This is a rush transcript from “Hannity,” May 12, 2010. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: The mainstream media wants to you believe that Americans all across the country are outraged over the new Arizona immigration law, but the fact of the matter is, well, they are not.
In reality, Americans overwhelmingly support the measure. Now, take a look at these numbers released by the Pew Research Center just a short time ago. Seventy-three percent of those polled approve of requiring people to produce documents verifying their legal status. Only 23 percent disapprove.
Sixty-seven percent approve of allowing police to detain anyone unable to verify their legal status, 29 percent disapprove. And 62 percent of Americans think police should be allowed to question anyone that they think may be in the country illegally.
Now opponents of the law, although few in numbers, are certainly more vocal than its supporters. Now take for example this video of a Los Angeles area teacher at an immigration rally calling for a violent revolution here in the U.S.
Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON GOCHEZ, LOS ANGELES HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER: This is not just about Mexico. This is about a global struggle against imperialism and capitalism.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
GOCHEZ: Because we know that all that is happening when the context of where we now stand is stolen occupied Mexico. And the lessons that we bring, if you want to bring a little bit more of a revolutionary context to this: Why is it that these people, these real racist white people, want to keep us out of this country?
It’s not because simply the color of our skin. It’s not simply because they just want to exploit us. Let me tell you why. Because on this planet right now of six billion people at the forefront of the revolutionary movement is La Raza.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: Alright, now that’s funny, I haven’t seen the mainstream media pay much attention to that video. Now I wonder if it would be different if it was a Tea Party video.
Now they are however falling all over themselves to report stories about Arizona boycotts. Now earlier today the L.A. city council voted to cut some business ties with the state.
In addition you may be aware that the Lakers are about to take on the Phoenix Suns in the NBA playoffs, and one L.A. councilmember had this message for Laker fans, quote: “If you go we are hoping you take your own snacks and you won’t buy things in Arizona.”
Here with his take on all of this is somebody who I’m sure is rooting for the Suns in that series, he is the senior senator from the great state of Arizona, John McCain.
Senator, welcome back.
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZ.: Thank you. Nice to be back with you Sean.
HANNITY: Alright. First let’s respond to that history teacher at an L.A. high school, saying what he was saying.
MCCAIN: Well again, if it was said at a Tea Party, you can imagine the wave of outrage that would have overwhelmed the, quote, “mainstream media” in America. But, you know, part of this is the outrageous statement that the president of the United States made when he said you can’t take your child out for a ice cream cone, I believe it was, without being stopped and asked for your identification.
And that is simply false. That is totally falsifying the law passed in Arizona, which calls for reasonable suspicion, both whether someone should be stopped or not and once they’re stopped, reasonable suspicion as to whether they are in the country illegally and it specifically outlaws racial profiling.
So for the president to make the statement that he did and joked about it, as you know at the correspondents dinner, I think is partially what brings on a lot of things said afterwards.
HANNITY: Alright. So this is the president of the United States of America. I mean did he speak out of ignorance or is he purposely trying to misrepresent the law for political points? It is either one or the other. And I don’t know which is worse.
MCCAIN: I have no idea. But I know it’s outrageous for the president of the United States to portray a law passed in a state without — and falsifying exactly what that law says, especially when it has to do with a racial issue which obviously ignites things.
Look, Arizona is under siege in many respects. We have broken borders. We have people flooding across. We have drug cartels inflicting incredible damage. We have — Phoenix, Arizona is the kidnapping capital of the world, second only to Mexico City.
And the legislature and the governor acted out of frustration because the federal government will not fulfill its responsibilities. I have said for years we have to secure the borders. We have to get the National Guard down there. We have to build a fence which I’ve said for years. We have to use surveillance and we have to have additional troops down there to start with the National Guard and then 3,000 additional Border Patrol.
HANNITY: Now, I read the CNS piece that you’re talking about with my friend Terry Jefferies where he did point out that Phoenix is the kidnapping capital of America. Now you’ve got the L.A. city council — I mean they’re talking about millions of dollars now.
There’s one city after another now calling for a boycott of your home state. This is going to have a dramatic impact on people, on their ability to make a living if this takes hold. I mean there are — I think it’s going to impact 8.8 million to start, maybe $50 million a year.
What is your message back to the L.A. city council and other municipalities that may want to do this?
MCCAIN: My message back to the L.A. city council is please direct your anger at the federal government, which has not secured your borders, either. And please know that if you harm the economy of Arizona particularly as far as tourism and the hotel business is concerned, you will be hurting a lot of Hispanic citizens who work in that business, who are hardworking people and industrious and citizens. And so you can inflict harm if you do that.
Third of all, please read the law. Please read the law as it is written which prohibits racial profiling, which — as I went through before. And help us get the federal government to secure our borders.
And by the way, the brutality that is inflicted upon these illegal immigrants by the coyotes and the majority of the illegal immigrants obviously are Hispanic — the brutality in the drop-houses and the mistreatment and holding for ransom. I would hope that the L.A. city council would join with us and say we’ve got to stop this because of the terrible human rights abuses that are being inflicted.
HANNITY: Alright.
MCCAIN: Plus the drug cartels.
HANNITY: You and I found ourselves in disagreement over comprehensive immigration reform. I have always said we’ve got to control the borders first. I think we ought to finish building that fence which Janet Napolitano stopped. I think we need all the virtual help we can. I think we need more troops at the border. I’ve been down there five times. I — the Border Patrol agents do a great job.
Are you now on the side that there should be no discussion of comprehensive immigration reform until the border is completely controlled?
MCCAIN: In 2008 in the presidential campaign — I hate to take this trip down memory lane — I said we have to secure the borders first. Why am I saying that? In the last three years the violence has escalated, 22,000 Mexican citizens have been murdered on the Mexico side of the border in these drug cartel wars.
The drug cartels are an existential threat to the government of Mexico and we knew that sooner or later that violence spills over on to our side of the border. A rancher murdered in Arizona. A deputy sheriff way north of the border shot with an AK-47. Drug cartels are working with the human smugglers.
And every nation has the obligation to secure its borders. If you don’t secure the borders then we’re like a hamster in a wheel and people will be keep coming illegally. And finally, I remind you back in the 1980s under Ronald Reagan we gave amnesty to two million people on the proviso we would secure the border.
HANNITY: Hasn’t happened.
MCCAIN: We gave the amnesty.
HANNITY: Alright.
MCCAIN: We didn’t secure the border.
HANNITY: The most — let me shift gears just a little bit here in the president’s nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court Elena Kagan. Her most notable act as we know is her effort to kick off military recruiters from a college campus in this case Harvard, and by the way she did this in the middle of a war in violation of U.S. law and even had the most liberal members of the court go against her when they put forth a ruling.
Your reaction to her? Are you likely at this point to support, not support?
MCCAIN: Well, I’ll give the process a chance to work its way through. But I am still outraged. You know the members of the ROTC at Harvard had to go to MIT to do their training. Now here’s a school — the Harvard Law School can produce all of our Supreme Court justices, but Harvard will not allow recruiters to help young men and women serve their country in uniform.
And she called it a policy. But it wasn’t a policy, it was a law. “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is a law. And she was —
HANNITY: That was signed by the president she worked for. Yes.
MCCAIN: Yes. Yes. And so she was encouraging, it seems to me — and I’ll be glad to let her make her case, but seems to me she was aiding and abetting violation of a law.
HANNITY: Yes. Could this one issue be enough in your mind to disqualify her from the court?
MCCAIN: Well, it would weigh heavily in my judgment. You know and I have to see how egregious it is. And all of this will come out in the next couple of three weeks. But I am deeply offended that a school that models itself as the finest in the nation, at least they claim that, would not allow recruiters to come on their campus and ROTC to be conducted on their campus.
HANNITY: Alright. Senator, we’ll be watching closely. In my mind I think that would disqualify her. But it’s going to be interesting to see her explanation. We appreciate you being here.
MCCAIN: Could I just mention one other thing real quick?
HANNITY: Yes.
MCCAIN: Over a trillion dollars. Remember, Obamacare wasn’t going to cost a trillion dollars? CBO comes out and it’s over a trillion, and that’s not counting the $200 or so — $300 billion docs fix. Like Nancy Pelosi said, they have to pass it so we can find out what’s in it.
HANNITY: We found out. Yes, the CBO is wrong. Medicare was nine times what they projected.
Thanks for being with us, Senator.
MCCAIN: Thanks.
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