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Who Will Young Women Support In N.H.?; Demonstrators Clash With Police In Hong Kong; GOP Candidates Make Final Push In N.H.; Rubio Momentum Stumbles After N.H. GOP Debate; How Will Undecided Voters Affect The Race? Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired February 09, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:31:27] CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Hold on a second. I'm trying to get my microphone right. They have us wearing these special microphones for you. They're almost impossible to put on.

All right. What you're seeing right now is democracy in action. Voting under way in parts of New Hampshire, the candidates trying to make their last pitches to voters. Young women, a key voting group this time around. Also happens to be a group that Hillary Clinton is not winning over in significant numbers. Why?

Let's get expert perspective Jennifer Granholm, senior adviser for the pro-Hillary Clinton PAC, Correct the Record. She is also the former Democratic governor of Michigan. Governor, always a pleasure.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, SENIOR ADVISER, CORRECT THE RECORD: Great to be on. Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: What's your problem with young women, governor?

GRANHOM: What's my problem? And I'm probably not the expert to be able to talk to you about it but I can tell you that here, in New Hampshire, young women and older women have put women in power. Every single major leadership position in New Hampshire is occupied by a woman. So maybe there is a feeling not as relevant as women in other states, who feel like, all right, men have held this office 227 years. Isn't it time we have a woman as commander in chief?

CUOMO: That's it, just the straight gender play?

GRANHOLM: Well, no, not at all. But you're asking me about women and why young women are not supporting an older woman for this.

CUOMO: Oh, so you think it is a young/old thing?

GRANHOLM: I think there's a generational thing. I do think --

CUOMO: But then why are they for Bernie?

GRANHOLM: Bernie is talking about revolution. And I'm sure they like his policies. But what I want to say to these young women is, you want to have, one, in a dangerous world, you need a commander in chief who has deep knowledge of the globe. Two, you want somebody who can get the policies through that you want. So when we're talking about lowering college costs and reducing student loans and daycare and universal pre-k and family leave, she has very concrete plans that she can actually get through a divided congress.

CUOMO: How do you think that?

GRANHOLM: Because her plans are very, very specific. She's not talking -- let's just take the health care thing. No matter who is elected, you're still going to have Paul Ryan as the speaker of the house. The republicans will still control the house. So all the stuff that the -- the more revolutionary the policy is on the democratic side, the less likely it is to go through that. Let's just be honest.

CUOMO: Is that another word for settling?

GRANHOLM: No, no. It's not settling. It's saying, I know how to get things through. I have achieved. My record shows that I can get things through in a bipartisan way. And by the way, if you care about universal health care, let's build on Barack Obama's affordable care act rather than getting rid of it entirely.

CUOMO: That's the Clinton pedigree plus. The minuses, nobody motivates the hostility of the GOP the way Hillary Clinton does in this field. How would she overcome that in office?

GRANHOLM: Well let's compare it with the hostility would be -- you know what they would do to Bernie Sanders. And that hasn't happened to him yet in a Democratic primary because nobody wants to really go there.

CUOMO: We speculate on that. We know when it comes to Clinton because they had that hearing -- they've been coming after her for 15 years.

[07:34:39] GRANHOLM: Yes, but that's the plus too. That's the plus too, is that you know everything about her. And she knows how to get things done when she's in. So the combination on of -- she's already been vetted 80 million times. And there's one other argument that I think young, old alike care about, which is the Supreme Court. There will be four justices who are 78 or older on election day. This next president will have an opportunity to mark jurisprudence from here through the rest of our natural lives. And if you want to risk, gamble with putting a Republican in, you don't want -- you want to support, I'll just say this -- you want to support the person who is most likely to win.

CUOMO: Now, this weird contraption on my face actually allows me to read minds. I'm going to ask you, are you surprised by how much energy Bernie Sanders has around him. You're going to say no, we always thought it would be close, and I'm going to say, oh, come on. So let's get to that part. Oh, come on, governor. For him to have this much energy around him, these crowds, record-setting contributions, this isn't just a demonstration of the third, the third, the third. The theory that in every party a third plays to one poll, a third is in the middle, and a third to the opposite poll. He has struck a chord that Hillary Clinton has yet to figure out how to match. What is that chord and what do you believe the remedy is for Clinton to be successful?

GRANHOLM: You know, I do think that he has struck a chord. Obviously, you can see it, especially with young people. And the hope that this country can respond to the biggest issues of our time, like income inequality, like job loss in America, for good-paying jobs for them, and the question is, for them, to me what's exciting about her, what is idealistic about her, yet with your eyes open, I heard somebody say on CNN the other day -- she's an idealist with her eyes open.

CUOMO: Meaning what?

GRANHOLM: Meaning that she is an idealist who can make progress. And he is totally great. He's a great idealist. But the ideas that he's espousing cannot get through this congress. So I want to make progress.

CUOMO: But inherently -- look, you were a great campaigner and you were very strong at capturing the imagination of the voters, the potential, what we can be. All of that signature language. There is something inherently neutral to negative of, this can't happen, what this guy is saying. I can get things done. People want to aspire. They want big ideas and dreams.

GRANHOLM: I totally agree. But I mean, here's the thing. And he has been a service to the Democratic party by opening up this conversation in a way it hasn't been opened up in the past. So the stuff that she has put on the table are things that Democrats do aspire to. So having universal healthcare, making sure that we have pre-k education for all of our kids. Making sure that we, as a nation, care about one another. When she was asked that question at the town hall about herself, when she opens up and says, you know, we are all in this together. We're all part of a greater family. When she went to Flint, that's what she was demonstrating. Presidential steps. Because Flint represents all of the people who are invisible, right? Who have been disinvested in. That action plus aspiration is really what she's about.

CUOMO: Governor Granholm, always a pleasure to -- you almost broke my hand. Are you upset at me?

GRANHOLM: I am.

CUOMO: All right, so. You heard the governor there. There's a lot at stake here. That's why both teams are bringing everything they have. It all begins today. The New Hampshire primary, the first in the nation, on the Democratic side, you've got two choices, period. On the GOP side, you have a very big field still. Will that change after today? We discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [07:41:57] MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: A look at your headlines now. Breaking overnight. The death toll climbing now to nine in the deadly train crash in Germany. Two commuter trains colliding head on just south of Munich. Officials say up to 150 people have been injured. Now according to the train company, the impact left train carriages fused together and partly derailed. Right now what caused that crash is unclear.

Meanwhile, police and protesters clashing in Hong Kong over unlicensed food stalls set up for lunar new year celebrations. About 125 people have been injured, many of them police officers. When protestors charged at police, angered by the heavy handed crackdown against the food vendors, bricks tossed, fires ignited. Police fired warning shots. More than 50 people have been arrested. Tonight's scheduled fireworks display is, though, still a go.

Back here closer to home, more than 30 people were injured when this charter bus flipped onto its side in Connecticut. At least four people are said to be in critical condition. The bus was driving through a snowstorm from New York to Mohegan Sun casino when it spun out of control east of New Haven. The company that operates the bus releasing a statement thanking first responders and praying for the injured passengers' recovery. Those are your headlines at 7:43 in the East.

Alisyn and Chris, did you have a little breakfast? Are you ready to go?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, yes. The Waterworks Cafe has been very good to us. Delicious oatmeal.

CUOMO: Yummy, yummy.

PEREIRA: Don't expect the same kind of treatment back here, OK?

CAMEROTA: I know. Darn it. All right, we'll see you in a minute. Voters hitting the polls here in New Hampshire already. Donald Trump leading in the polls for Republicans, but of course polls can be wrong.

So let's bring in now former moderator of "Meet The Press" David Gregory.

CUOMO: Never wrong.

CAMEROTA: David, it's so great to have you here with us. Polls are often wrong as we've learned from Iowa, and certainly in New Hampshire, it's very hard to predict.

DAVID GREGORY, FORMER MODERATOR, MEET THE PRESS: Yes, we've got what, 40 percent of voters who don't have a decision yet, so they're undecided or they're uncommitted at this point? The other piece is this whole ground game idea. I was talking to a party official who was saying, if you look at Trump's numbers in the polls, if his ground game's not quite as good, maybe that number comes down a little bit. Maybe the others, like the governors who have better operations, maybe their numbers come up a little bit. So New Hampshire's great for a lot of reasons. The volatility on this day is principle among them. So we look for surprises.

CUOMO: David has been speaking to a very interesting relationship as we've been following the race up here. When we talk to people in New Hampshire, like around a lot around the country, they're upset, they're dissatisfied, but they are frustrated because they feel that they are not being offered solutions. Donald Trump is resonating on one level but you had pointed out earlier, there is a cost to this tough talk back and forth. Is that they're not really out there with plans, with positive messages and solutions that people will cling to. Do you think that's a big reason for the nature of the function of undecided?

[07:44:58] GREGORY: Well, I think some of this is just the sheer independence of New Hampshire voters. That is such a big part of the culture up here and it's part of the history. I think that -- especially on the Republican side, but on the Democratic side too -- this is a race that's much more about a feeling, about a sentiment. I think conservatism is certainly that way. That we don't pay as much attention to substance. On the Republican side, whether Trump or Cruz, and Rubio -- this whole business about Rubio talking about how Obama wants to change America, it's basically speaking to that silent majority out there who feel left out, who feel disaffected, who feel like the system's rigged against them, saying that everything that you believed in has abandoned you. The country is kind of working against everything you believe in. The country is changing and we're going to fix that for you, which is a pretty dark message.

CAMEROTA: It is, but why is he running against Barack Obama rather than Hillary Clinton. Why does he invoke Barack Obama's name more? Was that working for Marco Rubio until the debate?

GREGORY: Well, I think everybody runs against the guy who is there. Because I think what they are saying to voters is, what is it we want to change about the guy who is there? I'm going to tell you and this is why you're going to vote for me. I think he's trying to plug into something bigger, though, which is, he -- there are Obama haters out there who are Republicans. He wants to get them out to vote, and to vote for him. But he really wants to touch that vote and to get some enthusiasm. I just wanted to say about Rubio, I think it's really significant and why today is so important for him. You know, he had a moment coming out of Iowa and then the bigger moment in that debate.

And he fumbled the ball in that debate because he didn't consolidate the race. He didn't put anybody away. He had a robotic performance, he had a big meltdown in the debate that hurt him, didn't have a horrible debate overall, but that's what the narrative has been. If he does well tonight, second place. But if there's at least one governor who comes out, Kasich and Bush, let's say, and they go down to South Carolina, where does Marco Rubio win? When does the winning start? In the modern era, nobody's won the GOP nomination without winning either Iowa or New Hampshire. So there's a lot of potential benefit, as Chris Christie comes in behind us, to Cruz and to Trump if Rubio's still got to deal with Christie and Kasich and Bush.

CUOMO: Speaking of reasons why Rubio had a tough night at the debate, the reason just walked into the Waterworks Cafe.

GREGORY: By the way, I'm not sure that that helped Christie. I mean, he hurt Rubio, but did he help himself? We're not seeing that. And this is why he's got to put up or shut up tonight. I mean to be honest, in the results.

CUOMO: Well he has a great quote. David, give us the quote that comes out of Christie's mouth that may apply to him even more than Rubio.

GREGORY: Exactly, because what he was saying, he said, look, when the lights shine bright, you either melt or you shine. And what he was saying ism, under pressure, Marco Rubio couldn't step up and do the job. He didn't deliver under pressure. Well, again, I think the same thing could be said of Governor Christie. He's been living up here. He has made a stake up here. His governor's record of being tough in an independent-minded place -- he's got to show something here. If he is going to be able to have the money to keep going as the race goes south.

CAMEROTA: And there is Chris Christie huddling with some of his --

CUOMO: Governor Sununu.

CAMEROTA: Oh, there we go. Governor Sununu and Chris Christie speaking. So last, David -- conventional wisdom says there are two tickets out of New Hampshire but it feels like that's very different this year. There might be four, five.

GREGORY: No, I don't think there are that many. I don't know that there's that many. I don't think so. Because here's the thing. Trump and Cruz and Rubio -- if Rubio's second here -- but I think there's at least one governor that comes out of here, right? Is it Bush? Is it Kasich? Is it Christie? But there could be more than one. I mean, Chris Christie said yesterday in the John (ph) Martin of "The New York Times", I'll be in South Carolina.

CUOMO: Yes.

GREGORY: So I think -- maybe you're right. And by the way, the party is really unhappy about that. It makes it harder -- if there's all these people taking on Trump instead of just two or three taking on Trump, better for Trump.

CUOMO: David Gregory makes us think, always. That's why we need him. Now, coming up, we have New Hampshire's former governor, John Sununu. You just saw him, Sununu, huddling with Chris Christie back there. He is one of the wise elders of the party. How does he see it? Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:52:47] CAMEROTA: The race for New Hampshire is still anyone's game, of course. Voting has just begun. The latest CNN/WMUR poll out of New Hampshire shows 31 percent of Republican voters still have yet to pick their candidate. How can this be? Let's check in with a man who knows New Hampshire politics better than

most anyone, the state's former governor, John Sununu. It's great to have you here, governor.

JOHN SUNUNU, FORMER GOVERNOR OF NEW HAMPSHIRE: It's good to be here. Welcome to New Hampshire.

CAMEROTA: What's going on in New Hampshire? How can so many people be undecided today?

SUNUNU: Well, you have to understand what they mean by undecided. They probably have two candidates, maybe three in mind, and they want to cast a strategic vote. They know they have an important impact on who can be the next president. And they want to cast a vote that helps the Republican party, nominate someone that can beat Hillary Clinton and can do the job when they get there.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but what are they waiting for? In these last minutes, something's going to happen?

SUNUNU: They're trying to get a sense of -- it's sort of a good crowd mentality. Who can we coalesce around to give the Republican party a good nominee?

CAMEROTA: OK, let's talk about that. Because there seem to be these different lanes or different categories of candidates and I want to know who you think is going to emerge. So there are the senators, OK. There's Marco Rubio and there's Ted Cruz. There's the governors, John Kasich, Chris Christie, Jeb, obviously. And then there's the one-man lane of Donald Trump. Which way do you think New Hampshire voters are going?

SUNUNU: Look, Donald Trump has had leads as high as 25 or 30 points up here. So he's got to win very big in New Hampshire. Otherwise he's -- even if he wins by single digits, they're going to say he's lost a lot of support and even though he comes in first, the press is going to say he's a loser.

CAMEROTA: Are you sure that's not wishful thinking on your part? Because I know that you don't support Donald Trump.

SUNUNU: No, I know you guys. I know you guys. You guys will look for any little thing to get a story like that. Then there'll be a clustering in second place, I think. And an important thing is who comes in first of the second place cluster. And I suspect that you're going to have a couple of the governors there, maybe all three of the governors there, and maybe Rubio. But I think Senator Rubio has really been clobbered since the debate the other night. And so, I think coming out of New Hampshire, there might be as many as four or even five tickets, if you will, going into South Carolina.

[07:55:07] CAMEROTA: That's interesting. Because isn't the conventional wisdom usually that there are two tickets out of New Hampshire? But this year, it's totally topsy-turvy.

SUNUNU: Well it's usually two tickets out of four or five credible candidates. Now I think it's going to be a larger number out of a gaggle that's much larger than usual.

CAMEROTA: I saw you chatting up with Chris Christie back there. What were you two talking about?

SUNUNU: Well, you know, governors and old form of governors have secret handshakes and all.

CAMEROTA: I saw that. There seemed to be some kind of Vulcan mind meld happening back there with you. You know, Donald Trump last night on the campaign trail used a vulgar term. He repeated something that an audience member said. And it was truly the most vulgar thing that has been uttered in the public arena.

SUNUNU: Oh no, he's done worse than that.

CAMEROTA: He has?

SUNUNU: Oh yes. I was at a fast food restaurant the other day in Exeter where a lot of the Exeter students go, the students that go to Phillips Exeter, and they had just, they'd been trying to go to all of the town meetings at Exeter town hall. They get allowed to walk down the street. And they were talking about how vulgar Trump was in the thing. And I was kind of surprised. Young people usually don't express as much displeasure as they were expressing over language.

CAMEROTA: Well listen. We always hear, campaigns are filled with mud slinging, this is nothing new. Do you think the rhetoric this year is different than anything you've heard before?

SUNUNU: I think Trump has made it that way. I think he's brought a vulgarity to it that really has disappointed a lot of people and personal attacks of an ad hominem nature more than an issue nature. And I just think it's a very different campaign this year than I've ever seen.

CAMEROTA: There are these ad hominem attacks, and it seems as though Jeb Bush in particular is feeling as though he must respond in kind. Donald Trump has called him all sorts of names. He's said he's a desperate person, he's sad, he's pathetic, and then Jeb Bush tweeted yesterday, let me read it for you -- Trump, you aren't just a loser, you're a liar and a whiner. Is this the right way to go after Donald Trump?

SUNUNU: Well, I think the best way to go after Donald Trump is to point out where he has been a loser on all his businesses that have gone bankrupt and all the ones that have gone out of business. So if Jeb wants to focus on that, I think he ought to give little definition to the specifics. The four resorts that went bankrupt and so on.

CAMEROTA: You haven't endorsed anyone yet.

SUNUNU: No.

CAMEROTA: What are you waiting for?

SUNUNU: I want to stay able to move my vote around today strategically. And on top of that, I really want to comment on this campaign as an old, cranky old man rather than as somebody who's endorsed someone. So I want to stay neutral.

CAMEROTA: I'd like to say that no, of course you're not cantankerous, governor, but some of our segments are proved otherwise. So in other words, you have a favorite but you're not going to publicly talk about who you think should win?

SUNUN: Actually, I have a collection of favorites. I really am partial to the governors. I really do think that that office needs the experience of having moved a legislature. I do think the country's in enough trouble, significant trouble now after seven years that it needs the hands of a governor. And I'm adjusting my vote amongst the three governors today and we'll see what happens.

CAMEROTA: There you go. Governor Sununu, we always love having you on the show, cranky or not. You're wonderful. All right, we're following a lot of news, including a live interview with governor Chris Christie, so let's get right to it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to get rid of the Bush's of the world.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a long list of things that Donald Trump says that disparages people.

TRUMP: She said he's [ bleep ]. That's terrible. Terrible.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are here in New Hampshire competing for the vote. At this point, it's a turnout game.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm ready for the job, Senator Rubio is not.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I can bring out part together. I can grow it.

CHRISTIE: When the lights get that bright, you either shine or you melt. We cannot afford to have a president that melts.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Join with us in making that political revolution. Thank you all very much.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We're moving into a different phase of the campaign. It would be malpractice not to say, OK, what worked? What can we do better?

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: It looks frozen but the hearts are ablaze with the passion of democracy here in New Hampshire. Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY.

Mich is in New York, Alisyn and I are at the epicenter of American political politics today. We are in New Hampshire. We're at the Waterworks Cafe in Manchester. The polls for the first in the nation primary now open across most of the state. Results already in for three little towns that opened the vote at midnight. A beautiful part of the tradition here. The totals?