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Voters Head to Polls for First-in-the-National Primary in New Hampshire; Voters Head to Polls for the First-in-the-Nation Primary in New Hampshire; Bill Barr Confirms DOJ Reviewing Ukraine Information from Giuliani; Nadler Demands Answers on Bill Barr's "Back Channel" for Receiving Giuliani's Ukraine Information. Aired 9-9:30a ET
Aired February 11, 2020 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:22]
POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It's a big day in New Hampshire. Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto.
A critical test today in New Hampshire. The nation's first primary now under way. And in just hours, we could know a lot more about where the battle for the Democratic nomination is headed.
HARLOW: Voters hitting the polls and divisions between moderates and progressives growing by the minute.
We've got you covered all across the state. Let's begin with our Jessica Dean live in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Jessica, what are the expectations? Namely, you've been following the Biden camp very closely. What are their expectations or lack thereof today?
JESSICA DEAN, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I've been following the Biden camp. They have been lowering expectations here in New Hampshire, even below what they lowered them to before months and months ago. They said we don't have to win Iowa or New Hampshire. We have a path to the nomination without those two states.
But, Poppy and Jim, that disappointing place in -- fourth place finish in Iowa was much lower than they anticipated, and that could happen tonight here in New Hampshire again as we see Pete Buttigieg with a lot of momentum. Amy Klobuchar with momentum. People that are rising. The Biden campaign certainly looking ahead to Nevada, to South Carolina. They have long maintained that you have to take these first four states as a package and then evaluate once you get to the end of those.
They really are counting on Biden's strong support among African- American voters in South Carolina specifically and also Hispanic support, union support in Nevada. But as for tonight, you guys, they have certainly lowered expectations. They are just trying to get a solid finish here and move on to the next round of this nominating contest.
SCIUTTO: Yes. It's all about expectations management you're seeing. So Sanders, Warren camp. Sanders expecting a strong finish. Warren might have a disappointing result as well. What are you hearing from there?
DEAN: Yes, so, of course, the Sanders campaign looking pretty rosy this morning here in New Hampshire. They had a big rally last night. A concert. Huge turnout for him. Of course, both are senators from neighboring states who have traditionally done very, very well here in New Hampshire. So we set Bernie Sanders to the side for a moment. He's looking pretty too good.
Elizabeth Warren, though, hasn't been able to capture really the momentum so far that they were hoping. Again, being from neighboring Massachusetts, you guys, it's very, very close to the border here in New Hampshire. We have seen her really try to stay above the fray while others, including Sanders, Buttigieg, Biden have all kind of attacked each other. Warren has stuck to her stump speech. She's stuck to what she's been saying all along, and kept her eye on beating Donald Trump in 2020 -- Poppy and Jim.
SCIUTTO: Jessica Dean, thanks very much.
Now to Senator Amy Klobuchar. Pete Buttigieg also very much in this race. Kyung Lah is at the polling place where both stopped by this morning.
Kyung, tell us about their reception there.
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jim, it certainly feels like it's primary day. And today means a lot to these candidates. We're inside a polling place. It's some place that these candidates cannot go. People are arriving here. It has been a steady stream of people picking up their ballots and then heading over to the booth to finally vote. But before these voters get in here, these two candidates, Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, wanted to make one last impression.
We just saw Amy Klobuchar stop here outside. She can't come in here, but outside she pulled up in her not-so-discrete green bus and she took her time saying hello to voters. Stopping by. Talking to reporters. Clearly enjoying this moment. Reporters asked her what would victory look like and she says that where she was a week ago, she wants to defy expectations.
A week ago was Iowa. She was in fifth place. She finished in the low teens. So that is going to be her bar, according to what she said here at this polling place. And now before that, at 6:00 a.m., just as this polling place was opening, Pete Buttigieg showed up here. He arrived to a throng of supporters. He's made a number of stops here at New Hampshire polling places. He's been delivering donut, Dunkin Donuts to polling places.
Again he can't go inside, but he's stopping by to talk to supporters, to make one last pitch to supporters and he said when he was asked how he's feeling today, he feels that the wind is behind his sail. He is feeling very good about his chances here today -- Poppy, Jim.
HARLOW: All right, Kyung, thank you very much.
Now let's go to our national correspondent Miguel Marquez. He is in Dover, New Hampshire.
I mean, so much history there especially when it comes to Clinton and being the comeback kid. It was so much about what he said in Dover in '92. What are you hearing from voters there?
[09:05:13]
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Look, this ward one in Dover. Dover is a very Democratic area. It's certainly big in Democratic politics, And it is Democratic politics, and it is steady here, but not exactly gangbusters voting. They're getting about 150, 200 voters an hour. The high point in 2008 was about 2500 voters. So at this pace they're going to be a little behind that, unless it starts to pick up later today.
I will tell you, officials here expected it to be much busier at this point. So perhaps it will be a late surge today. We are watching Dover carefully because for the last four Democratic primaries here, Dover has been a bellwether for how the state has gone. And not just the top one or two candidates but four or five candidates. So in 2004, 2008, it voted exactly the way the state ended up voting.
So we'll be watching the way the voters here are -- do vote. I've spoken to a lot of voters as they've left today. Most of them say they're voting for Senator Sanders. Some Buttigieg, some Warren. We haven't seen a lot of Klobuchar support, but we are still talking to voters, and we'll continue to talk to them all day long. Back to you guys.
SCIUTTO: The turnout, it's an important point. Right Because in Iowa the turnout number for Democrats were not off the charts.
HARLOW: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Concerning for some. Don't know the markets there.
Joining us now to discuss all, Chris Cillizza, CNN editor-at-large.
Chris, I wonder, listen, we're going to get a lot of information from the New Hampshire primaries.
CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Yes. Hopefully.
SCIUTTO: That said.
HARLOW: Hopefully tonight.
SCIUTTO: Iowa did not pare the field.
CILLIZZA: No. SCIUTTO: As it has traditionally done or often done. If we have a
split result in the top tier today, would New Hampshire also not pare the field and we'll be left with more candidates than we typically are?
CILLIZZA: I think we'll be left with more candidates than we typically are just because the field is still so big.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
CILLIZZA: There's still 11 candidates. Some of them are hanging on by a shoestring, Jim, so, you know, if they finish eighth, they don't really need to -- they don't need to do much to keep going. What I'll say is --
SCIUTTO: This is Pete Buttigieg, we should note, in New Hampshire. There's some live picture. You get a sense of the reception.
CILLIZZA: Yes. So here's what I think. We're going to rightly focus on the top. Right? And I think that's very likely to be Sanders and then Buttigieg, in that order, margin may matter. If Buttigieg is close to Sanders or beats Sanders, really big story. But it looks like those two are comfortably ahead.
I honestly think the bigger story to your point about dropouts or potential dropouts comes in three, four, five. If Klobuchar finishes in third or fourth, above Biden or Warren, I don't know how you can keep going if you are Biden or Warren. They will -- Biden especially will keep going.
SCIUTTO: Warren even after a disappointing result?
CILLIZZA: She's finished -- she will finish third and maybe third or fourth.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
CILLIZZA: And Bernie Sanders clearly the choice of liberals.
SCIUTTO: Interesting. Yes.
CILLIZZA: Now, I always say, the candidate can go on for as long as they like. If you -- you just start running out of money.
HARLOW: And what's 11 days if you can make it with the money 11 days to Nevada, what's, you know.
CILLIZZA: But 11 days in politics.
HARLOW: I hear you.
CILLIZZA: It's a longer time than you think. Just with no money. You have a huge staff. I just think it's more difficult. I don't think -- I think if anybody drops out, if Warren finishes fourth or fifth, I think there will be a lot of pressure. If Biden finishes fourth or fifth, that there'll be a lot of pressure. That doesn't mean that they will drop out.
HARLOW: Right.
CILLIZZA: But that's where the story will be. Not in one or two because we pretty much know that.
HARLOW: To your point about not one and two but maybe three and four. Let's take a walk down memory lane to '92.
CILLIZZA: Oh, yes.
HARLOW: Let's listen to then-candidate Bill Clinton giving his famous last dog dies speech in this moment in New Hampshire. Here he was.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT: I'll tell you something. I'm going to give you this election back, and if you'll give it to me, I will never be like George Bush, I'll never forget who gave me a second chance and I'll be there for you until the last dog dies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARLOW: Biden needs to have a good showing. He needs the surprise to upside but he's strategy right now with this media blitz is the opposite.
CILLIZZA: Yes.
HARLOW: Of would Bill Clinton did in those final seven days. He shooed most of the media. He did the "Koppel Nightline" thing. But that's about it. And just went to bowling alleys and restaurants and he went to people.
CILLIZZA: I think, look, first of all there's a huge disparity in natural candidate ability between Bill Clinton and Joe Biden. That's no aspersion on Joe Biden. Bill Clinton, whether you hate him or love him, was a hugely naturally gifted candidate.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
CILLIZZA: You see it in that 10-second clip. He had overcome adversity, much of it of his own doing as he related to his marital past.
HARLOW: I mean, it's Jennifer Flowers tape was playing over and over.
CILLIZZA: Right before -- right before that primary.
HARLOW: Yes.
CILLIZZA: Biden began at the top of this race. That's the problem. When you argument is, I'm the electable guy, I'm the guy who can win, you've got to win. I understand his point about Iowa and New Hampshire. The question is, I have not seen this work before where you say just wait, voters, it will be fine. SCIUTTO: OK.
CILLIZZA: And I don't know if that will work. It didn't work for Rudy Giuliani in 2008. He tried a similar approach.
SCIUTTO: So one thing that New Hampshire has in common with Iowa in addition to being first is the homogenous makeup of the voters here.
CILLIZZA: Yes.
SCIUTTO: Let's look at these numbers here comparing New Hampshire to the national figures on black Americans, Hispanic Americans.
[09:10:03]
I mean, it's just a different makeup. Does that bolster the Biden argument that Iowa and New Hampshire should not be the final word on his candidacy?
CILLIZZA: It does and I think it's fair to say those two states are not terribly representative. New Hampshire is the second or third whitest state in the country.
SCIUTTO: And his strength among African-Americans.
CILLIZZA: And his strength has always been among African-Americans. The issue, and we'll know this after New Hampshire. The issue is, does what happens in Iowa and New Hampshire. -- let's say Biden -- so Biden finished fourth in Iowa. Let's say he finished fourth again in New Hampshire, just hypothetically. There will be polling done shortly after that in South Carolina which isn't until February 29th. What that shows is critical. Is Joe Biden still ahead by 25 points as he has been?
SCIUTTO: Yes.
CILLIZZA: Is his black support as we saw in a Quinnipiac poll yesterday, is his black support shrinking among -- with other candidates? If that's the case, then the whole, well, this isn't diverse doesn't really matter because momentum -- the momentum wave has sort of overwhelmed.
SCIUTTO: Momentum is a valid course.
CILLIZZA: And that's what we'll find out.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HARLOW: So nice to have you in the flesh, Cillizza.
CILLIZZA: So nice to see you guys in person.
HARLOW: Thanks for being with us. We appreciate it.
A lot ahead. Of course, still to come, the global death toll for coronavirus has now topped 1,000 people. The Centers for Disease Control plans a major press conference today. We'll also take you live to Beijing.
Also, House Judiciary chairman Jerry Nadler is demanding details from the attorney general about the information sharing arrangement between Rudy Giuliani and the Justice Department.
SCIUTTO: And they are everywhere. But what real impact do political ads have in New Hampshire and on the 2020 race going forward? Who is winning? Who is losing the ad war? A lot of money being spent by the Bloombergs and Steyers of the world. We're going to discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:15:00]
JIM SCIUTTO, CO-ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: As voters in New Hampshire head to polling stations this morning, there are major concerns about the party's ability to unite behind one candidate in order to defeat President Trump in November.
POPPY HARLOW, CO-ANCHOR, NEWSROOM: Typically, New Hampshire shrinks the field, right? By a lot. But with nearly a dozen candidates still in play here, Democrats could be in for a long drawn-out process. We're joined now by New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Raymond Buckley. Raymond, it's so nice to have you, thank you for being here. Just give us a sense on the ground there. Where is the moment? I know you're not endorsing anyone, I should say that, but where's the momentum?
RAYMOND BUCKLEY, CHAIRMAN, NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: I think that there --obviously, Senator Amy Klobuchar received a boost from Friday evening's debate, and we will see. You know, the polling is all over the place, though. Some have multiply different orders. So I think that's what's exciting about the primary. The voters are the ones end up deciding, not all of us. And so we'll see tonight what actually happens.
I'm getting inundated with a lot of predictions from folks from around the state who, you know, are usually pretty good and they're all different. So, we'll see --
SCIUTTO: Yes --
BUCKLEY: It's pretty exciting night.
SCIUTTO: As they say in baseball, that's why they play the games, right? Let's see how the voters decide. Tell us about the division within the party here. I think that often times, people forget that these primaries from both parties are -- they're always divisive, right? People are fighting for the nomination to lead the country here. But there is a genuine split here between progressives and more moderate candidates. How bitter is it? What is it doing to the party in New Hampshire? And do you see folks there rallying around a front- runner?
BUCKLEY: Well, I'm a relative newcomer. My first campaign was the Muskie-McGovern campaign, so, you know, you'll find some old-timers that can go back earlier than that. But -- that's a joke.
SCIUTTO: We caught it -- we caught it here, Poppy wasn't around for that, but I was --
HARLOW: I was laughing --
SCIUTTO: I was already out of college at that point, so, you know, yes --
(LAUGHTER)
BUCKLEY: So the point is that New Hampshire primary has always had some really intense rivalries going on. I can probably tell you the top 100 people who were involved in the Carter-Kennedy race. You know, they have lasting scars. I don't think that's happening in this cycle. I think 2016 shook a lot of people up, and they realized that, that was going to happen.
An example of that was our big state convention in September where we had 1,200 delegates on the convention floor. And at that point, we had 20 candidates, all addressing the convention, and every time whether it was Tulsi Gabbard or Joe Biden or you know, Bernie Sanders or Pete Buttigieg, everyone got up and waved a sign for that candidate. That's never happened. I watched it.
I was like, aghast because that never has happened in New Hampshire's history. Certainly, you can't even imagine the Bernie people waving a Hillary sign last time or the Hillary people --
SCIUTTO: Yes --
BUCKLEY: Waving a Bernie sign. People have learned the lesson of 2016, we're united, we're ready to go. And you know, there was a poll --
SCIUTTO: It's interesting --
BUCKLEY: The other day that said 69 percent of Democratic voters would rather have a meteor hit the globe than --
SCIUTTO: Yes --
BUCKLEY: Donald Trump be re-elected.
HARLOW: Well, there were a lot of folks lining up at his rally last night in the miserable weather. So we'll see on that. But before you go, Jim and I were talking about this. A lot of people are talking about whether Iowa and New Hampshire are reflective enough or reflective at all of how diverse America has become to really be in the -- continue to be the first in the nation caucus and primary. What do you say to those folks?
BUCKLEY: Well, this is the fourth cycle where it's actually four early states. Iowa, New Hampshire welcomed our sister states of Nevada and South Carolina back for the '08 cycle. And, you know, we think that by having all four regions of the country, the Midwest, the east, the west and then the south, really has added to the conversation.
In fact, the -- you know, a significant number of voters in Nevada are Latino. And as we all know in South Carolina, in the Democratic primary, the majority of the voters are African-American. So, it really allows everyone to have their voice being heard, everyone to be represented and really see what these candidates are made of.
[09:20:00]
So, we're looking forward to the four early states and we're hoping that all the candidates continue through all four early states, and we hope that people really make it through to Super Tuesday as well. This is an exciting contest, you know, the last two times where we've tried to wrap it up too quickly, both 2004 and in 2000, didn't work out so well. So I think --
SCIUTTO: Yes --
BUCKLEY: Having a conversation that lasts throughout the country is terrific, and we would encourage the candidates to continue having that conversation.
SCIUTTO: We will cover that conversation. Raymond Buckley there in Manchester, New Hampshire, thanks very much --
BUCKLEY: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Democrats are now demanding answers as the DOJ confirms it is looking formally into dirt that Rudy Giuliani dug up in Ukraine. We're going to be on top of that story, next.
HARLOW: We are also just a few minutes away from the opening bell on Wall Street. Stocks looking like they'll open to the up side, investors, of course, keeping a very close eye on the coronavirus as many companies and factories in China, some slowly reopening. This outbreak will already have had an effect on the holiday shopping season, some popular toys could be in short supply because the factories and all the production there has been shut down in China.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:25:00]
HARLOW: All right. This morning, top house judiciary Democrat Jerry Nadler is demanding answers from Attorney General Bill Barr over his arrangement to look into what Rudy Giuliani has been digging up in Ukraine. With me now to talk about that and a lot more, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey. Thanks for being here, senator, let's just start there because Bill Barr has now confirmed, yes, we're looking at what Rudy Giuliani has brought back, but we're looking at it with a skeptical lens. What do you make of that?
SEN. BOB MENENDEZ (D-NJ): Well, I don't even understand why Rudy Giuliani has a special vehicle into the State -- excuse me, into the Department of Justice to ultimately present his dirt. I mean, Rudy Giuliani, whose list of conflicts is as long as his list of foreign clients who we still don't know who is paying him, and who we know previously dug up dirt on Ambassador Yovanovitch and presented it to the State Department only for it to be totally false. So why does he uniquely have a special vehicle into --
HARLOW: Yes --
MENENDEZ: The Justice Department?
HARLOW: No, I hear you. I hear you. And the push-back has been there and the response from Bill Barr this week was that we have a quote, "obligation" to basically open the door to anyone who wishes to provide us with information. So, I mean, where do you go from here?
MENENDEZ: Well, I'm sure -- I'm sure --
HARLOW: It's clearly they've got it, they're looking at it.
MENENDEZ: Yes --
HARLOW: What do you do?
MENENDEZ: Well, I'm sure first of all that all of those who might have information on President Trump will have a special channel to get into the Department of Justice to present issues that they may think are potentially of a criminal element as well. So that doesn't exist. So the mere creation of this already taints the process.
Look, they better make sure that before they pursue anything that Giuliani presents to them, that, in fact, they're absolutely sure that there is some, you know, scintilla of actual evidence to make the case. It just stinks, and it stinks to the high heavens because it's been very clear that the president wants Rudy to go dig up dirt on his adversaries and present it to the Justice Department. And the Justice Department is complicit at the end of the day by accepting it.
HARLOW: Let's talk -- you've had a lot to say on Twitter certainly about the budget, the Trump White House budget since they came out yesterday for 2021. And it's notable in there, there's a proposed $65 million cut to the World Health Organization, down 50 percent from fiscal 2020. I would note that it includes a proposal for $115 million in global health security.
So, this is sort of to try to prevent epidemics to try to effectively address disease outbreaks like the coronavirus. You have New Jersey, you know, citizens, your constituents stuck in China, not able to get back in the middle of all of this right now. When asked about the cuts, why cut W.H.O. funding in the middle of this epidemic?
Steve Biegun responded by saying that it -- the budget bolsters our capacity as a country to detect and respond to outbreaks and prevent epidemics from reaching our borders." I take it, you don't agree with him.
MENENDEZ: No, look, first of all, this one plus up that you mentioned, Poppy, is actually from some very deep cuts. This administration came in with the National Security Council and dramatically cut the whole effort at the NSC as it relates to global pandemics. We have been fighting to fund up, knowing that a global pandemic can happen at any given time.
And you just can't bring everything together instantaneously in order to respond to the challenge of the moment. You have to have a structure and the resources that are there for any given moment such as the coronavirus. So, the administration in this regard has been cutting in the past, undermining the very essence of the structure necessary. Now, they want to play catch-up. Well, we'll do everything we can to provide the resources because it's a public health challenge at the end of the day if the virus can spread.
So far, so good in the United States, but we have to be vigilant. And that's why you just don't cut the very essence of these programs when you don't have a challenge, so that you're ready when you do have one.
END
