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Nevada Presidential Caucuses Set To Begin; Interview With Tom Steyer (D), Presidential Candidate; Pete Buttigieg Makes Appearance At Nevada Caucus Site; Early Entrance Polling Indicates Similar Nevada Caucus Electorate Makeup As In 2016; Analysts Examine What Nevada Caucus Results May Indicate For Each Democratic Presidential Candidate. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired February 22, 2020 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Joe Biden is counting on a strong showing to steady his campaign after disappointing early losses. Elizabeth Warren also is in need of a rebound, and she fight to stay in the game. Pete Buttigieg and Amy Klobuchar, they are battling to maintain momentum and appeal to a more diverse group of voters. Michael Bloomberg is not on the ballot in Nevada after jumping in late, but he is a looming presence following his rise in national polls, and his first debate.

One the Nevada caucuses begin, we hope to get our first sense of the early leaders from our entrance poll of first voters. We have cameras inside key caucus sites to get results in real time. These are the first caucuses since the fiasco in Iowa, so we will be watching the vote counting and reporting very, very closely.

Dana Bash is here. Dana, Nevada Democrats, they are trying desperately to make sure they don't have a repeat of Iowa.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: They sure, are, Wolf. And the process will be under intense scrutiny by the national Democratic Party and the presidential campaigns. Let's check in with two campaigns that have a lot on the line in Nevada. Going first to Ryan Nobles with the Bernie Sanders campaign. Ryan?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Dana, it's just a signal of just how strong Bernie Sanders expects his performance to be in Nevada today, he and his team are already looking past the results and looking forward to Super Tuesday. He will end up in a rally here in San Antonio later tonight.

But it's important to point out that if Sanders continues to strengthen his position as the Democratic frontrunner, that he and his team are increasingly aware that there will be a new level of scrutiny for his campaign. That means deep dives into his long record, both as a public servant, his personal activity, his family, and everything across the board. They expect these attacks to come from not only Democrats in the mainstream wing of the party that are concerned that he could become the Democratic standard bearer, but also the media and Republicans, including President Trump. That being said, they are prepared for it. They believe that this is

something that Senator Sanders has effectively batted away throughout his entire career, and they actually would argue that it is one of the main strong arguments towards his case to be the Democratic nominee, that he can take on Donald Trump head-to-head. All of that doesn't matter, though, if he can't pull out a win in Nevada today, something his team remains confident that he will do. Dana?

BASH: Ryan nobles, thank you very much.

Now let's check in with Joe Biden's campaign. Arlette Saenz is there.

Arlette?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, Dana, Joe Biden is hoping for a top two finish in Nevada. He told me that coming in first or second place would be a win for him. And the Biden campaign believes and hopes that this would be the start of a turnaround for Joe Biden's campaign after those disappointing losses in both Iowa and New Hampshire. They believe the diverse demographics in the state could be beneficial to them.

Biden recently picked up the support of a Latino Victory Fund. He has also spent a substantial amount of time over the past week courting black voters here in the states. Now, Biden is also hoping to pick up support from the union community. In fact, he has been making some private back of house visits at casinos, here, trying to connect one- on-one with workers that he hopes will turn out to caucus for him today.

The Biden campaign is very aware of he needs a strong finish here in the state as after this con test the race will head to more and other diverse states like South Carolina and the Super Tuesday contests, and Joe Biden is certainly hoping that he is going to start that turnaround here in Nevada. Dana?

BASH: Arlette, thanks so much for that report.

Now, Nevada Democrats are not using the vote reporting app that caused big problems in Iowa. They're following Iowa's lead in breaking down results in a new way, though. And here is a viewer's guide of what to expect.

For the first time, Nevada Democrats are reporting the results of the popular vote in two different rounds, just like they did in Iowa. In the first round, voters declare their first-choice candidate. In the final round, voters are allowed to switch their support if their first choice doesn't get at least 15 percent at that caucus. We'll be able to compare both rounds to see how the vote changed and how that may have helped the ultimate winner.

In the end, the winning candidate will be the one who gets the biggest share of county delegates. Now, county delegates are based on the final round votes. Again, the county delegates are what matter the most here, and we will be watching them very closely all night long. Wolf? BLITZER: Thanks very much.

We're counting down to the start of the Nevada caucuses less than an hour away. I want to go to Las Vegas right now. Lucy Kafanov is with the candidates right there right now.

Lucy, this is an important moment for the candidate who is with you right now.

LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf. We are at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. I'm with Tom Steyer, one of the Democratic candidates with who is running here today. It's an exciting day, the Nevada caucuses happening. Mr. Steyer, how you are feeling?

[14:05:00]

TOM STEYER (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm feeling good. We are hearing that turnout is going to be good. I'm a big believer in the biggest possible turnout. We know that early voting was 75,000, which is really, really high. And so we're hoping that everybody shows up and everybody caucuses. That's the best thing that can happen.

KAFANOV: And where are you going to be watching the final results coming in tonight?

STEYER: Well, I doubt that I'm just sitting and watching in front of the TV. I imagine I will be moving around as much as possible to try and see as many of our volunteers as possible, and see how everything is going. I won't be sitting in my hotel room.

KAFANOV: I'm sure it will be a very busy day for you. This is the Bellagio. It's one of the locations where shift workers can vote, can participate in the democratic process. Are you going to be trying to talk to voters to get them to turn out and caucus for you today?

STEYER: I will be mostly talking to our volunteers who will be talking to people coming off the shift. If I get a chance to talk to -- it's funny, just walking down the hall, I talk to people who are working there who are going to caucus for me, so I know for a fact that a lot of the union workers here and the culinary workers are on my side.

KAFANOV: As you pointed out 75,000 voted early. That's a huge number. In 2016, 85,000 Democratic voters came out to caucus. And are you concerned that maybe people already made their decision, there won't be that many folks turning out today?

STEYER: From what I can hear from around the different precincts, actually there are a lot of people showing up. So people always vote early in Nevada. That's a normal thing. But I'm expecting a big turnout today, too.

KAFANOV: OK, a big turnout. Thank you so much, Mr. Steyer. Good luck. Wolf, back to you.

BLITZER: Lucy, thank you, very, very much.

I want to go to Sparks, Nevada, right now. Evan McMorris-Santoro is on the scene for us over there.

What do you see? We're less than an hour away from the normal start of these caucuses.

EVAN MCMORRIS-SANTORO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Wolf. I'm in Sparks, Nevada, Sparks High School, which is one of the larger precinct areas here in Washoe County. This is an area that Bernie won in 2016. His campaign has been very active on the ground here, trying to replace that win. But we've seen this morning, so far, less than an hour to go, that the turnout is not huge so far. They were thinking that they were -- they planned for big crowds, they planned for big lines outside.

So far they haven't shown up, but that is because there was a lot of early voting this time around. We haven't gotten numbers officially yet, but the caucus director here, traditional back of the envelope math for us, said she got about 12 percent of people voted early already. So it's not clear if we're going to see a big huge crowd out here today. But there's definitely interest in the caucuses, just people may have already voted earlier.

BLITZER: We will stay in close touch with you, Evan. Thank you very much.

Once again, we're counting down to the start of the Nevada caucuses. We're awaiting the first clues about the outcome from our entrance poll of voters. Our special live coverage continues right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:11:53]

BLITZER: We're less than 50 minutes away from the start of the Nevada caucuses, certainly lots at stake for these Democratic presidential candidates. Let's go over to John King, he's over at the magic wall. John, set the scene for us, tell us what you're looking for as the early numbers eventually start coming in.

JOHN KING, CNN ANCHOR: Hopefully. Hopefully they close, they check the numbers, they do the count, hopefully caucus night number two goes better than caucus night number one.

What you're looking for, number one, most of the vote is down here in Clark County. See if you can see up here, 73 percent essentially of the state population lives here. This is where you have the union voters, this is where you have the big population of Latino voters. The bulk of the votes come here. So you would think the candidates should just focus here.

But remember, these are caucuses, you do this by precinct. So they have to compete across the state. You come up from Clark County, which is where Vegas is, you come up to Washoe County, you just went to a caucus site there, Reno, but also most rural areas up here, competition up here as well, 15, 16 percent of the population. So most of the population, you get to about 90 percent if you do Clark County and Washoe County.

But you still want to compete in other places. I want to go back in time just to show you, to point out what I mean here. This is 2016, Hillary Clinton gets nearly 53 percent of the delegates, Bernie Sanders 47 percent. You see Hillary Clinton does very well down here, Clark County, winning by 10 points there.

But if you come up here in the more rural area, come up here to Elko County, Bernie Sanders is winning. Remember, it's not as big, it's only 22 percent of the state population. But there are precincts here. There are delegates to be had here. So the main competition is to go where the people are, which is here and here.

But you'll see a competition around in the rural areas, too, to see if candidates can pick up a precinct here, pick up a precinct there, and add to their delegate count. An example of that is if you go back to 2008, you see Hillary Clinton wins, right. She won at a precinct level, more people turned out for her, but Barack Obama actually came away with as many delegates, even a couple more, because he competed in the rural areas here.

Here is the other thing, Wolf, as we come back to 2020. This is going to look very different. We will see from our entrance polls the composition of the electorate, but remember, number one, the competition especially in Reno and Vegas for union households.

About three in 10 voters in the last Democratic caucuses were union voters. It's been a fierce competition there, the big controversy over health care, will Bernie Sanders Medicare for all take away union health care benefits? Will the rank and file follow their leadership which says don't vote for Bernie Sanders? A huge test for the union vote in Nevada.

And more importantly, this is the first very diverse electorate. Iowa and New Hampshire essentially 90 percent white or more. Look at this. About 20 percent of the voters we expect today will be Latino, possibly higher, 13 percent African-Americans. The Asian population, not to be underestimated in Nevada as well, a much more diverse electorate that the candidates are competing for. Joe Biden has said this is the real Democratic Party. For him and all of the other candidates, this is their first test of how broad of a coalition how many people will turn out.

BLITZER: Very different demographics than Iowa and New Hampshire.

KING: Incredibly different. And we'll look at the age turnout. Again, I'm fascinated by the Latino union voters in Nevada. Do they listen to their leadership which say don't vote for Bernie Sanders, or do they have an affinity for Bernie Sanders? If you go back in time, I just want to make one point about this as we watch this play out today. This is one of the places where you see, a lot of people look at Sanders, they think of him as these politicians who runs around and does these big rallies. He lost here. He lost in part because Hillary Clinton was so strong among Latino voters back in 2016.

[14:15:01] This is a test that he has worked hard, does not get enough credit, really, for going back and retracing the steps of 2016, where did I underperform, which constituencies do I need to spend more time with, Latinos and African-Americans. He's made a lot of progress among them, he thinks he has, anyway, since 2016. Today is the first test.

BLITZER: Stand by for a moment. I want to go to Ed Lavandera. He's joining us from east Las Vegas. Ed, very interesting, we're talking about Nevada, we're talking about Las Vegas. They have a unique way of breaking a potential tie, don't they?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They do, Wolf. We're here in the East Las Vegas Community Center, and this is where voters are getting ready to cast their ballots in about 45 minutes. Each of the precinct captains, and there are 10 in this particular center, will be given an iPad, and completely Nevada, Las Vegas style, they will be given an unopened deck of cards, and that will be used to break tiebreakers between candidates at any of the levels. I am joined here by Christina (ph) Lopez (ph) who is the site supervisor for the Democratic Party at this location. Walk us through what happens with that deck of cards, and why is it significant?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, so the deck of cards, in great silver state fashion, we break a tie by pulling a card. So when we are determining how many delegates are allocated to the winning candidates in each precinct, in the event that there is a tie, the two groups, they will choose a person to pick a card. Whoever gets the highest card wins the delegate. And the card, aces are high.

LAVANDERA: Aces are high. That's the most Vegas thing ever, that's really important to remember. And Wolf, there are actually rules for how all of this will be treated. It is an unopened deck of card, and whoever shuffles the card must shuffle them at least seven times to make sure that they are properly distributed, and then, as you mentioned, they will pick the card. And remember, ace is high today in Las Vegas. Wolf?

BLITZER: It certainly is a unique way of dealing with a potential tie. Only in Las Vegas. Thanks very much, Ed. We'll get back to you.

Once again, we are getting closer and closer to the start of the Nevada caucuses and the real time results from key caucus sites. We hope to have our first entrance poll information at any moment. Stay with us. We'll take a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: We're counting down to the top of the hour when the Nevada caucuses get under way. Right now I want to go to Las Vegas. Miguel Marquez is on the scene for us with a special guest. Miguel?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here with Pete Buttigieg, the mayor who is running, and he is meeting some very special caucus- goers, the kids who are here, actually girl scouts who are selling cookies here. And he's been meeting here with some of the volunteers who are working with the caucus here, trying to get a sense of how things are going. He has said he is hopeful for today, expecting a good turnout, and to build on the momentum that he has coming out of Iowa and New Hampshire. Mr. Mayor, Mr. Mayor, how are you feeling today?

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It feels great. We're really encouraged, fantastic energy, and what we've seen both in terms of the early vote and now on the day off, it's an opportunity to really broaden our coalition.

MARQUEZ: You did very well in Iowa, the caucus there. Do you expect the same here?

BUTTIGIEG: We think we're going to have a great day here. But of course, we'll know for sure very soon. I've got a transaction here.

MARQUEZ: Him showing up here has certainly created quite a scene for all of the caucus-goers here, Wolf, people trying to say hello, get a picture with the mayor, and just have a great caucus day. So far, the attendance here among caucus-goers is pretty light as so many turned out for early voting. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Miguel, thanks very much. Miguel is in Las Vegas.

Lucy Kafanov is also in Las Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel. What are you seeing, Lucy, over there?

KAFANOV: Wolf, this is an unusual caucus site. The Bellagio is one of seven caucus sites on the strip that are specifically aimed at getting shift workers to come and participate. So these are gas station attendants, union worker, nonunion workers, restaurant employers, people who are working within a 2.5 mile radius of the Las Vegas strip. They are not able to go home to their home precincts, but they've been given the opportunity to take time during their lunch break or whatever free opportunity they have to come here and cast their ballots.

This is the check-in area. And I want to bring in one of the caucus- goers, Pedro Armando (ph). You work at a VIP lounge, you said.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

KAFANOV: I can see who you're caucusing for.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Bernie, yes.

KAFANOV: Mr. Bernie. When did you make that decision?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've always been a Democrat, and I like the way he's thinking about our people. And actually, I had to -- I got kids that I want to go to school. And so I know, my position, I got, I can say I make good money, but other people they don't make no money, it's hard to send our kids to a school or a university. What Mr. Bernie is talking about, I think everybody has to look at.

KAFANOV: Thank you so much, Pedro. It sounds like education is a big issue for you. Wolf, I want to give you a show and tell around the room. This is the

area where the caucus-goer, I'm going to get around the camera here, are checking in. So they come in here, they fill out their candidate preferences, they show their I.D. They also have to sign a pledge explaining that they are not able to vote in their home precincts, that's why they're coming here to the Bellagio, to the site.

Leon, if I can get you to walk with me, perhaps. After they check in, they get into another room. That is where the actual caucusing is going to be taking place. The first process here is going to be an introduction. They will be introducing the candidate, explaining how it works.

[14:25:00]

Then the different groups will break up based on the candidates, and that's when the really interesting part will begin, when you will see different supporters trying to woo voters over to their side. They will be counted, and then we are going to have the realignment, the second round of voting, based on who actually got enough votes, enough supporters to be viable.

So that is what we're waiting to begin here. It's going be in less than an hour. Again, this is one of seven sites on the strip where shift workers, ordinary workers who are not able to go home to take time from work and vote in their home precinct are able to participate in this Democratic process. Wolf?

BLITZER: Good that they have a chance to do so. Lucy, we'll get back to you. She's in Las Vegas at the Bellagio Hotel.

Once again, we are nearing the start of the Nevada caucuses. The doors close at voting sites very soon. We're awaiting the first results from our entrance poll of voters. That could be a tipoff as to how the day turns out. Much more right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:02]

BLITZER: Looking at some live pictures from the Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas, at the caucus site. They're getting ready in less than a half an hour from now, the caucuses throughout Nevada begin. We're watching all of this very closely. We hope you have some entrance poll results fairly soon as well.

In the meantime, let's go over to Brianna. Brianna is standing by. She's got a look ahead, what we can expect tonight.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, Wolf. And I'm here now with my esteemed group of experts and journalists to talk about what we're looking for. So let's really start with the big picture here. Chris Cillizza, to you first. What are you watching for?

CHRIS CILLIZZA, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: I think the big picture in the race is relatively simple. There's Bernie Sanders and there's, at this point, everybody else. So the fight is to be the not-Bernie-Sanders, maybe there's a few, but to be the not-Bernie-Sanders candidate here. I think that, given his strength four years ago, he lost, but came quite close against Hillary Clinton, given the relatively limited polling, he should be considered the favorite here.

If he does win, that will be two of the first three that he has won as well as effectively what looks like a tie in Iowa, he won the popular vote, lost the delegates by a small amount. So I would look for, obviously first counts the most, but I would look at second and third, too, and see who that is. Bakari and I have gone back and forth many times on this. If it is Joe Biden --

KEILAR: And Chris, if you can pause for just a moment, I want to go to David Chalian. He actually has our first entrance polls. Take us through this, David.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: That's right, Brianna. Just to remind everyone, the way we get this information is we are talking to voters as they are arriving at the caucus sites. These are very early numbers and I guarantee you they are going to change throughout the afternoon and evening as we get more information into the entrance polls. So these numbers will not remain consistent all night long, but they are a first little glimpse into the makeup of the electorate, who is showing up among these Nevada Democrats today.

Take a look by race. We've been saying that this is a new diverse state compared to Iowa and New Hampshire, overwhelmingly white. You see here, 66 percent in these early numbers are white, 10 percent African-American, 17 percent Hispanic. I will note, four years ago, that 66 percent was actually 59 percent white. Again, I think we're going to see these numbers change throughout the evening.

Also, it's a labor state, so we have seen and we ask, are you a member of a labor household? About a quarter of the electorate today, 24 percent, are indeed members of a union household, 76 percent are not. So it is a different kind of electorate than we saw in Iowa and New Hampshire, already just off the bat. But again, we're going to watch these numbers update all night long. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, David, thank you so much.

And this just really speaks to the diversity that we are seeing today. This is different than we saw in 2016. Obviously, Nevada is a very diverse state compared especially to the earlier contests, but this is why this is going to be so different.

JACKIE KUCINICH, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, "THE DAILY BEAST": Well, as Chris mentioned, Joe Biden. Joe Biden is counting on this being different, counting on these diverse states to try to boost his momentum, have any momentum whatsoever, and really legitimize his candidacy, his continuing on at this point. He said he is going to come in first or second over and over again, both right after New Hampshire and all over, all over Nevada. So the biggest stakes right now are for Joe Biden. You need money to run, and the donors dry up if you don't show you can put points on the board.

KEILAR: So when you're looking at those number, Mark, what strikes you?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I'm not necessarily so surprised by those numbers, because as Chris did some quick math, it looks relatively the same.

CILLIZZA: It's marginally more white, 66 percent white this time, 57 percent. But again, these are, to David's point, very early. This is not the final number.

PRESTON: I do think this, though. I think whatever happens today is, let's see where these candidates are going to be tomorrow, the next day, and for the next week. I do think that Joe Biden's, I don't want use the word collapse, but his fall caused some candidates to change how they were going to campaign.

For instance, I don't think Bernie Sanders was going to go all in in South Carolina until he saw that Joe Biden was slipping. Now, we see Bernie Sanders going pretty hard in there. At the same time, he's doing very well out in California in the public polls.

So let's see where Klobuchar goes. Let's see who goes to Arkansas, who goes to Colorado, who goes to North Carolina, who goes to Oklahoma, who goes to Tennessee, now, to see, because you're going to have to get those delegates to survive beyond Super Tuesday.

KEILAR: Mark said that there. He doesn't want to say the collapse of Joe Biden, but clearly, he has faltered. So when you're looking at Nevada and what is ahead of us here, we're going to start to see the action here from the Nevada caucuses in just about 25 minutes, what does this mean for Joe Biden? What are the stakes?

[10:35:00]

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think the stakes couldn't be higher. And I will underscore that the importance of Nevada really focuses on the importance of people of color for Joe Biden's coalition. And even in those early numbers, that's a lot wider than I think what will end up happening, because let's remember, the early vote happened and those were record numbers.

And in fact, the majority of voters in Nevada are nonwhite. You have 28 percent Latino, 18 percent black, 11 percent Asian. And so you put that together, that is the coalition that Joe Biden is counting on.

KEILAR: Joe Biden here, actually, these are live pictures coming to us as he's greeting caucus-goers at Cheyenne High School in Las Vegas. Sorry, Maria, continue.

CARDONA: No. So that has got to come through for him if he is going to live to fight another day. Obviously the next big one is South Carolina, which I know he is also banking on a big win there. Today, I think, for him, a big win would be coming in second, and then the thing to look at is, what is that margin?

KEILAR: Is it a problem when you're banking on a big win of coming in second at this point in time, Paul? PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, when you're the two-term

vice president of a beloved Democratic president, you finish fourth in the first contest, fifth in the second. There's a technical political consulting term for that. It's is called "sucking."

(LAUGHTER)

BEGALA: He's got to climb up in the top two here. I don't have a favorite in this race, so I can be completely candid. He's got to get in the top tier. But Bernie is the frontrunner, but he's a very weak frontrunner. He's tied in Iowa, essentially tied in New Hampshire, to Pete Buttigieg, who five minutes ago was the mayor of a football stadium. Really? The field is really weak. And it is not because they're bad candidates. It's because the Democrats don't know what we want. We're changing all the time.

And so we need some clarity. Maybe Nevada will give it us to. I do think, if Bernie doesn't have a commanding win here, then he's in a lot of trouble, because he was underperforming his polling numbers both in Iowa and New Hampshire. He has got to win this clearly.

KEILAR: Just big picture, what are you keeping your eye on tonight?

BAKARI SELLERS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Well, as everyone said, echoed to my left, that this is the first time that a diverse group of voters get an opportunity to weigh in on the Democratic field. And with all due respect to everyone who wants to write the obituary for Joe Biden, I think that is a little premature when black people haven't voted yet and Hispanic voters haven't voted yet. And you'll be able to see that. There are some things to look at tonight.

KEILAR: Pardon me, Bakari, let's go back to David Chalian.

SELLERS: Come on, David.

KEILAR: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

CHALIAN: Brianna, some more entrance poll results. Remember, an early look at the early people who are showing up at these caucus sites. These numbers are going to change as we get more and more interviews in throughout the night. But we do get some clues.

So the electability question that we have been asking all season long, are you looking for someone who agrees with you on the issues or a Trump defeater? And 63 percent are looking for somebody who can defeat Donald Trump, 36 percent looking for someone who they agree with on the issues. That's the primary character trait they're looking for.

How about the number one issue? Same as we saw in Iowa and New Hampshire, it's healthcare, folks, 44 percent of the Nevada Democrats showing up right now tell us health care was their top issue. That's followed by 26 percent saying climate change, 17 percent income inequality, nine percent, not a foreign policy election clearly this time around. And on that health care issue, we asked again, do you support a government plan that gets rid of private insurance. Look at this, 62 percent of the votes showing up at these caucuses in Nevada say they support the Medicare for all plan. That is even a tick higher than we saw in Iowa and New Hampshire, which was just below 60 percent. That Medicare for all plan has been popular with Democrats voting in the early states, Brianna.

KEILAR: David, thank you so much.

And Bakari, that is very interesting, when it comes to health care, because we've seen this kind of pass on endorsing Bernie Sanders from the very powerful culinary union because all of their members -- not all, I shouldn't say all, but a lot of them in the position of union is they want to keep this very good health insurance. But look at this, almost two to one, almost two to one, people who say they are looking, they would be open to a government plan that does away with private insurance.

SELLERS: That also doesn't say they want to get rid of their own insurance, which I think is also extremely key here. But Bernie Sanders is going to be extremely strong today, and I think that the reason that he is going to be strong because over the past four to six years that Bernie Sanders has been running for president of the United States, he has actually begun to cultivate relationships in the Hispanic community. That ground work is actually going to pay off today in Nevada, and so that's the first thing that we have to look at.

The second thing is, and going back to the Joe Biden obituaries that my friends up here are writing.

(LAUGHTER)

SELLERS: What's happening is, if Joe Biden is able to have a strong second place finish here, and I know that Bernie Sanders wants to get to Super Tuesday as quickly as possible, but South Carolina, if Joe Biden is able to pick up that momentum, then you're going to have a diverse electorate -- I know we're focused on California and Texas on Super Tuesday, but there are a lot of richly African-American states.

[14:40:03]

CILLIZZA: Just two things. On Bakari's point, Bernie Sanders beat Hillary Clinton among Latinos in 2016 in Nevada 53-45. Now he lost 53- 47, but worth noting.

The other thing is, I think it is fascinating we went to Ryan Nobles earlier with the Sanders campaign, not to Charleston, South Carolina, or Columbia, South Carolina, but in San Antonio, Texas, to Mark's point earlier of where you go next. I do think he will compete, he's not going to not go to South Carolina, but you do have to pick and choose here.

KEILAR: It's a very interesting point. We are just minutes now away from the next big test of the Democratic presidential candidates. Caucus sites are filling up right now across Nevada, and we'll have the first real time results soon, so stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:13]

BLITZER: We're only moments away from the start of the Nevada Democratic presidential caucuses, certainly lots at stake. David Chalian, the Democrats of Nevada, they're under enormous pressure this time to get it right after what happened in Iowa.

CHALIAN: That is absolutely right, Wolf. And they didn't have a lot of time to start adjusting after that Iowa debacle. So we asked voters today as they showed up at these caucus sites, do you have confidence that the caucus vote is going to be counted correctly? Overwhelmingly 82 percent of the Democratic caucus-goers say yes, they do have confidence in the system. There are only 16 percent tell us they do not.

And I want to show you this other statistic. Again, these numbers will change throughout the afternoon, but first-time caucus-goers are making up 51 percent of the electorate today. I just want to note, Wolf, that four years ago, 62 percent of the electorate was a first- time caucus-goer, so that number is down from what we saw four years ago, not quite expanding the universe as big as four years ago into the new caucus-goer territory, but clearly, half of the electorate, which is about what we heard in the early vote totals as well, showing up today, they are new to this process.

BLITZER: David, stand by. I want to go over to Dana right now. There is a key difference, as David just mentioned, between Iowa and Nevada. They're both caucus states, but there's a very, very significant difference.

BASH: That's right, and that is early voting. Tens of thousands of Nevadans have already gone and taken part in the caucuses through early voting. Turnout, as David just mentioned, is exceeding expectations. And look at this. Nearly 75,000 ballots have been cast already in a four-day period as part of early voting, and that comes really close, just by way of context, to the total turnout in 2016, which was 84,000.

And this is one of the things that David was just talking about, which is new caucus voters. Maybe right now with the entrance polling, it's half say that they are new. Same goes for early voting, 50 percent of first-time caucus voters in early voting.

BLITZER: It is interesting, Dana, because the early voting, it was relatively simple, compared to what we saw for example in Iowa. Early voting is significant. Tell us how that worked.

BASH: Well, it is different, obviously, than traditional early voting. We are going to look at a sample ballot for how early voting works in Nevada. Nevada Democrats were asked to rank their top choices for the nomination, first, second, third choices. They're required for early voting. Fourth and fifth, those choices are optional. And the early vote, this is important, the early vote counts the same way as if you're showing up in person today.

So let's just give you an example. Let's just say that your first choice is Pete Buttigieg. Your vote in the first round would go to Pete Buttigieg. But if he didn't make the threshold for viability, and viability means that he is at least 15 percent of the vote, caucus officials would look at this early vote ballot and say, OK, who is your second choice. Let's just say by way of example, that would be Amy Klobuchar. So they would take that into consideration, calculate that into the final round, unless she's not viable. Then caucus officials would count third, fourth, even fifth choices.

And this is another really important thing to remember, Wolf, and that is early voters, their choices are calculating during the live caucuses. So we're going to see the live caucuses, and then real time, they're going to take these ballots, the results of these ballots as the round goes forward, and incorporate them into the total number.

BLITZER: So impressive that 75,000 people already participated in the early voting in Nevada.

BASH: It really is.

BLITZER: I want to go back to the Bellagio Hotel. Lucy Kafanov is on the scene for us over there. I assume it is getting a little bit more crowded, Lucy.

KAFANOV: Wolf, that's right. It is getting crowded. The press is actually being asked to leave this area so that caucus can get under way. And I want to talk to two Bellagio workers here. We have Teresa and Albert.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Elizabeth Warren.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden.

KAFANOV: How do you think your respective candidates will do?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm hoping Elizabeth comes in at least second. I know Sanders has a strong ground game, so I don't know.

KAFANOV: And how do you know about Joe?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I think we are really need him to come in first or second just to get ready for South Carolina, because that's where Joe Biden really needs to deliver.

KAFANOV: And is this your first time participating in the strip caucus?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Very exciting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Mine too. Yes, it's fun.

KAFANOV: Thank you very much, guys. Thank you.

So Wolf, you see a lot of excited workers. I want to get out of the camera's way here. They are participating in the strip caucus. That is different than some of other locations you've been going to. These are shift worker, there's no early voting here. It's about to get under way, Wolf.

[14:50:03]

BLITZER: We will watch it every step of the way. Lucy, thank you.

Once again, the Nevada caucuses, they are about to begin. We are going to bring the first results as we cover the voting at key caucus sites. All that live. Stand by for more of our special coverage right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:55:12]

BLITZER: These are live pictures from the caucus site in Las Vegas, Nevada. The third presidential contest of 2020 is about to get under way. Just minutes from now, Nevada Democrats will declare their top choices to challenge President Trump. We have cameras, we have reporters inside multiple locations to cover the voting and the results, all live. It's Nevada's turn to make an impact on this very unsettled race.

Let's go back to David Chalian right now. He has got more entrance poll information. David?

CHALIAN: Wolf, that's right. We're looking at two critical demographic groups as we look at the makeup of the electorate in these Nevada Democratic caucuses. According to our entrance poll, take a look at how the age breakdown falls for today's caucus-goers -- 17 to 29-year- olds, they made up 18 percent of the electorate, add in the 30 to 44- year-old, you've got about 38 percent combined under the age of 45. And 35 percent, 45 to 64, and 27 percent of caucus-goers today are senior citizens.

I will note this is what it looked like four years ago. We don't see an explosion of senior vote. We don't see an explosion of youth vote. This is about how it looked four years ago.

Let's look at ideology, another driving force in this Democratic nomination race -- 30 percent call themselves very liberal, 35 percent say they're somewhat liberal, about a third, 32 percent, call themselves moderate, and only three percent, as you might expect in a Democratic caucus, call themselves conservatives, again, a similar ideological makeup that we saw in Nevada four years ago. So the electorate doesn't look yet to have drastically changed in some way. But you know the moderates have a lot of folks competing in their lane, while Bernie Sanders has been in that very liberal lane largely alone in this contest thus far.

BLITZER: Very important point. David, thank you very much. We're only about three minutes away from the start of these caucuses in Nevada. Let's check back with Dana. Dana?

BASH: Thanks, Wolf.

And as we get ready for those caucuses to begin, let's check in with our correspondents inside key caucus sites. First we will go to Evan McMorris, he is in Sparks, Nevada. Evan?

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Hey, Dana, how you are? Yes, I am in Sparks, Nevada, which is right outside of Reno. And if this is a place where the Democratic Party's future is on the line, no one told people here in Sparks. This is one of those areas where there's many precincts in one high school gym. Behind me right here is precinct 6108 where there are 696 registered Democrats that could show up for this caucus. As you can see, that number has not arrived. So when those early votes numbers come in, it will be fascinating to see just how many people actually turned out here in Sparks.

Most of the people that we have talked to here in the multiple precincts around us are for Bernie. Bernie did well, he won Washoe County last time, this is where I am now, and it looks like at this caucus, the early people we have seen show up here, he'll do it again. Let's talk to one of the Bernie supporters. Rick (ph), how are you, nice to see you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doing good.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: I like your beard game, excellent color for the top.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks. I like your shirt.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: So tell me, why do you think that Bernie is the best candidate to beat President Trump in the fall?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Bernie is a very compassionate person. He seems like he is very truthful, and he appears to be a pretty good man. And so I've had the opportunity to see him in person a few times, and I agree with him that if you can help the poor and help bring them up, then it helps bring everybody up.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: But it feels like today, a lot of Democrats are questioning what to do against President Trump. There are some people who are saying we need a billionaire, like Michael Bloomberg, or a moderate like Joe Biden, somebody that like other people, like here in Washoe County that has a lot of Republicans in it might vote for. But they're saying Bernie is definitely not that person. What do you say to that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I disagree. I think if you have enough people who are middle class, lower middle class, come out for Bernie, I think that he can win. And I believed it in 2016 and I still believe it in 2020.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Let me ask you something about this. This is the second state we've come to with caucuses. It is a different kind of process. It is a little weird. As you can see, like today, not a huge amount of people have come out for it. Do you think it is something that Nevada should keep doing? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like it. It was a different vibe for sure. Coming

out, meeting some different people today, it is a lot different than going to the supermarket and putting your vote in. You get to talk to your neighbors. So it's been a nice process. This is my first time, so I am having a good time, and I would do it again.

MCMORRIS-SANTORO: Got it.

And another question that people have for Bernie supporters -- if you have to excuse me, one quick, I have a quick technical issue, and I almost said Nevada instead of Nevada.