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Iowa Caucuses Begin Tonight; Candidates Make Final Push; Rick Santorum On Iowa; RNC Watching Iowa Closely; NYC Mayor Campaigns For Clinton; New York Mayor in Iowa; Voter Turnout for Sanders. Aired 1- 1:30p ET

Aired February 01, 2016 - 13:00   ET

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

JOHN PODESTA, CHAIRMAN, HILLARY CLINTON CAMPAIGN: -- starting gun of that, but we've got a big country. We're going to compete everywhere, and we're going to win the delegates to --

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you.

PODESTA: -- secure the nomination. And then, we're going to go out to November.

BANFIELD: Appreciate your time, John Podesta. I know you have a busy day. I'll let you go. Thanks so much for joining us live.

PODESTA: All right.

BANFIELD: Appreciate it.

And thank you, everyone, for watching. I'm going to turn things over to Wolf Blitzer right now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's noon in Des Moines, Iowa. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington D.C., 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us.

We start in Iowa where voters are just hours away from casting the first votes in the presidential election. The candidates are making a final push across the state right now with each one trying to get in the last word in their own way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIA TRUMP: Hello, Iowa. It's great to be here. He will be unbelievable.

MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I will always seek to make you proud, that you will always be proud of the fact that you caucused for me.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I hope you will go. I hope you will stand up for me. I hope you will fight for me.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Together, we will win the Iowa caucuses. We will win the nomination and we will win the general election. We will defeat Hillary Clinton.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a campaign of the people, by the people and for the people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Voter turnout will be the telling statistic today with gatherings in more than 1,600 locations for each party across the state. There's Democrats and Republicans make the choice. The first choice but not the last word.

On the Republican side, the leader of the polls heading into today was Donald Trump. Trump admits that today is the big poll, though, and at an event during the last hour, he encouraged his supporters to make their voices heard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because they all say the more people that go out, the better we're going to do. And I don't say me. I say we because it is we. It's a movement. It's we. So, you've got to go out. I kid when I say if you're in bed, if you are sick and you can't walk, if the doctor says you cannot leave, I don't care. Get out of bed and come. You got to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: All right. Jim Acosta is covering the Trump campaign in Waterloo, Iowa right now. The expectation is pretty high, Jim, for the Trump camp. How confident are they that Donald Trump will win tonight?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, I would call it cautious confidence. You know, it is caucus day for Donald Trump. And the question of the day is, you know, can the phenomenon, on the Republican side of the equation here, actually deliver? You know, he can pack an auditorium. He didn't do it here today here in Waterloo, but, typically, he can pack a basketball arena full of shouting and screaming supporters.

The question, though, is whether or not do they actually show up and vote? Do they show up on caucus night? And that's the answer we're finally going to get here tonight.

And I -- you could hear just a little bit of doubt inside the mind of Donald Trump here in Waterloo. He said win, lose or draw, I love you, Iowa, no matter what. And it's sort of an echo of what he said earlier this morning that he was a little bit nervous. He said that on one of the talk shows.

And over the weekend, he was needling Iowans at just about every stop saying, on the Republican side, you haven't picked a winner, an eventual president in 16 years. So, clearly, everything that Trump is investing in this campaign, he wants to see that manifest itself in a big victory here tonight. I talked to Corey Lewandowski, the campaign manager for Donald Trump.

When I asked him, are you feeling confident? He said, check in with me at 10:00 tonight. So, they're not predicting victory, at this point, Wolf.

But what they are doing is they're trying to concentrate on two things. Christian conservatives. That's why you saw Donald Trump campaigning with Jerry Falwell Jr., the son of the famous televangelist all weekend long. He's got Sarah Palin with him in Cedar Rapids later on this afternoon.

And they're also focused on organization, getting out the vote, GoTV (ph). That is why you heard, at this event before Donald Trump took the stage, the wife of Chuck Luger (ph), who is Donald Trump's Iowa campaign guru, explaining to people here how to caucus. That they have to show up, making sure that they're registered as Republicans. That -- and telling them, you know, it's a secret ballot. You don't have to worry about standing in front of your neighbors and showing your support like they have to do on the Democratic side.

And that is a -- that is a -- you know, that reveals, Wolf, that basically a lot of new people are coming into the process for Donald Trump. And the question becomes, getting back to what I said earlier, do they show up tonight? Do they show up and caucus? That is how the Trump campaign is going to live or die later on tonight here in these Iowa caucuses -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And Trump keeps saying he's happy that the snow expected in Iowa is not going to start until after midnight, maybe later tonight. So, that's good, potentially, for a bigger turnout.

[13:05:00] All right, Jim Acosta, thanks very much.

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, they've traded spots in the Iowa polls over the past several weeks. They have also traded lots of insults in recent days out there on the campaign trail but how effective will those attacks be? We're going to find out, obviously later on tonight when we get all the results from the Iowa caucuses.

But joining us now, from Des Moines, is Bob Vander Plaats. He's the executive president of the family leader organization, influential voice among evangelicals in Iowa. He's a key supporter of Ted Cruz right now. So, what's your anticipation? Who wins tonight, Bob?

BOB VANDER PLAATS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, THE FAMILY LEADER: Well, I'm not ready to make predictions. I've been around this caucus process way too many times. It's all going to turn out -- or be on turnout.

So, we're feeling very good about the turnout mechanisms. We think we're going to have a strong night. I think Iowa is effectively doing its job. It's going to winnow the field after tonight.

But I say let the caucus process begin. Let the voters make their voice be known and let's see who comes out of this.

BLITZER: Your candidate, Ted Cruz, he's really going after Donald Trump, Marco Rubio for that matter as well. He says Marco Rubio is for amnesty, for illegal immigrants in the United States. He says Donald Trump is for Obama Care to which -- listen to what Donald Trump said about Ted Cruz on one of the talk shows this weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP (via telephone): Ted Cruz is the total liar. I am so against Obama Care. I've been saying it for two years in my speeches. I'm going to repeal and replace Obama Care. I don't even know where he gets this but he is a liar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: He calls your candidate, Ted Cruz, a liar. What's your response to that?

VANDER PLAATS: Well, that's Donald Trump rhetoric again. If you don't agree with him or if you point out his past or his record or his speech where he says he's for universal health care. He's for socialized medicine, single payer health care. But if you say that, you're a liar. He's going to attack you. That's what he does.

So, he can't debate on the policy but he just wants to go after the attack. I think Ted Cruz is right. He's pointed out there's a real difference between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump when it comes to health care. There's a real difference between Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio when it comes to illegal immigration and amnesty. Ted Cruz is a principled conservative pro-family conservative in this race. And I think he's going to do exceptionally well tonight because he's been consistent in his convictions. Not the road to Des Moines conversion convictions.

BLITZER: So, why do you think Jerry Falwell Jr., the President of Liberty University in Virginia, has endorsed Donald Trump?

VANDER PLAATS: Well, that's a -- that's a great question for Jerry Falwell. From what I understand, when he was with Donald Trump to some of the events in Iowa this past weekend, he said, I'm not endorsing Donald Trump because of his faith. I'm endorsing Donald Trump because of his business which is really a disconnect for us with people of faith because we believe our faith impacts everything that we do.

So, we're just a little bit confused by Jerry Falwell. But the people in Iowa tonight are not going to be voting for Jerry Falwell and his values. They're going to be voting on Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in regards to who's the most consistent conservative in this race. And that's why I think Ted Cruz is going to have a very good night tonight.

BLITZER: Bob Vander Plaats' a Ted Cruz supporter. Thanks very much, Bob, for joining us.

VANDER PLAATS: Thank you, Wolf.

BLITZER: Four years ago, Rick Santorum was celebrating his surprising win in the Iowa caucuses, although it wasn't an official win for several days afterwards. He edged out, eventually, Mitt Romney for the victory in the first contest of this Republican race for the presidency.

Republican presidential hopeful, Rick Santorum, is joining us now live from Des Moines. I remember that night. It looked like -- at the end of the night, they were officially saying you lost, what, by 10 or 12 votes, if that.

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Eight.

BLITZER: And then, eventually --

SANTORUM: Eight.

BLITZER: It was eight votes. Yes, I knew it was something tiny like that. Eventually, they said, you know what? Rick Santorum really won. Do you think if you would have -- just looking back for a moment. If they would have announced you were the winner that night, things might have turned out differently between you and Mitt Romney?

SANTORUM: I don't there's any question about it. The fact is eight hours after the announcement that Romney had won by eight votes, the press basically stopped covering the race -- for me in the race because Romney was going to go ahead and win New Hampshire. And so, the narrative that was being spun was he won Iowa. He won New Hampshire. Anybody that wins Iowa and New Hampshire, wins the -- wins the nomination. And so, we didn't get declared the winner until almost three weeks later and that put us behind.

But, look, here's the thing. We didn't get declared the winner until three weeks later, and we came back and won 10 more states because we went out there and said we're the -- we're the conservative who can get things done in Washington, who can deliver for the conservative cause. And that attracted a lot of votes. You know, we ran out of time and Romney had more money. But if we had a couple of good breaks along the way, I think we would have been the nominee and I think I would be standing here with Air Force One parked out at the Des Moines airport.

BLITZER: Yes, would have, could have, should have, all that. But what about the best --

SANTORUM: Yes.

BLITZER: -- realistic case for you tonight? What do you think that's going to be?

SANTORYUM: Well, we have to have a strong showing here. I mean, we have to, you know, bolt out of the pack. I mean, there's a pack of folks in single digits. And, you know, I'd like to see a strong showing.

[13:10:03] But I think coming out of -- out of Iowa, I think there's a lot of conservatives who are going to be looking for an alternative to the folks that have coalesced. You know, Ted Cruz was given big hole in the -- in the line to the

play -- in the football analogy that five people could have gone through. And he's fumbled the ball the whole way and he's not getting it into the end zone.

Given all the money and support and the people that have backed him, I mean, this should -- he should be doing victory laps around the state of Iowa right now. And he's been fumbling all the way to the -- to the -- to the goal line. And I think folks are going to take a look at what happened here in Iowa and say, we need someone, number one, who actually is a conviction conservative, someone who hasn't changed his position on a bunch of issues.

And I think Ted Cruz has been outed for a lot of those. And someone who actually isn't going to go to Washington and make the claim that the reason I can get things done is because everybody, Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservative, hate me. I don't know how you think you can actually accomplish anything on any group of people if everybody, even people who agree with you, hate you.

People don't hate me. The people on the other side of the aisle, when I worked in the Senate, they didn't like me because of the positions I had. But they didn't hate me. They were willing to work with me. We need someone who can actually work with people, both Republicans and Democrats, and get conservative things done for this country. That's why the people of Iowa voted for me last time. You know what I say? If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Don't try somebody who's been fumbling the ball all over the place, who complains about being attacked. Focus on someone who's been through the war, stood tall, and darn near crossed the finish line with a win against the establishment.

BLITZER: You have strong words about Ted Cruz. What do you think about Donald Trump?

SANTORUM: Look, if -- I use this example in Iowa State here. I'm going to use Iowa examples. But the Iowa State football team isn't particularly good. I always say my -- you know, I'm a Penn State guy and our basketball team stinks. And as a Penn State basketball guy, I'd like to clean house. And I'm sure Iowa State football fans would like to clean house. But it -- what if you put -- and they want someone who's going to -- you know, no experience, get in there and clean house.

OK. Well, let's put a nuclear physicist in charge of the Iowa State football team. Who's he going to have to hire in order to run a team? He's going to have to hire all these people who know about football. And that's what we call in Washington the establishment. So, you bring in someone who doesn't know anything, then you're going to get a whole bunch of people who do know who are going to be influencing him. I bet Iowa State would rather hire Nick Saban, rather hire -- or, you know, Urban Meyer. Hire someone who actually knows what they're doing, has a game plan and, very important, has a track record of winning.

And the top two candidates in this race have no track record of ever accomplishing anything in Washington D.C. If you want someone who does, Iowans have a chance to break the mold here tonight and tell the national media that it's not down to two people before we've even voted.

BLITZER: Rick Santorum, good luck tonight. Thanks very much for joining us.

SANTORUM: Thank you, my friend. Appreciate it, Wolf.

BLITZER: Thank you.

Coming up, the Republican National Committee will certainly be watching tonight's results very closely. I'll speak live this hour with the Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus. We'll talk about his expectations for tonight.

Also on the Democratic side, New York City mayor, Bill De Blasio, he's out there on the campaign trail in Iowa right now. He's campaigning for Hillary Clinton. There he is. You're looking at live pictures. We're going to speak with the mayor when we come back.

[13:13:21]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:17:28] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've actually knocked on 125,000 doors this weekend. So there's just a lot of excitement and energy. And I'm urging everybody to come out and caucus tonight to be part of this unique American process. I hope they'll come out and caucus for me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: One of the people knocking on doors for Hillary Clinton is the mayor of New York. Bill de Blasio has been going through Iowa urging people to caucus for Hillary Clinton. Mayor de Blasio is joining us now live now Iowa City.

Mayor, thanks very much for joining us.

Why are you going door to door campaigning for Hillary Clinton on this day of the Iowa caucuses?

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D), NEW YORK: Wolf, this is how it works in Iowa. It's all about direct contact with people, convincing them how important it is to caucus, convincing them how important it is to support Hillary Clinton. I come out here with a team of volunteers from New York City. We've knocked on 1,800 doors since Friday, our whole team, and we're very, very proud of that because in Iowa, more I think than in any other state, it is about having the one-on-one conversation and really convincing people, caucusing isn't easy, Wolf. You know it. It means real commitment of time, two hours, three hours on a winter night. It means making sure that you can accommodate in your schedule and people have to be highly motivated to not only go but to participate energetically because a lot of caucuses come down to just a vote or two, and you need people to really feel solid for your candidate.

So we've been focusing on energizing people. I've talked to lots of Hillary volunteers, too, from Iowa and all over the country, and going to different staging areas pumping them up, telling them how much each individual voter matters. And Iowans know that they get to decide a lot of what the future shape of the country will be tonight. And they take it very, very seriously. So to all the Iowans who are listening, please, you know, the country's depending on you. Get out there and caucus tonight.

BLITZER: When -- when you hear, mayor, some Democratic caucus goers say to you they have reservations about Hillary Clinton, what are those reservations and what do you say to rebut?

DE BLASIO: What I'm hearing is actually a lot of respect for all three Democratic candidates. So I'm going to answer your question, but I do want to tell you the number one thing I'm hearing is an appreciation of how serious and respectful the Democratic debate has been. That the three candidates have not spent a lot of time being negative, have really focused on issues, have really focused on the fight against income inequality, which is what I think the people of Iowa are so concerned about. How do we create a fairer economy for all? How do we restore the middle class? That's what the democratic debate has been about in such intense contrast to the very negative and divisive Republican debate. So that's what I hear the most.

[13:20:05] I do hear people trying to grapple with, what's the best way forward? You know, what's the best way to make change? And the Iowa, you know, electorate is very progressive on the Democratic side. What I say to them is, we need change urgently and, therefore, we need someone who can do it right now, has the skills, has the understanding of how to make that change right now. Hillary Clinton has the experience, the capacity. Talk about being able to hit the ground running as president of the United States. No one's been more prepared. And her agenda, her platform, is all about fighting income equality, higher taxes on the wealthy, higher wages and benefits, more support for working families, like paid sick leave, paid family leave, that's resonating I think strongly with Iowa voters.

BLITZER: What are you hearing -- because I know you're well plugged in -- we spoke about this the last time we spoke as well, about your predecessor, Michael Bloomberg. A lot of buzz out there that he's seriously thinking of throwing his hat into the presidential ring as a third party independent candidate. What are you hearing, because you're plugged in, in New York City?

DE BLASIO: Look, I would say, again, I have a lot of respect for Michael Bloomberg, and, obviously, I have some real disagreements. But I think that that mood in the country right now, I refer to it certainly from the conversations I'm having with Iowans, it's kitchen table issues, economic issues on their minds, Social Security, college debt, the cost of health care, wage levels, benefits. That's what's on people's minds. When you think about a prospective Bloomberg candidacy, what I say is,

the people of the United States are not going to choose a billionaire to fix problems that have largely been created by billionaires. There's just intense frustration. And, by the way, you see it on the Republican side too. Intense frustration about how unfair our economy is and what's happening in the middle class. And I think people want a candidate who's going to do something very different. My candidate, Hillary Clinton, I know will. But it's hard to believe you can say a billionaire like a Bloomberg, or a Trump for that matter, is going to be an agent of greater economic fairness.

BLITZER: But the people of New York City picked a billionaire twice to be mayor, right?

DE BLASIO: The people of New York City chose him as mayor. And, again, he did some very good things for New York, and I would argue, you know, there's some things that he did wrong and some things he missed, like I think he missed opportunities regularly to address income inequality. But I think it's a very different reality when you think about the whole country, what people want right now. With Hillary we have certainly a candidate with all the experience you could ask for and a progressive agenda on those economic issues. I don't know what any of the other competitors have that can compare with that, and I don't know where a third party candidate fits when a candidate like Hillary Clinton's in the race. And, again, very much believe she'll win the Democratic nomination.

A lot of respect for Bernie. A lot of respect for Martin O'Malley. They're both saying important things, but I don't see space for a third party candidate when you have a Hillary Clinton at the top of the Democratic ticket.

BLITZER: All right, mayor, we're going to leave it on that note. Good luck out there in Iowa. We'll check back with you the next several days. Thank you very much.

DE BLASIO: Thanks so much, Wolf.

BLITZER: Just ahead, Bernie Sanders has certainly energized a lot of younger voters out there. He's encouraged them to show up at the Iowa caucuses tonight, but will they show up when the votes count tonight? We'll ask Bernie Sanders' campaign manager to talk about that and more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:27:30] (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will win tonight if the voter turnout is high. We will struggle tonight if the voter turnout is low. That's the fact. So what is our job today? It's to make sure that we have the highest voter turnout possible. That happens, we win. Let's go get 'em. Thank you, all.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLITZER: All right, you just heard there, Senator Bernie Sanders saying turnout will be a major factor in tonight's Iowa caucuses. Back in 2004, turnout for the Democrats was about 124,000 people. If it's similar this year, that favors potentially Hillary Clinton. 2008 turnout was much, much bigger, about 239,000 turned out. A similar result this year by all accounts would favor Bernie Sanders.

Jeff Weaver is Senator Sanders' campaign manager. Jeff is joining us from Des Moines.

Jeff, thank you for joining us.

What's your expectation about turnout tonight? How many Democrats will actually show up?

JEFF WEAVER, BERNIE SANDERS' CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Well, it's hard to tell, Wolf. I don't think we'll hit the numbers of 2008. But I do think that we will be much, much higher than what we saw in 2004. And, you know, what we need to do is push that high enough so that we get Senator Sanders' voters out in the caucus.

Look, it's very, very close out here. I mean all of the internal data, all the external data, all of it shows it's right down to the wire. It's a really -- it is a deadlock, a tie. And people have to know here in Iowa that one person coming out to caucus in a caucus can make the difference in this race.

BLITZER: Nuances is very important. As you point out, it's very close. Bernie Sanders has certainly energized a lot of younger voters, college age voters, for example. But this year the students are back on campus instead of home or winter break like they were back in 2008 when then Senator Barack Obama won the Iowa caucus. Are you concerned that these younger voters will be concentrated in a few college towns rather than spread out across the state?

WEAVER: Well, people who live out here in Iowa know that there are many, many small colleges spread all over the state in Iowa. They also have a very, very large community college system, which is also spread across the state. And we've made a big outreach to high school seniors out here in Iowa, if you're going to be 18 by the general election, even though you're 17 now, you are eligible to caucus. And so we have made a major outreach to high school seniors to get them to come out as well and obviously they are geographically disbursed.

[13:30:02] So we think we have enough voters to win who support Senator Sanders. That we have enough voters in all the right places to win. It's just a question of getting folks out.

BLITZER: Was it a mistake -- and you can be honest -- that the senator --