This is a rush transcript of "Hannity" on October 10, 2022. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: I just want to send her a smallpox blanket. It's unbelievable.

HANNITY: You can't make it up.

Tucker, thank you.

Welcome to HANNITY.

Tonight a brutal new phase from the war in Ukraine. It is brutal. Russian forces now launching deadly attacks against population zones. They're going right after civilian populations as revenge against the unsuccessful Ukrainian strike that in fact disabled a major bridge to Crimea. This as Putin now threatens to go nuclear while Joe Biden, your president is warning we are on the precipice of a worldwide nuclear Armageddon, the worst crisis since the Cuban missile crisis, before jetting off to Delaware for some west and relaxation.

So how much sense does that make?

All right. Coming up, we're going to bring in the very latest. We'll check in with Colonel Oliver North.

And later, bombshell new evidence in what could soon result in felony firearm charges and tax charges against Hunter Biden but they're missing the big picture.

But tonight, we do have a voicemail allegedly left by his father to Hunter and the president that sheds new light on how Hunter likely lied on that gun application. We'll play the recording. We'll let you decide.

Also, the one and only Stephen A. Smith will join us with his take on Joe Biden, the Kanye West scandal, and so much more. And people can't apparently believe that we're friends. A lot of -- a lot of chatter on the Internet about that.

All right. But, first, we are 29 days away from this inflection point in our country, a tipping point election, if there ever was one, our midterms. Republicans now are surging all across the country, it seems. The momentum has clearly shifted towards Republicans.

In just a moment, we're going to hear from Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake. Wait until you hear about her opponent.

And New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin, he is now down by less than two points to Democrat Kathy Hochul in the liberal state of New York.

We begin tonight though in Florida with a powerful ad, not all ads actually need to be negative, featuring the state's first lady. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CASEY DESANTIS, WIFE OF FLORIDA GOV. RON DESANTIS: I get asked all the time, who is Ron DeSantis? Well, he's a kid who grew up right here in Florida, working his tail off, paying his own way through school, and volunteering to serve in the Navy and deploying to Iraq. He's the man who I feel in love with the moment we met.

And he's a dad of three very rambunctious, energetic children. Mamie, our 2-year-old little comedian, Madison, our beautiful, sweet 5-year-old, and Mason, our 4-year-old athlete.

If you want to know who Ron DeSantis really is, when I was diagnosed with cancer and I was facing the battle for my life, he was the dad who took care of my children when I couldn't. He was there to pick me off of the ground when I literally could not stand. He was there to fight for me when I didn't have the strength to fight for myself.

That is who Ron DeSantis is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: You know, the country's been bombarded with so many negative ads. Isn't it nice occasionally get a break from that?

Governor DeSantis, he has done a good job for the people of Florida. Look at post Hurricane Ian, with now 98 percent of power restored in the state of Florida and it's clear he was right not to shut down the state of Florida during COVID. Remember, the kids in Florida had in-school education in August of 2020.

And by the way, he took a lot of unfair attacks about that, but he showed leadership and by the way, he'll probably be rewarded and get reelected as a result.

His decision to send the illegal immigrant volunteers to Martha's Vineyard, that exposed a lot of left-wing hypocrisy. He and Senator Marco Rubio's re- elections, they are critical in days from today.

Meanwhile, in sharp contrast, Pennsylvanians that trust fund brat in a hoodie that never worked a day in his life, John Fetterman, is not exactly earning anybody's vote. It is now a statistical dead heat in Pennsylvania. In fact, the socialist Senate candidate, he never had a real job until he was nearly 50. And then when he got elected as a part-time position of mayor of a tiny borough of, what, population, 2,100-plus in Braddock, Pennsylvania, he was still living off mommy and daddy his whole pathetic life. And despite this being a part-time job, he skipped out on most of the city council meetings.

And as lieutenant governor, he kept a very light agenda working only about four hours a day without absolutely nothing on his daily schedule for a third of all work days.

And then to make matters worse, Fetterman's massive stroke, well, that he had in May, has now left him seriously disabled. So far, he has been unable to debate. He rarely takes questions from the press, not many that I've seen. He never speaks in public for more than 5-10 minutes. But on the rare occasion that he does leave his home, it's pretty clear that Fetterman is not fit to hold office. You decide.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

KARA SWISHER, INTERVIEWEER: Should Joe Biden run again in 2024?

LT. GOV. JOHN FETTERMAN (D), PENNSYLVANIA: I think that should be a decision made by Joe bin.

We already knew that the going to be a tight race, and we've always been running like this is down five points.

She understands how extreme is it and he wants to lie and make sure people pretends that he doesn't have the exact same views as Doug Mastriano is.

CHRIS HAYES, MSNBC HOST: I just wanted to check in and see how -- how you're feeling and how you're doing?

FETTERMAN: I'm doing fan -- I'm doing fantastic and it's not about kicking balls in the authority or anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Kicking balls in the authority and President Joe bin.

What you saw looks bad but Fetterman's radical views are even worse. When he's not chasing innocent African Americans down the street and holding him hostage with a shotgun, he wants to wreck Pennsylvania's economy and put a moratorium on fracking, wants to empty all of America's prisons. He has never been a pro-convicted murderer candidate in the history of any Senate race that I can think of, free first-degree murders, Fetterman also supports legalization of hard drugs like heroin and fentanyl.

By the way, he wants Pennsylvania taxpayers to pay for safe free shooting zones for heroin addicts. You can't make that up. And as a socialist, Fetterman supports oppressive taxes, extreme government regulation but he doesn't pay his own taxes.

We've invited John Fetterman on this show many times. I've offered him three hours on my radio show, one hour on this TV show, to defend this radical agenda. But given his, well, comprehension problems or whatever, he won't answer our requests. We've sent out the message many times.

So we decided to take things into our own hands and we sent our very own Sara Carter, investigative reporter, to Pennsylvania to give him an engraved invitation. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SARA CARTER, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Fetterman, Ms. Fetterman, Mr. Fetterman, Ms. Fetterman, we'll give you guys a full hour on FOX News. Full hour.

Mr. Fetterman, Mr. Fetterman, Sean Hannity has invited you giving you the full hour on FOX News and he'll give you three hours of his radio show. Sir, one full hour, you'll have it all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: That's four hours of air time, over 700 radio affiliates. This TV network. John, come on on.

Anyway, here with more on the ground in Pennsylvania, investigative reporter, FOX News contributor, Sara Carter, is with us.

Sorry, I had to mention my name so much but he definitely heard you because you were right there. He was looking at you. What were his people saying to you?

CARTER: Yes. Well, well, Sean, I was right in the middle of the lions den, but I delivered the message. Look, if he is running for Senate, he should be able to speak to all parties, those that support him, those that don't support him if his platform is strong.

So I wanted him to know that we were sincere, that we wanted him on the show, that you were going to give him the full hour and that you were going to give him another three hours on your radio show. He looked directly at me, Ms. Gisele Fetterman, looked directly at me and they basically said we're here to talk to friends. That is exactly what she said it.

I continued to go around the crowd. Of course, there were some people saying, oh, why should he go on the show? Others said oh well maybe it would be great if he did go on the show. And I had my own debates with the audience. It was -- they were very friendly, they were very kind, there was nobody throwing out any profanities.

But it's very concerning, Sean. There are so many people here in Pennsylvania that the issues are very serious. The rise in crime, the economy, job loss, these are things that Pennsylvanians and for a matter of fact all Americans care about. And we also had a chance, Sean, to spend some time today in Braddock.

You know, it's 11 -- about 11 miles outside of Pittsburgh, population about 18,000, and it's just depreciated. There are no jobs. People are out on the streets. Crime is through the roof, drug addiction.

So it really is these are very, very serious issues, serious issues for all Americans and certainly for Pennsylvanians and issues that John Fetterman does not want to talk about with anybody other than those that support him and that's mainly the unions.

HANNITY: All right. Sara Carter, great report. Thank you for doing that.

You know what? Maybe I'll have to go to Braddock myself. I'll have to show up there and offer him the camera right in front of him.

All right. Sara Carter, thank you.

We turn tonight now to Arizona where it is a very important -- we have very important elections going on in just 29 days from now. We have Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters is now surging in the polls after last week's beat down and the debate against Schumer wannabe Senator Mark Kelly.

Also in Arizona, gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake -- well, she is now in the lead, pretty healthy lead, and has been very impressive. But her Democratic opponent, Katie Hobbs, is proving to be an awful terrible candidate for many reasons.

The starter, she supports amnesty for illegal immigrants, actually made the comment. It's ridiculous to even be talking about the border. I'm like you live in Arizona. And that should be discussed. It's on top of mind of everybody of in the state of Arizona, in the state of Texas, border states.

On the state level, she voted against tax decreases at least 13 times, but says she's for them. Her position on abortion is even more downright extreme. In fact, Hobbs is fully in favor of late term abortion, including up to the very moment of birth. No restrictions at all whatsoever. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE HOBBS (D), ARIZONA SECRETARY OF STATE: Abortion is a very personal decision that belongs between a woman and her doctor. The government and politicians don't belong in that decision. We need to let doctors perform the care that they are trained and take an oath to perform.

INTERVIEWER: So if an Arizona voter were to conclude from your previous answer that you do not favor any specific week limit on abortion, would they be correct?

HOBBS: I support leaving the decision between a woman and her doctor and leaving politicians entirely out of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Like Fetterman, likes Warnock, like Mandela Barnes, Katie Hobbs is unwilling, unable to defend these radical positions. And as of now, she is outright refusing to dare debate Kari Lake. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

INTERVIEWER: Your opponent said you don't want to debate. I'd like to ask you, are there any conditions under which you would agree to debate Kari Lake so the voters of Arizona could hear from the two of you side by side and in real time?

HOBBS: Look, what I've been focused on is opportunities like this where they can see us back to back and hear directly from us about the issues that are important to Arizonans and how we would govern without a circus like she created during the GOP Republican primary. I have no desire to be a part of the spectacle that she's looking to create.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, the people of Arizona like every state, they deserve better and Hobbs knows that she'll get destroyed in any debate. Just take a look at how she melted down during a very routine town hall. This is pretty embarrassing. Take a look..

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MODERATOR: What have you learned specifically learned from the Latino community?

HOBBS: Oh, that's a great question. I don't necessarily think about it that way in those terms. My sister-in-law, she is a Latino and her family - - I love hanging out with them and practicing my Espanol. Arizona wouldn't be Arizona without what the Latino community brings.

MODERATOR: So there's not one specific lesson you could share with them. All of them (INAUDIBLE). It's one third of the state.

HOBBS: Yeah, yes, absolutely. I mean I think there's -- there's many lessons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Katie, that's called a softball. That should be a layup. That's an easy answer.

Here with reaction, the person Katie Hobbs is too afraid to debate, Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake is with us.

It's ridiculous to focus on the border and I support amnesty and I support tax cuts, but I voted against them 13 times. That woman's not capable of debating you. That's why she's not debating.

KARI LAKE (R), ARIZONA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Oh, she's got such a pass between her voting record where she was against anything that would help us with our border security, where she voted against getting police the training they needed, where she voted against education, about raises for teacher, and she voted for sex education to start in kindergarten. She actually sponsored a bill to start sex ed in kindergarten.

And she's just got a bad -- a bad past and obviously, she can't communicate very well as you saw there with that softball question.

HANNITY: Yeah. Well, all -- she's not going to debate.

She has no restrictions on abortion. She was found libel in a racial discrimination case in terms of employment. Her staff has accused her of being emotionally abusive. She can't explain a simple question like her relationship to the Hispanic community.

My understanding is about a third of the voting population in Arizona are Hispanic Americans. You can't give an answer to that question?

LAKE: Exactly. I mean, not only are the Hispanic community a vital part of our -- of our state. When you think about the American dream, they personify that. You can learn so much from our Hispanic community.

They come here if they're from another -- another country, when they come here, they embrace what it means to, you know, live out the American dream. They work hard and they know that if they work hard and they raise their family right, they can have all of the amazing things that come with the American dream.

And she can't even verbalize anything positive. How sad.

HANNITY: You're doing really well in your race. After the debate last week between Mark Kelly and Blake Masters, it was a three-point race going into that debate. Do you believe that Blake has closed the gap?

LAKE: I think he has. I think when you look at other pollsters -- there's a few that I trust. He's really close, maybe up by one. And I believe, Sean, that we're going to do really well. Our voters are going to turn out election day like they did in the primary.

We won 70 percent of the election day vote and we're going to win big on election day and I think that we're going to bring everybody over. We have a movement here. Since day one when I entered the race, we've had a movement on our hands and I think people are so excited about what's happening here.

HANNITY: It's important. You for governor and Blake Masters for the Senate, that's going to be an important state. We'll be watching closely in 29 days.

Kari Lake, thank you for being with us.

Now to a shocking political development out of the state of New York, Republican candidate for governor, Lee Zeldin, is down to less than two points against Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul in the very liberal state of New York. This could be the biggest political upset this election year in the making. One big reason: violent crime totally out of control all over New York state.

Kathy Hochul doesn't seem to care. She continues with defund, dismantle, no bail laws, and, of course, she wants to have a listening tour about guns instead.

And we have lax prosecution for the state's repeat offenders, in spite of rising crime all over the state. She didn't seem to care when her opponent was viciously attacked on stage by a man with a weapon that could have killed him, and by the way, refused to provide requests at state security.

And then, by the way, on Sunday, two people were shot right outside of Lee Zeldin's Long Island home, and an apparent gang hit, while his twin daughters were home. One of the victims was found under Zeldin's porch, another in the bushes -- his bushes.

Here with more, New York gubernatorial candidate Lee Zeldin.

First, wow, this is two attacks at once. I would think the governor would rightly provide you security. Number two, I'm glad you're okay.

Is there any evidence that all this could be connected to politics or do you believe the now analysis of others that this is likely gang related and not related politically at all to you?

REP. LEE ZELDIN (R-NY): Suffolk County law enforcement has told me that this was not related to me. It wasn't a target of my family or my home. I don't have information to rebut what the Suffolk County law enforcement has told me. So I'm going with what they told me for now.

HANNTITY: How did New York -- how did the crime in New York get so out of control and why does the governor refuse to change course? And do you believe that you can win the state of New York? These polls now really showing this is a real race.

ZELDIN: I'm not in this race to come in second. I'm all in. I'm over 18 months into this race, campaigning all throughout this entire state. One of the reasons why I got into the race was because of these pro-criminal laws that have been getting passed out of Albany from cashless bail to less is more, releasing people early from prison.

The Halt Act, which has resulted our correctional officers and other prison staff being assaulted more since the April 1st implementation. We've seen it with district attorneys like Alvin Bragg refusing to enforce the law.

The defund movement targeting our law enforcement. They're attacking qualified immunity for law enforcement in New York City. They want to do it next, statewide.

I believe that Albany needs to break this one-party rule, have a balance of power, start unapologetically backing our men and women in law enforcement again, giving judges discretion away dangerousness, and by the way utilizing the constitutional authority and I would say constitutional duty of the governor to remove a district attorney who refuses to enforce the law.

And that's what -- that's why I say my first action the first day I'm in office is turning to the Manhattan D.A. Albert Bragg to let him know he's being fired.

HANNITY: This will be the political earthquake this election year if you win that race and you're right in the middle of it. Wow, I can't believe how close it is. I'm glad your family is safe, Congressman. Thank you.

All right. Make sure to tune in "Gutfeld" tonight. Lee Zeldin will be a guest on Greg's show for the entire hour.

First, Biden's weakness on the world stage is once again amplified by Russian aggression. Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North explains and how should he respond to a threat of nuclear weapons. And Sarah Sanders joins us, her first nationally televised interview since her cancer operation and diagnosis, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: And now, Russia continues to unleash their brutal deadly assault all across Ukraine, including in the country's capital of Kyiv, targeting civilians, killing dozens, no regard at all to civilian life and even more missile strikes earlier today in what was an apparent response to a blast that blew up a key bridge in the -- over Crimea over the weekend. And the level of destruction and explosions in Ukraine in recent days is now hitting levels not seen since the beginning of this conflict.

Take a look at your screen. A young girl filming a video in Ukraine as an explosion goes off only feet away from her as this war now continues to become more deadly and continues to raise the risk of a real armed nuclear conflict.

Vladimir Putin has clearly lost his mind, is clearly paranoid, and has no regard for human life and the footage that we're seeing out of Ukraine is beyond terrifying. What's Joe Biden doing? He's casually warning of nuclear Armageddon during a closed door fundraiser with other top Democrats last week. Biden claimed this is the first time we have, quote, faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis.

And then when he was asked about it, he refused to answer any questions as per usual, wandered off on vacation instead of heading right to the Situation Room where he should be, all while, of course, his weakness is emboldening all of our adversaries and causing growing concern among our allies.

And even French President Macron was scolding Joe Biden for his idiotic comments and behavior.

Here with reaction, author of "The Giant Awakes", and that's Retired Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North is with us.

So he warns this is the worst crisis since the Cuban missile crisis, warns of nuclear Armageddon, his words not mine, and his response is to go to the beach and go on vacation and take off instead of headed to the Situation Room. Why do I have a problem with that, Colonel?

LT. COL. OLIVER NORTH USMC (RET), CEO OF FIDELIS PUBLISHING AND FIDELIS MEDIA: Well, we all ought to have a problem with it. I mean, there's no doubt that this president is significantly compromised both mentally and perhaps even ethically, because of what his son may have done or didn't do with the communist Chinese.

And so, physically, mentally and morally, these are very compromised commander-in-chief. Now, here's what's happening behind the scenes. First of all, it's stunning to me that a strategic target like the Kerch Bridge could be so poorly defended or protected by the Russians. Putin's response he called it a bridge attack a terrorism event.

Well, this morning, that 80-plus ballistic missiles aimed at civilian targets all across the country. It was time to catch people going to work in the morning. Notably, Putin was either in or it just come from an emergency meeting with his version of the National Security Council.

Now some in the U.S. and NATO intelligence services felt that Putin might have called his national security advisors in his session to get their concurrence for using the Kerch Bridge attack as a proper vacation for using attack nuke on Kyiv. Now, Biden's response to condemn the Russian attack on Ukrainian civilians in the strongest possible terms. He says he's talked to Zelenskyy and promised and I'm quoting now, we are with you no matter how long it takes and whatever you need.

So here's what Zelenskyy needs and he's not getting from the Americans. They need the ability to knock down Russian rockets and missiles even though the number that's available to Putin right now is considerably reduced because of all that he's been doing against civilians ever since the 24th of February.

People are talking about the U.S. providing anti-missile defenses like the U.S. patriot in a missile defense system or the Israeli Iron Dome defenses. Now, you remember, U.S. deployed patriot batteries with U.S. troops to Saudi Arabia when their cities and refineries were under attack from Iranians supported rebels in Yemen, not likely going to happen here.

Biden is going to stick there's no boots on the ground, no U.S. boots on the ground and training on Patriot is far more complicated than the MANPAD training that has worked so well in the early phases of this war. And the Israeli Iron Dome would be near perfect for protecting against Russian missiles, but the Israelis and the Russians are cooperating with each other to reign in Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps being delivered -- delivered missiles (ph) against Israel through Iraq and Syria.

HANNITY: Okay. So he clearly is not doing as well as he thought he would do. I think he thought that this would be a cakewalk. He's been embarrassed on the world stage. He now is targeting civilians which by the way he's been doing from early on.

Clearly, he's become isolated and paranoid. People around him seem to be disappearing on a daily basis. If he's willing to target civilians the way he is in such a brutal fashion, is it likely to assume that he'd be capable of using a tactical nuclear weapon as he says he might?

NORTH: Sean, I don't believe he can. Okay, first of all --

HANNITY: Why not?

NORTH: -- we know a lot about their nuclear program because in 19 -- well, because in 1991, we had a lot of our scientists helping the U.N. redistribute the weapons and get them out of places like Ukraine.

Second, he's got -- he's got his very serious problem of keeping in his own tent the people whose sons are now fighting this war, and we're drawing down on our own war stocks to meet the needs of what the Ukrainians want. The bottom line of it this, I don't think that Putin can be sure of being able to convince somebody downrange to push the button.

We know that their PAL codes, the permissive action links, are very much like ours because all the spies that they had working in our nuclear program since World War II.

The bottom line of it is I don't think and I think he knows he cannot convince people to push the button turn the key or enter the codes. He knows that, because he's had so many defectors from his own cause. Over a million Russians have fled Russia because of what they're doing in Ukraine. Putin's in trouble. Putin may not survive the experience. Putin makes (INAUDIBLE) his best friends.

HANNITY: I said from the beginning I'm hoping that there's some Russian high-ranking people around him that might know what the right thing to do is going to take care of it for the world. I believe he's capable of it. Let's see. I pray I'm wrong.

Colonel, safe home. Good to see you, my friend. Thank you.

All right. Now turning to our coverage of the very crucial midterm races with Sarah Huckabee Sanders continues to build her momentum ahead of the Arkansas governor's race after undergoing surgery for thyroid cancer. That was last month. Thankfully, the cancer was detected early. She is now cancer free, back out on the campaign trail.

Her first interview since that surgery -- well, you had a few of us nervous. We didn't know about it. How are you feeling? And walk us through the process. What happened?

SARAH SANDERS (R), ARKANSAS GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: You know, I feel great and I'm incredibly blessed to have had this caught early by the grace of God an amazing doctors and nurses who gave me world-class care here in Arkansas. I am now cancer free.

I got diagnosed over Labor Day weekend, and within about 12 days underwent a surgery to remove my thyroid and surrounding lymph nodes and everything went perfectly well and successful and beyond thankful again for the doctors and nurses who provided that great care as well as the thousands of family and friends who prayed for me and sent notes of encouragement over the course of this process.

And you know, I'm grateful to have that behind me, be back out on the campaign trail and had some great moments of perspective of everything that really matters in life and, you know, just incredibly grateful for being on the other side and coming out stronger and tougher and ready for the next 29 days on the campaign as we fight hard to make sure we win the governor's race on November 8th.

You know, I think it was Don Imus had told me, he says you hear the word cancer, and it literally makes your knees buckle because you always, you know, tend to probably go from zero to a thousand and think the worst case scenario. But they've come a long way in treating many of these cancers. Obviously, you're cancer-free.

I'm glad you're better too because I've been telling your father every time he's on the show that you're going to be a much better governor than he was and I think I finally convinced them that I'm right.

SANDERS: You know, I think not only have you convinced him but I think a lot of our Kansans are following in. But the best part of that is there is no person probably more hopeful that that happens than my dad. He is a an incredible source of an encouragement, a great resource throughout this process and certainly, you know, so helpful in everything that I'm doing and I think no one will be happier for me to take the claim of best governor of Arkansas than he will.

HANNITY: You know, I will tell you have a wonderful family. We love your dad. We're glad you're better. Glad you're back out on the campaign trail. I've been a supporter of yours for this race from the very beginning and looking forward to election night when FOX News can project that you are the next governor of the great state of Arkansas.

We're glad you're back on -- back in good health, Sarah, great to be -- great to have you on. Thanks for being with us.

SANDERS: Thank you so much and thank you for all your continued support, Sean.

HANNITY: You bet.

And now, tonight, House Republicans -- they're ramping up their commitments to fully investigate zero experience Hunter Biden and the Biden family syndicate. As Congressman James Comer says, House Republicans will in fact probe Hunter as a, quote, national security threat if the GOP takes back power in November.

And tonight, we are learning even more about Joe and Hunter's interactions, including this voicemail obtained by "The Daily Mail" from October of 2018, where Joe Biden is allegedly begging Hunter to get help for his substance abuse. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

2018 JOE BIDEN AUDIO OF BIDEN'S VOICEMAIL TO SON HUNTER: It's dad. I called to tell you I love you. I love you more than the whole world pal. You got to get some help. I don't know what to do, I know you don't either.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HANNITY: It's actually sad.

How that voicemail reportedly came at the exact same time Hunter lied on a gun application to buy a handgun. That's the same handgun that was later found stashed behind a Delaware grocery store and a dumpster and by the way happened to be near a school that we later learned was stashed by his sister-in-law Hallie. And by the way, it was the same month that Hunter apparently begged her for cash to go to rehab.

In other words, he lied on his gun application about his drug use. And by the way, replaced the name Biden with Trump and imagine how the mob and the media would be covering all of this. Instead, they'd rather you know perpetuate one hoax after another just like they did with the dirty Steele dossier.

Speaking of the dossier, the sub source for Christopher Steele, Igor Danchenko, is going on trial accused of lying to the FBI about his sources for the Clinton bought and paid for opposition research. Now, the FBI knew from him. He debunked it to them in January of 2017, yet they came kept using the dirty dossier knowing none of it was true to acquire multiple FISA warrants to continue illegally spying on Carter Page, and then President Trump and the FBI even started putting him on the payroll, they were paying him money.

Here with reaction, former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, along with FOX News contributor Lara Trump.

Pam, let's start on the legal side with you tonight. The thing I have -- I don't have a problem with him going after the gun application because if the last name was Trump they'd go after Hunter Biden, if it was Hunter Trump. The issue of him not paying the taxes that raises a lot of questions also.

I want to know if national security was compromised because he was taking in all this money without any experience from Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, China, a lot of money and a lot of deals at a time the guy is a drug addict and using a lot of hookers. I'd like to know that aspect and I'd like to know the connection to Joe because Joe denied any knowledge of any of his foreign business dealings when in fact we know and have evidence that he had numerous meetings with many of Hunter's foreign business partners.

PAM BONDI (R), FORMER FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: And that's all been acknowledged now, Sean, and yes, it is a matter of national security. Its' so important, yet they choose not to get a special prosecutor in this case.

And now, this new evidence that we know, very sad, by the way, and to digress for a minute -- parents, you do have a remedy. Relatives, you do have a remedy. As a career prosecutor, you can civilly commit your relative or your child if you know they're doing drugs or alcohol to that extent.

But what we do know now is that Joe Biden knew about the drug use at the time. Hallie, his girlfriend and sister-in-law, knew about the drug use at the time. There's now evidence text messages that his sister Ashley Biden knew.

So, Sean, therefore they have to have a special prosecutor and they're not getting a special prosecutor. Legally, that is an actual conflict because as we know, the U.S. attorney reports to Merrick Garland, Merrick Garland reports to Joe Biden. Joe Biden and his kids are now witnesses in any case against Hunter Biden and it's really unbelievable legally to me that that has not been dealt with and there's not a special prosecutor on this case.

HANNITY: Lara, what's so frustrating, if your husband Eric, if he had done any of the things that Hunter has done that we know that he's done, if he - - if he was taking money from Ukraine and Kazakhstan and a Russian oligarch and the communist Chinese, $1.5 billion deal, no experience in any of these businesses that they're -- that they're doing these deals with, it -- you know, that by now he would be in jail. If it was Don Jr., he'd be in jail. If it was Ivanka Trump, she'd be in jail. That's the double standard.

And by the way, to what extent is Joe Biden compromised because he knew all about these deals and why is the FBI not going after the bigger picture here because that's far more important whether or not he sold out his country then the issue of his gun application that he lied on?

LARA TRUMP, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, that's exactly right, Sean. By the way, if it was my dog Charlie, he'd probably be in jail too if he did and half of the things that we know that Hunter Biden has actually done.

And you know what? It is so sad. To hear that voicemail from Joe Biden, it's tragic. No one ever wants to see a family have to deal with an addict, someone who obviously you know can't take care of himself. And if there's anything we learn from Hunter's laptop. it is that man this guy is in serious need of help.

But that aside, Sean, you also can't take for granted I don't think the timing of all of this, the possible charges against Hunter Biden and the likely outcome of those charges.

Biden's department of justice right now is doing everything possible to restore their reputation with the American people to somehow justify the raid of a former president and possible political opponent's home that was unprecedented, that was unnecessary and so, I imagine that the FBI comms team cooked up this idea, they said, wait a minute, now's the time, we're going to go forward and possibly charge Hunter Biden with something a slap on the wrist.

And look, if anybody did anything wrong, of course, they should be held to account.

But Hunter's reckless personal behavior aside, Sean, you're exactly right. We want to get to the bottom of what happened for -- with 10 percent for the big guy. Hunter Biden, his Uncle Jim, Joe, profiting to the tune of millions of dollars for their family on foreign business deals that utilize Joe Biden's position pretty clearly in all of these deals.

And I think the American people know the only way we are going to get to the bottom of this is to put Republicans back in charge of the House, Republicans back in charge of the Senate. We need some oversight on this. We need to know because it is a national security issue. That is the bigger picture here.

HANNITY: And we know damn well that the communist Chinese and the Russians and every other foreign entity had full knowledge that of Hunter Biden's drug use, using prostitutes and every other awful thing that he was doing in his life. So, clearly, they have compromising materials to quote Adam Schiff's friend from Russia on those things.

Anyway, Lara, thank you. And, Pam, thank you.

Straight ahead, our friend Stephen A. Smith, what does he think of Biden's presidency and we'll talk sports and much more straight ahead. I can't miss interview, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All; right. So last week, I appeared on Stephen A. Smith's brand new podcast. It's called "Know Mercy", for a pretty fascinating discussion of sports and culture and politics. And, in fact, everyone made such a big deal out of the fact that we're friends and it has ruined his career. It's over.

It was one of the top podcast for one week and then I came on and it all went to hell.

Anyway, we continue our discussion tonight with more signs of Joe Biden, his struggles, including the moment where he called out for the deceased congresswoman that he was there to honor. You might remember that.

Anyway, we know he's suffering from a massive cognitive decline. We know, frankly, it's sad to see. He talks about nuclear Armageddon and the worst nuclear crisis since the Cuban missile crisis and then goes home, instead of going to the Situation Room.

Anyway, he's friend, his new podcast is called "Know Mercy". Of course, we know him from ESPN, the one and only Stephen A. Smith, "First Take" himself.

STEPHEN A. SMITH, PODCAST HOST: Well, first of all, stop lying to the American public acting like it was a discussion. It wasn't a discussion. You ran my show. I barely got in a question in four questions in 45 minutes. But I'm happy to be here tonight.

What's going on, man?

HANNITY: What's going on? It's so good to have you back.

You know, I don't -- I can't believe. So the podcast gets released.

SMITH: Yeah.

HANNITY: My phone is blowing up. There's no way this is true. Why do people doubt that we can be friends and have been friends for such a long time?

SMITH: Because people believe that if you disagree, that makes you enemies, that makes you disagreeable --

HANNITY: You're not my enemy, we're friends.

SMITH: Of course, that's my point. But the point is, is that a lot of people don't grasp that concept that you can be friends with somebody you actually disagree with half the time, at the very least.

HANNITY: But you don't disagree with me. I proved on your own show.

SMITH: Yes I do! Stop lying it! Yes, I do. How can I not disagree with you?

HANNITY: I gave you a litmus test and you passed it. You're a conservative.

SMITH: Well, first of all, here's the deal. I am conservative fiscally, I will not apologize for that to anybody. I'm a proud capitalist and I can't stand high taxes.

HANNITY: Good for you. I am, too.

SMITH: And I'm a hawk about national security as well.

But I don't find everything that liberals do to be wrong. I'm a centrist at heart. I don't have a problem with some of the things that they --

HANNITY: All right. Quick question --

SMITH: -- want and some of the things that they do. You have a problem with everything, including the times they're awake (ph).

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: Not everything. Do you see Joe -- do you see Joe Biden as a president with serious cognitive decline?

SMITH: I don't like what I see at times, Sean, but I'm not a doctor. I'm not going to go that far and be disrespectful to the president of the United States.

HANNITY: OK, let me ask you --

SMITH: But I respect the fact that people see things and they wish that he was -- he seemed a bit more stable at times and not as forgetful as he has been sometimes. I'll admit that much.

HANNITY: If he thinks -- if he thinks Putin is capable of nuclear Armageddon and he thinks it's the worst nuclear crisis since the Cuban missile crisis, do you think the guy maybe should go to the Situation Room instead of on the beach in Delaware?

SMITH: Well, maybe so. But I can think of lots of things that presidents have done over the years, who happened to be Republican, by the way, where they -- it might have been, the optics might not have looked so good. So, what? At the end of the day, we get the judge the job that he's doing, the administration that he's working with and what they are executing.

What is that about? It could the Inflation Reduction Act. It could be the bipartisan infrastructure bill. It could be the fact that he's got -- he doesn't have a nationalistic point of view when it comes to the war between Russia and Ukraine, that he's galvanized the international community to some degree.

Now, I'm -- again, I'm not the aficionado that some people are. But I was listening to a guy, a great radio host, by the way, I've been listening to him for the past 15 years. His name is Sean Hannity.

And you know what he said one time on his radio show? A matter of fact, several times. He said, the prism of history will tell us. Don't get caught up on stuff in the moment. Let's look at stuff through the prism of history.

HANNITY: I hate it when you use my words against me. That's not fair.

SMITH: That's what you said. OK, that's what you said.

HANNITY: Let me move to your world, your area of expertise.

SMITH: Sure, thank you.

HANNITY: Now, everybody feigns outrage when there's a fight in basketball, or fight in baseball, the bench is, you know, empty and there's a brawl. I was a hockey player. Every sport we played growing up at some point during the day, we'd all fight. And then we pick up our gloves and we, you know, start playing again or start playing basketball, whatever it was.

And so, you have Draymond Green --

SMITH: Draymond, yes.

HANNITY: -- and Jordan Poole. They have this will conflict.

So what? Why does everybody feigns like this so outraged over little conflict between two players? It's bound to happen. It's a contact sport. Get over it.

SMITH: Well, first of all, in that particular situation, it wasn't a little contact. He practically knocked him out. The guy was really, really hurt when Draymond Green caught him with that blow, and that was excessive in the sport of basketball. In that world, you have to take that and put it in its proper context.

If this were hockey on the ice, not so much. If this was a brawl at a baseball field, not so much. Unfortunately, when it comes to sports like basketball, that kind of behavior is not called for.

To Draymond Green's credit, who I know very, very well, he's a good man. He's a good brother. He made a mistake, he openly acknowledged that he made that mistake, and that he had issues going on in this life of the court and was in a bad emotional spot. That's why you did something like that, which he has never done in his career.

But in the end --

HANNITY: All right.

SMITH: -- because of the world that we're living in, and the culture revolving around the NBA, that's not going to be something that's tolerated. But the Golden State Warriors are a first class organization. They handled their own.

HANNITY: I say give him another.

SMITH: Oh, he's getting another chance. He's just got a few days off -- he just got a few days off. He'll be back.

HANNITY: All right. I want to remind people, "First Take" ESPN, "Know Mercy", where you get the podcast? On the App Store --

SMITH: Everywhere you get a podcast, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I'm proud of you. You actually did --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HANNITY: All right. Unfortunately, that is all the time we have left this evening. As always, thank you for being with us. Thank you for being with us. Thank you for making the show possible. We hope you will set your DVR so you never, ever, ever miss an episode of HANNITY.

And don't forget, for news anytime all the time, 24/7/365, foxnews.com, hannity.com.

And in the meantime, let not your hearts be troubled, Laura Ingraham and "THE INGRAHAM ANGLE" standing by.

And I know something that's going to happen to you that you don't know and you're going to have to stay tuned and wait for it.

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