Hannity: Joe Biden is either dumb, lying or both
Sean Hannity slammed the Biden administration for failing to take what Americans need, such as lower gas prices and energy independence, seriously
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," November 9, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: All right, Tucker, and thank you.
And welcome all to HANNITY.
Tonight, we're tracking multiple major stories, including developments from the Russia collusion hoax. A top Biden adviser has now been implicated in connection to the lies, conspiracy theories found in Hillary Clinton's dirty, Russian, paid-for dossier.
Plus, America's most dishonest Congressman Adam Schiff, yep, for the first time, he is facing tough questions -- and by the way surrounding his deep involvement in perpetrating the great lie, hoax, conspiracy theory of the dossier. And by the way, not from Jake Tapper at fake news CNN, not Chucky Todd at MSDNC, Morgan Ortagus on "The View", and we got the tape.
But, first tonight, we begin -- it appears that Joe Biden has finally realized Americans are not happy with the U.S. economy. But according to Joe, the only fiscally responsible way to make things better is to pass the Build Back Better/New Green Deal socialism plan and spend a couple trillion more dollars that we don't have and rob our kids and grandkids blind and put it on social welfare projects that are pretty much destined to fail.
Every single economist in the country not named Janet Yellen is warning this spending would greatly accelerate inflation, which is now impacting all us. At a time when inflation is already at a 30-year high -- well, we got bad news today -- wholesale prices, they are up a whopping 8.6 percent. We already know gas prices are up on average $1.50 a gallon, costs a lot more to fill your tank, the cost to heat and cool your home.
Well, it could be up by a hundred percent by the end of the winter heating your home and you might not even be able to find a turkey in time for Thanksgiving. Why? Because of dire real shortages that we're experiencing.
But Joe Biden, he knows best. He's the smartest person in the room, and now he believes spending $2 trillion is going to magically fix inflation, and fix our supply chain crisis. After all, his policies have worked so great to this point, right? Why not just take his word for it, right?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: All this is paid for by raising taxes on big corporations and very wealthy. We're not trying to punish anybody, but I'm insisting that they pay their fair share. It's fiscally responsible and it's paid for.
Now, I know that a lot of folks don't feel the progress we're making in the economy, I get it. I know the cost of gas, groceries and rent seems to be harder and harder to handle. That's what's more -- that's one of the more reasons why we have to pass my Build Back Better bill.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: So it's one of the other, Biden is either really, really dumb, not particularly smart, or he's lying. Probably both. Remember, on the campaign trail, Joe vowed to punish the fossil fuel industry, reduce America's supply on oil and gas, even if it caused economic pain and suffering for Americans all around the country. He wanted to put CEOs in jail.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBATE MODERATOR: Would you be willing to sacrifice some of that growth even knowing potentially that it could displace thousands maybe hundreds of thousands of blue-collar workers in the interest of transitioning to that greener economy?
BIDEN: The answer is yes. The answer is yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we don't stop using fossil fuels --
BIDEN: We're all dead. Doing away with any subsidies for fossil fuels, number one. Number two, holding them liable for what they have done, particularly in those cases where your underserved neighborhoods and -- you know the deal, okay?
And by the way, when they don't or when they're deliberately put them in jail. That's what I -- I'm not joking.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Not joking. Let's put these guys in jail. He did keep one promise: he killed the Keystone XL pipeline. He did ban oil exploration on federal lands, and now, his administration is weighing an option to kill another pipeline. This one from Canada to Michigan, and that's not all.
According to the great climate czar, the guy with the big carbon footprint himself, John Kerry, the U.S. will no longer have coal plants by 2030, thanks to Build Back Better new green deal socialism. By the way, Senator Joe Manchin, I think you might want to pay attention because that will impact West Virginia and the hard-working people in your state.
Even with heating prices gas prices soaring, Biden has no intention clearly of slowing down his Green New Deal agenda. It's so bad that in a letter, 11 Senate Democrats, apparently they're the only 11 that aid attention to what happened last Tuesday, they are now slamming Joe Biden and the undue burden of rising gas prices that his policies have caused or something to laugh at like his Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm did.
But let's get clear here: this could all easily be resolved. We can fix all of this, except we have one problem, Joe Biden's president. Joe Biden apparently, clearly, would rather once again beg OPEC again and again and again, and get rejected again and again and again in humiliating fashion and still keep going back -- as Jennifer Granholm -- blaming the cartels, blaming OPEC.
No, Jennifer, I blame you and I blame Joe. And if you really want to fix the problem, go back to the energy independence that you inherited from Donald Trump who made us energy independent for the first time in 75 years and that means we can create a lot of jobs right here in America, high paying career jobs in the energy sector, and we won't have to care one wit about what happens in the Middle East or the Straits of Hormuz and we'll be energy independent. If you have cheaper, a better form, cleaner form of energy, I'm an all the above guy. Bring it forward.
In the meantime, oil, gas and coal are the lifeblood of the world's economy and begging OPEC is not the answer. You know, we can drill for more gas right here in the U.S. We don't need to import any energy. Donald Trump gave you energy independence and we were a net exporter of energy. We were supplying our Western European allies.
Biden, he'd rather give the waiver to Vladimir Putin's pipeline than keep building out our own Keystone XL pipeline. That's American jobs.
Now, he's floating the possibility of draining our national reserves. Okay, that's a short-term solution. That's also risky.
And tonight, our country is literally being led by some of the dumbest people. They're more married to their ideology, don't seem to care at all about who has impacted negatively the most -- poor people, the middle class. Build Back Better/New Green Deal socialism is probably the most idiotic scariest piece of legislation I've seen in my 33 years in media.
Joe's actions surrounding Afghanistan are morally corrupt. His southern border policy, ludicrous. According to a poll from Trafalgar, that's our friend Robert Cahaly, and the Convention of States, 67 percent of Americans oppose Biden's plan to give a whopping $450,000 to illegal immigrants that didn't respect our laws, our border and our sovereignty. Fifty-five percent want the southern border closed, especially in the middle of the crisis that's ongoing down there. The borders czar, Kamala Harris, who has a historically low approval rating for any vice president at only 28 percent, what is she doing on the border? She's not going down there and visiting the guys on the front lines. Nope, she's in Paris, in France, talking about Europe's migrant crisis. How does that help us?
And according to the vice president's spokeswoman, she's not at all worried about the 28 percent record low poll number she's pulling. Take a look.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SYMONE SANDERS, HARRIS SPOKESPERSON: I'm not focused on the polls, I'll let the pundits pontificate on that. The polls are a snapshot in time and at this time, I am looking forward to touching down in Paris France, but before that, taking a nap.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, nap time seems to be a priority across the Biden administration. The only silver lining in 2022, 2024, you the American people, you can vote all of these people out. You can say bye-bye, and we can return to -- let's see, maybe we'll even go back and rescue the Americans Joe abandoned in Afghanistan. We certainly can fix the border, bring back to "stay in Mexico" policy, finish building the wall end this idiot policy -- idiocy of process and release of Joe Biden. And then, of course, we can go back to being energy independent. That will help our economy as well. That will reduce the high cost of everything that we're now paying for.
Joining us now with reaction, former Trump White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, along with FOX News contributor Ari Fleischer.
Reince, we begin with you.
I've never seen it that bad, and the only answer that will solve Joe's problems would be to return to the Trump policy, something we all know he's not going to do.
REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: He's not going to do it, and quite frankly you laid it out perfectly this is the result, the atmosphere we're in in America is the direct result of the intentional conduct of Joe Biden. As you laid out, he intentionally shut down the Keystone pipeline, he intentionally caused the border surge to take place on our southern border. He intentionally botched and mucked up the exit in Afghanistan.
And what's happening politically, Sean, and one of the things that we talk about in politics is sometimes you can't fool the atmosphere. In other words, there's no amount of money, there's no amount of advertising, just like Terry McAuliffe found out, that can change the atmosphere.
There are two things that are killing Joe Biden right now. Number one, the mood is very bad. We have not seen a 75 percent wrong track poll, meaning when people are asking when the right track or the wrong track, 75 percent, not since 2011 have we had a 75 percent wrong track poll in America. That's number one.
Number two, there's no intensity for Joe Biden. And this is also what killed him in Virginia, because when people were asked, do you strongly support Joe Biden? Only 20 percent of the people said yes.
The difference between Trump and Obama were because they had polls where they were at 40-42 approval, but when they were asked, do you strongly support Trump? There were -- 95 percent approval in the party, and that and that created an environment where there was always about 40 percent of the voting public that would run through a brick wall for either Donald Trump or Barack Obama, because they were delivering either a progressive liberal policy or a great America First policy.
That's where we're at in this environment. It's very bad for Joe Biden.
HANNITY: And, you know, I guess -- you know, the moment that Bill Clinton -- when Newt Gingrich, I got to be the emcee the night that he became speaker, Ari, I guess I've been at this too long, but I was the emcee that night. It was a pretty incredible night for the first time in 40 years, Republicans won.
And after that win, historic win with Newt Gingrich Contract with America, a guy by the name of Bill Clinton decided was time to change course and he said things like "the era of big government are over", "the end of welfare as we know it".
With this radical group of new Green Deal socialists and Joe Biden, I don't really think is calling the shots, I don't see that possibility. Do you?
ARI FLEISCHER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely not.
HANNITY: It wasn't a joke.
FLEISCHER: Yeah, they think it is. No, there's not a chance in the world. That party is dead. The Democratic Party that used to be a somewhat centrist, welfare reform, era of big government is over party is dead. It has no legs left.
You have the woke Democrats, the progressive Democrats who have really taken control of the party. It's just moved left.
But add on top of that the incompetence that we see. You know, Sean, as you went through your monologue, it occurred to me that we have a president of the United States who is asleep at the switch. We have a vice president of the United States who's AWOL from the border. We have a transportation secretary who's on leave, and we have an energy secretary who's out to lunch.
You know, across the board, the people who are in charge of the things that we need them to be in charge of, with a supply chain shortage, with an energy problem, none of them are competent enough to do their jobs.
And if there is any one issue that riles up the American people, it is energy. We saw that remember actually when Jimmy Carter was president, of course, and the gas lines doomed his presidency but even more recently in France when hundreds of thousands of French citizens took to the streets led by truckers to protest the climate change, the green proposals that were going through in France because it was driving up the cost of energy, and that's what Joe Biden and the woke progressives are leading America into.
And it is politically the most risky thing they can do and as Reince pointed out, they are facing a severe electoral backlash for going down this road.
HANNITY: So, knowing this, there's no way they're going to change. They're going to double down, they're doing what they said they were going to do we just forgot that he said that he wanted to go after the CEOs of oil companies and energy companies. So, to them, their mat -- their loyalty to the New Green Deal socialism is greater than the loyalty to Americans especially people that are poor and middle class to pay more money.
Reince Priebus, I don't think that works out well for any politician under any circumstances.
PRIEBUS: Well, it's not going to work out, but another thing to keep in mind is that when you have to evaluate where the -- where are the parties going, you look at where the money's at the big money on the Democrat side of the aisle is on all of the things that we're talking about, which is open borders it's things like, you know, shutting down oil rigs for chasing rainbows and the Paris agreement. It's on the things that Soros is funding, that you see happening all, in throughout the -- in Hollywood and New York.
The money that's funding the Democrat Party is driving the agenda. The good news for the Republicans is that the people that are funding the Republican Party people want a secure border, they'd actually want our kids -- you know, to have choice in school, of what they're learning, gas prices being low, the southern border, energy independence -- those are the things that are funding the Republican Party. And so, it's just squaring up with the United States electorate right now in a much better way.
HANNITY: All right. Reince Priebus, Ari Fleischer, good to see you both.
All right. We turn now to the NFL and the vilification of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He recently tested positive for COVID-19. By the way, we do wish him a speedy recovery.
In August, he told reporters that he was immunized but Rogers was never actually vaccinated for COVID-19. And now, as Rodgers himself put it, he is in the crosshair of the woke mob.
Earlier today, the Packers star quarterback took responsibility for any misleading remarks. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AARON RODGERS, PACKERS QUARTERBACK: I understand that people are suffering and this has been a really difficult time for the last two years on so many people. And I also know how sports can be such a connector and bring people together in times of adversity, and I do realize that I am a role model to a lot of people. And so, I just want to start off the show by acknowledging that you know I made some comments that that people might have felt were misleading, and -- you know, to anybody who felt misled by those comments, I take full responsibility for those comments.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right. Here with reaction, the host of "Unfiltered", Dan Bongino, and correspondent at large, Geraldo Rivera.
You know, I think, Geraldo, the issue of vaxxed and unvaxed, that debate is over. Everybody's made up their mind. I don't think you're going to convince many people on that issue. You see now military, nurses, cops, firemen, first responders -- they're willing to leave their jobs, abandon their salary benefits and pensions because of what they believe in.
The question to me is, why -- if we're going to follow science and we want to be safe -- why is there no attempt at all to accommodate -- especially nurses that were diving on COVID grenades every day, those people that might have natural immunity, a rare medical condition or a different point of view? Why can't we accommodate them and keep the workplace safe and give the option of being tested? Why don't we -- why do we given up all medical privacy, freedom and doctor-patient confidentiality in this country, Geraldo? That's a high price.
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT-AT-LARGE: You know, Sean, Aaron Rodgers, Shailene Woodley, one of my favorite couples. He's a terrific football player. He's a great personality, MVP.
But he may have cost his team the Super Bowl last Sunday against Kansas City Chiefs. They lost -- the Green Bay Packers lost 13-7 because he could not play, because he was positive and had lied to his teammates, lied to the city of Green Bay, lied to the people of this country about his status.
And, Sean, I think that just because he's popular, just because -- and I don't want to join anybody --
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: You're not answering.
RIVERA: I'm not any mob.
(CROSSTALK)
RIVERA: Let me finish, Sean.
HANNITY: But wait a minute, are we giving up all medical privacy, all doctor-patient and all freedom, whether you agree or disagree?
RIVERA: If -- if I think that you cannot have a right of privacy that I'm in your room with my grandchildren who are not vaccinated because they're too young and you lied about your vaccine status and you sneeze on my grandchildren, you know, that that is -- that could be a crime. That is absolutely so selfish and self-involved.
And it -- you know, I look at Aaron Rodgers and he's so charming, and again, I say I'm a big fan of his. He's a very, very agreeable charismatic person and he married a great actress,. and I wish them all the best.
HANNITY: Let's go to Dan. Let's get Dan's --
(CROSSTALK)
GERALDO: -- terrible -- and his -- and his -- and his apology was a bunch of baloney. I regret that though if you think this way, in that way. You know, he didn't say I'm sorry.
HANNITY: So, you're not going to accept his apology. Ok, fair enough, you don't have to.
Dan Bongino?
GERALDO: That wasn't an apology.
DAN BONGINO, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: He doesn't owe anybody an apology. Aaron Rodgers doesn't know Geraldo or anyone else jack squat. Aaron Rodgers was given his body by God. He is ward of his own body, whether he chooses to disclose his immunization status or not isn't Geraldo or anyone else's business.
And the other point here about you don't have a right to privacy if you sneeze around someone, really? I mean, so we're throwing the Constitution out the window for a virus with the survivability rate of between 98 and 99 percent? I mean, I -- really if that isn't the road to tyranny, I don't know what is. I mean, are you going to apply the same -- the same tactic to people who are infected with tuberculosis? I mean, what about HIV?
You know, it's interesting are you going to ban them from sexual contact, from intravenous drug use? What about tuberculosis? Are they not going to be allowed to breathe in public?
You know, you see how these simpleton views of how privacy and the Constitution by the way which is not a suggestion. The constitution is not a suggestion. It's our founding document. You see how that all gets thrown out the window when we go down this slippery slope.
And it's all based on nonsense. They'll throw out the 1905 Jacobson case, which was a case based on smallpox in Massachusetts, and the equivalent of $125 fine. It's nothing to do with coronavirus., and you're losing your life with this nonsense.
RIVERA: There have been three Supreme Court cases -- there have been three Supreme Court cases already that gave the government the right to mandate, in Maine, in Indiana and in New York. The Supreme Court will soon deal with this Fifth Circuit case.
BONGINO: Yeah, that's not true.
RIVERA: And we'll even it all out. Mandates are constitutional.
(CROSSTALK)
RIVERA: You do not have the rights --
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Geraldo, we don't know that yet. The Fifth Circuit, as they're saying we will find out.
But here here's my question there's got to be a way, if I'm right, if the premise of my question is right, that everybody's decided. People made a decision, especially when we're firing nurses that worked in a Petri dish for two years at the worst moments of this pandemic, many of whom got COVID, and they believe in natural immunity. There's some disagreement on some of these issues.
Where is the flexibility? Why is there a rigidness, you must get the vaccine or you're fired. how about vaccine or would you agree to be tested, so people don't lose their salary, their benefits and their pension? Why is there only one size fits all medicine here?
RIVERA: You know, Sean, in January, I lost a beloved nephew, Bobby Reed, to this disease. He left his wife --
HANNITY: I've lost friends, too. It's horrible.
RIVERA: -- Michelle, and his children, Tyler and Casey. They lost -- lost to this awful disease that has already claimed 750,000 American lives, over 5 million worldwide.
HANNITY: Can we meet in the middle and find accommodation or not?
RIVERA: At what point -- no, there's no accommodation.
HANNITY: Not at all?
RIVERA: I despise -- let me be very frank, I despise -- I despise vaccinated people who are smug in their protection, who urge unvaccinated people to exercise their freedoms.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: What if they get tested everybody? If they tested every day, that's not good enough for you?
RIVERA: It's like the guy in the street to jump who's telling the guy --
(CROSSTALK)
RIVERA: -- to jump.
HANNITY: All right. Last word, Dan Bongino.
RIVERA: You know?
BONGINO: You know, it's interesting -0- Geraldo, he despises these people yet he doesn't know the, like I spoke to a guy who was fired by a company I work for who has a serious problem with blood clots whose doctor told him if he gets the vaccination, he could be in serious medical trouble. Geraldo doesn't have a medical degree he doesn't know but he despises the guy he hasn't even met and he paints that as a reasonable rational decision. Geraldo hasn't met these people he despises yet he despises them.
HANNITY: I'm going to have to run.
BONGINO: Here's the thing, I don't despise anyone. I respect your individuality and your ability to make your own decision with your doctor.
RIVERA: You have no individual rights when it comes to the vaccine. You have no rights.
HANNITY: All right. Thank you both.
BONGINO: That's what tyrants say all the time.
HANNITY: When we come back, straight ahead, the deep state exposed once again after today's bombshell.
Plus, wait until you hear Adam Schiff's very bizarre defense of the Russia hoax. We've got the very latest. Joe Concha, John Solomon, much more, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Now, tonight, the Russia hoax, the dossier scam and the media mob's lies are as corrupt and as damning as they've ever been, because get this, not only did we learn last week that one of Christopher Steele's key sources was a long time Clinton operative, but we can now report tonight that the adviser referred to in the indictment of Clinton lawyer Michael Sussman is Biden's own national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
So you got Clinton, Biden, Obama, the rest of the deep state cabal, they are now firmly implicated in what is the biggest abuse of power corruption scandal in our country's history. That Russian dossier that Hillary paid for, full of lies and misinformation and propaganda coordinated by a partisan Clinton supporter. It's a hit job. It's bought and paid for by the Clinton campaign and the DNC.
All sources never verified but then used to secure FISA warrants against Carter Page, to spy on a presidential candidate, transition team and president. I think we got it right from the very beginning. It took us three long years. We're the only show that I know that uncovered the truth night after night after night. We have been vindicated.
And all these other media outlets have done nothing but lie and spill and sell conspiracy theories and a hoax every single hour of every single day and they've done it for years. And by the way, no one fueled these made up bizarre conspiracy theories more than the compromise congenital liar himself Adam Schiff.
Watch Schiff from earlier today squirming when pressed by Morgan Ortagus on "The View". Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN ORTAGUS, "THE VIEW" CO-HOST: You defended, promoted, you even read into the congressional record the Steele dossier. And we know last week, the main source of the dossier was indicted by the FBI for lying about most of the key claims in that dossier. Do you have any reflections on your role in promoting this to the American people?
REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA): If people lie to the FBI, they should go to jail. But at the beginning of the Russia investigation, I said that any allegations should be investigated. We couldn't have known for example people were lying to Christopher Steele. So it was proper to investigate them. None of that is undercut. None of that serious misconduct is in any way diminished by the fact that people lied to Christopher Steele.
ORTAGUS: No, I think just your credibility is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Here with reaction, FOX News contributor Joe Concha, along with Just the News founder, he broke a lot of these stories. He's the founder and editor, John Solomon.
Didn't the Horowitz report also refer if he really feels that way about people accused of lying didn't he refer people like Jim Comey and Andrew McCabe to be investigated for lying, John Solomon? And now that we see a little bit of -- getting a little glimpse into Durham's path forward, what do you glean from all of this?
JOHN SOLOMON, JUSTTHENEWS.COM: Well, listen, the entire case was built upon lie upon lie upon lie. Danchenko is lying to Steele. Steele's got stuff that's going to Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is lying to the American public in late October when she's peddling this. Jake Sullivan is out there.
The entire thing was a ruse from beginning to end and it's taken us almost five years to get the bottom of it. But listen, the biggest losers in the Durham investigation, and those who are indicted are the Hillary Clinton campaign. They've been exposed for what they did they ran a dirty trick and they got the U.S. intelligence community to participate.
The news media -- I'm going to leave that to my good friend Joe who knows more about it than I but the news media got taken for an incredible ride and the FBI. There's only two possibilities. The FBI was so incompetent, they failed to see the dirty trick or they knew and they perpetrated and allowed it to go on. Neither one is good for the American people.
HANNITY: Unbelievable.
Joe Concha, the media now uh we could do hours and hours of tape of the media mob -- CNN, fake news, MSDNC -- they perpetrated these lies along with the likes of the congenital liar Adam Schiff.
They've never retracted. They'd never apologized. They'd never corrected the record. They'd never admitted they're wrong. They've never been held accountable.
How do -- how do you how do you perpetuate lies like this for three years and never come clean to your audience and then just move on to the next round of lies?
JOE CONCHA, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Because they don't care. It was all a matter of a means to an end. Push the narrative, put Adam Schiff on the air dozens upon dozens of times.
Adam Schiff is the Michael Avenatti of Capitol Hill, basically in the cable news world, as far as cable news being MSNBC and CNN, an empty suit adored by the media. He even get a green room named after him at CNN and MSNBC.
And kudos to Morgan Ortagus for being the first person considered media to actually challenge Schiff on his Russia claims, which are the best unintentional comedy routines out there. Remember, it was Schiff and this is what Morgan pointed out before, who read the juicy, obviously farcical parts of the Steele dossier, which is completely unverified into the congressional record.
This is the same Adam Schiff who swore he had smoking gun evidence that he saw direct evidence of collusion between Trump and Russia. He pushed the Steele dossier his gospel, the same way Rachel Maddow, the Alex Jones of cable news herself did night after night.
And for lying and for leaking and for misleading the American people, he gets rewarded with a book deal worth I don't know 100 billion rubles. And I'm sorry, no active lawmaker, Republican, Democrat -- no book deals while you're supposed to be serving the American people, because you may be trying to weave a narrative that might not be based in truth in order to sell books.
You want to be Michael Wolf or Jackie Collins, get out of Congress and go write books instead. That's all I have to say about that.
Hi, John Solomon, by the way. We haven't seen each other a while.
HANNITY: By the way, you're almost like Mark Levin, that's it. I'm done. I'm done.
I will say this --
CONCHA: I'm done.
HANNITY: That's what he says.
It -- we do not have equal justice and equal application of our laws in this country anymore. We have a politicized DOJ as we speak and we literally have -- if you're a Democrat, you get one system of justice, if you're a conservative and Republican, you get an entirely different set of justice in America. If that doesn't get solved and resolved, we won't have a country.
John, Joe, thank you.
When we come back the prosecution's case against Kyle Rittenhouse, it is imploding before your very eyes. Wait until you see what happened in court. Alan Dershowitz, Gregg Jarrett, they have reaction, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Right now, the prosecution today rested its case in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.
Now, remember, back, it was August of 2020, then 17-year-old Rittenhouse fatally shot two men, injured a third amid the violent rioting that was taken place in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Now, he was charged with first degree reckless homicide, first degree intentional homicide and other gun related charges. But video evidence shown him showed him being swarmed and attacked by the men that he ended up in the shooting match with, and in what many say was self-defense.
Now, here's a video that was put out by Rittenhouse's former attorney Lin Wood, you might remember. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Rittenhouse is seen next running towards the flashing lights of police vehicles. The armed mob is now chasing after him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Cranium that boy. He just shot a man.
NARRATOR: Within this context, the word cranium is street slang which is a calling for someone to take Rittenhouse out with a headshot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, what are you doing? You shot somebody?
NARRATOR: An unidentified protester strikes Rittenhouse in the head knocking his hat off.
Rittenhouse trips and falls to the ground, another protester attempts to jump on Rittenhouse who then fires two shots into the air. A third protester fakes as if he's surrendering, then suddenly advances with a handgun aimed at Rittenhouse, a single shot strikes the man's right bicep.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, get this -- it was a moment from yesterday's trial that still has everyone talking after the prosecutor's own star witness, one of the men shot by Rittenhouse admitted on the stand that he was pointing his own gun at Rittenhouse before he was shot, offering some of the most persuasive testimony yet to bolster the self-defense claim. Take a look at this moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does this look like right now your arm is being shot?
GAIGE GROSSKREUTZ, WITNESS: That looks like my bicep being vaporized, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay, and it's being vaporized as you're pointing your gun directly at him, yes?
GROSSKREUTZ: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. So when you were standing three to five feet from him with your arms up in the air, he never fired, right?
GROSSKREUTZ: Correct.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It wasn't until you pointed your gun at him, advanced on him with your gun now your hands down pointed at him that he fired, right?
GROSSKREUTZ: Correct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Here to explain and analyze, FOX News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett, and the author of "The Case for Vaccine Mandates", famed attorney, Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz is back with us.
Professor, I'll start with you when somebody has to admit understand, oh, yeah, I'm pointing the gun at him before he shot me, that's a pretty damning moment, is it not?
ALAN DERSHOWITZ, HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR: It was classic cross-examination, it was a brilliant question, a brilliant way to formulate the question and it totally knocks out the prosecution's theory that he was firing without himself of being put in danger. You know, it was Oliver Wendell Holmes who once said that exquisite rationality is not to be expected in the presence of an uplifted knife. Obviously, the presence of an unlifted gun is even more serious.
So I think this case in the end -- certainly the assault against this man would have to be thrown out because the prosecution's main witness admitted that the firing of the shot came only after he was pointing a gun at this guy. So this weakens the prosecution's case enormously, and it seems like it's headed toward an acquittal.
Remember too, there's a presumption of innocence and we have to always presume that the person, you know, is in innocent, very young man. And so I think this was a very good day for the defense.
HANNITY: You know, there's a reason and I learned this in the Richard Jewell case because I said just because somebody lives with their mother doesn't mean they fit the profile of the lone bomber, and he heard me that day and it taught me a big lesson, and we didn't rush to judgment in the case in Florida or what happened in Missouri, what happened in Baltimore and UVA and Duke Lacrosse, we ended up being right.
When you look at that testimony and you couple it with that video, Greg Jarrett, what do you see, and what will the jury see?
GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I see that cross-examination is the engine of truth, where deceptions are unraveled and lies are shredded and the truth finally emerges and that's what happened here. The key prosecution witness was forced on cross-examination to confess that he advanced on the defendant and aimed his gun at him, at which point in time ridden house is entitled under the law of self-defense to shoot first to defend himself.
You know, this witness said -- well, I didn't intend to aim my gun at the defendant. Irrelevant. We don't require that a defendant be a mind reader or guess at the intentions of a guy who's aiming a pistol at him. You were allowed to defend yourself as long as you reasonably believe that your life is in imminent danger of serious bodily injury or death.
It didn't help that this witness lied to police saying he dropped his pistol when in fact a photograph emerged that showed him standing over Rittenhouse aiming his pistol at him, and it didn't help that he also filed a $10 million lawsuit against the city and stands to make a handsome amount of money if a Rittenhouse is convicted. So there was a motive to lie, to embellish, to cover up.
So I agree with the professor. This looks like an acquittal, but that doesn't clear him of the other charges of homicide, although there are witnesses who say that he acted in self-defense in those instances as well.
HANNITY: What the video show you, Professor, when you look at that video and all that chaotic scene and so many people armed that night?
DERSHOWITZ: What it re reminds me of is how important as Gregg said cross- examination is. Remember, today, the hard left, the #MeToo movement, they would abolish cross-examination. Their theory is, hey, if a woman or a person of the left or a protester on the right side of the protest accuses somebody, that's it. What do you need cross-examination? It's a barrier to truth.
And I think this case demonstrates what we ought to know and that is that cross-examination is the greatest engine of truth ever invented. And we always have to presume in a sense in every case, whether you agree or disagree with the politics. We can't allow our criminal justice system to become politicize. We can't have people rooting for an outcome depending on whether the person is right or left.
And, look, I have no dog in this fight, I just want to see the truth come out. And the truth requires presumption of innocence, challenges of cross- examination and then let the chips fall where they may, let the jury decide based on all the evidence and that includes vigorous cross-examination.
HANNITY: Well said both of you.
Professor Dershowitz, Gregg Jarrett, thank you both.
When we come back -- will young children in New York city now be required to show their vaccination status? Mayor comrade Bill de Blasio is thinking about mandating that.
Dr. Nicole Saphier and Laura Trump, they weigh in next as we continue.
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HANNITY: Now, more evidence tonight that never-ending restrictions are -- well, failing to keep blue state residents safe. For example, new data is now showing that the mask mandate California has -- well, they have a higher COVID rate that's now twice that of Florida's. And remember, parts of California are also imposing strict vaccine mandates, prompting this demonstration yesterday outside L.A. city hall as the city's new vaccine rules are now in effect.
In New York City, outgoing mayor, Comrade Bill de Blasio signaling now that he wants vaccine mandates for young children, meaning five to 11. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: At what point will you ask them to also start checking for vax cards for five to 11 year olds?
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK CITY: That's a very good question and honestly, one, we need to focus on that. We wanted to get to the day where we actually could vaccinate the youngest New Yorkers and get that rolling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right. Let's look at the science, shall we? Let's look at the science from the CDC: 1.9 million kids between the ages of 5 and 11 have become and infected with COVID, 160 have died. I always say one death is too many, especially when you're talking about children. The death rate is around 0.008 percent. The flu, 2019, 2020, kids age 5 through 17, 8 million kids infected, 140 deaths. That's a death rate of 0.0018. Just slightly less than COVID.
Now, with that low rate, that low impact, do we really need to make a five year old show vaccine proof to go to a restaurant, a bowling alley, a school for example?
Now, thankfully, there is some sanity coming from the newly elected or mayor-elect of New York and that's Mayor Eric Adams, who soon will be mayor, who says he's looking forward to getting rid of the mask mandates in school.
Here with reaction, FOX News medical contributor, Dr. Nicole Saphier, along with FOX News contributor Lara Trump.
When you look at the rates, they seem pretty comparable in terms of kids that die from an average flu, with kids that get impacted by COVID, and again the science seems to be very, very clear. Young kids, Dr. Nicole, are not impacted by this virus the way older adults are.
DR. NICOLE SAPHIER, FOX NEWS MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, that's very true, Sean, and the fatality rate with COVID-19 in this age bracket that we're talking about 5 to 11 years old is exceedingly low.
Of course, though, death is not the only metric. We also think about long COVID. We think about MISC, which is seen after COVID in some children. However, those are still exceedingly rare.
And when it comes to the potential for vaccinating this population, this should not be one size fits all. In fact, an indiscriminate vaccine mandate in this age group will have unintended consequences. The Pfizer data did not power enough -- meaning it didn't have enough children in the study to show some of those more rare side effects, about 3,100 children receive the vaccine. Well, that's not enough to see, say, like the myocarditis which we saw with adolescents. That was at about one in every 7,000.
So when it comes to vaccinating these young kids, parents need to look at whether their child has had COVID before because there is not a strong scientific argument to be vaccinating children who have already recovered from COVID-19 because of their robust natural immunity. And then it should go further from that. Should they be getting a single dose? Should they have two doses but those two doses should be maybe six weeks or 12 weeks? Because we know that has a stronger immune reaction and also decreases those side effects.
Again, this is -- the good news is whether a parent decides to vaccinate or not vaccinate their child their risk of a severe outcome is exceedingly low, and I do not think that any parent should be forced into mandating their child to be vaccinated for an illness that has a very rare, rare chance of causing them any harm for the majority of children it is a mild cold if they get any symptoms.
HANNITY: Lara, you've got young kids, you see the data you look at the science -- as a mom, how do you react to this?
LARA TRUMP, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I've never been nervous about my kids -- you know, dying of COVID-19. As you just laid out, it is -- and Dr. Saphier just laid out, obviously, this is not a very dangerous thing for children. Unfortunately, the media has been masterful at fear-mongering parents from day one.
And I think the problem at this point becomes freedom. And you know, the American people do not take kindly to being forced to do anything since our country was founded -- we were founded upon the idea that we didn't want to be told by rulers how to live our lives that we could choose what was best for us.
So when you look across the board at these vaccine mandates, the government does not have the ability or the right to tell you or your children what to put in your body, to have a medical procedure? I mean, you know, if they really cared, especially about the kids, maybe they should look to -- I don't know -- the city of Chicago where far more kids were shot this year alone in Chicago than died of COVID-19.
But don't worry because Mayor Lightfoot has just shrunk the police force even more because of that vaccine mandate which doesn't do anyone any good. There will be more shootings of children in Chicago no doubt because of that. More kids die in car accidents, more kids drown every year than die of COVID-19, yet we are not banning cars. We are not covering up every pool in America because at the end of the day, this is about freedom. Freedom will never be on the wrong side of history and some of these people should remember that that are in charge of New York City, that are in charge of America, they have to keep that in mind. It is about freedom for the American people to choose.
HANNITY: Well-said. Lara, thank you. Dr. Nicole, thank you.
Straight ahead.
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HANNITY: All right. That's all the time we have for tonight. As always, thank you so much for being with us. We hope you'll set DVR. It's very easy to do, so you never ever, ever miss an episode.
But I have some good news. Let not your hearts be troubled? Why? Because Laura Ingraham is taking it over, and apparently at some point this week, she's got some prank she's about to pull on me.
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