'Hannity' on media's role in Rittenhouse trial, spending bill vote

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Hannity: NBC has a long history of getting it wrong

'Hannity' host slams the mainstream media for attempting to intimidate the Rittenhouse jury.

This is a rush transcript of "Hannity" on November 18, 2021. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, FOX NEWS HOST: It was a magnificent night. Very special night, amazing people, and I was honored to be a small part of it.

Tucker, thank you as well.

And welcome to HANNITY.

We begin right now with the FOX News alert breaking news from Capitol Hill. We are moments away from a late night vote on Biden's Build Back Better/New Green Deal social spending spree in the House. As we speak, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is on the house for blasting this bill.

Listen in.

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): You're charging more than $5 trillion in this bill, more than 2,000 pages. Enough! You're empowering China to be even stronger.

This bill spends billions of dollars to hire 87,000 IRS agents. You're hiring 87,000 IRS agents but you're not hiring one new person to protect the border. And what is the job of the IRS agents? They're going after Americans. And what Americans are they going after? Any one of you that spends $28 in one single day.

If you go to Starbucks, if you simply put three gallons into gas in your car, and you go through a drive-thru, maybe you get a dollar meal at McDonald's, IRS is coming for you. You're proud of that fact that's what you held the CBO up for, how much money can we get from Americans by auditing them. You know what you just provided? Who you're auditing? You're auditing 1.2 million more Americans.

You're breeding this bill on the premise that you don't trust Americans. And you know what Americans you're going after? One half of those 1.2 million are people who earn $75,000 or less. That's what you're trying to pay this bill from.

House is not in order, Mr. Speaker.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: House will be in order. Members are reminded to direct their comments to the chair.

MCCARTHY: Yes. Mr. Speaker, you know where 25 percent of those 1.2 million audits are going, to Americans who earn less than $25,000. Sometimes, math is hard, Mr. Speaker. It will double the size of the most intrusive bureaucracy.

So when you tell your children's children what you spent their money on, or you talk and you listen to the speeches tonight, Mr. Speaker and you listened to the chairman of Ways and Means, where he was proud of the fact that he was going to build up these agencies, he's building up the IRS to go after every American who spends $28 a day. Mr. Speaker, that is not what America asks for.

Make no mistake, under this provision, every single American is a target.

HANNITY: All right. That's Republican leader, very passionate, Kevin McCarthy. We're going to be following this vote all throughout the night. Keep in mind, according now to news today, the Congressional Budget Office, despite massive tax increases, this bill will still add hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit and the debt despite Biden, Kamala Harris, Jen Psaki, and the rest of the administration and their fraudulent claim that it was fully paid for. Remember this?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Build Back Better bill, which is not going to raise taxes one single cents. It's totally paid for.

All this is paid for by raising taxes on big corporations and very wealthy. I'm not trying to punish anybody, but I'm insisting that they pay their fair share. It's fiscally responsible and it's paid for.

These plans are fiscally responsible. They are fully paid for. They don't add a single penny to the deficit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: No, not a penny, hundreds of billions of dollars. That was all a lie. Kamala told the lie. He told the lie. Every Democrat told the lie.

Well, America's picked up on this. Biden's poll numbers continue to just plummet, half of America believes that Joe is what we've been telling you - - a complete cognitive mess -- confirmed by yesterday's poll. Democrats, they're desperately searching for a way to remove Joe and Kamala from the ticket in 2024. They're at each other's throats, as a civil war going on between the president and the vice president. The very latest details are straight ahead tonight.

But first, we do turn to, once again, Kenosha, Wisconsin, where after hours now of deliberation, there is still no verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. It is not clear what kind of progress the jury is making. Speculation is fruitless.

But last night, there was a serious development outside of the courthouse. A van transporting the jury was aggressively tailed by a freelance producer working for NBC News. At one point, the producer ran a red light in order to keep pace with that van after getting pulled over for several traffic violations. He claimed that he was told under the direction of a New York- based MSDNC producer to do this, follow the van with the jurors in it. Kenosha police suspect this person was trying to photograph the jurors which, of course, would be an egregious offense and danger to the jurors themselves. In fact, following or stalking or intimidating anybody on a jury for any reason is a major problem with serious real legal ramifications.

MSDNC, they have been banished now from the courtroom. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE BRUCE SCHROEDER, KENOSHA TRIAL COURT: I have instructed that no one from MSNBC News will be permitted in this building for the duration of this trial. This is a very serious matter and I don't know what the ultimate truth of it is, but absolutely, it would go without much thinking that someone who is following the jury bus, that is a very ex -- that's extremely serious matter and will be referred to the proper authorities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, in a statement, NBC News denied that the network was attempting to photograph the jurors. NBC went on to claim that they regret the incident. Well, the driver said he was told to do this. But do they really, the driver directly implicated a New York producer. And their coverage of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial has been unethical at best, definitely not benefiting of actual real news organization.

Look at liberal Joe Scarborough, once claiming that Rittenhouse crossed state lines with an AR-15 and just started shooting people up. At one point, he called Rittenhouse a self-appointed militia member, who unloaded 60 rounds. Many lies were told by the media mob, many other MSDNC employees openly referring to Kyle Rittenhouse as a white supremacist or vigilante, no evidence whatsoever.

Joy Reid triggered by what she called Kyle's white male tears and she works at NBC News. Now, they also at NBC falsely reported that Rittenhouse flashed a white power hand sign after being released on bail. And another NBC headline reads, quote, if convicted, he'll become a right-wing martyr. If he's freed, it's a message to others like him that prison won't be in their future.

At NBC News, there is no presumption of innocence, no due process for Kyle Rittenhouse, no rule of law, no equal justice under the law, no equal application of our laws. Facts, eyewitnesses, their accounts, video evidence, none of that matters to NBC. It's always the same thing. The political narrative is way more important and rushing to judgment. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC HOST: Here we have a 17-year-old kid, underage, said he bought an AR-15 because he thought it was cool. He drove across, they had his mother driving across state lines, he appointed himself a militia member, he goes around and he ends up unloading, what, 60 rounds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was well-prepared by his defense attorneys to disrupt his image as a trigger happy vigilante who went on a shooting rampage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you look at the totality of his actions, what you have is a racist bias judge who is putting his thumb on the skill in every way he can.

JOY REID, MSNBC HOST: Is there any recourse? This judge has done everything but you know offered to adopt Kyle Rittenhouse. This feels like those cases in the 1950s where it was in and out, in and out. You know, somebody, white male killed someone and they were in and out fast and acquitted.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Is anyone really surprised that MSDNC was caught apparently trying to stalk a van full of jurors? They've been trying to influence and intimidate this jury from the beginning. Ultimately, no matter what, MSDNC says about motive and white male tears, the law in Wisconsin is clear. An individual may use deadly force if he or she, quote, reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself.

Now, based on my observation of the evidence, it is more than reasonable to believe that Kyle Rittenhouse faced imminent death or great bodily harm from Joseph Rosenbaum for example after it was Rosenbaum -- yeah, he's the one that was convicted of molesting five kids, vowed to bleeping kill Rittenhouse and proceeded to chase him, corner him and lunge for his gun.

It was more than reasonable to believe that Kyle Rittenhouse faced imminent death or great bodily harm when a violent group of rioters, remember, they chased him as he was running away knocked him to the ground were attempting at that moment to stomp his face right into the pavement and attempting to grab his gun. And ultimately pointed -- another guy pointed a loaded gun in his face before Kyle took to self-defense.

This is a clear-cut case of self-defense and again, I'm not on the jury. They will ultimately make the final decision but no matter what happens in this case, NBC News, the rest of the mob in the media, they all should be ashamed of themselves and every year somehow their credibility gets worse and worse and worse. They've been wrong on every single solitary case.

The same people that lied for three long years about Trump, Russia, collusion, the dirty Russian disinformation dossier that Hillary Clinton paid for. They didn't care at all about lying to a FISA court when it says a affirmed affidavit, it never was because of course nothing was verifiable, says at the top of a FISA application, verified. No, it's not verified, it's been debunked, and they won't admit to the error and the lies and the conspiracy theories and the hoax they perpetrated on you the American people.

By the way, they got it wrong on Nicholas Sandmann. They got it wrong on Ferguson, Missouri. They got it wrong with Freddie Gray in Baltimore. They got it wrong with the Cambridge police. They get it wrong with UVA. They get it wrong with Duke Lacrosse. They always get it wrong because they always rush to judgment and they have no evidence no facts and they allow for no due process.

Here with reaction, FOX News contributors, Ari Fleischer, Joe Concha.

Let's look at it from a media standpoint, Ari, they are so reckless and irresponsible and so wrong so often. I mean, I actually have to tip my hat to "The Washington Post" for at least admitting, yeah, our reporting on the Steele dossier was wrong. When is Rachel conspiracy theorist Maddow going to make her apology and admission on MSDNC?

ARI FLEISCHER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah, never, because her viewers don't want her to and neither does her management. It's okay to be wrong if you're wrong for the right cause, or I should say the left cause.

But, Sean, you know what's happening now in Kenosha, if there is ever a time for the media of every stripe to tone things down instead of stir things up, it's on the eve of a major verdict like this. And for MSNBC to follow that jury van the bus and had any suggestion that we were trying to figure out who the jurors are for the purpose of publicizing who those jurors are is exactly what contributes to people going after jurors. This is the type of violence in the streets, insurrection against the court if you will, that we need to prevent.

And NBC doesn't have a story straight. The person they detained in Kenosha said that he was told by a supervisor to follow the bus. NBC in New York is trying to distance themselves from this calling him a freelancer. Well, producers are aggressive people, I know them. Their job is to make news, report the news.

It's inconceivable that he was following the bus for just the fun of it. He was going there for the purpose of reporting and NBC just explained what that meant and he needs to talk and talk publicly.

HANNITY: Lt's get your take, Joe Concha.

JOE CONCHA, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I want to jump on what Ari just said because NBC's attempt to explain this away as far as following that jury van it is about the best unintentional comedy out there. And take away please just for a moment, Republican, Democrat, or conservative, liberal, or sane or insane, and apply the fleeting foreign concept called common sense to the situation.

NBC to your point earlier has already declared Rittenhouse not only guilty, but a racist, actually expects you to believe that a producer was not following that jury van. He just happened to be right behind it and then just decided to run a red light. Why? What was the sense of urgency? Unless you're a producer doing exactly what you're instructed to do, photograph the jury.

And oh by the way, this -- the person that instructed this producer according to the producer in this case to follow the jury, she has nuked her social media accounts, which means if there was no wrongdoing here this person wouldn't be running and hiding.

NBC claims the producer wasn't photographing the van, but that's besides the point even. Just because following the bus alone is a whole bull of wrong because if jurors believed that they're being followed, they might feel intimidated. They may feel hesitant to vote the way they truly want to.

This is a journalistic atrocity. And for anyone involved, they need to be fired just for starters.

This is the same network, by the way, let's remember, that leaked and it was intentional the infamous Trump "Access Hollywood" tape two days before a major presidential debate in 2016 to "The Washington Post" and tried to sway a presidential election in the process. That's not journalism. It's activism.

And it's why a solid majority of Americans feel journalists purposely push information they know to be fake or false. That's per an Axios poll. It's no longer about intent. It's about malice and it's patently insidious, Sean.

HANNITY: Will they ever be held accountable? I have about 30 seconds, Ari.

FLEISCHER: No, they won't, Sean, because the business interests don't work that way anymore. You have essentially only Democrats and liberals watching CNN and MSNBC. You have mostly conservatives watching FOX, I should point that out as well.

And so, there's this real imbalance among the viewers who want to be told the news that they want by and large. And that's why it's just important to report the facts, report the truth, and let the viewers decide.

HANNITY: There's the difference here at FOX. Not everybody agrees with Sean Hannity, I wish everybody did, but not everybody does, and we have a lot of different opinions on the network all throughout the day.

All right. Ari Fleischer, Joe Concha, as always, thank you.

Joining us now with more reaction, author of "The Case for Vaccine Mandates," Alan Dershowitz, FOX News legal analyst Gregg Jarrett.

Between that, Gregg, and the Rittenhouse prosecution withholding that video evidence, the higher quality, the higher resolution we now have outstanding two motions by the defense for mistrial. One with prejudice, one without prejudice. I believe they're both real -- both of you I think agree with me. But now you have this new incident with this media company. This is beyond disgraceful and intimidating.

GREGG JARRETT, FOX NEWS LEGAL ANALYST: It is and, you know, it's impossible to overstate just how stupid this action was by the MSNBC producer. It is in violation of the judicial order and it is well- established in our courts that photographing jurors like this against a judicial order is witness or, excuse me, jury tampering, jury intimidation.

But frankly, it's no surprise that this comes from MSNBC, which has convicted Kyle Rittenhouse in the court of public opinion from the outset. They have been hostile to his defense of self-defense. They portrayed him as a white supremacist. They've outright declared on the air that he's a domestic terrorist, the equivalent of a mass murderer, led by Joy Reid and her racist rants against Kyle Rittenhouse. She sounds very much like a racist herself who sees everything through the myopic lens of racism.

So the judge was correct in banning MSNBC from the courthouse. But on top of this, I worry deeply about all the protesters chanting outside on the courthouse steps and it be heard in the courtroom "no justice, no peace", the "no peace" part is meant to say if you don't convict we're going to burn and pillage your city the same way we did months ago. That too is jury intimidation.

HANNITY: You know, I'm worried let me stay on the topic of jury intimidation. Professor, the -- I've got to imagine that that jury is hearing what's going on outside that courthouse. I've got to believe they're not sequestered that they -- well, first of all, we know they're keenly aware of what led up to this incident they are keenly aware that the entire country is watching this case. The amount of pressure that they're feeling.

And then to be chased by the media than to hear the chanting outside, it is daunting but more importantly, it is intimidating just like if the average person that doesn't do TV regularly comes on TV, usually, the first time they're going to be scared to death, I bet you people that are trying to do their constitutional duty are pretty frightened right now and intimidated.

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, HARVARD LAW PROFESSOR: There's no -- there's no doubt about that, and I think MSNBC, it doesn't matter what they intended, the real issue is what did the jury see. The jury saw themselves being followed and that just adds to the intimidation that they're aware of outside the courtroom. This has become a trend. This is the opposite of what happened 100 years ago.

A hundred years ago in the South, you had white ministers screaming and yelling. You had media screaming and yelling, demanding conviction of black people for looking at white people or mistreating white people.

Today, we have the exact opposite of that. You get a lead op-ed in "The New York Times" today where Charles Blow who was an overt racist talks about white defense and he lists all the white defendants. And he puts them all together, Rittenhouse and then he puts you know political people in the same group because they're white.

It's overt racism and it sends a terrible message to the jury that you better convict, you better do what these folks outside want you to do or they will be unrest. People remember what Maxine Waters said. People remember what others have said.

And you know just going down South for a minute and going to that Georgia case where you have --

HANNITY: We're limited amount of time.

DERSHOWITZ: -- the courtroom and putting pressure on jurors right in front of them.

HANNITY: I want to know from this perspective because the judge has excoriate the prosecution if at this point that the judge needs to deal with these motions for a mistrial. We've got seconds each.

Gregg, we'll give you the first crack at it.

JARRETT: Well, it's abundantly clear to me that he's not going to make a decision on the mistrials until the jury does something. We won't have to rule on it if the jury acquits. If they convict on any of the counts, he then has the option to either dismiss the case entirely with prejudice or a mistrial and a retrial. You know, I would say it's about 50/50 on that.

HANNITY: Professor, last word.

DERSHOWITZ: But the odds a little lower. I think this judge desperately does not want to be the one who releases this man because it will make his life miserable in the community. I think it will take a court of appeals, three judges, not in Kenosha but far away who don't have the direct influence to look at this case rationally and say to themselves this was not a fair trial.

Every civil libertarian, left or right, liberal, conservative, should be very upset about the way the media and others have put not their thumb but their elbow on the scale of justice. This is very dangerous to civil liberties.

HANNITY: I agree completely and it's a scary scenario right now in this country, really is dangerous. Thank you both.

When we come back, tension remains high in Kenosha. Sara Carter has the latest.

Plus, you won't believe how much Democrat so-called Build Back Better/New Green Deal socialism is costing you. That debate is ongoing. We will cover it throughout the evening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: This is a FOX News alert. As we speak, we continue to monitor the House floor. Debate is ongoing on Biden's Build Back Better/New Green Deal socialism. Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader, still speaking on the house floor.

MCCARTHY: It's not even going to be greater than the first two trillion this body wasted, Mr. Speaker. But here's the dirty street secret, most Democrats who vote for these policies won't be affected by the inflation rate, but seniors, working families and those living paycheck to paycheck have been and will continue to be even in a greater sense.

Through no fault of their own, good, hard-working Americans are being hurt by their own government. And, Mr. Speaker, that's just wrong. What is the White House -

HANNITY: That chart says it all, doesn't it? Hard-working Americans, the poor, the middle class are being impacted the most. They're going backwards, by the way. They're being impacted the most and we're going to get Chad Pergram in just a minute.

But look at that chart, because of Biden's plans on the economy, wanting higher taxes, his gas policies, energy policies, leaving energy independence behind, open borders, abandoning Americans abroad, it's unbelievable.

The first three days by the way of deliberation as we move on to the verdict in the jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse trials in the books. The city of Kenosha tonight again remains on edge. We have protesters on both sides of the case gathering in front of the county courthouse.

Sara Carter, she's on the ground, as she has been every night in Kenosha, with the very latest.

Sara, what's going on tonight? Things getting a little louder with each passing day.

SARA CARTER, FOX NEWSD CONTRIBUTOR: Yeah, it sure seems that way, Sean. I mean, tensions remain high here in Kenosha. We know yesterday we saw the arrest of several people as protesters confronted each other out here on the streets.

Earlier today here at civic center park where I'm standing to see the courthouse directly behind me, a man was taken into custody. He had his firearm along his side. He was roughly within a thousand feet of a school here in the local area, and the police -- the Kenosha police took him into custody. We didn't see the scuffles that we saw yesterday, but because of the incidents that happened yesterday, five schools in the local area decided that they would shut down and go virtual for the rest of the week, as we enter the fourth day of deliberations.

I can tell you this, Sean, you know, as the tensions are high here, people are just hoping that maybe they can mitigate any kind of violence or anything that they saw last year here. They're really hoping for the best, but they are preparing for the worst, Sean.

HANNITY: All right. Sarah, we hope uh the worst does not happen. You would think reason and the belief in our justice system, but we'll see.

Now, from Kenosha to Capitol Hill, as we've been showing you tonight, the House of Representatives now slated to vote on Joe Biden's Build Back Better/New Green Deal socialist tax and spend package. That by the way, we are now learning is not in fact fully paid for, as Joe has repeatedly been claiming. It'll cost you zero, cost zero. Kamala Harris, it'll cost zero, zero, zero dollars, that's what they keep saying.

Well, now, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which Joe Biden didn't want to hear from, they're now estimating that this bill will increase the budget deficit by almost $370 billion over years. That is a lot more than zero. Maybe somebody can tell Joe it's time to throw away that old abacus of his and maybe buy him a calculator for Christmas.

And here now with the full report, live from Capitol Hill, is our very own Chad Pergram.

And a lot of passion from Kevin McCarthy tonight. What's the latest? When do we expect this vote?

CHAD PERGRAM, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kevin McCarthy has been speaking for almost 50 minutes on the House floor so far. The House is poised to vote on this bill in the next hour, let's crunch the numbers. The evaluation of the bill by the Congressional Budget Office was key.

The bill adds about $160 billion to the deficit over a decade. The overall figure is $367 billion. But the CBO analysis does not account for an additional $200 billion in revenue from enhanced IRS enforcement. This means the bill increases the deficit. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN BRADY (R-TX): So, America, the results are in and now we know. It was all nonsense, just nonsense. The claim that this costs zero and reduces the national debt -- nonsense.

(END IVIDEO CLIP)

PERGRAM: Moderate Democrats would not let the House vote until they got a CBO score. They seem satisfied despite holding out for weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. STEPHANIE MURPHY (R-FL): As it relates to climate provisions, I have a bit of tolerance for not requiring that to be paid for because I don't believe the CBO estimates take into account the cost of inaction, and it is consistent with the House rules for pay-fors for this Congress.

(END VIDEO CLPI)

PEGRAM: The bill now goes to the Senate, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer aims to pass the bill by Christmas, but the bill must change to meet the demands of moderates like Joe Manchin. It may be a challenge for liberals in the House to accept a bill altered by the Senate. January is when the House will try to align with the Senate -- Sean.

HANNITY: And in the meantime, they've got a debt ceiling problem if I'm not mistaken by December 3rd, Chad?

PEGRAM: December 3rd and Janet Yellen, the secretary of the treasury, sent a notice to Congress this week they have a little more wiggle room there. She said December 15th, but the government funding, that expires on the third of December.

HANNITY: All right. Chad and Republicans have promised, like they did the last time, they caved. But they promised they would not assist the Democrats since they've been out of the process of doing this bill from the very beginning. Thank you, Chad.

Now, tonight is Joe Biden and the Democrats try and force this country down this path to radical socialism, Americans, they are now letting it be known that they do not approve. Our latest FOX News poll just out tonight showing Biden with just a 44 percent approval rating -- by the way, another poll came out with him only at 36 percent. We have a majority of Americans disapproving of the job that he's doing.

An earlier poll from Quinnipiac as I just mentioned had him at 36 percent, and only a measly 24 percent of voters in this country say they want Joe Biden to run for another term.

And the FOX poll, Biden is underwater and every major issue facing this country. A full majority of voters disapprove of his handling of the economy, immigration, the threat from China, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and I would add energy to that list if that was polled.

And get this -- it's even worse for Vice President Harris. She has a 40 percent approval rating. But, of course, last week, it was a whopping low 28 percent. It's so bad, she is now being openly asked if she feels useful around the White House anymore. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're getting things done and we're doing it together.

GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: So you don't feel misused or underused?

HARRIS: No, I don't. I am very, very excited about the work that we have accomplished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: What work? The borders are a disgrace. Afghanistan was a disaster. Inflation is out of control, a 31-year high. Oh and we'll pay a buck 50 more per gallon for gasoline and we're paying more for everything we buy in every store we go to.

And to make matters worse, we just learned today, Harris communications director will be leaving her job next month, maybe she was the one responsible I guess for hiring those child actors because that turned out to be a disaster also. I guess the vice president is just too hard to defend.

Here with reaction, not one but two former White House chiefs of staff to President Donald Trump, Mark Meadows, Reince Priebus.

Reince, you were first. We'll give you first crack at it, but I can't think of a single successful issue for them. This bill is not accepted by the American people. If they force it through the Senate, I don't see Manchin and Sinema going along in the Senate. They pass it through in the House.

REINCE PRIEBUS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Well, first, it's insane. First of all, they jammed these two bills in. They had no mandate to do it. They showed that there was complete division within the party. Biden had no power over his own party.

The second thing was as Kevin McCarthy was pointing out, they were warned about this inflation issue. They were warned by people like Democrats Larry Summers and other Obama people, Jason Furman, Stephen Ratner, and the reality is as you pointed out -- unemployment's a bad deal, but inflation affects a hundred percent of us.

And we know that people across the country are feeling this everywhere. Gas is more expensive. Thanksgiving dinner is going to be more expensive next week. The grocery store shelves are empty, at least some of them are if you can find the actual ingredients by the way. Restaurants have limited hours. It's taking months for people to get their cars fixed.

So, look, unfortunately, it's sort of a sinking ship but we're all on this ship together. So, now, we have to figure out how to how to how to get our country back on track.

HANNITY: Well, there's an answer, they can go back to Trump's policies on the economy. Trump's policies on energy independence. Donald Trump's policies on the border, and I don't think Donald Trump would have abandoned Americans in Afghanistan.

(CROSSTALK)

PRIEBUS: -- Democrats to do that.

HANNITY: So there's an answer.

Mark Meadows, Nancy Pelosi is notorious for not having a vote if she doesn't have the vote. So I would assume she's confident she thinks she will get this bill passed in the House, but it's pretty meaningless because I think Joe Manchin and Kristen Sinema are going to put their signatures and their fingerprints all over the bill in the Senate, and it's going to be a very different bill if one at all.

MARK MEADOWS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Yeah, they'll have the votes tonight. They wouldn't have brought it this far, and the moderates, they were already falling all over themselves when they got the CBO score that actually you're right adds to the deficit. But it's even worse than that. Some of the math that they have, they're actually giving credit for policies that they're reversing that actually haven't been even put into place yet. So it could be a another $200 billion to $300 billion worse than the CBO score.

But here's the answer -- Joe Biden thinks the answer to everything is to hire more IRS agents. You know, when we look at it, only 60 percent -- if you drill down on those polls -- only 60 percent of Americans think that their future is going to be better off under a Joe Biden presidency. He's - - but what we get, what we expect he was in Congress for 40 years. He has the approval now that's closer to a congressional representative than the president of the United States.

HANNITY: By the way, that means that the rest of the country is going to get what I call the HANNITY treatment which is we see Hannity's name, we pull his file every single year, and that's going to be the reality for the rest of America and it's not that pleasant which is why I have not one accounting firm but two accounting firms.

All right. So the real -- the only thing is -- is Joe Biden now is beholden to this radical element in his party.

Mark Meadows, I'll give you first crack on this one. Okay, well I don't see them -- I don't see them bringing back any of the Trump policies which would solve all of their problems. That's not going to happen, is it?

MEADOWS: Well, it's not going to happen in the four areas that Joe Biden actually are polling the worst in were the ones that actually Donald Trump fixed and had a plan for. So all that Joe Biden has to do is run back and actually do what Donald Trump did for four years.

But here's the other thing is Joe Biden's used to signing the back of a paycheck not the front of a paycheck. So he doesn't even understand what it takes because he's used to a government paycheck for 40 years.

And the average American, Reince is exactly right, they're paying more at the grocery store, at the gas pumps, and candidly that will come back to haunt them in 2022 and 2024.

HANNITY: I look at the radicalization, Reince, of the Democratic Party. I look at this push for New Green Deal socialism. I see -- you know, it's almost become a New Green Deal socialist cult and Joe Biden bows at the altar of climate change and environmental radicalism.

If they're not willing to change and they're going to continue just to beg OPEC for oil and then excoriate and scold American energy companies, how does that solve the biggest problem they have with inflation, the economy and that's the high cost of energy because their policies artificially reduce the supply as demand has remained constant, I don't see that -- I don't see them solving that problem by yelling at gas company and energy company executives.

PRIEBUS: Well, it's a -- it's a good question, and I think it goes back to what we've talked about on this show a few times, which is -- this is intentional conduct by the Democrats. They're not completely stupid. They actually believe in this stuff. It's stupid idea --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I beg to differ a little, but --

PRIEBUS: They are getting -- hear me out. They are getting what they want. These open borders is what they want. The gas prices going up is what they want. They don't want us in the cars. They want everyone to come here without regard to the law.

And it makes you wonder, okay, so they see the polling. They know what they're heading into 2022. Anyone can look at this, right? But so why do they do it? They do it because they know what they're facing and they're -- and they want they want all their goodies and everything that they've ever dreamed of and they're going to get it all now.

They've got complete power and they're going to keep grabbing and keep grabbing, they don't care.

HANNITY: So another -- let me interpret that. So you're basically saying their policy is to the American people, we see that you don't want this, drop dead. We want it, we don't care what you want.

PRIEBUS: Yeah.

HANNITY: Okay, Mark Meadows, by the way --

PRIEBUS: They don't care. They know what's better for us.

HANNITY: Mark's book is coming out in December. It's called "The Chief's Chief," it's on amazon.com if you want a first edition copy.

Okay, so if you directly go against the will of the American people, how's that going to work out for the Democratic Party because it sounds to me like they're going to get their asses kicked in 2022, Mark Meadows.

MEADOWS: Well, they are. But here's the -- here's the dangerous thing. And the vote tonight, they will -- they will pass it along partisan lines. It'll ping-pong back because you'll have some Democrat senators, you've mentioned, obviously, two of them, but there may be more, that will actually ping pong it back. But once they've gotten the yes vote, they are not going to walk the plank without getting all of this radical left-wing policy, socialist communist policy in place, and what they believe is, it's worth it. If we can get it there, it'll be there forever and the American people will have to fund it and the American taxpayer will be owned by the government instead of having the liberties and freedoms that we've enjoyed.

HANNITY: Well, it's going to be fascinating to watch because you're basically admitting that they're going to commit political suicide. It's -- we'll be watching the vote tonight and we'll see what Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have to say.

By the way, Reince, you could have written "The Chief's Chief", you were a chief before mark was chief and Mark beat you to it, so I don't know what that means. But I'll let you guys fight it out and figure it out. Mark's --

PRIEBUS: I'm waiting for the -- I'm waiting for my day to write my big book. It's going to be a good one.

HANNITY: Just don't mention my name, I mentioned in every other liberal book.

Anyway, guys, good to see you both.

PRIEBUS: The chapter on Mark Meadows.

HANNITY: Oh, okay, I can't wait to read it. B the way Mark's book is coming out if you want a first edition copy, go to amazon.com. It'll be in bookstores soon.

When we come back, the left, the media, they have peddled countless lies about Kyle Rittenhouse. We're going to give you the most egregious examples as Miranda Devine, Leo 2.0 Terrell will join us and react straight ahead. We're glad you're with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: And tonight, we continue to monitor the House floor where a vote on Biden's Build Back/New Green Deal social spending bill is expected to happen within minutes now. We'll bring it to you live.

But, first, the left, the media mob, in their rush to judgment, they have peddled countless lies about Kyle Rittenhouse. Last September, with virtually no information at all to support his ridiculous claim, Joe Biden -- well, he jumped in and labeled them a white supremacist. Now, this is just more of what we have come to expect from the left and the media mob as they continue to lie in order to stoke fear and division.

Here with reaction, FOX News contributors Miranda Devine and Leo 2.0 Terrell.

Miranda, you pointed out in a great column today and I've read a lot of it on my radio show, the 10 big lies that have been told about Kyle Rittenhouse. You want to go through your top three, four.

MIRANDA DEVINE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: And most of them have been spewed out on MSNBC in particular. Look, e he was not a white supremacist. The people that he shot were all white like he is. He did not cross state lines with an AR-15 that was illegal. His mother did not drive him across state lines to go to a riot to shoot people.

He lived 20 miles from Kenosha. His father lives in Kenosha, so does his aunt, his uncle, his grandmother, his best friend. His gun which he was illegally entitled to own in Wisconsin was in a safe in his best friend's stepfather's house.

He was in Kenosha because he had a job as a lifeguard that day. He worked a shift before he then went and volunteered to clean graffiti that rioters had defaced a local school with, and then he was asked by a local businessman who owned a car -- used car lot to come and with another group of people to come and guard their car lot because they'd lost cars the night before to arson, because the police and the authorities in Kenosha had abandoned the town and Kyle Rittenhouse told the court that he regarded Kenosha, his father's hometown, his workplace as his community and he was being an upstanding member of that community.

His mother was living in Antioch 20 miles away, but she had done a 16-hour shift at the nursing home, where she's a nurse's assistant, and she was asleep before her son even went to Kenosha to work his shift. All of these stories, they're all lies. He's not a white supremacist. He's not a domestic terrorist. He was an upstanding 17 year old.

HANNITY: You know, Leo, I think one of the worst things you can call somebody is a racist, but that's a Democratic playbook. Every two and four years, and now it seems on pretty much every issue. It's getting to the point where I don't even think people react to it anymore.

LEO TERRELL, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Sean, you're absolutely right. First of all, Miranda, that's a great article I read it. They don't react to it so they doubled up, Sean. They do it 24/7. The race card is played by the left 24/7. Not every two years, not every four years.

And our system of justice is being threatened because they're looking through the prism of racism. They don't care about facts. They don't care about the law. It's all racist.

A Black Lives Matter outside the courtroom, I don't even know why. No black man was shot by Kyle Rittenhouse, but they're out there because they want everything through the racial prism, and you know what? They use it as a form of intimidation and threat, and that's what they're trying to do to the jury right now.

HANNITY: Well, I'll tell you, it's hurtful the country. Real quick because we don't have a lot of time predictions. What do you expect is the verdict, 10 seconds each, Miranda?

DEVINE: Look, I don't know, that they've been out for three days now, it doesn't look good. I mean long the longer the jury stays out, the worse it is. But I will say that MSNBC is being despicable.

HANNITY: Ten seconds, Leo -- Leo?

TERRELL: Yeah, no problem. The judge is going to say that Kyle Rittenhouse would not serve a day in jail. That's all I'll say.

HANNITY: All right.

TERRELL: Not one day in jail.

HANNITY: Thank you both.

More HANNITY, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. The House is set to vote tonight on Biden's Build Back Better/New Green Deal socialist spending bill. It's a disaster.

Stay with the FOX News Channel for continuing coverage. As a matter of fact, let not your hearts be troubled, Laura Ingraham is up next.

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