Gorka, Hoffman preview Trump's upcoming summit with Putin

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Gorka, Hoffman preview Trump's upcoming summit with Putin

What should we expect from Trump's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin? Former deputy assistant to President Trump and Fox News national security strategist Sebastian Gorka and retired CIA senior intelligence officer and Fox News contributor Daniel Hoffman join 'Hannity' with insight.

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," June 29, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JEANINE PIRRO, HOST: Welcome to this special edition of "Hannity," "The Trump Effect." I'm Jeanine Pirro in tonight for Sean. With a booming economy, rising poll numbers and the shakeup of diplomatical relations around the world, the Trump agenda is definitely on the move. And America's left is unraveling. And early this week the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the president's travel ban.

And in another decision, the highest court of the land dealt a serious blow to government labor unions. Plus, breaking this week, Justice Anthony Kennedy is retiring giving President Trump the opportunity to send a judge to the Supreme Court for the second time in 18 months. On Wednesday during a raucous rally in North Dakota, the president recapped his momentous week and so much more. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDOE CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: And I'm proud to report that just yesterday, the Supreme Court upheld the travel ban and our authority to keep America safe. The travel ban ruling underscores just how critical it is to confirm judges who will support our constitution, our great, great constitution. But the Heritage Foundation came out with a report and this was as of two months ago. We have already implemented 64 percent of our top agenda items and that's at a much faster pace than even Ronald Reagan. That is pretty good, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PIRRO: Now, even more good news. Six months after passing an historic tax cut package, the economy is breaking records. Earlier today, President Trump celebrated America's economic progress. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: The economy is indeed doing well. Six months ago we unleashed an economic miracle by signing the biggest tax cuts and reforms. I have to add the word reform, very important word. But the tax cuts is what got us there and that is what is really doing it. The biggest tax cuts in American history.

Now it's my great honor to welcome you back to the White House to celebrate six months of new jobs, bigger paychecks and keeping more of your hard earned money where it belongs, in your pocket or wherever else you want to spend it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PIRRO: In the wake of all this good news, we also learned that President Trump is now set to take part in a diplomatic summit with Russian president Vladimir Putin. And joining us now to preview this meeting and more is the White House senior adviser for strategic communications, Mercedes Schlapp. Good evening, Mercedes.

MERCEDES SCHLAPP, FOX NEWS WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISER FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS: Great to be here.

PIRRO: All right, Mercedes, the president had a great week and in fact I just kind of outlined a lot of it. But I think that the thing that is, you know, the most interesting I would say at this point -- although saving your money and good economy is really important to all of us -- is the Supreme Court.

The president now has an opportunity to put another person on the Supreme Court. It's not even two years and he is going to have his second person on the Supreme Court. Now, I understand he is meeting with potential candidates this weekend in Bedminster. Is that what is happening?

SCHLAPP: Well, the president is working quickly to see if we can fill this vacancy. Obviously he has several folks in mind. He actually has, as you know, put out the list of the 25 qualified candidates. You know, President Trump has been incredibly transparent in this process. In the same time, he has also met with senators, talking with them, getting their input in terms of the Supreme Court justice nominee.

And I think what we do know definitely is that President Trump is looking to make this announcement on July 9th. I got to tell you, the list he's going to -- from that list, you know, you're going to find individuals with impeccable qualifications, with the right judicial temperament and with tremendous intellect in the mold of a Supreme Court Justice Gorsuch. And it is such an important part of President Trump's legacy.

PIRRO: Right.

SCHLAPP: And it's no question, judge, that President Trump has been the most consequential president in our history. I mea, what he has been able to accomplishment as you said is absolutely amazing. It's work that he has put his heart and soul too in and ensuring that Americans every day have opportunities.

PIRRO: And you know, meeting with Putin, I mean, so July 9th, he is going to give us the name of the person that he is going to present for Supreme Court. A week later, he is going to be in Helsinki meeting with, you know, Vladimir Putin. I mean does the man -- I mean, his agenda just keeps on rolling. Earlier, 64 percent of his top agenda items have already been satisfied.

SCHLAPP: We have talked about the booming economic story here in America. His success in ensuring that we had a strong -- that we have a strong economy. As we know in the next quarter, it looks like it's going to be -- the economists are expecting about 4 percent GDP growth. I mean. that is impressive. I

In addition to that, the president obviously focuses on the interests of America's national security. And, of course, that means having very strong relationships with our allies. The president is a coalition builder with other nations. And of course, he takes risks. He goes over to North Korea, meets with Kim Jong-un. He is able to move forward in terms of denuclearizing the region, which is incredibly important for world peace.

In addition to that now, he is looking to meet with President Putin, and this again, an opportunity to talk about a range of national security issues that are critical for our country.

PIRRO: Well, will the president be talking to Putin about cyber warfare, you know, the issue that seems to be on the front burner in this country, election interference?

SCHLAPP: Well I think you're going to see that the president is going to talk about a range of issues including Syria, Iran as well as North Korea. I think that you're going to see that again, the president is going to bring up a variety of issues with President Putin. This is an opportunity for constructive and cooperative engagement with Russia.

As we know, when the United States and Russia are working together and getting along, it's good for the world and it's good for peace and so it's an opportunity again for the two world leaders to come together and talk about a variety of topics.

PIRRO: Well, you know, Mercedes, it is amazing. There is so much to talk about. We can do it with the positive news for an hour, but with what has happened with North Korea, now meeting with Putin, the Supreme Court justice, I mean the president is on a roll. Mercedes Schlapp, so good to see you again. Thank you so much.

SCHLAPP: See you.

PIRRO: All right. And while the Trump agenda saw a lot of progress this week, the deep state continued to collapse and deputy A.G. Rod Rosenstein was in the hot seat. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OHIO: Why are you keeping information from Congress?

ROD ROSENSTEIN, UNITEDS STATES DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Sir, I am not keeping any information from Congress.

JORDAN: I want to know why you won't give us what we've asked for.

ROSENSTEIN: Sir, I certainly hope that your colleagues are not under that impression. That is not accurate, sir.

JORDAN: It is accurate. We have caught you hiding information.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman, can we allow --

REP. RON DESANTIS, R-FLA.: You wrote the memo saying that Comey should be fired and you signed the FISA extension for Carter Paige, so my question is to you, it seems like you should be recused from this more so than Jeff Sessions.

ROSENSTEIN: Congressman, I can assure you that if it were appropriate for me to recuse I would be more than happy to do so and let somebody else handle this.

REP. LOUIE GOHMERT, R-TEXAS: Did you not know that Bruce Orr was meeting with Christopher Steel, getting the information about the dossier and supplying that information to the FBI. At the same time, his wife Nelly was working for Fusion GPS that was helping Hillary Clinton? Did you not know he was doing that for the FBI?

REP. TREY GOWDY, R-S.C.: Whatever you got, finish it the hell up because this country is being torn apart.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

PIRRO: Joining us now are two of the men you just saw, Florida congressman and gubernatorial candidate Ron DeSantis and Texas congressman Louie Gohmert. All right gentlemen, good to have you here. I'm going to start with you, Representative Ron DeSantis.

Was our favorite guy, Rod Rosenstein -- I got to tell you, I watched that, congressman and I was so frustrated with the smirking and the don't attack me personally and the taking the time to run the clock, but is he keeping information from Congress?

DESANTIS: Judge, this is really concerning because it's -- yes, they are keeping information from Congress but it's not just a normal stonewall. What they are saying is Peter Strozk opens this massive counterintelligence investigation against Trump's campaign.

We obviously know that was colored with bias and we know all the problems. And when we're trying to get all the details about it, Rosenstein will say, I just can't talk about it. It's classified and sensitive.

Peter Strozk, when he was in front of judiciary on Wednesday for the deposition, he wouldn't answer most of the questions because it's classified. So they unleash the counterintelligence powers of the government and now they are using that, the sensitivity of that as a shield to protect them from Congressional oversight. That is wrong.

PIRRO: Well, it's clearly wrong, and Congressman Gohmert, I mean you think that these guys are actually listening in on your office?

GOHMERT: Well, I don't know about listening in but I've been told they are keeping an eye on me. The thing is though, I mean, look at what they do. They have a history and especially Mueller and Weissman. They work together on the Russia investigation where Russia is trying to get our uranium illegally, which they have done. So, that was also under the jurisdiction of a guy named Rosenstein.

PIRRO: Right.

GOHMERT: And Rosenstein, Mueller, Comey, Weisman, they are joined together in so much of this stuff and yet it is incredible. And judge, you know, you have seen people lie. I can't say what all Strozk said, but I do now or as I was watching, you know, you would see him say things that he knew he was lying. He knew -- you knew he was lying.

PIRRO: Interesting.

GOHMERT: And yet he was so cool about the way he would say it. And I was sitting there going, golly, he is so good about lying. And then I realize, oh, you know what, he's been doing that forever to his wife. He has got this lying with the proper emotion down pat. All those times he probably lied to his wife about Lisa Page. This guy is really good about what he does.

And then Rosenstein to sit there and say he didn't know what the guy in the office two doors down who worked directly for him. He says he was not working on the Russia investigation. Oh, I didn't know he was the one that got the information from Christopher Steel for the FBI. Wow! How about that?" I mean holy cow.

PIRRO: Well, then you know, -- yes, I know. You know what, Congressman Gohmert, I share your frustrations. But congressman DeSantis, I'm going to ask you this. And the American people understand what is going on. You look at this guy, Rod Rosenstein. He is so knee-deep in the swamp it's pathetic.

He is the one who said that Comey should be fired. He is the one that convinced Sessions he should recuse himself. He is basically now running the Department of Justice. He says he doesn't know anything and he is not dragging his feet on the production of records that Congress wants. But the American people instinctively understood this because they elected an outsider to be president.

So here is the question that they have. What are you going to do about it? I don't want to hear it's the conscience of the Senate, or the Congress. We want you to hand it over. What are you guys going to do about this? When are we going to see justice?

DESANTIS: Well, you have to impose a sanction for noncompliance. I have been saying we should have done that months ago, judge, because we have been doing this dance back and forth --

PIRRO: Right.

DESANTIS: -- and it's just counterproductive. It just wastes time. I don't know, though, so that is what I would like to do personally. I do have other colleagues who would. I don't know whether we have a majority of the Congress who would support that at this juncture. I hope we do, but ultimately you would need to vote it out through whole body. But I think that is absolutely appropriate. And if you don't do a sanction, then they are going to keep stonewalling.

PIRRO: Of course they are going to stonewall. These are the same people who said to you there were no e-mails between the FBI and the Department of Justice on the meeting on the tarmac between Loretta Lynch and Bill Clinton. Come on, they have been lying, you know, from the get-go on this whole thing. But I'm going to go back to you Congress --

GOHMERT: Let me interject.

PIRRO: But I was going back to you.

GOHMERT: It's all going to be a question of how strong our leadership is. When Boehner was speaker, he would not let us go after Coskanin. I mean, the guy lied. It was just all kinds of offenses were committed. And Loretta Lynch, you know, there were problems there but you had the IRS knee-deep in lies and fraudulent conduct and he wouldn't let us do anything.

But if you remember, Trey finally got the assurance and that is why he went on Sunday shows previous two weeks ago and said we are going to have a vote this week if he doesn't produce this week. And we didn't have a vote that week because it got pulled back yet again.

PIRRO: By whom? By whom?

GOHMERT: Our leadership has shown a lack of leadership --

PIRRO: Give me a name. Stop saying, leadership. Give me a name.

GOHMERT: Well, they're elected. They're not leaders but they have been elected and they have prevented us from keeping these guys or making them accountable. So it's all up to what do they do or not

PIRRO: Congressman, give me a name. Who are we talking about? Paul Ryan? Who are we talking about?

GOHMERT: That is where the buck stops. Yes.

PIRRO: Thank you very much. Congressman Ron DeSantis, you were great last night. Congressman, Louie Gohmert, thanks so much for being with us. All right. And joining us now with more is Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt, the author of the new book "The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme To Clear Hillary Clinton And Frame Donald Trump." Fox News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett and Fox News contributor Doug Schoen. All right guys, I'm already fired up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can see. We can tell. Yes.

PIRRO: I can't stand it when people lie, but you know, you can do a lot of things but don't lie to me. All right, Charlie, I will start with you. Now, what we've got here is we've got -- I got -- you just heard two congressmen and what they say is, you know what, leadership isn't letting us do what we've got to do. What do they have to do? American people are frustrated that is why they elected Donald Trump. What needs to happen now?

CHARLIE HURT, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, it's just beyond frustrating. When you sit there and you look at a guy like Rod Rosenstein who I think should be impeached, should be fired quite frankly. To look at a guy like that whose only objective in coming before Congress is somehow sticking up for covering up, trying to protect the institution of the FBI, that is not what we are worried about here.

What we are talking about is that the FBI was turned -- was weaponized, turned into a political weapon and went after a political opponent at the height of a presidential campaign. These are very, very important constitutional issues that Congress has ever right and every responsibility to get to the bottom of.

PIRRO: And they are not doing it.

HURT: And to have these people -- and they are not doing it. And to have these people stonewalling only means that Congress should work twice as hard to get that information.

PIRRO: Okay. That tells me, Doug, they are the swamp, too.

DOUG SCHOEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely and I have got a dirty little secret to reveal tonight. The reason the Republicans have been lagging in the polls -- they are coming up now -- is because of the Republican leadership. The least popular people in America are Paul Ryan, retiring, and Mitch McConnell. That is Donald Trump and that is the Republican Party's problem and a great benefit for the Democratic Party.

PIRRO: And you know, what is interesting though is that Mitch McConnell, you know, with the selection of the Supreme Court justice, his numbers and his stock is going to go up a little bit. I think.

SCHOEN: But you don't hear him on this issue, do you, judge?

PIRRO: No, you don't hear him on this issue and that is why I'm going to Gregg Jarrett to talk about -- I mean, I could say how frustrated were you but we all were. But look, when you have got this Rod Rosenstein, I, like you, was all teed up to get some answers. He smiled, he smirked. He said you are not attacking me personally, are you? I am attacking you personally. I mean, what is your take on this whole thing?

GREG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: He was untruthful yesterday. He denied that he threatened staff members on the intel committee. I talked to two of them. They used that very word. We were threatened by him. He threatened to subpoena our e-mails, our phone records and our texts. He was also untruthful when he said that he was not withholding documents from the committee.

His own letters reveal that he is concealing evidence and withholding documents and that is why he has been given until July 6th to turn them over or be held in contempt. But I think the president should order him in writing to comply. And if he doesn't comply he should be fired.

PIRRO: All right. Let's continue with that. I will go to you, Charlie. If the president were to order Rod Rosenstein to comply and Rosenstein doesn't, then who impeaches Rosenstein? Would the president fire Rosenstein? Does he need another James Comey scenario all over again?

HURT: Well, my goodness, judge. I don't know -- who does this guy think he works for? He ultimately works for the president and he ultimately works for the American people. And if the president wants to can him, he can. He works for the president. And the fact that he is sitting in that committee hearing pointing at these members of Congress who are doing their job or trying to do their job, which is oversight of the administration, oversight of a position that they created and they confirmed him to hold.

The idea that he is going to sit there and point fingers at him and of course, Gregg is exactly right, the most astonishing things are the threats that have come from him. But even before the threats made to staffers, he accused -- he said that -- he had some comment about how he will not be bribed into giving over information. Basically accusing members of Congress of trying to bribe him.

PIRRO: And guys, I'm running out of time. I mean, Congress is a coequal branch of government. This guy is so arrogant and condescending. Should he be impeached?

SCHOEN: Here's what -- here's the political --

PIRRO: We have no time.

SCHOEN: Yes. It will become a constitutional crisis --

PIRRO: If the president does fire him.

SCHOEN: Yes. And that is what he is banking on.

PIRRO: And that is what is Rosenstein is --

SCHOEN: Correct.

PIRRO: What do you think should happen?

JARRETT: You cannot defy a lawful subpoena from Congress. That is grounds for being fired. It should be done if he continues to obstruct.

PIRRO: It has never happened.

JARRETT: Let's do it now.

PIRRO: I'm with you. Thanks, guys.

JARRETT: Thank you.

PIRRO: Coming up on this special edition of "Hannity," Hillary Clinton is the latest Democrat endorsing incivility on the left. Governor Mike Huckabee will react to that and much more, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PIRRO: Welcome back to the special edition of "Hannity," The Trump Effect. As President Trump's agenda succeeds, the left is literally unraveling. And now many are harassing Trump allies all over the country. The left claims to have a monopoly of compassion for women. But take a look at how they treat women in positions of power within the Trump administration.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARAH SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I was asked to leave a restaurant this weekend where I attempted to have dinner with my family. My husband and I politely left and went home. I was asked to leave because I work for President Trump. We are allowed to disagree but we should be able to do so freely and without fear of harm. And this goes for all people regardless of politics.

PAM BONDI, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Three huge guys came up and started probably an inch from my face screaming at me every word in the book, cursing as loud as they could. So then a trooper, my trooper came up. And my boyfriend and I got our tickets. We were headed in. And then they ran in and circled me where I could not get into the theater. They stopped me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen is in a Mexican restaurant of all places. The (BLEEP) gall. Shame on you!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE/FEMALE: Shame! Shame! Shame!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shame! Shame! Shame!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE/FEMALE: Shame! Shame! F

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fascist pig!

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

PIRRO: And on Tuesday, a group of protesters in Georgetown harassed senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, who serves as President Trump's Secretary of Transportation. Following these outrageous displays, many on both sides of the aisle had called for civility.

But when Hillary Clinton was asked about these calls, she responded, "Oh, give me a break." But the (inaudible) rhetoric is not only targeted on Republicans in leadership positions. Take a look at the calls from the left to get rid of ICE.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

SEN. KAMALA HARRIS, D-CALIF.: I think there is no question that we've got to critically re-examine ICE and its role and the way that it is being administered and the work it is doing and we need to probably think about starting from scratch.

CYNTHIA NIXON, GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE FOR NEW YORK: I think we need to abolish ICE. That seems really clear. They have strayed so far from the interest of the American people and the interest of humanity. We need to abolish it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eliminating ICE for instance. And President Trump --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Yes.

REP. MARK POCAN, D-WISC.: ICE isn't doing what it was created to do. It's being used as his own personal police force. And in those actions it's actually making us less safe.

SEN. KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND, D-N.Y.: I don't think ICE today is working as intended.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So you think you should get rid of the agency?

GILLIBRAND: I believe that it has become a deportation force. And I think you should separate the criminal justice from the immigration issues and I think you should re-imagine ICE.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

PIRRO: Joining me now with reaction, Mike Huckabee, Fox News contributor. Good evening, governor. Now I can't imagine as a father what it's like watching your daughter stand at that podium and talk about her being harassed out of a restaurant because she works for our president, and you know, a man who is both a friend of yours and obviously someone that she admires a great deal. Give us your reaction.

MICKE HUCKABEE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's very frustrating to see that the owner of a restaurant not only bullied my daughter and threw her out of the restaurant, but showed a level of bigotry. And if you are going to be that bigoted, then put a sign on your restaurant that says, "No shirt, no shoes, no Republicans, no service."

I mean at least be honest about it and say to people we don't want your business. We don't want the likes of you at our lunch counter. You can't even sit in the back of the bus. But that is pretty sad in our country. I think Sarah handled it with a lot of dignity and class. Probably more than her old man would have done.

PIRRO: Well, and then, you know, she, of course, is someone that all of us have a great deal of respect for. And she called herself as has done the president for civility. And then good old Hillary who I thought was still in the woods comes out again and says, you know, "forget about that. Give me a break." What is your take on Hillary Clinton's basic rejection as civility as a way to approach this problem?

HUCKABEE: Not a surprise coming from the person who called the Trump voters "a basket of deplorables." It's clear she has not gotten over the loss. But here is what is even clear. This November, Americans will make a very significant decision as to whether they want to elect the Democrats who want to get rid of ICE and open the borders and treat people who come here illegally with great level of open arms, regardless of their criminal background and even let them vote, for heaven's sake.

PIRRO: Yes.

HUCKABEE: Do we want a party that lets illegal aliens get treated better than we do citizens simply going out to eat or going to a movie? And that is the America that people will choose. Do you want the civil one where you get to go to a restaurant or the one where you don't unless you are an illegal and then, of course, come on in and we won't arrest you because we're getting rid of the police force, the very people who try to keep these folks out?

PIRRO: You know, I must tell you, governor, when I first heard of the woman who is running for governor was "Sex in the City" Cynthia Nixon, when she says we should get rid of ICE. I'm like, yes, just goes to show you someone has never been in government before. But then they all started taking on this mantra. I had to stop and say to myself, what is happening in the United States of America?

HUCKABEE: Well, it's obvious that this is a script. All the Democrats are required to read it. I think they have to memorize it. It's like lines in a play. And they are all supposed to audition for it. But it's getting really ridiculous when this is their message to the American voter.

Let's get rid of any scrutiny of the people who break into this country without any form of identification, who do not come through the legal process. Judge, we are a nation of immigrants. We love and welcome immigrants in this nation.

PIRRO: Of course we are.

HUCKABEE: All of us have come here from somewhere. But, my gosh, we did have to do it legally. What these folks are saying is, no borders, non- whatsoever. I can't go to any country in the world and just walk right in. Why should somebody be able to come in to America like that? I have no idea.

PIRRO: Well, it is a turning point in this country. And as you say, the 2018 elections are so incredibly important. Anyway, Governor Mike Huckabee, so good to have you on this evening.

HUCKABEE Thanks. Always a pleasure, judge.

PIRRO: All right. And still to come on this special edition of Hannity, Democrats and the media are completely losing it over Justice Anthony Kennedy's retirement from the United States Supreme Court.

And by the way, don't forget to buy a copy of my book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. "Liars, Leakers and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy." More Hannity after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PIRRO: Welcome back to this special edition of Hannity.

Justice Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court this week throwing the left and the mainstream media into utter hysteria. Look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Regardless of what happens in his presidency now, Donald Trump will leave a mark on this country for decades to come. Yes. It's like it's not going to go away. It's like he is giving America judicial herpes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you are LGBTQ, if you are a person of color, if you are a woman -- so basically, if you are not a straight white male in America right now, you are probably freaking out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are looking at the destruction of the Constitution of the United States.

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We're not screwed. We're actually screwed for generations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clean air and water that you use and breathe is at stake.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are looking down the tunnel of potentially criminal liability for women who are seeking to make decisions about their own bodies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's time for Democrats to throw down. And what I mean by that is that we've been playing by the rule book. And Donald Trump and Republicans have been playing by street rules. We need to play by street rules.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't allow a vote on this, don't have a hearing, don't have a meeting, don't let anything go forward. Don't play ball with this decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PIRRO: Fox News is reporting that President Trump is set to interview candidates this weekend and will announce a final decision on Monday July 9.

The president sat down with Fox Business' Maria Bartiromo to discuss the major questions he might have for his potential nominees. Her interview is going to air Sunday at 10 a.m. Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: Are you going to ask your nominees beforehand how they might vote on Roe versus Wade?

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, that's a big one. And probably not. They are all saying don't do that. You don't do that. You shouldn't do that. But I'm putting conservative people on.

And I'm very proud of Neil Gorsuch. He has been outstanding. His opinions are, you know, so well written. So brilliant. And I'm going to try and do something like that. But I don't think I'm going to be so specific.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PIRRO: Joining me now with reaction, former Obama economic adviser, Austan Goolsbee. And Fox News contributors, Deroy Murdock and Robert Jeffress. All right. I'm going to start with you, Pastor Jeffress.

Right now, the right, of course, is looking for the president to appoint someone who is pro-life. The president has indicated in the preview that he is not going to ask that direct question. What do you think the president is going to ask as it relates to whether or not a person is pro-life?

ROBERT JEFFRESS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, the president is exactly right not to ask a specific question about Roe v. Wade. And judge, he doesn't need to. And here is why. It's the philosophy of this justice that really counts.

You know, for the last 50 years the only way liberals have been able to enact their agenda is through the judiciary having justices who create imaginary rights for some Americans while at the same time erasing the real rights of other Americans.

There is no right to abortion. That's nowhere in the Constitution. But there is a right to life to erase for 50 million children butchered in the womb since 1973 Roe v. Wade.

And if the president and I know he will, appoint a conservative justice with a conservative philosophy, Roe v. Wade and all of these other atrocities from the judiciary will take care of themselves.

PIRRO: Austan Goolsbee, all right. So, I assume you are going to have the opposite opinion. But isn't the president almost required to suggest someone who is an originalist, who is a constitutionalists? I mean, I think we can all agree that justices are not supposed to write the law. They are supposed to interpret precedent.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FORMER BARACK OBAMA CHIEF ECONOMIST: Yes, look. I can see why the Democrats that you showed on the clip are as agitated as they are. Justice Kennedy is really quite a centrist justice. He is kind of the deciding vote on a lot of these cases.

PIRRO: Right. Right.

GOOLSBEE: By most indicators, we don't know who -- I see your name rumored, Judge Jeanine, so I'm not going to ask if you're going to that interview. But it depends a great deal on who he replaces Justice Kennedy with. By most indications it looks like somebody who is going to be quite a radical departure from what Justice Kennedy was.

PIRRO: So.

GOOLSBEE: And if they do that, I don't want to get in an argument about the issue of abortion. It's a very emotional issue. Just the polls indicate that more than two-third of America do not want to overturn Roe versus Wade at this point.

PIRRO: OK. All right. Deroy--

(CROSSTALK)

GOOLSBEE: And so if you put in a justice that does that, we're going to have problems.

PIRRO: Well, I don't know if we're going to have problems. But Deroy, let me ask you this. Is there a requirement that because Kennedy is very often the swing vote, that the president is required to or suggest to nominate someone who is going to be like Kennedy? He can nominate anyone he wants.

DEROY MURDOCK, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: He can nominate anybody. He could nominate a very left wing judge if he wanted, a very right wing judge or a centrist. I assume he's going to pick somebody off that list that he publicized. Twenty one, the original 21, it's up to 25 judges.

PIRRO: Twenty five, right.

MURDOCK: Which basically has been vetted by the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society. He's been very public. He's been very open and transparent. Most of these names were out there before he was elected.

PIRRO: Right.

MURDOCK: So people knew what they are going to get when they voted for him. And whether you like or dislike these people he's been very transparent about putting these names forward. People have had basically a year and a half to look into them and their backgrounds and the judicial outlook and so forth.

PIRRO: Al right. And I'll ask you this, Pastor Jeffress because, and then I want to go back to Austan again. Look, the truth is that, you know, these justices, I mean, judges who are up to be a justice, I mean, if they have too many decisions that are controversial, I mean, that's going to cause, you know, uprising.

But if they don't have a lot of controversial decisions, then on the other hand they are going to be conservatives who are going to say well, maybe they are not conservative enough. And in the end what we got is Murkowski and Collins who are votes that we need, who were the Republican senators who are both pro-choice.

JEFFRESS: That's right.

PIRRO: So, how does the president balance that to get the 50 Republicans that he needs? Because Pence will be there if there is a tie the 50 judge.

JEFFRESS: You know, judge, not long ago the president asked me why I thought he had a 75 percent approval rating with Evangelicals. And I said it's very simple. You are delivering on your promise to put conservatives on all of the courts.

Judge, the president knows this. This is what he ran on. And I'll have to tell you. If we were dealing with a President Bush, either one of them, or heaven forbid, a President Romney, I'd be nervous tonight that that the president would waffle and give in to the Democrats and the liberal Republicans but this president has the guts to deliver on his promise. And I believe he is going to do it.

PIRRO: Well, clearly he does. I don't think there is anyone at this point who would say that President Trump doesn't have guts. I mean, but let me go to Austan now.

You know that there are Democratic senators, Heidi Heitkamp, as well as Manchin, OK. They are in red states. They are Democrats. What happens to them if they vote for a conservative nominee in a state that is overwhelmingly red?

GOOLSBEE: What happens among their voters or what happens to the Congress, what do you mean?

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: Yes. Do they get elected? Do they get elected?

GOOLSBEE: You know, I don't know. They are, you are quite right. They are in tough races. You know, I would be remiss not to remind everyone that the Democrats were in office and they had the longest filibuster and held up the proposed Justice Merrick Garland.

So you can see why the Democrats are feeling like this was a power play that was not justified. I think that the Democrats in red states that are in tough races, it's going to matter a lot to them who gets nominated as a candidate.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: It's going to be a conservative. We all know that.

GOOLSBEE: And does that candidate seem like someone reasonable or does it seem like someone extreme?

PIRRO: It's going to be a conservative. And they are not going to be happy. If they are not happy, people going in restaurants you can be sure they won't be happy with the president's nominee. Thank you, gentlemen.

JEFFRESS: Thank you.

PIRRO: And coming up, Daniel Hoffman and Sebastian Gorka on President Trump's upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as this special edition of Hannity continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PIRRO: Welcome back to this special edition of Hannity.

The White House announced yesterday that President Trump will hold a one- on-one summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on July 16, in Helsinki, Finland.

On Air Force One today, the president told reporters that he will discuss with Putin the ongoing situations in Syria and Ukraine, election meddling and the de-escalation of tensions with Russia and China.

President Trump's national security adviser, Ambassador John Bolton was in Moscow earlier this week meeting with Putin and their other Russian officials to help prepare for the summit. He also addressed critics who believe the meeting shouldn't happen due to the ongoing Russia probe taking place here in the United States. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BOLTON, UNITED STATES NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, I think a lot of people have said or implied over time that a meeting between President Trump and President Putin would somehow prove some nexus between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin, which is complete nonsense. But I don't think that has been helpful.

The fact is that it's important for the leaders of the two countries to meet. There are a wide range of issues despite the differences between us where both President Trump and President Putin think they may be able to find constructive solutions. I would like to hear someone say that's a bad idea.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PIRRO: Joining us now with reaction, retired CIA senior intelligence officer and Fox News contributor Daniel Hoffman. And former deputy assistant to President Trump and Fox News national security strategist, Sebastian Gorka.

All right. Good evening, gentlemen. Dan, I'm going to start with you. You know what's fascinating to me is that, you know, since John Bolton has been the secretary of state, I mean we have had a meeting with Kim Jong-un. We now have a meeting lined up in two weeks with Putin. I mean, it is just amazing, is it not, that we have been able to have these sit-downs when the last administration didn't know how to meet with anybody that like Putin or Kim Jong-un.

DANIEL HOFFMAN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Ambassador Bolton is absolutely right about the importance of high-level diplomacy. I would caution just from my experience at the CIA about managing our expectations. We have an extraordinarily complex and challenging relationship with Russia where few of our interests intersect.

We also have this background of Russia's nefarious espionage operations. They are meddling in our election with cyber intrusions which Ambassador Bolton in my view rightly called an act of war.

PIRRO: An act of war.

HOFFMAN: But there's no question that it's important -- the stakes are high and that's why diplomacy matters. We will talk about the important issues of the day including the arms control. The START Treaty is due to expire in February 2021. He might want to talk about extending it. There is Ukraine and Syria. Not to mention the traditional issues of counterterrorism, counter proliferation and fighting organized crime together.

PIRRO: All right. Sebastian Gorka, let's talk about Ukraine, you know, the pro-Russian separatist and everything going on in Ukraine that Barack Obama did nothing about. I mean, what leverage do we have with Russia to be able to get them to forget about coming to the table, they are already at the table but how do we level them?

SEBASTIAN GORKA, FOX NEWS NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGIST: Well, Russia is in a world of hurt right now. If you look at every single significant policy decision the president has taken in the last year and a half, judge, which has any impact on Russia, they have been hurt. Whether it is unleashing fracking in the ANWR, whether it's getting the NATO nations finally to pay the 2 percent of their defense budget or whether it's arming the Ukrainians, we have a lot of leverage.

This is a country that is in a death spiral. Six hundred thousand Russians die every year more than are born. The average mortality of a Russian male is under 60. So, there's all kind of things with economic, diplomatic that we can leverage.

But the big problem is this is a nation run by a former KGB officer. The kinds of people that Daniel was dodging in Moscow for many years. This is not your average country.

PIRRO: All right, Daniel. You are shaking your head. Add to it.

HOFFMAN: No, I'm nodding. Sebastian -- Dr. Gorka is 100 percent right about that.

PIRRO: All right. But then, what do we have to offer them?

HOFFMAN: Well, you know, I think Dr. Gorka was right about the leverage in Ukraine. What scares Vladimir Putin is democracy. That's an existential threat to his regime security.

Having a country on his border with a large number of ethnic Russians and the Russian-speaking population like Ukraine, which is growing in its relationship with the European Union and with NATO and has just received Tomahawk antitank weapons. Javelin anti tank weapons from the United States. I think we need to double down on our support to Ukraine.

I would like to see the president publicly make a statement, a commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity and independence at the summit. I think a harder one for us is going to be Syria--

PIRRO: Yes.

HOFFMAN: -- where this week Russia launched attacks in southwestern Syria that resulted in the deaths of lots of civilians. They broke the truce that was agreed to a year ago. I think that was a truce designed to allow Assad to go focus on other areas in Syria like Damascus. Russia's allies are Hezbollah and Iran. I'm not sure I see us breaking through there with any sort of a resolution.

PIRRO: Well, does Russia, Dr. Gorka, have any kind of incentive to get out of Syria? What does it benefit Russia to be in Syria?

GORKA: Yes. Well, look, Russia has to be understood as different from other countries. This isn't Belgium, this isn't Canada. I always label Russia as an anti-status quo actor. They meddle in other people's business. They destabilize regions to profit from that instability.

However, they are in trouble in Syria. Remember, Secretary Mattis said U.S. forces have killed over 200 Russian mercenaries in Syria. It's not going well. It doesn't play well at home. They want relevance. Putin wants to demonstrate relevance and he knows with Donald Trump this is a very, very different president.

PIRRO: And when they have this meeting -- and I just have a few seconds left -- what do you think we are going to come out with? But I think we are going.

I want to thank you both for being with us tonight. Thank you, Dr. Gorka, and thank you so much, Dan Hoffman. More of the special edition of Hannity after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PIRRO: Welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity." Unfortunately, that's all the time we have left tonight. Don't forget to tune in tomorrow night at 9 for justice, 9 p. Eastern with me, Judge Jeanine.

Laura Trump is going to join us. And don't forget to buy a copy of my book on Amazon or Barnes & Noble, "Liars, Leakers and Liberals: The Case Against the Anti-Trump Conspiracy."

Now I want you to know, if you have been watching the news but you want the real truth, you want to know what's been going on in Congress, you want to know what they have been doing in the FBI and the DOJ -- they told me I have another 10 seconds, buy my book "Liars, Leakers and Liberals." Thanks for being with us tonight. Have a great night. See you tomorrow night.

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