he's hoping it'll make other dads feel closer to their daughters. great way to bond. >> that's like rapunzel's hair. >> do you think chris will practice on us? >> i hope not. >> "newsroom" with carol costello. >> have a great day. "newsroom" starts now. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. the stage is set and the countdown is on. we're one day away from the first democratic presidential debate in las vegas. hillary clinton and bernie sanders go head to head for the very first time. they'll be joined by martin o'malley, lincoln chafee and jim webb in what could be a breakout moment. all of this as new polls show lincoln with a commanding lead in nevada and south carolina. let's bring in cnn's jim acosta. he's in las vegas, where final

preparations are now underway. good morning, jim. >> reporter: good morning, carol. i'm inciside the wynn hotel on e las vegas strip, where the debate set is already ready to go. you can see the five paid yum behind me. clinton, the front runner, has the middle podium. to her right will be sanders. he has been the insurgent candidate, firing up the liberal base of the democratic party. these new polls show, as you mentioned, carol, that clinton has a comfortable lead in the battleground states, including nevada. we'll put that on screen, according to the new cnn/orc poll. clinton has 50% with sanders, 34% and the undeclared joe biden at 12%. if you take biden out, it helps clinton. she rises to a bigger lead. 58% for hillary clinton. 36% for bernie sanders. we want to throw this in, as well. south carolina is an interesting state if joe biden jumps into

this race. he has a lot of support in south carolina. he vaults ahead of bernie sanders in that poll. hillary clinton with 49%. biden, 24%. sanders, 18%. that is the x factor in this race. what will vice president joe biden do? the chair of the democratic party, debbie wassermann schultz was asked that question. what if joe biden decides to show up on tuesday night? >> we do know that he has been carefully considering whether he wants to run for president of the united states. of course, in the democratic primary, we would always have room and welcome the sitting vice president. >> now, the indications at this point is that we won't be seeing vice president biden joining us on tuesday night. he's been in delaware all weekend. was scheduled to be there today, huddled with advisers to try to make this decision. he's also spending time with family, as well.

getting back to the candidates who were definitely going to be on the stage tuesday night. carol, potential flash points, i think, to look forward to. on the iraq war, bernie sanders has been reminding voters that he voted against the iraq war in 2002 and hillary clinton voted in favor of it. those are ek kochoes of 2008 an obama and clinton. he went after clinton, making gains inside the liberal base of the democratic party because of that key vote. we'll be looking for other flash points. bernie sanders is more moderate on gun control. martin o'malley could go after sanders on that issue. a lot to watch more coming up on tuesday night, carol? >> we'll get back to you. jim acosta from las vegas. the republicans aren't just sitting back to enjoy the show. the republican national committee has an ad, attacking hillary clinton's use of a private e-mail account when she

was secretary of state. >> i did not e-mail any classified material no anyone. >> there was classified information. >> did, in fact, contain classified information. >> total lack of accountability. it's like, my problems have nothing to do with me. they have to do with the republicans. >> they're playing it up as if it was a partisan witch hunt. >> now you have the fbi, the "new york times" facing this story. >> those are not partisan organizations. >> you think the american public is that stupid? >> it's something president obama addressed on "60 minutes." >> she made a mistake. she's acknowledged it. i do think that the way it's been ginned up is, in part, because of politics, and i think she'd be the first to acknowledge that maybe she could have handled the original decision better and the disclosures more quickly. >> what's your reaction when you found out about it? >> you know, this is one of those issues that, i think, is

legitimate, but the fact that for the last three months, this is all that's been spoken about, is an indication that we're in presidential political season. >> but those e-mails are not only causing problems for secretary clinton, but oddly, for republicans, too. there are explosive allegations that clinton and her e-mails have become the primary focus of the republican-led benghazi hearings. those are supposed to be investigating why ambassador chris stevens and three other americans were killed at the american consulate in libya. chris has more. >> a former staffer with the house committee investigating the ben ga zghazi attacks says panel's probe has become a politically motivated search targeting clinton. it's a charge as clinton runs for president. air force reserve intelligence officer says after news broke

earlier that clinton used the e-mail server, the republican-controlled committee set its sights almost exclusively on clinton. he says he was fired as a committee investigator because he resisted the pressure to focus on clinton and because he took military leave. he says he plans to file a lawsuit over his firing and ask a court to give him back his job with back pay. a self-described conservative tells jake tapper in an exclusive television interview that what started as a broad probe into the attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi became a, quote, partisan investigation. let's take a listen. >> what do you say to any viewers out there who think that you might have an ax to grind, you're only talking because you were fired? >> i have a conscience. there's wrong doing here, and i think it needs to stop. i do not want the investigation to end. i want it to be refocused back to its original purpose. the victims' families are youed

t -- owed the truth. clinton has explaining to do. we didn't need to de-emphasize and drop the investigation on different agencies, organizations and individuals. >> republican committee chairman trey gowdy said he never instructed him to focus on clinton. he said that he has, quote, demanded money from the committee, and committee refused to pay him, and he's now run to the press with his new allegations about secretary clinton. a spokesperson for the committee said in a statement that the claims are transparentally fals. the statement said, quote, thus directly contrary to his brand-new assertion, the employee actually was terminated, in part, because he himself manifested improper parrially and animus in his investigative work. >> wow.

keep in mind, the house-led benghazi committee has been investigating benghazi for 17 months now. that's a month longer than the watergate investigation. taxpayers dolled out more than $4.6 million and counting. let's talk about this and the debate. a former manager of hillary clinton's 2008 campaign and tara, a former communications director for republican congressman dana worbacher. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> is it possible this benghazi issue may be neutralized because of the whistleblower's allegations? >> first, he's not a whistleblower. a whistleblower is someone who is still employed and decides to actually have a conscience and say, what i see is wrong and i'm going to get protection so i don't get retribution so i can expose what's happening. he is a disgruntled employee who was fired for a number of

reasons, and the committee started to come out and explain what the reasons are. he's now using the politically expedient opportunity here to say, wait, it's all political. this is his way of getting back at the committee. i mean, i think we're beginning to find out more and more that the credibility of this employee, terminated employee, is coming more into question. with that, squared that away, but unfortunately, the political part of this is damaging. >> we didn't square this away. patty, do you agree? is this guy a disgruntled employee, spewing non-sense? >> look, we don't need the co so-called disgruntled employee. i don't believe that's what he is. we have it from kevin mccarthy, who said this committee was designed exclusively to damage hillary clinton's political motive -- or objective. we don't need him. we know this is a political witch hunt. we know they're using taxpayers

money to do it. i really think it's time for this committee to pack up and go home. >> on the other hand, tara, you're right, hilalary clinton has this trustworthiness problem. 1/3 of the voters in the latest cbs poll shows voters don't trust her. again, with representative mccarthy saying what he did, and this whistle -- i know you don't call him a whistleblower. >> he's not a whistleblower. >> former employee of the benghazi committee coming out and saying these things, doesn't that help hillary clinton? >> absolutely. i actually wrote a piece about this, that kevin mccarthy's political blunder, it was a huge gaffe and damaging to the credibility of the committee, unfortunately. because despite all the work they've done, despite the fact it's been bipartisan, despite the fact they've uncovered new information, they've interviewed 40 plus new individuals and witnesses that the other investigations did not have access to, despite the fact they've been able to get

documents that the clintons and state department have held all these months, despite all the work, now it's like political a ma manna from heaven for the democrats. see, it's a witch hunt. there are still questions not answered. why did clinton tell the families that this was a video and that it was a spontaneous demonstration that led to this attack, when they knew it was pre-planned? they had dia reports. they had reports from the intel community relatively quickly after the attacks that said this was premedicated, al qaeda-inspired organization that did this and, yet -- >> i will only -- >> -- they say it's a video. >> i'll say this caveat. a republican-led investigation found none of that to be really true. we didn't know what happened yet because the benghazi committee

hearings aren't over yet. patty, do you think any of this will be brought up by hillary clinton's rivals at the debate? >> you know, the big difference between the democratic debate and the republican debates that have happened thus far is that the democratic debate is going to be substantive. they're going to talk about policies. they're going to talk about issues that affect the american people. they'll talk about college affordability, the economy, health care, education. i don't think they're going to stoop to the level of politicizing benghazi or the e-mails, for that matter. >> yeah, but doesn't hillary clinton have a duty to answer these questions for all voters, and shouldn't her rivals bring it up, patti? >> she is going to answer these questions on october 22nd in front of the benghazi committee. i just want to say this, you know, prior to kevin mccarthy's revelation, that this is indeed a political witch hunt, and prior to the whistleblower, it was on clinton to be as

transparent as she can in the hearing, and she will be. now the owness is on tray gown add -- tray gown adey gowdy. he needs to prove work is being done and not a witch hunt. >> i have to leave it there. thanks to both of you. i appreciate it. still to come, gun control is a topic that's divided our nation. what will the candidates say on stage tomorrow? we'll talk about that next. just might be the one. to clean the oceans, to start a movement, or lead a country. it may not be obvious yet, but one of these kids is going to change the world. we just need to make sure she has what she needs. welcome to windows 10. the future starts now for all of us.

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and there are no networks. you do your push-ups today? prepare to be amazed. [ male announcer ] don't wait. call today to request your free decision guide and find the aarp medicare supplement plan to go the distance with you. go long. bernie sanders expected to rally at the no labels convention today in new hampshire. one day before he takes the stage at the democratic debate in las vegas. sure to be a hot topic, gun control. certainly stole the show on "saturday night live." >> guns are there. in the little moments and big ones.

when things fall apart, or it all comes together. they unite us. comfort us. from first loves to new beginnings. wherever life takes you, guns, we're here to stay. >> okay. seriously though, there are some differences between the candidates, the democratic candidates, when it comes to gun control. in addition to closing the gun show loophole, hillary clinton threatened to use executive action if congress will not act. she also wants to prohibit domestic abusers from being able to buy guns and allow victims to sue gun manufacturers. compare that to bernie sanders. he's voted to allow guns in national parks and on amtrak

trains. he's taken a controversial vote in 2005 to protect gun manufacturers from lawsuits. should point out over the weekend, sanders said he is willing to take another look at the issue. let's talk about that with cnn political commentator sally and democratic strategist. welcome to you both. >> welcome, carol. >> i ran into sally in the make upro makeup room, and she's excited about the debate. many don't think that. >> i think it's going to be, first of all, substantive, which i'm excited about, unlike the republican debates, which have been a clown show of personal attacks and personalities. i think we're going to get into some of the substance on where the candidates disagree with each other and with republicans and side with the american people. number one. number two, this is between, especially between, bernie and hillary, you know, they both have a lot at stake in this debate. bernie has to introduce himself

to the americans who don't know him and don't yet love him, and hillary has to gain ground with people she's losing. it's going to be hot, guys. >> mentioning the other three people on stage. >> they're going to try to trump it up. >> he's struck by your comments. >> i can see from the monitor i think you're throwing it my way. i think sally nailed it. it'll be a tremendous debate. i think it's going to be very different from what we've seen on the republican side. it'll be a high-minded debate on policy. i do think hillary goes into the debate as the presumptive favorite for the nomination. i think she'll walk off the stage as the presumptive favorite. they're playing on her home turf here. she is the best debater on the stage. she's the most experienced debater on the stage. i think she's, you know -- barring some kind of body blow that she suffers or some kind of

mistake, i think she comes off the stage again being the presumptive favorite here. >> don't you think martin o'malley -- >> that's a lot to predict. >> don't you think o'malley will throw bombs? he has to stand out. sanders said he won't abuse her. >> on the democratic side, you have the reagan doctrine, where you don't attack the same party in the presidential primary. the reagan doctrine. >> do you hold the democrats to those standards? >> it's not popular. democratic voters don't like that. you won't see a lot of attacks. >> what if you have -- >> well, i think you're going to see sharp policy difference. >> i think you'll see them go after each other on policy. and they should. hillary's strongest point with democratic voters, progressive leaning toward sanders is to go to gun control. bernie and the others have a lot

to go after hillary on. in terms of her coziness with wall street. the fact that now she's embracing all of these economic populus positions, but just doing it now. who knows what she's do in office. >> i disagree with that. >> there's a lot of substance i think they can and should nail each other on. that should make it a good debate for democracy. >> i agree and disagree. i think gun control is a major issue that hillary can go oon the -- on the attack on with sanders. it's a major liability. i think her central theme will be that bernie sanders has been talking about a lot of these leftist positions. whether it's a leftist position on education, minimum wage, on health care, he's still for the single pair system. he's rarely been able to deliver on any of these. i remember i served with him, he served on a committee i was a staff director on a few years ago, or in the '90s, the

government reform committee. he's seldom delivered on any of these far-left issues. hillary clinton laid out very, very specific proposals on all these matters, whether it's education, health care, and she has -- and the difference is, she is able -- her policies are much, much more likely to actually get passed in a congress. she's much more likely to be able to deliver -- >> listen, i have to say -- where you're wrong, this isn't left versus right. it's about the people in power versus the people. >> i got to leave it there. >> bernie is on that side. >> i suspect you're for clinton and you're for sanders. >> i'm on the fence, to be honest. >> hillary. >> okay. thank you so much. still to come in the "newsroom," the democrats are wooing but is it enough to get minority backing?

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u.s. war planes overnight dropping ammunition to anti-isis rebels in syria. 50 tons of small arms ammunition and items including grenades are now in the hands of the syrian arab coalition. this move after president obama assured the american public russia is not leading in syria. he did that during a sit down with "60 minutes." >> what we've been able to do is to stall isil's momentum, to take away some of the key land that they were holding. to push back, particularly in iraq, against some population centers that they threatened. but what we have not been able to do, so far, i'm the first to acknowledge this, is to change the dynamic inside of syria. >> it's that dynamic in syria that led to one of the most contentious moments of the

interview, when cbs's steve suggested vladimir putin was challenging president obama's leadership. senior washington correspondent j joe joins me with more on that. >> we did see flashes of the combative president obama in that interview. he got asked a question from steve about putin, challenging his leadership in syria. he turned it around into a question about putin's leadership. this follows on with the message the white house has been putting out for days about the notion that putin is damaging himself and russia's interest in syria. let's listen a little bit to that exchange. >> mr. putin now is devoting his own troops, his own military, just to barely holding to, by a thread, his sole ally. >> he's challenging your leadership, mr. president. he's challenging your leadership. >> steve, i got to tell ya, if

you think that running your economy into the ground and having to send troops in in order to prop up your only ally is leadership, then we've got a different definition of leadership. for the last five years, the russians have provided arms, provided financing, as have the iranians, as has hezbollah. >> they haven't been bombing and had troops on the ground. >> the fact they had to do this is not an indication of strength, it's an indication that their strategy did not work. >> the president also said in that interview that he was long spe skeptical to program and equip the rebels. that the administration hit the pause button on it last weekend. he said the administration had an obligation to try just about anything to help in this crisis, carol. >> reporting live from the white house. thank you.

good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. once tomorrow's big debate is over, hillary clinton will return to the campaign trail and her efforts to sure up support with minority voters. on thursday, clinton meets with the hispanic chamber of commerce in san antonio, followed by her first latinos for hillary organizing event that same day. coming a week after clinton's recent sit down with members of the black lives matter movement. an aid characterized it as candid. afterwards, clinton tweeted, quote, racism is america's original sin. to those i met with today, thank you for sharing your ideas. joining me now, democratic strategy and keith boykin. thank you both for being here. >> thank you, carol. >> thank you. >> should we expect to see a push for minority voters in tomorrow night's debate in? >> oh, yes. when you total up, whether it's

the latino vote, african-american vote, the lgbt vote, you have a majority of voters in this country and, obviously, a majority of democratic voters. figuring out how to navigate these waters is extremely important not just for hillary clinton but bernie sanders and joe biden if he decides to get in? >> that would be interesting, the joe biden question. keith, bernie sanders tweeted after clinton's meeting with black lives matter, saying, we want police departments that look like the communities they are serving. sanders unveiled his own racial justice plan in august. clinton is set to release more of hers in the coming days. does bernie sanders have an opening here? >> absolutely. i think that both candidates, bernie sanders, hillary clinton, all the democratic candidates have viable opportunities to reach african-american or hispanic voters. i think the issue is that you can't take the african-american

vote, for example, for granted. i think hillary clinton, for example, back in 2008, she was actually leading in the polls in several polls among african-americans. until barack obama won the iowa caucuses. then the african-americans suddenly realized he was a viable candidate and the support dried up. then there was the question about what happened in south carolina, bill clinton's comments in 2008. i hope that hillary clinton learned the lesson that she can't take the vote for granted. bernie sanders needs to make an outreach, too, because he represents a state that's less than 2% african-american. i think both kand it candidates work to do to make sure the african-american community knows they are listening to us, not just talking to us. >> i'm looking for a stat -- go ahead. >> i was going to say, there was a seat change in leverage here. let's be real about that. look at african-americans. we've had an enormous upheaval reflected in plaqblack lives ma with police brutality and

injustices we've seen in the last couple years. with latinos, the discrimination around immigration and the beating that latinos have been taking from the republican candidates. i'd add the lgbt to that. the supreme court legalized marriage. you have these groups now saying, lip service doesn't work. what we want is real engagement, real inclusion. we want candidates who are going to focus on us being not just a part of their government, but really a part of their policy development, as well. these next couple of months in those areas are critical for the democratic candidates. >> i found stat i was looking for. this is from usa today. they did a poll. if we can put that stat up now, that would be awesome. clinton support among minorities was 77% in june. now it's 40%. sanders is at 17% though, keith. i guess when you look at these polls, clinton's percentages

were so high, you'd expect to drop. is that a big drop in your mind? is it an expected drop? what is it? >> it is a big drop. i don't think that it was entirely expected, but the polls -- that poll is actually -- it has a margin of error of 10 per tcent teenage poin -- percentage points. who knows where things will be when voters actually go to the polls. i'm in florida right now, where african-americans make up 16.8% of the population. hispanics make up 24% of the populati population. the democratic party is a diverse coalition of different backgrounds and people. i don't think we're just concerned about single issues. we're not monolithic communities. even part of the groups like the african-american constituency, we also care about jobs. the african-american unemployment rate has dropped under the obama administration from 16.8% to 9.2%. that's still almost twice the white rate for unemployment.

african-americans are concerned about jobs. concerned about health care. concerned about expanding the access to health care and affordable college education and good schools in our communities. all these issues that affect us. we need to have voters -- we need politicians and candidates who will speak to us as voters about all of these issues and how they can help improve our lives on a number of different concerns. >> i have to leave it there. keith and hilary, thanks so much. cnn will be the only place you can watch tomorrow night's democratic debate on air orion line. starts at 8:30 p.m. eastern time. still to come, celebrities are coming out for the democratic front runners. who is supporting hillary? who is feeling the bern? does it matter?

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how much does it actually matter if the rich and famous support a candidate? think a celebrity's opinion can change your vote? bernie sanders hopes so. the democratic presidential candidate has been racking up a-list support. his website lists more than 100, quote, artists, musicians and cultural leaders who back his run. names like will farrell, mark ruffalo and steve wozniyak. also, the co-founder of ben & jerry's ice cream. hello, ben. >> hi, carol. >> glad to have you here. >> happy to be with you, or here in burlington. >> exactly. a much nicer place. did you develop a special ice cream for bernie sanders? >> you know, i fantasized about a bernie sanders ice cream, and

it would be called bernie's yearning. it would be a giant chocolate chip on top of the ice cream that covers the entire top. >> i thought it would be like something minty so you could feel the bern. >> that's an idea. the rest you can say is all mint. the giant chip on the top represents all the wealth that's gone to the top 1% of the population over the past ten years. and the way you eat it, is you whack it with your spoon, then mix it around. that's the bernie yearning. >> i'm loving it. i can probably guess why, in part, you're supporting bernie sanders, but tell us. >> you know, i've been a constituent of bernie's for the last 35 years. i've watched him during the upset, when he won the mayoral

contest where his first act was to provide public access on the waterfront here in burlington. and he's been incredibly consistent, plain talking. then when he got elected to the house, pretty much the first thing he did was bus senior citizens and people with cancer over the border to canada, where they could buy drugs for 1/10th the price. and when he got to the senate, you know, he was able to work across the aisle with john mccain to provide the best benefits for veterans since the g.i. bill. you know, the guy had the interest of regular americans at heart. that's why i'm with him. >> you know, there are many

americans out there who saber knee sanders is a socialist. do we want a socialist as president of the united states? >> you know, i don't care what you call him. he refers to himself as a social democrat, which refers to the countries in scandinavia that provide much more benefits for their citizens. you know, it's absurd that the u.s. is the richest country in the world and, yet, we're the only country in the world that doesn't provide free health care of any industrized democracy. we have the highest child poverty rate. i'm a capitalist, clearly, and i support the guy. you know, i think what he's saying is that we need to be more socially concerned about the benefits of the average man

and woman on the street, as opposed to the corporations and the ultra wealthy. >> ben, thank you for joining me. still to come in the "newsroom" -- >> nice meeting you. >> you, too. clinton and sanders aren't the only candidates on the stage in las vegas. the three other democrats -- yes, there are three others -- who will share the spotlight. we'll talk about them next. mig. to clean the oceans, to start a movement, or lead a country. it may not be obvious yet, but one of these kids is going to change the world. we just need to make sure she has what she needs. welcome to windows 10. the future starts now for all of us. when you're not confident your company's data is secure, the possibility of a breach can quickly

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the stage at tomorrow night's presidential debate. yes, i said five. hillary clinton and bernie

sanders may be leading in the polls but they're not the only ones with a stake in the race. poppy harlow looks at the other contend skpeers and where they on the issues. >> reporter: chances are, you know her. >> bernie >> reporter: and you know him. do you know them? martin o'malley, lincoln chafee and jim webb? they don't make the headlines but they'll share the stage come tuesday night. >> weather vanes shift in the wind. i know where i stand. >> reporter: let's start with martin o'malley. you could say the married father of four, born in washington, d.c., was tailor made for a career in politics. he left college briefly to work on the presidential campaign of gary hart. by 28 was ready for office himself, winning a seat on the baltimore city council. from there his political aspirations grew. first mayor of baltimore and then governor of maryland.

♪ >> reporter: but here's something you probably didn't know about martin o'malley. he's fronted a rock band. and he even used his guitar skills to tease his presidential bid. ♪ on the issues, gun control, o'malley wants stronger, expanded background checks, assault weapons ban plus a limit on the size of magazines. on immigration he supports a path to citizenship. on climate change, o'malley says next lincoln chafee, a u.s. senator from rhode island. he was a republican then, but he became an independent in 2007 as governor. now he wants to be the next president as a democrat. on the issues, health care, not only likes obamaoccasion but if

president said he would take it a step further, pushing for even more americans to be fully covered. on defeating isis, chafee opposes american boots on the ground in syria, but insists america must forge stronger alliances in the middle east. in 2002 chafee was the only senate republican to vote against war in iraq. on social issues, chafee supports a woman's right to have an abortion and supports same-sex marriage. >> i am unbought and i am unbossed. >> reporter: then jim webb, a highly decorated marine veteran, former secretary of the navy, former u.s. senator from virginia, author, teacher, husband and father of six. on climate change, webb wants to limit the environmental protection agency's power to regulate emissions and supports the keystone pipeline and energy expansion. immigration reform, he wants to see a path to citizenship, but says the border must be secured first. on prison reform, webb wants

there to be more focus on treating mental illness and drug addiction and would push for more dialogue on ways to reduce the high rate of incarceration among minorities. poppy harlowe, cnn. iran says washington post reporter is guilty, so what up? why don't we know his sentence yet? ♪ ♪ (charge music) you wouldn't hire an organist without hearing them first. charge! so why would you invest without checking brokercheck? check your broker with brokercheck.

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after languishing in a tehran prison for 447 days, a verdict has been issued in reporter, according to iranian state media who didn't report details of the sentencing or verdict. good morning. >> yeah, certainly after such a

long time of imprisonment, carol, some very sad news certainly for jason, for his family as well. we heard on friday that a ruling had been made in his case and then today the iranians were saying that he had, indeed, been found guilty. you don't get any detail. what sort of sentence did he receive? we don't know whether or not he's been sentenced or whether he's been informed because the courts there, the revolutionary courts work in complete secrecy, almost nothing comes to the outside. the very little information we are getting there out of that court certainly leads to a lot more questions. also to a lot of condemnation, really from around the world. on the one hand, you had the white house that says they want jason rezaian released, his family saying the same thing. washington post, managing editor coming out and calling the entire trial a sham. i want to read you a little of the state from "the washington

post." they say the only thing that has ever been clear about this case is jason's innocence. any fair and just review would quickly overturn this unfounded verdict. now, one of the things we have to point out, carol, is there is still the chance to appeal this verdict, which is something the iranians have specifically said the timeline for that is 20 days after the verdict was issued, so 20 days after sunday, presumably. again, it's unclear whether or not jason would do that himself, whether or not he knows about the verdict yet or whether or not his lawyer would be the one to file that petition. a lot of unknowns in this case. that is certainly one of the things that is a great deal of concern for people monitoring this trial around the world. make sure to watch cnn's wolf blitzer's interview, ally rezaian, his sister. the next hour of "newsroom" starts right now.

and good morning, i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. we're just one day away from the first democratic presidential debate in las vegas. hours from now, front-runners hillary clinton and bernie sanders go head to head for the very first time. they'll be joined by rivals martin o'malley, lincoln chafee and jim webb. what could be a major breakout moment? all of this as new polls show clinton with a commanding lead in nevada and south carolina. let's bring in jim acosta, live in las vegas, where final preparations are under way. good morning, jim. >> reporter: good morning, carol. that's right. i don't have my tool belt on this morning, but we have a lot of cnn crew members here putting together the debate stage. the stage is almost set. you can see the podiums behind me. obviously, that middle podium is for hillary clinton, former secretary of state, she's the clear democratic front-runner right now. to her right will be vermont senator, bernie sanders, independent, self-described socialist who's giving her a run for her money in a lot of

different polls, especially new hampshire. there's a lot of early states to talk about and brand new poll numbers to talk about. in the critical, early state of nevada, where we are this morning, if democrats had their choice, right now they would choose hillary clinton by a wide margin. 50% for hillary clinton. 34% for bernie sanders. and the undeclared joe biden gets 12%. if joe biden decides not to run for president, clinton's lead widens to 38% for clinton. down in south carolina, i want to show this number because it's interesting. biden does very well among democrats in south carolina. that is something to watch should the vice president jump into this race. hillary clinton with 49 prgs. the undeclared joe biden 24%. bernie sanders at 18%. over the weekend the dnc chair, debbie wasserman schultz will be here for the debate as well over the next couple of days, she was asked, what happens if vice president decided at the very last minute he wanted to show up? all the indications are, he won't, but what if he did want

to participate in this debate? here's what the chair of the dnc had to say about that? >> we do know he's been carefully considering whether he wants to run for president of the united states. of course, in the democratic primary, we would always have room and welcome the sitting vice president. >> reporter: just to give you another look inside this debate hall, carol, it's very impressive. our cnn crews have been working very hard, day and night over the last few days. you can see the chairs are in here. we didn't see this yesterday, so the seating is almost set in here. on the far side to my left, you see this giant screen over here. done lemon, who is helping host this, he'll be finding questions from facebook users who want to sort of participate through an interactive experience. asking questions of the candidates, but another part of this debate would be fascinating to watch.

a couple of flash points, bernie sanders in the last 24 hours, going after hillary clinton in her vote, in favor of the iraq war. of course, bernie sanders against the iraq war back in 2002, that's an indication there might be give and take on this issue. candidates like martin o'malley, he hasn't gained any traction in the polls, he's going after bernie sanders on gun control. bernie sanders a bit moderate because he's from a state of vermont where gun rights are a big issue up there. that's a potential flash point as well. it's going to be fascinating political television on tuesday night, carol. >> it will. i think those people need muscle behind them, so i'll let you help. >> get to it. >> all right. jim acosta live from las vegas. you go, jim. the republicans aren't just sitting back to enjoy the show. oh, no. the republican national committee is prebutting the debate with an ad attacking hillary clinton's use of that private e-mail account when she was secretary of state.

>> i did not e-mail any classified material to anyone. >> a federal wash dog has determined there was classified information. >> did, in fact, contain classified information. >> total lack of accountability. it's like my problems have nothing to do with me. they have -- >> they're playing it off as a partisan witch hunt. >> now the fbi, "new york times" chasing this. >> you think the american public is that stupid? >> it's something president obama addressed on "60 minutes". >> she made a mistake. she acknowledged it. i do think that the way it's been ginned up is, in part, because of politics. i think she'd be the first to acknowledge that maybe we could have handled the original decision better and the disclosures more quickly. >> what was your reaction when you found out about it? >> you know, i -- this is one of

those issues that, i think, is legitimate, but the fact that for the last three months this is all that's been spoken about is an indication we're in presidential political season. >> but those e-mails are not only causing problems for secretary clinton, but oddly for republicans as well. there are explosive allegations that clinton and her e-mails have become the primary focus of the republican-led benghazi hearings. those hearings already lasting a month longer than the watergate investigation and costing taxpayers more than $4.6 million and counting. as you know, those hearings are supposed to look at why ambassador chris stevens and three other americans were killed at the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. one former investigator on that committee now claims what began as a search for truth turned out to be more of a smear campaign. >> good morning, carol. a former staffer with the house committee investigating the

benghazi attacks says the panel's probe has become a politically motivated inquiry targeting former secretary of state hillary clinton. that's a politically explosive charge and is sure to resonate on the campaign trail as clinton runs for president. major bradley, an air force reserve intelligence officer, says after news broke earlier, that after clin -- cites exclusively on clinton. he says he was fired as a committee investigator because he resisted the pressure to focus on clinton and because he took military leave. he says he plans to file a lawsuit over his firing and ask a court to give him his job back with back pay. now, a self-described conservative republican tells our jake tapper in an exclusive television interview that what started as a broad probe in attacks on the consulate in benghazi became, quote, a partisan investigation. let's take a listen. >> what do you say to any interviewers who say you may

have an axe to grind, you're only talking because you were fired? >> like i said earlier, i have a conscience. there's wrongdoing here and i think it needs to stop. and i do not want the investigation to end. i want the investigation to be refocused back to the original purpose. the victims' families are owed the truth. hillary clinton has a lot of explaining to do. we did not need to de-emphasize and in some case drop investigation on certain organizations and individuals. >> on run, trey gowdy said in a statement he never instructed him to focus on clinton. he said he has demanded money from the committee. the committee has refused to pay him and he has now run to the press with his new salacious allegations. a spokesperson said the claims are transparently false. carol, this is not the end of this.

i'm sure we'll hear more throughout the day. >> thanks so much. when it comes to tomorrow night's debate, benghazi and e-mails may not be the only place in focus. the candidates' policy prescriptions and how they different from current democrat occupying the white house will also likely be on the agenda. the new york city "times" writes in part, quote, in the seven years sinsz mr. obama entered the white house on a wave of excitement, democrats have developed a complicated relationship with their standard bearer. mr. obama's legacy and how much a democratic successor should embrace it will however hover o debate. here to talk about it is robert zimman and amicki. welcome to both of you. do you think the candidate on the stage will distance themselves from president obama? will his name be mentioned? >> they'll define themselves and introduce themselves around the own agenda? whenever you have an incumbent

president who has high national aimprooufl standards and beloved by their party, whether ronald reagan, bill clinton, now barack obama, it's always senses ive maneuver. i'm a hillary clinton supporter but they have to define themselves and the public understands every election is about the future. that's what they want to hear about. the candidates this year can't campaign on the economy like it was 2009. we're a different stage. >> that is true. but hillary clinton was part of president obama's cabinet so she can't escape her association with him, right? >> i think the only person on stage who will be trying to distance themselves from barack obama will be hillary clinton as much as she can. she has to be able to explain herself on tpt which democrats are skeptical of at this point, her evolution of support on climate issues, of lbgt issues,

they have been turning stones in obama's administration. >> nomiki, i know you're looking for facts to justify your conclusions, but let's understand -- >> ouch. >> -- when you serve in the administration, as she did as sblgt of state, you have an accountability to the president you serve for. obviously, as she has grown over the years, as the president has grown over the years, that's not a liability. now that she's a presidential candidate, she's going to be articulating her own agenda for the future. i think it's perfectly acceptable and appropriate. the problem is when they don't evolve, and that's what the republicans are all about. >> i think with the rising popularity of bernie sanders, hillary clinton has changed her positions from barack obama, whose approval ratings are below 50%. >> they're still strong within the democratic party. president obama has a coalition of voters. he was able to turn out the african-american vote very well, which is a strong and -- millenials. democrats can't win without those two faxes. hillary clinton needs those to win the primaries.

now, if joe biden does enter the race, there's a real potential she could lose african-american votes, the union south. i think that's one reason she's changed her position on ttp. >> let's also have a reality check about bernie sanders' popularity and hillary clinton. the new poll yesterday shows hillary clinton is leading bernie sanders on his signature issue about the economy. she's running even with him, as is vice president biden. when you ask, who do you trust to handle wall street and regulate the banking industry? she's running even with bernie sanders there? her popularity remains remarkably high, especially despite the fact she's -- >> i should make it clear, you're a big hillary clinton supporter. >> yeah, i say that publicly. >> let's talk about the polls for a second because i think they're confusing right now. bernie sanders leads hillary clinton in new hampshire but he's from vermont, so we should expect that. >> if you want to look at polls, last week alone, in one week, hillary clinton dropped ten

points among democratic voters. that's huge. you have to be hiding under the sand with your neck in the sand if you don't take those polls seriously. as we approached these debates, she has to find herself in a unique position where she's able to defend her record, her husband's record, which i think she's running against right now, on stage with people like jim webb, who will hit her hard. like chafee -- >> the cbs national poll, she was ahead by 19 points over the entire democratic field. without vice president biden, she was ahead by 24 points. >> she still drops ten points. >> here's the reality. they're all political viagra. they rise artificially and come down real fast. >> i have to put that in a mental bank. still to come in the "newsroom," as the fight against isis heats up, get ready for a big foreign policy face-off over here.

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so now these air drops that were badly needed by syrian rebels along the northern border between syria and turkey. some 50 tons, small arms ammunition, hand grenades, that sort of thing. the rebels are reported to have gotten all the pallets of equipment and ammunition that dropped and now moving out into the field to continue their fight against isis. all of this as the russians continue their build up and strikes. another round of talks between months cow, the two militaries talking about how to de-conflict the air space, how they can stay safe, but no agreement on that. more work, they say, needs to be done. >> barbara start reporting live for us. last night president obama showed russia is not leading in syria. during a sitdown with "60 minutes," addressing those who criticized him for withdrawing troops.

>> we have an enormous presence in the middle east. we have bases and aircraft carriers, and our pilots are flying through those skies and we're currently supporting iraq as it tries to continue to built up its forces. but the problem with a lot of these critics never answer is what's in the interest of the united states of america? and at what point do we say, here are the things we can do well to protect america, but here are the things we also have to do in order to make sure that america leads and america is strong and stays number one. and if, in fact, the only measure is for us to send another 100,000 or 200,000 troops into syria or back into iraq or, perhaps, into libya or, perhaps, into yemen and our goal

somehow is we are now going to be not just the police, but the governors of this region, that would be bad strategy. >> as the nation's former secretary of state, hillary clinton is prime to talk all things syria, isis and russia. she would seem to have the upper hand in the first democratic debate. how will foreign policy play out when the candidates face off tomorrow? our national political reporter is in las vegas ahead of the showdown. how do you think it will go? when you think about bernie sanders, you don't think about him, you know, on an international scale, perhaps. >> reporter: you don't. you also have to think about the fact that hillary clinton has been under attack by the republicans for many months now. for her record on foreign policy. and, obviously, on syria, that's one area where she's really tried to differentiate herself from barack obama. that was one of the first points of policy differences she talked

about last year. and she is more hawkish than bernie sanders on that, so it's going to be really interesting to see that debate unfold here tomorrow night. also on the iraq war, we know bernie sanders will be going after hillary clinton, just as barack obama did in 2008 on her iraq war vote. we know they are planning to highlight his speech in 2002 where he said it would look to be one of the biggest blunders in history and so it's going to be a fascinating conversation. to see where it shakes out so long after 2008. >> what about the other candidates? might they, for lack of a better term, throw a bomb in the argument between bernie sanders and hillary clinton? >> well, that's going to be the whole game here for them tomorrow night. martin o'malley needs a breakout moment at this debate. he's been begging for more debates. you will see them probably pick

apart pieces of her record as secretary of state. she's got a very tricky line to walk there because obviously she needs to sound somewhat supportive of the administration but also show voters how her approach would be different from president obama's. so i think we will see a very spirited debate. especially on domestic issues, too, where she's done some shifting, as you've talked about, over the last couple of weeks. >> thank you. still to come in the "newsroom," her city's hosting tomorrow's debate on this stage, but who does carol goodman want to hear at tuesday's face-off?

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behind the weekend bombings that killed nearly 100 people, although no group has claimed responsibility for those attacks. the military says the isis is the focus of the investigation. arwa with the latest. >> reporter: they are focusing on isis at this stage. they're also alluding to the fact that it could be a number of other organizations that were behind saturday's devastating attack. the prime minister also saying over the last few days they have arrested a number of individuals who they accuse of being members of or having links to isis, but not disclosing whether or not they were involved in saturday's double suicide bombings that took place at the train station behind us where 14,000 people gathered. the death toll, the deadliest in turkey's modern history. the nation still struggling to come to terms with what it has been through. heart-breaking scenes at funerals. also a lot of anger at

demonstrations taking place throughout the capital and throughout the country. people demanding accountability from the government. the pro-kurdish group, the leader coming out very strongly, saying the fault, the blame for this attack lies with the government. that's something we've heard echoed by demonstrators who have been going so far as to call it a murderous government wanting, as i was saying, accountability. a woman i met yesterday, as others were collecting the bodies of their loved ones, putting it best as she witnessed the attacks, she said at this stage what she learned from the violence just how important it was for a country, a people to stand together but turkey, unfortunately, sadly, very polarized at this stage by this violence and by the fact that it is becoming part of the

political rhetoric between members of president erdogan's government and opposition leaders. >> arwa damon reporting live from turkey this morning. good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you for joining me. while hillary clinton and bernie sanders are the democrats grabbing most of the headlines, there are three other candidates that will grace the headline stage. martin o'malley, lincoln chafee and former virginia senator jim webb. with a smaller field and a lot more air time than their republican rivals, could one of these gentlemen or ladies have their own breakout moment like carly fiorina. join meg is alan schroeder from boston northeast university and author of "presidential debates: 50 years of high-risk tv." welcome. are you there?

>> yes, i am. >> oh, good. you scared me for a moment. there you are. sally cohn tells me she think this is could be one awesome, exciting, substantive debate. what do you think? >> i hope so. the fact there is this extra time means the candidates are in a position to be able to talk about things. in a way when you have ten people on the stage, you can't do that. i think it has the potential to be a very weononky, kind of mea debate. >> hillary clinton still leads in most polls and by a longshot, wouldn't it be smart of her to stand on the stage, smile, say awe few things but not much sm. >> perhaps in an ideal world she might get away with that. the thing is, if you look back at 2008, hillary was a really good debater in a very tough field. so, i don't think she has anything really to be scared of, other than the fact that she is the front-runner and, therefore, perhaps the target of some of the other candidates.

>> bernie sanders said he's not going to attack her in any way, but the other candidates must, mustn' t they? >> seems like good strategy to do that. you have some candidates who are asterisks or 1% in the poll, so this is a platform them to reach millions of people and differentiate their candidacy from hers. i think there is danger in being too negative and doing things blatantly an attempt to generate attention on yourself. >> how do you accomplish that if you're like, let's say, martin o'malley? because he's come out swinging a few times, but hasn't exactly resonated? >> well, it is a problem. the fact s martin o'malley, one of the smartest moves is demand for more debates. i would think perhaps during this thing on tuesday night, he ask for more debates and challenge his opponents to more debates, because the more air

time he has, the more exposure, the better it is for him. all of them will be looking to generate, you know, those youtube moments that live on after the debate in a positive way. >> that's a tough thing, though, right? a lot of people say, senator jim webb, we shouldn't underestimate him and his policy positions differ. >> he's really the mystery man and he hasn't been doing a traditional campaign. so, i think that, you know, he's the big question mark. and you have to wonder if you're the other candidates, how do you prepare for that? how do you prepare for a candidate who doesn't really, you know, isn't out there on the hustings the way the rest of them are. he could be the wild card, we'll see. >> thanks for your insight. >> sure, carol. thanks.

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the debate stage is ready in the great city of las vegas. the democratic candidates doing their last-minute preps to wow the nation. nevada, by the way, is an important swing state. obama won the state in 2008 but george w. bush also registered a win in nevada. my next guest is carolyn goodman, the mayor of las vegas. i actually interviewed her in 2011 at the brand new mob museum a long with her husband and former mayor, oscar. >> they call us mayor one or two, and neither one of us yet have figured out who's one or two. >> no idea. >> the reason i ran only, being

a citizen of this wonderful city for the past 47 years, was to continue on the vision and the accomplishments of what has happened during the 12 years and even despite the economy and backslide nationally. >> could you tell she was running for mayor then? that was also a an did, adorable moment when i told them people call them the bill and hillary of vegas except people say they're much, much better. >> don't tell them. i think so, too. >> mayor goodman, so, so nice to have you with me. how's the office so far? >> well, i'm into my second term now. we are so delighted to be having this debate in the entertainment capital of the world, so life is great out here. our weather is perfect and we are ready for tomorrow. >> you're such a good ambassador for the city of las vegas.

you're also an independent. and i just wondered, have you decided to endorse anyone? >> well, i have to tell you, independents, i'm a nonpartisan. i really believe in working across the aisle because we have republicans and democrats in our city council, and that's what i'm looking for. no, because it's early. i'm really waiting to, you know, hear as we go through the process, really hear -- want to hear some concrete policies and plans and not the bashing that goes on. we really need someone who can unlock the gridlock. i think that's what it's all about. as a nonpartisan, i'm particularly passionate about that. and going to work with people from both parties. >> the last time i talked to you, republicans were debates and you were critical no one had a good jobs plan. does anyone on the democratic side, in your mind, have a good jobs plan? >> well, you know, i'm not sure

we have the whole lineups of candidates yet. as we know what's coming up for the first debate, we'll hear some things there. obviously, the economy is extremely important to every community in this entire country. but we have so many issues that are similar to those around the nation. we really want some specifics here, you know, the national safety issues, there's concern, especially when you see what happened in turkey yesterday, the problems we have with immigration. we want to see positives. we want to see pathway to citizenship. we're really tired out here. we're a melting pot of people. we're really tired of all the negativism. we want to see positive plans and see better action for our veterans. so many of them have been the

forgotten people and it's just -- it's outrageous. but the biggest thing, too, is the national infrastructure. it's a d-minus in rating. we hear about transporting the radioactive materials across this country, with failing bridges, failing roadways, rails that are in a mess. there's so much to be done. so, no, i haven't endorsed anybody. i'm just waiting to hear. parts of me are very republican. parts of me are very, very democratic. and i want to make sure we have a leader who can collectively get people with them who are bright, who are knowledgeable, who are experienced and really can turn this country around. >> i'm just curious, since you are nonpart son, is anybody on the republican side doing it for you? namely, oh, donald trump? >> well, you know, he's exciting. oscar and i went to visit him back several years when we were

working on developing the symphony park here, big area. my gosh between my husband, i just asked aaron, i felt i was in a ping pong tournament between the two of them, who could one up? as far as the republicans, i did have some thoughts. now i'm having little changings of mind there as i see how they act and what their concerns are. i'm very concerned about entertainment being the focus of so many and how do we get the attention of people? really, this is critical. this is a very, very challenging time. we need to select the right leader who has dignity across all paths in the country. i think the problems we have with water in the west, i look at the flooding in the east. i mean, the things we should be doing and putting the public

dollars to the common good and right places. that's what i want to hear about them. i'm a very big believer in 14th amendment. want to see them deal with the issues they need to be dealing with. and i want to see better use of the public dollars. we have so much to do, whether it's what we're doing with the global economy, what we're doing with the criminal justice system he here. our foreign policy in the middle east affects all of us now because we're all together since we can connect so quickly in seconds. and then, of course, the mental health issues are so critical. especially as they affect all this gun control. when i was a little girl growing up, there were sanitariums for those who made a modicum of effort to get some help.

unfortunately, there are no places. we have so many people with mental problems out there and creating such -- there's just so much to do. and i want to hear from these candidates, both sides of the aisle, what are you doing? most importantly, why can't both sides of the aisle, for instance, just work specifically on veterans' issues and infrastructure, just for starters. >> i'm sure many, many people agree with you. mayor goodman, thank you for being with me this morning. cnn will be the only place you can watch tomorrow night's democratic debate on air or online. starts at 8:30 p.m. eastern. still to come in the "newsroom," unlike their gop counterparts, hillary clinton and bernie sanders have been playing nice so far, but will that change when they take the stage in las vegas? (man) hmm. what do you think?

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for many americans, cnn debate will be most for the first time democratic hopefuls talk policy and we'll give some unknowns, like webb, chafee and o'malley time to talk and more time for those to make mistakes. hugh hewitt joins me from las vegas. welcome. >> carol, good morning. >> nice to have you here. any advice for the underdogs? >> you know, i thought that if i were jim webb or o'malley or lincoln chafee, i would study very closely carly fiorina and how she surprised. they could actually throw spanners into this debate that no one is expecting from the left or right side of the stage and make the sanders/clinton main event go in a direction no one is anticipating.

>> i know you're a republican, but do you see any of those three candidates doing that, having that carly fiorina moment? >> oh, gentleman. jim webb has been impressive for a lot of years. he's not only practiced, he had a lot of debates when he ran for senate but a very skilled screenwriter and novelist. he has a flare for the dramatic. i've had him on my radio show. i would look for him i would look for martin o'malley come in from left field and make strong statements. of course, the main event is form are secretary of state clinton and senator sanders. i wouldn't count them out. webb is legendary for a 12-round boxing match with oliver north in the '60s. if he decides to get into it, it could get very interesting tomorrow night. >> i like that bit of trivia. hillary clinton still leads commandingly in some polls out there. won wouldn't it be smart for her to just play it safe? her biggest mistake would be to -- >> oh, absolutely. >> -- to speak, right?

>> absolutely. she is also the most practiced of them all. i don't know how many debates them did in 2000 and '08, but a lot of them. she ran for senate twice. she'll be very controlled. she and sanders are polar opposites. he's completely authentic, she's completely construct pd. he's completely transparent, she's completely calculated. yesterday chuck todd asked bernie sanders, are you a capitalist? bernie sanders said, no. i thought, oh, my gosh, no. not a capitalist. i thought, if that happens on the stage and she ask hillary clinton to comment on bernie sanders' not being a capitalist, that puts her in a position where she has to be very cautious and i expect she will. she's done so many press conferences, it will be hard to shake her absent a complete out of left field question that she just isn't expecting. >> you don't think she'll come out and say, bernie sanders, you're a socialist? >> no. she will not attack bernie

sanders. she will not say -- >> he says he's a socialist. >> he said it, but she'll straighten his tie. she's not going to do anything to get bernie sanders' people upset with her. she saw the crowds in boston. she remembers 2008. the last thing she needs to do is underestimate an opponent who can't win. she's done that before. she's a learning machine. she's not going to do that again. only if benghazi comes up and she has to start thinking about her october 22nd hearing, when is coming up before the house select committee on benghazi, may she get flustered because she has to make sure that any answers she gives on benghazi or eems e-mails in her server, matches that by sheryl mills and what she's preparing by her lawyers, to say to the committee under oath in two weeks. so, that's the only time it gets tricky for her. >> i see senator webb going there. we'll see. hugh hewitt, thanks so much. still to come in the

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counting down the days, hours, minutes until your vacation can be gruelling, so how does open-ended time off sound? that's right. no set minimum or maximum for vacation time. networking site linkedin is the last it's company offering discretionary time off, also

known as dto. christine romans is with me now to talk about dto, which sounds fantastic. >> it is, if you take it, right? the whole point here, other companies have done this, too, the point here is this is about your results at work, not about how many hours or days you're putting at work. the idea here is you sit down with your manager, i'm going to take some sometime off, you go and another six weeks you take a week off. not counting the days, and instead, taking the time off you think you need. now, they'll no longer offer the set number of days, you know. that bothers some people because they want to, have five years service, get another week's vacation. they want to feel like they earned it and they want to feel like they can do it. managers will work with managers. what linkedin says there's a growing movement to show what you accomplish not how many hours you sit in the chair. it's important to keep employees recharged and engaged. some companies have done this and turned around quickly and

undone it -- undid it because is causes confusion at work. some people like to bank their vacation time. they like to carry it over for the next year or be paid for it if they don't use it. so it can cause some consternation, why human resource consultants have worked with companies to help them do this smoothly. >> i would have it in my mind my boss would notice i'm not taking as much vacation as my fellow employees. >> the other risk is if you take all the time you think you deserve and other people around you are not taking as much time, do you look like a slacker then, you know? so, i mean, that's a problem, too. do you not take much time off because you want to, you know, be a brown-noser? i don't know. what we do know is americans in general don't take off the time that they are allotted already. so you wonder fitz part of the game. that companies know, maybe they're going to get more out of you and fewer costs if they have discretionary time off. >> i just like to think we're hard workers, christine. >> i think we are. i think we should take some time

off in 14 seconds. >> okay. let's have lunch. >> discretionary time off with carol costello. >> love it. >> thank you so much. thank you for joining me today. i'm carol costello. "at this hour with berman and bolduan" starts now. hello, i'm john berman live from las vegas. this is special coverage of the first democratic presidential debate. >> absolutely, mr. berman. i'm kate bolduan. also something we're keeping an eye on this hour, we'll hear from the republican front-runner, donald trump. he'll be speaking at new hampshire at the no-labels convention, a group that's pushing for bipartisanship and more civil discourse in politics. we'll see how civil mr. trump decides to be today. we'll bring you his remarks live. >> but first, las vegas, nevada, just one day away from the first time the democratic candidates will face off