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The Situation Room
Democrats Prepare to Debate. Aired 18-19:00p ET
Aired October 13, 2015 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:05]
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting live from the CNN Democratic presidential debate here in Las Vegas. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
We're live at Wynn Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, where five Democratic presidential candidates will face off tonight for the very first time. It's a key contest for Hillary Clinton facing an increasingly strong challenge from the Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. It's also a crucial night for Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and former Rhode Island Senator and Governor Lincoln Chafee, all of whom are hoping to break out from their single digit poll numbers.
CNN's John Berman is here inside the debate hall.
John, set the scene for us.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it's been a busy time here on the debate stage.
Wolf, in just two-and-a-half-hours, the five candidates will be standing behind those lecterns squaring off for the first time in this primary campaign. We saw Jim Webb. We saw Bernie Sanders. We did not see Hillary Clinton. She sent her top adviser, Huma Abedin, who spent a lot of time here on this stage and I thought it was very interesting. She took a lot of pictures of the stage where Hillary Clinton will be standing, where she will be looking.
The lecterns set up behind me, they are just 20 inches apart. That's the same distance as in the Republican debate at the Reagan Library. That is fairly close. Try standing next to a friend of yours just 20 inches apart and see how comfortable you are. These five candidates, Hillary Clinton will be center stage, she's the leader in the polls. To her right, you will have Bernie Sanders, to her left, Martin O'Malley, and on the wings, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee, who I don't believe we are going to see in a walk-through. Unclear what he is doing.
One difference in this debate than the ones you have seen up until now, two-minute opening statements from all the candidates. Then they will have one minute to answer questions from Anderson Cooper, Juan Carlos Lopez, Dana Bash, and 30-second rebuttals if they get called out by name. One of the most interesting questions right now is, will any of
the candidates get called out by name? How much of a need will there be for rebuttals? That's what the campaigns have been preparing for -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And Don Lemon will be getting questions from our Facebook viewers as well. So that is going to be an interesting element of this upcoming debate. John Berman, thanks very much.
I want to go to our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. He's been watching the candidates arrive here at the hotel to get their first look at the debate stage.
What have you seen so far, Jim?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf.
We're in the loading dock of the Wynn Hotel and Casino. We have seen a couple candidates come through so far. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who is really giving Hillary Clinton a run for her money, he was the last candidate to come through here. He said he doesn't see tonight as sort of a clash of a titans between himself and Hillary Clinton. He wants to talk about the issues he cares about.
But he said, no question about it, this is one of the biggest political moments of his career. She's glad she's sharing it with his wife and his children, who are also there by his side. Wolf, we also had a chance to very briefly with the former Virginia Senator Jim Webb, who acknowledged that he's really trying to introduce himself to a whole lot of Americans out there who may be unfamiliar with his candidacy, a candidacy that really has failed to gain traction at this point.
And the next several minutes or so, we should be able to greet Martin O'Malley, the former Maryland governor. He will be coming in, in just a few moments. And, Wolf, as you know, he needs a make-or- break moment tonight, not a break moment, he wants to make a moment tonight to break out in this campaign and that's what he will be looking for later on tonight.
He plays the guitar. Wolf, we will be finding out in just a few moments if he has a pre-debate warm-up song that he has in mind as he makes his way here to the Wynn Casino -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Jim Acosta, thanks very much.
I want to bring in our senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar. She's also here inside the debate hall with more on what is going on.
What are you seeing, Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Wolf. Well, I can tell you a little bit about what has been going on
for some of the candidates. Hillary Clinton actually spent some of this afternoon doing some last-minute debate prep. You saw that she didn't come on stage to do the walk-through, as we saw Jim Webb and we saw Bernie Sanders do.
This will allow the campaign to really have the visuals of Hillary Clinton for this week, this debate week, be very tightly controlled, allowing that visual of her going to Trump Tower and standing by union members who are picketing and making an impact that way, and then also her debate performance and then what is really sort of a frenetic travel pace that she will do over the next four days, post-debate travel in a number of states.
So she's been preparing, today really just the last of it. She's been preparing for really into September. Bernie Sanders, certainly, his goal is going to be to convince people that he's in the mainstream and to try to stop Hillary Clinton from telling people that maybe his ideas aren't really practical or maybe they don't represent all of the Democratic Party.
[18:05:04]
But for Martin O'Malley, I have been told by an aide close to him that his goal is to really try to introduce himself. I think it's interesting, Wolf, that I don't think that you can really rule out that he's going to try to come in and make a splash and maybe take Hillary Clinton on.
I have been told he's not going to shy away from trying to draw some contrasts with Hillary Clinton and he's certainly been -- of all of the candidates I think who we are going to see here on stage tonight, he's been the one who has been I think showing a little bit more of an attitude toward Hillary Clinton. So be looking for that.
BLITZER: We will see if that attitude comes through. All right, Brianna, thank you.
And we're also getting some brand-new reporting about Hillary Clinton's campaign right now. One of Hillary Clinton's current staffers who worked for the Obama campaign back in 2008 once wrote a memo about how to beat Hillary Clinton.
Joining us on the phone is our political commentator, "The New Yorker" magazine Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza.
What have you learned, Ryan?
RYAN LIZZA, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: What I posted over the NewYorker.com, Wolf, is a strategy memo from actually this point in the 2007 campaign.
And what is interesting about it is, it's basically the Obama brain trust, David Axelrod, Dan Pfeiffer, the pollster Joel Benenson, who, as you point out, now works for Hillary Clinton, laying out in an unvarnished way how you beat Hillary Clinton. Now, remember, in October of 2007, they faced the same thing that
Bernie Sanders and Martin O'Malley and these other candidates face now. Clinton was the dominant front-runner, but she had vulnerabilities and they had to figure out how to exploit them.
So I think what is really interesting for most viewers will be just the sort of unvarnished language they used about her and they argue that they had to take down Hillary Clinton, not on policy grounds, but on character grounds. One of the interesting quotes is that the reason Clinton can't be trusted or believed when it comes to change is that she represents the Washington insider syndrome.
They write -- quote -- "that she's driven by political calculation and not conviction" and -- quote -- "she embodies trench warfare vs. Republicans."
So it's a long memo that sort of goes through all of her weaknesses, but highlights this issue of her character. And the question I have is, is this going to be the strategy that one of her opponents uses this time?
BLITZER: And, Ryan, is this the first time this memo has been reported?
LIZZA: Yes. I have published snippets of it previously, but this is the first time that the entire memo in full has ever been published.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Let's get some reaction to this. Yes, let's get some reaction. I want to get some reaction.
Jennifer Palmieri is the communications director for Hillary Clinton's campaign, Hillary for America. She's with me right now.
Have you read that memo going back for 2007/2008, how these Obama staffers, including her current pollster, thought she was so vulnerable on these character issues?
JENNIFER PALMIERI, COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, HILLARY FOR AMERICA: No, but it seems like it is going to make for a really awkward staff meeting the next time that we sit down with Joel Benenson.
BLITZER: But did you know at all about this?
PALMIERI: No, I haven't. This is the first time...
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: How does she deal with this issue that maybe her character, she's flawed, because you keep hearing this over and over again, not just Republicans, but some Democrats making the case she's vulnerable on this issue?
PALMIERI: I just don't think -- I think that what you will see tonight is that -- and what I think that the voters who really know her and see her on the campaign trail, I think what they see is someone who at their core has fighting for work families, not just talking about in this campaign, but this has been her sole motivation and why she got into public service.
Why she's running for president is because she wants her -- her sole driving, motivating force is trying to make more opportunity in working families' lives. This is why she had -- there is a lot of consensus about her, but this is why she didn't -- after law school, this is why started working with the Children's Defense Fund.
This is why, as first lady of Arkansas, she worked to bring health care to young mothers and to kids. This is why, as the first lady of the United States, she worked to get health care done. She didn't succeed, so she worked with the Congress to get children's health insurance done. This is someone who has been -- her whole career has been fighting for kids and families, who that is what is at her core.
And if you spend time with her on the campaign trail, particularly at town halls, what you see are voters even unburdening themselves to her, talking about their personal problems, because they know that she is somebody who understands what their life is like and is going to do something about the problems in their lives.
BLITZER: You heard Joel Benenson, her current pollster, he was the pollster for Barack Obama's campaign, David Axelrod, some of these others who worked in the Obama campaign, they thought she was most vulnerable on the credibility, on her character issues.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: The whole e-mail -- the e-mail controversy is going to be reinforcing that notion as well.
PALMIERI: But, see, I think we saw in 2008 is, President Obama ran a good campaign and he won and he's been an excellent president.
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But I think what you have seen in Hillary Clinton and what you see in her character is someone who just stays at it, who grinds it out and gets the job done. And what we have seen with the voters who are reacting to her is they see that she is someone who is going to fight for her, that she will not -- there is no -- at the end of the debate tonight, people are going to see that that is the woman on the stage who best understands what my problems in my life are like, the ones that keep me up at night.
She has got real solutions that are going to actually solve the problems that are in their life. And she is the person who is going to fight the hardest and be the most determined to get them done. And that is what people need to know about Hillary Clinton's character.
BLITZER: If she's going to attacked tonight -- and I assume she will be by some Democrats -- will she counterpunch the way Donald Trump counterpunches?
PALMIERI: I assume she will be.
I don't imagine Hillary Clinton would do anything the way Donald Trump does it.
BLITZER: Because, from his campaign, it's been very effective when he goes after some of these Republicans who go after him.
(CROSSTALK)
PALMIERI: You know what? Hillary Clinton is doing a lot better than in the polls than Donald Trump is.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Donald Trump is way ahead in the Republican...
PALMIERI: No, she's way ahead. She's doing far better in the Democratic polls than Donald Trump is doing in the Republican polls.
BLITZER: You mean if there's a head to head match-up between Donald Trump...
(CROSSTALK)
PALMIERI: No, I mean, if you look at how Hillary Clinton is doing in polls of Democratic voters for the nomination vs. how Donald Trump is doing, you know, they're both the front-runners, but she has a far bigger lead.
Her lead is in the double digits. She has a far bigger lead. She has many more Democrats supporting her than Donald Trump has Republicans supporting him.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: That's fair enough. Should there be more debates? There is going to be six that the DNC has authorized. Should there be more?
PALMIERI: We will see if the -- we're excited to do this one. If the DNC adds more, she will -- as she has said before, that she will be happy to do them.
BLITZER: Do you think she want more debates?
PALMIERI: I think we will see. I think she likes to debate. She did over 20 of them in the last -- in 2008, in that campaign cycle. So she's good at it and she likes it.
BLITZER: How come she didn't go there to actually take a look at the lectern? She sent Huma Abedin, her top aide, to do that. Why wouldn't she just want to get a little feeling of this room?
PALMIERI: Everybody has different ways that they prepare. There's a lot of things that she does to prepare for the debate.
But walking out on stage and getting a feel of the podium, it is not something that she feels she needs to do. She's pretty comfortable at whatever podium. So she's getting ready in other ways.
BLITZER: There has been a little mystery whether her husband, the former president of the United States, you worked for him, you now work for her, whether -- he's here in Las Vegas. Will he come into this room tonight and sit there with some of the other spouses?
(CROSSTALK)
PALMIERI: No, he is not planning on doing that. He is supposed to be -- he's going to be watching on television. But he wanted to come to Las Vegas and give her moral support. And he's got pretty good advice about how to debate as well. He's been pretty effective in that in his own campaigns.
BLITZER: Chelsea has been pretty active. Is she here as well?
PALMIERI: She is not.
BLITZER: She is not here either. OK. Well, he's here, but he won't be here inside the room. He will watch it on TV.
(CROSSTALK)
PALMIERI: He will watch it on TV. He likes to do that, watch it as most voters and most Americans will.
BLITZER: OK. let's see what happens after this debate. All right, thanks very much.
PALMIERI: All right. Pleasure.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: Good luck tonight. All right, good, Stand by.
We're awaiting the start of this, the CNN Democratic presidential debate here at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.
When we come back, we will preview tonight's big battle between the two front-runners, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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BLITZER: Welcome back. We're here live at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.
We're counting down to the start of the first Democratic presidential debate with the front, Hillary Clinton, clearly the candidate to beat tonight. Our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, is with us, along
with our chief national correspondent, the anchor of "INSIDE POLITICS," John King, are our CNN political commentator, the former Obama adviser David Axelrod.
Let's talk, David, first of all, you were there in 2007, 2008. You were one of the key strategists helping then Senator Barack Obama become president of the United States.
This memo that Ryan Liza of "The New Yorker" magazine, one of our CNN contributors, just received, the whole memo, saying that the way to beat Hillary Clinton was to go after her top vulnerability, character issues. You have seen the memo. I don't know if you actually wrote it.
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't recall putting Ryan's name on it.
BLITZER: Yes. It was confidential. But he ahold of the whole thing.
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: Look, I don't think anything in that memo should be surprising to anyone, because you saw the strategy that was executed by the campaign and the contrasts that Barack Obama drew.
I would point out that those were different times, there were different issues. The Iraq War in particular was very much front and center in that debate. And that was a strategy that maximized our comparative advantage in that debate.
Her job in this election is to maximize her comparative advantages against the other candidates in this primary and particularly against the Republicans. I think you will see that tonight.
BLITZER: That strategy...
(CROSSTALK)
GLORIA BORGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good way to get out of that, by the way. That was really good. Good job.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: You're confirming Ryan Lizza's reporting is accurate?
[18:20:00]
AXELROD: Well, I mean, if you're asking me, is that memo legitimate, I think the memo is real.
BLITZER: It's a real memo. Is that strategy that was successful for Barack Obama then, could it be used this time around against Hillary Clinton? BORGER: Look, I think it will be used if she's the nominee in a
general election.
I think that Hillary Clinton is hugely popular in the Democratic Party right now. She's very well liked. She's trusted. She has a trust issue with the general electorate. But Democrats like Hillary Clinton, so I don't think they will attack her on that on the stage tonight. I think they are going to make issue comparison.
They are going to talk about her inconsistencies, her flip- flopping, et cetera. But I think that the Obama game plan back then doesn't necessarily work up there on the stage tonight.
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: Well, there's no question about it. I totally agree with you. If you skip down to the bottom of the piece, Wolf, Ryan also
quotes me as saying what I have been saying here and elsewhere for quite some time, which is I think her stock is undervalued in this race. I think she has a lot of assets in this Democratic race. And I think she is going to be the nominee the Democratic Party.
I agree with Gloria. I don't think there is going to be a frontal attack on candidate who has a 78 percent or whatever it is approval rating among Democrats. For her, I think the challenge is to take the positions she's taken in this campaign, to weave them together into a narrative and to deliver that with conviction. And I think that is the big challenge for her tonight.
BLITZER: Let me read part of this memo that was written back in 2007 that has now been reported by Ryan Lizza.
"She's driven by political calculation, not conviction, regularly backing away and shifting positions on issues ranging from war to Social Security to trade to reform."
That was written then. But her critics are going to say that's pretty applicable right now.
JOHN KING, HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS:" Written then by a guy who writes clear declarative sentences.
(CROSSTALK)
KING: But, look, yes, I think you will -- Senator Sanders does not want to attack her personally. I think he will raises these issues by saying he has consistently been in the camp of a $15 minimum wage, consistently been against the Iraq War, consistently been against the trade agreements, to raise it that way, which is not -- it's pointed, but it's not personal.
Senator Chafee, or Governor Chafee, has in the past brought up questions of trust and character at his events with Secretary Clinton. The question is, will he do it on a national debate stage? That's always a question. When someone brings it to a national audience, are they prepared to do it? But I think it's very different...
(CROSSTALK)
AXELROD: You have to do it from the standpoint of a guy who has been a Republican, a Democrat and an independent.
KING: And when Senator Obama did it, he was in a position to beat her. At the moment, the only other candidate on that stage who is in a position to beat her is Senator Sanders, who is close in Iowa and ahead in New Hampshire. And he has shown no interest in getting personal.
AXELROD: Look, first, just let me challenge the -- I think Bernie Sanders has run an astonishing campaign in terms of where he's come from and where he is now.
He has a long way to go before you would say he is a major threat to her candidacy, because he has to prove that he can...
(CROSSTALK)
KING: But at the moment on that stage tonight, he's the only threat.
AXELROD: Yes. No, there's no question about it.
(CROSSTALK)
BORGER: But he has to show that he can be president of the United States.
Bernie Sanders has an electability issue. And what he has got to prove on that stage tonight is he's up against Hillary Clinton, whom people have known nationally for decades, is that -- and who is a former secretary of state -- that he can lead the country, particularly on foreign policy issues, which we haven't heard a lot.
BLITZER: Stand by, guys, because we're only just a little bit more than two hours away from the start of this, the CNN Democratic presidential debate, here at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.
All eyes tonight are on the front-runner, Hillary Clinton, and her closest rival, Bernie Sanders. Get ready. They're about to face off fort first time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:28:24]
BLITZER: Welcome back.
We're live here at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas. We're awaiting the start of CNN's Democratic presidential debate. This is the first face-off for the five leading Democratic candidates.
Our senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar, she is down there on the stage where the candidates, their representatives, they have been walking through.
Brianna, who is there now?
KEILAR: This is Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, former Governor Martin O'Malley, taking the stage right now, as you can see there, Wolf, coming on stage to do the walk-through.
He's really the final candidate that we will see doing the walk- through here ahead of the debate coming up here very shortly. So, actually, we have learned a little bit about some of the strategy that he has been really keeping in his mind as he has prepared for this debate really for several weeks now at this point, Wolf.
I spoke with an aide to Martin O'Malley who said that he's not going to shy away from drawing contrasts with Hillary Clinton. Does that mean that he is definitely going to attack her? Not necessarily. It doesn't necessarily have to be an attack, but he is going to draw contrast and certainly he perhaps will have some sharp distinctions, I think, as he is approaching this debate tonight.
The other thing is, I have been told that he plans to lean into this message that he will be a president guided by principles, not polls. So that, I think, is sort of a hint to what we will see, which is basically his alluding to the fact that Hillary Clinton is someone who has changed her mind at times, as we have seen recently, with Martin O'Malley saying, wow, what a reversal when it came to her coming out for a trade deal that she had trumpeted while she -- she had really touted while she was secretary of state, and then just recently came out in opposition of.
[18:30:17] So you see Martin O'Malley there. He's talking with some of -- our D.C. Bureau chief Sam Feist and some of the other folks who have been so instrumental in putting together this debate.
We've been hearing, like, right before Martin O'Malley was here and Lincoln Chafee was doing the walk through here on stage, even going through some of the basic time cues, saying to the candidates that they will have a minute to answer a question. Here's how they will understand when their minute is up and that if they are mentioned by another candidate, that they'll be given 30 seconds to really rebut something. So that if there is something that's said about them, they have a chance to really respond.
BLITZER: All right, Brianna. You're down there on the stage. We're up above, watching everything that's going on. Stand by.
After the debate, the action will move to the so-called spin room, where the candidates' surrogates, possibly some of the candidates themselves, they will give their take on what unfolds here tonight.
Kate Bolduan is in the spin room for us.
Kate, tell us what to expect.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: You know very well, after so many debates, Wolf, what to expect in this room.
Right now you can see I've got space to walk around. Right after the debate, there's no chance you can walk around. This place is flooded by the campaigns, by the candidates themselves, possibly, all coming to spin their narrative. They all come to say they want -- why they think they won the debate, also trying to really define their debate moment highlights before their rivals define the big moments for them.
And of course, this is the place where you need to clean up after any mistakes that are made.
The spin room so busy. More than 700 members of the credentialed media are going to be here, possibly, after the debate, crushes of people.
These are called spinner sticks. That's what these are used for, Wolf. This is actually -- after seeing them so many times, I didn't even know that's what they were called. This where you're going to see -- they're going to hold these up. That is for the candidates. If they come through, this is where you're going to find them and where you're going to find a crush of reporters, as well.
This is essentially where, after the debate, this is the kickoff to the next phase of this campaign. As we've seen with Republicans already, these debates where campaigns are made and where campaigns can fall. And that's why they will kick off the next phase of their campaign right here right after our two-hour debate, Wolf.
BLITZER: We'll get back to you. Thanks very much, Kate, for that.
Let's get some more on the battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, what's coming up. Joining us, Democratic strategist, our CNN political commentator, Paul Begala. He's a senior adviser to a super PAC supporting Hillary Clinton. Also joining us, our CNN political commentator, the host of CNN's "SMERCONISH," Michael Smerconish. Guys, thanks very much.
Let me get your quick reaction, Paul. I know you support Hillary Clinton. You want her to be the next president of the United States. This article that Ryan Lizza, CNN political commentator, just wrote, just published in the "New Yorker" magazine, "How to Beat Hillary Clinton."
He got his hands for the first time on that memo that Barack Obama staffers put together in 2007, "How to Beat Hillary Clinton." And the most vulnerable part of her was her credibility, her character. Go after her on that. And that seems -- potentially, that could be a big vulnerability she still has.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think it's a totally different race. First off, the '08 race, there was a lot of -- I thought it was well within the bounds, OK? There was a lot of shots back and forth between Hillary and Barack. And you know what? Both of them emerged stronger. It made Barack Obama a better candidate.
So I don't think we're going to have attacks tonight. We're certainly not going to have attacks on character, at least if these candidates are smart.
Today's "Washington post" poll, Hillary's favorable among Democrats is 79 percent. Seventy-nine percent. That's higher than canned beer. I guess for Democrats, if you like Chardonnay.
BLITZER: What does Martin O'Malley have to lose? He's down. Lincoln Chafee, Jim Webb? They presumably could go after her and try to make a name for themselves.
BEGALA: We're in Las Vegas. This is a city built on people who ask the question "What have I got to lose" and then found out, actually a lot. No. And particularly like, O'Malley, who I know is a terrific governor, terrific mayor, he's also got a good sense of humor.
Seriously, if I was advising him, I'd say don't go smacking some woman who's at 79 percent. But show your personality, show your -- that's a much -- it's pretty risky still to use humor, because it takes a lot of chutzpah, as we say in the Catholic Church. But he's got a good sense of humor, and I think that's a better way to get a moment and create a little buzz then to go smacking Hillary, with her towering favorability.
BLITZER: What do you think?
MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think that he hasn't used personal invective thus far, but he hasn't shied away from being critical of Secretary Clinton, and he has nothing to show for it. So if I'm Martin O'Malley or if I'm Lincoln Chafee, maybe if I'm Jim Webb, I'm taking a look at O'Malley's experience thus far, and I'm saying maybe that's not the mode to get to the top of the pack.
BLITZER: Bernie Sanders, as you know -- and I've interviewed him many times -- you've interviewed him.
BEGALA: Absolutely.
BLITZER: He's not a shy guy.
BEGALA: He is not, but he says he's been running for office since 1973, and he says he's never run a negative ad, which as a guy who's run a lot of negative ads, kind of breaks my heart. But it has worked for him.
Look what he's doing. He went from a -- from a really small state to now leading solidly, double-digitly, in New Hampshire. So there's no chance that he abandons that strategy.
[18:35:11] I view Bernie in this debate kind of like the Beatles when they were coming to America. They had a huge fan base, but a lot of Americans hadn't seen them yet. So they came over here and played "I Want to Hold Your Hand," and people loved it. SMERCONISH: A lot of Americans are antagonistic to someone who
is a self-described democratic socialist. The one call I hear most often from people who are negative toward Senator Sanders is -- are those who say, "I could never vote for someone who's a self-described socialist."
And I'll say, "Well, here's the way he describes the term." They don't want to hear that. He's got some explaining to do, I think, if he wants to go more mainstream.
BEGALA: Hillary should not raise that.
SMERCONISH: No.
BEGALA: She should not attack Bernie at all. But that's a valid point.
BLITZER: If he himself says he's a socialist...
BEGALA: He is.
BLITZER: ... and not a capitalist, why can't she point that out?
BEGALA: Because she needs to establish her connection between herself, her issue and her voters. And attacking Bernie is not going to help her.
I hate saying this, Wolf. You know me, I'm a terrible person. I love attacks. But tonight only, they've got to keep it positive.
BLITZER: But this is a debate. You know what a debate is, where people disagree. So we'll see what happens.
All right, guys. Thanks very much.
We're standing by. We're getting ready to watch all of the political drama unfold tonight as the Democratic candidates face off, this for the very first time. And Donald Trump says he will be watching, live tweeting during the debate. Up next, what he's predicting about tonight's contest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:41:08] BLITZER: It may be the Democrats' night, but Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump wants in on the spotlight. He says he's going to be live tweeting during the debate.
Our political reporter, Sara Murray, has more on what Trump is up to right now. He's a prolific Twitter user, isn't he, Sara?
SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You are absolutely right, Wolf. And when I spoke to Donald Trump yesterday, he was joking about how unexciting this debate would be without him on stage. And so, surprise, surprise, he has found a way to insert himself into the evening. This morning he tweeted, "At the request of many, and even though
I expect it to be a very boring two hours, I will be covering the Democratic debate live on Twitter."
Now, Wolf, it's not unheard of for campaigns to counterprogram like this, but usually that means a couple of young staffers in a war room somewhere. Donald Trump will actually be doing his own tweeting from his apartment, and as we know, he does not hold back on Twitter when it comes to hurling insults. He's gone after Bernie Sanders. He's also gone after Hillary Clinton in the past.
If Hillary Clinton is worried about that this evening, though, she is not letting on. She responded to Donald Trump's tweet today with her own, saying, "Glad you'll be watching. It's going to be huge." It's going to be huge, Wolf.
BLITZER: Huge!
MURRAY: Huge!
BLITZER: That word, "huge." All right. Thanks, Sara, for that.
Let's get some pmore. Joining us, our CNN political commentator, S.E. Cupp; our national political commentator, the Republican strategist Kevin Madden; our senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, the editorial director of "The National Journal"; and our CNN political commentator, Peter Beinart, the contributing editor for Atlantic Media.
So he wants in a little bit, Donald. He's got, what, four and a half million followers on Twitter, so people will follow him to see what he's saying about this debate.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Oh, undoubtedly. I assume it will be unfiltered. I assume it will be very entertaining. And I think he's going to, you know, take shots at everyone that opens their mouth tonight at any given time.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: That's the most meta candidate we've ever had. He comments on the process as it is happening. It's like watching one of the shows like "30 Rock," where they step out into the third [SIC] wall. I mean, it's truly remarkable.
BLITZER: It is amazing when you think about the impact he's had. And so many people sort of discounted him at the beginning. But in all of the national polls among Republicans and all the key state polls, he's the leader.
PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Right. And this is good for the Democrats. Being attacked by Donald Trump is something -- Bernie Sanders particularly, the more Trump attacks him, the more it raises his profile. Anyone -- for a Democrat, getting into a back and forth with Trump is all win.
KEVIN MADDEN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: If you think about this, too, today Jeb Bush tried to roll out an Obamacare repeal and replace. It hasn't gotten as much coverage. Donald Trump says he's going to live tweet the debate, it's all we can talk about.
BLITZER: And they announced today "SNL," "Saturday Night Live," S.E., on November 7, he's going to be hosting -- not just appearing in but hosting -- "Saturday Night Live." That's a huge opportunity for him. That show's well-scripted and potentially will further strengthen him.
CUPP: Well, you can laugh at yourself. You know, Hillary just did "SNL." She did a short bit.
BLITZER: She didn't host it, though.
CUPP: She did a short bit, and she was great. You know, the idea that you can play along with other people, have a sense of humor. I think that showcases pretty much everyone in a good light, especially when you're running for president, very specifically.
BLITZER: Let's talk about tonight. These other candidates, the men who will be on the stage, are they going to go after the Democratic frontrunner, the woman, who will be on the stage?
BROWNSTEIN: I think we're going to see less of that than we did on the Republican side. I mean, the context for this debate is very different.
The Republican -- the context for the Republican race is the disappointment and anger of the Republican base at the party leadership. There's a lot of turmoil. There's a lot of desire to kind of shake things up.
I think on the Democratic side, it's a very different context. Republicans have the House and the Senate. Democrats are terrified about losing the White House in 2016 and finding a nominee who can take the case to the Republicans, I think, is really what this Democratic primary is about. And so I think they have more incentive to push their invective out than in.
BLITZER: Should Hillary Clinton play defense tonight or be aggressive, go on offense, go after these others if they go after her?
BEINART: There's not a lot of margin for her in getting -- going after these people. She is still the big frontrunner. You really want to get into it, mix it up with Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb, guys who most people don't even know exist?
I think the danger for her is that Chafee and Webb, who have nothing to lose and were both passionate opponents of the Iraq war, double up on her and benefit Sanders. The best case scenario for Sanders is he doesn't have to attack her, but the other guys do it for him. I think that's what she has to worry about.
BLITZER: You helped Mitt Romney get ready for these debates. What strategy, what advice would you have for Hillary Clinton? KEVIN MADDEN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think she needs
to be aggressive, but she doesn't have to go after the candidates personally. I think she needs to be aggressive and make it more vocal, and more passionate defense of Democratic values on things line income inequality, things like helping the middle class. The better -- the faster she gets to being -- just to be seen as the best defender of those economic values before any of the other candidates, the better position she'll be in.
S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: You know, it will depend also on which will Hillary shows up. Often, you'll see a gracious Hillary who can laugh at herself, who can deflect criticism with some good-natured sort of humility. But if defensive Hillary shows up, I think that's a bad thing that is always counterproductive for the narrative that Hillary is trying to change.
If she really chafes at any kind of criticism or, you know, gets a little sarcastic or condescending as we've seen her do, when she's up against the wall, I don't think that's going to make for a very good night for Hillary.
BLITZER: She also needs to make sure she protects that base, that Barack Obama base that is so important in the Democratic Party. A lot of Democrats love Barack Obama. Very proud of him. And she can't alienate them.
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No, and it's fascinating. She has moved to his left on domestic policy on a series of issues, and mostly moved to his right on foreign policy which is kind of interesting straddle or approach. I think in some ways, the coalition question is larger for better than Bernie Sanders today, because Bernie Sanders has shown he can excite white progressives, he can mobilize a lot of young people to come to his rallies. If he can do that, he can make a dent in the race, but he can't win. He has to grow beyond that. He has to show that he can appeal to the white working class, and especially the minority voters.
BLITZER: Can Bernie Sanders do that?
BEINART: Well, the good news for him is that about a third of the Americans still don't really know who he is. I mean, he's known in Iowa and New Hampshire. So, there may be some people who never heard of this guy say, you know what, I like this populist message, this idea that he's not in the pocket of the rich contributors.
But I think Ron is right. There is a cultural barrier, not an ideological barrier, but a cultural barrier, separating him from African-Americans and Latinos that I'm not sure that he knows how to cross that.
BLITZER: Ryan Lizza did some reporting in "The New Yorker Magazine", our CNN political contributor, and he got a hold of this memo back in 2007 that then-Senator Barack Obama senior staff and pollster, one of whom works for Hillary Clinton now, wrote how to beat Hillary Clinton, where is she most vulnerable. They wrote, she's driven by political calculation not conviction, regularly backing away and shifting positions on issues ranging from war to social security to trade to reform.
That's what they wrote then. It worked for Barack Obama. Can that work for these other Democrats going after her tonight?
CUPP: I expect to hear the word "consistent" out of Bernie Sanders' mouth more than once tonight. And that is --
(CROSSTALK)
CUPP: And that is, that is shot for that, his indirect shot across the bow to Hillary. That he has held these positions when they were unpopular, that he has held them when it has been politically perilous for him to do so, and unlike her, he has a record that isn't full of sort of political equivocation and some problems.
BLITZER: How vulnerable is she?
MADDEN: Well, look, I think forget about the other candidates on stage here. I think there's an entire political ecosystem of Republican opposition researchers right now that are going to be driving exactly that theme. As Republicans, we believe that she's most vulnerable on this issue of whether or not she's trustworthy. And so, we have a campaign that has been in a character crisis because of her inability to answer these questions effectively about the email system. And I think you're going to continue to see the RNC and others and the other Republican campaigns drive that --
BROWNSTEIN: But it will be fair to point that in both parties, this is enormous pressure to conform to ideological system. Donald Trump has changed a lot of positions. Marco Rubio has changed his big position on immigration. I mean, you really see this in both sides. Hillary Clinton on the TPP, you know, moving away from where she had been. It's a kind of a bipartisan problem at this point.
BLITZER: Guys, stand by.
CNN has partnered with a Pivit, a political prediction market, to see if the odds are winning the Democratic nomination change during tonight's Democratic presidential debate. Right now, Hillary Clinton is the odds-on favorite to win the nomination even though she's up to 2 percent since last week. Joe Biden's odds of winning the nomination have dropped 4 percent in the last week. They're now just behind Bernie Sanders.
We'll see if there is a dramatic change in the numbers after tonight's debate. And you can take part in the political prediction market by going to CNN -- by CNN Politics and Pivit. Just click to CNN.com/predict if you want to be part of that.
There is much more ahead as we count down to the CNN presidential debate here at the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:54:25] BLITZER: CNN is teaming up with Facebook for tonight's Democratic presidential debate right here in Las Vegas. You can vote live during the debate at Facebook.com/CNN.
CNN's Don Lemon is in the Facebook lounge at the Wynn Hotel.
Don, tell us what's going on?
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, I'm having a chat here with these young people and they're talking politics. They're also talking about Instagram and about Facebook.
And this is kind of, Wolf, where -- you guys can keep talking. I'm on live on CNN.
This is where everybody can sort of sit and chat and discuss what's happening before the debate, during the debate and after the debate. You see that big wall over there?
[18:55:00] People from Facebook, if you come in here, they'll show you like what people are talking about, what is sort of trending on Facebook, the issues, what candidates are trending, and where most of the discussion is happening. And we have a similar tool that I'm going to show you.
But, look, this item right here I have to say is the most popular item. It is a donkey pillow. It wasn't supposed to be in gift bags but people are coming through and they're stealing them. If this ends up in my bag then you'll know what happened, Wolf.
But you know during the big award shows, people get all the swag bags, expensive swag bags, this is a room of the swag bag. You can basically just build your own.
Come here to Facebook, grab a bag and go through and grab whatever you want.
Also, Facebook has so much money, there's constant food outside here, food everywhere. This is little bit of the snacks. Breakfast earlier. Lunch, then dinner tonight which I understand includes hamburgers and lots of this, Red Bull to keep the young folks, you know, alert, and us alert after the debate, as it goes late.
Let me show you, these are the tools I'm talking about. Check it out. I'll give you a condensed version, Wolf. Obviously a map of the country. Then this map, all the issues that people have been talking about. That basically have been trending and discussed during this debate.
And then, you've got over here -- every single candidate, Republican and Democrat. Obviously, the red, Republicans, blue, Democrats. And then we have what's called a heat map which shows you how many people have been discussing them and where.
I'll make it simple for you, though, because we have a quick button here called top five. These are the top five issues that people are discussing on Facebook around the country for the past month. Religion, number one, guns number two, economy, homeland security and terrorism, Iraq, Syria and ISIS. Let's just look at religion and see what people are talking about.
More women than men, 57 percent of women, people talking about it are women, 42 percent. And you can see about 6 million people discussing -- 6.2 million people discussing it. And it gives you the age range of all the people who are discussing this.
So, here's the interesting thing. If you look at the heat map, which shows around the country. This is where the darker it is, the orange ones that look like fire, that's where people are talking about it most.
Obviously, when it comes to religion, right there in Kentucky, where Kim Davis, that's what's driving this. Also, I'm being told, Ben Carson's comments on Muslims driving this as well and also the pope visiting the United States drove religion to the top of the chart.
OK. Just real quickly here. If we look at the candidates, let's just look at the candidates real quick, the top five candidates around the country, we'll do quickly, Ben Carson, heat map. Donald Trump. Look at the heat map. There's no comparison. About 18.5 million people around the country talking about Donald Trump.
Wolf, back to you.
BLITZER: Don is going to have questions from Facebook for the candidates later tonight as well.
Don, stand by.
We're also getting some high-tech feedback from people watching the debate. CNN's Randi Kaye is outside Las Vegas where a focus group will be watching tonight.
Randi, explain to our viewers how this will work.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Wolf. We're in Henderson, Nevada. We're at Nevada State College. And we're going to have about 30 undecided voters that are going to fill these seats here behind me shortly. And they range in age from 22 years old to 71 years old. And as I said, they're all undecided. So, they're coming here tonight to try and see if they can pick a candidate.
And they're all going to have in their hot little hands this gadget. OK, this is a dial testing machine. And right now, it's on 50, which means when they don't have an opinion, that's where it will be. But I can also turn it, so when the voter likes something, they turn it up, when they don't like something, they'll turn it down.
And all of this information is going to be tallied and is going to be sent to this machine right here on top of the television. And that's where it's going to live for a little bit and then it's going to make its way, all the way over here to these computers that we have and all these great folks from MSU who are helping us.
So, watch what's going to happen here. I'm going to turn my dial. It's going to track men and women moment by moment as they like a candidate.
So, I'm the yellow line as a female. So if I like something, now watch on the computer. I'm turning it up, because I may like what a candidate says at that moment. And you can see the yellow line going up. We don't have any men playing with us so the blue line is staying pretty static right there. But if I don't like something, you can see, or if our viewers don't like something in the focus group, then it goes right back down.
So, all of these people had to answer some questions beforehand. They were asked about whether or not they think the country is going in the right direction. They were asked who they might want to choose as a candidate. And then, they're going to be asked all of those same questions at the end of the night after hours CNN Dem Debate, with these dial testers in their hands. So, we're going to get real tracking right away. Maybe some of them will make up their minds. We'll see. But we're going to be watching soon when these groups, when these seats are all filled -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Love those focus groups. It will be fascinating to see it. Randy, thanks very, very much.
Remember, you can always follow us on Twitter. Please tweet me @wolfblitzer. Tweet the show @CNNSitroom. Be sure to join us right here tomorrow in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer. We're here in Las Vegas. We're getting ready for the big debate.
"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.
