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Orange County Sheriff Hotline; Democrats At Iowa CNN Town Hall; Iowa Caucuses One Week From Today; Clinton Makes Pitch For Support In Iowa; Rubio Campaign Rolling Through Iowa; GOP Gearing Up For Iowa; Clinton Picks Up Two Major Newspaper Endorsements; Endorsement Switch; A Look at Democratic Polls. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired January 25, 2016 - 13:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: -- there is a good look at their faces. Paul Vercammen, thank you for that. And thank you, everyone, for joining me. Wolf Blitzer starts right now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's noon in Des Moines, Iowa, 1:00 p.m. here in New York, 7:00 p.m. in Paris. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We begin with presidential politics here in the United States and the battle between Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders. The Iowa caucuses are just one week from today. The latest CNN poll of polls shows the race neck and neck in Iowa with Bernie Sanders at 46 percent. Hillary Clinton at 44 percent. The poll is an average of the four most recent surveys. Sanders is holding a town hall meeting this hour in Ames, Iowa. You're looking at live pictures.

Hillary Clinton has a rally next hour in Knoxville, Ohio. The -- Iowa, I should say, Knoxville, Iowa, the Democrats kick off their final sprint to the caucuses in a CNN town hall meeting later tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Tonight's town hall, there's a chance for the Democrats to deliver their closing arguments. It's their last high profile appearance at the same location before the Iowa caucuses.

Our Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny, he's joining us now live from the site of the town hall in Des Moines. Jeff, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, they won't be on the stage at the same time but walk us through the format for the town hall.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, they will be appearing back to back to back here on that the Sheslow auditorium here on the campus of Drake University. Martin O'Malley will be going between his two rivals. Senator Sanders will start the evening off and will talk for about 30 minutes or so, taking questions from Iowa voters and undecided voters followed by Martin O'Malley. And then, Hillary Clinton will wrap up the evening here.

So, it really is going to be an opportunity for an audience of Iowa voters who will have that first say in the caucuses one week from today to ask any remaining questions that they have. And, Wolf, as we've been following them throughout the weekend and into this morning, it is a tight race. They are both making their urgent arguments for why they believe, you know, support should be on their side.

Hillary Clinton, of course, pressing the experience argument, but Bernie Sanders is asking some Democratic voters to sort of believe in their ideals and their perfect scenario, if you will. So, those are sort of the -- how it looks going into this town hall tonight -- Wolf.

BLITZER: We'll be watching, of course. Among other things, we want to see whether Hillary Clinton, Jeff, goes on the attack or whether she takes a bit of the softer approach in defending the Obama legacy, her legacy. Listen to what she said during an appeal for votes in North Liberty, Iowa yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I know some of you are still shopping. I like to shop, too. I hope during the course of this afternoon we can convince some of you to talk to my volunteers and organizers on the way out and sign up. And we have to start to move toward nominating and electing a president and commander in chief who will continue the progress we've made, make sure it is not ripped away forcing us to once again be disappointed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. So ,I guess that's the kind of approach we can expect to see later tonight. Jeff Zeleny is standing by. Jeff, are you getting some more insight on what her strategy might be?

ZELENY: We are, Wolf. I mean, she is giving Democrats permission to shop around, as she said. She said, I like to shop as well. What they do not want, Clinton advisors tell me, is an aggressive approach, at least tonight, to Senator Sanders. She is worried about any potential backlash. What she's trying to do is persuade his supporters to join her. So, she would turn them off if she was a negative against him.

So, I don't expect that at tonight's town hall setting. This is not a debate where everyone is on the stage at the same time. This is a town hall setting where she'll be asking or answering questions from voters. But that is a key point in the final week here. She's trying to win over Sanders' supporters not drive them away.

BLITZER: Thirty minutes for each of those Democratic presidential candidates back to back to back, as Jeff says. Thank you, Jeff.

While the Democrats prepare for tonight's CNN town hall in Iowa, the Republicans are relying on their ground games right now to try to get out their supporters. That includes the Florida Senator Marco Rubio. He's holding a rally in Des Moines right now.

Rubio is gaining some ground in Iowa. Over the weekend, he got a key endorsement from "The Des Moines Register" newspaper. But in a new Fox poll from Iowa, he stands way behind. Third place right now behind Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. You can see the numbers right there. That's the Democratic numbers. Here are the Republican numbers, 34 percent for Trump, 23 percent for Cruz, Rubio is at 12 percent. He's actually down, by the way, three points over the past three weeks.

[13:05:08] Our Political Reporter, Sara Murray, is live in Des Moines for us. With a week to go until the caucuses, Sara, what's Rubio's strategy right now? Third place, is that good enough for him?

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Wolf, I do think that Marco Rubio's team thinks that third place could be good enough. But they're looking at two key things. One is outperforming those poll numbers. So, if they're at 12 percent, 13 percent, 14 percent in the polls, they want to see a bigger number than that come caucus night.

But the second thing is they want to see a clear lead over some of their rivals in this race. They were talking about people like Chris Christie, people like Jeb Bush. They want to be able to say that they were the winner of this so-called establishment lane coming out of Iowa and heading into New Hampshire.

But I think the big question for Rubio is whether he has the ground gain to be able to make that happen here in Iowa. He's hunkering down here in the state for the rest of the week and he is about to take the stage behind me in any minute. But we'll have to wait to see what kind of numbers he can get out from caucus night -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Sara, he's getting some help at the rally Iowa today, Rubio. Who's with him?

MURRAY: Iowa's Senator Joni Ernst is going to be joining him at this event today. Now, it is not an endorsement. Both sides have been careful to say it's not an official endorsement. But she is very popular in this state. And this is the funny thing that just appearing along with him side-by-side could be something that will help his campaign. Especially if we're talking about these couple percentage points over performing where he is in the polls -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, Sara, thank you. Sara Murray in Iowa for us.

So, Marco Rubio showing off his endorsements. Ted Cruz also added a big name on his side, the former Texas governor, the former Republican presidential candidate, Rick Perry.

Here with us now to discuss all of this and more, our CNN Political Commentators Tara Setmayer and Peter Beinart. So, let's take, first of all, another look at that Fox poll in Iowa. Donald Trump has a big lead right now leapfrogging Ted Cruz for first still. What does that tell you, Peter, first of all, about Donald Trump? He's at 34 percent. Cruz is at 23 percent. Back on January 8th, Cruz was at 27 percent, 23 percent.

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. To the extent we can tell, Trump seems to have more momentum. Now, whether his people will really turn out on those numbers, we don't know as many have commented his supporters tend to be people who haven't gone to caucuses before.

But he seems to have blunted Cruz's surge, perhaps in part by raising this question about Cruz's Canadian birth. But also because although there is a part of the Republican establishment that is trying to block Donald Trump, there's another part that's trying to block Ted Cruz.

And so, there's not really been a unite effort to try to top Trump from winning Iowa.

BLITZER: Tara, Donald Trump, he's getting a little bit of heat over a statement he made about the loyalty. He does have fierce loyalty among his supporters. Let me play a clip for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look at the polls, they say I have the most loyal people. Did you ever see that? Where I could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters. OK? It's, like, incredible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The polls do show that among his supporters, about 90 percent of them say they've made up his mind and they're with him.

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, that's been pretty consistent over the past few months that Trump supporters are solid Trump supporters. However, in places like Iowa, even in New Hampshire, sometimes the caucus voters, up to 27 percent and 30 percent, they're still unsure when they walk in. So, that could be something where Ted Cruz could siphon over some more of those votes.

But I think what's hurt -- just to go back to what Peter was talking about. I think what's hurt Cruz more in the last couple of weeks has been the position on ethanol and the fact that the governor of Iowa who is very popular, Governor Branstad won re-election with 59 percent. He has a 75 percent approval rating in Iowa. He's the longest serving governor in the country. He has come out and viciously against Ted Cruz mainly because of his position on ethanol which is a hugely important issue in the state of Iowa.

So, I think that may have had an impact on Ted Cruz more so. And the Cruz -- a pro-Cruz super pac has come out and attacked the governor and calling him a politician and all of this and in bed with the lobbyists. I don't know how well that's going to go over with Iowa caucus voters who really, really have a beloved governor. So, I think that's having more of an affect than what other people may think on the ground in Iowa.

BLITZER: On the Democratic side, Peter, CNN is, of course, hosting this town hall in Iowa tonight. The three Democratic presidential candidates will all be there. Bernie Sanders, seemingly, has a lot of momentum right now. How does Hillary Clinton turn that around?

BEINART: Well, she's done well in these debates in the past. And I think she has had some moments she's been able to blunt Sanders rise. She's been raising a variety of questions and been attacking him on national security a lot, for instance. And he's in his counter punching hasn't been especially strong there. So, I think you'll continue to see her do that.

But, you know, for Bernie Sanders, Iowa is really a must win. For Hillary Clinton, Iowa would be nice but it's not a must win. She could still come back even if she loses Iowa, even if she loses Iowa and New Hampshire.

[13:10:08] BLITZER: What do you think, Tara?

SETMAYER: I think that Hillary is in trouble in Iowa and it's an enthusiasm issue. And even though -- it's almost similar to the situation with what's going on in the Republican side, right? We have Donald Trump who has all these voters, potentially, coming in who've never caucused before but they are really enthusiastic.

The same may be the case with Bernie Sanders. But in Iowa, they've been luke warm to Hillary for a while. This isn't news. I mean, you can go back to the summer of 2014 where the progressive activists in Iowa were not too thrilled with the Hillary Clinton candidacy. They were holding out hope for Elizabeth Warren. So, that lack of enthusiasm for Hillary has plagued her all along.

If you look at the real clear politics average over the last month or so, when she was up to 54 percent maybe two months, she's up at 54 percent or so and all you see is the trend line going like this. She's been losing support. Bernie Sanders has been gaining support. And a lot of that comes from young people in college towns who will be around to caucus this time because of the calendar.

But will they show up? There is reports "Time Magazine" just did a report that the Democratic side is -- their planning is in trouble. They don't have 200 temporary chairman for the caucuses. That was a 1600 precinct they need. So, they're running into organizational problems and the caucus is all about organization.

BLITZER: One week -- exactly one week from tonight, the Iowa caucuses. Tara Setmayer, Peter Beinart, guys, thanks very much.

Coming up here, Donald Trump -- by the way, Donald Trump will be my guest one-on-one later today in the "SITUATION ROOM." We're going to talk about the race for the White House, what he thinks about his opponents, a whole lot more. Later today, Donald Trump in the "SITUATION ROOM" with me 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

Bernie Sanders, he's picking up a major endorsement from a South Carolina state representative. Just last month, that representative endorsed Hillary Clinton. We'll talk to him, ask him why, what's behind the switch?

Also, Hillary Clinton's chief strategist standing by to join us as well. We'll talk about the Democratic frontrunner, what's going on in the race for the White House, much more when we come back.

[13:12:13]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:16:16] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hillary Clinton picks up two major newspaper endorsements in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination. "The Des Moines Register" editorial board says, and I'm quoting now, "Clinton has demonstrated that she is a thoughtful, hard-working, public servant who has earned the respect of leaders at home and abroad. She stands ready to take on the most demanding job in the world."

"The Boston Globe" also backing Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary. The papers saying, quote, "she is more seasoned, more grounded, and more forward-looking than in 2008 and has added four years of secretary of state to her already formidable resume, Democrats in the granite state should not hesitate to choose her."

A South Carolina state lawmaker, who was supporting Hillary Clinton, is now endorsing Senator Bernie Sanders. State Representative Justin Bamberg announced the switch in a news conference last hour. He's joining us now live from Columbia, South Carolina.

Justin, thanks very much for joining us. You endorsed Hillary Clinton. Now you're supporting Bernie Sanders. Why did you change your mind?

STATE REP. JUSTIN BAMBERG (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, Wolf, thank you so much for having me.

You know, quite frankly, like a lot of voters across the country, I didn't give Bernie Sanders his fair shake early on. You know, one of the greatest things about our democracy, and about having the ability to vote is you also have the ability to monitor campaigns, to stay informed, and to constantly evaluate candidates. And that is what I did, you know, culminating just a week ago on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I had the opportunity to sit down with Senator Sanders in private and we had a very good discussion. You know, he didn't speak with me as a presidential candidate to a state representative. He didn't speak to me as an older white man to a young African-American man. He spoke with me on a man-to-man level. And at that point in time I knew that Bernie Sanders was my candidate.

BLITZER: Are you at all concerned that he describes himself as a Democratic socialist because a lot of your fellow Democrats think that may make him unelectable in a general election?

BAMBERG: No, sir, I'm not concerned at all. You know, in fact, it's my belief that a lot of people who are harping on this Democratic socialism thing don't even truly understand exactly what that means. People in America typically are afraid of change. They tend to go with the status quo. Bernie Sanders represents bold new leadership. He ; not afraid to stand up for what he believes in, and he's not afraid to go against the grain. And that is -- that is one of the things that I like about him most.

BLITZER: When you endorsed Hillary Clinton, you said it was because of her plan for reforming the criminal justice system, bridging strained relationships between law enforcement and minority communities. You represent the family of Walter Scott, who was fatally shot by a police officer. A lot of viewers remember that. How much did that influence your decision to now go ahead and withdraw your support from Hillary Clinton?

BAMBERG: Well, you know, the thing here is, when you look at Bernie and you look at Hillary, there are a lot of similarities, particularly with regards to criminal justice and reform there. It's no secret, after watching the news and looking at incidents across the country, what things need to change and what things need to be improved on. One of the turning points for me and why I decided to go with Senator Sanders resolves -- revolves mostly around issues like health care. I live in a rural poor part of the state of South Carolina. Just last week the second of three hospitals in my district closed down. Last year we lost another rural hospital. The year before that, another rural hospital.

[13:20:04] Health care is a matter of life and death for many Americans. You know, we live in the greatest country on earth and we have built ourselves on the belief that all things are possible. All things are attainable with hard work, determination and heart. We put man on the moon, Wolf. You can't tell me that we can't have health care for every citizen in America. You can't tell me that we are not able to establish free public college education for students regardless of where they come from. You know, you can't tell me that Bernie Sanders cannot be president if his supporters are willing to work, if voters are willing to open their eyes, open their ears and look at the key issues that affect their life. We can make this happen. And I believe that we will.

BLITZER: Justin Bamberg is a South Carolina state representative. Justin, thanks very much for joining us.

BLITZER: Thank you so much for having me, Wolf. God bless you.

BLITZER: Thank you. God bless you as well.

Few people expected Hillary Clinton to be locked in such a tight race with Bernie Sanders right now, specifically just a week before the Iowa caucuses. So what is the Clinton campaign's game plan between now and then? Joel Benenson is chief strategist for Hillary for America. He's a Democratic pollster and consultant.

Joel, let me get your quick reaction to what we just heard from that South Carolina state representative.

JOEL BENENSON, CHIEF STRATEGIST, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: Well, we have a lot of respect for Representative Bamberg. We've been endorsed by many leaders. Obviously not just the newspapers that you read recently from Iowa and Boston, but, you know, Hillary Clinton's been endorsed by more than 100 mayors from across the country. She's been endorsed by Mayor Steve Benjamin of Columbia, South Carolina, a very large city there, who also happens to be the mayor -- the head of the associate -- president of the Association of African-American Mayors. You know, we appreciate all the endorsements we have.

Just the -- this morning, you know, President Obama, while he said he was staying neutral, made some very gracious comments about Secretary Clinton and the fact that she can bring her progressive values to bare in the Oval Office to make a difference in people's lives. But at the end of the day, we know as we go forward here, we've got to win the endorsement and the vote of the people of Iowa, New Hampshire, and then on to Nevada and South Carolina. And we're not taking anything for granted. We're going to work hard to earn every vote. Secretary Clinton's out there doing that just now. And we think that when people make their judgment on caucus day or election day, the question they are going to be asking themselves is, which one of these people really does have what it takes to make a difference in my life, improve my life, and help me make the progress I want to get ahead and stay ahead?

BLITZER: When you heard Justin Bamberg talk about health care being such an important issue, he met with Bernie Sanders and Bernie Sanders convinced him he has a better idea, what was your reaction to that?

BENENSON: Well, look, I think, you know, Secretary Clinton and Senator Sanders both have the same goal, how do we get to universal health care? How do we make sure that more Americans have health care at a price they can afford? You know, for the first time in our country's history, we are at 90 percent or more with health care. And we need to build on that and close those final gaps, not plunge the country back into another debate. We've got Republicans who voted to repeal this. Only President Obama's veto saved Obamacare.

I think the other point that -- that I would make, as I was listening to Representative Bamberg is that, you know, just a week or so ago in the last debate between the candidates -- I know you've your forum tonight -- the only person on that stage who spoke about the travesty that occurred in Flint, Michigan, where poor residents of a city, largely African-American, were, you know, drinking toxic water, poisoning them, potential health consequence that are devastating, Secretary Clinton was the one who spoke up, raised that issue in that debate, not the other Democratic candidates. And I think that says a lot about her.

You know, she's got a record on fighting for health care going back to the '90s. You know, as she said, it was called Hillarycare before it was called Obamacare, and she's never given up. You know, when there have been setbacks, she fought hard to get eight million children health insurance in the '90s. So I think now is, how do we get us across the finish line to bring health care to every American and lower the cost of things like prescription drugs? She's got what it takes to get that done.

BLITZER: It's neck-and-neck according to the most recent polls in Iowa right now between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Exactly one week from tonight. Two weeks from tomorrow, the New Hampshire primary. Take a look at this CNN/WMUR poll we had. He's way ahead, 60 percent for Bernie Sanders, 33 percent for Hillary Clinton. I know that New Hampshire is right next door to Vermont, but that's an impressive lead he has there.

[13:25:05] BENENSON: Well, you know, I've commented on that poll before, Wolf. I don't think I need to do it again on your show. And some of the issues there. So I'll just -- I'll leave that poll hanging out there with the comments I made on it last week. I think the reality here in both these states, and I think I said it when we talked previously, both of these states are always very close. They are rarely blow-outs. Almost never been blow-outs either way. And I think what I pointed out last time I was here, Wolf, was that in Iowa in 2008, a very close -- closely contested primary, about 30 percent of the people said they made up their mind in the last week. In New Hampshire in 2008, 50 percent of the voters, based on the exit polls, basically said they had made up their minds in the last week. This is why you have to work so hard day in and day out to bring your case directly to the voters.

It was a great column in "The New York Times" this weekend by Frank Bruni (ph) about the media's obsession with these polls. He say, you know, we're -- we're not just fattening up on them, we're gorging ourselves on them. I think we ought to pay more attention to what the voters say and think on the stump and when they're talking with candidates and I think we'll see the results when they let their voices be heard on caucus day and election day.

BLITZER: Exactly one week from tonight.

Joel Benenson, thanks very much for joining us.

BENENSON: Thank you, Wolf. Always good to be here.

BLITZER: And that's why tonight is going to be so important. If a lot of people haven't made up their mind, they might make up their mind after tonight. Don't miss the Democratic presidential town hall live from Des Moines, Iowa, later tonight only here on CNN. Chris Cuomo moderates. 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Two hours right here on CNN. You'll hear from the three Democratic presidential candidates.

Still ahead, a final message from the Paris attackers with a veiled threat against the west. Congressman Peter King, he's a member of the Homeland Security Committee, standing by to weigh in on this brand new ISIS video, which is very disturbing.

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