Fox News hosts privately shot down Trump's election fraud claims: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: According to a court filing, top executives and Several Fox News hosts privately shot down Trump's election fraud claims, even as they gave airtime to those same claims. Fox News stars aren't the only ones in the spotlight, Don Lemon is facing backlash after a comment he made this week about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley. USA TODAY Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page talks about the issue of age for female politicians. And a Mississippi shooting caps off a violent week of gun violence. The U.S. has ended the search for objects shot down over Alaska and Lake Huron, while recovering parts of the Chinese spy balloon. And finally, USA TODAY Health Reporter Karen Weintraub looks into whether any amount of alcohol is safe.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and this is 5 Things you need to know Saturday, the 18th of February 2023. Today, stars at Fox News privately shot down Trump's election fraud claims, plus a conversation on age and female politicians, and we'll try to find out what amount of alcohol is safe.

Top executives and news hosts at Fox News privately shared that they did not buy into then President Donald Trump's allegations of 2020 election fraud, despite giving airtime to many of those false claims. That's according to a court filing in Dominion Voting System's defamation lawsuit against the news network. Anchor Tucker Carlson said in November of 2020, that Trump ally, Sidney Powell, was lying about election fraud, according to the filing. In a deposition, host Sean Hannity said he didn't believe Powell's election fraud narrative, and host Lauren Ingram apparently told Carlson that Powell is a "complete nut".

For his part, Carlson said he found Powell's lies about the election to be offensive, because Fox viewers are good people and believe it. He also texted his producer that Trump is a demonic force, and it wasn't just on air personalities. Fox Corporation Chair, Rupert Murdoch, hold the false voter fraud claims "really crazy stuff".

Dominion voting system sells electronic voting hardware and software. The company, in March of 2021, filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation, for allegedly spreading false claims about Dominion and the 2020 election. A Fox spokesperson said that press freedom and freedom of speech are at the core of the Dominion case. Fox also says, "Dominion cherry picked quotes without context."

Fox News Stars aren't the only hosts in the spotlight. Don Lemon, co-host of CNN's This Morning, has been the subject of much conversation the last few days, and not in a good way. For more, I'm now joined by USA Today's Washington Bureau Chief, Susan Page. Susan, welcome back to the podcast.

Susan Page:

Hey, it's great to be with you.

Taylor Wilson:

Great to have you. So, what happened here with Don Lemon?

Susan Page:

Well, he just wandered into a firestorm. He was speculating a little about Nikki Haley on the day she was announcing formally her presidential bid, and he said she was not in her prime. And then, when Poppy Harlow, his co-anchor pushed back a little bit on what he was talking about, he doubled down on it to his regret, I think.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, let's play a clip of lemon's comments.

Don Lemon:

She says, "People, politicians, or something, are not in their prime." Nikki Haley isn't in her prime, sorry, when a woman is considered being her prime in her 20s and 30s, and maybe 40s. That's not according to me.

Nikki Haley:

Prime for what?

Taylor Wilson:

So, what does this incident tell you about women who are trying to make it in politics?

Susan Page:

It's not just politics. It's in all kinds of fields, where women feel they face bigger hurdles as they age than men do. And that is certainly true in politics where women, despite the progress that's been made in electing women to office, women face a lot more scrutiny on how they look, and they face a lot more skepticism as they get a little older.

Taylor Wilson:

You always have great polling data for us, Susan. So I'm wondering, what does the polling tell us on how Americans feel about the ideal age for a president, and do Americans' thoughts here change based on gender?

Susan Page:

It's so interesting. We did actually a poll, a USA Today Suffolk poll, that asked about what are the characteristics of an ideal president? And we found that half of Americans say an ideal president should be 50 to 60 years old, that middle-aged period, and another quarter think they should be a little bit younger, 35 to 50. So definitely, some sense that people want a president who is not too old. And that's interesting, because it's in great contrast to our last two presidents, to Joe Biden and Donald Trump, who are both considerably older than that.

Taylor Wilson:

And do you foresee age being a huge issue for the 2024 campaigns?

Susan Page:

Yes. I think we're seeing that already. Joe Biden's age, he's just turned 80 is an issue, and something that he'll have to keep dealing with. And Donald Trump is 76, so they're both men of a certain age who will be seeking what is a really demanding job.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Susan Page, is USA Today's Washington Bureau Chief. Thanks so much as always, really appreciate it.

Susan Page:

It's my pleasure.

Taylor Wilson:

Six people were killed in a rural Mississippi shooting yesterday. Officials described a series of shootings in Arkabutla, Mississippi, a small unincorporated community about 20 miles south of the Tennessee State line. Shooting victims were found at four different locations, including outside a store and inside a home. The six dead in Mississippi cap off an especially deadly week of shootings in America. That includes the violence at Michigan State University, where three students were killed and five hospitalized with critical injuries. A survivor of that shooting, Professor Marco Diaz-Munoz, wants action.

Prof. Marco Diaz-Munoz:

If our lawmakers, if members of Congress, really saw what I saw instead of one more statistic, three more people dead, two more people here, 12 there. If they actually saw, or that they experienced that in their own personal lives, the laws of this country would change, and gun restriction laws would be passed immediately. And not this, let's be levelheaded, let's not rush to make a decisions, let's be rational. That is BC. No, something needs to be done in this country, and it needs to be based on our humanity.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks to our colleagues with the Detroit Free Press for their reporting. He can read more about the Mississippi shooting and this deadly week of gun violence on usatoday.com, and across the USA Today network.

The US military has ended its search for airborne objects that it shot down over Alaska and Lake Huron last week. A statement out late last night came just hours after the US finished recovering the suspected Chinese spy balloon, that the US previously shot down off the coast of South Carolina earlier this month. Officials have said, the other unidentified objects likely did not pose any risk to national security. As for the Chinese balloon, most of it fell into about 50 feet of ocean, and parts were recovered from the surface and on the ocean floor. But key questions about the device remain, including what if any, intelligence it was able to collect as it flew over military sites in the US.

Is any amount of alcohol safe? That's a big question, but who better to tackle it than USA Today Health reporter, Karen Weintraub. Karen, welcome back to 5 Things.

Karen Weintraub:

Thanks so much for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

So, you wrote about how much alcohol is safe, that is a big question. So, let's start with what the science says on this.

Karen Weintraub:

Great. It's a big question, unfortunately without a clear answer because it depends on individual factors. So, if you want to be a 100% safe, maybe don't drink, but then you miss out on what might be some advantages to drinking. So, it's a factor of genetics, willingness to accept risk, your cancer risk in some cases, and some other things. So, it's complicated.

Taylor Wilson:

So let's talk through some of the specific health problems that heavy drinking can cause.

Karen Weintraub:

All the scientists agree that heavy drinking is bad for you. It can cause a whole host of health problems, from liver disease to brain issues, to cardiac issues. It's not a good idea to drink heavily. The question is, what's a healthy amount to drink? Is there any amount that can promote health? And how much might that be? The USDA's guidelines say it's okay for women to drink one drink a day, and men up to two, and that's averaged over the course of a week, but it doesn't mean you can have seven on Friday. That's a terrible idea. But other people I spoke with said that, from their assessment, probably one drink a day for both is the max that people should have.

Taylor Wilson:

You mentioned genetics. What do experts say about the role of genetics when it comes to drinking?

Karen Weintraub:

So, some of us have protective genetics. Genetics that will make us less likely to become alcoholics. I don't do well on alcohol. I get boring and fall asleep. And so, I am less likely to become alcoholic than somebody who is the life of the party when they drink. So, that's a challenge that people have to know their individual risk. Also, if you have a family member, particularly if you're a man whose father had a drinking problem, your genetic risk is much higher than the average person's. The safest bet is to stay away from all alcohol if you're in that condition.

Taylor Wilson:

What are some guidelines you can give on trying to find out how much is appropriate for an individual person?

Karen Weintraub:

So, if you have a problem with drinking, if you drink one glass, you want seven, then you should stay away from drinking. If you feel better when you have a glass of wine with dinner, it's probably fine. Again, as long as it's one glass and not six. And again, if you're particularly high risk for cancer, breast cancer for instance, there's an association, the more you drink, the higher your risk for breast cancer. Liver disease and cardiac symptoms, probably over a glass a day, you're increasing your risk substantially. A glass a day or less, probably not. So, you have to figure that out for yourself.

And there are some benefits that have been shown to drinking. Some of this research has been debunked. Other people still stand by it. But alcohol does reduce your blood's ability to clot. So, if you nick yourself shaving on the morning after drinking, you might notice that you bleed a little bit more. That's because the alcohol blocks platelet aggregation, and makes it easier for your blood to keep flowing. So, that can be a good thing for your heart. And alcohol can also help slightly reduce your diabetes risk. Now, don't drink to promote your health. You're better off exercising than drinking, but know that you're not doing something terrible to yourself if you have a drink with dinner a couple nights a week.

Taylor Wilson:

All right, Karen Weintraub, always great insight from the World of Health. Thanks so much.

Karen Weintraub:

Thank you.

Taylor Wilson:

Thanks for listening to Five Things. Today's show was produced by James Brown and Shannon Green. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. And special thanks to Cherise Saunders and Alexis Gustin, for their great work on the show. James is back with the Sunday edition tomorrow, and I'll see you Monday with more of 5 Things from USA Today.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Several Fox hosts privately shot down Trump's election fraud claims