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Published July 06, 2017
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," July 5, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
JEANINE PIRRO, GUEST HOST: This is a Fox News Alert. Tensions are running high between the United States and North Korea over the rogue regime's successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting Alaska.
I'm Judge Jeanine Pirro, in for Sean tonight. Thanks for being with us.
Amid international uproar, North Korea is promising even more missile and atomic weapons tests. And earlier today, in an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting, Ambassador Nikki Haley slammed Pyongyang and issued a stern warning. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NIKKI HALEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N.: Make no mistake, North Korea's launch of an ICBM is a clear and sharp military escalation. The North Korean regime openly states that its missiles are intended to deliver nuclear weapons to strike cities in the United States, South Korea and Japan. And now it has greater capacity to do so. In truth, it is not only the United States and our allies that are threatened.
The United States is prepared to use the full range of our capabilities to defend ourselves and our allies. One of our capabilities lies with our considerable military forces. We will use them if we must, but we prefer not to have to go in that direction.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PIRRO: Joining us with reaction is deputy assistant to the president Dr. Sebastian Gorka. Doctor, thanks for being with us. You just heard Nikki Haley, military action -- we will use it if we must. What does the administration plan to do?
SEBASTIAN GORKA, DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT: The administration will use whatever tools and instruments the president deems necessary based on the advice of his principals and General McMaster because the ambassador is absolutely correct, Judge. North Korea is a grave threat not only to our allies and partners, but now to the United States, and we cannot permit it to move down this trajectory of further developing longer and longer- range ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. It cannot go on.
PIRRO: You know, there has always been problems with North Korea, and we've tried all kinds of diplomatic, and as well as economic efforts over the years, although I'm not quite sure in the last eight years, much was done at all.
But this is the first time, Doctor, that it appears that they have the capacity with this ICBM to hit our shores. This is the closest that we have seen North Korea come in terms of capability of hitting the homeland. How does that change the scenario?
GORKA: Well, it changes the scenario by clearly demonstrating to us that they have no intention of standing by the international treaties and the international regulations on ballistic missile testing and weapons of mass destruction.
But let's not get carried away here. If you use the phrase from the cold war, the correlation of forces, then North Korea compared to our capabilities is not a threat. It can hurt us, but America is not just a superpower, Judge. We are a hyper-power. Nobody comes close to our capabilities. What it looks like is happening now is their attempt to destabilize the region, to make our friends nervous, and potentially to blackmail the Western community. We won't stand for any of that.
PIRRO: Well, it's clear that we are the superpower with the best military capabilities. But Doctor, at the same time, I have not heard anyone say that some kind of military attack by us or some effort to stop North Korea will not have implications to Seoul, ten million people who will be subject to catastrophic losses in the event that we send something over there that they'll have time to react to.
GORKA: Right. But everything changed on January the 20th. When Donald J. Trump became the commander-in-chief, what did you see instantly, Judge? You saw decisiveness, whether it was the 59 Cruise missiles in Syria, whether it was the 21,000-pound MOAB bomb in Afghanistan. We don't talk. It's not jaw-jaw. We are prepared to use force when necessary.
And North Korea has to understand that, as well, because this is a very different kind of president, and he will use those measures required to protect our interests, our nation and our friends. So nothing is off the table, Judge.
PIRRO: Well, given the fact that if Kim Jong-un -- and who knows whether he's, you know, mentally stable or not, but let's assume -- look, to do this yesterday on the 4th of July, like a birthday present, sending this intercontinental ballistic missile -- and by the way, which is I understand, Doctor, was the one that they had paraded out in April at that parade when they were showing off all their missile defense systems.
But to do that is basically not just thumbing his nose, but actually his middle finger to the United States. Tells me the guy's interested in doing it, and the only thing that we can do is preemptively stop him from doing that.
GORKA: Nothing has changed. They may be trying to send a message to their neighbors, to the countries of the region. But the most important thing is North Korea remains a decrepit Stalinist regime that without the support of China, would economically collapse. They know that, we know that, and Beijing knows it.
PIRRO: All right...
GORKA: The question is, is China going to start drawing its own red lines with regards to this satrapy.
PIRRO: Right. And before we run out of time, I understand that the president will be giving a speech tomorrow in Poland. Can you give us an idea of what to expect?
GORKA: All the viewers have to listen to this speech. It's going to be 7:00. It will be a barn-stormer. The president will be at the monument in front of the Warsaw uprising, reaffirming Western civilization, Christian values, the role of Poland in resisting fascist and communist dictatorship. It will be an amazing, historic speech, Judge.
PIRRO: All right, Dr. Gorka, as always, great to have you on. Thanks for joining us tonight.
GORKA: Thank you.
PIRRO: And here with more reaction are the host of "War Stories" on FBN, Colonel Oliver North, and from the Heritage Foundation, former CIA deputy division chief for Korea, Bruce Klingner.
All right, good evening gentlemen. I'm going to start with you, General North. Let's -- let's...
OLIVER NORTH, "WAR STORIES" HOST: I'll take the promotion.
PIRRO: Colonel North. Sorry!
NORTH: No, that's OK.
PIRRO: You deserve a promotion.
(CROSSTALK)
PIRRO: But listen, it appears that we don't have much choice now. This rogue dictator is on his way to at least attempting to destroy us. We have the economic sanctions aren't working. China ain't in it anymore, if you listen to the president's tweet today, where he said, you know, You can't blame us for trying.
So now the question is, can we resolve this issue through a cyber attack? We are hopefully more sophisticated than they are without a military approach.
NORTH: Well, it is time for a reality check, Judge, you're right, because this is an existential threat to the United States and it's serious. Look, the nuclear weapons and ICM (ph) programs that the North Koreans and the Iranians are working on together -- they've been joined at the hip since the Clinton administration.
In the two years since the sanctions on Iran were lifted by the Obama regime and we airlifted, of course, $1.8 billion in cash to Tehran, the North Koreans have conducted more ICBM tests than in the last two decades.
PIRRO: Right.
NORTH: I wonder how they're paying for it. I mean, think of it, grass is a vegetable in North Korea.
(LAUGHTER)
NORTH: China is not going to help until Beijing feels the pain.
So here are our options. And I'm fascinated to hear how they are received around town. One, the president needs to tell the G20 summit two days from now that any company doing any business whatsoever with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Iran can't do business in United States.
Number two, tell Japanese prime minister Abe the U.S. will support a change in the Japanese constitution to acquire -- let them acquire nuclear weapons. Number three, tell the Chinese president Xi that it's time for regime change in Pyongyang, the fat dwarf, Kim Jong-un, has got to go.
Number four, tell the Republic of Korean president, Moon, who's going to be at the same summit, that we need the full THAAD deployment and the return of the U.S. tactical nukes that were there from 1960s all the way through 1991. And finally...
PIRRO: All right, let me...
NORTH: ... if that doesn't work, we have enough conventional ordnance to turn North Korea into an overdone pop tart.
PIRRO: All right, let me go to Bruce Klingner. All right, Bruce, you heard what the colonel was saying. But look, it appears that -- I mean, China's got to already know that, you know, we're interested in a regime change. We clearly would be interested if North Korea has this nuclear weapon to give it to Japan to make sure they've got it, that Seoul's got it. But isn't there a risk in any military option to the people of South Korea?
BRUCE KLINGNER, FORMER CIA DEPUTY DIRECTOR: Exactly. When I was in the CIA and participated in war games and tabletop exercises, any kind of escalation of the conflict in that scenario would lead to, although the alliance won, hundreds of thousands of casualties, and that's before we estimated that North Korea had nuclear weapons. There are 25 million people in Seoul, 35 million in Tokyo. So any kind of conflict on the peninsula does risk all-out conflagration, including the use of nuclear weapons.
Just to point out, we're focusing on the road (ph) mobile ICBM, but North Korea's already had a capability to hit the United States with a fixed missile. They called it Unha (ph). We called it Taepodon (ph). When they successfully launched satellites in 2012 and last year, the South Korean navy dredged up the stages of that missile from the ocean floor, and the estimates was that it's from a fixed launcher, but it had a capability of 10,000 kilometers, or perhaps 13,000 kilometers. That's either 40 percent of the continental U.S. or all the way down to Miami.
We still don't think they have the nuclear weapons for it, but clearly, they're working on it...
PIRRO: But what they launched -- what they launched yesterday was not from a mobile launcher. Is that correct? So what...
KLINGNER: No, the -- I'm sorry, the one they did launch yesterday was from a mobile launcher, but they did previously have the capability of hitting the continental U.S. What we've heard from at least for U.S. four-star generals is that they assume, or have to assume for planning purposes, that North Korea already had the capability. Most outside experts don't think that they're yet, but clearly, even if we don't know where they are on the path of development, we know that their objective is to be able to not only threaten our allies and our bases at Guam, but also the continental U.S.
PIRRO: All right, gentlemen, I'm going to ask you -- can we assume -- and I know that I interviewed General John Kelly, Homeland Security, and said there's no question they're going to have the capacity within the first terms of the president. So can we assume that it is -- it is in the not too distant future that they'll have that ability?
Given that you've got this lunatic, you've got his ability to hit the United States sooner than we expected, we have to take preventive action. Yes, Colonel?
NORTH: Well, look, I made military action the 5th of 5, right?
PIRRO: But it's not -- but Colonel...
NORTH: We got to try all the rest of them first. Lookit, I was one of those guys that everybody said, if it's that's important, send in the Marines. I'm a Marine. I don't want to send in the Marines unless we've exhausted every other possibility. And I just presented four others, besides military action, that haven't really been tried yet.
PIRRO: Yes, but no, you're -- Colonel, with all due respect, you don't think that President Trump has already said to the president of China, Kim Jong-un has to go? You don't think that...
NORTH: No, no. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
PIRRO: That was your third point.
NORTH: What I said was -- what I said was -- no. Lookit...
PIRRO: Yes, it was. I'm reading it.
NORTH: ... tell all of them -- at the summit here two days from now, tell every one of them nobody who does any business with this regime can do any business in the United States. It's a unilateral sanction. We don't need to wait for the U.N. to make another toothless resolution. We can do that tomorrow by executive order.
And the fact is, everything that they've got came from somewhere else. And of course, the Iranians are big supporter of this activity. The bottom line of it is the Chinese aren't going to help us, the Russians aren't going to help us until it hurts.
PIRRO: All right. And Dan (sic), I'll go to you. With what is going on right now, do you think that the ability to stop this man is within our grasp, or do we have to get rid of him? I mean,I agree with what the colonel is saying. I don't think any more economic or diplomatic is going to work. So then what do we do?
KLINGNER: Well, I think there's a misperception that we have used every option on the sanctions. That's simply not correct. When President Obama said North Korea is the most heavily sanctioned, the most cut-off nation on earth, he was flat-out wrong. The U.S., the E.U., the U.N. did things to Iran that we haven't done to North Korea. Last year was the first year that the U.S. had cumulatively sanctioned as many North Korean entities as we had cumulatively sanctioned those of Zimbabwe.
PIRRO: But -- but with all due respect...
KLINGNER: We're pulling our punches.
PIRRO: ... do you think that Kim Jong-un cares about sanctions to his people?
KLINGNER: Well, we can wean off the Chinese banks and businesses that have been engaging with North Korea using existing law. The last week that the Trump administration finally sanctioned a single Chinese bank -- that's long overdue. I hope it's the tip of the iceberg and that we'll see follow-on secondary sanctions. That can have a dramatic effect on North Korea.
PIRRO: All right...
KLINGNER: And we don't need to wait for Beijing.
PIRRO: All right, thank you both, Colonel Ollie North and Dan (sic) Klingner.
NORTH (?): That was fun.
PIRRO: OK. And be sure to check out Colonel North's show "War Stories" on the FOX Business network.
And coming up, CNN is under fire yet again. And Senator Ted Cruz says the network could be in legal trouble for appearing to blackmail the creator of the wrestling video that President Trump tweeted. Joe Concha and Larry Elder will have reaction next.
Plus, Gregg Jarrett and Anthony Scaramucci will weigh in later on this developing scandal. That and more as "Hannity" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: This is a Fox News Alert. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise is back in the ICU with an infection. Congressman Scalise has been in the hospital since he was shot by a left-wing gunman last month. We will bring you any updates when we have them.
But first, the summer of scandal continues over at CNN. This time, the network is under fire for what the some are saying could be a case of blackmail. Earlier today, in an article titles "How CNN found the Reddit user behind the Trump wrestling GIF," CNN published the story about the person responsible for creating the now infamous video of the president, President Trump, wrestling CNN.
According to the article, the network decided against releasing this Reddit user's identity because, quote, "He is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again."
The article then went on to issue what appears to be a not so veiled threat. Quote, "CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change."
Now, CNN has denied any allegations of blackmail, issuing a statement that read, in part, quote, "CNN decided not to publish the name of the Reddit user out of concern for his safety."
Joining us now with reaction to the latest embarrassment for CNN is Salem Radio nationally syndicated host Larry Elder, and from "The Hill," Joe Concha.
All right, Joe, I'm going to start with you. You're -- you're -- you went to school for journalism. When CNN says, Look, we are not publishing his name because we're concerned for his personal safety, but then they turn around and they say, But if he's bad, if he does anything like this again, we are going to doxx him! Tell us what that means.
JOE CONCHA, "THE HILL": OK, well, it's interesting you bring up that point around safety because if he were to do something what that they deem to be unprofessional or objective, then safety, screw it, goes out the window! You're on your own, pal, right?
(LAUGHTER)
PIRRO: Right. Right.
CONCHA: Doxxing basically is exposing somebody who's otherwise anonymous on the Internet.
PIRRO: OK.
CONCHA: Right? And what we're seeing here is a major international news organization getting into the business of shaming, of policing the Internet, of avoiding journalism in this pursuit because of a silly Internet video that no one is taking seriously but CNN claims is inciting violence against the network. You watch that video, that's not inciting violence, it's a stupid video of a thousand stupid videos that we see on the Internet!
PIRRO: It's like a WWE. I mean, it's like a wrestling match. And Donald'll do that. But Larry Elder, let me ask you this. You know, you've got this guy who did this, what they call a GIF, and all of a sudden, they hunt him down. They find him. The guy's apologetic, he's going to take it down, he apologizes for all of his prior sins in his life.
LARRY ELDER, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Right.
PIRRO: I feel like the guy went to confession. And the priest says to him, Look, if you show up again here, I'm going to tell the whole congregation how bad you are.
ELDER: And Judge, it's not like the meme made him out to be a serial killer, for crying out loud! It was funny! Nobody takes wrestling seriously. It was funny, for crying out loud! Suppose he had body-slammed a FOX reporter. Do you think CNN would've made the same deal?
PIRRO: I doubt it.
ELDER: I mean, are they a news organization or are they juvenile hall? Are they public relations? It's ridiculous! And I think Ted Cruz is onto something, Judge. If it came down this way, You apologize or else, that very well could be extortion. If he was apologetic and volunteered never to do it again, that's a whole different thing. So it depends on how CNN came around with this deal.
PIRRO: Well, we're going to talk about that in the next segment. But I agree with you. And I'm going to ask you, Joe -- I want to read what Wikileaks put on Twitter. What Wikileaks said was, quote, "Trump was bad but CNN is worse. They threatened an amateur satirist behind a Trump video, Make fun of us again and we'll doxx you." I mean, even Wikileaks finds that this is unethical.
So we're going to save the legality of it to the next segment, but this is unethical. I mean, this is what you do, right?
CONCHA: Yes. The Intercept has a great rhetoric (ph). Glenn Greenwald, who you've probably heard of -- and he said, This is a dark turn for CNN. Glenn Greenwald is not a conservative or anything. I can't tell what he is.
So this has become something where they're getting killed from both the left and the right. This was trending on Twitter, #CNNblackmail, for most of Monday. So this is a pretty big story.
And the reason why I think it's getting a lot more attention than if this were just one mistake that CNN made, think about the last couple of weeks, Jeanine, and everything that we've seen, two major retractions at that network on stories involving Trump and Russia, multiple reporters basing their stories on a foundation of one unnamed source.
You have people in undercover videos saying that most of the CNN coverage of Russia is mostly BS. That -- also that the president is stupid for sentiment (ph) for doggy doo, basically, you know, their own producer is saying this. I could go on. New Year's Eve co-host Kathy Griffin fired for holding up a severed head of the president. Reza Aslan, who hosts a show on that network, calling the president a stupid POS.
PIRRO: Well, clearly...
CONCHA: I could go on and on. So all this is bad PR for a network that's trying to complete a merger with AT&T. And this kind of PR disasters one after the other is having an effect of the integrity of this network, And most importantly, the perception. Michael Goodwin, who's a Pulitzer Prize- winning columnist -- he said CNN used to be boring and trustworthy, now it's boring and untrustworthy.
PIRRO: And you know, Larry...
ELDER: And Judge...
PIRRO: Go ahead. Go ahead.
ELDER: Judge, I'm going to say, had this been a man, would they have entered into the same deal, or did they do this because he was a teenager? And if so, isn't that bullying?
(LAUGHTER)
CONCHA: Well, he wasn't a teenager. There was misreporting about that.
PIRRO: Yes, they didn't know it at the time, but clearly, it appears, Larry, CNN has a culture that is determined, so it appears, to destroy Donald Trump and to destroy him to the point where they are losing all credibility.
CONCHA: And Jeanine, Harvard did a study a couple of weeks ago saying that 93 percent of CNN coverage on the Trump administration is negative. Think About that. Only seven out of a hundred stories of the segments that you see on there can be deemed positive. That is obviously showing an agenda.
PIRRO: Larry, last word.
CONCHA: Maybe someday, we're going to get an apology from CNN. Do you think? Maybe they're going to admit that they mistreated President Trump. That's when you know hell has frozen over.
(LAUGHTER)
PIRRO: Yes, don't hold your breath on that. Larry Elder, Joe Concha, thanks so much for being with us tonight.
And coming up, Senator Ted Cruz says CNN may have broken the law by potentially blackmailing the creator of a wrestling video President Trump tweeted. Gregg Jarrett and Anthony Scaramucci are in next with reaction.
And later, according to a new report, the Secret Service interviewed Kathy Griffin for over an hour about her bloody Trump head photo shoot. Doug Schoen and Corey Lewandowski will react later. That and much more as "Hannity" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to "Hannity." More on the allegations that CNN blackmailed the user who created the anti-CNN Trump wrestling video. Senator Ted Cruz actually tweeted out earlier today that what CNN did could be illegal.
Joining us now with reaction, Fox News anchor and attorney, Gregg Jarrett, and senior vice president and chief strategy officer of the export-import bank of the United States, Anthony Scaramucci. Anthony, I'm going to start with you. You I think more than anyone have been a victim of CNN's fake news. You are a fighter, you took them on. You proved them wrong. They actually alleged that you were under federal investigation for some collusion with Russian officials, an absolute live. You had to put yourself to the task of making it clear that it wasn't true. You could have sued them for a fortune and owned half the place. Why didn't you?
ANTHONY SCARAMUCCI, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER, EXPORT-IMPORT BANK: A number of reasons. As Gregg was pointing out at the break, they mitigated the damages, but I also didn't think it was the right thing to do given the fact that I have had journalistic experience. I know that people make mistakes.
PIRRO: It's one thing to make a mistake, but to identify you as under investigation --
SCARAMUCCI: But I see myself as working for the president of United States. And so what is in the best interest for the president of the United States is for us to stay on the air and to prosecute or execute his agenda, to explain his economic policies, to explain his national security policies. And if I had gotten into a lawsuit with them, Judge, it would have led to me getting taken out of that position of advocacy. So for me, if you weighed those things, that was way more important. Obviously at the end of the day I serve the president.
PIRRO: You have always been very rational and very reasonable. Although, I suspect, CNN is now playing in your home?
(LAUGHTER)
SCARAMUCCI: Actually, because I love FOX so much, but you have to watch them, because it's like the Red Sox watching the Yankees. It's a part of your scouting experience.
PIRRO: Gregg Jarrett, you've got Ted Cruz saying, hey, look, CNN should be looking at the Georgia statute, because this is extortion. It's like blackmailing. And what he's referring to before we get into the statutes is the fact that they said, look, he has apologized after they dug him out. He's apologized. He said he's never going to do it again. He's apologized for everything he's done his whole life, and if he does it again, though, we are going to expose him, even though we know that by exposing him he is subject to danger. The guy is in danger, a lot of threats. What are the statutes?
GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS ANCHOR AND ATTORNEY: Think about what CNN has done. They have said that if you, Mr. Reddit user, do something that we don't like, we are going to publicly expose you to contempt and ridicule and scorn. That's a violation of the law. And Ted Cruz is right, only he cited the wrong law. A real straightforward law of coercion says you can't threaten somebody to coerce them into abstaining from otherwise legal behavior. It's an absolute crime.
PIRRO: We're going to put this up so our viewers can start looking at some of the statute that you're referencing. The first one is coercion. And in coercion, you're talking about New York law. Under the guise that CNN has offices and does business --
JARRETT: And the reporter is based in New York. So there are plenty of contacts in New York, so that's the relevant law. Then you also have a federal law, it's called conspiracy against rights. It basically says you can't threaten and intimidate somebody for using their constitutional right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment.
PIRRO: Which is very similar to the New York law saying you can't prevent someone from doing what they have a legal right to do by instilling in them fear that if they do what you're going to subject them to hatred, contempt, or ridicule. All right, so then we've got the federal. But for the federal law, the feds would have to prosecute.
JARRETT: The feds would have to prosecute, except that, and you will note as it's up on the screen, it requires a conspiracy.
PIRRO: Of two or more people.
JARRETT: Right. But this reporter didn't do this alone because contained in his story is the editorial statement policy. So clearly more than a Kaczynski was involved in this story, thus the conspiracy, thus a violation of the federal law.
PIRRO: And the Georgia statute that Ted Cruz reference, I think it can apply. I know you don't think --
JARRETT: A little bit, theft by extortion of property, but under George law, unfortunately, property is defined as personal and real and not your identity.
PIRRO: Yes, but at the same time the courts are becoming a little more --
JARRETT: You could stretch it.
SCARAMUCCI: -- engaged in applying it to contemporary times. Now, Anthony, in terms of CNN, in terms of their coverage, what do you think is going on at CNN right now?
SCARAMUCCI: I think it's a cultural thing. And so I think what has happened there is, for whatever reason, they are chasing the president like he is Moby Dick. Management there is Captain Ahab. It didn't end well for the captain or the boat at the end of the story, and so sometimes when you lose sight of your moral compass and your grounding of what you need to do in terms of your editorial coverage, you are running amok now.
So hopefully this will bring the pendulum back for them, and there will be less than, say, 93 percent negative coverage, Judge, on the president, because I think people are starting to tune them out as it relates to what they are saying that the president. So I think that has been effective for the president this week.
PIRRO: But given the fact that there have been so many media corrections and retractions, it makes it clear I would think to the average viewer that this is coming from on high. Not everybody is going to violate journalistic standards so that they can just get a story out there. It's almost as though there's this prophylactic, we are going to protect you if you destroy President Trump.
SCARAMUCCI: I think there's a rush to get theSE stories out without verifying the sources, without double checking the sources. But I think the good news is the bombs that have hit them recently will hopefully bring them back into some more journalistic oriented standards, more objectivity, Judge. And if that happens, that's better for the country, better for the president. I think they have to give him a fair shake on that network. I think people are going to demand that now.
PIRRO: Gregg, what if the person who posted this Gif, as they call it, what is he thinking right now?
JARRETT: He's scared. He doesn't want to be publicly exposed. He doesn't want his family and his neighbors and everybody to be converging on his home because he's at the center of this controversy. But the real controversy rests with CNN. Anthony is right in his comparison to Captain Ahab whose hatred robbed him of all caution and reason. He became the personification of fanaticism, and that is CNN. For those of us that didn't take English literature, that is the guy that chased Moby Dick all over the place.
SCARAMUCCI: Herman Melville wrote the story.
JARRETT: And it led to his own demise.
SCARAMUCCI: It's hubris and pride and ego overtaking you and making you lose your judgment.
PIRRO: Gentlemen, thank you very much for both literary, legal, and the educational input on this story.
And coming up, according to a new report, the Secret Service interviewed Kathy Griffin in person for over an hour over her ISIS style photo shoot with a bloodied Trump head. Doug Schoen and Corey Lewandowski will react. And later, former Democratic congressman Dennis Kucinich is here blasting his party's latest plan to try to impeach President Trump. He'll be here later tonight, that and so much more straight ahead on HANNITY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to "Hannity." According to a report, comedian Kathy Griffin was interviewed by the Secret Service for over an hour after she posed for this gory ISIS style photo where she is holding a fake, bloodied head that resembled President Trump. The investigation into her photo shoot is also reportedly still open. Joining me now with reaction is coauthor of the new book "America in the Age of Trump, Opportunities and Oppositions in an Unsettled World," Doug Schoen, and former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
Gentlemen, right now, we knew that this was going to happen, Secret Service interviewing her for more than an hour. And I want to read to you what the statute is. I haven't heard too many people mention it, but it's 18-USC-871, threats against a president, whoever knowingly and willingly deposits for conveyance in the mail or for delivery from any post office, or by letter, carrier, et cetera, et cetera, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than five years or both. Do you think, Doug, that Kathy Griffin should be prosecuted?
DOUG SCHOEN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I think she should be investigated. I think it's appropriate that the Secret Service asks what she was doing, why she did it, and why she effectively seemed to threaten the president. From that investigation, Jeanine, a reasonable judgment can be reached. My own opinion is it was just extremely bad judgment. But I'm not the prosecutor, and I'm not the Secret Service. Let the interview, let the investigation go forward, I say.
PIRRO: Corey, don't you think it's interesting, though, that when you show a person's intent, that what prosecutors could show in this is that Kathy Griffin had indicated that she was going to go beyond just President Trump, that she was going to go after 10-year-old Barron. Do you think that's indicative of a negative intent toward the Trumps?
COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It clearly goes to show not only her bias but her obsession with the Trump family. And what we have seen for the longest time, Judge, as you know is that the leftwing liberal media and those in Hollywood who agree with them have operated with impunity.
And just imagine for one second if a conservative would have done this with Barack Obama. The media outrage would be at historic levels. It would still be the story today. And what we've seen, look, I'm happy CNN fired Kathy Griffin. But it's not enough. It's not enough. These people should be boycotted. Whether you agree with President Trump or disagree with him, he's the president of United States. We should all support what he's trying to do, which is trying to make our country great again.
PIRRO: And Doug, don't you worry, though, that by all of this left attack, the left attacking the president, whether it's that Shakespeare in the Park, or Kathy Griffin, or some of the crazy stories that even CNN has had to retract, and "The New York Times," that they are almost lowering the standard, not just in terms of respect, but reporting as it relates to the president?
SCHOEN: I think you're right, but I think it goes beyond that, Jeanine. We're dealing with a situation where our country is being weekend by this gotcha culture where the lowest common denominator appears to rule. I think the Democrats in my party are making a big mistake just in this resistance without doing what Corey said, which is to try to work with the president at the same time articulating views and positions that are consistent with Democrats.
We've got to stop this. The media, the politicians, activists, we've got to work together, because right now we face a grave risk from North Korea, the Chinese and the Russians. And you know what, they are not really asking why. They are seeing a weakened, divided United States.
PIRRO: Isn't it true, Corey, that you would think that the Democrats would have learned from the last election if you have a candidate with no message but just is calling everyone xenophobic, homophobic, racist, and all that, they would have learned their lesson. But they're doing the same thing again.
LEWANDOWSKI: The American people are very smart. And I've said many times. They want to send people to Washington who are going to get things done. And that's why Donald Trump was sent to Washington, D.C. So name calling and pointing fingers doesn't get things done. Our country is $20 trillion in debt. It's time to do something and send people here who are going to get things done. And that's Donald Trump. The economy is now back on track. Job growth is where it should be. It's moving forward. He has to get a tax cut bill is done. We've got to get repeal and replace done. We're going to build a wall on the southern border. We have to invest a trillion dollars in infrastructure spending. These are bipartisan issues that need the support of everybody to make the country great again. Let's work together to get that done.
PIRRO: All right, Doug Schoen, Corey Lewandowski, thanks for being with us this evening.
SCHOEN: Thank you.
PIRRO: And former Democrat congressman Dennis Kucinich is slamming the latest leftwing plan to try and impeach President Trump. He will be here to explain that and much more as "Hannity" continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to "Hannity." Almost from the moment President Trump took office, Democrats in the mainstream media have pushed the idea of impeachment. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
REP. MAXINE WATERS, D-CALIF.: I will fight every day until he is impeached. Impeach 45! Impeach 45!
REP. AL GREEN, D-TEXAS: I rise today, Mr. Speaker, to call for the impeachment of the president of the United States of America for obstruction of justice.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Are we getting closer and closer to the possibility of yet another impeachment process?
DAVID GERGEN, CNN: After watching the Clinton impeachment, I thought I would never see another one.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are well on our way to impeachment because I think there's a clear set of facts that show obstruction of justice.
REP. KEITH ELLISON, D-MINN., CNN: I think that Donald Trump has already done a number of things which legitimately raise the question impeachment.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
PIRRO: Now former congressman Dennis Kucinich is standing up to his fellow Democrats and blasting their latest plan to remove President Trump from office. Joining me now to explain more is former Ohio congressman and FOX News contributor Dennis Kucinich. Good evening, congressman.
DENNIS KUCINICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Judge.
PIRRO: You know, you are taking a rather strong stand against many members of your party who want to impeach this president. Why?
KUCINICH: First of all, this is about our country. The American people made a decision in November and that decision has to be respected. There has never been any charges brought forward that would in any way warrant a consideration of an impeachment. Personally, Judge, I think this whole thing about Russia is a lot of wasted energy, and it's misplaced. There are no crimes that have been proven or even charged, and the country needs, the Congress needs to focus on the economic problems of the American people on jobs and wages and health care, education, retirement security, and peace. These are things people care about. This is becoming hyper- partisan, and it's not good for America.
PIRRO: It clearly isn't good for America, but it's also not good for the Democratic Party. They're starting to look like buffoons. Look, all this about collusion and Russia, forget about, as you say, no crimes has been charged, there are no charges, there's no conviction, there isn't even an iota of evidence to suggest that Donald Trump or his team were working with Russia.
And it's almost out of the news now because they should be embarrassed. But now they are starting with this impeachment based on what I think is interesting, an oversight committee on the president's capacity and carrying out a mental exam of the president to determine whether he is mentally well.
Look, I've tried a lot of murder cases, a lot of the insanity defense is, I got the shrink who would say this, defense got the strength that would say that. What is Congress going to do, hire the local trying to say that the president is crazy? This is stupid.
KUCINICH: I looked at the law in this. First of all, what's interesting is, what they are proposing seems to comport with the 25th Amendment. However, also, if you ask a president to give up health information, there's federal laws that protect everyone's health information. If you ask the president to provide his medical details, you don't do it to anyone else, to me that doesn't respect equal protection of the law. There's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure of one's person. And there's a Fifth Amendment right against giving information against yourself. Why are we violating our own constitution and treating their president this way?
I don't agree with Donald Trump on a lot of issue, but we've got to be careful in our effort to object his policies attack the presidency, destroy the presidency, and try to belittle and demean an individual who holds the office. He's unconventional in his approach, I got that. But we also have to realize we've had presidents FDR, JFK, and President Reagan, all of whom had various health problems but you never heard any effort to try to run them out of office based on health problems. And it really is up to the president's doctor to determine whether or not President Trump is well or not.
PIRRO: And it's very interesting, under the 25th Amendment it is the vice president who could put this in action. But don't you think, Congressman, that Democrats loss in 2010, 12, 14, 16, don't they get it that they have to have a message and not just a bunch of hate?
KUCINICH: One of the things that bothers me about this is that I don't think that these efforts come from compassion for the man who is president of the United States. It really comes from a kind of venom. And that's very dangerous. When Americans, the American people are compassionate people. We've got to be careful that we don't offend our sensibilities in the way that this is being approached.
PIRRO: Congressman Kucinich, got a run. Thanks for being with us.
KUCINICH: Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PIRRO: Welcome back to "Hannity." That's unfortunately all the time we have left this evening. Don't forget to set your DVR so you never miss an episode of "Hannity." And be sure to check out my show, "Justice with Judge Jeanine," Saturday nights at 9:00 right here on Fox News. Thanks for joining us. I had a lot of fun. Have a great night.
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