01
Candidate John Kasich; Hillary Clinton's Experiences Coughing Fit During
Campaign Speech; Interview with 2016 GOP Presidential Front-Runner Donald
Trump; Pope Francis Says Donald Trump's View on Immigration Isn't
Christian - Part 1>
Schlapp, Marc Siegel, Eboni Williams>
Immigration; Pope Francis; Religion>
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN HANNITY, HOST (voice-over): Tonight...
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have tell you, South Carolina is some great place. I love it.
HANNITY: Brand-new FOX News polls show Donald Trump is surging just two days before the South Carolina Republican primaries. We'll catch up with the candidate on the campaign trail.
Then, the pope claims Donald Trump is not a Christian, and the GOP front- runner fires back.
TRUMP: For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful.
HANNITY: Jerry Falwell, Jr., and Pastor Robert Jeffress have reaction.
And in recent days, Hillary Clinton's health has been called into question.
All of that, plus 2016 Republican presidential candidate Governor John Kasich joins us.
"Hannity" starts right here, right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HANNITY: And welcome to "Hannity." And tonight, we're coming to you from South Carolina, where the state's Republican primary is only two days away. And we have brand-new FOX News poll numbers out of the Palmetto State.
Donald Trump is leading the field by double digits, with 32 percent, Texas senator Ted Cruz in second with 19 percent, Senator Marco Rubio in third place with 15 percent. And they're followed by Ben Carson, Jeb Bush and John Kasich.
And in a brand-new FOX News national poll, Trump is out in front, 36 percent, Cruz in second 19 percent. Marco Rubio comes in third at 15 percent. Then it's Carson, Bush and Kasich.
Now, earlier today, we caught up with the GOP front-runner, Donald, Trump on the campaign trail right here in South Carolina. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Mr. Trump, poll numbers FOX came out today, you're at 32 percent, consistent with all the other polls that have been out there. Are you feeling confident going into Saturday?
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I do. I mean, we're going to see what happens. I'll tell you what, South Carolina is an incredible place. I've been here many, many times. I have many friends here long before the political stuff. And I feel very good. I mean, we feel very confident. I'm making four, five speeches today and tomorrow.
HANNITY: And you have the biggest crowds.
TRUMP: I have the biggest crowds.
HANNITY: It was interesting because you kind of a little bit underperformed in Iowa, way overperformed in New Hampshire. The poll numbers here look very similar to New Hampshire. Are you expecting similar results?
TRUMP: Well, I think I really performed well in Iowa, you know, in terms of going in. They went in -- this caucus thing is crazy. They went in and they all said they're voting for Trump, and then people would do numbers on them inside. And there was a very crooked deal going on there. I'll tell you what. That whole Iowa thing was terrible with Ted Cruz, what he did with Ben Carson, et cetera.
But I think we really did well in Iowa, picked up a lot of delegates, came in a very strong second. But we did really well in New Hampshire. New Hampshire was so incredible to us. We won in a landslide and we won with every a single group. And this feels very much like New Hampshire.
HANNITY: All right I want to get back to the horse race in a minute. Let me go to the main attack line that is being used against you.
TRUMP: OK.
HANNITY: You're not a conservative.
TRUMP: OK. Well, I am a conservative.
HANNITY: Explain.
TRUMP: If you look at me and if you look at any kind of a record you want to look at, I'm by far the strongest on military. I'm by far the strongest of any candidate on 2nd Amendment. I'm by far the strongest on getting rid of Common Core and bringing the education to a local, so that local people can educate their kids, which is 10 times better.
You look at where we stand, worldwide education -- it's a horror show. We're number 30 in the world.
HANNITY: We spend the most money.
TRUMP: So we get rid of -- absolutely. We get rid of Common Core 100 percent. I'm the strongest on "Obama care." I've been talking to you about "Obama care" from the day they proposed it. I said, You got to get rid of it, it's going to be a -- and I know because I have thousands of employees. And over the years, I've had tens of thousands of employees. So I understand more about health care than anybody. We have to get rid of "Obama care." We're going to repeal it and replace it.
I mean, I'm the most conservative -- oh, by the way, on trade, there's nobody more conservative than me. I will make great trade deals.
HANNITY: Let me go to the heart...
TRUMP: We have the world's worst trade deals, by the way, just so you know.
HANNITY: I agree, and it would hurt -- it would certainly help economic growth. I guess for some people -- they say, OK, well, Donald Trump was a New York businessman and he was a liberal then. Explain how you became a conservative. Maybe that would help some people understand.
TRUMP: Right. Well, first of all, as a businessman, it wasn't like you were liberal. You were sort of like nothing. You didn't talk about these things. You didn't talk about pro-choice. You didn't talk about you are in favor or not in favor of abortion. You didn't -- I mean, it wasn't like -- you know, you're building buildings and you're dealing with contractors and you're dealing with tough people and...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: ... dealing with politicians. But you weren't in -- you weren't in the world of politics, and you never were asked.
I mean, they talk about pro-choice, which I am not. You know, I've totally evolved on that whole thing. But it was something you never talked about. You didn't talk about borders. You didn't talk about all of these things.
Now, on many of these subjects or most of these subjects, I think -- you know, you mentioned the word conservative. I like to say I'm a conservative with common sense or I'm a common sense conservative. And it's a term nobody's ever heard of because I just came up with it about two days ago because some of these things that these people come up with are crazy.
But I'm the most conservative when it comes to military, when it comes to the border, when it comes to security. That's why every poll you people do, I come out number one by -- not -- not by, like, 2 points. I come out number one where I'm in the 60s and 70 percentages. And when it comes to security, when it comes to illegal immigration, all of these things, I think I'm the most conservative person there is.
HANNITY: So then why the attacks about, Well, he used to be? Is it -- is it just because...
TRUMP: Well, they say that, but...
HANNITY: ... that's the only line of attack...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: ... Ronald Reagan, OK? So I'm pro-life.
HANNITY: Right.
TRUMP: And you know that. I've been -- I've been on your show...
HANNITY: You told the story in the first debate.
TRUMP: I did. And I told the story. I don't know if I have to tell the story again now, but I mean, I've seen things. And I'm pro-life. And people know I'm pro-life. But Ronald Reagan, you know, was pro-choice, and Ronald Reagan passed an abortion law in California that was one of the worst in the country. I mean, it was a terrible thing. And he became president, became a great president. But he was actually a somewhat liberal Democrat and he ended up being a somewhat conservative conservative.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... Reagan.
TRUMP: Well, he wasn't very conservative, but he was...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: More importantly, he ended up being a great president.
HANNITY: Do you -- so you're going to build a wall. That's conservative. Can you balance a budget? Do you believe it's possible?
TRUMP: Oh, absolutely.
HANNITY: You know, $20 trillion in debt.
TRUMP: Very quickly. I even like your penny plan. You know, I'm a very sophisticated guy. I went to the best business school in the world and all of that stuff. I like your penny plan. I mean -- and you can do more than a penny.
HANNITY: People may not know. The penny plan is -- and it's not mine -- Connie Mack. I got to give him credit. Cut a penny out of every dollar every year for six years, you balance the budget. You would add...
TRUMP: If you have the right people leading your agencies and leading your different groups, you could do that.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Waste, fraud and abuse.
TRUMP: Or you could do it quicker. You know, some of these politicians think you can't balance the budget. Some of them think it's going to take 25 years. You've had them on your show, where they say, We think over a 25-year period, we can get the budget -- and you know that's not going to happen.
HANNITY: We always get the promise that we're going to get lower spending and higher taxes. You get the taxes, you don't get the spending. You get amnesty, you never get the wall. So you...
TRUMP: Sean, I've seen politicians on your show that you are for and they're getting ready to go to Washington for the first time. And they're going to get rid of "Obama care," they're going to do this and that, all these things that you have to do. They're going to balance the budget...
HANNITY: Doesn't happen.
TRUMP: A year later, you have them on your show, they haven't done anything.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: They talk.
HANNITY: Listen, I'm not even sure that they'll hold the line, the position that they've taken on Justice Scalia's replacement.
TRUMP: Can I tell you what I saw yesterday? So the first, there's like -- the Republicans -- don't forget Obama's a horrible negotiator, worst deal I've seen on Iran. He's a terrible negotiator, except when it comes to the Republicans. And I saw it yesterday, Sean.
So Scalia, great guy, dies, right? And the republicans say, We don't want -- - and they're all very brave, and, We have the right, and, We have the Senate, and, We're not going to give you any vote, OK, everything that they're supposed to be saying, they're been.
Then yesterday, I heard there may be some weakening on the Republican...
HANNITY: I saw the knees buckling. I saw the same thing.
TRUMP: I saw it for the first time.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: In other words, a day goes by, all of a sudden -- I'm telling you, these people need a strong leader.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: These people are weak.
HANNITY: So let's talk about spending...
TRUMP: Don't be surprised if...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... important to you. You want to eliminate baseline budgeting. Cut...
TRUMP: Absolutely. Yes.
HANNITY: ... waste, fraud and abuse.
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: How important is lowering taxes for economic growth?
TRUMP: Very important. I have my policy, and I have the biggest tax cut there is of all of them. We have a tax cut for the middle class. We have a tax cut for business. Our business, our middle class -- we're paying the highest taxes in the world, Sean. We are paying in this country the highest taxes in the world. So I have big tax cuts for the middle class. You know, we've forgotten about -- the country has forgotten about the middle class.
HANNITY: It's shrinking.
TRUMP: No, no, they built our country, OK?
HANNITY: They're suffering.
TRUMP: And they're paying too much tax. We're cutting taxes for the middle class. We're cutting taxes for business. We're cutting tax so we can bring our $2.5 trillion into the country.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: Repatriated money, trillions of...
TRUMP: Corporate inversion. I mean, you look what's going on with corporations, where Pfizer is leaving this country. How about where a Chinese company is buying the Chicago Stock Exchange, OK?
HANNITY: Well, you what happened with the Carrier workers.
TRUMP: Carrier is leaving. They're going to Mexico.
HANNITY: Into Mexico.
TRUMP: And I know how to stop that.
HANNITY: So you'll repatriate that, give them an incentive to bring that money back, build manufacturing centers, factories here.
TRUMP: Absolutely. We want that $2.5 trillion here. You know, the interesting thing is the Democrats want it to happen and the Republicans want it to happen, but we have no leader, so they can't -- I could sit them in a room there, and within two minutes, you'd have that deal worked out.
But we have no leader. We have a president that doesn't lead. Everybody wants the money to come back, even the Democrats. But we have no leader to sit them in a room and say, Come on, let's get it done. You need a quick signing.
HANNITY: I've asked you at least three, four times about your replacement for "Obama care." And for some reason, the press never picks up on your answer.
TRUMP: Well, I talk health care savings. You know, you look at health care...
HANNITY: Health care savings accounts.
TRUMP: You look at -- you look at getting rid of the lines. I've been talking to you about that a lot. You have to get rid of the lines.
HANNITY: In other words, buying across state lines.
TRUMP: Absolutely! There's no competition. And you know why? Because all of the politicians that you have on your show all the time are paid off by the insurance companies. That's all. It's very simple -- meaning campaign contributions. As much as you like them, they get campaign contributions...
HANNITY: No, I don't like them. I don't give money to any of them.
TRUMP: (INAUDIBLE) your show. No, no, no. I know.
HANNITY: They don't get any money.
TRUMP: But they were on your show.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: And the truth is they get tremendous campaign contributions from the insurance companies. They're making a fortune. Obama got taken care of by the insurance companies. "Obama care" is a windfall for many insurance companies.
HANNITY: Well, it's also forcing young people to buy plans they don't need...
TRUMP: Oh, it's sad.
HANNITY: ... and with a health care savings accounts, you can get a high deductible, catastrophic care, and you pay four times less.
TRUMP: It's great. But you have to get rid of the lines so you have competition also.
HANNITY: And can take it portability job to job.
TRUMP: Portability is very important.
HANNITY: All right, what about -- you said education. You would take the entire Department of Education and take the money that we're spending federally on education and give that money to cities and states?
TRUMP: Give it to the states. Absolutely. And to have -- look -- and they can do it with real love and with heart. You got to bring education - - if we were doing well on education, I'd say, Fine. We're ranked number 30 in the world. You have China, Denmark, Sweden, Norway -- these countries are all the best countries, right?
HANNITY: (INAUDIBLE) spending (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: We're ranked number -- we pay per pupil so many times more than number two. Number two doesn't even exist. We pay so much more per pupil. Department of Education is a disaster. We have to bring -- get rid of Common Core, bring education local.
HANNITY: I asked you earlier in the week who you would like to replace or the type of justice you're looking for on the Supreme Court. A lot of people said, Well, you cited your sister, who took a very controversial...
TRUMP: I cited my sister jokingly because I had a conflict, obviously. I said, Oh, I think my sister. And I did it with a big laugh on my face and I'm having fun. I have a great sister, who, by the way, is totally brilliant and a wonderful woman. But I have a conflict. So I said, Oh, I'll put my sister. That's the way I did it. I didn't...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: My sister wouldn't want it. My sister wouldn't do it.
HANNITY: Your two favorite justices on the court now?
TRUMP: Well, Scalia was one. And I'll tell you something. I think a man who's so underrated and he's so solid is Justice Thomas.
HANNITY: I agree with you.
TRUMP: He doesn't get enough credit. He's been a rock just about more than any of them.
HANNITY: Did you ever read his book "My Grandfather's Son"?
TRUMP: I've seen the book. I have not read the book.
HANNITY: Really good book.
TRUMP: I'll look at it.
HANNITY: All right, you talk about...
TRUMP: Do you agree with that?
HANNITY: Yes. I think...
TRUMP: He doesn't -- he doesn't get enough credit.
HANNITY: Very different personality than Scalia. Scalia jokes, has a lot of...
TRUMP: Like the opposite.
HANNITY: ... comments...
TRUMP: Like the opposite.
HANNITY: ... you know, biting dissents and opinions...
TRUMP: But he's been a rock.
HANNITY: But very solid originalist. So you're looking for an originalist.
TRUMP: Yes, I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And coming up, part two of our interview with 2016 GOP front- runner Donald Trump.
Then later tonight...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows, is ISIS's ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Donald Trump responds to the pope saying that he's not a Christian. Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr., and Pastor Robert Jeffress are here tonight with reaction.
Plus, we'll check in with Ohio governor John Kasich.
And a quick programming note. You want to make sure to tune in tomorrow night, 10:00 Eastern. We hit the campaign trail with Senator Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, the biggest interviews on the biggest stage only here on the campaign trail on `Hannity."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." And here's part two of our interview from earlier today with 2016 Republican front-runner Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Let me go to the issue of comments you made last night. We're talking about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
TRUMP: Right. Toughest deal to make of any kind of deal that I've ever seen is Israel/Palestine.
HANNITY: Because it's such a mess.
TRUMP: Tough issue. The Palestinians and the Israelis don't exactly -- they're not exactly meshing.
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: And you know, one of the reasons that I said it last night -- the toughest single deal to make is getting them together. And I've been told by some Israelis that no matter who it is, you'll never do it. I'm going to give it a shot, but I will say it is probably of all the deals, right...
HANNITY: You did mention these kids that are funded by Hamas and Hezbollah.
TRUMP: They grow up hating.
HANNITY: They've grown up to hate Israel.
TRUMP: That's why it's so tough, they grew up hating. They grow up -- things were told to me that are incredible and I won't even say...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: How important, though, is our alliance? They're our number one ally in the region, and that alliance has been, well, fractured in a big way.
TRUMP: Israel is so important. What Obama has done to Israel is a disgrace. How they even talk to us is hard to believe. But Israel -- and how they talk to Obama -- you know, I have friends, they support Obama. I said, How do you do it? It's almost like they do it out of habit.
They agree he's been terrible. You look at what he's done to Israel with just this Iran deal, which is such a terrible deal. He has been the worst thing that's ever happened to Israel. Now, a lot of my friends that are Jewish do not support him any longer, but I still have some that do. I say, How can you do it...
HANNITY: He's been horrible to Israel.
TRUMP: You know what? I think it's habit. They do it out of habit.
HANNITY: What do you think of Prime Minister Netanyahu?
TRUMP: I think he's good. I like him.
HANNITY: Strong.
TRUMP: He's always been -- he's strong. He's always been good to me. He asked me to do a commercial for him. I was his only celebrity that he asked to do a commercial, Would you do a commercial, when he ran for office. But I think he's very good. I think he's been treated very, very badly by Obama.
HANNITY: Let me get you to expand -- you always talk about trade, free trade. You say you're free trade, or fair trade.
TRUMP: Look, I want to be smart trade. It's good to be smart.
HANNITY: But not protectionist.
TRUMP: No, not protectionist. But you have to use that as a -- as a...
HANNITY: Leverage.
TRUMP: Of course.
HANNITY: In negotiations.
TRUMP: We don't use anything. Hey, look, we let China dump their stuff on us, but if you try and do business in China, you can't. I mean, it's impossible. You can't get your stuff in. It's very hard.
HANNITY: Right.
TRUMP: You can't get your stuff in. And you have to pay tax. So it's got to be equal. It's not equal. And we're losing $500 billion this year...
HANNITY: In a trade deficit with China.
TRUMP: We have a trade deficit with China. We're $500 billion -- I'm going to negotiate. Believe me, we're not going to...
HANNITY: You want U.S. cars sold in China.
TRUMP: I want -- yes. And I want them made here and sold in China.
HANNITY: Exactly.
TRUMP: Like Boeing. Boeing goes and takes an order, now they have to build airplane factories in China. And be careful, South Carolina and other places, and Seattle, by the way...
HANNITY: They're going to lose factories and manufacturers...
(CROSSTALK)
TRUMP: Eventually, in five years, they'll start doing their monetary manipulation again, Sean. Nobody has ever manipulated a currency -- they're, like, chess grand masters, OK?
HANNITY: Yes.
TRUMP: Nobody's ever done it like China. And I told the folks last night, right here, I said, Be careful of your Boeing plant because you think it's good now, but in three years, when the ones are built, the big ones in China, and the currency manipulation takes place, South Carolina is going to have a problem.
HANNITY: Think how bad the economy is when you talk about banks now charging you to keep your money.
TRUMP: Yes, that's right. It's opposite. It's opposite.
HANNITY: Let me ask you this. You actually said something that really intrigued me. There's still 28 pages of the 9/11 commission report...
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: ... that have never been revealed.
TRUMP: Right. And they should reveal it.
HANNITY: I got the impression that you knew something maybe we don't know about the Saudis...
TRUMP: I think you'll find out when that's opened -- I think you're going to find out Saudi Arabia had a lot to do with ripping down of the World Trade Center.
HANNITY: Would you open that if you became president?
TRUMP: I would open it, yes.
HANNITY: You would.
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: ... the American people...
TRUMP: What I'm saying -- and look, we attacked Iraq. But Iraq didn't knock down the World Trade Center. When you open up those pages, you're going to find out who did it.
HANNITY: That's pretty interesting. I played a tape for you on my radio show the other day. Bill Clinton gave a speech. He'd been offered bin Laden, knew bin Laden was a threat...
TRUMP: Should have taken him out.
HANNITY: Should have taken him out.
TRUMP: Should have taken him out.
HANNITY: And also, even though you were against the war -- and you and I had some debates at the time. You were against the war from the beginning.
TRUMP: Totally against the war. And you would know that because you and I have been doing this for a long time.
HANNITY: We just disagree.
TRUMP: And you and I used to fight about it.
HANNITY: We used to fight about it.
TRUMP: Now you probably say Trump was sort of, like, right. Not sort of right.
HANNITY: Well, the thing is, once we go to war, what I'm afraid of is -- we lose 58,000 people in Vietnam, we lose 5,000 people in Iraq, and then Obama politicizes it or they politicize Vietnam, and why did we send American sons and daughters to fight, bleed and die, and then we only give Ramadi, Fallujah, Mosul and Tikrit over to ISIS? That's insanity!
TRUMP: We shouldn't have gone into Iraq because we destabilized the Middle East. OK, once we're in...
HANNITY: You win.
TRUMP: ... the way we got out was horrible. You win. You're right. But the way we got out was horrible, where he announces a date, and now the enemy pulls back, and they say, Why should we fight? You know, despite what you hear, they don't want to die. They say, Why should we fight? We get out, and the mess starts. But we should have left troops. I didn't want to go in, but we should have left troops there.
HANNITY: And keep -- and sustain the victories we have.
TRUMP: We should have done something.
HANNITY: And I do agree with you about keeping the oil and giving the money to the military.
TRUMP: I've been saying it for four years.
HANNITY: Why are we paying the cost?
TRUMP: Now ISIS is so rich, and also paying the cost for all of these armies that we're supporting. I mean, Saudi Arabia, so rich, making a billion dollars a day before the oil went down, so now they're making half, right?
HANNITY: I was glad to hear you say the other day there were only three people that were waterboarded totally. One was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who gave the information about the courier that led to bin Laden...
TRUMP: Right.
HANNITY: ... unknown story, it seems, by a lot of people. And I always use the analogy, if you saw your child getting kidnapped by three people and you tackled one of the three and two people got away with your child, what wouldn't you do to get the information? You said you would go further. Explain.
TRUMP: This came up with Ted Cruz. They asked him a question about waterboarding, you know, Is it good, is it fine, is it OK? And he was very weak on his answer. It was a bad, bad answer. And I could see he didn't - - he wanted to stay away from it. He didn't like it. I mean, I understand that. He didn't like it.
Then they said, What would you do? I said, I'd approve it immediately and I'd make it worse. OK?
HANNITY: In other words, whatever it took to get information.
TRUMP: Whatever it took. Excuse me. And I prefaced it by saying in the Middle East, they're chopping off heads. I haven't seen that since medieval times. I read when I was a young guy in history class, I would read about medieval times, they chopped off heads. Now James Foley, these wonderful people -- I know his parents. They're incredible people. They're chopping off heads.
HANNITY: Scary.
TRUMP: OK?
HANNITY: It's evil in our time.
TRUMP: And here we are, they're chopping off heads. And we want information about them and we can't waterboard, OK? We can't waterboard. No. So when they came to me -- by the way, it was very interesting. They came to me. They asked me the same question. I said, I'd approve it immediately, but it's got to be worse. And I got a standing ovation. I didn't know what I was going to get. You know, I didn't exactly poll it. I don't poll things.
HANNITY: You don't have pollsters at all.
TRUMP: No, I do what's right.
HANNITY: What's your reaction to Obama saying Donald Trump won't be president, I don't believe he'll be president?