Pompeo: Border security is an important part of American sovereignty

close

Video

Pompeo: Border security is an important part of American sovereignty

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sits down to discuss President Trump's foreign policy and the importance of border security on 'Hannity.'

This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," January 3, 2019. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: It's actually perfect timing but who's counting? Uh-uh, there, I have to get my American flag straight. Although it's in distress in some ways. The liberals have no sense of humor.

Great show, Tucker.

Welcome to "Hannity." We have a busy news night.

We start tonight with a Fox News alert. Tonight, we begin our Hannity watch on the Democrats and their radical agenda for America.

Nancy Pelosi has now officially taken back the gavel and the hate Trump Democrats are gearing up to carry out the agenda they were hiding all during the election and we were warning you about. They want their crumbs back. They want to eliminate ICE, open borders, Obamacare on steroids. They want a single payer system, endless, endless, endless investigations. How does that help you?

They want to investigate the president and, of course, impeachment, impeachment, impeachment. They wouldn't tell you.

So, here it is day one of the new Congress. A Democrat representative has already introduced articles of impeachment. They need to read the Constitution. It would be a nice intellectual exercise for them.

And the newly crowned speaker of the house, Nancy Pelosi, she is refusing to rule out a plan to impeach President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: Many Democrats are talking about impeachment. You have said it would be sad and divisive for the country --

REP. NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: It would be.

INTERVIEWER: -- to pursue impeach. Are you willing to rule it out?

PELOSI: We have to wait and see what happens with the Mueller report. We shouldn't be impeaching for a political reason, and we shouldn't avoid impeachment for a political reason. So, we just have to see how it comes out.

INTERVIEWER: Do you believe the special counsel should honor and observe the Department of Justice guidance that states a sitting president cannot be indicted?

PELOSI: I do not think that is conclusive -- no, I do not.

INTERVIEWER: So you think it is possible that special counsel Mueller could legally indict a sitting president?

PELOSI: Let's just see what Mueller does. Let's spend our time on getting results for the American people.

INTERVIEWER: As you well know, there is long standing Department of Justice guidance that states a sitting president should not be indicted. It is not the law.

PELOSI: It is not the law. Everything indicates that a president can be indicted after he is no longer president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: After he is no longer president. Oh, OK.

All these things these Trump haters wouldn't tell you during the campaign, now they are revealing it. We were right from the beginning. And in addition to impeachment, Democrats are preparing new legislation that demands ten years of the president's tax returns. That's so important for your life. You better believe they plan for a big tax cut. That's probably all imminent.

There are no moderates left in the Democratic Party, which is really sad, Scoop Jackson, more conservative Democrats that want to get things done, coming together, bipartisanship, I don't see it. As it gets pushed further and further to this extreme radical left, watch what's going to happen.

We have incoming socialists Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Rashida Tlaib, they are joining their fellow comrade, Bernie Sanders, in Congress. They're planning to spend a lot of your hard earned money. Single payer, Medicaid for all, government-funded higher education for all, a green new deal with massive government funding for, quote, renewable clean energy. Didn't we try that, Solyndra?

Now, they are not just coming for your crumbs. They want the entire meal. Let not your heart be troubled. That's the big news tonight.

This is all one big show. No bill is going to pass without the approval of the Republican Senate or the Republican president. And thanks to the president's hard work for the midterm elections, Republicans picked up seats in the Senate and they have a solid majority.

Oh, let me make a prediction, they will never, ever, ever, in spite of all their hopes and prayers and dreams and their giddiness and their excitement and the hate Trump media saying it, they are never going to get two-thirds of the U.S. Senate to vote to convict Trump on impeachment. Never going to happen. So, they are wasting America's time and they are stopping progress.

Still, none of this is stopping House Democrats from promoting a spending bill that refuses to fund any part of a wall on our southern border. Zero dollars. They were offering $1.6 billion. Now, it is zero.

President Trump is holding the line. He is demanding Democrats. Why? They don't want a barrier.

Why it is so important and why do they support it, just four short years ago, they were all sounding like Donald Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You can call it a barrier. You can call it whatever you want. But essentially, we need protection in our country. We are going to make it good. The people of our country want it.

I have never had so much support as I have in the last week over my stance for border security, for border control, and for frankly the wall or the barrier.

Without a wall, you cannot have border security. Without a very strong form of barrier, call it what you will. But without a wall, you cannot have border security. It won't work.

Do you see what's just been put out on social media where thousands of people are rushing the border. Having a drone fly overhead, and I think nobody knows much more about technology, this type of technology certainly than I do. Having drones and various other form of sensors, they are all fine. They are not going to stop the problems that this country has.

We've never had more people wanting to come to the United States and that has to do with the economy. It has to do with a lot of other things. We are doing great as a country. The better we do, the more people want to come in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Here is the truth we all need to know. This is much more than politics. It is all about politics.

It is also a matter of national security. The wall is just not some hallowed campaign tactic. It is something that our own border patrol agents are calling for, that they desperately say they want and need. You don't have to take my word for it. Take a step back and listen to them. They are on the front lines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been a border patrol agent for 21 years. I can personally tell you from the work that I have done on the southwest border that physical barriers, that walls actually work. You hear a lot of talk from the expert -- you hear a lot of talk that there are experts that say that walls don't work. I promise you, if you interview border patrol agents, they will tell you that walls work.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are all affected by this shutdown. We have skin in the game. However, it comes down to border security. We are extremely grateful to President Trump and we fully support what he is doing to take care of our nation's borders, to take care of the future of this United States.

It has nothing to do with political parties. You all have got to ask yourself this question, if I come to your home, do you want me to knock on the front door or do you want me to climb through that window?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to talk about some of the criminals that border patrol agents apprehend on a daily basis. We're talking about murderers, rapists. People that commit serious crimes.

ICE has been doing a great job in deporting the people back to their countries. Unfortunately, once we deport these people, these people will not stay in their country. These criminal aliens that have been released in jail that have been deported, will come right back into the United States. However, if we had a physical barrier, if we had a wall, we would be able to stop that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: I have been down to the border 13 times from the Rio Grande to San Diego. I have been in the drug warehouses, helicopter, all-terrain vehicle, horseback -- you can laugh but I was -- boats, on foot. I have watched gang members arrested. We have the video.

Are the Democrats going to listen to the agents? Are they going to put the American people first? How many Americans need to die because we have open borders and sanctuary city and state policies before Democrats take this seriously?

How long are we going to witness drug trafficking targeting our kids in small towns and big cities or the human trafficking or the infiltration of gangs and even terrorists that we have identified trying to cross our border illegally and get into this country and cause us harm before the Democrats stop playing politics? Four years ago, they supported the Trump policy. How many billions of dollars must you, the American taxpayer spend in deportation fees, court costs, health care, education, the criminal justice system, other social services before we start controlling immigration at our southern border?

I have said this many, many times. I am certain, 98 percent, 99 percent of those people that want to cross the border into this country, they just want a better life. The things we take for granted -- freedom, opportunity, hope for their kids, their grandkids. But we just want to do it legally, vet them. Big wall, big door.

And that's why in tonight's "Hannity Watch" on the border and on the government shutdown, we are calling B.S. on all of these Democrats fake attempts to reopen the government. Democrats refuse to listen to the border patrol. They refused to listen to a security briefing yesterday with the Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. They even refused to negotiate with the president over the holidays.

President Trump stayed in Washington. He didn't go down to Mar-a-Lago over Christmas hoping the Democrats would come to the White House and negotiate a deal. Nancy Pelosi, she was on a luxurious vacation in beautiful Hawaii, some 12 hours away, six hours behind the time in D.C. When confronted by NBC News, well, she said this about leaving town for vacation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: Now, you had said before the shutdown that he was being quite cavalier and maybe the shutdown would give him more time to golf. But in the end, it was you that took a holiday.

PELOSI: What's the difference if I take a holiday? I observed the Christmas holiday for a few days in Hawaii. I cut in half the time I would have had with my family.

INTERVIEWER: Was that a cheap shot?

PELOSI: It's not important. It is totally unimportant. The president may not know this but Hawaii is part of the United States of America. Maybe he doesn't realize that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: You know, over this past weekend, we lost a police officer. His name was Officer Singh. This guy was in California. The sheriff of that county was on this show last night saying the sanctuary policies played a big part in what happened, because the murderer was involved in the criminal justice system and was never deported.

Speaker Pelosi -- well, the president was in the White House waiting to negotiate, you were thousand of miles away, lapping it up, life of luxury, playing politics with border security. Americans died over the course of that weekend. Americans, an American hero, police officer, with a five- month-old son, is no longer on this earth providing for his child.

Now, this is now day one of the Pelosi shutdown. She obviously doesn't care about DACA because the president is willing to negotiate DACA. He's willing to talk about Dreamers. He is willing to put the safety and security of American people first.

Is she now doing -- what she is now doing, is this in America's best interest? Is this in your best interest, your family's best interest?

It seems like people only care about destroying and hating President Trump and everyone around him. Hating Trump is now their singular focus of every second, of every minute, of every hour of every day.

And, of course, Pelosi is not the only adversary on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday, Democratic Congressman Hank Johnson, he actually compared President Trump, and all of his supporters to Nazis. And today, Sirius XM Patriots, Kerry Picket, asked Johnson about those hate-filled remarks and he doubles down. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

REP. HANK JOHNSON, D-GA.: What I did was compare the times that we live in to the times that existed at the time Hitler gained power. I mentioned the fact that he gained power through democratic elections, the same way Trump did. Our right to speak, freedom of the press, due process, equal protection of the law, all of those things are threatened by the current climate of right wing extremism.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, remember, this is the same genius congressman who openly worried that the island of Guam was going to capsize and tip over if too many U.S. military personnel were stationed on the island. They were going to tip the island over. That actually happened. He actually said that.

And that's your Democratic Party now in control of the U.S. House of Representatives and, of course, Democrats aren't the only people working against the president. Even incoming senator, Mitt Romney, well, he wanted Trump's endorsement, now criticizing Trump in an op-ed, causing many of his Republican colleagues to resoundly slam the freshman senator.

Now, reporter Kerry Picket also caught up with Romney today and asked him about his rough start on Capitol Hill. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KERRY PICKET, SIRIUSXM PATRIOT: The president endorsed you and now you have made this op-ed. How is that not considered essentially a shiv in the back?

SEN. MITT ROMNEY, R-UT: It is certainly an opportunity for us to work together on things where we agree. I actually said prior to the primary in an op-ed that I wrote in the Utah papers, that I would work with the president on places we agree and where we disagreed, I would point that out.

That's the great nature of this representative democracy, which is where we agree, we come together. Where there are disagreements, we express those openly and honestly. That allows people to have trust in one another. I look forward to have a trusting relationship with the president and others despite differences from time to time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. So, 2020 is just around the country. Romney is going to need to ask himself, well, what's better for the country, the president' pro-growth agenda, lower taxes, less regulation, oh, we are now energy independent. We are now making more oil, or producing more oil than Saudi Arabia and Russia. We are, for the first time in decades, energy independent.

Does he want originalist Supreme Court justices? Does he want border security or does he want to hate Trump media to like him or hate Trump Democrats or the hate Trump deep state, hell bent on destroying the not only the president but a duly elected president and his administration?

One such Democrat, Elizabeth Warren, has already announced her presidential bid after saying she wasn't going to run in March. Oh, I thought Democrats hate lying or not remembering correctly. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: I hear the president going after you from time to time referring to you as Pocahontas, and that recently, you were speaking about your Native American heritage. Does that get under your skin when he does that? And do you want to run for president in 2020?

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, D-MASS.: I am not running for president in 2020.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: I thought Trump haters didn't like lying.

Now, of course, we all know this is nothing new for Elizabeth Warren. Today, the president, he wasted no time calling her out for her fraudulent claims of Native American heritage, posting this tweet mocking Warren's now infamous DNA test and exposing her life of lies.

And even some on the left are coming after the 2020 hopeful over the debacle. For example, new piece in the "Huffington Post" titled: Elizabeth Warren's insult to Native Americans matters even more now that she's running. And they slam her for refusing to stop publicly claiming her family is part native.

Another potential Democratic 2020 hopeful, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, beginning his third term, using his inaugural address to slam President Trump, of course. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. ANDREW CUOMO, D-N.Y.: From voting reforms to Roe v. Wade for New York, to protecting a woman's right to choose, to better gun laws, to health care protection, to legalizing marijuana, to protecting the labor movement, to a green New Deal, to real criminal justice reform, we will make history. And New York will move forward, not by building a wall, my friends, but by building new bridges and building new airports and creating new middle class jobs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Maybe Cuomo should spend more time focusing on his own state, which is now home to one of the most corrupt and inefficient governments in the entire country, with New Yorkers leaving the state in droves, moving to tax havens like Texas and Florida, pretty much a disgrace. I'm going to have a lot more on that later in the show.

But it's time for tonight's "Hannity Watch" on the deep state. Our own Catherine Herridge reporting, House Republicans shuttering the FBI and Justice Department's actions during the 2016 campaign as they hand over power. But their final findings reveal FBI divisions over the Clinton case, conflicting claims on Rod Rosenstein's comments about recording the president.

Chairman Gowdy and Chairman Goodlatte even called for a second special counsel to investigate decisions made by the DOJ in the Clinton email and Russia probes, and, quote, the disparate way these two investigations were seemingly conducted. Now, the House investigation also determined that high level discussions were taking place that FBI and the DOJ about invoking the 25th Amendment and removing the president that they didn't want elected in the first place from office, a claim that Rod Rosenstein has adamantly denied. And while House investigations are now over, Senator Lindsey Graham is picking up right where they left off.

All right. Joining us now with much more, brand new book just out today, "The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump", Harvard professor, Alan Dershowitz.

By the way, Professor Dershowitz, I have this book, his signed copy to me. He is -- right after this show, he's going to be taking part in an online signing. You can go to it and watch it and fight out more about the book at dershowitzbook.com.

And I'm going over for a few minutes to say hi.

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, HARVARD PROFESSOR: Thank you very much.

HANNITY: Just have -- all I have to do is go online, at the website.

DERSHOWITZ: Yes, and I will sign the book right in front of them to them and they'll get a copy.

HANNITY: If the signature is different?

DERSHOWITZ: It is the same. I know how to write my name. I have signed over 1 million copies of books over the years.

HANNITY: All right. He's bragging now. Not only he teaches at Harvard now.

Congratulations.

DERSHOWITZ: Thank you so much.

HANNITY: All right. Looking forward to it. Let's talk about this. I'm looking out for the country right now. I don't see anything that's going on with the Democrats that's going to help working men and women, help make us more safe and secure, make the lives better for young Americans, opportunity for them. All I hear about is hate Trump, hate Trump, hate Trump.

DERSHOWITZ: Look, I voted for Democrats in Congress, because I want to see checks and balances operating. But I want to see the Democrats use their election to help America and to bring people together. We need border security, obviously and we need it in a way that satisfies due process. We need health care. We need all of these things.

HANNITY: The Democrats five years ago supported a wall. Are they hypocrites?

DERSHOWITZ: Well, I think that's hypocritical. I think the idea of focusing on the wall. Look, Israel has a security barrier.

HANNITY: Does it work?

DERSHOWITZ: It works effectively.

HANNITY: It works effectively, right?

DERSHOWITZ: Yes.

So, I don't see any problem with that as long as that is not the only solution we have. As you said, 99 percent, 98 percent of people want to come to this country like our grandparents and our great grandparents who made America really great.

HANNITY: They were vetted.

DERSHOWITZ: Yes. You know, my grandmother was held in detention for a day.

HANNITY: What for?

DERSHOWITZ: She was held in detention, because her future husband, who was meeting her, the boat was a day early. He was a day late.

HANNITY: And a dollar short.

DERSHOWITZ: She had 20 cents in her pocket and they kept her in detention overnight. My grandmother was a prisoner.

HANNITY: My grandparents were rich. They had $10 in their pocket. Amazing people. We all stand on their shoulders.

Dan Bongino, best selling author of "Spygate", former Secret Service agent.

You know, I don't know how many more people have to die. I've watched -- we have an opioid epidemic. Many of those drugs have funneled up through our southern border into small towns and big cities. You know from your law enforcement background. You see the human trafficking.

I'm sympathetic as professor Dershowitz is. I don't care how many people come into the country. I don't. Can we check you out and can you also not be a burden to the American taxpayer?

DAN BONGINO, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Sean, what's troubling about this is two particular things. One is the conversation always seems to resolve when it comes to liberal Democrats, around the consequences of illegal immigration on the illegal immigrant. The consequences for the American people are almost never discussed.

Did you notice? You mentioned that hero, this patriot, Officer Singh. Did you see the picture of his family? They will never, ever see -- the young child will never know his father. And the spouse, this beautiful young lady, will never see her husband again. What about those consequences?

HANNITY: He is an immigrant. He came in legally.

BONGINO: He is everything right about this.

HANNITY: Everything right and wanted -- I had the local sheriff and police chief on last night. The police chief could barely speak.

BONGINO: I watched the interview, Sean, and this is the distinction that we -- I know you, me, and Professor Dershowitz, I want to speak with you, but I'm sure you feel the same way, legal immigrants and illegal immigrants, the Democrats constantly conflate the two.

We are not -- let me -- we are not talking about legal immigrants. My wife is one. You are everything right about the country.

We are talking about people who openly violate our laws and this Officer Singh, the death of this American hero, is a consequence of that.

DERSHOWITZ: The tragedy is that --

HANNITY: Sanctuary cities, though, Professor --

DERSHOWITZ: Yes.

HANNITY: -- we had this guy in custody. If we followed federal law and states didn't aid and abet, criminal activity and breaking the law, this man may very well be alive today.

DERSHOWITZ: Well, everybody has to follow the law. The great tragedy is that the vast majority of Americans, Republican or Democrat, agree on what they want as immigration policy. They want to see good people brought into the country and they want see legal immigration, and they want to make sure that illegal immigrants don't come in and don't get ahead of the line in front of legal immigrants. Everybody agrees on that.

But the Democrats and Republicans are each playing politics with this --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I'm not going to let you -- how are the Republicans playing politics? The president is offering DACA Dreamers a deal.

DERSHOWITZ: I agree with that. I think the wall has become too much of a symbol of what immigration is going to be about.

HANNITY: But they supported it.

DERSHOWITZ: I understand that. But they have to support -- both sides have to support more. They have to support a reasonable --

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Is the president, is he not meeting them with DACA Dreamers?

DERSHOWITZ: Look, I agree. He stayed home for Christmas and they should have come and meet him halfway. Look, what I worry about is the Democrats win and they are going to try to impeach the president. It will be terrible for America.

HANNITY: Right. So, right after this program, you are going to be online at -- what does it called?

DERSHOWITZ: Dershowitzbook.com.

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: When we come back, a "Hannity Watch" report on the hate Trump media. Joe Concha and Rachel Campos Duffy will join us, the media's Democratic obsession, and an exclusive interview with our secretary of state about borders, about Iran, about Syria and everything as it involves national security, Mike Pompeo.

Dershowitzbook.com. See you after the show.

DERSHOWITZ: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Time now for our "Hannity Watch" investigation on the hate Trump media. The liberal mainstream media pundits, they couldn't contain their giddiness their excitement over Nancy Pelosi becoming speaker of the House and the Democrats regaining the House. That is like Chris Matthews having that Obama throw up his leg thing.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is hard to imagine how much worse things could get for the president from here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His party will no longer have total control of the government. He will no longer have a majority in the House. Democrats are salivating at the idea they could eat his lunch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No matter how many times Donald Trump tweets, no matter how much, you know, spends his morning executive time, hovering up rails of Adderall and rage tweeting, it is not going to change where Pelosi is.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nancy Pelosi, who is a historic figure, she is going to reclaim her position as speaker, the most powerful woman in American politics.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is very openly, aggressively, consciously, trying to send messages of women of all parties in a nonpartisan way, and of all professions, all walks of life, that it is OK to be a powerful woman.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let us just take this moment and feel good about it and know that maybe things will get tough again tomorrow. But I have just a little better feeling about things right now as of this moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: I feel so much better.

That wasn't enough. Liberal morning Joe is back from vacation, calling for the 25th Amendment to be invoked against President Trump. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC HOST: If we had a House and a Senate that took their job seriously, there would be people going up to the White House this morning saying, Mr. President, questions abound whether you are fit for this office. If this continues, we are going to ask your cabinet to take a vote on whether you are fit for office and invoke the 25th Amendment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Do we get to vote if people are fit to do a TV show? I'm just asking.

Here with reaction, "The Hill's" Joe Concha, Fox News contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy. You see her often on "Fox & Friends" weekend.

Good to see you both.

RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY, CONTRIBUTOR: Thank you.

HANNITY: All predictable. But this runs deeper, Joe. You know, I got Jill Abramson's comments, which I thought were pretty amazing, that the news part of "The New York Times" is anti-Trump, but it's more than that. I am saying it's every major newspaper, every network, every so-called cable network. We are like an island on this show.

But it is every second, minute, hour every day. It's not news anymore, none of its news anymore. It's activism, call it whatever you want. I'm a talk show host. They never identify themselves as such. I think it's an information crisis like we've never had in this country before.

JOE CONCHA, MEDIA REPORTER FOR THE HILL: Yes, that's true. There was a poll out last year where a majority of Americans can't name even one neutral news source. A majority can't say, "Oh, I could go there and find what I need. That that's remarkable that you say there's an information crisis, that's true.

I think what that montage show me, you called it activism, I think it's more acting, as in bad acting. I see these pundits on all these other networks that are trying to outdo themselves. I mean, Rachel used to be in a show called "The Real World", where you had each season - each cast tried to be as sensational and over-the-top more than the previous the cast of the other season.

HANNITY: Joe let me say what it is.

CONCHA: Yes.

HANNITY: Trump is really, really, really, really, really - no, he's really, really, really, really awful, awful bad. They want - that's like - it's like a kid's game. But there's no news in it.

CONCHA: No, but its play-acting. It's stage. But - Sean to make a point.

HANNITY: No, no, no, I disagree. This is - they hate him. This hatred is real. They wake up hating him every morning and they want to screw him and they want impeachment, they want the 25th Amendment. And they don't really care about the American people or what's good for the country, or they never report on the good things he's done. I'll give you a quick chance to respond, Joe.

CONCHA: Sure. Okay. Look, The New York Times, did get back to Jill Urban's point. They fired their Public Editor. They said, we'll depend on readers' comments instead. That was a big problem. But the paper of record - it's now the paper that seeks to provide comfort food to only people in American cities, only half the country and that's a big problem.

Let me give you one stat from Gallup, because this goes back to the point we're talking about before. 66 percent of those polled saying that news organizations are being "Too dramatic and too sensational" in order to attract more readers and viewers, 27 percent disagree. In other words two- thirds of people think that all this is being sensationalized to bring in people through clickbait or the stuff we see on cable news.

And I know you say its hatred, I think that's half of it and I think half of it is also just to bring in folks by being hyperbolic and being over- the-top. I really believe that.

HANNITY: Rachel, you know, this - the interesting irony is in all this, is they need Donald Trump. You take away Donald Trump, they've got nothing. What are they going to do? There's nobody in the - in a fascinating way he is the most fascinating public figure we've ever had, highly entertaining, but also extraordinarily successful in being a great disrupter, iconoclast, who actually keeps his promises.

RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY, CONTRIBUTOR: Absolutely. Listen, I watched the coverage today. I was not surprised to see Nancy celebrating. Her - and the Democrats should celebrate. This is a big victory for them.

When the media - I saw the media just giddy and salivating and just over- the-top fawning. It's unseemly, but guess what, it's also just as fitting. They were just as hard as Nancy Pelosi--

HANNITY: Let me ask you this.

CAMPOS-DUFFY: --DCCC to give her that gavel. They worked hard with negative headlines with suppression of news - of very good news that Donald Trump had energy independence, blue collar recovery, minorities doing better than ever. All of these things happened and they suppress that news in order to get this victory.

HANNITY: Does it help the country? Does any of what they're doing in the media help the country, Rachel?

CAMPOS-DUFFY: Absolutely not. The media is served - the country is served when we have a media that just reports the facts. And right now the one- sidedness of what has happened - the stuff that Abramson brought up herself out of her own organization, The New York Times, she even says that the American people are losing trust in the media. And what it's doing is its allowing others other sources of media--

HANNITY: Joe, last words - real quick.

CONCHA: Yes, sure. So I think that Nancy Pelosi was treated the same way that Hillary Clinton was during the 2016 election, and what happened, she didn't win. That tells me the influence on media ain't what it used to be. Don't worry about it.

HANNITY: Mike Pompeo next. Thank you both.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You can call it a barrier, you can call it whatever you want, but essentially we need protection in our country. We're going to make it good. The people of our country want it.

I have never had so much support as I have in the last week over my stance for border security, for border control, and for frankly the wall or the barrier. I have never had anything like it in terms of calls coming in, in terms of people writing in and tweeting and doing whatever they have to do. I've never had this much support, and we've done some things that, as you know, have been very popular.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. That was President Trump speaking earlier today during his surprise appearance at the White House press briefing. Hannity Watch on the government shutdown, a border security, we continue now with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Mr. Secretary good to see you. I see this as a massive national security issue. It deals with relations, obviously, with Mexico. It's about drugs being brought into the country, human trafficking, criminals, gang members, some people that have ties to terror. Why shouldn't we all view this as a national security issue?

MIKE POMPEO, SECRETARY OF STATE: We should. Thanks for having me on tonight. We should. We should all be very serious about this. I've been the CIA Director. I'm now the Secretary of State. This has enormous national security implications and border security is an important part of American sovereignty and keeping Americans safe.

There is a central role to make sure that we know who's coming in and what is coming into our country, and President Trump is doing the right thing, in making sure we understand what's moving across that border and we do so with enough border security, so we have confidence and we can do this on behalf of the American people.

HANNITY: We've been able to apprehend 3,700 people that we've identified as having ties to terror.

POMPEO: There's lots of risks associated, the narcotics risk itself has enormous implications for people inside the United States. There are lots of things that come across that Southern Border that we need to get control over and President Trump is determined to make that happen. It includes the rest that we have terrorists come across that border.

HANNITY: We're talking about Central America, but you've had a pretty busy year. We have the talks with North Korea, talk about denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. We have issues now with China. We also have issues with the Middle East. New alliances, opportunities, hopefully emerging, certainly with Israel, with the Iranian deal being drawn back.

Where do you see on the world stage - where is America different now - because I don't think the President gets a lot of credit for a lot of progress around the world.

POMPEO: Oh, Sean, we have we have made fundamental changes in American foreign policy that enormously benefited the American people. I could take through the same list of places that you spoke about. The previous administration had decided that the world's largest state-sponsored terror was the partner in the Middle East, Iran. We've fundamentally flipped that.

We know that that is a real threat to the world and to America and so we have developed relationships with Arab countries, and Israel. We've brought them together to develop a coalition to keep Americans safe from things going on in the Middle East.

You spoke first, I think, about North Korea. Lots of work that is left to be done, but I'm confident that in to the next short period of time President Trump and Chairman Kim will get the chance to meet again. And truly create a much better, safer America with less threat of not only nuclear weapons being launched at us, but nuclear proliferation as well. These are real risks and real changes from the previous administration's policies.

HANNITY: All right. Let's talk specifically about North Korea. So the President's been hinting and saying that there's going to be another meeting with Kim Jong-un will that be about and will there be the potential at that meeting of the denuclearization of the entire peninsula. Obviously, missiles aren't being fired, remains have been sent back, hostages have been released, so a lot of progress. Is this where you might close that deal?

POMPEO: Yes, Sean I will be surprised if we get all the way home in this meeting, although it would be fantastic if we did. I don't want to tell you exactly what our negotiating strategy is.

But suffice it to say, I think, we have set the conditions where we can make a real progress when Chairman Kim and President Trump meet and - to take down the threat to the United States and to the world that has been, frankly, holding America hostage for so long in North Korea. It'll be good for South Korea, it'll be good for Japan, it'll be good for all of the world.

HANNITY: Putting aside the Khashoggi incident, there seem to be an emerging new alliance against Iranian hegemony and that would be the United States, our closest ally is Israel, the Saudis, Egyptians, Jordanians up till recently the Emirates against the Iranians. Do you see an opportunities - historic opportunity where these alliances could lead to a peace that nobody could even have been thinking about 10 years ago?

POMPEO: Sean, undoubtedly, we have set the conditions in the Middle East where these countries are, now working together across multiple fronts. You saw the President's announcement about our withdrawal from Syria, we're still going to be able to effectively, with those partners, counter the threat from ISIS in the region, and we'll do it without those 2,000 soldiers on the ground.

We haven't changed our policy about continuing to make sure that there is no ISIS resurgence and we're just going to do in a way that is smarter and better, and we can do that, because of the alliances that the President Trump has built.

HANNITY: All right. Let's talk about China in the sense they've had a massive military buildup. But your State Department issued a warning to Americans traveling to China that, in fact, they could issue exit bans preventing Americans from leaving. What's the status?

POMPEO: So, Sean, we didn't change the level of the warning there in China. We did change some of the language. We do our best here to constantly review things that might happen to Americans who are traveling abroad. We saw what happened with the American there in Russia.

Our job is to always have Americans safe who are traveling and we wanted to let them know that there have been more risks from what China has done in terms of folks traveling there and not being permitted to return. We just want to make them aware of that and I'm hopeful that we got the language just right, so Americans will understand the risk, but still travel there when it's appropriate.

HANNITY: Let's talk about the latest in terms of the relationships with Russia, obviously, a hostile regime, obviously a hostile actor in Vladimir Putin. Not only the United States, but other countries have experienced their cyberwarfare, if you will, or their desire to create chaos in other countries, but if you can address that. And also their support of the Iranians, their influence in Syria, and do you see an Iranian-Russia-Syrian alliance that would worry you?

POMPEO: I am concerned about that. And frankly, the Russian's behavior has not been good. But this administration has been very serious at responding to that, whether it was the strike that Presidents - the strikes that Presidents taken in Syria, those were in Syria, but the Russians were all around it.

Our effort with respect to what the Russians did in in Skripal. The sanctions we've put on Russian oligarchs who have threatened America and American interests, those are real responses. We've done that, Sean, at the same time that we're trying to find space where we can work with them.

Trying to find opportunities where the Russians and American interests overlap, even if our value sets do not, so that we can work together against some of these most difficult problems. It's been tough and Vladimir Putin has not cooperated, but we're still trying to find a place to do that.

HANNITY: President has some critics as it relates to saying that he wants to withdraw from Syria and Afghanistan. Is there a timetable or will it be based on the situation on the ground?

POMPEO: President's always been very clear that he wanted to get our soldiers back home, in Syria he has made that decision and we are working in that direction. That decision is done and we will withdraw from Syria. The timeline will be consistent with what we can do to make sure that our soldiers are safe, that we continue the counter ISIS campaign, that we do all that we can to keep the coalition against Iran.

Together, those are also things that the President's made very clear he was going to do. When he visited Iraq now - goodness a week ago, he made it very clear that those were things that were also important. So we will manage those threats to America, but we'll do so without a couple of thousand folks on the ground in Syria.

HANNITY: I wouldn't even venture a guess how many frequent flier miles you have as a result of just one year. We've been friends a long time, I know how hard you're working and how much success is happening on the world stage. Secretary Pompeo thanks for joining us.

POMPEO: Sean, thank you very much. Have a good evening.

HANNITY: He's done amazing work on the world stage and think of all the areas of the world they're working on. All right when we come back, we don't have a Hannity Watch. Jesse and Jessica are back, they're going to weigh in on Pelosi taking the gavel, Democratic Party moving to the far left extreme and we'll see whose world with us, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Time for our Report Hannity Watch on the government shutdown, moments ago House Democrats passed a partial spending bill without any funding for the border wall that they supported funding for years ago. The bill is, of course, going nowhere in the Senate, but moments ago newly elected Speaker Pelosi made this confession. She would give the President a dollar towards the wall. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: --situation which you would accept even a dollar of wall funding for this President in order to reopen government?

NANCY PELOSI, D-CALIF., SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: A dollar. A dollar. Yes, $1.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Reaction is to because of the "The Five", "Watters World", he's got two shows Jesse Watters; Fox News Contributor, Jessica Tarlov--.

JESSICA TARLOV, CONTRIBUTOR: Still just (one show) - no shows. I'm just on your show.

HANNITY: Well, welcome. We're glad to have you. Happy New Year.

TARLOV: Yes, thank you. Happy New Year.

Jesse Watters Things will get better for you eventually.

HANNITY: So - OK. She thinks she's feeling it today, feeling great--

TARLOV: She had a pretty good day, come on.

HANNITY: OK. So here's the point. Democrats supported a wall before. We have all of them saying they support a wall, funding a wall. But we have a dead cop, so it gets a little serious. We have other dead Americans, we have drugs literally targeting every town and every city in the country, crossing that border, we have human trafficking across the border, we have terrorists that we have stopped crossing our border that are trying to, gang members trying to cross the border and she's talking about a dollar.

Direct your answer to the family of Officer Singh who died this weekend with a five month old son at home, who was killed by somebody that would have been deported if the laws were obeyed and we didn't have sanctuary cities and states. Tell its family how you feel about that remark?

TARLOV: I feel that it's terrible. Everyone--

HANNITY: Nancy's remark is terrible--

TARLOV: About the dollar? Nancy's remark about the dollar had nothing to do with what happened to Officer Singh.

HANNITY: Sanctuary cities and states, the sheriff said on this program last night, in part, caused what happened. Because we have them in custody and we don't deport them. They are aiding and abetting law-breaking, do you support that?

TARLOV: Aiding and abetting law-breaking, no but I do support a system in which people who are in this country illegally, and they broke the law to get here, feel that they can come out and they can work with law enforcement to--

HANNITY: To commit more crimes--

JESSE WATTERS, HOST, WATTERS' WORLD AND CO-HOST, THE FIVE: That's a red herring--

TARLOV: They don't commit. They do not commit more crime--

WATTERS: No, no, no. The whole thing about, "Oh, we got to have a sanctuary policy, because people snitch and then you don't want to lock up the snitchers. If you drop a dime on another illegal and you're an illegal, they're not going to lock you up for that, OK. They're going to leave you alone.

Second of all, the minute she grabbed the gavel, she came unraveled, because Trump came out, stole her thunder, came out with all the border patrol guys.

TARLOV: He did not.

WATTERS: Basically called Nancy a liar. They say walls do work, Nancy everywhere they're erected--

TARLOV: The story of today is Nancy Pelosi and it is not Donald Trump. It pissed him off that she was getting all the attention. So he thought, "Oh, I'll walk down the hallway and I will stand with my border - and I will try to take attention.

HANNITY: Is it true we've had criminal illegal immigrants that we had in custody that weren't handed over to ISIS the law provides for?

TARLOV: We have had some instances of that, yes.

HANNITY: And they have killed Americans?

TARLOV: They have--

HANNITY: And we have drugs - well drugs are crossing the border?

TARLOV: The number--

HANNITY: And human trafficking is happening across the border...

TARLOV: Terrible things happen, but that doesn't mean--

HANNITY: --and gangs - wait a minute. Gangs and terrorists are trying to get into this country?

TARLOV: Well, it's not the entire--

HANNITY: At what point when we don't protect the border, do they take the responsibility?

TARLOV: But the border isn't open.

HANNITY: At what point? It's wide open.

WATTERS: Wait, wait. If the border isn't open, how did the guy gets to California and then murder the cop?

TARLOV: Are you guys kidding me? That you are making an argument that how many thousands of miles - how long is the border?

HANNITY: About 2,000--

TARLOV: 2,500 miles?

HANNITY: More than that.

TARLOV: That entire thing is open and everybody is walking across and those ones who are--

HANNITY: No, it's not open. The President's actually spent 3.5 billion building the wall, but he needs another 5 billion.

TARLOV: Yes, yes, he's almost done. And he certainly won't need a 25 billion. He makes up the numbers as he goes.

HANNITY: At what point - wait a minute, when the government, Jesse, of this country contributes aids and abets law-breaking and doesn't follow federal law and deport people who have committed other crimes beyond being here illegally, do they responsibility?

WATTERS: You have blood on your hands if you're not going to enforce the border and men and women are dying in this country. Pelosi talks about costs. Do you know how much 5 billion out of the federal budget is? 0.1 percent. Let me translate it for Nancy, that's crumbs. And she can afford it, she's spent money on Cash for Clunkers, Solyndra. A wall works. The Obamacare website that cost a billion, didn't.

TARLOV: Excuse me. We had a government shutdown when the Republicans were in charge over 3.8 billion for health care, which every single American needs in this country.

HANNITY: That's working--

WATTERS: Every single American needs safety too.

TARLOV: Democrats won in 2018 off of the health care issue.

HANNITY: OK. Obama lost 69 seats House and Senate, Clinton lost 60. Trump picked up Senate seats and lost far few (House seats)--

TARLOV: Democrats won a bigger proportion of House seats than the GOP has in either of those elections.

HANNITY: It's not even close.

TARLOV: I can't believe you guys are taking the stay that--

HANNITY: They don't even - you don't even care about DACA and Dreamers--

TARLOV: They do.

HANNITY: --because Trump offered you that deal.

TARLOV: Trump's deal always comes with the--

WATTERS: That police officer had a dream too.

TARLOV: No, no, no. Nancy Pelosi, congratulations.

HANNITY: Not even close.

TARLOV: Today was Democrats' day even if I lost.

HANNITY: Say it with me Watters World.

TARLOV: 2019 is already bad.

HANNITY: Hannity--

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. You made it. You survived day one of the hate Democratic House. Tomorrow night be sure to tune in, House Freedom Caucus, Chairman, Mark Meadows. He will join us.

But here is our promise, pledge, and our vow. We - while everybody is out there with their "hate Trump" addiction, Hannity Watch is going to look out for what's best for America, for you and your family. That's our 2019 pledge. Let not your heart be troubled. Jason Chaffetz in for Laura Ingraham, aren't you glad you weren't there today? Let's be honest. You're proud to be pretty happy about that part.

Content and Programming Copyright 2019 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2019 ASC Services II Media, LLC. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of ASC Services II Media, LLC. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.