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Iowa Secretary Of State Condemns Cruz Mailer; Candidates Make Final Pitches To Iowa Voters; RNC Weighs In On Iowa Caucuses; Two Virginia Tech Students Charged In Teen's Murder; John Scott Named MVP At NHL All-Star Game; Who's Winning The Money Race? Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired February 01, 2016 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00] REP. STEVE KING (R), IOWA: I just think that if he was going to put out a statement like that, if that was his professional opinion, he has an obligation to do the same thing when Marco Rubio has a similar document out.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Did the mailer go too far in your opinion? Cruz says I apologize to no one.

KING: Well, from my standpoint, I don't like anything negative. When I hear say Donald Trump calling names across the board, I don't want to see that happen in the campaign. So I would rather it didn't happen, but perhaps it's effective. It goes on in campaigns all over this country. They tell me I've never had anything like that come out from me.

CUOMO: You're not on the ballot right now. Let me go back. Did you say you don't like anything negative, cantaloupe king? Doesn't like anything said that's negative?

KING: OK, that's a fair shot now, but sometimes you have to use a little bit of superlatives and a little bit of hyperbole especially if you're Irish to describe the drug smugglers. They were carrying drugs into America.

So I described that for people and my critics picked that up and decided that they were going to use that to describe an entire universe of people.

And I can live with that because we stopped the dreamer agenda with that and Dick Durbin hasn't said the word valedictorian on the floor of the Senate since that period of time.

CUOMO: Well, if you're going to measure by effectiveness, I guess that's one way to go. Let's apply that on this issue to the ongoing race. One of the legitimate knocks on Senator Cruz is that he is saying he is a pure conservative on this. He's not like Marco Rubio because he helped architect the Gang of Eight.

The push back is, well, that's because Rubio was involved in that process and you weren't. If we look at Senator Cruz, he did move, at least in language because he didn't have the architecture rule that Rubio did when it came to whether or not there should be amnesty in those 2013 hearings. He was saying one thing then. He is saying a different thing now. His poison pill bill that he put in spoke to a different position than he has now. Does he have the high ground when it comes to always having been rock solid in his beliefs as a conservative?

KING: Well, Chris, I think he does have the high ground. I recall when that markup was taking place and the poison bill amendments were being offered and people like Jeff Sessions and Chuck Grassley and Mike Lee were with him on those poison bill amendments.

I remember the language and the things that were said at that time. And I remember -- recall him saying that he wanted immigration reform to pass, but I don't think he ever said I want this Gang of Eight bill to pass.

And so I put poison pills out there. I made arguments. I made some arguments that make me a little bit of a thespian on that because I wanted the other side to take the bait and try to shame them into voting for my amendment.

So those things go on, but I think Ted Cruz has been clear and concise. The language that he's used from 2013 on is in 11 pages at a tedcruz.org website. Jeff Sessions signed off on that. I signed off on it and he signed it.

CUOMO: Now what you are explaining as how things get done in there is one of the things that people are rejecting right now, right. They are saying we don't want that game anymore. We want it on the outside. It is part of the motivation for Trump.

What do you say to your fellow Iowans as they get ready to caucus tonight about Donald Trump versus Ted Cruz? What do you see the proposition as?

KING: There is a dramatic difference. One is that if you look at Donald Trump's lifetime record, and you don't have to go back that far to look at it, he has been pro-choice. He said he's allowed for partial birth abortion. In 1999, he was supportive of gay marriage.

He said that his values in New York were different than they were in Iowa. I think that has been consistently true. We could go through a lot of this, the positions that he seems to have adopted to be prepared for this caucus.

But here's the one that troubles me the most, Chris. It is my opinion, I think not something that's very universal. I watched Barack Obama divide this country down the lines of groups of people, race, ethnicity, prosperity, sexual orientation, and pitted us against each other by group.

Donald Trump seems to be a serial insulter that can't stay off the laptop at night sending out tweets and attacking individuals either challenge him or threaten him or just people that he doesn't like.

I don't want to see America go from being pitted against each other on groups to being at each other's throats individually with a license from a president of the United States to insult anybody that you think might be your competition.

CUOMO: The election is certainly going to be a referendum on who the American people think divided this country and who can bring it more together. Congressman King, always good to have you on NEW DAY. Thanks for having me on here.

Tomorrow, the morning after the Iowa caucuses, that's a big day because now it is all about the momentum into New Hampshire. NEW DAY will be there for you. Live in Manchester, New Hampshire. Stop by Waterworks Cafe in the granite state.

All right, we've been talking about Donald Trump because he is at the top of the polls here in Iowa. What happens if he wins? He is accurately pointing out Iowa not known for picking presidents. So what happens from here for him? We'll tell you.

In the next hour, Democratic frontrunner, Hillary Clinton joins us live. You'll want to hear that. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:38:31]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Today is the day. Tonight, we should know the winner of the Iowa caucuses. Both winners, actually. A new poll from the "Des Moines Register" shows Donald Trump widening his lead over Senator Ted Cruz.

Here to discuss it all is chief strategist and communications director for the Republican National Committee, Sean Spicer. Sean, great to have you here.

SEAN SPICER, RNC CHIEF STRATEGIST AND COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Good morning.

CAMEROTA: Remember when we first met a year ago and you came in to introduce yourself to the NEW DAY offices. It seemed like an eternity and here we are. It's happening.

SPICER: It is like the Super Bowl.

CUOMO: Right. I mean, you are a student of this stuff. What is going to happen tonight?

SPICER: Today is all be about turnout. How many folks can get their people to the polls? How many new time caucus goers show up? How many low propensity caucus goers come? This is not like a primary where you just go check a ballot.

You've got to go, go to your caucus site, and be part of the process, and that shows a real commitment that folks have to have for a particular candidate on both sides of the aisle.

Obviously from where I stand the big game is going to be watching what Hillary Clinton does because I think you don't have to be in Des Moines or anyone in Iowa a long time to sort of feel the Bern. I think Bernie Sanders has an amazing ground game here and it's going to be how close he does to her.

CUOMO: Let's look at voter turnout of the years past. In 2008, it was 20 percent of Iowa voters. This is just for the GOP. In 2012, it was close to 20 percent. What do you expect tonight?

SPICER: That's the big x factor tonight, right. We have to figure out how many of these candidates have gotten new folks registered and then caucus.

[06:40:06]I think that's a big deal. There is a lot of unknown. You saw that in 2008 on the Democratic side where President Obama was able to bring a lot of new people into the process and get them to caucus for him.

And that was what surprised Hillary Clinton back in 2008. The question for both sides of the aisle right now today is how many folks did you bring that are new?

How many of those committed folks that have history of one of the caucuses are coming for you. But that's -- you know, when you've got a 125,000 people that normally show up at a caucus site, the margin to improve turnout is pretty big.

CAMEROTA: What do you think of Ted Cruz's tactic that he is using or he is sending out these mailers to voters saying, voter violation if they hadn't caucused before. Is that overly aggressive?

SPICER: There are social science studies that show that kind of methods get people to show up or to give or to activate --

CAMEROTA: It does work.

SPICER: There is no question and we've seen a lot of that on both sides socially people using Facebook and Twitter to do that. The proof will be in the pudding tonight whether or not it was a good thing or not. But I think there is obviously there is a lot of action on all sides to get those people to the polls.

CAMEROTA: I know that you can't say that you have any horse in this game. I understand that. You're the RNC. You have to maintain neutrality. However, for the party, what would be better, if Donald Trump has decisive wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, and thereafter, or if this is a long, long primary process and different people have scattered wins?

SPICER: It's a great question because I think that there is upside of each. One is, you know, you get your nominee early. We played that game in 2008 with John McCain and it worked out better for the Democrats when Obama and Hillary went at it. Got the intensity on their side and kept it going.

I think that on our side, the more people that get part of this process the better. We get more data. We get more enthusiasm, more excitement. So I would like to make sure that we -- I'd like to see this thing go until early April, which is when I do think that we will have a nominee. CAMEROTA: Do you think you are going to see some people dropping out after tonight?

SPICER: Well, each campaign will make that decision for themselves, right. But at the end of the day, historically, Iowa does whittle the field a little bit. New Hampshire whittles the field a little bit.

The difference this year, though, is that there's only 68. We have narrowed the calendar by 68 days so it doesn't take as much to stay in the race as before. Each of these individuals is going to have to decide whether or not they have the support and the resources they need to continue.

CAMEROTA: What is Donald Trump doing in Little Rock, Arkansas on Tuesday?

SPICER: You'll have to ask Donald Trump what he is doing. But there is a lot of states that are now moved up and I think that what you are seeing is candidates who are getting to go early states.

That March 1st deadline on our side, we have 11 states going. So there is a lot of states that people have not traditionally seen in Delaware, Massachusetts, Alaska, that are now on that March 1st deadline, on the Super Tuesday that are going to be in play.

CUOMO: I just didn't know if you had any insight into whether an endorsement would be coming out of Arkansas. All right, anyway, thanks, Sean. We'll be with you for the next many hours. Great to have you here.

So here in Iowa, the mantra, this caucus day is turnout, turnout, turnout. We'll break it all down for you when NEW DAY returns from Iowa.

Coming up in our next hour, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton joins us live. Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:47:23]

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to NEW DAY on this Monday. Iowa voters will get their say on the next occupant of the White House when the caucuses kick off 7:00 p.m. local time.

Recent polling shows that Donald Trump is the top choice for Republicans, followed by Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders meanwhile appear to be neck-and-neck for the Democrats.

There is snow in the weather forecast. However, it is not expected until after midnight. Political observers say it is more likely that that will prevent the candidates from catching their place to New Hampshire than voters going after caucus.

ISIS is claiming responsibility for a triple bombing near one of Syria's holiest shrines. The attack in the suburbs south of Damascus killing dozens. One report says at least 71 people are dead.

That blast at a bus terminal, followed by two suicide bombings happened as a U.N. mediator meets with Syria's main opposition group in Geneva all in an effort to move the peace process forward. A U.N. meeting with the Syrian government delegation has since been rescheduled.

Back here at home, two Virginia Tech students could go before a judge today after being charged in the murder and kidnapping of a 13-year- old girl. Nicole Lovell's body was found about 100 miles away from her home in Blacksburg, Virginia over the weekend.

Authorities believed David Eisenhower knew Lovell and used their relationship to lure her out of the home. Natalie Keepers meanwhile is accused of disposing of her body. The motive is unclear. It is still not known just how that young girl was killed.

It's 48 minutes after the hour. Super Bowl 50 is less than a week away. You can hardly stand it, Andy Scholes. You have more on our "Bleacher Report." My goodness. Here it is.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS: It is almost here, Michaela. The story of the day wasn't football. It was Cam Newton's pants. Check out this bad boys Cam rocking gold, black, and white zebra print Versace skinny jeans on the way to over California.

And guess what, these $850 jeans are sold out online. Broncos, no fancy fashion for their trip. Media day is taking place in the evening.

John Scott's controversial appearance in the NHL all-star game turned into a fairy tale ending. Scott was sent down to the minor leagues after being traded a couple weeks ago.

A fan writing campaign made him a captain for the all-star game. After scoring two goals, he was voted MVP. He was presented with the million dollar check. He also gets a mini-van for winning MVP, which will definitely come in handy for him.

[06:50:06]He has two little daughters and a wife who is expecting twins any day now. Such a cool story.

PEREIRA: I love that.

SCHOLES: But now he's heading back to the minor leagues.

PEREIRA: Really? My goodness. What a tale he will have to tell. All right, thanks so much, Andy.

Well, the candidates have been pressed about as much as they can in Iowa. We will head there after a short break. We will see what they are doing to keep their campaigns strong.

Also coming up in the next hour, Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton will join us live here on NEW DAY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The Iowa caucuses getting under way in just hours. So we have a look at who is winning the money race today. For the Democrats, Hillary Clinton raising $37 million in the last quarter and Bernie Sanders with a strong showing, just $3.5 million behind her.

As for the Republicans, Ben Carson raised $22 million. His fund- raising dropped off over concerns over his foreign policy knowledge. We'll get into that in a minute. Marco Rubio doubling his contributions. Jeb Bush showing signs of weakness.

CUOMO: Let's dig into all of this with CNN political analyst and editor-in-chief of "The Daily Beast," John Avlon, and a warm welcome back and the whole reason we like him in the first place, CNN political commentator, Republican consultant, and wife of Avlon, Margaret Hoover.

[06:55:10]CAMEROTA: Great to have you back from the baby.

CUOMO: The great granddaughter of President Herbert Hoover. You'll remember the only Iowa native to become native.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The first president west of the Mississippi.

CUOMO: Anything else.

HOOVER: Best humanitarian in human history.

CUOMO: That rounds it out.

CAMEROTA: It must be so exciting to be in Iowa.

HOOVER: I love being in Iowa. I come a few times a year.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the money. As we just showed you, Hillary Clinton is winning with $37 million. But Bernie Sanders is nipping at her heels with $33.5 million. This is for the fourth quarter fundraising. What do you see in these numbers?

JOHN AVLON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: They are remarkable strong numbers, right? A lot of Bernie's money came actually late in the game. It provides the kind of sustenance you need for a sustained campaign. You follow the money. These folks have the dollars to make it a long race if that voters say that's what they want.

CUOMO: Does the comparison still stand, Margaret, that Hillary gets money in a different way than Bernie does in terms of the number of donors, the amount of donors and what that reflects in their base?

HOOVER: Yes, Bernie Sanders doesn't have mega donors out there with massive infrastructures going around raising money for them. They are all small low dollar donations that are all coming online because of this grassroots surge.

On the flip side, Ben Carson actually has sort of the corollary of Bernie Sanders on the Republican side. Ben Carson when he set up his book tour a year and a half ago, two years ago.

Set up a digital infrastructure that also led to online fundraising in low dollar donations. It's almost on autopilot, which is why his numbers are so high.

CAMEROTA: There is a caveat, though, because his numbers are very high, the highest. But in that fourth quarter, he raised 19 million in October and then there were questions about his foreign policy and the Paris attacks happened and he was only able to raise 3 million for the next two months.

AVLON: That's a big deal, right. It's not just his foreign policy. I mean, the campaign (inaudible) about their use of money. They were doing a high focus on the old-fashioned mailers that consultant get rich off of.

You have spent money to make money is the mantra you hear there. So real concerns about the totality of his campaign as well as his ability to (inaudible) foreign policy.

CUOMO: Something else you see in the numbers, money as momentum also. Rubio doubling Bush, relevant?

HOOVER: A 100 percent relevant. There is talk in Iowa is there a Marco surge is or is there not.

CAMEROTA: Is there a Marco surge?

HOOVER: We will see tomorrow. Anecdotally I sense that there is a lot of enthusiasm. I think there is an urgency Iowans understand that there needs to be a whittling of the field and so people are starting to think do I end going for Trump if I don't like Cruz or should I put my chip on Marco?

CUOMO: The Democrats have a big advantage here though that needs to be discussed and explained a little bit. I have never heard in my many years in this business of people talking about how much energy there is in the ground game.

It is stand to go reason we will see a surge in participation today because of all the energy in different places. However, the Democrats have a very different game. This 15 percent rule matters. On the Democrat side, if you don't have 15 percent of caucusers in that room, they get released.

CAMEROTA: They realign.

CUOMO: They can. Governor O'Malley had this line, stand strong. Sounds great, but not a practical solution. If you say, there's only two of you guys. You either go home or you go for Alisyn or Cuomo. The obvious choice is Camerota in that case. But what is it mean for the Democrats in terms of the different dynamics?

AVLON: Well, first of all, obviously that race is incredibly tight between Bernie and Hillary. It's very much, I mean, punch a commentator when they say it's all going to come down to turnout. How that gets reallocated is going to -- could determine the winner tonight and who wins the Democrat side, it is going to just having massive narrative impact on the flow into New Hampshire.

That's true on both sides. But if Bernie Sanders can pick up Iowa tonight and then continue in the home state of New Hampshire, that is a major blow to the Hillary campaign.

But if Hillary can win those couple extra thousand votes, we are talking around 150,000 people turning out in 1,600 caucuses per party. So these are tight, tight margins, an enormous amount of influence for the people of Iowa tonight. It could have repercussions.

CAMEROTA: Guys, great. Thanks so much. So much fun to have you here with us and to have you back, Margaret. Thanks so much.

CUOMO: Hoover extra strength in Iowa. We have much more coverage of the caucuses here. We have a full team so let's get right to it.