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Joe Biden Looks To African-Americans To Win South Carolina; Bernie Sanders Projected To Win Nevada Caucuses; Interview With Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX); Trump Accuses Adam Schiff Of Leaking Intel On Russia To Hurt Sanders; Sanders' Message To Russia: Stay Out Of American Elections; Rival Candidates Attack Sanders After Nevada Caucuses; Dem Candidates Switch Focus To South Carolina Primary; Kobe Bryant Memorial Service To Be Held In Los Angeles Tomorrow; Daredevil "Mad Mike" Dies In Homemade Rocket Launch. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired February 23, 2020 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:16]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Senator Bernie Sanders comes up with another huge victory on the campaign trail. CNN is projecting the Vermont senator to win the Nevada caucuses, pulling in nearly 50 percent of the county delegates confirmed so far. The win cements Sanders' status as the Democratic frontrunner as we enter a critical stretch in this election season.

The South Carolina primary now only six days away. But Sanders is already looking to Super Tuesday coming up on March 3rd. Campaigning today in Texas, his message after the Nevada victory, only he has the momentum to win in November.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now let me say this to my friends in Texas. This state, maybe more than any other state, has the possibility of transforming this country.

(CHEERS)

SANDERS: On television, they say, you know, Texas is a conservative state. It's a red state. I don't believe it for a minute.

(CHEERS)

SANDERS: If the working people and the young people of this state, black, and white and Latino, Native American, Asian American.

(CHEERS)

SANDERS: If our people stand together, come out to vote, we're going to win here in Texas.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Candidates are out in full force on the campaign trail this afternoon, and that includes former vice president Joe Biden, who is in South Carolina.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny just spoke with him.

So, Jeff, South Carolina is a state Biden has repeatedly said he could win. What's his message going into the race now?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, he has said it's a state he hopes he could win. Now it's a state he needs to win. There is no question that the South Carolina primary in six days' time is critical for Joe Biden going forward after a disappointing start to this campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire.

He's hoping that South Carolina can be a turnaround for his candidacy, largely because of the makeup of his electorate here. Some 60 percent of the Democratic primary electorate expected to be African-Americans. So he was -- he really believes that that will change his path.

We caught up with him a short time ago. He said this about his chances here in South Carolina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, finally, South Carolina.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Finally.

ZELENY: This is what you've been waiting for.

BIDEN: Yes.

ZELENY: Is this state still your firewall, sir?

BIDEN: Well, I think it's the state that I'm going to do well in. I think, you know, it has 60 percent of the vote is the African-American vote. They have an opportunity to basically choose who the nominee is, depending what they do. If they do it strongly, I think it's a real -- look, the issues are the issues that are of great concern. Health care that's actually available.

This governor -- the previous governor did not extend Medicaid. Under my proposal, anybody who qualifies for Medicaid be automatically enrolled. We're able to pass it and we're able to get it done quickly.

ZELENY: You told the worshippers here today that they can own this election. Do you think that some candidates are trying to buy this election?

BIDEN: That's not what I meant. What I meant was that they -- by the African-American vote coming out of this state today, they can put a stamp on the Democratic Party that says look, we're entitled to a big piece of the reason we won. We won the presidency. And they are entitled to that. No Democrat should be able to win the presidency without a significant support from the African-American or Latino community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So there's no question there that Joe Biden is trying to make that argument but there is a good belief that it could work here. You know, he is thought of in such a strong way, not only because he was the vice president for eight years to Barack Obama. Of course, that's part of it, but it's also his longstanding connection and commitment to policy.

But, Fredricka, the question here is, even if a win in South Carolina, what does that do to this contest? It's not going to stop Bernie Sanders from being the frontrunner. The question is, what happens at the debate on Tuesday night? That could be one of the most significant moments. Michael Bloomberg not competing here in South Carolina, but certainly is competing in Super Tuesday, which comes three days after the South Carolina primary, when a third of the delegates are going to be picked.

So Joe Biden, of course, looking to revive his candidacy. The question is, you know, how that's going to shake up the race overall. But the South Carolina primary on both sides over the years has held many surprises. So let's watch how it plays out over the next six days and see what happens on Saturday, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Right. Anything can happen. All right, Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much for bringing that to us.

ZELENY: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right, CNN's Athena Jones is in Austin, Texas, where Sanders is holding another event tonight.

Athena, it sounds like Sanders is banking on another big night on Super Tuesday. He's looking ahead.

[16:05:08]

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Well, he certainly is hoping to do well here in Texas and to win here in Texas. You mentioned, of course, South Carolina is what comes next a week from yesterday. But just right after that is March 3rd where there's a huge cache of delegates at stake, 14 states voting. And Texas, along with California, those are the biggest delegate prizes.

And so a sign of the confidence that Sanders has in his campaign is that he came here to Texas yesterday. So when he had his victory speech about that -- after that big night in Nevada, he gave it from a rally in San Antonio, so not far from here. He was also in El Paso yesterday. Today he woke up in Houston and he's going to be ending the day with a rally here in Austin.

And of course this campaign is confident that they have the resources, they have the energetic and enthusiastic supporters. And they have the organization to win. And I think that's one of the things that's most interesting here. A lot of the questions facing all of these candidates has been, can they expand their coalition after, you know, Iowa, New Hampshire, mostly white states? How will they do when the map moves to more diverse states? Will Sanders show what he can do in a state like Nevada, which is 30 percent Latino and has a lot more diversity in those first two states?

Sanders won the Latino vote in Nevada. He did better among black voters. Joe Biden won black voters. But he did five points better there, Sanders did, than he did back in 2016. He also won among almost every segment of the population. He won women and men, he won voters at every education level. He won almost every age group except for voters 65 and up, who Joe Biden won.

So he's showing that he can win liberal voters. He even won somewhat liberal voters and was only a few points behind Joe Biden when it came to moderate voters. So they're hoping to do that same thing here, to put together a multi-generational, multi-racial coalition, bring in working class voters, bring in voters who have felt overlooked in the process. And so organization just like it was in Nevada, it's a really big deal for Sanders' campaign here in Texas.

They've held more than 600 events in every corner of the state and multiple organizing rallies in cities all across the state. So they, too, are here. They're going to be very focused on getting out that Latino vote, getting out the black vote, and getting out the young people and all the folks who have already showed an affinity for Bernie Sanders -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Athena Jones, thank you so much there in Austin, Texas.

All right, joining me right now, one of the Democrats representing Texas in the House, Congressman Marc Veasey.

Congressman, good to see you.

REP. MARC VEASEY (D-TX): Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: OK. So we just a little from Senator Bernie Sanders who's campaigning in your state today, sounding really confident. He sounds like he is ready for Super Tuesday and to perhaps clinch it. Do you see that Texas voters will get behind him?

VEASEY: I think that Texas voters are going to rally very strongly around Joe Biden. I mean, he has visited the state more than any other candidate. He has a track record here. Of course, you know, Obama with Democratic voters here was very popular both back in 2008 and 2012. And I will tell you, is that particularly African-American voters here in the state of Texas, they will not forget that Bernie Sanders threatened to primary President Obama in 2012. Those are the --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: And you think they'll hold it against him?

VEASEY: Absolutely, it will be. Absolutely. People will remember that. And Joe Biden will be remembered for his loyalty to President Obama and the great job that he did as his vice president. There's no question about that.

WHITFIELD: And you have -- and you have endorsed Biden already.

VEASEY: Yes.

WHITFIELD: So you are, you know, backing him. Do you believe that Texas voters will be gauging the South Carolina primary and, you know, and taking note from the outcome there before they head to the polls?

VEASEY: I think that when you look at South Carolina, for instance, you're talking about 60-plus percent black primary voters in that state. That's going to make up the electorate in the Democratic primary. I think that that is going to be a more true indication of what we're going to see ahead and of course Super Tuesday where the black vote is going to make up an even larger percentage.

And so I think that, you know, congratulations to everybody that ran well in the first three contests, two of them were caucuses. But now we're going to have real primaries that are going to be starting here, and Joe Biden is going to do very well. Everything that I'm hearing on the ground here in Ft. Worth, in Dallas and around the state shows that people want someone with experience, someone that can actually beat Donald Trump, and someone that will stop Trump from being able to have a 7-2 majority on the Supreme Court.

People know that this is serious, again particularly people in the African-American community, and they're going to give Joe Biden support and Super Tuesday is going to be a completely different story.

WHITFIELD: And speaking to that electability, you know, Joe Biden is often touted that that is to his advantage, a new poll out today has him with a two-point lead over President Trump if they were to match up in November.

[16:10:03]

Is that number strong enough to you to make the case that Biden is the best option for Democrats?

VEASEY: Yes, it absolutely is strong enough. Of course, you know, one of the concerns that we have here also are the gains that we've made. We picked up two congressional seats in some pretty tough territory in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and in Houston. We want to be able to not only hold on to those seats but grow that majority and we think that Joe Biden has consistently been polling ahead of President Trump in all of these pollings. And that is what's going to help us continue to maintain this majority.

A lot of the unknowns about Democratic socialism and who Bernie backed in the past and all these types of things is not the direction that we need to go.

WHITFIELD: So can I --

VEASEY: Again, we need someone that has a proven track record and I think that again with the polls that you just cited with Biden being consistently up against Trump we actually think that Biden can actually win Texas if he's the nominee. And I know a lot of Republicans -- the "Star Telegram," which is the major paper here in Ft. Worth, they have an article that they ran recently talking about how a lot of Republicans around here, that they would vote for Biden if given that option.

But they would absolutely not vote for Bernie. And that's the type of thing that has to be taken into consideration going into Super Tuesday.

WHITFIELD: So can I ask you a what if, because you've got to have a plan B, right? And a plan C. So if it were Sanders who were to win the nomination, would you throw your support behind Senator Sanders?

VEASEY: Look, I'm always going to support the Democratic nominee, whomever that may happen to be. But in my opinion, that is going to be Joe Biden. I'm not even, you know, thinking about other scenarios or other situations that may come up.

WHITFIELD: Not entertaining a plan C?

VEASEY: I'm going to -- I'm going to throw my support behind Joe Biden and he is going to be victorious on March 3rd and I hope that that gets the coverage that it deserves on all of the networks, quite frankly.

WHITFIELD: Something tells me whatever the outcome is, it will be getting the coverage for sure.

All right, Congressman Marc Veasey, thank you so much, from Texas. Appreciate it.

VEASEY: Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Next up, South Carolina. Can Bernie Sanders win over black voters ahead of the state caucuses? South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn, also known as the king maker, explains Sanders' chances next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:16:29]

WHITFIELD: All right, Senator Bernie Sanders is coming off a big caucus win in Nevada. And now he's turning his attention to South Carolina, the next state to hold its primary. I spoke to House Majority Whip, South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn earlier today about Sanders' rise within his party and how that could play out in his state next weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. JAMES CLYBURN (D-SC): He has demonstrated that he can generate a lot of enthusiasm among young people, he can energize a crowd. He does that very well. And I think that is bringing a lot to the table. But I also said he brings a few other things that we have to be concerned about here in South Carolina especially throughout this region.

WHITFIELD: Like what?

CLYBURN: On Super Tuesday, people are concerned about this whole self- proclaimed Democratic socialist. Socialism since I was a student in grade school was something that engendered a kind of vociferous reaction among people of a negative nature, and socialism is always kind of interesting. We have Social Security, we've got Medicare, we've got Medicaid, but we do it in such a way that we did most those things from socialism as an economy.

And people are very concerned about that. And we are trying to rebuild our party in South Carolina. We are trying to elect more people to Congress. There are only two of the seven members from South Carolina that are Democrats and we have a candidate, Jimmy Harrison, running for the United States Senate. He is of great interest to us. And we think we have an opportunity to pull off a great win in South Carolina with Jimmy Harrison. And so we are concerned about having a ticket from top to bottom that we can really be successful with.

WHITFIELD: Because you said just this morning on ABC, you said, you know, for South Carolina voters, you know, the words Democratic socialists have always had dire consequences, and you're also talking big picture.

CLYBURN: Right.

WHITFIELD: You're worried that the Democratic socialist label that Bernie Sanders embraces might cost you seats in Congress?

CLYBURN: Yes, I am worried about that, you know. We just got back -- I've been in Congress 28 years and for 22 of those years, I've been in the minority. And there's some things that we need to do. We've got to make this great country, all of its greatness, accessible and affordable for all of its citizens. And to do that, Democrats need to be in charge in the House.

We've just passed over 400 bills that are sitting over in the Senate and we need somebody over in the Senate that would bring those bills to the floor. So the way to do that is to maintain our majority in the House, regain the majority in the Senate, and put somebody in the White House who will sign these bills once we passed them in these two bodies. That's what my number one goal is.

I got to Charleston around 1:30 yesterday afternoon, stopped off at my favorite eating -- one of my favorite eating places here in Charleston, Breakfast Kitchen. And from the moment I got there, people were coming up to me, asking, are you going to endorse, who are you going to -- let us know who you think is best for us to vote for.

[16:20:10]

So I came to the conclusion that I need to say to people immediately after this debate on Tuesday night who I think is the best choice. So at some time around 9:30 and 10:00 on Wednesday morning, I'm going to reveal exactly who I think is best, and why I think that person is best. And I hope that there would a majority of South Carolinians agreeing with me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: South Carolina Congressman Jim Clyburn there.

All right, still ahead. President Trump accusing Democrats of using Russia to thwart Bernie Sanders campaign. This as the administration downplays an intel report suggesting Russia prefers President Trump to win reelection.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:25:22]

WHITFIELD: Right now, President Trump is en route to India aboard Air Force One with the first lady. He will be making a brief 36-hour visit to India to meet with Prime Minister Modi, tour the Taj Mahal and attend a rally before departing.

The president stirred up more confusion over reports from his own intelligence community that Russians plan to interfere in the 2020 election to help his campaign as well as that of Bernie Sanders. Today, Trump claimed he had not been briefed on the matter but still accuse Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of leaking the information as a way to hurt Bernie Sanders.

The president's National Security adviser also cast doubt on reports that Russia wants to help Trump's re-election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I read where Russia's helping Bernie Sanders. Nobody said that to me at all. Nobody briefed me about that at all. I think what it could be is, you know, the Democrats are treating Bernie Sanders very unfairly, and it sounds to me like a leak from Adam Schiff because they don't want Bernie Sanders to represent him.

ROBERT O'BRIEN, NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: Well, there's no briefing that I've received, that the president has received, that says that President Putin is doing anything to try and influence the elections in favor of President Trump. We just haven't seen that intelligence. If it's out there, I haven't seen it. I would be surprised if I haven't seen it. The leaders of the IC have not seen it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Matthew Rosenberg is an investigative correspondent for "The New York Times" a CNN national security analyst.

And Matt, good to see you. So what do you make of these contradictory statements that reports are, you know, intel did brief these lawmakers that they're interfering in the elections but then you have the, you know, interim NSA saying, I don't know anything about that?

MATTHEW ROSENBERG, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Look, it's incredibly confusing. You know, we know that briefing took place. We know that a number of intel officials do believe the Russians are trying to interfere. I know because we've spoken to them. You know, me and two of my "New York Times" colleagues had a story over a month ago, a very lengthy story, about what the U.S. sees and what the intelligence is on Russian trolls and hackers and what they may be trying to do this coming year.

Now, is that intelligence worked its way up to the White House? It's a big question. You know, throughout the Trump presidency we've consistently been told that the president doesn't want to hear it. That when it comes to Russian interference --

WHITFIELD: Because it threatens the legitimacy of his --

ROSENBERG: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- election?

ROSENBERG: Yes, it -- when it comes to Russian interference, he doesn't want to hear it. When it comes to coming up with strategies to stop foreign interference, he doesn't want to hear it. There's no leadership from the White House on this. Is that what we're seeing here? Possibly. I don't know.

WHITFIELD: All right. So we've been getting, you know, new information from National Security officials telling CNN that the intel shows that Russia does prefer Trump but it's not clear the Russians are trying to help him get re-elected. I mean, what would be the real difference there?

ROSENBERG: You know, this is -- it's hard to say. We're in February in an election year. We're quite a ways out. You know, I think in 2016 at this point we had seen nothing from the Russians. You know, knowing that there is a preference out there is a way to kind of predict, what might they do? Are they going to try to hack some material and then disseminate it like they did with the Podesta e-mails?

Will there be simply, you know, taking American political discourse and the disinformation that comes up domestically and amplifying that through their own trolls, through their own bot networks? Will they be trying to tip the scales in favor of a candidate that they think might be a better challenger to Trump?

You know, there are a whole range of options here. And we've seen kind of little bits of evidence and a few of them, but I think it's still -- I think, you know, it's still coming together and there's still some uncertainty and obviously, you know, attempt to try to figure out what is going on here.

WHITFIELD: Yes. With general election nine months away, is there a feeling that the U.S. is ready for the variation of degrees of interference that could come or that threaten to come?

ROSENBERG: It depends on who you talk to. You know, there will be plenty of officials who say yes, we're working on it. We're ready for it. I think we can see it right now, every day on the news, when we go online, that there is a tremendous amount of disinformation, for lack of a better term, both domestically and foreign floating right out there. There's all kinds of crazy ideas.

Are we, as a country, ready for that? Is our political discourse ready for that? It doesn't look like it. Because, you know, some of these ideas get picked up by mainstream politicians and pushed them out there. We've seen the Trump campaign push out messages that are just clearly an alter to the facts. You know, are we going to see more of this? Are we going to see it from both sides? Those are really big questions.

[16:30:00]

WHITFIELD: Yes. I spoke with one of our security analysts yesterday who said, you know, it's contingent upon people, regular folks, voters, everybody, to be a lot more discriminatory about what they read, you know, what they decipher or disseminate and look at the sourcing and that might tell everything about whether something is really true or not.

Matthew Rosenberg, good to see you. Thank you so much.

ROSENBERG: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, Mayor Pete Buttigieg now challenging Bernie Sanders' decisive win in Nevada. Why Buttigieg says a potential Sanders' nomination could alienate most Americans.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: After a third place finish in Nevada, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg is coming out swinging and he's directing his punches at Senator Bernie Sanders. Not only is Buttigieg now questioning the integrity of the Nevada caucuses but he's also asking voters to think about how Sanders will impact down ballot races if the senator becomes the nominee.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

[16:35:00]

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That is a real difference from Senator Sanders' revolution with the tenure of combat and division and polarization leading to a future where whoever wins the day, nothing changes the toxic tone of our politics.

I believe the only way to truly deliver any of the progressive changes that we care about is to be a nominee who actually gives a damn about the effect you are having from the top of the ticket on those critical frontline house and senate democrats that we need to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me right now to discuss, Toluse Olorunnipa, White House reporter for "The Washington Post" and A.B. Stoddard, associate editor and columnist for the "RealClearPolitics." Good to see you both.

A.B., you first. Let me get your reaction to Buttigieg alleging irregularities at the Nevada caucuses following, you know, what happened in Iowa, how much pressure is Nevada under to get it right?

A.B. STODDARD, ASSOCIATE EDITOR & COLUMNIST, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Tremendous pressure. I don't know that his query is going to render a different result, put him up in second place ahead of Joe Biden, and really change his trajectory. But, you know, there's a lot of concern overnight that votes are still being counted and Pete Buttigieg, you know, really, in the re-canvas of Iowa, did have a better showing than originally thought and he's clearly fighting for every point or percentage of.

On to, you know, the way he's talking about Bernie Sanders since yesterday, that actually is a salient point and it's, you know -- this is a -- this is a (INAUDIBLE) --

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE).

STODDARD: -- fire in the Democratic -- yes. Fredricka, the campaign operatives in the Republican Party and the campaign operatives in the Democratic Party share the consensus view that Republicans can take the House back with the Sanders' nomination that Democrats could never get the senate and that Trump would be re-elected by a wide, healthy margin if Sanders is a nominee.

So, this is both parties agreeing on this. And it is absolutely an existential threat to candidates running up and down in the House in those Trump districts. There's no question.

WHITFIELD: And Toluse, what are you hearing about that argument and those concerns?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: Well, if you listen to Sanders camp, he says he's running against not only the Republican establishment but also the Democratic establishment. He's trying to build a revolution and an army of support that's outside of the traditional political standards that we have and it's a tricky approach and it may be risky and it may be difficult for him to actually do.

But he's not concerned that there are Democrats who are saying that these frontline House members are going to have a tough race if he's the leader of the ticket. He's saying that he's going to bring in young people and non-regular voters, irregular voters, to get them to be part of the process and create this revolution that will help bring along Democrats and new and change the party.

He's trying to change not only politics in Washington but also the face of the Democratic Party and that could be a very difficult task. And there are a number of members of congress and other presidential candidates that are starting to speak out and say Bernie Sanders is going to make it harder to actually get a democratic progressive agenda passed, in part, because he has not tried to reach out and build the coalition of a Democratic Party that's built on not only the liberal, left-leaning policies but also some of the moderate policies.

He's pushed for a full Medicare for all, left-leaning democratic socialist version of the Democratic Party and that's something that a number of frontline members are not comfortable with.

WHITFIELD: And A.B., you know, House Majority Whip and South Carolina Democrat James Clyburn, I spoke with him earlier today. He expressed interesting concerns about the whole democratic socialist label and says he doesn't think it sits well with a lot of South Carolinians. So, how much of a potential problem might it be for Sanders in South Carolina?

STODDARD: Well, I think Sanders anticipated that would not be. That would be his weakest showing in the first four early states, which is why he has spent all of his organizing muscle in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, and the "Super Tuesday" states which follow three days later from next Saturday's contest. He does not believe --

WHITFIELD: And today, he's actually campaigning in (INAUDIBLE), Texas today.

STODDARD: Right. He does not believe he's going to show well in South Carolina. But South Carolina is so close to "Super Tuesday" that Sanders is betting that he is going to be fine. There's so much early vote already coming in for him in the "Super Tuesday" states that he can be back and blunt the effects of a bad showing in South Carolina.

But look, Congressman Clyburn is right. This is a very -- the only healthcare plan Republicans have is to run against a nominee who is promoting Medicare for all and the elimination of private healthcare insurance.

They -- this is their weakest liability. This is the number one issue to voters. And Republicans are counting on running against Medicare for all. This is of utmost concern to Democrats who know all of the data surrounding the Democrats electoral strength on this issue and the Republican's weakness like someone like Senator -- I mean Congressman Clyburn. And that's why he's saying that the idea of a socialist running for Medicare for all is deeply, deeply unpopular and can motivate a lot of vote for President Trump.

[16:40:07]

WHITFIELD: And then Toluse, then there is Senator Elizabeth Warren, you know, the other progressive candidate in the race, finishing fourth, however, in Nevada. So, you know, after coming out swinging, you know, in the Nevada debate, can her campaign kind of regain that momentum?

OLORUNNIPA: It's hard to see how that happens based on the map and based on the places where she's struggled; Iowa, New Hampshire, and New Hampshire being a neighboring state to her home state in Massachusetts. It's hard to see any of the states coming up, whether it's South Carolina or some of the big "Super Tuesday" states as places where she can do well. Now, she did have a strong debate. You can expect her to come out swinging in the next debate that's coming up this week in South Carolina to try to gin up some of the energy. And her campaign said that because Nevada had a lot of the early vote before the debate that she was not able to do as well as she may do in the future states where people are voting after her stronger debate performances.

WHITFIELD: And what does it mean that she took a little Trumpian swipe at, you know, Bloomberg on height?

OLORUNNIPA: Yes, she did. She said that, you know, she made a comparison to a big problem but not a tall problem.

WHITFIELD: Yes. You know, we have that sound. Let's listen from her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Because I'm here in Washington, I want to talk specifically for just a minute at the top about a threat that is coming our way and it's a big threat, not a tall one, but a big one, Michael Bloomberg.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. Finish your thought, Toluse. I mean, is that her style?

OLORUNNIPA: It's definitely different from what she's been doing before, deeply focused on policy, focused on political issues, not personal swipes and attacks that are more in line with President Trump. You know, President Trump calls Mayor Bloomberg mini Mike. And it seemed like Elizabeth Warren is sort of taking up that mantle.

It hasn't necessarily worked for other people who have tried to be like President Trump in their politics. But we'll have to see. She has to try something different because she has been behind in a number of these states and she's going to have to shake things up if she's going to be able to catapult herself to the front of the race.

WHITFIELD: All right. Toluse Olorunnipa, A.B. Stoddard, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

OLORUNNIPA: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead. Los Angeles is set to publicly memorialize Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, after they were killed in a helicopter crash. We're live from Los Angeles next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:46:53]

WHITFIELD: Daredevil "Mad" Mike Hughes is dead after he attempted to launch his homemade rocket Saturday.

Hughes was scheduled to launch the rocket for a "Science Channel" series called "Homemade Astronauts". Hughes and his partner had hoped to send the steam-powered rocket 5,000 feet into the air. He eventually wanted to go into near orbit in his quest to prove his theory that the earth is flat.

And NBA legend Kobe Bryant honored at the "NAACP Image Awards" last night nearly a month after he, his daughter, and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash. The special tribute coming as thousands prepare to honor Kobe and his daughter, Gianna, at Staples Center tomorrow.

CNN's Omar Jimenez joining me right now outside the arena in Los Angeles. So, Omar, what is expected?

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. Well, for starters, there is a "Lakers" game going on right now and a lot of Kobe Bryant jerseys in the building including on "Celtics" legend, Bill Russell, which if you follow basketball at all, you know crosses some serious rivalry lines. But this moment and the sentiment transcends all of that.

It's almost been a month to the day since this helicopter crash. And while exact plans for the celebration of life ceremony happening tomorrow have stayed pretty tightly under wraps and this point, we do know there won't be any procession. There won't be a burial, as that happened in a private ceremony earlier this month.

But we do know thousands are expected to attend from here in the L.A. Area and, of course, beyond as well. The proceeds from the limited number of tickets that were available are all going to the "Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation", which of course, comes from the Bryant family.

Now, I was here in the immediate aftermath of this crash outside Staple Center and you almost couldn't walk without almost stepping on some form of memorabilia, sign, flowers, things like that. That's not the case now mainly because the family has asked people to instead show their support through charitable donations like the ones I mentioned before.

Now, as far as officials go, one of the things they are concerned with or one of the things they've looked at, I should say in regards to the ceremony, is logistics. It's part of why they've asked anyone who doesn't have a ticket to not come down to the Staples Center, also just to avoid the area all together, not to mention -- I talked about the "Lakers" game going on now -- they have a hockey game later tonight.

The ceremony happening at 10:00 a.m., local time tomorrow, and then another basketball game after that. So, they're trying to keep things on a very tight ship with the celebration of life serving as that focal point; and in some ways, a sense of closure for what has been a very painful time for so many people.

The significance is unmistakable even though it's just going to happen in a matter of a few hours, the significance going all the way to the date itself, February 24th, 2020 -- 2-24-20; 22 for Gigi Bryant's number, 24, Kobe's number, and 20 the amount of time Vanessa and Kobe had been together. WHIFIELD: Oh my gosh.

JIMENEZ: Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Yes, lots of symbolism there. All right. Thank you so much, Omar Jimenez.

[16:50:02]

Again, the public memorial service for Kobe and Gianna Bryant begins at 1:00 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. Look for CNN's live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: With the South Carolina primaries just six days away, CNN is taking you behind the scenes of pivotal presidential elections of years past in a new series of "Race for the White House".

[16:55:05]

The series looks at iconic campaigns to reveal the high stakes drama of the race to be the President of the United States. Well, this week, it's the 1980 battle between then President Jimmy Carter and California Governor Ronald Reagan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAHERSHALA ALI, ACTOR: President Carter seems to have the nomination in his grasp, or so he thinks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Kennedy won a lot of the primaries at the end, the big states, California. But we were so far behind in delegates. We couldn't catch up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The delegate advantage was almost 2 to 1, Carter over Kennedy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Carter invites Kennedy to the White House expecting a white flag of surrender.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kennedy will have none of this.

SENATOR TEDDY KENNEDY: I welcome the opportunity to tell the president I have every intention of continuing in this campaign as a candidate. OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fact that Senator Kennedy stayed in the race, it pissed us off. It was, and I think, unforgivable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Joining us now, Barbara Perry, Director of Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia's Miller Center. She's also appearing in that series. Good to see you.

So, Democrats -- BARBARA PERRY, DIRECTOR OF PRESIDENTIAL STUDIES, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA MILLER CENTER: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: -- now in 2020, you know, are deeply divided between far- left liberals, moderates, much like it was in 1980. Has the party ever really recovered from that?

PERRY: It did. It did, certainly, with Bill Clinton, who took a page out of Tony Blair's book in Great Britain and developed the so-called third way, which was to find a midpoint between the moderates in the party and the far left of the Democratic Party.

And Bill Clinton, as we know, was elected in 1992, re-elected in 1996, and went out of office in 2001 with a 66% approval rating. So, at least, in the '90s, the party healed its rifts and moved on.

WHITFIELD: That 1980 election was really the first time Americans heard that phrase "Make America Great Again". It was delivered by Ronald Reagan at the Republican National Convention. Did it resonate with people like Trump's "Make America Great Again" is resonating?

PERRY: It did, Fred, and maybe even more so in 1980. But both have two things in common from the 1980 to 2016 and that is people were upset about the economy in both instances and people were concerned about American prestige on the world stage. And so, each of those candidates, Reagan and Trump, used that "Make America Great" theme to get people to their side and were very successful in doing so.

WHITFIELD: The Iranian hostage crisis, you know, that was a critical place during the 1980 election. How did Jimmy Carter, you know, handle it as a president trying to get the hostages home and, you know, to hold on to the White House at the same time?

PERRY: Right, really did everything he could to try to free the hostages. And finally, they were, but only after Reagan had been nominated or -- and elected and inaugurated on January the 20th, 1981. Just a minute or two after the inauguration, the Iranians freed the hostages.

Jimmy Carter gets credit of that. But what he tried to do -- what a lot of presidents do and a foreign policy crisis -- and that is rose garden strategy is to say in the White House and say things are too serious on the world stage. I will not go out and campaign. But that obviously took a toll on Carter in addition to the poor economy.

WHITFIELD: So, the U.S. recently came pretty close to, you know, some pretty potentially nasty, you know, conflict with Iran over the American assassination of a top Iranian general, Qassem Soleimani. Does it seem as though there are any echoes today of what happened between Iran and the U.S. in 1980?

PERRY: Well, it does. And for those of us who remember the hostage crisis in '79 and '80, it sometimes feels like a bad nightmare replaying and I think it could have an impact on this upcoming general election whereby the president -- the incumbent president -- will say he's doing all the right things to really stand up to Iran and the Democrats aren't strong enough. And the Democrats will say that the incumbent took a chance with that assassination of Soleimani for reasons that are still not necessarily completely clear.

WHITIFIELD: All right. Barbara Perry, thank you so much. We'll all be watching this new season of "Race for the White House," premiering tonight, 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific only on CNN.

And thank you so much everyone for joining me today and this weekend. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We have so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM tonight with Alex Marquardt.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Alex Marquardt in today for Ana Cabrera. Thank you so much for joining me. And we're going to start with this white, hot race for the White House.

Voters in Nevada, they have now spoken. And the men and women running for president, most of them are now looking really focusing, zeroing in on that next primary state of South Carolina.