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Voting Underway in New Hampshire Primary; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired February 09, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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


[10:00:00] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: I know. I was going to say, really, some other team would sign him at this point? I don't know for sure.

SCHOLES: You never know.

COSTELLO: You're right about that. Andy Scholes, thanks so much.

SCHOLES: All right.

COSTELLO: The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: 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 (D), 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 dinners and diners and endless handshakes and frigid temperatures, the nation's first primary this election season now underway.

New Hampshire is predicting a record turnout for what could be a make- or-break day for some of these candidates. We're at the polling places with the campaigns, and on the trail as candidates scramble for those last undecided voters.

I want to start with you, Joe Johns and Dan Tuohy. Dan Tuohy is a political reporter for the "New Hampshire Union Leader."

But, Joe, you're at a polling place. So is it a steady trickle or a mad rush?

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think mad rush is in the eye of the beholder and probably closer to a steady trickle right now, quite frankly. We did see a good burst, Carol, this morning of people at the very beginning at this polling place in Manchester, New Hampshire. Expecting a lot more people around the noon hour, around lunchtime and then again, perhaps, this evening.

The good news and what we can report is that the weather, if it had ever been considered to be a real factor in the election, seems to be a nonissue right now. We had a lot of snow yesterday. But the winter weather advisory cleared around 6:00 Eastern Time. So the candidates are already out and about. Chris Christie at a polling place not far from here earlier today. Jeb Bush in Bedford, New Hampshire.

I wanted to give you a little bit of an idea of how the voters are seeing their names on the ballot. This is a copy of the Republican ballot. There are 30 names on here, 28 names on the Democratic ballot. So a lot of names for the voters to weed through as they come in here and make their choices, but this is a very informed electorate, Carol, and I can tell you, I've timed a few of the viewers, from the time they pick up their ballot to where they go into the voting booth and cast their votes, and it's really only a minute or two. So they're being able to weed through these names quite quickly, Carol.

(LAUGHTER)

COSTELLO: They are impressive in New Hampshire.

All right. Dan, to you, your paper, the "Union Leader," featured an editorial from your publisher that said this of Donald Trump. Quote, "Trump has shown himself to be a crude blow hard with no clear political philosophy and no deeper understanding of the important and serious role of the president of the United States that one of his goons he lets rough up protesters in his crowds. On February 9th we trust New Hampshire Republicans will send Biff Trump back to somewhere, anywhere, but on the road to the most important elective office in the United States at a most crucial time for this nation."

Wow, so, Dan, you live in New Hampshire. Trump is doing pretty well in all the polls. Is there a possibility he'll really lose?

DAN TUOHY, POLITICAL REPORTER, NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER: Well, he's been surging in the polls for months, and if he doesn't win, it will be a real shock. My publisher there of course doesn't mince words. Does he? Besides Donald trump, we are looking at a couple or three candidates really for how well they do and how well that might chip into Trump's lead or Marco Rubio. Right now I'm looking at Jeb Bush, John Kasich, they've done really well in New Hampshire, and Chris Christie of course has held numerous town hall meetings where he's just trying to get out the vote. All three of those gentlemen have led a New Hampshire style campaign that it'll be interesting to see how well they do and whether it pays off.

COSTELLO: Yes. And a lot of people really don't believe the polls this time around, right? Because sometimes the polls have been wrong, quite frankly.

Let's focus on John Kasich for just a second because he's the one everyone is keeping an eye on. He's the one who many say could actually win New Hampshire.

[10:05:01] TUOHY: You know, it's funny you mentioned that. I was talking to that just earlier on the way over to the studio here. He speaks with a message that resonates with New Hampshire voters. And I'm not even talking about the substance. It's almost the way he delivers it. It's the style, kind of like the blunt John Kasich style that may turn off some voters, but some people in New Hampshire are used to that, especially among our presidential candidates.

COSTELLO: Well, you should say blunt in a certain way because Donald Trump is also blunt. Their styles are very different. In many ways they're polar opposites, not in their beliefs system or anything like that. But just in their tone. So we'll see whose tone wins today in New Hampshire.

Dan Tuohy, Joe Johns, thanks to both of you.

All right. I want to go live to Manchester. A different part of Manchester. Erin Burnett is there for all of us this morning.

Good morning, Erin.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Carol. And yes, we're here in Manchester. I want to go to the Democratic side of things to see really whether Bernie Sanders can pull off as the magnitude of a win but the polls indicate he will.

Want to bring in Charles Chamberlain, the executive director of Democracy for America, a Bernie Sanders surrogate.

All right. So let's talk about this. We're talking about record turnout. You just heard the former governor of the state, Judd Gregg, who's on the show and he said, usually it comes in 50 percent to 55 percent, he think we're going to do 65 percent at least in terms of turnout. That's going to be obviously a huge -- a huge milestone for the state. How good of a night do you think it's going to be for Bernie Sanders?

CHARLES CHAMBERLAIN, BERNIE SANDERS SURROGATE: Well, I think it's important to recognize that just five months ago he was 45 points down in the polls. We've got a candidate that he's running against that won New Hampshire back in 2008. You know, this is the state that made Bill Clinton the comeback kid. So I think that we should expect it to be a much closer finish than the polls suggest. That said, I expect us to win as long as we get our voters to the polls.

BURNETT: So that's the question, though. Because you're trying to downplay expectations and of course that's what you should be doing at this point, but it is a risk for Bernie Sanders. Right? These polls keep coming out, 20 points up, 25 points up. The latest tracking poll, he went up even three more points. That if he doesn't have a blowout victory, it could be perceived as a weakness.

CHAMBERLAIN: Well, you know, Barack Obama had a -- in the polls was 16 points ahead before election day and then Hillary Clinton managed to come from behind and win, and Barack Obama still went on to win the nomination. So yes, certainly we want to win and we want to win big here as because we can, but no matter what happens, we're going to be doing this. This is a long fight. It's about delegates. It's about winning the nomination. Not just about New Hampshire alone.

BURNETT: So one thing that I've heard from several people and on the Republican side. They sort of were dumbfounded by this. And I'm sure you're dumbfounded by this from your side. But that there are some people who are undecided, who are truly undecided between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. And those are the two sets of rallies that they are going to. What is it that those two candidates have in common?

CHAMBERLAIN: I think it's two things. I think one is the authenticity. I think both candidates speak their mind. They say what they actually believe. They're not looking for poll tested responses. They say what they're actually going to fight for.

I think the other is because they're both running against the establishment. The bottom line is that Bernie is running on a campaign that's going to be a new America, an America that actually works for all working families. And not just the billionaire class. Now that's obviously different from Trump. But at the same time, Trump is also --

BURNETT: Well, neither one of them -- they're the only two people who say they've got no super PAC. Right?

CHAMBERLAIN: That's right.

BURNETT: That they're -- Donald Trump is using his own money, Bernie Sanders is relying on small donors.

CHAMBERLAIN: That's right. BURNETT: But none of them are relying on those big super PAC donors

like everybody else.

CHAMBERLAIN: That's exactly right. And I think that's a big part of what's drawing people to both of those campaigns.

BURNETT: All right. So what kind of a margin? I get back to this again. How big of a margin do you think it will be for Bernie Sanders for you to feel that it was successful?

CHAMBERLAIN: Victory would feel like successful. Winning at the end of the day. You know, a margin of, you know, one point or a margin of 20 points, it doesn't matter at the end of the day. All that matters is that we win this election tonight.

BURNET: All right. Making the case, one or 20, it doesn't matter.

Charles, thank you very much. I appreciate your time today.

And now let's go to Hilary Rosen, adviser to the Democratic National Committee, Democratic strategist. Hillary Clinton acknowledging she will, in her words, Hilary Rosen, take stock of her campaign amid there were some reports that a shakeup could be coming. If she loses tonight, what will happen? Do you think that there will be moves made quickly?

HILARY ROSEN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look, I don't think there's going to be any massive shakeup. But -- but you know, if any candidate who has a performance less than 100 percent satisfied with, doesn't take stock, then, you know, they're not -- you know, they're not in it for the long haul. So I think there's going to be some self-examination. There's a lot of good people in this campaign. I think it's been very hurtful and demoralizing to have the story come out the way it has in the last 24 hours for the really amazing hard- working volunteers and campaign folks that, you know, are trying to get Hillary Clinton elected.

But, yes, they're probably going to take a look at, are you using the candidate in the best way? Is she comfortable with her message? Are there ways to make it resonate more? You can't change Hillary Clinton. She's the most well-known woman in America. So you have to figure out how you're presenting her.

BURNETT: So, Hilary, you've said from your anecdotal experience this morning here in Manchester that you think she might do better.

[10:10:05] ROSEN: Yes.

BURNETT: Better than the polls indicated. What is your feeling on that and why?

ROSEN: Well, look. The momentum is clearly with Bernie Sanders. I've spent a lot of time with the Sanders campaign folks over the last couple of days, too. They are super confident. But, you know, there is this kind of practicality that Democrats have who -- in New Hampshire that they want to be picking the next president, and you know, Democrats I've talked to over the last few hours have said, you know, my heart is with Bernie. My head is with Hillary. Maybe I have to go with my head today. And you know, it's possible she does better than expected because of that.

BURNETT: And in terms of the margin, I know you just heard Charles say, look, it doesn't matter whether Bernie Sanders wins by one point or by 20 points, that that's equal to them. That's the case the Sanders campaign needs to make. But, you know, I would imagine the Clinton campaign sees it very differently.

ROSEN: Yes.

BURNETT: The margin is so huge that if she can just close it, if it's instead of being 30 points, if it's 15 points, she might really come out in terms of perception as the winner. What is the margin that makes her a, quote-unquote, winner?

ROSEN: Yes. You know, I don't speak for the Clinton campaign. So I can't tell you what they're thinking. But I'll tell you what I'm looking at which is New Hampshire is a unique state in that such a large portion of voters are independents. If Hillary Clinton wins, you know, close to even with Bernie Sanders on Democrats, you know, in Iowa there was a big spread. Hillary won Democrats, you know, significantly.

If she holds her own with Democrats here in New Hampshire, that says a lot about primaries going forward. Because in many primaries going forward, they're so-called closed primaries, Erin, which means that only Democrats can vote, independents don't vote in the primaries in a lot of states, you know, in the next few weeks. And so that will be, you know, sort of a behind the numbers thing to look at for how Hillary can do going forward.

BURNETT: All right. Which will be crucial because of course independents are such a huge chunk of electorate here in this primary.

Hilary Rosen, thank you very much here in Manchester --

ROSEN: And uniquely in New Hampshire.

BURNETT: Well, it -- all right. And it is, of course, New Hampshire's big day. Those independents coming out, everyone coming out to vote. What will the turnout actually be? Who will win this Granite State? Watch the New Hampshire primary today starting at 4:00 Eastern on CNN. More from the ground in the Granite State after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:16:24] BURNETT: Donald Trump banking on a win in New Hampshire tonight. What do voters, though, find so appealing about his style?

CNN's Miguel Marquez went to the bowling lanes, talked to the voters and found out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the Granite States, candle pin bowling and politics, serious business.

(On camera): How many of you are voting for Donald Trump? One, two --

(Voice-over): Donald Trump finding support among bowling teams like the Lady Laners and Kissing Cousins.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think he's the real deal. I think he says what people are saying themselves. He's going to do -- he can do and will do what we're saying we want done.

MARQUEZ: Here in Exeter with its claim of conceiving the Republican Party way back in 1853, Trump's support, hard to explain.

BRIAN GRISEL, CHAIRMAN, EXETER REPUBLICANS: If you want my vote, you've got to earn it. We don't care what the polls say. We don't care what the national polls say.

MARQUEZ (on camera): If it's retail, it's boutique retail in politics.

GRISEL: It's boutique.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): Trump has confounded conventional wisdom, consistently on top of the polls here. His support rooted in his business credentials.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's done well for himself. And he can probably do well for the country.

MARQUEZ: Even those who don't support Trump, like Exeter Bowling Lane's owner, Rob Ficara, a Chris Christie supporter, says Trump's business experience, a definite plus.

ROB FICARA, EXETER BOWLING LANE OWNER: He's been bankrupt three times and he's been able to get out of that. So maybe the same thing for the government.

MARQUEZ: For Trump, the opinion polls do look favorable, but they did in Iowa, too. Maybe guys like Terry Barnes from nearby Stratham has something to do with it. He's no Trump supporter but tells pollsters he is.

TERRY BARNES, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: Instead of being rude when I get the phone call, I just say I'm voting for Trump.

MARQUEZ: With its first in the nation open primary, meaning anyone can vote for any candidate regardless of party, voters have lots of opportunities to get up close and personal with candidates. In Rockingham County, you can even win this quilt signed by 15 Republican candidates including Donald Trump. Yes, that is his signature. State representative Doug Thomas got it himself.

(On camera): When you look at a Trump signature, what does that tell you?

DOUG THOMAS, NEW HAMPSHIRE STATE REPRESENTATIVE: It tells me I'm a busy man. Here's my mark.

MARQUEZ (voice-over): So strikes, spare, or gutter ball for the billionaire businessman. Now it's the voters' turn.

Miguel Marquez, CNN, Exeter, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BURNETT: Just a sense of how retail politics really are, going out to the places like the bowling lanes and the diner.

Thank you so much to Miguel Marquez.

And, Carol, it's funny just, you know, even here last night, you know, people lining up in the freezing cold. At that point it was go to a Donald Trump rally. People at the Bernie Sanders rally I was at yesterday coming out in the cold. It's a part of the culture here and people are passionate even in these final hours about going out and seeing these candidates.

COSTELLO: And it continues this morning, Erin. I want to take you out to Bedford, New Hampshire. Jeb Bush is now surrounded by his supporters. They're carrying big red Jeb signs. And you can see he's talking to each and every voter and shaking their hands.

A little ways away is Chris Christie, he's in -- Chris Christie is in what? Where is he? In Bedford, New Hampshire. He's going to be going into his campaign headquarters to thank his volunteers for all of the hard work they've done on the ground. Because as you can see the weather is cold. It might not be snowing very hard but it's very chilly in New Hampshire. And if you're a candidate out and about outside, you've got to feel it.

Well, we will know by tonight who takes New Hampshire, but until then, we know these candidates will fight up until the very last minute as I've been saying.

[10:20:07] Let's bring in a policy and communications adviser for Jeb Bush. His name is Michael Steele.

Michael, welcome.

MICHAEL STEELE, POLICY AND COMMUNICATIONS ADVISER FOR JEB BUSH: Good to be with you.

COSTELLO: So as you see your candidate out there, Jeb Bush, what is going through his mind? It must be very nerve-racking for him?

STEELE: You know, I think he's excited. I think that we've -- he spent the past several months doing what you have to do in New Hampshire, you know, listening, learning, earning it, and talking to people here about the V.A. crisis, about the heroin epidemic. And if you look at the latest poll to come out last night, the Emerson College poll, it looks like we're closing and surging at exactly the right time. He's in a fairly solid second place in that poll. And in New

Hampshire, the Republican Party chairman who hasn't endorsed anyone has said that we have the best ground game in the state. Our volunteers were filling headquarters at 5:00 a.m. this morning and they fan out across the state today and they're doing everything they can to get our supporters to the polls.

COSTELLO: Well, if there is a Jeb Bush surge, to what do you attribute it?

STEELE: I think it's coming from listening and really doing the work that's necessary to earn it here in New Hampshire. You know, Governor Bush has the most impressive record of any of the governors running, really the best record of achievement of anyone in the field. He cut taxes every year in Florida, created millions of new jobs and he has the most detailed plans for the future to get our economy move again, fix the mess in Washington and rebuild our military so we can confront and defeat ISIS.

COSTELLO: If Jeb Bush doesn't do so well in New Hampshire, many analysts say that he'll continue because he has a lot of money in his war chest, but they wonder at the wisdom of that. What would you say to them?

STEELE: Well, I think that this is a long haul. Our campaign is designed for a long haul. We basically haven't allocated any delegates yet. And we've got the endorsement of Lindsey Graham in South Carolina. We have a great team down there. So we're going to move on to South Carolina, to Nevada and to the March 1 states.

COSTELLO: All right. Michael Steele, thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it.

Chris Christie, as I mentioned, is in Bedford, New Hampshire. He is talking to his campaign workers right now. There he is. You want to listen in for a few seconds? Let's listen.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And as with 30 other of our colleagues from those times who have stood up and supported me, been here, campaigned for me, I've always said to folks that my time as U.S. attorney was the proudest time of my life because I felt like every day we were just doing something that was purely good to protect the people of my state and of the United States together. So having him up here and help me lead me through this campaign has been an extraordinary gift.

And, Tom, thank you for your friendship and your support very much.

COSTELLO: All right, Chris Christie thanking his campaign workers because make no mistake all of these people put in many, many hours. Many of them are not paid at all. They're doing it out of passion for the candidate. They're on the phone constantly. They're going door- to-door. They're knocking on doors and sometimes being turned away. They do -- they do amazing work no matter which campaign they are working for. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Hillary Clinton wins the endorsement

race, but does Bernie Sanders have the home field advantage? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:27:52] COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. A record turnout expected today in New Hampshire. And candidates are racing up to the last minute to win over undecided voters who could make or break a campaign in the coming hours.

CNN's Chris Frates live in a polling station in Hudson -- in New Hampshire. Good morning, Chris.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Carol. So about 1200 people have already come through the door here in Hudson. About 750 Republicans, 450 Democrats. And I'm standing right next to the line where the independents re-register as independents. New Hampshire of course allows independents to come in on election day and either register as a Democrat or a Republican to vote in those primaries. And then many people change back to independent before they head out the door.

And I talked to an independent voter earlier today, who described himself as a Goldwater Republican, but he voted in the Democratic primary, and he voted for Hillary Clinton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE ATWOOD, HUDSON, NEW HAMPSHIRE VOTER: My Archie Bunker line is, my son is gay and my daughter is Jewish.

(LAUGHTER)

FRATES: Is that a fact?

ATWOOD: That's a fact. So obviously I'm sensitive to the views of the evangelicals about gay rights, of course.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: So when I talked to Mr. Atwood, he said well, why not choose some of the establishment leaning Republicans, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, for that matter, and not choose some of the evangelical courting voters like Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. He said it was about the Supreme Court. He thought it was very important that the next president share his views on social issues and when they make a Supreme Court pick that that is reflected. So he voted for the Democrat -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting. I see that where you're standing is a busy place. So has voter turnout been heavy where you are?

FRATES: Voter turnout has been steady, and they expect that they'll get 9,000 people through here today. And there's a big question about the weather. It snowed here overnight. Would that keep people away? And what we are finding talking to officials here that it didn't really slow down turnout. People were still coming out to vote today and in fact very orderly. They know how to get it done here in New Hampshire. The roads were plowed, they were cleared. They have police directing traffic.

So the lines are moving quickly and it's still pretty steady here even though it's into the working hours we expect it will pick up again around lunchtime.