[Cooper:] More breaking news tonight. A big surge for Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire. New CNNWMUR poll that has just come out shows Sanders' lead over Hillary Clinton growing. When it comes to amorphus yet ever so political concept known as the favorability rating, Sanders is off the charts compared to Clinton. The new poll was mostly conducted before Sunday's Democratic Debate. CNN "Inside Politics" anchor John King's back to break down the numbers. Just how big of a lead does Bernie Sanders have in New Hampshire according to this poll?
[John King, Cnn Inside Politics Anchor:] Anderson, you don't need a calculator. We'll just take a pick at this. These numbers are stunning. Bernie Sanders now up according to our numbers by 27 points. 60 percent Democrats and Independents who say they're likely to vote in the Democratic primary in New Hampshire, 60 percent now for Sanders, 33 percent for Hillary Clinton. Look at this. This compared to just a month ago when Bernie Sanders was at 50 percent and Hillary Clinton was at 40 percent. So Sanders still leads. And with growing momentum, one top Sanders' ally in New Hampshire joked with me tonight, "Can you please just say it's 15 or so," because they don't want their team to get over confident. But 27 points according to this poll. Now, there are others showing a closer race. But there's no question at the moment that Bernie Sanders has momentum. Why does he have that momentum? Look at his issues portfolio. 26 percent of Democrats in New Hampshire now say jobs and the economy are number one. 10 percent now say income and equality. Those are big issues for Bernie Sanders. Let's compare this to a month ago when important policy was the number one issue. So the economy is now back at number one. Income inequality has gone from 3 percent to 10 percent in just a month, Anderson. So the issues portfolio among New Hampshire Democratic likely voters has tilted in Bernie Sanders' way. And no surprise the economy is the number one issue to voters and by 57 percent to 33 percent they think Bernie Sanders is better able to handle the economy. So you do see Secretary Clinton maintains her edge on foreign policy but jobs and the economy. Now if she won, and the voters the Democratic voters in New Hampshire think Bernie Sanders is the guy to handle that.
[Cooper:] And the Sanders have other things working in his favor in New Hampshire beyond just sort of economic issues?
[King:] Yes, and that is a key factor in his momentum as he makes the case that he's a movement candidate, that he's the change candidate. Hillary Clinton is has been trying to say "I'm a better president, more electable. I don't need the tour of the oval office," for example. But New Hampshire Democratic voters, those likely to vote in the Democratic primary, where asked who has the qualities you want in a president? The personal characteristics, look at this 58 percent. Nearly six in 10 say Bernie Sanders. Only one third say Hillary Clinton. So New Hampshire Democrats are now viewing the upstart candidate, the underdog candidate at the beginning of this race, Bernie Sanders as more as a president. That's helping him quyite a bit in these polls. Also favorability, likability matters in politics. And look at this. There's no question, New Hampshire Democrats, that's two-thirds, they like Hillary Clinton. But 91 percent have a favorable rating of Bernie Sanders. They love Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire right now among the Democratic electorate. And here's one other thing to take a look at. Democratic voters were asked "Of your candidates who is the least honest?" 55 percent said Hillary Clinton. Only 2 percent said Bernie Sanders. 5 percent say Governor Martin O'Malley. Again, this is not Democrat saying Hillary Clinton 's dishonest but they're saying she's least honest of their candidates. No question, Anderson, not only the Sanders Attacks but remember, a lot of those Republicans were in New Hampshire all the time, attacking Hillary Clinton.
[Cooper:] Right.
[King:] It's taken a toll.
[Cooper:] Yeah, John, thank you very much. Fascinating numbers. Joining us now to talk about this, CNN political commentator and the New Yorker's Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza, also Paul Steinhauser political director and anchor at New Hampshire 1News. Ryan, I mean this poll the Clinton Campaign I saw on Erin's Show, you know, were saying "Look, this is an outliner but you an outlier. What do you make of it? I mean Secretary Clinton has half the support Senator Sanders has which is three weeks to go.
[Ryan Lizza, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yeah, look. As John pointed out you don't want to look at one poll. You want to look at the trend. But it is eye popping, right? Now, he has some built-in advantages in New England. He's from neighboring Vermont so voters in New Hampshire know him. But that favorability rating is suggests that the Clinton campaign, by not going after him, by allowing his favorability to be in the high 90s among democrats and by not giving New Hampshire voters alternative information about Bernie Sanders, to raise some questions about him, you know, to go negative, as the political consultants would say, may have been a big mistake, just as a lot of Clinton veterans thought it was a mistake not to go more negative in Barack Obama in 2008 until it was way too late. And I wonder in the final stretch here if they're going to start to, you know, bring out the go a little bit harder against Bernie Sanders. They have to do something to bring his numbers down. She is in danger of losing Iowa and New Hampshire at this point.
[Cooper:] And, Paul, in terms of New Hampshire voters, I mean you pointed out in the past that they don't necessarily make up their minds until closer to the actual vote. Could the end result end up being much different than we're seeing now?
[Paul Steinhauser, Anchor, New Hampshire 1news:] It could be dramatically different. That's the history up here, the tradition. We've got three weeks to go, Anderson, until the primary. You look at the Exit polls from 2008, the last time we had a contested Democratic Primary up here, almost half the Democratic Primary voters didn't make up their minds until last week. That's kind of the tradition up here on both sides, both the Republican and Democratic Primaries The big question, you had a lot of Independents in your poll. Where are the Independent voters here in New Hampshire? They make up 40 percent of the electorate. Where are they going to go, are they going to go? Are they going to vote on the Democratic Primary or Republican Primary? And, Anderson, I was talking people close to both the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns tonight in New Hampshire. And both were saying that they thought it was the poll was an outlier, that it was too big a lead. So Both campaigns are saying that they don't believe the numbers. But I will say, Anderson, on a very bitterly cold night in New Hampshire, your poll is making a lot of hot news.
[Cooper:] Ryan, again, the numbers, 58 percent of those polled said Sanders had presidential qualities. He got much higher marks on handling the economy than Clinton. His favorability 91 percent.
[Lizza:] Yeah.
[Cooper:] Granted he has the advantage of being, you know, as you said, from a neighboring state. These numbers, do they point, do you think, to specific weak spots that Clinton has in the minds of voters?
[Lizza:] I think two things. One, the trust question, of course, suggests that even Democrats have questions about her trust, even Democrats that like her. The second thing is, as you point out, people are starting to see him as presidential material. That was a big hurdle starting off in this race. He's an independent. You know, he's self-identifies as a socialist. You know, he's an older candidate. All these things that were sort of burdens at the start of the Sanders' campaign that he is overcoming. Now, remember, he is the kind of candidate that matches up very well with a certain type of Democrat, right?
[Cooper:] Right.
[Lizza:] Liberal, white progressives, upper midwest in New England. They're plentiful. Once the race leaves New Hampshire and gets to the south, conventional wisdom has been, well, nonwhite voters, Latino voters, African-American voters, they have never shown an inclination to support Sanders. And the next thing is to watch for those numbers change. Does Sanders break through that wall? And then Hillary Clinton has a very big problem.
[Cooper:] Yeah. I kept wondering what Joe Biden thinks, looking at this poll in particular. Does he regret not jumping in the race?
[Lizza:] Absolutely. It's showing some real Clinton weakness.
[Cooper:] Yeah. Exactly. And, Paul, just quickly, I mean if you look at the democratic makeup in New Hampshire, it doesn't really represent democratic makeup of the rest of the country, 94 percent white. How accurate of an indicator is it in terms of how the rest of the race will play out?
[Steinhauser:] Well, you know, you make a good point. But the first two states, Iowa and New Hampshire, are overwhelmingly white, and that plays to Bernie Sanders' advantage. So momentum matters, Anderson. So if he does well in Iowa and does well in winds here, momentum could make a difference.
[Cooper:] It is, again, just fascinating numbers. Ryan Lizza, Paul Steinhauser, good to have you on. Just ahead, this week, we're bringing you stories from CNN anchors and correspondents about the people who changed their lives. Up next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to his mentor and tells us how she's made a lasting impact on his life and career.