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New Attitudes in New Hampshire; Clinton and Sanders Spar; Officers Save Baby; Kasich Stumps in New Hampshire. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired February 05, 2016 - 14:00   ET

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


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[14:01:09] BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And you're watching CNN. Happy Friday. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's get to it.

Four days, four, from the New Hampshire primary. Two prime candidates for president breaking out with new attitudes. Have you noticed? Donald Trump striking a somewhat softer, gentler tone, while a harder, tougher Hillary Clinton is fighting back. Just days after Donald Trump accused Ted Cruz of stealing his caucus win in Iowa, the Republican billionaire had this exchange with Anderson Cooper about Senator Cruz.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I'm into New Hampshire now. It's just one of those things. It was sort of - a lot of strange things. And you know I like Ben Carson very much and he got pretty roughed up, frankly. Although it affected me maybe more than Ben. But I'm so much - because I've been now here for two days, I'm so much into new - into this, into New Hampshire, that I just - I don't care about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And for the Democrats, Clinton called out Bernie Sanders when he suggested during their debate last night that rich donors could buy her political favor. Here she was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I really don't think these kinds of attacks by insinuation are worthy of you. And enough is enough. If you've got something to say, say it directly.

I think it's time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks and let's talk - let's talk about the issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: All right, let's kick off this hour with our CNN political director David Chalian in Exeter, New Hampshire.

David Chalian, first of all, new attitudes both from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. What's up with that?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, what's up with that, Brooke, is that both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are looking at the challenges they've got ahead of themselves leading into Tuesday's primary. Donald Trump, after coming in second place in Iowa, knows that a victory here in New Hampshire is critical to making sure that he is not seen as just a completely pierced balloon after the year of riding high in the polls. So that's why he's dropped all that complaining about Ted Cruz and the Iowa caucuses and the results into - I'm focused heard on New Hampshire and I'm going to work for every vote.

And on the Democratic side, you see the same thing. You see Hillary Clinton, who is clearly not wanting to take the - what she calls insinuated attacks from Bernie Sanders lying down. She - even though she's far behind in the polls here, she wants to fight back on that notion that she is somehow tied to Wall Street in a way that affects her policies.

BALDWIN: Let me come back to that far behind in the polls bit in a minute. I wanted to share these two news polls to talk - well, first, the CNN/WMUR poll, looking at just New Hampshire and we have this national poll from Quinnipiac University, David, if you can hear me through the - through the applause, both taken after the Iowa caucuses. Let's begin with the Republicans here. And you see, you know, Trump obviously with the biggest number, but plenty close behind, you know, in the teens, Rubio, Cruz, Kasich. Your thoughts on that?

CHALIAN: That's right. I mean Rubio's in a new position that in number two and Donald Trump wants to secure that double digit lead over him. Rubio is now going to be feeling more scrutiny, more heat from a lot of the other candidates because he is now that establishment lane candidate that has skyrocketed to the top of that pack in that number two slot and you know that New Hampshire is where that battle for the establishment lane is taking place.

And nationally, Brooke, if you look at the Quinnipiac University poll on the Republican side, you see the same thing in terms of it being a three-man race. We are down to a Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio three man race right now. And unless somebody like Jeb Bush or Chris Christie or John Kasich up-ends Rubio here in New Hampshire, I think we're going to see that three man race going forward for quite some time.

BALDWIN: Let's talk quickly about the Dems. When you look at the polls for the Democrats, what are you seeing there?

[14:05:04] CHALIAN: Well, listen, our CNN/WMUR/UNH New Hampshire poll, it's not what these people behind me are applauding, but they might as well because it shows that Bernie Sanders has a two-one advantage over Hillary Clinton here in New Hampshire. And Bernie Sanders is making sure to maintain that lead as best he can.

Nationally, there's a new Quinnipiac poll out and it shows it a much closer race. But we need a lot more polls to come out because that one, right now, looks like an outlier.

BALDWIN: OK. David Chalian, thank you so much.

Let's move on and broaden this out just a little bit here. While Sanders again depending on the poll, listen, Quinnipiac looks closer. The one we just showed, two to one. We need more polls. That is precisely the point here from David Chalian.

CNN poll of polls, averaged five national polls, shows that Clinton has a significant lead over Sanders, 53 to 36. These polls were taken before the Iowa caucuses when Martin O'Malley, by the way, was still running.

So let me go now to the author of this book, "Hillary Clinton: A Woman in Charge," CNN political commentator Carl Bernstein. Also with me, CNN political commentator and author himself, Bob Beckel, who managed Walter Mondale's presidential campaign.

Gentlemen, nice to see you.

Mr. Beckel, finally I get to see you in person. Nice to meet you.

BOB BECKEL, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Thanks, Brooke. Thanks for mentioning the Mondale campaign. That was nice of you.

BALDWIN: You got - you got that. Yes, uh-huh.

Let's begin here with the money. Watching the debate between Sanders and Clinton, I'm looking at you and I want to begin with you. You know, she's been hit obviously by the money and the super PAC money from Wall Street and so, you know, she referred to it last night as an artful smear. She says I really don't think these kinds of attacks by insinuation are worthy of you, she said to Sanders. If you have something to say, say it directly.

We know that she called off an event tonight in Boston related to Bain Capital. Maybe they're getting more hip to that hit from the Sanders campaign. Do you think that was a strong response?

BECKEL: Yes, I think it was a strong response. About the best response you could give when you get all that money from Wall Street. I mean Bernie's been raising all this money in $20, $25 chunks. And Hillary's gone through Wall Street pretty well. But here's a big problem for Bernie Sanders. First of all, the next four days are the longest four days in presidential politics. I've done six of them up there and -

BALDWIN: Tell me why.

BECKEL: Well, because things change so much. And the polls change. It is - it is the hardest state in the world to poll. There is no way that Bernie Sanders is going to beat her by 30 points. I mean I think she's going to come in under 10. And if that's the case, what's - what's the expectation for Bernie, to win big, right? Next door neighbor. I don't think he's going to win that big.

BALDWIN: You don't think he's going to win that big? BECKEL: Nope.

BALDWIN: Carl, what do you think?

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: We need fewer polls. That's the first thing.

BALDWIN: Right. They can be so confusing.

BERNSTEIN: What we're seeing is that Hillary Clinton could be a very capable president, but she is a terribly flawed candidate who has ethical baggage that is costing her terrifically. The GOP is exploiting it. And, in Bernie Sanders, we have a candidate who has begun a real movement, the likes of which we haven't seen - and I'd like to know what Bob thinks about this - since Bobby Kennedy. That there is a potential - I would have never believed this a few weeks ago - for him to go on and win the nomination and he's hit on the issues that go to her weaknesses, which have to do with character issues and trust.

BALDWIN: Well, not only that, but there's been this whole back and forth, obviously, over who's a progressive. Last night then they got into what is an establishment - definition of establishment. I think one of the issues where Bernie Sanders has really drawn the line in the political sand has to do with where Hillary Clinton versus a Bernie Sanders stood when it came to that Iraq War vote. This was a different response than we've heard before from Hillary Clinton on that. Roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Back in 2002, when we both looked at the same evidence about the wisdom of the war in Iraq, one of us voted the right way and one of us didn't.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A vote in 2002 is not a plan to defeat ISIS. We have to look at the threats that we face right now and we have to be prepared to take them on and defeat them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Bob, bringing up this now, ISIS, strong answer?

BECKEL: Yes, look, any time you get on foreign policy, national security, she wants those questions because that's where she's strong. But one of the things you've got to keep in mind here, that Hillary Clinton, from the time she's gotten into public life, has been on the defensive as a politician. She's been burned and beat up and scarred and people wonder why she's so defensive. For good reason, because she's been on the defense for a long, long time.

I think that Bernie's got a niche in a populist year. There's been populism around for a long time, going back to William Jennings Bryant. And so I don't think this is something that's new. He and Trump have taken advantage of it. But both of them are polling higher than, in fact, they've got as a base. BALDWIN: Carl, let me - let me bring you in. I want to switch gears

and talk Flint, Michigan. We know they'll be debating - this is one of the additional debates coming up in Flint in March. We know that - we've learned that Hillary Clinton will be going to Flint Sunday. She is the one who actually connected or was part of connecting the mayor in Flint to President Obama. We know they sat down at the White House some weeks ago. This has been one of her issues. What will she be able to do in Flint that she can use to her advantage come Tuesday? And beyond?

[14:10:08] BERNSTEIN: I would hope that this rises - I would hope this rises above this political race. That both she and Sanders have said the right thing. Sanders has said that this governor should leave office. He ought to be recalled. This is a terrible thing that's happened and shouldn't be exploited in a presidential campaign. They're both on the same wavelength, Sanders and Hillary on this, and let's talk about the real questions. And the real question that's raised, that Chuck Todd did last night, is this question of the transcripts. Of Hillary Clinton's meetings and speeches before these groups. It's not going to go away. She's going to need to produce them or she is in terrible, terrible trouble if she can't.

BALDWIN: Bob, do you think that will hurt her?

BECKEL: Nah, you mean the money from Wall Street?

BALDWIN: The talking, the being paid six digits.

BECKEL: Transcripts.

BALDWIN: The transcripts of the speeches.

BECKEL: Well, $675,000 for three speech, now, I - they could get my vote for that. But, look, the fact of the matter is, everybody raises a lot of money. Bernie's unique. I mean he can raise it in small doses. But another thing about Flint is, I don't want to tell you - break everybody's bubble here. It is a presidential move on her part to go there. But it's also a lot of poor people being afflicted in Flint, a lot of minorities.

BALDWIN: Yes.

BECKEL: I think she's looking ahead to South Carolina.

BALDWIN: We have an entire segment dedicated to that and I'm actually -

BECKEL: Well, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blow that on you.

BALDWIN: No, I appreciate the tease.

BECKEL: There you go.

BALDWIN: Because, you know, when you look at the latest poll numbers, Bernie Sanders is not faring well when it comes to the African American vote and that has to be worrying his camp come South Carolina.

For now, gentlemen, Carl and Bob, thank you both very much. You raise a very important point.

BERNSTEIN: Good to be with you.

BECKEL: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Thank you.

Coming up next, Donald Trump canceling his event in New Hampshire because of the snow, the weather there. But, Jeb Bush giving him a taste of his own medicine. The trolling on Twitter, the back and forth. That's coming up next.

Plus, he has everything riding on New Hampshire, but John Kasich refuses to sling mud. CNN just sat down with him. Hear which big-time celebrity joining him on the trail tonight.

And a story I really want you to see. Police officers responding to a shooting scene in Chicago. They find an 11-month-old baby, 11 months old, shot in a drive-by. What they do next breaks the rules, but it's one of the most heroic things you will ever hear. Stand by for that. You're watching CNN.

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[14:16:18] BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Shootings, they are so common in the city of Chicago. Most often we don't report them. But there was nothing common about a September shooting when two Chicago police officers arrived on the scene of a quintuple shooting. They were met by a woman carrying a bleeding baby. This victim, 11 months old. Police protocol calls for people - rather calls for police to wait for an ambulance. But as CNN's Ryan Young report, the officers broke department policy and by doing so probably saved this child's life.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

OFFICER JOHN CONNEELY, CHICAGO POLICE: It was very chaotic. When we first arrived, had to be about 100 people out on the street screaming, yelling, people crying.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a child shot.

CONNEELY: We got a person shot over here. We had somebody shot over here. We had somebody shot over here. The neighborhood going - going crazy. The woman ran up to us with the baby shouting, this baby has been shot.

DISPATCHER: How old is it?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Approximately one and two-years-old.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Obviously, it's got to hit you in the heart.

OFFICER MIKE MODZELEWSKI, CHICAGO POLICE: It does. At that point, you know, we examine the baby. You know, we - we found it to - to have been shot. It's - it's an unreal feeling. It's borderline helplessness.

YOUNG (voice-over): The officers broke a department policy, opting to rush 11-month-old Princeton Chew to the hospital instead of waiting for an ambulance.

CONNEELY: When we first saw that child, I mean, we kind of looked at each other and instinctively were just like, we got to go. Let's go.

MODZELEWSKI: At that time my partner, Officer Conneely, took the keys, you know, from me and got behind the wheel. I got in the - the back seat, cradling the baby, and putting pressure on his wound.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The child shot in my car. We're going to the hospital with him right now.

YOUNG: The ride, some nine miles long, a race against time. Princeton's pregnant mother and grandmother were also shot multiple times. They didn't survive.

CONNEELY: I also then called ahead to the hospital to tell them to get us - get ready because we were coming in hot so to speak.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you let them know we're coming in with this one-year-old with a gunshot wound to the lower left side.

CONNEELY: When I pulled up, I immediately got out of the car, I opened the door for Officer Modzelewski, who had the baby. Officer Modzelewski immediately ran into the emergency room with me right behind him and handed off to emergency personnel.

DISPATCHER: Let me know when you hand the baby off to the personnel.

MODZELEWSKI: It's a good feeling knowing that the actions that you took, you know, potentially saved the child's life. But then again, on the other end of the spectrum, it's tragic because there was a loss of life.

YOUNG: Princeton surveyed and is now being raised by family, all thanks to the efforts of two officer whose split second actions likely saved his life.

MODZELEWSKI: I noticed after a few days, just in some of the interaction with the community, the people that - that we didn't even know just coming up to us saying thank you, thank you for - for what you did.

YOUNG: Ryan Young, CNN, Chicago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: How awesome is that. Coming up, is Jeb Bush turning up the heat in New Hampshire, taking

new shots at both Donald Trump and Marco Rubio and turning to a new weapon on the campaign trail, his family? But will it work in time for Tuesday's primary?

Also ahead, moments from now, Bernie Sanders expected to announce a major endorsement. We will bring that to you live. Stay right here.

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[14:24:00] BALDWIN: No question, in this election cycle, at least on the Republican side, when it comes to drawing great big crowds at great big auditoriums, no one is better than Donald Trump. But in New Hampshire, primary voters like to see their candidates up close and personal. And after losing the caucuses in Iowa, at least losing that top spot, Mr. Trump is now trying a different strategy, selling himself to voters one on one. He sat down at a Manchester, New Hampshire, diner with Anderson Cooper and a small group of voters, took direct questions from the crowd. Here is Donald Trump opening up about his brother's death from alcoholism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He got hooked on alcohol, just hooked. And ultimately it just was devastating. That's why I don't drink. You know, I don't drink. I don't drink. I don't drink. I don't smoke cigarettes. I don't take drugs. Those are the three good things. I won't tell you the bad things, OK.

I probably wouldn't be here talking to you today if I - if we didn't - if I didn't have my brother Fred, because he kept me off alcohol. And maybe with my kind of a personality, I'd be a serious alcoholic. I just don't know. But I never had a glass of alcohol in my life only because my brother said, don't you dare. He was a tough guy in his own way. Don't you dare ever drink, because he knew he had a problem. And he passed on to me unbelievable information.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:25:17] BALDWIN: That was Donald Trump there in New Hampshire. By the way, he will not be there today, citing bad weather as the reason. But someone who is in the state is John Kasich, Ohio Governor John Kasich, just picking up an endorsement from Montel Williams, a TV personality and Marine Corps veteran, writing in "USA Today," quote, "we need an adult in the White House. That adult is Kasich".

Governor Kasich has been practically living in New Hampshire for months and months, holding dozens of town halls to encourage support there. Right now Kasich is polling at 12 percent in the latest CNN/WMUR poll in a statistical dead heat for third place with Ted Cruz.

CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger just spoke with the Ohio governor and asked if he would possibly consider the number two spot on the Republican ticket. Here they were.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That's some kind of crazy. I mean, I wouldn't even think about that. I'm running for president.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you are governor of Ohio -

KASICH: Yes.

BORGER: So other people might think about it for you if you didn't get the nomination.

KASICH: Well, it doesn't matter. I mean I don't - I don't - I don't even think that way.

BORGER: You don't? Not at all?

KASICH: I'd be the worst vice president anybody could ever imagine.

BORGER: Well -

KASICH: I'd be worse than Biden. Because I'm my own man. I don't take orders from these people. It's not what I do. It's not who I am. I'm basically an unrelenting agent of change.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And here she is, Gloria Borger, joining me now.

I mean you just got off the bus. Here he is, he's preparing for his 100th town hall in New Hampshire this evening.

BORGER: I know.

BALDWIN: He says he's his own man. How does he feel about his chances there going into Tuesday?

BORGER: Look, he believes that he's actually in second place and not in third place. And he feels very good about it. As you point out, he's going to his 100th town hall, which is kind of remarkable. And when I asked him about it, Brooke, he kind of got a little nostalgic. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KASICH: People come, they talk about the trouble their kids are having. They - I mean people will come and they'll cry. They'll give me a big hug. Or I'll give them a big hug. Or maybe, you know, the other day we were talking about the developmentally disabled. And, you know, it just - it hits you like, bang, you know. It's been interesting. So it tells me, Gloria, that people, they need people. They need somebody to care about them. Somewhere to go where it's safe. And it's so weird for me to find it in a political event.

BORGER: Right. Trump has started to go on the retail circuit a little bit. He's doing

a few town halls.

KASICH: Isn't that interesting.

BORGER: Yes. What do you think about that?

KASICH: That's the way you do it here. They don't - they don't care about celebrity. They don't care about money. They don't care. These people want to know who you are. They don't -

BORGER: What's your advice for him? Because he hasn't really done it. Didn't really do it - didn't do it in Iowa.

KASICH: I think - I - I just think it's - you can't play catch-up here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORGER: There he is saying, you know, you can't play catch-up. So far, of course, Brooke, Donald Trump is number one in the polls. But at Kasich's 100th town hall tonight, he's going to get somebody who's going to phone in and that is his old buddy Arnold Schwarzenegger. I asked him whether it was an endorsement and he said, look, Arnold's my good buddy. I don't know whether it's going to be an endorsement, but he's kind of maxed out in what he can give to me. Clearly, Arnold likes John Kasich.

BALDWIN: OK. Here you go, Governor Kasich says, they don't care about celebrities, but, listen, a big name like that could help him in the end.

Gloria Borger, thank you very much.

BORGER: I don't know. Sure.

BALDWIN: And make sure you watch Gloria's full interview this afternoon on "The Situation Room" with Wolf Blitzer. That starts at 5:00 Eastern, of course, here on CNN.

Next, from one governor to the next here, Jeb Bush employing his all- in strategy in New Hampshire, pulling out all the stops, putting his family on the campaign trail. A packed crowd for his mom there, Barbara Bush. A new ad out featuring his brother. Will this help him come Tuesday for the first in the nation primary in New Hampshire?

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