Sessions's message to the world: The border is not open
On 'Hannity,' the attorney general says the Trump administration is sending the message that criminality is over
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," April 11, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome to "Hannity." My monologue will be coming up in our next segment. Also, Maria Bartiromo from Fox Business Network is here with a preview of her exclusive interview with President Trump.
But first, we have a lot of news breaking all over the world tonight, so we begin with the "Hannity" news whip. Joining us first with more on Secretary Rex Tillerson's trip to Russia is Rich Edson. He's in Moscow tonight -- Rich.
RICH EDSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good evening, Sean. In about 12 hours, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is scheduled to meet with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Secretary Tillerson says he has a choice for the Russian government, join the United States, the West and Middle Eastern countries to find a way to transition Syria from Bashar al Assad, the president, to a democracy, or Russia can continue to support Assad, Iran and Hezbollah.
Tillerson also offered his strongest declaration thus far on the future of Bashar al Assad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REX TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE: I think that it's clear to all of us that the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end. But the question of how that ends and the transition itself could be very important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
EDSON: International efforts on that front have languished for years.
Only a couple of hours before the secretary of state landed here in Moscow, Russian president Vladimir Putin addressed the country. He denied Assad used chemical weapons, says he wants the United Nations to launch an investigation into last week's attack, the attack that prompted that U.S. response, last Thursday and says that he believes Russian intelligence shows that Assad was essentially framed in that effort.
Now, whether he says that directly to the secretary of state tomorrow is still up for question as the Kremlin has been saying there is no official meeting yet scheduled between Secretary Tillerson and the Russian president -- Sean.
HANNITY: All right, thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate it, Rich. Thank you.
Joining us now from Turkey with more on the situation with Syria is our own Benjamin Hall. Benjamin, what's the latest there?
BENJAMIN HALL, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, yesterday, the U.S. said that if the Assad regime used more chemical weapons or dropped barrel bombs that that could cause more U.S. strikes on Syria. Well, guess what? That's exactly what they did today, the Assad regime dropping barrel bombs on Hama province. These are weapons decided to kill, barrels filled with explosives, shrapnel, oil and nails dropped on town squares and hospitals. They are devastating. They have killed tens of thousands of people. And if Assad wanted to find a better way of antagonizing the U.S. on this day, he couldn't have found one.
Also today here, we spoke to members of the Free Syrian Army backed by the U.S. at a safe house in Turkey. We spoke to some who actually came from the town that was bombed with the chemicals, Khan Sheikhoun, they said that the attacks there had actually galvanized the people. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Life there is desperate now and people are said. But the attack has made us even more determined to fight the regime and protect our town. But we need more help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HALL: And by help, he says a no-fly zone over the skies and anti-aircraft weapons, which of course, the U.S. has said categorically they will not give to the rebels -- Sean.
HANNITY: All right, Benjamin, thank you.
And earlier today, our own Maria Bartiromo sat down with President Trump in an interview. It will air in its entirety tomorrow on the Fox Business Network. Here's a quick preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "MORNINGS WITH MARIA"/FBN)
MARIA BARTIROMO, HOST: When you were with the president of China, you're launching these military strikes.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Yes.
BARTIROMO: Was that planned? How did that come about that it's happening right then because right there, you're saying, a reminder, here's who the superpower in the world is?
TRUMP: You have no idea how many people want to hear the answer to this. I have had -- I have watched speculation for three days now what that was like.
BARTIROMO: When did you tell him?
TRUMP: I'll tell you.
BARTIROMO: Before dessert, or...
TRUMP: I will tell you. I was sitting at the table. We had finished dinner. We're now having dessert. And We had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you've ever seen. And I was given the message from the generals that the ships are locked and loaded. What do you do? And we made a determination to do it. So the missiles were on the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And joining me now, the host of "Mornings With Maria," our friend, Maria Bartiromo. Congratulations on a big exclusive.
Let's start with what the president told you about Syrian president Assad and how he had to do something after being really motivated by seeing those pictures of dead children, victims of that chemical attack. Here's what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Frankly, Putin is backing a person that's truly an evil person. And I think it's a very bad for Russia. I think it's a very bad for mankind. It's very bad for this world. But when you drop gas or bombs or barrel bombs -- they have these massive barrels with dynamite, and they drop them right in the middle of a group of people -- and in all fairness, you see the same kids, no arms, legs, no face. This is an animal.
I will tell you that when I looked at the pictures, especially when you see them on television, and you see these beautiful kids that are dead in their father's arms or you see kids gasping for life and you know it's over -- it's over for them. They're hosing them down -- hundreds of them -- when you see that -- I immediately called General Mattis. I said, What can we do? And they came back with a number of different alternatives. And we hit them very hard.
Now, are we going to get involved with Syria? No. But if I see them using gas and using things that -- I mean, even some of the worst tyrants in the world didn't use the kind of gases that they used. And some of the gases are unbelievably potent. So when I saw that, I said we have to do something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, Maria, obviously the president was very emotionally moved by those images. But also, if you paid close attention to his campaign rhetoric, he wants to fight terror, he doesn't want occupation and he didn't want troops on the ground. He seemed to reiterate all of that to you in that interview.
Give us some more background and color as to what he was also saying.
BARTIROMO: Well, you know, president Trump knows exactly who the evil actors are in the world. I was very impressed in terms of his knowledge of what's happening in that part of the world and who is behind it.
Look, the truth is, is that many generals, and you know, military people out there know that former secretary John Kerry did advocate doing something, limited military action in Syria. But President Obama time and time again rejected it. He did not want to do any military strike in Syria.
President Trump saw those pictures, saw what was really happening on the ground and moved. And that's why he had broad support all around the world for those moves.
I will say this. The sound bite that you just ran, when he said, Look, this is an evil man and Russia is backing an evil person -- that was in response to my question to the president asking him if, in fact, our relationship, the U.S. relations with Russia has been damaged by this move. He said, I don't know. But I will say this, this is an evil man and Russia is backing an evil person.
So I would say to you, as Rex Tillerson meets with Mr. Lavrov tomorrow in Russia, he has more leverage. He goes into that meeting with more leverage because the world agrees with President Trump in terms of what he just did.
He made it very clear he does not want to get in some long-term entanglement in Syria. Having said that, he is going to take an action, make a move when he sees this done on humanity. So that's where he stands. He would not commit to, you know, what happens next. And we know that because he's never going to tell you exactly where -- what he's thinking and -- and -- and you know, put the plans out there on the table.
But he definitely felt strongly in terms of this was something that he needed to act, the U.S. needed to be up front on.
HANNITY: You know, it's fascinating. For eight months, we've had this media conspiracy theory being pushed and advanced without any evidence whatsoever...
BARTIROMO: Right.
HANNITY: ... of collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign and that perhaps that Vladimir Putin had information that would be compromising to then candidate, then President-elect Trump. Now he's president, and he kind of drew a really strong line in the sand that should put that to rest.
Let me ask you -- because, of course, we have more saber rattling from Kim Jong-un, North Korea, and even the threat that he would want to nuke the United States of America and is preparing for war with the United States -- you asked him about that. Let's play that clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARTIROMO: You redirected Navy ships to go toward the Korean peninsula. What are we doing right now in terms of North Korea?
TRUMP: You never know, do you? You never know.
BARTIROMO: That's all you're going to say?
TRUMP: You know I don't talk about the military. I'm not like Obama where they talk about in four months, we're going to hit Mosul, and in the meantime, they get ready (INAUDIBLE) they're still fighting. Mosul was supposed to last for a week, and now they've been fighting it for many months and so many more people died.
I don't want to talk about it. We are sending an armada, very powerful. We have submarines -- very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier. That I can tell you. And we have the best military people on earth. And I will say this. He is doing the wrong thing.
BARTIROMO: Do you think he's mentally fit?
TRUMP: I don't know. I don't know. I don't know him. But he's doing the wrong thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: What's fascinating about this is he's not backing down. I get the overall impression between what Putin is saying, what Kim Jong-un is saying and what even ISIS and some of these other groups are saying -- they're used to a very different America...
BARTIROMO: Yes.
HANNITY: ... a weak America, America that's not going to respond or will draw red lines and not mean it. I think the world is understanding, of they will in short order, that this is a very different country today.
BARTIROMO: Yes, for sure. And Sean, I think that the era of leading from behind is over. President Trump is basically showing the world that he will act when necessary. Again, I don't see him wanting to get into a protracted, you know, entanglement here. But he's got our Navy ships right there so that North Korea understands we are here, we are ready, and we are not going to sit back if, in fact, there are atrocities committed. So that's the bottom line!
And I think it's so interesting that he launches those military strikes while he's with the president of China. And you know, you saw how it was all done and what he said about it. But at the end of the day, what did he say to China, as well?
HANNITY: Well, China seems to be...
BARTIROMO: This is the superpower!
HANNITY: ... acquiescing a little bit on trade issues, and certainly opening up that door.
BARTIROMO: Right.
HANNITY: But again, it's within what he said during the campaign, He will fight terror, doesn't believe in occupation, and certainly doesn't want troops on the ground and seems to be standing by that.
Very important question you asked him on the advantages of doing health care before his economic plan. Let me play that and get a quick response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Were going to have a phenomenal tax reform, but I have to do health care first. I want to do it first to really do it right.
BARTIROMO: But do you have to do health care before tax reform?
TRUMP: Yes.
BARTIROMO: I mean, when I speak with business managers, they say tax reform is so much more impactful to moving the needle on economic growth, so why do you...
TRUMP: They're all right, but because I'm saving a tremendous amount, hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars we're saving on health care. So we're going to have a much better plan than "Obama care," which is failing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Obviously alluding to the trillion dollars in savings...
BARTIROMO: That's right.
HANNITY: ... if he is able to accomplish health care first.
BARTIROMO: That's exactly right. That's the point. And he's committed to tax cuts, whatever it takes, but he wanted to start the tax-cutting plan with that trillion dollars, which of course, is in place because "Obama care" taxes, a trillion dollars in taxes.
HANNITY: Yes. All right, Maria, I got to tell you, very timely interview and great questions. Good job. We'll be watching in the morning.
BARTIROMO: Thank you so much.
HANNITY: And that starts tomorrow morning, 6:00 AM on the Fox Business Network.
And coming up next tonight, Russian president Vladimir Putin is pushing bizarre, wild conspiracy theories that America is going to fake a new chemical weapons attack in Syria.
But that's nothing compared to what the alt left radical propaganda media's been claiming about President Trump. We'll explain. Our "Opening Monologue" is coming up next. Monica Crowley will be here with reaction.
And also tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF SESSIONS, ATTORNEY GENERAL: For those that continue to seek improper and illegal entry into this country, be forewarned. This is a new era. This is the Trump era.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced a crackdown on illegal immigration while visiting our southern border today. He'll join us later with the details.
That and much more on this busy news edition of "Hannity."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." So the alt radical left and their cronies in the destroy Trump media -- they're so desperate to smear, slander, besmirch the president, they're now sounding like Vladimir Putin when pushing their fake news conspiracy theories! Now, the alt-radical left is in complete meltdown mode, and we're going to expose them. And that's tonight's "Monologue."
All right, so earlier today, ahead of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's trip to Moscow, the Russian President Vladimir Putin, started running with a wild claim that the United States of America is somehow going to fake a new chemical weapons attack in Syria to justify further military action from President Trump.
Now, that sounds completely nuts, right? Because it is. But guess what? The alt-radical left destroy Trump media, they have repeatedly been pushing these same types of insane conspiracy theories! Watch what is supposed to be called news, NBC and others.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL, MSNBC, APRIL 7: Wouldn't it be nice if it was just completely totally, absolutely impossible to suspect that Vladimir Putin orchestrated what happened in Syria this week so that his friend in the White House could have a big night with missiles and all of the praise he's picked up over the last 24 hours. Wouldn't it be so nice if you couldn't even in your wildest dreams imagine a scenario like that?
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC: Wouldn't be great if we could go back to "Wag the Dog" being a semi -- being a sitcom plot, you know?
O'DONNELL: Exactly.
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC, MARCH 22: I'll say it again, this Russian connection just keeps building. And every time it builds and expands, you have to wonder if Trump himself isn't worried about what's swirling around under the covers.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN, MARCH 20: CNN has learned new details of the FBI investigation into potential links between individuals associated with the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
JEREMY BASH, FORMER DOD & CIA CHIEF OF STAFF, NBC NEWS, MARCH 5: Specifically, Willie, I think what it means is that a federal judge found that people in Trump's organization were colluding with the Russians.
DANIELLE PLETKA, AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE, "MEET THE PRESS"/NBC, MARCH 5: Was there somebody inside the Trump campaign who was working with them, and did the president know about that, and were they successful?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Cue "Twilight Zone." It's pathetic!
What we have now is over the top line lying, bizarre, novel-like conspiracy theories and the advancing of some of the most insane, craziest stories you probably have ever heard. Now, it's completely off the charts. It's unhinged, and just more proof of how completely biased these people really are.
But that has not stopped Democrats in Congress from doing the exact same thing. They're as nutty as their friends in the media! Take a look at what Representative Seth Moulton said last night on Tucker Carlson's now about President Trump's decision to strike Syria. Watch this insanity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "TUCKER CARLSON TONIGHT," APRIL 10)
REP. SETH MOULTON, D-MASS.: Well, first of all, I mean, you know, one exception does not prove the rule. I mean, you know, this could very well be interpreted as an attempt by the administration to get out from under the claim that they're colluding with Russia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Wow. What's clear is the alt-radical left in this country, they are ignoring all truth and the facts. Now for months, the alt-radical destroy Trump propaganda media has been pushing without one scintilla -- not one -- of evidence whatsoever this false narrative of President Trump colluding with the Russians.
Now, this goes against what the former director of National Intelligence under Obama James Clapper, the FBI Director James Comey, the NSA Director Admiral Mike Rogers have all been saying. There is zero proof of the Trump Russia collusion they keep talking about for eight months. Watch the truth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
REP. DEVIN NUNES, R-CALIF., MARCH 20: You have no intelligence that suggests or evidence that suggests any votes were changed.
ADM. MIKE ROGERS, NSA DIRECTOR: I have nothing generated by the National Security Agency, sir.
NUNES: Director Comey, do you have any evidence at the FBI that any votes were changed in the states that I mentioned to Admiral Rogers?
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: No.
JAMES CLAPPER, DNI DIRECTOR, NOV. 17, 2016: First, we cannot say -- they did not change any vote tallies or anything of that sort. We had no way of gauging the impact that -- certainly, the intelligence community can't gauge the impact it had on the choices that the electorate made.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
HANNITY: Now, maybe, just maybe the destroy Trump media should actually listen to what all those top government officials have been saying and maybe try reporting truth for once again instead of these conspiracy theories, by the way.
And if the media wants to talk about interfering in an election, well, then, they should go back at a focus on what the Obama administration tried to do to the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, back in 2014. A congressional investigation did find that an Israeli political group used over 300,000 taxpayer dollars from the Obama State Department in a grant to actually create a political apparatus to defeat our best ally Israel, Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Now, I've been saying since 2008, journalism is dead, but the partisan press is now taking it to a new bizarre conspiracy low. They've become unhinged because they're so locked into the world of hating Trump and Trump derangement syndrome, they're doing everything in their power, as I've been telling you, to destroy him. Now, there's no doubt tonight that unbiased news is dead and buried with very few exceptions.
Joining us now with reaction, conservative commentator Monica Crowley. I don't even know where to begin here! This isn't even funny anymore. This is, like, off the charts, loony, play the "Twilight Zone," meet, you know, crazy bizarre conspiracy theories that they're advancing every hour of every day!
MONICA CROWLEY, CONSERVATIVE COMMENTATOR: You know, you played that clip from Vladimir Putin talking about, Well, the Americans are going to launch yet another fake chemical attack. The Russians have long been masters of propaganda and disinformation and lies, lying campaigns, but so has the American left.
And what you just laid out there is them doing the work of our enemies for us. We had a conversation about a month ago, Sean, on this program about the campaign to delegitimize Donald Trump. If only it were that simple. That we could actually fight back and manage. But what is happening is a multi-front war against this president coming not just from the left, but from the establishment on both on sides, from the mainstream media, from the international community, from the deep state, from every possible angle!
And what I said at the time was Donald Trump was able to smash 16 Republican pros during the campaign, smash the Obama machine, smash the Clinton machine and become president.
HANNITY: How does NBC allow...
CROWLEY: I just hope he can withstand this as president because this is a completely different ball game!
HANNITY: How does NBC float a theory that Vladimir Putin told Assad to launch a small chemical attack that was big enough to attract media attention and prompt President Trump into launching a missile strike, which would then change the topic of Russian collusion, and meanwhile right now, Russia is threatening to fight back against us, Syria is threatening to fight back against us, and Rex Tillerson is lecturing publicly about possible collusion or incompetence of Putin?
CROWLEY: Right. Well, look, I mean, if you look at what the left's campaign has been against this president from the start -- now, for months, it's been the allegations of Russian collusion that persist despite no evidence. It's the constant onslaught of fake news, as you just laid out. It's the lies. It's the smears. And they have the amplification of the media echo chamber to carry these messages.
So for the left, it doesn't matter that it's not true, Sean. I mean, anybody with common sense knows what you just laid out is false and a defamatory attack on the president. But for the left, it's not about the facts. For the left, it's about injecting into the bloodstream these kinds of theories, these kinds of allegations...
HANNITY: This almost...
CROWLEY: ... so that they...
HANNITY: ... pathological at this point, though.
CROWLEY: Yes, but the...
HANNITY: I mean, the very same people that were so upset that people wanted Barack Obama to show his birth certificate...
CROWLEY: Right!
HANNITY: ... that's racism and dog whistles and...
CROWLEY: So -- that's right. So you know what we should call them? We should call them Putiners (ph)! Because (INAUDIBLE)...
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: Birthers.
CROWLEY: This is not defending the birther theory, this is just to say that this is what they do. They go out there, and so we should turn the tables on them, call them, you know, Russianers (ph) or Putiners, going out, spreading these lies, hoping that they stick...
HANNITY: Very dangerous.
CROWLEY: ... to create a narrative against this president! Now, once the Russia storyline disappears, which eventually it will because at least as of now, there's been no evidence that anybody's been able to produce...
HANNITY: There's none.
CROWLEY: ... about the campaign or this president...
HANNITY: None. Eight months.
CROWLEY: ... and Russia -- once that storyline is over, they will find another one, Sean. This is just the beginning of the war against President Trump, and I hope he understands that.
HANNITY: Donald Trump has been invaded by aliens and aliens are controlling his mind and actions. That might be...
CROWLEY: That'll be next!
HANNITY: That may not be too far off. All right, good to see you. Thanks, Monica.
CROWLEY: You, too. Thanks, Sean.
HANNITY: And up next tonight on this busy news night here on "Hannity"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SESSIONS: For those that continue to seek improper and illegal entry into this country, be forewarned. This is a new era. This is the Trump era.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, that was the attorney general, Jeff Sessions, at the southern border announcing new measures to crack down on illegal immigration. He will join us next.
And also tonight, former Obama administration national security adviser Susan Rice has been caught in several lies, lying to you, the American people. Will she finally be held accountable? Laura Ingraham is here tonight to weigh in on that and so much more as we continue on "Hannity."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JACKIE IBANEZ, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Good evening and live from America's News Headquarters, I'm Jackie Ibanez in New York.
Polls now close in the special election in Kansas. The election being held to fill the seat vacated by Senator Mike Pompeo. He left to become the director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Democrats holding out a small hope for a victory in the state in which both Senate seats have been historically controlled by Republicans since the 1930s.
And The Washington Post reporting the FBI obtained a court order last summer to monitor former Trump advisor Carter Page. The warrant was part of an investigation into leaks between Russian officials and the Trump campaign. Page tells Fox News he's excited the truth is finally coming out.
And John Warren Geils, better known as J. Geils of the J. Geils Band has died. He was found in his Connecticut home. Geils was 71 years old.
I'm Jackie Ibanez. Now back to Hannity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SESSIONS: For those that continue to seek improper and illegal entry into this country, be forewarned. This is a new era. This is the Trump era. The lawlessness, the abdication of duty to enforce our laws and the catch and release policies of the past are over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That was the attorney general Jeff Sessions earlier today in Arizona where he toured the U.S.-Mexico border and ushered in a new era of border security and law enforcement. The Trump administration has had a tough job ahead of them. According to Pew Research and their center, half of all 2014 federal arrests were for immigration related offenses.
Joining us now with details on the administration's plan to enforce the border is Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Attorney General, I've been down to the border probably about 12 or 14 times. I've been there when criminals are arrested, I've been drug warehouses, helicopter, horseback, boats, all-terrain vehicles. I've seen it up close. I've seen tunnels dug up from Mexico to San Diego. What exactly is going to change, and how quickly will it change?
JEFF SESSIONS, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: It's already changing. Can you believe that we've had the lowest number of entrants at the border in 17 years? This is a direct result of Donald Trump's strong, clear leadership. It has an impact.
The most important thing for us is to send a message to the world that the border is not open. Please don't come. You will be apprehended if you do come, and you will be deported promptly. If you're a criminal, you will be prosecuted. If you assault our officers we're going to come at you with a ton of bricks. This is the kind of message we need to send. It's already being sent. It's having a dramatic impact so far. I knew strong presidential leadership, unlike the wishy-washiness we've seen in the past would impact the flow, but not as much as we've seen already. The numbers are down 70 percent since President Obama left office. It's a really remarkable achievement.
HANNITY: Mr. Attorney General, there was a report today that Congress when they get to their budget may not be funding the border wall. This was a key part of the president's agenda and narrative during the campaign. Will that happen? Will the president not be a part of any Bill did not fund that wall?
SESSIONS: I know he's going to battle for that and I believe he will get funding for the wall, I can't imagine Congress to deny him that. It doesn't have to be every foot of the entire 1,700 border, we know that. But a wall, a barrier multiplies the ability of our border patrol and customs officers to be effective. They tell me that and I know they've told you that in the past.
HANNITY: They have, they have.
SESSIONS: So this is the way to go. If we follow through on this, we can secure this border. It will be a historic thing and is something that the border patrol and our ICE officers and our customs people are really excited about. You remember, they were so frustrated they eve even sued Obama leadership and endorsed Donald Trump in this election. I think their morale is up and I think that's a part of our success, too.
HANNITY: When does a president ever get to tell those people to ignore the law? Why do I expect that I was ignoring the law, that they would handcuff me, perp-walk me, fingerprint me, mug-shoot me and send that out all over the world.
Last question, sir. Sanctuary cities, criminal aliens, catch and release -- that's only thing of the past, correct?
SESSIONS: We're going to go after the sanctuary cities first and foremost. We're going to urge them to protect the safety of the people in their cities. Do not release dangerous criminals into the community when the law says they are to be deported. And there are a lot of things that we can do that will help protect safety in this country. And we are going to stay at it. We are going to back up our law enforcement officers. We are going to prosecute those who assaulted them. We're going to prosecute the people they catch in court, and we are going to send a message that the criminality is over.
HANNITY: All right, Mr. Attorney General, I'm glad you went down there today. There's nothing like seeing it up close, and that's why I went down and reporter at least a dozen times. Thank you, sir.
And coming up, former Obama administration official Susan Rice has been exposed time and time again for lying and not telling the truth. Is she ever going to be held accountable? We'll ask Laura Ingraham, that's coming up next.
Also later, the CEO of United Airlines has finally apologized after major fallout over that viral video of this passenger being dragged down the aisle and removed from a flight. Larry Elder and Mercedes Schlapp will weigh in, and the HANNITY Hotline, all as we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So for years right here on this program we have been calling out former top Obama official Susan Rice for her many blatant and outright lies, including this false and of bizarre and puzzling comment that she made about Syria's chemical weapons stockpile back in January. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SUSAN RICE, FORMER NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We were able to find a solution that actually removed the chemical weapons that were known from Syria in a way that the use of force would never have accomplished. I think the president stated the U.S. view, which is the use of chemical weapons is not something we are prepared to allow to persist. And we didn't. We managed to accomplish that goal far more thoroughly than we could have by some limited strikes against chemical targets by getting the entirety of the declared stockpile removed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now even the liberal, destroy-Trump media, they are noticing the former national security adviser's misrepresentation of the facts, or lies. Washington Post giving Rice the four Pinocchio's over the remarks you just heard. Now from Benghazi to Bergdahl to the unmasking of Trump officials to her comments now about chemical weapons, why is Susan Rice at the center of nearly every single big Obama administration lie?
To help us get to the bottom of it, editor in chief of Lifezette, nationally syndicated radio host, Fox News contributor, she doesn't have enough jobs, Laura Ingraham is with us.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: Bergdahl didn't serve with honor and distention, the five Sunday shows, than the chemical weapons we just heard, and lied about, oh, I know nothing about surveillance and unmasking. She lies with regularity. You can't trust a word that comes out of her mouth.
LAURA INGRAHAM, EDITOR IN CHIEF, LIFEZETTE.COM: Susan Rice has become the congenital liar of the Obama administration. And when "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times" both have to admit that this has become something of a pattern with her, and specifically as it relates to Syria, you know it's now gotten to be a bit much.
You do wonder at some point, Sean, why was there never -- why was there never any price to be paid for going out on those Sunday shows and telling untruths after untruth? The Obama administration never really held pretty much anyone to account. What did they fire, Van Jones. That was pretty much the only person they ever fired. They reassigned other people in the State Department.
But Susan Rice always had a get out of investigation, get out of jail, get out of accountability card. She always seem to be able to skate --
HANNITY: Why do we do that with everybody? Hillary Clinton, email server scandal, Clinton Foundation, uranium, 20 percent of America's uranium, quid pro quo, kickbacks. We never follow up unless your name is Scooter Libby, then we will follow up.
INGRAHAM: The buck stopped nowhere. But in this particular case it was so idiotic, sorry to be uncharitable, it was so idiotic because John Kerry had already said that they couldn't verify that in fact all the weapons had been removed and/or destroyed. And that was part of his outgoing memo to the president. In April of 2016 it had been written about that it wasn't all that clear that they had been able to remove these stockpiles. Even on the facts as they are publicly reported, Susan Rice either just isn't paying attention or doesn't care about the truth. On the other stuff we know she just decided to take one for the team.
HANNITY: What about all the lying that's going on in the media now? I know NBC slants left, but there's a difference between slanting left the stories you cover or choose to cover or don't cover versus a bizarre conspiracy that Putin told Assad to launch a small chemical weapons attack because he wants to distract and help his buddy Trump get off the Russia collusion story with the Trump campaign. This is now NBC advancing this bizarre conspiracy. And that insanity, it's like they are literally spiraling down in front of our eyes because they can't accept the reality that Hillary lost this campaign.
INGRAHAM: I think they've never been able to accept it because it embarrassed so many of their pundits, so many of their reporters who really were caught napping during much of the campaign, were so biased, all the revelations about collusion at CNN with the DNC, everything that we've learned about how the media operated just over the past year and a half, Sean, has been a complete and utter embarrassment.
HANNITY: So how does this end, where does this end?
INGRAHAM: I think it ends with networks like Fox becoming even more popular, with websites like Lifezette becoming go-to places, with independent journalists who don't have an axe to grind either way on one side or the other, actually become more influential, and people are going to pick and choose where they want to get their news.
But the idea that people are going to want to turn on NBC and really discern the true debate in the United States, to watch NBC you would think no one lived in between Los Angeles and New York City. You wouldn't think there was any middle part of the country for the most part in the way they at least report politics, with rare exceptions.
HANNITY: All right, Laura, thank you, as usual. And up next, tonight, right here, on "Hannity."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SCREAMING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God, no!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: The CEO of United Airlines finally has apologized after intense outrage over that viral video of a passenger literally being dragged down the aisle off the flights. Larry Elder and Mercedes Schlapp are here with reaction, that and more as HANNITY continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." It is now the viral video causing outrage all around the world. A man bumped from an overbooked United Airlines flight was forcibly pulled from his seat and dragged right down the aisle by security officials after he refused to leave the plane and his assigned seat.
After nearly two days of widespread ridicule and noticeable decline in United stock, earlier in the day the company's CEO finally issued an apology, writing in part, quote, "I deeply apologize to the customer forcibly removed and to all the customers aboard. No one should ever be mistreated this way."
Joining is now with reaction, Salem nationally syndicated radio host Larry Elder, Fox News contributor Mercedes Schlapp. This is the dumbest thing, this is so dumb. Listen, so they offered another ticket, a free ticket. If you have no takers, then you go four tickets. You go eight tickets, eight tickets and a four-star hotel, eight tickets a four-star hotel and $5,000 pending. Now they're going to have to pay millions, Larry, because this guy is going to sue the pants off them, and their stock is in the tank. How could you be that dumb? That's what I'm trying to figure out.
LARRY ELDER, SALEM RADIO NATIONAL SYNDICATED HOST: Tell me about it. It is so easily solvable. All you have to do is jack up the goodies to get the four people off the plan. And by the way, what I'm hearing, Sean, is that they weren't overbooked. They wanted to bump four people off to put four United personnel on who had to go to the next location. That's really what happened.
But in any case, this has been an absolute disaster. The stock is down one percent. The CEO apologizes and then sends a statement of support to the employees and then apologizes again. I'm sure they have a crisis consultant. Apparently they are not listening.
HANNITY: I just don't understand, Mercedes, in this day and age, you know the other said part of this story is, OK, now the media, as great as they are, they're now trying to trash this poor guy. He had problems 10 years ago. It's nobody's business, he wasn't misbehaving. Why didn't they just offer up the ante until somebody says I'll get off?
MERCEDES SCHLAPP, WASHINGTON TIMES: I really believe the CEO Oscar Munoz should resign. Clearly this half-apology that he gave and then sending this email out to the employees basically saying I'm standing with you and then having to apologize again. This is a guy, Munoz, who in PR week was supposedly honored as the communicator of the year, and he has become a public relations disaster. He would have failed a class.
HANNITY: That's like saying Hillary Clinton was the communicator of the year.
SCHLAPP: Exactly. And the other part of it is, think about it, Sean. We travel with our kids. What if it had been me or a mother or their kids watching their mother being dragged out of there? So basically United Airlines mission is "Our goal is to have a positive experience for the customer." They failed miserably on this.
HANNITY: And you've got to know in this day and age, everybody is videotaping it.
ELDER: That's right.
HANNITY: Larry, here's the thing. If you offer enough to get incentives to give people a reason to get off that flight, take another flight, you offer them seats to anywhere they want to travel, maybe pay for their hotel, maybe give them spending money, at some point I'm raising my hand and say I'll take that deal.
ELDER: That's right. Just hold an auction. At some point I'm raising my hand. It works in reverse, too. Remember when Ronald Reagan got rid of the gas lines. He let the price go to the markets. Let the price go to the market. At some point four individuals would have said, you know, I can see grandma tomorrow. I can make this trip a little bit later on. I don't have to be in tonight. I can do it to the next day. At some point for individuals would have said yes.
SCHLAPP: But Sean, United Airlines made several mistakes. One is you normally make those offers before the passengers board on the airplane. Secondly, they were kicking people off to put their employees on that airplane. Couldn't they have found another flight to put on their employees? So they picked their employees over their customers. This is just bad customer service and bad PR.
HANNITY: And let me tell you, whatever they would have spent on extra flights, hotels, even spending money, is going to be pennies on the dollar by the time this all gets settled.
SCHLAPP: That's right.
ELDER: He's probably all lawyered up right now.
HANNITY: I would be. I feel sorry for the guy. You don't pull somebody out, you just don't. And I was surprised nobody stepped in and said guys, slow down, let's talk about this thing.
ELDER: Why didn't somebody say hey, hey, take my seat, don't drag this guy off. Nobody did that.
HANNITY: Nobody did that either. If it was Mercedes getting dragged out I would've jumped up and given up my seat.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: Larry I don't know about you, even though we're good friend. I don't know.
SCHLAPP: I would've hoped someone would have stopped the chaos. But when you have the White House and the celebrities on the same page that this is a disgrace with the United Airlines did, you know you're in trouble.
HANNITY: You know they screwed up bad. All right, guys, good to see both.
And coming up next, a very important "Question of the Day." And apparently some of you don't like me because we have messages on the "Hannity" Hotline that prove it. That's straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Time for our "Question of the Day." So is the apology from the CEO of United Airlines enough or too little, too late? Go to Facebook.com/SeanHannity, @SeanHannity on Twitter, let us know what you think.
All right, hit me with your best shot. Time for the messages you left for me on the "Hannity" Hotline. They're not always nice, you know. Let's play them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA: Keep doing what you're doing. We love you just like you are. You can even keep rustling the papers.
MATT: Conservativism is a mental illness. You're horrible Hannity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That's so nice of you to say that. That really means a lot. What do you mean I ruffle -- everybody ruffles papers. I'm sitting here. Am I supposed to sit here like this? I can't do a show like that.
All right, you have something you want to say, nice, mean, doesn't matter, call the hotline you see right there, 877-225-8587.
And that's all time we have left this evening. We hope you'll set your DVR so you never miss an episode. We'll see you back here tomorrow night. Thanks for being with us.
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