Another great week in the books as President Trump continues to push his tax cuts and Sean dedicated some time to dig into the truth behind accusations that Alabama Senatorial candidate Roy Moore had inappropriate sexual contact with a minor. Plus, Sean sits down with Congressman Steve Scalise on tax cuts and talks with "Joe from New York." The Sean Hannity Show is live weekdays from 3 pm to 6 pm ET on iHeartRadio and Hannity.com. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Here right now is Johnny Langendorf.
He was driving past the church when he saw the shooting.
And Johnny, can you tell me what happened next?
Um, I I pulled up to I pulled up to the intersection where the shooting happened, and I saw two men exchanging gunfire, the other being a citizen of the community, and um the shooter of the church had taken off fled in his vehicle, and the other gentleman came and he said we needed to pursue him that he just shot up the church, and so that's what I did.
I just acted and got him off the road and you tell me again, you said that you heard the uh you saw that you saw the two men exchanging gunfire, and then one of the men, someone you recognized, jumped in the car.
Uh no, I didn't know him at all.
I didn't recognize him.
I just he just was a member of the community.
And whenever he came to my vehicle in distress and with his weapon, um he just he explained very quickly what happened, and he got in the truck and I knew that it was just time to go.
Yes, sir.
All right, so tell me about that.
Tell me about following this guy.
Was it high speed?
Was he driving normally all over the place?
What was the life?
No, sir.
He got a little bit of a jump on us, and so we were doing about 95 down 539, going around traffic and everything.
And um eventually he came to kind of a slowdown, and after that, uh, we got within just a few feet of him and then he got off the road.
How did that happen?
Did you guys bump him or did he lose control myself?
He he just lost control.
And then that's whenever I put the vehicle in park, because I was still on the phone with dispatch, and the other gentleman jumped out and had his rifle drawn on him and he didn't move after that.
Okay, so I understand you guys called police as you were chasing him.
Yes.
Now, did you lead them to that point?
Did they meet you there?
Or we we led them to there.
He was headed northbound on 539, and uh everybody else was headed to the church for all the officers were responding to the church.
So, how long before police arrived at that scene?
Uh, from the time we actually stopped, it was about it was about five minutes, five to seven minutes.
And so the neighbor just kept his gun trained on him that long.
Yes, sir.
All right, was the man moving?
Was he injured?
No, I don't know.
We didn't we didn't get close enough.
We just So what next?
What happened once the police arrived?
Just the police arrived and they pushed us back and then they got they took care of the rest.
I we I didn't see anything after that.
All right, Johnny.
What were you what was going through your mind during this chase?
I mean, this is a you're chasing a shooter, you've heard he's just shot up a church in your hometown.
What's going through your mind?
Try and get him.
Uh to get him to get him apprehended or whatever needed to happen.
I mean, it was just it was strictly just acting on what the right thing to do was.
All right.
Thank you very much, Johnny Langendorf.
My administration will provide its full support to the great state of Texas and all local authorities investigating this horrible crime.
I've spoken just a few minutes ago with Governor Abbott.
And we offer our thanks to the first responders, the FBI, all of the many People involved, both federal and otherwise.
Ultimately they stopped the suspect and rendered immediate life-saving aid to certain victims of the shooting.
I will continue to follow the development closely.
All of America is praying to God to help the wounded and the families of the victims.
We will never ever leave their side.
Ever.
All right, that is the president.
He was in Japan reacting to the fact 26 churchgoers in Sutherland Springs, Texas, yesterday, uh were literally mowed down in church.
The first voice you heard was from one of the heroes that actually took off after the shooter, and they were able to chase him down to the point where he decided to take his own life.
And uh so sad the Texas governor, Greg Abbott said this morning that this was not a random act of violence.
And he said that he thinks uh a connection between the suspect and the church where the attack occurred is too soon emerging.
Well, we've learned that apparently there was a domestic situation where he had relatives or in-laws that were at that church.
That's part of the understanding.
But the broader, bigger question now is how do you protect people, even just going to church?
I've said for a long time in schools when we had all these school shootings that the single best thing you can do is hire armed, retired police and military and put them in the school.
So that if God forbid something happens at a moment's notice, they're there.
We have a we have a fighting chance to save people's lives.
Well, the same thing would be here.
I recently was at Pastor Robert Jeffers Church in in Dallas, Texas, and he's the pastor of the First Baptist Church there, and Pastor Darrell Darrell Scott, founder and senior pastor at the New Spirit Revival Center.
And uh I talked to both of them, it just so happens when I was there about safety and protection of their congregants and their church, and both of them uh had unbelievable amounts of uh protection in in their churches individually.
Pastor Jeffers, uh, you are very adamant that you take incredible measures to protect the people that go to your church every week.
Absolutely.
I think that's the responsibility of a pastor to protect the sheep.
And look, you know, Sean, we cover six million.
So when I go to your church, you consider me a sheep in the pews.
Is that what it is?
I guess sheep, Sean.
I'm kidding.
I guess sheep.
The fact is we've got that responsibility to protect our members.
We have hired officers, we have some plain clothes, some uh uniform, but we think that's a responsibility we have.
And also in Texas, of course, we have concealed carry, so I would say a quarter to half of our members are also uh carrying guns as well.
So if anybody tried in our church, what this guy did in Sutherland Springs, he might get one shot off, but it would be the last thing he did in this life.
And you know, Sean, you don't have to be a big church like ours to have security, and this is what I hope all churches will remember.
But a lot of small churches, you know, it's a lot of money sometimes to, you know, some if you don't have congregants, now I know this is in Texas, I know they have the right to carry, but there are some churches that are small and maybe they think they're not going to be a target.
That's not true.
No, it's not true.
In fact, the last several attacks we have seen in America have been on smaller churches.
And look, every church can go to their local police department and have them do a threat assessment of their facility.
They can use volunteers to watch what goes on in the worship services.
They can have an evacuation plan.
They can have common sense principles like we have, Sean.
You can't bring a backpack into our sanctuary.
No church ought to allow that, given the evil world in which we live.
I agree with you, and I think it's necessary.
Now, it was nice of both of you, Pastor Scott, good to talk to you again that when I arrived at both your locations of both your churches, you had armed security waiting for me before I even walked in the door.
You met me in my car.
Uh pastor absolutely.
Well, I mean, I I I think you're a bigger target than me, Pastor Scott.
I mean, but I'm just guessing.
But you know what?
They uh they'll stand on security out there waiting for me every week as well.
Yeah.
Isn't it sad it's necessary, though?
Yeah, and my my guy it's sad, you know.
My guy uh not only do they carry they are they are not only armed, they're armed enthusiasts.
I mean, some of them have two or three different firearms at the same time.
And what I also do is, and you know, once the election during this election campaign that the president had, I had to make sure that I had uniformed police visible on site just in case somebody was even thinking about something.
And it's just, I mean, it's it's it is what it is in America today.
It's a very real reality.
The churches are target, and when you have assemblies of uh where the public can come in like that, you don't know who's out there.
You don't know what their motives are, and you can't take anything for granted.
Now, I I don't preach nervous, wondering is somebody out there going to shoot me, but I do have people that have eyes on the congregation, and these they're locked and loaded and they're ready to go.
You know, my colleague on the Fox News channel, Fox and Friends, Hainsley Earhart actually made the comment, you know, that church is where she feels closer to God.
And I know a lot of people, I feel that too.
This is, you know, his house.
And some people tried to take that out of out of context, and it was obvious what she was saying, because we all feel sorry for the families.
And um, but if if I'm gonna go, I mean, if I'm in the in his house trying to worship him and ask him for forgiveness, I totally understood what she was saying as a Christian pastor.
Well, I do too.
And look, I was with Angley earlier this morning.
We were talking about that conversation.
She said exactly what the mother of this girl, the pastor's wife, said about her daughter who died.
She said her daughter would have wanted to lead this world from a church surrounded by her friend.
So what Ainsley said was absolutely perfect.
And it's from a Christian perspective.
I mean, uh, most people go to church because they want to get closer to God.
I mean, we're not perfect people.
And no, no, we're not.
And look, you know, this thing about evil, we've got to acknowledge evil is in the world, and we hear all of this about gun control right now.
Look, uh in the hands of a murderer, a gun killed 26 people, but in the hands of a good Samaritan, a gun was used to stop evil.
It's not the gun that is the problem.
It was the evil in this murderer's heart.
And until we address that, Sean, we're just trying to put a band-aid on a cancer.
Well, what are they going to do?
They'll drive a truck through the church doors if they if they don't have it, although they'll use uh you know, ammonium nitrate.
Um, Pastor Scott, I mean it's sad that this is the way it is, but I think this ought to be really believed that this is the product of this atheistic anti-Christian sentiment that is being programmed into this nation.
There is no other faith under attack without uh external defenses like Christianity.
Christianity is under attack in America, and it has been under attack for quite some time, and to the extent that churches have become a target, but you don't see other religions that have to have that same type of fear that Christianity has, that anti-Christians will come in there with the intent to inflict bodily harm.
But that's why, you know, Jesus said, watch and pray.
And that's what we do in church.
We pray, but we watch too.
And another thing I find significant is that when they came to arrest Jesus in the garden, Peter pulled his sword out, which means that all the while he was walking with Jesus, he was concealed carrying at the same time.
Yeah, well, no, that's a that's such a good point.
Hey, by the way, Pastor Jeffers, when I was in Pastor Scott's church, he asked me to preach.
I'm not a preacher.
You did awfully well on our stage, Sean.
Actually, but I'm not a preacher.
I just I just you I answer questions with you, but he wanted me to come with a the sermon.
And uh and we have a slight disagreement, Pastor Jeffers, on this issue of talking in tongues.
I think that just don't preach about that.
Well, I didn't.
I I did not do that, but I hope I did a good job for both of you.
It was actually a real and you can come and preach in any language you want to at our church, Sean.
Well, I appreciate it.
Uh listen, our thoughts and prayers are with your fellow Texans there, Pastor Jeffers.
And I mean, it's just so sad they go to worship God, and this is what happens.
It's unbelievable.
Such a dark world at times.
All right, thank you both for uh being with us.
All right, our two Sean Hannity show right down our toll-free telephone number.
You want to be a part of the program.
Now we've spent a lot of the last day talking about these allegations about Senate candidate down in Alabama, Judge Roy Moore, and this relates to a Washington Post piece that we read all the details, but I'll remind you what it says.
Now uh the allegations come from 38 years ago.
Now, a woman, the headline of the Washington Post, woman says Roy Moore initiated a sexual encounter when she was fourteen and he was thirty-two.
Now, I want to explain this in all of its detail, and then Judge Moore is going to respond to uh all of this exclusively here on the program today.
Um, and I said this yesterday.
If anyone is behaves this way or is responsible for this type of behavior, of course, it is unacceptable in in society, be shameful, etc.
Um, everyone would agree a thirty-two-year-old man pursuing a 14-year-old girl is despicable.
And that's something that I think should transcend all politics.
Roy Moore has, however, been in the public eye for 40 years, a controversial figure for many of those years.
Uh does everybody in this country have a presumption of innocence and a right to defend their name?
One of the things I've said on radio and TV is our goal, this is not a political issue.
This is a goal to get to the truth.
In light of all of these people that we have mentioned from Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey and Ben Affleck and Dustin Hoffman, and the list goes on and on and on.
It is revealed Broman Polanski is hailed as a hero by Hollywood.
So my goal is only to find the truth.
This isn't political for me in any way, shape, manner, or form.
So the Washington Post alleges that back in 1979, when she was 14 years old, that she had sexual encounters with the then 32-year-old Roy Moore.
And on one occasion, the woman alleges that Moore kissed her.
And during another, she says that Moore allegedly inappropriately touched her and asked her to do, and he took off her shirt and pants and then guided her hand to touch him.
Although she claimed no other sexual conduct had taken place, no sexual intercourse.
She described the incident to the Washington Post as stating, I wanted it over with, I want it out.
Please just get this over with, whatever it is, just get it over with.
Then the woman says she asked Moore to take her home, which he did.
And you have three other women also accusing Moore of misconduct back in the 70s while they were teenagers, ranging in age from 16 to 18 years old.
The age of consent in Alabama is 16.
The women are alleging that Moore pursued romantic relationships with them, and one allegation involved kissing and only kissing.
And uh we'll go into all the details of all this in a second, but joining us now is the Alabama Senate candidate, Judge Roy Moore.
Judge, welcome back to the uh program.
Thanks for being with us.
Nice to be with you.
Yeah.
Judge, let's talk about first.
Let's you're now reading it.
I know you put out a number of statements, but I think we should address it head on.
What do you make of these allegations?
Well, Sean, first let me say this.
Uh these allegations are completely false, false and misleading.
But more than that, it hurts me personally because you know I'm a father, I have one daughter, I have five granddaughters, and I have a special concern for protection of young ladies.
This is this is really hard to get on radio and explain this.
And as these allegations are just completely false.
What do you make specifically?
Let's start with what they talked about, that you had struck up a conversation with this young woman who is 14, Lee Kaufman, and her mother says that you offer to watch the girl while the mother went inside for a custody hearing, which they confirmed it actually happened at that time.
What is your do you know Miss Kaufman?
Do you know the mother?
I don't know Miss Corpman from anybody.
I know I've never talked to her, never had any contact with her.
Allegations of sexual misconduct with her are completely false.
I believe they're politically motivated.
I believe they're brought only to stop a very successful campaign, and that's what they're doing.
Uh I've never uh known this woman or anything with regard to the other girls.
You understand this is 40 years ago.
And after my return from the military, I dated a lot of young ladies.
I do recognize, however, the names of two of these young ladies, Debbie Wesson and Gloria Thacker, which uh they have a maiden that's that's her maiden name.
Well, let me let me just give the details.
Debbie Wesson Gibson says she was seventeen when you spoke to her high school civics class and asked her out on several dates and it did not progress her words beyond kissing, according to the Washington Post.
Let's stay on her.
Did that happen?
I I do not remember speaking to a civics class.
I don't remember that.
I do not remember when we I seem to know her remember knowing her parents.
I can that they were friends.
I can't recall specific dates because that's been forty years, but I remember uh her as a a good girl.
Um, but neither of them have ever stated any uh inappropriate behavior.
Uh she didn't say anything that they're well, she said let me but do you remember ever going on a date with her?
She said that you asked her out on on the first of several dates, but nothing progressed beyond kissing.
I don't remember specific dates, I do not, and I don't remember if it was that time or later.
Uh, but I do not remember that.
Uh but you know her, but you never dated her ever.
Is that what you're saying?
No her, but I don't remember going out on dates.
I I knew her as a friend.
If we did go out on dates, then we did, but I do not remember that.
What about Gloria Thacker Deason says she was an 18-year-old cheerleader when you began taking her on dates that included bottles of Matuse Rose wine?
She's 18 at the time, the Alabama drinking age at the time is 19.
Did that ever happen?
No, because in this county, it's a dry county.
Uh we never would have had liquor if I would never and I believe this, uh, she said that she believed she was underage.
And she as I recall, she was nineteen or older.
And uh that just never happened.
I I'd never provided alcohol, beer, or intoxicating liquors to a minor.
That'd be against the law against anything I would ever done.
And I seem to remember her as a good girl.
I seem to remember that I had a some sort of knowledge of her parents or her mother, very in particular.
At that time in your life, let me ask you this.
You do remember these girls.
Would it be unusual for you as a 32-year-old guy to have dated a woman as young as seventeen?
That would be a what 15-year difference, or a girl 18.
Do you remember dating girls that young at that time?
Not generally, no.
If I did, I'd you know, I'm not going to dispute anything, but I don't remember anything like that.
But you don't specifically remember having any girlfriend that was in her late teens even at that time?
No, I don't remember that.
And I don't remember ever dating any girl without the permission of her mother.
And I think in her statement, she said that her mother actually encouraged her to go out with me.
Well, actually, there was there was one that a 14-year-old that was working as a Santa helper when you approached her and when she was sixteen and her mother forbade her.
Uh, that was the the third case.
Let me let me ask let me go back to Korfman for a minute here, because this is the issue here.
Um she gives specific instances where the first day you met her at the courthouse, you got her phone number, you talked to her on the on the phone, and on that you drove you drove her 30 minutes from her house to the woods in where you lived, and you kissed her, and on a second visit, you took off her shirt, pants, removed your clothes, touched her bra underpants, and you guided her hand to touch him over your underwear.
Now those are specific charges she's making.
And I think, you know, obviously it's about a month away from this election campaign.
Um none of no you're say is it your position?
None of that ever happened.
It never happened, and I don't even like hearing it because it never happened, and they're doing this a month away, four weeks away, after 40 years in public service.
I've run five successful campaign or five campaigns, uh, statewide campaigns, three in the county.
This has never been brought up.
It has never been even mentioned, and all of a sudden, four weeks out, they're bringing it up.
They're bringing it up because it's political, it's a direct attack on this campaign, and it involves a 14-year-old girl, which I would have never had any contact with nothing with her mother or any courthouse or anywhere else would I have done that.
In fact, uh her allegations contradict the whole behavior pattern that the other the two of the young ladies even witnessed herself.
You mentioned you'd never go out with any young girl.
I assume you meant like when you were 32 at that time of your life, would you always ask the permission of the parent before you would take a girl out?
Well, I mean, I I'm saying that in their statements uh that they made these two young girls said their mothers actually encouraged them to uh be friends with.
And you know, that's what they said.
I don't remember I they wouldn't uh tribute to their conversation, but obviously we never had any uh sexual activity if there was never anything like that, and the behavior was all together appropriate, uh according to them.
I gotta take a break.
We'll come back more with Judge Roy Moore exclusively here on the Sean Hannity Show.
All right, as we continue, Judge Roy Moore responding to the Washington Post and the headline, Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was fourteen and he was thirty-two.
I guess the most important part of this is you have pretty much been convicted in the court of public opinion.
I mean, I'm looking at there are Republican senators, you know, like John McCain is out there and and he's very vocal and and he's been out there saying that uh from his position that whether you're he said the allegations against Roy Moore are deeply disturbing and disqualifying, he should immediately step aside and allow the people of Alabama to elect a candidate they can be proud of.
And Mitt Romney said you're innocent until proven guilty is only for criminal convictions, not elections, he goes on to say, and seemingly suggesting just because of the allegation you should step aside.
How do you respond to them?
Well, if you step aside against for any allegation, then you might as well not run because when you run, you're going to get allegations.
And first I would tell these individuals they wouldn't make good judges, they wouldn't make good uh uh people in the judicial system because you are innocent until proven guilty.
In this case, this woman has waited over 40 years to bring a complaint four weeks out of an election, it's obvious to the casual observer that something's up.
We're also doing an investigation, and we have some evidence of some collusion here, but we're not ready to put that to the public just yet.
So you're you're you're trying you're you you are trying to prove your innocence in in other words.
Well, I just like you said, uh they're doing it to defeat the Senate campaign.
They're bringing something, they're trying to mix something up from other girls that uh never said anything about sexual impropriety, and they're all labeling it on this 14-year-old, and I had nothing to do with this.
This is a completely manufactured uh story meant to defrock this campaign.
And they're they're losing.
It's a let their 11 point fine.
Uh they don't like my acknowledgement that there is a God and that uh they've we've refused to debate them because they're very liberal stance on transgenderism and transgender as in the military and in bathrooms.
Uh they're desperate.
Sean, they're simply Well, let me ask you the general question.
If let's say, let's take you out of this for a second.
If any Senate candidate who was 32 at the time had done this to a 14-year-old girl, to me it's disgusting.
To me, it would be despicable.
To me, that is a predator.
Would you agree with me?
No such person who ever does that should ever be in the United States Senate.
Of course.
Nobody that uh abuses a 14-year-old age 32 or a age 17.
It doesn't matter.
If you abuse a 14-year-old, you shouldn't be a Senate candidate.
I agree with that.
But I did not do that.
Let's go back to it one more question, because I didn't understand this.
If you're 32 and you do date again, this is a difference, 17 or 18-year-old.
That's a pretty big gap for a pretty young girl.
Is that something you did when you were dating?
Not I'm not talking about the 14-year-old in that specific allegation.
Would it be normal behavior back in those days for you to date a girl that's seventeen or eighteen?
No, not normal.
If my daughter is seventeen, my daughter's sixteen years old.
Uh if she's seventeen or eighteen, I don't want her dating a thirty-two year old.
I wouldn't either.
And you can say unequivocally you never dated anybody that was in their late teens like that when you were 32?
It would have been out of my customary behavior.
That's right.
In other words, you don't recall ever dating any girl that young when you were that old.
I've said no.
And you think that's inappropriate too.
That's what you're saying.
Inappropriate, yes.
Let me ask you about your general feelings, because uh, you know, a lot of things come up during elections.
This isn't not my first rodeo judge, and I've covered a lot of big topics over the years, and I know a lot of people rush to judgment, and in my life I try not to do that.
And this is such a serious allegation at such a significant point in this race.
My only goal is not ideological here.
My goal is to get to truth.
And, you know, Richard Jewell, I was in Atlanta, and then the article comes out.
Well, he fits the profile of the lone bomber because uh he lives with his mother.
Uh we saw what happened in the Duke LaCrosse case, those three kids were falsely accused.
Uh we saw that the whole nation and the president was wrong on issues like Ferguson, Missouri, hands up, don't shoot never happen.
Uh George Zimmerman was found not guilty by a jury of his peers.
Darren Wilson was exonerated by a grand jury because of eyewitnesses that saw the Michael Brown incident.
Uh, then you have the case of Freddie Gray.
Everybody thought those those policemen did horrible things and they were all not guilty.
There was no evidence on any of those cases.
So there are instances when things are said wrong.
Clarence Thomas, I would argue is a case.
Herman Cain is a case.
I gotta take a break.
We'll come back more with Judge Roy Moore exclusively here on the Sean Hannity Show.
All right, as we continue, Judge Roy Moore responding to the Washington Post and the headline, Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was fourteen and he was thirty-two.
So I guess, you know, you've got yourself in a in a position here where you're a month out of an election, this all drops on you, you're denying everything.
What do you want to tell people?
And I'll just give you the microphone about how they should view the Washington Post, these people making these charges, and your denial.
How should people see it?
Well, I think they should see it as it really is, and that's 40 years I've been in the public eye.
I've been serving as a deputy prosecutor, I've been a judge, I've been a chief justice twice, I've run a foundation for moral law, and now after 40 years, four weeks out of an election, not even mentioned in the primary, they bring charges and try to back them up with other things that sound bad, but then they the alleged things that are completely untrue.
I never knew this woman.
I never met this woman, and these charges are politically motivated, and they're there to do exactly what they're doing.
The Democrat is 11 points behind.
He's very liberal.
They don't want to talk about his record.
They don't want to talk about his inexperience.
They want to defuse this just like they defused President Trump's agenda by bringing up the Russian deal.
They're bringing up something to track from this campaign.
And they know what they're doing, and they've got me obviously on the radio hearing things about a sexual encounter that never happened.
Uh I I would put you in the same position.
You would feel just like me.
You'd be angry, you'd be very angry.
And that's exactly the position I'm in.
This never happened.
They know it never happened, and obviously, you don't wait 40 years to bring up something like this.
There are going to come out facts.
There will be facts to show in this situation that this was a Democrat and maybe even the established Republican effort to undermine this campaign because they don't want to hear the truth in Washington, and they don't want to hear the truth about God and about the Constitution.
Last thought on the establishment Republicans.
You think they're they're partly involved in this?
Well, if they're not involved in the uh implementation of it, they're sure backing away very quickly.
And then I what about those that don't give you the presumption of innocence?
What do you say to them?
That's what I'm talking about.
They're they're not even giving me the presumption of innocent.
They're saying I should resign because the Washington Post who brought these charges against the president, uh or allegations about the Russian involvement.
I the Washington Post has attacked my foundation, they've attacked my wife, and now they're attacking me personally on a sexual matter.
I don't know what's coming next, but I'm sure that in the next four weeks, they're going to come out with another article because they've got an agenda and they're fulfilling their agenda right as we speak.
Judge Moore, thank you uh for taking the time and uh we appreciate you giving your side.
We believe in being fair and balanced, and thank you so much for uh talking to our audience answering these questions.
We appreciate it.
Wish you the best.
Thank you.
Well, thank you.
Well, 2019 doesn't help anybody out.
And as I've been saying, I think on the corporate side, it's great.
Twenty percent corporate tax from a thirty-five percent rate, that's fantastic.
Repatriation, multi trillion multinationals, trillions of dollars parked overseas, bring it back.
That's great.
What the president has done on his own in terms of getting rid of burdensome big government regulations, Obama era regulations has been great.
His moves on pushing the country towards energy independence, all things he didn't need Congress to do, that's great.
But if the Senate is going to wait to 2019, they're gonna get slaughtered one year from now.
Anyway, joining us is Steve Scalise, and he is the Republican Party whip.
Uh why are you laughing?
Something I said funny.
How are you?
It's just good to be back with you, Sean.
How are you?
Yeah, you say that, but you're gritting your you're gritting your teeth.
There's Hannity again.
All right.
Well, first of all, how are you feeling?
I mean, you know, we watched in horror the day that you were shot on that practice field, preparing for the congressional baseball game that you have for charity, and I know it was not an easy go for you.
And the last time I spoke with you, you're still struggling.
How are you doing?
Yeah, doing really good, Sean, and you know, obviously back then on June 14th, uh, you know, there were a few times that day where I almost didn't make it.
And uh, you know, luckily I had a great team of surgeons.
Uh I had great police officers, Capitol Police and the Alexandria Police officers who literally ran to the fire, ran to the gunman and and ultimately took him down.
And uh, you know, and all of us lived uh, you know, and we're lucky, and you prayed for us.
So many people prayed for me and my family, and I just want to thank you for that because those prayers really lifted me up and I'm doing well.
I had physical therapy again today.
We're working on trying to walk again without crutches, so uh, you know, I can walk with crutches, but uh you know can't walk without them yet, so we're working on that.
And play baseball again.
What is your prognosis long term?
Are you gonna get full functioning back?
Well, they tell me that I I will be able to walk without crutches, you know, and hopefully that's coming up in the next few months, but whether or not I can run again and you know, play the sports I played before is an open question because I've got some real nerve damage in my especially on my left foot.
So uh, you know, that's that what we're trying to work on, but uh you know, even if that doesn't come back, I'm I'm lucky to be alive.
I got my family and prepared listen, I you know I have spies everywhere.
I had heard you had gotten within the first twenty-four hours like a dozen or more blood transfusions.
Is that true?
Yeah, when I came in to the emergency room uh by helicopter from the baseball field, they said I had a zero blood pressure, which as you can imagine.
Yeah, that means you're kind of dead.
Yeah.
A lot of people don't make it out from that.
And I lost almost all of my blood.
Uh they had to do a massive transfusion, and you know, there were a lot of blood draws after, even Vice President Pence gave blood for for those blood drives, and I appreciate all of the the help there, but uh, you know, it was it was a good one.
I would have given you my blood.
But your body probably would have rejected it.
But you know, um, always take more.
In all seriousness, thank God you're okay.
And that day, I will say this.
The Capitol Police were there for you because of your position, and I never saw such bravery in my life, and as somebody that is I'm I'm well versed in the use of firearms, going up against a rifle at a distance, walking into an open field with a pistol.
You they're sitting ducks.
You're done.
It's the odds of them surviving that are limited.
If the guy is a good shot, a halfway decent shot.
Yeah, he had a semi automatic rifle, 762 caliber, that's what I was shot with, massive bullet, does a lot of damage, and both of them were shot, both David Bailey and Crystal Greiner, my two Capitol Police Security Detail officers were shot while shooting at the shooter, and they never gave up.
In fact, they went towards him, which for the heroism and bravery, I mean they're incredibly well trained, but police officers every day risk their lives for people and it goes unnoticed.
That's why we all need to stand up.
How are they doing, by the way?
How are they with their injuries?
I saw them today.
In fact, uh Capitol Police gave the Medal of Honor to uh to both Crystal and David, as well as the three Alexandria police officers who were involved in the shooting and taking down the shooter.
And Crystal uh she she had her left ankle really blown out.
Uh that the bullet went through her left ankle, a lot of bone damage, and she's now off of her uh she had a boot on for a while.
She's using one crutch now, so she's down to one crutch.
She's looking really good.
She was able to walk a little bit without a crutch.
David Bailey is he's back into running shape.
I mean, he is rare to go, just an incredible guy in a great spirit.
And uh, you know, he's he's back again.
We we gave each other hugs this morning.
It's great to see them every time I I get that opportunity.
All right, let me ask you about this tax bill.
And uh look, I love the corporate side, as I said.
But at the end of the day, the top rate is gonna stay the m the same.
To me, that is an abandonment of Reagan conservative supply side across the board tax cuts.
You know, I I I believe that all the things you're doing are gonna help grow the economy and help the forgotten men and women that mattered in this election, but on the other side of it, I'm uh I'm worried that Republicans are just too fearful that they're gonna be blamed for tax cuts for the rich when 20 percent pay nearly all the taxes, so by definition.
Well, first Sean, every every income bracket does better under our bill, and somebody making thirty thousand a year is gonna do really well under this bill.
Somebody making thirty million dollars is gonna also do well because we cut taxes across the board.
Even if you look at the thirty-nine point six percent rate, people will p be paying that percentage on less of their income because we move more of their income into the lower brackets, especially the twenty-five percent rate and the twelve percent rate.
So just think about this.
The first ninety thousand dollars of your income will be taxed at twelve percent now, which is uh an incredibly low rate for for most families, and the first twenty-four thousand dollars, we double the personal exemption, so the standard deduction, so your first twenty-four thousand is not going to be taxed, and everybody across the board gets a tax cut, plus the corporate side.
As you mentioned, in our bill in the House, Kevin Brady just passed that out of his committee, uh, twenty percent tax rate down from thirty-five, highest in the industrialized world.
That's immediate.
Uh, we wanted to make it immediate because we want to get that economic impact and bring jobs back to America.
And we do that.
Something else we do, we completely repeal the debt tax, Sean.
That's something that you know everybody knows.
I heard that six years away, though.
You're not gonna do it right away.
It phases out.
So each year it it gets we increase the amount that is exempt from the death tax until it finally completely goes away.
Listen, I like the idea, but uh anytime you get you know, we always get the spending uh we always get the tax increase and we never get the spending cuts, and we always get you know, the bulk the bulk of these cuts are immediate.
Uh for families, your your lower income tax brackets, those are immediate.
Uh the corporate tax cuts are immediate.
So uh there you're gonna get a lot of benefit there, but also if you look at the phase out, part of that is done because uh look, I mean, we had targets we had to hit, and you don't want to increase the deficit.
This is gonna bring in a lot of new economic activity.
So, you know, let's let's see how this works.
It's gonna work really well from the estimates we're getting already.
Uh you're seeing reports that average families will get over twenty five hundred dollars more in their pockets, and you're gonna see wage growth, something we haven't seen in a long time, Sean, because the economy was going so slow because of the the bad Obama policies and the crazy regulations, uh course President Trump has finally reversed a lot of that, and you're seeing slow increase now in in economic growth.
It's actually pretty significant increase.
Why why why not an across the board cut?
The top one percent, for example, they they pay or the top ten percent pay seventy percent of the taxes, twenty percent, ninety some odd percent, bottom fifty, zero.
Why not go on all of the rates?
And for example, you know, you're gonna keep the top rate where it is, but then you're gonna take away exemptions like you know, state and local taxes.
I get a ten percent income tax in the state of New York, three percent city tax, state of New York.
Um I can deduct that now, but that's gonna be gone.
So even I I have the same rate and less deductions, and it means I pay more.
By the way, it's not about me.
I'm just asking, you know, specifically, why wouldn't we go back to the Reagan philosophy of supply side conservative tax cuts across the board?
Well, first these rates are a lot lower than they were under President Reagan.
And President Reagan finally confronted tax reforms.
He was down to 28%.
If you went from seventy to 28% top marginal rate in his is years.
Right.
But if you look at what we're doing, number one, there are rules that say you can't you can't cut taxes more than one point five trillion dollars in this bill actually.
Reconciliation and compliance.
Yeah, because of bucket budget reconciliation, you need to make sure that the bill can actually get to President Trump's desk.
So you you can cut 1.5 trillion in taxes, which we do.
And if you look at where we focused it, President Trump really wanted to focus this on middle class tax relief.
And so that's what we did.
Everybody's going to get a tax cut.
Millionaires still will have uh have less of their income tax.
So, you know, everybody's going to benefit from this.
We repealed the alternative minimum tax, by the way.
Something else that hits a lot of upper middle income folks in a very unfair way.
That goes away under this bill.
So, you know, when you look at the whole thing, and you'll be able to there's going to be a calculator coming out real soon where you're going to be able to look at your personal situation, and I think you're going to find most people were will see that they will pay less in taxes under this plan and you get economic growth.
Uh I'm sick and tired of seeing companies move jobs overseas just because our tax rate's so high.
Those jobs will now start coming back.
And we've heard of the case.
What if the Senate waits what if the Senate uh uh says twenty nineteen?
That is a that is political suicide to me.
Well, ultimately both sides are gonna have to come to an agreement.
You you can see where we are in the house.
But do you agree with me waiting until twenty nineteen is dumb?
Well, I I want to see us make these uh make these immediate.
You can by the way, you can say it.
It's true.
It's dumb.
Because that doesn't help the men and women that are in poverty on food stamps and out of the labor force and grow the economy.
Why wait?
And by the way, one of the things we've talked to President Trump about, President Trump really wants to after we get these tax cuts in place and you see job growth, uh, you're gonna need more workers.
We need to confront some of these other problems in our society like uh a runaway welfare program, and so we're gonna have real welfare reform that President Trump wants to embark upon.
Let's get people back to work.
Welfare to work worked when it was done.
President Obama gutted a lot of those laws.
Let's put those back in place to help people get into the middle class and become part of the American dream.
All right, Steve Scalise.
Well, we're so glad you're you're doing better, and we wish you a full complete recovery.
Uh please go to Mitch McConnell's office and tell him I said it's dumb and he he's gonna get a lot of people fired if he does that.
Anyway, well, yeah, we're gonna go pass through the house.
That's where my focus is.
I gotta I'm really behind phenomenal.
I got a break and and we wish her the best, sir.
We really do.
By the way, I apologize to my uh stations along the Cox Radio Network right now.
I am eight hundred nine point one Sean is a toll-free telephone number.
Joe is in uh New York City, the all new AM seven ten, W O R the talk of New York, New Jersey, and Long Island.
What's happening?
Hey, Sean, how are you doing?
I'm good, sir.
I just want to let you know I'm a former uh squaw you know, Lieutenant Commander from the MYPD.
God bless you.
Thank you, sir for what you do.
What you said yesterday, pal, that uh you are the biggest sub you know supporter of law enforcement, and not just in New York, but all over the nation.
And uh we really appreciate it.
And I have to tell you, sometimes when the guys are listening to your show, yeah, you would think that you scored the final uh touchdown uh for Notre Dame or something.
Uh the way they cheer you on.
It's just amazing.
So can I just say I don't know I don't know how do we ever get to the point, Joe?
You know, I was raised, you know, I I remember in kindergarten, don't laugh at me here, that cops and firemen would come and I I looked at them in awe.
You know, I c I never I I came very close to signing on to the NYPD when I was nineteen years old.
I had taken the test, I took the s the physical, I took the psychological, got a ninety-nine on the test, and I was appointed to the academy.
And I for whatever reason, I you know, God works in mysterious ways, I just said, Yeah.
You know, I I'm maybe not now.
You you I would have been retired for sixteen years.
Because you do a lot more for us on your end than you know.
But I have to tell you, I'm a legacy.
I mean, my dad was a cop, I had his shield number, and I have to tell you it's it's New York has become a cesspool of ignorance.
Sad, isn't it?
And from the po from the s politicians all the way down the line, and it's just a lack of respect all the way around.
And you know, the current mayor, he he deserves he doesn't deserve the respect because he doesn't give the respect.
You know, I have to go back to Rudy Giuliani's time.
Rudy Giuliani was a great mayor.
All right.
A lot of people didn't like him because they said he was, you know, uh headstrong in certain areas and everything, but look what he did for the city.
And I have to tell you, if you really want to see it, look at Commissioner Bratton under Giuliani, and then look at Commissioner Bratton under the current mayor.
All right, two different people.
All right, and that's where we lose it.
When people think that they can circumvent the cops, and when they think that everything is about getting down on the cops, then that's what happens, and you lose your first line of defense, not only here in New York, but across the United States through Ferguson through everything that you mentioned.
All right, it's uh it's a round robin effect, and it's you know actually starting to come a little ways.
I uh you know, we saw like on the on Halloween when I I won't say how I get there.
I go from radio to TV, and I'm walking into the Fox building, and there are guys on the MYPD terrorism task force, and they've got they got serious rifles with them.
I didn't ask what it was.
Um and I just stopped and I talked to these guys, awesome guys, and we you know, how did we get to the point where it's okay for people that say or group that says, what do we want dead cops, when do we want them now?
And pigs in a blanket fry him like bacon, or people forget what happened on on Halloween, they forget 91101.
I'm just using big examples, and they won't even give the police the benefit of the doubt or the presumption of innocence before they render them guilty in both the media and in the general public.
And i it it is it's unbelievable to me.
It's unbelievable because they're the first people you're gonna want when your ass is in trouble.
First people exactly, and you know where it started, it started when Obama took office.
All right, because when they saw the president not supporting the police and going against them in every shape and form that he could.
I mean, sending Holder out to do his uh, you know, the little legwork for him.
I mean, he would say the Cambridge police acted stupidly because his friend uh had a had an issue with the cops, or that you know, he was, you know, I I would be like jumping in and being wrong on Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman, being wrong in Ferguson, wrong in you know, these high profile race racial cases, and then ignoring his home city.
18,000 shootings in the last six years of his presidency, thousands dead.
Exactly.
He does nothing there.
And that's the greatest example, and I've said it a million times.
And when you had the people like Gary McCarthy that was in there that could have made a difference, they they went against him as well because his ways, you know, the old Comstat ways in New York and the way Rudy Giuliani set it up over here in New York went worldwide.
Not not just the within our country.
It went worldwide because it was such a successful program.
I was on the air at the time, a local radio host here in New York, and I'm telling you, it was like Rudy Giuliani pulling teeth, called every name in the book, and he ends up taking the murder rate from you know nearly three thousand down to five hundred and saving lives by by good policing.
Listen, I have to run, I can talk to you, Joe all day.
All my best to your buddies and uh all of those that uh that protect and serve our interests every day that that don't get the respect they deserve, and it's it's nauseating to me, frankly.
You know, we should be uh, you know, it's like when people put their lives on the line for you, how about being appreciative?
How about saying thank you?
How about saying hi officer?
You know, when I get pulled over, first thing I do, I put my hands outside the window.
Next thing I do, hi officer.
Uh I have a I have a legal loaded weapon in the car.
First thing you tell them if I have it with me.
Next thing I do, I say, you know, would you like me to step out of the car and show you my license and registration?
Would you like would you you know how would you what do you want me to do?
That's what I do.
And uh in almost every case, you know, that they're so professional.
Now that's a moment where you're saying to them, this is danger.
But I'm telling you, I'm giving them a heads up.
My hands are in front of them.
I either put them on the dashboard so that he can see them, or I put them outside the window.
You know, and I say, Yes, sir, no, sir.
I'm sorry if I was speeding, sir.
Not that I ever speed.
I've gotten so good with that.
I don't even Get pulled over anymore.
Because I just don't I was younger, I had a heavy foot.
Oh, constantly getting tickets.
And then I just stopped.
I was like, you know what?
I don't want to hurt anybody.
I'm not racing to any place.
I don't have to get there that soon.
Unless I'm racing to a tennis tournament, I left late, which occasionally happens.
Occasionally, not much.
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