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Published January 23, 2017
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," March 23, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome to "Hannity." Tonight, in the wake of the deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels, Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz are calling on America to get much tougher in the fight against radical Islam. The Democrats, on the other hand -- well, they'd rather be politically correct. Here's what Donald Trump said last night right here on this program.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): The problem is we don't fight on the same level. We have laws that protect everybody. You know, you can't do this, you can't to that, don't touch them, don't hurt them, please -- in the meantime, they go around killing people. They have no laws. We have the laws to protect them. It's absolutely crazy!
HANNITY: I agree with you that we should use advanced terror enhancement interrogation techniques on him.
TRUMP: Beyond waterboarding. Beyond waterboarding.
HANNITY: Explain.
TRUMP: All right, so you catch the guy last week, and it looks like retaliation for his capture. If they would have put him through the grill 10 minutes after they captured him, he probably would have ratted them out and maybe stopped this horrible terror attack that took place today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, Senator Cruz has also strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Brussels, and yesterday put out this statement saying, quote, "that we need to empower law enforcement to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized," and earlier today, Senator Cruz doubled down on the remarks. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know, it has been interesting in the last 24 hours, when I called for proactive policing directed at radical Islamic terrorism, the reaction from Democrats -- Mayor De Blasio here in New York held a press conference blasting me, attacking me.
It's an example where Democrats are more concerned about political correctness than they are about keeping us safe, and that's why people are so fed up. We need a commander-in-chief whose priority is keeping the American people safe, and that's what I'll do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, true to form, Democrats like President Obama and Hillary Clinton -- they are ignoring the real threat that is posed by radical Islamists, and instead, they're attacking Republicans. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I hear somebody saying we should carpet bomb Iraq or Syria. Not only is that inhumane, not only is that contrary to our values, but that would likely be an extraordinary mechanism for ISIL to recruit more people willing to die and explode bombs in an airport.
As far as the notion of having surveillance of neighborhoods where Muslims are present -- I just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance. The notion that we would start down that slippery slope makes absolutely no sense.
HILLARY CLINTON, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and others are suggesting is not only wrong, it's dangerous!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, here with reaction, author of The New York Times best- seller "Duplicity," former speaker of the House, Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich.
Mr. Speaker, you know, this is very interesting. I think this is a very key moment because Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are saying, Oh, we've got to keep the borders open. They're also saying we can't use enhanced interrogation. We have Abdel al Salam (sic), the guy, the evil mastermind in Paris -- he's in jail. He probably knows where terror cells are not only in Belgium, but all across Europe, and yet we won't use enhanced interrogation attacks (sic).
Seems to me the American people have a choice on a very important issue of our time. What's your reaction?
NEWT GINGRICH, R-FMR. HOUSE SPEAKER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first of all, I think that the seriousness of the threat becomes more obvious every month. You have bombings in Paris. You have bombings in Brussels. You have knifings in California recently. You had 14 Americans killed in California a few weeks ago.
I mean, go down the list of -- and ask yourself how many times do we have to see this in how many countries, which includes, by the way, Mali, where there have been several attacks recently, includes parts of West Africa, where there have been several attacks, includes Turkey.
I mean, how often does this have to happen for our leaders to realize that we are at war, that the other side is currently winning, they are recruiting faster than we are killing them, and that all the rules of the game right now are peacetime criminal justice rules of the game, and they're not going to work?
You're going to have to move towards a much more wartime footing of very serious surveillance. There's nothing wrong with saying that we can identify people who are dangerous, and when we do, we should track them and find out what they're doing and monitor them.
I would recommend people go back and look at the period about 1938 to 1942 and look at the steps that were taken by the United States under a Democrat with a Democratic Congress to protect America. They took some very tough steps.
HANNITY: Let me juxtapose -- I mean, with the carnage we saw yesterday and hundreds injured and 34-plus killed, I want to juxtapose that with the president. Now, after getting lectured by the murdering dictator thug Raul Castro about how we ought to improve America, then the president gave 51 seconds -- that was all he devoted -- to the attacks in Brussels.
And then he goes to a baseball game. While we're all viewing the carnage, there's the president of the United States next to a murdering dictator, drinking beer and doing the wave. Watch this.
And then the president won't even acknowledge radical Islamic terrorism. He said they're the JV team and they are contained. He was wrong on all counts. And now we can't use enhanced interrogation for the guy that they have in custody. How does he -- how does he justify this? What is wrong that he's friends with all of the wrong people and alienates the right people, like our friends in Israel?
(LAUGHTER)
GINGRICH: Look, as you said...
HANNITY: I'm glad I make you laugh. OK. Go ahead, laugh at me again.
GINGRICH: I mean, I'm not laughing at you. I think it's -- I don't want to cry, and laughter's the second best choice. I mean, you warned in 2008 -- you were the one person who consistently talked about Bill Ayers. You talked about what was happening in terms of radicalism in Chicago. You raised the issues of who Obama really was. And you are problem the -- you're the only person I know who's a major figure who absolutely got it right.
So Obama is a radical left -- in many ways, the first anti-American president. I mean, you go out and you watch him, and you think, you know, how can you stand in front of a mural of Che Guevara, who was a murdering thug who was viciously anti-American? How can you be seen at a ball game with a dictator, who, by the way, was arresting people while Obama was arriving. I mean, the dictatorship in Cuba has done nothing to accommodate the United States, just as the North Koreans do nothing, just as the Iranians do nothing. All of them treat Obama with contempt, and it's because he earns it.
He behaves in ways that are weak and he allows them to take advantage of him, and I think that's just a fact. Now, the question is, do we follow Obama with somebody who is equally susceptible to weakness and confusion? Hillary Clinton, who last night after the Brussels bombing, said we shouldn't really be afraid. I mean, is she just out of touch? You know, I know she's had Secret Service...
HANNITY: You know...
GINGRICH: ... since 1992, but the fact is the rest of us don't have Secret Service, and we have every reason to be afraid.
HANNITY: You know, I use this analogy. And again, I'll go back to Abdela Salam. (sic) Here's a guy, mastermind, killed 134 people in Paris. They have him in custody. This attack was in retaliation to his arrest.
And the analogy that I'm using is simple. If three kidnappers come into your home and they take your two children and they throw them in the back of the van and you run out of the house and you tackle one of the guys, but the other two get away with your kids, and you have the guy on the ground, what methods would you use to extract the information as to the location of your children?
Now, I'm going to be perfectly blunt. There's nothing I would stop at to get that information quickly, very quickly, whatever it took. If I had to spend the rest of my life in jail, I'm willing to do that. We're talking about the potential of thousands and thousands of people being killed by these cells, and yet they find it offensive that we would ask tough questions in a way that's uncomfortable for them.
GINGRICH: Look, Bill Clinton and I created the Hart-Rudman commission. I served on it after I stepped down as speaker. It said after three years of study in March of 2001, before 9/11, it said the greatest threat the United States is a weapon of mass destruction going off in an American city, probably by a terrorist group.
Nothing that's happened since then has reduced that threat. And that's what people need to realize. Hillary Clinton isn't talking about one or two people setting off one or two bombs. She doesn't understand these are people who want to get nuclear weapons. These are people who want to get chemical and biological weapons. These are people who would love to kill thousands and thousands of Americans. And
to take it lightly, to tell us not to be afraid is delusional. I mean, you have to ask what planet these people live on because it certainly is not earth.
HANNITY: Yes. You know, I actually -- just to come full circle on my take on Obama -- and I was criticized a lot and I was even told by very close friends of mine that I was putting my career in jeopardy by going so hard on Obama's radicalism. I really was, people who you know, who you would know.
And my conclusion now is he is a Frank Marshall Davis, ACORN Alinskyite disciple that grew up in the church of GD America and Reverend Wright and who started his political career in the home of unrepentant terrorists Ayers and Dohrn, and that is his indoctrination.
He has never had a sister Souljah moment. You were there when Bill Clinton said the era of big government is over, the end of welfare as we've known it. Can you name one instance that Obama has gone against his radical indoctrination? I can't think of one.
GINGRICH: Well, to show you the contrast, by the way, Bill Clinton yesterday said all of the migrants in Europe are a major problem. Now, he's the first Democrat I've seen who's admitted that -- and that all of these people coming in from Syria, all of these people living in Maalbeek (sic), all these people living in the neighborhoods in Paris -- you know, this is a huge crisis for European civilization, and they're going to have to come to grips with it.
The Belgians, by the way -- I think they've now changed the rule, but as recently as last year, the Belgians had a rule that you could not have a police raid after 9:00 o'clock at night until the next morning because it would be inconvenient...
HANNITY: Oh, my goodness!
GINGRICH: ... to the people in the house.
HANNITY: All right, we got to take a break. We'll come back.
And coming up, I'll go one on one with Univision and Fusion anchor Jorge Ramos about Donald Trump's immigration plan. Why is he calling him racist? And is he misquoting him?
And then later, we'll check in with Laura Ingraham, get reaction to the 2016 race. Plus, after last night's Republican contest, Heather Nauert breaks down the delegate count.
And we get reaction from RNC chairman Reince Priebus. What if there's a contested convention and they want a consensus candidate who didn't have enough votes or delegates or states won to leap over Trump and Cruz? What happens there, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: There's no doubt we need serious scrutiny to the visa waiver program. And the visa waiver program was designed for a different era, when those from Europe were not perceived to be threats.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doesn't matter, frankly, whether you're a Muslim, a Christian, atheist, whatever, you can get a -- you can get a -- you can come in under visa waiver. You don't have to get a -- you don't have to go through the security checks to get a visa. What -- I mean, is it time to stop that?
TRUMP: Yes. It's time to stop that, absolutely, Jerry (ph). And frankly, look, we're having problems with the Muslims and we're having problems with Muslims coming into the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, in the wake of yesterday's deadly terrorist attacks in Brussels, Senator Ted Cruz and Donald Trump criticized the United States visa waiver program, which allows passport holders from certain EU countries to enter the U.S. without a visa. So does the U.S. need to clamp down on its travel policies and immigration as a whole to help protect America and Americans?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Joining us now with reaction, the author of "Take a Stand: Lessons From Rebels," Univision and Fusion anchor Jorge Ramos.
Mr. Ramos, good to see you, sir. I got to -- I don't know any other way to put this...
JORGE RAMOS, UNIVISION/FUSION ANCHOR: Great to be here, Sean.
HANNITY: I have watched your coverage and I have listened to the things you say. You throw around this word "racism" with a sense of being so casual I find offensive.
And on numerous occasions, I've noticed you take what Donald Trump out of context, which I think is fundamentally unfair, shows that you're not objective in your own opinion, although I think you'd like to portray yourself as such.
And when you go out there and says (sic) that he wants to ban 1.5 billion people from coming into the United States because of their religion or when you said that he's calling all Mexicans criminals and murderers and rapists, that is a false characterization on your part.
Why do you do that? Why don't you report it honestly and then give your opinion?
RAMOS: I'm just -- I'm simply reporting what Donald Trump has been saying.
HANNITY: That's not true.
RAMOS: And when he says that Mexican immigrants -- when he says that Mexican immigrants...
HANNITY: Some.
RAMOS: ... are criminals, drug traffickers and rapists...
HANNITY: Some.
RAMOS: He's absolutely wrong. I'm a Mexican immigrant. I know for sure. The fact is, the fact is that the vast majority of immigrants in this country are not criminals, not rapists. And he knows that.
HANNITY: He's didn't say all of -- Jorge...
(CROSSTALK)
RAMOS: Immigrants are less likely to be criminals in this country.
HANNITY: Jorge, I've been down to the Mexican border...
RAMOS: And that's a fact.
HANNITY: Wait a minute.
RAMOS: The number of immigrants in this country has absolutely nothing to do with the number of crimes happening in the United States.
HANNITY: Excuse me. I sat through an intelligence briefing on the border with our border officials and Governor Rick Perry, and showed the numbers and they put up on the screen over an eight-year period that there were 642,000 crimes committed by illegal immigrants against Texans, including rape and murder.
That does not talk about all Mexicans. But you characterize it as Donald Trump said all people, and that's false, sir. That's not true!
RAMOS: No. Donald Trump said -- Donald Trump said Mexican immigrants were criminals...
HANNITY: Some.
RAMOS: ... rapists, and drug traffickers.
HANNITY: And some are!
RAMOS: And that's absolutely wrong. Now, let me tell you...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Do you acknowledge some are?
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Answer that!
RAMOS: And I'm not here to defend any criminals. I'm not here to...
HANNITY: You agree some people are? You agree?
RAMOS: ... defend any criminals. However, let me just give you -- Sean, let me give you some numbers. Let me give you some numbers. In the last 25 years, the number of undocumented immigrants grew from 3.5 million to 11 million. We agree on that, right, about 11 million people.
At the same time, according to the FBI, violent crimes decreased 48 percent. So therefore, the more immigrants that you have, the less crime you have in the United States. That's a fact.
HANNITY: That's insanity!
RAMOS: The FBI...
HANNITY: Your math is insane! That's nuts!
RAMOS: So you want to fight that? That's a fact.
HANNITY: Jorge, listen, I just told you...
RAMOS: I mean, talk to the FBI.
HANNITY: I just told you I have been down to the border...
RAMOS: The vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.
HANNITY: Excuse me. Jorge, I have been down to the border more than any other reporter know. I have seen gang members arrested. I've been in drug warehouses that are massive that...
RAMOS: I've been there.
HANNITY: Let me finish! Targeting our children. I have been -- I've seen the tunnels that have been dug. I've been in every capacity you can imagine. 642,000 crimes committed against Texans alone in an eight-year period by illegal immigrants, not undocumented, illegal, that don't respect our law and sovereignty.
You take Trump's comments out of context. He said a temporary ban of Muslims because he was listening to James Clapper and James Comey and General John Allen, who said ISIS would infiltrate the refugee population! You don't tell the whole story! Why not?
RAMOS: Well, that hasn't happened. We cannot -- we cannot blame immigrants here for what happened in Belgium. That's on one hand. And then on the other hand...
HANNITY: That's not what I'm talking about.
RAMOS: ... you honestly, Sean, cannot blame all immigrants -- all immigrants for what some of them did.
HANNITY: I didn't blame all immigrants!
RAMOS: I mean, are you going to blame...
HANNITY: Nor did Trump!
RAMOS: ... every single U.S. citizen for what happened in Sandy Hook?
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: You're talking about apples and oranges!
RAMOS: ... you can be more challenging with Donald Trump, Sean, and you haven't been...
HANNITY: You are -- I don't need lectures from you because you act like a sanctimonious...
RAMOS: ... challenging Donald Trump.
HANNITY: ... objective reporter, and you've got an agenda! You support open borders. You support illegal immigration!
RAMOS: No. I'm just simply being...
HANNITY: And wait a minute!
RAMOS: I'm just simply being...
HANNITY: And you seem to be willing to risk the...
(CROSSTALK)
RAMOS: ... tough on Democrats...
HANNITY: ... lives of Americans in the process!
RAMOS: ... and I'm being tough on Republicans.
HANNITY: Well, the point is -- well, I got to tell you something.
RAMOS: I'm just -- I'm just being...
HANNITY: Jorge!
RAMOS: ... completely independent.
(CROSSTALK)
RAMOS: No, let me tell you something...
HANNITY: You're not independent! That's a lie!
RAMOS: I saw your forum on March the 9th...
HANNITY: You don't support the rule of law in America!
RAMOS: I'm completely independent. I've been tough on Donald Trump...
HANNITY: Otherwise, you would say respect the law!
RAMOS: I've been tough on Donald Trump and I've been tough on Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
HANNITY: Big deal!
RAMOS: Let me tell you something...
HANNITY: What do you want, a medal?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And coming up, part two of my interview with Jorge Ramos.
And later, Laura Ingraham is here to weigh in on the 2016 race and much more. Also tonight, after last night's GOP races, Heather Nauert is here to break down the Republican delegate count.
I also go one on one with RNC chairman Reince Priebus about the possibility of a contested convention. Do they leap over Trump and Cruz if they have more votes and more delegates and more states? What would that do? More coming up tonight on "Hannity."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity," part two of my interview with Jorge Ramos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAMOS: I saw your forum on March 9 in North Carolina. You had an hour with Donald Trump, more than 30 questions and comments. Not even once did you challenge Donald Trump on the largest mass deportations, on banning 1.5...
HANNITY: I've asked him that question...
RAMOS: ... billion...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: If you watched my show regularly, you would have seen that I've asked that question.
RAMOS: ... or even criticizing him...
HANNITY: I've asked that question!
RAMOS: ... for his sexist remarks on women.
HANNITY: You -- you're missing the point.
RAMOS: You didn't...
HANNITY: Jorge! Wait a minute.
RAMOS: ... even ask for an apology...
HANNITY: You are taking...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I don't need your lectures. Thank you very much!
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: You don't care about the 642,000 Texans! You're taking -- wait a minute. You're taking his comments out of context!
RAMOS: The transcript is here, Sean. The transcript is right here.
HANNITY: You are taking his comments out of context. You're calling him racist. You're calling him bigoted. And you totally misrepresent what he said. And you think you're the superior reporter? I don't really need lectures from you, Jorge Ramos!
RAMOS: I haven't -- I haven't called -- this is -- this is...
HANNITY: You called him a racist!
RAMOS: ... what I've said. I don't know what's in his heart, but I know exactly what's coming out of his mouth. And what he's saying about Mexican immigrants, what he's saying about Muslims and what he's saying about women is completely unacceptable.
HANNITY: Last question.
RAMOS: He's absolutely wrong on that.
HANNITY: Last question.
RAMOS: And as journalists, I think...
HANNITY: I have a last question.
RAMOS: And as journalists, we have to...
HANNITY: Here's my last question!
RAMOS: ... confront those who are power and that's our responsibility, Sean.
HANNITY: Have...
RAMOS: And I think you -- I cannot talk to him. You can talk to him, and you can be much tougher on him.
HANNITY: I don't need lectures. I have a last question. Is it true people that have entered the country illegally and not respected our laws and sovereignty -- have people come over from the border and have they committed rape. Have they committed murder? Have they committed crimes against Americans? And do you doubt what the law enforcement and Border Patrol told me about Texas alone in an eight-year period, 642,000 crimes?
Is that true that those crimes are happening? Do you recognize that truth or not?
RAMOS: I am not here to defend any criminals. I'm sure that some immigrants commit crimes.
HANNITY: Murder?
RAMOS: But the vast majority of immigrants...
HANNITY: Murder? Do some murder?
RAMOS: ... to the United States are not criminals.
HANNITY: You're not answering my question!
RAMOS: ... rapists or drug traffickers.
HANNITY: Do some murder?
RAMOS: Yes, that has happened, and I...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Do some murder? Do some commit rape?
RAMOS: ... of the pain that of the American families -- absolutely. It's happening. But then...
HANNITY: Thank you.
RAMOS: ... I cannot blame the whole immigrant population for what some of them have done, in the same way...
HANNITY: So what Donald Trump said, Donald Trump said you agree with?
RAMOS: ... we cannot blame all U.S. citizens for...
HANNITY: And he never blamed all!
RAMOS: ... for some of them have done...
HANNITY: He never blamed all!
RAMOS: ... what happened in Oklahoma or San Bernardino.
HANNITY: And he said -- he never blamed all, number one...
(CROSSTALK)
RAMOS: ... exactly to his words...
HANNITY: Wait a minute! He said a temporary ban on Muslims because our director of national intelligence, James Clapper, our FBI Director Comey...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... all said that ISIS will infiltrate the refugee population. Do you think we should gamble with the lives of Americans, or would you support a temporary ban until we can absolutely vet them 100 percent?
RAMOS: You want to make discrimination official. I mean, do you want...
HANNITY: Are you going to answer one question?
RAMOS: ... to be discriminated...
HANNITY: Are you going to answer one question?
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: You sound like Hillary!
RAMOS: ... because of the religion. That's completely un-American.
HANNITY: Are you going to answer that question?
(CROSSTALK)
RAMOS: ... what you're suggesting.
HANNITY: ... a temporary ban and listen to our intelligence officials or not?
RAMOS: Of course not. Of course not because...
HANNITY: Of course not?
RAMOS: ... here in the United States...
HANNITY: But you're going to gamble with the lives of Americans!
(CROSSTALK)
RAMOS: Of course not. Home-grown terrorism...
HANNITY: You're going -- you're going to gamble with the lives of Americans.
RAMOS: ... because we cannot blame immigrants -- we cannot...
HANNITY: I'm not willing to do that!
RAMOS: No, we're not gambling...
(CROSSTALK)
RAMOS: I am completely convinced that this country can defend itself the way we're doing it right now...
HANNITY: And we're told by our intelligence...
RAMOS: ... and you should not blame immigrants for all the problems that we have here.
HANNITY: Jorge!
RAMOS: And you cannot blame immigrants for what's happening (INAUDIBLE)
HANNITY: We are told by our intelligence community that ISIS will infiltrate the refugee population, OK, just like they did in Paris. Are you willing to gamble with the lives of the American people? I'm not.
RAMOS: Are you willing to change the nature and the essence of the United States, the tolerance, the acceptance? I'm sure the Hannity family came from somewhere else.
HANNITY: They came from Ireland.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Legally. Legally! All four at the turn of the last century.
RAMOS: Yes, and I came here legally, too.
HANNITY: With 10 bucks in their pocket.
RAMOS: I came here legally, too. And you know why? If we're talking about undocumented immigrants, you know why they are here?
HANNITY: All right, I support legal immigration.
RAMOS: Millions of us benefit from them...
HANNITY: I support...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... from Mexico, El Salvador...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... all over the world. Just come in legally so we can vet you and make sure that you want to be a part of our family and not an enemy of the American people. That's fair. Is that not fair?
RAMOS: They are here because we benefit from their work and because we are hiring them.
HANNITY: Well, they're here, but they don't respect our laws and sovereignty!
RAMOS: It is impossible to deport 11 million people from this country.
HANNITY: All right, I got to leave.
RAMOS: It is impossible to deport 11 million people from this country.
HANNITY: I think you got to think twice about throwing that "racist" word around, and if you're going to quote me or quote Trump or quote anybody, please do it accurately in the future before you lecture us on how to do journalism.
RAMOS: Well, I have -- I have the transcript of your interview with Donald Trump.
HANNITY: That's one interview! Go back and look at all my other interviews. I've asked him about those comments numerous times, sir.
RAMOS: One hour, Sean. You had one hour with him.
HANNITY: One hour. But I don't repeat old interviews.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I don't need lectures from him when you misquote him! I don't need lectures from him when you misquote candidates!
RAMOS: Listen to this...
HANNITY: You misquoted him on purpose...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... that he's a racist.
RAMOS: We're using the same sound bites, exactly the same sound bites that you're using.
HANNITY: All right.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I'm way behind.
RAMOS: ... those who are in power and those who are seeking power.
HANNITY: You'll get the last word. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And when we come back, Laura Ingraham has reaction to my interview with Jorge Ramos. And later tonight, Heather Nauert recaps last night's GOP races, explains where the delegate count now stands.
And RNC chairman Reince Priebus discusses the possibility of a contested convention. Will the establishment pick a consensus candidate and leap over Cruz and Trump? And what happens if they do? Straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TOBIN: This is a Fox News Alert. I'm Mike Tobin in Brussels.
A top low enforcement official in Belgium says a tip from a cab driver led police to the bomb making factory, that factory in an apartment in an immigrant neighborhood here in Brussels. The cab driver says he picked up three men there who looked like the airport attackers caught on video. One became upset because the car was too small to fit all the bags. They insisted on handling the bags themselves.
When police followed the tip, they found chemicals used in bomb making, detonators and 33 pounds of TATP, a common explosive, and homemade bombs, also a suitcase full of screws intended to be used as shrapnel, standard in bomb making. Police also found a laptop and a garbage can belonging to Ibrahim el-Bakraoui, identified as one of the attackers. On that laptop, he wrote that investigators were onto him. He felt he needed to attack quickly.
Now back to "Hannity."
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." Joining us now, editor in chief of lifezette.com. She's a Fox News contributor and a friend, Laura Ingraham. How are you?
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, good the see you, Hannity. I have to comment on that Jorge Ramos back and forth that you did earlier in the program because I had a chance to listen to it. And as he was speaking, and as he -- you had to pull it out of him to admit that some of the illegal immigrants who cross our borders commit a lot of crimes, not just one but a lot of crimes.
I just start looking around the internet and I found Pedro Monterroso, Juan Rosso (ph), Victor Ramirez, Jose Villagomez, all are accused of attempted murder, murder, rape of a 14-year-old girl, 60-year-old woman murdered. The list and the crime sprees committed by people who are not supposed to be in this country, doesn't mean all people, but it means there is a segment of this population that is doing tons of damage to this country, killing people, terrorizing people in their own homes and their own property. That's not our -- that is not America either. He kept saying that's not America. Well, is that America? I don't think so.
HANNITY: I sat through that intelligence briefing with Governor Perry. And remember, I've been down to the border a lot, helicopter, all-terrain vehicle. I look stupid on horseback and on boats.
INGRAHAM: I've been down the roller blades one time. You look great with a spandex.
HANNITY: I was on roller blades. Thank you very much.
INGRAHAM: Yeah.
HANNITY: But I was there when gang members were arrested. I -- 642,000 crimes including 3000 murders and I played the tape so many times on this show in Texas alone .
INGRAHAM: I know. I love that. It's good to see it. It's the truth.
HANNITY: I mean, and yet the word racism is thrown around, Donald is racist. They take them out of context.
INGRAHAM: No, that's just on the debate. No, no, no. But Sean, he likes to talk over you because he wants to shut down the debate. Once you start getting into the actual -- when you start looking at these crimes and they were -- these are people released by ISIS, excuse me, ISIS -- I.C.E., are released by I.C.E. and then the detainers were not honored and then they go on to commit crimes and even worse crimes and they were arrested for it initially. So the story is out there for anyone who wants to understand. You've done a great job covering it. I had to talk about that.
HANNITY: But I think this may be -- it might illustrate something that's got to change with Republicans because I think they have been weak and feckless and lacking a rutter (ph) and just ineffective in dealing with Obama. And that is that they don't fight back. So Hillary is going to call whoever the nominee is racist, sexist, war on women, hate granny, want to poison the air and water and throw everybody over a cliff.
INGRAHAM: Right.
HANNITY: And that is a narrative that is used every year because it's effective.
INGRAHAM: Well, not just that. You know, Paul Ryan who came out today and he gave a big speech and I think some of it was fine but he gave a big speech about how the tone of the Republican campaign was troubling.
HANNITY: Good grief.
INGRAHAM: When did Paul Ryan ever talk about Obama talking about punishing your enemies or every time someone is called a Nativist or a xenophobe or a whacko bird or the loud people, as Lindsey Graham likes to call the actual voters? I didn't hear Paul Ryan actually criticizing that language used against conservatives but it's always the conservatives or it's Trump one day and maybe it's Cruz the next day. But you know, it would be nice if they actually talk about what the Democrats have done to this country and tone and with the insults as you nailed Ramos on.
HANNITY: What do you think is going to happen if we get to a convention fight, which I'm not even sure we're going to get there, but if we do and you have all these groups that are organizing, plotting and planning that, you know, Boehner wants Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney might want his name put in there .
INGRAHAM: Might want. Might want Cruz or might not want Cruz.
HANNITY: All right. But if they leap over Cruz and leap over Trump, the people that got the most wins, most states, more delegates .
INGRAHAM: Yeah.
HANNITY: . most voters and they disenfranchise them, I say it's over because the supporters of Trump, the supporters of Cruz, they're going away and they're not coming back.
INGRAHAM: They call in on your show. I heard them on your show and they call in to my show. They say, look, we love this country but obviously, the party doesn't love us. They hate us. And they want to disenfranchise us or kind of make it look rigged or it feels. And so, we all know where there is going to end but I think, Sean, there are some Republicans and they actually feel more comfortable with Hillary Clinton than they would feel with Donald Trump. So I've challenged them, write op-ed, start writing op-ed about why Hillary would be a better Commander-in-Chief at a time of great peril than Trump with a great vice president or Trump with a great team around him. Why would Hillary be better? Because they are helping Hillary if they don't urge the party to unite behind whoever has the most delegates.
HANNITY: But that is a suicide mission. That's a circular firing squad.
INGRAHAM: Right. But we always do that.
HANNITY: I mean look at just what we've learned in the last 24, 36 hours that Hillary wants open borders in spite of what happened, that Hillary is against enhanced interrogation even you got this guy Abdeslam that probably has information about terrorist cells all throughout Europe, especially in Belgium.
INGRAHAM: Hundreds, hundreds of terrorists and they're in Europe.
HANNITY: Right. And yet we can't use waterboarding to find out what he knows and track those people down and maybe saves live?
INGRAHAM: Trump is the problem. No, no, no. Yeah, well, Sean, you don't understand. Trump is the problem. All of these Republicans are gnashing their teeth. Donald Trump is the problem. We have people who are committed to open borders regardless of what it does to the American people. When Jorge Ramos would not -- it took so long to concede that any crime was committed illegal immigrants. You have to understand, for people Ramos, if we have to lose some Americans because it would offend the Ramos utopian vision of what our country needs to be like welcoming anyone who wants to be here, they have to be able to come here. I mean .
HANNITY: All right, let me ask this.
INGRAHAM: . if people have to die, then so be it. That's their vision of the world.
HANNITY: So -- but all the interviews and that's it, he's holding one interview and I'm like, "I don't repeat the same interviews that I did, you know, five interviews ago.
INGRAHAM: Yeah, that was silly.
HANNITY: It's silly. But I asked Trump at the last interview. I put together the answers from past interviews. He says he's pro-life, he's pro-second amendment, we know where he stands on immigration, he wants health care savings accounts to repeal and replace ObamaCare, the Penny Plan, balance the budget, all these conservative things. And I asked him, is that your promise? Is that your pledge? You promise a solemn vow?
INGRAHAM: Right.
HANNITY: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Why do some people doubt him and why do some people disbelieve? Because of his past positions?
INGRAHAM: Yeah, I think -- I mean, there's some reason to doubt some of these things. You know, if people disagree with Trump, that's fine. I mean I think it's good to have this conversation during the debate.
HANNITY: Sure.
INGRAHAM: What I think is not helpful is when people start hash tagging their way to stomping their feet and leaving the sand box. Like I asked Erick Erickson the other day, you know, he's one of these guys in the Never Trump but I like Erick. But he's like, well, if Cruz gets together with Trump, I'm still not going to vote for them. I'm like, "OK. All right." I don't even understand that type at all. I live on planet Earth. I don't live in that world of perfection that everybody's going to be the perfect, you know, candidate on every issue.
HANNITY: Nobody's perfect.
INGRAHAM: I mean, we voted, you know, we supported McCain even though, you know, lot of us weren't for McCain.
HANNITY: Yeah, we sucked it up a few times for sure.
INGRAHAM: Yeah, we've done -- we take one for the team.
HANNITY: All right, Laura, love having you. Thank you.
INGRAHAM: Good to see you. Thank you.
HANNITY: All right. Coming up, last night, Donald Trump won the Arizona Republican primary. Senator Ted Cruz won the GOP Utah caucuses. How did this impact the delegate count? Fox and Friends' Heather Nauert is here to break down the numbers. And we'll reaction from RNC Chairman Reince Priebus about what happens if there is a contested convention. In other words, will they try to put in a consensus candidate and jump over the people that won more states, got more votes and have more delegates? Straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So the Republican presidential candidates were back at it last night facing off in key contest to decide who will be the party's nominee. Joining us now tonight at the HANNITY big board, she of course with Fox & Friends, our own Heather Nauert. Heather.
HEATHER NAUERT, "FOX & FRIENDS" ANCHOR: Hi there, Sean. Well, delegates up for grabs in two important states last night. In the Arizona that's a winner take all contest, Donald Trump beating the competition, securing all 58 delegates in that state. And then in Utah, Senator Ted Cruz had a strong showing last night winning more than 50 percent from caucus goers. Now that means he's awarded all of that state's 40 delegates.
Now, Sean, as you know, there's been a whole lot of talk about a contested or even a brokered convention if none of the candidates get 1237 delegates. So here is where the current count stands. Donald trump leading away with 739. Senator Ted Cruz second with 465. John Kasich is last with 143.
In order to avoid a contested convention, Sean, Trump needs to win a little over 53 percent of the remaining delegates. Senator Cruz has to come away with more than 82 percent of the delegates. And Governor Kasich is actually statistically eliminated. He would need 117 percent of those remaining delegates.
Also tonight, Sean, we have the results of a brand new Fox News Poll. It shows how voters believe the Republican nominee should be picked at the convention. Fifteen-nine percent of those polled say that the nominee should be whoever wins the most delegates while 35 percent want flexibility if a candidate doesn't have a majority.
The next big contest is in Wisconsin. That is about two weeks from now. The convention is in July and a lot of twists and turns between now and then and of course well follow it closely. Sean?
HANNITY: All right. Hell of a point. It gets complicated with the math and more interesting each time.
NAUERT: With the convention, for sure.
HANNITY: Oh, absolutely. All right, thank you, Heather. And joining us now is reaction RNC chairman Reince Priebus is with us. Sir, how are you?
REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: I'm doing great, Sean. Thank you for having me.
HANNITY: What do you think of that poll? Fifteen-nine percent say whoever has the most delegates should win.
PRIEBUS: Well, I mean, what do I think about it? I think that it makes sense, right? I mean it really does make sense but you have to have a majority of the delegates just as the person there just mentioned. And that's just the way it is. You have to have a majority on the floor. And if one of the candidates has a majority going in to Cleveland, it's a lock. It's a guarantee. You will be the nominee of the party. We've put provisions in place to make sure that that can't be taken away, that the bound delegate rule is very clear. So if you have a majority of the delegates going in to Cleveland, you will, in fact, be the nominee, so.
HANNITY: Let's say somebody is short. Let's say somebody is 100 short.
PRIEBUS: Yeah.
HANNITY: Mathematically .
PRIEBUS: Right.
HANNITY: . Trump and Cruz have a shot. Trump has a better shot than Cruz right now. That's where we stand. John Kasich has no shot but he's saying to me and to others, "Oh, it's going to be exciting. We'll have a big battle on the convention floor." And his hope is he will get the nomination that people that have more votes, won more states, have more delegates, that he will leap frog over them. And that he's hoping that that's how he gets the nomination.
Now, and John Boehner has said things like, "Oh, well, I think we can nominate anybody. Maybe we should nominate Paul Ryan." So the concern is of Trump and Cruz supporters that I talked to is that if it gets to a second or third ballot that they will leap frog over the two leaders and put in, a quote, consensus candidate, maybe Kasich, maybe Paul Ryan, maybe Mitt Romney, all these names are thrown around. If that happens, how do you think the Trump and Cruz people are going to feel? Because I have a pretty good idea they'll be angry, very angry, and feel like they were disenfranchised.
PRIEBUS: OK. Right. And so, what I would say is that you have to dial it back and look at what's happening. If the Cruz and Trump will have the most delegates by a mile, right, and so they're going to have a much more disproportionate, say, over the rules. They're also going to have relationships with these delegates going into the convention. You know, it would be extraordinary if something as you described actually happened. I mean the truth is the nominee is likely to be, by a long shot, a person who is actually running for president. So that's number one. Paul Ryan is not interested. That's number two. And so .
HANNITY: But that's not the point.
PRIEBUS: Look, but you can't take away .
HANNITY: But you got to understand, there is Mitt Romney supports Kasich in Ohio, Rubio in Florida, now he's endorsed Ted Cruz. And a lot of people think that the reason Kasich is staying and I believe this is partly true is there is a hope to have a contested convention for the very purpose, you keep reading about it, to stop Donald Trump or I would even argue, to stop Ted Cruz. Now, if you are a Cruz or Trump supporter and you win and you have the most delegates and won the most states and you have the most votes and they take it away from you, this is nothing but a prescription for electing Hillary.
PRIEBUS: But, Sean, hey, you're describing a hypothetical that hasn't come true. But number two .
HANNITY: But they're trying to do this.
PRIEBUS: I can't help if -- Sean, I can't help you if you don't want to understand that you need a majority of the vote to be the nominee part.
HANNITY: I understand it but there's a whole group of establishment Republicans pushing it.
PRIEBUS: You can't -- a plurality of the people -- Sean, I get it but a plurality of the vote on the floor is not going to cost someone to be the nominee. The minority of the delegates does not control who the nominee is going to be. It's like you saying, "Reince, I like you tomorrow as long as it doesn't rain." Well, you have no control over whether if it rains or not. It's either going to rain or it isn't. Either someone is going to have the majority of delegates or they're not.
HANNITY: All right. Let me ask ...
PRIEBUS: So I'm not going to help someone get the majority and I'm not going to hurt someone. Sean, I understand your point. Your point is everyone is going to be mad if the person that's in the lead doesn't actually become the nominee. I hear you. I understand your point. All I'm saying to you is it's up to those people.
HANNITY: And that's going to happen. But that can happen.
PRIEBUS: I guess it can in theory but I think you're overplaying sort of the -- what happens on the seventh or eight or ninth ballot.
HANNITY: I don't think I'm overplaying it with people like -- I don't think I'm overplaying it with John Kasich stating publicly he wants that to happen. Mitt Romney clearly has laid it out as a stretch. Hang on. John Boehner has said that he wants that to happen. And to be honest, I think I've read enough Stop Trump, Stop Cruz articles to lass me a lifetime. Clearly, there's a sentiment among some that, you know, lost that this is the direction that party needs to go to save the party that they know better than the people that actually voted in caucus.
PRIEBUS: And they're not going to have any delegates on the floor, Sean.
HANNITY: All right.
PRIEBUS: I mean, Cruz and Trump and other people running and in case to go have some delegates. But candidates running are the ones that are going to have the delegates and the relationships on the floor that will ultimately control what happens. So I just think you need to be a little patient.
HANNITY: OK. Take care, buddy.
PRIEBUS: I appreciate it. Thank you.
HANNITY: When we come back, we need your help, a very important question of the day. Straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And time for our question of the day. So, should we halt Muslim immigration until the federal government can get it under control? Now, my answer is we should listen to James Comey, the FBI director, Michael Steinbach, the assistant FBI director, James Clapper, the national director of Intelligence, the President's envoy, to defeat ISIS, (inaudible), they've all said that ISIS will infiltrate the refugee population. I'm not willing to gamble with American lives but we want to know what you think.
Go to facebook.com/seanhannity, @SeanHannity on Twitter. Let us know what you think. That's all the time we have left this evening. As always, thank you for being with us. We'll see you back here.
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