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Published January 23, 2017
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," March 17, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP, R, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're going to win, win, win, and we're not stopping.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, The Washington Post calls for a brokered convention to try and stop Donald Trump. Newt Gingrich is here tonight with reaction.
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There are only two candidates that have any plausible path to getting there, Donald Trump and me.
HANNITY: And is it now a two-man race between Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz for the GOP nomination? Laura Ingraham and Monica Crowley weigh in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want to make a noise. We want to say not here, not here.
HANNITY: Then, two filmmakers will expose exactly who the anti-Trump left- wing agitators are, including Bill Ayers, the unrepentant terrorist.
All of that, plus Rudy Giuliani joins us in studio with an analysis of the 2016 race.
"Hannity" starts right here, right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: And welcome to "Hannity." So the Washington Post editorial board is now jumping on the bandwagon, trying to stop Donald Trump from winning the Republican nomination. Now, the editorial board has put out an op-ed with the headline, quote, "To defend our democracy against Trump, the GOP must aim for a brokered convention."
Now, Donald Trump is confident that he'll wrap up the nomination before the convention, but issued a warning to the Republican establishment yesterday.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, R, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think we'll win before getting to the convention. But I can tell you, if we didn't and if we're 20 votes short of if we're -- if we're, you know, 100 short, and we're at 1,100 and somebody else is at 500 or 400, because we're way ahead of everybody, I don't think you can say that we don't get it automatically. I think it would be -- I think you'd have riots. I think you'd have riots.
If you disenfranchise those people and you say, Well, I'm sorry, but you're 100 votes short, even though the next one is 500 votes short, I think you would have problems like you've never seen before. I think -- I think it would -- I think bad things would happen. I really do. I believe that. I wouldn't lead it, but I think bad things would happen.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, joining us now with reaction, author of "Duplicity," former speaker of the House and FOX News contributor Newt Gingrich.
I -- when did Republican voters ever give a rip about what The Washington Post thinks anyway? Was that designed to get to weak Republican RINOs? Is that who the message was for?
NEWT GINGRICH, R, FMR. HOUSE SPEAKER, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, I assume the editorial board was communicating to the Washington establishment in both parties.
But I think it's ironic. Does The Post editorial board want to save democracy from Secretary Clinton, who sent out over 2,000 e-mails that are violations of national security secrets? Do they want to save us from Secretary Clinton, whose husband, with the $2 billion that were pouring through the Clinton Foundation, clearly was involved in conflicts of interest?
I mean, somehow -- it's a very one-sided liberal view that will have no impact on the Republican Party, but it may reassure some of the establishment members in Washington that being piously opposed to Trump is the true religion. I think most Americans will ignore it and will continue down the road of real change.
HANNITY: Yes. And then you have John Boehner. He's supporting -- he said, Well, anybody can be nominated on the convention floor. He wants Paul Ryan. He called Ted Cruz Lucifer. So a lot of the establishment is...
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: Well, I mean, you can't make -- I'm glad it amuses you, but...
GINGRICH: No, it was a bad day, you know?
HANNITY: A bad day for who? For who, John?
GINGRICH: John had a bad day and -- yes, that's when he called Ted Cruz Lucifer. It was a bad day.
HANNITY: OK. A bad day for him. But there's more than that. You got these meetings that we keep reading about. There was a meeting in Washington today. Our mutual friend, Erick Erickson, was among the people there. We've heard from Ben Sasses, the senator. He won't vote for Trump.
And then you have this -- let me play this for you. You have Curly Haugland from North Dakota said, We choose the nominee, not the people. Not the people. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CURLY HAUGLAND, GOP RULES COMMITTEE: The rule says specifically that it's a vote of the delegates at the convention...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, not the actual...
HAUGLAND: ... to determine the (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... voters.
HAUGLAND: It's not a primary vote. Primary votes are not considered. It's the delegates' votes. The media has created a perception that the voters will decide the nomination, and that's the conflict here. Political parties choose their nominee, not the general public, contrary to popular belief.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: You know, how do you think the average person feels hearing that from an establishment type?
GINGRICH: Well, that takes you back before 1912. I mean, that attitude is hopeless and doesn't reflect anybody.
But let me say for a second about the Erick Erickson kind of approach. Let's be honest. If you want to help elect Hillary Clinton, then help elect Hillary Clinton and a radical Supreme Court.
But don't give us any pious baloney that you're going to be for some virtuous middle way. There's no virtuous middle way here. You're either for the Republican nominee, whether it's Trump or Cruz, or you're for the election of Hillary Clinton. There's no middle ground here.
Functionally, anybody who doesn't vote for the Republican nominee is helping elect Hillary Clinton and establishing a very radical Supreme Court.
HANNITY: I totally agree with that analysis. I think you said it very measured. There are only two people left that have a path to the nomination. And right now, my delegate count is Trump is anywhere between 673, where Bloomberg has it, and 690, Ted Cruz between 411 and 420.
So it's a much harder path for Senator Cruz. But mathematically, he's in this. So -- but I sense that a lot of these people don't like either Trump or Cruz. And isn't the reason that John Kasich is staying in, and Mitt Romney is supporting Kasich in Ohio and Rubio in Florida with robocalls, is because they want this brokered convention, hoping that they'll get to the fifth round of voting and they'll have a consensus candidate that they can put upon the people in spite of their voting?
GINGRICH: Look, Sean, you have to have some sympathy here. They deeply dislike...
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Go ahead. Go ahead!
GINGRICH: But think about it. This is like a sitcom. They deeply dislike Cruz, and they're deeply afraid of Trump. And so they're sitting around -- I mean, none of these establishment types -- back a year ago, if you said to them, We're going to get down to Ted Cruz versus Donald Trump, they would have all said you'd lost your mind.
Now they're losing their minds because the objective reality is, you're either going to get Senator Cruz, who's I think run a very intelligent campaign in a setting where he's up against a huge phenomenon, or you're going to get the phenomenon himself, Donald Trump.
But there's not going to be a third name in contention. Kasich, in a sense, is in a race to be vice president, but he's not going to become the nominee. And as much as I love John, he's just simply not going to be the nominee.
One of these two guys, either Donald or Ted, is going to be the nominee, and the Washington establishment of the Republican Party is just in complete denial.
HANNITY: I said that the other night. I said the one big story that came out of Tuesday night -- mathematically it's over, and the establishment lost because -- and I would argue they're both insurgent candidates coming from very different points of view.
You know, let me ask this because opposition -- we know the -- I love your smile. OK. It's not a setup question.
GINGRICH: I'm curious what you're going to ask.
HANNITY: OK. So you have two wings that are attacking Trump. You got the establishment wing that hates him. You've got the Ted Cruz-supporting conservative wing that doesn't like him. And some are saying Never Trump. I'm saying Never Hillary. That's my point of view.
So you know, is it that some conservatives -- because I've interviewed him a lot. He said he will eliminate ObamaCare. Health care savings accounts would replace it. It's up on his website. He said that he'd build a wall, and I get the sense he's serious, he's actually going to put the wall up. He said he even likes the penny plan and balanced budgets. He said he's going to give education back to the states, all conservative positions, and he said he would support Supreme Court nominees like Scalia and Thomas.
Why do people -- even though he says this, there is deep suspicion. Why do you think that is? Is it earned because he was a New York businessman?
GINGRICH: I mean, first of all, because he's Donald Trump. I mean, this is a guy who has been a wild man, who dominated the society pages, who has had a life who's clearly outside of politics, who said a lot of things as a standard New York business guy getting along in one of the most liberal cities in the world, and now, all of a sudden, he's showing up as the great conservative champion.
So if you're a true blue conservative and you want somebody who's thoughtful and who's read all the major conservative books and who understands Hayek and Friedman, Donald Trump just unnerves you. I mean, you keep thinking to yourself -- I mean, this would be like taking some of these intellectuals into a blue collar bar, you know, and having them try to watch a hockey game. I mean, this is really different for them, and it's going to take them a while to get used to it.
But I have a lot of respect for somebody who says, Boy, if you want a principled conservative, Ted Cruz clearly gets it all. And he does. I mean, Cruz is as intellectually solid a conservative as you're going to find in America.
Trump is really an anti-left, anti-political correctness, anti-stupidity American nationalist. I mean, he's a new -- Trumpism is a new evolution from where we've been. I think it will be more destructive of the left than anything we've seen from conservatism since Ronald Reagan, but I think it's a unique blend of things...
HANNITY: OK, so the next logical question is -- and to add to his list of what he tells me in interviews -- and you know, after he says it 15 times, I tend to believe that they're serious. He says he's pro-life, pro-Second Amendment. He has a right to carry, for example, in New York City, very hard to get. So some people may doubt him for the reasons you discuss.
Do you believe him? Do you think he would govern in the way -- in the -- in the outline of what he's promising?
GINGRICH: Yes. I think -- look, I think Donald Trump is a man who had achieved everything he had dreamed of. He was nationally famous. He had the Miss Universe contest. He had a number one TV show. He'd written New York Times best-sellers. He's worth billions of dollars -- you know, plus or minus, you can argue between $4 billion and $10 billion. He has a terrific family, great kids, great -- you know, he has grandkids.
You know, and he looks around and he says one day, What can I do now? Because I don't really need to make any more money. And he thought, The country's a total mess. I think there's an opportunity for leadership. I'm going to dive in and try to lead.
Now, I think he's got a tremendous amount to learn because this is a very different business than just being rich. But I think he's been learning pretty rapidly, and I think he is essentially going to dismember the bureaucratic, unionized structure of power that is crippling America. I think that will be good, just as I say, by the way, Ted Cruz is an absolutely sincere opponent of the old order that has been crippling America. So I take Trump at his...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Next question...
GINGRICH: ... by the way...
HANNITY: Could that Reagan coalition that Cruz is trying to put together -- could that be put back together, or has the country moved on? Has the country shifted, demographics shifted?
GINGRICH: No, I think -- I think there's a variation on the Reagan coalition. Remember, Reagan did very, very well with Latinos. Reagan did very, very well with young people. I mean, Reagan -- you know, I think, in your own time, you've got to put together your own circumstance.
My only point would be any president ends up in situations they didn't dream of, doing things they didn't think they would do. Do I think that Donald Trump in some ways will be frustrating and disappointing? Sure. Do I think Ted Cruz in some ways would be frustrating and disappointing?
Sure.
Do I think either one of them would be dramatically better than Hillary Clinton? Absolutely, with no question at all for America's future. The gap between where Hillary will take us in corruption, in union bosses, in big government destructiveness, and in radical values, and where either Cruz or Trump would take us is so big that no reasonable person can doubt that whatever you think about Trump's sincerity, he will be dramatically better than Hillary Clinton.
HANNITY: I think extraordinarily well said. And I think a lot of people are going to have some soul searching to do because there's a lot of anger and emotion flying out there, and all you need to do is look at social media and you'll see it. And at the end of the day, if people don't unite, Hillary has a path then to the White House, which wouldn't be good for the country.
All right, I have a very important question for you when we get back. We'll continue with Newt Gingrich right after the break. And he'll also react to a new report that powerful liberals and left-wing groups are now planning to try and take down not only Trump but make this a long, hot spring and summer.
And then later tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, by the way, if Donald continues getting delegates at the same rate he has so far, he won't get to 1,237.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: So are Republicans really headed for a contested convention? We'll check in with Laura Ingraham and Monica Crowley. They'll have reaction.
And watch this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go! Yes. (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not here for (INAUDIBLE) compassion and understanding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Two filmmakers infiltrate the radical agitators from last week's Chicago protest, including an interview with Bill Ayers, Obama's unrepentant terrorist friend, straight ahead tonight.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) (EXPLETIVE DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go! Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not here for, like (INAUDIBLE) I'm here for compassion and understanding.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) (EXPLETIVE DELETED), (EXPLETIVE DELETED), (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that hateful, though? People have signs up saying "No hate."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we don't hate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, a lot of left-wing disrupters caused all kinds of chaos last week in Chicago outside a venue where Donald Trump was supposed to hold a rally. Now, two filmmakers who shot that video are going to help expose who those people really are. That's later tonight, including, by the way, an interview they had with Bill Ayers. But according to Politico, big-wig liberals and left-wing politicians and political groups are coming together to plan an all-out assault against Donald Trump.
We continue with former speaker of the house, FOX News contributor Newt Gingrich. All right, this is now well funded. It's Moveon.org. It's Black Lives Matter. It's going to be, according to protesters in their own words, it's going to be a very ugly spring and summer. How should Republicans handle that?
GINGRICH: Well, first of all, they should talk with Governor Scott Walker, who lived through this in Madison. Remember, if you're in the hard left and you lose an election, you assume the election is illegitimate. If the American people don't understand you, you assume it's the American people's fault.
You reserve the right to drive conservatives off of college campuses, which is why even somebody like Condi Rice, for example, was driven off of a college campus, why Dr. Ben Carson was blocked from speaking in a way that's just inconceivable.
And yet the media ignores the fact you have a fascist liberalism, which is prepared to go totally outside the law to impose its values, to block any kind of debate.
If Donald Trump is serious or if Ted Cruz is serious, and I think they both are, they're going to represent the kind of changes which are going to drive the left crazy, and the left will express its craziness by breaking the law.
All we have to do is say again and again we want the law enforced. We are very much for the right of people to dissent. We're very much for the right of people to demonstrate. We are opposed to their disruption and we are opposed to their imposing their will on their fellow citizens.
And we have to say maybe a lot of these people ought to spend the entire summer in jail and then they won't bother anybody. And I think that when people start being disruptive, they need to be arrested, they need to be prosecuted and they need to serve some time.
HANNITY: Well, it doesn't help when somebody charges at a presidential candidate and is only charged with a misdemeanor and released two hours after they literally were racing to attack a candidate.
Let me -- let me ask -- I think this is an important question. All right, so we're down to two candidates on the Republican side. If you look at those two, is it better that they join forces? Is it better that they pick somebody like John Kasich? Would it be better to lay out an agenda, a positive, forward-looking agenda? You laid out the "Contract With America." I've always liked the idea of duplicating it. Nobody in Washington ever listens to little old me.
But would that be a wise thing to do?
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: Why are you -- why the laughter?
GINGRICH: Because a lot of people in Washington listen to you.
HANNITY: No, but they...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: The establishment doesn't like me in Washington. John Boehner didn't like me.
GINGRICH: ... not going to like my answer.
HANNITY: Go ahead.
GINGRICH: Look, first of all, I think it's very appropriate for Ted Cruz to keep campaigning. I think it's actually good for Trump to have to deal with Cruz and have to keep learning. Remember, he's only been a candidate since June 16th, so this is all new and the more practice Trump can have, the better off he's going to be against Hillary this fall, assuming Hillary isn't indicted and they don't have to...
HANNITY: That's a big assumption.
GINGRICH: If Hillary gets indicted -- if Hillary gets indicted, I think they'll draft Elizabeth Warren. That's my prediction.
HANNITY: I agree.
GINGRICH: So I think -- I think that in that setting, this is a totally legitimate campaign fight. Cruz still has an opportunity to win. They ought to go out and try to win.
I do think it's helpful to the country for both of them to lay out more of a positive program. And candidly, Cruz has done more of that than Trump has. I think it'd be good for both of them to indicate their positive program for America and focus on the positive.
At the same time, I think when we get to a point where it's obvious who the nominee is going to be, that nominee does need a bold agenda, and there Speaker Paul Ryan is doing yeoman's work because he has entire teams of Republicans in the key committees, all of them working on a bold agenda...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... told me this back in January, and I've seen nothing yet.
GINGRICH: No, there's a lot going on. I've been in the House talking to folks, and there's a lot going on. And by May, you're going to see lot. So we're going to have a lot of good stuff coming before we get to Cleveland and the convention.
And I think once we get through this nominating process, we need to turn to the general election and we need to turn, frankly, to shock everybody by including all Americans. I believe that the Republican nominee this year can offer a better future for all Americans, in every neighborhood, of every ethnic background, by offering them the products of science and technology and entrepreneurship to replace the unionized bureaucratic disasters that Hillary Clinton is owned by.
HANNITY: All right, you are on top of your game, as usual. Mr. Speaker, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate it.
GINGRICH: Good to be with you.
HANNITY: And coming up next tonight on this busy news night on "Hannity"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, by the way, if Donald continues getting delegates at the same rate he has so far, he won't get to 1,237.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: So could Republicans be headed for a contested convention? We'll check in with Laura Ingraham and Monica Crowley. They'll react.
Also tonight, coming up...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You do not have permission to walk around videotaping women of color. Aren't you quite aware by holding that video camera on me that you are surrounded by your privilege?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: You don't want to miss this. Two filmmakers take you inside last week's Chicago protests. They unmask who these left-wing agitators are, by the way, including Bill Ayers in an interview they did with him.
All of that, plus Rudy Giuliani is here to weigh in on the 2016 race. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To be the Republican nominee takes 1,237 delegates. There are only two candidates that have any plausible path to getting there, Donald Trump and me. Now, by the way, if Donald continues getting delegates at the same rate he has so far, he won't get to 1,237.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, in my opinion -- I've been saying this for a while -- it's a two-man race, and I think a contested convention would be a disaster for the Republican Party.
Here with reaction, the editor-in-chief of Lifezette.com, FOX News contributor Laura Ingraham, and FOX News contributor Monica Crowley.
Laura, I don't see any good out of a contested convention that clearly the establishment wants, knowing they hate both Cruz and Trump.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: It's going to be a disaster. People might as well start putting Hillary for president signs in their front yards and wearing Hillary for president buttons.
Right now, if Trump keeps winning at the rate he's winning and continues to win big contests, as he's been winning, he'll have the most delegates, and by a decent margin, at the convention.
At some point, if that keeps happening, Cruz has got to make a decision. Does he want to be left on the sidelines and leave all the conservative ideas, the great ideas he has on the sidelines in any type of negotiation that's probably going on right now with Donald Trump and the establishment?
I mean, I'd rather have Cruz and Trump together and have the establishment more on the sidelines, frankly, than to have the establishment with Trump and all the Cruz people stamping their feet saying, Oh, no, we won't go. I just think that's -- that's impractical and at...
HANNITY: Do you think that's plausible, though?
INGRAHAM: ... some point, it's a little bit childish.
HANNITY: Is that plausible, Laura? Because I've interviewed both. They're really throwing bombs at each other right. It seems intense. It seems real. They're both fighting. No, it's not -- it wouldn't be unprecedented for them to join forces at some point.
INGRAHAM: Well, no, Sean -- Sean, remember when you were on the cover of Newsweek magazine, when Newsweek used to actually have a magazine, and I was on and Coulter and Rush, and we were all -- it was, like, "Thunder on the right" against John McCain?
HANNITY: Yes. Right.
INGRAHAM: But in the end, we actually -- we supported McCain. We didn't want McCain to be the nominee, and it was obvious. But in the end, we actually supported him. We supported Romney.
None of these guys are perfect. Trump's not perfect. Cruz isn't perfect. No one is the ideal candidate.
HANNITY: By the way...
INGRAHAM: At some point, the perfect is the enemy of the good.
HANNITY: There's no perfect candidate. By the way, good thing you were on there because you all made us look better.
INGRAHAM: Right.
HANNITY: Monica Crowley, weigh in on this. What are your thoughts?
MONICA CROWLEY, FOX CONTRIBUTOR: Well, look, Donald Trump is obviously the front-runner, but we still have a race in progress, and Senator Ted Cruz continues to give him a real run for his money here.
Cruz is the only on -- I agree with you, Sean, this is a two-man race. Cruz is the only one to have racked up real wins and a substantial number of delegates against Trump. He continues to make the argument that he is the only consistent constitutional conservative in this race, whereas Donald Trump is a populist.
So I think the distinctions -- there's something -- there's a case to be made that the distinctions continue -- should be continued to be made by Senator Cruz. But I agree with Laura's overall point and your overall point that, look, at some point, we're going to have to come together as a party or the whole thing is going to be lost.
In 2008 on the Democratic side, you had Hillary hanging in literally until the very last minute. It was like May or June before she conceded to Barack Obama. So it's not necessarily a bad thing that this race continues to go on as it is. I think it's very healthy for the party. I think it is a dynamism that we have on our side that the other side simply doesn't have. That is all to the good.
But at some point, I think we're going to all have to come together...
HANNITY: All right, then let me ask you...
CROWLEY: ... populists, the true conservatives, and get behind whoever ends up being the nominee.
HANNITY: All right, then let me ask you both. Laura, I'll start with you.
So you know that there have been these meetings -- Sea Island, Georgia, Meg Whitman out in California. Earlier today...
INGRAHAM: Secretive. They're all secretive.
HANNITY: Yes, it's all secretive, all with millions and billionaires. Apparently, there's a lot of people with money to throw around. I just don't know any of them -- Erick Erickson, who's a friend of mine, today, you know, Ben Sasse is another one.
What do you make of those people -- remember, there's a big deal that Donald Trump had to take the pledge that he'd support the eventual nominee, they didn't want him running third party, but now it seems like some are backtracking on that pledge.
What do you think of conservatives that are saying, Oh, they're going to back out?
INGRAHAM: Unless Ted Cruz starts beating Trump in the way that Trump has been beating Cruz, I think -- and that could happen. It could be that Cruz has more delegates at the end. Maybe this whole thing shifts. I don't know what's going to happen.
But at some point, and I think it's got to be some point somewhat soon, people have to just kind of grow up. I mean, it's, like I -- I liked Rick Santorum in 2012. I love Santorum. I like his ideas. He wasn't -- in the end, he didn't have enough delegates. I wasn't going to not stomp my feet and say I'm never going to support Romney. I'm going to come up with a third party nominee, or we're going to drop Santorum at the convention. That stuff just makes no sense to me. It's like parlor games that make people I think feel better and they feel --
HANNITY: Right, but why do some conservatives not believe what Trump says? In other words, Trump, what he says on the border, Trump on health care savings accounts, Trump on the penny plan, Trump on conservative justices, why don't they believe him? Is it they just don't want to hear him or they just think that past as a businessman is too risky to overcome?
INGRAHAM: I don't know if it's that they don't know anybody in the campaign or they just find him vulgar. People have a right not to like Donald Trump. They don't like Trump, that's fine. They don't like Trump. But I think, again, at some point, these guys have to have a come to Jesus moment. Otherwise I think our mutual friend Eric Erickson should start writing op-eds why Hillary would make a better president than Donald Trump, because at some point you're going to have to believe that.
HANNITY: Well said. Monica, last word.
CROWLEY: Yes, Sean, I just want to say the problem that a lot of conservatives have, and a lot of us do share some concerns here about Donald Trump, is that he is a first-time politician and he is running essentially as a populist. So he is something of an unknown quantity. And given some of his statements and positions in the past people are just not so sure of him and they worry that he's something of a black hole that could turn out to be a liberal or maybe worse. So I think Trump's challenge is to reassure conservatives that he actually means what he says here and that he will govern as a conservative as president.
HANNITY: I can only ask him the same questions so many times, and he keeps giving the same answers, but regardless of what he says, some people refuse to listen or believe it. Guys, good to see you both, appreciate it.
CROWLEY: Thank you.
And coming up next tonight here on HANNITY --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: It's really important for the party to play it straight, to not play games, to be transparent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: I spoke with RNC Chairman Reince Priebus last night about the possibility of a contested convention in July. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani will join us with reaction.
And also tonight --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does Trump remind you of Hitler?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. I mean, not like the whole concentrations camps, not to that extent, but, like, pushing us out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Two filmmakers in the middle of last week's protest in Chicago, they infiltrated it outside the venue where Donald Trump was supposed to have a rally. They are here with exclusive video including their interview with Bill Ayers, remember, the unrepentant domestic terrorist, Obama's friend? As HANNITY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRIEBUS: It's really important for the party to play it straight, to not play games, to be transparent and say these are going to be the rules. And when the time comes that we know whether we're going to have an open convention or not, that everyone understands moving forward that the preparations are being made, everyone is included in those conversations. And when you get to Cleveland, if that were to happen, you want people to at least say when they walk away, OK, they played it straight. That's what's really important in this process.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That was RNC Chairman Reince Priebus on the show last night talking about the possibility of a contested convention come July. I think it would be a disaster. What does former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani think? He's with us. How are you? Mr. Mayor, good to see you.
RUDY GIULIANI, R, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: How are you, Sean?
HANNITY: I think any effort, like, for example, I love John Kasich. He's a friend and a colleague. He did a great job in D.C., a great job as governor, but he has no path to the nomination.
GIULIANI: Correct.
HANNITY: And he's staying in, I don't know why. But it seems like there are a lot of people that are hoping they can rip this away from Trump or rip this away from Cruz if Cruz catches up.
GIULIANI: What that means is they're going to rip it away from the Republican Party, because Reince Priebus, me, you, nobody constitutes the Republican Party. It's the people, the voters. And right now if you judge by what the people are saying, they want Donald Trump. He's won most of the primaries. He's won in the south against Cruz, which you would have thought would have been totally impossible. His message is resonating. You may not agree with all of it, but Ronald Reagan, my 80 percent friend is not my 20 percent enemy. And when we look at what we have on the other side, Hillary Clinton, gosh, it would be hard to put this country back together again. So I think if we go into this convention without Trump reaching the magic majority number --
HANNITY: That's 1,237.
GIULIANI: But being substantially ahead as he is now, you've got to go with the guy that's gotten the most votes. You just have to. And in fact, when we've had open conventions in the past, like Ford came into the convention against Reagan with more votes --
HANNITY: More delegates.
GIULIANI: -- but not a majority, we gave it to Ford. Maybe we should have given it to Reagan. But we didn't. We gave it to Ford. And that's generally the rule.
Eisenhower went into the '52 convention a little bit short of the majority, Taft right behind him, and Earl Warren switched California to Eisenhower. Eisenhower got the election, and Earl Warren went on the Supreme Court.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: I wondered what that smoke filled room looked like at the time.
GIULIANI: Kennedy went into the Democratic convention in 1960 a few votes short. Stevenson, Johnson, tried to knock him off, but they couldn't, and they gave it to the guy with the most votes. If you don't give it to the guy with the most votes, you basically are turning your back on the grassroots of the Republican Party.
HANNITY: They're disenfranchising all of those people that showed up. My answer is this, for me personally, whoever has the most votes and delegates, and I've been fair to all the candidates, giving them a lot of time.
GIULIANI: You absolutely have.
HANNITY: I'm going with the person with the most votes and delegates because that's who the people decided.
GIULIANI: And I have to add one other thing to it just having been through it myself and analyzed this for years, I think Donald Trump over Ted Cruz has a better chance of winning the general election.
HANNITY: Why do you think that?
GIULIANI: I'll tell you why, because I think from the Democratic point of view, they faced Cruz before. They know what to look for. It's like throwing a straight fastball that doesn't move very much. Donald Trump is a Mariana Rivera --
HANNITY: Knuckle, curve, slider.
GIULIANI: That drops right at the very end. You don't know where to swing at it. You don't where it's going to go. You don't know what he's going to do. I have to believe, no matter what their rhetoric is, they are frightened as heck running against Donald Trump because they don't know how to -- they don't know how to playbook him.
HANNITY: You've known him for years. If he does win, what kind of president would he be?
GIULIANI: Donald Trump, when you sit with him in person as you have, right, is a reflective, gentlemanly, decent, smart --
HANNITY: Good father.
GIULIANI: As Newt Gingrich pointed out, does he have a lot to learn? Absolutely. Does he know he has a lot to learn? Absolutely. He'll make rational decisions. He'll make intelligent decisions. He'll make the same kind of decisions that he made that got him to do the Wollman Rink in eight months when the dog thing took three years or the Ferry Point golf course that he got done in a year that took 13 years in litigation to get it done, or the projects that he does. The guy is a practical guy.
HANNITY: Could he win New York?
GIULIANI: There's a chance he could win New York. I think he has an outreach to that independent Democratic voter that voted for Ronald Reagan, who hasn't voted on our side since then.
HANNITY: So New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania?
GIULIANI: I think all in play, Pennsylvania especially, Pennsylvania I think big time. Pennsylvania is a big Second Amendment state. People don't realize that. That whole central part of the state --
HANNITY: Bitter people clinging to their religion and guns, remember?
GIULIANI: It's a Second Amendment state. I think his appeal to Pennsylvania is very, very strong, very similar to Michigan, very similar to places like that. I see him in the Midwest is very, very strong. The ticket, you don't know that until you get --
HANNITY: Who would you like, top of your head, put you on the spot.
GIULIANI: Kasich.
HANNITY: Kasich. All right, Mr. Mayor.
GIULIANI: I like Florida and Ohio in the bag. Trump puts Florida in the bag, Kasich and Trump together puts Ohio in the bag. After that, the electoral arithmetic gets tough for the Democrats, particularly since they are going to have to be fighting battles in Pennsylvania and New York.
HANNITY: And Hillary, she's a flawed candidate. She might be indicted. Maybe you'll be the next attorney general. You can prosecute the case.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: All right, Mr. Mayor, good to see you.
GIULIANI: Take care.
HANNITY: And coming up next tonight right here on HANNITY --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL AYERS: Trump has galvanized a feeling that there's something loose in the land, and that something is dangerous. And it's absolutely anti-American, and it has to be approached.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Remember that guy, unrepentant domestic terrorist, friend of Obama, Bill Ayers. Those agitators were out in full force in Chicago last weekend. The two filmmakers who infiltrated that group and recorded the video you just saw will join us next and we will show you more of that straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to HANNITY. So last woke, a huge group of leftwing agitators disrupted a planned Donald Trump rally, as you know, in Chicago, Illinois. That event was later canceled due to security concerns. Amid the chaos two brave filmmakers from the RebelPundit.com went and shot video of the protest and even spoke with the unrepentant terrorist friend of Barack Obama Bill Ayers. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Incarnation of Adolf Hitler.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm not here for hate. I'm here for compassion and understanding.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that hateful, though? People are trying to say no hate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't hate.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He gets to do whatever he wants to in this space, right? So I'm saying no. You do not have permission to walk around videotaping women of color. Aren't you quite aware by holding that video camera on me that you are surrounded by your privilege?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- Trump. Yes. Go Bernie Sanders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a pro-Bernie or a pro-Democratic party.
Trump has galvanized a feeling that there is something loose in the land, and that something is dangerous. And it's, absolutely, anti-American.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's in there organizing a fascist mob that's ready to fight. They're hungry. We've got to deal with that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you with Revcom?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a distributor for Revcom, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And do you to say what Revcom is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Revcom is the voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party USA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does Trump remind you of Hitler?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. I mean, not like the whole concentration camps, not to that extent, but like, pushing us out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way he wants power.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The way he wants power.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do you guys support?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bernie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do you guys support?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bernie Sanders.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am supporting Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: Joining us now, those two filmmakers from the Rebel Pundit, Andrew Marcus and Jeremy Segal. Guys, good to see you. Andrew, let me start with you. So they look like angry leftists. Then of course there is the unrepentant domestic terrorist, Bill Ayers, Obama's buddy there. We'll get to that in a second. What did you gather listening to them when you're there?
ANDREW MARCUS, DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: Oh, I think the premier message is one of hate and intimidation. This was a premeditated act of harassment and intimidation to shut down the Trump event but wrapped in a message of stopping the hate. But when you take a look at our video, and after this program, if you go to TheGatewayPundit.com and you can see the whole video, you can see that it's the opposite of the message. They are preaching a message of absolute hatred. And it's clear with everything that we captured there.
HANNITY: And Jeremy, so you have Obama's radical friend, and you have Black Lives Matter. And you have MoveOn.org and all these groups. So what they really want to do is like what liberals have often done, and that is silence conservative voices and take away the opportunity of people that want to hear from a presidential candidate. What you are your other observations?
JEREMY SEGAL, FILMMAKER, REBELPUNDIT.COM: Well, this whole event, what people need to realize is this is not a spontaneous uprising against Donald Trump. Anyone that thinks it is or that it's a result of anything he said or something that has happened at one of his campaign events is misunderstanding the institutional left and what this country is up against right now.
HANNITY: So you interviewed Ayers for six minutes. What did you take away from the unrepentant domestic terrorist, part of the Weather Underground, he started his campaign in this idiot's house? This guy should be in jail for the rest of his life. But a group that bombed the Pentagon, the capitol, New York City Police headquarters, and of all days was quoted on September 11th, 2001, the morning before 9/11 hit, "I wish I did more. We didn't do enough." What do you make of him?
MARCUS: Oh, I think he's every bit as radical and unrepentant as he's ever been. And I think his support of this protest and the way this protest turned out is not an accident. He is an absolute radical. And he is looking to, he and others like him are looking to crash this system.
And it's really scary what we've come to because now, because of their actions, the left, at least in Chicago and I believe it's going to be nationwide, soon enough, they're exercising a veto power over peoples' freedom to assemble and freedom of speech. And that's a very dangerous place for us to arrive in this country.
HANNITY: I want to give both of you a lot of credit. It took a lot of guts to infiltrate that group. And thank you for sharing the video. As you pointed out, Gatewaypundit.com, your website. I'll put it on my website. Thank you for sharing that with us, appreciate it.
MARCUS: Thank you.
SEGAL: Thank you.
HANNITY: And coming up, we need your help. A very important "Question of the Day" as we continue straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And time for our "Question of the Day." So do you think a contested convention will help or damage the Republican Party? If they try and take it away from the top vote getter and delegate getter, that's not going to be good. It's going to end very ugly.
We want to know what you think. Go to Facebook.com/SeanHannity, @SeanHannity on Twitter, let us know what you think.
Quick programming note. Be sure to tune in tomorrow night, 10:00 eastern, and I'll be in Phoenix, Arizona, interviewing Texas Senator Ted Cruz for the hours. Remember Tuesday, the winner take all state of Arizona. And then we'll give Donald Trump the hour on Monday. That is tomorrow night at 10:00. Hope you'll join us. Thanks for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow.
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