How would the former House speaker rally current Congress?
On 'Hannity,' Newt Gingrich discusses how GOP House leadership should proceed, impact of dissatisfaction among voters
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," October 9, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN HANNITY, HOST (voice-over): Tonight -- Newt Gingrich says he'd consider being speaker of the House again.
NEWT GINGRICH, R-FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: Obviously, no citizen, I mean, could ever turn down that kind of challenge.
HANNITY: He's here tonight with more reaction to the GOP leadership shake-up.
Then, new reports say President Obama is retreating in Syria while denying he's being shown up by Vladimir Putin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yay! Mr. Trump! We love you!
HANNITY: Plus, who won the week, reaction to the best and worst moments from the 2016 campaign trail.
HILLARY CLINTON, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The NRA's position reminds me of negotiating with the Iranians.
HANNITY: "Hannity" starts right here, right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: And welcome to "Hannity." Tonight, the Republican Party is undergoing a major shake-up in Washington as it tries to find a new speaker of the House. Now that House majority leader Kevin McCarthy has dropped out of that race, reports are now surfacing that many Republicans, including the outgoing speaker, John Boehner, are encouraging Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan to run. But Ryan's spokesman said he is still not throwing his hat in the ring.
Here with reaction, former House speaker, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich. Mr. Speaker, welcome back. Good to see you.
GINGRICH: It's good to be with you. And your very hypothetical question on radio yesterday got a lot more reaction than I thought it would. So -- you know, whatever that's worth.
HANNITY: Well, I do want to ask you about that. I'm glad you're jumping the gun on me just a hair. Let me ask this first question. Sixty percent of Republicans say they feel betrayed by Washington Republicans!
I've got to be -- I'm one of them! Do they have a right to feel that?
GINGRICH: Yes.
HANNITY: Explain.
GINGRICH: Well, you know, the most recent survey that Gallup did, by 60 to 32, the American people want a smaller federal government. They're not getting it. You look at people who believe in the 2nd Amendment. You have a president, who's consistently violating the Constitution, who's now suggesting by executive order, he's going to impose various forms of gun control that he could never get through the Congress.
Every time you turn around, there is something more outrageous coming out of Washington, and the Republicans don't seem to be capable of organizing a successful opposition.
I think -- I'm very sympathetic to the problems that John Boehner had. I don't know, frankly, that anybody could have done a much better job. But I think what you're seeing has to be put in context.
The Freedom Caucus is a symptom of a much deeper anger in the country. They're a symptom of the Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz who between them they have about 60 percent of the vote in the Republican primary.
And I think the Washington establishment, whether it's the K. Street lobbyists, it's the news media or it's the Republican members of the House and Senate need to understand we're in the middle of a historic change, not just politics as usual. And the country is increasingly angry.
HANNITY: I think one of the reasons Republicans feel betrayed is because promises keep being made that aren't kept -- for example, repealing ObamaCare or defunding ObamaCare using the power of the purse, similarly executive amnesty. They promised in 2014 that they would stop it. They couldn't even stop and defund Planned Parenthood in the most recent CR.
You were the last speaker to work with a Democratic president. You balanced the budget. You gave the country Welfare reform. You ran on 10 items. You called it a "Contract With America." And you kept every one of those promises. You voted on all 10 items in 100 days.
Would you consider being speaker again, if asked?
GINGRICH: Well, look, first of all, I think the key challenge here -- and I would say this to Paul Ryan, who is probably the smartest and the most disciplined person in the House and who is the obvious person for everyone to turn to.
This is not about personality. You had Eric Cantor knocked out in a primary by a stunning margin. And Dave Brat, by the way, his successor, has put out a very good list of the first 10 things House Republicans should do, well worth looking at.
You had Speaker Boehner reach the conclusion that it was too expensive and too painful to keep fighting. You had Kevin McCarthy, who I was for, I thought was the logical next speaker -- you had him just now stop.
And people better understand this is not about finding a magic personality. The Republicans need to slow down. They need to go into a number of day-long conferences where they honestly listen to each other. Every one of those two 247 won an election. Every one of them deserves to be heard.
But then you can say to every one of them, Now, you have to listen to the rest of us, too. And they've got to come up with a strategy which moves us towards the values of the American people and which successfully takes on Barack Obama and curtails him as an unconstitutional president.
HANNITY: It seems that all President Obama and the Democrats have to do is threaten a government shutdown. You weren't afraid of a government shutdown. Isn't that how you achieved a lot of your success? Isn't that what your legacy is, in part, based on?
(LAUGHTER)
GINGRICH: Sure, that's one of the reasons I'm confident that your fantasy will never become true because I don't -- for example, I don't see how you can allow the president of the United States to arbitrarily personally extend curtailing the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms by an executive order and do nothing. But if you do anything, he's going to threaten to shut the government.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: But didn't Republicans embolden them when they didn't challenge him on executive action? They basically gave him a "Do whatever you want" card, you know, rule by executive fiat. Why wouldn't he do it again? It worked the last time.
GINGRICH: Here are the two great secrets of being a failure in Washington. The first is to allow the Senate, in which the Democrats are far more ruthless and far more willing to stop everything to become the definer of the fight. And the second is to be afraid to take the president on constitutionally.
I read this piece this morning. It talked about the catastrophic 2013 shutdown. One of the most successful Republican elections in history was 2014, highest number of House members since 1928, took control of the U.S. Senate, largest number of state legislators since -- in the history of the party, since 1856, largest number.
Yet this Washington reporter says this was a catastrophic shutdown. Give me three more catastrophes, and we'll control everything! I mean, we have to understand Ronald Reagan didn't look at weekly polls. Margaret Thatcher didn't look at weekly polls.
And I'll tell you, in 1995, when we forced Bill Clinton to decide he wanted to actually implement welfare reform and we forced him to agree that he was going to balance the federal budget, we didn't look at weekly polls. We looked at the nation, the future, and whether or not we could explain what we were doing.
HANNITY: OK. Under John Boehner, our debt, national debt, went up $4.1 trillion. That is not exactly the principles -- conservative principles of limited government or responsible governance, in my opinion, which is why I think he's in the position he's in today.
I see a lot of conservatives. They're not even happy with Paul Ryan because of his positions on immigration, which they believe would ultimately lead to some amnesty, or TARP or bail-outs or spending plans. They don't feel it was dynamic enough. What is your reaction to those people?
GINGRICH: Well, first of all, nobody's going to be perfect. Start there. I mean, if you picked the most perfect member of the Freedom Caucus and you put them in charge of the House, within two weeks, half the Freedom Caucus will be mad at them and half the rest of the conference will be mad at him. So just start with -- these are troubled times. These are times that produce a Ben Carson, a Carly Fiorina, a Donald Trump, and on the other side, a Bernie Sanders.
And we need to understand, people -- you can't set a standard of perfection. Nobody's going to meet that standard.
HANNITY: OK, here's a question. Has...
GINGRICH: But what you can say is -- here's the question I would ask.
Before they pick a speaker -- and Paul Ryan is a very, very smart guy. And if he wants to run, I suspect he'll probably win, partly because people are frightened right now and they'll want to rush to get -- they want a rush to get to a decision, rather than stop and think because it scares them to be in this level of turmoil, and the news media is beating on them and saying, You got to do something right now or it'll look terrible and you'll be really bad -- which is, by the way, all baloney.
The election's over a year off. Don't worry about it. Try to think through what the right thing is. But I'll tell you, what I would ask of any potential speaker is, Tell me your strategy. Explain to me how you're going to bring the Republicans together in the House. Explain to me how you're going to stand up to the Senate, and explain to me how you're going to curtail...
HANNITY: OK --
GINGRICH: --the most unconstitutional president in history.
HANNITY: Answer your three questions. If you were the person, what would you do?
GINGRICH: Well, the first part, I've already suggested to you. I think they've got to start by listening to each other at levels of depth that they have not thought about. The president has to change some of the House rules to expand the opportunity for individuals to ventilate.
You know, you run for office, you win office, you feel like you can't just be treated like you're a mushroom and they're going to dump you in the cellar and not ever tell you anything. You have a right as an elected representative to be a genuine part of the process, not just a tool of K Street or a tool of whatever ideological group is dominant this week.
So one, they have to really think about some rules changes. They have to think about a whole new model of listening to each other and working together.
Two, I think they've got to say to the Senate, We love you guys. We know you're doing the best you can in a terrible place and we know that Harry -- you know, somehow, Harry Reid keeps buffaloing you guys and that Schumer's about to be his replacement in buffaloing guys. We're going to do what is right for the U.S. House, and we'll go to conference. We'll see you in conference. And we'll work out everything in conference, but we're not going to pass in the House what you think you can pass in Senate because the Democrats won't let you pass things that matter.
And finally, I'd say to the president -- and this has to happen. If this does not happen, you're going to have a gun of unconstitutionality that will be terrifying between now and the new president coming in in 2017.
I would say to the president, you're out of money. You want to close the government, close the government. Let's go to the American people and talk about it, but we're not going to allow you to sell out America to the Iranians, who, by the way, are now the Russians' allies in Syria. We're not going to allow you to destroy the 2nd Amendment by executive fiat.
We're not going to allow you to destroy the American process of immigration and citizenship by executive order.
We're not going to -- and even George Will, who's a very solid establishment guy, has come out for impeaching the head of the Internal Revenue Service which affects every taxpayer in the country. Well, you know, there's an easy gimme. I mean, if George Will thinks this guy is bad enough -- and Andy McCarthy began calling for it a year ago -- surely, the House Republicans have an easy target to start down the road on.
They were going to set up a committee on Planned Parenthood. That's the right step. Trey Gowdy's doing a great job, and I think we ought to be startled how many bad things we learn about Clinton...
HANNITY: Yes.
GINGRICH: --and national security over the next few weeks. So there are things you can do to begin to crowd in Obama and weaken his ability to be unconstitutional.
HANNITY: And you saying you don't want the job reminds me of "Gladiator" and Maximus being asked by Marcus Aurelius and he says, With all my heart, no. And then he says, Well that's why it should be you.
You made an articulate case that you'd be a good speaker. But we'll come back. We'll have more with Newt Gingrich...
GINGRICH: Sean! Sean!
HANNITY: What? I'm just giving my opinion! That sounded like somebody...
(CROSSTALK)
GINGRICH: --I get sold into slavery and killed! This is your model for my life, to get sold into slavery and killed?
HANNITY: It's not. But you were the most successful speaker in the last 50 years by far. And what you just outlined is exactly what I would like to see in the next speaker.
We'll have more with Newt Gingrich, whether he likes it or not.
And then also, coming up after the break, the Obama administration in retreat in Syria, and Fox News has confirmed the U.S. will no longer be arming and training Syrian rebels, that Obama caved to Putin, straight ahead.
And then later tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Is this a setup? Did I ever meet you before? Huh?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm Hispanic and I vote for Mr. Trump! We vote for Mr. Trump! Yay!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, that big Donald Trump supporter really wants him to win the White House. Coming up, who won the week on the campaign trail, as we continue this Friday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." As Russian warplanes target U.S.-backed rebels in Syria, Fox News has confirmed that President Obama will now end the program to train and arm the Syrian rebels fighting to free their country from the brutal dictatorship of President Assad.
Still with us, former speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
Now, Putin gets involved here. He says he's going to battle ISIS but he bombs the U.S.-backed, the U.S.-trained, the U.S.-armed rebels that were to topple Assad, not ISIS. And now Obama within a week says, We're out of here? It seems like Putin fought a proxy war and won pretty quick. What's your reaction?
GINGRICH: Well, look, I think there aren't words strong enough to describe the failure of the Obama administration in national security and foreign policy. They surrendered to the Iranians, and that's what it was. It wasn't an agreement, it was a surrender. The Iranians promptly proved how anti-American they were by becoming an open public ally of Putin.
Putin has now communicated how weak we were on Crimea and how weak we were in Ukraine. He now has forces in Syria. The fact that we were shocked -- I mean, this is -- this is like the scene from "Casablanca" where the guy says he was shocked to discover gambling.
I mean, the fact that we were shocked that Putin's goal is to protect Assad? You ought to fire every single person in the intelligence and State Department and defense community who thought that Putin was going to go in there to focus on ISIS.
HANNITY: Let me...
GINGRICH: The Russians have been Assad's ally for two generations...
HANNITY: They've been out of the--
GINGRICH: --going back to his father.
HANNITY: They've been out of the region since the early '70s! Add that to this horrific Iranian deal, and it's just a mess.
All right, so this leads me to my final question because we're running out of time. We have 50 million Americans in poverty, 46 on food stamps, median income down $5,000 on Obama, 95 million Americans out of the labor force. You have China. You have Putin. You have "Obama care" is a disaster. You have Hillary's e-mails with attempted hacks by everybody.
OK, I got your message. You're not seeking the speakership. But what role would you be willing to play to help these people, Republicans, get their act together? Because frankly, if they don't, I really worry if we'll ever solve these problems and really solve -- really -- these are significant times we're living in.
GINGRICH: Look, we have a lot of good candidates for president. We have a lot of very smart House and Senate members. I try to work with as many of them as want me to. I don't call on them and say, Gee, can I come help you? But anybody who calls me, I try to take the time. I try to sit down with them and work things through.
But I will also tell you, I'm on optimist, despite everything you just said. This is the most extraordinary country in history. There are 315 million Americans. They are increasingly angry. They want to see real change. And in American history, when you start getting 60 and 70 percent of the country that wants real change, the politicians follow the people. The people don't follow the politicians.
And that's what we're living through in the House. We're presently going to see it in the Senate. And you're sure seeing it in the presidential campaign.
HANNITY: Well, you gave us the last balanced budget. You gave us welfare reform. And you kept your 10 promises you made. That's something we haven't had in a long time.
Mr. Speaker, appreciate you being us with. I hope you can give these guys...
GINGRICH: Good to be with you.
HANNITY: --some help in whatever role that is. I think it'll be very useful. Thank you.
And coming up --the race for 2016 is on. We'll examine won the week on the campaign trail.
Then later tonight, is the president willing to circumvent Congress once again when it comes to now pushing through his gun control agenda?
That and more as "Hannity" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So the race for 2016 is in full swing, and over the past week, many presidential hopefuls have been pounding the campaign trail. So who won the week?
Last night, Republican front-runner Donald Trump received a glowing endorsement from a very enthusiastic supporter during a rally in Vegas.
Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Is this a setup? Did I ever meet you before?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm Hispanic and I vote for Mr. Trump! We vote for Mr. Trump! Yes! Yes! Mr. Trump! We love you! We love you! All the way to the White House!
TRUMP: I swear to you, I think she's totally beautiful. I never met her before, I swear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, that's enthusiasm. But that's not all. This week, Ben Carson -- well, he faced a volley of criticism from the mainstream media because of his non-PC style, including from the magazine GQ. They published a hit piece on the rising GOP star titled, well, "Bleep Ben Carson."
Dr. Carson -- he didn't take this week's attacks lying down, and he had a few choice words for the left-wing media. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BEN CARSON, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think people know exactly what I'm saying, and they know exactly what the media is trying to do. And I think they're smarter than that and they're not going to be manipulated.
One of the problems with people in the media is they pick one little thing and they say that that's your philosophy on this, which is a bunch of crap! You know, we're sophisticated individuals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And meanwhile, Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton was in hot water once again this week over reports related once again to the server scandal. Among other things, the AP reported that hackers with ties to South Korea, Germany and China all tried to hack into her e-mails, and of course, the Russians made five separate attempts.
Here now with reaction, from The Washington Times, Charles Hurt, Fox News legal analyst Peter Johnson, Jr., and Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers.
You sometimes take unpredictable positions as a Democrat. Rudy Giuliani has identified 15 separate counts that should be investigated as it relates to Hillary. Do you see a big criminal problem potentially emerging for her?
KIRSTEN POWERS, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: Well, of course, that's potential. We have to actually see if -- you know, I think everybody has looked at this and said that that could potentially be where it leads. But at this point, we don't -- I don't think it's a criminal investigation. And in term of the...
HANNITY: So the FBI doesn't -- not every FBI investigation is criminal.
POWERS: Well, I mean, she's not going to go to -- at this point, doesn't look like she's going to go to jail, I guess I would say. I mean, do you think that she's...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Look, there are 33,000 e-mails she tried to delete. Peter, you're the lawyer. I'll throw this to you -- 33,000. Apparently, they're going to be able to recover them. The cloud service and the Connecticut cloud backup firm that she used, Platte River services thinking, Wait a minute, were we being, you know, encouraged to obstruct justice here?
If they recover them and it's not about yoga, a wedding, a funeral and conversations with Bill and it's about Benghazi and the Clinton Foundation, how much trouble is she in?
PETER JOHNSON, JR., FOX LEGAL ANALYST: Everyone in the Democratic Party is holding their breath and they're walking along on tippy-toes, don't want to criticize Hillary Clinton on this issue.
Yes, I do -- I don't agree all the time with Rudy Giuliani, but I do agree with him on this because he has the experience and the expertise in that area. He's looked at the particular statutes. He's looked at the U.S. Code. He thinks that she's at significant risk based on the evidence that he's seen.
HANNITY: Let me give you...
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNSON: He hasn't indicted or convicted her.
HANNITY: If they found classified information in the deleted e- mails...
JOHNSON: Sure.
HANNITY: --and they asked the server company to delete them after they were requested by the State Department--
JOHNSON: Huge problem.
HANNITY: Well, that'd be obstruction, would it?
JOHNSON: Huge problem.
POWERS: She would have to know that they were classified.
HANNITY: They went through them individually, she said!
POWERS: Right.
HANNITY: And she was very clear. They were about yoga.
POWERS: But I'm just saying she would have to know they were classified. That would be the distinction, and I think, you know, in some of the conversations we've had before--
HANNITY: Like, for example, maybe nuclear (sic) images--
POWERS: --where -- where somebody...
HANNITY: --of North Korea's nuclear program?
POWERS: Where somebody sent her an e-mail, and it wasn't classified and...
HANNITY: Marked later.
POWERS: --she didn't consider it classified. I'm just saying whether you think that's right or wrong that, I'm just saying that is...
HANNITY: Back to Peter.
POWERS: --the standards.
HANNITY: If it's satellite images of North Korea's nuclear program, wouldn't one know that that's classified?
JOHNSON: I think you want to close down the campaign headquarters at that point.
HANNITY: At that point.
JOHNSON: I think you do.
HANNITY: So--
JOHNSON: You know, absolutely.
HANNITY: Charles Hurt, who's the political winner of the week for the road to 2016?
CHARLES HURT, WASHINGTON TIMES: I think probably Ted Cruz is just because he's kind of proving himself to be the tortoise in this race. He just keeps plodding along.
He had put up some good fund-raising numbers and just -- you know, he has his path and he doesn't veer off of it. The other one, of course, is Donald Trump just because every week that Donald Trump remains at the top of the heap, voters get used to the idea that this guy -- wow, this guy really might be an actual viable nominee.
And it also means that general election voters get used to the idea of him running against a Hillary Clinton or a Joe Biden, and especially with the -- you know, the problems that Hillary's facing with the server mess.
HANNITY: Who's the winner of the week?
POWERS: Yes. I probably would say it's -- the winners continue to be the people who are the outsiders. So I still think we see the Trump, the Fiorina, Carson winner, even...
HANNITY: Bernie Sanders?
POWERS: --even -- yes, Bernie Sanders, and even Carson with all of the controversies that he's had. I think what's been interesting is watching how he responds to them.
And I'm not a Trump fan, but I would say he does the same thing. It's an interesting contrast to other candidates who have this sort of learned helplessness, where they have been shocked so many times that they just always respond the same way.
And they instead say, No, I'm not apologizing. I didn't (INAUDIBLE) like, You're taking it out of context. That's not what I meant. And they're just sort of standing by what they believe.
JOHNSON: You know, I think people are flocking to these three outsiders because they really understand that there's almost a conspiracy between the so-called genius class and the political class in America that they're stupid, that they're out of touch, that they're alienated, that they're a reflection of "All in the Family."
I say they're a reflection of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." And so people are saying, We've had enough of these geniuses in Washington and the people in the Correspondents Association and this one, that one. We want to choose our own leader in this country. So we've chosen failed politicians for long enough. Let's look at somebody else.
HANNITY: They seem to be sustaining this popularity--
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: --big numbers. All right, let me play Hillary Clinton comparing the NRA to murderous, maniacal regimes like Iran and the former Soviet Union and communism. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: You know, the NRA's position reminds me of negotiating with the Iranians, or the communists, you know? There's no possible discussion. And it's for political purposes.
You know, this is the way this works, and it's pretty cynical. The NRA tries to keep gun owners, the ones who are the members, really upset all the time so they can keep collecting their money because they tell them that they're the only thing that going to stop the black helicopters from landing on the front yard and people's guns being seized. I mean, that's basically the argument they make.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Charles, besides the admission that it is a futile attempt to negotiate with the Iranians, which I thought was an interesting admission, but comparing the NRA to murderous, maniacal regimes that have killed millions -- I don't think that's going to particularly resonate in red America.
HURT: I don't think it's going to resonate in either party. But Sean, it's such a dramatic departure. Remember in 2008, when she was running against Barack Obama and he made that horrible comment about "bitter clingers" to Bible and guns and -- she went all out for those very voters, the very NRA voters she's now trashing! She went after them with abandon and tried to drive as much of a wedge between them and Barack Obama over that comment.
HANNITY: And she also...
HURT: It just goes to show that she'll say anything!
HANNITY: She also admitted she was a duck hunter back in '08.
(CROSSTALK)
JOHNSON: Secretary Clinton, was she watching the Army-McCarthy hearings over the weekend? Is she channeling Senator Joe McCarthy now? We're going to start labeling people communists in this country? Listen, I don't agree with the NRA on a lot of different things. On some things, I...
HANNITY: I'm a proud NRA member.
JOHNSON: OK, I understand that, but I don't agree with them on everything. I believe in the 2nd Amendment, but they do, too. But on some other things, I don't. But to say that this group of Americans who are taking positions, who have a right to take this position, are somehow like communists...
HANNITY: Maniacal killers...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... maniacal murderers.
JOHNSON: That's Joe McCarthy!
HANNITY: Yes.
POWERS: She may have -- she may have gone too far...
HANNITY: She did!
POWERS: ... with her comparison. But the NRA...
HANNITY: Huge!
POWERS: I'm sorry that you're a member of them because I think they are a very, very negative -- have a very negative...
HANNITY: They are the number one...
(CROSSTALK)
POWERS: I don't care how many people support them. It makes no difference to me.
HANNITY: They are the number one group that teaches gun safety in this country!
POWERS: They're also the number one group that makes it impossible to have any meaningful gun laws.
HANNITY: That's not true.
POWERS: Yes it is. They absolutely are fanatical. She's correct in that way.
JOHNSON: This is what we're hearing what's wrong with the Democratic Party where there is no reason or proportion. You're now defending that statement that people that associate with the NRA are like communists and Iranians. That's wrong.
POWERS: I'm not saying that. I said they were fanatical. I think she went too far, but they are fanatical.
HANNITY: I'm with Peter. It's wrong.
Coming up, President Obama was in Oregon today visiting with families and victims of last week's shootings, but not everyone was happy that he was there.
Also later tonight, Roma Downey is here to explain why faith based films are resonating so well with Americans at the box office. She'll also talk about the latest project as we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So earlier today the president arrived in Oregon to meet with the victims and families of those injured and killed during last week's college massacre. Local gun advocates were not too happy with the president coming to visit and lined the streets in protest.
This news comes as "The Washington Post" reports that president may actually once again circumvent Congress trying to use executive authority to impose new background checks.
Joining us now with reaction, former NYPD detective Bo Dietl, Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall, author, columnist, good friend, David Limbaugh is back in New York. Good to see you all again. Before we get to the gun issue, let's go to the legal side, David, where you're an expert.
This president, Republicans allowed them to get away with executive amnesty. They said they would stop them. Now does that now embolden him to totally ignore the constitution, the rule of law? He's going to write his own laws, write his own executive orders?
DAVID LIMBAUGH, AUTHOR AND COLUMNIST: In anticipation of this show, I was thinking about examples of Obama defying the constitution and thwarting congressional authority. And I went back to one of my Obama books. And I thought of seven examples. There's about 20 examples, but only about seven of them. Then I opened my e-mail and I get a blast from Heritage Foundation. They say seven times Obama -- and they have some I don't have, and I've got some they don't have. Let me just give you a few. Immigration, the Dream Act -- two weeks before he said he had no authority and then did it anyway.
HANNITY: He said 25 times he didn't have authority.
LIMBAUGH: Yes, but then he just did it.
HANNITY: Obamacare waivers and exemptions, environment regulations, you know with the EPA and the coal industry. No Child Left Behind, he waived the requirement for math. The Department of Interior, he defied the federal judge who invalidated the ban on offshore drilling. He quit enforcing immigration laws unilaterally.
HANNITY: I'll throw it to Leslie because she is the liberal here on the panel. Do you believe in separation of powers, co-equal branches of government?
LESLIE MARSHALL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely.
HANNITY: You know how a bill becomes a law.
MARSHALL: Yes, I do.
HANNITY: So for the president to admit he doesn't have the right, for example, on immigration to use executive orders and then using it, that would say that he is admitting his own lawlessness, doesn't it?
MARSHALL: Well, I think with this, and after Sandy Hook 23 executive orders. This would be yet another executive order. And if I had to bet, I would say he's trying to push the Senate Democrats who are already looking to put forth legislation.
HANNITY: So you support a president that bypasses Congress.
MARSHALL: No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying I think he's using it in the sense of a threat, but I honestly don't know how successful it will be if we look at what happened 23 time after Sandy Hook.
HANNITY: Bo, I happen to be an advocate. I've had gun carry permits in Rhode Island, California, Alabama, Georgia, and New York. I carried a gun in all my adult life. I was trained in the use of a firearm at 11. I would prefer if, God forbid, an incident happens where I am or my children are that somebody like Bo Dietl is there that is armed and trained and willing to take on a perpetrator like this.
BO DIETL, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: We have to not miss the point here.
The point is we love for law abiding citizens to have weapons. Background checks are in place. Background checks should be done. We don't want everyone to be able, a person who is a felon or someone with a criminal record should not have a weapons. And I think even all our NRA people agree on that.
But my point is when you get a president that wants to throw the baby out with the bathwater and put his new law in there, circumvent the Congress, we have judicial. We have legislature, and we have executive.
HANNITY: They're co-equal branches of government. But here's my question, I'll throw it to Leslie and then David. You know, he said he's going politicize this. We should politicize this, he said. But here's the problem. You know how many shootings took place in Chicago for the month of September alone? Do you know how many?
MARSHALL: No, I don't. Probably more since we started.
HANNITY: I'll give you the number according to "The Chicago Tribune," 351. I didn't see him go to his own home state and lecture people in his own hometown. Why does he try and take a high profile case and exploit it? This is exploitation of a tragedy. Before he even knew the name of the victims he said I'm going to politicize it.
MARSHALL: I don't agree with that. I think he is passionate as I as a Democrat am about not taking away anyone's rights. I want cops that people who have been cops and trained as cops to be out there to save lives. You do not do a background check under the current federal law, there are no background checks at gun shows. I can be a felon and have strong mental illness and get a weapon.
DIETL: Over 120 -- they regard them as mass shootings, that's three or more people, occurred in Chicago. So out of 120 mass shootings, what he's saying is, let's use our energy. Let's find out how we can get the illegal guns off the street that are killing people --
MARSHALL: I don't disagree with that.
DIETL: But he takes it and politicizes it on this case.
MARSHALL: Is it political, because you even talked about universal background checks, which the majority of Americans -- majority of Americans want universal background checks.
HANNITY: Let me bring David back in.
LIMBAUGH: He lied about the fact, that he knows he lied. The states were the strictest gun control laws he says have the fewest deaths. The opposite is true. He says if we have greater gun control laws, we'll have fewer deaths. We have relaxed gun control laws in the last 20 years and we've had significantly lower deaths. He says the United States has the highest per capita deaths from gun shootings. And that's not true.
HANNITY: You remove the cities with the toughest laws and the most violence.
LIMBAUGH: Sean, he knows what he's saying is not true. He knows gun laws don't prevent gun death. But gun deaths are not caused by guns. Why is he doing it?
HANNITY: Do you think because he keeps comparing us to Australia and Great Britain where they did have confiscation, do you think that is his goal?
LIMBAUGH: I don't know but suspicious people can reasonably wonder, because we know what he's saying isn't true. We know he's very frustrated.
HANNITY: One last question. Leslie, God forbid if you, your family, your children, people you love are in a classroom and somebody comes in with a gun. Would you prefer to have a guy like Bo Dietl, a retired detective armed and trained in the use of firearm in that building or not?
MARSHALL: I would like to have, because I have two children, seven and eight years of age in a school, I would like to have --
HANNITY: You'd be glad he's there.
MARSHALL: I believe in current or former law enforcement or military personnel that are trained. I don't believe in the students packing. I don't believe in the parents packing. I don't believe in the teachers packing.
HANNITY: Gun free zones don't work.
MARSHALL: And Columbine, there were two armed guards at Columbine.
DIETL: All these shooters go into the gun free zones, every one of them. You say that, I agree with you. You want a gun free --
LIMBAUGH: In the U.S. and western Europe, all the massive gun shootings, three or more deaths have occurred in gun free zones. Obama has a got a war on law enforcement right now. That's what's scary.
HANNITY: He never speaks out about that, too, more politicization.
Thank you all.
And coming up, Hollywood better wake up because you, the American people, are proven that you want more faith-based films. We'll ask Roma Downey about this growing trend. Plus she's got a brand new movie coming out with Jon Voight as Bear Bryant. It's awesome. We'll tell you about
that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So as much as liberal Hollywood doesn't want to admit it, faith-based films are now having a huge success at the box office and the demand for more of them is now growing.
To put it into perspective, since 2000 there has been 120 faith- based movies released in theaters and they have brought in an impressive $1.5 billion despite having much smaller budgets than mainstream Hollywood films. "War Room," which came out in August, has earned more than $61 million since it opened. And the 2014 hit "Son of God" brought in almost $68 million. Now there is a new movie that's generating a lot of excitement in the genre. It is called "Woodlawn" which comes out in theaters October the 16th. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The governor has just informed me that he would like to have a picture taken with these two young individuals. So Jeff, Nathan, huddle up here. Nathan, you hard of hearing? Come on up. We ain't got all night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry. I can't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you mean you can't? You shy or something?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, of course you can. The governor ain't going to bite. Nathan, stand up and walk up to the governor and take a picture with him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said I couldn't go to Alabama. Not me or anybody like me. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever. So I can't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Here now with more is one of the executive producers of "Woodlawn" Roma Downey. Good to see you again.
ROMA DOWNEY, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "WOODLAWN"": Hi, Sean. Just great.
HANNITY: I don't know what it is about you and your husband, but everything you guys touch is like a massive success. I watched this movie. It's based on a true story. I watched it three times now. Jon Voigt as Bear Bryant, it's all based on a true story? I'm going to let tell people about it.
DOWNEY: It's an absolutely beautiful film. We had the premier for the film in Los Angeles just this week. Can I tell you, people were on owe their feet cheering. The Irwin brothers, the writer and director of the movie, have done an incredible job. They have you on your feet, they bring you to your knees. They keep you on the edge of your seat. The football sequences are amazing. If we know anything, we know that America loves God and football.
HANNITY: Perfect combination.
DOWNEY: And this film is about equality, it's about a group of people who take love and unity over hate and division.
HANNITY: And what was amazing about this and a true sort about this, you have this one preacher that sort of comes in and talks to the coach, I just want to talk to your team. And he's able to bring the team through faith together in a time where there is a lot of racial discord. And it brought the whole team and united them in a way that was very inspiring.
DOWNEY: Amazing. It's stirring stuff. It's set on the 1970s in Birmingham, Alabama at Woodlawn high school. And it tells the story of Tony Nathan, really an amazing, strong and courageous young player, played in our film by a wonderful break out young star, Caleb Castille. And the film has Jon Voigt, Sean.
HANNITY: I've got to stop you. Jon Voigt as Bear Bryant was unbelievable. The scene he walked into the opponent's locker room after losing the game and looking him in the eye, it gives me chills thinking about it.
DOWNEY: He shakes the hands of the African-American player.
HANNITY: Is that part of the story true?
DOWNEY: That part of the story is true. The research these guys put into this film all shot on location. And coming out of a time, I think, in our nation where we need to see how people can come together. And you were mentioning in your intro about faith films doing so well. I think that the industry, the film industry likes to think of us as some sort of like --
HANNITY: Outlier.
DOWNEY: Yes. Like some sort of cult group on the side. We are the American public. There are so many people that want to see these films. We are mainstream.
HANNITY: I watched it with my family and the kids were captivated. And what a nice change that you can take your kids to a movie and not go like this every two seconds.
DOWNEY: Absolutely. It's about values. It's about working together. It's about love and it embraces people.
HANNITY: I saw this movie, and I am telling you, take your kids. It's called "Woodlawn." You're going to see this movie and it is going to inspire you. It's terrific.
DOWNEY: And it's going to become a classic. It's going to become one of those movies, and I really predict this is going to be a break out movie. It touches your heart.
HANNITY: It really does. Great work as always. You've been so nice to me, you and your husband. It's great to see you.
DOWNEY: Nice to see you, too, Sean.
HANNITY: All right, Roma. And coming up next, "Ask Sean" is coming up straight ahead, and we need your help. A very important "Question of the Day" straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Time for our "Question of the Day." Do you think Newt Gingrich or any other outsider should replace John Boehner as speaker of the House? We want your answer. Just go to Facebook.com/SeanHannity, @SeanHannity on Twitter, let us know what you think.
Now it's time for the "Ask Sean" segment. Thank you for sending in your questions on Facebook and Twitter that you would like to ask me. And here is tonight's question from Kevin in Dallas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, my name is Kevin. I'm from Dallas, Texas. My question regarding Ted Cruz's filibuster in 2013. Do you thing has had an adverse or favorable reaction to his presidential campaign?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Absolutely, no doubt, favorable. In the year of the insurgent, Kevin, Ted Cruz has stayed very steady, usually in the top four or five in every poll, very strong. I didn't think he got a lot of time in either of the debates yet. I think people are still getting to know him. And with four months to go, there is plenty of time.
But I think the fact that he stood strong and he was the one senator that was willing to fight for principles that every other senator and congressman had made in terms of promise to repeal Obamacare showed a lot of political coverage in my mind and I think it will help him in the end when all is said and done. Great question.
Now, if you have a question for me, just go to Twitter and use the #AskSean, or even better, like Kevin send in a video and we'll turn you into a TV star.
That is all the time we have left this evening. We hope you'll set your DVR. We don't ever want you to miss an episode. We take attendance and it hurts our feelings if you're not here. Thanks for being with us. Have a great weekend. See you back here on Monday.
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