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CNN Live Event/Special

Voters Casting Ballots In New Hampshire Primary; Trump And Haley Face Off In New Hampshire GOP Primary; Longtime CBS Host Charles Osgood Dies At 91. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired January 23, 2024 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Now, what would it mean for Nikki Haley to win in New Hampshire? What would it mean for Donald Trump to win in New Hampshire? Well, let's look at history, because New Hampshire is known to shake things up a little bit. When you look at past primary winners, it likes to, Anderson, as I believe Jack Heath told you earlier today, when you think you've written the headline, it's going to switch it up a little bit on you.

Over the course of the last seven cycles, you look at what's happened in the Republican primary, including incumbents, and what you've seen is John McCain in 2000, with the exception of McCain in 2000. Every single Republican, including those incumbents who won New Hampshire, went on to become the Republican nominee. Several of them became president, including Donald Trump back in 2016.

But it's the two McCain races that I think people like to focus on, particularly given Nikki Haley's profile and what she's pushing for in this state. McCain back in 2000 won independents three to one in a race, stunning the favorite George W. Bush, and moving that race on to South Carolina, a particularly brutal battle that Bush ended up winning on his way to the nomination. And then back in 2008, McCain's campaign was left for dead, had a Lazarus-like revival in New Hampshire, once again riding independents to the win there.

So, whether or not Nikki Haley can repeat that, certainly that would be a roadmap to do so. But what about those who have won in the state and have gone on to have become the presidential candidate? Margins here are critical, and margins underscore strength. Reagan in 1980 winning by more than 27 points.

McCain in 2000, that shocking upset, more than 18 points. Interestingly, Trump in 2016, although he only got 35 percent of the vote, won by nearly 20 points. Can he do better than that? This time around, the polling would say he's in that vicinity right now, his team clearly pushing for a major win.

And what would a major win look like for Trump? This is what's interesting. When you look at the size of the electorate in New Hampshire for past primary wins, Trump has a very real chance of surpassing Reagan, getting more than 50 percent. That would be very noteworthy, and that would cause his team to once again reiterate their calls for Nikki Haley to drop out of the race. Obviously, Haley trying to keep him well below that. But whatever happens tonight, she's making clear she is going to move on to New Hampshire. As you look at this map right now, we wait for everything other than Dixville not to start to fill in.

Haley's team has already placed a half million dollar add by in the state of South Carolina, making clear her team will be heading there after the race tonight. And what's interesting, Anderson, obviously, is that Nikki Haley is the former governor of South Carolina. That is her home state. That should be a place of strength.

Except for the fact that back in 2016, Donald Trump, and again, a very significant race, Marco Rubio getting the endorsement of Nikki Haley, Jeb Bush having his brother come in, the entire Bush family come in to try and bolster his chances. Donald Trump won the state by 10 points. Donald Trump has the endorsement of most of the top Republicans in the state, including the governor, Harry McMaster.

One interesting point that Haley has repeatedly made, one, she's got time, almost a month, to try and build a campaign in that state. Also, she's beaten McMaster in the governor's race in 2010.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: Phil Mattingly, thanks very much.

As New Hampshire votes, President Biden and Vice President Harris are hitting the campaign trail together for the first time this year. Will their message on abortion rights energize the base? Talk about that just ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Nikki has the best chance of kind of bringing our country together. I think Trump has some great policies, but I think a lot of chaos follows him, and I think President Biden just hasn't done what he needed to do to unite the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:37:58]

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: In just moments from now, we expect to see President Biden and Vice President Harris at their first joint campaign appearance of the year. They plan, we are told by sources, to drive home this message about abortion rights being at stake in the November 2024 election. The first lady, Jill Biden, and the second gentleman, Doug Emhoff, also taking part in a campaign event in Virginia as we speak.

And all of this is coming as voters are lining up in New Hampshire at polling places to cast their ballots in today's first-in-the-nation primary, with Donald Trump and his sole remaining GOP challenger facing off in the granite state.

My panel is back here with me. And Tia Mitchell, what do you make of the reporting that CNN has that essentially what the White House is hoping to see here is that Donald Trump does lock up this nomination sooner rather than later so they can start to focus on that? Because typically, it's the inverse. You want there to be this messy nomination fight and the other parties spend all their money on that, and then you'll deal with them come summer.

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Yes, I think there are pros and cons to both. But I think the calculus that the Biden campaign is making is that they draw the sharpest contrast and that the contrast that has the most benefit for them is against Donald Trump. Again, the polling shows that Biden performs better against Donald Trump than any of the other possible candidates in the Republican primary.

So, they want Trump in November. And so, by being able to focus on him, I think they also think voters will pay more attention. You know, there's right now a concern that voters don't believe that Donald Trump will be the nominee and therefore aren't taking the election as seriously right now, aren't paying as much attention.

But once Trump becomes official, I think the Biden campaign believes that, again, voters who are concerned don't want another Trump presidency will get engaged more.

[15:40:00]

Now, the downside is I think there will be pressure on Biden to ramp up his campaign if Donald Trump pivots to the general election and begins ramping up his campaign and has the big rallies and things that that he's known for. Then that will be pressure on Biden to be able to match his energy.

COLLINS: I mean, we have been hearing from these voters in these the big rallies and things that that he's known for. Then that will be pressure on Biden to be able to match his energy. I mean, we have been hearing from these voters in these moments.

And it's anecdotal. We don't actually know what tonight will look like. But there are saying that they're voting for Nikki Haley over Donald Trump. But I think the question is, could Donald Trump have this locked up by tonight?

LULU GARCIA NAVARRO, JOURNALIST, NEW YORK TIMES: I think he might. I mean, I don't know what the path forward is for Nikki Haley, if she really doesn't have a strong showing. And I think going into South Carolina, that is her home state. She is not going to want to show up there with the poll numbers as they are now, even though it's a month in the future, and show up there and all of a sudden have a really weak showing. I mean, I don't think that's going to give her any credit. And so there is this sense that this could end up being a general election fight right away.

The one thing I'll say, though, is that I think there's just a lot of voter apathy. I know that the Democrats feel that if they can focus on Trump, that might galvanize people, might focus people's attention, and think, man, we don't want this person again for their base. But I think there is a sense already that he's a known quantity. We've

been through Trump once. We can survive him again. And I just don't know that that's going to have the same effect as it did before.

ROB GODFREY, FORMER NIKKI HALEY SPOKESPERSON: One thing I will say is that there will be a primary tonight, and it is not make or break necessarily for any candidate. And we do know, based on what Governor Haley has said, that this primary is going to continue to South Carolina. And what's different about South Carolina compared to Iowa and New Hampshire is that South Carolina is the only primary since its inception where no one has gone on to be president without first winning the South Carolina Republican primary. And only once in the history --

COLLINS: Do you really think it's not make or break for her? I mean, what state would be better for her after New Hampshire, do you think?

GODFREY: So, we'll have to wait and see. We'll have to see what that number is. You've had a lot of man on the street interviews today or woman on the street interviews today that appear to be positive for her. And so, we'll have to see what the number is today, which, let's be clear, the number that she runs up today, if it's in the 40s versus if it's in the 30s, will impact what kind of earned media, what kind of, you know, media resources are devoted to her. What kind of donor interest remains focused on her. So, it's an important state, but it's not a make-or-break state.

It's coming to South Carolina. And South Carolina's primary is the most reliable bellwether for who becomes the nominee. One thing about the South Carolina primary that's different than Iowa and New Hampshire is that more than three quarters of a million people will participate in the South Carolina primary.

In 2016, 745,000 people participated in it. You're talking about a primary today that's going to have 330,000 participants. And I don't -- I mean, I don't even know how many people participated in Iowa. I think 100,000 people.

COLLINS: (INAUDIBLE) or so.

GODFREY: So more, yes, more people combined will participate in South Carolina's primary than in these first two contests. And that's a significant thing.

LEAH WRIGHT RIGUEUR, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST AND HISTORIAN: And the thing that she has on her side, remember, all things considered, this is a Hail Mary that we're talking about here. Trump fundamentally has the nomination wrapped up. But there are a lot of strange things that are happening, including Nikki Haley's fundraising going up. She has acquired a bit more money in just -- even since Ron DeSantis has dropped out.

The kind of if I'm in the Trump campaign, I'm deeply worried about the undeclared, the independents, the people who are kind of at the margins, who are just who are expressing this real anti-Trump sentiment, not perhaps about what it indicates about Nikki Haley. But what is it -- what is Nikki Haley's candidacy expressing about Trump's ability or appeal during the general election?

And then, of course, I do think that as even as the Republican Party is using this as a strategy to motivate its base, there's also the reality of how do Trump's indictments and criminal activity and just overall behavior and anti-democratic sentiment, how do those things play out amongst a general audience? So far, what we are seeing, they do not play well.

And I think if you're Nikki Haley, you're thinking about all of that. You're also thinking about the reality that, yes, you may actually have to drop out. But what also can I get from this? That's the thing we haven't really talked about. What does Nikki Haley get out of all of this? You know, besides the fact that maybe she'll be president, right, or maybe she'll be the nominee. But what does she get?

NAVARRO: You know, it's a little thing.

RIGUEUR: But what does she get if she stays in a little bit longer in a campaign where it looks like Donald Trump is the eventual nominee?

NAVARRO: I just think if you look at the Republican Party right now, I don't see a Republican Party that is looking to change horses from Donald Trump. I mean, that is just the fact of the matter. I just is. It's you have institutional support.

[15:45:00]

You are seeing it in Congress. You are seeing the money following him. I mean, you're seeing policy people following him. It is Trump's party. He is still viable. And you see the voters follow that.

MITCHELL: And that's also when you talk about what can she get out of staying in, but there are also downsides to staying in. That's the reason why so many other candidates have gotten out of the race because they do want to save face in a way that maybe could preserve their relationships with Donald Trump or preserve their ability to try again in 2028. So, I think that's part of her calculus. Yes, she can stay in through South Carolina, but if she's setting herself up for what polls say could be a defeat in her home state, does she drop out to say, I don't want that on my record. Let me see what I can do to preserve opportunities for me in the future.

COLLINS: Yes. Everyone says that they're staying in, of course, until we see that they are not.

We'll be back in a moment with our panel. Thank you all. More of CNN's continued special live coverage of the New Hampshire primary right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:26]

COLLINS: Welcome back to our special coverage of the New Hampshire primary as former President Donald Trump is hoping to put the race for the GOP nomination to bed tonight in New Hampshire. CNN's Kristen Holmes is outside the Trump headquarters in Nashua, New

Hampshire. Kristen, I know there's supposed to be a watch party about to kick off there in a few minutes, I should say. What are you hearing from Trump's team about not just what they're expecting on the campaign trail tonight, but also, you're reporting that he'll be back in the courtroom in Manhattan tomorrow.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Kaitlan, actually, so there's a little bit of confusion because his team did tell me a few minutes ago that he was going to be back in the courtroom, but it does appear that there might have been an alert that court might not be on tomorrow. And that just came out. So, we're trying to sort through that right now to figure out where exactly he'll be. His plan was to be in the courtroom, to fly to New York tonight after his watch party. And again, be in court for the E.G., defamation case tomorrow. Just another sign of how he is balancing this.

Now, I did talk to members of his senior staff who essentially told me that they are feeling very confident when it comes to New Hampshire. But one thing I do want to point out is that I actually traveled with Donald Trump in January of this year -- of last year, excuse me -- when it was his first campaign stop in New Hampshire. And there was not a lot of excitement at that time. The room that we were in was filled with Republicans from New Hampshire who essentially just said that they were ready to move on from Donald Trump. It's a very different environment today.

And that's part of why his team is so excited, so confident. They are really feeling that there is a movement or at least a movement in terms of enthusiasm when it comes to the former president. And I do want to note that this is a very different place that they're in just in the last two weeks.

They were very concerned about Nikki Haley. They had seen those poll numbers. They did believe that it was closer in New Hampshire than it had been in any other state in terms of margins between him and any of his opponents.

However, they did hit her and they hit her on two different top issues, particularly immigration and Social Security. And that's what they're crediting essentially his raise or rise in the polls in recent days to was those attacks was to those ads that they put out.

But again, feeling confident. The big question, of course, being whether or not he could, you know, essentially take this home or put this to bed tonight.

COLLINS: Yes, we'll be watching that closely. And, Kristen, you are right. Just to update you, since you've been talking on television, we have heard that there will be no trial proceedings tomorrow in that E. Jean Carroll defamation trial. So, we'll wait to see when he is expected to be back in the courtroom. Kristen Holmes at Trump headquarters. Thank you.

And when we come back, remembering a news legend, longtime CBS journalist Charles Osgood has died. We'll take a look back at his life and his legacy ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:57:34]

COLLINS: We are remembering a news legend today after the former journalist Charles Osgood has died.

His family says that he passed away earlier today at his New Jersey home after battling dementia. That's according to CBS, where he was such a familiar face to so many. He's best remembered as the face of CBS Sunday Morning from 1994 to 2016. He was 91 years old.

A look back at his life and his extraordinary career.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHARLES OSGOOD, HOST, CBS SUNDAY MORNING: Sunday morning has been, without a doubt, the most satisfying 22 years of my life in broadcasting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Charles Osgood anchored CBS Sunday Morning with warmth and wit for more than two decades.

OSGOOD: I think that CBS Sunday Morning has been successful because the people who watch it don't tune in to see how much you can shock them or distress them, but they tune in to see what would be fascinating, interesting, and possibly inspiring. And that's what we try to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): The beloved broadcaster also brought that signature approach to his daily radio commentary, The Osgood File.

OSGOOD: I would never considered myself a television guy who happened to do some radio. I was a radio guy who happened to do a television show.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Osgood's affinity for radio was clear in his famous sign-off line.

OSGOOD: As for me, I will see you on the radio.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): He wasn't averse to rhyming verse and sometimes delivered The Osgood File in that style. It earned him the title of poet in residence at CBS News and exemplified his unorthodox approach to journalism.

OSGOOD: I never took a broadcasting course or a journalism course when I went to school. At Fordham, I majored in economics. So, in a way, I've sort of learned on the job. And since I don't know how to do it right, I just do it whatever way I can think of.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): His talent for poetry served him well as the narrator of the animated Dr. Seuss film, Horton Hears a Who.

OSGOOD: The mayor of Whoville, a man named McDodd, was devoted and fair and a little bit odd.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Osgood had a gift for music, too. An avid piano player and former classical music DJ, he even co-wrote the Vietnam War era hit, Gallant Men.

CHOIR: Our gallant men has built us a name ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): A distinguished storyteller, his honors included enshrinement in the radio and broadcaster Halls of Fame, three Peabody Awards, and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy. And in 2016, one of his iconic trademark bow ties became part of the National Museum of American History.

[16:00:00]

Three Peabody Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Emmy. And in 2016, one of his iconic trademark bow ties became part of the National Museum of American History's permanent collection. Charles Osgood will be remembered for the grace and humanity he brought to his work.

OSGOOD: I could not ask for anything to have gone differently in my life, and I don't know what in the world I would rather do than do what I'm doing now. It's been wonderful.

OSGOOD: So long, it's been good to know you. Been a long time since I've been home, and I've got to be drifting along.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And our condolences to his family, and as he liked to say, we'll see you on the radio. For the rest of you, we'll see you here as our special coverage of the New Hampshire primary continues right now.