FOX "Hannity"- Transcript: Cruz Interview

Interview

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Here with reaction, 2016 GOP presidential candidate Texas senator Ted Cruz -- on the rise. Senator, congratulations to you.

SEN. TED CRUZ, R-TEXAS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Sean.

HANNITY: How much of this do you think is related to what I think will go -- will be taught in journalism school, the moment you had really taking down those very abusively biased moderators in that last debate? I thought that was a huge moment for you.

CRUZ: Well, thank you, Sean. I got to say the momentum coming out of that debate has been astonishing. You know, the first debate and the 100 hours that followed that debate, we raised a million dollars. The second debate, we raised a million dollars in 48 hours. The third debate, we ended up raising $1.1 million not in 100 hours, not in 48 hours, but in 22 hours as people all over the country went to Tedcruz.org. I mean, it really has been breathtaking.

HANNITY: Yes. You...

CRUZ: And I'll tell you, one of the things that also encouraged me is that after I called out the media, we really saw the Republican candidates on that stage unite and come together and stand in unison.

It was really encouraging to see us stand against the left-wing bias of the media and make clear that every one of the candidates running has a stronger and more positive and more optimistic message than any of the Democrats and any of the lies the mainstream media is trying to push.

HANNITY: You know, Senator, one thing you have done throughout this entire campaign, you refuse to get into it with the other candidates. And you made that very clear the other night. Is that just how you feel? Is that a campaign strategy?

CRUZ: Well, I'm a big believer in Reagan's 11th Commandment, Thou shalt not speak ill of other Republicans. So when you have debates where they're trying to get you into a food fight and insulting each other and impugning each other's integrity, I ain't going to do it. And if others attack me, I'm not going to respond.

Now, I do think policy disagreements are fair game. I think it's perfectly fair game for a moderator to say, Ted, your tax plan is a simple flat tax, 10 percent across the board. Another candidate's tax plan has a top rate of 35 percent. What's the difference between those two? And why is your tax plan better?

I mean, that's the sort of substantive question debates should be about. But they shouldn't just be food fights and insults, which is what sometimes these debates turn into.

HANNITY: Yes, I totally agree with you. And you know what? And I thought the winner were all the candidates on the stage, but you got it started.

CRUZ: Yes.

HANNITY: You know, I was talking with Glenn Beck the other day, and he said he did an interview with you. And I hadn't thought about it. And there are people that have photographic memories. He actually used the term "audiographic" memory. And because he pointed out something that I hadn't picked up, which was you literally named everything that had happened in the exact order. And I want to ask you about it.

But let's play the tape and remind people of that moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: The questions that have been asked so far in this debate illustrate why the American people don't trust the media.

(APPLAUSE)

HANNITY: This is not a cage match. And if you look the at the questions -- Donald Trump, are you a comic book villain, Ben Carson, can you do math, John Kasich, will you insult two people over here, Marco Rubio, why don't you resign, Jeb Bush, why have your fallen? How about talking about the substantive issues (INAUDIBLE)

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: Now, I don't know if many people know this. Alan Dershowitz has praised you as one of his smartest students, and I don't think he really agrees with. Austan Goolsbee has praised your skill, your intellect.

And I watched that debate and I watched that point that Glenn was making, and I thought to myself, yes, you were the national debate champ at Harvard. But is that true that you have this ability to memorize and remember things like that?

CRUZ: Well, I have a good memory and I do remember things that I hear. It's not perfect, it's not 100 percent, but it is a good memory.

And I do think conservatives are tired of getting our clock cleaned. You know, Margaret Thatcher famously said, First you win the argument, then you win the vote. And we keep sending people into debates that Democrats just eat their lunch. And we need to be able to stand up to Hillary Clinton and make clear that her big government agenda is an absolute failure.

HANNITY: Yes.

CRUZ: And I think conservatives are hungry for someone that is not going to curl up in the corner and hide from the fight, but is instead, with a smile, with the optimistic vision of a Ronald Reagan, say, What you're doing isn't working. Here's what you said, and it isn't happening. And here's instead the principles that built America.

And I think if we -- you know, conservatives win when we effectively articulate what it is we believe. Liberals win when they effectively obfuscate and hide what they believe because truth matters. Our principles work and their principles don't. And if we can explain that, that's how we win the election.

HANNITY: You know, the president yesterday -- I played it last night. I'm not going to play it again tonight -- actually went out there -- Oh, they can't handle a little debate. By the way, if that's true, Mr. President, you're so brave, you're such the great negotiator with Iran and with Vladimir Putin, I'll give the president an hour every night for five nights, if he wants.

CRUZ: Sure.

HANNITY: And I don't see him coming on this program. But you know, I thought about that.

And let me put up on the screen because last night was not a good night. It was election night for the Democrats. Since Obama's been president, the Democrats have lost over 900 legislative seats around the country. Since he's been elected, let's see, we lost 12 -- they lost 12 gubernatorial seats. They lost 69 House seats and 14 Senate seats. That's not exactly -- maybe he's done well for himself, but he's destroying the Democratic Party in the process.

What is your reaction to what's happening in the country when you look at those results that are so dramatically reacting, I would argue, to the bad Obama policies?

CRUZ: Well, Sean, you're exactly right. Barack Obama has elected more Republicans than any human being in the history of mankind. And it's because his policies are such a spectacular failure.

I thought it was fairly ridiculous when he said, Gosh, if Republicans can't handle CNBC, how will stay stand up to Putin or Iran? You know, Obama's negotiation -- he is the worst negotiator perhaps in the history of American presidents because what he does with Putin and Iran is he just surrenders and gives them everything. He tells Iran, OK, you want $100 billion? Fine. You want nuclear weapons? Fine. You want to keep sponsoring terrorism? Fine. You want to keep building ICBMs? Fine. You want to keep Americans in prison? Fine. We'll surrender everything.

What kind of negotiation is that?

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: No, go -- stay right there, Senator. We're going to come back. I want to ask you exactly about that because the Iranian parliament voted this week to keep continuing to say, "Death to America" or chant "Death to America." And they were burning the American flag again this week. I want to ask you about that. More with Ted Cruz right after the break.

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CRUZ: This ought to be a clear choice. With whom do you stand? Do you stand with violent criminal illegal aliens, or do you stand with American citizens? Do you stand with our sons and daughters and those at risk of violent crime?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANNITY: That was Senator Ted Cruz earlier today calling on the Senate to move forward with Kate's Law, a bill that would impose mandatory minimum sentences on criminal illegal immigrants who reenter the country.

And last night, the city of San Francisco, where Kate Steinle was killed by an illegal immigrant, did not reelect the sheriff who defended the sanctuary city policies even after her death.

We continue now with 2016 presidential candidate Senator Ted Cruz. I was glad that that happened to that sheriff. He got defeated soundly last night.

CRUZ: Yes.

HANNITY: But you know, this is one of the things. You always talk about the Washington cartel. It's things like this that never seem to get done, Senator. The president gets away with his illegal, unconstitutional executive amnesty. Planned Parenthood is still funded. "Obama care" still exists. That is frustrating so many of us that are conservative!

CRUZ: You're exactly right. You know, I'm leading the fight to pass Kate's Law. and there are really two things at play. Number one, the Democrats have gotten so extreme, so rabid, so partisan that they block even common sense legislation.

So when I tried to bring Kate's Law forward on the Senate floor, Harry Reid stood up and objected. And you know what he said, is he said, Well, this is impugning immigrants.

And I'll tell you, Sean, I responded. I said, You know what? As the son of an immigrant who came legally from Cuba 58 years ago, that is offensive because Kate's Law says aggravated felons. It says murderers and rapists and people who have committed kidnapping and assault. If they illegally reenter, they have a five-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.

I said, Listen, the legal immigrants who follow the rules, they're not murderers and rapists. And why are you, Harry Reid and the Democrats, insulting every immigrant by calling them violent criminals?

HANNITY: And the...

CRUZ: Why don't we come together against violent criminals instead?

HANNITY: And these sanctuary cities, even if people are in jail, illegal immigrants, they just release them! They don't even hand them over to the federal government to be deported.

All right, I want to go back to the Iranian issue because I think this is very, very important. I'm going to talk over this tape. And what I'm showing our audience is once again the American flag being burned -- we'll put up the audio a little bit -- reportedly chanting "Death to America," Israeli flag being burned.

And the parliament in Iran just this week said they're not going to stop chanting "Death to America." And yet we're giving them $150 billion. We're giving them ICBM capability. We're giving them, you know, 24 days notice. We're giving them a missile defense with Putin, conventional arms!

What is wrong with us? How can you stop that if you become president?

CRUZ: Look, it is lunacy. Today is the 36th anniversary of Iran's seizing the American hostages, what they call "Death to America Day." And every year for 36 years, they've celebrated, like you're showing on screen, burning American flags, burning Israeli flags, chanting "Death to America."

You know, today in the Senate, Sean, I chaired a hearing of victims of Islamic terrorism, victims of Iranian terrorism and Palestinian terrorism. They shared their stories and the fact that the Obama administration is intervening in litigation against American citizens and in support of Iranian terrorism.

It is heart-breaking. It's wrong. You asked how that will change? If I'm elected president, on the very first day I'm in office, we will rip to shreds this catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal!

HANNITY: Thank God.

CRUZ: And I'll tell you, one of the sharpest differences I think...

HANNITY: This is dangerous, Senator. This is so dangerous, so scary!

CRUZ: Yes.

HANNITY: But I didn't mean to interrupt you. I'm sorry.

CRUZ: Look, it is the single biggest national security threat facing America.

HANNITY: Yes.

CRUZ: It is an existential threat to Israel, as Prime Minister Netanyahu puts it. And one of the biggest differences I believe between me and the other fine men and women running for president as Republicans is I think I am the one candidate who, as president, if and when I stand up and say to the ayatollah Khamenei, under no circumstances will Iran be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons, a theocratic zealot who chants "Death to America" -- this will not happen. I think I'm the one candidate and the one president that the Ayatollah Khamenei will understand I'm not bluffing.

HANNITY: Well, it's interesting. If you go back in history, the day Ronald Reagan became president, those 444 days ended.

We have just about a minute left, Senator. You released your tax plan on the day of the last debate.

CRUZ: Yes.

HANNITY: I want to put it up on the screen. You would abolish the IRS, 10 percent flat tax rate on personal income, eliminate all corporate taxes, 16 percent business flat tax, universal savings accounts, by the way, and the death tax, which is double and triple taxation.

Does -- would that come into balance, in your view? And how does it get into balance, and what would the percentage of growth need to be for it to be in balance?

CRUZ: So it absolutely comes into balance. I would encourage your viewers, if you go to our Web site, Tedcruz.org, Tedcruz.org, we have detailed numbers there. You can see that this tax plan -- the simple flat tax would produce 4.9 million new jobs, would increase capital investment by 44 percent, and every income group in America would see your after-tax income grow by at least 14 percent.

So if you're a single mom making $40,000 a year, it means your after- tax income is an additional $5,600 a year. It is Reagan/Kemp growth tax plan, and it produces the most jobs of any Republican on that main debate stage.

HANNITY: Well, we got into more substance than the entire two hours at CNBC.

(LAUGHTER)

HANNITY: Thank you, Senator. And that was a big moment for you.

CRUZ: Thank you, Sean.

HANNITY: Congratulations on the polls. We appreciate you being here.

CRUZ: Great to be with you.

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