Trump Announces Vets Rally To Compete With Debate; Trump: I Was Being Taken Advantage Of By Fox; Trump: "I Was Pushed Away" From The Fox News Debate
COOPER: In the election year done, the presidential politics, candidates go toe-to-toe with each other all of the time. What we don't often see is a candidate railing so hard against a journalist or network or magazine or microphone or any of the other foes who've incurred the wrap of Donald Trump and in some cases it's just seems merely by existing. The bizarre vendetta that Trump is wielding against Megyn Kelly in Fox News took another strange turn just tonight we went on Fox News. Here's more of what he said on Bill O'Reilly's show just a short time ago.</s>O'REILLY: The terrorists are going to come match it and it's going to be personal. They're going to do everything they can to diminish you ... And you hope, as president, you have to rise above that, all right? And do what's best for the country. And this exposition that we're talking about today, people are going to say, you know, Trump, he's just too self absorbed to be president.</s>TRUMP: There's got to be something because you set the all time record in cable history and so did CNN.</s>O'REILLY: They want to know you. They want to know you.</s>TRUMP: No you're trying.</s>O'REILLY: You're not giving them the opportunity to know them as well as they would like.</s>TRUMP: I'm not walking away.</s>COOPER: Joining me now, CNN Senior Reporter for Media and Politics, Dylan Byers and CNN Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter, host of "Reliable Sources". Brian, I mean, it's interesting, you guys Donald Trump not backing down to O'Reilly, who's basically kind of admonishing but also at times almost pleading with him to come back to the debate.</s>BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. It was an extraordinary lobbying effort by Bill O'Reilly on behalf of Fox News and Trump is not giving one inch. This is all about a paradynamic, I think, between these two men and between this campaign and this network. They should be natural allies, talking about the GOP frontrunner and the GOP's favorite channel. But to see them at logger head and to see Trump really coming out ahead here and not giving one inch, it's extraordinary.</s>COOPER: Dylan, Fox has canceled interviews with Trump before during this campaign. Why has this interview moved forward after all he said and tweeted about the network and Megyn Kelly the last day or so?</s>DYLAN BYERS, CNN MEDIA AND POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Well two reasons, I think. And you're absolutely right, Anderson, that Fox News has canceled interviews with Donald Trump before, although that's certainly not the way Donald Trump would spin it. But two reasons here. One, Fox News is declaring that it is still going to treat Donald Trump fairly, that it will have a podium for him on stage, if he wants to show up at the debate. And in the same vein, it will have a chair for him if he wants to sit down for an interview. But there's a second calculation here, as well. And that calculation is obviously ratings. We're on the eve of this debate, this has become the sort of most highly anticipated moment in the 2016 campaign so far. If you're Fox News, if you're Bill O'Reilly, why aren't you going to take that interview? Why would you give that interview to another network?</s>COOPER: It's interesting -- I mean, Brian, Trump has been publicly reigniting this feud with Megyn Kelly.</s>STELTER: Yeah, yeah.</s>COOPER: You know, kind of in the run up to this. And privately, at least according to Fox News, his campaign manager was making threats to actually get her removed. And they released a statement, Fox saying in part, Lewandowski, the campaign manager, was warned not to level any more threats but continued to do so. We can't give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees. He obviously denies making any kind of threats.</s>STELTER: Right.</s>COOPER: I mean, was -- do you think Trump was looking for a way to get out of this debate or?</s>STELTER: There were couple of times even tonight even this O'Reilly interview where Trump does refer to the high number of debates or his six debates so far. He comment to about how at some point we're going to stop debating and do other things. However, he says, he enjoys the debates he was up for it. So there's a kind of two different stories here. I think there might be some truth in both. Certainly some of Trump's rivals believe he was trying to avoid this debate. Cruz tonight, Ted Cruz in a campaign trail is calling Trump, "Gentle Donald, poking fun of the Donald that way". I'm sure we'll hear more of that tomorrow night as all these other candidates try to take up some of the oxygen that Trump won't be taking up in the room.</s>COOPER: Dylan, who do you think has more to lose here, Donald Trump or Fox News?</s>BYERS: Well, that's the million dollar question, right? I mean, Donald Trump's gamble here is that he is bigger than the Fox News Network, that he can drive the media story tomorrow night. And that he'll get a lot of turnout and he won't lose supporters. Now, of course, Fox News is a cherished network among many Republicans and many conservatives. But, you know, there's a growing trend here happening and its part of the larger sort of civil war taking place on the right. I've spoken to a lot of conservatives, sort of die hard conservatives, talk radio folks here in Iowa, who don't feel that Fox News sort of adequately represents their views. They don't feel like Fox News has been a fair home to Donald Trump or a candidate like Ted Cruz. And so that is sort of enabled Donald Trump to sort of take this risk and sort of, you know, make the gambit that he can actually convince these conservative voters to go over to his show instead of the Fox News show.</s>COOPER: Interesting. Dylan Byers, great to have you on the program, Brian Stelter, as well. Just ahead, Hillary Clinton counting on strong support from women obviously to help her clinch the nomination, but does she have a trust problem? Randi Kaye talks to a group of women in Iowa who did not mince words. We'll be right back.