Former Columbia classmate calls on Obama to unseal college transcripts

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Will the president release his college records?

Obama's former classmate Wayne Allyn Root speaks out

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," August 7, 2012. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Team Obama has been busy hitting Mitt Romney over his refusal to release a decade worth of tax returns. But now, a former classmate of President Obama at Columbia University is advising Governor Romney to hit back by demanding that "The Anointed One" unseal his college transcripts.

Now, Wayne Allyn Root graduated the same year as Barack Obama, and even shared the same major as the future president. But Root claims that neither he nor his classmates ever met, saw or heard of Barack Obama during the years at Columbia.

And joining us now as we continue to vet the president here on "Hannity" and unveil -- help unveil Obama's college years, it's Wayne Allyn Root. Wayne, welcome to -- you are the former libertarian VP candidate.

WAYNE ALLYN ROOT, OBAMA'S FORMER CLASSMATE: Yes. I was. In 2008, I actually ran on the presidential ticket against Barack Obama. And by the way, thanks for inviting me on, Sean. Good to be with you.

HANNITY: Good to have you on the program.

All right. So, now, it's interesting. Because how many people were in your class, total? And you're saying, everybody that you know from your years, same major, same year, same exact major, pre-law and I think was Poly-Sci, whatever it was.

ROOT: Poly-Sci.

HANNITY: Nobody knew him -- not one person saw him, heard of him?

ROOT: I was a pretty connected guy. I knew a lot of people. I knew pretty much everyone, I thought, in the Political Science Department. I never met him. I never saw him. I never heard of him. No one that I know at Columbia ever met him, ever heard of him or ever saw him. It's strange. It's mysterious. It doesn't mean he didn't go there, by the way. I'm sure he went there, but he was probably busy smoking pot and attending socialist meetings. What can I tell you?

HANNITY: All right. But the Wall Street Journal in 2008, you know, they randomly I guess called 400 people -- how many -- how many people in every class, how many though? I mean, there could be how many -- thousands?

ROOT: Well, the whole class was 700 students. I figure class of '83, Columbia, about 700. I figure Political Science, pre-law, maybe 200, 250. Like I said, I was pretty familiar with most of them. Never heard of him.

HANNITY: All right. But you are not doubting that he went and there and we are not suggesting any such thing either.

ROOT: No.

HANNITY: You have a challenge. You think there is a response, which I think is just another one of these distractions, which is, releases your tax returns, if he releases his tax returns -- then they are going to spend weeks poring over and making issues out of non-issues. So, Romney can't win. But you are saying he can if he does what?

ROOT: Yes. I think he needs to turn it around. I think if it was me under attack, I would say, why are Obama's records sealed in college, almost his entire life sealed, protected, lawyers, millions of dollars spent to keep him under lock and key, under wrap, why? If he got good grades at Columbia, then there's no issue, show them. If he got bad grades -- who cares, Sean. He's the president of the United States. He got a C once, who cares?

There is something strange here. You know, that I am an odds-maker in Las Vegas, I am a gut instinct guy. And I'm telling you, when I put the pieces together, I felt queasy about this for four years. There is something not right about Obama's record at Columbia University.

HANNITY: Right. Just in the spirit of Harry Reid that, you know, my anonymous source said that he hasn't paid taxes in 10 years or, you know, the insinuation by Cutter that Romney's a felon or the truth team member in Virginia that suggest that Romney is a racist or now the new ad that suggests he might be a murderer -- for this poor woman who had cancer. And the fact that Republicans want dirty air and water. Why don't we -- you know, what is your speculation here? Are you saying, what would these records show except maybe he was a bad student?

ROOT: Well, first of all, let's get to my trade. I think Romney should say, I will give up my tax returns for the last 10 years, if you give up all of your sealed records, make them unsealed --

HANNITY: What do you expect to find?

ROOT: Well, listen, my hunch is, how did he get into Columbia with bad grades at Occidental, which everyone at Occidental says, the guy was not a good student. How did he get to Harvard Law School if he sealed his records because he's afraid of bad grades at Columbia? How did he get into Harvard? How did he pay for expensive schools like Occidental, like Columbia, like Harvard? All very strange stories.

And my gut instinct says, there is an easy track that gets you into an Ivy League School. And you don't have to compete like a guy like me. I was valedictorian in my high school, top one half of one percent in my SAT scores. You don't have to do that if you're a foreign exchange student. They are looking for diversity, Sean. And that's an easy way to get into an Ivy League School. It changes the whole ballgame, it levels the field. If they are looking for a guy from Indonesia, and you happened to have bad grades, but you are a good talker, and a good interviewer and you got a great, exotic story, you're in.

HANNITY: So, wait a minute. So, in the spirit of Harry Reid.

ROOT: Right.

HANNITY: You are saying to Obama what Reid is saying to Romney -- prove you wrong. Is that what you're saying?

ROOT: Yes. And listen. And I am being honest. I don't know, it's a gut instinct. But again, Harry Reid doesn't make predictions for a living. I do. I look at clues and I come to conclusions. Something doesn't smell right at Columbia. If it's just grades, why not unseal your records, Mr. Obama? But if it is something else, shouldn't the American people have a right to see that?

HANNITY: I have never been a birther, I thought delaying release in the birth certificate was interesting. But there's your challenge, former libertarian vice presidential candidate -- are you voting for Romney?

(LAUGHTER)

ROOT: Listen, I'm a libertarian, which means I'm the Gary Johnson guy --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: So that's a half a vote for Obama.

ROOT: Sean, I'm a capitalist, evangelist and a small businessman --

HANNITY: And that's a half of vote for Obama. I got to go.

ROOT: I can testify that Obama has wrecked this economy.

HANNITY: All right. I appreciate you being with us. Thanks so much.

ROOT: Thank you, Sean.

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