This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," May 18, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

SEAN HANNITY, HOST: All right. Thanks, Tucker.

Welcome to "Hannity."

We have breaking news all over the place tonight.

The deep state abuse of power that we have been uncovering for over a year is even tonight far worse than any of us could have ever imagined. This is Watergate on steroids.

Remember the Nixon scandal. It was about a third-rate burglary. This is a deep state, political hit job now spying on an opposition party campaign, FBI spies, during an election.

And it gets worse. The deep state isn't even trying to hide it. And what they did, they are now bragging about it.

The former Obama director of national intelligence, James Clapper, is actually saying spying on the Trump campaign was a good thing. Has he ever heard of the Constitution? We're going to unpack all the stunning new details tonight. Now, it will make you question how this could ever happen in the United States of America.

And also tonight, a deep state source smear. This is pretty unreal. Liberal media, anonymous government sources falsely accusing the president, and Republicans and conservatives of endangering the life of the FBI informant, you know, the one spying for the FBI on the Trump campaign. Do they have a warrant? It's also revealing critical information about who this person really is.

And tonight, the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, he is now telling the special counsel, wrap up this corrupt investigation. Now also tonight, we have sad news out of Texas. The president reacting to yet another tragic school shooting, we will explain why it is time for this country to get serious when it comes to protecting our precious children. There is an answer. We'll explain the solution.

We have that and more in tonight's important breaking news opening monologue.

(MUSIC)

HANNITY: All right. Major developments again tonight on the deep state: spying on the Trump campaign. James Clapper, Barack Obama's former director of national intelligence, is actually today saying it was a good thing that the Trump campaign had a spy for the FBI in their campaign during an election? I can't believe it.

Watch it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: They may have had someone who was talking to them in the campaign. But, you know, the focus here and as it was with the intelligence community is not on the campaign per se but what the Russians were doing, to try to substantiate themselves in the campaign or to influence or leverage it. So, if there was someone that was observing that sort of thing, that's a good thing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Yes, where was the spy in the Hillary campaign where she did pay for Russian lies?

Clapper so pompous, so arrogant, this is so illegal he is actually bragging about surveilling an opposition party during a presidential election year. If that's the case, this is not America. We don't have a Constitution. This is something you'd expect from the former Soviet Union, Venezuela.

And, again, you've got Clapper's buddy John Brennan who is also up to his eyeballs in this scandal. Probably knows a lot about it since -- remember, he is the guy that voted for a communist for president.

Last night, we had the great one Mark Levin reacting to all of this. His analysis dead spot on. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK LEVIN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: We have a cabal of FBI agents who took it on themselves to investigate a candidate and his campaign and then we have, of course, actual spies, one or more in the Trump campaign. What the hell is this? The Soviet Union, Venezuela? It's the United States of America.

I want to know what Brennan did. I want to know what Clapper did. I want to know what Comey did, not because I'm going to punish them. You will make determinations about them.

HANNITY: Susan Rice.

LEVIN: But something -- something is terribly wrong.

We need to fix this. We cannot have another election where the federal government, our United States government, is interfering with an election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: The great one is right. We have been right. Everyone on the program has been right. We need to fix it because this is about the Constitution of the United States. It's literally hanging in the balance at this hour.

You have unelected, deep state actors shredding our Fourth Amendment rights, your right to privacy, and protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

This is, as I've been telling you, one of the darkest chapters in American history. The Trump campaign is targeted because people like Clapper, Brennan, Comey, and others. They think they knew better than you did, the American people, about who should be the president. They weaponized the powerful tools of intelligence, turned it on us and they are now politicizing differences, political differences.

By the way, Clapper, since you are so concerned about Russia influence in the election, did you have a spy in the Clinton campaign? Now, we know for a fact her campaign was colluding, had a foreign agent Christopher Steele paying for Russian lies and propaganda to lie to the American people.
Clinton and the DNC, remember, they paid over what, $12 million for the Russian dossier full of Russian lies. Where is the FBI, where is the CIA? Where are the spies?

Of course, there weren't any. Instead of investigating it, well, they used former spy Christopher Steele who they fired as a trusted source, and they used false, completely unverified, never corroborated -- a dossier he put together to get a warrant and then spy on the Trump campaign. Never tell the judges she paid for it. And then in the process, lying to the FISA court judges on four separate occasions, never revealing Hillary paid for all of this.

This is the biggest abuse of power, corruption scandal we have seen in the history of this country. Talk about Watergate. This is Watergate on steroids and human growth hormone.

Watergate, what, was a third rate break-in that eventually forced president to resign. You may remember this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD NIXON, FORMER PRESIDENT: To continue to fight for the months ahead for my personal vindication. With almost totally absorb the time and the attention of both the president and the Congress, in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issue of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home. Therefore, I shall resign presidency effective at noon tomorrow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: What is playing out right now is nothing compared to Watergate. Spying on an opposition party during an election, it makes Watergate look like stealing a candy bar from a candy store.

Now, here is why: now, the details of this abuse of power are so far worse, The New York Times now confirming this week everything we have been telling you. Now, The Times didn't all of a sudden decide oh, we want to tell people the truth. This is about actively now assisting the deep state. And what the Times is doing is they're helping these bad actors get in front of the scandal, because they know it's coming out. They are spinning the facts and crafting their own narrative.

Now, to steal a page from the FBI's playbook, well, they now know Crossfire Hurricane is coming. Now, here is why: the deep state is about to be exposed. It's all happening.

Now, a portion of the DOJ report is set to come out in a couple of weeks. Congress -- well, they'll eventually get the documents that led up to the I.G. report. We'll see it all. Now, the DOJ is now slowly leaking this information to friendly news outlets like The Washington Post and The New York Times.

Here's what they're now reporting is corroborating everything we have been uncovering. Let's run through the details, starting with this quote. The FBI obtained phone records, other documents using national security letters, a secret type of subpoena, officials said, and at least one government informant, i.e. spy, met several times with Mr. Page and Mr. Papadopoulos, and current and former officials say.

That confirms the FBI had a spy, an informant that infiltrated the Trump campaign. Where is the warrant? And in addition to lying to the four FISA judges four times to get the FISA warrant to spy on the Trump campaign, the FBI is using secret spies? Was there another secret subpoena?

It sounds like the deep state was using every option available to go after the Trump campaign. By the way, after they, of course, rigged the Hillary investigation. Here is another significant quote that matches our reporting. Days after they closed their investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server, agents began scrutinizing the campaign of her Republican rival.

Now, The Times adds that both these investigations were made up of a small group of the same top officials. So, the same officials that rigged the Clinton e-mail investigation even though we know she broke laws and obstructed justice, well, then, they went after Donald Trump and set their sights on him.

Now, next, now, is this shocking part that directly implicates here John Kerry and Barack Obama. Nobody has picked up on this. Top Australian officials broke with diplomatic protocol, allowed the ambassador, Alexander Downer, to sit for an FBI interview to describe his meeting with campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, all right? Diplomatic protocol broken.

That means John Kerry from the get-go, this is the beginning, the Obama State Department and I'm sure the president, that means Obama, all involved. That means they knew about the spying from the start.

And as we have been saying for months, John Kerry, Barack Obama, need to answer two simple questions. What did you both know? And when did you both know it? Now, these are other disturbing details in this.

Now, these deep state sources revealed to the New York Times that four Trump campaign associates were being investigated by the FBI. It wasn't just Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, whoever he is. The FBI was also going after General Michael Flynn and Paul Manafort from the get-go. This was a major intelligence operation.

And finally, these unnamed sources tried to spin that Peter Strzok/Lisa Page text messages what they were talking about who we now think is Andrew McCabe about their so-called insurance policy in case the unthinkable happened and Donald Trump won. They are absolutely claiming now, quote, they said anything the FBI did publicly would only give fodder to Mr. Trump campaign claims that the election was rigged."

Now, Mr. Strzok countered that even if Trump's chances of victory were low, like dying before you are 40, the stakes are too high to justify inaction.

Well, that's laughable and it proves our point. The deep state, these top players not rank and file desperately trying to spin all of this damning, all of this incriminating evidence.

Now, another new breaking story to tell you about tonight. Anonymous government sources have been repeatedly leaking to the media details about the FBI informant who did spy on the Trump campaign. And at the same time, they are accusing president, Republicans, even people like me, of putting this informant's life in danger. I have known his name for a full week.

Here's the latest example from Washington Post: Bigger than Watergate.
Trump joins push by allies to expose the role of an FBI source.

They are falsely smearing not only the president and congressional Republicans and yours truly. No, we are trying to conduct an investigation, Congress is. They have constitutional oversight authority. They are supposed to do this.

In the process, Washington Post, as bias as they are, is revealing key details who the person is. For example, the source is a U.S. citizen and has provided information over the years to both the FBI and the CIA as The Post previously reported and aided the Russia investigation both before and after Mueller's appointment of May 2017, according to people familiar with these activities.

OK. On the basis of this, it's ridiculous. And for the record, the person's name has been out there in the media. I've known for over a week. And, by the way, it's not some closely held state secret. What is withholding now or unfolding before our eyes is utter insanity and the total hypocrisy on display for the whole country to see.

You got the DOJ, FBI are accusing the president, Republicans, people like me of endangering a source. At the same time, anonymous law enforcement, intel officials, they are the ones leaking the details about who the informant is. That is what we call a deliberative smear.

Now, here is point number two. This is really important. These unnamed federal officials have leaked more information to The New York Times and Washington Post than they have given to Congress because they are trying to get a friendly audience. And remember, Rod Rosenstein has been slow- walking, obstructing, stonewalling every congressional attempt to do their constitutional authority of oversight every chance he gets.

When Rosenstein does actually comply, well, he turned over, what, heavily redacted information in the claims of national security. Well, we have seen that is just a lie. It's not true. Look at these leaks about the FBI informant. You know what? Would they really be doing this if it was a national security threat?

This is about getting out in front of Congress, in front of the IG, in front of what they know is coming. They are trying to control the narrative slowly bleed it out. It has nothing to do with national security.

Just like Rosenstein redacting the fact that James Comey didn't think that General Flynn lied to the FBI, neither did anyone else in the FBI. It had nothing to do with national security. That was a CYA and Rosenstein protecting his corrupt friends. He and Jeff Sessions, they either need to go or do their job.

Also tonight, the president reacting to this horrible shooting. Yes, another sad school shooting, this time in Texas earlier today. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Unfortunately, I have to begin by expressing our sadness and heartbreak over the deadly shooting at Santa Fe High School in Texas. It has been going on too long in our country, too many years, too many decades now. We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High, we are with you in this tragic hour, and we will be with you forever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Very sad and this has to stop. And our prayers and thoughts do go to the families in Texas. They lost their children.

Now, Trace Gallagher is going to have a full report in a few minutes. As we have been saying on this program, it's so far beyond time that everything be done to protect our kids in school. It's simple. We can solve this. This is not a political issue.

Harden up the schools. Every school in this country needs a full threat security assessment, every school. We have to secure the perimeter and the entry points of every school. We must require a mandate, IDs for anyone walking into a school. Metal detectors in every single school.

And we need to hire retired concealed carry police officers, retired military members, and we should have two on every floor of every school in America. That's what I think is the simple answer.

And here's an idea, by the way, in case you're interested in new ideas. These people work 15 hours, retired military and retired police, concealed carry. Let's them give them federal, state, local tax break as incentives so it won't cost a lot of money.

It's not political. It shouldn't be political. We protect our athletes. We protect our politicians. We protect those on the red carpet. How about we do this for our kids? Let's do it in their best interest.

We have more coming up later in the program.

Another disturbing scene to tell you about, this one taking place at Trump National Doral Golf Course, where police officers had to shoot a deranged man in his legs earlier today, after he reported started yelling anti-Trump rhetoric and opened fire inside of the resort. Police are saying this lunatic wanted to lure officers into an ambush-style attack. Thank God they were able to stop this particular nut case.

All right. Joining us now with reaction to our top story, Fox News contributor, Sara Carter, Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton, and the author, attorney David Limbaugh.

Full disclosure, David has negotiated every single radio and TV contract and book contract of my career. And I usually pay for dinner.

Look, Sara, this has been a huge week here. What James Clapper said, OK, is basically we don't have a country. We're not about the rule of law, there's no constitutional protections anymore in this country.

SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Pretty much. What he's saying is, and remember, Clapper is begin investigated for leaking by Congress. So, they believe James Clapper was the one that actually delivered the information to CNN after the president was briefed on the dossier by Comey at Trump Tower. So, Clapper has a lot to answer for.

But, basically, what Clapper is saying is like, look, we weaponized the intelligence community to spy on a campaign, because we were concerned about the Russians. But, Sean, what about the $500,000 that Clinton got for a speech in 2010 for a speech he gave to Renaissance Capital which, by the way, is very well-connected to the KGB FSB, Russian FSB, by this bank?

Did they have spies with Bill Clinton at the time? Were people investigating the Clintons and the Clinton Foundation during that time? I don't think so.

This is a very well-orchestrated, it appears, plan, to spy on a presidential campaign. And it was very well partisan. It involves Brennan. It involves Clapper. It involves foreign assets. It involves U.S. assets.

I think we are only seeing the top of this iceberg. I'd like to see this unravel. And I have a lot of questions about what was going on in England at the time and the United Kingdom.

HANNITY: You have a lot of reporting I know is coming as you have been telling me.

Look, David, look at this from the legal side. This is a politically target targeted. They didn't have spies in Hillary campaign. They didn't have FISA warrants based on a Trump dossier against Hillary and lies to FISA warrant.

Weaponizing the powerful tools of intelligence, lying to the FISA court judges to target one political candidate in favor of one political candidate who did commit crimes, who did pay for Russian propaganda, it is the biggest, most twisted boomerang I've ever seen in my life.

DAVID LIMBAUGH, AUTHOR AND ATTORNEY: Yes, Sean. If what Clapper says is true that it was an innocuous investigation to find out what involvement Russia had, then why would they have bent over backwards, as Andy McCarthy says, to avoid investigating Hillary and indicting her and bend over forward to indict and implicate and deject President Trump?

HANNITY: How dangerous is this for the rule of law?

LIMBAUGH: Why would they have deceived -- yes, why would they have deceived the FISA court if it was an innocent investigation? And why would it present a flimsy evidence paid for by a Clinton sponsored group and funneled through the law firm if it was necessary? If it wasn't necessary, if it was an innocent investigation, why can't they just present real evidence?

Instead, they deceive them as to the source, as to the fact that Steele had been fired by the FBI, and as to the fact that Sid Blumenthal and others have provided information. And it was a circular boot strapping of warrant application based on a report that Steele has given to a news agency. It was all so incestuous and all so corrupt.

And why would Comey have lied?

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Such a good point.

LIMBAUGH: Go ahead.

HANNITY: And, Tom, you can't have a dual system of justice, or the Hillary standard and the rest of us standard. And then for the DOJ to slow-walk, obstruct, lie about national security as a reason for redactions. Clapper comments blow me away. That means the rule of law does not exist in America. What they did here, that means they think they have unfettered power to do anything they want if they don't like a candidate.

TOM FITTON, PRESIDENT, JUDICIAL WATCH: Well, that's true. And going back to the investigation itself, they were going all out against President Trump, or then candidate Trump with this spy operation. And recall from the last IG report which confirmed that the Obama Justice Department at the same time was telling the FBI to stand down on any investigation in the Clinton Foundation, which we know that the FBI and the DOJ knew full well was recipient of the money from Russia to influence the positive outcome on the Uranium One investigation.

And just quickly --

HANNITY: Yes.

FITTON: Let's get to the heart of this. This is the Mueller operation, this -- was it a counterintelligence investigation that began in 2016 that is being continued right now by Mr. Mueller.

HANNITY: Sara, let's give a preview of what's coming next week.

Sara Carter, what's coming next week?

Carter: Yes. Well, I think we're going to have a lot more information on the inspector general's report. We're going to have more direction on that, and also have a lot of stories coming on what was happening in London at the time.

HANNITY: All right. Thanks. Great analysis. We appreciate it.

When we come back, a live report on the mass shooting in Texas from earlier today.

Also, the liberal media is yet again rushing to politicize tragedy, this is not political. Our kids shouldn't be political. Dr. Gorka and Geraldo are with us.

And later, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders joins us about the abusively biased press in this country. That's straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

HANNITY: Tragic school shooting took place yet again today. This time in Santa Fe, Texas. Here are some of the chilling eyewitnesses to today's horrific events. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My friend got shot at art hall, and as soon as the alarms went off, everybody just started running outside. And next thing you know, everybody looks, and you hear boom, boom, boom. Just run as fast as I could to the nearest forest so I can hide.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard the guns (ph) go off and we started running. But I turned back around and they were arresting somebody by the art class, like in the back of the outside, by the brick wall. They are arresting somebody. So, I recorded that and I like left and ran. I saw the other kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, the fire alarm got pulled. Maybe it was just like, pop something, like explosion or something. So, I was like whatever, but then I heard the next four shots and I was like, no, that's not an explosion. That's a gunshot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were sitting in class, and we had our door open and the next thing I know, we all heard a teacher run through the hallway and he goes, dude in the building with a shotgun, there is dude in the building with the shotgun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Fortunately, sadly but yet predictably, it didn't take long for the liberal media to try to exploit this tragedy and push their gun control agenda. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Political leadership, you know, wholly owned subsidiary of the gun lobby. We'll take that issue on at least to some reasonable effect.

CHRIS MURPHY, D-UNITED STATES SENATOR: I want to read you something before we bring in the next interview. Chris Murphy, of course, the congressional district adjacent to Newtown. Let's call it like it is, the horrifying inaction of Congress, slaughter after slaughter, has become a green light to would-be shooters who pervert silence into endorsement.

There will a lot of similar sentiments today especially from members of Congress who've been pushing this issue.

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Certainly an important part of the investigation. Again, it goes to a lot of the issues that we've talked about for a long time here. And that is gun possession, and gun rights and certainly that will come up probably no doubt in this case.

DANA BASH, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Guns are probably not that hard to get despite the laws in place. What does it tell you that this young man 17 years old?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. Joining us here with reaction, former deputy assistant to the president and Fox News national security strategist, Dr. Sebastian Gorka. And author of the best-selling book, "Geraldo Show" and Fox News correspondent-at-large, Geraldo Rivera.

Geraldo, you have agreed with me. This is, we have to solve this. I don't want to report this anymore. And the way to do it is every school in America gets a full security threat assessment. Every single school in America has a perimeter check. Points of entry must be monitored. An I.D. system metal detectors and every floor of every school, two concealed carry armed retired military or police. That will stop it. That is not political, Geraldo.

GERALDO RIVERA, CORRESPONDENT AT LARGE, FOX NEWS: It isn't, Sean. And I agree with you, brother on how we have to solve this problem. What is very, very clear, harshly clear is the thoughts and prayers don't cut it anymore. We are facing an epidemic. This is the 16th school-related shooting this year.

There is a perverse phenomenon copycat going on. If we can protect our money in banks, Sean, we have said this before, if we can protect our airliners, for God sakes we have to protect their school children. What does that mean? That means having the armed resource officers on the scene.

But in this case we have to be frank about this. There were two heroic cops on the scene. Both of them wounded as far as I can understand.

HANNITY: Yes.

RIVERA: Even the chief arrived firing his weapon at the alleged perpetrator, the 17-year-old kid. We have to do more. We have to have one entrance to the schools. I think that Dan Patrick the lieutenant governor of Texas was absolutely right. We have to have controlled access.

We have to have as in many New York City and other urban districts have metal detectors. Metal detectors.

HANNITY: Everywhere.

RIVERA: If we can do it on an airliner why can't we do it to protect our precious children? But we have to stop the rhetoric, stop the finger pointing. Let's do something.

The president has to lead us, Sean. He has to tell us. This is what we have to do. Maybe it is local jurisdiction. But I want federal oversight of every school--

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: You know--

RIVERA: -- one rule for every school. The children are the most precious resource. If that's just not a bunch of B.S. then we have to do something about this awful ugly phenomenon that's going on, Sean.

HANNITY: Dr. Gorka, we know how to do this. Because we do rightly so protect our politicians. We protect athletes. And we have never had an incident at the Oscars. Armed security. Threat assessment, points of entry, perimeter control. And people armed, again, concealed carry on scene, every floor and every school. And yes, the metal detectors.

SEBASTIAN GORKA, NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGIST, FOX NEWS: Yes, this is not a complicated problem to solve. Geraldo is half right. Number one, we secure federal buildings. We secure control banks. This is controlled access to the most precious thing we have in our country which is our children.

However, I vehemently disagree. Don't expect Uncle Sam to fix this for you. It's not about reinforcing the attitudes of the nanny state. This should be done at the local level. If the local school council can't sort this out, if the local municipality or the government can't sort this out, it's not going to be federal government that sorts it out. But controlled access is the key.

HANNITY: How about this? How about we give every police officer retired that would volunteer two or three days a week. Every retired military that would volunteer every two or three days a week, how about we give them no federal, no state, no local taxes? None.

That would be insignificant in terms of the cost if we did it that way. All right. Thank you, both. Sad day. Our thoughts and prayers with the families. Again, this has got to stop.

When we come back, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders on the media's current credibility crisis which is major. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Fake news, CNN's credibility continues to be called into question. Today in an interview on the liberal network, President Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani called out the entire network for their blatant bias. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Does the president ever get the benefit of the doubt with you, Chris? Ever? Or on this network, which is disgusting?

CHRIS CUOMO, HOST, CNN: Rudy, actually I would tell you something. I think he gets the benefit of the doubt much more often than you give us credit for.

GIULIANI: Do you know that most people think I'm crazy to come on here?

CUOMO: Why?

GIULIANI: That it's so unfair to the president.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Do you think this interview has been unfair?

GIULIANI: Yes, I do.

CUOMO: You think the interview has been unfair?

GIULIANI: Absolutely.

CUOMO: Why?

GIULIANI: Because I don't think you don't give me a chance to explain how injustice this case is, I don't think you've given me a chance to explain the basis of it with the FBI report that was faulty, the FBI that came to the conclusion -- I don't understand how a man can be prosecuted when you come to a conclusion he hasn't done anything wrong.

I mean, how can you investigate a man when you come a conclusion who hasn't done anything wrong? You guys never -- you didn't play up that part of the report.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Rudy Giuliani is right. Fake news CNN basically never gives this president a fair shake. They never will. They are not even honest about it. Now for example, earlier this week, CNN Trump-hater, the official Trump- hater, supposedly a reporter, supposedly objective Jim Acosta he goes on Jimmy Kimmel live and he said he was just as tough on Obama as he is on President Trump. It's not a joke. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, TV HOST: Are you their least favorite of all?

JIM ACOSTA, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, CNN: Probably. You know, as FDR once said I welcome their hatred.

KIMMEL: You do?

ACOSTA: I do. And you know, listen, when I covered Barack Obama I was just as tough on him. People might not believe that.

KIMMEL: You were dating like we've--

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: They didn't like me either.

KIMMEL: You're universally disliked.

ACOSTA: I am. Yes.

KIMMEL: Everywhere you go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: So Acosta can actually say that with a straight face is beyond me because the tapes don't lie. And our friends with the Media research Center they found this gem of Jim Acosta covering President Obama's inauguration in 2013. The only thing missing from the so-called reporter are the pom- poms. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And obviously, this is the moment that everybody is waiting for on inauguration day when the president and the first lady step out of their limo and walk down Pennsylvania Avenue. You know, I feel like I should pinch myself right now, Wolf. I can't believe I have this vantage point of history in the making.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN: So you are literally what, 15, 20 feet away from the president?

ACOSTA: I'm probably a good, I would say, 50 feet away from the president right now, Wolf. We're very, very close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Yes, with Obama, he needs to pinch himself. And he says he is a reporter. He says he is a journalist. No, he is a liberal activist. Be honest about it.

Now brother, I spoke with White House press secretary Sarah Sanders about this and so much more.

All right, Sarah, thank you for joining us. You look at all of what I'm pointing out here. I don't think there has ever been a more hostile news media in the country than there has been of President Trump. I think it's obvious. It's so bad that there is 91 percent negative coverage according to the Media Research Center.

SARAH HUCKABEE-SANDERS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: It's unreal the amount of negative coverage that comes from the media covering this White House. Not just because it's so one-sided but because there are so many good things they could be talking about.

The economy is booming. ISIS is on the run. Remaking of the judiciary. Getting rid of the individual mandate. The foreign policy and the relationship that this president has built. Every day there is a good news story to tell. And yet, 90 percent of the coverage is negative.

Sean, one of the clips that I hope that you'll go back and watch that I think Jim Acosta also said from that interview was that he would love to go one on one with President Trump. I have just little note to Jim.

I think he should stick with going one-on-one with me because President Trump is way out of his league and I don't think he wants to take on that challenge because he's definitely not going to win. I think that the media bias is out of control and he certainly one of the leaders of the pack.

HANNITY: Look, if he wants to be an opinion person, I'm a talk show host. And as a talk show host sometimes I do straight news interviews and sometimes I give opinion. Other times I moderate debate and sometimes I debate. It's all encompassing.

But I tell everybody I'm a conservative. We still do a lot, we break, frankly, we break more stories than most of them in a week than they do in a year in my opinion. And they've been wrong so often.

Why -- why does this continue in this set? Every day I watch you. I don't know how you do your job. I could not -- there is not enough money on this earth to pay me to do what you do. And it's actually gotten personal and abusive. And have we gotten to the point where maybe they should submit their questions in writing and hand back written answers? Because what they are really trying to do is get a moment so they can show their audiences how tough they are and it's really show time for them. It's not about getting answers.

SANDERS: Look, I do my job because I love this country and I love getting to come to work every day and work for President Trump who also loves this country and wants to do good things. You can block out the critics and focus on the people across the country that love the president and love what he is going.

And we try to spend our energy focused on those comments and the people and the voices coming from outside of D.C. and outside of New York and outside of the talking heads. Because those are the people that really matter and those are certainly overwhelmingly supporting President Trump and what he's done. And that makes it pretty easy to come to work every day.

HANNITY: You know, look at this week. The president was answering a question about the violent, violent gang known as MS-13. It was obvious. The media ran with it. And then they ended up almost all of them having to retract it. There is a lot of retracting that they really need to do though.

SANDERS: It's incredible. A lot of times you see the media just automatically assume the worst out of this president, which is really sad because again, I think they are missing out on some of the most amazing things that are happening. He has had an incredible first year and a half. And they are missing that because they are so focused on being negative and attacking, not just the president but everyone around him.

And I think that's a real disservice to the country. He clearly was talking about MS-13 when he referenced the animals. And I said it yesterday I'll say it again. I think he could have gone further.

HANNITY: I agree.

SANDERS: These are some of the most despicable people that have ever walked this planet. The things that they do the type of activity they engage in. Animal is the nicest thing I think that the president could have called them and I hope he'll continue to call them out and continue to put pressure on every law enforcement agency and official in this country to bring them down and protect people across all over the country. And certainly I think he has done a great job doing that.

HANNITY: All right, Sarah, great job. I don't know how you do it every day. Amazing. We appreciate you being with us. And she is right. Fourteen states record low unemployment. Record low unemployment for African- American, Hispanics, for women. Let's see.

Kept his promise on Jerusalem. Got out of the Iranian deal and look at what's happening with little rocket man. Just touching the surface. All right. We're not done.

When we come back, we're going to talk more about the director of national intelligence under Barack Obama. We'll take James Clapper to task. Does he not believe in the rule of law or Constitution? It appears he doesn't. The FBI had a spy in the Trump campaign. Where is the one in Hillary's? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TRACE GALLAGHER, CORRESPONDENT, FOX NEWS: Life from the America's news headquarters I'm Trace Gallagher.

Ten people are dead. Another 10 more wounded in a mass shooting early this morning at Santa Fe High School in Texas. The alleged shooter 17-year-old Dimitrios Pagourtzis has been charged with capital murder and he is being held with no bond.

Texas Congressman Michael McCaul, chair of the House homeland security committee says federal prosecutors are also considering weapons of mass destruction charges for the explosive devices found at the scene.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott says he will organize round tables around the state to discuss preventing further shootings.

And President Trump has now activated his gun safety commission. That's the group he convened in the wake of the Parkland school shooting in Florida back February. The White House declined to say if the president would revisit gun control measures proposed after the shooting.

When news breaks out, we'll break in. I'm Trace Gallagher. Now back to Hannity.

HANNITY: All right. As we continue on Hannity tonight, more reaction to James Clapper's stunning admission. We have joining us from American Conservative Union Chairman Matt Schlapp. And by the way, she also serves on the president's media advisory board. Radio TV talk host, Dr. Gina Loudon. Good to see you both.

Dr. Loudon, look, to me this is a simple, do we have a duel system of justice in this country? The Clinton system versus everybody else? And are we going to spy and get FISA warrants on every campaign? Or send that FBI informant without any warrant?

GINA LOUDON, MEMBER, TRUMP 2020 CAMPAIGN MEDIA ADVISORY BOARD: You know, Sean, as you pointed out many times on your show this is really more -- I mean, if all the crimes were happening, it wouldn't be such a big deal because the American people would know about it. If the media were reporting it fairly.

And I want to put this in perspective. Imagine for a moment if during Watergate, for example, the media had been covering up for the things that happened during Watergate. That's not the case. In this particular instance the media is covering up for the criminals in this. And conspired against the American voter to undermine an entire election. We need to let that sink in as an American people. And we need to fight it on every level.

HANNITY: Matt, it's not only the FISA abuse. I mean, think about this. Unverified, uncorroborated, Clinton bought and paid for, foreign national put together Christopher Steele, Russian lies to influence an election. Bad enough. Then it becomes the bulk of information, never verified, never tell the judges, four times she paid for it. Now we have a spy in the Trump campaign?

OK, this is not the United States if this is allowed to stand.

MATT SCHLAPP, CHAIRMAN, CPAC: Yes. That's right. I think the worst part is that we have been covering this throughout the entire Trump presidency. And really even during at the end of the campaign. And there is still confusion about what our government did to try to undermine and influence the presidential election.

You got to repeat that to yourself a couple of times and let it sink in. This is a constitutional crisis. You know, I watched this interview with Clapper on that show that I won't mention because I hate it so much. I also watched Mark Levin on your show. And I think Mark has this exactly right. Which is this is a constitutional crisis.

I advise the president to do what Ronald Reagan did. He picked a tower commission. He picked three imminent experts in the field of foreign policy--

HANNITY: Yes.

SCHLAPP: -- and they came up with solutions that the country needs to implement immediately.

HANNITY: And Dr. Loudon, I can't imagine what the reaction would be if they spied on the Hillary campaign and she actually was paying for Russian lies.

LOUDON: Right. Again, if they had done all of this, if anything in this were fair, Sean, from the things that have taken place in a totally hypocritical manner by the left--

HANNITY: Yes.

LOUDON: -- by the powers that the government agencies. But then the media never reporting it accurately, Sean, and giving these federal agencies permission essentially to go ahead--

HANNITY: Unbelievable.

LOUDON: -- and to cover the whole thing up in hindsight. It's horrible. It is a constitutional crisis.

HANNITY: Last word, Matt.

SCHLAPP: You know, the American people are getting the joke here. They know that there were abuses and the president's numbers are getting better and better because when the media picks on him, the American people are fair and they are coming to his side.

HANNITY: Well said. Both of you. All right. Good to see you both.

SCHLAPP: Thank you.

HANNITY: When we come back, Rush Limbaugh he weighs in on James Clapper's incredibly stunning admission. That's next as we continue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Our video of the day, yes, the number one radio host in the country Rush Limbaugh sounding off on the news that James Clapper said it's a good thing if the FBI had a spy in the Trump campaign. Wow, take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CLAPPER, FORMER UNITED STATES DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: The FBI gains a lot of valuable information from informants.

RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK SHOW HOST: OK, I will tell you what, I'll tell you what, then, Clapper. Whoever you people run in 2020, we're going to put a spy. We're going to -- it's going to be a valuable thing. We're going to find out who it is, it might be trying to rig the election for you.

If the Russians tampering with campaigns is the big deal. You Clapper say it's not Trump, no, no, this is hyperbole. We were trying to find out what the Russians were doing because the Russians are -- you people have done more to damage the integrity of the American electoral process than Vladimir Putin could do in his dreams. And I'm not joking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: All right. Great point by Rush as usual. All right. That's all the time we have left this evening. As always, thank you for being with us. We hope you have a great weekend. Let not your heart troubled. "The Ingraham Angle" is next. We'll see you back here on Monday.

END

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