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 inside that

building. on the same stage, at the same time. the wynn las vegas resort hotel. how will hillary clinton respond to attacks? will bernie sanders attack at all? what about martin o'malley, jim webb, lincoln chafee? will they look for controversy, intrig intrigue, some electric moment to make them relevant now in this race? that is tomorrow. today we have two brand new cnn polls with eye-opening numbers, especially if you are bernie sanders and maybe joe biden. hillary clinton with impressive leads here in nevada, a crucial early voting state. also the key early state of south carolina. how will these numbers affect them on stage tomorrow night? bernie sanders' campaign manager told me sanders will rehearse possible exchanges with the other candidates and the moderator. let's take you inside that debate hall where all the magic

will happen, inside the wynn las vegas. jim acosta, where all the action will happen just one day from now, jim. >> that's right, john. we said everything this morning except, let's go ready to rumble, so we are one day away from the cnn democratic debate. you can see the podiums are right behind me. there they are, all five of them. taking center stage will be former secretary of state, hillary clinton. she is the clear and print front-runner in this race right now. to her right will be vermont senator, bernie sanders, independent, self-described socialist. he's been giving her a run for her money in the polls, especially in new hampshire. he's captured the progressive base of the democratic party and i think that sort of begins where these flashpoints will begin showing up in the debate tomorrow night. bernie sanders has been indicating over the last 24 hours he might take hillary clinton to task over her vote in favor of the iraq war back in 2002. bernie sanders reminding his supporters he was against that war back in 2002. echoes of that battle royale

between barack obama and hillary clinton. barack obama used hillary clinton's vote against her over and over again. and he really exploited that issue to his benefit, as we all know, looking back at the 2008 race. the other candidate on the stage, martin o'malley, former governor of maryland. a lot of people thought he would be doing better in the polls. he's struggled to gain traction. he'll be looking for a breakout moment on tuesday night. perhaps he'll go after bernie sanders on the issue of gun control. bernie sanders coming from vermont, pro-gun rights state in many respects. bernie sanders has been moderate on that issue. martin o'malley might try to seek an opening there. to give you a sense of the scope of this room, john, it is kind of incredible. yesterday you and i were taking a look at this. there weren't any seats in here. because of the hard work of all these hard-working cnn employees who have been setting the stage, we have this debate hall just about ready to go. a few lighting fixtures are being put up, the sound board has come in, that's being tweaked. the pieces are almost in place.

john, finally, just one thing i want to show you, this big screen over here on the other side of the auditorium. that is where done lemon will be standing and he'll be fielding questions from facebook users, giving our audience an interactive feature for tomorrow night's debate. that will be something to watch as well. john, the x-factor in all of this, vice president joe biden, he was in delaware over the weekend, trying to decide whether he was going to run for president. the way the cnn rules are written, he can show up at the last minute and join the debate and definitively, still no word from the vice president's office he will not be here tomorrow night. drama on that front as well, john. >> plenty of drama, as if we needed more. jim acosta, thank you so much. want to talk more about the new cnn polling that really does paint a different picture of this race than we have seen up until this point. hillary clinton, a sizeable lead

over bernie sanders in nevada. sanders running third there behind joe biden should the vice president jump into the race. you heard jim say we don't know what he's going to do. when they take the stage, they'll speak to a whole new audience. bigger than ever before. in never neff, nearly 60% of democratic voters say they are still deciding. there's a big opportunity to make a big impression for these candidates. let's dig deeper with patti, hillary clinton's campaign manager in 2008, dan a senior adviser to president obama. of the three of us, are you the one who has advised hillary clinton, been in the room as she prepared for a primary debate. when she takes the stage behind us, what's the one thing she needs to do and the one thing she needs to avoid? >> i think she needs to do a couple of things. i think she needs to show her personal side. i would like to see her have

some light moments, show some humor when she answers questions. i would be delighted if we saw a cameo by val the bartender. and the other thing she needs to do is she needs to answer the e-mail questions with transparency and openly just as she's been doing over the past couple of months. i think the polls showed she's getting her mojo back. i think it's strongly because she's been answering these confesses. >> what's the danger zone for hillary clinton? zeet >> getting riled up from the other attacks from the others on the stage. >> stay calm. dan, you are the one person who has prepared a candidate for a debate against hillary clinton. so, if you are advising the others right now, what would you tell them? what do you do to beat hillary clinton in a debate? >> you have to understand hillary clinton is an excellent debater. we did something like two dozen primary debates in 2007-2008.

at this point in that race, we had done 13. every one she was excellent, crisp, knows the substance up and down, is very good in the back and forth. you have to go in knowing that. it's not so much for o'malley or sanders that you need to beat hillary clinton in this debate because you're not going to win on points. you need to make a -- use this, your first time in front of a national audience, to make a case for your candidacy to be able to show why you could be an electable alternative to hillary clinton. that's the argument sanders and o'malley have to make if they have a shot. >> is there a weak link for hillary clinton that another candidate can exploit? >> the greatest opportunity for other candidates is to go after her on shifting of positions. most recently on the ttp trade deal. one time she had a stumble in all the debates was in 2007 when she -- in a debate in philadelphia, about this time, eight years ago, where she shifted her position on driver's license for undocumenteds. that was a moment opened the door for barack obama to make a run.

>> it was a key moment. >> absolutely. >> sthees polls out today are very interesting. they show hillary clinton with fairly comfortable leads here in south carolina. there are some numbers in south carolina i want to talk about right now. without joe biden in the race, if joe biden doesn't get in the race, hillary clinton is leading sanders in south carolina 70 to -- what was it? 70 to 20, that's big. it's bigger among african-american voters without bernie sanders in the race. 84 to 7 among african-american voters in south carolina. that's a key voting bloc. bernie sanders has to do something in this building behind us to fix that problem. how does he work at improving his position among black voters? >> right. well, that's his number one problem, is not only appealing to african-american voters but hispanic voters. we know he appeals to white liberals. that's great. nothing wrong with that. some of my best friends are white liberals. the democratic coalition is built with white liberals, women, african-americans,

hispanics. he has to talk to a whiter audience tomorrow night and he has to talk to issues about immigration, education, health care. issues that matter to them with the same kind of zeem he talks about income inequality. >> a wider audience, buinot a whiter audience. >> wider. >> it seems hillary clinton has strife with minority voters. >> these polls show where the theory of the bernie sanders nomination reaches reality of the democratic party of today. he is perfectly designed to do very well in iowa and new hampshire. candidates like bernie sanders have done well in new hampshire and iowa as well. if he's going to be an anti-establishment progressive challenger in the democratic party, he has to dramatically improve his standing. that is very, very hard. it's also worth noting that hillary clinton was beating barack obama with african-american voters in 2007 at this time in south carolina and beating him handily with latino voters in nevada.

it's not impossible but the steepest of hills to climb. he has to do something massively dramatic over the coming months to change that dynamic. >> let's talk about the three other people. the question is who's most likely to paint outside the lines here? of the three of them, who is most likely to do something unexpected just to get in the headlines, to get to be a part of the story? >> that's what we don't know. it's so unpredictable because they have to do something, all of them have to do something to break out. they need to make noise, jump upside down, do something. but i think the most likely is probably martin o'malley. i think he's previewed what he's going to do, i think on cnn on "state of the union" this weekend. >> he said hillary clinton likes military intervention. >> i think we'll see hard lines of attack. not personally but on substance coming from martin o'malley. >> great to have you here with us. glad you're not working at opposite ends this time. we can all come together. tomorrow night is the big event you need to watch. the very first democratic debate

hosted by cnn and facebook. 8:30 p.m. eastern time. thank you, john. right now we're also watching donald trump. he's speaking live before a convention. in this is a conference, a group, pushing for more civility in politics. what is a man who never shies away from insult going to say? we'll dip in live. plus, a bombshell that could have a very big impact on tomorrow's debate. a former congressional investigator of the benghazi attack makes an explosive claim about the real target of the republican-led panel spearheading the investigation. we'll be back in a moment. in is cnn's special live coverage.

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poll numbers out just solidifying his lead ever more. he's speaking live right now in manchester, new hampshire, before a crowd. let's listen in. >> you have to use the copper. i said, this is not good. and you want one contiguous pour. so i had trucks based from -- literally from the rink all the way back to harlem. all the way up. up to 125th street. cement mixers. we poured it all in one day. it was 24 hours. they were pouring during the day, during the night. it was 26 hours and 25 minutes. and we poured one contiguous pour. it healed beautifully. when the city did it, it was like this. so, they had on one side a foot and a half of water and on on the other side they didn't have any water. so, they couldn't make ice. for a lot of reasons. and actually, you know, when i talk about the price, the biggest problem i had was demolition. that was the biggest cost. i had to demolish everything that was done.

so i got it done. i got everybody together and we got it done. to this day it's the most successful ice skating rink. i still run it. every time it comes up, the city -- they don't want to take any chances. but i've run it for many years. it's the number one in the world and it does great. it's sort of -- i was thinking about it coming up because we were talking about no labels. i was talking to john. i was talking to joe. we're talking about getting together -- i got together with everybody. the city, the council, everything had to be done fast. the beauty is, i did it in four months, after eight years, i did it in four months. i did it for $1.8 million. the city had spent over $20 million. and i always say most of it was demolition, okay? that's what happens. and you can do that with this country. you can do it with the country. believe me, you can do things that people have no idea constructionwise -- our roads are falling apart, our bridges, our tunnels, our airports. i just left laguardia airport. it's like a third world airport.

no, it's third world. it's horrible. you look at it. you go out to the runways. it's horrible. and i go to places because i travel all over the world. i have so many different relationships and partnerships and very complicated stuff, and i meet the richest people, the richest companies in the world, and i'm partners with many of them in different parts, and you go to qatar and all of the different places -- by the way, all over china, all over china. you go to bahrain, you go to saudi arabia, you see airports you've never seen anything like it. you've never seen anything like it. they build temporary airports while they're building the big one that are 100 times nicer than anything we have in this country. we're just -- we've lost it. we've lost it. another deal that just happened, and this was, again, getting everybody together, the city of new york in the bronx, right outside of manhattan, and most of you have read about it, they

had a 350-acre piece of land on the water, on the east river. east river's great. people have apartments in the east river, right? there were 350. and expandable into 550 acres. this is like five minutes outside of manhattan. i say, right off the manhattan ramp. and they've been building a golf course, i think, for 30 years. i think. somebody said it's really not 30. it's 21 years. oh, okay. it's 21. so, whether it's 20, 21 or 30, but i think it's 30. it's been under construction for many, many years. we believe the cost is over $300 million. in fact, the mayor said to me, what do you think it should have cost? i said about 7, but i believe the cost is over $300 million. they couldn't get it done. and mayor bloomberg said, you've got to help us. please, you've got to help us. they went to an rfp. i have a look-term deal. i got it done in less than a

year for peanuts. >> donald trump talking about, essentially, getting things done, the list he's listing out for folks at this convention at manchester, rink in central park and laguardia airport he says needs major improvements. mostly we'll talk about trump's dominance in the polls right now and president obama, he's also now weighing in on donald trump's surge. we'll have that ahead. plus, president obama's also talking about hillary clinton and her e-mail scandal. he says, it didn't put national security at risk. but isn't that what federal investigators are looking into? we'll be back in a moment to continue our special coverage aahead of the first democratic debate in las vegas. when i was sidelined with blood clots in my lung,h. it was serious. fortunately, my doctor had a game plan. treatment with xarelto®. hey guys! hey, finally, somebody i can look up to... ...besides arnie.

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i'm john berman live in las vegas, just off the las vegas strip. here in this city, the main event, not penn and teller, not britney spears, not wayne newton, not even elvis impersonators. no, the cnn democratic debate. the first democratic debate of this election cycle. the first time all five candidates will be on the same stage at the same time, facing each other, facing anderson cooper, our cnn moderator and facing questions from you, via facebook as well. this is a crucial moment in this presidential debate. kate bolduan, i should tell you something you cannot see here looming over it all, as i'm looking beyond our set, the trump hotel. donald trump's presence felt here in las vegas even though he will not be part of this debate exactly. >> just the way he likes it. i beg to differ on one point, john berman. have i taken a very scientific

poll, ahead of the debate that everyone is there for is john berman, live in las vegas. this is a very, very big deal. >> thank you. >> i've stunned him to silence for once in his life. speaking of donald trump, we heard from him just moments ago speaking at an event in new hampshire. it was called -- it's called the no labels problem-solver convention. he's one of eight presidential candidates speaking at this event today. but this right here, guys, is what matters right now. the latest polling out of cbs news puts donald trump ahead. he remains ahead of his republican rivals with 27% support. behind him, ben carson, six points behind him. then take a look at the rest of the gop field sitting or stuck, you might want to say, in the single digits right now. let's discuss this with amanda carpenter, former communications director for ted cruz, and cnn

political commentator jeffrey, who has written favorably about donald trump. let's discuss these -- gate to see you guys. amanda, when you look at these polls coming out of cbs, he continues to lead. he is the gop front-runner. of the rest of the field is in single digits. at this point, sdpentding on where you stand, you'll say it's early on or not so early on, but he continues to ready rodd ahea. is there anything they can do to stop him, amanda? >> here's the thing, donald trump, it is not a fluke. we tried to say that, maybe it's an august fling, but it's not. he's been dominating the polls since he entered the race in mid-july. in the last presidential cycle, you saw a lot more movement. you saw guys like perry in the lead, gingrich, and so the other republican candidates have to be worried. that said, this is an election

where conventional wisdom has been turned on its head again and again. donald trump doesn't have a traditional on-the-ground network i think it takes to win a gop primary. if you look at him speaking today at the no labels conference, which is a group deliberately designed to tore get moderates. this is not going to activate gop primary voters. i think you see where he's making bad investments in his time. he's a candidate who lives and dies by the camera. and i think in february when we go to those early primary states, you could see the emperor has no clothes and you see someone who has a traditional election get out the vote strategy go ahead and take the early states. >> it's going to have to be a big turn around when you look at his numbers. there are some warning spots. he's viewed favorably among primary voters, at 53% in terms of his favorability. ben carson's favorability is the highest. 62% favorable. only 7% unfavorable.

donald trump is still viewed favorably but the number is the exact opposite when you look at all registered voters. he's 53% unfavorable and he's 60% of all registered voters. i think he is dishonest. is this what is going to catch up with donald trump? >> no, i don't think so. kate, once you get to a fall election in 2016 or any four-year elections like that, and you come down to two candidates, their negatives can tend to disappear. in the cbs poll, for example, 60% of republicans said they had the most confidence of donald trump in terms of economy. when you look at that sound bite, you can see when he talks about getting it done with a skating rink in new york. i know what that is but most people don't. they take the point that government of new york city tried for years to get it done, couldn't get it done. they turned to him and he got it done asap and did everything he

could to make it work. that's what they respond to here. so, i think when we get to a fall election, we will see that there is that kind of response particularly on the economy. people want jobs. we have almost 95 million people out of the workplace. they're not being counted. when somebody like donald trump, you know, is on the scene here, they do respond. and i think they will respond. >> president obama in his "60 minutes" interview last night, he was asked about mr. trump and asked to weigh in. here's what he said. >> he knows how to get attention. you know, the classic reality tv character. and at this early stages, it's not surprising that he's gotten a lot of attention. >> do you think he's running out of steam? do you think he's going to disappear? >> you know, i'll leave it up to the pundits to make that determination. i don't think he'll end up being president of the united states. >> >> that kind of unendorsement/endorsement from president obama can only help

donald trump among primary voters. >> that's right. >> that is part of it. amanda, is that the concern, though, among republicans? maybe more mainstream republicans, if you will. he has momentum right now. he could nab the nomination. but then republicans think he's handing the white house to the democrats. >> here's the thing, i agree with much of what president obama had to say -- >> be careful, amanda. >> first time i've seen that in a long time. my critique of donald trump comes from the conservative side. i view him as an opportunist of the highest form. he has a very transactional approach to politics. you listen to his speeches he says, i gave this person money and they did this. i think that's a sign of someone who would be very persuadable to corruption. i don't think that's the direction that the republican party wants to go. so i want to see him put more meat on the bones for his economic plans. his tax plan was pretty good. he talks about doing big things -- he's been talking about his plan for veterans for

the longest time and still hasn't proposed it. confidence will get you a long way on wall street and real estate, but we'll see how long that will get him in politics. >> but he's continuing to turn out the crowds, that's for sure. we'll be watching one place he won't be, which is on the debate stage tomorrow night. we'll all be watching, even though i think he said this morning he might watch a couple minutes and then he's going to go to sleep. i guess one person who might not be watching that debate. he'll have something to say about it, that's for sure. great to see you. thank you so much. >> thanks. let's head to las vegas and get back to john. >> donald trump will be watching the first democratic debate, no doubt about that. the spectre of benghazi has been looming over this campaign, looming over hillary clinton from the beginning. now, a new claim from the inside that the house committee investigating benghazi is looking to tarnish clinton, not get to the truth. so, what does that mean for the

contest here, the cnn democratic debate? that's next. what if one piece of kale

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call now to enroll in a medicare advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. ♪ digestive core.r so choose ultimate flora by renewlife. it has 30 billion probiotic cultures. feel lighter and more energized. ultimate flora. more power to your gut. back here in las vegas, nevada, on democratic debate eve, so go hang your stockings by the mantel. tomorrow the candidates will go head to head for the very first time at the wynn las vegas hotel right behind me. brand new holes show hillary clinton with healthy leads in nevada and south carolina. key early voting states. one issue that has swirled around hillary clinton from the beginning of this campaign

benghazi. then the use of her personal e-mail for national business. now, an investigator who worked for the congressional panel investigating the attack on the consulate in benghazi, a man who was fired, this man tells cnn the committee is more focused on tarnishing hillary clinton than getting the facts. >> 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 it to be refocused back to its original purpose. the victims' families are owed the froout. hillary clinton has a lot of explaining to do. >> chairman of the committee defends the panel's work, denies these allegations. question here in las vegas, what does it mean for the campaign. what does it mean for the debate here tomorrow night? let's talk about this with van jones and kevin madden, top adviser to mitt romney's campaign, van was adviser to

president obama in the white house. when you get this charge from someone inside the committee on top of what kevin mccarthy said a few weeks ago where a lot of people thought what he was saying was the committee is political sidesed, out to get hillary clinton, does that reduce the chances that this will be a subject in the debate tomorrow night. what role will benghazi, what role will these e-mails play here? >> well, first of all, this is three strikes and you're out for this committee. you have mccarthy coming out, basically saying it's a partisan thing. then less covered but much more disturbing, you have these strategic leaks coming out. sheryl mills, et cetera, even elijah cummings, he said you're going too far. now somebody who's a part of the deal coming out saying, it's partisan. so the committee, three strikes and you're out on that. i think if i'm a democrat going against hillary clinton, i stay away from this. i don't want to touch this. up until now you might have said this whole issue makes her less electable, goes to her

trustworthiness. now it's rally around hillary clinton in the face of a partisan attack. >> trey gowdy disagrees with you. a lot of republicans say they're going to do their work. it's not political sized. it's not out to get hillary clinton. they have her testifying on october 22nd. on that note, president obama on "60 minutes" last night, he was asked about the e-mails, about benghazi and about how hillary clinton should approach it. listen to what the president said. >> she made a mistake. she acknowledged it. i do think the way it's been ginned up is, in part, because of politics. it is important for her to answer these question it is to satisfaction of the american public and they can make their own judgment. i can tell you that this is not a situation in which america's national security was endangered. >> president obama doesn't often give political advice to political candidates, but right there he did something very interesting, kevin. it seemed to me he set an

achievable bar for hillary clinton over the next several weeks. what she has to do. number one, answer questions before that committee. number two, admit it was a mistake, maybe here on the debate stage. number three, convince americans that barack obama and democrats think this whole thing is ginned up for political reasons. is that the avenue, is that the right path for hillary clinton to get through this? >> he certainly set manageable expectations for hillary clinton. i still think this was -- ultimately -- the ultimate decisions about this don't rest with president obama. they do rest with the american public. >> and the fbi for that matter. >> that was my next point, which is there are investigators that are going to decide what the right bar of measurement should be. and i think those are very tough. the reason it becomes an issue for hillary clinton politically is that there are democrats who believe this is a partisan witch hunt. usually when you're arguing about the partisan of politics, you're losing politics. republicans have also been

partisan in they believe something went wrong here. i think the bigger swath of the de elector rat has been harsh of hillary clinton. i think that becomes a continuing problem, is if hillary clinton, her tendency to obstruct or tendency not to be clear about her answers with this -- with these or they are refuted by -- the answers don't match up, that's where it becomes a political problem for hillary clinton. >> a consistent thread, a consistent explanation. this week tomorrow night and also next week before the committee. you touched on this a little bit. it's unlikely these candidates will go after the specifics of e-mail or the specifics of benghazi, but one thing, one argument they may want to make vaguely is hillary clinton carries with her something that will make her less electable than me in the general election. they may make -- >> i think there's this sort of

subtle thing about trustworthiness, about character. they're all going to try to go with it. i see it differently than kevin. first of all, there have been seven investigations. this is not the first investigation. seven investigations they haven't found anything. then, you know -- >> the fact they found the e-mail server, that's part of the investigation. that was not known before. >> my point is simply this, first of all, there have been numerous investigations. second of all, she has cooperated with the e-mails. i think a lot of people look at this and say, hold on, i think she made a mistake. she said she made a mistake. i think nobody watching this feels she's being given a fair treatment and hearing -- >> she was forced to comply with some requests. not she didn't -- she did not volunteer -- >> two more key markers over the next nine days. tomorrow here for the democratic debate and october 22nd on capitol hill. van jones, kevin madden, thank you for being with us. >> thanks, john. in just hours, hillary clinton, bernie sanders, they will be battling it out on stage there

in las vegas. ahead, the "x" factor in that debate. who will challenge hillary clinton about the e-mail controversy and her reversal on the trade deal that she once called the gold standard in trade agreements. plus, we have some breaking news just coming in. we're getting word from russia the security service there has foiled a planned isis terror attack in moscow. we'll have more details on that just coming in ahead. i'm caridee. i've had moderate to severe plaque psoriasis most of my life. but that hasn't stopped me from modeling. my doctor told me about stelara® it helps keep my skin clearer. with only 4 doses a year after 2 starter doses... ...stelara® helps me be in season. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and increase your risk of infections. some serious infections require hospitalization. before starting stelara® your doctor should test for tuberculosis. stelara® may increase your risk of cancer. always tell your doctor if you have any sign of infection, have had cancer, or if you develop any new skin growths. do not take stelara® if you are allergic to stelara® or any of its ingredients. alert your doctor of new or worsening problems

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breaking news out of russia. russia security service says it's foiled a potential isis attack on moscow. two suspects, according to

russians, have been arrested. they reportedly trained in isis camps in syria. an explosions ive device was found in moscow apartment along with scales for weighing explosive materials, mobile communication material and instruction manuals for making improvised material. we'll have much more details throughout the day. keeping our focus on syria, the u.s. military is now taking a very new approach to try and turn the tide there in that bloody civil war. a secret mission to supply syrian rebels. a fleet of u.s. military cargo planes have dropped 50 tons of ammunition to u.s.-backed rebel groups in the northern part of the country. cnn's pentagon correspondent barbara starr broke this story. she's joining me now for the very latest. what more are you learning about this mission and are there more to come? >> reporter: probably more to come, because this is really just the first step in this sort of urgent overhaul of the u.s. effort to equip the syrian

rebels that are fighting isis, especially in northern and eastern syria. overnight we got word that four c-17 aircraft, u.s. air force, moved into the skies over that area of syria. backed up by fighter escorts in the sky and air dropped 50 tons of ammunition to the rebels in more than 100 pallets hitting the ground. this is ammunition, grenades, small arms types of things that these rebel groups desperately had needed for weeks. they had said they were running out of ammunition. the u.s. was deciding whether it wanted to support them in this way and last week, president obama approved the plan. expect to see more of this. this is a coalition of about 5,000 arab tribes, militias, along with kurdish groups up in this region that have been having a lot of success, the u.s. believes, in battling isis. they needed ammunition.

they needed some supplies and this, the u.s. feels, will be a major effort to try and get them to have even more success against isis. kate? >> this comes on the heels of the military program that was attempting to arm and train syrian rebels. it was absolutely scrapped as it was pretty much seen across the board as a huge failure and acknowledged as much, 5,000 was the goal that they wanted to train. they basically got none of that. president obama was asked about this failure last night intervi" here's what he said. i want to ask you about it. >> there's no doubt it did not work. one of the challenges that i've had throughout this heartbreaking situation inside of syria is that you'll have people insist that, you know, all i don't have to do is send in a few truckloads full of arms and people are ready to fight.

then when you start a train and equip program and it doesn't work, people say why didn't it work? or if it had just started three months earlier it would have worked. >> barbara, what are you hearing from inside the pentagon and your sources? that program clearly did not work. how is this going to be different? >> well, you know, the hope is it will be different because these people are already fighting isis. one of the big problems that the u.s. has had is many of these rebels that they were trying to bring into this, they didn't want to fight isis so much. they say bashar al assad is the main enemy of the people of syria or at least their most immediate enemy because of the barrel bombing and the atrocities -- the world believes have been committed by assad's government. the u.s. wanted them to promise not to fight assad, only to fight isis. that didn't go over so well with a lot of these folks. now, the hope is they've isolated a group of rebels that are already in the fight against isis and the hope is they'll stay with it this time. >> barbara, great reporting. thanks so much.

great to see you. >> sure. let's head back over from here to las vegas. and john berman. hey, john. >> the big debate tomorrow night, expect the unexpected. what will be the big surprises? what are the key stumbling blocks for these candidates? we'll discuss, next.

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this is las vegas, nevada, the site of the very first democratic presidential debate, the very first time front-runner hillary clinton will do battle with bernie sanders, martin o'malley, jim webb, lincoln chafee on the same stage. what will be the biggest surprise? i'm joined by cnn senior political analyst ron

brownstein, the editorial director of the national journal. you have a checklist of the biggest possible land mines and biggest opportunities starting with hillary clinton's e-mails. >> yes. >> what the other candidates should or should not do about it. >> all of the "x" factors will be where and when the candidates choose to engage with each other. by far, the elephant in the room, maybe the donkey in the room is whether the other candidates choose to raise hillary clinton's e-mails in any way, in particular to question her strength and viability. >> which candidate may be the one to do it. >> none of them but martin o'malley if i had to choose. >> bernie sanders, the one area where progressives may not like him as much. >> another key, again, if the key is how the candidates choose to engage with each other, does hillary clinton raids bernie sanders's records on gun control? it's only one of the areas where she can flank him and come from

the left. >> bernie sanders running strong everywhere else. still not a lot of exposure to the nation as a whole. there may be people who don't know he has a more nuanced record. >> the brady bill in the '90s. much as she has moved on other issues, he's moving to position himself in the center of an evolving coalition on this issue. it's one of the few opportunities she'll have to question his credentials from the left. >> you talked about moving. hillary clinton has done some so offing of her own to the left on almost every issue. >> right. >> some people call it flip-flopping. how will that play in? >> do the other candidates go after hillary clinton on the argument she's repositioning herself, flip-flopping for political advantage on thing like the transpacific partnership and other areas. that is much safer 2k3wr0u7grou the e-mails. i would suspect we'll hear quite a bit of that tonight. >> she's used moved closer to the democratic electorate or the

people in that room. >> which is what they want. >> appreciate your being here. that is all for us at this hour. tomorrow we'll continue our special coverage of the democratic debate, the first democratic debate, live from las vegas, miss kate bolduan joins me here. >> as long as the planes fly on time, john. "legal view with ashleigh banfield" starts right now. hello, everyone, i'm pamela brown in for ashleigh banfield on this monday. five identical podiums, side by side on a cnn stage in las vegas. but a day before the biggest event of the democratic nominated race to date, it's more clear than ever that one of these contenders stands apart. check out these brand new cnn/orc poll numbers from the early voting states of nevada and south carolina. dems favor hillary clinton by a