First Votes Cast in New Hampshire Primary; Inside the Trump Ground Game in New Hampshire
ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isha Sesay.</s>JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm John Vause. Great to have you with us. The U.S. state of New Hampshire has kicked off the first of many presidential primaries leading up to the November election and the first results are in. Dixville Notch and two other small towns cast their ballots just after midnight local time, about an hour or so ago now.</s>SESAY: Well, just nine votes are counted in Dixville. John Kasich beat Donald Trump 3-2 on the Republican side. The rest of the votes went to Democrat Bernie Sanders.</s>VAUSE: That would be four. Over in the town of Milford, Ted Cruz led Republicans with his nine of the 21 votes which were cast. And Hillary Clinton beat Sanders 2-1 on the Democratic side. Ted Cruz obviously doing well there because it's close to Canada. In the Republican race, it looks like New Hampshire is Donald Trump's to lose. The latest CNN-WMUR poll has him holding almost a third of Republicans in the field of eight candidates.</s>SESAY: But about 30 percent of Republican voters, a very large number, 30 percent, still undecided there in New Hampshire. And as Jim Acosta reports, the race for second place there is still very much up in the air.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to get rid of the Bushes of the world.</s>ACOSTA (voice-over): Just one day before the New Hampshire primary, the battle for the Republican nomination has descended into name calling and taunts between Donald Trump and his favorite target Jeb Bush.</s>TRUMP: Then he said, see, I'm the only one taking on Donald Trump. I'm not afraid of Donald Trump. I'm the -- he's like a child. He's like a spoiled child.</s>ACOSTA: But the former Florida governor is no longer ignoring the attacks.</s>JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump, you're the loser.</s>ACOSTA: Bush is throwing counterpunches in what may be a last-ditch effort to slam the brakes on Trump's fast-moving campaign and save his own.</s>BUSH: It's a long list of things that Donald Trump says that disparages people. I find it remarkable that as a candidate for president he would think that that's evidence that he's a strong person. He's not.</s>ACOSTA: The two men are at war on Twitter. Trump tweeting, "Everybody is laughing at Jeb Bush. Spent $100 million and as at bottom of pack, a pathetic figure." And Bush swinging back, reminding voters of Trump's attacks on John McCain, a former New Hampshire winner. Bush tweeted, "You aren't just a loser. You're a liar and a whiner." Trump told Wolf Blitzer, Bush is losing his nerve.</s>TRUMP: He's a sad person who has gone absolutely crazy. I mean, this guy is a nervous wreck. I've never seen anything like it.</s>ACOSTA: Their brawl comes as a new CNN-WMUR poll shows Trump still way out in front. One key question heading into the primary is how much damage was done to Marco Rubio after his shaky debate performance over the weekend.</s>SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here's the bottom line, this notion that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing is just not true.</s>GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There it is.</s>RUBIO: He knows exactly what he's doing.</s>CHRISTIE: There it is. The memorize 25-second speech.</s>RUBIO: Well, that's the reason why this campaign --</s>CHRISTIE: There it is, everybody.</s>ACOSTA: Chris Christie says it proof that Rubio is not ready for primetime.</s>CHRISTIE: When the lights get that bright, you either shine or you melt. We cannot afford to have a president who melts.</s>ACOSTA: Rubio had no regrets.</s>RUBIO: People keep -- you know, there's in the present anyway, why do you keep saying the same thing about Obama trying to change America? I'm going to keep saying that a million times because I believe it's true.</s>ACOSTA: Also unclear is how well John Kasich and Ted Cruz will do. They are also fighting for second place and Cruz appears to be downplaying expectations.</s>SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We never viewed any of these states as a must win. We are here in New Hampshire competing for the votes. And at this point, it's a turnout game.</s>ACOSTA (on camera): The trump campaign is sounding much more confident about New Hampshire than about Iowa. Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski tells CNN Iowa was about information voters about the caucus process, whereas New Hampshire is about getting people to the polls. Lewandowski noted you're not hearing Ted Cruz post about his ground game here in New Hampshire anymore. Jim Acosta, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.</s>SESAY: So much to discuss. For more on what could happen to the Republican field, we're joined now by Republican consultant John Thomas, one of the wise men without his partner, and editor-in-chief of conservative blog, PolitiChicks, Ann-Marie Murrell. Thank you so much. And welcome, Ann-Marie. Good to have you with us.</s>VAUSE: We're short with a man. I'm sorry.</s>JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: You did.</s>SESAY: I know. I know. We need another woman today.</s>THOMAS: We'll get back together, I'm sure.</s>SESAY: You'll be OK.</s>SESAY: You know, got to put to you what happened earlier on in the evening at the Donald Trump rally where some offensive language was used to describe Ted Cruz. I want to listen to the moment. Let's play for our viewers. And Ann Marie, I'd like you to weigh in.</s>TRUMP: You heard the other night at the debate. They asked Ted Cruz a serious question. Well, what do you think of waterboarding? Is it OK? And honestly, I thought he'd say absolutely. And he didn't, he said, well -- you know, he's concerned about the answer because some people -- she just said a terrible thing. You know what she said? Shout it out because I don't want to say</s>VAUSE: OK. You're not allowed to say -- and I never expect to hear that from you again. She said, I never expect to hear that from you again. She said he's a</s>SESAY: It's hard to fathom that this is a race for the White House.</s>VAUSE: But you heard the cheers, right? So, Ann-Marie, as a Ted Cruz supporter.</s>ANNE-MARIE MURRELL, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, POLITICHICKS.COM: Yes.</s>VAUSE: So when you hear that, and you hear him talk about your guy like that, what's the sort of reaction out there among -- especially Ted Cruz supporters?</s>MURRELL: As a Ted Cruz supporter, as a woman, as a person, as a human being.</s>VAUSE: Yes.</s>MURRELL: I wouldn't want my candidate ever, ever to talk like that. And it's funny, you were talking about one of your family members, John, that might lean toward Trump. I'm not going to out anybody here. But you know what, just because you say what's on your mind doesn't mean you need to say everything that's on your mind. And he blamed it on the woman in the audience. So he didn't have to take responsibility for that necessarily.</s>VAUSE: But he does. I mean, he --</s>MURRELL: He does.</s>SESAY: Yes. Of course.</s>THOMAS: You know, the press --</s>VAUSE: But this is his shtick, though, right now.</s>THOMAS: He called somebody a jack -- you know, he called somebody.</s>VAUSE: Right.</s>THOMAS: You know, he's cussed people, too. Not obviously as quite as vulgar.</s>VAUSE: Yes.</s>THOMAS: But I think this really reinforces that Trump supporters like that he says what he thinks. And they're angry. And I think Donald Trump also is frustrated that Ted Cruz has mirrored all of his positions to date. You know, and whatever Donald Trump says, if I'm going to build a wall, Ted Cruz says, I'm going to build a bigger wall.</s>MURRELL: Well, he said that in 2012 before Donald Trump was ever in the political realm at all. So to be fair, he's been --</s>THOMAS: Right.</s>MURRELL: He's been pushing for immigration and reform for --</s>THOMAS: But he didn't leave off with his campaign and --</s>VAUSE: And Trump put it on the map, much more than Ted Cruz ever did.</s>MURRELL: Well, he yelled it. And that's it.</s>VAUSE: Because Cruz has been running away from the issue of immigration because it's a difficult one for him.</s>THOMAS: And I think also the candidates are looking to draw a contrast between who's tougher. In the debate, Ted Cruz showed a measured approach, saying, well, perhaps I'd consider waterboarding. Not really sure. And Donald Trump says, I would -- you better believe I'll waterboard.</s>VAUSE: Yes. And you're absolutely right. Because measured responses are not popular, nuance is not popular right now.</s>SESAY: Right. Nobody wants nuance.</s>VAUSE: Especially on the Republican side. Also on the Democrats side, I think. Now you mentioned the debate, we had that Rubio moment in the debate where he repeated himself a couple of times, wouldn't get off his talking points. In the last couple of hours, another I guess verbal malfunction if you like from Marco Rubio. Let's listen to this.</s>RUBIO: We are taking our message to families that are struggling to raise their children in the 21st century. Because as you saw, Jeannette and I are raising our four children in the 21st century. And we know how hard it's become to instill our values in our kids, instead of the values they try to ram down our throats. In the 21st century, it's become harder than ever to instill in your children the values they teach in our homes and in our church, instead of the values that they try to ram down our throats in the movies, in music, in popular culture.</s>VAUSE: And did you pick up what was going on about there?</s>THOMAS: Yes, I did.</s>SESAY: Message --</s>THOMAS: I counted the first 10 seconds.</s>SESAY: Yes.</s>VAUSE: Maybe even in the third. And -- sorry. This is a problem for Marco Rubio is that he's reinforcing a narrative here, right?</s>THOMAS: Sure. And the problem he has right now is this undermines his authenticity. And the fact is, he's a very authentic candidate but he's -- one of his greatest assets is that he's disciplined and on message. And now the candidates are turning around on him. What I find ironic is that Chris Christie, who lobbed that grenade right at Marco's face, is also --</s>SESAY: Exactly on the same --</s>THOMAS: He is the governor and the former U.S. attorney. That's -- he's, you know, one-note Johnny. And so it's kind of hypocritical.</s>SESAY: What do you make of it?</s>MURRELL: It's also -- I've got a lot of sympathy. I'm tired right now. I mean, I get tired just getting up and putting makeup on these days. These guys are on the campaign trail. They are fighting. They're giving their message over and over and over. They're pouring out their heart, the life's blood, they're putting their families through this. They are tired. It's hard to be perfect.</s>VAUSE: Stop being so nice.</s>MURRELL: It's hard to be perfect.</s>VAUSE: Stop being understanding here.</s>THOMAS: Well, well, I think Anne-Marie is right. But, you know, we live in a sound bite world, right?</s>SESAY: Yes. We do.</s>THOMAS: With 15-second clips.</s>VAUSE: Sure.</s>THOMAS: And these candidates understand that they don't get a long dialogue with the voters and so they better repeat the same message so it breaks through.</s>MURRELL: And no one is better than Donald Trump about that.</s>VAUSE: That's true.</s>MURRELL: Because he's thinking of the sound bite.</s>VAUSE: He is.</s>SESAY: What are your expectations for your candidate coming out of New Hampshire? Because nobody is talking about him. Everyone is talking about Rubio and they're talking about Trump.</s>MURRELL: Yes. Well, right now Rubio and Cruz are kind of neck-and- neck. Everybody thought Donald Trump is going to win in Iowa, too. And the one thing we don't know about this entire primary is we don't know anything about this primary. Donald Trump did -- he lobbed a grenade into the middle of politics. And anything can happen.</s>VAUSE: I'm just wondering, since Iowa, Ted Cruz has been dogged by allegations of dirty tricks and winning the caucus. Now whether you agree with it or not, has that hurt him more than helped? Obviously the win in Iowa has not helped him as much and has the allegations of dirty tricks so that it negated any momentum he got from Iowa.</s>MURRELL: I don't think so at all because anyone who actually look into all of the allegations and everything that happened, I was watching live when it was happening on CNN when they were -- when they broke the story that Dr. Ben Carson was allegedly going to take time off. They were talking about it like it was a breaking news story. And then everyone started live tweeting it right after.</s>THOMAS: Yes -- I think Ann-Marie's right.</s>MURRELL: And yet --</s>THOMAS: It really didn't affect the outcome of what happened in Iowa. I think Ted unfairly, quite frankly, hasn't received the bounce that someone should out of Iowa. And so right now, Ted has been very smart. He's managed expectations going into New Hampshire. The interesting thing is, in Iowa the evangelical vote is two-thirds self- identified evangelical. In New Hampshire, it's less than one-fifth. So this isn't Ted Cruz's state. So if he does well tomorrow which he may, it's a big boost.</s>SESAY: How well does he have to do?</s>THOMAS: Top -- if he comes in top four, it's a really good night. South Carolina, he should have a great night because of the evangelical base.</s>SESAY: OK.</s>VAUSE: Thank you both.</s>SESAY: Always a pressure.</s>THOMAS: Thank you.</s>SESAY: Ann-Marie, lovely to have you with us. John Thomas --</s>MURRELL: It's good to be here.</s>SESAY: We'll reunite you with your other half soon enough.</s>THOMAS: Noted.</s>SESAY: Thank you.</s>VAUSE: OK. With a strong lead, Donald Trump's campaign has not tried to build a so-called ground game in New Hampshire.</s>SESAY: His army of volunteers is small compared to those of other candidates. But as Sara Murray reports what Trump supporters lack in numbers, they sure do make up for in enthusiasm.</s>SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's Donald Trump lands his first victory of 2016 in New Hampshire Tuesday, even he says it won't be because of his ground game.</s>TRUMP: You know, personally I think the debate tonight is more important than the ground game because in New Hampshire, the people, they like you. And they're going to go out and they're going to vote and they're going to go back. You know, there's not so much of a ground game.</s>MURRAY: That's not stopping Trump's team from putting it on display.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you mind if we if you're a supporter of Mr. Trump?</s>MURRAY: After barring reporters from campaign offices in Iowa --</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been told to turn all media away.</s>MURRAY (on camera): OK.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no comment on any matter.</s>MURRAY (voice-over): Trump shifted stances in the wake of his second place finish, allowing reporters to tag along with volunteers.</s>JAMES RADCLIFFE, TRUMP CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: All right. Last one on the street. By far, we have the most organized, the most passionate team. The fire is lit in our bellies, and we're going for it every day.</s>MURRAY: The team is led by campaign manager and longtime New Hampshire operative Corey Lewandowski. He has experience in the nitty-gritty of voter registration. But his efforts to ramp up Trump's ground game appear to rest on a flimsy foundation.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're Donald Trump volunteers and we're going around.</s>MURRAY: According to campaign finance reports, Trump has spent little on data or voter targeting, a cornerstone of rival campaigns. For eight months, Marco Rubio's camp has been knocking on doors and making phone calls, laying the ground work for late breaking voters.</s>KATHY BOVE, RUBIO CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: New Hampshire listens and they wait and wait to make up their mind.</s>MURRAY (on camera): Right. Is it driving you crazy the number of people who are still undecided?</s>K. BOVE: Yes.</s>MARTY BOVE, RUBIO CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: Yes -- well, not really because I'm used to it.</s>MURRAY (voice-over): Just days before the primary, Trump was still soliciting volunteers. Meanwhile, John Kasich's campaign brought in several out-of-state helpers, putting them up in farm houses and supporters' living rooms and dispatching them daily.</s>SUSAN O'BRIEN, KASICH CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: By the end of the day, I was really tired.</s>MURRAY: All to persuade New Hampshire's coveted independents to vote for Kasich.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope you will join me of supporting John Kasich for president on February 9th.</s>MURRAY: As other camps put their trust in turnout efforts, Trump is still betting on celebrity, adding the kinds of retail stops he regularly skipped in Iowa, and pressing voters to show up for him or not at all.</s>DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A lot of these politicians say, it's not important who you vote for, but you have to go through the process. I feel differently. If you're not going to vote for me, do not vote.</s>MURRAY (on camera): Now in spite of Donald Trump's ground game challenges, the keys of the New Hampshire primary process, as well as the large number of independent voters, can still work in his advantage here on Tuesday night. And a number of rival campaigns tell me that even if Trump is struggling on the ground, they still expect him to win in the Granite State. Sara Murray, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.</s>VAUSE: And much more politics ahead here on NEWSROOM L.A., including former U.S. president Bill Clinton slamming some Bernie Sanders supporters for online attacks against his wife.</s>BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: She and other people who have gone online to defend Hillary and explain, just explained, why they supported her, have been subject to vicious trolling. And attacks that are literally too profane, often, not to mention, sexist, to repeat.