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New Hampshire Primary; FAMU Victim's Family Says Death Was Hazing; Syrian President Gives Defiant Speech; DNA Links 1991 Killing To Massachusetts Family; Nicotine Patch Could Slow Dementia; Romney Attacked From All Sides; Interview With Romney New Hampshire Campaign Co-Chair; DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz Interview; Interview With Huntsman Campaign Manager; Obama's Ground Game In New Hampshire
Aired January 10, 2012 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, I'm Randi Kaye. It's 1:00, we have got a busy hour ahead. So, this is what all the fuss is about, election day in New Hampshire. Republicans choosing a nominee to run against President Obama. Democrats choosing, well, President Obama. These first in the nation primaries culminate months or even years of campaigning and most of the top Republicans are still at it. Here's why. The last New Hampshire tracking poll by Suffolk University puts to rest any visions of Iowa-like outcomes. Mitt Romney's lead is actually a few points wider than yesterday. But Jon huntsman has broken out of a three-way tie for third into a virtual dead heat for second. And as of yesterday, seven percent of likely voters still have not made up their minds.
No need for polls in Dixville notch or Hartsville locations, for that matter, in keeping with their quirky tradition. Those two voted at midnight and the results are in. Drum roll, please. Dixville awarded two votes each to Romney and Huntsman. Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul got one vote each. Hart voters gave Romney five votes, Paul four, huntsman two, Gingrich and Rick Perry, one each.
Well, whatever happens elsewhere in the granite state, you will hear it first from this guy right here, Wolf Blitzer is already suited up for the big night.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: We're ready to go.
KAYE: I'm sure you are.
BLITZER: We've been practicing and practicing and practicing.
KAYE: You need practice after all these years?
BLITZER: We do, always need to practice.
KAYE: All these election nights?
BLITZER: You want to be a good cellist, you've got to practice.
KAYE: That's true.
BLITZER: You want to be a tennis player, you've got to practice.
KAYE: I'm sure it'll be perfect. Let's talk about Mitt Romney. Do you think he has anything to fear tonight given the poll numbers?
BLITZER: Well, he's going to win in New Hampshire, the question is, does he win with 30 percent, 35 percent, or 40 percent? The pundits will be looking closely, but a win is a win is a win. He won in Iowa by eight votes, but that is still a win. A win is good. If you win Iowa, New Hampshire, and if he were to go on and win in South Carolina, which is coming up January 21st, that's the trifecta, that's pretty good.
KAYE: What does it say, though, if he -- if he comes in at less than 40 percent?
BLITZER: It's still -- it's still -- I wouldn't read too much into that. He's got a lot of -- they're dividing up a lot of the other votes, the non-Mitt Romney, if you will. If Huntsman comes in second, though, that's impressive for Huntsman. It's do or die for him in New Hampshire, Jon huntsman. If he doesn't do well tonight, it's over --
KAYE: Do you think he's --
BLITZER: -- for all practical purposes.
KAYE: Has he been playing it right there do you think? I mean, he's sort of doing what Santorum did in Iowa. He's visited, what -- he's had about, what, 160 or 170 campaign stops?
BLITZER: Yes. He spent -- he's doing -- spent all of his time in New Hampshire. He may have visited Iowa once, very, very briefly. All of his time, all of his money in New Hampshire. He's got to do well, Huntsman. If he doesn't do well, I suspect it could be over for him.
KAYE: What about Santorum? He's in fourth place, right now. I mean, is that good enough to then carry on the momentum -- any other momentum that might be left in South Carolina?
BLITZER: I think Santorum and Gingrich, they are definitely going on to South Carolina. Rick Perry has already given up hope for New Hampshire. He's already in South Carolina. But I think that all of them will presume -- maybe with the exception of huntsman, depending on how he does, they'll all be in South Carolina and then Florida. They're not giving up. It's still very early in the process and I don't see any reason why they should give up, as long as they have the money and the strength and the will to go forward.
KAYE: So, based on what you know from all these years of covering politics, is Romney unstoppable if he takes Iowa and New Hampshire?
BLITZER: Look, based on everything we've seen so far over these past several months, anything is still possible. Is it likely Romney will get the nomination? Yes. But is it possible he could be stopped? Yes. A lot will depend on, what, you know, these story lines, what comes out, what moves voters, doesn't move voters. One thing that's a wild card right now, we're going to see how effective it is, Newt Gingrich has -- he has a lot of supporters and some very, very wealthy supporters that are putting up millions of dollars right now in negative attack ads on Mitt Romney in South Carolina. If those ads succeed in doing to Mitt Romney in South Carolina what the pro- Mitt Romney attack ads did to Newt Gingrich in Iowa, who knows what could happen?
KAYE: You in for a long night, you think?
BLITZER: I think we'll know pretty soon whether or not Mitt Romney -- we'll be able to project that, I suspect, relatively early, but the question who comes in second, third, that could drag on and we'll see how long it goes.
KAYE: That's what I --
BLITZER: I'm hoping it goes on all night.
KAYE: I know.
BLITZER: I love that kind of stuff.
KAYE: And all year. We'll take it. All right, Wolf, thank you very much. We'll be tuning in tonight. And remember to join Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett, and John King tonight for live coverage of the New Hampshire Primary, 7:00 Eastern, right here only on CNN.
We'll get right back to politics in a moment. But first, we want to tell you about some other stories making news right now. We're learning more about 26-year-old Robert Champion, the Florida A&M drum major who died in November. He was allegedly beaten on a bus that's part of a band-hazing ritual. Champion's friends have told the family's attorney that he was gay and that may have been one reason why he was treated more harshly than other band members. But champion's family attorney says this was not a hate crime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRIS CHESTNUT, ATTORNEY: We are shocked, we're outraged, we're devastated that a band director would suggest that an institution that he himself as a leader of a band is exonerated for the death of a band member on his watch, just because that band member was gay, that now this makes it a hate crime? No, this is hazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Champion's family is expected to sue the bus line and FAMU.
Now to Syria, where president Bashar Al Assad gave a rare and defiant speech. He blamed the violence in his country on, quote, "external conspiracies by western and Arab elements." Al Assad also denied giving orders to government departments to fire on protesters. And he said a referendum over a new constitution will happen in March.
And in Seattle, DNA may help sheriff's deputies find a suspect in a 20-year-old murder. 16-year-old Sarah Yarborough was killed outside Seattle in December 1991. Investigators circulated two composite sketches of a possible suspect but never had a name. After a comparison with genealogy records, they discovered the suspect's DNA was similar to Robert Fuller, who settled in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1630. Investigators say they now have a probable last name. Amazing.
Turning to health news, get this, of all things, a nicotine patch may help elderly people with memory loss. Preliminary research published in the journal of neurology finds that it could improve the brain performance of people experiencing early symptoms of dementia. The lead researcher says he saw he saw an improvement in attention and mental processing in the patients who received the nicotine patch treatment. The study was done on 74 nonsmokers for six months.
Now back to politics, as the front-runner in the race for president, you can expect negative attacks, but Mitt Romney is getting it from all sides.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I thought it was going to come from the president and the Democrats from the left, but instead it's coming from speaker Gingrich and apparently others.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Can he overcome this? We'll talk with a Romney campaign adviser right after the break.
But first, a political junkie question for you. The Democrats also vote in New Hampshire today. So, how many names are on the Democratic primary ballot? Tweet the answer to me @RandiKayeCNN. I'll give a shout-out to the first person with the right answer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Before the break, I asked how many names are on the Democratic ballots in the New Hampshire primary? Well, the answer is 14, including President Barack Obama, Crane's tax phrase freeze (ph), and a guy named Vernon Supreme. Keep track of all this? Congrats to Dnell for tweeting me the right answer.
You don't really need a poll to tell you who the front-runner is in the GOP race for the president.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Governor Romney enjoys firing people. I enjoy creating jobs.
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips, whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out, because his company, Bain capital, and all the jobs that they killed. I'm sure that he was worried that he'd run out of pink slips.
NEW GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENT CANDIDATE: Now, I have to ask a question. Is that really what -- is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of other people and walk off with the money?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Mitt Romney is the front-runner, slash, punching bag, and those fighting words from Jon Huntsman, and Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich stem from Romney's work for the private equity firm, Bain Capital. He made a lot of money investing in businesses that sometimes did very well and sometimes went bust. Romney's New Hampshire poll numbers haven't gone bust and my next guest has something to do with that.
Jennifer Horn is mitt Romney's New Hampshire campaign co-chair. Thanks for joining us again, Jennifer. Since we spoke last week, the attacks have come fast and furious against Mitt Romney. Let me play you a quick comment from Governor Romney himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROMNEY: I like being able to fire people that provide services to me. If I -- you know, if someone doesn't give me the good service I need, I want to say that, you know, I'm going to go get somebody else to provide that service to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: So has the onslaught prompted you and your folks there to change your game at all?
JENNIFER HORN, NEW HAMPSHIRE CO-CHAIR, MITT ROMNEY CAMPAIGN: Not at all. Listen, I was in the room when Governor Romney made that comment. He was talking about bringing free market competition to health care services, talking about that as consumers, we should have the right to fire our health care service provider if we're dissatisfied with the service that we were getting them.
But Randi, I have to tell you, there is nothing more infuriating to a conservative than to hear Republicans who claim to be conservative attacking free markets, attacking capitalism. And you know, for Speaker Gingrich, in particular, who made $150 million, essentially selling access in Washington D.C., this is a really disappointing thing to hear.
KAYE: I know you said that you were there, and I want you to just walk us through with a little more detail. But first, I want to play exactly what Mitt Romney said about firing, and then you tell me how he meant it.
HORN: Sure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROMNEY: I like being able to fire people that provide services to me. You know, if someone doesn't give me the good service I need, I want to say, you know, that I'm going to go get somebody else to provide that service to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HORN: I think he meant exactly that. I think he meant exactly that. That when you're not getting the service that you paid for, you should have a right, as a consumer, to get that service somewhere else. The entire conversation, if you play the three or four sentences before that, was about health care. He was talking about bringing competition and free markets into health care, so that consumers, individuals, yourself, myself, so that we have the right to go out and choose our health care provider rather than the federal mandate that President Obama would like to push with Obamacare. And the important thing here, Randi, is that the voters, the citizens of our country, are smarter than that. They are more sophisticated than that, they understand what Governor Romney meant by this, and they agree with him.
KAYE: Let me ask you about some of the hits that he's taken, because there is -- there is one school of thought that he's taken a lot of hits and really that this sort of trial by fire will only make the nominee, the eventual nominee, if it is mitt Romney, stronger. Do you buy that?
HORN: I'm sorry, Randi, say it one more time. It's a little bit noisy here.
KAYE: One school of thought is that trial by fire in this stage of the game, all the hits he's taking, could make the eventual nominee, if it is him, better prepared for the general.
HORN: Right. Listen, I'm a big believer in robust primaries. I've run for federal office. I think primaries make the candidates stronger, they make the message stronger. Governor Romney has been out there on the stump delivering a clear, consistent, conservative message on bringing prosperity and jobs back to America again.
This is -- these are little bumps in the road. We are hoping to do very well here in New Hampshire today. We move on to South Carolina, where we hope to do well also. And we just continue with the same message that Governor Romney has had from the beginning, that he's the candidate with the conservative record in both the private and public sector, that is uniquely -- uniquely qualifies him for this moment in our nation's history, to put America back to work and to get our country back on track.
KAYE: What number, in terms of percentages, will make you happy tonight?
HORN: Listen, one vote more than the next guy. You know, this is -- this is, you know --
KAYE: Or at least eight more, as he likes to say. HORN: We hope to do well. We hope to do well here. Everybody on the team has been working incredibly hard. They have knocked on tens of thousands of doors. They've made hundreds of thousands of calls. The governor has done -- made -- I don't -- I've lost track of how many visits and events he's done here.
KAYE: Right.
HORN: The thousands and thousands of voters, we've all put everything we've got into this. And now, you know, at this point, it's just about sitting back and hoping that the voters of New Hampshire have -- are willing to put their trust in the governor and move us forward.
KAYE: Jennifer Horn, you'll be watching tonight, and so will we. Thank you very much.
And remember to stay with CNN for live coverage of the New Hampshire primary.
With all the focus on the Republican candidates, it's easy to forget this guy. President Obama is also running in New Hampshire. He's even on the ballot. His campaign strategy for 2012? DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz joins us next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The change is hard, but it's possible. And if you want to end the cynicism and the game playing and the point scoring here in Washington, then this is the election to send a message that you refuse to back down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: With all the focus on the Republican candidates today, it's easy to forget this guy's running in New Hampshire too. In fact, President Obama is on the ballot alongside 13 other Democratic presidential candidates. While there's no doubt about his chances today, the president's re-election team is gearing up for November. And they'll certainly be watching the votes come in tonight on the Republican side.
Joining me now from Manchester, Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
Congresswoman, the Democrats are --
REP. DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (D-FL), CHAIRWOMAN, DNC: You're welcome.
KAYE: The Democrats are probably relishing all this infighting on the Republican side. Are the attacks on Romney actually helping President Obama, though, in November? SCHULTZ: Well, we're focused today and leading up to today on making sure that we stand up the most significant grassroots presidential campaign in history. We've been running a door-to-door, neighbor-to- neighbor campaign. We had 500 events around the state, 3,200 one-on- one meeting and seven offices open around the state as of today. So that's our focus.
The Republicans have been busy in a circular firing squad and it's pretty clear that there's a dramatic contrast between the direction that President Obama's been taking us and fighting for working families and the group of candidates on the other side who want to make sure that the wealthiest, most fortunate Americans keep the wind at their backs.
KAYE: You have noted that there appears to be a lack of enthusiasm, if you will, around Mitt Romney and certainly within the GOP itself. But if he wins tonight, won't he be in pretty good shape, I mean, as the only non-incumbent Republican candidate to ever win Iowa and New Hampshire? I mean, does that make him a pretty strong contender against Obama, if it indeed goes that way?
SCHULTZ: Well, I mean, he really limped out of Iowa, Randi. He was -- spent five years trying to win Iowa. Spent the most money doing it. And only beat the candidate who spent the least by eight votes. And now he comes into New Hampshire, which is essentially his home state. I mean he was the governor of Massachusetts, right next door. Has a home in New Hampshire. If he doesn't do better than 50 percent, and beat his nearest competitor by 30 points, then that really demonstrates how little enthusiasm there is for him here and how lackluster his campaign is.
And it would be understandable, because when you don't have any conviction, when you don't stand for anything or you're willing to stand for anything, then the voters really aren't going to have a lot of confidence if you. And so he's -- there are repeated examples of Mitt Romney really showing how dramatically out of touch he is with working families. And yesterday saying that he likes firing people, that he somehow identifies with people who have been fired because he's feared having a pink slip, I mean, when? He's shown no evidence of that. This is a guy who repeatedly has stuck the silver spoon that he was born with back in his mouth. And it really is a clear, dramatic contrast between the two directions that we could go on November 6th.
KAYE: Is he still the guy that the White House has in its sights?
SCHULTZ: I'm sorry?
KAYE: Is he still the guy? I mean for a while now the White House has certainly been focused on Mitt Romney. That still the case?
SCHULTZ: Mitt Romney has really earned the scrutiny. He's at or near the top of the pack of candidates on the Republican side. He's exclusively focused on President Obama and distorted and mischaracterized his record. And we're not going to take that lying down. And we think that people should know that this is a candidate who just in 2002 ran for governor of Massachusetts, supporting Roe versus Wade, saying that he was pro-choice, now says he's pro-life. I mean who has gone from saying that he has strongly held convictions on one side of an issue and completely flip-flopped based on his desire to get elected. And that's something that we think voters need to know. And so we've been talking about it as a result.
KAYE: Very quickly, I just want to share a couple of polls with you. Looking at the president's approval rating, it's certainly up a bit at 49 percent last month. And if Romney is the nominee, our most recent polling has Obama beating him, 52 percent to 45 percent in the general election matchup. But is the president also running against the economy, do you think, congresswoman? I mean, how much does the economy have to improve for him to win?
SCHULTZ: The president has been fighting so hard for the last three years to get the economy turned around and create jobs. And he's taken us from bleeding 750,000 jobs a month to now, three years later, we've had 22 straight months of job growth in the private sector, Randi. And just last month, 200,000 jobs created in last month alone.
He's begun to get things turned around. Slow but steady progress. And, you know, as far as the Republican nominee, we'll see what happens with that. President Obama's busy being president and we're busy in the Obama campaign and the Democratic Party making sure that we run a huge grassroots campaign. Mitt Romney's campaign, his office here in Manchester, is up for lease and we've got offices around the state, seven offices open around the state. We'll be hitting the ground running tomorrow and they'll be packing up and going to South Carolina.
KAYE: Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, thank you very much.
SCHULTZ: Thank you.
KAYE: And remember to join Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett, and John King tonight for live coverage of the New Hampshire primaries, 7:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
Jon Huntsman polled in the single digits just days ago, but he's climbing in the polls in New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON HUNTSMAN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Everybody's saying, hey, you're surging. We're hearing anecdotally that a lot of votes are coming in for you. And I say, hey, I'm still the underdog.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Could he surge toward the top and become the leading conservative alternative to Mitt Romney? We'll talk with his campaign manager, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really want to know what Governor Huntsman, for example, can tell me is good about him as compared to some of the other candidates that I'm considering. I'm tired of hearing the negative. I want to hear some positives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: The GOP candidates have rotated through front-runners and stunning surges. In New Hampshire, we're seeing it again. This time, it is Jon Huntsman's turn, who up until now was consistently at the back of the pack. This rolling average from Gallup pretty much proves that fact. You see the yellow line there? Yep, that's Jon Huntsman.
But check out the latest polls. Huntsman is neck and neck with Ron Paul behind Romney. A Suffolk University poll has him in third place. And this poll by the American Research Group has Huntsman surging to second place with 18 percent. Some, even Huntsman himself, thought that was nearly impossible just a few days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTSMAN: Nobody associated the word "surge" with our name. And I get around this morning and everybody's saying, hey, you're surging. We're hearing anecdotally that a lot of votes are coming in for you. And I say, hey, I'm still the underdog. I'm the margin of error candidate who barely in single digits just a few short days ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Let's bring in Jon Huntsman's campaign manager and right hand man on the ground in New Hampshire, Matt David.
Matt, thank you so much for coming on the show today.
It's no secret Jon Huntsman has had his sights on New Hampshire for a while now. What exactly are you hoping to prove tonight?
MATT DAVID, MANAGER, JON HUNTSMAN CAMPAIGN: Well, we need to -- well, first, thanks for having me. But tonight we've got to exceed market expectations. And judging by the polls that have come out, we're moving in the right direction. Looking at crowd sizes over the course of the last couple of days, they've been 200, 300, 400 people showing up.
And we've done it the hard way. We've done it with traditional retail politics. Governor Huntsman's done over 170 events in this state. So we think, at the end of the day, New Hampshire voters are going to reward him for that.
KAYE: Let's talk about independence, because that could really be key for Jon Huntsman tonight. What do you think is the draw to him for those voters?
DAVID: Well, I think any independent voter that watched the debate on Sunday and saw Governor Romney attack Governor Huntsman for serving his country, you know, he said he should have been out raising money for politicians to help elect politicians. And Governor Huntsman stood up and said, listen, when I'm asked by my president, regardless of party, I'm going to serve my country. I put country first. And I think when independent voters, or Republican voters hear that, they're going to break to our side.
KAYE: So say you finish strong in New Hampshire tonight, what's your strategy looking ahead to South Carolina?
DAVID: Well, we definitely think we're going to get our ticket out of New Hampshire and head down to South Carolina. We have the absolute best ground game down there. We have the attorney general, Alan Wilson. We have the former attorney general, Henry McMaster. We've got the Campbell family. We have the best organization. And ultimately these primaries are won with two things, message and momentum. We'll have the momentum coming out of here and we think his message about restoring trust in this country, installing term limits and ending the revolving door is going to play well in South Carolina, Florida, and beyond.
KAYE: That sounds great, but the reality is this. I want you to look at the polls that we have for South Carolina.
CNN/Time/ORC poll showing Huntsman in last place with 1 percent there. He's also pretty virtually off the radar in Florida, so what will you do to change this.
DAVID: Well, listen, again, like I said, it comes down to message and momentum. We're going to have the momentum we need coming out of New Hampshire.
And his message about restoring the trust deficit in this country, installing term limits, ending the revolving door. We have the best tax proposal, job creation plan endorsed by "The Wall Street Journal." That's going to play well in South Carolina. It's going to play well in Florida.
And I think you're going to see this momentum that we've started here in New Hampshire translate down to South Carolina and into Florida.
KAYE: Let's talk about Mitt Romney. He's gotten a lot of heat for his wealth and for his role at the private equity group, Bain Capital.
My colleague, Kyra Phillips, actually asked Jon Huntsman about this and here's what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Your family's wealth pretty much makes Romney's look like pocket change. So tell me what makes Huntsman the millionaire different from Romney the millionaire?
JON HUNTSMAN, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I can only speak to my own experience and we've lived the American dream. We didn't start with a family business. We all pulled together and helped to build it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: We didn't really get a clear answer to that question, Matt, so can you help us out? I mean, what is the difference between Romney the millionaire and Huntsman the millionaire?
DAVID: Well, listen, Governor Huntsman, the differences are stark. Governor Huntsman started a family manufacturing business with his dad, grew it to be a very successful company, then went to serve as a two-term governor who had a very consistent, conservative record - pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, largest tax cut in the history of the state.
And you compare that to Mitt Romney, you know, who was 47th in job creation when Governor Huntsman was number 1. Who did health care with a mandate, similar to President Obama. Governor Huntsman did health care without a mandate. Governor Romney raised taxes. Governor Huntsman had the historic largest tax cut in his state.
So, I think the differences are pretty simple and laid out. And I think, ultimately, voters are going to see that.
KAYE: Matt David, thank you very much for your time today.
And remember to watch CNN for live continuing coverage of the New Hampshire primary.
from Jon Huntsman to Rick Santorum. He's hoping to keep the momentum going, so what did he say about his chances, just moments ago? It's fair game and it's next.
But first, another political junkie question for you. Which non- incumbent candidate won the New Hampshire primary with the highest percentage of the vote? You can tweet me the answer @randikaye-cnn and, if you're right and you're first, I'll give you a shout-out right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Before the break, I asked which non-incumbent candidate won the New Hampshire primary with the highest percentage of the vote. The answer is Richard Nixon with 89.3 percent in 1960. Vice President Nixon lost the general election that year, but came back to win the New Hampshire primary two more times, becoming the only man to three- peat.
And this is a first, everyone. And we'll tell you -- we did not have a winner. Maybe the question was too hard. We'll blame my producer, Doug. I will not give you his Twitter handle. Sorry.
All right, let's get right to the heart of the political debate, where everything is fair game. And, right, now Mitt Romney seems to be fair game for all of his Republican rivals. One of the main attackers is Newt Gingrich and a "SuperPAC" supporting him is behind an unflattering movie about Romney's time at Bain Capital. But this is how Gingrich describes the attacks as a necessary thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whoever we nominate had better be tough enough and had better be thoroughly enough vetted before they get the nomination because what you don't want to do is nominate somebody, find out in September that they have a fatal weakness, and then you can't do anything about it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Joining me now are CNN contributors, Maria Cardona and Will Cain. Thank you to both of you.
So, is Newt right? Are these kinds of attacks going to leave a mark, say in March or April or even November, Will?
WILL CAIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I actually think that it is doing Mitt Romney a favor right now to deal with these issues up front.
You know, take the most recent one, Randi, this Bain Capital one. I think it's good to have this conversation now. The issue of questioning Mitt Romney's success as a director of Bain Capital. I would say two things. For Democrats and for Newt Gingrich.
One, when you criticize Mitt Romney's successes and failures at Bain, it shows a fundamental lack of respect for the free market, for failure, for success, for hires and fires, for risk.
What's more, this criticism is coming from politicians and pundits and that doesn't play well.
KAYE: So, Maria, let me ask you about Jon Huntsman. Let's talk about him for a minute. I mean, is he going to be, do you think, the Rick Santorum of New Hampshire?
MARIA CARDONA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, we'll see, but I think what we're really starting to expect tonight is that Mitt Romney may not win with the margin that he was expecting, that all of us were expecting, and that Huntsman is actually experiencing a surge.
And what has been so baffling to me throughout, both in terms of the attacks as well as Huntsman, in terms of the attacks, is that the Republican rivals waited up until now to launch all of these attacks and I think some, you know, some very valid attacks against Mitt Romney, but they waited up until the day before New Hampshire.
And, on Huntsman, it also is baffling to me, because, apparently, Republican voters put such a premium on electability, and I've got to tell you, as a Democrat, Jon Huntsman would have been the most electable candidate against Barack Obama. KAYE: How about Rick Santorum? I know, Will, that you just had a chance to interview him and talk to him a little bit today. How's his mood leading into the primary tonight?
CAIN: I've got to say this, Randi, that Rick Santorum is wearing the front-runner or the leader status very well. It suits him.
I did have a long sit-down with him and my friend, S.E. Cupp, asked him, said, "You know, one of your problems, it seems, is a general sense of likability. That many voters don't seem to like you."
And he had this really genuine moment, Randi, where he just kind of paused and he said, "You know what? It's my fault. I have been a little bit too tense. My wife has asked me to calm down."
And now that he's literally moved to center stage in the debate and he's getting time to talk, he's wearing that well. Is that enough to survive maybe a fourth place finish in New Hampshire? We'll see.
But I have to say, he's much more likable when he's winning.
KAYE: Maria, though, if Rick Santorum doesn't do well and maybe he does end up with a fourth place finish, as he's polling right now, does that -- will that make voters, say in South Carolina, think twice about him?
CARDONA: Well, it depends on what he does after New Hampshire. If he goes directly to South Carolina, which is, frankly, what Mike Huckabee didn't do four years ago, then I think that he would have a chance to continue to make the argument that he would be the social conservative, the real conservative in this race, the anybody-but- Romney vote, if you will.
And that is still something that conservatives are desperately looking for. I mean, what we have seen time and time again from Republicans is that Mitt Romney might be the front-runner, but he is not somebody who has been able to consolidate the conservative vote. They don't like him. They don't trust him. And they are desperate to see somebody else make -- do a real competition against him.
KAYE: Will, just very, very quickly here. If this does turn out to be a long primary season, who benefits the most?
CAIN: A long primary season? Well, anybody but Romney benefits the most. Right now, it looks like he could run the table for the first three states, which would be incredible for him.
If it drags out, it's whoever that last man is standing against Romney. That's who it benefits.
KAYE: All right, that ...
CAIN: We don't know if that's Santorum or Huntsman or who that'll be.
KAYE: No, everybody's going to watch that number two slot tonight. No doubt.
Will Cain, Maria Cardona, thank you both. That is "Fair Game."
And remember to join Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett, and John King tonight for live coverage of the New Hampshire primary, 7:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
The New Hampshire primary is today, as you know, but many eyes are already on South Carolina. Rick Perry skipping New Hampshire to focus on the Palmetto State. He's the only candidate there today. Is this the right move? A live report from Columbia, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Governor Romney, what do you have against labor unions? Workers shouldn't have any rights? It must be nice to be rich.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: That was just one of the many people who sounded off on CNN's open mike in New Hampshire. It's a state that's picked the eventual Republican nominee for the last 30 years. No, not New Hampshire. We're talking South Carolina.
And Texas governor, Rick Perry, is hoping the Palmetto State picks him on January 21st. But Perry's got a whole lot of ground to cover between now and then and he is not wasting any time. He is the only candidate in South Carolina today. And he's not holding anything back against his stiffest competition there, Mitt Romney.
CNN political reporter Peter Hamby, is in Columbia for us today.
Peter, let's talk about Rick Perry. I mean, he seems to really be drilling into the front-runner.
PETER HAMBY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: He absolutely is, Randi. He's totally planting a flag here in South Carolina. It's his last stand. He's barnstorming the state and really tailoring his message to a really heavily evangelical state. He's talking a lot about his faith.
But he's seizing on this Bain Capital attack that the other Republicans are developing against Mitt Romney, really hitting him wherever he goes about some of these companies that Bain took over and cast people out of their jobs.
Listen to what he had to say, for example, earlier today during a campaign stop in South Carolina.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK PERRY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will suggest they're just vultures. They're vultures, they're sitting out there on the tree limb, waiting for the company to get sick, and then they swoop in, they eat the carcass, they leave with that, and they leave the skeleton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HAMBY: That's pretty stark language from a Republican, speaking about another Republican's business record. You donate really hear that in the Republican party and a Republican primary.
But it could be a potent message down here, because this is a state struggling with unemployment. The unemployment rate's 9.9 percent. A lot of manufacturing jobs have left the state over the last few decades and gone overseas.
So, expect to hear a lot more of this from Rick Perry. He's only at 5 percent in our most recent CNN poll of South Carolina and Mitt Romney's all the way up front at 37 percent, so there's a lot of ground to make up here.
So, it's sounding perhaps a little bit desperate, but, you know, there's nothing to lose for Rick Perry at this point, Randi.
KAYE: No, certainly not. And Romney isn't even just getting it from Rick Perry. I mean, there's this new ad coming out by the "SuperPAC" that's supporting Newt Gingrich. That's going to hit him pretty hard too.
HAMBY: Oh, absolutely. And they're spending $3.4 million on this ad. This is a pro-Newt Gingrich "SuperPAC." They've basically bought the rights to a documentary, exploring Bain Capital's record of taking over companies. It's very tough stuff.
They're going to start running these TV ads tomorrow, all over the state. Basically 30-second, 60-second ads promoting this documentary and attacking Romney.
I've got to tell you, this is a pretty cheap state to run television ads. You can probably drop between $300,000 and $500,000 and really cover the state for a week on TV.
$3.4 million means that TV viewers in South Carolina are going to be absolutely swamped with television ads before the January 21st primary.
So, Mitt Romney's going to have to answer a lot of questions about these ads down here.
KAYE: And just very quickly, what kind of reception do you think Mitt Romney will get when he gets to South Carolina?
HAMBY: Well, he's the front-runner. Again, 37 percent. The key figure in our CNN poll, though, is 49 percent, basically half of Republican voters here are undecided.
Voters here are really only just waking up to this race in the last few weeks. It's not like it was in 2008 when there were bumper stickers and all over the place. Romney is still the front-runner in a divided conservative field. He can escape with a win, with a plurality.
A lot of voters here really care about electability and that's a pro-Romney message, but it's going to be a total pile-on Romney after New Hampshire down here as the other candidates try to take him down before they head to Florida, for example, where it's much more expensive to campaign, Randi.
KAYE: Certainly will be. Thank you, Peter Hamby.
And for more on the New Hampshire primary, remember to watch CNN tonight at 7:00 p.m. We'll bring you live coverage as the votes are tallied.
You may hear more curse words on television during the day, thanks to the Internet and cable. The Supreme Court weighs in on policing the airwaves. The latest on this First Amendment fight, next.
And the NFL family in mourning after authorities confirm that the body found near a river is the son of a Green Bay Packers coach. The investigation into his death, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNKNOWN: Rick Santorum, how can you be pro-Second Amendment because it's a question of liberty and yet be anti-gay marriage? Gay marriage, woman's right to choose, and gun rights are all personal liberty issues and, so, if you're going to be consistent, consistently for personal liberty, you should be for all three of those things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: That was just another one of many people who sounded of on CNN's open mike in New Hampshire.
And remember to join Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, Erin Burnett, and John King tonight for live coverage of the New Hampshire primary, 7:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
Now, it's time for a look at stories making news across the country at "Street Level."
First, we head to Washington where the Supreme Court is weighing whether the government should still police the airwaves for dirty words and provocative images. This centers around a decision that goes back to 1978 which allows the Federal Communications Commission to regulate what you see and hear on regular TV.
Under that ruling, broadcasters have been punished with big fines for breaking the rules, especially during hours when kids are likely to be watching. TV networks say the FCC has enforced the rule with a heavy hand since 2004 and claim it violates First Amendment rights.
In Tucson, Arizona, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her amazing recovery from last January's shooting have inspired this. Take a good look. Giffords is now officially a comic book heroine.
The Giffords edition is the latest in the "Female Force Biography" comic book series. It chronicles Giffords' career, the shooting, and her recovery. The comic will be released at the end of this month.
Now to Kissimmee, Florida, where firefighters resuscitate a dog after a mobile home fire. Just take a look at that little guy there.
According to affiliate, WKMG, rescuers used a mask specifically designed for dogs to help save this little one, but firefighters were not able to save two other dogs they found in the house. The owners of the dogs were not hurt.
Now to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Sad news for the Green Bay Packers. The son of Packers offensive coordinator, Joe Philbin, was found dead in the Fox River. Police say 21-year-old Michael Philbin visited friends over the weekend and later was reported missing. No cause of death has been determined. An autopsy is planned for today. The Packers' G. M. says the team's thoughts and prayers are with the Philbin family.
And to Indianapolis where you'll need deep pockets to pay for Super Bowl parking. Affiliate WRTV is reporting a space that normally goes for $10 a night right now will cost $200 on Super Bowl weekend and it will cost $900 a day to park an RV nearby. You might want to bring a bicycle.
But industry experts say the rates aren't scaring away drivers. Spaces around the city are apparently selling pretty fast.
While we focus on the New Hampshire primary, South Carolina voters are listening in and we're listening to them. After all, they're next up.
Time now for another political junkie question. Can you name a Democrat who also finished in the top four in the New Hampshire Republican primary? Tweet the answer to me at randikayecnn. If you get it right, I'll give you a shout-out right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Before the break, I asked if you could name a democrat who also finished in the top four in the new Hampshire Republican primary. There were actually two, John F. Kennedy in 1960 and Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1968. They each got fourth place those years as write-in candidates. In 1968, L.B.J. actually tied Mitt's father for fourth place.
Nobody got the answer correct on this one. You're going to have to blame my producer, Doug. So, he's just making them too hard today, but come back tomorrow and play. We promise they'll be easier.
Well, we'll be watching New Hampshire closely tonight, but we'll also be keeping a close eye on the next state, South Carolina. Our Tom Foreman is in Charleston, South Carolina, right now and, Tom, I know, as always, you have a little something special going on tonight, don't you?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do, Randi, because this is really the place to watch tonight, to see the reaction here.
We are here at the College of Charleston and tonight these chairs will be filled with about 40 local voters here, most of them still undecided. They'll be Republicans, people leaning that way who want to vote for Republican candidates, but they really haven't decided yet.
And they're all going to be having these devices in their hands. And as the candidates come out and speak tonight about the results in New Hampshire, they'll turn these little dials back and forth, which will make these numbers go up and down, and all of that is going to be feeding into this crack team over here from Southern Methodist University from the communications department there.
They're taking all this information, dial testing it, and giving us a steady feed-out during the time of these candidates, so you can see right away how the voters here are reacting. Do they like what they hear? Do they not like what they hear?
We've done this before. We'll try to break it down by some different categories and let you see really the thought process of voters here, what they're reacting to, why they're reacting to it, Randi, and what that will probably mean for the candidates when they get here.
KAYE: Yes, it is always fun to watch. I know you've done it before and it's fun to see the real-time response to what they're saying, certainly.
But, Tom, as long as you're there in South Carolina, what makes South Carolina different? I mean, it's a different contest for the Republicans.
FOREMAN: You know, there are several things that are different. You talk about Iowa, New Hampshire and here. Here's one thing. This is the most populous state so far. They're pushing up toward 5 million people here right now.
It is a much more religious state than the other two states. If you look at - well, not so much more than Iowa, certainly more than New Hampshire. In New Hampshire, there was a Pew Center study some year back where about 4 in 10 people said that religion was important to their lives or very important in the lives. Here you'll find that number closer to 7, pushing up toward 8 in 10 saying that it's one of the most religious states in the country.
So, that means you will hear the candidates talking a lot more about values, what type of person they might be. Rick Perry's doing that (inaudible) or he's leaning more toward that side. But here's something else you have to bear in mind. Compared to the other two states, in both Iowa and New Hampshire, the unemployment rate is below the national average and well below, in the 5 percent- ish range, somewhere in there.
Here, they're pushing close to 10 percent. They're above the national average, in terms of unemployment. So, the big question will be, in some ways, what's going to trump here? Will you see people looking at the economic side saying, "Look, we just have to go that way no matter how we feel about the overall values picture on people," or will that religious vote have a big impact here? We'll just have to see, Randi.
And one more thing you ought to bear in mind. This state has about a third of the population here is African-American, which many of them will vote Democratic, but it may affect some of the overall sense that people here have of the vote, how they look at candidates, what it will mean to their communities.
KAYE: All right. Tom Foreman, we'll be watching. Thank you very much.
And thank you, everybody, for watching. I will hand it over now to Brooke Baldwin.
Hi, Brooke.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN HOST, "NEWSROOM": Hey, Randi Kaye, thank you very much.
