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CNN NEWSROOM

Sanders Apologizes to Clinton; Suspicious Device Found on Air France flight; Officer Cesar Goodson Jr.'s Trial Set to Begin Next Month; Ted Cruz Using a Little Humor; Bowe Bergdahl To Be Arraigned for Court-Martial This Week; Zaevion Dobson Died Saving Three Friends; "Star Wars" Now Rules The Box Office Galaxy. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired December 20, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:38] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: Right now in the NEWSROOM, democratic showdown.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want to apologize to my supporters. This is not the type of campaign that we run.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We now finally are where we need to be. We have a strategy and a commitment to go after ISIS.

MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When you listened to the Republican debate the other night, you hear a lot of anger and you had a lot of fear.

WHITFIELD: The candidates argue over who has the best plan to take on the terrorists, lead the nation, and defeat Republicans this fall.

NEWSROOM starts right now.

Hello again, everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Democratic presidential candidates sparred in what was the last debate of the year. They took to a New Hampshire stage last night and instead of primarily targeting each other they spent lot of time trying to tear down the leading Republican candidate, Donald Trump.

CNN investigations correspondent Chris Frates is in our Washington bureau.

So Chris, what are the takeaways from last night's face-off?

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred, I tell you. With so much drama simmering in the days before last night's debate, it sure looked like sparks would fly between Clinton and Sanders finally giving the Democrats some of the excitement Republican had had all the debate season long.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FRATES (voice-over): Finally, a Democratic debate with some potential for drama. After days of smack talking among the DNC, the Sanders and Clinton campaigns, the debate stage was set for the two top Democrats to throw down over accusations that Sanders exploited a software glitch to access Clinton's confidential voter information, a move Clinton's camp called below the belt. Clinton goes for jugular, "Politico" trumpeted, signaling she was ready to throw some mud in the debate.

SANDERS: I apologize.

FRATES: Wait, what?

SANDERS: Not only do I apologize to Secretary Clinton and I hope we can work together on an independent investigation from day one --

FRATES: OK. But Clinton's not going to let him off that easy, right?

CLINTON: I very much appreciate that comment, Bernie. If I don't think the American people are all that interested in this --.

FRATES: Instead it seems Clinton thought Americans wanted to hear how she would take on the Republicans, a theme she stuck to throughout the night largely ignoring her two Democratic rivals.

CLINTON: And we also need to make sure that the really discriminatory messages that Trump is sending around the world don't fall on receptive ears. He is becoming ISIS' best recruiter.

FRATES: Clinton went on to say that ISIS is using Trump videos to recruit more jihadists, a claim there is no evidence to support.

CLINTON: We now finally are where we need to be. We have a strategy and a commitment to go after ISIS, which is a danger to us as well as the region, and we finally have a U.N. security council resolution bringing the world together to go after a political --

FRATES: Republicans pounced on that remark, Jeb Bush tweeting, no, Hillary Clinton, we are not where we need to be in the fight against ISIS.

O'Malley, a distant third in the race, with national security implications into his pitch for tougher gun control.

O'MALLEY: ISIL videos, ISIL training videos are telling lone wolves the easiest way to buy a combat assault weapon in America is at a gun show and it's because of the flip-flopping political approach of Washington that both my two colleagues on this stage have represented for the last 40 years.

FRATES: But even when she wasn't center stage, Clinton was still the center of attention.

CLINTON: Sorry.

(END VIDEOTAPE) FRATES: So none of the flash that some observers had hoped for there, neither Martin O'Malley nor Bernie Sanders landed any game changers last night. And Hillary Clinton left still solidly the front-runner. She was so comfortable she previewed her general election message, namely that Republicans want to roll back all the progress the country's made under President Barack Obama -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Chris Frates in Washington, thanks so much.

We are going to talk to some more about this right now. Let's bring in CNN's political commentator Peter Beinart and Larry Sabato, the director of the center for politics at the University of Virginia.

Good to see both of you.

All right. So Peter, you first. So this apology by Sanders, it was very quick and to the point in terms of his apology directing it at Hillary Clinton. Does that end it?

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think so. Look, Sanders is not playing a particularly strong hand here. The DNC may have overreacted in punishing him, but the truth is that it was his campaign who committed -- who did something they should not have done. And I think Sanders, to his credit, felt genuinely that it was a mistake and wanted to end the conversation.

[15:05:16] WHITFIELD: So, does he escape association with the one to three, maybe four even people who are believed to have been taking a part in this?

BEINART: Well, the truth is that Hillary Clinton is so comfortably ahead that she doesn't really need to pounce on this. She doesn't need to pay that much attention to Bernie Sanders at all. There's a lit bit of egg on Bernie Sanders' face, but his larger problem is ever since national security became issue number one, he has been thrown off his game. He doesn't have a clear identity and a clear line of attack that he feels comfortable with on national security in the way he did on issues like income inequality and corporate power when those were front and center.

WHITFIELD: So then, Larry, part of Mr. Sanders' identity is being the anti-establishment. And you know, Peter just said he doesn't have a little egg on his face. But does it go away or is there real association with if there are one, if there are three, you know, staffers who have done something underhanded like this, that some are saying is tantamount to a type of Watergate-esque kind of thing, how is it Bernie Sanders, his image wouldn't be, you know, scarred by this?

LARRY SABATO, THE DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Fred, Vendorgate is no Watergate. I think just about everybody would agree with that. And frankly, last night I think we saw the peak of it and it was over in about a minute. And that's going to be the end of that. It will probably be the shortest scandal of the entire election year. Now, was it a good thing? No, it wasn't a good thing for Sanders. And I think Clinton did the right thing because she needs -- she's going to be the nominee in all probability and she needs a united party. It was good to smooth things over and she did exactly that.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's move on to something else all they both spent a lot of time -not only both, all three candidates spent a lot of time on last night, ISIS and fighting terror. Take a look at this CNN poll. Registered voters say the top issue is the economy. Clinton said she wouldn't raise taxes on middle class families making under $200,000, but Sanders would raise taxes to pay for free college tuition and health care programs. So who stands to win on this issue, Peter?

BEINART: Well, it's been pretty much a norm within the mainstream Democratic Party, you don't call for raising taxes on the middle class. That actually limits how ambitious you can be in terms of new social programs. It's worth noting the most important social programs we have like social security and Medicare do rely on taxes on the middle class, some kind of new big program for childcare would require the same, but politically that's considered too dangerous for Democrats. So they focused their tax increases only on the wealthy. And as a result, it limits how much new government activism they can propose.

WHITFIELD: And then, Larry, on foreign policy, Clinton largely, you know, looked past Sanders and O'Malley focusing on Trump, even suggesting that he has become kind of ISIS' best recruiter. Fact checkers say there isn't any evidence of real video supporting that, is she making, you know, a point that she would be able to back up later?

SABATO: Well, it may or may not turn out to be true, but Democrats like to hear it. And to me, one of the most important things in that debate was that the only Republican candidate for president mentioned and he was mentioned repeatedly was Donald Trump. A lot of commentators on the Republican side said, well, this helps Trump. Exactly. Of course it helps Trump. They would love Trump to be the nominee because they will have a much easier opportunity defeating him than any of the other candidates probably.

WHITFIELD: All right, Larry Sabato, Peter Beinart, good to see both you. Thanks so much.

BEINART: Thank you.

SABATO: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. Even "Saturday Night Live," well, they couldn't shy away from covering the political face-off between Republican presidential candidates. Here's the clip from last night's spoofing of Tuesday's GOP debate on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Bush, go ahead and say out loud what you've been quietly muttering to yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trump, I mean, this guy is the chaos candidate. Am I right? Chaos? Is he for real? No, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jeb, you're a very nice man, but you're basically a little girl. Folks, this is true. I got hold of Jeb's birth certificate and full disclose his real name is Jebrah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is not true.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is true. Yes, it is, Jeborah, Jeborah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's not my name.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, losers say what?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?

[15:10:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. Let's move on to senator Rubio. Senator, a few weeks ago you remember many peep's pick as the most electable candidate. Tonight you're in fourth place. Are you resonating with voters?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wolf, let's remember one thing. I am by far the most attractive person on this stage. I'm a hard 7, baby. I'm young, Cuban, and let's face it I'm the only one up here you'd swipe write on. So why am I losing to this guy?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK. This is very wrong to be able to laugh at all of this but it's also funny.

All right, "SNL" also brought back familiar faces from seasons past. Host and former cast members Amy Poehler and Tina Fey revive their infamous roles as Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin. It was actually pretty funny.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Looks like I went through time and space again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Sarah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What the heck, I landed in the bedroom of a lesbian couple.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not lesbians. We're Hillary Clintons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right. We ran for president together. You poor thing. I heard that after you lost you had to become a secretary.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of state.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: God, that was a real fun election. I was paired up with that cute little John McCain fella. May he rest in peace, I'm guessing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's alive. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I remember he was great. I remember he had that

real funny saying. He say, Sarah, you're the worst thing that ever happened to me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. To close it all out, Santa Claus is coming to town with Paul McCartney and Bruce Springsteen.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

WHITFIELD: We'll be right back.

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[15:15:05] WHITFIELD: A suspicious device found on an Air France flight was not a bomb, according to the airline. Four people have been arrested in connection with what the airline CEO calls a nasty joke. The flight made an emergency landing in Kenya after the flight crew was alerted.

CNN correspondent Robyn Kriel is in London with the very latest.

So Robyn, what more are you learning about this device?

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The suspicious device according to Air France officials turned out to be nothing but cardboard, paper, and an egg timer. But the airline and France are still taking the threat very seriously. A French team has been dispatched from Kenya's capital Nairobi to investigate the incident. Kenyan security official call in local explosives experts from the Kenyan navy and police to examine the device.

According to air France, the incident happened Saturday night in midflight. A passenger discovered the device in the plane bathroom and alerted the crew. The decision was made to land in Mombasa, Kenya, the closest airport that could receive a 777 airplane.

The flight had 459 passengers and 14 crew members on board. They were evacuated out of the emergency chutes and the airport was closed down for several hours. The device had no chase of explosives on it, so unlikely air France says that it would have been picked up by any preflight security checks. Air France says that had three bomb scares on U.S. since the Paris attacks in November and this brings that number to four.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FREDERIC GAGEY, CEO, AIR FRANCE (through translator): And every time we can get information, intelligence about the authors of these extremely unpleasant jokes, we complain and find this behavior both stupid and completely one which causes damage and absolutely unacceptable.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KRIEL: The question now is how was this device brought on board and who put it there. All the items that made up this device are relatively innocuous on their own, but when fixed together could look suspicious and potentially dangerous. Kenyan officials say they're questioning four people from the flight. One terror analyst told CNN that for someone whose agenda it is to terrorize, a hoax like this could have almost the same effect as the real thing. But without much of the risk.

Robyn Kriel, CNN, London.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Robyn.

Ahead, a second Baltimore police officer is set to go on trial in about two weeks from now for the death of Freddie Gray. What we could expect after the first police officer's trial ended in a hung jury.

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[15:20:57] WHITFIELD: All right. A California man accused in a drunken driving crash last month died last night. But it wasn't the wreck that caused his death. A warning the video you're about to see is disturbing and you might want to look away.

Andrew Thomas was shot by Officer Patrick Feaster as he tried to climb out of his mangled car. We showed you this video yesterday. The single shot paralyzed Thomas from the neck down. Earlier this month, the district attorney says it could not charge the officer because Thomas had not died. Well, now, yesterday, late yesterday after our reporting, we have now since learned that Thomas did die. The district attorney is now reconsidering the charges.

All right, right now the FBI and U.S. marshals need your help finding 18-year-old Texas affluenza team Ethan Couch. According to "the Dallas Morning News," he has been missing for nine days now, possibly traveling with his mother after their passports were also discovered messing. A $5,000 reward is being offered for information leading to his capture. Ethan Couch is currently serving a ten-year probation sentence for driving with a blood-alcohol content three times the legal limit resulting in the deaths of four people. The teen skipped his probation meeting last week.

All right. Officer Cesar Goodson Jr.'s trial is set to begin next month in the death of Freddie Gray. He is among six Baltimore officers who have been charged in the case. Just last week, police officer William Porter's trial ended when the judge declared a mistrial after jurors said they couldn't reach a verdict.

Gray sustained a severe spinal cord injury earlier this year while he was being transported in a police van and then he died a week later. While in the van, he was shackled but not wearing a seat belt.

Let me bring in our Paulo Sandoval and CNN legal analyst Phillip Holloway.

So Polo, to you first. What happens next? POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, Fred, that's a

question not so easily answered. That's because some of the key players involved, and William Porter's now mistrial are still under a gag order since that decision was made last week. So it's very difficult to hear from some of these individuals who are key players in the case.

But that being said, we have heard from several of our legal analysts offering their input. And their take at this point seems to be that the ball is in the court of prosecutors. They are the ones who need to make a very key, very critical decision here in this case. Do they move forward, retrying Porter? Do they select a new jury that essentially do this all over again? Or do they perhaps potentially even offer a plea deal for Porter? That is something that obviously wouldn't be well received by the people of Baltimore that have already been through so much.

But ultimately, we do expect tomorrow for the courthouse to be open yet again. There is potential for some development sometime next week. So a lot of people in the city of Baltimore will be watching closely, Fred, because I was there on and off since April and of course throughout the trial process. I can tell you that this level of uncertainty, this not knowing is what has people holding their collective breath.

WHITFIELD: And so, Polo, you know, so in a couple of weeks we may hear something about, you know, a retrial, you know, for Porter, but meantime, you know, what does this do for Goodson's scheduled trial?

SANDOVAL: Right. Well, if prosecutors do choose to retry this case yet again, ultimately the judge, the presiding judge here, Barry Williams, would have to make that decision. Does he in essence stay with the order they previously set up with Porter leading the way or perhaps reshuffle some of these cases? So again, these are critical decisions that will have to be made in the next few days ultimately, and then after that happens we may have a better idea of exactly what will happen both with the defense and also with prosecutors.

WHITFIELD: And then, you know, Phillip, what does a mistrial do to impact other trials? We're talking about six officers as a whole. So from this trial for one, the first one up, what does this do? How does this impact the other five potential trials?

[15:25:2] PHILLIP HOLLOWAY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, good afternoon, Fredricka.

You're absolutely correct. This can affect all of the trials. This is essentially one big ball of wax. They are separate trials but it is essentially part of a bigger, the whole case basically against all to the officers. So when this mistrial occurred, it threw the prosecution's plans right out the window. Because what they have wanted to do was convict Officer Porter and then have him testify as witness for the state, assuming that they could force him to do that.

But the problem with that now is that, a, he still enjoys his Fifth Amendment privilege. They can't force him to testify. Even if the jury had convicted him, he still could not be forced to testify because his conviction would not be final, Fredricka, until any appeals were exhausted. So there's nothing they could do sort of offering him some sort of sweetheart plea deal that was just mentioned probably would not go over well with a lot of people in Baltimore.

And I suspect you may not be able to find a jury in Baltimore that can reach a consensus because there are so many strong feelings on both sides of this. If you get just one, maybe two stealth jurors, people that will lie about their true intentions just to get on the jury, this can happen again. They should have moved it out of Baltimore to start with and I still think they should do it moving forward if they try any of the case.

WHITFIELD: Could they still for the other five? How do they make that argument?

HOLLOWAY: Well, they absolutely can and I think they should move it. You know, the defense had asked for it. The prosecution disagreed with that idea and they opposed the motion and the judge sided with the prosecution. But as we see, there are people that have very strong feelings on both sides of this case. And even if they didn't intentionally lie to get on the jury, there's really no way to set aside some deeply held conviction. If you're really pro police or you're really pro prosecution or something like that or pro defense in this case and you wind up in that jury room, it's going to be very difficult to convince someone who doesn't see it your way that it should be looked at another way.

So the possibility is very, very great in my opinion for the lack of ability to convict or reach a verdict on any number of these cases.

WHITFIELD: Yes. You have brought up a lot of good points there because if a potential intention was for the prosecutors to use Mr. Porter as a witness in the other cases, why wouldn't they make a stronger case for some sort of plea deal if they were counting on his testimony in the other cases a opposed to trying to make his be the first one out of the gate?

HOLLOWAY: Well, his case was supposedly the strongest one, Fredricka. And if they could not get a jury to agree on that --

WHITFIELD: But doesn't that seem strange to you? I mean, why would that be the strongest if there was really no precedence for putting people until seat belts? This is the one time that he didn't put Freddie Gray in a seat belt, then that wouldn't necessarily go to negligence, would it?

HOLLOWAY: Well, see, that's all part of what the defense challenged. Thousand brought in arguably the best forensic pathologist in the country, Dr. Demaio, who said that the injuries sustained by Freddie Gray to his medical satisfaction probably occurred much further along in his ride to the jail than when Officer Porter had any interaction with him. So if a jury or a juror or a group of jurors believes Dr. Demaio and says, hey, if it's good enough for this guy, it's good enough for me, that is enough reasonable doubt right there. And jurors are told if you have an honest and legitimate doubt, hold onto that doubt, don't let it go. And that's probably what we've had in the jury room. I don't know what the split was. I'm very curious to find out. And the lawmakers on both sides of this would be well advised if they haven't already done it to try to talk to these jurors to find out what went wrong in the jury room, what worked well, what didn't work well, how can we do this better for we try this case again?

WHITFIELD: Phillip Holloway, thanks so much. Polo Sandoval, keep us posted, Polo, on whether there would be an argument for change of venue and if there does become a date for a new trial. Thanks so much, gentlemen. Appreciate it.

SANDOVAL: Good afternoon.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: This breaking news, now former president Jimmy Carter told his church today that his grandson, Jeremy, has died. This is a picture of carter with Jeremy in 2009. He is in the blue shirt on the left of your screen. The reverend at his church said this quote "Jeremy Carter had not been feeling well yesterday and at some point later in the day he had gone to sleep and during the course of that time his heart stopped. And they had performed CPR and took him to the hospital. They were trying to keep his heart going and eventually later in the night or the wee hours of the morning his heart stopped for long enough time for them to pronounce him dead."

Our, of course, condolences go out to the Carter family.

All right. Next, this election season could use a little bit of humor, would you agree? And now Senator Ted Cruz is trying to generate a few laughs of his own with a new ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[15:30:09] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole family will enjoy reading stories like the Grinch who lost her emails.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: You will see Cruz's ad and find out what key group it was actually targeting. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:00:00] WHITFIELD: The role of the Democratic National Committee is becoming an issue in the race. Last night Bernie Sanders blasted the DNC for cutting off his campaign's access to voter data. Well, the committee made the move after they discovered a breach enabled Sanders' staff to see Clinton supporter information. Meantime, Martin O'Malley is accusing the DNC of favoring Hillary Clinton in part because of the debate scheduling. Here he is on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Do you think the reason two of the three Democratic debates have been scheduled on Saturday nights is because the DNC wants to limit the audience and thereby under this theory help Hillary Clinton?

O'MALLEY: Yes. In fact, that's also why for the first time ever they have limited the number of debates to just four. I think at this same time eight years ago we had had 16 debates. But, look, all of that bickering aside, there are issues that people want to hear us discuss, affordable college, how we make our economy work, how we combat ISIL, how we protect lives in the homeland. So I thought last night's debate was actually a very good exchange of those ideas and I hope we have more of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Meanwhile, Republican candidate ted Cruz launched a new ad last night attacking Hillary Clinton. But he took a much more tongue-in-cheek kind of approach. This ad ran only in Iowa during that state's broadcast of "Saturday Night Live."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The whole family will enjoy reading stories like the Grinch who lost her emails.

[15:35:04] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know just what I'll do, she said with a snicker. I'll use my own server and no one will be the wiser.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And if you act now we will throw in the inspiring new Christmas story soon to be an instant classic.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Read this one, daddy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The senator who saved Christmas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a good one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you are not completely satisfied with this collection of Cruz Christmas classics you probably hate Christmas and America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. So this is certainly not the first time Ted Cruz has used a little humor if you want to call it that in this approach. He did a few accept us is impressions for Buzzfeed recently.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Excellent. Hidey, neighbor. (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE). One of the great exchanges.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: My. And all this on the heels of remember that green eggs and ham thing?

OK. Joining me right now CNN political commentator Ben Ferguson.

So Ben, is this humor or just a kind of weird or what? What do you call this?

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, it is humor. And anytime you have a chance to connect with voters that already kind of like you, I mean, if you're the Republican primary and that's who he's talking to, you basically want to make yourself a little likable and show that you are not so serious. A lot of people have said that Ted Cruz is just not the type of guy you want to have a beer with and that matters in politics, whether we want to admit it or not. And I think this is him trying to say, look, I am a dad, I can be a funny person. I'm not just a lawyer that's up there, that's gone to Supreme Court and fought in a policy wonk in Washington or a constitutionalist in Washington. I can be a funny guy.

And so if you're just trying to connect with people that may be looking at the other candidates, maybe looking at Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, this is one of those things that makes you look a little bit funnier.

You got to remember, if you're staying up late and you are watching "Saturday Night Live," it is already, you're probably a little younger anyway. And so, for them I think there is nothing else, it makes some people go. You know what? I'll Google him for a second. Maybe I will find out some more about him.

WHITFIELD: All right. So I think I'm hearing you said - I mean, Cruz is more compelled to appeal to the entertainment factor because Donald Trump, people have been saying, and you know, he's a great entertainer and has been entertaining on the campaign trail.

FERGUSON: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: So this is Ted Cruz's version of being entertaining, trying to appeal to people.

FERGUSON: Well, it is. And it's also getting close to the election there. And so, that's the reason why you see this play. It's trying to bring the two in together just to make yourself a little bit more memorable, a little more personal, and also to get people to take a second look at you if you are jumping on Donald Trump's train. This is something I think is a smart move. It doesn't hurt you because you are not trying to go after Democrats when you're doing this. You are literally just trying to go after people that are already in the conservative movement.

WHITFIELD: OK.

FERGUSON: Who want to make yourself stand out.

WHITFIELD: And so, let's talk about some polling because there are a whole lot of polls on this race to the White House, aren't there.

FERGUSON: Yes.

WHITFIELD: So Cruz is polling second behind Donald Trump. But he has been playing it really safe when it comes to insults. I mean, there are a couple examples, but then recently he spoke at a campaign event in Alabama and had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CRUZ: As I have mentioned many times we got an amazing array of talented Republicans running for this nomination. It really is. It's a striking contrast with the Democrats. I think any Republican president would be a fool for the men and women on that debate stage not to comprise a substantial portion of their cabinet. We have a lot of young, talented leaders, and every one of them has a very bright, bright future in front of them of continued public service.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Are you reading in there a potential relationship, a sharing of space in that place called the White House if it were to become a Trump kind of thing, Trump and Cruz working together?

FERGUSON: look. I think there is no doubt if you saw them at the CNN debate earlier this week. That there is pretty much a gentleman's agreement we're going to work together for as long as we can and we are not going to attack one another. You saw that when Donald Trump had a chance to take a big shot at him and he chose not to do it on stage.

But I also think what he's saying is, hey, if you like Ben Carson and he doesn't make it, he might have a place in my cabinet. In fact --

WHITFIELD: Do you kind of feel like there was a deal like that made?

FERGUSON: I don't know if it's -- I think a gentleman's agreement was made between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz for sure for them to both not beat each other up for no reason early on. Now, later on you never know what can happen. But right now I do think there was definitely an agreement. It was a bromance on stage. It is the best way you can describe it. And yet, you know, 12, 15 hours earlier they were going back and forth at each other. So I think they said for right now let's get along and see where we end up in this thing.

And I also think Ted Cruz is smart. He understands that people like Carly Fiorina, especially Ben Carson, if he's to get the nomination, would have a place in his cabinet. I think Ben Carson is that top person because he understands medicine, he understands Obamacare, he would understand how to rewrite it. And I think that would be very compelling to bring Ben Carson supporters on to the Ted Cruz train, you know, as a political way of saying it. And I think it is smart move to try to get the alliances going very early.

[15:40:13] WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right, Ben Ferguson, good to see you. Thanks so much. FERGUSON: Good to see you. Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. Former Taliban hostage Bowe Bergdahl goes to court on Tuesday. We will take a look at his court-marshal and what kind of prison time he just might be facing next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:43:35] WHITFIELD: Army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl will be arraigned raped for his court-martial this week. He'll face a military court on charges of desertion and endangering fellow soldiers. Bergdahl was held captive by the Taliban for nearly five years after he allegedly deserted his unit. He was freed after the U.S. released five Taliban detainees in a controversial prisoner exchange last year.

CNN's Nick Valencia has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): By now you have probably seen this video, a U.S. black hawk helicopter lands in the middle of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. With each passing second, U.S. army sergeant Bowe Bergdahl takes a step closer to freedom. After five years in Taliban captivity and torture, he is finally going home.

BOWE BERGDAHL, U.S. ARMY SERGEANT: Like you're standing there screaming in your mind, in this room you're standing like in this blackened dirt room that's tiny. And just on the other side of that floozy little wooden door you could probably rim off the hinges is the entire world out there.

VALENCIA: That's Bergdahl describing his captivity in an interview with a popular podcast. In it we get a chance to hear from Bergdahl ourselves, a man who was discharged from the coast guard for psychological reasons only to land in the U.S. army under what he calls inept leadership. Bergdahl says as a 23-year-old private he didn't feel like his concerns would be taken seriously.

[15:45:05] BERGDAHL: All is I was seeing was basically leadership failure to the point that the lives of the guys standing next to me were literally from what I could see in danger of something seriously going wrong and somebody being killed.

VALENCIA: But what awaited back home was anything but a homecoming. The celebration in his home town of Hailey, Idaho, canceled amid controversy of Bergdahl's release and questions surrounding his disappearance. The frustration was especially expressed by some of Bergdahl's platoon who were part of the initial rescue mission.

DARRYL HANGON, BOWE BERGDAHL'S PLATOON: If we would have found him I think a lot of us would have shot him, if that tells you anything. I really say that with sincerity that we had that much hate towards him.

VALENCIA: Despite a military investigator's recommendations that Bergdahl not face jail time, the army announced this month it will court-martial Bergdahl on charges of desertion and endangering foal le soldiers.

BERGDAHL: I've made it through the last five years. Just kind of seems stupid. Lose whatever it is that's been keeping me going.

VALENCIA: If convicted he could face life in prison, but the court's decision may not matter much to those who already see Bergdahl as either a hero or a deserter.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Bergdahl's defense attorney slammed the court-martial in a statement saying that he quote "had hoped the case would not go in this direction," end quote. He noted that the army commander who ruled on the case quote "did not follow the advice of the preliminary hearing officer who heard eyewitnesses."

All right. Next, a high school football player dies while saving his friend's life. His heroic act next.

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[15:50:02] WHITFIELD: A Knoxville, Tennessee high school football player is being remembered as a hero after saving friends from a violent gang-related shooting. 15-year-old Zaevion William Dobson died shielding three girls from a spray of bullets Thursday night. At a press conference, Knoxville police chief fights back tears explaining the young man's courageous act.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID RAUSCH, KNOXVILLE POLICE CHIEF: Zaevion Dobson, a 15-year-old Fulton high school student and football player was struck and killed after he jumped on top of three girls to shield them - sorry, to shield them from the shooters.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: It is heart breaking.

Joining me now on the phone is Rob Black, Zaevion high school football coach.

Rob, thank you so much for being with us. We are so sorry for your loss, for the family's loss.

ROB BLACK, FULTON HIGH SCHOOL HEAD FOOTBALL COACH (on the phone): Well, thank you for covering the story. This is an amazing young man. And I'm at least glad that we're able to get the bright side of the story out there for people to hear.

WHITFIELD: And what is your understanding about what happened? We know from the police that he was trying to shield his friends. There was some sort of gang related shooting and his instinct was to use his body to shield these young girls. And none of them were hurt, right. It was he who sustained this fatal injury.

BLACK: Yes. You know, the police reports (INAUDIBLE) with the police chief and investigators, it's one of those deals where he and Zaevion and his friends were just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time, you know. (INAUDIBLE) on their part, you know. They had just gotten home from a high school basketball game where they were just being fans. And they were walking down the sidewalks and went up on the porch where they saw some friends on the porch who were talking and laughing and before you know it, you know, guys walking down the sidewalk and gun fire started. And they tried to escape some of them and escape from the porch and Zaevion didn't. He ended up, you know, covering some girls on the porch there with his body and he end up receiving bullets.

WHITFIELD: What an awful situation. So, tell us about this young 15- year-old. We are looking at these beautiful pictures of him from pictures of him in action, football, with a teammate there wearing his 24. We see him with maybe friends or family there. You know, these are happy moments. Give us an idea about what this young man was like.

BLACK: Well, that was him, you know, a happy guy. He was an innocent kid with a bright smile. And you know, a fun kid. Kind of a jokester type kid, you know, that had fun in the locker room and in class. And you know, I was talking to some of his P.E. teachers just yesterday who were talking about, you know, he couldn't wait to be in gym class (INAUDIBLE) and then he had a radio class with coach maze where he was doing radio broadcasting. He is in there, you know, getting his iPod and take himself (INAUDIBLE) and just that kind of guy, you know.

WHITFIELD: How is his family doing?

BLACK: Well, you know, struggling, obviously. We have been able, you know, every day since this happened, we have to go over and visit with them. They have a ton of support right now and obviously are struggling but, you know, prayers and just having people around them right now is what is keeping them together.

WHITFIELD: I wonder how much comfort it does bring, the president, Barack Obama, who we know is in vacationing in Hawaii right now with his family. He tweeted about Zaevion, calling him a hero. Did the family - and there it is, the tweet there. Zaevion Dobson died saving three friends from getting shot. He was a hero at 15. What's our excuse for not acting?

What is the reaction coming from his family? How comforting is this for them that it's caught the attention of the president of the United States?

BLACK: Yes. I'm sure -- God that kind of support and attention is so welcoming to them right now. You know, I know his brother, Zack, is also on the football team. He is a year older and been worried about him lately because those two were so, so close and I know that Zack is staying on the social media stuff. So he is retweeting and kind of sharing with myself and some of the other coaches all the people that reached out to him, whether it be, you know, NFL guys or, you know, the president or whoever it may be that has taken notice of the heroic act of his brother.

WHITFIELD: Very sad story. Our prayers are with the family.

Coach Rob Black, thank you so much for being with us and our prayers go out to the family of Zaevion William Dobson. We will be right back.

[15:55:09] BLACK: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: OK.

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[15:58:37] WHITFIELD: All right. "Star Wars" now rules the box office galaxy as the force awakens continues to shatter box office records and knocking the former top grossing film "Jurassic World" down to number two. The force awaken has earned an estimated $230 million in the U.S. this opening weekend. That's the biggest movie opening ever and also the first film ever to earn over 100 million in one day.

And with all the talk of "Star Wars" and of course politics, it's hard not to see a few similarities between the force of Jedi and the force of Washington as CNN's Jake Tapper illustrates in this week's "STATE OF THE UNION" or I should say cartooniaan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAPPER (voice-over): The "Star Wars" franchise full of politics. And not just in the center, with every politician fans (INAUDIBLE) part of the rebel forces and their opponents, the evil empire.

With every party searching for its own wise Yoda. And every political convention resembling that famous cantina scene, no I mean there is real politics in the "Star Wars" movies. Actual elected officials jump in the hot, wasn't just a gangster. He was a member of the grand hutt council. Look it up.

And of course, the very moment we meet Princess Leah in "Star Wars" a new home. She asserts herself as.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a member of the imperial senate on a diplomatic mission to Alderon (ph).

[16:00:03] TAPPER: Ah yes, the imperial senate, to step up one presumes from the galactic senate from those from those prequels were lay (ph) his mother Queen Padme Amidala note.