Conway: Special elections a reaffirmation of Trump's agenda
Senior counselor to President Trump weighs in on 'Hannity'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," June 21, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: This is a Fox News Alert. Welcome to "Hannity." And we are broadcasting from sin city, Washington, D.C.
President Trump has just finished his rally in Iowa. We'll have highlights and reaction throughout this hour. But first, Democrats -- they are in total disarray after last night's major win again for President Trump, and of course, Republicans in the Georgia 6th district. Now, the left has absolutely no idea. They're completely out of touch with you, the American people, as we have been telling you.
Plus, we will also expose tonight the biggest conspiracy theorist in the destroy Trump media. And by the way, all that and more in tonight's very important "Opening Monologue."
All right, so the special election last night in the Georgia 6th district was supposed to be a big, big, huge, monumental moment for Democrats in their effort to resist President Donald Trump. And guess what? Just like with all the other special election races, it turns out to be a major win for the president and a massive, huge disappointment and failure for the Democrats.
The Republican candidate Karen Handel, she ended up beating 30-year-old Democrat Jon Ossoff, the new rock star of the left, who couldn't even vote in the race. Why? He doesn't live in the district. And what's even more embarrassing for Democrats -- they spent over $30 million trying to help Ossoff win. It became the most expensive congressional House race in history, and they still came up way short.
Now, liberals actually, they would have been better, you know, served if they dug a big, giant hole and threw all their money in it or maybe give it to poor people and set it on fire. Anyway, it was a total waste of time, and of course, money from a lot of Hollywood people.
And here's why. Democrats right now, they have zip. They have nothing to offer to you, the American people. They're out of touch with you. And by the way, their ideas are old, they're tired. Every single thing they have tried has failed because, of course, they always believe more government is always the solution for all of our problems.
Remember President Reagan once said government is the problem. For example, let's take a look at ObamaCare. That train wreck is, of course, imploding right before your eyes. Remember, you keep your doctor, you keep your plan and you save on average per family in America $2,50 per year? Well, the average increase was over $6,000 and $8,000 for American families.
And earlier tonight, the president in Iowa slammed the destroy-Trump media and the losing Democrats. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We will never be intimidated by the dishonest media corporations who will say anything and do anything to get people to watch their screens or to get people to buy their failing papers.
They thought they were going to win last night in Atlanta. They thought they were going to win. And they've been unbelievably nasty, really nasty, and they thought -- they spent close to $30 million on this kid who forgot to live in the community that he was in. I mean, you know.
So they raised a fortune for him. They fought like hell. They said they were going to win. All of the television networks other than Fox, which really has treated us fairly, by the way...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: They built these studios, CNN...
(BOOS)
TRUMP: Oops! Hey, the camera just went off. I can't imagine -- it's covered live. Their camera just went off. I can't imagine why. This phony -- this phony NBC television network...
(BOOS)
TRUMP: They actually had one of the people say, You know, it was a little rainy last night. Maybe that was the difference in Karen's race.
If she had lost, they would have been there for weeks talking about this! This would have been the greatest defeat in the history of American politics. When she won, when they said projected winner is Karen Handel. Then they said, "We switch to another program," right? So it was so short. They couldn't get out of there fast enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: I'm kind of glad I don't work at CNN, the Clinton News Network, or NBC, the conspiracy news network. President has a good point.
Now, also tonight, we continue to expose the biggest black helicopter tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist in the destroy Trump media, NBC's Rachel Maddow. This is off the hook, out of control! And if it wasn't so serious, it's actually funny.
Now, last night -- remember, they were expecting a big victory, results rolling in from the race in Georgia. President Trump mentioned this at the rally. Rachel Maddow, instead of focusing on their big loss, puts on her tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist wires. And by the way, asked if bad weather was to blame for bad Democratic voter turnout and their loss. You can't make this stuff up! Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: If there was a turnout effect from the bad weather today in the district, does that have any partisan implications that you could foresee in terms of what was expected for same-day election day voting...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
MADDOW: ... here rather than the early vote?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: See, the weather kept only Democrats home. Then, of course, the night cannot go by without Maddow floating some sort of Trump-Russia collusion conspiracy theory even though nobody has says it -- nobody believes it! It's been debunked! To date, there is zero evidence of Trump-Russia collusion, nothing whatsoever! It's been a farce, a total fabrication, 11 months of lies and conspiracies made up by people just like Maddow.
Now, despite these facts, today Rachel -- she was at it again, whipping up a new crackpot theory involving President Trump, the mob money and money laundering, and even Vladimir Putin made it into the mix. Now, you cannot make this stuff up. Well, I guess, apparently, she can at NBC News. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: If this new reporting from Tim O'Brien proves out about Russian money pouring into Trump properties and it coming from sources close to Putin through people known for their mob and money laundering ties -- if that reporting proves out, we're left with the question of why that happened. Why was money connected to Putin pouring into Trump projects? Why did they do that?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Key words, "if this proves out." But then she goes to "Why would they do that?"
If you've been watching this show, you know that example is nothing compared to the other unhinged, completely insane things that NBC and Maddow are saying night after night, day after day.
Here are just a couple of her craziest Trump-Russia conspiracy theories. You're going to love this. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MADDOW, ON "THE LATE SHOW"/CBS, MAY 22: Just last week, Reuters reported on 18 new previously undisclosed contacts between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials.
MADDOW, MARCH 8: U.S. investigators, including the FBI, are looking into a Russian citizen in conjunction with one of the incidents on the Trump campaign last year.
MADDOW, ON "THE TONIGHT SHOW"/NBC, MARCH 16: Maybe he's not as charitable as he says, or maybe he's not really under audit. Like, all those little things might be true. OK, that'd be interesting to know. I don't know that that would change the world that much. But what would change the world is if, you know, Russia was interfering in the election and they weren't doing it on their own and he was in on it, you know?
MADDOW, JUNE 8: The FBI director being fired by the president to try to change or stop an FBI investigation into the president's campaign and his top staffers -- that is a big freaking deal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Big freaking deal? No.
And by the way, you may remember, back in 2011, Maddow tried to explain away then Congressman Anthony Weiner's very graphic, very lewd tweet -- another conspiracy theory. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, JUNE 1, 2011)
MADDOW: If the congressman was hacked, as he said he was, if he was pranked, how would that work? How could a person do that? What would that look like?
The Daily Kos writer looks at the image of the congressman's Twitter account more closely, and judging from the pixelization of the images and some other visual clues, he concludes that the damage was a composite, saved a number of times indicating it had been Photoshopped.
For a theory with fewer steps, a number of other blogs have different versions of a theory of a potential hacking that looks at the information embedded in this controversial picture.
A third but by no means final theory has to do with the photo-sharing service that I was talking about earlier Whyfrog (ph). It's not all that hard to generate a program that would try every possible combination using your Twitter name until you got the right email address to use this service to post pictures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And there wasn't a hacking. Now, of course, there was also the time that Maddow theorized that Republicans may be pushing assassinations as an actual political tactic. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, AUG. 12, 2009)
MADDOW: Has enough kerosene been poured on the flames that the possibility of violence, even assassination, is being posited as a real political tactic in the United States?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And why not play the race card. Last year, Maddow asked if Donald Trump is, quote, "a gateway drug" to racism in the GOP. Let's look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, JULY 28, 2016)
MADDOW: A lot of people who I think are critical of Donald Trump generally look at praise like that from somebody like Donald (ph) Duke and wonder if he is a gateway drug, if there is something beyond Donald Trump himself that means a much greater transformation of the Republican Party into something that is going to be new to mainstream politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: So in the destroy Trump media, what you just saw somehow passes for, quote, "news."
So I have to ask -- Hey, Tom Brokaw, are you proud of NBC News now? You know, I knew the late Tim Russert. He never behaved -- he never reported things like this.
Now, for example ,my former colleague, Megyn Kelly, moved over to NBC. Is she proud of this type of reporting? Megyn interviewed, for example -- was a big deal, made a lot of news -- conspiracy theorist Alex Jones last week. Should she now interview Maddow this week so she can be fair and balanced? What about Matt Lauer? Does he support this nonsense, these conspiracy theories that are being spewed? By the way, what about Andy Lack? He's the head of NBC. He OK with all this?
Now, the only thing the Democrats, members of the destroy Trump media have left are these tinfoil hat conspiracy theories, as Rachel says, and they're using them to create distraction, to try and stop President Trump from what? Keeping his promises and his agenda, bringing them forward. And of course, we're putting on your screen right now the key points of the president's agenda. Now Democrats and the media have proven they're willing to say and do anything to stop the president from enacting that agenda. Enough is enough.
Here with reaction, editor-in-chief, Lifezette, Fox News contributor, nationally syndicated radio host Laura Ingraham. What are -- what are you -- think about that.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, it's a very interesting pattern of gesticulation on the part of Rachel Maddow. I think we need, like, a body language expert in to just completely reveal what's really going on in her mind.
HANNITY: You know what the...
INGRAHAM: God bless them.
HANNITY: We -- we don't want to silence her. I say Go for it.
INGRAHAM: I actually think she's kind of fun. I mean, I -- I mean, if I were a liberal, Rachel Maddow would be all the rage. I mean, I don't -- look, I think what we see in the country right now is that there are people on the far left who are frustrated with the Democrat party because the Democrats are kind of caught -- they're caught in the middle of their own vortex. Some of the Democrats want to go far left. They want to go, you know, income redistribution, jack up the tax rates to 67 percent.
And then there are the ones who are kind of struggling, kind of a little bit in the middle, and they're in no-man's land. They've tried all those ideas of globalization and big government programs, and they failed miserably. Obama had a phenomenal personality, Sean, and he was able to outdo McCain, who was a terrible candidate, and Mitt Romney, who campaigned with the 47 percent disaster comment, and he was able to win both times.
But I submit had a candidate like Donald Trump really caught fire in 2008 and 2012, Barack Obama would not have won the presidency and certainly would not have been reelected. But we didn't have that candidate.
HANNITY: Some headlines, Post yesterday, Georgia 6th district...
INGRAHAM: Oh, I loved the faces today on MSNBC! Passion. (ph)
HANNITY: And CNN.
INGRAHAM: Yes, no, they were great. They were so upset.
HANNITY: Democrats now turning on Pelosi...
INGRAHAM: (INAUDIBLE) election night.
HANNITY: By the way, DNC fund raising in a freefall. You know, Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut saying his constituents, they don't give, quote, his words, "a damn about Russia-gate."
INGRAHAM: Yes. Right.
HANNITY: And Joy Behar says Trump hating isn't working.
INGRAHAM: Well, what do they have? I mean, all they have is the resistance, and what we saw in Georgia and South Carolina -- even though -- I think those margins could have been bigger for the Republicans had they embraced Trump in a more profound way. I think Karen Handel should have campaigned with Trump and should have defied Congress.
She should have said, I'm coming to town, and we're going to get two pieces of legislation on the president's desk and he's going to sign those pieces of legislation. Going to make the lives of the American people better.
She kind of was playing a little bit cutesy with Trump. She had the behind closed doors fund-raiser, but she was -- she was a little scared by the Chamber of Commerce that came in with a lot of money and did help Karen Handel, no doubt about it. But she was a little scared. The Chamber was, like, Whoa, play (ph) it easy on Trump.
I think this election shows us once again that Donald Trump is much more popular than the Congress today that's resisting still his agenda. He was in Iowa tonight -- phenomenal speech, which reminds us we want him on the road. Rally the people against the intransigence in Congress in both the Democrat and the Republican Party, and that thing's going to set on fire.
HANNITY: So...
INGRAHAM: He can set this country on fire in a good way, a very positive way.
HANNITY: Freedom Caucus members Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan are going to be here later tonight.
INGRAHAM: Good.
HANNITY: Now, what's great about that is they're saying, All right, stop with the vacations. Get your work done.
INGRAHAM: Yes.
HANNITY: The Congress is not keeping up with the speed of Trump. They need to do their jobs. Stop with the 30-day vacations.
INGRAHAM: They do. And then the August recess is -- I mean, that time has come and gone. I mean, we -- it's one thing if you're, you know, at 4 percent economic growth and they're hitting it out of the park. But no, their approval rating I think last time I checked was about 18 percent. Trump's at about 36 percent. Trump's riding high. He's double where Congress is today.
HANNITY: Yes.
INGRAHAM: And Meadows -- the guys of the Freedom Caucus, they're good guys -- I agree with them on most issues, but we also have to face facts. They don't have the votes. They don't have the votes for a clean repeal of "Obama care."
HANNITY: They know that.
INGRAHAM: They know that. McConnell and Ryan have to go to Trump and say, This is what we can pass. We've done everything we can, we've turned over every rock. This is what we can pass. Can you sign it? Then Donald Trump's going to make a decision.
HANNITY: What about Rand Paul?
INGRAHAM: It's got to be brutally...
HANNITY: What about Mike Lee, Ted Cruz?
INGRAHAM: They all have to be in on it. If they do nothing, they might as well just, like, hang it up.
HANNITY: It's over.
INGRAHAM: Hang up the shoes. And like...
HANNITY: I agree.
INGRAHAM: And let some real legislators come in and do it because it's seven years later, we're all tired of this game. They're going to the think tanks and they're going to AEI and Heritage and giving lectures about, Oh, how we're -- we're the master budget negotiators. No, you're not. Until you actually show the American people that you can get this house in order, you're not an expert at anything except hot air. We're all tired of that.
HANNITY: If they want to win in 2018, I think they need (INAUDIBLE)
INGRAHAM: Yes.
HANNITY: We already have Neil Gorsuch. That's a big win for...
INGRAHAM: We'll see. I hope he's good. I wasn't impressed with his first opinion, but we'll see about Neil Gorsuch.
HANNITY: OK, we'll see. OK. Fair enough.
INGRAHAM: It's a little long-winded for my taste. He's trying to be Scalia. He's not Scalia. Neil Gorsuch -- we'll see. I'm sorry. I'm a hard -- I trust but verify.
HANNITY: I know.
(CROSSTALK)
INGRAHAM: That's what we say in Russian.
HANNITY: Yes, of course, we always talk Russian on the program.
INGRAHAM: Sorry, but it's the Russia conspiracy theory and...
HANNITY: You're not on NBC. This is not Russia, Russia, Russia every five minutes.
INGRAHAM: Sorry. I speak Russian. So I'm part of the conspiracy!
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: When's the last time you've been there? They want to know.
INGRAHAM: Oh, a few years ago.
HANNITY: All right, if they don't...
INGRAHAM: Just seven times.
HANNITY: ... have 300 miles of the wall, if they don't have "Obama care" repealed and replaced, if they don't have the tax cuts in place for the middle class, corporate America, repatriated money, and if they don't have energy independence, they're risking losing everything. True or false?
INGRAHAM: Absolutely. And I think at that point, the Democrats go in for the kill. They have no agenda, but they can say, Look, at least we were kind of, like, passing stuff. At least we were trying to pass stuff. We'll fix the stuff that we screwed up.
These people are in the majority and they can't get the ball across the finish line. They can't even punt it! I mean, they can't even punt at 40 yards! You know, no two-point conversion. We got nothing. So they got to -- they got to -- they got to start delivering for the American people.
They got some -- got some really good, dedicate public servants on Capitol Hill. Paul Ryan is a smart guy. Mitch McConnell is a master of all the minutiae and procedure. But -- but he has got to stop with the criticizing Trump every time he gets -- I'm sick of hearing what a great special prosecutor Bob Mueller is. I'm sick of hearing them all give cover to Bob Mueller. They should stand up and say, We'll see where this goes, but Bob Mueller -- you know, he's -- last time I checked...
HANNITY: He needs to recuse himself.
INGRAHAM: ... he didn't turn water into wine at the feast of Canal, OK? He's not -- he's not Mr. Perfection, Bob Mueller, but they make him out to be like Mother Teresa.
HANNITY: I think you've got a nice edge tonight. I don't know. I...
INGRAHAM: See, when I'm in person with you, then I can go (INAUDIBLE)
HANNITY: Yes, you go -- of course, you want to...
INGRAHAM: My radio show's just about to start!
HANNITY: Yes, that's true, in a couple hours.
INGRAHAM: So I'm going to go right -- going to go right in.
HANNITY: All right, thanks. It's great to see you.
INGRAHAM: (INAUDIBLE) moderate candidate. You're like a...
HANNITY: Yes, I know.
(CROSSTALK)
INGRAHAM: I'm going to get my tinfoil hat conspiracy chart (ph).
HANNITY: Tonight here on "Hannity."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: ... been watching and they're saying, President Trump has not produced health care! You know, I've been there for five months.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: How long is this -- all right, that was the president earlier tonight in Iowa. Kellyanne Conway will join us next in studio. Also, Jay Sekulow will join us later in the program. Should Mueller recuse himself from this entire investigation? That and much more tonight as "Hannity" continues live from sin city, USA, Washington, D.C.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: ... been watching, and they're saying, President Trump has not produced health care! You know, I've been there for five months. If you remember, during the Clinton period, they worked for years and years and years and never got health care.
ObamaCare is a disaster. It's over. And there's nothing to compare what (sic) we're doing. If we went and got the single greatest health care plan in the history of the world, we would not get one Democrat vote because they're obstructionists! They're obstructionists.
I hope we're going to surprise you with a really good plan. You know, I've been talking about a plan with heart. I said, Add some money to it! A plan with heart.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That was the president earlier tonight, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, talking about the GOP health care plan.
Here with reaction, counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway. So good to see you. I never get to see you as much anymore.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, COUNSELOR TO THE PRESIDENT: So great to see you on set! And the answers (ph) are here.
HANNITY: By the way, you know what it says here? It says number one best host, Mr. Tucker Carlson. I'm, like, really?
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: Thanks for the invitation.
CONWAY: That's at 8:00 PM.
HANNITY: Exactly.
CONWAY: You're the best at 10:00 PM.
HANNITY: I'll put that -- thank you. Health care comes out in the Senate tomorrow. As the president says, it's been five months, making progress.
CONWAY: Definitely.
HANNITY: The agenda -- I know a lot of conservatives are getting antsy, not at the president, the Congress's slow pace, like me. I'm -- I'm, like, Move! Let's go! Keep up to Trump!
CONWAY: (INAUDIBLE) Donald Trump, and Washington is not used to Donald Trump. He's a disrupter. He's a businessman. And they're used to negotiating, making deals and doing things very quickly.
Look, I think that Donald Trump has proven, particularly through these special elections, now 4 for 4, that this isn't just a referendum or his agenda. This is a reaffirmation, that many Americans are watching what he's doing, getting health care through the House and the in short order getting it through the Senate, creating jobs.
Look at how the markets have reacted to President Trump. The stock market, the NASDAQ, the Dow Jones, the S&P, all these confidence measures, the $4 trillion in wealth that's been created. People are spending their money again.
What does all that mean? It means that they'll be confident when they see his health care plan. People know "Obama care" is broken. And what Leader McConnell and the Senate have done is he is putting together a plan that he knows rips out "Obama care" branch and root.
And let's remind people why this is being done. This is not being done to keep a campaign promise. This is an imperative. It's a moral imperative to those millions of Americans, Sean, who thought they would get better health care through "Obama care" and who have been left behind. I sat in a listening session with a number of them today in the White House. They tell you their stories, and you can't- believe...
HANNITY: Heart-breaking.
CONWAY: ... the premiums, the deductibles. They get that insurance card, so the government considers as them insured, but they can't use it because of the premiums and the deductibles.
HANNITY: The deductible's, like, five grand, right?
CONWAY: Yes. And look at these exchanges. Look at these insurers. Another day, just today, another, Anthem, Inc., said that they're out of two more states.
HANNITY: You know, I want to hold up -- this is Donald Trump's contract with the American voter. And it's right here. And you know, (INAUDIBLE) Here's what's important about this. I was thinking about this with all the noise, all the vile hatred, the plays, the severed heads, the ISIS poses and the insanity of the left -- to me, the president and the Republicans, if they go along with him, they're going to be judged on their success.
CONWAY: Correct.
HANNITY: What they deliver in terms of jobs, the economy, energy, education. You -- I know you're so into opioid addiction and prevention. Those -- all the noise and conspiracy theories aren't going to matter if he delivers and he's successful.
CONWAY: You know, during the campaign, I used to say that there's this total disconnect between what Americans are telling us is important to them and what they're being told is important to them. And I see it again now that he's president. The media and the Democrats have this Russian concussion, and they've lost, like, the muscle memory to be able to function in any of their (sic) way to talk about anything he's doing.
But that doesn't mean the people don't see it. We hear from people every single day, Sean, who say, We're praying for you, keep going. They see the job creation. They see the investment that American companies are taking off the shelf. They know that he's trying to protect the American worker and American jobs, keep those factories open here.
This is tech week. Last week was workforce development week. What does that all mean? It means these apprenticeship programs where you get -- there's a 90 percent chance of being employed after you complete one of these apprenticeship programs with the welders, the carpenters, the hairdressers, the people you and I grew up with that are the backbone of our economy, that are the backbone of his electoral success. People want to know that their president respects all types of work. He dignifies all...
HANNITY: I -- I...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I know you don't really probably want to -- I am so offended at the people that Mueller has hired, at Clinton's former attorney, Obama donors, Hillary donors. And here's the question. When the president goes directly to the American people, none of that matters to any of them!
CONWAY: They're just not -- look, people are not talking about Russia. You've got the Democrats talking about Russia. You've got Donald Trump and the Republicans talking about America. And I'll take America talk any day over Russia talk.
HANNITY: And that was -- that was the 6th district last night, wasn't it..
CONWAY: And that was the 6th district last night, where the people just tune out the noise and focus on the news. It's the difference between what's hypothetical and possible and if, if, if, versus what's real and tangible and right in front of you.
They open up their 401(k)s. They go to the local communities, to Main Street, to do their shopping. The small business owners are saying, I can actually hire one more person or provide my employees benefits or expand my operation or stay in business.
What about all the aspiring entrepreneurs who never had a chance against the taxation and regulation the last eight to ten years? They're happy now. They feel like their version of the American dream...
HANNITY: Bring back those -- those multinational corporation dollars. You...
CONWAY: That's right...
(CROSSTALK)
CONWAY: People know tax reform is coming. Sean, what if these small business owners get a 15 or 20 percent tax bracket? It's unheard of. They'll reinvest that in their companies.
HANNITY: A lot of people will get jobs as a result. I got to roll.
CONWAY: And people know taxes are coming. They know health care's coming, spending. They're happy about infrastructure. It would be great for the Democrats to say, Hey, air traffic control? Great idea. But we know that -- look, we know that they said resistance and the voters agreed and they - - and they're -- and the resisting the Democrats.
HANNITY: Resistance.
CONWAY: Absolutely. The Democrats are in a world of hurt. They've got Nancy Pelosi who represents a district that 86 percent of them voted for Hillary and Obama. Come on!
HANNITY: Great to see you again. I haven't seen you in a while.
CONWAY: Great to see you!
HANNITY: Thank you.
When we come back tonight on this busy breaking news night right here in D.C., sin city, on "Hannity"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: From the time I got in, I said, Oh, this is going to be great. Finally, we're going to all come together! They hit me harder, harder, harder. They've now learned, I think, that that doesn't work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: President Trump calling out Democrats at a rally in Iowa tonight. Jay Sekulow here with reaction. Later, will Republican lawmakers forego at least one vacation, please? We'll check in with Freedom Caucus members Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan. Also, Sara Carter, Geraldo Rivera straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Some of the geniuses were saying this morning, you know, from the time he announced on June 16th two years ago, they've been hitting the hell out of him. Hillary took almost all negative ads. The problem was, when people went to vote they didn't know what she stood for other than she was saying bad things about me.
So from the time I announced, I've been hit, hit, hit. Then from the time I got in, I said, oh, this is going to be great. Finally we're going to all come together. They hit me harder, harder, harder. They've now learned, I think, that that doesn't work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Apparently not. The president from earlier tonight taking a shot at the Democrats' very negative political strategy. No vision. Will the left stop trashing the administration, maybe come up with a plan to help you? Jay Sekulow is with us, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, also now an attorney for the president.
JAY SEKULOW, AMERICAN CENTER FOR LAW AND JUSTICE: Hi, Sean.
HANNITY: That's so true. That's Georgia six. But what bothers me is, OK, we go from one investigation, Russia collusion. Then move on to, oh, OK, that didn't work. Let's try obstruction. But the same guy that Comey sets it up, leaks information to "The New York Times" to get a special counsel. The guy that recommended to Comey -- to Trump that he fire Comey now gets Comey's friend, BFF, and then goes and hires all these people that donate to Obama and Clinton, and Clinton's lawyer.
SEKULOW: So what do we know? What is the one piece of evidence that we know in this entire case? What's the one thing we know for sure? James Comey leaked information that he got on a meeting with the president of the United States. I want that to be very clear, a meeting with the president of the United States. He's taking notes. He puts the notes in after he gets into his car and writes these notes down. He takes those notes, puts them into his government car, into his government computer, into his government desk which he then leaked from his government desk to his friend at the Columbia law school. Illegal, violation of the law, clearly.
If there was an investigation going on right now, the investigation should be James Comey. It sure should be because here's the reality. The only thing that we know, you've had all of these congressmen --
HANNITY: All of the investigators are BFFs?
SEKULOW: Well, yes. But here's the thing, that investigation actually is independent of this. So that investigation could go on within the context of the Department of Justice --
HANNITY: Can we investigate Loretta Lynch for obstruction while we're at it?
SEKULOW: Here's the thing about Loretta Lynch. She got an absolute freebee. It's not even fair to double standards to call it a double standard. But what we have to understand that's happened and what is continuing to happen is as these multiple so called investigations are going on, what do we know? You've had all these congressmen, all these hitters, right, left, center, and they said we haven't seen evidence of this. We haven't seen evidence of that. We really don't know. There's no smoking gun. They've been doing this for 10 months. We're acting like this is taking place in a vacuum. This has been going on almost a year.
HANNITY: Do you have any doubt that the mishandling of classified information by Clinton, destruction of classified top secret special access program information by Hillary, the Clinton Foundation pay to play, 20 percent of our uranium signed off by her, or Michael Flynn, the violation of the Espionage Act, aren't they all felonies? You have any doubt felonies were committed?
SEKULOW: No question. Here's the thing that has absolutely made no sense on this. Of course, you left out best one, which is the president of the United States, or former president of the United States, Bill Clinton, meeting on the tarmac with Loretta Lynch.
HANNITY: It's called obstruction of justice.
SEKULOW: If there was an obstruction of justice that certainly would bit it.
HANNITY: It wasn't an investigation. It was a matter.
SEKULOW: That to me is also another point. They will change the classification of what's going on when it suits their own narrative. But when it doesn't suit their narrative. You know what James Comey suffers from? I've said this before. Selective disclosure.
HANNITY: I've got a last question.
SEKULOW: Yes.
HANNITY: Is the president going to get rid of Obama holdovers, the deep state, the selective leakers that are trying to hurt him every single, solitary day? Do they go?
SEKULOW: They have to go because the reality is that's where -- we've gone past now the security leaks. Remember the beginning of the year we were dealing with all of the leaks. And then that kind of got lost in all of this. But at the beginning of this was the problem of classified information being leaked to newspapers, to reporters. And that is a crime. That's --
HANNITY: These leaks are now coming from Mueller, the special counsel.
SEKULOW: Well, you have --
HANNITY: Anonymous sources.
SEKULOW: Not even anonymous. Anonymous sources from who? They won't identify. So what do you have here? This is -- the president uses the phrase "witch hunt." I'm not sure it's fair to witch hunts what's going on right now.
HANNITY: Good line. I agree with you. He needs to recuse himself. Mueller, get out. There's too many conflicts of interest. If you have any respect for the law, go. Same thing, Rosenstein, out. If you have respect for the law, get out, recuse yourself.
Coming up, should lawmakers forego, please, their August recess? I never say so many people have so many vacations. And advance the Trump agenda. Keep up with the president. We'll ask Congressman Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan. Also Sara Carter, Geraldo next, straight ahead live from D.C.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Another core principle is that those coming to our country must embrace our values and love our people.
(APPLAUSE)
TRUMP: We cannot let these incredibly rich nations fund radical Islamic terror or terrorism of any kind. We cannot let it happen. Cannot let it happen.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: President Trump at his rally in Iowa tonight talking about combatting radical Islamic terrorism, extreme vetting. Here now with reaction, Circa News Sara Carter, Fox News correspondent at large Geraldo Rivera. Great to see you again in D.C. This has to be a priority, and yet I see judge shopping by the left on extreme vetting, and I see the Republicans and Congress too slow to fund the wall, which is going to be built anyway.
SARA CARTER, CIRCA NEWS: I spent a lot of time at the U.S.-Mexico border, Sean. You know that. I spent a lot of time in Afghanistan on the ground with our troops and in Iraq as well. I can tell you that this is a very significant problem when it comes to vetting.
One of the things that people don't think about is that countries like Syria, like Yemen, Libya, they have no functional government. They can't even guarantee that the people that are coming over are the people that they say they are. So this is a problem that we're facing now. And we can see this with the acts of violence and terror in Europe, in the United States. What happened in London recently and today.
HANNITY: Everywhere.
CARTER: And today, you know, in Flint, Michigan.
HANNITY: Oh, my God, "Allahu Akbar" with a knife?
CARTER: Yes.
HANNITY: Geraldo?
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Sean, first of all I want to congratulate the president on the special election yesterday. That was his to win, his to lose. He invested a lot of prestige, a lot of energy in the race. The Democrats had a good candidate. They only made one error, that he doesn't live in the district he was running in. That's like somebody from Staten Island running in Queens in New York City. It would never, ever happen, never get elected. That's why I could predict it so early on.
I think the president, though, when're you talking about immigration, extreme vetting, and I think all of that is very appropriate. But he's in Iowa right now. The Iowa farmers are telling President Trump that they cannot harvest their crops. Why? Because they don't have the undocumented Mexican workers that they have come over the decades to rely on. I think that the president in terms of the wall has to declare victory --
HANNITY: I didn't hear that from anybody, Geraldo. I love you to death. Who said that to the president? What are you talking about?
RIVERA: There's all kinds of tweets going on right now, a lot of e-mails being exchanged. A lot of farmers are suggesting to the president that their crops are dying in the field because they can't get enough undocumented migrant workers in there. I think that the president should declare victory on the southern border --
CARTER: Geraldo --
RIVERA: He has cut immigration, illegal immigration by three-fourths.
CARTER: Geraldo, one of the things, I get what you're saying there to some extent. But the problem with this argument is that we constantly hear this doing the jobs that Americans won't do. I think that for anything, this is just -- this is actually undignified to say that we need Mexicans to come over here and pick our crops because we can't find Americans to do it.
(CROSSTALK)
RIVERA: In California to Iowa and in between they are saying exactly that. But the point is the president is a lot more popular certainly with his base and with the American people. He has to get past the noise, stick to his agenda. But he's going to have a hard time. Sean, you're interviewing the Freedom Caucus coming up. Those are the 40, 50 guys who did not support the bill because it was too generous in the House. And then the president calls it mean.
HANNITY: Wait a minute --
RIVERA: Will they support a Bill that is more generous to the recipients - -
HANNITY: I've got to roll. I love you both. You drive me nuts, Geraldo. I don't know how you do it every time.
Coming up, those Republican lawmakers that we were talking about, should they cancel their recess to work on enacting the president's ambitious agenda? We'll check in with Congressman Mark Meadows, Jim Jordan. They say yes. I agree with them. Paul Ryan, I want you to watch the next segment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We are keeping the promises we made to the people of Iowa and the people all over our country. We are not going to let the same failed and tired voices in Washington keep us from delivering the change you voted for and the change that you deserve.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That was a lot more from President Trump's rally in Iowa earlier tonight. From day one, the president has pushed an aggressive agenda. Now some members of Congress are reportedly in favor of finally cancelling one of their many scheduled vacations, this one in August, in order to keep up to speed with Donald Trump.
Joining us now, two of those GOP lawmakers that favor foregoing the August recess, the Freedom Caucus chairman, Congressman Mark Meadows of North Carolina, the former chairman. He got fired. I'm sorry. I'm an awful human. Why do you even listen to me? Good to see you guys. How are you doing?
(LAUGHTER)
REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OHIO, HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS MEMBER: We wouldn't if you weren't an honorary member.
HANNITY: I am an honorary member, that's true.
First thing, OK, we're not moving as fast as what we want. It's 152 days. And I interviewed Paul Ryan. He said everything was going to done in 200 days. There's no way. Why have things slowed down?
REP. MARK MEADOWS, R-N.C., HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS CHAIRMAN: I think we just need to make decisions, Sean. I mean, we're into this. The president is working harder than we are. And that's part of why we have said, you know, now is the time, Americans want results. We want results. And it's about making decisions and getting serious about the president's agenda.
HANNITY: And I'll be honest, without the Freedom Caucus, there's no house healthcare bill. now the Senate bill is released tomorrow, which I'm glad to hear. Are you confident that it's going to be something that when you bring it into conference it is going to be OK?
JORDAN: We hope so. We think so. Obviously Senator Cruz, Senator Lee and some of the conservatives are working hard on it. But hopefully what comes out of there will be something that we can support. And we plan to, we hope to, because it's something we told the American people we're going to get done and we need to get it done.
HANNITY: One of the things, you have been outspoken as I have been, about this entire investigative process. I call it mission investigative creep. And we start out with Trump-Russia collusion. Everybody, Democrats, all the former intelligence guys say that's not happening. OK, now we're going on to obstruction and now we're going to financial issues? It's crazy.
MEADOWS: They're just trying to divert the attention from the thing that is most important to the American people, Sean. They could care less about Russia. The real concern about what happens to them on Main Street, about making sure that they can make their mortgage payments, protect their job, all the things that the president campaigned on, building a border wall, which is critically important, we have to get those things done, and this is a distraction that we can't afford to let happen.
JORDAN: We think it's time to investigate the investigators. Remember what James Comey --
HANNITY: Slow that down. Investigate the investigators, it's true. There's so much -- there's so much unethical behavior here.
JORDAN: James Comey misled the American people twice. The first was at the direction of then attorney general Loretta Lynch when she instructed him to call it a matter, not an investigation. Clinton was under investigation. She said oh, no, no, don't say that. Call it a "matter." He goes, really? But he did. He did it willfully and he did it intentionally. This year he furthers the perception that President Trump was under investigation when in fact he's not. So twice the Justice Department, the American Justice Department misled the American people. They're not supposed to do that.
HANNITY: Were they supposed to meet on the tarmac? And Sara Carter was just on the program said she put the kibosh and told people on any possible --
JORDAN: Sean, think about this. We passed a resolution in the House calling for a special counsel on the IRS investigation. Comey said no even though Barbara Bosserman, the lead agent in the case, was a maxed out contributor to Obama's reelection campaign. Several people called for a special counsel in the Clinton e-mail investigation. Again, the Justice Department says no. But when it's about James Comey, when it's about his reputation, when it's about someone in the Justice Department? Oh, my goodness. We've got to have a special counsel.
MEADOWS: We get serious about it.
JORDAN: Yes.
MEADOWS: I think the other interesting aspect to this is the only thing that didn't leak was the fact that President Trump was not under investigation.
I want to go back to the agenda because this is important. I agree, investigate the investigators. And that needs to happen immediately. And I hope Congress, can they step in on that?
JORDAN: It's time for hearings. It's time for hearings on that issue.
HANNITY: All right, so the president got his Supreme Court justice, promise made, promise kept. He's rolled back Obama regulations. That is going to help on energy. If the Republicans want 2018 to be free and clear for them and not a challenge. I think they have got to have Obamacare completed, repealed, replaced, as now you're working on. They have got to have his economic agenda with 15 percent corporate tax, 10 percent repatriation, middle class tax cuts, jumpstart the economy. Get these people out of poverty, off of food stamps and back to work. Energy independence I think will create millions of jobs. You know what that is like in both your states.
MEADOWS: It is. And the immigration issue, building the wall.
HANNITY: People have got to see 200 miles of that wall.
MEADOWS: They want to see it.
HANNITY: With solar panels.
MEADOWS: With solar panels.
(LAUGHTER)
MEADOWS: When the president turns over that first clod of dirt and starts to build it, they will say finally Washington D.C. swamp is about to drain.
HANNITY: OK, where is the leadership with you guys? Because when you first proposed, oh, let's stay through August, I saw some reluctance and resistance.
JORDAN: We had a conference today. And some of the rank and file members were talking, look, if this is going to happen, let's start planning, let's start figuring out --
HANNITY: What did Ryan say? I'm interested in what Ryan said.
JORDAN: The leadership didn't weigh-in. More and more of our colleagues are coming up and saying, you know what, let's get this stuff done. If we need the extra time to do tax reform, let's get it done. We need to pass the budget. That unlocks everything. So let's --
HANNITY: I'm going to put on my website all those people that are willing to stay and those that are not, because this has to get done.
MEADOWS: Make sure the two of us are willing to stay.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: You guys started it. And I am an honorary member of the Freedom Caucus, ladies and gentlemen, in case you didn't know, although I think there's a vote tomorrow to see if they throw me out. Guys, thanks for being with us.
MEADOWS: It's great to be with you.
HANNITY: When we come back, a very important "Question of the Day" as we continue HANNITY tonight from D.C. straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right, welcome back to "Hannity." Time for our "Question of the Day." What did you think of the president's rally tonight? A lot of excitement. And I think it's good when he goes directly to you, the American people.
Just go Facebook.com/SeanHannity, @SeanHannity on Twitter, let us know what you think.
That is all the time we have left this everything from the nation's capital, Sin City, USA. We'll see you back in New York tomorrow night. By the way, "Hannity" always fair and balanced. Bret Baier is next. We'll see you back in New York tomorrow.
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