'Hannity' on Biden's handling of US-Afghanistan war

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Hannity: Biden trying to lie his way out of accountability

'Hannity' host slams President Biden over abandoning Americans and allies in Afghanistan

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity" August 31, 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 to HANNITY. 

We begin with this FOX News alert. We have major breaking news at this hour out of Afghanistan. 

According to a phone call just obtained by "Reuters" from July, President Biden warning Afghan President Ghani, you know, the guy that fled with all the money, that the fight against the Taliban was, quote, not going well and that he needed to change the perception. And quote, there is a need, whether it's true or not, to project a different picture. 

In other words, in July, Biden knew things were going bad, going south. The intel community, and we have been reporting this, has been correct from day one. That's why the CIA left six, seven weeks earlier. 

But instead of stopping the Taliban and stopping a withdrawal, and protecting our interests, Joe Biden was only worried about optics, projecting a different picture. 

This is a disgrace, because what that means is, Joe Biden knew that it wasn't working and was getting dangerous and he didn't expedite the withdrawal at a point in time when he could have done it safely. And not leave Americans behind enemy lines, and our Afghan allies to be murdered, and they will be. 

Every American tonight should be furious. To be blunt, we don't have a president in the White House. We don't have a real commander in chief. We don't have a leader. 

Instead, we have a dishonest, self-involved, incoherent mumbling and bumbling, quote, commander-in-chief who firmly believes that he deserves all the credit for getting the United States out of Afghanistan, none of the blame for the disaster of how it went down. 

Thirteen Americans, that's our national treasure and many more seriously wounded and hundreds of dead Afghans and God only knows how many Americans are left behind enemy lines tonight well basically hostages of the whim of the terrorist organization, the Taliban to now fend for themselves. 

Now, the fact that we don't know the exact number, that alone is unforgivable. This was the worst self-inflicted foreign policy disaster in not only modern American history, one of the worst in all of American history and sadly the only thing I can report tonight is it is far from over. All of this because of Joe Biden and now we know he knew. All of it was completely preventable every bit of it, he did this. 

But in a speech today Joe took no responsibility he offered zero apologies he patted himself on the back again and again and again and he took his mission accomplish in a great victory lap and he provided zero solutions for now the scores of our fellow Americans held hostage, abandoned behind enemy Taliban lines. 

(BEGN VIDEO CLIP) 

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And couldn't this have been done in a more orderly manner? I respectfully disagree. 

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: There is not an end to our commitment to American citizens who are in Afghanistan who want to leave. 

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA), MINORITY LEADER: Never in my lifetime would I ever believe America would have an administration knowingly make a decision to leave Americans behind. 

JOHN KIRBY, PENTAGON SPOKESPERSON: It's not completely unlike the way we do it elsewhere around the world. I mean, we have Americans that get stranded in countries all the time. 

BIDEN: The extraordinary success of this mission was due to the incredible skill bravely and selfless courage of the United States military and our diplomats and intelligence professionals. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

ANNOUNCER: Americans Held Hostage Abandoned Behind Enemy Lines, Day 17. 

HANNITY: Every single American this is not political whether you're Republican Democrat conservative liberal, this should make every American's blood boil -- our fellow Americans now are behind enemy lines and hostage to the whims of the terrorist group the Taliban. I guess after about 10, 20 cups of coffee today, a very annoyed-looking, seemingly wired Joe Biden screaming into the microphone, lecturing us that the evacuation was a tremendous success.

In fact, he congratulated himself and said it could not have been done in a more orderly way. Oh, yes, it could. Take a look. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

BIDEN: I take responsibility for the decision. Now some say we should have started mass evacuation sooner and couldn't this have been done -- have been done in a more orderly manner, I respectfully disagree. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

HANNITY: Respectfully, you're dead wrong. You could have done it in April when the Taliban was on the march, May, June, oh, and July when you knew damn well things were falling apart. Wait until later in the show tonight. We will show you exclusive tape of what's really going on in Joe's successful endeavors in Afghanistan if this was an extraordinary success, how does one define failure? 

Joe Biden obviously lying, Afghans falling from American airplanes and airports surrounded by terrorists. Americans and our partners held behind enemy lines, unable to get through, rescued missions conducted by private, for-hire security groups and retired military personnel that just cared enough to go get their fellow Americans and Afghan allies because Biden wasn't sending any help. Even the Dutch and the Brits and the French were sending in their troopers behind enemy lines to save their people. 

Eighty-three billion dollars, according to some estimates, the sophisticated U.S. weaponry now in the hands of an evil terrorist organization, all courtesy of Joe Biden because he didn't prepare but he knew -- now we know he knew. 

A massive terror attack killing 13 American service men and women, more than 160 innocent civilians, Bagram Air Force Base is now gone, our U.S. embassy is gone, we have no diplomatic presence on the ground. We have no military presence on the ground. Our intel sources are being hunted down and they will be killed one by one they're even we even left behind not only computer data identifying every Afghan ally in the last years, but they've got -- we left the biometric scanners. Yeah, they have those too. 

Look into this right now -- oh, you helped the Americans? You're dead. And now hundreds, maybe more than a thousand American citizens are trapped behind enemy lines. That's right stuck at the whims of the Taliban that now hold their fate in their hands no way out. Their fate now rests with the goodwill and mercy of several terrorist organizations, including the Taliban, including ISIS-K, including al Qaeda, who are now all emboldened. 

You know, Joe Biden said, oh, we have all the leverage. You don't have any leverage. Our own Jennifer Griffin reporting rightly so that multiple American babies whose parents are green card holders unable to get past the Taliban to get to the airport. They're trapped behind enemy lines. 

CNN's Clarissa Ward, I think, did a phenomenal job, talked about a family from Texas, all with U.S. passports, who were also unable to escape. A three-year-old American boy from Sacramento, California, couldn't also get out also trapped tonight. 

And last night, an interview with a -- with an American woman named Sarah who is so desperate to get out herself. You know what? You don't think this could have gone any better, Joe. 

You don't think that doing this in May, June, July -- we show you the map every night, we give you the dates and the time and the quick geographical possession of the Taliban, you knew they were on the march. Now, the intel community is releasing information because they're not going to take blame for your mistake. 

Do you really think anyone's going to buy your lies from today? Do you think we're that dumb? Are you that dumb? 

This evacuation could not have been any worse and it's going to get worse. But get this, according to Joe -- we're all just overreacting. Americans behind enemy lines, we left them behind, something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime, and I'm overreacting. I don't think so. 

Take a look. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

BIDEN: We believe that about 100 to 200 Americans remain in Afghanistan, with some intention to leave. Most of those who remain are dual citizens, long time residents, but earlier decided to stay because of their family roots in Afghanistan. The bottom line, 90 percent of Americans in Afghanistan who wanted to leave were able to leave. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

HANNITY: He bragged we got 5,500 Americans out. But what was it? Less than two weeks ago, he said, oh, I think there's 10,000 or 15,000 Americans. 

We are the United States of America, the most powerful country with the best military on the face of this earth. We don't leave our fellow Americans behind, not one, not two, not 10 percent. 

How would you like it if 10 percent of your family was trapped in Afghanistan right now, Joe? How would that sit with you? 

And don't forget, thousands of our Afghan partners are also trapped behind enemy lines. They are being hunted down as we speak by the Taliban and they will all be executed. 

And according to "The Wall Street Journal", an interpreter that actually rescued Joe Biden and several other senators 13 years ago during a horrible snowstorm in Afghanistan when their helicopter had to be landed. He's now hiding, marked for dead. He had begged Joe to get him out. Joe didn't care. In fact, he refused to take any responsibility at all. 

According to Joe, the buck does not stop with him in spite of his words that he read off a teleprompter that somebody else clearly wrote and gave him 15 cups of coffee so he could actually stay awake for more than 10 minutes. He blamed the Afghan army, the Afghan government, the Americans trapped behind enemy lines, his own advisors and then when all else fails, let's just blame Donald Trump for everything. Take a look. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

BIDEN: In April, I made a decision to end this war. When the Afghan security forces, after two decades of fighting for their country and losing thousands of their own, did not hold on as long as anyone expected. The people of Afghanistan watched their own government collapse and the president flee amid the corruption of malfeasance. 

Since March, we reached out times to Americans in Afghanistan with multiple warnings and offers to help them leave Afghanistan, all the way back as far as March. My predecessor, the former President signed an agreement with the Taliban to remove U.S. troops by May the 1st, just months after I was inaugurated. 

The decision to end the military airlift operations at Kabul airport was based on the unanimous recommendation of my civilian and military advisers. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

HANNITY: Stop blaming Trump and if you want the truth, we'll give you the truth about the Trump deal. 

Here are the facts: It was a conditional agreement. Before they ever negotiated a thing, Donald Trump warned the Taliban if they didn't follow every dotted I, crossed T, every comma, every period, they would be obliterated, if they broke the rules, they'd be obliterated just like Baghdadi and associates, just like the al Qaeda leader that Donald Trump took out in Yemen, just like the Iranian terrorists Soleimani. If they marched on Kabul while Americans were still all over the country, they knew they would be obliterated, just like he did to the caliphate. The Taliban knew this and for 18 months, that's right, over a year, when Donald Trump is last year in office, not a single solitary American was killed inside of Afghanistan. 

So, make no mistake and watch that timeline, we could have gotten out in April, May, June, July and we didn't do it and he -- now, we know he knew, now we know he wanted to create a false facade. 

Under no circumstances would Donald Trump have abandoned Bagram Air Force Base while any American citizen was still inside the country. As a matter of fact, his plan was to keep it in perpetuity. We built it, we owned it, that was what he said to me. Only an idiot would have abandoned that air base. 

And now, Americans, our partners, our Afghan allies -- they're all trapped, they're all hostages, they're all caught behind enemy lines. Al Qaeda and ISIS are on the rise, and the Taliban, that terror organization that participated and was a safe haven in the lead up to the 9/11 attacks has full control of that country and a massive new stockpile of brand new, the latest greatest weaponry that Joe Biden gave them. 

Joe keeps talking about -- well, we have leverage and international pressure. We don't have any leverage, Joe. None. Our embassy is gone, our soldiers are gone, and they have Americans behind enemy lines. They would be called hostages, Joe. 

And pretending that the Taliban care about their standing in the world -- well, you're just full of Adam Schiff. They're terrorists, Joe. They let other terrorists from ISIS and al Qaeda out of prison, Joe. They don't give an Adam Schiff, what you and other countries think. 

They're going door to door, as we speak. They're executing political enemies, Afghan army personnel and pilots and musicians and comedians, and make no mistake: anyone with American ties inside of Afghanistan will be a target for murder. 

So, you want to know the grand master plan to rescue Americans now behind enemy lines? Biden -- he's going to use your tax dollars. We have economic leverage. 

Where I grew up in New York, we kind of call that "ransom". 

Take a look. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: You say we're going to work with the Taliban. Does that include the prospect of giving them aid? 

JAKE SULLIVAN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, first of all, we do believe that there is an important dimension of humanitarian assistance that should go directly to the people of Afghanistan. When it comes to our economic and development assistance relationship with the Taliban, that will be about the Taliban's actions. It will be about whether they follow through on their commitments. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

HANNITY: Oh, a quid and a pro and a quo with Joe. Oh, that's familiar. Try that, Joe. It's illegal. You should be impeached. Frankly, you're unfit to serve as it is. 

Apparently, if bribery doesn't work, those who want to get out will be trapped forever. Now, some will be tortured and killed. The world will see it. I hope to God I'm wrong, I don't think I am. Others will live under the constant fear of the Taliban's reign of terror left behind by a president who once vowed to protect all Americans and leave no one behind for any reason. 

Take a look. 

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) 

BIDEN: If there's American citizens left, we're going to stay to get them all out. 

This town, this state, this country takes care of our own, leaves nobody behind. 

Giving everyone a fair shot, leaving nobody behind. 

That we do take care of our own, that we leave nobody behind. 

To help everyone in need. Look out for one another. Leave nobody behind. 

But we will leave no one behind. 

It's what America is all about. It's about pulling together, leaving nobody behind. 

Giving hate no safe harbor and leaving no one behind. 

Re-weaving that social fabric that holds a society together, honesty, decency, hope, leaving nobody behind. 

(END VIDEO CLIP) 

HANNITY: Lie after lie after lie, meaningless words from a spineless -- you know, career politician who only cares about himself, if he even knows what day of the week it is. 

He doesn't seem to care Americans are trapped behind enemy lines and the worst part of this is it was all preventable. Doesn't care that our Afghan partners have been abandoned and they'll likely be murdered, doesn't seem to care that American heroes died because of his disastrous withdrawal. 

Over the weekend, after Joe checked his watch repeatedly during the dignified transfer, a relative of one of our fallen soldiers reportedly yelled across the tarmac at Joe -- "I hope you burn in hell". Her feelings, her anger, her grief. You want to know why? Because it didn't need to happen, and she said Joe has blood on his hands. 

And now, more Americans than that now see he abandoned our fellow Americans in Afghanistan. What are they going to do? 

Here with more "FOX and Friends Weekend" co-host Pete Hegseth, along with former CIA chief station chief and FOX news contributor, Dan Hoffman. 

You know we watched like Operation Pineapple Express, we had the leader and founder of that on, Pete, last night. The fact that these retired military special op guys went in on their own rescued as many as people on their own went behind enemy lines and the French did it and the Brits did it and the Dutch did it and we didn't do it what until like the very last day once or twice. That speaks volumes, doesn't it, leaving Americans behind? What happened to leaving nobody behind? 

PETE HEGSETH, CO-HOST, "FOX & FRIENDS WEEKEND": Of course, it does. 

Sean, they're still doing it right now at this moment. I'm in touch with people still actively trying to fulfill the promise that Joe Biden abandoned. He's -- he looked into the camera and said, bottom line, we got 90 percent of Americans out. 

Ninety percent? Was that the promise that you've made time and time again? 

And, Sean, the new revelation tonight that you've that you have rightfully emphasized is that Joe Biden knew he had that conversation with the very flawed and soon to flee Afghan president, where it was understood that the perception or the reality needed to change. 

And you know what else really gets me? He waited three more weeks before Kabul fell to even have a conversation. So he was distracted, a big shocker, and uninterested and ultimately the assumptions he's telling us everyone believed he knew before his eyes. 

This was not an intelligence failure. This was a Joe Biden failure. He knew this was this could be a possibility, made all the wrong steps in the process. And as a result, relied upon the Taliban left Americans behind and those of us who serve there feel betrayed, you can't feel any other way. This is not how you finish an American mission. We have the capabilities, we decided not to use it and the world is watching, Sean. 

HANNITY: You know Pete hit on something, Dan, that I want to highlight here right and my sources have been telling me the CIA left six seven weeks ago and the intelligence was dead on accurate and they communicated all of this to Joe Biden in the White House and they did it loudly and they did it repeatedly and they were ignored. 

HEGSETH: Yes. 

HANNITY: I would bet everything I have that this leaked conversation is because he's blaming everybody but himself and they're not going to take the blame for his failure, which we now know from this "Reuters" tape he knew it was a disaster in July and he still did not -- while we had control of Kabul -- move up the withdrawal time that's on him everybody could have been taken out by that timeline. 

DAN HOFFMAN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Sean, the key takeaway for me from that conversation between President Biden and President Ghani is this -- President Biden was clearly aware of the very precarious situation a military situation in Afghanistan. That's the time to hold our military, hold the evacuation of our military forces, reconsider some of the evacuation of our of our troops and step up the evacuation of our civilians. 

We should be thankful today and there should be we should be giving great tribute to the military and our State Department intelligence community for getting out as many Americans as we did. Frankly, given the situation they were in defending themselves at the airport, they were on the X. They couldn't get off the X, they were under great pressure and great threat and there was that attack that killed of our 13 brave service men and women. 

They're to be commended for doing so much in such a horrifically challenging situation. And the last point I'll make is we've withdrawn our intelligence capability and the military and State Department. That makes it so extraordinarily difficult to get those Americans out and fulfill that promise that President Biden made. 

HANNITY: And we have no leverage. He lied. We have none, zero. Oh we got a hundred other countries that are joining with us to pressure them, they don't care, they're terrorists. 

All right. Thank you both. 

HEGSETH: A U.N. resolution. 

HANNITY: Yeah, go ahead. Pete, go ahead. 

HEGSETH: No, I'm just saying you just put it up -- yes, they're very afraid of that U.N. resolution that we will drop on them as they're killing people for playing music and women for being women. Yeah, I'm sure everything will be all right. 

HANNITY: All right. After the break -- thank you, both - Senator Lindsey Graham and we'll speak to two Afghan Afghanistan veterans and a Gold Star wife. Her husband was killed in the line of duty. 

How are these families -- how are these fighters feeling today? You think they're asking themselves why? Why did we risk our lives? Why did we lose our family members? Why did we give our limbs for this? We'll continue. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

HANNITY: Breaking tonight: in July, Biden knew that Afghanistan was about to fall to the Taliban, but he's more worried about optics and perceptions. Bombshell report from "Reuters" tonight detailing a phone call with the Afghan President Ghani where Biden says it's not going well. We need to change the perception, quote, there is a need whether it's true or not to project a different picture. 

Here with more reaction to the -- to all of this is Senator Lindsey Graham. 

Senator, he had two choices at that point. One to push -- two things he should have done, he should have immediately driven the Taliban back. That would have taken airstrikes only, it would have been effective. 

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Right. 

HANNITY: Number two, he should have sped up the withdrawal if he wanted to stick to his August 31st deadline. We could have gotten out every American safely, every Afghan ally safely, and all that military equipment that he left behind in the hands of terrorists, we could have gotten all that back safely. 

GRAHAM: Yeah. So what -- you hit on something really important here. Remember on July the 8th when President Biden was asked -- well, will this be Vietnam where the Afghan army collapses? He says, no, this is not going to be Saigon. You're not going to have a Saigon moment. The Afghan military is going to fight, and they're going to be effective. 

At the same time, he was telling the public it won't be a Saigon, he's talking to Ghani knowing that it could be a Saigon. So they're lying through their teeth. 

But this is part of the puzzle you don't know about but I'm going to help you fill it in next week. I met with Ghani and members of his cabinet, I think it was in July, and they told me and other senators how frustrated they were with the Biden administration because they wouldn't give them a straight story about how much aid we would provide and when air support would end. I've been told that the Afghans were told by the Biden administration you could not count on any air support after August 31st. 

Now, that's a big deal because that spread throughout the Afghan military. They were trained to fight with the American air support behind them and we took that off the table. 

So they're lying through their teeth about what they did and when they did it. 

HANNITY: I keep showing this map. You've seen it many times. I want to -- I'll air it again and it shows, you know, we go back to April and May and June and July, and you see large portions of the country falling into the hands of the Taliban. They're racing through the country up to Kabul. 

They could have gotten everyone out safely when we were in control, why didn't he do it? 

GRAHAM: Well, number one, what you've shown is a proof positive a violation of the agreement between the Trump administration and the Taliban. The agreement was that you would not take the country over militarily. If you tried to do that, all bets are off. We're not going to leave. 

The other part of the agreement was that you would work with the Afghan government to form a government under the constitution of Afghanistan. What that map shows is that they were in gross violation of the agreement between Trump and the Taliban. 

So when President Biden says he was locked into getting out because of the Trump plan, he's again lying. 

And another thing he's lying about -- if the war is over, why are we still using drones to kill people and talking about more drone-killing in the future if there's no threat from Afghanistan? 

And let me say this about drones -- if drones would stop ISIS from taking over Iraq and Syria, why didn't it work then? It didn't stop ISIS from taking over -- 

(CROSSTALK) 

HANNITY: Should he be impeached? You talked about impeachment. Is this impeachable? 

GRAHAM: Yeah. So, let me -- let me -- yeah, I think so. I think it's dereliction of duty. 

He knew uh that we were going to leave Americans behind and I think he lied to us because there is no way -- I don't believe this 10 percent crap. I think there are hundreds if not thousands of Americans left behind, tens of thousands of Afghans. 

So the Biden administration is lying to us about the threats we face from Afghanistan, about what they knew and when they knew it. And they're trying to blame everybody but themselves. If you want to blame somebody, President Biden, look in the mirror. 

HANNITY: Senator Graham, thank you. 

Now, last night, we heard from two Gold Star fathers. They lost their hero marine sons in last week's terror attack at Karzai International Airport in Kabul. The attack caused by Joe Biden's self-inflicted reckless Afghan exit disaster, all preventable, all of this human suffering all of this violence the needless loss of life. It's all caused by Biden. Now we know he knew, even as he tries to blame everybody else except himself. 

Here with reaction, FOX news contributor Joey Jones and Nevada Senate candidate, Sam Brown, who both served and were wounded in Afghanistan, along with Gold Star wife Jennie Taylor. Her husband, Army Major Brent Taylor killed in Afghanistan in 2018. 

Joey, let me start with you. In 2010, IED related incident resulted in the loss of both your legs above the knee, severe damage to your right forearm, both wrists. How do you feel today? 

JOEY JONES, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, first, Sean, just let me say that whatever injuries I sustained are nothing compared to the -- to the pain that the Gold Star family is going through. I've seen it firsthand. I haven't experienced it, thank God, and my heart goes out to all of them. The dozens that I know and the 13 that were just created and everyone that has lost a hero overseas. 

But what bothered me so much is -- you know, there's all these excuses that come up from Joe Biden checking his watch, maybe he's looking at a rosary that was his son, maybe this, maybe that. You shouldn't have to maybe. If you're the family of someone who died just days ago in an operation that much of the country thinks wasn't on the up and up, didn't -- the intel wasn't correct or the president made bad decisions, maybe as the president United States, you need to just be there and be in that moment and be there for them. 

And if it means that you're the verbal punching bag today, that's okay. I mean, I mean, heck, man, you just went through something that's nobody should go through and you're going to say things and have emotions that may be different a week from now and we all understand that. 

So I don't want to use the words of Gold Star families as some political punching bag but I just was -- 

HANNITY: Not realized. 

(CROSSTALK) 

JONES: -- had the wherewithal as the president United States to be there, be in the moment and show them that respect. And if they say he didn't, I'll take the word for it and just say that we all deserve better. 

HANNITY: Let me ask you, Sam Brown. You graduated from West Point. You got a great distinction. You became an Airborne Ranger. September '08, you were struck by an IED. It severely wounded you. A three-year journey of rehabilitation and recovery. 

Your thoughts today? Do you have any regrets about serving the way this now has ended? 

CAPT. SAM BROWN (RET), U.S. ARMY PURPLE HEART RECIPIENT: You know, Sean, I've got a message for the American people and this is not just me. This is after talking to many other veterans who served there, some my own family members. I'm -- one of three in my direct family who have served in Afghanistan.

And there's two themes that's coming out from this. One is most of us don't regret what we did there, because at the end of the day, we are confident in the help and the assistance and the security that we provided for the Afghans that we had care over at that time, and for whatever period of time that they had some shelter and security from the Taliban or other threats, that was worth something. And we're -- we feel good about that. 

But what we don't appreciate and what Joe Biden has almost single-handedly, along with the top brass leadership out of DOD, has done has caused many of us to feel that we have been lied to over the years about our commitment to the Afghan people and to the mission there. 

And here's -- here's the really sad thing and here's what America needs to know is -- and, Sean, I know you know this, many of those who serve in uniform come from multi-generational families. Here's the second thing that people are telling me today, we're done. Joe Biden has lost the trust and faith of those families, many families who have served for generations, that we would raise our right hand and be available at the direction of the commander-in-chief, and do what our country asked us to do. 

And people are saying, we're done. My children, my grandchildren will not be a tool of elected and unelected officials, their priorities, their foreign policy objectives, we will not be tools for that. And that's a sad, sad indictment of where we're at in America when you have folks that are saying that. 

And so what I'm -- what I'm telling folks is that we need to make sure that we push back against these elected officials and that we demand accountability from our top brass out of DOD. 

People can hear my full statement on Joe Biden asking for his resignation at my website and join me on this mission of bringing back some honor and integrity to our armed services. 

HANNITY: Jennie Taylor, you're a Gold Star wife. You have seven children. Your husband was killed November 3rd in Afghanistan. He served with the Utah National Guard. 

You said for those that say, was it worth it? You said, I don't think that for a second that it was a waste. But you also said that you've talked to many other Gold Star families and, it feels like every one of us is reliving this. Seven children will never see their dad. I can't imagine. 

JENNIE TAYLOR, GOLD STAR WIFE: You know, Sean, I was listening to everything you're saying so far and we're talking about 90 percent of the people getting evacuated or we should go for 100 percent. Well, I've got one statistic for you, 100 percent of Gold Star kids don't get to get raised by that parent that's missing. A hundred percent of Gold Star moms will never get to hug their son or daughter again. A hundred percent of Gold Star spouses like me will spend the rest of our lives without our sweetheart. 

I will tell you what I will not wonder -- I will never wonder if my husband died in vain or why he served or if it was worth it. I will never let myself get to the point where I think that was a waste or never should have been should have happened. 

Do I like the way things have happened lately? Of course not. None of us approve of the current situation. But I will never question why my husband served, why the other 2,000 have died in this war and the thousands that have died for the other wars, the other causes throughout America's history.

We die because of what we believe in. We believe in these principles. We believe in hope. We believe in spreading humanity and opportunity around the world. 

My husband didn't just die to protect me and our seven little babies. He died because he believed the Afghan people also deserved a chance. They deserved hope and opportunity, education and freedom. 

And I'll tell you something that I hope the American people realize, I hope this really sinks in. Men like my husband and the 13 who were killed last week and the thousands that have died in this 20-year war on terrorism, they died trying to make a difference, they died trying to make it better, they died trying to make it work. 

And the question I have for all of us now is, are we willing to live with that same dedication? Are we willing to live in a way that makes it worth it to them, to honor the lives that they have given? Because, again, a hundred percent of Gold Star families have lost at least percent of that chance. They've lost all of that opportunity to be with that loved one again for the rest of their mortal lives. That's a really heavy statistic. 

HANNITY: Jennie, Sam and Joey, I -- there aren't enough words. You guys have been through so much. Very hard for people to relate to, but I can tell you this -- I know I speak for myself and I know I speak for this audience, I want to thank each and every one of you for all of your service and sad sacrifice and pain that you've all been through. I just want to say thank you. You are what -- you're the people that make America great. You're the great Americans that we love and admire. We never leave Americans behind. 

Thank you for sharing your stories with the audience. God bless you all. I pray -- we are in our prayers, all of you. 

Now when we come back, disturbing video coming out of Afghanistan. We've got the exclusive tape, next. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

HANNITY: Take a look at your screen. New footage showing Taliban fighters entering a hangar at Kabul airport. They have to feast on their eyes on the sophisticated U.S. weaponry and advanced helicopters and other aircraft Biden left for them. 

And it gets worse. Look at "The Daily Mail", a new video on your screen showing Taliban terrorists holding victory parades and mock funerals for American soldiers. 

And lastly, the next video needs of a little bit of a viewer warning, according to "The New York Post", there's a disturbing video showing a man hanging from a Black Hawk helicopter. We've not independently verified it but we're investigating who exactly is hanging from that chopper and the details surrounding that footage. 

Here now with reaction, former State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus, and Congressman Michael Waltz. 

Congressman, I look at that and I get sick to my stomach. 

REP. MICHAEL WALTZ (R-FL): Yeah, Sean, every veteran is sick to their stomach. So many of us, you know, have suffered in fighting these thugs for so many years. I've -- you know, they beheaded one of my interpreters in front of this entire family. I've seen machine gunned a girl's school with the girls still in it, and just brutally terrorized anyone who doesn't comport to their version of Sharia law. 

But we were about to see the Biden administration hand them a mountain of leverage on a silver platter in the form of American citizens that are now hostages, and then pay them ransom in the form of humanitarian aid as they lurch towards recognizing this Islamic Emirate. 

(CROSSTALK) 

WALTZ: And I just got a message today from a Middle East ambassador that said the message across the Middle East is jihad has won and democracy has lost. That's where the Biden administration has left us. 

HANNITY: Do you have any idea how many Americans are behind enemy lines? Because I believe we've been lied to, and I have a sources in the Senate and the House that say it could be thousands or more. 

WALTZ: We're in touch with hundreds literally, Sean, as we speak, that are still trying to get out through these veterans networks because we have to step up where the State Department is not. But if you multiply that by their families, by the green card holders, by the legal permanent residents, all of which have been left behind -- yeah, I do think we're up in the thousands. 

And the administration's manipulating these numbers and then shrugging their shoulders, it's only a few hundred. It's outrageous. 

HANNITY: Morgan, you worked with Secretary of State Pompeo. This was not what the deal he worked out and President Trump worked out. They were told repeatedly they'd be obliterated if they didn't follow every -- dotted I and crossed T. 

MORGAN ORTAGAUS, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: Yeah, the Taliban understand one thing, and that's a gun to their head, Sean, and if you don't have a gun to their head in the negotiation, then they're going to do whatever they want to do. And that's the fundamental problem that the Biden administration has in talking with the Taliban right now, talking to the Iranians, talking to the Chinese, talking to Maduro and the Venezuelans. It doesn't matter who it is, whatever negotiation they're in, they don't understand the simple concept of having leverage and having strength behind your words and what you say. 

Just tonight, the president tweeted and said he was going to stand up for the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. Well, how? How are you going to do that? 

They're going to continue the pattern what they did during the Obama administration is where they have really pretty rhetoric, really pretty speeches, but it is all talk and it's no action. And you're literally leaving these women to deal with ISIS, al Qaeda, whatever it may be on the ground. 

They keep talking about leading through diplomacy. Well, how in the hell do you lead through diplomacy without an embassy? 

And I think the one thing Mike has been talking about, the congressman, is that I think we are probably looking at them trying to recognize the Taliban as the official government of Afghanistan, and I think they're going to try to perhaps get $9.5 billion in government of Afghanistan reserves here in the United States back to the Taliban. 

HANNITY: And look at the videos. They're dressed in American gear. We leave a C-17. We leave Black Hawk helicopters, and they're dressed in all of our troops' equipment. The most sophisticated, billions of dollars worth.

Thank you both. 

I've got to roll. 

When we come back, some members of the media mob, they're condemning Biden's botched Afghanistan withdrawal, but others -- they'll defend anything dumb he does, straight ahead. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

HANNITY: Even some of the media mob, they can't put up with this crap. They're actually coming to terms with the reality and admitting Biden's Afghanistan exit is a complete and utter self-inflicted, unmitigated failure and disaster. 

Look at NBC News correspondent Richard Engel describing the exit as, quote, the United States fought in Afghanistan for 20 years and is now, tonight, withdrawing in defeat. 

Editorial "Washington Post" called Afghanistan a, quote, moral disaster. And there are a few others. 

Here with reaction, nationally syndicated radio talk show host Dana Loesch, along with FOX News contributor -- he should have his own TV show -- Joe Concha. 

So, should Dana for that matter. I would hire both of you tomorrow, but nobody listens to me. 

JOE CONCHA, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Agree 

HANNITY: Dana, let's start with you. 

DANA LOESCH, NATIONALLY SYNDICATED HOST: Hey, Sean 

HANNITY: Now, you still have the psycho fans but even the media mob can't put up with abandoning Americans behind enemy lines. 

LOESCH: I think we finally found common ground with some of our brethren on the other side of the political aisle, Sean, and you're right. I mean, you can't deny what happened. And for Joe Biden to go out there and say there was no other way, that's a lie. 

And I want everyone to remember that this is a I guy who not only voted for authorized use of military force for two decades, prosecuted vice president and continued it, senator, vice-president and even now as president, he's been in there a heck of a lot longer. So why does he always pass the buck to everyone from Afghan civilians to our military to, what, even the previous administration. 

It is a joke. This administration is a joke, it's an embarrassment. 

One last quick word, Sean, I've been watching your show, it's been amazing tonight. It is every night. I -- for all of the Afghanistan veterans, just so they know, my oldest son, six months old when the towers fell -- thank you to those veterans who fought and purchased with their lives and sacrifice, two decades of no terror alerts and no terror attacks here in the United States. 

You allowed a generation to grow up knowing that security. So, thank you. That's what you accomplished. 

HANNITY: My daughter was 13 -- born 13 days before 9/11. 

Joe? 

CONCHA: Wow. Yeah. Just to see it end this way and obviously what veterans are feeling right now, it's heart breaking and that is the understatement of the year. 

But, again, if you're in journalism and you try to defend this administration in terms of this drawdown, you probably end up being the Bernie Madoff of journalism if you try to defend this and as you said there are a couple out there doing this. Because again the big questions remain, why not evacuate the American citizens that are there and Afghan allies out of there before you do the military? Why not wait until the fighting season's over? 

It's like Major League Baseball with the Taliban. Basically during the winter they go back to Pakistan and their bases so why not do it then where you have a better chance. 

And also, why close Bagram Air Base which would have been a lot easier to do evacuations as opposed to Kabul airport. 

Those are the three big questions the Biden administration will not answer, cannot answer and now you see the polling where Joe Biden is polling the 20s in terms of his handling for this. 

(CROSSTALK) 

CONCHA: This could be the point of no return, Sean, as far as this presidency is concerned, based -- 

(CROSSTALK) 

HANNITY: Why would you leave our military equipment behind? Why would you ever do that? 

Dana, Joe, thank you. 

More HANNITY next. 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) 

HANNITY: Unfortunately that is all the time we have left for tonight. Please set your DVR, never miss an episode. 

We have our fellow Americans now, we don't know how many, trapped behind enemy lines. We have Afghan allies that we promised to get out if this day ever came. They're now -- they're being hunted down for murder. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of them tonight. 

In that sense, my heart's troubled, but we know how it sends, the good guys win. 

Laura Ingraham, take it away. 

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