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CNN Live Event/Special
Trump Addresses New Hampshire Crowd After Primary Victory; John Kasich Addresses Crowd; Does John Kasich Have A Path Forward To South Carolina? Aired 10-11p ET
Aired February 09, 2016 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... people of New Hampshire, right? Do we love the people of New Hampshire?
(APPLAUSE)
You know, I said it and I said it even a year ago, I said I think I'm going to do really well there because I'm here a lot and it's so beautiful and I love it so much and I love the people. And I said, I actually think they like me a lot, and then all of a sudden we started getting numbers in and everyone said how come they like Trump so much.
But I have so many friends up here and they are special, special people. So, New Hampshire, I want to thank you. We love you. We're going to be back a lot. We're not going to forget you. You started it. Remember, you started it.
(CROWD CHANTING)
We did start. You know, when I came out, I heard the end of Bernie's speech and I heard some of the beginning. No, no, first of all, congratulations to Bernie. You know, in fairness we have to congratulate him. We may not like it. But I heard part of Bernie's speech. He wants to give away our country, folks. He wants to give away.
We're not going to let it happen. We're not going to let it happen. I don't know where it's going with Bernie. We wish him a lot of luck. But we are going to make America great again, but we're going to do it the old fashioned way.
We're going to beat China, Japan. We're going to beat Mexico at trade. We're going to beat all of these countries that are taking so much of our money away from us on a daily basis. It's not going to happen anymore.
We have the greatest business people right now in the world. They call me all the time. They want to be involved. We have political hacks negotiating our deals for billions and billions and billions of dollars. Not going to happen anymore. We're going to use the finest business people in the world.
We are going to do something so good and so fast and so strong and the world is going to respect us again, believe me.
(APPLAUSE)
We're going to...
(CROWD CHANTING)
Do we love our country? Do we love our country? I think one of the things that really caught on, it's very important, self-funding my campaign.
(APPLAUSE)
Everybody on both sides, and you know I was saying two weeks ago, I said I don't think people really appreciate it because I see all of this money being poured into commercials and it's not their money, its special interest money. And this is on both sides. This is on the republican side, the democrat side.
Money just pouring into commercials. These are special interests, folks. These are lobbyists. These are people that don't necessarily love our country, they don't have the best interests of our country at heart. We're not going to let it happen. We can't. We have to do something about it.
When you see -- when you see the kind of deals made in our country, alot of those deals are made because the politicians aren't so stupid. They are making them for their benefit. We have to stop it. We have to stop it.
We are now going to make it for your benefit, we're going to make the deals for the American people. That's the way it is.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, very -- oh, I love this. Look at you. Look at you. I love these signs. They're the most imaginative signs. So, look, in a nutshell, we're going to make great deals, we're going to rebuild our military. It's going to be so big, so strong, so powerful. Nobody -- nobody is going to mess with us. Believe me, nobody. Nobody.
We are going to take care of our vets! Where is Al? Where is Al?
(APPLAUSE)
We love Al! All right, Al? Get up here if you can. We're going to take care of our vets. Our vets are treated horribly. They're our greatest people. Our vets are going to be taken care of and you remember that, everybody.
(APPLAUSE)
Right? We're going to have strong, incredible borders and people are going to come into our country but they're going to come in to our country legally.
(APPLAUSE)
They are going to come in legally. We're going to build a wall. It's going to be built. It's not even believe it or not, it's not even a difficult thing to do.
And, by the way, for the people of New Hampshire where you have a tremendous problem with heroin and drugs, you wouldn't even believe, you see this place and you said it's so beautiful. You have a tremendous problem.
[22:04:59] The first thing, always, that they mention to me, Mr. Trump, please, do something. The drugs, the heroin, it's pouring in and it's so cheap because there's so much of it. And the kids are getting stuck, and other people are getting stuck. We're going to end it. We're going to end it. We're going to end it at the southern border. It's going to be over.
(APPLAUSE)
And we're going to work -- and we're going to work really hard to get those people that are so addicted off the habit. We're going to work like hell to take care of the situation.
It's a huge problem in New Hampshire. It's a huge problem all over our country. We're going to have borders again and we're going to work with you people to help you solve that very big problem and we'll get it done.
(APPLAUSE)
(CROWD CHANTING)
That's so beautiful. What a group of people. You know, and on top of this group, we have thousands of people outside that can't even get in. That's what we have.
(CROWD CHEERING)
Thousands of people. Health care. We're going to repeal and replace Obamacare. It is a total disaster.
(APPLAUSE)
We're repealing and replacing Obamacare. It's gone. We're getting rid of common core. We're going to educate our children locally.
(APPLAUSE)
We educate our children locally. We are going to preserve our very sacred Second Amendment.
(APPLAUSE)
There's not going to be any more chipping away at our Second Amendment. If we had protection in California recently, and so many other places, you could even look to Paris. Paris has the toughest gun laws in the world. France has the toughest gun laws in the world.
These animals go in, they start shooting, 1, 2, 3, 130 people with many people horribly wounded, horribly wounded right now in the hospital. If there were bullets going in the other direction, believe me, it would have been a whole different story, folks.
(APPLAUSE)
But nobody had protection.
(CROWD CHANTING)
I am going to be the greatest jobs president that God ever created. Remember that.
(APPLAUSE)
Don't believe those phony numbers when you hear 4.9 and 5 percent unemployment. The number's probably 28, 29, as high as 35. In fact, I even heard recently 42 percent. Do you think we'd had gatherings like this if we were -- if we had -- if we had 5 percent unemployment, do you really think we'd have these gatherings?
Forgetting about security, forgetting about ISIS, which, by the way, we're going to knock the hell out of ISIS.
(APPLAUSE)
We're going to knock the hell out of them. And it's going to be done the right way. So, we're going to take care of the economy. We're going to take care of jobs, we're going to take care of all of the things that I said, our border, everything, and health care. It's going to be so great.
Remember this about Obamacare. People are forgetting but now they're miserable because it's going up 45 percent, 35 percent, 55 percent. It's totally out of control. Probably sinks of its own volition in 2017, unless the republicans give it another -- I mean, what's going on? What's going on the budget?
The last budget that was approved is an absolute disaster for everybody in this country. We owe $19 trillion as of today. We just crossed the $19 trillion mark. We're going to very shortly be at $ 21 trillion because of the budget.
We are going to make our country so strong. We are going to start winning again. We don't win anymore. As a country, we don't win on trade, we don't win with the military, we can't beat ISIS. We don't win with anything. We are going to start winning again and we're going to win so much, you are going to be so happy, we are going to make America so great again, maybe greater than ever before.
I love you all. Thank you New Hampshire! Thank you, thank you, New Hampshire. Thank you. We are going now to South Carolina! We're going to win in South Carolina. I love you all. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you very much. (APPLAUSE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: And let's listen in to Governor John Kasich, who is now, he's in second place in New Hampshire. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[22:09:58] GOV. JOHN KASICH, (R-OH) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, first of all, my daughters are at home, Emma and Reese and we're all happy because they're not driving tomorrow. But how about my family. Emma and Reese and of course my great wife, Karen Kasich.
(APPLAUSE)
And here in New Hampshire, I have to tell you, there's no way I would have gone forward with this campaign if it wasn't for John Sununu, the great Senator John Sununu.
(APPLAUSE)
He is a -- he's such a great partner. He's so smart and he's so disciplined and he's just a great, great friend of mine. And we also want to spend a little time thanking former Senator Gordon Humphrey. Now this man is...
(APPLAUSE)
We were, you know, we're 1 percent in the national polls and people like how can you ever win? And then, you know, things are just -- we're walking in a total obscurity up here. And Gordon Humphrey sends me an e-mail, and he says this the hot plate that change the world, guys are sleeping on mattresses in the campaign headquarters and they hold up a hot plate where they're eating their food, that's how you win election.
(APPLAUSE)
That's how you do it. And of course our great friend, Tom Rath. The former Attorney General he's been one of the best guys I could have.
(APPLAUSE)
With 17 years ago I came here and, you know, I thought things were going OK, you know, one getting a lot of attention. And I was standing in the kitchen and I was talking to this lady and I'm thinking, I got myself a town chairperson here, I mean, this lady really, really likes me.
And after about 15 minutes, she looked at her watch and she said "When will the candidate get here? Can you tell us?" But the guy that took -- stick with me for 17 years, Bruce Burke. Where is Bruce?
(APPLAUSE)
(CROWD CHANTING) Come on up here. Come on up here. And listen. Listen, I want to tell you, and there's, I mean, there is no way to say this appropriately. When the media kept saying, well, how are you going do this? You know, can you finish high? You know what I said, I have an insurance policy. It's you.
It's all of you. How does a guy like me thank you for the countless hours, the phone calls, the door knocking. Some of you have come from of course our buckeye state and some have come...
(APPLAUSE)
Some have from Virginia, and some have come Maryland, and New York, and Connecticut, and today, all the way from Seattle. All the way from Seattle and...
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: New Haven!
KASICH: ... the guy that -- New Haven, OK. And the guy flew in from London, England to do this.
(APPLAUSE)
But you know, there's something that's going on that I'm not sure that anybody can quite understand. There's magic in the air with this campaign because we don't see it as just another campaign. We see this as an opportunity for all of us.
And I mean all of us, to be involved in something that's bigger than our own lives, to change America. To re-shine America. To restore the spirit of America, and to leave no one behind. Am I right? That's what we're all fighting for.
(APPLAUSE)
(CROWD CHANTING)
You know, something big happened tonight. And let me tell you -- let me tell you what it is. Let me tell you what it is. We have had tens and tens of millions of
dollars spent against us with negative advertising, OK?
We have. We've had tens of millions. See, that's the old politics. That's the old politics. We never went negative because we have more good to sell than to spend our time being critical of somebody else.
(APPLAUSE)
[22:14:59] And maybe, just maybe, at a time when clearly changes in the air, maybe, just maybe we're turning the page on the dark part of American politics. Because tonight, the light overcame the darkness of negative campaigning.
(APPLAUSE) And you made it happen. You made it happen. You made it happen. You made it happen.
(CROWD CHANTING)
Now, you know, we're conservatives here. We believe government is a last resort and not a first resort. And as I like to talk about the strength of our country and if you think about the American home, which is the family, we know that the family is only strong when the foundation is strong.
And that's why we will wake up every single day to make sure that every single American has a job in the United States of America to help their families and their neighbors.
(APPLAUSE)
And when I'm President of the United States...
(APPLAUSE)
... first of all, you know, we're going to have a battering ram to knock down the walls of the city if they don't want to change. It's what I've done all of my lifetime. But here's what we're going to tell people, I believe, and that you think about it, I hope you agree.
We're going to solve the problems in America not by being extreme, not by being first a republican or democrat, but reminding everybody that we are Americans dedicating to shining up America and fixing our problems. Fixing our problems.
(APPLAUSE)
This campaign's changed me. The people of New Hampshire, the wonderful people of New Hampshire have changed me. And I want to -- I want to tell you how it happened. I don't know, you know, I don't know if it happened in the first 25 town halls or the second 25 or the third 25.
But as we got closer and closer to that, those hundred town halls, the 106 that we finally finished on, people for some reason were able to come to these town halls and feel safe.
A man came the other day and he was crying at the end of the town hall and put his arms around me and said, "My son's got cancer and I feel as though, I didn't warn him." And I said, sir, it's sad, it's a tragedy, it's terrible. But it's not your fault.
He communicated to somebody the other day and said that conversation lifted a weight off his shoulders are. Like, he came from New York to tell me his story. And some of you remember the woman that was sitting way up in the seats, and she told the story of her daughter who had been sick from being a child and she felt all alone.
And I ask her to come down and I hugged that woman. And we all cried a little bit that night. And I, not long ago at one of the big town halls, a lady sitting in the back after we'd gone through the mechanics of fighting drugs, she brought in the real flesh and blood.
And she talked about her 31-year-old daughter, who had been 11 months sober. And I looked around the room and said, can you imagine how hard it is to be a mom, who at one point just held that little baby in her arms, to have to wake up every day and ask the good lord and the good lord is listening, to have her daughter recover.
Now, when you are in settings like that, you begin to learn something. There are too many people in America who don't feel connected. They've got victories that no one celebrates with them, and they have defeats and pain sometimes that they have to absorb themselves.
I'll tell what you I really think we need. We need this economic growth and the job creation, but at the heart and soul of the United States of America. The America that I grew up in Little McKee's Rocks, where my father carried mails and stuck his nose into everybody's business. And brought some joy at the time of triumph and was able to be on the step and cry with them when they lost somebody they loved.
[22:20:08] You see, that's the America that I know where we slow down our lives. We slow down our lives. And let's just leave this hall tonight, and I would ask to you just reflect on this. Because you see, we're all made to change the world.
We're all made to be a part of the healing of this world. And if we would just slow down. And, by the way, heal the divisions within our own families. Be willing to listen to the person that lives next door when you're in such a hurry to get out of the driveway or such a hurry to get out of the shopping center.
Just slow down. Look them in the eye, give them a hug. You see, it doesn't take government. It takes our hearts, our hearts to change America. And in this campaign I've become convinced even more about what it takes to win a political campaign.
And what it takes for somebody to be a leader. it's not just what's up here in the head, it's also what's here deep in the heart. And the people of New Hampshire have taught me a lesson. And from this day forward I'm going to go slower and spend my time listening and healing and helping and bringing people together to fix our great country.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you. Now.
(APPLAUSE)
(CROWD CHANTING)
Well, listen, folks, I know the networks want to go. You know, Bernie talked so long, I thought he was going to hit his 77th birthday before he got off the stage.
And, I mean, Hillary, you just needed this much and head to South Carolina because it's not working here. OK? It's not working here, OK?
(APPLAUSE)
And it's not going to work here for them next fall either because I'm coming back to New Hampshire!
(APPLAUSE)
How could -- how could any man be so lucky, huh, to have all of you, to be so happy about life and family and the fact that the lord's blessed me.
We are at the beginning of this campaign season. Tonight, we head to South Carolina, and we will move through South Carolina, all across this country, and we'll end up in the Midwest and you just wait.
Let me tell you, there's so much that's going to happen. If you don't have a seat belt, go get one.
(APPLAUSE)
We're going to shake this country from top to bottom. Thank you all very much and God bless you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Second place finisher Governor John Kasich. There you see him giving his speech after Donald Trump gave his victory speech. If you're right now for the battle for third place, Cruz is in third place with 17,760 votes, with some I think at 56 percent of the votes in.
But look at Bush. Look at the numbers there at 17,184. Just a difference of some little less than 600 votes, where a very close race now for third place. As we've been listening now to these speeches, Gloria, David? What do you make?
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: To me, Hillary Clinton gave a speech looking forward that is to South Carolina. It's as if she was out of the state. Bernie Sanders gave a rousing kind of stump speech that those of us who have been out to him have heard before.
COOPER: Sort of introducing himself perhaps to a population who is rising...
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: Right. And John Kasich.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: When people -- when your crowd is finishing your lines, it's a sign that maybe you got to freshen up the speech.
BORGER: And John Kasich gave a personal, heart-felt speech about New Hampshire and what those town halls meetings meant to him. And it was Evangelical in the sense without being Evangelical.
I mean, Van and I were talking, and Van said it was sort of spiritual to a degree and he was introducing himself as well, don't you think, to the American public who has no idea.
COOPER: The question, is does John Kasich have a path forward through South Carolina?
[22:25:04] AXELROD: That is the question. That is the question. Look, he's been -- he's been pursuing his own track in this. So, you watch the debate, it's almost as if he's talking to a different crowd than everybody else.
He's almost running a general election campaign...
BORGER: Totally.
AXELROD: ... in a primary. That works in a State like New Hampshire where you have large numbers of independents were coming over. And you have a divided field that you are sitting there with 16 percent of the votes.
The question is, when you go to South on March 1st, and before that in South Carolina, can he find a market for this message within the Republican Party as it's constituted today? I don't know the answer.
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. I mean, I wouldn't count him out in South Carolina. I think he's kind of Midwestern, folksy way will play pretty well down there. It's a sort of southern swagger. He talked about a slowing down, for instance.
COOPER: The question is more about money and organization.
HENDERSON: Yes. I mean, I think he's got about what? I mean, the last I checked the cash on him was about a million dollars.
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: Who will fill the money on that.
BORGER: Yes.
HENDERSON: He'll have more after this and he trained his attention, as you said, to the general election campaign as well. I thought it's clear that he has gotten better as a candidate in those 99 town halls have helped.
I think Trump has also gotten better as a candidate. When he talked about heroin. Not only of heroin, a huge problem in New Hampshire, it is ravaging -- it's white working class America. And the National Review has been writing about this for months and months and months. And other people might not hear what he is saying but I think it resonates with that group of voters.
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The contrast between Donald Trump and John Kasich could not have been dramatic.
I began my morning today in Manchester with Governor Kasich on my radio program in a tiny diner. And he was making that pitch that it's time to slow down and listen to your neighbor. I've never heard such a creative presentation.
Here's the issue. Will practicality set in for the Republican Party? Because this electorate mirrors the national electorate in terms of the number of independents who hold the cards to a general election. And Kasich gave the Republican Party tonight an indication of how he could win in a general if they're wise enough to advance his candidacy.
BORGER: Here's the problem for republicans with John Kasich. He took President Obama's Medicaid...
AXELROD: Exactly.
BORGER: ... money as part of Obamacare. He doesn't believe in deporting illegal immigrants and he also leaves the door open to a pathway to citizenship.
HENDERSON: And common core.
BORGER: For illegal immigrants. Well, right. And he has supported common core. So, the question is where does he have his support in the Republican Party? The Kasich campaign says, OK, we've got support in Michigan, we'll have support in Ohio, we'll have support in Florida if you get rid of Jeb and Rubio.
COPPER: The question is can they get there.
AXELROD: Can they get there? Can they get right?
HENDERSON: Can they get there? Right
COOPER: That's later on in March. That's right.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: And even just tonally what you heard tonight was very chicken soup for the soul. And that's great. You know, slow down, hug your neighbor. That's great, I loved that. But where the party's at right now is a lot more art of the deal, right?
So, I don't know that he can cut through and sell republicans in South Carolina or Nevada on chicken soup. What I did find very interesting out of Trump was winning looks good on Donald Trump. He thanked his family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, he did.
CUPP: ... familiar members we've never heard of before. He thank -- he thanked the voters.
SMERCONICH: They're going to fact check that.
CUPP: Do you remember that he thanked the voters.
BORGER: Yes.
CUPP: He thanked the other candidates and congratulated the other candidates. He didn't call anyone a name. It was a very -- I thought a very good look for Donald Trump. You know, I'm not his target.
I'm not his target. People target the voter. But if I were to give him or his campaign any advice, more of that.
COOPER: Well, we've just argued to Jeffrey something that Trump had said all along which is that he would change his tone or change his demeanor...
(CROSSTALK)
JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right.
COOPER: ... as events warrant and if he actually makes it to the White House.
LORD: The campaigns -- campaigns are tough. I'm looking over there at David, who is in a very tough campaign against Hillary Clinton and round up as Secretary of State. This is what candidates do. This is what they're expected to do. And furthermore, if you don't do it, you will lose.
So, he's turned out here to be the toughest of the tough, he's done very well, but then you have you to turn around, you have to pivot and you have to make nice with all these folks. And I think he's on his way to do it.
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. I just want to say a couple of things. One is, I thought, I was happy that Kasich round up where he did for one reason. Work. He put the work in. And there's something very, very wrong with America if somebody can literally go, and spend month after month do 100 town halls and wind up in the last place.
I think it's very important that the voters actually rewarded the work. I actually think also that spiritual message about us take caring of each other, it may be too chicken soup for the soul for some people, but I'm tell you it's a welcome message.
There's a lot of pain out there, there is a lot of hurt out there. And I think you can't beat eyeball to eyeball with the hurt in New Hampshire any place without being changed. I thought that was very important.
[22:30:05] But the person we haven't talked about is Marco Rubio. The floor -- listen, the only question a few days ago, before that debate that was is he going to clear the field of all the other establishment candidates or will he clear the bar and get ahead of Trump?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.
JONES: Suddenly the question is was he going to stall or fall? He fell. He's fifth. I think that Chris Christie, and you said this earlier, Axelrod, I think Chris Christie is going to go down in history as somebody who made one of those history defining debate moments with people who study for a long time.
AXELROD: He, by the way, Chris Christie put in a lot of work in...
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, he did.
AXELROD: I'm sure he listened, and he's sort of, what about me?
JONES: Yes.
AXELROD: I put in all the work in this.
(CROSSTALK)
CUPP: He did. He did.
LORD: He say that a former or a Governor Hogan in Maryland was, according to Christie, introduced him tonight. And it says on another network, he introduced him in the past tense.
MICHAEL NUTTER, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: You certainly seeing again on the republican side more of these quote, unquote, "this establishment candidates moving up making their presence felt again." Not wild, not outlandish, just, you know, making that steady progress.
But I want to go back to my earlier state. I give my critique with regard to Secretary Clinton. Three quick points on Senator Sanders' speech. And he was gracious and he put everything out there.
I think as was said earlier, we've heard many of these things before. But three very quick things. One, it is now absolutely clear that Senator Sanders is literally running against the record of President Barack Obama.
Secondly, almost every time I've heard him talk about African- Americans and Latinos, it's been with regard to either jail or criminal justice. I find that slightly offensive.
And, third, he identifies 99 problems, but we rarely ever hear any solutions to any of those and the details that go with it. So, we heard tonight this tax on Wall Street speculation. Very interesting idea. I like to hear more details about those things. So, I think as time goes on, we're going to have to get into the details of what it means to be an executive.
COOPER: Van, I see you shaking your head on.
JONES: I didn't hear him save one negative word about President Obama at all. And I think that one of the things that we...
(CROSSTALK)
NUTTER: Talking about the status quo.
JONES: Well, listen.
NUTTER: Where are we now?
JONES: Where the status quo is right now is result, not to President Obama but the obstruction that we have from the Republican Party. And the idea that you can't say you want America to be better, but that's not offending Obama, it doesn't make any sense to me.
NUTTER: All I'm saying is he says the president is less progressive stand. That's the constant thing...
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: But this is going to be -- what you're going to see now...
NUTTER: What does that mean?
JONES: ... what you're going to see now is the establishment say that any critique of America, any critique of Hillary Clinton is a critique of President Obama. You can love President Obama as I do but not love everything about the Obama years and not -- and still want more.
COOPER: But, David, I want you to weigh in and then we're going to move on.
AXELROD: Yes. What I was going to say is I don't think he talks about so much about 98 things. It's that he talks about one thing all the time. And he's very good at it and it's a compelling grief. And the question is, is it a broad enough message to ultimately win the day?
NUTTER: Well, let me start quietly specifics on 99 things. He means about three things.
COOPER: Let's go to Jake Tapper. We'll continue this conversation in a moment. Jake?
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Thanks, Anderson. So many stories coming out of New Hampshire this evening. One of them of course, being Marco Rubio's surprisingly unimpressive showing. We heard a surprising admission from him just a few minutes ago speaking to his supporters. Let's play that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R-FL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Many people disappointed. I'm disappointed with tonight. I want to you understand.
(CROWD SHOUTING)
But I want you to understand something. I want you to understand something. Our disappointment tonight is not on you. It's on me. It's on me.
(CROWD SHOUTING)
I did not -- I did not do well on Saturday night, so listen to this, that will never happen again!
(APPLAUSE)
That will never happen again. (END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Very interesting, Dana Bash, on Marco Rubio saying, it's on me for his bad showing and he specifically blaming his disappointing showing this evening to his debate performance. Saying I did not do well Saturday night, that will not happen again.
DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It was a human moment for somebody who has been accused of not being human. I mean, that was the whole underpinning of the, you know, the punch and counterpunch and then punch again that Chris Christie again.
And Marco Rubio really kind of fit into it by saying the same line over and over again in that debate. I have to say that I saw Marco Rubio at one of the polling places earlier today, and he was talking to a voter who was undecided before going in.
She asked her issue, which for her was about cancer research because her husband has cancer. And after he left she told me, you know, I actually found him to be much more engaging than I did out of the town hall where she said she saw him and, she said she got a headache because she thought that he repeated himself so many time and he was so robotic.
[22:35:01] But still, she went into the voting booth. She came out and I said, so, did he get your vote? And she said, no. And I think that that was part of the problem is that in just a couple of days, really hours, that sort of image of him suck with a lot these voters.
A lot of voters who were taking a second, third, fourth look at him after he did so well in Iowa were really turned off just like that.
TAPPER: Look, what was important to the voters of New Hampshire this evening was victories, big, surprisingly huge victories for Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders. Both of them, whether you like them or not, very authentic seeming.
BASH: That's right.
TAPPER: Manu Raju is at Rubio campaign headquarters, I believe in Concord, New Hampshire. Manu, you tell us about the speech and the mood there among the supporters and among campaign officials.
MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right, Jake. A lot of very disappointing mood here, almost subdued at the candidates really say to voters, really soaked in the news that their candidate really underperformed tonight.
It was a surprising admission, as you guys said. And it was also disappointing to republicans in Washington. I think I spoke to two senior republican officials who hoped that New Hampshire would almost narrow the republican field and a party would able to quickly coalesce an alternative, behind an alternative to Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.
And that alternative of course, potentially being Marco Rubio. We saw a wave of support come his way after Iowa. We're assuming that a wave of a support would happen after New Hampshire. But what the real fear now is in republican circles is this fight for the establishment lane, so to speak. The fight to be the Donald Trump alternative is going to last weeks and weeks and weeks. And Donald Trump will get stronger and very hard, become very hard to beat.
Now what does this mean for the Bush and Rubio campaigns going forward? They do -- they don't -- they don't believe, neither of them believe that John Kasich presents a serious threat in South Carolina given that the electorate there is much more conservative than John Kasich, who ran as a much more moderate candidate.
But both of them see each other as their biggest threat going forward. So, expect the race between Bush and Rubio to get much more intense in the coming weeks and what that does for the fight against Donald Trump really throws that into disarray, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Manu Raju in Nashua at Rubio campaign headquarters. And it's very interesting you seldom see a politician come out and say it's all on me, blame it on a specific event and then promise that it won't happen again.
BASH: It is. One thing to look for going forward and talking to Kasich sources before tonight, is in South Carolina, which is of course is the next big fight. What Kasich aid tells me is that they are going to fight very hard to damage beat Jeb Bush.
Because they think that for the long haul, for the Kasich team, that's going to help them. But I think that what they could also do is help Marco Rubio. Because if Jeb Bush is damaged in South Carolina, if the Kasich folks are successful, that could only help Marco Rubio kind of get back on his feet in a place, South Carolina where he does have a very good organization.
She he is campaigning. He has been campaigning a lot and does tend to gravitate towards candidates like Marco Rubio, who is good on defense, he's more mainstream and moderate and historically, that's how South Carolina has gone for.
TAPPER: Yes, and interesting. Sometimes when you attack somebody in one of these situations, you might hurt that other candidate but you don't help yourself.
BASH: That's right.
TAPPER: That seemed to be what happened with Chris Christie, who so devastatingly took down Marco Rubio at the debate on Saturday night but he's disappointing -- is facing a disappointing sixth place finish.
Phil Mattingly is in Nashua at -- I believe Nashua at Christie campaign headquarters. Phil, not a good night for the governor of New Jersey.
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, not at all, Jake. And look, he just came out and he spoke to a crowd here, pretty downtrodden and solemn group of people. He said he was cancelling his scheduled events in South Carolina. He would be going home to New Jersey to quote "Take a breath."
He and his wife, Mary Pat, and his kids would discuss what will happen next. Now, going into this night, it was very clear that Chris Christie needed to come in at least fifth place. That was the requirement to qualify for the debate in South Carolina.
For his campaign it was a shift in metrics, Jake. It was always been over the last of weeks. He needed to become the top governor. Now, you spoke to him today, Jake, and he reiterated that it was not just that anymore. The debate where he really stunned Marco Rubio and kind of slapped him around a little bit had shifted the race entirely.
They felt good about their internals and it was no longer that he had to be the top governor. But because the race had become so muddled in the wake of that debate, he just needed to finish in that top five to move forward.
Obviously, he missed that today. They will take a break, go home, and talk about it. Now here are some of the things they have to consider. I've been speaking to a number of Christie donors over the last two hours, as they've watch these returns come in. A number of them here in New Hampshire had a private dinner about an hour and a half ago, where they were increasingly on edge as they watched these returns come in.
[22:40:04] The big problem is they don't have the money to move forward right now, Jake. So, obviously there is conversations will be happening in New Jersey. A lot to weigh, but a lot of questions about whether he can go on, Jake.
TAPPER: All right. Phil Mattingly at Christie campaign headquarters. They're taking a deep breather over there. And no decisions about whether or not Governor Christie is going to leave the race. But they have to take stock if campaign says.
BASH: They do. And that was some great reporting from Phil Mattingly talking about that there was a dinner that the donors for Christie were having, and really, you know, probably having trouble digesting watching those numbers go down. Because that is really is at the end of the say what matters, right?
I mean, he needs money. He needs money to go on and they were from everything that I've heard out of money. You don't get people to take a second look at you when you do so poorly. But I really think that when he made that move against Marco Rubio in the debate to really go at him, it was sort of a kamikaze mission, don't you think?
TAPPER: Well, he definitely...
(CROSSTALK)
BASH: Maybe that wasn't the intention but that's what happened.
TAPPER: He had -- he had to -- I don't know if it hurt him so much has been definitely damaged Marco Rubio. But the lesson always is that you have might hurt that person but you might also hurt yourself. BASH: Exactly.
TAPPER: We're going to take a very quick break. When we come back, I'm going to interview the republican winner of tonight's activities. The New Hampshire primary winner, Donald Trump. We're going to come and talk to him right after this very quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Let's update you with a CNN key race alert on the democratic side. Bernie Sanders, a crushing victory over Hillary Clinton. Right now at 66 percent of the vote is in. He's got 60 percent, she only has 38 percent. He's 35,000 votes ahead of Hillary Clinton. She's conceded he is the winner, as you know.
On the republican side, Donald Trump with a very impressive win. He comes in first over John Kasich. He's got 34 percent. Kasich at 16 percent. He wins by at least now, with 67 percent of the vote in, 30 --almost 34,000 votes. Another very impressive win for Donald Trump tonight.
[22:45:08] But look at this fight for third place right now between Ted Cruz at 12 percent, Jeb Bush at 11 percent, Marco Rubio at 10 percent. This fight for third place ongoing right now. And not many votes, just a few hundred votes separating Ted Cruz and Jeb Bush.
Right now Marco Rubio not doing so well. And, Chris Christie, obviously coming in at least as of right now in sixth place, very disappointing for him as well. Now, Jake Tapper spoke to the winner of the republican primary, Donald Trump. Jake?
TAPPER: Thanks, guys. I'm joined on the phone by the winner of the New Hampshire republican prime, one Mr. Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump, congratulations on your victory. Did you ever think that this was going to happen?
TRUMP: Well, it's been a really wonderful evening, Jake. And you know, I thought it might but I didn't know by these numbers. And I was so happy. I just looked at your report and it was right across the board with men, women, with young, with old, with, you know, everything. And to win every single category was perhaps the greatest honor of all.
TAPPER: And it looks like, obviously, the voting results are still coming in, but it looks like this is the biggest victory in a republican primary since George W. Bush lost to John McCain in New Hampshire 16 years ago. How does it feel?
TRUMP: Well, I didn't know that number, that's a long time. It's a great feeling to know that it's been that big of a victory. But it's a lot of years. But I will tell you, it's just an honor to have won. As you know, I told you if I win by one vote, I'll be happy. But this makes me happier. I will say that, Jake.
TAPPER: It's by a bit more than one vote. So, if you look at the exit polls, you'll see that voters were looking for an outsider, they're mad at the republican establishment. What do you think in particular about your message resonated with the voters of New Hampshire?
TRUMP: Well, I think it started trade and the fact that we're being just ripped off by everybody, whether it's China, Japan, and Mexico. And I think it really ended up being very much borders and security, and other things having to do with security.
And then you have the migration and you have ISIS, and all of a sudden it morphed into that. And I think because of the fact that I done so well with the border and done so well with the wall, which will be built, I think what happened is people started saying that I would also be the best with respect to ISIS and some of the outer problems that we have.
So, it seems that the whole security thing, the military thing, the fact that I'm going to take care of the vets far better than anybody else will be able to, it all sort of came down to that. But it seems like pretty much of a victory in every category.
And of course, the easiest thing of all for me is going to be trade and jobs because that's really what I do.
TAPPER: In terms of how much you won in New Hampshire, did you pay more attention -- did your campaign pay more attention to the ground game, to getting your voters to the polls, to making sure that they were motivated as opposed to the approach of big, big rallies?
TRUMP: Well, I think the ground game was very strong. And I'll tell you, we really focused on it after Iowa. You know, the ground game was not something I was extremely familiar with, but I learned quickly. Otherwise, the voters wouldn't like me so much.
I think, you know, I learned very well and we have a very good ground game and, you know, the people of New Hampshire are amazing people. And now I've going to South Carolina and I think we're going to have tremendous success there.
We were just there and I had 12,000 people in a wonderful, wonderful arena. And to be honest with you, the ground game was very important to me and I think we really learned about ground games very quickly.
TAPPER: As you may know, South Carolina, they like their politics a little bit more rough and tumble. Are you ready for what may come your way, the negative attacks and perhaps even dirty tricks that may happen in the Palmetto State?
TRUMP: Well, we've already had dirty tricks in this campaign. So, you know, I'm ready for whatever they want to throw at me and that's fine. I mean, we've had a lot of dirty tricks in this campaign. But, you know, I want to congratulate everybody that's run. They're all very capable people, and it was an honor o run against them.
And now I'll see them in a little while, like I'll be tomorrow, I'll be around 1 o'clock or 12 o'clock tomorrow I'll be in South Carolina and getting ready, and that should be interesting. I love South Carolina. I mean, the people are -- I've been there many, many times and the people are tremendous people. And I think I can do very well there.
TAPPER: There's a big competition obviously for second place and third place in New Hampshire right now. Who do you think is your competition going forward? Is it Ted Cruz? Do you see some rejuvenation for Jeb Bush and John Kasich? Who are you focused on?
[22:49:58] TRUMP: I see them all, Jake. I really see them all. I think, you know, they're all good competitors and talented people. And, you know, right now it looks like Kasich has a little bit of a lead. But the other way I'm just looking at your chart.
Yes, it's getting a little bit closer. It's going to be a close race, I think. And you sort of predicted that and so did CNN and the whole group. It looks like it's going to be a pretty close race to second.
TAPPER: Lastly, you've been campaigning more with your family, your wife, Melania, your boys, Don and Eric. How are they taking the news. This is a big, big night in Trump family history.
TRUMP: Well, they're very proud. Melania is standing with me right now, and Don, and Eric and Ivanka. Corey is right outside. He has done a terrific job. And I was -- in fact, he just walked in now, so I will comment on his ground game, which was excellent. But it's been -- it's been an amazing period of time and we're all thrilled. And we want to make America great again. It's very simple. We're going to make America great again.
TAPPER: Well, congratulations on a very, very strong win in New Hampshire. Best of luck to you. We'll you out there on the campaign trail, Mr. Trump.
TRUMP: Thanks very much, Jake. You take care of yourself. Thank you.
COOPER: Jake, thanks very much. A lot to talk about with our panel, Jeffrey Lord. All along you're one of the few people who picked on Donald Trump earlier on and said you think he can go all the way. Who do see as his biggest competition? He says he's looking at all of them.
LORD: Well, they're -- I think it is all of them at the moment. I mean, they've got to decide. They've got to sort themselves out. And John Kasich is number two.
I was having a conversation with our friend Michael Smerconish over there, and he said, you know, egos, if I may quote you, you know, "these guys all have big egos."
COOPER: Right.
LORD: And who is going to push you out? I mean, they're all going to be saying you leave, no, no, you leave. That's going to be the problem here for them.
COOPER: It's also interesting when you think, Michael, to after Iowa, you know, a lot of people are saying, OK, this is now a I three-man race, you have Cruz, you have Rubio, and you have Donald Trump. That's out the window now. I mean, now Bush seems to be back in the game. You -- I mean, Christie is going to take a breed there, but now you have Kasich as well.
SMERCONISH: That's funny, you just you just referenced Cruz. We haven't said a word about Ted Cruz. Like Ted Cruz won Iowa caucus, and yet, tonight, he is a total non-entity which I think speaks to the volatility of this race.
COOPER: Although he is -- he is in third for 70 percent of the vote.
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: I think he is, I mean, he's going to be well satisfied.
CUPP: Yes.
JONES: Cruz played this like a master. Cruz knew that the most important thing that could happen to him is nothing. Don't get beat up, don't get struck through, wait this thing out and then go to South Carolina and start putting people in body bags.
CUPP: Yes.
JONES: Cruz has very, very smart tactic in this race.
HENDERSON: And to stand back as Rubio get pummeled...
JONES: Yes.
HENDERSON: ... on stage there. I mean, that was very important to him. He is going to face Donald Trump who is already running ads in South Carolina pointing to -- pointing to those loans from Goldman Sachs and pointing to the Carson-Cruz kind of dust up from Iowa.
BORGER: But when Rubio finished third...
HENDERSON: Yes.
BORGER: ... it was as Cruz is fond of saying, he got the bronze and you treated it like a gold medal. You know, tonight, Cruz is third and we're not treating it like a gold medal and Rubio is fifth so far. I mean, we don't know what the numbers are going to hold up. And we're basically saying, OK, this was a terrible night for Rubio.
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: Well, that's pretty much because Cruz basically just showed up for the medal ceremony and left with the bronze. I mean, he hasn't even spent much time in New Hampshire because...
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: And Rubio has money. He's got to win somewhere. I mean, he's got to do well somewhere.
NUTTER: Rubio's in trouble. BORGER: I think he is.
HENDERSON: And he's got to put in the work, right? He hasn't really put in the work. His theory was I do well in third, turn it into kind of a win, get into second and then first and then if I win, then the infrastructure and sort of the work would come in. He thought that he could run essentially a debate in television campaign air...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: You mean Rubio?
HENDERSON: Yes, Rubio, yes.
CUPP: So, Rubio has also been positioning himself I think for effectively as the candidate who can win. And we're seeing returns, both in Iowa, the entrance polling. And in New Hampshire among republicans who prioritized a candidate who can win, they go with Rubio.
(CROSSTALK)
LORD: And in New Hampshire, that was 14 percent.
CUPP: And so that's why...
BORGER: It wasn't many.
CUPP: It's not a lot but he's winning that lane. And he knows as more people drop out, and if it's, you know, Trump and Cruz, sort of the anger candidates, there's going to be room for an electable moderate candidate. He's going to be that candidate.
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: But, you know, his other pitch as he was that, I can appeal to all the factions of the Republican Party. I can unite the Republican Party and he's tried to do that. He's tried to ride all throw horses at once, the social conservatives, the Tea Party and the establishment. I think that's a hard straddle to pull off. And I think you may end up having, you know, warm feelings among...
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: You're also now getting -- I mean, if Christie is taking a breather and, again, we don't want to be misquoted here, so, that's all he said. He's just taking a breather; we don't know what it means further on the knob. But you're going to have Jeb Bush going after continuing to hit Rubio hard.
BORGER: Rubio. Right.
And if Jeb Bush is revived or more confident now in the next debate, who knows he can?
[22:55:04] HENDERSON: Yes. And I think part of Jeb's argument is that he is partly electable because he can take on Donald Trump, right? He's the one who's been going after Donald Trump most aggressively certainly in that last debate and throughout this because that's the final contest in some ways.
BORGER: Bush's goal tonight was to beat Marco Rubio. Now, so far, it's really close and we don't know but so far it seems to be working out, even though it might only be by a percentage or so.
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: The interesting about Rubio, though...
BORGER: But this keeps Bush very much in the running.
JONES: This is a true moment. You know, and not just in political, and in your life, when you make a mistake like that in public for the whole world to see, I was proud that he stood up and said, listen, it's on me. He didn't try -- he didn't just start blaming, oh, somebody stole the votes or whatever. He said, look, this is on me. I thought that showed a lot of character. Now, you're going to have to watch this next couple of days, is he going to be able to come back in there.
COOPER: We got to take a quick break. A lot more as more results are coming in. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome back. A very, very dramatic night in New Hampshire. Indeed, around the country. Big winners tonight in the democratic and republican side.
On the republican side, first of all, Donald Trump, a huge win for him tonight. Take a look at the votes. You see right there he had 35 percent. He's 30, almost 37,000 votes ahead of the second place finisher John Kasich, the Ohio Governor, with 16 percent.
There is still a fight underway for third place right now. You see Ted Cruz at 12 percent, Jeb Bush at 11 percent, Marco Rubio 10 percent, Chris Christie, the New Jersey Governor finishing a very, very sad sixth right there.
And he's gone back to New Jersey to rethink what's going on, take a little bit of breather, he says as of right now to discuss with his family.
So, only a little while ago, in his victory speech, Donald Trump said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[23:00:03] TRUMP: We are going to make our country so strong. We are going to start winning again. We don't win anymore. As a country, we don't win on trade; we don't with the military...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
