Cruz reacts to Boehner's attacks: 'I don't know the guy'
GOP candidate responds to former House speaker calling him 'Lucifer in the flesh,' talks his path to the nomination on 'The Kelly File'
This is a rush transcript from "The Kelly File," April 28, 2016. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
MEGYN KELLY, HOST, "THE KELLY FILE": Breaking tonight, presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz firing back after taking a big hit from one of the best-known Republicans in the country.
Welcome to "The Kelly File," everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly. Just hours after Senator Cruz declared that Carly Fiorina would be his running mate, former House Speaker John Boehner single-handedly managed to upstage the Fiorina news with a very blunt interview at Stanford University. A no holds barred when it came to Boehner's former Congressional colleague. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PROFESSOR DAVID KENNEDY: How about saying your opinions on some of the other people running for the highest people in the land? How about Ted Cruz?
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, R-OHIO, FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Lucifer in the flesh.
(LAUGHTER)
(APPLAUSE)
I have a, I have a great opinion along with almost everyone. I, I in Washington I have as many Democrat friends as I have Republican friends. I got along with almost everybody. But I have never worked with a more miserable son of a (bleep) in my life.
(APPLAUSE)
Over my dead body will he be president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: It is no secret that Speaker Boehner and Senator Cruz had their clashes on Capitol Hill, but that did not stop this headline from becoming the top story in the country today. And tonight we have Republican presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz here to respond to that among other things. Senator, great to see you. Thanks for being here.
SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Megyn, it's always a pleasure to be with you.
KELLY: What do you make of Lucifer in the flesh? He's never worked with a more miserable son of a "b" and over his dead body will you be president?
CRUZ: Well, you know, I think that reveals everything that's wrong with Washington. Let's start with a little bit of facts. He claims he's never worked with anyone more miserable. I don't know John Boehner. He and I have never worked together. I've probably met him two, three, four times in my life. I'd be surprised if we've said 50 words to each other and everything we've ever said has been empty pleasantries, good to see you, Mr. Speaker. So, his claim that he's never worked with anyone more unpleasant, we've never worked together. In fact, during the government shutdown, I reached out and offered for Mike Lee and me to go over and sit down with the speaker and the majority leader and the response I got was, no interest.
There's no point in talking. We have nothing to say to you. So I don't know the guy. But you know what was striking, Megyn, in that same interview, Boehner reveals that he is texting and golfing buddies with Donald Trump. He thinks Donald Trump is terrific. He also praised Hillary Clinton. If you want to see what is wrong with the corruption in Washington with the Washington establishment and the system, John Boehner and Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, they're all part of the same problem.
And the reason John Boehner so unhappy --
KELLY: I mean, they would argue that's you bond a little, you go out on the links. I don't know what I'm talking about. Links, that's what you do. And you bond. And that's how you get deals done.
CRUZ: Well, and there's a reason that Donald Trump gave $100,000 to John Boehner's Super PAC that he texts back and forth with the speaker, that they're golfing buddies. If you think John Boehner is the kind of leader you want in the Republican Party, then Donald Trump is your guy. If you think Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi are good leaders in Congress, then Donald Trump is your guy because Donald Trump has given big checks to Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton.
KELLY: Let me switch gears with you.
CRUZ: And you know what I find interesting real quickly, is that Donald is trying very hard and the media is trying very hard to paint him as somehow standing up to the system. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton and John Boehner are the system.
KELLY: Got it.
CRUZ: And the reason John Boehner is mad at me is that I stood with the people who elected me and led the fight to repeal ObamaCare, to stop amnesty, to stop the debt. And there is nothing Washington hates more than-- it's not just that.
KELLY: I want to shift gears. That's enough time on John Boehner.
CRUZ: He doesn't like being held accountable by the voters.
KELLY: With all due to Mr. Boehner, we're giving him too much time. I want to talk about Carly Fiorina.
CRUZ: Absolutely.
KELLY: Because she is beloved by many Republicans, and yet a lot of people yesterday said, well, this is just a stunt. He's 400 delegates away from securing the nomination. Trump is way ahead of him in the popular vote, three million or so. What's he doing naming a running mate? What's your answer?
CRUZ: Well, listen, number one, Carly is fantastic. She's a strong leader. It illustrates the kind of team that will be in the administration if I'm elected president. But number two, this is an unusual year by any measure, and this nomination, naming her as my VP nominee, ensures that we have a clear choice in this election between Carly and me on the one side, a positive, optimistic, conservative, forward-looking campaign with real policy solutions to bring jobs back to America, to raise wages, to bring manufacturing jobs back to America, to defend the constitution and bill of rights and keep us safe versus on the other hand Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton which are flip sides of the same coin.
They are both the Washington establishment. They're both the system. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton agree on Planned Parenthood. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton agree in many respects on ObamaCare. They agree on being neutral between Israel and the Palestinians. And the contrast the voters in Indiana and going forward deserve a clear choice between Carly and me on the one hand, a positive, optimistic, conservative campaign, and Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both of whom have gotten rich buying and selling influence in Washington, D.C.
KELLY: He denies that. But just for the record, he denies that he's for ObamaCare. He says he's very against it and so on. But I want to ask you about the delegate count because --
CRUZ: But let's be clear, Megyn. Megyn, hold on, hold on! Facts matter.
KELLY: I don't want to talk about ObamaCare.
(CROSSTAK)
He just for the record, he denies that, he says he's against ObamaCare and he wants to repeal it.
CRUZ: Megyn true or false, he said repeatedly he supports the individual mandate in ObamaCare.
KELLY: He said it once to Anderson Cooper and then he came and he took it back.
CRUZ: Okay, so that is a fact. That is a fact.
KELLY: Okay.
CRUZ: That is true. True or false, he said that the government should provide health care for everyone?
KELLY: He said that agreed.
CRUZ: I mean, facts matter.
KELLY: He said that to Scott Pelley, I got you. I got you. Listen, I'm just trying to -- just for the record --
(CROSSTALK)
CRUZ: The facts matter and we can't just dismiss it. Well, he says it's not true. Well, he said it multiple times on television looking in the camera.
KELLY: I got it. I got it. He said the government is going to pay for it. He wants to take care of everyone and the government is going to pay for it.
CRUZ: Okay. Now, that's the truth.
KELLY: I'm just saying he said, he doesn't want Obamacare.
CRUZ: But you know what Megyn, he'll say you're lying for repeating what he's saying.
KELLY: Okay. Let me ask you this.
CRUZ: But he wants to expand it. He doesn't like it because he thinks it doesn't go far enough.
KELLY: Okay.
CRUZ: I don't like it.
KELLY: I got it. I got your point.
CRUZ: I'm going to repeal every word of it as president.
KELLY: He likes some form of government health care is your point, whatever it's called.
CRUZ: He likes massive government health care. He invokes Scotland and Canada. And ObamaCare is the biggest job killer in America, if you're a small business owner, Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are both going to increase the burdens on you. I'm going to repeal every word of it. And that's why we need a clear contrast. Donald Trump and Hillary are both pretending to be something they're not.
KELLY: You mentioned that. I'm trying to ask you -- I'm trying to ask you about something that is concerning to your supporters. Your supporters who understand how important Indiana is to your campaign.
CRUZ: Yes.
KELLY: But the polls are showing that people, some 65 percent of Republicans, even people who support Ted Cruz, believe the person who enters the convention with the most delegates and the most votes should likely emerge as the nominee, even if it takes, you know, even if he doesn't have a majority. And right now as I mentioned he has got 400 more delegates than you do, he's got 3.2 million more votes -- popular votes than you do. He won 27 states. You won 11. So, given that, how could you possibly unite this party coming out of a contested convention?
CRUZ: Well, let me answer it a couple of ways. Number one, nobody is going to get to 1237. Donald is not getting there. I'm not getting there. Donald can't get there. It's why he's so desperately trying to convince everyone the race is over because he know --
KELLY: He can get there if he wins in Indiana and does very well in California.
CRUZ: But he's not going to. He is not going to. And he's not going to get to 1237. And even when folks try to do all sorts of math he falls short. And we're going to a contested convention. And listen, the poll you cited, of course people say yes to that poll. If you called someone up and says, should the person with the most votes win? Anyone goes, duh, yes. How about asking the question that is really the relevant question. Should you have to earn a majority to be the nominee?
KELLY: Yes. That's a fair point.
CRUZ: I agree 60 to 70 percent will say yes to that as well. I mean, that's a poll question that's rigged. The Trumpsters pushes it out there because it suggests, I mean, if you ask anyone, should the person with the most votes win? Of course. But his argument is, he should be the nominee even though he can't win a majority. And let me tell you, we are headed to Cleveland. There will be a contested convention. Donald Trump won't get to 1237. And when that happens, the highest vote total Trump ever has will be the first vote total.
He will go steadily down. And I believe what we're seeing is the Republican Party uniting and Megyn that's one of the reasons people are so excited with my name and Carly as my VP. Because Carly is an incredible -- has an incredible ability to unify and bring this party together. It's why five of the 17 Republican candidates who started have endorsed my campaign including Carly, including Scott Walker and Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham and Rick Perry. We are uniting the party. And we got to stand on something --
KELLY: But how can you say that? Because the critics say you're not uniting them. When they look at what happened on Tuesday. You lost five states, didn't even get 25 percent of the vote. I know it was the northeast, I know that wasn't a Ted Cruz tailor made election. But your critics say, Donald Trump may not be uniting them, given Never Trump and so on, but nor are you.
CRUZ: Well, Megyn, listen, Donald won his home state and he won several states that immediately are right next to his home state. That's terrific. He did well in the northeast. What I can tell you is right before that, we won five states in a row, five states in a row one after the other after the other from Utah to North Dakota to Wisconsin to Colorado to Wyoming.
KELLY: How confident are you in Indiana? How confident are you in Indiana?
CRUZ: I hope we will do well. We're campaigning and barnstorming. And we're working to earn the votes. Listen, I will say this. I have a great deal of confidence in the Midwestern good sense and good judgment of the Hoosiers state. And the people of Indiana are deciding, do we want to nominate a campaign that is based on yelling, screaming and cursing and insults? Or do we want a campaign with real solutions? You know it's been 48 days since the last Republican debate? I think the people of Indiana deserve a debate. And by the way, today Donald Trump gave a speech once again screaming that I'm a liar because I did what you did earlier on the show. I actually pointed out his real record and what he says. And when you do that, when you tell the truth about Donald, he calls you a liar.
KELLY: Okay.
CRUZ: Donald, I've got a great idea. Let's have a debate in Indiana. And let's talk about what you believe and what I believe and in particular solutions to bring jobs back to America. I've got a real economic agenda to bring manufacturing jobs back to Indiana, to raise wages. Donald doesn't know how to solve these problems, which is why he's unwilling to debate.
KELLY: I have to leave it there, Senator.
CRUZ: By the way, we have a new website, it's CruzCarly.com. CruzCarly.com. CruzCarly.com.
KELLY: It's great to see you. Thanks for being here, Senator Cruz.
CRUZ: Always a pleasure, Megyn. Thank you.
KELLY: Well, coming up. A well-known magazine just published a controversial profile of Donald Trump's wife Melania Trump. And now she is firing back. Howie Kurtz on one of the first big fights from Melania.
Plus, ever since North Carolina passed the so-called bathroom law, protesters have slammed the state for what they call discrimination against transgender people. Tonight, the governor of North Carolina joins us live to respond to the critics.
KELLY: And then a must-see first for "The Kelly File." Anderson Cooper of CNN joins us for a revealing conversation about family and fame and more. Don't miss this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Do you feel like looking back on your 48 years so far, it's been a charmed life? It's been a cursed life?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Breaking tonight, we are getting video just back from Trump Tower here in New York where emergency responders have been called for some sort of suspicious substance. Trace Gallagher is at the breaking news desk with the very latest in what we're learning. Trace.
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Megyn, the call came in about an hour and ten minutes ago. This is on Fifth Avenue, the high-rise Donald Trump, Trump Towers of course where his campaign office is. They found white powder. We see video right here from outside the building. White powder, unclear exactly where they found it in the building because the Police Department is not confirming that. A local report says it was found in the mail room. But now six people including a New York police officer have been isolated because in some capacity they were exposed to this suspicious white powder.
You can see a lot of people on scene right there. Donald Trump is not in New York. In fact, Trump is here in California. He speaks in about 45 minutes in Orange County. He won't be back in New York tomorrow either because he speaks at the GOP convention here in the state. Again, suspicious white powder found at Trump Tower where the campaign offices are on Fifth Avenue, unclear exactly what it is. In the process of being tested and the people have been isolated to make sure they are okay as we
get more information on this, Megyn, we will get back to you.
KELLY: Trace, thank you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELANIA TRUMP, WIFE OF DONALD TRUMP: He's a fighter, and if you elect him to be your president, he will fight for you and for our country. He will work for you and with you, and together we will make America strong and great again. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Well, Melania Trump usually gets a warm welcome from her husband's supporters out on the campaign trail, but today she got a harsh lesson in the downside of the political spotlight. GQ Magazine publishing a controversial profile on Mrs. Trump that included some very personal details about her life from cosmetic procedures to revelations of a secret half-brother. And now she is firing back saying in part, quote, "There are numerous inaccuracies in this article including certain statements about my family and claims some personal matters." The author of the article is standing by her reporting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The piece went through thorough fact checking. It was also vetted by GQ's legal team. The things that -- I think what she's alluding to is the fact that we found her half-brother from -- her father impregnated another woman before he met her mother. And she has a half- brother living in Slovenia that she didn't know about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Joining me now with more Fox News "MediaBuzz" host Howard Kurtz. Howie, good to see you. So was this a fair piece or not a fair piece?
HOWARD KURTZ, FOX NEWS HOST, "MEDIABUZZ": Another Trump disgusted by the media. Well, Melania has a point. I mean, why on earth is it necessary to publish a piece about Melanie's father back in Slovenia, back in 1965, back before he met Melania's mother, getting involved in a paternity lawsuit and having to pay child suit support to a son who everyone agrees Melania never met. What does this have to do with the potential first lady or with Donald Trump?
KELLY: Why do we care? Why do we care? How does this relate to the vote in 2016?
KURTZ: Exactly. I mean, it's an invasion of privacy. She asked the magazine not to publish it. The dad is hardly a public figure. And it feels like an attempt to get a busy headline. But you know Megyn, this piece kind of wreaks of condescension. There's the $100,000 Dior wedding dress that the laborers --
KELLY: That piece didn't bother me. That's what her wedding dress cost. They had a fancy wedding. So what? It's a vision into the lifestyles of the rich and famous.
KURTZ: Okay. But then we have the supposed friend, blind quote, saying she is not a bimbo, but she's not especially clever.
KELLY: There you go. Now, the author of this piece makes the decision on whether or not to include a line like that. Go ahead.
KURTZ: With nobody's name attached. But there was some investigative reporting in the piece into whether or not Melania had had a boob job. Which she denies. So, we've gone from the size of the hands --
KELLY: Glad we have that figured out.
KURTZ: Yes.
KELLY: Glad we have that figured out.
And the other thing is, you know, I was reading the thing. I want to give the author the benefit of the doubt because, you know, the media especially in articles, they try to be more provocative a piece like this, GQ, they try to sort of be a little titillating. But man, it's clear because she talks about how when he met her he was 52, she was 28. A tall, shy brunette whose face had yet to acquire the taut plasticine squint that makes it looks as if cameras are forever catching her a second before a sneeze. I mean, wow. You walk away thinking that the author does not like Melania Trump and we should not know that if that is how she feels.
KURTZ: Right. I mean, there was some, a lot of reporting in this, but I think here's the bottom-line which is Melania Trump who I've met a couple of times is somebody who is a mom, who has a traditional role in a traditional family who doesn't like the spotlight and doesn't particularly want to talk publicly about politics. And for that, this Manhattan elite magazine kind of portrayed her as a trophy wife with not much to offer and that he came back to me --
KELLY: That's exactly what the New York Times actually called her, Howie.
KURTZ: Yes.
KELLY: Months ago, the New York Times actually called her a trophy wife and called her a mannequin, given her successful career as a model. I mean, apparently, you know, I just have to wonder whether a piece like this had been written by a woman married to a Democrat with liberal stripes would have been accepted without question by so many.
KURTZ: Well, I don't want to impugn the author's motives but I will say I wonder if it hadn't been written about Donald Trump's wife or somebody who was more part of the political establishment, whether or not this kind of negative and frankly snarky tone would have been allowed to permeate this piece of journalism.
KELLY: Uh-hm. The blind quotes are a problem, and, you know, note to Melania Trump, don't sit for an interview if you can't get the writer to agree not to use blind quotes against you. Because that's dirty pool. There you go. That is free advice. No charge.
KURTZ: Good journalistic advice.
KELLY: She doesn't need my money. All right. Great to see you, Howie.
KURTZ: My pleasure.
KELLY: I could use some of theirs. I mean, who couldn't?
(LAUGHTER)
KELLY: We are continuing to track this breaking news here about the emergency responders at trump Tower. This is not the first time this has happened. I believe this happened a couple of few weeks ago involving one of Trump's sons. Reports of a suspicious substance at Trump Tower here in New York City. We're following it.
Plus, we have new details tonight on what happened when a man in an animal costume showed up at a TV station claiming to have a bomb. That's ahead.
And then Anderson Cooper is here on "The Kelly File" set next talking 2016, the rumors about a possible new job, and the powerful, compelling documentary and book about his famous mother and himself, next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When you were born, I was sure it was going to be a girl.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: You really wanted a girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh! I was meant to have daughters.
COOPER: I won't take it personally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Welcome back to "The Kelly File" and an interview we've been wanting to do for a while. Over the last 12 months of campaign coverage, there have been more than 20 sanctioned political debates, dozens of political town halls and a countless number of candidate interviews. While all the best ones have been on the FOX News Channel and obviously "The Kelly File," one other political journalist has managed to hold his own from time to time. And here are a couple of his more memorable exchanges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, R-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I thought it was a nice picture of Heidi. I thought it was fine.
COOPER: Come on.
TRUMP: I didn't start it. I didn't start it.
COOPER: Sir, with all due respect, that's the argument of a five-year-old.
TRUMP: I didn't start it.
COOPER: Yes. The argument of a five-year-old is he started it.
HILLARY CLINTON, D-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I made speeches to lots of groups. I told them what I thought. I answered questions.
COOPER: But did you have to be paid $675,000?
CLINTON: Well, I don't know. That's what they offered so --
CRUZ: Let's be clear. How many hours of free media does CNN and Fox and every other station you let them call in and for a year --
COOPER: Well, I've got to say we've asked you for interviews pretty much every day and you've declined every offer on my program.
CRUZ: Well, Anderson, I'm right here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KELLY: Joining me tonight for the first time, Anderson Cooper. He's the host of "ANDERSON COOPER 360" on CNN star of the new documentary "Nothing Left Unsaid" and co-author of the New York Times number one bestseller, "The Rainbow Comes and Goes: A Mother and Son on Life, Loss and Love." Great to see you, Anderson.
COOPER: Great to be here. Thanks for having us.
KELLY: Congratulations on the success of the book, number one New York Times.
COOPER: Yes. It debuted at number one. My mom is thrilled.
KELLY: Amazing.
COOPER: Yes. It's incredible. We invited Senator Cruz on last night. Didn't come either.
KELLY: He's coming here on "The Kelly File" tonight.
COOPER: I'm sure. I'm sure.
KELLY: I'll ask him some questions for you.
COOPER: Okay.
KELLY: I watched the documentary. And was riveted and was really moved by it. And my own take on it was, in a way it's a love letter to your mom.
COOPER: Yes.
KELLY: I mean, it's you getting to know her and helping us get to know her. And through that experience we get to know you, too.
COOPER: Yes. You know, my dad died when I was 10, and I always had this fantasy growing up that he'd wrote me a letter and maybe that letter would show up when I turned 18, when I turned 21, he would tell me all about, you know, about his life, and what he wanted for my life. And of course there wasn't any letter. It turns out my mom had the exact same fantasy about her father because her father died when she was 15 months old. And I realized when my mom turned 91, I didn't want to have that fantasy about my mom when she's no longer here. So we started doing this project together of e-mailing each other and just me asking her questions, her asking me questions, and getting to know each other in a new way. And that's what the book is. The book comes and goes. And the documentary is sort of a representation of that as well.
KELLY: She's had such an incredible life. I mean, you go, obviously
Anderson is a Vanderbilt.
COOPER: I consider myself a Cooper.
KELLY: Right. Right. But you've got it in the blood.
COOPER: Yes.
KELLY: And it goes through just how she was obviously born into a very wealthy family and shuffled around. She really didn't have parents. She was pulled from the only real parents she ever knew which was her nanny, her nurse.
COOPER: Right.
KELLY: And, you know, an abusive marriage and tumultuous divorces. And then came the loss of her husband, your dad.
COOPER: Right.
KELLY: And ultimately the loss of her son, your brother.
COOPER: Yes. Yes. My brother committed suicide in front of her when he was 23 and I was 21. But, you know, she has this incredible resilience. And I think that's one of the things that really comes out in the book and the film is that, you know, she has this drive and determination to survive. And she's not a tough person, but she's very strong. And I think there's a big difference. You know, she's incredibly vulnerable but she remains the most optimistic person I know. Despite all the thing that have happened to her, she still thinks the next great love is right around the corner at 92.
KELLY: You...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Which I find the idea is exhausting.
KELLY: But she's known a lot of people.
COOPER: Yes.
KELLY: She's been open about that.
COOPER: Yes. Very open about that.
KELLY: Frank Sinatra among them.
COOPER: Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Howard Hughes.
KELLY: But, yes. I've heard of them. But you also are very, you lay yourself bare in the documentary and in the book. And what's clear in learning more about you is that the death of your brother, in particular, seemed to send you into a spiral for a time.
COOPER: Yes.
KELLY: You were all over the place.
COOPER: It really propelled me into the world, and propelled me, and particularly to start going to combat zones and wars and places -- I was interested in survival and why some people survive, why two brothers growing up in the same family with the same circumstances, one survives and one doesn't.
And I started out of college I made a fake press pass, so I borrow a camera, I just started going to wars by myself and that's how I became a reporter.
KELLY: You were working something out there.
COOPER: I was. I wanted to be around places where the language of loss was spoken. You know, when you're grieving, it sometimes it's not so many people here and talk about that much.
And I found it in an odd way not comforting but understandable to be in places is where life and death was very much an issue. And where I could learn about how to survive.
KELLY: Talk about Carter. He was only a couple of years older than you were.
COOPER: Yes.
KELLY: And his terrible death and you go through it in detail, what happened that day. He seemed to be for the most part all right until -- but like a few months before he started acting out emotionally.
But did you ever wonder, since you also felt OK, do you wonder that what was inside of him that made him make that terrible decision that day is in you?
COOPER: Yes. You know, first of all, with the suicide, that's the thing, you often don't know what was in somebody's head or in their heart. And I in my -- I don't know that it was sort of a decision he made as more of an impulse that he couldn't stop.
But certainly, you know, look, studies have shown that if somebody commits suicide or dies by suicide in a family, you know, their relatives are more likely to -- someone else in the family is more likely to die that way as well.
So, I certainly had those concerns. And, you know, I think part of, you know, when my dad died when I was a kid, you know, I started setting about sort of a course of study on how to survive.
I started taking survival courses in the wilderness. I started, you know, left high school early, I rode in a truck across sub-Saharan Africa. You know, I was doing things just to sort of prepare myself to take care of myself. And I've been, you know, doing that for a very long time.
KELLY: Do you, obviously you were born into a wealthy family and had a loving mother although the relationship has been complicated. It's gotten great.
COOPER: Yes.
KELLY: Do you feel like looking back on your 48 years so far, it's been a charmed life, it's been a cursed life?
COOPER: Oh, no.
KELLY: Some place in between?
COOPER: I mean, I have a blessed life. I mean, look, you know, yes, I was born into a, you know, a great zip code and into a family with two parents who, you know, gave me a great sense of value in myself. And though, you know, there have been tragedies that have occurred, the death of my dad and my brother, you know, I wouldn't trade my life for anything.
You know, I think I feel just as you probably feel blessed to work in the profession that we work in and to be able to tell other people's stories and learn new stuff every single day, and ride the breaking wave of history and see things for ourselves.
KELLY: You know, I think it's interesting. You lost your dad when you were 10.
COOPER: Right.
KELLY: To heart disease.
COOPER: Right.
KELLY: You know, Savannah Guthrie of NBC News lost her dad when she was 16 years old.
COOPER: I didn't know that.
KELLY: Similar circumstances. I lost my dad to a heart attack when I was 15.
COOPER: I didn't know that either.
KELLY: Don't you think it's interesting that those three kids wound up in prominent positions in television news?
COOPER: Yes. Mary Gordon a writer my mom quotes in the book said, a fatherless girl -- she was talking about herself, but I think it applies to boys as well. A fatherless girl thinks all things possible, and nothing is safe.
And I think for any child when you lose a parent early on it does change the way you see the world. And it does make the world seem a very unsafe place. But also anything is possible.
Good things as well as terrible things. And I think for me certainly, it gave me a sense of anything is possible; there are limitless possibilities if you just work incredibly hard.
KELLY: Do you think we're looking to fill a void that is unfillable?
COOPER: I certainly think I'm never content. And I think it's something -- I realize one of the things in writing this book with my mom and sort of learning about my mom, I realize I'm following a pattern that she followed as well, which is this pattern of having this drive but nothing ever really makes you content.
You know, you want a house and the white picket fence. But when you have it, it's still not enough. And I think that's common for people who have lost at least one parent early on.
KELLY: Let's talk about the election. It's been such a crazy season.
COOPER: You think?
KELLY: Yes.
COOPER: Really?
KELLY: Yes. I saw. I've heard.
COOPER: Yes. Maybe a little crazier for you than for me.
KELLY: What was -- looking back so far, what's the moment that you were involved in that -- I know what mine was. What was your moment that stands out so -- that stands out in your mind looking back on the past 12 months?
COOPER: Oh, wow. Well, look, I think, first of all, that first debate you did, I mean, for everybody who was watching was just a remarkable moment. And, look, I give you great props for, you know, the dignity with which you have handled this and the strength which you have shown and asking completely legitimate questions both in that debate and sense.
KELLY: Thank you. But what do you think, you know, Campbell Brown has an interesting piece out right now.
COOPER: Right.
KELLY: Formerly of CNN.
COOPER: Yes.
KELLY: And NBC News, you know, laying into the media. I've made remarks on this publicly myself about the saturation of Trump coverage. And this is not to say that the media had any obligation to stop any particular candidate. It's just obviously you've heard the criticism.
COOPER: Sure.
KELLY: Of CNN, of Fox, of many other outlets that it's been just saturation.
COOPER: Yes.
KELLY: What do you think of that?
COOPER: Look, I think anytime you have a person who's as compelling as Donald Trump who is a new candidate, who hasn't been involved in the process, you know, there was the same criticism about overcoverage of Hillary Clinton or overcoverage of then-Senator Barack Obama or...
KELLY: Do you think it compares? I mean, the Trump coverage seems to be something special.
COOPER: I don't know. I mean, I haven't seen the direct analysis of it. But I think that Donald Trump is a candidate unlike any we've seen and he's new to the process and so well-known. But also, he did show up for interviews and he did return phone calls.
KELLY: You seriously tell me that you invited Ted Cruz on as much as you invited Trump on?
COOPER: We have invited Ted Cruz -- we had standing invitations out to Ted Cruz all the time. Never once did he sit down for an interview, not until we did -- I did a town hall with him. That's the first time I had ever talked to Ted Cruz.
KELLY: I want to ask you a question. You have an amazing career and you've traveled the globe and you're doing great reporting for CNN. But there is a question about whether you're going to be taking a walk over to go sit next to your friend Kelly Ripa.
COOPER: I haven't heard that question.
KELLY: On live with now I guess with Kelly and Anderson"? Is that true?
COOPER: Nothing. Nobody has talked to me. I haven't heard about that. I love Kelly Ripa. Everybody know she is a great friend of mine.
KELLY: Is that something you'd be interested in, because you have that fun side. You did a talk show, like you're not always the street news man.
COOPER: Look, I like learning new stuff every single day. But I'm very happy at CNN. I'm not going anywhere. I mean, I love CN, and, look, I mean, I'm always open to new opportunities, as are you, from what I hear.
KELLY: Well, Bill O'Reilly wanted me to ask you because he's hoping you're leaving the 8:00 time slot.
COOPER: I was that right. I was that right. Well, I think he's doing just fine. I don't think he's too worried, but...
KELLY: Thanks so much for being here.
COOPER: Thank you.
KELLY: Good luck with the boo. Good luck with the -- the documentary it's riveting. It's on HBO. It's going to be on CNN as well. Definitely check it out.
COOPER: Thanks so much. I appreciate it.
KELLY: He's a class act.
Well, we have new details tonight on a showdown at a Baltimore TV station where a man disguised in an animal costume was claiming to have a bomb.
Plus, after four weeks of protests over the so-called bathroom law, the governor of North Carolina joins us live tonight to respond to claims that his state has legitimized and legalized discrimination.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The USA is watching North Carolina, and we don't need Bruce Springsteen to come here and tell us how to operate our country!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Government of (Inaudible), this bill does not represent equality for all mankind!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: Well, a little over a month ago, North Carolina enacted the so- called 'bathroom law' which critics were quick to call discrimination against transgender people.
Demonstrators descended on the state capitol. Companies like PayPal called off plan expansions. Some celebrities canceled appearances and then politicians weighed in.
In moments, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory is here to respond to some of these folks. But first, Trace Gallagher is live in our West Coast newsroom to explain what caused the uproar. Trace?
TRACE GALLAGHER, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Megyn, when the City of Charlotte passed an ordinance allowing transgender people to use the restrooms and changing rooms of whichever gender they identify with, the State of North Carolina rushed to stop it.
The legislature controlled by republicans was called in special session and in one day HB-2 or the Bathroom Bill passed both houses and was signed by the governor.
Supporters of the law say it prevents men who may be sexual offenders from pretending to be a woman and entering a woman's restroom or changing room. Opponents call HB-2 discriminatory saying, there are no known instances of predators dressing up as women and committed sex crimes.
So far, the state has taken a financial hit from the loss of conventions and concerts like Bruce Springsteen and Pearl Jam. Others stars like Jimmy Buffet who opposes HB-2 decided to perform anyway.
American Airlines and Bank of America want the law repealed and PayPal even canceled a North Carolina expansion project, although PayPal makes no mention of doing business in dozens of countries where homosexuality is illegal in some cases, punishable by death.
In the presidential race, Ted Cruz supports the law, Donald Trump first opposed it, then backtracked. Here's both.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think that local communities and states should make the decision, and I feel very strongly about that. The federal government should not be involved.
CRUZ: If Donald Trump dresses up as Hillary Clinton; he still can't use the girls' restroom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GALLAGHER: And because there's of the controversy, some top North Carolina GOP state lawmakers are now proposing to let voters decide if the law lives or dies.
KELLY: Trace, thank you. Joining me now, North Carolina Governor, Pat McCrory. Governor, thank you so much for being here. So, let's start with this.
PAT MCCRORY, NORTH CAROLINA GOVERNOR: Thanks.
KELLY: What was the fear that led to the enactment of this law?
MCCRORY: Let me just correct the introduction story. The Charlotte ordinance was a mandate on all private businesses that have public facilities to require them to allow gender identification as the tool on which restroom an individual should use.
So, basically what we did in the State of North Carolina was overturn a local mandate on private businesses. I do not want government to be able to tell private businesses what their bathroom policy should be.
I have no desire to be the bathroom police for private business. So, one of the great misinterpretations from the New York Times and the Huffington Post and others, is that we passed a bathroom law on private businesses. It's just the opposite. We reversed the bathroom law.
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: But with respect to government businesses -- but with respect to government businesses you have passed a law that requires people to use the gender that aligns with their biological gender at birth.
MCCRORY: That's correct. With regards to rest stops on the highway, with regards to universities, with regard to high schools and junior highs and elementary schools, we do require the...
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: But why? What was the concern specifically? What was the evidence that led you to believe this was a problem?
MCCRORY: It was a -- it was a respect for privacy. It was an expectation of privacy that individuals have, especially our youth have when they go into a locker room, a shower or a restroom. They expect only people of their gender to be there in that shower, locker room or restroom.
KELLY: Let me just ask you about that.
MCCRORY: It's a tradition that we've had for many years.
KELLY: Let's me ask you that. Locker room, let's take locker room and dressing room out of it for now. Let's talk about bathroom for a second.
MCCRORY: That's a part of it, though.
KELLY: I know. But a law can be drafted narrowly or broadly.
MCCRORY: Right.
KELLY: And this one encompasses all three. And so, I want to ask you about bathrooms because I've been in women's bathrooms my whole life. And we don't have the urinal situation. We've got like the stalls.
And we get to go in, we go to do our business and like we don't -- it's not-- we don't see each other. So, why are you concerned about, you know, young girls exposing themselves or seeing somebody else exposed in a woman's bathroom?
MCCRORY: Well, first of all, I can't believe we're talking about this. This is not an issue that I started. This is an issue that the left started, not the right. And it's not just women's bathroom, it's boys' bathrooms.
In fact, the Obama administration now is putting requirements on state -- on federal money given to states that they also have to have this gender identification requirement for our schools. And this case is being tested in Virginia and Illinois. And I just think we...
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: If you could just get back to my question, though.
MCCRORY: What we ought -- what we ought to do is for those people have these unique gender identification issues, which I empathize with, we ought to allow the schools to make special arrangements for those people.
But to all of a sudden change the basic commonsense rules that we've had in our restrooms at our rest stops, at our schools especially at our universities, this is the way we've been doing it for years. And I think it's common sense.
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: The schools I know is an issue, too. Because it's children and maybe the parents haven't had that talk yet. But the public restrooms that, you know, are provided in public places, they are maintained by the state, the question that many have is, what is your fear?
Because as you know, there is a misconception that transgendered are somehow molesters or more -- and they're not. That's not true.
MCCRORY: I don't use that term.
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: You know, typically, male molesters are heterosexual and if they want to sneak into a bathroom they'll do it. But 90 percent of the cases of molestation happen with someone you know. So, what is the fear about the transgender situation and the bathrooms?
MCCRORY: Mine is not a fear. I'm not doing it -- I don't like the rhetoric that's often used on the right saying what the fear is. It's a basic expectation of privacy that I hear from mom and dads and families that when their daughter or son goes into a facility, a restroom, they expect people of that gender, of that biological sex or gender, to be the only other ones in that.
That's the expectations that we've had for many, many years as both you and I have grown up on.
KELLY: I got to go but I want to ask you a quick question. Can you believe PayPal is pulling under North Carolina, they're scaling back their expansion, even though they do business in Saudi Arabia where you can get killed if you're gay? I mean, hello?
MCCRORY: The selective hypocrisy -- yes, the selective hypocrisy is outrageous by PayPal.
KELLY: Yes.
MCCRORY: When they're doing business and headquartered in Singapore where you get arrested for chewing gum in public, I believe.
KELLY: They do business in Yemen but they don't want to expand business in North Carolina. Yemen is fine.
MCCRORY: Well, I think this is -- this is where the corporate elite have to be very careful about getting involved in politics is that its inconsistent outrage, its selective outrage.
And they might need to examine their own practices in other states which have the exact same rules that North Carolina does. Over 21 other states have the exact same rules that North Carolina does. And many of these businesses do a...
(CROSSTALK)
KELLY: We'll see if Bruce Springsteen cancels his concerts in every single one of those states where Demi Lovato and so on. Governor, it's good to see you.
(CROSSTALK)
MCCRORY: All they did was sort the hard work in men and people of North Carolina. And that's not the right thing to do.
KELLY: You're a standup guy for coming on and talking about it. Thank you, sir.
MCCRORY: Thank you very much.
KELLY: All of us here.
Up next, what we learned tonight about the man who dressed up in an animal outfit, went to a TV station and claimed to have a bomb.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: Breaking tonight. We are getting new details at a standoff at a Baltimore TV station involving a man who claimed to have a bomb. Trace Gallagher has the report.
GALLAGHER: Megyn, it began when the suspect stuffed a rag into the gas tank of his vehicle lit it on fire and walked into our Baltimore Fox affiliate dressed in a onesie that resembled either a panda or a hedgehog. We think it's a hedgehog.
He was wearing a surgical mask and sunglasses and had some wires in his jackets that appeared to be an explosive device. The suspect threatened to blow up the building if he wasn't allowed inside, which he was not.
He told the news director he had information on a thumb drive that he wanted to get on the air comparing it to the Panama papers. That's the story of high profile American citizens using offshore accounts to skirt the U.S. tax system.
The news director told him to hand over the thumb drive abut suspect refused and the building was evacuated. Then after a lengthy standup, the man walked out of the station and end to a confrontation with police. He was shot three times. But he's in stable condition.
The device with the wires turned out to be chocolate bars wrapped in aluminum and the hard drive contained videos of the suspect ranting about a government conspiracy. Megyn?
KELLY: Trace, thank you. Don't go away. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KELLY: I get a lot of -- a lot of feedback about our Ted Cruz interview and about the last segment we did with the governor.
Let us know your thoughts. Go to facebook.com/thekellyfile. Follow me on Twitter @megynkelly. Let me know what you think. Thanks for watching everyone. I'm Megyn Kelly and this is the Kelly File right here. Here's Sean, coming up next.
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