poppy harlow in for carol costello that much quicker than me. she wasn't that much quicker, look and the home. >> no the that much. does she know you practice every day after the show in the newsroom, chris? >> didn't work. whatever i'm doing is not enough, poppy. >> i guess it's not. too much fun you guys are having there, enjoyed it and you're a rock star there by the way. thanks so much, guys. newsroom starts right now. good morning, everyone, i'm poppy harlow in washington, d.c. today. i'm in for carol costello, thanks for joining me this morning a lot of news to get to first off, right now, one of the men believed to be a mastermind of the deadly attack on the american consulate in brz nearly two years ago is on a slow boat to the united states. ahmed abu khattala is being transported by a u.s. navy ship, not by air. this is strategic. this is so that investigators can have the maximum amount of

time to question him about the attack that led to the death of u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens, and three others. pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, has more. >> reporter: ahmed abu khattala was lured to a location south of benghazi, u.s. officials from multiple agencies tell cnn. a sur ever pricing feat.

army delta force commandos, fbi and intelligence agencies were watching and waiting for days. khattala, a key operative in ansar al sharia, the group the u.s. blames for the 2012 attack on the u.s. compound in benghazi. intelligence gleaned from local libyans helped draw khattala to the location. u.s. commandos captured him with no shots fired, no one getting hurt a surprise feat, one former libyan official tells cnn, because khattala usual surrounded himself with guards. u.s. commandos whisked him to a navy ship in the mediterranean to begin undergoing questioning for his role in the attack and anything else he knows about terrorist activity. officially, the pentagon will say little. >> i'm not going to get into specifics about the actual execution of the operation. >> reporter: president obama touted the capture. >> is important for us to send a message to the world that when americans are attacked, no matter how long it takes, we will find those responsible and we will bring them to justice. >> reporter: but some wonder why it took so long, when journalists like cnn's arwa damon were able to find and talk to khattala more than a year ago. >> we met with ahmed abu khattala in public at the coffee shop of a well-known hotel here in benghazi for around two hoursdamon were able to find ank hourshours. he seemed to be confident, his demeanor most certainly not that

of a man who believed he was going to be detained or targeted any time soon. >> reporter: so, how could cnn get to khattala and it took u.s. commandos over a year to find him? >> and in order to do this safely, effectively, efficiently, nobody got hurt, by the way that takes time to plan, that takes a lot of information gathering and we did this in a very stealthy way. >> joining me now to talk about it barbara starr at the pentagon, and chief security expert, jim shoot toe. good morning to both of you. barbara, get to you first, you know how these operations work very well. what else do we know about the unit that captured khattala? >> well, these were army delta force commandos, along with the fbi and delta force is part of one of the most secretive organizations in the united states military, a group called the joint special operations command. that includes navy s.e.a.l.s and other special operations command commandos. this command, this overall command, these are the guys that a few weeks ago walked right up to the taliban and got bowe bergdahl back. these are the guys that went into osama bin laden's compound and killed him.

poppy? >> yeah, the most experienced. but you know, the question has come up from the outset, minutes after this news broke yesterday. why was cnn and other media outlets able to talk to khattala, sit down with him in plain sight a year before the united states was able to capture him? i want you to take a listen, jim, this for you, to what state department spokeswoman jen psaki told our jake tapper on "the lead." >> our own arwa damon found abu khattala in a coffee shop. he said he had not been contacted by any american investigators. earlier today, you called this irrelevant. but i'm not trying to be flip here, why did it take long to get him if journalists were able to find him more than a year ago? >> well, jarng the factors that the plead and the national security team look at when they are about to undertake operations like this one are is if ready to go and is it prepared to succeed? and what we are looking the here

is this individual is now detained a successful operation. we know there's ample precedent for journalists interviewing terrorists or other individuals, but there are a range of factors the united states government has to look at before taking action. >> you know, jim, i remember talking to arwa a year ago aft she had done this interview and talking about the fact that u.s. forces had not been in contact with khattala at all. should it have taken a year? i know the execution has to be carefully planned and you have to make sure there are no civilian casualties and there weren't, but should it have take than long? >> here what's military officials say, there's a difference between arranging an interview and taking someone by force into custody. this is a gay surrounded by armed gunmen. you have to expect a gun fight, although that didn't happen yet. arguably because the intelligence they used and surprised him, but you also have to worry about civilian casualties. a very different thing. the line from admiral care bill, the pentagon spokesperson is not like we can wait for him to go to a milk shake from emergency donald's and pick him up in a

taxi. some truth to that. in addition to that we are told by u.s. officials that over the last several months, khattala changed his habits, he was not meeting in public with journalists anymore, he was concerned about his safety. as a result of that it became a more difficult target. >> talking about the legal process, right there has been some question about -- a few people questioning whether or not he will go to guantanamo, looks highly unlikely, although senator mccain brought that up, go through the u.s. justice system, the courts, right, jim? what's that process gonna look like? how quickly can he get into court, goet that trial started? >> he is not going to guantanamo, administration officials have made that very clear. this he have made the point they have not sent anybody new to guantanamo since president obama came into office. and in fact, he is trying to shut it down and get those prisoners out of there. so he is going to be tried in a u.s. district court here in washington, d.c. he is facing three charges, at this point though, those could expand, one of them is killing someone in an attack on a

federal facility and others providing material support to terrorist and the other is using a weapon in the prosecution of a crime. that first one, killing someone in an attack on a federal facility, could carry the death penalty. so this is something that's going to move very quickly. take that slow boat to the u.s., but once he gets here, he is going to appear in court very quickly and what administration officials will say, they will cite past successes of using civilian courts to try to terrorists. for instance, you will remember the times square bomber successfully prosecuted. more recently, osama bin laden's nephew, successfully prosecuted. >> right. exactly. of course that slow boat key to see how much, if any, information they can get out of him that's a really big question in all of this, how much intelligence will come out. but barbara, the obama administration says this arrest is a statement to the world. given all the fronts that this country is fighting terrorism on, what is your opinion? how big of a statement do you think that this really sends? >> well, you know, the whole libya benghazi attack stirred up

an unending political firestorm with the white house. what they are saying we got one of the key masterminds behind benghazi. i think the question is exactly what jim addressed, how much critical intelligence do does khattala really have at this point fanned they can get it out of him, will it make a difference in the war on terror? does it have current intelligence? have any information that would really make a difference? that remains to be seen. >> all right someone who just months ago was willing to sit down with journalists and talk to them, not someone who was in hiding over the last two years or so since the attack. we will see what happens. appreciate the reporting from both of you this morning. thank you. well, much of the firestorm following the benghazi attack and the administration's handling of it has been directed at former secretary of state hillary clinton. last night, she faced that criticism head on, sitting down for a cnn hour-long town hall meeting prior to and also while promoting her book "hard choices." clinton admitted she isn't satisfied with the anticipates that have been unk-- with the

answers that have been given so far. >> i'm looking for answers because it has been a confusion and difficult time but i would hope every american would understand, number one, why we were there because we need to be in dangerous place and number two, that we are doing the best we can to find out what happened and i hope that fair-minded people will look at that seriously. >> what specifically do you still not know? >> there's a lot we don't know, christiane. because now that we have khattala in custody, hopefully, we will learn more, at least from his perspective. the reason it takes long is to put together cases, which is what the fbi and other law enforcement agencies were doing. they have to piece it together, just as we started piecing it together on the night of the attack. we want to know who was behind it, what the motivation of the leaders and the attackers happen to be. there are still some unanswered

questions. it was, after all, the fog of war. but i'm absolutely convinced that the united states and all of our various agencies, with all of our professionals, including the congress, is, you know, piecing together the best information we can find. >> we are gonna have more on clinton's town hall last nate, including what hillary clinton's possible presidential run might look like, if she does, indeed, decide to run. and what would her presidency look like if she gets elected. that is coming up later here in the hour. i want to bring you this breaking news just out to us coming out of iraq. due to increasing threats of violence, here's what we know oil giant, exxonmobil, is carrying out a major evacuation of its staff from the region. that is coming to us according to reuters. exxon has branch offices in both baghdad and basra. bp, that other oil giant, also reportedly evacuating some 20%

of its staff over concerns over workers' safety. this comes on the heels of the news that iraq's government and their troops have repelled a siege on iraq's largest oil refinery, that is just north of baghdad, which at one point, terrorists had taken control of. it underscores the global reliance on the region's oil supply, which is now at a nine-month high when you look at prices. today, president obama later on this afternoon will meet with congressional leaders to discuss and debate the crisis in iraq. what, if any, the u.s. response should and will be. there seems to be very little agreement on what role, if anything, the u.s. should play in stopping the terrorists' bloody march toward baghdad and the politics grow uglier. in today's "wall street journal," former vice president, dick cheney, rips obama's handling of iraq from the troop pullout to today's indecisiveness. in that op ed, cheney and his daughter, liz, write "rarely has a u.s. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many."

we are gonna discuss that in depth shortly. first, i want to get straight to anderson cooper. he is on the ground in baghdad. anderson, when you look at where the terrorists are they are less than 40 miles away, 37 miles to be exact from where you are. just coming out from nuri al malaki there, a statement on television talking about the fact that he says the iraq government, his soldiers, are on the rebound. he says they have absorbed the initial shock of military operations, calling this a catastrophe, not a defeat. what is your sense on the ground there? is that how it feels? does it feel as though a corner has been turned? >> well, you know, it's interesting, in his statements, his weakly address, he said it wasn't really a military defeat, it was a problem of political stalemate. that's what he said was the problem over the last several days. as you said, he said iraqi forces are on the rebound. there is not really sign of that i would be very cautious, you know, you said earlier that the

oil refinery was back in the iraqi government's hands. i would be very cautious on that, based on a statement made by the iraqi government in the last several days. they have made a stub nub of statements in the battle they were still in control of tall live far, turned out they weren't. that may be wishful thinkinging on the part of iraqi security forces, iraqi government. we simply don't know who's in full control of the oil refinery up in bay jie. we know the entire area sunder control of isis forces and they have been laying siege to that oil refinery. it's the largest oil refinery up in the north. it would be a major blow to this regime and certainly, they are trying to contradict a number of local reports from the area, saying that that refinery is actually in the hands of isis at this point. so we are going to have to wait and see exact lib who's in control of that but we have not seen large-scale victories on the part of iraqi forces. certainly, we have known over the last 24 hours there has been intense fighting in the city of baqou baqouba. isis and sunni militant forces

said to be in the western part of that city. they briefly took over a police station, took all the weapons from that station and then moved back into western parts of baqouba. so, it may be wishful thinking on nuri al malaki's part to say the momentum is now in the hands of the iraqi government. we will have to see what happens the next several days. >> that brings up such an important point. you interviewed former british prime minister tony blair last night, i was watching it ander search you asked him repeatedly if he thought that nuri al malaki is able to do the political work to unite iraq. again, and tony blair frankly didn't know. he said fess not able to, someone else needs to. in many ways, this is politics for nuri al malaki, trying to hang on to his country and being able to unite it there. and so your caution about listening to the words of the iraqi government is a good one. what is your sense from people that you're speaking to in the streets? do they believe al maliki can lead them through this? >> you know, in baghdad there is

a sense of certainly optimism. there's a lot of fear, a lot of concern, but this is a largely shia city, there is a sense that they are drawing a line, that baghdad itself will not fall. we have seen tens of thousands of volunteers. sistani called for people to take up arms to defend iraq, largely sunni volunteers -- shia volunteers. and so, there is a sense that baghdad itself will be able to with stand, that as isis forces get closer to the capital, they are fighting in more shia-dominated areas and those areas, shias there, are going to be more likely to stand up and fight there is a sense of confidence, but the question of whether will they be able to retake some of the areas that have already fallen, that is a very open question. >> yeah, and whether this will become a divided country, especially given how much financing and funding they now have from the bhapgs that they

have looted, the gold that they have, this is a very well-funded and growing operation. appreciate the report live from baghdad, anderson. thank you. still to come here in the newsroom, general motors' ceo mary barra back on capitol hill in the hot seat. in less than an hour, lawmakers set to grill her about why the country waited more than a decade to address a deadly ignition switch defect. meanwhile, happening right now, family members of crash victims holding their own news conference. we will dig deeper, straight ahead.

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now, family members of crash well, general motors ceo mary par barra facing more tough

questions on capitol hill n less than an hour, they will testify about gm's handling of an initial switch defect that has been linked to at least 13 deaths. gm knew about this problem for over a decade but he did not do anything about it until this year. an internal report found a corporate culture that discouraged the flow of bad news. meanwhile, victims' families right now that is a live press conference happening on the hill, victims' families the their own press conference. i want you to take a moment to listen. >> my name is candace anderson and i'm a survivor of the gm ignition defect. so many families have been affected by gm's negligence. november 15 of 2004, i was at the wheel of a 2004 salt turn iron that veered off the road and struck a tree, killing my best friend. for the better part of ten years, i've carried this unnecessary guilt that i was the cause of michael's death, that i was the cause of a mother to lose her own son so tragically, that his the cause of two innocent girls to cry for their

dad who will never come home. >> now, joining me from new york, chief business correspondent, christine romans, also from the new york stock exchange, cnn business correspondent, alison kosik. we have all been covering this very closely. general motors just put out this internal investigation done by former u.s. attorney, anton val look cass, that was scathe willing. over 300 pages saying there was a culture of negligence, of incompetence and she told employees, i never want you to forget this, because this is not how gm should operate. christine, she is saying, vowing that this is a new general motors that will never do anything like this again. what does she have to say to lawmakers on the hill to'd to convince them and the american public of this? >> poppy, i think that report, anthony val look cass report should be required reading for a company, big or small. it was wittering what is going on inside that company. the gm nod, people looking around saying, yeah, nodding them fix it and no one actually doing it.

really, really damning stuff. what she has to do tell them, poppy, is she's got to show this committee that, in fact, they understand what the problems were in the company and they are fixing it going forward. i mean, listen real quickly to just briefly the tone from the last time she stood before these people, stood before congress, she couldn't really say much because there was an investigation. listen. >> we are doing a full and comp pleat investigation. that's why we are doing this investigation. that is part of the investigation that we're doing. the investigation will tell us that. >> she has got to answer some very serious questions, like why did they even build this faulty ignition switch in the first place? why did they change a part number in -- not change -- change a part without change willing the part number in -- >> so people didn't know. right. >> how is this allowed to go on? she is going to have to be very careful because you have all of these people whose lives have been affected by this. so, it's a very serious situation with lives lost. >> yeah and let's not forget the

fact that this is gm's investigation. granted, they brought in a former u.s. attorney to do this independently who had full access, i'm told to all documents, all employees, no restrictions. however, the department of justice is still investigating. there's a criminal probe going on. and congress is still investigating. so, this suspect the end of the road for general motors. alison, what is so interesting is the business side of, this the if a act that gm stock has not been harmed that much, frankly, since the majority of these recalls came, that gm sales are the best they've been in years, even after just friday and monday, we got millions more recalls for an i will mission switch problem. what's going on? >> yeah, you mentioned the stop, the stop hasn't been heard at all. you saw gm shares take a hit, down 4% since the recall started but they made up ground. now those shares are up 2.6% for the year. you know this company is beginning to look like teflon. this is a gm that bounced back from bankruptcy and even as these recalls come almost on a weekly base circumstance the

company, as you said, just had its best may in seven years. sales run 13% from a year ago. i know it sounds crazy, but the funny thing is that these recalls could actually wind up boosting sales because you get more people strolling through the show room as they go and bring their cars in for repairs and they say, hmm, i'm gonna go buy that car. then i've got some people who bring their cars in for repairs and they take those loaners and they say, you know what i like this loaner better, could i go ahead and buy this loaner instead? one thing that's not being advertised, poppy is that gm is also offering steep discounts to owners of cars recalled because of the ignition switch defect. this all kinds up piling on for sales. one other thing to keep in mind, analysts are saying gm at this point, it's got a really strong product pipeline that over -- that its overall auto demand is robust. these are reasons why you're seeing sales really holding in there. >> that's an important point to make that pent up demand to buy cars for years, since the

downturn in the crisis, people aren't finally spending money, i'm doing well, the industry doing well, interesting, guys that people are really still trusting gm and buying those -- buying those cars. appreciate the reporting this morning, christine and a lison. thanks so much. still to come in the news roornl, the crisis in iraq and the cauldron of debate reaching a tipping point. we are going to look at the political and military equations and what washington is considering doing. that's next. themselves.eak for i'm sold! a "selling machine!" ready for you alert, only at lq.com. most of the time people are shocked when we show them where they're getting the acid, and what those acids can do to the enamel. there's only so much enamel on a tooth, and everybody needs to do something about it now if they want to preserve their teeth. i recommend pronamel because it helps strengthen the tooth and makes it more resistant to acid breakdown. we want to be healthy and strong through the course of our life, and by using pronamel every day,

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this more willing, major developments in iraq. we learned that exxonmobil is evacuating staff in its branch

offices located in basra and also in baghdad. we also are learning that bp is also evacuating about 20% of its staff from that area right now. well, this comes as we are hearing from iraq's government that its forces wrestled back. they are saying wrestled back controlled of the nation's largest oil refinery. at one point earlier in the day it had been reported that terrorists had reportedly seized most of that site. that would have pushed up oil prices obviously so very volatile there. oil prices still at a nine-month high right now. also, former vice president ratcheting up his criticism of the obama administration's handling of all of this. we will take a long the a liz and dick cheney's op ed in the "wall street journal." here to discuss this the situation as it unfolds in iraq, any potential u.s. response, senator dan coates, a republican. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> i want to begin with this op ed, assume you read it in the "wall street journal." i want you to read part of it dick cheney and his daughter liz writing "rarely has a u.s.

president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many." this comes as the nation debates any potential military action. this is a scathing op ed talking about the president being out golfing while we are facing this increasing terror threat. what do you make of what dick cheney wrote here? >> i think that what has been said is very true, in terms of what's happened under this president sich the constitution gives the president the commander in chief title and the responsibility to deal with crises, whether they -- in terms of how they affect the united states. this clearly is in our economic and strategic interest here. and with all the blood and pressure we spent to bring iraq to a united state and frankly, pretty pacified after the surge, seen it now deteriorate rapidly. this is an opportunity for the president to step up and regain some credibility for the united states and i think provide some leadership and i hope he takes it. he is supposed to meet with

leadership today, way too late, in the desert, but the wrong desert and should have been in the white house, but at least it's a start. i'm calling on the president, mr. president, we look to you as a leader, not only of our country, but our country as a leader in the world. and we need some decisiveness and decision. you can't keep turning to congress and say give us some ideas. the president is the one that needs to form the policy. >> senator, at the same time, it was the bush/cheney administration that signed in 2008 that status of forces agreement that required all troops, not just combat troops, all american troops out of iraq by 2011. now, of course there are those that say the obama administration should have started sooner in extending that, should have worked harder on those negotiations with the maliki government. isn't some of the blame for the bush and cheney administration,

something not brought up in the op ed? >> the important thing is everyone steps up and takes responsibility. >> but is that happening? is that happening? is that happening? is that happening, sir? >> well, we have literally walked away from iraq and tried to press -- given the leverage that we have, any kind of involvement in a status of forces relationship with iraq that is absolutely necessary in putting pressure on their president there to be much more inclusive and stay engaged. frankly, we have a lot at stake, not just for iraq, the middle east, but for its united states and whatever happened in the past, it's time to step out now and make a decision. go before the congress, go before the american people and make a decision, mr. president. >> at the same time, in 2011en the maliki government was unwilling to give the united states guarantees that it needed to, it believed at that time, to keep our troops there, protection from prosecution and other things. i want to talk to you about something that some fellow republicans have been talking about, that is an area where they are a bit divided, whether

or not the u.s. should potentially take up this opportunity for discussions with iran. of course the nuclear divide but the same side with iran when it comes to wanting to defeat and hold back isis. you heard ted cruz on erin burnett "out front" saying no way, no how. hillary clinton addressing that in the town hall and lindsey graham who said he would be willing -- the u.s. should be following have those discussions were do you fall in that? should we be talking to iran about working together here? >> we got a saying in southern indiana, at least, you lie down with dog, you wake up with fleas. iran is the leading sponsor of terrorism, leading sponsor of unrest throughout the middle east. they created theism eds that maimed and killed our soldiers. this compromises everything we do making peace with an enemy to

try to deal with the situation that we should be dealing with with our allies and friends, not with our enemies. >> so that's no? >> absolutely a no. tragic mistake for us. we would pay long-term consequences for that type of arrangement. >> i appreciate the time this morning, senator, dan coats. thank you for coming in. our conversation on the developing situation in iraq will continue straight after a break. i will ask a military analyst about president obama's possible options. are air strikes still on the table? a lot of report billion that out this morning. we are back in a moment. t them in the bathroom again. it's just the strangest thing... the warning signs of alzheimer's disease, may be right in front of you. it's alright baby. for help and information, call the alzheimer's association or visit alz.org/10signs

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happening right now, senate majority leader harry reid speaking on the situations in iraq, blasting republicans for criticizing president obama's iraq policy. wither monitoring that for you and bring you the very latest as soon as we have it. let's bring in a couple more guests to talk about this lieutenant colonel rick fran cone, a cnn military analyst, patricia murphy, a columnist with the daily beast. thank you both for being here. appreciate it >> thanks, poppy. >> i want to talk about the dick chainny op ed, assume you have both read it in the "wall street journal." "rarely has a u.s. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many." tour, pat trish shark at a time like this, when lives are at stake in iraq, when the united states is trying to decide on their course of action, if any right now, what do you make of this op ed and what did you make of the timing of it right now? >> i think the timing of it is

very dangerous. i think the op ed itself is an attempt by the former vice president really to cover his own decisions, to keep himself out of the way of blame for what is happening in iraq today. and to try and really just sort of be an i'm a chair quarterback for what the president is doing right now. i think it's just not at all helpful to the current debate, if the bush administration had finished the job that they started, if they had finished the war, if they had completed the status of forces agreement before a new administration came in, they would have been able to protect their own legacy on this, but because it has drawn out so long, because it is so chaotic, i don't think it helps at all to have anybody in the former administration telling the current administration what what they need to be doing. if it is so critical, so public, in a forum like, this i think not helpful to the debate. >> at the same time to you, colonel, you're on the side of you believe that the obama administration is, in part, to blame for this for not, as you talked about, extending that status of forces agreement with the maliki government back in 2011. some could see this op ed as a

push, an attempt to push the administration at this time toable now. what is your take on what should be done at this point in time? >> well, i think we made a big mistake in 2011 by walking away from the status of forces agreement extension talks. i think it was very important that we keep some sort of residual force in iraq. between 2008 and 2011, the security situation did not improve enough that would have allowed us to leave, precipitously, in my opinion, as we did. had we been able to keep a reasonable size force in iraq, we might not be having this conversation because they would have been able to blunt that attack on mosul, which precipitated this move on baghdad. so, i think that was a failure on our part, to do that and think we are living with the consequences of that. >> i want to ask you, you served as a military attache in syria. i was thinking about this a lot this morning wondering, do you think that the president risks looking hypocritical here, if he, the administration, the u.s. attacks isis in iraq and did not

during its rise in syria or do you think it's a sign of less lessons learned, the unfolding, the downward spiral in syria? >> well, you know, syria has been a problem for three years since the revolution began. and i think we missed an opportunity early on to support the more moderate elements that were present in syria. i think that opportunity has -- the window has closed. >> right. >> i think the situation is too bad now in syria to get involved right there. we have an opportunity to blunt isis in iraq, i think we should take advantage of that we cannot live with this artificial state created by an islamic group between syria and iraq. that would provide yet another safe haven for al qaeda to come back in, for another islamist groups, jihadis from all over the world, that would be really dangerous in the future some, i think the president has an opportunity to move now in iraq where we failed in syria.

>> appreciate the time. wish we had a lot more of it with both of you. thank you, lieutenant colonel rick francona and patricia murphy, appreciate it. back in a moment. and it feels like your lifeate revolves around your symptoms, ask your gastroenterologist about humira adalimumab. humira has been proven to work for adults who have tried other medications but still experience the symptoms of moderate to severe crohn's disease. in clinical studies, the majority of patients on humira saw significant symptom relief, and many achieved remission. humira can lower your ability to fight infections,

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well, as you know, she is calling it a book tour, right, a book tour, not a campaign stop, but hillary clinton was very much in campaign mode last night, taking questions on everything from benghazi and those attacks almost two years ago to immigration issues in this country that are unfolding right now along the u.s./mexico border. how did she do? i want to bring in cnn executive political editor, mark prince and ben ferguson and jess mcintosh joins us, the communications director for emily's list. the president of that organization has often been floated as a potential director for a possible clinton presidential campaign in 2016. had to throw that in there get to you in a moment, jess. mark, your impressions of last

night's town hall? >> ever any question, any doubt in your mind that hillary clinton was contemplating a run for president, tough go back and wtch that town hall. she staked out positions on guns, immigration, same-sex marriage, strict infivetives positions on iraq, iran and syria, all laying a groundwork that many of to us believe, i think that everybody believes she is going to run for president, but it was this moment last night that occurred right before she took stage, her motorcade was pulling up to the news seem where this event was being held. she got out and she approached a squirrel on the sidewalk. now the squirrel, it was a staffer sent there by the republican national committee and she handed the squirrel the book, shook his hand and i think this is -- while it may seem frivolous at the moment, really look at it, it shows that hillary clinton is willing to take her detract tractors on, she is willing to address them head on and did that right before she took the stage. so, look, pictures are a thousand words and actions speak louder than all of that i think we saw that last night. >> the official word, i'm thinking about it and talking

about being excited become being a grandmother. then saying, hey, by the way, grandfathers have run for president. that was something that certainly caught my attention. last night, guys, we heard about this evolution of hillary clinton's answer on whether or not same-sex marriage should be legal in this country. first, let's listen to her answer from her npr interview last week, then you're going to hear what she told our christian amanpour at last night's town hall. >> for me, marriage had always been a matter left to the states. and in many of the conversations that i and my colleagues and supporters had, i fully endorsed the efforts by activists who work state by state. and in fact, that is what is working. and i think that, you know, being in the position that i was in the senate, fighting employment discrimination, which we still have some ways to go, was appropriate at that time. if we're going to support marriage in our country, it should be available to everyone,

regardless of who they love. and that this marriage equality issue is a great human rights issue. so yes, i evolved over time and i'm very, very proud to state that i'm a full supporter of marriage equality right now. >> ben, your take on that, listening to both of those? >> i mean, evolution over time, i would say since last week would be a little bit more accurate. this is a woman that certainly is -- everything points that she is going to run for president of the united states of america. and part of what you could see about her answers so well thought out, so well planned, almost like there's been debate prep. how are you going to answer this? what is your stake on this? do you want to change what you said last week that maybe didn't connect with people enough? and that's the reason why you see her talking in this safe way, but also in very broad terms and changing her position a little bit. and i think part of this is really just learning what connects with people and what gets you bigger applause.

what she said yesterday got bigger applause than what she said to npr, so that is the candidate hillary clinton, kind of honing her skills. >> well, if she does decide to run, that's statement that was so clear last night and decisive, not something she can turn away from. >> take back. yeah. >> jess, to you, during her 2008 run, she got some criticism that she wasn't as, you know, personable as she could have been or as open about her, you know, herself, her private life, bag woman, running, et cetera. i thought it was so fascinating how she explained that last night. it was so personal, it really struck a chord with me. let's listen. >> i think it was difficult to really gauge how i was presenting myself and being perceived. so, i do believe that was an issue. i mean, i -- i would be worrying about, well, you know, what are people going to say and, you know, what do they mean and all the rest of that and i think i'm beyond that.

i can't say i'm never gonna feel that. but i do believe that a woman in any high public position, whether it be journalism, politics, business, whatever, is always constantly being judged and you >> she also went on to talk about frankly as a woman having to think about hair and make-up and how male rivals could get out of the shower and shake their head. do you think this is a calculated step for a potential run in 2016. >> i think it's candid. i think it rest on natd with every single woman there and at home. what it was was a town hall with a woman who could be the frontrunner if she chooses to do

this. i think we saw why everyone is excited to see someone with their brand of leadership. >> part of this is she lost last time and she knows she has to recreate and reinvent herself. it's a lot easier after you lose, okay, that didn't work, to be a little personal, and to be a more grandmother role and more caring. remember that's how her got husband got elected. i feel your pain and running to mcdonald's. >> i want your take here. she said right at the outset, if you want to be president, you have to have a vision for the country and you have to know how you are going to execute it. dupg we heard a vision from hillary last night? >> there's been a lot of criticism as to whether hillary clinton has been able to offer

that as to why voters should select her. it's a little too early to be playing that at her doorstep. we're not asking the other candidates, the republicans, the rand paul's world why she should be president. quite frankly, we know why, she's the most qualified to be president. we're looking at something for hillary clinton to pick up and as well as the republicans as well, i don't think this is an honest or good way of going at either candidates, whether it's hillary clinton or any of the republicans that are running right now. they are not candidates, although they are candidates. >> kudos to christiane amanpour, the most creative way to ask if a person is running for president in 2016. we're back after a break.

vietnam, it was the war that jfk didn't want and lbj couldn't stop and it is the focus of cnn's original series "the 60s". >> we will prevail in vietnam. 14,000 dead, the war in vietnam has become the most decisive in a hundred years.

>> what it rms was introduce us to a new world. >> i don't think it's worth fighting for and i don't think we can get out. >> you started to distrust your own leaders. >> i can assure you that we intend to carry on. ♪ >> as the casualties mounted, that was turning the public in this country against the war. >> david miller publicly affirms -- >> lyndon johnson realizes he was no longer in charge of the war. the war was in charge of him. >> the 60s tomorrow night at 9:00 on cnn. >> the next hour of cnn "newsroom" with don lemon begins after a quick break. so he knows exactly when he can check in and power up before his big meeting. and when alan gets all powered up, ya know what happens? i think the numbers speak for themselves.

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happening now in the "newsroom," does this man hold

the secrets about the benghazi terror attacks, oneful most wanted men in the world now on a navy ship bound for the u.s. cnn spoke with him before he was caught. arm sergeant bowe bergdahl is getting the first glimpses of the firestorm following his release from captivity. honduras has a request for the united states, don't deport our kids. why they say the migrant children are better off on this side of the border. you are in the "newsroom." good morning, everyone. thank you so much for joining us today. i'm don lemon. we're going to begin with a lot of news following two big stories happening right now on capitol hill. general motors, mary barra in the hot