>> tucker: that's itsi for us. we will be back, 8:00 p.m. the sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness, and groupthink. all next week from japan. before the g20. sean hannity starts right now. ♪ >> jason: welcome to the special edition of "hannity." fighting for america, confronting the issues. i am jason chaffetz in tonight for sean. president trump is showing restraint following the latest provocation by iran. calling offlo a retaliatory stre against iran after their attacks on a drone in u.s. internationl waters earlier this week. after their attacks, the president explained his decision to nbc's chuck todd, take a look. >> so they came and they said,c we are ready to go and would like a decision. and i said i want to know something before you go. how many people will be killed? in this case, iranians.

i say how many people are going to be killed? sir, i'd like to get back to you on that. great people, these generals. they came back, said, sir, approximately 150. and i thought about it for a second, and i said, they shot down an unmanned drone, plane, whatever you want to call it, and here we are sitting with 150 dead people, that would have taken place probably within a half an hour after i said go ahead. and i didn't likee it. i didn't think it was proportionate. >> jason: here with more with all of this is our own jennifer griffin. jennifer? >> there's a very different atmosphere here at the pentagon today. so much so that acting defense secretary patrick shanahan left the building at 4:00 p.m. after his resignation on tuesday.

here is what we know happened last night between seven and 8:00 p.m. eastern. the b-52s have not taken out. navy warships were in possession and ready to strike with tomahawk missiles awaiting the go order. president trump explained his change of heart and a tweet. "we were cocked and loaded to retaliate last night on three different sites when i asked, how many will die? 150 people, sir, was the answer from a general. 10 minutes before the strike, i stopped it, not proportionate to shooting down an unmanned drone. i'm in no hurry." there remains serious questions about what president's mind, and any military strike plan would have been a cop accompanied by a casualty estimate. those first briefings by the military occurred at 11:00 a.m. at the white house, and again at 3:00 p.m., not 10 minutes before the launch. iran used it as a propaganda victory. state tv release this video showing what it claims is the records of the large u.s. navy drone. it's the second time in a week iranian forces fired on

u.s.'s drones. there is no evidence based on iranian behavior that these were rogue units that shot down the u.s. drones. furthermore, it said it chose not to shoot down the poseidon surveillance plane to avoid casualties. and that spy plane shot this video of the u.s. global hawk being shot done. the u.s. military we are told still we are told still doesn't do anything to respond. there are 70,000 u.s. troops in the region and an aircraft carrier strike group. jason? >> jason: also developing tonight, the pentagon has released a new map disputing iran's claims that the u.s. drone was an iranian airspace. but that's not stoppingng the radical regime from continuings with is threats and provocations, saying they will respond to economic terrorism by all means necessary. joining me now is fox news

military analyst colonel david hunt, along with former cia intelligence officer and fox news contributor down half men. thank you both for being here tonight and thank you for your service to our country. your perspective is an important one. colonel, i want to start with you. what's your reaction to what the president did and in this case, didn't do? >> it's a great day when you are not going to war with iran. that's number one. all the provocations by iran since about april have not gone against the u.s. i think it was a very good decision. i also think it sent a definite message to iran because of the aftermath, how we are talking about the strike packages, et cetera. people that are carping about this who don't like it, they don't like the fact that the president may not have used the system, the bureaucratic system of principles, groups, and deputies. the problem with that, that

same system gave us vietnam and 18 years of war in afghanistan and iraq. i don't know how anyone can argue that not bombing -- i expect iran will continue to play games, and i think what we will have to do is probably ratchet it up economically with more embargoes. >> jason: dan, no action is an action by the president. what is the message to iran, and will this de-escalate the situation, or does it escalate it with iran thinking, we can get away with doing more and more of these types of actions? >> well, at the heart of this is the fact that the administration pulled out of the flawed iranian nuclear deal and imposed maximum economic sanctions which have driven iran's economy to the breaking point.nd iran has followed up with nuclear blackmail and have threatened to enrich uranium to weapons-grade levels next month, early next month. if they don't have sanctions

relief, and we have seen this kinetic action in the persian gulf. the question remains that we haven't deterred iran from continuing to escalate in the persian gulf. and that is the open question i'm sure the president is asking his intelligence community and military: what do we have to do to deter or run but avoid the risk of escalating this to a war that neither country wants? that is the challenge, i think, from a policy perspective. >> jason: colonel, as they talk about -- the iranians talk about this economic terrace, their inability to sell oil on the world market, also a cyber component to it, but our president is in the gulf. our ability to take out iran and its military at a moment's notice if thehe president decidd to do so --e how is the presidt going to best leverage that so that iran doesn't get out of control and spins it up even more and more? >> the problem with that is we

have deployed extra soldiers to qatar, and we've got b-52s flying. and what we almost did last night. iran is a terrorist state. it supports terrorism. it's very difficult -- it's four times larger than a rack. it does have a competent special operations force. however, they have also lost two and a half million barrels a day, selling, down to 200,000 in. if they are acting like a desperate state with capabilities. i do not want to see us go to a war in the middle east, we are in afghanistan, iraq, and syria. i do think iran has to be dealt with. i don't think it would take very much more economically to crush them. >> jason: jennifer griffin pointed out in our report, there was not only the unmanned drone that was shot down, a very expensive drone, but we also had a manned aircraft. do you think that was part of the president's calculus here

that shot down the manned aircraft, and the president would react differently would he not if it was americans that have been killed? >> presumably he would, and this is the challenge when we are at a standoff with the country. we are kind of negotiating our rules of engagement in the persian gulf this way. we haven't attacked each other's servicemen and women, or in our case servicemen andd women, iran has laid off at that. when they have attacked us in the persian gulf, it's true that they have not attacked u.s. ships and u.s. servicemen and women. they are avoiding what they thought was a tipping point which resulted in usce eliminating their regime. that's ultimately how we deter an iranian miscalculation with that clear level of deterrence.

>> jason: very quickly, gentlemen, your perspective given your history and what have you have done for the nation. i just have a minute left. colonel, what is your message to the tens of thousands of americans, men and women that are in the gulf, as they watch programs like this? >> it a great military when i was in. we love all of you, and you be safe. >> jason: dan? >> everyone with whom i served, u.s. military, intelligence community, state department, they absolutely appreciated the opportunity to be on the frontpg lines, eliminating threats overseas before they would be visited on our shores. >> jason: we do have the t biggest, baddest military ont the face of the planet, and thank goodness we do. god bless people like donald trump and others who have to make very tough decisions in a veryou short amount of time in the best interest in the united states. we can't thank the men and women who have served enough and we thank you two also. many lawmakers across capitol hill are praising the

president's measured response. senator lindsey graham tweeted "i appreciate thee president's desire to be measured and thoughtful,," before he added that nuclear enrichment should be a red line. joining me for reaction is a congressman matt gaetz from florida, michael waltz, who is also from florida. thank you so much for joining. full disclosure, i served with at least two of the three of you in the congress. congressman turner, i want to start with you. your vantage point on the intelligence committee, i think, is also a very important one, in addition to armed services. there is a very important date that is coming up, which is jule that iran has put out, they picked a number, there are four year up to help get out of these sanctions that are crippling their economy. give us your perspective on what is happeningth in iran and the pressures they are now feeling

from the economic sanctions. >> secretary pompeo has described his maximum pressure campaign, which of course is to try to bring around back to the table to renegotiate the jcpoa, the nuclear deal that this administration stepped out of. obviously, the goal here is to ensure that we do not have a nuclear iran. iran is feeling the pressure of the sanctions, our european allies in the deal with us are feeling also the pressure. and our understanding that this deal needs to be negotiated. some claim the rands reaction to that, obviously the tanker attacks they are being blamed, even this drone attack. what's interesting on capitol hill is the debate is to restrict the president's actions when the president is showing restraint, so i think this is an interesting debate happening in congress, watching the president, as the democrats claim he is trying to take us to war, hein is showing restraint o try to take us to the bargaining table. >> jason: congressman walt, esyou are a freshman there, your first term in congress, but your military service gives you an

interesting perspective. following up on what congressman turner was talking about, what is the atmosphere? what arera democrats and republicans alike talking about on the hill? >> jason, i've operated against the iranians on the ground and dealt with them from previous service in the white house, and i can tell you the underlying premise here is what we have to agree on paired whether it is al qaeda in afghanistan, whether it's isis in iraq, whether it is raining-backed terrorists all over the region, we have to fightst these wars over there. we have to take care of it abroad in places like damascus, tehran, and cobble, or it will fall at home. this notion we see note no maxi on both the right in the left as they take care of it and bring the troops home in the world will be fine, i think is naive. we have seen it will follow us into europe, it will follow us to the united states. we have to stay on offense, and while i absolutely respect the president's right as commander-in-chief, which all three of us are fought for on

the armed services committee, his right to give these green light -- these go-no-go decisions, we do have to respon respond. iran is a regional bully and will continue to push. it is emboldened by weakness, and it is deterred by strength. and the president is fully supportive of keeping the massive pressure campaign going for the reason they came to the deal for the iran table in the first place is the sanctions were working paired he is going to drive them back to the table but get a better deal in the long run. that is what he needs to do. >> jason: congressman gates, what are you hearingma and seeig from your colleagues on the floor of the house? what are your reactions? not everybody thinks like congressman walt and turner just articulated. >> i have great respect for michael waltz, he is an american patriot, but i think it is naive to believe that engaging in endless, unconstitutional regime change orders is effective in the middle east are back home

here look at afghanistan, we are down from having afghan government controlling 72% of their administration to 56% of their administrative districts in the last three years. you look at the $6 trillion that we have spent in the region, and you think that is larger than the market cap of facebook, google, and amazon combined. i think an american first foreign policy advanced by the president is one that would prioritize getting the gulf cartel out of the southwestern united states before we decide we are going to be the policeman of the gulf of oman. and if you've got japan and norway not seeking war for vessels owned by folks in their countries being attacked, i don't think it is the job of the united states to avenge foreign vessels or american robots with the blood of our bravest service members and patriots. michael waltz being one of them. >> jason: congressman turner, i don't think youot necessarily agree with everything congressman gates just said, would you? >> i think, jason, when we have this debate, we have to

understand that enemy's. the most important thing we can do is have a strong military. a president that is not trestrained and able to take action. the debate in the house over the past two weeks, just this week, the democrats voted to actually repeal the 2001 authorization of use of force that was passed after 9/11 that allowed us to go after al qaeda and isis, and continue to tackle those who want to do the united states harm. last week,k, there was debate about restricting the president's ability to respond to iran that would prevent theg president from responding even if they attack israel. we have to stand up for our allies, and recognize that enemies self-selected and ensure we have a strong military to respond and protect our country. >> jason: is the president doing what he is supposed to be doing here? howe would you assess what has happened so far? >> i think were all three of us absolutely agree is maintaining options for the president, and not allowing the democrats to tie his hands for political reasons. he is the commander-in-chief. he does get to make those

decisions. congress does have a role in line with the war powers act, but at the end of the day, in response to my good friend representative gaetz, we have to fight this abroad, i don't want tot fight this in the united states. when it terrorist organizations exist in afghanistan, what isis weaponizing refugees into europe and the united states, and went around his openly seeking to attack israel and t to build a r weapon to attack all of us, it's only the united states that can lead. whatever we withdraw, like obama did, out of iraq, and like obama tried to do out of afghanistan, bad things happen. if we don't need to, then we leave the world open to china and russia and islamic extremism. america has to lead. that does not mean we have half a million troops on the ground. there is a lot of space between kumbaya world peace and a million soldiers on the ground.

those are the options the pentagon needs to be presenting to the president right now. >> jason: congressman gaetz, from your perspective, is donald trump, the president of the united states, doing the right thing, or do you think he has taken a misstep along the way? >>s the president has been measured and mindful and effective. the message has been sent to iran that the only reason visa strikes didn't occur is because the president wanted to make sure we gave peace a chance. president trump understands that we get peace through strength, but we can also achieve strength through restraint. i don't get it. the middle east represents 3.5% of global gdp, and we are obsessed with this area of the world. meanwhile, china represents 50% of global gdp, they have expanded their empire without firing a single shot while we have been involved in these endless middle eastern wars. i think we do need to reform the 2001 authorization to use military force,20 because of its brave patriots are willing to go fight and die in these wars, i think members of congress ought

to have the guts to vote for them or against them and to make sure that we follow the constitution on the application of military force. but the president has shown that he is mindful and effective. >> jason: the debate will continue, but i think it is naive to say that china has never fired a shot. all you need to do is go visit with vietnamese and others, as i have done when i was in congress -- >> them too. >> jason: with all due respect, i think if you look harder at what the chinese are doing, it's a very aggressive thing. >> they are not engaged in endless war -- >> jason: they are. another day. gentlemen, another day. i really do think the right answer to this, if provoked, the president of the united states have clear authority if there is clear and present danger to take whatever action he needs to. if he is going to take a long time more, then you should go to congress and he should get that authorization. but that's my perspective, and we will have to debate this more. gentlemen, thank you for your service and thanks for joining us on this "hannity" special. congressman devin nunes sent a

letter to fbi director asking for all documents related to the steele dossier. catherine herridge has a report, and then we get reaction from sara carter and gregg jarrett. we will be right back. my experia has been excellent. they really appreciate the military family and it really shows. with all that usaa offers why go with anybody else? we know their rates are good, we know that they're always going to take care of us. it was an instant savings and i should have changed a long time ago. it was funny because when we would call another insurance company, hey would say "oh we can't beat usaa" we're the webber family. we're the tenney's we're the hayles, and we're usaa members for life. ♪ get your usaa auto insurance quote today.

♪ >> jason: welcome back to this "hannity" special. today, congressman devin nunes sent a letter to fbi director christopher wray asking for all documents and communications related to the steele dossier. washington has more. catherine? >> jason, house intelligence committee republicans issued a subpoena for records about the dossier and its author, christopher steele. in the latter, the committee's

ranking member now questions when the bureau received state department records that undermined the credibility of steele and show that he was "keen to see his research about the candidate trump go public before the 2016 election." steele's credibility matters because the fbi used his opposition research funded by the f deaf the nc clinton campan to issue a surveillance warrant for carter page, which in the end of lasted 11 months. congressman devin nunes says it is not clear when the fbi got the record, but senior state department official. documenting their concerns about steele. the letter continues "at a certain point, the fbi gained access to a memorandum and notes." however, the fbi failed to provide these materials to the committee pursuant to requests made in part of its investigation. the letter was also sent to u.s. attorney johno durham, who is investigating the genesis of the russia probe. ask the fbi for a response by the end of next week, jason. >> jason: catherine, thank you. also breaking today, according

to reports from robert mueller's pitbull, andrew weissmann, is looking to capitalize on his time in the special counsel's office by writing a book. i doubt we will get the whole truth from a man who has been accused of withholding potentially exculpatory evidence in the past. joining us now with reaction is fox news contributor, sara carter. author of "the new york times" best selling book "the russia hoax," it's been number one forever. you need to get and read this book. fox newsone legal analyst gregg jarrett. is there anybody left who hasn't read your book yet? >> it's not number one. it was when it came out and for several weeks. >> jason: needed a great job. it really is one of the best books out there. but i want to start, gregg, i'm going to start with you because you are in studio with us. i want to start with devin nunes having to go back and try to get these documents. the fbi has been slow walking these things. they've been under subpoena for a couple of years, and i still haven't responded. >> the fbi, the deposit of justice both have been

obstruction j justice. i say christopher wray is james comey in a different suit, and rod rosenstein, before he left that apartment of justice, was also obstructing lawful subpoenas from congress. it's outrageous. and i'm hoping that with the bill barr at the helm now, that all of this nonsense will stop and that these documents will be turned over. >> jason: sara, when i was chairman of the committee, i issued some subpoenas that were never responded to from the department of justice. there has been a lot of slow walking, and we have that, butth we also have the inspector general report, and we have a different attorney general in attorney general barr. >> that's right, attorney general william barr isn't going to hold back here. he said he promised the american people that he will get to the bottom of this. he wants to know the origination of the fbi's investigation into president trump, and all of these allegations that he was conspiring with russia, which we now know are debunked. even more importantly, i think

you brought up such a great point, the fact that andrew weissmann -- and by the way, peter strzok, as well, the anti-trump fbi agent famous for all of hisou text messages with his paramore, lisa page. the fact that they are writing these apparent tell-all books when they worked so hard to roof old information from the american public. think about the hypocrisy here. and christopher wray has every duty and every application to turn these documents over to devin nunes. very important that we understand what happened at the very beginning of this investigation. without that information, the american public will notio have the answers that it needs in order to make their own minds up about what happened here with this investigation and the malfeasance that apparently took place at the fbi and the department of justice. >> jason: clearly they have been slow walking this, but i don't think attorney general barr, nor will mr. durham, will they put uptt with any of that.p out of all that the president actually went out and put out official notification so that

attorney general barr can't be slow walked also by the intelligence offices. i'm glad the devin nunes is on top of it and has the continuity from the past, the previous congress, as well. gregg, have to ask you also about what is going on with wiseman. this guy is a character. there are 110,000 people that work at the department of justice, and mueller has to pick this guy? all of these guys are now cashing in on their infamy. all notorious characters in a comey and mccabe, it's the model now. the self-righteous, nauseating books -- i read them both. it was difficult to do. they spend most of the time just trashing trump. these are all of the people who were investigating trump. and it proves the president's argument that he was never going to be treated fairly and impartially and neutrally by

these hyper partisans. and andrew weissmann is among the worst of them. he is famous for his abusive tactics as a lawyer, earning reversals and rebukes by judges. this is a guy who conceals evidence, suppresses documents, threatens witnesses, numerous complaints against him. the feckless bars don't do anything, and i say that, i mean the bar association, not william barr. he is exactly the kind of prosecutor that should never be allowed in a court of law. >> jason: sara, i got a real problem with people who have such high security clearances -- higher than members of congress, people like brandon and klapper and weissmann. and comey and mccabe. these are all people at the highest echelon with the highest security clearance, and e they think they can just go on television and start talking about this stuff in writing books! >> this is what i don't understand, and i think this is

what the american people don't understand: brandon was supposed to have a security clearance revoked. we have heard that he still has his security clearance, despite the fact that president trump ordered his to clearly clearance revoked, so what we know is that there has been a lot of slow walking in the bureaucracy. people aren't following through, and he was on television, he makes money on the cable networks. he and klapper, both with high-level security clearances, access to those secrets, and spews anti-trump, antiadministration hatred pairti they target the president consistently, it's a national security issue, because they call the president treasonous. they say he is a clear and present danger, they say he is not worthy of office. what happens on an international atscale, even on a national sca, when enough people, former heads of agencies, saying these kind of things, and spouting this kind of rhetoric? it is extremely dangerous, not only for the president himself, but for our n n country. c i want answers to that, and i haven't been able to get those

answers. i haven't been able to find out why they are still retaining those security clearances. >> jason: sara, you bring up a great point. i really don't understand -- when i left congress, i immediately lost my security clearance. why these clowns don't lose there is the moment -- and if they want to go back and get it because of secretary of state or a new, incoming cia director, somebody wants to go communicate with them and ask them questions, then grants them the ability to do that. but the use the security clearances, they know something the rest of us don't, and they go out there and spew their lies and their opinions on these talk shows, and now in books, gregg. >> and it turned out that brennan didn't know anything, which is typical of john brennan. got to be one of the dumbest cia director's ever and this is the guy who spent two years, the drumbeat of collusion, absolute evidence, predicting next week will be more indictments, and of course, when it didn't happen,

he goes on tv and says well, i guess i got some bad information. no kidding. if this the guy who is leading the cia. let me tell you just one quick story about andrew weissmann. john dowd, the president lawyer told me that he advised mueller whenever they had conferences together, the team of lawyers, andrew weissmann would not be in the room. he was banished from the room because, as john dowd called him, untrustworthy and unethica. and dowd was absolutely right. mueller ruined the integrity and the credibility of himself and his own investigation by hiring a guy like weissmann, and then instructing weissmann, you hire the team of 19 partisan lawyers, which weissmann did. >> jason: i have great respect for mr. mueller, but for him to pick the people that he picked, i've got to tell you, i still have an ongoing question about that. sara, gregg, thank you for

joining us tonight at coming up next on this "hannity" special, rush limbaugh has a message for joe biden: it's over. we have the tape and reaction from sean spicer, austan goolsbee, charlie hurt's. stay with. control your blood sugar around the clock. and with a $0 copay, ♪ let's groove tonight. that's something to groove about. toujeo is used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. it contains 3 times as much insulin in 1 milliliter as standard insulin. don't use toujeo to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you're allergic to insulin. get medical help right away if you have a serious allergic reaction such as body rash, or trouble breathing. don't reuse needles, or share insulin pens. the most common side effect is low blood sugar, which can be life-threatening. it may cause shaking, sweating, fast heartbeat, and blurred vision. check your blood sugar levels daily. injection site reactions may occur. don't change your dose without talking to your doctor.

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♪ >> joe biden, this guy is finished. it's over. and you know how you know it's over? it's nothing to do with the segregation business, although i think that is the trigger for it. that's it, folks. if "abc news" is going after the hunter biden, ukraine scandal, it's over. somebody in the democrat media complex has decided it is time to take the plugs out. >> jason: welcome back to this special edition of "hannity,"

fighting for america andk confronting the issues bear that was rush limbaugh stating that joe biden's 2020 campaign is already doomed to be or not only has biden incurred the wrath of democrats for his comments on segregation, but now biden's campaign is facing possible fallout from his son, hunter's shading business deals in both china and ukraine for the's heat is getting so bad for the campaign that some democrats want white house hopeful to cool it on the biden tax. joining us not to react more is america first action senior advisor, sean spicer. author of the brand-new book "still winning," from one of our favorites, fox news contributor charlie hurt. on former obama economic advisor austan goolsbee.ta thank you all for being here. austan, i want to start with you peer joe biden was elected in 1972. i was like five years old. he's been around the block, okay, he's been through this, but he seems to be bungling his way through his announcement. what's going on with joe? >> look, you know that joe bide

joe biden, he is well-liked by the american people, has a very high popularity. higher than the president, higher than most of the other democratic nominees. he also says dumb stuff. thereum are two different questions. one is, is joe biden's tendency to say things that are dumbt going to prevent him from getting the democratic nomination? they might. he needs to have more discipline or he is not going to get the nomination. the second question that rush limbaugh is hitting hinting atn some way joe biden is morally unfit for often, when you stack them up against the president, who is paying off porn stars, multiple wives, accused of obstruction of justice, shady deals all around the world, i don'tcc think that there is goig to be -- if he is the nominee, i don't think he is going to have a problem on that front. >> jason: a lot of those accusations turned out to be false after a special prosecutor, bute sean, you've also been around the block. you've been on the receiving end

of a lot of reporters and questions and whatnot. how is unclequ joe doing out on the campaign trail? >> i think there is a false narrative out there that joe biden is some sort of political success. and austan mentioned that he said dumb things, but he has been saying dumb things since are selected in the early 1970s appeared he has run for president twice and epically failed. biden right now benefits from being associated for eight years as vice president to a frankly popular president in the democratic party. he leads because he has name i.d. and association of president obama, but he is a flip-flopping gaffe machine for 30 plus years. right now, once the other candidates have an opportunity to go after him on the debate states coming up, and over and over again, and he continues to talk, and other sandals come out and he is left on his own and doesn't have obama to carry thed tickets, he is going to fail epically as he has twice before. but this narrative that somehow he is leading in the polls because he is running a

successful campaign or has been a successful presidential candidate, it's just not proven true through his past efforts. >> jason: not charlie, are democrats going to go easy on him in the campaign debates and whatnot coming up? or do you agree with rush limbaugh that this thing is already done. it's over. >> i think we've already kind of gotten a taste of it with the attacks that we have seen by cory booker and kamala harris on joe biden for playing footsie with democratic segregationist senators and are talking about how those were the good old days when they could work together and get things done. it's amazing to watch the way the. democrats are going after biden, and what we are also seeing with these new stories, where people are going after his son for his obviously very strange and shady dealings with the chinese and with ukraine. what we are seeing is the media that is suddenly being a whole lot more -- a whole lot harsher

on a democrat than we are used to seeing with the media and democrats. and i think what we've got now is you've got democrats in the media who clearly think that biden can't close the deal. meanwhile, you are democrats in congress were obviously worried about this, and they want to try to keep them afloat, keep him alive, because they still think that biden is their best hope for beating trump. >> jason: austan -- >> jason, can i say one quick think? charlie touch on something important. but by andan large, biden prides himself on being a pragmatist democrat, right? he has not ever been considered part of the far left. rightt now, people feel that, that he is not authentically far, progressive, socialist left. by lot of folks in a the media that are enamored with a lot of these folks, kamala harris, pete buttigieg, who are truly crazy, left wing, socialist embracing type democrats, i think they realize that biden is not there guy this time.

so there is actually a motive to finally -- >> jason: sean, i want to give austan a chance to react to do that. sean brings up a good point, he is more centrist than some of the lab radical, liberal, socialist leftist out there. how does he negotiate through thate? >> he is going to have to find his way and the party. i completely disagree -- and bernie sanders, professed by his own admission a socialist, it's an inaccurate description to describe the other candidates that way. >> jason: elizabeth warren? you think elizabeth warren and joe biden have the same policy positions? >> i think the key issue sean raised and charlie raised, which is joe biden, he can't just ride on coattails and say hey, i was vice president for barack obama. he's got to come forward with convicting convincing people he is going to

be a good president. he had a tough week. that doesn't mean he is going to lose.s donald trump had tough weeks and got through some blows from his rivals, and still won the presidency. so we arey going to have to see with the vice president does. >> jason: the fundamental difference, and charlie, just 30 seconds here. the fundamental differences donald trump was winning and running as anun outsider. and there is no more of an insider than joe biden, right? >> exactly. and of course, the things donald trump said that shockednd everybody inside the beltway, those were things that everybody outside the beltway -- they thought -- when joe biden says something that doesn't make sense inside the beltway, it doesn't make sense to anybody else, either. he comes as goofball. it's usually some sort of a gaffe. >> jason: that's hard to argue. gentlemen, thank you so much for joining us here tonight, really do appreciate all three of you joining us. straight ahead on the "hannity" special, big news in the jussie smollett hate crime hoax. we'll have the latest from

chicago. then pam bondi and natalie companion will be here for reaction. stay with us. with huge savings-- like logo t's and hobbs creek henleys for under $10 each. and this coleman 48 quart cooler for under $20. now with free 2 day shipping.

♪ >> jason: welcome back to the special edition of "hannity," fighting for america and confronting the issues. the jussie smollett hate crime hoax is back in the news after a special prosecutor was appointes to review the case for fox news national correspondent matt finn joins us live from chicago with the latest. matt? >> congressmen, today a veteran judge here in chicago stated that state attorney kim foxx went against state law when she recused herself, and then appointed her right-hand man to be the "acting state attorney" rescue just a snowman jussie smollett. the judge says there is no roll

of a "acting state attorney" in this state. back in february when kim foxx recused her cell, law requires a special prosecutor should have been appointed.in now an independent prosecutor will examine the entire jussie smollett case and can bring the same or even new criminal charges against the actor. the special prosecutor will also probe kim foxx's decisions. former justice sheila o'brien submitted a presentation petitd the request. to speak of the most important thing is the judge indicated, or judicial system will be restore. >> in a statement, kim foxx responded in part "regarding recusal, i followed the advice and counsel of my been chief ethics officer, and in any event, i respectfully disagree with the court's conclusion that in thehe absence of any conflic, the appointment of a special

prosecutor is required." kim foxx can appeal, and tonight the fbi iski reportedly investigating the death threat letter that they say jussie smollett sent to himself. inspector general here in cook county is also a investigating this case. congressman? >> jason: matt, thank you very much. joining me now with the reaction is the former florida attorney general, pam bondi, and fox news contributor and attorney, emily compagno. thank you both for being with us. attorney general bondi, i don't know how it is in florida, but this case here, it seems like a simple, elementary, that you can't just recuse yourself and then appoint your right hand person, or somebody that works for you, to then take on the case. and that that is somehow arm's-length. right? >> jason, i think emily and i will tell you that you learned in law school you can't do that. it's incomprehensible that she thought she could actually get away with it. the word recuse means you take yourself off a case.

not just yourself, but anybody who's paycheck you sign. so all she had to do was get an outside prosecutor, that was her duty and obligation. o frankly, it's an outrage it has gone this far. i'm so glad the judge, the former judge, got involved in this case, because the people of chicago, the police commissioner, the mayor, everyone, they deserve to have the money reimbursed for this investigation, jussie smollett needs to face the charges that were before him, and kim foxx needs to be off this case. if not, prevented from being a state attorney ever again. >> jason: emily, joining me here in new york, not only was there a problem according to the judge making this ruling and appointing the special prosecutor, but can jussie smollett actually be charged? is he going to have to go through this whole process again? >> yes, in addition to being charged with potentially one or all of the 16 prior charges,

others can be charged as well if there is additional malfeasance found here just like the attorney general just said, the issue here is the judge found that kim foxx, literally, as he said, it was in her imagination that she could designate her deputy as acting state's attorney, an interesting thing about that is it rendered invalid, in the judge's words, everything that stemmed from that. that includes the arrest, the prosecution, and the subsequent dropping of charges. it basically means that everything that we saw play out to simply doesn't count. he also ruled it is not the inspector general's investigation by the county that goes against the defense's arguments, as well. >> jason: general bondi, this is also going to bring back in former michelle obama's chief of staff, who was involved in this case. i can't really see through the fog's here of how it played a role, and that should be investigated, as well, right?

>> jason, nor should you have to even be looking through the fog. it's ridiculous, the way the whole thing went down. so yes, michelle obama's former chief of staff contacted the prosecutor on behalf of the defendant. she should know better, as well. there could be potential federal charges, as emily knows, against smollett. i don't think the former chief of staff will be prosecuted by any means, but i think kim foxx is in big trouble for talking to this person, for continuing to keep her office on the case. jussiee smollett, the lease commissioner, the people of chicago, they deserve to have this case handled properly. chicago, we all know, ridden with homicides. so many homicides. they have such a good police officers in chicago, and of all places in the world to waste their time and take them away from real, valuable cases, it's outrageous. >> jason: emily, how do we

ultimately -- restoring confidence. matt finn's package lay that out real well, saying ultimately you have to restart conference and my confidence peered the mayor doesn't have the confidence, the police chief doesn't have confidence, nobody seems to have confidence, in where this is going. not going to get it there by doing this special prosecutor? >> hopefully at the conclusion of the investigations that it will faith restored back to the community and different agencies. i know kim foxx ran on a platform, so a lot has to be done until faith's restored. >> jason: justice, you have to get it right and be balance paid thank you both for joining us. more on this special edition of "hannity" after this break. stay with us. ♪ i have a vision correction number,

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the united states of america, still the very best country on the face of the public. have a great weekend. the "ingram angle" is u next. >> >> laura: this is a special edition of the "ingram angle" inside the issues. tonight, we bring you the political and cultural issues shaping our current conversations. from the iranian conflict to the border crisis, from the 2020 batty to the issue of abortion becoming front and center. in this presidential election. this special will cover all of it. plus it's fried so come on. get with t. crop tops and coughing fits. oh, my. of course it's raymond arroyo, he's here tonight for fried follies. but first, a great by-product of the trump presidency that doesn't get