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"The Boston Globe" and "New York Times" Have Endorsed Governor John Kasich; Christie Today: Iowa In the Rearview Mirror; Hillary Clinton Wins First of the Nation's Caucuses. aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired February 2, 2016 - 15:30   ET

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


[15:30:00] SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is about a nation today which has more income and wealth inequality than any major country on earth and it is worse here today than at any time since 1928. It is about addressing the disgrace -- I want you to listen to this -- of the top .1 percent now owning almost as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. It is about the outrage of the 20 wealthiest people in America now owning more wealth than the bottom half of America, 150 million people. It is about the unacceptable of one family, the Walton family, of Walmart, owning more wealth than the bottom 40 percent.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST: Bernie Sanders, this is officially his second rally of the day, the first since we heard from the Iowa Democratic Party officially saying it was Hillary Clinton, his fiercest rival who seized that victory there last night.

Let me bring in CNN political commentator and former Hillary Clinton presidential campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle and Ann Gallard, the Bernie Sanders supporter -- it's OK, she's live. Here we go. It's OK, live TV. Bernie Sanders supporter and the executive director of Moveon.org civic action.

So Anna, let me just begin with you since we just saw Bernie Sanders there. You know, we know officially according to the Iowa Democratic Party, this was a win for the Clinton camp. I know that, you know, that the Sanders camp was still at a point calling it a virtual tie. They want to see these voter count sheets. Do you want the campaign to challenge the results?

ANNA GALLARD, BERNIE SANDERS SUPPORTER: You know, I think the fact that the Bernie Sanders campaign came from 40 points behind when he started his campaign and ended up walking away with, I understand, half of the delegates that Iowa has last night I think is pretty obviously an amazing, momentum achievement. And you know, the campaign will decide what they want to do in terms of contesting it but I think it's clear to people watching it, including folks like Moveon members who have been supporting Sanders that this is a big victory for his campaign and the ideals that are animating that campaign, the message about saving our democracy.

BALDWIN: So big victory I'm hearing from you and others from the Sanders campaign. I'm hearing the same thing. I was just talking to a campaign official from the Hillary Clinton campaign. Patti, you know, I mean, you know this, at the end of the day, the

delegates do matter. Hillary Clinton will be getting 23 from Iowa. Bernie Sanders will be getting 21. I'm sure you will say this a victory for Hillary Clinton as well.

PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, as a person who ran her campaign in 2008, I am just so happy that she won eight years later the Iowa caucuses. I think it's a big victory for her personally and for her campaign.

But, look, no doubt, Bernie Sanders had a great night last night, he really did. He has tabbed into something in the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party wants a race and they're going to have a race now. And I think that's a good thing for the party, for the country and really for Hillary, because I think Hillary is just better when she's in a fight. And --

BALDWIN: Do you think it's fair for the Sanders camp to call this a victory for them?

DOYLE: I think they had a great night last night. And I don't want to take anything away from them. But Hillary won the Iowa caucuses.

BALDWIN: OK. Hillary, we look ahead to New Hampshire. She's behind. You know, the Hillary Clinton campaign really pushed for this town hall on CNN. We're grateful to be able to have, you know, New Hampshire voters, you know, really be able to ask both Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton questions a week, you know, that happens tomorrow night ahead of the primary, a week from today. But she is behind, Patti. I mean, how will she create an opening ahead of next Tuesday?

DOYLE: Look, expectations are very, very low for Hillary Clinton in and probably that's hard for her because New Hampshire has a very special place in her heart. You know, she won New Hampshire after she lost Iowa in 2008. She came back after like an 11-point -- she was down in the polls by 11 points. New Hampshire made her husband the comeback kid. But expectations are low. I think she's losing by 20 points right now.

So I don't think it matters all that much if, you know, if she loses New Hampshire. It's Nevada and South Carolina that she really needs to focus on. Because, frankly, and Bernie Sanders should be concerned about this, the minority voters in Nevada and South Carolina are huge. And that's where Bernie Sanders has yet to really sort of appeal to that constituency. I think Hillary Clinton will likely lose New Hampshire but then she goes on to Nevada and South Carolina for two big wins.

BALDWIN: Anna, I mean, Patti brings up an important point. I want you to respond to that, especially what she said about Nevada and South Carolina. Listen, we all know New Hampshire is his to lose. But moving forward, how does he counter, precisely her point?

[15:35:10] GALLARD: Yes, it's an important point that every state counts, every community in the democratic base counts in this democratic primary. And every state counts. Every vote counts. That's a principle of our democracy. And Bernie Sanders has tremendous momentum heading into New Hampshire. I don't think anyone should assume it is going to be cape walk. We saw that Iowa was much more of a contest than anyone thought it would be. I think the same could be true in New Hampshire. The point is, he is waging a vigorous campaign that's appealing to especially young voters, especially folks who have been, you know, kind of disenfranchised from the democratic caucus for a while. And I think he is going to continue to talk about breaking up the big banks, to talk about expanding Social Security, economic opportunity for everyone. And these are messages that I think are appealing to broad range of people and the campaign will continue to be talking about the issues that are of concern to all the community in Democratic Party.

And it's making for an exciting race. I mean, this is -- I agree with Patti that this is actually good for all the candidates and good for the party and good for the democracy as well.

BALDWIN: It is indeed.

And thanks to both of you. Thanks to both, of course, Sanders and Clinton and Hillary Clinton to agreeing to do this town hall. What an awesome opportunity tomorrow night for both of them in Anderson Cooper. And so many different folks from New Hampshire to be able to ask some questions directly.

Ladies, thank you. I appreciate both of you.

Next, we had pivot to the Democrats because we heard from Senator Sanders. Let's go back to Republicans. We will get back to our conversation with the head of the Republican Party in South Carolina. You know, could we see a smaller Republican field winnowed down by the time people vote in the first in the south primary? Let's talk about that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:41:05] BALDWIN: All right, where were we? I wanted to get you back to the race for the Republican nomination for of course the White House. Matt Moore is with back me, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party.

Thank you for your patience, sir. We were talking about Marco Rubio and how he got this pretty significant endorsement from the only black Republican in the U.S. Senate, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott. Let me ask you now about Cruz because I know that, you know, when you look at the calendar and you look at how much time, you know, team Cruz has really spent in those southern SEC states, they have been out and about, they have been campaigning. He is there tonight. He is in New Hampshire, then in South Carolina.

What's your assessment of him where you are?

MATT MOORE, CHAIRMAN, SOUTH CAROLINA, REPUBLICAN PARTY: He spent a lot of time here, I tell you that. Has a great ground game set up in South Carolina. A lot of focus on evangelicals here in South Carolina. I would say there's one caveat with that is that it is in the upstate of South Carolina, not the same as nondenominational Christians in the low country of South Carolina. So there's not a one size fits all approach to attracting evangelicals in South Carolina. I still think in South Carolina, the candidate who appeals to the widest array of constituents within the parties will be successful.

BALDWIN: OK. That's and important caveat to mention. What about Donald Trump because you look at the polls. He has been ahead in South Carolina. How does he maintain that lead?

MOORE: Well, Donald Trump has garnered some of the biggest crowds we have ever seen in the party's history here in South Carolina. I think last night you saw two things. One is the pollsters and pundits have led this race around by the nose for six or eight months and voter got a change. But we also saw last night the campaign fundamentals matter very much and the traditional rules of politics still apply. So I encourage the Trump campaign and many other campaigns focus on your ground games, those traditional voter contact apparatuses that win elections.

BALDWIN: Matt Moore in South Carolina, thank you so much.

Of course, that's after New Hampshire. New Hampshire, the immediate prize. It is a primary one week from today that's going to make or break the races, the futures for the three governors remaining in the race for the Republican nomination. We will take you there live and hear why Christie is calling Rubio the boy in the bubble. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:47:20] BALDWIN: Well, Iowa was not too good to Republican governors Chris Christie and John Kasich. Between the two of them, they got zero delegates out of last night's caucuses. Both turned their sights to New Hampshire in a make or break effort to resurrect their campaigns.

I have Phil Mattingly, who is with the Chris Christie campaign, Chris Frates, who is with the John Kasich campaign.

So fellas, nice to see you.

And Phil, let me begin with you. Governor Christie says he got exactly what he expected out of Iowa, nothing. He has been full court press New Hampshire, really focusing his efforts there. How's he doing today?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brooke, they made clear New Hampshire is where they would make their stand. Christie saying today that Iowa is in the rearview mirror and that probably a good thing based on the polling. But what's been interesting today, Brooke, is he has wasted zero time going after the now kind of hot candidate of the moment coming into Iowa Marco Rubio. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:50:18] GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R-NJ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He wants to sit here and answer your tough questions about his flip flop side of immigration. He wants to answer your tough questions about his lack of record and experience. He want to answer your questions about why he ran away from his own immigration bill when it got too hot. I'm fascinated to hear the answers and I'm sure you will be too. And maybe he will answer more than two or three questions in a town hall meeting and do more than 40 minutes on an little stage, you know, telling everybody his canned speech that he's memorized over the course of time. This isn't a student council election, everybody. This is an election for president of the United States. Let's get the boy out of the bubble and see he play given that sweep in New Hampshire. I'm ready to play. I hope he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: The boy in the bubble, Brooke. He mentioned it almost a dozen times just in that period. Really serious attack from Christie going very personal and here's why. They believe in the campaign that it is an excellent contrast for team Christie based on a first team senator comparisons to Barack Obama. Chris Christie bringing the "A" game right off the bat here. It's going to be a wild seven days, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Phil, thank you, with team Christie.

Chris, to you on John Kasich. We know both that "the Boston Globe" and "New York Times" have endorsed him. He is a Republican. These are left-leaning publications. What are his chances where you are?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, Brooke, I think the Kasich campaign thinks they do have a shot here. In fact, they are going all in, in the granite state. They are putting all their chips here. And if you look at the polls, you can start to understand why.

You know, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, they are all within the points of each other. The Kasich people feel like they have momentum here. That they will be able to break out. And Kasich will often tell you that those guys are attacking him. He says that's proof that he does have the momentum because they are trying to undercut his message. However, he is been very clear how important this day is to his presidential ambitions. He told a group in a town hall just that. Let's take a listen and hear when he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R-OH), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This state is it for me. I have got to be in a position of doing well here. And if I do well, we're moving on. If I get smoked here and terrible, I'm going home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: So Kasich trying very hard not to get smoked here, but also managing expectations. These guys aren't saying that they believe they are going to within New Hampshire but they believe need to be a big story next week when the primary's over much like Marco Rubio's a big story coming out Iowa with his third place finish there to Donald Trump. But they feel like they can cut the momentum out from under Marco Rubio saying that New Hampshire voters are very independent- minded, much different than Iowa voters.

And a word about independent voters, Brooke. I talked to a number of independents at some of these Kasich town halls and they are telling me, you know, they need to choose. Do they vote in a Democratic primary? Do they vote in a Republican primary? Some telling me they don't like Hillary Clinton. They would like to vote for Sanders. But on the other hand, they really don't like Donald Trump and they see Kasich as an alternative to that. So Kasich needs to convince them one, vote in a GOP primary and, two, vote for him. So that's what Kasich is taking around state and to these town halls where he is very comfortable. And he looks like John McCain did that in 2000, 2008. And you know, he is taking it in stride. I caught up with him in a hotel yesterday. He had just come off on workout. He is hanging out his workout clothes joking with his staff. So he is very comfortable. And that campaign here says they have a quiet confidence going forward. We'll see if they can make a play out of this in the next week, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Decisions, decisions for independent voters. They have seven days to decide.

Chris Frates thank you. Phil Mattingly, thank you as well.

Next, from Republicans to Dems, the tight race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders wasn't the only drama in Iowa. Ted Cruz now apologizing for what Dr. Ben Carson calls dirty tricks played last night at those precinct locations. Why?

Our special coverage continues in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:56:00] BALDWIN: It wasn't just close, it was the closest election in Iowa Democratic caucus history. The state party has just declared Hillary Clinton the winner in the first of the nation caucuses. Both candidates are now in New Hampshire where Bernie Sanders holds a 20- point lead in the latest CNN poll.

Let's go straight to our chief political analyst Gloria Borger in Washington.

So it is officially official, you know, from the scene of Iowa, Hillary Clinton got it, closest of all calls there. Your response in terms of how she takes it moves forward?

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Look. She is happier to win than to not win, no matter by how small a margin. However, there's a lot of concerns you have to have if you're in the Clinton campaign coming out of this small margin of victory.

You know, when you look at entrance polls that we were talking about into wee hours last night, there are a few things that kind of pop out at me. One is the fact that Bernie Sanders continued to get those younger voters, including younger women voters. The questions of trust that seem to plague her, and most importantly, I think, this question of who is the candidate that best understands my needs, right? And Bernie Sanders, by 3-1 margin, beats her on that.

And so, I think as you look towards New Hampshire, I think she's got to warm herself up a little bit that way in order to compete with him on those issues that really go to your kind of core and your authenticity. And I think that's where her weakness is.

BALDWIN: New Hampshire and beyond. What about on the flip side for Republicans, you know, one guest put it best in terms of jump ball between different establishment candidates, a showdown between Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, how does that shake out?

BORGER: Well, I think you get more establishment candidates in the lane. You know, you have got the three amigos, the governors, right, who were all spending last night, not in Iowa, but in New Hampshire.

BALDWIN: New Hampshire.

BORGER: Because if they're going to get a ticket to move on, Kasich, Christie or Bush, one of them has to do really well in New Hampshire and live to fight another day against Marco Rubio, who it seems to me will have a ticket out of New Hampshire no matter what at this point. And you know, they have a strategy, three, two, one, you know, come in third, come in second, then, after March 1st, come in first somewhere. He is going to have to win somewhere, and now expectations go up for him a little bit in New Hampshire.

BALDWIN: Do you think after New Hampshire is when we start to see some of those candidates drop out? I mean, we know Dr. Carson is apparently taking a vacation and getting new clothes, I guess, in Florida, OK.

BORGER: Right.

BALDWIN: But beyond Dr. Carson, they say he is not out, 30 seconds, how many more drop?

BORGER: I think a few more drop. I mean, you have got Rick Santorum who has run out of money. I think you have Carly Fiorina. I think there is a question about what happens with Dr. Carson, although he does have money. You need fuel here for the bus. And that's provided by money. I think establishment money now starts looking at Marco Rubio very seriously and I think, you know, it's a lot easier to raise money for him today than it was just 24 hours ago.

BALDWIN: All right. Gloria Borger, up into the wee hours, back at it today.

Good to see you, Gloria. Thank you so much as always.

BORGER: Good to see you, Brooke. OK.

BALDWIN: And thank you for being with me. I'm Brooke Baldwin. "The LEAD" starts now.