go to facebook.com/seanhannity, @seanhannity on twitter. that's all the time we have left this evening. to roger ailes, godspeed, my friend. we will see you here tomorrow night. ♪ >> tucker: good evening and welcome to "tucker carlson tonight." president trump faced the press today one day after the surprise appointment of former fbi director robert mueller, a special counsel to investigate any links between trump's presidential campaign and the russian government. the president, not surprisingly, said mueller won't find anything. >> the entire thing has been a witch-hunt. there is no collusion between certainly myself and my campaign. but i can always speak for myself and the russians, zero. believe me, there is no collusion. russia is fine. but whether it is russia or anybody else, my total priority, believe me, is the united states of america. >> tucker: the president also

denied allegations he pressured to fired fbi james comey to abandon an investigation of former national security advisor michael flynn. >> did you urge james comey in any way, shape, or form, to back down the investigation against michael flynn? >> no. no. next question. >> tucker: donald trump is a volatile president. he's impulsive, he changes course on a dime, sometimes without explaining why. he's elusive about what he really believes and he talks and tweets about himself too much, too much for his own good or for the country's good. by the way, he's not always a great manager. the white house is actually pretty chaotic right now, not just media spin. it's real. if you voted for trump, you already know this. you probably knew it back in november when you voted for him. but what you also knew, and what is worth remembering right now, is that there are worse things than what we currently have. so, the left badly wants to remove donald trump from office, not with votes in the next

presidential election as you typically see in working democracies, but they want to remove him right now, today, using legal action or impeachment, mass protests, whatever. it doesn't really matter how it happens. by any means necessary, as they often say. the left wants to do this for a number of reasons. but mostly because they used to be in power but they aren't anymore and they would much like to be so again. okay, so, let's imagine they get their way. trump goes and they are in charge once again. what happens then? this is worth thinking about because the democratic party of right now bears almost no resemblance to the democratic party of ten years ago, much less the democratic party you grew up with. it has changed in ways that ought to worry you. the modern left is no longer an ideological movement. instead, it's an organized movement around identity politics. that's the idea that every american is a member of a subgroup, usually a racial category, and the point of achieving power is to win spoils for that group. another word for this is tribalism and it's the most divisive possible way to run a

country. because it's not about ideas and based instead on immutable characteristics, identity politics is inherently unreasonable. there is no winning arguments or even having arguments. there is only victory or defeat for the group you belong to. your gain is my loss by definition. in the end, every group finds itself at war with every other group. it is the perfect inversion, the perfect perversion, of the american ideal. out of one, many. and it never ends well. we know this because it is the story of much of the rest of the world. and the left has brought here to america. once you understand this, you begin to see the futility is dealing with modern progressives as just another political faction, people you can reason with or perhaps convince. they don't want to argue. they want to win. the old rules that you are -- you remember, those mean nothing to them. the left doesn't believe american traditions are noble or worth preserving. on the contrary, anything old must be destroyed. that would include the basic institutions of our society

going back to colonial times. the nuclear family, freedom of speech, traditional religious faith, the rule of law, all of these are under direct and open assault by the left. this is not an exaggeration. they are not pretending anymore. they are saying it. indeed, the left has grown so impatient, much more than ever, that it is now unable to acknowledge the basic legitimacy of any government act they disagree with. every executive order is an opportunity to demand massive resistance to the law itself. every expression of conservative opinion is a chance to get somebody else fired. every fake hate crime is the opportunity to demand new concessions that are granted even when the fraud is exposed. now, beneath all of this, which is the monster under the bed, is the threat of violence. at this stage, only the fringes are calling for that, but the rest of us know it's there. we can feel it. sometimes, especially recently, we can see it. and that is the end, or the beginning of it. violence is what separates politics for more. -- from war.

it's the point where hurt feelings become dead bodies. the point at which countries become ungovernable. the people that can start leaving for somewhere else. you don't want to get there. the most important thing our leaders can do is prevent that from happening, yet increasingly, they are refusing to. the kind of arguments we used to have in washington centered around tax rates or trade agreements. suddenly, that seems antique. here's what we are talking about now. watch what happened when these two progressives were asked on this show whether they would condemn a political violence. >> tucker: because of his race, denny was pulled from his truck and smashed in the head with a cinderblock until he sustained brain damage. it was a hate crime if there ever was one. it all happened on videotape, a helicopter caught it, and it happened and maxine waters' city. but she did not denounce the attack. on the contrary, she all but endorsed the attack. that puts her outside the pale, endorsing violence, that is the line, she crossed it. >> i don't know if we would have our current president if that was a line. >> she has a right to say what she thinks. >> tucker: is that a legitimate tactic, to smash windows?

>> it's not effective. >> is it legitimate? so, it's okay? there is time when losing violence -- i am asking you a philosophical question. >> i can't answer every question when violence is appropriate or not. >> tucker: "i can't answer whether violence is appropriate or not." okay. until they can answer "yes," unhesitatingly, we are in danger. dana loesch is a radio host and a spokeswoman for the national rifle association and she joins us tonight. you saw those clips, you have been awake in america for the past nine months. do you think that the left is very different from what it was two years ago and do you think they are ready to leave the -- lead the country if they succeed in eliminating the president from office? >> tucker, thanks for having me. it sure does feel different. it feels way differently than it used to. i get the sense -- this is what really troubles me. you mentioned tribalism. there are people on the left who are so tribalistic, tucker, that they are not willing to admit

what is truth. they want to be right. they prioritize being right, prioritize winning an argument, over what is true and over what is correct. and we have seen this just in the clip that you play. we have seen this over and over. it seems as though they take personal offense whenever you point out, this is what you are pushing, promoting, simply doesn't add up. that is a problem. we should never get to the point where we are more for a tribe than we are for truth. sadly, these individuals, they seem to be so triggered about it, to use their terms, that it does push them to the point of violence. violence is not civil discourse. violence is not reasonable discourse. it is of the last refuge of the coward. it is the last refuge of the person who cannot make their argument intellectually. and that is what we are seeing from a lot of those people, particularly on the fringe on the left. >> tucker: i agree. here is what i think has changed. there have always been wackos on the fringes of american politics ready to take up arms and hurt

up other people in the name of whatever cause they are for. i get it. but what i am shocked by is that the leaders on the left haven't said anything about it. when you press them, is it acceptable to shout down a speaker, to smash store windows, to take to the streets, block traffic, those are acts of violence. they will not condemn them. that is different. >> no. they won't. and that is shameful. for all of the individuals and some of the people on the left, i see them on social media, tucker, i know you do, too. you talk about them on your show. i've seen you debate them. there are individuals who say i guess we will take up arms because we didn't get our way in the election. they think that is going to be easier than going out into the street and changing hearts and minds? what a lazy response. they can't go out to vote to somewhat make them think they will be able to win some kind of conflict. it's insane. elected officials need to be able, they should, they are required, it is their responsibility to be able to control the passions of their side and say, you know what, there are better ways to go

about this. instead of attacking people when they are on college campuses or attacking people in the street because you don't like the inauguration or for damaging property. they need to be more responsible for the passions, tucker, that they are inflaming. >> tucker: these are not partisan points. by the way, i would like to see leaders on both sides and the congress make an articulate defense of basic american values. first among them, freedom of speech. you have a right to say would -- what you think is true. period. there are no hedges on that. hate speech is not a legal category. that is all a lie. someone to stand up for that and the right of people to do that without fear of violence. i don't hear anybody saying that. why is that? >> that's a great question. i hear people who are on the right side of the aisle saying it quite frequently. i know people like you say it, people like me say it. but on the left, though, tucker, maxine waters, or the people you spoke to in the clip that you played at the beginning of the segment, what is so wrong with

saying that violence is unacceptable? if we see violence on our side because they always said, remember the tea party, they always say the tea party was so violent, if we were to see anything like that, what didn't happen, we would have called it out because that is not what we are about. the left needs to figure out what they are about. tucker, we are rolling towards 2018, we are rolling towards 2020. voters already told these people, the fringe, we don't buy your identity politics. we like jobs, trade, manufacturing. can you people please get back to the point? that is what their base told them. they are still not doing it, tucker. >> tucker: they don't believe it. i think that's it. if you have maxine waters, who is endorsing racial violence, which she explicitly did, after the l.a. riots, and she becomes a folk hero, that is a huge red flag i think. dana loesch, thanks a lot for joining us. it was great. >> i agree. >> tucker: special counsel robert mueller has performed less than a day of work. congresswoman maxine waters is confident what he'll find. here's what she just said. >> we are going to learn a lot

about the connections between this president, his allies, and the kremlin. it is going to be very revealing and i know a lot of people don't like to hear the word impeachment but i believe that it's going to lead right to impeachment. >> tucker: is it responsible or wise to throw out the word impeachment so confidently and casually before the facts are in? zac petkanas is a former dnc former advisor. -- senior advisor. he led the trump war room and he joins us now. thanks for coming on. >> thank you for having me. >> tucker: i am playing by rules that are clearly out of date. but i thought the democrats are calling for an independent investigation because they wanted to know what the facts were. here, we have an independent investigation, run by someone whose integrity i don't think anyone is calling into question, and yet, they skipped right past the investigation are calling for impeachment. >> i am not calling for impeachment. other democrats i know are not calling for impeachment. there are certain individuals calling for impeachment. i encourage you to have them on the show to talk about that. that is not where i am.

where i am, we need to ensure that this investigation is allowed to go forward, this investigation is well resourced, this investigation is not interfered with and the way that these investigations have been interfered with in the past by this white house. >> tucker: so, how are we going to do that? >> i think we have to remain vigilant. there's a lot of ways this administration can screw with this investigation, and that includes cutting off resources, that it includes interference. let's remember -- >> tucker: i don't think it does. by statute, if i'm mistaken, please, call into the show and set me straight if you are a lawyer fluent in this. but i think as a matter of fact, independent counsel has a budget that is not subject to the whims of the white house. >> an independent counsel is different than the special prosecutors in the past. this is within the hierarchy, within the chain of command. >> tucker: i'm aware. it's not exactly -- i read of the announcement yesterday. >> can the department of justice fire the special counselor not? >> tucker: yes.

i think that is reassuring. you never want anyone with the power that an independent prosecutor has, who is totally beyond the control of anyone, that would be a dictatorship. you would never want that. >> the last time we had an independent counsel or something similar that could be fired by the white house, they were, his name was archibald cox, during the watergate scandal. >> tucker: here's the thing. you are saying you are not for impeachment but i just can't let you skate that easily on that, considering there is a brand-new "new york times" piece about 20 minutes ago, pointing out that the democratic grassroots are not only for impeachment, but a number of members of congress, number people running for office in off year elections, there is a national march for impeachment. maxine waters says, "i know that there are those that are talking about that we will get ready for the next election, mimicking her more cautious colleagues, no, we can't wait that long. we don't need to wait that long. we need to impeach." basically she said we don't

believe in elections. >> i strongly encourage you to have maxine waters on. i told you what i make of it. we are not at impeachment. we are at investigation. we need to make sure it is not hindered by this white house, that we can get to the facts because the fact that we know right now are pretty damaging. >> tucker: here is the leader of democracy for america. "we cannot have congress sit back and let this play out with trump and his stooges. congress needs to impeach trump." this is from "the new york times." this is a movement on the left to short-circuit the democratic process. they are saying we can't wait for the stupid election. >> no. you can cherry pick certain democratic leaders but what most of us are calling for -- >> tucker: the head of democracy for america? >> i'm a democrat and i am telling you what we are calling for is a robust investigation to get to the bottom of this. we need to protect our democracy from the intervention --

of russia. >> tucker: i am gratified to hear that you are committed to our systems. >> absolutely. >> tucker: our centuries old system. >> centuries old. >> tucker: you are -- your colleagues and allies won't say, word one about this investigation until it wraps up, years from now, we find of the facts. that is what you're saying? >> about the investigation? >> tucker: the one run by robert mueller? >> i think people can comment on it. i don't know how it is -- >> tucker: you are applying political pressure to someone. if you are yapping on television -- >> saying that bob mueller is susceptible to political pressure in the news? >> tucker: what would be the point -- >> it's outrageous that you would say that he would be susceptible to pressure in the news by us democrats calling for it? that is just outrageous! >> tucker: no mortal man is above pressure. period. >> got it. >> tucker: there is no reason to comment on this. is there? unless you are trying to apply pressure to robert mueller or the many attorneys working for him. that is the real thing. so, why would you comment on it?

until we get the facts? he called for this investigatio investigation. >> the issue is not commenting on investigations. the issue is calling the fbi director before you are in the oval office and telling you to knock off the investigation. that is a problem. that is interfering in the election. >> tucker: that is also over and we moved onto a step that you have been calling for four months. and the white house has ceded to pressure from the left, perhaps very foolishly. if you are thrilled about that, that's a bad sign. they did it. >> i'm not the only one thrilled about it. republicans -- lining up. >> tucker: i'm sure. i don't care what the republicans are saying. i'm just saying, you called for this and now, you are going to see your friends in the democratic party saying that it's not enough, we need to remove him from power. we can't wait for voters to decide. >> i have said repeatedly on the show that i think that impeachment is not the right move. we need to be insuring to this investigation goes through in a robust way. >> tucker: okay, good. then, you know what?

you're within the bounds as far as i'm concerned. i hope you stick to that position. >> i will. >> tucker: believe in the rule of law and democracy. zac, thanks for coming on. donald trump destroyed jeb bush by calling him low energy but now the white house is being accused of lethargy weighed down by multiple scandals. up next, charles krauthammer will be here with five ways the trump administration can get back on track fast. also, "the economist" magazine predicted the donald trump presidency would amount to an economic catastrophe. we'll ask forecasters why the sky is still firmly in place above our heads six months after his victory. e with our allstate, and i know that we have accident forgiveness. so the incredibly minor accident that i had tonight- four weeks without the car. okay, yup. good night. with accident forgiveness your rates won't go up just because of an accident. switching to allstate is worth it. yet up 90% fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. let's do more. add one a day men's

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♪ >> tucker: whether you support the president or not, it seems clear that his white house has been slowed down, if not immobilized, by recent events. immigration reform and obamacare repeal have been brushed off the agenda for now, replaced by constant flareups over james comey, russia, or some of the president's tweeting. trump is still the president and his party still controls congress for another 18 months at minimum. how can the white house get its mojo back and reclaim its freedom of action? this is a question that charles krauthammer has pondered. he is a writer, a columnist, ane a psychiatrist and your favorite thinker, and he joins us now. charles, what can the white house do? if you were to give them five pieces of advice, what would it be? >> i think you take your playbook from bill clinton. he was caught up in the lewinsky scandal, in his case, he knows he is lying from the beginning. he keeps on lying. but he was able to keep a straight face, try to keep his nose to the business he wanted to carry out. the famous statement, "i did not have sexual relations" ends with

"now i'm going to go back to work." he pretended as if this thing was on the side, a distraction. he went back to work. what trump needs to do is spendu less effort and time and emotional energy on this,nd starting with, you make an unimpeachable fbi director appointment. right now, he needs to calm the craziness. i think he actually was helped by the appointment of the special counsel. even though, in the long run, it means the white house loses control of it. in the short run, people say,e there is an investigation, let's talk about health care, let's talk about tax reform. that will take care of it.on it's a way to deflect.re if you make a good appointment for the fbi, by good, i mean politically astute, which means somebody unimpeachable. on "special report," i said you need a eliot ness.

someone everybody respects. that gets you a lot of points and allows you to move onto other stuff. that would be my number one. >> tucker: what's number two? >> stop tweeting. that is never going to happen because i think he is hardwired, like neurologically, attached to his tweeting machine. but it would help because when you tweet, you see what you really believe and that is not always -- it's not usually theau smartest thing in politics.. >> tucker: [laughs] >> i tell the truth because it is easier to memorize. but i am not the president, a politician. >> tucker: [laughs] true. >> a gaffe in washington is when a politician accidentally tells. the truth.tr there is so much emotional truth pouring out of the president's tweeting machine that he gets in trouble. >> tucker: too much reality.y. >> number three, go on the foreign trip. thereby, number four, change the narrative. he has a real opportunity. there is going to be a big deall what happens in saudi arabia. there are going to be 50 sunni arab countries there.

there is going to announcement to the world of the total reversal of the obama iran appeasement policy. we chose a radical shiite regime. we chose their favor over the sunni arabs who want to do support us and over israel, which will be stop number two. that will be a big deal. it will allow him to announce and really exemplify a huge change in foreign policy. the last thing is, daily sessions with dr. krauthammer. >> tucker: [laughs] >> i'm still licensed, board-certified, and he's the only one who could afford my rates. >> tucker: can you give us a sense of the range of your rates? >> they start -- let's say they start in the stratosphere. in his case, i would double that. >> tucker: our viewers have been getting your services for the price only of a monthly cable subscription. >> i know. i am truly underpaid.

>> tucker: [laughs] last question. do you think the president can follow at least the first four of these recommendations? >> he is making his trip.. he doesn't easily compartmentalize. he doesn't have that kind of almost psychopathic ability to make distinctions, as clinton did. i think he gets sort of into everything, and it takes them -- takes him over. i don't think he can but that is why he needs to see me. probably for an hour a day for several years. >> tucker: [laughs] do you have visiting hours?ab >> by appointment only. >> tucker: [laughs] dr. charles krauthammer. fantastic. thank you. >> sure. >> tucker: "the economist" magazine predicted economicnt calamity if donald trump won. he did. the lights are still on. what happened? we'll talk to one of "the economist"'s expert forecasters next. recasters

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>> tucker: if i were to take you through a >> tucker: allow us to take you through a time warp to a distant, unfathomably different era, march 2016. back then, when a trump presidency he still seemed ludicrous, laughably unlikely possibilit magazine declared that donald trump was one of the biggest threats to the world economy. american voters clearly don't read "the economist" and here we are six months later, thehs economy destroyed? not really. predictions about trump, and he is brave enough to stand and account for them. thanks a lot for joining us

tonight. one of my personal obsessions, not just with the trump election, but just with all of the predictions one hears in oup business, is that nobody ever stands up and says that "i was wrong."rs the pleasure of hearing you say that will make my day. how did you get it so wrong? >> nothing will give me greater pleasure than making your day. but we haven't gotten it wrong yet. >> tucker: [laughs] really?ng >> we are four months in a four year presidency. it'sar like writing off the new england patriots at halftime at the super bowl. we will see where we end up. you are not completely wrong. we were a little bit off in some places because it hasn't gone as badly as we feared. in many ways, we avoided the worst, and we are still helping a little bit for the past. when i talk about the worst, global trade wars, trump had branded trying to the biggest -- china the biggest currency manipulator in history. changed his mind for whatever reason. and he thinks that china isn't a currency manipulator. at the same time, you still hope that he will get the tax reform through, which can provide stimulus for business. >> tucker: i guess what bothered me about it -- i think probably your macro view on thim

is probably right, not on trump but on trade, prosperity,ab et cetera. your analysis seemed to ignore the nature of the distribution of the wealth. one of the reasons trump was elected is because a small group of people got really rich durin. the obama years, but the middle-class languished. you are seeing the same phenomenon across western europe. isn't something that politicians need to address otherwise you will get political chaos?me is that something you need to factor in?ed >> that's absolutely right. inequality is a massive problem. the loss of faith in american institutions has come along side a big increase in inequality. back in 1982 in the u.s., it's the same in the u.s. the average ceo executive pay was 30 times more than your average worker. it's now about 135 times youre r average worker. that is a major, major problem. trump's policies are only going to make inequality a lot worse. it's pretty peculiar to see him giving tax giveaways for people

who are handling over five and a half million dollars in their estates. >> tucker: now, wait a second. now, you are have rewriting history. i would agree with you that policy is inconsistent with whag he ran on. but when you guys made your prediction, he wasn't sayingt anything like that. he wasn't saying that i will staff my white house with goldman sachs guys. he was making a pretty straight populist economic argument. and that was repugnant to you and to policymakers and elites across the globe. my question is, have you looked inside? said, maybe we should have paidu more attention to the suffering of the middle class then and this wouldn't have happened? >> obviously, -- we just want what is best for everyone. if you have populist policies, the reason they are called populist typically is because they sound really great but in reality they don't work at all. we are committed to free trade because it makes goods cheaper for everyone. the people who generally buy imported goods are those on the lower income. if you therefore put up trade

barriers, push up the cost for these imported goods and those who suffer the most are those who can least afford it. we actually have that in mind when we are opposing -- >> tucker: i have heard this argument for decades, and the idea that the middle class needs more brightly colored plastic garbage from china -- the real problem is that their wages are stagnant and falling. you said he is as big a threat to the world as isis. you said that in your prediction. >> that's not entirely true. >> tucker: that it is why i am bringing it up. >> threat to the global economy. we thought he was the biggest threat to the global economyba from a terrorist attack. an extraordinarily gloomy reality that terrorist attacks are a fact of life. even if you look at the brussels attacks from the stock market went up.ri it is a peculiar trend.a but when you look at who was going to be the most powerful man in the world, such a unique candidate, and he still is a unique president.

then, you have to take that into account in terms of the global macro economic forecast. >> tucker: there is an internal contradiction. you guys are for markets, obviously.as you believe in market principles, markets are wise over the long run. but markets responded positively to the election of the guy you said would destroy the global economy. so, who is right? you or the markets? why would they do that?he >> we are such beautiful fools. the dollar strengthened. but there was a certain amount -- remember, rational exuberance? we'll see how long it lasts.he yesterday was a good example of a huge stock market fall for something that we had forecast. the trump presidency gettingat quite a lot of political chaos. that is something we are seeing snowballing over time. the stock market has absolutely outperformed. we are a little curious as to how sustainable this is. a lot of it depends on gettingou through the agenda. he has not made any meaningful outreach to the democrats, even though he is aware he needs to do it.

>> tucker: i'm losing track of whether markets are rational or not. h are they rational or not? >> they are rational. they change every single day.io >> tucker: [laughs] >> they move in line with the news, just as we all do. >> tucker: thanks a lot for joining us tonight. i appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> tucker: president trump has already received more coverage than you can consume in your entire life. we are not daring you to try that. up next, we'll talk to a professor who says the whole story is a lie, a big lie. he'll explain why. ♪ preparing for surgery, use an over pronounced washing technique for dramatic effect. they also know you need to get your annual check-up. now prepare for your check-up with one touch using the mycigna app, where you can find a doctor in your plan's network to save money, manage your health and more.

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>> tucker: it took only a few decades of bad reporting but "the new york times" has finally admitted that the gender pay gap has nothing to do with sexism. you may have missed it but in a recent article, the reporter pointed out that what has actually been obvious for a long time, "the gender pay gap is largely because of motherhood."t of course, anyone who thought about it for a second already knew it.

even in 2017, women are the ones who give birth to babies and they often take the lead in raising them. doing that, though, takes focus away from a conventional careerg so, many women quit or take flexible but lower paying jobs. there's nothing wrong with any of that. some people still believe that raising decent kids is more important than working at a law firm and is their right to think that.ra of course, it would have been nice for "the times" to showaw this kind of honesty during the eight years of president obama's terms when demands to eliminateo the sexism based pay gap were never ending.de the paper still seems to see women's lack of enthusiasm for global capitalism as a moral crisis, something that we need to fix immediately. in the same article, they admit the gap is simply caused by different choices, freely made. the article says "the long-term price of women giving up economic productivity to have families and plots ways to reverse it, because nothing more is more important then adding to the sum total of globalism, even your kids." that is "the times" position, anyway.

it's time for the reality checki as has been noted, people will fall more easily for a big lie than a small one. victor davis hanson is a historian and a fellow at the hoover institution. professor of -- professor emeritus of classics. he says that the entire russia story we have been talking about for months is just such a big lie created by the democratic party with the help of theth media. victor davis hanson joins us tonight. professor, you are saying that this whole thing is just nonsense. is that what you are saying? >> i think you have to go to the origins and the causes and the methodology and the objectives. this whole thing started during the nomination process when the never trump people commissioned a dossier by retired british agent, the so-called christopher steele dossier that was pretty much ridiculous. then, it was passed on after trump got the nomination to the clinton campaign. then, it was forgotten about.

suddenly, when she did w what nobody thought she would do and lost, and robbie moog's analytics and data didn't prove to be successful, and she didn't go to the blue wall states efficiently, then, the new narrative came. well, the russians must have done it by the wikileaks process and then the dossier that somehow got into the hands of the fbi director, whether he paid for it or not. i think senator grassley is investigating that. now, we have this idea that trump colluded and this dossier was leaked to media sources that it was pretty obscene, pretty outrageous. t had things in it that could not have been true. where are we now?ve we have a director of national intelligence, james clapper, said it didn't exist. we have senators feinstein and grassley say that fbi director comey said there was not an ongoing investigation. it was very unlikely because donald trump, he didn't dismantle eastern european missile defense. he didn't go to geneva and press a plastic red button.

he didn't make fun of romney foo saying russia was an existential enemy. he didn't have a hot mic exchange with a russian president saying that he would be more flexible with the d russians after the election. that entire reset, appeasement of russia, came from theit clinton-obama team, not from donald trump. now, it was very unlikely anyway because he ran as a jacksonian who was going to beef up u.s. defenses and get tough with the rivals abroad. it wouldn't be necessarily logical that putin would want him to be president. yet, here we are. i think the real message that we are missing is that there was evidence that some people in the obama administration had surveilled people either trump himself, or around trump. that information had either been reversed targeted, deliberately, to find information from or incidental. it didn't matter because the names were unmasked and then, they were leaked to pet reporters. for the last six months, between the dossier and the surveillingn

we have the leaks. if special investigator mueller looks at the totality of the so-called russian collusion-surveillance story, i think will come to conclusions that we don't expect. >> tucker: how ironic would it be, though, if in the course of the investigation, these investigations go in directions that you can't predict? no one can. people got in trouble, because that happens with these things. and at the same time, we discover that at its core, the story was just a lie. there was nothing there.ot there was no collusion between putin and trump. but it still ended up really w hurting or bringing down this administration. is that possible? i >> yeah, i think it is. we have had a whole cadre of washington and new york reporters who have done nothing other than for six months, using all of their tools at theirsh disposable, their genius, experience, to prove that donald trump colluded with the russians. they can't find anything.

they haven't spent commiserate time to look atro who was unmasking individuals. and that, from the house intelligence committee. but what we are seeing, i don't want to be too dramatic, but historically, a slow-motion coup. you have the nexus of celebrities, academics, the democratic and progressivema parties, then, you have the media, and they feel that they can delegitimize a president with 1,000 nicks, none of themem significant in themselves. but they coalesced to build a narrative that trump is an unexperienced, that he is uncouth, he is crude, he is reckless. each day, the point is to drive his popularity down one half a point, one point, until he can't function in congress because purple state congressional representatives don't want to take the risk to take initiatives. meanwhile, the aca, the tax reform, his appointments, everybody agrees they have been excellent. there is trump, the message and agenda, versus trump the demonized president.av >> tucker: you got to wonder m if the people who run the news

organizations ever think to themselves, it's kind of where -- weird that my priorities alignment precisely with those of the democratic party? [laughs]mo may be that's corrupt? [laughs] >> i think the democratic crowd is taking its cue from the media. when the media has a narrative, the use of profanity, the democratic party follows on course. they have been following the trump story because the mediaty has been generating it.ws >> tucker: professor, i love talking to people with great memories. and you have one and perspective. thanks for joining us. >> thank you for having me, tucker. >> tucker: up next, sean hannity makes his return to "the friend zone" to talk about the former president of this company, roger ailes, who passed today.e stay tuned. utoglass. our exclusive trueseal technology means a strong, reliable bond. at safelite, we stand behind our work... because the ones you love, sit behind it. (parents whisper jingle) safelite repair, safelite replace.

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>> tucker: we invited one of our friends from fox onto the show. joining us tonight, sean hannity, who needs

no introduction, except to say that he knew our former boss, roger ailes, for decades. how would you sum up a guy as big as roger? >> you can't. there has only been three people in my life that i have met that have this deeper dimension in terms of the thought process. you know, i would often sit with him, any time i would have a meeting, i don't care if it was on the phone or in his office, i would always take a pen and a paper because they knew i was going to get four or five great ideas that would make me seem much smarter than i am. he saw things differently. he would be able to cut to the chase, get rid of all the clutter, and, look, tucker, is wouldn't be on with you tonight. i was a young, local radio host in atlanta with very little tv experience. took a big risk, gave me a shot, here i am, and he believed in me. and he did that for so many other people. as i said in my statement today,

i think he would see things and people that they didn't know existed in themselves and i can tell you, for my own personal experience, that was the case.e. i never thought i could do this. one other thing that he did, tucker, which i think is pretty amazing, i was so bad. all you need to do is google hannity's first show. it is humiliating. you want to bring me down to earth any day? i cringe when i see it. he stuck with me. he changed my life so much for the better and so many others. >> tucker: he did that with people. he did stick with them.ng what did he tell you when he first hired you? >> i can remember one thing.g. that's a great question. i remember one meeting, he warned everyone, they will probably have technical glitches, something's going to happen.r but just stay calm. i remember he told everybody, smile, have a good time, it doesn't have to be perfect on day one. this is long ball. we want to change the media landscape in the country. he emphasized fair and balanced.

he wanted both sides. then, he pointed to me and alan and said, except for you two, you can do whatever the hell you guys want. >> tucker: and you did!t [laughs] >> he just let us do our thing. one other great thing, we always work on a ratings pressure world, he never once called me and said, great ratings. he never once called me and said, what is wrong with your ratings, either. he knew there was an ebb and flow to the new cycle, ups andnd downs. that has kept me very centered. basically, you build it and you are calm, every night you do a great show. that is why people are watching it. every night, you do a great show, you work hard for your audience, you are in their viewership every night. >> tucker: that is really wise. he saw the big picture. he was a tough guy, too. t not easily pushed around. >> listen, i am a better fighter today because i learned from him. when i first started, maybe -- i remember there would be certain people who were working at the fox news channel, they

get their first negative article, i say go google my name, it will come up "hannity is evil, hannity is satan." and then when you read it, you will feel so much better.ni so many people have done that and followed that advice. it used to bother me, i can'tan even remember when. i don't care, tucker. i don't care what people tweet write, say. and i enjoy the competitive back and forth in life. >> tucker: for our viewers who are wondering if you are being sincere, i work with you, and i can say he is not joking. [laughs] v >> when i am tweeting my twitten wars, i am smiling. everyone thinks, twitter fight, and i am like, let's get in there. i believe in fighting for what we believe in. now, we have to fight as irredeemable deplorables. for those who want to destroy the president. that is a fight that i will engage in until my last breath because they are trying to undermine that election. >> tucker: sean hannity, ladies and gentlemen. >> i don't ever want to be in "the enemy zone." >> tucker: [laughs] you never will be. il'll be right back. we'll be right back.

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ooh, the quiet type. i like that. armor all original protectant. it's easy to look good. >> tucker: we've heard a lot about roger ailes on thison channel today, he was a hugee figure here into american life. if you like to hear more, i recommend looking up the remarkable attributes we've heard from brit hume and shepard smith.he he captured so precisely, a lot of us got emotional watching them. i would add only one thing to what they said, he always rooted for the underdog. it's not common in our business with the success is the god most people worship. while others kissed up and kicked down, roger ailes always did the opposite. he was kinder to the cleaning crew than he was to presidential candidates, i saw that. he picked fights with someone his own size, if not bigger and he was always fearless.wn half my friends here washed out of somewhere else. roger saw something in them, took pity, and hire them. i know because it happened to me and i will always be grateful for that, roger ailes, rest in peace.

>> hello everyone, i'm kimberly guilfoyle, along with juan williams, jesse watters, dana perino, and greg gutfeld. it's 9:00 in new york city and this is "the five." today, roger ailes, passed away at the age of 77, will look back at his life, his career and to share some personal stories later this hour. but first, breaking news tonight. president trump is speaking on camera for the first time since the justice department decision to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible coordination between his campaign and the russian government between the 2016 election. >> i respect the move in the entire thing has been a witchwe hunt, there is no collusion between myself and my campaign, but i can always speak for