Donald Trump rips budget process for being a 'joke'
On 'Hannity,' presidential candidate outlines how he would solve America's problems
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," December 17, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: And welcome to "Hannity," now while fears are growing over ISIS infiltrating Syrian refugees who are scheduled to come to America, tonight, there's an even bigger threat already here. FoxNews.com has learned that since 2012, over 100,000 Syrians have been allowed to enter the country through various immigration channels.
And earlier today, during a hearing on Capitol Hill about America's visa vetting process of foreign nationals, Congressman Jason Chaffetz made a shocking discovery when questioning a State Department official. Look at this!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JASON CHAFFETZ, R-UTAH: Ms. Bond, you wrote in your testimony, since 2001, the department has revoked approximately 122,000 visas for a variety of reasons, including nearly 9,500 for suspected links to terrorism. Of the 122,000 revoked visas, how many of those people are still in the United States?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know.
CHAFFETZ: Doesn't that scare you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Many of the people whose visas are revoked were not in the United States when we revoked the visa.
CHAFFETZ: You have no idea how many of those people are in the United States. Of the revoked visas, do you give those to the Department of Homeland Security?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. We revoke the visa and the information is...
CHAFFETZ: So Homeland Security -- how many revoked visas are still in the United States of America?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Chairman, I don't have that -- that...
CHAFFETZ: Don't have a clue, do you!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Unbelievable. Here with reaction, author of book "Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again," he's 2016 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
We have the Monmouth poll, 41 percent. You got another poll out today, 42 percent. Numbers are looking pretty good for you, Mr. Trump. How do you assess the race at this time?
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, they are looking good. And based on what I just witnessed and watched on your show, that's incredible. That's -- and that's what I've been saying. I mean, you can't let these people in. And now we're having 100,000 of them all of a sudden? Where did they come from?
So we have a lot of problems. The country is run by people that don't have a clue or maybe worse. Maybe they do have a clue and maybe in a certain way that's worse. You know, but I will tell you, Sean, changes have to be made fast.
HANNITY: Jeh Johnson, the Department of Homeland Security -- he admitted they wouldn't even look at social media when vetting people. We know Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee -- he said that ISIS has a plan to come in here. Jeh Johnson now has joined General John Allen and James Clapper, the national head of intelligence, and James Comey -- all these people are saying ISIS will infiltrate, but there's no stop.
And the Congress has just funded the president's ability to do this. What is your reaction to the bill that was pushed forward today by the Republicans in terms of what they want to do to fund all of these things?
TRUMP: Well, you know, the budget is very disappointing. You look at what's going on and you look at Paul Ryan and how easy it seems to be for the Democrats to get whatever they want. And there's never any threat. There's never any negotiation, it seems. And it just gets bigger and bigger.
And frankly, you know, in terms of security, we're getting all of the wrong things. But you look at what's going on with our budget process, it's a disaster. It's a joke. It's a joke. If it weren't so hurtful, you'd all start laughing right now. But it's very, very sad. These are people -- I don't think they -- do they know anything about a budgetary process? I don't think so.
And then you also look -- take a look at this woman's Facebook, this horrible person with a fiance passport, and you look at her Facebook. She practically told everybody what she's going to be doing in California, and nobody ever looked at that.
So we're a country that's got a lot of problems, and we better get going fast because we truly don't know what we're doing.
HANNITY: You know, let me run through the list that will be funded here. It will fund the DACA program. It will fund the sanctuary cities. That still gets funded in this bill. It will fund all of the president's desired refugee programs. It will fund all the Mideast immigration programs, by the way, that have been exploited by terrorists in recent years. It'll fund the illegal alien resettlement program of the president, and the release of criminal aliens and the H1B foreign workers visas. That's going to be quadrupled under this bill. And tax credits for illegal immigrants will be included.
And I'm thinking, what is it about the Republicans that they're so unwilling -- they have this inordinate fear that if they use their constitutional power of the purse and the president shuts down the government and won't fund the government, that they'll get blamed for it. And that seems to -- it seems to make them cower!
If you become president, what will you say to Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell? How will you get them to stand tougher on these issues?
TRUMP: First of all I've never seen anything like it. And you know, if there's a shutdown, it won't be very long. And the biggest problem is every time anybody mentions that just as a threat, immediately, the Republicans say, It'll never happen, it'll never happen. So now they've already lost the negotiation.
But I'd like to ask you -- does Paul Ryan know these things? I mean, does somebody know what's being approved in this budget? When you talk about sanctuary cities will continue -- I mean, to me, that's a no-brainer. What's going on -- you look at Kate and you look at Jameel (ph) and you look at some of these incredible people that are just being killed like nothing, and it's sanctuary city haven -- do people -- do these people know that this is all being funded?
HANNITY: I have to believe they do, I mean, because they've been told by conservatives. I know that Senator Jeff Sessions had...
TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE)
HANNITY: ... had a pretty interest comment about it. And he actually said, this is what explains why voters are in an open rebellion.
Remember Republicans, Mr. Trump, in 2010, they said they would repeal and replace "Obama care." Ted Cruz was the only guy that was willing to go to the mat and use the power of the purse. Then they said in 2014, they would stop executive amnesty. They caved on all of these issues.
The Washington Free Beacon points out the immigration appropriations bill expected to be approved by Congress will provide more than $1.6 billion to resettle illegal immigrants arriving in the U.S. through 2018. That's what's in this budget that we're talking about.
TRUMP: Incredible. It's incredible. The whole thing's incredible. The whole process is frankly incredible. And you know, the pressure is on the president. Nobody's going to know about Ryan and they're not going to know about McConnell. The whole thing -- in 50 years from now, when they talk about it, they're talking about Obama. They're not talking about anybody else.
I don't know why they aren't tougher, why they aren't sharper. I don't know what's going on. And you know, the Republicans -- we elect them. I'm actually more disappointed with the Republicans. You know where the Democrats are coming from, right? But the Republicans -- they go down there and they're all full of vim and vigor, and after being there for two weeks, they lose everything. I don't get it. They never win in Washington!
HANNITY: What would you do differently? How would you stop this process that has so many people frustrated?
TRUMP: Well, it's not only that process. It's every year. We're at $19 trillion. We're going to be up to $21 trillion in terms of debt. It's not -- I mean, the whole thing is just a total mess. And then you read the line items and the different items that you just read to me -- and these are things -- I mean, sanctuary cities? People are going crazy over the sanctuary city concept. It's just horrible.
HANNITY: Well...
TRUMP: Look at all the deaths that are being caused. It's horrible!
HANNITY: Listen, I'll add...
TRUMP: It's so sad. I mean, honestly, look...
HANNITY: I agree.
TRUMP: ... you're interviewing me. It's so sad to look at it and to see the incompetence, frankly, on both sides, but to see the gross incompetence. I don't know.
Look, Paul Ryan is a very nice person, but he's always been very weak on illegal immigration. He's been strong on amnesty, and I don't know, maybe this is just a carryover from that. I don't understand. How can they fund these things?
HANNITY: They're funding that. There's no restrictions on Syrian refugees. They didn't take a stand there. The president's climate agenda nonsense and his caring about whether is a bigger national security threat is funded. And by the way, Planned Parenthood still gets their money.
TRUMP: Well, I actually think that in terms of the Syrian refugees versus the people that, you know, more typically have been pouring across our border -- I think that the Syrian refugees are our biggest problem. We don't know anything about these people. And you know, they probably are -- at least a big portion of them could be ISIS.
You know, you and I have been talking about the migration. They're young, strong men, so many of them. And we're taking these people in. We have no idea who they are. We have no idea, you know, like, where they come from. They have no documents. And we take them in. Nobody knows.
I've watched actually on your show that the law enforcement guys -- and you have some of the best ones -- they say there's no way to tell where they come from.
HANNITY: You know, I have the list...
TRUMP: It's pretty sad.
HANNITY: I've played it so often, the FBI director, the director of national intelligence, the president's envoy to defeat Syria (sic), General John Allen, the assistant FBI director, and now Jeh Johnson, as incompetent as he is, they're all saying it.
All right, we got to take a break. We'll come back.
Vladimir Putin praised you. We'll play it for you and get your reaction when we come back.
Also, new polls in race relations snow they are at a 20-year low in America. Who's to blame for that? Also, we'll check in with Charles Hurt and Steve Hayes. They'll weigh in on the growing feud between Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
And then later tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is your leg?
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC: What leg?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The leg. Is the thrill still there in the leg or is it...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What was that?
MATTHEWS: (INAUDIBLE) just leave me alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Left-wing MSNBC host Chris Matthews gets very nasty when asked if that Obama thrill up his leg is gone. That and more tonight on "Hannity."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." We continue now with the author of "Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again," 2016 Republican presidential front-runner, candidate Donald Trump.
All right, Vladimir Putin, of all people, said the following about you, that Donald Trump's bright, a talented person. Without any doubt, he's the absolute leader of the presidential race. He added, "He says he will want to reach another, deeper level of relations with Russia. What else can we do but welcome it? Certainly, we welcome it."
Your reaction.
TRUMP: Well, I welcome it. I think it's great. I think that's what should be happening. I mean, his dislike for President Obama -- and it's a mutual thing -- is terrible. It's -- that's why you see all the conflict, all the problems, all the hatred. We should be able to work -- and we can't work with Russia. That's not a good thing. And I'm greatly honored by his statement. I think it's terrific.
HANNITY: Let me play for you the Department of Homeland Security secretary, Jeh Johnson, saying that ISIS could infiltrate the refugee population, especially in light of the comments you've made that have been criticized by some.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEH JOHNSON, DHS SECRETARY: We do have to be concerned about the possibility that a terrorist organization may seek to exploit our refugee resettlement process. That is true of this country, and that's true of every other country that accepts refugees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: OK, everybody -- all our intelligence officials are saying this. You made the statement we need a temporary moratorium on people coming from Muslim countries. Should we have a temporary moratorium, period, until we can get this figured out?
TRUMP: Well, I just don't think we can take -- we just can't afford it as a country. Number one, we can't afford it, period, with or without terrorism. And you know, we can do things and we can help out. And I'm very much for, you know, in Syria, doing some kind of a safe zone where we help them with, you know, different things so they can live until that maybe they can go back to where they want to be, which is probably where they just left.
But I'm all for that. I think we should have a safe zone. We should have the Gulf states, which are loaded with money, and others help us fund it. We shouldn't be funding very much of anything. But we really -- I love helping with a safe zone.
We cannot allow them to come in to our country. We can't do it. Forget the cost standpoint. It's expensive. I mean, you're talking about -- I don't know if you saw projections over it. You're talking about billions of dollars, which is shocking. But over a 10-year period, you're talking about a lot of money. I mean, you're talking about a lot of money from day one.
But beyond that, the tremendous risk that we're taking if these people are ISIS or affiliated with ISIS or somebody else like ISIS. We can't allow it to happen.
HANNITY: Yes, it's scary when you think of what happened in San Bernardino, when you think what happened in Paris, when you think back -- you were in New York -- I was in New York on 9/11, 2001.
Let's shift a little bit to politics. Going into the debate this week, a lot of people thought that there might be some back and forth between you and Senator Ted Cruz. For the most part, you guys have not gone at each other, a little bit maybe in the weekend leading up to this debate.
How do you feel about these other candidates? You seem to get along with them when you're together with them.
TRUMP: I think I mostly get along. I guess there are a couple that I wouldn't, but I get along. And actually, when we're not on the debate stage, it's like -- you know, I get along with everybody.
But I have a very good relationship with Ted Cruz, and you know, he's been very nice in that he's backed me almost from the beginning.
You know, I've said things, many of which turned out to be right, if not all. You know, I talked about illegal immigration when I made my announcement on June 16th in New York. I made it -- you know, the announcement, bringing up the importance of stopping illegal immigration, and the whole thing, and it was a firestorm. And Ted was the one person really that was with me very much.
And others have been good, too. Ben Carson's been terrific. You know, I've had some pretty good support. But Ted has been there. There's no question about it.
HANNITY: Yes. It seemed to get a little personal with Governor Bush. What do you think of that exchange?
TRUMP: Well, you know, I really think he's a nice man, but he's poorly. He's doing very poorly. I mean, he was down to 3 or 4 or something like that. I just came out with numbers at 41 percent. So he's not been doing well.
And you know, his pollster said, Look, here's what you do. Here's a line. Memorize it and say it to Trump. And you know, when they let that whole clip run, he doesn't look so good, according everybody, virtually everybody that's seen it.
But you know, he came out a couple of times during the debate in the middle of nowhere. And I said, What is that? Is that another attack? I mean, it's just not necessary.
It would be really great if the Republican Party could get along because we could beat Hillary Clinton. I'll tell you what. I know I can beat her. And the FOX poll that you just saw came out a week or so ago, it shows that I'd beat her. But you know, we have to beat Hillary Clinton, and it would be nice if we could unify the party...
HANNITY: Well, let me ask you that...
TRUMP: ... because there's division in the party.
HANNITY: Let's say you get the nomination. There are a lot of smart people on that stage. A lot of people have some pretty strong records, maybe even people that are out of the race, like Bobby Jindal or Scott Walker.
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: Do you think that there are a lot of people there, if you won the nomination, that you would want to tap, maybe Ben Carson if he didn't win and you won the nomination that you would want to put in your cabinet? Would you like to put a coalition together, in other words?
TRUMP: There are. I mean, look, I know so many people within the party that have talent, that have great talent. And you know, in all fairness, many of the people on stage, the people that we just left from being on stage, I've got great respect for some of them, not all the of them. I think there are a couple that maybe I'm not too fond of. But overall, I have a lot of respect for a lot of the people that I'm competing against right now.
And I mean, it's been an amazing process and it's been a beautiful process. And I'm leading by a lot. I guess I'm leading by -- in one poll by more than 27 points. That's a lot.
HANNITY: That's a lot in a field of 14. There's no doubt about it. Let me ask you this question. So Americans now, we have 77 percent are less confident that we can prevent a long wolf attack. Race relations now are at a 20-year low. You see the state of the economy, 94-and-a-half million Americans out of work, 50 million in poverty, 46 on -- million on food stamps. Median income is down.
Between national security and the economy, if you become president, how quickly do you think you could turn things around? When would people expect or be able to expect that their lives are going to be better, that the country is going to be safer, that our position in the world is going to be different?
TRUMP: Sean, I have the greatest business people in the world dying to come and help me out with China and Japan, and frankly, Mexico, both at the border, and also, you know, they're taking away a lot of our business, tremendous amounts of business, and so many other countries. I'm mentioning a few, so many of -- Vietnam, that's another one. That's a hot one right now for taking away business.
But I have so many -- we're going to bring our jobs back. We're going to strengthen our military. You know, right now, we're not a prepared military. You look at General Odierno. We're not a prepared military. We're going to take care of -- there's just so much to do.
One of the first things I'm going to do is get rid of the executive order that Obama says, you know, just come on in through our southern border. Now, we've had some pretty good luck in court, which is interesting because that's unusual, but -- and they've done a good job on that. But I would end that, end the court case. I will knock out that executive order so fast your head will spin.
HANNITY: Let me ask you this last question. What -- look, this process -- and I've interviewed all the candidates on a regular basis. What drives you to do this? Who are you thinking about? Who do you want to help the most in this process? In other words, who are the...
TRUMP: Well, you know...
HANNITY: Go ahead.
TRUMP: I fully understand. I mean, I understand the question, and I get asked the question a lot because I have a great life. I have a great company. I built a great company.
I really love this country. And I love the people in the country, maybe now more than ever because you saw yesterday, I was in Arizona and I had 15,000 people in the hangar, in an airplane -- it was the only place you could have handle that many people.
I mean, the whole -- it's amazing, the relationship I've developed over the last six months with the people. We have amazing people, great people in this country, and really smart people. I want to tell you, they get it. They don't believe nonsense press or lie (ph) because the press is very dishonest.
I want to help this country. And you know, my theme, it says it all - - make America great again. And you know, interestingly, starting about a week ago, I started saying make America great again and safe again...
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: ... because I don't feel safe and you don't feel safe and nobody feels safe. So we're going to make America great again. We're going to make America safe again. We're going to really do a great job. If I get elected, you're going to see things happen that you wouldn't have believed possible. We're going to win again, Sean.
HANNITY: This country is in decline, and it's sad to see. The American dream that I've had, that you've had, I want that for everybody, and it sounds like you do, too. Mr. Trump...
TRUMP: We can turn it around, Sean. Sean, we can turn it around. I'll tell you what. If we're going to go another four years like this, or eight years, with a Hillary...
HANNITY: God forbid.
TRUMP: ... who's horrible, who's terrible? But I'm telling you, Sean, we can turn it around pretty quickly.
HANNITY: All right, Mr. Trump. Merry Christmas if I don't see you before then, and we'll see you in the new year. Thank you, sir.
TRUMP: Merry Christmas. Thank you.
HANNITY: And coming up next tonight on "Hannity -- "
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is not accurate, what he just said, that I supported legalization. Indeed, I led the fight against his legalization and amnesty bill!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: The feud between Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio continues to intensify. We'll check in with Steve Hayes, Charles Hurt. They'll weigh in.
And then later tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is your leg?
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC: What leg?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The leg. Is the thrill still there in the leg or...
(CROSSTALK)
MATTHEWS: Just leave me alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Chris Matthews loses it when asked if he still has that tingly little leg feeling about Obama going up there. Anyway, we'll have - - play the full exchange coming up straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, R-FLA., PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As far as Ted's record, I'm always puzzled by his attack on this issue. Ted, you support legalizing people who are in this country illegally. Ted Cruz supported a 500 percent increase in the number of H1B visas, the guest workers that are allowed into this country, and Ted supports doubling the number of green cards.
CRUZ: I understand that Marco wants to raise confusion. It is not accurate, what he just said, that I supported legalization. Indeed, I led the fight against his legalization and amnesty bill. And you know, there was one commentator that put it this way, that for Marco to suggest our record's the same is like suggesting the fireman and the arsonist have the same record because they're both at the scene of the fire. He was fight being to grant amnesty and not to secure the border. I was fighting to secure the border!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, here now with reaction to that exchange is from The Weekly Standard, Steve Hayes, from The Washington Times, Charles Hurt.
This has been going back and forth now for -- for -- since the debate, Charles. And all right, well, this person said this in 2010, this person said this in 2012 and '13. Is there a winner in this debate, a loser in this debate?
CHARLES HURT, WASHINGTON TIMES: Well, I don't know that there's a very clear winner, but I think that Ted Cruz -- his interview last night with Bret Baier was a very illuminating one, where he clearly got very stumped on the question of that amendment that he had put into an amnesty bill.
And at the time, he said very clearly that he -- you know, that -- that -- while this was a good amendment that he was putting in there, that he would support the larger bill, which would essentially have granted amnesty, the exact same amnesty that Marco Rubio has rightly been accused of supporting, and he admits that he was accused of supporting.
So I think that while this has never been a very good issue for Marco Rubio, the fact that people are starting to kind of question Ted Cruz and question his motives at that time on the exact same bill means that it turns a little bit to Marco Rubio's advantage and a little bit to Ted Cruz's disadvantage.
HANNITY: And then they brought up the issues, I think a comment that Marco made, Steve, in 2010 that legalization is a path to citizenship. Is there a winner here, loser here?
STEVE HAYES, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I disagree with Charlie a little bit. I mean, I think it wasn't the exact same amnesty, if you want to use the word "amnesty," that Cruz was supporting. I mean, Cruz (INAUDIBLE) I mean, Rubio clearly supported a path to citizenship. That's what the gang of eight would have provided.
Ted Cruz was more narrow. He supported a path to legalization. But I agree entirely with Charlie that in his interview last night with Bret Baier, Cruz just seemed incapable of answering the question.
And the problem that I think Cruz faces is, of course, there's video evidence of him saying that he supported this path to legalization. He was asked directly by two conservatives, Byron York and Robbie Jordan (ph), whether this was, in fact, a poison pill, whether he was really trying to kill the bill. And he said, No, I favor the bill if it passes with my amendment, in effect.
So I think it's hard for him now to try to say, Look, I was really just playing the inside Washington game and I was doing everything I could to kill the overall bill by adding this poison pill. I think it's a tough sell for him.
HANNITY: At the end of the day, I mean, we've got a three-man race. We all agree on that, that it seems now to have -- be coming down to Trump, Cruz, Rubio. We all agree so far, unless something dramatically changes?
HAYES: I would say there's an outside chance that Chris Christie could slide in if there's -- you know, if there's more splintering of the field. But yes, basically, I think those are the three certainly front- runners.
HANNITY: All right, so then let's play this out. Obviously, it's going to be very competitive, Trump and Cruz in the Iowa caucuses. Then New Hampshire, it looks like Trump has a pretty solid lead. I saw Christie has come up. He's at 9 percent at the last poll I saw, Stephen. South Carolina, where does that go?
HAYES: Well, I think there's -- South Carolina would be potentially a good state for both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. I mean, I think Rubio has, you know, a substantial military vote down in South Carolina that would likely be friendly to his constituency.
But Ted Cruz has polled well in the South. Certainly, they've put a lot of resources in the South, not just South Carolina but throughout the -- you know, for the SEC primary...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: And Trump still leads in the polls down there.
HAYES: And, exactly, Trump is leading there and leading everywhere.
HANNITY: Let me -- Charles, let me ask you this. You've got this spending bill that the house has put forward, the omnibus $1.1 trillion spending bill, 2,009 pages. It's like everything that Obama wants is in this bill. And as Senator Jeff Sessions said, this is exactly why the insurgency is happening. Do you agree with that statement? And what is it about Washington Republicans that they're not hearing?
HURT: Absolutely. Sean, if you wanted a single explanation for every -- for every bit of Donald Trump's support, just look at the spending bill. And we can sit here and talk about how complicated it is and how complicated the process is, and --
HANNITY: They didn't take a on anything, nothing.
HURT: They didn't fight for anything. The big knock on Donald Trump is that he is a simpleton, he simplifies it, he doesn't go into specifics. A lot of people -- a lot of Americans feel the same way. They just want simple answers. They've got simple problems with things like sanctuary cities.
HANNITY: Let me ask Steve. Sanctuary cities, illegal immigration, everything that the president wants -- you can say the president gets the money for the refugees, for illegal immigrants, Planned Parenthood. You get a two-year moratorium, OK, on the medical device tax and the Cadillac tax. Is this why it is a year of the insurgency, Steve Hayes?
HAYES: Yes. Yes, I think in many respects it is. This is a really ugly omnibus bill, and it's filled with all sorts of crap that you're talking about. It's ugly. I just talked with two conservatives on Capitol Hill who are friendly with Paul Ryan and like Paul Ryan, want him to get a fresh start, but they hate this thing. And I think if you ask Paul Ryan, he would, say, look, I don't love the whole thing. This isn't the right process. But this is the hand we were dealt, and give us a fresh start and we'll do it better next time.
HANNITY: But they have surrendered the power of the purse. An inordinate fear exists that Obama will shut down the government. This fight has to come if they're going to be a decidedly different party from the Democratic Party.
HAYES: I agree with you entirely. I'm not sure now is the time and I'm not sure these are the issues, but certainly --
HANNITY: They always say we'll fight later. They always say we'll fight later. They kick the can down the road.
HAYES: That's exactly right. That's why people are frustrated. HANNITY: I'm frustrated. All right, guys, good to see you both.
Coming up, we're going to have the very latest on the mistrial for one of the officers in the Freddie Gray case. Sheriff David Clarke, Bo Dietl, and more coming up.
Then later tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is your leg?
CHRIS MATTHEWS, MSNBC HOST: What leg?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The leg? Is the thrill still there in the leg?
MATTHEWS: Just go to hell. Just leave me alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, Chris Matthews loses it when confronted about the thrill up his leg. We'll show you the entire video straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Tensions remain high in Maryland today. A Baltimore judge met behind closed doors with lawyers from both sides to discuss the possibility of a retrial for one of the officers in if the Freddie Gray case after a mistrial was declared yesterday.
Also today, a brand new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll reveals that race relations in America are now at a two-decade low, and only 34 percent of you, the American people, think that race relations are good, 64 percent say they are bad.
Here with reaction, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clark, Maryland Sheriff Mike Lewis, and former NYPD detective Bo Dietl. Guys, welcome all of you. Sheriff Clarke, I'll start with you. It doesn't surprise me. To what extent does the president being a three time loser on the Cambridge police, on Trayvon Martin, on what happened with Michael Brown in that case and Officer Wilson, to what extent do you blame him for that number, Sheriff Clarke?
DAVID CLARKE, MILWAUKEE COUNTY SHERIFF: I think he has played a big role in that. The election of the first black president should have brought us a little further in terms of race relations. That's always going to be a work in progress, we know that. But to have been set back like this I think is quite phenomenal.
HANNITY: Mike Lewis, you were in the middle of the whole issue in Ferguson. What are your thoughts?
SHERIFF MIKE LEWIS, WICOMICO COUNTY, MARYLAND: Sean, it is unprecedented. As Sheriff Clarke just stated, we all had great expectations and great hope for the first black president of the United States. Instead he clearly has set race relations back like I've never seen in 31 years in law enforcement.
HANNITY: By the way, I said Ferguson. I meant Baltimore. Bo, look, it is really, really bad. Here's what we brought up on the program last night. There should have been a change of venue, number one. I believe if there was a change of venue that the officer would have been acquitted. I don't see the evidence that they can put on any of the officers.
BO DIETL, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Sean, I've been in law enforcement all my life. And a case like this when you overcharge with manslaughter, that meant that that cope had to know in his mind that that man was going to die. And that's what they're trying to say. Also what is going to come out now, Sean, is you're going to see how many people voted to acquit and how many voted to find him guilty, and that will supposedly determine. But I think the irresponsible state's attorney, when she made the mentions that she did on TV, that would have been a mistrial or it would have been a reversal.
HANNITY: The attorney, everybody, and where is the prosecution of all of those people?
DIETL: I said it last night. Everybody gets angry with me. I said, look, let them peacefully demonstrate, and then pick out the troublemakers, the arsonists, the ones that were looting the stores and burning them down. They committed felonies. Why aren't they being locked up? You want to demonstrate, I'm for peaceful demonstrations, that's what America is about. But don't burn my store down and don't rob my store.
HANNITY: Sheriff Lewis, you're from the area. They have videotapes of people. We showed the video multiple times on this program of people involved in these crimes. To the best of my knowledge they haven't used those videos to arrest these people. Why not?
LEWIS: They have not, Sean. There is extensive video footage of these crimes, felonious burnings of buildings, felonious assaults of police officers, individuals that were destroying property all over the city, hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage done in certain areas of the city, but overall millions of dollars of damage has been done to Baltimore city, and not one of those individuals has been held accountable because we're too busy recklessly charging police officers, rushing to the gun to see these officers are held accountable for her own personal and political gain. It's reckless, it's wrong, and we have seen that in the first trial.
HANNITY: Sheriff, this happens again and again. In other words, we have video, people rioting, committing crimes, looting, burning things down, and we never use the video to get these people. Now a lot of people are hanging in the balance. What's going to happen with each verdict as it comes in if people don't get what they were told they were expected to get a guilty verdict? Sheriff Clarke?
CLARKE: Sean, this prosecutor, Ms. Mosby, has been on a political witch hunt. This prosecutor has been on a political witch hunt from the beginning. She set up an up realistic expectation for the people of Baltimore that she could get these cops. If she had an ounce of integrity she would dismiss all the charges against all these officers, let Baltimore's finest go back to work serving the city to help bring the murder rate and that violent crime rate.
To retry this officer will be a miscarriage of justice. The reason they won't is because she's trying to save face right now and she doesn't know how to get out of this. But that would be the proper thing, the ethical thing to do. That's why I said if she had an ounce of integrity she would dismiss these charges so Baltimore can move forward.
HANNITY: She created an expectation, as Sheriff Clarke is saying there, Bo, and now you've got to wonder, all those people that were in the streets, that thought, had an expectation of a verdict --
DIETL: You know what makes me laugh, and I'm really laughing not at the death of that young man. I don't want to see anybody die. What makes me laugh is now they're going to try to use this cop's -- this cop against the driver of the van and try to get him to testify that he drove the van real recklessly and if the other guy seat-belted him in. What you have here at the most is a violation of rules and procedures. It was said that for three years nobody was putting anybody in the seatbelts when they put him into paddy wagon. My whole thing is you've got to find intention here. These cops had no intentions of killing that man. The way he was dragged, I just want to find out, he had an operation on his neck prior. I'm just wondering if that operation had something to do with it.
HANNITY: The city already gave $6.4 million to the family.
DIETL: Everyone in Baltimore knows they gave him $6 million. Everyone knows that. You know what, they've got to take it out of venue and that's the way it's got to be.
HANNITY: Last one, quick answers. Sheriff Lewis, are cops now afraid to do their job? Is there the so-called Ferguson affect?
LEWIS: Absolutely, Sean, and it's nationwide. It's not just in the state of Maryland. It's all over this country. I was down in North Carolina last week. I experienced it first hand with sheriff deputies in North Carolina last week. They're very fearful, and like bleeding, it is everywhere I go. Not just if the state of Maryland. They are fearful to do their jobs. No one wants to go to jail, no one wants to be indicted or charged by young, inexperienced prosecutors like we saw in this case.
HANNITY: All right, guys, thank you all for being with. And coming up next tonight right here on HANNITY --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is your leg?
MATTHEWS: What leg?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The leg. Is the thrill still there in the leg?
MATTHEWS: Just go to hell. Just leave me alone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Chris Matthews, pretty thin-skinned, he loses it. He has a meltdown when asked if he still has that thrill going up and down his leg. We'll play you the full tape and footage and exchange next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: It's part of reporting this case, this election. The feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I don't have that too often.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Steady.
MATTHEWS: No, seriously.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: All right, that was MSNBC host, liberal Chris Matthews, back in 2008 talking about that special tingly feeling that he gets up his left after Senator Obama gives a speech. We'll two nights ago the Media Research Center's Dan Joseph decided to ask Matthews how that thrill is doing after this amount of time. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is your leg?
MATTHEWS: What leg?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The leg. Is the thrill still there in the leg?
MATTHEWS: Just go to hell. Just leave me alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the leg OK? Are you limping? Does the thrill go away with surgery or did it just go away on its own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEWS: Joining us now with reaction, Fox News contributor Eboni Williams and psychology expert, radio and TV host Dr. Gina Loudon is with us. That is so good. It's like gold.
EBONI WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: It is like gold. And the best part of it is Dan's face when he came off camera just with that Cheshire grin. But you know what, Sean, I really think it speaks to the fact that there is no real enthusiasm, even on the left or with Hillary Clinton candidacy. That dude seemed really upset. He probably would have loved it if there was a thing going on with his leg, but he knows there's not.
HANNITY: It seems that the guy that's getting the same attention, if we want to go back to 2008, and that same feeling is Trump.
WILLIAMS: Exactly. And, well, if you look at this situation, this is sort of the quintessential moment where Chris Matthew exposed the liberal media. He really exposed them.
HANNITY: They love him.
DR. GINA LOUDON, TALK SHOW HOST: And that is why he is so angry. That is why he said this --
HANNITY: Go to hell, go to hell.
LOUDON: Yes. Yes.
HANNITY: It's OK.
LOUDON: I was right there when that happened. I was standing literally --
HANNITY: You were at the debate.
LOUDON: Absolutely.
HANNITY: So you saw that in person.
LOUDON: And Dan said I'm going to go ambush him with that question.
HANNITY: So he told you ahead of time.
LOUDON: I was watching. We were waiting for him to come down, because we knew, and he knew it would make him mad. And I think it said a lot about who he is in private.
WILLIAMS: I think it says a lot, though, too about the fact that it was funny then. I think he was happy to be exposed and he felt it was well worth it at that time. You're right, though, Sean. Right now the person that's getting a base excited is Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton, I think it's very late on her part. She's not even making the effort.
HANNITY: I can point to two things I think Obama has done decently. One I thought it was the right call on bin Laden. Two, I like the use of predator drones. I like to fight wars differently and stop Americans going door-to-door. Short of that, the economy will accumulate more debt than every president before him combined. And 94.5 million people out of the labor force, millions more in poverty, millions more on food stamps, median income down, debt deficits, disaster. Foreign policy, the Iranians, nukes, what the hell is wrong with him? He supported Mohammad Morsi. He can't stand up to Putin. He's so pathetically weak it's embarrassing. He can't say radical Islam.
LOUDON: We're more divided than ever. He was going to be the president that was going to bring us all together.
HANNITY: Race relations, 20 year low.
LOUDON: More divided than ever. What does that say about him? I don't understand how people who are supportive of this administration can accept the racial divide that has been created by his policies and his lack of involvement where he should be involved.
HANNITY: Point out the success. Tell me what I'm missing in terms of what he's done good for the country?
WILLIAMS: I want to back up about the racial divide. Are we divided more so than ever? Of course. We know the data says that. But I don't know if it's fair to say that it's a direct result of President Obama. It's based on a lot of things.
HANNITY: I'll give you three examples. Three time loser, one, Cambridge police, two, Trayvon Martin looks like my son, three, Michael Brown.
WILLIAMS: I disagree with the Trayvon Martin one, Sean.
HANNITY: Excuse, George Zimmerman was found not guilty.
WILLIAMS: That's fine. But many people in the black community say the president has not spoken out enough and used his platform as the first black president enough.
HANNITY: He is a constitutional lawyer that rushes to judgment.
LOUDON: They still believe the hand's up, don't shoot myth. He could speak out on that, and he could probably save black lives that are out there.
HANNITY: Americans of all races voted for him. I didn't vote for his because I knew he was a rigid ideologue that would destroy the country and do everything that I just mentioned. I saw it coming. Others did not. So I knew he is a rigid ideologue. Tell me what he's done that has been so successful.
WILLIAMS: I'll tell you one thing that he has done that was successful. In terms of running for president, he was very good and exciting his base.
HANNITY: He was excited to get elected. What has he done?
WILLIAMS: You know what, I think that that's something that Hillary Clinton is not doing.
HANNITY: We have to go. That's a good point. Good to see you both. Welcome to New York. Always good to see you. Coming up, we need your help with a very important "Question of the Day" straight head.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: And time for our "Question of the Day." As we talked about earlier, are you worried about a lone wolf attack happening right here on American soil? We want to know what you think. Go to Facebook.com/SeanHannity, @SeanHannity.
That is all the time we have left. We want to know what you think. Thanks for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow night.
Content and Programming Copyright 2015 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2015 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox