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Erin Burnett Outfront

Trump Taking Questions In New Hampshire; Awaiting Trump Remarks in New Hampshire; Trump Speaking in New Hampshire. Aired 7-8:00p ET

Aired August 14, 2015 - 19:15   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan in for Erin Burnett. You were just listening to Donald Trump speaking to reporters in New Hampshire. And he is also about to continue speaking and address a crowd of supporters there. We will going to take you there live when he takes the stage. Voters there are telling us that they want specifics. But in a new interview tonight, Trump says that they are going to have to wait at least a little bit longer. He told this to the Washington Post. "My immigration paper," in his view, "my tax paper, they're pretty much done. But I don't want to do them in -- I don't want to do them in August. I will wait until September when everyone is back, in all fairness."

Sunlen Serfaty is OUTFRONT at the rally for us. So, Sunlen, we just heard a whole lot from Donald Trump. I mean, the topics were all over the map from helicopter rides to ISIS and a whole lot of attacks on Jeb Bush. But what do the folks inside there want to hear from him tonight?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kate, I can tell you that there is resounding consensus among many of the people we talked to tonight here Kate, they say they do need specifics before they can make up their mind about Donald Trump. One man openly admitting to me that he is just -- he came out here to see Donald Trump because of his antics. He said, he kind of like an experience that he wants to experience with everyone else. Another woman admitting to me that she doesn't know whether she can support Trump. She really wants to but she just doesn't know that much about him and specifically she wanted to hear about his immigration policy and what he is going to do about ISIS and on the economy.

Now, of course, there is some promise as you said from Donald Trump that he will reveal some of these much needed policy specifics early in September. And this also comes at a time where the campaign really seems to be showing some small signs that they're trying to really beef up their campaign and really lay the groundwork for potentially a longer campaign. They're investing a lot more in groundwork in places like Iowa and New Hampshire. Beefing up a lot of the staff in Iowa where Trump will visit tomorrow. And Kate, we're going to see Trump do something that he normally just doesn't do, and that's retail politicking. So important as you know, lot of these voters in the early states. Meeting these candidates one on one, really trying to size them up, that's something that Trump hasn't done. We also know he will offer those helicopter rides to kids -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: He seemed though unclear about it though tonight when he was asked about it in that press conference. So, as usual, we will all have to wait and see if those helicopter rides for those kids are going to be happening.

Sunlen, thank you so much. So, OUTFRONT tonight with us now, republican media consultant Rick Wilson. He worked on President George H.W. Bush's presidential campaign and Breitbart News editor-in- chief Alexander Marlow.

Guys, it's great to see you. Thanks for coming in. And so, Rick, we heard a whole lot right there from Donald Trump. I mean, I was looking at my notes talking about U.S./Cuba relations, Iraq, more specifics on policy. A lot of attacks though on Jeb Bush. What do you make of it? He is his chief target these days.

RICK WILSON, REPUBLICAN MEDIA CONSULTANT: Listen, someone just said a few minutes ago on Twitter, Donald Trump is in peak insult comic form. And, you know, every one of these pressers this guy does is a dumpster fire. And he is all over the board. He is swinging haymakers. The fact of the matter was, whether you agree or disagree with Jeb Bush or endorse him or not, he never said he would do nothing about women's health. That was an outright lie by Donald Trump which he repeated three or four times, which is not unusual because most of the things that come out of Donald Trump's mouth have almost no relationship to the truth under any circumstances. He just makes it up.

BOLDUAN: But Rick, on one point that he made and I want to run this soundbite if we have it.

WILSON: Sure.

BOLDUAN: This is one criticism that Jeb bush is absolutely facing over and over again is his inability or his problems, the way he struggles with the Iraq question over and over again. And Donald Trump hit him squarely on that in this press conference. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: What a mistake Iraq was. And I heard Jeb Bush talking about it. First of all, it took him five days before he could give an answer. And after the pollsters told him what to say, he said it was bad. Now he is trying to backtrack. Probably because his brother said, hey, wait a minute, you are killing me. You said it's bad. That's my legacy, the Iraq war. The Iraq war is a disaster for the Bushes. That's why the last thing we need is another Bush, believe me. Saddam Hussein, instead of him, you have ISIS. And instead of him, you have Iran taking over. So, you tell me, was it worth what we paid for?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:20:25] BOLDUAN: You might not agree with him or agree with what he is saying right, but that is the weakness. And he is hitting squarely on it. How does Bush respond? Why hasn't he gotten it right?

WILSON: Well, look, I don't work for Jeb Bush. And I'm not here to advocate specifically for him. But what you should know is that Jeb Bush has been one of the few candidates who has put out a very robust and thoughtful plan on terrorism. He has certainly pointed out the fact that our secretary of state in the democratic presidential candidate in the course of her entire tenure visited Iraq exactly one time. Jeb Bush wasn't the person who said that ISIS was the jayvee team. Jeb Bush wasn't the person who set and allow, quote, "red lines" to go past over and over again. Jeb Bush wasn't the person who spent a half a billion dollars to train 50 Syrian pro-democracy fighters.

BOLDUAN: Uh-mm.

WILSON: This is not a situation where you can ascribe the current train wreck in the Middle East to George Bush completely. I also note that Donald Trump today called George W. Bush evil, which I find fascinating. That's an older piece of tape. But this is a guy who also -- his version of an Iraq policy is to say, we will go there and take the oil. Really? I mean, that is the most superficial, you know, drunked out at the local corner bar talking smack. This is a guy who has no policies to underpin his swagger. There's nothing there.

BOLDUAN: Let me bring Alex in on that exact point. I mean, look, Bush may open himself up and have a lot of weakness on this Iraq question specifically. But to Rick's point, he is at least laying out policy. And Donald Trump again today saying, it's coming, it's coming. It's coming in September. Why is he waiting on rolling out policy, Alex, do you think? Is he afraid of policy?

ALEXANDER MARLOW, BREITBART NEWS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: I don't think he is. It's a fair question. First of all, I think Jeb is really getting hit pretty sharply by Donald there. Some of those are good lines. Him being called a puppet for taking lots of money, that's a huge advantage that Donald has over Jeb is that Jeb who has $100 million of money from other people, that could be seen as a weakness compared to a guy who can self-fund. The other thing talking about the Iraq war, Jeb extremely vulnerable. I don't even know what Jeb believes yet and I follow this stuff for a living.

Jeb also got dinged because of his Iran position saying he wouldn't cancel an Obama Iran deal on day one. That was a point of weakness with the grassroots as well. So yes, Donald is not giving enough specifics. But also in that Washington Post article you mentioned today, he is teaming up on his immigration paper Jeff Sessions. My website Breitbart News over 18 million readers, many of them conservative grassroots, the type of people who are voting in this primary, Kate, these people are simpatico with one man in Washington and that is Jeff Sessions. They are doing a victory dance tonight hearing Donald is teaming with him.

BOLDUAN: The senator from Alabama of course he's talking about there. You know, what, Alex, Rick, stick around with us. We will going to get a break-in, we're going to continue this discussion on other side. Stand by, guys.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:42] BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT tonight, as you see Donald Trump taking the stage in New Hampshire. He is in Hampton, New Hampshire, speaking to a crowd of reporters. This is a key primary state as you well know. And we know right now Donald Trump is leading in that state amongst his republican rivals. Donald Trump held a press conference a little earlier speaking to reporters on a whole range of issues. Let's listen in into what Mr. Trump has to say now.

TRUMP: Maybe it's a combination of both. Bit you know, I brought back a term that hasn't been used in a long time. It's called the silent majority. There's a tremendous silent majority that politicians have taken advantage of. I mean, they have taken advantage of the people of this country long enough. They are largely incompetent except when it comes to getting re-elected. That's what they do. And look, who knows them better than me? I have contributed to everybody. And who knows him better than me? They are great at one thing, don't make any waves, get re-elected, serve it out. Then get re-elected again. I see it all the time. I've been watching it for so many years. And I personally am sick and tired of it.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

So backstage I met some of the vets, the greatest people we have in this country.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And they have been mistreated. They've been treated like third- class citizens. And it's going to stop. It's going to stop.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

You look at these senators and the congressmen, they ride around, they're like kings. They think, great, oh, isn't it great? They come, they make speeches. Nothing ever happens. So, two weeks ago on Wednesday, they had the longest waits in reception rooms and reception areas in the history of the veterans' administration. People waiting three days, for days, five days to see a doctor -- to see a doctor. So, we are going -- it's called management. It's called management. That's all it is.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

The military is going to be so strong in this country --

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

-- that nobody is going to mess around with the United States. That I can tell you. That I can tell you.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) Nobody.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

You know, over the last few weeks, Jeb Bush, in favor off common core, weak on immigration, not good on military -- can you believe thought the Iraq war was a good thing?

I mean, you can make a mistake. I was against it for a long time. I'm the most militaristic person in the room, but you have to know when to use it. You have to know when to use it.

Think about it: we spent $2 trillion in Iraq. By the way, China has taken out a lot of the oil. Just so you understand. ISIS may have it and Iran may have it but China has taken out a lot of the oil.

Can you imagine? We spent -- we never do anything right with China. We spend $2 trillion, thousands of lives of great people, mostly great young, beautiful people, wounded warriors who I love all over the place, all over the place, not treated properly, by the way.

(APPLAUSE)

And we have nothing. And Iran is taking over Iraq. The parts that they want to give up they are giving oil to ISIS. So ISIS has the oil.

And you remember when I said you shouldn't go in -- in fact, "Reuters" wrote an article, big article in 2004 that Trump, don't go in because you are going to ruin the balance. You had Iran and Iraq, they were the same. They were twins. They would have wars for years, wars, boom, one goes this way, one goes that way.

One -- and I said, if you take out one, the other one is going to take over. We took out one and look at the mess we have. We have destabilized the Middle East and it's a mess.

And Jeb Bush couldn't -- he didn't know the difference. He couldn't answer a question, was Iraq a good thing or a bad thing? It's all right to say they made a mistake. Finally, after going to his pollster who he pays a fortune to, by the way, after five days he says it was a bad thing.

OK. So, let's accept that. That's OK.

Then the other day, I'm watching, yesterday, and he is saying, well, we got Saddam Hussein out, didn't we? I mean, I'm not a fan of Saddam Hussein. But he ran the place. And he had no weapons of mass destruction.

And now, instead of Saddam Hussein, we are far more brutal. We have ISIS. And we will have Iran, because they're already making deals.

Two weeks ago, I read where the leaders of Iraq are visiting the leaders of Iran. What do we get out of this? What do we get? We have stupid leadership. Now, if you remember -- I didn't want

to go in. I was right.

(APPLAUSE)

I didn't want to go in. I was right. But then we were in. And it was bad. And there were still bombings, but it was bad. But we're in.

At some point, we have to go out. We can't stay there forever. We have to rebuild this country. We have to rebuild our country. We have to.

(APPLAUSE)

Our bridges are falling apart. Our roads are a mess. Our schools, our highways, everything, it's a mess. Who is better at infrastructure than Trump? OK? OK?

(APPLAUSE)

So, look, at some point we have to get out. They talked about the surge. The surge. Remember Bush's brother, he said, the war is over. We have taken over. Like two days later it was a disaster.

Now, Obama said it with Yemen. He announced Yemen was a total victory. And then like three months later, it was like a disaster. And we don't have Yemen. We don't have anything.

We send over to our allies, if you call them that -- they don't know what they are. There's no word for them. OK? Iraq isn't even a country. Iraq is a bunch of corrupt people that sort of string something together. It's not a country.

But we send over to our allies 2,500 Humvees.

[19:35:04] So when I heard 2,500, I thought it was a typo in "The New York Times." I said, they mean 25. They mean 2 1/2. They mean 250 maybe. That's a lot.

So, these are 2,500 Humvees, armor plated so when the bombs go off, you don't lose your legs and you don't lose your life and you don't lose your arms. Really great vehicles.

One shot is fired and these guys run away and the enemy picks up 2,500. Now, think of it. Think of it.

So, we need the right thinking. And I said -- some people said, what a terrible statement he made. Because we had to leave, we had to leave. You know, you can talk about surging but at some point we have to leave. We can't stay there forever.

And if we would loosen up some of the ridiculous rules, we have so much oil under our own feet, we don't need them anymore because of new technologies. New technology.

(APPLAUSE)

So, we're going to leave, and I say, leave. But take the oil. Do you remember that? Did anyone hear me say that? I've been saying it all the time. I've been saying it for years. Take the oil.

And I watch these guys on television, political people, many of them are with the administration. I think they mean well. But they don't have a clue.

They'd say, isn't that silly? Mr. Trump says take the oil. Well, you know who has the oil now? Iran, ISIS, everybody has it but us. We're the only ones without the oil.

It's hard to believe. We need General Douglas MacArthur, who -- I thought he was great. To this day the highest academic record -- I'm big into school and academics. I love it.

I went to the greatest school. You have to be really smart to get into that school, the Wharton School of Finance. But -- you got to be really smart.

That was before I was Trump. You know? That was before I was Trump. But you have to be really smart. That's like the hardest one. You know --

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The always humble Donald Trump taking to the stage in New Hampshire, speaking to a rally of supporters in Hampton, New Hampshire. A lot to get through, because as usual, gives folks a lot to work with.

Let's just, back with me now, Rick Wilson and Alex Marlow. And also joining us is CNN's chief political analyst, Gloria Borger.

So, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Donald Trump back on the attack tonight.

GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Right. Everybody from Rand Paul to saying, Hillary Clinton is going to have to end her campaign, which he announced. Jeb Bush about how he couldn't answer questions on Iraq. Of course, we have heard that before.

And just recently in the last few minutes talking about our country's stupid leadership, how everything is a mess and we don't have anything. He's talking about our allies.

So -- and he also said, of course, that his position papers will be coming out soon. As you mentioned before, he has been dealing with Jeff Sessions on immigration.

So, this is the kind of stump speech we are used to from Donald Trump. We heard a little bit of it just recently. And we're hearing it again.

BOLDUAN: So, Rick, I got to ask you, we heard Trump take it to Bush when he was speaking to reporters. It was his first target when he took to the stage. With these kind of attacks -- I know Bush is a very different temperament than Donald Trump. Is it -- do you think it's time for Bush to hit back stronger?

RICK WILSON, REPUBLICAN MEDIA CONSULTANT: Well, I think that it is probably time for Jeb to release the sword of Chang, as they used to say, and go at this guy.

You do not benefit by trying to draft behind Donald Trump and hope that he collapses and his low information supporters run into your arms. This is a guy who is increasingly leading a fraction of the conservative base into a very dangerous cul-de-sac. He is promising things that he can never deliver.

And it is time for Jeb Bush and other folks to start posting up and really comparing and contrasting Donald Trump's rhetoric with the reality. When Donald Trump went into business with Chinese folks in the '90s, they rolled him, they beat him like a government mule.

And so, this is a guy who talks a lot of smack but doesn't always have the record to back it up.

BORGER: You know, the problem is they are starting to do that from the right, as you know. They are trying to say, like Rand Paul, that Donald Trump is not a real conservative. But it's kind of like they are punching Jell-O. Everything they do, you know, it doesn't -- it doesn't seem to work. If Jeb --

[19:40:00] BOLDUAN: It didn't work. And then especially on the Rand Paul bit. He had a scathing critique of Rand Paul saying who wants to have a senator of Kentucky when you are a senator as a backup plan.

BORGER: Right.

BOLDUAN: The attack Trump --

(CROSSTALK)

WILSON: Guys, that's -- that's so inside baseball. That's such a -- I mean, this is a guy who is a very thin skinned, very petty guy. And the fact that he is going after Rand Paul who -- you know what? Rand Paul's numbers where were they were going to be regardless of Donald Trump.

But the fact that he spent a fraction of his rants going after Rand Paul, he is a guy who constantly punches down at people. And he is a very thin-skinned, delicate little princess when it comes to anyone saying something bad about him. This is a guy who loses his mind every time.

BOLDUAN: I hope Donald Trump, while we know he can't listen to this right now, I sure hope he heard what you said, Rick.

Alex, jump in on this, because a lot of folks are saying -- a lot of people who dismissed him, they say -- well, maybe I underestimated him, but some at some point, folks are saying, put your money where your mouth is, where are your policies. He says they are coming. But also an organization, does he have the organization in place

for the long haul? Because right now, he is getting a whole lot of earned media, he's getting a whole lot of press. But he is not really doing the retail politics. And it doesn't seem at least on the surface he has the organization in place to take it all the way through.

ALEXANDER MARLOW, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, BREITBART NEWS: It likes like he will build all that. You see the reason why Trump is so much more -- more momentum is actually because of commentary like Rick's, where we respectfully disagree.

But Rick is from this consultant class, from the GOP establishment, and so much of the grassroots are not interested in what they have to say and the direction they're leading us. They're leading towards Jeb, a guy with no energy. That doesn't get the grassroots fired up.

What gets the grassroots fired up is Trump staying on immigration, being media savvy, calling people out repeatedly, people are loving it. Whether or not you are happy about that, that's up to you, but people are loving. And you are seeing him build this team in Iowa, 100 people going to see his bus. He is on a 747 now. We have a reporter there, my reporter, Matt Boyle (ph).

I'm hearing from inside of the Trump team, not from Trump himself they are talking to people from other campaigns thinking about jumping shark over to Trump because they see campaigns folding around them, where Trump continues to get momentum.

The more he calls people out and the more he gets hate from guys like Rick.

BORGER: Here is a question I have --

(CROSSTALK)

WILSON: You guys sound like Pravda -- Alex, you guys sound like Pravda reporting the five-year plan for Stalin, OK? You guys have very much bought in to the Trump mad (INAUDIBLE), you can't find a negative story about Donald Trump on your Web site unless it's a full moon.

(CROSSTALK)

MARLOW: It's absolutely not. When he was on CNN, we were extremely critical of his interview with CNN.

WILSON: I get that you guys --

(CROSSTALK)

MARLOW: Front page story assigned by me, put in the lead.

WILSON: I get that you are --

MARLOW: That's not true, Rick. You don't go to my site enough. You just want to fight with Trump people.

(CROSSTALK)

WILSON: I get you are all in on Trump. Alex, I get it. I get you are all in on Trump.

MARLOW: You keep saying that, you're not listening to me.

(CROSSTALK)

MARLOW: It's not like --

WILSON: Alex, I'm not yelling. I understand that you guys are all in on Trump. That's fine. That's a corporate decision you made. I understand it.

(CROSSTALK)

WILSON: I'm sure there's a great fiduciary underpinning to that. But, Alex, what is happening with you and another -- there's some folks on the right who are covering this because it's great for clicks, it's great for energizing a certain demo. And I get it. I understand it.

But let's be honest here. You aren't covering Donald Trump in a straight up the middle journalistic way. Half of it comes like seriously looking like the Pravda reporting sorghum harvest in the Soviet Union. This is not a guy who is --

MARLOW: He's just name calling. It's just name calling. We're a grassroots conservative site. We freely admit it. So long as Trump says his number one position is he's going to build a border wall, he's going to get support from grassroots --

WILSON: Which you know is fiction, Alex.

MARLOW: I absolutely don't know.

WILSON: Which you know is a fiction.

MARLOW: He will build a wall.

WILSON: Of course it's a fiction.

BOLDUAN: He's going to build that wall and, Rick, we can check him on that.

WILSON: It's going to be huge and gold. Yes.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: We'll see.

Rick, it's great to see you. We will continue this later.

Rick, Alex, Gloria, thanks so much guys. BORGER: Sure.

BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT for us next, we are going to continue to monitor Donald Trump's campaign speech in New Hampshire.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump, he arrives in presidential-like jets and helicopters, of course. No bus rides really for him. No intimate meet and greets.

Ahead, our special report on the very unconventional Trump campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:47:36] BOLDUAN: Donald Trump, we have been watching him live. He is still speaking at a campaign in New Hampshire. We're continuing to monitor that.

The rally is kicking off really a crucial weekend, though, for the Republican frontrunner. Tomorrow, Trump will make a grand entrance at the Iowa state fair, arriving by private helicopter, like this one -- an unusual entrance at this casual and very laid back event. But it's Trump, a candidate who has been anything but conventional all along.

Suzanne Malveaux is OUTFRONT.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It wouldn't be Donald Trump if he didn't show up in some over the top fashion.

TRUMP: Here is the good news, I'm very rich.

MALVEAUX: Republican operatives in Iowa say Trump is expected to arrive at the Iowa state fair Saturday in this $7 million chopper. As well as offering kids and voters free rides.

TRUMP: Mr. Trump, you are not a nice person.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: We don't need nice.

TRUMP: That's true. But actually, I am.

MALVEAUX: While the Trump campaign hasn't officially confirmed this latest antic, the mere prospect bringing more agitation to his rivals.

REPORTER: Is a helicopter the way to show up at a state fair?

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I kind of like the way we did. We went from the Hampton Inn right across the street.

MALVEAUX: It's just one in a long line of PR stunts that separated Trump from the pack. TRUMP: It's great to be at Trump Tower. It's great to be in New

York.

MALVEAUX: Trump seen here at his announcement, gliding down the escalator with his wife.

TRUMP: I'm not doing that -- I'm not doing that to brag, because you know what? I don't have to brag. I don't have to, believe it or not.

MALVEAUX: Compare this with Governor Rick Perry's big moment.

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As president will be to rescind any agreement --

MALVEAUX: Dripping with sweat after he ticks off tough times in United States history.

TRUMP: I can tell you, some of the candidates, they went in, they didn't know the air conditioner didn't work. They sweated like dogs.

MALVEAUX: While typically, candidates are seen arriving at campaign stops on busses, Trump prefers his private jet. The diner meet and greet has been a long-standing strategy for most president candidates. When Rick Santorum stopped by Sam's Sodas and Sandwiches in Carroll, Iowa, he was met with this.

The Donald, long lines and big crowds. His fans are loving it, keeping him atop the polls and forcing all of his rivals to respond.

[19:50:00] HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's entertainment. I mean, look, it's all entertainment. He's -- you know, I mean, I think he's having the time of his life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Kate, here is something Iowa voters probably don't see every day -- 24 carat gold plated seatbelts and handles inside of an aircraft. That's right. But that is reportedly what is a board Trump's chopper.

The flights we're told are going to take place outside the fairground, parking lot with the Donald expected to join some of those passengers in the 12-seater. I'm not saying that this is going to attract more voters or for the caucus goers. But certainly, Kate some more attention.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Attention that will attract.

Great to see you, Suzanne. Thank you so much.

MALVEAUX: You too.

BOLDUAN: OUTFRONT next: Iowa state fair, why it can be such a make or break stop on the road to the White House. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A big night for Donald Trump. We've been watching him live in New Hampshire.

Well, before that, before -- we have been watching him live in New Hampshire before he heads down to Iowa for the state fair tomorrow, where nearly every presidential candidate, Republican and Democrat alike will be descending. It's a whole lot of fun. But it's also a very big deal.

And as many candidates past have found out, one misstep can cost you big.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It all starts here in Iowa.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): Oh the glory of it all, the presidential rite of passage, the Iowa state fair.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I never thought there would be a day where you stared at me eating.

BOLDUAN: Step one, eat something or actually lots of somethings. With more than 70 different foods on a stick available, the options are almost endless.

[19:55:04] But don't forget the golden rule, what you eat and what you wear are as important as what you say.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hillary probably is not going to come. She will e-mail in her appearances.

BOLDUAN: Mike Huckabee going for gold as he was the first of the 2016 hopefuls to take to the fair's famous soapbox.

But back to the food -- be careful, because fair food is not easy. Just ask Mitt Romney.

MITT ROMNEY (R), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whoa. There goes one.

BOLDUAN: It isn't always pretty either. But again, it is required. Also required, dress the part. Something Senator Fred Thompson found out the hard way, when he arrived at the laid back fairground wearing expensive looking loafers. Thompson for years have insisted they were not Gucci, but the damage was done.

So, why risk it? Well, for the hearts and minds of the Iowa voters, of course, and their lasting impression, both good and bad, can come from that soapbox. This is where Mitt Romney uttered the line that dogged him throughout the campaign.

ROMNEY: We can raise taxes on people!

HECKLER: Corporation.

ROMNEY: Corporations are people, my friend.

BOLDUAN: So, follow these simple guidelines you should be fine. Eat the fried goods. Admire the butter cow, and mingle with the locals. And most of all -- just enjoy the ride.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: And only imagine what fun this weekend will bring. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Thank you so much for joining us, everyone. Have a fabulous weekend.

"AC360" starts right now.