around. it's as simple as that. i am bill o'reilly. hope to see you again next time. remember, the spin stops right here, because we're definitely arenthood. all on our pahl busy block sean: tonight -- >> one of my jobs is to keep track of all the misinformation that's out there about health insurance reform. >> watch what you say. the democratic thought police are listening much listen to how the speaker of the house, nancy pelosi, refers to you. >> we don't act immediately. millions of more jobs will be lost. sean: we acted, and guess what? unemployment is now approaching double digits. so what went wrong, mr. president? >> then i met deirdre when she got out of high school. >> my exclusive interview with don and deirdre imus at their ranch in new mexico. plus, former speaker of the house newt gingrich.

"hannity" starts right now. opposition to the health care plan continues to grow. with their backs to the ropes, liberals have launched desperate attacks on average americans just out there speaking their minds. now, first it was the tea party organizers who were slandered and even labeled racist. now the new public enemy for democrats are opponents of their health care plan. now, rather than listening to their constituents, they have dismissed them, calling them "angry mobs." the white house is also helping to lead this charge and they have asked people to report what they call "fishy behavior" regarding the health care debate. that initiative caused one republican senator to accuse the white house of developing an enemy's list. nancy pelosi recently said americans speaking out at these town halls are nazi sympathizers. >> i think -- you be the judge

of carrying swastikas at town meetings. >> and the author of "real change," now available in paperback, which has been updated to include the obama presidency, newt gingrich. good to see you. >> it's good to be here. sean: we need real change. change you can believe in. let me start with -- we have known each other for a long time, and i've watched you tactically, strategically. i don't think i can ever think of a time where modern-day conservatives and republicans actually thought it was wise politically to attack the american people like we've seen in the last couple of days. >> it's absolutely mystifying to me. because, you know, in the end the american people hire the politicians. the politicians don't hire the american people. and to go back home and basically insult people who have legitimate questions, who have concerns -- you know, all this is a wonderful moment. it's clear now that the liberals didn't get the bill in the house for the health care.

they didn't get the bill in the senate. this is a moment to take a deep breath, go home for five weeks and listen to the american people. instead, because what they're hearing is so negative, they're almost panic-stricken. i don't know what your reaction was to speaker pelosi, but i thought there was an edge there that was strange. >> but if you look at the poll numbers -- i mean, for the democrats in general and congressmen and senators in general, it is about as low as i've ever seen it in my lifetime. it's almost like they're tone-deaf. i don't believe that they believe that the american people disagree with them. >> part of what's happened is we've gone from a world that was in many ways defined by "the new york times" to a world that's now defined by fox news and talk radio and by blogs and websites and twitter. and i think the democrats are totally disoriented. because when they get together with their friends, they all agree. and then there are all these

other people out there. and i think that they're beginning to realize that if they can't run over us, they're just going to lose. sean: do you think they realize that? >> yeah. i think what you're seeing is almost like back before they outlawed the flying wedge in football. what they're seeing now is they're trying to figure out how to form a wedge of every liberal in washington to try to run over the country before the next election, because they're beginning to realize that the more the country looks at their program, whether it's a giant energy tax increase, huge increase in spending, or a health bill that would centralize power in washington, the country's more and more opposed to them. and they don't want to change. for instance -- and it's the opens of what obama -- opposite of what obama campaigned on. it's almost like they're becoming more shrill as the american people react with greater anger. sean: it's very interesting,

because the blue dogs want to be able to vote for the stimulus. they want to be able to vote for cap and tax, they want to be able to create all this debt and deficits and now health care, but now they want to be able to say they're blue dog democrats. i don't think that's going to fly in the end. do you think that -- here's their choice -- they're either going to go with obama or risk losing their jobs. what do they do? >> i think what's happening on all of these big issues now -- and i know of several cases where there are now candidates for next year in districts that have not had a major challenger in 20 years. because when certain members voted for the energy tax, it was kind of like that was it. and now there's some folks running who didn't even dream of running a month ago. now, as we move down the road on the health bill, you're starting to see the same thing. i know the medical association of georgia has helped organize 14,000 people. i mean, 14,000 doctors around the country to actively oppose the health plan. really sort of taking the

american medical association head-on, because it's the only major group which has sold out on the health plan so far. sean: i've given my take both on radio and tv in terms of what they're proposing and i've analyzed it deeply. i've looked at the c.b.o. markup on this. what is your take on what they are actually proposing? >> well in, the house they clearly want the waxmans and the starks and the franks want a big government, washington-centered control over your life model that would, over the next 10 or 12 years, eliminate the health system as we've known it and move us to a government plan. in fact, as you know, because you've used it, there's a bean frank quote where he says that -- barney frank quote where he says that. the tricky thing for the democrats now is if they apiece the blew dogs, they get them very upset. so barney frank was trying to apiece a group of -- appease a group of liberal,

pro-government people who said this is the right way to do it. this is the step that will get us to government-run health care. sean: i watched everything that happened in 1994. we've got bob mcdonald's, who was ahead by a significant margin in virginia. we've got chris christy, way ahead of a democratic governor in new jersey. seems like 1994 all over again. do you see enough districts? is there enough potential here that the republicans can win these governors' races, harry reid, chris dodd, and in the house that democrats could lose the majority? could that happen? >> i think it's hard for them to lose the majority in the senate but easy for them to ends up with a net loss of three or four. i think they will lose badly in governorships and there's an outside, but growing possibility, that you could begin to see the republicans take the house in 2010. and the reason is these things compound. when you have people that are mad over one item and then they're mad over a second and third item, they build

momentum. sean: by the way, where you now should be snitched on and the place for everyone to go is flag@white house.gov because you just said something negative against president barack obama. >> maybe i'll submit something myself, so they won't have to have anyone report me. sean: i've invited my entire audience to go snitch on me. thank you, mr. speaker. thank you very much. coming up, my exclusive interview with don and deirdre imus. the new unemployment data is coming out tomorrow. looks like more bad news for

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more americans rated president george w. bush's first six months in office as a success than president obama's. now, the news from quinnipiac university is even worse. their latest survey shows that the president's approval numbers have dropped all the way to 50%. joining me now with reaction, fox news anchor/analyst kimberly guilfoyle and a columnist, and we have other polls showing that his approval now has dropped that threshold, you know, below 50%. >> that's right. sean: how do you analyze? >> well, if i'm working his administration, i'm very concerned. this is not a good sign, especially since he's trying to increase his political capital and good will with health care reform, to show that he's someone who will follow through on his promises. you see the american public dissatisfied with what he has intended for health care reform. that doesn't appear to be working. he's not building the constituency that he needs to. his numbers are a reflex in other areas that people see him failing in. >> the obama campaign was so

effective because it was organized, targeted and on message of the the obama presidency is the polar opposite. it's disorganized, it's chaotic and it's off message. he's got his advisors, geithner and summers, saying one thing about the economy. he says something else. he's getting distracted by imagined race issues. he has to -- >> and the beer summit. >> he has to walk biden down every five minutes about something. they're creating all these programs. they don't know how they're going to pay for them or how fast the money is going. that's not confidence-inspiring. sean: this is the first time he's ever had a position as a chief executive or a boss or as a manager. >> as a manager, light. you mean community organizer? >> he's been outsourcing everything, though. it's no wonder this administration seems like it's out of control. it's got shadowy czars doing who knows what in every corner of d.c. he outsources things to varies committees. it's no wonder one person says

one thing, another person says another. sean: why did he hand a lot of this over to nancy pelosi and the democrats, knowing how radical they are? they've got their own agenda, which is not necessarily his. >> that seems like sabotaging himself to do something like that, because check out the polling numbers. people were dissatisfied with congress because they didn't have the authority that they felt to act appropriately. they weren't making good decisions on behalf of the american people. so that was a big mistake. the czars is another mistake, because people don't even know what that means. it's bizarre with "the wizard of oz." it's as if some teenagers have abscobbeded with their parents' credit card and are spending money. sean: the rasmussen poll shows that the american people think these deficits are out of control. more interestingly, though, his single greatest initiative, which is nationalizing health care is not garnering support. it is down 15 points in the latest polls that i've been reading. so the question is, you know, now that they're lashing out

against the american people, you know, does that seem like an effective strategy? not to me. >> no. anyone on madison avenue will tell you you don't win consumers by insulting them. and that's exactly what they're doing. i think obama thinks that if he gets other people to deliver the bad news it will make him more popular. and if the congressional budget office says that the health care program is flawed and he doesn't, he doesn't think it's really going to affect him. but of course it does. he is completely off message. he's lost control, really. >> and he had to reach out to bill clinton to go save him, to work it out with kim jong il and bring back the two american hostages, and i don't know that that necessarily translates to obama. sean: and the lack of trance patientscy -- transparency. i think all of these things are coming together. if you were to offer advice to obama on how to get back to track -- and i'll tell you what my advice will be. we'll go really quick.

kimberly, what would yours be? >> your advice would be step down. sean: that's my fantasy, that's my dream. >> i think that he needs to not worry so much about, per se, polling numbers, but focus on actually doing something that works for the american public and not trying to do these like bizarre things that he's being advised on by people who don't know what they're doing. >> i think he's lost total control. he's delegated way too much responsibility. i don't know what david action elrod is doing behind the scenes. >> he needs to stand back and look at the big picture. i don't think he's capable of doing that. >> if you get engaged in too much wind-checking, you put your finger about it, what do i think about this, do i take my tie off, do i take my jacket off? he's losing control and spiraling and it's not effective. it was a good campaign, though. sean: we've got to go. polling news isn't the only bad news. new unemployment numbers coming out tomorrow, and our interview with don and deirdre imus

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sean: new unemployment numbers come out tomorrow, and that means more bad news for the obama administration and the american peel. now, in february the president warned us that if we didn't rush his pork bill through congress, unemployment would exceed 8.3%. here's a reminder. >> economists from across the spectrum have warned that if we don't act immediately, millions of more jobs will be lost. the national unemployment rate will approach double digits not just here in elkhart, but all across the country. that's why i put together a plan that is now before congress. sean: well, guess what? $787 billion later and unemployment now approaching

double digits, it's not looking good out there. fox business network stuart varney joins us. stewart, you've been phenomenal on the issues involving the economy. i applaud you a lot. we're going to get some news tomorrow on these economic numbers. unemployment will go higher. >> yes, the unemployment rate will go little bit higher. the key thing is we'll have lost hundreds of thousands of jobs in july and we're going to keep bleeding jobs through the rest of this year. and when it's all over, when we've flattened out the beginning of next year, we will have lost seven million jobs since it all began. and i think it's going to take at least three years to get them back. >> that is a scary prediction. it is. i have one question i ask everybody -- social security is bankrupt, medicare is bankrupt. unemployment wasn't supposed to go above 8%. and now people are believing the new propaganda about health care. why do you think that is? >> it's a very effective spin, but it's not actually working, is it? you look at the numbers, and the poll ratings are coming

down very, very sharply. because if you really look at how it feels on the ground, it feels really bad and it's getting worse. i don't think, sean, that americans are going to be very happy putting up with mediocrity, a mediocre economic performance for very, very long. high unemployment, higher taxes coming. the treasury is empty. we look like europe. are we going to stand for that for very long? i don't think so >> there's no fresher in the treasury. that's one way to put it. there was a report out today. 34 million americans are now on food stamps in this country. july retail sales, their numbers are down dramatically. and there was a reuters report today, stewart, that literally they expect by the year 2011 that half the mortgages in this country will be underwater. >> yes. that was a deutsche bank study. by the year 2011, half the people with a mortgage will owe more on the home than the home is worth. sean: what does that mean? >> that means a riot of foreclosures coming down the

pike. sean: isn't that what got us into this? the subprime housing crisis? >> it started with housing. became a financial panic. the financial panic was to some degree controlled, and then the economy fell off a cliff. and it's not quite finished falling off that cliff just yet. >> the people that lost 30% or 40% of the retirement in the stock market, now their home values will plummet. now they're going to be underwater in their mortgages. what is the ripple effect? >> they're the ones that are going to be asked to pay higher taxes. the rich, the so-called rich, have been decimated by the stock market decline. the housing selloff. and now they're going to get hit with high income taxes, capital gains taxes, estate taxes. they're the ones who are supposed to be paying for all of this largeesse from the government. sean: did you see the now numbers that came out from the i.r.s.? 1.4 million people pay more in federal taxes than 135 million other americans. >> you've passed the tipping points. you now have a situation where

only half the people who work pay any federal income tax whatsoever. so why shouldn't they vote for a tax increase on everybody else? sean: obama has accumulated $1 trillion in debt, quadrupled the deficit, revenues are down 50%. these are all numbers that came out this week. my question to you is you study this for a living. where is the economy going? how bad is it? >> ok. the economy is about to stop its free fall. it's going to bump along the bottom. and i don't know where it's going to go by this time next year. but what i can tell you is that we're in uncharted territory with this deficit. it will be $2 trillion this year. at least $1 trillion next year. sean, i don't know, but it's out there, it's looming. more dangerous is a collapse of the u.s. dollar, because foreigners won't lend us the money, which we're desperately trying to borrow. that's the scary scenario. sean: stewart, always good to see yo discover new seafood creations...

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sean: radio talk show host don imus is known for his controversial comments, but not everyone knows about the work that he and his wife, deirdre, do in new mexico. his ranch is a spalling 45-acre ranch designed to resemble an old western town. don and deirdre take in kids with cancer and their siblings

all summer long and give them a taste of a working ranch. i had a chance to ride horses with he and the kids and sit down with don and died dre. >> you've talked about the ranch for how many years? >> 10, 11 years. >> you've got 4,500 acres. i can't even begin to describe this place. tell me how you conceived this whole thing and the kids and how you invite them here. tell everybody the story. >> let me tell you part of it, and i'll let the ayatollah finish. >> that's a kind word. >> see, here's the point. >> no, but you can't -- well -- >> you think it's funny, until it's about you. you're like everybody else. i was just kidding, honey. >> you forgot to iron your face. >> could you get a tighter t-shirt? anyway, well, somebody asked me if i wanted to raise money for

this outfit years ago when i was at a radio station, but i didn't know anything about them but i said, yeah, sure. after we investigated them and found out they weren't a bunch of crooks, unlike a lot of other agencies, where they were riding around in limos, hire hookers and you don't know what they do. anyway, then i met deirdre, as soon as she got out of high school. sean: does this go on all the time? >> no, but i was driving by the school and i was like, wow, what is that? >> i was like, yeah, grandpa. >> so i slowed the limo down, handed her a candy bar, but anyway, we found out what they do every year to raise money, and we had kids with cancer on. she noticed. what did you notice about the kids? >> well, what we noticed is that every kid that was diagnosed with cancer had lost their self-esteem, their

self-confidence and had been told they can't do things, you know. some rightly so and coddled by their parents and a lot of the medical professionals, but we saw that was a common theme, that a lot of them lost their sense of purpose in life even. they were playing sports. some of them were good athletes or in activities at school and stopped everything. so he grew up -- don grew up on a cattle ranch. we thought we wanted to do something else, too, to specifically -- how could we help those kids regain their confidence. and we saw that no medical professional or psychologist or even parent could fulfill that. he talked about the work ethic. 4 years old he's feeding the animals with ranch hands and his dad an everyone before they even had breakfast. and he said that's a lot of his self-confidence and work ethic, and really, the cowboy ethic comes from that, ha hard work and that discipline, that structure and that sense of being needed in the community. and he said that's it, i got

it. we'll build a working cattle ranch for kids with cancer, and that's really how this all came about. it's like a new paradigm that's been created. before we did this, we were criticized, saying that -- doctors telling you that you can't make sick kids work, you can't make them do all these chores. a lot of the stuff you're talking about making them do is going to be too difficult. sean: this is an exhaustive sun-up to sunset working ranch. these kids get up in the morning. they do chores. why don't you describe a day for these kids on an average day. >> well, i just wanted to add what deirdre said to her discussion of what we perceived in the kids. as they were being defined by their disease, we instinctively knew then, and i really didn't understand how -- did you know i had cancer, by the way, sean? sean: i was going to ask you about that. >> sure you were. the second i announced i had

cancer, people started to treat me -- it was ridiculous the way they were treating me. they sarksde well, how are you feeling? nobody asked how i was feeling. i don't have any friends, why would they care how i feel? well, can you still get on the treadmill? so when i talked to the kids about that, they all nodded in agreement, because they get patronized by their peers. kids can be horrible to one another, as can adults, by the way. so, anyway, that was part of our motivation to bring them out here and give them an opportunity to restore their dignity and their self-esteem, by letting them prove to themselves that they can do anything any other kid can do and not to let somebody tell them that they can't. >> but this is important to you, though. you have a whole list of rules here. they get up in the morning. they do their chores. then they clean the stalls. >> you're up at 5:30 a.m.. we wake them up. >> that is torture, by the way.

if i was a kid at 5:30, i would not get up. >> there are no electronics, no televisions, they can't bring cell phones, ipods, game boards, none of that junk. enough of that junk. they can't bring any of that stuff here. they have to say yes, sir, no, sir. they can't make fun of each other. can't call each other names. they have to work, but real ranch jobs. i mean, we're not killing kids. and then we teach them to be cowboys and cowgirls. we run the ranch, by the way, 50/50. >> right. >> and if we don't agree, then we do what she wants. that's the way it is. anyway -- >> i just wanted to make this points, because people make the mistake when someone is diagnosed, and especially a child. we take children 11 to 17 years old and they end up feeling sorry for them. and sympathy and feeling sorry for someone never helps somebody. and patronizing somebody. so we don't patronize and we

don't feel sorry for these kids. we have compassion and empathy. there's a big difference. >> ranch hands are not even allowed to mention their illness. >> no. >> they don't talk about it. >> if a child brings it up, that's different. we're here to listen. we're not here to get around the campfire. there's a mantra here, this isn't camp happy face. we're not here to show your feelings and let's talk about it. sean: and get in their sandbox with all this other psychobabble. >> they don't want that. >> no, they don't. >> they may want it at camps they go to and stuff, but we were initially criticized because we built this magnificent facility and we took 10 kids at a time. well, the hacienda, the way she designed it, it was built for 10 kids at a time. their bedrooms are down there and ours are right next to them. i know it sounds corny, but we wanted it to be like a bonanza, the family living on the ranch, and we'd be their parents, and in this case, from hell -- >> at least you.

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sean: welcome back, as we continue more of my interview with don and deirdre imus at the imus ranch for kids with cancer in new mexico. so you don't have the reputation of being sweet and cuddly, but you invested an enormous amount of time, energy. you built this place. you live here the entire summer with the kids. that's a little bit different than maybe the don imus that people hear on the radio or people have come to know over the years or people who are listening to you banter with your wife here. >> well, you know, i'm still not mother teresa or pope joan, you know, but i get on the kids. i don't get on them as much as i used to. they don't want to be coddled. they want to be treated like

regular kids. here's a stunning statistic -- we have kids here. they have a rodeo competition. they have to ride a horse through an obstacle course, jump off a horse, rope a steer and tie a steer. here's what we've noticed. we take kids here who are cancer siblings and we take siblings of kids who have lost their brother or sister to sudden infant death syndrome. not one of these kids from the group with no physical ailments has ever been able to beat a kid with cancer, ever, ever, in terms of time. sean: here's the question i have. is there a split personality of don imus? i mean, i'll ask her this question. because you know his reputation. >> well, what reputation? what is this? are we going to have me on "hannity" and make me feel bad as i battle my cancer here? i also have emphysema, that i'm

older than dirt? >> well, this is the whole don imus, you know? sean: but here's a guy that a lot of people know as acerbic, controversial, hard-hitting, and then he builds this 4,500-acre paradise for kids, invites them in. you're the surrogate father. >> but i would have never done that myself. we did it together. sean: in other words, is there a different side to don imus than maybe other people know and this is it here, this is the don imus that people don't know? >> definitely now they will know who don't know this. but this -- >> what it is, i wouldn't have done it myself. i mean, i may have gotten the idea, but i would have never done it. i wouldn't know how to do it. but we -- and i'm not patronizing her, because if i could get her in a wood chipper, i would. that's not true. but she's on her best behavior.

>> you laugh, but -- that's why i have my knife here. he couldn't get me in the wood chipper. yeah, right, try it, honey, try it. >> if she had not met me, she'd probably be out in hollywood having sex with people, trying to get in movies. sean: oh, geez. >> which is what i told her i would do when i met her, but anyway -- sean: i've lost all control of this interview. this is a first, by the way. i'm usually in total control. >> no, we're just answering your questions. sean: and i appreciate that. let me ask you a hard question, because you've become the surrogate parents for the time that they're here. these kids build their self-esteem. they do their chores. i saw you having them make their beds. they get up at 5:30. they ride horses. a lot of these kids have never been around horses before. so then you have a rodeo at the end of this, and one kid will emerge the winner of this rodeo contest. it's not like back in new york,

where everybody wins and the score is equal. >> no. sean: which is the right way to do things. but then these kids leave and some of them you know are not going to make. i and a lot of kids that have come through this ranch have gone home and they have not made it. how hard is that for you? >> well -- sean: it's hard, it's hard. you get close to these kids. you really -- >> well, you know, the thing that's the worst -- i mean, it's horrible the kids who die. but it's worse the kids who, when we find out what a horrible home environment they have. the divorce rate for kids with cancer is around 80%. same with kids who are brothers and sisters, sudden infant

death syndrome. and, i mean, we had a kid here a couple of go rounds ago. the kid was just impossible. and, you know, you can only be so tough on a sid. and he was a big kid. he was just refusing to do whatever, you know. he wanted to go home. so deirdre was talking to him and we were out in the kitchen -- so i just put my hand up on his head like you would pet somebody. and the kid looked at me like -- i mean, nobody had ever done that to him. he's a big kid. he's taller than i will. and nobody had ever -- and then i just kind of was patting his arm -- pet is not the right word, but -- and the kid -- then he told us how his father

beats him. but you want to go to somebody's house like that and pistol whip them, you know. so -- but the kid did a complete turnaround. and then, of course, he wanted to stay here. so as hard as it is to go to these kids' funerals, which we do, it's a lot harder -- well, not a lot harder, but it's equally as hard to send them back to these homes we know they're going to. after they've been here, you know, i mean, we would be better parents for them. they know that. so they try to get us to adopt them. not all of them, but -- it's tough to talk about. sean: we'll have more with don and deirdre imus in just a [ female announcer ] which new product do women think is best? according to a study presented by better homes and gardens,

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sean: we continue now with more with don and deirdre imus, who have providing a sanctuary for kids with cancer and their siblings for 10 years at the imus ranch. this year is a little bit different, because this is the first year you were diagnosed this year. you have cancer. >> i have prostate cancer. sean: you've been very public about it. but the first thing you did was go on the air and almost from day one, you were making jokes about it. and do you have a different perspective based on the fact that you're now battling this yourself? >> completely different, because -- well, i don't know about completely different. i knew what these kids thought, that they were being defined by their disease. because, as i explained to them, bad stuff happens to everybody. nobody goes through life undefeated, nobody. sean: nobody. i agree. >> but cancer has a certain stigma to it. and so if you allow people,

which i refuse to do, to -- i mean, you can't change the way people think, but you don't have to allow it to change the way you think. sean: let me ask you a question. because you know we discussed and the whole country discussed your firing way back when. we covered it a lot on your show. i debated al sharpton at the time and we had a knock down battle over the issue of things that he had said in the past. here you have this ranch that you literally -- you personally have put in considerable amount. i don't know what the finances are. and you've had over 1,000 kids at this ranch, many of them minority kids. this issue with rutgers comes down at 6:15 in the morning. you make these comments. and all these things you've done for these kids of all background, all races, etc., should that have -- was there no context, no texture given to your life? is that fair?

>> i think it is. sean: you think it is fair, that there shouldn't be any context. >> not in this case. i went and talked to those kids, my wife and i did, those rutgers kids. i talked to their parents and their grandparents. they're playing for basketball. they're playing for the basketball championship. they didn't know who i was and didn't care and shouldn't. they weren't listening to me. an suddenly out of the blue somebody makes a comment about their appearance. but something that speaks so basically to the african-american community that african-americans among themselves signify on one another, it's a defining description of an african-american woman's hair. and so when they told me -- so i never thought -- and i never offered the excuse that anything i had done in my life entitled me to say that about those women. sean: nothing entitled you to

say it. you were genuinely sorry. you were already fired, and you still went to meet with them, which i thought all those things were the right thing to do. apologized. but i'm just wondering if -- we're living in a political world now where there's zero context, zero texture to who you really are. >> well, see, i would argue that i don't think that entitles me to say what i want to say and have such a dramatic impact on their life. >> and life isn't fair. i know what you're saying, why didn't anyone cover that, or why wasn't that the context of all that because of all the good work. but, you know, frankly, that's not why he's doing it. that's not why i'm doing it. sean: you're not doing it to get brownie points. >> there are no two people who are bigger fans of yours than us and now you're badgering me and beating on me, and it's ridiculous. by the way, that was my beef with president obama, who i think is a hypocritical phony about this, because the first

-- as soon as reverend wright jumped up, the first thing the president wants to do is he wants us to put all of reverend wright's good works into context. sean: what good works? >> well, whatever he you that. and to put his life into context. obama wasn't willing to do that with me. i mean, shut up. and then he couldn't throw wright under the bus quick enough. thank god there was enough room when his grandmother made some comment, he had her under the bus. so, you know, i don't think reverend wright should have ran his mouth like he did, and we're not going to put into context his life, and i don't think anybody should have done mine. what i told those girls at rutgers is i will never -- in your lifetime, you won't be sorry that you forgave me, because i will never embarrass you. i will never say something like that about anybody, about you or anybody else. plus, what i've done in the past year and a half is i'll make an effort to have a

discussion about -- a legitimate, not a phony -- a legitimate discussion about race relations and make it as amusing as we can and so on, which i've done. and i love you and other folks who are defending me the way you did, but i just don't think anything i've done in my life entitles me to say whatever i feel like saying. sean: but it's amazing that the president hung out with? guy. you had a funny line. >> well, you scared us to death. because i'm thinking when the president gets elected, he's got a name in his cabinet, people like angela davis, reverend wright, bill heirs and all these nuts. then i come to find out he just got everybody in the clinton administration. sean: but he's got a few extremists in there, too. >> well, they're wall street crooks. sean: i turned out to be pretty accurate about how radical he'd be. you disagree with me on that? you don't think he's pretty radical on the economy, on health care, on his reckless spending, his weakening of our defenses? you talk about these things every day.

>> not like you do, though, because you actually know what you're talking about. my job is just to -- >> he's looking for the yucks. >> my job is to be the commentator on the freak parade. sean: it is a freak parade. all right. but let me ask you this. one of the things -- you're committed to this whole thing and this is a big part of your life. politics is a big part of your life. is this the most -- when you look at your entire life's story, don imus, one of the biggest radio hosts in the world and one of the most successful, are you most proud of this? is this what gives you the most joy? >> and on a serious note, my relationship with deirdre and what we've been able to -- because -- sean: you're ruining the interview now. because up to this point the fighting was really great for ratings. >> i wasn't riding around in a limo looking for somebody to help. and this really was an

accident. the fact that we were able to raise $40 million, $50 million that she and i worked together as well as as we do and were able to -- >> he looks puzzled now. i mean, with all the fighting, that's kind of like our relationship, too. sean: guys, i know i've taken a lot of your time. the ranch is beautiful and what you're doing for these kids is phenomenal. and i won't ask -- the worst thing you could ever do to don is ask you how are you feeling? how is the treatment going? do you ever get a response on that? >> oh, well -- >> all the time. i'm fine. we raise money for the imus ranch, we encourage people to come out here. we operate entirely on donations. we contribute our own money. it's one of the best-run public charities on the planet, the imus ranch, and people can feel comfortable contributing to it, and we want them to. sean: i've got to tell you folks, having been out there, amazing stuff they're doing out