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Massive Crowds Are Filling The Streets Of Hong Kong To Protest A Controversial New Extradition Bill; 2020 Candidates Continued Their Attacks On The Former VP After He Flip Flopped On The Controversial Hyde Amendment; The Man Who Helped Bring Down President Nixon Is Fixing His Sights On President Trump; Catholics In Italy Are Hearing A Different Version Than They Grow Up With Of The Lords Prayer. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired June 09, 2019 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, thanks for joining me, I'm Alex Marquardt, in this afternoon for Fredricka Whitfield. We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world.

We begin with breaking news, massive crowds are filling the streets of Hong Kong to protest a controversial new extradition bill. Some of these protestors, which organizers say, have numbered more than a million people have turned violent as police have been using batons and pepper spray against those same demonstrators.

The U.S. State Department says that it is concerned with the new bill and is closely monitoring the situation.

I want to go straight to our Kristie Lu Stout who is in Hong Kong. Kristie, this is an extradition bill about sending fugitives to mainland China and elsewhere. Why has it infuriated so many people?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Basically because it cuts at the heart of the autonomy of Hong Kong and people believe that this extradition bill, if passed, would be abused. It would be used to extradite critics of Beijing into mainland China.

Here, Alex, it is 2:00 am in the morning here in Hong Kong. At 11:00 pm, official organizers of today's, what their calling it a million man march in the streets of Hong Kong, they declared that march over.

As you can see in the scenes behind me, this is not over yet. There have been scenes of confrontation and minor clashed between protestors and police. About in the last hour or so we saw hardcore elements of the protest movement gathering here at the Hong Kong Legislative Complex building.

According to a Hong Kong police spokesperson, they told CNN that they used metal barricades to attack the police, the police responded with batons as well as with pepper spray.

Since then, we have seen riot police move in, in force, we have seen the fire brocade, we have seen ambulances arrive, as well as additional protestors, mainly younger people, a lot of them wearing masks in anticipation that the police could fire additional pepper spray or even use tear gas, which is something we saw in the 2014 pro- Democracy movement.

More on the extradition bill, a lot of the people out here are against it because they believe it will be abused. It would be used to send critics of Beijing into mainland China, but supporters of it say it will cover illegal loophole and it's desperately needed. Back to you Alex.

MARQUARDT: Kristie, are organizers saying that this has legs, that this will continue. How do they see this unfolding?

LU STOUT: All eyes on what's going to happen on Wednesday, because on Wednesday is when lawmakers here in this building are going to have a second reading of this highly controversial piece of legislation.

Earlier today you talked to marchers taking part in this massive protest movement, many of them believe and hope that their march, which has captured the attention of the world, would be able to somehow convince the lawmakers to table or even scrap the piece of legislation, that's why they're marching. But all eyes on what's going happen in this building when they decide on the bill on Wednesday. Alex?

MARQUARDT: All right, some dramatic hours ahead. Kristie Lu Stout in Hong Kong, our thanks to you and your team.

Now here in the United States they are literally setting the table right now for the biggest political event yet in the 2020 presidential race. The hall of fame dinner in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where 19 of the 23, yes we are at 23 Democratic presidential candidates, 19 of them will speak tonight. The event is about to get underway.

A key contender is missing, the front runner Joe Biden, he former vice president sending his regrets for missing the event. He is attending his granddaughter's graduation.

Now, Biden's absence comes as a brand new poll from CNN and "The Des Moines Register" shows that the former vice president is still in the top slot in that state with 24 percent.

Senators Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, they're in a virtual three-way tie for second place. Senator Kamala Harris comes in fifth, with seven percent, before a sharp drop in the rest of the field.

Now this dinner tonight in Cedar Rapids is where the Democratic candidates can pitch themselves to Iowa's most diehard voters, even though the Iowa caucuses are still eight months away.

CNN's Leyla Santiago is at the event right now. Leyla, how important is this dinner for these Democratic candidates and their momentum?

LEYLA SANTIAGO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, I don't know if you can hear behind me, but there's a lot of enthusiasm and excitement as these candidates walk in. Senator Bernie Sanders actually just walking in right now.

Just a few minutes ago Senator Booker has also walked in, but before they even arrived, their supporters, their campaigns were outside doing what every candidate really needs to do here tonight, which is to stand out.

You know, Delaney's team had a sign spinner out there, Beto O'Rourke's team was giving out tacos, saying thank you Iowa. I saw Booker's team doing the wave out there, so this about generating excitement, standing out and hoping -- hoping that that resonates with the Iowa voters.

They are taking note that this is an important state. Each candidate will have five minutes to make their pitch tonight.

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So yes, while this will be a very engaged audience, because Iowa voters really take this seriously, they'll have to make a pitch in five minutes. In five minutes sell the -- sell the campaign and it's platform to the voters in the very first caucus state.

Will they be able to accomplish that? We'll wait and see. But this is a big moment that will set folks apart, or they're hoping anyway, and see kind of who stands out for these voters who are looking for just that, given that it's such a crowded field, 23 people, Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right, Leyla Santiago at that dinner in Cedar Rapids, thank you.

Now this week 2020 candidates continued their attacks on the former vice president after he flip flopped on the controversial Hyde Amendment, which restricts the use of federal funds for abortion. But, if he's wrong on this divisive issue, why is Biden still leading in the polls, but nationally and in Iowa. That's what my colleague Dana Bash pressed Senator Bernie Sanders on this morning.

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DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: Let's talk to -- talk about the issue of abortion. Joe Biden changed his position this week, opposes the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits using taxpayer dollars for abortion services. You oppose it to and you said this week that you have, quote, "Always voted against the Hyde Amendment."

But, you have actually voted in the past to support large spending bills that include the Hyde Amendment. Is it misleading, Senator, to say that you've never voted for it?

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), VERMONTS: Well look, sometimes you -- in a large bill you have to vote for things you don't like, but I think my record as being literally 100 percent pro-choice is absolutely correct.

Look, if you believer, as I do, that a woman's right to control her own body is a constitutional right, then that must apply to all women including low-income women. That is what I've always believed and that is what I believe right now.

BASH: So, we're talking about the Hyde Amendment, that is not the only issue that you and Joe Biden have had a disagreement about, you disagreed about the war in Iraq, you disagreed about NAFTA, you disagreed about the bank bailout in 2008, he supported it, you opposed it. If you're right on all these issue and Joe Biden is wrong, why is he in the lead?

SANDERS: Well, Dana, that's the poll of today.

BASH: Well, it's not just one poll. I'm not even talking about Iowa, just even national polls, all of them.

SANDERS: Well, Dana, last I heard -- the last I heard, the election was eight months from today, when the first ballots are going to be cast in Iowa.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: So, let's dig into this a little bit more with Lisa Lerer, National Political Reporter for the "New York Times" and a CNN Political Analyst. And Elana Shore, National Political Reporter for the Associated Press. Thank you both for joining me.

Now Lisa, let's start with you. Democrats have ripped into Biden over the past week on this Hyde Amendment flip flop. He's still leading the polls and nationally, as we've just learned, in Iowa as well. Do you think that some of his supporters may fall off for this now previous position or do you think they're still going to support him?

LISA LERER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well look, it's still extremely early. I know that may not feel that way for us who spent so much time immersed in this race already, but we are 9 or 10 months out for the first round of voting, we have not had a Democratic Party debate yet, so I think as you go through the process, you may see some of that support fall of and a lot of it may be name I.D.

I think right now you have an electorate, a Democratic Party electorate that's extremely risk adverse, that they -- that they're main goal, all the surveys show this, is beating President Trump.

So, right now Biden seems too many voters like the safest choice. But, if things like this dust up with the Hyde Amendment start making people think that he is in fact riskier in some way, then I think you will see that support fall off some.

MARQUARDT: Yes, that is one of the main consistent, if not the only consistent things we hear among Democratic voters, is that they repeatedly say that their biggest priority is defeating Donald Trump.

This is now confirmed in this Iowa poll, the CNN and "Des Moines Register" poll, that caucus goers are more focused on defeating Trump than nominating someone, a candidate who shares their views. Sixty- five percent, actually, say that it's more important to nominate someone who can win in 2020. Just 31 percent saying it's more important to nominate someone who shares their political position.

So, Alana, to you, is that this main reason? Is that the big reason for Biden's lead and do you think that will be enough for him to hold in these next eight months before the caucuses?

ELANA SCHOR, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER: Well, it may very well be a solid reason that he continues to be the national and the even Iowa frontrunner. But, I would go back to something Lisa mentioned and that's name I.D. A lot of people know Joe Biden. They're comfortable with Joe Biden. They see him as Barak Obama's wingman during eight years in the White House and that's really reassuring for Democratic voters, beyond the bigger 2020 electability issues.

What I want to know about how Hyde effects Biden's standing is, do voters start questioning what he really believes and where he stands?

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Because he's a man who said previously, you know, I was middle of the road on abortion and clearly that might not be the case anymore.

MARQUARDT: And at this dinner tonight, so many candidates attending, so many candidates trying to break through. Kirsten Gillibrand, Hickenlooper, Swalwell, all of them in single digits if that, if not zero percent in this latest poll. So Lisa, how do you think today's event, even if it's just five minutes at this dinner, how important is it for them to get on that stage and be able to introduce themselves to these Iowa voters?

LISA LERER, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Well, the way to think about the race right now is pretty bifurcated. You have this top tier of candidates. Some people think it's six, some people think it's eight, and those people are jocking for their share of the votes. And then you have the whole rest of them who aren't really registering in any of these polls, and I think you will see in - you know, they do only have five minutes, but you will see in those five minutes an effort by the vast majority of the field that is not showing up in polling to have a breakout moment, the kind of moment that could get them at least up to 1 percent. Their standing in the polls is going to become even more important in the fall because the Democratic National Committee is raising the standards for participation in the debates, so you will see these candidates try to get their name out there.

MARQUARDT: And when you do, I mean, to your point about these caucuses being so far away, when we look at these - this list of candidates who are polling below the 3 percent mark in Iowa, there's some big names - Amy Klobuchar, Beto O'Rourke, Cory Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand as I just mentioned - they're not even registering at the 1 percent polling level. So Elana, 239 till the Iowa caucuses, should those candidates be panicking or should they just keep on cruising along and hoping that they're - and hope that they're going to pick up some momentum?

SCHOR: Well look, if you talk to these campaign's staffs, they like to point to the number in this poll that CNN has just released that shows are you actively considering a candidate. And you know, for Booker, for one, about 4 in 10 voters are actively considering him. So that gives his staff, for example, some confidence that he might be able to build over time because, you know, this is just a snapshot of right now, right, and you could be ready to switch your vote depending on mainly what Cory Booker says tonight.

MARQUARDT: And when you look at these numbers again for Elizabeth, Sanders - Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, they saw their numbers rising. They are all basically tied in third place. Sanders has been busy introducing some of his plans. Mayor Pete has been a little bit more vague on policies. Lisa, what do you make of their rise in this poll?

LERER: Well, I think Elizabeth Warren's rise is certainly notable. She had a little bit of a rocky start to her campaign. She was dealing with those - the whole DNA test issue and her Native American heritage, so the fact that she's getting back up there is notable and is concerning for Bernie Sanders's campaign because they are sort of chief rivals for that liberal wing of the party. I also think that historically organization has mattered a lot in states like Iowa and states like New Hampshire, these early voting states. So it matters not only what the voters are hearing about them but what they are doing behind the scenes to get commitments to nail down their supporters and caucuses and their voters. And we know that in Iowa Elizabeth Warren has built quite an expansive team in this state.

MARQUARDT: All right, Elana Schor, Lisa Lerer, thanks for breaking down those numbers for us. All right, later I will be joined by two of the democratic presidential candidates live from the Hall of Fame Dinner in Iowa at 3:30 p.m., Marianne Williamson, and then an hour later at 4:30 p.m. Eastern, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. You can see them both live right here on CNN.

Now still ahead, the man who helped bring down President Nixon is fixing his sights on President Trump. He is set to testify to Congress tomorrow. Could what he says influence lawmakers into launching an impeachment inquiry?

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MARQUARDT: Members of Congress are set to return to Washington, D.C. tomorrow. One of the first people they'll be hearing from is John Dean. You may remember that name. He's the man who's testimony helped bring down President Richard Nixon some 46 years ago. He's scheduled to appear before the House Judiciary Committee for a hearing called Lessons from the Mueller Report: Presidential Obstruction and Other Crimes. Now, the Committee Chairman, democrat Richard - Jerry Nadler rather says that he hopes that the hearing will focus the public's attention on the substance of Mueller's 448-page report. Already we've seen 59 democrats calling for an impeachment inquiry

into President Trump. Despite those growing calls, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi hasn't waivered from her position that it's too soon to consider impeachment. Rachael Bade is a Congressional Reporter for The Washington Post and Julian Zelizer is a historian and professor at Princeton University. Rachael, Julian, we saw CNN Contributor John Dean, who as we just mentioned was the former White House Counsel to President Nixon. He tweeted this. Quote, "would someone get Trump a dog? He needs a friend so he won't endlessly vent on Twitter. He's uninterested in government and policy. He doesn't read. He doesn't exercise. He has no real friends. A dog might save human kind. Admittedly it's a lot to ask of a dog, but help is needed."

So Rachael, Dean is obviously very critical of the president. How could his testimony tomorrow influence members of Congress's decision on whether to proceed with impeachment?

RACHAEL BADE, CONGGRESSIONAL REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: You know, I'm not sure it's going to have much of an effect. Obviously John Dean is a very high-profile figure. I think the democrats right now are trying to have hearings to try to draw the attention of the nation to the Mueller Report to try to sway public opinion in terms of pushing them to become more favorable towards impeachment.

Here's a problem. John Dean is not a central witness in the Mueller Report. The people that the democrats really want to be bringing in are people like Don McGahn, the former White House Counsel who Trump called and told him you need to get Mueller fired, people who are actually part of this investigation or witnesses. Now, the president is blocking them right now, so democrats are doing this sort of - you know, trying to circumvent the White House by brining in people from another administration who might be able to sort of speak to obstruction of justice and whether that occurred here, but I don't know that this is going to really move public opinion.

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I don't know that it's really going to move members of Congress because frankly John Dean, he wasn't a big part of this, and he wasn't part of it at all.

MARQUARDT: Right, but when we hear Nadler talk about having Dean, you know, essentially read parts of the Mueller Report, that's what many democrats would like to see Mueller do in front of Congress, and for now they can't get him up there. So Julian, when we look at significant testimony like this in the past, how has it influenced impeachment inquiries?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CO-AUTHOR, "FAULT LINES: A HISTORY OF THE U.S. SINCE 1974": Well, it's had an influence, but it's when members of the administration go before the cameras or go before Congress and reveal things that went wrong in an administration. That's why John Dean's testimony mattered back in 1973. He told the public what Nixon had been doing to try to stop the investigation. In this case, it's the wrong timing. We're talking about someone from the Nixon era discussing the Mueller investigation and the Trump presidency, so it's hard to imagine that his long-term perspective while valuable is really going to shake this very rigid, partisan, polarized -

MARQUARDT: Right.

ZELIZER: - view that we've had of what to do next.

MARQUARDT: Right, well the president's rival in 2016, Hillary Clinton, she was asked about the findings of the Mueller Report. Here's what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON: If you take the time to read the Mueller Report, actually read it, which all of us in this auditorium are more than capable of doing, you come to two inescapable conclusions. The first is that Russia conducted a sweeping and systemic interference in our election. The second is that obstruction of justice occurred. Now, you cannot read the report chapter and verse, fact-after-fact without reaching those conclusions.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

MARQUARDT: Julian, she didn't say the I word as Trump calls it, but was she hinting at impeachment?

ZELIZER: Well, it's the situation we are in. Almost every democrats would agree with what Hillary Clinton said, including Speaker Pelosi at many moments, but what do you do next? Do you wait for the election to sort this problem out or do you move forward with impeachment? And unless you say, yes, let's vote on impeachment proceedings, then, you know, you're exactly where you are today and that's where Hillary Clinton leaves things as well.

MARQUARDT: And Rachael, you've been on the Hill hearing from lawmakers on impeachment, and you wrote this recently. "Many feel caught between party leaders fearful that impeachment will spark a political backlash and a growing sense that history will judge harshly those who chose not to act in the face of a norm-smashing president, Many believe - many democrats believe has abused his power and broken the law. More than 50 democrats in Congress are calling for impeachment." So Rachael, where does the conversation go from here?

BADE; Well, democrats are in a pickle now, right, because the public opinion while a majority of democrats do want them to impeach the president, even their party is divided on this, right? There's a bunch of democrats who don't want to do this. Independents by in large don't want them to do this. And of course there are republican voters who voted for democrats in the 2018 midterm election that they want to keep on their side who don't want them to impeach the president, and these are key voters in swing districts that helped them carry the majority and flip the House.

So you know, what democrats are trying to do is they're trying to, in theory, hold a bunch of hearings where they can get viewers to tune in and learn more about the Mueller Report and try to shift that public sentiment and those people in the middle and make them want to impeach the president, but only if the can do that will they actually open an inquiry. They want it to be bipartisan.

They know that it can't just be certain democrats who support this, but again, the problem they're running into is that the White House is not letting anybody testify right now. And so, they're having this problem where they can't have high-profile hearings, which is why they're bringing in John Dean tomorrow, and that's not going to help them move public opinion. A lot of democrats want them to bring in Mueller even if they have to subpoena him because he can speak to the findings in the report. A lot of people want to hear from him. He actually could move public opinion depending on what he says, but obviously Mueller has been reluctant to testify. A lot of democrats say, you know, he doesn't have a choice. He has a service to do for the public.

MARQUARDT: All right, well we'll see what John Dean says tomorrow. Rachael Bade, Julian Zelizer, thank you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

BADE: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: Coming up next, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin warns that President Trump could still impose tariffs on Mexico despite having just come to a compromise not to. That's next.

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MARQUARDT: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is warning that the threat of sweeping tariffs against Mexico can be brought back if the country doesn't live up to it's pledge the stem the flow of migrants to the U.S. border.

Mnuchin was attending a G20 finance meeting when he told CNBC, quote, "I have every reason to believe that they, Mexico, will meet their commitment. So, I think that will be the case. But, if for whatever reason they don't, the president reserves the right to put on tariffs."

Meanwhile, "The New York Times" is reporting that the deal with Mexico isn't maybe so new. The "Times" citing sources said that many of the actions agreed to in the deal were actually hammered out long before Friday's deadline, including one of it's main pledges, to send trips to the border with Guatemala, which they report, was agreed to back in March.

For more, I want to bring Boris Sanchez who is at the White House. Boris, we've seen the president tweeting today. The Administration insisting this all a new deal.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right Alex. They are sticking with the president on this. President Trump sending out several tweets this morning about this "New York Times" reporting.

He's insisting that he deserves more credit for these agreements. Now, the president suggesting that previous administrations that tried to get agreements like this with Mexico in the books but could not and he could. He also hinted that there was on portion of this agreement that they came to during negotiations that he could not yet announce.

Unclear exactly what he's talking about, but again, there are those within the Administration who are insisting that it was the threat of tariffs that really got Mexico to the negotiating table. Listen to the current head of DHS, the Acting Director of DHS, Kevin McAleenan, on one of the Sunday morning talk shows.

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KEVIN MCALEENAN, ACTING SECRETARY, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: The president put a charge in this whole dialogue with Mexico with the tariff threat, brought them to the table. The former minister for Mexico arrived within hours. He arrived the next day with real proposals on the table.

This is the first time we've heard anything like this kind of number of law enforcement being deployed in Mexico to address migration, not just at their southern border but also on the transportation routs to the northern border and in coordinated patrols in key areas along our southwest border.

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SANCHEZ: Now remember, these two sides are going to keep communicating for about 90 days in which they may announce more agreements. So it's no surprise to hear Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin make that kind of statement trying to imply the pressure is still being placed on the Mexican government.

We should point out though the president has been very aggressive with Mexico and other Central American nations in the past. Just a few months ago, he threatened to shut down the entire southern border before aids eventually talked him out of it.

The president gets very aggressive on the issue of immigration, something that was central to his candidacy, central to his presidency and something that he wants to continue to bring up and show his supporters that he's being aggressive on going in to 2020, Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right, 90 days as we all know all too well. Lots can happen in that amount of time. Boris Sanchez on the north lawn of the White House, thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

Now still ahead, Joe Biden front and center in the race for 2020, leading CNN's latest poll. And democrats in the race are on the attack. Can they kill the bear, so to speak and take his top spot?

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[14:35:00]

MARQUARDT: His age, his voting record, his reversals on the issues.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLP)

Joe Biden in the last few days has played defense on just about everything as his democratic rivals have piled on. Their criticism is a reminder of what happens when a candidate who's held public office for decades and voted on countless issues runs for president.

So what's the best strategy for the other democratic hopefuls looking to bring down the front runner?

Long time democratic strategist Hank Sheinkopf, he told Politico quote, "If you want to survive, and you want to get the nomination, you have to kill the bear. Biden is the biggest bear in the woods. If he survives and he gets to Iowa, he's going to be tough to stop."

(END VIDEOCLIP)

Hank joins us now along with democratic strategist Colin Strother. Thank you both for joining me. Hank, first to you, we have eight months until the Iowa caucuses. How do you kill the bear?

HANK SHEINKOPF, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, you have to have enough in the record to take him down. You probably do it through free media, not necessarily through personal attacks.

What Elizabeth Warren did this week, taking the Hyde amendment, turning the choice agreement in to an economic one is really, really smart because that further distances Biden from his flock.

MARQUARDT: That it does. When you look back at Biden's voting record, of course he was a senator from Delaware for decades long before he was vice president.

That voting record, Colin, is not always in line with the Democratic Party of today, this party that has gone farther and farther to the left. How can Biden with this record which he obviously can't ignore convince democrats that he's their guy?

COLIN STROTHER, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I don't think he can. And it's not because we don't love Uncle Joe, we do. But as I said in Politico, it's not 1995 anymore. And Joe Biden throughout his career and as we've seen over the past ten days even to this late date, he still does not know how to express the values of the modern democratic party.

That's going to be a big problem going forward. And I don't see a path for him. There's a new CNN Des Moines Register poll out today measuring in person favorabilities where he trails far behind Mayor Buttigieg and Senator Harris and Senator Warren.

And at the end of the day, we've got someone who had a chance to lead on immigration reform and didn't. Who had a chance to lead on choice and didn't. Who had a chance to lead on gun safety and didn't. And we have a slew of candidates that are exciting and energetic who have led.

MARQUARDT: But despite what you're saying there, Colin, Biden does actually lead the field in that same Iowa poll.

So Hank, when you look at those that he's up against, now he has 22 rivals in this democratic field, who do you think has the best chance to highlight those faults that Colin was just talking about. Is it the younger ones, Buttigieg, O'Rourke or is it those with slightly longer records, Warren and Sanders?

SHEINKOPF: Elizabeth Warren has the best shot. Frankly if you look at the numbers of the three people below him, they tend to be -- in the recent poll, they tend to be very much aligned on ideological issues. And it tells you about the gap in the Democratic Party itself.

The issue here is not who wins and whose best to take on Trump in the fall; the issue is who can get through the primary process. If you have that kind of gang up in numbers, Joe Biden becomes a minority candidate within the Democratic Party.

But he speaks to people who are the elites in the Democratic Party, which is not good news if he's the nominee for November of 2020.

MARQUARDT: Right. One of the biggest things, one of his biggest selling points and one thing that he never fails to mention on the stump is his close friendship with former President Barack Obama. He actually posted this photo.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

Some might call it cringe worthy on Instagram. It's two friendship bracelets with their names on it.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

Of course a close reminder of that close friendship. Do you think, Colin, that that is going to ultimately help Biden appeal to more voters? Or is that sort of baked in, everyone knows that already?

STROTHER: I think (inaudible) and everyone knows that. However, I will say that I think Biden's early poll numbers reflected he has a high level of brand awareness. And I think he's enjoying a lot of Obama nostalgia. We miss the days of having an adult in the White House.

We miss the days of governing by consensus rather than by tweet. And we miss those days. And we appreciate Uncle Joe and everything that he's done for our party. But as we look to the future and we look for bold progressive leadership, he doesn't fit that mold.

And he is more than likely to fund himself in much in the same spot that Jeb Bush found himself almost four years ago leading when it didn't matter.

[14:40:00]

MARQUARDT: And despite a lead nationally and still in this Des Moines Register poll, Hank, he has seen his numbers drop. You have Sanders trailing now only by 8 percent. So what do you think the primary reason is behind that drop?

SHEINKOPF: Because the center remains very static in the rest of -- if you take Sander, Warren, Buttigieg, you put them together as one; you say that's the left. It is much more -- and you throw Harris on top of that. It is much more significant than what the center of the Democratic Party is because there is no center of the Democratic Party.

And Joe Biden represents the elites of that party. And frankly, the elites have a higher provability of getting nominations. What happens in the fall is something very different. Donald Trump is the exception to the rule.

And frankly Jimmy Carter was an exception to the rule and he was certainly in the center but it was a very different democratic party, Bill Clinton as well in that center. Now, can you win an election -- a general election out of the center? Not likely. Not likely today.

MARQUARDT: All right, folks, we're going to have to leave it right there. Colin Strother, Hank Sheinkopf, thanks very much.

STROTHER: Thank you.

MARQUARDT: All right, next, lead us not in to temptation, does that sound familiar?

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

The pope had some concerns with that part of the Lord's Prayer. And now he's approved some changes.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

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[14:45:00]

MARQUARDT: Today, Catholics in Italy are hearing a different version of the Lord's Prayer than they've probably grown up with.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

According to the Catholic new agency, one portion of the Italian translation has been changed from "lead us not in to temptation" to "do not abandon us to temptation." The changes were approved by the Holy See last month.

Pope Francis had reportedly called for these changes back in 2017 suggesting that the old wording, that first version implies that God is the one who induces temptation.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

So for more, let's bring in CNN religion commentator Father Edward Beck. Father, thank you so much for joining me this afternoon; we have seen, we've heard Pope Francis talking about these changes for two years. So, why are they taking place now?

REV. EDWARD BECK, CATHOLIC PRIEST: Well, it's actually the French who decided to change it first, Alex, in 2017. And then Pope Francis was interviewed on television about the change.

And he said you know, I kind of like it because right now it makes it sound like God is leading us in to temptation when it's not God leading, we fall in to temptation or abandoned in to temptation. So he liked what the French did and he spoke favorably about it.

So then when the Italian bishops met, there's a new roman missile translation coming out. They decided yes, just theologically it makes more sense not to say God don't lead us in to temptation. So they voted to change it. And no the Holy See has approved it.

So if English speaking countries now want to follow, the bishop's conferences would have to meet and discuss it. And if they want to change it, they can change it too, but each conference in each country decides on their own.

The Germans rejected it. They like it the way it is. They say (inaudible) say it this way, we're ecumenical, why make a change that makes it different? We get what it's talking about. And so that's kind of where the controversy is in it right now.

MARQUARDT: So, why did it take so long for this discussion to be had and for our Catholic viewers here in the United States, where is this in the process for American churches?

REV. BECK: Well, it's so interesting and as I remember, Jesus spoke in Aramaic, so that's the original words. Then it was not written down in Greek until decades after that after an oral tradition. Then you had Latin and the other language translations. So it's not as if we're sure that the exact original Aramaic is this anyway.

So, some of this literalism is problematic and for American Catholics, I think we just had changes in the literacy itself some years ago and it took people time to get used to saying new prayers in the mass.

So I think a lot of people aren't saying let's mess with the our father now too. We get what it means. We know it's not the original Aramaic anyway. So we'll see what the bishops do.

They may go along with it, because Pope Francis spoke favorably about it. But I think there are more important things for the American Catholic church right now to be worried about. And I hope that they do.

MARQUARDT: And there is a large number we must note that of American Catholics who are not huge supporters of Pope Francis, do you think that they will pointing to this as another example of him being too liberal with the church's teachings?

REV. BECK: No, because I don't think this goes to church teaching. He's trying to get at a more authentic theology of the prayer. It's less language about what would you say about God leading us in to temptation as apposed to protecting us from it.

So critics of course will say, especially conservative critics, hey, he's messing with the our father, he's messing with the literacy. And thy will use this again as ammunition against him. Others will say look, he get whey the pope is saying it. We're willing to go along with it.

It's just going to be that split we see often between the conservative element, the leftwing element and they don't want to meet anywhere in- between, especially when it comes to Pope Francis.

MARQUARDT: All right, Father Edward Beck, thank you for leading us in that explanation.

REV. BECK: Thank you, Alex.

MARQUARDT: All right, we'll be right back.

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[14:50:00]

MARQUARDT: The now undisputed king of clay Rafael Nadal has done it yet again, winning his 12th French open littlie and extending the record that he already had.

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Here he is on match point, beating Austria's Dominic Thiem for the second year in a row. The 33 year old Spanard is now the only tennis player, man or woman, to win 12 singles titles at any grand slam event. He has 18 majors to his name. For more, we're joined by CNN's Amanda Davies.

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She is in Paris where this finals took place. Amanda, this is just an incredible achievement. How is it being seen in the tennis world?

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, well Alex, (inaudible) mortals are able to look at Rafael Nadal's achievement and say yes, 12 grand slam titles at the same event is pretty impressive.

But for me, the best barometer of sporting achievements and greatness is when other sporting greats with their own incredible achievements start commenting. And that is what has happened today with Rafael Nadal. Tiger Woods has tweeted his congratulations.

Billie Jean King has also been having her say. And Real Madrid which is the football team that Nadal supports who themselves hold the record for European cup successes in football; they have weighed in and called him the king, the greatest, all these superlatives that have been willed out.

And it's incredible to believe it was 2005 the first time that Nadal took to the court at the French open here in Paris. Most of us have a few more wrinkles, a few grey hairs since then. Now we're 15 years on and he's still doing it. And not only as you said is at this 12th title at (inaudible).

It's also seeing him close that gap in total grand slam victories on Roger Federer. He's now just two behind. And the king of Spain was actually here watching today. He was aware of what a great achievement this is.

We know for so long Nadal has been the king of clay. You wonder what other superlatives, what other titles we can bestow on him after his success.

MARQUARDT: Yes, he won his first at 18, now he's only 33, he's got a couple years left and he's got a couple years on Federer so he could overtake him. But Amanda, today is also day three of the women's world cup. It's the other major sporting event taking place in France. There were a number of upsets and blowouts.

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Jamaica losing three to nothing against Brazil, but this was their world cup debut and they had quite a remarkable journey to get there.

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[14:55:00]

DAVIES: Yes. If you were a small child sitting at home dreaming of playing in a world cup, your dreams really wouldn't get much better than making a debut against the footballing super power of Brazil. And that is exactly what happened to Jamaica.

A team who just a few years ago were on the brink of extinction, they had to be saved by Bob Marley's daughter coming in to rescue them before they were disbanded. And you saw what it meant to the players, some incredibly emotional scenes as they walked out on to the pitch. The national anthem started playing.

As you said, it wasn't really the results that they were hoping for. But there's really no shame in that. Brazil put on a fantastic display even without their super star (inaudible).

And it was another one of their most famous players Christiane who stepped up, scored a (inaudible) and actually at the age of 34 became the oldest player both male or female to score a (inaudible) in a world cup finals.

What did this mean to people in Jamaica? Well, we actually bumped in to an airline sturdiest who'd flown in from Miami to Paris this morning, gone straight to the fan zone to wave her flag, a huge, huge moment for Jamaica and football in (inaudible) in the region.

MARQUARDT: So many great stories coming from that tiny island nation. Our congrats to Jamaica. Amanda Davies in Paris, thanks very much.

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Now still ahead, at any moment 19 of the 2020 democrats are going to be in this one room making their pitch to Iowa's voters. But the candidate in the top spot, he won't be there. We'll be live in Iowa, next.

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