Secretary Rick Perry on the devastation in Texas

Department of Energy secretary speaks out on 'Hannity'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 28, 2017. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Welcome to ''Hannity.'' This is a Fox News Alert.

We are following three major breaking news stories. According to the National Weather Service, Texas-- they're now bracing for up to 20 inches of additional rainfall after this historic and catastrophic flooding. Now, this as President Trump is now promising 100 percent support and the rapid deployment of federal aid to help those devastated areas in Texas and also now in Louisiana. Our reporters are on the ground tonight in the Lone Star State.

Then radical leftists, Antifa, protesters savagely beating nonviolent protesters over the weekend. This time, Berkeley, California. So when are the Democrats in this country going to condemn this out of control left- wing hate and violence?

Also, the president defends his decision to pardon former sheriff Joe Arpaio as Democrats and the liberal media feign moral outrage. Tonight right here, we will expose the left wing's massive double standard when it comes to presidential pardons. That is tonight's important ''Opening Monologue.''

I want to start tonight by sending our many thoughts and prayers to our fellow Americans down in Texans. They are dealing with unprecedented flooding, and of course, widespread devastation.

Now according to estimates, nine trillion gallons of water have already been dumped on the area, and some parts could see a total of 50 inches of rain by this time the storm is over later in the week. So the people in Texas and Louisiana need to take all the necessary precautions because things are going to get worse. Not if, they will.

Now, while the region braces for even more flooding, we have to recognize the efforts of the Trump administration, the governor of Texas, the lieutenant governor, charities, and frankly, everyday citizens who have been unbelievably inspiring and amazing, the people that have done their best to prevent what could have been a widespread tragedy.

Now, to overcome any type of natural disaster, you really need three components. Think about this. It really starts on the ground -- doesn't it? -- neighbors helping neighbors. We saw that all weekend long. Then you need local, state governments to respond effectively. The governor, and well, with the one exception of the Houston mayor, they all did -- they did their job.

And finally, you also need-- this is where the federal government needs to step in and assist these communities.

Now, before Harvey hit, the Trump administration was prepared. They have 8, 500 federal employees on the ground now there assisting. And earlier today, President Trump pledged his full support to all of the many, many victims. Think how hard it is to buy your first home. Think of the blood, toil, sweat and tears and effort, and to see it all washed away.

Take a look at the president today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: To the people of Texas and Louisiana, we are 100 percent with you. We're praying for you. Working closely with your leaders and officials, and I will be visiting the impact zone tomorrow to ensure that you're receiving full support and cooperation from the federal government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, the president rightly will be traveling to Texas tomorrow to offer his support. Now, we're going to take you live on the ground in Houston in just a minute.

Also tonight, radical leftist Antifa thugs attack peaceful protesters at the rally yesterday in Berkeley, California. Now, take a look at this headline from The Washington Post, ''Black-clad Antifa members attack peaceful right-wing demonstrators in Berkeley.''

Now, according to the AP, at least five people were attacked, 13 people arrested. And this is just one of many, many examples of left-wing Antifa violence. So when are the Democrats in Washington, politicians-- when is the media going to offer the same criticism and condemnation of this group? We'll have more later tonight.

And finally, the Democrats, members of the mainstream media-- they continue to feign moral outrage and yet expose what is a huge, massive double standard. The president is standing by his decision -- I think it was the right one-- to pardon former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

After the president announced this on Friday night, he was padoning Joe Arpaio, well, who was found guilty of criminal contempt for defying a judge's order in immigration enforcement, well, the media in this country that will never give the president a fair shot went ballistic and apoplectic and politicized immediately the president's decision when we were just two hours away from a hurricane. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CNN: We're talking about the notion of a Friday night news dump. Traditionally, when you talk about that, you think people are trying to hide information, try to reduce the coverage of it. So is it that, or is the president trying to hijack the coverage of the hurricane?

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, MSNBC: This is the mother of all Friday night news dumps done during the hurricane while the humanitarian questions still abound.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, "TODAY"/MSNBC: This the monster storm, the president's first real domestic test since taking office. But overnight, instead of focusing on the storm, the president announced he'd pardoned a controversial sheriff in Arizona.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Why would the president want to divert even one minute of attention away from the flooding, away from the collapsed buildings in Rockport, away from the emergency on the coast of Texas?

DON LEMON, CNN: We saw it earlier this week in Phoenix.

STELTER: Why?

LEMON: Because it's all about him.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HANNITY: Why? Because he was prepared! He was already coordinating with the governor, local officials on the ground and sending help already. And by the way, on the night two hours before a hurricane, the whole country was paying attention.

Now, the destroy Trump media-- they went on to attack the former sheriff, over 50 years in law enforcement! Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)

ANA NAVARO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: To most of us in the Latino community, to pardon Joe Arpaio-- it is a slap in the face.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, CNN: This particular president does not seem to understand either the constitutional premises that are at-- that force us to look at how police conduct should be viewed in this country or the separation of powers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE, CNN: By pardoning Arpaio, President Trump is defending racism.

CLARENCE PAGE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE, "FACE THE NATION"/CBS: Back in Chicago, we'd say this is a good example of gangster politics. He's sending a signal to anybody who might want to snitch on him or testify against him that, "Hey, I'm going to protect you. I'm going to watch out for my people."

EUGENE ROBINSON, THE WASHINGTON POST, MSNBC: President Trump uses the vast pardon powers of the presidency the first and only time so far to pardon a guy who has been found by a court to be guilty of being viciously racist.

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC: This is obvious to Republicans and Democrats alike that this guy is a complete thug. He doesn't respect the rule of law.

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HANNITY: Ah! More bizarre liberal conspiracy theories. Now, after being attacked by the mainstream media, President Trump -- he is standing by his decision to pardon a 50-year veteran in law enforcement, former Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

Here's what he said earlier today. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Sheriff Joe is a patriot. Sheriff Joe loves our country. Sheriff Joe protected our borders. And Sheriff Joe was very unfairly treated by the Obama administration, especially right before an election, an election that he would have won. So -- and he was elected many times. So I stand by my partner, Sheriff Joe. And I think the people of Arizona who really know him best would agree with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, the president also highlighted the left's huge hypocrisy and massive double standard when it comes to presidents granting pardons and clemency. Now, if the media is so upset about Sheriff Arpaio, then they should be really outraged about what Presidents Clinton and Obama did.

Let's go back to 2001. During his last day in office, Bill Clinton -- remember? He pardoned Marc Rich, one of the biggest tax cheats in American history, who back in the early 1980s was convicted, oh, let's see, on 51 counts of conspiracy, tax evasion, racketeering, trading with the enemy, which in this case happened to be Iran.

Now, Rich eventually fled to Switzerland, where the government refused to extradite him back to the USA. He was on the FBI's most wanted list. But that did not stop Bill Clinton from giving him a pass. Now, this, of course, came after Rich's ex-wife, oh, donated 450 grand to the Clinton library and over $1 million to Democratic campaigns. Clinton's money quid pro quo? Oh, I'm shocked.

Bill Clinton also offered clemency-- now, this is really important-- to members of the terrorist group, the FALN, which claimed responsibility for over 100 bombings in major American cities that killed five people. You don't believe it? Look at this video! We haven't shown this to you in a couple years. It's the FALN terrorists in the 1980s making bombs. And back in 1999, Bill Clinton offered clemency to 16 members of that group, the FALN, you know, the people making bombs.

Then you have President Obama. He commuted the sentence of the notorious FALN member Oscar Lopez Rivera, who actually turned down Clinton's clemency deal. Now, in case Democrats, the media forgot on fake news CNN and NBC -- well, Lopez Rivera-- he was sentenced to 55 years in prison. Why? Seditious conspiracy to overthrow the United States government. And as part of the group the FALN, and you know, we just can't forget what they did here. And President Obama -- he set a record for commutations, including by shortening the sentences of drug dealers. Yeah, people that want to sell drugs to your kids. We'll have more on that later tonight.

But first, back to our top and our lead story and the horrendous flooding in Texas. On the ground in Rosenberg, Texas, Steve Harrigan. Steve, you were amazing on Friday night. Thank you for being with us. I know you've been working around the clock. And I know the audience appreciates it. What's the latest there?

STEVE HARRIGAN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Sean. We're just outside of Houston. You can see emergency vehicles behind me. They're there because a giant sinkhole has opened up in part because of the tremendous amount of water that's pouring down. They're trying to block cars from trying to get on this road.

Nine inches of rain has fallen in just the past 24 hours alone. The conditions are getting worse and worse each hour. There were seven different neighborhoods outside of Houston that had voluntary evacuations. Now those evacuations are mandatory. People are being told they have to leave as this water continues to rise.

And there's real questions about the structural soundness of many small bridges. So there's concerns about how to get around when the very roads are falling apart. Right now, people are leaving. They're having to evacuate and they're heading out of here as quickly as possible. Sean, back to you.

HANNITY: All right, Steve, if we can, really quick-- there was controversy over the mayor of Houston and his decision-- in spite of the governor calling-- he didn't take the governor's calls, the governor saying even if local authorities are saying to get out, he's saying stay in your homes and stay there. What's the latest on that controversy?

HRRIGAN: Sean, more and more neighborhoods are being told that if you don't leave now, law enforcement will not be able to rescue you. But imagine trying to leave in a situation like this right now, with the rain pouring down, darkness, some roads flooded, some roads falling apart.

When you see people around here, they are wet, cold, tired and uncertain about where they're going to eat, where they're going to go. The shelters here, they need everything. They need doctors, they need baby formula, they need dry clothes. People are wet and confused. And to ask them to leave their homes now in the darkness, a very tough situation, Sean.

HANNITY: All right, Steve Harrigan, you've been amazing. I know you've not slept much, and 100-mile-an-hour gusts the other night was scaring all of us here. We're glad you're safe. And our thoughts and prayers to all the people--

HARRIGAN: Thanks, Sean.

HANNITY: --that are affected by this.

Joining us now with more coverage of the devastating flooding, Matt Finn is with us. Matt, what's going on there?

MATT FINN, FOX CORRESPONDENT: Sean, there are so many heartbreaking and devastating scenes of destruction around Houston. We have just one of them to show you tonight. We watched as this neighborhood filled up with rising water, entire families rescued by boats, with young children shivering in the rain. These families had no idea where to go. They were shell-shocked as the water just engulfed their houses. One by one, they were rescued by boats.

You would ask them, Where are you going to go? They say, We don't know. We might go to the local high school. We might go to some type of shelter. And there was a young woman just a block right up on here on higher ground who opened up her garage to the families and elderly people. One of those elderly couples still sitting here tonight, waiting for a ride.

I want to quickly introduce you to Angela. Angela, you opened up your home to these people. This has been your neighborhood for years. You say your heart is heavy tonight. How are you feeling?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, just it's heart breaking to see so many people that have hard to leave their homes that they've been in for, you know, 20, 30, 40 years. And they've got, you know, seven, eight, ten feet of water and they're rising overnight, and they've had to leave. They have nowhere to go. They're not sure where they're going. And it's heart breaking. It really is.

FINN: Have you ever seen anything like this in Houston?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No never. Never. And no Houstonian has ever been prepared for anything like this. It's absolutely catastrophic and--

FINN: You might leave your home soon, too, as well, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I may have to leave my home soon, which is not settling very well with me, but it may have to be done. And that's fine. We will get through it. Houstonians are notorious for pulling through in catastrophic events because we work together, and not only Houstonians, but Texans in general. It's a very strong community and a very strong state. And we will get through this.

FINN: Angela, thank you very much. And we wish you very well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

HANNITY: Sean, this woman a hero in the community and this neighborhood tonight. She opened her garage to so many people, including an elderly couple that we're helping right now who's waiting for a ride. They have nowhere to go. There's no local family. Their car is under water.

And this scene is something you're seeing all over Houston. We've seen people being plucked from their rooftops. We saw a family yesterday leave their home and put their dog on a pool raft. And we said, Where are you guys going? They said, We don't know, but we had to abandon our house.

So-- and as you can see, the rain continues to fall. Just saturating walls of rain continue to fall. And our forecasters are saying this could last another day or two. And you say to yourself, where's all this water going? And it is ending up in neighborhoods like this. Sean, back to you.

HANNITY: All right, Matt. Please send our love and prayers to all of them. And this country will help them, as we always do.

Joining us now from the George R. Brown convention center in Houston, where displaced storm victims are taking shelter, is-- Caroline Shively is with us. Caroline, I also know you have some guests there. What's going on there?

CAROLINE SHIVELY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Sean, they blew past what was supposed to be max capacity here hours ago. Take a look. The people are still coming. 5,000 people-- that was what we were told this morning that they expected and they could handle. But the buses still keep coming. Looks like a metro bus passed those red doors, just dropped off dozens of people. We have seen metro buses, school buses, dump trucks, you name it, people walking in on foot.

Just last hour, we showed you the interstate on the back side of the convention center. They're now using that as a helicopter landing pad to bring the people in. As they walk in the doors, you can see what they are getting, this pile of clothes here. Volunteers-- absolutely amazing. They've been bringing diapers and formulas and cups and plates and clothes and underwear, everything that families have had to leave behind in their homes, those homes that they may never see again.

It is a bit of a different scene than this morning. When we first got here, they were at half capacity. People were smiling and happy and everybody was getting a hot meal. But now things are getting a little bit tense. You can hear they're trying to keep them calm. We've seen a little bit of fighting here, not much.

But it's the Red Cross who greets them. They're there at this table. They're registering. They're taking anyone in, anyone who needs a spot here, no matter the capacity.

You mentioned a guest, Sean. It's David Brady. He's joining us from the Red Cross now. What are you experiencing here? More people than you thought you'd have throughout Harvey are already here.

DAVID BRADY, AMERICAN RED CROSS OF THE TEXAS GULF COAST: Yeah, it's a whole lot of people. This has been devastating for people. And you know, the Red Cross responds to disasters every single day in this country, but a disaster of this magnitude is something that really requires us to rally our troops. And I'm so proud to be involved with the Red Cross and a part of this team and of our staff and our volunteers. But while there's so many people trying to get here, we are doing everything we can, and we will accept everyone who comes to this shelter. We're not turning anybody away.

SHIVELY: But you're looking for another location, another mega-shelter where you can have more people. Are you able to staff it? If the city opens up someplace else, can you guys get there? And how long will it take?

BRADY: Well, we've got a great partnership with the city of Houston, Mayor Turner, a great partnership with Harris County and Judge Ed Emmett (ph). And we're working with them on all the shelters. This is a mega- shelter, but we've got dozens of shelters. We'll be at close to 100 shelters very quickly. And we work closely with the judge and the mayor on where those are going to be, what they need. And they at least give us a little bit of time to get set up because we don't want our-- our guests, these Houstonians who have been so devastated by this flood, to show up and not have someone welcome them, put a Red Cross blanket around them and comfort them and help them get through this.

SHIVELY: Sean has a couple questions for you, David.

HANNITY: Yeah, hey, Caroline, if I could grow (ph) this-- David, I think you can hear me. First of all, our thoughts and prayers. You're doing God's work there. I sent a donation. It's en route to Samaritan's Purse, Red Cross. You guys are all hands on deck now.

I want to follow up on Caroline's question because this is important. Will there be room for every person that's going to need shelter from the area, A? And we watched what happened with Katrina. I reported on Katrina. Are food and water and medicine and supplies and security and cots and blankets-- will they be-- are there enough now available vis-a-vis your organization, other organizations, the federal government, state and local governments? Will you have everything you need so we don't repeat some of the mistakes in the past?

BRADY: Yeah, well, what I can talk about is what's going on right now, Sean. I appreciate you asking that question. I can tell you that the Red Cross nationally in Washington, D.C., is rallying around and getting corporations to support us, getting food donated, getting medical supplies donated, getting the finances that are so desperately needed donated, as well. And everyone, including the mayor and the Harris County judge are all working on that challenge right now.

Right now, everything is going as we hoped it would in this very almost impossible task to take on. Everything is going as we hoped it would. And we're working hard to make sure that we stay on that path and track.

HANNITY: Yeah. All right, well, David, look, if people can donate to you, Samaritan's Purse, all these good organizations, these people desperately need the help. And we got to make sure we stay on government officials to make sure they are doing their part. This is a time. All hands on deck. And so many people are impacted. And this is only the beginning. This is rescue and rescue recovery. And the rebuilding process is going to take a lot of time. So we wish you all the best in your efforts. It's going to be ongoing. And thanks for being with us. We appreciate it. Caroline, thank you.

Joining us now with more is Fox News contributor, editor-in-chief Lifezette-- Laura Ingraham is with us. Laura, welcome to the program. Thank you for being here.

You know, one of the things as I watched all weekend--

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Good to see you, Sean.

HANNITY: I think one of the more amazing things is how everybody came together, neighbor helping neighbor, local government, federal government. It seems like everybody got the message. We're on the same page. Otherwise, this could have been a catastrophe that we couldn't even describe. It would be indescribable. I mean, the costs now are prohibitive in terms of of what we're talking.

INGRAHAM: Oh, yeah. Sean, to think that the FEMA director has only been in place since June, he was nominated in April, only been in place for a few months. And he's tasked with managing one of the worst natural disasters, if not ultimately the worst that our country has ever seen. I mean, so the preparations were under way.

I happened to be in Corpus Christi on Wednesday night. And when I was there-- the people didn't-- people weren't all that, you know, exercised about the storm. They thought it was going to be bad storm. They hoped it would, you know, not be as bad. But people were calmly going about the process of preparing.

And there wasn't a lot of-- you know, wasn't a lot of politics involved. It was just, We have a job to do and we're going to do it. And from Greg Abbott, the governor, to Dan Patrick, the lieutenant governor, to the coordination with Homeland Security-- FEMA is under Homeland Security-- local officials, all the volunteers from churches, synagogues, mosques from all over the country who are pouring in-- that really does remind you of the best of this country. We're self-sufficient, except sometimes we need help. We're independent, but sometimes we need a helping hand from a neighbor and the government where appropriate.

And this is a time when we need a coordinated government, and Sean, we need all the high-placed officials not only nominated but confirmed at Homeland Security, at all our major departments. We have crises all over, you know, our executive departments of staffing right now. And this reminds us all over again why we need more than acting directors or deputy directors. We need everybody in place.

HANNITY: And it's ridiculous how long it's taking. And we've discussed that in the past. Now it shows why this is important and why the Senate needs to do their job of confirmation.

I want to play for you a montage of some of the incendiary comments-- we're literally Friday night, a night that all of America's going to be watching television. The media's claiming Donald Trump is hiding all of-- all of his big pardon of Joe Arpaio. And I just went through the FALN, terrorists given pardons by Bill Clinton--

INGRAHAM: Oh, yeah.

HANNITY: --Marc Rich, obviously, drug dealers by Barack Obama. And I'm thinking here's a guy that served in law enforcement 50 years. The whole country's going to see it. The media acts like it was a Friday dump, which Clinton and Obama were masters at.

And watch-- we're literally an hour-and-a-half away from the biggest hurricane that they've ever seen and the most rain they've ever seen in the area, and watch how insane the media in this country is. And I-- you can't make this up. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Somewhat under the cover of the first natural disaster of his presidency, a Category 4 hurricane making landfall in the United States, the president and this White House are out tonight with several controversial bits of news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The White House says the president is focused on the storm. But overnight, it made news on a number of fronts, including on some controversial issues.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe he can't stand not being the lead story.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, I think he didn't want to be usurped by Hurricane Harvey. He needs to have his name in the news cycle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Would you like to get lectured by lying Brian Williams about dead bodies floating--

INGRAHAM: Oh, my God!

HANNITY: --outside of the Ritz where there's no water? We're going to get lectures from him about honesty?

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM: Well, I think it's funny-- Sean, the idea that Donald Trump has to wait until a hurricane to do something that the media will find offensive is just a total knee-slapper. I mean, Donald Trump sneezes the wrong way, and the media are all over it.

There was actually a Chyron today on another cable channel that said something like, Trump decides to go to Texas despite-- despite possible disruption. A few days ago, they were claiming-- somehow claiming, even though he was all over the issue and the emgergency. that he wasn't engaged enough. Now he's going, and they're criticizing him for that. So the man cannot win no matter what he does.

This is being handled as well as a cataclysmic event such as this can be handled. I really don't know what else could be done at this point, given the enormity of the problem. But the idea that they're complaining about the Arpaio pardon taking place when the president clearly said he was going to pardon him-- I mean, would it have been better for the media if he pardoned him next week? Would they have been more judicious in their analysis? I don't think so.

HANNITY: We've got videotape of FALN members making bombs! They killed people. And Clinton pardoned them. We need lectures from them like we need a hole in the head.

Now, there was more--

INGRAHAM: It's a joke, a total joke.

HANNITY: There was more violence in Berkeley, California, this weekend. Let's roll some tape-- Antifa protesters. And even The Washington Post, as abusively biased as they are, noted this for what it was. They said right wing. It's a bit of a pejorative. But I got to give them a little credit that they pointed out that they were peaceful protesters.

What are we learning about this group, Antifa, the violence they're involved in and what they're trying to stir up in the country?

INGRAHAM: Yeah, this is pernicious, Sean. This Antifa group is designed and carries out one agenda. That is to terrorize Americans with whom they disagree, terrorize them away from speaking out and exercising their free speech rights. They want to terrorize communities in which they operate. That's what they did in Berkeley--

HANNITY: Well, they have helmets and sticks, Laura.

INGRAHAM: --where the police-- the police didn't do enough, either.

HANNITY: Well, I mean, that's the same thing-- you know, and-- and I praised the Boston protesters. They were peaceful. When a couple tried to turn on some Trump supporters, the overwhelming 99 percent said knock it off. No violence. They were protesting against racism and bigotry. I applaud them. And I'm-- and we all stand against that.

INGRAHAM: Yeah, the left does-- the peaceful left. The peaceful left-- yeah. The peaceful left has to shut this down because it's going to really hurt-- it's going to really hurt the cause of, you know, whatever the cause of the day is--

HANNITY: Where are the Democrats?

INGRAHAM: --of the left. It's going to hurt them. Well, it's going to hurt them a lot. And so Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, all of these individuals who spent all their time maligning conservatives as KKK, or you know, Nazi-- they need to be called what is happening across this country. The Antifa crowd is vicious, vile. They're masked just like the KKK is, except there are more of them.

Antifa is masked and marauding and they're-- and apparently, they're even intimidating some police officers, which happened in Berkeley. Good police, but they're even intimidating them. So these politicians have to be called on this just like they're called on the KKK stuff. Call on the Antifa. Anyone in a mask should not be allowed in a protest. If you're in a mask--

HANNITY: It's a mask and a helmet--

INGRAHAM: --then you're up to no good.

HANNITY: A mask, a helmet, and I see body armor almost--

INGRAHAM: Yeah, and a stick.

HANNITY: --on some of these people. All right, Laura, we got to roll. Thank you so much for being with us. We appreciate it.

INGRAHAM: All right. Good to see you, Sean.

HANNITY: Coming up, we're going to have more reaction to this violent Antifa counter-protest going after conservatives in Berkeley, California, over the weekend. First, we'll also have more on the historic flooding in Texas. Did you know that Texas has a $10 billion-- on pun-- rainy day fund, which will go a long way to helping those people that did not have insurance and need to rebuild. We'll check in with the energy secretary. And former Texas governor Rick Perry-- he'll be here, and Geraldo and much more straight ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've still got people who are trapped in flood waters. We have to get those people out as soon as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALEX: I heard that there could be some more, three or four feet of water coming. So I decided to leave.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll rebuild. It's going to take time. But I think everybody will help everybody.

TRUMP: To the people of Texas and Louisiana, we are 100 percent with you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We saw the levels just continuing to go up, and the rain, torrential rain that wouldn't stop. We called the rescue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty terrifying, I must admit, watching the water come up, come in, and keep coming up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you're trapped in these houses, stay in your house, call 911. Don't get in your cars and stay out of the water.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right now for us it's about our life and our safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Hurricane Harvey made landfall late Friday night wreaking havoc in its path. Now massive flooding is displacing tens and tens of thousands of Texans, our fellow Americans, and the storm is far from over.

Here now to explain, from Weatherbell.com Joe Bastardi. I know this is one of the times, Joe, and I interviewed you all last week, you wish you were wrong. You had this with pinpoint accuracy. And we're not done yet. About 30, 35 percent of the storm is not over yet, correct?

JOE BASTARDI, WEATHERBELL.COM: Yes, well, the next 24 hours around Houston are really, really looking ugly. Harvey is back out over the water. Fortunately there is a lot of dry air over the top of where the center is that will inhibit any kind of rapid development. I'm still worried it's out over the warm gulf.

Bu what is happening is the feeder bands from the storm are coming northwestward. And when they run into the Texas gulf coast, they just explode. It's a frictional effect. They've got air piling in, goes straight up, and you are getting this repeating what we call training going on in and around the Houston area. And Harvey is going to continue eastward underneath Galveston late tonight and tomorrow then turn northeast.

But in the meantime, the bands keep pivoting in overtop of Houston and just piling on. There's a chance that the storm starts to intensify and pulls the bands back in towards it and try to stop the rain --

HANNITY: How many more inches are you talking about? I don't want to interrupt you. And how bad does Louisiana get it?

BASTARDI: Well, we got water for New Orleans a little bit because of the fact that they're pumping is 85 percent in New Orleans itself. But it looks like to me like a three to five inches rainstorm in New Orleans. I don't think Louisiana gets it that bad compared to what's going on in Texas. This is continuing to pivot over there. And that pivoting process is going on.

The wind, I'm watching the wind over Galveston Bay is turning into the north and northeast. And I've been talking about this. And my worry is because of all this water that's coming to Galveston Bay, the bay is enhanced because of the storm surge, that that water comes to Galveston from the north because they're in for northeast winds now 25 to 45 miles and hours the next 24 hours.

And we also have a problem on the mid-Atlantic coast tomorrow. The Virginia capes, 40 to 60 miles an hour winds. It may not be Maine, but that will go out very, very quickly. But it's Texas. This storm still has another 24 hours. It will make landfall I think Wednesday and then continue out of there.

HANNITY: It's amazing we started this -- I talked to you early in the week on radio, and this started Friday night right as we came on the air, and it's still going on, and you're still saying another 24 hours. And Joe Bastardi, thanks for being with us.

Clearly it hampers rescue recovery and obviously delays rebuilding. Joining us now, energy secretary, former governor of the great state of Texas, Rick Perry. Governor, I know you love this state. I'm so proud of the people of your state. They did an amazing job helping each other over the weekend. We've never seen a storm like this. I was very pleasantly surprised on radio when the lieutenant governor told me -- and I think this is in large part due to you -- you have a $10 billion, no pun, rainy day fund?

RICK PERRY, SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: Indeed they do. They have made some good decisions back over the course of the years.

Let me just say that both Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick, governor and lieutenant governor, are both doing a fabulous job of managing this as they have got some good experience of doing. Nim Kidd, the emergency management, he was trained up by Jack Colley, one of the best in the business. Brock Long has worked with them who is now our FEMA. The expertise that the president has to rely upon from the state of Texas and from FEMA is the real story here from my perspective.

HANNITY: Governor, this is really important. And what really was heartwarming is the collaboration between local officials and the state government and the federal government. It seems like we're hitting on all cylinders here. Do we have to worry about food and water and medicine and supplies and blankets and baby formula and cots, or are you confident all of that will be handled and everybody will have a safe place to stay in the interim?

PERRY: Sean, this is a very different storm. People are concerned about how long it's going to last, how long the search and rescue will last, how long the recovery will last. I've seen Texans respond time after time. I've seen this country when it really is working well together and which I'm really seeing that. The president has put a cabinet together that is really focused on this. The president has been leaning into this disaster from before it ever started, clearly giving the authority to the state of Texas to move and move quickly.

So I feel confident that both the state and the federal government, but more importantly, Sean, I'll suggest to you the faith community in the state of Texas will play an incredibly important role. We saw Franklin Graham and his group, what he's doing, Baptists men, the Boy Scouts, and just private citizens. I know story after story that has been told about private citizens that have been called up and said, hey, we need your boat. We need you driving it or we'll take it and do it, the law enforcement. And no telling how many Texans lives have been saved because of the private citizens doing their job, understanding that this is neighbor helping neighbor. But the federal and the state government has worked as well together as I've seen it in certainly my 30 years of service.

HANNITY: Thank God. You mentioned Franklin. I've been down in some of these areas, the work Samaritan's Purse does, and I sent a donation today. I urge people to donate whatever you can. If it's $10, just send it, because the people, this is going to take years to rebuild this. Their entire lives have been uprooted. Governor, I know how much you love your state. Thank you for taking the time to be with us tonight.

PERRY: You're welcome, Sean. Thanks for all you're doing.

HANNITY: Yes, sir.

And coming up, very violent Antifa protests disrupting a peaceful rally this weekend in Berkeley, going after conservatives. Larry Edler, Geraldo Rivera, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." So as we told you earlier tonight, what was supposed to be a peaceful demonstration in Berkeley, California, yesterday, it turned into total chaos when radical leftist Antifa members, you see them right there wearing black masks and covering their faces and some of them with helmets and sticks, literally chasing and beating and harassing nonviolent conservative protestors.

Here with reaction Salem radio nationally syndicated host Larry Elder, Fox News correspondent at large, Geraldo Rivera. Geraldo, I'm going to start with you. We differed a little bit last week. Nobody ever calls out these groups the way they should be. Occupy, Antifa, Black Lives Matter, "What do we want? Dead cops. When do we want them? Now." It seems like the media has one narrative, one way, it's ideological, and they never give balance. This should be as big a story in my opinion as some of these other incidents.

GERALDO RIVERA, FOX NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: I think that Antifa is doing a good job in bailing out President Trump from his missteps last week in Charlottesville. They are nothing but punks. They are, you know, anarchists. They are people who are getting off on destroying other people's property. I think they're total thugs. And in many ways, I mean, obviously given the ugly arc of history that -- the awful history that the neo-Nazis and the KKK have, but these miscreants, they are really doing a good job of making the president right when he said the violence came from many sides. I think this is a very, very bad thing for those who profess to progressive politics.

HANNITY: Larry, I praised the people in Boston, the 99 percent of them who were protesting against hatred, racism. And I don't know the speakers. I never even saw them. But they were protesting what we all consider to be evil. And I'm watching this particular group. And we did see in Charlottesville some people wanting fights. And we said, everybody has the right to yell, scream, use their First Amendment rights. We're not allowed to punch people, beat people we disagree with or don't like or even are despicable, and some of those people are.

LARRY ELDER, SALEM RADIO NATIONAL SYNDICATED HOST: It's a sign of the apocalypse when these people who are supposedly to be anti-fascist feel that punching somebody in the face because they support Donald Trump is a way to get their message across.

But to follow up on something that Laura said earlier in your show, Sean, the reason that they don't stick a mic in front of Bernie Sanders face or in front of Hillary's face or Terry McAuliffe or the other big wigs of Democratic Party is because nobody whose I.Q. is two points about plant life can defend Antifa. For the same reason they should not have stuck a mic in Trump's face over and over and over again and had him denounce David Duke and neo-Nazis and fascists. Nobody with a right mind will support these kinds of things. Do it both ways.

HANNITY: And Geraldo, I played over and over and over and over again, going back to 91 and 2000 and all through the campaign, I disavow, I denounce, I hate, they're evil -- white supremacists, the Klan, Duke. I think Larry is making a point here. When has the left been asked these questions?

RIVERA: I think you have a fair point --

HANNITY: A fair point you're going to disagree with.

RIVERA: To broaden the fairness of it, you have to recognize that now "The Washington Post," New York magazines, others organs of the organized left are now recognizing the absolute social --

HANNITY: Are they going to print Trump was right?

RIVERA: I think that's a good thing.

Sean, one other point I want to make, though. Any administrator of any public university who now given this background allows these groups on the taxpayer dime to use university facilities should be sued by taxpayers. It's absolutely unconscionable now to pretend that what is at stake here is free speech or the First Amendment.

HANNITY: We believe in free speech but not violence. Larry, go ahead

ELDER: Sean, I don't know how many KKK members there are. All I know is that organization is becoming increasingly irrelevant. I suspect there are probably more Antifa people than there are KKK people. Can we get our arms around the dimension of this problem? Is the media concerned about how widespread these fascists are the way they're concerned about the dwindling importance of the KKK?

HANNITY: We'll take a break. We'll have more with Larry and more with Geraldo right after the break as we continue on this busy breaking news night tonight here on "Hannity."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Sheriff Joe, he has done a great job for the people of Arizona. He's very strong on borders, very strong on illegal immigration. He is loved in Arizona. I thought he was treated unbelievably unfairly. I stand by my pardon of Sheriff Joe, and I think the people of Arizona who really know him best would agree with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: That was President Trump earlier today defending his pardon of former Maricopa County sheriff, Arizona, Sheriff Joe Arpaio. We continue with Larry Elder and Geraldo Rivera. Before I get to Joe, I want to go back to this issue. We've had Black Lives Matter literally saying "What do we want? Dead cops. When do we want them? Now." And Larry, they got an invitation to the White House. We just played the Antifa beating up these protesters this weekend. You don't see it on the media.

ELDER: Right.

HANNITY: How do they get an invitation to the White House? How did Hillary Clinton seek their endorsement? How does that happen?

ELDER: It happened because the Democratic Party has an agenda to make sure that black people like victi-crats, that they believe that the forces are out to get them. So Black Lives Matter fits very nicely into that narrative. The man is out to get them. Cops are not out there trying to do a good job, trying to protect and serve. They're out there trying to racially profile young black men. That's their narrative. That's what they go with. That's how they get that 95 percent plus monolithic black vote. That's why they do it.

RIVERA: Wait a second. Antifa and Black Lives Matter are not the same.

ELDER: I didn't say they were.

RIVERA: If you looked at Antifa beating up those right-wingers, they're all scrawny white kids who look like they live in their mothers basements. They're hitting the --

ELDER: Geraldo, what are you talking about? I didn't say they were.

RIVERA: They're hitting the Trump people like this.

HANNITY: Dead cops?

RIVERA: They're back-hitters. They are not Black Lives Matter, and I think that you conflate the two and I think that that is incorrect.

HANNITY: Geraldo, is it wrong that Obama invited Black Lives Matters to the White House? Is it wrong that Hillary wanted their endorsement when they say they want dead cops?

RIVERA: What happened in Berkeley just now is not about Black Lives Matter.

HANNITY: I'm talking about the general principle that the left gets a pass, and yet I show decades of Donald Trump condemning racism and white supremacy.

RIVERA: I mentioned, Sean, how "The Washington Post" and New York magazines had given some credence to the notion that Antifa was a violent, anarchistic group. "The New York Times" for the first time I think since he was elected president gave Donald Trump a compliment by saying he was genuinely riveted by the drama unfolding in Texas, this catastrophe that puts in perspective the pettiness of so much of our political lives. And I think that --

HANNITY: In the middle of a time -- and we saw this right here in New York after 9-11 this country came together. We knew we were all under attack. But this was happening as the hurricane is going on, Larry.

ELDER: Have you seen the demands that Black Lives Matter just now put out? They have 10 demands. Six of them have to do with white people giving black people their property.

(LAUGHTER)

HANNITY: Geraldo, you want to respond?

RIVERA: I want to say this about Sheriff Joe, change the subject in a subtle way here.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Good dodge.

RIVERA: Thank you. I've interviewed Sheriff Joe at least 10 times. I've documented his jail. I remember when he was giving prisoners pink panties. I have a pair, a souvenir pair hanging --

HANNITY: Baloney sandwiches.

ELDER: TMI. TMI.

RIVERA: I have to say, and this is in the broader context of what the issues these groups are purportedly fighting about. If you're a Latino, and I'm a University of Arizona graduate. I know Arizona very well. Go Wildcats. But if you are a Latino and living in Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona, basically, during Joe's reign, you lived partially in terror that you were going to be --

HANNITY: Oh, Geraldo, stop it.

RIVERA: Citizen or migrant alike that Joe -- I don't disagree that Donald Trump --

HANNITY: OK, Clinton gave an FALM bomb-making terrorist a pardon. Obama is pardoning drug dealers. I have got to run. Love you both. We'll continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Unfortunately that is all the time we have left. As always, thank you for being with us. We'll be back tomorrow night. And don't forget, this show, we are not the establishment mainstream destroy-Trump media. We are their balance.

Stay with the Fox News Channel, continuing coverage of Hurricane Harvey. Patti Ann Browne, Trace Gallagher are live next. We will see you back here tomorrow night.

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