they believe kennedy should win. but they're not sure kennedy will win. >> jack and a heavily pregnant jackie cast their votes and fly to hyannisport to be with the kennedy clan. >> just about everybody on both sides knew that this was going to be an extremely close election. and so everybody was nervous. >> none more so than richard nixon, who casts his vote with his wife, pat, in california and then makes a break for the border. >> nixon was gloomy as usual. thought he was going to lose. went off with a pal to mexico to drink margaritas and to desert the press. >> essentially throughout the day they kept getting reports, good and bad. they didn't know what they meant. no one ever does. in the evening the first returns were very pro-kennedy. >> we want kennedy!

we want kennedy! >> kennedy wins connecticut and the network broadcasters are saying that it might be a landslide. but by midnight the picture is changing. and nixon is starting to pick up midwestern and western states and it's clearly going to go down to the wire. >> the great shock of the night for the kennedy forces and the first time when they thought they had lost was when kennedy failed to carry ohio. >> that was a huge setback for the campaign, and there was a lot of concern. how could we get this wrong? >> the popular vote was too close. no one knew for some time which candidate had actually won. >> nixon returns to california to be with his family and staff at the ambassador hotel. >> i remember he came in in his pajamas and he said, hey, guys, this thing is not going to get decided tonight.

get some sleep. and with that, he turned around and left the room. >> john kennedy went to bed. you know, that night. and said i'm not going to stay up biting my teeth, wondering what's going to happen. i'm going to get some sleep. >> while the two rest, the race tightens. just after midnight, nixon is woken to be told that he has lost the key state of illinois. the writing is on the wall. >> if the present trend continues, mr. kennedy, senator kennedy will be the next president of the united states. >> nixon, we forget that he was capable of being gracious. when he had to go concede, his wife is on the verge of tears standing next to him, but nixon himself was quite gracious about

it. >> but as the sun rises on washington, accusations start circulating of electoral fraud in illinois. republican officials set off to investigate. >> they said in chicago the cemetery wards were coming in strong for kennedy. >> as time goes on, it leaks out that in one black district there were more votes cast than there were people living in the district. it was corrupt. >> as the dead of illinois cast their votes for kennedy, there are more allegations of fraud in texas. >> if texas and illinois had gone for nixon, he would have won the election. so it mattered. >> all eyes are on nixon as he prepares to fly to washington. will he contest the result? >> now, i put the plane at the

end of the air strip to get him as far away from the press and other people as possible. there was an old mechanic listening to a little hand radio. >> how do you do? >> the votes are in but exactly who won in illinois is still not clear. was it jack or was it dick? >> at that moment he said get ike on the phone. i think the succession of the presidency of the united states should never be in doubt. and they discussed that he would not contest the election. and that was it. ♪ just give me a chance >> it was a very honorable and patriotic thing to do on nixon's part. it was the right thing to do. it would have thrown a cloud over the election of john f. kennedy. i think it would have been dreadful for the united states. >> it's the closest election of

the century with the highest turnout on record. kennedy wins with a slim majority of just 120,000 votes, to become the youngest president in american history. without the votes of millions of african-americans, kennedy would have lost the presidency. ♪ >> and so, my fellow americans, ask not what your country can do for you. ask what you can do for your country. >> it must have been a bitter moment for nixon. he'd had eight years as vice president. he had really thought that he would be sworn in that day. >> but kennedy was better at dirty tricks than nixon and nixon knew it. and it planted a seed with nixon that he never forgot. >> and that was the origin of

watergate. good evening. i'm erin burnett. welcome to our special coverage of tonight's cnn democratic presidential debate. the 2016 race has been nasty, vulgar at times. but for those of you who have been watching cnn's series premiere "race for the white house," it made one thing very clear tonight, and that is dirty tricks and nasty debates are business as usual in american politics. and the historic kennedy/nixon debate proved the value of the national stage and how it can change the course of history. in tonight's debate bernie sanders came out swinging, going directly after hillary clinton, slamming her on her ties to wall

street repeatedly. and during tonight's debate we actually found out sanders won today's caucuses in maine and there was a big turnout for democrats in maine, more than we saw for republicans, significantly more. and as you can see for the overall numbers here in maine, a big win for bernie sanders, 64% to about 36% with rounding for hillary clinton. on saturday he also won big in both kansas and nebraska. clinton's lone victory was the crucial louisiana primary. for those of you who might have missed some or all of tonight's debate, here's a quick look back at the biggest moments. [ audio difficulty ]

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>> and joining me tonight our distinguished panel of political experts. we all watched the debate together and "the race for the white house" together. our political commentator marc lamont hill, dana bash, dacvid gergen, former adviser to four presidents including nixon you just were hearing about, bakari sellers, and sally cohn and kayleigh mcenany, a donald trump supporter. it's funny when you think about what we were hearing about with kennedy-nixon that debate was 70 million people watching. that give us a whole new context that the top debate was 24 million about for the gop. but these debates still matter a lot tonight. and what was your takeaway from this one? >> two things. one, i thought it was an incredibly aggressive exchange coming out of the gate, which is something we don't always see. bernie was very aggressive up front to make sure he challenged hillary on the wall street issue. but what i found most interesting was at the end of the debate they both got off their talking points when they were asked certain questions.

bernie seemed flustered on the race question at one point where he said white people don't live in ghettos. and on the faith question hillary didn't seem to have the vocabulary to talk about her faith in a way that resonated with voters. >> dana. >> i thought it was obviously incredibly aggressive. just a couple of months ago when this two of them, particularly bernie sanders, wanted to just stay on message and focus on his message on income inequality and so on and so forth and said he wasn't going to touch hillary clinton on any issues that might be weak spots for her. well, guess what? it's march of 2016 and it's amazing how things change when things get incredibly tight. and that's exactly what happened. >> was there a winner or a loser tonight, david? >> yes, i thought the democratic party won tonight after the last republican debate. very much. so listen, i thought it was terrific this conversation was in flint. you had real people dealing with real problems and you're rooted in a reality that was much more present than people asking

theoretical questions, what if kind of questions. so i thought that was terrific. these two are about five times more substantive than what we saw in the last republican debate. they went deeper. there were no body parts. it was civil discourse. >> literally. >> but really important. that's really important. i thought the republicans got hurt last time with all their -- it was caterwauling. this was -- this had some freshness to it which i thought was good. i thought bernie was more succinct than hillary. i thought he got to his answers better. i thought he left holes he didn't answer well like the automobile bailout. she is in danger of being seen as joining the elizabeth warren wing of the democratic party. she's moved pretty far over. very far. what's this about clawbacks from corporations that get benefits they go overseas some years later you've got to pay it all back whenwhat you got in a benefit? >> she said penalize them if they leave the united states. >> what are you talking about in you can explore that in another show. but the big message for donald trump ought to be if he gets the nomination he needs to raise his game for the fall debate. he needs to raise his game.

>> all right. bakari, what's your takeaway for tonight? >> for me i have to piggyback on david just slightly here because the environment they were in, i was in flint, michigan this past friday and speaking to young people, and i spoke to a mother there who had a 1-year-old child who was bathing in that water, who was drinking that water for an entire year. and she didn't know if her kid was going to be able to achieve those dreams when he was 15 or 16 years old because of the disabilities that may come from drinking lead in the water. so it was good to hear from those voices in the crowd. and i actually thought by comparison when you look at hillary clinton's answers and you look at bernie sanders' answers and you look at how substantive it was and compare it to what we saw earlier this week the democratic party hands down won the night. i was impressed with how far both candidates have come on issues of race. when challenged by don lemon -- i thought don did an amazing -- >> we'll talk about that. don will be with us. >> he did an amazing job just not allowing someone to get by with talking points but pushing those issues of race. i thought both of them have come a long way.

and substantive issues about our economy. one of these nights i'm just really proud to be a democrat. >> amen. and i'm not often proud to be a democrat. this is -- look, we had two hours of the candidates talking about substance. and i have to disagree. i thought they were -- i would never use the word "aggressive" here. but i thought they went after each other on substance. but they still did not take the opportunity to ding each other personally. to make these sort of guttery snipes that we saw in the republican party. the republican side, every time they get asked a substantive question they use it as a chance to make a dig. and here they were going after substance, they were talking about the nuances and the differences that people really care about. they talked about issues of race for at least a third if not more of the debate. so uttery thoroughly refreshing and such a welcome contradiction from what we're seeing on the republican side. >> kayleigh. >> it's worth pointing out when you're asked about substance it's easy to talk about substance. when you're asked about someone's spray tan, when you're asked about someone's spelling, which were part of questions in the last debate that goads you

in a different direction. that's worth mentioning. but one thing i would point out that i thought was really interesting was bernie sanders' comment about how democrats aren't always right. and he pointed out some issues where the democrat party has been wrong. it reminded me of trump's comment on flexibility. how it's so important to be able to change your mind and be able to call out your party. and i think that that really speaks to what's happening in this election. ideology has really kind of been eviscerated. it's more about this organic outsider mentality. >> it's interesting. you talk about flexibility. and on that note i want to talk about one of the headlines from tonight's debate actually. whatever word you want to use. and we'll talk about that. but hillary clinton changing her point of view on what should happen to the governor of michigan because of the flint water crisis. flexibility might be a word some might use. flip-flopping another. let's play what she had to say about the governor. [ no audio ]

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[ no audio ] >> all right. so the governor of michigan responded already on twitter. governor rick snyder saying "i'm taking responsibility as our values system says we should. my track record is getting things done and i want to get this done." dana, what's interesting is that less than an hour before hillary clinton said what you just heard her say there, governor snyder should resign or be recalled, one of her spokesmen was on with wolf blitzer saying she did not think the governor should resign or be recalled. bernie sandsers of course has been saying that all the way along. what do you make of her change? >> the michigan primary is in two days. sorry, was that a little bit

too skeptical? no, look, this is a highly political time. and he is a republican governor who made some serious mistakes. and he even admitted it. so for her to stand on the stage with her opponent who is calling for him to resign and for her to seem to be wishy-washy on that politically for the democratic electorate there especially, i don't think that would have played well. but it was interesting that she did -- what i wonder, and i don't know this, if she did it on the fly because it was so different from her spokesman. >> an hour before her spokesman was on saying the opposite. so was there a lack of communication there? >> i think a lot of people have been at that, you know, governor snyder should resign or be recalled a lot sooner than maybe hillary even got there. >> that's true. >> but this is not -- and i just have to push back on dana a little bit. this is not a political issue. >> then why wasn't she saying it before? >> i think when you look at the moment and where they were and having to -- this is the first time that you have to answer in

front of national tv to the people of flint. you have to answer to those voices, to those faces, to those mothers who are asking the question. and everyone in their right mind knows that governor snyder knew, governor snyder has to be held accountable, and at the end of the day governor snyder should resign. >> i mean, it's a good defense. but again, to your point, why did it take her -- >> no, i think, yeah, i think hillary clinton will tell you today that she should have gotten there sooner. and i think that we should applaud the fact that she's there and bernie sanders is there. and if bernie sanders pushed her to get there, then bravo. because that's how candidates get better. >> bakari, i couldn't agree with you more this shouldn't be a political issue. one thing i'm frustrated with as a republican, we've seen no republican candidate make this as a part of their platform. when you have poisonous -- >> amen. >> -- water in flint, michigan. this happens in third world countries. this doesn't happen in the united states of america. we need to get to the bottom of it. whatever particular party was whatever party official, you're out. >> that's precisely why it is a political issue. republicans haven't talked about it because it doesn't play to their base. in fact, it may actually hurt a republican candidate as extreme as they move to the right to

talk about it in that way. and hillary's decision to say that she doesn't want snyder to be -- to resign or to be fired essentially is a political decision. it's all political. >> another moment that happened that was very passionate here was the discussion about the bailouts. and the auto bailouts in particular, which is near and dear of course to michigan voters. still now. and let me play that for you. [ no audio ] [ no audio ]

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[ no audio ] >> a lot to talk about there in terms of tone as well. david gergen, though, i do have to say that on the actual vote, true, he voted against it. but in terms of his support for the auto bailout he did support it. he supported a bill that specifically would have done that. he didn't vote for it because he didn't want the bank bailout that went with it. >> sure. it's complicated. because there were two bills. >> that's right. >> the bailout was embedded in a broad bill that would bail out wall street. he voted against that. at the same time he support a bill that was just about the auto industry, he supported it. >> he supported an auto bailout even though he didn't vote for

the one on the table. >> yes. i don't think he explained it well. >> no. >> but i want to go back briefly to this. and why this push to get the governor of the state out in flint. i think he should resign. you're captain of the ship. you're responsible for what goes on in the ship. but if you're going to say that and you want to be nonpolitical, you also want to call for the head of the epa to step down. that person has responsibility, too. why is it that the person in the obama administration gets a free pass but the republican governor does not? both of them ought to be treated the same. >> that's what i started to say -- >> treated the same. >> that's what i started to say, that of course this shouldn't be political. but everything is political. and there is a republican governor, but you're exactly right. it is a federal issue, too. i mean, there's no question about it. but one thing i just want to say because i've covered congress for a long time and this is often an issue and this is why it is often a problem when you have a senator or a representative in front of your name and you're running because votes are very, very complicated.

and you know, bernie sanders thought he was doing the right thing when he didn't vote for the broader bailout. and it is very easy to take out specific votes and sort of hit somebody on it. and hillary clinton was a senator, too. she knows that. >> i will note just for the record, for those who are curious, the gm bailout lost, the auto bailout, $9.3 billion. for taxpayers. taxpayers bailed them out, treasury sold the shares. so we the taxpayers, you out there, we lost 9.2 billion -- or $9.3 billion on that. just to be specific, sally. but the issue here, that one other thing here that people are talking about on twitter tonight is the tone. so bernie sanders in this back and forth to hillary clinton, "excuse me, i'm talking." then "wait a minute, can i finish," waving his finger around. that's not going over very well. >> no, it wasn't cool. let's just close out the bailout conversation. this is a matter of optics. it's sort of you may ultimately not think the bank -- the auto bailout was a good idea. but you did the bank bailout so, therefore you kind of want to

even it out, especially for the voters in detroit. the tone thing, listen, bernie, if you're watching, it was bad. it didn't go well. it wasn't cool. it was awful. i mean, it just felt -- it felt rude. it felt dismissive. it felt condescending. there's a way to interrupt. it's a little more playful. i thought hillary did it pretty well when she said, oh, i will take my turn. she was sort of trying to be a good sport about it. then again, there's a lot of sexism that plays into how she has to respond as well. if she took that tone -- >> if donald trump ends up facing off against her he could fare much, much worse by interrupting or "excuse me," which is something he says all the time. >> you're absolutely right. when you look back when rick lazio debated hillary clinton for the senate, there was this infamous moment where he lunged forward and asked her to sign a pledge. it was a fairly innocuous moment. he just asked her to sign a pledge. but the papers, the newspapers got that caption of him lunging at her, and it was this gender dynamic of this woman looking aghast at this man just shoving

a paper in front of her. so those moments are so moment. all he said was excuse me, but it came off as kind of condescending. >> that's right. >> you've got to be cognizant of that. >> i want to be careful, we're not suggesting in this that everybody should be so politically correct, mind their ps and qs. that's not what this is. that actually was a condescending tone. it was a dismissive tone. and for women and hopefully a lot more men they watch moments like that and say oh, that happens to me a lot in these meetings -- >> it sounded a lot like that barack obama, you're likable enough moment that people remember from these races. it's not -- we're by no means saying bernie is sexist or this is bernie's natural tone by any stretch. however -- >> everyone's a little sexist. >> the tone of the conversation was one in which could have been -- >> and the tone overall and that was one of the most challenging moments, brianna keilar is in the spin room. brianna, you had a chance to talk to both campaigns about the tone and the match-up, and what did they tell you? >> yeah, that's right. this was something that really dominated the spin room here this evening after this debate.

i spoke with jeff weaver, the campaign manager for the bernie sanders campaign, and i spoke with john podesta who is the chair of hillary clinton's campaign. take a listen. podesta leveling, as we've heard from other clinton campaign officials here, that this was a disrespectful tone that bernie sanders took. [ no audio ] [ no audio ]

[ no audio ] >> so the sanders campaign obviously saying they think this is a distraction, this talk of the tone. but i do think that some hillary clinton backers think it's something that may resonate with female voters. and to that point also i'm hearing from some bernie sanders supporters that they think this is really the clinton folks raising the specter of sexism, which i'm sure that some of you see that both of these sort of observations as being something that may be true in this idea of the tone from tonight. i also want to tell you, though, i asked these two sides, where do you think that your candidate really landed punches against the other? the big one for the clinton campaign was obviously on this auto bailout. a lot of muddy water about where bernie sanders supported and did

not support the auto bailout they feel -- i think a lot of people watching this debate may have come away thinking he did not support the auto bailout in any form. so the clinton campaign thinks that's a big win for them. but the sanders campaign thinks they're really resonating with voters when they talk about the trade deals she supported in the '90s and they're stressing that they're seeing tighter polls internally than what we are seeing publicly. we'll have to see if that's true come tuesday night in michigan. >> thank you very much, brianna. of course they did talk that the trade deal as we talked about, hillary clinton supported that tpp, that we counted 45 times she is now adamantly against it. more special coverage of the cnn democratic presidential debate. next, he wasn't on the stage tonight but the candidates went after donald trump. hello and welcome to those of you watching from the united

states and a warm welcome back to those of you watching all around the world. this is "cnn newsroom." i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. time to check the top stories we've been following this hour. joint military exercises like these between the u.s. and south korea are drawing the ire of north korea. pyongyang says it will launch an indiscriminate nuclear attack if the drills continue as planned. they view them as a sign of aggression. the drills are set to continue through april. u.s. democratic presidential candidates hillary clinton and bernie sanders went head to head in a contentious debate sunday in flint, michigan. this is two days ahead of the state's primary. the pair battled over trade agreements, ties to wall street, and gun control. at least 25 people were killed when a boat carrying refugees capsized off turkey's western coast. a turkish news agency says it happened in the aegean sea.

isis is claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing in hillah, iraq. police say a truck strapped with explosives detonated at a busy checkpoint which leads to two shiite holy cities. the blast killed at least 35 people and wounded more than 100. we're joined now by jumana karadsheh live from neighboring jordan. tell us about this latest isis attack and if it represents an uptick in violence from the militants. >> reporter: well, errol, what we know from security forces, security officials in the city of hillah south of baghdad, that's the capital of babel province, they say a suicide bomber driving a fuel truck detonated at this busy checkpoint outside the city of hillah and the latest casualty figures we are getting is that 39 people at least were killed and more than 100 others were wounded. the attack taking place at around noon on sunday. this is a very busy time coming out of the weekend. sunday's usually busy.

and these checkpoints, errol, you need to imagine usually you have long queues, you have cars with families, lots of civilians there, and of course also the security forces who are manning these checkpoints always present a soft target for suicide bombers, for attacks like this. and as you mentioned, isis claiming this attack, its latest claim of a suicide bombing in iraq in recent weeks and promising more attacks, errol. >> and historically, jomana, isis seems to lash out with these types of suicide attacks when they're on the back foot. are they operating from a place of strength or weakness in iraq? >> well, we need to look at this. this attack as you mentioned doesn't come out in isolation. it is the latest in a series of attacks we've seen. according to our own count, more than half a dozen suicide bombings only in iraq, in the

past ten days or so. all of them targeting as we mentioned soft targets, whether it's mosques, funerals, in this case a checkpoint, markets, all these sort of attacks in heavily populated areas in shia areas, a tactic that we have seen isis and other militant groups in the past, sunni militant groups in iraq really aiming and targeting the predominantly shia population in the country. and errol, this comes at a time when we've heard u.s. officials and iraqi officials saying that isis is not gaining territory, that it's lost territory, and the group has in iraq lost territory in the northern part of the country and in the west in anbar province. we haven't seen isis carry out a major offensive taking land like we have seen in the past in iraq. but the group here is definitely sending a message, errol, that they are still capable of carrying out these deadly kinds of attacks, that there is no shortage of suicide bombers, it

seems, at this point for isis. so it is not to be underestimated, the capabilities and the abilities of this group, to strike and cause so much carnage and human loss in that country. and of course the biggest fear always, errol, is when they go after the shia targets at a time when a sectarian tensions are really high in the country. there's always the fear that it could reignite that sectarian war that we saw with iraq for a long time between 2005 and 2007 claiming thousands of lives. >> yeah. iraq still remains a fragile place and this attack at the very least is a reminder of how deadly isis can be and how important the fight against them is. jomana karadsheh live for us in amman, jordan this morning just past 10:30 there wp jomana, thank you. well, stocks in the asia pacific market were mixed monday after china laid out its new plan for the country's slowing economy.

>> that's right. we have a live look at the numbers here for you. you see australia's s&p 500 asx 200 up more than a percent. the shanghai composite up almost a full percent. japan's nikkei pulling back .6 of a percent and chong's hang seng fractionally down at the moment. now, we mentioned those plans that were laid out over the weekend as china's parliament kicked off its annual session in beijing. the country's top economic planner said the economy is not heading for a hard landing and outlined plans to create at least 50 million more jobs and restructure inefficient industries. >> china's president xi jinping touched on cross-strait relations with taiwan at a panel meeting warning the island toward any moves toward independence and saying he'll never allow taiwan to be "split off again." >> well, cnn's matt rivers joins us now live from the chinese capital with more on the annual

parliament session. so matt, let's start with this vision from china on how to deal with this economic slowdown. >> absolutely. well, it is really the top priority issue for chinese leaders here in beijing as they're here for this ten-day or so session for its parliament. and one of the things, the hard numbers that we heard in a speech given by the chinese premier on saturday was a growth rate for the gdp, for the country moving forward. that will be between 6.5% and 7%. now, chinese leaders gave that range, which is something that they haven't done in 20 years. over the past 20 years what we've seen is they give a specific number. so for instance, in 2015 the same speech saw a 7% growth rate set, and what ended up happening was that it came in at 6.9%, the 2015 gdp. that was something that government officials did not want to happen again. they want to meet their expectations. so this year they gave themselves a bit of wiggle room,

hitting -- or giving that number between 6.5% and 7% because it's a recognition on the part of chinese leaders that their economy is slowing down and that the reality of 10%, 12%, 13% growth in gdp year over the year is just not something that's going to happen anymore. >> all right. many thanks to our matt rivers bringing us that live report from beijing. now, the search for mh370 has been unprecedented, as you know, but two years later it's still unsuccessful. we'll look at where things stand for investigators and the families of those on board. plus, a nasa astronaut returns to earth at least one inch taller. how you can grow in space. we'll explain. oh, look... ...another anti-wrinkle cream

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australian police say that a hostage situation in sydney has been resolved. this after several tense hours. the incident left two people dead in the suburb of engleburn

including the alleged shooter. two other men were wounded and we'll bring you more details as they come in to us here at cnn. friends and loved ones of the 239 people on malaysia airlines flight 370 are marking nearly two years since the flight went missing. >> a day of remembrance was held sunday in kuala lumpur, where the flight originated. the deadline is also looming to file claims against the airline. summer mosin has the latest on what families are facing. >> reporter: a day of remembrance as the two-year anniversary approaches since mh370 went missing. families have flown from around the world to kuala lumpur, where the plane was last seen as it took off. >> it is important so that at least people remember that mh370 has not come home yet. and we want them to keep on remembering so at least it helps us remind the government that it's not over. >> reporter: but with the two-year anniversary comes a

two-year deadline. under the international montreal convention any court action to claim damages must be taken within two years from the date the aircraft should have arrived. >> there has been no evidence, no information, nothing concrete enough to make a sound decision. anything you do is just a gamble at this stage. you only have these very limited options, and you're put in a very tight corner with a very tight deadline. >> reporter: and with this deadline comes a twist. in february last year parliament passed act 765, stipulating amongst other things that mh370 families have to ask malaysia airlines for permission to file a lawsuit against malaysia airlines. >> it's really absurd. i've never heard of it before. when someone's saying you have to get permission from them to sue them. >> reporter: lawyer aruna arunan selveraj is representing some of the mh370 families. he tells me there's another

twist. malaysia airlines will only give consent if families agree to certain conditions. if they sue us they can't sue everyone else. zplu can't sue the government, the dca, you can't sue the immigration, you can't sue boeing, you can't sue anybody else. >> reporter: cnn has asked malaysia airlines about these conditions and is awading a response. there's also a concern about the renaming and restructuring of malaysia airlines under act 765. from malaysia airlines systems perhaps to malaysia airlines burhad. why? >> they seem to be cherry-picking all the assets and liabilities. >> reporter: the voice of mh370 groups slam the move as a blatant and despicable act of irresponsibility and cowardice by mas, openly aided and abetted by the malaysia government. >> emptying out everything from the old company and the new company is saying that's the old company, you can't sue us, you can't sue the new company. so eventually when people sue

mas if they want to go for mas, there's nothing left in mas. >> reporter: in a statement the airline says mas remains committed to ensuring a fair and equitable compensation. "mass has insurance kornlg in place to meet its obligation to pay compensation to next of kin." while malaysia airlines says, "166 families have commenced compensation proceedings," many are yet to file. they remain in denial, unable to accept the disappearance or that their loved ones may never return. saima mohsin, cnn, kuala lumpur, malaysia. the u.s. political world is mourning the death of former first lady nancy reagan. >> she died sunday of congestive heart failure at her home in california at age 94. president obama seen here with her in 2009 says she redefined the role of first lady. >> a close friend once said there would have been no

president ronald reagan without her. suzanne malveaux has more on nancy reagan's life, legacy, and tireless devotion to the man she called ronnie. >> reporter: ronnie and nancy. it was truly an american love story. >> i can't imagine marriage being any other way but the way that ronnie and is mine was. and i guess that's unusual. >> little bit of a miracle too. right? something in the gods brought you together. >> fortunately. >> reporter: a relationship not based on politics or power but simply admiration and affection. ♪ together we're ♪ going a long, long way >> reporter: born ann frances robbins in new york city she grew up and lived in chicago, known by the nickname nancy. as an adult she headed west to

hollywood to become an actress. >> she signed with mgm. she became part of that family. >> at first nancy davis was busy, but in 1949 she found her name on a list of suspected communist sympathizers. in danger of being blacklisted from the business. the person on the list turned out to be another actress with the same name, but nancy wanted reassurance. she turned to a friend for help who set up a meeting with the president of the screen actors guild. a dashing leading man named ronald reagan. and thus began one of hollywood's and washington's most enduring romances. in fact, one of her last screen appearances was playing opposite her future husband in a movie called "hell catsof the navy." soon after they wed. they raised a family including their children patty and ron jr. and her husband's two children, maureen and michael from his previous marriage to jane wyman. in 1966 ronald reagan began a second career as a full-time politician and was elected

governor of the nation's largest state, california. nancy was always at his side and always gazing at him with that loving stare. >> it was for real. that wasn't an actress. the adoration that they had for each other. >> congratulations. >> i don't remember thinking anything except that my gosh, here he is and he's president. >> my ronnie. >> my ronnie. >> reporter: after her husband's presidential inauguration nancy reagan's signature was appearing in designer gowns, especially red ones. she also redecorated the white house, both moves drawing heavy criticism. but she had her own special grit. especially after an assassin's bullet struck her husband. she never left the hospital. few knew then how close the president came to dying. just a couple of months into his first term.

>> yes. >> touch and go. >> yes, it was. i almost lost him. >> reporter: she also battled breast cancer and survived. through it all she had many admirers. and some critics too. chief among them her husband's former chief of staff, donald regan, who wrote a blistering book about her including the fact that she sometimes consulted an astrologer. >> he's chosen to attack my wife and i don't take kindly upon that at all. >> reporter: she also used her influence to launch an anti-drug program, which was reduced to a simple phrase. when a young girl asked for advice and the first lady said simply, "just say no." >> i didn't mean that that was the whole answer, obviously. but it did serve a purpose. >> reporter: after she and her husband left washington, she needed her stamina more than ever after ronald reagan was diagnosed with alzheimer's. >> it's sad to see somebody you love and been married for so

long and you can't share memories. that's the sad part. >> reporter: through it all she never lost her optimism. >> do you ever feel that fate treated you badly? >> no. uh-uh. when you balance it all out, i've had a pretty fabulous life. >> reporter: in 2004 president ronald reagan died. in one of her final public appearances the celebration of the centennial of ronald reagan's birth, she said -- >> i know that ronnie would be thrilled and is thrilled to have all of you share in his 100th birthday. doesn't seem possible. but that's what it is. >> reporter: nancy reagan. a strong woman in her own right. remembered also for her steady unflinching devotion to her hawes band both in and out of the spotlight. we needed 30 new hires for our call center.

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now, a year in space proved to be a bit of a stretch, so to speak, for scott kelly.

surely you heard about this. the nasa astronaut came back to earth 1 1/2 inches taller. >> so what makes an astronaut grow in space? cnn's jeanne moos has the tall tale that's true. >> reporter: if your answer to this -- >> do you wish you could grow taller? >> reporter: -- is yes, you could try growth supplements. >> you're guaranteed to grow taller by two to six inches. >> reporter: or even -- >> the body tracker. you can grow 3.7 centimeters taller. >> reporter: or you could do what commander scott kelly did. go to space for almost a year. >> scott kelly back on mother earth. >> reporter: kelly arrived back after growing about an inch and a half. >> it's a phenomenon called spinal elongation. >> reporter: without gravity compression the vertebrae the space between discs expands slightly and the spine gets longer. the physical impact of space flight on scott kelly is being measured against his twin, former astronaut mark kelly.

>> my brother mark -- >> theoretically he'd be a little bit taller than his brother. it actually goes way pretty quickly. so when you get reexposed to gravity as he walks around. >> reporter: he's already back to his old size. sometimes the increase in an astronaut's height even requires nasa to go up a size in space suit. though the growth spurt -- ♪ -- didn't prevent kelly from donning a gorilla suit in space. when isaiah thomas heard about the size increase the celtics point guard tweeted, "i need to go to space asap. lol." now, if you think that this is no big deal, hey, a measly inch has become part of the presidential debate. >> he's always calling me little marco. and i'll admit, he's taller than me. he's like 6'2". >> actually i'm 6'3", not 6'2". but he said i have small hands. >> reporter: even space isn't going to make your hands any bigger, donald. as for testing the twin astronauts, cartoonist edd hall dpe picketed one year exposure to the silence of space versus one year exposure to a

presidential race. it's enough to make an astronaut race back to the space station. >> and lift-off. >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> and you know he'll never let his brother forget, i was taller than you for a few minutes. >> for a moment. >> donald trump's winning streak in the presidential race is producing big laughs on the late-night sketch show "saturday night live." >> yeah, this weekend's opening skit spoofed a cnn broadcast of a trump rally highlighting criticism that some of trump's supporters are openly racist. >> what a great, great night. i really am running the best campaign, aren't i? the media's saying they haven't seen anything like this. not since germany in the 1930s. [ laughter ] i mean, everyone loves me. racists. ugly racists. people who didn't even know they were racist. people whose eyes are like this. [ laughter ] and this guy loves me, don't you?

wait. what's that? get him out. [ laughter ] >> "snl" made fun of trump throughout the show. also worked hillary clinton into the satire. >> they're strong, they're beautiful, and they've all been punched in the nose at a trump rally. and speaking of trump, he's on track to become the republican nominee. to all of you voters out there who have thought for years, i hate hillary, i could never vote for her, to you i say welcome. i've got clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. and here you are stuck in the middle with me. >> now, rosie, help me with this last hour. that apparently is a reference to a popular song from the 1970s, "stuck in the middle with you." "snl" went on to parody republican candidate ted cruz and 2012 nominee mitt romney. >> as your fact checker, yes,

that's correct. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. "early start" is next for those of you in the states. everyone else, stay tuned for more "cnn newsroom." . . kellogg's® frosted mini-wheats®... 8 layers of wheat... and one that's sweet. to satisfy the adult and kid - in all of us.

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if you are talking about the wall street bailout where some of your friends destroyed this economy. >> you know -- >> excuse me. i'm talking. >> anger, frustration and attacks on the debate stage, but this time it's the democrats. a dramatic night at the cnn debate in flint. >> with four states voting tomorrow, ted cruz building momentum for the gop. does donald trump have reason to worry this morning? this as the party and political world pause to remember nancy reagan. good in