home from treating ebola patients in guinea. the news unsettled the public when word spread he rode subways and even went to a bowling alley. he is said to be released from bellevue hospital later today, where he has been receiving treatment in a special isolation unit. and slow moving lava burns down the first home in its path. the people living there already left the house on hawaii's big island. it took just are 45 minutes for the home to be destroyed. the moulton rock has been creeping toward the rural town for months, leaving behind a path of smoldering property, including a cemetery. active volcano, kilauea. i'm kelly wright. "hannity" is going to start right now. for all your day's headlines, log on to foxnews.com, the most powerful name in news. welcome to "hannity." this is a fox news alert. tonight, the immigration battle between the president and republicans is growing more contentious by the day. president obama vowing yet again over the weekend to take executive action before the year's end despite serious warnings from republican leaders

in congress. now, fox's own ed henry he's traveling with the president. he's in beijing, china. and he joins us now with the very latest on this battle. ed? >> well, sean, after that midterm drubbing, it's no surprise the president is on an eight-day trip, stopping first here in china, then wrapping up in australia next weekend. bottom line, the president was hoping for a warmer welcome, he didn't necessarily get it at the first stop here in beijing. a couple of state-run newspapers running editorials slamming the president reminding him of his lame duck status. clearly a message that's being sent from the communist government here back to the obama administration. one of those editorials saying, "u.s. society has grown tired of the president's banality." bush who dared to do everything and obama who dares to do nothing, come from different parties but have the same destiny." now, white house officials are obviously trying to shrug this off as mere propaganda.

the president focusing on this trip on maybe getting some wins on the world stage. he's having so much trouble back home, he announced expanded visas with the chinese that could get more businessmen and women as well as tourists back to the u.s. spending money, try to boost the economy. he's also working on a broader trade deal with asian countries while he's here. but bottom line is he has to get any trade deal through that new republican congress. and those republican leaders are furious with the president for saying despite talk of cooperation that he's going to bull ahead with unilateral action on immigration reform. they're also upset that in this cbs news "face the nation" interview over the weekend, the president again appeared to not really get the election results by suggesting his real problem was messaging, not his actual policies. listen. >> we've got to sell it. we've got to reach out to the other side. and where possible persuade. and i think there are times,

there's no doubt about it, where i think we have not been successful in going out there and letting people know what it is that we're trying to do and why this is the right direction. >> now, remember that big white house meeting late friday between the president and vice president biden, democratic and republican leaders over the agenda coming out of the election results. at one point republican aides insist the president privately cut off the vice president out of frustration on the immigration issue. democratic aides familiar say that's being overplayed in fact the president was expressing frustration with speaker john boehner not with the vice president. either way, this shows that behind closed doors there's a lot more tension over the president's push for executive action on immigration reform despite all this public talk of cooperation. sean? >> ed henry in china tonight. thank you. yesterday president obama doubled down on his intention to use executive action on immigration before the new congress is sworn in before the end of the year. take a look.

>> i've got legal authority to make improvements on the system. i'd prefer and still prefer to see it done through congress, but every day that i wait we're misallocating resources, we're deporting people that shouldn't be deported, we're not deporting folks that are dangerous and need to be deported. so, john, i'm going to give you some time. but if you can't get it done before the end of the year, i'm going to have to take the steps that i can to improve the system. >> so are you saying here today their time has run out? >> what i'm saying to them -- actually, their time hasn't run out. i'm going to do what i can do through executive action. >> here with reaction fox news contributor, fox news legal analyst peter johnson jr. and the co-host of "outnumbered here," katie pavolich. let's start from the legal standpoint. >> sure. >> we have a law that exists now. >> a lot of them. >> we have a lot of laws on immigration. the president wanted another

law, but congress didn't go along with it. >> correct. >> we have co-equal branches of government. separation of powers. >> got it. >> does he have the authority he says he has? >> no. unconstitutional. and the ends do not justify the means. and he can't say, well, listen, i need to get this done. i've waited long enough so i'm going to do it by executive fiat. i'm going to ignore the constitution. i'm going to ignore the statutes on the book, which are not enforced to begin with and say everything's okay. it's not. it's going to force a constitution crisis. it's bad for america. it's bad for government. it's bad for divided government. it's bad for the balance of power. it's wrong. >> a constitutional crisis, jonathan turley, liberal democrat says constitutional tipping point. >> of course. >> i agree with both you and jonathan turley. >> yes. >> so the next question is, impeachment. are republicans going to take the country down the road of impeachment? >> no. >> i doubt it. so the president what? he takes congress' authority away? and gets away with it? >> maybe they'll come up with a weak lawsuit in order to stop that type of action, but it sends a signal to young americans especially.

we were talking with katie about that. that you can get away be basically anything without any cost. and if the constitution means nothing, rip it up. >> talk about politics. the political side of this. you're a liberal democrat. sorry, you are. i'm sorry you had a tough night the other night, pat. seriously. >> hard. very hard. >> i believe this election was a repudiation of this president. so my question to you, politically that he's going to stick it in the republicans' face? >> this is what's amazing to me. not only what peter's saying which is disregard for the idea we should have law as though we were a banana republic where i can do whatever i want, they can't stop me. but it is what we don't talk about the mainstream media. i watched all the shows yesterday, sean. no one talked about it will upset the republicans, it's going to be poison, no, this is going to blow up the country. three months ago, four months ago when we had the crisis with the unaccompanied children at the border combined with isis

and then finally ebola, american attitudes on immigration have changed dramatically in four months. >> prop 88, oregon, legal licenses for illegals. 70%. >> this is -- it's going to blow up the country. it's not only a huge crisis -- what's interesting is there's not been enough polling on this because a lot of the mainstream media doesn't want to touch it. but the numbers exist, even democrats are split. overwhelmingly the country believes he does not have the authority to do this, nor should he do it. >> right. >> and this is -- by the way, they can do some things. come january they've got the pursestrings. they can shove -- >> prop 88 oregon liberal state. >> uh-huh. >> would give legal driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, shot down 70%. >> overwhelmingly. >> overwhelmingly. so, the president can't do it. normally if the president does something that would bring the country to a tipping point, the first thing people would say is impeachment. i don't think it's going to happen.

i don't even -- i don't think it's wise politically for it to happen. what do republicans do? >> touch on something pat just talked about. i wrote a column last week on election day for the hill talking about will republicans hold president obama accountable. because they haven't been able to so far because they haven't had the senate. now they have the house and senate to hold him responsible. they should in some ways. they have the power to fund some of the programs he wants to put forward. they have unions they can work with and border patrol and i.c.e. to hopefully turn president obama's ideas on this thing. the bottom line is the president doesn't care about the constitution in this aspect. he's flagrantly violating article 1 of the constitution when it comes to what he wants to do on illegal immigration. and he's not taking into consideration what people on the ground wants. he just doesn't really care. >> he hasn't enforced immigration law. >> no, he hasn't. >> the president has basically where he written obamacare five different times. maybe more. the president hasn't enforced welfare laws in this country. and he made recess appointments when the senate was in recess. >> when you have a republican electoral mandate and the

reaction of the president of the united states is i need to go the other way, even though the people have spoken out in a way that repudiates and rebukes this president on every issue, including immigration -- >> peter johnson -- i just want to say because this man is a raving narcissist. >> me? >> no, not you. obama. not you. >> this is your president, pat. you're saying he's a raging narcissist? >> he's a raging narcissist who has no grip on reality. what he's been doing which is that i'm king and i can rule like king and the republicans i have to say before lay down for him. mccain, graham, all laid down when he did the -- >> the president can't have it both ways. >> now they've got to stop it because this will destroy -- >> now here's an interesting tidbit. >> they should have used in the election and they didn't. >> they ran against obama and it worked.

can't really second guess a winning strategy. >> well, the president can't have it both ways though. the president deliberately delayed this action for a year when he had the power to do it. if he has the power to do it, why did he delay? and now he's saying, well, republicans their time is up. when he had all the time in the world to do this before. it was an election issue and now he's saying -- >> what are we to make of biden apparently in this meeting on friday says to john boehner how long do you need -- >> do you know why he did that? you know why he cut him off? obama cut off joe biden when he asked the question because president obama has no interest in working with congress despite saying on national television that he does. he wants to go -- >> the vice president knows in order to change immigration policy as was done by ronald reagan, it needs to pass both houses of congress and then be signed by the president. >> peter, i'm going to tell you, if the republicans go along with comprehensive immigration reform, conservatives like me are going to be angry. i'll tell you why. every time we're told spending cuts and tax increases, you always get the tax increase and

you never get the spending cut. with comprehensive reform, you're never going to get the border secure -- >> what must happen first is border security. >> right. that's exactly why -- >> then you can have comprehensive immigration reform. whatever form that takes. but first secure the border. >> that's exactly why the president wants to do it with executive action before the new congress comes in in january. he doesn't want to go through congress. he wants to do it that way. >> i got to go to break. i hate to shut you up because i love you to death. and you just called the president a raging narcissist. >> he is. >> i agree. >> we all agree. >> he's also a radical -- he's a radical idealogue. >> for this office or the constitution that he has sworn to uphold. he has shown that time and time again. >> i guess you'll be at the white house christmas party as usual. >> once again i'll be right there head of the line. >> coming up next tonight on "hannity." my exclusive interview by the way with rush limbaugh's attorney. the legendary radio host is now taking legal action against the democratic party. we'll tell you why later this hour. but first tonight --

>> a lot of speculation about him. i occasionally fuel the speculation by saying i hope he wins. i think he'd be a very good president. >> president bush 43 hinting that his brother, jeb, hasn't closed the door on a presidential run now that the midterms are behind us, well, political pundits on both sides of the aisle are now looking ahead to 2016. we'll check with jediia bila and stephen hayes. they are here to analyze the field. and speaking of president bush, quick programming note, immediately after this show i'm hopping on a plane. tune in thursday night for a "hannity" cable exclusive interview as i sit down for the entire hour with bush 43 as we talk about bush's brand new book about his dad, 41. and i will see both of them tomorrow. we'll tell you about that. it's all coming up thursday. and ah, so you can see like right here i can just... you know, check my policy here, add a car, ah speak to customer service,

check on a claim...you know, all with the ah, tap of my geico app. oh, that's so cool. well, i would disagree with you but, ah, that would make me a liar. no dude, you're on the jumbotron! whoa. ah...yeah, pretty much walked into that one. geico anywhere anytime. just a tap away on the geico app.

welcome back to "hannity." so in the wake of the republican tidal wave in last week's midterm elections, is it no surprise that the attention is now quickly turning in 2016 and the gop field of white house contenders is now beginning to take shape. now, possible contenders number one, jeb bush. take a look at what his brother, former president george w. bush, had to say yesterday about jeb in 2016. >> there's a lot of speculation about him. i occasionally fuel the speculation by saying that i hope he runs. i think he'd be a very good president. i understand the decision making process pretty well. and i know that he's wrestling with the decision. >> moving on to the undefeated wisconsin governor scott walker, did he hint at a run for the white house when he said this on nbc yesterday? >> i said my plan was for four years. i've got a plan to keep going for the next four years.

but, you know, certainly i care deeply about not only my state but my country. we'll see what the future holds. overall i believe governors make much better presidents than members of congress. >> lastly, dr. benjamin carson, the release of his documentary this weekend is fueling major speculation that he may be first in terms of being a 2016 gop candidate. now, i asked him that very question when he was on the program last week and he did not rule it out. take a look. >> are you running for president? >> i'm watching very carefully what the people want me to do. >> i'm just teasing. i've asked you before. i know you'll tell us when you're ready. >> here with reaction to what looks to be the very early stages of the 2016 gop field from the weekly standard, fox news contributor steven hayes and the co-host of "outnumbered" on the fox news channel, jedediah bila." here is my take on the whole thing. you're going to be the libertarian, rand paul, maybe mitt romney, maybe christie, conservatives, maybe ted cruz, maybe conservative governor and

fourth category conservative governors that have had good success stories. >> and wouldn't that be great? i would actually love that. i would love to see the contrast in the party. look, we already did moderate. we did john mccain. and we did mitt romney. and guess what happened? both of them didn't inspire conservative voters. they didn't inspire a lot. a lot of voters on the right stayed home. so i would love someone that unified the party. i would love someone to get the conservative wing excited, the libertarian wing excited. >> is there any one person that stands out? >> i like scott walker because he overcomes what seems to be insurmountable odds. he awakens a lot of young people who are turned off by big government republican candidates. is i like that ted cruz is out there. you never know what he is going to do. i'm not a huge fan of jeb bush because of things like common core. i think that's a huge issue. i'm a former teacher, i'm a former dean, i cannot stand common core. i think that's a big concern for

conservatives, moms and dads sitting at home and caring about these things. immigration is going to be a key issue. that may be a problem for him as well. i'd like a strong libertarian leaning conservative that speaks conservatism like it's their first language, not their second language and can inspire people. charisma, personality and ability to inspire, all of that matters. that's how you get elected. >> steve? >> yeah. i think that's right. that's a good sense of where the republican party is today. and the three candidates or prospective candidates you laid out sort of have the base covered. you have jeb bush who's probably would be considered the establishment candidate. you have scott walker who's both friendly to tea party but also probably acceptable to the money republicans. and then you have ben carson who would be sort of the ultimate grass roots, you know, long shot to be sure. but conservative candidate. and i think between those folks you have half a dozen others who make this what's likely to be a strong field. and i would argue that the republicans are likely to end up in the 2016 cycle with a handful

of candidates, maybe more, who will end up being better candidates than mitt romney was in 2012. >> where does rand paul, where does ted cruz fit into your mix? >> i think they're both running. i think they're both planning to run. i think scott walker's running. i don't know about jeb bush. but certainly rand paul and ted cruz would appeal to the -- >> my bet is jeb's running. >> yes. >> have i zero doubt he is going to run. all right. let me move onto this. the architect of obamacare gave a speech october 17th. wasn't revealed -- here's what he said. this is the guy that wrote the bill. he said the bill was written in a tortured way to make sure the cbo did not score the mandate as taxes. now, if cbo did score the mandate as taxes, the bill dies. so it was written to do that. and in terms of risk related subsidies, if you had a law which made explicit that healthy people pay in and that sick people get money, it would not have passed. lack of transparency's a huge political advantage. and basically call it the stupidity of the american voter

or whatever, but basically that was really, really critical to get this thing to pass. and i'd rather have it than not have it." here's my take on this. this is the most obnoxious -- he basically orchestrated this whole bill was a lie meant to be deceptive, meant to manipulate people into -- and meant to be as confusing as possible so they can pass what they knew otherwise it would never get passed if they told the truth. >> exactly. they've shoved it down everybody's throat. now there's another supreme court challenge with respect to the subsidies. this has been a disaster, which is why this administration has had to wake up every day and on a whim essentially rewrite this bill. it's not constitutional that they're doing that, but they're having a blast doing it because people are saying hold on, i no longer have my doctor, i no longer have the insurance i was promised. all these promises they put out there in order to get people to say, okay, barack obama's on our side. he's going to fix the health care system. well, it was a budge of lies. and now we're finding this out.

and guess what? americans found that out throughout the country which is why democrats lost big in 2010 and now. >> hearing this directly, steven, i'm looking at this, this is the architect of the bill admitting that the entire process of getting this passed was all predicated on manipulating, lying to the american people because they knew they couldn't get it passed any other way. but they know better, so they're willing to use those tactics because the ends justifies the means. >> it was built on a foundation of falsehoods. what i find striking beyond the obvious admissions that jonathan gruber's making in these statements is how many times have we seen this happen where somebody -- a key architect of obamacare or the president himself or one of his top advisors has had to go back and basically acknowledge that the criticism from conservatives, from obamacare opponents, had been right all along. i mean, what jonathan gruber said isn't remarkable because of its substance. that's something you were saying that conservatives in congress were saying at the outset as they argued against the passage of obamacare. that was one of the key arguments.

he's merely acknowledging that they were right. and we've seen that on, you know, if you like your plan you can keep it, if you like your doctor, the rates, the premium increases, everything. >> the young and healthy going to pay for the sick, the elderly and uninsured. he admits the whole thing was a lie. a tortured -- >> that's why obamacare is still so unpopular in the polls. and it's why republicans would be absolute fools if they don't start this congress by going after obamacare where they can. >> hard. >> and going after it hard. >> i agree. >> and also have your own plan. have an alternative. be able to articulate something -- >> they need to make the president veto this. >> if you're opposing something and you can't go to the american people and say here is what we have that is better, then you do look like the party of no. you need to be able to say this stinks, you know it, your premiums have gone up, options have gone down and here's what we have as your solution. that's the winning ticket. >> all right, guys, good to see you both. appreciate it. next tonight on this busy news night on "hannity". >> the republicans are going to hate me for saying this but i think the issue of this election was still the first black

president. i really do. >> oh, bill. him and other left wing sore losers, they can't come to terms with the fact democrats lost so terribly in the midterm. so what do they do? they keep playing out the worn out race card. we're going to explain how that liberal tactic is backfiring big time. and later tonight in a "hannity" exclusive, rush limbaugh's lawyer is here to explain why the outspoken radio talk show host is now threatening to sue the democratic national campaign committee, that and more as we continue straight ahead. she's still the one for you. and cialis for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment is right. cialis is also the only daily ed tablet approved to treat symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently. tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, as it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. do not drink alcohol in excess. side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. to avoid long term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours.

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welcome back to "hannity." now last week we showed you a bitterly partisan memo released by the naacp that made no mention of the historic election of numerous black republicans. now many on the left are following the naacp's lead and simply choosing to ignore overwhelming gop support for candidates like senator tim scott and congressional candidate to-be mia love.

instead those same liberals are claiming the midterm elections were just about racist conservatives sticking it to the first black president. watch this. >> the republicans are going to hate me for saying this, but i think the issue in this election was still the first black president. i really do. i think it was still resentment about his winning re-election. and it was just those people who came out to vote wanted to prove to the rest of america they were right all along about how much obama sucks. >> all right. here now to respond the deputy press secretary for the republican national committee, raffy williams and brian benjamin. by the way, raffy a good friend with his father, juan. and he's a rock star. he's on the right side of the issues. let me ask you, do you think this had anything to do with race this election? considering the country elected a black president twice? can you really make -- isn't that a silly argument? >> i don't make that case at all. i think it was about my party not having a clear message as to why we should be re-elected.

the republicans say we're against obama and the democrats said we don't know what we're against. >> democrats ran from obama. they didn't want to admit they voted for obama. >> i agree. it was bad. i don't have a good answer for that. >> isn't the reason those candidates felt that way is because the country perceives and understands that obama's policies have failed? if he was a great success, they would have said i voted -- i love him, come campaign for me. >> polling is not doing that well. but again, the democrats, my party, we have to have a clear message as to why our progressive values work. >> okay. nobody ran on obamacare. nobody ran on the stimulus. >> i agree. they should have. the deficit's down. >> excuse me, when he took office, the debt was $10 trillion. now it's almost $18 trillion. he gave us $8 trillion of debt. >> our budget deficit is decreasing. let's not get into -- >> he has accumulated almost more debt than every other president before him. >> because george w. bush -- >> oh, stop whining. >> come on. by the way, health care inflation because of obamacare is going down. >> raffy, what do you think?

>> that's so ridiculous. he promised we could keep our health care plan, we liked it, that's not happening. keep our doctor, not happening. obamacare admitted today was a fraud. it was something they were doing out of opaqueness instead of being transparent to convince america to buy along for it. their policies failed for the past six years and that's why they were rejected at the ballot box tuesday. people are looking for a brighter future, a way out, looking for freedom zones, like rand paul talking about school choice. they're looking at ways to repeal obamacare. >> there's one other thing. they use the race card in states like north carolina and georgia. and in past elections i would argue probably worked. it didn't work this election. now we've got the president he involves himself in three high profile cases, the cambridge police acted stupidly, trayvon would look like my son and him and eric holder involved themselves in ferguson, missouri. and all indications are the grand jury's not going to indict the officer because of the testimony of black individuals

that were eyewitnesses to what took place in ferguson, missouri. and now supporters are offering rewards for the killing of darren wilson, the officer in that case. what do you make of the president being 0 for 3 in high profile cases? >> you know, i think race is a very touchy issue, but when the president's weighed in not going the way he wanted it to go. thought they were clean cut cases that ended up not being so. i think the president has not rewarded black america with his policies so he tries to chime in on these political angles. >> and it doesn't work as well. >> that's a point. black americans are doing worse off under the president's policies. he's 0 for 3 in high profile cases. 0 for 3. >> hold on. the republican party did not run on anything this cycle besides -- >> they didn't have to. >> every democrat voted with obama. but no, you should. you should run on what you believe. what are you going to do for this country? the republicans did not do that at all.

>> i actually agree with you, but they didn't have to because things are so bad. and this was obama's policies. you know, you say -- you make these statements like the deficit's reduced. he's given us almost -- from george washington through george w. bush he's accumulated as much debt as all of them and you don't give him any responsible. >> i don't give him all responsibility. guess what? he inherited two wars that are very expensive. >> it's his presidency. >> you can't unresponsibly unwind wars. because if he did that, it would be oh, look at the president. he's irresponsible. george w. bush started these wars. we've got to be clear about that. got to be fair about that. >> the victory -- >> going to run against appealing obamacare. >> coming up, thank you guys. rush limbaugh threatening to sue the democratic party and the dccc in particular. find out why, his lawyer will join us exclusively. that's coming up next. his lawy join us exclusively. join us exclusively. that's coming up nex this is a map of the pressure points on my feet.

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rush limbaugh is threatening to sue the democratic national congressional campaign committee. a letter sent to the organization last week reads in part "the democratic congressional campaign committee comprised of elected public officials who should know better has intentionally disseminated demonstrably false statements concerning rush limbaugh in a concerted effort to harm mr. limbaugh and with res lek disregard for the results impact to small businesses. the dccc's reprehensible defamation of mr. limbaugh is shocking and inexcusable. moreover, it is civilly actionable. therefore, among other things, mr. limbaugh immediately demands a retraction and a public apology. joining me for an exclusive interview to explain what is actually happening, rush limbaugh's attorney patty glaser is with us. patty, how are you? >> hi. i'm good, sean.

how are you? thank you for having me. >> well, thank you for being here. this is about comments that he made on his radio show, the dccc took those comments, they sent it out in e-mail blasts so that they could raise money off his comments. and then they also as i understand it they set up a website to boycott and for people to sign on to a boycott of his advertisers, correct? >> it's all correct. i want your viewers to be able to make their own judgment about how wrong this was. this is what rush said on september 15th. >> i actually have the tape if it will make it easier. i can play the tape if you like. >> could you play the tape? it would be great because i want people to hear what was said. >> you bet. we'll play it. >> consent must be freely given. completely withdrawn at any time, and the absence of no does not mean yes. how many of you guys in your own experience with women have learned that no means yes, if you know how to spot it?

i'm probably -- let me tell you something. in this modern -- that is simply -- that's not tolerated. that would not -- people aren't even going to try to understand that one. >> so that's the quote in question, right? >> actually, goes even further and says we have got to reprogram the way we raise men. rush says that. >> right. >> he says that and then what happens is he's quoted by the democratic congressional campaign committee as follows, "we knew we had to take action after limbaugh's reprehensible rant excusing rape on college campuses. in case you missed it, limbaugh actually said no means yes if you know how to spot it." i mean just unforgivable. it's black and white. needs to be no hyperbole. there needs to be no stretching. rush's comments were deliberately taken out of

context for apparently political reasons by people who should know better. this was not an irresponsible blogger. this was a democratic congressional campaign committee made up of people we've elected to congress. shame on them. >> let's talk about the law and if you're a public figure the standards are different. rush is a public figure. what is the law in terms of it's a higher bar that he has to reach and how you would go about it. there's also precedence as i understand from the ninth circuit there was a decision. why don't you explain the legal aspect of it. >> let me do it in two steps. one, let's talk about the ninth circuit opinion. there's precedent in the ninth circuit which clearly says you cannot take words out of context, rearrange them and have it purport to be something it's not. can't do that. that's not okay. that's actionable. that's defamation.

now your question about a there will be figure. with respect to rush being a public figure, no question he's a public figure. does that mean you can do anything you want and say anything you want and put words in his mouth that didn't come from his mouth? absolutely not. what do i have to demonstrate because he's a public figure? i have to show malice. could it be any clearer what the malice is? i don't even think i need to explain that to people who are watching the show. it is a deliberate effort to mischaracterize. >> i agree it's malice. i agree they purposely took those comments out of context. i agree with everything that you're saying. and it's interesting they didn't put in the quote you added to that. so where do you go from here? have they responded to your initial letter? >> well, the initial response, which we heard today was accusing rush of being the bad guy without any substantive

response to, wait a minute, you didn't tell the truth. you have a responsibility to tell the truth. they don't do that at all. first they said they didn't get my letter. well, we have proof, proof, evidence that they got our letter at 11:35 this morning washington, d.c. time. i happen to be in los angeles. so we know that's not true. and then they don't deal with the substance of it by acknowledging that they never say, oh, we made a mistake. we want an apology. we want a retraction. and we want it as broadly disseminated as the irresponsible defamation was broadly disseminated. sean, if you can just give me one more second. the one thing i want to emphasize that we live in a democratic society. and it is so damaging, whether it's republican or democrat, happens to be the democrats who did it this time, the republicans i'm sure do it also. you've got to be more responsible.

you can't maliciously attack people, their freedom of speech. and you certainly can't put words -- irresponsible to put words in the mouth of someone that were never uttered. in fact, the direct contrary was uttered. >> if you get the retraction and the public apology, which you asked for in the letter, does that mean the lawsuit goes away, or is that just the first step? >> that's going to be rush's call. i'm just a lawyer. but that's going to be rush's call. >> i'm not going near that. all right. thank you. you know what, it's a serious issue because i think you're right. and as somebody that works in this business, this happens all the time. and in this case i believe they so crossed the line. it's going to be very interesting to see this work its way through the courts. i think they're going to be surprised. anyway, thank you. appreciate it. >> sean, thank you. coming up next tonight here on "hannity" -- >> should we expect that more

troops may be needed before this is over? >> you know, as commander in chief i'm never going to say never. >> all right. it appears president obama's finally starting to listen to america's top military leaders. coming up next, fox news military analyst lieutenant colonel ralph peters, he'll join us in a rare in-studio appearance about mission creep and more. that's all straight ahead. in-sto so, your site gave me this "credit report card" thing. can i get my experian credit report... like, the one the bank sees. sheesh, i feel like i'm being interrogated over here. she's onto us. dump her. (phone ringing) ...hello? oh, man. that never gets old. no it does not. not all credit report sites are equal. experian.com members get personalized help and an experian credit report. join now at experian.com with enrollment in experian credit tracker sm. and sometimes i struggle to sleep at night,nd. and stay awake during the day. this is called non-24,

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welcome back to "hannity." president obama made a shocking remark on "face the nation" yesterday when he said he would not rule out sending more u.s. troops to iraq. take a look at this. >> should we expect that more troops may be needed before this is over? >> you know, as commander in chief i'm never going to say never, but what, you know, the commanders who presented the plan to me say is that we may actually see fewer troops over time because now we're seeing coalition members starting to partner with us on the training and assist effort. >> now the administration is saying the troops that we have sent to iraq are not combat boots on the ground. remember back in september the president promised not to involve a u.s. force in a ground war. >> i will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another ground war in iraq.

after a decade of massive ground deployments, it is more effective to use our unique capabilities in support of partners on the ground so they can secure their own countries' futures. and that's the only solution that will succeed over the long-term. >> here now in studio fox news military analyst lieutenant colonel ralph peters. by the way rare in studio. good to see you. how are you? appreciate you being here. so 1,500 more. obviously mission creep as we see from that. and then we got the president, i don't know what's worse, mission creep or collaborating and having secret correspondence with the iranians over isis. i'm not sure what's worse. >> well, let's start with mission creep. mission creep is inevitable when you creep into a mission. when you try to make war -- >> you sound like yogi berra. it makes sense. >> yogi berra was a lot better

strategist than our president. don't knock him. and far more genuine. when you measure war by teaspoonfuls and enemy is splashing buckets of blood all over the landscape, you're going to try another teaspoon and then a tablespoon and then maybe a big bucket and then ultimately helicopters on the roof of the saigon embassy. it's a no-brainer. the cardinal advantage of being a super power is super power. when we must intervene militarily, we should whack those suckers with a 2 x 4 between the eyes. everything you got. that's how you save american lives. that's how you accomplish the mission. >> now, president bush was asked if he regrets the invasion of iraq. i think that's the wrong question. and i'll see him tomorrow. and we're going to air my interview with him on thursday night. i think the question is does he regret that we didn't sustain the victory that he achieved. but here is how it went down

with bob schieffer. >> do you ever feel that maybe it was the wrong decision? >> no, i think it was the right decision. my regret is that a violent group of people have risen up again. this is an al qaeda plus. and i put in the book they need to be defeated. and i hope we do. i hope the strategy works. >> the president, 4,000 americans gave their lives. many more lost limbs. many more suffered severe injuries. and the president watched every city that american troops fought and bled for fall and did nothing. not a thing. didn't lift a finger. >> yeah. and the hypocrisy on the left has been horrific. had bill clinton deposed saddam hussein, he would have been celebrated by the left as the greatest liberator since abraham lincoln. but sean, i've got to go back to this letter, because i'm still disturbed about it, the secret letter that our president sent to the head of the iranian government, the supreme leader. i mean, he betrayed our allies

in the region. he showed treachery towards allies from israel all the way to saudi arabia. but above all, the folly of asking iranian shia to go in and combat the sunni militants. sean, that would be like sending the ku klux klan to ferguson, missouri, to calm things down. the folly of this administration cannot be measured. and if you got to go to quantum physics. >> does he even know the difference between sunni and shia or the historical significance of this? >> i'm not sure the president cares. i'm not being really flippant about that. clearly he is concerned only about domestic politics. by the way in that clip you ran where he said he would never say never, there are countless clips of him saying never have boots on the ground. let me tell you, the soldiers in there now and going in aren't wearing athletic shoes and sandals. we have boots on the ground. and i guarantee you there are going to be more.

by doing it incrementally, we're allowing our enemies to train up to beat us. >> condi rice says we're allowing the opponent to beat us. and the iranians liberiaed this weekend a plan, a nine-step plan to eliminate israel. >> yep. >> not a peep out of the administration. >> i worry very much about a bad nuclear deal with iran. but above all, sean, again, without being partisan or pejorative, would you trust a united states led by barack obama? >> is that rhetorical? the answer is obvious. my take on him, pat caddell says he is a narcissist. my sense he doesn't have a sister soldier moment. he doesn't have the end of welfare as we know it. this president has been indoctrinated into radical leftist ideology, and he can't turn left or right. it's like he has blinders on. >> sean -- >> he has never, ever shown any

inclination to adjust, to adapt, to be pragmatic. >> be very grateful that president obama is such a small man. because were he a larger one, he would do far more damage to this country. because you're right. he is an ideologue. we're fortunate that his ideology is pretty superficial. in his heart of hearts i don't think he believes in anything but barack obama. >> he's not good at his job, is he? >> he is not up to being the junior representative from podunk. >> colonel, good to see you. >> good to see you, sean. coming up, tonight's question of the day as we continue. glad you're with us. hard it can be...how ...to breathe with copd? it can feel like this. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva is a once-daily inhaled... ...copd maintenance treatment... ...that helps open my airways for a full 24 hours. you know, spiriva helps me breathe easier. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide

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♪ that's got your back friendly. ♪ welcom welcome back to "hannity." quick programing note right after this program. i am off to texas. tune in thursday night for my cable exclusive interview for the hour. i'm going to sit down with the 43rd president of the united states, george w. bush. i'm going to ask the president about the book that he wrote to honor his dad and much, much more. that's this thursday night. i'll be getting back some time thursday at 10:00 p.m. eastern. and that leads us to tonight's question of the day. what is the one thing i would like to ask president bush? if i gave you the answer, you wouldn't have to tune in. only for the answer. the question is what do you want me to ask president bush? head on over to facebook, twitter at sean hannity and tell what's you would like to hear from the former president. before we go, don't forget to tune in tomorrow night. i'm on the road, 10:00 p.m.

eastern. this is one of the best specials you'll ever see, the man who killed osama bin laden. that's airing tomorrow night and wednesday night right here in this time period. that's all the time we have for this evening. thank you for being with us, and hope you have a great night. an urgent warning from former secretary of state condoleezza rice. secretary rice insisting the u.s. has created a vacuum that is being filled with terrorism. >> what we're seeing is that when the united states steps back and speaks softly, nobody liches. americans also don't like the world that they get when the united states is not deeply engaged and deeply involved. the world of beheadings, the world of levels walking into the canadian parliament. wooferld vladimir putin annexing his neighbors. so i think the american people are ready i think the world is ready for stronger american leadership. >> president obama is now asking for a $5.6 billion to fight isis. should he not tell the american people his specific plan and where is congress? senator rand paul says the president has no auth