Ingraham: Trump shouldn't get bogged down by battling media

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Ingraham: Trump shouldn't get bogged down by battling media

Radio talk show host goes on 'Hannity' to weigh in on the candidate's attacks against the press

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," January 9, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN HANNITY, HOST (voice-over):  Tonight, on this special edition of "Hannity," Donald Trump takes on the liberal media.

DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE:  Do we like the media?

AUDIENCE:  No!

TRUMP:  Do we hate the media?

AUDIENCE:  Yes!

HANNITY:  While Hillary Clinton hides from the press and President Obama lashes out at Fox News and talk radio.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES:  I haven't, you know, turned on Fox News or listened to conservative talk radio yet today.

I'm not exaggerating in terms of their story.  That's the story they tell.

HANNITY:  Katie Couric is caught selectively editing her anti-gun documentary.

KATIE COURIC, JOURNALIST:  How do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?

HANNITY:  And Telemundo is busted staging and choreographing a shot at a Donald Trump protest.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Is Telemundo staging a shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Oh, probably.

HANNITY:  This special edition of "Hannity" starts right here, right now.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HANNITY:  And welcome to this special edition of "Hannity: Presidential Politics and the Press."  Now, tonight for the hour, we're going to take a look how the liberal media is trying to influence the 2016 race for the White House.

Now, earlier this week, after the press went after Donald Trump over his donations to veterans' charities, well, the presumptive GOP nominee held a press conference to set the record straight, and he went right at them. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP:  I have never received such bad publicity for doing such a good job. Look, the media -- you know my opinion of the media.  It's very low.  I think the media is, frankly, made up of people that in many cases, not in all cases, are not good people.  I have to tell you, the press is so dishonest and so unfair.

I've been dealing with the press a long time.  I think the political press is among the most dishonest people that I've ever met.

But what I don't want is when I raise millions of dollars, have people say, like this sleazy guy right over here from ABC -- he's a sleaze, in my book.

QUESTION:  (INAUDIBLE)

TRUMP:  You're a sleaze because you know the facts and you know the facts well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Now, after those exchanges, the press wasn't too happy about being called out by Mr. Trump.  Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION:  Is this what it's going it be like covering if you if you're president?

TRUMP:  Yes, it is.

QUESTION:  We're going to have this kind of confrontation in the press room?

TRUMP:  OK, yes, it is going it be like this, David.  If the press writes false stories, like they did with this because, you know, half of you are amazed I raised all of this money.  If the press writes false stories like they did where I wanted to keep a low profile -- I didn't want the credit for raising all this money for the vets.  I wasn't looking for the credit. And by the way, more money is coming in.  I wasn't looking for the credit. But I had no choice but to do this because the press was saying I didn't raise any money for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  And here with reaction is the editor-in-chief of Lifezette.  Fox News contributor, nationally syndicated radio talk show host Laura Ingraham is with us.

You know, look at these words, that they're dishonest, they're unfair, his opinion of them is low -- by the way, so is the American people's opinion -- that they should be embarrassed, he said.  They're not good people.  I agree with all of that.

And we saw this play out in The New York Times.  We'll get to this later about Telemundo staging protests, choreographing what protesters should do. We saw Katie Couric insert eight seconds of dead air.  Nobody wants dead air on television or radio!

But they got called out, and to me, it was a good thing.  And I think the press died, journalism died in 2008.  How profound was this attack by Trump?

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX CONTRIBUTOR:  Well, I think so many folks who are watching this -- this play out between Trump and the press are saying to themselves, Finally, finally someone's calling out the dishonesty.

And at the same time, I'll say, Sean, I don't think it's necessarily cool for Trump to take on every incoming missile or missilette from one of these media...

HANNITY:  Missilette?

(LAUGHTER)

INGRAHAM:  Yes, I think -- yes, you know what I mean?  It's like you're shooting down at these people.  Reagan -- you know, I worked for President Reagan all these years ago, and he always kind of dealt with them with a wink and a smile, and then went right back to the American people.

And I just think there's a little bit of a danger here of getting bogged down with the back-and-forth constantly with the press critics.  He knows the press is against him.  They're going to fight him every step of the way.

HANNITY:  Look at the case of the veterans, all right, nearly $6 million. At one point he said, Well, are you going to ask Hillary how much the Clinton Foundation has given?  They've given...

INGRAHAM:  Yes, which is a great question.

HANNITY:  ... over the years $70,000.  That's a legitimate comparison that they themselves ought to be thinking about if they were truly honest, fair, balanced.  They're not, though.

INGRAHAM:  Well, their whole point -- yes, but Sean, their whole point is that he only got the money together for the veterans' groups when The Washington Post started digging around about it, and then he wrote his million-dollar check kind of late in the game.  I mean, they were, like, nitpicking him on the timing of -- as if Trump was -- did we really think Trump was going to, like, keep all the money for himself?  I don't think anyone...

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY:  Yes, he's going to steal it.  He's a billionaire, right, who's going to steal the $6 million for the vets.

INGRAHAM:  Yes, I mean, I don't think anyone -- yes, I think this election is going to be won, or lost, on this question.  Who is going to grow this economy?  Who's going to make the lives of the average Americans better? Who's going to make the country stronger, the border more enforced, better deals, protect our sovereignty and our independence.

I don't think the back and forth of the press, as entertaining00 believe me, I find it very entertaining and well deserved in most cases.  I just don't want this to turn into the Trump media show...

HANNITY:  Well, but...

INGRAHAM:  ... for the rest of the election because I don't think that ultimately will be good.

HANNITY:  In the course of a week, though, The New York Times story got debunked.  Katie Couric got exposed.  Telemundo got exposed.  So I think it's as relevant as it ever has been.  And he -- he took them on hard over the vets issues.

Let me give you one example.  And I actually think the election is going to be about, Are you better off than you were eight years ago?

INGRAHAM:  Right.

HANNITY:  And has liberalism failed again?  And I think the answer is yes. And does Donald Trump offer a better vision for the country?

But let's take The New York Times.  Carrie Prejean and this woman, Brewer Lane, Rowanne Brewer Lane, you know, featured in The New York Times. a hit piece against Trump.  They didn't expose Kathleen Willey, interview her or Juanita Broaddrick...

INGRAHAM:  No, of course not.

HANNITY:  ... or Paula Jones.  But they tried to smear and besmirch Trump and it backfired, and it backfired because the women themselves spoke out. And here's part of what they said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  I basically, you know, wouldn't give them a story, and now they came out with their own version of it and took, you know, something out of my book and just totally twisted it and made it so negative.  And I have nothing but positive things to say about Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  They were trying to paint him in a bad light. There's nothing else that can convince me otherwise.

HANNITY:  Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  Having asked them so many times and being promised repeatedly that it was not going to be exactly what it turned out to be and made me angry.  I'm not going to just say that's OK because it's not supposed to happen.  It shouldn't happen.  And we can't let it happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  So the featured women, to feel compelled...

INGRAHAM:  Of course.  I mean, Sean, they're going to do this.  This is what's going to happen between now and the first week in November to Donald Trump.  They're going to say that he doesn't like women, they're going to say that he's a perpetual, you know, lawsuit, you know, freak.  Everything that they can possibly say, they're going to say.  They're going to exaggerate.  They're going to downright lie.

And I think he's nailed them dead to rights on this.  And most people watching the exchange between Trump and one of these, you know, nasty press people -- he'll always come out on the top of that.

My only point here is one of kind of tonality.  His great strength is not backing down from a fight, but it's also, I think, laying out...

HANNITY:  Yes.

INGRAHAM:  ... when he gets into the specifics, laying out an agenda of growth and economic opportunity.  I just don't want him to get too sidetracked.

HANNITY:  Understood.  I think you make a good point.

INGRAHAM:  That's all.

HANNITY:  I think the fact that it's such big news this week and it happened consecutively, I think is a pretty powerful indictment against them.

It was funny, Dan Rather actually said the following.  He said, "I felt a shudder down my spine"...

INGRAHAM:  Oh, how sad.

HANNITY:  ... "watching Donald Trump's attack against the press.  This is not a moment to be trifled with.  It wasn't his first tirade.  It won't be his last."  I'm kind of...

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY:  And look at his career.  It's pretty funny!

INGRAHAM:  You had -- you had -- you had poor old Brian Williams.  You had Jason Blair at The New York Times.  You had Dan Rather's deal.  You got Katie Couric.  You know, they -- now they're digging up things that Trump said in 1994 about women or wives who work.  I mean, they will stop at nothing.

But I'm saying I think the American people are on to this game.  I really do.  And the old identity politics looks really stale after we've had a Democrat in the White House for seven-and-a-half years who's still blaming George W. Bush!

So I think Trump has -- I think he has the world at his feet if he plays it right and mixes the substance with some of the fun banter, which I think at the same time is very entertaining.

HANNITY:  And the irony is the mainstream media asked Barack Obama as a candidate one time -- and I said the question before a debate to George Stephanopoulos about Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn.  He didn't know who they were.

INGRAHAM:  Yes.

HANNITY:  One time, and to me, that tells the whole story.

But Laura, thanks for being with us.

INGRAHAM:  Great to see you.

HANNITY:  And coming up next on this special edition of "Hannity"...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE:  I've done nearly 300 interviews, and they're not even sure they captured all the ones that I've done.  But I believe that we do and we should answer questions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Hillary Clinton -- she offers up that lame response after being called out for not doing a press conference in about six months.  We'll check in with Dr. Ben Carson.  He's here to weigh in.

And also tonight...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA:  I haven't, you know, turned on Fox News or listened to conservative talk radio yet today, but I've turned them on enough over these past seven-and-a-half years to know I'm not exaggerating in terms of their story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  The anointed one bashing FOX news and talk radio while liberals are up in arms about Donald Trump pushing back against the press.  We'll have reaction.

All of that and more on this special edition of "Hannity: Presidential Politics and the Press," as we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

HANNITY:  And welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity: Presidential Politics and the Press."  Now, this week, Donald Trump called out Hillary Clinton.  She's not held a press conference in nearly six months.  Now, Clinton was asked about her lack of access to the press earlier this week, and here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  It's been something like five or six months since you've held an actual press conference.  Is that something you're going to remedy soon?

CLINTON:  Oh, I'm sure we will.  You know, look, I was shocked myself that I've done nearly 300 interviews, and they're not even sure they captured all the ones that I've done.  But I believe that we do and we should answer questions.  Of course, I'm going to in many, many different kinds of settings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Now, interviews are not the same thing as a press conference. Joining us now is someone who knows what it's like to deal with the liberal media.  Former 2016 presidential candidate, now supporting Donald Trump, Dr. Ben Carson is back with us.

You know, isn't this an amazing phenomenon that the closer that Hillary Clinton gets to securing the nomination, the weaker she gets and the more afraid she seems to be to go out to the media because all the scandals that surround her.  Isn't that the real reason she doesn't want to do a press conference?

DR. BEN CARSON, R-FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE:  Well, you know, anybody who really thinks that they have the right answers and the solutions should be anxious to do a press conference in order to get that information out. But she seems to shy away from situations that she can't totally control. And that's not (ph) something that I think thinking Americans should be able to see quite readily.  And that would be a very good reason not to have her as commander-in-chief.

HANNITY:  You know, you've got the inspector general report that just came out that contradict everything she's been saying about the e-mails, lie after lie after lie.  You got Bryan Pagliano wants to plead the 5th in a Judicial Watch case.  Then you've got, you know, Cheryl Mills, who gives a deposition a week ago, and Cheryl Mills, what, 200 times with seven lawyers objecting during the five-hour deposition, and then not recalling the rest of the time?

It seems like there are too many questions she cannot answer without putting herself in legal jeopardy.  Do you agree...

CARSON:  Well, the sad -- no, the sad thing is that there are so many Americans who have access to everything that you just said, and it doesn't matter to them.  It doesn't matter that the person that they support is a perpetual liar.  It doesn't matter that she said, "What difference does it make" in Benghazi, would not send help when they pleaded for help.

You know, is this the kind of person that we really want to have?  We've had better choices than this.  And are we going to do this to our children and our grandchildren?  And then you look at the e-mail scandal.  You know, with all the experience, where she talks about her great experience, first lady for eight years, senator for eight years, secretary of state, you don't have enough judgment not to put vital information into a non-secure (sic) place, and then you sit around and you try to blame everybody else for it and say, Oh, Colin Powell did it and Condoleezza Rice and everybody else did.  No, they did not do it.

HANNITY:  Yes.

CARSON:  This is a problem.

HANNITY:  You know, and everything they seem to attack Donald Trump on, having friendly surrogates in the media like The New York Times or Telemundo or any of these other reporters that are in the Clinton camp, it seems to boomerang back on them.  It started with the whole gender issue, and then it raised questions about Bill Clinton's conduct and abuse of women, Hillary's enabling and her involvement in smearing and slandering some of these women.

And more recently, they went after, quote, "Trump University."  And then you have the appointed firm donating money to Hillary, and on top of that, paying Hillary and Bill a lot of money for speeches.  So that falls apart.

And even on the Trump University case, how many people that know Bill Clinton was paid $16.5 million in four years for this laureate (ph) college that is literally, according to students, taking advantage of them all across the world?  That's a huge sum of money, don't you think?

CARSON:  Absolutely.  You know, I recently talked to a physician who went to Trump University, and this man is very wealthy, but he's not wealthy from being a physician.  He's wealthy from what he learned at Trump University and learning how to do investments.  And now he's become very successful in the real estate area.  And he says that's attributable of Trump University.  So I'm sure you can find people who had bad experiences there, as you can at any university.  But you know, they need to look at this objectively.

HANNITY:  Yes.  You know, I get attacked at certain points, although I feel like I've asked every single candidate, when I was interviewing them, during in the process, when there were 17 of you running for office, every question I could possibly think of.  And my strategy was to let the candidates talk.

What was your experience like with the media, generally speaking?

CARSON:  Well, you know, I had an episode like the one that Donald Trump had a couple of days ago with the media back in December.  And you know, I really let them have it because, you know, they were taking these lies about me and the West Point story and spreading them around like they were truth.  And then when it was discovered that they were completely off base, did they come back and say anything?  Of course not.

The same thing, you know, with the temper thing.  When they found out that it was true, oh, they said nothing, and on and on and on because they were just desperate.  They have an agenda, and that's their problem.  It was really only after I got to a double-digit lead head to head over Hillary Clinton that they started coming out with all this stuff.  They clearly have agendas.

HANNITY:  Let me change topics a little on you.  If Donald Trump comes to Dr. Ben Carson, says, I want to put you in charge of Health and Human Services, I want you to replace ObamaCare with health savings accounts, would you do it?

CARSON:  I would certainly be willing to help make that happen, and a lot of other things, too.  But Sean, one of the things that I've found very useful is to be able to be out there all over the country talking to all kinds of different groups, helping to educate people about what's going on, and then being able to interface with the administration.  I think that will be extraordinarily valuable, too.  So you know, we would certainly talk about which is more valuable.

HANNITY:  All right, Dr. Carson, always good to see you.  Thank you, sir.

And coming up next on this special edition of "Hannity"...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA:  I haven't, you know, turned on Fox News or listened to conservative talk radio yet today, but I've turned them on enough over these past seven-and-a-half years to know I'm not exaggerating in terms of their story.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Well, we'll prove that wrong.  Obama lashing out at Fox News and talk radio while liberals like Hillary Clinton criticize Donald Trump for pushing back against the media.  We'll check in with Austan Goolsbee, Doug Schoen, Kellyanne Conway.  They're here with reaction.

And then later tonight, Donald Trump labels Katie Couric a third-rate reporter.  Why?  She deceptively edited a scene in her documentary about guns.  We'll check in with Eboni Williams and Dr. Gina Loudon.  They'll weigh in.

Plus tonight...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Is that the media staging a shot?  Is that the media staging a shot?  Is Telemundo staging a shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Oh, probably.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  A cameraman working for Telemundo is caught staging and choreographing a shot of a Trump protest.

All that and more as this special edition of "Hannity: Presidential Politics and the Press," continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON:  He doesn't want to unify us, he wants to divide us.  That's why he started his campaign attacking people, and he hasn't stopped.  Yesterday, it was the press that he was attacking.  Now, if you're in public life, you're not always going to like what the press says about you.  I have some experience with that.  But part of the genius of our democracy, our system, is we have a free press.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  All right, well, welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity: Presidential Politics and the Press."  Now, that was Hillary Clinton going after Donald Trump for daring to question the press, the almighty press.

And shortly after Clinton criticized Trump for going after the media, well, President Obama -- he did the exact same thing, this time taking aim at little old Fox News and conservative talk radio, some things close to my heart.  Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA:  Their basic story is America's working class, America's middle class, families like yours, have been victimized by a big, bloated federal government run by a bunch of left-wing elitists like me.  And the government's taking your hard-earned tax dollars and it's giving them to freeloaders and welfare cheats, and we're strangling business with endless regulations, and this federal government is letting immigrants and foreigners steal whatever jobs ObamaCare hasn't killed yet.

I haven't, you know, turned on Fox News or listened to conservative talk radio yet today, but I've turned them on enough over these past seven-and- a-half years to know I'm not exaggerating in terms of their story.  That's the story they tell.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Oh, glad to hear you're watching and listening at least occasionally.

Here with reaction, former Obama economic adviser Austan Goolsbee and former Clinton pollster, Fox News contributor Doug Schoen, and from The Polling Company, Kellyanne Conway.  Good to see you all.

Let's go to government numbers.  Doug, I'll start with you.

DOUG SCHOEN, FOX CONTRIBUTOR:  Yes.

HANNITY:  All right, so the president said that we're wrong.  He says, basically, we're lying to the American people.

SCHOEN:  Sure.

HANNITY:  All right.  He says by almost every measure, the American economy is better off.  That's what he said.  OK.  If you go to the Census Bureau, the number of Americans living in poverty since he became president, nearly seven million more.  If you want to know the number of Americans on food stamps, 12.4 million more Americans.

If you want to look at the average health care premiums increase, he said average family would save $2,500 per year.  Well, it's up 40 percent for the average family in America.  The labor force participation -- we haven't seen a level this low since 1978.  We've lost 264,000 manufacturing jobs. Home ownership rate has dropped nearly 4 percent under Obama.

SCHOEN:  Sure.

HANNITY:  Ninety-three percent of American counties have failed to fully recover under his watch.  The national debt -- by the time he leaves, he'll accumulate more debt than every other president before him combined.  Now, by every measure, he's lying and we're telling the truth!

HANNITY:  You see, the way I see it, Sean, is these are legitimate questions to be debated, and there's a substantial measure of truth in what you're saying.

But for the president to basically politicize his role now both domestically and overseas I think is just plain wrong.  And I think the substance, while certainly important, is outweighed by the fact that he's polarizing and dividing us when we need to be brought together.

HANNITY:  You know, Kellyanne, if I'm wrong in the press, I'll admit I'm wrong, but I'm looking at the U.S., you know, Census Bureau, the Kaiser Family Foundation.  I'm looking at The Wall Street Journal. I'm looking at the government's own labor statistics to get these numbers.

He is wrong by every measure!  We are worse off by almost every measure.  I don't see one measure that we're doing better on.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, GOP POLLSTER:  He's not just wrong, he's nervous. Obviously, Donald Trump and FOX News and talk radio has gotten into the heads of Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.  I always find it to be so undignified and so unpresidential for President Obama to pick on what he considers to be right-wing media.

You're the president of the United States.  Go destroy ISIS and get millions of women out of extreme poverty, please.  That's your day job.

And Sean, there's another thing that's going on.  Look at the polling data where Americans tell you how they feel about the economy.  They don't care if economists and demographers say, Hey, everybody's doing better, the middle class is rising.  If you don't feel it around your own kitchen table, then it's not true.

HANNITY:  Yes.

CONWAY:  And the other thing that's going on that's a problem for Obama and Hillary is they love to blame the vast right-wing conspiracy, and they just can't.  Hillary Clinton is being stopped (ph).  She is not the nominee, by a challenge from the left in her own Democratic Party.  That's not the vast right-wing conspiracy.  That's Bernie Sanders stopping her.

HANNITY:  All right.  I just listed a whole bunch of statistics, Austan Goolsbee.  Can you say that any one of those things -- and I'll cite every one of them to you where I got my information from -- can you say that any one of those statistics, that the president is right, that by almost every measure, Americans are better off economically?  Can you say...

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, FMR. OBAMA ECONOMIC ADVISER:  Yes, there are many.  Of course, Sean.

HANNITY:  Can you contradict any one of those?

GOOLSBEE:  First of all, when, A, when did you become so sensitive, Sean? One of the things I admire about you is no matter what they say, no matter what my friends say about you...

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY:  I'm glad Obama's watching and listening.  Maybe he'll learn something.  Apparently, it hasn't stuck yet.

GOOLSBEE:  (INAUDIBLE)

HANNITY:  Is there any one -- wait a minute.  Is there any one statistic that you challenge that I just gave out?

GOOLSBEE:  Let's take several.  One, on food stamps, you are insinuating that because there are more people on food stamps, we are worse off, but...

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY:  ... 12.4 million Americans?

GOOLSBEE:  ... changed the rules of the program so that more people would qualify.

HANNITY:  12.4 million more?

GOOLSBEE:  Actually, there are far fewer people who would have under the old rules qualified for food stamps.  The only reason there are more food stamps is because they changed the rule.

HANNITY:  And what about all the people out of work?  What about the national debt?  What about home ownership?

GOOLSBEE:  Let's go to labor force participation.  You're disregarding the fact that the population has been aging faster than it has been aging in...

HANNITY:  Oh, we're getting too old to work.

GOOLSBEE:  -- the last 50 years. So you're counting people in nursing homes and toddlers in your measure of the --

HANNITY:  You guys not counting unemployed who were six months -

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY:  You know, Kellyanne, I find this interesting, this is the lowest labor force participation rate since March of 1978.  And, of course, we got that from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  And Austan's answer is that people are too old to work?

KELLYANNE CONWAY, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  It's crazy.  And the other thing is people have given up finding work.  That's why we have low participation rates.  And Donald Trump has tapped into that, has he not?  Basically in focus groups, men say I'm getting screwed, women say I'm struggling, and they're both saying the same thing, which is since when did the job no longer be enough?  People have jobs, but they can't afford everyday life because the cost of living has totally outpaced what their wage stagnation has been.  And nobody can deny the wage stagnation.  I think Obama is very worried about his economic legacy because Hillary Clinton in trying to run for Obama's third term is not doing well.

HANNITY:  All right, we got to go.  Thank you.

Coming up, Donald Trump slams Katie Couric as a third-rate reporter after it was uncovered this week that her special on guns was deceptively edited. We have Eboni Williams and Dr. Gina Loudon here to weigh in.

And later tonight --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Is that the media staging a shot?  Is that the media staging a shot?  Is Telemundo staging a shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Probably.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  A shocking example of liberal media bias.  A Telemundo cameraman busted for trying to choreograph and stage a shot at a Donald Trump protest.  We'll check in with Charles Hurt and Mercedes Schlapp.  They'll be here with reaction.  That and more of this special edition of "Hannity: Presidential Politics and the Liberal Press" continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEA GABRIELLE, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT:  Live from America's news headquarters, I'm Lea Gabrielle.

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali continues to be treated for respiratory issues in a phoenix hospital after HE Was admitted yesterday.  New reports suggest his condition may be worse than first thought.  Reuters in fact says Ali is, quote, "close to death" while the New York Post writing he's on life support.  The former heavyweight champion has been battling Parkinson's disease for three decades.

The U.S. army is recovering the bodies of four Ft. Hood soldiers who were swept away by a flooded creek in Texas yesterday.  This is when it happened.  The creek which was swollen from days of torrential rain flipped their two-and-a-half ton truck.  And 12 soldiers were on board for a training exercise.  Ft. Hood spokesman says commanders were closing roads at the base when this incident occurred.  Five other soldiers were killed.

I'm Lea Gabrielle.  Now back to "Hannity".  For all your headlines, log on to FoxNews.com.

HANNITY:  Welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity: Presidential Politics and the Press." Earlier this week, Donald Trump tweeted that Katie Couric is a, quote, "third-rate reporter" after it was revealed that her documentary entitled "Under the Gun" was deceptively edited.  First take a look at a scene from "Under the Gun" as it aired on TV.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  Now notice that eight-second pause there.  Was the film trying to make it seem like the participants couldn't answer that question?  OK. Eight seconds.  You don't add dead air to TV or radio.

Now listen to the audio of what really happened.  Now this answered Couric's question.  You can see, they answered immediately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  How do you prevent felons or terrorists from walking into, say, a licensed gun dealer and purchasing a gun?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Well, one, if you're not in jail, you should still have your basic rights and you should be able to buy a gun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE:  So if you're a terrorist or a felon --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  If you're a felon and you've done time, you should have your rights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  The fact is we do have statutes, both at the federal and state level, that prohibit classes of people from being in possession of firearms.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  All right, Katie Couric took responsibility for the edit and said she questioned the editor about the pause.  She was told that the beat was added for dramatic effect.  Is that news?

Joining us now was reaction, Fox News contributor Eboni Williams and psychology expert and radio host Dr. Gina Loudon, and she's also a TV host. Eight seconds, Dr. Gina?  Eight seconds?  That is an eternity.  That was deceptive.  That was meant to deceive the viewers.

DR. GINA LOUDON, PSYCHOLOGY EXPERT AND RADIO HOST:  And this is the plan of action of the left media.  They've always done it like this in the mainstream media, Sean.  You and I, both of us have been victims of it.

But here's where Donald Trump got it right when he said third-rate.  When he said reporter, let's get one thing straight.  Katie Couric doesn't report.  She opines.  There's a difference.  You don't call yourself a reporter.  I don't call myself -- Eboni doesn't.  We know that we are expecting opinions, commentary.  That's a different thing.  But the cool part, the American public is waking up to that distinction and they're not going to get away with it anymore I don't think.

HANNITY:  Yes.  But eight seconds, it was so -- this is so egregious to me.  
How she has a job is -- it's fascinating to me.

EBONI WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  Well, Gina hit the nail on the head, right, Sean, because for years many of us have known Katie Couric as a journalist, as someone who is supposed to be objective and credible, some of us.  I'm talking about going back to old school.

HANNITY:  She's always been a liberal.

WILLIAMS:  Maybe a liberal, but just because you're a liberal doesn't mean you can't be objective.

HANNITY:  But liberalism has showed for years.

WILLIAMS:  Here's the thing.  At this point, this documentary, I agree with Gina completely.  Very clearly this is an op-ed piece.  This is a documentary --

HANNITY:  No, this was --

WILLIAMS:  It has a specific political agenda.

HANNITY:  This was manipulation.  They manipulated purposefully, distorted purposefully to advance an agenda.

WILLIAMS:  That's what I'm saying.  It's a political agenda at play.  So when you're going to do that, and I think to be fair, certainly the right has done it at times, and the left does it, too.  That's OK, though.

HANNITY:  What, quote, journalist --

WILLIAMS:  I'm not saying a journalist.  I'm saying there are these political advanced documents from both the right and left, and that's OK, Sean, but you cannot do it under the guise of journalism.  And that's what makes what Katie did a problem.  Also a problem, the first week she said she stood by her director in the documentary.  It took a full week to admit
--

HANNITY:  Because she got some pushback.

Gina, Dr. Loudon, you brought up a very, very important idea, and that is I am a conservative.  I say I'm a conservative.  The difference between myself and, say, Katie Couric or Brian Williams or Dan Rather or any of these reporters, they claim they're something that they're not.  They claim that they're fair.  They claim that they're objective.  They claim that they're balanced.  It's a lie.

LOUDON:  It is a lie.

HANNITY:  They have agendas.  That's where --

WILLIAMS:  So, Sean, you think you can't have a belief, a personal belief and still do your job accurately?  So every lawyer, they have to, have to be liberal, they have to be conservative?

HANNITY:  Eight dead air seconds, which is something --

LOUDON:  Here's the thing, Sean.  Here's the thing.  America has fallen in love with authenticity.  This is the reason they've fallen in love with Donald Trump.  Donald Trump in one shot across the bow is taking out not just the establishment Republicans, not just the establishment Democrats, but also the establishment media.  The establishment media has become a contra indicator to future public opinion if you think about it.  It's like if they say, like a stock market call, if they say short Trump, we know we better go long now because they're lying to us.  And that's the great part of all this.

HANNITY:  And in the course of one week, the media between the Telemundo piece, between Katie Couric, between "The New York Times" hit piece, they've been exposed, and I think the damage is everlasting.  I said in 2007 and 08, journalism died.  I think the American people have now caught up.  And I don't think they trust any of these people anymore.

WILLIAMS:  I agree with that, Sean.  I think the mainstream media's credibility, The New York Times piece, you know what, even liberals, I know, but they even felt like, that's the best you could come up with is a woman who voluntarily put on a bikini at a pool party?  Come on, that's pretty weak.

HANNITY:  And they're in disbelief, Sean.  They can't believe this has happened.  Go back to Dan Quayle adding an "e" on the end of the word and what they did to him over that.  And then you take somebody like Barack Obama who apparently doesn't know how many states are in the country he's supposed to be president of.

HANNITY:  There's 57 states?

LOUDON:  And they saw almost nothing about that.

LOUDON:  He misspoke.

HANNITY:  What about when he said Navy corps-man three times in a speech or four times?  What's a Navy corps-man?  He was reading a teleprompter.  Four times?

LOUDON:  Eboni, the point is there are not mistakes on both sides.

WILLIAMS:  Right.

LOUDON:  The point is how long it makes the news cycle.  It destroyed Dan Quayle when he did that.  Obama went on to be president, stay president. We take Biden's gaffes.  We could go on all day.

WILLIAMS:  George W. Bush made many gaffes as well and he was OK, right?

HANNITY:  Navy corps-man.

WILLIAMS:  Shame on me, do it twice, what is it?  What is it, shame on us both?

HANNITY:  I got to roll.  Thank you both.  Good to see you both.

And coming up next right here on "Hannity" --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Is that the media staging a shot?  Is that the media staging a shot?  Is Telemundo staging a shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Probably.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  A cameraman working for Telemundo is caught on tape staging, choreographing a shot at a Donald Trump protest.  When we come back, Charles Hurt, Mercedes Schlapp, they'll weigh in as this special edition of "Hannity: Presidential Politics and the Press" continues straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY:  And welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity: Presidential Politics and the Press." Now, sadly we have yet another example of members of the media not doing their jobs.  RebelPundit.com filmmakers caught a Telemondo cameraman staging, choreographing a shot at a recent Trump protest in San Diego.  Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Is that the media staging a shot?  Is that the media staging a shot?  Is Telemundo staging a shot?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  Probably.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  You're staging a shot at a protest?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  What do you want me to do, man?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  You're staging the news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE:  I'm not part of the protest, bro.

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY:  "Hannity" show producers, they reached out to Telemundo for a statement on the video you just saw.  They told us in part, quote, "The cameraman is a temporary worker hired to help cover the San Diego-Tijuana area." They also told us Telemundo News did not, nor would it ask any full time or temporary worker to stage events.  The network said the video in question never aired.

Joining us now with reaction, from the Washington Times Charles Hurt, Fox News contributor Mercedes Schlapp.  Mercedes, I've got laugh.  Maybe it doesn't air because they got caught.  If somebody is part time or full time or temporary, I don't think that matters.  The fact is he's caught choreographing an event.  Apparently these people were leaving.  He told them how to sir, where to sit, how to hold the flag.  I mean, it's not news.  That is acting to me.

MERCEDES SCHLAPP, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR:  It's not journalism.  It's not journalism.  It's advocacy.  And let me tell you something, Sean.  I worked with the Spanish language media for a very long time, and I will tell you, ever since we saw the comments Trump made about the Mexicans last year, about the rapists and the drug dealers and all that, they really have put the blinders on.  The Spanish language media have put the blinders on that they have made a decision that they are not necessarily going to cover Trump fairly.

We saw this in several instances.  One with the Jorge Ramos press conference situation with Trump where he jumped in and started sounding more like an agitator as opposed to a journalist.  We've seen another Univision anchorwoman who at a commencement speech literally said that Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton were the only choice for president. Plus, Univision or Telemundo, they haven't even covered an anti-Hillary protest that was held on Cinco de Mayo which Hillary Clinton had to cut her speech short.  But guess what?  They have a strong agenda.  This is not all the Spanish media outlets out there, but certainly the powerful ones.

HANNITY:  You brought up Jorge Ramos, and, Charles, I'll ask you this question, what would the difference be if I was at a Hillary Clinton press conference and I did what Jorge Ramos did?  Would there be any difference?

CHARLES HURT, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, WASHINGTON TIMES:  You'd get absolutely killed.  You'd get destroyed.  But what I think is so interesting about this, and, sadly, as you have pointed out, there are so many examples of this staging, this kind scripting that goes on especially when it comes to the political, the mainstream media covering politics. And it's almost impossible to overstate the importance of the way Donald Trump has gone after the media, has made the media --

HANNITY:  I think he's been as effective, and I'll throw this to Mercedes, as going after establishment politicians as the establishment media.  And you can even see that there's a connection, this incestuous relationship that very few people know about.  But they go out at night.  They socialize together.  They go to parties together.  Isn't that all true?

SCHLAPP:  I do believe that that is the case.  I do want to make the argument, though, that when it comes to the Spanish language media, that is not the case.  I think for Donald Trump, where he's been able to beat up on the media and actually the media you can see many Americans rallying and saying yes.  You look at the percentage of the Gallup poll, for example, a majority of Americans don't trust the media.  When you're thinking about Spanish language media, it falls into a very different category.  The viewers are, they depend on their Spanish language news in the Hispanic community to really understand what's happening in the election.  And I think that that's where you find a discrepancy in the case that Trump does not have that same back and forth with the Spanish media let's stay that he does with the mainstream media.

HANNITY:  Good points both you.  Thanks for being with us.

We'll come back and continue more of this special edition of "Hannity" right after the break.  Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY:  Welcome back to this special edition of "Hannity." Unfortunately that is all the time we have left this evening.  We want to thank you, as always, for joining us.  We hope you'll set your DVR so you never miss and episode.  We take attendance and it hurts our feelings when you're not here.  Seriously, we want you here.

Anyway, thanks for being with us.  Have a great weekend.  We'll see you back here Monday.

END

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