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CNN NEWSROOM

First Votes Cast in New Hampshire Primary; Inside the Trump Ground Game in New Hampshire; Young Women Flocking to Sanders Campaign; Syrian Government Supporters Optimistic After Recent Gains; North Korea May Face Stronger Sanctions; Beyonce Draws Ire for Super Bowl Performance. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired February 9, 2016 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:23] ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isha Sesay.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm John Vause. Great to have you with us. The U.S. state of New Hampshire has kicked off the first of many presidential primaries leading up to the November election and the first results are in. Dixville Notch and two other small towns cast their ballots just after midnight local time, about an hour or so ago now.

SESAY: Well, just nine votes are counted in Dixville. John Kasich beat Donald Trump 3-2 on the Republican side. The rest of the votes went to Democrat Bernie Sanders.

VAUSE: That would be four. Over in the town of Milford, Ted Cruz led Republicans with his nine of the 21 votes which were cast. And Hillary Clinton beat Sanders 2-1 on the Democratic side.

Ted Cruz obviously doing well there because it's close to Canada.

In the Republican race, it looks like New Hampshire is Donald Trump's to lose. The latest CNN-WMUR poll has him holding almost a third of Republicans in the field of eight candidates.

SESAY: But about 30 percent of Republican voters, a very large number, 30 percent, still undecided there in New Hampshire. And as Jim Acosta reports, the race for second place there is still very much up in the air.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to get rid of the Bushes of the world.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Just one day before the New Hampshire primary, the battle for the Republican nomination has descended into name calling and taunts between Donald Trump and his favorite target Jeb Bush.

TRUMP: Then he said, see, I'm the only one taking on Donald Trump. I'm not afraid of Donald Trump. I'm the -- he's like a child. He's like a spoiled child.

ACOSTA: But the former Florida governor is no longer ignoring the attacks.

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Donald Trump, you're the loser.

ACOSTA: Bush is throwing counterpunches in what may be a last-ditch effort to slam the brakes on Trump's fast-moving campaign and save his own.

BUSH: It's a long list of things that Donald Trump says that disparages people. I find it remarkable that as a candidate for president he would think that that's evidence that he's a strong person. He's not.

ACOSTA: The two men are at war on Twitter. Trump tweeting, "Everybody is laughing at Jeb Bush. Spent $100 million and as at bottom of pack, a pathetic figure." And Bush swinging back, reminding voters of Trump's attacks on John McCain, a former New Hampshire winner. Bush tweeted, "You aren't just a loser. You're a liar and a whiner."

Trump told Wolf Blitzer, Bush is losing his nerve.

TRUMP: He's a sad person who has gone absolutely crazy. I mean, this guy is a nervous wreck. I've never seen anything like it.

ACOSTA: Their brawl comes as a new CNN-WMUR poll shows Trump still way out in front. One key question heading into the primary is how much damage was done to Marco Rubio after his shaky debate performance over the weekend.

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here's the bottom line, this notion that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing is just not true.

GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There it is.

RUBIO: He knows exactly what he's doing.

CHRISTIE: There it is. The memorize 25-second speech.

RUBIO: Well, that's the reason why this campaign --

CHRISTIE: There it is, everybody.

ACOSTA: Chris Christie says it proof that Rubio is not ready for primetime.

CHRISTIE: When the lights get that bright, you either shine or you melt. We cannot afford to have a president who melts.

ACOSTA: Rubio had no regrets.

RUBIO: People keep -- you know, there's in the present anyway, why do you keep saying the same thing about Obama trying to change America? I'm going to keep saying that a million times because I believe it's true.

ACOSTA: Also unclear is how well John Kasich and Ted Cruz will do. They are also fighting for second place and Cruz appears to be downplaying expectations.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We never viewed any of these states as a must win. We are here in New Hampshire competing for the votes. And at this point, it's a turnout game.

ACOSTA (on camera): The trump campaign is sounding much more confident about New Hampshire than about Iowa. Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski tells CNN Iowa was about information voters about the caucus process, whereas New Hampshire is about getting people to the polls. Lewandowski noted you're not hearing Ted Cruz post about his ground game here in New Hampshire anymore.

Jim Acosta, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: So much to discuss. For more on what could happen to the Republican field, we're joined now by Republican consultant John Thomas, one of the wise men without his partner, and editor-in-chief of conservative blog, PolitiChicks, Ann-Marie Murrell.

Thank you so much. And welcome, Ann-Marie. Good to have you with us.

VAUSE: We're short with a man. I'm sorry.

JOHN THOMAS, REPUBLICAN CONSULTANT: You did.

SESAY: I know. I know. We need another woman today.

THOMAS: We'll get back together, I'm sure.

SESAY: You'll be OK.

(LAUGHTER)

SESAY: You know, got to put to you what happened earlier on in the evening at the Donald Trump rally where some offensive language was used to describe Ted Cruz. I want to listen to the moment. Let's play for our viewers. And Ann Marie, I'd like you to weigh in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: You heard the other night at the debate. They asked Ted Cruz a serious question. Well, what do you think of waterboarding? Is it OK? And honestly, I thought he'd say absolutely. And he didn't, he said, well -- you know, he's concerned about the answer because some people -- she just said a terrible thing.

[01:05:08] You know what she said? Shout it out because I don't want to say VAUSE: OK. You're not allowed to say -- and I never expect to hear that from you again. She said, I never expect to hear that from you again. She said he's a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). That's terrible. Terrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: It's hard to fathom that this is a race for the White House.

VAUSE: But you heard the cheers, right? So, Ann-Marie, as a Ted Cruz supporter.

ANNE-MARIE MURRELL, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, POLITICHICKS.COM: Yes.

VAUSE: So when you hear that, and you hear him talk about your guy like that, what's the sort of reaction out there among -- especially Ted Cruz supporters?

MURRELL: As a Ted Cruz supporter, as a woman, as a person, as a human being.

VAUSE: Yes.

MURRELL: I wouldn't want my candidate ever, ever to talk like that. And it's funny, you were talking about one of your family members, John, that might lean toward Trump. I'm not going to out anybody here. But you know what, just because you say what's on your mind doesn't mean you need to say everything that's on your mind. And he blamed it on the woman in the audience. So he didn't have to take responsibility for that necessarily.

VAUSE: But he does. I mean, he --

(CROSSTALK)

MURRELL: He does.

SESAY: Yes. Of course.

THOMAS: You know, the press --

VAUSE: But this is his shtick, though, right now.

THOMAS: He called somebody a jack -- you know, he called somebody.

VAUSE: Right.

THOMAS: You know, he's cussed people, too. Not obviously as quite as vulgar.

VAUSE: Yes.

THOMAS: But I think this really reinforces that Trump supporters like that he says what he thinks. And they're angry. And I think Donald Trump also is frustrated that Ted Cruz has mirrored all of his positions to date. You know, and whatever Donald Trump says, if I'm going to build a wall, Ted Cruz says, I'm going to build a bigger wall.

MURRELL: Well, he said that in 2012 before Donald Trump was ever in the political realm at all. So to be fair, he's been --

THOMAS: Right.

MURRELL: He's been pushing for immigration and reform for --

THOMAS: But he didn't leave off with his campaign and --

VAUSE: And Trump put it on the map, much more than Ted Cruz ever did.

MURRELL: Well, he yelled it. And that's it.

VAUSE: Because Cruz has been running away from the issue of immigration because it's a difficult one for him.

THOMAS: And I think also the candidates are looking to draw a contrast between who's tougher. In the debate, Ted Cruz showed a measured approach, saying, well, perhaps I'd consider waterboarding. Not really sure. And Donald Trump says, I would -- you better believe I'll waterboard.

VAUSE: Yes. And you're absolutely right. Because measured responses are not popular, nuance is not popular right now.

SESAY: Right. Nobody wants nuance.

VAUSE: Especially on the Republican side. Also on the Democrats side, I think. Now you mentioned the debate, we had that Rubio moment in the debate where he repeated himself a couple of times, wouldn't get off his talking points. In the last couple of hours, another I guess verbal malfunction if you like from Marco Rubio. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUBIO: We are taking our message to families that are struggling to raise their children in the 21st century. Because as you saw, Jeannette and I are raising our four children in the 21st century. And we know how hard it's become to instill our values in our kids, instead of the values they try to ram down our throats.

In the 21st century, it's become harder than ever to instill in your children the values they teach in our homes and in our church, instead of the values that they try to ram down our throats in the movies, in music, in popular culture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And did you pick up what was going on about there?

(LAUGHTER)

THOMAS: Yes, I did.

SESAY: Message --

THOMAS: I counted the first 10 seconds. SESAY: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

VAUSE: Maybe even in the third. And -- sorry. This is a problem for Marco Rubio is that he's reinforcing a narrative here, right?

THOMAS: Sure. And the problem he has right now is this undermines his authenticity. And the fact is, he's a very authentic candidate but he's -- one of his greatest assets is that he's disciplined and on message. And now the candidates are turning around on him.

What I find ironic is that Chris Christie, who lobbed that grenade right at Marco's face, is also --

SESAY: Exactly on the same --

THOMAS: He is the governor and the former U.S. attorney. That's -- he's, you know, one-note Johnny. And so it's kind of hypocritical.

SESAY: What do you make of it?

MURRELL: It's also -- I've got a lot of sympathy. I'm tired right now. I mean, I get tired just getting up and putting makeup on these days. These guys are on the campaign trail. They are fighting. They're giving their message over and over and over. They're pouring out their heart, the life's blood, they're putting their families through this. They are tired. It's hard to be perfect.

VAUSE: Stop being so nice.

(LAUGHTER)

MURRELL: It's hard to be perfect.

VAUSE: Stop being understanding here.

THOMAS: Well, well, I think Anne-Marie is right. But, you know, we live in a sound bite world, right?

SESAY: Yes. We do.

THOMAS: With 15-second clips.

VAUSE: Sure.

THOMAS: And these candidates understand that they don't get a long dialogue with the voters and so they better repeat the same message so it breaks through.

MURRELL: And no one is better than Donald Trump about that.

VAUSE: That's true.

MURRELL: Because he's thinking of the sound bite.

VAUSE: He is.

SESAY: What are your expectations for your candidate coming out of New Hampshire? Because nobody is talking about him. Everyone is talking about Rubio and they're talking about Trump.

MURRELL: Yes. Well, right now Rubio and Cruz are kind of neck-and- neck. Everybody thought Donald Trump is going to win in Iowa, too. And the one thing we don't know about this entire primary is we don't know anything about this primary. Donald Trump did -- he lobbed a grenade into the middle of politics. And anything can happen.

VAUSE: I'm just wondering, since Iowa, Ted Cruz has been dogged by allegations of dirty tricks and winning the caucus. Now whether you agree with it or not, has that hurt him more than helped?

[01:10:03] Obviously the win in Iowa has not helped him as much and has the allegations of dirty tricks so that it negated any momentum he got from Iowa.

MURRELL: I don't think so at all because anyone who actually look into all of the allegations and everything that happened, I was watching live when it was happening on CNN when they were -- when they broke the story that Dr. Ben Carson was allegedly going to take time off. They were talking about it like it was a breaking news story. And then everyone started live tweeting it right after.

THOMAS: Yes -- I think Ann-Marie's right.

MURRELL: And yet --

THOMAS: It really didn't affect the outcome of what happened in Iowa. I think Ted unfairly, quite frankly, hasn't received the bounce that someone should out of Iowa. And so right now, Ted has been very smart. He's managed expectations going into New Hampshire. The interesting thing is, in Iowa the evangelical vote is two-thirds self- identified evangelical. In New Hampshire, it's less than one-fifth. So this isn't Ted Cruz's state. So if he does well tomorrow which he may, it's a big boost.

SESAY: How well does he have to do?

THOMAS: Top -- if he comes in top four, it's a really good night. South Carolina, he should have a great night because of the evangelical base.

SESAY: OK.

VAUSE: Thank you both.

SESAY: Always a pressure.

THOMAS: Thank you.

SESAY: Ann-Marie, lovely to have you with us. John Thomas --

MURRELL: It's good to be here. SESAY: We'll reunite you with your other half soon enough.

(LAUGHTER)

THOMAS: Noted.

SESAY: Thank you.

VAUSE: OK. With a strong lead, Donald Trump's campaign has not tried to build a so-called ground game in New Hampshire.

SESAY: His army of volunteers is small compared to those of other candidates. But as Sara Murray reports what Trump supporters lack in numbers, they sure do make up for in enthusiasm.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA MURRAY, CNN POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's Donald Trump lands his first victory of 2016 in New Hampshire Tuesday, even he says it won't be because of his ground game.

TRUMP: You know, personally I think the debate tonight is more important than the ground game because in New Hampshire, the people, they like you. And they're going to go out and they're going to vote and they're going to go back. You know, there's not so much of a ground game.

MURRAY: That's not stopping Trump's team from putting it on display.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you mind if we if you're a supporter of Mr. Trump?

MURRAY: After barring reporters from campaign offices in Iowa --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been told to turn all media away.

MURRAY (on camera): OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have no comment on any matter.

MURRAY (voice-over): Trump shifted stances in the wake of his second place finish, allowing reporters to tag along with volunteers.

JAMES RADCLIFFE, TRUMP CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: All right. Last one on the street. By far, we have the most organized, the most passionate team. The fire is lit in our bellies, and we're going for it every day.

MURRAY: The team is led by campaign manager and longtime New Hampshire operative Corey Lewandowski. He has experience in the nitty-gritty of voter registration. But his efforts to ramp up Trump's ground game appear to rest on a flimsy foundation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're Donald Trump volunteers and we're going around.

MURRAY: According to campaign finance reports, Trump has spent little on data or voter targeting, a cornerstone of rival campaigns.

For eight months, Marco Rubio's camp has been knocking on doors and making phone calls, laying the ground work for late breaking voters.

KATHY BOVE, RUBIO CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: New Hampshire listens and they wait and wait to make up their mind.

MURRAY (on camera): Right. Is it driving you crazy the number of people who are still undecided?

K. BOVE: Yes.

MARTY BOVE, RUBIO CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: Yes -- well, not really because I'm used to it.

MURRAY (voice-over): Just days before the primary, Trump was still soliciting volunteers.

Meanwhile, John Kasich's campaign brought in several out-of-state helpers, putting them up in farm houses and supporters' living rooms and dispatching them daily.

SUSAN O'BRIEN, KASICH CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: By the end of the day, I was really tired.

MURRAY: All to persuade New Hampshire's coveted independents to vote for Kasich.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope you will join me of supporting John Kasich for president on February 9th.

MURRAY: As other camps put their trust in turnout efforts, Trump is still betting on celebrity, adding the kinds of retail stops he regularly skipped in Iowa, and pressing voters to show up for him or not at all.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: A lot of these politicians say, it's not important who you vote for, but you have to go through the process. I feel differently. If you're not going to vote for me, do not vote.

MURRAY (on camera): Now in spite of Donald Trump's ground game challenges, the keys of the New Hampshire primary process, as well as the large number of independent voters, can still work in his advantage here on Tuesday night. And a number of rival campaigns tell me that even if Trump is struggling on the ground, they still expect him to win in the Granite State.

Sara Murray, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: And much more politics ahead here on NEWSROOM L.A., including former U.S. president Bill Clinton slamming some Bernie Sanders supporters for online attacks against his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: She and other people who have gone online to defend Hillary and explain, just explained, why they supported her, have been subject to vicious trolling. And attacks that are literally too profane, often, not to mention, sexist, to repeat.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:18:53] VAUSE: The U.S. presidential race, members of the band Phish performs in a rally for Democrat Bernie Sanders in Durham just hours before the start of the New Hampshire primary.

SESAY: And in Hudson, rival Hillary Clinton was joined by her husband, former president Bill Clinton, and daughter, Chelsea, as she made her final pitch to voters.

VAUSE: Bernie Sanders has a big lead in the latest New Hampshire survey. He tops Hillary Clinton by 26 points in the CNN-WMUR polls.

SESAY: This comes as Clinton struggles to find support among women voters.

CNN's Brianna Keilar explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And, yes, let's imagine, finally, making sure women finally get equal pay for equal work in America.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hillary Clinton fighting for every vote on the last day before the crucial New Hampshire primary, including a crucial voting bloc, young women. Madeleine Albright addressing the issue this weekend.

MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: There's a special place in hell for women who don't help each other.

KEILAR: But Albright's rallying cry angered a lot of young women, for whom gender isn't a driving issue in this election.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My response is, there's a special place in hell for women who vote for women just because they are women.

[01:20:04] KEILAR: And feminist icon Gloria Steinem tried to explain why polls showed young women going heavily for Bernie Sanders.

GLORIA STEINEM, FEMINIST: First of all, women get more radical as we get older. When you're young, you're thinking, you know, where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie.

KEILAR: According to the latest "Wall Street Journal"-NBC News poll in New Hampshire, 64 percent of Democratic women under 45 support Sanders. Clinton does better among women over 45, leading Sanders by nine points.

In Sunday, Clinton addressed the issue, reminding voters that the playing field isn't level for women.

H. CLINTON: We are still living with a double standard. I don't know anything other than to do than to just keep forging through it and just taking the slings and arrows that come with being a woman in the arena.

KEILAR: Bill Clinton has also been making the case, calling out young males Sanders supporter so-called "Bernie bros" for online attacks against his wife.

B. CLINTON: She and other people who have gone online to defend Hillary and explain -- just explain -- why they supported her have been subject to vicious trolling and attacks that are literally too profane often, not to mention sexist to repeat.

KEILAR: Sanders has rejected that tactic.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Anybody who is supporting me as doing sexist things is -- we don't want them. I don't want them. That is not what this campaign is about.

KEILAR: But in a state that she won in 2008, Clinton has acknowledged that this time around, a comeback in New Hampshire may not be in the cards.

H. CLINTON: I know I've got an uphill climb.

KEILAR (on camera): This debate on display at Sanders' last campaign event, one of his surrogates, model and actress Emily Ratajkowski responding to Gloria Steinem, saying, why am I here? I'm not here for the boys.

Brianna Keilar, CNN, Durham, New Hampshire.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, for more on the Democratic battle in New Hampshire, we're joined now by Democratic strategic Dave Jacobson and Lauren Steiner, lead organizer for the Los Angeles for Bernie Sanders.

Thank you for being here.

SESAY: Welcome. Welcome.

LAUREN STEINER, LEAD ORGANIZER, LOS ANGELES FOR BERNIE SANDERS: Thank you.

VAUSE: So, David, first to you, we're hearing some pretty vicious attacks coming from former president Bill Clinton.

DAVID JACOBSON, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Right.

VAUSE: Clearly this is coordinated. The Clintons don't say anything just off the cuff.

JACOBSON: Right.

VAUSE: And this could be read and seems to be just another indication of how worried the Clinton campaign is when it comes to Bernie Sanders and his lead over Hillary Clinton especially when it comes to women.

JACOBSON: Right. Look, I mean, Bill Clinton is, next to Barack Obama, the most popular Democrat in the -- country, pardon me. So might as well capitalize on that key endorsement. And clearly, you know, they're tanking a little bit in New Hampshire. So might as well bring out the attack dog and pivot a little bit and start to hold Bernie Sanders accountable for some of the attacks that they're making against Hillary Clinton.

SESAY: Got to ask you how you feel about the shifting tone in this campaign.

STEINER: Well, I do think they're getting desperate. And I think they thought that they were going to ease into this. That it was going to be a coronation. And I think they had no idea about Bernie's political revolution. You know, the media wasn't covering him. He got all of 10 minutes on the nightly network news in all of 2015. The DNC restricted the debates to six and half of them on Saturdays, in the middle of a long weekend, opposite football games.

They really didn't want him to get any exposure. Yet still, he was going across the country and getting tens of thousands of people for his rallies. His people are out there. Our people are out there. Doing grassroots events for him. Hundreds every day, all across the country. And his message just really resonates.

SESAY: And it's resonating with women. It's resonating with women a great deal. And in light of that, when you look at how he's trouncing Hillary Clinton when it comes to women, especially young women, we've heard from the like of Gloria Steinem and Madeleine Albright, in recent hours if you will, Madeleine Albright famously, you know, playing on her line about a famous -- you know, a special place in hell for women who don't help other women. And she used it in relation to women not standing by Hillary. How did you receive those comments?

STEINER: Oh, my god. When I heard the Gloria Steinem comment, first of all, I didn't watch Bill Maher but I read about it almost instantly after it happened and I posted it on Facebook on a couple of very large Bernie groups. And you have no idea the kinds of comments that came forth from women from any age. From college age all the way up to senior citizens. Everybody was condemning those remarks. People were calling her irrelevant. People were calling her senile. People were calling her sexist. I don't want to say those things because I read "Ms." magazine through

high school. I mean, Gloria Steinem and other second-wave feminists are what made me a feminist for the last 40 years so I don't want to say anything negative about her. But I do feel that her remarks were very misguided, I mean, very insulting to women, not to mention sexist by saying that that's the only reason they're voting for Bernie is because that's where the boys are.

VAUSE: Yes. That was unfortunate. Lauren, you mentioned Bernie Sanders and his political revolution. President Clinton had something to say about that on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:25:02] B. CLINTON: When you're making a revolution, you can't be too careful about the facts. You're just for me or against me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: OK. You know, he went on essentially to make the argument that, you know, if you're not ideologically pure to Bernie Sanders, then essentially you must be on the take. You know, is this a good argument for Bill Clinton to be making it? Is he the right person to be making this argument?

JACOBSON: I think it's a good general election argument for him to be making. Right? He's trying to paint Hillary Clinton as the pragmatist. The effective person who can govern the country. That's a great argument in a general election when you're trying to appeal to those moderates, independent voters who ultimately decides who wins a November election.

But right now you're trying to sell Hillary Clinton to liberal Democratic voters. You've got to sell to their hearts and to their -- to their souls. And the problem is, that's not something that's breaking through. Right? You've got to excite them, you've got to energize them. You've got to inspire them. You've got to talk about the future and optimism. And that is not the message that we're getting from the Clinton campaign right now.

VAUSE: But, Lauren, is Bernie Sanders being a bit fast and loose with the truth when he's coming out with some of these statements?

STEINER: What statements?

VAUSE: Well, when he's talking about his political revolution but he's also talking about people being on the take.

SESAY: Got plenty of -- yes.

VAUSE: When he's sort of a nudge and a wink about who's taking money from the financial regulations and from Wall Street and --

STEINER: Well, the fact of the matter is.

VAUSE: And nudge, nudge, wink, wink? STEINER: She has taken a lot of money. $675,000 from Goldman Sachs

for three speeches. And when asked, you know, why did she take that money, she said, well, that's what they wanted to pay.

VAUSE: Because they offered.

STEINER: I mean that --

VAUSE: But the implication being that she was bought.

STEINER: Well, I think you can't go and spend, you know -- make $139 million as the two of them have from every sort of industry and not expect to have some favors.

JACOBSON: Well, I think the problem also with this new transcript issue is it's sort of becoming like an I.V. drip. It keeps drip, drip, dripping, just like the e-mail scandal. If I was advising her campaign, I'd recommend that she turn it over and pivot away from this issue immediately.

SESAY: Lauren, final words to you. Your expectations for your candidate out of New Hampshire. What are you expecting on the scale of the win, given where he stands right now in the polls?

STEINER: Well, let's put it this way. I think his win is going to be huge.

(LAUGHTER)

SESAY: Yes. Don't have to pull hard that one.

VAUSE: OK. We shall see in just a few hours from now.

SESAY: We shall see.

JACOBSON: Indeed.

VAUSE: OK. Well, thank you both for coming in.

STEINER: Thank you.

SESAY: Thank you. Thank you so much.

JACOBSON: Appreciate it.

VAUSE: And we will take a short break here. When we come back here on CNN, protesters and police clash in Hong Kong. All of this happening during celebrations for the Lunar New Year.

SESAY: Plus Super Bowl politics. Why some folks are criticizing Beyonce's halftime performance.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:05] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. 10:30 on a Monday night here. I'm John Vause.

SESAY: I'm Isha Sesay.

Let's get you caught up on the top political headlines this morning.

(HEADLINES)

SESAY: Let's turn to other news now. Western security agencies had hints of an ISIS plot before the attack in Paris. Intelligence showed as many as 60 ISIS fighters, were already on European soil, planning to attack five cities.

VAUSE: The intel was fragmentary, difficult to verify, too vague to act on. The intelligence showed the man at the center of ISIS' planning for international attacks.

SESAY: In Syria, the Russia-backed assaults on the city of Aleppo is part of a shift in the country's civil war in favor of regime forces.

VAUSE: That has some government supporters thinking this conflict could be nearing an end end.

Fred Pleitgen talked to Syrians in Damascus.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(GUNFIRE)

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Syrian Army's recent advances against rebel groups has bolstered the Assad regime's position. And they have had an impact here, in government-controlled Damascus. More traffic, more people on the street and more optimism among

supporters.

"Things are getting better, thanks to the leadership of President Assad," this man says. "And thanks to the Syrian army and the paramilitary forces."

And this man adds, "our army is winning. It's a strong army. And it's protected by God."

But for much of last year, the Syrian government was losing ground. Various rebel factions closed in on strong holds in the North and south of the country. But Russian air power and the help from pro- Iranian militias appear to be turning the tide in this five-year conflict, leading some to question the point of diplomacy.

(on camera): While the U.N. ad the United States continue to say only diplomacy can solve the Syrian crisis, an increasing number of people here in government-controlled territory believe there could be a military solution to the conflict. That is, if Bashar al Assad's army can build on the gains it made in recent weeks.

(voice-over): But the government's offensive comes at a high price, tens of thousands fleeing to the Turkish border, looking to escape the onslaught. Meanwhile, speculation that Assad's main adversaries, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, might be planning incursions into northern Syria, leading to this warning from the foreign minister. "Any troops that invade our territory will go home in wooden coffins, he said."

And on the streets of Damascus, not everyone is sure the government's momentum will carry on.

[01:35:29] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't think it's going to end soon. I don't think anyone's winning. It's annoying. It's my personal opinion.

PLEITGEN: Even with the optimism brought on by the recent gains, one thing remains for same for Syrians, the uncertainty of what the future will bring.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Protesters turn violent in Hong Kong Monday night in the Lunar New Year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: In the pictures, you can see demonstrators attacking police with all kinds of household objects, hitting officers with brooms and throwing battles.

VAUSE: Police say 48 of officers were injured and 24 were arrested. It began when police tried to remove food vendors from a busy street. There's no connection to the Umbrella Revolution which spread in 2014 and disrupted the same area for days.

VAUSE: Turning to North Korea, and the country is giving itself a pat on the back for this past week's launch of a satellite into space.

VAUSE: Fireworks lit up the night sky in Pyongyang in celebration. But the satellite, apparently, it's not working.

VAUSE: A U.S. defense official tells CNN the satellite is tumbling in orbit, meaning it's incapable of functioning in any useful way. But another official tells CNN the fact that North Korea advanced its missile program enough to send a satellite into orbit is more worrying than how it is functioning.

The U.N. Security Council is vowing to take strong action in response to that rocket launch. And that could include stronger sanctions against the North.

Let's bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks in Seoul, South Korea.

Paula, what are we hearing from authorities in South Korea, when it comes to leveling more sanctions against North Korea for their recent actions?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Isha, we heard from the presidential office, that the president spoke to U.S. President Barack Obama several hours ago. They agreed that sanctions were need against North Korea. And there can be bilateral and multilateral sanctions and measures outside of the United Nations, not just relying on the U.N. sanctions, a similar phone call between park and Shinzo Abe, the Japanese prime minister.

From Kim Jong-Un's point of view, it is success. He wants to follow a dual-track policy of a nuclear program and strong economy. He is progressing with the first, not necessarily with the second.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HANCOCKS (voice-over): It's called the pride of Pyongyang. A beer with a soft smooth and fragrant taste. Propaganda from North Korea is nothing new, commercially motivated adverts are.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think some of what we're seeing by North Korean standards, innovative branding and marketing of their products, is genuinely targeting Chinese consumers to see if they can get in the Chinese market.

HANCOCKS: China is one of the few markets in the world that the heavily sanctioned North Korea can access. It's portal to the rest of the world. Visiting a cosmetics factory last year, Kim Jong-Un called for the domestic brand to be internationally recognized. Reliable data from North Korea doesn't exist. But South Korea says, last year, trade between the two was at a record high, a $2.7 billion, despite high tensions over the summer. Trade with China in 2014 was $7.6 billion, representing 90 percent of all North Korean trade.

Kim Jong-Un has made the economy part of successive New Year's speeches, this year, calling for all efforts to be made to build, quote, "an economic giant."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After the inauguration of the Kim Jong-Un regimen, we have witnessed many changes, including restaurants and cafes and taxis on the street.

HANCOCKS: Not to mention a new ski resort and amusement park, new developments, but in the rural areas, there's still reports of food insecurity and malnutrition. A two-track economy with a gap in between continuing to rise. Farmers, now work with schemes, however, allowing them to keep more if they grow more. And the days of the late Kim Jong-Il's disastrous economic decisions are gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They cannot go back. They have lost the mechanisms of a command economy, of a Soviet-style economy. And what's remarkable about Kim Jong-Un, you can see, he's not trying to go back.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[01:40:22] HANCOCKS: Bear in mind, that Kim Jong-Un is pumping billions into his space program and nuclear program. And he's not putting that towards the people. And that's taking a toll on the economy, as well -- Isha?

SESAY: There's so much suffering there.

Paula Hancocks joining us from Seoul, South Korea. We appreciate it. Thank you so much.

VAUSE: The Asia-Pacific region right now. Japanese stocks are lower on Tuesday. This is extending a global sell-off. A look at the numbers. The Nikkei down by almost 5.5 percent. The long-term Japanese bonds yield dropped below zero for the first time ever. Many of the Asian markets are closed for the Lunar New Year. But in Sydney, the ASX 200 was open and was down almost 3 percent.

SESAY: The news wasn't much better on Wall Street. The Dow dropped 178 points. And that was a bounce back from steeper losses earlier in the day. S&P 500 lost 1.4 percent. And the NASDAQ fell 1.8 percent. Investors were scared off by the crash in oil prices that dropped below $30 a barrel. One called it a stampede of selling.

VAUSE: When we come back, Beyonce is drawing the ire of one well- known U.S. politician. We'll look at the controversy over her Super Bowl halftime performance in a moment. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello, everyone. The Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos are celebrating the title in style. A warm welcome on Monday, hoisting the Lombardi trophy high as they got off the team plane.

VAUSE: But Quarterback Peyton Manning may have had it better. He went to Disneyland and hung out with Mickey and Minnie.

[01:45:16] SESAY: I guess that -- that's very keeping with Peyton Manning. He's very sweet.

The stars at the halftime show aren't being left out, either with many praising Beyonce's performance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SINGING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This is being called politically charged. It was a song by Beyonce, paying tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement, and Malcolm X. That's not sitting well with Rudy Giuliani who said this on FOX News.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, FORMER NYC MAYOR: I don't know why we have this.

(CROSSTALK) GIULIANI: -- not Hollywood. I thought it was outrageous that she used it as a platform to attack police officers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Jasmyne Cannick joins us here, a socialism commentator.

You're shaking your head there as you heard from the former Mayor Giuliani saying she used it as a platform to attack police officers. Some seeing this performance as incendiary. Was it?

JASMYNE CANNICK, SOCIALISM COMMENTATOR: First of all, I loved ColdPlay's performance. Let's make that clear.

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: Nobody is talk about ColdPlay.

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: They're all talking about Beyonce.

CANNICK: They're stretching. They're stretching. First of all, artists are known for using the platform to push issues. If it's racism, adopt a pet or clean water. I think the former New York mayor needs to go somewhere and sit down. This is a stretch. I've heard songs that do call for attacks on police. I didn't see that yesterday. I didn't hear that yesterday.

VAUSE: What about the venue, though? I think this is part of the argument. Mayor Giuliani says he wants wholesome entertainment between the people getting concussion. Was the Super Bowl halftime show an appropriate place for this particular song?

CANNICK: Why not? Look, almost every American was watching that game, except for me. I only tuned in for the halftime show.

SESAY: Well, ColdPlay.

CANNICK: For ColdPlay, yes. So, why not? Why wouldn't you do it there? Let's think back to the Oscars, right? And let's look at Miss Little Feather, who accepted the award for Marlon Brando. That was a platform. It was used to call attention to what was going on at Wounded Knee. That's sort of what Beyonce is trying to do. What she tried to do yesterday. We're all talking about it today.

SESAY: Let's talk about it was Beyonce, who used the platform.

CANNICK: Yeah. I was shocked.

SESAY: Seriously.

CANNICK: She's not known for being so political.

VAUSE: This is a shift, right? CANNICK: At the end of the day, whether you're a pop star or a

regular person like myself, you can't help but not notice what's going on in the world around you. I'm sure that both her and Jay Z are aware of what's happening in police brutality and killings, what's going on in Flint, Michigan.

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: He gave money.

(CROSSTALK)

CANNICK: Right. What the haters have to stop doing is this. Just because we're black does not mean that when we came out we had a membership to Black Lives Matter. People think that you're the leader or part of the organization. I think she just wanted to say, look. I see what's going on. Let me use my celebrityism for some good. And I wish more artists would do that.

VAUSE: Do you think the people who are outraged, aren't they the ones that are telling us to lighten up and take it easy on other issues?

CANNICK: They could be. At the end of the day, the whole issue around police brutality and police killings is not going to go anywhere. And I doubt that Beyonce is going to be the last artist to use a platform like the Super Bowl game, to put that message out there.

SESAY: I think you're right. I think she's far from the last.

CANNICK: Right. She may do it again.

VAUSE: Jasmyne, thank you.

SESAY: And she may overshadow ColdPlay again. You'll get over it.

(LAUGHTER)

A pleasure, thank you.

CANNICK: Thank you.

[01:49:35] SESAY: Next here on CNN NEWSROOM, the Republican presidential candidates messed up the entrances at the recent debate. Wait until you see who else has memorably tripped up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: It's been a few days, but some are marveling as the awkward beginning of the Republican debate.

SESAY: As Jeanne Moos reporters, the candidates are not the only ones who botched an important entrance.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The desperate gestures of a backstage handler told the story of what one website called a "chain reaction of cringe." Sure, it could have been worse. No one fell, like Miss America. No one got a concussion, like Conan did, or tripped over a red carpet, while singing the national anthem on skates. Nope, the debate introduction --

UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: Chris Christie.

MOOS: -- was just incredibly awkward.

UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: Dr. Ben Carson.

MOOS: Starting when Ben Carson didn't respond to his name. For the obvious reason --

DR. BEN CARSON, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & RETIRED NEUROSURGEON: I couldn't hear.

MOOS: And just when Carson seemed ready to advance --

UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: Texas Senator, Ted Cruz.

MOOS: -- Ted Cruz cruised by. And Donald Trump, likewise, seemed to miss his name, letting --

UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: Jeb Bush.

MOOS: -- letting Jeb Bush brush by with a tap and "see you later, guys" expression.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's something you'll never see again, Jeb Bush tapping Donald Trump.

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: When the moderators finally introduced --

UNIDENTIFIED DEBATE MODERATOR: The Republican candidates.

MOOS: -- only four were there. Chris Christie volunteered.

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R), NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR & PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Can I introduce Kasich?

MOOS: "What a mess," tweeted Wendy Williams, which prompted a Carson defender to bring up a dramatic entrance Wendy made on stage --

(APPLAUSE)

[01:55:14] MOOS: A Broncos corner back wanted to celebrate on a Super Bowl post-game show but he, more or less, tackled himself --

(LAUGHTER)

MOOS: -- crashing the set.

(SHOUTING)

MOOS (on camera): Sometimes the entrance can go just fine. But then, it's time for your exit.

(voice-over): Remember when President Bush had a stumble handling the locked door handles in China.

On "The View," the hosts recreated the Republican snafu as they made their entrance.

When it comes to hailing these chiefs --

(MUSIC)

MOOS: -- better hail them louder.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: The one and only Jeanne Moos.

VAUSE: It was actually the best part of the debate.

SESAY: It's so embarrassing to watch it again.

VAUSE: A little awkward.

SESAY: More than a little awkward.

VAUSE: Many more dates to come. They can make up for it.

SESAY: Yeah, indeed.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause.

The new continues with Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett, making a dramatic entrance, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)