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Pentagon Preparing 1,000 Hospital Beds As Coronavirus Threat Grows; Democratic Candidates Make Final Pitches Ahead Of Iowa Caucuses. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired February 01, 2020 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:01]

ANA CABRERA, CNN NEWSROOM: Hello I'm Ana Cabrera in New York. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. And we are following breaking news this hour about the coronavirus. An eighth person in the U.S. confirmed to have the infection today, and now, we're getting new information about additional precautions being taken by the Pentagon.

CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr is joining us by phone. Barbara, what do you know?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Earlier today (INAUDIBLE), the defense secretary, Mark Esper, approved a request from the Department and Human Services to provide DOD housing support for up to 1,000 people who may need to be quarantined as they travel back to the United States, and may have been in places where they could have been exposed to the coronavirus.

So here is what is going on. HHS is going to the Pentagon and said, we're going to need help housing all these people for the potential two-week quarantine. DOD approving the request, providing enough capability, enough facilities for up to a thousand people at several locations through February 29th. This is going to be a situation where they are going to put them on bases, probably in breaks (ph) of about 250.

So these people who may be quarantined by Health and Human Services already, we know that several are in the Air Force Base March (ph) in Southern California, two other California bases now named Travis Air Force Base in Northern California and the Marie Corps Air Station at Miramar in Southern California plus Laughlin Air Force Base in Texas, and a training facility at Fort Carson, Colorado.

So what we're talking about again is the Pentagon providing housing for these people, should they be quarantined, for up to two weeks. HHS told the Pentagon, they may need up to 1,000 individual rooms for these people. The Pentagon again saying, with this situation at large, these people are under HHS, military personnel, will not come in contact with them, they will not be able to go to other places on these military bases, and it's a stark sudden reminder of just how much this public health situation is really expanding its impact. Ana?

CABRERA: No doubt about it. Barbara, let me just follow up with you real quickly because I want to make sure viewers are very clear on this. We have 195 people currently under quarantine that you mentioned earlier at that base in California, who are mostly diplomats, family members. Does this indicate to you, or do you get the sense that they are currently evacuating or planning evacuations of additional military personnel overseas, or other diplomatic type personnel?

STARR: Well, I think it is what you likely just said, other diplomatic personnel. In terms of the military personnel, at this point, the indications are that it would simply be, if there are military personnel, attaches, perhaps, security personnel, military police, perhaps, at some of these embassies and diplomatic situations (ph). And there's no indication that we know of so far that military bases, such as large military bases in Japan or South Korea. Those bases are very much publicizing the precaution, you know, the public health safety precaution, about good hygiene and all of that the public health service has put out.

No indication any of those people. There are indications that one of the reasons this was approved today by Secretary Esper, some of these flights of diplomatic or so-called official Americans could start arriving back on the West Coast as soon as tomorrow.

CABRERA: Okay. Barbara Starr, thank you for that reporting.

I also want to bring in CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us by phone as well. And, Elizabeth, this is not 1,000 new cases per se. It is the military preparing to quarantine American citizens who may have come in some kind of contact with the virus, being elsewhere, in China, for example, where they have more than 11,000 cases currently and more than 259 people have died there. So how concerned should Americans be right now?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think Americans should be concerned, certainly, if they have been traveling in China, they should certainly be concerned if they have had contact with people who have been traveling in China, particularly if that person is actively ill.

For the average American, this is not a major public health concern.

[15:05:00]

You should really be more concerned about the flu. We are still in flu season. And we know for sure that flu kills about 35,000 people a year. You know, this virus isn't even anywhere close to that number.

However, you know, as Barbara mentioned, this is a precaution. This public health concern is expanding. And at first, the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control said, you know what, we think we can take care of this, if someone is coming in from Wuhan, we'll take their temperature, we'll observe them, are they coughing, do they seem sick, and if they are, then we'll worry about it and if not, we will give them a card telling them to watch out for these symptoms and send them on their way.

That's changed. And the reason why it's changed is that on Thursday night, a new study came out looking at some employees of a company in Germany that found that they got sick with this virus from someone who wasn't actively ill. In other words, it is possible to spread this virus when you're infected but you don't have any symptoms. That's a game changer. And I think that's why we're seeing what Barbara just described.

CABRERA: Okay. Elizabeth Cohen, we know you are working your sources to get more information as well. Thank you very much for calling in with that information. Worldwide, more than a 100 cases have been confirmed across nearly 20 different countries but nowhere is it worse than where it all started in China and the scenes on the ground are pretty ominous.

Store shelves are empty. People are running out of supplies. With over 11,000 cases and 259 deaths that we know of at this point, the government is taking some extraordinary measures to keep the situation in check.

Some Chinese cities are resorting to using drones to patrol their streets. Citizens there who fail to wear a face mask in public will get a swift and rather loud warning. But as David Culver reports, the Chinese media is being very careful at how they represent this crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID CULVER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are the images Chinese state media, CCTV, broadcast across the country, rapid construction of not one, but two hospitals, slated to open next week with capacity for 2,600 patients, scenes of a nation mobilizing, in its fight against the deadly coronavirus.

On the flag ship evening newscast, the hosts praising the ruling communist party for the massive containment effort that's under way. Rotating articles Friday on state-run news agencies, Xinhua website, reassure readers of the efforts to keep supplies flowing. One headline reading, China has full confidence, capability, to control epidemic.

But the people in Wuhan portray a desperate reality to CNN, describing life-threatening shortages of medical supplies.

DORA JIANG, NIECE OF CORONAVIRUS PATIENT: It's true to the call (ph), you know, like -- and it's really emotional for me.

CULVER: Dora Jiang video chatted with us from Germany. She says it took four days for her 72-year-old uncle in Wuhan to get his test results. They came back positive.

JIANG: I don't think that because they really want to control the numbers, but I think it's more about the capacity (ph).

CULVER: Before the official state news outlets began to report the dangers of the virus, people in China turned to social media for the truth. This lawyer turned citizen journalist in Wuhan has been posting the problems he has encountered, saying it's lack of face mask, hazmat suits, gears and the most important thing is lack of testing kits. You can't get confirmation if there is no testing kit and the only thing you can do is to be a suspect case and wait at home.

A stark contrast with how the ruling communist party's official newspaper, The People's Daily, covered the outbreak. Their front page story on January 24th, a Lunar New Year speech made by President Xi, in which he made no mention of Wuhan's lockdown that was ordered hours earlier.

On national television this week, Xi did try to reassure people that he is personally directing the effort and releasing the effort in a, quote, transparent and responsible manner.

But some Chinese media outlets known for a more independent streak have exposed the disturbing truths of this outbreak. The publication, the paper, ran this video showing one suspected patient, who apparently had no choice but to quarantine himself in his own car. These images posted on the People's Daily WAVO (ph) Account shows medical personnel in a Wuhan hospital, making mask and hazmat suits out of trash bags.

Similarly disturbing images shared across Chinese social media fueling concern that the actual number of people infected is greater than the official count, that conditions from medical staff are increasingly dire, and that this outbreak is far from under control.

David Culver, CNN, Beijing.

CABRERA: Now, looking ahead to the week, that will be in politics. We're On the ground in Iowa. The candidates trying to squeeze in time with voters before the caucuses there on Monday, just two days away.

Plus, President Trump stands to be acquitted in just a few days in his impeachment trial.

[15:10:03]

But what about potential new evidence just coming to light in the past 24 hours?

And the historic shift in power now facing the United States, John Dean is here to talk about how the acquittal would change our government.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: President Trump this weekend technically still on trial, but now that the outcome of the impeachment process is pretty much set, there is really very little suspense, very little uncertainty left, the focus shifts to Iowa. And that's where the men and women fighting for the Democratic nomination for president will finally see the first real votes of the 2020 race for the White House.

A number of polls or mock elections, the Iowa caucuses are Monday. Former Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders so close going into Iowa, it really depends on what angle you look at poll numbers to say who is leading.

[15:15:00]

Analysts expect more people than ever before in Iowa will turn out and caucus on Monday, even more than the record set back in 2008, when Barack Obama won the Iowa caucuses.

CNN has live team coverage spread throughout the State of Iowa as we follow these candidates in the run-up to the caucuses. Let's begin with CNN's Arlette Saenz, who is on the trail with former Vice President Joe Biden.

And, Arlette, just how confident is Biden heading into Monday and what is his closing message with voters there?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, Joe Biden told me yesterday that he thinks they're going to do pretty well here in the state, but he acknowledged he predicts that it's going to be very bunched up among all of those top contenders.

And he is here in Cedar Rapids, the second stop of the day. And over the past week, he has been on the ground here in Iowa making the case that he is the candidate best equipped to take on Donald Trump in the general election. He's been pointing to those attacks from the president and Republicans as their signs of concern about facing Biden in the general election in November.

And Biden has also been arguing that the character of the nation will be on the ballot. That is a theme that he has stressed from the start of his campaign back in April, and it's something he is hammering away at here in Iowa. Take a listen to what he had to say earlier today in North Liberty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In Joe Biden's America, a president's tax returns won't be a secret. In Joe Biden's America, self interest will not be confused with national interest. And no one, no one, not even the president of the United States, will be above the law. I promise you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, Joe Biden is certainly hoping for a win here in Iowa on Monday, but his campaign is also arguing that if the candidates come out of Iowa and New Hampshire with just a small difference in their delegate count, that that is actually beneficial to Biden. Biden told me that South Carolina is a firewall for him. They also see an advantage down in the Super Tuesday states, where the demographics are a bit more diverse.

But Biden and all of the candidates are certainly keenly aware that if you win here and do well here in Iowa, you're going to be heading out of the state with a lot of momentum. And that's something that he is trying to close the deal with in these final two days before the caucuses. Ana?

CABRERA: Thank you, Arlette. Now to Ryan Nobles with Bernie Sanders' campaign. And, Ryan, Senator Sanders was one of several lawmakers who went from the trial, the impeachment trial, that is, to the trail, the campaign trail. So the impeachment trial is expected to resume on Monday. What is Sanders' plan?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as of right now, Ana, he and his team are planning for Sanders to be here in Iowa on Monday night in what they hope will be collecting the victory in these Iowa caucuses. But you're right, there's been a bit of uncertainty for his team over the past several weeks because he's had to participate as a juror in the impeachment trial.

But what Sanders has essentially done is handed over those responsibilities to his team of volunteers here in Iowa, his robust organizational effort and the team of surrogates that have traveled around the state in his absence to make that case for he and his campaign.

And the other thing Sanders has done, Ana, is get back here to Iowa the second there was an opening in the impeachment trial. In fact, he took a plane here late last night the second that the Senate gaveled out and was here last night and was available for an event here this afternoon.

And quickly, he got right to a major point in his event here, in Indianola, talking about the fact that he truly believes that he is the candidate best positioned to beat Donald Trump in November, and that has been an area of concern for voters. Many Democratic primary voters to believe they like Bernie Sanders, they like his policies, but they're worried that in a head-to-head matchup with Trump, he may not be able to put the Democratic ticket over the top.

Listen to how Sanders made that argument here today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe that we are the strongest campaign to defeat Trump. Certainly, I hope that we are going to win. But if we do not win, we will support the winner, and I know that every other candidate will do the same. We are united in our understanding that we must defeat Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: And you saw another aspect of the Sanders campaign, the pitch that he is trying to make here and what has been an area of concern for some Democratic primary voters is whether or not Sanders has what it takes to unify Democratic voters of all different stripes. He certainly has a ton of support within the progressive wing of the party but can he bring in moderate Democrats as well.

And you heard it reflected there, Sanders believes the energy in the party is with his side of the ledger and that those moderates will come along when he can demonstrate that he can beat Donald Trump. It's a big part of his closing argument here, Ana. He is the candidate that can win, not just the Democratic primary but the race for president in general. And that is why he is hoping that Iowa voters agree. Ana? CABRERA: Ryan Nobles with the Sanders campaign, thank you.

Meantime, M.J. Lee is covering Senator Elizabeth Warren. And Senator Warren got in last night there to Iowa. We know her campaign is hoping their sophisticated ground game will pay off.

[15:20:03]

What can you tell us about her closing message between now and Monday's caucus?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Ana. Senator Warren returning finally to Iowa late last night after having been stuck in D.C. for all of last week because of the Senate impeachment trials and just being in this room in Cedar Rapids. You can see Senator Warren speaking behind me in this gymnasium. You really can feel that she is trying to deliver a final closing message and that voting is so, so near, instead of delivering her stump speech right off the bat. Senator Warren sharing a note of gratitude to the Iowans that she said she met over the last year. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've heard from you. You've pressed notes into my hand, you've whispered dreams into my ear, you've told me about your lives, about issues, about ideas, about how we can make things better. And all of this year, you have made me a better candidate and you will make me a better president. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Now, time is so, so precious, and Senator Warren is trying to squeeze in as much campaigning as possible over the next 48 hours or so. She has two more stops later today in Iowa, at least three stops tomorrow.

And she actually just announced that she will not be doing photo lines this weekend. This is sort of her famous signature campaign move, taking photos with everyone who walks up after every event and she said actually this time around she is going to have her dog doing that instead, that anybody who wants a photo with Bailey, her golden retriever, will get to do that. But she wants to make as many stops across Iowa as possible.

And I will say, her final message here in Iowa, not so different from what we just heard from Arlette and Ryan, her message is going to be all about electability as well, that she can win, that she is the woman who can win in this race. And it is not accident that if you look behind my shoulder, her supporters that are holding up the signs, the three words on those sign read, win with Warren. Ana?

CABRERA: Okay, man's best friend stepping in when it counts. Thank you very much, M.J. Lee traveling with Senator Elizabeth Warren.

Now, let me bring in Kyung Lah, who is on the trial in Sioux City with Senator Amy Klobuchar. Talk to us, Kyung, more about her thinking and her message as she was splitting time between D.C. and Iowa.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: She absolutely is. And I have to say, I'm not actually in Sioux City. I had to stop and pull over to the side of the road, we couldn't keep up with the senator. She is in the air flying back and forth. It is an all-out blitz in the state, because she wants to try to hit as many places as possible. Her thinking as these next two days are unfolding is that she has got to try to make up as much lost time as possible.

What the senator has said on the trail is she was jamming two weeks of campaigning in two day, and two days it is. The clock, again, still ticking down to Monday, and Bettendorf, her event was quite packed, there were a lot of people there. And we spoke with them, and they said, what they are is still undecided. More than half of the people we spoke with, the senator hoping that they will break her way, that she, as the underdog, will become the dark horse, and she says she is feeling good about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you want a president that can do a lot of things at once, and here I am at a brewery on a Saturday morning.

LAH: Okay. But, I mean, this is a lot. How are you feeling two days out now?

KLOBUCHAR: Well, I'm feeling very positive because of crowds like this when I was even able to be here for the last week. And then you come here to this and it just feels like we've got the momentum, which I know we have.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And that's a portion of our conversation. When I was referring to, this is a lot, we were talking about the headwind she faces with the impeachment trial, with not being very well known, with not having the money or the poll numbers that the top tier candidates have.

When I asked her, what kind of number are you looking at, do you want to have a certain percentage, she wouldn't give me an exact number, Ana. What she would say and what her campaign continues to say is that they are focusing on the rural turnout, that they are looking at those counties that voted for Obama and then flipped to Donald Trump. They are feeling quite positive that she has visited those places, and will be able to convince many of them to caucus for her.

CABRERA: All right. Kyung Lah, thank you very much. Thank you, everyone.

Up next, more on the Iowa caucuses and whether voters have the impeachment of President Trump in mind.

Plus, how the balance of power in this country is shifting right before our eyes, we'll talk about the impact.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:00]

CABRERA: Welcome back. You are live in the CNN Newsroom. And I want to go back out live to Iowa, where CNN's Abby Phillip is live alongside Mayor Pete Buttigieg. Hi, Abby.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Ana. I have Mayor Pete Buttigieg here ahead of his event in Dubuque, Iowa. It's been a pretty whirlwind couple of days for you, obviously, a whirlwind cycle. How well do you need to do in Iowa on Monday?

FMR. MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D-SOUTH BEND, IN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, we certainly need a strong performance, because one of the things that's on the mind of so many voters, including in the states beyond Iowa, is not just a vision that's right for the country but demonstrating that we can win. And the process of proving that my campaign is the best to go on and defeat Donald Trump starts right here in Iowa, where we're going to be turning folks out to the caucuses and making sure we can demonstrate a strong ground game and as well as a compelling message.

[15:30:07]

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: One of your top advisers said to reporters this morning that you don't necessarily need to win Iowa in order to come out of it, claiming some kind of victory. Do you think that that's true as well?

BUTTIGIEG: Yes, I'm letting strategists and pundits talk about the goalposts, what I know is that we need to have a strong finish, and that's exactly what we're working toward.

I was just on the phone with some of our precinct captains in some of the high turnout areas, and you can just feel it on the ground as we do these events that we've got phenomenal energy, but also it's a fluid situation, people are still making up their minds.

That's why it's so important to me, eye to eye to be engaging Iowans, asking them to caucus on Monday and sending out that message that the right way to win is also the best way to govern. And that's to put the politics of the past in the past and look to the future.

PHILLIP: But one of those pundits was former Vice President Joe Biden, who also commented on this a little bit, but there's a scenario here in which a lot of candidates, yourself included, could come out of Iowa, clump together all winning about the same number of delegates, maybe about the same number of votes. Would that doll any momentum going into New Hampshire that you might need in order to get further along into this contest?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, I think Iowa represents the end of the beginning, of course, so much still is on the road ahead. But what's unique about this first caucus is that it's the first opportunity to show and not just tell our ability to succeed on the ground. And I think that does create the momentum we need going into New

Hampshire and then into Nevada and South Carolina, where so many the voters I see, really more than anything, want to be assured that we have a way to win, and I believe mine is the best campaign to defeat Donald Trump, the process of proving that starts right here.

PHILLIP: In the last 24 hours or so, we've had some more comments from Hillary Clinton, former Democratic nominee, one of Bernie Sanders' supporters booed her on a stage and apologized for it.

But my question to you is about the tone of this campaign. Is it the responsibility of the candidates running right now to police the tone of their supporters and to create a different kind of atmosphere here as we go into this new cycle?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, on my campaign, we have something we call the rules of the road, and it's something that we try to hold ourselves to and ask our volunteers and supporters to live up to and the very first one is respect among the campaign or as a campaign, making sure that we're respecting not only all the voters we interact with, but our competitors, too.

Now look, this is also a competition and it's natural that we're going to be pushing off each other and laying out the contrast between us.

But I hope at the end of the day, none of that happens in a way that takes away from the fact that fundamentally, we have the same values across this party. We want the same things.

And when that nominee is selected, we have got to be part of the same campaign effort to come together, defeat this President and bring about a better day.

PHILLIP: And a last question for you, at one of your last events, a voter came up to you, he was a Republican and said that he liked you, but wasn't sure he would vote for a Democrat if the nominee wasn't you.

You spent a lot of time on the ground here in Iowa, courting what you call future former Republicans, people who may have even voted for Obama, then voted for President Trump.

But is there a risk here that all of that effort will be for nothing, if at the end of the day, maybe the nominee, isn't you? They don't come over to the Democratic Party. Is it worth it?

BUTTIGIEG: Well, I think it's very important to create a message that recruits everybody into this effort, because there are Republicans just as sure as independents and Democrats who are having trouble explaining to their children what is going on with this President.

Of course, I seek and plan and hope to be the nominee, but also no matter who the nominee is, I will do everything in my power to make sure that Democrats, independents and Republicans hear the message about why our everyday lives will go better when we have a President who actually cares about our communities, who treats people with respect, who can build up the credibility the United States around the world., and that's a message that I think we can reach so many people with.

And you can tell in all of these counties that I'm visiting, many of which are those counties that supported President Obama and President Trump, that we have a chance to win a lot of people over this time.

PHILLIP: And it would be a mistake -- would it be a mistake for other candidates to not in be involved in that same kind of effort?

BUTTIGIEG: I think it's a mistake to take any vote for granted, and it's a mistake to write any vote off. Look, I want to not only win against Donald Trump, but win so big that it sends Trumpism itself into the dustbin of history.

I think a big win is also what it would take to send out the kind of shock waves that might actually reunite Senate G.O.P. members with their conscience because it seems like right now, based on how they're behaving on the floor of the Senate, the language of political power and winning and losing is the only thing that they'll respond to.

PHILLIP: All right, well, thank you, Mayor Buttigieg. I really appreciate you taking the time. Ana, back to you.

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: All right, thank you very much. Abby Phillip again on the trail in Dubuque, Iowa. We'll be right back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:39:00]

CABRERA: Two days and counting for Democrats to make their case to Iowa voters and 2020 Democrats are making their final big push for support in that key state.

And here's the national picture right now. We have this CNN Poll of Polls showing Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders leading the National Democratic Party.

Now, Biden is at 27 percent. Sanders is at 24 percent. They're both in the top tier. And so let's break it down with Patti Solis Doyle, the former campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's campaign, and Alexandra Rojas, Executive Director for Justice Democrats, which is a group that recruits and supports progressive Democrats.

Patti, let me start with you, and let's just talk about Biden for a moment. What do you see as his biggest challenge at this point, given that his lead in the polls has really narrowed or disappeared?

PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, well, let me just start with -- it's really hard to be the front runner for a year and I say that having worked for Hillary in 2008, where she was a front runner for better part of 11 months and then last Iowa and we all know what happened there.

[15:40:03]

DOYLE: So it's very hard to stay on top of the polls consistently. I think overall, what this means is the party really has and the Democratic Party really has not decided whether which way they want to go in terms of ideology. Are we more progressive as a party? Are we more moderate as a party?

And you see the two front runners -- Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden -- they are the personifications of those two ideologies. So we don't know what is going to happen. I don't think the voters have spoken yet, but we will -- they will speak on Monday, and we will get a glimpse as to where and what they're thinking in Iowa and then heading into New Hampshire and then again, Nevada and South Carolina, so we'll have a better idea after those first four states vote.

CABRERA: Okay, so if just being the front runner is perhaps the biggest challenge for Joe Biden as you've just been articulating their, Patti, Alexandra, what do you see as the biggest challenge for Bernie Sanders, who seems to be peaking in the polls at the right moment?

ALEXANDRA ROJAS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I think right now, you know, Bernie has stayed consistent, whereas I think most politicians sort of look at polls as static. He has seen them as not. He sort of shifted public opinion along with him.

And so I think part of Bernie's biggest strength and the challenge that he faces, right, is sort of going up against this establishment and proving to folks that he can really unify the party.

But I think the reality, right, is I think less that voters are attracted to ideology and more about common sense, good policies that are going to actually transform and prioritize the working class of this country.

And so I think that the records, right, of statesmen like Joe Biden have come to bear, and I think Bernie Sanders being someone that has been really consistent in what he's stood for the past 30 years is also proving to be part of you know, building a movement and all of that, is part of his strategy to win and it seems like it's bearing out.

CABRERA: Alexandra, you talked about unifying the party, which is interesting because we're hearing from Bernie Sanders supporters out on the stump like freshman Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib say this to Iowa voters last night when they publicly booed Hillary Clinton. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Iowa, we have three days. I don't remember if you guys remember last week when someone by the name of Hillary Clinton said that nobody -- we're not going to boo, we're not going to boo. We're classy here.

REP. RASHIDA TLAIB (D-MI): Oh, no, I'll boo. Boo. [LAUGHTER]

TLAIB: You all know I can't be quiet. No, we're going to boo. That's all right. The haters -- the haters will shut up on Monday when we win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Congresswoman Tlaib today tweeted a statement essentially saying she regrets her comments last night, and we're also hearing from Hillary Clinton in a new podcast interview slamming Sanders again.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Unfortunately, you know, his campaign and his principal supporters were just very difficult and really constantly, not just attacking me, but my supporters.

We get to the convention, they're booing. Michelle Obama, John Lewis. I mean, it was very distressing and such a contrast between what we did to unite in '08 and all the way up until the end, a lot of people highly identified with his campaign were urging people to vote third party, urging people not to vote. It had an impact.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CABRERA: There's clearly still hurt feelings there. How do Democrats avoid a repeat of 2016?

ROJAS: Well, look, I think two days ahead of Iowa, we don't need to be talking about Hillary Clinton. Right now, we should all be focused on defeating Donald Trump and I think Hillary Clinton and Rashida Tlaib are also focused on that, too.

But that's how this conversation started, right? And I think it's also important to contextualize Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. She's the first ever Palestinian woman, Muslim woman ever elected to Congress. And she, you know, this is a community that has been maligned, and I think, you know, not heard by both parties.

And so Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton both represent really strong bases, right, of millions of people in this country as shown by the leading polls in Iowa and obviously as shown as Hillary Clinton's run in 2016.

But I think regardless, right, that's why we need to champion the fact that, you know, a majority of America right now is really attracted to going big in this moment right? Going big on these ideas -- the top two issues around healthcare and climate change, right?

Iowa voters want a Green New Deal. They want Medicare-for-All and to dismiss ideas like that to the side, to go for a more moderate safe option just doesn't seem to be what voters want right now.

CABRERA: Patti, I'd like to get your take.

DOYLE: Yes, it's just not helpful. It's not -- the Congresswoman's comments were not helpful. Hillary Clinton's comments were not helpful and I am a huge supporter of Hillary Clinton.

[15:45:09]

DOYLE: The North Star, the biggest thing for Democrats right now is to defeat Donald Trump and doubling down on some old, you know, hostile wounds from the 2016 campaign does not help us unite, it just drives us further apart.

And also the fact that, you know, these attacks by both women we're not based on issues, were not based on climate change, were not based on the Green New Deal, they were personal attacks, and it's just not helpful.

CABRERA: Alexandra, we're hearing from another progressive surrogate of Sanders. This is Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and she called the attacks against Sanders desperate. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ILHAN OMAR (D-MN): I know you might have noticed the attacks on Bernie have become more and more desperate. Have you seen it?

You might hear a lot of labels being thrown out. Bernie is too radical. Bernie is too dangerous. Bernie is too polarizing, divisive. You might even hear the S word -- socialism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Alexandra, who is she trying to call out there?

ROJAS: I think that she's calling out the general, you know, way that Bernie's campaign and what his supporters feel like have been treated, right? I think not just by folks like Hillary Clinton, but the general Democratic establishment and along with the media that has not really taken his rise seriously until a few days before the Iowa caucus.

And I think that's fair to say, considering that, you know, on both sides, right, of the ideological spectrum within the Democratic Party, feel that way. And so I think that Ilhan is referring to a lot of people assuming that Bernie Sanders is the underdog and I think that his lead in the polls is showing that there are a lot of people that tend to agree with that.

And so again dismissing sort of his candidacy as too radical or whatever, is sort of irresponsible, especially as we're headed in two days before Iowa.

So I think that they're just sort of drumming up the fact that Bernie has one of the most energized campaigns in the field and the polls are showing that.

CABRERA: Patti, Mayor Michael Bloomberg is not competing in Iowa. But his numbers nationally are on the rise. He has moved into the fourth position in a number of polls.

Bloomberg just released a tax plan that includes calling for a five percent surtax on the wealthy, and it essentially reverses the President's tax cuts for high earners, among other things.

Bloomberg has been criticized by some Democrats as being nothing more than a billionaire trying to buy the election. Will this type of wealth tax favored by Sanders and Warren show voters that he gets it?

DOYLE: Well, look, I think it was really smart on his part and on his campaign. I think, certainly it mitigates a bit his standing as a billionaire coming into this race trying to buy the election.

And I also think, you know, today's D.N.C. rule change matters because I think, because Bloomberg is actually rising in the polls for the most part because of his advertising. He needs to be tested. He needs to be asked about his plan. He needs to be on a debate stage.

Voters need to look at him and the other candidates in the field and make up their mind and the best way to do that is on a debate stage. And so like I said, I think this is a smart plan for him. I think it addresses some of his issues as a candidate and where he stands on policy, particularly for the progressive part of the party.

But I think we need more, we need to we need to be able to ask him questions.

CABRERA: All right, we'll see where it goes. Thank you very much, Patti Solis Doyle and Alexandra Rojas. Great to have you here, ladies.

And it's a week of special political coverage here on CNN. On Monday, of course, is the Iowa caucuses; Tuesday, we have the State of the Union address. Wednesday and Thursday, back-to-back Presidential Town Halls live from New Hampshire. Don't miss this special coverage all next week here on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:54:04]

CABRERA: Welcome back. Almost kickoff time and we're learning tonight there is a Super Bowl tribute to Kobe Bryant in the works.

During the Miami press conference, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira talked about a heartfelt moment we'll all get to witness during tomorrow's halftime show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENNIFER LOPEZ, SINGER: I think about Vanessa as a mom and losing her best friend and partner and losing her child, and I think, you know, how awful that must be for her right now.

SHAKIRA, SINGER: I think we will be all remembering Kobe on Sunday, and we'll be celebrating life and celebrating diversity in this country. I'm sure he will be very proud to see the message that we're going to be trying to convey on stage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Kobe Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna and seven other people were killed last Sunday when their helicopter crashed outside Los Angeles.

[19:55:09]

CABRERA: Our breaking news coverage today continues as the deadly coronavirus continues to spread.

More beds to treat patients in the U.S. and new details about the eighth confirmed case in the U.S.

Plus, the 2020 election only reinforcing divisiveness in this country and communities and within families. Is there anything that can heal the rift? We will ask Deepak Chopra here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Hello, you are live in the CNN --

[16:00:10]

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