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CNN NEWSROOM

Clinton, Sanders Fight for "Underdog" Title; Cruz-Trump Battle Escalates Ahead of Primary; CDC Issues New Advice on Zika Virus; Super Bowl 50. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired February 4, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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


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[10:32:40] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning -- I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

New Hampshire just five days away from the first-in-the-nation primary and right now Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are battling it out over the title "underdog" in the Democratic race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Are you still an underdog?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Of course we're an underdog. Secretary Clinton, obviously, ran here in 2008, and she won. Her husband ran here several times before that. So this is her fourth campaign in her family here New Hampshire.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have an uphill climb, and I'm going to climb as high and hard as I can because I want to make my case to the people of New Hampshire.

COOPER: Do you feel you do better when you're fighting from behind?

CLINTON: You know, I don't know.

COOPER: Does it bring out something in you?

CLINTON: Well, the intensity of the experience and the importance of trying to convey what's at stake in this election because to me, obviously Tuesday is a really big deal with the primary. But the goal has to be to prevent the Republicans from getting back into the White House. And I'm doing all the progress that has been made under President Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: But according to the latest CNN/WMUR poll, it is Clinton who is the underdog. She's trailing Sanders by 23 percent in the Granite State.

So let's talk about that with Brian Fallon. He's the press secretary for the Clinton campaign. Welcome.

BRIAN FALLON, CLINTON CAMPAIGN PRESS SECRETARY: Hi -- Carol. Thanks for having me.

COSTELLO: Hi. Thanks for being here.

So why is this underdog thing so important?

FALLON: Well, I just think that if you look at the polling there's no doubt that Senator Sanders goes into next Tuesday's contest as the favorite. He has a lead here in New Hampshire. He's had it for quite a while now.

And that owes in part of the fact that he's known here in New Hampshire, having been the senator and the congressman before that from neighboring Vermont. And we have our work cut out for us, but Hillary Clinton is going to pour her heart into this campaign over the next five days. We're going to be here throughout, all the way until Tuesday. And we're going to also --

COSTELLO: So what percentage --

FALLON: -- have this debate tonight where she's going to have another opportunity to make her case.

COSTELLO: That's true. What percentage of the vote in New Hampshire will she need for you to say, you know what, we did great in New Hampshire?

[10:35:01] FALLON: I'm not sure what number to put on it -- Carol. But I think that if we can pour our heart into this campaign over the next five days, continue to put her in front of New Hampshire voters where she can make clear the stakes in this election and everything that she wants to do to build on the progress we've made under President Obama, I think we can have a good showing.

I think it will be an uphill climb in terms of winning outright. But I think that we can have a strong showing as she continues to go and make her case in front of New Hampshire voters.

COSTELLO: Ok. One of the things that progressives are upset about is Hillary Clinton's ties to Wall Street. There was an exchange at the town hall between Anderson Cooper and Clinton that I'd like you to listen to right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLINTON: Look, I made speeches to lots of groups. I told them what I thought. I answered questions.

COOPER: But did you have to be paid $675,000?

CLINTON: Well, I don't know. That's what they offered -- so.

(END VIDEO CLIP) COSTELLO: And, of course, these speeches were given before

audiences, and were put on by big banks. Also the "Washington Post just reporting it has the latest FEC reports. And it reveals that Hillary Clinton reached a major milestone during the fourth quarter of 2015. Through the end of December, donors of hedge funds, banks, insurance companies and other financial services firms had given at least $21.4 million to support Clinton's 2016 presidential run.

That's an awful lot of money. And a lot of progressives feel that she will be beholden to big banks because of this. There's no way out.

FALLON: So that doesn't tell the full story because we've actually gotten more than 90 percent of our contributions have been from those giving $100 or less. As Secretary Clinton has pointed out before --

COSTELLO: But still, that's a lot of money -- $21.4 million. She's raised more money from big banks than Bill Clinton did during his presidential run.

FALLON: Well, I think the salience of the point rises or falls on whether Senator Sanders who has made this attack directly on Secretary Clinton can actually point to any area where there's evidence that it has compromised her approach to regulating Wall Street. And the reality is during her time as a senator and during her time as a candidate for president this time, she has put forward very strict, tough plans for regulating Wall Street and cracking down on the abuse of practices that led to the crisis in 2007 and 2008.

And so I think that voters are sophisticated here in New Hampshire and they are going to want to know what the evidence is that Senator Sanders would put forward to suggest that this money has had any influence on her positions whatsoever because there just isn't -- the evidence isn't there.

COSTELLO: The other line of attack that Bernie Sanders laid forth last night was Hillary Clinton's vote for the Iraq war, and he continued to pound and pound away at that. There was an audience member who asked a question of Hillary Clinton. She answered it and you know, I know she's apologized for her vote for the Iraq war, but this issue doesn't seem to go away.

Fallon Well, this was an issue that was front and center during the 2008 campaign for the Democratic nomination. It was the subject of much back and forth between Secretary Clinton and then-Senator Obama. And obviously in the aftermath of that primary, despite that issue being contested back and forth, President Obama certainly had the confidence in Hillary Clinton's foreign policy judgment that he made her secretary of state. And I think that she acquitted herself quite well in that position over her four-year stint as secretary.

And I think in the final analysis when Democratic voters are contemplating who has the judgment and the experience to be commander in chief, they will decide it's Hillary Clinton and with all due respect to Senator Sanders, he quite frankly, doesn't like to engage on the topic of foreign affairs. He seeks to avoid questions about it.

And that's because many of his proposals lack a fundamental knowledge of the realities of the region in the Middle East. He had previously called for Iranian troops to be placed in Syria as part of a strategy to combat ISIS. He has said that he wants to move aggressively to normalize relations with Iran, and some of those comments are outright dangerous. He has since had to walk back some of those comments.

And I think it speaks to the fact that Hillary Clinton is the one with the seasoned experience to lead our country.

COSTELLO: So you think Senator Sanders might be dangerous for this country when it comes to foreign policy?

FALLON: The particular proposal of placing Iranian troops in Syria is a very dangerous prospect, and I think that Senator Sanders' campaign should have to account for whether he stands by that position or whether he acknowledges that that would be too risky to place Iranian troops on the doorstep of Israel.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Brian Fallon -- thanks for stopping by.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, charges of voter fraud and Trumpertantrums -- the increasingly nasty fight between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.

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[10:43:54] COSTELLO: Did I mention only five days until New Hampshire voters go to the polls? Well, I'd mention it again so now you'll know.

Well, the fight between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump is getting uglier because of that. Trump, still reeling from his Iowa loss doubling down on his accusations that Cruz cheated his way to victory.

So let's talk. Ana Navarro is a Bush supporter and Republican strategist. And Ron Brownstein is the editorial director for the "National Journal". Welcome.

ANA NAVARRO, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Thank you -- Carol.

RON BROWNSTEIN, "NATIONAL JOURNAL": Good morning -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So this fight between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz is getting quite nasty. Will it help or hurt either of them, Ana?

NAVARRO: Oh, you know, look, I think it's got to happen. They are clearly Donald Trump was surprised, taken aback by Cruz's win in Iowa. And he's going to fight back. And Ted Cruz, now, is no longer in a bromance with Donald Trump, and he's finally coming up and, you know, criticizing Donald Trump, and it's going to get ugly. It's going to get nasty.

This is a presidential primary. This is not a game of patty cake. And, you know, this is what we should expect.

[10:45:04] COSTELLO: Ok. Speaking of this is not a game of patty cake, Ron --

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COSTELLO: -- there was an interesting op-ed in the "Washington Post" this morning. And it said Marco Rubio is actually running scared because he's not attacking Trump at all. This reporter writes in part, "The young Floridian is stumping through New Hampshire as if he's campaigning to win the cautious caucus. Rubio's determination not to taken off his bland message to engage Trump may give the impression that he is above the fray, but it can also make him look weak and callow." What do you think?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, Rubio is trying to be acceptable to the broadest possible range of Republicans. And that really has been his strategy to try to have one foot in every camp and to benefit from something like the Cruz-Trump fight which I think hurts both of them because it reinforces the most negative perception each of them are facing.

I mean with Marco Rubio saying that Ted Cruz will do anything to win, this kind of, you know, sense of dirty tricks kind of reinforces that and the biggest problem I think Trump has with Republican voters is the questioning of whether he has the temperament to be president and kind of re-litigating losing the Iowa caucus, I think kind of reinforced those doubts.

So Rubio I think is hoping to kind of draw a little bit from everywhere. The challenge is it may be not deep enough in any one pool to truly emerge on the top. We'll see after New Hampshire.

COSTELLO: Yes, because Ana, it seems at Rubio's campaign events, he always gives the same speech. He says the same things. And voters are starting to notice that.

NAVARRO: Look he's -- you know, Marco Rubio does what people tell every politician to do, which is to stay on message. The problem is that in a place like New Hampshire, voters come up with all sorts of questions, love town halls, love impromptu, love folks who show a sense of humor who show themselves. ?They want to get to know the candidates in a place like New Hampshire.

Voters go to everybody's town halls. They listen to everybody's speeches and they want to know what the differences are between one and other. So canned speeches don't sell well in a place like that.

You know, Marco is one of the most eloquent political candidates out there. I will tell you on both sides of the aisle -- believe me. I've been hearing that speech now for about ten years. I've never heard him not give it well. But, yes, I think he has got to show his heart in New Hampshire. COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Ana Navarro,

Ron Brownstein -- thanks.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the nation's health experts issuing new advice on the Zika virus. If you're pregnant, you don't have to leave home to be at risk. We'll have all the details for you ahead.

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[10:51:45] COSTELLO: Health experts of the CDC are issuing new guidelines on the Zika virus, and it's aimed at pregnant women who may never have been near the outbreaks. It's the latest measure showing how seriously the threat is now being viewed.

CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us with more. So tell us about these CDC regulations.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what they basically found and they confirmed just a couple days ago as you know Carol, that this virus can be transmitted via sex as well as by mosquitoes. The story was a guy went down to Venezuela he came back, he had symptoms, subsequently was tested for Zika -- tested positive and his partner, sexual partner also tested positive. She hadn't left the country since 2008 so they say that she seemed to have definitely received it from him.

So the guidance now is that if you've gone to one of these countries and you come back and you have any infection, and you're having -- if your wife is pregnant, you have to practice safe sex during the entire time of the pregnancy because you could potentially transmit the virus now to someone who is already pregnant, and that's what they're trying to avoid.

So really it still involves people who have gone to one of these countries and has returned. But as you point out Carol, the guidance is for women who are pregnant.

COSTELLO: Ok. So it's obvious -- I mean if you have the Zika virus, it's obvious, and people will know, right? So that you don't have sex with your partner?

GUPTA: No not necessarily. I mean, look. Most of the people, frankly, probably won't know. 80 percent of the people will have very few or no symptoms. So that's why they say if you've gone to one of these countries and come back, if you're concerned, you can get tested. You can find out whether or not you've actually been infected.

The guidance are saying because of the possibility that you may have been infected and not know, you have to practice safe sex with a woman who is pregnant.

COSTELLO: That's really scary. Ok. It's winter time now. So mosquitoes aren't out in force in much the United States but they will be. So what's the plan? GUPTA: Well -- by the way, that will reverse in South America --

right. So it's going to start getting cooler there as it gets warmer here so the problem will start to decrease I think in that hemisphere. These mosquitoes exist in the United States are mostly in southern Florida, southern Texas, more tropical sort of climates. But that's -- and it's possible that you'll have more localized outbreaks in those areas.

But, you know, there's other sort of similar illnesses. Dengue fever, for example Carol -- tens of millions of cases around the world, the mosquitoes that transmit that located in certain part of in the United States, but we've never seen big outbreaks.

The plan in some ways is that, you know, we have screens for windows, air-conditioned buildings -- they sound like simple things, but those simple amenitie4s have really prevented these sort of outbreaks from ever becoming widespread in the United States. It's likely we'll see more cases of Zika and maybe even some localized cluster, but most people don't expect really more beyond that.

COSTELLO: All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta -- thanks for stopping by.

When we come back, we'll talk Super Bowl.

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[10:59:15] COSTELLO: 45 seconds left in show. Super Bowl -- Coy Wire, take it away.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS: Peyton Manning is old, Carol, in football years. He's going to surpass his boss John Elway who won the Super Bowl when he was 38 as the oldest quarterback ever to play in the Super Bowl. Peyton is 39 and in NFL he's like a dinosaur. He's feeling it, too.

This is Peyton's 18th season. Keep in mind the average career is about three and a half years. He's taken lot of hits through his career. He missed six games with a foot injury this season. He's had three neck surgeries and now apparently a doctor has told him he's going to need a new hip someday.

Peyton's all beat up physically but that mind is still sharp. Look out Panthers.

All right. Feel good story today. If you're looking for a nice place to stay to watch the Super Bowl with a group of friends, you can rent out Carolina Panthers star Roman Harper's house on AirBNB for $5,000 and all the money is going to charity. AirBNB is matching it too -- Carol.

COSTELLO: That's so awesome -- that house and chicken wings. Coy Wire, thanks so much.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.