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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Christie Slams Rubio As The "Boy In The Bubble"; One-On-One With Marco Rubio; Rubio On Iowa: "Always Very Confident About Our Plan"; Rubio: "I Really Thank The People Of Iowa"; Rubio On His New Hampshire Game Plan; Rubio: "America's Greatest Days Are Within Our Reach"; Rubio On His Rivals; Rubio: "I'm Running To Unite This Party"; Rubio "Really Interested" In Electronic Dance Music; Rubio Rides Caucus Momentum To N.H.; Trump On Lesson From Iowa; Trump: I Think We Did Great In Iowa; Trump, Cruz, Rubio Poised For N.H. Showdown; Razor- Thin Victory For Clinton In Iowa; Cruz Communications Director Speaks Out; Cruz: "Winning Iowa Was A Powerful Vindication"; Will Trump's Loss Affect His Support In N.H.?; Trump Loses In Iowa, Says He's "Honored"; Flashback: Trump's Vow To Win; Trump Moves On To New Hampshire After Iowa Loss; Did Iowa Caucuses Sway N.H. Voters?; Is Trump's N.H. Ground Game Enough? Aired 9-10p ET
Aired February 02, 2016 - 21:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:01:10] ANDERSON COOPER, AC360 HOST: And thanks for joining us. 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.
A week before the New Hampshire primary, a day after the Iowa caucuses and what a 24 hours it is been. We seen Donald Trump finished second and be declare a looser. Marco Rubio being called a winner for coming in third. We've seen a Democrat and a Republican drop out O'Malley and Huckabee.
We saw nearly everywhere remaining candidate Iowa contenders and non contenders alike blanket New Hampshire today. And if they all start jacking for position, we've seen the gloves come off. Take a look at this, Iowa and non contender Chris Christie taking on sensation, Marco Rubio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know me, unlike some of these other campaigns, I'm not the boy in the bubble, OK? We know who the boy in the bubble is up here who never answers your questions, who's constantly scripted and controlled because he can't answer your questions.
So when Senator Rubio gets here, when the boy in the bubble gets here, I hope you guys ask him some questions. Because it's time for him to start answering questions. He wants to say this race is over, and it's all him, it seems to me that he should have to sit across from you and answer your questions the way I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Senator Rubio did sit down and answer questions with "New Day's "Alisyn Camerota. Watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Senator thanks so much ...
MARCO RUBIO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: ... for sitting town with us. Have you had any sleep?
RUBIO: A little bit. Just enough. Maybe three, four hours.
CAMEROTA: Well.
RUBIO: I'm fine.
CAMEROTA: At what point last night did you realize that something that Iowa was going to go very differently than what the polls predicted?
RUBIO: Well, when you -- we felt that way moving in. I mean obviously is over the last 10 days we were there working. We felt really good about people that were deciding late, deciding our way. We were always very confident about our plan and obviously we had a historic turnout. I mean, the large number of people that voted.
When you went to the caucus centers, they were telling us, they were putting out double the number of chairs they'd ever put out before. So I was impressive. And I think it tells you how engaged and interested people are in this election and I'm glad they are. This is the most important election in a generation.
CAMEROTA: But just peel back the curtain, were you in a ballroom, what was happening as you were watching the returns come in?
RUBIO: Well, I didn't work that way, I actually I went to four separate caucus sites and spoke. And so by the time I got to the hotel, the results had already pretty much started coming in and we could see, we knew that we were going to do well in certain parts of the state. We could see those numbers trending up and he look back now, we got more votes than the winners of the last three Iowa caucuses did.
So it was a huge and massive turnout. I really thank the people of Iowa. Our ground team there was fantastic and phenomenal and gave us great momentum coming here to New Hampshire.
CAMEROTA: So now here you are in New Hampshire. You wake up in a different state. There are different voters. When you look around here, there are different ...
RUBIO: I went to sleep in a different state. We arrived at 1:30 in the morning.
CAMEROTA: Oh my gosh.
RUBIO: We got in here absolutely, but we spent a lot of time here already as well. We have a great team here, too. And we just feel really great about it. And I think that what's coming -- what people are going to start realizing is, I give us the best chance. My candidacy gives us the best chance to nominate a real conservative who can unite the party, grow the party, take our message to people that haven't voted for us in the past and ultimately defeat Hillary Clinton our Bernie Sanders.
The Democrats know this. They admit, but I am the one they want to run against and that's why I think ultimately I'll be your nominee.
CAMEROTA: But given that there are different values here in New Hampshire than there are in Iowa, what do you do differently?
RUBIO: I don't believe that that's true, I mean the electorate has a different background, because every state is diverse. But ultimately what people are worried about in our party in particular, is we have to nominate someone that can win. Someone that will take our principles, grow this party and win. And that's what I give us a chance to do. Someone who as president will reverse the damage Barack Obama has done, put in place policies that allow the private sector to succeed, and keep America safe. And that's what I'll do when I'm president.
CAMEROTA: And as you know, New Hampshire doesn't have the evangelical vote that Iowa does. There are different values here. Do you change anything about what you ...
RUBIO: I've always said the campaign we launched the April of last year and the message we launched that will be the message that I have in November of this year. I don't -- I'm not running two separate campaigns or eight separate campaigns.
I believe that America's greatest days are within our reach but not if we stay on the road we're on right now.
[21:05:01] I have clear policies, the most detailed policy of anybody running for president on either side and that's going to be my message no matter where I am, no matter what stage in this process we're in.
CAMEROTA: Your rivals have been talking about you. Jeb Bush just called you a back bencher. Trump has called you the kid, as you know. Chris Christie just called you the boy in the bubble. You and Cruz have exchanged some words. What's your response?
RUBIO: Oh I think when people attack you, you usually they don't attack someone who isn't doing well. You usually only get attacked in politics if you present a threat to someone. Jeb's comment is interesting. He endorsed me. He wanted me to be the vice president. He openly told people I should be the vice president in 2012 when Romney was going through that process.
The only thing that's changed between then and now is we happen to both be running for president. I think Chris is had a both Jeb and Chris to have had a tough couple days and obviously sometimes people don't react well to adversity.
And so they're saying some things they'll probably later on regret. But that's not going to change my campaign. I'm not running to beat up on other Republicans. If there are policy differences, we'll discuss those. But ultimately I'm running to unify this party and ensure that our next president is nothing like the one we have now.
CAMEROTA: As you know, immigration has become a big issue in this election. You and all of your rivals want to secure the border. If you'd become president, what do you do next?
RUBIO: After securing the border? Well first, not just secure the border, people have to have confidence that you've done it. In essence, I do not believe having worked on this issue now for a long time including just personally having come from the background I come but the American people are going to support anything on immigration until first they believe that illegal immigration is truly under control. That means finishing the wall and fencing the new border patrol agents and entry/exit tracking system and e-verify.
Only after that's in place and that's working can we go to the American people and see what they are willing to support. I think they'll be willing to support something very reasonable. I don't think the American people expect us to round up and deport 12 million people.
If you're a criminal, you won't be able to stay no matter what. They should be deported now, criminals. If you're not, we outlined an idea. You know, maybe -- I don't know if the American people will support it, but the idea of allowing people that have been here for a long time to pass a background check, pay a fine, start paying taxes, they get a work permit and that's all they'll have for at least a decade.
But we'll see what the American people are willing to support. I'm not going to ramming anyone down anyone -- I'm not going to ram it down anyone's throat. And I can tell you how we're not going to do it, through unconstitutional executive orders the way this president has done it now.
CAMEROTA: Last, we know you're a big music fan. What are you listening to today?
RUBIO: Today I haven't been listening to anything. But ...
CAMEROTA: On the trail, what are you looking for?
RUBIO: Well, you know, I have people know this now over the last couple years I've got really interested into the electronic dance music, Avicii or Calvin Harris. I just like it because the lyrics are clean so I can listen to it in front of my kids and not worry about it. I used to be a much bigger hip hop fan but the lyrics have gotten harder and harder to listen to when you have 10-year-olds in the car.
CAMEROTA: Yes and of course and I know the "Straight Outta Compton" you said it one time ... RUBIO: I want to see the movie. I haven't seen the movie.
CAMEROTA: So did it robbed of an Oscar nomination?
RUBIO: I haven't seen the movie so I can't tell you. But I think what was really amazing is Ice Cube some was just like him. And they're reuniting now. So they're going to do like there -- and I guess the easy because he passed away, I heard Eminem is going to fill his role in the reunification. I guess or reunion. So I'm interested to see how that plays out.
CAMEROTA: Are the Oscars too white?
RUBIO: Oh I don't know. What does that mean?
CAMEROTA: I mean that's the rap on it, pardon the pun, is that, you know, there aren't enough people of color who have been nominated in movies.
RUBIO: Well Hollywood has bigger problems than that. But I don't -- in terms of the Oscars, I guess you're talking about the controversial with the number of nominees. Yeah, you know, haven't followed that very closely or it's interesting, though. I think the bigger problem I have with Hollywood is the values they're trying to ram down our throat in this country and how hard its made it on parents like me and my wife to raise our children with the values that we want to instill in them as opposed to the values that Hollywood wants to ram down people's throats.
And I think that's one of the things that I just talked about with the lyrics as an example. That's something I'm really concerned about, but I haven't followed the whole Oscars thing.
CAMEROTA: Senator, thanks so much for taking the time.
RUBIO: Thank you.
CAMEROTA: Great to talk to you.
RUBIO: Thanks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Marco Rubio talking to "New Day's" Alisyn Camerota. Even though I'm not sure they came with any Oscar opinions or Oscar predictions.
Let's bring the panel Chief National Correspondent John King, host of "Inside Politics", senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, and Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger. Also CNN Political Commentator Paul Begala and Amanda Carpenter, he advisers our pro-Clinton Super PAC, she's a former Ted Cruz communications director, conservative writer and Rubio supporter Mona Charen joins us.
There's also CNN Political Commentators Jeffrey Lord and Bill Press. Jeffrey's a Trump supporter former Reagan White House political director, Bill Press is Sander's supporter and author of "Buyer's Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down".
Isn't interesting seeing Rubio in that interview. I mean he gives the Republican Party the best chance of winning the general election according to him against Secretary Clinton. Is she the candidate -- is he the candidate they are most concerned about do you think, or you're most concerned about Clinton right now?
[21:10:00] PAUL BEGALA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I don't know. I change every day. I really do. He's clearly talented. That's a terrific interview. Guy's got a ton of talent. I've seen him speak. That he is really, really gifted. But, you know, he's had some problems, too. I mean he's had, I mean he could give a response to the President State of the Union that like diving for covering and drinking water.
He's got his drawbacks. They're all talented. I did not say this in 2012 as you know. This is a broadly talented field. I know this. They do fear Hillary the most because Wall Street backed Karl Rove supported Super PACS are attacking, we're attacking Hillary and helping Bernie in Iowa.
So that we know for sure. But I do, I change everyday. Actually my best advice, they should all get out of the race and let Hillary become president unopposed. How about that?
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: But it is interesting, it is all about sort of exceeding expectations.
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Yes. Look, he over performed his poll numbers in Iowa, he is leading "Establishment candidates", among his point, the label doesn't mean as much but that's what people are going to try to put on him, but he is a center right candidate who can reach out to Romney voters who can compete now with Christie, Bush, and Kasich and try to take their voters away.
I think we're at a moment of psychological reflection in New Hampshire, a lot of voters who have been with other candidates and look at the Iowa results. And a lot of them will look at Rubio and say, "Should I give him a chance?" And they didn't listen for a few days.
He is - I said this consistent. He's the best athlete on the field. The question is, is he ready to be president? And he's growing as the campaign goes on. Is this his year or is this his, you know, triple A and we'll see him on the future.
So, I wouldn't say this, he should go back and look at the Clinton campaign in 2008, leading with electability. It's a good message for Republicans. It's a good message for Republicans that I can unite the party and I can win.
But leading with it and I'm raise about ideology ...
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yeah. KING: ... talk to the Republican base about what they want to talk about, whether it's security, whether it's cutting taxes or shrinking government and then get to the electability. Leading with it, is risky.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: But it helps him in Iowa last night if you look at those entrance polls, you know.
KING: Helped him to third place.
BORGER: It did. But he put on this issue of electability was kind of to 2-1, you know. So ...
COOPER: Mona, you're a near Rubio supporter. He hasn't spent as much time on the ground as Christie or certainly, Kasich. What's his ground game like?
MONA CHAREN, SENIOR FELLOW, ETHICS AND PUBLIC POLICY CENTER: His strategy it seems to me is to focus on the issue that is most important to primary voters who are Republicans. And what is that? Security.
Security and terrorism are the highest priority now, higher than the economy and you notice in that last pre-Iowa debate, he hit that very hard. It's a strength for him. He's been on the Foreign Relations Committee. He is very conversant with issues about terrorism, defense, foreign affairs.
And though he looks young, he and Cruz are actually the same age. But, though he looks young, he's actually quite expert in those areas and I think that's what he has been stressing and I think it's working for him.
COOPER: Amanda, how do you see it playing out?
AMANDA CARPENTER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, here's the thing. Certainly Marco Rubio sought to burnish his foreign policy credentials but he just in terms of this race, the only reason that Donald Trump is -- well, we talked about Donald Trump as a candidate is because of illegal immigration.
Marco Rubio, who just made a fatal mistake in joining that gang of eight. Bill, opening the legislation's, why you see Cruz talking about Senator Schumer on a campaign trail all the time.
It's just such a hurtle for him to overcome. I mean, even now on that interview, he still have to keep explaining his position on immigration, trying to make it better.
And I don't know how you overcome that and try to be a national security candidate. Because if people are fearing that, you know, terrorists can come across the border, you have no credibility as a national security candidate.
CHAREN: That is a weakness for him, because I just mention though that among the voters in Iowa, when they were asked, what is their most furnishing (ph), only 12 percent listed immigration. So it may not be the deciding issue for ...
COOPER: Just hold that thought. We're going to have more from our panel. We got to take a quick break.
Coming up next, Donald Trump talking about something he rarely even mentions, lessons learned in this case, from his second-place finish in Iowa.
Also, more on what could turn into a marathon about Clinton-Sanders race and the factors that may shape that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:17:27] COOPER: Well, you heard at length at the top of the broadcast from Marco Rubio who now leads to the so-called establishment alternative to either Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, although, you could probably argue with that term.
You also heard another Trump alternative, Chris Christie take a shot at Rubio. Now a bit from Trump, himself. He spoke today with New Hampshire, NH1 Political Director, Paul Steinhauser.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL STEINHAUSER, NH1 POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You at all year then, so, you talk about making America winner again. You talk about the polls where you're winning, last night you didn't win. And I'm wondering, how much does that hurt personally and how much is that hurt your brand?
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think we did great. I mean, I was expected not even to be in the top 10 for a long period of time. And I came in second. And we expect follow as money than anybody else and everyone said you'd never win in Iowa, you can't win in Iowa, so we didn't take it that seriously.
And we came in strong second. I mean, a very strong second brought out more voters than has ever been brought out.
And actually the vote total that I got has been unbelievable. I think I had the highest in history other than the one vote. So, no, I think we did really well. I'm very happy with it.
STEINHAUSER: Did you learn any lessons from Iowa as well that you're going to maybe now implement in New Hampshire?
TRUMP: Well, I think we learned some lessons. We -- I had a great time in Iowa. I think the people are amazing. I think they're amazing right over here.
And we're going to be here tonight, we are making a speech. We have a sold out arena as you know. It's going to be fantastic.
But, I love the people of New Hampshire. And the people of Iowa, they treated me good. Hey, look, we started out number 17, now we're number 2 in Iowa. I think we're going to be number one over here. I hope to be and we'll see what happens.
STEINHAUSER: Senator Rubio saying today that maybe you're skipping the debate last week was not a good idea. He feels like he gained votes because you were not there last week for the debate.
TRUMP: Well, you know, I skipped the debate because I wasn't treated properly. And what did I do? I raised $6 million for the vets.
So, if I had to do it again, I would have done the same thing because coming in second in Iowa and raising $6 million for the vets was really worth it to me.
The vets are very happy with the job I've done. And, you know, if you look at New Hampshire, it's a big vet area. And I'll tell you what, everywhere I go, they thank me for that $6 million.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: All right. Let's bring in the panel, Jeffrey Lord, to Donald Trump's admission that he did very well in Iowa but could have won if he spent more time or more money there. How much big of a setback do you think this is for his campaign?
JEFFREY LORD, FMR REAGAN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I don't think it's that much of a setback. You know, as we all know, lots of people have won or a number of people have won in Iowa and that was it.
Senator Cruz could well just be the new Rick Santorum or the new Mike Huckabee. And then others have lost it and then gone on to be president.
So, I really don't think it, you know, it does any -- there's always a lot of PR, publicity around this particular caucus.
[21:20:05] I understand why. But then, you win or you lose and you go on and there's no guarantee at all.
COOPER: Bill Press, as a Sander supporter, you know, you look at the large numbers of young people he was able to attract last night in the caucuses in Iowa.
The knock on him, though, is once he leaves New Hampshire, moving forward, South Carolina, Nevada, and elsewhere, it's going to become a lot more difficult for him. And Hillary Clinton has a lot more support among African-Americans, even Latinos.
How do you make the argument that this is going to be a long drawn-out fight?
BILL PRESS, SANDER'S SUPPORTER: Well, look how well he did last night and look at where he is in New Hampshire. You know, I think Jeff Weaver said it earlier, Anderson, it's a message that his message has really resonated across the board, though this populist revolution to the populist ideas that he's put forward.
But I, you know, I want to take the high road in a sense that I think what we -- the lesson from last night is that Bernie Sanders is for real. He's a serious candidate. People take him seriously. And this is going to be a big contest.
Hillary Clinton called it a contest of ideas between the two of them that could go maybe as far as the convention but it's going to be a serious contest. They both want to go in the same direction. They have different ideas about -- how to get there.
It's going to start tomorrow night with your Town Hall. And I think, it's great for the party, it's great for Bernie and it's great for Hillary. And there's a big contrast by the way to the sniping that we see on the other side. And I think this is what the American people want to see.
COOPER: Nia, I'm certainly, in terms of money, Senator Sanders has shown he can raise it, small donations, $20 million raised, I think, in this last month, in average donation $27.
HENDERSON: Yeah. And that's why he's in this for the long haul. I mean, I talked to somebody who knows him well. They said even if Clinton is mathematically winning that he could still take this to the convention and try to influence the platform, try to influence what Clinton has to say.
One of the reasons that we keep focusing on demographics is, demographics is the key to a Democrat's strategy in the general election. If you look at the way Obama won, he won 80 percent of non- white voters, something like 30 percent of white voters. And that's what Sanders has to I think show even in a primary fight. That he can get those voters.
He didn't do terribly in Iowa. He won 34 percent of non-white voters, 58 percent went to Clinton. But he's really got to start to show, but he can resonate with those voters, they are so key to a Democratic win in a general election.
BORGER: He won young women.
HENDERSON: He did. Right.
BORGER: And younger voters. And that's important to the coalition, too.
KING: Nine times out of 10, demographics determine elections almost more than the candidates. But every now and then, there's a big wave.
The question is, is there such a big change wave? Republicans want change. And Bernie Sanders' strength, I think is A, a credit to his campaign but B, Democrats want change, too. And for of all Hillary Clinton's strengths and there are many, she's not change.
COOPER: Do you -- and Paul, I mean, do you believe it's going to be a long drawn-out battle? Because I mean, there's a lot of people saying, "Look, if there was any state where Bernie Sanders was going to win, it would have been Iowa and New Hampshire. And after that, it becomes more difficult.
BEGALA: Well, it could go long. I think Bill makes a good point, it wouldn't be entirely bad. The Hillary-Barack death match was the best thing ever happened to Barack Obama, you know, in introspect. And he tell you it may be smarter, tougher, better candidate, better president.
COOPER: Do you think the long drawn-out fight with Bernie Sanders will make Hillary a better?
BEGALA: It's already. Yes. It's already. I watched her interview ...
(CROSSTALK)
KING: We'll take the party so far left you catch there were like ...
BEGALA: Big worry. Yes. He's been worry about -- that's what happened to Romney. One of two things. Either what happened to Romney, which is he dragged the party off to the right cliff or what happened to Obama, which is made him smarter and tougher. And so far, they've kept it between the ditches.
They have. And so, I'm not that worried. I do think though, the likelihood is Hillary puts it away sooner than that. And I don't mean to disrespect to Senator Sanders. But he has got to show the capacity to grow.
Senator Obama then had enormous capacity to grow out of Iowa because of his experience, because he's coming out of Illinois, Chicago. He had terrific appeal with communities of color. And that's how he beat Hillary.
Senator Sanders hasn't proven that yet because he comes out of Vermont, he's got terrific record but it's not in his political DNA the way it is for Hillary or President Obama.
COOPER: Mona.
CHAREN: You can see in this campaign between Sanders and Clinton the effect that Barack Obama has had on the Democratic Party and on the country, he's moved it significantly to the left.
There is nothing in Sanders' platform that Barack Obama has ever told voters they couldn't have, you know, free college tuition, Medicare for all -- but for the intransigents and evil Republicans on the hill.
And so, he sort of set the table for the debate that the democrats are now having. And you know, on the one hand, you have a candidate in Sanders who's a devout socialist who wants to spend $17 trillion. And on the other hand, you have Hillary Clinton, somebody who may face indictment and that's the Democratic race.
BEGALA: Well, actually we should ask Bill about this because he's written an entire book about it.
PRESS: Right.
BEGALA: The truth is Senator Sanders is far to the left of President Obama, he would probably say that. The president has not called for free college tuition. He's not call for socialize message Bernie has it.
And Bill's written a whole book about it.
[21:25:05] COOPER: Is that Bill, you think he's actually been a disappointment for progressives, Senator -- President Obama?
PRESS: Yeah. Look, I know we're talking about 2016. We're not looking back at President Obama's presidency.
No, I think President Obama's -- I'm proud I voted for him. I'd vote for him again. He's done a lot of good things. But read the book. In some ways, I believe he has let progressives down. I'll just leave it at that.
And I think the point of looking forward is, that whether has Bernie or Hillary, my point is that progressives have to really be tough as hell and demand that the next president take that progressive agenda that Bernie is talking about, and by the way, Hillary's talking about and run with it all the way.
COOPER: But John, though, I mean, Hillary Clinton has a track record in New Hampshire as does Bill Clinton. I mean, Hillary Clinton won New Hampshire the last time around. She was down in the polls to Barack Obama.
KING: And it's both a blessing and a curse, in the sense that you have old friends up there, they are battle tested. You have relationships under the tight campaign. You need friends. You need battle tested. You need people who handle pressure well.
On the other hand, as great an asset that is in an environment when people are looking for something new and different and change, no offense to her, but her last name's Clinton. Her husband was a two- term president. They brought him out at one point to help close this deal. And I think in some ways, it may've even hurt them. As effective as Bill Clinton is, it reminded that, it's a legacy candidate. It is not a change candidate.
And again, she has many, many strengths, don't get me wrong, many, many strengths. She doesn't have the political instincts of her husband. But it's like Jeb Bush can't break through. To Mona made this point earlier, Bush is a synonym for back. Republicans don't want to go back to the Bushes. They respect the name.
And I think, in a part, that's Hillary Clinton's issue. Democratic voters want change, too. To Bill's point, some progressives love President Obama but they don't think he did enough.
HENDERSON: Right. KING: And they want something different. And she's the continuity. She's the third-term candidate. Bernie Sanders is something new. That's a huge dynamic for this race.
BORGER: And here's her other problem, too, I think, which is that her response to Bernie Sanders is, "Yes, in a perfect world, we would all agree with you but I'm pragmatic, and I'm the confident one." And that -- the issue of pragmatism and to voters who want change and have passion for the opposing candidate, isn't enough.
CARPENTER: It's boring.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: Be who she is. She's authentically pragmatic.
(CROSSTALK)
BEGALA: The media always hammers her, she's a big phony. This is what she really believes. She believes that she can't wave in a magic wand and have socialized medicine.
KING: I think, you're actually right. The question is can she survive this climate being herself? Is this the right climate or just like, is it the right climate ...
COOPER: We go to leave that discussion there. Just to echo Bill Press' reminder, I'm going to moderating the CNN Democratic Town Hall tomorrow night in Derry, New Hampshire. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, on the same stage taking questions from Granite State voters as well as from myself. 9:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow night right here.
Just ahead, what's next for Ted Cruz in New Hampshire fresh off his win in Iowa. I'll speak with his communications director when we continue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:31:48] COOPER: The Ted Cruz campaign picked up some momentum with his win over Donald Trump in Iowa but the question now is whether Cruz can ride that wave into New Hampshire where the battle might be tougher.
Latest CNN/WMUR poll of likely voters in New Hampshire shows Trump in the lead with 30 percent to Cruz's 12 percent.
Cruz's Communications Director Rick Tyler joins me now from Manchester, New Hampshire.
Rick, congratulations about last night. If you look at Senator Cruz's strategy in Iowa, he campaigned in all 99 counties there. He had a lot of endorsement from Iowa State legislators, from pastors. He really worked hard for that win last night. From this point on, does that strategy shift, particularly he's looking ahead to New Hampshire and beyond? RICK TYLER, TED CRUZ CAMPAIGN COMMUNICATION DIRECTOR: Well, not really, you know, we have three of the most conservative leaders here in New Hampshire, Senator Bob Smith and Dave Wheeler who's the Executive Counselor, and former Speaker Bill O'Brien. And we've got a great team here in New Hampshire. And we have not -- we're not going to change our message for New Hampshire. We believe there's enough conservative votes.
In fact, the 603 Alliance here in New Hampshire was formed from pro- gun groups, pro-family groups, pro-life groups, pro-business groups that all want to come together and not let the establishment nominate, you know, another moderate candidate. And because there are six candidates really competing for the same vote, there is an opportunity for conservatives to do very well here. So we hope if those conservatives turn out and unite behind Ted Cruz, we're looking forward to a good night next Tuesday.
COOPER: How much time is he going to be spending in New Hampshire, because he was there earlier but he's already in South Carolina?
TYLER: Well, he'll be back shortly. In fact, he may have already arrived back in New Hampshire. We'll be here for the duration. So we'll be here all week.
COOPER: OK. The fact that Rubio was able to do much better in Iowa than expected, is your campaign worried that he might be able to capitalize on that momentum or do you think the fact that as you said, Christie, Kasich, Bush, are all sort of competing for that -- in that same lane, is going to take him down?
TYLER: Well, two things. You know, yesterday morning the Des Moines Register said that we were five points down and people said we had no chance of winning Iowa, that it was all Donald Trump and we ended up winning it by 6,000 votes. So I think the momentum and the exceeding expectations would have gone to us.
Secondly, you're exactly right, there are all these moderates are going to be fighting each other. In fact, you saw Chris Christie calling Marco Rubio today, "The boy in the bubble'', which refers to his lack of access to the press.
And so they'll be fighting each other. There's really -- maybe there's no reason actually to pick on Ted Cruz because he's the only conservative with a path to victory that's in his lane. Everybody else is in the moderate lane.
COOPER: I want to ask you something about Donald Trump tweeted about your candidate earlier today. He said, and I quote, "Anybody who watched all Ted Cruz's far too long rambling overly flamboyant speech last night would say that is his Howard Dean moment.'' What is your response to that?
TYLER: Well, Donald Trump has never given a speech. And he just has a stream of consciousness that sometimes makes sense and sometimes doesn't. Full of contradictory statements. And so I think Ted Cruz delivers a very powerful and impassioned speech and he knows exactly what he's communicating and he talked about what he would do as president. He talks about policy. He talks about substance.
[21:35:11] Donald Trump doesn't touch on any of those things.
COOPER: Rick Tyler, it's always good to talk to you, Rick. Thanks very much for being with us.
TYLER: Thanks, Anderson.
COOPER: Just ahead, Donald Trump said he was, "Honored to finish second in Iowa. Will the loss affect the support in New Hampshire? We'll take you there to find out, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Donald Trump says the media is not covering his, "long-shot great finish in Iowa fairly". As we mentioned before the break, he also lashed out at Ted Cruz's speech and last night didn't even seem to see his loss as a loss. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I was told by everybody, do not go to Iowa, you could never finish even in the top 10. And I said, but I have friends in Iowa, I know a lot of people in Iowa, I think they really like me, let's give it a shot. They said, don't do it. I said, I have to do it. And we finished second and I want to tell you something, I'm just honored. I'm really honored.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[21:40:00] COOPER: Well Trump may now not be talking like he never expected to win Iowa, if you look back at his campaign up to this point, it's really been all about promising he'll win everything.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I will win. I'll bring in states that nobody ever thought it.
Honestly, we're going to win so much, we're going to win our trade. We're going to win with our military.
I want to win, OK? You know, we like to win. We know how to close deals. I close. I'm a closer.
We will beat ISIS very quickly, folks.
I beat China all the time.
We're going to win and then we're going to beat Hillary or whoever the hell they put in front of us.
We're going to win so much. We're going to win so much. We're going to have win after win after win. You people are going to get sick and tired of winning. You're going to say, please, President Trump, we can't take this much victory, please stop, we don't want anymore wins. And I'm going to say to you, we're going to win, I don't care what you say, we're going to make our country great again. We're going to win, we're going to win and we're going to win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: All right he came in second in Iowa. The question is can he win in New Hampshire? He's leading the polls there right now. Gary Tuchman is there, spoke with some of his supporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you?
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On an unseasonably warm evening in New Hampshire, this crowd doesn't have any warmth toward those who say Donald Trump is now politically vulnerable after losing in Iowa to Ted Cruz.
MARY CAE MANNING, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Well, because I think he's going to come here and he's going to rock New Hampshire.
TUCHMAN: Trump may have come in second place in the caucuses, but we asked many people lined up to see him in New Hampshire this question. Were you disappointed with the results in Iowa?
CHRIS HIER, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: Absolutely not. No.
TUCHMAN: How come?
HEIR: I think that second place is a great finish.
TUCHMAN: Can you actually see me right now?
CHRISTINA BROWN, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I can of course I can.
TUCHMAN: Those are unusual glasses.
BROWN: I'm here to support Donald Trump.
TUCHMAN: Oh no kidding.
BROWN: Yeah, all decked out.
TUCHMAN: Were you disappointed that he didn't win in Iowa?
BROWN: No I wasn't. I think that was going to be tough for him. And I just put perspective on it that it's only one last delegate in Ted Cruz.
TUCHMAN: There were some Trump supporters who said a second-place finish was a letdown but they were in the minority. How many of you were disappointed that he didn't win the caucuses last night?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He did win. He won just by coming in second and doing nothing for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody wins because he's in the race.
TUCHMAN: What does that mean?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They all owe him a thank you note because there's been more interest, excitement and entertainment with him in it than there ever would have been.
TUCHMAN: One reason many Trump supporters here don't feel badly about his loss to Ted Cruz is that they don't think much of the Iowa caucuses.
JUDY DESCHENES, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTERS: I just don't like it. I think that you can talk people out of things. You may have like you might go in really wanting to vote for Trump and then someone can change your mind at the last minute.
GAIL JUST, DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTER: I think a caucus is just a caucus. It's not really a vote. I think it was so informal that I'm not exactly sure how the process works.
TUCHMAN: Many of the people who have come here had hoped this would be a post-Iowa caucus's victory party of sorts, but now they're part of an effort to make sure that Donald Trump doesn't go over 2.
Tell me why you like Donald Trump.
JUST: He speaks his mind. There's no bull (inaudible). He speaks his mind.
TUCHMAN: You're disgusted?
JUST: He says exactly ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She speaks her mind, too.
JUST: He says exactly what a lot of people are thinking.
TUCHMAN: That clearly wasn't enough for Trump in Iowa, but his supporters here are determined to give their candidate a win next Tuesday in New Hampshire.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And Gary joins us now from Milford, New Hampshire. I understand you asked Donald Trump before his rally if he was disappointed in coming in second. What did he say? TUCHMAN: Well I told Donald Trump, Anderson, that most of the supporters we talked to were not disappointed that he didn't win the Iowa caucuses and how do you feel? And he said that perhaps I feel a, "hinge of disappointment". He also told us that if he was in the last Republican debate, he feels that he could have won the Iowa caucuses but he says in retrospect he would have done the same thing all over again. Anderson.
COOPER: All right. Gary thanks very much. Just ahead, the whirlwind that sweeps through New Hampshire every four years now in full force. The candidates have just seven days left to seal the deal. Didn't last night's caucus help any undecided voters in the granite state make up their minds? We'll look at that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[21:47:55] COOPER: A lot of traffic today on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. Hillary Clinton, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Bernie Sanders, heading straight there after last night's Iowa caucuses. Some of the arrivals have been campaigning there for days. They've all just seven days to seal the deal with voters. Many of them still undecided.
So the question is simple, did last night's caucuses help any of them reach a decision? We asked Randi Kaye to watch the group whose votes for still up for grabs
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Too many choices, too little time.
UNINDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm flip-flopping every five seconds.
KAYE: That's what we heard over and over from this group of undecided New Hampshire voters.
When will you decide?
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: By Election Day.
KAYE: That's good.
We hoped watching the Iowa caucus results would help this group choose a candidate. A handful here are still considering Donald Trump but want more specifics.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: He wants to make the country great again, I'd just like to know more of how.
PATRICIA COOPER, UNDECIDED REPUBLICAN VOTER: If he could -- he doesn't really say a lot of plans of what he's going tell he is going to do things. If he would just come up and say, OK, we're going to fix the economy and this is my plan, I'd jump right in.
KAYE: Then you're in trump's corner.
COOPER: Exactly.
KAYE: Most of the other republican voters are torn between Marco Rubio.
RICK VEST, UNDECIDED REPUBLICAN VOTER: I think he's got fresher ideas and some of other folks and I think he is trying to bring more energy to it. And it doesn't seem like as much as retread rhetoric.
KAYE: And Ted Cruz. So, what do you need to hear from either Cruz or Rubio to the decide one of them?
SUSAN THREATEN, UNDECIDED REPUBLICAN VOTER: I'm not sure. We've been praying about it. And I don't know. I only know that I feel lead between the two of those to certainly it's too bad we can't split the presidency down the pubic middle and say you can make it Monday through Wednesday and the rest is, you know, is the other candidate.
KAYE: These democratic voters were also struggling. This woman was sold on Hillary Clinton until Bernie Sanders came along.
MARY HIGGINS, UNDECIDED DEMOCRATIC VOTER: I feel as though he speaks to me for those of us in the middle class. Those of us who have children in college. You know, I think he has some good ideas and I'd like to give him a chance.
KAYE: So how will you decide?
[21:50:01] HIGGINS: I think I'll go to vote and I'll stand there and that is when I'll make my decision.
KAYE: In that moment.
HIGGINS: Yes.
KAYE: This voter likes Clinton but likes Sanders' fresh ideas even more.
RAUL BERNAL, UNDECIDED DEMOCRATIC VOTER: As someone who graduated with a good amount of student loans that his position on student loans is actually very, you know, it's very thoughtful as well. And I think he has a passion that a lot of people at this age are looking for.
KAYE: So, why aren't you ready to say 100 percent I'm behind Bernie Sanders?
BERNAL: I do have concerns about his electability outside, let say New England and in the broader country. So that's, that's really what my biggest holdup is.
KAYE: In the end, some of our voters did make up their minds. Give me a show of hands, did any of you decide on a candidate? You did? Would you pick?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rubio
KAYE: Rubio. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rubio.
KAYE: Rubio.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Marco Rubio.
KAYE: Marco Rubio. OK. Three on there on the Republican side. Let's check the Democratic side, show up hands after coming in undecided, did anybody decide on a candidate? OK. Yell out who you picked.
UNINDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hillary.
KAYE: Hillary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Randi joins me now from Manchester. So did those other Democrats, who do they decide to vote for?
KAYE: Well you saw the one person there the one undecided voters then decide to for Hillary. Three other undecided democratic voters, Anderson decided to go for Bernie Sanders. And, then there was this one woman who came in expecting to vote Democratic and by the end of the night, she told us she decided to vote for Donald Trump.
So we were totally surprised by that, but of course this is a campaign that is full of surprises. But one interesting thing here, Anderson, we notice that even on the Democratic side with just two candidates now, certainly far less than what we see on the Republican side, the voters are still struggling.
One woman told me that her heart is really with Bernie Sanders but she wants to make sure a Democrat gets in the White House so she's really leaning toward voting for Hillary Clinton. So for them, Anderson it is really about electability.
COOPER: All right, one more week to go. Let see, Randi thanks very much. As we said today Donald Trump blasted the media for not giving him more credit for his second place showing in Iowa. He said his happy with second place. He also got an endorsement from Former Senator Scott Brown.
Joining me now is James Pindell, Political Reporter for the Boston Globe. So, how big of a blow James you thin is the Iowa outcome to Donald Trump when it comes to New Hampshire? And he is been leading the polls there as far as we know he still is. New Hampshire voters don't necessarily was follow Iowa's lead often in fact they don't. If there is of course the issue of momentum for Rubio, maybe Cruz.
JAMES PINDELL, POLITICAL REPORTER, THE BOSTON GLOBE: That's right. You know, ever since 1980 and George H. W. Bush won Iowa. He talked about having the big mo, every single winner of the Iowa caucuses went into New Hampshire with some version of momentum. Of course it took five weeks for George H.W. Bush to lose that big mo to Ronald Reagan who won the primary took Barack Obama just five days to lose it in 2008.
I think right now we don't have any candidate of the 13 candidates coming to New Hampshire with any sort of big mo. Clearly you see that on the Democratic side will racer tight. I don't think Hillary Clinton can even argue she has that momentum.
On the Republican side you might have what we call mini mo M-I-N-I, a small mo. Because, you know, obviously Ted Cruz, one he had a lot of buzz who announce with him today. Marco Rubio, you'd rather be in his position than you would with others.
But I don't think the race in New Hampshire, as we sit here 24 hours after Iowa, has really fundamentally changed. Donald Trump is still the front-runner on the Republican side, Bernie Sanders is still the front-runner on the Democratic side. Ted Cruz had already consolidated the conservatives behind him months ago and you still have this establishment lane cluster with Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush and Chris Christie. And you have that lane there sort of cluster, sort of fundamental dynamics with race really have a changed.
COOPER: Is there any sign of Trump's team trying to ramp up their ground game in New Hampshire. They played their whole brand game pretty close the vest. Certainly they did that in Iowa one of the takeaways from Iowa appears to be that Cruz and Rubio had pretty solid turnout operations, although as Trump has said, he got a huge number of actual votes to coming in second.
PINDELL: Such a great question, Anderson. And as you know, the Trump Organization, the Trump campaign really keeps this really tight to the vest. I did dig deep down into the organization last week, though, talking to a lot of people who are town chairs or involved in making the phone calls.
What's fascinating is they really only ramped up this ground game in New Hampshire where he's been leading since July. And they've only ramp it up in the last month, but what they've put together in the last couple of weeks has been extremely impressive and very efficient.
The question is whether or not it's just too late. But as you heard in the earlier piece, New Hampshire makes up their mind so late, that maybe it's just in time.
COOPER: And, how big of a deal is it that Scott Brown endorsed Trump?
PINDELL: Not a huge deal. I mean, he ran and won an election where he was actually really hard core opposed by a number of conservatives. Look, it's a flashy, one-day news story, but this is happening right now and we're going to be moving on to other issues.
[21:55:05] I think if Scott Brown had endorsed maybe in December or really early on, he would have had much more of an effect.
COOPER: State -- the Trump's state co-chair told you that Trump can definitely draw a crowd which is obviously three weeks to all seen that. That they need to work on the number one question people have, which is whether he's serious and for real. Did he say or did they talk about how they do that?
PINDELL: Yeah, they do. They say he hasn't spent a lot time actually talking to people that he is serious for real. That they try to get a little bit into issues. Obviously Donald Trump is not extremely specific when it comes to detailed policy positions on one item after another but they pointed to the manner of time that he spent in the state and how seriously he's taken the state.
Look, this people at the Trump campaign have specific vote totals for every single, you know, statewide where they want to be where they are in every town of course it's really easy to do that on the back of a napkin. The question is whether now he can get some of this people in all these rallies to show up.
COOPER: Yeah. James Pindell, great to talk to you, James. Thanks so much. We'll be right back.
PINDELL: Thank you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Before we go, I just want to remind you what's happening tomorrow night after this broadcast, after 360. I'll be moderating CNN Democratic Town Hall in Derry New Hampshire. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton will be taking question from voters.
There may many undecided voters that's 9:00 p. m. Eastern right here on CNN.
[22:00:00] And right now it's time for "CNN TONIGHT" with Don Lemon.
DON LEMON, CNN TONIGHT HOST: It is your turn, New Hampshire and the candidates are out in forces.
This is CNN TONIGHT, I'm Don Lemon.
