Reporter who broke Boston terror probe story speaks out
Suspect planned to attack police officers on 'Hannity'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," June 3, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN HANNITY, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, a terror threat in Boston.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This was an investigation that was ongoing. It required 24/7 surveillance.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Prime Minister Netanyahu is somebody who's predisposed to think of security first, to think perhaps that peace is naive, and those fears are driving the government's response.
HANNITY: And President Obama lashes out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while Iran continues to stockpile nuclear fuel. Mark Steyn tonight with reaction.
Plus, a new bombshell report says the Clinton Foundation set up a slush fund to secretly bring in foreign money.
And police officers in Texas risk their lives trying to save a man who sets his car on fire.
"Hannity" starts right here, right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: Welcome to "Hannity." Tonight, authorities are searching for a third suspect in a terror investigation that is under way in Boston involving what is thought to be an ISIS-inspired plot to behead police officers. Now, this after law enforcement shot and killed 26-year-old Usaamah Rahim yesterday during a standoff where he pulled out a military- style knife and lunged at officers and FBI agents who were attempting to question him.
Now, the second suspect, who has been identified as David Wright, was charged earlier today with conspiracy to obstruct justice after he allegedly tried to destroy Rahim's smartphone. Now, the court affidavit says that Rahim had purchased a, quote, "nice little tool" which authorities thought was a knife and was going to use it to, quote, "go after the boys in blue."
Joining us now with more on how this type of terrorism now has gone viral is our own Catherine Herridge -- Catherine.
CATHERINE HERRIDGE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, the shooting and arrest connect to Boston suggest it at the center of a domestic terror network that radical Islamists are exploiting. One of the key players in Syria right now is Ahmed Amu Samre (ph) from the Boston area, and he's accused of helping terrorists overseas, as well as conspiring to murder in a foreign country. There's a $50,000 reward from the FBI.
And it's alleged that Abu Samre, who studied at Boston College, used his tech skills to help ISIS create these six sickening videos to promote the execution of Western journalists, including James Foley last year.
And the mosque where the Tsarnaev brothers worshiped in Cambridge, a Boston suburb, has been associated with other terror suspects and hosted radical speakers, according to a published report. The younger brother was recently sentenced to death for his role in the Boston Marathon bombings.
Investigators say there is a direct connection between the knife- wielding suspect in Boston who wanted to execute cops and ISIS.
On Capitol Hill today, witnesses said there are two types of radicalization, the slow burn that can sometimes take years and the flash to bang (ph), which can take weeks or days.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHAEL MCCAUL, R-TEXAS: What we're finding are operatives in Syria, recruiters that have sent directives or called to arm -- calls to arm to people in the United States to activate them like sleeper cells.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HERRIDGE: Since ISIS became a household name, the number of homegrown cases has really exploded. In the first four months of this year, 25 individuals were arrested or charged with ISIS crimes, and that comes down to more than a case a week, Sean.
HANNITY: Catherine, let me ask you, because you pointed out the mosque that this gentleman attended was the same one the Tsarnaev brothers attended, and other radical terrorist suspects. How many? And what are we talking about? Is this a radical mosque?
HERRIDGE: Well, we're looking at least a handful of individuals. But what's interesting to us in our reporting tonight is that when you look at the Boston case and this third person of interest, it appears he has links to Warwick, Rhode Island, and that's important because that brings in Catherine Russell, the widow of Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
So you see that these networks, if you will, or these connections, are very small. And you have to look at what they have as the common links or the dots that all connect them, Sean.
HANNITY: All right. Great reporting. Catherine Herridge, appreciate it.
Joining us now with more information is the reporter who broke the story from The Boston Globe. Maria Cramer is with us. Maria, what -- what -- first of all, what new developments do you have? And what about this mosque do you know?
MARIA CRAMER, BOSTON GLOBE: Well, what happened today was one of the men who was allegedly conspiring with Usaamah Rahim, the man who police say attacked officers and FBI agents, he -- David Wright was brought into federal court today. He faces charges of conspiring, of conspiracy. Basically, he -- the authorities say that he told Usaamah Rahim to destroy any evidence if he was going to go -- after he was going to behead a police officer.
And you know, what's going to happen now is he'll be detained. He's facing up to five years in prison. And there's a search for a third man who is part of this plot, and that search continues.
HANNITY: Boy, Boston's been through a lot. If it's the same mosque as the Tsarnaev brothers, and as Catherine Herridge reported, radical -- other radical terror suspects, what do we know about that mosque?
CRAMER: Well, the mosques that you're describing, yes, it's true that these are mosques that have attracted people who have been later connected to terrorism. It's also important to remember that these mosques attract thousands of Muslims who come to worship every day.
And what we do know about the mosque in Boston where Usaamah Rahim attended was that he really was not a regular. We actually interviewed somebody at that mosque who spoke to him and his wife, and they left the mosque because they thought it was too liberal. So it's unclear how strong a connection he had to that mosque. It doesn't sound like it was very strong.
HANNITY: All right, great job, by the way, by the Joint Terrorism Task Force. Appreciate it, Maria. Thank you.
Here with reaction is former NYPD strategic intelligence unit detective Sean Foley. Sean, there is this connection. There seems to be a connection. How deep does law enforcement now need to go if there are multiple suspects coming out of one particular mosque?
SEAN FOLEY, FMR. NYPD DETECTIVE: Well, Sean, it's very difficult to profile or investigate a location. As Maria had said, thousands of people go to that investigation (sic). So it's very difficult for law enforcement to focus on a location. Rather, you have to focus on an individual, an individual's activity.
HANNITY: OK.
FOLEY: That being said...
HANNITY: But if the number of individuals seem to be -- have one common point of affiliation, it seems that we've got to pay attention to that, no?
FOLEY: Yes, you do. And it's important for us to be in touch with the leadership of those institutions and for them to understand what our goals are. There's a lot of distrust right now, and what they need to understand is by helping us, they're helping themselves because they don't want to be looked at as a potential terrorist just because they go to a mosque.
HANNITY: I'm not saying that, but if there are multiple cases, we certainly -- we've got to look out -- look, Boston has been through a lot, and if they have that one connection, I think it's certainly an area that needs to be pursued and understood what's being taught there, et cetera.
Let me ask you about -- are we to believe ISIS is here in the U.S.? Or do you believe that these are ISIS-inspired either lone wolves or inspired by other radicals in the country? Do you believe and is law enforcement now coming to the belief system that ISIS is here in America?
FOLEY: Yes. I believe it. We saw Anwar al Awlaki have an influence on similar types of activity, and in the United States. He inspired people to act. Most of them had contact with him. But ISIS has definitely...
HANNITY: All right...
FOLEY: ... changed that. It's become more -- more widespread.
HANNITY: All right. Sean Foley, thank you for being with us. We appreciate it.
And here now with more reaction, syndicated radio talk show host Howie Carr out of Boston. Howie, what are people telling you? And what do you think about this particular mosque, same mosque, Tsarnaev brothers? What's your take?
HOWIE CARR, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I think this is a case, Sean, where there is no gray area here. There's not going to be any dispute about what happened, that the video exists. This guy advanced on them. They have it on tape, that a few minutes before he comes out with the knife, he's talking about killing some of the, quote, unquote, "boys in blue." And he actually advances on them.
They actually have in the affidavit -- I don't know if you've seen it yet, Sean -- his final words. The...
HANNITY: "I can't breathe."
CARR: The FBI agents, the cops -- yes!
(LAUGHTER)
CARR: Yes, that's was what his brother said were his final words. What his real final words were -- the cops say he's got the knife in his hand, and the cops and the FBI agents say, Drop your weapon, and he says, You drop yours. Famous last words, Sean.
HANNITY: Famous last words.
CARR: That's the epitaph for him.
HANNITY: Well, here's what I want to know here because you're right about the brother. The brother tried to almost pull an Al Sharpton, if you will, by saying, Oh, they shot him in the back.
CARR: Yes.
HANNITY: False. His last words were, I can't breathe. False! So this was one big lie. But if we didn't have the tape, that could be a problem once again for officers, no?
CARR: Yes. Exactly. This is -- this has worked out very well indeed for the officers. And you know, the community leaders, so-called, who saw the tape today, the surveillance video -- there's one guy from a mosque in Roxbury and he's had rather a checkered past. He used to work at Northeastern. And he has a pretty much of a, I would say, a radical background.
And he said the tape was vague, but he specifically said, Well, even though it seems vague, I can say for sure that this guy, Rahim, did not, A, have a cell phone in his hand, and B, was not shot in the back.
So Sean, it seems to me it's not very vague at all. This is a cut- and-dried incident here. And again, they have -- they have all this...
HANNITY: There's no ambiguity.
CARR: ... on tape where -- no, you know, I'm going to take out some of the boys in blue. I mean, what else can that mean? There's no code there, is there.
HANNITY: What do you know about that mosque, considering the same mosque Tsarnaev brothers went to?
CARR: I -- you know, I don't know what goes on in that mosque. I just know that there's been a lot of problems with radicals here in Massachusetts going back to 9/11. I mean, two out of the four planes flew out of Boston.
And I think a lot of it has to do with just sort of the general political ambience in Massachusetts, you know? It's -- this state welcomes so-called refugees like the Tsarnaevs. If you're a refugee in the United States, you know, most of them have stories that don't hold up under any scrutiny, but they're never checked.
The Tsarnaevs were on welfare from the moment they arrived here. They were welcomed here. The former governor, Deval Patrick, said, even after he had read the manifesto in the boat from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev...
HANNITY: Yes.
CARR: ... he said -- he told Bob Schieffer on "Face the Nation" the next Sunday -- Schieffer asked him, Do we know the motives of these guys? And Deval Patrick said, We don't know the motives of these young fellows. That's what he called them, young fellows.
At a 9/11 commemoration one year when he was governor...
HANNITY: We...
CARR: ... he said -- he said 9/11 was about a failure of human beings to love one another. So there is this atmosphere politically that is somewhat welcoming to these type of people.
HANNITY: All right, Howie, we haven't had you on in a while. We miss you. All our best to our friends in Boston. You guys been through a lot. Thanks for being with us.
CARR: Hey, Sean, any time. Thanks for having me on.
HANNITY: All right, appreciate it.
Coming up -- The New York Times reports that the rogue regime in Tehran has continued to stockpile nuclear fuel. So why does the administration continue to negotiate with them? Mark Steyn is here tonight with analysis.
And later -- well, the Clintons are hit with another foundation scandal, this time a slush fund, $21 million, and it deals with Iran. We'll explain coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." More troubling news out of Iran tonight as a shocking report from The New York Times, of all places, shows a brazen move by Iran's government toward the development of a nuclear weapon.
According to The Times, quote, "With only one month left before a deadline to complete a nuclear deal with Iran, international inspectors have reported that Tehran's stockpile of nuclear fuel has increased about 20 percent over the last 18 months of negotiations, partially undercutting the Obama administration's contention that the Iranian program had, quote, "been frozen during that period."
Here with reaction is the co-author of "Climate Change: The Fact," columnist Mark Steyn is with us. It's almost to me breath-taking that this is where we are. In the course of these negotiations, they cheated in this instance, as identified by The New York Times. We discovered another nuclear facility that they had hidden. They said the destruction of Israel is non-negotiable. The top mullahs are chanting, Death to America. They're the number one state sponsor of terror. And they're fighting multiple proxy wars.
And still Obama wants to make this deal. With -- his words, they'll have zero breakout time in 11 years. Why?
MARK STEYN, "CLIMATE CHANGE" CO-AUTHOR: Right.
HANNITY: Can you explain this? It's inexplicable.
STEYN: Yes, I think they concluded -- the Iranians concluded that these talks exist because the Western powers lack the will to prevent them getting a nuclear weapon. Once you -- once you reach the conclusion that Obama and the P5 permanent members of the Security Council are actually not going to do anything to stop you getting a nuclear weapon, then you can join the talks and string along the talks because you know Obama and these other fellows, John Kerry, they like chit-chatting. They like shooting the breeze. You can string them along for 18 months, and if you're lucky, you'll get an agreement plus nuclear weapons.
And that's really what Iran's goal was, and that's what's amazing to me. They're actually within reach of getting all sanctions lifted, being reintegrated into the world community, which Obama has set as his target, and at the same time, also becoming a nuclear power. In other words, what didn't they get? What didn't they get?
HANNITY: They get the nuclear weapon. They get a $50 billion signing bonus. They get all their money back so that will facilitate...
STEYN: Right.
HANNITY: ... the advancement of their nuclear program. What did you think? So the New York Times breaks this story about a 20 percent increase. Again, that was supposed to be frozen. And you got jobs for jihadis Marie Harf in a Twitter war with The New York Times, even though these numbers came from the IAEA and their inspections!
STEYN: Right.
HANNITY: It's not like they made up these numbers at The New York Times.
STEYN: No, no. This is the official U.N. body, the IAEA, which has established that Iran, all the time it was in Geneva, in Lausanne, participating in these talks and is supposed to be destroying 96 percent of this stuff in the months after a deal, has actually spent the months before the deal increasing it by 20 percent.
And if you look at what has happened in recent months with the fading of American power in the region, it has been matched by the rise of Iran. Iraq's future, essentially, will be determined by Iran and ISIS. America is irrelevant to that. Yemen's future will be determined by Iran. Syria's future will be determined by Iran and ISIS. Maybe ultimately Saudi Arabia's and Jordan's future will be determined by Iran and ISIS.
And the United States is simply not a player anymore. It has effectively withdrawn from the scene in the last six years.
HANNITY: Well, it's interesting you say that because the president claims that not only is he not divisive, but he also says under his leadership, America is the most respected country on earth. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: People don't remember, when I came into office, the United States in world opinion ranked below China and just barely above Russia. And today once again, the United States is the most respected country on earth.
And part of that I think is because of the work we did to reengage the world and say that we want to work with you as partners, with mutual interests and mutual respect. It's on that basis that we were able to end two wars while still focusing on the very real threat of terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Now, wait a minute. China is now pursuing their territorial ambitions. Russia with -- we know Putin has no respect for him whatsoever. We know that the Egyptians, Jordanians, the Saudis and the Israelis have decided to go it alone. And I have that on firsthand knowledge that they've decided that. How does he make such a statement?
STEYN: Yes, this is the post-American world. By the way, for one thing, Sean, it's pathetic for the leader of the global superpower to be boasting that he's come number one in a Miss Congeniality poll! I mean, this itself is incredible. I can't recall Winston Churchill or Bismarck ever standing up and saying, Hey, the world had a Miss World competition and I came first in the swimsuit round. It's pathetic!
But it also neglects the fact that that ranking is, as much as anything, a measure of American irrelevance in the world. As you mentioned, all the Arab countries, the Saudis and the Gulf monarchies who are now Israel's best friend. The foreign ministers of all the gulf states and Saudi Arabia are on the phone to Israel every night because they know they're having to go it alone in the post-American world.
The Czechs and the Poles and the Baltic states are beginning to get that message. Out in the South China Sea, they're beginning to get that message. It's easy to win the Miss Congeniality award when you're doing nothing.
The other recent poll of global respect, for whatever that means, was the BBC one, and the number one country was Germany and the number two country was Canada. If you become irrelevant to global affairs in the way that Germany has been in the last 60 years, it's not -- and the way America has gone in the last six years, then it's easy to be Miss Congeniality.
HANNITY: Let me play -- Obama goes on channel 2 in Israel, one of their bigger channels, and he attacks Netanyahu, says he's driven by fear, then suggests that he -- Israel's in danger of losing their credibility.
I'm thinking Netanyahu just won by a landslide in spite of Obama's so- called influence and attempts to help defeat him. And he's still angry about the speech. But I want to get your take on it. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I think Prime Minister Netanyahu is somebody who's predisposed to think of security first, to think, perhaps, that peace is naive, to see the worst possibilities, as opposed to the best possibilities, in Arab partners or Palestinian partners. And so I do think that right now, those politics and those fears are driving the government's response.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Fears? They're firing rockets by the thousands into this country! What is he talking about?
STEYN: Yes, he's talking as if this is somehow irrational. When he says Israel's credibility is on the line -- no, Israel's existence is on the line.
Netanyahu has to do something that Obama doesn't. Obama can bunk off and play golf and go on television with Jay-Z and Beyonce and do all this stuff. Netanyahu goes to work every morning knowing that if he makes the slightest miscalculation of the psychology of his neighboring states, it's the end of Israel's existence. It's gone.
And he does this against a background, for example, where there are murderous attacks on the Jewish Museum in Brussels, where there are attacks on synagogues, on schools in the wider Jewish diaspora, and in which Jew haters has in effect metastasized. And so this idea that he's...
HANNITY: Well, let me ask you this...
STEYN: ... that somehow some eccentric fellow who's just got a bee in his bonnet about national security, and why doesn't he realize it's all about transgender rights, like the rest of us do -- I mean, this -- this -- this is a completely pitiful response from a guy who's sitting thousands of miles away from it in Washington and doesn't have to live with the realities...
HANNITY: Well, said.
STEYN: ... that Obama does -- that Netanyahu does.
HANNITY: And he says that climate change is the biggest military national security threat we have. Here's my take -- tell me if you agree or disagree.
STEYN: Yes, (INAUDIBLE) climate change, the rising seas swept away all those American weapons in Ramadi. Amazing.
HANNITY: Right. I think that Obama is insecure. Obama -- that Bibi is smarter than him, that Bibi is tougher than him, that he's more principled than him, more courageous than him. He understands evil in our time. And I think Obama knows it! And that's why I think it's personal.
What's your take on why you think it's so personal?
STEYN: I think it is personal. I do think he's an insecure man, and that leads him to actually, apart from anything else, just some remarks in appallingly bad taste when he said apparently to David Axelrod that he was, in effect, the first Jewish president.
HANNITY: Yes, I know.
STEYN: He's the nearest to -- to a Jew...
HANNITY: The most Jewish...
STEYN: ... who's in the Oval Office.
HANNITY: Unbelievable.
STEYN: And that's -- that's completely ridiculous. And I do think he understands that, in a sense, not just Netanyahu, but Putin and Ayatollah Khamenei in Tehran -- that all the guys are smarter than him, in a sense they're keeping their eye on the prize, and he seems to be just...
HANNITY: We got to roll.
STEYN: ... doing things out of kind of strange, weird psychological insecurities. But it's very odd. It's personal with Netanyahu. He doesn't like the way Netanyahu...
HANNITY: But he loves the mullahs!
STEYN: ... walked into his Congress and all that kind of thing.
HANNITY: And he's trying to get along with the mullahs. All right, Mark Steyn, good to see you, sir. Thank you.
And coming up, we're going to explain how the mainstream media continues to spin the "Hands up, don't shoot" lie.
But first, another day, another scandal for the Clintons. This time, it's about a Swedish slush fund, $26 million. The two reporters who broke the story will join us in a "Hannity" exclusive.
And then pollster Frank Luntz -- he's here to weigh in on the latest happenings in the 2016 presidential race. And we're going to show you heroic police, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Tonight, an explosive new report from The Washington Times alleges that the Clinton Foundation set up a slush fund to secretly raise millions of dollars from foreign donors.
Now, according to The Times, quote, "Bill Clinton's foundation set up a fund-raising arm in Sweden that collected $26 million in donations at the same time that that country was lobbying Hillary Rodham Clinton's State Department to forego sanctions that threatened its thriving business with Iran, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Washington Times."
Here now with more information, in an exclusive interview, are the Washington Times reporters who broke this story. John Solomon and Kelly Riddell are with us.
All right, I read this story -- and this is amazing to me. John, why don't we start with you. So he has in Sweden a fund-raising arm. Take it from there.
JOHN SOLOMON, WASHINGTON TIMES: Yes. So at the very moment that Mrs. Clinton holds in her very hand the very important decision, are we going to punish Sweden in this country for -- and its companies for doing business with Iran, he sets up a fund-raising shop in Sweden. He pockets $26 million for his foundation, and then he gets another $750,000 for himself in a personal speech fee from Ericsson (ph), one of the very companies that were being considered for sanctions.
HANNITY: All right, and some of this was state money, meaning this was Sweden actually giving the money, correct?
SOLOMON: Well, it's a private lottery that's government-sanctioned, meaning the government regulates it...
HANNITY: Right.
SOLOMON: ... but it's a privately run lottery, right.
HANNITY: All right, well said. All right, they never disclose this, Kelly, to the State Department ethics officials, even though one of its largest sources was the Swedish government-sanctioned lottery, as John was saying.
KELLY RIDDELL, WASHINGTON TIMES: Yes.
HANNITY: Explain -- didn't they have to disclose that?
RIDDELL: Well, I mean, this is the dark world, kind of the murky gray area that the Clintons so -- you know, so well operate in. Since it is a private entity and the foundation said, We consider this a private entity, Mrs. Clinton wasn't -- she didn't have to disclose this.
But as John said, this private entity is regulated by the Swedish government. The charitable donations it gives has to be approved by the Swedish government. So they are very interconnected, and it's something that should have been disclosed to State, or you know, if she wanted to be fully transparent with the money (INAUDIBLE)
HANNITY: So Kelly, let's break this down, $26 million Clinton Foundation, $750,000 speech to Bill Clinton. That's at the highest level of what he got paid. At the same time, Mrs. Clinton's team in Washington is being lobbied by the Swedish government, and they made the decision, even though Western countries were, in fact, trying every effort to stop Tehran's nuclear program, according to diplomatic cables that you found. They gave them a pass at the same time they're accepting money. Is that --
RIDDELL: I mean, that's exactly it. That's exactly right, Sean. And what we see from the cables that were coming from Stockholm to the State Department at the time, was saying, you know, Sweden is saying that it's not ramping up trade with Iran, but it actually is. It's very concerned that sanctions against Iran is going to hurt its two largest companies, Volvo an Ericsson. And Volvo and Ericsson have a huge part in Sweden's economy, so they were very invested. They're the first and second largest employer. They are the largest companies by revenue for Sweden. So, I mean, they were very concerned with kind of the activities of Ericsson and Volvo at this time, not to mention there was intelligence cables coming across saying that Ericsson was giving tracking information to the Iranian government to track dissidents. So there was a bunch of reports that raised a lot of red flags on these companies.
HANNITY: John, let me go back to you. So as Hillary Clinton's State Department is giving a waiver so these Swedish companies can do business with Iran, that undercuts what western nations are trying to in terms of stopping the nuclear program, at the same time they're getting money. Is there any laws that you have uncovered in the course of your investigation? It sounds to me like buying influence.
JOHN SOLOMON, "THE WASHINGTON TIMES": Well, you know, Sean, you and I have been a long time and we covered a lot of the Clinton scandals. And one of the things that is remarkable to me, no matter how many times Congressional investigators raise questions, though we've had federal investigators, we've had John Wong go to prison and Charlie Trie, all the people in the '90s and the Clintons expressed all their sorrow about what happened. It doesn't appear that they have any sensitivity to the appearance, to the appearance that they put a for-sale sign out in front of the government.
And I think the one rule that does apply here, federal code of conduct says that an employee like Mrs. Clinton must avoid not only a conflict of interest but the appearance of a conflict of interest. And I think a lot of people who read our story this morning saw an appearance issue here, which is this just looks bad. This isn't what government is supposed to be doing.
HANNITY: Kelly, could we say that the Clintons undercut and compromised national security for donations to the charitable contribution and their personal enrichment?
RIDDELL: Well, what we saw was a lot of coincidences. At the time they set up this Swedish slush fund to raise money for, you know, the foundation, the country that they raised it in was heavily lobbying the Hillary Clinton State Department. And ultimately what happened, you didn't see any Swedish companies listed in those Iranian sanctions in 20 -- that were issued in 2011 and 2012.
HANNITY: All right, guys, good reporting. It's going to be interesting to see where this goes, and laws were broken.
SOLOMON: Thanks, Sean.
HANNITY: And coming up later tonight right here on HANNITY.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Three year prison sentence from a disgraced Democratic fundraiser stemming from an 18-year- old fraud conviction but continued to raise cash for politicians as a fugitive.
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: I have many, many old friends.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: A blistering new ad put out by the RNC exposes what the Clintons choose to associate with. Pollster Frank Luntz is here to weigh in on the latest developments.
But first, dash-cam footage shows police officers in Texas, look at this, rushing to rescue a man who was reportedly trying to kill himself. We'll check in with Bernard McGuirk, Geraldo Rivera, Dagen McDowell. They'll weigh in on this side of officers that we never hear about, the courageous side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Pretty unbelievable dash-cam video shows officers in Austin, Texas, running to save a man who was reportedly trying to kill himself by blowing up his own car. Now, this is just one example of cops put their lives on the line every single day. But you wouldn't know it by watching the mainstream media. Here with reaction, "Imus in the Morning" producer Bernard McGuirk, Fox News senior, the only guy in TV with one name, Geraldo, and FOX Business anchor, Dagen McDowell. We have this whole Ferguson effect. This happens every day. We don't ever talk about these stories. Isn't it -- do we now need to, in fairness --
DAGEN MCDOWELL, FOX BUSINESS NETWORK: We talk about them on this program all the time.
HANNITY: This program.
MCDOWELL: Yes. I believe --
HANNITY: The media doesn't.
MCDOWELL: I believe deep down that many, if not most Americans believe in the goodness and the work of police forces across this country.
HANNITY: I think it's --
MCDOWELL: They know that they put their lives on the line and they respect that.
BERNARD MCGUIRK, PRODUCER, "IMUS IN THE MORNING": What they're doing today is the police officers is akin to what they did to returning servicemen in Vietnam, spitting on them. That's a good analogy in my opinion. And also the people who perpetuate the false notion of "hands up, don't shoot," they are sort of like holocaust deniers in reverse, albeit on a smaller magnitude. I mean, the attorney general, Eric Holder, who was black, who worked for a black president, who got replaced by a black woman, actually came out and said it did not happen, and yet the media and other people keep perpetuating --
HANNITY: I have the numbers on this. Let me put them up on the screen, because you're raising a really good point here. Major networks use the phrase "hands up, don't shoot," this is 140 times between the time Michael Brown was shot and the DOJ report came out saying it was a myth. Look at that, 140.
Now, after the DOJ report came out with, you know, with clarifying and deeming it a myth, well, then they mentioned it 16 more times just for the fun of it. And then you've got clips that media research found showing major networks still referencing this myth of "hands up, don't shoot" without clarifying that it was a myth. You got the evening news on CBS, NBC News, you got "GMA," you've got "World News Tonight," they're all doing it. You worked in media. This is malpractice, Geraldo.
GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: I put the blame squarely on the misinformation for the epidemic, I believe that there is an epidemic of disgust and disdain against cops that is having the effect, the Baltimore effect, where cops say, why should I risk my life if I try to do anything? I'm either going to get in trouble with the civilian complaint review board, or the crowd that gathers is going to threaten me in some way. Why should I put my neck on the line? What you saw there, a spontaneous reaction of credible courage and selflessness, but there is, indeed, this terrible --
MCDOWELL: That's why I hope that there are body cameras from coast to coast.
RIVERA: Me, too.
MCDOWELL: But it will have -- you know, if there is wrongdoing, it will record that, but in the many instances where cops are sacrificing their lives and putting their lives and putting them on the line --
RIVERA: You'll see that, too.
MCDOWELL: You're going to see it time and again.
HANNITY: Wait a minute. These numbers in the media and the president, who continually went out there, a, rushed to judgment --
RIVERA: That's exactly right.
HANNITY: And, b, used the same narrative himself.
MCGUIRK: Aided and abetted by CNN and MSNBC, these protesters and the president and others prejudged the case, the Ferguson case, for example, to the point where they high-tech lynched Darren Wilson and demonized him, and to this day he's still in hiding, he's still a villain. The only way he can probably rehabilitate himself is if he transitioned to a woman. It seems like -- then he'd be treated like a little kitten.
RIVERA: That's the biggest fake story out there, that guy.
HANNITY: Caitlyn Jenner? You think that's fake?
RIVERA: I think it's real. And he's getting $500 million, and then he'll -- because he's not cutting it off he'll change his mind in five --
MCDOWELL: You have to say --
RIVERA: I'm changing the subject.
MCDOWELL: You have to say she because I made that mistake and I had people on Twitter saying they need to reopen Auschwitz for me. I kid you not. I kid you not. That is the level of hatred --
HANNITY: I talked to Bruce Jenner two weeks ago. I had interviewed him a number of times over the years. I think the biggest shock in the interview with Diane Sawyer was when he said he's a conservative Republican. She nearly fell off her chair.
MCDOWELL: You misuse a pronoun and they want to reopen a concentration camp.
(CROSSTALK)
MCDOWELL: By the way, you want the media to correct this "hands up don't shoot"?
HANNITY: Yes. Yes, I want them to apologize and take responsibility.
MCDOWELL: You will have a better chance of squeezing a shot of tequila out of my shoe than that.
HANNITY: Is there any tequila in your shoe?
RIVERA: I was going to make a crack about shipping champagne out of your slipper. Rather let me -- let me make this point. The problem with the false narrative is the notion that the civil rights issue of our day is excessive police force directed against the minority community. What the real civil rights issue of our day is the suicide that's happening in the ghetto. There's a civil war going on. We have to recognize and say that - -
HANNITY: You can't say that, Geraldo. That's racist.
RIVERA: Minority people are killing each other. It is absolutely appalling what's going on.
MCGUIRK: And demonizing the cops is making it worse. And you have ass clown Al Sharpton, Bolshevik Bill de Blasio, CNN, MSNBC, they all have to apologize because they bear some responsibility for this crime wave that's occurring right now.
HANNITY: All right, guys, good to see you all. Thanks for being with us, appreciate it.
And coming up next tonight right here on "Hannity."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, POLITICAL AD)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But there are two things true about the Clintons in this area. One, they like people who work in the dark.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you explain your relationship with Sid Blumenthal, Secretary Clinton?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they like loyalty. He's been loyal to her for a long time, and they like the kind of masters of the dark arts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: The RNC is calling out Hillary Clinton for her questionable friendships. Coming up next, Frank Luntz is here with reaction and much more, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." The road to 2016 is in full swing, and the candidates, they are lighting up the campaign trail. Here to analyze which messages are scoring big, which ones are falling flat, none other than the pollster, Frank Luntz. All the polls this week, Hillary Clinton, 56 percent find her dishonest and not trustworthy. So it's rule 101 you be next to the people that you want to vote for you? Here is Hillary this week, watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE: Go to the end of the line. Why don't you go to the end of the line?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Go to the end of the line, go. Why can't you just stop and take a picture?
FRANK LUNTZ, POLLSTER: Because she's not cuddly, she's not friendly.
HANNITY: You think? Come on, not cuddly, really?
LUNTZ: But there is a underlying factor here, which is that the number one attribute, Sean, of everything that voters want from a presidential candidate is integrity. And over the last seven weeks I've never seen a presidential candidate going through more scandals, more specific aspects of her fundraising, of her behavior, of these emails, all of it, Sean. And I'm not surprised that the numbers are where they are right now.
But here's the warning to your viewers. She's still beating every Republican candidate in just about every survey.
HANNITY: That is way too early. You would agree with that. But one poll that matters, if people don't find you honest and trustworthy, I think that poll matters because that is consistent across almost every poll.
LUNTZ: Provided that voters, and I'm hoping America hasn't changed so much, because, Sean, we're not the same certainly today that we were 10 years ago.
HANNITY: That's true. She starts out with 47 percent of the vote.
LUNTZ: Even with all these scandals she's still up there. And it makes me wonder, what are Americans watching and what are Americans thinking about?
HANNITY: All right, one of the big question Republicans are going to have to come to grips with, I think Carly Fiorina has figured it out, is how to go after Hillary. The RNC came out with an ad. Let me play part of it and get your take.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, POLITICAL AD)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Washington, D.C. businessman Jeffrey Thompson admitted to giving $608,000 in illegal contributions to a, quote, "federal political candidate for president of the United States." That candidate was Hillary Clinton.
CLINTON: I have many, many old friends.
BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS HOST: A Democratic fundraiser who supported Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential bid has pleaded guilty to evading contribution limits and witness tampering. He was accused of funneling more than $180,000 in illegal campaign contributions.
CLINTON: That is just part of the give and take. As leaders we have a choice who we associate with and who we apparently give some kind of seal of approval to.
GRAPHIC: Stop Hillary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: My thought is the campaign hasn't started, the ads haven't run, and 57 percent think she's dishonest and not trustworthy. Wait until the ads run, right?
LUNTZ: But here is the problem, Sean, is that there are so many ads. If you live in Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Iowa, New Hampshire, you're going to get more political ads than McDonalds, Burger King and Chick-fil-A combined. And so I don't know how much people will see it. Early advertising makes a tremendous impact on what voters think of the candidate, and on the ad that you showed made a very, very wise decision -- no announcer. You heard her voice, you heard her statement about her friends and then you got to watch what those friends actually do in politics. It's a very smart approach.
HANNITY: Let me go to Chris Christie. He hasn't announced. I still don't think he's going to announce. His state has been downgraded since he's been governor some nine times, and he was at Governor Rick Scott's forum that he had this week. And here is what he said about entitlement reform, and listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE, R-N.J.: A bunch of political advisers told me I was crazy to lead off a national conversation talking about entitlement reform. And 71 percent of the federal budget this year, 71 percent, is spent on entitlements. So you have a lot of people come through here and have conversations with Governor Scott, and they'll talk about national defense, education, tax cuts, the all these other things, the other 29 percent. If you don't talk about what you're going to talk about the 71 percent, in my view you have no right to talk about the other 29 percent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: I like what he said. But is he going to have a hard time because his state was downgraded nine times?
LUNTZ: It's going to be very tough for him, and his number, his negatives are still quite high. He's got the highest negative to positive ratio of any Republican candidate. But Sean, let's at least give him credit. He's dealing with an issue that these politicians have refused to discuss since Reagan in 86. He deserves credit for raising, and I do hope he's a candidate. It's going to be rough for him, but I hope he runs.
HANNITY: If he runs, the ads are going to be New Jersey downgraded one time, two times, three times, nine times. That's hard to overcome.
LUNTZ: You know it's going to happen, but I hope he runs. It gives me an excuse to go to my favorite diner in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: It's all about you, Frank, everything. All right, thank you.
LUNTZ: You got it. Thanks, Sean.
HANNITY: When we come back, we need your help. Tonight's "Question of the Day" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Time for your input and our "Question of the Day." Should news networks apologize for police officers for spreading "hands up, don't shoot" lie? They said it, repeated it again and again and again. Just go to Facebook.com/SeanHannity, @SeanHannity on Twitter, let us know what you think.
That's all the time we have left this evening, but a quick programming note. Please tune in tomorrow night, 10:00 eastern. I'll be traveling all the way to Texas to interview former governor Rick Perry after he makes a, well, special announcement tomorrow. That's tomorrow night right here 10:00 eastern. We hope you'll set your DVR so you never miss and episode because we miss you.
Thanks for being us. We'll see you from Texas where there is no state income tax, tomorrow night.
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