tapper sitting to my right. "the lead" starts right now. hillary clinton has the most chips at the table for tomorrow night's debates here in las vegas. will luck be a lady? i'm jake tapper and this is "the lead." the politics lead, just one day away. a big fight feel in las vegas as all the democratic candidates get ready to face each other on the same stage for the first time. and all the candidates taking swings at hillary clinton ahead of the main event as new polls show that rumors of her demise may be greatly exaggerated. plus, is it decision time for vice president joe biden? the vice president at home with family as everyone turns their attention to vegas. but will his presence still be felt? also, a bombshell that could have an impact on tomorrow's debate and this race.

a former investigator of the benghazi attack claims that the real goal of the committee is to sink hillary, not to seek the truth. though he's not exonerating clinton. he says she's got lots to answer for. and he will respond to the house committee on benghazi's charges against him coming up. welcome to "the lead." while polling shows queens high in our politics lead, we are pushing everything to the center of the pot here at the wynn resort in sin city, las vegas, nevada, adding a new show to the strip tomorrow night the first democratic debate. welcome to "the lead." i am jake tapper live from nevada. nevada is of course the site of the third primary or caucus contest in next year's democratic presidential race. february 20th mark your calendar. but right now the focus is on tomorrow night as candidates are trying to prepare for the democratic debate. what cards are lincoln chafee

and webb holding, what can martin o'malley do after riding a summer long hot streak to become the chip leader in new hampshire, is bernie sanders now playing with house money? or will his luck change? and does hillary clinton need to do more than just cover the spread? if she busts tomorrow night, will that be enough to convince vice president joe biden to pony up and join the table? i want to get right to cnn senior political correspondent brianna keilar. brianna, these new cnn/orc polls out this morning from nevada and south carolina seem to suggest that democrats still think clinton is the safe bet. >> yeah, that's right. because they believe, jake, that certainly if you see bernie sanders doing well in new hampshire that after that there may not be a pathway for him to get to the nomination. so hillary clinton they think is still at this point doing significantly better than he is. but at the same time the idea of a loss in new hampshire would be stinging for her. so you'll see her as she is on

stage tomorrow night along with the rest of the contenders here trying to refurbish her image. she has been preparing for this debate, working with lawyers who have a lot of experience on debate prep including with president obama. they've been sitting in as bernie sanders, as martin o'malley as she does debate prep. and bernie sanders it seems at least according to his team that he hasn't been doing as much full-on mock debate as hillary clinton. that he's been studying up on the issues and as they say it he's starting to run through what they call exchanges. as democratic presidential contenders get ready for their first debate in las vegas, hillary clinton is the candidate to beat in two states that could be key to slowing a bernie sanders surge. a new cnn/orc poll of likely nevada caucus goers shows her besting sanders by 16 points. the spread is even bigger in south carolina. clinton leads sanders by 31 points. and the vermont senator sees opportunity in this debate to

draw contrast with clinton. >> i don't get into personal attac attacks. you know that. but are there differences of opinion they should be discussed, of course there are. that's what debates should be about. >> sanders tried out one of his points that clinton is late to positions that he always supported like her now opposition to a trade deal she backed as secretary of state. >> so people will have to contrast my consistency and my willingness to stand up to wall street and corporations, big corporations, with the secretary. >> sanders trails clinton nationally in the polls, but his lead in the all important first primary state of new hampshire makes him tough competition for clinton. in 2008 she came from behind to win the new hampshire primary after this moment went viral. >> i just don't want to see us fall backwards. >> she spoke about it in a buzzfeed podcast. >> when it was over i just felt drained. i didn't feel anything other than that. i didn't realize it was going to be such a big deal to be honest. >> tuesday night the five democratic contenders will take the stage at the wynn hotel in

las vegas for the lesser known candidates like former mt. governor martin o'malley, the debate is a chance to find support that has so far alluded them. but one of the biggest potential challengers to clinton and sanders won't even be there. vice president joe biden is still weighing whether to run. on cbs president obama said he understands why biden might get in. >> if you're sitting right next to the president in every meeting, you know, wrestling with these issues, i'm sure that for him he's saying to himself i could do a really good job. >> now, another reason why these new cnn/orc poll numbers have some democrats more bullish on hillary clinton has to do with the black vote in south carolina. she gets 59% of this key voting demographic for democrats if joe biden is in the race. but check this out take joe biden out of the race she pops all the way up to 84%. bernie sanders only at 7%. he's really struggled to speak to black voters in a way where

they have been receiving him well. and so that's good news certainly for hillary clinton, jake. >> brianna keilar, thanks. let's talk all of this over with some people who are part of the best political team on television. we have with us hugh hewitt, van jones and patty doyle. patty, let me start with you. first of all, what do you think hillary needs to do tomorrow? is it really a first do no harm type thing or does she need to aggressively make the case if she gets attacked? >> she needs to do a few things. first of all let me say right off the bat she's an excellent debater. she knows the issues backwards, forwards, sideways. but she's going to get attacked. we just saw bernie sanders is going to go after her and the consistency on some of these issues. i imagine martin o'malley is going to do that too. she needs to come prepared for answers on tpp, keystone and coming in late on those issues. and i think she needs to show some humor. a light side of hillary clinton. she's done arguably some of the best moments on her campaign have been on "saturday night live" and jimmy fallon.

i think she needs to have some light moments. >> van, you saw in brianna's piece bernie sanders abysmal numbers with african-american voters in south carolina. obviously that's the fourth contest, i guess. but still it speaks to a larger weakness of his. we just heard congressman keith ellison from minnesota a major progressive voice is endorsing him. will that make a difference? >> you know, it might make a difference. keith ellison is incredibly well respected, african-american, one of the few muslims in congress and very outspoken. he's a leading indicator, a lot of people will take sanders more seriously because of keith. but i think this whole party has a problem. this is the whitest field that we have seen since 1992. there's no sharpton, there's no non-white people there. and this is a party that has to get not 60%, not 70%, not 90% but 94% of the black vote to win. this is a big problem for the whole party. the clintons get the black vote

by default, but nobody has made a case that they can do better. if biden gets in he might be able to make that case. but bernie sanders has so much room to grow with the black vote he should take the opportunity tomorrow to make his case why a white guy from vermont should get the support of a party with that much black participation. >> hugh hewitt, if you were advising bernie sanders or martin o'malley, a very unlikely scenario, but if that were to happen, how would you advise to go after hillary clinton whom you've been critical of for a long time? how would you advise to do it in such a way that you don't risk coming across as a mean guy beating up on, you know, a trail blazer? >> i do two things. one, bring up the russian reset button because i believe that is the most vulnerable part of her catastrophic tenure as department of state. and secretary clinton can be counted onto try to avoid the libya fi i can't say koe. and also try to get jim webb in the conversation. you used an extended boxing analogy earlier. he's a famous boxer, he lost a

three-round match with oliver north in 1967 at the naval academy. one he thought was stacked against him and one he's been bitter for about 40 years. i would try to get him into on foreign policy especially because he is very critical of the former secretary of state's foreign policy. so i would try and throw the ball to web to do the body work on the former secretary of state rather than yourself because there's no upside in going down. >> patti, you talked about how you think secretary clinton's going to face challenges from o'malley and sanders on the consistency issue. and the point of fact is that hillary clinton and bill clinton were part of the democratic leadership council, the idea democrats should be more moderate. not how democrats were in the '90s. and now the democratic party has shifted to the left. more people call themselves liberals and she's trying to shift with it. isn't the consistency charge fair? >> look, i think she faces some trust problems without question. she had a really abysmal summer. she was hit hard by the e-mail controversy. and she's going to have to face these questions in the debate.

but in fairness, you know, on tpp for example, it's been two and a half years since she's been a part of the negotiations on that deal. the deal changed. so, yes, she did a flip-flop on it. she did reverse herself. but she's got her reasons. and she's going to explain them on the debate stage. >> she has a problem on the personality side when she tries being more authentic who she authentically is is a moderate hawk. so when she tries to get right on the personability, she hurts herself on policy side. by following the rest of the party on trade and other stuff she seems less authentic. right now she's trapped to improve per person relatability, but it's tough. >> have to leave it there. thanks one and all for being here. really appreciate it. the cnn team is working hard to make this debate unlike any other in the past. how are we utilizing this massive venue here in vegas to make this different? plus, how social media will be a

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united states senator. >> of all the gin joints in the world we picked this one for five democrats to pony up and place their bets. i'm jake tapper outside the wynn resort in las vegas. we're hoping the democratic debate turns out to be as exciting and dramatic as one of the vegas heists in "ocean's 11" and not like say "ocean's 12." by the way debate requires more manpower to pull off. building main attraction on the vegas strip, the cnn debate stage. john berman will give us a look. what do you expect when the candidates come together tomorrow night? >> you know, it came together with a lot of work, jake. 150 people, 10,000 person hours in this debate hall. 150 moving lights. my favorite statistic 10 to 15 miles of cable. but the most important number, five. up on that stage behind me five

lecterns. you can see they're getting ready for rehearsal right now. those are not the candidates. those are students from unlv. anderson cooper, you can see where he will be standing. he is the moderator this time around. also dana bash and juan carlos lopez from cnn espanol will be asking questions as well. this is a ballroom in las vegas about 1,300 seats in this room right now. they put seats out overnight. people from the dnc, campaign, cnn, facebook, also the wnn las vegas. a bigger crowd, jaken, than we had at the reagan library. that was about 450. so it could get a little more ruckus this time around. people can submit questions, i mean you the audience through facebook, go to facebook.com/cnn, this screen right here is where they will be read. don lemon will read these questions. you can still post right now by the way. you can post videos. you can post questions.

they too will be part of this debate. again, the stage behind me is where it will all happen, jake. pretty interesting as you've been talking about hillary clinton has been doing mock debates with a big-time washington lawyer been at this for years. jeff weaver, bernie sanders campaign manager told me this morning the day they set aside to work on these exchanges, set pieces back and forth between the moderator and other candidates on specific issues they want to try to anticipate moments that might arise in this debate. jake. >> john berman, thanks so much. john's going to be riding off on his white tiger after this segment. i just want to ask you, a lot of people -- it's no secret that you're not a huge fan of secretary of state hillary clinton. a lot of people think if she gets a nomination the demographic advantage she will have will just be very, very difficult for republicans to beat. >> how do you counter that? >> i think she's got a glass jaw. i'll tell you i was a little stunned in our first segment because i was agreeing with patti she has a flip-flop problem. i was agreeing with van she has

an authenticity problem. i disagreed with you i liked "ocean's 12." she's not exciting the base. speak about young women especially who ought to be off the charts turning out for her and they are not. there is a clinton fatigue problem in this country which is pronounced. they've been like the permanent cornea implant in our eye for the last 25 years and i think people are tired with her. >> patti. >> i disagree with you. look, i think she's got -- she's building her coalition. she's got african-american support. she's got hispanic support. she's got support from women. and it's broad and it carries into not just the first four states but beyond that you've got the south. you've got the west. >> people forget hillary clinton has been one of the most respected women and humans on the planet. we might in the political world get tired of her but still one of the most famous people in the world. >> she's been voted the most admired woman 12 years? >> patti, there are problems.

if you look in the polling more than the registered voters, not just democrats but registered voters, she's under water. more people have unfavorable impressions of her than favorable impressions. it's not that can't be turned around, but it is a problem. >> it is starting to turn around though. she had a really bad summer. nonstop e-mail controversy. she handled it pretty badly. but now she's handling it quite well. i think. she's answering all the questions. she's done a number of interviews. i think she's going into this debate with the wind at her back a little bit. >> the shocking thing is bernie sanders though. if we were sitting here a year ago and said bernie sanders of all the people in american life bernie sanders would be doing this well would be destroying governors, other people, would be coming in really with the wind at his back i think we'd be shocked. i think he has tapped into something. there's still a disappointment with the obama years. there is a little distrust factor there with the clintons. and this base is hard to be inspired and to believe in something. and sanders discretion that is.

>> hewitt, you and i have talked about this, what trump is doing on the right, in some ways, sanders is doing on the left. >> sure. he's exciting people who haven't previously been excited. a year ago i thought she was going to be the prohibitive favorite. now i fear joe biden will get in because it will be harder for my republican candidate to beat -- >> thank you so much. really appreciate it. don't miss your first chance to see the democratic presidential debates on one stage at the cnn facebook democratic debate. coverage starts tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. eastern. anderson cooper will be the moderator. you can weigh in on the conversation using #demdebate. september 11th, 2012, the events of that date will haunt the rest of hillary clinton's political future no matter what happens here in vegas tomorrow. but now a bombshell revelation. one man fired from the republican-led committee charged with investigating that day says the panel seemed to change and hyper focus on hillary clinton. he does not exonerate her. but he does say there are issues

with the committee. his claims and the response that's getting today coming up next on "the lead." amerivest selects the funds and manages your portfolio. is it run by robots? no no, you can talk to a person anytime. 'cause i don't trust robots. right...well, if the portfolio you're invested in doesn't perform well for two consecutive quarters, amerivest will reimburse your advisory fees for those quarters. i wasn't born yesterday.

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welcome back. we are here live in las vegas. the democratic candidates will go head-to-head on stage tomorrow night for the first time in 2016 presidential campaign. welcome back to cnn's "the lead." i'm jake tapper. today there is major fallout from a story that could have a huge impact on tomorrow night's debate on the entire

presidential race. it's one that leaves some families with some painful questions. a fired former investigator on the house benghazi committee told me that the republican-led panel looking into the fatal attack on the u.s. posts in 2012, the panel became partisan and hyperfocused on hillary clinton instead of looking more broadly at all the agencies and individuals responsible for wrongdoing. the committee today pushed back on his claims forcefully. and for the first time in a tv interview the air force reserve intelligence officer responds. bradley podliska at first blush seems an unlikely target of the wrath of his former bosses, the republicans on the house benghazi committee. an air force reserves intelligence officer podliska is a self-described conservative republican who once interned for the conservative media research center. >> i just want to state for the record i'm not here to ab solve hillary clinton of any wrongdoing. hillary clinton in the end of this is going to have a lot of explaining to do. >> what do you think hillary

clinton needs to explain? >> unfortunately i'm not permitted to get into any more details than that. >> podliska says in march the investigation took a turn after the "new york times" broke the story of hillary clinton using a personal e-mail server for state department business. after that happened the investigation's broader focus narrowed, he says. >> and i was told that things were now changed. that this was going to be what they termed an agency centric investigation. this actually meant they were going to focus on hillary clinton and on the state department. i was focused on other agencies, other individuals, other organizations that, you know, for the post-attack piece were responsible and i thought were culpable and should be held accountable for what they were doing. >> podliska had been investigating the intelligence agencies and the post benghazi talking points why the administration initially blamed the attacks incorrectly on an anti-muslim video. >> in june i was meeting also once again with senior leadership. and they told me -- they were

angry at me. they said we know that you have your post-attack piece, only right wing nut jobs care about that. what they were referring to is representative jim jordan. i'd worked very closely with representative jordan. i will say he's an honest, decent, trustworthy man. this guy rolled up his sleeves. he was willing to investigate any organization, any individual, any agency as long as he could find the truth for the victims' families. >> but now podliska is preparing to sue the committee for firing him he says because of his need to take time to serve in the air force reserves and for objecting to what he calls a partisan hyperfocus on the democratic presidential candidate. the committee denies these charges saying in a statement that podliska never mentioned secretary clinton at any time during his counselling for deficient performance or when he was terminated. the committee says as the mediation process prepares to wrap, he is 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 about secretary

clinton. >> as you know the committee says they fired you for other reasons including putting classified information on an unclassified system. >> complete and total fabrication. i was accused of a security violation along with several other people. when i asked them, hey, what here is classified, what classification did you use? he said i didn't use a classification manual. i said, well honestly, you could have gotten information from wikipedia that i put in there. how is this classified? and he backed down. he said, look, it's not classified, it's just sensitive information. and i left it at that. and the next thing i know i was being charged with it for security violation. >> what do you say to any viewers out there who think you might have an axe to grind? that you're only talking because you were fired? >> i have a conscience. there's wrongdoing here. and i think it needs to stop. >> today, democrats sent out what they said is further evidence that the committee is focused only on clinton including abandoning plans to interview intelligence and defense officials and conducting

monthly hearings with defense, state and intel officials involved. there are democrats out there who want to disband the committee. should the committee be disbanded? >> i don't believe so. no. i think this is a very important topic. and i think we have answers to provide both the victims' families and the public. the truth is out there. and i don't want to disband it. >> do you think that the results of the committee based on what you saw will be fair, comprehensive, thorough, professional, honest? >> no. it's not possible. the victims' families are not going to get a truth. and that's the most unfortunate thing about this. >> now, of the charge -- as a right wing nut job -- quote, it's another false unsubstantiated claim by podliska and say he was told to stand down on that specific project because, quote, he wanted to create a sensational

and conclusion not -- the chairman of the house benghazi committee, congressman trey gowdy declined our many offers to visit "the lead" to give his side of the story. in his statement gowdy also falsely claimed that cnn did not contact his committee before we, quote, rushed to air podliska's claims. again, that is not true. we contacted the committee before reporting any word of this. and then we included their statement in our very first cnn.com story on saturday. we also included their statement in our first broadcast of the interview on tv the next day on "state of the union." and we invited chairman gowdy on air. that invitation remains open. aside from who will say what tomorrow's debate has won huge unknown factor looming over it. will vice president joe biden rock the world of politics, jump into this race and join the other candidates on stage? we'll look at the chances of that happening. plus, the congresswoman who says

she was disinvited as a guest of the debatd. we'll get the dnc's side of the story next here in vegas. it's more than the cloud. it's security - and flexibility. it's where great ideas and vital data are stored. with centurylink you get advanced technology solutions from a trusted it partner. including cloud and hosting services - all backed by an industry leading broadband network

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it is no longer acceptable to discuss womens rights as separate from human rights. >> the richest 1% now own more wealth than the bottom 90%. >> womens rights are human rights. and i've done everything i can to make that principle come true. >> the richest 1% own more wealth than the bottom 95%. >> human rights are womens rights. >> the top one-tenth of 1% owns almost as much wealth as the bottom 90%. >> consistency in message if not in hair styles. welcome back. i'm jake tapper live from the

neon oasis in the desert at the wynn resort in las vegas, nevada, which will elect delegates february 20th after iowa and new hampshire. nevada hosts the first democratic debate tomorrow night in sin city. five candidates will pony up to the stage. is it possible that vice president joe biden will join the show? we have a lectern for him, but how realistic is a biden appearan appearance? let's bring in cnn senior white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, there will not be a better moment for the vice president to enter the race than tomorrow. excitement in the air. he goes out there, does his little thing with the -- you know, shoots his guns to the people in the audience. >> i can see it now. >> takes off the stage. >> i agree. fire up air force two, point it in this direction but. >> all indications at this point he's not going to run for president. he may run for president but not show up at this debate tomorrow night. he is the x factor looming over

everything right now. if vice president biden were to show up and participate in this debate, it changes everything. all of a sudden hillary clinton has to her right bernie sanders and to her left she has joe biden. you can look at the polls right now. >> you meant that physically. >> yes, physically. >> not politically. >> i think that according to the lectern positioning at this point. certainly not from a political standpoint. but if you look at the polls in just the last 24 hours, cnn/orc polls show vice president biden would be a factor in nevada. he would be in third place in nevada without biden in the race hillary clinton's lead rose dramatically in this early primary -- or early caucus state. in south carolina he places in second without being a declared candidate. until the white house puts out, and you know this from being a white house correspondent, until it puts out its daily guidance for tomorrow and says joe biden will be at the white house attending meetings, the vice president's office up until this point has not definitively said one way or the other whether joe biden will be coming to las vegas tomorrow. of course if he's coming to las

vegas tomorrow, that meebs he's running for president and that changes everything. >> that would be very exciting but you don't think it's going to happen. >> i think in the grand scheme of thing there's a joe biden market right now. there are bears and bulls and i'll be honest i'm more of a bear at this point. he's articulated every time he's been on television why he's more likely not to run. there are a lot of people say no he is running. i talked to a top democratic official in the last couple of days who said she's talked to two people very close to joe biden. one says, oh, yeah, he's in, he's running. the other person said, no, he's not feeling it so much. this is being kept so close to the vest. and the vice president met with some of his advisers other the weekend, talked with them over the weekend, but there's still no clear indication coming from that camp as to whether or not he's going to run for president. at this point indications are he's not going to be here in nevada tomorrow. i agree with you, parachuting out. >> elvis costume, walk in -- ride in on the white tiger. in all sincerity, if he's going to do it as you know everything in politics is timing and if

he's going to do it tomorrow would be an exciting moment to do it. it would knock hillary clinton off her game a little bit potentially. there would be excitement in the crowd. something new, something different for a debate that, you know, i don't know how riveting every moment of it's necessarily going to be. >> i agree. >> although everybody should watch it of course. >> i agree. but i think up until the point when hillary clinton was -- you know, when congressman mccarthy came out and basically admitted on national television that the benghazi committee had a political aim and that was to damage hillary clinton. there was a rationale -- political rationale for joe biden to get into this race. once that happened, you know, the rationale for joe biden getting into this race is becoming less and less of a dramatic factor. >> yeah. >> if hillary clinton is having democrats rally around here because of this benghazi e-mail controversy, then perhaps there's not that same rationale, that same push for joe biden to get into this race.

>> you were talking about how you talked to a top democratic official. let's talk to one ourselves. joining me communications director for the democratic national committee. lewis miranda. >> thank you, jake. >> i know you cannot betray emotion one way or the other about vice president biden joining the race? >> i worked for the vice president for four years so i have deep respect for him. regardless of whether he's on stage or not, this is going to be a field we're already seeing in all of the talk and coverage building up to this debate this is going to be a substantive conversation. i think that's what's exciting is whether he's in or not we have a field talking about the issues that effect people like here in nevada who saw some of the highest rates of unemployment, some of the highest rates of foreclosures during what the last republican administration left behind. and for a change we're actually going to see presidential candidates talking about those issues and how do we move forward in a way that keeps building on a strong record. >> i want to ask you about congresswoman tulsy gabbert, she said she was disinvited from the debate by the dnc after she

appeared on television and called for more debates. you know this is a big issue whether or not there should be more debates, people other than the clinton camp seem to want more debates. what can you tell us about tulsy gabbard being disinvited? >> the democratic party is a big tent party. that's one of the great things about being a democrat, you'll have a lot of different opinions, whether it's about debates, philadelphia the site for the convention, even the primary calendar. this time eight years ago i was dealing with calls from reporters every day because florida and michigan had jumped further ahead. that was a real issue because we were losing delegates. >> why was she disinvited? >> this isn't an issue at all. all we ask is folks to focus not on interparty issues but focus on the candidates. we have several candidates tomorrow introducing themselves. they have an opportunity to present their vision for moving america forward. and that's where the attention should be. and so we want to provide that opportunity. that's why what we've done is we've built out more than 200 house parties and watch parties all across the country, 41 states that are going to be

focusing in on everything that these candidates are saying, how they're introducing themselves, what their plans are. that's what we want to keep the attention on. >> why not have more debates? i think the idea is there were more than 20 last time, 2008. and it only strengthened your eventual nominee barack obama. it strengthened hillary clinton too for that matter. why limit it to six? a lot of grassroots activists think the fix is in and the dnc is doing what the clinton campaign wants them to do because she just wants to have as little debate as possible and get the nomination. >> well, i'll tell you what, one oflt things that gets lost in this debate is there were actually just as many sanctioned debates in the last two -- >> right. but you're punishing people now for participating in non -- >> what we're trying to do is make sure people focus on our sanctioned debates. i think that's a good thing. when you sit there and anderson cooper sits with the candidates on stage, we want folks to know this is one of our sanctioned debates that we want people tuning into this one, we want people focusing in on it. all it does is provide a reasonable framework for us. anyone who there for the third hour of the republican debate you know you need framework from

keeping it from getting out of hand. that's what we're trying to do. we have to set a calendar that guides the nominating process that we set delegates election rules. we set the number of debates to make it work for candidates and not pull them off the trail too much because that's the other thing that happens with debates is you've got candidates who need to be going to iowa, new hampshire, nevada here, south carolina. they need to be talking to voters. >> right. >> we want to maximize both that but also the attention on the debates that we do have sanctioned. >> any predictions? we have 23 million viewers for our republican debate. any predictions? >> we're not going to be a celebrity apprentice on stage but we are going to have the next president of the united states so hopefully that will draw a good size audience. >> good dodge. lewis miranda, thanks so much. and congresswoman tulsy gabbard will be appearing on "the situation room" in just a few minutes. she'll give her side of this. first, just one day before the democratic debate republicans are taking another stage today and touting their plans to get both sides of washington to work together. why donald trump says his sharp critiques won't be the problem

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welcome back to "the lead" live here in las vegas on the eve of the first democratic debate of the 2016 presidential race. even with the democrats headlining the show there is no escaping donald trump. his name literally and figuratively looming large over this debate. and today trump was on the campaign trail selling himself as the candidate of compromise. cnn's sarah murray is live for us in manchester, new hampshire, where trump and many other republicans and democrats spoke today, sara. >> reporter: little bit of a different crowd here for donald trump. instead of thousands of adoring fans he got a room full of undecided new hampshire voters trying to prove to them he duds not believe compromise is a dirty word. donald trump trying out a new style today, consensus builder. >> the word compromise is absolutely fine. but if you're going to compromise, ask for about three times more than you want. >> reporter: speaking at an event hosted by the nonpartisan

political group no labels, trump touted his business deals as proof he can bring people together. the gop front runner facing some doubts that an expert at hurling insults can reach across the aisle. >> i'm wondered if you're at all concerned about some of the devid devisive language -- >> i went to ivy league schools. i know what devicive and what's not. whatever you do i don't want to necessarily be politically correct. >> reporter: today, trump again confronting questions about how he treats women. >> so if you become president, will a woman make the same as a man? and do i get to choose what i do with my body? [ cheers and applause ] >> you're going to make the same if you do as good a job. you're going to make the same if you do as good a job. and i happen to be pro-life. >> reporter: trump insists he's not the only flame thrower in

the race. >> i haven't gone after my republican opponents at all. not even at all. they've gone after me. i only go after them when they go after me. i'm a counterpuncher. >> reporter: with the stage set for bipartisanship, republicans landed some jabs. trump taking on president obama. >> i thought he did terribly last night. i thought he did not do a good job. i think that our country has nothing but problems. >> reporter: and lindsey graham taking on trump asking whether his style can succeed in a general election. >> can donald trump bring us together? i don't feel that hispanics believe that he'd be a good president for them when 75% of the hispanic community disapproved of the candidacy as a republican. you're in trouble. >> reporter: meanwhile new jersey governor chris christie taking aim at everyone in washington. >> you know what i want and what most of you want, how about they just do something? >> reporter: he says he'll -- >> we had a problem with sara

murray's satellite. we're also monitoring today's world lead. nearly 100 people killed in twin explosions in turkey. blasts so powerful they shook high-rise buildings. and now the focus is turning to isis as investigators look into who may be responsible. that story as "the lead" continues live from las vegas ahead of tomorrow's democratic debate. here at the td ameritrade trader group, they work all the time.

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welcome back to "the lead." i'm jake tapper coming to you live from las vegas as we count down to the first democratic debate here tomorrow night. topping our world lead today an outpouring of emotion across the country of turkey as family

members bury the dead from saturday's devastating suicide bombings that killed at least 97 people and wounded more than 200. both blasts took place at a peace rally in ankara, the country's capital. no one has yet claimed responsibility, but turkey's prime minister is pointing the finger directly at the terrorist group isis. cnn international correspondent phil black is in ankara with the latest. phil. >> jake, turkey's prime minister says investigators are very close to identifying one of the suspected bombers from saturday's attack and to help with that they have taken dna samples from the relatives of some people suspected of having joined isis. they say isis remains the focus of their inquiries, but investigators are also looking at other groups including kurdish separatists and far left militants as well. the turkish government says this attack was an attack against the whole country. and the response must be one of national unity. but that line is going to be very difficult to sell to the many people who are furious this

attack was allowed to take place at all. for that they blame the turkish government. they argue that it should have been perfectly safe to organize a rally like this in advance involving thousands of people here in the heart of the capital ankara especially for a country with such extensive intelligence and security resources. those who took part in the rally say they didn't receive proper protection, they believe, because they were openly challenging defying the policies of the turkish government. all of this just three weeks ahead of a parliamentary election even before saturday's attack the political atmosphere in this country was described as tense and polarized, jake. >> phil black in ankara, turkey. thank you so much. reminder our coverage of the cnn facebook democratic debate begins at 8:30 tomorrow night. andserson cooper will moderate. follow me on twitter or tweet. that's it for "the lead," i'm jake tapper.

i turn you over to one mr. wolf blitzer in "the situation room with wolf blitzer," just a few feet away from me. happening now, high stakes as the clock ticks down to cnn's democratic presidential debate here in las vegas. two new polls suggest hillary clinton's luck is running strong. but her rivals are now hoping to narrow the odds. do they have any aces up their sleeves? secret weapon, she's a key adviser to bernie sanders and plays a major role in his campaign and is helping him prepare for the democratic debate. we're going to hear from the candidate's wife, jane sanders. illegal missile test. iran says it's launched a missile that could reach targets as far as israel. an iranian court convicts an american reporter. is iran thumbing its nose at the u.s. after a controversial nuclear deal? and devastating massacre. a key u.s. ally suspects isis carried out horrific bombings which killed close to 100 people