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Leading Dems Clash Ahead of New Hampshire Primary; Coronavirus Cases Double on Quarantined Cruise Ship. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired February 10, 2020 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA JARRETT, CNN ANCHOR: Tensions run high amongst the candidates just one day before the New Hampshire primary.

[05:59:27]

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm running against Pete Buttigieg, among others, who have raised campaign funds from over 40 billionaires.

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I respect Senator Sanders, but when I hear that you're either for a revolution or you're for the status quo, that's a vision of the country that doesn't have room for most of us.

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): We have one job in November: Beat Donald Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the Oscar goes to "Parasite."

BRAD PITT, BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR WINNER: They told me you only have 45 seconds up here, which is 45 seconds more than the Senate gave John Bolton's speech.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To the girls who hear the music bubbling within, we need to hear your voices.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This is -- this is the part of the show where we're supposed to chat knowingly about "Parasite," which won Best Picture last night.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: I am going to see it now. That's what I've decided. After last night, I am going to see it. You know, I don't have time to see all seven or nine of them.

BERMAN: How many did you see? Zero.

CAMEROTA: No, no. I saw -- no, maybe. I did see --

BERMAN: I saw "Rise of Skywalker." I saw all the Avengers movies.

CAMEROTA: Those weren't nominated for the best.

BERMAN: How do you know? How do you know?

CAMEROTA: Because I watched the red-carpet part, which was great.

BERMAN: Congratulations. Congratulations to "Parasite," winner of Best Picture, which we will see eventually.

CAMEROTA: And we'll dive more into that with Nischelle Turner, later in the program.

Meanwhile, welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Monday, February 10, 6 a.m. here in New York. One more day until the New Hampshire primary, and the Democratic contenders are taking off the gloves and turning on each other.

Pete Buttigieg is the primary target at the moment after his strong finish in Iowa. Bernie Sanders' campaign is planning to call for a partial recanvas of the results today after finishing with two fewer delegates than Buttigieg. Sanders is on top in the latest New Hampshire poll, with Buttigieg in second place. Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden are battling for third place. And Amy Klobuchar is hoping for a bounce after a strong debate performance.

There are 24 delegates up for grabs tomorrow.

BERMAN: Taking off the gloves. It'd be more interesting if they gave the gloves to each other.

CAMEROTA: To protect themselves.

BERMAN: Taking off -- instead of taking off the gloves and turning on each other, take off the gloves and give them.

CAMEROTA: Share them.

BERMAN: Share them. Share them.

As for the president, the question this morning is who is next in his retribution campaign? He's lashing out at U.S. senators. He's already fired two officials who testified under oath in the impeachment investigations, Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and E.U. Ambassador Gordon Sondland. He fired them, despite pleas from Republican senators, who thought, or claimed they thought, or mused that somehow the president's behavior would change after his acquittal in the Senate trial.

There is also a potentially major new development in the coronavirus outbreak. The number of cases on a quarantined cruise ship in Japanese suddenly doubled overnight. Look at that. We're going to have much more on that ahead.

Let's begin, though, in New Hampshire. Less than 24 hours to go where they're turning their gloves over to each other. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is live in Manchester with all of it -- Jeff.

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: John, good morning. It was a wild weekend of campaigning here in New Hampshire.

Now so much for that Democratic Party unity. We have Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg going after one other in ways we have not seen. Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden battling for third. And Amy Klobuchar drawing some of the largest campaigns her crowds [SIC] -- has seen so far in this race.

But John, one thing is clear. The New Hampshire primary can deliver surprises, and this one might.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY (voice-over): One day before the New Hampshire primary, a fierce showdown and open warfare in the Democratic presidential race.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I get it. He's a good guy. He's a great mayor. But guess what? He was a mayor.

ZELENY: Joe Biden bluntly belittling the experience of Pete Buttigieg, who served for eight years as mayor of South Bend, Indiana. It was hardly a sign of confidence from Biden, who's trying to reset his campaign after running fourth in Iowa.

The attacks were reminiscent of questions that rivals, including Biden and Hillary Clinton, once raised about Barack Obama during his 2008 campaign.

(on camera): He went on to be president. Is this an act of desperation on your campaign, to be making this assertion --

BIDEN: Come on, man.

ZELENY: -- right now of Mayor Buttigieg.

BIDEN: This guy's not a Barack Obama.

ZELENY (voice-over): Buttigieg shot back Sunday on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."

BUTTIGIEG: Well, he's right. I'm not. And neither is he. Neither is any of us running for president.

ZELENY: After a strong showing in Iowa, Buttigieg is now wearing a bullseye as rivals try to slow or block a surge in New Hampshire, where thousands turned out to see him at weekend rallies.

New Hampshire frontrunner Bernie Sanders is also taking aim at Buttigieg, suggesting he's in the pocket of wealthy donors.

SANDERS: I'm running against some guys, Pete Buttigieg among others, who have raised campaign funds from over 40 billion -- 40 billionaires. Forty billionaires.

Our campaign is a very different campaign.

ZELENY: Buttigieg rejects that claim and fired back at Sanders.

BUTTIGIEG: I respect Senator Sanders, but when I hear this message go out that you're either for a revolution or you've got to be for the status quo, that's a vision of the country that doesn't have room for most of us.

ZELENY: Elizabeth Warren looking for a New Hampshire jolt of her own.

WARREN: We have one job in November: beat Donald Trump.

ZELENY: But taking a different approach, reminding Democrats to focus on the task at hand.

[06:05:04]

WARREN: We're going have to bring our party together in order to beat Donald Trump. And the way we do this is not by launching trying to tear each other down.

ZELENY: And Amy Klobuchar drawing some of her largest crowds yet, following a strong debate performance Friday night. She's trying to strike a late spark and win over undecideds or convert supporters of Biden and others who may be having second thoughts.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am not the loudest person, but bit by bit, step by step, we have built this support for this nation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZELENY: Now, Amy Klobuchar making a direct appeal to independent voters here in New Hampshire. And those independent voters can be so important in every New Hampshire primary.

So going into the race tomorrow, these candidates will be making their final pitches. But the question is, those independent voters. Who will come out? And will they change the order of this Democratic primary campaign? No question, so much riding on this.

The Biden campaign already looking beyond New Hampshire. Their strength out of New Hampshire, though, of course, depends on their showing here. So with one day left of campaigning, we think we know the order of the race right now. We'll see if it stays the same after the voters weigh in -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Jeff Zeleny, stand by, please. Less than 24 hours to go until New Hampshire votes. So what clues are there from the rallies, the town halls, the coffee shops? What clues are there that tell us who might be able to eke out a win? The keenest eyes in campaign coverage join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:10:42]

CAMEROTA: New Hampshire voters head to the polls tomorrow. Berman and I will be there, as well. We should let you know, we'll be in New Hampshire.

BERMAN: We're not registered, but we're still going to go.

CAMEROTA: That's not going to stop us.

The Democratic race is turning contentious, the leading candidates taking jabs at each other, hoping to blunt Pete Buttigieg and his momentum.

Jeff Zeleny is back with us. Also joining us, CNN political correspondent Abby Phillip; and CNN political commentator Mark McKinnon. He's a former senior advisor to the George W. Bush and McCain campaigns. Great to see all of you. We'll be there with you, as well.

OK. So let's look at how -- Abby, let's just start by looking at how Joe Biden is sort of, it appears, trying to set expectations low for New Hampshire. So listen to what he said on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: This is a long -- a long race. I took a hit in Iowa, and I'll probably take a hit here. Traditionally, Bernie won by 20 points last time. And usually, it's the neighboring senators who do well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: OK. Is that new, or has he always thought that he wasn't going to do well in Iowa and New Hampshire?

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: His -- his campaign has definitely been lowering expectations for a while, but Alisyn, I mean, the part about that that is the most surprising is that nobody wants to be told that a candidate doesn't want your vote, essentially, or doesn't think that they're going to do well.

I mean, I think his aides probably would have wished that he would have said something else, or literally anything else, which is why over the last day or so, you've seen him kind of saying the opposite, saying, I'm really going to fight here. I really want your vote.

You know, they have to be careful that they don't lower expectations so much that voters here basically say, what's the point? And I mean, in fact, one of the questioners at his event yesterday basically said, how do you explain your electability argument if you did so poorly in Iowa? I mean, that is really the big question for Joe Biden right now. And that's the one that he's going to have to answer for New Hampshire voters.

And if he doesn't answer it for New Hampshire voters, it is going to make it more difficult for him to make the case to Nevada voters and to South Carolina voters that he is the electable one, if he can't pull off at least a relatively strong finish in these first two early states.

BERMAN: So Mark McKinnon, one of the things you can tell in the days leading up to the New Hampshire primary, sort of who is the hot ticket? Who are the candidates that people want to see, not necessarily because they're going to vote for them, but just to say that they were there, or just to get a piece of the vibe that exists?

And this weekend, looking at the size of the rallies and the energy at the events, Bernie Sanders has always had good events in New Hampshire, and he'll have a big rally tonight with The Strokes. But Pete Buttigieg -- and I know you were at one of his events -- and Amy Klobuchar were bringing in lots of people. It seemed to be that people wanted to be at those events, to check them out, to see what folks were talking about.

What did you see up in New Hampshire yesterday?

MARK MCKINNON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: That's exactly right, John. This is the point of the campaign where there's an old saying, the good gets better and bad gets worse.

The good is obviously Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg. But Amy Klobuchar, may be that little engine that could. Her events were just packed right now. And New Hampshire always liked to turn things on its head a little bit, do things a little differently than what Iowa does. So keep an eye on Amy Klobuchar.

And of course, Joe Biden is the -- is the bad gets worse, really having a tough time. And Warren seems to be having a difficult time, as well. Kind of flatlining, because Sanders is soaking up all the heat.

But -- but I would say right now that, you know, it's not necessarily who wins, because Bernie Sanders is likely to win be -- and should. But it's always an expectations game. So the surprise, I would guess, right now might be Amy Klobuchar.

CAMEROTA: Jeff, do you agree with that? That it's not necessarily who win but who surprises the field?

ZELENY: Well, sure. I mean, if Bernie Sanders wouldn't win here in New Hampshire, it would really be extraordinary. I mean, let's not forget, he won by 21 points four years ago, and he, you know, is leading in every way going into this. He's from neighboring Vermont.

I agree with Mark. I mean, the energy in the crowds and just the interest in Amy Klobuchar is certainly, you can feel it. It was that strong debate performance. And just the sense of, you know, I think freshness in some respect. A lot of these candidates have been here for a long time. And she actually has been, as well. But people have been giving her a second look.

[06:15:06]

So I was struck. I was at an event of hers last evening and saw many voters who have never seen her before and were quite interested in her message.

Now, she, of course, is unlikely to win or get second, maybe even third. But imagine the scenario of -- if she would come in ahead of Joe Biden. That would be disastrous for the Biden campaign. Certainly, good for the Klobuchar campaign. So that's how they're thinking of this.

And Elizabeth Warren, I think we are keeping an eye on her, as well. She had such strength here in New Hampshire throughout the summer and the fall. She's campaigned here so many times. There just does not seem to be the enthusiasm surrounding her candidacy.

So going into tomorrow, those are some of the things we're watching here. And I think when you step back, it is the Biden campaign, really, a lack of energy. Joe Biden, essentially, cannot wait to get out of New Hampshire. He said as much. The question is what shape will he leave in?

BERMAN: You know, Abby, it is interesting when you're looking at Pete Buttigieg, and all of a sudden, now all the candidates seem to be ganging up on him. But the Buttigieg campaign and the Sanders campaign, they seem to be OK with the notion that they will both emerge from New Hampshire. They like the idea of a one-on-one fight going forward, if it comes to that. I'm not saying it is, but they like that narrative.

PHILLIP: Yes. They're perfectly fine being in the frontrunner position right now. But for different reasons.

I think the Sanders campaign feels comfortable that they have a campaign, in terms of their supporters, that has more longevity to it; where they can go into Nevada and feel pretty good about their starting point there. Which is why, you know -- they expect to do well, I believe, here in New Hampshire. But they're not sweating, you know, being if the lead or being at the front the pack.

Now the Buttigieg campaign, I was talking to aides yesterday, and they are actually really kind of happy with the amount of attention that is being put on him. The fact that all of the other candidates seem to be obsessed with the idea of taking him down a notch.

And what it has allowed him to do is just double down on the message that he's had for -- for months now, frankly. I mean, there's really nothing new, not a whole lot new in his stump. Even in the face of these new attacks from Joe Biden and from Bernie Sanders. He's been saying the same thing. And so it's actually just given a lot more oxygen to his existing message.

And I think that they feel like they need that, because unlike the Sanders campaign, I do think that they have a lot more work to do when they get to Nevada and, particularly, when they get to South Carolina. So they think just -- just being at the center of attention at this particular moment, not a bad thing at all. And they're taking advantage -- advantage of it as much as they possible can.

And when it comes to that kind of energy that you were talking about, you know, Buttigieg had massive crowds yesterday. One thing to note, though: many of them are political tourists --

BERMAN: Yes.

PHILLIP: -- coming in from neighboring states -- Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont. People who are just -- just want to be a part of the spectacle. So there's a little bit of that going on right now in New Hampshire, too.

CAMEROTA: Mark, one of the questions, obviously, from voters tomorrow is how much does experience matter and what kind of experience. Right? So you heard this weekend former Vice President Biden going after Buttigieg and, you know, sort of downgrading or downplaying his experience as a mayor.

And then you heard the same thing from Amy Klobuchar about what's better: being a senator or being a mayor? So let me just play this moment that people felt was very strong from Amy Klobuchar at the debate. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KLOBUCHAR: You said, Pete, as you were campaigning through Iowa, and three of us were jurors in that impeachment hearing, you said it was exhausting to watch; and that you wanted to turn the channel and watch cartoons.

It is easy to go after Washington, because that's a popular thing to do. It is much harder to lead and much harder to take those difficult positions. Because I think this going after every single thing that people do because it's popular to say, and makes you look like a cool newcomer. We have a newcomer in the White House and look where it got us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Mark, do people want Washington experience right now? Do voters want that? Or do they want a newcomer?

MCKINNON: Well, Washington's not very popular. And that's why people run against Washington. Of course, that's why Donald Trump ran against the establishment and people with experience. So experience doesn't have the cachet that it used to.

I think the wisdom of the attack from Klobuchar was not so much about experience but it was about being serious. It's about being a serious candidate. So the whole attack on Pete as sort of saying, you know, Oh, you know, I didn't want to watch that stuff in Washington. I wanted to watch cartoons.

That was more of sort of an attack on just -- just the weight of the times and the gravity of what's -- of what's happening in our culture and our politics more than the -- more than the issue of experience. I think that was a smart attack.

BERMAN: Hey, Mark, very quickly, in 2000 after you guys got shellacked, after George W. Bush got beaten bad in New Hampshire. MCKINNON: Don't remind me, please.

CAMEROTA: Don't take that the wrong way.

MCKINNON: I have PTSD.

BERMAN: But there's -- There's a point to this. You guys pivoted, and all of a sudden, George W. Bush was a reformer with results. You were able to -- to turn him into something a little bit different as you head into South Carolina and other states. But how hard will that be for someone like Joe Biden, who's got something 40 years, at least, in this business?

MCKINNON: That's a great point, John. So we came into New Hampshire as the frontrunner in 2000 and then lost by 18 points. I mean, we got knocked to our knees in the snow.

And what happens when that occurs, which is what has happened to Biden in Iowa, is you have to send a message that you've gotten the message from voters and that you -- you understand you've got to do something differently.

So we did -- we did the reset. As you said, we talked about being a reformer with results, which positioned us against McCain, who was trying to say he was the reformer. And we said, Well, yes, it's one thing to be a reformer, but you've got to get stuff done.

So that's -- that's the issue, really, is to say you've gotten the message. The question which I think is outstanding is, has Biden gotten that message, and has he sent a clear message to voters that, I heard you, I got it, we're doing something different?

CAMEROTA: Jeff, Mark, Abby, thank you, all, very much.

Former Vice President Joe Biden speaks to CNN's Don Lemon ahead of the New Hampshire primary. That's tonight at 10 p.m. Eastern. And tomorrow morning, NEW DAY will be live from Manchester, New Hampshire.

BERMAN: So on coronavirus, the reason there's so much concern over the spread of this around the world is breaking news like this. The number of cases on a cruise ship in quarantine in Japan doubled overnight. Do they have this situation under control? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:44]

BERMAN: Breaking overnight. 65 new cases of coronavirus now reported on board that cruise ship docked in Japan. That's nearly double the number of cases since just Sunday, yesterday, bringing the total number of cases on board to 135.

CNN's Will Ripley is live in Tokyo with all the breaking details.

Will, do they have this under control? WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the captain of the

Diamond Princess told passengers they do. He said all of these new cases where people who were exposed before the quarantine was put in effect, but they just now tested positive.

But obviously, it's a startling situation for the passengers on the ship and even some crew members.

There's a group, a large contingent of crew members from India, for example, who are pleading with their prime minister to evacuate them from the Diamond Princess. They say they don't want to be anywhere near passengers who are possibly infected. They think they don't have proper safety gear and equipment.

And this really does speak to the fear and the panic that surrounds coronavirus around the world. And it's certainly understandable, given the horrible situation, particularly in mainland China, at the epicenter of the outbreak in the city of Wuhan.

But I am here at one of the hospitals in Japan that is being used to treat coronavirus patients. In fact, we saw an ambulance from the cruise ship roll by just within the last half hour, driven by people in full hazmat protective gear.

But inside this hospital is an American woman who we first started speaking with at the beginning of all this. We found out that she tested positive. And I have to tell you, she's doing very well. And so, the underreported aspect of all of this is that there are a lot of coronavirus patients who are just fine. And this patient's message to you: don't panic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: The death toll from the coronavirus jumps again.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The headlines are grim. Each day seems to bring more bad news.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A grim milestone for the coronavirus.

RIPLEY: But often overlooked in the Wuhan coronavirus hysteria, parents like Rebecca Frasure from Oregon.

REBECCA FRASURE, CORONAVIRUS PATIENT: This is the door.

RIPLEY: Frasure is one of a growing number of Americans to test positive for coronavirus on this cruise ship, the Diamond Princess, under quarantine in Yokohama.

Japan has coronavirus patients under quarantine at hospitals nationwide, including this one in Tokyo.

(on camera): We think we know where Rebecca's room is. In fact, there she is. She's standing in the window right now. Rebecca, here we are. Hi. How are you doing? FRASURE: Hi.

RIPLEY (voice-over): Turns out, she's doing just fine. Barely has any symptoms. The majority of coronavirus patients don't end up dead or seriously ill. The majority recover.

(on camera): Do you know what they're giving you for coronavirus? How -- what kind of treatment they're giving you?

FRASURE: They have not given me any actual medication or any fluids or anything for the virus.

RIPLEY (voice-over): She says the hardest part is being away from her husband, Kent. That's him waving at us from their quarantined cabin. Kent takes his temperature every day. Every day, he still does not have the virus.

KENT FRASURE, CRUISE SHIP PASSENGER: It's 37.3. I really don't have that much concern over it right now.

RIPLEY: The number of sick passengers on the Diamond Princess grows by the day, including two of their close friends on the ship, a couple they saw up to five times a day, both with barely any symptoms.

K. FRASURE: This fear of, you know, mob mentality sort of fear is just unwarranted.

RIPLEY (on camera): Rebecca were talking about the people online and the things they were saying.

K. FRASURE: Just today, I got a message from somebody today that said don't come home.

R. FRASURE: I've actually got a couple of, like, really threatening messages. People can be really nasty.

RIPLEY (voice-over): She says they can also be really nice, flooding her phone with messages of love and support, a welcome distraction when she's stuck in a place like this.

(on camera): If you were going to choose between being on the cruise ship or being in the hospital room, which would you say is the better place to kind of hang out for these next 14 days?

R. FRASURE: Well, I would say definitely the cruise ship still.

RIPLEY: You'd rather be on the cruise ship?

R. FRASURE: Yes.

RIPLEY (voice-over): She says people need to take the virus seriously. They also need to keep things in perspective. This year, Wuhan coronavirus has killed hundreds. Every year, seasonal flu kills hundreds of thousands.

K. FRASURE: Just take care of yourself, but there's no reason to panic.

RIPLEY (on camera): And wash those hands.

K. FRASURE: Wash those hands, absolutely.

END