Director: They're back in five, four, three -
We'll go "Outnumbered Overtime" now,
I'm Harris Faulkner.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo,
Narrator: Harris Faulkner is the host of
"Outnumbered Overtime" on Fox News Channel.
Great to see you, Congressman.
You know, the big question today -
Narrator: The show airs Monday through Friday
at 1:00 PM Eastern.
Faulkner is the only African-American woman
that hosts a daily show for one of the
three major cable news networks.
On MSNBC and CNN, there are daily shows
hosted by African-American men,
with Craig Melvin and Don Lemon, respectively.
But on those networks, African-American women
only host broadcasts that air on the weekends.
When Fox committed to giving me an hour of television,
I said, "Oh my gosh I'm gonna be like -"
And I looked for those faces.
I'm curious when I look across the dial
Monday through Friday, you know, where are the other
female black anchors?
It's a tremendous amount of responsibility.
Narrator: Faulkner joined the network in 2005.
She became cohost of the midday show "Outnumbered" in 2014,
and she got her own show three years later
with "Outnumbered Overtime."
This is the first edition of "Outnumbered Overtime."
Narrator: The show's first episode
aired the day after the deadly mass shooting
in Las Vegas.
Of course we're gonna cover this story
moment by moment.
Harris does breaking news better than
just about anybody in the business.
She understands the stories,
she knows how to help the audience understand
what's really important and what we need to learn
and where we need to go with the story.
How's it going?
My day starts with the rose gold folder.
We start out pretty early on
an editorial call in the morning,
and then we build this blueprint of the show,
and now I'm ready to rock and roll.
Thank you.
Narrator: Faulkner's career didn't begin at Fox News.
- I want to draw your attention to these
big four-foot deep - they would have been in the ground.
This is cement.
- Narrator: She worked her way up
the local news food chain as a reporter, and anchor.
Getting into network television
was tougher than I thought it was gonna be.
Welcome back to "A Current Affair."
Narrator: Her first national job
was hosting the syndicated news magazine show
"A Current Affair," and she gained notoriety
for her coverage of the disappearance
of Natalee Holloway.
With details is Harris Faulkner,
the reporter for "A Current Affair."
Harris thanks for being with us.
That was my entree into Fox News Channel.
I was on as a guest correspondent with Sean Hannity.
The show got canceled, they wanted to keep me,
and boom. Here I am at Fox News Channel
doing some cut-ins at night, news updates,
so that's, that was my entree here.
Congressman, thanks for sticking for the breaking news.
It's fabulously fun for me personally as a journalist
because it's in real time,
things are unfolding.
Narrator: While Faulkner's "Outnumbered Overtime" show
is news-driven, the show she cohosts, "Outnumbered,"
encourages opinion. And in 2017,
one of hers made headlines.
After the deadly violence in Charlottesville,
President Trump was criticized
for his initial statement.
We condemn in the strongest possible terms
this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence
on many sides, on many sides.
Narrator: After intense blowback,
Trump made another statement two days later.
Racism is evil,
and those who cause violence in its name
are criminals and thugs,
including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists,
and other hate groups that are repugnant
to everything we hold dear as Americans.
Narrator: And this is how Faulkner responded.
I would say this about the president's critics
as a whole.
If nothing will quiet them,
then they don't have America in their sights.
They don't care about us.
They don't care about Americans,
and shame on them.
Narrator: Washington Post media critic
Erik Wemple, described Faulkner's comments
as "pro-Trump shilling."
In June of 2018, President Trump posted a tweet
promoting Faulkner's book about growing up
as a military brat.
Faulkner responded with a tweet thanking the president
that has been pinned to her profile ever since.
Flanagan: I have a few examples of things that you've said
or tweeted that might conflict with what
many people's perception might be
of what an African-American woman might say or tweet,
and I just want to ask you a few examples of these.
By the way, those probably happen all the time
because we're not all alike.
I don't speak for all black people,
and I hope that others don't speak for me.
We're all different, we all come
with our own points of view.
To get a presidential tweet from
the Commander-in-Chief about a military book
that you've written, is pretty awesome.
And it wouldn't matter where that person's politics
would be, it's the President of the United States.
But that's not because I'm black
that people give me negative feedback
because the president tweeted about my book.
They do it because they think that it's all about politics.
Narrator: Recently, Faulkner
has called out the president.
She had strong words for President Trump
when he cast doubt on the death toll
of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
Faulkner: No, it cheapens us as a country.
To have that be the conversation right now.
I think one of the complicating factors
when you talk about death and loss and all of that,
is that it becomes about the numbers
and not about the people.
I don't understand politically why anybody
would even wade into that, whether it's the president
or anybody else. Let's let the science figure that out.
His hats say "Make America great again."
And I look at how that doesn't fit
the comments that you're saying about Puerto Rico.
It makes it sound like we're not
quite where we need to be, and it does cheapen us,
and when the things don't match up, I call it.
Now this is the part where we go upstairs.
Flanagan: Do you like working at Fox News?
I love it.
If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be here.
Fox News alert now. America's top diplomat -
I hope that people look at me and think
that I'm good at my job.
I also encourage myself on a daily basis
to do my job in such a way that it would
encourage others to hire people who look like me.
I'm gonna start with you, Chris -
So I challenge other networks to see the value
of a different perspective on things.
I consider it a calling and a blessing
that I get to do it.
And I love doing it here.
Flanagan: I think you love this.
Oh my gosh, are you kidding?
Am I boring you with details?
I'm like a walking C-Span.
Flanagan: You're having fun.
I am! If you need a commercial break,
you tell me.
Flanagan: No, I'm -
Okay! (Laughter)