top of the hour 10:00 eastern in the "cnn newsroom." >> absolutely. we hope you make great memories today. don't go anywhere. smerconish is coming at you now. i'm michael smerconish. welcome to the program. the death toll is rising in nepal after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the region. hundreds of people are dead and fear is growing that more powerful tremors could strike at any moment. let's get the very latest from cnn's ravi on the phone from calcutta india. where was the epicenter? >> the epicenter was about 50 miles northwest of kathmandu which is the capital of nepal.

7.8 earthquake which i should tell you is the strongest earthquake that nepal has felt since the 1930s. in that earthquake in 1934 it is said that some 10,000 people were killed. what we know right now is that in today's quake, which happened many hours ago now. we know at least 700 plus people have been killed. many more are expected to have been killed. that death toll is likely going to rise we've been told by nepal's foreign ministry. >> i know you're not that great a distance away from the epicenter. were you personally able to feel the tremors? if so what did that feel like? >> i was able to feel the tremors here. they were quite intense. many have never felt tremors like that in their lives. this part of india, which is

very eclose to nepal doesn't often often faceurt earthquakes. a new experience to them. i was in a cafe, sort of the fifth avenue of this city and people rushed out of the cafes and restaurants that were lining the streets worried that their buildings were shaking. what happened here is nothing compared to the scenes in kathmandu and close to the epicenter. even now many people are trapped in the rubble. >> ravi give us the lay of the land. kathmandu sitsen a valley enin the valleys surrounded by the himalayas. >> that is correct. so the worry now is that on the one hand you have kathmandu.

the city center which is a fair ly a fairly dense city with buildings that are built fairly close together. on the one hand you'll have rescue operations on one hand trying to save people who may be trapped there. try to extricate people and on the other hand you know you have people who may be impacted in other parts of nepal that are hilly, mountainous parts of nepal. major avalanches were triggered. so we don't know yet, you know who else or how many people may be trapped in debris or snow and really in the hours and days ahead this is going to be a monumental sort of rescue effort to try and find and save people. >> stick with me for just a moment. you referenced mount everest.

i have a report from a man who was there at the time of the earthquake. roll that tape. >> hello, guys. advance space camp and a lot of disturbance here due to the earthquake that was reported in nepal. all along the base we had quite a few big avalanches coming down and we had quite a bit of rock fall. we're doing well. some of our team members just moved up towards camp one and camp two. we do not have any report from them. we're trying to get in touch with them. some people have gone up towards camp one and we should hear from them soon. i hope all is well up there. >> ravi, the earthquake struck at about midday local time not that there's ever a good time for an earthquake to strike. but what type of customs and what type of local activities were people engaged with mid-day

on a saturday? >> well you know as with any other city the city of kathmandu. tourism is a big part of the industry and on a typical saturday you would imagine many tourists in town. you would imagine the schools may be closed. you would imagine that people maybe going about their saturday and sitting at cafes and sitting at restaurants. some of them may be working. the earthquake struck around about 11:40 a.m. so obviously, good daylight at least. but, you know many hours on you know what they're going to face now and, you know with rain and the struggle they're going to face is trying to rescue people who may be trapped. so as you say, there is no good time. but, you know, the fact that it took place at midday means that we have video, we have images. we've heard from people there.

you know so the people of nepal right now need any advantage they can get, i guess. >> "new york times" is reporting that the television station in nepal was crushed and that they're now broadcasting from the street. can you tell me anything about aftershocks? >> well there have been at least 16 aftershocks that were rated on the richter scale at 4.5 or greater. so you know this wasn't just one earthquake and it stopped at that. all of these aftershocks, not as intense or dangerous as the first primary quake. but, of course with each aftershock you know obviously what you get is people worried. you know buildings that are sort of crumbling or tenuous. you know that could impact those, as well. the reports we've been hearing are at least from the streets of

kathmandu are hundreds and hundreds of people out on the streets. you know, scared to go back in. so you know this is a very tense time for nepal. and, you know, in the coming hours and days we'll learn more about other parts of nepal that have been devastated by this very very strong earthquake. the strongest to hit nepal, we believe, since the 1930s. >> ravi thank you so much for your report. stay safe. thank you. coming up hillary clinton has just announced her candidacy, but already is facing a barrage of criticism. in a moment two united states senators offer their take on a controversy involving the clintons the russians and uranium. plus bruce jenner is speaking out about his new life but not everyone is supportive of his decision. i'll speak to someone who thinks the former olympian is anything but a hero. thank you mom,

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welcome back. bruce jenner has broken his sierance. in an interview with diane sawyer the former olympic hero has confirmed what everyone has been talking about. he's transitioning to a woman. >> i'm me. i'm a person and this is who i am. i am not stuck in anybody's body. it is who i am as a human being. my brain is much more female than it is male. it's hard for people to understand that. but that is what my soul is. i look at it this way, bruce always telling a lie. lived a lie his whole life about who he is. and i can't do that any longer. so can i take my ponytail out? why not. we're talking about all this

stuff. let's take the ponytail out. >> my next guest has something in common with jenner. zoey is the first national transgender tv news reporter and you certainly have seen her work. the infamous o.j. simpson white ford bronco chase was caught on camera by a news chopper flown by zoey and then locally known as chopper bob. wrote a piece for "washington post" bruce jenner is the worst possible choice. zoey is here with me now. in "the post" yesterday you worried that the positive trajectory of the transgender movement was going to be derailed by bruce jenner. was it? >> no not completely. i think bruce jenner did a very good job initially and was very sympathetic. in fact, i was moved to tears really with the opening response. opening remarks between jenner and diane sawyer.

however, clearly what i thought would happen wound up happening and that this turned out to be one long tease for the big reveal that will happen in a reality show possibly keeping up with the kardashians. so you know jenner answered one question and then refused. was evading the rest of the question. so it became just something to tease another show. we really didn't learn very much. >> what surprised you from the two-hour interview last night? >> diane sawyer throwing marshmallows for questions. she's a very tough reporter and i think that you know jenner just wasn't very forthcoming. i thought this was going to be a come clean moment. i remember sitting in that seat and coming out to 28 million people in my interview. and my life changed radically and i totally, look i surrendered.

i told the truth. and i answered every question. jenner would not talk about sexuality. also sexual reassignment surgery. or any other question. and, also didn't want to be labeled as gay or lesbian. and said i'm straight. i'm straight. and didn't really -- >> i'm glad you're bringing that up. i want to run that clip. this of course is from the abc news exclusive interview with diane sawyer. i want to roll that for zoey tur and talk about it. >> you understand that people are baffled, confounded, i mean -- apart from the people that are just -- >> is he gay? >> yes. are you gay? >> no. i'm not gay. i am as far as i know heterosexual. >> you don't know. what do you mean as far as you know e? >> i've never been with a guy. i've always been married, raising kids. >> you can desire a woman every

bit as much. >> yeah. yeah. >> help me understand that because i was as perplexed watching it as diane sawyer was in participating in the exchange. >> right. and, okay so you're straight but you're attracted to woman and you're a woman. according to my math it makes you a lesbian, right? i mean this whole issue with gender identity and sexuality is very confusing. i've gone through it and my sexuality flipped. i'm a straight female now. i'm attracted to guys. you can't be straight and be attracted to women, if you're female i think. >> you think that he was being evasive on that issue? do you think that he was being dishonest on that issue? maybe he thought it would be too much for america if he revealed what he revealed and also said now i'm attracted to guys. >> no. this is somebody that's not surrendering to the process and

is still trying to cling on to that maleness that macho behavior. and, also the past accomplishments. somebody that is desperately trying to hang on to male privilege. but that's not what happens when you transition. you give up everything. you start a new life. you know you start on hormones. it's a spiritual awakening and then when you come out is your spiritual rebirth. and you're born into a new world and everything changes. but not for jenner. jenner wants to continue being this macho, ultramacho straight character. and it's inconsistent with hormain replacement therapy and it's inconsistent with sexual reassignment surgery, which she says she's going for. she danced around it but she said she had two letters and that means the two letters means that she's seeing psychiatrists and they've written the sexual reassignment letters to get the

surgery. she has psychiatric clearance to transition to female. so there you go. she's going all the way. she said it. i don't know how you can have sexual reassignment surgery and, you know your sexuality flips a third of the time. >> so you had that surgery. you and i have previously spoken about your sexual reassignment surgery e. what advice would you give to bruce jenner about the surgery and that process? >> put the seat down in the middle of the night. my advice my advice is really simple. everything changes. you start on hormones and things do change. but sexual reassignment surgery eis like coming to the new world and like cortez in 1519 from the shore line of this new world watching the ship burn down to the water line. you can't go back. this is your life. you're female. and with that there comes major

changes to the way you think, the way you behave. the hormones take effect. your body's not fighting estrogen is not fighting testosterone because now you have normal levels of testosterone for a female and you take hormain replacement therapy for the estrogen. you have to give into the process. so we're watching somebody that is very uncomfortable being transgender, being transsexual. >> i have just a minute left with you. what is funny to me i'm sitting here as a heterosexual guy more sympathetic to what i watched last night in that abc interview than zoey tur who you would think been a kindred spirit with jenner. wherein lies the disconnect between the two of us? >> i am sympathetic. no i am sympathetic. i just have gone through it and when i'm trying if i were talking to jenner right now, i'd

say, surrender. give in. stop stop doing this. because you'll be much happier. and she wants to ebe happybe happy and she deserves a chance at happiness. you have to cut ties with the kardashians and you have to be your own person and you have be comfortable in your own skin. and the other thing is give up the hype. you know e,xwoeknow stop hyping another show. we need you. >> thank you so much, zoey tur. coming up it's only a week two of her presidential run, but hillary clinton is already beating back a media barrage. she's facing questions over foreign donations made to the clinton foundation. could it hurt her presidential campaign? we'll talk about it.

welcome back. there was a major development in

the 2016 campaign this week. hillary clinton has just announced her candidacy, but already it's embroiled in controversy. this week the "new york times" reported clinton state department approved the sale of youranian in aanium mines who donated $2.5 million to the clinton foundation. a contribution which was not disclosed by the clintons despite an agreement reached between hillary clinton and the obama white house. the transaction allowed russia to control one-fifth of uranium production here in the u.s., which at the time raised alarm bells with one member of the united states senate with whom i've just spoken. senator john barrao of wyoming. senator, i have your december 21 2010 letter to the president where you're expressing concerns about the sale of american uranium reserves to the russian government. why were you so troubled by this transaction? >> i was concerned about america

energy security and national security. we know that the russians had been providing uranium to people across the world who are not necessarily our friends, including iran and people in wyoming, which is an area where significant amounts of this uranium were coming from. i was hearing from them that they wanted to make sure that this uranium did not go overseas. after all, we in continued to import a significant amount. >> did you get a reply? >> well it took about three months and i heard from the chairman of the nuclear regulatory commission and he said oh, yeah we're all making sure we will make sure that no uranium leaves the country. no uranium, u.s. uranium goes overseas because we want to make sure we get reporting, if any of that if any of that happens. now we're finding out four and a half years later that that your uranium is now controlled by the russians and is going overseas leaving our country. >> my understanding is that this

transaction gave the russians control of one-fifth of the uranium production in the united states. are you surprised in retrospect that the administration was not more concerned about the deal that was taking place? >> well i would have expected more concern by the administration. we didn't get it. when you consider the fact that only 80% of the uranium we use in the united states is imported and now we see that the russians are controlling about 20% of our u.s. uranium supplies. i think it continues to be even more worrisome today than it was in 2010 when i wrote the letter to president obama. >> when you wrote the letter you were expressing concerns given the approval of the nuclear regulatory commission. were you aware of the fact that the state department was also signing off on this deal? >> i wasn't aware of any of that component of it. i wasnted to go right to the president with my concerns and the response i got was from the nuclear regulatory commission three months after i wrote to

the president. now we hear the other issues and what contributions may have been made to both former president clinton, as well as the clinton foundation which is now raising so much additional interest and concern and on those issues we're still trying to connect the dots. >> given your knowledge of the way that government functions, do you believe that this sort of approval if necessary from the state department is the kind of thing that would have gotten to the desk of secretary clinton? >> well i would have expected that the secretary of state would have approved such an arrangement where we could see that russia would control 20% of the uranium in the united states. a product that we have to import significantly when 20% of all our electricity eand our energy comes from nuclear power. so yeah i would have thought that this would have raiseisen to that level. my concern was for national security and energy security for our country, especially when we see the way russia uses energy as an instrument a weapon a

power in international activities. so i was very concerned about russia getting u.s. uranium, especially knowing that they do send that product to people who are not our friends and especially iran. >> what came to light this week by virtue of coverage in the "new york times" is the fact that the uranium one chair made a $2.35 million contribution to the clinton foundation which apparently was not publicly disclosed by the clintons. your reaction to that is what? >> well secretary clinton had promised the white house that she would disclose contributions that came into the foundation like this one, and now we know that those were not disclosed. so the secretary has not been forth right and forthcoming in things she promised the white house. i think we're still connecting the dots but it's a great concern and specifically with russia where secretary clinton

early on in her term pressed the reset button with russia to say we'd have a new arrangement, a new, a new day with russia. well now we see what's happened with russia and with putin and taking over crimia and incursions into ukraine and selling weaponry recently to iran and now we know that vladimir putin controls 20% of the uranium in the united states and has a relationship with iran at a time that we're trying to do the president is trying to do an arrangement with iran with regard to nuclear weapons. >> the times coverage also put on the front page the fact that former president bill clinton close in time to the transaction that you were objecting to received a $500,000 speaking fee for going to moscow and speaking at the behesksic of an investment bank that had ties to this deal. your reaction to that is what? >> when you look at that that is much higher than the speaking

fees that president clinton was getting up until that point. it was a quantum leap in the amount of money that former president clinton was receiving for giving his speech. >> i know nat you closely read that story that broke thursday on "the new york times" website. a lengthy piece based in part on some original reporting by a forthcoming book and then a lot of independent reporting by the "times." what was your big take away? >> my concern of this whole thing was rules that apply for the rest of the country don't seem to apply to the clintons. don't play by the rules the rest of the country plays in and the democrats put all their eggs into the clinton basket it seems with and from a republican standpoint a conservative standpoint. an incredible number of candidates ready to lead this country and be the top of the ticket for 2016 and it's time to change direction in this country from what we've had under hillary clinton as secretary of

state and under barack obama as president. >> thank you, senator barrasso appreciate your time. >> thanks michael. let's get another perspective on all of this. vermont senator bernie sanders is already positioning himself to be a progressive challenger in the 2016 presidential race and he joins me now. senator john barrasso was just here and he said with regard to 2016 he thinks the democrats put all their eggs in one basket and by now virtue of these reports of the clinton foundation and that basket has a hole in it. which seemingly would benefit you. what is your reaction? >> well my reaction is that the middle class of this country is disappearing and we have more wealth and income and equality than any time since the great depression. and my sense is that what we need is a strong mass grassroots movement in this country to stand up to the billionaire class to create the millions of jobs we need to demand the corporate america and

the wealthy stop paying their fair share of taxes that the republicans finally recognize that climate change is real and that we have to address it and that we create a government that works for all the people and not just a handful of billionaires. >> but respectfully the story of the week is the "new york times" coverage about the clinton foundation secretary clinton, uranium, the russians and the fact that the russian government now controls one-fifth of the american uranium spry. surely you have a ereaction of that? >> it is a real concern. the fact that the clintons have raised all kinds of money from people all over the world is something worth looking at. but, you know michael, to me it is not the story of the week or what the story of next week will be. the story of the last 40 years is a transfer of trillions of dollars for the middle class to the top 0.01% and as a result of citizens united a political system now where billionaires

are able to buy eelections and we're seeing the results of that as a result in terms of the republican budget which is a total disaster for working people. >> i hear you. but i think it fits the bernie sanders playbook to talk about someone who was perhaps able to obtain influence by making a $2.35 million contribution to a private foundation at the same time the state department was approving a transaction allowing him and his entity to control so much of the american uranium supply. >> well if i decide to run for president, then i will make that decision shortly. that certainly will be one of the issues that i will be talking about. >> all right, i promise you, i'll move on after this question. you are to help me understand senator bernie sanders mindset. i read all the clips where you hammered senator clinton, vis-a-vis her transition on the trade deal. you are making a conscious decision you don't want to address this. i don't understand why. it sound to me like legitimate

fodder. >> i will address any and every issue, if i run for president. >> are you leaning toward getting in or staying out? >> we're going to make a decision shortly and the major impediment to me is trying to determine whether or not we can raise the kind of money that we need in this day in age. when billionaires are prepared to buy elections and it is likely that major candidates will be spending maybe as much as $2 billion. can a candidate try and represent working families? mount a serious and winning effort in that kind of climate where these candidates will have unlimited sums of money e? >> does that include taking on the idea of a former president getting paid $500,000 by an investment bank to come to moscow and give a speech while that investment bank is seeking to control the uranium supply in the united states? >> it will cover all issues, trust me. it will. >> david letterman is seeking to

boost the burnie sanders campaign. let me show you senator sanders what he aired on his program. >> nobody knows anything about bernie sanders. so here is a new segment we like to call this meet bernie sanders. >> bernie sanders is a political independent serving his second term as the junior senator from vermont. >> it is called and that is the system we are rapidly moving toward. >> he also stars on "curb your enthusiasm" as larry david. >> i'm not going to say anything. i'm going to keep my mouth shut. >> thanks for watching "meet bernie sanders." >> i know you are a serious guy, but did you like the letterman piece? >> i liked larry david very much. >> have you been told before -- >> he's a funny guy. >> have you been told i want to see the two of you in the same room before you throw your hat into this ring.

>> well that would be fun. he is i am a great admirer of him. but his stuff is hysterical. i do like him. >> senator sanders, thank you so much. >> thank you, michael. coming up 1.5 million african-american men are missing in america. where they have gone and the implications will be explained by a noted american economist. u're certainly not alone. fortunately, many have found a different kind of medicine that lowers blood sugar. imagine what it would be like to love your numbers. discover once-daily invokana®. it's the #1 prescribed in the newest class of medicines that work with the kidneys to lower a1c. invokana® is used along with diet and exercise to significantly lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. it's a once-daily pill that works around the clock... here's how:

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welcome back. baltimore, maryland ferguson, missouri and north charleston south carolina have more in common than just high-profile investigations following the delths deaths of african-american men at the hands of police. each is missing a large portion of their black men. ferguson is at the top of the list. for every 100 women, as many as 40 black men are missing. these men are either in prison or have died at a young age. an analysis of u.s. census data shows that 1.5 million black men are missing from everyday life. joining me now is justin wolfers, he co wrote the "times" piece. professor, african-american males and females, they begin on a same level, a same playing surface and then they diverge when? when do these statistics start to take on meaning? >> well actually slightly more african-american men boys baby

boys born by time of the teens there are about as many young men as there are young women and then through the late teens and by the 30s you see a large gap in many communities with african-american women substantially outnumbering african-american men. that sticks through the rest of the life cycle. >> homicide is the leading cause of death but also heart disease, respiratory disease and accidents also play a role. >> yes, in fact for the group today who are, you know aged 25 to 55 and another important issue is the aids crisis. hiv had a very large impact on the african-american community and dismated large communities, in fact had a concentrated im impact particularly on black men. >> the data can be expressed in many different ways. but here is a way you expressed it that i found stunning. one in every six black men who

should be in the prime of their life have disappeared from daily life. >> yeah. it's a statistic that's both staggering and heart breaking. we found it of course first in a spread sheet cell but there's so much more and so many more stories behind that. >> okay. so that's what the data shows. most importantly now, what are the implications? >> well think about what this does to families in many of these communities. the precise family of dads in jail or if dad died obviously, dad is not around to be a part of things but think about the people who are left behind. you have communities where african-american women vastly outnumber african-american men. the likelihood of finding a good partner and settling and this could be a major force behind the adapitation and the changes in the american family. we see a lot more single parenthood and we see women setting up households by themselves and supporting themselves and on the flip side you see, you know, for the men

left bemindhind if you're that leads you to invest a little less in particular relationship. i think it changes the contours of everyday family life. >> in other words, the men don't have to work so hard to compete for companionship because of this disproportionate number of females to males. >> as an economist we think about the market as a discipline and in some sense there's not so much market discipline in these communities for african-american men. there's no scarcity and, so you know the traditional markets of success that you are to achieve in order to be able to find yourself a spouse are no longer so important. >> with so many men then missing from these particular communities and baltimore is on that list. i mean today, a focus of protest in baltimore, but it places additional burdens on the women who are left behind to pick up the slack. >> absolutely. not just missing the men who are

in jail and often involve others who are not in jail as well. and, you know a generation of kids also growing up without male role models in the household. and it's important to understand where a lot of this is coming from. coming from incarceration and people who are dying early eand fairly large-scale systematic problems. >> professor justin thank you for being here. >> my pleasure to talk about this, michael. hillary has a solid lead but it appears jeb's is slipping away. a close adviser to jeb bush joins me nextt and i'll ask him whether the presidential debate stage should make room for a third candidate. in other words, do we need another ross perot? placed your discover card you can now use freeze it to prevent new purchases on your account in seconds. and once you find it you can switch it right on again. you're back! freeze it, only from discover. get it at discover.com.

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there's a new front-runner emerging on the pack of potential 2016 gop presidential candidates. marco rubio gaining traction he's currently leading jub bush

in the platest polls. and of course, hillary is still the favorite among democrats. whether it's marco or hillary, the final two will have a face-off during the presidential debates. what if there were one more voice added to that debate stage? someone other than democrat or republican. it could happen. there's a new push to reform the presidential debate system to include third-party candidates. let's bring in someone pushing for the change. vin web certificate a former republican congressman from minnesota and is also an adviser to jeb bush. in 12 years in the congress you established a relationship as a stalwart republican. you're advising jeb bush. why do you want a third person or a fourth person on that debate stage? >> it's a good question and an important question. i am a republican i do expect to support governor bush as our nominee and most likely anybody else who might defeat him as a nominee because i am a republican. but what should matter to all of us is the health of our

political system. it's not good right now. the gallup poll says the largest number of people 43% in the history of gallup identify as independents. the question puts from 60 to 80%, the number of people who think our political system is dysfunctional and broken. we're on the wrong track according to 60 to 80% of the american people. there's no one answer to this michael. but all of us ought to think about what's wrong with our political system. and there's a whole list of things. but one is the presidential campaign system seems to most people to be rigged in favor of the two parties in which they have diminishing confidence. >> i'm one of those 43%. so i'm all ears on this idea. but why is the inclusion of a third person on that stage, necessarily a boost for the independent movement? what will it force the other two to do? >> it will force the other two to think about swing votes. increasingly the democrats and the republicans as they as the

parties have become more polarized, have aimed their appeals more at hard-core bases of both parties. and that's the strategy that both parties have been pursuing in the two elections. it didn't used to be that way. when i was involved in politics running for office helping people like my friend jack kemp run for president in 1988 a big part of our strategy was how do you get to swing voters in the middle. now it's how do you turn out more and more of your base which increasingly is further to the left for the democratic party, and further to the right for the republican party. you need to make it clear that there's a big bloc of voters somewhere else. partially because they might succeed, but mainly through my standpoint so the republicans and democrats will have an interesting competing for them. >> the last time this took place, 1992. there was a bush on that stage. it was poppa bush george herbert walker bush. ross perot was the third-party candidate. many in your party said perot cost by his presence george

herbert walker bush the election. >> a lot of people in my party have told me that. >> is jeb upset with you. >> he's never said anything to me about it we want to resolve this before we get so far into the process that the candidates weigh is this good for me or bad for me. second of all, social science done since 1992 kind of disputes the notion that perot cost bush the election. think you have to say that's not necessarily the case. >> in the introduction i mentioned that marco rubio now leading jeb bush in the polls. does that mean that jeb bush better hurry and get into this thing or he'll be eclipsed? >> i'm not worry about that. everybody who has announced, ted cruz hillary clinton on the democratic side and now marco rubio have gotten a boost when they first announce. and i think marco rubio is a serious, viable candidate. good guy. but i think the governor bush whenever he announces he'll get that boost, too.

think he has some strengths that are greater than the rest of the pack and i think he's going to win. >> governor bush once said before getting into the race a couple of years ago is that he thinks his father, he thinks ronald reagan would have difficulties capturing the nomination process in the current configuration of the republican party. the temptation for him is to tether too far to the right to curry favor with the base and then alienate voters he's going to need in the general election. how does he dance that dance? >> one of the reasons we're changing subjects or why am i for him as a republican. because i think he is the best candidate to bridge that gap. he was a conservative governor of florida on issues like educational choice and taxes and spending. he was a very conservative governor of the state of florida. he has not tacked far to the right on every issue to come down the pike as unfortunately most of our candidates did the last time around. and i think that he's going to emerge as the most likely candidate to beat hillary clinton from the republican

side. i know most of my democrat friends tell me that. >> if jeb bush watches the interview and calls vin weber and says vin, you're killing me with this campaign to put somebody else on the debate stage. it could be someone who draws votes from me. you'll say to him what? >> that's not really the way to think about this issue. i think that the way to think about this issue is the health of the political system you want to be president of a country that has a vibrant political system in which most people have confidence. i hope that's not what we find out down the road. but that's not the issue, the issue is restoring some vitality to the american political system. which is in a serious dangerous tipping point almost. >> i would just point out that the debate that was held that included ross perot far exceeded in ratings, that which took place in the 2012 cycle. i think there's a real audience for this. and i agree, think it would be healthy for the country. >> and we have a much larger population now. and still smaller numbers of people are watching than watch the debate in 1992. we need to get people back into the political process.

believing in the american political process. which has been the most successful democracy in the world. this is not the only problem this is not the ultimate solution. but this is a piece of the solution and we ought to pursue it. >> congress man vin weber thank you so much for being here. i'll be right back. c! now's the time to send in the scotts turf builder weed and feed, man! it kills weeds while it feeds and strengthens your grass. feed your lawn. feed it!

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thank you so much for joining me. don't forget you can follow me on twitter if you can spell smerkonish, see you next week. this is cnn breaking news. >> good morning, so glad to have you with us i'm christi paul. >> i'm victor blackwell. 10:00 object the east coast, 7:00 in the west we're following breaking news. >> a massive earthquake in the himalayan country of nepal. officials say the death toll -- and it just continues to rise this morning. we start