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Don Lemon Tonight

CNN Obtains First Photo Of Brussels Terror Suspect; Suicide Bomber Brothers On U.S. Watchlist; Anti-Terror Raids In Europe; Germany Arrests Alleged Terror Suspects; Pentagon: Top ISIS Leader Killed; Identity Of Third Suspect In Brussels Airport Attack?; Cruz: Trump Intimidated By Strong Women; Trump Retweets Unflattering Photo Of Cruz's Wife; CNN/ORC Poll Of Women: Clinton 60%, Trump 33%; Trump Leading In GOP Delegate Count; Will Republicans Come Out To Vote?; CNN Heroes. Aired 9-10p ET

Aired March 25, 2016 - 21:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[21:00:02] JAMES WATERS, NYPD BUREAU CHIEF: -- receives capability to deploy these vapor weight dogs is more important than ever before.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These pups are always working, zigzagging through the crowds, sniffing everyone and everything they come into contact with, including our camera. If one of these dogs does pick up the scent of a bomb, he can follow the plume or bomb vapor up to the length of several football fields. If the vapor leads him to a suspect, he will stop when the suspect stops and sit down to alert his handler.

Why are these dogs so good at their jobs? Because their nose has 220 million cells to pick up a cent compared to 5 million in the human nose. In the world of counterterrorism, they are truly man's best friend.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN LEMON, AC360 RELIEF PRESENTER: That does it for us. "CNN Tonight" with Don Lemon, starts right now.

DON LEMON, "CNN TONIGHT" HOST: And we do begin this broadcast with breaking news. CNN now has the first photo and the name of one of the possible Brussels terror attack suspect still on the run.

He's identified as Naim al-Hamed. It's unknown if he was possibly involved in the attacks at the airport at the subway station -- or the subway station.

This is "CNN Tonight," I'm Don Lemon.

Also breaking news tonight, the two brothers who detonated explosives, one at the airport, the other in the subway, were on the U.S. counterterrorism watch list. Those development says police across Europe cracking down on alleged terrorists.

In Brussels, staging anti-terror assaults and arresting at least nine people. Near Paris, a police raid a disrupting -- an alleged terror plot that officials say was in an advanced stage of planning. Arresting a suspect that they say is linked to the deadly Paris attacks last fall.

And in Germany, what could be a stroke of luck for officials during a routine security check at a train station, a source says, police came across a Moroccan man whose cellphone contains text messages that may link him to the Brussels attacks.

But I want to begin now with this breaking news and CNN's terrorism analyst, Paul Cruickshank.

So, Paul, let's start with the breaking news. Naim al-Hamed. Tell us what you can about him? What do you know?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Don, this urgent bulletin was obtained by CNN's Tim Lister and myself. It was distributed on the day of the Brussels attacks. And it features an individual by the name of Naim al-Hamed. Not clear whether that's his real name or whether that's a fake identity he was using. But according to a French security source briefed on the investigation, he is believed to have played a operational role in the Brussels attacks.

Now what is not clear at this hour is whether he might have been one of the three suicide bombers, candidate suicide bombers at the airport or whether he may have been that man seen on CCTV footage at the metro station with the suicide bomber there. He might have been at neither location but they believe he was operationally involved in these attacks.

Now, "Le Monde," the French newspaper reporting that his DNA was recovered from the bomb factory used by these plotters that attacked Brussels on Tuesday. That bomb factory being in the Schaerbeek District where they found those 15 kilograms of TATP.

LEMON: But his exact connection not determined at this point. They have some -- they think they have some reason, but they're not sure.

CRUICKSHANK: They have reason to believe he played an operational role ...

LEMON: Operational role.

CRUICKSHANK: ... in this attack. And by operational role that means he dynamically played a role in the operation in this conspiracy. He is considered armed and dangerous, very armed and dangerous according to the wording in this urgent bulletin.

LEMON: How did he get into Europe? Do we know?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, it appears that he came through from Syria into southern Europe. "Le Monde" are reporting today, tonight that he came through the Greek island of Leros in September. It's possible he came through Leros with one of Salah Abdeslam's accomplices who was arrested the same time at Salah Abdeslam in Brussels. We're also told by a German source briefed by German investigators that they believe that he was picked up from a refugee center in very early October from the German town of Olm by Salah Abdeslam and driven to Brussels.

When they circulated this picture to some of the refugees, they remembered seeing him there and they've told investigators in Germany that he and another refugee were missing, unaccounted for. And so, they put all these pieces together, they able to do it very, very quickly after the attacks and they circulated this on Tuesday. And now we have obtained this urgent bulletin.

[21:05:09] LEMON: OK, I want you to standby, Paul. I want to bring in Pamela Brown now, our justice correspondent.

Pamela, if you can add to this, you had breaking news about el- Bakraoui, the brothers tonight. What do you know?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, we knew one of the brothers was on the U.S. watch list because he had an Interpol red notice that was Khalid el-Bakraoui but now we've learn, Don, that Ibrahim, his brother, was also on that watch list. In fact, Ibrahim was put on the watch list even before the Paris attacks.

We know that he was deported from Turkey last summer and we don't know if that was why he was put on the U.S. counter terrorism watch list but that's the only terrorism time we know about because Turkey thought that he was trying to cross the border into Syria to be a foreign fighter. So they deported him and then, of course, Khalid, his brother, had ties to the Paris attacks that allegedly. He provided shelter for some of the attackers in the Paris attacks. So both brothers were on the U.S. counter terrorism watch list.

The question remains, Don, how much the Belgians knew about him because we've heard from the Belgian prosecutor very early on that they only knew about their ties to violent crime. So still some unanswered questions about that.

LEMON: Pam, what about the latest on these raids and arrests that have taken place over the past 24 hours? What's been discovered?

BROWN: A lot has been going on. There been several raids over the last 24 hours. At least three people are in custody for possible ties to the Brussels network. They were arrested in Brussels and then in Germany, a 28-year-old Moroccan man was taken into custody through a stroke of luck.

He was stopped during a routine check at a train station. And it was discovered that he was barred from being in the Schengen zone and then further investigation revealed he had these two ominous text messages on his cell phone. One with the name of one of the suicide bombers in the Brussels attack, and then another text just a few minutes before the attack saying "end" in French, Don

LEMON: So Pamela, you know, CNN obtained an exclusive (inaudible) hideout walk us through a (inaudible). BROWN: Yeah this was a hideout in a basement. It was a small room, cluttered with clothing, tarps, electronic equipment's. This is exclusive video we're showing here and it was a recorded, the day after Abdeslam was captured in Molenbeek the neighborhood where he group up and (inaudible) and there's pizza (inaudible) small bags of other half eaten food delivery containers.

We know that Abdeslam, of course, was on the run after the Paris attacks. So this is where he was hiding out. The rooms you see contain no furniture other than a fold-up chair, some shelves and the storage bin. And then in the hallway pretty disturbing there's blood on the floor, Don, and elsewhere in the apartment you can see shattered glass. Of course, all of this a reminder of the violent end to Abdeslam's time as a fugitive.

LEMON: Pamela Brown, thank you very much. And now I want to bring in now Bob Baer, CNN intelligence and security analyst who's a former CIA operative also Juliette Kayyem a national security analyst. Her new book is called "Security Mom", an unclassified guide to protecting our homeland and your home." and Paul Cruickshank is back with us as well.

Bob, first to you -- Bob first and then Juliette. I want to get your reaction to this new information that Paul brought us about this picture of this new suspect.

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I mean the whole connection with Syria is becoming more and more clear and in the fact that these people are hiding among refugees is politically significant for Europe because there's a huge argument of how many are going to be let in and the Germans, going to let in a million, have let in a million.

And, you know, there is going to be this big turn against Arabs in Europe, which is, I think, is going to make things worse. And frankly, you know, the Moroccans getting involved with the Islamic state -- I served in Morocco is just bizarre. I mean it was fairly a political people. They work hard to radicalize and now these communities in Europe, Moroccan, Algerian descent, Tunisian descent. It's really bad news for Europe.

There's millions of these people and they're going to fall under suspicion and it's going to affect European politics ...

LEMON: Yeah.

BAER: ... and especially the refugee side of it.

LEMON: I want to get to Juliette. You know, Juliette, what's your reaction?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well I think it would be it would be helpful to explain these lists that we're now all starting to hear about. The tides list has over a million names on it globally. Think of this terror watch list and sort of as concentric circles that, you know, essentially get to the bull's-eye, which is the killers, the authorized list that the U.S. would utilize to determine whether they would essentially go in with the drone and kill someone.

In between is the no-fly list and so there's all these different list, so the fact they were on the tides list while significant doesn't really tell you much because there are lots of names on it of people who may have been in an apartment with a terrorist that we were watching, been in school with them but have done nothing more.

[21:10:05] And that seems -- that, to me, based on my experience, explains why they may have been on the tides list but that -- there was no focus on them because they hadn't done anything that would get them into one of these smaller circles of identification and surveillance or whatever else.

LEMON: Bob, back to you. I want to get your reactions to this new video that Pamela Brown told us about and one of the suspect's apartments? Bob?

BAER: Yes. Well I mean it's, you know, its the fact that they had a safe house in downtown Brussels in the middle class neighborhood and were able to hole up there for months at a time, tells me that they are operationally capable of striking in these cities. I mean, you know, maintaining a safe house takes good trade craft, discipline, staying off the phone.

And you are seeing more and more of these people coming off the front in the Middle East. And using a discipline to launch these attacks and the rest of it, which is frightening for me as a former operative, because they are using the same trade craft, the CIA does, as professionals do.

LEMON: Yeah. Paul, what are we learning about the raids that have been happening in the past 24 hours, especially that the man arrested in Paris?

CRUICKSHANK: Well that was a key arrest in Paris, and they recovered two kilograms of TATP and kalashnikov in a residence in the Argenteuil neighborhood of Paris. The Interior Minister of Paris, of France, saying they foiled an imminent plot, an imminent attack against France. And our understanding is that what we saw play out in France then led to these raids in Brussels today. There was one suspect who was shot in the leg in the Schaerbeek neighborhood in Brussels.

Lots of other raids going on as well, and the individual here was arrested in France last name Kriket was a known associate of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the plot ringleader of the Paris attacks.

So, all this starting to connect together. This cell at the very least wanted to launch attacks, more attacks in France and Belgium. There's obviously this German angle as well. No evidence yet, though, that Germany was targeted specifically by this cell.

LEMON: All right, stay with me, everyone. When we come back, next the Pentagon says it has a killed a top leader of ISIS. Its financial administer a man many consider to be the second-in-command who was he and how significant is his removal in the battle with ISIS.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:16:57] LEMON: Breaking news. CNN now has the first photo and the name possible Brussels terror attack suspects still on the run. His identify as Naim Al-Hamed. It's unknown if he was possibly involved in the attack at the airport or one at the subway station.

Back with me now, Bob Baer, Juliette Kayyem and Paul Cruickshank. Paul, you know, we know there was an urgent sent out on this man. And you have the timing of that urgent?

CRUICKSHANK: Yeah. We understand it was 7:15 p.m. Central European time. So about 10 or 11 hours after the attacks which were in the morning rush hour period at the airport, at the metro station. This man considered armed and dangerous. Still on the run. One of the most wanted men in Europe if not the most wanted man in Europe right now.

And if you look at some of our viewers may be able to see if they have a big television screen, on this bulletin, it lists him as being born in Hama in Syria.

LEMON: Right.

CRUICKSHANK: And whether that's actually true or not, we don't know. But a lot of the -- or some of the Paris attackers used fake Syrian passports or documentation to gain access to Europe, posing as refugees. It may well be that he was a European posing as a Syrian, like some of the attackers are suspected of doing.

But according to "Le Monde" just reporting coming up from "Le Monde", his DNA was found in the bomb factory for the Brussels attack.

LEMON: I want to ask Bob Baer about this. Bob, the Pentagon announced today that the ISIS Finance Minister his name is Haji Imam was killed in Syria. How significant is that?

BAER: Not much. Don, you know, they are the face of the Islamic state like al-Baghdadi. The people that really, we want to get are the military commanders. Most of them are former officers with Saddam, secret service members and the rest of it. And they are the ones that led the attack on Mosul in Ramadi and so forth.

And they are the captains of this movement. And they are the most dangerous. And not until we actually take Raqqa will we get to the heart of this. But those, yeah, I mean it's important. It makes us feel good and we are destroying this movement piece by piece. And this is part of it. But by no means have we gotten to the core of it.

LEMON: Juliette, he wasn't taken alive. Does that matter, how much does that matter?

KAYYEM: I don't think it matters. I agree with Bob in this regard. I think where it does matter however is there's the man who is now dead. And then there's the myth. And part of the challenge or the struggle to fight against ISIS is this sense that ISIS is invincible. That they are everywhere, that nothing stops them. And so the more that the West can show that people are killed that ISIS is losing, the more impact it will have on this mythology which is relevant for one purpose. It's recruitment.

[21:20:00] When an organization looks like it's succeeding, people want to be part of the organization. When it looks like its failing and its leaders are being kills, recruitment then becomes harder for them. We saw this with al-Qaeda as well.

So -- so while the operations of various attacks or what's going on Iraq may not be impacted, I think the symbolism is actually -- will have an actual operational impact in the fight against ISIS.

LEMON: Go ahead, Paul.

CRUICKSHANK: He is one of the top three figures. One of the most high valued targets they had in the whole of ISIS. And I think the fact they've managed to get intelligence on his location in real time is very, very significant indeed. Certainly puts the other top leaders of ISIS on notice. Your days may be numbered. It's an end to this sense of impunity they perhaps had in Syria and Iraq.

And I think, certainly, if they can get this guy, they may have an opportunity in the next weeks, months, years, we don't know. But they may have an opportunity to get Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The other guy they really want to get is Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, a Syrian, a key deputy of Baghdadi who is believed to be supervising the carnage we're seeing playing out in Europe and Brussels and Paris, believed to be that the supervising the external operations division of ISIS which is ratcheting up this international terror.

LEMON: I want to ask you about the man in the black hat and the white jacket that we saw in that airport picture, right? Is -- sources are -- U.S. sources are saying that they know who he is, who this third man is? What are your sources telling you?

CRUICKSHANK: Yes, well good, U.S. sources saying that. And it would appear that the Belgians and European security agencies have shared some information with the Americans. We do not know at this point whether that individual seen on the right in the light jacket pushing that trolley who was then seen on CCTV running away from the airport, he survived the attack. We don't know whether that is the same one individual as Naim al-Hamed who we've just been showing on the screen, the urgent bulletin going out for him 11 hours after the attack. We don't know whether Naim al-Hamed was the man seen with the metro bomber on CCTV footage at Maalbeek station.

So, we're trying to put all those pieces together. Authorities are being very careful with what they release to the general public. There's some information that they obviously want to keep, and, you know, to help them try and roll up this cell.

LEMON: All right. Thank you very much Paul, thank you Bob and Juliette. I appreciate that.

Up next, some politics here on CNN. Does Donald Trump have an issue with women? Do women have a problem with him?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:26:41] LEMON: Oh, boy, here we go. Ted Cruz accuses Donald Trump of being intimidated by strong women. But Trump says he'll be the best President for American women.

Joining me now is Omarosa Manigault, the Former Contestant on "The Apprentice" and Former Consultant for Vice President, Al Gore. And Republican Strategist, Kellyanne Conway, President of "Keep the Promise one Pack", the Super PAC supporting Ted Cruz.

Hello to both of you.

KELLYANNE CONWAY, TED CRUZ SUPPORTER: Hi Don.

LEMON: Omarosa, you first.

OMAROSA MANIGAULT, FORMER CONTESTANT "THE APPRENTICE": Hi Don.

LEMON: This Twitter war between Donald Trump and this week was over -- it's over the top really. What's your opinion of the re-tweet of the Heidi Cruz and Melania Trump pictures?

MANIGAULT: Well, I don't think we should start there. We should start with the fact that Super PAC that supports who start to attack ...

LEMON: No, no, no, no, no, I wanted to know what your opinion is. I'm not going to let you do that. I'm not going to let you do that. Omarosa stop.

MANIGAULT: I'm going to answer that ...

LEMON: Stop Omarosa, Omarosa stop. Omarosa. OK. Let's stop. Everybody, cut the mic. Everybody, we're not doing that.

I want everyone on this panel to answer the question directly. Then I will let you ...

MANIGAULT: You can ask questions but you can't answer them Don.

LEMON: OK.

MANIGAULT: You can ask them, but I have to answer them.

LEMON: OK. We'll be right back. We'll be right back.

CONWAY: I will.

LEMON: We'll be right back, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:31:44] LEMON: And we're back. And I'm back now with Omarosa Manigault and Kellyanne Conway. And so here we go. My question was, what did you think, what was your opinion of those photographs that were re-tweeted by Donald Trump?

MANIGAULT: I have to tell you that my opinion of them means they are insignificant in the context of the terrorist attacks that are going on in Brussels. But we should be talking about a substantial policy issues that are affecting American people, including Homeland Security, including making sure our borders are tough and safe. So talking about a re-tweet in the context of a terror attacks is petty.

LEMON: But, you know, what Omarosa if we wouldn't be talking about it had the candidate not put it out there. If the candidate wanted to talk about, you know, what happened in Brussels, the attacks that have been happening all over Europe, he would have tweeted something about the attacks in Europe and in Brussel.

MANIGAULT: He talked about those things. But they weren't pick up.

LEMON: But instead his written yes, they were. We've seen him on a number of different networks. But when the attack, let me just say this.

When the attacks happened he was on every network talking about it. We discussed how he said he would bring waterboarding back. That he said torture, you wouldd get more information out of it. That has been discussed ad nauseam. And, so you can't say we should be talking about other things ...

MANIGAULT: You should.

LEMON: ... when the candidate that you support is the one who re- tweeted that awful picture.

MANIGAULT: Listen, if he won't defend his wife, he has a right to defend his wife. How do we know he would -- he has to defend his wife just as strongly as he will defend this nation. There's no way you can say it's acceptable, Don, for him to allow ...

LEMON: But as a woman do you think he should be able to defend his wife by attacking an unflattering photograph of some public to another candidate side.

MANIGAULT: He was defending his wife. And, I don't think he should apologize for defending his wife in anyway.

LEMON: Go ahead, Kelly.

CONWAY: Sure. Well, Don that's right. If you want to defend your wife, and let's be very clear. It not a pro-Cruz Super PAC or the Cruz go team that put that put that picture out there. It was an anti-Trump PAC. It's a huge different.

Number two and most importantly if you defend your wife, why do you have to attack someone else's wife? I mean that's really the core question here. And, Omarosa, I hope you he takes your advice and goes back to discussing the issues at hand.

National Security and terrorism are a top issue now to Republican women. He's done a great job over the last year getting his negatives into positive territory and the last three weeks, they've gone back negative. He's really suffering now among Republican married woman, of Republican suburban women. 39 percent of Republican women say they don't want him to win. 70 percent of all women say they have an unfavorable opinion of him.

And, look, there are those who say if you attack someone else's wife, it is petty, it is rude. It's undignified.

MANIGAULT: It is.

CONWAY: Thank you very much. I appreciate that. So let's agree to that. But, you know, what there are other people going to say it's also unnecessary and unhelpful. You are operating from a position of weakness. And if you want to beat Hillary Clinton ...

LEMON: Yeah.

CONWAY: ... you have to look at his points.

LEMON: But here's what I have to say about that. And this is what I learned in Elementary School.

CONWAY: Correct.

LEMON: Right. That you can't use the excuse. And this is what Lisa Bloom said last night. So eloquently on the show. You can't use the excuse that he did it. Somebody else did it first ...

CONWAY: Did it first right, of course.

LEMON: ... as an excuse for bad behavior. Two wrongs don't make a right. And Omarosa, you have known Donald Trump for 13 years or so. You say he doesn't have a problem with women, but and that he treats all women the same.

MANIGAULT: Well, you can just look at his organizations, Don. You can look ...

LEMON: Go ahead. I want Omarosa, your still in.

[21:35:00] MANIGAULT: If you look at his organizations and like you said, I've known him for more than a decade and I had an opportunity to not only work with him, to be on shows with him but visit his different properties and his business ventures. And women on those properties are paid higher than the men in most cases. They perform well because it's an environment conducive for them to grow.

Donald Trump has shown because of his actions and his hiring practices and building a big empire utilizing the talents of women that he knows how to create jobs. He knows how to create opportunities. If you look at Ted Cruz, he's never created a job. He's never managed a large project.

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: That's not true.

MANIGAULT: We know what Donald Trump's leadership skills are, we know what his capabilities are. And we know he'll make a great commander- in-chief.

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: And so I have to agree with Omarosa at one point which is I've known Mr. Trump for a bit. I served on one of his condo boards. He's always been kind to women in my presence which is why all this is mystifying to me.

And I think that women out there are telling pollsters they don't appreciate a leader who has to get the last word all the time or uses certain words and it's starting to reflect in the polls about women. If you want to beat Hillary Clinton folks you can't have somebody's currently losing to him by 20 points. So ...

MANIGAULT: Yeah. But Hillary is suffering with women.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Let's --before you respond, I let you respond ...

MANIGAULT: ... women at all.

LEMON: Omarosa, let me put the poll numbers up and then continue with your response.

MANIGAULT: Please.

LEMON: OK. So here are the poll numbers. Right. These releases we can choose Clinton leading Trump, 60 percent to 33 percent among women in a hypothetical general election. I mean so which ...

MANIGAULT: But, how does she explain how she's performing so poorly with millennial with women in millennial she's not doing very well.

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: And men, she does poorly with men. She does poorly with men. I mean Hillary Clinton has a man problem. They distrust her. They just get hurt ...

MANIGAULT: She has a woman problem as well.

CONWAY: They well, not when she's -- well not when she's well she's put up vis-a-vis Mr. Trump right now. And I hope that can turn it out that he ...

LEMON: Then in general, she doesn't have a woman problem.

CONWAY: Not at all.

LEMON: Again then, now Ted Cruz and John Kasich both are beating Hillary Clinton in head-to-head polls and their gap against Mrs. Clinton vis-a-vis women is much smaller. And it would be a real ashamed to sacrifice this election to Mrs. Clinton given that Secretary Clinton, given that Donald, Omarosa, that she has a man problem. We can -- if she was the nominee for the Democrats, we can recast the whole conversation about the gender gap not as Republican Party's problem with women but the Democratic Party's problem with men, unless you have her up against someone who is performing poorly among women.

So I hope that will turn around. Because the Democrats are quoted everywhere saying I just want Trump to keep talking, we're going to run that in ads against him in the fall.

LEMON: OK. So, Omarosa, let me ask you this. As we know each other everybody is like, oh my gosh what's going on. This doesn't mean that we hate each other.

MANIGAULT: We've never had a fight in 10 years, Don.

LEMON: OK. OK. So listen, here is -- Donald Trump cruising on his way -- sorry, but cruising that I mean, no pun intended.

CONWAY: Oh no Ted.

LEMON: On his to having the nominee right to being the Republican nominee. And he does something like this. I don't know if it's an effort to control the media, I don't if it's in the -- because he's that thin skinned or whatever it is.

If you still talk to him and you have it here in some way and advising him, wouldn't you just say just shut up and get the nomination instead of doing all these petty things that really doesn't bode well for him especially with women who may end up deciding this election?

MANIGAULT: I will say to him, because I know his wife and how much he loves and cares about her that he must defend his wife. He cannot allow people to make senseless attacks toward her and he must defend her. That's what I would say. I don't think he should apologize for defending the love of his life.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: A good way -- of defending your wife, I do have to say, was Donald Trump, Heidi is the love of my life. If he had said, you know, Ted Cruz, Melania is the love of my life and there's nothing wrong with those pictures. She's a beautiful woman.

CONWAY: But Ted Cruz never attacked Melania Trump, that's he is fair.

LEMON: But anyway if he had done that that would have been very classy, taking the high roads. And we all would have moved on.

CONWAY: I'm on to please I'm to state the fact. Ted Cruz or his campaign or his Super PACs posted no pictures of Melania Trump in any ads, that's a different ...

MANIGAULT: So who is spending the $65 million in the Stop Trump Movement. What do think those officers doing.

CONWAY: Well that's -- that's not

MANIGAULT: Let's not be naive. $65 million to stop Donald Trump.

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: But you have to be fair. You and others all across Twitter are saying that Ted Cruz in his campaign has posted pictures and insulting Melania Trump. I was on his show within the last three or four weeks. He has not. I never would -- I run the largest pro-Cruz Super PAC. We would never. In fact all I do ...

MANIGAULT: So where is the $65 million?

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: I'm sorry.

LEMON: Let her get her point across.

MANIGAULT: Where is the $65 million that is being spent against Donald Trump. Go ahead and tell me.

CONWAY: There are many stuff. OK, let's talk about

MANIGAULT: You can't be naive to think they aren't going toward utilizing social media ...

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: Of course they are. But they are not

LEMON: Do you think to a pro-Super -- let's say that it was. All right, Kelleyanne is saying it wasn't. Where you think that this Pac called up Ted Cruz and said, hey we're going to do this? We need your approval?

MANIGAULT: Come on, Don. You know, I've been in politics for 20 years. You know, it doesn't work like that. It's kind of like wink in a nod. We know that these candidates are constantly swaying and working in concern with the PAC.

[21:40:04] But here is the news, Donald Trump doesn't have a PAC. He's self-financing his campaign. And so he's not indebted to anybody.

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: Yes, $2 billion in free media. "The Washington Post" said like he ...

(CROSSTALK)

CONWAY: ... $2 billion and free media know and lets ...

MANIGAULT: A good start, that's what happen.

CONWAY: And let's made very clear. If you are Ted Cruz, would you rather have a debate about wives or issues? I mean seriously if you are a constitutional ...

MANIGAULT: Well he said other things going on.

CONWAY: ... lawyer, who's argued between nice and Supreme Court for nine cases if you came to the Senate against all odds, against the establishment, if you are one of the last one people standing with Donald Trump from a field that is 17, do you think he wants to talk about healthcare, education, taxes, destroying ISIS or you want talk about wives?

So let's be honest to that who created this mess? And why don't we tonight say that's it. I know Heidi Cruz. I've met Melania Trump. These are wonderful women and fabulous mothers.

LEMON: And both of them are beautiful women ...

MANIGAULT: No question there, they are both wonderful women.

CONWAY: ... inside out. But let me ask you one last question very quickly.

MANIGAULT: Please.

CONWAY: Caroline, Cruz is 7. Kathryn Cruz is 5. When they Google Heidi Cruz 10, 12, three, 20 years from now, do you want to be on the side that created this kind of pain? Where do you want them to find? What do you want them to find and what to see?

MANIGAULT: When they Google it, they'll see the maneuvers that Cruz has used in the past in Iowa. They'll see that he has certainly been in that situation.

CONWAY: Right, hey oh daddy, it's your fault?

MANIGAULT: They're going to say, daddy, come on you haven't been playing by the rules. They know ...

CONWAY: No, I don't think they'll say that to their father. I think that's terrible comment to say.

(CROSSTALK)

MANIGAULT: He's got his hands full, believe me when dealing with families right now. So let's not go there.

CONWAY: I gave you a nice softball and you struck it out. I really and I'll try to get you on the side of ...

(CROSSTALK)

MANIGAULT: I'm going to see my troops (ph) and you will never control that. LEMON: So you, Omarosa, let's just say, so you think it's OK. You're just -- be your OK with re-tweeting on that.

MANIGAULT: With him defending his wife. I'm OK with defending his wife.

LEMON: No, I'm not saying defending his wife. Everyone defends there, you are OK with the re-tweet and post in the picture.

CONWAY: Well, I'm not. I think it's terrible. No, I have a huge problem with that.

LEMON: OK.

MANIGAULT: Please tell Cruz that.

CONWAY: He didn't say anything.

LEMON: Thank you, Omarosa.

MANIGAULT: Thanks, Don. I'll see you in a couple of weeks.

LEMON: Thank you Kellyanne. Maybe this will make that White House correspondents dinner real, and where I'll see Omarosa.

All right coming up, Ted Cruz accusing Donald Trump of smearing him by planting a salacious tabloid story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[21:46:20] LEMON: Ted Cruz accusing Donald Trump of planting an article about him in a supermarket tabloid.

Joining me now, Bob Beckel, CNN political commentator, Kayleigh McEnany conservative columnist for "Above the Law", who is supporting Donald Trump and Philip Bump, "Washington Post" political reporter.

Let's see if we can have as much fun as the last segment. OK.

BOB BECKEL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, it would be great.

LEMON: So today there's a new front open in the Cruz/Trump battle. Ted Cruz lashed out at Donald Trump blaming him for a salacious tabloid story. Here is Ted Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TED CRUZ, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me be clear. This "National Enquirer" story is garbage. It is complete and utter lies. It is a tabloid smear. And it is a smear that has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen. And a question the people of America you've got to have to answer (inaudible) low will Donald go?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, Donald Trump shot back the accusation. Here is what she says, he says "I have no idea whether or not the cover story about Ted Cruz in this weeks issue of the "National Enquirer" is true or not, but I had absolutely nothing to do with it, did not know about it and have not as yet read about it".

So here we go again, Philip Bump, how long can this campaign go?

PHILLIP BUMP, WASHINGTON POST POLITICAL REPORTER: Who knows. Who can tell anymore? You know, I mean I think that there's a good report by "The Daily Beast" that suggested that this may have come from the Marco Rubio camp or old allies. And Marco Rubio is not clear what this whole thing came from. But you know, I mean this is the fact that we are sitting here talking about this and the fact that we have to talk about these tweets back and in forth, it's insane, it's bananas, like when are we going to get past this? So and gets (inaudible) already and this is all (inaudible).

LEMON: You would get past it if they didn't have to take it, if its one of them didn't start it. Bob, what's your reaction to it?

BECKEL: Well its personal to the "National Enquirer" I mean it's not necessarily known for things better than two-headed ...

LEMON: John Edwards, a number of other people.

BECKEL: ... yeah. Yeah, they've hit a few. And but I think --I think Cruz are credit for taking on Trump like this. But why are we going here? I've not been around presidential politics since '68. I've never heard anything like this.

I've never seen a campaign run themselves deep in the mud as they are now. And then the end it's going to hurt either one of them. This is not something that the Democrats are not paying attention to.

LEMON: Yeah.

BECKEL: Will take it and we will use it.

LEMON: Hey Kayleigh, is this good for the party? Because you hear Bob, Bob just said we'll take it and we'll use it.

KAYLEIGH MCNENANY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: No it's not good for the party because here is the thing. What happened in Brussels the other day, 31 people died. Americans are scared about terrorism. You look at the national poll that's the issue they care about most. And typically voters turn to the Republican Party when they are in fear or during times of national security crisis but right now when you look to the Republican Party, people are re-tweeting pictures of other people's wives.

It's just back and forth jabs, when someone needs to rise up and say, I will protect you, you do not need to fear when I am your president because I will get rid of ISIS, that should be the narrative, but instead it's this back and forth tit-for-tat battle over wives and its just -- it's really disappointing ...

(CROSSTALK) LEMON: Are you talking to us Kayleigh, are you talking to Donald Trump? I mean.

MCNENANY: I'm talking to anyone who will come out and refocus us some of the issues. And, you know, hey, I think the American voter looks and they're frustrated with the Obama Administration, I think it was controversial to do the tango in Argentina while all of this was going on and go to a baseball game.

But then they look to the Republicans for an alternative and they just see insults going back and forth. And just someone needs to rise up and say, I will protect you. Donald Trump, I hope he does and I hope he is the one but someone needs to do it.

BUMP: I mean, and the point it was just made about how Republicans usually have a strength on national security is a critical, critical point. Polls show that against Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton is seen as the person who will do better on terrorism, who will do better in the event of a national crisis. And that is an area where the Republicans usually win.

[21:50:04] But in this case if she's facing off against Donald Trump, she does better. And if Donald Trump is going to spend his time, and during this moment when this is what the population should be talking about voters should be looking at is national security, he's (inaudible).

LEMON: And that was, that was one of the reasons why the president got so much criticism over Cuba, going to the baseball game in Argentina would during the tango, because these are look for Republicans and Bob, what the -- you know, the conventional wisdom is, don't give your enemies any ammunition.

And so, you know, his critics have said that he is weak when it comes to ISIS and then terror and why on earth would he be doing that?

BECKEL: You know, the second highest leader of the ISIS movement was killed by U.S. bombs. ISIS is on the run in Iraq and in Syria. They've lost a lot of territory. In fact I think a lot of this going on into Europe because they can't handle themselves where they are. They don't have a state.

So, you know, it's very easy to blame Obama to this time, but its not, not to blame, we're winning. And we're winning I think fairly easily and Iraq (inaudible) are we back together again? And there going into try to get Mosul back, I mean is ...

LEMON: But yet you have more than 20 who are dead and 300 who are injured.

BECKE: Yes, so I mean is that mean you don't tango, you don't go to a ball game?

MCENANY: We're not.

LEMON: Well you mean that ... MCENANY: We're not letting Bob, that's the thing.

BECKEL: I guess we are one.

LEMON: The average person -- no, I think you should go in that and then live your life. When you're the leader of the free world, I mean that is in question but go on.

BECKEL: Well and I don't know what your supposed to do is that historic visit to Cuba. The idea of breaking up the schedule, and something that he could deal with down there which he did, he spoke about it. And this is not something that is brand new or unusual.

So I don't quite get the argument about Obama going to a baseball game. I mean eventually Cuba is going to have a national and baseball team.

LEMON: Kayleigh?

MCENANY: It's taken to a bigger narrative, Bob, this is the thing, you know, people are really frustrated back during the Charlie Hebdo attacks, when you saw every national leader in Western Europe hold hands uniting against ISIS and against radical Islam. But the president didn't show up. He didn't send a representative, he's been constantly out of touch, he called ISIS J.V. and instead of hiding in the shadows like al-Qaeda did, they were hiding in the shadows of Afghanistan.

These people are openly operating in four countries. So I think it's really hard and a stray argument to say that we are winning the war against ISIS. I don't think we are.

BECKEL: Well you listen -- listen to the military. I mean the military came out today and said we have killed this guy, we've killed a lot of people and we've taken back territory in both Iraq and Syria. Now, you can argue with that but they're the military, they should know and the evidence is there. So I mean, what more do you need?

LEMON: Let's talk about the voters now, OK, Bob Beckel? As the campaign gets dirtier, voters are, you know, getting more and more turned off. This is a new Gallup poll it shows that only 30 percent of Republicans are satisfied with the election process, that's down from 46 percent in January. I mean is there a danger here that Republicans just won't come out and vote?

BECKEL: Oh, sure. I mean, I think there's a lot of that or some Republicans are going to come out and vote for Clinton if she gets the nomination. But you can't run a campaign like this. And I've been involved in presidential politics since 1968 before you were born. And so it is very clear that ...

LEMON: I was alive in 1968, Bob, but go ahead.

BECKEL: You were? OK, I'm sorry, I was trying to give you a softball, buddy and you didn't take it. But you know, you can, I've never seen anything like this, I mean the closest I can remember is Gary Hart and his woman problem. But I mean it just doesn't get like this.

LEMON: Yeah.

BECKEL: And now it's a brand new world what we're dealing with here. If they're not going to do this, how long are they going to it, how much are we going to see their negatives increase, both of them.

LEMON: Yes, thank you, hey, thank you very much, I appreciate you try doing that but I've earned every single year and every single reaction (inaudible) that you don't see with a good lightning and makeup.

Go ahead Philip, you want to weigh on this?

BUMP: Yeah, I was just going to say this, that the question about turnout is a critical question. I think for the Trump campaign, the DK questions, will Republicans come out and vote in November?

There's -- a lot of people in the world, this was the first time it was done after 2008, Sarah Palin was a very controversial figure as a vice president. And estimated 2 million people didn't come out to vote for the Republican Party that year because Sarah Palin was the vice presidential I think, there a (inaudible) on that, I think that's got to make Republicans nervous because they really need this big turnout boom, that's propelled Donald Trump so far in the primaries happen in a general election.

LEMON: And, Kayleigh, they're going to need women. Women in particular although are turning against Donald Trump. Here's our CNN poll it shows 73 percent of women voters view him unfavorably, Clinton leads Trump among women by 60 to 33 percent.

Mitt Romney, you know lost women by 56 percent to 44 percent and he lost the election. I mean can Trump win with these kinds of numbers?

MCENANY: I think he can, you know, if he look it's only among Republican women right now, he's winning with Ted Cruz by 12 points. That's Republican women of course but I think Donald Trump has the ability to move his unfavorable numbers. He came into the Republican race had extraordinarily high and favorable number and move those, I think he can do that by adopting a softer tone.

LEMON: All right.

MCENANY: So we'll see.

LEMON: Thanks, everyone. Have a great weekend. I appreciate it.

BECKEL: You too.

LEMON: All righty.

MCENANY: Thanks, Don.

[21:55:01] LEMON: All righty, we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Here at CNN, we're making the 10th year of recognizing everyday people who are doing their part to make a difference.

We call them "CNN Heroes". And as Anderson Cooper explains, we're asking you to help us find them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Just go to cnnheroes.com on your laptop, your tablet or your smartphone.

Click nominee, fill in the form and tell us what makes your hero extraordinary.

And be selective. Those honored at CNN Heroes are truly dedicating their lives to serving others.

When you're finish, click, submit. You'll this message that confirms we received it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well each year, we receive thousands of nominations. So, how can you make yours stand out from the rest? Well, you find some very helpful tips along with the nomination form at cnnheroes.com.

[22:00:05] Appreciate you watching. That's it for us tonight. I'll see you back here on Monday. "Blindsided, How ISIS Shook the World" starts right now.