CNN's Alisyn Camerota tossed mostly hardballs during her interview of Carly Fiorina on Thursday's New Day, especially on the issue of outsourcing. Camerota first cited how the former HP executive was "very honest about the jobs...[she] outsourced" back in 2004, and wondered, "Do you fear that your take back then — and the outsourcing — will come back to haunt you in Indiana?" The anchor followed up with a clip from Laura Ingraham, who spotlighted how outsourcing "became really an albatross around her neck" during her 2010 Senate race against Barbara Boxer, and repeated her question. [video below]
Camerota first underlined that "after Tuesday's primaries, it is mathematically impossible for Ted Cruz to clinch this nomination." She asked, "So why did you want to take this on?" The Republican guest answered, in part, by contending that "there's a lot at stake. I think the soul of our party is at stake. I think the future of our nation is at stake....he [Donald Trump] doesn't represent me, he doesn't represent my party. Ted Cruz does represent me."
The anchor followed up by pointing out that "this is the earliest announcement of a V.P. pick in four decades. I believe the last time we saw something like this was Ronald Reagan in 1976. It didn't work out back then." She also played up that "people have been saying that they see it as an attention-grabbing stunt of Ted Cruz, or...a diversionary tactic to, sort of, pull attention away from Donald Trump's wins."
Mrs. Fiorina denied that this was the case: "Anyone who knows Ted Cruz knows that he is a thoughtful, deliberative man. He doesn't do anything in a rush, and he doesn't do anything in a panic. And so, this process has been going on within his team — the vetting process...for quite a long time."
Camerota then tried to use the Republican's 2013 attack on Ted Cruz against her:
ALISYN CAMEROTA: When you were running for president, you, as you know, said some critical things about Ted Cruz. You said that he says one thing in Manhattan; he says another thing when he's in Iowa. You wondered why he didn't renounce his Canadian citizenship sooner. But maybe, there was nothing more damning than what you said about his efforts — this was in 2013 — at the government shutdown. So let me play those for everyone.
CARLY FIORINA (from October 2, 2013 interview on CNN): I think Ted Cruz's tactics were wrong. There's no honor in charging a hill that you know you can't take — only casualties — although Ted Cruz, maybe, got name recognition and money along the way.
CAMEROTA: Mrs. Fiorina, is there a parallel to what is happening now? Is he charging another hill and in terms of casualties along the way for the GOP party (sic) now?
Fiorina acknowledged that "Ted Cruz and I have differed on tactics," but added that the government shutdown "forced the Republican Party, when they did have a majority, to vote to repeal ObamaCare."
Before moving on to the outsourcing issue, Camerota hyped how "in exit poll after exit poll on Tuesday...we saw that voters said that they believe if someone gets...close enough — they should be the nominee....look at this! They believe that whoever got the most votes — this one is in Pennsylvania — 70 percent of the voters in exit polls — Republicans — thought that that person should be the nominee. So if you fought that, you would be going against the will of the voters." Fiorina responded by defending the current delegate system and the possibility of a contested convention: "There's nothing untoward about them and nothing unprecedented about them."
The CNN anchor dropped her questions on outsourcing near the end of the segment. Fiorina first replied to the "haunt you" inquiry by underling that "we have to compete for jobs. We can't just assume jobs grow on trees. We can't assume that the federal government creates jobs. They don't. The private sector does. And it's true that many jobs that I outsourced from California went where — Texas. Why Texas? Because Texas created an environment where jobs could be created." She also cited how heating/air conditioning manufacturer Carrier left Indiana "because the climate that has been created in America is destroying jobs."
Camerota saved her sole softball question for last: "Mrs. Fiorina, you did something unusual on the campaign trail yesterday in accepting the nod for the running mate. You sang....you admirably kept a tune. Will there be more singing in the Cruz campaign going forward?"
The transcript of Alisyn Camerorta's questions to Carly Fiorina from the April 28, 2016 edition of CNN's New Day:
ALISYN CAMEROTA: So before we get to Ted Cruz's motivation for the timing and for the choice of you, I want to ask about your motivation in agreeing to this role. As you know, after Tuesday's primaries, it is mathematically impossible for Ted Cruz to clinch this nomination. So why did you want to take this on?
CAMEROTA: So let's talk about Senator Cruz's motivation and the timing. This is the earliest announcement of a V.P. pick in four decades. I believe the last time we saw something like this was Ronald Reagan in 1976. It didn't work out back then; but the point is that in the past — less than 24 hours, people have been saying that they see it as an attention-grabbing stunt of Ted Cruz, or — you know, a diversionary tactic to, sort of, pull attention away from Donald Trump's wins. How much of that do you think went into this timing?
(...)
CAMEROTA: When you were running for president, you, as you know, said some critical things about Ted Cruz. You said that he says one thing in Manhattan; he says another thing when he's in Iowa. You wondered why he didn't renounce his Canadian citizenship sooner. But maybe, there was nothing more damning than what you said about his efforts — this was in 2013 — at the government shutdown. So let me play those for everyone.
FIORINA (from October 2, 2013 interview on CNN): I think Ted Cruz's tactics were wrong. There's no honor in charging a hill that you know you can't take — only casualties — although Ted Cruz, maybe, got name recognition and money along the way.
CAMEROTA: Mrs. Fiorina, is there a parallel to what is happening now? Is he charging another hill and in terms of casualties along the way for the GOP party (sic) now?
(...)
CAMEROTA: I want to — I do want to get to Indiana in one second; but first, I just want to ask you one more question about that number 1237 — because what you're saying — your logic about somebody has to hit 1237 echoes exactly the sentiment that we heard yesterday from Speaker Paul Ryan — who was on 'New Day' — and said, rules are rules. If somebody doesn't hit 1237, then — you know, it's an open convention. But in exit poll after exit poll on Tuesday, in many states, we saw that voters said that they believe if someone gets close — close enough — they should be the nominee. They were less tethered to the 1237. You can see this — look at this! They believe that whoever got the most votes — this one is in Pennsylvania — 70 percent of the voters in exit polls — Republicans — thought that that person should be the nominee. So — so if you fought that, you would be going against the will of the voters.
CAMEROTA: Let's talk about Indiana. That's where it seems that — all of the Cruz campaign's eggs are in the Indiana basket. Jobs are the number-one issue in Indiana. You've been very honest about the jobs that you outsourced, when you were the head of Hewlett Packard at the time, to Congress in 2004. You said, 'There is no job that is America's God-given right anymore. We have to compete for jobs.' You were talking about the outsourcing that happened then. Do you fear that your take back then — and the outsourcing — will come back to haunt you in Indiana?
(...)
CAMEROTA: It's not just my characterization that this could be a challenge for you in Indiana. There are many people who are saying this — including conservative radio talk host Laura Ingraham — who said that it could be a real albatross. Let me play this for you.
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR (from Fox News Channel's Special Report): Indiana, which I assume Trump is going to hit the globalization as failure theme that he struck today in his foreign policy speech — the outsourcing issue is a disaster. That is just — that's not going to be a positive one. And fairly or unfairly — you know, Fiorina/HP — that outsourcing issue, which was discussed obviously during the — her run against Barbara Boxer in 2010, where she lost by about a million votes in California — that became really an albatross around her neck.
CAMEROTA: Do you worry it will be a vulnerability in Indiana?
(...)
CAMEROTA: Mrs. Fiorina, you did something unusual on the campaign trail yesterday in accepting the nod for the running mate. You sang. So let's play a little portion of this moment. (clip of Fiorina singing at campaign rally) Okay. That was adorable, first of all, and you have — you admirably kept a tune. Will there be more singing in the Cruz campaign going forward?
