BILL O'REILLY (HOST): So do you believe the USA is in bad shape right now, Mr. Koppel, and if so, why?
TED KOPPEL: Well, first of all, Mr. O'Reilly, after 30-some-odd years, we can probably go on a first name basis, but I don't think the country is in as bad a shape as your question implies. I think we're scaring ourselves to death with this ISIS threat. ISIS to the degree that it is a threat at all is much more of a threat in terms of what it can do ultimately with a cyber-attack. And that obviously goes back to my book.
O'REILLY: Sure.
KOPPEL: I don't think we need to worry about invasions of hostile Muslims. We can surround this country with a motte and put burning oil in there. That's not going to protect us in this day and age. We live in a different time.
O'REILLY: All right, let me challenge that. Number one, I don't think it's just ISIS. I think the economy is really frustrating working Americans. They can't get ahead. Median income is down, and they don't see how they're ever going to get it up. So therefore it's a duel thing. It's terrorism and it's the economy.
[...]
Now that has led all this anger and fear has led to the rise of Donald Trump, and you've said some unkind things about him. We led off with the interview with Trump tonight. In fact, you have likened him to Benito Mussolini. Wow. Explain that.
KOPPEL: Well, he's got a lot more hair. But the fact of the matter is that he and Benito Mussolini have this sort of arrogant approach in which they say very little in terms of substance, but the manner in which they say it gets the crowds excited.
