[Unidentified Female:] Can you say it to us today in front of all these cameras that black lives matter?
[Pete Buttigeig, 2020 Presidential Candidate:] Did you just ask me if black lives matter?
[Unidentified Female:] Yes, we want to hear you say it. Do black lives matter.
[Buttigeig:] Of course black lives matter.
[Unidentified Male:] Then fire your...
[Blackwell:] [voice over] Well last night South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg came face to face with these protesters. They're demanding action after the fatal shooting of a black man by a white police officer. Now, the protests they're really coming at a critical point for Mayor Buttigieg. He's heading to South Carolina today for the state's Democratic Party convention.
[Dean:] Support from African-American voters will be key for any candidate hoping to win the state's primary next year. Buttigieg will join the nearly two dozen other democratic presidential candidates who are already in South Carolina, and that includes the race's frontrunner Joe Biden who is himself facing criticism for remarks made about his ability to work with segregationist Senators.
[Blackwell:] CNN's Randi Kaye spoke with black voters in South Carolina to find out how the vice president's comments affect his standing.
[Randi Kaye, Cnn Correspondent:] At Designs by Liz salon in Charleston, South Carolina, pampering and politics go hand in hand. What did you think about Biden's comments?
[Patrice Gordon, South Carolina Voter:] I was a little bit disappointed in what he said, but I think he is one of those people who speaks his mind, and sometimes he can put his foot in his mouth.
[Kaye:] Not all of these South Carolina voters are so happy with Joe Biden after his comments about working with segregationist Senators.
[Bertha Middleton, South Carolina Voter:] It makes me angry.
[Kaye:] Bertha Middleton was especially offended, calling Biden's comments "racist." Biden has said there's not a racist bone in his body. Do you believe that?
[Middleton:] Not at all. If there wasn't a racist bone in his body, he wouldn't have made some of the comments that he made.
[Kaye:] J. Denise Cromwell isn't bothered at all.
[J. Denise Cromwell, South Carolina Voter:] It's not an issue for me.
[Kaye:] You don't think his comments are racially insensitive?
[Cromwell:] I don't think so.
[Kaye:] Why not?
[Cromwell:] Because we all have to look at that and stop being so sensitive about race, I mean I'm black.
[Kaye:] This voter wasn't offended either, but says Biden could have chosen his words more carefully. So Biden has said it was just to prove the point that he could work with others. Do you think he could have found maybe a better example than these two Senators to prove that point?
[Alisa Locke, South Carolina Voter:] I think he could have.
[Kaye:] Still, for Bertha Middleton, even eight years alongside Barack Obama isn't enough to ignore these comments.
[Middleton:] I think he really feels that a lot of African-Americans are still going to be on his side because he was vice president for Obama so we have to get away from that.
[Kaye:] For some in this group, Biden's use of the word, "boy" in describing his conversation with a segregationist Senator was especially hurtful.
[Biondell Kidd, South Carolina Voter:] It goes back to slavery.
[Locke:] It has been one of those words that was I consider derogatory. It was always something that was demeaning. It didn't promote African-American men.
[Kaye:] Within this group, the older voters surprisingly forgiving of Biden's remarks. Were you offended by that?
[Kidd:] Not really. Because I know that having lived in the south for so many years, that's a common thing with a lot of people of the other race. With my age, I just kind of overlook it because the younger people today don't really seem to have a problem with that because they didn't go through what we went through during the Civil Rights Movement and whatnot.
[Kaye:] Does this change your opinion of Joe Biden? Would this make you not want to vote for him?
[Gordon:] No, it doesn't.
[Kaye:] Do you like him as a candidate?
[Gordon:] I do.
[Kaye:] Most in this group are still undecided. But if Joe Biden does become the nominee, they will support him.
[Kidd:] He would certainly be an asset. He would be better than what we have now, that's for sure.
[Kaye:] Randi Kaye, CNN, Charleston, South Carolina.
[Blackwell:] Several prominent democrats have come to the vice president's defense. Tulsi Gabbard, and you know she's also running for the nomination for the democrats. She wrote that Biden's critics have unfairly misrepresented his important message to score cheap political points. In order for Congress and the President to get things done for the American people, there needs to be civility in Washington and in the country. In order for Congress to work for the American people, we need to find common ground with each other. When asked about the comments, Congressman and Civil Right icon John Lewis forcefully defended Joe Biden.
[Rep. John Lewis:] I don't think the remarks are offensive. During the height of the Civil Rights movement, we worked with people and got to know people. There was members of the Klan, people who opposed us, even people who beat us, arrested us and jailed us. We never gave up on our fellow human beings and I would not give up on any human being.
[Blackwell:] Well, stay with us, because as the 2020 hopefuls make their case in South Carolina to voters there, we're going to break down the headlines and catch up with the major contenders throughout the day.
[Dean:] Also coming up, in less than 24 hours, I.C.E. will begin arresting and deporting hundreds of undocumented immigrants in 10 major cities.