welcome to our viewers here in the united states and all around the world. i'm john vause at cnn's world headquarters where it just went 2:00 a.m. donald trump feeling vindicated and vindictive after his senate acquittal. telling supporters he did nothing wrong and going after his critics once more. drama in iowa. how the democratic national committee is stepping in after the delayed results of the democratic party's caucuses. and more passengers testing positive for coronavirus,

onboard a cruise ship. we're live in japan. president trump took a victory lap like no other after his acquittal in the senate impeachment trial. it started at the national prayer breakfast where he served up a dish of insults against his political opponents and perceived rivals. and he took the shot at the religious faith of mitt romney and house speaker nancy pelosi. and there was more that came later at the white house. he held up "the washington post," a newspaper he ridicules almost every week, with the headline, "trump acquitted." >> this is not a news conference. it's not a speech. it's not anything. we're sort of -- it's a celebration. we've been going through this, now, for over three years. it was evil.

it was corrupt. it was dirty cops. it was leakers and liars. and this should never happen to another president ever. it's been very unfair to the country. and we were treated unbelievably unfairly. and you have to understand, we first went through russia, russia, russia. it was all bull. i want to thank my legal team. you guys stand up. right at the beginning, they said, sir, you have nothing to worry about. all of the facts are on your side. i said, you don't understand. that doesn't matter. that doesn't matter. and that was really true. and the only one that voted against was a guy that can't stand the fact that he ran one of the worst campaigns in the history of the presidency.

say hello to the people of utah and tell them, i'm sorry about mitt romney. i'm sorry. okay? we can say that mike lee is, by far, the most popular senator from the state. you have some that used religion as a crutch. they never used it before. on article written today, never heard him use it before. if i didn't fire james comey, we would have never found this stuff. when i fired that sleazebag, all hell broke out. they were ratting on each other. they were running for the hills. dirty cops. bad people. if this happened to president obama, a lot of people would have been in jail for a long time already. i want to apologize to my family for having them have to go through a phony, rotten deal by some very evil and sick people.

adam schiff is a vicious, horrible person. nancy pelosi is a horrible person. and she wanted to impeach a long time ago. when she said, i pray for the president. i pray for the -- she doesn't pray. she may pray but she prays for the opposite. i doubt she prays at all. we did a prayer breakfast this morning. i had nancy pelosi sitting four seats away and i'm saying things a lot of people wouldn't have said. but i meant everything. >> when donald trump attacked nancy pelosi for her faith, she was seated not far from her. the house speaker made no mention of the insults when she took the stage. but she did not let the president's remarks go unanswered. >> i don't know what the president understands about prayer or people who do pray. but we do pray for the united states of america, i pray for him, i pray hard for him because he is so off the track of our constitution, our values, our

country, the air our children breathe and the water they drink and the rest. he really needs our prayers. it's a prayer breakfast. and that's something about faith. you know, it may not be something i agree with, but to go into the stock market and praising up his acquittal thing and mischaracterizing other people's motivation, he is talking about things that he knows little about. faith and prayer. and i don't need any lessons from anybody, especially the president of the united states, about dignity. dignity? is it okay to say four more years in the house of representatives? i mean, it's just unheard of. it's appalling the things he says and you say to me, tearing up his falsehoods, isn't that the wrong message? no, it isn't. it's just, i have tried to be gracious with him. i'm always dignified. i thought that was a very

dignified act, compared to my exuberance. that was not a state of the uni union. that was his state of mind. we were at a state of the union. where are we? where are we going? and the rest. not let me show you how many guests i can draw. and let me see how i can give a medal of honor -- do it in your own office. we don't come in your office and do congressional business. why are you doing that here? i feel very liberated. i feel very liberated. i feel that i've extended every possible courtesy. i've shown every level of respect. i extended the hand of friendship to him, to welcome him as the president of the united states, to the people's house. it was also an act of kindness because, he looked to me like he was a little sedated. he looked that way last year, too. he didn't want to shake hands. that meant nothing to me. it had nothing to do with my tearing up -- that came much

later. he had shredded the truth in his speech. he's shredding the constitution in his conduct. i shredded his state of his mind address. >> let's get to the leader of political science. and he joins us this hour. thomas, you thought that relations between pelosi and trump were as bad as they were ever going to get before today, clearly, they've gone a lot lower. and this is a total breakdown of whatever relationship was left. what from the implications moving forward? obviously, these two can't work together. >> you're right. obviously, these two can't work together. one of the things that really struck me most, john, is that over the last several months have been a lot of comparisons drawn between the impeachment of donald trump and the impeachment of bill clinton. and i think we can learn a lot about from how both presidents handled their acquittals in the senate. they couldn't have been more different. what we saw today from trump, speaking to nancy pelosi, was just pure defiance, a lack of

remor remorse, a huge amount of vitriol. contrast that to clinton, after his acquittal, asked for the country's forgiveness, said he was humbled and asked the country to move forward. the country was divided after the clinton impeachment. nowhere near the levels of now. that's due to trump's rhetorics and the wittryi r wittry tri yo will make it very difficult to come together during the last months of trump's presidency. >> and the content of what the president was doing in the east room of the white house, it obviously seemed like he had this pent up frustration and bitterness and anger which had been brewing. but it was mixed in with fox news talking points and conspiracy theories that were lies. and it was a weird mix of a world that didn't seem to exist.

>> i don't think i can say it better than you just did. one of the reasons that senators gave for acquitting donald trump, is he learned from this process. that's difficult to reconcile. the president continues to say he did nothing wrong in ukraine. that the impeachment was a witch hunt. his political opponents have been acting in bad faith and continue to do so. but just think about the mueller report. the day after mueller testified before congress, the very next day, john, trump was on the phone with president zell lensk trying to get the ukraine to big up dirt on the bidens. when there's no accountability, at the very least, it can't be ruled out. >> susan collins is right whtha he probably learned a lesson. but he learned that he can get away with it. the republicans don't hold him to account. and the system doesn't work when one party is beholden to the

executive. that's where the problem lies with all of this. >> i couldn't agree with you more. what this does is create a culture of impunity. it does give donald trump license to behave in ways in the future that are inconsistent with the constitution. the president isn't just the precedent this will set for future presidents going forward. it's the potential precedent that it will set for donald trump because it is certainly not a foregone conclusion that he will lose in 2020. he could be given four more years. and i think what is really concerning to a lot of democrats is the idea of a trump presidency, totally unrestrained and totally unaccountable with the republican congress. >> we're out of time. you know, this seemed learning a lesson and being contrite. when he has shown any sign of contrition or learning a lesson and changing his behavior? i don't think it ease ever

happened or happened now. thank you for being with us, thomas. appreciate it. >> thank you. the democratic national committee chair is calling for a recanvas of all of the results in the iowa caucuses. he tweeted, enough is enough. all of the numbers at the state to be recounted at the caucus sites. the former south bend, indiana, mayor, pete buttigieg is locked in a virtual tie with bernie sanders. cnn analysis shows errors in the count reported by the democratic party. and the candidates have moved on to new hampshire now, that holds its primary next week. but the bad taste of iowa lingers on. ryan nobles has our report. >> reporter: it's the caucus count that just won't end. >> iowa, you have shocked the nation. >> reporter: after three days of counting, the iowa democratic party is facing a new challenge. tom perez, the chair of the democratic national committee tweeting, quote, enough is enough. i'm calling on the iowa democratic party to immediately

begin a revcanvas. his request comes as the current results show a razor-thin margin between pete buttigieg and bernie sanders. the committee said it would begin the recanvas process. something that has not happened. it hasn't stopped pete buttigieg. >> we're going on to new hampshire victorious. >> reporter: and now, sanders, from declaring victory. >> in terms of the popular vote, we won a decisive victory. >> reporter: but the rules of the iowa caucuses make it clear, the winner is determined by the state delegate equivalence, not the popular vote. but for sanders, win, lose or draw, he's ready to put iowa in the rear-view mirror. his campaign announced a campaigning haul in january, his best of the campaign. and he invested more than $5 million of new ads. he's putting his energy and

focus into new hampshire. do you think it's time to have the conversation about new hampshire? >> i think so, given we're in manchester, new hampshire. we're working really hard. >> reporter: and the race here has begun in earnest. >> he calls himself a democratic socialist. we'll see what donald trump is going to do with that. >> reporter: with former vice president joe biden, off of a disappointing showing in iowa, calling out sanders and buttigieg by name. >> i believe in raising the minimum wage to a living wage. if you want to call that socialism, that's socialism for working people. that's the difference between trump and me. >> reporter: meanwhile, elizabeth warren, on-track for a third place finish in iowa, is shifting her approach, pulling back ad spending in nevada and south carolina, hoping for a comeback in new hampshire. >> we try with our best with resources being a nonprofit and fund-raising is limited. limited funding for that. >> let's see if we can fix that.

the federal government should be a better partner. >> our thanks to ryan nobles for that report. another group of democrats d consider at a cnn town hall. bernie sanders started with addressing divisions in the party. >> campaigns have become contentious. and people will say things about others. i have known joe biden for so many years. joe is a friend of mine. he's a decent human being. yeah. people are going to say things during the heat of the campaign. i want somebody's vote. i say something. somebody else says something. but at the end of the day, because of the threat that trump poses to the future of this country, because of this ugliness, because of his racism, and his sexism, and his homophobia and his zen phobia and his bigotry, because he is trying to divide our people up, i have zero doubt that we will bring the party together. >> because this president now believes and the senate gop has given him reason to believe, that you can get away with

anything. that it's okay to lie and cheat and okay to involve foreign governments, in domestic politics for your own game. in all of this, the good news, if you can call it that, the silver lining is that this is 2020. this is an election year. and so, the senate may have been the jury yesterday. but we, the people, are the jury now. and the final verdict on the president and on the senate, is going to be up to us this year. >> i look at it this way. there were so many people in this race, as you know. and i am now in the top five. i think there's a lot of people that didn't predict i would get through that initial announcement speech in the middle of the blizzard. they were literally predicting i couldn't make it through the snow. then, they were predicting i wouldn't make it through the summer. and then, it was debate, debate, debate. every time i have exceeded expectations. >> and a quick programming note. remember to tune in to cnn on tuesday for our extensive

coverage of the new hampshire primary. still to come, a doctor who tried to raise the alarm about the wuhan coronavirus is one of the victims of the virus. we're live to beijing in a moment. it's time for the ultimate sleep number event on the sleep number 360 smart bed.

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the wuhan coronavirus has kill eed 638 people. among the latest, the chinese doctor that first reported the new virus back in december, at the time, he was accused by chinese authorities of spreading rumors and he was warned not to speak about it. two more evacuation flights are on route to the u.s. with 200 people aboard. they're expected to land in the united states some time on friday. 300 cases of the disease have been found outside of china, including 61 people on a cruise ship, outside of yokohama, japan. that's where matt rivers is joining us live. there's a lot of people on the ship behind you. and the conditions are not especially good. >> reporter: no. they're not, john. we have been talking to people on the ship who say they're only allowed out of their rooms for a certain amount of time each day. this is some 3,700 people or so

stuck on that massive ship behind me. and they'll likely be there for roughly another two weeks or so, according to the japanese government. government officials here taking zero chances. they are clearly concerned that the people on the ship could infect people in japan. it's hard to blame the government from taking the caution. there were 20 confirmed cases on coronavirus, people infected. today, that number jumped by 41, bringing the total number of cases to 61. not everyone onboard the ship has been tested. we know that hundreds of people have been. but that number could very well rise over the next couple of day s. of the 3,700 people onboard, we know that 38 of them are americans. two of the americans were on their honeymoon onboard that

ship. they say the conditions onboard are difficult. they're really frustrated. we messaged with them earlier today on whatsapp. they said, we just want to get the hell off of this ship. we are deathly afraid we're going to catch this virus being trapped on the ship. you can imagine what they're going through, john, being able to look out from the balcony, see land and see media crews and not be able to leave. >> this sounds like a holiday from hell. you have people on the boat. some have the virus and some don't. keeping them together is a guaranteed way that everyone ends up with the virus. is there anyway to prevent that? >> reporter: they're keeping people separated from going one to one. they're taking meals and shutting the doors. you're right. one thought, people are saying, why not get us into hospitals and secure areas? but what the japanese government

is saying, if we know you're not infected onboard the ship, why are we going to bring you in our hospitals and expose you to more people? we can leave you on the ship in that quarantine. that's the argument there. it's not a good argument for the people on the ship. they are frustrated. you can completely understand why they want to get off. so far, the japanese government is not giving an inch of ground, in terms of acquiescing to those requests. they are keeping the people onboard the ship for the time being. >> matt, thank you. matt rivers live with us with the latest onboard the miserable cruise ship. hopefully it will be over soon. there's been an enormous reaction, to the death of the wuhan doctor that reported the virus in december. there will be an investigation of issues raised by the masses. we go live to beijing. what are the issues raised by the masses? >> reporter: they're saying what

issues they will be looking into at all. but obviously, this is their attempt to contain the raw emotions in the past few hours after the death of dr. lee. this is anger and grief of people across the nation. across the political spectrum. we're talking about police officers, former government officials, dissidents and activists, really excited in a very unusual way, that they're mourning the pass of dr. lee when they're asking angry and soul-searching questions of what led to his death. dr. lee, was among the first to raise an alarm about this outbreak. he was warning his college friends something he was just doing as an instinct. instead of being recognized, he was threatened by police and forced to sign a confession.

that's why the virus was not contained at its initial stage and led to what it is now, a global disaster. that's why this story has r resonated so well with people across the country because this is an unlikely tragic hero. people are asking other questions in terms of, you know, the government accountability and demanding an apology for dr. li, saying where is our freedom of expression, as they continue to work to delete messages and posts of this doctor. another thing we learned, as recently as yesterday on thursday, police in another province, southwestern province detained five medical workers, according to a media report, for filming and disclosing information in terms of what was going on in their hospital, amid this outbreak. so, history seems to be repeating itself. john? >> yeah. also, a lot of the blame is being directed at local officials which is how beijing likes it. steven jiang.

donald trump always had a tenuous relationship with the truth. and now, facts will pay a big part of his campaign. we'll explain in a moment. robinhood believes now is the time to do money.

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching "cnn newsroom." i'm john vause with the headlines this hour. the death toll from the coronavirus has risen to 638. a chinese doctor that tried to warn about the virus istalitief. when he made his findings public, authorities accused him of spreading rumors and warned

he would be prosecuted if he did remain silent. all precincts of iowa are in and it's a virtual tie between pete buttigieg and vermont senator, bernie sanders. the national chair is calling for a recanvas of the results. donald trump, claiming total vindication of his political impeachment trial. he mocked the faith of mitt romney and house speaker nancy pelosi. donald trump also distorted the truth through that white house celebration. he made misleading or false statements, alternative facts that were challenged and there were lies. here's a sample. >> let me tell you, if we didn't win, the stock market would have crashed. they made up facts. a corrupt politician named adam schiff made up the statement to the ukrainian president. he brought it out of thin air. brought it up. he's a failed screen writer. he went into politics after.

they don't think it's corrupt when a son that made no money, that got thrown out of the military, that had no money at all, is working for $3 million up front, $83,000 a month. and that's only ukraine. goes to china, picks up $1.5 million. and goes to romania, i hear, and many other countries. they think that's okay. >> the president's frequent use of alternative facts will be playing a central role in his re-election campaign. cnn's tom foreman reports. >> reporter: a torrent of unbridled praise for president trump raging attacks on his perceived enemies. >> i called the fake news the enemy of the people. >> reporter: and howls of fake news anytime his actions come under fire. >> people need to understand what the democrats did was dishonest and it was corrupt and it had no other motive than to take him out in 2020. >> reporter: that is what atlantic staff writer mckay

compens jumped into a few months ago, when he created a facebook pseudonym, liked trump's re-election page and other supporters. and the seasoned journalist was unprepared with the tidal wave that flooded in. >> it's like you're fully imm s immersed and almost drawning in the sea of conspiracy theories and lies. >> reporter: time and again, he would watch news events during the day. >> was there a quid pro quo. >> reporter: say damming testimony in the president's impeachment trial. and within hours, it was recouched as mere speculation. >> i came to believe -- >> i believe. >> that's what i believe -- >> i believe i -- >> reporter: witnesses were cast as misleading. the investigation was called a coup. >> we cannot accept a second term for donald trump. >> reporter: and president trump was presented as the only possible savior.

>> i'm restoring government of, by and for the people. >> the overall effect of scrolling through this feed, being bombarded with one piece of kind of misinformation, propaganda, conspiracy theory after another, it starts to take a toll on you. >> reporter: in what way? >> well, i started to question every headline i saw from every news outlet and every website. >> reporter: and it is all expected to grow. >> this is not just one election or two election thing. this is a movement that will continue well past into the future. >> reporter: the architect of trump's online outreach, brad parscale, is his campaign manager now, operating from an office tower near d.c., called by some the death star. they're planning to spend more than $1 billion. and coppins, are worried that pro-trump forces are going to wage the most expansive

disinformation campaign in u.s. history. all parties have echo chambers. but team trump is believed to use this method to push hard this election season. suggesting they're not promoting alternative realities but the only reality that matters. tom foreman, cnn, washington. when we come back, police in india have made an arrest of a shocking crime against a 5-year-old girl. and the crime happened on the grounds of the u.s. embassy. more on that live in deli in a moment. he wanted a man cave in our new home.

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the white house says the leader of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula is dead. he led the franchise in yemen. no word on when he died. but cnn reported that he had been targeted. the news follows two other military efforts to remove middle east leaders or terrorist leaders. last month, an american drone strike for iran's most senior

general, sulejmanny, and al baghdadi died on his compound in northern syria. we go to india, where police have arrested a suspect in the rape of a 5-year-old girl. she was attacked on the grounds of the u.s. embassy in new delhi. this is what -- this story is awful in itself. and it is made even more worse by the fact it happened on the grounds of the american embassy. >> reporter: absolutely, john. let me tell you what we know. it was a 5-year-old girl, on the ground off of the american embassy, was raped, allegedly, by a neighbor. the latest government in india talks about how 93% of rape cases, the victim knows the accused. this is one such case. we got a statement, an official one from the american embassy, where they talk about condemning the incident. but they go on to talk about how prompt they were to help the family, the parents not only

filing the complaint, but helping them with medical aid. and fully cooperating with the police. we spoke with the police. they say this man is in judicial custody. if you do remember, in 2018 in india, as far as rapes of minors and especially girls under the age of 12 is concerned, this man could face 20 years imprisonment if convicted. he could face a life term. in some cases it goes up to the death penalty. what we do know is after that law was amended, as far as minor girls are concerned under the age of 12, this case has to be investigated within the next two months. and the trial has to be completed within the next six months. john? >> thank you for the details and the update there. israeli police say a suspect has been arrested after a car rammed into a group of israeli soldiers thursday morning in jerusalem. 12 soldiers were wounded, a sign that tensions between israelis and flips are once again on the rise. the latest attack came less than

24 hours after three palestinians were killed in the west bank, during days of protest against u.s. president donald trump's middle east peace plan, the so-called deal of the century. more from cnn's oren liebermann. >> reporter: it's easy to look at the attacks and the uptick of violence and see they come in the wake of the trump administrati administration's peace plan and link the two. that may be the reason why we're seeing the sudden violence in the last 24 hours. but there's more to it than that. there are some attacks that may be related to the anger and the frustration over the peace plan. the palestinian factions has called for more to express an outright rejection and anger. there was a ramming attack against israeli soldiers in jerusalem, wounding 12. one of them was seriously injured. the suspect was arrested thursday evening in the west bank. simil similarly, shooting attacks in the old city of jerusalem and the central west bank, may have anger over the plan at their root. and that goes for rocket and

mortar fire from gaza, as well. what happened in jeanine in the morn west bank is a different story. that starts early thursday morning, with israeli soldiers go in to demolish the home of a palestinian, convicted of murdering a rabbi two years ago. in the clashes that broke out, one palestinian was shot and killed. israel says he had shot with a sniper rifle at israeli soldiers who responded. a second palestinian was also shot and killed, a member of palestinian police. video posted by fatah, that controls the palestinian authority, saws the officer standing at his place of work, not taking part of clashes and protests, when he's shot and killed. the israeli military says it's investigating the incident. where does it go from here and does it get worse? it's tense and there's a tremendous amount of strain on israeli/palestinian coordinat n coordination, which is crucial to both sides. where does this go from here? it could spiral out of control quickly and one of the big questions is can both sides put

a lid on it to stabilize the situation and do they want to? oren liebermann, cnn, jerusalem. former vice president joe biden may have finished fourth in iowa. but he's a big winner to one 12-year-old boy after biden opened up about his life long struggle with stuttering. in the southeastern u.s., they're battling flooding and tornadoes and the worst may be yet to come. stay with us. that's up next. a continuous glucose monitor, you don't have to. with a painless, one-second scan you can check your glucose with a smart phone or reader so you can stay in the moment. no matter where you are or what you're doing. ask your doctor for a prescription for the freestyle libre 14 day system. you can do it without fingersticks. learn more at freestylelibre.us.

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a soyuz capsule with christina koch landed in kazakhstan on thursday. she returns to earth after 328 days in space. the longest space flight by a woman. she took part in the all-female spacewalk with jessica myer. scientists are baffled by a giant galaxy that existed 12 billion years ago and probably died. the monster galaxy churned out stars at a fast rate when the universe was a young thing. then, suddenly switched off. it's the equivalent of 1,000 suns every year for millions of years. that's a lot of suns. the sintists can't explain it

yet. but they might have to change their ideas about how early galaxies stop forming stars. how about that? a powerful storm system is causing trouble across the eastern u.s. two people have been killed, a number of others injured. two dozen tornados have been reported and rains caused flooding across the southeastern u.s. up north, snow and ice are hammering new england, making travel dangerous. and it's not over yet. derek van dam is following all of this. he has the latest. dvd, what's going on? >> john, the southeast was the battleground states between the warm and the cold air masses. that created the severe weather outbreak. but also, the heavy rain leading to flooding. check out this video. this is an amazon delivery truck driver being rescued from his delivery truck, as the floodwaters rose around him. this is just outside of atlanta, northeast georgia. when we talk about how much rain has actually fallen, we see a wide swath of generally 2 to 4 inches. but there's been locations across the carolinas and in portions of georgia and alabama,

that have seen upwards of 6 and 8 inches of rainfall. a widespread flooding across location. but it's also been severe weather. when we tally up over the past 24 hours the amount of tornadoes reported, two dozen as you mentioned. also, nearly 170 reports of wind damage and 30 reports of hail. this was a major early spring severe weather outbreak that's not only led to tornadoes but also flooding. so, come back to see some of the damage that was leftover from these tornadoes. this, by the way, was an ef-1 on the enhanced fujita scale. this is a measurement of the damage and wind speed that tornadoes cause. you can see, complete lly obliterating the mobile homes in central alabama. one fatality coming out of this. but signature damage from an f- -- ef-1 tornado here to say the least. you can see that vehicle is damaged, as well. the line of storms that caused the havoc across alabama and into georgia earlier on thursday

evening, is pressing south across southern florida. there's still a tornado watch in effect, just outside of ft. lauderdale and miami. that's set to exfipire in the nt hour or so. the severe weather threat is deanyod dimini diminishing. there's enough cold air to transition the rainfall to snow in places like nashville and knoxville and cincinnati, ohio. some of the rainfall moving across the new england states, of course, cold enough to bring in the rain/snow mix and some ice across upstate new york, as well as vermont, new hampshire. so, that's where we have winter weather advisories. that controversy about 30 million americans. but check this out. lots of wind associated with this. 70 million americans-plus, with some sort of wind advisory or warning through the course of your friday. so, we have a breezy, kind of an all-outright mess to start off the early weekend on the east coast. but the storm system should exit fairly quickly tonight and into the day on saturday. but not before leaving a nice

koegt coating of ice along northern new england. that will create travel nightmares if you head to the airports across upstate new york and vermont and new hampshire. that's an area you want to double check your plans. i believe this will stay all-rain for the major east coast cities, from d.c. to philadelphia, new york and boston. you can see that indicated in the rain/snow accumulation. snowfall totals, across new england, 8 to 12 inches of snow by the time the storm system finally exits the region. what a wild past 24 to 48 hours across the southeast, to say the least, john. >> so, pack a good book, pack some patience and pleases and thank yous. >> three-hour delays across the southeast, as well. >> thanks. there was lots of talks about tax plans and health care and public schooling at the thursday town hall with u.s. democratic presidential candidates. all important policies to be sure. but senator bernie sanders was asked about his jewish heritage and how it impacts his politics. he said it does so profoundly.

growing up poor and understanding his jewish background shaped his views. >> i remember as a kid, looking at big picture books of world war ii. and tears would roll down my cheeks when i saw what happened to the jewish people. 6 million people were killed by hitler. a few years ago, my wife and i and my brother and his wife went back to the town to poland where we were shown an area where the nazis had put some 300 people and just mowed them down, in a ditch. so, that had -- how horrible people can be to other people in the names of racial superiority, or et cetera, certainly has been with me for my entire life. and that is why i will do everything i can to end the kind

of divisiveness that trump is formenting in this country. we are one people. i don't care if you're black, white, latino, native american, gay, straight, that's not what it's about. we're human beings. we share common dreams and aspirations. so, you know, the pain that my family, my father's family suffered in poland, is something that has impacted my life, absolutely. >> cnn town hall, the night earlier, former vice president joe biden, opened up about his lifelong struggle with stuttering. his honesty has been encouraging others to speak out. here's alex signs with this report. >> reporter: braden likes drawing and basketball. and now, he shares a personal connection with joe biden. >> i felt like i a really close vibe between us. he had the same thing going on. >> reporter: brayden's father took him to see biden in

new hampshire, knowing he, too, grapples with stuttering. >> we wanted to show brayden that stuttering isn't a limit in life. and it hasn't stood in the way of joe biden. >> reporter: the former vice president opened up about his lifelong struggle and the message he gives to kids coping with the same issue. >> i find myself really tired. i catch myself saying something like that. it has nothing to do with your intelligence quotient, it has nothing to do with your intellectual makeup. it's important for them not to judge themselves by their speech. not let that define them. >> reporter: it's a moment that highlights one of biden's key attributes to run for president, empathy. he mentions his stutter on the campaign trail and in some interviews, including a recent in-depth sitdown with "the atlantic." biden says he keeps in touch with more than a dozen people who studder. some approaching him at campaign events to mention that bond.

>> by the way, you know i used to be a bad stutterer. and i've spoken a lot about it. involved with the national organization, as well. don't -- it does not define you. >> i know. >> it cannot define you. >> reporter: brayden harrington had that chance, too, when he met biden after his speech this week. >> it was shocking to shake somebody's hand who, like, has the same trait as me, and has the same thing going on. >> i met him. i could tell when i met him, you see the face. you can see the anxiety in their ca faces. >> reporter: biden invited brayden backstage, explaining how he prepares for his speeches. >> he showed me how he put diagonal lines through the words to pause, take no breaths and pause to chill out a little bit. >> reporter: the former vice president discussing that technique in his cnn town hall. >> what i do if i say, the democratic presidential town hall is tonight on cnn. i'll say, the presidential town

hall. slash. is on cnn tonight. slash. it's going to have the following people. slash. anderson cooper is going to speak. slash. it forces me to think in terms of not rushing. >> reporter: biden ultimately asked for brayden's number, telling him he'll check in from time-to-time, to talk through their mutual challenge in life. >> he took the time to say, i want you to go out back. i know this isn't easy for us to talk right now. and i want to take some time, you and me, one-on-one. and that's a really kind act. >> it's kind of cool to shake a dude's hand and have, like, having him call me, like, and other kids. >> reporter: now, brayden showed us his journal where he wrote down the memory with joe biden when he leaves the house. his father told me he's and independent. he went to the joe biden event undecided. now, he and his wife will be voting for biden in the

new hampshire primary. they're were both impacted by that moment in such a big way. arlette saenz, cnn, new hampshire. >> i'm john vase. cnn newsroom continues in a moment. stay with us. americans come to lendingtree.com to compare and save on loans, credit cards and more! but with the new lending tree app you can see your full financial health, monitor your credit score, see your cash flow and find out how you can cut your monthly bills. download it now to see how much you can save. (vo) parents have a way of imagining the worst... ...especially when your easily distracted teenager has the car. at subaru, we're taking on distracted driving [ping] with sensors that alert you when your eyes are off the road. the all-new subaru forester.

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hello, everyone, i'm john vause. you're watching "cnn newsroom." ahead this hour, sometimes it's good to vent. let it all out. the u.s. president did just that. a day after his impeachment

acquittal came a rambling, hour-long stream of consciousness. he was silenced by authorities when he tried to raise the alarm about china's coronavirus and now, he's among the victims of that virus. when the coronavirus confirmed on two cruise ships, 700 passengers and crew under quarantine and confined to quarters most of the day. and there's no end in sight. you may have heard of the national prayer breakfast. normally lawmakers put aside politics and they work on things like tolerance and cooperation. that was not the case this year when donald trump attacked his opponents and railed against impeachment. after the breakfast, he went on to hold what he considered a celebration in the east room of