Cruz: Trump, Boehner and Clinton part of same corrupt system
Texas senator and his VP pick explain how they differ from the establishment on 'Hannity'
This is a rush transcript from "Hannity," April 29, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, FOX HOST: And welcome to "Hannity." And we are in beautiful Indianapolis, in Indiana, at the Indiana War Memorial tonight. Now, for the entire hour, we're joined by Senator Ted Cruz and his new vice presidential running mate, Carly Fiorina. We have a large audience. Welcome, all of you.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: (INAUDIBLE) Ted Cruz supporters (INAUDIBLE) Wow. I wonder...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Are there any...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
AUDIENCE: Cruz! Cruz! Cruz!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: I don't even think Larry Bird would get that kind of reaction. Welcome, Indiana. Thank you so much for having us in your city tonight. It's an honor to be here.
Senator, good to see you again. We appreciate you being back on the program.
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Sean, thank you.
HANNITY: Carly Fiorina, welcome back to you. All right, we got to ask the obvious question. Tell us about the process that brought you two together and make this announcement.
CRUZ: Well, sure. You know, it really is the perhaps the most solemn and serious decision that any presidential candidate makes is choosing a vice presidential nominee because you're really -- you're telling the American people this is a person who's prepared to lead the country. This is a person who you can trust to honor the promises we're making to defend -- to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. And -- and...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And critically, this is a person who is prepared to step in and be commander-in-chief and keep this country safe and defend us from our enemies both foreign and domestic.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Carly, you have -- you've been out on the campaign trail. I've interviewed you with Senator Cruz before. I have said this publicly when you were running, after you got out of the race. I do think you've been one of the most effective people of the 17 in prosecuting the case against Hillary Clinton, taking her on very boldly.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Are you -- are you convinced, ultimately, she is the opponent for the Republicans, or do you think she's in an orange jumpsuit and shoes without laces?
(LAUGHTER)
CARLY FIORINA, R-CALI., FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, look, when Ted Cruz is the president of the United States...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: ... I suspect that Hillary Clinton will be prosecuted. But until then, I suspect she'll be the nominee of the Democrat Party, which is something I've always said is going to happen. And...
HANNITY: We do have an update on that. The attorney general, Loretta Lynch, earlier today said, just like James Comey, there's no deadline as it relates to the investigation.
FIORINA: I rest my case! I rest my case! So the -- you know, the investigation is going to go on and on and on and on and on, and then on November 5th, the new president-elect will say, I'd like an update on that case, please.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: You know, I just have to say that...
HANNITY: Hillary may have to pardon herself.
(LAUGHTER)
HANNITY: If she ever won.
FIORINA: Well, but...
HANNITY: She's not going to win. Don't worry. All right.
FIORINA: Yes, you know why she's not going to win? You know why she's not going to win? Because Ted is going to win. And the reason...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: The reason Ted is going to win is because think about the contrast. Think about the sharp contrast between Cruz and Fiorina and Clinton and Trump.
Now, why do I put them together? Clinton and Trump. Because they're two sides of the same coin, Sean. They're two sides of the same coin.
(APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: They are both -- they are both the ultimate insiders. I mean, wow, John Boehner says yesterday that Donald Trump is his texting and golfing buddy, and Harry Reid thinks Donald Trump's OK, too. And Donald Trump contributed seven times to Hillary Clinton.
I'm sorry, it is not a choice or a contrast when Donald Trump agrees with Hillary Clinton on so many positions. Yes, he's OK with the Iranian nuclear deal. Yes, he's OK with single-payer health care. Yes, he was OK until he wasn't on partial-birth abortion. You go on and on and on.
How long have Republicans and conservatives said we can only win by presenting a clear contrast? So here it is, people of Indiana, Cruz/Fiorina, Trump/Clinton.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: You mentioned John Boehner. And I'm a commentator. I had strong words to say about him yesterday. I'm pretty ticked off because as speaker, he would not fight the Obama agenda. He did not use his constitutional authority, the power of the purse.
While he was speaker, he allowed Obama to accumulate $4.1 trillion in debt. They would not repeal those parts of "Obama care" that they could. You stood for 22 hours, Senator. And then he calls...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: And then he calls -- and then he called you a miserable SOB, over his dead body would you be elected, and he compared you to Satan.
(CROSSTALK)
CRUZ: Look, I give him credit...
HANNITY: I have a couple of candidates I might go there with, but I'm not going to mention who.
CRUZ: Listen, I give Boehner credit for imagery.
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: I suppose the speaker was letting out his inner Trump.
(LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: But you know, those comments reveal everything you need to know about Washington. Listen, we don't have two parties in Washington. We have one corrupt bipartisan mess in Washington!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: I agree with that.
CRUZ: It's not just that Boehner allowed Obama to run up trillions in debt. Boehner funded it all. Boehner led the effort.
And you know, it was striking in Boehner's comment, he praised Hillary Clinton and he praised Donald Trump. He said, Donald is my friend, we go texting, we go golfing, he's my buddy. And the one person he had vitriol and venom for is me. And I don't know John Boehner. I don't think we've said 50 words to each other in our lives.
HANNITY: You didn't represent him? Because that was a big issue in...
CRUZ: Oh, sure. Look, I was a junior lawyer. My boss was hired to be his lawyer. So I worked on the case. I worked on some appellate briefs.
HANNITY: So you didn't know him.
CRUZ: I don't know that I even met him. I have never -- we haven't said 50 words to each other in our lives. I was a baby lawyer a couple of years out of law school working on editing some briefs and helping write them, but I don't know the man. And here's the point...
HANNITY: I don't think we need lectures from a guy that gives us an extra $4.1 trillion in debt, right?
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: But it's actually -- Sean, it's very revealing. What Boehner is so angry with -- not anything I've ever said to him, it's the fact that I stood up and said, I'm going to honor the promises I made to the men and women who elected me. I'm going to fight to stop ObamaCare. I'm going to fight stop the debt.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: I'm going to fight to stop amnesty. And what happened is House conservatives rose up with me and said, We're going to honor our commitments, as well. It's why Boehner lost his job is because House conservatives rose up and said, Stop having a speaker...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: ... who funds Obama. And the critical thing to understand is John Boehner and Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are all part of the same corrupt system. It's why Donald Trump writes checks to Boehner and Hillary.
And if you want to change the system -- you know, one of the greatest frauds in modern electoral history is Donald Trump pretending to be an outsider when he has funded liberal Democrats, when he funded John Boehner. He gave John Boehner, $100,000, his super-PAC, just a few years ago and he is enmeshed with the corruption.
Trump is texting Boehner? You know what? I don't have Boehner's cell phone, and I'm perfectly OK with that!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: Can I say one thing? Look, the American people are angry.
You're ticked. I'm ticked. We're all ticked because guess what? The system isn't working for us anymore. It works if you're big, you're powerful, you're wealthy, you're well connected. It doesn't work for anyone else.
Now, I have to say, as someone who's fought systems all my life -- that's how you go from secretary to CEO. You challenge the system. You challenge the status quo. I am so tired of people attacking Ted Cruz because guess what? You know who attacks Ted Cruz? The people whose status quo he's challenging.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: Let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. If you're going to challenge a system -- and this system needs challenging. If you're going to challenge the status quo, if you're going to challenge the well-connected and the wealthy and the powerful, you're going to make enemies.
So you know what? I have come to know this man exceedingly well over the last seven weeks. I know him as a friend, as a husband, as a father, and as a great leader. And I for one am exceptionally proud of the enemies he has made!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: We'll take a break. We're just getting started with Senator Ted Cruz and his vice presidential running mate, Carly Fiorina. They will be with us the entire hour.
And later tonight, we're going to take a lot of questions from this very, very sedate -- actually, it's a very lively audience. It's "Hannity" on the road in Indiana as we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
HANNITY: And welcome back to "Hannity." And tonight, we're coming to you from Indianapolis, Indiana. Senator Ted Cruz and his running mate, Carly Fiorina, are with us for the hour.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: I want to welcome to the audience -- we've got about 60 kids from Morris Hill high school. Morris Hill? All right -- from high school that actually cut school today with the permission of their teacher, which never happened to me in my entire life. Congratulations. We welcome you young people to the event tonight.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: So we continue. All right, you know, there are a couple -- I pointed out -- and Senator, usually before these events, I come out and say hi to the crowd, as I always do, and I saw a number of really cute young people, including little Anabelle (ph) over there. And I said this election is about them.
CRUZ: Yes.
HANNITY: We now have one in four American families that don't have a single person in the labor force, 95 million Americans out of the labor force, 50 million in poverty, 46 million on food stamps. And Obama will accumulate more debt than every other president before him combined.
CRUZ: Yes.
HANNITY: I look at those numbers, and to me it seems almost unfixable.
CRUZ: Well, there's no doubt that the Obama/Clinton economy is a train wreck. It is a disaster. And millions of people are hurting. And the single most important issue in this election is how we turn that around.
I can tell you, my top priority as president will be bringing back jobs and economic growth, bringing jobs back to America, bringing manufacturing jobs back to Indiana, raising wages for working men and women, expanding opportunity for young people.
And you know, this election provides a clear contrast. One of the reasons why I named Carly early right now is to provide a clear choice for the voters, for the voters of Indiana, a clear choice between a campaign that is based on yelling and screaming and cursing and insults, versus a positive, optimistic, forward-looking conservative campaign based on real policy solutions. It's one thing to yell about jobs.
It's another thing to know how you bring them back. And you know, it was one of the things Ronald Reagan understood, and actually, before him, John F. Kennedy understood, that the key to jobs is you cut taxes, you lift regulations on small businesses, and you see millions of new jobs.
We've seen that here in Indiana with Governor Mitch Daniels, with Governor Mike Pence, but we need to bring Indiana values to the country.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: And obviously, you're pleased with Governor Pence today, and a lot has happened today for you and your campaign. But the reality is, conservative governors -- and I can mention Scott Walker and John Kasich and Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal and Rick Scott of Florida -- they have done a great job. They've taken high deficits, turned it into surpluses, high unemployment rates. They brought hundreds of thousands of jobs to their states.
But Washington Republicans, Carly, have failed. They have not been able to duplicate that. Why is there this fear, this unnatural -- it seems, you know, unpredictable fear or almost pathological that they're going to get blamed for government shutdown if they stand on principle?
FIORINA: It's called lack of courage and leadership.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: That's what it's called. That's what it's called. Look, you know, one of the things that I did before I voted for Ted Cruz -- and I voted for him before I ever had a conversation with...
HANNITY: Were you on the ballot?
FIORINA: ... about endorsing -- yes, I was still on the ballot when I voted for Ted Cruz.
(APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: One of the things I did before I voted for him, before I endorsed him, before I with great humility and pride accepted his invitation to serve as his running mate, is I went through and read all his policies.
And you know, it's not rocket science why jobs leave and it's not rocket science why they come back. We know what works. We know what works. You have to lower taxes. You have to compete hard for every job. You have to lift ObamaCare and the EPA and this just crushing weight of regulation off the backs in particular of small businesses because it is small businesses that create two thirds of the new jobs in this country.
But to do all those things that obviously work -- we've seen it over and over again, to your point -- to do those things that obviously work, guess what? You have to be willing to challenge the system that has been in place for so long that says, No, no, no, we're just going to keep raising taxes, keep rolling back regulations!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: You know what? Ask yourselves a question. Why is the Constitution so important? Because the Constitution tells us what is going to work in this country.
Let me just pick one example, is regulations. We are no longer a rule -- a nation of laws. We are a nation of rules. And ask yourself who are the rule makers? Unaccountable, unelected bureaucrats, nameless, faceless, bureaucrats.
(APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: And that machinery has been in place in Washington, D.C., for 30- plus years, and Republicans and Democrats have not stopped it! This is a guy with the courage and the policies and the platforms and the leadership to stand in the breach and say, Enough, we're rolling it back.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Let me turn to the process questions. I'd rather speak more on substance, but these are important questions. The task you have in front of you to win the nomination is daunting. I'm sure you both read the numbers. The current delegate count is Donald Trump 996. You're in second place, 566. He won 27 contests. You won 11 contests. Marco Rubio's won three. John Kasich has won one.
So really, it has been a two-person race for a long time. That is a big gap to bridge, a big gap for you to bridge delegate-wise. How important is Indiana? Is it a must-win state for you now?
CRUZ: Listen, Indiana is critically important. We have seen -- Donald has had a good week. He won his home state and he won the adjoining states, and the media has treated that with hosannas and great astonishments.
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: Now, of course, the preceding three weeks, we had won five states in a row. We had won starting with Utah...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: ... then North Dakota, then Wisconsin, then Colorado and Wyoming. You know, in those five states -- 1.3 million people voted in those five states, and we won landslide after landslide after landslide.
So listen, it's fine that Donald did well in the Northeast, in the Acela corridor, and he -- where -- he did well there, but we're back in the heartland. And you know, one of the real differences...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton view Indiana as flyover territory. This is not a place they would ever go. In their view, America is New York city and Washington, D.C., and it is the elites and the rich and the powerful.
I think the values of Indiana are the values of America. And it gives me great comfort that this primary is going to be decided by the Midwestern common sense of the Hoosier state. And I don't think they're interested in-- in some bully who yells and screams and doesn't have any real policy solutions.
HANNITY: Let me do a follow-up.
CRUZ: Yes.
HANNITY: For Donald Trump to get to 1,237, for you now to get the nomination, you're going to need a second ballot in a contested convention. You both know that. You understand the rules.
CRUZ: Sure.
HANNITY: You're fighting hard. This is the process. Everybody knew the process going in. 243 is Donald Trump's number to get to 1,237. So my question is -- and I think a lot of people don't understand it.
Do you all understand how this works?
AUDIENCE: Yes!
HANNITY: All right. But there probably are some people here that don't. But for those who don't, explain what the rules are, how the process goes so they will -- so people that don't know understand.
CRUZ: Let me note one thing, that the numbers that are being reported by some of the media outlets...
HANNITY: This is the AP (INAUDIBLE)
CRUZ: OK, and the AP's numbers are bogus because what they've done is they've given all of the unbound delegates in Pennsylvania to Donald Trump. Those delegates are not his. That's just reporters who want to run up his total. If you actually look at the bound delegates, Donald has about 50 fewer...
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: They're unbound on your side, too.
CRUZ: They're unbound, so the media doesn't get to assume that every unbound delegate is...
(CROSSTALK)
HANNITY: I understand. I'm not going to argue.
CRUZ: But here's the simple reality. I believe nobody is going to get to 1,237. Donald Trump is not going to get to 1,237. Nobody is before Cleveland.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: So what's going to happen is simple. We're going to go into Cleveland. I'm going to have a ton of delegates. Donald Trump is going to have a ton of delegates. And then Cleveland, we're going to have a contested convention, and the battle is to see who can earn the support of a majority of the delegates elected by the people.
And the reason that Donald is so desperately trying to get his media acolytes to say This is over, this is over, this is over, is because Donald cannot earn the support of a majority. He wants to change the rules so you don't need a majority.
Listen, if you can't get a support of the majority of delegates, you can't unite this party and you can't win in November!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Let me follow-up on this because this is really important.
(CROSSTALK)
FIORINA: Can I use a really simple analogy? Let me just use a really simple analogy...
HANNITY: Go ahead.
FIORINA: ... because last night was the NFL draft pick, right? And the Indianapolis Colts did pretty well. And here -- you know, in football, the 30-yard line ain't a touchdown.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: The 20-yard line ain't a touchdown. The 5-yard line ain't a touchdown. 1,237 delegates is what it takes to get a touchdown, and this guy's going to get it.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Let me -- you know, I was thinking about this coming in because I remember, early on in the process, you, for example, and Donald Trump -- you guys got along. If you go to social media today, it is Cruz people hate Trump people, Trump people hate Cruz people. And I...
(BOOS)
HANNITY: Well...
FIORINA: There you go.
HANNITY: I'm saying -- you got to read social media. I'm reading it every day. But here's my point. Carly Fiorina was kind of tough on Ted Cruz, and you guys are here united today. So the bigger, broader question is, there's going to be one nominee. It's either going to be you or it's going to be Donald Trump.
I believe if the party is divided, it cannot win and defeat Hillary Clinton. Do you think, for example -- you were pretty tough on him. You were pretty tough on everybody, Carly. Do you think at the end of the day, in spite of differences and a hard-run campaign on all sides, that the Republican Party unites on this mission never Hillary? And how does that happen?
CRUZ: It absolutely...
FIORINA: It will happen if he's our nominee.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: It will happen if he's our nominee.
CRUZ: And that's an important distinction. Listen, Sean, you are absolutely right. We have got to unify the party. If we don't unify the party, we lose.
And you know, you mentioned animosity. Listen, I love the Trump supporters. Many of the Trump supporters have supported me at some point. They are wonderful people who are scared for the direction of this country, who are upset at the corruption of Washington, who are upset at illegal immigration and the lies coming from Washington of people saying that they're going to stop it, and they're upset at seeing jobs going overseas over and over and over again. They're fed up.
And I love the Trump supporters. I am working hard to earn the support of every one of them.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And I also think the Trump supporters -- they're being lied to right now.
(CHEERS)
CRUZ: Donald Trump is playing a confidence game. It's like three-card Monte. He is pretending -- listen, this is John Boehner -- John Boehner's golfing and texting buddy. This is someone who contributed seven times to Hillary Clinton, including twice to her presidential campaign.
Now, can you imagine, Sean, ever being so fevered that you wake up one morning and say, I need to write a check to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign?
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Donald Trump has done that twice. And listen, one of the keys of uniting the party -- listen, Donald is relentlessly personal and nasty and negative, and all he knows how to do is curse and insult. I don't respond in kind. You haven't heard me insulting him personally. I'll talk about policy differences. He thinks Planned Parenthood is wonderful. He agrees with Hillary Clinton on that.
(BOOS)
CRUZ: I intend to instruct the Department of Justice to open an investigation into Planned Parenthood.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Now, that's a policy difference, but it's...
HANNITY: Hold on. I have one more question on unity when we get back, and then we're going to turn it over to this great audience.
We have more with 2016 presidential candidate Texas senator Ted Cruz, his running mate, Carly Fiorina.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Members of the audience -- they're coming up, as well, as "Hannity" on the road continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity," as we come to you live tonight from Indianapolis, Indiana. We have Senator Ted Cruz, his running mate, Carly Fiorina, for the entire hour.
We were talking about unity at the end of the last segment. Maybe I have a crazy idea. I've been talking about it on radio now for the last two weeks. and that is, I look at, from the original 17 people that were running for office -- and I look at the unity you now have made with Carly Fiorina. I like it. I think it's really healthy.
And then I think, OK, John Kasich and Marco Rubio and Governor Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, we have people outside of government like Rudy Giuliani or Newt Gingrich, Nikki Haley -- we have some real, real rock stars, people that have had great records.
One of the things I would hope is that America might be able to see what a potential Republican administration might look like to help solve the problems we have, because our bench is so much deeper. As a conservative who will vote Republican, I want to use those stars because I think our problems need the best and brightest. Do you think that's a possibility?
CRUZ: Absolutely, yes. I'll tell you, it was one of the reasons why I announced Carly as my running mate this week is to illustrate, to show the voters you have a clear choice. This is what the administration will look like. It will be populated by leaders, by principled leaders.
You know, you look at the men and women that stood on that debate stage. It was amazingly talented and diverse and dynamic. You know, Abraham Lincoln assembled a team of rivals. And, you know, there's the old principle in management that A's hire A's and B's hire C's. If you're weak and insecure that you want to surround yourself by weak people -- you know, I don't know if you saw Donald Trump advising teenagers saying surround yourself by people who are incompetent, it will make you look good.
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: That is the worst advice you can possibly give young people.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And I'll tell you what, here's what I'll tell young people. Surround yourself by people who are smarter than you, who know more than you, who are amazing at executing, bring together a team of stars behind a shared vision, a shared policy goal, and then we can work together to bring back jobs in this country, to defend the constitution, defend our freedom and to keep us safe. That's what I intend to do as president.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Carly, I want you to weigh in on this.
(APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: You know, it matters who our nominee is. It matters.
(APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: You don't just get to slap an "R" on your jersey and say I'm a Republican. How long, how long have we as conservative and Republicans said we actually need a real conservative? We need someone who will offer a real contrast.
(APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: So what you heard was leadership 101. But let me say something.
HANNITY: You were a CEO.
FIORINA: That's right. That's how you -- that's how a leader leads. But this is not just a fight for the future of our nation, and it is. It is also a fight for the soul of our party.
(APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: Do we believe in values, in principles, in policies, or do we not? This is a fight worth having, and I am proud to stand next to this man, the man I believe must be our nominee, a great leader, and fight for the soul of our party and the future of our nation.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: When you factor in radical Islam, there is a huge clash of cultures. It's also a clash for civilization itself, because there are people that are scheming and plotting and planning and hoping and praying and believe that if they strap bombs on their own children that -- and kill innocent men, women, and children, that Allah will reward them with 72 virgins. That is also a major threat I hope everybody would unite behind.
FIORINA: Absolutely.
HANNITY: Right?
FIORINA: By the way, that is part of the fight for the future of our nation. Jobs are at stake. Our liberties are at stake. And I don't want to be worried about who someone's going to nominate to the Supreme Court. I'm not going to worry with President Ted Cruz.
(APPLAUSE)
FIORINA: And, yes, our leadership in the world, which is vital to our security here at home, is at stake. There is no doubt.
But if I may, this guy doesn't need a Washington lobbyist to write a foreign policy speech for him that he can give behind a teleprompter. This guy knows what he believes, and he knows what his policies are, and he knows what it takes to keep us safe.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: All right, we have some good news. The question and answer period by me is now over. And we're going to turn it over to this great audience. We are in Indianapolis with Senator Ted Cruz, his vice presidential running mate, Carly Fiorina. "Hannity" on the road live from Indiana, the audience questions; they're coming up straight ahead as we continue.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity" as we continue now with Senator Ted Cruz and vice presidential running mate Carly Fiorina.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: We're going to turn it over to the great people in Indianapolis. And, ma'am, thank you for being with us. What's your name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good evening. My name is Sharon Enright (ph) and I'm from the beautiful little town of Centerville, Indiana, on the eastern side of the state.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Thank you. Your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: About three weeks ago, my husband asked me, who do you want to see as it Ted's running mate? I quickly responded, Carly.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you're our dream team, and congratulations on such a strong team that you're going to make.
CRUZ: Thank you.
HANNITY: When did you know -- do you have a question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
HANNITY: No, OK. I thought --
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: Thank you very much.
HANNITY: When did you know -- because it was a little unconventional. I didn't think the John Kasich thing worked out too well, but, you know, but this was unconventional but it's gotten a very positive response. When did you decide?
CRUZ: Well, listen, it was a long and systemic process. And any serious candidate for president, I mean, you have to -- we're less than 100 days from the convention. You have to be vetting someone who's prepared to step in and do the job. We started with initial list of over 40 people we were looking at. And then we culled that down to 17.
HANNITY: How?
CRUZ: We began vetting those 17 based on public records. We cut that down to a list of five. And I tell you, the final choice I found was very, very easy, because for me I was looking for someone with knowledge who understood how to bring jobs back to this country, where jobs come from, that they don't come from Washington. They come from small business. They come from reducing the burdens of Washington on small business.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: But I was also looking for someone with judgment, someone who's not going to be rash, not going to be hot headed, not going to go off on the latest Twitter storm and do who knows what, but someone who will be levelheaded, someone who will have the maturity, as you were bringing up earlier, to assemble a team, a team of rivals, of strong leaders, of extraordinary principled leaders.
And finally someone with character. And I think character is the most important aspect. You need someone who tells the truth, who is honest and--
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And there are a great many things I respect about Carly. One is her journey from a secretary to being CEO of the largest technology company in the world, to being the first female CEO of a Fortune 20 company. And --
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: That is an amazing story. It really is.
CRUZ: And it's not easy for women fighting in the professional world. Listen, my mom was a pioneer computer programmer in the 1950s. My wife, Heidi, spent two decades in the business world. And I have seen the garbage women put up with in the workplace.
And one of the things I admire about Carly is she stands up to bullies. Bullies want you to fold over and run away.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And Carly is not afraid of bullies. She's not afraid of Donald Trump. She's not afraid of Hillary Clinton. And she's not afraid of Vladimir Putin or the Ayatollah Khomeini. We need strong leaders who aren't afraid of bullies.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Let's go back to another -- hi. How are you? What's your name, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Cruz, my name is Nick Phillips (ph). I'm a junior in college. Now, the Sanders' group, they released a statement saying they would give free college stuff. Now, as a high school student, I have to figure out how to pay for it and everything. So what are your thoughts on his statement, and how do you plan to combat it?
CRUZ: Well, Nick, thank you for being here and thank you for --
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: Thank you for asking that question.
Listen, Bernie is attracting a lot of young people. He's exciting a lot of young people. And there are a number of things behind it. One is young people are fed up with what's going on right now. They're fed up with the corruption in Washington. They're fed up with the lying. And I will give Bernie credit. He is an honest socialist. He actually says what he believes.
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: Now, you know, the standard approach of socialists is to give away free stuff. That's what the Democrats have done a long time is give away free stuff. I'll tell you the simplest rule in economics is there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: If you look at young people right now, if you sat down, tried to design an agenda to hammer the living daylights out of young people, it would harder to come up with a better agenda than the Obama/Clinton economy. Young people right now are coming out of school buried in student loans. I know what that's like. My parents went bankrupt. You're a junior in high school. When I was a junior and senior in high school, my parents went bankrupt.
So when I went to college I had two jobs to help pay my way through. I came out of school with about $100,000 in school loans. I had a mortgage but I didn't have a house.
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: I get exactly what that's like and young people are uneasy, but right now they're coming out of school, they can't find jobs. The problem with Bernie, you give everyone free college. OK, fine, how do you pay for that? You pay for that by jacking up taxing on small businesses across the country, which will mean you'll be young, you'll get free college, and you'll have even fewer job opportunities than you have now.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: So the answer that I want to see for young people is we're going to reduce the regulations, we're going to repeal Obamacare, we're going to pass a flat tax, we're going to reduce the burdens on small businesses so that, Nick, when you come out of college, you're going to experience something that has been the case for most of the history of America except the last seven years. You're going to come out of school and you're going to have two or three or even four or five job offers. You're going to call your parents and say, mom, you can't believe it, I can do this or I can do this or I can do this, what direction do I want to go? That's the best answer for young people, is lift the burdens on small businesses so the economy explodes so you have a bright future. That's what this election's all about.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Thank you very much. It would be nice if kids graduated college and don't have to move back home with mom and dad in their basement. We'll take a break. We'll come back. More questions from the audience as we continue with Texas Senator Ted Cruz, his running mate Carly Fiorina. HANNITY on the road in Indianapolis, Indiana, will continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity" as we continue for the entire hour. We're in Indianapolis, Indiana with Senator Ted Cruz and Carly Fiorina. Dan we have a wonderful --
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: Hi.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.
HANNITY: How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just fine.
HANNITY: Thank you for joining us. What's your name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Cindy Awad (ph).
HANNITY: And your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm from Brownsburg, Indiana.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I'm originally from Texas, so my heart is with you in Texas. I've already voted for you in the early primary voting.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's a pleasure to speak with you. And my question is, what will you do on your first day in office as president?
CRUZ: Cindy, thank you for that question. I've pledged to do five things on the first day in office. The first thing I intend to do in office is to rescind every single illegal and unconstitutional executive action that Barack Obama made.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: We're a nation of rule of law and we need to follow the laws.
The second thing I intend to do is instruct the Department of Justice to open an investigation into Planned Parenthood and to prosecute any and all criminal violations.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: The third thing I intend to do on the first day is instruct every federal agency in the federal government the persecution of religious liberty ends that day.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: The fourth thing I intend to do is rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And the fifth thing I intend to do is begin the process of moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the once and eternal capital.
(APPLAUSE)
CRUZ: And I'll tell you, Cindy, in the days that follow, I'm going to instruct the department of education that Common Core ends today.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: We have about 30 seconds left. Vice presidents take on different roles in administrations. If you become the president, how big a role will Carly have?
CRUZ: Carly will have an integral role. And I'll tell you, that was a big part of our conversation. When I talked to Carly, one of the things she said is she said I'm not good at going to funerals, I'm not good at cutting ribbons.
(LAUGHTER)
CRUZ: And I said who in their right mind would want a vice president who is anything other than an active and engaged partner helping to lead the effort to turn the country around, and I am looking forward to working hand in hand with Carly to make that happen.
HANNITY: We've got to take a break. But we're going to have more "Hannity" coming up as we continue from beautiful Indianapolis, Indiana. "Hannity" on the road continues straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HANNITY: Welcome back to "Hannity." Unfortunately that is all the time we have left. I want to say thank you to Senator Cruz, thank you to Carly Fiorina. Give them a big hand. Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
HANNITY: We're out of time for tonight. Thanks to all of you for being with us. Have a great weekend. We'll see you back here Monday.
END
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