This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," January 19, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: The Oscar-nominated movie "American Sniper" has smashed box office records, making over $105 million this past weekend. Now, the powerful epic starring Bradley Cooper and Sienna Miller is based on the true life story of Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "AMERICAN SNIPER"/WARNER BROTHERS)
"NAVY DOCTOR": Do you ever think that you might have seen things or done some things over there that you wish you hadn't?
"CHRIS KYLE": Oh, that's not me, no.
"NAVY DOCTOR": What's not you?
"CHRIS KYLE": I was just protecting my guys. They were trying to kill our soldiers. And I'm willing to meet my creator and answer every shot that I took.
The thing that haunts me are all the guys that I couldn't save.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: But despite the film's success, predictably, some Hollywood liberals -- they're on the attack. Michael Moore took to Twitter and he wrote, quote, "My uncle killed by sniper in World War II. We were taught snipers are cowards, will shoot you in the back. Snipers aren't heroes, and invaders are worse. But if you're on the roof of your home defending it from invaders who've come 7,000 miles, well, you're not a sniper, you're a brave -- well, you're a neighbor."
Well, after the backlash, Moore got defensive and said, oh, he never mentioned "American Sniper" in his tweets, but Moore wrote a post on his Facebook account and reiterated his belief that snipers are cowards. Coincidence? I don't think so.
But the left-wing lunacy doesn't stop there. Actor Seth Rogen compared the movie to a fake Nazi propaganda film. He tweeted, "'American Sniper' kind of reminds me of the movie that's showing in the third act of 'Inglourious Basterds.'"
Joining me now with reaction are two of Chris Kyle's friends, former U.S. Army Ranger Sean Parnell and former U.S. Navy SEAL Jason Redman. Guys, good to see you.
Sean, let me start with you. Look, I know my reaction. Navy SEALs, our military, protect Michael Moore and Seth Rogen's right to be dumb and ignorant and idiotic in their comments, and even mean-spirited. But what's your reaction?
SEAN PARNELL, FORMER U.S. ARMY RANGER: Well, Sean, first of all, don't hold anything back about how you feel about their comments.
But second of all, I think, you know, he's -- Michael Moore has backed off of his comments, but to me, that doesn't really...
HANNITY: No, he really didn't, though. He's still saying snipers are cowards.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Snipers are the guys that save the lives of American troops that are about to be killed. That's their job!
PARNELL: I'm with you. I mean, the definition of cowardice is not taking accountability for your own words. Another thing that is pretty cowardly in my book is wrongly attacking or insinuating that a man is cowardly when he's not even here to defend himself. Because believe me when I tell you, if Chris Kyle were here, he would probably have hit back on his own. That's why I'm responding to this tonight, because he's not.
And I also think that it's highly ironic that a guy like Michael Moore uses the freedom that he's been graciously gifted by the American soldiers and heroes like Chris Kyle to then turn around and blame the American militaries for all the problems of the world. To me, that's the definition of irony and cowardice all at the same time.
HANNITY: You know, Jason, I agree with Sean. It is kind of ironic, the very freedom that Michael Moore has is a gift that's given to him by God and protected by a strong military, his right to be ignorant and his right to be mean and stupid. That's protected by the military, as well.
JASON REDMAN, FORMER U.S. NAVY SEAL: Yes, I find it interesting that Michael Moore, you know, wants to come out and say that snipers are cowards. I looked up my own definition. It says a person who lacks the courage to do or endure dangerous or unpleasant things.
You know, I think the only unpleasant thing Michael Moore has gone through recently is the amount of hate and discontent he stirred from this comment. And him trying to step back from it -- well, you know, to utilize sniper -- you know, sniper analogy here -- you know, once you fire that shot, you can't take that round back. And that's what makes our snipers so effective and amazing on the battlefield. They've done all this training. They do all these calculations. They don't fire that round without thinking through the decisions that they made on that target.
Michael Moore obviously didn't think through that decision before he fired this shot off.
HANNITY: Yes. The movie was amazing.
When we left here Friday, after we did our special full hour on "American Sniper," and Chris' dad and wife were on the program, you know this is how The New York Times characterized this. They said they were surprised. We were expecting $60 million at that point. The movie had $105 million weekend take, which breaks all January records and by every definition is a blockbuster film. But The New York Times said, oh, they were surprised, Hollywood was surprised. The conservative heartland crowd surprised Hollywood by its size.
You know, doesn't that kind of tell you a little bit about New York, Hollywood, the D.C. crowd, Sean, that they kind of don't get that red part of America, the heart and soul of the country.
PARNELL: Yes. Yes. Any time I see comments like this, I think -- you know, comments, whether it's from Michael Moore or Seth Rogen, I think what it does is it underscores an inherent anti-military bias in Hollywood. And I think if Hollywood could just get past that bias, you'd see more military blockbusters that celebrate American exceptionalism, selfless service, honor and integrity on the battlefield. And oh, by the way, they'd probably make hundreds of millions all at the same time.
You know, right off the top of my head, a couple stories that come to my mind are "The Trident" and maybe even "Outlaw Platoon."
HANNITY: You know, Jason, it's interesting because it got six nominations for Oscars. I assume the Academy of motion pictures now got what they wanted because probably a lot of people are going to watch the Academy Awards, probably to watch "American Sniper" get snubbed by a movie that most Americans did not want to see because the next highest grossing movie was only $21 million this weekend.
You know, and -- you know, I think "Selma," for example, rounded out the top five with $10.3 million. So I would fully expect that "American Sniper" gets snubbed by the Hollywood elites. Your thoughts.
REDMAN: I don't think it really matters, Sean. You know, the -- the -- it doesn't really matter what Hollywood thinks.
HANNITY: I agree.
REDMAN: You know, they're going to try and drive the messaging. They are a loudmouth minority that want to try and drive their views and agenda. You know, it's obvious -- it's obviously that -- it's obvious that the American people have stepped up and shown what they're looking for. They are hungry for leadership. They're hungry for heroes. And that's what our American military has been doing for the last 13 years since this war broke out.
Chris Kyle was a hero. He went out there, and he was willing to sacrifice himself to make a difference in not only his brothers' lives but in the lives of the American people, even in the lives of somebody like Michael Moore and Seth Rogen, who don't even -- you know, have no clue what we were out there fighting for...
HANNITY: Let me...
REDMAN: ... or didn't even understand it. It comes back to the freedoms that they have to make comments like that.
HANNITY: Let me play a little clip from Taya Kyle, who is Chris's wife, when she was on the program this past Friday night. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TAYA KYLE, CHRIS KYLE'S WIDOW: The horror of it is that they were there trying to help and that somebody could turn his gun and intentionally kill two people in cold blood. That's where the horror is, I think, for me. And at the same time, I think maybe it was always in some way Chris was going to die the way he lived, serving others, because that was such a big part of him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, real quick. Both of you were friends with Chris. I'll start with you, Sean. Did that movie accurately portray Chris the way he really was?
PARNELL: Yes, absolutely.
HANNITY: Yes.
PARNELL: And I think that "American Sniper" -- Chris's experience -- you know, "American Sniper" is an introspective look at the effects of war on a man over 13 years and his family. And if that movie can create a dialogue in this nation that helps bring our veterans home and make their homecoming better, I think it's -- we will be a better nation for it because our veterans are the future leader, entrepreneurs and innovators in this country, and we have to encourage them not to just come home and reintegrate into society but come back and reinvigorate America because I promise you, that is what our veterans are going to do.
HANNITY: Yes. And that scene, by the way, is where the movie starts, where that woman and that young kid, and Chris has to make a decision about whether to shoot both of them.
Jason, did the movie accurately portray your friend?
REDMAN: Yes, absolutely. I think the greatest thing about the movie is it doesn't paint Chris as some sort of -- this hard-core warrior, the Achilles, Hercules, just this war-focused movie. Instead, it really touched upon the idea that war is a horrible thing.
You know, for Seth Rogen to liken this to Nazi propaganda is ridiculous because it does show the demons that all veterans come home that they carry with them. And Chris carried them, you know, obviously. Like I said, when he made those shots, when he did those things, he was doing it to save lives. But it also showed the heavy burden that comes with fighting our nation's wars. And that's something I think neither Michael Moore nor Chris Rogen could ever understand.
HANNITY: Yes, they're both ignorant, elitist, narcissistic Hollywood has-beens, both of them. So -- all right, guys. The movie...
REDMAN: Sean, I got to...
HANNITY: Yes, real quick.
REDMAN: If you'll allow me, I got an interesting point about Seth Rogen. I was taking a look into him. Seth's a dual citizen. So he was born in Canada, but now he lives here in the United States. In June of '14, he made this comment. "My dad is American, so I've always been an American citizen, which is very nice because it's made my life so much easier."
HANNITY: Yes.
REDMAN: So Seth Rogen...
HANNITY: So much easier because...
REDMAN: ... on behalf of all American veterans who fought for your freedom, you're welcome.
HANNITY: Well said. Thank you, guys. Appreciate it.
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