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Cuomo Suggests Fiorina Bears Responsibility for Planned Parenthood Shooting Because of Pro-Life Rhetoric

December 11, 2015

CNN's Chris Cuomo suggested Friday to Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina that she and others bore some responsibility for the shooting at a Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado last month, asking whether she had a "sense of regret" for speaking out against the organization.

The conservative media-monitoring site NewsBusters flagged the video Friday morning.

Planned Parenthood came under sharp scrutiny this summer when the Center for Medical Progress' undercover videos showed various officials discussing fetal tissues sales and unsavory practices undertaken to get useful specimens from aborted fetuses. Fiorina was among the Republican voices that decried the organization and called for its defunding.

Robert Dear, the accused killer of three people at the Planned Parenthood facility in Colorado Springs, consistently interjected at a hearing this week, at one point saying, "I am a warrior for the babies."

"Do you feel any sense of regret about how you characterized what was going on at Planned Parenthood after the attack in Colorado?" Cuomo asked. "Because of what the man said, which seems as though he was influenced by some of the rhetoric that was coming out of you and others that painted a very ugly picture, an unfair one, about Planned Parenthood?"

Fiorina had a sharp response.

"Oh please, really, Chris?" Fiorina said. "Look, nine videotapes have come out about Planned Parenthood. It is very clear what they have been doing. And in fact, Planned Parenthood several weeks ago made a quiet little announcement that they would no longer accept compensation for the sale of what they call fetal tissue. That's about as close to an admission as you can get."

"That's not what they say," Cuomo said.

Fiorina responded that Cuomo was using a typical left-wing tactic to try and shut down conversation in light of the shooting.

"What happened in Colorado is a terrible thing," she said. "This guy is a deranged murderer, and I hope he is put away for life. It may be that we should be classifying that as domestic terrorism as well. But that has nothing to do with the truth of what is going on in Planned Parenthood. And this is a typical left-wing tactic, to try and shut down the truth by silencing people. This has happened over and over and over again."

Cuomo's tone was different from August when, in an interview with White House spokesman Josh Earnest, he referred to the conduct of Planned Parenthood officials in the videos as "base stuff," "ugly stuff," and "with no high ethical standards in place there."

Full exchange:

CHRIS CUOMO: Now, when we're looking with what happened here in Colorado, very often you've said Trump’s got to watch what he says, it has implications. Do you feel any sense of regret about how you characterized what was going on at Planned Parenthood after the attack in Colorado? Because of what the man said, which seems as though he was influenced by some of the rhetoric that was coming out of you and others that painted a very ugly picture, an unfair one, about Planned Parenthood?

CARLY FIORINA: Oh please, really, Chris? Look, nine videotapes have come out about Planned Parenthood. It is very clear what they have been doing. And in fact, Planned Parenthood several weeks ago made a quiet little announcement that they would no longer accept compensation for the sale of what they call fetal tissue. That's about as close to an admission as you can get. In fact, it is an admission.

CUOMO: That's not what they say.

FIORINA: Look, what happened in Colorado – what happened in Colorado is a terrible thing. This guy is a deranged murderer, and I hope he is put away for life. It may be that we should be classifying that as domestic terrorism as well. But that has nothing to do with the truth of what is going on in Planned Parenthood. And this is a typical left-wing tactic, to try and shut down the truth by silencing people. This has happened over and over and over again.