'Hannity' on Americans trapped in Afghanistan

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Trouble for Terry? Hannity warns Virginia Democrat of Biden's effect on campaign

Sean Hannity sounds off in his Opening Monologue

This is a rush transcript of "Hannity" on October 26, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: All right. And always, thank you, Tucker.

And welcome to HANNITY.

ANNOUNCER: Americans Held Hostage, Abandoned Behind Enemy Lines, Day 73.

HANNITY: We're not going to give up thinking about praying for hoping and reminding all of the country that it's now 73 days, and tonight, the official number of Americans still trapped in Afghanistan continues to rise. First, it was, oh, they told us under 100 left. Then it was a couple hundred. Now, we're getting closer and closer to a thousand tonight.

In other words, that the Biden administration doesn't really know how many Americans that Joe Biden left behind and they sure as hell don't know how many thousands of green card holders that he also abandoned and their families. It's day 73, and this is still a complete total utter disaster.

What's going to happen if ISIS or one of these terror groups gets a hold of these Americans? What do you think their future will hold for ?hem?

According to one top Pentagon official tonight, ISIS-K in Afghanistan could have the capability to attack the U.S. in six to 12 months.

But guess what? Joe Biden doesn't care. He's turned the page. It's like it never happened. The media mob, they've turned the page with them.

And tonight, well, Joey's a few miles away from the White House. He is in northern Virginia campaigning for long time Clinton hack, Terry McAuliffe. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLI)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My name is Joe Biden. I'm Jill Biden's husband.

The real reason I'm here tonight is my wife Jill teaches full time at Northern Virginia Community College. And Terry's going to be her boss.

Terry's opponent doesn't like to talk about how very much now, but to win the Republican nomination, he embraced Donald Trump.

The new bridge will be built next to the 117-year-old Long Bridge in Arlington. This will be dedicated to passenger rail and reduce traffic bottlenecks and freight rail. It'll be a game changer.

Vote, vote, vote, vote!

(END VIDEO CLIPS)

HANNITY: So kind to Joe to dedicate his precious time and energy to the McAuliffe campaign and it's not often that Joey gets away from the White House especially this late at night. Probably had to take a long nap today, especially to campaign for a guy Terry McAuliffe who announced that Joe's horrible performance in office was actually dragging him down. He's the reason that this is such a tough race in the blue state of Virginia.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TERRY MCAULIFFE (D), VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: We got to get Democrats out to vote. We are facing a lot of headwinds from Washington. As you know, the president is unpopular today, unfortunately, here in Virginia. So we have got to plow through.

(END VIDEO CLIP)p

HANNITY: Oh, it's true. Joe Biden is deeply unpopular. After a series of massive self-inflicted crises, his approval numbers are hovering in the mid-30s, he's under water in every single poll. His polling average is at an all-time low. But apparently with McAuliffe's opponent, Glenn Youngkin, now picking up momentum, desperate times call for desperate measures.

But I hate to break it to you, Terry, everything Joe Biden touches absolutely implodes. Afghanistan could have been prevented, it imploded. The border imploded. His handling of COVID-19, we have more dead Americans in 2021 than we did in 2020.

The economy, Biden inflation, gas prices, foreign policy, China, Iran, North Korea, Russia, you name it, he couldn't even negotiate a submarine deal with Australia without causing a massive diplomatic crisis. Now, this rally seems like a last minute Hail Mary between two deeply unlikable, dishonest, career political hacks who have dedicated their entire lives to what is known as the sewer, the swamp, of Washington, D.C. We'll have more on my monologue coming up.

First, Sara Carter on the ground in Arlington, Virginia, tonight, where she asked Democrats what they thought about Biden's terrible first nine months in office.

Sara, this is going to get interesting.

SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah, it is going to get very interesting, Sean, I got to tell you it's a chilly night here. People did show up.

But the interesting thing was is that because Glenn Youngkin and Terry McAuliffe are both tied in for this race, I mean, they are neck and neck with only seven days left, a lot of Terry McAuliffe supporters are kind of avoiding reality, it's not just about Biden, but it's about Terry McAuliffe himself. His support for critical race theory in the schools, his also statements that he made that parents should be hands off on their children's education.

I want you to listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: Is there any concern with Terry McAuliffe and Glenn Youngkin getting so close neck and neck, especially in a state like Virginia?

Do you think too though that maybe McAuliffe's actions in the school when he said you know parents got to stay out of the public school system hands off that that could have affected it a little bit?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Terry didn't say that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The way I look at public education while parent involvement is important, if they want more control over their child's curriculum, there are -- there are other options other than public education.

CARTER: Do you think though that it has anything to do at all with, like the fact that there's a lot of parents in Loudoun County and any of that? With the schools with what McAuliffe was saying about parents hands off on? I mean that could have that could have affected this in the end.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's a non-issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARTER: Sean, you could see there were some people that were just a little bit rude when I pressed on those questions. And I -- you know, that's understandable. They are really backing Terry McAuliffe here, because this is a blue area and this is kind of the reason why Biden showed up here. Arlington is definitely more blue than it is red, but when you talk to people who support Glenn Youngkin, they'll all say, you know, you'll never see a rally like this in Loudoun County right now -- Sean.

HANNITY: How about how many people showed up tonight, Sara?

CARTER: Well, they were roughly estimating around 2,000 people. Now, that's give or take. It was extremely small compared to the rallies that we've seen with President Trump and others, and also because this area is so blue, we were expecting a lot more people.

Now, that could have been due to the chilly weather, we don't know. But Biden did not draw in the crowds that were expected today and neither did Terry McAuliffe.

HANNITY: Yeah, Donald Trump used to get crowds, remind me, I think 40,000 people and another 30,000 outside. Big difference.

CARTER: Thirty thousand, yeah, that's for sure, Sean.

HANNITY: All right, very informative. By the way, it didn't seem like you got recognized. That's good, probably, especially if you're associated with this show, in hostile territory.

Sara Carter, thank you.

CARTER: It's okay. I was completely honest, completely honest. Be right back.

HANNITY: We appreciate that report. Thank you.

All right. Here with more reaction, the author of the big upcoming book. This book is going to matter because we're going to have to rebuild this country, "Beyond Biden: Rebuilding the America We Love", available by the way first edition copies, Amazon.com and soon bookstores everywhere, FOX News contributor, former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich.

I -- look, it's -- I don't think -- I don't think the Commonwealth of Virginia is any more -- any longer a purple state. I think it is a blue state.

I'm looking at these polls. They're definitely encouraging and I -- obviously, McAuliffe knows he's in trouble. I understand why he brought in Obama, maybe even Kamala Harris, Jill Biden, you know, but I really am having a hard time understand why Joe Biden with a 35 approval rating, why would you bring him in?

NEWT GINGRICH, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I mean, the only thing that makes any sense is that they're trying to mobilize their base which has been much more passive less inclined to vote. And I think they know, if they can't turn out the Democrats, this is over. They can't possibly compete. So maybe that's why they're doing it.

But I agree with you, you know, when "The New York Times" reported this morning that Thanksgiving this year would be the most expensive dinner in American history for Thanksgiving. When you look at the gasoline prices, you look at the inflation in general, you look at Biden's failure to deliver, and interestingly, from my perspective, you have Glenn Youngkin who is very much into Virginia issues, campaigning on things like the Loudoun County situation which when you're familiar with. It is really horrible, where a young girl was raped in the girls bathroom by a guy was covered up, clearly covered up by this -- by the board of education. And then the boy was transferred to a different school where he also harassed another girl, the judges now found him guilty and put him in jail..

But all of that was done despite the school board. That's where this whole fight started over fixing the school board. Loudoun County, which was I think earlier much more likely to be for McAuliffe (ph), for the governor, I think now, it's probably almost certainly going to go for Youngkin.

That's a huge swing from where they've been, and I actually think this could get down to a point where either Youngkin wins by a big margin or it comes down to a very, very late count in Fairfax County, which is the biggest county that'll be voting and they've already announced they're going to vote very, very late. So it'll be interesting to watch and see whether that's like Fulton County, Georgia, or whether the Youngkin lawyers are better able to stop any kind of funny business.

But right now, I would say that Youngkin is on offense and that the governor is on defense, and, well, this did -- you know, I think this probably still is a purple state because I think it was drifting blue, but this administration is going to turn most of America red, and I think Virginia's caught up in the same wave as most of the country outside of the really heavily unionized states like New York or California and even in New Jersey, the last poll shows the Republicans now within four points of the Democratic governor and that's a very heavily unionized, traditionally very blue state.

HANNITY: But if you look at northern Virginia as the bureaucracy in the swamp has grown, so too have has the Democratic population which has changed the demographics of the state. You know, let's talk about this from two perspectives. One is that young can pulls this off which would be a huge political earthquake, and then look at it in terms of -- for a Republican conservative to win a national election. You've got to win Florida and Ohio. Then, you've got to have Georgia and Georgia's not -- been a lot of shifts demographically, a lot more Democrats, even in your old district.

Then you've got North Carolina. Then you've got to pick off Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan or some combination thereof, play in New Hampshire, then you've got to go out on the West Coast in Arizona and Nevada. It's never easy for a Republican you usually have to run the table.

So, if this -- one week from tonight, Youngkin pulls this off, what it -- does that reconfigure the electoral map in the country?

GINGRICH: Sure. Look, look, I don't believe in these kind of artificial games. In 1980, Jimmy Carter was a total disaster and I think Ted Cruz had it exactly right when he said that Biden combines McGovern's radicalism with Carter's incompetence. And in 1980, Ronald Reagan won the biggest electoral victory against an incumbent president in modern history.

You could never have projected that from '76 or '72 or '68, but the country gets to change. And even in northern Virginia, I mean, I live in McLean, in northern Virginia, you go to the local gas station and you are stunned at how much more you're paying. You go to the grocery store, I just talked to somebody this afternoon who just paid more than twice as much for a chicken as they paid three months ago.

Well, if you're a normal everyday person, all of a sudden -- the best phrase I think to describe the Democrats next year may end up being, it ain't working.

HANNITY: Yeah.

GINGRICH: It ain't working on the border. It ain't working with inflation. It ain't working with energy. They get 54 percent increase in heating costs in Maine this year. They're going to be annihilated in the election next year in Maine, and that's just a fact, even though Maine was not necessarily a red state.

HANNITY: You're making a good point. And I shouldn't have even asked the question because I lived it with you because before you became speaker -- no, I did live this with you. I was the emcee the night you became speaker of the house, Republicans had been out of power in the House of Representatives for 40 long years.

I mean -- and not only did you bring Republicans back into power, but they've been in play ever since. In other words, things have changed. I would hate to think of years in darkness again, but sometimes like I cannot foresee a time in my lifetime where New York or California ever goes red again. I can't see it.

GINGRICH: Oh, I can. I thought -- look, things changed very dramatically.

Remember in '94, when you correctly pointed out you were the emcee, we beat Rostenkowski in downtown Chicago.

HANNITY: That's true.

GINGRICH: We beat the chairman of the judiciary committee in the Houston suburbs. We beat the speaker of the house, Tom Foley, in Spokane, Washington. I mean, nobody would have projected that.

And so, all I'm saying is if you if you have a continued process and Youngkin has done a very good job of focusing on Virginia. It's fascinating -- the former governor who you would assume really knows Virginia is spending all of his time on national issues, national politicians because he's got nothing new to say about Virginia.

Youngkin is talking about parents having rights. He's talking about creating jobs. He's talking about safety in places like Richmond where there's been a lot of crime recently. So he's actually down in the weeds where people live, talking about Virginia.

Meanwhile, you have this desperate last-minute thing, and frankly, why you would have Kamala Harris do a video? Which, by the way, was probably illegal for over 300 churches. Notice, if you're a black church, you're allowed to politic, if you're a white conservative church, you're worried about the Johnson Amendment that says you can't politic.

But, yeah -- if you've ever watched Kamala Harris, the idea that she's going to convince anybody of anything is an absurdity. And what they've done is, you know, they're drowning and they're bringing in the last piece of driftwood. And the last two pieces were called Harris and Biden, and that's what they are, they're driftwood.

HANNITY: Well, that was a great night in everybody's life and a great night for the republic, by the way, and we're going to need the road map, "Beyond Biden", and when your book comes out, I do want to talk about your idea for a New Contract with America.

Speaker Gingrich, thanks for being with us.

All right. Now, let's turn to an obvious fact. The radical socialist Democratic Party, they are trying to fundamentally transform the entire country. Nancy Pelosi, speaker in name only, not really in charge, and neither is the very spineless Chuck Schumer and frankly we all know Joe Biden is a cognitive mess. We know that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the squad, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren. They rule the Democratic Party pretty much with an iron fist. Anyone -- even other Democrats that get in the way are accused of being racist and sexist and heartless and monsters and you might even get accused of being a Russian spy and, of course, you'll also get harassed and stalked in public after refusing a rubber stamp a $3.5 trillion New Green Deal Democratic socialist spending orgy bill.

Activists, you remember, look at the scene, following Senator Kyrsten Sinema into a bathroom, filming her while she's in a stall. One might have an expectation of privacy in such a moment. They also confronted her on an airplane and earlier today, I think she was with Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina another far left activist chasing her down at the airport. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ACTIVIST: I'm from Tucson, Arizona, and I'm wondering -- I know you've met with dozens of lobbyists --

SEN. KYRSTEN SINEMA: Please don't touch me.

ACTIVIST: I did not touch you. I know you're meeting with dozens of lobbyists, and talking with corporate donors about the package. How many times will you meet with constituents?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Joe Manchin, he's also been targeted including so-called protesters who kayaked to his houseboat and shouted at him from the water. The vitriol, the attacks are so bad that Joe Manchin said, it'd probably be much easier just to switch parties.

Let me be clear. No one deserves to be stalked, harassed, intimidated at home, in public, and certainly not in a bathroom stall and sadly, it appears that Manchin and Sinema are caving. We have reports out tonight that they are both agreeing to a brand new 15 percent minimum corporate tax. They think that will help fund Build Back Better New Green Deal Socialism.

But make no mistake, this new tax will not harm corporations. How many times do I have to say it? Corporations don't pay taxes. They pay their employees last, and then they pass the cost on to you. It will hurt you even further on top of Biden inflation, on top of the high energy prices we're now paying.

Now, this tax will get passed on to you. Everything you buy will cost more, on top of what we're already paying more. Every car, every bit of gasoline, every -- the heating and cooling your home, food, groceries when you go to your drugstore store, everything. If you live in West Virginia, Arizona, anywhere else, your costs will go up significantly.

And remember, this is an addition to the current wave of inflation again caused by Joe Biden. And as we move further. To them, ideology power, the only things that matter, anyone who doesn't walk in lockstep with his radical base has no future in the party.

Here with more, former Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii, Tulsi Gabbard.

Welcome back.

You know, I looked at your comments. You're friends with both Manchin and Senator Sinema. You've had conversations as I understand it with Senator Sinema. What is she saying?

TULSI GABBARD (D), FORMER HAWAII CONGRESSWOMAN: You know, I've known Kyrsten Sinema for many years and she is not one to sway to political pressure. She does her research and she will -- she will stick to doing what she believes is right. You can agree with it or disagree with it, but I think that those who know her know that to be true.

The most important thing as we look at what's happening now here across the country, Sean, is that we have real leaders leading our country and to me real leaders means those who are putting the interests of the American people ahead of any political interest, putting the interests of the country ahead of their own partisan power or ambition.

And that's what bothers me so much about what we're seeing with the Democratic Party now is that instead of doing that, instead of putting the interests of the American people first, we see them pushing their own selfish interests, the interests of the powerful elite, and instead of truly serving the American people, even worse, they are treating us as though we're the enemy.

If you disagree with the Democratic Party, you're called a racist. If you disagree, you're called a Russian asset. If you're a concerned parent who's -- who wants to be involved in your child's education, you're targeted by the Department of Justice as a domestic terrorist. Unfortunately, you could go on and on with these different examples that really just show how destructive this leadership actually is.

HANNITY: Well, let me -- assess the Biden presidency. Look, for example, I can't believe we abandoned Americans still in Afghanistan. That shocks my soul and my conscience. I can't believe that Joe Biden, you know, is allowing the disaster at the border to happen. That's -- that's -- he's facilitating that.

I can't believe he removed America from energy independence. I can't believe we have more people dead from COVID in 2021 than 2020. He was handed three vaccines and monoclonal antibodies. I can't believe inflation is through the roof. I can't believe the supply chain mess. I can't believe China's aggression, Iran's aggression, North Korea's aggression, Putin's aggression.

Is there anything you can point to that you could say wow that's really working because I can't?

GABBARD: Well, I think you're pointing to so many of the really serious challenges that the American people face. You mentioned Afghanistan, that one hits close to home, of course, and we have to remember there are still Americans who are still stuck in Afghanistan now, even though they may not be in the headlines every day.

And this is where the American people deserve that kind of real leadership where they can trust, hey, those in positions of power in our government are actually going to look out for us. But it's not surprising that as we sit here the American people wonder, how can I trust my government my government sees me as the enemy? Without this faith and trust that we have leaders who are actually working to solve our problems, the everyday serious problems -- you listed many of them -- that the American people are facing all across the country, then what are we left with?

HANNITY: Let me ask you a question. I don't remember as distinctly especially when you were running in the primary, I don't remember you standing out this much from the crowd. Did I just miss it or have --

GABBARD: Yes.

HANNITY: That's a fair answer because --

GABBARD: I've called it straight, Sean, and I you've had, you know, I've had a couple of conversations. I've called it straight, whether it was with the Democratic Party, the Republican Party. If there are things that I agree with based on substance, not partisan politics but substance, I will say so and take action based on what I believe is in the best interests of the country and if I think that there's a direction that's wrong, I'll stand against it.

HANNITY: It's obviously a passion you have. What is -- do you have a planned future? Do you have any thoughts about running in the future?

GABBARD: There are many ways to serve. My sole focus, whether it's in office or out of office, wherever -- wherever I go or wherever I end up, my commitment of my life is to serve the American people and defend our Constitution and our freedom.

HANNITY: Well, we share a common purpose because that's what I believe in -- liberty, freedom, capitalism, our Constitution, and this is the greatest country, the greatest wealth creating system on Earth, and we have a lot of problems to fix.

Thank you, Tulsi Gabbard.

GABBARD: Yeah.

HANNITY: Thanks for being with us.

When we come back, straight ahead, as Biden's economy continues to crumble, experts warning this Thanksgiving will be the most expensive by far in history. We check in with Pete Hegseth, Joe Concha -- they react, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Tonight, rising costs, surging inflation , the supply chain mess are now at the center of Biden's failed economic agenda. It is hitting your kitchen table literally. This year's Thanksgiving is now set to be the single most expensive ever from turkey, to stuffing, to corn, to all the different ingredients, now all going up, the cost of everything.

Turkeys, for example, alone, are up nearly 70 percent from only two years ago. Now, these rising prices across several industries from food to lumber to used cars, new cars, and much more, they're not temporary like Biden and circle back Psaki have been telling you. Even Obama's guy Lawrence Summers says, yeah, it's here to stay. It looks like it is true.

And Americans all over the country, they're taking notice as confidence now and Biden's ability to lead the country and to an economic recovery is plummeting even further, plunging to 44 percent, down another eight points since he took office. All while Biden's overall approval rating now hanging in the mid 30s, all while he is deflecting blame and fueling more division, avoiding any real solutions to the problems he clearly created.

Here with reaction, "FOX and Friends" weekend co-host Pete Hegseth, along with FOX News contributor, media columnist for "The Hill", Joe Concha.

Pete, we'll start with you.

You know, when you just look at what I just said about Thanksgiving, Pete, add to that buck more gallon, add to that anywhere between $600 and a thousand more dollars a year to heat your home this winter, add to that everything you purchase at every single store now costs more, and it costs more to transport it there, this is now impacting every single American. And the people suffering the most are poor Americans and middle class Americans.

PETE HEGSETH, "FOX & FRIENDS WEEKEND" CO-HOST: Absolutely right. All of these things are regressive. That's who they hit, the people on the lowest part of the economic chain.

And ultimately, Newt Gingrich is right. It has a chance to cross political and partisan lines. That "Axios" poll you talked about, Sean, the dip in numbers is not amongst Republicans, they already don't have faith in Joe Biden. It was amongst independents and Democrats whose economic confidence had plummeted in Joe Biden. So what are they not going to destroy, Sean?

First of all, Columbus Day is now indigenous people's day. Now, we're -- our turkey's going to cost too much on Thanksgiving. Our gifts aren't going to get here on Christmas.

We know they want to cancel all the presidents on President's Day coming up in February and I guess effectively, they're going to say the science says the stone can't be rolled away, let's cancel Easter as well. I mean, they are Lucy pulling the football out from Charlie Brown on Thanksgiving. Every single time you give them a chance, they fumble it, they lie to you and ultimately your life gets worse.

Hopefully in this moment and well maybe we'll see it in Virginia in just about a week, people will wake up to the reality, your life gets worse when you hand it to the left.

HANNITY: And, Joe, this is where I think Newt is right. I mean, when it starts -- when every day life for every costs this much more and the very people that Joe Biden claims to have a great monopoly of compassion for are getting hurt the most, that wakes people up to the fact that his policies aren't working. That's how you get an approval rating in the mid 30s like Joe, right?

JOE CONCHA, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: This is the pain presidency, Sean, and Newt Gingrich was right before, by the way.

Americans -- Republican, independent, Democrats, apolitical all feel the pain on core inflation being at a 30-year high. The pain of gas prices, up more than 40 percent on average nationally, of food, poultry, meat, seafood, of double digits. That's why Thanksgiving is going to be so expensive as you pointed out earlier.

The pain of supply chain crisis that increases demand and pushes the goods -- the cost of goods even higher. The pain of feeling less safe with violent crime engulfing cities and neighborhoods across the country, the pain of fentanyl, of opioids, of addiction, and I think -- you know, as a media analyst this is the most underreported crisis in this country, it's not even close because of a border that is anything but closed and all this stuff is coming in.

No Psaki bomb is going to fix this. No canned speech from the president is going to fix this. The president, the vice president, they won't visit the border. They along with transportation secretary and Pete Buttigieg visit port cities in California, in Georgia, in Jersey, not far from me here in Newark, where cargo ships are all backed up like they are in Long Beach.

And it comes down to three things -- competency, effort, messaging. The administration is failing on all three of these fronts, and the American people, despite a mostly hospitable media, knows it, Sean. The numbers show it.

HANNITY: You know, it's interesting because we can resolve the border issue, Pete. Go back to the Trump policies. We could resolve the inflation issue in a big way, go back to being energy independent, stop begging OPEC.

And as Senator Barrasso said, we're importing more oil from Russia than from Alaska. If you want to do a better job with COVID, how about maybe you tell people now that we have breakthrough cases about monoclonal antibodies and not mention it only one time, and maybe while we're at it we should go back and rescue our fellow Americans that he abandoned days after he said he wouldn't abandon them.

HEGSETH: Well, that does, as Joe said, require competency. It also requires the willingness to separate yourself from the religion of things like climate change and being completely beholden to union interests at places like ports where unions have totally crushed independent contractors and operators' ability to operate there.

So they have prerogatives and alters they have to worship at. They are divorced from results for actual people and yet the big divorce that people say is Joe Biden you told me you were going to be the unity candidate. You told me you were going to be the normalcy candidate. The tweets would go away and my life would go back to normal, except I've all seen it go south because the agenda behind your party is open borders.

The agenda behind your party is climate change, not energy independence. The agenda behind your party is defund the police and demonize them instead of securing my life and ultimately your life gets worse and the turkey costs double and your gas tank is full and your account is empty.

HANNITY: Last 30 seconds, Joe.

CONCHA: One hundred days since President OBiden, Sean -- President Biden, excuse me, OBiden, where'd that come from? Biden actually had --

HANNITY: You're not the first, don't worry about it.

CONCHA: I combined the presidency of the 44th president and Biden. It's been nine and a half weeks since he's actually had a one-on-one interview with any major news outlet. When you can't articulate your own argument without using a teleprompter while taking tough questions from a halfway decent journalist, that's why you're losing the battle right now. Americans watch Joe Biden, they say, I don't have confidence that this guy is up for the job because he can't do anything outside of a teleprompter, outside of scripted homogenized events and that's where we are right now.

HANNITY: When "The Wall Street journal" finally makes it to where I've been for a long time that he's a cognitive mess and not up to the job, physically, mentally, et cetera, I think people see what we're dealing with here. He's not up to this job, that's a problem and he doesn't have the capacity to change and he is literally being -- you know, the entire agenda is being pushed by the most radical elements that now represent most of the Democratic Party.

Great commentary, Joe and Pete. Thank you.

Coming up, as Biden continues to push for forced vaccinations, they are beginning to face widespread backlash. Plus, what the science -- what is the science behind vaccinating five-year-old children? Dr. Nicole Saphier, Dana Loesch, they weigh in, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Another breaking news tonight, the FDA authorizing the vaccine for elementary school kids 5 to 11, and likely paving the way for more vaccine mandates inside of schools for young children all across the country.

Let's look at the data. What's the mantra? Oh, yeah, follow the science. Now, we know children are at a very, very low risk of being hospitalized or dying from COVID.

Here are the numbers, according to the CDC. Around 1.9 million children ages 5 to 11 have been infected with COVID. Of that number, 160 have died. Some of whom already suffered from serious underlying medical conditions, which is a rate of around 0.0008 percent.

For comparison, 139 kids 5 to 17 died of the flu in 2019 and '20, according to the CDC estimate.

So does it make sense to vaccinate children who have such a little risk? Where's the science here? Are there negative, unintended consequences that we need to take into consideration?

And when it comes to mandates -- well, many Americans, whether you like it or not, they have made up their minds. So many now, hundreds of thousands of Americans in all walks of life, whatever reason they have decided they'd be willing to be fired from their job, give up their income, give up their benefits, and give up their pensions, and they've made up their mind and there seems to be nothing that flip flop Fauci, Mr. Gain of function himself, or Biden or Kamala or de Blasio are going to say that's going to change their minds for hundreds of thousands of Americans in very key jobs as it appears that they made up their minds.

In other words, for many people, it's not all -- they we've had the debate about vax or not vax. They've decided and they're not changing their mind, for whatever reason. You'll have to ask them.

Now, remember prominent Democrats so-called experts were saying not too long ago, these mandates would never happen. You know people like Pelosi and people like Fauci and people like Biden and so many others. Oh, no, we're not going to mandate this.

Look at your screen. That's New York City workers, including police, fire, first responders all marching across the Brooklyn Bridge to New York City hall yesterday to stand opposed to New York Mayor Comrade de Blasio and Biden's vaccine mandates.

And the pushback is even erupting inside major sports as demonstrators now protesting outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn this weekend to support the net star Kyrie Irving who has been removed from the team and all activities because he has decided his decision -- I assume with consulting his doctor not to get the vaccine.

And by the way, speaking of sports, well, we see one pack stadium after another all fall long, not one of them have we heard has been a super spreader event as Dr. Fauci wrong again predicted.

Can we really afford to lose a significant number of cops and firefighters and first responders and nurses and teachers and trained military personnel? Every community all across the country will be deeply impacted by losing hundreds of thousands of workers.

Here with reaction, FOX News medical contributor, Dr. Nicole Saphier, along with radio host, Dana Loesch.

Dr. Saphier, I look at the numbers of the flu for kids and I look at the numbers, CDC numbers for COVID for kids. Okay, they've now authorized the use for kids five to eleven. My question is, with that low number of deaths and the low number of kids having any trouble with this, does that -- does the science warrant vaccinating all these kids?

DR. NICOLE SAPHIER, FOX NEWS MEDICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Well, Sean, undoubtedly, if a vaccine becomes available, a parent should have the right to choose whether or not they want to vaccinate their child and that is goes true especially for those parents who have children at home with pre-existing medical conditions, even as common as obesity. As you mentioned, about 70 percent of all children who have been hospitalized with COVID-19 have a pre-existing condition.

I can't really comment on the pre-existing conditions of the children who have died because the CDC hasn't released this data.

Today, the advisory committee for the FDA has voted in favor of expanding the emergency use authorization to include five to 11 year old children for this lower dose, two-dose vaccine regimen in that 5 to 11 year old age group.

I anticipate that the FDA will follow suit and accept their recommendations and grant the EUA extension to this age group.

But where it goes from here is what's important, Sean. Next week, the CDC meets. So while they have proven that this vaccine is able to mount an immune response and in this limited data set that it does appear to be safe, the CDC now has to say, who do we recommend it? And unfortunately, Sean, as we see in the United States, whatever the CDC recommends turns into a mandate. And so, therefore, the CDC needs to heavily scrutinize who should be getting this vaccine, should it be tailored to those with pre- existing medical conditions? Should we be considering single-dose regimens? Should we be taking into account whether or not a child has natural immunity? CDC data suggests about 40 percent of children in this age group may already have natural immunity, which worldwide data tell us can be just as protective if not more protective and long lasting than the vaccine- induced immunity.

This is what the CDC needs to do next week. They need to get away from their needs universal vaccine campaigns because this ultimately turns into mandates.

HANNITY: But, Dr. Nicole, they don't want to hear it.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: They have this case, we're all following, it's not peer-reviewed yet. But nearly 800,000 people in Israel, I want to see the science when it's all in. But it showed -- the early indications are natural immunity is 27 times more effective than what the vaccine is offering people. Let's see what the final numbers come back at. But we're following the science. We're waiting for the peer review.

Let me ask you, Dana. I know there's been shaming. I know that there's been lecturing and scolding. But I'll tell you what really fries me -- if you look at cops, and first responders, and nurses in the military, these are the people that went into work at the height of this, many of whom got covered themselves and contracted it.

And for whatever reason they have made up their minds, that they will lose their job, their career, their benefits, and their pension, and they were diving on COVID grenades every single day. They worked in a COVID Petri dish. And now, we're going to fire these people? That's our way of saying thank you for risking your life to save other people's lives?

DANA LOESCH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Sean, I think that's what I and so many other people find so incredibly puzzling about all of this particularly if we are following the science, because as you mentioned, a great number of these people have already -- they have natural immunity. Isn't that what this is a discussion about ultimately is -- what is how do you need a transference of immunity? Do you need vaccine-induced immunity? What if you have natural immunity already? Why is that not an exception?

And if we're following the science, you would think that that would be an exception. I mean, I know people who work in healthcare personally. Like I -- some are very close friends of mine who are actually having to make the decision as to whether or not they're going to continue having jobs even though they have natural immunity which I cannot -- I cannot wrap my mind around this.

And so, this is giving so many people out there a lot of hesitancy because people they're saying these officials are telling us look follow the science but we're not going to follow the science. That's kind of confusing.

HANNITY: Let's get an answer on that. How about we get an answer? Robert Malone created the technology for mRNA viruses, Pfizer, Moderna, he says natural immunities better than his technology. We'll continue to follow this story.

Thank you, Dana. Thank you, Dr. Nicole.

When we come back, we have a big update in the dorm probe. Leo 2.0 Terrell and Greg Jarrett, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: In San Francisco, lawlessness now continues to plague city streets and rampant theft, property damage, violent crime continues to be disregarded by extreme left-wing District Attorney Chesa Boudin. And his failures by the way are so glaring and obvious that even two San Francisco prosecutors are quitting their office joining the recall effort accusing him of regularly handing down light sentences, letting violent criminals out of jail early and in some cases outright disregarding laws that he just doesn't like.

It's why the residents of Nancy Pelosi city are fleeing, businesses are closing up.

Here with reaction, FOX News analyst Greg Jarrett, along with Leo 2.0 Terrell.

Leo, they're incentivizing stealing, it's that simple. As long as you don't take more than a thousand bucks worth of stuff, you get to walk out of the store.

LEO TERRELL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: And that is true. And there's no prosecution. And by the way, the golden boy Gavin Newsom, he's off in Scotland on a climate change, ignoring the crime in the state of California. In San Francisco, 150 families have decided to hire their own private security. Why? Because they can't depend on the police, because of the shoplifting, the crime.

It is chaos in this state and we're paying the price because Newsom defeated the recall and he no longer cares as I mentioned he's in Scotland.

What does that mean for the rule of law, Greg Jarrett, when you don't enforce it?

GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: It doesn't exist, Sean.

Look this guy, Chesa Boudin, doesn't care a wit about victims of crime. He only cares about helping criminals. He has been setting killers free, setting career criminals free so they can commit more crimes, some of them violent, some including murder. It should surprise nobody.

And Boudin's parents were murderers and domestic terrorists in the radical underground convicted in the infamous 1981 Brinks robbery, they murdered two police officers in a security guard and Boudin, the D.A., has spent most of his time in office in San Francisco lobbying to get his dad out of prison. And he succeeded. Today, it was announced that his father was granted parole, thanks to Boudin, the D.A., who lobbied Andrew Cuomo in the waning hour, hours before he resigned in disgrace to commute the sentence making him eligible for parole.

This is a radical D.A. who has no business being in office with a duty to enforce the law, he wants to disregard the law.

HANNITY: Last 20 seconds, Leo?

TERRELL: I'll tell you right now. It's not only in San Francisco. In Los Angeles, we have George Gascon. I'm telling you, in the Democratic cities of San Francisco and L.A., you have George Soros type of prosecutors who basically allow criminals to roam the streets. The people are the victims in the state of California.

HANNITY: Big time and that's why stores are closing left and right. I think they closed, what, seven Walgreens.

All right, thank you both.

More HANNITY next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have left this evening. As always, thank you so much for making this show possible and being with us. We know you make it totally, completely possible.

Yes, 2022 is coming, almost a year away. Are you ready? Because a week from tonight, it will be election night in America. Important governor's races we'll be following.

Please set your DVR. Never miss an episode.

In the meantime, let not your hearts be troubled because Laura Ingraham has got a great show as per usual.

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