'Hannity' on Florida's hurricane prep with Gov. DeSantis

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Ron DeSantis: Here's what Floridians should do as Hurricane Ian approaches

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis joined 'Hannity' to discuss what he is doing and what Floridians can do as the state braces for Hurricane Ian. 

This is a rush transcript of "Hannity" on September 27, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: By the way, Tucker, did you know that the passage of time when that happens, time actually we have a passage? And then times moves on and there's another passage of time, and it's just one of those things, time passes. It's a word salad.

CARLSON: It's like a community bank. It's for the community, yeah.

HANNITY: For the community, the community is this, the community that, and it's all good for the community because you live in the community and the community works better as a community.

CARLSON: I love it.

HANNITY: I love it.

CARLSON: All right. Tucker, thank you.

Welcome to HANNITY.

We begin tonight a FOX News alert. My monologue in just a moment. We begin with breaking news out of the free state of Florida.

Tonight, 2.5 million Americans have been ordered to evacuate as Hurricane Ian now is bearing down on the state's gulf coast. In just a moment, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will join us.

But, first, here with the very latest from this category three storm, FOX weather meteorologist Ian Oliver is with us.

Ian, this looks like it's going to be a direct hit right over looks like somewhere north of Fort Myers, right towards Tampa.

IAN OLIVER, FOX WEATHER METEOROLOGIST: Yeah, anywhere from Naples to the southern part of Tampa Bay, the mount of Tampa Bay, still a reasonable scenario here this is a monster of a storm, still a category three as you mentioned, max winds at miles per hour.

We actually had this inner eyewall that's been degrading, but there's an outer one that's forming. And what that does is it spreads out the wind field over a much larger area. We've seen these impacts start already.

Tornado warnings throughout the afternoon and evening across much of south Florida. We've got some active ones right now for Collier and Hendry Counties. A lot of spin in these powerful out of outer bands of Ian.

Look at this that's the intense core, it's about 90 miles off to the west of Key West. We recorded there a wind gusts up to 71 miles per hour, so that's greatly removed from that intense inner core and we're already up to close to hurricane force winds. This is a powerful storm and one that's getting larger.

And this is the latest forecast track per the National Hurricane Center. Any wobble left or right, it's not if with these impacts, it's who gets the worst of it. For storm surge, it'll be who's ever on the southern and eastern side of that inner core of the eye wall, as it moves ashore, we're talking about a category storm at landfall at some point tomorrow afternoon or evening.

Look at the peak surge here possible again, right at that landfall point, occurring at high tide from the southern part of the bay, down to Naples. Some of these areas could see up to 12 feet of surge. And just to put that into perspective, a lot of areas like this on the coastline in Florida. Fort Myers beach, beautiful beach town, it's a barrier island, a max elevation there of three feet.

So if this hits at a high tide cycle, you're talking about nine feet of water on top of normally dry ground across that entire barrier island, the whole area there in Fort Myers Beach. That's one threat, the storm surge.

We've also got the hurricane conditions that will spread far inland, and then look at this, this dark red including perhaps the Tampa Bay area, that's 15 to as much as 20 inches of rain. If you've been around the Tampa Bay area, that amount of water will lead to catastrophic flooding. Those are all the threats that we're watching as we move through the next couple days.

Back to you.

HANNITY: Ian Oliver, thank you for that report.

We're going to have more also with Joe Bastardi later on in the show.

Joining us now with more on this looming storm, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

Governor, I know you're up. I know you're busy. I heard your press conference earlier, two and a half million people have been ordered to evacuate. Every meteorologist I have spoken to says this is the real deal and the floodings that could be as high as, you know, 12 feet storm surges and people could die, and tell us what the plan is.

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R), FLORIDA: Well, you're right, Sean. I mean this is a category three. It will certainly be a category four at some point. It may reach landfall as a category four, which is going to pack a punch in and of itself. That's going to generate a huge amount of storm surge.

And then what's expected to happen is the storm is going to come on shore and then it's going to kind of slow to a crawl. Yes, it will weaken but it will just plot along. What that's going to do, that's going to dump massive amounts of rain.

One of the things that's been challenging with this is we started a couple days ago with a with a land arrival projected in north Florida in the panhandle, and that's then that was moved to north of Tampa, then Tampa.

Now, the most recent guidance from the National Hurricane Center is arrival at Charlotte County and Sarasota County border basically. There's going to be another update at 11:00. We'll see if that trend to the east continues.

But, Sean, you know that part of the state very well. The further south it hits on the peninsula, that starts to bring in more major impacts for places like Fort Myers and Naples and those communities.

Another thing I think is going to be challenging is, it is going to hit and then it's basically going to go across the state and likely exit on the Atlantic coast sometime, someplace in central or northeastern Florida, and that's going to be basically a tropical storm going across the entire state of Florida.

So you're going to talk about power outages, you're going to talk about a lot of rain and flooding. So this is not just going to be limited to wherever the storm makes landfall.

HANNITY: Governor, let me -- let me ask you this. And I think you're sympathetic like I am. Nobody wants to be inconvenienced like this. I think you agree with me. People generally don't like to be told what to do.

The worst thing though that could happen is if you try to ride this thing out and you're not able to, the last thing we want at the end of the day is even one person dying from this storm. That's preventable if people leave.

Now, you've set up shelters all around the state of Florida, especially in the areas that are in that cone that we have up on the other side of the screen. Tell people where they can go, what you have available, and what are the plans in the aftermath of this.

DESANTIS: Well, Sean, we have a saying down here in Florida, that you hide from the wind but you run from the water.

And I think in situations like this, even a category 4 storm, we have great building codes, a lot of our structures in Florida can withstand that. Most people's homes -- maybe not a mobile home -- but most people's homes can do.

The problem with this storm is that it's going to generate a massive amount of water and surge, and there's really no way that you can counteract that if you're someone in the barrier island and even if you're in a nice sturdy home.

You know, if you get feet of storm surge, you know that's going to potentially put your life in jeopardy. And so, what we've said is, you know, you don't get a mulligan on this. You can always go back, you know, when the storm passes and get back into your home. We obviously want you to do that. But this is really, really significant.

And yes there's shelters in all these counties. We also have a deal with the state of Florida and Expedia. People can go to expedia.com Florida and there's hotels that are offering heels in other parts of the state of Florida.

One thing though that we've been pointing out, Sean, when you're called to evacuate, it doesn't mean you need to leave the entire state. It doesn't mean you need to go hundreds of miles. In a situation like this, where we're concerned about the water, you know, anywhere that's higher ground in a sturdy structure, you know, you're going to be able to ride it out in that.

What we're concerned about is these low-lying areas, the places that are very prone to storm surge and to flooding.

HANNITY: Let's talk about you had a conversation with the president today. Earlier in the day, there had been talk that the president spoke with mayors but not you. But apparently the president reached out to you tonight. Can you tell us about that conversation and in the aftermath of the storm, what support Floridians can expect from the federal government?

DESANTIS: Well, Sean, you know, what I said today is uh you know my phone lines open. When people's lives and their property are at risk like this, you know, we all need to work together regardless of party lines. The Biden administration has approved our request for a pre-landfall declaration and did that very quickly. So we're thankful for that.

You know, obviously, as this the impacts are known, you know, there's going to be more requests particularly for individual assistance for Floridians that may have been displaced. You know, and it's my sense that the administration, you know, wants to help. I think they realize that this is a really significant storm and there's a lot of people that, you know, we're working with the locals. We work very well with them. Of course, at the state level.

But we really need everyone working together to make sure people have their needs tended to.

HANNITY: Governor, let's talk about what we expect in the aftermath of this. Power outages obviously, probably a shortage of food, water supplies, some people's homes likely will be damaged, probably not something that they can repair. What is -- what are the steps in place for the aftermath as a storm goes north into other states, maybe hopefully out to the Atlantic eventually?

DESANTIS: Well, obviously, as you mentioned, Sean, you know we want people to be safe when it hits. And so, that's our number one focus now. Once it hits, if there are people that are in need of rescue, you know, we've got massive amounts of assets.

I've got National Guard. I've got urban search and rescue teams. We have assets from other states. We have Florida Fish and Wildlife that have water operations. I have the coast guard helping out.

So, those operations as soon as it's safe to do, they will go. And if needed, they will go to try to help people. Once you have that situation taken care of, of course, you want to resume services. And so, getting the power back on, making sure fuel is in the gas stations and making sure people have communications.

And so, we have now between all of our utility companies, there's over 30,000 personnel stationed ready to go in to get the power back on in these communities. We've got folks on the telecommunications front that have folks ready to go in to repair any of the infrastructure that may be damaged and the state of Florida alone, we have contracts to bring fuel in if we need that.

And so, so those I think getting everybody kind of back to normal. You're right, Sean, some people's homes may end up being totally destroyed. But fortunately, most people's homes will not be. They just need to get back in there and have normal services restored.

So all of that is pre-staged right now, and as soon as it's safe to go in, they're going to clear the roads and they're going to get those alignment in there to get the power back on.

HANNITY: All right. Governor, looks like you have every agency in Florida at your disposal for full mobilization for this storm. I know our -- your fellow countrymen from other states are also ready to help as well for those people that are going to be in need.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the great people of Florida and people that are going to be impacted by this storm. Thank you for being with us, and our best. Hopefully, it won't be as bad as they're saying.

DESANTIS: Thanks, Sean.

HANNITY: All right. We have more on Hurricane Ian in just a moment with weatherbell.com's Joe Bastardi.

Also tonight, violent crime spiraling way out of control in America's major cities. New York Mayor Eric Adams now touting his city's so-called brand while making fun of rural states all across the country. Here's a little preview of what his branded state looks like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: We have a brand. New York has a brand. And when people see it, it means something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Okay, New York City has a brand. Is this the brand here, Mr. Mayor, that you're referring to? This poor woman getting the crap out of her, beaten nearly to death, stomped on, kicked, beaten by a career criminal that should have been in jail in the New York City subway? All right. We're going to show you the full tape and highlight the brand of one of America's most unlivable cities.

Plus, we'll have more on the crisis at our southern border tonight. Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters will be with us and Senator Josh Hawley will also be here reacting to the FBI SWAT team style raid on a pro-life activist.

But we begin tonight with the Biden recession that is about to go from bad to worse. Look at this, Morgan Stanley's chief equity strategist now believes that a corporate earnings recession is now looming for the country, which is horrible news for your retirement. He is now predicting that we are about to experience something even worse than a regular recession. Stocks plunging to new lows, triggering what he's calling an economic catastrophe.

At the center of Biden's failing economy, its energy, oil, gas because after months of attempting to artificially lower the price of the pump, by recklessly and dangerously draining America's petroleum reserve, well, the cost per gallon of gasoline is on the rise all over the country once again.

So, now, Joe is reverting back to last year's energy strategy and that's demanding that gas stations simply lower their price, as if they can. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Oil and gas companies are still making record profits -- billions of dollars of profit. But guess what? The price of oil comes down, guess how much -- don't you think the price at the pump should come down, price of gallon of gasoline?

But look, my message is simple: to the companies running gas stations and setting those prices at the pump: Bring down the prices you're charging at the pump to reflect the cost you pay for the product. Do it now. Do it now. Not a month from now, do it now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: It doesn't really appear that Joey has a firm grip on how businesses actually work or the energy sector operates. Right now, he could lower gas prices, lift his own exploration ban. He could also approve more permits. He's the one that stopped permits.

He can reinstate offshore lease sales. He could restart construction on the Keystone XL pipeline and exploration in places like ANWR. If Biden had not nixed this critical project that -- the XL Pipeline -- it would already be complete. According to the Alberta premier, he's saying, they'd be pumping 900,000 barrels of oil into our country from Canada every single day.

And while Joe killed America's very own Keystone XL pipeline, he, of course, inexplicably lifted all U.S. sanctions on Putin's Nord Stream pipeline into Western Europe, even as Putin amassed troops at Ukraine's border.

Now, today, this pipeline apparently sabotaged with underwater explosions, natural gas bubbles can be seen here leaking to the surface. Between Putin's war in Ukraine and this act to sabotage, well, Nord Stream 2 might never ever be operational, at least not for the foreseeable future.

What's the moral of the story? Well, Western Europe never should have given in to their climate alarmist cult. Russia is not a reliable source of energy, neither is Venezuela or Ukraine or OPEC or Saudi Arabia and certainly not Iran.

The good news, the U.S. is a reliable source of our own energy needs if we had the brains to do it. We can produce safer, cleaner, cheaper oil and gas and coal right here at home. We can supply all of our needs for hundreds of years and Europe and solve their energy needs and help America get rich in the process, which would create untold numbers of high paying career jobs for the American people. It would also be great for national security. We wouldn't -- would not be depending on countries that hate us for the lifeblood of the world's economy. We could also bail out our European allies where they're expecting home heating prices to jump a whopping 200 percent or more this winter. They're expecting people to freeze to death in Europe this year.

But there's a big problem, Joe Biden, his fellow Democrats, they are standing in the way. They are determined to turn off the spigot, all in the name of some kind of green new deal fantasy cooked up by the religious climate alarmist cult.

Now, poor and middle-income Americans, people on fixed incomes, they're the ones right now getting hurt the most by Joe Biden's economy. They're the ones struggling to pay their bills. They're now even putting, you know, necessities on credit cards to pay their bills. More than two-thirds of the American people living paycheck to paycheck, 71 percent of Americans now cannot make it on their salary that they're taking in currently because according to the Heritage Foundation, it's about $7,200 more a year per household that people are paying because of Biden's inflation.

And as a result, you know, everything is made worse with the dramatic rise in interest rates. On top of that, we have a 40-year high of inflation. That is getting worse. This is an economic nightmare for the American middle class, for poorer Americans, and by the way, Joe claims he has so much compassion for.

But no one in the Biden administration seems to care. Instead, they're out there focused on more important issues like renaming the Atlanta Braves? Really?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: The president hosting the Atlanta Braves today. Wondering if you or the president has any thoughts about some of the controversial about the Braves name, the so -called tomahawk chop? Any thoughts on --

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: So we believe that it's important to have this conversation. We should listen to Native American and indigenous people who are the most impacted by this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Okay, there's a top story of the day.

Joining us now, "FOX and Friends" weekend co-host Pete Hegseth, along with former Trump White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.

Reince, start with you. Forty-two days, Americans can change course dramatically. They're -- the Republicans have now laid out a vision. It's very specific. Now, they will be able -- they'll be able to implement their plans, stop the Biden agenda, and then if we win in 2024, we can get the country back on track.

Will that happen in 42 days?

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Yeah, I think it's going to happen and I'll tell you why. While Biden is debating whether the Braves' name needs to be changed, 74 percent of the American people out there say that the economy is the number one issue, followed by gas, followed by public safety, followed by inflation, and what you laid out is exactly what the problem is that the American people see, which is Joe Biden in their administration that this conduct this result of their conduct is purely intentional.

All you have to do is go back to look at day one. I challenge everyone to go back and look at the first week of Joe Biden's presidency and go look at his executive orders. This -- what did he do?

He halted the wall. He halted Keystone. He rejoined the Paris Accord. He paused the student loan repayment program. All of these things were intentional.

And, by the way, they think that the economy is doing great. If you look at what Joe Biden said lately, he said in June, that we have got the fastest growing economy in the world. Then in September, when the Inflation Reduction Act was passed, the inflationary rate went to the highest levels in 40 years on the same day.

And then last week, you saw in "60 Minutes" when he was confronted about this horrible economy and the consumer price index, he argued that it wasn't a big deal, just went up an inch.

So, the story is that they intentionally took the steps to create the economy we're in, but Joe Biden thinks that actually we're doing pretty well. But the American people know different because they're looking at their bank accounts and they're looking at their 401ks and it's not adding up, and they know it.

HANNITY: He is delusional.

Pete, 71 percent of Americans are saying their paychecks are not enough to keep up with Biden's inflation. If you look at Morgan Stanley, they are now warning that this recession will be worse than expected and could be worse than any normal recession.

So far, under Joe Biden, the stock market has wiped out $9 trillion with a T in American wealth. That's a lot of money, Pete.

PETE HEGSETH, "FOX & FRIENDS WEEKEND" CO-HOST: It sure is. It's obvious, Sean. These are self-inflicted wounds. These are all results of the policies of this administration.

But don't take the bait. They want to be talking about abortion. They want to be talking about election denial. They want to be talking about January 6th. They want to be talking about the Atlanta Braves and systemic racism.

And they want us to take the bait and jump at these shiny objects as opposed to the crime and the border and the inflation and the energy crisis and the education crisis in our classrooms which is right before our eyes - - again, all self-inflicted wounds by the Biden demonstration, because their ideologues are not ultimately wanting to solve problems of everyday Americans. Which is why middle class, working class Americans have moved to the Republican Party to include Hispanics and others.

That wave should continue if we don't take the bait before the midterm elections and stand up for the issues people really ,really care about.

HANNITY: And Jen Psaki said it best. If this is about Biden, Reince, then Republicans are going to win. I noticed that Hillary is comparing Trump's supporters to Nazis and Obama weighed in and he's saying that Republicans are not supporting Joe's open borders because they're racist. Are those strategies going to win?

PRIEBUS: No, they're not going to win, and the Democrats know it because that's why people like Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin and Tony Evers in Wisconsin and candidates all across the country, when Joe Biden comes to these states, these battleground states, they're nowhere to be seen. They've got scheduling conflicts.

And second to that, only 20 percent of Democrats out there around the country strongly support their own president. They're not going to come out and put up yard signs and do lit drops around these battleground states.

HANNITY: Yeah. All right. Good to see you both. Reince, thank you. Pete, thank you.

Coming up, our two-tier at system of justice is once again on full display. You're not going to believe the very latest. Senator Josh Hawley will react.

And also, our vetting of the left's radical candidates continues. Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters, he will break down radical -- well, Joe Biden wannabe Mark Kelly's record, that's straight ahead also.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Now, sadly tonight, more evidence of a two-tiered standard of justice and efforts by the Biden DOJ to target perceived political opponents because last week yet again, shock and awe arrest tactics by the FBI, this time targeting Pennsylvania pro-life activists, guy by the name of Mark Houck. According to his wife last week, dozens of armed FBI agents guns drawn come to the home to arrest Houck in front of his wife and kids.

And the alleged crime -- well, he allegedly assaulted a male at Planned Parenthood, an escort, back in October of 2021. However, according to Houck's wife, that man initiated confrontation by invading Houck's son's personal space. yelling obscenities at the kid.

So why did the FBI turn what appears to be fairly minor dispute into a full-fledged shock and all rest?

Senator Josh Hawley is demanding answers from the attorney general. He joins us to explain.

Generally speaking, as I look at the f FBI today, and we have all these whistleblowers that Merrick Garland is now trying to silence as he reminds them that they're not allowed to talk to elected officials like you and Charles Grassley and Ron Johnson, has the FBI been politicized? Is the DOJ in this country in your view with a raid like this, have they been weaponized?

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): Totally, Sean. I mean, listen, if you look at what's going on here and you look at the fact that they'll send a SWAT style team to go after a Catholic pro-life activist but at the same time there are, what, 17 or more fire-bombings of pregnancy care centers that have not -- no arrests have been made. They're not lifting a finger to do anything about those..

What it says is, is that there are two tiers of justice here. There are two systems and one is ideological. And if you are a conservative, if you are a person of faith, then you are going to get targeted by this administration. They will use the law against you.

And, Sean, that is wrong, and we've got to find out who is responsible. I want to know who signed off on this. I want to know exactly the person, or group of people, and they need to be held accountable. And by held accountable, I mean removed from office. And if that is Merrick Garland, he should be removed from office.

It's time to take the gloves off here and defend the rule of law.

HANNITY: Do we have whistleblower protection laws in this country because once Senator Grassley and Johnson and Jim Jordan came out with the fact that we're going to have or more maybe as many as FBI whistleblowers, talking about how the agency has been politicized, all of a sudden, Merrick Garland put out a memorandum, reminding people in the department. This is Biden's Justice Department, that they're not allowed to talk to elected officials.

Now, that would seem to contradict the whistleblower laws as I understand them where government is supposed to protect them and punitive actions and measures are not to be taken against them.

HAWLEY: Yeah, you bet we do have whistleblower protection, Sean, and we've had multiple whistleblowers come to me and come to my office and as you say, we're seeing now literally dozens of FBI whistleblowers come forward. They are explicitly protected in the law. They're explicitly given the right to come forward and we glad they are because they are opening a door, they're throwing light on what is happening at the FBI and DOJ.

They're throwing light on the fact that this administration is using law enforcement as a political weapon and not just against political opponents, though that is terrible, but against normal everyday people like this Catholic pro-life demonstrator who was there with his son. And now, he's got a SWAT team on his front door.

This is wrong, Sean. It is dangerous. It's dangerous for this country. It's dangerous for a future.

And I say again, it's time to start holding people accountable for this. And I'll just say to those folks at the FBI and DOJ, preserve your documents right now. Don't delete anything because the Republican Congress is coming and we are going to hold you accountable.

HANNITY: Well, I bet there's a lot of Bleach Bit making the rounds around some of these offices. That would be my prediction.

Senator Hawley, thank you. We appreciate it. We're going to follow it closely.

Now, with the midterms, only 42 days away -- well, Biden's border failures are in full focus as now. Democrats are more desperate than ever to distract from Biden's failures and, of course, desperate to demonize Republicans at all costs.

Get this, a new poll finding a majority of the American people are now supporting sending illegal immigrants to Democratic-run cities as border communities in Texas and Arizona continue to suffer under what is now an undeniable catastrophe caused by Joe Biden.

Arizona Senator Mark Kelly, he is a rubber stamp for the entire Biden agenda. He voted for every single major piece of legislation backed by Biden. He has refused to hold the administration accountable for any of their open border failures and, of course, he is now in election year conversion mode, trying to pretend that he's some sort of moderate like Kyrsten Sinema, who cares about safety and security. That is a complete lie.

Here to explain more, Republican Arizona Senate candidate in Arizona, Blake Masters.

All right. Your race is crucial. Let's go to the issue of the border and start there because Mark Kelly has again and again had an opportunity to help secure the border and he's failed to do so. Why?

BLAKE MASTERS (R), ARIZONA U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: He just has no independence of mine, Sean. He promised Arizonans that he would be independent. He swore he would be a moderate. A lot of people believed that.

Well, for the last two years, Mark Kelly has been voting in lockstep for Joe Biden's agenda, and apparently, he's just fine with this wide open southern border because he hasn't done a single thing to stop it.

You know, we've had more than five million illegal aliens come into this country, welcomed by Joe Biden and Mark Kelly. They're resettling these people in working class towns and cities in Arizona and working-class towns and cities throughout the country. I have no idea why because it's hurting people. It's hurting families. It's making our streets less safe. The fentanyl that's coming in is killing children here in Arizona.

But, apparently, Mark Kelly likes it this way. He's not doing a darn thing to stop it.

HANNITY: Well, I got --

MASTERS: Unforgivable.

HANNITY: I got his record. He voted against the bill that would have funded greater opioid detection capability, voted against Title 42 three times. He voted against hiring a 18,000 Border Patrol agents but supports the 87,000 IRS agents to be hired. You've got top law enforcement officials saying that he's been completely absent, absent on public safety and border security, guys like Brandon Judd and the Arizona police association.

But somehow, it seems -- it's a -- you're tightening in the polls, but it seems like so far he's gotten a pass. Has anybody in the media in Arizona been challenging him on these issues?

MASTERS: We've got a pretty left-wing media in Arizona and so, it's really just me. We're getting the message out. It's my grassroots army.

Sean, I can't tell you how pissed off and activated are Republicans in Arizona are. The independents in Arizona, everybody says Arizona is a purple state -- no, it's not. This is a red state. The independents by two to one in Arizona, they know that Joe Biden's failed and as they learn about Mark Kelly's record, they're going to want to make a change here in November.

HANNITY: All right. Blake Masters, very important pickup if the Republicans can get that seat. Thanks for being with us.

Straight ahead tonight, crime surging all across the country. You're not going to believe the very latest shocking footage that we have. Now, House is going to play out in November. Leo 2.0 Terrell, he's next, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: And now, in New York City, as crime goes up, costs go up and the quality of life goes way down. The new mayor, Eric Adams, he's refusing to take any responsibility for any of this. He's actually defending his record by claiming New York has a brand, that other states like Kansas don't have.

He's right in one sense. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAMS: We have a brand. New York has a brand. And when people see it, it means something. You know, when we go there, it's not -- Kansas doesn't have a brand.

(LAUGHTER)

You know? When you go there, okay, you're from Kansas. No -- well, you know what?

But New York has a brand. It has a brand. And that brand means diversity. That brand means we care. That brand means that we are compassionate. And that's what we did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Brand, oh, you mean like overtaxed and a ton of crime, and kind of dirty in a lot of places in New York, because you don't clean it up?

Now, these bizarre comments come -- look at this videotape here. As more violence in New York caught on tape look at your screen. September 20th, surveillance footage, subway station in New York and Queens, showing a woman could look at this, being pummeled and kicked and punched and beaten by a homeless meant with seven big prior arrests.

But, of course, was out on the street due to New York's brand policy of coddling criminals and letting them run loose. According to authorities, the 41-year-old Wahid Foster (ph) has been charged with felony assault. For once, they are not letting the guy out on bail. Let's see how long this brand last.

Mayor Adams, how long until he gets out? Another 24 hours?

Anyway, violent crime after violent crime, career criminal after career criminal in this case, attacking nearly beating to death. I watched this beating. I cannot believe this woman was even able to get her head after that attack.

Anyway, here with the reaction, Leo 2.0 Terrell.

Leo, it's obvious. They are not keeping people safe. It is happening in big cities, small towns. It's all because of defund, dismantle, and no bail laws. But they cling to it like manna from heaven or they lie and say, oh, no, we have never supported that.

LEO TERRELL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Sean, let me be as clear as possible. That video is horrific. But let me be clear, the American public does not like liars, and the Democratic Party has lied about its commitment toward preventing crime.

They don't care about crime. They encourage it because of soft prosecutors. What you have here is a mayor who is talk about the -- you correctly stated. New York is famous for one thing, crime, homelessness, inflation, high taxes and poor schools. That's the brand.

Kansas does not want that type of brand. And I will tell you right now, crime has moved up to one of the top four issues in this country. What people are thinking about because people want to go home safely. They want to leave their house without being attacked.

And what you have here, and that veto there, this is being played every day -- every day in New York, in a Democratic city. The left-wing media can no longer prevent the Democratic Party from hiding this information. It is getting out.

And what you have here is a constant repetitive nature. Eric Adams is a failure. People know that. And if Lee Zeldin focuses on four issues: the economy, the education, the inflation and crime, go to every crime scene. He can win of New York.

But it is the lack of focus on the Democratic Party because they have abandoned it.

One final point next, Sean. The Democrats, again, have lied to the American public. They passed some phony police reform bills in the House that are going nowhere. For three years, ever since 2020, up until today, they have done nothing to make us safe and the American public has figured out. They are going to get wiped out on the issue of crime in November.

HANNITY: There's no doubt about it, Leo.

And, by the way, that woman in that video may lose her eyesight. Anyway, our thoughts and prayers are with her. But you know what? It is preventable. Refund the police in New York City and around the country and end the insanity of no bail laws.

All right. When we come back, as usual, the left wasted zero time politicizing the hurricane down in Florida. You won't believe what they said this time.

Also, "FOX & Friends'" Ainsley Earhardt, new book released today, number one in the country in all categories. She will join us next as we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. So, as Florida's gulf coast is prepping for hurricane Ian, Democrats sadly are once again rushing to politicize a tragedy.

You have Senator Amy Klobuchar now claiming that you must vote for Democrats if you want to stop severe weather. Okay. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): We just did something about climate change for the first time in decades. That's why we've got to win this as that hurricane bears down on Florida. We got a win in the midterms. We understand that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Here with reaction, weatherbell.com chief meteorologist, our friend Joe Bastardi.

All right. I want you to respond to that. More importantly, I want you to tell us where you think the storm is going, where it's going to land, when it's going to land and how bad it's going to be.

JOE BASTARDI, WEATHERBELL.COM CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: Well, first of all, this will be the sixth hurricane, major hurricane in 57 years to hit the Florida coast south of a Tampa to Cape Canaveral line. So from both basins, the Gulf and the Atlantic, this is only the sixth in the last 57 years. The previous 50 years, 16 major hurricanes hit.

Now, I don't care if you're left right or what kind of math you believe in, 16 and 50 years is far more frequent than six in the last 57 years.

Take New England, for instance, one every 6.7 years from 1938 to 1991, a land falling hurricane. Nothing since then.

They simply make up stories and they know that the general public is not a weather geek like me and has loved this stuff since he was 3, so they'd get away with it. So --

HANNITY: So, tell us about --

BASTARDI: -- plenty of time to argue that stuff before. Sean, we've set traps left and right on this storm from 10 to 15 days out. Surprise it's a hurricane season, and there's a big hurricane coming for the area that we expected to get hit this year. It's amazing listening to them.

As far as this storm, all right, it's going through what we call an eye wall replacement cycle right now. And what happens is the eye wall falls apart, replaces itself, and so what may happen tomorrow between maybe three four in the morning and about one or two when it makes landfall, it may tighten back up again and hit even stronger than it is going to hit now.

Most people understood --

HANNITY: Joe, where is this thing going to hit and what its track after it hits?

BASTARDI: All right. The center is going between Fort Myers and Sarasota. That's where the landfall is going to be. But this is a much larger, more extensive, slower moving hurricane than Hurricane Charlie. So what happens is it comes across very slowly.

It's probably going to be the worst storm to go through the interstate four quarter from Tampa to Daytona Beach or until it reaches 90. We WeatherBELL have said that we believe this will get back out over the Atlantic Ocean and then come north toward Georgia and South Carolina.

This is a huge problem and I'll tell you why, because there's going to be two to three days of strong northeast winds into those beaches piling water up, and then the tropical cyclone coming up with its storm surge, you're going to have 10 to 20 inches of rain in the St. John's River Basin, how is that water going to get out with that strong northeast wind coming in? In a worst case scenario, the benchmark storm in Jacksonville, 1964, Dora, it could approach the flooding levels on the St. John's River.

And Savannah, the 1947 hurricane which interestingly enough across south Florida came back, we got to watch for that too.

HANNITY: All right. Joe Bastardi, weatherbell.com, thank you for being with us. Scary. I hope people if you're in harm's way, it's inconvenient, you don't like being told what to do. The worst thing that happens is you spend little time away from home.

All right. Also tonight, while deep divisions face the country, well, a new children's book is celebrating the greatness of life, the wonders of life, and what the future holds.

Joining us now is the author of the brand new book, "I'm So Glad You Were Born: Celebrating Who You Are", debuting number one, the number one book in every category on amazon.com and ahead of every other book in the country, "FOX and Friends" co-host Ainsley Earhardt.

You know, your first children's book had a story behind it about your dad. This has a story about your mom. There's so much darkness in the world, it's kind of good to, you know, remind us that there are a lot of good things in life, too.

AINSLEY EARHARDT, CO-HOST OF "FOX & FRIENDS": Oh, well, thank you, Sean. Thanks for having me on.

You know, I do want to remember the people down in Florida. We all have so many friends and family members that live in that area. And our thoughts and our prayers are with them, and I definitely want to remember them as I'm talking about a children's book when they're worried about their homes.

But thanks for having me on to talk about this because I do want a positive message to be spread to our children. They've just gone through COVID, and we've heard the stories of so much depression and worried about their futures and some of them don't even want to live anymore.

So I wanted my mom's voice. My mom had a stroke four and a half years ago, and her voice is -- doesn't resonate as loud as it used to. And if you've had a family member that's had a stroke, you understand what I'm talking about.

I've watched this beautiful woman, full of grace. She loved the queen. She just is a such a powerful person in our family and always just stepped back and let everyone else get the glory.

And so, I wanted my mom's voice to be heard in this and to be spread amongst children. She was a schoolteacher for years and she loved to teach them and this is a message she always said to her children on our birthdays. I'm so glad you were born.

So it's something I say to my children and when I got the job at "FOX and Friends", I said it to Steve Doocy on the air, and he and Brian just sat there and they looked at me and then Brian just yelled out that cackle that he does, and then they were like, okay, thanks. You're so glad I was born.

I said, I know it's weird -- yeah, you can hear it.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: It might be a big best seller too, for liberal, right, I wish Hannity wasn't born. You could have that come out.

(LAUGHTER)

HANNITY: You know, you're very --

EARHARDT: That would not be a bestseller.

HANNITY: That would be a huge best seller, a lot of liberals would like that book.

My question --

EARHARDT: Not for our network.

HANNITY: Oh, you never know. The really interesting thing though is, you know, every person is unique. It's kind of -- when you think about it, every human being has their own fingerprint, a unique fingerprint and there's this intersection people say, okay, religion and politics, how do religion and politics mix? I would argue the concept that really was the foundation of this country that it is predicated on natural law, that rights come from God, not from government, and that God created every man, woman and child, and only in an environment of freedom can those talents be brought to fruition.

And that's why every child has that talent but they don't often have the ability to live in freedom to bring the talent out.

EARHARDT: Yeah. I mean, what do you always say? You -- what's the word in educare that you learned in Latin when you ere during Catholic school?

HANNITY: Educare, yes, to bring forth within.

EARHARDT: You know, and I remember -- you remember, how did you find radio? You went back to your life and you said I was seven years old listen to the radio, addicted to the radio, and then that became your profession.

I love being on television. I loved being on the stage and loved New York City and look what God did. Put me in an amazing network, in the city I loved, in the platform that I -- I know that he put those desires in my heart when he created me, and he gave me a network where I can talk about God.

I mean, it's like -- for people who -- I have -- my faith carries me through everything, I know it does in your life too, Sean. But -- and I want that message to be spread to children that they are important, that God did create them with a purpose and a reason, and yes you might be going through a hard time, but God is with you and he will redeem you. We've all been through hard times.

You've got to get this book for your kids, your grandkids, for your godchildren --

HANNITY: I'll say this.

EARHARDT: -- nieces, nephews, it's just a sweet story.

HANNITY: Every child needs to be told that you're glad they were born and that they're loved.

"FOX and Friends" co-host Ainsley Earhardt, that book number one, amazon.com, hannity.com, bookstores everywhere. We'll continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have left this evening. As always, thank you for joining us and making the show possible. Please set your DVR so you never, ever miss an episode of HANNITY.

Don't forget, for news anytime, foxnews.com, hannity.com, and in the meantime, let not your heart be troubled because Laura Ingraham and "INGRAHAM ANGLE" are ready to take it from here and they got a killer kick ass -- it is not going to be an Adam Schiff show. I'll tell you that.

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