Hampshire primary.

I'm Gwen Ifill.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And I'm Judy Woodruff.

They finished second in Iowa, but, tonight, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump have claimed

victory in New Hampshire.

Democrat Sanders scored a resounding win over Hillary Clinton.

It guarantees him a majority of the 24 delegates at stake.

And Republican Trump won big in a crowded field, with John Kasich finishing second.

Trump will take at least nine of that state's 23 GOP delegates.

In the battle for third place on the Republican side, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio continued

in a tight race late into the night.

As results came into focus, the candidates came out to claim victory and offer concessions.

GWEN IFILL: Donald Trump was triumphant as he appeared before a crowd of supporters in

Manchester.

DONALD TRUMP (R), Presidential Candidate: We want to thank the people of New Hampshire,

right?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DONALD TRUMP: Do we love the people of New Hampshire?

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DONALD TRUMP: You know, I said it.

And I said it even a year ago.

I think, I'm going to do really well there, because I'm here a lot.

And it's so beautiful.

And I love it so much.

And I love the people.

And I said I actually think they like me a lot.

And then, all of a sudden, we started getting numbers in.

And everyone said, how come they like Trump so much?

But I have so many friends up here.

And they are special, special people.

So, New Hampshire, I want to thank you.

We love you.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

DONALD TRUMP: We're going to be back a lot.

We're not going to forget you.

You started it.

Remember, you started it.

GWEN IFILL: Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders revved up a jubilant crowd of his supporters in Concord.

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS (VT-I), Presidential Candidate: And let me take this opportunity to thank

the many, many thousands of volunteers here in the Granite State who worked so tirelessly.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS: Our volunteers worked night and day, made phone calls, and knocked on

a heck of a lot of doors.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS: And we won because of your energy.

Thank you all so much.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS: I want to thank Julia Barnes and our great campaign staff.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS: Together, we have sent a message that will echo from Wall Street to Washington,

from Maine to California.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

SEN.

BERNIE SANDERS: And that is that the government of our great country belongs to all of the

people, and not just a handful of wealthy campaign contributors and their super PACs.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

GWEN IFILL: And now we go to our political director, Lisa Desjardins, who is reporting

for us tonight in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Lisa, you have had your ear to the ground, talking to voters, talking to candidates.

What have you learned in the past several days while you have been in New Hampshire

that explains what we saw happen tonight?

LISA DESJARDINS: Dramatic results for those of us watching, I think, from outside of New

Hampshire, maybe not as dramatic, Gwen, for voters here.

Going to the polls this morning, the names I heard from voters were the same names that

are doing well tonight.

Let's start with Donald Trump.

Voters who told me that they were supporting Donald Trump told me that they were doing

it despite fact that they think he might be someone who is offensive.

They think that this country needs someone who is going to be a strong leader and who

-- maybe who will offend people, especially offend, in their words, America's enemies.

I think the strong leader label also might apply in way to Bernie Sanders.

When I talked to Democrats who voted for Bernie Sanders today -- and there were many, many

of them, as the results are showing -- they said they like that he has been genuine and

he has pushed for his ideas, even when they were remarkably unpopular, to today, when

they're gaining traction.

They see that a kind of strength.

Those voters who chose not to go for Hillary Clinton said they felt that she is someone

who is trying too hard to say what the people want to hear, vs. strong leader type is what

they see in Bernie Sanders.

Not to oversimplify things, but I think that was a very real theme for voters here in New

Hampshire today.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, Lisa, were you able to tell what it is that people want the strong

leader to do?

What is the source of the unhappiness, the frustration, the anger?

Were you able to figure -- pick that up from people?

LISA DESJARDINS: Yes, it is absolutely the economy, Judy and Gwen.

Here in New Hampshire, incomes are far above average in the -- of the country, unemployment

levels are low, but yet many voters here don't feel like things are getting better.

And even more so, they are worried about their children's future.

They're worried about student loan debt, which is very high in this state.

And they don't see anything changing to help that situation.

They think new ideas are the only way for things to go -- get on a better course for

them.

And they say they weren't hearing new ideas from other candidates.

Now, all of this said, it should be remarked that John Kasich also had a big night.

He won, I think, with voters who are looking for a more stable, proven leader, someone

who also they related to personally.

He went out, shook hands in this state, sat by firesides, quite literally.

And I think that made a difference here for him.

I also think it's really going to be interesting to watch the Marco Rubio-Jeb Bush race with

-- for number three with Ted Cruz.

I just came from Marco Rubio's concession speech.

Fascinatingly enough, right off the top, he said: This was my fault.

It was my poor performance in the debate that led to this.

And he apologized to his followers.

He said it won't happen again.

It was a very interesting moment for Marco Rubio, a sign that he is going to try and

reverse course or kind of get back on track after New Hampshire.

GWEN IFILL: That's what I want to ask you about a little bit, Lisa, because Marco Rubio

did an unusual thing in admitting that it was his fault.

But we also see lot of other candidates who didn't necessarily benefit, like Chris Christie,

who was a weapon against Marco Rubio the other night.

Do we know who might go home after tonight?

LISA DESJARDINS: Well, we know that Chris Christie is taking at least a little bit of

time off the trail to sort of recoup and take another look at his campaign.

There were some false reports that he was announcing a suspension earlier tonight.

But, instead, what is actually happening, we're told, is that he is just taking some

time to take a look.

I do think he's got he -- he's got to really take a hard look at what's ahead, especially

going into South Carolina.

We haven't talked about Ben Carson or Carly Fiorina very much.

They're at the very bottom of the New Hampshire pack.

And I think, as far as staffing, money, and momentum go, those two candidates have to

really make some difficult choices probably in the next few weeks ahead.

GWEN IFILL: OK.

Well, Lisa, thank you so much for your contributions tonight and all week long in New Hampshire.

LISA DESJARDINS: It's been amazing to be here.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And now we're joined by Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report.

So, Amy, you have been poring over those exit polls, interviews with voters as they left

the polling places in New Hampshire.

What are you seeing that you could add to what Lisa's talking -- hearing from voters

on the ground?

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Well, it's very interesting, because what we're

seeing from the exit polls, it lines up in some ways, the idea that Trump is going to

be the candidate that is going to shake things up.

But it doesn't mean that the majority of Republicans in the state feel that that's what they would

like to see going forward.

In fact, when you asked the question if Trump won the nomination, would you be satisfied

with him as the nominee, voters, Republicans voters were evenly divided; 49 percent said,

48 percent said no.

So, he won a -- want to give him his due.

He won a big victory tonight, but he's still a very polarizing figure among Republicans.

GWEN IFILL: So, is it fair to say that neither Republicans who voted overwhelmingly for Donald

Trump tonight and -- or Democrats who voted overwhelmingly for Bernie Sanders tonight

give a fig about electability?

(LAUGHTER)

AMY WALTER: It is -- that is a heart over the head, I think, is one theme in this election

in New Hampshire tonight.

In fact, when I looked at what Democrats were saying, for those who said that the most important

issue to them was who can win in November and who has the most experience, Hillary Clinton

was winning those voters with 81, 82 percent.

But when you asked them -- or when those voters said it was honest -- who was honest and trustworthy,

who they thought was the most relatable, who understood them, Bernie Sanders wins by big,

big, big margins.

The problem for Hillary Clinton is that her message of electability, while she's winning

it, wasn't seen as important as sort of the heart issues.

(CROSSTALK)

AMY WALTER: That's right.

Sixty percent of voters wanted to see somebody who they could relate to and who they saw

as honest and trustworthy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, what is the message Hillary Clinton can take from here?