Gen. Flynn says Obama needs to 'get real' on ISIS strategy
General slams the president's plan to fight the terror group; Insight on 'Hannity'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," November 16, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: This is a Fox News Alert. France remains on edge tonight after the deadly terrorist attacks.
Standing by on the ground in Paris with the very latest is Rick Leventhal -- Rick.
RICK LEVENTHAL, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Sean, French police have taken extraordinary measures in the hunt for accomplices to Friday night's terror attacks, using expanded police powers to conduct 168 searches since Sunday, detaining 127 people and seizing more than 30 weapons, including a rocket launcher.
But there's still no sign of the two most wanted men in Europe. Abdelhamid Abaaoud has been identified as the mastermind of Friday night's terror attacks. Belgium's most notorious jihadi also allegedly planned the attack on that Paris-bound passenger train in August, the plot that was disrupted by those three American heroes who tackled the gunman before he could open fire.
But unfortunately, the Paris plot was carried out with vicious precision, leaving 129 dead and 350 wounded, sparking the police raids not just across France but also in Belgium, where several of the attackers were from and where the plot was organized, and where they're still searching for that eighth suspected terrorist, Salah Abdeslam, who authorities say handled logistics and rented one of the cars used by the attackers.
He was actually stopped by French police on Saturday morning near the Belgian border with two other men, but police apparently didn't know he was wanted. They checked his ID and they let him go.
Last night, French fighter jets dropped 20 bombs on 10 ISIL targets in Syria. The French president promises many more strikes ahead, but Paris is still a city very much on edge, Sean.
HANNITY: Also tonight, major backlash over President Obama's response to the Paris terrorist attacks. Now, earlier today, while speaking at the G-20 summit in Turkey, the president characterized the horrific rampage as merely a setback in the fight against ISIS. Really? Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We have always understood that this would be a long-term campaign. There will be setbacks and there will be successes. The terrible events in Paris were obviously a terrible and sickening setback. Even as we grieve with our French friends, however, we can't lose sight that there has been progress being made.
The strategy that we are putting forward is the strategy that ultimately is going to work. But as I said from the start, it's going to take time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, the president also got testy with reporters for questioning his brilliant ISIS strategy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
QUESTION: I wanted to go back to something that you said to Margaret (ph) earlier, when you said that you have not underestimated ISIS' abilities. This is an organization that you once described as the JV team.
I think a lot of Americans have this frustration that they see that the United States has the greatest military in the world, it has the backing of nearly every other country in the world when it comes to taking on ISIS. And I guess the question is -- and if you'll forgive the language -- is why can't we take out these bastards?
OBAMA: Well, Jim, I just spent the last three questions answering that very question, so I don't know what more you want me to add. I think I've described very specifically what our strategy is.
QUESTION: Do you think you really understand this enemy well enough to defeat them and to protect the homeland?
OBAMA: All right, so this is another variation on the same question. And I guess -- let me try it one last time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Yes, why can't we take them out, Mr. President? Now, the president -- he was busy scolding reporters for daring to question his actions towards ISIS. There are reports that the terror group put out a video earlier threatening to target all the other countries that have carried out air strikes in Syria and threatened to strike, quote, "the heart of America, Washington, D.C."
Now, despite this new disturbing video, the FBI still insists there's no credible ISIS threats to America.
Here with reaction, the former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Mike Flynn. Mr. Flynn, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.
LT. GEN. MIKE FLYNN (RET.), FMR. DIA DIRECTOR: Yes, thanks, Sean. Thanks for having me on. Let me just say a couple of comments here, and I'll be very -- I'll be as brief as I can.
Number one, the president is 100 percent wrong. If you do not clearly define the enemy that you're going to face, you cannot figure out the best way to defeat that enemy. We are facing radical Islamists. And frankly, this is a war on reality, and the president and his close advisers need to get real.
They're obviously not under enough pressure. They are not JVs. They just demonstrated that again. And they will absolutely attack again in places like London and places like Berlin, in places like New York, in places like Washington, D.C. They're very, very well organized.
This is the problem of letting the world go to hell and assuming it won't come back to bite you in the rear end. And frankly -- and I'm going to be very candid here, Sean -- our amateurish foreign policy has its own place of responsibility in the mayhem that we are seeing right now.
The president -- to stand there and say that our strategy is working against this vicious, vile enemy is absurd! It's absolutely absurd! And I just -- I'm stunned at his press conference today and the way he characterized this brutal attack, this brutal 9/11-style attack in Paris as a setback.
HANNITY: Well, I agree wholeheartedly. We really appreciate your insight in being with us tonight. Thank you, sir -- Lieutenant General Flynn.
FLYNN: Thanks, Sean.
HANNITY: Joining us with more reaction, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. Mr. Mayor, the president insisting still to take in Syrian refugees, but yet the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said we cannot put it past ISIS to infiltrate the refugee community.
The State Department spokesman, John Kirby, said it's possible that ISIS and al Qaeda will infiltrate the refugee community. Back in February, FBI -- assistant director for the FBI, Michael Steinbeck (ph), said the same thing. Back in April, Homeland Committee chairman Mike McCaul said the same thing.
The president's going to -- is he going to gamble with the lives of Americans and defy what his own intelligence people are saying?
RUDY GIULIANI, R-FMR. NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Well, Sean, this has been a very difficult weekend for me because it brings back September 11 and all the terrible memories I have of it. And the thought then, when President Bush, you know, acted so decisively and so quickly, that maybe something like this wouldn't happen again -- and the reality is, this did not have to happen, if our policies were different.
If President Obama had listened to Senator McCain and Senator Graham and a whole group of other people and had set up a no-fly zone in Syria five years ago, if we had gone in and we had worked with the Syrian legitimate rebels, if we had not taken our troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan, ISIS never would have emerged.
ISIS is filling a vacuum created by a vacuous foreign policy.
HANNITY: I -- the president is...
President Obama -- this is an Obama -- ISIS is an Obama creation. This would not have happened. Just follow me for a second. If we had 50,000 or 60,000 troops in Iraq, we would have been getting the intelligence that would have told us about the development of ISIS, and that would have been given to the CIA.
Once you take your troops out, we have no resources. We have no real access. CIA is very small. The Army's very big. And when we had our Army there, why weren't we getting attacked?
HANNITY: Can I...
GIULIANI: Because we were getting a tremendous amount of information.
HANNITY: So we also would not have lost Ramadi and Fallujah...
GIULIANI: Of course not!
HANNITY: ... and Mosul and Tikrit!
GIULIANI: Of course not. As General Petraeus has pointed out, we won it, we gave it back! And now it's being controlled by people who want to come here and kill us.
and here's the simple fact. And this goes back to President Bush. Some American president has to hold a speech at night and say to the American people, We have to be in the Middle East until the threat against us is over, just the way we were in Germany, just the way we were in Italy, just the way we are now in South Korea.
HANNITY: Here's what I want to ask, and this is a harder question. The president referred to this group as the JV team. He said hours before this attack, ISIS is contained. He will never say "radical Islam." They said, man-caused disasters, overseas contingency operation. Ft. Hood officially, according to Barack Obama, is workplace violence!
And my question is, how can he be wrong so often on something so serious? And now his own intelligence people say, Don't bring in these refugees, and he's insisting on bringing them here!
GIULIANI: That's the very point, Sean. I mean, the reality is those reporters were frustrated because the president has displayed over and over again he doesn't understand ISIS. The day before, he said they were contained, and the next day, they attacked Paris! This is obviously the man who doesn't understand ISIS.
He's not getting good intelligence. He's getting very bad intelligence. If he's getting bad intelligence about ISIS, he's going to getting bad intelligence about these refugees. Also, where are we going to get the information about the refugees? We have nobody there to give us the information!
HANNITY: What -- I want to ask you -- the FBI says that there are a thousand active ISIS probes going on in the U.S. now, and the president keeps going out, rather than saying the words "radical Islamic terrorism," which he is incapable of saying, this is what he says constantly about Islam, and I want to ask you about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: The United States is not and will never be at war with Islam.
And I'm also proud to carry with me the good will of the American people and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country. As- salaam aleikum.
Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism, it is an important part of promoting peace.
Our enemies respect no religious freedom. Al Qaeda's cause is not Islam. It's a gross distortion of Islam.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: He's now going to take in Syrian refugees. Is he gambling with the live of Americans?
GIULIANI: He is. Taking in Syrian refugees without the intelligence base on which to do any kind of an analysis of who they are, what they are or where they came from -- where is that going to come from? We don't have CIA agents, or many of them at least, in Syria. We don't have soldiers in Syria.
HANNITY: And wouldn't they be trained...
GIULIANI: We don't know the background of...
HANNITY: Wouldn't they be trained to lie to us?
(LAUGHTER)
GIULIANI: Of course they would!
HANNITY: I mean, this is not complicated. Are you a member of ISIS? No.
GIULIANI: Also, his knowledge of theology is wanting. He apparently didn't read the entire Quran and Hadith. Mohammed was a warrior who...
HANNITY: Among other things.
GIULIANI: So what you have to do is you got to interpret out that part of Mohammed that went and killed 4,000, 5,000 Jews in Korash and Hadith and buried them in a mass grave. You've got to -- you've got to read out the invocation toward the end of his life that to be a good Muslim and to follow the life of the Prophet, you have to get someone to convert, kill them or have them pay tribute.
Those are all also part of the religion.
HANNITY: This is ISIS...
GIULIANI: That has to be read out of the religion.
HANNITY: Isn't that -- the mantra now, Convert or die!
GIULIANI: Well, this is an Islamic-based radicalism. It is not Buddhist-based, it's not Hindu-based, it's not Christian-based. And it is based...
HANNITY: You're saying the Islamic State is Islamic, basically, which he refuses...
GIULIANI: And it's based on words in the Quran that come from Mohammed and in the Hadith...
HANNITY: We're out of time.
GIULIANI: ... which have to be read out. They have to be read out, as good Muslims do. They read it out and get rid of it.
HANNITY: 9/11 commission report, Mr. Mayor -- you know, you remember this, as well as anybody.
GIULIANI: Of course. I testified.
HANNITY: OK. And what did it say? They are at war with us!
GIULIANI: Listen...
HANNITY: And we're not at war with them.
GIULIANI: That's totally ridiculous! How many times on your show have I said over the last six years it's totally irrelevant whether he thinks we're at war with them. They're at war with us. And apparently, the socialist president of France realizes they're at war with them, and our American president can't get it.
GIULIANI: How big an impact on this election?
HANNITY: I think it should have an amazing impact on this election because this -- what happened in Paris can happen in any American city or any...
HANNITY: Scary.
GIULIANI: ... Western European city. And you and I have been predicting this for five years.
HANNITY: Yes, we have.
GIULIANI: I pray we're wrong.
HANNITY: I pray I am so wrong...
(CROSSTALK)
GIULIANI: Now we know we're not wrong. We're not wrong. And I wish we were wrong.
HANNITY: I wish we were. Mr. Mayor, good to see you.
GIULIANI: And god bless those poor people.
HANNITY: I agree.
Coming up next right here on "Hannity"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: To the degree that anyone would equate the terrible actions that took place in Paris with the views of Islam, you know, those kinds of stereotypes are counterproductive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: It's almost pathologic, the president once again refusing to acknowledge that ISIS is acting in the name of Islam. Geraldo Rivera is on the ground tonight in Paris. Plus, Colonel David Hunt, Lieutenant Colonel Bill Cowan -- they will weigh in.
And then later tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are not at war with Islam or Muslims. We are at war with violent extremism. We are at war with people who use their religion for purposes of power and oppression.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Pretty frightening. Hillary Clinton and her Democratic rivals refusing to say radical Islam is at the heart of their debate this weekend. 2016 GOP presidential candidate Dr. Benjamin Carson is here tonight with reaction as we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And this is a Fox News Alert. It has been just days since Islamic jihadists with ties to ISIS carried out a series of deadly terrorist attacks in Paris. And predictably, well, President Obama is already lecturing the world on how ISIS has nothing to do with Islam. Really? Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: ISIL does not represent Islam. To the degree that anyone would equate the terrible actions that took place in Paris with the views of Islam, you know, those kinds of stereotypes are counterproductive. They're wrong. They will lead, I think, to greater recruitment in the terrorist organizations over time if this becomes somehow defined as a Muslim problem, as opposed to a terrorist problem.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Joining us now to respond -- he's on the ground in Paris tonight -- Geraldo Rivera. Also with us, Fox News military analysts Colonel David Hunt and Lieutenant Colonel Bill Cowan.
Geraldo, we start with you. I heard your very emotional reaction. Your daughter was in the stadium when all this was going down. Tell us the latest. What's going on on the ground?
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me just say, the president's feelings are way too squishy for me. Let me get back to the president's remarks that you just played, if I may, Sean.
I just left Simone (ph). We had dinner together. It was very nice. She's calming down. You know, obviously, this has been a traumatic experience for her.
On the way here, we drove past the Eiffel Tower. You should see this landmark, Sean. It is emblazoned in the red, white and blue national colors of France, our oldest ally. And it has the motto of Paris on it in lights, "The ship rocks but never sinks."
HANNITY: Yes.
RIVERA: And I think that sums it up. That says it all. This is a resilient, ancient city. It's been through a lot. This the worst violence to afflict Paris since World War II.
HANNITY: Geraldo...
RIVERA: It is now gradually coming back to normal, but it's so, so traumatized, there's no doubt about it, Sean.
HANNITY: Hours before this attack, the president said "contained." A little over a year ago, he called ISIS the JV team. This is just a setback -- man-caused disasters, overseas contingency operation, won't say radical Islam, workplace Violence, Ft. Hood.
There's something pathological! This president seems incapable of recognizing an enemy that has declared war against us. I mean, you and I agree on this!
RIVERA: It seems to me...
HANNITY: Why is he so off, so often?
RIVERA: It seems to me this is -- right. I get it. This is malignant wishful thinking on the president's part. ISIS is different than any organization we have ever been against, even al Qaeda. Why is it different? It's different because it is a nation-state. It is a de facto country. They have the dirt. They have the ground. They have the infrastructure, schools and banks and oil wells.
And it is -- to compare them to any organization other than the Taliban before 9/11 is really sophomoric! The president has to deal with the fact that we are at war with a de facto nation, and we have to use all of the power that the United States possesses to prevent this from coming here. You've heard that ISIS has said that Washington, D.C., is coming up next, Sean.
HANNITY: Yes, you know, and Colonel Hunt, I'll ask you. It's worse than sophomoric because the president has doubled down in taking Syrian refugees into this country in spite of our State Department, our national intelligence director, our FBI director and so many people involved in the security of this country telling him it's impossible to vet the people that he wants to take in, the refugees from Syria, and that ISIS and al Qaeda will infiltrate the refugee population!
How do we possibly keep the nation safe if the president won't listen to these people?
COL. HUNT (RET.), FOX MILITARY ANALYST: Well, we can't. And Rhodes, who is assistant national security adviser, on five different shows yesterday on Sunday lied about that very thing, said we can aggressively vet them. We're not winning the war. By the way, really glad that -- really glad and relieved that Simone is safe and that Geraldo got to go over there.
RIVERA: Thank you.
HUNT: I can't say it any better than what...
RIVERA: Thank you. Thank you, Colonel.
HUNT: ... than what Geraldo just said. The president -- we cannot win this war -- and I normally don't get to do this because it's not -- I don't do -- I do the war on terror stuff. But politically this is embarrassing and wrong.
We cannot win with a president who -- the guy who stood there in this -- in Turkey and answered questions within 30 hours after Paris, and that kind of denial. We've already got enough problem fighting this war incorrectly. But if that -- right now, we don't have the leadership to even get started. This is going to take serious leadership to pull a coalition together to get at what Geraldo just said!
HANNITY: Colonel Cowan, when you really think about this deeply, the president is willing to gamble. If our national intelligence director and our FBI director and our State Department spokesman are right and he's wrong, he, by taking in these refugees, is gambling with the lives of American citizens! His number one duty as the president is his job and role as commander-in-chief, and he's abdicating that role by not listening to them! Thoughts?
LT. COL. BILL COWAN (RET.), FOX MILITARY ANALYST: Indeed, Sean. I listened to the president's talk today. I call it "Obama babble," which it was it really was babble, incoherent, delusional. The president -- look, we all feel bad for the refugees. Sean, I dealt with refugees out of Vietnam years ago. I understand refugees and their issues.
But in this particular case, the president is threatening the security of Americans!. Among all those refugees, there's probably some wonderful people. But we don't know who's wonderful and who's not. And despite what Ben Rhodes may say, as David just alluded to, we do not have the way to adequately vet all of those people anymore than the folks in Europe who now have to deal with them were able to vet them in Europe.
HANNITY: I want to thank you all for being with us, especially Geraldo. I know this has been a very difficult time for you and Simone. And I know you're such a great dad and you were going to get on the first plane out of here to go see your daughter. She's in our prayer. You are.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... the people of France. All right, friend. Safe home.
And coming up on this busy news night here on "Hannity"...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: We are not at war with Islam or Muslims. We are at war with violent extremism. We are at war with people who use their religion for purposes of power and oppression.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Hillary and her fellow Democrats refused to say the words "radical Islam" at their debate this weekend. We'll check in with Dr. Ben Carson. He's here with reaction.
Later tonight, despite reports that at least one of the Paris jihadists may have entered Europe as a refugee from Syria, why is President Obama standing by his plan to bring in Syrian refugees?
Plus, later tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some of the ideas and some of the hatred, the absolute hatred is coming from these areas!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Donald Trump would consider closing some mosques if he wins the presidency in 2016. That and much more as we continue straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And this is a Fox News Alert. The terrorist attacks in Paris are already impacting the 2016 election. On Saturday, the Democratic candidates faced off during their second debate and refused to use the term "radical Islam"! Really? Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: I don't think we're at war with Islam. I don't think we're at war with all Muslims. I think we're at war with jihadists.
And we are not at war with Islam or Muslims. We are at war with violent extremism. We are at war with people who use their religion for purposes of power and oppression. And yes, we are at war with those people, but I don't want us to be painting with too broad a brush.
MARTIN O'MALLEY, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This brutal and barbaric group is perverting the name of a great world religion!
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS, D-VT., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think the term is what's important. What is important to understand is we have organizations, whether it is ISIS or al Qaeda, who do believe we should go back several thousand years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Joining us now, the author of "A More Perfect Union: What the People can do to Reclaim our Constitutional Liberties," 2016 Republican presidential candidate Dr. Benjamin Carson.
Like the president, Dr. Carson, they cannot utter the words "radical Islamic terrorism," Bernie Sanders -- I'll play it for you -- going as far as to say climate change is our biggest national security threat. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: Climate change is directly related to the growth of terrorism. And if we do not get our act together and listen to what the scientists say, you're going to see countries all over the world -- this is what the CIA says -- they're going to be struggling over limited amounts of water, limited amounts of land to grow their crops, and you're going to see all kinds of international conflict.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Dr. Carson, how can the president and these top candidates be so wrong about such a clear and present danger to our country and to the world?
DR. BEN CARSON, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, you know, I hope the people are paying attention to this. You know, I find it interesting that, you know, they're willing to use the term ISIS because the "I" in ISIS is "Islamic." And so they're not really being very consistent.
But obviously, the terrorism that's growing and spreading around the world is coming from that base. And you really have to understand the history of it. You know, Mohammed, who lived in Mecca -- who wasn't a very popular fellow, by the way. His uncle kind of shielded him. When his uncle died, they drove him out and he went up to Medinah, and that's where he put together his army.
And they went around and they killed people who didn't believe as they did. Anybody who didn't accept all their tenets belonged to something the called the kafir. And you could do anything to them. You could kill them, behead them. You could lie to them. And that underlying belief is still there with the radical element of the Islamic movement.
Now, what we need to do, I think, is encourage the imams and the clerics to come out and condemn the radical elements of that faith because if they can...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... the more moderate elements of Islam have been too silent in the fact of all these terror attacks...
CARSON: Absolutely.
HANNITY: ... cumulatively speaking?
CARSON: Well, you know, I grew up in Detroit. You know, I've always known a lot of people in the Muslim community. And many of them are patriotic, you know, wonderful people who don't believe that radical stuff.
HANNITY: Yes.
CARSON: But somebody needs to come out and make that distinction because we need to have a way of being able to tell who our friends and who our friends are not.
HANNITY: Let me -- let me...
CARSON: And we've got to become responsible.
HANNITY: You know, there was some negative press against you today because of your appearance on "FOX News Sunday" and your plan that you are articulating to defeat ISIS and that you didn't name one foreign leader or country that would collaborate and form a coalition.
I want to give you another chance to answer that and answer your critics that say you should have had a specific plan and who the specific countries would be.
CARSON: Well, you know, I can name all the countries down there consecutively where they are. That's not the point. You know, the point is, we need to have a plan that attracts them and lets them know that we will be with them, that we're not going to abandon them, you know, like we abandoned Israel, like we abandoned Ukraine, like we've abandoned people around the world.
That was my point. You know, I can sit here and I can say, yes, it will be Saudi Arabia, yes, it will be the United Arab Emirates, it would be Oman. That doesn't mean anything. You know, people need to ask relevant questions.
HANNITY: Yes. Is it right for these states to say to the president, We're not taking these Syrian refugees, even though he's pushing them on us, even though his own intelligence agencies are warning him that we can't possibly vet them all and that they will -- ISIS will infiltrate the refugee population?
CARSON: Of course they will infiltrate it. You know, as I've said, it would be malpractice on their behalf not to infiltrate it. You have a wonderful vehicle allowing you to get these radical elements right into the midst of America. Of course they're going to do that.
And at some point we have to use something called common sense. And I think that's one of the things that the American people are so frustrated by. We have these politicians, and they seem to have completely lost contact with rational thought processes.
HANNITY: This president's lost touch with reality in so many ways it's kind of scary. Dr. Carson, good to see you, thank you.
CARSON: You too. Thanks, Sean.
HANNITY: And coming up later tonight right here on "Hannity" --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Some of the ideas and some of the hatred, the absolute hatred is coming from these areas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Candidate Donald Trump says he would consider shutting down some mosques in America if they preach hate. That's coming up later. But first tonight --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Many of these refugees are the victims of terrorism themselves. That's what they're fleeing. Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: President Obama is adamant about opening up U.S. borders to the refugees fleeing Syria and the Middle East. So is this the best way to keep America safe? Our intelligence community says no, we can't vet them all. That's next and more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: This is a Fox News alert. I'm Steve Harrigan in Paris. Right now an international manhunt is underway for the eighth attacker as well as for anyone else who may have been involved in the attacks here in Paris. Two were arrested in Belgium while across France the police have made more than 160 separate raids. They've detained 20 people. They've put more than 100 people under house arrest.
Police have also uncovered a number of arsenals including at least one rocket launcher.
We're also learning more about the attackers themselves. At least four of the attackers were French citizens. The French president has said what we have here are French people killing other French people. He said this is a new kind of enemy and the government needs new kinds of powers to deal with it. He is advocating changes in France's constitution, including giving the government the power to strip terrorists of citizenship.
Also in the coming days, French President Hollande has said he's going to ask for help from the United States, from Russia and from Europe. He said he wants to build a single group to try and destroy the Islamic state, not simply to contain it but destroy it and all its operations in the Middle East. It was an emotional appeal. He said most of those killed here in France were under age 30.
Now back to "Hannity."
HANNITY: This is a Fox News alert. According to reports one of the Paris attackers allegedly had a passport that showed that he came from Syria through Greece. Does this change our plan to accept refugees right here in the U.S.? According to President Obama, absolutely not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Many of these refugees are the victims of terrorism themselves. That's what they're fleeing. Slamming the door in their faces would be a betrayal of our values.
The people who are fleeing Syria are the most harmed by terrorism. They are the most vulnerable as a consequence of civil war and strife. It is very important -- and I was glad to see that this was affirmed again and again by the G-20 -- that we do not close our hearts to these victims of such violence and somehow start equating the issue of refugees with the issue of terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: So we'll gamble with the live of Americans? Unbelievable.
And that's not all. Over the weekend, Obama's deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, he actually said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN RHODES, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: We're still planning to take in Syrian refugees. We have very robust vetting procedures for those refugees. It involves our intelligence community, our national counterterrorism center, extensive interviews, vetting them against all the available information.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, keep in mind Judicial Watch says the FBI has nearly 1,000 active investigations involving ISIS right now in the U.S. And just last month FBI Director James Comey, he said the following. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: That group is using social media to try and motivate people to either come to their so-called caliphate, or if you can't come, kill where you are. So we have investigations in all 50 states to try to identify among hundreds of people who are consuming this poison where are they on the -- in stages from consuming to acting, and how do we stop them from acting? That is a preoccupation of the bureau and our partners in state and local law enforcement all day long in all 56 FBI field offices. That remains with us. There's obviously still a traditional Al Qaeda threat, but what is front of mind today is this crowdsourcing of terrorism that we're facing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now remember the A.P. reported that the U.S. will accept 85,000 refugees in 2016, 100,000 in 2017. That equals 185,000, that on top of the 70,000 refugees this year, all told, 255,000, many from Syria, not all by any means.
Joining us now with reaction, the director of Jihad Watch, Robert Spencer, from the Islamic House of Wisdom, Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, and the president for Act for America Brigitte Gabriel. Imam, let me start with you. Now, if we have the director of national intelligence, James Clapper, and we have State Department spokesman John Kirby, and we have James Comey who you heard, an assistant director of the FBI, Michael Steinbeck, and Homeland Security Committee Chair Mike McCaul all saying it's impossible to vet the 10,000 that the president insisted today we'll take in from Syria, why should we risk one American getting hurt in light of the events in Paris. Why should we risk one American life if they're telling us we cannot vet them all? Can you explain to the American people why we should do that?
IMAM MOHAMMAD ALI ELAHI, ISLAMIC HOUSE OF WISDOM: I explain to the American people that we have to deal with the causes, not the effects.
HANNITY: I just asked you a question. You're not answering my question.
ELAHI: The people of Syria used to live under a secular government in peace prosperity, a government -- they have not -- the intention of sharia law that Saudi Arabia is talking about.
HANNITY: Sir, wait a minute. If one of the terrorists in Paris got through the refugee system there and they're warning us it can happen here, I'll throw this to Brigitte, Brigitte, one plus one equals two, it would be safe to assume our intelligence officials are right and this is a danger to the America people.
ELAHI: We have to stop the criminals. We have to stop the terrorists.
BRIGITTE GABRIEL ACT FOR AMERICA FOUNDER: They are a danger to the American people because our intelligence agencies are monitoring the situation. Look, even ISIS came out and said we already have 4,000 ISIS people smuggled into Europe as refugees. ISIS figured it out. They know they're going to send them here within the refugees. Our intelligence community knows it and that's why we have to be very careful.
HANNITY: Robert Spencer, really quick to you. Why should the people of America allow, when our intelligence agency says they cannot -- that they will infiltrate the refugee community, why would the president insist on doing that? Isn't that gambling with the lives of the American people?
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERT SPENCER, JIHAD WATCH DIRECTOR: It's definitely gambling with the lives of the American people. An attack like what happened in Paris is very likely to happen here as a result of this. Look, the Obama administration won't even acknowledge or name the enemy or admit that there's an ideology behind it. And so how are they going to vet when they won't even admit that this ideology exists? How are they going to vet for it? There's absolutely no way. It's absurd and it's bordering on suicidal. It's definitely very much against American interests, and not one refugee should come here.
HANNITY: The Republicans in Congress better take note and they better stop it. And coming up next -- thank you all -- right here tonight on "Hannity" --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Some of the ideas and some of the hatred, the absolute hatred, is coming from these areas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Donald Trump says he may consider shutting down some mosques right here in America if elected if they're preaching hate. Is that the right thing to do? Our panel will respond straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: This is a Fox News alert. French President Francois Hollande proposes sweeping new laws to boost public safety in response to Friday terror attacks in Paris. And the interior minister of France has floated the idea of closing certain mosques that preach hate. Now, 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump was asked earlier today if he is elected president would he consider doing the same. Here's what he said. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Actually, the French have said they will shut down mosques.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That have radical leadership.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump, the French are talking about that. Is that something that you would consider doing as president?
TRUMP: Well, I would hate to do it, but it's something that you're going to have to strongly consider because some of the ideas and some of the hatred, the absolute hatred is coming from these areas. And you know, in New York City as an example, we had a group of people, from what I understand, that really knew what they were doing, that were really studying the situation. And they're not anymore. And under the new mayor they're not doing that anymore. I think that is a mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Joining us now, former NYPD detective Bo Dietl, former CIA officer Mike Baker, and psychology expert, radio host and TV host Dr. Gina Loudon. You know, you do not have the right, Dr. Loudon, to preach hate or make terroristic threats or plot and scheme against your fellow Americans. If a mosque is doing that, that would be a violation of law. That is not as far-fetched as, quote, liberals seem to think it is.
DR. GINA LOUDON, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: You're exactly right, Sean. I think it's Frank Gaffney's work that said And 80 percent of the mosques that exist in America are advocating or promoting violence. This is a problem. How do we turn a blind eye to that fact?
HANNITY: I don't know. Mike? This president does it all the time. He says come on in, Syrian refugees, even though the infiltrated France.
MIKE BAKER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: It's surreal. You can't describe it. When someone travels to Raqqa for training and then you don't have the ability to pull their passport and say you're no longer a citizen, and by the way, here's president. The mosque situation is interesting. I look at it from an operational standpoint. I'm more concerned with our ability to monitor what is going on, to identify issues and problems, to get leads that we need. And then also there is one thing we have to focus on, aside from taking away a territory of ISIS, which we have to do, people stand around and say why do we need to bother with ISIS? Paris is the reason. They plot, plan, and train.
HANNITY: The president is willing to take them in. But if he's wrong, he's gambling with our lives.
BO DIETL, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: When you have a fool, a fool like Ben Rhodes when you listen to him when he talks about how they're going to be vetted. How do you vet them if you don't know who they are?
HANNITY: Aren't they trained, though, Bo, this is your area of expertise. Aren't they trained to lie? They're going to say, of course I'm not a terrorist. I'm not with ISIS.
DIETL: And they have all of six minutes for an interview. They want to put them in a Rebel hotel, one idiot that owns the Rebel hotel says bring the Syrians over to the Rebel hotel in New Jersey.
HANNITY: Let me ask you something, because some good people have a hard time grasping that these people can go into a crowded theater and start shooting innocent men, women, and children, that is just evil in our time. This president is not recognizing, won't recognize it's pathological that he won't recognize radical Islam.
LOUDON: It is absolutely pathological, you nailed it. And it's not just pathological. Its' stupid and it's dangerous. And this whole perpetuation of the idea that if we just love everybody and we're more accepting, while he's saying the number one problem, don't forget, is climate change.
HANNITY: Him and Bernie Sanders.
BAKER: Right.
LOUDON: I want to saw one more thing. On this governor's thing, Sean, we're going to see, and I'm not clairvoyant, but mark my words, the Democrat states will allow all the refugees in and the Republican states won't, and you know why, because the Democrats are wanting those votes.
HANNITY: Wait for Obama to just bypass the states and do whatever the hell he wants.
BAKER: It's not either/or, though. I would argue, look, and this is what we always do. We don't seem to have ability to say, look, it's a gray world. It's not just black and white. So with the refugees, of course, Ben Rhodes, God bless people with creative writing degrees. He is a young man who is now in a position of national security adviser of communications. But he's blowing smoke up our backside when he talks about the ability to vet. We don't have that ability. But we can take refugees in if we do it in a smart fashion.
DIETL: When you see on Friday night, I was on Charles show, and Charles said, Bo, what would you do? I said right away, I said you have got to go in there and save whatever hostages you can. There is no negotiating. They're willing to die. We're dealing with crazy people that want to die. You've got to take head shots and take them out.
HANNITY: Our FBI, our national intelligence are all warning us. Why our president won't listen. They will infiltrate that community.
DIETL: They're here, already. They're here, already.
BAKER: The best way to deal with this problem is you have to take away their territories. We don't have that strategy right now. We have to be at the front edge of the spear. We're all tired from the war on terror, but if you don't take away their territory, just like with Al Qaeda and 9/11, they'll do it.
HANNITY: They want to kill us.
DIETL: We broke so many plots by eavesdropping on these radical mosques. We've got to do it again. Let's stop worrying about peoples' rights.
LOUDON: We don't have to accept the refugees. We can be compassionate by going there and help them in their territory.
DIETL: Send them to Saudi Arabia. Send them to Saudi Arabia. How about Saudi Arabia?
HANNITY: They don't want them.
DIETL: Why don't they want them? Because they know what they are.
HANNITY: All right, we've got to leave it there. Good to see you all, thank you.
LOUDON: Thanks.
HANNITY: Coming up, more "Hannity" right after this quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: That is all the time we have rest this evening. As always, thank you for being with us. Quick programming not, be sure to tune in tomorrow night, 10:00 eastern, 2016 Republican presidential candidate, the frontrunner Donald Trump will be here along with Mark Steyn to talk about the Paris terrorist attacks. That's tomorrow night at 10:00 eastern.
As always, thank you for being with us. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of France and around the world. Thanks for being with us.
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