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American Morning
At Least 180,000 Expected to Go to Polls in New Hampshire
Aired January 27, 2004 - 09:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: At least 180,000 expected to go to the polls today in the State of New Hampshire.
And for more on what we may expect later, "Crossfire" co-host Tucker Carlson here with us in Manchester.
We had Carville on last hour -- Tucker, it's your shot now.
How are you?
TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, CNN'S "CROSSFIRE": Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: You just saw General Clark before you came over here.
CARLSON: Driving over here.
HEMMER: Where and what?
CARLSON: I saw the general walking down the sidewalk with a very small group of people. Not much of an entourage. Not wearing a hat. It's freezing out here. It struck me as a metaphor for his campaign, which I think is pretty much over after...
HEMMER: Do you think over?
CARLSON: I do think that, after today. I think it's likely he'll come in fourth, behind John Edwards.
HEMMER: Well, even though you go to South Carolina, polls say he's number one in Oklahoma.
CARLSON: Well, sure, for two reasons. I mean one, what's the rationale for his campaign? I mean if you want to vote for a war hero, you've got John Kerry. If you want to vote for a son of the South, you have John Edwards. I think more important, it's been a very -- let's be honest -- it's been a deeply weird campaign, meaning the general, as smart as he is, has said odd thing after odd thing after odd thing after unsupportably odd thing. And I think at some point it just builds up. There's a devastating piece this morning, an op-ed in the "Wall Street Journal," sort of stringing together all the strange things he's said. You add them up and it makes not a viable candidacy.
HEMMER: I want you to listen to an interview I conducted with him about 90 minutes ago. He stresses three themes -- patriotism, faith and family values. And I asked him how that makes him different from the current president because those three themes are consistently expressed in the White House.
Listen to what he said for his answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. WESLEY CLARK (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The difference is that I've lived those values. I served in the United States armed forces my entire adult life. I believe that faith is helping those who are less favored and less fortunate in life when you have a little bit more and you can share it with them. And I think family values is doing the things that people need to take care of their families -- providing jobs and health care and helping people get an education and protecting our environment. Those are the values that I'm running on and I think they're values that will resonate across America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Well, now we'll wait and see if it does resonate first here in New Hampshire.
CARLSON: I mean I think he makes the point that he's for faith, he's for America, he's probably also for children. I mean it, the larger point is this is a guy who hasn't thought through what he really believes, and it's a bit insulting, if you think about it. You run for president, really, the first time you ever run for office of any kind, and you haven't taken the time to think through what you think on the basic issues of the day -- the war in Iraq, abortion. I mean how can you -- how can you run for president without knowing what you believe on those things?
HEMMER: Somebody said over the weekend welcome to the NFL, because this is when a candidate really gets tested on every corner and at every turn, especially now.
Quickly, John Kerry was on with us earlier today, also. He has taken a little bit of questioning about his strategy going forward -- does he campaign in South Carolina, and if he does not, that some suggested, his presence is not nearly as big as it should be right now, what happens to his strategy?
Listen to his response, what he said to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All I was saying when I said that comment is that's not the only place to contest in the United States. Ohio has lost 270,000 jobs. We have a Democratic governor in Wisconsin, a Democratic governor in Arizona, in New Mexico, in Kansas. I believe that we can contest across the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: A number of Democratic strategists telling me here in Manchester they believe a Democrat can win the White House without winning a single state in the South. CARLSON: Well, that must be the new math. I mean perhaps it's theoretically possible, but that just makes the margin everywhere else just razor thin and I've got, I suppose -- and I haven't done the numbers this morning -- but you'd have to win everything else. I don't think any serious person thinks you'd want to attempt something like that. Obviously Senator Kerry, at this point, is not planning to take any kind of grandstand in South Carolina, leave it open for Senator Edwards to take.
A lot depends on today, though. I mean if there's some Kerry blowout today, it's going to look much more like a national campaign. Fundraising will be much better and they probably will mount a much more credible fight in the South. But right now I think it's Michigan and Arizona are the states that are -- or, rather, Missouri and Arizona are the two states they're going to be focusing on.
HEMMER: Yes, and for now it's New Hampshire.
James Carville says watch the number 35. If Kerry goes above that, it could be a blowout in the state for the follow-up (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CARLSON: That's right. I hate to agree with him, but I think he's right.
HEMMER: I know you do.
Thanks.
Talk to you later.
CARLSON: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: Be sure to join us later today, "Crossfire."
Tucker is back there, 4:30 Eastern time, live today.
What, the whole quad is going to be here, is that right?
CARLSON: All four.
HEMMER: CNN has complete coverage later tonight. We start at 7:00 Eastern time in New Hampshire.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 27, 2004 - 09:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: At least 180,000 expected to go to the polls today in the State of New Hampshire.
And for more on what we may expect later, "Crossfire" co-host Tucker Carlson here with us in Manchester.
We had Carville on last hour -- Tucker, it's your shot now.
How are you?
TUCKER CARLSON, CO-HOST, CNN'S "CROSSFIRE": Good morning, Bill.
HEMMER: You just saw General Clark before you came over here.
CARLSON: Driving over here.
HEMMER: Where and what?
CARLSON: I saw the general walking down the sidewalk with a very small group of people. Not much of an entourage. Not wearing a hat. It's freezing out here. It struck me as a metaphor for his campaign, which I think is pretty much over after...
HEMMER: Do you think over?
CARLSON: I do think that, after today. I think it's likely he'll come in fourth, behind John Edwards.
HEMMER: Well, even though you go to South Carolina, polls say he's number one in Oklahoma.
CARLSON: Well, sure, for two reasons. I mean one, what's the rationale for his campaign? I mean if you want to vote for a war hero, you've got John Kerry. If you want to vote for a son of the South, you have John Edwards. I think more important, it's been a very -- let's be honest -- it's been a deeply weird campaign, meaning the general, as smart as he is, has said odd thing after odd thing after odd thing after unsupportably odd thing. And I think at some point it just builds up. There's a devastating piece this morning, an op-ed in the "Wall Street Journal," sort of stringing together all the strange things he's said. You add them up and it makes not a viable candidacy.
HEMMER: I want you to listen to an interview I conducted with him about 90 minutes ago. He stresses three themes -- patriotism, faith and family values. And I asked him how that makes him different from the current president because those three themes are consistently expressed in the White House.
Listen to what he said for his answer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. WESLEY CLARK (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The difference is that I've lived those values. I served in the United States armed forces my entire adult life. I believe that faith is helping those who are less favored and less fortunate in life when you have a little bit more and you can share it with them. And I think family values is doing the things that people need to take care of their families -- providing jobs and health care and helping people get an education and protecting our environment. Those are the values that I'm running on and I think they're values that will resonate across America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: Well, now we'll wait and see if it does resonate first here in New Hampshire.
CARLSON: I mean I think he makes the point that he's for faith, he's for America, he's probably also for children. I mean it, the larger point is this is a guy who hasn't thought through what he really believes, and it's a bit insulting, if you think about it. You run for president, really, the first time you ever run for office of any kind, and you haven't taken the time to think through what you think on the basic issues of the day -- the war in Iraq, abortion. I mean how can you -- how can you run for president without knowing what you believe on those things?
HEMMER: Somebody said over the weekend welcome to the NFL, because this is when a candidate really gets tested on every corner and at every turn, especially now.
Quickly, John Kerry was on with us earlier today, also. He has taken a little bit of questioning about his strategy going forward -- does he campaign in South Carolina, and if he does not, that some suggested, his presence is not nearly as big as it should be right now, what happens to his strategy?
Listen to his response, what he said to that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: All I was saying when I said that comment is that's not the only place to contest in the United States. Ohio has lost 270,000 jobs. We have a Democratic governor in Wisconsin, a Democratic governor in Arizona, in New Mexico, in Kansas. I believe that we can contest across the country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HEMMER: A number of Democratic strategists telling me here in Manchester they believe a Democrat can win the White House without winning a single state in the South. CARLSON: Well, that must be the new math. I mean perhaps it's theoretically possible, but that just makes the margin everywhere else just razor thin and I've got, I suppose -- and I haven't done the numbers this morning -- but you'd have to win everything else. I don't think any serious person thinks you'd want to attempt something like that. Obviously Senator Kerry, at this point, is not planning to take any kind of grandstand in South Carolina, leave it open for Senator Edwards to take.
A lot depends on today, though. I mean if there's some Kerry blowout today, it's going to look much more like a national campaign. Fundraising will be much better and they probably will mount a much more credible fight in the South. But right now I think it's Michigan and Arizona are the states that are -- or, rather, Missouri and Arizona are the two states they're going to be focusing on.
HEMMER: Yes, and for now it's New Hampshire.
James Carville says watch the number 35. If Kerry goes above that, it could be a blowout in the state for the follow-up (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
CARLSON: That's right. I hate to agree with him, but I think he's right.
HEMMER: I know you do.
Thanks.
Talk to you later.
CARLSON: Thanks, Bill.
HEMMER: Be sure to join us later today, "Crossfire."
Tucker is back there, 4:30 Eastern time, live today.
What, the whole quad is going to be here, is that right?
CARLSON: All four.
HEMMER: CNN has complete coverage later tonight. We start at 7:00 Eastern time in New Hampshire.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
