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Donald Trump Lowering Expectations In New Hampshire Primary; Ted Cruz Under Fire; Candidates Fan Out Over New Hampshire In Last- Minute Push For Primary Votes; U.N. Security Council Holds Emergency Meeting. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired February 7, 2016 - 15:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:33] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. And welcome back. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Manchester, New Hampshire.

All right, just two, two days away from the nation's first primary in the race for president and the candidates are canvassing the granite state from small town diners to packed auditoriums. The sheer member of rallies today shows just how vigorously these candidates are pushing for votes. We will hear from the candidates as they present their closing arguments to the people of New Hampshire.

Take a look at live pictures right now of events for John Kasich, Bernie Sanders, Chris Christie, Hillary Clinton -- OK. Don't take a look at the live pictures. Just take my word for it. They are out there. Hillary Clinton is actually in Michigan. Her husband and former president Bill Clinton is holding a rally on her behalf while she is in Michigan. So he is here in the granite state.

All right. Senator Marco Rubio is also on the campaign trail right here in this state just hours now after the grueling debate. He's in Hudson, New Hampshire at a town hall. It's a much friendlier environment than what the junior senator encountered at last night's debate.

CNN's Phil Mattingly has a wrapped up of last night's raucous showdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Florida senator Marco Rubio.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A pile at the entrance --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Former Florida governor, Jeb Bush.

MATTINGLY: And pile on among the candidates. It took all of ten minutes for the new reality of the GOP race to show through.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is going to be --

MATTINGLY: Marco Rubio is the target. A target for Chris Christie eager to prove he has the experience and Rubio does not.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), NEW JERSEY: You know, what the shame is, Marco? The shame is that you would actually criticize somebody for showing up to work, plowing the streets, getting to trains who are back on time, when you have never been responsible for that in your entire life. And the fact is, I went back and got it done.

RUBIO: He didn't go back.

CHRISTIE: And the fact is, I went back. I got done and here is --

RUBIO: He didn't want to back.

CHRISTIE: I went back. Wait a second. Is that one of the skills you get as a U.S. senator is ESP, also?

MATTINGLY: And a target for Jeb Bush.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look. Let's be clear, Marco Rubio is a gifted, gifted politician. And he may have the skills to be a president of the United States, but we've tried it the old way with Barack Obama, with soaring eloquence and we got -- we didn't get a leader. We got somebody who wants to divide the country up.

MATTINGLY: Rising in the polls are first stronger than expected to finish in Iowa.

RUBIO: Yes. I got mentioned, can I respond?

MATTINGLY: Rubio attempting to turn back the criticisms of inexperience and comparisons to President Obama like this.

RUBIO: Let's dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he is doing. He is trying to change the country.

MATTINGLY: Rubio using that line several times and Christie turning it against him.

RUBIO: This notion that Barack Obama doesn't know what he is doing it's just not true. He knows exactly what he's doing.

CHRISTIE: There it is. The memorized 25-second speech. There it is, everybody.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But a lot of people don't know because --.

MATTINGLY: Trump's first time on the stage since he shipped his chance in Iowa on defense over his used of eminent domain in his business career.

BUSH: What Donald Trump did was use eminent domain to try to take the property of an elderly woman on the strip in Atlantic City. That is not whole purpose. That is downright wrong. And here's the problem with that. The problem was it was to tear down -- TRUMP: He wants to be a tough guy. I didn't take the property.

BUSH: You tried.

TRUMP: I didn't take the property. The woman ultimately didn't want to do that.

BUSH: That is not true. And the simple fact is to turn this into a limousine parking lot for his casinos is not for public use.

MATTINGLY: Seeming to frustrate the billionaire candidate.

TRUMP: A lot of times -- let me talk. Quiet. A lot of times --.

(AUDIENCE BOOING)

TRUMP: That's all of his donors and special interests. That's what it is.

MATTINGLY: For Bush, Christie and Ohio governor John Kasich, the debate marking a crucial point for their respective last stand of their campaign, each pinning their hopes on a strong finish Tuesday night.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: By the way, after being here, every one of my town hall meetings in New Hampshire were a lot more fun than what I saw here today were so much more positive.

MATTINGLY: Iowa winner Ted Cruz with this message to Ben Carson for perceived dirty tactics in this state.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When this transpired, I apologized to him then and I do so now. Ben, I'm sorry.

[15:05:04] MATTINGLY: All setting the stage for a rakish final 72 hours in the granite state.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. I guess I should give you a warning, fireworks.

I'm joined now by CNN's senior political analyst and editorial director for "the National Journal" Ron Brownstein. CNN politics executive Mark Preston and CNN political commentator Ana Navarro, also a Jeb Bush supporter.

Where do we begin, lady and gentlemen?

Ana, I'm going to start with you. You just came from a Jeb Bush event. Is he fired up over this? Does he feel a little momentum? And at the same time, you also spoke with Chris Christie last night. So I want to hear from you on those two things.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look. I think Jeb Bush is pumped up. You know, I've been to several of his town halls. I haven't been to any in a while. I went to one today. I went to one yesterday. This guy is a late bloomer and, boy, he is blooming. You know, he has honed in on his candidate skills. He was fired up. He clearly felt good about the punch that he landed on Donald Trump yesterday on eminent domain. He took a swipe at Rubio on this issue of him repeating and repeating and repeating the same memorized lines over and over again, you know. It is an energetic time.

And I think what you've said at the beginning is true. All of them are having to leave it all in the field right now. They have got to leave it there. They have got to campaign their hearts out. It still matters in New Hampshire. There's still a lot of things at stake and voters who have not made up their mind.

WHITFIELD: That's right.

NAVARRO: I keep asking them, why?

WHITFIELD: That's what is unique about this state.

NAVARRO: When and how do you make up your mind?

WHITFIELD: Yes. Someone said just moments before, you know, they go behind the curtain and then, boom, something just happens.

But Ron, you know, we have been having the discussions about too little, too late. And this is the second contest. Why would this be potentially too little too late for Jeb Bush the way his performance unfolded last night for anyone?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: In fact, what is happening is this Republican race is resisting consolidation and coalescing. You know, if you go back to 1976 who has been the modern primary, it really began, almost all Republican races since then have been consolidate to two candidate race, very quickly. The very few examples when more than two candidates won more than two states. And a lot of people coming out of Iowa, particular in the Republican establishment, thought we were on track for a three-person race. Donald Trump is kind of the blue-collar champion. Ted Cruz is the evangelical tribune and Marco Rubio having a real chance to kind of cement that mainstream conservative or white collar part of the party. That agenda looks a little off the table after last night.

WHITFIELD: And usually that really an issue of money?

BROWNSTEIN: It is an issue of money, but also voters. Voters tend to discount candidates who look like they don't have a chance to win. They don't want to waste their vote. And right now --

NAVARRO: If you ask the candidates, they will tell you it's an issue of us. It is an issue of media narrative and they will tell, you know, Marco Rubio did a great job underplaying expectations in Iowa overplaying his third-place finish.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: (INAUDIBLE) narrative this morning. WHITFIELD: You know, but it is interesting because I talk to a lot of

New Hampshire voters here and they actually love - they seem to love rebel in the idea of having all of these choices and being able to make up their mind whenever they feel like, Mark.

PRESTON: Right. What's interesting about New Hampshire is and listen, we come here. We spent seven days and we were all experts, right, on what these people all think. But listen.

NAVARRO: Yes. That's seven days every four years.

PRESTON: Yes, every four years, right. True. But I grew up down the road and know a little about the area. What these people like and what they enjoy and, quite frankly, what they have gotten very good is meeting these candidates and getting to know the candidates since. You know, yes, they often say that like, you know, the first time I meet a candidate, it is now his second time. It is OK. Third time, (INAUDIBLE) about fourth time and look at the fifth time I may - I may vote for them. So like a lot of these folks who after dinner would go to the rallies and actually got to meet the presidential candidates. There is only few states just happens -- Iowa here and a little bit in South Carolina.

NAVARRO: And you know, it's also vice versa, right. It's really amazing. And if you've never been in a place like New Hampshire and seen those process, you may not know it. But the voters show up at these town halls and they bear their souls to the candidates. They opened up and talk about their very real and very personal problems.

I saw a woman tell Jeb Bush yesterday about her cousin who had died in the emergency room from an overdose. I just saw a woman with severe back problems talk about that. It is -- you know, it's really -- it's not media narrative questions. It is real people with real problems asking real questions and wanting real answers.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Well, that might be contagious for some candidates because didn't we see that from Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire in 2008.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. Absolutely. And Bill Clinton, as I said, in 1992, hugging a woman at a town hall. It is remarkable. This is the most compelling weekend in American politics because not only are there hundreds of people from New Hampshire turning out for these events. YOU know, these events, there are hundreds of people from around the country who come just to be part of this.

WHITFIELD: I love that.

[15:10:00] BROWNSTEIN: And the fact that, at least on the Republican side, the Republican side not nominated anyone who did not win either Iowa or New Hampshire. That may be obsolete this year. As I said this race is not consolidating as quickly. You could see several of the governors plus Rubio be viable in that mainstream conservative lane to compete with Cruz and Trump. This may break those rules. But the fact is, that winning one of these first two contests really has been decisive in the Republican field for the last four years.

NAVARRO: But I think here is a - and I think the lesson for all of us is that we have got to hold our horses because this is a very unpredictable year and race. We have got to stop trying to get ahead of what is happening. The changes we have seen in the last 72 hours are dramatic.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

PRESTON: Fred, I was up here two weeks ago with Ted Cruz. He was at a gun rally and then held the town hall. And I got to tell you what walking out of that I said if Ted Cruz comes out of Iowa as a winner, he is going to come marching n here. And quite frankly, he could potentially win the New Hampshire primary. It sounds crazy because of given his political beliefs.

WHITFIELD: Even after what happened at this debate?

PRESTON: No, no, no. This was two weeks ago now. But these are all the political consultants that we are working for the other candidates. They said, you know, potentially win but come in a strong second. If you can imagine that. Ted Cruz (INAUDIBLE). But we're not talking about that anymore.

NAVARRO: Right.

BROWNSTEIN: One thing to keep in mind, real quick, is that in Iowa and New Hampshire, they have time to introduce themselves month after month after month. They are moving very quickly after this. Then it's everywhere at Super Tuesday, March 8th, March 15th. And they will not have the time to do that and it will be the national story and the national momentum that really has enormous impact.

NAVARRO: I think what we're seeing here is that this Republican nomination is probably going to go on longer than we all thought. I think it's not going to widdle down to the small number that we all thought for a while longer. And you know, if we thought three was going to be maybe three, four people getting out of New Hampshire, I'm afraid to break it to you, but I think it might be more. And I'm also seeing the rise of the governors. It's the revenge of the establishment, folks. Hold your horses.

BROWNSTEIN: It is the biggest story out of New Hampshire that it doesn't consolidate as much as it look like it might have when we did in Iowa.

WHITFIELD: And this why New Hampshire folks also feel like this is such an important place and important race because they know with the kind of face time these candidates have given in this state, the rest of the country is watching because you don't see these candidates in the other state like you see them in New Hampshire. They know they have the national platform.

All tight. Thank you so much, everybody. Good to see you. Ana Navarro, Mark Preston, Ron Brownstein, thank you. All right up next, Donald Trump talks to CNN, our Dana Bash asks him

about the final 48 hours. We will hear what he thinks about his chances on Tuesday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:42] WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to our live special coverage from Manchester, New Hampshire. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

The primary is just two days away and the candidates are fanned out across the state in a last-minute push for votes. The candidates are fresh off a fiery debate last night. Donald Trump was back on that stage after skipping the previous GOP debate in Iowa.

I want to bring in CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash.

Dana, you spoke to Trump there in Plymouth. Is he proud of his performance last night and the outcome?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He is proud of it. He actually just spoke to this room which was filled with people, a lot of people. We spoke backstage before his rally here. And it really was striking, Fred, in how kind of upfront he was about how high the stakes were for him in last night's debate. Listen to part of our conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TRUMP: I'm very, very happy the debate is over with. But I enjoyed the experience.

BASH: You keep saying that. It's almost like you --

TRUMP: No, there was a lot of pressure on the debate, I'll be honest, for everybody. Not just for me. And there's more pressure when I see you and all of your people and everybody else saying, this is a vital debate for Trump. I wish I didn't hear it. When I hear Jeremy saying, this debate is vital for Trump, you know, so it makes it even more pressure. And I have always liked pressure, to be honest with you. I mean, I sort of like pressure. And it came out very well.

BASH: One last question. You did very well in Iowa. I'm not taking that away from you. But as you know, because you built a brand on understanding that perception is everything, and the perception, because of the polls where is that you would win Iowa. So if you don't win in New Hampshire, what is that going to do to your political brand? Is it going to be damaged?

TRUMP: So if I had two seconds, I think I'm doing OK. I would much rather win. I could say to you if I came in second or third I would be thrilled, OK. In that way, we lower expectation -- I know all about expectations. We lower expectations. If I came in second, I wouldn't be happy. OK? So now if I come in second you can go around and say, boom. I would much prefer to win in New Hampshire.

BASH: And what would it mean down the road, about getting the nomination?

TRUMP: I think we'll do fine. Look, we're going to do very well in South Carolina. We have tremendous numbers there. I think the SEC is going to be great. Nevada is a place I have major holdings. I have thousands of employees there. I think we're going to do well all the way down the line and then I hope that -- we hope to do really well on Tuesday.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: So you heard there, Fred, if I came in second I would not be happy in New Hampshire. I think obviously that is something that people would expect him to think but not necessarily say. So it was, again, kind of a candid conversation that I had with him.

He also talked a bit about the ground game, the fact that he had said previously in the past couple of days that he didn't have the greatest ground game or it wasn't as good as he had hoped it -- it should have been in Iowa. And I asked how they are going to change the whole system and the setup and how they are going to change their approach here in New Hampshire.

And he talked a lot about the fact that, you know, they are working on it but actually said that, from his perspective, the product is more important than the marketing and, of course, he means himself. He's the product. That then how you get people out. And it is true that a lot of people were here. He thought -- he said there were some 2,000 people in this space where I am.

The question is how many are going to be able to go vote. I talked to a lot of people who has said that there are definitely in for him. I also talked to people who are from Maine, who are from Massachusetts, even Canada who just wanted to come see Donald Trump because he is a celebrity and they wanted to kind of witness the whole phenomenon with their whole two eyes.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. So lots of admissions from Donald Trump with you, Dana. But I wonder, does he reveal what he really thinks about whether the supporters who show up and like the ones you just described that come from Main and other places, whether they are supporting him because they want to see the entertainment or if they really are serious about supporting him all the way to the ballot box?

[15:20:03] BASH: Well, frankly, it's a combination. He knows that. He knows that he's a good entertainer and he tries to keep that up. What has been fascinating in watching him since he landed here in New Hampshire after Iowa, after not winning in Iowa is the way he has changed his tone, Fred. It is remarkable because he is back to basics. He is talking about the fact that he is not bought and sold by lobbyists and donors. That he can make deals because he has done it.

You know, the things that really are the core of his appeal and not so much the hurling insults and talking about polls. That is virtually gone from his speech. And so that part of the entertainment is not happening anymore. And it really does seem as though he gets the reason why he appeals to so many people across the board and he really needs to cement that as we head into the primary.

WHITFIELD: All right. Except he was back in fighting form on that debate stage last night. I think everyone agrees on that one.

All right, Dana Bash, thank you so much in Plymouth. Appreciate it.

All right. Remember to tune in to CNN on Tuesday. We will have the most complete coverage of the nation's first primary on Tuesday on CNN. And we will be right back from Manchester.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:03] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in sunny but still snowy Manchester, New Hampshire.

Ted Cruz is coming under fire again for misrepresenting the facts and timing of CNN's reporting about Dr. Ben Carson's side trip off the campaign trail. This time, the forum was last night's debate where, once again, Cruz spread falsehoods about our reporting. "The Washington Post" even called out Ted Cruz with this political cartoon showing a caricature of Cruz with a growing nose. The caption reading "Ben, I'm sorry."

CNN's Tom Foreman has a closer look in our fact check.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

At absolutely no time has CNN reported that Ben Carson is dropping out in this presidential race, not on air, not online, not anywhere. And yet, around the Iowa caucuses, the Cruz campaign suggested just that and blamed it on CNN. He did it again in the debate. Listen.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: They didn't correct that story until 9:15 that night. So from 6:30 p.m. to 9:15 p.m., that's what CNN was reporting.

FOREMAN: And that's an outright lie. Let's explain what really happened.

Before the caucuses began, our Chris Moody tweeted, Ben Carson will likely speak at his victory party in Iowa before caucus results are in so he can catch a flight. Then he added, Carson won't go to New Hampshire, South Carolina but instead will head home to Florida for some R&R. He will be in D.C. Thursday for the national prayer breakfast. And then he said, Ben Carson's campaign tells me he plans to stay in the race beyond Iowa no matter what the results are tonight. All of that, three tweets in less than two minutes, more than 15 minutes before the caucuses opened in Iowa.

And then, 45 minutes after this, he hit it again by saying, folks, Ben Carson is just making a brief stop at home in Florida tonight and campaign says he will be back on the campaign trail by Wednesday. Even if that's what Cruz is talking about, this is well before 9:00 or later than that. Yes, our campaign staff talked about these tweets because they are unusual. They noted that it would be strange for any presidential candidate to not go directly to New Hampshire. But again, in no way, shape or form did they say Ben Carson was dropping out. That was an assumption made by Cruz's campaign.

This is something that our executives have gone over with the campaign looking at the timeline. They have been called out for the dishonest handling of it by "the Washington Post," "Politifact," "Politico" and many other media outlets.

So for the candidate to stand on the stage and say it again, it is false. It was false from the get-go and it remains false. You can find out a lot more about our reality checks by going to CNN.com/realitycheck.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Tom Foreman, thank you. We want to be clear, CNN has reached out to Ted Cruz and his campaign asking him to join us and address this incident. Thus far, the Cruz campaign has declined our requests to appear and has pulled all of their surrogates from CNN.

An emergency meeting today at the United Nations Security Council. Representatives meet to discuss how to handle a rocket launch in North Korea.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:31:43] WHITFIELD: Welcome back. We'll have more on the New Hampshire primary in just a couple of minutes. But we are also following other news today.

An emergency meeting ended just a couple of hours ago. The United Nations strongly condemning this morning's rocket launch in North Korea. The U.N. is now vowing to take significant measures in response.

CNN's Richard Roth is at the U.N.

So Richard, North Korea said the latest launch was for scientific and peaceful purposes but what does the U.N. think?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Well, the U.N. Security Council held urgent consultations and afterwards strongly condemned the missile launch. They knew it was going to happen. The council, though, has formally really not acted since the nuclear test one month ago. So both of these actions have got diplomats here riled up. The big difference, of course, the China, U.S. logger has what kind of level of sanctions can be agreed to to put any pressure on North Korea. U.S. ambassador Samantha Power after the meeting said there needs to be urgent resolutions on the table against North Korea.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMANTHA POWER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: We're looking forward to expeditiously consult with our colleagues in the coming days and we will be looking to all council members to unite around a swift and aggressive response to the DPRK's repeated violations that constitute this very direct threat to global peace and security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROTH: China's ambassador would only say that there should be a resolution but that region should be calm. And the Russian's ambassador says it should be a waded resolution that should not harm the economy of North Korea. Of course, that is something China is worried about any type of destabilization of its North Korean neighbor could provide a huge flood of refugees and other issue -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Richard Roth, thank you so much at the U.N. Appreciate it.

All right. Governor John Kasich is ready to make an appearance at a town hall in Concord, New Hampshire, just about 20 minutes or so up the street from here in Manchester. It is his second town hall of the day. The governor has said that this is a make or break state for his campaign and he has put most of his resources into trying to put up a strong showing here in New Hampshire.

Our Chris Frates is at the event.

So Chris, Kasich was really been embraced by these town halls kind of forums reaching out to voters. People find it to be very memorable. What has been his message?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey Fred. Well, I tell you, you know, town halls are John Kasich's specialty. We are here at Concord high school in Concord, New Hampshire. Fun fact, it's actually the al mater of Supreme Court judge David Sooter.

And you know, Kasich is getting ready to arrive here after a town hall earlier in Nashua, and coming off a pretty good debate last night. Kasich will be the first to tell you debates are not his strong suit. In fact, the moderators teed up Chris Christie to take a shot at John Kasich and Christie's emerge going after Rubio instead. So that helped Kasich last night that he was not under attack. They kind of the establishment lane as it's called. Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich, all kind of teaming up a little bit on Marco Rubio.

Let's take a listen to how John Kasich talked about his debate performance last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:35:05] KASICH: The debates are not the greatest thing for me. I would so much like to change the format to go to a town hall format, you know, where we can really have an in-depth conversation. Last night I felt really good because what I sense there was the debate was controlled. I got more time and, you know, it's always a struggle with the time issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: So there you have John Kasich talking about how he struggles to kind of get time in those debates. He is much more comfortable in those town halls. In fact, he kind of treated the debate a little bit like a town hall last night. This kind of answer a question not going after the other candidates on this stage and really kind of honing his policy points here. And he stayed positive, you know, throughout the last days of this campaign. He believes that will set him apart from the rest of the candidates here in the field and he makes the point that because he's being attacked, that shows that he has a momentum here going into Tuesday's primary.

He certainly boasts a little bit about his get out to vote operation. About 500 volunteers have come to New Hampshire from across the country to support John Kasich. And they feel like they are knocking on thousands of doors. They have made hundreds of thousands of phone calls. And that they can get people to come out for him. In fact, he even had a little bit of a celebrity endorsement. He is friends with former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger did a tele-town hall for him here in New Hampshire earlier this week. He likes to tell Kasich does like to tell people in his town halls that when he told the terminator how he was getting hit with these attacks, Arnold told him, John loved the beatings. So he gets always gets a laugh out of that line here in these town halls, Fred. So we will see what he has to do. And I hope he'll get started here soon.

WHITFIELD: And telling the voters, vote for John.

All right. Chris Frates, thank you so much.

All right. Next, a big endorsement for Bernie Sanders. Does it mean trouble for Hillary Clinton? We will talk live with a former leader of the NAACP about why he is supporting Sanders, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:40:49] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's my dream candidate. I've been waiting for someone like Bernie Sanders to run for president for 30 years.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bernie Sanders represents for so many of us. The voice (INAUDIBLE) to make America work again, to make it work for all of us. Not just the big money people that can pour untold billions of dollars into buying elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Those three ladies are Bernie Sanders supporters. I spoke with them earlier here in Manchester.

New results coming out now today showing Hillary Clinton still wins the Iowa caucuses after a week-long review, but the margin Clinton won by is very slim. The results of the review show Clinton topped Sanders 49.84 percent to 49.59 percent. Her win narrowing by just a quarter of a percent. The Iowa Democratic Party said it found counting errors in five of the 14 precincts that it double-checked.

An influential voices lending his support to Bernie Sanders. Ben Jealous, the former president of the NAACP is endorsing the Vermont senator. The endorsement is a potential boost to Sanders who has so far struggled to gain traction among African-American voters.

Ben Jealous is with us now from Columbia, South Carolina. Good to see you.

BEN JEALOUS, SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Great to see you.

WHITFIELD: So how easy or how hard was it for you to make this decision?

JEALOUS: You know, this was a very easy decision. I signed up for this campaign the same reason I signed up for the Jesse Jackson in 1998 as a 15-year-old kid which is at this candidate, when you look at Dr. King's sort of matrix that he gives us for choosing which leaders to follow, it comes down to two sort of tests, if you will.

One is the test of a genuine leader. And Dr. King says a genuine leader is an -- excuse me. He says a leader is a molder of consensus, not a follower of consensus. And it's clear, I mean, he said at the issue like private prisons. You know, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton start up the same place they have always been. She was always against them. She always seem to be fine with them. She starts out and she takes money from their lobby. Now she does not support private prisons and she will not take money from their lobby because, frankly, she saw the consensus shift in the party and she followed it. Bernie Sanders is one of the people to help mold it.

The other test that Dr. King gives us when it comes to leadership is what he called the giant triplets -- racism, militarism and greed. And those were the three things that we all need to be clear, frankly, to be on the guard against to oppose and move our nation past. And on those three issues, Bernie Sanders is clearly the best. He has been the most consistent. He has fought them his entire life. You know, he was against the war in Vietnam. He voted against the war in Iraq. You know, he was out there with core and he locked up in Chicago fighting to, you know, fighting segregation in housing. On 61, he was with Jesse Jackson. And in 1988, he has a racial justice platform now. So it's that sort of consistency and courage that makes me excited.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder if you have to have work hard to convey that to people in South Carolina as you crisscross the state on Bernie Sanders perhaps. Because just yesterday, I talked with Sanders' press secretary Simone Sanders. And she and the camp acknowledge that polling shows Sanders would 17 percent backing of African-American compared to Clinton, 74 percent. And that Sanders and I'm talking about Simone Sanders saying that Sanders still has to work hard at introducing himself, sharing his civil rights record with people. So how hard do you have to school people there, so to speak, on what you believe to be his background worth endorsing?

JEALOUS: You know, look, folks here are primed and ready. They have very open minds. I have been with folks the last couple of days, frankly, who have endorsed Hillary and are now considering switching to Bernie, you know. You know, we have -- I was with young people who have convinced their parents, a young black woman who convinced her mom to switch from Hillary to Bernie. It is really just a matter of time.

She has hit her high water mark in black support. She can only lose some support from here on out. And you will only see Bernie gain support from here on out. This is a campaign. We are going to work hard every day. And the only question, really, is do we have the time to introduce the candidate and, you know, we are going to work with the hope that we do.

WHITFIELD: And what are the answers for that? Do you have the time? The South Carolina primary is right around the corner.

JEALOUS: Well, you know, we will find out. Things can change very, very quickly. And what we saw, you know, in the first state was that she got upset. In the second state, she will be defeated. At the very least, we would come out of here with a tie. But I think, you know, frankly, you will see at least an upset, you know, here. Bernie Sanders will do better than Hillary thought he would do, quite frankly, at the start of this.

WHITFIELD: All right. And you now joining the ranks of other prominent African-Americans, Nina Turner, a former Ohio state legislator, Representative Keith Ellison and even (INAUDIBLE) Cornel West.

Ben Jealous, thank you so much. All throwing your support behind Bernie Sanders. Appreciate it.

JEALOUS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Bernie Sanders will debate Hillary Clinton on Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern and you can see it live right here on CNN.

And we'll be right back from Manchester.

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[15:50:13] WHITFIELD: Welcome back to Manchester. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The New Hampshire secretary of state is expecting record turnout for the primary. A few inches of snow is not typically an obstacle for the hearty people of New Hampshire. And the forecast is a little snow starting tomorrow morning. Well, just about three hours-drive or so of here, north of Manchester to Dixville Notch, just shy of the Canadian border, these are indeed super bowl like conditions for the hand full of super excited by die hard registered voters.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): In the snowy shadows of the once majestic New Hampshire (INAUDIBLE) resort across the now frozen lake Glorette, Dixville Notch holding station. A brown cabin where some of the nation's first votes are cast for the presidential primaries in general election at midnight.

So voters come in here? TOM TILIOTSON, DIXVILLE NOTCH VOTE MANAGER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And then what happens?

TILIOTSON: The voters come in. We will have a table here where the count officials will check off each voter off the check list. As they get checked off the check list, they are given their ballot. Democrat, Republican, whichever they choose. Then behind you there's individual voting booths and each voter will go into one of these voting booths. They will mark the ballot. I will keep a close watch on the time and at precisely mid night the first voter who had been selected by lottery, the first voter will, ding, drop their ballot and that's the start.

WHITFIELD: This is family tradition for Tom Tiliotson.

TILIOTSON: It's like a lot of things. What you grow up with you kind of take it for granted.

WHITFIELD: He grew up watching his father, Neal Tiliotson, who for nearly 50 years cast the first ballot. A tradition that got its start things in part to New England's winter weather, driving 45 minutes to the nearest polling station was risky. So Tiliotson brought poling to Dixville Notch in 1960.

TILIOTSON: It was suggested to him that if you incorporate it for the purpose of voting, you can actually do it right here.

WHITFIELD: Tiliotson's dad died in 2001 at the age of 102. Now his son manages the night.

TILIOTSON: We really hope we are setting an example of the American civics process, the voting, high voter turnout.

WHITFIELD: So traditionally 100 percent of eligible voters have voted in primaries, and general elections here? Whether it is 38 people or whether it's nine people who are eligible voters, all of them.

TILIOTSON: Yes. We have, for 46 years, have had 100 percent voter participation.

WHITFIELD: This election cycle, Tom is one of nine voters in Dixville Notch priding themselves on the rich history here which includes the distinction of the first vote and the usual parade of the presidential candidates from the Bushes to the Doles, John McCain, Bill Clinton, Dick Gephardt, and Ronald Reagan to name a few.

TILIOTSON: The candidate that would come and stroll with us around this park going in that door over there, that's really the benefit to the Dixville voters, to be able to look somebody in the eye and get a sense of whether that's a good person. Everybody gets their 15 minutes of fame in their lifetime. After four years you are ready for another 15 minutes. A privilege, and very exciting.

LES OTTEN, RESIDENT: It's sort after privilege and pleasure. WHITFIELD: New resident, Les Otten, is also thrilled. About watching

his vote tallied in this way and as a developer spear-heading a massive resort renovation.

Why is this so exciting?

OTTEN: I know that when I vote, somebody's going to know and people around me are going to know.

WHITFIELD: This really has become a magnet, hasn't it, for presidential candidates. They take this location, even if's just nine votes or 38 votes, very seriously.

OTTEN: Look, our results are going to be placid across the United States and all across the world at one minute after midnight.

WHITFIELD: The only disappointment so far here, that more candidates didn't show up.

OTTEN: John Kasich is the only one that has actually been on the property so far.

WHITFIELD: Does he get the upper hand because he has had the face time here?

OTTEN: Yes, I think he made a lot of points with our small group up here. Just by being here and being so down it earth.

WHITFIELD: Andy Pearson has voted here four times.

ANDY PEARSON, FORMER DIXVILLE NOTCH VOTER: You know, I think if you were to look back, many of the primary and general elections, you could say as Dixville went, as did New Hampshire, so did the nation. So whether that's coincidence, you know, who knows, but you know, Dixville has, you know, has had a fairly good track record in picking some winners.

[15:55:13] WHITFIELD: When the Balsom's resort fell on hard times, closing in 2011, the intense campaign trail attention also melted away. Well, in politics, everybody loves a good comeback story. And the people of Dixville Notch and the Balsom's resort are counting on it here.

After re renovations here, of the Balsom's, is it your feeling that presidential candidates will come back in droves?

TILIOTSON: I hope they will. I think that's a possibility.

WHITFIELD: And it's a possibility when renovations are complete here in two years, there may be more eligible voters in Dixville Notch. Eager to be among the first in the nation to cast ballots.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So the nine voters in Dixville Notch start assembling as early as 8:00 p.m. Monday night. Similar it a football tailgate, but inside that brown cabin, they will eat, have a little hot cocoa, no alcohol, and fellowship behind going behind the curtain and casting their votes. Very cool tradition. Literally cool. It's cold up there.

All right, next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM begins right after this.

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