Are Democrats moving the goalposts to freeze out Bernie Sanders?

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Are Democrats moving the goalposts to freeze out Bernie Sanders?

Tensions grow inside Democratic Party ahead of results from pivotal Iowa caucuses; reaction and analysis from Fox News contributors Ari Fleischer and Sarah Sanders.

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," February 3, 2020. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: All right, Tucker. Good show as always, thank you.

Tonight -- welcome to "Hannity" -- we have breaking news on multiple fronts. We've got it all covered and, yes, in fact, we could very well have the results from the Iowa caucus within this hour.

And get this -- according to a source on the ground, underreported story, the Republican caucus, remember, it is totally uncontested. It is, in fact, packed with voters showing their support tonight for the president.

And also tonight, we will have more of my exclusive interview with the president from yesterday's Super Bowl and his powerful campaign ads that did air during the game. What a game.

Also, thankfully, the Schumer-Schiff sham show is officially done, officially imploded. The president will now be acquitted, vindicated by Wednesday.

But, first, I want to address some news that's very difficult for me personally and for so many others across the country. We got the news today from a very stoic radio legend, Rush Limbaugh, a friend of this broadcast. He's been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. We are all praying for the man who has literally paved the way for all of us, especially me, everybody in talk radio.

My friend Neal Boortz called him the Babe Ruth of conservative talk radio - - a pitch-perfect description. And without a doubt, he has made it possible for all of us that do what we do, give opinion. He paved the way. He cut the forest, made the path and it was hard.

He did it, and we've all benefited as a result, and the country as well. He's educated us. He has entertained us. He's been fighting for us day after day.

He said he has advanced the cause of patriotism, what our Constitution is, family, faith, life, with such a powerful approach no one can or will match. Now, by the way, Rush is in the fight of his life but that's who Rush is. And like always, he's tackling it head-on -- stoic, courageous, resolve, and he's graced the airwaves for over three decades.

Take a look from today's announcement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK RADIO HOST: I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. I wish I didn't have to tell you this and I thought about not telling anybody. I thought about trying to do this without anybody knowing because I don't like making things about me. But there are going to be days that I'm not going to be able to be here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Rush is a fighter. Tonight, all of us, we're praying that he gets the treatment that he's now getting and gets back to work as soon as possible doing what he does better than anyone else and that's fighting for this wonderful country of ours, our way of life, our core values. Everything we all hold so dear.

And we -- by the way, we expect them back on the air on Thursday, he said. We'll have more later.

Now, those values are not threatened by an increasingly radical extreme Democratic socialist party. According to many of the latest polls, a devout 70-year-old socialist, we may know this hour, surging in the polls in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina. In a few minutes, we will learn if, in fact, Bernie Sanders is able to pull out a victory in the Iowa caucus.

Joining us now with the very latest, he's in Des Moines, our very own Bill Hemmer, who I might want to add, has been like killing it in the ratings, because -- just because we're friends.

Congratulations, Bill. What do you got?

BILL HEMMER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Thanks, Sean. Good evening to you from Des Moines.

I'll tell you, it's too early to tell to really to get a firm idea of what's happening inside these precincts all across the state. Turnout appears to be pretty good. Remember, the record was 2008 with 240,000. We'll see whether we get to that 240,000 or whether we get about it.

Sean, I want to show you something from 2016. You just mentioned Bernie Sanders a moment to go. What is Sanders thinking about tonight? This is how he lost, this is by a nose four years against Hillary Clinton.

If Bernie is going to have a good night tonight, he's got to do well in places like Johnson County. That's out here in eastern Iowa, a university town, a big winner four years ago. Twenty points by Hillary Clinton.

Sanders is -- he's going to do well in Johnson County. He's going to do well in Story County, just north of Des Moines, Iowa State University. They run up some numbers there. Could it be a 20-point margin like it was four years ago? We'll see. And the field is so much bigger than it was back in 2016.

Conversely, Joe Biden is going to pop down to Des Moines -- in Polk County, where we're located right now. Hillary Clinton voters, where did they go this time around? Where did they disperse among this wide field? That's some of the drama we're waiting play out so far this evening.

I'll show you this, Sean, here, on the calendar, it's the first Monday in February, right? It's Super Bowl Monday, Iowa caucus. The state will run its way to South Carolina toward the end of the month, and then we'll move into Super Tuesday, the first Tuesday in March.

But tonight, in Iowa, the delegates are 41 at stake across the 99 counties and we'll see the -- we'll see the map start to fill in momentarily. A little too early but it will give us a little bit of time, maybe the next 15, 30 minutes or so. We should have a better gauge as to where Iowa is going tonight during this long campaign season.

Sean, nice to see you at the Super Bowl and I will see you real soon back in New York.

Back to you now (ph).

HANNITY: All right. Bill Hemmer, we'll be checking in with you throughout the hour. So, stay right there, keep watching those numbers for us. We appreciate it.

Joining us with more, he is at Joe Biden's headquarters, is our own Peter Doocy.

Peter, what do you got tonight?

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: So far, not a whole lot of Biden supporters because the doors to his caucus night celebration or at the very least caucus night remarks only just opened. One of our team members is downstairs, said there are 20 people waiting to come in. But, of course, many people who will be here tonight are still at their caucus locations.

And it's really interesting. The campaign, big national campaign with very strong poll numbers against rivals and who looked competitive against President Trump, they are finding out what is happening in Iowa tonight, just like so many of us without access to sophisticated internal polling.

I was just outside in the lobby area and I saw a campaign manager for the Biden team, Greg Schultz, and he just got in the text of a photo from one location in Altoona that was good for their campaign. And he was going around showing some of the staff because to this point, it's been just press and Biden campaign staff.

So, they don't know anything yet but we understand the V.P. is watching somewhere in Des Moines with his family and he should be here on location within about an hour. So, hopefully, depending on how things shake out, we'll be able to ask him what he thinks -- Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Peter Doocy, thank you.

Fox News' Jacqui Heinrich is at Bernie Sanders headquarters.

Jacqui, what's the latest there?

JACQUI HEINRICH, FOX NEWS NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Sean, the doors just opened here a few minutes ago. People are starting to come in. Of course, a lot of excitement in the room.

Sanders came so close to winning this state in 2016. He only lost to Hillary Clinton in the caucuses by 0.3 of a percentage point. There's a lot of existing excitement for his campaign. They really drew on those people to carry the senator to that campaign while he was stuck in Washington.

I spoke to his wife, Dr. Jane Sanders. She said, last election, they spent a lot of time trying to tell people who the senator was and familiarize people with his ideas.

But this time around, those ideas are more mainstream. It's less about trying to win people over to their side than to really energize a groundswell of populist support that, you know, we saw work with President Trump in 2016. He was the antiestablishment candidate and Sanders is really trying to pitch himself in that same way, as someone outside the box who is consistently had different ideas and wanted to overhaul the system and helping more people come out for him this cycle than happened in 2016.

Of course, we'll wait on those numbers -- Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Jacqui, thank you. We'll be checking in throughout the night.

And joining us to break down what we now know about voter analysis is our own Shannon Bream.

Shannon, what do you have?

SHANNON BREAM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Hey, Sean. Well, this is interesting because we talked in nearly 3,000 caucusgoers about how they feel about all of these things, the issues, the candidates, and we're starting to get some more information.

Here's a look from FOX News voter analysis about why this is such a close battle. So, one thing is -- one way to think about this is in terms of ideological lanes. We asked folks if you're in the moderate lane, that's what you consider yourself, these are the voters among Iowa Democratic caucusgoers. They split three ways between Biden, Buttigieg, Klobuchar. We got four actually here, and Warren.

But let's look at the liberal lane. It's a lot smaller in Iowa. Among those voters who say, hey, I'm a liberal caucusgoers, it's between Sanders and Warren. As you would expect, they are duking it out. We have got that -- a tight race tonight.

So, consider this -- nearly six in ten of those that we talked to going into the caucuses think it would be harder to beat President Trump in November if the Democratic nominee has strongly liberal views. That's making them a little bit more wary about a Biden or Warren candidacy, or, excuse me, Sanders or Warren candidacy.

So, that's the internal struggle we've been seeing with the party, is do they go with the more moderate person who they think is a better chance of the general or do they go with somebody who's going to shake up the entire system, someone like Sanders, someone like Warren who will really change things in a strong way. We'll see who wins out tonight. And, of course, it's just the first state.

But as we get numbers, Sean, we'll keep you updated.

HANNITY: All right. Shannon Bream, we'll be checking in.

Also throughout the night, we'll continue to monitor all these results throughout Iowa. We'll bring them to you as they become available, which could actually happen in just a few minutes.

Whatever happens in Iowa, in 274 days, you, the American people, you will render what is the ultimate verdict. President Trump, he will be acquitted on Wednesday and the latest impeachment witch hunt which will be dead. The power to decide our future now rests squarely in your hands ultimately, the ultimate jury. You can in 274 days, as I've been saying, shock the world again.

And the Democratic Party, state-run media, the mob there, they have nothing to offer except what they have given us for three years -- conspiracy theories, lies, smears, slander, hoax after hoax, what is an unhealthy obsession with Russia, Russia, Ukraine, Ukraine, impeach, impeach.

And meanwhile, the Democratic primary is shaping up to get to be yet another massive dumpster fire like it was in 2016. Look at this, socialist Bernie Sanders has surged into the lead and the Democratic establishment in a state of shock and panic. You have those associated and friendly with Barack Obama, with the Clintons, the so-called mainstream Democrats everywhere seem to hate Bernie Sanders.

You have over there, Chris Matthews and others on my conspiracy theory channel, MSDNC, openly worrying now that no Democrat can beat Trump. John Kerry reportedly overheard telling someone that Bernie Sanders could take down the entire Democratic Party. He first said expletive on Twitter and then he deleted the expletive.

Tom Brokaw thinks it would be really hard for the people to vote for Bernie's brand of socialism.

Tom, with all due respect, little secret here. They are all radical extreme socialist. Read the New Green Deal. And you might want to look at Medicare for All and how did that Obamacare thing work out?

2016, Democrats, well, they did their best to rig the primary against Bernie Sanders. In fact, remember, interim DNC chair Donna Brazile, discovered that the Clinton campaign and the DNC had, in fact, been working together to defeat Bernie throughout the primary. In other words, the system was rigged.

According to Brazile, quote, she had exerted this control of the party long before she became its nominee, meaning Hillary Clinton. And now, history seems to be repeating itself. The DNC is changing the rules so that one of Bernie's top challengers may be Bloomberg or whoever else, can then take the debate stage without meeting requirements.

Bloomberg, meanwhile, is probably one of the dullest human beings alive. Best known for being a 12-year caretaker of Mayor Giuliani's accomplishments in New York and lecturing New Yorkers on how much so they can drink and how much salt they can use. He's a strong advocate, by the way, of Giuliani's successful stop and frisk policy for 12 years but until recently.

Here we are, seven years after that, now, Bloomberg, yes, identity politics in full play running for president had a sudden change of heart, and he has to play nice with the identity politics platform, so he's pretending to be devastated that for 12 years and seven years after that that he ever supported stop and frisk.

While Bloomberg is an obvious hypocrite, Bernie's long-held views are downright scary. That is true.

Now, here's what the president had to stay in our exclusive interview.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: Well, I think he's a communist. I mean, you know, look, I think of communism when I think of Bernie. I think Bernie is sort of a socialist, but far beyond a socialist.

HANNITY: Elizabeth --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Yes, wedding, honeymoon, let's see -- the former Soviet Union. Hmm, doesn't really go together.

He wants to nationalize health care with Medicare for All. He now has a plan to nationalize the entire energy industry. We just became energy independent for the first time in 75 years, the lifeblood of the world's economy. He just unveiled a $16 trillion climate change plan.

Now, keep in mind the total budget, we only taken about $4 trillion a year. That's every penny. We'll have nothing left over for things like oh, defense.

And, by the way, like any good socialist, Bernie doesn't think any of these rules apply to him. Look at this report. Sanders now leads the 2020 field of Democratic radical socialist, environmentalist, new green dealist, in private jets spending.

Now, let's just talk about one of Bernie's, well, his surge. He's probably the only Democrat running who actually excites the base.

We know that quid pro quo Joe has inspired virtually no one. He got 75 people in Iowa recently at an event. He is struggling to raise money. He's events barely draw a few dozen people. His biggest cause for concern surrounds a scandal that won't go away, the biggest loser in this latest hoax.

Well, it boomeranged back on quid pro quo Joe and zero experience Hunter and Joel leveraging our money, yes, a billion taxpayer dollars. You're not getting it must you fire the prosecutor. You got six hours so his son can - - keeps getting 83 grand a month.

Most Americans, family of four, average about $54,000 a year, in case you didn't know.

Zero experience Hunter, no experience in oil, gas, energy or Ukraine. Why would any company pay somebody like that -- oh, let's see, millions and millions of dollars?

It's now clear Hunter wasn't telling experience. He was selling access and it looks it's paid off, because in 2015, then Vice President Biden threatened to withhold that billion. Guess what, son of a B, they fire the prosecutor. And he bragged about it.

Now, he's not breaking any more. In fact he's getting quite angry and unhinged whenever the subject even comes up, like it did with Savannah Guthrie.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE, NBC NEWS: This process of impeachment has ensured that everyone knows about Hunter's dealings with Ukraine.

JOE BIDEN, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's a good thing. No one's found anything wrong with his dealings with Ukraine except they say it's such a bad image.

GUTHRIE: Do you think it was wrong for them to take that position?

BIDEN: No.

GUTHRIE: Knowing that it was really because that company wanted access to you?

BIDEN: Well, that's not true. You are saying things you do not know what you're talking about. No one said that.

He's a very bright guy.

GUTHRIE: I guess the question I'm kind of asking is, was it right?

BIDEN: Appearance. It's appearance.

GUTHRIE: Yes.

BIDEN: Yes. Well, he said he regretted having done it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: He said it. You're not getting the billion unless you fire that investigating my zero experience son. He has no answers because there is a reasonable explanation. Selling access is what was going on, and using our tax dollars to do it.

Ironically, every hypocritical Democrat and every media mob individual that failed to do what Savannah Guthrie did.

Take a bow. Great job.

And the Biden family business, the syndicate, was turning a massive profit every step of the way. Voters have every reason not to trust him and, by the way, his frontrunner status is in jeopardy tonight.

Without a doubt, this is the most radical, hypocritical and corrupt Democratic field in modern history, and extreme. And as the president pointing out, this election is going to have dire ramifications for our kids and our grandkids.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: If they were to win, based on maybe the New Green Deal or Medicare for All, what -- how --

TRUMP: So --

HANNITY: What would you see America becoming?

TRUMP: They are going to give away things that are impossible.

HANNITY: No oil and gas.

TRUMP: They're going to -- they're going to stop energy production, but wipes out Texas and many other states. They're going to get rid of your Second Amendment.

But here's the one thing, I've always heard cut taxes, cut taxes, great they cut taxes. They want to double and triple your taxes. They want to quadruple your taxes. They want to take everything away from you.

If they get in, it all collapses. Do you know what's going to happen? People's wealth, whether it's big warm modest or whatever it is, you'll end up in a recession depression like we've never seen before. People's wealth will be destroyed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: As I said, you're the ultimate jury. In 274 days, you can shock the world.

Joining us now, two former White House press secretaries, FOX News contributors, Ari Fleischer and Sarah Sanders.

Good to see you both.

OK. It seems to be a total freak out, Ari Fleischer, over Bernie Sanders, which might be understandable but what's more fascinating is they actually want to go back to the old rules so the superdelegates actually counts again.

ARI FLEISCHER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely. And it is amazing, having watched the Democrats go through the Bernie patch (ph) four years ago and going through the allegation that everything was rigged, to say, no, it's not, no, it's not, we wouldn't do that, to only go back and do it again.

But their fear is justified, Sean. Bernie has a legitimate shot at winning this thing, not only here in Iowa tonight but in New Hampshire. And who knows what can happen after that? It's a reflection of Joe Biden's weakness.

We'll have to wait and see what the results here are in Iowa but don't roll Bernie out of winning the entire thing.

HANNITY: I don't rule it out at all.

Sarah Sanders, and the idea that now they are trying to help Bloomberg out and they're going to change the rules and, OK, we will let you win then. Maybe you will be an alternative down the road of this blows up -- and Karl Rove may have been way ahead of the curve thing we might have a brokered convention, Sarah.

SARAH SANDERS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: You know, I think one of the things this tells us, too, is that they no longer have any confidence in the fact that Joe Biden is viable at this point. He looks very weak in Iowa. His money has dried up. He is exciting no one.

And I think if he comes in anything but first tonight, he's going to be in real trouble down the line. He's already having a hard time raising money. They've had to draw resources from other places and try to put it into Iowa. He may be calling his son Hunter and borrowing money from him to fund his campaign pretty soon if he doesn't have a big showing tonight.

And so far, from what we've seen and what we're hearing out of Iowa is that's not looking good for him.

HANNITY: It's not.

OK. So, do you see -- I've never understood, Ari Fleischer, if there was a rigged Republican primary and my guy lost, I would have been pretty darn angry. Well, we found out they did ray get the last time, and really, I felt like at times I was the only person angry that this could happen in America. And I'm not quite sure Bernie Sanders supporters will accept it as easily this time.

FLEISCHER: And that's one of the reasons there is such a split in the Democratic Party. Many of the Bernie people were furious and they couldn't get over it. And the fact that they couldn't is one of the reasons the non- Bernie people are so furious at the Bernie people because they were saying they were slow and in many cases didn't support Hillary. So, that fissure is still there and it can pop up again.

Sean, let me make one other broader point. There is a marvelous split screen going on here between democracy in action in Iowa where hundreds of thousands of people will decide who's going to lead the Democratic Party and was happening in Washington where 100 people might overturn a decision of the American people. This in Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina is how it's exactly supposed to work. Let the American people decide these things. That contrast jumps out at me as I am here in Iowa. I will look tomorrow at what happens in Washington.

HANNITY: You know, Senator Mark -- Congressman Mark Meadows of North Carolina, I know he's on the ground in Iowa tonight. I know that Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise have been on the ground.

Mark Meadows literally called me and said you have no idea what's happening here, I said, what's going on? He goes over, the caucuses are packed, and I said oh, you're going to the Democratic caucuses. He goes, no, the Republican caucus is packed. It's an uncontested caucus for Donald Trump here.

Boy, does that -- is that an indicator of passion and enthusiasm for the president? There's really no reason anybody had to show up for the president tonight, but apparently, they showed up in big numbers.

SANDERS: Absolutely. I was with the president just last week when he was there for his rally and the excitement and energy. President Trump was out of this world. I mean, it's unlike anything I've seen working in politics for a long time. And you thought it was exciting in 2016, but now, the president actually has a great record to run on, he has a tremendous story to tell. The economy is booming.

People are doing much better under this president than they were under his predecessor. And they are excited to get out and vote for him. This is the first group of people that have their chance to go out and help reelect Donald Trump. And they are excited to do that. They take it serious.

And I think there is no doubt there's a lot of excitement on the ground for Donald Trump in Iowa and they are happy to be the first people that get to help get them reelected.

HANNITY: All right. Sarah Sanders, Ari Fleischer, thank you.

OK. We are expecting results very soon. When we come back, we'll go back to the ground in Iowa. Who's the frontrunner that could face off with Donald Trump?

Also, thankfully, the Schumer-Schiff sham show rages on, but it is over Wednesday and Democrats clearly don't want to give it up. Chad Pergram, he has an update.

Eric Trump is here to react to the best commercial from the Super Bowl. He'll tell us that and much more and why is left freaking out tonight? Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: In this Iowa caucus night, we begin again with a FOX News alert.

Tensions are high inside the Democratic Party tonight as voters in Iowa, they are now deciding who their choices to go up against Donald Trump in November. And the first in the nation caucus.

Fox News' Alicia Acuna, she is live in Des Moines. She has the very latest from the Elizabeth Warren campaign tonight.

Alicia, what's the latest?

ALICIA ACUNA, FOX NEWS NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Sean. Well, we are here at the Warren campaign. As you can see, the supporters haven't quite gotten here yet. The most excitement we've seen is that they brought food to feed the media and some of the staff members here, and that's because all of those supporters are still of those caucuses that been going on for the last 90 minutes, they have to go to that first-round and in that second round, see if they can do any more convincing to get people in Warren's corner if she wasn't their first choice.

So, we are still waiting for that before the crowds start to gather here. As you know, Elizabeth Warren has often bragged that she was the first candidate to have organizational boots on the ground in Iowa. She is really trying to go toward the same progressive base that Bernie Sanders is, and for a while there, she did see her star rise, especially at the end of summer, beginning of fall.

That's when she really peaked in the polls and has really lost traction ever since, and is now in some of the larger polls, is actually trailing third and fourth. So, Sean, we will be awaiting those results, just like you. We are hearing anecdotally that turnout is pretty high right now.

So, it could be a while until we have some official results -- Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Alicia, thank you for that report.

Mike Tobin, he's at Mayor Pete Buttigieg's headquarters tonight.

Mike, what's the latest there?

MIKE TOBIN, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, similar to what Alicia is seeing, it's a pretty slow trickle of people coming into the watch party here at Buttigieg campaign headquarters, or the Buttigieg watch party I should say. His communications director Liz Smith tweeted a picture of him playing football, in what looks like a rented office space.

But the Buttigieg campaign goes into tonight pretty optimistic that they will perform well. They have to perform well. They have to perform well here and in New Hampshire as well, because by all expectations when they start getting to places like South Carolina, it's going to be a little bit tougher for the Buttigieg campaign, at least if you look at the polls. Nearby at a caucus site, this is inside a university and the population at this caucus site was pretty young, but we saw that Buttigieg was doing quite well there, and he had a big crowd.

Elizabeth Warren had a big crowd. Bernie Sanders had a big crowd gathered.

Joe Biden and Amy Klobuchar had very small crowds gathered up at their particular caucus site -- Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Mike Tobin, thank you.

All right. The Schumer-Schiff sham show as we've been telling you, it will be at a close on Wednesday. And today in Washington, the impeachment managers, they did deliver their closing arguments with a vote to acquit the president expected Wednesday, about 4:00 Eastern.

Fox News congressional correspondent Chad Pergram is here. He has the very latest.

The hitchhikers guide to what will be the end of the Schumer-Schiff sham show. Say that three times fast on live television, Chad, and good luck to you.

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Sean.

We'll have those votes on both articles of impeachment, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, on Wednesday afternoon. In blistering remarks, lead House impeachment manager Adam Schiff warned that history would not be kind to President Trump. Schiff lectured Republican senators, quote, he is not who you are.

Now, White House counsel Pat Cipollone urged senators to reject both articles. Cipollone said it was time to end what he termed the era of impeachment.

Two developments tonight. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski was one Republican that some observers thought could vote to convict Mr. Trump. Murkowski said few on both sides approached impeachment, quote, with a clear and open mind. She declared that she would not vote to convict.

And Democratic West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin didn't reveal how he would vote today but Manchin introduced a resolution to censure President Trump. In his resolution, Manchin says that the president, quote, abuse the trust of the American people, says his behavior was unacceptable and Mr. Trump brought dishonor to himself.

It's unclear if the Senate will consider Manchin's plan.

Now, it takes 67 votes to remove a president. In 1999, 45 senators voted to remove President Clinton on one article of impeachment, 50 yeas on the other article.

HANNITY: All right. Chad Pergram, thank you for that report.

An update, over 100 million Americans, 102 to be exact, watch the Super Bowl on Sunday yesterday and my pick for the best commercial of the night - - well, goes to somebody I think you are familiar with if you watch the show, somebody that I think is one of the most, if not the most inspirational figures I've ever had the honor to interview put out by the Trump campaign. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALICE MARIE JOHNSON: I'm free to hug my family. I'm free to start over. This is the greatest day of my life. My heart is just bursting with gratitude.

I want to thank President Donald John Trump.

(CHEERS)

JOHNSON: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

TRUMP: I'm Donald Trump and I approve this message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Alice Marie Johnson will be joining us on this program exclusively as the week unfolds.

Here with reaction from the Trump Organization, the executive vice president, Eric Trump, is with us.

Amazing how many people -- I even got an update from your very wonderful wife Lara who actually said, yes, there's a ton of people here and it's an uncontested caucus night for the president.

I want to go back to this issue, though, of prison reform and the president because many had promised -- other presidents had promised they would try to do that, they never got it accomplished. Just like Jerusalem, the capital.

ERIC TRUMP, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, TRUMP ORGANIZATION: Yes.

HANNITY: Just like, for example, ending the caliphate, not having protracted wars, trade deal with China, Japan, Mexico, and Canada, and our European allies, and energy independence, and a lot of other promises kept. And that's the short list, Eric Trump.

I've got to believe this matters when the American people go to the polls in 274 days.

TRUMP: You know, that's exactly right, Sean. I think it's one of the reasons they were enraged about that Super Bowl commercial.

I mean, I was so proud of my father. What he did with prison reform is incredible and criminal justice reform is absolutely incredible, and that was one incredible case. And, obviously, Kim Kardashian, you know, remember, was a big part of that and brought it to my father's attention, and he did something about it.

And it's driving the Democrats nuts that something they tried to run on, that they would always promise and didn't get done, and that kind of reminds you of the Democratic Party in general. They always say they're not going to get things done and they never actually do.

And the one thing I'll say about my father is he's done everything he said he would do and he has achieved so much more and I think that will be one of the hallmarks of his presidency and I'm -- I'm incredibly proud that was the Super Bowl commercial because I think a spotlight really needed to be put forth on the issue and he did so in a beautiful way.

And I think it was incredibly touching and moving. And again it should make all Americans very proud.

HANNITY: Eric, as I -- just putting on my analysis hat here for a second, having done radio now for 31 years, my 24th year proudly here at the Fox News Channel.

OK, are we better off than we were four years ago? I'd say check. Does the president keep his promises? I would say check.

How did the president do on foreign policy? Well, he knocked out the caliphate in Syria, Baghdadi, and associates.

TRUMP: Yes.

HANNITY: Soleimani is dead and gone, and we're not in a protracted war any longer.

On the issue of the economy, every measure -- African-Americans, Asian- Americans, Hispanic-Americans, women in the workplace, and the best employment since 1969. Millions out of poverty, millions off food stamps and millions of new jobs created, including those jobs in manufacturing Obama said were never coming back.

TRUMP: Sure.

HANNITY: That has to factor in.

And I would say one other thing. I would argue your father's base is more energized because of the way he's been treated the last three years by the media and by the Democrats.

TRUMP: Well, listen, I just spoke at a caucus right outside Des Moines and it's incredible. I mean, he is running effectively uncontested here, right, and there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people who came just to see me, Sean. I mean, people who came in, they were holding Trump signs, wearing "Make America Great" hats.

They were bringing their children. I mean, they were -- I walked into a room and they stood and started clapping, "USA, USA, USA". I mean, it was unbelievable.

The -- I mean, just spirit of this country is different by every metric, right? I mean, look at consumer confidence, which tells you so much about where we are as a country.

The best consumer confidence we've ever had. Look at where we are in terms of the military, look at patriotism. I mean, patriotism is back. People weren't kneeling at the Super Bowl yesterday, right?

In fact, I think they went to the nth degree to really showcase American might and power and what the flag stands for and military. And -- I mean, so much of that is back.

My father has done an unbelievable job and we're seeing it on the ground. I mean, we are seeing it on the ground here in Iowa.

HANNITY: A lot at stake and what I love about this more than anything, the ultimate jury is the American people. They get to decide.

TRUMP: Yes. That's right.

HANNITY: And the -- I don't know, the odds are pretty good they may shock the world again.

Eric Trump, thank you for being with us tonight.

TRUMP: They will. Yes.

HANNITY: When we come back, any movement, we're expected -- any moment, rather, we're expected when this movement to get results live out of Iowa.

Plus, the architect Karl Rove is here with his big whiteboards. He's going to break down all of this and what this will mean after tonight going to New Hampshire, straight to Super Tuesday, South Carolina, Nevada, obviously, first, as we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: This is a Fox News alert. Tensions are high in the Democratic Party tonight.

And joining us live from Des Moines, our own Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier.

Seems like a lot of infighting on a lot of battling behind the scenes. Bret Baier, Martha, what do you think?

BRET BAIER, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Yes, I think you're right, Sean. This is a tight race. Right now, we don't have any hard numbers. We have entrance data and all of our voter analysis data.

And it looks like a very tight race. It looks perhaps like Mayor Pete might be having a better night than people thought he would have. Sanders very strong here in Iowa, continues to show that. But until we get those numbers out of those precincts from all those different moving around, we don't know for sure.

MARTHA MACCALLUM, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: Yes, and the first alignment numbers with just a percent and a half in so far, Sean, it looks like it's potentially a good night for Pete Buttigieg, although it's really too early to say. But he seemed to have had some momentum in the final days as we headed into the caucus here.

And as you say, Bernie Sanders feels very put upon by the rest of his party. They want to make sure that they get, you know, what -- that they get an honest outcome from tonight. There's a lot of forces that are very concerned about him doing well. And I think that's been made pretty clear.

So, that's going to be a story to watch tonight as well.

HANNITY: All right. We'll be watching all the coverage tonight, throughout the evening here on the FOX News Channel.

Bret, Martha, thank you.

Now, it is time. We call it our weekly segment with the architect, the whiteboards.

FOX News contributor Karl Rove is joining us now.

And I will give you credit. I read your first column and I went, hmm, as you talked about the potential maybe down the road for what would be a contested convention.

This is going to be very interesting. We get the first round of results in, you get below 15 percent, and I will let you pick it up from there, what you see happening tonight.

KARL ROVE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, if you're at less than 15 percent in a precinct, you fail to get what's called viability. And so, your supporters have to pick somebody else, or go home. So, that's the first, that's the alignment.

Then, they have a final alignment where they -- where everybody who was for somebody below the viability threshold picked somebody else. And those people then elect what are called delegate equivalents, people who in essence will go to the state convention representing their candidate. But look, this is going to be a really confusing night because it's not a primary. That is to say if you get 35 percent of the vote it doesn't mean you get 35 percent of the delegates.

There are four congressional delegates, two of them have seven delegates each, one of them, the district that we're here that includes Des Moines has eight. The Republican part of the state in the Northwest corner of the state only gets five. There are 1,700 precincts. They elect 27 delegates for -- by congressional district and 14 statewide delegates could split up.

So, every -- having more caucus attendees in any given precinct doesn't mean that you get more strength in picking delegates. It simply means your percentage is higher within the pool that then either elects congressional district chair of 27, or helps pick the statewide delegates, the 14th.

So, it's very complicated and that the end of the night, we may know the state delegate equivalents but we may not the exact -- we'll know roughly what the delegates, the national conventions delegates look like, but we won't know precisely for some time.

HANNITY: All right. It's interesting. If you read "Politico" earlier today and I know you know this, you have the Democratic establishment. Let's break it down to, say, different factions, the Obama supporting faction, the Clinton supporting faction have aligned. They now want to change the rules so that well, maybe Mayor Bloomberg can become a backup or a safety net of some kind should Bernie emerge as the real front runner which it appears he's doing.

More importantly now, the report that they may in fact change the rules about superdelegates again which could mean that they are actually preparing to do to Bernie Sanders if he's in that position, to do to him what they did to him in 2016 and kind of rig it against him.

ROVE: Well, I talked to a member of the Democratic Rules Committee who suggested that a member of the establishment, they suggested the establishment doesn't have the votes on the Rules Committee to do anything -- do any further changes. Excuse me.

I think it's far-fetched to think they're going to be able to change the rules. Remember this: 40 percent of the delegates will have been by the end of the night on March 3rd, and they're going to be split up in my opinion among three or four candidates. Even if there are only two people left at that point, and establishment and Sanders, it's going to be awfully hard to get a majority of those 52 percent of the delegates that are left to be chosen and be able to walk into Milwaukee with a majority -- clear majority on the first -- on the first ballot. It could be done.

HANNITY: Yes.

ROVE: But again, it's going to be awfully hard to do.

HANNITY: You're the first I heard that talk about the brokered convention. If it happens, Karl Rove, you will deserve all the credit.

Karl Rove's whiteboard, he has a new one coming. It's going to be very special.

All right. Coming up, I ask President Trump in my exclusive interview about fake news CNN's Don Lemon -- remember that panel mocking Trump supporters? That's next.

Also, our own Lawrence Jones, he's live, he's on the ground. He's in Iowa. We'll get his full report and much more, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. As we continue to monitor the very latest developments out of the Iowa caucuses tonight, and we send our own Lawrence Jones to the Hawkeye State to get voters' reactions to the Democratic primary so far, see what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE JONES, FOX NATION HOST: So, tell me, have you decided who you are going to caucus for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have.

JONES: Who?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For Biden.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd support any of them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like Bernie has the most experience. He's the man for the job.

JONES: Do you believe that the party has treated him fairly this time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hope so. All I can say is I hope so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think any candidates are being treated more so.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's nothing against Bernie here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Here with reaction, FOX Nation host and special correspondent for 2020, Lawrence Jones is with us.

You know, it's amazing. This surge by Bernie, let's see if it becomes reality. If Buttigieg makes the 15 percent cut off line tonight, Lawrence, that's going to be interesting to see where the second choice goes. In other words, as people now begin to fall off, they have an opportunity to support their second choice, where they will go.

JONES: Well, Sean, it's clear there's a surge. You see their party insiders trying to get involved. Remember, they set a rule when it came to the people making the debate stage. They have changed the rules so Mayor Bloomberg can now qualify to be on the stage.

A lot of people are concerned that the party is yet again getting involved. There is momentum. Bernie -- Bernie is not just a fringe element. You see the people on the ground wanted to support him.

We'll see later tonight who pulls it off. I mean, Biden is still ahead in the polls but there is still a surge from Bernie.

HANNITY: Unbelievable.

You know, you see that surge now, you're also seeing it where we go next. That would be New Hampshire. He's even seeing it now in South Carolina.

What does that mean once you get a couple primaries and caucuses out of the way? Does it mean momentum, mojo, whatever you want to call it? We're going to watch.

Lawrence --

JONES: Especially when you consider the black -- especially when you consider the black vote going into South Carolina. Will Biden recover? Will the Obama coalition come out and support him? That's yet to be determined.

HANNITY: All right. Lawrence Jones on the ground in Iowa tonight.

First, during my exclusive Super Bowl sit-down interview with the president, I did ask him about the media's disdain for his supporters and working-class Americans. I specifically brought up what we all witness and shock with CNN fake news Don Lemon, his recent efforts to degrade Trump voters, here's what the president had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: You saw Don Lemon this past week on the laughing basically at Trump supporters, smelly Trump Walmart shoppers, irredeemables, deplorables. Americans -- this is a comment Obama made -- bitter Americans who cling to their God, their Bibles, and religion.

It seems like there's a contempt for people that don't share their worldview.

TRUMP: OK. So, I watch this guy. He's a terrible -- you know, not smart.

HANNITY: Don Lemon.

TRUMP: He's not a smart person at all. But I watch that phony laugh. That wasn't a laugh. He was -- he was trying to act, puts his head down, oh, he's laughing so hard. There was nothing funny about what was said.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Here with reaction, former Arkansas governor, presidential candidate himself, Mike Huckabee. Our own Katie Pavlich is with us.

You know, Governor, irredeemable deplorables -- let's see -- smelly Walmart shoppers, guilty. Clinging go God, guilty. Our Constitution, I'm guilty. Bibles, guilty. And religion, guilty and I love Walmart. Guilty as charged.

What does this tell us about what people in the establishment elite class in D.C., New York, L.A., San Francisco, think of we, the people?

MIKE HUCKABEE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Sean, they live in their bubbles and they really don't get out much and they don't understand the rest of the country. But all they're doing is just driving more support to President Trump for his reelection. I mean, they just insulted over 80 million Americans with that kind of stuff and Don lemon giggling like an 8-year-old girl at his birthday party. I've never seen anything quite as ridiculous.

CNN should have called him in and said, you can't be a news anchor and fall down on your desk and giggle like that. It's just unprofessional.

HANNITY: Katie --

HUCKABEE: But, you know, let them do what they want to do, because I'm telling you, it's coming back to bite them.

HANNITY: People aren't watching. Katie, we look at ratings every day.

KATIE PAVLICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I saw CNN being played at the Bernie rally there, Sean, and was thinking they are actually getting millions of viewers tonight because they were playing in the background.

But I think one of the most impressive and important messages the president has gotten out there who is that it's not that they just hate him. They hate the American people who voted for him and he's just in the way. And they repeatedly state that on the campaign trail, and it's certainly it's resonating with Democrats is 25 percent of them are attending his rallies.

HANNITY: I have to -- imagine if they have to say the words. In 274 days, we can project that Donald J. Trump has been reelected the 45th president. Watch that, worth the price of admission, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. That's going to be all the time we have left.

We want to remind you tomorrow night, the State of the Union, we will have full, complete coverage. You do not want to miss it. We'll be on right after the president's speech.

Stay with the FOX News Channel by the way for continuing coverage out of Iowa tonight.

We are fair, we are balanced and we will never be the media mob, and we always seek the truth.

I will see you back here tomorrow night. As always, thank you for being with us.

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