Ted Cruz: POTUS' refugee plan is 'profoundly dangerous'
Senator outlines his legislation to prevent ISIS operatives from entering the U.S. on 'Hannity'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," November 19, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome to "Hannity." Tonight, ISIS is right here on American soil! The House Homeland Security chairman says there are now 1,000 investigations into the terror group spread out across all 50 states. And today, ISIS allegedly released a brand-new video showing jihadists promising more attacks in France and vowing to blow up the White House.
Now, this all comes in the wake of reports earlier today that two Syrian families were detained along our southern border in Laredo, Texas. Now, U.S. authorities are saying that there are no known terror ties, but it shows just how easy it would be for terrorists to enter into the homeland.
Now, despite all of this, President Obama is flat-out ignoring the real threats, and instead, well, he's focusing on attacking Republicans. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: When individuals say that we should have a religious test and that only Christians, proven Christians, should be admitted, that's offensive and contrary to American values. I cannot think of a more -- more potent recruitment tool for ISIL than some of the rhetoric that's been coming out of here.
Now, first they were worried about the press being too tough on them during debates. Now they're worried about 3-year-old orphans. That doesn't sound very tough to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And that's not all. President Obama continues to spew dangerous rhetoric about the Syrian refugees. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The idea that somehow, they pose a more significant threat that all the tourists who pour into the United States every single day just doesn't jive with reality. That's not what our law enforcement thinks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And here now with reaction, 2016 GOP presidential candidate Texas Senator Ted Cruz. Senator, I think when the president was talking about the religious test, which is offensive and contrary to our values and a recruitment tool, he was talking about you. And I want your reaction to that.
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you know, it really is remarkable that t6wice this week, President Obama has attacked me directly. And both times, he's done so from foreign soil, first in Turkey, where he called me un-American, and then in Manila, where he said I was offensive.
And apparently, what he deems offensive is what you and I and millions of Americans have been saying, which is that the Obama/Clinton plan to bring in tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees to America is utter lunacy!
At a time when ISIS has declared war, at a time when radical Islamic terrorists want to murder as many Americans as possible, at a time when the Obama administration admits it can't vet these refugees -- the head of the FBI said they lack the information to be able to ascertain whether these refugees are, in fact, ISIS terrorists, it is the essence of reasonableness and common sense to say we shouldn't be bringing in tens of thousands of refugees who may include ISIS terrorists.
HANNITY: Senator...
CRUZ: And yet Obama, instead of defending this nation, just attacks you and every American who wants to keep this nation safe!
HANNITY: You know, he just said that this is no dangerous than any tourist coming to America. Now, I'm going to play for you Obama's top envoy in the coalition to defeat ISIS. That's General John Allen. And I'll play for you the FBI director, James Comey, and the assistant director, Steinbeck (ph), and the national intelligence director, James Clapper. They're all saying that ISIS will very likely infiltrate the refugee community, which, by the way, is exactly what they did in France. And he says no different than tourist.
I want to play it for you and our audience so they know what our intelligence officers are saying about this.
CRUZ: Right. Right. Right.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would that bring (ph) in Syrian refugees pose a greater risk to Americans?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, it's clearly a population of concern.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The concern is in Syria, the lack of our footprint on the ground in Syria, that the databases won't have the information we need. So it's not that we have a lack of process, it's there's a lack of information.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that obviously raises grave concern as to be able to do proper background checks on individuals coming into the country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't obviously put it past the likes of ISIL to infiltrate operatives among the refugees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can only query against that which we have collected, and so if someone has never made a ripple in the pond in Syria in a way that would get their identity or their interests reflected in our database, we can query our database until the cows come home, but we're not going to -- there'll be nothing show up because we have no record on that person.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is some fear -- some fear that some of these refugees may actually be posing as refugees, but they might actually be al Qaeda or ISIS terrorists trying to sneak into Europe or the United States. What do you make of that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, certainly, that's a possibility. I mean, you can't dismiss that out of hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should be conscious of the potential that Daesh may attempt to embed agents within that population.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, Senator, if the president refuses to listen to our top law enforcement and intelligence community, it seems to me he is willing to gamble with the lives of the American people! How can this be stopped?
CRUZ: You know, Sean, you are exactly right. There president is so driven by radical ideology, by political correctness -- I mean, remember, this is a president refuses to say the words "radical Islamic terrorism," just like Hillary Clinton in the Democratic debate. She could not utter the words "radical Islamic terrorism." If they won't define the enemy, then they don't acknowledge the simple reality that they can't vet whether the people they're bringing in are terrorists. And it is profoundly dangerous.
Now, you asked what can we do about it. I am leading the fight in the Senate to stop Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's plan to bring in tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees. Today, I went to the Senate floor and brought forward two pieces of legislation I've introduced. The first is the Expatriate Terrorist Act. This is common sense legislation that says if an American citizen goes and joins ISIS, if he takes up arms against America and wages jihad against this nation, that by doing so, he or she loses their American citizenship. We shouldn't have ISIS terrorists coming back to America, using U.S. passports in order to then wage jihad and try to murder innocent Americans.
The second legislation is legislation that I've introduced that would block Syrian refugees and refugees from Iraq and from Libya from coming over (ph) nations where al Qaeda and ISIS control large portions of territory. It would block those refugees from coming in so that we don't expose ourselves to the national security risk.
Now, listen, there's a humanitarian crisis, but these refugees can be resettled in the Middle East, in majority-Muslim countries. We're already providing -- we're paying more of that bill than any country on earth, and yet the president insists we have to endanger the safety and security of our nation.
And I'll tell you what, Sean. When I brought both of these up on the Senate floor, the Senate Democrats stood up and objected. You know, Pat Leahy echoed President Obama's attack. He said it was anti-American, and he said, gosh, his ancestors were Irish and Italian and we didn't block them.
And I responded to Pat Leahy, I said, You know what? On my mother's side, my ancestors were Irish and Italian. The difference was they weren't coming here to blow up and murder innocent civilians, and if the Democrats can't tell difference between immigrants coming, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, and people who may be radical Islamic terrorists, that's what's wrong with...
HANNITY: Senator...
CRUZ: ... the Obama foreign policy in the first place!
HANNITY: It -- there's something that I think too few people are willing to have an honest discussion about...
CRUZ: Yes.
HANNITY: ... and that is there is a clash of cultures. In other words, the values of people that grow up, for example, under Sharia law -- if that's what you grew up under and you think women shouldn't be able to drive and women can't be seen in public without a male relative and you need four male eyewitnesses for a woman to prove rape, and many countries practice, Sharia, how do we ascertain whether or not you still hold those values, but still want to live in America, or maybe even more extreme values?
There's no vetting process that I can think of that will ascertain what is in the human heart, especially because terrorists -- aren't they trained to lie to people that would interview them, if we're vetting them?
CRUZ: They are, and indeed, there is a religious philosophy in Islamism that encourages them to like to carry out jihad. And -- and, you know, if you look at Islamism, it is a theocratic and political ideology that says that they are compelled to use violence and force to murder anyone that doesn't share their radical faith or to forcibly convert them. And it is a cancer, and we will not defeat radical Islamic terrorism unless and until we have a commander-in-chief willing to say those words!
HANNITY: In light of the refugees, Senator, that committed these atrocities, these terror attacks in France -- the Democrats seem like they're willing to gamble with the lives of Americans. Now, let's assume that one of the refugees, one of these ISIS members infiltrates the refugee population, and they do commit acts of terror. Who will have blood on their hands?
CRUZ: Listen, we know they did that in Europe. We know that at least one of the terrorists who committed these horrible attacks in Paris came in with the refugees. And President Obama and Hillary Clinton and the Democrats are willing to allow those same refugees to come to our shores. And apparently, they're willing to just roll the dice and take the risk that hundreds, or God forbid, thousands of Americans will be murdered by jihadists!
And you know, one of things that's striking, Sean? You know what seemed to make President Obama the angriest, is...
(CROSSTALK)
CRUZ: ... distinction -- well, yes, but in particular that I drew a distinction and said there's a different circumstance for the Christians who are being persecuted, for the Christians who are facing genocide. You know, ISIS is crucifying Christians. They are beheading Christians.
HANNITY: Well, he said we're no longer a Christian nation, Senator.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... at one point, and he said terrible deeds in the name of Christ.
Can I -- I want to play for you the...
CRUZ: And he seems angrier by those of us who want to provide safe heaven for the Christians being persecuted than he is at the attacks from ISIS. Why is it that this president is so opposed to standing up -- do you know the current Syrian refugees, only 3 percent of them are Christians? Why is the president unwilling to defend...
HANNITY: Of the 2,100...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... that have already come in, only 3 percent are Christian, 96 percent or Muslim.
Is this more pervasive radical Islam -- and I only have 20 seconds here. I want to play a little bit of the soccer game and the moment of silence in Istanbul, and instead of silence, the crowd started booing and reports they were chanting, Allah-u Akbar. Let me play that for you, and think about -- is this a more pervasive mindset than the world is willing acknowledge, meaning radical Islamists? Play this.
(VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That was supposed to be a moment of silence, Senator! Allah-u Akbar, booing?
CRUZ: Look, it is heartbreaking. It's dangerous. And as a consequence of the abject failures of the Obama/Clinton foreign policy, the Islamists are winning in many parts of the world.
HANNITY: All right, we...
CRUZ: The Obama/Clinton foreign policy toppled Libya, and radical Islamic terrorists took over. They topped Mubarak in Egypt, and the Muslim Brotherhood took over. Their approach is undermining the safety and security of this country. It's making the world much more dangerous.
HANNITY: Stay right there. We'll have more with Senator Cruz right after the break. But coming up next...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let's be clear, though. Islam is not our adversary. Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Hillary Clinton sounding like Obama, again refusing to say the words "radical Islam," taking a shot at Republicans during a speech earlier today. Senator Cruz will respond.
Then later, the one and only Mark Steyn is with us as we continue on this busy news night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." The Democrats continue to refuse to say the words "radical Islam" and are attacking Republicans for calling ISIS what is really is. Now, the latest example comes from 2016 Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton during a foreign policy speech. This was earlier today. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: Let's be clear, though. Islam is not our adversary. Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism. The obsession in some quarters with a clash of civilization or repeating the specific word "radical Islamic terrorist," isn't just a distraction, it gives these criminals, these murderers more standing than they deserve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And back with reaction, 2016 GOP presidential candidate, senator from the great state of Texas, Ted Cruz. Senator, she couldn't say it during the debate Saturday, couldn't say it today. Bernie Sanders thinks climate change is a bigger national security threat.
I want you to respond to that. And as you are, we have new footage, by the way, from inside the Paris cafe of some of the refugees (sic) attacking these innocent men, women and children. So what's your answer to her and Bernie Sanders and Barack Obama when they say these things?
CRUZ: Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the modern Democratic Party, has a blindness to racial Islamic terrorism, and they've endangered the safety and security of this country, the safety and security of millions of Americans.
You know, have you noticed that the onetime President Obama and Hillary Clinton are willing to use military forced is when using it benefits radical Islamic terrorists? Go back to the beginning of the administration, Libya. Listen, Qaddafi was a bad man. He had a terrible human rights record, but he had voluntarily handed over his nuclear weapons efforts. He was aiding the United States in going after radical Islamic terrorists. He was targeting the terrorists. And what did Obama and Clinton do? They led NATO in bombing Qaddafi and doing everything they could to drive him out of power. And the consequence was they handed Libya over to warring tribes of radical Islamic terrorists. One of the reasons Benghazi happened, four Americans were murdered -- It wasn't just Hillary Clinton's malfeasance on that night. It was the failed foreign policy that had handed that country over to radical Islamic terrorists.
They did the same thing in Egypt. Mubarak, again a flawed man, a dictator with a terrible human rights record, but he consistently stood as an ally with America against radical Islamic terrorists. What did Obama and Clinton do? Pushed Mubarak out and pushed the Muslim Brotherhood, which finances radical Islamic terrorism...
HANNITY: Yes. By the way...
CRUZ: ... all over the globe...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Mubarak (sic) referred to the Israelis as descendants of apes and pigs, and we gave him money and F16s and tanks! Or Obama did, I should say.
CRUZ: Yes, Morsi, rather -- rather...
HANNITY: I'm sorry, Morsi...
(CROSSTALK)
CRUZ: Yes. And for that matter in Syria. President Obama and Hillary Clinton want to topple Assad. Assad is a bad man. If they succeed in toppling Assad, Syria will be taken over by radical Islamic terrorists, by al Qaeda and al Nusra and ISIS.
And by the way, there are a whole bunch of Republicans running for president that agree with Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton that we should be toppling Assad in Syria, that we should be putting in a no-fly zone. I think that makes no sense whatsoever! Why would we want another country to be governed by radical Islamic terrorists? How about we have a president and a commander-in-chief that focuses on U.S. national security interests instead of meddling in civil wars in the Middle East?
HANNITY: We can create the safe zone. And as you pointed out, we're spending millions and millions on humanitarian assistance.
I want to play -- I want to do two things in the little time I have left with you, Senator, and I want to play two days ago, or three days ago now, John Kerry says it's -- I understand the legitimacy or the rationale - - he changed the word -- of the Charlie Hebdo attack, but there was no basis for this one. I was stunned by that statement! And as you answer, I'm going to put up some the immigration statistics of how many people America has taken in from Muslim countries...
CRUZ: Yes. Yes.
HANNITY: ... so people are already aware of what we're doing. But let's go to John Kerry first.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: There's something different about what happened from Charlie Hebdo, and I think everybody would feel that. There was a sort of particularized focus and perhaps even a legitimacy in terms of -- not legitimacy, but a rationale that you could attach yourself to somehow and say, OK, they're really angry because of this or that."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: A rationale? That is insane! What is your reaction to that? We're putting up those statistics as you speak.
CRUZ: Look, John Kerry's statement is shameful. He should resign. I've called on John Kerry to resign multiple times. Both John Kerry and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have all served as apologists for radical Islamic terrorists.
Now, what does an apologist mean? And apologist is someone who gives rationalizations, someone who gives justifications. That's what John Kerry was doing right there.
And you know, I remember back to the National Prayer Breakfast that I attended. President Obama spoke there. It was the day after ISIS had lit a Jordanian pilot on fire. And President Obama gave an astonishing speech, where he said, Yes, ISIS has done some bad things, but you know what? Jews and Christians have done bad things, too. And he invoked the Crusades and the Inquisition, which last I checked, ended hundreds and hundreds of years ago! And I don't think it's asking too much to ask the president to stay in the current millennium.
And the argument he's using that ISIS just like the Crusades and the inquisition -- that exactly the argument that ISIS uses, that the radical Islamic terrorists use, and it is harmful when the president is -- and the secretary of state is defending radical Islamic terrorists.
I'll tell you this, Sean. If I'm elected president, number one, we will finally secure the borders. We will get it done. I will build a wall that works. We will triple the border patrol. We will deport criminal illegal aliens. We will stop illegal immigration. Just in Texas, they just caught eight Syrians trying to cross the border illegally! We will solve that problem.
But number two, as commander-in-chief, we will defeat radical Islamic terrorism. You know, President Obama said in Europe he doesn't have time for American leadership or America winning. What on earth is happening when the president says he doesn't believe in America winning anymore?
I'll tell you what. My philosophy on radical Islamic terrorism is exactly the opposite. To borrow a page from Ronald Reagan and the cold war, my philosophy is very simple. We win, they lose.
HANNITY: You know...
CRUZ: We will defeat radical Islamic terrorism!
(CROSSTALK)
CRUZ: ... January of 2017.
HANNITY: You know, it's interesting because the 9/11 commission report said they're at war with us, we're not at war with them.
CRUZ: Yes.
HANNITY: One side will win. Senator, thank you for your time tonight. Appreciate it.
CRUZ: Thank you, Sean. God bless.
HANNITY: God bless.
And coming up, the one and only Mark Steyn is here to react to our interview with Senator Ted Cruz. Also, part two of our interview with the new Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan on this busy news night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." So the president has been taking a lot of heat from Republicans for his response to the Paris terrorist attacks.
Joining us now with reaction to this, as well as my interview with Texas senator Ted Cruz, columnist Mark Steyn, by the way, who released a new musical album titled "Feline Groovy: Songs for Swinging Cats"? (INAUDIBLE) What is this?
MARK STEYN, COLUMNIST: It's my cat album. Last time...
HANNITY: A cat album?
STEYN: Last time that you -- and I had my Christmas album, and you attacked my eggnog song...
HANNITY: No because eggnog is disgusting! I don't understand drinking eggnog!
STEYN: Eggnog -- you say eggnog's disgusting. I said...
(CROSSTALK)
STEYN: And you call yourself a great American?
(LAUGHTER)
STEYN: And ten minutes later, Mitt Romney loses the election.
HANNITY: Oh, there's a connection.
STEYN: Yes, yes.
HANNITY: I criticized eggnog.
STEYN: Yes. You attack the cat album, Hillary's going to win 48 states.
HANNITY: Oh, forget it. I love the cat album. (INAUDIBLE) and I love the cat album.
STEYN: I hope my publicist got that down.
HANNITY: Let me ask you -- I'm watching I think now -- peace and prosperity historically decide elections.
STEYN: Right.
HANNITY: I say this cycle's going to be peace, prosperity/immigration.
STEYN: Right.
HANNITY: Am I (INAUDIBLE)
STEYN: No, I don't think so. I think the events of the last week have played into those who are at war with the bipartisan complacency. And that means fellows like Trump and Ted Cruz, whom you just had on, are on the right side of that issue. And it also means, interestingly, that I think certain Democrat House members and Democrat governors have also begun to move because they see the reality of this. The people actually feel the first duty of any government is the defense of its borders. And we see the failure of that in Europe and we see the failure of that in the United States.
HANNITY: So that favors Ted Cruz. That favors Donald Trump the most?
STEYN: Yes, I think it certainly aligns the world with what he's been saying. And he can say the he's serious about that in a way that the -- the kind are compassion argument -- or I suppose it's actually worse than that because, I mean, what -- what was striking about the president is like he -- in Turkey, where he's representing as the head of...
HANNITY: On foreign soil.
STEYN: ... the United States...
HANNITY: Yes.
STEYN: ... and he seemed like some sort of slightly peeved university lecturer telling a bunch of dim students what it is that they're supposed to hand in for their assignment.
HANNITY: (INAUDIBLE) that remind him of his idiotic JV comment...
STEYN: Right.
HANNITY: ... and that their (ph) contained comment. You know...
STEYN: But it's worse than -- it's worse than that.
HANNITY: Yes.
STEYN: Those remarks were grotesquely offensive to the people of France, especially following their behavior...
HANNITY: But wait. But Mark...
STEYN: ... in January.
STEYN: Look at (INAUDIBLE) the follow-up. The follow-up is, Oh, Republicans are the greatest recruitment tool for ISIS! The Syrian refugees who all of our intelligence officials in this country...
STEYN: Right.
HANNITY: ... FBI director, National Intelligence agency, et cetera, are saying ISIS will infiltrate the refugee community. And he's saying, Oh, they're just afraid. Oh, these people are just like tourists, maybe even better!
STEYN: No...
HANNITY: I'm, like, what is he talking about?
STEYN: No, and they've got networks here already. I mean, people are astonished at the amount of ISIS chatter that comes from U.S.-based ISIS supporters. And what this attack demonstrated, where they used people who hold the passports of 11 different countries, is that they can take -- they can take unassimilated immigrants, they can take disassimilated people who've been born and bred in Belgium and France, they can take people who arrived 20 minutes ago as so-called refugees and tie them all together!
HANNITY: Here's what I want to understand. I don't remember a time - - and I follow the news. This is my -- my job. This is all I do. Can you remember a time in a single week -- since these Paris attacks, 16 Syrians have been caught trying to come to America!
STEYN: Right. Right.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I've never heard of that before!
STEYN: By the way, this is his issue because he, in a sense, lit a cigarette, tossed the match over his shoulder and set the entire Middle East alight. So we've got...
HANNITY: This is an important point.
STEYN: Yes.
HANNITY: He created this environment where -- where ISIS has the territory in Iraq...
STEYN: Right.
HANNITY: ... Mosul, Ramadi...
STEYN: Right.
HANNITY: ... Fallujah, Tikrit...
STEYN: Right.
HANNITY: ... and in Syria, red line, he did nothing.
STEYN: Right. Right. Right.
HANNITY: And now he's saying we have to absorb this population, even though it's a risk to the American people?
STEYN: And it's nothing, by the way. So if they get 10,000 in, they're going to be bringing a lot more because millions of people are refugees because America abandoned the Middle East. If you look at --
HANNITY: Well said.
STEYN: If you look at Iraq, they're wealthiest terrorist group that has ever existed because they're getting millions of dollars in oil revenue.
HANNITY: And with more landmass than any other terrorist group in history.
STEYN: That's right. And they control seaports, and they control individuals, and they control --
HANNITY: Can I ask you a question? Can you tell me why the president knowing what happened with the refugee community infiltrated in Paris would gamble with the lives of the American people? Why would he risk this? What is the point of this?
STEYN: Because it's identity politics 101 to him. Ted Cruz was talking earlier about how he doesn't seem bothered about dead Christians. When Christians get executed by ISIS on the beach of North Africa, he described them as Egyptian citizens. He made no mention of the Christian faith. Or the Kenyan student slaughtered at that Kenyan university, he made no mention of the fact that they were Christians. Christians were singled out. What matters here is identity politics 101. So him when a white cop shoots a black robber, the black guy is the good guy, the white guy is the bad guy.
HANNITY: He has rushed to judgment in three high-profile cases.
STEYN: Exactly. And it's the same thing here. The Muslim immigrants are the good guys and the white racists Republicans are the bad guys.
HANNITY: What happens when an American dies and an attack like what happened in by a refugee he lets, who has blood on his hands at that point, Mark?
STEYN: I don't think he cares. This refugee --
HANNITY: The president doesn't care that Americans are at risk of dying?
STEYN: No, because if you look at -- what's horrible to me about that statement where he said it was a setback is the bloodlessness of it. The fact that he -- if you remember John Howard, the great Australian prime minister, the day after 9/11 he said this is no time to be an 80 percent ally. And he wasn't. He was 100 percent. He was a 100 percent ally John Howard down under. What do you think the French think Obama is, a 12 percent ally? That's how he came over in Turkey.
HANNITY: All right, Mark, good to see you. Thanks so much for being with us. We love having you in studio.
All right, when we come back, will the new speaker of the House Paul Ryan help Republicans keep the promises they made to you the voters by defunding Obamacare, stopping amnesty, balancing the budget, these important question I ask him in part two of my interview. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RICK LEVENTHAL, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This is a Fox News alert. From Paris, I'm Rick Leventhal. French authorities have confirmed the death of alleged mastermind of last Friday's terror attacks but warn the situation is far more complex than one bad guy, declaring "This nation is under a long and permanent threat, and it's possible other extremist cells are active here." More than 100 police and military special forces were involved in the seven hour siege yesterday morning that led to the death of Abdelhamic Abaaoud, called the architect of the Friday the 13th attacks. He female cousin also died when she detonated a suicide vest. Eight others were taken into custody.
Authorities say Abaaoud and his crew were putting together another attack against a Paris shopping mall. And we now learn investigators caught the terrorists with the help of a cell phone found in a trashcan out the Bataclan theater where most of the victims were killed. The cell had Abaaoud cousin's number in it. Authorities tapped her phone and closed in on their hideout.
And France has been aggressively hunting more radical Islamists, carrying out 600 raids on Saturday, detaining about 200 suspects, and more raids are being carried out across Europe in a crackdown on radicals who went to Syria to fight ISIS and then returned home. Even Sweden admits terror troubles tonight, arresting a suspected ISIS fighter they saw was preparing to attack.
Tomorrow the French Senate is expected to approve a three month extension of this nation's state of emergency, giving police and the military greater powers.
In Paris, I'm Rick Leventhal. Now back to "Hannity."
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Now, last night the new speaker of the House Congressman Paul Ryan joined us to discuss the Syrian refugee crisis. Now in part two of our interview I ask the speaker about his agenda, how he plans to tackle our national debt and much more. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: We talked a lot yesterday about this immigration bill, Syria and the refugee problem. You are new the new speaker of the House. I don't know why you took the job. I think your first instincts probably were right, Mr. Speaker, don't take the job. I don't think I would ever want your job. You take this job where 60 percent of Republicans feel betrayed by Washington Republicans. The two big areas, Mr. Speaker, have to do with promises. One, repealing, replaces ObamaCare, two the 2014 promise to stop executive, illegal, unconstitutional amnesty, and Republicans never got it done. And there's great anger among conservatives. And what I keep hearing from them is why won't the House Republicans use their enumerated constitutional power of the purse? Are you willing to go that far to fulfill promises? Do you feel responsible for past promises, or do you want to hit the reset button.
REP. PAUL RYAN, R-WIS., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I think it is a little more complicated than that. I think we need to put a check on power. I have told people all along we have to be a more effective opposition party, but that means using all the tools at our disposal, Sean. We've gone to court, and the courts have been very successful in stopping the executive amnesty, for example. So I think we have to use all the tools at our disposal.
HANNITY: But not on ObamaCare.
RYAN: Because the power of the purse doesn't work on ObamaCare. It's an entitlement. So that's why we're using reconciliation. The Senate will be bringing -- so we are using the budget act for ObamaCare because the power of the purse doesn't work because it's an entitlement. I don't know if you want me to go into the details, but what I'm trying to say is --
HANNITY: There were certain aspect that could have been defunded. There were parts of ObamaCare that could have been defunded.
RYAN: Not the entitlement. ObamaCare is an entitlement. That's the guts of ObamaCare, and that requires 60 votes in the Senate, except if you put it in a budget. So we did this. We've already passed this out of the House. We've passed a number of repeals. And we've passed the budget. The Senate is taking it up next week. So we're using the one crack we have once a year to avoid a filibuster in the Senate, and we're using it for ObamaCare.
So I think the frustration that, believe, as a House member feel, is that the Senate, you can't pass everything you want to pass because they can filibuster all by one bill, and that's the frustration out there.
But here is the other key thing, Sean -- we have to show people what we stand for. We have to show people we don't like the track we are on in this country. We think the president's taken the country in the direct wrong direction, in the exact wrong direction. So we need to show people who we are and what we believe in. What would we replace ObamaCare with? What does a new tax system look like? What does limited government look like? How do we recover the separation of powers? How do we rebuild our military? How do have a foreign policy that keeps America safe, that advances our interests.
We can't run on big platitudes. We have to have a specific, coherent agenda, and then let the people in this country choose which path they want to take. And I think after eight years of Obama they're not going to want to have four more years of a progressive president. And so one of the conditions on which I took the speakership is I will do this if we put an agenda out there, if we go on offense on ideas, and if we give the people of this country the election they deserve, which is let them decide what kind of country they want to have, what kind of future they want to have. Are we going to tackle the debt? Are we going to take on these issues? And that is what we're going to in 2016. So yes, I have commitments. We have issues that are being dealt with at the end of the year here. But what I am most looking forward to is going on offense in 2016 and bringing a coherent, productive, exciting, inspiring conservative agenda to the country.
HANNITY: You know, it's interesting you say all this because I have been suggesting this now since 2013. In 2014 I laid out what I called the conservative solution caucus, and that would be balancing the budget, explaining to people how to do it. There might be differences, but we can get there. Controlling our borders, choice in education, energy independence, and of course a strong national defense. How do you do that?
For example, I like the way Newt Gingrich did it. I was there in Georgia. I watched him become speaker of the House, the first time Republicans took power in 40 years, and every interview he'd pull out of his pocket 10 items. Elect us. We're do this in 100 days.
RYAN: I think that's the model. I don't know what we'll call it, exactly. This is going to be a bottom-up organic process. I'm also not going to have a top down speakership. I want the members of Congress to have an equal say so and to be part of an effort and a movement here.
And I think Newt created a good model. That's point one. Point tow, one of the reasons I think people asked me to be speaker, which I wasn't looking for this. I was not a person in elected leadership. I wasn't making these decisions in the past. It is because I am a policy leader, and because what I did with my budget. I put out a budget in 2008 that had eight sponsors, eight supporters, balancing the budget, reforming entitlements, doing tax reform, all of those things, I put it all on the line, and we've been able to pass it the last four years. I started with eight supporters because nobody wanted to touch the political third rail that they thought it was. And so because I have walked the walk in addition to talking the talk, I think that's why people asked me to step up and be speaker, and that's what I want our country to do on all of these big issues.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: When we come back, more with our interview with the new speaker of the House Paul Ryan tonight as HANNITY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." And here is more with our interview with the new speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: As the former House budget committee chair and chairman of the House Ways and Means, I think this is the right question for you. These are the numbers, Mr. Speaker, and they're daunting -- $20 trillion in debt when Obama leaves, $120 trillion, correct me if I'm wrong, unfunded liabilities, Social security headed for bankruptcy, 94.5 million Americans out of the labor force, 50 million Americans in poverty, 46 million Americans on food stamps. Median income is down in America.
I look at all of that, to me, it is daunting. I don't know -- how do you dig yourself out of that hole? And, in other words, would you put every Republican in the conference in a room and say we've got to agree and save this country from bankruptcy, and put it on paper?
RYAN: Yes. Yes. Yes, Sean, that is what we're talking about. That's what we're going to be doing. That was one of my conditions for doing this job is we've got to give the country an agenda and let the people of this nation decide and take it to the country. So yes is what I'm saying to you on this, because, honestly, Sean, I don't think we have time.
HANNITY: We don't.
RYAN: We cannot afford another progressive presidency. And the country is headed in the wrong direction.
HANNITY: It's scary. And we're not even adding the Iranian deal, which I hope you can stop. Let me ask you, and this will be my last question to you. I want you to address the 60 percent of Republicans that feel betrayed, that feel these guys made promises. They didn't get the job done. They didn't have the fight. They were too timid. They wouldn't use their enumerated power of the purse. I want you to talk to them and tell them how things are going to be different.
RYAN: I find myself giving civics lessons these days, because I think people had expectations for what we could accomplish beyond what the constitution allows us to actually be able to accomplish. You have to pass laws to do these things. We've passed bills out of the House. We've passed all of these bills out of the House.
HANNITY: But you have the power of the purse. Can you use that?
RYAN: And we do. We put lots of riders are many, many things. But the power of the purse doesn't affect all of government. It affects what we call discretionary spending. So that's why we've gone to the courts. That's why we've gone to other mechanisms.
But the challenge here, Sean, is we can't pass everything we want through the Senate because they can filibuster in the Senate, and that's what's frustrating to all of us. And so really, Sean, the only solution to this is having the White House as well. The person in the president picks foreign policy, populates the executive agencies, churns out the regulations, does all these things that Obama has been doing. That is why we have to have not only the White House but Congress.
And, yes, I think there is a case of expectations set in the wrong place, and the limits of the constitution limited us. But do I believe we can be better at being opposition party? You bet I do. But do I also think we need to be a proposition party showing who we are and what we're for? Absolutely.
HANNITY: OK, I totally lied. I'm going to ask one more question. Sorry, cheating. So every conservative can expect you're going to lay out in writing an agenda, an inspiring agenda, an alternative agenda?
RYAN: Yes.
HANNITY: This isn't anti-Obama. This is what you will do for the country, and your promises is that you'll get this done?
RYAN: Sean, what we have to do, what the people of this country deserve is a choice. If they, like we don't --
HANNITY: And it will be in writing so we can read it?
RYAN: Yes.
HANNITY: Everyone is going to sign their name to it, John Hancock, you know.
RYAN: We're doing this together as a conference. Look, the members of Congress know me. They know I'm willing to take political risks because I believe in this country. I believe in these principles and these values that built this country. And so yes, we're putting an agenda out there in 2016. We're going to show it to the American people and let them make the decision in 2016 what kind of America do you want?
HANNITY: Can I cheat one more time?
RYAN: No. I have to get going.
HANNITY: Do you promise no amnesty, because that became a big issue?
RYAN: I've been saying that for weeks.
HANNITY: OK. All right, Mr. Speaker, I know we took a lot of your time. I appreciate your time. Thank you, sir, for being with us.
RYAN: You bet, Sean, have a good one.
HANNITY: Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: And when we come back, our "Ask Sean" segment is next. And we need your help. Our "Question of the Day" straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And it's time for our "Question of the Day." Are you worried about the ISIS threat here at home? I certainly am and you should be. We want to know what you think. Go to Facebook/SeanHannity, @SeanHannity on Twitter and let us know what you think.
Time for our "Ask Sean" segment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we have money to house these refugees, then why hasn't that money been used to house the homeless, particularly the vets?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That is such a good question. You know, just with illegal immigrants alone we have spent billions and billions on health care and education, our criminal justice system. The same is going to happen here. And you're right. Add to that we don't help our vets, the V.A. is a mess. Add to that too that we're not helping the homeless people and things that we can do in America like infrastructure, it just makes no sense. And we have $20 trillion in debt and we have $120 trillion in unfunded liabilities. You know what, we cannot take care of everybody, unfortunately.
That is all the time we have left this evening. We hope you'll set your DVR so you never miss an episode. We take attendance and when you're not here it hurts our feeling. So we hope you'll join us. We'll see you back here tomorrow night.
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