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Election 2008 Coverage
Aired January 19, 2008 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And coming up, we are going to bring you Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. We're waiting for her remarks, her victory remarks as she is the projected winner here at the Nevada caucuses. And also, comments, we're hoping, from Barack Obama ahead and also Fred Thompson. So stay with us here on Ballot Bowl.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
YELLIN: I'm Jessica Yellin in Las Vegas, where we're bringing you "Ballot Bowl", unvarnished looks at the candidates on the campaign trail in their own words. Here in Las Vegas, two big victories in the state of Nevada. On the Democratic side, Senator Clinton is projected to walk away as the winner of this contest. And on the Republican side, Mitt Romney, the winner there. Both racking up crucial wins in states as they compete in a neck and neck race for their nominations in each of their respective parties.
Coming up, we're going to have more sound from various candidates. But first, I want to bring in Dana Bash, who is with the Republicans in South Carolina, where the voting is still going on. Dana?
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Voting is still going on, Jessica. Voting is still going on behind me. And before we say anything, we also went to welcome our viewers around the world joining us from CNN International. Joining us for really an extraordinarily exciting them and neck race here in the state of South Carolina.
The polls close in about an hour. And this is absolutely crucial for pretty much all of the leading contenders here in South Carolina. What we have in the Republican race right now is something extremely scrambled. John McCain, who had a big comeback win in the state of New Hampshire. Mike Huckabee who had a win in the state of Iowa. You had Mitt Romney, who had a win in the state of Michigan. Those are big first contest states. And what we're going to see here in the state of South Carolina is perhaps a winnowing of the field a bit.
South Carolina, when it comes to the Republicans, this has a history - this state - of electing the Republican who becomes the Republican nominee. And it's also a very interesting first test for the Republican candidates to see how well they can do in the south, something that we shouldn't forget about because the south at least in recent history has been the block geographically that has propelled Republicans into the White House.
So this is a important day for Republicans for a whole lot of reasons. Interesting though, Jessica, one of the Republicans who is on the ballot here didn't focus here that much in terms of spending a lot of time here. And that is former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. He was over by where you were. And he's certainly declaring victory there in the Nevada caucuses.
YELLIN: Yes, it's a big win for Mitt Romney out here. It was really, though, the Democrats who campaigned most aggressively in this state. And the issue that they were hitting hard was the economy. The state has a higher unemployment rate than the national average, and the highest foreclosure rate as a result of that subprime mortgage crisis of any state in the nation.
The issue that people matter -- cared most about was really fears of recession. So we've heard all the candidates on the Democratic side really driving home the point that they have an economic plan that will solve people's economic fears and address their fears and solve some of their problems. Barack Obama this week was in San Francisco. He was talking tax reform and he was talking about some of his economic stimulus plans. It was in San Francisco, but it was also directed to the voters here in Nevada. And here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to provide for seniors, who are making $50,000 a year or less. I want them not to have to pay income tax on their Social Security.
For families who have homes but don't make enough money to itemize, I want to make sure that they are getting a break. So we're going to give them a mortgage deduction that they don't currently have. And that will help, by the way, keep a lot of families able to make the mortgage payments that may be going up as a consequence of an adjustable rate mortgage. So that's on the tax code side.
I want to expand the child -- the childcare tax credit that exists right now, because I know that childcare is an enormous experience. It's particularly onerous here in California and many urban areas. And so unfortunately the way it's structured right now, because it's not a refundable credit, what that means is that wealthier families actually can take full advantage of it because they pay enough in taxes. Lower income families who may be paying a lot of payroll tax but not as much income tax, they don't get the full benefit of the child tax credits. So we're going to adopt that. We're going to change that.
Did I wake up Jangel (ph)? I did. I'm sorry. Yes. I also think that we're going to have to expand the size of the credit to make sure that it's actually paying for a larger share of the childcare experiences that people are experiencing.
Family Medical Leave Act right now doesn't apply to companies that are 50 persons or less. I want to make that 25 persons or less so that more people can benefit from family medical leave. I want it -- the categories to be expanded because some of you may have elder parents, not just children that you've got to care for. That should be a rationale for the Family Medical Leave Act. And we've got to get paid leave in place. California has done a good job in moving in the direction of paid leave. Most states though still do not have that. And one of my priorities as president would make sure that people can actually take advantage of family -- the Family Medical Leave Act because they can afford it. So that's going to be a top priority.
One other thing I want to mention, this issue of home foreclosures that's hitting California, I had a roundtable like this down in Los Angeles a couple of days ago. It was actually yesterday. And this is what happens when you're on the road all the time.
But an important statistic to recognize, in addition to minorities being disproportionately affected by the subprime lending crisis and being caught up in these teaser rate mortgages that ended up going very high and people not being able to pay them, women have been disproportionately affected. And single mothers - single parents in particular have been affected by these unscrupulous lending practices. So regulating the mortgage industry and helping families stay in their homes is something that obviously is going to be critical for a lot of people.
Here in California, it's estimated that the economy as a whole could be affected as much as $23 billion by the mortgage foreclosure rate. But that doesn't put a face on those families who are suddenly forced to move, try to scramble to find an apartment because they've lost their home.
Bottom line is this if we make better choices in Washington, if we're pushing back on the special interests in Washington, there's no reason why we can't restore more balance to our economy, we can't get more of our families the kind of support that they need. And ultimately, that's going to create a generation of Americans that have stability and a life at home that allows them to grow and prosper over the long term.
And you know, we can't keep on talking about family values and then not really observe them in how government policy is made in Washington. I intend to make sure that that happens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Well, that was Senator Barack Obama speaking obviously before the Nevada caucuses took place. It was Thursday in California. Barack Obama's campaign has released a statement from Senator Obama himself saying in part that "I ran a strong come from behind campaign." And he points out that after today, his campaign actually has more delegates than Senator Clinton.
All told, a different message coming from Senator Clinton, who we understand just spoke briefly a short time ago. And we will bring that tape to you as soon as we have it. But she said in short, I guess this is how the West was won. This was an extraordinary success.
So the fight certainly goes on. They look ahead to South Carolina. And we look ahead to after this break, when we bring you sound from Fred Thompson, a Republican candidate for president. Stay with us after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BASH: Welcome back to CNN "Ballot Bowl." I'm Dana Bash in Charleston, South Carolina, where the polls for the Republican primary close in about 45 minutes. And one of the many things that we are going to be looking for in tonight's results is how does former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson fair? He is somebody who has, especially in the past couple of weeks, put all of his eggs in South Carolina's basket. Made it very, very clear in his actions and pretty much his words that he has a lot riding on coming back in the state of South Carolina, after having really poor showing in all of the other early contest states.
So let's take a listen to what Fred Thompson is trying to tell voters to get them out to the polls for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED THOMPSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Some say the Reagan coalition is dead. They think it was nothing more than a wonderful personality and one man and he's gone, it's gone.
I reject that, my friends, because that coalition was based upon more than one man, as great as he was. It was based on the fundamental principles that made this country great is what it was based upon.
(APPLAUSE)
THOMPSON: Our founding fathers got together and put in the form of documents the wisdom of the ages. They were students of scripture. And they were students of history. They knew that there was such a thing as human nature. Both the good part of it and the bad part of it. And they formed a government with those basic understandings of things that do not change in a changing world.
The notion that a government big enough and powerful enough to give anything to you is big enough and powerful enough to take anything away from you. And that was not the direction that we were going to go in. We've got to be careful about putting too much power in too few hands, even when they're saying they're going to do wonderful things for you. That's not the direction that we want to go in in this country. The reason we got checks and balances and separation of powers and state's rights, the 10th Amendment, it's not found in the Constitution as belonging to the purview of the federal government. It belongs to the states and the people. That's our system in which we built everything else in this country.
(APPLAUSE)
THOMPSON: We built the rule of law, market economies, free people doing free things. Not being afraid to trade with their neighbors. Not taxing and spending our citizens into oblivion and sucking the very things that make us Americans out of us. Allowing a country boy in Tennessee or a country girl from South Carolina to grow up in a country where they know that if they obey the rules, that they have a pretty doggone good chance of living the American dream.
That's the kind of country I grew up in and you grew up in. And I think that's still the kind of country we live in today. But those are the principles that we need to hold fast to. As a party when we've strayed, we have paid. Not because we've adhered to those principles that we have in problem -- just the opposite, when we've gotten away from them we've gotten into trouble.
Runaway spending and spending the money that we don't have and passing it on to future generations and borrowing against our grand kids, that goes against what we stand for. And to the extent we become a part of that, we deserve the rejection of the American people. We just need to right our ship and get back on the wrong - on the right course. On the right course.
What does these principles mean in today's terms? Well, one of the principles has to do with putting our national security above all else. If we don't have the security of our own people, we don't have anything else.
(APPLAUSE)
THOMPSON: So where I stand does not depend where I'm standing or what particular office that I'm running for. I mean, I know who I am and I know what I believe. And I believe that our better days are ahead of us if we do what we're supposed to do as Americans and as citizens.
We live in the greatest nation in the world because for many reasons. One of them is the fact that we've sacrificed more blood for the freedom of other people around the world than all the other countries put together. And we have a proud tradition of honor and sacrifice for the greater good in this nation. Those are the giant shoulders that we're standing on today.
We need to continue and protect that tradition of honor and sacrifice for the greater good. Our party has been called upon by the American people from time to time to do that. And we've served them valiantly. I think that they're wanting to do that again, if we will stand for what we should stand for. I don't think the American people have changed their mind about basic values since 1980s or since the 1990s, when they sent us to take over the House and the Senate. I think the American people need to understand that we have not changed our values and our commitments either.
And that's what this campaign is all about. That's why I'm running for the presidency of the United States. That's why I need your help. And that's why we're going to win on Saturday night. Thank you.
(CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson predicting victory in a speech last night, predicting victory in a primary that is going on right now. Polls are almost closed here in South Carolina. The Republican primary that perhaps Fred Thompson is hoping brings him back from absolutely - basically absolutely nowhere in the Republican race. He is with somebody who a lot of people thought was going to be the conservatives great white hope coming into this race late, but has not proved to do that so far. He's hoping that South Carolina changes the narrative for his campaign in a big way.
Now this has been "Ballot Bowl" coverage. We are going to have a lot more of the CNN election coverage, because of today's South Carolina primary and of course, the caucuses, both Republican and Democratic caucuses that went on today out in Nevada. And Hillary Clinton is -- was the winner in Nevada. We are still waiting to hear her victory speech. All of that and much, much more coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And hello, everyone, I'm Tony Harris in the CNN Newsroom. We're going to get back to our election coverage in just a moment. But I want to bring you an update on the weather, the wintry, the wicked wintry weather, causing all kinds of problems in the Southeast right now.
Let's talk about the airline situation right now. And it is quite a mess. Of course, we're talking about rain and snow in the Southeast. But let's tell the story of Atlanta and we'll get you over to Jacqui Jeras in just a moment. And when we talk about the air story, the air travel story in Atlanta, this is a live picture now of Hartsfield Jackson International Airport here in Atlanta. A number of flights, as you can imagine, canceled because of the wintry weather.
Delta Airlines telling us just a short time ago -- as you know, Delta is based here in Atlanta, that it has had to cancel some 260 flights as a result of the weather here in the greater Atlanta area. Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman a short time ago, Kathleen Bergen, told us that between 800 and 1,000 flights have been cancelled, those out of Atlanta and those destined for Atlanta. Part of the problem here, de-icing delays of up to 90 minutes. And will this have a ripple effect through the evening and into tomorrow? You bet it will. Let's get to Jacqui Jeras. Now Jacqui is following some more severe weather. Jacqui, tornado watches?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, that's right. It's all part of the same system, that cold air advancing southward and interacting with some much warmer air and unstable conditions. A tornado watch has been issued for central Florida. And we've had two tornado touch downs north of the Tampa Bay area. Minor damage. Just trees and some signs, but if we get any additional information on that, of course, we'll pass it along to you.
The snow is pulling out of Atlanta now. So just look for a few flurries. And there you can see the snow moving through the Carolinas. But one of the big problems tonight, Tony, is that those temperatures dropping down well below freezing. So all the rain covered roadways are going to turn into ice. So hazardous travel across the South still. HARRIS: Wow, what a mess. All right, let's show you the picture again of Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson International Airport. And what a story this is. The Federal Aviation Administration telling us that anywhere from 800 to 1,000 flights, can you imagine that, cancelled. Those out of Atlanta and those destined for Atlanta, because of de-icing delays, man, up to 90 minutes. So clearly, this is a story that we will be following throughout the evening. And I would imagine through much of tomorrow.
Let's send you to a break. And we're back with more of our election coverage right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We're here at the CNN Election Center. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting. Let's go right to Florida. The former mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani is joining us. Mr. Mayor, thanks very much for coming in.
RUDY GIULIANI (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Wolf. Thanks for having me.
BLITZER: All right, what's going on? Because there was such high expectations for you. We've had several contests right now. You're not doing well. I know you're gearing up for Florida, which is on January 29th. But what's happened in Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada? Why aren't you doing better?
GIULIANI: Because we decided that given all of our strengths, weaknesses, our resources, the best thing for us to do was to concentrate on Florida, where we think we can make a very, very strong showing. And I think our strategy has kind of worked out, because this is a wide open field. They all have to come down here. And we think we have sort of set the agenda here by putting out the boldest tax plan, the biggest tax cut in American history, a one-page form. We've gotten that around Florida over the last week. We've talked about the national catastrophic fund. Got to see where the other Republicans are on that. We've talked about what's needed for Homeland Security. We've talked about a lot of the concerns of Florida. And have conducted -- I think a very strong campaign here.
And now the others can come here. And we want to contrast with them over tax cutting, which I've done a lot of.
BLITZER: Right.
GIULIANI: And you know, John voted against the Bush tax cuts. Mitt Romney didn't support them. I did. And I did them - I did tax cuts myself.
BLITZER: Some have suggested that your problem in some of these other states, at least I'm not sure about Florida where you're pinning a lot of your hopes, you're the only Republican presidential candidate right now who supports abortion rights, really supports gay rights, supports gun control. Are those the issues that are hurting you in some of these Republican contests? GIULIANI: Wolf, we've been over that so many times even in the debates. I support the Second Amendment. That has been very, very clear. I would like to see abortions reduced and adoptions increased and support the ban on partial birth abortion, support parental notification. I think that there's -- sure, there are some differences, but that kind of exaggerates the difference, you know, way beyond where it actually is.
It's true. No one of us Republican candidates meets the full test. And I think that's been part of the reason why there's been such back and forth and why the race is so open. And I think Republicans have to sit back and say, you know, with Ronald Reagan, my 80% friend is not my 20% enemy, who would be the most effective leader? Who's going to reduce taxes the most? Who's going to actually bring down government spending? And who's going to be strongest in dealing with Islamic terrorism?
BLITZER: Let's talk about one of the key issues emerging right now. That would be the economy. That would be jobs. You say you're going to propose the biggest tax cut in the history of the United States if you become president of the United States. Let's talk about what that would mean specifically.
GIULIANI: Sure.
BLITZER: For a family earning $500,000 a year, how much would that family save as opposed to a family earning $50,000 a year. How much would that family save?
GIULIANI: Well, we've computed it for a family that earns about $80,000 a year. A family of four would save about $3,000 or $4,000. The rest of the -- and that's off the single form, because we're proposing a single form. That in and of itself would result in tax savings for every American in all different brackets.
Then it depends on the ones that get enacted. Like if we index the alternative minimum tax to inflation, it would help middle class Americans tremendously. Some of the tax cuts are not personal tax cuts. They are the corporate tax. We were the first to propose a major reduction in the corporate tax from 35% to 25%. That would not help any particular individual, but it would sure help a lot of people because it would create a lot of jobs.
The way I do tax cuts, and the way I did it as mayor of New York City is, I put out a lot of tax cuts, I fight for all of them, I never have gotten all of them. But I get enough of them so that we can really stimulate the economy.
BLITZER: So how much would a family making $500,000 a year wind up saving potentially?
GIULIANI: I haven't calculated it. I haven't calculated it because I have no idea which ones of the tax cuts are going to happen and which ones aren't. The one we calculated was for the people who opt for the single form, which I happen to have in my pocket. It's a single form on which you can fill out your taxes. That would bring you somewhere between 25% to 30% tax reductions. And it would depend to some extent on the number of other deductions that you have.
BLITZER: At a time of big budget deficits, and the national debt going up and up and up...
GIULIANI: Good question.
BLITZER: ...and huge expenditures, $2 billion a week, for example, to pay for the war in Iraq.
GIULIANI: Right.
BLITZER: And you're going to cut taxes. So where's the money going to come from? That's a big criticism of your tax cut plan.
GIULIANI: Well, it would be a criticism of anyone's tax cut plan. That was the criticism of the Bush tax cut plan or the Reagan or the Kennedy tax cut plan.
I would cut taxes strategically. For example, I cut the income tax rate in New York City by 24%. We were getting 48% more revenues. So I would cut taxes that would bring us more revenues.
And also, during the week, we'll also talk about cutting spending. You're absolutely right. You just can't cut taxes. We wouldn't rehire half the federal civilian employees that come up for retirement. We would save money that way. 42% are coming up for retirement.
We would impose 10% spending cuts on all of the civilian agencies. What you would see is fiscal discipline restored. And I have the best record of any of these candidates for fiscal discipline, for reigning in spending.
BLITZER: Do you support the president's immediate principles for this economic stimulus package that he's putting forward?
GIULIANI: I haven't seen the details of it. I prefer permanent tax reductions to one shot rebates and one shot deals.
BLITZER: But that would take a long time to see the ramifications, the impact of that. And there's a crisis apparently right now.
GIULIANI: Well, that would be good, but I'd like to see a package put together where you get one for the other. Again, the way I look at tax cuts is, I put out 64 tax cuts when I was mayor of New York City. I got 23 of them. Some of them I had to trade one for the other. So I'm not opposed at all to the president trading some of these, but I'd like to see him get some permanent ones as part of it. If he's got a trade with the Democrats in order to give them some of the things they want, that's OK, as long as he gets some of this permanent relief as well.
BLITZER: Let's wind up, because I know your time is short with where we started. Florida, you're really putting all your eggs in that Florida basket on January 29th. You want to interrupt, is that what you're trying to do? GIULIANI: No, no. I think you're right.
BLITZER: If you don't win Florida, and you might win Florida, you might not win Florida, but you've really put a lot of your eggs in that basket right now, if not all of your eggs in that basket. Give us your lay of the land right now. You've spent a lot of time in Florida. What's going to happen?
GIULIANI: We're doing very well. We're very competitive. We're doing very well. We believe that Florida is Rudy country. We think we've helped to make it that way. We've had Florida to ourselves for about ten days now. And we've campaigned, you know, considerably here about a national catastrophic fund, tax cuts, spending reductions. I was in the Everglades today to talk about making sure that we speed up the restoration of the Everglades. We've talked about what's needed in order to close that gap, so that we have access to our space shuttle.
So we've been -- we've got a heck of an organization in Florida. And of course, we're looking forward to winning. You never - you don't go into one of these things saying, oh, gee, you know, what happens if? I'm an optimist. We're going to win Florida. And I believe that will push us right to the top in terms of getting the nomination.
BLITZER: Well, we see all those signs behind you, Mr. Mayor. Florida is Rudy country. We'll soon find out if in fact it is.
GIULIANI: We will.
BLITZER: Good luck to you. Thanks very much for joining us.
GIULIANI: Thanks, Wolf. Nice to talk to you. Thanks for having me.
X ; Thank you. Rudy Giuliani, he's the former mayor of New York. He's a Republican presidential candidate.
Let's take a look at where this -- these -- this dramatic day, where it stands right now. We want to show you, first of all, what happened earlier in the day in Nevada. Among the Republicans with 97% of the precincts now reporting on the Nevada Republican caucuses, Mitt Romney, the decisive winner. More than 50%. He's got 52% of the Republicans in the state of Nevada. Ron Paul and John McCain both have 13%. Mike Huckabee coming in with 8%.
If you want to see the specific numbers of how that winds up, Romney gets 22,239. Ron Paul, slightly ahead of John McCain, 5,690 to 5,539. Huckabee, Thompson, Giuliani, Duncan, Hunter all trail.
But this is a state that Mitt Romney spent a considerable amount of time in, trying to win a lot more than the other major Republican candidates. And Mitt Romney, the winner today in Nevada. He's got 18 delegates, we estimate, right now out of those 34.
Let's take a look at the Democrats, what happened in Nevada. Also today at the Democratic caucuses in Nevada with 90% of the precincts having reported. Hillary Clinton 51%. She gets the majority of those delegates in Nevada, the majority of the precincts over there. Barack Obama with 45%. John Edwards, 4%. That's clearly a major disappointment for John Edwards.
An important win for Hillary Clinton in the face of a stiff challenge from Barack Obama. There's no doubt that the endorsement of the Culinary Workers Union, the biggest union in Nevada, helped Barack Obama, but was not enough to bring him over the top. Hillary Clinton will go into South Carolina next Saturday.
That's when the Democrats hold their primary there. She'll be able to go in with this win today in Nevada earlier in New Hampshire. Barack Obama having won the first contest in Iowa.
In fact, only a few moments ago, Hillary Clinton spoke to her supporters. We have the tape. Let's play it right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And we will build on what we achieved here today -- to continue to make it clear here in Nevada and across the West, that the Democrats, we're the problem solvers. We have the answers for what we need to do to keep our country strong and move with confidence and optimism into the future.
And I want to thank the great team that made this victory possible. My chairman, Rory Reed. My indefatigable campaign director, Robbie Moop (ph). And the literally, the thousands of volunteers that have been here working all around the clock.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Hillary Clinton thanking her supporters in Nevada for bringing her over the top. Interesting note, Rory Reed, the chairman of her campaign in Nevada, the son of Harry Reid, the senator from Nevada, the Senate Majority Leader. Clearly, he played an important role. She by all accounts had an excellent ground operation underway in Nevada.
Let's take a look and see how she managed to do it. John King is over at the board. He's taking a closer look. Let's walk over there and see what's going on. But I want you to give us a little sense of what we can expect in South Carolina, John, first. Give us a little flavor because what we're only minutes away from when those polls close in South Carolina.
JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. Well, let's use our election map. And this is the South Carolina. It is all white because we don't have any results in. But as you know full well, the late polls showed a very close race. So we expect a competive contest in South Carolina.
What should we look for? Well, let's look at the last competitive contest for the Republicans. Back in 2000, you had the Republican primary. And you can see here are the results up here. George Bush won this state quite convincingly. An 11 point victory over Senator John McCain back in 2000. But look at the map here. This lighter red is John McCain. So one thing we want to watch tonight, this is where Senator McCain has spent a great deal of time campaigning. Right here along the coast. This is where he won in 2000. And this is where he has to win again tonight. Retirees down here, military installations, more moderate Republicans coming into the Sunbelt from other states. John McCain must win here tonight.
Now let's look up here. This is mostly George Bush country. And this is the bible belt of South Carolina. Evangelical Christians in the Greenville, Spartanburg area. This is where Mike Huckabee and Fred Thompson have spent the majority of their time campaigning. This is a key place to watch to see whether Thompson is cutting into the Huckabee vote, which could affect the outcome in South Carolina, and as to whether John McCain can keep the margins of the more conservative candidates down up here in the bible belt.
So we will watch for two things tonight when the results come in. Up here, this is evangelical cultural conservative country. Down here, more moderate, where fiscal conservativism plays in. Senator McCain spent most of his time in the final days down here. Governor Huckabee and Senator Thompson up here. The middle of the state is rock solid Republican as well. But the key places to watch, right up here, Wolf, and right down here. John McCain has to run up the numbers on the coast.
BLITZER: All right, well here -- it raises the question of the weather in South Carolina on this day in this area. As you point out, it's been snowing in parts of that area. It's been raining down here in the southern part of South Carolina. But in the northwest, it's been snowing. And that presumably could affect turnout.
KING: Without a doubt. If the weather is a factor in pushing turnout down, you would expect it to be more so up here. Now the counter argument to that is that if these are the evangelicals with a passion for Mike Huckabee that they had in Iowa, they would come out regardless of the weather conditions.
But in terms of road conditions, cold, unusual conditions for South Carolina, snow - a lot of snow and sleet up here, we've seen from our correspondents down there all day. Rain down here. Rain of course much easier to get around in. Unseasonable for South Carolina. But if the weather is a factor, it will be up here. Again, this is the most culturally conservative part of South Carolina. Critical to the results tonight.
BLITZER: All right, and we're only what, about 17 minutes away. And when all the polls in the state of South Carolina close. And this Republican contest will begin to shape up.
All right, we're going to take a quick break. We have a lot more coming up. Bill Schneider is going through exit poll numbers in South Carolina. We'll share some of the early indicators with you.
Also, the best political team on television is standing by. Anderson Cooper getting ready to join us as well. Much more of our coverage. By the way, you can always go to CNNpolitics.com for all the inside information. What happened today in Nevada? What's happening right now in South Carolina? CNNpolitics.com, that's the place for you to go on the web.
Much more of our coverage from the CNN Election Center right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TIME STAMP: 1845:00
BLITZER: As you can see, the polls will close in South Carolina in 14 minutes. Once they do, they will start counting, counting the tally. This is for the Republicans, the Republican presidential nomination in South Carolina. Always has been a pivotal state in the Republican contest. We're watching this very, very closely.
We've been taking exit polls throughout the day in South Carolina. Among registered Republicans who were -- who have voted actually voted, they walk out. After they walk out, our people ask them some questions. Bill Schneider's been crunching the numbers. Going through, we're getting some fascinating information about these Republicans, aren't we?
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: We certainly are. And one of the questions we asked them was what are you looking for today when you cast your vote? What are the top candidate qualities that make a difference to you?
And what did they tell us? They said first and foremost, they were looking for someone who shares my values. South Carolina is a state where values voters predominate. 42% said that's exactly what they were looking for.
Now there's a clear contrast between Mike Huckabee and some of the other candidates who were running. We asked each candidate supporters how much a candidate's religious beliefs mattered to you in casting your vote. 61% of Huckabee voters said they matter a great deal. Only 34% of McCain's voters and 27% of Thompson voters said religious beliefs matter a great deal. So that's a very sharp contrast between Huckabee supporters and those who are voting for the other candidates.
Now let's take a closer look at those Huckabee voters. And we see another clear contrast. We asked them what's more important to you in casting your vote, a candidate's stand on the issues or his personal qualities and leadership?
The Huckabee voters said more important to them, here we are, Huckabee voters, 58% to 40% said issues were the more important considerations. What are we getting a picture of? Issues, values, religious beliefs, those were the Huckabee voters.
What about the McCain voters? He's very competitive in South Carolina. What are they looking for, issues or personal qualities? We can see here, personal qualities, 58%, issues 39%. The vote for John McCain is a personal vote. It's not ideological, it's not primarily based on issues. It's not a values vote, it's a vote for him, the straight talker, the guy who has a great life story, the war hero. It's the most personal vote for any candidate.
BLITZER: And just explain very briefly, these are exit polls in South Carolina, as opposed to entrance polls, which you spoke about extensively in Nevada.
SCHNEIDER: That's right. We interviewed people coming out of the polling places. We can't interview them going in or we'd be interfering with voters. That's outlawed. In caucuses, we have to interview them going in because they all leave at once. So we interview them before they cast their ballot. But here in South Carolina, it's an exit poll. And we talk to them after they've cast their votes.
BLITZER: Thanks very much for that explanation. Bill Schneider reporting for us.
We have some news to report right now. Duncan Hunter, the long-time congressman from southern California, who's been a Republican presidential candidate, he has decided to drop out of this contest after what has happened today in Nevada on the eve of what is about to happen in South Carolina. Duncan Hunter, former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, a long time activist on military matters, national security, simply wasn't going his way. And Duncan Hunter deciding to drop out of this contest.
Anderson Cooper is with us, will be the whole tonight together with the best political team on television. Not a huge surprise, given the numbers that Duncan Hunter has amassed so far that he's finally decided it's enough time.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's a nice time. Do you recognize it, but certainly, he never really got the traction he would have liked to have had, though he was considered a vice presidential candidate among some people.
KING: The anti-immigration crowd loves him. The national security crowd loves him. And to his credit, Duncan Hunter was a man who always had incredibly high spirits. I was actually in his district during the California wildfires. He came out and said hello. Ran into him in New Hampshire just before the New Hampshire primary. He was campaigning there, going door to door, man with no resources. Always was in a good mood, always had high spirits.
One of those guys who runs for president to try to make a point about certain issues. In his case, build the border face. Very critical of George W. Bush actually. Said why didn't you build the border fence across the border. And also to make his point son national security. A long shot at the beginning. Stayed in. After New Hampshire, essentially Nevada being in his neighborhood in California, said that was his last chance. And out he goes tonight.
COOPER: Ten minutes 'til we get some - or at least the polls close in South Carolina, at least some of the polls. What are you expecting to see tonight? GLORIA BORGER, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I'm really expecting to see an electorate that looks very, very different from, say the New Hampshire primary, which John McCain won. And if John McCain is going to win tonight, he's going to have to actually win with Republicans and conservatives, and even get his fair share of those religious voters. I mean, those are really, really important in the state of South Carolina. So John McCain, we're going to take a look at what his conservative credentials look like to really conservative Republican voters. We'll see how he does.
BLITZER: Bill Bennett, John McCain has made a real point to reach out to conservatives, to evangelicals, to folks who didn't support him back in 2000.
BILL BENNETT: It's a conservative state. If he wins, it means he passed the test with conservatives. Can I say something about Duncan Hunter?
COOPER: Sure.
BENNETT: Now he's out, I can't vote for him in Maryland. But I'm not even tempted to. Not only high spirits, but high standards. I think it was Connor Cruise O'Brien whose sentiment - in Burke, he has the gift of always being himself. Hunter was always the same. And he always had the same message. He called you Cooper. He cooled you - you know, he called everybody by the wrong name wherever he was.
COOPER: I never tried to correct him.
BENNETT: He wouldn't have taken it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no point. He wouldn't have taken...
COOPER: I kind of looked it, actually.
BENNETT: That's right. He was always the same guy. And that's nice. Certain consistency was nice.
COOPER: Donna Brazile, tonight, what are you looking for?
DONNA BRAZILE: Well, first of all, Duncan Hunter entered this campaign unknown. He leaves the campaign unknown. People really never got to know him. He never resonated in the debates. He didn't really come out on top in winning over or converting any of the Republicans. So I'm not surprised that he leaves the race. This is a big test tonight for John McCain to win in a crucial southern primary. If McCain beats Huckabee, then McCain will leave tonight with a lot of momentum going into Florida.
COOPER: Yes, Katie Bergadorf (ph), if McCain wins, Katie (INAUDIBLE).
KING: And I thought a fascinating and incredibly telling moment when Wolf was interviewing Rudy Giuliani at the top of the show, Rudy Giuliani has been sitting in Florida waiting. Many questioning whether that is a brilliant strategy or a ridiculous strategy. Wolf asks him about that strategy. What does he do? He criticizes John McCain for not voting for the Bush tax cuts. Hitting - his good friend John McCain being much more aggressive than we have seen Rudy Giuliani. He knows the stakes here.
BENNETT: What did I tell you?
KING: He's been sitting in Florida, spending all of his time in Florida, and falling in the polls in Florida. He's now in a dead heat or slightly behind John McCain in the state of Florida, despite spending all his time and all his money there in recent weeks. And he knows he laid the standard. I'm going to go to Florida and prove you can wait and win. He knows he needs to win Florida. And at the moment, especially if John McCain wins South Carolina tonight, John McCain is in his path.
COOPER: We've got about 7 minutes, 20 seconds until the polls close. We're going to take a short break. We'll be right back when coverage continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Only about four minutes away now from the polls closing in the state of South Carolina. The Republican primary unfolding right now. We're watching it very closely. There have been reports throughout the day that some voting machines malfunctioning in the state. Some paper ballots not showing up, no enough. Let's walk over, speak to Mary Snow. She's got some information on what's on.
McCain earlier in the day had asked that one county in particular that they be allowed to remain open for voting beyond 7:00 p.m. Eastern, what in 3 minutes and 50 seconds from now. But they've made a decision. What is the decision?
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, the McCain camp says that their attempts to extend those voting hours have failed. So that means that polls will close at 7:00 p.m. Eastern in Orrick County. As you mentioned, there were some machines malfunctioning early in the day. The McCain camp had contacted a judge and wanted to get an order to extend voting hours. But he said that he would go along with it if campaign officials would sign an affidavit saying that voters were being turned away, but campaign officials refused to do that.
They said that a lot of these machines had been about 80% functional by the middle of the afternoon and that they were providing paper ballots. So once again, the McCain camp's attempt to get polling hours extended by an hour have failed, meaning that the state's polls will be closing in just a few minutes.
BLITZER: And as our John King pointed out just a few moments ago, Mary, this is a county where John McCain back in 2000 did very well, despite his eventual defeat to George W. Bush in the South Carolina Republican contest.
SNOW: Yes. And you know, with the weather being what it is today, rain in many areas, snow in some areas, and the candidates are nervous about turnout. So understandably there's an effort for every county to count. And when these problems started coming up, they try to address them very quickly.
BLITZER: All right, Mary stand by, because we're going to be busy - all of us are going to be busy throughout the night. With a little more than two minutes to go before the polls close in South Carolina.
Let's walk over to Anderson Cooper once again. He's got the best political team on television. I guess all the polls in South Carolina are going to be closed in a few moments. And we'll see what -- as the results start coming in, what we can report.
COOPER: Yes, how late do you think it's going to be? I mean, do you think we're going to get results pretty quickly, John?
KING: Some results will start coming in pretty quickly. South Carolina has a good history. The Republican party runs this primary, not the state. The Republican party runs it. They do a pretty efficient job. But in a close race, you'll have to wait for the rural areas. If it is a close race coming in, Charleston, Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg, the cities tend to come in pretty good. But if we're waiting for the smaller communities like Akin, Florence way up in the corners up there in the rural evangelical areas, we might wait a little bit longer.
COOPER: What are the issues that in the last several days have really come to the fore in South Carolina?
BORGER: Well, I think if you consider this a race between Mike Huckabee and John McCain, it will probably come down to this notion of experience, national security, someone you know, someone you can trust versus this I feel your pain kind of populism and conservatism on the social issues that Mike Huckabee represents. Those are, you know, all parts of the Republican party. And McCain represents one part and Huckabee the other part.
One thing also, Anderson, what was interesting in this race was these two fellows, although they seemed to be the leading candidates, did not really go after each other frontally and directly the way we're used to seeing candidates go after each other in South Carolina. Remember George W. Bush and John McCain in 2000.
COOPER: It didn't happened because of - I mean, the history they have had over the last several weeks of sort of working, I wouldn't say working together, but at least some sort of aligning. How much of it is bad and how much of it is just...
BENNETT: I'd like to give a profound answer and it has to do with the people running the campaigns this time, as opposed to last time. I think it was an ugly business last time and not to be forgiven.
COOPER: Let's quickly go to Wolf, because we've got about 20 seconds until polls close.
BLITZER: All right. Thanks very much, guys.
Let me just update our viewers. What we're about to do, we're only a few seconds away from the top of the hour. And once all the polls calls in 10, 11, 10 seconds from now, we're going to be able to characterize what we have seen so far in the course of this day, based on our extensive exit polls.
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