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Inside Politics

Sanders Wins New Hampshire Primary, Edging Out Buttigieg; Exit Polls: Buttigieg Wins Among Moderate/Conservative NH Voters; Rep. Doug Collins' Senate Run Causing Rift Inside GOP; Bloomberg Rises in the Polls as Biden Stumbles; Three Democrats Drop Out After New Hampshire Results. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired February 12, 2020 - 12:30   ET

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

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[12:30:47]

JOHN KING, CNN HOST: Take a closer look now at New Hampshire's results last night and some of the lessons the state is teaching us as we move on now to Nevada, South Carolina and beyond.

Number one, a very close race between the top three again, Senator Sanders just barely winning next door, he's from Vermont, this is New Hampshire. One of the reasons, look at this, if we go back -- remember in 2016, Sanders won the state easily. These are the Sanders strongholds, the towns in which Bernie Sanders run the strongest four years ago.

You see a lot of Pete Buttigieg green. A little bit less but some Amy Klobuchar green as well. Sanders did not hold all the places he won big four years ago. That's one of the reasons.

Let's close that off and come back. Another reason, money mattered in this race. Among voters who make less than $50,000 a year, 38 percent went for Bernie Sanders. Lower income, blue collar workers, this is a key Sanders constituency. You see the other candidates nowhere close to that 38 percent.

But then let's move to the upper part of the income scale. Among those in New Hampshire who voted yesterday who make a hundred thousand dollars or more a year, Bernie Sanders ran third behind Mayor Buttigieg and Senator Klobuchar. Interesting dynamic to watch as we go forward.

Just want to show you how this plays out on the map when you take a look at it. If you look at the 25 most wealthiest towns in New Hampshire by median income, only two, only two, let me stress this out a little bit for you, of the 25 most affluent towns according to median income statistics, Sanders wins only two, Buttigieg and Klobuchar running up the best. Watch this dynamic as it plays out. More affluent Americans not so in love with Bernie Sanders even close to home.

But the senator last night, saying that's fine with him. He insists that as the race moves on, he has blue collar appeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In this point in the campaign, we are taking on billionaires and we're taking on candidates funded by billionaires. But we are going to win because we have the agenda that speaks to the needs of working people throughout this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I mean, he knows it. As this race moves on, we talked about liberal conservative, we talked about Medicare for All, build on ObamaCare, there is an income break in Democratic voters.

JACKIE KUCINICH, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Absolutely. I mean, when you look at it, if you are lower income, you're a Bernie Sanders supporter. And when income inequality is one of the most important things that you care about, those people in New Hampshire voted for Bernie Sanders. And it really speaks to him.

Now, there was a question, I think it was Chuck Todd asked the other day, and Michael was talking about this earlier, what about the people who aren't -- who are -- who have 401k and they just don't like President Donald Trump and don't want to vote for him. Bernie Sanders doesn't really have an answer for them. He doesn't have an answer for the people who don't want a resolution which is a big part of the also a big part of the Democratic electorate.

KING: Right. And so as the race moves on, I just want a little bit more from the exit polls last night. Bernie Sanders grabs the liberal baton without a doubt. If you look here, 33 percent of voters who walk in to vote yesterday walked out after voting who'd identify themselves as liberals. Right there, Elizabeth Warren falling to 13 percent. Buttigieg, 22 percent shows the ability to reach across there.

Moderate conservatives, Sanders running third close to home but Klobuchar and Buttigieg taking that space there. Bernie Sanders talking in the sound we just played about going after blue collar voters, Mayor Buttigieg says, you can't exclude people. Don't talk about revolution or you can't win the middle.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In this election season we have been told by some that you must be either for revolution or you are for the status quo. But where does that leave the rest of us. Most Americans don't see where they fit in of that polarized vision.

The politics of my way or the highway is a road to re-electing Donald Trump. Vulnerable Americans do not have the luxury of pursuing ideology purity over an inclusive victory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: I've been around a bit. This is presidential election number nine. That's relatively tame but will it stay that tamed? Is it going to stay this tamed now that you have this close contested, protracted race, we move on now to places where Buttigieg, Klobuchar need to prove themselves. Biden and Warren need to prove they can get off of the math. Senator Sanders wants to prove he can grow. That's tamed but pointed look at worse?

FRANCESCA CHAMBERS, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, MCCLATCHY: What was pretty pointed from Elizabeth Warren's campaign yesterday too.

[12:35:03]

A long campaign memo on which they had sections on every single candidate like claiming that Amy Klobuchar like she hasn't been tested yet. They had ones on Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders too, about them potentially burning down the party if you go with them. So, certainly getting (INAUDIBLE) from Elizabeth Warren who is also making the argument that, look, we've only had two states, I can still get back in this, please don't write me off.

MICHAEL SHEAR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, look, I mean, it tends to be more -- the candidates who are desperate tend to get more pointed more quickly, right? So you have the candidates like Warren and Biden who have underperformed and who are going to have to do something and do something quick to get back in the race. I suspect that when the -- you know, as we move forward here over the next month and the way the race winnows even further that Buttigieg, if he's still in the sort of top two or three candidates, and it's between him and Sanders that it will have to get more pointed.

I mean, he's making a bet with that statement that the people on the extreme fringes on both sides of that -- for example, the income spectrum are going to, you know, not necessarily be with him but there's a much bigger section in the middle of people that for whom that message is going to resonate. And as long as he continues to make that, that he'll continue to grow.

KUCINICH: You know, one thing Klobuchar does have going for her, candidates seem to get themselves into trouble when they sound inauthentic, they start going after someone and doesn't really blend with their personality. Klobuchar has from the beginning said that the Medicare for All plan isn't going to happen, it's unrealistic. And she has said that over and over and over in the debates and it's really built into her message. So perhaps that will start getting a little bit more attention now that she's going up in the polls.

KING: I think you see, we just talked about, you know, Sanders, Buttigieg, the left and the middle. Also watch Buttigieg and Klobuchar. Watch Buttigieg, watch to see if the sparks there as we move on to the next debate in Nevada.

Coming up for us, back to a Senate race, a heated battle looms in Georgia pitting Republicans against each other.

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[12:41:22] KING: Topping today's political radar, some Republican leaders warning Congressman Doug Collins is putting their Senate majority at risk. That by running against the Republican incumbent senator, Kelly Loeffler. You might remember Georgia's governor appointed Loeffler to fill the retiring Senator Johnny Isakson's seat last year. Ahead of a special election this November, CNN's Manu Raju is with us live on Capitol Hill with this reporting.

Manu, I get it, Republican leadership doesn't like a primary in a high profile race. But there's more to this, right?

MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is actually different than your typical Republican primary or Democratic primary. The way that it's a set-up because of the special election, there'll be one election in November where all the candidates will compete, the Democratic candidates and the Republican candidates. And if any candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, they will be elected the next U.S. senator. And if any gets under 50 percent, then there will be a runoff that would take place in January.

And that's what got Republican leaders concerned because they're worried that Doug Collins' entry into this race could potentially divide that Republican vote and give the Democrats a chance to get that outright majority in November and take back a critical Senate seat and potentially take back the Senate majority. Now at the same time, there's another seat in Georgia that's up David Perdue who's an incumbent Republican senator, the Republicans are worried that this could impact David Perdue's seat as well and potentially this fighting could spill over into the presidential race. That's what the Republican leadership is warning.

But, there's an increasingly bitter back and forth that is occurring between the Collins campaign and National Republican Senatorial Committee, a war of words of sort with the campaign accusing the committee of trying to threaten its vendors if they decide to work with the committee. The committee pushed back, John, they told me in a statement that Doug Collins represents everything that Georgians hate about Washington.

John.

KING: A good reminder there's some fantastic politics below the presidential level as well. Manu, appreciate that important reporting from Capitol Hill.

Up next for us, though, back to the presidential race, Michael Bloomberg rising in the polls, picking up some endorsements and his 2020 rivals beginning to notice.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He's a lightweight. You're going to find that out. He's also one of the worst debaters I've ever seen. And his presence is zero.

So, he'll spend his three, four, five hundred million dollars, maybe they will take it away. Frankly, I'd rather run against Bloomberg than Bernie Sanders because Sanders has real followers whether you like him or not, whether you agree with him or not. I happened to think it's terrible when he says. But he has followers, Bloomberg is just buying his way in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: The president of the United States yesterday once again, trying to meddle in the Democratic race for president making clear his disdain for his fellow New Yorker. I guess the president moved to Florida now. But former New Yorker mayor Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg not on the ballot until Super Tuesday, skipping the first four Democratic contests. But he's back in the news today in a way that causes some anxiety for some of his rivals.

He's announcing today three new endorsements from members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Important anyway to pick-up support all the more so because this comes a day after his stop-and-frisk policy as New York City's mayor came under renewed scrutiny because of an audio of Bloomberg defending it. And it came, of course, a day after Joe Biden's very disappointing performance in New Hampshire as the race moves on to Nevada then specially South Carolina. African- Americans become more important.

Mayor Bloomberg sending a signal here that I have growing support in a constituency that Joe Biden claims as his greatest asset.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And I think -- look, there's I think one poll at this point in time, I think there's a Q poll last week that seem to show that, that Biden support had dropped pretty significantly and Bloomberg's support had shot up. Obviously, the audio from yesterday is certainly not helpful. But you also recognize that there are pretty professional campaign apparatus, not just because they're spending hundreds of millions of dollars but because they're rolling things out in a way to try and I think blunt the effect of what happened yesterday but also capitalize on what happened to Joe Biden yesterday.

And I think -- look, what's been fascinating as Democrats get very nervous about can they beat Trump, is this batch of candidates good enough, why is nobody breaking out, is the number of Democrats who say, this guy got so much money and he can spend wherever he wants, whenever he wants, and he's not just saying that, he's actually doing it to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Maybe this isn't such a bad idea.

[12:50:17]

I think the interesting element is, there's a lot of (apo) that can be dropped on him over the course of the next couple of months. That you just need to kind of wait for when people finally start to focus on.

KING: And he's one poll short I believe of qualifying for the Nevada debate. His campaign manager, Kevin Sheeky on television saying, of course, we'd like to be in the debate but they haven't firmly committed. If Bloomberg qualifies, does he have to show up?

KUCINICH: I mean, it's an open question, right? But to Phil's point with the (apo), they rolled out these endorsements, they haven't answered and explained what Bloomberg said. And he is going to have to if he remains in this race as a contender. At some point, he's going to have to answer to the stop-and-frisk policy, and a whole, you know, range of other things that happened when he was the mayor of New York City. And be it in a debate, be it interviews, it's going to have to happen eventually.

KING: And we're having a hard time, it's hard to wrap your arms (INAUDIBLE) on this because it never happened before. You sit out the first four contests. But, number one, a very smart point, campaigns, they put endorsements in their back pockets, they save them for a rough day. When you need to change the dynamic, move your momentum, so on the day after this audio came out in which Mayor Bloomberg is saying, you throw them up against the wall and you frisk them about people in the minority communities. That's how you fight crime, you roll out history, African-American endorsements (INAUDIBLE).

It's also the day after Joe Biden suffered an embarrassing. And it's a little bit of in your face to Joe Biden plus there's this, you mentioned the money, total spending, $356.2 million so far, $129 million, I'm rounding up there of it in Super Tuesday states. $126.6 million to be precise in Super Tuesday.

Again, we don't know what's going to happen here but he is rising in the national polls, he's rising in some of the state polls, his scenario, Bernie ascendant, Biden coming down is playing out. The big issue for me is, does this increase the pressure on Buttigieg and Klobuchar, somebody better capture the moderate baton fast before this guy with the money comes in.

CHAMBERS: And the Bloomberg campaign, they might be having the last laugh after all really because this is exactly what they wanted to have happen. And this is exactly how it's playing out. But also for Amy Klobuchar, they are benefiting from the fact that a lot of other strong contenders dropped out and now it's creating a pathway and a place for them to be able to get their message out and introduce themselves to the voters.

But is it too late? I mean, Buttigieg is rising, Bernie Sanders is also rising.

SHEAR: And look, you know, the truth is, everybody is looking to Super Tuesday to be the clarifying moment because there are so many delegates at stake. But it also has the possibility to just continue the muddle because everybody has an opportunity to get a little bit from here, and a little bit from there, and a little bit from here. And it'll really test the question about money and how important that money is.

KING: We are in chapter one. Let us not try to write the end of the book just yet. Up next for us, and then there were eight. One more 2020 Democrat calls it quits today on that 2020 race.

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[12:57:37]

KING: One of New Hampshire's traditional roles is to winnow the field of presidential candidates. And that tradition holds true this year. Three candidates bowing out in the wake of the results last night. Andrew Yang, Senator Michael Bennet, and just this hour, the former Massachusetts governor, Deval Patrick. As of now, eight Democrats remain of 28 Democrats who declared candidacies.

On his way out, Andrew Yang says he wishes he focused more on New Hampshire and less on Iowa. And he offered some advice to those still in the fray.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDREW YANG (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I hope one of the big lessons that the other Democratic candidates take from my campaign is that we can't just run against Trump, we have to run against the reasons that got him elected that he's a symptom. We need to start rebalancing the most extreme winner take-all economy in the history of the world and put more economic resources directly into families' hands.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: Yang was interesting in the sense that just came out of nowhere and made a splash, not a huge splash but made a splash in the race. It's hard to run for president so I have grace for those who have to get out, there's no reason to beat them up. It is very hard to get away from your family, to raise the money, to do what you have to do.

The question now is what is the impact. You have a smaller field, eight left and four who have not qualified for the next debate, it's Michael Bloomberg, Tulsi Gabbard, that should be three, Deval Patrick has dropped out since this happened. We had -- build this graphic before Deval Patrick dropped out so we'll put out there for you.

There you go, it's updated. CNN has a great staff on this program. They fixed it for me. But you have these three who have not qualified for the next debate which we have learned from Bennett, from Patrick, from others getting out like Senator Harris, Senator Booker, if you can't get on the debate stage, it matters, it's oxygen.

SHEAR: I mean, you know, look, in a political year where not a lot of things seemed to be going the way sort of normal political lessons would have taught us, there are some things that still are holding truth and that is that money matters, that matters -- it matters that you get in early. Deval Patrick got in so late and you -- you know, that there is just a political reality to life that you can't just jump in at the very end. And that held true this year as it has in past years. KUCINICH: But we saw with Yang, at least in New Hampshire he was pulling from Bernie even though it's a sliver of support. And in a race for that is battering with the sliver of support. I mean, this would likely he and Tulsi. So, with him leaving this would ultimately, you'd think benefit Bernie Sanders.

KING: It's a great point. The impact on the margin. You see it only getting 2 1/2, that person is getting 3. When they're gone, that goes somewhere.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

KING: Thanks for joining us on the INSIDE POLITICS. A busy day, don't go anywhere. A lot of news today. Brianna Keilar starts right now. Have a great afternoon.

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