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Democratic Candidates Ramp Up Attacks Ahead Of New Hampshire Primary; Two NYPD Officers Shot In What Officials Call Assassination Attempts; Interview With Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) Regarding Ongoing Attacks Of Biden On Buttigieg. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired February 09, 2020 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:02]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us on this special by city show. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.
RYAN NOBLES, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Ryan Nobles live from Manchester, New Hampshire. Fred, we're just two days away from voters casting their ballots in the nation's first primary of 2020. A lot of excitement here in the Granite State and we've got a lot to talk about this hour.
WHITFIELD: Look forward to it. So as this race, you know, heats up, the gloves are also coming off. Democrats are fanning out across New Hampshire this weekend, each making their case to be the next President, and now there's a new battle brewing within the party. This time, it's former Vice President Joe Biden on the attack.
He released a blistering new campaign ad criticizing Pete Buttigieg's record as mayor of South Bend, Indiana, and mocking his lack of experience on the national stage. Buttigieg fired back today on CNN's "State of the Union."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's a typical political attack and it's too bad because, you know, so many communities, communities like mine in South Bend, we know that we might look small from the perspective of Washington, but to us, it's what's going on in Washington that looks so small and small minded.
And, you know, communities, whether they're my size or rural communities or even neighborhoods in our biggest cities that feel completely left behind are frustrated with being made into a punch line by Washington politicians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, now, with just two days before the New Hampshire primary, we're getting a clear picture of where this race stands.
A brand new CNN/University of New Hampshire poll is out and this one was partially taken after Friday's Democratic debate, and it shows a little change at the top.
Senator Bernie Sanders is maintaining a strong lead heading into Tuesday's vote.
We have team coverage in New Hampshire covering all the twists and turns on the campaign trail. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is with the Bernie Sanders campaign. So Jeff, is he feeling confident.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, there's no question that Bernie Sanders is closing this New Hampshire campaign with an air of confidence.
Of course he is, you know, very much aware of the lead he has in the poll, but he also is keeping an eye on his competitor who is just behind him and that is Pete Buttigieg.
Senator Sanders went throughout the Iowa campaign, really throughout the last year, rarely mentioning any of his rivals, but since Iowa and since Friday, in fact, Senator Sanders mentions Pete Buttigieg at every campaign stop.
He reminds voters here in New Hampshire that Buttigieg raises money the old-fashioned way, from millionaires and even billionaires he says. Take a listen to what Bernie Sanders said just a few moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm running against some guys, Pete Buttigieg, among others, who have raised campaign funds from over 40 billionaires -- 40 billionaires, heads of large corporations, CEOs in the pharmaceutical industry, people from Wall Street.
Our campaign is a very different campaign, and I am enormously proud to tell you that we have received more campaign contributions from more people averaging $18.50 than any candidate in the history of the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: So it's notable that Bernie Sanders not mentioning Joe Biden, not mentioning Elizabeth Warren, who once was thought to be his chief rival here in the State of New Hampshire.
But he is pointing out how Pete Buttigieg raises money in a different way.
Of course, there is nothing illegal and nothing wrong with how Pete Buttigieg raises money. He says, look, he needs to raise money in large chunks because he's not a wealthy man. He's not been doing political fundraising as long as Bernie Sanders has.
But it is clear that the Sanders campaign, yes, they feel confident, but they are keeping an eye on what seems to be a surge, or at least the strength of Pete Buttigieg in these closing days of New Hampshire. But Fred, one thing, there's a big question hanging over this
campaign. Will Bernie Sanders be able to expand his universe of supporters into some older voters?
Our poll shows that yes, he is strong among voters under 45. But among over 45, he is trailing Pete Buttigieg in a big way.
Here at this rally, at least in Hanover, which is of course on the campus of Dartmouth, many young students, but that the question, can Bernie Sanders attract older voters and a diverse coalition of Democrats as this race goes beyond New Hampshire? That is his big challenge.
Also turnout. Can he inspire voters here to come out for him on Tuesday? He acknowledges being disappointed at the turnout in Iowa. He was hoping for considerably higher turnout.
But even all those things said, he still feels confident going into Tuesday. But Fred, New Hampshire primaries have a history of delivering surprises. So we'll see if that happens on Tuesday -- Fred.
WHITFIELD: We will indeed. All right, Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much.
All right, meanwhile, many campaign watchers are waiting to see how Tuesday's vote will shake out before -- between rather two of the more moderate members of the party, former Vice President Joe Biden and former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
[15:05:10]
WHITFIELD: And if their current feud will actually sway the results. CNN's Jessica Dean is with the Biden campaign.
So Jessica, what is this all about? Are we seeing a different Joe Biden kind of emerge here?
JESSICA DEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. I think that's true. We've seen different variations over the last 24 hours, that's for sure.
So to give you a big picture look at what's going on. We have this ascendant, Pete Buttigieg. Joe Biden with a disappointing fourth place finish in Iowa, and now coming into New Hampshire, lagging behind Pete Buttigieg in the polls.
Now his campaign always said -- Joe Biden's campaign always said, look, we don't have to win New Hampshire and Iowa to go where we want to go to win this nomination.
But Fred, they also didn't anticipate being beat this much by Pete Buttigieg in Iowa, and potentially in New Hampshire.
So yesterday, we saw a new side of Joe Biden going directly after Pete Buttigieg. They released that video online that attacked Pete Buttigieg experience comparing it to the Vice President's experience. And then we heard from both of them on the Sunday shows this morning,
take a listen to what they were saying the day after all of this back and forth started.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HSOT: After CNN's Jeff Zeleny pointed out that Biden made a similar inexperience attack on Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential race, former Vice President Biden replied, "This guy is not a Barack Obama." What do you think of that?
BUTTIGIEG: Well, he's right. I'm not and neither is he. Neither is any of us running for President. And this isn't 2008. It's 2020. And we are in a new moment calling for a different kind of leadership.
Look, we are facing the most disruptive President in modern times. And I don't think the same playbook that helped us get here is going to work against him.
We're also facing the most divisive President in modern times, which is why I'm equally concerned about a message that says, if you're not either -- if you're not for revolution, you must be for the status quo because I think that leaves most people out.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE Well, let's get something straight here. I didn't attack Pete. Pete has been attacking me. He's been saying the reason we're in the problem right now is because of the recent past. That's eight years of Obama and me.
I don't get it. I don't understand that. And I think he has completely misunderstood or misrepresented my record.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DEAN: So from the Biden campaign's perspective, look, they're ready to get to Nevada. They're ready to get to South Carolina.
Their argument all along is this is a complete package, the first four early states, and that they are going to do better when voters of color start voting. That is where Joe Biden really shows his strength among African-American voters, among Latinos. They want to get to Nevada, they want to get to South Carolina.
But Fred, the whole thing is, they can't play so far behind here in New Hampshire that he looks too weak.
So we saw him punching back at Pete Buttigieg. We saw him naming Bernie Sanders. We saw a more aggressive Joe Biden really making the case about experience, about what he wants to do and hoping that the people here in New Hampshire will hear that.
Of note though today, he has already had one event here in New Hampshire and he did not comment on Buttigieg or Sanders.
So it'll be interesting to see once he gets to the second event, does he continue on that streak today? We'll find out -- Fred. WHITFIELD: Okay. We will indeed. You keep us posted. Jessica Dean,
thank you so much. Appreciate that.
All right, so voters are trying to assess a lot about each candidate. Ryan nobles, you're there, you know, but how important is it for these voters to have that kind of face time in these intimate settings in these last few hours with these candidates?
NOBLES: Yes, you know, Fred, that's always so important to New Hampshire voters. New Hampshire voters similar to Iowa voters expect to be able to shake hands with these candidates before they actually vote for them, and we're going to talk more about that now with Alex Thompson, who is a national political reporter for POLITICO.
Alex, before we get into this back and forth. You and I were talking about this before we came on the air about this kind of the interesting dynamic you get, especially in the last weekend before a primary.
Certainly, there are a lot of New Hampshire rights that go to these events. But there's also people from out of town, these kind of political tourists. It's kind of unique to both New Hampshire and Iowa.
ALEX THOMPSON, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, POLITICO: Yes, I mean, go to any parking lot, and you'll see every state of all of New England in these parking lots on the license plates.
I mean, it's almost sort of like a version of antiquing every four years. They just come in and the worst is when you're doing like a voter interview, and in five minutes, and you're like, so you're a New Hampshire voter? And they're like, no. So you just wasted all of your time.
NOBLES: Yes, right. And I saw you've been on an Iowa. There were folks from Australia, from all around the world that kind of take place in this unique American experience.
But let's talk about the race itself, and I'm interested in your take as you've been covering 2020 now from basically the beginning of this dynamic between Vice President Biden and Mayor Buttigieg.
You know, obviously we've -- for so long, the Vice President tried to stay above the fray. You know, he's acted like a front runner. Now voters are actually voting, he's not the front runner anymore. What do you think of the strategy to kind of call Pete Buttigieg and his experience out.
[15:10:03]
THOMPSON: I mean, it would have been more effective if he'd done it before Iowa, but now he's doing it from a place of weakness.
Essentially, Joe Biden -- and not just Joe Biden, but Elizabeth Warren really did not see Pete sneaking up on them. And Pete didn't just sneak up on the former Vice President. You had
the former mayor of South Bend beat the former Vice President of the United States by about 10 points, and basically do a tie with Bernie Sanders.
So Joe Biden is now going in the attack, and that's actually been Pete's response. It's like, well, you're only attacking me now because I won, and it's a pretty good rejoinder.
NOBLES: Yes, and you know, there are a lot of Democrats who are concerned about the party coming together to take on Donald Trump, and we should point out that up until this point, this has been a pretty tame primary. They have not attacked each other at all.
We're now seeing those attacks start to increase. Do you think it's going to be possible for whoever the nominee -- are they going to be able to bring the party back together and take on Donald Trump?
THOMPSON: Well, the best unifier in Democratic politics is Donald Trump.
NOBLES: Yes.
THOMPSON: And I think almost the anti-Trump fervor is stronger than almost any of the passion for any of the candidates. The biggest concern, I think, for any Democrat is that Bernie doesn't win the nomination, what do you do in order to get his folks back?
Because as we saw in 2016, just enough votes go away in those Midwestern states, and that could be the ballgame.
NOBLES: Yes, that's interesting. There's all this talk about Senator Sanders supporting the eventual nominee. But what if he is the nominee, how important is his base of support?
Let's talk more about Sanders. And, you know, it feels like we're going to be talking about the debacle in Iowa, probably forever. But we still need to talk about it now, even though we're two days out.
Listen to what Senator Sanders had to say about that situation this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: Look, all I can say about Iowa is it was an embarrassment. It was a disgrace to the good people of Iowa who take their responsibilities in the caucuses very seriously.
They screwed it up badly, is what the Iowan Democratic Party did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBLES: Do you think at this point, Alex, the results in Iowa matter? I mean, we know that it was essentially a tie between Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. Is it basically in the rearview mirror for most voters? THOMPSON: I think so. I mean, we're going to have new results now in
two days. And by the time that someone is declared a winner in Iowa, I think everyone agrees, Pete and Bernie won Iowa.
You know, whether or not someone wins by one standard delegate, you know, I don't think it really matters at this point.
NOBLES: Yes. So let's look into the future now. Interesting, Iowa didn't really call the field. There's a good chance New Hampshire will. We'll probably see a lot of these candidates drop out.
And there's some thought about will there be a moderate alternative that emerges prior to Super Tuesday? Michael Bloomberg, the former New York City mayor is probably hoping that doesn't happen so he can say, hello, here I am waiting for you in California and Texas.
We're told that he actually met with a group of Democratic governors last night. They're not going to endorse before the 2020 race. But what do you make of this fact that he is making these entrees to these very powerful Democrats? Do you think this is his effort to coalesce kind of the establishment support behind him ahead of Super Tuesday?
THOMPSON: I think it's more about taking them off the table to make sure that establishment support doesn't go to anybody else before Super Tuesday.
I think he understands that it's a hard ask to ask people that, you know, to endorse a mayor, who -- in 2004, he spoke at the Republican convention and do it while Joe Biden is still in the race, while Pete Buttigieg is in the race, while Elizabeth Warren is in the race. I think it's a hard ask.
But he wants to make sure that it still stays scrambled. Just one month more and then he is going to come in with, you know, $500 million, a billion dollars by the end of his primary, and he's going to say, I'm going to spend whatever it takes to beat Trump. I'm the guy if you want to get it done, if you really want to beat Trump, I am your best option because I'll just take care of it for you.
NOBLES: Right, right. Right. Great. Terrific insight, Alex. Thank you so much. Obviously, a lot more to go in this campaign, particularly here in New Hampshire.
Fred, let's send it back to you.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Ryan. All right, coming up, two New York Police officers shot in less than 12 hours, one of them released from the hospital a short time ago as Mayor de Blasio demands answers and investigators say the suspect is no stranger to the law.
Plus, the gloves are off in the 2020 race, but it's not just the candidates who are on the attack. An army of Bernie Sanders supporters, turning social media upside down with messages of hate.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:18:21]
WHITFIELD: All right, we're now getting our first look at what is being called two assassination attempts on New York police officers.
This is police surveillance video of the shooting that took place this morning. The suspect is seen on the left of the screen entering the 41st Precinct in the Bronx. Within a second, he opens fire on several police officers inside the precinct.
The gunman injured one officer in that shooting before police were able to take the suspect into custody. Police believe the same man is responsible for opening fire on two officers sitting in a van 12 hours earlier, when an officer was injured by a gunshot wound in that Saturday night attack.
He was released from the hospital just moments ago as a crowd of police officers as you can hear right there applauded. He is expected to make a full recovery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (NY): This wasn't attempt to assassinate police officers. We need to use that word because it was a premeditated effort to kill and not just to kill other human beings, but to kill those who wear a uniform that represents all of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: CNN's Polo Sandoval is covering this story for us. So Polo, what more are you learning about these shootings?
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, as one of those police officers heads home, the second one continues to recover in the hospital you see behind me.
Now, as investigators identify the suspected gunman involved here, a 45-year-old man from the Bronx identified as Robert Williams according to investigators.
They're now trying to establish a motive here, but we know a little bit more about this 45-year-old man, the suspect involved in this case, he had a lengthy criminal record according to the Police Commissioner.
In fact, he was convicted of attempted murder and then been recently paroled, actually in 2017 when that happened. So again Investigators now trying to piece together a motive as they look back at what took place this morning and last night.
[15:20:10]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DERMOT SHEA, NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT COMMISSIONER: He immediately pulls out a gun and fires multiple rounds towards the desk area where several uniformed members of the service in uniform were present. He then walks into an area beside that desk and again fire several
rounds at point blank range directly at uniformed members of the service and a civilian member of the New York City Police Department, striking none in that room.
It is only by the grace of God and the heroic actions of those inside the building that took him into custody that we are not talking about police officers murdered inside a New York City police precinct.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: Authorities here clearly, Fred, saying that the fact that these two officers are still alive today is certainly nothing short of a miracle, particularly when you see those images that we captured earlier this morning, when you see New York officer Stroffolino being led out into a vehicle with his family and his brothers and sisters in blue cheering him on.
That second officer, a New York City police lieutenant that was shot at the precinct earlier this morning, we are told that he was shot in the arm. Again, he's in the hospital behind me and continues to recover here.
Authorities saying, Fred, both officers will make full recoveries which is really incredible as they try to find out exactly why this man allegedly targeted these officers last night and this morning.
WHITFIELD: All right, Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.
All right, up next, Biden versus Buttigieg, a new campaign ad stoking tensions in the presidential race, but does it hurt the Democrats and help President Trump? We'll talk about that, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:26:06]
WHITFIELD: All right, with the New Hampshire primary less than 48 hours away, former Vice President Joe Biden is on the attack and he is making no apologies for it.
Instead, Biden appears to be doubling down after targeting former mayor, Pete Buttigieg in a recent ad over his experience or lack thereof.
In an interview today, Biden stood by the ads negative tone and implied that he is merely just trying to defend himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Look, he is the one who has been attacking me, George. I never said a word about him. But he's talking from the beginning about how I don't have a record to run on, that Biden -- all the problems from the past.
And it was used to be Barack and me. Now, he found out how proper Barack is, so it's now just me as if I wasn't any part of that administration.
And so I was responding to -- I haven't done this, I responded to his attacks on me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, joining me right now, Congressman Vicente Gonzalez. He serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and has endorsed Biden for President. Good to see you, Congressman.
REP. VICENTE GONZALEZ (D-TX): Good to see you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, so we're told that you know, Biden donors want to see more of that Biden. You know, they want Biden to be more aggressive, go on the attack. Is that what you want to see as well?
GONZALEZ: Well, I think he only needs to do that if appropriate when people are attacking him, obviously.
But I think he has displayed real presidential skills. If you see his last debate, he was the only one who could really articulate the importance of an American leadership in NATO.
He has the foreign experience, foreign world experience in terms of meeting with world leaders and dictating foreign policy.
He really is the only candidate that could get us past the finish line in November and that's why he is being attacked not only by other Democrats, but by Trump's administration.
He continues to be attacked by his administration because they know if we have a Joe Biden, at the end of the day in November that will be the most complicated election for Donald Trump.
But also, we can't call a winner when only two of the widest states in the country have voted. So I think Biden needs to get down the road to other states like Nevada, South Carolina.
I believe he's going to do well in Texas. He's been endorsed by a lot of African-American members of Congress, a lot of Latino Members of Congress. And I think he's the leadership position within the field of Democrats that are running right now and we need to keep staying behind him and assure that we have a winning candidate when we get to November.
We can't just get emotional about someone we like, we really need to take a look at who is the most viable candidate to beat Donald Trump in November, and that the only person that can do that is Joe Biden.
WHITFIELD: So do you worry that Biden being more aggressive, you know, against his Democratic opponents is contrary to what Biden said early on, which was you know, he wants to be a unifier within the party and his clear opponent was Donald Trump.
Do you think that his recent campaign ad or even his, you know position against Buttigieg on the Friday night stage is contrary to all of that?
GONZALEZ: I think he is probably responding -- I believe he is more responding to members of his own party who are attacking him on issues that he is trying to clarify.
But at the end of the day, I think he is still the best candidate who can beat Donald Trump in November, and we need to be cognizant of that and get behind the winner and get behind the person who could take us past the finish line.
They're all great candidates. Joe Biden is the only one who can win in November.
WHITFIELD: Okay. Okay. You see, that's advantageous then.
Well, let's talk about, you know, the General Election, you know, moving forward, you talk about there are other states where you feel confident that, you know, Biden will be doing well. It isn't just about, you know, Iowa and New Hampshire.
But, you know, there are some new polls that indicate that you know, Biden's electability is slipping and has in recent weeks and months. Are you concerned that when polled about him being the best candidate to take on Donald Trump that the numbers have dwindled a bit.
[15:30:12]
GONZALEZ: No, I'm not. You know, a day or two and a presidential race isn't eternity, and he has been the steady ship since day one. And I believe that he will continue to be that steady candidate all the way through the election.
I mean, you're going to see ups and downs in every campaign, but at the end of the day, I think the American people realize that Joe Biden is the only one with the experience and the capable campaign to keep forging ahead and get us past the November election defeating President Donald Trump.
WHITFIELD: Okay, some Republicans want to make sure that, you know, Joe Biden doesn't even make it to the General Election.
GONZALEZ: That is right. They absolutely are trying to do that.
WHITFIELD: I mean, the President's allies you saw, you know, what has transpired in the last 24 hours. The President's allies in Congress, you know, continuing to attack Biden and even threatened and say they want to launch these investigations into Hunter Biden, regardless of what just transpired in the impeachment process.
Here's what G.O.P. Senator Lindsey Graham had to say earlier today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): The Democrats are being played and I'm not going to be played. So we're going to look at the Hunter Biden-Joe Biden connection to the
Ukraine. We're going to ask the State Department, why didn't you do something about the conflict of interest?
When John Kerry's Chief of sStaff was warned about Hunter Biden's conflict on Burisma, what did you do if anything? That's all legitimate.
Rudy says he's got the goods. All I can tell Rudy and anybody else, if you've got some information connected to the Ukraine against anybody, go to the Intel Committee, not me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So what do you think about that? I mean, even Lindsey Graham went on to say that, you know, he had a conversation with the Attorney General Barr about the goods, the information that the personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani has right now. This is four days after the end of the Senate trial.
GONZALEZ: Yes, it doesn't surprise me. This is a continuation of their political attack against Joe Biden, because they know this is the candidate who can defeat Donald Trump.
WHITFIELD: Do you think this is going to undermine, hurt Joe Biden?
GONZALEZ: It is to try to hurt Joe Biden's campaign. And I think a Democratic voters are smarter than that.
WHITFIELD: Do you think it will undercut --
GONZALEZ: I don't believe so. At the end of the day, I think smart Democratic voters see through that and Joe Biden is going to do well.
WHITFIELD: Okay. Well, what do you see in the days ahead for Joe Biden? Does he address it? Does he not? I mean, you know, how do you see this potentially --
GONZALEZ: This has already been addressed, and most of those allegations have been debunked. I think, he just needs to continue with his message to the American people that he is the most capable candidate to take us past the November election.
And I think most of the American people know this. We're going to see as he continues down this campaign path, and I think his numbers are going to increase in every state from here on out, and we're going to continue seeing Joe Biden at the front of the pack.
And I think he's going to be our candidate in November and we're going to defeat Donald Trump.
WHITFIELD: Okay. Except that you know that the President is not going to let it go. It sounds like he, you know, and other Republicans are going to keep going on it.
GONZALEZ: I think that's going to hurt him. WHITFIELD: Okay.
GONZALEZ: Because it's clear that it's a political fiasco.
WHITFIELD: Okay. Well, lastly, let me ask you, you know, you serve in the House Affairs Committee, you know, I want to get your reaction to this attack in Afghanistan killing -- which led to the killing of two U.S. service members. What do you know about the circumstances of what happened and the concerns from this --
GONZALEZ: We don't know the details. We will be talking about that here this next week. My prayers go out to the family that lost these two soldiers.
WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Congressman Vicente Gonzalez. Thank you so much for being with me. Appreciate it.
All right, as the 2020 election heats up, we're taking a look back at some of the most hard fought presidential races throughout history. The CNN original series, "Race for the White House" returns next Sunday 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:38:08]
WHITFIELD: There has been another spike in the coronavirus deaths. Eighty nine people have died on Saturday in China bringing the worldwide death toll to at least 813 and making it more deadly than the SARS epidemic nearly two decades ago.
There are now more than 37,000 confirmed cases around the world. More than 1,000 Americans have been evacuated from the City of Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak.
And there is some good news for the 3,600 people trapped on a cruise ship in Hong Kong since last week. They were allowed to leave the ship after everyone tested negative for coronavirus.
Two U.S. soldiers were killed and six more injured in an attack at a base in Eastern Afghanistan. A military spokesman says someone in an Afghan uniform began firing a machine gun on U.S. and Afghan forces.
The two soldiers had been identified as Sergeant First Class Javier Gutierrez of San Antonio, Texas, and Sergeant First Class Antonio Rodriguez of Las Cruces, New Mexico. Both were just 28 years old.
Thirteen thousand U.S. troops are currently serving in Afghanistan, fighting terrorist groups and assisting local forces in that country.
John Kirby is a retired Rear Admiral and a CNN military and diplomatic analyst.
So Admiral, good to see you. So how do they get to the bottom of the circumstances here? JOHN KIRBY, CNN MILITARY AND DIPLOMATIC ANALYST: Well, the
investigation I'm sure is up and running quite energetically at this point and I suspect they're talking to as many witnesses as they can. Some were injured in are still alive.
As soon as they can talk to them. I'm sure they will. And they'll try to find out exactly what the motive here was, what started this shooting and what information did they have on the individual shooter himself who we understood through, at least Afghan sources was killed in this shooting.
So they'll talk to everybody. They'll try to get the ground truth on exactly how this thing started and how it got so deadly.
[15:40:05]
WHITFIELD: Yes and 13,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, give us an idea of what the role many of the servicemen and women have there.
KIRBY: The large proportion of that number of Fred are in an advice- and-assist capacity. Their job is to help train Afghan National Security Forces and Afghan National Police Forces to do their job in securing the population in their own territory.
There are a smaller number of American troops, Special Forces that are in a counterterrorism role there. They are helping the Afghans actually go after terrorism targets that target both Western interests as well as Afghan interest.
This could be, this partner in operation that we saw this weekend here, that's what this could have been since they were Special Forces soldiers. That's not a leap of logic there to think that they might have been on a counterterrorism mission.
WHITFIELD: All right, Admiral John Kirby, thank you so much.
KIRBY: You bet.
WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead. Abuse, online bullying, even threats. Bernie Sanders supporters targeting online critics in harsh and cruel ways even exposing their personal lives.
The candidate is condemning the attacks, but are the supporters listening?
And CNN is live all over New Hampshire crisscrossing the state with the candidates just two days now before the primary. Our team coverage and analysis continues in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:45:50]
WHITFIELD: All right, with less than two days before the New Hampshire primary, it is shaping up to be a two-way race between Senator Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg. The Vermont senator is coming off his best fundraising month in the
campaign, and he has also got an outspoken and loyal group of followers backing him.
But there are questions being raised about whether some of those supporters are acting more like bullies. Here is CNN's Drew Griffin.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDERS: You are a loud crowd.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Say one thing bad about Bernie Sanders online anywhere and strident Sanders supporters may attack you personally.
Multiple targets described to CNN what they call a Sanders swarm, an online army of supporters on Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, some even digging into their personal lives, trying to out their identity, bully and frighten them into silence.
MIT lecturer Michael Trice says over and over again, the bullying works.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL TRICE, MIT LECTURER: The type of harassment that occurs, it is deeply hurtful. It's scary. It's frightening. Personally, I've had my job threatened online.
Many people have experienced far, far worse. And unless someone is willing to do more then, yes, it can only escalate because it's effective.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN (voice over): An outspoken Elizabeth Warren supporter whose daughter with Down Syndrome is just recovering from cancer was told, "You're stupid like your retard kid. Too bad the cancer didn't kill her."
Sanders opponents are told to "Eat this poop" and "Shut the F up." Activists dying of ALS tweeted support for Elizabeth Warren and was told "Go F yourself."
When the working families party also endorsed Warren. It was swarmed. "Bloodless, scumbag hacks." "Corrupt." "Shameless."
One user told the group's leader who is black, "Slave masters" had coerced his endorsement. The abuse so bad, Sanders had to respond, tweeting that that ALS activists was actually a friend and in another tweet, the candidate signaled to his followers this campaign condemns racist bullying and harassment of any kind.
It's not clear if the Sanders followers responsible are listening. In recent weeks, trolling Senator Elizabeth Warren as a snake, and then post after post, labeling Mayor Pete Buttigieg a rat. (END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (on camera): Two victims of this tells CNN they were so afraid of the online attacks they faced, they don't even want us to describe the circumstances for fear it would start up again.
They both just questioned the politics of Bernie Sanders in a public setting and their personal lives were exposed and attacked.
GRIFFIN (voice over): Ben Decker who studies online harassment and threats says it's unclear how the swarm start.
But Sanders supporters have been organizing in Facebook, Twitter and Reddit communities since 2016 and have only grown stronger.
And while social media harassment happens across the political spectrum, Decker says the sheer number of Sanders online supporters sets them apart from other followers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN DECKER, MEMETICA, CEO: I think anytime where you have far greater numbers you have far greater potential for harm, and in the online community, there are far greater Sanders supporters.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN (voice over): Decker use Facebook's data to analyze all the pages created by the supporters of Democratic presidential candidates, and found the pro-Sanders pages have two and a half million followers with nearly 58,000 posts in a three-month period, far more than all the other Democratic candidates combined.
If only a fraction of those engage in nasty comments, they're still capable of bullying critics off social media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DECKER: And that kind of bullying that happens at scale, it's crazy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN (voice over): Sanders has insisted in several interviews those who hate online are not welcome in his campaign and in a statement to CNN, his Deputy Communications Director says the senator has said loudly and clearly, there is no room in the political revolution for abuse and harassment online.
Not enough say those who study online abuse.
[15:50:10]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRICE: If you're not condemning it consistently, if your proxies within your campaign are not working against it and trying to do something different, then that's a real issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRIFFIN (voice over): An issue of abuse, online bullying, and even threats that experts say is only growing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRIFFIN (on camera): And it's not just some Sanders followers criticized for this online vitriol, Sanders speechwriter, David Sirota once lashed out at critics as being mentally incapacitated and wrote that Joe Biden has a big corruption problem.
Bernie Sanders again had to apologize on his campaign's behalf. As for Sirota, he didn't respond to our request for a comment and has deleted almost all of his past tweets. Back to you.
WHITFIELD: Drew Griffin, thank you so much. All right, straight ahead, state of emergency in parts of Oregon. Streets ripped apart and dozens of people rescued after two days of rain.
And from flash floods to the heat, a record high in Antarctica triggering more fears about the environment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:55:58]
WHITFIELD: All right. Dozens of people are airlifted from severe floodwaters in Oregon. At least 21 people evacuated by helicopter Saturday after 26 people were rescued from flooded areas on Friday.
The National Guard launching rescue operations after heavy rains made some major roads and bridges impassable. Two days of rain creating a massive snow melt in the mountains, which prompted what officials call some pretty wild flooding.
No injuries have been reported, but an emergency declaration remains in place for three counties in that state.
And climate activists are sounding the alarm after researchers measure the highest temperature ever recorded in Antarctica.
CNN's Natasha Chen has more on the climate concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NATASHA CHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A chilling milestone for the planet. A research base in Antarctica says it has recorded the hottest temperature on record for the continent.
Scientists say, a remote station in the northwest tip near South America reached 65 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, almost a full degree higher than the previous record measured five years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CLARE NULLIS, WORLD METEOROLOGICAL SPOKESWOMAN: It's among the
fastest warming regions of the planet. We hear a lot about the Arctic. But you know, this particular part of the Antarctic Peninsula is warming very quickly.
Over the past 50 years, it's warmed almost three degrees Celsius.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN (voice over): Antarctica is known for its frozen tundra conditions with some of the coldest temperatures on Earth.
But when it clocked in a few days ago, with temperatures similar to those in Southern California, climate activists raised the alarm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's important that we remind ourselves when we report on these record events that will look at the bigger picture.
What worries me is like sort of the long term average trends of increasing temperatures that we see around the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN (voice over): Global weather experts point out that it is technically summer in the southern hemisphere and plan to verify the data that record breaking heat is being felt around the world.
Forecasters say the global temperature last month was warmer than every previous January on record and if rising temperatures weren't enough, tour operators say the number of people traveling to Antarctica has increased by 50 percent in the past four years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCOISE LAPEYRE, FRENCH TOURIST (through translator): I'm a tourist who still feels a certain degree of guilt when I remember I flew here, and I'm traveling on a boat, even though it consumes less than others, and there are no more plastic bottles, we leave a footprint that you really can ignore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHEN (voice over): Spectators with a view of one of the most remote places in the world that could be irretrievably lost if current trends continue.
Natasha Chen, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And there was no shortage of material this week for the writers of "Saturday Night Live." They're open last night took plenty of jabs at the Democratic debate. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who do you think really won?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Donald Trump?
[LAUGHTER]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, out of the Democrats?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I guess me.
[LAUGHTER]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still can't believe all this mess happened in Iowa.
[APPLAUSE]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't believe all this mess happened in Iowa because of an app. Hey, I have an idea for an app. It's called no apps.
[LAUGHTER]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No apps. No computers. No gadgets. No gizmos.
[LAUGHTER]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You show up to your polling place, take a number like you do with the butcher.
[LAUGHTER]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They call your ticket, you walk up to the counter and say to the guy, give me a pound of whatever is about to go bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, hello again. And thank you so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta.
NOBLES: And I'm Ryan Nobles live from Manchester, New Hampshire where in about 48 hours from now, voters are going to decide who they want the Democratic nominee for President to be.
Fred, it's been a pretty sunny day here for the most part. The snow, as you can see behind me just starting to fall again, so we'll have to see if weather plays a role in all of this.
But I can tell you, a lot of people here in New Hampshire are excited for Tuesday.
WHITFIELD: That's right. That weather will not be a deterrent in any way. They are die hard there. I know this.
NOBLES: Yes.
WHITFIELD: All right, Ryan, it's still anybody's race to win and candidates are not leaving anything to chance.
[16:00:10]
