Interview With Presidential Candidate John Edwards; Iowa Winners Look For Repeat in New Hampshire
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Jason in Washington writes: "Huckabee just finished -- just had his first and last win. Giuliani's Iowa results signed his ticket out of front-runner status. McCain and Thompson are in a battle for mediocrity. Though enthusiastic about none of the candidates, I suppose in the end the GOP will stomach a Mitt Romney nomination, though I'm still crossing my fingers for Ron Paul." Robert writes: "I think the fight for the Republican nominee is going to be nothing short of a war. Romney has spent millions. He will try to destroy anyone who gets in his way. John McCain isn't going to go quietly into the night. He is battle-tested. He has the organization to last. I look forward to a mud-slinging, name-calling, swift-boating Republican primary battle. I can't wait." And Shelby says this: "Take the fenders from Giuliani, the grill from Romney, the engine from McCain and the interior from Huckabee, and you have one Republican contender. Otherwise, they're all just fragments in the pit for repairs."</s>WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Jack, thanks very much. Happening now: the Iowa winners trying for a repeat in New Hampshire, but Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee face some tough new challenges in the next big presidential contest. We're following the mad dash to Tuesday's primary. Plus, Hillary Clinton's comeback fight, the stakes are high after her third-place showing in Iowa. I will ask her rival John Edwards if Clinton still is a tough opponent -- and the best political team on television standing by to weight in. And John McCain looks for a new shot of New Hampshire magic. This hour, will his recent rebound be sealed or will it fall flat next week? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. For better or worse, many of the presidential candidates came out of Iowa with a fresh take on their campaigns and on their opponents, but perhaps none more so than the Democratic winner, Barack Obama. He heads into next week's New Hampshire primary with a powerful new shot of momentum, but will he get a big enough bounce to beat Hillary Clinton a second time? Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Jessica Yellin -- Jessica</s>JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, his message today is that he will change Washington and he's electable. Barack Obama told audiences in New Hampshire that his victory in Iowa proves that he is no gamble and he says if he can win here in New Hampshire, he believes he's unstoppable.</s>YELLIN (voice over): Without wasting a moment, Barack Obama swept into New Hampshire, telling voters they can make the difference.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you give me the same chance that Iowa gave me last night, I truly believe I will be the president of the United States of America.</s>YELLIN: He slept only two hours before hitting the trail, stopping to press the flesh at a cafe in Dover.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congratulations on your win last night.</s>OBAMA: Thank you so much. I appreciate it.</s>YELLIN: Then moving to another audience with his message of change and a vow to address kitchen table issues.</s>OBAMA: With critical issues like health care and our schools and climate change, and an energy policy that breaks the grip of our dependence on foreign oil, that's the possibility that's before us in four days' time.</s>YELLIN: The excitement inside the Obama campaign is palpable, and that energy could serve him well here in New Hampshire.</s>JOHN CLAYTON, "NEW HAMPSHIRE UNION LEADER": Primaries, I think people tend to vote with their heart instead of their head. Now this is about passion, and I think Obama has incited a lot of passion.</s>YELLIN: But campaign aides insist they're not taking anything for granted, boasting to reporters about an aggressive organization in the state. As in Iowa, Obama will continue to focus in on Independents. They make up 44 percent of New Hampshire's voters. He's courting them with that promise of healing the partisan divide, and if past is prologue, those Independents could give Obama a victory here in four days.</s>OBAMA: And then we will reach out to undecideds and Independents and some Republicans too. And we are going to pull together this country.</s>YELLIN: Now, all this optimism comes with a heavy dose of caution from Obama aides. They say they still consider Senator Clinton a formidable opponent. They say they expect her to go negative fast and insist they will hit back. But going negative could be political quicksand for Senator Obama. He has promised to run a positive campaign and voters might not want to hear a change in tone now -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: All right, Jessica, thank you very much. Let's get to the Republican now who is feeling like a rock star heading into the New Hampshire primary. Of course, that would be the Iowa winner, Mike Huckabee. Listen to this. There he is playing the bass guitar. The guitar-playing former Arkansas governor handily defeated his closest rival in Iowa, Mitt Romney, despite being considerably outspent.</s>MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Last night when we left Iowa, I left very grateful for the wonderful people of that state that proved that money and politics isn't as important as message in politics. And it was a great statement by those folks last night. They proved that they were not for sale. They proved they were not even for rent. They proved that they wanted a campaign that was based upon how candidates stood on the issues, not what candidates could find wrong with someone else, even if they had to make it up. I think it's a great opportunity for us to take that very idea right here in New Hampshire over these next five days and to prove it that, in New Hampshire, it's not just about how much money a candidate has raised; it's what kind of future and ideas are going to be raised for the next generation. And, if any of us have a great responsibility when we run for office, it's not so much to say, hey, look over there, and let me tell you what's wrong with the guy running against me. It's to, first of all, say, there are some things still right with this nation, but there are some things we could do better. And I'm a person who loves this country because I understand how good it is, but I'm running for office because I know it could be a lot better. I know we could do better in some areas. I know we could do better in protecting this country.</s>BLITZER: Let's bring in our Dana Bash. She is covering the Mike Huckabee campaign in New Hampshire right now. These two states, Iowa and New Hampshire, Dana, they're very different, Republicans in both states very different. Is that affecting Huckabee's message?</s>DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It is actually remarkable, and it's not so much what we heard from Mike Huckabee today, Wolf. It's what we didn't hear. His biggest applause lines back in Iowa were when he talked about the fact that he has been against abortion, pro-life forever, and that that is not because of anything a pollster told him. He did not even mention the issue of abortion today. He did not even mention another issue that got him applause lines in Iowa, and that is same-sex marriage, no talk of God at all. And there is a very real reason for that, just like you mentioned. It is because the evangelical base that propelled his victory in Iowa, that simply doesn't exist here. So, he changed it not only in taking that out, but he really played up things that do, do well among Republicans here in New Hampshire, talked about libertarian messages like ending government-run health care and talked about lowering taxes. Those are things that really play well in this "Live free or die" state -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Dana, thanks very much -- Dana Bash reporting. Mike Huckabee scored the win, but there's another Republican who's feeling pretty good about the way the race is shaping up. John McCain didn't spend any money in Iowa, nothing on television advertising, yet, he came only a few hundred votes away from edging out Fred Thompson for third place. Now, the race moves to New Hampshire, where McCain has spent a lot more money, a lot more time, and has a strong base of support. Our chief national correspondent, John King, is in Manchester watching this part of the story. So, what is the mood like right now in the McCain camp, John?</s>JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is remarkable, Wolf, how different John McCain is now as compared to say even just a few weeks ago. You mentioned that narrow fourth-place finish in Iowa. He's in such a good mood today, he was joking, saying he was going to call up Senator Fred Thompson and demand a recount out in Iowa. The senator's sense of humor is back, Wolf, because he thinks, even though he was fourth in Iowa, those results in that state opened the door for a dramatic comeback.</s>KING (voice-over): John McCain is feisty, in high spirits, banking on New Hampshire's embrace. Change is the campaign catchphrase, all the more so after Iowa. But the 71-year-old senator insists he alone has shown the guts and the skills to deliver it.</s>SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My friends, I'm most proud of the change that I brought about in Iraq that saved American lives.</s>KING: Iowa's winners talked often of ending Washington's gridlock. Again, McCain says he's ahead of the curve.</s>MCCAIN: We will work together and we will get things done for America. I know how to get things done for America.</s>KING: Things are looking good here, and McCain sees a comeback path if he can win New Hampshire Tuesday. But the climate is turning tougher. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney placed second in Iowa and can ill afford to lose again. (on camera): And his message on the flight here, his message this morning was: John McCain is not change. John McCain is yesterday. He's part of Washington. He's part of the problem on immigration, part of the problem on taxes. He is an insider. John McCain is not change. You say?</s>MCCAIN: Well, first of all, all of those charges are inaccurate, just like the charges he made against Governor Huckabee, and lost to him out in Iowa.</s>KING (voice-over): If necessary, McCain says he is prepared to air his differences with Huckabee on national security and other issues, but:</s>MCCAIN: But it will be a respectful debate, just as he and I had a couple of times in the past. I think that is what Americans want. He is a likable, decent human being. And I think Americans are attracted to that, that he has got some genuine authenticity about him.</s>KING: The McCain team says there's still much work to do here, Wolf. They can't count on the independents as much as they could eight years ago. But the McCain camp thinks, if they can beat Romney here, and then follow that up by defeating Romney again out in Michigan, the state where he was born and where George Romney was the governor, they believe they can knock Romney from the race and head south into a one- on-one confrontation with Mike Huckabee. And I asked Senator McCain today, Wolf, what would it be like to run against Barack Obama, instead of Hillary Clinton? He said, "I need to worry about the primary campaign first," but they're both, in his view -- quote -- "left-of-center liberals" -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: One step at a time. We will see what happens. All right, John, thanks very much. Jack Cafferty is here. He's got "The Cafferty File."</s>JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: I do. Enough politics. Here's something else to think about. There's a high school in New Jersey getting very serious about teenage drinking. They are making Breathalyzer tests mandatory at school dances and other social events. According to a local TV report, the school's superintendent says that some students' behavior at that high school left them with no choice. School officials say the test, similar to the one that takes place during a traffic stop that is administered by the police sends a clear message to the kids about their zero-tolerance policy when it comes to alcohol. And it appears to be working. Students are passing the Breathalyzer tests, and other districts are now beginning to do the same thing. One Connecticut high school is even implementing such tests on a daily basis when students are suspected of drinking. Now, critics of school Breathalyzer tests say that it violates students' rights, including the right to privacy. But the New Jersey school insists it's steering around that privacy issue by making the students sign a contract that says they have to take a Breathalyzer test if they attend school social events. So, here's the question: Do you approve of mandatory Breathalyzer tests for high school students? Go to CNN.com/caffertyfile. You can post your comment there on my blog. Got a lot of mail today. There's a lot of interest in this election.</s>BLITZER: Tons.</s>CAFFERTY: Yes.</s>BLITZER: OK.</s>CAFFERTY: Big...</s>BLITZER: Good. Jack, stand by. We have got you coming back in a few moments with the best political team on television. John Edwards says voters across the country made a mistake if they counted him out.</s>JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think, oddly enough, outside the small world of the media, most of America was shocked that I beat Senator Clinton.</s>BLITZER: But can John Edwards build on his Iowa success? My one-on-one interview with him coming up. Also, what went wrong for Hillary Clinton and what does she have to do now to try to make it right in New Hampshire? And could U.S. passenger jets soon be targeted by terrorists' missiles? Federal authorities aren't waiting to find out. They're ready to start testing some defensive measures. We are going to show you what they are. Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.