This is a rush transcript from, "Hannity", December 13, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: We're out of time tonight. We'll be back tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. You know what we're like, we won't repeat it.

Now, America's one and only, the great Sean Hannity takes over 9:00 p.m.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: All right. And, Tucker, thank you. And you could say it, sworn enemy of lying, pomposity, smugness and groupthink.

CARLSON: I'm going to let you say it. man.

HANNITY: You were running out of time, I got it in for you. That's what friends do.

CARLSON: Thank you.

HANNITY: All right. Tucker, thank you.

Welcome to HANNITY.

We begin with this FOX News alert tonight. The hyper-partisan, predetermined outcome, anti-Trump January 6 committee just voted 9-0 to hold Mark Meadows in contempt for refusing to comply with their orders. He's made many attempts to cooperate. Mark Meadows will be here to respond, straight ahead.

Also tonight, in just moments, we will bring you the very latest from Kentucky and five other states now reeling after that wave of deadly tornadoes this weekend. We'll also show you how Democrats, the mob, the media, they're now trying to politicize this horrific natural disaster.

But, first, our count continues, we won't stop.

ANNOUNCER: Americans held hostage behind enemy lines, day 121.

HANNITY: And 134 days since Joe Biden promised not to abandon Americans. Now, according to "The Washington Post" even, evacuations have as we told you they would predictably slow to a trickle. Quote: The administration says the process is now limited by the realities on the ground in the Taliban-controlled Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan. Now, the Biden administration once laughably they promised they had all the leverage, remember? They said, we have all the leverage.

And the terrorists and the Taliban over them to secure the release of those on the ground that they abandoned. That was and remains a blatant lie.

Now, one senior State Department official is telling "The Post" that a real evacuation is no longer possible. Quote: When you don't have people in the country, there's not really a functioning airport and arguably, there are tens if not hundreds of thousands who would fall into the broad category of at-risk, so make no mistake.

This is a serious ongoing crisis without any obvious solution, completely preventable, caused and perpetrated by Joe Biden and hope now has diminished and sadly, it appears that Americans, military families, thousands of green cardholders that are eligible to live in this country, our Afghan allies will not be getting out for years, if at all.

Now, it is one of the many self-inflicted crises responsible for Joe Biden's plummeting poll numbers. Look at this new, ABC News survey, only 28 percent of the American people approve of Biden's handling of inflation and the economy. A measly 36 percent approve his handling of crime. His overall approval rating now is under water by around 10 points in nearly every single poll.

The only person polling worse than Joe Biden is his choice for vice president. That's Kamala Harris. In fact, no vice president in U.S. history has a lower approval rating than Kamala Harris.

Now, maybe that's because the vice president is terrible at her job. For example, ever since she was appointed borders czar, nine months ago, Harris has done nothing to resolve the crisis. She did make one 30-minute trip near the border, not where she needed to be, in El Paso. Nowhere close to where the migrant surge was actually happening.

And one useless trip of course, you know, to the southern border. She made a trip to Central America, to see the problems going on there, along with a whole phone call to the president of Guatemala. That's one in nine months. That's it.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Is Vice President Harris still in charge of addressing the root causes of migration from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala?

JEN PSAKI, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: She is, and I just announced a commitment that she's announcing this afternoon.

DOOCY: Why is it that she has not spoken to the president of Guatemala since June, six months?

PSAKI: Well, I know that I did see this kind of strange report from the president of Guatemala saying that he's had no contact with the White House, which is inaccurate.

DOOCY: He said Vice President Harris is not spoken to her and if she's in charge, why -- why is that?

PSAKI: Well, we have had a range of conversations Peter I think as reflected in our readout we put out last week with our national security advisor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: And now, yet, another massive caravan another is headed our way. Kamala Harris has no plan of action no resolution no future plans to visit the border absolutely nothing. By the way are you surprised -- at this point, is anybody surprised.

Now according to reports, Harris often refuses to read briefings is frequently unprepared for the daily challenges that she would face as vice president.

And get this instead of actually doing her job, the border czar now spends countless hours berating her own staff according to numerous reports. Allegedly, Kamala Harris is such a menace that some are openly referring to her as a soul-destroying bully. Ouch.

Now, of course, amid lashing out at her own employees, Kamala also found time to redecorate her own office with carefully curated art pieces an all- white furniture set, brand new light, blue color for the walls, and apparently, according to Kamala, the border crisis can wait. Her office was in desperate need of a makeover. Mike Pence apparently doesn't share the same decorating tastes.

But don't worry, Harris says the ridiculous headlines about her conduct will not be a distraction for her.

And tonight, one anti-Trump columnist Peggy Noonan is now imploring Kamala to get serious writing, quote: The president is old and his judgment questionable, she seems out of her depth. We will have another three years of this?

Sadly, the answer is yes. Sadly, I have to agree.

Joining us with more, FOX News contributor Ari Fleischer and former Trump White House chief of staff Reince Priebus.

Reince, we'll begin with you. You know, again, we're still at this point where we have one crisis after another and no solution on the horizon and no shift in policy. Today, it was doubled down on Build Back Better socialism and arm-twisting of Joe Manchin. We don't know how that went, but if it went well, then they'll get their Build Back Better socialism that is now estimated by the CBO to be $5 trillion.

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, first of all, what's happening in the White House is taking drama in the White House to a whole new level. Everything you just read out between Kamala Harris and the president is a knife fight that we just don't see very often.

Yes, we have some drama in every White House, but to have planted stories between the Oval Office and down the hallway to the VP's office is intentional, it's real, it's not made up.

And the reason is is Kamala Harris is a total liability to the president. She doesn't offer any balancing political philosophy to the president. Unlike you mentioned Pence who was you know conservative and conventional, she doesn't offer any different base of support from the president, unlike Pence who's sort of a faith-based conservative.

Worse yet from being a liability, she's an anchor. I mean, you just said she's at 28 percent approval. That puts her at the level of like divorce lawyers and lobbyists who you know represent countries that everybody hates.

(CROSSTALK)

PRIEBUS: It is a bad situation.

HANNITY: You know, soul-crushing bully is a term that people are using. She tried the video with child actors, as you know, Ari Fleischer. This is your area of expertise, crisis management. She also -- people are now leaving in droves. She's brought in a PR team for an image makeover, I don't see any changes as of now and Joe Biden seemingly doesn't want to even acknowledge her at Bob Dole's funeral.

ARI FLEISCHER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah, a PR team full of children reading off of a script for a spontaneous event. Look, she's in over her head, so is the president. At least the president's lesson over his head than she is.

I mean, we have to pray for his good health. So we don't get her. But when you look at her boss, Sean, I think it's fair to say that since Joe Biden took office, he has had the reverse Midas touch. What issue has he not botched?

Take Afghanistan, the American people largely wanted to withdraw from Afghanistan. Joe Biden botched it.

Energy independence, we were free, energy independent country until he came in and shut things down. He botched our energy.

The southern border -- our southern border was secure. American people want to secure border and humane immigration policies. He's delivered neither, he botched the border.

Almost every issue that he's touched, he's botched, largely because the biggest botch on his watch has been going woke. This is what he and Harris have done. They've abandoned the centrists, the moderates, the Manchins in the Democratic Party and they become awoke party. That's the core of the botch, and he's the botch in chief.

HANNITY: You know, if you want to fix the border problem, you have to go back to the Trump policies that work. You want to fix the energy problem, which would impact inflation, which is now at a 39-year high, Reince Priebus, you'd go back to the Trump policies on energy and the economy. If you want to fix foreign policy issues, you're going to have to get a little tougher and maybe be a little bit more awake than Joe Biden is and aware and a little tougher.

I don't see that Joe Biden has the ability to stand up to Russia and say we're going to supply all the energy needs of our Western European allies. He wouldn't do that. He needs to say to China, we're not going to import a single product from your country unless you stop the saber rattling with Taiwan. Those things would work. Nobody's talking about war, just use the tools that you do have available.

PRIEBUS: Yeah, but just remember too, I mean this is -- this was -- as I said before, this is intentional conduct by the by the president. I mean, it was the president who chose to sign six executive orders on inauguration day -- excuse me -- eight and six of them had to do with this border issue, not building the wall, decriminalizing -- you know, not deporting illegals who committed crimes. He's the one that signed the executive order on the Keystone Pipeline. They're the ones that went forward with this crazy spending after they've been warned that when you put too much money in the economy chasing the same amount of goods, you're going to create inflation.

So let's -- I put it more in the category of intentional conduct. This is what they want to do. They've got a big mess on their hands.

They think their problem is they don't communicate correctly about this stuff not actually the stuff that they're doing and this is why they're going to pay a huge price at the ballot box, because what they're doing is what the American people aren't buying right.

HANNITY: Ari, I'm going to give you the last word and maybe as part of your last word, the top three four things that you would recommend they need to do immediately to get their polling back in line.

FLEISCHER: Well, he should immediately walk away from Build Back Better. I mean, that's the problem. If he really wants to be a moderate, if he wants to govern in the center, he should work on something bipartisan with Republicans and take it in very small nuggets. But he can't do with Sean because he's too deeply in debt now to the woke.

He began his presidency appealing to them, he can't cut and run from his base now. He's trapped to his base. Harris is the anchor around Biden and progressives are the anchor around Biden as well. They're trapped.

HANNITY: Yeah. All right. Ari, great analysis. Reince, great analysis. Thank you both.

Breaking earlier today, Senator Joe Manchin spoke with President Biden on the phone about Joe's Build Back Better/New Green Deal socialism proposal. If Manchin votes no, this insane spending plan will be dead. Tonight, there are 5 trillion reasons for Joe Manchin to walk away from this bill.

Now, according to the bipartisan, gold standard, Congressional Budget Office, non-partisan budget office, Build Back Better actually, when you get rid of all the accounting gimmicks, and you get rid of all the sunset clauses that are ridiculous if you include them, actually, it costs $5.1 trillion with interest. And that adds three trillion dollars to the deficit.

Now, Democrats they've been lying to you. They've tried to mask the true cost by pretending the programs in this bill will just magically end in year three, five, whatever. Now, politicians lie, the CBO does not. The CBO, according to all the Democrats, we played this last week, they're the gold standard, at least according to every top Democrat in office.

Take a look. Let's remind you of what they think about the CBO.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, THEN-VICE PRESIDENT: And the estimates from the CBO, which is really a -- you know, as you know, the gold standard. No Republican or Democrat questions.

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Some of them are trying to pin a rose on this report and make it sounds like it's a good, and the others of them are trying to discredit the CBO. But it's completely wrong.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): Before we enact major legislation, we should know the truth. CBO speaks the truth. They've been speaking the truth for decades and to try to attack CBO is simply attacking the messenger.

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): The CBO, nonpartisan, fact-based score shows what a horror show this Republican plan is.

SEN. RON WYDEN (D-OR): We're going to be stopping it cold and certainly the CBO information gives us a big, big boost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Well, now, that the math has been working out for them, Democrats are trashing the CBO. Socialist congresswoman, the head of the progressive caucus, actually said the CBO scores are outdated because they don't count the well-being of the planet.

How do you calculate that?

And Jen Psaki calling the CBO analysis fake, taking a cheap shot at Senator Lindsey Graham who insisted on real numbers and no accounting gimmicks. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOOCY: So, the president says that the Build Back Better is not going to add a penny to the deficit. The CBO has this new score where they assume that social programs are going to made permanent, and in that case, it would add almost $3 trillion.

So, does that mean that President Biden will commit that these programs are not going to be made permanent?

PSAKI: Well, first of all, what you're talking about here is a fake CBO score. That is not based on the actual bill that anybody is voting on. This was a ask request by Senator Graham to score a bill that is not currently being debated.

But it's important to understand that when you when anybody raises a question about this new CBO score, it is a fake score about a bill that doesn't exist and we should really focus on the actual bill everybody's going to vote on and considering in Congress right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. Jen Psaki is lying as per usual. Now, the true cost to Build Back Better socialism is monumental. It's not fully paid for, and we've been lied to, not even close.

And according to two of Barack Obama's top economic advisers, Steve Ratner and Larry Summers, this bill would cause inflation to spike even more. Lindsey Graham said it's like pouring gasoline on it.

Joining us now, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham.

First of all, I was mad at you over the infrastructure bill, I'm not mad -- as mad as I was. So we don't always agree, but you rightly demanded no accounting gimmicks, you rightly demanded it be scored accurately. The Democrats always said the CBO is a gold standard and when you get to the real numbers, $5.1 trillion, $3 trillion to the deficit.

We've been lied to the whole time.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): Well, yeah, so what did I do? I asked the CBO to look at the bill to see if it had budget gimmicks. It was made up of shell games, and that's what Joe Manchin asked in November last month. And what did CBO tell us?

If the 17 programs stay in place and they'll never go away, it's not 1.75. It's $5 trillion. If you spend that much money over ten years the way the bill is constructed, the deficit goes from $360 billion to $3 trillion. So it's a lie.

So what she said about me is a lie. The bill that's on the floor is a lie. The bill on the floor is set up to cost $1.75 trillion based on a lie. It's a lie that these programs will go away.

If you tell the truth about the bill, like CBO did, is $5 trillion, not $1.75. It's $3 trillion in deficit, not $360 billion over 10 years.

I don't know what Joe Manchin's going to do. The biggest game in town right now, Sean, is what will Joe Manchin do?

I can tell you what he said. He said he would not vote for a bill that was part of a shell game, full of budget gimmicks. The CBO said this is a budget gimmick bill.

He said he wouldn't vote -- would not vote for a bill that added to the deficit. This bill has $3 trillion to the deficit.

He said he wouldn't vote for a bill that made inflation worse. This bill will pour gasoline on the inflation fire.

Using his own words, he should vote against this bill.

HANNITY: So, we're really -- our hopes then, America's hopes to beat back this New Green Deal, radical Build Back Better socialism hangs in the balance with one vote, one man, one person?

Our only hope therefore is -- and I actually have a good relationship with Joe Manchin. I think he really cares about the people of West Virginia, but it's all hanging -- it's -- he holds all the cards here?

GRAHAM: Yeah, a hundred percent. Every Republican will vote against Build Back Better, you know? And that's quite a feat. The Republican Party can't unite itself, but the Democratic Party has been able to do something we can't do.

Build Back Better has united every Republican, all of us will vote against it because it's a nightmare for the country. It will lead to inflation. It's full of budget gimmicks and it's $3 trillion unpaid for. So, every Republican will vote no.

We're down to Joe Manchin. And if Joe Manchin listens to the good people of West Virginia, he'll vote no. This bill, the Green New Deal components of this bill, will make gas prices go way up. They've gone up 58 percent since Biden has been president.

The Build Back Better will add a dollar I think to gasoline prices, add $3 trillion of deficit. If you want this bill to pass and to be paid for, show me how you come up with $3 trillion of tax increases or government cuts. It can't be done. It should be shelved or rewritten.

HANNITY: Have you talked to Joe Manchin and how certain are you all Republican stay united?

GRAHAM: I've never been more certain of anything in my life that Susan Collins, Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, fill-in the blank, Mitch McConnell, we're all going to vote no.

I mentioned -- the first person I told about the CBO score was Joe Manchin and he was stunned that the CBO had the bill more costly than the Wharton Business School, that it went from $360 billion over 10 years to $3 trillion in deficit.

Again, if Joe will do what he said he would do in terms of evaluating this bill, make sure it doesn't add to inflation, make sure it's paid for, make sure it doesn't have any gimmicks, he will vote no, because it's based on his own standard, the CBO destroyed his ability to vote yes.

HANNITY: All right. We're going to watch.

Why did the Republicans help and assist in a one-time role? Can you explain that to me? Because I've got to tell you something, the Republican Party under Mitch McConnell promised not to do it in September. Then at the last minute, they aided and abetted the Democrats who bought them more time.

Now, they did at a different way but a one-time rule is just another way to buy them more time.

Republicans have been kept out of the budgetary process the entire time. Why and what are the implications? We have less than a minute.

GRAHAM: Well, I think people are worried about defaulting on the debt. But we had a damn good plan, make the Democrats raise the debt ceiling using reconciliation, same mechanism we used to spend all this money.

That was a good idea. What we wound up doing I think was a mistake, allowing the House to change the Senate rules.

But here's the good news. All of us are on board against Build Back Better. I hope Joe Manchin will vote against Build Back Better.

HANNITY: All right. Joe Manchin, the world awaits your decision. It's a lot of pressure on one guy.

I think I agree with you, if he stands up for the people of West Virginia, it's a no-brainer. Good people.

All right. Coming up, the left rush to politicize the horrific deadly tornadoes in Kentucky this weekend. It was shameless and draconian COVID mandates are coming back in blue states. Clay Travis reacts to that. Mark Meadows, in an exclusive interview, will join us live as a January 6th committee with a predetermined recommended to charge him with contempt.

Stay with us as we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Democrats tonight, they're hitting new lows, actually using the deadly tornado tragedy across the Midwest to push their far left climate alarmism agenda, despite little facts any evidence suggesting the extreme weather was directly tied to man-made climate change.

Just listen to Biden's far left FEMA director. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: This is going to be our new normal. And the effects that we're seeing from climate change are the crisis of our generation we're taking a lot of efforts at FEMA to work with communities to help reduce the impacts that we're seeing from these severe weather events and help to develop system-wide projects that can help protect communities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: And the panic-inducing climate doom didn't stop there, as Joe Biden himself claiming without citing any hard evidence that the storms are a direct consequence of warming. But what does that actual science, what does the science here say? Follow the science, that's the mantra. What are the actual facts?

For example, the U.N., their IPCC 2021 climate report finds data on tornadoes and climate change is inconclusive. Quote: Attribution of certain classes of extreme weather like tornadoes is beyond current modeling and theoretical capabilities.

But, of course, that does not stop the Democrats in the middle of pushing their New Green Deal/Build Back Better socialism from rushing to politicize a tragedy, and fueling of course more hysteria, speculation about naturally occurring weather events, climate change is the -- a religion and the cult of the radical left.

For example, failed far left Congressman Eric Swalwell tweeted in part, quote, do not for one second forget that Rand Paul has voted against helping most Americans most times that they are in need.

Democrats can never let a crisis go to waste, Rahm Emanuel said that, even in the immediate aftermath of a really horrific tragedy.

Here to break it all down, he is author of the book "The Weaponization of Weather in the Phony Climate War", meteorologist and, of course, founder of weatherbell.com, Joe Bastardi.

You know what I love about you is weather's your passion. You were one of these crazy storm tracers you know everybody's running away from tornadoes and hurricanes and you're moving right into them. But you have encyclopedic knowledge -- if I ask you about the hurricane season in the 1920s, I bet you could tell me the name of every hurricane, how bad it was, what category it was, et cetera, et cetera. Am I correct on that?

JOE BASTARDI, WEATHERBELL.COM CHIEF METEOROLOGIST: Well, I could tell you where they went but they didn't have names back then. So I can describe --

HANNITY: Of course, I stay corrected and embarrassed on my own show. Thank you.

All right. But you could tell me, was it a cat three, four or five? Where did it hit? What the damage was, correct?

BASTARDI: Yeah. That's right -- that's right because if you understand the past, you have a foundation to reach for the future. And erasing the past or pretending things didn't occur like for instance the tri-state tornado which -- this tornado may have actually been as bad or worse than that, but it's 96 years later.

And for the FEMA director to say what she said is about as extremely wrong as I've ever seen, unless she is forecasting this to come back every year. This is the new normal, what is a 1 in 96 return rate. That's what it's been so far. So that's the fact.

Here's the other fact, they've said nothing about severe weather, this particular severe weather season because there hasn't been much going on. The combination of tornado, wind damage and hail reports is near record lows. But that's what they do and that's why I call it weaponization..

They wait for something to happen. I'm going to tell you what the next big thing is going to be. Look out, Europe, and Vladimir Putin, I'm sure his meteorologist, he's laughing and smiling right now. Severe and bitter cold is going to set into Europe much of late December and January.

We are also watching what's going on in Alaska because that looks like it's bound for the United States. When you put together the energy situation, supply line situation in this country, yet another situation that has been engineered, Sean, has been engineered will then be blamed just like this particular situation is blamed on climate change.

HANNITY: Like in the `70s, they were saying the next Ice Age is coming and the cover of "Time", the cover of "Newsweek".

So there is a natural ebb and flow historically that you can trace and is - - would you argue that the U.N. is correct that the science cannot determine at this point whether or not man-made anything had anything to do with this these tornadoes? I have 10 seconds.

BASTARDI: Well, given their stated agenda, that's -- that's remarkably objective on their part. And yes that's exactly right, tornadoes -- strong tornadoes have actually been decreasing over the past 20 to 30 years. There's a reason for that, we can't get into that right now.

But for this particular year, in general, this has -- this has stood out just like what you may see later this week in the Philippines, a super typhoon hit is standing out because they've had near record low typhoon activity in the Western Pacific.

But that's what they do, Sean. They wait. It's almost like snakes in the grass, wait to attack.

HANNITY: All right. And by the way, Joe Bastardi, thank you, weatherbell.com.

Our prayers are with all the people impacted by this. It's devastating, lives are uprooted, lives are lost. Our prayers are with all of you.

And it's sad that people would use even a weather event to advance an agenda, pretty pathetic, without science behind it. The very people that lecture us follow the science.

Now, the Democrats' never-ending COVID restrictions, the pandemic theater, is showing no signs of slowing down. Also tonight here in New York, a statewide vax or mask rule for going indoors went into effect today, and California is going several steps further as the failed far left state is re-implementing a universal indoor mask mandate starting on Wednesday.

And that's not all -- anyone unvaccinated who wants to attend a, quote, mega event must show proof of a negative test a day before the event. We're also learning tonight that the U.S. Air Force has now administratively discharged 27 members for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine believed to be the first members removed over the mandate.

Here with reaction, Outkick founder, co-host of the Clay Travis, Buck Sexton show, Clay Travis.

And I can add to that, Clay, in New York, if now even though the science, the CDC website even, shows pretty much parody, the number of kids between the ages and that have died from COVID, it's -- it's on par with how many children we will lose every year from the flu. So it's very consistent.

Younger people are not being impacted but in New York City, they will now force children to show a vaccine card to get into a restaurant or any store. Thoughts?

CLAY TRAVIS, OUTKICK FOUNDER: It's absolute madness. I have a seven year old, I have an 11 year old. One of the most fortunate things over the past couple of years is kids have mercifully mostly been spared. As you said, Sean, they're more likely to die, five to year olds are of the seasonal flu but not just that. They're more likely to be murdered, they're more likely to drown, they're more likely to die in a traffic accident than they are from COVID.

And all of this is madness. I'm sure you saw Jen Psaki actually came out and defended the idea of young kids having to eat outside in the bitter cold, sometimes sitting in socially distanced areas outdoors when there's absolutely no science to support this at all.

And this is also a big point, Sean, you're talking about big events going on in New York and the restrictions and the restrictions in California as well for big events, you know what Dr. Fauci said about southeastern conference football? He said when college football started, that COVID was going to feast on all of the fans that were going to tailgates, that were going to games, that were crowding into bars and restaurants.

Do you know what happened? The overall COVID rate collapsed and now all of the states that have the highest rate of COVID just about voted for Joe Biden, their blue states, all of these restrictions, the masks, the social distancing, the idea that kids need to be vaccinated, it's not supported by science. In fact, it's the antithesis of science and the party of science like they claim to be is totally full of it. It's a joke.

HANNITY: Yeah. And they also said if we had football with big crowds, it would be a disaster. Every one would be a super spreader event. That did not become the case.

Clay Travis --

TRAVIS: Not at all.

HANNITY: Not at all, that's right. Good point. They're wrong again.

Thank you.

All right. Also tonight, more antics from the Democrat sham January 6 Committee. We've been telling you, this is a waste of your time and money. They have a predetermined outcome and, by the way, it lacks any serious investigation.

And breaking tonight, the committee voted to send a criminal contempt of Congress resolution to the House for former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows for failing to comply with a sham subpoena, documents he says are protected by executive privilege. That would need to be played out in courts.

We are now learning about an email from the former chief of staff that said the National Guard was on standby to protect, quote, pro-Trump people, and don't forget, President Trump requested increased National Guard support in the days leading up to the -- to January 6.

The request was rejected, by Pelosi, by congressional leaders, including request, by the way, from the Capitol police chief.

Here with reaction, author of -- it's in bookstores everywhere, Amazon.com, Hannity.com. I read the book cover to cover, it's worth -- you've got to get a copy. It's an insider's view that actually is fair to Donald Trump, what a rarity. "The Chief's Chief", Mark Meadows.

First, I guess I'll get your reaction to the January 6 vote 9-0 that it will now go before the House. But we already know this is a predetermined outcome. Didn't we learn that when they kicked Jim Jordan and Jim Banks off the committee?

MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, we did. Obviously, it's disappointing, but not surprising. And let's be clear about this, Sean, this is not about me -- holding me in contempt. It's not even about making the Capital safer. We've seen that by some of the selective leaks that are going on right now.

This is about Donald Trump and about actually going after him once again continuing to go after Donald Trump. And when we look at the real results of this investigation, it is not really -- the foundation is not based on a legislative purpose.

HANNITY: You know, I'm looking at the interpretation of this biased committee, Liz Cheney and company. I love how Liz she has partnered with the people that called her father wrote a war criminal, a murderer and a crock -- pretty amazing.

And I'm looking at this committee and they're acting as though somehow it's nefarious. You have massive crowds coming to Washington. We just came out of the summer of 2020. Now, they're not investigating the 500 riots that killed dozens of Americans, hurt thousands of cops, caused billions in property damage, Liz Cheney and company have no interest in those riots. I condemn them all equally on this program.

But what I want to know is, you know, as if it's a bad thing after coming out of the summer of 2020 saying, okay, there might be troublemakers here. We need to protect the Capitol.

You asked for it before the rally on January 6. The president asked for it. The Capitol police chief asked for it. And we now have reports of whistle- blowers telling us as National Guard members, they were told to stand down when they wanted to go in and stop the trouble.

I don't hear them talking about that part.

MEADOWS: Yeah, I -- well, listen, they want to talk about the part that fits their narrative and what we do know that in one of the things that is coming out more and more clearly each and every day is is that everyone condemned what happened in terms of the breach of security on January 6th.

But what we also know is that President Trump wanted to make sure that the people that came, that there was a safe environment for that -- that kind of assembly. And I've said that publicly before, the 10,000 National Guard troops that he wanted to make sure that everything was safe and secure.

And yet, the way that some of the Democrats are spinning this, trying to spin some nefarious purpose I think at the end of the day, they're going -- they're going to find that not only did the president act, but he acted quickly. And in doing all of that, it's important, you know, with this contempt vote that's coming out tomorrow, there's a high -- very high probability that they will refer me for criminal contempt to DOJ.

But there's -- you know, this --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: What will you do? What will you do, Cong -- what will you do, Congressman?

MEADOWS: Well, I mean, at this point -- at this point, Sean, you know, it will be turned over to the hands of DOJ. I can say this: that when you look at the criminal component of this, the intent, there's never been an intent on my part. I've tried to share non-privileged information.

But truly, the executive privilege that Donald Trump has claimed is his to waive. It's not mine to waive. It's not Congress's to wave.

And that's why we filed the lawsuit to hopefully get the courts to weigh in. Hopefully, they'll weigh in.

HANNITY: Well, before they did this to Steve Bannon, the last time they had done this -- hold somebody in contempt of Congress -- was 1983. President -- I notice they haven't been focused on President Trump's actual words on the rally that day.

Many of you will now peacefully and patriotically march the capital so your voices may be heard.

I didn't hear it in any of that, Congressman, many of you will march peacefully, and -- not peacefully and not patriotically and invade the Capital.

Now, the fact that they are ignoring your request, they're ignoring the president's request, they're ignoring the Capitol police chief's request earlier for support from the National Guard, which is especially after the summer of 2020, that's just good common sense. That's smart policing. That's for the protection of everybody.

MEADOWS: Well -- you're exactly right. And, obviously -- obviously, having those National Guards available -- actually, the reason they were able to respond when they did was because President Trump had actually put them on alert.

But I would also want to comment on one other thing. If we look at senior officials, chiefs of staff and those senior to the president of the United States, compelling them to come in and testify and what we're seeing now, there's lots of jurisprudence and at least legal opinions and the law that would suggest that that's not something that should be in the purview of Congress.

So, hopefully, the courts will weigh in.

HANNITY: Well, I've got a question. You know, I said that day and I've said it now and -- and I mean it, we are a country of law and order. We have to be.

Now, with that said, I want to get to the bottom of it. I want to know why the Guard was told to stand down, one. I want to know why your request, why President Trump's request for the Guard knowing what happened in the summer of 2020 was denied.

And I would like an answer to why we had 500 riots in the summer of 2020, dozens of Americans dead, thousands of cops injured, billions of dollars of property damage, arson and looting. Where's that committee, Congressman? I'd like to see that committee.

MEADOWS: Well -- yeah, that committee is not there and, obviously, there's a political narrative that really focuses on Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States and sadly, when we look at what is to be accomplished, I'm not sure that this committee is set up to do that.

HANNITY: All right. We appreciate it and thanks for being with us. We're going to watch this very closely.

And coming up, Biden's failed policies have created a labor shortage and stores are beginning to reduce their hours as a result. "Dirty Jobs" host, our friend Mike Rowe, is next, as we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Now, just like we've been reporting tonight after night the Biden agenda is failing and it is taking more Americans out of the labor force. It's harming businesses. It is putting the country on the path to more entitlements, more government dependency and more inflation, now at a 39- year high.

Now, someone who knows the value of hard work, as well as anyone, the host of the -- by the way, new show, "Dirty Jobs", premieres January 2nd. And that's not all. He even has a new music video with John Rich called "Santa's Got A Dirty Job". Take a look.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

HANNITY: All right. Joining us now, the one and only Mike Rowe.

You know, why are you picking on Santa Claus like that? What's up with that? You enjoyed it.

MIKE ROWE, "DIRTY JOBS" HOST: Are you kidding me? He's my hero, man. Santa Claus is you know he's going down chimneys, reindeer kicking mud up in his face, he works all night long, you know? You got to give the guy a break.

We wrote a song, just not because we felt like it, and we had time and we wanted to raise some money for our foundations. And last week, it was the number one downloaded song in the world. So, hey, man, Santa Claus --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I don't know how you pulled that off.

You know, as I go over this, and I'm looking at it -- maybe it's just the way I was raised, and maybe it's why I like the two shows. You -- you're the only person that worked on shows that I would like to do, except for my own shows, I like doing my own shows and that is the "Dirty Jobs" show that you did, which is phenomenal. I don't know how you did some of those jobs. And the other one you know is "Deadliest Catch," I love that show.

ROWE: Sure.

HANNITY: And I can watch it for hours on end.

And the reality is, if you have to get up in the morning, Mike, and you have nothing to do, I don't think I can think of anything worse.

ROWE: Than not working.

HANNITY: Correct.

ROWE: Yeah, look, man, that's -- we have a problem in the country and honestly, in my view, it's not really a political problem. It's a -- it's a human problem. You give the average person -- I don't care if he's a Republican or a Democrat -- the average person a chance to work and make 700 bucks a week or not work and make 700 bucks a week -- well, most people are going to take the easy way. That's -- it's just the way we're wired.

And so, when you talk about these policies and when you talk about incentivizing the kind of behavior that we want to encourage and disincentivizing the kind of behavior that we want to discourage, it seems like a fairly sensible thing to do.

But the truth is you can't mandate work ethic. You can't just wave a magic wand at somebody and say their character or delayed gratification or a decent attitude or personal responsibility. Those things have to be taught, their choices -- my foundation works hard to make a persuasive case for those choices.

But you're right some policies get in the way, some policies don't. It's interesting to see how that all plays out though.

HANNITY: What is the worst -- when you did the dirtiest jobs, what was the worst of the worst?

ROWE: Well, there were of them you know there are a couple coming up this season that are right up there. But I think getting a ruptured lift pump out of a wastewater treatment plant --

HANNITY: Oh!

ROWE: -- you know? I mean, it's a -- it's a four-ton motor and a five- story silo. And when it ruptures you kind of got a dog paddle through the filth, and then they winch the whole thing out, Sean, all right, with a big crane. And when that lift pump breaks the seal of crap that have been holding it to the floor, that sound, that'll haunt your dreams.

HANNITY: I watched you -- and I watched you in one episode, and I couldn't do this job because you crawl in this little crawl space, had to crawl all the way in, and then you're scooping out like hunks of grease and grime and muck. And you got to do it all day, I could not have done that job. But you did.

We have 20 seconds.

ROWE: Hey, look, man, you're sitting there every day doing your job. We all show -- we all show up, whether you're Santa Claus or a newscaster or a guy on TV, it doesn't matter, you know? Some people show up early, some people stay late. Those are the people we celebrate.

HANNITY: You know what? That's -- I don't know anyone that works eight- hour (ph) day, nobody.

All right. Thanks, Mike Rowe.

More "Hannity" right after this. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: Unfortunately, that is all the time we have left tonight. As always, we thank you for being with us. You make the show possible. We hope you will set your DVR so you never miss an episode.

In the meantime, let not your hearts be troubled, Laura Ingraham, "The Ingraham Angle", starts right here, right now, and it's a great show.

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