WEBVTT 00:02.400 --> 00:04.966 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: Six Democrats vying for their party's presidential nomination are set to 00:04.966 --> 00:07.900 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% face off tonight in Las Vegas. 00:07.900 --> 00:12.900 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will make his debate stage debut after qualifying 00:14.300 --> 00:18.633 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% as a result of the latest "PBS NewsHour"/NPR/Marist poll. 00:18.633 --> 00:23.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% With just three days to go before the Nevada caucuses, Amna Nawaz joins me now from Las 00:24.366 --> 00:25.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Vegas for a preview. 00:25.966 --> 00:27.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Hello to you, Amna. 00:27.966 --> 00:32.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So this is the third contest in the season. This is the most diverse group of voters yet 00:33.866 --> 00:36.333 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% to be weighing in. What are they saying on the ground there? 00:36.333 --> 00:40.433 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Judy, you know, the candidates so far have been disproportionally focused 00:40.433 --> 00:43.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% on Iowa and New Hampshire, which are two small, white states. 00:43.833 --> 00:48.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% For the first time, they have to address a state and voters in a state that looks more 00:48.233 --> 00:53.166 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% like the rest of America and what America is becoming. When you look at the Democratic 00:53.166 --> 00:58.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Caucus electorate from 2016, it was 19 percent Latino, 13 percent black, 4 percent Asian. 01:00.633 --> 01:04.066 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% Non-whites made up 41 percent of that electorate. 01:04.066 --> 01:07.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% So, you're hearing from the candidates that they have to tailor their message a little 01:07.033 --> 01:12.033 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% bit more and to broaden the message at the same time. Gone are the days of the retail 01:13.933 --> 01:16.800 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% handshake, room-by-room politicking. They have to deliver a much bigger message now 01:16.800 --> 01:18.766 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% specific to some of these communities. 01:18.766 --> 01:22.500 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And what we saw -- my colleagues Kate Grumke and Saher Khan have been following some of 01:22.500 --> 01:27.066 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% the candidates on the ground. And they're having voter events that target some of these 01:27.066 --> 01:31.366 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% communities. For example, Mayor Buttigieg spoke specifically to a black student group 01:31.366 --> 01:36.300 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% yesterday. Former Vice President Biden spoke to an Asian-American Pacific Islander group 01:36.300 --> 01:38.333 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% as well. 01:38.333 --> 01:41.000 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And there's early voting going on in these communities too. So you see some of these 01:41.000 --> 01:45.966 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% events set up next to often these early voting locations, trying to get some of those diverse 01:47.466 --> 01:49.566 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% voters out early. 01:49.566 --> 01:53.033 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% But, right now, Judy, what you're hearing from these candidates is a much bigger message, 01:53.033 --> 01:57.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% because they know, to show and to prove that they can compete in other places in America, 01:57.466 --> 01:59.833 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% they have to show that they can do it here in Nevada first. 01:59.833 --> 02:04.800 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: So, about the caucuses this weekend, in that national poll that we mentioned 02:06.700 --> 02:10.366 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% earlier, the "NewsHour"/NPR/Marist, we see 72 percent of the people who responded say 02:12.300 --> 02:16.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% they think the caucus process is going to be a fair one, it's going to be accurate. 02:16.466 --> 02:21.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But there were the problems with the Iowa caucuses just days ago. What are Democrats 02:23.400 --> 02:26.566 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% in Nevada saying is their level of confidence about what's going to happen this Saturday? 02:26.566 --> 02:29.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Well, they say that confidence is high, Judy. 02:29.200 --> 02:33.900 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But, again, the proof is going to be in the actual caucus tally results. Look, there are 02:33.900 --> 02:37.933 align:left position:20% line:71% size:70% a lot of firsts that are unfolding in this caucus process. It's the first time they're 02:37.933 --> 02:42.766 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% trying to incorporate early voting into the process. That early voting wrapped yesterday. 02:42.766 --> 02:47.633 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% It's also the first time that they're using this one specific tool, which is a pre-loaded 02:47.633 --> 02:52.600 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% secure form on iPads that's handed out to all the precinct chairs. They developed that, 02:54.633 --> 02:57.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% we should say, in response to what happened in Iowa, because they were supposed to use 02:57.133 --> 03:00.166 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% the exact same app that the Iowa caucuses used. 03:00.166 --> 03:04.266 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Obviously, they scrapped that plan after they saw what chaos unfolded there. But they have 03:04.266 --> 03:08.066 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% high confidence, they say, that they're running enough trainings, that there are more trainings 03:08.066 --> 03:12.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% available for people who feel they're not comfortable with that tool that they're using 03:12.400 --> 03:14.466 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% right now. 03:14.466 --> 03:17.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% And I actually had a chance to speak earlier with DNC chair Tom Perez. I asked him about 03:17.100 --> 03:21.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% his message to voters who might feel uneasy about the process. And he said, look, we took 03:21.400 --> 03:25.933 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% lessons learned from Iowa. We applied them here. We have every confidence that the process 03:25.933 --> 03:27.966 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% is going to go smoothly. 03:27.966 --> 03:31.733 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: And, finally, Amna, tonight's debate, it's the ninth Democratic presidential 03:31.733 --> 03:36.233 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% debate. You got six candidates on the stage, including, as we mentioned, for the first 03:36.233 --> 03:39.200 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% time former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. 03:39.200 --> 03:44.100 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% What is his team saying is their expectation tonight? And what do we think the other candidates 03:44.100 --> 03:46.133 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% may do because he's there? 03:46.133 --> 03:49.200 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Well, we know that an official from the Bloomberg camp has basically said 03:49.200 --> 03:53.866 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% they're preparing him to connect more with the audience. It's something he hasn't had 03:53.866 --> 03:58.466 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% to do before. Right now, he's sort of messaging through his ad buys and surrogates across 03:58.466 --> 04:00.500 align:left position:30% line:89% size:60% the country. 04:00.500 --> 04:03.833 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% But I think he should also be prepared for a number of attacks. The presence of former 04:03.833 --> 04:08.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% Mayor Bloomberg on that stage means that he's an easy foil for Senator Sanders, who has 04:08.133 --> 04:13.133 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% long railed against the power, the disproportionate power that billionaires in America have. 04:15.633 --> 04:18.666 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% But he could also take some fire from moderates, people like Biden and Buttigieg and Klobuchar, 04:21.200 --> 04:23.800 align:left position:10% line:71% size:80% because he's basically fighting for supremacy in that same moderate lane that they all currently 04:23.800 --> 04:25.333 align:left position:40% line:89% size:50% occupy. 04:25.333 --> 04:27.433 align:left position:10% line:83% size:80% So, a lot to watch for on the debate stage tonight. 04:27.433 --> 04:31.400 align:left position:10% line:77% size:80% JUDY WOODRUFF: A lot to watch for. And, Amna, you and the team are going to be there. We 04:31.400 --> 04:32.866 align:left position:20% line:83% size:70% will be talking to you later in the week. 04:32.866 --> 04:33.900 align:left position:20% line:89% size:70% Thank you, Amna Nawaz. 04:33.900 --> 04:34.866 align:left position:10% line:89% size:80% AMNA NAWAZ: Thanks, Judy.