been almost a year since Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the Oscar's after Rock made a joke about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Rock is finally talking about the incident this weekend during his livestreaming special on Netflix.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCK: You all know what happened to me. Getting smacked by Suge Smith. It still hurts. I got summertime ring into my ear. I love Will Smith. My whole life I've loved this (BLEEP) him. My whole life I've rooted for this (BLEEP), okay. And now I watch "Emancipation" just to see him get whooped.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Kierna Mayo joins us now and we're back with Mark McKinnon, S.E. Cupp, and Patrick McEnroe. Karen, what did you think?

KIERNA MAYO, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, ONE WORLD: Oh, my goodness, so many things.

CAMEROTA: So many thoughts.

CUPP: I can't wait to hear.

MAYO: So, my first note is like I think that I feel about black male comics what I feel about black male rappers. We are family, but I got a beef (ph) with a lot. You don't call Jada Pinkett a B (ph) in Baltimore for one. I just think that there were some low blows that -- I think his ultimate goal was to squash this, but as we know in the streets, like he created something more here.

He extended this beef, in my opinion. And I just think that, you know, black women have far too often been the ping-pong, like we're getting ping-ponged around. Jada didn't deserve what she got from him. And I'm just really not into this idea that this right-inspired anti-woke, anti-everything that has to do with protecting marginalized groups is the kind of populism that black people should tip into.

I think those are very dangerous waters. I don't play that game. I know a lot of black people who don't really that play that game. So, when we're talking about woke, and we're talking about cancel culture and things of that nature. And our community, and particular, there's a real fine line.

Sure, many people are over having to change programs like ridiculous things that in my opinion, folks should be able to very quickly get over themselves. But beyond that, Chris Rock is someone who -- we think of his being kind of politically astute, as far as comedy goes. By I just think in this case, this is not going to be remembered as like his best comedic moment. In the intro, you got the best numbers right there. It's not memorable.

CAMEROTA: This is interesting to me because what's interesting, I think, is that for a year people lauded Chris Rock for not returning fire with verbal fire.

MAYO: Yeah.

CAMEROTA: People asked him all the time, what do you want to say to Will Smith and he took the high road. He said nothing. He didn't go after him.

MCENROE: He talk about lying in wait. I mean, this guy was lying and waiting for a year. He was prepping himself and he was going through what he needed to go through in his own mind to make his points and to say what he said. Now, first of all, I personally thought there was some very funny moments in the overall act.

CAMEROTA: And I will play some of those. I will play some of those.

MCENROE: Play some of those because I think Chris Rock is brilliant.

CAMEROTA: I will. But first I want to play the part where he talks about Will Smith's marriage which I think it may not be the high road. So here is this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCK: Will Smith practices selective outrage. Practices selective outrage. Because everybody knows what the (BLEEP) happened. Everybody that really knows knows I had nothing to do with that. I didn't have any entanglements. She hurt him way more than he hurt me, okay? Okay?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: That not taking the high road.

MCENROE: I think it's difficult to see like so much dirty laundry coming out. You know, this are -- I know they are celebrities. I know they are multi --

CUPP: Except Will and Jada talked about it on their show.

MCENROE: I understand that. They talked about it and they went on different shows and continue to talk about it. And so, if that makes you more susceptible for others talking about it, but still. I mean, look, still, they're still human beings. They are still people. Whether how much money they have, I mean, it's still -- to me, that's like, God, it's a little much. But I got to say, Chris Rock, I mean, he was --

[22:45:04]

CAMEROTA: I'll catch you on the other side. S.E., go.

CUPP: I'm glad Kierna is here because we are bystanders to this community. I'm not a part of this community. So, as a bystander, I can look very differently at this and think, well, I hated what Will Smith did and I'm glad Chris Rock got his revenge. That's my privilege being outside of this community.

So, I really appreciate your nuanced positioned inside the community and what this means in a completely different lens. Then I get to view it, which is just, good, I'm glad that he got back and he waited a year to do it. And it's not --

MAYO: -- white people feel that way, like, people take sides, right? So, you -- people feel like they have to be pro or anti this thing because they are either pro or anti what happened, right? And whether or not they stand behind Will in that way. That's fine. To me, again, the larger issues -- I'm good for anybody's comedy bit. I think it's great that we have comedians that are taking on topics of the day.

I just think, again, some low hanging fruit is not the way to go at this level of your career. And there was a whole year to work this out. And to me this just isn't Chris at his best.

CUPP: And you said it looked -- you assume he was trying to quash this. I don't think that's what, I mean, I don't get --

MAYO: That's not -- this is like he just said.

(CROSSTALK)

MCKINNON: He just set him up for a payday.

UKNOWN: Yeah.

MAYO: Yeah. It's on forever.

CAMEROTA: Well, I promise that I will play it one more. And this, I think, is where Will Smith -- no, where Chris Rock has always been at his best, which is self-deprecating humor. So here is his last one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROCK: But I'm not a victim baby. You will never see me on Oprah or Gayle crying. You will never see it. Never going to happen. I couldn't believe it, and I love "Men in Black." No. It's never going to happen, no.

(BLEEP) took that hit like Pacquiao. Will Smith played Muhammad Ali in a movie. You think I'll audition for that part? He played Muhammad Ali. I played Pookie in "New Jack City."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: I mean, you know, but Chris Rock is really, really funny.

MCENROE: He's good. He's good.

CAMEROTA: (Inaudible) take all of your points, but did he have to go there? All right everyone, stay with me because Djokovic drawing from another tournament. Patrick? The latest one he's had to withdraw from because of his lack of a COVID vaccine. Is it time to let the vaccination status go? We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[22:50:00]

CAMEROTA: Novak Djokovic withdrawing from a U.S. tennis tournament. The tennis superstar had hoped to get special permission to play despite being unvaccinated against COVID-19. But international visitors to the U.S. are still required to be vaccinated to enter the country. We're back with the panel. Patrick, is the time to stop the requirement?

MCENROE: It took a tennis topic for you to come to me first. Oh my God. It finally happened.

(CROSSTALK)

MCENROE: I can't believe it.

CAMEROTA: Is there anybody better to comment on health? And policy, health policy than you.

MCENROE: I don't know about that. I'll give you the tennis version of it, okay. Novak Djokovic is the best tennis player on the planet as we speak. He will end up being the greatest tennis player in history, certainly on the men side. We got a woman named Serena Williams who is pretty darn good on the women side. And we all on the tennis world would love to see him back playing in these big tournaments coming up. In Indian Wells and in Miami, there's two big events coming up.

But the U.S. government says if you're not vaccinated you can't get into the country. Now, of course, I think we probably all agree that we seem to be sort of past the worst of it, and he's unvaccinated. Now, I will also say he's the only tennis player that's not been vaccinated, that's a top 100 or 200 players in the entire world.

And many of the other players from other countries particularly from some of the eastern European countries, did not want to get vaccinated when the vaccine initially came out. Eventually they did, why? Because they wanted to continue their careers.

Novak made the decision not to do that. He's paid a heavy price not being able to go to the Australian Open, play the U.S. Open tournaments that he could have won. He should have more than 22 majors, which he has right now tied with Rafael Nadal. But if you change the rules for him then you've got to change the rules for everyone else that wants to get into the country, whether it's an athlete, a musician, a writer, a worker or (inaudible).

CAMEROTA: And is time to change the rules?

MCENROE: It is time to change. It is going to happen in May. It's going to happen on May 11th.

CAMEROTA: It's March. Should we change the rules now to let (inaudible)? MCENROE: Well, I'm not a government expert as you've probably

realized. Thank you for that. But they do need -- they seem to be months and months of planning to make sure all the logistical issues are in place. Not just for one person, but for populations coming in from all over the world.

CAMEROTA: Okay. So here are my two questions for the rest of the panel. Is it time to change the vaccination status for incoming travelers, number one? And number two, should he just be able to get a waiver? He is special. I mean, that is special treatment for somebody. Should he get a waiver?

(CROSSTALK)

MAYO: I think that I favor yes. We're giving out waivers, we break rules all the time. I think in this case, like, yeah. I'm more in favor of giving one guy away but then I'm just saying come on everybody, unvaccinated.

[22:55:01]

CAMEROTA: Yeah. That (inaudible).

MAYO: Like, what does that look like? How many people are we talking about? I mean, maybe we're passed it. Maybe we are not.

CUPP: He has made the choice and he said this is the price I'm willing to pay foregoing competitions to not get vaccinated.

UNKNOWN: (Inaudible)

CUPP: He and Aaron Rodgers can go hang in a darkness retreat together.

CAMEROTA: Thank you for working that in. All right panel. We have a lot of really interesting stories coming up. Arnold Schwarzenegger is out with a warning to anti-Semites. There's also a therapist who has created an A.I. boyfriend, and a woman hopes to have her murdered fiance's babies.

CUPP: My god.

CAMEROTA: Yes, stick around, please. Stick around. All of that is ahead next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)