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 as the u.s. carries out an

urgent arms drop to syrian rebels president obama is taking more heat over his policy. i'm wolf blitzer in las vegas. you're in "the situation room." the excitement is building here in las vegas ased clock counts down to the first democratic presidential debate on cnn. the stakes are huge. hillary clinton is the favorite in the democratic campaign, but her four rivals led by senator bernie sanders may have some surprises in store when they play their cards in the debate. clinton may be building a lucky streak. two new cnn/orc polls show that she has sizable leads in key states, the key states of nevada where we are, as well as south carolina. there's a new wild card in the presidential running, that would be the vice president joe biden the non-candidate. he outpolls sanders in south

carolina. president obama's record may be a big factor in the debate as he struggles to defend his national security policies. isis is being blamed on a massacre to an ally capital. the u.s. fight against isis is resulting in more arms being sent to so-called moderate rebels in syria. meanwhile, iran has tested a long-range missile. our correspondents, analysts and guests have full coverage of the day's top stories. we're live from the wynn hotel, beautiful wynn hotel here in las vegas where democrats will square off. three trailing candidates will be trying to hit the jackpot. martin o'malley, jim webb, lincoln chafee desperately need a strong showing here tomorrow night. but this will be a showdown between hillary clinton and bernie sanders to be sure. let's get the very latest. cnn's john berman is with us here in las vegas. the showdown could be intense. >> indeed. i just came from the debate hall, cnn just began our own rehearsal. our team rehearsing for the

debate right now much as the candidates are too. for these candidates this will be their first chance to face each other on the same stage at the same time in front of the biggest audience they will have to date. and for two candidates in particular, hillary clinton, bernie sanders, this the big chance to draw differences between each other. he comes buoyed by big enthusiastic crowds, this the most recent 13,000 in tucson. she comes backed by big new poll numbers in key early states. >> and our next president, hillary clinton. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: tonight, cnn/orc polls in nevada and south carolina show hillary clinton with sizable leads over senator bernie sanders. a big difference from new hampshire where he has led since this summer. high stakes as they prepare to take the stage for the very first democratic debate of this campaign. high stakes but today senator sanders suggested keeping the dialogue on a higher plain.

>> let's treat each other civilly. let's treat each other respectfully. and let's not try to demonize people who may have disagreements with us. >> civil? maybe. but sharp, definitely. the 74-year-old self-proclaimed democratic socialist has gone out of his way to draw contrasts with the front runner. contrasts being a loaded word that means vote for me, not her. >> i know what i stand for. hillary clinton knows what she stands for. let's have that debate. >> sanders has yet to do a mock debate, but today for the first time he practiced hypothetical exchanges with the other candidates and moderator. hillary clinton has been practicing with heavyweight washington lawyer bob barnett playing the role of bernie sanders. she took a break to celebrate her 40th wedding anniversary, and -- >> you never sweat like physically -- >> and have some fun with buzzfeed podcasters. >> you guys are the first to realize that i'm really not even

a human being. i was constructed in a garage in palo alto. >> as for the man they all want to replace, president obama gave his most complete answer yet on the lingering e-mail questions surrounding his former secretary of state. >> she made a mistake. she's acknowledged it. i do think that the way it's been ginned up it in part because of politics. >> and as for the elephant in the room, or more specifically the vice president not in the room, vice president joe biden consulted with family over the weekend but no leaks from the white house. >> i'm going to let joe make that decision. i mean what i say. i think joe will go down as one of the finest vice presidents in history. >> all right. tonight a new endorsement for senator bernie sanders. keith ellison, democratic congressman from minnesota, african-american, one of two muslims in congress, he has come out in support of sanders. the second member of congress over the last several days to

endorse sanders of arizona endorsed him on friday. so two members backing bernie sanders. of course the clinton team says they have more than 100 members of congress backing her. wolf. >> all right. thanks very much, john berman with that report. republican hopefuls may take some time out from their constant attacks on one another to watch the democrats go at it. let's go to our political reporter sara murray. sara, donald trump is already sounding off about this showdown tomorrow night. what's he saying? >> reporter: that's right, wolf. all eyes will be on the democrats tomorrow. and that includes donald trump's. he says he's going to be tuning in for the debate. here's what he had to say. >> i'm not rooting for anybody. i just want to see what they have to say. there are a lot of bad ideas out there, but i want to see what they have to say. i think it's going to be interesting to see. you have three of them that are, you know, registered very low. but i think it's going to be interesting for at least the first ten minutes. >> now, trump said he'd be

willing to go up against any one of those democrats on stage, but because he's not in the debate like you heard him there, he's probably only going to tune in for the first ten minutes, wolf. >> sara, how will republicans try to capitalize on this democratic debate? >> reporter: well, i think we can expect to hear a lot from the republicans war rooms tomorrow night sort of contrasting their stances with the democrats. i'm sure we're going to see a number of candidates fund raising off of that. we could even see some tweets if donald trump is inspired. but you have to remember the candidates will be right back on the trail on wednesday. half a dozen republicans have events planned, so i'm sure we will get their take on the debate very quickly that next morning, wolf. >> all right. sara, thank you. for more on what we should be looking for in this first democratic presidential debate let's bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger, senior political correspondent brianna keilar and our cnn political commentator michael smirconish. you're getting what bernie sanders strategy might be going into this debate. >> sanders' people say he's not

going to go out there and attack hillary clinton. that he's going to wait for her to attack him. clinton people -- >> pretty much the same. >> right. but i'm told what he's really going to emphasize is something they're calling the rigged economy, which is that all the money in this country goes to the very wealthy few and held in place by a corrupt political campaign finance system that only makes it worse. he's going to continue to talk about the consistency of his views as compared to hillary clinton of course. we'll talk about climate change. and if she says to him, you know, your proposals sound great, bernie, but they're not really realistic. he's going to say back to her, you know what, they need to be realistic. we need to figure out a way to do this because we need a revolution in this country. >> what are you hearing, brianna, about hillary clinton's strategy going into this debate? >> one of the big strategies for hillary clinton, i'm told by a senior aide, is really to cut through the politics. we've seen hillary clinton in the last few months, these early

months of her campaign so much of it has been this sort of slog for her of dealing with the e-mails and the server. and that's something she wants to move past. we've heard her sort of go on the apology tour. and now she wants to seize this moment with so many eyes watching in this debate and talk more about the issues and make an impression on that instead of these other things that she has been talking about. i do think -- and to the point whether she will attack bernie sanders or not, we don't really expect that. at least maybe if her views she feels are misrepresented she could do that, but she hasn't at times even talked about him by name. i think we'll continue to see her do that. but one issue where i do think she's going to try to draw a big contrast is on guns, especially with them being so in the news at this moment in time with the school shooting a couple weeks ago. bernie sanders of course at one point voted to restrict gun violence victims from suing gun manufacturers. this is a key point of hillary

clinton's gun measure that she just unveiled last week. and i really expect that we're going to hear her talking about that. >> suspect you're right. michael, there's no doubt that with this debate there's a new phase in the democratic contest. >> well, there is. and to put it in some context, think about the fact that in the last cycle where we had competition among democrats, 2008, by this stage there had been a dozen or so face-offs. this is the first. so it's a total reset. we've all been paying very close attention. but i think for the american people it's probably the first time that they're truly focused and looking in. so it's an opportunity for all of these candidates to distinguish themselves from one another in a way that up until now they haven't had that chance. >> my own suspicion, gloria, it's going to be a lot more lively than a lot of people think. because three of the other candidates, lesser known candidates, this might be their last chance to show themselves that they are credible democratic presidential candidates. >> the strategy is, what do i have to lose? >> nothing to lose. >> i don't have anything to lose. so jim webb who's unpredictable to begin with, right?

i mean, who knows what he's going to do. lincoln chafee, same amount of unpredictability. and martin o'malley, we know he's going to run to the left of hillary clinton. but the other two candidates can just sort of inject some issues that maybe bernie sanders doesn't want to take on hillary directly, but they have no problem doing that. i wouldn't think. and then perhaps bernie sanders would join in. >> all right, guys, standby for a moment. we're going to have a lot more coming up including president obama's national security foreign policy record. how much will that hover over this presidential debate here in las vegas? we're live here at the wynn hotel. we'll be right back. people don't have to think about

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we're counting down to the first democratic presidential debate right here on cnn. hillary clinton will be front and center right next to senator bernie sanders. the other three democratic candidates are hoping tomorrow's debate will be their big chance to break through. and even though the vice president joe biden won't be here in las vegas, he's hovering on the sidelines no doubt will be felt by all the candidates. let's bring back gloria borger,

brianna keilar. he was asked about hillary clinton's e-mail server on cbs. listen to what he said. >> she made a mistake. she's acknowledged it. i do think the way it's been ginned up is in part because of politics. and i think she'd be the first to acknowledge that, you know, maybe she could have handled the original decision better. and the disclosures more quickly. >> so, brianna, how's that going to play out tomorrow night on the stage? >> i do think for hillary clinton i think this is a good thing, especially in that the president also said she didn't pose a national security risk, so she's got some backup there. he's also repeating some of what she said. but what took a long time, wolf, for her to come to i think that apology and that she's going to continue to explain to the american people. i think this is him in a way sort of keeping her on track with that as her strategy going forward. but i also think that something you're going to see perhaps hillary clinton focus more on

and certainly her campaign focus more on is the congressional staffer to the benghazi committee who is no longer a part of the committee, the research and everything on that end, and that he said it has really been a bit of a partisan hunt. so i think that's something the campaign thinks works more to their advantage as they try to push away from some of the politics involving her e-mail server and her use of a private e-mail. >> gloria, the president did get a bit testy in that interview when he was asked about his foreign policy, national security leadership, listen to this. >> if you think running your economy into the ground and having to send troops in order to prop up your only ally, his leadership, then we've got a different definition of leadership. >> he was talking about russia's strategy in syria. >> yeah. >> but everything as far as the president's national security issues could impact on hillary.

>> absolutely. >> she was secretary of state for four years. >> and she has been distancing herself to a degree, wolf. you heard her on syria. she already wrote in her book that she was for arming the syrian rebels. now she's for a no-fly zone in syria. you saw the president the other day kind of swatter and say it's different when you're a presidential candidate than when you're sitting in the oval office. so you see the distance opening up. remember, it was hillary clinton who famously pressed the reset button literally with russia. i think that will come back to haunt her if she's the general election nominee. >> the republicans, michael, certainly believe hillary clinton will be the democratic presidential nominee, the rnc, republican national committee already putting out this ad in advance of the debate entitled stop hillary. >> please join me in welcoming hillary rodham clinton. >> used her personal e-mail account to conduct official busine business. >> not really working out well. >> potential catastrophic --

>> taking millions of dollars from foreign governments. >> what difference at this point does it make? >> it's par for the course for the clintons. they're always a little bit secretive. >> so, michael, does this represent a new phase in the republican strategy against hillary clinton? they assume she's going to be the nominee. >> i think the gop feels it has to do this with regard to secretary clinton because nobody on that stage can be relied upon to do it. think of the contrast between the republican primary caucus process thus far and where we are with the ds, the type of snieping, the type of contrast with the candidates the way they went after each other at the reagan library. this debate i'd be shocked if we saw any of that. the republican party can't count on the negatives to be kept alive by her opponents. they feel they've got to do it themselves. >> it's going to be a lively session, i believe. we'll see what happens tomorrow night. coming up, the stunning way senator bernie sanders and

donald trump sometimes actually wind up sounding exactly alike. >> real unemployment is not what you read in the newspapers once a month. that's the official unemployment rate which is now around 5%. >> you know, the statistic of 5.4% it's a phony statistic. doesn't mean anything. >> they spoke to the same group today. we'll have more examples when we come back. big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars.

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our roads are falling apart. our bridges, our tunnels, our airports. >> our roads, bridges, water systems, waste water plants, our airports, in many ways our infrastructure is crumbling. >> we have to create jobs. we have to take jobs back from all of these countries that are ripping us. >> we need trade policies which create jobs in america, not just china or vietnam.

>> secure social security they have to do it. people have a contract. >> we have got to figure out how we can extend the life of social security. >> all right. so who'd thought donald trump and senator bernie sanders would sound so much alike on this day? both men spoke to the no labels problem solvers convention in new hampshire, although senator sanders wasn't there in person because he's getting ready for the democratic presidential debate here in las vegas. he spoke remotely via video satellite. i'm joined by three of our political kmem political commentators, ana navarro, friend of marco rubio, supporter of jeb bush, van jones was a special adviser to president obama as well. bernie sanders, dan, who would have thought they're both sounding very much alike and trying to both run as outsiders. and it seems from their respective perspectives it's working. >> i think cnn just cut a very effective attack ad for the bush

campaign on donald trump. i think it's unfair to compare donald trump and bernie sanders. bernie sanders is someone with a lot of government experience. he's running as an anti-establishment candidate. he's not running to offend every group he can find. he's running a presidential campaign. i will say in this set of clips you have here that the things they said every politician should be saying. improve our infrastructure, pro job policies, et cetera. that's the heart of the economic policy. >> we didn't mention the hedge fund guys. donald trump doesn't like hedge fund guys. bernie sanders doesn't like hedge fund guys. ana. >> well, wolf, you know given donald trump used to be a democrat i'm not surprised they sound a lot alike. i think dan is right. yeah, they've got some things in common. they're both white men from, you know, who live on the east coast. but, you know, i think they are

very different candidate. bernie sanders has been running for office and has been in office for decades. he's not an outsider. he's an outsider within the inside. donald trump is an outsider. >> having said that, donald trump acknowledges he boasts he's a capitalist. bernie sanders on the other hand doesn't consider himself a capitalist. he considers himself a democratic socialist. there's a major difference. >> right. and you know what, you would have thought that would be just completely disqualifying. you say i'm a socialist especially in a country like this. but you look at the numbers it turns out half of americans say they would never work for socialists but 45% say they would. you're about half and half on socialism in america. that's bizarre. he may have tapped into something there. under 30 they say 36% say they like socialism, 39% say they like capitalism. so you're neck and neck on capitalism and socialism with the young people. so it's weird, but you actually have not knocked him out with the label.

i think what you're seeing is his ideology is not popular, sanders, but his ideas are popular. and something happening where you would have thought that a bigoted billionaire could get anywhere, something's happening where these labels just don't matter as much. >> interesting the group no labels that was the group they were speaking to earlier today. both sanders and hillary clinton they seem at least recently to try to distance themselves on sensitive issues from president obama. is that a smart strategy? >> i think each candidate needs to chart their own course for how they would be president. but the path to the democratic nomination runs through barack obama supporters. he has an 87% approval rating among democrats. and for any democrat who wants to win the white house the key is you have to be able to mobilize the obama coalition. the people who came in in 2008 and 2012 for president obama sat out in 2014. so, you're going to need to run with obama, if you beat any democrat runs against obama will

lose this election. >> do you agree? >> i think it's a very delicate balance. on the one hand you don't want to be seen as apresidencpreside would be a challenge for hillary clinton and also for joe biden should he get in. for hillary clinton's purposes she needs to run away from things like tpp if she's expecting to get the democrat nomination. >> take a look at these numbers. this is our newest cnn/orc poll in south carolina. van, bernie sanders, he trails hillary clinton among african-americans. look at this. without joe biden in the race she would get 84% among the blacks supporting hillary clinton. he would only get 7%. >> he's getting destroyed with black voters by hillary clinton. >> why is that? >> i'll tell you why. it's because the clintons -- we don't say hillary clinton, bill clinton, we say the clintons.

they have been there. you can imagine hillary clinton in a black church. hard to imagine bernie sanders would know what to do in a black church. that long relationship is there. but he does have room to grow especially if he focuses on these criminal justice issues. these issues that are really mobilized and motivated these younger african-american voters and their allies. if he comes in hard on criminal justice reform where hillary clinton was not there until recently, he may be able to grow. but he's going to have to grow. >> one thing bernie sanders does have in common with donald trump, the huge crowds that come out to see him 30,000, 20,000, it's amazing what's been going on. people want to hear what bernie sanders, democrats want to hear what he has to say. >> it is amazing. when you see the images and pictures come out on twitter of just a sea of people showing up in all sorts of places, everywhere boston to oregon, it really is amazing. and i think that, you know, he's been able to galvanize great enthusias enthusiasm. the question is how will he translate across the tv screen

to the millions of people that will be watching tomorrow night? it's a very different mode and we'll see how -- >> we're going to pick up that thought, guys. standby. also coming up, she's a decade younger than her husband and could be a secret weapon for him. you're going to meet jane sanders, the senator's wife, his adviser and possible -- possible if he gets his way, the first lady of the united states.

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we're here in las vegas. we're counting down to the first democratic presidential debate. we're getting ready. we're here at the wynn hotel. everyone certainly knows hillary clinton's husband is the former president bill clinton. senator bernie sanders also is married to a very politically savvy spouse. let's get some more on this woman from cnn's sunlen serafaty. >> very hands on in this campaign. she's 64 years old. she's much younger than her husband who is 74. she shares an office with him at their campaign headquarters. travels to nearly every campaign event, is included in senior staff meetings. and right now she is with a thick briefing book of her own helping her husband prepare for tomorrow's debate. jane sanders' campaign job is unofficial, but her role is critical. >> anything that bernie needs. basically throughout his career he'll pull me in and say i need

this new area that i need some research on. or i need you to go change my airline tickets. >> her influence extends well beyond support. it's usually focused on substance. >> i've always been very interested in policy and always doing a lot of research and thinking and writing. so we have a -- we have that kind of a relationship where we really discuss things. i offer advice all the time on almost anything. and he'll say, okay, good. and then i'll know when he goes up to give a speech or he's in a debate whether or not he agreed or not. >> she actively participates in internal meetings, hashing out policy positions, giving him political advice in the toughest moments. when black lives matter protesters took over at sanders campaign event in august, it was jane who stepped up on stage, whispered in his ear directing him how to diffuse the moment. in his message when asked about

her potential future as first lady. >> you are vying in a way for the same job as bill clinton. >> i think they're both tremendous. they've done a lot in terms of public service. i think what we're trying to do is move the country in a more progressive way. >> their love story has roots in politics. >> jane and i have been married for 27 years. all right. i don't know how she did it. i really don't. tough lady. >> they first met in 1981 in burl burlington, vermont, at his victory party the night he won his mayoral race. she was an activist involved in local politics. he hired her in his office and they fell in love. seven years later they were married with four children all from each of their previous marriages they now have seven grandchildren. over the years she's remained engaged in policy focusing on education, working in his congressional office at times and was a former president at

burlington college. >> i have a background that really is very people-oriented. what i bring always is the human factor. >> and while she may be her husband's top sounding board, it is very clear that she intends to make some noise of her own if she becomes first lady. she revealed to us that she'd focus on k through 12 education as part of her platform, wolf. that's of course if they move to the white house. >> sunlen serfaty, thanks very much. let's get back to ana navarro, dan pfeiffer. your reaction to this woman jane sanders, obviously intelligence, good wife but also good adviser. >> wolf, i had the chance to meet her during the pope's visit at the white house. this woman is terrific. she is a secret weapon. she is grounded. she is disarmingly nice. she's engaging. she's smart. she knows her stuff. and she is a complete and absolute supporter of her husband. i'm glad we did this piece. i think we need to talk more about her because she is part of

the secret weapon in the artillery that has -- that bernie sanders has. >> and as you well remember, dan pfeiffer, at this point eight years ago a lot of people didn't think michelle obama was going to be the first lady of the united states, did they? >> no, absolutely not. it was up until the october debate where barack obama finally broke out and made his run. so for all the trouble that you see for bernie sanders in the recent polls today, look, he's a long shot but long shots have won before. barack obama's case and point. >> how important is a spouse? i'm talking about bill clinton. he's a spouse as well to a presidential candidate. >> i think it's part of the package. it goes to the judgment. i think in the minds of voters, you know, who you marry says a lot about who you are. you can't do anything about your parents. can't do anything about your sister or brother, you can do something about who you marry. i think it goes to judgment. also, sometimes you need that person to step up and take a bullet for you. hillary clinton when she was in the spouse role she took some bullets for bill clinton, probably saved his career. certainly michelle obama is probably more popular than the president. >> i might remind you of that you can't do anything about your

brother line later in this election. >> i don't have any brothers. >> we don't know if bill clinton is going to be here tomorrow night to watch this debate in person, do we? >> i have not heard that. >> let's see if he shows up. guys, thank very much. coming down, we're counting down to the democratic presidential debate. cnn is using its global resources to follow other important news as well. coming up, the u.s. drops tons of ammunition to so-called moderate syrian rebels, but will it end up in the hands of isis fighters? plus, why the u.s. suspects iran may have just violated an important u.n. resolution. do you know the secret to a happy home in these modern times? it's a housewife who's in control of the finances. actually, any wife, husband, or human person can use progressive's name your price tool to take control of their budget. and while the men do the hard work of making money, she can get all the car insurance options her little heart desires.

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we're counting down to tomorrow night's cnn democratic presidential debate. we're also following some other important news right now. u.s. aircraft they've just dropped 50 tons of ammunition to rebel groups in syria. that follows the failure of the u.s. training program. and it comes as u.s.-backed groups are now under fire by russian warplanes. president obama is under fire himself for his policy on syria and isis. repeatedly challenged by an interview he strongly defending his efforts. let's go to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, this conflict seems to be growing more difficult by the day. >> indeed, wolf. people in turkey the latest victims. an important u.s. ally, the government there says they believe they know who is responsible for the attack against their people. it was all caught on camera.

bombs killing at least 97 people and wounding nearly 250 at a peace rally in ankara, turkey. the turkish prime minister saying his government suspects isis is behind it. russian president vladimir putin offering his condolences to the turks and taking a swipe at the obama administration. >> translator: let them name for us the specific places where terrorists are hiding, where their headquarters and warehouses with weapons and equipment are, give us the targets. >> but russian-backed attacks finding their own targets. mostly far from isis in the latest clashes in northwest syria. anti-regime forces and civilians targeted with more than 500 missiles and hundreds of shells according to an observer group. cnn could not independently verify the video.

president obama adamant on cbs's "60 minutes" that putin's moves into syria were closely watched. >> we knew that he was planning to provide the military assistance that assad was needing because they were with the help of anti tank missiles like these. missiles many reports say were provided through the cia. 50 tons of ammunition, a boost to the pentagon's program to arm other anti isis rebel groups and drones operated by the special u.s. operations command flying over syria looking for isis leader and other top operatives. the head of special operations general joe votel in an

exclusive interview said drones are one crucial tool to get more intelligence about isis. >> we carefully study what isis does and purport through ideology and gives us good understanding of that organization. >> now the iraqi government announced over the weekend it believed it killed him in a raid inside iraq. u.s. officials said however that did not appear to be the case. wolf? >> all right. barbara, thank you. meanwhile, an american journalist accused of espionage has been convicted by an iranian court and could face a 20-year prison sentence. all of this follows a u.s.-led agreement that could curb iran's nuclear program and ease sanctions. jim, american officials can't be very happy about this iranian

missile launch. >> no question, wolf. in fact, an administration official tells me the launch of a surface to surface ballistic missile is a likely violation of existing un security counsel resolutions that ban iran from ballistic missile activity. administration saying this is not a violation of the nuclear agreement announced in july. that focused on preventing iran from getting a nuclear weapon and also just to add to the complication here. there is a new un resolution that is yet to take effect and there is some debate whether that resolution might allow a little more wiggle room for ballistic missile tests by iran. that's still a subject of debate, but this test this weekend, administration saying a likely violation of the existing un security counsel resolutions. >> what are you hearing about the conviction of the washington post journalist, jason r .

>> the word changing to conviction, that's cue because it would say that it seems to say that the court has decided that he is guilty. the trouble is he's facing more than one charge including espionage, all the charges viewed by the state department in their words as absurd but i spoke to his brother today and he said they do want resolution. at some point there is going to be resolution to this case and if it is a conviction, then that at least gives him the opportunity to appeal the conviction and to be clear when that statement came out from iran yesterday they noted it can be appealed with the family really wants is to move this process along. there is a discussion of a possible swap of prisoners. jason rezaian convicted of

crimes including armed smuggling but that's not been confirmed, neither government speaking openly about who would be involved in any exchange. >> well, the iranians have thrown out, at least they hinted at this possible swap. iranians held in u.s. prison for exchange of americans being held. what are u.s. officials saying? >> they aren't saying as you say president rohani mentioned this. we know in the past this happened sometimes quietly, sometimes unawe nosmes unawe nus sometimes unawe nonannounced. so it is a possible way to get jason rezaian, other americans held there and of course, the open question as to what's happened to robert levinson, four americans held in iran or missing in iran today. >> all right. jim sciutto reporting for us. thanks very, very much. coming up, as the clock

ticks down to the democratic presidential debate, new polls suggest hillary clinton is on a lucky streak now but her rivals are hoping to narrow the odds. did the democratic leadership disinvite a key democratic lawmaker from the debate? i'll speak live to an iraq war veteran when we come back. i have type 2 diabetes.

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we figure you probably don't have time to wait on hold. that's why at xfinity we're hard at work, building new apps like this one that lets you choose a time for us to call you. so instead of waiting on hold, we'll call you when things are just as wonderful... [phone ringing] but a little less crazy. we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. happening now, hillary clinton's gamble, the democratic presidential front runner

preprpr prepares for a verbal battle. can she put to rest concerns about her candidacy and seal the deal or will her closest rival bernie sanders steal her spotlight? trump's shadow, donald trump's domination of the gop contest continues? but today he finds himself in front of an audience and big problem, tough talk and persona may not be playing as well. can trump convince them he's a consensus builder. a democratic congressman says her invitation to the debate was revoked because she criticized the dnc. democratic officials are denying it. she joins me live to talk about the controversy. and provocative, an iranian ballistic test. we want to welcome our

viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're counting down to the cnn democratic presidential debate. the first face-off between the candidates battling for their party's nomination. hillary clinton is the woman to beat tomorrow night. polls are showing her with a strong lead in over two key states but a controversy. congresswoman of the national democratic committee says she was disinvited after calling for more debates, something the dnc is denying. we'll talk about that and more. we're also following the provocative missile launch by iran hours before the country's parliament approved a deal with western nations. sources are telling cnn that launch likely violated a resolution banning ballistic

missile tests by iran. we're covering that with correspondents, expert analysts and special guests. and we're also live at the hotel here in los angeles where hillary clinton and bernie sander wills share the stage with martin o'malley and jim web and former rhode island senator. they and their teams are making final preparations and so is cnn as we prepare to host this first democratic presidential contest. brianna keilar joins me. we're getting a new sense of the candidate strategies. >> hillary clinton's team hoping she can cut through the politics but she has been preparing in earnest with lawyers who have been involved in other debate preparations, for instance, president obama. these lawyers are playing the roles of bernie sanders and martin o'malley but to talk to

the bernie sanders camp, he isn't as engaged. there is always expectations management that goes into this. he has been to hear his camp tell it, studying up on the issues and just starting to practice what they are referring to as 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 shows her over sanders by 16 points and the spread bigger in south carolina. clinton leads sanders by 13 points and the vermont senator sees an ability to draw contrast. >> i don't get into personal attacks. there will be differences of opinion. that's what that election is about. >> sunday on nbc, sanders tried out one of his main debating points, clinton is late to

positions he always supported like her opposition to a trade deal she backed as secretary of state. >> people have to contrast my consistency and willingness to stand up to the washington corporations, big corporations. >> 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 kale frcame from b after this moment went viral. >> i just don't want to see us fall backwards. >> she spoke about it. >> 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. >> tuesday night the five democratic contenders will take the stage in las vegas for the lesser known candidates like martin o'malley, the debate is a chance to find support that has so far eluded them but one of the biggest challengers to clinton and sanders won't be there. vice president joe biden is 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 and wrestling with these issues, i'm sure that for him he's saying to himself, i can do a really good job. >> you can see why the poll numbers in this new poll particularly in south carolina really plays towards hillary clinton's advantage but also why her camp is so concerned about what joe biden is going to decide. she gets at this point 59% of the crucial black vote in south carolina. you pull joe biden out of the race and pops all the way up, wolf, to 84% of the black vote she gets compared to bernie sanders. it's no contest. >> he's not well-known. much better in new hampshire. all right. brianna, thanks very much. let's get more on the political drama that will unfold tomorrow night. john berman is with us. you've been doing reporting.

what can we expect to see? >> these candidates working hard to deliver their message in a concise but forceful way. one-minute responses to the questions, 30-second rebuttals if they get called out by other candidates by name. now, this campaign, this debate will be a little different than the last one. there will be facebook questions. people can post questions and go to facebook.com and post questions there and might get asked by don lemon asking the facebook questions to the candidates themselves. an enormous amount of work has gone into this debate but our colleagues. 150 people working in that debate hall, 10,000 person hours, 150 moving lights. 10 to 15 miles of cable to pull this off, not to mention 16 cameras in that room and for these candidates, they will be speaking to the cameras, not the 1300 people in the room but to the cameras because this is their first real chance to speak to the wide national audience and the first time to draw

specific contrast with the other four candidates will be on that stage with them. >> because the suspicion is that four of those candidates will go after hillary clinton the clear front runner right now. >> that's one of the questions. bernie sanders has said he wants to take the discussion to a higher plain. i'll talk about me and my ideas. when you talk about contrast, contrast is another word for vote for me, not for the other person. contrast can sometimes get sharp. >> certainly can. john berman will be with us for the duration. for the republicans, republican candidates including donald trump were joined by some gop and democratic rivals at a bipartisan conference trying to end washington gridlock. sarah murray is there in manchester new hampshire. sarah, this wasn't the kind of crowd that normally shows up for donald trump, was it? >> well, you're absolutely right. instead of a room full of adoring fans, this is a critical

crowd of new hampshire voters and donald trump sounded his most bipartisan tone, he still faced a number of combative questions. donald trump trying out a new style today, consensus builder. >> the world compromise is absolutely fine but if you're going to compromise, ask for about three times more than you want. >> speaking at an event hosted by no labels, trump tauted his business deals. facing doubts that an expert in hurling insults can reach across the isle. >> i'm wondering if you're concerned the language you use on the campaign trail undermines your ability to solve problems. >> i have to say what i do. i want to ivy league schools. i know what's dis and what is not. i don't want to necessarily be politically correct. >> again today trump confronting questions 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? [ applause ] [ cheers ] >> 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. >> the event drawing democratic candidates, martin o'malley, bernie sanders and joe web c, absent hillary clinton. 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. think our country has nothing but problems. >> 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 it would be a good president for him when 75% of the hispanic community

disapproves of the canadidacy a a republican, you're in trouble. >> chris christ ty taking aim. >> how about they just do something? >> now all eyes will be on the democrats tonight and those include donald trump. he says he will tune in for the debate but he's only going to do it for a little bit because he won't be on stage, wolf? >> sarah murray in new hampshire for us, thanks very much. let's dig deeper on this joining us our senior political correspondent and donna brazil and kevin madden. donna, you say this will be a clash of ideas tomorrow night, not necessarily personalities. what ideas will cause the most fireworks among these five democrats? >> first of all, i'm looking forward to a real substantive policy debate because democrats tend to create platforms so yes,

no question on change, trade, education, criminal justice reform. democrats have been foster care. i looked at policy papers and they covered the textbook -- >> do they disagree on the sensitive issues or basically agree? >> agree on the premise that yes, we have a problem, climate change is a good example. republicans are denying it exists but different approaches of how to achieve their goals. so you'll see more differences in terms of their approach to how to get things done as opposed to a clash of personalities or just having what i call a justify each other. >> what advice would you give hillary clinton when one an date, whether martin o'malley or bernie sanders go after her. what should her strategy be? >> that's a big question whether or not when her opponents start to get aggressive and draw

either implied contrast or direct contrast, does she engage or does she sort of kind of pivot? i expect that what we'll see is she will pivot. i don't think she thinks there is anything to gain with an attack or counter attack. instead, how do i pivot and make this about hillary clinton aligning herself with the voters on the issues? we've heard the clinton people and as a republican, i picked this up. hil hillary is at her best fighting for issues. >> if one of these candidates attacks her and she doesn't respond, she looks weak. >> that's right. that's one of the rules of debates, which is if you're not on offense, you're losing. but i think rather than going directly at her opponents, she has to make this look like its an attack on democrat ideals and align herself and pivot. she'll do as much talking about

republicans as she does her opponents on stage. >> that's one of the strengths of donald trump, brianna because when he's attacked, he counts punches right away and hits hard and it's very very effective on the republican side. we'll see if hillary clinton follows his lead and i assume she'll be attacked tomorrow night. how is she preparinpreparing? >> working with lawyers who have been big in other debate prep sessions with other candidates like president obama. i think what she's really trying to get out of this, this is what a top clinton campaign aid told me is to cut through the politics. they don't want a big fight. some of her instincts are to counter punch but they don't want a big fight, so i think what she's going to try to do is reframe some of what she may feel are characterizations that don't serve her purposes. wolf, i think it was mike tyson who said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.

you never really know until you've really are facing someone who really does take a punch how you're going to respond. i think that could be the case tomorrow night. >> yeah, i think martin o'malley hits her or jim web hits her, lincoln, maybe sanders will be a gentleman but these other three have nothing to lose. they will hit her and she has to make major decision to punch back or turn the cheek. >> i'm not one to use boxing metaphors a lot in terms of hitting someone but i do know this about hillary clinton, she's battle tested. she knows the issues. she's principle, prague mtell t american people you've been listening to folks talk about my e-mails but tonight i'm going to talk to you. >> the rnc, kevin, put out another ad not telling us the truth and are convinced hillary clinton will be the democratic nominee and are not putting out

a ads. let me play a little clip. >> i did not e-mail any classified material to anyone. >> the federal government watchdog determined there was classified information. >> did in fact contain classified information. >> total whack of accountability. my problems have nothing to do with me. >> they are playing it off as a partisan winch hunt. >> you have the fbi. >> those are not partisan organizations. >> you think the american public is that stupid? >> the republican national committee is responsible for the content of this advertising. >> they put that ad out today, the rnc. >> this is something we're going to see more of and we've seen a lot of it to this point. the republican campaigns and rnc as well see this as probably hillary clinton's most vulnerable issue right now, the issue of whether or not she's trustworthy and the issue whether she's being straight with the american people.

every single time there is an opportunity when the focus is on the democrats to drive that message because you're right, wolf, we're not exactly preparing for bernie sanders for the nominee as much as he had a boom in recent months. republicans expect hillary clinton will be the nominee and this frame is probably the most effective. >> how effective, don, is it? >> the only thing keeping the republican party together is hillary clinton. if we talk about the party itself, that falls apart. look, i don't know if that's an effective ad but they have no other strategy at this point but to tear down hillary clinton and that's only going to backfire. >> you know, we just found out here in las vegas and we were asking will bill clinton be here with his wife for this debate tomorrow night? we've seen he has arrived here in las vegas. we saw him getting off a plane with the campaign chairman for hillary clinton. there is the plane. so bill clinton is here.

i assume he's going to stay for tomorrow night. he's obviously within the democratic party and outside the democratic party. he's going to be a huge asset for her, brianna. >> and he's someone who she sort of brings out selectively when she needs help. he's someone in the past at times has not always helped her but there is a feeling he really carry as message better than a lot of democrats, which when he's really on, i think republicans, democrats, that's something you would definitely be able to say but i also think he certainly, they have a relationship where they are talking about sort of this debate moving forward and the key for hillary clinton as her campaign sees it is to cut through the politics. she knows this is a slog here for months with the focus on the e-mails and they feel that her message and that her merits have been lost in that and they really want to move past this and see this as a big chance to do this. >> this will be a huge, huge moment in the race for the

democratic presidential nomination. we'll see what happens. stand by as we countdown to the first democratic presidential debate. cnn is hosting it here at the wynn hotel and top party official who says she was disinvited, representative, there was something that happen that we'll discuss. she was supposed to be here with us in las vegas. she's in honolulu right now. we'll tell you why.

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joining us from honolulu. you were supposed to be here and all of a sudden, you're still in hawaii. >> thanks, wolf. aloha, good to talk with you and your viewers today. as you know, i've been pretty vocal about calling out for more debat debates. i've been calling for more debates to give the american people more opportunity to hear from presidential candidates and hold them accountable for views and positions because that differentiated from the decision the chairwoman made from the dnc. i was told that i was no longer welcome to come to the debate. >> so debbie schultz, the chair of the dnc what you're saying is she ordered one of her aides to call up your staffer and say don't come? is that what happened? >> there was a conversation between her chief and my chief. debbie's chief called mine and basically spoke about an interview i had had talking

about the need and the call that the american people are having for more debates, for democracd, for increasing the engagement we need in our society as we look to see who will lead our country into the future. and the prevailing message of that was because i continued to call for more debates that i should not go to the debate there in las vegas but really, wolf, that's the issue here. the issue here is not about me saying boohoo i'm going to miss the party, the issue is one of democra democracy, freedom of speech and defending that which so many have sacrificed and given their lives for. >> have you called debbie schultz, a congresswoman, the chair of the dnc? >> you know, i reached out to her after i got that message and didn't really get much of a response from her directly. she said she would talk about it in person but the message this

her chief delivered to mine stood. the thing that i'd really like to focus on, though, is not one of personalities. it really is one of the issue at stake here, which is about democracy, it's about how our democratic party should actually represent democratic values. wolf, i just came from this punch bowl national cemetery of the pacific where i had the privilege of honor of being promoted from captain to the rank of major by the hawaii army national guard and being there in that place, being reminded of the sacrifice so many have made, some people who i have known and so many who came before us fighting for freedom, fighting for democracy. this is why i feel so strongly about this, each of us, whether you served in the military or not should be standing up and speaking for what is right and for the strength of our democracy. >> the dnc put out a statement spokeswoman holly saying all

that was asked of ms. gabbard's staff was to prioritize our candidates and this important opportunity they have to introduce themselves to the american people and went on suggesting that you should just keep on the positive and not talk about what you may disagree with the party chair on and you were also quoted as seeing when i signed up to be vice chair of the dnc, no one told me i would be relink wishing my freedom of speech and checking it at the door. those are strong words on your part. >> those comments were not the comments that i got from my chief of staff from that conversation. but i can think of nothing more positive to talk about than the strength of our democracy. the strength of the freedoms that we cherish and we celebrate here in our country and calling for more opportunities for the american people to be able to hear from those who are offering to lead our country into the future. we've got some very important huge challenges that are facing

our country today that are taking us into the future, domestic issues, national security issues and the american people deserve more opportunities to hear from those who are asking them to hire them to be president, to be commander in chief. >> could you see yourself being chair of the dnc? >> that's not a job that i'm interested in and that's not what this is about. this is about making sure that our party and making sure that our country represents the democratic ideals that i feel so strongly about and that so many have served to fight and defend. >> bernie sanders' campaign manager said on cnn earlier today, they have a ticket, seat for you if you still want to fly over here to las vegas for the debate. would you like to take them up on it? >> yeah, you know, i'm grateful to senator sanders for offering to give me a ticket to the debate. i politely declined to accept

because i think if i were to do that then this would turn into a political conversation, rather than a conversation about our principles, our democratic principles and ideals as a country and really what i think is most important for us to be focused on. >> why is the party leadership, the dnc so fearful of having more debates? they have only scheduled six so far. why are they so scared of that? >> i can't speak for anybody else, wolf. but i think the more we have these debates, the more opportunity that we have to increase the conversation to really forward the goals of the democratic party to increase democratic engagement, to allow for this discourse between our presidential candidates and the american people so that we've got a very clear path and a clear idea of exactly who is offering to serve as president, what they represent, the kind of judgment that they will have on these important issues that we have going forward and frankly, whether or not the american

people will trust that person to be able to lead us into the future. >> all right. tulsi gabbard, stand by. we have much more to talk about including what is going on in syria right now. you're a veteran of the war in iraq. you're in the reserves and congratulations beiing promoted from captain to major on this day. much more from tulsi gabbard when we come back.

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we're back with democratic congresswoman tulsi gabbard and an iraq war combat veteran promoted today from captain to major in the army reserves. we want to talk to her about the twin suicide bombings at a peace rally in turkey whose government suspects isis is to blame. let's go to barbara starr. barbara, do the turks think they know more who was behind this horrible terror attack? >> horrible, indeed. 97 people in turkey killed. some 250 wounded. a terrible scene in the aftermath of this peace rally attack. the turkish government has not yet seen a formal claim of responsibility, but strongly believes at this point according

to a officials that isis is behind it. turkish officials saying earlier today the method of the attack, some of the things they saw and how the attack was carried out matches isis attacks that happened in turkey earlier this year. so a lot of concern and turkey and important nato ally, u.s. war planes flying over northern syria out of turkish air bases and looks like turkey has been hit very badly here, wolf. >> after that train program last week that was clearly a failure, you're learning about a new u.s. effort to arm the so-called moderate syrian rebels. >> yeah, wolf, overnight we know now that the u.s. air dropped some 50 tons of ammunition across that turkish border into northern syria to help out about 5,000 rebels in a coalition on the ground. these are rebels that are already fighting isis.

they were running out of ammunition. the u.s. made the decision to help them and continue to help them. the hope by the pentagon is this time it will work out because these rebels are fighting isis. the program that got cancelled. those were rebels interested in fighting the assad regime, wolf? >> barbara starr reporting for us. thank you. let's go to tulsi gabbard. congresswoman, in the interview the president gave to cbs, he said the russian president putin acknowledged that president putin was doing what he was doing in syria, that the u.s. knew what his intentions were and the u.s. was not caught off guard. is that your understanding, as well? >> wolf, there is so many different accounts of this of who knew what when and whether people were surprised. the real issue is what are we

doing? what's the strategy on the ground? that's what i find confusing. there is no clarity on who our enemy is in the united states and what kind of mission we're trying to accomplish. we're seeing this very contradictory statements saying that from administration saying they are going after isis but in the same token, they are allowing turkey to bomb the curcur kurds who are our most effective trous worthy ground allies. they are saying they are focused on getting rid of assad and directly and indirectly helping rebels made up of al qaeda and other islamic extremists groups including isis. people who are sworn enemies because they are working ocho over throw assad. there are so many issues with what is happening on the ground that i think have to be dealt with otherwise we're going to continue to see what we're seeing which is isis and islamic extremists groups getting

stronger and if assad is over thrown, then we're going to see the establishments of an islamic caliphate and a greater threat to the people there and people around the world than we've seen so far. >> so what would you like to hear these democratic candidates hear, hillary clinton, bernie sanders and others, what should they say on this sensitive issue? >> there is a lot of ground to cover here. i think a recognition. many if not all have called for a no fly zone in syria. that's something i agree with president obama on that it would be a very bad thing to do. i'm strongly opposed to a no fly zone because of what it would entail. this is where people should have to answer the question, are you willing to send american and coalition troops on the ground in syria to enforce a no fly zone? are you willing to have american planes and service members from our air force there enforcing that? if you think syria and russia

will allow a no fly zone and lay down and let this happen without fighting back, i think that's a big mistake. what we'll see is kicking off of a major conflict that folks who are advocating for have not clearly explained what are the after effects of this? there are so many other issues with the no fly zone, those proposing have not addressed that i think they should be put on the record to explain why they support it. >> hillary clinton supports the no fly zone. bernie sanders opposes it. that's one of the areas i'm sure will come up tomorrow night. tulsi gabbard, tanks for joining us. congratulations, hawaii army national guard. you've been promoted from captain to major on this day. thank you for your service. >> thanks so much, wolf. aloha. >> aloha to you, as well. we countdown to the first democratic presidential debate, you'll see it right here on cnn.

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we're here at the wynn hotel in las vegas counting down to the first democratic presidential debate tomorrow night hosted by cnn and an issue certain to come up is the controversy surrounding hillary clinton's vuse of private serve e-mail, a decision president obama said was a mistake. let's dig deeper. joining us is gloria borger and the national journal, our cong

rogers. gloria, here is the clip. this is what the president said about it while she served as secretary of state. he said this on cbs. >> did you know about hillary clinton's use of private e-mail server? >> no. >> while she was secretary of state? >> no. >> do you think it posed a national security problem? >> i don't think it posed a national security problem. i think it's a mistake she's acknowledged. i do think that the way its been ginned up is in part because of politics. >> is this going to be a huge issue at this debate tomorrow night? >> i don't think so because 68% of democrats, don't forget, this is a primary fight. 68% of democrats believe hillary clinton is honest and trustworthy. if you're another candidate on the stage with hillary clinton, you're not going to say you're dishonest or not trustworthy and remember when barack obama said

in 2008 she wasn't likable enough? that was a problem for obama. i think they are going to stay away from that. as for republicans in the general, absolutely. absolutely. >> mike rogers, you were chairman of the house committee. you agree it's not a real national security issue? >> i don't think you can say that until you have all mails. if they say that's the only server in the united states, if they say that, then that is a national security issue. it's too early to tell. the investigation needs to unfold and determine if there was cloassified information. >> you said this was an opportunity to regain trust and confidence. this will be an opportunity for her tomorrow night. >> to distinguish herself and remind people of the bone fieds, she's got vast experience, her worst critics would have to acre knowledge. to gloria's point, maybe jim

web, but not bernie sanders. they will leave that to the cnn questioners and hope that comes out. >> how smart is this relatively new strategy on certain sensitive issues distancing herself? >> there is a pattern on domestic issues positioning herself to his left when she's differentiating, herself to his right. no fly zone in syria. i'll be tougher on putin. i'll support the iran agreement but distrust and verify. look, that's the balance. you see a generational change. barack obama on domestic policy and this field is positioning themself to the left of barack obama. it's a general election issue maybe but in the primary it affects the nature of the coalition. >> i think she leaves herself open to the question of what do you believe in and what bernie sanders is going to talk about tomorrow night is his consistency on issues, you know, he always likes to say i believe

these things for 30 years. >> and they have caught up to him. he's been talking about minimum wage and infrastructure and income inequality and the nation is also in that place. >> that is a much same e safer argue the than e-mails against the backdrop of the staffers allegation on cnn this weekend and kevin mccarthy. it could appear you're doing the republicans bidding but this question of consistency and can you trust her to be in her commitments i think is a much safer ground for those democrats. >> let's talk about from the republican perspective, what would be her strategy going forward? >> she holds her lane tight enough it doesn't attract other candidates. her biggest concern is that question that comes from not necessarily a candidate but from one of the interviewers on something that she doesn't feel comfortable answering. she knows she's going to get the e-mail question. it has to happen. if they don't go after each

other, which you hear coming from the camps, maybe not a very exciting debate, really, for all the democrats. >> you never know what will happen from the candidates who have nothing to lose. >> well, jill webb or o'malley. >> how you score a zero on a poll, that's not a good day for a candidate. >> and three of the candidates don't have a lot to lose. they are scoring 0 or 1 or 2%. i suspect they will come out swinging at her and bernie sanders and that could make a lively debate. >> we hope so. >> please be sure to join us tomorrow night. much more on that and a lot else when we come back. (vo) what does the world run on? it runs on optimism. it's what sparks ideas. moves the world forward. invest with those who see the world as unstoppable. who have the curiosity to look beyond the expected

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but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. a long, simmering probe is suddenly starting to boil over right now. a former investigator on the benghazi committee said the republican-led panel is carrying out a politically motivated investigation targeting hillary clinton instead of the fact-finding mission for which it was created. our chief washington correspondent jake tapper talked to the man at the center of this new storm. >> reporter: bradley podliska at first blush seems an unlikely target of the wrath of his fo

former bosses. podliska is a self-described conservative republican who cons interned for the media center. >> i want to state for the record, i'm not trying to absolve hillary clinton from any wrongdoing. she'll have a lot of explaining to do. >> what do you think she needs to explain? >> unfortunately, aui'm not permitted to get into any more details than that. >> reporter: in march, podliska says that the investigation took a turn. the broader focus narrowed, he says. >> and i was told that things are now changed, that this was going to be termed an agency-cenric investigation. that they were going to focus on hillary clinton and the state department. i was focused on other agencies, other individuals, other organizations, that for the post-attack were responsible and i thought were culpable and should be held accountable for

what they had been doing. >> reporter: he had been investigating the intelligent agencies and the talking points. why they initially blamed the attacking incorrectly on an anti-muslim video. >> in june, i was meeting 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 was representative jim jordan. i had worked very closely with representative jordan. i will say he's an honest, decent, trustworthy man. he was willing to investigate any organization, any individual, any agency as long as he could find the truth for the victims' families. >> reporter: but now podliska is threatening to sue his family for firing him for taking 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 hillary clinton during his counseling for deficient performance or when he was terminated. the committee says he has demanded money from the committee. the committee has refused to pay him and he's now run to the press with his new salacious allegations about secretary clinton. >> reporter: they say they've fired you for putting classified information on an unclassified system. >> i was accused of a security violation along with other people. when i asked them, hey, what here is classified, what classification manual did you use? he said, i didn't use a classified manual. i said, you could have gotten that information from wikipedia that i put in there. how is this classified? he backed down and said, look, it's not classified. it's just sensitive information. and i left it at that. the next thing i know, i was being charged with it for a security violation. >> what do you say to any

viewers out there who think you may have an ax to grind, you're only talking because you were fired. >> i have a conscience. there's wrongdoing here and i think it needs to stop. >> democrats set out what was further evidence that the committee is only focused on clinton, including abandoning claims 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 think so. it's a very important topic and we have answers to provide both the victims and the public. the truth is, it's 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 the truth and that's the most unfortunately nate thing about this. >> jake tapper, cnn.

that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in las vegas. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" tonight, debate in the desert. hillary clinton and bernie sanders are about to go head to head. plus, bill and chelsea about to hit the trail. will it help or hurt hillary clinton? and donald trump waying in on tomorrow's debate picking winners and losers. that's what he does, right? and why what is missing from the debate, it's actually him. let's go "outfront." good evening, i'm erin burnett. we are live from las vegas. two heavyweights, hillary clinton and bernie sanders are counting down to the showdown that could make or break their campaign. clinton has been practicing. she's been practicing,