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Candidates Make Last Pitch To Voters On Eye Of Iowa Caucuses; Iowa Voters Still Torn Between Candidates Before Caucuses; U.S. Imposes Travel Restrictions, Quarantine As Infections Soar; How Iowa Democrats Are Making Up Their Minds; Wall Street Eyes Iowa Caucus Results; Senate Poised To Acquit Trump After Vote For Witnesses Fails; Bloomberg Stumps For Dog Demographic. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 02, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:07]

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: For the field of Democratic candidates frantically trying to reach each and every voter in Iowa this weekend, the game probably changes tomorrow.

This is CNN's special coverage of the Iowa caucuses.

Let's get right to Des Moines, my colleague, John Berman. John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: What a sprint it's been today. The candidates have been everywhere, especially here around Des Moines, Ana. It's been really interesting to see. We have got live team coverage spread throughout the state as we follow the candidates on their last full day of campaigning before the caucuses.

So let's begin with CNN's Ryan Nobles, who is chasing Bernie Sanders as he makes his final pitch. Ryan, what is that final pitch?

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the final pitch for the Sanders campaign, John, is that they firmly believe there are more Democratic caucus-goers in the state of Iowa that support Bernie Sanders than any other candidate. The challenge for them is to get them out to these caucus locations on Monday night. The Sanders campaign leaning very hard into younger caucus-goers, people that have never even caucused before, they believe that's going to make the difference between now and the results on Monday night.

And Bernie Sanders himself spent all day today drumming up that support, firing up his volunteers to help push those caucus-goers to those locations tomorrow night. He went to three different canvas locations today to fire that crowd up. And listen to what his pitch was to that group of very passionate supporters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This state goes first. And tomorrow night is the beginning of the campaign. So my request of all of you is to do everything that you can in the next 24 hours, knock on doors, talk to your friends, get on the phone, to make sure that we have a large turnout tomorrow night. Because I've said this before and I'll say it again, if there is a low voter turnout tomorrow night, we're going to lose.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBLES: So that's the key for the Sanders campaign. They think it is all about turnout. If the people show up to the caucuses locations tomorrow night, they think they are going to win. They feel confident right now that their organizational efforts here on the ground will be able to pull off that goal. John?

BERMAN: Yes, Ryan Nobles, and a beautiful picturesque, Altoona in Iowa. Ryan, great to have you with us.

Let's go out to the Biden campaign. CNN's Arlette Saenz has been following the former vice president, electability at the center of the vice president's campaign message. But one of the other things they have been sending out messages on today, Arlette, is expectations, trying to lower them maybe for tomorrow.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, the Biden campaign has certainly been trying to manage expectations heading into tomorrow night. Biden has talked about how Iowa is going to be a toss- up. And he has essentially said that if they emerge from Iowa in an essential tie with two or three other candidates, that that would be beneficial to him going forward.

But here on the ground over the past nine days that Biden has spent here, he has been trying to create this matchup between himself and President Trump, already looking ahead to what a general election could look like if Biden is the nominee.

And take a listen to what he had to tell voters in Dubuque, Iowa, a little earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Here is the great thing. The people of Iowa tomorrow, tomorrow night, when they caucus, can hold Trump accountable, causing the candidate he's trying to destroy with his conspiracies and his lies to get to say the word what Trump fears the most. We're going to caucus for Joe Biden.

So, folks, if you stand with me, we'll end Donald Trump's reign of hatred and division and begin to unify this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: They want to call with precinct captains. Biden said that the person that's going to win this race will the one with the best organization. There are some questions whether Biden's campaign will be able turn out their supporters in these coming days, but he's also to use a football analogy on the Super Bowl Sunday. He told those organizers they are at the 10 yard line and the only way to win this thing is with a touchdown. John?

BERMAN: Yes. So red zone, they're in the red zone. Arlette Saenz chasing the Biden campaign at these last few minutes, thanks so much. Let's go out to the Buttigieg campaign right now. CNN's Abby Phillip has been following him. And, Abby, it's interesting, because the South Bend mayor has had a very focused message these last couple of days trying himself from the other candidates.

ABBY PHILLIP, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Pete Buttigieg and his campaign seems to be pretty clear that their competition here in Iowa is going to be Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden. And so he's been having a sort of dual track attack against both of those other candidates.

But today, as he's campaigned here in Des Moines and in other places in Iowa, he's taken that same message about whether or not voters need to choose between a revolution in Bernie Sanders or status quo from Joe Biden.

[18:05:07]

And he's broadened it, making a bit of more sweeping Message to voters in these last few hours before the caucuses. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FMR. MAYOR PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know you're going to see some ads saying that there's only two ways to go, either you're for a revolution or you're for the status quo. But the good news for America today is that we have a historic majority ready, not only to rally around what we're against and get a better president, but to come together in the name of what we are for as a country.

And that historic majority is not just my fellow Democrats, it's independents, and an awful lot of what I like to call future former Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIP: And at that rally in Des Moines, where Buttigieg brought out about 2,000 supporters in a high school gym, you heard him speaking directly to this electability question, trying to ease maybe the concerns that some voters might have that they're not sure if they should take a chance on him. He basically says, Iowa has a reputation of validating the hopes of the candidates who come here. He cited basically his time working as a volunteer for Barack Obama. So Buttigieg in these last few hours are reaching for some of these historic parallels to urge Iowans to come out and potentially take a chance on his candidacy, John.

BERMAN: A lot of deliberate references to the Obama campaign back in 2008, no question about that. Abby Phillip, thanks so much.

Let's go out and see what Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts senator, has been up to in this closing day. She has been in Iowa more than any other state, a lot of that time with CNN's M.J. Lee. M.J., what are you seeing?

M.J. LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, we certainly have been getting that this is it vibes from Senator Warren all weekend. Her family has been campaigning with her across the state and she has been thanking Iowans at every event for the lessons that she says these voters have taught her over the last year.

And a part of the reason for the urgency that we have seen this weekend is because she's spent all of last week in Washington, D.C. for the Senate impeachment trial. And, in fact, tonight, she is, again, going to return to Washington and will only return back to Iowa tomorrow night to attend her caucus night party.

Now, the final message that we have heard from Elizabeth Warren this weekend is to go with the -- do not go with, I should say, with the safe choice, pick the candidate that is actually exciting. Choose the candidate that your heart wants and not your head. This is certainly a big part of her electability message.

And here in Ames, Iowa, where she just wrapped up her last event, she also had a request for the voters here in Iowa and that request was to continue campaigning even in these final hours. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you believe in that America and you believe it's worth fighting for, then I ask you, commit to caucus for me, be there tomorrow, pitch in five bucks, offer to do another round of phone banking or knock on doors, but get in this fight because this moment in history will not come our way again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Now, the Warren campaign has been saying that they are prepared for a long primary contest. But there's no question that doing well in Iowa is hugely important for this campaign and certainly they are hoping for a strong showing tomorrow night. John?

BERMAN: Yes. The Warren campaign not really even playing the expectations game because they know they have to do well here. M.J. Lee, great to have you with us.

Senator Amy Klobuchar, always going hard in Iowa, as well. She's from the neighboring State of Minnesota. Kyung Lah following the Klobuchar campaign. And I went to an Amy Klobuchar event last night here in Des Moines, and you couldn't get in the door. It was so packed, Kyung.

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was. That was an unusual event though. Most of her events tend to be smaller and in the rural areas. But that event that you were at, what the Klobuchar campaign hoped to telegraph is that she is a latecomer. This is a campaign that knows it is the underdog. They are the ones who want to pull off the surprise.

So how? Well, the campaign really explaining it in where they are holding the final rally. Senator Klobuchar just wrapped a short time ago her final rally here in Iowa. It is in Mason City. And in Mason City is where she held her very first rally in Iowa when she began her campaign for president, opening and closing in a city that sits in a county that voted for Barack Obama and then flipped to Donald Trump.

Therein lies the message that Klobuchar hopes will win over some of the more sparsely populated parts of this state and then stitch together enough delegates to beat expectations, the idea that she is the one who could win back Midwest.

[18:10:07]

Here is what she said in this final rally.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have been able to answer the questions in a way that makes sense, which isn't just about pipe dreams, it's about actual plans. It's about the experience that I will bring to the office.

So I am asking you to be there for me tomorrow. I literally never imagined that I would be flying out of here tonight and that I would be there just barely at the last minute, But I have a constitutional duty. I can't turn the channel and watch something else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAH: And what she's talking about is she's going to be going to a Super Bowl party very, very briefly, jumping on a plane, John, to Washington, D.C., where she's going to sit in the trial tomorrow and then returning, she hopes, just in time for the caucus results. John?

BERMAN: All right. Kyung Lah for us in Story City, Iowa, chasing Amy Klobuchar, to all of our campaign reporters who have been criss- crossing this quite large state, we really appreciate all the work you're doing.

So the big issue that each of the candidates is focusing on is, no question, electability, trying to make the case that he or she is the best candidate to beat President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pete seems a little bit too slick. Joe Biden perhaps is aged. I may go to Biden, I may go for Warren. I am as undecided as other people are about their first choice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't understand why people can be undecided in this party. There's just no way to beat Trump without capturing the middle ground.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Back with me now is CNN's Senior Political Analyst, Mark Preston.

It is interesting to hear people undecided even with a few hours to go. But the voters here, many of them haven't made up their minds up yet. As you look to tomorrow night, we're now 24 hours away, even less in some cases. Mark, what are the stakes here in Iowa for these campaigns?

MARK PRESTON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: And so a couple of things. one, political fuel, money, momentum, support. So whoever comes out of Iowa tonight -- look, we expect it could be bunched up at the top. But whoever comes out on top, you're looking at the ability to raise money a lot easier, try to build support online that can help you in states to come.

BERMAN: And differentiate in some cases, particularly some of these candidates who are seen more ideologically in line, I'm sure differentiation for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren might be important also.

PRESTON: 100 percent.

BERMAN: Big questions you think might be answered tomorrow night.

PRESTON: Let me give you one big question. We have seen now this rise in support of Senator Bernie Sanders. We've seen that nationally. We're starting to see it in Iowa. We'll see now tomorrow night whether, in fact, what we've seen in the polls tracking is Bernie Sanders on this upswing right now and can he grasp that and charge into New Hampshire as a frontrunner.

BERMAN: The Biden campaign held a meeting with reporters this morning trying to reduce expectations. Joe Biden himself was on a conference call with supporters, they're trying to lower expectations as well, why?

PRESTON: Because, really, this is a marathon. It's not a sprint. And we often talked about coming out of Iowa, coming out of New Hampshire and like race over. The way that the Democratic Party is set up, the way that you accumulate delegates doesn't allow you to do that unless you have a one or two-person race and then one is so dominant. You have a very vast field right now. You have two political lanes. You've got the liberal lane, you've got the more centrist lane right now.

I can't see this race getting over very quickly. This is at least going to go to Super Tuesday in some ways and I think that's what Joe Biden is counting on and that firewall in South Carolina.

BERMAN: Let me ask you this. These candidates haven't resisted for the most part going after each other. These candidates in particular have wanted to address each other too much. Will that change after tomorrow night? Do we think when we get to New Hampshire and move to Nevada and South Carolina, there will be more of the candidates directly taking on each other in their positions?

PRESTON: The short-term problem with it is that you're going to upset other Democrats. The long-term problem of not doing it is not preparing yourself to take on Donald Trump in November. And I do think that whomever the Democratic Party does decide to nominate better start showing that they can, in fact, take on Donald Trump.

BERMAN: Mark Preston, it's been a pleasure having you with me here on this Sunday, and 24 hours to go. PRESTON: 24 hours.

BERMAN: I'm going to make sure that I check everyone of the predictions you've made to see if you got anything right.

PRESTON: They're all side bets, like on the Super Bowl.

BERMAN: Fantastic. Thank you so much.

PRESTON: Great. Thanks.

BERMAN: All right. I want to bring in Nina Turner, who serves as co- Chair for the Bernie Sanders 2020 Presidential Campaign. Thank you so much for being here with us tonight.

NINA TURNER, CO-CHAIR, BERNIE SANDERS 2020 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: Great to be here with you.

BERMAN: I'm not sure the Bernie Sanders campaign understands the expectations game. You're supposed to go in to voting night saying, oh, we're just lucky to be here. There's no way that Bernie Sanders can win. But what we're hearing from the Sanders team is we've got the wind at our backs, we think we're going to do great, we think we're going to do -- we think we're going to win. Is there a risk to having the expectations be too high?

TURNER: Well, it comes from putting in the work.

[18:15:00]

I mean, actually, the senator has been working since the last election time in 2016. He's been on the ground with the people. He's carried his message. The entire Democratic platform, and think about this, John, is animated about what Senator Sanders talked about and pushed this party further to the left. Every single thing he's talked about on that stage, whether people want to be middle of the road about it, it is still animated by a foundation that he has created.

Our team right here on the ground in Iowa, we just hit a 600,000 person milestone in terms of touches with voters in the great State of Iowa.

BERMAN: How disappointed will you be if Bernie Sanders does not win here tomorrow night? How much of a hit will that be in the campaign?

TURNER: I'm not going to deal with that calculus right now. We're in it to win it, like Super Bowl tonight. We're in it to win it.

BERMAN: Does he have to win though?

TURNERY: Listen, we're here to compete and we're here to win, period. I mean, that's the goal. It's not to come in second. It's to win.

BERMAN: One of the things I talked about the fact that the candidates, by and large, haven't gone after each other. We can stipulate that. But this has been mostly an above the board campaign. There have been some moments here and there.

There have been some issues though with surrogates. And, of course, you know what I'm referring to. Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was on stage the other night led a round

of boos for Hillary Clinton. Let's play that.

(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): No, I'll boo. Boo. You all know I can't be quiet. No, we're going to boo.

That's all right. The haters will shut up on Monday when we win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: All right. Congresswoman Tlaib said she regretted that after. The next day, she got up, put out a message that she regretted it.

I'm wondering though what message does that send when like that happens. What message does it send to the voters in Iowa and the Democratic voters around the country?

TURNER: She apologized. I mean, for us on our campaign, we're our here to convince the voters that Senator Bernie Sanders is the best candidate to change their material conditions, period. So she apologized and we're ready to move on.

As we know, John, people have said things about the senator from, I'm not going to support him, to nobody likes him. Those kinds of things are not helpful. It's as if I punched you in the face and you responded to me. But I'm just saying you responded to me, and then all of a sudden, I paint you as the aggressor.

Bottom line of this is that we have been running a campaign that is multi-cultural, multi-generational, multi-racial, rainbow, mosaic, in terms of meeting people where they are and talking to people about the issues that they are concerned about, that families are concerned about, and how Senator Sanders is best positioned to be the type of champion to take them to the next level.

BERMAN: How important is the message of unity though going forward for Senator Sanders?

TURNER: Well, we need ask that question of all the candidates.

BERMAN: I am. I am.

TURNER: No, I'm not saying that you're not. But some folks only ask it when it comes to our campaign.

BERMAN: But let me ask you -- let me point to one thing about why it's so important. There have been events with Senator Sanders where I thought it was interesting and notable that towards the beginning of his event, he would volunteer at the beginning of the event that he will support whoever the eventual Democratic nominee is. That's a strange thing here.

TURNER: He's been saying that since 2016.

BERMAN: But at the beginning --

TURNER: But the reason why he continues to say it is because our campaign has been the only campaigned plagued with that kind of question. You need to ask all of the candidates and all the people who support those candidates, will they be willing to support Senator Bernard Sanders when he wins this primary.

BERMAN: All right. As you look forward, the best case scenario if he was winning Iowa, winning New Hampshire, which Bernie Sanders won before, winning Nevada --

TURNER: And came close to winning this state.

BERMAN: Yes, and came close to winning Nevada. He did very well in Nevada four years ago. So if you are three-for-three, you know then that people are going to start coming after you, Democrats, Republicans, everybody, the president will.

Look to next summer if Bernie Sanders is the nominee, you know the president is going to come at the senator with socialist, socialist.

TURNER: Listen, we have corporate welfare in the United States of America. I want to hear people talk about that. But when you have a senator standing up and saying to this country and to the work-a-day people of this nation that I am coming for the greed of Wall Street, I'm coming for companies that pay zero in federal taxes, all Iowans, you deserve clean water, clean air, clean food. Hello, South Carolina, you deserve the same thing, Ohio, California, you name it. But the work-a-day people in this nation deserve better than what they're getting.

It is really sad the United States of America, that corporations can run away with our tax dollars. President Trump gave the wealthiest in this country a $1.6 trillion tax break. Nobody says a mumbling word how much does that cost. Is that not socialism? Is socialism on the capitalist side, socialism for businesses? But when you have a candidate that says to the everyday people of this nation that I am going to restore the body politic to bent to your will that I am going to change the material conditions for you and your family, your community and this nation.

[18:20:05]

That is what Senator Sanders is standing up for.

BERMAN: Last question, who do you like tonight in the game?

TURNER: Oh, my God. My Browns are not in that, John. I have no comment on that. I'm a Brown for life.

BERMAN: Nina Turner, great to have you here. You may have a life of disappointment ahead of you being a Cleveland Browns fan. I appreciate it.

Ana, let's go back to you, Denver Broncos fan in New York.

CABRERA: Life of disappointment in at least the last few years. Although we've had our share of success. I guess it's time to share the love a little bit. John Berman, you know all about sharing the love, right, as a Patriots fan?

BERMAN: That's right. We had a lot of love to share, I tell you that.

CABRERA: All right. Thank you, my friend, and get some sleep because it's going to be a long day for you tomorrow.

Now, just in the last hour, we are covering other news tonight. And, in fact, here, strict new restrictions on travelers in the U.S. who are coming from China have now gone into effect as the number of new coronavirus cases skyrockets to more than 14,000 people worldwide and a new ninth case is now confirmed in the United States.

The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases joins me live, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

CABRERA: We're following breaking news on the coronavirus. First, health officials say there are now nine confirmed cases here in the U.S. Those cases are in Arizona, California, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington State. And we have new numbers from the Chinese province where this outbreak started, 56 total deaths just in that one province, and more than 2,100 new cases there in just the past 24 hours. Let that soak in.

Effective about one hour ago, non-Americans who have visited China in the past two weeks may not enter the United States. And this just in, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has added four airports, Dallas, Detroit, Newark and Dulles to their list of airports where U.S. citizens who have traveled to China in the last 14 days can enter the U.S.

In the meantime, the top infectious disease doctor in the United States says, quote, there is no doubt that the coronavirus can spread between people even if they are not showing symptoms. The physician who said those words joins us right now. Dr. Anthony Fauci is the Director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Dr. Fauci, thanks for having this conversation with us.

You have also advised six U.S. presidents on global emergencies, like AIDS epidemic, Ebola, for example. So give it to us straight. As things stand right now, how much worse do you see this outbreak growing before it's contained or eliminated? ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: We really can't tell because we still are in an evolving process of the outbreak. As you mentioned very correctly, it's an accelerated number of cases, because each day, it increases by a substantial amount. And we don't know everything about this virus that we need to know.

It's interesting, we still that think that there's asymptomatic transmission but that original German case that was to be truly felt asymptomatic, when they questioned the woman again, she said that she maybe wasn't feeling so well, so that's a little bit of gray zone now. But still, the amount of spread that's going on right now in China, particularly in Wuhan, in that province where Wuhan is found is just something that's very alarming.

And the Chinese have done some rather dramatic things to try and curtail it by essentially locking down about 55 million people, which is really dramatic.

CABRERA: Right. And it sounds scary to all of us. But in terms of perspective, your organization says the current flu virus, not the coronavirus, but the flu has killed at least 10,000 people in this country alone in just the past four months with 19 million people infected. I mean, that's much more devastating.

So why such fear over the coronavirus?

FAUCI: Well, that's a really good point, Ana. And the reason is that this concern about what you don't know. We know despite the fact that you very well said that flu is really a clear and present threat right now. There are 8,000 to 10,000 people have died, over 100,000 hospitalization. But we know from years of experience that, for sure, the flu is going to peak soon and it likely will go very far down in March and April and we have a bracket of what kind of morbidity and mortality.

When you have a brand new infection, a brand new virus that you have no previous experience with, there's always that angst about where is it going to go. So right now, the mortality is 2 percent. And they were like -- they say 14,000, 15,000 people infected, so it's about 2 percent. But very likely, the people who are infected without symptoms are much, much greater number. And so the denominator is probably larger, which means the death rate is probably going to go down from a percentage standpoint.

But we don't know that, because. Literally, everyday and every week, we learn more and more about it. That's the reason for the anxiety. It's the unknown versus the known. And even though the known influenza is causing a lot of problems with us right now because we're in the middle of a flu season, right?

CABRERA: You talked about some of the measures Chinese authorities are taking there to try to stop the spread of this virus. I want to show you some of pictures, Chinese army troops, for example, wearing protective clothing, medical staff in China are taking precautions, people living and working are wearing masks and drones are flying up to people in public and yelling at them for not wearing masks. In fact, we're hearing of mask shortages.

How effective are those masks? Is that the best prevention?

FAUCI: Well, I mean, that may be -- the best prevention is to wash your hands and do social distancing and stay away from crowds where there's a lot of people sick and coughing and sneezing.

[18:30:04]

The masks are not perfect. They're not going to prevent all the viruses, the particles to get through. They may prevent some of the -- when you sneeze and you cough and you have those particles that come out.

But one of the things that's interesting, it may serve an indirect purpose of preventing people from touching their nose and their mouth, which is one of the ways things are transmitted, but it's not a perfect shield against viral particles.

It may be better than no mask but it's not a hundred percent protection, that's for sure.

CABRERA: OK. Dr. Anthony Fauci, thank you very much for raising awareness about coronavirus with us tonight. We know you're continuing to study this virus as it continues to spread.

As Democrats crisscross Iowa -- it's the day before the all-important Iowa caucuses tomorrow -- they're making they're closing arguments to voters there. We'll hear what some of the voters think.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:23]

CABRERA: Welcome back. In just 24 hours, Iowa will be the first state to help decide the fate of the 2020 election. But until tomorrow, who wins there is anyone's guess. CNN Chief National Correspondent, John King talked to voters in Des Moines about which candidate they're backing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANELLE TURNER, IOWA CAUCUSGOER: I'm Janelle Turner and I am supporting Joe Biden.

KURT WEAKLAND, IOWA CAUCUSGOER: I am Kurt Weakland and I will be caucusing for Warren.

TERRI HALE, BUTTIGIEG SUPPORTER: I'm Terri Hale and I'm caucusing for Pete Buttigieg.

BRANDI MILLER, IOWA CAUCUS GOER: And I'm Brandy Miller and I'm caucusing for Bernie Sanders.

And I think his platform is a lot broader and covers a lot of categories that mean more to all of America. So not just even my special needs but there's various needs. And so, I think he covers -- u mean, climate control. I mean, he covers it all.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You were for Bernie four years ago, right?

WEAKLAND: I was, yes.

KING: And so, why not this time?

WEAKLAND: I feel like he's a little too old, maybe, and I like some of the other candidates. I liked Warren four years ago and kind of hoped she would come up then but that didn't happen, so.

KING: We met when you were initially with another candidate who is no longer in the race. How did you get to Biden from Harris?

TURNER: We were devastated when she dropped out so early. It was rather unexpected. So I kind of took my time, thought about it, looked at all the candidates, and ultimately came to Joe. I think he's got the experience and normalcy that we so desperately need right now.

KING: And Mayor Pete, why?

HILL: I had made up my mind that I was probably going to support a woman because it was time. I knew we had really phenomenal women who were going to be entering the race. But then, I saw Pete, it was about a year ago, and he kind of ruined all that for me.

There is his optimism and that calm temperament. And, you know, I left the room that night realizing that's what I'm looking for in a leader. I am so tired of angry, finger-pointing, erratic, overemotional behavior -- immature behavior.

You know, Trump's 73; Pete, 38. Who's the adult in the room? It's Pete.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Our thanks to John King for that Iowa voter snapshot.

Christine Romans is here now with this week's "Before the Bell." Christine.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's a busy week as investors kick off February trading. January started strong but coronavirus fears dented the rally. And those worries haven't gone away.

This week, Wall Street also has a flood of corporate earnings and economic reports in the mix. A closely watched manufacturing gauge is due tomorrow. And on Friday, the Labor Department releases the January jobs report.

As for the earnings parade, Google parent Alphabet, Disney, Ford, G.M., and Uber are among the companies reporting quarterly results.

Of course, Wall Street will also be watching what happens in Iowa tomorrow night. With the primary season underway, investors are bracing for some election year volatility.

In New York, I'm Christine Romans.

[18:38:37]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: It's all but certain President Trump will get what he's been waiting for on Wednesday, his acquittal in the Senate impeachment trial. This after the Senate voted against calling new witnesses and evidence.

Republicans have generally refrained from even criticizing Trump's actions involving Ukraine. But now, some are starting to concede that he acted improperly, Republican Senator Joni Ernst among them.

She voted against allowing witnesses in the Senate trial, but she told CNN's Jake Tapper this morning that the President should have handled things differently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Assuming President Trump is acquitted on Wednesday and assuming you're going to vote to acquit him, yes?

SEN. JONI ERNST (R), IOWA: Right.

TAPPER: Are you confident that he won't do this again, that he won't try to get another foreign country to look into a political opponent, whether it's Elizabeth Warren or Pete Buttigieg or someone else?

ERNST: I think that he knows now that if he is trying to do certain things, whether it's ferreting out corruption there in Afghanistan, whatever it is, he needs to go through the proper channels. So, again, using the DOJ and other international organizations to get to that corruption.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: That brings us to your "Weekend Presidential Brief," a segment we bring you every Sunday night with the most pressing national security issues President Trump will face this week.

And joining us now is national security analyst Sam Vinograd. She helped prepare the presidential daily brief for President Obama.

So, Sam, what's next after impeachment, especially when it seems like there's really nothing to stop President Trump from repeating his behavior?

SAMANTHA VINOGRAD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, that's exactly right. I have to respond to Senator Ernst's comments. She said it -- she said it was unlikely President Trump would do this again. Well, Ana, we have history as a guide here.

Remember, after the Mueller investigation, which looked at the President conspiring with a foreign power to help his election, President Trump then went on to try to pressure a foreign power to help his election. He clearly doesn't learn from admonishment. He now feels emboldened to repeat this behavior. And that adds real risks from an election security standpoint.

This is a "why not" moment for President Trump. It's unlikely that he's going to be removed from office. He won't be criminally indicted. And, frankly, he lacks a moral compass or a code of ethics, so he has no reason to stop trying to benefit from foreign election interference. And that impacts Americans' ability to decide the outcome of the next election absent foreign influence.

[18:45:12]

It also presents new challenges because our law enforcement professionals have a much harder time investigating foreign election interference and holding individuals accountable for it when it's being done at the President's behest. That's another challenge.

And, finally, from a more general oversight perspective, the cost- benefit analysis of reporting perceived presidential abuses of power through protected channels is much lower.

It's clear that Congress is a dead-end when it comes to holding the President accountable, and I think this could disincentivize American government officials for trying to shine a light on the President's misbehavior.

CABRERA: Our Fareed Zakaria sat down with the Jared Kushner, the President's senior advisor and son-in-law, and -- in an interview that aired this morning. They talked about Middle East peace. They also talked about former national security advisor, John Bolton. And Kushner implied that, you know, Bolton just couldn't cut it in this administration as well as other former officials.

What does it take to survive in the administration then? And what is the road ahead, do you think, for Trump's Middle East peace plan?

VINOGRAD: I don't really think that being a survivor in the Trump administration is viewed by many as a good thing. I mean, the designated survivors' list right now is full of people that had been willing to blindly follow Trump's orders, whether legal, in the national interest or not.

Now, in the Middle East, this plan may actually not move the parties closer to peace; it may move them further away. The Palestinians were not part of developing this plan. They've already rejected it.

And it is viewed as highly biased in Israel's favor. It gives the Israelis control over most of Jerusalem. It denies Palestinian's the right to return to Israel, and it denies a potential future Palestinian state the right to form a military.

Now, Kushner and co. are pointing to the fact that Israel has agreed upon a map for potential future Palestinian statehood. That map is really unacceptable to the Palestinians. They are not going to look at that as something that is really going to be popular among their base. And the state would only happen in several years after the Palestinians perform and agree upon certain conditions.

Trump's trump card here, though, may be the fact that he has gotten some Arab states to support this plan. Oman, Bahrain, for example, were present at the plan's unveiling. And Trump may be relying on Arab state donors to the Palestinian authority to really tell the Palestinians that this is as good as it gets, and they have to come to the table.

CABRERA: Sam Vinograd, as always, good to have you here.

VINOGRAD: Thanks, Ana.

CABRERA: Thank you so much for your analysis.

One of World War II's famous Navajo code talkers has died. This is Joe Vandever, Sr. He was one of roughly 400 Navajo tribe members who served on a special team in the U.S. Marine Corps during that war.

And they used a unique coded language to send information over the radio and telephone on battlefield topics, troop movements, and other military secrets. Their language was indecipherable to the Japanese and was seen as a key factor in America's military victories in the Pacific theater.

Vandever's family says he died from health complications. He was 96 years old. Just a few Navajo code talkers are still living. We'll be right back.

[18:48:31]

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CABRERA: Michael Bloomberg's presidential campaign has been unusual from the outset. From skipping Iowa to now glad-handing to a whole new level. Let's just take a look at the K9 crowd. Here's CNN's Jeanne Moos.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not that Mike Bloomberg doesn't know how to shake hands. It's what he shook when he glad-handed a dog. Instead of doing this --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paw!

MOOS (voice-over): -- I regret to inform you that Mike Bloomberg attempted to shake a dog's mouth. Oh, sure, he topped it off with a nice tickle, but still! Ayayay! Tweeted one wag (ph), he thought it was Bernie.

And it wasn't the first time Bloomberg shook a dog's snout. A second image emerged. Does this mean he's another billionaire lukewarm to pooches?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And the guy choked like a dog.

MOOS (voice-over): President Trump's first wife wrote about his cold war with her dog, Chappy, Donald was not a dog fan. Bloomberg's girlfriend once gave him two Labs. The "New York Times" reported the then-Mayor told her the dogs could stay but she would be looking after them. And now, this.

To warm up his image, Bloomberg posted a video --

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: No!

MOOS (voice-over): -- featuring the two dogs he currently owns, captioned starting the day with my senior advisers, Cody and Libby.

MOOS (on camera): Bloomberg's social media team turned to the doggy demo, whipping out this instant ad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike Bloomberg is the man to lead us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He will create more jobs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mike's not afraid of the NRA, not one bit.

MOOS (voice-over): Contrasting their master with President Trump, Bloomberg's own dogs chimed in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He does not tweet.

MOOS (voice-over): It could have been worse. At least Bloomberg didn't attempt the Trumpian and yank on the dog's mouth.

MOOS (on camera): Bloomberg's snout grabbing inspired someone to paraphrase that famous Trump quote.

When you're a billionaire, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the snout. Hashtag dogs fur mike. To the rescue --

[18:55:01]

UNIDENTIFIED MAKE: I like Mike. I lick Mick.

MOOS (voice-over): But don't bite Mike. Instead of this, stick with this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Meet the President. Yes!

MOOS (voice-over): Jeanne Moos, CNN.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Mike Bloomberg's dog. I approve this message.

MOOS (voice-over): New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Be sure to keep it locked on CNN. We have a whole week of special political coverage. Monday, it's the Iowa caucuses; Tuesday, the state of the union address; Wednesday and Thursday, back to back presidential town halls live from new New Hampshire. So stay with CNN for all of that coming up this week.

That's going to do it for me tonight. I'm Ana Cabrera. Thank you so much for being here. Up next, it's "DEATH ROW STORIES." Good night.

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