collective sigh and you see shoulders drop down as the tension leaves their bodies. >> the only ones that had reporters in baghdad. the whole world was watching. watch cnn's special report "breaking news: 35 years of cnn" tonight at 9:00 p.m. after that tune into conan o'brien tonight. i'm his guest on tbs tonight at 11:00 p.m., 10:00 central. that's it for "the lead." i'm jake tapper turning you over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." happening now -- close call. a russian fighter jet roars low and close to a u.s. destroyer on patrol. it's the russians now complaining. new information on the latest aggressive moves in an increasingly tense relationship. isis terror attack. as more u.s. equipment falls into terrorist hands suicide bombers are starting to use a frightening and potentially

unstoppable new tactic. checkpoint failure. while tsa officers are often busy confiscating your shampoo and toothpaste an alarming new study from tsa says they're almost always missing weapons that could bring down your plane. and missile plet. kim jong-un refines nuclear bombs, a new warning system saying they may not work. is the united states or west coast at risk? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." breaking news disturbing new developments in two of the biggest security challenges facing the united states. today, an isis suicide bomber attacked at a iraqi security base using a bomb-laden tank. reports say the iraqis couldn't stop it. tonight, there's growing concern that as isis gets its hands on nor u.s.-armor made the vehicles

abandoned by the iraqi military more frequent deadly attacks may be on the way. following new flare-up in tensions between the united states and russia. the u.s. military just released this video of an alarmingly close call between a u.s. destroyer and a russian fighter jet. republican congressman adam kinsinger, a veteran is here in the "situation room" and take our questions. and reporter and experts, they've been working their sources. they are standing by as well. let's begin with our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. she has the very latest on this u.s. destroyer's very close call with a russian fighter jet. barbara? the u.s. navy released the video. explain what they've said about this. it's a pretty rare thing for the pentagon to release video like this. isn't it? >> reporter: it is indeed wolf. these encounters happened. the pentagon doesn't like to talk about them almost never release videos or pictures. this was saturday in the black

seat. a russian sacoy fighter jet, flying past the navy destroyer in the black sea. 25 mimes off crimea but in international waters and this jet comes by. now, why did all of this happen? you know the navy is poking a little bit at moscow now saying that the wings of the jet was, in the pentagon's word naked. what do they mean? the plane was not armed. this was not a military confrontation. this is more of a political confrontation, if you will. there were no missiles under the wings. no weapons onboard the airplane. the navy ship saw this coming at a distance, and filmed it. the pentagon deciding to release it, because the russians after this suddenly start talking in their media how they chased off a u.s. navy destroyer in the black sea. the navy says the "uss ross"

never changed course. everyone acted professionally. 's the "uss ross" went on its way, 25 miles off crimea. a fascinating what life is like when washington and moscow when the two militaries come across each other. wolf? >> the russians say, barbara, as you know, that the destroyer, the "uss ross" they say the crew acted provocatively, headed straight they say, to russian waters. the bottom line question of concern, are pentagon officials about this clearly escalating and deteriorating relationship between the u.s. and russia? >> reporter: right. i mean that's really the underlining point to all this. everybody is exchanging a war of words, putting video out of their side of the story. no indication that "the ross" was under threat. but this war of words is not what the u.s. wants to see. in situations like this a ship a fighter jet, miscalculations can happen.

misunderstandings can happen and the problem is you can have disaster on a moment's most. a military miscalculation is not what washington wants to see at this point. so the fact that the russians went home and started talking in such aggressive terms, certainly does cause some concern at the pentagon. >> in fact the pentagon released that video, obviously, that video very disturbing. barbara, thank you. alarming terror tactics uses by isis pap suicide bomber drove a tank loaded with explosives into an iraqi security base near samarra before dawn killing close to three dozen iraqi police wounding 48 others. our senior correspondent arwa damon is joining us live from baghdad. what's the latest arwa on this isis terror attack? >> reporter: well wolf the reason why there were so many casualties we are told because when that tank exploded it

exploded right next to where this unit was storing its weapons. this is the first time that we are aware of that isis has used a tank as a suicide vehicle, but it's not the first time that isis is using vehicles that are armored, in other words, bullets cannot easily stop them when trying to target the iraqi security forces. they use bulldozers that are either already armored or they've put armor on to. they use vehicles that they modify so that they are not easily stoppable, and this is one of the key reasons how isis was able to send wave after wave of suicide bombers into key cities like ramadi like other areas as well and the iraqi security forces are quite simply unable to stop these vehicles from reaching their destination and detonating. this is is a tactic isis modified this is a tactic that is much more difficult to handle

than anything u.s. forces themselves faced when here in iraq and it most certainly is showing just how isis is evolving its military capabilities in this very complicated battlefield, wolf. >> arwa the prime minister of iraq al abadie says isis has stockpiled weapons mostly u.s. weapons left behind when the u.s. left. humvees, battle tanks, ar tilltillery pieces. that stockpile is growing. what's the latest on that front. >> reporter: the prime minister came out with a specific figure earlier on state television saying that isis managed to capture 2,300 humvee ace loan from the base -- bases alone. not to mention the tanks they got their hands on. the artillery, the arms the weapons, everything that these troops left behind as they fled their positions. and all of these elements are mostly things that were provided

by the united states. very sophisticated weaponry. the types of military vehicles that back in the day isis could only dream of getting its hands on and we're seeing this terrorist organization constantly evolving its tactics on the ground. we were earlier in the day interviewing the head of iraq's air force, and he was telling us that the reason why, or one of the reasons why, the air strikes are seeming to be ineffective, is because isis has modified its way of handling them. it's no longer traveling around the country in these large, brazen convoys. it's using civilian vehicles to ferry its fighters around in smaller numbers, often traveling without weapons, and that is why they are so difficult to detect wolf. >> arwa damon in baghdad for us. thanks arwa. be careful over there. another important national security story that's breaking right now the u.s. senate is debating on a change or revive

at least parts of the patriot act even though several key spying programs have expired due to senate gridlock and politics. the obama administration is pushing for quick action. let's go to the white house. our correspondent michelle kosinski is standing by with the latest. >> reporter: started with a storm over how best to protect our national security and privacy, and now of course it has also become a political storm. you have senator rand paul claiming victory now that these parts of the patriot act actually did expire for now. but as a result he's taking a verbal beating from some within his own party calling his tactics political posturing, and fund-raising. >> people here in town they i'm making a huge mistake. some of them i think secretly want there to be an attack on the united states so they can blame it on me. >> reporter: kentucky's two senate republicans at odds. >> the senate will be in order. >> reporter: over allows parts of the patriot act to lapse

including the bulk collection of americans' phone records. >> that would mean disarming completely and arbitrarily basened 0 a campaign of disinformation in the face of growing aggressive and sophisticated threats. that's a totally unacceptable outcome. >> reporter: but that is what happened last night. the programs expired. senator rand paul blocked even an extension of them. >> i object. >> reporter: and he opposes the bipartisan bill already passed by the house that puts the data collection in the hands of the phone companies. he says that's still the same overreach, that there are other ways to get the same info. he put out a plan of his own. >> let's hire 1,000 more fbi agents! let's hire people to do the investigation, and quit wasting time on innocent american people. >> reporter: today the white house responded like this -- >> what we've seen is a whole lot of posturing within the republican party. there's a lot of politics being played on this and unfortunately

it's coming at the expense of the national security and civil liberties of the american people. >> reporter: yet the white house still won't say definitively if the american public is at greater risk because of the lapse. it won't give examples of times these programs worked calling them important tools that have yielded information, not found through other means. >> we need to be as vigilant at possible. >> reporter: the war right now at home is political. republican senators slamming paul's rhetoric. >> some of those facts have been misrepresented and i listed some quotes from what senator paul had said that simply are not true. obviously, he is running for president. >> reporter: even today the senate majority leader mitch mcconnell tried to collect the unanimous votes necessary to move forward and vote on this issue possibly as soon as tonight. again, he was blocked by rand paul. the thing is this ultimately will likely pass but probably with amendments p certain senators want to see things to

make sure the phone companies will collect this data in a usable way. bottom line it will take time but we could see a vote tomorrow wolf. >> we'll see what happens. michelle thank you. let's get more. joining us in "the situation room" republican congressman adam kinsinger of illinois who served in the u.s. air force in both iraq and afghanistan. congressman, thanks very much for joining us. where do you stand on this should they renew the patriot act? do something else? how concerned are you? >> look it absolutely should be renewed. >> the whole thing? >> the whole thing. i voted for the ussa freedom act. a fine backup pt end of the day, we can't leave ourselves unprotected. senator paul is postures. i think they believes some of it. getting pointers he's running for president, a as senator he put out a budget blueprint for himself he slashed the united states military significantly. he's 2r50ied to remake himself later hire 1,000 new fbi actsi'm

for building the military knee-jerk reaction, isolationism. >> and verizon, at&t the phone companies, how long do they keep the data? >> a certain amount of time. >> how long? >> i don't know the exact length. >> it's unclear, and the independent senator from maine is worked about that aspect that's not necessarily spelled out in detail in what the house of representatives passed pretty overwhelmy will. >> that will go to conference and hashed out in detail. we have to be careful, too, if we give this to the phone companies, make sure they have the ability a to actually do this. there are questions do they have the ability to actually collect and store this information, and how can the government bridge to it? so i think we need to be very careful before saying you know look just let this expire and move on, because we never know what we're catching and what we may be missing. >> some of the stuff is already expired, because the midnight deadline from last night. so here's the question. are americans less safe right

now because some aspects of this are no longer being used or do they have some sort of plan b in business right now to make sure that they're not unsafe that the american public is still secure? >> look i know you know the people that try to defend america are working their tail off every day to do that. i do think at this moment in time we are less safe without this data collection. we've talked intelligence experts all over that say this is a piece of the overall intelligence gathering puzzle we use to defend the united states of america. so i think the senate's going to do the right thing and put something back in place, but i have no doubt that today we are less safe because of this. >> on this issue, it's an important issue, you and senator rand paul totally disagree? >> this and many other issues sure. >> talk about other ish you are as as well. a quick break. much more with congressman adam kinsinger, when we come back. super poligrip seals out more food particles. so your food won't get stuck and you can enjoy

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breaking now a new terror tactics used by isis. a suicide bomber drove a loaded with explosives. back with republican congressman adam kinsinger of illinois that served in iraq and afghanistan. the prime minister of iraq said today that the iraqi military, abandoned mosul a year ago.

2,300 u.s. supplied hum vips. the iraqis abandoned. who knows what else in ramadi last week when they fled ramadi. when you hear they're now using these humvees as suicide improvised explosive devices to go into these iraqi bases or civilian areas and kill people, you served in iraq. what goes through your mind? >> well it's concerning and it's depressing. it's concerning obviously, for the reasons you outlined. these will be used at vehicle-born iuds, impenetrable to small arms fire in many cases as we're searing on ingseeing on the attack on this base. the iraqi people are good people. that's an untold story, too. they just want -- their kids have hopes and dreams like our kids do just want to survive and thrust once again into the middle of a messed up war. it's important for us to

obviously destroy these humvees in the hands of isis. also ensure we're shutting down -- >> the united states to destroy them? through air power. >> we'll have to use air power? >> how much to destroy 2,300 humvees going towards -- baghdad, or other cities in the iraq? because what the isis fighters do they first launch suicide attacks, terrorist explosions and the scare the iraqi army into simply fleeing and leaving by hind weapons. >> and scare the leadership. when the average ground soldier sees their leader scared they run away too. some air power. the united states sending anti-tank weapons, part of the strategy. >> aren't you afraid the iraqi army will abandon that? >> we're always afraid of this. at the end of the day we have to win the war. it's only going to continue to spiring and get worse. lastly i'll say this shut down any supply line to fix the vehicles. humvee breaks a lot. especially in a sand deserts of

iran and iraq. an axle goes back tire pops we have to make sure they don't have the ability to repair that. that takes a complex logistical line which we can do well. i'm sure isis doesn't have that capability. >> a new cnn poll releasing this hour that says 61%, look at this 61% of americans say things for the united states are going badly in its military action against isis forces in iraq and syria. that number you see what it was in february. what it was back in october. the american public is clearly losing confidence in what's going on. >> they pay attention. think about this. this started about a year ago. give or take a couple months, and where are we at today? a year atalking about the sin jahr jar mountain. and today talking 2,300 humvees and hearing 75% of our pilots are unable to drop munitions because we don't have the targets. we don't have the intel to get at the many targets to get. an ct of stepping up what we saw

in the eastern part of ceia killing basic lip the cfo of isis. take that that tfrgs, get those ten people wrap up ten more targets, each of those and begin to do what we did in the surge. >> is it time to think, your colleague, in the house of representatives, an iraq war veteran as well. and zarqawi wrote a few days ago, curse stan inago kurdistan in the north, anbar province more realistic down the road? >> talk a little about autonomy if you break up iraq first, who are we to break up iraq? secondly if you do that -- >> for all practical purposes they say it's already broken up. >> but oil disparity.

secondly shias live in sunni areas, some sunni in shia areas, take away their rights? kick them out? lastly the nationalistic movement i guess that sectarian movement is that going to spread to saudi arabia? is it going to spread to jordan spread everywhere else they say, just like you did to iraq we're going to fight and basically bring down our central government so we have the ability to have an autonomous region too. >> congressman, thanks for coming in. >> you bet. thank you. coming up tsa security officers may be ready to con fap skate lotions or toothpastes, were ut when it comes to dangerous weapons or explosives a new test found this -- get this -- 95% failure rate. how can that be changed? also a new warning that the u.s. west coast may be vulnerable to north korea's ballistic missiles. i can't find my discover card! wait, i can freeze my account.

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george w. bush's homeland security advisor. fran the poll shows americans think congress should renew the surveillance program, yet 67% disapprove how president obama's handling the government's surveillance of u.s. citizens. is part of the problem here that there's a lot of confusion, what is part of the program, what isn't part of the program? >> that's right, wolf. look when the president is advocating for congress to take legislative action he becomes the educator in chief. it's really incumbent upon the president, cabinet officials and administration to educate the american people who will then put pressure on members of congress to why this is important. so they haven't done a very good job of explaining why rand paul's position is positively ridiculous when he said today, hire for agents. the fact is, even if the federal government hired more agents the techlt el krmplt o not going to hire more team and the notion you can quickly and effectively write ow subpoenas, get the

documents produces and returned to you, in any way adequate to the task at hand where speed is of the essence is perfectly ridiculous. the administration has not explained the need for roving wiretaps and the metadata program. >> tehc krchlttelcos being the telephone companies. >> and i put blame on rand paul. i wrote to the national intelligence surveillance act including this metadata program and passed overwhelmingly in 2008. those amendments i think could be changed. the house who written a very good bill passed by 348 votes, a miracle, and supported by the president. the senate should take that bill tomorrow. may be the only option but that bill has not been clearly explained and the fact that the content of telephone calls has not been and cannot be listened to on a retroactive basis has escaped most americans.

it's a miracle 61% think wep ought to have a program. >> phil you served in the cia a long time. as of midnight last night certain aspects of the program are not longer being used but i understand some operations have been grandfathered in. in other words, they're still continuing because they were authorized earlier. it is complicated. >> it is and i'll tell you sitting in langley virginia or fort meade, when the national security agency is you have to be frustrated with the process. you can judge as an american this process will continue later in the week when the congress gets back and passes a bill. meantime if you're in the government you can't make that assumption because the bill has stopped. in other words, you can't continue the same processes. so what? for four five days here you have to put new processes in place because you can't assume you'll go back to business as usual. they'll stop for a bit, resume later in the week as you suggest. ongoing investigations aren't affected by this but a lot of people are saying what kind of politics is this for national security? >> in our new poll our nur cnn

rsc poll 76% phil of americans think americans does have terrorists in the united states. some say that number a huge number like that 5urdalready represents a propaganda effort for isis? >> somein some ways. this reflects the confusion we talked about. people in the congress say we can't figure how to pass a law, which suggests that the threat is diminished and then have the american people say we think the threat is increased. the most confused situation i've seen in national security any at least a couple years. we have to resolve this. >> fran what do you think? >> i think it's right, wolf. you imagine, to phil's point, what happens when they when these provisions expire is the government -- those inside the government fighting terrorism revert to the programs and processes in place before these capabilities even existed. and you're talking about a pencil a pen and paper kind of system that is just lethargic.

it's very slow. even with the best of intentions. and it's a real problem when your enemy can hide among you and is very facile. it's a real disadvantage even if only for a few days. >> jane we're seeing isis making significant advances in iraq and syria. especially in syria in recent weeks. the "daily beast" by the way reporting that some of the so-called moderate syrian rebels were being trained by the united states. they say maybe as many as 1,000 of them. they don't even want to do it anymore. they're not going to accept u.s. training if they can't use that training to fight bashar al assad regime. they don't want to fight isis as much. something is going on that's very very disturbing. >> yeah it is disturbing. let me make one more comment on what's going on in congress and that is that the debate about privacy and security is a healthy debate. we should have had it 12 years when we started these programs

outside of -- when the bush administration started the programs, and now we're having it and i applaud that. we need both. protection of privacy and security. what the house 0 is trying to do i think is a fairly good outcome given those tensions. on the isis thing, the problem with being a moderate sunni is no one's protecting you. you look at the only other sunnis in the neighborhood. the one with guns and all kind of tanks stolen from the usa, and they're calmled isis. you look at folks allegedly going to come protect and they're shia. you think, goodness they're going to do ethnic cleansing in my neighborhood. so sadly, this thing is at a point where what we hoped wouldn't happen is beginning to happen and that is the implosion of moderate sunnis who are the only i think, group of people on the ground in these failing countries who can make a difference and tip the balance.

>> you awegree phil? >> when the u.s. government comes in to syria, we'll give you weapons to fight each other. your goal oust president assad. if you're going to use weapons against assad we prefer not. in these complex situations, 25 years of government you've got to really -- got to reduce complexity to simplicity. that's if we don't share the goal of ousting assad with moderate syrian oppositionists they'll be confused and not know where we stand with them. >> question to you, fran. do you think the american public is less secure today because some speects of the patriot act lapsed? >> i do. in particular the roving wiretap provision is one of those that's lapsed nap is a bad guy moves from phone to phone under the patriot act the government's able to move with that person and not have to get constantly separate orders. just that alone is -- it particularly in a very hot,

active investigation, a very important provision. >> fran towns ntd, jane harmon phil mudd thanks very very much. coming up a terrifying new report says the tsa failed to detect nearly every fake bomb every fake weapon every fake explosive undercover agents smuggled through the tsa. how safe of the skies? and as kim joonng-un races to build up his missiles there is evidence u.s. defenses are unprepared for an attack.

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the tsa is under fire tonight over a sfuning report saying the agency failed 95% of undercover tests allowing fake weapons and explosives past security checkpoints nearly every time. cnn aviation correspondent rene marsh has dames s details from the report. >> reporter: tsa officers failed 95% of the time during undercover operations designed to test their ability to detect explosives and weapons at airport security checkpoints. >> these are anomalies that tsa screeners and/or their equipment should locate in at least flag for an additional screening. >> reporter: teams with the department of homeland security inspector general's office posed as passengers and taempdattempted to pass through airports with mock explosives and weapons. a government official with knowledge of the results say tsa

failed 67 out of 70 tests. >> to miss 67 out of 70 different instances is extremely alarming and i would say even dangerous. >> i am putting a detonator into the plastic explosive. >> reporter: cnn was there in 2008 for a similar covert operation. that time it was tsa testing its own officers. >> see anything. >> okay. >> reporter: at the checkpoint the tester is wanded and padded down where the explosive device was concealed but the screener missed it. it's not until the tester lifts his shirt up. >> i see it now. >> reporter: saying it immediately directed tsa to implement a series of actions, several of which are now in place. >> is it the technology that's failing or is it the screeners themselves not following proper protocol? if tsa's screening equipment is failing, and not doing the job,

that's a larger systemic issue that tsa needs to address. >> reporter: rene marsh, cnn, washington. coming up north korea racing to build up its nuclear tip arsenal and the u.s. defense may be unprepared for an attack. how vulnerable is the u.s. west coast? that's next.

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new reports the united states is not prepared for a attack against north korea. potentially putting the west coast of the united states at

risk if -- if -- kim jong-un launching his nuclear arsenal. >> reporter: experts say the way these missile interceptors work is like trying to knock down a bullet with another bullet. the interceptors have to work flawlessly and tonight a watchdog agency says they may not, and the west coast as a result could be vulnerable. the west coast of the u.s. could be vulnerable just as kim jong-un developinged the ability to strike. he's test firing recalibrating and threatening to attack. as kim jong-un rushes to perfect his missile capability there are serious questions whether the u.s. can defend against that threat. the anti-mitchell systems that would shoot down north korean missiles may not work. there are wiring there are firing problems with american interceptors according to a new report from the government watchdog gao. those are ground-launched systems based in california and

alas can. gao says the wiring and soldering problems it found could cause corrosion later, leaving an interceptor fleet that may not work as intended. >> it says you can't count on the vehicle. if you used for example the kind of sarter or wiring that doesn't eat well you don't know that one will fail at any given time but you know you have a weakness in every single interceptor so you can't count on the reliability. >> reporter: the u.s. missile defense agency which fields the interceptors tells cnn its inspections "show no indication of corrosion, no reliability ris risinging" but boeing the manufacturer tells us it's working on upgrading the interceptors as the u.s. and south korea according to south korea's national news agency are ramping up their defenses against the north korean submarine threat an aegis destroyer, poseidon plane and submarines are taking large

scale exercises in the waters off south korea. u.s. officials say north korea's claim it tested a submarine is false, it doesn't have that capability but experts say they're working furiously to develop it. once they get it it will be dangerous. >> having a submarine means it's harder to detect the new north korean nuclear armed ballistic missile, from the sea of japan, they can directly threaten guam with a nuclear strike. in the future when they're operational, if they manage to get into the sea of akutsk they can threaten alaska. >> adding to the threat north korea recently said it's made nuclear warheads small enough to fit on ballistic missiles. kim jong-un's regime has flight tested missiles capable of hitting south korea and japan but not flight tested missiles that can reach the u.s. wolf but this is the point they keep working to develop this capability and analysts say

they're working hard enough they're going to get there. that's what's scary. >> they also say he could hide various ways to launch a seaborn missile because that would be potentially very dangerous. >> very dangerous, wolf. we're told that the regime could not only fire missiles from submarines within four or five years but also possibly hide missiles on merchant ships, fire them from those missiles and those ships can get close to american shores and american military bases. all sorts of dangerous possibilities here and the north koreans never stopped working toward this capability. that's what's kind of scary about all of this. >> obviously very scary stuff, thanks brian, very much. 35 years ago today ted turner changed the world with a launch of a 24-hour cable news network. tonight a special report looking back at many of the breaking stories we've covered since day one including the first major

story the gulf war. >> this is -- >> out of my mouth came the words -- >> something is happening outside. >> you're damned right something is happening, war is breaking out all around you. >> the skies over baghdad have been illuminated. we're seeing bright flashes going off all over the sky. >> the walls were shaking, the windows vibrating, the per suggestions blowing us again the wall. >> we've been on the air 20 minutes. >> the sirens are sounding for the first time. the iraqis have informed us zwr cut the line. >> everybody is stunned and it's totally silent and you can feel the tension in that room. >> he said the battery is dead. >> and of course our biggest

fright was that the bomb had hit the hotel where they were. >> hello baghdad. >> line's dead. >> there was a hush in the control room. >> we're running around trying to find batteries. he does a work-around. >> hello atlanta. >> and we come back on the air. >> atlanta this is holliman i don't know if you're able to hear me or not but i'll continue to talk to you as long as i can. >> there's a collective sigh and you see shoulders drop down as the tension leaves people's bodies. >> the whole world was watching cnn. we were the only ones who had reporters in baghdad. really an amazing night that first night of the iraq war operation, desert storm, i was cnn's pentagon correspondent at the time and i remember vividly what was going on. check out our special later tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern, breaking news 35 years of cnn, i think all of you news junkies out there will want to watch.

coming up a new terror tactic from isis its victims saw it coming today but they couldn't stop it. also a muslim woman here in the united states denied a job because she wears a head scarf. her case went all the way up to the united states supreme court. you're going to find out what the united states supreme court justices have to say about that. ♪ eenie. meenie. miney. go. more adventures await in the seven-passenger

lexus gx. see your lexus dealer. you total your brand new car. nobody's hurt,but there will still be pain. it comes when your insurance company says they'll only pay three-quarters of what it takes to replace it. what are you supposed to do, drive three-quarters of a car? now if you had a liberty mutual new car replacement, you'd get your whole car back. i guess they don't want you driving around on three wheels. smart. new car replacement is just one of the features that come standard with a base liberty mutual policy. and for drivers with accident forgivness,rates won't go up due to your first accident. learn more by calling switch to liberty mutual and you can save up to $423. for a free quote today,call liberty mutual insurance at see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance.

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happening now, arming isis terrorist forces now said to have more than 2,000 u.s. humvees in their hands, abandoned by fleeing iraqi troops. are they now being used to launch deadly terror attacks? close encounter. russian warplanes buzz a u.s. navy destroyer in international waters flying within hundreds of feet accusing the ship of provocative and aggressive action. will these confrontations escalate? major ruling the u.s. supreme court decides the case of a muslim woman who lost out on a job opportunity because of her head covering. did a major american retailer violate her rights by refusing to hire her? south korea senator lindsey graham joins the growing rank of republicans seeking the party's presidential nomination. how is he setting himself apart from the increasingly crowded gop field? we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and

around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're following disturbing news about isis tonight. isis now set to have some 2,300 american humvees in their possession seized along with other american made weapons from iraqi bases overrun by the terrorist forces and now there's growing concern isis is using these armored vehicles to launch deadly terror attacks as it sweeps across iraq and syria, expanding its territory at an alarming rate. our guests including the chairman of the house armed services committee, congressman mac thornberry standing by along with our correspondents covering the stories breaking this hour. we begin with our pentagon correspondent barbara starr who has more on the disturbing gains isis is making. >> wolf today some three dozen iraqi police killed by an

explosive-laden tank showing new tactics by isis leaving the iraqis in a very tough struggle to make any progress against them. air strikes by iraqi forces against suspected isis militants designed to show iraqi forces in the fight. a disturbing sign even in government-controlled baghdad the reality is different. isis claimed responsibility for two hotel bombings in the capital, unsettling residents in a city ringed by 100 iraqi battalion battalions as many as 50,000 troops according to u.s. estimates. >> the fact is that isis has a lot of momentum right now, so what we're dealing with is a central government that has in essence practically lost control over large sections of the country and large sections of its armed forces. it's a very dangerous situation to be in. >> from fallujah and ramadi in the west and beiji and mosul in the north, u.s. military

officials privately acknowledge in the sunni areas, isis has gained ground and it not on the defensive as the pentagon has publicly said. isis' stockpile of captured weapons provided by the u.s. to the iraqis is growing the prime minister says. >> translator: we lost around 2,300 humvees in mosul alone and we are going to lose more tanks and humvees. >> reporter: all of this raising urgency at the white house, the pentagon and the cia about what happens if a bodybadi cannot win against iceis? >> on the military i've asked my staff before i left to look at what we can do to increase our enabling of iraqi forces. >> so in the latest on that wolf the pentagon now acknowledging that the first half of some 2,000 anti-armored

weapons the u.s. has been trying to rush to iraq the 1,000 of them now distributed to iraqi forces they're all there, but only 1,000 distributed, the others are being held in reserve by the u.s. they're not really sure the iraqis can absorb having such a new advanced inventory, such a great number of these weapons, but these are some of the key weapons the u.s. wants the iraqis to use to go against those new isis tactics, tanks and armored vehicles laden with explosives. the iraqis need something desperately to try to take the targets out. >> i certainly understand that barbara, but aren't u.s. officials concerned the iraqis might simply abandon these anti-armor weapons as they abandoned u.s. supplied humvees, battle tanks, other munitions if they feel threaten bid the isis terrorists? >> or overrun by them. look at the math for a second here. 2,000 of these anti-armor weapons rushed to the theater.

they're not giving us the exact location. of the 2,000, 1,000 distributed to the iraqi, the u.s.-led coalition holding on to the other 1,000 for now, perhaps for that reason, wolf? >> barbara, thanks very much. the plug has been pulled now on a key government terror tracking program. at least for now the part of the patriot act that allowed the nsa to collect bulk data on millions of phone calls expired sunday putting one republican presidential candidate right at the center of a huge political firestorm right now. let's go to the white house, correspondent michelle kozinski has more what's going on. >> reporter: wolf even today mitch mcconnell tried to gather the unanimous votes together to possibly move forward and vote on the issue tonight but once again, he was blocked by rand paul. the white house meanwhile keeps urging the senate to act in the name of national security calling this an unnecessary risk but the white house still won't go so far as to say the american

public is less safe today now that the four patriot act programs have expired. they refer us to intelligence officials. they also still won't use any concrete examples of how any of these programs helped in the past. they say that national security concerns prevent them from giving away that information, and they say that you know they have used in the past to generate some information that wasn't obtained through other means. what the white house will do freely is criticize the senate. here's this. >> unfortunately what we've seen is a whole lot of posturing within the republican party. there's a lot of politics being played on this and unfortunately it's coming at the expense of the national security and civil liberties of the american people. >> reporter: rand paul is pretty much doing a victory lap over this. the programs have indeed expired at least for now, but the price he paid is that he's taking a verbal beating from even members in his own party, calling his tactics political posturing, and

fund-raising. the reality is that this bipartisan bill that already passed the house, that takes the bulk data collection out of the hands of the government and puts it with the phone companies will likely pass just with some amendments attached. some senators for example, want to make sure the phone companies are going to collect this stuff in a way that the government can eventually find useful. bottom line, wolf it's going to take some time but we could see a vote as early as tomorrow. >> we'll stay on top of that michelle thank you. let's get more on what's going on republican congressman matt thornberry of texas is the chairman of the house armed services committee, joining us right now. mr. chairman thanks very much for coming in. >> you're welcome. >> do you believe that as a result of the bulk data collection program being suspended at least for now the american public less safe right now than it was what 24 hours ago before that midnight deadline last night? >> i think we are. it would be hard to quantify how much difference that 24 hours has made but i think we are

less safe and what's more i think we're less safe today than we were four or five years ago because we have increasingly been tying our own hands, limiting our ability to gather information and that is the key way that we find out about and stop terrorist attacks. >> you totally disagree with senator rand paul? >> yes, and i think it is wrong for anyone to play politics with national security whether you're a senator running for president, or whether you're the president, and i'm reminded president obama threatened to veto a defense bill that came out of our committee 60-2 because he wanted to use that as leverage to increase spending on epa, irs and other domestic issues. both ways are playing politics with the feds are wrong. >> don't you think senate rand paul is sincere, he really believes this is a violation of americans' privacy? >> i have no doubt -- i can't

know what's going on inside his brain. i think it is disturbing as i read press reports today that there were fund-raising appeals going on at the same time that he was making these speeches on the senate floor. so regardless of motivations, the result is that i think we have lost a critical capability now. hopefully we'll get it back in the next day or two, but we are somewhat less safe today than we were. >> let's talk about what's going on in qatar right now. the year-long detention of those five taliban prisoners who the u.s. released from the guantanamo bay and cuba the prison there in exchange for sergeant bowe bergdahl's release, that is now over. apparently there's been a temporary extension keeping these five taliban guys in qatar at least for now. what is the latest? what are you hearing? i know you're very concerned about the possibility they could go back to afghanistan or pakistan and resume their war against the united states.

>> yes, i am very concerned, and the only thing that i know is what i read in the newspapers. remember this is the case where the administration violated two laws to release these guys by not informing congress to begin with. these were folks that did not go through the regular process in guantanamo to be screened for release. they were never on any potential release list and yet they were part of the exchange with bergdahl. so the restrictions on their travel have expired. i read that they are continuing to have discussions about maybe a six-month extension of those restrictions but i don't know. i do think these are bad guys and they pose also a danger to the united states. >> but you're the chairman of the house armed services committee, mr. chairman. when you say you don't know what the plan is you call up the pentagon ask you them right? aren't they supposed to be briefing you on what's going on? >> yes, and we have asked the

question and we don't know the answer. part of the problem here of course is it's not just the pentagon calling the shots, it's the white house, and remember this is the issue that we have had to put some provisions in our defense bill to require the pentagon to give us the documents that we've asked for or else they don't get all the money that they've asked for. so this it's been like pulling teeth to get information out of the pentagon and other executive agencies about this whole episode, and it has not gotten better in recent day ss as far as negotiations for continuing restrictions. >> when you say they broke the law about the five prisoners, what are you doing about it? if somebody breaks the law they have to pay a price. >> they should and that's why we have 25% of the money asking for more information but we also

changed the law. we toughened up the law making it more difficult for this administration to release folks because of what they've done. so we have reacted and it would be a much better path for everyone if the administration would engage and discuss this with us rather than having requiring us to force the information out of them. >> mr. chairman, i want to you stand by because there's several questions i have about what's going on in iraq right now, including this war against isis. much more with the chairman of the house armed services committee, matt thornberry, right after this. eenie. meenie. miney. go. more adventures await in the seven-passenger lexus gx.

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we're following the disturbing gains isis forces are making in iraq including u.s. military weapons and equipment terrorist forces have seized. we're back with republican congressman matt thornberry of texas, chairman of the house armed services committee. mr. chairman the iraqi prime minister herself, al abadi said that iraqi security forces they lost get this roughly 2,300 u.s.-made humvees when they abandoned mosul, the second largest city in iraq. isis took over those weapons, they're using them now basically

as it provides explosion-provides as improvised explosive devices. the u.s. is still providing weapons to the iraqi military right now, how concerned are you they might abandon more u.s. supplied weapons? >> well i am concerned about that. remember that mosul was lost about a year ago, so those 2,300 humvees were lost a year ago and so what has happened as far as u.s. and allied strategy for dealing with isis in the last year it has not gone very well and i think it is true that it is possible that if we don't change our strategy it will continue not to go well and we could lose further weapons that we might provide the iraqis. >> barbara starr just reported from the pentagon the u.s. wants to provide what, 2,000 anti-tank weapons.

1,000 have been provided. are you worried they could wind up in the hands of iceis? >> of course. two things come to mind. one is our military has said consistently that if they could go into the field with those they train and advise they would be much more effective. so far the president has not allowed them to go into the field with those they've trained and advised. secondly i know a good place to send those other 1,000 anti-armored missiles and that is to ukraine, because that's exactly what they're desperate for, and it is only that show of strength that's going to cause mr. putin to rethink the next offensive that he's going to launch. >> speaking of putin and the u.s./russia relationship the u.s. navy today released very dramatic video, i don't know if you've seen it we'll show it to our viewers right now of a russian aircraft flying right past the "uss ross" a destroyer in international waters in the black sea, a little bit more than 1,000 feet away from the "uss ross." what should the u.s. do about this? >> well i think it's clear that

putin is going to is going to continue to push at every opportunity and be more aggressive. he is following exactly lenin's next yim, probe with a bayonnette when you encounter mush keep moving until you hit steel so they are conducting very aggressive maneuvers with their aircraft all across europe and elsewhere and now against our ship that was in international waters they're trying to warn us off and they're going to continue these sorts of aggressive maneuvers to try to intimidate us like any bully would, to back down. >> matt thornberry chairman of the house armed services committee, thanks very much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. let's get a different perspective right now, joining us is dan pfeiffer former senior adviser to president obama. he's our newest cnn political commentator. thanks very much for joining us. welcome to cnn. today is your first day here also the 35th anniversary of cnn. >> happy birthday cnn.

>> in the white house you were communications adviser to the president. the criticism is he really didn't do enough to convince congress to extend the patriot act. if it was so important to u.s. national security why wasn't he more vocal? >> i think there's criticism of this administration and congress and this one is particularly unfair. this say problem created by one senator from kentucky which happens to be the home state of the senate majority leader a problem a democratic president can't fix. he's made the case i think it will get resolved eventually. it's unfortunate senator paul decided to play politics and raise money while doing this. it's unfortunate but that's really something that is a problem, this could have been solved a long time ago but mitch mcconnell fumbled the ball. >> it's not just rand paul. patrick leahy opposes it as well.

>> there's not unanimous support in either party. one the shenanigans from senator paul, this passed a year ago in the house, bipartisan and they couldn't get it done in the senate. >> what should the president be doing now? he wants the bulk data collection lone wolf collection all this kind of stuff, he wants to make sure that it continues. >> i think he's going to get it. i think the people are working behind the scenes as i understand it to get the results sooner rather than later. i saw your report from michelle kosinski i think it will be the next couple of days and that will be good. >> the president's approval numbers in the new cnn poll that we have rating how he's handling the isis threat it's down to only look at this, 32% approve of the way the president's handling the war against isis 63% disapprove. that's a disturbing number if you're with the president, right? >> well i think it's a disturbing number but important to understand that polling the not security afternoon you end up with people who disapprove of the entire idea of being

involved folks on our side against it being involved in iraq and syria with isis and folks who oppose the president simply because he's a democrat. you can't worry about poll numbers. you have to try to have the most successful strategy you can. >> another poll 61% say the fight against isis is going poorly right now. in october only 49% of americans thought it was going poorly. that's an increase pretty disturbing as well. >> this is going to take a long time. i worked with the president when we initiated these efforts last year and it's going to he always said it's, this is a long-term effort going to extend beyond his presidency so we've had some important successes, i think the operation in syria against one of the top members of isis was very important, there have been setbacks in ramadi and other places. it will take time but progress is being made. >> when there's a major setback like the other day in ramadi major city in the anbar province which falls into the hands of isis like mosul did exactly a year ago, take us inside the white house. you hear the new secretary of

defense ash carter saying the iraqi military did not show a will to fight, that's pretty brutal. >> i think there has been trouble, it has been a struggle from even before we got involved with the efforts of the iraqi military against isis. they've done better since a new prime minister put in an inclusive government. this say tough threat and a lot of work for the iraqi military. >> the vice president's son beau biden, passeded away this weekend from brain cancer very very sad. i knew him. you knew him. really really great guy. it's so tragic when you think about the fact the vice president of the united states and you work with him for a long time as well has now lost yet another child. >> this is heartbreaking. growing up in delaware i've been around the biden family for much of my life. they are one of the most close-knit most loving families that i've ever known and you

know, the vice president if you ever if you work in the white house and ever have any problems in your life, who is a family member the first person who will call or come to your office to talk to but is the vice presidented joe biden who has a great heart. i know everyone who works in the white house and has ever worked with vice president biden their heart goes out to the biden family. >> i knew him, here he is at the democratic convention in charlotte, north carolina. you were there. i interviewed him on the floor. you could see some video, he was just a great, great guy. he volunteered, he went to serve. he served in iraq. he was well positioned to become the next governor of your home state of delaware and now to lose him like this, so sad. >> he's the best you could hope for in a person is beau biden. >> deepest condolences to his wife kids and the whole family. great, great guy. thanks very much and welcome to cnn. >> thank you. just ahead we'll have more on the isis onslaught and the terrorist arsenal now set to kru more than 2,000 american made

humvees. details of a major u.s. supreme court decision pitting abercrombie & fitch against a young muslim woman. you total your brand new car. nobody's hurt,but there will still be pain.

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a shocking announcement today by the iraqi prime minister al abadi saying isis

now has more than 2,000 u.s.-made humvees seized by the terrorist forces as they overran iraqi troops and bases. joung us phil mudd cnn counterterrorism analyst and retired u.s. army general james spider marks our cnn military analyst. 2300 humvees, armored personnel carriers they go in there, being used apparently as terrorist weapons, improvised explosive devices. they can go into a police station or army base and kill a lot of people. >> if you look at a facility a terror group will say we'll use an explosive device on a vehicle to get into the compound. we're seeing this accelerated in a way i've never seen using humvees and armored vehicles to go into military compounds and we've seen devastation i don't think we've seen before.

just incredible. >> one thing a mercedes little truck. you're familiar with a humvee. >> a little bit. it has a lot of room for a lot of cargo. they're not camouflaged, they're overt and anyone knows this is coming their way. there has to be a tactical seclusion. that's what the u.s. is trying to do with the anti-tank weapon system. >> i'm worried about sending 1,000 of the anti-tank weapons to iraq. their track record is not good. >> if you're exactly spot on. we don't give them out on demand. we give them out in full flush to get them in to the iraqi forces they could turn back around. >> are you worried about that? >> sure. over the past months going back

to last summer every time we give the iraqi weapons they bleed out. my view would be if we decide we're in this it's either go in ourselves and be responsible or give it to the iraqis and let it bleed. i'd give it to them and let it bleed. >> the speaker of the iraqi parliament says publicly it there was an order given to thousands of elite iraqi troops in an bar province ramadi an order to evacuate and leave their weapons behind and run away in the face of a few hundred isis terrorists who were there. how do you explain that? >> if that happened it's abhorrent and it's an absence of leadership of those in ramadi. this is shameful. >> jabari is the sunni speaker

of the iraqi parliament. would he make something up like that? that's a disturbing development. >> in a land of conspiracy rumor wins. we're not losing the war against isis. we're losing the war to make iraq a unified state. if you have a senior sunni official believing a story that the government won't protect sunnis that tells me the rumor out there is that iraq is fracture fracturing the military forces are shia going into ramadi. the sunni officials are saying let's run because the government isn't going to protect us. >> the moderate syrians the u.s. wanted to train to fight isis in syria, 1,000 of them said no thanks we don't want your training. we want to be trained to fight bashar al assad's regime not the isis terrorists. >> we are now johnnys come

lately trying to identify vet and train folks to go after isis. their primary focus is assad. >> very disturbing development. thanks guys. other news we're following in "the situation room" the u.s. supreme court decides the case of a muslim woman who lost out on a job opportunity because of her head covering. did that company abercrombie & fitch violate her rights by refusing to hire her? the supreme court makes a decision. what do you think? when i first sit in the seat it makes me think of a bmw. i feel like i'm in a lexus. you would think that this was a brand new audi. it's like a luxury car. feels kind of like an infinity. very similar to a range rover. this is pretty high tech. yeah it is. it reminds me of a mercedes. ♪ this is chevy? laughing i have a new appreciation for chevy. they thought about me. i could totally rock this. this thing feels pretty boss. it looks kind of dope. that's pretty cool. this is the jam. pretty bomb dude. maybe i will go chevy. i'm definitely in. ♪

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we're following two major rulings out of the united states supreme court today, one the

case of a muslim woman denied a job with the clothing chain abercrombie & fitch because of her head scarf. the other the case of a man convicted after posting violent messages on facebook. let's dig deeper with former federal prosecutor legal analyst sunny hostin and cnn justice correspondent pamela brown. pamela let's talk about the first ruling a woman sman elif the muslim woman who sued abercrombie & fitch because she wanted to wear her head scarf, they said no and she wasn't given the job. >> today the high court said abercrombie was wrong to deny her a job because of her head scarf so essentially what today's ruling does is put the onus on businesses and basically says you can't put your head in the sand. if you think someone needs a religious accommodation, you need to make every effort to make that accommodation happen. so in this case she wore this head scarf and aber kromentby and fitch said she didn't tell us she needed a religious accommodation so we're not at

all. lower court agreed but today the high court said no. if you think someone needs a religious accommodation that is a motivating factor, the onus is on the business not the employee. >> i think what's fascinate something even before the supreme court came down with this ruling abercrombie changed their dress code changed their policy to make these kinds of accommodations and so i think they knew going in to today what the ruling was going to be and we all i think sort of knew that because federal law makes it very clear, wolf that you can't discriminate on the basis of religion and when you listen to some of the arguments or some of the questions, rather from the justices during oral argument i think it was pretty clear where they were leaning, justice ginsburg made it clear while you may be able to ask someone not to wear a baseball cap at work you can't do that with a yamalke. we knew where the court was going to rule.

bottom line you can't discriminate on the basis of religion. it was fascinating abercrombie was saying she didn't ask for this accommodation. do you not have to ask for an exception to a dress policy on the basis of your religious accommodation accommodation. >> the other big case the supreme court decided in favor, 8-1 the ruling pamela, anthony alonis posted several violent messages on facebook convicted earlier the supreme court said not so fast. >> absolutely so what this does it doesn't mean you can post whatever you want on social media but what it does for the government makes it harder to prosecute cases where someone posts violent messages in this case the high court ruled in favor of anthony alonis posted several seemingly threatening messages on his facebook page one concerning his estranged wife he said one way to love you, a thousand ways to kill you, talked about shooting up a school so he was convicted based on this standard of how a reasonable person would perceive those messages as a threat. today the high court said that

standard is too low. it should be either recklessness or if the person intended it as a threat but didn't decide what the standard should be. >> where do we go starting from here? >> i think that the supreme court really ducked the issue and certainly in his dissent, justice alito agreed with that. the supreme court had this wonderful case that lined up all of the issues that a lot of people have with the internet when is it free speech or when does it cross the line into criminality, into a criminal threat. they didn't decide that. we have no sort of sweeping policy language coming from the supreme court. we have a narrow ruling from the supreme court ruling based on the one federal threat law that says you have to look at the mental state of someone. you have to prove as a federal prosecutor will that someone intended the threats to be real and that really i think, is disappointing for so many of us that we're watching this case because it really could have been the opportunity for the supreme court to rein in some

what have we see on the internet. that didn't happen today. >> guys thanks very much. just ahead, senator lindsey graham makes it official today, jumping into the increasingly crowded field of republican white house hopefuls. ♪ [announcer]when we make beyond natural dry dog and cat foods. we start with real meat as the first ingredient. we leave out corn,wheat and soy. and we own where our dry food is made-100 percent! can other brands say all that? for nutrition you can trust and your pet will enjoy... does your food go beyond? learn more at purinabeyond.com. hey, what are you doing? you said you were going to find out about plenti, the new rewards program. i did. in fact, i'm earning plenti points right now. but you're not doing anything right now. lily? he's right. sign up, and you could earn plenti points just for being a wireless customer. in the meantime, i just kick back and watch the points roll in. where did you get those noodles? at&t cafeteria.

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there's new competition in the republican presidential race. senator lindsey graham joining the increasingly crowded field

of white house hopefuls staking his claim on foreign policy and national security. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash is joining us from clemson, south carolina just a few miles from where senator graham made his big announcement in his hometown. dana how did it go? >> reporter: well he talked actually a fair bit about the idea of reaching across the aisle on big issues like immigration reform which he actually did. he said as president, he would do the same thing to tackle social security and entitlement reform in general, but he also really spent most of his time talking about a muscular foreign policy with him as commander in chief. >> i'm lindsey graham and i'm running for president of the united states. >> reporter: with that the ninth republican made it official. lindsey graham's long shot run is steeped heavily in his hawkish world view. >> i want to be president to defeat the enemies that are trying to kill us. not just penalize them or criticize them or contain them but defeat them.

>> reporter: graham barely scratching 1% in most polls knows he has a tough hill to climb. cnn is told he's running primarily to force a debate within the gop on foreign policy. >> those who believe we can disengage from the world at large and be safe by leading from behind vote for someone else. >> reporter: the not so subtle dig at rand paul graham's chief foil particularly on national security. for months the two have exchanged long distance barbs and graham was caught rolling his eyes last month at paul talked. >> tonight begins the process of ending bulk collection. >> paul's headline-making filibuster temporarily stopped the government's data dragnet program which graham and most other republicans call essential. it was a welcome contrast for graham. >> so little by little we've allowed our freedom to slip away we allowed the fourth amendment to be diminished. >> reporter: paul is have

allowed our policy to slip away. his stand with rand's social media #is generating buzz online and dollars for his presidential campaign. >> when fear and complacency allow power to accumulate -- >> he is even using some of his epic senate floor speech in this campaign video, which violated senate rules prohibiting video of senate proceedings for political purposes. paul's rhetoric is generating some unwanted headlines, like making this accusation against opponents. >> some of them i think secretly want there to be an attack on the united states so they can blame it on me. >> reporter: this morning, he walked that back. >> i think sometimes going after people's motives and impugning people's motives is a mistake. and in the heat of battle i think sometimes hyperbole can get the better of all of us. >> reporter: again, it's not just lindsey gram who disagrees with rand paul. nearly every other republican officially running for president or thinking about running for

president disagrees with him. now paul wears that as badge of honor. his aides insist it's helping boost his popularity in states like iowa and new hampshire. but here in the first primary state of the south south carolina wolf this is obviously rich with military traditions and the kind of do whatever it takes mentality seems to be a more resonant. and people like lindsey graham are pushing that. >> thanks very much dana for all of that. joining us gloria borger our senior political correspondent brianna keilar and new york washington correspondent and cnn political commentator ryan lizza. how does lindsey graham's formal entry into the race sort of shake up this republican contest? >> well it does. talk about great timing for a muscular foreign policy candidate as dana describes him. you have the nsa surveillance debate. you have the iran nuclear talks. you have the question of isis looming over the country.

and lindsey graham enters the race as a favorite son and is 7% in the polls in his home state. but he is somebody who can make a difference because if he doesn't win the presidency i don't think there are a lot of people who would give him great odds of winning the nomination he can certainly become a king maker here. he can throw his support behind somebody in the early state of south carolina. so he can have a real impact substantially on the conversations in the republican party, not only on foreign policy but also he has been a force on immigration reform for example. so i say have at it. >> he has the endorsement of his good friend john mccain as we all know. why as he decided to run this time? >> i think it's two issues he brought up in the speech today. one, the probably most important in his mind is foreign policy. he really believes that the rand paul wing of the republican party at least was ascendant. it's not as ascendant as it was

a year ago and that's partly to the rise of isis and he wants to push back a lot of those arguments. but frankly as dana pointed out, marco rubio, jeb bush are right where lindsey graham is on foreign policy. he is not going have a big debate with those guys on foreign policy. one interesting thing about lindsey graham he comes from south carolina. it has the most conservative republican electorate in this country. and he has managed to be a few clicks to the left of those republicans and bipartisan on immigration reform and on cap and trade. and i think if he emphasizes those issues that really will bring something unique to the race. >> hillary clinton is on the democratic side she is beginning to get some competition. bernie sanders, the senator from vermont, he is drawing huge crowds whether in new hampshire or in iowa. and martin o'malley, the former governor of maryland, he announced over the weekend, how does this impact her strategy? >> honestly, i'm not sure that it does. because we've already seen truthfully we've already seen her shift to the left and try to attract the obama coalition that i think bernie sanders and

martin o'malley have been trying to attract. what has she said about immigration? she has come out even before these guys were rung saying she wants a full and equal path to citizenship for immigrants and protections for the parents of dreamers. same-sex marriage she says it should be a constitutional right. she is already shifted trying to keep together this obama coalition of the lgbt hispanic americans, african americans and so on. >> does the rand paul strategy on the nsa surveillance, that politically smart on his part? >> it depends who you ask. the rand paul say yeah, this is the coalition we're trying to knit together. we want independence. we want libertarians, even some democrats could vote for us in new hampshire. they're raising a lot of money off of this wolf off of his appearance on the senate floor here. but lots of people who thought that rand paul was really a more serious candidate who had some

interesting proposals in other areas which by the way he does take a look at this in terms of foreign policy national security particularly since the country is so much more worried about isis and saying wait a minute. maybe this isn't smart. he does have a generational advantage, though. younger voters younger republican voters are with him on this. >> the libertarian supporters of his dad. >> i think you have to give the guy some credit for this. he has to look at the polls and look at republican voters are not with him on this. they support the patriot act. >> right. >> and the country has -- the republican base that he is wooing cannot with him, and he is doing this at a conviction. you got to give a politician credit for doing that. >> he is sincere. he really believes what he is doing. you know him. he is sincere about this. >> he is sincere about it. but you have to wonder what his strategy is at this point. he is certainly upsetting republican leaders. and let's keep in mind. the house has passed this bill. the senate will send it back. there may be some changes.

none of them will be rand paul's changes, right? these are republican endorsed changes perhaps that maybe lengthen the period of time from when the bulk data collection is handed over to phone companies. but not rand paul's changes. so what is the real change? >> thank you very much. ryan guys thanks very much. this is an important day here at cnn. cnn turns 35 years old today. in fact this hour exactly 35 years ago, cnn began reporting the news. anderson cooper is back with us right now, taking a look at some of the remarkable stories all of us have covered over the past -- i've been here for 25. you have been here for 13 years. anderson tell us a little bit more about some of the work that you're most proud of. because i know you're very proud of the coverage that you and our team did in haiti. >> yeah i would certainly say haiti, hurricane katrina, the tsunami. i think cnn has this extraordinary ability to marshall global resources on a big story like that. and send teams from all around the world.

you and i have worked together in israel during the fight against hezbollah as well as many times actually in israel. and i think that's one of the things. those days, the month spent in haiti after the earthquake in 2010 was probably the most extraordinary time or one of the most extraordinary times. thing is no other network that can marshall the kind of resources that cnn right. you've also had some of the lighter moments on your program as well. watch this. >> sorry. [ laughter ] it made me giggle every time i read it. he hasn't commented on this incident. [ laughter ] all right. sorry. >> how has "the ridiculist" evolved over the years? who came up with that idea to begin with? >> yeah i have the sense of humor with a 12-year-old girl

unfortunately. it's not a good combination. the name charlie moore my producer created. and we have an amazing writer, faith who usually writes it and jack sometimes writes it as well. we have a great team of writers. and i like sometimes i'm in on the writing of it. sometimes it's a surprise because they know if they -- a lot of times they'll tell me don't read this in advance. don't work on this in advance because if you read it raw, it's going to be a good reaction. and that was certainly the case with that one. >> love "the ridiculist," even though i've been i guess the victim sometimes. >> you starred in it. never the victim. we're having fun with you. >> i always see it as a badge of honor, anderson. >> we're having fun with you, not at you. >> thank you. thank you very much. anderson will be back in an hour. "ac 360" 8:00 p.m. eastern. and then nine p.m. later tonight, join us as cnn celebrates its 35th birthday with a special look back at the amazing moments that all of us have shared. it's a special report breaking news. 35 years of cnn.

it airs tonight, 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. remember you can always follow us on twitter. please tweet me @wolfblitzer. you can always tweet is the show. "outfront" starts next. we have details of a new investigation that will shock you. and according to my guests the problem is much worse than what we're even being told. plus, a pastor shot to death by police. the dash cam video breaking tonight "outfront." was the use of force justified? and goodbye bruce jenner. call her caitlin. let's go "outfront." good evening. ymer are inburnett. "outfront" tonight