challenges along the way and that's why we remember secretariat. you can catch me tonight with set meyers on abc. i turn you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." wolf? jake, thanks very much. cop killers manifesto. the two who killed police officers in cold blood and left the swastika on the bodies. into missing airliner reward. families make a dramatic bid to help raise millions to find the plane. and donald sterling's departure is not yet a done deal.

i'm wolf. blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're getting shocking new details on the bloody rampage in las vegas. police have identified the two as jerad and amanda miller who held anti-government views. they left a swastika on the bodies of the officers before killing a civilian and then died in a suicide pact. let's go to kyung lah with the very latest. kyung? >> well, wolf, the details here are chilling. the crime itself as well as the people behind the murdering spree. >> well, here we are, outside of los angeles. >> reporter: narrating a cross country trip that began in his

home state of indiana. with his wife amanda, the couple would eventually wind up here in las vegas where authorities say they opened fire on two police officers, killing them before shooting to death another man in a walmart store. >> the cops are coming, the cops are coming, everyone get out, get out, get out. >> reporter: now the eebts of that day are backing clear. the millers walked into cici's pizza and shot igor soldo in the head and then alyn beck in the throat. >> where they placed a flag which is a don't tread on me flag on the body of officer beck and through a swastika on top of his body. >> reporter: after pinning a note on officer soldo declaring a revolution and shouting that, the millers went across the street to a walmart, immediately

firing a round telling patrons to get out and that police were on the way. customer joseph wilcox did not run. he confronted jerad miller. >> he did not realize that amanda miller was with jerad miller and passed her directly. as soon as he began to confront jerad miller with his firearm, amanda miller shot him one time in the ribs area where he immediately collapsed. >> reporter: the rampage came to an end when amanda miller shot her husband and then herself. >> i just want you to know that i love you so much and i hope you'll come visit me in jail. >> reporter: jerad speaks to his wife apparently days before going to jail. his criminal record includes strangulation and criminal recklessness for pointing a firearm. that record got him kicked off cliven bundy's ranch during a

standoff with the government. >> we believe they equate government with fascism and those who support it with nazis. >> reporter: we went to the apartment complex where jerad miller lived with his wife. very few of them had not heard him spout his views. a neighbor yesterday saw them departing early in the morning carrying two duffle bags. wolf, she did not call the police. >> what a heartbreaking story that is. kyung lah in las vegas, thank you. let's get some perspective from mark potok which tracks extremist hate crimes. what do you make of this couple, mark? >> well, they are quite something. i think that they did or at least he did attend or was at

the bundy ranch standoff and was very much part of that movement, the patriot movement, that thinks that the federal government is no good, that it is trying to get us into a one world government and so on. i don't think they were white supremacist. the swastika was to say that the police are nazis. he goes on and on about police being fascists and nazis and so on but there's certainly nothing about the jews or other kind of white supremacist views. it's about the government, wanting to lay down his life for liberty. just a day before the shooting began, his very last post said words to the effect of a new day is dawning. we can only hope that our sacrifices will be worth it. >> any indications this is part of a broader group?

>> no, we haven't really said anything like that. part of a broader movement, yes. but there's nothing to suggest that we're seeing a larger group involved in the violence or even that these two were members of one group or another. i think that is -- >> how unusual is it for a husband and wife to be part of this kind of a deed? >> it's fairly unusual but not unheard of it. i remember a husband/wife team that murdered a police officer in alabama about 10 or 12 years ago who are part of the same movement. i also remember a father and son team. the son being only 16 years old, who murdered two police officers in west memphis, arkansas, back in 2010. but it is quite unusual and what may be more unusual is how extremely violent the woman, amanda miller, in particular, seemed to have been. >> in the last few weeks -- and

you know this better than i do -- we've seen these anti-government extremists at the community park in overland, kansas, a the shoulding outside of atlanta, georgia, and what has happened now in las vegas. is there some sort of pattern going on or are these isolated events? >> well, it's hard to say what is isolated and what is part of a pattern. one thing that i think is clear, wolf, is that the bundy standoff in which the blm and federal law enforcement backed down at the point of weapons was seen as a massive victory by the patriot group. tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands or more saw what happened at the bundy ranch as a huge victory against the federal government and perhaps an opening shot at the war that

they all wished for and weighed for with the government. i think it's entirely possible that the millers, in fact, saw the bundy standoff as very important and it may have pushed them over the edge to murder people. >> you've been studying these kinds of hate crimes for a long time. is there a rise in the anti-government violence that we're now seeing? >> yeah, i think there is. i'm not sure that i could prove is statistically but since obama appeared on the scene in fall of 2008, we've seen a dramatic uptick in these kinds of things. and you said this has spilled over into canada. at the end of last week, a gunman in canada, a very unusual thing, armed to the teeth with semiautomatic weapons, actually murdered three police officers in new brunswick and he was a guy who was all about the second amendment, sounded like the

people in the patriot groups here in the united states. you felt the government was trying to take its weapons away and the people needed to die as a result. >> mark potok of the southern poverty law center, thank you so much. always appreciate your contributions. other news we're following, stunning new developments in the veterans affairs scandal which recently led to theress si resi of eric shinseki. a new internal audit shows that tens and thousands of veterans are waiting for health care. drew griffin first broke this story. drew is in the situation. this report, this audit is stunning. >> and it's the v.a.'s own report and that's why the numbers are a bit staggers. 57,000 veterans on waiting lists 90 days now, vets who can't be seen at a v.a. facility and 57,000 that have signed up but have never had an appointment.

what is worst, the fact that lying about the wait times is indeed systemic. in many cases it was encouraged by supervisors trying to cover up the fact that the wait time is so long. pressures were placed on schedulers to utilize unofficial lists or engage in inappropriate practices in order to make waiting times appear more favorable. that's what they call the secret lists that have been well-publicized. >> so is a criminal investigation, a formal fbi investigation now under way? >> we do know that the office of inspector general is getting some coop railings with the justice department. all of this material is being reviewed. what we don't know is whether or not the justice department is moving forward with this. i want to share with you a letter that we just got which was sent last week to eric holder on behalf of 21 senators.

bipartisan group of senators who absolutely want the d.o.j. involved. they say that evidence of secret waiting times, falsification of records, destruction of documents and other potential criminal wrongdoing has appalled and angered the nation and impair riled trust and confidence in the veterans health administration. they want prosecution of v.a. employees who it's alleged lied about these wait times. >> lied in order to get bonuses to show they were doing a good job. >> that's absolutely the allegation, to bump their performance review so it could be one part of how they would get money at the end of the year, bonuses which are now canceled for this year. >> drew, thanks for your reporting. up next, administration officials are going up on capitol hill to brief lawmakers on the prisoner swap that freed bowe bergdahl and five taliban detainees. did the u.s. negotiate with

terrorists or not? i'll ask an expert. plus, flight 370 relatives are trying to raise $5 million to help find the airliner and they are doing it in a rather dramatic fashion. ♪ now printing is so affordable and convenient, you can print all you want. hp instant ink. save on ink and never run out again. plans start at just $2.99 a month. welcome to the future of printing.

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on capitol hill right now, house members are getting a closed-door meeting on the conditions that freed bowe bergdahl and five taliban

detainees. we're also learning more about bergdahl's condition and his captivity. doctors say he's improving. he wants to be recognized by his old rank private first class which he held when he went missing. a source denies that he was abused after a brief escape and fbi is investigating threats against his parents who have not yet spoken with their son. let's get more with our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto who is here with us in "the situation room." jim? >> i spoke with david rhode, who was held by the taliban in 2008 and 2009. he's been in touch with bowe's parents who have found all of these accusations surrounding their son heartbreaking. it's understanding because these stories have not yet been investigated or confirmed and they are cautioning patience but in the meantime, americans are hearing contradicting accounts

about who bowe bergdahl was. today, military members say that his health is improving but in the days since his dramatic release from the taliban, fellow soldiers and afghans have released contradictory reports of bowe bergdahl. deserter or good soldier? a military investigation found he wandered off base more than once. still, afghan witnesses told cnn that the morning he was taken he was forcibly taken, beaten as he resisted. while some of his platoon members say he may have been trying to contact the taliban. >> i heard it as he heard it over the radio and at that point it was like, this is kind of snowballing out of control a little bit. there's a lot more to this story than just a soldier walking away. >> reporter: were troops killed during the search for him? in the massive manhunt that ensued after he went missing,

they say six troops were kill ltd. the pentagon says there is no such evidence. and then there's his behavior during captivity. collaborator or survivor? he was held in a cage and physically abused, he says. a taliban source said that he sometimes played soccer with his captors, was allowed to celebrate easter and christmas and eat his own food. >> he want to humanize yourself so the guards trust you so when they stopwatching you so closely, you can try to escape. >> reporter: a friend of the bergdahl family is pleading for time. >> that's why i'm concerned about, is that all of the facts respect out and it's a rush to condemn him. >> for hostages, humanizing yourself is a necessity and it makes it leslie like that they will treat you -- less likely to

kill you and may good strategy. david rohde told the story of how his translator played soccer with their captors. that built trust and helped them when they finally climbed over that wall and escaped and found their way to a pakistani military outpost. so that kind of relationship, having a relationship with the captors has value and may even be necessary to survive. >> jake, stay with us. i want to bring in a leading expert. he spent many years in afghanistan working for the united nations and european union. he's with the institute for social justice of queens university in belfast, thank you for coming in. >> good to be here. >> you understand the taliban about as good as anyone. these five detainees that the u.s. released that are in doha, qatar, are they terrorists? >> no, they are not.

they are not terrorists. they came to prominence in the taliban movement and were figures inside a movement which was fighting a bloody war inside its country. >> did they give cover to al zaharie and allow them to plot the attacks on the united states? >> the fatal mistake which the taliban leader made was this. and i was there at the time. i saw this happening. >> these five guys were involved in making that kind of fatal mistake, as you call it? >> no, they have no part in that decision-making. it wasn't a democratic organization where you stick your hands up and say, yes, this is a good idea, it's not a good idea. they were part of a movement. >> so omar made that decision

and they subpoenaported decisio? >> it was the kind of movement where you could say, excuse me, i don't like this. as soon as the leader made a decision, everybody else had to fall in line. >> i'd like to say that that the deal that kept them off the streets and has kept them in qatar for at least a year is the best way for it to be handled and even these men themselves would rather be in qatar kept away from the pressure being forced back into the ranks of the insurgency. if it's still continuing and they are sent back to pakistan, afghanistan, they will have to be part of it. >> jim, you heard secretary of

state john kerry tell elise labott that the u.s. will follow these guys and will monitor these guys and he strongly implied that, if necessary, if they go back on the battlefield, they could wind up dead. >> that's his contention. i think the u.s. is going to do their best to track these guys down. i think experience shows that's difficult once they are on the ground in a country like that. but the u.s. is well-sourced there. they will still have 9,000 troops on the ground at the end of the year. it's a possibility and i'm sure they will do the best that they can do. >> is there a difference between the afghani taliban? we saw the horrible attack on the airport in karachi killing a lot of people. >> absolutely. that was wanton terrorism. it's a different organization. it operates differently. of course the afghan taliban has been engaged and has used the

haqqani network over the past few years but the afghan taliban movement has political goals which the pakistan taliban movement doesn't have. >> why would the haqqani terrorists who were holding bergdahl for five years release him to the taliban who in turn released him to the united states? >> you've come to the heart of the matter. they clearly came under pressure from people in the movement and i think it's a case of the tale of the starting to wag the dog, that the haqqanis saw an opportunity to become more important within the taliban movement. they are basically an obscure border clan which, because of patronage and backing has become a lot more important with the n

insurgency because they delivered something no one else has been able to. >> they say they have no evidence that the taliban paid off the haqqani with money or anything else. you're not hearing anything contrary to that, are you? >> no, i am not. >> i think the politics and if you follow terrorist organizations around the world, this is a common theme. the opportunity they get to show themselves as the people who were delivering inside the taliban movement is more important to them than any money. >> michael, thank you for coming in. jim sciutto, thanks to you as well. when we come back, adam silver opening up in an exclusive interview with cnn's rachel nichols since the first time of banning sterling from the league. why he says the sterling saga is not over yet. plus, a bizarre online video from the families of the

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dramatic new video from the families of those lost on flight 370. it's all part of a brand-new online fundraising event to help them determine what happened to their loved ones. let's bring in rene marsh. what's going on? >> wolf, this really speaks to the distrust here. these families do not trust the officials involved in the investigation and now they are taking matters into their own hands launching a crowd-sourcing website in hopes of raising millions of dollars and getting a whistle blower to come forward. $5 million for help finding the missing malaysia airlines boeing 777. families of the passengers launched a fundraising campaign with this video, including dramatic music, suggestions of

incompetent and government coverups. >> there's a very real potential here that somebody knows something that they haven't brought forward, probably because they are afraid of repercussions. >> reporter: the families plan to use the money to hire private investigators since some don't trust officials. >> we just think someone knows something. you know, there's been so many -- so much contradiction information coming from the investigation. >> reporter: investigators say they are confident that the plane went down this arc. the problem, that stretches more than 1600 miles, roughly the distance between washington, d.c., and mexico city. the unknown var ables, keep to unlocking what went down. multiple australian teams are now re-evaluating those to narrow the search area.

>> our path is to finalize the arrangements regarding this search operation. >> reporter: the bluefin-21 focused on 329 miles. the new search area will cover 23,000 square miles and is almost certain to include areas to the south but investigators say that no decision will be made for up to two weeks. >> once they are selected, they have 300 days to search that area. >> right now, no search is going on? >> nothing at this point because they want to line up who is going to be the best company to do the search so they are in that process now. >> rene, thanks very much. joining us now is andy pastor, "the wall street journal." he's been doing major reporting on what is going on. your last report, andy, suggesting that maybe they are looking into the wrong place.

are they back at square one? what is going on? >> we've just passed the three-month anniversary for this crash and i would say they are not back at square one but it's a sign that many of the basic assumptions that they refer to are on the table and being reanalyzed, maybe refined, perhaps changed and so that shows this is a very complicated search. it's an unforgiving search but it shows that they are trying to do it in a more comprehensive, organized way, perhaps, than has been done in the past to combine the satellite information with some of the other assumptions, really guesstimates to try to get at the best likely location, most likely location for the aircraft. >> when you speak with your sources, how confident are they that they are on to something but they are not on to much? >> i would say that the investigators and many of the investigators who looked at the

satellite data believe that the theories and communications with the satellite connections with the aircraft are correct but we have to put it in perspective. tens and thousands of square miles to be searched and, in fact, the australians are going to ask forbids along this arc that they mentioned but only 25 miles on each side of the arc so even where they think the plane may have gone down based on previous accidents, especially the air france 2009 crash. then chances are that nobody will ever find that aircraft and so the margin for error is very small. the areas are huge and it's worrisome to many people who look at it, that some of the basic assumptions still appear to be up in the air. >> very much up in the air. thanks very much. when we come back, the nba commissioner dona

commissioner adam silver says the saga is not over. an exclusive interview with our own rachel nichols. that's next. coming up at the top of the hour, details on what the obama administration is now calling a truly humanitarian crisis.

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the nba commissioner adam silver is breaking his silence. he's speaking exclusively to our own rachel nichols for the first time since banning donald sterling from the league after the now infamous rant.

while it may seem likely that sterling is going forward with the deal, silver said he's not 100% yet certain. >> reporter: well, the board of the governors has to approve the deal but what does it feel like to be on the other side of all of this. >> i don't have any feeling of it yet because it's not done. donald sterling still has a billion dollar lawsuit filed against the league. against me personally, i'm not so worried about that because i can't afford it. there is the last issue of donald sterling dropping the lawsuit and resolving the issues with his wife. >> are you in a i'll believe it when i see it mode? >> absolutely. i've been there with him before. he's almost sold his club a couple times over the years and there were incidents in the league when he was right there at a closing and when he decided not to sell and until we have

that document, we still have a pending litigation with him. >> and rachel nichols, host of "unguarded" is joining us along with don lemon and jeffrey toobin. do you think this is going to be a deal, rachel? what do you think? >> i'm not sure you can be overly cautious with donald sterling. i think he's being smart. donald sterling's lawyer has said, hey, we agree to that. shelly sterling has agreed, hey, we agree to this and that will buy you a phone call or cup of coffee, maybe. until you get the piece of paper in writing saying, hey, this lawsuit has been withdrawn and all of the paperwork is signed off on, i wouldn't believe it either and it's interesting to hear the commissioner of the nba saying it, hey, everybody, hold your horses, we've got to wait until all of the t's are crossed and i's are dotted because we've been here before. >> don, i know you've been skeptical about this deal with

donald sterling from the beginning. what is your take? >> i take it rachel is not buying a coffee from a starbucks because it cost as lot more than a quarter. listen, i've said all along, wolf, you guys have been listening to me. i don't trust him. he still has the billion dollar lawsuit which doesn't go away, i think, until the deal is inked and he is -- he's wishy-washy, he's changed his mind a couple of times. i don't believe it. until that document is signed, i'm with adam silver and with rachel and probably everyone else on this panel, then i will believe him. until then, i won't. >> how long do you think it's going to play out, jeffrey? >> oh, it will probably be several weeks but count me on the less skeptical side. this deal is done. i don't doubt that there will be drama but steve ballmer is going to own the clippers by the time the season starts next year. this controversy is over. i don't blame adam silver.

he's being a real lawyer but let's be realistic, this is over. >> it's not over until it's over, as they say. let me play another clip, rachel, from your exclusive interview with adam silver, commissioner of the a nba. you ask tough questions about why didn't they go after donald sterling for previous allegations of harassment, among other things. listen to what he told you. >> i don't have a good answer for that only to say i wasn't at the league at that time so i don't want to run from it but maybe there's a different standard. i can't even say that we're having that discussion. it doesn't come to our attention that way and it may have been beyond our authority. >> social media is now playing a more significant role in these things. what's your take? >> well, he does have a point. look, the public's mushrooming reaction through what happened through social media and then fed upon us through more traditional social media created

a call to action. it got players more energied to do something. it spreads information more quickly. we all got to see the past lawsuits, the discrimination lawsuits about the apartment buildings that he owned and the sexual harassment allegations against him, we could punch up on our computers and call up the depositions of discrimination allegations in the past and what i said to adam is, look, you had all of these witness statements and could you not have investigated them like you investigated this tape? just because donald sterling had the money to settle these cases without findings of fault and make these cases basically go away doesn't mean that there was nothing wrong here and he was great about considering that possibility and saying, hey, it's a different time now and we're happy about the action that we took at this time but he considered the possibility that maybe they should have done more in the past and, you know, you like someone leading the league who is at least taking some

responsibility, having accountability, and being honest. that's what people respond to so well with adam silver, is that he is a candid, honest, he's not just putting up a pr front and he's doing it again. >> rachel, that was all public knowledge. if you wanted to, you could go see depositions. if the media, they could have done requests for information. what it sounds like what he's saying, and maybe he's right, is that maybe the public, the media, or whatever was happening in l.a., everyone was kind of lazy and they didn't care about it until there was a public outcry that came from this, they just could not get around. if it hadn't been for social media, maybe there wouldn't have been a nationwide or worldwide reaction to it but people in los angeles certainly knew about dona donald sterling. >> absolutely. and he even said that magic johnson said we should have paid

more attention to elgin baylor and we didn't pick up the rallying cry like we should have. it's a different time. players can talk through social media the way they couldn't have 15 years ago. i think we're seeing that power now and it's impressive. >> jeffrey, is there a different standard now? >> i think there absolutely is a different standard. that even people who are involved in private businesses as the l.a. clippers is, are public figures and they are expected to maintain a certain basic level of humanity and decency decency in their conduct. >> imagine that. >> well, that's different. that is different than the way things used to be. a lot of owners of things have felt, look, i can do whatever i want and the fact that you had a combination of a racist audiotape that everyone could listen to combined with, as adam silver said earlier, with

admirable candor, we are a league that is 75% african-american with almost all white owners. so we have to have especially sensitive to issues like this and he was. and he did. and they threw him out. >> rachel, what about his wife shelly? she was not banned for life from the nba. what, if any role, will she have with the clippers under the new owners? >> the players certainly don't want her to have any role. she wants to have a role. we'll have to see how the details play out. the board of governors have not approved the sale yet nor the conditions of the sale yet. i completely agree with jeffrey, there's no question they want him on their team and will approve his ownership but they have to approve the entire thing and we'll have to see over the coming month how that all plays out. >> and don, there's no indication whatsoever that the nba would back away from this ban of donald sterling for life. have you or any of you heard along the lines that they might

give him a path down the road? >> no. no one know what is is in the contract between steve ballmer and the nba. but i doubt that anything like that would be in it. i was surprised, actually, when we reported last week or someone reported that they were looking at shelly sterling as having a sort of ownership -- owner emiritus role. i think the players would be completely against that. the players and the fans, most of them, and the country, completely against the sterlings having anything to do with that team. so i have not heard that they would get rid of the ban or anything like that. >> adam reiterated, the lifetime ban, the $2.5 million fine, those are staying and would not be rescinded under any circumstances. >> he's out. >> thanks, guys, very much. a couple of programming notes for our viewers. you can see rachel's exclusive interview with the nba commissioner adam silver on her program "unguarded with rachel

nichols" at 10:30 p.m. eastern. you can catch a lot more with don lemon at 10:00 p.m. eastern on "cnn tonight" with don lemon which we watch whenever it is on. thanks, don. rachel, good work as usual. jeffrey, thanks to you as well. up next, john kerry says the obama administration finally supports arming syrian rebels but has the destruction grows more appalling, is it already way too late? xpert. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste, and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost.

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syria's brutal civil war rages on. our foreign affairs reporter elise labbot reports. >> the obama administration is moving closer to openly arming syria's rebels hoping to turn the tide in the biddy three-year civil war. in an exclusive interview with cnn, secretary of state john kerry backed a move in congress to train and equip moderate opposition forces. >> i am supportive of the proposal that came out, the president i believe is of the proposal that passed the foreign relations committee which is in the -- >> reporter: which is to arm the rebels. >> which is to do that, that's correct. >> reporter: robert ford resigned earlier this year if frustration telling cnn's christiane amanpour -- >> i was in longer in a position where i felt i could defend the american policy. we have been unable to address either the root causes of the conflict in terms of the fighting on the ground and the balance on the ground. and we have growing extremism

threat. >> reporter: and in her upcoming book, kerry's predecessor, hillary clinton, writes she along with former cia director david petraeus and former defense secretary leon panetta all favored arming moderate rebels. overruled by president obama. two years later, kerry says the u.s. is now prepared to step up its military involvement to weaken president bashar al assad's resolve. you, yourself, have said we're not going to change the equation on the ground until assad sees he's starting to get brusz brus little bit. >> there are a series of steps we have been taking to do exactly what you just described. >> but wolf, even if this proposal makes it through the full senate where it has a good deal of support, it wouldn't happen overnight. administration officials say they still need to work through the logistics, where it would be based, how it would work and what allies would take part, but it still would clear a real hurdle for the administration to

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for preaching the gospel to communists? we're getting new information from his family and his lawyer. and going for broke. hillary clinton gives critics new ammunition to claim she's out of touch. her message and her missteps in her campaign to sell books and maybe a presidential bid. we want to welcome our viewers in united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." up first this hour, a stunning and sudden, very troubling crush of illegal immigrants including hundreds and hundreds of children. even babies. flooding across the southern border of the united states. some forced to live for a while in conditions that are very disturbing at the least. some describe it as inhumane. our justice correspondent pamela brown is here with the stunning images and the federal government's response. tell our viewers, pamela, what's going on. >> well, administration officials, wolf, are calling this a humanitarian crisis. a flood of undocumented children

from central america pouring into the rio grande border in texas right now. officials say while they have prepared this year for more undocumented children the numbers in the past weeks were much larger than anticipated and tonight a law enforcement source tells cnn this is being fueled in part by smugglers in their homeland setting off a false alarm that very soon there will be no way for them to get into the u.s. these disturbing leaked images show undocumented children cramped inside a border patrol holding cell. sleeping on the floor under foil blankets. basic necessities like food and showers are scarce according to a u.s. official. >> beginning on tuesday, we started seeing families dropped off including, you know, children, most under the age of 5, some as young as 3 to 6 months old. >> reporter: senior administration officials tell cnn these children are trying to cross the southwest border in droves trucking all the way from central american countries,

guatemala, honduras and el salvador and overwhelming u.s. facilities particularly in texas. three u.s. military bases will handle some of the overflow. over the last week buses of immigrant family groups arrives in arizona in record numbers. about 1,000 were children. processing facilities were at capacity, so the federal government was forced to find other options for the immigrants. a move that's outraged arizona governor jan brewer. she released a statement saying dhs was transporting, "thousands of illegal aliens and releasing them at bus stations in tucson and phoenix." and once undocumented families are put on the buses, they have 15 days to make it to the i.c.e. facilities at a specific location according to a law enforcement source i spoke with. and the concern is that some of them won't show up there and will be, end up living in the u.s. illegally basically as immigration fugitives, wolf. >> this is a real crisis that's going on right now. i want to bring in arpolo

sandoval. you spent a lot of time on the border between mexico and the united states covering this story. there are a lot of rumors fuelinging this influx, if you will. smugglers bringing them into the united states. >> it seems to be the consensus down there in the valleys. i just spoke to a source down there not too long ago, larry diablo. he manages several departments there that have to pull double duty now essentially not only pulling the regular responsibilities but now filling the role as border patrol agents from time to time. he tells us that seems to be what everybody believes, this rumor is spreading like wi wildfire. >> what is the rumor? >> if you go now, you'll be granted free passage where your family is up north. east coast, west coast, simply northern states. not only in mexico but central america. many folks being apprehended on the border are otms other than mexicos. one point i worked down there at the border you, had to seek out the individuals if you wanted to tell their stories. the undocumented people now, you basically have to do a stand out there. these people are now running

toward law enforcement instead of away. >> and it's heartbreaking, especially when you see the little kids who are coming across. not just the hundreds but by the thousands. their parents sending them under this rumor that if they come to the united states now, they'll be able to stay. >> yeah, some of these kids younger than 5 years old, wolf. they're coming in groups. what's happening from my understanding in talking to sources is essentially these smugglers are make money off of them telling their families, look, this is the year of immigration reform in the u.s., you have to go in now. the window is closing or else you're never going to be able to get in the u.s. that's why you're seeing this. we've been pressing administration officials, wolf, for numberses. how many of these undocumented children are coming to the border to the rio grande border and they're pushing them, simply not releasing those numbers right now. i think that could really tell a big story, too. >> one estimate i read, you know this better than i do, it's 60,000 unaccompanied children might come into the united states? >> you look at the numbers, there are about 1,300 people a day being detained in the mckellen, texas, sector, four hours south of san antonio.

it really is one of the busiest border patrol stations in the entire country right now. about a third are undocumented children and it's really children that are coming here to meet up with their families, with their parents. others are coming with their parents. in fact, many of those children will come with their mothers stand a higher chance of being released eventually ending up -- >> they're not coming necessarily coming through mexico, but coming as you point out from other central american countries. >> and there lies one of the biggest problems is processing those people from guatemala, people from honduras. takes a longer -- it's really a longer period. what to do with so many people, you simply can't house them in those cells as you just saw in pam's piece. now it books a bigger issue. getting these people through the process, getting them through the red tape and essentially the folks from mexico can get deported within 24 hours. hondur honduras, el salvador, guatemala, have to before that. >> homeland security, the department of justice, they're all over this right now.

they're deeply worried about what's going on. >> these agencies, it's really a crisis. speaking to one law enforcement source, there is a lot of concern right now among these agencies that the facilities are just overwhelmed with these undocumented children and with these undocumented families. and that the question is, what are they going to do with all of them? in fact, by law, there's a 72-hour window, wolf, whereby border patrol has to transfer the undocumented children elsewhere to a facility for long-term housing, and they haven't been able to meet that requirement. in fact, today administration officials say, look, we haven't succeeded with that because there's just been this influx of so many people that they just weren't equipped to handle it. >> what to do with these kids? that's the heartbreaking part. we have to go. >> the question, who pays for it b all? >> obviously it's not cheap, either. thanks very much. pamela brown, thanks to you. new information about sergeant bowe bergdahl. congress investigates the taliban prisoners swap, i should say, that led to his release five years into his captivity.

house members have been getting a secret briefing from the obama administration as we speak. let's bring in pentagon correspondent barbara starr. what are you hearing about bergdahl? >> we're waiting to hear what members of congress have to say about the briefing. chuck hagel will walk again right into the political buzz saw on wednesday when he testifies on capitol hill. the pentagon still struggling how to deal with all of the questions and some new ones surrounding bowe bergdahl. for now, the pentagon isn't giving sergeant bowe bergdahl his backpay after being held captive by the taliban for five years. several defense officials tell cnn. it could total nearly $200,000. the worry? giving bergdahl his pay and then potentially charging him with misconduct. first, the army has to investigate exactly what happened.

>> desertion at its core involves an intent to remain away permanently from your duty station. >> reporter: one official tells cnn "we need to learn more about his disappearance." the pentagon, the official insisted, hasn't rejected the idea of giving him his salary. he says there just has been no decision to go ahead and pay him." >> we need to know a good deal more before settling on a particular view of sergeant bergdahl's conduct during his captivity. we need to know what the precise conditions were that he was held in. we need to know what, if anything, he was forced to do. >> reporter: it is expected the army will begin a new investigation. bergdahl was able to get through a gap in the concertino wire the night he disappeared according to a u.s. in official briefed on the initial investigation, a gap, itself, that was a security violation in a troubled unit.

the post was riddled with security lapses, says that official. but congress is heavily focusing on the deal to get bergdahl back. a senior pentagon official says, "as it became apparent trading bergdahl for five taliban would happen, there was intelligence that some taliban would try to kill bergdahl. that plus worries about his health led the u.s. to move quickly and secretly." now still recovering at a military hospital in germany, sergeant bergdahl has asked to be called private first class. his rank when he was captured. he is in stable condition, but has not yet telephoned his parents. and the administration, wolf, still is not saying publicly how it plans to monitor those five taliban detainees that are now in qatar. hagel is going to get a lot of questions about that on wednesday. not clear that information will ever be made public. wolf? >> barbara starr at the

pentagon. thanks very much. still ahead, hillary clinton depends her wealth stirring up a bit of a new controversy as her book tour takes off. criticism heats up. it's an early taste of her possible 2016 presidential bid. we're also hearing from the family of the third american held captive in north korea. did his religion lead to his detention? ♪ ♪ ♪

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just hours before hillary clinton's new book officially goes on sale, she's stirring up new controversy by declaring she and her husband were, "dead broke" when they left the white house back in january of 2001. now republicans, they are pouncing. our senior political correspondent brianna keilar is here. brianna, the book tour just getting ready. the criticism already getting ready. >> certainly. and this time, this criticism came, wolf, as she defended the millions that she's earned in speaking fees in the last year. and republicans are making sure to highlight what some are calling her first gaffe of this book rollout. hillary clinton in an interview with abc news found herself in the awkward position of defending her wealth. >> we came out of the white house not only dead broke, but in debt. we had no money when we got

there, and we struggled to, you know, piece together the resources for mortgages, for houses, for chelsea's education. >> reporter: houses, plural. clinton's opponents jumped on that. shamelessly out of touch, the rnc declared. america rising, the leading anti-hillary superpac tweeted pictures of the multimillion dollar home and hamptons vacation rental, republicans trying to use clinton's two houses against her the way democrats used john mccain's seven houses against him. >> when asked how many houses he owns, mccain lost track. >> reporter: not to mention errant comments made by mitt romney. >> rick, i'll tell you what. 10,000 bucks? $10,000 bet? ann drives a couple of cadillacs actually. >> reporter: it's not the first time clinton has reminded americans she's not exactly like them. >> last time i actually drove a car, myself, was 1996. >> reporter: 55% of americans believe clinton understands their problems. according to a new abc

news/"washington post" poll. so republicans will have a lot more work to do if they hope to paint clinton as elitist. still it's the kind of misstep clinton needs to avoid as she gears up for a gauntlet of interviews, because lying in wait is a republican machine of opposition research, talking points, and even an e-book published as her memoir comes out raising questions about her accomplishments as secretary of state. and to combat that, clinton, herself, has a war-room of diplomats at the ready to fend off those criticisms. in addition to a messaging team and a coordinated army of democratic surrogates standing by to trumpet her successes, wolf. >> let me bring gloria borger into this conversation, our chief political analyst. what do you make of this, what republicans are pouncing on, maybe a misstatement by her, a gaffe? >> well, look, i think actually hillary clinton was pretty candid. they spent a lot of money and brianna's investigating this, you know, in the '90s on whitewater and all kinds of

legal issues. they came out, they spent their lives in public service. you don't make a lot of money doing that, so they're making a lot of money. question is whether she sounded too elite, and that's clearly something republicans are going to pounce on because, by the way, they're going to pounce on anything and everything she says. >> yeah, and it might not -- i would say it's not really normal, right, to have two houses. i think most americans to don't really connect with that. it might be normal in washington if you're an ex-president, former senator, former secretary of state. we looked into this. it's pretty easy to find because it was widely reported in the '90s, that they were much in debt when they left the white house. $5 million in debt. when they went to buy a home in chappaqua, new york, they couldn't do it themselves, wolf. you might remember this, terry mcauliffe, then-chief fund-raiser, now governor of virginia, put up $1.35 million to back the $1.7 million loan. and it was, i think, 2004 when they finally according to her congressional financial disclosures that they were no

longer in dealt. >> yeah, and also, you know, president clinton, you know, buck raking as it's called has become a common practice for people who leave public office and trying to make their money. the question is how much is enough and all the rest? that can be debated during a political campaign. >> as soon as they left office, left the white house, they both signed very lucrative book deals. >> sure. >> huge million-dollar plus advances. so the money would be coming in. even if they don't have it right away. >> and when you leave the white house, you kind of write -- i mean, it's like a golden token that you cash in. this is what we see with many presidents who have these speaking engagements. she had an $8 million advance i think. his was more. it's not to say they haven't made a lot of money. they have certainly made a lot of money. but i think it will be interesting to see whether that sort of, i guess, people have a problem with it. right now, polls show they think the clintons are in it for the right reason. >> but the stuff you were talking about in your piece before about the whole war-room and this notion that hillary

clinton is saying to people, i'm not quite sure whether i'm going to run. the truth of the matter is, there's grassroots organization out there. there's a very active political action committee. there are surrogates out there who are being trained with talking points and, you know, the west wing of the white house has an awful lot of hillary clinton supporters in it, jim messina involved with the political action committee. i'm sure they vetted this book. so there's a lot of coordination already going on. even though she is not officially a candidate. >> all dressed up with no place to go. if she doesn't run. you could say. >> certainly the -- >> i think she has a few places. >> the launch of this book potentially clearly is a launch for her presidential campaign. >> yep. >> see how that works out. guys, thanks very, very much. just ahead, a new statement from the family of an american detained in north korea. is he now being held because of his religious beliefs? we're taking a closer look listen up, thunder dragons, it's time to get a hotel. hey, razor. check this out.

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we're getting a new look at the third american who's thousandno custody in north korea. jeffrey fowle's family members released this photo and confirmed he's being held by the communist nation. our brian todd is here, following the story for us. fowle's family released a statement a short while ago, buy

wr yan. what did they say? >> they did. jeffrey fowle was in north korea as part of a tour, loves travel and experiencing different cultures. the lawyer is giving no detail on his detention. with three americans being held by north korea, new questions are being raised tonight about the safety of the roughly 3,000 americans who go there every year. north korea's regime is so secretive and leader so opposed to organized religion the state department now warns all americans, don't go there, especially to talk about god. yet of the three americans now detained in north korea, there are religious connotations with at least two of them. one, kenneth bae, is a missionary accused by the regime of attempting to bring the government down by trying to convert people to christianity, and tonight another, 56-year-old jeffrey edward fowle is being held by north korea reportedly for leaving a bible in his hotel room. >> children miss jeffrey very much and anxious for his return home. >> reporter: fowle's lawyer

won't tell cnn if his client left the bible and if he did whether it was intentionally or accidentally but does say his client was not there on a mission for his church. still, tonight, his deattentites making waves of whether or not american christians with risking their freedom and creating international crises. the u.s. warns travelers they can beimprisoned for religioustreligious vid videotapes can be seized. john dancler wolf is one of the tour operators who will go into the country. >> we say you don't want to prostlatize or force your beliefs on people. >> reporter: do not leave religious materials in places for others to pick up or out in the open including at the hotel and refrain from evangelizing activities. those who do venture into north korea often see military parades, patriotic rallies.

stephan even saw a party on a beach. >> the americans who go to north korea are those who are curious about the recent history. perhaps they have a family connection. curious about geopolitics. some are country collectors. and some are interested in communism and you even meet a few true believers. >> reporter: analysts say most of the americans who travel on these tours typically don't venture into religion and those who do are risking hard labor or even their lives. >> christianity disagrees with the fundamental ideology of the regime. the worship of the leader. >> analysts say the north koreans see any independent religious activity as a security threat and are looking out for any semblance of it. kenneth bae has been detained for a year and a half and australian missionary jailed briefly this year for distributing religious materials on a tourist trip was suggest to grueling interrogation sessions.

wolf? >> there's a christian tradition, brian, as you know, on the korean peninsula. >> it is. an interesting one. analysts say south korea is one of the most christian nations in asia. roughly 30% of the south korean population is christian. pyongyang, itself, used two called jerusalem of the east because it was the center of the presbyterian church. televangelist franklin graham has been there at least once, his father, billy graham, visited at least twice. >> they came back. they went there, the grahams without any trouble. they came back to the united states without any trouble, right? >> they did. billy graham even at least on one occasion did a sermon in north korea at the behest or at least with the blessing of the north korean leader them, ki ee. >> thanks very much. we'll stay on top of this story for our viewers. remember, always follow us on twitter, go ahead and tweet me @wolfblitzer. certainly tweet the show @cnnsitroom. please be sure to join us once again tomorrow right here in

"the situation room." always watch us live or dvr the show so you won't miss a moment. that's it for me. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." now let's step into the "crossfire" with paul begala and s.e. cupp. >> christmas eve for me. tingling with anticipation. i'm going to be up all night because if we're good little boys and girls tomorrow morning we can finally open the most wonderful gift of all, my friend hillary clinton's new book. >> wow. i hate to be the grinch here, but i've seen an advanced copy and your christmas morning is going to be a real downer. the debate starts right now. tonight on "crossfire" hillary clinton facing attacks on the eve of her book release. >> clinton's account of the low salt, low fat, low-calorie offering with vanilla pudding as dessert. >> is america ready for hillary? on the left, paul begala. on the right, s.e. cupp. in the