This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," April 15, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Tonight is part two of my interview with potential 2012 presidential candidate Donald Trump who has been making headlines for the controversial rebukes that he has issued President Obama.
And that's where we begin tonight. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: A lot has been made over the birth certificate issue. And you apparently, you have said in the previous interviews that you have a team of investigators in Hawaii now looking into it.
DONALD TRUMP, BUSINESSMAN: Correct.
HANNITY: It has a lot of press. Everyone is asking you about it.
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: And what have you come up with your investigators?
TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say that now. But it is going to be very interesting. But I don't want to say it now, Sean. But I will say this, I don't love this issue. I'd much rather be talking about how China is ripping us off, how OPEC is -- that's what I'm really good at. I understand it. I can do such a great job.
But, this issue came up about six weeks ago. And I've heard about it for years. But I never thought too much about it. And I assumed he was born in this country. But six weeks ago, I started really looking into it. He's got a certificate of live birth. That's by the way, despite what certain liberal press says, that's not a birth certificate. It is a big, big step lower. In fact, in some places, you can get married or get a driver's license with a certificate of live birth, OK? So, I say to myself, why.
HANNITY: Only has a stamp, no signature.
TRUMP: It's got a stamp. It's got a stamp. No, it's got a stamped signature. By the way, I have my birth certificate. I think I'll show it. I think I'm going to bring it down to Boca Raton this weekend. But I have my, it's got stamps, it's got three different signatures, it's got everything, everything is official. You have to see this thing. It's like a certificate of live birth is not appropriate.
Now, I say to myself, why? A few -- just simple questions, why doesn't he show his birth certificate, number one. You know, they say it is sealed. Well, but for the person, you could release it. And if it's the person, you could -- sure, it's sealed, it should be sealed, that's great.
But the person, you know, I actually sent to New York for my birth certificate. And they actually got on the phone, they said Mr. Trump, I'm sorry to do this sir, you have to give me your Social Security number. You have to prove, it's really you I'm talking to. I went through a whole big thing. OK, but when they figured out it was actually me, they sent it to me. I had to pay $38, and they sent me my birth certificate. They could do the same thing to him, and I say, why did he spent millions of dollars on trying to stay away from this issue? Why doesn't he give his birth certificate?
HANNITY: The one thing on his side is that they have these announcements in the newspaper, eight days after.
TRUMP: Eight days later.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: It was eight days. Look, he's got a grandmother in Kenya who said he was born in Kenya at the hospital. Then there was bedlam in the room, bedlam. I don't mean like a little, you know, because he was close to becoming president. And there were a lot of people in that room, and he was being, she was talking to a reporter with a lot of handlers. A lot of Obama handlers. So, they had the grandmother, she said Kenya. Then all of a sudden, 51 seconds later, he asked the question again. And you hear people scream, no, no Hawaii, Hawaii! OK? Give me a break. Now, the other one was eight or nine days later from the reported birth date. But you don't know if it was even the reported. But they could have easily come from Kenya or someplace.
HANNITY: The issue would go away in a minute. Just show the certificate.
TRUMP: I don't understand. Why he doesn't show? Why did he spend millions of dollars on trying to stay away from the issue? Now, it's one of two things. Either, he wasn't born in the country, or he doesn't have a birth certificate that, or there is something on the birth certificate that he doesn't want people to see.
HANNITY: What do you think that could be? Could it have to do with religion?
TRUMP: I don't know. I mean, maybe it says he's Muslim. Which wouldn't bother me. I mean, if it is that thing, you know, if it's that's it, it's it. It's what it is.
HANNITY: He went to a Muslim school in Indonesia. He talks about studying the Koran. He talks about one of the most beautiful moments being, you know, prayer times at sunset.
TRUMP: Look, he was born Barry Soetero, somewhere along the line, he changed his name. I heard he had terrible marks and he ends up in Harvard. He wrote a book that was better than Ernest Hemingway, but the second book was written by an average person. He shouldn't have written the second book.
HANNITY: You suspect Bill Ayers.
TRUMP: I said, Bill Ayers wrote the book, the first book.
HANNITY: Why do you think it's Bill Ayers?
TRUMP: Because everyone says he's a super genius and he was a great writer. And Bill Ayers just came out recently, because he's not in love with Obama, because like Obama dropped Reverend Wright like a dog, he dropped him like a dog. You know, for 20 years, he's in Reverend Wright's congregation, OK. I'm Protestant and I understand. He's in Reverend Wright's congregation for 20 years listening to Reverend Wright's spew hate against white people. And all of a sudden, he drops him like a dog. And Reverend Wright doesn't -- hates him now, actually hates him from what I hear.
HANNITY: Well, he said --
TRUMP: But the same thing with Bill Ayers. The same thing with Bill Ayers, he dropped -- he was best friends with Bill Ayers. Bill Ayers was a super genius. And a lot of people have said he wrote the book. While recently, as you know last week, Bill Ayers came out and said he did write the book.
Barack Obama wouldn't be president, and, you know, I wrote many best sellers. And also, number one bestsellers including "The Art of the Deal." I know something about writing. And I want to tell you, the guy that wrote the first book didn't write the second book. Obama made a big mistake when he wrote the second book. Because the second book was not Ernest Hemingway, it was about 37 classes below. The first book is Ernest Hemingway plus. The second book was written by somebody that was much more average. How do you have average marks -- how do you have bad marks and get into Harvard?
HANNITY: Let me go back to the issue. Because I want to talk about media coverage of Obama. Because you are going to have full coverage of your finances, every woman that you've dated, your marriages, all that is going to come up, fair game?
TRUMP: Well, I think it is fair. But I also think this. My finances are great. I think when you get into social things, I just think this country has big problems. And I sit down and I look at the problems of this country and I just think that we have more important things to discuss with like.
HANNITY: Than who you dated.
TRUMP: .Yes, than who I dated or who, and, you know, what? I have unbelievable great relationships with a lot of people and I have a great relationship with my wife. But, we really -- that's the problem with this process. In China, they pick the meanest, toughest, smartest guy. Ruthless. And he's our negotiator.
In this country we pick a guy that has never had a problem. Never done anything, I mean, look at Obama. Obama had bad marks and he gets into Harvard, OK? He wasn't a good student. Everyone thinks he was like the super genius, he wasn't a genius. He had bad marks. And it is a big story. Everyone says, how did he get into Harvard? How did he get into Columbia? He had horrible marks supposedly.
(CROSSTALK)
He doesn't release his marks. Nobody knows what his marks. But everybody said, because there was some released where his marks were lousy, and yet he gets into Harvard.
I mean, this guy really is leading a charmed life. I have to be honest with you. Somebody said, what is his biggest asset? He is lucky politically. He really is. He's led a charmed life.
HANNITY: The media --
TRUMP: Well, the media is letting him get away with it. I'll give you an example, a better example, Tony Rezko. If you did Tony Rezko, you would be in jail right now.
HANNITY: I believe it.
TRUMP: Tony Rezko is his pretty much mentor. Was his big political contributor. There's another guy he dropped like a hot rock.
So, you got Reverend Wright, you got Bill Ayers, you got Tony Rezko. He drops these guys and the press leaves him alone. He took -- he buys a house, and then Tony Rezko, his biggest political supporter who is in jail, and a, you know, mobster, buys the lot next to him. I'm a great real estate guy. I made a lot of money, you will see maybe. Assuming I run, OK? You're going to love it. You will be very impressed with my numbers, I'm a really good real estate guy.
But he buys the house next door. The lot next door. Obama wants to expand his house. So, Rezko sells him a little chunk of that lot at from what I can see, under market value, under market value.
HANNITY: Rendering his lot unbuildable.
TRUMP: Rendering Rezko's lot, either unbuildable or nobody wants it. Nobody wants to have a -- hey, Mr. Schwartz goes up to buy the house next door. And what happens to the back of it? I mean, where is the back of my lot, I don't want to buy this lot. So, Rezko, gives him a piece under market and more importantly, destroys the value of the lot he has.
Now, when I heard that, I said oh, that's the end of his campaign he's out. Because if it was you, me or anybody else -- so, here's a guy, did one deal in his entire life and it was Tony Rezko. That's the only deal he has ever done. It is pretty amazing how nothing happened. And it is pretty amazing how Rezko, is in jail now and he never ratted out Obama.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity" on this Friday night. We continue now with the final installment of my interview with the one and only Donald Trump. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: I spent more time than anybody in the media on the issue of Reverend Wright and Bill Ayers. He was asked one question about Bill Ayers, oh, he's a guy in the neighborhood. And then we discovered, he started his political career in Bill Ayers' house. He gave speeches with him. He sat on boards with him. OK, so...
TRUMP: And he acted like he hardly knew him.
HANNITY: He hardly knew him. And his answer was, he is some guy in the neighborhood.
TRUMP: He's some guy. Some guy that wrote his book.
HANNITY: Some guy. All right. This is the guy that sounds repentant about bombing the Pentagon, in the capitol in New York City Police Headquarters.
TRUMP: Horrible.
HANNITY: And on 9/11 of all days, he had that in The New York Times. Media ignores it. Reverend Wright, I was fortified by him, he drove around listening to tapes of him. He is, you know, like family to me. And then of course, he got thrown under the bus. There's a picture in that church magazine.
TRUMP: Both of these guys hate Obama because he dropped them. And, you know, what? There's one thing, I'm like a loyalist. I have people that, you know, I try to be loyal to people. He's a very disloyal guy. Because he could have stuck by Reverend Wright and he could have gotten away with it.
HANNITY: How does he stick by a guy that says g-d America after 9/11.
TRUMP: You know what? He could have said, gee, I like the guy, he differs from me. He could have done something. He dropped him like a rock. And Reverend Wright supposedly is just incensed right now. OK, incensed. Who cares? Bill Ayers, bad guy but a brilliant guy. I'd love to find out who wrote that book. Because, you know what? Without that book, he's not president. You know, that book was so brilliant.
HANNITY: What is it tell you about --
TRUMP: That he became president because the book was so great, everyone said, oh look at this guy. Look at the book.
HANNITY: If Donald Trump was hanging out with mobsters, and doing business deals with mobsters, real estate deals, wouldn't your associates matter in terms of people's perceptions of you before you become the president on the United States?
TRUMP: Well, the Tony Rezko thing is the thing I least understand. Because if you did the deal, if I did the deal, if anybody did that deal, we would at a minimum not be in office and probably be behind bars.
HANNITY: If you and your wife were on -- your wife was on a magazine cover with Mrs. Farrakhan, who I think is a vicious virulent anti-Semite and racist, which Michele Obama was on a cover with Mrs. Farrakhan. He lives two blocks away from Obama, he's within the radical community in Chicago. Is that a legitimate question? Did you ever meet him? Do you know him? And would that have an impact do you think on the American people in terms of him?
TRUMP: Well, I think it would. But I just don't think the president -- you cover it. A couple of people covered it for the...
HANNITY: I don't have access. He won't come on this show.
TRUMP: Well, most of them don't cover it. Most of them don't cover it, and it amazes me. It amazes me the free ride he gets. As an example, when I talk about the birther issue. And it is not my favorite issue, believe me. But when I talk about it, I have some reporters, you could see they are visibly angry at me for even bringing it up. But there's a real question.
You know, I told you before, when I first started, I assumed he was born here. When it was first said. Now, I have a real doubt. So they should have a real doubt too. They protect him. They are protecting Obama. Tony Rezko, I mean, why aren't they out there looking into that matter?
HANNITY: I did. We spend -- we got a lot of heat during the election process because we brought up all of these questions.
TRUMP: They never gave Rezko a chance to rat him out. And yet, anybody else, they let him rat out.
HANNITY: They would have had Woodward and Bernstein, you know, there every day.
TRUMP: And you know, the funny thing is if I'm a reporter, hey, look, if I'm a reporter, I want to be Bob Woodward.
HANNITY: OK.
TRUMP: I want to be Bob Woodward. You can have Bob Woodward. If they found out about the birth certificate. If they found out about Tony Rezko. They could be Bob Woodward.
HANNITY: Look, I said in the last election, journalism died in America. They will be much tougher on you. The scrutiny will be much tougher than any Republican candidate.
TRUMP: Yes. And every time they're tough with me, I'm going to bring up to investigate Rezko. By the way, every time --
HANNITY: Is this the difference though, I mean. With you taking on these issues --
TRUMP: Sean, every time -- Sean, let me just finish this. Because they will tough.
Here's the problem. I've done hundreds of deals, hundreds, I've done transactions and deals by the hundreds. I've done great, OK? I mean, I've done, you know, mostly great deals. And they will be tough on me. Here's a guy did one deal. One deal. That they'll go through every deal, did the secretary dot that "i" oh, gee, there's a typo. Therefore, Trump did something wrong. It is really terrible.
You know, I've always heard that a very successful person cannot run for political officer, OK? And I understand it. But the country is in such bad shape that I feel I have an obligation to do it.
HANNITY: And you are willing to open all those books?
TRUMP: Yes, yes. I open my books. Hey look, I'm going to do a financial disclosure.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: Assuming I run. I'm going to do a financial disclosure. And by the way, the papers submitted to me are not big enough.
HANNITY: All right. Donald Trump.
TRUMP: It's been great to see you.
HANNITY: I really appreciate your time.
TRUMP: I love your show.
HANNITY: Thank you. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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