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CNN Presents

CNN Presents: True Believers: Life Inside the Dean Campaign

Aired March 07, 2004 - 20:00   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.


MARTIN SAVIDGE, HEADLINE NEWS, CNN CENTER, ATLANTA: I'm Martin Savidge at the CNN Center in Atlanta. CNN PRESENTS is just ahead, but first we've got these headlines.
Divers return to Baltimore's Inner Harbor tomorrow to look for a man, woman and child missing after a water taxi capsized Saturday. The NTSB is waiting for the results of voluntary toxicology tests on the boat's captain.

Well, what starts out as a lesson in wilderness survival ends with an avalanche and the real-life rescue of 39 Boy Scouts in Utah. High winds caused a huge snow wall to collapse, burying the campers' shelter in six feet of snow. All were rescued. Nobody was hurt.

The verdict guilty on all counts. What's next for Martha Stewart? Two views ahead in our wrap sheet on CNN SUNDAY NIGHT at 10 Eastern. CNN PRESENTS starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

JOE TRIPPI, DEAN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I know that this year a bunch of guys got a phone call, and the call was, hey. I want you to run my presidential campaign.

HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hey, guys. This is treat time.

TRIPPI: They were doing somersaults down the hall.

Next time when you pick them up, turn to the camera.

If I got that call, it was dread.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the governor?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That-a-way.

TRIPPI: I mean, it is mean ...

Seriously attacked, what's your response? Here's your attack. What's your response?

Vicious, ugly.

This is like such (EXPLETIVE DELETED). They're just trying to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) it up.

I want to make sure I'm not over-reacting.

Kills you physically.

You're talking to somebody who's brain dead right now, OK?

And I made the mistake of getting on a plane to Iowa, just to go for one trip with Howard Dean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you are hot.

(END VIDEO)

AARON BROWN, HOST, CNN PRESENTS: In politics, most of the media coverage focuses on the candidates, of course. But a big part of the political battle takes place behind the scenes.

Welcome again to CNN PRESENTS. I'm Aaron Brown.

It is a battle fought by political operatives and strategists and hundreds, thousands of volunteers, all locked in a mad dash to sway the hearts and minds of voters across the country.

Capturing the drama of that behind-the-scenes battle is what we had in mind when we sent producer Kate Albright-Hanna and her camera into the presidential fray. Little did we know that she would witness one of the most remarkable presidential runs of modern times -- the campaign of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

Kate and her camera followed campaign manager Joe Trippi and his unlikely band of warriors, as they helped Dean surge to the brink of the nomination, only to watch it collapse in Iowa, and then in New Hampshire.

Front footnote to frontrunner to flameout, CNN PRESENTS "True Believers: Life Inside the Dean Campaign."

(BEGIN VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean! We want Dean! We want Dean!

[Five months before the first primary, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean surges to the front of the Democratic pack.]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're making a little stop in Boise, Idaho for about an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Boise.

(CHEERS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoa!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can all see you, so you need to come out. The crowd's going to look up at the front ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) and he's just going to be flying, or he's going to take it straight to the station.

HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think my voice is going to be gone after this one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just don't scream. Just don't scream.

DEAN: I won't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

DEAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready? Let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go to your left, governor. Go to your left.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want Dean!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean!

DEAN: I will never send our sons and daughters to die in a foreign country without telling the American people the truth about why they're going.

(APPLAUSE AND CHEERS)

DEAN: When are the Democrats going to stand up and be Democrats again? I'll tell you when.

(CHEERS)

DEAN: You see this flag? This flag doesn't belong to John Ashcroft and the right wing of the Republican Party. This flag belongs to the people of the United States of America. And we're going to take it back. That's what we're going to do. We're going to take it back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a bunch of old-timers in the crowd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Finally, a Democrat who's not afraid to grab the flag and stick it in the ground. It's like they've been dying for 20 years in the desert, ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... looking for someone that they can beat back with.

E.F. DIONNE, "WASHINGTON POST" COLUMNIST: Dean understood earlier than any of the other Democrats that there was this wave of anger inside the party. And it wasn't just a wave of anger at President Bush. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

DEAN: I'm Howard Dean ...

DIONNE: But there was also a sense among Democrats that after the 2002 election, the party just wasn't fighting back hard enough.

DEAN: But I opposed the war with Iraq when too many Democrats supported it.

JOE TRIPPI, DEAN CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We were out there waking up the party, you know, when everybody else was standing at the podium going like, "Huh?" You know. "Oh, man. Don't say that. Oh, you can never win saying that."

RONALD BROWNSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES" COLUMNIST: Trippi and Dean in many ways are a perfect fit in their personalities. Joe Trippi has never considered himself part of the club.

TRIPPI: Anybody who knows me knows I just can't stand the games.

TRICIA ENRIGHT, DEAN CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Joe. The other kids have already left. They have their GameBoys with them.

TRIPPI: This grass is great.

You rarely see me at any dinner, unless I'm forced to under duress, in Washington.

You've got to believe.

BROWNSTEIN: He is not your highly polished, classic Washington political consultant.

KARL FRISCH, DEAN CAMPAIGN VIDEOGRAPHER: Sunset?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

FRISCH: Do you think John Kerry's campaign is watching the sunrise (ph)?

(LAUGHTER)

FRISCH: We don't get it.

(LAUGHTER)

FRISCH: Do you have a friggin' (ph) political bone in your entire body?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Joe Trippi was the character of the Dean campaign.

TRIPPI: It would really bother the governor to be doing that.

CROWLEY: But you get the sense that Howard Dean was quite aware of that.

DEAN: Haven't I done a great job managing Trippi's campaign for president? Aren't I ...

(LAUGHTER)

CROWLEY: You perhaps had a couple alpha male that circled each other.

TRIPPI: You want to jump in? Go ahead.

DEAN: I don't want to interrupt anything. You're the guy who ought to be on the cover of "Time."

TRIPPI: Oh, God.

CROWLEY: They certainly were not bosom buddies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean! We want Dean!

CROWLEY: But when this campaign looks back, I've got to believe that the high will be the sleepless summer tour.

DEAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) sleeping soundly tonight (UNINTELLIGIBLE)). But we're sleepless here in Milwaukee.

TRIPPI: Listen to this song.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm listening.

TRIPPI: There's a voice you've got to hear. It's so loud and clear.

So let them say we can't do it.

(MUSIC)

GAL (SINGING): (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) can do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean! We want Dean!

DEAN: Can you all hear me back there?

DIONNE: People were impressed. And they said, is this a little hubris? Is he jumping ahead of himself?

TRIPPI: Unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First with this (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) ...

TRIPPI: Absolutely unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... then the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) ...

KATHY LASH, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY, DEAN CAMPAIGN: Are you happy? Are you happy? I (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) my ears. TRIPPI: When we win the nomination, when we win the White House, then I'll be happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and maybe why (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) Seattle ...

TRIPPI: But, just could you just wait for one minute? For one minute?

They've got the right music.

TRIPPI: Hey, Tamara. What song is that?

You try to get people to understand, that's where we're going. And somebody, because it's their favorite goddamn advance song, plays "It's a Beautiful Day."

FRISCH: The new song is the song that we played every rally now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't play it ...

TRIPPI: If you do this right, we can take that album to number one.

JOHN COLAPINTO, "ROLLING STONE" REPORTER: It was reminding me of following a rock band. You know, you're always struck with how they don't go to bed.

GAL (SINGING): "Clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee, and ..."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, mind you. This is what, 6:00 a.m., 5:30? What time is it?

COLAPINTO: They were pumped. They were definitely, pumped.

I mean, I think it's a sign of how well they feel things are going, too. It's when the crowds are big and the single is hitting.

DEAN: I think we appreciate the staff. You guys have worked your rear ends off.

COLAPINTO: So, a lot of love in the room right now. You see that they've got persistence.

TRIPPI: You guys are amazing, man. Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and we're going to follow you, brother. We're going to follow you (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) ...

(CHEERS)

TRIPPI: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) get back to work, dammit. What are you doing? You guys have a political bone in your body?

(LAUGHTER)

(MUSIC)

GAL (SINGING): We can ...

NICCO MELE, DEAN CAMPAIGN WEBMASTER: Hey, we're at 990.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll state that baby.

TRIPPI: I don't know what's more unbelievable to me -- that we made the million, or that it is actually, legitimately happening right, you know, now.

Mike, do you know where they're holding him?

TRIPPI: Here's the most important thing with the bat. What you want to do is just hold it up. Like, down here, and so you don't ...

DEAN: Don't look -- kind of ...

TRIPPI: Yes, that's what I mean. That's the one thing about it. Have a nice smile on your face. "You did it." Something like that, but don't -- yeah, yeah, yeah. That's -- I mean, just don't ...

DEAN: Yes, yes.

TRIPPI: Don't be swinging it around up there or anything like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) we'll be able to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States, Howard Dean.

(CHEERS)

DEAN: Thank you, New York City!

(CHEERS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean! We want Dean!

DEAN: Thank you. You've got the power! You have got the power. You have the power ...

GAL (SINGING): We can ...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ready, Georgia boy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ready, Utah boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it was ... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... so, do you want to know what we're doing at two o'clock in the morning? A constant faucet of creativity at Dean for America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My entire (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) being divided by (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got to get back to changing the load.

DIONNE: Lots of people have spun all sorts of theories about the Internet, none of which usually panned out.

And here suddenly, you had a candidate who would use this new tool. You know, there's no other way to put it. He used it brilliantly.

TRIPPI: You're streaming live from here.

DIONNE: And then you had Joe Trippi, who, even before he went to Dean, believed you could do this differently, and you could use the new technology in a different way.

TRIPPI: OK. Where am I blogging?

TRIPPI: There's only one medium in the world that would allow two million Americans to give 100 bucks to us in one day, if they wanted to do it. It's the Internet.

It would help if I had a computer that was hooked up to something.

Each time we have set a goal that seemed impossible, yet somehow, you made sure we reached it.

(CHEERS)

TRIPPI: We broke President Clinton's record for raising the most money. And we didn't do it with $2,000 contributions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it, 13,358?

TRIPPI: I know that it sometimes may seem at the end of the quarter, that the campaign is too focused on the money, but how we raise our money is a very important part of the message of Governor Dean's campaign.

KAREN HICKS, NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE DIRECTOR, DEAN CAMPAIGN: You know, I think Kerry will fight hard and come back and make up a little bit of lost ground. But ...

TRIPPI: Have you heard anything about his money?

HICKS: No, I've heard -- I mean, I think they're going to -- it's been so tight, that I can't help but think that they're going to come out with something more than five.

TRIPPI: What's your old girlfriend in the Kerry campaign say? Call her up.

PAUL BLANK, DEAN CAMPAIGN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: She won't ...

TRIPPI: Call her up. Tell her you'll marry her.

HICKS: Stuck up.

BLANK: You're going to get me in trouble.

Kate, how are you doing? You guys going to break seven? Because that's the word on the street.

The chief on the campaign wanted me to talk you into marrying me in order to tell me -- you will take me up on that?

TRIPPI: He just proposed marriage to her on CNN PRESENTS.

MELE: One five. Let's go.

BROWNSTEIN: I think that a lot of the people who came to Howard Dean weren't there to get a job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I packed up all my stuff. I rented a car. And I drove up here.

BROWNSTEIN: You know, they were people who really believed they had a chance to change the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a new generation of American patriots.

BROWNSTEIN: Campaigns are full of young people, because only young people have the energy to stay up 17 or 19 hours a day to do this kind of work.

DAVID GRINGER, NEW HAMPSHIRE AREA ORGANIZER, DEAN CAMPAIGN: At the end of the day, you're not going to win an election on the Internet.

Empowering people is a process. It takes a little while.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.

GRINGER: Hi, Pauline?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

GRINGER: Hi, I'm David.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't represent Bush, do you?

GRINGER: No, no. I represent the guy who is going to send George Bush back to Crawford, Texas.

When we beat George Bush in November 2004, the way we're going to do it is by getting millions of new people to vote for the first time.

If I do my job well, people will realize how much power they have to make a difference in this election.

You know, if you're 21 and you're not idealistic, there's something really wrong with you.

LAUREN POPPER, NEW HAMPSHIRE AREA ORGANIZER, DEAN CAMPAIGN: A couple of weeks after I got here, someone was writing a story for the "New York Times" magazine about people who had never been involved in politics before, who were getting involved in the Dean campaign.

So, somehow or other, another, someone decided that my picture was really representative of something.

Oh, my God.

GRINGER: This is exciting.

POPPER: And so there is literally, like, writing about me.

GRINGER: You're everything that's wrong with America, right?

POPPER: Wait, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) her Web site?

GRINGER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.

POPPER: Ann Coulter basically summarizes everything I said, and then says, "With quotes like that, it's not going to be easy to tone down the Republicans' overconfidence in the coming presidential campaign."

GRINGER: Right.

POPPER: You know, sure, there's probably a couple of people who work on the campaign who are vegans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a personal assault.

POPPER: But any attempt to sort of categorize everyone I think is not respectful of, you know, human experience.

TRIPPI: Realize that it's going to get worse, in terms of the attacks, in terms of what we're standing up to. They're not trying to stop Howard Dean. They're trying to stop you and 450,000 Americans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean! We want Dean!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do we want? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do we want him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now.

(CHEERS)

DIONNE: I think he got such a good ride in the middle of the summer.

TRIPPI: You can't stand there for that long and talk without committing (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

DIONNE: The fact that he had been able to almost fly under the radar meant that an awful lot of people felt, both among his opponents and in the press, that they'd better catch up and start giving some critical scrutiny to this guy who, at that moment people were saying, my God. He's going to sweep to the nomination.

TRIPPI: The whole damn pack of them is coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you know (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

TRIPPI: The most telling quote in the past couple of weeks was in "Time" magazine, when one of those cowards had a blind quote. And that's exactly what they were. Frickin' (ph) chicken (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

Because one of them said, it's like the mafia. Everybody wants one of the other families to hit him.

MIKE MURPHY, MCCAIN 2000 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It's true. That's what always happens in multi-way primaries.

You see, you're all sitting around saying, well, we don't want to fight the guy. He'll fight back and scruff up our beautiful white tuxedo. We'll wait for those, you know, the psychos over at Lieberman to do it.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me say to Governor Dean. He has said he wouldn't take sides. But then he has said, Israel ought to get out of the West Bank, and an enormous number of their settlements ought to be broken down.

That's up to the parties and their negotiations, not for us to tell them.

TRIPPI: Are you guys looking at this?

This is like such (EXPLETIVE DELETED). It's -- really, this is the most disgusting thing anybody has done in this race so far. This is more disgusting than anything Kerry's ever done.

I mean, with all the crap you can hit us with above the belt, which would be legitimate, and let's have a debate, you're going to go below the belt? We should put out a statement that this is among -- I want to make sure I'm not over-reacting.

The only thing I can think is, they're just trying to get a Dean- Lieberman headline.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what they're doing.

TRIPPI: But, I mean, to do that, I never thought I'd get to see that shit out of them.

LIEBERMAN: They've got the same bad (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that ...

STEVE MCMAHON, MEDIA CONSULTANT, DEAN CAMPAIGN: I guess he doesn't want to be vice president again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Been there, done that.

JUDY WOODRUFF, ANCHOR, CNN'S INSIDE POLITICS: Four months before the first primary season contests get under way, General Wesley Clark, new to this race, has his work cut out for him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Send lawyers, guns and money.

(LAUGHTER)

ENRIGHT: Clark's shorter than the governor. He's a little guy.

TRIPPI: Hey, Tricia. No matter who goes by, we just do this. OK? No matter who goes by.

ENRIGHT: OK.

TRIPPI: My pleasure.

ENRIGHT: Trippi, tell them, though, the important thing, Joe. Did you know this? That the governor is at least a half an inch taller than the general?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the boss here yet?

TRIPPI: The boss is here on the other side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor?

DEAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The former vice president is right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right through this way, sir.

DEAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)), Howard. Fine. How are you doing?

DEAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

GORE: Let me introduce you to my daughter, Karenna.

DEAN: Hi. How are you? Nice to see you.

KARENNA GORE SCHIFF, DAUGHTER OF AL GORE: Hi, how are you, Governor? Nice to you see you.

DEAN: It's nice to see you again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You really came here to hear from the next president of the United States. Please give our Harlem round of applause for the next president of the United States, Dean -- Governor Dean -- and also our vice president, Al Gore. Al Gore.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: And so I'm asking all of you to join in this grassroots movement to elect Howard Dean president of the United States. Thank you.

JONATHAN ALTER, "NEWSWEEK" COLUMNIST: The question is, is that dangerous for you? Potentially dangerous for you, for everybody now to be saying, it's over. If it weren't, you wouldn't be so anxious to tell us it's not over, right?

There's a danger there in that, isn't it?

TRIPPI: Yes, I -- no, I do think -- there always is, because it's not over. I mean, we've still got a -- there hasn't been a vote cast. We've got to get to the votes, and we've got to win this.

CROWLEY: The down side of having Al Gore come out is, it really put that target right on to his back. And he got hammered. He got hammered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got him.

(CHEERS)

MCMAHON: You know, Saddam Hussein gets captured and the world is celebrating, and so is Howard.

DEAN: We're all glad that Saddam is caught. It's a great victory for our troops. But America's not safer, because the real problem is terrorism.

MCMAHON: You know, he did point out that it didn't make us any safer, and got, you know, beat up a lot for saying that.

CROWLEY: The Saddam comment hurt Howard Dean. But it was a delayed reaction.

Howard Dean said he wanted a perfect storm in Iowa. And he got it. It just wasn't the perfect storm he thought would happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TRIPPI: It's win with Dean, man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.

TRIPPI: There's a guy boxing with a toy (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

Thank you so much. No, just keep doing it. Keep doing it. Don't let up. Don't let up.

DEAN: If you're willing to come out here in the snow, so am I. And let's go take back our country.

TRIPPI: How's it going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)).

(SINGING)

(CHEERS)

ENRIGHT: Front page story. Clark basically tied, and ...

SUSAN PAGE, REPORTER, USA TODAY: We have a poll coming out tomorrow with Dean down. And it shows (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) going up. But we wanted to get your reaction. Because it looks to us like the attacks (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) are beginning to have some effect. Is that how it looks to you?

TRIPPI: No. This is a margin -- that's margin of error. National numbers change in a second after Iowa.

PAGE: Yes. That's true.

TRIPPI: And New Hampshire.

PAGE: Yes.

TRIPPI: In a second.

So, the new Gallup USA Today poll ...

DEAN: Haven't seen it.

TRIPPI: Us 24 nationally, Clark 20.

DEAN: Oof.

TRIPPI: We win here, we're already at 560,000 people. We start winning states, lots of other people are going to join up. It all starts here. And -- they will try to stop it here.

PETER GIANGRECO, JOHN EDWARDS' IOWA POLITICAL CONSULTANT: I would say we're running a close 40 points in New Hampshire, but we'll get a bounce out of here.

Well, you can't underestimate the impact that Iowa has on New Hampshire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even with the State of the Union the next night?

GIANGRECO: Yes. It's going to scramble the chessboard, and you're not going to know what's going to happen.

TRIPPI: I even think Kerry's so weak right now, that if he took second here, I'm not sure he'd get a big enough bump there to go by Clark.

LISA MYERS, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, NBC NEWS: Four years ago, Dean had almost nothing nice to say about the Iowa caucuses.

DEAN: If you look at the caucuses system, they are dominated by the special interests on both sides and both parties. Special interests don't represent the centrist tendencies in the American people. They tend to represent the extremes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think Iowa caucus goers are still extremists?

DEAN: I never thought they were.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But didn't you say that just a few years ago?

DEAN: I was talking four years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the people stupid. It is the subject line. Do not change the subject line. I just said it. It's the people stupid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: 1992, Bill Clinton said, it's the economy stupid. This time, it's the people stupid. Washington is going to change. And we're going to change it. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's committed news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why the committed news?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said Clinton said in...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the people stupid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I mean if people don't go with that, they are out of their minds. That's what the campaign is about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the people stupid, has anybody used it? He's been saying it the last two stops. That's the message. Don't we deserve to at least get our message out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's the attack, what's your response? Here's the attack, what's your response? Here's the attack, what's your response. And when you get through all of that, you have no message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like the other candidates are closing in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll see on Monday. We don't see that. We are going to win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is the Blog handling all of this? The polls saying it's a dead heat, all of that stuff. How are they reacting?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some are doing the sky is falling, some people are saying it's not about the sky is falling. You have to be positive; the people are going to win. There is definitely some of the sort of freaking out attitude.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The real story is John Kerry. He is 25.9 last night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kerry 25, us 19, Gephardt 19. Do you know what I think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we get into a back and forth with Gephardt, who benefits from that? Not either one of us. Not this late.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Edwards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kerry or Edwards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you get me the...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

FELIX SCHEIN, NBC NEWS REPORTER: To many glitches, at this stage in the game, you are down to five days before the Iowa, and the campaign seems to be lacking in structure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does anybody know why headquarters isn't answering the phone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know, but neither is the hotline. The hotline is not answering either.

SCHEIN: There is not a good understanding of how to deal with the press. The Governor himself hasn't been on lately. Been tinkering with his message, been tinkering with his style.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much. You are wonderful, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You guys have a nice day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote for Dean.

SCHEIN: Governor Dean the other day complained that Joe Trippi was getting more press than Governor Dean was getting. Joe Trippe may even be bigger than Governor Dean in some circles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see Dean People. I hate that sign. I don't know. But it comes with the movie slogan, I see dead people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do you think it is going to be?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know what everybody else is doing Joe? They are doing this. Talking smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller. And we are just growing baby, everyday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well 36,000 out of 130 would be 28 percent. It should be enough. So it's between us and Gephardt? Or do you don't think it's between us and...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For that reason alone. I think it's between us and Kerry.

TRIPPI: Got it? Great. Thanks for walking with me. I'm Joe Trippe; I'm running the Governor's campaign for president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to get everybody to the caucuses that we can. It's going to be close here. Talk to your neighbors for us, OK? And bring your family. Thank you so much. Really appreciate your time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I don't know if we are second or third. But Gephardt is in fourth place outside of the margin of error. The three of us are all in the margin of error.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anyone is feeling void (ph) by the newest numbers, it is likely to be Kerry.

TRIPPI: Why is Kerry on every single (EXPLETIVE DELETED) station? Because I just got asked by NBC out there in the neighborhood when I was walking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some news agencies are kind of writing your obituary right now.

TRIPPI: Is that what's going on?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(ON SCREEN): A Day Before The Iowa Caucuses, Dean Goes To Georgia To Meet President Carter And His Wife, Rosalynn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He walks out of the house with Jimmy Carter, Jimmy and Rosalynn with him. And they get out of the house, and when they do the wave to the camera stuff, he doesn't say -- he doesn't say great to be here with the President. Doesn't say that. He turns to the cameras and says, hey guys, new Zogby poll out tonight.

(LAUGHTER)

STEVE MCMAHON, DEAN MEDIA CONSULTANT: I love Howard. He is genuine, authentic, and real.

TRIPPI: Carter walked into the newsroom, and said I want to make one thing clear. I didn't invite him. And I'm not endorsing him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For so long in this campaign nothing went wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm saying is, are you getting, seeing like Kerry surging organization. So you think we are going to win.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Yes.

TRIPPI: Do you think Kerry will get bias here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This part of it -- I would rather hear it, then -- I don't know. He is doing well in this part of the state.

DEAN: You and all those people you dragged to the caucus have the power to take the White House back in 2004, and that is exactly what we are going to do. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Howard. Howard Dean. Going to take our country back.

DEAN: Thanks a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll sell your autograph.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are hot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the message. You are doing it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: two, four, six, eight, Howard's going to operate (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now he has to make sure that we win.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going to kick ass tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You cannot move in Iowa without seeing orange hats on every corner, knocking on every door.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: To help all of those people you identify this week, get to the caucus, and we'll see you at the victory celebration in De Moines tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am serenely calm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it?

PAUL MASLIN, DEAN CAMPAIGN: Take it from a pure polling standpoint, which I know is not a straight comparison, but if it doesn't get any better then this, we just tip flat and never got anything back. And they kept moving. And Kerry in particular.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Kerry 34, Edward 23, Gephardt 11.

TRIPPI: Should Gina tell him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TRIPPI: Yes, go ahead. OK. Bye.

DEAN: We're going to South Carolina, and Oklahoma, and Arizona, and North Dakota, and New Mexico. We're going to California, and Texas, and New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRIPPI: We've only just begun to fight, and we're the insurgent (ph) again.

Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have only just begun to fight.

TRIPPI: Hello? Keep it going, thanks. That was the Governor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are idiots.

TRIPPI: Kerry is giving my stump (ph) speech.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: SO we get done at Iowa. Fly to New Hampshire, and got in at 3:00 in the morning.

DEAN: Howard Dean!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five or six hundred people. But the thing is, this thing was 48 hours ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is assassination. That's what I'm saying. Now it is. It's just nuts.

TRIPPI: Now it's just like, let's pile on.

JON HABER, DEAN SR. ADVISOR: I have seen this 20 times today. It's just -- it's great tape. So they are just going to keep running it.

TRIPPI: It's like one of those big explosions in the war. They get one of those heat seeking missiles, and shit. We are going to watch it for three nights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what they don't show you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean. We want Dean. We want Dean.

KARL FRISCH, DEAN VIDEOGRAPHER: They have yet to show one second out of those 15 seconds of what the audience was like.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Look at that. But nobody ever expected the media to be fair.

TRIPPI: I know it's been a rough few days. I want to talk to everybody, let you know what's going on. You guys have done an incredible thing for this country. We are not going to let 15 seconds of tape erase all of that. No one could ever take away from you guys what you have built.

But we just want to build it a little better, and a little stronger, and win the damn thing. So just go out and keep doing it. I'm so proud of you guys. Just keep fighting. Thanks. Thanks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the way, good news is I think we are doing Letterman (ph). We have the OK. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

TRICIA ENRIGHT, DEAN COMM DIR: We'd like for him to maybe do a little self-deprecating humor about how he lost his voice. At the top.

PAUL MASLIM, DEAN CAMPAIGN POLLSTER: Good (UNINTELLIGIBLE), my voice is a little weak; I guess I strained it in Iowa. Number 10.

TRIPPI: Well he and Judy are doing Diane Sawyer tonight.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In the week following his third place finish in Iowa, Howard Dean went on Diane Sawyer with his wife. They were trying to give Howard Dean the flesh, and bones, and heartbeat they had failed to give him prior to this.

TRIPPI: What else could we have done? You mean for (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? I'd like to turn this around.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I told you, we had 24 hours, and we rolled the dice.

TRIPPI: No, what we have done, we gave this, we pointed a lot of cannon, and we have been dominated in this--

TRIPPI: No, do you know what we had? We had Sawyer, the debate, and Letterman. And in this environment, the three bullets have been shot and rolled, shot and rolled, and shot and rolled. The entire media is out there going --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what? I'm not sure yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: TMS (ph) has a fairly sizeable one. We have some IT. Our cash on hand right now is 3.5. With 2.4 million in receipts. So the adjusted cash on hand, if we were to pay out all of our bills right now, is a little over $1 million.

TRIPPI: And do we think anyone is holding money somewhere at all? Has any of you stashed money somewhere?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about the 150--

TRIPPI: I want to do whatever the hell I can to help us win. And do the right thing. But the way I am right now, I'm out of here. I'm not -- going to waste the day, when they want to know what we did with $58 million that I had nothing to do with.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I look like I'm losing weight to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I am eating like a horse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it looks like you are losing some weight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look, they have a pack mentality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what is the pack saying right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The pack is writing us off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell them why we should go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I think that it's important for people to see you and not think that you are hunkered down somewhere else. And that we're in this.

TRIPPI: I am hunkered down somewhere else. And we are in this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe, I really think it's important for them to see you, and for you to be there talking to people. Because no one else is.

TRIPPI: Let's keep Karen out front. Let's keep this about New Hampshire, New Hampshire, New Hampshire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, then don't go.

TRIPPI: But, I didn't think about that -- what all the sudden why can't Candy Crowley says if Trippe's not here, what's going on?

CROWLEY: That says a lot, when you get banished to Burlington. And it says a lot when people noticed you've been banished to Burlington. So something was up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we ought to do, is we ought to do a statement from Howard which says Joe Trippe's been an incredible important part of my campaign, unlike -- while I've had at least a day down, Joe's been working nonstop for a year, and just needs some rest and relaxation. He's going to be taking some time off but is going to stay a close advisor to the campaign, bla bla, bla. Joe does not want to do that. He just wants to say I'm leaving. So I think you want to keep him involved. Because you don't want a hugely (ph) bad story. And then when he gets back to Virginia, he can do whatever he wants to do.

TRIPPI: This is what I abandoned. I've seen it seven nights this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we going to the movies? Or are we giving up on this idea?

TRIPPI: Let's go. To the "Lord of the Rings." Sit there. Do the bad guys win?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the "Lord of the Rings?"

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's defeat against like impossible circumstances.

TRIPPI: Because I'd really like just two or three hours where nothing Dean happens.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) "Lord of the Rings," right?

TRIPPI: Certainty of death, small chance of success, what are we waiting for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainty of death, small chance of success, what are we waiting for? Let's go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainty of death, small chance for success, what are we waiting for?

TRIPPI: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! They are doing like comparing us with checkers (ph) fees (ph). This is unbelievable. A guy...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are we watching this?

TRIPPI: Yelling at his rally. On to Michigan is somehow compared to everyone of these things? Unbelievable. I want to get jumped in the middle of the presidential campaign again. If I ever do that. If I ever ever ever say something like that, you come get me, and take me home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will. I'll try.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The best gift for me next Christmas is Howard Dean becoming president.

TRIPPI: The toughest thing about it that we fail isn't Howard Dean, or me or any of these folks. It's this. It's his people. These people really do have what it takes to change the country. And we just have to figure out some way to get past the shit that's been thrown at us for eight weeks. And turn it. That's who we are letting down.

We'll see what happens in New Hampshire tomorrow night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know if we are at the rise and fall stage. At the rise and keep rising stage. Or at the rise and fall and rise stage.

ERIC SALEMAN, CBS NEWS PRODUCER: Dean goes to tell a story, he's like last night at a meeting, I met this young man. And this guy finally he gets his turn, he goes I want everyone to know, I was out of work in New Hampshire, and I moved to Vermont, and I got a job as a dishwasher, and I had to walk home in the cold, so I got sick. And I got to see a doctor for $2, and I still got the lollypop.

So yesterday, Dean (UNINTELLIGIBLE) doing this big town hall meeting in Manchester, and he starts to tell this story. Yesterday, I met this young man and all of the sudden...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Is that John?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SALEMAN: You hear from the balcony that's me, that's me!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people heard Howard Dean scream and it made them run away. I heard Howard Dean scream, and it made me wake up.

DAVID GRINGER, NH ARENA ORGANIZER: This is it. We need you to give everything you have. Let's finish what Governor Dean started two years ago. Let's bring every supporter of Howard Dean to the polls here in Manchester. If we do that tonight, we will win this evening, I promise. Let's go, let's do it.

Bring this home man, bring this home.

I hear it's very very close.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First exit. It's 36 Kerry, 31 us, 12 Edwards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's good. That's real good.

GRINGER: This is Gringer. Send him to ward nine; it's just down on Elm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The numbers from the "Los Angeles Times" we're 32 Dean, 31 Kerry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get your computer. We have to look up another word for comeback.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) We've been defibrillated.

GRINGER: Hi, this is David. That's great. That's great. That votes (ph) very well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure he is scared out of his gourd right now. It's like no matter what happens, they don't think they are working hard enough. Even if they run themselves into the ground.

GRINGER: Remember what I said, you don't want to start making desperation phone calls? Changed my mind.

TRIPPI: We are counting votes, and it is 30-22. Not 35-34. Not 35-30. Not 36-31. Not any of the exit numbers. It's 30-22.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

TRIPPI: That's what the real results are showing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is really screwy.

GRINGER: We lost ward one badly. I don't believe this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you get the number?

GRINGER: Sunday night I did go to sleep, I think. Any idea how bad a victory party is if you don't win? It's like a birthday party that no one shows up to. Inherent invictory (ph) party.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look at this, 17 percent of the vote officially tabulated right now. Based on those numbers as well as CNN exit poll numbers, CNN is now ready to project a winner in this race. John Kerry.

DEAN: I was the supposed front-runner according to "Time" and "Newsweek" for a long time. But guess what? The voters get to decide who the front-runner is. I'm glad I am still in the race.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now I'll go back to Burlington. I think I'm going to go back right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody know where my bag is?

TRIPPI: I've never felt this connected to the average volunteer working in the campaign. A lot of them are like, what did we do wrong? Think about that. These people wrote like 118,000 letters to the people of Iowa. And we took third with 18 percent of the vote.

And now, they are saying what did we do wrong? Why couldn't we make a difference? You told us we had the power to make a difference. That's hard to hear. That's really really hard to hear.

Evidently the daily cause (ph) had something on there yesterday about were key elements, or key people in the Dean campaign being benched? (UNINTELLIGIBLE) turning -- are the rumors about Trippe quitting true? Or whatever you know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are they true?

TRIPPI: Do you want to turn the camera off?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trippe! Trippe! Trippe! Trippe!

GARRETT GRAFF, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: I was thinking about it, and I was like, I love this man. I would follow him off a cliff. And yet I have never had a positive interaction with him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rumpled up press releases that Garrett has written and throw them at me. Ask Garrett.

GRAFF: He's never said a nice word to me. And yet, I would do anything for him. The message that he created won those elections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just not for Howard Dean.

TRIPPI: This used to be about a real debate about the future of the country. And now it is like entertainment. There really are people out there who are doing this because they care about the country. Or they care about the guy that they are working for.

I did not want to run this campaign. I tried everything I could to not do it. I knew I physically couldn't do it. I knew how painful it was going to be. I knew what it meant I was going to give up in terms of seeing my kids for an entire 13 months.

There is nothing that you could give me. And in the end, the only thing that was worth it was all those people. If you ask me today, was it worth it? Yes. Why them?

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN PRESENTS: Of course Governor Dean struggled on for another few weeks after New Hampshire. But the campaign never recovered. Joe Trippe returned to his farm on Maryland's eastern shore, vowing never again to run a presidential campaign.

We'll see. He's launched a political blog (ph) of his own. Changeforamerica.com. It reached out to Dean Campaign supporters. And as Trippe himself pointed out, politics is a strangely addictive business.

That's our program for tonight. I'm Aaron Brown. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next week.

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Campaign>


Aired March 7, 2004 - 20:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, HEADLINE NEWS, CNN CENTER, ATLANTA: I'm Martin Savidge at the CNN Center in Atlanta. CNN PRESENTS is just ahead, but first we've got these headlines.
Divers return to Baltimore's Inner Harbor tomorrow to look for a man, woman and child missing after a water taxi capsized Saturday. The NTSB is waiting for the results of voluntary toxicology tests on the boat's captain.

Well, what starts out as a lesson in wilderness survival ends with an avalanche and the real-life rescue of 39 Boy Scouts in Utah. High winds caused a huge snow wall to collapse, burying the campers' shelter in six feet of snow. All were rescued. Nobody was hurt.

The verdict guilty on all counts. What's next for Martha Stewart? Two views ahead in our wrap sheet on CNN SUNDAY NIGHT at 10 Eastern. CNN PRESENTS starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

JOE TRIPPI, DEAN PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I know that this year a bunch of guys got a phone call, and the call was, hey. I want you to run my presidential campaign.

HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hey, guys. This is treat time.

TRIPPI: They were doing somersaults down the hall.

Next time when you pick them up, turn to the camera.

If I got that call, it was dread.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where's the governor?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That-a-way.

TRIPPI: I mean, it is mean ...

Seriously attacked, what's your response? Here's your attack. What's your response?

Vicious, ugly.

This is like such (EXPLETIVE DELETED). They're just trying to (EXPLETIVE DELETED) it up.

I want to make sure I'm not over-reacting.

Kills you physically.

You're talking to somebody who's brain dead right now, OK?

And I made the mistake of getting on a plane to Iowa, just to go for one trip with Howard Dean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you are hot.

(END VIDEO)

AARON BROWN, HOST, CNN PRESENTS: In politics, most of the media coverage focuses on the candidates, of course. But a big part of the political battle takes place behind the scenes.

Welcome again to CNN PRESENTS. I'm Aaron Brown.

It is a battle fought by political operatives and strategists and hundreds, thousands of volunteers, all locked in a mad dash to sway the hearts and minds of voters across the country.

Capturing the drama of that behind-the-scenes battle is what we had in mind when we sent producer Kate Albright-Hanna and her camera into the presidential fray. Little did we know that she would witness one of the most remarkable presidential runs of modern times -- the campaign of former Vermont Governor Howard Dean.

Kate and her camera followed campaign manager Joe Trippi and his unlikely band of warriors, as they helped Dean surge to the brink of the nomination, only to watch it collapse in Iowa, and then in New Hampshire.

Front footnote to frontrunner to flameout, CNN PRESENTS "True Believers: Life Inside the Dean Campaign."

(BEGIN VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean! We want Dean! We want Dean!

[Five months before the first primary, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean surges to the front of the Democratic pack.]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're making a little stop in Boise, Idaho for about an hour.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Boise.

(CHEERS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Whoa!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can all see you, so you need to come out. The crowd's going to look up at the front ...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) and he's just going to be flying, or he's going to take it straight to the station.

HOWARD DEAN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think my voice is going to be gone after this one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just don't scream. Just don't scream.

DEAN: I won't.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

DEAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ready? Let's go.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go to your left, governor. Go to your left.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We want Dean!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean!

DEAN: I will never send our sons and daughters to die in a foreign country without telling the American people the truth about why they're going.

(APPLAUSE AND CHEERS)

DEAN: When are the Democrats going to stand up and be Democrats again? I'll tell you when.

(CHEERS)

DEAN: You see this flag? This flag doesn't belong to John Ashcroft and the right wing of the Republican Party. This flag belongs to the people of the United States of America. And we're going to take it back. That's what we're going to do. We're going to take it back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a bunch of old-timers in the crowd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Finally, a Democrat who's not afraid to grab the flag and stick it in the ground. It's like they've been dying for 20 years in the desert, ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right, right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... looking for someone that they can beat back with.

E.F. DIONNE, "WASHINGTON POST" COLUMNIST: Dean understood earlier than any of the other Democrats that there was this wave of anger inside the party. And it wasn't just a wave of anger at President Bush. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

DEAN: I'm Howard Dean ...

DIONNE: But there was also a sense among Democrats that after the 2002 election, the party just wasn't fighting back hard enough.

DEAN: But I opposed the war with Iraq when too many Democrats supported it.

JOE TRIPPI, DEAN CAMPAIGN MANAGER: We were out there waking up the party, you know, when everybody else was standing at the podium going like, "Huh?" You know. "Oh, man. Don't say that. Oh, you can never win saying that."

RONALD BROWNSTEIN, "LOS ANGELES TIMES" COLUMNIST: Trippi and Dean in many ways are a perfect fit in their personalities. Joe Trippi has never considered himself part of the club.

TRIPPI: Anybody who knows me knows I just can't stand the games.

TRICIA ENRIGHT, DEAN CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Joe. The other kids have already left. They have their GameBoys with them.

TRIPPI: This grass is great.

You rarely see me at any dinner, unless I'm forced to under duress, in Washington.

You've got to believe.

BROWNSTEIN: He is not your highly polished, classic Washington political consultant.

KARL FRISCH, DEAN CAMPAIGN VIDEOGRAPHER: Sunset?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

FRISCH: Do you think John Kerry's campaign is watching the sunrise (ph)?

(LAUGHTER)

FRISCH: We don't get it.

(LAUGHTER)

FRISCH: Do you have a friggin' (ph) political bone in your entire body?

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Joe Trippi was the character of the Dean campaign.

TRIPPI: It would really bother the governor to be doing that.

CROWLEY: But you get the sense that Howard Dean was quite aware of that.

DEAN: Haven't I done a great job managing Trippi's campaign for president? Aren't I ...

(LAUGHTER)

CROWLEY: You perhaps had a couple alpha male that circled each other.

TRIPPI: You want to jump in? Go ahead.

DEAN: I don't want to interrupt anything. You're the guy who ought to be on the cover of "Time."

TRIPPI: Oh, God.

CROWLEY: They certainly were not bosom buddies.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean! We want Dean!

CROWLEY: But when this campaign looks back, I've got to believe that the high will be the sleepless summer tour.

DEAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) sleeping soundly tonight (UNINTELLIGIBLE)). But we're sleepless here in Milwaukee.

TRIPPI: Listen to this song.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm listening.

TRIPPI: There's a voice you've got to hear. It's so loud and clear.

So let them say we can't do it.

(MUSIC)

GAL (SINGING): (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) can do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean! We want Dean!

DEAN: Can you all hear me back there?

DIONNE: People were impressed. And they said, is this a little hubris? Is he jumping ahead of himself?

TRIPPI: Unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First with this (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) ...

TRIPPI: Absolutely unbelievable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... then the (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) ...

KATHY LASH, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY, DEAN CAMPAIGN: Are you happy? Are you happy? I (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) my ears. TRIPPI: When we win the nomination, when we win the White House, then I'll be happy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... and maybe why (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) Seattle ...

TRIPPI: But, just could you just wait for one minute? For one minute?

They've got the right music.

TRIPPI: Hey, Tamara. What song is that?

You try to get people to understand, that's where we're going. And somebody, because it's their favorite goddamn advance song, plays "It's a Beautiful Day."

FRISCH: The new song is the song that we played every rally now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't play it ...

TRIPPI: If you do this right, we can take that album to number one.

JOHN COLAPINTO, "ROLLING STONE" REPORTER: It was reminding me of following a rock band. You know, you're always struck with how they don't go to bed.

GAL (SINGING): "Clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee, and ..."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, mind you. This is what, 6:00 a.m., 5:30? What time is it?

COLAPINTO: They were pumped. They were definitely, pumped.

I mean, I think it's a sign of how well they feel things are going, too. It's when the crowds are big and the single is hitting.

DEAN: I think we appreciate the staff. You guys have worked your rear ends off.

COLAPINTO: So, a lot of love in the room right now. You see that they've got persistence.

TRIPPI: You guys are amazing, man. Absolutely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, and we're going to follow you, brother. We're going to follow you (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) ...

(CHEERS)

TRIPPI: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) get back to work, dammit. What are you doing? You guys have a political bone in your body?

(LAUGHTER)

(MUSIC)

GAL (SINGING): We can ...

NICCO MELE, DEAN CAMPAIGN WEBMASTER: Hey, we're at 990.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll state that baby.

TRIPPI: I don't know what's more unbelievable to me -- that we made the million, or that it is actually, legitimately happening right, you know, now.

Mike, do you know where they're holding him?

TRIPPI: Here's the most important thing with the bat. What you want to do is just hold it up. Like, down here, and so you don't ...

DEAN: Don't look -- kind of ...

TRIPPI: Yes, that's what I mean. That's the one thing about it. Have a nice smile on your face. "You did it." Something like that, but don't -- yeah, yeah, yeah. That's -- I mean, just don't ...

DEAN: Yes, yes.

TRIPPI: Don't be swinging it around up there or anything like that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) we'll be able to do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, the next president of the United States, Howard Dean.

(CHEERS)

DEAN: Thank you, New York City!

(CHEERS)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean! We want Dean!

DEAN: Thank you. You've got the power! You have got the power. You have the power ...

GAL (SINGING): We can ...

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You ready, Georgia boy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm ready, Utah boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But it was ... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... so, do you want to know what we're doing at two o'clock in the morning? A constant faucet of creativity at Dean for America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My entire (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) being divided by (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've got to get back to changing the load.

DIONNE: Lots of people have spun all sorts of theories about the Internet, none of which usually panned out.

And here suddenly, you had a candidate who would use this new tool. You know, there's no other way to put it. He used it brilliantly.

TRIPPI: You're streaming live from here.

DIONNE: And then you had Joe Trippi, who, even before he went to Dean, believed you could do this differently, and you could use the new technology in a different way.

TRIPPI: OK. Where am I blogging?

TRIPPI: There's only one medium in the world that would allow two million Americans to give 100 bucks to us in one day, if they wanted to do it. It's the Internet.

It would help if I had a computer that was hooked up to something.

Each time we have set a goal that seemed impossible, yet somehow, you made sure we reached it.

(CHEERS)

TRIPPI: We broke President Clinton's record for raising the most money. And we didn't do it with $2,000 contributions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it, 13,358?

TRIPPI: I know that it sometimes may seem at the end of the quarter, that the campaign is too focused on the money, but how we raise our money is a very important part of the message of Governor Dean's campaign.

KAREN HICKS, NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE DIRECTOR, DEAN CAMPAIGN: You know, I think Kerry will fight hard and come back and make up a little bit of lost ground. But ...

TRIPPI: Have you heard anything about his money?

HICKS: No, I've heard -- I mean, I think they're going to -- it's been so tight, that I can't help but think that they're going to come out with something more than five.

TRIPPI: What's your old girlfriend in the Kerry campaign say? Call her up.

PAUL BLANK, DEAN CAMPAIGN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: She won't ...

TRIPPI: Call her up. Tell her you'll marry her.

HICKS: Stuck up.

BLANK: You're going to get me in trouble.

Kate, how are you doing? You guys going to break seven? Because that's the word on the street.

The chief on the campaign wanted me to talk you into marrying me in order to tell me -- you will take me up on that?

TRIPPI: He just proposed marriage to her on CNN PRESENTS.

MELE: One five. Let's go.

BROWNSTEIN: I think that a lot of the people who came to Howard Dean weren't there to get a job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I packed up all my stuff. I rented a car. And I drove up here.

BROWNSTEIN: You know, they were people who really believed they had a chance to change the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a new generation of American patriots.

BROWNSTEIN: Campaigns are full of young people, because only young people have the energy to stay up 17 or 19 hours a day to do this kind of work.

DAVID GRINGER, NEW HAMPSHIRE AREA ORGANIZER, DEAN CAMPAIGN: At the end of the day, you're not going to win an election on the Internet.

Empowering people is a process. It takes a little while.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello.

GRINGER: Hi, Pauline?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

GRINGER: Hi, I'm David.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You don't represent Bush, do you?

GRINGER: No, no. I represent the guy who is going to send George Bush back to Crawford, Texas.

When we beat George Bush in November 2004, the way we're going to do it is by getting millions of new people to vote for the first time.

If I do my job well, people will realize how much power they have to make a difference in this election.

You know, if you're 21 and you're not idealistic, there's something really wrong with you.

LAUREN POPPER, NEW HAMPSHIRE AREA ORGANIZER, DEAN CAMPAIGN: A couple of weeks after I got here, someone was writing a story for the "New York Times" magazine about people who had never been involved in politics before, who were getting involved in the Dean campaign.

So, somehow or other, another, someone decided that my picture was really representative of something.

Oh, my God.

GRINGER: This is exciting.

POPPER: And so there is literally, like, writing about me.

GRINGER: You're everything that's wrong with America, right?

POPPER: Wait, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) her Web site?

GRINGER: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.

POPPER: Ann Coulter basically summarizes everything I said, and then says, "With quotes like that, it's not going to be easy to tone down the Republicans' overconfidence in the coming presidential campaign."

GRINGER: Right.

POPPER: You know, sure, there's probably a couple of people who work on the campaign who are vegans.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a personal assault.

POPPER: But any attempt to sort of categorize everyone I think is not respectful of, you know, human experience.

TRIPPI: Realize that it's going to get worse, in terms of the attacks, in terms of what we're standing up to. They're not trying to stop Howard Dean. They're trying to stop you and 450,000 Americans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean! We want Dean!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do we want? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do we want him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now.

(CHEERS)

DIONNE: I think he got such a good ride in the middle of the summer.

TRIPPI: You can't stand there for that long and talk without committing (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

DIONNE: The fact that he had been able to almost fly under the radar meant that an awful lot of people felt, both among his opponents and in the press, that they'd better catch up and start giving some critical scrutiny to this guy who, at that moment people were saying, my God. He's going to sweep to the nomination.

TRIPPI: The whole damn pack of them is coming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But you know (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

TRIPPI: The most telling quote in the past couple of weeks was in "Time" magazine, when one of those cowards had a blind quote. And that's exactly what they were. Frickin' (ph) chicken (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

Because one of them said, it's like the mafia. Everybody wants one of the other families to hit him.

MIKE MURPHY, MCCAIN 2000 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: It's true. That's what always happens in multi-way primaries.

You see, you're all sitting around saying, well, we don't want to fight the guy. He'll fight back and scruff up our beautiful white tuxedo. We'll wait for those, you know, the psychos over at Lieberman to do it.

SEN. JOSEPH LIEBERMAN, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me say to Governor Dean. He has said he wouldn't take sides. But then he has said, Israel ought to get out of the West Bank, and an enormous number of their settlements ought to be broken down.

That's up to the parties and their negotiations, not for us to tell them.

TRIPPI: Are you guys looking at this?

This is like such (EXPLETIVE DELETED). It's -- really, this is the most disgusting thing anybody has done in this race so far. This is more disgusting than anything Kerry's ever done.

I mean, with all the crap you can hit us with above the belt, which would be legitimate, and let's have a debate, you're going to go below the belt? We should put out a statement that this is among -- I want to make sure I'm not over-reacting.

The only thing I can think is, they're just trying to get a Dean- Lieberman headline.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what they're doing.

TRIPPI: But, I mean, to do that, I never thought I'd get to see that shit out of them.

LIEBERMAN: They've got the same bad (UNINTELLIGIBLE) that ...

STEVE MCMAHON, MEDIA CONSULTANT, DEAN CAMPAIGN: I guess he doesn't want to be vice president again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Been there, done that.

JUDY WOODRUFF, ANCHOR, CNN'S INSIDE POLITICS: Four months before the first primary season contests get under way, General Wesley Clark, new to this race, has his work cut out for him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Send lawyers, guns and money.

(LAUGHTER)

ENRIGHT: Clark's shorter than the governor. He's a little guy.

TRIPPI: Hey, Tricia. No matter who goes by, we just do this. OK? No matter who goes by.

ENRIGHT: OK.

TRIPPI: My pleasure.

ENRIGHT: Trippi, tell them, though, the important thing, Joe. Did you know this? That the governor is at least a half an inch taller than the general?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the boss here yet?

TRIPPI: The boss is here on the other side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor?

DEAN: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The former vice president is right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right through this way, sir.

DEAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)?

AL GORE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)), Howard. Fine. How are you doing?

DEAN: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

GORE: Let me introduce you to my daughter, Karenna.

DEAN: Hi. How are you? Nice to see you.

KARENNA GORE SCHIFF, DAUGHTER OF AL GORE: Hi, how are you, Governor? Nice to you see you.

DEAN: It's nice to see you again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You really came here to hear from the next president of the United States. Please give our Harlem round of applause for the next president of the United States, Dean -- Governor Dean -- and also our vice president, Al Gore. Al Gore.

(APPLAUSE)

GORE: And so I'm asking all of you to join in this grassroots movement to elect Howard Dean president of the United States. Thank you.

JONATHAN ALTER, "NEWSWEEK" COLUMNIST: The question is, is that dangerous for you? Potentially dangerous for you, for everybody now to be saying, it's over. If it weren't, you wouldn't be so anxious to tell us it's not over, right?

There's a danger there in that, isn't it?

TRIPPI: Yes, I -- no, I do think -- there always is, because it's not over. I mean, we've still got a -- there hasn't been a vote cast. We've got to get to the votes, and we've got to win this.

CROWLEY: The down side of having Al Gore come out is, it really put that target right on to his back. And he got hammered. He got hammered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got him.

(CHEERS)

MCMAHON: You know, Saddam Hussein gets captured and the world is celebrating, and so is Howard.

DEAN: We're all glad that Saddam is caught. It's a great victory for our troops. But America's not safer, because the real problem is terrorism.

MCMAHON: You know, he did point out that it didn't make us any safer, and got, you know, beat up a lot for saying that.

CROWLEY: The Saddam comment hurt Howard Dean. But it was a delayed reaction.

Howard Dean said he wanted a perfect storm in Iowa. And he got it. It just wasn't the perfect storm he thought would happen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TRIPPI: It's win with Dean, man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.

TRIPPI: There's a guy boxing with a toy (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

Thank you so much. No, just keep doing it. Keep doing it. Don't let up. Don't let up.

DEAN: If you're willing to come out here in the snow, so am I. And let's go take back our country.

TRIPPI: How's it going?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)).

(SINGING)

(CHEERS)

ENRIGHT: Front page story. Clark basically tied, and ...

SUSAN PAGE, REPORTER, USA TODAY: We have a poll coming out tomorrow with Dean down. And it shows (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) going up. But we wanted to get your reaction. Because it looks to us like the attacks (UNINTELLIGIBLE)) are beginning to have some effect. Is that how it looks to you?

TRIPPI: No. This is a margin -- that's margin of error. National numbers change in a second after Iowa.

PAGE: Yes. That's true.

TRIPPI: And New Hampshire.

PAGE: Yes.

TRIPPI: In a second.

So, the new Gallup USA Today poll ...

DEAN: Haven't seen it.

TRIPPI: Us 24 nationally, Clark 20.

DEAN: Oof.

TRIPPI: We win here, we're already at 560,000 people. We start winning states, lots of other people are going to join up. It all starts here. And -- they will try to stop it here.

PETER GIANGRECO, JOHN EDWARDS' IOWA POLITICAL CONSULTANT: I would say we're running a close 40 points in New Hampshire, but we'll get a bounce out of here.

Well, you can't underestimate the impact that Iowa has on New Hampshire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Even with the State of the Union the next night?

GIANGRECO: Yes. It's going to scramble the chessboard, and you're not going to know what's going to happen.

TRIPPI: I even think Kerry's so weak right now, that if he took second here, I'm not sure he'd get a big enough bump there to go by Clark.

LISA MYERS, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, NBC NEWS: Four years ago, Dean had almost nothing nice to say about the Iowa caucuses.

DEAN: If you look at the caucuses system, they are dominated by the special interests on both sides and both parties. Special interests don't represent the centrist tendencies in the American people. They tend to represent the extremes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think Iowa caucus goers are still extremists?

DEAN: I never thought they were.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But didn't you say that just a few years ago?

DEAN: I was talking four years ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the people stupid. It is the subject line. Do not change the subject line. I just said it. It's the people stupid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: 1992, Bill Clinton said, it's the economy stupid. This time, it's the people stupid. Washington is going to change. And we're going to change it. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's committed news.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why the committed news?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He said Clinton said in...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was the people stupid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I mean if people don't go with that, they are out of their minds. That's what the campaign is about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the people stupid, has anybody used it? He's been saying it the last two stops. That's the message. Don't we deserve to at least get our message out?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here's the attack, what's your response? Here's the attack, what's your response? Here's the attack, what's your response. And when you get through all of that, you have no message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like the other candidates are closing in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll see on Monday. We don't see that. We are going to win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is the Blog handling all of this? The polls saying it's a dead heat, all of that stuff. How are they reacting?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some are doing the sky is falling, some people are saying it's not about the sky is falling. You have to be positive; the people are going to win. There is definitely some of the sort of freaking out attitude.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The real story is John Kerry. He is 25.9 last night.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kerry 25, us 19, Gephardt 19. Do you know what I think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we get into a back and forth with Gephardt, who benefits from that? Not either one of us. Not this late.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Edwards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kerry or Edwards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you get me the...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

FELIX SCHEIN, NBC NEWS REPORTER: To many glitches, at this stage in the game, you are down to five days before the Iowa, and the campaign seems to be lacking in structure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does anybody know why headquarters isn't answering the phone?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know, but neither is the hotline. The hotline is not answering either.

SCHEIN: There is not a good understanding of how to deal with the press. The Governor himself hasn't been on lately. Been tinkering with his message, been tinkering with his style.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much. You are wonderful, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You guys have a nice day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Vote for Dean.

SCHEIN: Governor Dean the other day complained that Joe Trippi was getting more press than Governor Dean was getting. Joe Trippe may even be bigger than Governor Dean in some circles.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see Dean People. I hate that sign. I don't know. But it comes with the movie slogan, I see dead people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do you think it is going to be?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know what everybody else is doing Joe? They are doing this. Talking smaller and smaller and smaller and smaller. And we are just growing baby, everyday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well 36,000 out of 130 would be 28 percent. It should be enough. So it's between us and Gephardt? Or do you don't think it's between us and...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For that reason alone. I think it's between us and Kerry.

TRIPPI: Got it? Great. Thanks for walking with me. I'm Joe Trippe; I'm running the Governor's campaign for president.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to get everybody to the caucuses that we can. It's going to be close here. Talk to your neighbors for us, OK? And bring your family. Thank you so much. Really appreciate your time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), I don't know if we are second or third. But Gephardt is in fourth place outside of the margin of error. The three of us are all in the margin of error.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If anyone is feeling void (ph) by the newest numbers, it is likely to be Kerry.

TRIPPI: Why is Kerry on every single (EXPLETIVE DELETED) station? Because I just got asked by NBC out there in the neighborhood when I was walking.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some news agencies are kind of writing your obituary right now.

TRIPPI: Is that what's going on?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(ON SCREEN): A Day Before The Iowa Caucuses, Dean Goes To Georgia To Meet President Carter And His Wife, Rosalynn.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He walks out of the house with Jimmy Carter, Jimmy and Rosalynn with him. And they get out of the house, and when they do the wave to the camera stuff, he doesn't say -- he doesn't say great to be here with the President. Doesn't say that. He turns to the cameras and says, hey guys, new Zogby poll out tonight.

(LAUGHTER)

STEVE MCMAHON, DEAN MEDIA CONSULTANT: I love Howard. He is genuine, authentic, and real.

TRIPPI: Carter walked into the newsroom, and said I want to make one thing clear. I didn't invite him. And I'm not endorsing him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For so long in this campaign nothing went wrong.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I'm saying is, are you getting, seeing like Kerry surging organization. So you think we are going to win.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Yes.

TRIPPI: Do you think Kerry will get bias here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This part of it -- I would rather hear it, then -- I don't know. He is doing well in this part of the state.

DEAN: You and all those people you dragged to the caucus have the power to take the White House back in 2004, and that is exactly what we are going to do. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Howard. Howard Dean. Going to take our country back.

DEAN: Thanks a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll sell your autograph.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are hot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is the message. You are doing it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: two, four, six, eight, Howard's going to operate (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now he has to make sure that we win.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going to kick ass tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You cannot move in Iowa without seeing orange hats on every corner, knocking on every door.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: To help all of those people you identify this week, get to the caucus, and we'll see you at the victory celebration in De Moines tonight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am serenely calm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is it?

PAUL MASLIN, DEAN CAMPAIGN: Take it from a pure polling standpoint, which I know is not a straight comparison, but if it doesn't get any better then this, we just tip flat and never got anything back. And they kept moving. And Kerry in particular.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Kerry 34, Edward 23, Gephardt 11.

TRIPPI: Should Gina tell him?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

TRIPPI: Yes, go ahead. OK. Bye.

DEAN: We're going to South Carolina, and Oklahoma, and Arizona, and North Dakota, and New Mexico. We're going to California, and Texas, and New York.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRIPPI: We've only just begun to fight, and we're the insurgent (ph) again.

Hello?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have only just begun to fight.

TRIPPI: Hello? Keep it going, thanks. That was the Governor.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are idiots.

TRIPPI: Kerry is giving my stump (ph) speech.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: SO we get done at Iowa. Fly to New Hampshire, and got in at 3:00 in the morning.

DEAN: Howard Dean!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five or six hundred people. But the thing is, this thing was 48 hours ago.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is assassination. That's what I'm saying. Now it is. It's just nuts.

TRIPPI: Now it's just like, let's pile on.

JON HABER, DEAN SR. ADVISOR: I have seen this 20 times today. It's just -- it's great tape. So they are just going to keep running it.

TRIPPI: It's like one of those big explosions in the war. They get one of those heat seeking missiles, and shit. We are going to watch it for three nights.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is what they don't show you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want Dean. We want Dean. We want Dean.

KARL FRISCH, DEAN VIDEOGRAPHER: They have yet to show one second out of those 15 seconds of what the audience was like.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: Look at that. But nobody ever expected the media to be fair.

TRIPPI: I know it's been a rough few days. I want to talk to everybody, let you know what's going on. You guys have done an incredible thing for this country. We are not going to let 15 seconds of tape erase all of that. No one could ever take away from you guys what you have built.

But we just want to build it a little better, and a little stronger, and win the damn thing. So just go out and keep doing it. I'm so proud of you guys. Just keep fighting. Thanks. Thanks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By the way, good news is I think we are doing Letterman (ph). We have the OK. (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

TRICIA ENRIGHT, DEAN COMM DIR: We'd like for him to maybe do a little self-deprecating humor about how he lost his voice. At the top.

PAUL MASLIM, DEAN CAMPAIGN POLLSTER: Good (UNINTELLIGIBLE), my voice is a little weak; I guess I strained it in Iowa. Number 10.

TRIPPI: Well he and Judy are doing Diane Sawyer tonight.

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: In the week following his third place finish in Iowa, Howard Dean went on Diane Sawyer with his wife. They were trying to give Howard Dean the flesh, and bones, and heartbeat they had failed to give him prior to this.

TRIPPI: What else could we have done? You mean for (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? I'd like to turn this around.

UNIDENTIFIED PARTICIPANT: I told you, we had 24 hours, and we rolled the dice.

TRIPPI: No, what we have done, we gave this, we pointed a lot of cannon, and we have been dominated in this--

TRIPPI: No, do you know what we had? We had Sawyer, the debate, and Letterman. And in this environment, the three bullets have been shot and rolled, shot and rolled, and shot and rolled. The entire media is out there going --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know what? I'm not sure yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: TMS (ph) has a fairly sizeable one. We have some IT. Our cash on hand right now is 3.5. With 2.4 million in receipts. So the adjusted cash on hand, if we were to pay out all of our bills right now, is a little over $1 million.

TRIPPI: And do we think anyone is holding money somewhere at all? Has any of you stashed money somewhere?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What about the 150--

TRIPPI: I want to do whatever the hell I can to help us win. And do the right thing. But the way I am right now, I'm out of here. I'm not -- going to waste the day, when they want to know what we did with $58 million that I had nothing to do with.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I look like I'm losing weight to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I am eating like a horse.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, it looks like you are losing some weight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look, they have a pack mentality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So what is the pack saying right now?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The pack is writing us off.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell them why we should go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because I think that it's important for people to see you and not think that you are hunkered down somewhere else. And that we're in this.

TRIPPI: I am hunkered down somewhere else. And we are in this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe, I really think it's important for them to see you, and for you to be there talking to people. Because no one else is.

TRIPPI: Let's keep Karen out front. Let's keep this about New Hampshire, New Hampshire, New Hampshire.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK, then don't go.

TRIPPI: But, I didn't think about that -- what all the sudden why can't Candy Crowley says if Trippe's not here, what's going on?

CROWLEY: That says a lot, when you get banished to Burlington. And it says a lot when people noticed you've been banished to Burlington. So something was up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we ought to do, is we ought to do a statement from Howard which says Joe Trippe's been an incredible important part of my campaign, unlike -- while I've had at least a day down, Joe's been working nonstop for a year, and just needs some rest and relaxation. He's going to be taking some time off but is going to stay a close advisor to the campaign, bla bla, bla. Joe does not want to do that. He just wants to say I'm leaving. So I think you want to keep him involved. Because you don't want a hugely (ph) bad story. And then when he gets back to Virginia, he can do whatever he wants to do.

TRIPPI: This is what I abandoned. I've seen it seven nights this year.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we going to the movies? Or are we giving up on this idea?

TRIPPI: Let's go. To the "Lord of the Rings." Sit there. Do the bad guys win?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the "Lord of the Rings?"

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's defeat against like impossible circumstances.

TRIPPI: Because I'd really like just two or three hours where nothing Dean happens.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) "Lord of the Rings," right?

TRIPPI: Certainty of death, small chance of success, what are we waiting for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainty of death, small chance of success, what are we waiting for? Let's go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainty of death, small chance for success, what are we waiting for?

TRIPPI: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! They are doing like comparing us with checkers (ph) fees (ph). This is unbelievable. A guy...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are we watching this?

TRIPPI: Yelling at his rally. On to Michigan is somehow compared to everyone of these things? Unbelievable. I want to get jumped in the middle of the presidential campaign again. If I ever do that. If I ever ever ever say something like that, you come get me, and take me home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will. I'll try.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The best gift for me next Christmas is Howard Dean becoming president.

TRIPPI: The toughest thing about it that we fail isn't Howard Dean, or me or any of these folks. It's this. It's his people. These people really do have what it takes to change the country. And we just have to figure out some way to get past the shit that's been thrown at us for eight weeks. And turn it. That's who we are letting down.

We'll see what happens in New Hampshire tomorrow night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't know if we are at the rise and fall stage. At the rise and keep rising stage. Or at the rise and fall and rise stage.

ERIC SALEMAN, CBS NEWS PRODUCER: Dean goes to tell a story, he's like last night at a meeting, I met this young man. And this guy finally he gets his turn, he goes I want everyone to know, I was out of work in New Hampshire, and I moved to Vermont, and I got a job as a dishwasher, and I had to walk home in the cold, so I got sick. And I got to see a doctor for $2, and I still got the lollypop.

So yesterday, Dean (UNINTELLIGIBLE) doing this big town hall meeting in Manchester, and he starts to tell this story. Yesterday, I met this young man and all of the sudden...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Is that John?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SALEMAN: You hear from the balcony that's me, that's me!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people heard Howard Dean scream and it made them run away. I heard Howard Dean scream, and it made me wake up.

DAVID GRINGER, NH ARENA ORGANIZER: This is it. We need you to give everything you have. Let's finish what Governor Dean started two years ago. Let's bring every supporter of Howard Dean to the polls here in Manchester. If we do that tonight, we will win this evening, I promise. Let's go, let's do it.

Bring this home man, bring this home.

I hear it's very very close.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First exit. It's 36 Kerry, 31 us, 12 Edwards.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's good. That's real good.

GRINGER: This is Gringer. Send him to ward nine; it's just down on Elm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The numbers from the "Los Angeles Times" we're 32 Dean, 31 Kerry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Get your computer. We have to look up another word for comeback.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) We've been defibrillated.

GRINGER: Hi, this is David. That's great. That's great. That votes (ph) very well.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure he is scared out of his gourd right now. It's like no matter what happens, they don't think they are working hard enough. Even if they run themselves into the ground.

GRINGER: Remember what I said, you don't want to start making desperation phone calls? Changed my mind.

TRIPPI: We are counting votes, and it is 30-22. Not 35-34. Not 35-30. Not 36-31. Not any of the exit numbers. It's 30-22.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

TRIPPI: That's what the real results are showing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That is really screwy.

GRINGER: We lost ward one badly. I don't believe this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you get the number?

GRINGER: Sunday night I did go to sleep, I think. Any idea how bad a victory party is if you don't win? It's like a birthday party that no one shows up to. Inherent invictory (ph) party.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look at this, 17 percent of the vote officially tabulated right now. Based on those numbers as well as CNN exit poll numbers, CNN is now ready to project a winner in this race. John Kerry.

DEAN: I was the supposed front-runner according to "Time" and "Newsweek" for a long time. But guess what? The voters get to decide who the front-runner is. I'm glad I am still in the race.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now I'll go back to Burlington. I think I'm going to go back right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody know where my bag is?

TRIPPI: I've never felt this connected to the average volunteer working in the campaign. A lot of them are like, what did we do wrong? Think about that. These people wrote like 118,000 letters to the people of Iowa. And we took third with 18 percent of the vote.

And now, they are saying what did we do wrong? Why couldn't we make a difference? You told us we had the power to make a difference. That's hard to hear. That's really really hard to hear.

Evidently the daily cause (ph) had something on there yesterday about were key elements, or key people in the Dean campaign being benched? (UNINTELLIGIBLE) turning -- are the rumors about Trippe quitting true? Or whatever you know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are they true?

TRIPPI: Do you want to turn the camera off?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trippe! Trippe! Trippe! Trippe!

GARRETT GRAFF, DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY: I was thinking about it, and I was like, I love this man. I would follow him off a cliff. And yet I have never had a positive interaction with him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rumpled up press releases that Garrett has written and throw them at me. Ask Garrett.

GRAFF: He's never said a nice word to me. And yet, I would do anything for him. The message that he created won those elections.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just not for Howard Dean.

TRIPPI: This used to be about a real debate about the future of the country. And now it is like entertainment. There really are people out there who are doing this because they care about the country. Or they care about the guy that they are working for.

I did not want to run this campaign. I tried everything I could to not do it. I knew I physically couldn't do it. I knew how painful it was going to be. I knew what it meant I was going to give up in terms of seeing my kids for an entire 13 months.

There is nothing that you could give me. And in the end, the only thing that was worth it was all those people. If you ask me today, was it worth it? Yes. Why them?

AARON BROWN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN PRESENTS: Of course Governor Dean struggled on for another few weeks after New Hampshire. But the campaign never recovered. Joe Trippe returned to his farm on Maryland's eastern shore, vowing never again to run a presidential campaign.

We'll see. He's launched a political blog (ph) of his own. Changeforamerica.com. It reached out to Dean Campaign supporters. And as Trippe himself pointed out, politics is a strangely addictive business.

That's our program for tonight. I'm Aaron Brown. Thanks for joining us, and we'll see you next week.

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