that it was an inside job. i mean, it was an inside job. the head of the federal government at the time was sort of encouraging it, if you want to go down that road. but that was the most animated. everything else he was very decaffeinated, very subdued. look, what i'm reminded by watching him tonight, there is a marketplace for conspiracy theorists in our politics. he knows it, and that's why he's doing it. that's why robert f. kennedy jr. has a following out there because he's been a conspiracy theorist. there is a market for it. >> there is always a market for a flash in the pan shooting star, outsider candidate, right? whether it's herman kang or andrew yang. when you dig a little deeper, when you listen a little closer, you realize that vivek ramaswamy, thomas jefferson ramaswamy who spent 55 minutes quoting thomas jefferson talks and talks and talks but says precious little. it is all platitudes and cliches and spreading of conspiracy and hawking books and hawking podcasts and saying very little, not really answering anything. >> what did you make of his demeanor because as scott noted he came out not as cram bungs a the last debate. he was asked a question by riley miller, a voter there, about, you know, they want a vivacious president, but he said i want a president who has tact. >> i'm fascinated by how different people, different demographics react to vivek ramaswamy. in my family, i have everything from 30-year-old and 40-year-old crypto bros that call each other dogs. i have young women. the crypto bros think he's eloquent, think he's well-rounded, think he's the best thing they ever heard. the people my age and older think he is a snake oil saleswomen. and the women, by and large think he's 's weesley and don' like him at all. >> attitudes that he's exhibited and pretends like it never happened, and he did that tonight. it was interesting. >> scott jennings, anna navorro, as always, thank you for watching the town halls with me. thank you for watching our special coverage tonight with vivek ramaswamy. stick around because "king charles" starts right now. >> oh, yeah. >> okay, mr. barkley. >> hello. yes, it's charles barkley. >> he doesn't bite, i promise. >> given the war with ukraine, do you think russian athletes should be allowed to compete in the olympics? >> my family is from ukraine, so i say no. >> absolutely. athletes have nothing to do with the politics of their country. >> how long is too long to be engaged before you get married? >> six months to a year. i take that back. i take that one. one to two years. >> from the cnn studios in new york city, it's "king charles". >> we're not going to waste your time. >> nope. >> with gail king. >> i'm beyoncé, but you can call me gail. >> and charles barkley. tonight, sports commentator and podcast host, cnn's clarissa ward and from "the color purple," corey hawkins. "king charles" starts now. >> going in, going in. welcome, welcome. thank you for joining us tonight. this is our third episode tonight about the news that matters to us and hopefully to all of you. we're throw shows in and people are comfortable stopping me on the street telling me what they think. is this happening to you, too? >> yes. >> one person said to me the other day, why do you call it "king charles"? i said it's called "king charles." yeah, but he's taking all the title. do people say that to you? >> they're codumber than rocks. if you look at that monitor, it says gail king and charles barkley. >> the other thing people said to me, could you tell charles barkley to stop yelling. we could hear him. i never feel like you're yelling. >> i don't think i'm yelling. >> i don't think he feels -- i don't think you're yelling either. >> i definitely don't think i'm yelling. >> the other thing they said to me, is charles okay sitting in that chair? he looks uncomfortable. >> these were the same people if i laid back they would say, why do you always slouch. >> you are comfortable in the chair? >> i am. first of all, i want to give you credit. your color selection on the chairs is magnificent. >> when i went to charles and said, what do you think about these colors or this style chair. i don't care about the chair. i don't care about that. i don't care about that. i look at it as even i get sometimes taken aback by the kc because i think kansas city or kelsey clarkson. i see us as kelly and mark, the couple that's not married without the hot accent. >> we're on a roll. we've got a jam packed show for you tonight, including an exclusive intrepid reporting from clarissa ward. we have unaccompanied access to gaza. you will see it here first and only here. we hope you won't miss that. we'll also talk about the explosion of gambling, a little bit around gambling around sports. >> yes. >> do you want to elaborate? is that a --? >> no. >> and what it means for everyone involved. and one of the stars of "the color purple." you can't say color purple without singing it. he will talk about a cultural film and touch stone for many of us. charles, here's the question. is there a limit on how long you should be engaged? >> yes. >> do you want to share now or later? >> later. >> if you have been watching the news today, we know it's been heavy. a lot of bad stuff out in the world today, but there is a story here in new york across the country bringing people a whole lot of joy. i love this story. the unexpected rise of tommy devito. take a look at the front page. the undrafted. he's undrafted third-string quarterback for the new york giants has basically taken over the city. he's one three games in a row. that doesn't seem like a lot, that's a big deal here. >> it's the only three he's played. >> okay. he lives at home with his parents, and his mom still does his laundry. he's 25. he was just named the nfc player of the week. so what do you think as you watch this story? i can't get enough of this guy and his family. and his family. >> i think it's amazing. >> yes. >> i think it's great. it's exactly why i was so upset about florida state not making the playoff, because if we're going to say -- if we're going to lose starters, we don't cancel the season. >> yes. >> florida state won three games in a row with backup. that's a great story. the new york giants have won three games with this kid because they're beautiful -- the beautiful thing about sports, we lace them up. you go play. and whoever wins, wins. but just because their starting quarterback got hurt, we don't cancel the season. i love what this kid is doing, and it's a great story. living at home with his parents, hey, man, that is awesome. >> at 25? >> at 25. he got to make sure he got a job. this is a -- >> i understand mom is a really good cook and she does his laundry, too. we got some late news. golden state warriors forward, that's draymond green, has been suspended indefinitely after striking an opposing player in the face last night. now, he says, charles, that it was an accident. >> yeah, he lying. >> you have seen the videotape. >> he's lying. >> why do you say that? >> look, he takes a look where the guy's face is. if he would have just flipped and flailed around, he wouldn't have caught him squarely in the face. >> i don't see him looking around. >> you saw it then, though, didn't you? >> i met draymond. i always think he's a nice guy. >> i like draymond. >> but? >> but you can't punch guys. >> but the way he was spinning around -- i'm being serious here, the way he was spinning around, it did seem like it was out of control. it didn't look deliberate to me. >> he didn't slap him. he punched him. it is a difference. i'm surprised it is indefinite. he was just suspended for five games. indefinite makes me -- i don't know what that really means honestly. but it sounds to me like they're going to make him undergo some type of counseling. listen, everybody likes draymond. >> they do, right? >> yes. but at some point if you keep doing stupid stuff, we can't keep saying he's a good dude. i mean, yeah, everybody likes draymond. but if you keep doing stupid stuff, you lose -- you lose the right to be called a good guy. >> yeah, the same stuff, too. >> yes. >> i'm worried about that. here is a story that i know you have had feelings about. we were talking outside. athletes from belarus banned from most international competitions in 2022 after russia's invasion of ukraine, we know this story, will be able to compete in the paris 2024 olympics, but they have to do it as neutral athletes. so that means no flag, no anthem, no colors or any other identifications whatsoever of russia or belarus will be displayed at the olympic games paris 2024. now i know, listen, you are the only athlete on stage right now. this may surprise you, but i have no athletic ability. >> that's why i'm taking you golfing. >> golfing, boring. but you have stood on the podium. you know what it feels like to win a gold medal. >> yes. >> so i'm curious about what that's like. you win a medal. now you are standing there and you can't play anything associated with your country. >> this is a really interesting situation for me. number one, out of everything i have been blessed to do in my life, standing on that podium when they play the national anthem, it gives you chills. i was blessed to do it twice, and i'm standing beside some of the greatest players ever. and we're like, yo, man, this is giving us chills. so it is one of the most amazing feelings i have ever had in my life. but the problem i have, why are the athletes being punished for something -- they're getting punished and penalized for something their president is doing. obviously the situation in ukraine and russia is awful and it's evil. >> yes, yes. >> but unless -- if these guys and ladies have a fault in the war, they shouldn't get penalized in my opinion. are we going to hold politicians of the united states for some of the stuff we've done? are we not going to play our national anthem? so i think it is really unfair to them. but it's one of the greatest feelings i've ever had in my life. >> i'll bet. i still get chills when i hear the national anthem at any event. regardless of where you are, there is something about those words and the music that always makes me so proud. when you get the gold medal, what is it like to get the gold medal, charles, and how valuable are they? >> they're not vabl. you probably should win the bronze medal? >> why? >> i had two gold medals. i gave one to my mother and grandmother and i said, we should probably get these insured just in case somebody steal them. so i took them to the jeweler. >> where do you live? >> a small town in alabama. i took them to the jeweler. he said how much do you think they're worth. i said i don't know. he said they're worth about $19.95 because they're gold plated. he said if you wanted something valuable, you should have won the bronze medal. it was a really koot stor cute the medals have sentimental value. >> yes, i totally agree with you. coming up, a cnn exclusive with clarissa ward. cnn was the first western media outlet to report from gaza. what we saw right after the break. you're probably not easily persuaded to switch mobile providers for your business. but what if we told you it's possible that comcast business mobile can save you up to 75% a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers? did we peak your interest? you can get two unlimited lines for just $30 each a month. there are no term contracts or line activation fees. and you can bring your own device. oh, and all on the most reliable 5g mobile network nationwide. wireless that works for you. it's not just possible, it's happening. it may be hard to believe, but we are now 67 days into the war between israel and hamas. our next guest has been crucial in bringing our reporting to you. i have to tell you, her name is clarissa ward and i used to work with her back in the day. i have always admired her reporting because she is a badass, and she is fearless, especially her desire to be on the ground where the biggest and most dangerous news is breaking. tonight is no different. thanks to clarissa, cnn was the first media outlet to report in gaza independently. she has footage you won't see anywhere else, and this is the first time she's talking about it since returning. we thank you for joining us. it is really good to see you. >> thanks, gail. it is really good to be with you. >> every time i see you on tv, i tense up a little bit and say, please, please, let her be safe. it is so crucial and critical the job that you are doing. but i want to start with the obvious because most of the world is watching from home. we're watching from the safety of our homes, watching from the safety of our countries, wherever that may be. but you are often there. you have a front row seat. what are you seeing on the ground? >> so up until this point, we have been lobbying for weeks and weeks to try to get in to gaza, gail, but it just hasn't been possible, basically. the borders have been blocked by israeli officials, by egyptian officials. and so the reporting that's been done up until now has been donewy the extraordinarily brave journalists of gaza who have been paying a high price. more than 60 journalists killed according to the committee to protect journalists since this round of hostilities began. that is truly an extraordinary number. we enjoy a privilege position on this trip. we went in for a short window. there was deconfliction preparation that went into it to ensure our security and the security of the uae medical volunteers, the medical volunteers who we went in with to their field hospital. but still even in that brief window, gail, you really got a sense of the absolute horrors that have been taking place in gaza. this hospital was filled with the youngest victims of this war, children who have been disfigured, who are in full body casts, who are covered in burns, according to the united nations, some two-thirds of the deaths that have happened since israel retaliated after the horrific october 7th attacks with this massive bombardment, two-thirds of the victims have been women and children. and we definitely saw that born out in this hospital. there was a strike just minutes after we arrived near the hospital. two casualties brought in. a 13-year-old boy who lost half his leg, an older man with his foot hanging off. so it was chilling. it was harrowing. and a very sobering experience to see just how difficult life is on the ground. >> and once you see it, you cannot unsee it. but i'm just struck by something you said. you said there was a strike there at the hospital while you were there. what happens? what do you do in that situation? what does that mean exactly? in the movies, you see it and it looks like the whole place is decimated. what happens? >> well, i think the most interesting thing about it, gail, was that it was very loud. i can't say exactly how close it was. but the doctor who was showing me around didn't even flinch. he turned to me and he said, this is our every day. this happens about 20 times a day. and then minutes later, he gets a phone call saying, the first casualties are coming in. because this field hospital that the united arab emirates has set up near the southern border is literally, gail, the only hospital with empty beds in gaza. and, so, what's happening is that these casualties will be rushed to one hospital. they will tie some kind of atou. and then they get brought to this field hospital, which is state-of-the-art, which has mris, which has supplies coming in on a regular basis. although, it is still a challenge every single day. and, so, this has become part of the fabric of daily life for ordinary gazans. it is not something you can ever truly get used to, particularly when you see the scale of the suffering, when you see the fact that it's women and children largely bearing the front of it, but there is a sense in gaza right now that nobody has time to take a breath. you just have to keep going, keep moving, keep trying to save lives to the best of your ability. i do think it is important to underscore as well, gail, that for the people of gaza we get to leave at the end of our visit. they do not. they have no way of going out, and they have no safe place to go to. and they are facing a level of bombardment that does not have a press sent in modern warfare. it is truly a catastrophe, gail. >> how is the humanitarian aid getting through to all the people? i know that was a big question mark they had been talking about here for a while. is any humanitarian aid getting through? >> so, charles, some aid is getting through, but just nowhere near the volume that needs to be getting through. there is this one border crossing between egypt and gaza that's totally overwhelmed. when you approach the border, you just see miles and miles of trucks lining up, hundreds of them that are laiden with this aid that is so desperately needed. and even when they manage to cut through the bureaucracy and go through the various inspections and get into gaza, the problem, according to aid workers, is they can't actually distribute the aid to where it needs to go because the bombardment is so ferocious, because it is so dangerous to make road moves around gaza at the moment. so essentially, these aid workers are completely hand strung, and the ordinary people are very much cutoff from the basic necessities, whether it is food, whether it is medicine. i talked to the doctors again. they said we're getting injuries in here and illnesses that should be relatively easy to treat. but by the time they reach us, we're looking at severe cases of sepsis, of infection, simply because the hospitals and medical facilities in gaza are completely overwhelmed. the bottom has fallen out in the health care system. and, so, you are seeing things that should be easy to deal with turn into life-threatening diseases, illnesses and infections. >> before you go, listen, i remember when you had your first child. and now you are the mother of three. and i have often wondered this about you. when i describe you as a badass, i really mean that because i have seen you in action. i know how you work. i know how hard you work. how are you so fearless? are you ever afraid? are you ever afraid? and do you feel safe when you're there? >> so, first of all, i just have to say, gail, that honestly, the real badasses are the journalists in gaza who are doing this, who are getting killed and injured every single day, the doctors who are staying in these hospitals that are getting bombed where there is a complete breakdown and continue with no sleep, with very little support to do whatever they can to try to help their own people. we enjoyed a very privileged position on this occasion. we did feel relatively safe. we were only on the ground for a matter of hours. but as a war correspondent who has been doing this for almost 20 years now and particularly as a mother, you never get used to seeing children who have been maimed, who have been disfigured, who have lost their entire families. we spoke to the aunt of an 18-year-old called amir who doesn't know yet that both of his parents and his siblings were killed in a strike that has left him literally broken. that is not something that ever gets easier to process. and i can honestly say i don't think we have ever seen it quite on this scale as what we are seeing take place on the ground in gaza right now. >> well, all right. i think you're being very modest about what you do because you put yourself in harm's way. i know that it is -- that there have been times that it's been very dicey for you. but i appreciate you talking about the bravery of others. but i also know the job that you do. thank you so much, and we really hope that you will stay safe. can't wait to see you again. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you.