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Long Lines Of Early Voters And A Shortage Of Volunteers In Nevada; Christiane Amanpour Interviews Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Bloomberg's Ad Campaign; At Least 29 Americans Aboard Cruise Ship Have The Virus; NBA Legend's Life And Legacy Honored; U.S.-Taliban Agree To Reduce Violence In Afghanistan; Thousands Flee Violence Near Syria- Turkey Border. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired February 15, 2020 - 20:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANA CABRERA, CNN HOST: Good evening. You are live in CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera in New York.

And, tonight, long lines of voters and a shortage of volunteers. At least one precinct in Nevada is looking like this. Three and a half hour waits as early voting gets underway ahead of next weekend caucuses there. In fact, so many people are showing up to cast their ballots, there aren't enough workers to process them.

As crowds of voters head to the polls, the most powerful Democrat in the country says she feels that any of her party's, from any candidates, would be an improvement over the current president. And in an exclusive interview with CNN, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says, despite his weak showing in the early states, she believes former Vice President Joe Biden still has a shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), CALIFORNIA, SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Quite frankly, with all the respect in the world for Iowa and New Hampshire, I'm not counting Joe Biden out. There's still races ahead that are much more representative of the -- of the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Speaker Pelosi also insisting her fellow Democrats must be unified in order to defeat President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You've been elected over and over and over again. And you said to me before the midterms, as long as he's there, i.e. President Trump, I'm here.

PELOSI: Oh my God.

AMANPOUR: Is that still the case for you?

PELOSI: I can't even envision a situation where he would be re- elected. But we are not -- we don't take anything for granted. As I say, he -- we have to have our own vision for the future. But everybody knows that we must be unified in making sure that he does not have a second term. Our country is great. The American people are wonderful. We're a resilient country. We can withstand one term.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Also today, an announcement from the White House that the president will hold a campaign rally next week in Las Vegas, the day before the caucuses there in Nevada. It'll be the third time President Trump will hold a rally just ahead of a state's Democratic contest.

Let's get to Jeremy Diamond in Washington for us. Jeremy, what do we know about this event?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ana, it looks like a little bit of counter programming from a president who is famous for counter programming. And that is because the president will be hosting this caucus eve rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, just before Democrats, the next day, head to the caucuses to vote for the Democratic nominee choices.

This will be the third rally, actually, that the president will be hosting this week. All of them in competitive states, first in Phoenix, Arizona, then in Colorado Springs, Colorado. And then, tapping it all off with this rally in Las Vegas.

But the president is doing a lot more than just rallies to prepare for the November general election. The president and Republican National Committee have been fund-raising, a lot of it off impeachment, raising $6 million in January, leaving them with $200 million in cash on hand already.

And the president, tonight, is adding to that total as we speak, Ana. The president is actually in Palm Beach right now at the home of billionaire Nelson Peltz, where he's hosting about 40 campaign donors. each of them, or each couple, actually, is going to be paying more than half a million dollars for the privilege of attending that event. And he'll be raising more than $10 million just tonight.

CABRERA: Wow. President Trump, meantime, will take a literal victory lap tomorrow. The president is set to attend the Daytona 500. And one source telling CNN, there's a possibility, at least, that Trump and part of his motorcade may take a lap on the racetrack?

DIAMOND: That's right. Nothing confirmed, as of yet. But one source is telling CNN that the president may take -- may take a lap on the inner edge of that racetrack in his presidential motorcade. All of this to more than 140,000 cheering fans. We'll see if that happens. Even if it doesn't, though, the president is expected to arrive on Air Force One at a nearby airport. He may fly over that racetrack, something that we know that he's been known to do.

And he will also be the Grand Marshall of that Indy 500 -- oh, sorry, that, Daytona 500 race. And the president will be saying those words at the start of the race "Drivers, start your engines" -- Ana.

CABRERA: All right. Jeremy Diamond in Washington. Thank you.

With us now is A.B. Stoddard, Associate Editor and Columnist at "RealClearPolitics." Also, CNN Political Commentator Matt Lewis. He's also a senior columnist at "The Daily Beast." And CNN Political Analyst Rachael Bade, congressional reporter for "The Washington Post." Guys, good to have you all here on this Saturday night.

Lots to talk about. Let's begin with Pelosi's comments just a moment ago. She's promising, A.B., not to endorse anyone in the primary, but is she trying to send a signal here to or for Joe Biden?

[20:05:03]

A.B. STODDARD, COLUMNIST, REALCLEARPOLITICS: Oh, it's very notable that she, unprompted, made an assertion that she's not counting him out. And he has not yet been able to compete in a contest that's representative of the country or the party, in ways that Iowa and New Hampshire are not.

Look, when she says she can't envision a scenario in which President Trump is re-elected, that's just not true. She can envision it. And many people in the Democratic Party establishment believe that if Bernie Sanders is the nominee, they're going to lose the House majority in the next election and that they would -- that he would lose as a general election candidate to President Trump.

So, there is a lot of concern about what those Democrats, who were elected last year in Trump districts, would have to do to run against the policies of a nominee who is a socialist. And it's been clear for a very long time that a bulk of the Congressional Black Caucus and many in the establishment were for Biden without wanting to come out and openly endorse him. So, it's not crazy that they're hoping that he comes back in South Carolina.

CABRERA: Rachael, what is your take on the Pelosi comments? Is it a sign she's not wild about the current front-runners, Bernie Sanders and Pete Buttigieg?

RACHAEL BADE, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: I absolutely agree, you know, with that take. I think that Pelosi, for those of us who've covered her on the Hill, she's, obviously, not going to endorse somebody right now. But the fact that she brought up Joe Biden, again, sort of hints at who her favorites are. This is a speaker who refuses to put Medicare for all on the House floor, even though it's supported by a majority of her Democratic caucus.

This is a -- this is a speaker who, when the freshman Democrats came to town and a lot of them were Medicare for all fans, she set up a private meeting with Barack Obama who specifically said to them, you know, you've got to detail how you're going to pay for things. I mean, you've got to be, sort of, upright with voters. He was, sort of, cautioning them from going too far on Medicare for all and free college.

So, she, clearly, has concerns about some of the policies that are being touted by people like Bernie Sanders. And I absolutely think Joe Biden, if she were to pick a candidate, would be her number one, just from, sort of, watching her on Capitol Hill and knowing that she is really concerned about those swing districts and wants to keep her majority in the House, but also take out the president and put a Democrat there.

CABRERA: Matt, "Politico" reported today that there are some deep cracks now for Biden in his so-called firewall of South Carolina. Let me quote from the piece. It says, several black lawmakers who supported other candidates said they did so mostly because those campaigns made an effort to reach out to them. The Biden campaign, they said, appeared to have expected their endorsements.

Has the Biden campaign miscalculated?

MATT LEWIS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, you know, it's dicey right now, right? I mean, Joe Biden had led in the national polls for pretty much the last year. We thought maybe he doesn't win Iowa or New Hampshire, but if he can get second or third, he's still in the game. Then, he gets to South Carolina. His support with African-Americans there. That will, basically, propel him to the nomination.

The problem is when you come in, like, fifth -- you know, fourth or fifth place in the first couple of states, there's attrition. And so, I think that it is presumptuous now to assume that voters in South Carolina are going to still be there. We'll have to see what happens in Nevada.

But, you know, I think the idea that you can wait -- remember, Rudy Giuliani, a few years ago, thought you could wait until Florida. It just doesn't work that way. Because even if Florida is great, when it starts, after you lose a few contests, --

CABRERA: Right.

LEWIS: -- there's attrition. And I think that's what's happening to Joe Biden right now.

CABRERA: So, as Biden currently focuses in his efforts in Nevada, he also said today something along the lines of, I don't expect to win Nevada, but I think I could come in first. We know Bernie Sanders has been pouring in a lot of time and effort to reach out to Latino voters, and there's a strong constituency of Latinos who will be voting presumably in the Democratic caucuses there.

But, on the other hand, the Culinary Union, which is the most powerful union in the state, won't endorse a candidate. And claims it was, quote, "viciously attacked by Sanders' supporters" after it criticized his Medicare For All plan.

A.B., how do you see that, perhaps, impacting Sanders' momentum heading into Nevada?

STODDARD: I think it's a really big cross for him to bear. They made it clear that they weren't ready to endorse somebody, but that they had their criticism of the attacks online that they sustained from Bernie's supporters. And that they were going to endorse, quote, "their goals." And so, they're making that a priority with their membership. It is not only the most powerful union, it's, really, the most powerful political entity in Nevada Democratic politics, besides Harry Reid who has also noticeably refused to endorse someone.

But I think that their fight against Medicare for all is really going to make it an uphill climb for Sanders among their union members.

[20:10:00]

And if -- you know, if turnout remains high, I think that it's going to be interesting to see if the up or downs to the benefit of other -- Joe Biden, sort of, coming back or Amy Klobuchar or Pete Buttigieg in Nevada.

CABRERA: I want to show the scene in Las Vegas today at one polling site. Look at the extremely long lines to caucus. Wait times of more than three hours because there weren't enough volunteers to get voters quickly through. Again, this is the early voting. The caucuses are next Saturday.

Rachael, is this encouraging for Democrats, when it comes to turnout or is this, potentially, another embarrassment for the party, after the debacle in Iowa, that it didn't have, you know, the staff prepared to accept all of these voters?

BADE: TBD, at this point. I mean, I'm sure that Democrats are happy to see all these people turning out. I mean, if they are going to have a Democrat win Nevada in November in 2020, they're going to need a lot of voters to turn out. And so, this is, obviously, a good sign in that regard.

But, again, this comes, you know, just a couple of weeks after that, sort of, Iowa caucus blunder. And so, I think that Democrats are really concerned about infrastructure. And they've got to make sure they have this locked down in other states after what happened in Iowa, where they didn't have a victor that night and it was just a jumbled mess.

And so, if they don't have enough volunteers to make sure people can turn out and vote early, I mean, that's, sort of, a sign that maybe they need to, sort of, get their act together before the caucuses in the next coming days, because they don't want another Iowa.

CABRERA: Matt, should Republicans take note of that Democratic enthusiasm?

LEWIS: Well, yes, you should always take your opponents seriously and assume that they are organized. But, look, I think Democrats are in bad shape right now. They can't pull off a caucus in Iowa. And you've got a president -- say what you will about him.

I've been very critical of Donald Trump. But the economy is good. The unemployment rate is down. He hasn't started any new wars. He's killing high-value terrorists. And he's got a really sophisticated tech campaign. He may govern by the gut, but he has -- his operatives are -- he's got money. But that's the other thing. He's got a lot of money while Democrats are fighting each other. And so, a lot of them don't even have that much money, except Mike Bloomberg. Trump has a lot. So, Democrats, you know, the quicker they could wrap this thing up, I think the better off they would be. But it looks like this is going to go on for a long, long time.

CABRERA: A.B., I want to -- I want to show you a moment from the past couple of days, an interview that these candidates have been doing with a Latino organization. Amy Klobuchar and Tom Steyer were asked to name the president of Mexico and watch what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know his name?

TOM STEYER (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I forget.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But can you tell me his name?

AMY KLOBUCHAR (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Ah, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you tell me who the president of Mexico is?

PETE BUTTIGIEG (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, President Lopez Obrador, I hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: OK. So, you heard Buttigieg got it right. It is Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, or An Lo as he is nicknamed. A long name, admittedly. But, A.B., do blunders like that -- you know, Klobuchar or Steyer didn't even know his name. Does that make a difference with voters?

STODDARD: I think there are traditional metrics through which voters used to judge candidates were, in large part, tossed aside in 2016. But I do think that that is just one of those things that, you know, you need to be prepared for as a candidate. You've watched too many candidates get stumped by these kinds of questions.

And I think that, for any debate stage or any interview, memorizing all those names, of at least our top allies first and our neighbors, would have been helpful. I don't know that Buttigieg will use it to his advantage on the debate stage. He's quite an attack dog sometimes. But I know that the senator and Tom Steyer are likely embarrassed not knowing the president of Mexico and they could have been prepared.

CABRERA: And, Rachael, let's turn to what may be the opposite of a blunder of President Trump. He'll be the Grand Marshall of tomorrow's Daytona 500. CNN has told that it's possible part of his motorcade will take a literal victory lap on the flat inner part of that racetrack and Air Force One might do a fly over. You don't see that much on Pennsylvania Avenue.

BADE: Yes. No, I mean, look, the president is in great spirits right now. The week that he was impeached, after six months of Democrats investigating him on Ukraine, his poll numbers were reaching an all- time high with the Gallop Poll. You know, he had a State of the Union that was widely praised. Of course, not by Nancy Pelosi, who ripped up the document.

And, you know, the Iowa caucuses, the Democratic caucuses, they don't have a front-runner right now. He's -- I agree. He's in a really strong position. He's raising a lot of money. I think, tonight, he's going to raise $10 million at just one stop, with just a couple dozen campaign donors.

And, you know, he's using the bully pulpit to his advantage with events like this that really get people excited. They reach, sort of, people who might not be as into politics as, say, other people might be, more politically active folks. And it reaches people, potentially rallies them, gets them out to vote for him. And, you know, clearly, he enjoys it.

CABRERA: Matt, real quick, I have to ask, though, about the back and forth that we've seen between President Trump and Mayor Michael Bloomberg this week.

[20:15:00]

Because I recall, during the Republican campaign in 2016, when Trump would hit -- other people would try to go low and it didn't work out for them. Here we have, you know, Bloomberg really playing to those devices of the president, his not-so-nice side I should -- I should say. Do you think the president has met his match there?

LEWIS: I think sort of, right? So, someone like Marco Rubio has probably brought up being taught to be nice and polite and deferential. And then, when Rubio, during the campaign, when he tried to, like, go mano-e-mano and get down in the -- in the dirt. And it didn't work, right? It just -- it seemed phony. It wasn't Rubio being Rubio.

But Mike Bloomberg is like a New Yorker. He's a billionaire, a real billionaire, maybe unlike the president. Did I mention he's a New Yorker? I think he has these -- I hate to say it but I think both men have these authoritarian tendencies. And it's -- normal people probably couldn't stand up to Donald Trump. But I think that Mike Bloomberg, like if you give somebody a billion dollars, it gives them some confidence. I think he can do it.

CABRERA: Matt, you realize you're talking to somebody who is currently in New York. By all practical purposes, I've become a New Yorker.

LEWIS: We all love New York.

CABRERA: Are you -- are you trying to say New Yorkers are a little mean?

LEWIS: They're tough. They're tough.

CABRERA: OK. OK, I'll take that. Thank you very much. Matt Lewis, A.B. Stoddard and Rachael Bade, appreciate you being here. LEWIS: Thank you.

CABRERA: Now, as the Democratic establishment gets increasingly worried about the possibility of Bernie Sanders being the party's nominee this fall, is President Obama's silence during the primary doing more damage than good? We'll discuss next.

[20:16:44]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CABRERA: Mayor Michael Bloomberg is all over T.V.s all across America with his campaign ads. You've probably seen his recent one where he highlights past praise from former President Obama. Meantime, Obama's Vice President Joe Biden is still contending with a fourth-place finish in Iowa, a fifth-place finish in New Hampshire. And guess what? President Trump is taking notice. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But I think Biden is shot. He was shot from the beginning. I used to call him one percent Joe, remember? One percent. I thought, you know, in a certain way, he was a good vice president, because Obama got along with him. I think one of the biggest things that happened, one of the biggest telltale signs of trouble, was when Obama wouldn't endorse him early on. And that was a strange -- to me, it was strange.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CABRERA: Joining us now, former Obama chief strategist and host of "The Ax Files" podcast, David Axelrod. And, David, I get the point of President Obama staying neutral for the primaries. We've discussed that. But, you know, in 2016, he did come out after Iowa. He praised Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders. Why not do the same for Biden?

DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: He didn't endorse candidate then either. Look, --

CABRERA: Right.

AXELROD: -- the president believes he should play the role that other presidents have played and let the voters decide who the nominee should be. And he sees his role, so far as I understand it, as being a person who can help bring Democrats together after a nominee is chosen. So, I don't anticipate that he is going to get involved in that race.

I was interested in the ads that you -- the ad that you referenced, the Bloomberg ad --

CABRERA: Yes.

AXELROD: -- in which Obama praised him. Fair game because that was on the public record. But, you know, Vice President Biden has an ad like that. Elizabeth Warren has an ad like that. She was an Obama appointee. So, it kind of speaks to the continued popularity of President Obama.

CABRERA: Yes.

AXELROD: The Bloomberg relationship with Obama was -- you know, it was professional. They were allies on some important issues, like climate change and guns. They weren't particularly personally close. But it's a smart move to run that ad, because you sure get the sense that they were.

CABRERA: But without Obama speaking out in the president, now you have these candidates who can, kind of, spin what he has said in the past and apply it to today. Does Obama risk his words and his perspective being manipulated, even, you know, his intentions by staying quiet being manipulated by President Trump, for example?

AXELROD: Well, I mean, President Trump, it's incredible that with all the responsibilities that he has that he still has time to be a political commentator. You've got to admire the multi-tasking there. I don't think he much cares about that.

I think he is mindful of the appropriate role of a former president, and he's mindful of the role that he can play once the race is over. And if you start taking sides in a family fight, it becomes much harder later when a voice to unify a party around larger goals is necessary.

So, I'm sure he is watching with interest and will intervene when he feel ss is the appropriate time. And where he can be of the most constructive use.

CABRERA: Right now, the race is very close. I mean, there's no very obvious winner or leader in this race. Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg have both done very well in the last two contests. And our own Brian Stelter pointed out that, you know, coincidence or not, these candidates winning the most support in the Democratic primary so far are the candidates granting the most T.V. interviews. And probably the most notable example is Pete Buttigieg who's been --

AXELROD: Yes.

CABRERA: -- on this media blitz since Iowa, going on all the major networks, on TMZ, on Stephen Colbert. Is there something to be said about having a say yes to everything strategy?

AXELROD: Yes. Look, I think that's one lesson that Donald Trump taught everyone in 2016. He was a ubiquitous presence, even on networks that he now denounces.

[20:20:00]

I think he would go on the Home Garden Network if he -- if he got an invitation. He went wherever he was invited and sometimes he invited himself because he understood the power of using the medium. And I think candidates who don't do that make a -- make a big mistake. For Buttigieg, who started off really as an asterisk in this race, it was some of his early media appearances that vaulted him into contention. As for the race itself, Ana, I would say that Bernie Sanders is a front -- is -- he is a front-runner right now. He's not a solid front- runner. His first two wins were wins in the popular vote in Iowa and then -- but not for delegates. Tied for delegates with Buttigieg.

But the real issue here is that Bernie Sanders has, basically, seized the leadership of the progressive kind of wing of the Democratic Party. There is a lot of -- a lot of competition yet for the, sort of, center left mantle within the party, between Bloomberg and Biden and Buttigieg, perhaps Amy Klobuchar. And that hasn't resolved itself.

And if it doesn't resolve itself over time, Sanders is in a good position to take his 30 percent or whatever he got. He got -- he got 26 percent and 25 percent, I think, in Iowa and New Hampshire. He can keep doing that and bumping along and accumulating delegates and he'll -- he could end up as the delegate leader.

CABRERA: President Obama's use of social media during the 2008 campaign was legendary. So, I want to get your take on something. Michael Bloomberg is recruiting social media influencers to post memes about him on Instagram. And here's just one example, an image of Danny DeVito labeled, Trump's bank account. And then, you have Dwayne, the Rock, Johnson, labeled Bloomberg's bank account. What do you make of this? Is this the new way to campaign in the 21st Century?

AXELROD: You know, one thing that Bloomberg has going for him is he has unlimited resources. He's got a very smart team. And they're going to use every device that they can to promote his case out there, including social media and contemporary tools of social media. I mean, I don't think Mike Bloomberg was an Instagram user before this point. But he understands that to reach particularly younger voters that that is a tool that you need to use.

So, you know, I think they're running a very sophisticated campaign. The challenge is going to be that, eventually, you have to step out from behind your ads and perform. And that may happen as soon as the Nevada debate this week or next week. And, you know, he is going to have to measure up to the promise of those ads and that digital campaign and so on. That's true of every presidential candidate, eventually.

I said years ago, presidential campaigns are like MRIs for the soul. Whoever you are, people come to know you over time. And people will make judgments about Mike Bloomberg, as they are all the candidates. But this ability to have unlimited resources, to be on television at maximum strength in all the states, to use all of the digital tools and so on, they can't be underrated. That's a big, big advantage to him.

CABRERA: All right. David Axelrod, always good to have you here. Thank you.

The number of people infected by the coronavirus has risen again tonight. This has Americans stuck on a cruise ship in Japan, could finally be making their way home.

[20:28:45]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:30:11]

CABRERA: New tonight in the coronavirus outbreak, the U.S. government readying to evacuate some U.S. citizens now quarantined on a cruise ship docked in Japan.

At least 29 Americans aboard the Diamond Princess have now tested positive for the virus. More than 250 other people from that ship were also infected and they're being hospitalized in Japan for treatment.

The U.S. State Department is sending a charter jet tomorrow to bring home other Americans on that ship who have not tested positive for coronavirus and they will undergo further quarantine in the U.S.

CNN Will Ripley is in Yokohama, Japan. Will, you spoke to one American woman who tested positive for coronavirus on the Diamond Princess. What's next for her?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she just doesn't know, Ana, other than she has not been given Permission to board that charter flight which is devastating news because she was hoping that she would be able to ride out the 14-day quarantine period in the U.S. with her husband.

They have been separated since she tested positive last week. It's just the latest in this emotional roller coaster that shows no signs of ending.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (voice-over): For Americans under quarantine on the Diamond Princess, a knock on the door.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. Mr. Frasure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey. Yes.

RIPLEY: A glimmer of hope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So our purpose today is to come in and check on a couple of the passengers that will be looking at all the Americans over the next couple of days.

RIPLEY: Infectious disease doctors from the U.S. checking every American on the ship. Kent Frasure from Oregon has someone else on his mind.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you guys also checking those in -- like the Americans in the hospitals?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Yes, because my wife is in one of the hospitals.

RIPLEY: Frasure's wife, Rebecca, tested positive for novel coronavirus last week. Each day apart, feels like a week.

[20:35:00]

RIPLEY (on-camera): We're back now at the quarantine Hospital in Tokyo where Rebecca Frasure is, and there you are. Hi.

REBECCA FRASURE, QUARANTINED CORONAVIRUS PATIENT: Hello.

RIPLEY (voice-over): She still has no symptoms of the virus. In fact, she's feeling great. The Frasures just learned of a plan to evacuate Americans on U.S. government charter flights.

FRASURE: So I'm hopeful that myself and my husband can hopefully get on that plane.

RIPLEY: She's not bothered by the prospect of yet another 14-day quarantine in the U.S., at least she'll be with her husband. At least that's what she thought.

RIPLEY (on-camera): So what happened right after we left the hospital?

FRASURE: The doctor came in, not even like 10 minutes later. I also got my test results back and they were positive, so.

RIPLEY (voice-over): A positive result means she cannot get on that flight.

RIPLEY (on-camera): I'm so sorry.

FRASURE: And it's so devastating.

RIPLEY: I'm so sorry.

FRASURE: It was like a punch in the gut. I was so sure that this was going to come on negative. I was so sure.

RIPLEY: So then to get this kind of news that you're still going to be separated, for the foreseeable.

FRASURE: It was devastating. It really was, like we had like a pretty clear picture on our minds what was going to happen and it just got shot to hell.

RIPLEY (voice-over): The Frasure's holiday from hell now has no end in sight.

KENT FRASURE, HUSBAND OF WOMAN QUARANTINED IN JAPAN: That makes things really tough. Today was looking really good. We were getting excited. Hey, we might be going home. You know, hours after that, it's just back down worse than what we were before. So it's basically an unknown until she can test negative.

RIPLEY: When the other Americans board those charter flights home, the Frasures, like dozens of other U.S. citizens with the virus and their families, have no choice but to stay behind, waiting for the day their good news will finally come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY: For the 400 or so Americans who have not yet tested positive, they still actually don't know if they'll be able to board those flights because most of them have not been tested. They're in the process of testing people on the cruise ship right now. You saw those doctors from the United States who are here.

The U.S. charter flights will be landing here in Japan on Sunday morning, U.S. time and it's still unclear when people will be loaded on those planes and flown home. But even for those who know that their ordeal is going to continue at military bases in California or Texas, at least they say they'll be in their home country hearing familiar voices, eating familiar food, one step closer to going home.

Unfortunately, though for the dozens of people who have to remain here in Japan, they have no idea when they will also be able to follow soon. Ana?

CABRERA: Well thank you for being in touch with them and bringing us their stories. We certainly send them the very best. Thank you, Will.

This weekend is the NBA All-Star game, and it is taking a very somber tone this year with memorials to Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Giana, and to former NBA Commissioner David Stern.

At the All-Star weekend newsmaker, Brunch, former President Obama called the deaths of Kobe and Giana, especially heartbreaking being a parent himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That loss is something that I know many are still grappling with, particularly Kobe because he was with his daughter and those families and those children and those of us who have had the joy and privilege of being parents and taking kids to ball games and then rooting for our children and seeing our dreams and hopes passed on to them.

Nothing's more heartbreaking. And so, I want to offer the NBA family and Michelle my deepest condolences and obviously the families of the Sterns and the Bryants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: The tributes to Bryant began last night during the Rising Stars challenge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CROWD CHANTING (KOBE")

(END VIDEO CLIP) CABRERA: The crowd chanting "Kobe" during a speech by one of his former teammates, Pau Gasol. There will be more tributes all weekend long.

And Bryant was also named a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame. It's the first year he's eligible for that honor. Kobe won five championships with the Lakers.

And anyone hoping to go to Kobe Bryant's celebration of life next week and L.A. will now have to buy tickets. It's being held at the Staples Center capacity of 20,000. That's how much demand is expected.

We'll be right back.

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[20:40:39]

CABRERA: The United States and the Taliban have struck a seven-day deal to reduce violence in Afghanistan, including roadside bombs, suicide bombs, and rocket attacks. This is according to a senior administration official. And that official says the truce has not yet gone into effect but would take effect very soon.

Some analysts are skeptical though, they worry a lull in fighting could be a chance for Taliban forces to secure a battlefield advantage.

[20:45:05]

In Syria, this weekend, the country's military is claiming one of its helicopters was shot down by Turkish-backed fighters near the city of Aleppo, killing the entire crew. This is the second time in a week that a Syrian helicopter was shot down in that area where Turkish and Russian backed Syrian forces are fighting.

The United Nations says some 800,000 civilians have fled Idlib and Western Aleppo just since December.

CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Arwa Damon is the only Western journalist in that region right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): There are makeshift camps like this that you find throughout these rolling hills that are very close to the border with Turkey because this is where people think they might be able to find some sort of refuge, 800,000 people have been on the move since December.

But when it comes to safety, there is nowhere inside Syria that is actually guaranteed. This is a family who we met earlier. We've been speaking to them. They just arrived here last night and they say that -- they say that they're not entirely sure that they're going to come here (INAUDIBLE)

The bombing is still very close to us here. It's very hard.

There's no proper heating. I mean, look, the kids don't even have proper shoes, warmth the ground. She's been burning what she can hear coal, wood, at times, even rubber when she's had to -- one of her kids is actually sick back there.

She has a fever. She has a fever. It was because of the cold temperatures. The temperatures here can drop below freezing. And this is actually a big issue for a lot of these families. We spoke to a family whose baby died from the cold. That's what the doctors had told the mother. She was in complete shock when we spoke to her.

And like this family, so many others that were talking too say, they're not entirely sure that even this is going to be safe. I mean, Faja (ph) was telling us earlier that sometimes she wishes that they were all dead so that they didn't have to live like this. And she was saying that their life right now is a matter of being stuck between trying to find somewhere safe to live and somehow escape the bombing.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Idlib Province.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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[20:50:28]

CABRERA: With the Nevada caucuses just seven days from now, CNN is taking you behind the scenes of the most hard-fought presidential elections of years past. The premiere episode of this season's race for the White House tracks the history making race between Barack Obama and John McCain in 2008.

CNN's Tom Foreman helps us count down some of the race's big moments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Democrats, the 2008 contest started with our fifth most memorable moment. Hillary Clinton jumping in with the best odds ever for a female contender.

BARBARA PERRY, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: She's the former first lady. She is a well-respected senator. She is married to Bill Clinton.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: And I'm in it to win it.

FOREMAN: For Republicans, another seasoned pro was emerging, John McCain, a war hero with years in the Senate.

JOHN MCCAIN, FORMER UNITED STATES SENATOR: I know who I am and what I want to do.

FOREMAN: What neither of them could have foreseen is our fourth most memorable moment, the explosive rise of a far less experienced contender. OBAMA: People call me Alabama or they call me yo mama, but the name is Obama.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a candidate running for president.

FOREMAN: Barack Obama electrified young voters and shocked the old guard.

OBAMA: You were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board of Walmart. I was fighting these fights.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

FOREMAN: By the time Clinton realized her race was in trouble, the nomination was effectively his, and McCain was waiting, along with the third most memorable moment.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, no, no, not God bless America. God damn America.

FOREMAN: Obama was soon being hammered over his ties to a controversial family pastor and an old acquaintance.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barack Obama and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers friends.

FOREMAN: Still, he weathered those storms and began surging again, triggering the second most memorable moment. Desperate to improve in the polls, McCain made a wildly unorthodox choice for a running mate.

MCCAIN: Governor Sarah Palin of the great state of Alaska.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

FOREMAN: Palin drew praise from conservatives.

SARAH PALIN, FORMER GOVERNOR OF ALASKA: You know, they say the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.

FOREMAN: And scorn from liberals.

But, mostly, she and McCain failed to deliver the votes the party needed.

And, in the end, the number one most memorable moment is one the country will never forget.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Barack Obama, 47 years old, will become the president-elect of the United States.

FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[20:55:07]

CABRERA: It's an all-new season of race for the White House that premieres tomorrow night at 9:00 only on CNN.

That's all from here tonight. I'm Ana Cabrera. Thanks for being with me. I'm back tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern.

Up next, it's an encore presentation of last season's race for the White House, Bush vs. Dukakis.

And one more programming note for you next week. Join CNN for a series of town halls with the top 2020 Democratic candidates live from Las Vegas. That is Tuesday and Thursday night at 8:00. Have a great night.

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