Mark Meadows responds to racism accusation, calls for the DOJ to investigate Michael Cohen for perjury
Democratic congresswoman accuses Rep. Mark Meadows of using a black woman as a prop.
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," February 28, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: That's right. All right. Great show, Tucker. Thank you.
And welcome to "Hannity." A ton of news tonight. We'll get it all in. It's 9:00 p.m. in our nation's capital, 9:00 a.m., right here in Hanoi, Vietnam, where the second historic summit between President Trump and Kim Jong-un is now officially over.
Coming up tonight, my exclusive interview with the president. We're going to take you inside this week's historic meetings, and we're going to cover also another wide range of topics. The fight for the border wall, Michael Cohen's testimony, the Mueller report that so many report will be out next week, what is the Democrats' despicable and politically motivated sham of a hearing. We'll ask about the green new deal and much, much more. That interview in just minutes.
Now, without a doubt, one of President Trump's greatest strengths, in my opinion is, he's a good negotiator. He has a willingness to walk away from a bad deal. By the way, it's a key principle in his best-selling book, "The Art of the Deal." And if only the media care to understand who he was, maybe they'd read it.
When it comes to North Korea -- well, the president's mission has always been clear. That is a full, complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Now, the president has always vowed to walk away from anything else. He has at it over and over again, even over and over this week.
Yesterday, he made good on that promise. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT: We spent pretty much all day with Kim Jong-un, who is quite a guy and quite a character. And I think our relationship is very strong. But at this time, we had some options, and at this time, we decided not to do any of the options. And we'll see where that goes but it was a very interesting two days.
I think actually, it was a very productive two days. But sometimes, you have to walk.
HANNITY: Sometimes you have to walk. Now, President Trump is not the first American leader to walk away from what is a bad deal. Time for a "Hannity" history lesson.
Let's take you back to 1986. Then, President Ronald Reagan, he walked away at Reykjavik with Mikhail Gorbachev, Democrats, the media predictably attacked Reagan. But one year later -- well, he got the deal that we wanted that was good for the country and a few years after that, the Soviet Union collapsed, and as we say, the rest is history.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD REAGAN, FORMER PRESIDENT: The implications of these talks are enormous, and only just beginning to be understood. We proposed the most sweeping and generous arms control proposal in history. While we parted company with this American offer still on the table, we are closer than ever before to agreements that could lead to a safer world without nuclear weapons. We will not abandon the guiding principle we took to Reykjavik. We prefer no agreement then to bring home a bad agreement to the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Look what happened. That's what leadership looks like. That's what peace through strength -- that's what works. It's worked again and again.
Appeasement, bribing dictators doesn't do very well, doesn't come up with the Clinton's and Kim Jong Il or the Iranian deal with the mullahs in Obama's time. Now at the time Reagan, he was excoriated for not reaching a deal at Reykjavik. When he first ran for president, so many on the left suggested that Reagan was a California cowboy who's going to lead us towards a nuclear holocaust and economic disaster.
In the end, just the opposite happened. In the case of Reykjavik, Reagan prevailed. The Cold War ended without a single shot being fired. The Berlin Wall came tumbling down. Freedom for millions won the day.
And meanwhile, the appeasement, the bribery strategies that we see invoked by the left so often, Democrats trying to lecture Donald Trump about -- they were lavished with praise when you look at Clinton and Obama from the mainstream media. Clinton sent billions of dollars in resources to North Korea. He promised the American people this was a good deal for the American people. They still developed a robust nuclear program in spite of the money, he attempted bribe, Obama, as we all know, $150 billion in cash and other currencies, cargo planes right there on the mullahs of Iran, front door.
And now, the deal is totally debunked. Iran never stopped pursuing a nuclear weapon. Never stop funding terror all over the world. And unlike these deals, President Trump is more interested in protecting the country than just having a feel-good signature moment based on what is at its core a hollow, unenforceable agreement that in the end would be meaningless.
You would think, when the denuclearization of a rogue dictatorship was on the table, you would think this is a moment when all Americans would want to back the president's efforts, hope that he could make a great deal. You would think they would encourage his efforts to make the world a safer, better place for our kids and grandkids. You would think that they cared about world peace. They profess to.
No, that's not the case because yesterday, in our nation's capital, at the very moment, the very day the president was meeting with Kim Jong-un, Democrats, they scheduled a public hearing with former Trump attorney Michael Cohen in what was nothing more than a political stunt, a circus, all designed to embarrass the president during his crucial and historic trip to Vietnam.
Naturally, the hate Trump media mob, they towed to the Democratic line: predictable. Look at last night, coverage on fake news CNN, conspiracy TV MSNBC. It was an utter embarrassment. They ought to be ashamed but they never will be.
The president conducting this historic meeting, negotiating peace with North Korea, and extremely rare and important summit, huge, life altering implications to literally millions and millions and millions of people.
But the hate Trump mob, media totally obsessed with the congressional testimony from Michael Cohen, who we all know was just convicted of lying to Congress and will be headed to jail for three years. Now, when we were showing last night the images of the president and Kim Jong-un at this all important meeting, well, fake news CNN, MSNBC, they barely covered this historic event at all.
Look at this from NewsBusters today. CNN, NBC dedicated a whopping 428 minutes of prime time coverage to Michael Cohen. They spent only 12 minutes -- 12 minutes -- on the summit in Vietnam.
Now, CNN and MSNBC, they pretend to be news organizations. They claimed that they are objective. It's a joke. They are just merely, as we have been telling you for a long time, an extension of the radical, extreme Democratic socialist party, which is why they echo the claims from Democrats that Cohen, who they have all hated and said everything they could possibly say against this guy for such a long amount of time, now he's totally reliable. Now, he's their best friend, and in spite of all that is happened with the IRS and bank loans and so on and so forth, lying to Congress. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a blood, sweat, and tears kind of thing. You look at Michael Cohen, part of the reason why the public is obsessed with him as they all recognize a certain everyman quality in Cohen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Cohen also did as he gave us a picture, a believable picture of the man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He seems to be well-prepared. He's never lost his cool.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no question we are seeing a humbled Michael Cohen before this committee today. A lot of a lot of the anecdotes, the personal anecdotes have the ring of truth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was very proud of them. The best thing I could say. I was really proud of this guy up there because he had the world against him.
HANNITY: Political stunt orchestrated by Democrats, hyped by the hate Trump media. Frankly, what happened yesterday was a disgrace.
Now, you think they would be more interested in the denuclearization of North Korea and the Korean peninsula. He would think they would be more interested in the safety and security of all these people around the world, but they are not.
I thought politics was supposed to stop at the water's edge. Well, at least that is our top Democrats told us when Obama was negotiating the deal that would give the mullahs in Iran that want to annihilate Israel and wipe them off the map and chant "death to America," he was negotiating giving mostly mullahs $150 billion. He had a very different opinion.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF.: A cost to our reputation in the world that we can get a new president and find a reason to impeach him.
FORMER SEN. HARRY REID, D-NEV.: It's unprecedented for one political party to directly intervene in an international negotiation with the sole goal of embarrassment of the president of United States.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT: I think it is somewhat ironic to see some of members of Congress wanting to make common cause with the hardliners in Iran. It's an unusual coalition. I think what we are going to focus on right now is seeing whether we can get a deal or not.
SEN. DICK DURBIN, D-ILL.: I could go through the long list of Democratic senators who supported President Ronald Reagan and his efforts to create a more peaceful world. Those were the days when there was a bipartisan approach to foreign policy in the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Rank hypocrisy, what you just witnessed.
We have three days now in a row of testimony. One public hearing scheduled on the very same day that the president is having the big summit meeting. Michael Cohen in this particular case was used as a prop for the Democratic Party. Why? Because their quest to malign and embarrass president Trump, that means everything to them.
And what did we learn? Pretty much nothing, pretty much nothing new, except things that the Democrats in these so-called news agencies won't focus on. Michael Cohen talked about there was no Russia collusion that he saw at all. No crimes committed by the president, and the Hillary Clinton bought and paid for a Russian dossier was chock-full of plenty of lies, lots of lies even about Michael Cohen himself.
What did Michael Cohen gain from this hearing? That the Democrats -- did he gain their friendship? No, he gained absolutely nothing.
No one who truly cared about Cohen and his family would have ever let him participate in the stunt. And as a result, as I predicted right here on this program, because of his testimony, now Michael Cohen is facing even more legal trouble.
Today, Congressman Jim Jordan, Mark Meadows each sent new criminal referrals to thee. Department of justice, one for Cohen not registering as a foreign agent, and another accusing Michael Cohen of lying to Congress yet again over this claim, as you will see. We'll let you judge for yourself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JIM JORDAN, R-OH: You wanted to work in the White House.
MICHAEL COHEN, FORMER TRUMP ATTORNEY: No, sir.
JORDAN: You didn't get brought to the dance. So, now --
COHEN: I was extremely proud to be personal attorney to the president of the United States of America. I did not want to go to the White House.
ANDREW CUOMO, CNN HOST: Is there a chance --
COHEN: That he'll ask me to go to Washington?
CUOMO: Oh, there is absolutely a chance he's going to ask you.
COHEN: Oh, certainly, hope so.
CUOMO: Would you go?
COHEN: A hundred percent.
CUOMO: Michael Cohen, I look forward to seeing what your future is. Congratulations.
COHEN: Hopefully it will be in Washington.
CUOMO: Well, let me know.
COHEN: I sure well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: You would think that Democrats are so compassionate about people recognize that Michael Cohen and his family are going through hell an awful lot and this is probably one of their lowest moments where they would exploit for personal, political gain, setting him up for more legal consequences. It's beyond calculating, it's beyond shameful, it is frankly beneath the offices they serve but they don't care. What else do we expect from a party that cares more about making President Trump look bad then, say, rooting for a more peaceful world?
This is what we have been telling you. This is a new radical, extreme socialist Democratic party. We have now seen anti-Semitism publicly displayed and we have seen power hungry narcissists. Look at Congresswoman Tlaib, poster child for the scary new radical far left Democrats. Seems to check the boxes, socialist, she associates with, oh, Louis Farrakhan, people like Linda Sarsour.
She hates Donald Trump, totally, and at yesterday's hearing, falsely suggesting that the freedom caucus chairman Mark Meadows is a racist because he invited an African-American, former Trump Organization employee, to the hearing. And then right after she said it, she actually denied saying it.
Look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RASHIDA TLAIB, D-MICH.: The fact that someone would actually use a prop, a black woman, in this chamber, in this committee is alone racist in itself.
REP. MARK MEADOWS, R-N.C.: Mr. Chairman, there is nothing more personal to me than my relationship -- my nieces and nephews are people of color. Not many people know that. You know that, Mr. Chairman.
And to indicate that I asked someone who is a personal friend of the Trump family, who has worked for him, who knows this particular individual, that she's coming into be a prop, it's racist to suggest that I asked her to come in here for that reason.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: That was a pretty great moment, I thought, for Chairman Cummings and Mark Meadows after that.
Now the person she called a radical -- I'm sorry, racial prop, a speaking out. Earlier today, Lynne Patton had this message for Congresswoman Tlaib. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNNE PATTON: What I would like to ask the congresswoman from Michigan is, why does she take the word of a self-confessed perjurer and criminally convicted white man over a black female who is highly educated, rose up through the ranks of one of the most competitive companies in real estate? You spoke for 25 million people at the Republican National Convention and now works in one of the most historic administrations in history.
So, to me, that would be my question. That is more racist than being put up there as a quote/unquote, prop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, remember this week, both President Trump on the Democrats -- they showed their true colors. This is a contrast. It's striking. On the one hand, a leader working hard, tirelessly, to negotiate a safer world, keep promises. And on the other, you had a Democratic party, nonstop scheming to smear, slander the president at all costs, no matter how many lives are ruined, how many people are besmirched in the process.
Now, sadly, this is nothing new. It's a year's long political war. Frankly, it's gone on since he came down the escalator in 2015.
And breaking today, just a few weeks, we're going to learn more about how Democrats and their friends in the media -- well, how well they worked to smear Trump in 2016 with the Clinton bought and paid for dirty dossier. Very good news tonight for those of us that want the truth out because they judge just granted a motion in Florida to unsealed documents in the Trump dossier defamation case against BuzzFeed, including a deposition from Hillary Clinton's foreign agent that used his Russian sources, Christopher Steele.
Remember, in Great Britain under oath, in an interrogatory, I have no idea if any of this is true, it is raw intelligence. This will be important. Stay tuned.
OK. We'll have my one-on-one with the president, all those topics are mentioned coming up.
But, first, joining us now with reaction on our other top stories, we have President Trump's intelligence advisory board member Dan Hoffman, Fox News contributor Dan Bongino and "The Hill's" John Solomon.
Before we get to you guys here, I want to start with John. You have an article out that, in fact, the Democrats, who did not care about Michael Cohen and hated his guts just a short time ago and said every word, nasty word about him, that they now have put him in a very, very difficult position.
JOHN SOLOMON, THE HILL EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT: Yes, it's a lot more clear tonight that is legal jeopardy is real and potentially expensive. So, we talked about it last night, Sean. Today, I started calling on people that were to the transition and said, did Michael Cohen lobby or not lobby for a job?
As of this hour, I've talked to 12 separate witnesses who claimed that Michael Cohen repeatedly, incessantly lobbied for a White House drop and complained when he didn't get one. They ranged from Dave Bossie, the deputy director of the transition, down to a pastor in Ohio who was a friend of Michael Cohen's, a guy named Darrell Scott, who is a friend that said, I can lie for my friend. He asked me several times to ask the president, can he have a job in the White House.
This is the sort of perjury trap that the Democrats did not want to set for their star witness. I think it's going to boomerang.
HANNITY: And then we have the other issue, this is now two criminal referrals as a result of this. Serious issues as Michael knows, and what bothers me, Dan Bongino, is they didn't care. They hated him forever. They didn't even think about his kids, they think about his life, did they think about -- did he care?
DAN BONGINO, CONTRIBUTOR: No, they set him up for a FARA violation, which is he's not going to be able to get out of because that's what they're charging Manafort with. What are they going to say? We're not taking that seriously?
But, Sean, the biggest story, no question I came out of it yesterday, ignored by everyone for this network, is the dossier is dead. The collusion hoaxes over. You know who killed it? Michael Cohen.
They asked him point blank, have you ever been to Prague? For the folks at home, Prague is a central component of the dossier. That's were allegedly Cohen went to coordinate this whole scheme. He's never been to the Czech Republic.
HANNITY: I knew n that weekend where he was. I don't want to divulge -- but I knew.
BONGINO: Can I bring up one more point too? He said something else, too. He said I overheard the speaker phone conversation, Roger Stone and Trump about this WikiLeaks thing.
Well, I thought he was colluding with the Russians. Why does he need to hear from Roger Stone?
HANNITY: The funny is WikiLeaks said, yes, that was all public information. Yes, it had been out there for a period of time.
DANIEL HOFFMAN, PRESIDEN TRUMP'S INTELLIGENCE ADVISORY BOARD: I want to highlight a part of the story which has been underreported for my own background, was the extent to the president use the information from the intelligence community, the intelligence community, to hold Kim Jong-un accountable for those nuclear facilities and the ballistic missile facilities. Without that, maybe we do hold created a deal where sanctions relief in return for the lengthy process to tear down this Yongbyon nuclear facility.
HANNITY: That's their biggest facility by far.
HOFFMAN: It is, but there are others.
HANNITY: The president revealed last night, we know where they are, which I thought was interesting.
HOFFMAN: That is an intelligence success. That is how an executive decision maker used his intelligence effectively to make the right decisions, to serve our national security interest.
HANNITY: I don't want to give away the interview which we will in our segment that we're going to start with the president but I can tell you, obviously all those years, what he wrote about in his own book of the media would never discuss, John Solomon, that has been his philosophy, his entire career has been about, after the last second, I'll walk.
He did not care at all. He would like to get it done, he wants a deal but he'd rather have the right deal. The one that's real, rather than the photo op deal.
SOLOMON: Yes, that's right. Listen, I said last night, you're going to see what peace through strength looks like. Sometimes walking from the table is the sign of strength that it gets to peace.
And I think last night, using the intelligence he had, not falling for a bad deal, that shows a president who is using all the tools at his disposal. To hear the stories, he ignored the intelligence, I don't hear that from the people I talk to you. And I think you saw yesterday how he does use the intelligence to make the best negotiation for the United States.
HANNITY: Dan, there's another aspect of this, somebody that is willing -- OK, this is so important, I'll take a risk, if it works, it's awesome. If not, OK, we tried, we'll try again.
But I think so many other people are like, they don't want to go out on a limb. Going out on a limb for safety.
(CROSSTALK)
BONGINO: Watching the media do a bootleg 180. Yesterday, they were saying, Trump is going to get suckered by Kim, he's going to take a bad deal. And then he walked away from a bad deal. And they are complaining. Trump walked away from -- what story is it? Which one is right?
HANNITY: I love the fact that Chuck Schumer is like, we wanted him to be tough. All these people that supported bribing Kim Jong-un's father, one, and the mullahs in Iran, number two, we'll listen to them?
HOFFMAN: It is also a good time to remember the multilateral efforts, the sanctions, Ambassador Nikki Haley led the way with unprecedented high level of harsh sanctions in North Korea. She got Russia and China onboard and that is a hard thing to do in the U.N. Security Council.
HANNITY: All right, guys, you've been with us all week. Thank you so much. Good to see you.
HOFFMAN: Thank you.
HANNITY: John Solomon, "The Hill" was very good as articles. You want to see that.
All right. When we come back, our exclusive, we're the only interview with the president right after the summit. He's going to reveal the insight into what was going on behind the scenes, and we'll talk about that, Michael Cohen, Robert Mueller, immigration, at the New Green Deal, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right. As we continue our coverage live, we're in Vietnam where earlier today, the president wrapped up his summit, his second summit with North Korea's Kim Jong-un.
Following the summit, we exclusively had the opportunity to speak with the president before he departed Vietnam.
Here's part one of that interview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: Mr. President, great to see you.
TRUMP: Thank you very much.
HANNITY: Summit number two, when I heard Kim Jong-un say, you know, was that a question, are you ready to denuclearize? His answer was, I wouldn't be here -- otherwise, I wouldn't be here.
And then he goes on, and you said, that might be the best answer you've ever heard.
TRUMP: Well, and we're working toward something, but we didn't sign anything today. It didn't quite work out. I would say that I wasn't satisfied, and perhaps he wasn't satisfied. Good relationship, but I decided that this wasn't the right time to sign something.
So, we'll see what happens over a period of time.
HANNITY: It's funny -- it came up on the radio show -- we've known each other well over two decades.
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: "The Art of a Deal," one of the key components on that book is you say, you always got to be able to walk, up to the last second.
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: Reagan Reykjavik.
TRUMP: Well, whether it's Reagan, whether it's anybody, I mean, you have to be prepared to walk, and this just wouldn't have been good for our country. And, frankly, he could look at it the same way. Maybe he can look at it the same way.
But we get along really well. He's a different kind of a guy, and I just said, look, this isn't going to be working. So, I have feeling something down the line will happen. And it will happen, it will be good. But this just wasn't going to --
HANNITY: That was your choice. You said this isn't a deal --
TRUMP: Well, let's call it both, let's call it both. I don't want to say it was my choice. It was something that he wanted to do and I didn't want to do it, and I just don't think it would have been good maybe for either of us. But we'll get something work out eventually.
HANNITY: Give us any insight into where maybe the sticking point was?
TRUMP: Well, they wanted to denuke certain areas and I wanted everything. And the sanctions are there and I didn't want to give up the sanctions unless we had a real program. And they're not ready for that and I understand that fully, I really do. I mean, they spent a lot of time building it and that doesn't mean the world has to be happy.
But I wanted them to denuke, and they wouldn't do the full. They wanted to just some, and I guess a lot of people would have said, that's a great start. But I just didn't feel it was right.
HANNITY: Let me ask you about, last night, you said -- you said something at dinner, and I won't say it, I let him say it. Can you bring us into that dinner?
TRUMP: Well, no, I just think he's -- first of all, he's a character.
HANNITY: (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: And he's a real personality and he's very smart. He's sharp as you can be, and he's a real leader, and he's pretty mercurial. I don't say that necessarily in a bad way, but he's a pretty mercurial guy.
But he was talking to the press a little bit, and, you know, he's not big to talking to the press, but the press came in.
Look, bottom line, I think he wants to get something done but this wasn't the right time. And Vietnam, Hanoi, where we are right now, they have treated us so fantastically, so good. They've done such a great job.
HANNITY: Uh-huh.
TRUMP: They're very proud of the job they've done, and they've really treated us, I mean, it's been an incredible two and a half days.
HANNITY: You kept saying -- and managing expectations. You said, I'm in no rush, I want the right deal, and the right deal for you is complete denuclearization that is verified and onsite inspections on demand.
DONALD TRUMP: It's a much tougher deal to make. Maybe it won't get made. But, that's the deal that we should have. And you can't give up everything if you don't get that. And we could've done large portions, but you're not getting that. So, we'll see what happens.
Again, the relationship is very good. He likes me, I like him. Some people say oh, you shouldn't like him. I said why shouldn't like him? I like him. Get along great. We'll see what happens.
HANNITY: Let me ask you about -- let's go back to Singapore, right, I had an opportunity to see you there--
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: And hostages were released.
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: Remains have come home.
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: And the interesting and most profound part of it was that no rockets have been fired over Japan--
TRUMP: That's right.
HANNITY: (Inaudible) is threatening (ph).
TRUMP: That's right.
HANNITY: And the continental United States was being threatened. Progress in that area--
TRUMP: A lot of progress. And it's a lot of progress not necessarily on paper, although we actually signed a very good agreement. It said no denuclearization. We're going to have -- that we are going to have a complete denuke. I call it denuking, but its denuclearization.
And it was -- it was a document that was signed. And it was a very good document. The fact is that he also said he's not going to do testing. And he said that recently. And he said it again to me just a little while ago. He doesn't want to do testing. He's not going to do that. That's a big thing.
No rockets, no anything. And I believe when he tells me that, I will take him at his word. But we'll see how it all goes. I think we had a very good two days. But I just don't think maybe either of us were ready.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: When we come back, more of my exclusive interview with President Trump. We'll talk about Michael Cohen, the upcoming Mueller report, illegal immigration, the Green New Deal, interesting comments on that straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right, so during my exclusive interview with President Trump here in Vietnam, I did ask about the Mueller investigation, his declaration of a border emergency, the democrat's new deal. But first, I asked him about Michael Cohen and his testify on Capitol Hill. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
Two part question. Number one, what do you have to say about things that he was saying? And number two, what about the democrats? I thought politics stopped at the water's edge in America. But--
TRUMP: Well, I think maybe more than anything else, the fact that they held it today where I'm working on something that is very, very important for the world, not only our country for the world was really inappropriate. The democrats, the hatred is so incredible. And they couldn't help themselves. And that's the way it is.
As far as Cohan is concerned, he's convicted, he's a liar. He's defrauded at a high level. Got a lot of problems and it was interesting because he lied so much. I watched some of it; I actually was able to watch some of it. He lied so much, and yet he said when it came to collision, the whole hoax with the Russia collision--
HANNITY: Right.
TRUMP: -- just a witch hunt hoax. And very -- but the way, very, very bad for our country because it really stops you from doing what you said has to be done (ph)--
HANNITY: He said no collision--
TRUMP: He said no collision. And I said surely he lied about so many things, and yet he could've said -- he mine as well lie about that one too. But he said no collision. And everybody said no collision. Richard Burr, Senator Burr said no collision. Senate intelligence, the house has come up as you know the committee, Devin Nunes and all they said no collision. And yet it goes on and on and--
HANNITY: Two years.
TRUMP: It's two -- yes, I guess more than that.
HANNITY: But then what's--
TRUMP: It really was -- look, when you think of it, it was really from the time I came down on the escalator with Melania. I came down on the escalator and I think it started just shortly after that.
It is a terrible thing and hopefully people will get it, because no president should have to have that happen to them. It's so bad for the country. It's a hoax. It's just a terrible witch hunt, and it shouldn't happen to another president. And yet I think I've--
HANNITY: On a day like today.
TRUMP: -- been the most successful -- I think I've been the most successful president in the first two years of office if you look at the tax cuts and regulation cuts and all of the things that you say so nicely on many of your shows. But you look at what we have done for the vets and what we have done for the military, $716 billion.
And all of the things that we've done, I mean it's been a tremendous administration. But we always have to -- we have to always fight this hoax that's going on. It's a shame. It's a very sad thing for our country.
HANNITY: I was kind of dragged in a little bit in to the Michael Cohen. Sure, I interviewed him many times--
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: -- on TV. He was never my attorney. He did apologize to me for his attorney saying that in court. And -- but I can tell you personally, he said to me at least a dozen times that he made the decision on the payments and he didn't' tell you.
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: Told me personally.
TRUMP: Yes. Well, he did. And he made the decision. And remember this, he's an attorney. Whatever decision he makes, you're supposed to rely on an attorney to make a decision.
Somebody said one of the very good republican members today said that he's supposed to be an attorney. He's out there doing all sorts of things. When you are -- when you have an attorney, you're supposed to be able to rely on your attorney.
HANNITY: Attorney client privilege.
TRUMP: Well, but it's also called reliance. And he just was not much of an attorney that I will tell you. But he went up today and a lot of people thought he was very bad. I watched some of it. I thought it was -- I thought it was a terrible display of dishonesty actually.
HANNITY: I actually thought as I watched it, there's a criminal referral as a result of today by Congressman Mark Meadows.
TRUMP: Yes, I heard that.
HANNITY: And maybe some inconsistencies. And I think the democrats in that sense didn't care at all about Michael Cohen or they would call him a liar a long time ago. The Mueller report next week we expect it.
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: And based on Burr--
TRUMP: I mean, I don't know that for a fact. But right--
HANNITY: Well--
TRUMP: Based on Senator Burr and Devin Nunes and everybody else that's looked at it, including Michael Cohen, no collision. And this was all about collision with Russia, the collision delusion. And it's a shame, but it's just one of those things. You live with it, you win it.
So, I hope it's going to be an honest report. If it isn't, we fight it very strongly we fight it because when you look at what happened at the FBI at the top levels with McCabe and the dishonesty, Comey and the dishonesty.
HANNITY: Jams Baker had said he thought Hilary should be invited.
TRUMP: That's right. James Baker, he was another one who was dismissed. You look at Strzok, and his lover Lisa Page. And you look at what went on with that whole deal with the insurance policy. The insurance policy just incase she loses, I will tell you it's a very dishonest group of people.
And it's -- I've done a great service with this country by exposing it. When you look at what happened there and the justice and they call it justice, but it hasn't been justice. When you take a look at what's gone on. I'm very proud of the fact that we've exposed a lot of people. It's like 12. Somebody said much more than that now.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: And this is great dishonestly at a very high level. We can't let that happen to our country.
HANNITY: We have equal justice under the law, equal application of our laws. And we had a Russian dossier--
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: -- to influence the American people--
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: -- against you.
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: And then it was used to spy on your campaign through--
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: -- an associate violating his constitutional rights.
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: We have a new attorney general.
TRUMP: Well, I think we have a great attorney general, I hope. And I think he's going to do a terrific job. He's smart. He's tough. He loves the country and he loves the Department of Justice. He loves the Department of Justice, and the FBI.
And Bill Barr is I think going to be exceptional. And you need somebody exceptional, because it has to be cleaned out what's gone on there for years has been terrible. You look at Ohr and Ohr's wife who worked for GPS Fusion. And they're the ones that did this phony report, the fake dossier.
Boy, it's a -- it's a hornet's nest. And I think that Bill is going to do a great job.
HANNITY: One last question, the immigration. You saw the vote in the house.
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: You might lose some republicans, but it doesn't look like you will--
TRUMP: Oh, we'll be fine.
HANNITY: -- veto -- you will veto it. It won't be overwritten.
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: How much -- I understand that there's about $23 million for all the other things that will be--
TRUMP: That's right.
HANNITY: -- for border security.
TRUMP: That's right. A lot.
HANNITY: And how much will you be able to have. You have the $1.375--
TRUMP: Well first of all, we're going to be building over 200 miles of wall. I'm going to call it a wall, as apposed to barriers or slats. They said could you call it slats or barriers?
And we played the game for a little while, then you just say hey look, this is -- we need border security. You can't have border security without a wall, and a strong wall. If you didn't have it in Tijuana, you would have people coming across by the thousands and thousands.
And I will say this whether it's ICE or border patrol or just law enforcement, they have done an incredible job at the border. Apprehensions the greatest number we've ever done. You look at the number of people.
But if we had a wall, we wouldn't have to apprehend. People wouldn't come in to our country. Drugs wouldn't come in to our country. The human trafficking is incredible, the number of people brought in to--
HANNITY: So, the young girl sex trafficking (ph).
TRUMP: And they don't come through the points of entry, they come through in the middle of a dessert where you have open space. So, I think that really it's a very dangerous thing for people to be voting against border security for anybody, including republicans.
I really think that republicans that vote against border security and the wall, I think I've been OK at predicting things. I think they out themselves in great jeopardy.
HANNITY: And in ten years, the next president won't have an airplane. We may not have cows. We won't have a combustion engine.
TRUMP: Yes.
HANNITY: Late even during birth abortions, 70 percent tax rates, everything's free. I assume socialism will never be in America as you've been saying. What do you think of that crazy proposal?
TRUMP: Well, it's an incredible thing. I see senators that have been there for a long time, well-known senators, named senators. And I look at them and they are endorsing it. And yet what are they endorsing?
HANNITY: I heard (inaudible)--
TRUMP: No, you look at it.
HANNITY: Late term abortion and during birth.
TRUMP: Yes. $100 trillion and you couldn't do it for that.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: But it's -- and it's not even the money, it's so ridiculous. No planes, let's not fly anymore. It is crazy. But personally, they should go with it. I love it. It's one of the greatest plans I've ever seen. As long--
(LAUGHTER)
TRUMP: As long as they are the ones that have to sell it, not me.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: So--
HANNITY: You're happy about it.
TRUMP: I'm really looking forward to seeing what the rest of them are going to do. But already some have endorsed it. It's incredible.
HANNITY: Mr. President, we appreciate you being with us--
TRUMP: Appreciate it.
HANNITY: Thank you--
TRUMP: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, as we continue our coverage from Vietnam. By the way, I got an opportunity to ask a question at the big press conference. We'll tell you about that, democrats embracing socialism, reaction to my interview with the president.
Republicans are hitting back hard. Dan Bongino, Dr. Sebastian Gorka and Morgan Ortagus will be here with us as we continue straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right, as we just discussed with the president, the democrats hard left turn is under the microscope. This week it seemed packed. That's where of course young conservatives are being prepared for the coming fight against socialism. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KUDLOW, DIRECTOR OF U.S. NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: President Trump has providing leadership. He's kind of changed the whole psychology. I mean we have gone from pessimism to optimism. Right there is a major change.
He has ended the war on business. He has ended the war on energy. He has ended the war on success. So, I am here with just one simple ask, please, join us to keep America great and join us to put socialism on trial. And then convict it.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, joining us now nationally syndicated radio talk show host called America First, Dr. Sebastian Gorka. Along with Fox's contributed Morgan Ortagus and Dan Bongino. Dan who has been here a week with us.
It was really interesting what the president said I'm glad I don't have to sell that deal. No airplanes, cows, cars, gas, oil. Everything's free, but we're going to compensate pretty much every penny you make.
DAN BONGINO, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Yes, and I love that with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez had that on her website, they FAQs and then they ran for it. They should know it's a republican scheme.
(LAUGHTER)
We have your website, that's like--
HANNITY: Right.
BONGINO: -- the way back machine, you can look at this stuff. But Milton Friedman used to say about government spending, socialism, what they are proposing.
He'd say there are four ways to spend money, but the worst way is other people spending other people's money on other people, because cost and quality never mattered. That's government.
HANNITY: (Inaudible) are always generous with other people's money. Morgan, and I love this, the Nancy Pelosi, when we sent cameras to a district. What do we see? Homeless people, homelessness, needles all over the place. We see feces because people don't have a place to go to the bathroom.
But she is heading off in that conclave (ph) gated neighborhood of hers. And I'm like she's a multi, multi, multi, multimillionaire. Maybe she could build a homeless shelter right in her own backyard and facilities and showers and food and maybe some addiction help?
MORGAN ORTAGUS, CONTRIBUTOR: Not a bad idea, Sean. I don't blame her. I guess her living in that gated community with was what you described in San Francisco. Listen, I think that this whole debate about socialism is really when you take a step back, this is about who s leading the world order.
And I think that this actually gets back to China. And with you being in Asia right now, I mean you are sort of at the center of all of this. And the vision of a Chinese lead world is a communist lead order. It is not democracy. It's not freedom.
It's all of the institutions in which the United States has lead since World War II. The Chinese have an entirely different vision of that. So, when we talk about socialism and we sort of mock the left or make fun of some of the more ridiculous proposals.
I actually think on a very serious note, I look at arising China and I think if we don't have the guts and if we don't have the guts to confront them, then it's going to be -- the socialism discussion is going to be mute. We're going to see a communist lead world. And that should scare everyone.
HANNITY: I don't disagree at all. And certainly China, we got Russia, we've got Iran. We got a lot of problems in the world, Dr. Gorka. And that's what I like about the president taking it head on one issue at a time.
But by the way simultaneously working on perhaps even Middle East peace as many of these countries or enemies are lining against Iranian hegemony.
SEBASTIAN GORKA, SALEM RADIO'S AMERICA FIRST HOST: Yes. Look, sure American leadership is back. I gave a speech this morning at SeaPak where I said there are all these threats out there; we're going to deal with them. President Trump is dealing with them. But the biggest threat we face is socialism in America.
And the leftwing media exploded. I called Ocasio-Cortez's Green Deal a watermelon, green on the outside, deep red communist on the inside. And they can't take it. But that's the truth, when they want to control your healthcare, Sean, when they want to ban you from eating hamburgers and cheeseburgers, that's communism.
And the 2020 election is going to be a very simple choice, Sean. It's going to be a choice between oppression and freedom. The stakes are not lower than that.
HANNITY: All right, well said all of you. And Dr. Gorka, you were supposed to be here with us. I'm just saying. You turned us down. And Dan has took it personally. Morgan, thank you. Dan, you've been here with all week--
BONGINO: You got it, brother.
HANNITY: Thank you so much.
BONGINO: Yes, man.
HANNITY: All right, when we come back, our riddle of the day taking shots at this show? Oh, can't believe it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: All right, our riddle of the day, fake news. CNN's Don Lemon, all right, he's at it again. He is trying to find racism when there is none. He's done this before making up conspiracy theories about Fox News and your favorite hosts. On his show last night, and I have met Don Lemon, I really actually like him in person.
Now on the air, he's very left. But venting because he wanted to have Congressman Meadows on after Congresswoman Tlaib accused him of racism for brining Lynne Patton to the Comey hearing. But Meadows, he was booked on our show. We thought ahead, a bout a week earlier. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON LEMON, CNN TONIGHT, HOST: What he's essentially saying is this president can't be racist because he's hired this black woman. That's not how racism works. And by the way, in fairness, in truth we asked Mark Meadows to come on.
I wanted to hear from him himself to explain, to have a thoughtful conversation. But he went on Fox News with Sean Hannity tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: I wish you could keep up with us in the booking department. No rightwing conspiracy here. And we're not trying to keep anybody off anybody else's show. Here at Fox News, we use something called foresight, anticipation.
We knew the Cohen hearing was coming up. We booked the congressman a week ago knowing he was on the committee. All right, now for your viewer mail, Cindy writes quote, "it takes a strong leader to walk away from the table. maybe Kim isn't smiling so much on his long train ride back."
And by the way, that's a great point. He needs an airplane, somebody buy him an airplane. All right, this show, please tune in tomorrow night. And we're going to show you the question that I asked. I actually got asked a question by the president of.
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