Dr. Ben Carson says voters recognize a 'failed policy'
GOP presidential candidate reflects on the debate on 'Hannity'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 10, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome to "Hannity." Tonight, could Donald Trump change his mind about a possible third party run for the presidency? ABC News reported earlier today that a senior Trump adviser told the network that Trump may, in fact, pledge not to run as a third party candidate if he does not win the GOP nomination. ABC News, however -- they've since pulled back on that report.
Now, this comes after Trump made headlines during last week's debate when he refused to rule out running as an independent candidate. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRET BAIER, FOX DEBATE MODERATOR: Raise your hand now if you won't make that pledge tonight. Mr. Trump.
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I cannot say -- I have to respect the person that, if it's not me, the person that wins. If I do win, and I am leading by quite a bit, that's what I want to do. I can totally make that pledge, if I'm the nominee, I will pledge I will not run as an independent. But -- and I am discussing it with everybody. But I'm, you know, talking about lot of leverage. We want to win, and we will win. But I want to win as the Republican. I want to run as the Republican nominee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Here now to set the record straight, from the Trump Organization, Michael Cohen is back with us. You're the -- you've been the attorney for Donald Trump for how many years?
MICHAEL COHEN, THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Close to ten now.
HANNITY: OK. It's interesting. When he says leverage, that makes me think he really doesn't want to go third party, but he's saying, I want to be treated fairly.
COHEN: That's exactly what he's saying.
HANNITY: Is that my interpretation?
COHEN: You're interpretation is exactly correct. What he's looking for is he's looking to be dealt with the same way that all the outlets are dealing with the other candidates. He wants to be treated fairly, equally, and he wants his opportunity to run.
HANNITY: OK. Let's go to the controversy surrounding the debate. And there's been a lot of back and forth since the debate. But you have some news to tell us that it's kind of over.
COHEN: It is over. Mr. Trump and Roger Ailes spoke today. Mr. Trump has been assured by Roger Ailes that he's going to be treated fairly and equally, and the entire incident with Megyn Kelly is now over. Nothing else to report on that.
HANNITY: And I'll be talking to him tomorrow, which is -- we're looking forward to seeing him. All right, a lot of other things happened this weekend. Roger Stone, a consultant, he left the campaign, did an interview and said the nicest things about Donald Trump.
COHEN: Because there's only nice things to say about Donald Trump, and Roger has known Mr. Trump for many, many years. They are friends.
HANNITY: Said he wants everyone to vote for him. Well, then, why did he leave the debate? (sic) What can you tell us about that?
COHEN: You know, I don't really know exactly.
HANNITY: (INAUDIBLE)
COHEN: I think that his feeling was maybe he was being marginalized a little bit, more than what he would have liked. But Roger is a great guy, and Roger wanted maybe to play a different role and that role may not have been available.
But there's no on doubt in my mind that if he picks up the phone and he wants to speak to Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump will certainly take his call. And I'm sure he's going to have input into things as they progress further in this campaign.
HANNITY: We got Donald Trump now is leading in Iowa, where historically, somebody more social conservative would be leading. He's got a 19-point lead there. Second place goes to Ben Carson and Scott Walker at 12 percent. That's a big lead in Iowa.
COHEN: It sure is. And here's the interesting thing...
HANNITY: By the way, NBC has him up to 23 points, an increase from the pre-debate polls. This is post-debate. And there's two other polls that have him up significantly since the debate.
COHEN: You have the Morning Consult poll, which has him up 32 percent...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... percent in that poll.
COHEN: ... 32 percent in that poll, 7 percent increase for Mr. Trump in that.
And here's the thing, which is why Mr. Trump wanted to be treated fairly and equally. Why? Because the polls, the people want him. The people -- the people are the ones that are adamant that Mr. Trump should be heard, that his message, which is resonating, of an open and honest and productive Donald Trump -- this is what they're all looking for.
HANNITY: Let me ask you this because I look at these polls -- Ted Cruz jumped into second place in the NBC poll. Ben Carson is third.
COHEN: Right.
HANNITY: Carly and Marco are tied at fourth. For the most part, we're talking about all insurgent candidates here. What does that tell you about...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... and explain, you know, why Donald is doing so well, when everybody, after the immigration comments, after the McCain comments, after this dust-up that you just said was over with FOX, he's still doing well. Why?
COHEN: You would have thought in any type of campaign that the candidate would be finished. But there's a Trump phenomenon that's going on. He's honest. He's unscripted. He speaks from the heart. People see it. People feel it. And people are sick and tired of what's going on in Washington, Republican and Democrat.
When I walk on the streets and I see friends both, on both sides, Republican and Democrat, they've had enough. We've had enough of our kleptocrats stealing from us. They are done and they're finished. Now, interesting that you bring up Carly Fiorina, is the one who also had an increase. Everybody else was basically flat.
HANNITY: Ted Cruz went up -- you know, nearly doubled his poll numbers after that debate.
COHEN: Yes, but the poll numbers weren't great in the first place. So...
HANNITY: (INAUDIBLE) but 13 percent. He's now in second place. That's a significant jump for him.
COHEN: Right. But it's still less than double digits behind Mr. Trump on this. Nobody can do what he does. He speaks from the heart. People give -- they him a pass when it comes to the wordsmithing because they're not interested in the single words They're interested in what Donald Trump can do for us. If he can do for us what he did for his own company, we want him.
HANNITY: Here's what I want to ask you. So he has been able to defy all conventional wisdom and basically skate on some controversies that may have killed other candidates. Does he pivot now -- do you, as his friend and adviser, prefer that he pivot and talk about the solutions? For example, he laid out his plan to defeat ISIS, which we'll talk about later in the program. Is that your preference?
COHEN: That's his preference. His preference is not to get bogged down in the nonsense that took place at the debate or the crazy post-debate nonsense that -- he's not interested in that. He wants to make America great again. He wants to talk about immigration reform. He wants to talk about the economy. Nobody can make a deal better than Donald Trump.
He wants to talk about is, how am I going to show the rest of this country how we need to create jobs so that every American has a job. How are we going to bring our businesses back to America? How are we going to repatriate the trillions of dollars that are overseas? That's what Donald Trump knows. That's his strength, and that's all anybody really cares about right now.
HANNITY: Last question. Erick Erickson disinvited him from the Red State event. My -- look, I've known Erick for a long time. My call would have been, bring him in and ask him questions. Ask him about things.
COHEN: Right.
HANNITY: I believe in more debate, not less. Was that a mistake? Do you wish he would have had the opportunity to address that?
COHEN: You know, I'm actually glad that this happened and that Mr. Trump didn't have to be anywhere near Erick Erickson. He's a horrible human being, as far as I'm concerned. He is the worst when it comes to women and to feminism. I've seen some of his tweets that turned around and says -- he calls them "feminazis." He was calling -- this one feminist, he referred to her as an ugly woman who couldn't get a date.
These aren't things that you put down into a tweet, whereas with Mr. Trump there, you're talking about a wordsmith. This is a guy who puts it down on a Twitter and sends it out with no repercussion, and he's going to comment about Donald Trump?
HANNITY: We're just out of time. Michael Cohen...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Thank you. We'll see Donald tomorrow.
COHEN: Yes.
HANNITY: OK. Appreciate it. And also tonight, there are reports that Donald Trump will start to focus more on policy specifics this week. Now, here's Donald Trump laying out some ideas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: ... I would like to see is a private system without the artificial lines around every state. I have a big company with thousands and thousands of employees, and if I'm negotiating in New York or New Jersey or in California, I have, like, one bidder.
I would simplify the tax code. You have to do that, Steve. And if you don't do that, it's -- you know, I can just tell you from my own standpoint, my tax, the number of pages is -- it would literally probably be 10 feet high if I put them together.
Save Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security without cuts. Have to do it. Get rid of the fraud, get rid of the waste and abuse, but save it. People have been paying in for years, and now many of these candidates want to cut it. You save it by making the United States -- by making us rich again, by taking back all of the money that's being lost.
I watch these people on television today -- Well, what Trump says do (ph) to the wall, they won't agree. Of course they will. They make a fortune with us. They make a fortune. Between the oil and the cars and the economic development and the fact that you lose all your factories, they move to Mexico -- of course they're going to pay for it. Trust me, they're going to pay for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Here with reaction, Fox News contributor Doug Schoen, "Outnumbered" co-host, our friend, Andrea Tantaros. Let me start with -- I like the substance of any candidate. He had a number of battles this weekend. He comes out of it with higher poll numbers post-debate. And now he's on substance. Good strategy?
ANDREA TANTAROS, "OUTNUMBERED" CO-HOST: It's the best strategy for him. I mean, he needs to stay focused on the issues and not take the bait and get mired in personal attacks. It's only going to hurt him. And the more that any of these Republican candidates, I think, Sean, start attacking each other personally or attacking the media or going off-script and taking their eye off the ball, I think that Hillary's smile gets bigger and bigger and bigger because, listen, as a party, conservative, Republicans have a lot of battles to fight -- the Iran deal, ISIS.
We've got political enemies. We should be fighting for secure borders. We should not be fighting each other with personal attacks!
HANNITY: Doug, Democrats have your own little problem. Bernie Sanders got 28,000 people out in Oregon this weekend. Hillary can't get 5,000!
TANTAROS: Do you feel the Bern, Doug?
DOUG SCHOEN, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: I feel that you are absolutely right that Hillary's best asset going forward are intramural squabbles between the Republicans.
TANTAROS: No question!
SCHOEN: If the Republicans turn attention to issues, Sean, they can win this election. If they fight about issues of personality, or they get mired in social issues, they're just doing really what Hillary needs.
HANNITY: Maybe I'm the outsider here. I actually view this entire process as good, it's healthy, it makes the candidates stronger and sharper. And at the end of the day, when one of these guys emerges, they're going to need to be tough against the machine that says they're racist and sexist and hate grandma and want to kill her and want to poison the air and water.
TANTAROS: You got to have answers for that. If you can't handle the tough questions now about your own words, about things that you have said...
HANNITY: But that's why I think this makes them stronger!
TANTAROS: ... you're never going to be able to defeat the Clinton machine!
HANNITY: But that's why I say the whole process makes them all stronger!
TANTAROS: It depends, Sean. Of course it does. It makes you stronger if you react in a respectable manner. If you don't and you stay in the gutter, it doesn't help you. It's very simple.
SCHOEN: Andrea's right. The Republican brand has problems. It has improved because I thought it was a very, very good debate on Thursday. Issues will elect the Republicans. Inclusion will elect the Republicans.
HANNITY: Solutions.
SCHOEN: Solutions...
HANNITY: America is looking for solutions to the problems that plague us because of your party.
SCHOEN: Do you remember about...
HANNITY: Sorry.
SCHOEN: ... the penny plan...
HANNITY: My plan.
SCHOEN: ... which you were advocating?
HANNITY: Yes.
SCHOEN: We didn't hear any talk about those kind of ideas. Donald Trump, Andrea, didn't talk about job creation. That's where the electorate is. That's what the Republican...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: But he has their attention, and he's making a pivot...
SCHOEN: Absolutely.
HANNITY: ... and it seems that...
TANTAROS: Sean, Mr. Trump brings up a lot of great points. I mean, Donald Trump, when it comes to immigration, he was right at the debate, we'd never be talking about it if it wasn't for him.
SCHOEN: Right.
TANTAROS: He's right on a lot of issues, and he has the loudest megaphone to go against this administration!
HANNITY: How great is his idea...
TANTAROS: Why aren't they all...
(CROSSTALK)
TANTAROS: ... against this administration!
HANNITY: Take the oil from ISIS! That's a brilliant idea!
SCHOEN: Right.
HANNITY: I like it.
SCHOEN: That's right. And the Republican ideas are winners if they are ideas, not attacks.
TANTAROS: You heard it from Doug first.
SCHOEN: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Guys, thank you both.
TANTAROS: Doug Schoen...
HANNITY: Good to see you.
TANTAROS: Endorsement?
HANNITY: And up next tonight right here on "Hannity"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I would put boots on the ground in those areas. I would take the oil because what you're doing is you're cutting off a big portion of their money source.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, Donald Trump says he will put boots on the ground to defeat ISIS. Will the plan work? We'll check in with Colonel Oliver North. He's here with reaction.
Also later tonight, 2016 GOP presidential candidates Governor John Kasich, Dr. Ben Carson. They will be here to explain how they plan to capitalize on the strong debate performances, and much more straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HANNITY: All right, welcome back to "Hannity." Tonight, we continue our analysis of Donald Trump's candidacy and whether or not he would actually consider a third party run if not nominated by the GOP.
Here with reaction, senior editor of the National Review Jonah Goldberg, from The Washington Times, Charles Hurt.
I know the Republican Party wants this. You heard Michael Cohen, Charles. He says this is just a leverage point. He's not really considering it, but he wants to be treated respectfully in the process. What are your thoughts on it?
CHARLES HURT, WASHINGTON TIMES: Well, you know, the thing about Donald Trump -- and this is what we have seen all along, Sean -- is that he thinks completely differently than a normal politician, a professional politician. He thinks definitely than pretty much anybody else that was on that debate stage last week. This is a guy who doesn't look at something in terms of, How does this make me look. He looks at it in terms of, How do I get what I want?
And that's what he is touting very much as his sort of strong suit, and it's absolutely what so many voters I think are tapping into with him. You know, he is a -- they feel like they know him. They feel like they trust him. He's a figure they've seen on TV for a long time. And he never -- whatever you think of him, he doesn't alter that character that those people see.
HANNITY: Oh, that would also explain the post-debate poll numbers, right? I mean, Jonah, your thoughts.
HURT: Oh, absolutely!
HANNITY: Yes. Jonah?
JONAH GOLDBERG, NATIONAL REVIEW: I'm not sure I understand what Charlie's talking about. I mean, I agree his personality holds constant. But his actual positions on policies and all of that, they change with the wind. And they have changed a lot and he's even conceded that they've changed a lot.
In terms of -- you know, my concern here is I think him ruling out a third party run is the right and good thing to do. I agree entirely that it was about leverage all along. Never denied that.
But as someone who's actually much more conservative than Donald Trump, I find that this idea that somehow he is this rock and he tells the truth and he tells it like it is, is sort of nonsense. Just -- he's now said about his plan for illegal immigration is that he wants to deport all 11 million of them, pick out the terrific ones and then bring them all back. Now, that is a very complicated way of doing amnesty. His position on health care is he would replace "Obama care" with something terrific.
HANNITY: He said that to me in an interview that I did with him, and what he said was they would have the opportunity, he would expedite the process to apply for citizenship, that it would not be guaranteed. That's what he said.
GOLDBERG: OK.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Let me ask you this. Do you share the anger? You said -- I know you're a conservative. I'm a conservative. I'm angry at Republicans for their promises that they make every election cycle. I'm angry they don't fulfill them. I'm angry they don't use the power of the purse. I'm angry they made Ted Cruz a pariah. Thoughts.
GOLDBERG: Those are all great arguments for Ted Cruz, and you know, and Ted Cruz, I think that one of the reasons why he's very strategically and I think very wisely not criticized Donald Trump is because Donald Trump is actually soaking up a lot of the anger that really belongs in the Ted Cruz column, and I think that Ted Cruz is strategically waiting...
HANNITY: All right, but we keep saying it's a different strategy, but the Republicans won't use the power of the purse. They said, for example, they would stop executive amnesty. They ended up funding it, Jonah. What's the explanation for that?
GOLDBERG: I have -- I have no objection whatsoever to people being angry with Republican establishment or the Republican Party or their failures on the job. We can argue its (ph) specific failures pros and con all you like.
My find (ph) is that the idea that Donald Trump, who is, by my lights -- there's no evidence that he is actually a conservative -- is somehow the proper vessel for that anger -- I mean, he has a thumb in the eye of a lot of people, and (INAUDIBLE) people don't like the pundits and they don't like, you know, the establishment and all that kind of stuff and it drives -- and they love watching Donald Trump show them up -- fine.
But in terms of actual policy, I don't believe for a moment that this guy is a sincere committed conservative. There's nothing in his record that actually suggests that's the case, and I think this is just one of these sort of tantrums that people are having, and they love that -- Donald Trump has great enemies. I'll give you that.
HANNITY: You got to admit it's pretty impressive. People predicted his demise now a number of times on immigration, John McCain, post-debate, and his numbers keep going up, so -- all right, Jonah, good to see you. Charles, thank you.
And earlier today, Donald Trump revealed his plan to wipe out ISIS, and unlike many of his Republican rivals, Trump is actually proposing to put boots on the ground. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They have great money because they have oil. They have much oil. I would -- everyplace where they have oil, I would knock the hell out of them. And I would put -- I would put boots on the ground in those areas. I would take the oil because what you're doing is you're cutting off a big portion of their money source.
In order to do that, you would have to put -- I would knock the hell out of them, but I'd put a ring around it and I'd take the oil for our country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And joining us now with reaction, the host of "War Stories," Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, sir. You know, I like this idea of putting a stranglehold on where ISIS is getting their money. To me, it should be part of any strategy. Could that work, Colonel?
OLIVER NORTH, "WAR STORIES" HOST: Well, look, it could be part of a strategy, just as you put it, Sean, but Mr. Trump's proposal to deal with ISIS simply by dealing with money I suppose fits the model of the man, but it's not a strategy. Look, the Obama administration does not have a strategy. Neither does Mr. Trump. It's to be expected he would have focused on the financial aspect and oil. But winning the a war against radical Islam that's waging a war against us is different than building a golf course or a resort. I mean, you can bank that.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I'm not disagreeing, but as part of a strategy, you've got to admit, now that the president -- we had all this blood and treasure that literally poured into the grounds of Iraq, only for Obama to give Mosul and Fallujah and Tikrit and Ramadi back to ISIS, and not stop it, even though all these Americans died? It seems to me that they get a lot of money from those oilfields. And it would be good to stop the flow of money.
NORTH: They have, and to the extent that they can control the area around Baiji, which is up in the northwest corner of Iraq, they have the access to being able to move oil. But there's a couple things that are important. Oil is a fraction of the price it was when they started.
And thus far, the Obama game plan has produced nothing but refugees, about two-and-a-half million of them from Syria and Iraq. Entire Christian and Yazidi villages have been annihilated. It's a genocide that rivals that of Rwanda under the Clintons, and...
HANNITY: What would you advise him, then, to add to that strategy? What are the things you'd like to see?
NORTH: Well, look, I -- number one, recognize the enemy for what it is. The enemy is radical Islam. Any presidential candidate who can't say that ought not to become commander-in-chief of the United States. Very seriously.
ISIS is gaining adherents daily. If we want to defeat ISIS, here's what any presidential candidate ought to advocate. Number one, directly arm the Kurds, the Christian brigades of the Peshmerga, and work with the Sunni National Salvation Front with Mudar Shakat (ph) through Jordan.
Number two, put more U.S. intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, search and rescue aircraft in Jordan, not just in Turkey. Put a carrier strike group in the Mediterranean, along with a Marine air-ground task force because the flaccid way we're using our air power makes us look impotent -- totally so.
Number three, put U.S. advisers, forward air controllers and JTACs (ph) on the ground with the Kurds, the National Salvation Front and the Iraqi army, but not the Iranian Shi'ite militias.
Number four, provide logistics support for an Egyptian-Jordanian Sunni force to go into western Anbar province, where you and I (sic) fought day in and day out when I was out there, Sean.
HANNITY: Right.
NORTH: That's the key to the Sunni heartland of Iraq, to secure the Euphrates River valley not just from ISIS but from the Iranians.
And fifth, most importantly, destroy the will to fight by killing the ISIS leadership and destroy the safe havens they have in Syria, or anywhere else like they've got in Libya. That's the answer to this whole thing because what's happened is the nuke deal he did with the Iranians validates the al Baghdadi, the head of ISIS's, claim to be the savior of Sunni Islam from the Shi'ites and the Persians.
HANNITY: All right...
NORTH: And if I may, just a quick shoutout to the staff, the doctors, the nurses, the staff out at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and by the way, Major Eric Burkett (ph), U.S. Marine Corps V-22 pilot who's fighting to save his only remaining leg.
HANNITY: All right. He's in our prayers, Colonel. And good to see you. And I like your strategy, too, well thought out, as usual. Thank you, sir. Safe home.
NORTH: (INAUDIBLE)
HANNITY: All right, coming up next tonight here on "Hannity"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BEN CARSON, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... the only one to take out half of a brain, although you would think if you go to Washington that someone had beat me to it.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Dr. Ben Carson looking to capitalize on the momentum he gained from last week's first GOP debate. He will be here next. Later, we'll also speak with 2016 Republican presidential candidate Governor John Kasich, as we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So many people have been saying that Dr. Benjamin Carson was one of the big winners at last week's GOP presidential debate. Here are a few of his highlights. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARSON : We've gotten into this mindset of fighting politically correct wars. There is no such thing as a politically correct war.
(APPLAUSE)
CARSON: And the left, of course, will say, Carson doesn't believe in the Geneva convention. Carson doesn't believe in fighting stupid wars.
I was asked by an NPR reporter once, why don't I talk about race that often. I said it's because I'm a neurosurgeon. And she thought that was a strange response, and you say -- I said, You see, when I take someone to the operating room, I'm actually operating on the thing that makes them who they are. The skin doesn't make them who they are. The hair doesn't make them who they are. And it's time for us to move beyond that.
(APPLAUSE)
CARSON: I'm the only one to separate Chinese twins. The...
(LAUGHTER)
CARSON: The only one to operate on babies while they're still in the mother's womb, the only to take out half of a brain, although you would think, if you go to Washington, that someone had beaten me to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, joining me now, 2016 GOP presidential candidate Dr. Benjamin Carson. All right, that was on of the great line of all time in any debate, about Siamese twins, operating on a baby in a mother's womb, and taking out half a brain.
Can you survive without half your brain?
CARSON: Actually, you can quite easily.
HANNITY: Yes.
CARSON: And you know, children have plasticity, and they actually -- the other half of the brain has the ability to take over the functions.
HANNITY: Yes. You now are in third place, according to the first post- poll -- debate poll that we've seen, with 11 percent. Why do you think that's happened? Why are you surging? Why is Ted Cruz an insurgent Republican surging? Why is Donald Trump surging and Carly now surging? What do you think it says about the Republican Party?
CARSON: Well, I hope it means that people are actually starting to listen to what the candidates themselves are saying and they recognize a failed policy. You know, we have been going with Democrats and with Republicans for decades now, and they say wonderful things during elections, but they don't do anything. And we can't continue down that pathway and I think that people recognize that.
HANNITY: You know, it's interesting. I read your comments on race, and why don't I talk about race. Explain what you meant by that, "because I'm a neurosurgeon." You know, that was interesting to me.
CARSON: Well, the point being, you know, so many people are very superficial, And they look at a person's external appearance and they make a judgment based on that when that has nothing to do with who that person is. It's the brain, that's what controls who we are, and we need to think about what Dr. Martin Luther King said, the content of your character, not the color of your skin.
HANNITY: That's a great observation. You know, it was interesting because, obviously, we have been watching Ferguson in the last two days and tonight. Bernie Sanders had a rally, and this group, "Black Lives Matter" actually took over the podium, and they allowed them to do it. Watch what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BERNIE SANDERS, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Seattle, for being one of the most progressive cities in the United States of America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are trying to be reasonable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are reasonable!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name --
(BOOS)
CROWD: Black lives matter! Black lives matter!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to welcome you, Bernie, to Westlake, where we say Black lives Matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: The group actually took over his whole rally, and then Governor O'Malley is running as a Democrat, said "Black lives matters, white lives matter, all lives matter," and then apologized for saying that. What was your reaction to that?
CARSON: Well, my reaction is we're looking and concentrating on the wrong things. What we need to be concentrating on are the solutions to the problem. We can point fingers at each other from now until doomsday, and all that's going to do is create more conflict.
I think that there are some who enjoy the conflict, who derive power from the conflict. But we have got to be smarter than that and recognize that if we're going to solve these kinds of problems that are going on in our inner cities, you know, we need to think about introducing police officers into those communities early on so that little Johnny's first encounter with the police is one of somebody he likes, somebody who is playing ball with him, not somebody who is chasing him down an alley with a gun.
HANNITY: Let me ask you this. You're the soft-spoken candidate. Your personality is probably very different than, say, Donald Trump's. You're now surging a little bit in the polls here. And I guess my question to you, you were asked about the issue of experience. Your background is not in politics. Does that matter? Can you take on the most powerful job in the entire world without that experience? And why do you think you can? Obviously you think you can.
CARSON: Well, the political class would have you believe that they are the only ones who can do it. No one else has the brain power to do it or the experience to do it. But what they forgot is that it is wisdom that will solve the problems.
Now, I agree that it's important to have people around you who are experienced in lots of different areas. There is no one individual who knows everything. But that's a great difference when it comes to wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom is very hard to come across. There are a lot of fools who have PhDs.
HANNITY: I know a lot of them.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: Well said, Dr. Carson. Thank you for being with us, and congratulations on the great debate you had. Appreciate you being here.
CARSON: Thank you so much, Sean.
HANNITY: And coming up next right here on HANNITY.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JOHN KASICH, R-OHIO, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The Lord is not picking us. But because of how we respect human rights, because that we are a good force in the world, he wants America to be strong. He wants be America to succeed, and he wants America to lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Up next, Governor John Kasich, he's seeing a surge in his popularity after a strong debate performance. Presidential candidate up next, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KASICH: I took the state of Ohio from an $8 billion hole and a 350,000 job loss to a $2 billion plus and a gain of 330,000 jobs.
Economic growth is the key. Economic growth is the key to everything.
The Lord is not picking us. But because of how we respect human rights, because that we are a good force in the world, he wants America to be strong. He wants be America to succeed, and he wants America to lead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Those were some of the highlights from 2016 Republican presidential candidate, Governor John Kasich, at last week's GOP debate. Now the Ohio governor's popularity has been surging since he took that stage. Many are wondering will he ride this wave of momentum. He joins us now to talk about it. Governor, good to see you, sir.
KASICH: Sean, how are you?
HANNITY: You know, I look at your economic record. You were there, the architect of a balanced budget, the last time we had one when Newt was speaker and Bill Clinton was president. You fought hard in the battle. You took a deficit of billions of dollars, turned it into a surplus. You created a lot of jobs. And when I talked to people some people felt like they were being introduced to you for the first time at that debate. Does that surprise you?
KASICH: Well, Sean, being the star of "Heartland" on FOX, you would have thought I was known coast to coast. But actually I was not.
(LAUGHTER)
KASICH: But, you know, Sean, seriously, somebody took a hit at me because I said this, but I was just taking care of Ohio. I was not traveling around, coming to New Hampshire, going to anywhere in the country. I was just trying to fix the state.
And look, not only are we up to 350,000 jobs, but we have the largest tax cuts of any sitting governor, almost $5 billion, including basically eliminating income tax for small businesses, killing the death tax. And now we're working on killing death, Sean, but we haven't figure that out yet.
But things are going well in Ohio. And we have diversified Ohio's economy. And remember, back when I was budget chairman in Washington, we not only balanced the budget but we paid down the largest amount of the publically held debt in modern history, and we cut the taxes on risk taking which allowed our economy to take off. So you know that it's all about free markets, free enterprise, and economic growth.
HANNITY: And 57 million American women out of work, out of the labor force, 93 million, nearly 94 million out of the labor force, the worst numbers, 50 million in poverty. Can you apply those exact same principles and policies and make it work nationally? Now are you saying you can take an $18 trillion budget deficit or debt that we have and $128 trillion in unfunded liabilities and you can fix that?
KASICH: Well, Sean, just remember, you always talk about when I was budget committee chairman in Washington, and remember, when I left Washington after having completed that effort we made, and I spent 10 years of my life getting there, we had a $5 trillion surplus. And to your chagrin and mine, you know, it was blown. And a lot of Republicans participated in that.
But yes, we don't need to be balanced overnight. We need to have a credible plan that sends the word to the markets. And we've got to begin to deregulate so we're snuffing out -- we're not snuffing out the job creators in the country. And we have to get back to common sense and shift a lot of Washington back to where we live.
HANNITY: You mentioned the Trump phenomenon during that debate and you said you understood why he is doing so well. I'm a conservative.
KASICH: Sure.
HANNITY: I am angry at the Republican Party. Every election season they say, oh, yes, we're going to fight hard. We're going to repeal and replace Obamacare. But they wouldn't stand with Ted Cruz when he was fighting the power of the purse. They said we'll stop the executive order on immigration. They ended up funding the executive order on immigration. A lot of conservatives like me, you make a promise, we expect them to fill it. Have Republicans, are they losing the base of their party by not fighting hard, and is that why Trump is popular?
KASICH: Well, I think, first of all, Sean, my father was a mailman. I come from a blue collar Democrat town where I grew up, and people are always suspicious of big things, including big government. And they don't think things are working very well. You know, as I like to say, in the old days when I was in Congress, if you wanted to get your constituents tickets to the White House it would take a couple weeks. Now people just jump over the fence, right. People see the IRS, the people see the Veterans Administration, they're so frustrated by all this.
And Sean, one of the things that I learned when Newt was speaker and we controlled the House and the Senate is you can't really lead as effectively from the legislative branch. You need to have an executive that shows the way. And frankly --
HANNITY: You didn't have a Republican president when you put that balanced budget in place.
KASICH: No, no. And I was involved in welfare reform. I was involved in of course the balancing the budget. And we were able to do it. But when you're saying to me, why are we not doing better now? I think it's maybe a matter of leadership. And I'm saying that if we can get a president and keep the House and the Senate, we're going to have 90 to 120 days to really make a remarkable change in this country, to drive economic growth, to send power out of the town, to fix that tax code. We can do this. Sean, we can do it.
I was there when we did it once, and then we did it again in Ohio. I know how to do it. And, look, you can't go in there listening to special interests or having people talk you out of what you want to do. You have got to be firm, pleasant, smile, and just charge on.
HANNITY: All right, governor, I want the certainly to be fixed, I think like a lot of people watching, they're not happy where we're headed. So, governor, good to see you. We'll see you soon.
KASICH: Sean, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't love my country, if I didn't think that we were, you know, the miracle of America needs to be really revived. Thanks, Sean, you're the best.
HANNITY: All right, governor, good to see.
State of emergency declared tonight in Ferguson, Missouri, after gunfire explodes on the anniversary of Michael Brown's death. The latest details right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRIFF JENKINS, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This is a Fox News alert. I'm "On the Record's" Griff Jenkins in Ferguson, Missouri, where the tension in the street between protesters and police is rising. A state of emergency has been declared by St. Louis Count.
And it is of course one year since the death of Michael Brown. You can see the protestors out just in the last hour. It grew from maybe 100 all the way to several hundred. The police across the street in their battle gear keeping in the background position right now. But we did see some clashes. The police trying to keep protestors out of the streets. We're told by both sides that it will be peaceful tonight, but it is also about the same time last night in this exact location bullets rang out, more than 30 rounds, an individual being shot and charged. So tensions are very high. We don't know what we're going to get. Everyone is hoping for peace.
Back to you, now, for "Hannity."
HANNITY: A state of emergency was issued earlier today for St. Louis County after gun violence broke out last night in Ferguson, Missouri. Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the death of Michael Brown. Joining me now is the attorney for Michael Brown's family, Daryl Parks.
Daryl, I'm hard pressed here. This is what we know, that Michael Brown robbed a store. He intimidated a clerk. He fought a cop for his gun. He kept charging after a cop after being told not to do so. And we're back to this, you know, "hands up, don't shoot," which never happened. Why would people mark the anniversary when in many ways, had he not act -- if he hadn't acted that way, this would not have happened?
DARYL PARKS, ATTORNEY FOR MICHAEL BROWN'S FAMILY: Sean, without question at the bottom of all of this is a young man, 18 years old, lost his life. And so his parents feel deeply for the loss of his life.
HANNITY: I understand the parents feel that. But his behavior resulted in what happened in part. No?
PARKS: No. We disagree with that. We think we have a strong case against --
HANNITY: You can fight a cop for his gun? You can rob a store, you push a clerk, you can charge at a cop as eyewitnesses testified to? You're not going to win that case.
PARKS: Well, let me say this to you. Those things weren't happening at the time when Darren Wilson shot him. And that's what we're going to have to prove later on. But yesterday is more about memorializing one year after the loss of Michael Brown's death. And that is what they were celebrating yesterday.
HANNITY: Don't we have to teach our young people that when cops ask you to do something you've got to listen, that you can't reach into a police officer's car and try to take his gun because that cop is going to feel his life is in jeopardy? Don't we need to teach that, too? Don't we need to teach kids you don't rob a store of an innocent owner and push his clerk into a counter or a rack of potato chips?
PARKS: But also too we have to teach our cops how to properly engage young people when you find them in the community. You don't tell them to get their blank on the side of the sidewalk. So there are things on both of sides of this that both have to work on to make this a better situation.
HANNITY: Is Michael Brown at fault at all here? Do you not see anything that he did that contributed to this?
PARKS: Let me say this here. There are some things that he did as an 18- year-old that he probably shouldn't have done. However, given the institution he found himself in, his death was not caused by any of those things. His death was caused by an officer who totally overreacted and shot him.
HANNITY: You don't think charging at the cop after fighting for his gun played a part in that?
PARKS: Well, let me say this, Sean. I think you've got to break down what we saw happen here. It's almost like what we saw in South Carolina. Officer and Walter Scott had a situation. But we saw that we shot him in the back. So you have to examine the full facts of the situation.
HANNITY: Appreciate you being with us, Daryl.
When we come back, we have a question about Donald Trump for you. That's straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." All right, it's time for tonight's "Question of the Day." What do you think? Should Donald Trump, do you want Donald Trump to pledge not to run third party? Go to Facebook.com/SeanHannity, @SeanHannity on Twitter, let us know what you think.
That is all the time we have left. We hope you'll set your DVR so you never miss an episode of "Hannity." We'll be back here tomorrow night. Donald Trump will be our guest. Thanks for being with us.
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