Political Stampede At Iowa State Fair; "Des Moines Register" Wants Donald Trump Out Of 2016 Race
HARLOW: Donald Trump has a commanding lead in the race when it comes to likely caucus goers in Iowa. In a CNN/ORC poll, he tops the field, 22 percent of support there. And he's seen in that state as the most likely candidate to win the general election. But not everyone is giving Trump a warm reception in Iowa. The editorial board of "the Des Moines Register," major paper there, called on him to drop out of the 2016 presidential race. Here's how Trump responded today when he was asked why he was not speaking at "the Des Moines Register's" soap box.</s>TRUMP: In my opinion, not relevant to me. Just not relevant. And I notice a number of other people aren't speaking there. No, the paper is not relevant.</s>VALENCIA: Very relevant when it comes to the world of politics. Joining me now from "the Des Moines Register" is political columnist Kathy O'Bradovich. Thank you for being here.</s>KATHY O'BRADOVICH, POLITICAL COLUMNIST, DES MOINES REGISTER: Thanks for having me.</s>HARLOW: So, you know, our team was talking before the show and this kept coming up. Who would have thought that a billionaire New York real estate developer, and this is coming from a Minnesotan here, would be topping the polls in Iowa. Does Donald Trump defy the law of political gravity or reality in this election so far?</s>O'BRADOVICH: Well, he was certainly defying gravity here at the Iowa state fair, after the state fair board told him he could not have his helicopter here. He brought it anyway, parked next door, and flew around the fairgrounds, and everybody had to look up, and there's Donald Trump flying by the state fair. So he definitely breaks the rules and he does things his own way.</s>HARLOW: But what do you think it is about him sort of coming from -- look, this is not an Iowa guy. This is not a Midwestern guy, right? And I know that's not what you have to be to resonate with voters there or voters across the country. What is it about him that you think is resonating so much? Is it because he's frankly not in politics until now?</s>O'BRADOVICH: Absolutely. That's exactly what it is. Voter after voter that we ask says, you know, what is it about Donald Trump? He is not a politician. He tells it like it is. He cuts through all the BS that people are used to hearing from other politicians. And, you know, they feel like he's not going to take no for an answer or be too politically correct to get the job done. And it's a very unanimous sentiment from people who say they really support him in Iowa. Now, having said that, it is very early.</s>HARLOW: Yes, it's a very good point. It is very early. Look. We heard from Hillary Clinton earlier today at the fair answering a lot of questions about her emails as secretary of state and her private email server. I want you to listen to what Donald Trump had to say about her emails extensively.</s>TRUMP: There's a lot of pressure on Hillary right now. It's been brutal. It's been brutal for Hillary. And I think at some point, she's perhaps not going to be able to run. It is going to have to end her campaign. That seems to be the thinking by so many. And I was saying that two months ago and everyone would thought what you, you know, not right, but it looks to me like what they've done -- this is top secret stuff. Look. General Petraeus, his life was destroyed with a tiny fraction of what she's done. So it's very unfair to him, if they're going to destroy him over doing by comparison nothing, I don't see how she can run. I think she's got much bigger problems than running for office. Yes, ma'am.</s>HARLOW: Jeff Zeleny pointed out to Donald Trump when he reiterated that today that his email, Petraeus' emails were more classified, hers were not, at least as we know up to this point. Does that resonate the email argument, does it resonate with voters?</s>O'BRADOVICH: You know, I hear it a lot more in the press than I hear it with voters. I think the only place where you can see that email controversy resonating is in the polls. People say that they find other candidates more trustworthy than they find Hillary Clinton. Even if they maybe supporting her, they are finding that other candidates are more trustworthy. That is something that Hillary Clinton has been working on every time she comes to Iowa. She is spending time talking directly to voters and trying to tell her story through the people that she meets on the campaign trail.</s>HARLOW: So in a sense, you bring up -- and we'll pull up those poll numbers because it comes down to honesty, right? In a sense, is Donald Trump helping a Bernie Sanders when he keeps harping on the email controversy?</s>O'BRADOVICH: Well, you know, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump draw from I think the same well of contempt for the Washington establishment. They're both outsider. They're both outspoken outsiders taking on the establishment. And you hear, you know, Donald Trump's support crosses party lines in some sort and so does Bernie Sanders. People are really kind of fed up with Washington. And they want things to change radically. And so the people who are supporting Trump and Sanders, I think come from the same place, although perhaps at the opposite end of the political cycle.</s>HARLOW: Quickly asked you about that with the fascinating report in "the Washington Post" about that this morning about Trump drawing even some Democrats. Do you believe, are you hearing from voters there in Iowa some maybe consider themselves to mainly vote Democrat, switching to the Trump camp?</s>O'BRADOVICH: Yes. I mean, you know - yes, I mean, the Iowa caucuses, you can register for whatever party you want at the caucus, so you don't have to necessarily be a lifelong Republican or lifelong Democrat to caucus with them. But I think what Trump is doing mostly is drawing people in who have not been part of this caucused before. They may have a D or an R on their voter registration card, but this may be the first time they actually get involved and actually caucus for a presidential candidate.</s>HARLOW: Well, it's got a lot more people involved, that is for sure, the more people involved in the political process. Kathy O'Bradovich of "the Des Moines Register," thank you. Up next, my conversation with the man who helped get another man off of death row 30 years after he was wrongly convicted. What he has to say, especially about the black lives matter movement right now.