josh: this sunday on "close up," john kasich talks about the importance of the primary to his campaign and the importance of character to the oval office. with george pataki out of the race, is the field beginning to shrink? can martin o' malley make it to february? we discussed with the chairs of the democratic and republican parties in the granite state. in the new year, it is crunch

t tell that to john kasich, he thinks it has been crunch time ever since he got into the race. good to see you. i remember in july, you are like i have always been serious. he' s got to work hard. gov. kasich: it is all on the ground. you' ve got to meet people. i tell people out-of-state i met 1.29 people in new hampshire -- 1.2 million people in new hampshire. we are going to wrap up close to 50 townhomes. we' ve got a long way to go. i said we are going to do 100 even if i have to stay after the primary. josh: how do you feel you have to do in the new hampshire primary? gov. kasich: i need to be a story. the latest poll put me in third, that one point out of second. i need to be a story. if that could happen, maybe

right now, people have a hard time believing anything that comes out of anybody who is an elected official' s mouth. they think the system is rigged and they don' t get a fair shake. what i need to do is let them hear what i' ve done throughout my career, the a compliment -- the accomplishments with jobs and wage growth. if i can be heard, i' m going to do really well. but i' ve got to be heard and new hampshire gives me the rest of -- the chance for the rest of the country to hear me. josh: how do you rise above the noise created by donald trump. a lot of people are frustrated and some believe that is why donald trump is doing so well. he can say anything. what do you make of -- gov. kasich: let' s forget about me and talk about life.

you are attacking everyone on the face of the earth, i do not think america is at the point where people want to vote for divider. maybe i am wrong. i just do not buy it. that is not the way people are. maybe people are out on a date in a manner of speaking but when t think re going to go. t believe it. if i said a quarter of the things he said, i would be run back to ohio and people would be furious. i' ve been around long enough to know that at the end people settle down and do what is in the best interest of themselves and their children. if they do not believe that you are real, a reformer, if they do not believe you will give them a you.

when i, people and politics, and a lot of times they say it is terrible that he has a record. because if you have a record than people can point to stuff. i want people to look at my record and realized that special interests are not the ones that call the tune for me. both in congress and as governor. our wages are up, employment is of, we' ve left no one behind. the disabled can be integrated. if you are does mentally ill or drug addicted, you have a chance to get on your feet. josh: when you talk about your record, your resume certainly qualifies you to be president of the united states. you point to the record in ohio with the economy going from an massive deficit to a surplus. gov. kasich: we were down 350,000 jobs and now we are up 385,000 jobs. our credit is rocksolid,

we are running a $2 billion surplus. in washington, i was the last person standing with senator domenici to carve out a balanced budget. our wages in ohio are going faster than the national average. and no one is left behind. i was able to be reelected. secondly, why the opinion polls at this point remain high. that is subject to the weather. josh: we will see what the poll says on february 9, the most important one. donald trump is a critic of yours. saying he is just lucky because of fracking in ohio, he did not do anything special. gov. kasich: the fracking industry has not propelled our recovery. we like it but of the 385,000 jobs, the number of jobs created in fracking is small. what we hope will happen and where the real jobs are is on

if you can take the natural gas and crack it into things like plastics, that is where the jobs are. we are still a long way from that. the boom has not been like it was in north dakota. maybe a 20,000 jobs. we have become diversified. we have cloud computing with amazon and chinese and german investments. why? if you are a job creator, we are not going to beat you of it had with regulations and tax you, no income tax for small business in ohio. we have balanced budget so we are not going to clobber you over the head. job creators in my state and the country want certainty. if they cannot predict the future, they will do nothing. they will sit on their wallets. certainty in america, get on top of regulations, reduce the corporate taxes and reduce the personal taxes, balance the budget.

water, remember "jaws"? businesses will feel it is safe to invest and something is not going to sneak up and send their company into a tailspin. that is what we need in america and that includes things like obamacare. josh: talking about safety, let' s talk national security. you are asked about the situation in syria, regime change. you get 30 seconds to respond about your philosophy and approach. i' ll let you breathe a little deeper. as president, how would you approach the situation with a side, syria -- assad, syria and isis? gov. kasich: i' ve been saying we need to go on the ground and in the air but not alone. i remember the first gulf war, the arabs and the west cooperated to push saddam out of kuwait. the first president bush did not drive all the way to baghdad.

he was smart enough to know that once he went to baghdad, he would unleash chaos in the country. so the point is we drove saddam out. it is the same coalition that has to destroy isis. in regard to assad, in my opinion, support the rebels. i do not want to be in the middle of the civil war. it is like being in the middle of the civil war in iraq. it doesn' t work. assad has to go to weaken support opposition without involving ourselves in a civil war while we destroy isis. they are a threat to our way of life and we need better intelligence worldwide and we need to make sure we had good intelligence at home. josh: for our safety and global security, are we that -- be tter off leaving assad? gov. kasich: no. the saudis have agreed once

we do notwant to the in the middle of a civil war, it never works out. i spent 18 years on the defense committee with some of the smartest offense minds in the world. you learn by being engaged and involved but we do not need to be in the middle of it. he has to go because it is a link between iran, russia. iran wants to take the radical shia element and spread it across the middle east, we cannot allow that to happen. josh: 46 townhomes or 50 townhomes, you' ve done a bunch -- 46 town halls or 50 town halls, you' ve done a bunch. what are you hearing? gov. kasich: seniors do not want to loose social security. our wealthiest seniors are not going to get as many benefits to save the system. people at the lower income levels, we have not set those numbers yet. at a lower income level their benefits will be fine. we hear people say the money in

-- they buy all the politicians protect my record. they. do not only from the day i got into politics. you hear them talk about health care, what is going to happen with it. we have a program that says let' s say you go skiing and break your hip. you got to have hip surgery. we know what the mean costs are for a specialist. if a specialist can give you good quality at a better price, we want to put money in their pocket and make it worth their while to give you high quality at lower prices. are we going to be kept safe? that gets done through our terrorism task forces, which you should do a story on. the fbi and local law enforcement who are the intelligence on the ground in new hampshire and throughout our country. they have to disrupt the plots, they have done a fantastic job and people want to

they want to believe their children can get a job after they ring up all this debt in college. it' s why the townhomes are great. josh: so many issues are out there and so little time to talk about them. one thing that seems to be missing in the debate, most candidates talk about it, is the character of the person. how important is it that we talk more about the character of the highest office? gov. kasich: of -- none of us are saints. clearly a saint. experience and does not demonize the other party. does not hate people who do not think the way they think. we can' t fix problems in this country because all we are doing is sniping at one another.

negotiating with the clinton administration or working with democrats to fix our highways and fight the battle of human trafficking and fix public schools or deal with the issue of race, a serious issue of urban unrest and race, you have to bring people together. if we do not do it, we are not going to fix problems. people around the world look at america fighting and sniping. what do you think they think? maybe america has lost its edge. we' ve got to have somebody that can keep their cool, bring people together and solve problems. politics seems to ruin everything if you do not get the solutions of the most serious problems we have. josh: talking about bringing people together. about a minute to go. people point, i hate to bring it to trump. he is the front rudder and his numbers are maintaining continuity. a lot, some of the things he says are considered very divisive. how do you -- gov. kasich: you cannot come to

there and be angry or be other party to listen to you. you will lose people in your own party. i' ve been involved in building a team to fix ohio. it was almost gone and we are doing great. the same thing happened in washington, you got to have some he has a vision, is bold, knows how to get the economy moving, people together. without that, america is going to keep lumbering along and is not going to benefit us at all. does not have to be that way. josh: happy new year. gov. kasich: we are going to have a great 2016. josh: you have quite a ground game. m not going to begin to yours is good. gov. kasich: we need your help in new hampshire, thank you. josh: good see you.

josh: welcome back to "close up ." tomorrow marks the home stretch of the new hampshire primary race. who has the energy? some are wondering if this primary could be the end as we' ve come to know it. joining me at a state chairs of the parties, democrat raymond

republican jennifer horn. -- democrat raymond buckley and republican jennifer horn. ms. horn: we have to preserve what we do in new hampshire. we cannot go to a day where our candidates for the highest office in the land are chosen based on who got enough money to run tv commercials nationally. it cannot be for the big dollar folks. in new hampshire it is important , forcing the candidates to come down face-to-face to the voters and have conversations eye to eye. that is where so much of the energy on the republican side has been coming from. the candidates are in the state constantly. doors are open to everybody, this is what it is all about in new hampshire. we have to preserve that. josh: mr. buckley? mr. buckley: i agree with the first half of what she said.

i was in elementary school interviewing candidates for president and that is what everyone in new hampshire should be doing, republican or democrat. it is important that we not make this about the national level and give everybody a fair shake in new hampshire. which is why there is so much energy and excitement and the democratic turnout will exceed the republican side. josh: on the 19th, bernie sanders did an interview. he did not mince words, saying he felt like the dnc, the national democratic party was orchestrating the whole thing, from protecting hillary quentin as chosen -- hillary clinton as chosen front runner. do you share those concerns question mark mr. buckley: all the candidates have nothing but praise for the democratic party. we run a fair operation in new hampshire and that is what we will continue to do.

dnc is there is such an effort from the national level two control what voters have access to. the point you just made that so many have made, just a handful of debates and airing them when nobody turned the television on. what we do in new hampshire is not just about what happens on the ground. the whole idea is access to the candidates, that voters can have the opportunity to do the vetting. the dnc, it is not just they are trying to keep folks from seeing the debates, they have chosen to push her forward. clinton and the coronation process executed not just by debbie wasserman schultz but all the officers at the dnc, hampshire. mr. buckley: i am 100% in favor

the answer primary has been that meetings and shaking peoples hands on main streets. democrats voting in the republicans. josh: let' trump, you cannot avoid him, especially when we talk about energy. people say he brings a new kind of it. given your role as the state to react. mr. buckley: i have applauded her. ms. horn: it is important to understand that throughout my time as chair i had acted within the bylaws and i always will. i think that across america people are looking for a change. i think the reason we see so much anger and so much frustration and disappointment in washington is because of the field leadership of barack obama, hillary clinton, of the entire democratic leadership for the past seven years. i think people are feeling a

future looks like. we need a leader and a nominee from our party who can go forward and not just unite the party but unite the nation and bring us together again and move us forward and lift us up and inspire people. remind the american people how great we are and what we are capable of as a nation. i am confident that that is what the republican party is going to offer. mr. buckley: you look at the television ads that are playing wall-to-wall, one of two things. a republican attacking and other republican or trying to rip the country down. there is no message of positive or since there' s going to be a better tomorrow. it is about fear, negativity and trying to rip down -- josh: the republican field is much bigger mr. buckley:. you see them attacking each other. ms. horn: i think it is a very engaging, intelligent debate. it is a free and open exchange

something that is not allowed on the democratic side. something to democrats have fought very hard to diminish. i will say with great passion and sincerity, we are the party of lincoln. we are the party of a woman' s right to vote and civil rights and the bill of rights. mr. buckley: i just heard lincoln -- lincoln just rolled over in his grave. ms. horn: i will take that every day of the week over a part trying to limit access and silence the people and pick their nominee ahead of time. s rights to equal pay, kelly ayotte is fighting equal pay for women. you are the party of limiting access for african-americans to actually vote, even though that is something we should be for -- making are false. josh: let' s not devolve into --

candidate who has a history of hypocrisy on equal pay. this election is going to be about setting our nation on a new and better path. there is no doubt in my mind that we are going to have the strongest possible nominee. josh: i' ll may have two minutes. the front runner nationally in both of these parties, perhaps the biggest problem they have to overcome is not a position on policy but maybe integrity. i' m talking about questions surrounding clinton and trump. how does the democratic party make the case for the front when there are questions surrounding it? e-mails and benghazi. mr. buckley: we believe once we leave philadelphia in july, the country will rally around our nominee as opposed to the republican nominee that has been selected in cleveland weeks before. very positive and upbeat. we have a great year for democrats in new hampshire and

great democrats are going to be putting together a ticket and we will have every single major elected office in new hampshire. ms. horn: as you know, it is too early to call. the majority of voters are undecided. we are going to go forward with a clear message of honesty, integrity, transparency in government and leadership -- a strong nation on economy. it' s an argument that hillary clinton cannot make it she has a history of hypocrisy, dishonesty . it has been proven, the american people do not trust her. sending e-mails from your bathroom with classified information on them is not the leader america is going to choose. josh: i' ve got 20 seconds to get the last word after the bathroom,. mr. buckley: no idea what she is talking about, but kelly ayotte will be on fox news faster than

josh: the new hampshire primary is important and we' ve got to do our jobs and turnout. it is going to be a great turnout. mr. buckley: a huge event. ms. horn: a great year for republican leadership.

josh: -- josh:-- >> tonight is the end of my

as i end my campaign for president, i' m confident we can elect the right person. someone who will bring us together and understands that politicians must be the people' s servant. josh: george pataki announcing the end of his presidential campaign and taking a veiled swipe at donald trump. pataki dropped out last week after failing to gain traction in the polls. no word on whether he will endorse any political candidates. if he does give backing, it will not be trump, who added new hampshire' s largest newspaper to his list of rivals. trump fired back, calling the publisher of the paper a lowlife. >> it is fair to say donald trump did not like the "union leader' s" anti-endorsement. the republican front-runner believes that the publisher is on -- upset because trump declined an invitation for golf.

i knew he did it because i did not do his debate. >> trump is referring to a union leader candidate forum in which he did not take part in mcquaid reads a letter he received from trump two days after the forum. >> i hope this, along with many of my other correct decisions, will lead eu, a man i have respect for, to endorse me. >> the paper gave its endorsement to chris christie. trump accused chris christie of pulling strings at the "union leader," also weighing in on the bridge scandal. >> chris cannot win because of his past. i do not believe you' ve heard the last of the george washington bridge. >> christy' s campaign declined to comment. mcquaid says he is surprised it

take a at the paper. >> trump has no reason to run for president. i guess he can, but he shouldn' t be. josh: it appears that jeb bush sides with the paper. saying that trump trump would be a chaos president. and i am glad he has been caught out by the union leader. that is going to wrap up this edition of "close up new hampshire." we will be back next week. happy new year, go patriots. have a great sunday. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] cordes: most nurses are tough. they're problem-solvers. they like making things better. people don't have access to healthcare because they just can't afford it. bernie sanders understands how pharmaceutical companies and major medical companies are ripping us off. bernie tells the truth, and he's been consistent.

that the system is rigged, and he's the only one who can bring real change. i'm bernie sanders,