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Democrats Make Final Pitch Before Iowa Caucus; Donald Trump Leading In New National Poll; Texas Grand Jury Indicts Planned Parenthood Accusers; Jerry Crawford Discusses Town Hall And Iowa Caucuses. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired January 26, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:32:33] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Donald Trump has a new poll to brag about. A CNN/ORC poll out just this morning shows Trump increasing his lead against the rest of the field to 41 percent nationally. His closest competitor, Ted Cruz, is at 19 percent. This is a brand-new Quinnipiac poll, shows Trump leading in Iowa. So what does this mean as the Iowa caucuses approach?

John Berman, I ask you. No, actually I ask Hugh Hewitt.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, I thought so.

CAMEROTA: He's the host of the Hugh Hewitt show. He joins us now. Good morning, Hugh.

HUGH HEWITT, HOST, THE HUGH HEWITT SHOW: Hi Alisyn, hi, John. Good morning.

CAMEROTA: OK, before we get to the new poll, I know, of course, you watched the CNN Democratic forum last night. One thing, one response in particular jumped out at you. What did you see?

HEWITT: I saw the first question to Hillary Clinton last night from the young college student who said, I've heard you're not honest. Now that was a Republican campaign ad. She swung and she missed completely. She has three big problems. She's not honest, she's viewed as corrupt, and she had a failed tenure as secretary of state. So that first one about her honesty, it came right out of the box. And what followed was, she burped out a cliche for it like she drank a case of Rolling Rock. She did not answer the question. And so when someone says, I hear you're not honest and you don't respond directly to that, you concede. It's an admission against interest. So the rest of the debate was anticlimactic at the town hall. Chris Cuomo did a fine job, but I just kept thinking to myself, that's going to show up in every Republican ad. I've heard you're not honest, Hillary Clinton. Guess what? She's not. And when you get to the corrupt part, the speaking fees, then you get to her record at state, the Iraq failure to get a status of forces, Syria, Libya, the Russia reset button, the failure of the PRC -- man, she had a bad night. I think Bernie was going up every minute of that town hall last night.

BERMAN: Hugh, we get it. We hear it from you, we hear it from others. Republicans are itching to run against Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, whoever emerges from that side of the race. And right now we get a sense of which Republican candidate might be the most popular right now. This new CNN poll showing Donald Trump at 41 percent. This is the first time he has broken 40 percent in our polls. And I know people like you look at the polls and say, hey, you know what, national polls don't matter. But doesn't it matter if this guy's number is getting higher and higher? He has led now for five, six months and it's showing no sign of abating.

[07:34:53] HEWITT: Breaking 40 percent's a big deal because that's a new ceiling. And everyone keeps having to raise the ceiling. It's like Gulliver growing with Donald Trump. And I talked to Donald Trump last week and I told him straight ought, I think Ted Cruz is going to win Iowa because of the evangelical, mass-attending Catholic vote and I think he's going to win New Hampshire. But whenever I see a number like that, I have to realize, I could be wrong. I just heard Mark Preston tell Chris Cuomo that the secret to Donald is that he's the most confident politician he's ever heard. And Mark is right. I never heard anyone overset expectations like Donald Trump did with Wolf Blitzer yesterday. He said, I should be telling you, Wolf, that I'm not going to win Iowa. Well I don't want to tell you that. I want to win Iowa. And that is actually both his strength and his, the vulnerability there is, if you tell everyone I'm going to win and you don't win, then it's a reset moment. But he is, without question, he has the charisma of confidence and yesterday's interview with Wolf up- played that and that poll number is startling. Nevertheless, I also saw you ran the Iowa poll, 31-29. That's white noise.

CAMEROTA: I want to put that up. That's how Republicans feel. He's getting 31 percent, Ted Cruz is getting 29 percent. Why is that one noise?

HEWITT: It's white noise because the difference of 2 percent in that kind of a margin doesn't really tell us anything statistically. It's who turns out, that was said, it's said by everybody -- here, look -- evangelicals are used to going out to Wednesday night bible study, right? They go out twice a week in Iowa in the middle of the night. Ted Cruz has got a hammer lock on evangelicals in western Iowa. Pastor Rafael Cruz, his father, his deep seeded social media network, which not a lot of people see but is very real, it's been built very painstakingly over a year and a half -- his people are going to show up. They're going to show up in great numbers. A lot of pastors, a lot of priests, are going to remind their congregations, which is unusual but not unheard of, in Iowa, especially in conservative, to go out and vote, they're not going to say Ted Cruz. So I still think Cruz is going to win Iowa and so that just takes us to New Hampshire and we'll see what happens a week from Tuesday.

BERMAN: But Hugh, I did note something in your voice which you're not supposed to do when you're on talk radio. You said, I could be wrong here in Iowa. I could be wrong? You're not supposed to do that. Don't let me give you advice on how to do this but look -- Ted Cruz knows what happens if Donald Trump does prevail in Iowa. Listen to what Ted Cruz says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But I will say right now, between Donald and me, this is neck and neck. It is an absolute dead heat. And if Donald wins Iowa, he right now has a substantial lead in New Hampshire. If he went on to win New Hampshire as well, there's a very good chance he could be unstoppable and be our nominee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, do you agree? Does Cruz have is that right?

HEWITT: Yes. The only two people who can run the table are Cruz and Trump. I think Cruz actually has a better chance at running the table than Donald Trump at this point, but let me say this. Over in the American league -- the national league is Trump and Cruz. Over in the American league where you have Christie, Kasich, and Fiorina, and Jeb Bush, and Marco Rubio, that's the American league. They have the designated hitter rule and they're beating up on each other with those baseball bats. It's like the St. Valentines Day massacre over there. Someone's going to come out of that division and that person is going to consolidate both establishment and non-Trump, non-Cruz voters. So this is going to go, I think all the way to Cleveland. It's not going to be over. We're having too much fun. And you realize it and I realize it and about this, I'm not wrong. Frequently wrong, never in doubt. I'm not wrong about this. Is that the media has an incentive to keep this thing alive a lot longer. In fact, they have an incentive to prop up Bernie. I thought we were going to hear about Yasgur's farm last night from Bernie and all the hippies want to come back and have another party. So we're not going to be over on the Democratic side either. This is going on for months.

CAMEROTA: Yes. But Hugh, it's not just the media that's propping this up. There is engagement from the voters. Regular people are engaged in this race like never before. I mean, people talk about it at dinner parties. People talk about it at the grocery store. Everybody is interested in what's going to happen.

HEWITT: I can't go anywhere because of these CNN Salem media group debates that I've been a part of. People want to give me their opinion. They don't want to know what happen. They don't want to hear funny stories. They want to tell you, I'm sure they want to tell John, they want to tell Chris, they want to tell me what they think. And I think last night, the town hall was a very interesting setup is, very interesting forum and obviously not filtered because that first question to Hillary was a hit you in the head fastball. And there are a lot more of those coming between now and the wrap-up of this season and I think it's great. It's wonderful. It's good for democracy.

[07:40:07] BERMAN: Hugh Hewitt, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.

HEWITT: Thanks, folks.

BERMAN: All right. A twist in the probe of those undercover Planned Parenthood videos. The anti-abortion activists who filmed the videos, they're the ones now facing heat. We're going to get Planned Parenthood's reaction next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAMEROTA: A new twist this morning into the investigation of Planned Parenthood and whether they were profiting on the sale of fetal tissue. A Texas grand jury had cleared Planned Parenthood of all misconduct and instead, indicted the anti-abortion activists behind those undercover videos.

Joining us now is executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, Dawn Laguens. Dawn, great to see you this morning. You must feel very vindicated this morning --

DAWN LAGUENS, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, PLANNED PARENTHOOD: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: -- that this grand jury has exonerated Planned Parenthood and in fact indicted the people behind the undercover videos. Was that a surprise to you?

LAGUENS: Well, we're thrilled but not surprised, of course, that the grand jury has found that Planned Parenthood did nothing wrong. As you know, I came on your show day one and said the only person guilty of criminal wrongdoing here are the people behind these fraudulent videos and yes, today, we're vindicated by the findings of this grand jury.

CAMEROTA: One of the interesting developments, Dawn, is what David Daleiden, the man behind the undercover videos, has been charged with. He was indicted on account of prohibition against the purchase and sale of human organs. Here is the statement he's put out as a result of these charges. He says, "We respect the processes of the Harris County District Attorney, and note that buying fetal tissue requires a seller as well. Planned Parenthood still cannot deny the admissions from their leadership about fetal organ sales captured on video for all of the world to see." Basically, he's saying he can't be charged with buying if there was no seller. What's your response?

[07:45:08] LAGUENS: Well, I believe that he was charged with attempting to buy and of course, the grand jury found that Planned Parenthood did nothing wrong, so in essence, Planned Parenthood couldn't have done what they alleged. And let me say for the record, again, Planned Parenthood has never sold fetal tissue. We've occasionally let women donate fetal tissue for important medical research and that's now been proven out not only by this grand jury but by officials in 11 other states that looked at this that all found Planned Parenthood did nothing wrong and that's consistent with, of course, our 99 year history as a high quality, well known women's health provider in this country.

CAMEROTA: And Dawn, what about those three congressional investigations that are still ongoing? When will you find out the results of those?

LAGUENS: I'm not sure that they're going to have results because I'm not sure that they're intended to do anything but be part of an ideological crusade that would try to take away women's right to safe, legal abortion in this country. And of course, we saw Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood, testify where it was very clear that she was just being drilled and interrupted for political purposes, it seemed, and not really to get at any kind of truth about this matter. But now this grand jury has made clear what we've said for three years. David Daleiden and the Center For Medical Progress worked to create a fake company, fake identities, lied, and engaged in a criminal conspiracy. And when they couldn't find anything, they made it up. And now that's out there for all the world to be clear on.

CAMEROTA: And Dawn, yes, to be clear, Planned Parenthood has been exonerated. They have been cleared by this grand jury of any, not only criminal misconduct, but wrongdoing. And yet, Dawn, those videos that people saw, and I'm talking about the unedited portions, the conversations over lunch where you hear the Planned Parenthood representatives talking in a tone that people did find disturbing, in a sort of cavalier manner and talking about, I want a Lamborghini. Maybe we can get a better price for these sorts of things. From your internal investigation, was there anything that after you saw those videos, you felt did have to change at Planned Parenthood?

LAGUENS: Alisyn, you'll recall, actually, things like the comments that you've mentioned, when you look at the reports that the forensic analysis did on the videotapes, even many of those things were cut and spliced together in ways to make them sound like there were misconduct by Planned Parenthood. And that of course is what Planned Parenthood has been cleared of in this case. And what you're going to see, coming up, of course, an entire RICO federal racketeering case has been filed against David Daleiden and the Center For Medical Progress, Troy Newman, a well-known anti-abortion activist, that alleges far more than even what the grand jury found in this case.

Wire fraud, mail fraud, trespassing, federal eavesdropping charges. So I don't think this is the last that we're going to see of charges coming against David Daleiden and his criminal enterprise.

Yes. And just to be clear, I'm talking about on a much lesser level. Obviously, I'm talking about the tone and the rhetoric. And even your president, Cecile Richards, did apologize, actually, she came out and apologized, for what she said was the inappropriate tone heard on those videos. And the only reason I ask is because people as high as Hillary Clinton said that they were disturbed by what they saw on the video. So just that, those sort of lunch conversations that people did leave a lasting impression.

[07:49:44] LAGUENS: Well, the top priority for us always at Planned Parenthood is the health and safety of our patients. And we have amazing doctors who were stalked, basically, by these criminals, for years, and who were taped trying over hours and hours and then had their videotapes edited together. They were in, what they believed, in some cases, to be significant medical conversations about enabling women to make the choice to donate tissue in order to help cure life- saving diseases. And I just don't think trying to make them the guilty party here, and thankfully, again, we now know front and center who is the guilty party because of these indictments issued by this Houston grand jury under a Republican district attorney.

CAMEROTA: Dawn Laguens, we appreciate you coming on new day and clarifying all of this. Always good to have you on the show. Thank you.

LAGUENS: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's get out to Chris who is live in Iowa, of course, after the Democratic forum last night. Hey, Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Alisyn. It was a great interview to hear out here in Iowa. Hillary Clinton pulling out all the stops during the CNN Democratic forum to attract Iowa voters. So, how did her performance help her chances? Did she score points on honesty and trustworthiness, two categories that plagued her in polls? We'll discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: All right. All three Democratic presidential candidates trying to convince, six days before the Iowa caucuses. New polling suggests Hillary Clinton has the edge. Now what happened last night? What's the outcome? Her categories of concern, in part, honesty, trustworthiness -- how was that communicated in last night's town hall?

I'm joined now by Hillary Clinton advisor, Jerry Crawford. Jerry, good to see you. Thank you for being here.

[07:54:54] JERRY CRAWFORD, CAMPAIGN ADVISOR FOR HILLARY CLINTON: Good to see you.

CUOMO: Let's look at one pivotal moment last night. Kid gets up and says, I'm young. A lot of young people like Bernie. Why don't I see as much enthusiasm for you? I've heard young people say that you are not trustworthy, that you lie. It was an honesty question. The kid had a big stick on that question. How do you think, one, the basis of that question, how do you think that relates to the overall election? And how do you think the secretary handled it last night?

CRAWFORD: Well, I'm glad that he asked the question because I thought it was great for Hillary to have a chance to respond to it. I thought she did an incredible job last night showing what a fighting spirit she has and showing how prepared she is. On that question, take a step back and realize that for the last year, Hillary Clinton has taken 99 percent of the incoming attacks, be they from the media doing your vetting job, or be they, especially from the Republican candidates for president. They had to do it, because as Marco Rubio said, if this comes down to quality of resume, she wins. And so for a year, pounding, that she has taken. As President Obama said yesterday, the same is not true for Bernie Sanders. So people who aren't familiar with her, who haven't followed her career, who are new voters, impressionable voters, naturally after a year, they would stop thinking about the woman who was voted the most respected woman in America 17 years in a row and start to be subjected to the persuasion.

CUOMO: But you got the they're there, let's call it, component also. The reason that they're asking questions about Benghazi is because there were gaps and lapses and things that fuel confusion and concern. The e-mail, you've got the FBI investigating it and they seem to keep leaking out information that suggests troubling situations. Most recently, that there wasn't just classified but super duper classified or whatever you want to call it, on there. That fuels concern. "The Des Moines Register", in bringing out their endorsement, cites, she didn't seem to learn the lesson to admit when you do something wrong as quickly as possible. She would not admit an error in judgment last night when I asked her about that. And she didn't answer the question directly about her trustworthiness. You call me a liar, I'm going to respond to you on that basis right away about why I wasn't lying in that. She didn't do that. All fair points of criticism or no?

CRAWFORD: Well, I think not. First of all, it's not fair to take a short paragraph out of an endorsement editorial where they say she's by far -- "The Des Moines Register" -- by far the best prepared to be president.

CUOMO: Fair point. They did endorse her.

CRAWFORD: So did "The Concord Monitor", so did "The Boston Globe". Those are neighbors of Senator Sanders in the Northeast and obviously influential in New England. As far as Benghazi is concerned, my fervent hope is that Trey Gowdy continues to run 11 hour inquiries of her because it demonstrates --

CUOMO: I don't think the secretary wants that, by the way.

CRAWFORD: Well, it demonstrates she's telling the truth. She handles every question. And at the end of it -- Hillary Clinton last summer, everybody was saying, oh, the campaign's in terrible trouble. What she did with the first debate, with the Benghazi hearing, and with the Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner here in Des Moines, is she put the campaign on her own back and marched it forward. She's doing the same thing again right now, barn storming across Iowa. Every time she does an appearance, I get phone calls from friends and acquaintances in that area saying how impressed they were with her just as they were last night.

CUOMO: Would they call you if they didn't like something?

CRAWFORD: Oh, trust me, this is Iowa. No hesitation in complaining.

CUOMO: So you feel that last night she used that opportunity well, answered the questions well, and you think she'll gain advantage?

CRAWFORD: Absolutely. And equally important, we're now out of events that could move the needle against her. She's the best candidate. As President Obama said, no one's ever been as ready to be president as her, and the organization has never been matched in terms of its quality. If you add all those three things together -- remember I said this next Monday night, Hillary Clinton will win in the Iowa caucuses.

CUOMO: Well I'd be shocked if you said she's not going to win Iowa caucuses, but --

CRAWFORD: Fair point. CUOMO: And also, a fair point is, most looking at the race often thought that this would be a tough state for Hillary Clinton. There are certain advantages that play to Bernie Sanders here. You see his numbers with college towns. You see the number of people who say socialist is a good thing, here in Iowa, is high. So you think she's going to win? What kind of margin do you see?

CRAWFORD: Look, I'd take by one vote today and be extraordinarily happy. You've seen Ann Selzer's numbers. She's the gold standard for polling. 43 percent of caucus-going Democrats in Iowa say they're socialists. As my son and I were laughing about, he's at 40 in the polls, he's underperforming a socialist.

[07:59:58] I told my friend, Dan Balls, a year ago that if Bernie could stay upright and continue to breathe, he'd get 40 percent of the vote. I've never changed my mind and that's why we've worked incredibly hard. Hillary has, she's done her job. The organization from Robby Mook to Matt Paul and Michael Howley, the best I've ever seen.

CUOMO: Sounds like an Oscar acceptance speech. But I wish you good luck going into the caucus, Jeff. Thank you very much.

CRAWFORD: Great to have you in Iowa.

CUOMO: Good. It's great to be here. Great place. All right, there is a lot of news this morning. We have to tell you about this town hall last night. Everybody's talking about it. So let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've been on the front lines of change and progress since I was your age.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Experience is important but judgment is also important.

CLINTON: I have a much longer history than one vote.

SANDERS: I think we are touching a nerve with the American people.

CRUZ: If he went on to win New Hampshire as well, there's a very good chance he could be unstoppable.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ted cannot get along with anybody. He's a nasty person. You don't see that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You call Bernie Sanders a total whack job. Who would you rather face in a general election?