February 12, 2025
QUESTION: Welcome to hour two of Hannity. This is a Fox News alert. Two major developments from the White House tonight. First, we are awaiting President Trump's meeting with newly freed hostage Marc Fogel. He was released from a Russian prison only hours ago. Plus, according to the United States Envoy for Hostages Adam Boehler, another American hostage will be released tomorrow.
Anyway, joining us now with more details, on the phone we have Secretary of State Marco Rubio along with the U.S. Special Envoy for Hostages nominee Adam Boehler is with us. First, Mr. Secretary, Secretary Rubio, let me say to you and to President Trump and to Steve Witkoff and to Adam and everybody involved, it brings a lot of joy to me and to most Americans to know that America - an American has been released. We look forward to tomorrow's news as well.
What can you tell us about what happened?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, first let me just tell you we have a great team here. Adam and his team do a great job with this, and Steve Witkoff is phenomenal. But none of this is possible without President Trump. This is the tenth American that's come home after being detained somewhere overseas in just three weeks in the White House. It's an extraordinary achievement.
And look, this is what happens when you have a strong president, and that's what we're seeing. And look, anytime an American comes home we should be excited about it. We have - this is a case that languished under the Biden administration. They really didn't give it priority. I met with the family. I believe the mother got to meet President Trump at that now infamous rally in Butler, right - the same day the President was almost killed. And so tonight is really a happy occasion. It should be for all Americans, but certainly for Mr. Fogel and his family.
QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, you said ten American hostages released. I was only aware of seven, including tonight. Tomorrow would be eight, and the six Venezuelan hostages and the one tonight. What are the other three?
MR BOEHLER: We've got a couple we can introduce. We have somebody, Anastasia, that was actually brought over from Belarus to the border of Lithuania, where the ambassador - part of Marco Rubio's team took her in and then flew her to the United States, and she is in Texas right now. And so that's another example. We don't always get to advertise every one of them, but Sean, the team is doing great.
QUESTION: Yeah. What can you tell us about this? Maybe I'll go back to Secretary Rubio and then we'll get your take, Adam.
MR BOEHLER: Yeah.
QUESTION: Vladimir Putin - two things have developed that I know you're active and involved to the hilt on both of them. President Zelenskyy saying he's open to a deal. Now, Vladimir Putin got nothing in return - is my understanding - for the release of this hostage. Steve Witkoff goes, apparently met for three and a half hours with Vladimir Putin, and brings home this hostage, and - which I think is spectacular. But I think it's very symbolic in the sense that -and Vladimir Putin had made very positive public comments about Donald Trump and the adult being back in the White House basically. What can we glean from this and read into this? Is this hopefully the end of war in Europe?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, look, I wouldn't - one has nothing to do with the other directly per se, but it will in time because of the following reason: We have a strong president. And I think people forget how important that is. At the end of the day, we are dealing all over the world with strong leaders. We may not like them or what they do, but these are strong leaders that respect strength. And that's what we have with Donald Trump in the White House.
QUESTION: Yeah.
SECRETARY RUBIO: And he also made this a campaign priority. So I think you're beginning to see the fruits of what happened when we're led by a strong president who does what he says he's going to do and doesn't just give it lip service. And I think that the reason why this might be linked to some of the other things over time is because of that strength. When you have a president that's strong like Donald Trump, you're going to have a chance to achieve things, whether it's in Ukraine and ending that war, whether it's some of the conflicts that we're now seeing in the Middle East or anywhere in the world, because they know he's not playing around. I mean, he says he's going to do it and then he does it. This is not some president that wastes a lot of time talking about things that he's never going to do or doesn't mean to do. If he says he's going to do something, he'll do it, and these leaders know it. And so hopefully that'll bear fruit in a bunch of places beyond just what we're seeing tonight.
QUESTION: And Mr. Secretary, let me ask you - and I know you were in the meeting with King Abdullah today from Jordan, and he seemed supportive at least on some level of the President's plan for Gaza, which his to clean up the rubble, clean out the mess, and begin a process of rebuilding Gaza and also demilitarizing the area of militants. And he also gave a deadline of Saturday at noon for Hamas to release all the hostages or all hell will break loose. What's your take —
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah.
QUESTION: What was your take on the meeting?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, it was always a good meeting. Jordan is a great ally of the United States and the king has been a longtime ally of the United States. We work very closely on a lot of things. But here's the bottom line: If people don't like the Trump plan for Gaza, right now it's the only plan. And so I think it's now incumbent upon the Arab countries - our allies; we work very closely with them - if they think they've got a better plan, we need to hear it. And so hopefully that will be the product of that.
And as far as the ceasefire is concerned, look, Hamas is breaking the deal. The President is tired of the drip, drip, drip of he wants people out. You saw the condition of the hostages that were released just a week ago, and they were on the verge of death. I mean, they looked terrible. They were really clearly in bad shape. And the President just got fed up with it. If these guys don't go through with their deal on Saturday, then I think we're back to where we were a few months ago where Hamas is going to be eliminated and the Israelis are going to go in and take care of that problem. Let's hope it doesn't get to that point, but he's serious about it. I mean, he's tired of waiting for one people, two people, three people at a time. It's time for all of them to come home.
QUESTION: And we can't ignore the fact that the President, as his first foreign visitor, was Prime Minister Netanyahu, nor can we ignore the fact that weapons that were denied Israel - powerful bombs that - or the equivalent of those bunker busters - he released to Israel, which should be an indication that if that deadline is missed on Saturday that I would not only think that Hamas should be nervous, but I would think that the Iranians also should be concerned. Am I wrong?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, I think anybody who is an enemy of the United States or anyone who seeks harm to the United States should be very concerned, because Donald Trump - President Trump has a history of acting on what he says. Just ask the Iranians and Soleimani. There's multiple incidents that - and things that would have never happened, okay? What happened in Afghanistan would have never happened under Donald Trump. October 7th would have never happened if Donald Trump was president. The war in Ukraine would have never happened. But we had a weakness in the White House, and that led to these sorts of things happening. They're not going to happen now.
QUESTION: Adam, let's talk about - I know that there has been an announcement that another hostage besides Marc Fogel will be released tomorrow. We don't have any details. Is there any light you can shed on that?
MR BOEHLER: I would say it's another in a stream of hostages. It'll be unilateral as well. And I can't release until the person is released, obviously. It could endanger a hostage release, and that I can't do. But I can say that we expect another one tomorrow and hopefully a lot more through that because the President made it a priority to get all Americans home.
QUESTION: Adam, how many hostages, American hostages, are there worldwide that maybe most Americans don't know about?
MR BOEHLER: This all - there's definitional questions on this, Sean, but let me try to answer it the best I can, which is when you look at hostages and people that are being withheld that shouldn't be withheld, you're talking about a hundred plus. I will tell you right now there are 6,000 Americans in foreign jails. That doesn't mean everybody is innocent by the way, but right now there are 6,000 Americans in foreign jails.
QUESTION: Yeah. Secretary Rubio, since Donald Trump has been elected - and it's hard to imagine - he's only begun his fourth week in now his second term here, and he's working at the speed of light. And I'm sure you're burning the midnight oil every night as well. And as we look at all these different hotspots around the world, I don't - I think I'm more optimistic than I've been in a long time. And we saw, for example, Colombia and Canada and Mexico - I know you were actively involved and you went to Panama. The issue of the Panama Canal and a violation of that treaty was in the forefront, but my sources are telling me that a deal is within reach that will be very favorable to America. Any insight you can give us into that negotiation?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, I mean, the Panamanians have a process there. They are a country of laws. They have to work through their system to get a good result. But at the end of the day, I think we left there with a very firm understanding that the status quo in the Panama Canal was not acceptable. As the President said, we gave the canal over to Panama, not to China. And I think we'll see - have already seen concrete steps. They're the first country in the Western Hemisphere to pull out of the Belt and Road Initiative. I think there are other things forthcoming as well.
And look, it's a serious issue. I mean, if that canal were to be blocked in a time of conflict by the Chinese, we - or anybody for that matter - we would have a lot of trouble getting naval assets over into the Pacific or back home to the U.S. for refueling or what have you, for re-stockpiling. So it's an important - there's a reason why they built it, and it's important to national security.
So I feel optimistic about that. It'll take a few more weeks to work through some of the details. But again, I work for a president - President Donald Trump - who comes at things with a position of strength. And people know it's not just tough talk. I mean, he now has a history of acting on what he says he's going to do. And he's always going to be on the American side of every issue. I can't say that enough.
We had a foreign policy for a long time - and I want to say even under multiple administrations of both parties - where oftentimes it felt like we were arguing on behalf of what was good for the world. And we're not for things that are bad for the world, but we're the Government of the United States. We have to be first and foremost for what's good for the United States and for our people, and that's been completely lost in foreign policy. Now it's back, and I think you're seeing the - and there's more and more to come.
QUESTION: Would I - would it be fair to characterize your feeling after being in Panama that you have a high degree of confidence that a deal will be reached that will be favorable?
SECRETARY RUBIO: Yeah, we're going to have a good outcome with the Panamanians. Look, they're good friends. I mean, the president of Panama is very pro-American. And they've got to work through their own internal processes. They have laws about how they can do certain things, and they have to do it the right way, and we want them to do it the right way.
But ultimately, we want to get an outcome that's good for them, by the way. It's not good for them to have the canal with the kind of influence that another country has over it. So I think we're going to get a very good outcome there, and we already have seen some things happen and more are going to be happening. And we've just got to let that work its way through a little bit, and - but we're going to get there.
QUESTION: Adam, I'll give you the last question here. You're the special envoy for hostages. And as we've been saying all night, we're moments away from Marc Fogel being released and showing up at the White House. We know he landed in Washington, D.C. He might even be at the White House at this moment. As soon as that - as soon as we get some video of that, we'll bring it to you. That's him getting off the plane back on American soil that we're showing our audience right now.
But I want to go back. I think every American, when they hear about American hostages it makes their blood boil, and Americans want our hostages fought for. And they want these - they want our hostages brought home. And are there areas of the world that you fear - that you feel that you - you have a high degree of confidence that we will be able to negotiate the return of Americans that have been held for any length of time?
MR BOEHLER: I want to say something just because we just went out there, and I witnessed a Secretary of State, a National Security Advisor, the President's best friend, stand in the cold, in the snow, waiting for Marc Fogel. I was there with them. And what that represents is Americans - this is why the President was elected by Americans. There's none of this high-horse things. We wait for Americans. Our job is on behalf of Americans, and I thought it was awesome to see, and I think the pictures will bear it out. He's with us in a convoy right now. I'm in the car with the Secretary, and we're taking him to the President, who told us, by the way, "I don't care what time he comes in, I never go to sleep."
So that's the man that we're following. So I just want everybody to know that because —
QUESTION: By the way, I think - I think Secretary Rubio and I personally can vouch for that. He does not sleep.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Well, if he does, I don't know what time it's at. (Laughter.)
QUESTION: I think I've talked to him over the years all hours of the 24-hour day. There's no doubt about it. But it's certainly better than a president that went to bed at 6 o'clock every night and maybe worked two or three hours a day. It's been a refreshing change.
Listen, Secretary Rubio —
MR BOEHLER: So Sean, just to answer your question -
QUESTION: What's that?
MR BOEHLER: You asked a question, which is any specific regions. All of them. We want them all home.
QUESTION: I want - we want them all home. Very well said, Adam.
Listen, on behalf of, I'm sure, the family but more importantly on behalf of the American people, a debt of gratitude to the President; to you, Secretary Rubio; to you, Adam; to Steve Witkoff, who actually went to Russia to pick him up and bring him home; just a debt of gratitude to all of you. An American is coming home safe. We expect another one tomorrow. That's more phenomenal news, and we appreciate all your time and all your hard work. Thank you both.
SECRETARY RUBIO: Thank you.
MR BOEHLER: Thanks, Sean.
