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Early Voting Underway In Nevada Democratic Caucuses; Biden: I Just Have To Do Well In Nevada; U.S. Evacuating Some Americans On Quarantined Ship; NBA Renames All-Star MVP Trophy To Honor Kobe Bryant; Michael Bloomberg Faces Scrutiny Over Past Controversial Comments. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 16, 2020 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:03]

ROBYN CURNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And he's raising his sons, teaching them about their mother.

CHARLES JOHNSON, HUSBAND OF KIRA WHO DIED AFTER CESAREAN SECTION: What I'm trying to do is just wake up every day and make mommy proud, repeat, when did you get so good?

CURNOW: Robyn Curnow, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Six days and counting until votes are counted in Nevada, the next big test in the 2020 presidential race. But many Democratic caucus-goers aren't waiting until next Saturday. They are voting early and they are showing up in force. In one voting precinct in Las Vegas, people say they had to wait in line more than three hours. Nevada's Democratic Party says turnout could smash records.

And with enthusiasm running high, Democratic candidates are fanned out across the state today holding rallies and events to drum up support. CNN's Athena Jones is in Carson City where Senator Bernie Sanders held a rally earlier.

Athena, what was his message to voters?

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As you mentioned, we're in Carson City. This is a city that Bernie Sanders won in 2016, even though he lost the Nevada caucuses to Hillary Clinton, he did very well in Carson City, he did well in Nevada's northern counties.

What was interesting to see in his Get Out the Vote rally today was to see him draw contrast with some of his -- he's been talking recently about Pete Buttigieg and how he's raising money with millionaires and billionaires. Well, today, both Senator Sanders himself and New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who recently endorsed him, both of them took it to Mike Bloomberg. Take a listen to what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): All of you know we have the former Mayor of New York City, not Bill de Blasio, the guy who went before him, Mr. Bloomberg. Now, Mike Bloomberg is struggling. He's down to his last $60 billion. Hey, life is hard, you know. Food prices going up, housing going up, how are you going to make it on $60 billion?

MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): I am sorry to report to you that the chief proponent of stop-and-frisk is, in fact, running for president of the United States in this election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So here, you saw the crowd booing at those mentions of Mike Bloomberg. Mike Bloomberg, for his part, has apologized several times in the last week or so for the stop-and-frisk policies. But, of course, this is something that we're going to see Sanders likely continue to hit him on. Ana?

CABRERA: Athena Jones reporting in Carson City, Nevada, thank you.

In the meantime, Joe Biden is predicting a first or second place finish in Nevada. That's where CNN's Gary Tuchman has been talking with African-American evangelical voters to gauge their presidential preferences. And what they said may surprise you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is the Fountain of Hope AME Church in Las Vegas, an evangelical African-American church.

TUCHMAN: The eyes of the nation are now on Nevada, right?

AUDIENCE: Right.

TUCHMAN: We asked church members attending an evangelism conference to talk to us about the upcoming Nevada caucuses, the first nominating contest in a diverse state.

How many are leaning towards Joe Biden? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Joe Biden is one of three candidates who did well among this group, but he wasn't number one.

How many are leaning towards Elizabeth Warren? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

Elizabeth Warren tied with Biden. So who is the candidate who gets the most support here?

How many are leaning towards Tom Steyer. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. What do you like about Tom Steyer?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I like the fact he has fire in his belly. TUCHMAN: Tom Steyer and groups supporting him have spent around $14 million on T.V. ads in Nevada, compared to under a million for both Biden and Warren. And Steyer has spent considerable campaign time in the state.

REV. GREGORY MCLEOD, SENIOR PASTOR, FOUNATIN OF HOPE AME CHURCH: He seems to be passionate about the people and he seems to be real about what it is that he's setting out to do.

DAVID JONES, CHURCH MEMBER: Tom is direct and to the point. And I believe that he can do and claim what Donald Trump really is, and that's a fraud and a failure.

TUCHMAN: As for Joe Biden, his supporters tout genuineness.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that he honestly cares about helping not just a small group of people but the majority of people, not just African-American people but all minorities and all people, in general.

SANDRA MACK, CHURCH MEMBER: I will probably caucus for Joe Biden.

TUCHMAN: But based on Iowa and New Hampshire, are you worried that he might not be electable now?

MACK: I'm not worried because I don't think Iowa and New Hampshire are reflective of the country.

TUCHMAN: And for Elizabeth Warren --

GAIL GHOLSON, CHURCH MEMBER: I like the way she handled Trump with the Pocahontas thing. She didn't let it get to her.

[18:05:00]

And she has that dismissive way, like Nancy, of putting Trump in his place.

DEAN ISHMAN, CHURCH MEMBER: My heart says Elizabeth and now my mind kind of tells me Bloomberg.

TUCHMAN: Michael Bloomberg got some interest here even though he's not on the Nevada caucus ballot.

DEMADELINE RICE, CHURCH MEMBER: I like Bloomberg because he has the money, he has the experience and he knows what kind of person Trump really is.

TUCHMAN: President Trump has a lot of support from evangelical Christians, so we thought he could have some support here.

How many of you are leaning towards Donald Trump for president?

But that is not the case.

Is it important to you to get a candidate who you feel can beat Donald Trump? AUDIENCE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: Is that more important than a candidate who shares your principles you might think may not be --

AUDIENCE: Yes.

TUCHMAN: The Nevada caucuses are Saturday, February 22nd.

Gary Tuchman, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Let's get straight to the former Governor of Vermont, as well as the former Chairman of the DNC and former Democratic Presidential Candidate, Howard Dean, and former Democratic Governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm.

Governor Dean, are you surprised by anything you just heard there in Gary's report?

HOWARD DEAN (D), FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was a little surprised at how well Tom Steyer is doing but he has spent a lot of time in the Nevada and as well as money on the airwaves, so that figures. I mean, you can't -- I mean, the difference between eight and seven out of an audience of 32 is really not statistically significant. It just shows that the congregation is fairly well divided.

The thing that interested me the most was that congregation could have been anybody anywhere. It was an African-American congregation but African-American voters sound pretty much like everybody else these days.

CABRERA: Governor Granholm, did you have any other takeaways?

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I would have loved to have seen the answer about how many of them would have supported Bernie Sanders. Because as we've seen in the latest poll out of Nevada, and we haven't had a lot of polls out of Nevada, that Bernie Sanders seems to be doing well.

He picked up a good amount. He picked up, I think, seven points from the last poll there, which was in the beginning of January. Biden pretty much held the same. And then you saw a little bit of surge from Amy Klobuchar as well as from Tom Steyer. It shows you that money really has an impact in these elections because Tom Steyer really has been spending very generously both in Nevada and in South Carolina.

CABRERA: Governor Dean, Amy Klobuchar is gaining momentum. She is beefing up staff in Nevada, in South Carolina. She's announced she has raised $12 million in a little over a week. She also now have coveted newspaper endorsements from California to Nevada, and even Texas. What do you see as her biggest hurdle?

DEAN: I think name recognition at this point. She got a late start. She has tremendous momentum at the best time you could have, tremendous momentum coming out of Iowa and New Hampshire. And these next two states are absolutely critical for her. It's going to be the jump between the first four states and then Super Tuesday, particularly that California is enormous. And name recognition might going to play a huge role on Super Tuesday that they're not really playing now.

CABRERA: Governor Granholm, candidates are touting the few millions they're raising here and there and money does make a difference, as you brought it up earlier. But these millions that they have is nothing compared to the $400 million Michael Bloomberg has already sent on ads alone. And Klobuchar went after this today, saying, Bloomberg is hiding behind his money. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He has not gone on any Sunday shows since he announced. I've got to answer questions like I just did on my record. And he has to do the same thing. I don't think you should be able to hide behind airwaves and huge ad buys.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Bloomberg is now just one poll away from making the debate stage in Nevada. Considering he is moving up in the polls by getting his message out in a way that he can control, will it help him or hurt him to be on that debate stage?

GRANHOLM: That is the question. It's super interesting, isn't it? Because there are some who were affiliated with Bloomberg and his business interests in the past who have been arguing that he shouldn't go on the debate stage because he may not be the greatest debater, he may be a little bit stiff or unemotional.

And, of course, Amy Klobuchar has been kicking butt in these debates. So, of course, she would want him. And, of course, anybody would want him to get on. You see what Elizabeth Warren is doing by saying you can't -- and Bernie Sanders, you can't buy an election, and Joe Biden is saying, I want to ask him about things, like stop-and-frisk.

So he's going to -- if he does make it, if he gets that one more poll and makes it on Wednesday, it is going to be an amazing debate. I am super excited to watch it because I think that he will be the fly paper onto which all of these attacks come.

CABRERA: What are your thoughts on that, Governor Dean?

DEAN: I agree with that. There was a brouhaha when the DNC changed their criteria.

[18:10:01]

And it went away quickly as soon as the people who were supporting the other candidates who were mad that Bloomberg, quote, unquote, bought his way in realized that half of the people maybe not want him in and the other half of people really wanted him in so that they can have a shot at him. This is a healthy thing. If Bloomberg is a serious contender, he ought to be on the debate stage.

And this debate, if he does get on, is going to be the first one, which has really everybody on that stage is going to have a shot at being the next president of the United States.

CABRERA: And to that point, Joe Biden's campaign has struggled a little bit after the first couple of contests in Iowa and New Hampshire where he didn't perform the way he had hoped, I think, is safe to say. We've talked a lot about the lack of diversity in those first two states and Joe Biden has said his firewall is South Carolina, where he has had, up until this point, a lot of African- American support. But there are signs that that firewall is cracking, according to a reporting in Politico.

Governor Granholm, do you think if Nevada and South Carolina had come before Iowa and New Hampshire, we would be looking at a completely different race right now?

GRANHOLM: Totally different, I'm so glad you ask the question that way. Yes, we have basically outsourced the winnowing down of candidates to these two very small, very homogeneous white states. We should have all four states on the first day of voting so that you have a representation for the whole country. If these two states had gone first, it would be a completely different story, I think.

So I just can't tell you how much momentum tracks the way these states are ordered and we ought to be thinking about that as a party. I'm curious what Governor Dean thinks about that and I just think that it's wrong to rely so much on these non-diverse states.

CABRERA: And you've run for president, Governor Dean. So what are your thoughts on that?

DEAN: Well, I was also the chairman. When I was chairman, we added South Carolina and Nevada. We couldn't get them upfront because of the political opposition from people supporting New Hampshire and Iowa was too great and I had too many other things I had to do. But we did put them up front along with New Hampshire and Iowa.

I think at the next time around, if we win the presidency, you won't see any change. There's no sitting Democratic president is going to change the nomination process that got them there. If we don't win the process -- the presidency , you will see that Iowa and New Hampshire will no longer be first. They're both going to scream and yell and carry on. But the power of a strong chair at the DNC is able to overcome that.

CABRERA: Governor Dean, Governor Granholm, thank you very much. I always enjoy our conversations.

And as we just mentioned, Joe Biden has talked a lot about his southern firewall. But now, when asked if he needs to win South Carolina, Biden has given a different answer. He is downplaying expectations, like he did in Iowa and New Hampshire. A Biden supporter joins us live here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Nevada is a state that looks like America. Nevada, it's your turn now to decide who you want to be the leader of your party and the next president of to the United States, and I'm here to audition.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: That, of course, is former Vice President Joe Biden stumping on the campaign trail last night in Las Vegas ahead of the Nevada caucuses, which take place Saturday, although early voting has begun there. And after a lackluster fourth and fifth place finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire, Biden is banking on support among minority voters to add much needed fuel to his candidacy.

And with us now is Congressman Donald McEachin, who is a surrogate for Biden.

Congressman, thank you for taking time to talk with us.

Is it do or die time for Biden in Nevada and South Carolina?

REP. DONALD MCEACHIN (D-VA): Well, there is no doubt that we have to do well. There's no do or die in this because after Nevada and South Carolina, we roll into Super Tuesday. And the point is that we're roll into states, again, like Nevada and South Carolina that are more diverse, they look more like the Democratic Party than Iowa and New Hampshire did. Those are awfully important states but they're not reflective of the party.

CABRERA: But do you expect him to win in Nevada and South Carolina?

MCEACHIN: Well, I'm the eternal optimist. I always expect to win. But what we need to do is make sure we do well.

CABRERA: What does doing well look like? Because can he make the case for electability if he doesn't win in those next two contests, especially after where he ended up in Iowa and New Hampshire?

MCEACHIN: Absolutely, he can. He has been hobbled by you good folks in the media. I know that you're all doing your job and that want to report a horse race and you're doing a wonderful good job of that. I'm not blaming you for what you're doing. But the press reports haven't been good ever since he basically got in the race.

He remains the frontrunner but he's been attacked by all of his Democratic opponents. And so it's been a tough road to hoe and yet he has shown a bit of Teflon and the fact that he still endured and he's still here and all we have to do is keep breathing in on next Tuesday. We'll see that we did well in Nevada and then we'll see that we did well in South Carolina. CABRERA: With all due respect, I'm not so sure you can call him the frontrunner anymore though once the voters have already spoken. He finished fourth in Iowa. He finished fifth in New Hampshire. There are multiple candidates who are getting more votes than him and who have many more delegates. He currently has six delegates to Buttigieg's 23, to Sanders' 21, to Elizabeth Warren's eight, to Klobuchar's seven.

Now, let's talk about South Carolina, because I get your point about diversity in the upcoming contest, and Biden has called South Carolina his firewall. But Politico is reporting the cracks are emerging. And I'm quoting, it says, some point to Biden's message as the problem. His soul of the nation rhetoric and electability argument, which are rooted in the idea of returning America back to its pre-Trump state don't motivate voters, they say.

[18:20:00]

And boasting support from the state's older prominent black lawmakers, they argue, does not excite the young or infrequent voters needed to build a winning coalition in November.

To that criticism, you say what.

MCEACHIN: I say, just sit back and watch. I know a thing or two about African-American voters. I know how desperately we want to save the soul of our nation. I know how desperately we want to get rid of Donald Trump as president of the United States. And I know how we trust Joe Biden.

Joe Biden was there with President Obama every step of the way. He was selected by President Obama to be that V.P., to be that number two, to watch his back. And to that, the whole nation owes him a debt of gratitude.

And so, again, I will say to you, and, again, all we have to do is keep breathing and I'll be happy to come back and take whatever punishment you want to give me. But I'm telling you, he's going to do well in Nevada, he's going to do well in South Carolina and then we're going to roll into Super Tuesday not having reinvented ourselves but by being just Joe Biden and letting the world know who we are.

CABRERA: Let me play a clip from this morning's MEET THE PRESS, in which Biden was speaking about African-American support.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: I have overwhelming support from minorities. I have overwhelming support from them. You can't win. You can't take it for granted. Last time, everyone was basically taken for granted. I'm the only one who has the record, who has background, who has the support. They know me. They know who I am.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Congressman, his support among black voters has dropped more than 20 points in the latest poll. Why do you think he's losing support?

MCEACHIN: Well, I don't think he's losing support. That is a poll that's out there and, obviously, we can all find the polls that we want to find. But, look, just in Nevada alone, we just picked up the endorsement of my colleague, Steve, the lone African-American Congressman in Nevada. We continue to pick up African-American endorsements across the country.

And so, again, we respect the polls and we understand what a poll might say. But the reality is that only poll that matters is the one where people actually walk into the voting booth and cast their vote. And we have every reason to believe he is going to continue to do well with African-American voters, with Latino voters.

And, remember, 99 percent of Democratic Latino voters and African- American voters haven't had a chance to have their say yet. And yet, again, the media wants to suggest that somehow their votes are going to change and they're going to fade out and that they're just trying to chase a winner. But I would suggest to you they're standing on principal. They know Joe Biden. They know his record. They trust Joe Biden.

And, look, Joe Biden is the one who doesn't need any training on day one. He's going to walk into the White House, know exactly what to do and save the soul of this nation and get us back on good footing across the globe.

CABRERA: Congressman Donald McEachin, thank you for being here.

Two Boeing 747s are now headed back to the U.S. from Japan. On board, some of the Americans who spent the last two weeks stuck on a ship quarantined because of the coronavirus.

But what about the people left behind? Details just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

CABRERA: Hundreds of Americans are headed back to the U.S. right now. They were aboard the cruise ship, Diamond Princess, but now counts as the largest outbreak of the novel coronavirus outside mainland China with 356 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

But even though they left the ship, the waiting isn't over for the Americans aboard two 747 jets chartered by the U.S. State Department. These passengers, roughly 300 of them, had to agree to be quarantined for 14 more days once they touchdown in the U.S. So they'll spend that time at U.S. military bases in California and Texas.

CNN's Matt Rivers joins us from Tokyo International Airport where these charter planes took off last hour. And, Matt, some of these cruise ship passengers are unhappy about having to get on these planes without actually being tested for the virus, just screened. Is it because there just wasn't enough time to conduct that many coronavirus tests, or what was that all about? MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Basically, the Japanese government has said that they just simply did not have the capacity nor the time to test everyone on board that ship for this virus. And so as a result, while the State Department, the CDC said that everyone that was American was screened for symptoms before getting on that plane, the fact is that the majority of them did not get tested for this coronavirus. And that's certainly one of the reasons that people were upset on board this flight.

I think the more broad complaint, Ana, would be about the timing of all this. Remember that these people were put into quarantine by the Japanese government on board that ship on February 3rd. And it was around that time that many Americans on board were saying, hey, U.S. government, come help us, let's do and evacuation.

And the U.S. government's response was, no, go through the quarantine, period, as dictated by the Japanese government up until February 19th. And once you go through that, assuming you don't test positive, you can just jump on a commercial flight and come back home. And that was the understanding until Saturday when the U.S. government said, actually, we're going to offer evacuation flights. We strongly encourage you to take them. And also we're going to mandate a 14-day quarantine period.

[18:30:00]

Most of these people, Ana, are not -- they're not opposed to helping out public health issues, it's just the timing of all this, why, they say, didn't the U.S. government evacuate them sooner.

CABRERA: All right, Matt Rivers, thank you for that reporting.

The NBA is honoring the life and legacy of Kobe Bryant, including naming a major award after him. These are live pictures inside the arena in Chicago where the All-Star Game happens tonight. We'll take a look at the other ways he's being honored, next.

But first, Alison Kosik is here with this week's "Before the Bell" -- Alison.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Ana. Fears about the coronavirus are hanging over the stock market. Investors tried to move past the headlines last week and focus in positive economic data and corporate earnings, but the worries about the economic toll of the outbreak haven't gone away.

On the calendar this week, Walmart reports fourth quarter earnings which includes holiday results. Target already warned its holiday sales were sluggish. So the big question is whether Walmart disappoints as well. America's biggest retailer is seen as a bellwether of consumer health and the retail sector. Its shares climbed 28 percent last year but are pretty flat so far this year.

Keep in mind, it's a short week on Wall Street. The stock market is closed tomorrow for President's Day.

In New York, I'm Alison Kosik.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:45]

CABRERA: Tonight, Kobe Bryant will be honored at the NBA's All-Star Game and the league is unveiling a permanent change to celebrate his legacy.

Here's NBA's commissioner Adam Silver.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM SILVER, NBA COMMISSIONER: We're now announcing, people are probably wondering what this object is next to me, that we are renaming our All-Star MVP trophy the Kobe Bryant MVP Award. No one embodied all-star more than Kobe Bryant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABRERA: Bryant was the All-Star MVP four times, tying the NBA record. And he was the youngest player ever to play in it making his debut at just 19 years old.

CNN's Andy Scholes is inside Chicago's United Center. Less than two hours now before tip-off.

Andy, tell us about this rule change tonight to help honor Kobe Bryant.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Ana. It's going to be an All-Star game unlike any we've ever seen before. Completely new format. The first three-quarters are going to be mini games within themselves. They're going to reset the score each time with both teams competing to raise money for Chicago-based community organizations. Then the fourth quarter is going to be untimed with the teams trying to reach a target score.

Now they're going to determine that target score by taking each team's cumulative score after three-quarters and the team with the highest score they're going to add Kobe's number 24 to that. For example, if it's 100-95 after three quarters, they're going to add 24 to 100 and 124 would be the score the teams need in order to win the game.

Now the fourth quarter is going to be completely commercial-free on our sister station, TNT. Now the players will also be honoring Kobe and his daughter Gigi with what they wear in this game. Team Giannis will all be wearing Kobe's 24 while Team LeBron will all be wearing Gigi's basketball, number 2. And all of those jerseys are going to have a special memorial patch on them with nine stars to remember those who died in that terrible helicopter crash. There's also going to be a black band on those jerseys in the memory of former NBA commissioner David Stern.

It's certainly going to be a very emotional night here, Ana. Jennifer Hudson is going to be doing a -- performing a musical tribute before the players are announced. And I've already seen multiple people wearing Kobe jerseys around the arena. Expect to hear plenty of Kobe chants throughout the night.

CABRERA: Yes. Tonight means a lot to a lot of people.

Andy Scholes, thank you for that reporting.

I want to bring in Kelley Carter. She is a senior entertainment writer for ESPN's "The Undefeated."

And Kelley, I know you last interviewed Bryant back in 2018 so after he retired from basketball. What struck you most about him?

KELLEY CARTER, SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT WRITER, ESPN'S THE UNDEFEATED: The same discipline that he brought to the game of basketball for two decades, he was prepared to take into his next chapter which of course was dominating Hollywood.

And, you know, as I told him back then he did the most Kobe Bryant thing ever, which is the first thing he does in Hollywood, you know, earns an Oscar nomination. I mean, who does that? Who does that?

It's Kobe Bryant, of course. And so we talked a lot about that but we also -- you know, it's even more special I think considering what happened last month, talked about how his role as a dad was as important to him as anything else that he was doing after the game of basketball.

I asked him if he won the Oscar, where he was going to put his Oscar and he said he'd probably sleep with it. He said it would be his wife, the baby Bianca and the Oscar would all be in bed together. He said the morning of the Oscars, he wasn't going to be nervous because he had to go and coach his daughter Gigi in a game that morning, and then he would get ready to see if he won an Oscar, which of course he did that year.

CABRERA: My, oh, my. What an underachiever that Kobe Bryant. You wrote a piece --

CARTER: I know.

CABRERA: You wrote a piece soon after his death about how, you know, NBA athletes transform themselves after they retire and you talked with him about how he was, you know, making his own way in Hollywood through storytelling. And as you point out he went on to be very successful at that. I talked to some of his friends on the night that we learned about the plane or the helicopter crash, I should say.

And they really talked about just how passionate he was as a writer, as a rapper. Tell us more about that part of Bryant that you maybe got to discover a little bit.

[18:35:05]

CARTER: Yes. You know, I think like a lot of athletes, we tend to -- we as a society, I should say, tend to kind of box them in and tell them you can only do one thing. And Kobe was very much about disproving stereotypes or disrupting stereotypes. Probably the better way to say it.

And writing was something that he always loved doing alongside with running the game and so even though we were celebrating him for two decades what he was doing on the basketball court he never let go of this love and his passion for writing even though he told me that a teacher he had early on in his career, said, you know, forget about the writing thing, he didn't.

And he said to me poignantly that, you know, this is proof that he can do something more than just dribble and shoot. You know, and writing was the thing that was going to, you know, kind of introduce this next chapter. And not for nothing. He had a very impressive slate of things to come, you know, in Hollywood. And I think that we're all going to be missing out on some more greatness that Kobe Bryant was planning on giving us.

CABRERA: What do you want his legacy to be now?

CARTER: I mean, I think a couple of things. I think we, you know, are going to miss out on seeing what he -- what influence he's going to have in the world of female sports and female basketball. He obviously had a daughter who was, you know, walking and following in his footsteps and he wanted to be supportive of that. And I think we're going to miss out on having that presence at future female college basketball games and WNBA games.

But I think that that is going to be a very important part about his legacy. But also I think just excellence because that is truly what Kobe Bryant really exemplified again as an athlete, absolutely, you know, and certainly as his life after an athlete, you know, his life in Hollywood, excellence was always a key. I don't know if he ever actually really slept because he was such a studied young man, you know, and really, you know, kind of took all of this very seriously.

And I think all of that should probably be a part of his legacy. And I think we'll be talking about Kobe Bryant for a really, really long time.

CABRERA: Kelley Carter, I really appreciate you taking time to share those memories and to, you know, give us even more insight into a really, really impressive individual, Kobe Bryant, who we honor tonight.

CARTER: Absolutely. Thank you.

CABRERA: Thank you. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:47:03]

CABRERA: Presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is vowing to always be a champion for women in the workplace. Now this promise comes as new details emerge about degrading and harassing comments he allegedly made regarding women at the company he co-founded and owned during the '80s and '90s. These allegations are detailed in a new piece from the "Washington Post" and the paper interviewed former employees and witnesses to the alleged incidents. They reviewed thousands of pages of legal documents and depositions.

I want to read you just a couple of quotes from the article. And I quote, "The lawsuit said Bloomberg berated a female employee who had trouble finding a nanny. It's an F, baby. All you need is some black who doesn't have to speak English to rescue it from a burning building," end quote. And this, "Bloomberg also allegedly said that his company's financial information computers 'will do everything, including giving you oral sex. I guess that puts a lot of you girls out of business,'" end quote.

Now these are just two of several quotes attributed to Bloomberg in lawsuits and documents reviewed by "The Washington Post." The Bloomberg campaign offering a staunch denial that the former New York mayor made any of these comments. In a statement provided to CNN they wrote, "Virtually all of this has been reported over the past two decades. In any large organization, there are going to be complaints. But Mike simply does not tolerate any kind of discrimination or harassment and he's created cultures that are all about quality and inclusion.

I spoke with "The Washington Post" reporter who wrote this story, Michael Kranish, and I asked him about these alleged remarks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL KRANISH, POLITICAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER, THE WASHINGTON POST: There are a lot of comments. There's two things particularly we wrote about in this story. One is from a booklet that was called "The Written Wisdom of Michael Bloomberg" compiled by a top aide, woman who sat next to him for about 70 years, and this was presented to him at his 48th birthday party in 1990.

There have been quotes from this booklet over the years. The booklet itself has not been out there. I did obtain the full booklet from a source and we decided in the interest of transparency to put the entire booklet online so you can go on the WashingtonPost.com Web site and read that for yourself. Over the years, Bloomberg has said he doesn't recall some of these comments and we said if people were offended that he apologized to them.

He said he didn't say certain other things. Recently, when we told him we put the book online, he basically said he didn't say any of those things. Supposedly there is a lawsuit, as you referenced, several lawsuits. One in particular we cite extensively in the story and Bloomberg's folks have denied entirely the allegations and statements from that lawsuit. Mr. Bloomberg would not talk to us for the story so these are denials from his spokesperson.

CABRERA: I think I have here the lawsuit you are referencing. This is one of the high profile accusations from a female saleswoman who sued him as well as his company. She alleged that Bloomberg told her to, quote, "kill it," when he learned she was pregnant. [18:50:04]

Bloomberg denied this under oath and he reached a confidential settlement with the sales woman. But you talked to a former Bloomberg employee who claims to have witnessed this conversation or heard about it? What did you find out?

KRANISH: Right. So, in your intro you referenced the question of whether there's something. Well, this is an individual who's never been interviewed before about this. He said that he was there, that he overheard a conversation. The sales woman in her lawsuit said that Bloomberg told her to, quote, "kill it." This individual says he recalls Bloomberg said, are you going to kill it? And this witness who I interviewed said he also found that to be outrageous.

He said he had never talked with the saleswoman about it. This was not part of her lawsuit and simply had never been contacted before, so I interviewed him and we put the audio excerpt from that interview that's relevant to what you're asking about online. So again, you can go online, you can hear the audio, hear this gentleman give his recollection of what he remembers happening.

So that seems significant because this lawsuit and this allegation that Bloomberg said kill it has been something that has written about quite a bit over the years. There was a confidential settlement. I report in the story that three resources tell me the settlement was in the six figures, but Bloomberg gave a deposition in the case that's never been made public. And he also there was a confidentiality agreement and he has declined to release that woman from the agreement.

So having a new witness come forward is an interesting thing that certainly I spent time reporting on and his story is there for readers to read in the story and also hear the audio.

CABRERA: And these allegations we're discussing have to do with very vulgar, degrading language. Are there accusation of sexual misconduct at all?

KRANISH: There are no accusations such there have been, for example, with President Trump of sexual misconduct. This is all about things that Bloomberg said that people thought constituted harassment, degradation and so forth, and also the workplace culture that he fostered. So other people at the company saying things, doing things, because the people alleged that this was a culture that came from the top. One lawsuit specifically says from Michael Bloomberg on down.

CABRERA: Again, Bloomberg is denying he made the statements.

KRANISH: Right.

CABRERA: At least through his campaign, they're denying it. And that's --

KRANISH: He has said, Ana, just to be --

(CROSSTALK)

CABRERA: Go ahead.

KRANISH: Just to be clear -- sorry to talk over you. Just to be clear, they've denied certain things, but also they said in a statement on the record that you quote in the story that Bloomberg has said things that don't align with his values and that he has said things that are, quote, "wrong and disrespectful." They were not specific. So I asked them of course, well, what did he say that was wrong, what did he say that was disrespectful? And they don't give specifics.

So they make this broad statement. We don't know exactly what he's referring to but they do acknowledge he said things that by their words were wrong and disrespectful.

CABRERA: And that's similar to what we receive as well from the campaign telling CNN, quote, "Mike openly admits that his words have not always aligned with his values in the way that he has led his life and some of what he has said is disrespectful and wrong."

Again, you know, Michael, these alleged incidents are from three and four decades ago. Is Bloomberg a different man today?

KRANISH: Well, I do quote a gentleman in the story who knew him back then that and said this was very common for Bloomberg and other people to speak this way. And he said Bloomberg that has changed. He ran for mayor of New York City in 2001, served three terms, and that he, you know, changed over time. And in fact one of the company officials told me their policies regarding, for example, leave for pregnant woman or mothers with newborns, has been extended. They now offer 26 weeks, which is a very generous policy in the industry certainly.

So yes, they do say that he has changed, but he doesn't acknowledge exactly what he said before. So presumably on the campaign trail, he'd be asked, you know, can you be more specific? What did you say that was wrong? He hasn't apologized in the same way that he needs to apologize for what he said about stop and frisk, for example.

CABRERA: Right.

KRANISH: So he's in a situation where he's acknowledged saying things that are wrong, hasn't said what those things are. And so therefore you may wonder exactly where he is today and how he's changed.

CABRERA: Michael Kranish, really great reporting. Thank you very for much for sharing with us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABRERA: Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, more than 1100 former Justice Department official demand Bill Barr step down as the attorney general faces questions about his independence. How the Trump administration is responding tonight when we come back.

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