in december. fought me on follow me on jake tapper. video blogs, extras, subscribe to our magazine on flipboard. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper turning it over to wolf blitzer right now in "the situation room." happening now -- isis closes in to u.s. air strikes could they keep the terrorist in seizing a key iraqi city? as terrified residents flee and urgent call for reinforcement. al qaeda's air base. the the terror group, repeatedly targeted the u.s. from the air captures and airport in yermmen. will this boost odds of successful attack on america? security threat. shocking new video of the gyrocopter flying past the washington monument on the way to a landing at the u.s. capitol. could the pilot's dangerous stunt serve as a model for someone with a deadly intent? and missing records. the tulsa deputy who fired his

gun instead of his stun gun may not have been properly trained in the use of firearms. were local officials ordered to falsify his training documents? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." terrorists tighten the noose. isis releases dramatic new images of its assault on iraq's largest oil refinery showing off heavy weapons answer ground attack and even aerial surveillance by a drone and closing in on a major city. slowing advances on ramadi but sending out urgent appeals for help as thousands panicked refugees flee. suggesting ramadi less than 70 miles from baghdad may indeed fall and may fall soon. and in yemen, al qaeda's deadliest affiliate which tried repeatedly to attack the united states from the air, has now

captured an airport, which could possibly give it base to carry out its goal of hitting american interests. i'll speak live with the white house deputy national security advisor ben rhodes. he's standing by. and our correspondents analysts and guests are standing by with full coverage. we begin with our chief national security correspondent at the pentagon. the battle for ramadi intensified. what's the latest? >> reporter: interesting hearing both today from the defense secretary ashton carter chairman of the join chiefs dempsey. lines are positive. security forces but in the case of ramadi largest city in western iraq and anbar it may fall to isis and making it's case it's not strategically important. the chairman of the joint chiefs calls it just bricks and mortar. >> i would much rather that ramadi not fall but it won't be the end of a campaign should it fall. we've got to get it back. >> reporter: to be clear, ramadi

does not have a key oil refinery. chairman of the joint chiefs saying that's where the focus on iraqi forces is now to keep it from falling into isis hands, but it's hard to see how ramadi falling to isis would not be at least a major symbolic victory for isis. as you said wolf 70 miles from baghdad. the capital of the sunni heartland, the largest city in anbar province it would be a very visible loss for iraqi security forces. >> obawkward phrase. bricks and mortar. hundreds of thousands forced from their homes and are homeless. images of people fleeing an area that isis to control, it's awful. whether strategically important or not, peoples lives are at stake now. go to yemen for a moment. some of the worst fears realized there as well as al qaeda. aqap the worst of the al qaeda affiliates now from the u.s. perspective, apparently taking

over an airport. what happened? >> reporter: right. took over an airport in southeastern yemen. the late ef of the territorial gains. again a failed state. a major terrorist group. aqap controlling territory much as you have a terrorist group like isis controlling territory in iraq and syria. and i press the defense secretary on this. no longer u.s. special forces are on ground. the u.s. embassy is closed and no longer a stable partner government. i pressed him on how this cannot -- reduce a counterterror pressure on aqap and what it means for the safety of americans at home. here kwhap he here's what he had to say. >> if we don't have a stable government as is the case in the current circumstances we have to use other means to protect ourselves. that's what we're doing. >> reporter: how does that compensate without special forces on the ground fribsor instance a listening post, cooperation with the existing government. it's hard for people at home to imagine there's the same control and response capability?

>> i repeat it's easier if there's a government with which we can cooperate in existence in that country. we're not going to find that all the time in all places in the world. >> easier for sure to be fair. the u.s. was able to conduct an air strike earlier this week which aqap said kill wund of their senior leaders. going forward i've heard consistently wolf from u.s. counter terrorist officials concern there will not be the same counterterror pressure on aqap going forward giving them greater capability that increases the risk for terror attacks against americans including the possibility on the homeland. >> jik chutem sciutto, thanks. with the world demanding answers about russia's sale of advanced plifls to iran agres in ukraine, brute's stifling of internal descent, vladimir putin held a town session. what did he have to say? >> reporter: town hall meeting with 142 million people wolf. tonight vladimir putin is banking in popularity with

russians. no doubt crowing inside the kremlin over another of his famous kq&a sessions broadcast throughout the country taking shots at america saying the u.s. he's in vassals not allies and the evening full of defiance and patriotism that have become putin's trademarks. a introduction worthy of a super bowl half time show. a dramatic highly choreographed four-hour live television event with a studio audience mon raters multiple cameras piped in to putin unplugged. a q&a session, making a bold assertion. >> translator: will are no russian troops in ukraine. >> reporter: a comment u.s. officials pead immediately rejected. the questions and those who asked were hand-perked, even some about the murder of russian opposition leader boris. >> translator: any chance of finding out who ordered this horrible death?

>> tragic and shameful. the question whether we can find the people who carried out the killing i don't know or if there were such contractors. >> reporter: saying he had a hand in his killing, his government denies it. >> a very dismissive answer that basically says that the russian police the law enforcement, secret services all beyond reproach and as for himself, that happens. shameful. >> reporter: a powerful missile defense system to iran which the u.s. opposes. >> translator: the u.s. delivers far more repensweapons. it is not a threat a defensive weapon. >> reporter: helpful in iran's nuclear program. a putin turning on america regarding rirn? >> russia's tried to position itself as a the good cop to the american bad cop. had a very different relationship with iran than the united states hasd. >> reporter: putin does this q&a

every year. analysts say it's a way are building his immense popularity inside russia. but do the russians not see through this? >> more most there's no reason to say he's a dictator and acting light the american president because they have no idea what things are like in other countries. russia is extremely isolated. >> reporter: the range of questions and putin's answers, extraordinary. one one hand the nemtsov killing and on the other, one woman asking putin to persuade her husband to get a dog on her birthday. his response i can't order anything. so let's just ask boris, please be kind to buy your wife a dog. wolf it got bizarre and i think this man boris is under pressure tonight to buy his wife a dog. >> certainly is. a blunt question on the tension in ukraine. >> reporter: right. on a lot of people's minds there. came from a person who lives near it's border with ukraine and said we are afraid for our children.

will there be a worear? putin's answer it is not possible. his actions belie those words. >> in-depth on all this. joinings deputy security advisor ben rhodes. thanks for joining us. >> good to be with you womanlf. >> ramadi first. bricks and mortar awkward phrase. from the joint chiefs of staff. hundreds of people lives at risk if isis were to take over. 150,000 refugees already. what's going on over there? >> it's obviously of enormous concern as major population center in that part of iraq. what the chairman was saying you have strategic assets like the baiji oil refinery we've supported iraqi security forces in taking and holding and have a concern about ramadi. that's why we're taking actions through air strikes in vicinity of both of these places and working with iraqi security forces to provide them with additional support, and i think what we see now wolf is isil having been pushed ouch out of

tikrit and put on defensive seeking to see it can go in offensive in other areas and we have positive respond. >> isis is moving in the city of ramadi. so many american lives lost there when the u.s. was involved in that war after 2003 and 2005 and 2007. why isn't the iraqi military after all of these years, more than a decade hundreds of billions of dollars the u.s. poured in there, left behind the most sophisticated weapons for them. why isn't the iraqi military capable of protecting their own people? >> well, wolf, remember ramadi is in that area of anbar province in western iraq eisele has been very active several months now. posing a threat to ramadi as they've been able to cake areas like mosul up in the north, fallujah, where there has been enormous american sacrifice. we saw, wolf these are the predominantly sunni areas of iraq and a breakdown of trust between iraqi security forces and the communities. what we have now inclues ish

iraqi government. a prime minister who reached out to the sunni tribal communities. we're working to reinforce forces making sure they're multisectarian units and bringing in sunni tribes in defense of their communities. that's a long-term plan and short term we need to push eisele out of areas like we have in tikrit and reinforce defensive areas like ramadi that of course have many thousands of iraqi lives at stake. >> is the u.s. surprise bids this enormous isis capability several thousand isis fighters taking over a huge city like mosul, a city of nearly 2 million people now moving in in ramadi. did it come as a surprise to the u.s. intelligence community? >> what's happening in ra maudsy in the context of an ongoing conflict in that part of iraq. isil pushing out of areas and show they're going to go on the offense in other areas and we're going to deal with that. i'm confident we have the coalition and the capabilities to deal with that. i think, wolf what we said canidly, surprised by a point

you made previously which is the iraqi security forces back when there was the original isil advance into iraq back in the summer you saw the iraqi security forces fall back quickly from areas like mosul, like fallujah and around ramadi an area that's been threatened for some time now. we've been trying to get trainers on the ground additional equipment to the iraqi security forces and with air strikes is try to create the space for the iraqi security forces to regroup, but also very importantly to have a more inclusive political process in the country so that those sunni communities are not disaffected from the government in baghdad, rather working together. >> stand by. i want to continue this conversation. ben rhodes president obama's deputy national security advisor. looking at al qaeda in the arain yab peninsula, an around under their control. what is going on? stay with us's

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we're back with president obama's deputy of national security advisor ben rhodes joining us live from the white house. ben, aqap al qaeda in the arabian peninsula seen as the greatest terror threat to the u.s. homeland now. terrorists aspire to commandeer planes attack u.s. aircraft individuals. now they've actually gotten control of a major airport in southern yemen near the city of mukala. hundreds freed earlier this year. how much of a threat is this to the united states? >> wolf aqap an ongoing threat to the united states since 2009 when president obama took office. the fact of the mat sir, what we've seen out of aqap is

aspirations to attack the american homeland. we've been able to deal with that through pressure on aqap and its senior leadership. even now with all of the chaos in yemen, we're able if we need to to take direct action against aqap targets, if we see intelligence that allows us to disrupt plots. over the years have been able to see many aqap leaders removed from the balgtsdsfield and we'll watch the situation scaife lif carefully and if we need to take action we'll do so. >> not the same capability when a friendly government was in charge there. a u.s. embassy, u.s. military personnel on the ground. now you have to do everything from djibouti or other places outside from aircraft based elsewhere. right? >> well in terms of direct u.s. action against terrorist targets in yemen that has been with air power in the past. that will continue to be the case as necessary. it is certainly the case, wolf that it is better if there is a more stable political environment in the country. we've had within yemen a

multiple transitions over the last several years and right now we have a much more chaotic situation with the conflict that is undergoing there with the houthis advancing south and with our gulf partners with our support taking action against that particular threat to yemen's internal stability. what we have to be mindful of is any effort like aqap taking advantage of that vacuum and we'll be vitch tloent watch for that and take actions necessary to disrupt terrorist plots against the united states. >> speak ar the russian president vladimir putin. ink isn't dry, isn't an agreement yet with iran on its nuclear program, but russia's now saying they're going to sell these s-3 opinion airmissiles to iran saying it's a terrorism deter deterrent deterrent. sanctions haven't been eased but going ahead with it anyhow to which you say -- >> wolf first we have been concerned about the system have been for some time.

it's been deplapd they've chosen to go forward with the delivery of the system. it is a defensive system in that respect. it's not a violation of the u.n. security council resolutions but we think it's a negative step by russia. at the same time we do not believe that this should affect the negotiation towards preventing iran from getting a nuclear weapon. russia has bant the table of that negotiation with the p-5 plus 1 and believe question get the framework from earlier in the spring preventing iran from getting a nuclear weapon. russia took a counterproductive step. we raised concerns. frankly the russian economy has taken severe hits from the sanctions the u.s. and eu put on russia. so they may have felt they needed additional revenue, but we've made our concerns known and will continue to do so. >> talk about security right here in the nation's capital. yesterday saw a gyrocopter flying over the national mall. look at this image. i don't know if you can see it right now. it's pretty scary stuff.

how worried about you about air security say, here in washington, d.c. around the white house and the u.s. capitol? >> well wolf it's an area of concern. we had, you know an unmanned air yell vehicleerial vehicle come into the white house complex recently as well. i can tell you the faa working with the secret service and capitol police are looking at what additional security measures can be taken to protect key landmarks around washington like the capitol, like the white house. at the same time we have a nationwide effort with the faa to try to put in place clear rules of the road as we look towards the future where there are going to be more and more use of private drones like this that can allow for our security and protection of our civil liberties even as we know the technology is proliferating. >> you agree with me? alarming what happened yesterday? >> look wolf yeah. anytime you have this type of unmanned aerial vehicle flying through the capitol that poses a potential threat and risk.

in this case it did not fear have a hostile intent. just as when we had something come into the white house grounds, these types of incidents cause us to sit down have relevant authorities, faa, secret service, capital police look at what additional security measures they may need adopt to evolving technologies. >> yeah. this was a manned aircraft. one man. >> yes, yes. >> and that aircraft the drone that flew on to the white house grounds that was unmanned. i remember as a white house kroernt in the '90s a plane actually landed on the south lawn of the white house and got right up to the white house. are you guys secure over there? are you worried about the president's security, the first family's security right now? >> no. we're confident in the security we have here. we have confidence you know despite many of the incidents reported on the secret service does do an extraordinary job every day. it's a difficult job. so we're confident in security but, look there's no such thing as per feshgz and we need to stay one step ahead of evolving technologies whether it is the fip of unmanned drone that came

in here or the type of ndiaye gyrocopter we awe. a new term fonr many of us acrouch the capitol grounds yesterday. we have to make sure in terms of our own security procedures and proceed calls we're trying to stay one step ahead of these technologies rather than allowing them to penetrate our defenses. >> yep. i hope so. ben rhodes thanks for joining us. >> thanks. >> ben rhodes deputy national security advisor to the president. coming up the man who landed his gyrocopter at the u.s. capitol now charged with violating national defense airspace. stand by for new video of this shocking stunt. also shocking new developments in the investigation of a reserve deputy who mistakenly shot a man with his gun instead of his taser. if you suffer from a dry mouth then you'll know how uncomfortable it can be. but did you know that the lack of saliva can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath? well, there is biotene specially formulated with moisturizers and lubricants... biotene can provide soothing relief

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breaking now the man who landed his gyrocopter in the front area of the u.s. capitol is out of jail. he'll abe lewed to go home to florida. in court this afternoon, a federal plach straight ordered douglas hughes to be placed at home detention until he returns to court next month. today the tmp pa bay times released new video of hughes flying along the national mall past the washington monument on his wray to the u.s. capitol building. he faces fines up to three years in prison on charges of unlawfully operating an aircraft eligible for registration and violating national defense airspace. let's bring in our aviation correspondent rene marsh with much more on what's going on. >> reporter: wolf i spoke to a former government radar engineer who says no one is watching these small, slow-flying targets. they're all fixated on the

potential of something like a huge jetliner. norad admits that detecting this sort of low, slow-flying aircraft is very difficult. so tonight there are concerns about the security of the nation's airspace over the nation's capitol and what can be done to fix those vulnerabilities. tonight, new video shows the mailman in his gyrocopter flying east across the national mall past the washington monument. heading straight for the u.s. capitol. >> this is not good, people. >> the critical question at the center of multiple investigations how did this gyrocopter fly through what's supposed to be highly protected and restricted airspace? >> the military's mission seems to be optimized towards finding large aircraft with missiles. not smaller aircraft. today we're not prepared for that. >> reporter: douglas hughes took off from gettysburg pennsylvania traveling nearly

100 miles into restricted airspace. the trip took roughly two hours. the faa, secret service, capitol hill police and homeland security monitor radar for this hypersensitive airspace around the clock. when there's an incident the monitoring agencies are supposed to communicate in realtime on a conference call. any potential threat is assessed. then norad steps in. scrambling either a military jet or a coast guard chopper, and can shoot down an aircraft if necessary. so how did they miss this? homeland security secretary of state jeh johnson says because it actually flew under the radar. the gyrocopter on average flies comfortably at 50 to 100 feet. although it's capable of flying higher. at that altitude it's out of reach of most radar detection. a clear you haver in act. >> i've said that a number of times it would be simple to take

a home-built aircraft down the river, make a left turn over the lincoln mem more and fly it up the mall. it wouldn't be the first time it's been done. >> reporter: in january, a drone crashed on to the white house lawn, and in 291994 a small cessna flying low and out of radar the reach came down outside the white house. no one tried to stop that one either. well the argument is these hypersensitive radar would essentially counter countless false alarms detecting things like birds. integratorses like other sensors like noise monitors picking up the propeller signature of a gyro copt sir a potential solution. that experts saying the government needs to think outside of the box, wolf. >> they certainly do. could be a wake-up call for a lot of folks. rene, thank you. bring in the former fbi assistant director tom if a went

eaze tom fuentes. and doug hughes, a gyrocopter pilot who potentially faces serious jailtime? >> right. faces up to three years, wolf for these charges. most likely. and in addition to some fines, which are likely as well. now, you know, the issue for the government is to try to figure out how to treat this very serious, to discourage anybody else from doing this, but at the same time you know not give him anymore platform for his message which is trying to deliver some kind of political message. >> the political message, all the money in politics right now. he thought he would deliver 535 letters to members of congress and that would have an impact maybe it will maybe it won't. there is technology, though, that can sort of monitor low-flying small aircraft like this, but what? it's not used? >> well it's not used. i mean the government says it's just not -- just not practical, saying that it's something they can't really do -- it's

difficult to counteract something like this. frankly you know they just don't have an answer for it right now. >> they've got to do something, though tom, right? this potentially, this guy, ewas in dangerous -- we know with hindsight, he wasn't but a bad guy could have been dangerous? >> could be wolf. the message to the whole world is look at this gap, this vulnerability. flying above the ground can't set up a road block. don't have to worry about a truck bomb something like that. you're not a giant jetliner flying towards the capitol. doing the in between flying in at 100 feet and could have a small squadron flying in like that. if there's no method to detect them then there's certainly no mend to prevent t. the other thing so disturbing. this guy for two years or so was advertising what he wanted to do. including in the days leading up to this and the secret service investigated questioned him a couple years ago and took everyone by surprise. >> i guess he should have threatened to join isis. >> and people would have known

what was going on. dangerous situation. guy, stand by. more to discuss. coming up the tulsa reserve deputy as he's called who fired his gun instead of his stun gun may not have been properly trained at all. what happened to his training records? and as yet, another state legalizes medical marijuana. our own dr. sanjay gupta is standing by to give us a closer look and advanced look at his new documentary on what's called the marijuana revolution. ♪ where do you get this kind of confidence? at your ford dealer... that's where! our expert trained technicians... state of the art technology and warranty parts keep your vehicle running right. it's no wonder we sold more than 3.5 million tires last year and durning the big tire event get a $120 mail in rebate on 4 select tires. ♪

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there's an extraordinary twist in the sheriff who fired his handgun instead of a stun gun. employees were told to forge robert bates training records and three who refused to were assigned to other duties. sheriff office denies the allegations but the sheriff concedes they can't find the gun certification records for bates. let's discuss what's going on. joining us cnn analyst tom fuentes, former fbi assistant director. the criminal defense legal analyst joey jackson and cedric alexander president of the national observation blach law enforcement executives and serves on president obama's task force on 21st century policing. cedric what's your reaction to these reports and do communities really need to be concerned about these so-called volunteer

reserve officers who go out on the streets and obviously this is an extremely dangerous situation. >> yes. absolutely. everyone should be concerned. i think the important piece here is wolf they really need to find those records, if there ever were records, but they certainly need to prove there are some records, some training and some certification, which is so essential to this case. because if those records are not plowed, it produced it just continues to create this cloud of suspicion and certainly does begin to separate and create some extreme concerns for communities across this country and for police officers, such as mr. bates there. >> because, as you know there are a lot of reports out there in tulsa, he was a rich guy. he gave a lot of money to various police organization. helped the sheriff take trips, stuff like that and as a

result for his own fun he wanted to be a reserve deputy but we see it was a deadly -- a deadly mission in this particular case. i assume you've worked with these kind of people before oesh the years. right, cedric? >> i've worked with a lot of people over the last 38 years of my career and served in a number of departments across this country as well too, but the important thing is here if you're out on those streets doing that type of work every day, you certainly need to meet some certification and qualification in order to have the arrest pow. able to use your weapons, because it goes beyond him just being a civilian that's out there. he's actively taking part of a case such in this case a gun sale. illegal gun sale and that certainly has a lot of potential and threat to someone being injured rchltd yeah. someone is dead as result of what happened. >> absolutely. >> on this particular case. joey turn that that disturbing dashcam video from arizona. the police say the officer who intentionally ran down this man, probably saved his life but his

lawyer calls this obviously excessive use of force. here are the question. does have a lens yapp have valencia have case? >> in my opinion, no. look at facts and then the law. the issue is whether or not that person who was run over do they pose a significant risk of death or serious injury? so the police officers or others in the community, if you look at the leadup to what occurred and that's him being run over it -- the answer to that question is absolutely yes. you're talking about a person who robbed a convenience store, engaged in a home invasion. went and stole a rifle, in addition to ammunition. a person who obviously unlocked the trigger on that rifle by virtue of firing a shot in the air. who pointed the rifle at himself and others. in addition to that, wolf, he's going into a neighborhood that certainly could be populated

more densely than the neighborhood there. so if she allowed to continue, who knows what can happen? so on that basis, if you look at the video just by itself oh it's troubling, excessive use of force, but when you look at facts that led to the officer's actions, i do not think that his attorney has a case at all. >> i want you to stand by. more coming up. also other news we're following including new gains in the fight to legalize medical marijuana. our own dr. sanjay gupta standing by to preview his eye-opening new documentary. and new video shows isis terrorists storming a major oil refinery in iraq. is there any hope iraq's army can stop that? we'll steekpeak live with senator lindsey graham, standing by live in the "situation room."

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tonight georgia is the latest state to legalize some types of medical marijuana. republican governor signed a will you nu law including children with epilepsies to receive in-state treatment. nearly half the states now alow medical marijuana. in an op-ed our own dr. sanjay gupta writes this -- we should legalize medical marijuana bp we should do it nationally and we should do it now. this sunday san grey the new documentary "weed three" looks a what he calls the marijuana revolution including the political fight to change federal marijuana laws. >> this bill we are introducing seeks to write deckright decades of wrong and end unnecessary marijuana laws. >> reporter: march, 2015.

democrats cory booker and kirsten gillibrand along with republican rand paul just proposed the most audacious marijuana legislation in our lifetime. if it passes it would create a fundamental change in the way the united states views and treats marijuana. >> our drug laws in this country as a whole need a revolution of common sense and compassion. >> reporter: for starters it would do something scientists have been begging for. reschedule cannabis from schedule one to a much less restrictive schedule two controlled substance. >> once you make the class of drugs schedule two, you can research it, find out the medical impacts and when to use it when does it make sense? that's what is necessary. it's so simple. >> reporter: the bill would also mandate more farms to grow research range marijuana and allow greaters access to those in need including veterans who would for the first time be able to get a prescription for medicinal marijuana from the v.a. hospitals.

>> >> let's stop the pot hypocrisy. we've now had three presidents that have admitted to smoking marijuana. people in public office all throughout the senate have said, hey, i've smoked marijuana reck raegsally. how much of a hypocrite do you have to be to say that i broke american laws using pot as a recreation al recreational thing and i'm not going to support that as a medicine for severely sick people that they shouldn't be able to access this drug. >> sanjay's joining us now. sanjay excellent work as usual. you call this one of the most audacious pieces of marijuana legislation. why is that? >> well effectively, it would legalize med izeize medicinal marijuana. schedule one means there's no accepted me disdicinal us use. schedule two says there there is medicinal use. that's a big deal wolf. it would free up dollars for more federal research, allowing veterans administration hospital doctors to preskribcribe this

medication for veterans. there's a big posttraumatic stress veterans and marijuana study that is starting up now. so these are big, sweeping things. nothing this big has happened if in the last 40 50 years, wolf. >> who else would be most impacted if this were to pass? >> well, you know, there's a lot of patients who are going to enter these trials. over the last few documentaries you've met some of them. first of all, i should say these patients are at this pointtypically patients who have already tried everything that is out there to be offered to them. children with epilepsy people with chronic pain people who have had ms trying muscle relaxants and with ptsd have been on sleep meds and they don't work. these are the people looking for another option and probably would have the most impact on them but also scientists and

lots of other people trying to do this work for years. >> what about the use of medical marijuana to treatals alzheimer's? what do we know about that? >> there's a growing population of people using it to try to treat the symptoms of alzheimer's. sometimes the disorientation, the agitation, the difficulty with sleep, things like that. there's lots of research on alzheimer's and marijuana. what they're seeing is the marijuana can stop those plaques that are the telltale signs of alzheimer's from growing. it could be the anti-inflammatory effect of marijuana. they're not entirely sure but that's how they believe it can work longer term. they're putting a lot of effort behind that type of research. >> sanjay you've personally seen patients have a better life because after medical marijuana, right? >> no question, wolf. no question. we show these stories but

they're emblematic of so many more people. it's not just one child with with a rare disease. it's countless children who could be affected. not one man suffering from ptsd. it's so many others. i've seen -- i saw the little girl that you met as well wolf charlotte. she was having 300 seizures a week. nothing worked. she started taking these medications and was down to one seizure a month. she wouldn't have survived and now she's having one seizure a month and is living a much more normal life. someone who has ptsd that is so tragic and tebl that there's nothing you can do. 22 veterans kill themselves every day in this country. for a lot of them the medications don't work and they're out of options. one of the gentlemen in our upcoming documentary informs that exact boat. he was almost one of those 22 veterans a day. he's alive and doing so much better now because of his use of cannabis and the ability to control some of his symptoms of ptsd. these are stories but they're

emblematic of more and the studies proving this are under way. >> you're doing important work. thanks on behalf of all of our viewers, we appreciate it. be sure to watch dr. sanjay gupta's special report entitled "weed 3: the marijuana revolution." sunday night 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific here on cnn. and following sanjay's special report the at 10:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn, cnn debuts "high profits." "looking at a couple's quest to become marijuana moguls. here is an exclusive look at the new trailer. >> they're parasites. they're preying on our community and our kids. it's going to end badly. we have exactly $100,000 cash in the back of his are car. i bet there's guys right there in that prison for doing what we're about to do. >> i want the cannabis club to be a household name.

>> he's going after every resort town in colorado. his plan is brilliant. >> this is a big boy operation now. >> we are not the amsterdam. this is breckenridge. >> unbelievable this has happened so quickly. >> that's when the town erupted. >> all hell could break loose. >> the powerful has put the pressure on. >> everyone is playing everyone. they're going to have a target on their back. that is a real threat. >> there's $2 billion to be had next year. i plan to take more than my fair share. >> "high profits" sunday night at 10:00. and coming up here in "the situation room" it may be the strangest 911 call ever. the desperate appeal for help from the baggage worker who was stuck in the cargo hold of an airliner as it took to the sky.

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happening now -- ♪ isis blood money, the terrorists boast about their battle to control a crucial source of power and wealth while the u.s. appears to downplay isis fronts where tens of thousands of civilians are now in danger. terror in ohio -- u.s. officials say an american citizen was ordered to return home and launch an attack in the united states. we're learning why this arrest is the first of its kind. pilot charged -- the mailman who violated the no-fly zone over the nation's capitol goes to court. his shocking path over some of the most protected airspace in the world. and cargo hold call.

we now have the 911 cry for help from the aviation worker who was trapped in the belly of an airplane as it took off. >> you're where? >> i'm inside a plane. i feel like it's moving in the air. >> we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." breaking now, terrorists claim new prizes on the u.s. and the world. isis is posting dra thematic new video of a major oil refinery. warning about the strategic importance of that battle and acknowledging that isis may be on the brink of a victory on another front in the city of ramadi. al qaeda fighters have now seized a potential asset in their goal of attacking u.s.

airplanes claiming control of an airport in yemen. senator lindsey graham on the arm services committee is standing by along with our correspondents and analysts all covering the news that's breaking right now. first to our chief national security correspondent who who has the latest. jim? >> this was a stark assessment from the chairman of the joint chiefs martin dempsey, of the many national security challenges facing the u.s. right now. the two of them basically granting that isis may very well take over the city of ramadi in western iraq talking about more reckless encounters in the air with russia and in yemen reduction in the u.s. capability to counter the immense terror threat from aqap. fight ersers from the most dangerous al qaeda affiliate al qaeda in the arabian peninsula overrunning an airport in southeastern yemen. chaos engulfing the lawless country with deep implications

for safety on the u.s. homeland. the new american defense secretary conceded that the fall of the u.s. allied government the withdrawal of u.s. special forces and the closing of the u.s. embassy in yemen have all reduced america's ability to fight the terror threat. in iraq it is the terror group isis that is on the advance with the punishing assault on ramadi. officials inside western iraq's largest city tell cnn it is on the brink of falling to the terror group adding desperate calls for reinforcements from the iraqi army and are more air strings by the u.s.-led coalition. today joint chiefs chairman martin dempsey conceded that iraqi, forces may very well lose ramadi to isis. >> i would much rather that ramadi not fall but it won't be the end of a campaign should it fall. we have to get it back. >> reporter: coalition air strikes on thursday appear to have cut resupply routes used by isis.

residents have given up on rescue. tens of thousands having fled the city in just two days. ramadi is in iraq's sunni heartland. today the new defense secretary ashton carter expressed concern that the iraqi government is still relaying too much on shiite dominated militias. >> a lasting victory over isil requires inclusive governance in baghdad and respect for local populations in all areas liberated from isil control. >> reporter: and as isis continues to push on the oil refiny, a critical piece of infrastructure for the iraqi economy, the terror group released new propaganda video showing their rapid assault on the city. >> once the iraqis have full control, they will control all of their oil infrastructure both north and south and deny isil the ability to generate revenue through oil. >> reporter: we pressed the defense secretary on russia's sale of advanced missiles to iran. the defense secretary saying the u.s. still has military options

on the table with regard to a iran's nuclear program. the chairman of the joint chiefs, dr. martin temdempsey says those plans are still intact even with the sale of missiles to iran. >> jim sciutto for us. jim mentioned tens of thousands of civilians have now been forced to flee their homes, leaving the city of mad ramadi. elsewhere in the and bar province, they don't vau isis the same way u.s. military officials do. let's bring in arwa damon. she has seen the fighting firsthand and is back in baghdad relatively safe right now. arwa, when we hear the u.s. joint chiefs of staffs says that's stra tejtegically important but ramadi not so important strategically, just bricks and mortar, if you will, you've seen what's going on there. what's your reaction? >> reporter: that statement is

not going to go over well here wolf. that is for sure downplaying ramadi's strategic importance is not necessarily the most productive way of al and bar province because it is a strategic city not to mention the humanitarian toll that the fighting is taking. when we look at ramadi's importance this is the capital of iraq's sunni heartland, al and bar province. if the u.s.-led coalition do not do their upmost best to try to help save that city it is going to send a very negative mention to the sunni population that the shia-dominated government at this stage cannot afford to alien alien alienate further and it is critical that the government be able to reach out to the sunni population. and the first stage to doing that is helping them to drive

isis out of ramadi. >> as you point out, you were there. this is not just the city of bricks and mortar. there are a lot of people there. you've told us what 150,000 ref squeeze already are fleeing their homes because isis is moving into this area? skra what you saw. >> reporter: it's absolutely heartbreaking and it's a tragedy that unfolds over and over and over again. you see refugees fleeing on isis onslaught, grabbing their children by their hands. we saw an old woman in the back of a metal cart with a baby in her arms clutching the child's ragged doll in another one of her hands. we saw the elderly bursting into tears as we were approaching them trying to talk to them about what had happened. and there are still around 150,000 to perhaps 200,000 people still inside that city. this is not a scenario like

tikrit where the vast majority of the population had left. the people of ramadi did not have that choice. they are stuck there. and this is their home no the matter how it is that the u.s. views it there are human beings living inside this city who have to be able to get out, yes, but also have to have a home to return to and now we're talking about isis being inside ramadi removing them from ramadi will require street-to-street gun bat battles, sheer and total devastation potentially is what lies in the future. so this is much more than just bricks and mortars. we're talking about people's lives at this stage. >> we certainly are. it's a shocking situation. what's especially shocking after all these years the u.s. in investments in that iraqi military there are simply m.i.a. right now, not even protecting their own citizens in this town in the city of ramadi. it is shocking indeed. our thanks very much arwa one of the courageous journalists we

have here at cnn. tonight another u.s. citizen charged with aiding terrorists. federal authorities say he was ordered by an al qaeda affiliate in syria to return home and attack targets here in the united states. our justice reporter evan perez is joining us with the details. a formal indictment now of this individual. that's right, wolf. he's 23 years old, is from columbus ohio. he became a u.s. citizen just over a year ago in february of 2014 a couple months after that he left in april of 2014, he left to go get explosives training arms training combat training with the al qaeda affiliate in syria, and he came back home to the united states last year again in june. according to the fbi accord inging to the justice department indictment he told a friend that a cleric told him to come back to the united states to carry out attacks here domestically. he said he wanted to attack cops military execution style

is what he said to his friend, according to the fbi. >> we see a lot of americans arrested on these terrorism allegations, but this one is different, right? >> well it is. we've spoken so many times on this program about the warning from counterterrorism official the fear that all these foreign fighters going overseas, coming back and carrying on attacks. this is that person. this is the person we've been warned about and he didn't carry out the attack. they arrest eded him before he could. this is the fear they've been speaking of. >> now he's accused of wanting to join forces. actually was trained by an al qaeda affiliate in syria, but he was toying with the idea of joining isis right? >> right. it goes to show you how the allegiances are kind of malleable. they just want to go over there, and he talked about supporting isis. he posted things on facebook pictures and glorifying isis. and then really talked with his friends as to which one was better, as if he was trying to decide which baseball team he wanted to follow.

this is the danger for people like this. >> a huge dangerer indeed. thanks very much for that report. meanwhile, let's turn back to the two huge battles of isis terrorists waging war right now in iraq trying to fight to control a major oil refinery to seize the city of ramadi in the and anbar province only about 70 miles or so from baghdad. let's bring in a leading voice in the united states senate on military matters, senator lindsey graham is here with us in "the situation room" is a member of the armed services committee and is thinking about running for the republican presidential nomination. we'll talk about that later. senator, let's talk about what's going on in ramadi. were you upset when you heard the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff basically saying ramadi bricks and mortar? he seemed to be down playing the fact there are 150,000 refugees, and you heard arwa say she was there, there may be another

couple hundred thousand people fearful of their lives if isis takes over. >> not only was i disappointed i was disillusioned. your reporter understands it better than the joint chiefs. this is a new test of the government in baghdad. if they will not fight for ramadi if they will not send the iraqi army to protect the sunnis why should the sunni ss try to get back into the government? this is a test of the new iraqi government. she understands it apparently better than general dempsey. >> that's arwa damon. she's been in iraq for a long time. he made the point, in fairness to him, the oil refinery is strategically very important because of the oil and wealth, and they have to devote their energy to protecting the oil refinery refinery. >> i would argue that the oil refinery is more a tactical win. we'll take it back. we can blow it up. taking the capital of anbar province are where the iraqi army fails to defend anbar province and the people of

ramadi destroys any ability to bring the country back together. >> they're here the prime minister. i don't know if you were here. >> senator cain did. >> he's asking for hundreds of millions of dollars, asking for apache helicopters, tanks, other sophisticated artillery, humvees or whatever. this after the iraqi military abandoned all this u.s. equipment that the americans left behind. do you trust the iraqi military right now to have control of additional u.s. weapons that it won't wind up in the hands of isis or shiite militias or iranians guard forces who are there snepg. >> number one, i wouldn't give him a bunch of money or equipment until i got a commitment to reconcile the kun country. i wouldn't do this until we had more american presence on the ground to make sure it doesn't become a win for isil or the iranians. for a team they're doing pretty

good. you'll never fix iraq without dealing with syria. the saudi ambassador told me today two things i thought was very important. you'll never destroy isil until can you deal with assad. he's the recruiting tool and allows the fracturing. never fix iraq until you have political reconciliation, never destroying isil. so i don't see reconciliation in iraq and i don't see any plan to destroy assad. >> it's awful in yemen right now as well. they now have control of an airport there. i want to you stay with us, senator. we have more to discuss, much more with senator lindsay gra lindsey graham right after this. the american dream is terrifying. american history is the history of the scary thing being the exact thing we have to do. cross that ocean. walk on that moon. fly. none of this makes rational sense.

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we're back with lindsey graham of south carolina. we're talking about new advances by terrorist ss in two countries where the u.s. has an enormous investment talking about iraq and yemen. let's talk about yemen for a moment. all after sudden al qaeda in the arabian peninsula take control of a major airport over there. >> they planned a paris attack. they've threatened to it attack us probably the most lethal group in the region including isil. >> the u.s. evacuated the embassy.

all military personnel. a lot have complained to our reporter. why can't america help us get out out? these are dual citizenship. >> you have to take them. they are supported by the iranians. they have taken down the pro-american government. it's directly related to iran. the hudis couldn't survive 15 minutes without the iranians. they are supported by iran to get a government back in charge of yemen so we can get on the case. >> the saudis are trying to do that. >> the whole region is trying to do it and we're sitting by doing virtually nothing. >> you heard the iraqi prime minister say he condemned the saudis for doing what they're doing and raised the specter.

>> he gave the iranian talking points to yemen and is not helping the sunnis. he is failing to reconcile. i had high hopes for the guy but the fact he's allowed ramadi basically to be taken by isis will be seen that you can't trust him any more than maliki. >> until he proves himself, no more u.s. aid, economic assistance or military hardware. >> isis wants to attack us, too. we need to defeat aqap so we have a stake in the game. if i thought this was just about iraq i wouldn't sent them 15 cents. it's also about us. >> what about that gyrocopter that landed near the u.s. capitol yesterday? we laugh about it because the guy wanted to protect all the

money that goes into politics but this is a dangerous situation. at the end of the day can you imagine this happening in 2003? we're losing the sense we're at are war. he should have been forced down or shot down. the fact he could fly through washington and land on the capitol, somebody should be fired. if you are in charge of controlling the airspace you should be fired. somebody should be fired. >> is capitol hill safe? is the white house safe right now? >> i would argue, no, we're not safe when somebody can land a helicopter on the lawn of the capitol. where are the people who have supposed to be protecting our capitol? i blame the president for a lot of this.

he always down plays the threats. isis is a jayvee team. we don't need to get involved in the no-fly doan inzone in syria. here at the home lant the threats are going up and the congress is allowing our budgets to be cut. we'll have the smallest navy since 1915. the budgets are being cut so the congress has got blame here too. >> you want to be president of the united states? >> i will make that decision by may. if i run, the answer will be yes. if i do run it's because i think i would be the best person running at a time we need a commander in chief and knows what he's doing. >> what do you think of the field? >> they have to prove they are ready to be commander in chief on day one. it's not enough to beat on president obama.

how would you deal with the threats? could you bring democrats and republicans together to do the big things that need to be done? it's not enough just to beat on president obama. you you have to show what you would do. i have a good case. if i run i will say here's my record. >> which way are you leaning? >> more likely than not to run. >> you'll let us know? lindsey graham joining us in "the situation room." more on al qaeda's take yoefrp of an airport in yemen. will that help launch attacks on the united states? our terrorism experts are standing by. and an airport worker's panic when he found himself trapped inside the cargo hold after plane that had just taken off. stand by. you'll hear all -- all of his 911 call. >> i'm in this plane. >> you're where?

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we're getting word of a disturbing developing involving al qaeda. terrorist forces are now in control of a major airport in yemen. a senior official says they overran the facility near the provincial capital in the

southeastern part of the kun try which is collapses amid a deadly civil war. let's dig deeply with philip mud, the author of the brand-new book the head game. also joining us our intelligence and security analyst robert baer, cnn military analyst retired lieutenant general mart hurtling and robin wraithight of the wilson center here in washington. bob, these fighters from aqap al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, how much ability do they have aqap to launch attacks against the united states to the u.s. homeland? >> it's never a good idea to let a group like al qaeda have any base at all. this is the first time for them. it's going to give them more status throughout the middle east, more leisure, more room to attack the united states. what concerns me is the threat to saudi arabia. today as you've seen the saudis

reinforced their border both by sea and by land because they're worried that instability in yemen especially al qaeda is going to move up into saudi arabia and could be a serious threat to them. so this is a terrible setback for i guess the war on terror. >> and, as you know aqap al qaeda in the arabian peninsula, they want to use planes to go after the u.s. they now have an airport, a plane there. this is potentially a disaster. >> that's the biggest threat. i've been there which is the place they took over these facilities. i think the bigger threat is the collapse of yemen and the danger that we'll have a saudi ground offensive which would lead to a very complicated conflict whether it's against the huthis or aqap. we find that in a country you create a vacuum and there's no authority, there's no army as in iraq that there's nobody to fight off whether it's the sunni bad guys in al qaeda of the arabian peninsula or the

shiites. >> less than a year ago the president was citing yemen in the counterterrorism war. i assume he was saying that as a result of intelligence he was given from the u.s. intelligence community. was the intelligence community wrong on yemen? >> let me take you inside the situation room at the white house for a second. i was with the president. i agreed with him because i thought we had a change in leadership he was more aggressive than his predecessor in prosecuting the fight. drone operations were effective. the problem in cases like this is pretty straight forward. even if the intelligence were perfect, predicting the huthis were going to move when you're sitting at the white house you have libya, egypt, syria and iraq. people overestimate what the americans can do if they don't want to put trapsoops on the ground. you still have to sit back and say, wow, we have a government that's not particularly effective. what are we going to do about

it? sometimes not much. >> general hurtling let me turn to iraq right now. you had heard -- i don't know if you did, but lindsey graham, the senator, you heard him say no more u.s. aid, no more u.s. military equipment to this current iraqi government if they can't even protect their own people in ramadi and hundreds of thousands of people potentially are in danger if isis takes control that have major city in the area. what's your analysis of what's going on? we've seen are already 150,000 people in the past few days escape trying to get out of there. >> well wolf as both chairman dempsey and secretary carter said this afternoon, ramadi is certainly a humanitarian crisis. if i could give a little bit of military interpretation what was also said this afternoon, i did not hear general dempsey say that ramadi isn't important. i think that's a reflection of what prime minister al abadi is attempting to portray in washington right now trying to

rebuild his forces. he's desperate in trying to get an army that really represents iraq into both tikrit and anbar province. he can't do that now. ramadi is important. it certainly is. there's there's 13.5 million barrels that come out of the facility. i heard what senator graham said and i don't agree with him saying we could bomb it and be over with it. this is about building iraq back up and prime minister al abadi is attempting to do that. >> i listened to what general dempsey said general hertling he said that strategically that oil refinery is important and then he used the phrase bricks and mortar suggest inging the iraqi military, whatever capability they have, they have to really worry about the oil refinery have right now. the people in ramadi he seemed to suggest bluntly comes in second. >> i didn't hear that wolf.

what i heard had him say is i would prefer not to see ramadi fall, but if it does it's not the end of the campaign. when he says campaign from military speak that means a series of the battles. he realizes that they've got to protect that oil refinery. he didn't say it doesn't matter if it falls. >> he said what's really important is the oil refinery and contrast that had to what's going on in ramadi. let me get robin's analysis. it sounds like a disaster is unfolding if you lose lindsey graham, if lindsey graham says i'm not going to vote for anymore aid, military aid economic aid to iraq if they don't go in there and protect the people in anbar province in ramadi if you lost him, forget about it. >> well that's the politics of the problem. the bigger reality is we do have

an investment in fighting isis. we can't not be engaged in iraq. that's not a viable alternative. when it comes to the humanitarian crisis there are over 3 million people of interest. ramadi is more important because this is the provincial capital of anbar. the western belly of iraq. if you use anbar province in many ways you have lost the state or the potential of keeping iraq together. there's a lot more at stake than an oil well. >> phil you agree, right? >> i do but, look we have to look at this long term. every week or so we're seeing changes on the battlefield. last summer it was isis advances. this is a multiyear war and we can't be making decisions politically or analytically based on whether isis made progress this week or last week. we'll be at this for years. >> what do you think, bob baer? >> i think it will be generational. this is a civil war. i think the state of iraq is

gone and the soon earp we get to redrawing the borders and separating the sunni and shia the closer we'll be to solving the problem of isis. iraq is not coming back together in our lifetimes. you can count on it. >> that's a depressing thought. unfortunately, we're going to take a break and we'll continue our coverage of what's going on. guys, stand by. just ahead, we also have new video of a copter landing on congress' front door as the pilot appears in court today for the first time. plus new audio of the 911 call for help from a man who awoke to find himself trapped in the belly after plane in midair. >> you're where? >> i'm inside a plane and i feel like it's moving in the air. here at friskies, cats are in charge of approving every new recipe. because it's cats who know best what cats like to eat. up today, new friskies 7. we're trying seven cat-favorite flavors all in one dish. now for the moment of truth. yep, looks like it's time to share what our cats love

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we now have a recording, a very unusual recording, a 911 call from an airport worker trapped in a plane's cargo hold. the man says he fell asleep as the plane was being loaded and he awoke in horror as it was taking off. our aviation correspondent rene marsh is joining us now with more. what's the latest rene? >> reporter: now we have more on this very bizarre story. there's audio of the 911 call made by a panicky baggage handler trapped in the cargo hold of a plane that took to the sky. police releasing the calls just a short time ago. >> i'm trapped in this plane, and i called my job but i'm in this plane. >> you're where? >> i'm inside a plane, and i feel like it's moving in the air. flight 448. can you please, can somebody stop it. >> where are you in the plane at? >> alaska airlines flight 448. >> are you airport? >> i'm not in the airport.

i feel like it's moving. i feel like it moved because -- >> are you by yourself or are you with somebody? >> i'm by myself please! >> you can hear extremely panicky in comparison to the dispatcher there. i'm told the investigation is still under way. at the heart of the investigation is figuring out whether it was only a breach in policy that allowed this to happen or whether there's a need to enhance existing procedures to close a safety loophole. we know that there's more than one investigation, the airline as well as the company contracted to hire that baggage handler. >> the plane eventually -- the pilot and others heard his screams from the cargo and they turned around. they landed and he's okay. what a story that is. thanks very much. the pilot who sparked a massive security scare here in washington has been charged and released. douglas hughes landed his

gyrocopter on the capitol lawn as part of a protest against campaign finance laws. our senior white house correspondent has details of hughes' court appearance today. what happened, jim? >> reporter: wolf this gyrocopter incident is prompting new security concerns across the nation's capital especially here at the white house where they are keenly aware security upgrades are sorely needed on both ends of pennsylvania avenue. in this new video tonight buzzing past the washington monument and across the national mall in this gyrocopter before touching down at the capitol in this a.p. video, florida political activist postal worker and pilot, doug hughes made his latest landing in federal court are where he may soon be grounded behind bars. dressed in his mailman uniform he is facing federal charges of violating national defense airspace and vieolating registration requirements involving aircraft a felony. in a stunt aimed at protesting campaign fund-raising a plan he shared in advance with the tampa

bay times. >> i don't believe that the authorities are going to shoot down a 60-year-old mailman in a flying bicycle. >> reporter: up on capitol hill the outrage was bipartisan. >> why weren't there alarm bells? why wasn't it intercepted? did we know about it? how far from the capitol grounds did we know? >> we need to prosecute him, set a strong example. we don't want any more stunts like this. >> reporter: the secret service denied reports that it was given a heads-up that hughes was about to fly into washington. but agency officials confirmed they did talk to hughes 18 months ago when they first heard about his plans. the secret service forwarded the information to the capitol police. the agency's director joe clancy briefed lawmakers who are demanding answers. >> we have to come up with the appropriate technology to be able to know about these things. >> reporter: after a small drone crash landed on the white house grounds earlier this year and a man hopped the white house fence last fall the secret service is

adding temporary steal spikes to the fence to deter jumpers. but it seems nobody thought a man with a gyrocopter like something out of a james bond movie would ever pose a threat least of all the president. >> if i didn't see his initial reaction it might have been what's a gyrocopter. i know that was my reaction. >> reporter: after his court date today, hughes was released but will be placed under home detention and barred from operating any aircraft while he's awaiting trial. as for the protocols that are supposed to be in place for protecting the white house and capitol from aviation threats, they say the gyrocopter was flying so slow and low that it was difficult to be detected and, wolf the u.s. postal service put out a statement this afternoon saying, just reminding everybody that a gyrocopter is not authorized to deliver the mail. >> a good reminder. thanks very much for that. let's get some more on what's going on. our justice reporter he haveevan perez is with us, as is our law

enforcement tom fuentes. it would be funny if it weren't so serious, tom, as you know. we know this guy had a political motive but it could have been a terrorist. >> it could have been wolf. i don't know what will change to prevent a possible terrorist in this incident. after 2001 the attacks, there was a network established, a domestic event network, that consists of about 100 agencies and there's supposed to be this callout system that goes out. was that call made did that happen here? now a g.a.o. report in 2005 came out and said that there had been over 3,400 incident of pilots flying into controlled airspace like that restricted airspace finding most of them were commercial pilots flying a little bit off course asking the agencies or demanding that agencies step up the coordination. and apparently now we're seeing where this many years later it hasn't been upgraded. >> evan if it's a big plane or if it's a missile, they can deal with that. if it's a tiny little

gyrocopter as it's called flying low underneath the radar, it's hard to detect. >> that's right, wolf. one thing that's being forgotten here is that this guy did not make a secret of where he was going. you don't need any fancy, you know electronic equipment. you don't need any types of radar to detect this guy. he broadcast it. he told everyone what he was planning to do. the question is, did the secret service, did the capitol police not heed what basically were his warnings plenty of warnings? then that's the big question right? if indeed they had shot him down right, and he had made all these warnings we'd be dealing with the opposite question. he pose nod threat and you shot him down. >> the technology that's out there, you have a blimp constantly flying over the nation's capital to deal with a threat like this. >> i live in the district. i live blocks away from the capitol. we get annoyed by the helicopters buzzing by. you'd have to deal with residents wondering why you have

a blimp hovering over their heads all the time. >> i remember when i was a white house cords for cnn 1994 a little cessna actually flew onto the south lawn of the white house and there's some video when it landed right below the residence area where them president bill clinton and his family were living and you can see what happened then. after that incident i said that could never happen again. you remember that, right? >> oh, absolutely. the question i would have even separate from this we had this incident with the germanwings pilot crashing a plane on purpose. we watch the commercial planes heading for reagan airport coming up the potomac every day, and i think that if one of those planes was diverted by a pilot that went awry like the one in germany and france what would stop them? you would have about 20 seconds' notice before that plane hit one of the government buildings here. i don't think they have an adequate way to prevent this. >> they have to learn some lessons and fix it. all right, guys thanks very very . they got to learn some lessons

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tonight, hillary clinton is preparing to make her second campaign swing since officially becoming a president a.m. candidate. just days after her road trip to iowa she will head to another critical early battle ground state. next week she will be in new hampshire. let's bring in our chief political analyst, gloria borger chief congressional correspondent, dana bash and

senior correspondent, jeff zeleny. hillary clinton evolved her positions on two sensitive issues the past few days, the issue of same-sex marriages and driver licenses for undocumented immigrant immigrants. >> she is cleaning things up as she begins her campaign. the times have evolved, to be fair, put things into context. 2008 was a long time ago, politically. she has work to do with her left flank, what she is trying to do early on here. and what she is trying to remind these liberal voters that she is one of them. 'cause there are some questions about that but i think that driver's license thing that dogged her so much in 2008. she couldn't anticipate the question if undocumented immigrants should have driver licenses. now she is coming out of the gate saying just in a statement that they should. >> what she has done is written an article for "time" magazine praising elizabeth warren the democratic senator, one of the 100 most inflew whens people according to "time" magazine. >> right. right. shocking she would do that right, because elizabeth warren

held everyone's feet to the fire. it seems to me everybody is saying that hurricanest trying to win over the left wing of the democratic party. i think what hillary clinton is realizing is that it is not the left wing of the democratic party anymore, it is fast becoming the democratic party. and if these voters these younger voters these more progressive voters don't like her, she is going to have a real problem. it isn't her husband's third way, moderate democratic leadership council party anymore. it is more left and progressive. has elizabeth warren weighed in on hillary clinton's candidacy? >> she is but in a very kind of stand back hands off way. she said something like well we need to give her an opportunity to champion issues that the senator -- that people feel are important. so that's not exactly -- >> what does that mean? >> exactly. actually i was -- i saw elizabeth warren in the hallway of the capitol just today and i tried ask her a question and she went into -- there's a senators'

only elevator i know you have all been n i said can i come in and ask you a question and their prerogative to say no i have to go vote. to her you know in her defense -- >> didn't even let you, dana bash go in the elevator? >> doesn't talk very much in the hallways which is the culture most vendors actually do but i get it. she understands that there is such a hunger out there among progressives for her to run and she needs to tread lightly. >> she doesn't think hillary clinton is good on wall street. i mean period. she doesn't think hillary clinton's the one to carry the message to wall street but she can't do it because the women's groups in the democratic party are with hillary clinton. and that's what held her back. >> support from wall street as we all know. you have got a new article, written on cnn.com, gloria said hillary needs to escape her fame to a certain degree? >> she is having a little bit of a hard time wouldn't you say, because you know it's very hard to do a soft launch for a superstar politician. and i think that the problem she's having and we don't know

whether it's going to work or not is that she has to have this incredible mix between spomt neighity and being on message. and that's very difficult to do when you're at a chipotle or when you're sitting in -- >> maybe she is -- maybe -- >> she did have to -- does anybody recognize you in your sunglasses? >> sometimes. >> chris christie he says now he will make a decision by late spring early summer. getting a little latement is it? >> a little bit but he is waiting on one other thing, what the u.s. attorney in new jersey is going to do are they going to have any prosecutions in bridge gate? he is hearing from donors and others people have largely put his candidacy on hold until this gets resolved. hard for a lot of people to take him as seriously as he would like. this summer, i don't think it's too late. there's going to be time for a new burst of energy in the summer i think, but his decision is based on things out of his control. that is the most damaging thing at this point. >> remember, also have jeb bush not formally announced, has

pacs, scott walker not formally announced, he is in the same boat in that respect. the difference of course he does have a lot of making up to do which is why he went to new hampshire, trying to do the john mccain in 2007 route to kind of work his way back using the forum that works well for him, which are town halls. >> he suggested he thought the republican nominee would either be a sitting governor or ex-governor, sort of a slap at senators who may be thinking. >> you know if you look at the polls, republican voters say they want somebody with experience but executive experience not legislative experience. so he does have a point there. he really does. >> think he does? >> i think he does. >> i do. like most presidents have been governors. the senate argument it's the hardest thing for any of these three, rubio, cruz and paul is thatthy -- the republican party has spent eight years bashing -- >> i think a senator should be president. >> senator lindsey graham saying he is leaping toward running. earlier, i spoke to senator bernie sanders of vermont. he says he will make a decision with the next --

>> they are going to have a quorum in the senate pretty soon people who want to be president. >> thanks. remember follow us on twitter, please tweet me at wolf blitzer, tweet the show at cnn sit room always watch us live or dvr the show so you won't miss a moment. thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer "the situation room." erin burnett "out front" starts right now. "out front" next breaking news new video tonight of a massive isis assault as the terror group makes major gapes. plus breaking news on the tulsa deputy who shot and killed a unarmed black man. we looked into his gun training and it doesn't seem to add up. and tonight, "out from the" takes you inside the maximum security prison where former nfl star aaron hernandez will spend the rest of his life. let's go "out front."former nfl star aaron hernandez will spend the rest of his life. let's go "out front."security prison where former nfl star aaron hernandez will spend the rest of his life. let's go "out front.