follow us on twitter. please tweet me @wolf blitzer. tweet the show on cnn. be sure to join us tomorrow in "the situation room." i'm wolf blitzer. here's here in las vegas. getting ready for the big debate. "erin burnett out front" starts right now. and the high stakes in vegas, hillary clinton and bernie sanders front and center head to head in the first debate of the 2016 presidential campaign. were live, our continuing coverage of the las vegas showdown. let's go "out front." good evening. i'm erin burnett. vegas showdown, we are live here in las vegas at the scene of the first democratic presidential debate. it is here at the wynn hotel. democratic front-runner hillary clinton and the self-described democratic socialist bernie sanders will go head to head tonight. most of the candidates toured

the debate stage a short time ago. otherwise, sanders, clinton, martin o'malley, lincoln chafee and jim webb have been hunkered down and who knows what they do in the final minutes before the debate. the stakes are high. clinton must not stumble and they need to deliver a death blow to steal the show. we go to brianna keilar behind me. we have seen a few of the candidates come in, check things out. what's going on where you are right now? >> yeah, that's right, erin. as you can see behind me we have some stand-ins here for the candidates. as a lot of the photographers from the myriad of cameras that we have here in the debate hall are making sure they're ready to go. 90 minutes from now. all of the candidates with the exception of hillary clinton have done walk throughs. they have come up on the set they'll be on for this evening. they have stood behind the

lectern. some of them have done sound checks angoten reminder -- and gotten reminders about the time. they have learned where the lights are that remind them if they're running out of time. they can see where the moderators sit and we have the audience filing in. we have about 1,300 people here and a lot of them already taking their seats. it's a huge night for all of these candidates especially for the front-runner, hillary clinton, as she's looking to turn a corner here from the e-mail controversy that he's really haunted her so much at the beginning of her campaign. bernie sanders, nipping at her heels in the polls. he wants to show people he's mainstream and you have the other candidates who are negligible in the polls compared to bernie sanders and hillary clinton and are trying to come in and make a name for themselves, introduce themselves to the audience here at the wynn hotel. and the millions of people who will be watching across america. martin o'malley, the former governor from maryland, i've

been told he'll try to cast himself as the president who would be guided by principle and not by polls. it's an illusion of course to hillary clinton, so we'll be waiting to see if they take her on, erin. >> that's going to be interesting to see if someone goes straight for the jugular. i want to go straight to the spin room now. when we throw that word around, it's a spin room, that's where they try to spin their performance to the preltiss to world. so their job is to spin. jeff zellani never gets spun, but what are the campaigns saying? >> we are in the spin room. but the question about the spin room is, you have to perform on this stage. otherwise, it really doesn't matter what happens in the spin room. aides are gathering behind me talking to some reporters and getting ready. what the candidates have been doing is pretty interesting. bernie sanders has not been preparing nearly as much as hillary clinton has. he's not been doing mock debate

sessions and one of his senior advisers tells me today that he was planning on doing a prepared session. everything was all set up. he got a couple minutes into it and he said i can handle this. then they stopped. now, erin, you never know if we're getting prespin here, if they're trying to lower expectations because he's not debated on this type of stage before. this is going to be the biggest audience that he's ever had of course as a presidential candidate. hillary clinton of course has debated some 25 times just in the '07, '08 campaign. what the others are doing, it's key to remember they're all looking for a breakout moment tonight. martin o'malley, the former mayor of baltimore is a music n musician. he's bringing his guitar into his greenroom tonight. to sort of prepare him and to relax him for this. he also spent some time working out today. and reading some policy papers and brianna is right. he's going to draw the sharpest contrast we believe with hillary clinton tonight.

he's been doing it from the sidelines but no one has been paying attention. but tonight, of course, at center stage, everyone will be watching this. so just in about an hour and a half or so, debate night begins. >> thank you very much, jeff. out front now, the host of sma conish here on cnn and a friend of rubio's and a senior adviser for obama. and great to have you with. late today, this report came out this memo that you were one of the authors of. this is from 2008 when you were preparing then candidate barack obama to beat hillary clinton in the debates. great day to come out. the memo says -- >> i certainly feel that way. >> okay. i'm going to quote from it. quote, hrc is driven by politics, not conviction. clinton is constantly shifting,

dodging and changing positions to suit the politics of the moment. do you think she's changed? >> this should be no surprise, this is exactly the case that president obama made throughout the election. i think she's learned a lot of the lessons, her campaign has learned the lessons. so she comes in prepared. i think you hear the preview that jeff just gave us of martin o'malley's strategy. but clinton will see it coming this time. >> i think assume that hillary clinton hasn't changed. >> i read this memo. i thought what a great memo. must have been done a great job. >> i want to quote something else from the memo here. that dan wrote. okay. i don't know maybe axelrod wrote this line. >> had a million authors. >> i think we need that soundtrack. >> it says hillary clinton puts quote obtaining and preserving political power ahead of reliable principles. i mean, we are laughing about this, but when we look at the word cloud, quinnipiac did a

poll, but the top three words for hillary clinton were liar, dishonest and untrustworthy. that's the way she is now. that's the same perception this memo noticed, helped create, whatever the word might be back in 2008. >> listen, i think that that is her biggest challenge tonight. is that you have a number of issues that she's flip-flopped on just in the past couple of weeks that is the truth. however, in she get -- if she gets out there and maybe she winds up getting a pass. here's the reality. people want to believe that even if you don't know exactly what you're going to do on this issue or that issue, there is a core there. there's a soul there. something reliable there. i think somehow even though hillary clinton has been in public life for a long time, there's still a question mark about what is her soul. if you can show her soul tonight she begins to close the gap again. >> how does she do that in her into? how does she create i'm a genuine, authentic person?

from her, they have wanted it for years. >> what strikes me about the memo that he may or may not have written is -- >> million authors was -- >> it's the antithesis of bernie sanders. he's an individual of conviction, the issues have finally caught up to him. he was there on minimum wage, he was there on income inequality. he was there first. the fact he didn't do debate preparation ala donald trump i'm sure he's never polled to get guidance to where he's coming from. that's the contrast tonight. how does she channel a little bit more of him and a little less of the hillary clinton you described in 2008? >> a big challenge to her tonight is coming in, overprepared in her head and underprepared in her heart. we know she'll dominate on policy, but can she connect with other people? i may not understand the big words in this bill, but do you care about me? she's saying i'm a fighter for you. she has to convince that she

understands what it means to be a normal person. >> some of the best moments, some of the most memorable moments of any debate are frankly canned lines, one liners. lines that are -- >> practiced, yeah. >> frankly, if she can master faking authenticity she's golden. >> that's not her skill. she can be very good when show's human. and not do -- some candidates have good at doing scripted lines. marco rubio was very good at that. but hillary clinton has to have a spontaneous moment to work. we ran a very strong, hard fought campaign and then after that i worked with her in the white house -- >> in person she's not -- >> i would say -- >> more impactful. >> self-deprecation or a foible can go a long way to humanizing her. >> it's a cliche now, i have seen her get up on stage, read a term paper at a crowd, call that

a speech. lose nobody. and then ten seconds later, when she hits the rope line she's oprah. i mean she has such a huge heart. >> that might be a bit of an exaggeration. >> no. in real life when she's -- i don't -- i mean ten seconds later she's got a huge heart. somehow when she gets on the stage it goes away. if that can get across tonight, she can have a different response. >> she comes in as the front-runner and sneeds to walk out as the front-runner. >> donald trump tweets he'll be live tweeting the debate. watch out, hillary. she responded, whether she wrote it or an aide wrote it, i don't know. glad you'll be watching. it will be quote/unquote huge. play on donald. >> huge! >> so you know what can she do something with that? she monetize that? >> what a favor for both trump and for hillary that they're involved in this kind of a relationship. >> right. >> she props him up by going to

the hotel last night. she'd love him to be the embodiment and the face of the gop. so that that sinks in for the general election. even if he's not the candidate. i would love to see something from his twitter feed posed by anderson as a question tonight. >> yeah. >> let's not -- >> that would be the way to do it. >> the only person on that stage who has had a relationship with donald trump. he's maxed out to her on donations, given hundreds of thousands to the foundation. she was at his wedding. so i think she opens herself up a little bit, an attack from the other folks there. >> for her it's great to be attacking a donald trump. because she wants to be the standard-bearer for the party. the entire party is united in this gust at donald trump. >> what do you mean? paul begala thinks he's mana from heaven. >> true. but if hillary clinton is taking one-on-one martin o'malley, who cares? if she's going after donald --

>> you know, let's just reflect on a moment on how media savvy this guy is, donald trump. the democratic debate, we have spent the last two minutes talking about him. >> no question about that. you want to say who's the master brander, as bill clinton describes him to me, yes, he certainly is. you are going to be with us through the hour. thanks very much. we'll hit pause for a moment. next behind obviously the stage for the debate between the democratic contenders, this is the room where it's happening. who will be left standing? and hillary clinton under fire for flip-flopping. our special report on her long record of as she calls it, changing her mind. big day? ah, the usual.

moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southern.

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we are less than two hours away from the first showdown between the democratic candidates for president. the pressure is on for the front runner hillary clinton. her close aide huma abedin made a short walk through a while ago, but the big question is whether clinton will be able to walk away from her reversals on several key issues for democratic voters. it is going to come up tonight, no way it doesn't. jeff zellani is out front. will voters buy her sudden shift on some issues to the left? >> erin, there's no question that most politics evolve. certainly when you have been in public life as long as hillary clinton has. but those questions you're right, she's shifted so far to

the left in a year when voters are craving authenticity. the question is will they buy it? hillary clinton's long record will be front and center tonight as she returns to the debate stage for the first time since her 2008 campaign. >> hillary, hillary! >> reporter: it's not only her second act, but the debut of new positions on several hot button issues. whether it's political flexibility or a straight up flip-flop, there's no question clinton is responding to the liberal winds driving the democratic party. her rivals say the shifts raise questions about her credibility. starting with iraq. but bernie sanders won't let her forget. >> i didn't believe them and i voted against the war in iraq. >> reporter: it was a war she voted for back in 2002. >> any vote that might lead to war should be hard, but i cast it with conviction. >> reporter: the issue dogged her during that first presidential race but she held

her ground. >> obviously, if i known then what i know now about what the president president would do with authority given him, i would not have voted the way i did. >> reporter: this this campaign she calls it one of her biggest regrets. >> i made a mistake, plain and simple. >> reporter: on same-sex marriage, it became a "saturday night live" punch line. >> it is really great how long you have supported gay marriage. >> yeah. i could have supported it sooner. >> well, you did pretty soon. >> yeah. could have been sooner. >> fair point. >> reporter: she's hardly alone. president obama and most democrats once opposed gay marriage. in 2004, clinton said this. >> i believe that marriage is not just a bond but a sacred bond between a man and a woman. >> reporter: three years later she talked about her support for civil unions on "ellen." >> you support civil unions. >> i do. >> but not gay marriage.

why? >> i'm very much in favor of civil unions with full equality of benefits. >> reporter: in 2013 a change of heart. >> that's why i support marriage for lesbian and gay couples. >> reporter: martin o'malley took note and released this video when she announced her decision. >> history celebrates profiles in courage. not profiles in convenience. >> reporter: on trade, clinton was a champion for the pacific rim agreement. as secretary of state she travelled around the world, pushing the administration's deal at least 45 times in public speeches saying it sets the gold standard in trade agreements. last week, she came out against it. siding with labor unions and liberals who say it will cost jobs. >> as of today, i am not in favor of what i have learned about it. >> reporter: and this new position on trade could be front and center in the debate tonight. she is now aligned with most liberals in the democratic party but she's left an opening for bernie sanders, martin o'malley or others to walk right through.

but there is a fine line between political flexibility and political flip-flops here. she learned a lesson from that 2008 campaign when she refused to say the iraq war vote was a mistake. so some of her supporters say she's wise to make these changes right now. erin? >> jeff, thank you. out front now, u.s. senator from new york, kirstin gillibrand. she's a supporter of hillary clinton. >> great to be here. >> some issues you change your mind and some you react to the polls. that's the reality of the life as a politician. let's start with that trade dell as one. she negotiated it. she fought for it, she spoke out for it for 45 times how can she say she's against it? >> a lot of us have concerns about the trade agreement so she's not alone. i think being a candidate for president is different than when you're going out and doing negotiation. i think she shares the concerns i have that it might cost a lot

of jobs. if you look at the record of trade agreements it hasn't gone well for my state of new york. i think there are legitimate concerns. i think we'll hear a lot from her today about what she thinks will create growth for the middle class, how do you handle the aftered forability that the families are struggling with. >> on this issue of how it's perceived, you know, this memo that we were talking about from 2008 of the obama campaign authored, they at -- at that time it was nafta. they talk about how she changed her view on that. hrc is driven by politics, they list a few more. clinton is constantly shifting, dodging, changing positions to fit the politics of the moment. that is still the perception of her now. why is that wrong? it doesn't go away. >> because hillary is exactly who she's always been. she's been a person who cares deeply about the well-being of families and women and children. look at her upbringing, you look at the life her mother live and what lessons that taught her

about hard work and never giving up. that's who hillary is. whether she has a different view about whether this trade agreement is going to hurt the economy or help the economy that's a legitimate substantive issue that needs debate. it needs debate amongst all democrats frankly. >> how does she convince people she is not the three words they currently associate with her as we have talked about, both overall voters, democrats and republicans, liar, dishonest and untrustworthy? >> she has to be herself and talk about what she cares about. what i love about her campaign right now she's talking about a whole host of issues that weren't on the top ten list. she's talking about drug problems among teens. about overdoses of prescription medicines. i haven't heard that as a national campaign issue. she's talking a about a national paid leave program. something that would help our economy grow. so the more she talks about the things she's really passionate about, her determination, her fighting spirit will come through, and that's what i love about her. that's what so many people love

about her. >> so you also love a lot about vice president joe biden. you'd bet he would run, you said nice things about him. >> he's a great public servant. cares deeply about many issues. >> it makes me think -- that sounds like something you'd sound about somebody you're endorsing. would you consider switching your support? >> no. i support hillary clinton. i think she's the most qualified for this job. i think her experience will really turn this country around. i think her focus on the last several years on fighting terrorism, on foreign policy only enhances her abilities and her experience. i think hillary is the right choice. that's why i support hillary. i think more candidates are always good for a primary. i think if vice president biden wants to run he should run. he's dedicated his career to public service and helping people. and i think it just makes our candidate stronger, but hillary's my candidate. >> senator, thank you very much. i appreciate your time. senator of course will be here throughout the debate.

and behind me the debate stage as you can see it is -- it will be the site of tonight's showdown between hillary clinton and bernie sanders. and when we return, the debate moderator anderson cooper will take a break from his preparation to come out front. we live in a pick and choose world.

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welcome back to "out front." we are inside the wynn casino here in las vegas. the podiums are in place, the crowd is taking their seats. the candidates will be making their way backstage and anderson cooper is the moderator of tonight's debate and taking a break from your preparations to come talk to us. all right. what's your goal for tonight? >> you know, the goal is to have a good, tough debate. i mean, to get the candidates talking to each other, but also to have tough questions put to the candidates that's what we have been working on for quite a while now. you know, we'll be as -- you know, aggressive and pointed and get the candidates' answer. >> what do you do when bernie sanders says well, i won't mention hillary clinton name? >> well, look, it's not my job to force somebody to fight. you end up looking bad if that's

what you're trying to do. if candidates aren't going to address each other, that's fine. then they need to address the facts and they need to address their past statements and need to address their policies. we're certainly prepared to make them do that tonight. >> so one person not in the room who is getting a lot of attention tonight -- donald trump. he said due to popular demand, so many people have been asking him, he's going to live tweet -- >> it's been huge. huge. >> so i know that you're -- you know, there are some questions that could come in from twitter or facebook or if donald trump asks one, would you consider asking? >> i don't think so. if i'm checking social media during the debate then everyone is in trouble. you know, i hopefully will have a lot to do. we have been talking to people on facebook, we have a camper going out, people giving us video questions. we have a ton of social media questions from viewers already. you know, i don't think i'm going to be checking my twitter feed during this two hours.

>> all right. >> but i'm looking forward to reading his tweets afterwards. >> they will be entertaining. >> no doubt about it. >> anderson, thank you very much. anderson is finishing the final preparations as he gets ready for the debate he's hosting. the candidates are making their way back to the debate backstage in these final monments. brianna keilar is there right now. who is here? >> we have governor martin o'malley arriving here. at his greenroom trailer. these are all in alphabetical order. so on the left you have lin can chafee, hillary clinton, bernie sanders on the other half of this trailer. then over here you have jim webb who has arrived. and so now you have o'malley, webb, you have lincoln chafee. we're still awaiting hillary

clinton and bernie sanders, of course the front runners in this race. this is part of the logistics that go into pulling this off. you have cnn crews here, they're here to mic up the candidates. they have to make sure they're ready to be heard when they take the stage in about an hour. >> all right. brianna, i love that shot behind you with the trailers. there's something kind of neat about that. like spies -- you get a trailer. thank you. michael smerconish is back with me. you have been behind the scenes in these debates. van, what are they doing in the final moments as they get ready? >> hopefully relaxing. what you want to do -- like sitting in that trailer the walls start closing in on you. you get nervous. for barack obama, we would have the first lady be with him or the two aides who would most relax him because they could joke around him. robert gibbs and reggie love, his body guy, they'd kind of laugh. and if -- it's bad for them.

the other thing i would say, this is a very -- this is a big stage. and you may have done -- been in the senate for years, but when you get here, these are the klieg lights. this is the major leagues. >> hillary clinton is taking a coup -- maybe taking a up kohl of shots vodka? >> those of us who are just commenting, we're stressed, we're nervous. we're excited. can you imagine being any one of the people, whatever you do is on youtube forever? it's not just tonight. if you make a mistake, if you make an oops like a rick perry your career is over. >> well, van, let me tell you something, it turns out when it's the opposite team's debate and you don't have a candidate that you're worrying about his performance, it's not stressful whatsoever. this is a lot of fun. >> i remember that feeling a few weeks ago. >> funny what runs through our

minds and all of their minds. i had a brief conversation with a son of bernie sanders who looked at the stage and he said to me, geez, those podiums are close together. you know, dad is a very evocative person. i think he's worried what if he bumps into hillary inadvertently, that could be an issue tonight. >> that could be great. those are the moments we talk about the unscripted moments that can create an opportunity for something nice. >> one other thing that i think is very interesting in this room is the crowd. i remember being in the cleveland debate, the first gop debate in cleveland where there was a big, big crowd. and it was frankly the crowd could have had a podium on the stage. it was a big factory. today, there's 1,300 people here. each campaign has something like 60 or 70 tickets, plus a lot of people from nevada. from the party. and i think, you know, they could have a huge role. >> it was a podium backstage yesterday. everyone was joking because it was an extra podium. who was it for? it was joe biden who was going to show up?

i have to ask you, let's just say he's really thinking of jumping in. i know some are skeptical if he is at this point. he has to do it by now or else it's too late. october 3, 1991, october, bill clinton jumps in the race. wins and becomes sitting president. >> that cycle has extended beyond where it's been in the past. i think he needs to get in soon. in between all of my cnn appearances in my hotel room, all i keep seeing is that 90 second commercial of the draft biden campaign. a more tame version of it, and it's compelling. >> but look, there's a huge level of expectation and enthusiasm for joe biden. but expectation and enthusiasm can turn into fatigue. so, you know, i think he's got a window of time. it's closing. he also has some filing deadlines that are coming up that you just can't ignore.

>> looks like he's just waiting to see if hillary blows up in the october hearing. then i think the bloom comes off the rose. i think it's fine for him, take a step back, look, if hillary clinton mops the floor with everybody, i don't need to get in. if she stumbles badly, he'll jump in. he has a week or two. but then after that it's disrespectful. >> i think joe biden is making a personal decision and the political realities are coming to bear here. every day hillary clinton, bernie sanders are recruiting more organizers and volunteers, raising more money. so like october 1 was late, november 1 is even later. he can still get in and make a strong race, but i think the window is closing quickly. >> joe, if you still want to do it, we know people. we can talk about it. >> here we are in vegas, you walk by the sports betting areas. so go ahead. do all of you think that hillary clinton has the best shot? is there some way that somebody could come out of this the

winner? of winning tonight? >> i think she's the prohibitive favorite for the nomination. i still think it's even money in terms of the general election. do i give her an edge this evening? i give her an edge this evening. she's comfortable in this forum. by 2008, 13 debates had already taken place. she's got the notches in her belt. >> look, she may not win on points tonight, like maybe martin o'malley will have a more exciting performance or something. but at the end of the day, what matters is she goes into this the largest front-runner in the -- she comes out of that same spot, she won this debate. regardless of what the judges give the scores. >> but -- highest expectations. everybody knows she's a seasoned debater who's done well. >> the only thing is if you're in her position and you're thinking all of the things you are saying, you don't want to come out a loser you end up playing it safe. playing it safe exhibits the exact hillary clinton that doesn't win over new voters, right? it's the sort of catch 22.

>> i think this time tomorrow we'll be talking about martin o'malley. i'm going to say that right now, because i think first of all, you can't have zero political skills and be a governor, be a mayor. he's at zero right now. >> i drew up in maryland, he was a popular governor. >> i think, listen, right now, he comes on, nobody has seen this guy before. i think he says look, i'm an executive. he says to hillary clinton, look, how are you the front-runner? you follow me around on the issues and he comes up five or six points. i think that right now we are all sanders and all hillary. i think omall i wi'malley has tt advantage tonight. >> you can be mayor and government and have zero. >> i think jim webb is a wild card. he was a marine combat veteran, he was ronald reagan's secretary of the navy. he gets elected against george allen and yet we don't know what to expect when he gets on that stage tonight. he's nuanced, he defies labels.

you can't call him a liberal. i'm intrigued by what he may bring. >> i think everyone is watching for that. to your point. you want to see the new faces. >> bring it on. >> i think the exciting part is bernie sanders. he has brought excitement to this campaign from day one. >> there are people rallying outside. got traffic, people feel the bern as they say. next, we are live here in las vegas. less than an hour now until the candidates for president take that stage behind me in their first televised debate right here on cnn. bernie sanders drawing the huge crowds. can a self-described socialist though win the white house? sanders campaign manager is out front next.

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you're looking live at the debate stage inside the wynn hotel here in las vegas. we are less than one hour away from the first democratic debate. we are awaiting the arrival of bernie sanders, the main challenger right now to hillary clinton. he is expected at any moment. they go into the trailers, they each have one for the final preparations. i joke it's because that way they want to make sure that no one can hear, put their ear against the wall. anyway, bernie sanders will arrive at in i moment.

out front is jeff weaver, bernie sanders' campaign manager. obviously he'll arrive at any minute. any last minute preparations he's doing? what is he doing? >> i think he's been sort of relaxing this afternoon. sort of gathering his thoughts. you know, probably working a little bit on his opening statement a little bit at the end. >> opening statement? >> yeah. i'm sure he put a few final touches on it. >> he wrote it himself? >> absolutely. >> so bernie sanders has been doing so well, there's all the people here in las vegas, i saw nurses for bernie, feel the bern. he gets a lot of passion from people. bernie sanders does not run away from being honest about who he is. one of the things he said he is, he's very honest about the word socialist. let's a let the viewers hear it in his own words.

>> are you a capitalist? >> no, i'm a democratic socialist. democratic associatism has a government that reflects the ordinary people. democratic socialism similar to throughout europe, no i don't believe that government should control everything, but health care should be a right of all people. i do believe that college education should be affordable to all people. >> democratic socialist. so a gallup poll said that half of americans would not vote for a socialist and to a lot of people whether you put a -- you know, an adjective of democratic in front of it or not is not relevant. will he back off that word tonight? >> i think, you know, you can talk about that poll, but people are not concerned about the labels. but what they're concerned about is the substance of what people are talking about. if you look at the most recent polls in iowa and new hampshire, he does better against republicans in general election match-ups than hillary clinton does. so obviously the republicans are not bothered by the quote/unquote democratic socialist label. so i mean at the end of the day, people are concerned about his

willingness to deal with income inequality, with the high cost of college education, with the need for universal health care than silly labels. >> so he'll stand by that term if someone comes after him tonight, which they might. you never know. >> you never know what's going to happen. and these passionate supporters and huge crowds. this has taken the country by storm. >> everyone by storm. >> people that are his fans are passionate about it. he was trailing hillary clinton by 20 points, it was a little bit of drop about a five point drop in his support. would he consider running as an independent? >> absolutely not. 100% zero chance he'll run outside of the democratic party. >> but why, he's not registered as a democrat in the senate, he's an independent. >> right. but he's caucused with the the democrats for 25 years. he's currently the democratic ranking member of the budget committee. so he has worked within the democratic party structure in the congress since he's gotten there.

in terms of the poll, it's interesting you mentioned this poll that came out. the difference between he and secretary clinton now is more narrow than the same margin of president obama and secretary clinton back in 2007 on this same date. so -- >> when she was in the lead? >> exactly. yes. another candidate who couldn't win. >> well, thank you very much. yeah. we shall see. it will be fascinating to watch tonight. >> thank you, yes. >> i know you have to have your butterflies in your belly right now. >> well, i'm not up there -- >> right. all right, thanks so much. i appreciate it. the first democratic presidential debate just moments away. the republicans are watching very closely tonight. donald trump live tweeting the debate. could trump steal the thunder? ♪ don't just eat. mangia! bertolli.

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tonight democratic voters, everyone around the world actually is going to get their first look at all five people running for president on the democratic side of the aisle. the big showdown is less than an hour away. the final preparations are under way. republican front-runner, donald trump will be watching, live tweeting his thoughts. this comes as a brand new poll shows ben carson within one point. statistically, that's more than a tie. dm sean spicer, here you are. >> it's exciting to be in a democratic debate. >> is this like you're a spy.

>> interesting to be at a democratic debate. this is their first. we're getting ready for our third. you've seen the controversy erupt over how many debates the democrats have had. this will be the first opportunity that they've had to see their candidates. we've been at this for a while. >> you guys are getting ready for your third. how about that poll, ben carson, will he finally top donald trump. >> i think we've got a historic number of qualified candidates. i expect to see volatility in the races. as is historically the case. we're still three months away from the first vote being cast. we'll see where we end up. >> donald trump will be live tweeting. hillary clinton went straight to the trump hotel. there's bernie sanders, everybody arriving at his trailer. hillary clinton will be there shortly. she went to the hotel. donald trump made a comment about hillary. she tweeted back saying the debate will be huge. she's enjoying this. what do you think about donald

trump live tweet thg? >> we'll be live tweeting this. we have a huge war room set up. we'll be doing fact checking, going after her and the other candidates. i'm glad donald trump is going after her. the more attention we bring to her record, her untrustworthiness, you're flipflops, the better. >> marco rubio was in las vegas last week and everyone else. i'm not exaggerating. he met with ak casino -- one of the largest for the republican party. there's a new report that major donors are about to jump behind rubio. that they're ready. do you think that this is an attempt to push donald trump out of the race and does it surprise you that jeb bush seems to have fallen so far so fast? >> look, i think you're going to see a lot of big players start to make up their mind as we get closer to iowa and new hampshire. so the rumors that mr. a dell

son and others are picking a horse isn't against anyone. it's for somebody else. that's part of the process. there are times when people start to line up behind the person that they think is going to do the best job. >> are you surprised? six months ago, you got to admit, would you assume it would have been jeb bush. >> i think six months ago, people were talking about scott walker, chris christie. no one thought donald trump would get in. i think the volatility on our side and the intensity has brought record number of people watching our debates, a ton of interest in it. it's great for our party and the candidates. each one of them gets exposure, name i.d., they'd never get otherwise. tonight i think will be a tough night for hillary. you've seen the mem row broke earlier today. the untrustworthiness will be forefront. >> our chief political analyst, gloria borger. >> who do you think is going to

stand out? i didn't say when. i said stand out. >> there are the wildcards. so anything could happen with those folks. with webb or chafee. they could stand out just by being outrageous and getting noticed, right? >> right. >> i think bernie sanders is the one here who really has to stand out, though. because bernie sanders is doing very well, but he has to prove that he's a president. that he's electable. that somebody who calls himself a democratic socialist can actually win an election and appeal to a broader base of people. democrats will be watching this debate, but independents will also be watching this debate. i think bernie sanders has to stand out. >> he has to stand out. but hillary clinton has to stand out as authentic. sean is referencing the poll that we've brought up, a poll of all voters, republicans and democrats, untrustworthy, dishonest. we have the memo here from 2008. the obama campaign. they said those very things

about her. >> sure. >> that was her own side of the aisle. >> right. >> saying that she was "shifting, dodging and changing positions" to satisfy the politics of the moment. how does she change that? >> it's very difficult. first of all, when you've been in politics for 30 years, you have to convince people to be excited about you. if it's your -- a new thing. >> she's not a new thing. >> the advantage that hillary clinton has in a democratic primary -- >> if you look at the polling, 68% of democrats actual little do think she's trustworthy. they don't think the e-mail issue is a big issue. when she gets into a general election, if she's the nominee, then sean is right. then that will become a big issue and continue to be a big issue. i don't expect it to be a big issue on stage tonight because why would these fellows attack her on her trustworthiness when democrats like her, right? they want to get her vote. >> it's the wrong audience to do

that. >> gloria, thank you very much. we'll be right back. technology empowers us to achieve more.

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here. in just a few minutes we're counting down to the debate. anderson cooper will be the mod ray for for that debate. thank you for watching "out front". anderson cooper 360 right now. good evening everybody from las vegas. we're just 30 minutes from now five democratic presidential candidates face off for the first time. there is certainly a lot at stake and a lot of excitement at the center podium on the debate stage, front-runner hillary clinton. to her right bernie sanders, to the left martin o'malley, lincoln chafee and jim webb. dana bash will be here. cnn espanol washington correspondent juan carlos lopez. don lemon will bring in questions via facebook. there's been a lot