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Record Turnout Predicted in New Hampshire Primary; Candidates' Attacks Heat Up; Clinton, Sanders Make 11th Hour Pitches to New Hampshire. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired February 09, 2016 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[09:00:20] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, decision day in New Hampshire.
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have to go out. You have to vote.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Voters in New Hampshire. Understand that this country needs a political revolution.
COSTELLO: Candidates taking nothing for granted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you want my vote you got to earn it.
COSTELLO: All of the stump speeches.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My final push to convince as many Granite Staters as possible to come out and vote for me.
COSTELLO: Coffee shop stops and last-minute pitches.
JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's about who has the steadiness, the fortitude, the backbone, and the heart to lead this country when times are difficult.
COSTELLO: Leading to this.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New Hampshire listens. And they wait and wait to make up their mind.
COSTELLO: A lot of candidates heading into the first of the nation primaries. How many will punch their ticket out?
Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me.
After months of rotary clubs, endless handshakes, and frigid temperatures, the nation's first primary this election season is now under way. New Hampshire is predicting a record turnout for what could be a make-or-break day for some of the candidates.
CNN is mobilizing its resources across the state. We're at the polling places with the campaigns and on the trail as candidates scramble for those last undecided voters.
Let's begin in Manchester with Erin Burnett. Good morning, Erin.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Carol. And I am psyched. You know, it's a frigid cold day but the sun came out and after the snow yesterday, Carol, people are getting out and going out to vote. At 7:00 a.m. you know, anecdotally I heard some people say there were long lines. They were -- they said turnout is very high. Obviously all anecdotal what people's feelings are at this time but people seem to be taking it very, very seriously.
Everybody is going out, As Carol said, all of these months and months of craziness and campaigning. And everybody is going out today to vote.
New Hampshire has long enjoyed one of the highest voter turnouts of any primary state. So that may be no surprise. This year, though, the number of people casting votes could set a record.
Our Joe Johnson is in Manchester where I am at one of the polling stations. And Joe, I was, you know, just saying to Carol, look, it's anecdotal but people are telling me long lines. Turnout seems high. What is it like where you are?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think that tracks with what we're seeing here. First thing this morning there was a burst of activity. A lot of people in line. Then it has sort of settled down. I would describe it as steady. They do expect more people around noon and again around evening. That's how things track here at this school.
Now, Erin, I wanted to give you a little bit of an idea of why the process here in New Hampshire is so interesting. Right here at this table people come in and they get their ballots. If they're registered Democrat or Republican they have to vote in that primary. But if they are registered independent, and 40 percent of the voters in this state are registered independent, they can essentially declare themselves for one party or another at this moment.
Then they go over and vote in the booths behind the curtains as you can see right there. Takes just a minute or two. And when they come out of the curtains they go over to this little podium which is just by the door, where you see the woman standing there. They can fill out a form and declare themselves once again independent. So just for a couple of minutes people are members of one party or another then back to independent.
That is why the process in this state is so unpredictable and that is why people say just about anything can happen -- Erin. BURNETT: And Joe, you know, you had Jeb Bush just showing up. We're
looking now at a polling station. Are we going to see all the candidates showing up this morning?
JOHNS: We expect to see just about all of the candidates in one place or another. Of course none of them are registered in New Hampshire as voters so they can't vote. But they will be making appearances just to try to get out the vote, one last chance to try to convince somebody to vote for them -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Joe Johns, thank you very much.
And as the time gets shorter the attacks get nastier. In the final hours, it was so nasty the whole country got to see it. The name calling, liar, whiner. At least one word spit out by a frontrunner that I won't repeat on this air.
Our Sara Murray joins me live from Hudson, New Hampshire.
And, Sara, you know, as you're watching people line up to vote, it did get incredibly nasty in these final moments.
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Erin, you're absolutely right. And this polling location here in Hudson, New Hampshire, has been hopping since the doors opened at 7:00 a.m. And the line of folks who are independent, who are voting for Democrats or Republicans has been very long and that's who these candidates are trying to move, and I think that's why you're seeing such a sharp tone in the final hours of this campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[09:05:14] MURRAY (voice-over): Hours ahead of the first vote, name calling in the GOP reached a fever pitch.
TRUMP: She said he's a (EXPLETIVE DELETED), that's terrible. Her.
MURRAY: Donald Trump repeated a voter's vulgar jab at Ted Cruz Monday night. And the frontrunner was relentless in attacking Jeb Bush throughout the day.
TRUMP: We have to get rid of the Jeb Bushs of the world. Jeb is a lightweight. Jeb is having some kind of a breakdown, I think, and you know, look, he's an embarrassment to his family.
MURRAY: Bush continuing the battle, trading insult for insult after tweeting at Trump, "You aren't just a loser, you are a liar and a whiner."
BUSH: He's a whiner. I'm a joyful warrior.
Imagine a guy like Donald Trump, for example, being president of the United States during difficult times.
MURRAY: Now in the final hours candidates are vying to win over legions of undecided New Hampshire voters. Marco Rubio trying to bounce back after a debate gaffe repeating the
same phrase four times Saturday night. Something Chris Christie is capitalizing on.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You're sitting across the table from Vladimir Putin. You don't want to repeat the same thing four or five times over again.
MURRAY: But awkwardly Rubio repeated himself yet again Monday night during a stump speech.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We know how hard it's become to instill our values in our kids instead of the values they try to ram down our throats. It's become harder than ever to instill in your children the values they teach in our homes and our in church instead of the values that they try to ram down our throats.
MURRAY: This as Trump downplayed his wide lead in the final polls before today's primary.
TRUMP: I hear we have a lead. It doesn't matter to me. It doesn't matter to me. Who the hell knows what the lead is.
MURRAY: After admitting his ground game fell behind in Iowa, his campaign has been playing catch up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. How are you doing?
MURRAY: On the snowy eve of the primary Trump made a final push in his unconventional tile style.
TRUMP: If you're going drive like a maniac, do it tomorrow after you vote. And I promise I will come and visit you in the hospital. I promise.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MURRAY: Now, Erin, as you know New Hampshire voters are notorious for deciding late for making that call once they get into the voting booth and that's why you're going to see candidates all over the state today holding three, four, sometimes even five events looking to move as many voters if they can into their camp before the polls close tonight.
Back to you.
BURNETT: They will use every single second that they have. Sara Murray, with a lot of people behind her there in line.
And now back to you in New York, Carol.
(LAUGHTER)
COSTELLO: And, Erin, today's results as you said could turn out to be a make-or-break moment for the candidates. I want to take you -- I want you to take a look at John Kasich because he'd had a recent surge in the polls in New Hampshire. He's out fighting for every vote. There he is in the Red Arrow Diner serving -- he's actually serving dinner to people and perhaps thinking maybe they will be grateful enough to go out to the polls and, you know, cast a ballot for me.
We already showed you Jeb Bush. He was at a precinct, he was at a polling place. And he's probably going to vote for himself and then speak to a few voters afterwards. You see the press is waiting nearby for him to come out to the microphones.
Let's talk about Senator Marco Rubio because he too is fighting for second place in New Hampshire. But he didn't help himself last night when he again used the very same talking point twice in a row.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUBIO: We are taking our message to families that are struggling to raise their children in the 21st century. Because as you saw Jeanette and I are raising our four children in the 21st century. We know how hard it's become to instill our values in our kids instead of the values they try to ram down our throats. In the 21st century it's become harder than ever to instill in your children the values they teach in our homes and in our church instead of the values that they try to ram down our throats in the movies, in music, in popular culture.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: All right. You heard it there. So will Rubio's repeat lines hurt him with New Hampshire voters? And what about what Donald Trump said? You know that word, that P word that no one can say on television but you often here an porno flicks.
Want to ask chief political correspondent for USA Radio Network's Scottie Nell Hughes, he's a Trump surrogate. I'm also joined by Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway.
All right, Scottie, I think we just got to get the P word thing out of the way. I mean, why go there?
SCOTTIE NELL HUGHES, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, USA RADIO NETWORKS: Well, the question is, we're continuously addressing the word but we're not talking about what caused that word and the emotion that caused that word. And leading up to it -- the question was talking about Gitmo and how this administration had literally let -- let these supposed terrorists back on the battle field at the same time trading them for such trash like Bergdahl.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Actually he was talking about Senator Cruz and waterboarding. He wasn't talking about the Obama administration at all.
HUGHES: Well -- but he was talking about Senator Cruz had not stood up for it. That other senators, that Washington D.C. had not stood up for in cases like that, in cases like waterboarding. [09:10:05] And that's the problem we have right now. There is no
bigger amount of cowards in the world today or in the United States than in our United States Congress.
COSTELLO: OK --
HUGHES: So you can't get there. So that word -- I would not use it.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: Well, exactly. Like what if there were kids in the audience? I don't know if there were but I wouldn't want my kid to hear that.
Donald Trump actually was on "Morning Joe" this morning responding to his use of the -- well, I guess he repeated the P word because someone in the audience, a woman, had shouted it out. Do we have that sound cut yet? We do not. So I'm going to read it verbatim for you.
So Donald trump said on "Morning Joe," "We were all just having fun. It was a fun moment. I got a standing ovation, the place went wild. Somebody said mixed cheers. Nah, the place went wild. I got a standing ovation. And all I was doing was repeating it and doing everybody a favor."
He was just having fun. But you know what critics will say. It's not presidential to use such a term and it's so unnecessary and it's so crass.
HUGHES: But it's talking about headlines. And if he was -- if he would have just used the word coward it would not be headlining every news organization going into this New Hampshire primary. If he would have used the other regular word, we'd be talking about everybody else.
(CROSSTALK)
COSTELLO: But people are talking about the word. We're talking about the word. We're talking about the word.
HUGHES: But most people understand what it is in reference to.
COSTELLO: All right. So, Kellyanne --
HUGHES: And I understand. I respect that.
COSTELLO: All right.
KELLYANNE CONWAY, REPUBLICAN POLLSTER: And I think that was a great try , Scottie. But it's vulgar. And this is the equivalent really in New Hampshire of Donald Trump's skipping the debate in Iowa. It cost him votes and I think people will think thrice now when they go into that ballot box and say, look, I tried to send a message all along to Donald Trump, to the establishment, but now I got to get serious about sending somebody to the White House. And do I want somebody who hurls personal insults or who goes and
talks about philosophical differences? You know, the whole point of democracy especially this year when someone like me is thrilled to see record turnouts in the Iowa caucuses on both sides of the -- on the Republican side of aisle. Record turnout they are predicting in New Hampshire today. This is democracy in action. But the voters, they thought very deeply about policy and they have the reasonable expectation that the candidates have thought about it, too.
HUGHES: But why are they engaged? Why are we seeing this record turnout? It's because of Donald Trump using words like this that engage the public. Granted they're not words we use.
CONWAY: It's not just because of Donald Trump.
HUGHES: But guess what, a majority of voters will say that word.
CONWAY: That was just not true. That's just not true.
HUGHES: A lot of people did say it.
CONWAY: All the turnout is because of --
HUGHES: A lot of people did say it and they're usually in reference to politicians.
CONWAY: OK. Well --
(CROSSTALK)
HUGHES: Yes, it was. He's the reason why we have record.
CONWAY: But you screaming at me actually -- OK, but you screaming at me and trying to hog all the airtime is not going to take back the P word from last night which was unfortunate for children and otherwise.
HUGHES: And you being condescending doesn't help it either, Kellyanne.
CONWAY: But let me just something about record turnout. Forty, Carol, 42 percent of the Iowa caucus voters last week on the Republican side were first-timers. That was meant to help -- that was meant to help Mr. Trump. They said -- they said if you have record turnout in the Republican side, which they did, Trump would absolutely win. 42 percent were new. But Ted Cruz ran the tables. He won millennials, he won people -- that make under $50,000. He won the highest number of votes ever cast in Iowa caucus and he's the first Hispanic to win a Republican caucus or primary anywhere. That is all significant and I think --
HUGHES: But it is not just about --
CONWAY: -- saying the P word about him last night is not the best response.
HUGHES: But it's not just about -- it's not the record numbers only at the polls or at the turnout. We are also seeing this in ratings of political debates. It is because we have someone who are actually engaging the public. They might like him, they might not like him. But the key is they are out there and they are getting involved. You've got to give credit to Mr. Trump for that.
COSTELLO: All right.
CONWAY: No, it is. I appreciate the one-two Trump-Cruz punch and keeping the establishment flat on their backs. Believe me.
COSTELLO: I have to leave it there.
CONWAY: But I think we'll be surprised tonight, Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. We'll know by 11:00 p.m. At least we should know some results from the New Hampshire primary. Thanks to both of you, Scottie Nell Hughes and Kellyanne Conway.
Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Hillary Clinton battling for New Hampshire. Will her campaign get a reboot at the result?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:18:00] BURNETT: All right. You are looking at live pictures right now. Chris Christie is arriving at a polling station in Manchester which is what you're saying here. This is what it's like. It's a small state. There are media everywhere. People are trying to go about their business and vote and you got this kind of stuff going on as well. But that's why it's so exciting so we're trying to just see if we can get a zoom into the governor. But we've seeing -- we saw Jeb Bush a few moments ago. They're all going to the polling stations to wave that flag in these final hours.
Facing a significant challenge in today's New Hampshire after squeaking out a win in Iowa, is the Clinton campaign now eyeing a shake-up? That's the big part of the story this morning and for her part Hillary Clinton acknowledging she will, quote, "take stock of her operation."
Our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny is with me in New Hampshire and has more on the state of the race in the battle between Sanders and Clinton.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Erin. We are in Ward Four in the city of Manchester. A polling place here that's been open for about three hours now. There's been a steady trickle of voters coming in throughout the morning. Some are asking for Republican ballots and some are asking for Democratic. And we talked a lot about Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, of course those are the two top Democrats on the race, but if you look at these ballot here, there are 28 Democratic candidates who voters can pick from.
But of course tonight the outcome of this race and how long it goes on depends on how Hillary Clinton does against Bernie Sanders.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SANDERS: You look beautiful.
ZELENY (voice-over): It's your turn New Hampshire.
CLINTON: Thank you, New Hampshire.
ZELENY: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders delivering last-minute pleas.
CLINTON: This is an important milestone in this campaign.
ZELENY: And 11th hour pitches.
SANDERS: I'm here today to ask your support to join with us in making that political revolution. Thank you all very much.
ZELENY: The first in the nation primary will set the tone for the rest of the campaign and help determine just how long that will be. A strong Sanders win will guarantee a long Democratic race ahead.
SANDERS: The eyes of the country and a lot of the world, by the way, will be right here on New Hampshire.
[09:20:01] ZELENY: The Clinton team bracing for a tough night and a possible campaign shake-up if things don't go well tonight.
CLINTON: We're going to take stock but it's going to be the campaign that I've got.
ZELENY: CNN has learned much of the discontent is coming from allies of Bill Clinton who believe the campaign underestimated Sanders. On election eve the former president held his tongue. Or tried to.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Sometimes when I'm on a stage like this I wish we weren't married then I can say what I really think.
ZELENY: The race hinges on New Hampshire's famously fickle independent voters and whether they will choose their heads or their hearts.
Beth Reilly came to a Bernie Sanders' rally.
BETH REILLY, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: I really love Bernie. I mean, he says all the things that we would like to have this country be so much better.
ZELENY: But says she'll vote for Clinton.
REILLY: I'd love it if he could win. And I think I'm probably going to go with Hillary because I think she can win.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZELENY: Now, Erin, when you talk to voters like Beth Reilly there, you really get the sense of the dynamics at play here in this race. Her heart is with Bernie Sanders but her head is with Hillary Clinton. Of course both campaigns are going to be working throughout the day calling, door knocking, trying to get out the vote and change some minds at the last minute here. It depends on the outcome of her decision, and independent voters of New Hampshire, some 40 percent of the voters here, undeclared either party. They can walk into this polling place. Pick a Democratic ballot, a Republican ballot. That is going to determine how long this race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders goes on -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right, Jeff, thank you very much.
And joining me now, Andy Smith, the director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
You know, I mean, look, it's exciting here this morning and you just heard Jeff reporting about the independents and how it's, like, 40 percent or 44 percent of the voters here, and you can literally walk in and just make your decision there. How significant is that going to be? We keep seeing the undecided even on the Republican side get more undecided voters than you do supporting the frontrunner Donald Trump.
ANDY SMITH, DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE SURVEY CENTER: The undecided is really the important story. That's typical. Most people do make up their minds at the end because there's no reason to make up your mind earlier. New Hampshire has high turnout. That means the people that are voting here by and large are not political activists but the undeclared voters or the independent voters is largely a myth. The great majority of them are either Republicans or Democrats, and they consistently take that party's ballot --
BURNETT: This has always been my theory. So people say they're independent. When push comes to shove.
SMITH: Yes. They go --
BURNETT: They tend to always go one way or the other, right? So --
SMITH: Three percent to 5 percent are people that are truly in a position to take one ballot or the other and no candidate has ever won without winning a plurality of their party's registered voters. So the independents can make a difference in the magnitude but you've got to win your registered voters.
BURNETT: You got -- so you've got to win your base.
SMITH: Yes.
BURNETT: OK. Now what about what we've seen in terms of this Dixville Notch. OK. I know we were just talking about it during the commercial break, everybody sort of the entertainment of it. It's a tiny little town. You know, you saw Kasich and Sanders win. But predictably -- as a predictive nature, nothing?
SMITH: It's not really predictive. The town of Dixville Notch is essentially a hotel and the people who vote there worked at the hotel. The hotel has been closed for several years under renovations but it's a great public relations gig and people have been going up there forever. But it's really not predictable what's going to happen, although it was a squeaker on the Republican side, 3-2.
BURNETT: Yes. Yes, it was. It was very close. And now what about turnout? You know, because you're mentioning that it's always high and we were saying, you know, anecdotally and certainly our reporters at the polling stations already this morning are saying the lines are long. 7:00 a.m. this morning after the snowstorm, people were showing up, people are voting, But again in terms of that means for the day, you're saying not much.
SMITH: It's hard to say because with the snow like this people are going to try to get out to work early to beat the traffic because they know they're going to be stuck so with the polling places will get bogged up in the morning. They'll think out during the day. And if we see steady voters streams throughout the day that is usually an indication of high turnout. But we had 54 percent in 2008, higher than any other state and we'll likely to have that much or higher this time around.
BURNETT: It's pretty stunning, though. 54 percent being a record in more than any other state.
SMITH: Yes.
BURNETT: I mean, that --
SMITH: Well, that shows in other states --
BURNETT: Shows the problems that we have in this country. Bigger picture.
SMITH: Voting in the primary here is more than just a political thing. It's not just voting. It's a cultural event. It's what you do every four years. We've had $200 million of advertising dumped on our heads here. Of course people are going to go out and vote.
BURNETT: All right. Well, Andy, thank you very much.
SMITH: Thank you.
BURNETT: It's going to be an exciting day. We'll see what that turnout really turns out to be. And we continue to cover the first in the nation primary here from Manchester. Our reporters are spread out across this state. Chris Frates is going to be with us at another polling station after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:28:36] COSTELLO: All right. Back on Capitol Hill, hearing on the threats facing America from around the world. The director of the National Intelligence Agency, James Clapper, is about to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee. Of course we're monitoring what he'll say and we'll bring you any new developments as they happen. And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining
me.
U.S. markets moments from opening after a very rough Monday and now we're inching closer to what Christine Romans is calling a bear market.
So, Christine, the bell is about to ring. Tell us what we should expect.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: If we see the weakness we expect this morning the Nasdaq will officially enter a bear market. What does that mean? That means it would be down 20 percent from its recent peak. It's peak last year. 20 percent decline for tech stocks. You look at names like Amazon and others, they are down 25 percent, 30 percent. Some of the big names that are likely in your portfolio.
It is not a bear market yet, though, for the S&P 500. So for the blue chip stocks likely in your 401(k) those are down about 13.5 percent so far this year. What is the problem? Real concerns about what's happening in Europe, slowing growth in China, European bank stocks down very sharply and energy stocks down big. Maybe you don't care if energy stocks are down but they are probably in your portfolio and they make up a chunk of the S&P 500. So all of these factors still brewing here.
I'll say, Carol, it's not one brand new factor this morning. It is this fear that has been spreading around the globe over and over again since the beginning of the year.
