Transcripts For CNNW CNN Tonight With Don Lemon 20190426

The courage to stand against it. And in that moment i knew the threat to this nation was unlike any i had ever seen in my lifetime. So thats it. Heres the question. Which charlottesville event will decide the direction of this country . Will it be the president s defense of White Supremacists . Or will it be biden standing in opposition at the very start of his campaign . Framing the choice in 2020 as one that will define the character of this country. We are in the battle for the soul of this nation. I believe history will look back on four years of this president and all he embraces as an abhorrent moment in time. But if we give donald trump eight years in the white house he will forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are, and i cannot stand by and watch that happen. The core values of this nation, our standing in the world, our very democracy, everything thats made America America is at stake. But can character trump trumpism . Can character trump trumpism . I want you to listen to what biden said. It was just a little while ago. It was at a fundraiser in philadelphia. And here is the quote. It says, i dont think theres ever been a time, an election where more is at stake about the future of the country. Im hoping that in a couple of years well look back and say whether its me or anybody else replacing it that this is an aberration in american history, this four years, because it is not who we are. So when biden suggests that donald trump is like a cancer on the presidency, one that can be excised and the country will be healed, is he right . Or is he ignoring not only everything that has happened in the trump era, but also the lesson of eight years of opposition to president barack obama . When republicans did everything in their power to stop his agenda in its tracks. Remember the quote, make him a oneterm president. Time will tell. Biden is the frontrunner, but hes a long way from being the nominee. And he certainly has things to regret over his very long career. We all have things in our past that we wish we could undo. Ive got to think that joe biden wishes he could undo his handling of anita hills testimony during Clarence Thomas nomination, there he is up on the screen. He said last month that she faced hostile and insulting questioning when she testified that thomas had sexually harassed her. And then biden went on to say that anita hill paid a terrible price, she was abused through the hearing, she was taken advantage of, her reputation was attacked, thats a quote. And were learning that the former Vice President called her earlier this month to personally share his regret. But hill tells the New York Times tonight that she is not satisfied and cant support bidens candidacy. So i want you to think about this, okay . Why should she . Dont you think its unfair to expect her to support him . Its unfair to expect that anita hill would just put aside an experience that was so publicly painful, an experience that changed everything for her, one shes had to live with for 28 years, surely you can understand that, why should we expect that . Shes not required to support biden. And we dont know what was said in their private conversation. I think it is unfair to assume that joe bidens regret was a transaction. Something he did to get her support. You can believe that what joe biden did in 1991 during the thomas hearings was wrong, and at the same time believe that joe biden would not handle things the same way in 2019, in 2020, in 2021 or 2022. 2019 lens for 1991. Voters will make up their minds about that, about whether he has done enough to apologize and make amends and how important that is to their vote. As for anita hill, she gets to believe and demand whatever she wants after the experience she went through. Its not for anyone else to say what apology she should accept or not accept. She also told the times this, listen, another quote that she does not find mr. Bidens conduct disqualifying. Thats what she said. Thats what the article says. But as biden declared his candidacy today it seems like he has gotten under some peoples skin. I just want you to listen to something the president s daughterinlaw lara trump said today. Joe biden is just among a sea now of other candidates who quite frankly are all trying to outbernie one another. I didnt hear any proposals for the future of this country in his announcement video he made there, race baiting as usual as we see from the democrats. Race baiting. You would think those words would just stick in her throat, accusing joe biden of race baiting. Has she met donald trump . When its her fatherinlaw, the president of the United States who, as biden points out, defended White Supremacists in charlottesville you also had people that were very fine people on both sides, you had people in that group excuse me, excuse me. I saw the same pictures as you did. Well, remember it was donald trump who launched his campaign with an attack on mexicans, who called african nations shithole countries, who promoted the racist birther lie that president obama was not born in this country. President trump, who tweets about anything and everything, never got around to tweeting about the burnings of three africanamerican churches in louisiana just a few weeks ago, never got around to that. Also, did he ever apologize to president obama . On and on and on. The question again, can character trump trumpism . Can biden unite a party whose diverse progressive wing seems to be getting all the attention . So they may seem to be getting all the attention. But the fact is about 50 of the democratic voters identify as moderate or conservative. About the same percentage are at least 50 years old. So dont count biden out. He could be right up their alley. This election wont be decided on twitter. It will be decided at the ballot box. The fact of the matter is the vast majority of the members of the Democratic Party are still basically liberal, moderate democrats in the traditional sense. Show me the really left, left, leftwings leftwingers who will beat a republican. The idea that the democratic stood on its head, i dont get it. Heres the dilemma for democrats, okay . Will this election be about breaking the mold or about electability . Which means beating trump. Van jones is going to be on the program a little bit later but our own van jones, and i told him this is brilliant, he said this, he put it really well today, with the margin of trumps victory, just about 77,744 votes in three states, youve got to take a really close look at a guy who could win those votes. Do we want to go with new, fresh, young faces going to throw out, you know, the most inspiring ideas, or do we just need to find somebody who can bring us back together and frankly get those 70,000 midwestern voters to come back over the face. Because dont forget, we lost the industrial midwest, three states, by a total of 70,000 votes. Joe biden can get those 70,000 votes without getting out of bed in the morning. While democrats are facing the momentous choice of who can best challenge trump in 2020, they face another equally momentous choice, what to do about a president whos lied to the american people, whos stonewalling, ordering his aides to defy lawful subpoenas from congress, who tried again and again to obstruct justice and pressured his aides to do it for him. Its not just me whos saying that. Okay . Fasten your seat belts. Fox news senior judicial analyst andrew napolitano. Im dispointed in the im disappointed in the behavior of the president. His job is to preserve, protect and uphold the constitution of the United States, to enforce federal law, not to violate it. If he had ordered his aides to violate federal law, to save a human life, or to preserve human freedom he would at least have a moral defense to his behavior. But ordering them to break federal law to save him from the consequences of his own behavior, that is immoral, that is criminal, that is defenseless, and that is condemnable. Fox news. Judge andrew napolitano. What are directs going to do . Are they going to rely on the battle box . Are they going to rely on impeachment . Will they unite behind a candidate who can defeat trump . Or will they put the president on trial . Like i said, it is a momentous choice, one that could change the direction of this country. To Kaitlan Collins at the white house now. Kaitlan, good evening to you. Youve got reporting about the president and how worried he is about joe biden. What are you hearing . Reporter don, the president was just asked what he thinks about joe biden entering the race today. Of course he was repeating the same criticisms he had earlier in the day, essentially questioning his intelligence. But, don, he did seem bothered by the fact in joe bidens video he immediately brought up charlottesville and the way the president was criticized for how he handled that, as you showed the video of what the president said and what the president seemed to be worried about there, don, despite what he thinks of joe biden and despite his criticisms of him, he did note the fact that he does have name recognition, something that sources have said that the president has been worried about when it comes to joe biden. So, kaitlan, biden was front and center today. Today, talk of the news, the president wasnt on tv as much. Is that pretty much the worst fate of all for President Trump . Reporter weve talked to Campaign Sources and theyve said they do think it could be a problem with the president because its such a crowded field of democrats which they think it could be helpful, they think the democrats will badly bruise each other before the end of the primary. A president who likes to be on the headlines, thats something theyre worried about, when the president sees the democrats getting air time, the president is going to want to involve himself more in a race than typically you would see a president do so. Kaitlan collins at the white house. Kaitlan, thank you so much. Can joe biden rebuild a blue wall that donald trump broke down in 2016 . Im going to ask a midwestern former governor who knows biden well, and that is john kasich, hes next. Webut some of us turn outhose dreams. Into action. The bookers. The doers. The hit that confirmation button and lets go ers because bookers know that the Perfect Place to stay. Is right there for the booking. Be a booker at booking. Com the worlds 1 choice for booking accommodations. Welcome to fowler, indiana. One of the windiest places in america. And home to three bp wind farms. In the offchance the wind ever stops blowing here. The lights can keep on shining. Thanks to our natural gas. 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Cnn is reporting that President Trump is worried about biden. Should he be, john . Sure, of course he should be. It was interesting don as you mentioned that he didnt attack any of his democrat opponents here. What i found interesting, as i watched that little video this morning, i think hes just going to try to ignore them. I think his campaign now is going to direct himself at donald trump. I dont think hes going to be hes going to get pulled in to some degree, but i think at all times hes going to be aiming at trump. Its me and trump. Heres what trump is, heres what i am, and i think thats what hes going to try to do. As to whether he can avoid the pitfalls, were going to have to wait and see. Joes got a lot of experience. People say, well, you know, he had other campaigns that didnt go very well. You have to learn and hes learned a lot. So well see what happens. Hes going to have gaffes. I said the other day, don, look, he likes to talk a lot. I told somebody, i got on a plane with him in washington, we landed in new york, when we got on the plane in washington i said how you doing and when we landed in new york he finished. You know . So he talks. But as john mccain used to say joe talks a lot, but we love him. You said its nice to see you. Exactly. Ive got to ask you, though, we can talk about pitfalls, its early on, maybe its good, who knows, that he gets these things out of the way early and then hes on to Something Else. I dont know. Youre the political person. Youre also a midwestern governor. You know the people. I also ran for president. Yes, you sure did. Can biden rebuild that blue wall that trump broke through, win back those states like pennsylvania, like wisconsin, michigan maybe even your home state of ohio . Don, doesnt he feel doesnt joe biden feel like a person that can talk to the lunch bucket crowd, to the blue collar crowd . I mean, thats why i relate to joe. Im from pittsburgh originally, hes over there in delaware. Hes a guy he does a lot of hugging and how you doing, man, kind of thing and he looks you in the eye. And he has an appeal, a certain appeal because what people want to know is do you get me . And what biden, i think, can communicate, if he does it well, that, hey, i get you, i understand you, i understand what your problem is, because i grew up with it. And, you know, i think that that is a key to pennsylvania, to michigan, to ohio, to wisconsin. I cant predict the states yet. But, yes, i think that he could because of who he is and his positions that will be more moderate i think he will be able to win those votes and i think hell win some disaffected republicans if he makes it through, well see. All right. I think youre on to something there. I think youre on to something because those are the people, the disaffected republicans, the centrists in the Democratic Party, actually the moderates, the people who actually go out and vote the most, they felt that they werent paid attention to in 2016, right, like, you know, and so many of them voted for trump. So heres my question then. You know what its like to be a candidate in the primary who could have been a formidable player in the general election. But with the party seemingly, thats seemingly going, if you look at the news media you might believe are the people who get the attention that its going in another direction. Im wondering how joe biden can navigate that. Let me preface this by saying 50 of the democratic voters identify as moderate or conservative and the same percentage are at least 50 years old, and those are the people who show up. So, again, my question is, can biden navigate that . Well, i think, don, what you have to understand is think about this when i was in the race against trump we had rules in the Republican Party winner takes all. Hed get 30 of the vote and lose 70 of the vote and hed win all the delegates. The Democratic Party is different. Theyre not going to have winner take all. So joes going to claim the mantle. I think its why Terry Mcauliffe didnt get in the race, he saw biden in his lane and biden was really going to big foot him. He was going to have power in that area. He doesnt have to win the hard left, he has to win enough to accumulate delegates. I heard you say earlier whos going to break the mold and have all these new ideas . How about these ideas, that debt matters and we shouldnt enslave our kids. How about the idea that we need to deal with health care and not take away preexisting conditions without blowing up the whole system and getting rid of private insurance . How about trade, where were going to go back to a level Playing Field without opposing all of these tariffs and walking away from trade deals or walking away from the climate deal. Those are really good ideas, you dont have to go reinvent the wheel with the Green New Deal in order to have some good ideas. And a return, by the way, to some normalcy, return to normalcy. Trump or bidens message today was, did you hear what the president said about charlottesville and there were many good people . Biden says thats not the country we want to believe in. And so its a message thats bigger than his tax plan, his health care plan, its a message of values. And well see how it goes. Hes saying he hopes well look back over time and say the last four years, this four years that somehow it didnt happen. What did he say . That it was an aberration, is what he said. So let me ask you this. He says that he believes that if you get rid of this president that you will get rid of this you will put this toxic era behind us. Do you think its that simple . No, i dont. I think but what biden could do, or what any leader could do is, don, he needs to bring out the best in ourselves. See, i have a different theory than a lot of people. I think power comes from the bottom up. If you look at the civil rights movement, the politicians were running as fast as they could away from the issues. It was only when the churches, the public, people who were not church people, who saw the injustice, the lack of morality who said were changing this and they just shoved it down the politicians throats. There were leaders in the politics but frankly the change came from the people. And what we have to do is convince people in this country any leader who, hey, remember what john kennedy said, its not what your country does for you, its what you do for your country. This notion that we can be bigger and better that we all matter and we dont have to hate one another, i saw you and cuomo the other day talking about religion. Look, religion, two big commandments. Love god, love your neighbor as you want your neighbor to love you. Look out for somebody else. This is where we need to get back to. Whoever can ignite that, i think, is going to do well. I found that on the trail, don, issues mattered less and the fact that i could connect with them in terms of where they live and what their problems were mattered more. Yeah. So, listen, youre close second behind joe biden for loving to talk, im going to ask you for a oneword answer to this question, if youll indulge me. I admit that. If it is biden versus trump, would you vote for biden . Lets wait and see how this all goes. Thats not one word. You know, i didnt vote because i dont know. I dont know how joe bidens going to do and im not going to if it was. Im not im not saying hes going okay. Im going to give you a short answer. When the time comes, ill let you know. Hows that . Antibiden short answer. Not saying another word. That was a politicians answer, thank you, john kasich. I just dont know. What if i run, you going to vote for me if i run, d. Lemon . It depends on what you do over time. Wait a minute, youre doing the same thing. If i run, you should say, yeah, ill be for you. If you answered one word, i would have answered one word too. So my answer is no. How about that . Im kidding. Oh, come on. Youre breaking my heart. Ive got to run, governor. Dont do that to me. See you next time. Appreciate your time. Thank you. A lot more on former Vice President joe biden announcing his bid for president , coming out swinging against President Trump. Is that the message voters want to hear . Applebees bigger, bolder grill combos. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. New lower price. Wow. Thats a lot of asparagus. Yeah, you said get a bunch of asparagus. Oh, you. A bunch. I. Thought you kinda. Tailored recommendations, taxefficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. Fidelity wealth management. Every day, visionaries are creating the future. So, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United States Postal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. Because the future only happens with people who really know how to deliver it. Joe biden is off and running officially launching his campaign for president and focusing his pitch on President Trump. Here to discuss now is bidens discuss bidens strategy is ryan lizza, Ayesha Rascoe and jonathan martin. Im trying to get my mouth to work tonight. Its been a long week. Hello. How are you guys doing . Thank you for coming on. I appreciate it. Ryan, im going to start with you. Biden is taking on trump directly, making his pitch about morals, not policy. Do you think thats the right strategy . I think the way he came out of the gate in making this a race about him versus trump and heres why trump is really, really bad for the country i think that plays into his number one strength which is, look at the cnn poll i believe it was a cnn poll from february that said democratic primary voters, the number one thing they want is someone who can beat trump. Mmmhmm. Number two is experience. And number three is to work across the aisle with republicans. Those are the three top things in a major poll, three things that biden has as his strengths. And so i think hes a little bit stronger than some of the coverage suggests today actually, where theres been a lot of focus on his weaknesses and his shifting positions over the years and whether hes too old. Hes leaning into those three strengths. Hes the guy that can beat trump. Let me just say this. You were here with me through 2016. You remember im saying hey, listen, everybody is not theyre downplaying or underestimating trump, right . Absolutely. You told me that many times. I told you he could never win the nomination. I said i think he can win the nomination and the presidency. I agree with you about joe biden. I think that maybe many of us have it wrong. I think some of the stuff, listen, what he did im not saying that it was right on some issues, but people are looking back at things that happened a long time ago through a 2019 lens. Again, thats not making thats not excusing what he did, but i do think a lot of it is is a tempest in a tea pot and i think democrats are fighting against themselves. And i dont know if this is actually going to matter. I think its what you said, democrats want someone who is going to beat donald trump. It is beat trump is their build that wall. Do you agree with that, ayesha . I absolutely agree with that. Thats what theyre looking for. The question is, what do they think that will actually look like and what that will actually be . My colleague at npr Danielle Kurtzleben wrote this week about electability and whether it kind of ups those that are kind of white and male and look like most previous president s and is the idea of electability this idea that you have to get somebody who kind of looks like weve always thought was president ial. I think what joe biden will have to answer is not just what he thought in the past but who is he today . So what if hes not the same person he was back then what is he offering to democrats and what is the vision and the story that hes going to offer . And i dont think that can just be antitrump. I think that there has to be some type of vision going forward. Okay. Let me ask you something jonathan, i promise ill bring you in. I have to ask you this, ayesha. Hes going on the view tomorrow, gears towards women. What does he say . You know hes going to be asked about that. Thats the question because he has this issue with what happened with anita hill and is he going and he talked to her but hasnt necessarily shes not satisfied with his answers on that. Right. And then he has the issues of touching and him being too touchy with women and people in general. And so how does he answer that . I think i think the problem that he has had at times is wanting to apologize but this idea that you cant be weak if you apologize for everything. So how do you kind of how do you square that . Okay. How do you say that ive changed . Well, the interesting thing, too, again, jonathan, is she talked about the touching and all that, and the polling after it, it looked to be something that was a stir in the media and the people polled said, eh, made him uncomfortable, shouldnt have done it, but it wasnt a disqualifying issue for him. Same thing, anita hill said so we know in the New York Times anita hill does not find mr. Bidens conduct disqualifying. Im really open to people changing. Talk to me, jonathan. Yeah, we talked to anita hill yesterday at the times and she obviously is not fully satisfied with joe bidens explanation and his attempt at rapprochement. But whats puzzling, don, about the hill situation is why biden wouldnt reach out earlier and try and make that right. This came up during the Brett Kavanaugh hearing last fall when biden was widely accepted to run for president , why wouldnt he have gone to see her then or at least picked up the phone then . We did a story last year where barbara boxer, a joe biden friend and former colleague, was pleading with him in our paper in print to say joes got to fix this, youve got to step up and i dont know why he waited so long. It is going to create a challenge. But i think, don, you raised an important point here, and that is what is the Democratic Party . Is it the loudest voices who are following this race ten months out who tend to be online, especially on twitter, who obviously dont like biden . Or is it a kind of larger, more middleclass sort of less politically driven, less ideological electorate thats more open to biden. Because i think those are his voters. The joe biden voter is more on facebook than on twitter. And the joe biden voter is, frankly, over 50, in in many cases, over 60. Thats kind of forgotten, i think, but the democratic primary, as young as the party is sort of becoming because young folks obviously cant stand President Trump, its still dominated, primaries are, by older voters, in a place like iowa and New Hampshire, especially, don, those are full of older voters who actually like biden. You bring up an interesting point. The times did reporting saying that most of the people who vote in caucuses and general elections are not on twitter. Thats right. Right . And they are more moderate than more moderate, more diverse, more middle class, right, right. And those are the people who show up to the polls. Correct. Were going to talk about what joe biden said at a fundraiser, and still talk about what he said about the former president. To endorse or not to endorse, well be back, dont go anywhere. Creating jobs and fueling the economy. Youre Small Business owners, and theres nothing small about your business. Thats why with dell Small Business technology advisors. Youll get tailored product solutions, expert tech advice and oneonone partnership. To help your Small Business do big things. Call an advisor today at 877buydell that were playing four on four with a barbershop quartet . [quartet singing] bum bum bum bum. Pass the ball. Pass the rock. Were open just pass the ball no, i cant believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my Car Insurance with geico. Yea. [quartet singing] shoot the j shoot, shoot, shoot the jaaaaaay. Believe it geico could save you fifteen percent or more on Car Insurance. This is my moms house. Believe it geico could save you fifteen percent a lot of firsts happened here. First kiss. First cigarette. Never saw it as a problem. When i was younger. My mom she was always like you need to get rid of them. Gave the juul a real chance, and found that i liked it. Found that it really works. The switch was easy. It was a nobrainer, really. This came from her. Really. Its a revolution in sleep. The sleep number 360 smart bed, from 999, intelligently senses your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. And now, save 400 on select sleep number 360 smart beds. Plus free premium delivery when you add a base. Ends saturday. Ryan, ayesha, jonathan, they are back with me. Ryan, you first. Biden spoke more about trump at a fundraiser tonight saying this, this kind of thing thats generated that the way to gain power and to control is to split the nation, pit people against people, you come and you say the reason you got a problem you got a problem, you middle class guy, you lost your job or youre worried about your job is because of the other, because of the black guy or women have too much power or the migrant is coming. So hes talking about when he said the other, hes talking about the other, otherizing people. Hes clearly saying that the president is selling a message of hate. Yeah. And, well, i mean, i dont mean to be, you know, sarcastic but it is kind of funny hes at this highdollar fundraiser talking about the middle class guy. That aside wheres he going to get the money, though, man . Optics wise, its strange they started the campaign at a fundraiser. Look, again, hes going back to this, you know, biden against trump. Hes the guy thats going to take on trump. He wants voters to visualize him on that stage with trump. And going through the long, long list of things that democrats will use to make the case against trump. It is kind of puzzling that hes doing that more than some of the other candidates. You know what i mean . Ive been surprised going out i just spent three days in New Hampshire and saw a bunch of candidates and i was surprised how much trump is not mentioned. Sort of this litany of abuses by this president is not necessarily a part of everyones stump speech. Its really fascinating. Maybe it has to do with a lot of these candidates are new and less famous, they want people to learn about them first. Right. But trumps excuse me, bidens doing it a little different. Ayesha, ill preface my next question with this, the latest fox news poll in march, biden polls seven points over trump. Okay . So with that said, this is how the president is responding to bidens announcement. Watch this. Well, i dont know who its going to be, maybe sanders or maybe biden. I think that, you know, when you look at joe, ive known joe over the years, hes not the brightest light bulb in the group, i dont think, but he has a name that they know. He hes coming on with little cute statements about me that he talked about the way the world is today. Hes not the brightest bulb. Id like to know who trump thinks is the brightest bulb in the field. Oh, my gosh. Okay, so, he then went on to discuss, ayesha, the military, the military tax cuts. How much do you expect him to focus on biden in the coming months . Go ahead and say whatever you want. He will focus on biden a lot. Talking to people who are kind of supporters of trump, they now they will say that theyre not worried about any democratic candidate. But one candidate that does come up is joe biden. And so i think that especially between biden and trump i think it will it will be very personal. And i think that trump, for whatever reason, takes what biden says very personally, maybe because hes associated with former president obama who President Trump clearly has issues with and always wants to kind of one up. But i think that this is going to be kind of very personal between them. I mean, at this point hes kind of referring to joe biden as sleepy joe biden. Now, that nickname seems to be just a nickname that he throws on people named joe. It doesnt really seem to be i mean, out of all of the nicknames, it doesnt seem to be the most creative, but thats what hes going with. I think that but i do think that this white house does look at joe biden as the moderate and that they feel like he would be difficult for them to beat because he is moderate and they look at everyone else as going too far to the left. Wasnt there a song lock cotton eyed joe . Yes, there was. Jonathan, you know everything. Jonathan, heres what else biden said at the fundraiser. He says im going to tell you exactly what i think. Im going to be completely honest with you, and as the old joke goes no one ever doubts, i mean, i mean what i say. Sometimes i say all that i mean, but i make no apologies, none. So, you know, this has gotten him into trouble in the past. It has. But also hes had to apologize for it. Trump also makes gaffes, doesnt apologize for his flubs. Right. And sometimes people maybe thats what people like about joe. I have no idea hes just yes. His biggest asset, don, is also his biggest liability, he does say whats on his mind and obviously that gets him into some trouble, but it also reminds people hes a flesh and blood human being. Hes obviously got his flaws and people can relate to who he is and his trials and, yes, even his gaffes, too. I think his focus on trump, not just personal. Its political too. The more this race is about trump and trumps conduct in america in the trump era, the bigger joe biden looks and the bigger this race looks and that helps him stay out of the nittygritty that he does not want to get dragged down into and kind of litigate his past, you know, take on attacks from various democratic opponents and get into the mud with them. He wants to be big and above the fray because otherwise, don, you know, why else should democrats pick him if this is just one more democratic primary and one more campaign . Hes got to make this race a national emergency. This is a different kind of moment. One of his supporters from philadelphia, brendan boyle, a congressman, said this is the most important election since 1860. And he was not exaggerating. Thats the kind of approach that biden and the Biden Campaign want because if its not that big of a deal, if its that that urgent, hes not going to be the nominee. Hey, jonathan i got to go. First of all, no one told me to say this, before you and i start getting emails tweets about it, i didnt mean rockabilly, its bluegrass, okay . Thought of that myself. The biden style gaffe, don. Well forgive you. Quickly, please, im really over time. Do you think that he did the best of sort of differentiating himself from the rest, maybe even overshadowing the rest and putting the election squarely where its going to be and should be . In that video i think he certainly did that, yeah, the question is, can he sustain it when he faces questions from the press and from voters next week in iowa its not going to be about charlottesville and trump, its going to be about medicare for all, the Green New Deal and prisoners voting. Then what does he do and say . Can he stick to the script . Thats the question, don front runner now, but a long way to go. Thank you all. Thank you. Well be right back. Why do salads settle on the same 5 things . Theres thousands of ingredients out there. 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With a bill for 2 million for medical care for detained american otto warmbier, imprisoned by the North Koreans in january of 2016 when he was on tour of the country and returned to the u. S. In 2017 in a coma. He died six days later. The former director of national intelligence, james clapper, is here to talk about this. Good evening, director. Thank you so much for joining us. Such a brazen move on north koreas part demanding the u. S. Pay after imprisoning, possibly killing, one of our citizens. His father says it sounds like a ransom. What do you say . Well, first of all, this just, if its possible, compounds the obscenity of what the North Koreans did to otto warmbier. And its true, you know, if this is true, it is in character with the North Koreans who look for every opportunity to generate hard currency. No matter as egregious as Something Like this. So i think its a cautionary tale for heads of state who choose to embrace a brutal despot like kim jongun. Let me so the administration hasnt paid the 2 million, director, although cnn confirms that the Trump Administration agreed to it before north korea released warmbier into american custody back in 2017. What, if anything, should the u. S. Do now . Well, you know, if we did if this administration did agree, i think that that really is extremely bad precedent because what it means is that at times of their choosing, North Koreans can choose to hold american citizen hostage for a big ransom. And theyre not above doing that. I mean, its just their singleminded drive for generating hard currency, and theyll look for every opportunity, every excuse to do it no matter how completely inappropriate and obscene that it is. So i think you know, offer advice that nobody will listen to, you know, just you need to be realistic about north korea and the nature of that regime. Director, when you went to north korea in 2014, were you asked to pay ransom for the no american citizens, kenneth bae, matthew miller, that you went there for . No. No, other than, of course, they look for every opportunity to make money by my visit. You know, for we had pay for, you know, exorbitant fee to park our aircraft on a remote taxiway at sunan airport, you know, you wouldnt dream of paying what we paid for a hotel bill in a state guesthouse. They hosted a dinner for us which i found out later we paid for. So other than that, no, there was no overt request for money in exchange for the release of the two citizens who were imprisoned under hard labor conditions. They expected Something Else from my visit since i was first cabinet official to go there since Madeleine Albright had in the year 2000. They had other expectations. Let me ask you about this. This is the political news. The election. Vice President Joe Biden jumped into the president ial race today and i want to read to you something he said at a fundraiser tonight. He said, the embrace of dictators and oligarchs in the face of dissing our friends, talking about nato, talking about our allies in eastern excuse me, in the far east, in asia, its just like whats going on here . I imagine there are a lot of people around the world asking the same question. Well, exactly. You know, and the irony is that our closest friends and allies whove been with us through thick and thin are really not only questioning whats going on here, but are genuinely concerned and worried about whats happening in this country and the void that many of them feel were leaving in the world today. The leadership void. This is, i think, particularly true in nato. Its always a pleasure to have you on, and just, you know, when i saw that video of you over there for kenneth bae and matthew miller, just made me want to thank you for your service to this country. Thank you so much, director, ill see you soon. Well, thanks, don. Well be right back. Wow. Thats a lot of asparagus. Yeah, you said get a bunch of asparagus. Oh, you. A bunch. I. Thought you kinda. To save 30 on all the medications we carry. So go directly to petmeds. Com now. This is cnn tonight. Im don lemon. Hes been hinting at it for months and today he made it official. Joe biden is running for president. Becoming the 20th candidate to seek the 2020 democratic nomination. He announced his candidacy in a campaign video, but he didnt go after his democratic rivals. Instead, taking direct aim at Donald Trumps presidency. Especially trumps handling of the deadly white supremacist rally in charlottesville, virginia, in 2017