♪ ♪

good morning. i'm victor blackwell. this is "first of all" and today we're starting in the middle east. iran is condemning airstrikes by the usa military in syria and iraq. the strikes are in retaliation for the deaths of three american soldiers killed in a drone attack in jordan almost a week ago. president biden says this is only the start. cnn's katie bolillis is in washington. let's start with you and tell us about the targets. >> reporter: the u.s. military striking 85 targets associated with both iranian-backed militia as well as also used by iran's own forces. these targets included everything from intelligence centers to rockets and missiles and other munitions facilities,

to command and control hubs to logistics facilities. now, at this point in the coming hours and days the u.s. military will be doing what is known as a battle damage assessment, to lean on u.s. intelligence to try to independently verify the toll these strikes took, both the damage that they caused to the militia's capabilities as well as the potential casualties both amongst militia members as well as potential civilian casualties. the iraqi government, of course, saying 16 people have been killed in iraq as a result of the airstrikes. the u.s. will be doing its own assessment and we will look in the coming hours and days to see sort of what that assessment ultimately finds. but at this point, u.s. officials saying that the u.s. military hit everything it intended to hit. >> ben, what is the reaction in the region? >> reporter: well, so far, victor, we have heard from the iraqi government which has condemned these u.s. strikes saying it is unacceptable and a violation of its own security.

basically the syrian government saying the same thing. the iranian government has come out and said that yet again it is a violation of territorial integrity, sovereigty, and they described the strikes as a strategic mistake. other governments have been less vocal in their comment on the issue because, of course, keep in mind that they have to be very aware of the sentiment in the street where as many people feel that the united states is complicit in israel's war in gaza and, therefore, there isn't a lot of public support for these u.s. air strikes across the middle east. victor. >> let me come back to you. you kind of left off here about what is next. do we know what may come next or even when that could come next? >> reporter: the biden administration has been very clear the airstrikes last night were only the beginning and we are expecting additional

military action as officials say at the time and place of the u.s.'s choosing. no, at this point what we do not know is at this point when, where, what the targets are expected to be. we do know that the biden administration has been very clear in signaling they are likely not going to strike iran itself. these attacks are -- or these airstrikes are intended to focus on degrading and detouring iranian-backed militia as well as sending a clear deterrent signal to iran itself about the support it provides these groups without further escalating the conflict by striking iran directly. rick tore. >> ben, i remember at the beginning of the convict the question was how does the u.s., how do the players in the region avoid this becoming a regional conflict. we're well beyond that now. let me ask the inverse of that. what calms this? is there a clearance answer to

yet? >> i think the clear answer is that basically what you hear across the middle east is that the real reason why all of this is happening because of the war in gaza. now, for instance, the houthis in yemen, every time they will target a ship in the red sea or fire a missile in the direction of israel they say it is in support of gaza in its war against israel. hezbollah, every time they put on a statement of their strikes on israeli targets in northern israel, they say it is for the very same reason. the same with the militias in iraq and syria. the fact is that to a certain extent they do represent sentiment across the middle east, which after almost an entire four months of war and a mounting death toll in gaza there is a feeling this has simply got to come to an end, and the only country that can

really make israel stop it is the united states. >> ben weeddeman for us in aman jordan. katie bo lillis in washington. thank you. it is election day for democrats in south carolina and two things are almost certain about president biden and south carolina this election season, almost certain, that close. he will win the primary today and he is going to lose south carolina in the general election. south carolina has not gone for a democrat since people were dancing a disco. jimmy carter in 1976. but what happens today in south carolina is important. first, because south carolina is now at the front of the line. it is the first opportunity for democrats to award delegates towards the nomination, but also because of what south carolina did for joe biden. before south carolina's primary in 2020 the political obituaries

for then-vice president biden were drafted. do you remember how bleak it was for the biden campaign in those early contests? it was a crowded field and joe biden was lost in the crowd. after he finished fourth in the iowa caucuses, "the atlantic" ran this headline, how biden blew it. eight days later biden finished fifth in the new hampshire primary and the headline from "politico" was "blood in the water: biden campaign reels after new hampshire trouncing." it was awful for the biden folks. he finished second in nevada but more than 20 points behind bernie sanders. yet the biden campaign kept saying wait until south carolina. that's where the campaign will really take off. but it wasn't certain. biden's bet was that black voters, when they got an opportunity to weigh in, that they would choose him, the man they had known for decades and the vice president of the first black president of the united states. he was right. congressman jim clyburn endorsed

him and said this. >> i know joe. we know joe. but, most importantly, joe knows us. >> that's right. that's right. >> that's important. >> black folks showed up and showed out. biden won the south carolina primary with nearly 49% of the vote. ultimately won 46 primaries and caucuses, the nomination and then the presidency, but it all started in south carolina. well, now fast forward four years and the narrative is that black voters are less enthusiastic about joe biden. well, let's hear now from two voters in south carolina. tuesday duckett joins us from hopkins, south carolina, and tear awe albert is a student at university at an hbcu in orangeburg. i'm glad to have you with us. we talk so much about voters that i want to hear from voters.

tuesday, let me start with you. the president never could have made good on all of his promises alone because a lot of what he promised you need congress for and a split congress, republicans were not going to cooperate. so are you satisfied with the job the president has done thus far? >> i'm somewhat satisfied. dealing with the student loan debt, i've known a couple of people that had that delivered to them. so with that issue i'm partially satisfied with, but there is a little more and a lot more that can be done. >> yeah. tiara, give me the answer. same question. >> good morning. i'm in agreement with tuesday. i feel like there's been a lot done in sense of appeasement rather than addressing the actual issues facing black americans in south carolina, and it seems to be more so political

petty disputes they're focusing on and why we should not vote for other candidates and why we should actually vote joe biden again. >> let me stay with you, tiara, because you are in kind of two groups here, both black voters that the polls show the numbers for the president have deflated and also young voters. as a college student there are plenty of voters who are just disappointed with the -- the polls show -- the president's handling of israel's war with hamas in gaza. does that influence your vote? does that influence your assessment of the president? >> i think it does my vote as well as a lot of my peers. a huge factor not content with president joe biden is the way we're dealing with international issues as far as policy. i feel there's room for improvement as to how we choose to deal with things and involvement overseas. >> tuesday, you want the president to focus on rural

america. explain why. >> here in rural america you come through, you receive our votes, but when it comes to fulfilling a lot of the obligations, and one of my biggest obligations was the running of internet and making sure that everyone in our rural areas and also where tierra is in orangeburg is still considered rural, but with us being in the age of technology we're not getting the internet and people are not being sufficiently to get all of their needs handled, we kind of tend to not -- we tend to forget about the rural areas when you take off its -- i mean i know you are working towards a goal, but we're still here and we still need those services and access to those services as well. >> where is hopkins? >> hopkins is actually right outside columbia, maybe ten

miles outside of columbia. depends on what area of hopkins you are in. where i'm located, i'm about ten miles outside of columbia. >> tuesday, let me go to tierra now. 2020, crowded primary. i want to go over these numbers. biden won black voters over 30, all three groups over 30. but when it came to those voters under 30, he lost to bernie sanders. he also lost to the white voters under 45 to bernie sanders as well. are most of these young voters, do you expect they still will show up for the president if donald trump is the other major candidate on the ballot? >> as far as i've discussed with my fellow students and having a lot of conversations that i've had, we see it as an election with two lesser evils. i do not believe donald trump should be in office again and for now joe biden is the only person we see as an alternative to getting in office. >> let me ask you to go through

some -- like a fire round here. first to you, tuesday. is there any scenario in which you would not vote, you will not vote in the general election? >> no. i will definitely vote. there is no scenario that i would not vote. >> if the choices are biden, trump, kennedy, cornell west at this moment, who gets your vote? >> at this moment joe biden would get my vote. >> same question for you. is there any scenario in which, tierra, that you will not vote? >> no, there is no scenario i will not vote. >> same for who gets your vote here, biden, trump, west and kennedy? >> joe biden. >> now. if trump does not win the primary and nikki haley is on that ballot, tuesday, would you consider voting for nikki haley? >> not at all.

>> i consider -- >> okay. go ahead, tierra. >> i have looked into nikki haley, however, i have not been pleased with what i've been hearing on her end. i feel more so she is speaking to what she feels may appease younger black voters. she alters her opinions. i don't feel like she is speaking her own truth. >> tierra albert, tuesday duckett, thank you for a few minutes before you head out to vote in the primary. a member of the national advisory board was listening to that conversation. he is here to react and respond. later on in the show, why this iconic part of the intro to the classic show "soul train" is now part of a legal fight. ♪ ♪ ♪ the soul train ♪

south carolina, you are the first primary in the nation, and president biden and i are counting on you. we are counting on you. we are counting on you to vote and to get everyone you know to vote, to send out text messages, to knock on doors and to make your voices heard. >> final push for votes in south carolina from vice president kamala harris. poll it polls are open in the democratic primary. this is a test of the mood of black voters. we just heard from two of them a few minutes ago. let's hear from the biden/harris campaign. malcolm kenyatta joins us, a member of the biden/harris campaign national advisory board. representative, good to see you again. let's start with two of the issues and two of the comments we heard from the ladies we saw in the last segment.

tierra says for her and a lot of her classmates, she is a student, this is a choice between the lesser of two evils and, frankly, every cycle someone says that, a lot of people feel that. how do you change that narrative? because if you are choosing between the lesser of two evils, maybe you choose the third option and you don't show up at all. >> well, first of all, victor, thank you. thank you for having that conversation. i think what you see consistently, really consistently from this president and this vice president is that they actually do care what black voters have to say. i think this administration, you know, doesn't treat black voters as disposable but as indispensable. you know what always makes me feel proud to speak about the president's accomplishments is that i know that he legitimately listens to people. it is never be quiet and vote. the president wanted to start this primary contest in south carolina because he wanted to make sure that the backbone of

the democratic party, black voters, aren't heard late in the process but actually get to be front and center as we nominate presidents, not just in this year but moving forward. i think what we continue to know is that we have to do two things. we have to, first of all, layout the stakes of the election because at the end of the day this is going to be a critical choice between a president who cares about the voices of black people, who hears them and hears all voters when they say "hey, thank you for doing this but we need more in this area" and then works to try to do it. but as was brought up in the conversation, we know that this president has been up against big obstacles and big forces in government that don't want us to make the type of progress that we need, a supreme court that blocked him from doing the type of expansive student debt relief. but this is a president who said, okay, you are blocking me this way but i'm not going to

stop, and so what i'm proud about is when i hear conversations like this it makes me, you know, better. i know that it makes this administration double down on trying to achieve the types of transformational, systematic changes that will make sure that all americans, but particularly black americans, have full access to the american promise and everything that comes with it. >> let me ask you about one of those. tuesday asked about broadband access, internet access in rural areas. what's the plan for those communities? >> yeah, thank you for bringing that up. you know, listen, i was just in south carolina not too long ago and i'm in aliquippa, pennsylvania right now. i will tell you that is a top priority and it is one of the reasons the president works so hard and was able to, even with this congress, victor, to get bipartisan agreement around the infrastructure bill. what came with that was $551

million specifically going to south carolina to help build out the broadband infrastructure that's necessary. for a long time we had people talking about it, paying lip service to it. this is a president that got it done. but what this president has also been able to do is to make the types of critical investments that take time, frankly. you know, the infrastructure bill was passed and when i think about, you know, lowering the cost of insulin to $30, that didn't happen a month after the bill was passed but it started this year. people are feeling it this year. we see that with this president. he has the eye on the long game, but he also has his eyes on how do we fix the structures. >> let me ask you one other thing here. so what is the expectation of what you will learn from the primary today? the president doesn't have a

serious, strong competitor here, so maybe turnout is suppressed or low. what can you learn from the numbers today? >> you know, first and foremost what we're going to learn is that black folks get it right, that they know how to pick presidents. today i believe folks are going to show up to do just what you did in your segment, those two incredible women, to have their voices heard. that's what was so transformative about what this president did, and i know it is the first time we are ever doing it but we need to bear in mind we used to start these contests somewhere elsewhere you didn't have an opportunity for black voters to weigh in in significant numbers in the beginning of this process and to set the tone. today they're going to set the tone. they're going to make their voices heard, and you know what i feel as a young black voter and what the president feels, there is work to do.

no one is resting on their laurels but it is a president who cares about black voters. donald trump only cares about himself and that is crystal clear. >> i know the margin is certainly important and we will be watching that. thank you for spending a few minutes with us. one of the groups we follow closely is evangelicals. usually it is white evangelicals we're talking about and their influence on the republican party and their politics but it is a shrinking portion of the larger evangelical movement. i will talk with two people who argue there are millions of people and a bigger story that we're just missing. that's next.

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south carolina's republican primary is three weeks away. democrats today, republicans on the 24th. there's a new poll out this week that found that 54% of them will be evangelical christians. white evangelical christians. now, they were polled specifically. and to be honest, when evangelical christians are depicted in the media it is almost assumed we are talking about white people, but there are black evangelicals and asian

evangelicals and latinos. for a new piece just posted on cnn.com, it was found one in three evangelicals in the u.s. is a person of color. more black christians identify as evangelical than white christians. the biggest growth in evangelicals is among latino americans. at college campuses, the majority of evangelical groups are asian-americans. john lays it out to make this point. the constant linking of whiteness with evangelical christianity obscures another major story, that there are millions of black, latino, african, asian evangelical christians who are already profoundly changing america. john blake is with me now. he is the author of "more that i imagine: what a black man discovered about the white mother he never knew." also with us is reverend john who is no longer identifying with the term evangelical.

good to have both of you with us. john, when i heard about this piece that was coming i knew we had to talk about it, especially when we are in south carolina. >> right. >> right. plenty of church goers there. the white evangelical scope, far too narrow. explain why. >> well, because if i say the word of evangelical christian, the first image a lot of people get is of a white person. but the face of evangelical christianity in this country is more likely to be brown or black and a lot of people don't know that. part of the fault is people like myself, because when the media, when we talk about evangelical christianity, when we talk about white christian nationalism, we talk about evangelical christianity, we keep focusing in on white evangelicals, but there's a whole world of black and brown evangelicals in this country that we miss out and they're changing the country. in fact, these people may save the church in the future. >> you no longer identify as an evangelical. why? >> so the purpose of a label is

to reduce the time it takes to get to an understanding. when you have a label like this ha has been coopted, whenever you use it especially as a black person, you are ensured misunderstanding or if i'm going to try to thwart that then i have to spend time saying, well, i'm not this kind, this is what i mean. so the use of a label is just more -- it is more costly than it is worth. >> john explained our fault in the media of this image of the white evangelical. within evangelicalism is there separation? do white evangelicals see you as something else? >> sometimes. i think since 2020 it has become increasingly more clear, but i think as you sit back and talk about the complicated history of

both race and christianity in this country, it has always been the case. in april of 1845 frederick douglass in the appendix to his narrative says, listen, the christianity of this land, the one that will sell babies to pay for bibles, he's like, it is far different than the one that i embrace. may of 1845, a month after he puts that out, the southern baptist convention is birthed over the issue of slavery. so as far back as then there's always been a distinction that has to be made. i think right now it is no different. >> john, what ideologically are the differences between the white evangelicals who we know are a power base for republicans and evangelicals of color? >> theology, they tend to align in certain areas like on issues of like abortion or issues of sexuality, but it is when you get to politics that you see the

differences. nonwhite evangelicals tend to be a lot more progressive. for example, if you are a black evangelical you see that fighting race is essential to your faith identity. you can't say that of white evangelicals. the implication of that is this. that as more nonwhite evangelicals are priests in the future and white evangelicals decrease, the politics will change. when we think about evangelical christianity in the future, we won't automatically think conservative. we will think progressive, black and brown. >> is that how you say they may actually save the church? >> yeah, because the growth is coming among nonwhite evangelicals. white evangelicals are declining. they peaked. the growth in the church is coming from korean-americans, latino americans. it is coming from all of these different people. if the church is going to survive, it is going to have to find a way to accept these nonwhite evangelicals. >> so what do you do now? i know you separate yourself from the term, but how do you --

i don't want to use the word reform because in this context it has a specific meaning. change the concept, change the belief about what an evangelical, who an evangelical is? >> instead of spending our time giving an apologetic for what it is that we are, which is exhausting in and of itself, we have spent our time mobilizing the resources that we have to do the work that we've called on the church to do. that includes starting businesses in socioeconomically deprived communities, right. it includes talking about mental health across the country and the word. it includes spreading this evangel or this gospel not just in word but in words and deed. >> reverend, john, i learned something today. i appreciate this. >> there we go. >> thank you, gentlemen. >> thank you. all right. coming up, why groups against affirmative action just got bad news from the supreme court on

their efforts to stop u.s. military academies from considering race in their admissions process.

our top story today is the u.s. hitting targets in iraq an syria in retaliation for a drone strike on an american military base in jordan. take attack from iran-backed militants nearly a week ago injured more than 40 people. it killed three american service members. they are sergeants kennedy sanders, breonna moffett and

william rivers. all are from right here in georgia. i want to make sure we see them and hear their names as part of our coverage. oliver sanders, the mother of 24-year-old sergeant sanders, spoke to cnn about friday's dignified transfer ceremony. it happened just before the retaliation strikes started. >> we have so much support around us, all of the dignitaries that came out today and offered their condolences. i felt that they were all sincere. even some of them were very touched and you could tell they were touched. some of them were teary-eyed as well. i just felt the support and concern from everyone. >> president biden said in a statement that the military response will continue at times and places of our choosing. some parents in california are celebrating a win for their children's education. they, along with students and community groups, sued the state over the learning losses kids

suffered during the pandemic. the state settled and agreed to pay $2 billion. that's in addition to the money granted by the federal government. the suit argued that the federal money was not being spent to help low income black and latino students who are not rebounding as quickly as kids in more affluent districts. they were all sent home under the same covid protocols, but the access to educational resources, those were not the same. >> in california that there were between 800,000 and 1 million kids, one-fifth, one-sixth of all kids in california who had no digital access whatsoever for 18 and 19 months. what does that mean? it doesn't mean they got a bad education. it means they got no education. >> well, the settlement is not a done deal yet. california's legislature must approve it. the supreme court says the united states military academys can keep considering race in their admission processes. the decision is temporary, just

while the legal challenges play out, but this is a blow to the anti-affirmative action group students for fair admission. it was their lawsuit against harvard and the university of north carolina that led to the supreme court ruling last year that race-based admissions policies are unlawful. u.s. military service academies were not included in that ruling and separate lawsuits were filed against them. the biden administration does not want the court to step in here. they warn, quote, a lack of diversity in leadership can jeopardize the army's ability to win wars. all right. coming up, why the voice you hear in the iconic "soul train" intro is now filing a lawsuit over it. the man behind that scream is here, next.

two leading candidates for senate. two very different visions for california. steve garvey, the leading republican, is too conservative for california. he voted for trump twice and supported republicans for years, including far right conservatives. adam schiff, the leading democrat, defended democracy against trump and the insurrectionists. he helped build affordable housing, lower drug costs, and bring good jobs back home. the choice is clear. i'm adam schiff, and i approve this message.

♪ ♪ ♪ the soul train♪ ♪ if you know "soul train" you know that voice. well, the man behind that iconic intro says he is owed some money, and now joe cobb is suing for royalties. he says he's not been paid in at least 15 years while his voice keeps being used. joe cobb is with us now along with his attorney, manati l. jenkins. gentlemen, welcome to you. thank you for being with us. let me start with you. it is such an important part of culture. does this about not being paid taint your memory and feeling about being part of this? >> well, yes and no. i enjoyed what i did and the

usage that they've done of it over the years when don was alive. once don passed and it changed hands as far as the "soul train" franchise and big i and little you as far as corporate as far as individuals that had a personal relationship and worked together for years. so corporations is what really plugged it up and stops it. so this is it in essence. >> the "soul train" property is owned by b.e.t. which is under paramount global. let me go to you, attorney jenkins. you are suing for back royalties but not from 1970 at the start of the show when we first heard that scream, and you acknowledge in your letter to paramount -- let's put it up -- we admittedly do not have a lot of information at the present time regarding what level of compensation is owed to mr. cobb. we are also uncertain as to the extent of the use of his voice

over the years. how did you get to this number of $75,000 you are asking for? >> well, thank you very much, victor, for having us. first of all, let me address the $75,000. i have noticed that that number has been thrown around a lot on the internet and some other public media. that $75,000 is what you call a statutory minimum to be in federal court. we certainly believe this is a federal case as opposed to a state case. under the law to get in federal court, unless you have a federal statute -- and these are all state-based claims -- you have to have diversity of citizenship among the parties, meaning the plaintiff, mr. cobb, is based in arkansas and the three defendants are based in new york. you have diversity, but you also have to allege beyond $75,000. that's why that number came up. we personally believe that mr. cobb is due at least six digits. so we came across that number

because we have done some research and we know that his voice has been used several times, multiple times, many times since 2016, which was the year that b.e.t. acquired the "soul train" franchise. based upon that, we believe that he's at least owed in the six digits, but the $75,000 was just a statutory minimum. >> mr. cobb, you were a member of sag-aftra. you were paid from 1970 all the way through this period in which you now say once it got under the hands of paramount global you didn't get any more compensation. i want to go back to the beginning. you and don cornelius, you were djs at wvon in chicago. how did you come to be the person who gave us that iconic scream? >> that actually happened by, i'll say, accident if you want to say that. don had already gone into the

production studio at the station and had another gentleman, actually royalwood who was the father at that time, he passed away, of comedian royal wood jr. and he voiced for don and i walked in the studio because i was next in line for production of commercials and things. don's copy was on the table and i began to joke around, read it. as i read it and when i would get to "soul train" i said "soul train." finally don stopped and said, hey, do that again. i said, what are you talking about? what you just did. i did it several more times and he said, hey, let's do that. he asked the engineer, let's retake this, let yo do it. that's how that came about. >> listen, since i invited you and you all agreed to come on the show i have been annoying

people trying to do the scream myself every time i've gone through writing questions for this. attorney jenkins, have you had any response from paramount global? have they engaged at all thus far? >> not yet. not since the lawsuit has been filed. they have all been served with the complaint as well as a summons, and under the federal -- under the federal statutes they get 21 days to respond. i'm hoping that i will get a call. we originally did not want to file a lawsuit. i have been representing mr. cobb for over two years. >> yeah. >> we consistently communicated with paramount, with b.e.t., and we just wanted to find out how often his voice was used with the hopes that we could come to some type of resolutions without filing a lawsuit. we have not heard from them yet. i expect to hear from them within 21 days. they were served this week. >> attorney jenkins and mr. joe cobb, and icon of american

television with that fantastic scream, thank you both for being with us. cnn did reach out to paramount global for a comment and we have not heard back. coming up, we introduce an artist who works with paint and collages, these historic photos to explore black history and make something new and beautiful.

did you know that black history month has an official theme every year? it is picked by the association for the study of african american life and history. it founded what is now black history month, and this year it is "african americans and the

arts." perfect for our "art is life" series. this week i'm introducing stan squirewell. he uses historic photos to connect our past with our present. ♪ ♪ hi. my name is stan squirewell. i live in kentucky and i am a visual artist. around the age of 28 i went to my grandmother's house in south carolina. there was a reporter interviewing her and it was the beginning of my finding out about my lineage and connecting the dots from my ancestors to where we are today. i initially made the photograph and it speaks to me in a way that caused me to want to do something with it. i literally had thousands of pieces of scrap paper all around. i had been collecting things for year, and as i'm looking at the images they informed me what they want.

thanks to the creative and spiritual process, some of my pieces could take a week, some could take a year. i like to make a parallel between the past and the present, from the very beginning where i began my artistic journey to now have all been c cathartic exercises in understanding who i am. i wish people would do the same, discover yourself. life is wonderful. >> stan is currently working on a book and an upcoming museum tour. you can check out the claire oliver gallery at dec claireoliver.com and we will have more artists throughout black history month. thank you and i will see you back here at 8:00 a.m. eastern. "smerconish" is next. >> deterrence without escalation is the