of my life. >> well, thank you so much for joining us. be sure to set your dvr to record "outfront" and don't miss our special show on cnn international as it is every weekend. "ac 360" begins right now. good evening. john pberman in for anderson. american military involvement right now on the scene of a deadly terror attack that appears to be on going along with a hostage situation in the west african nation. happening at a hotel popular with diplomats including more. robin moderating this from nairobi. what's the latest? >> reporter: john, we can tell you there is a large corden around this area but eyewitnesss seen several dead bodies laying outside the hotel. the assault we understand, the

operation by this al qaeda group is still on going with a number of hostages. we don't know the exact number, however, are trapped inside. attackers we're told by eyewitnesss were light skinned wearing covers over their faces and they spoke in a language not native. that's the latest information we're hearing from the ground, john. >> we understand al qaeda a short time ago claimed responsibility for this attack, correct? >> reporter: yes, al qaeda and islam a special sector of theirs that just recently joined up with them, a very similar hotel they were responsible for a very similar hotel attack on the radison blue in neighboring mali that killed 22 people. similar got gunmen going in and just to give you background, this particular movement al qaeda and islam in december called for muslims in west africa to wake up for jihad. this is a clear calling to those

sorts of groups who would have been involved in this assault and we understand it is on going. we do hear as you said u.s. special forces are outside, most likely in advisory capacity, french troops outside, as well, however, it will be those special forces who will, if they do decide to assault who will go in. >> robin, you mentioned the hotel attack in mali. the same situation, this is a hotel if you're a western person traveling in that nation you would be most likely to stay? >> reporter: indeed. that would be the hotel where diplomats would stay, u.n. staffers, journalists, as well, ngos and people just traveling through who can't afford to stay there. we're seeing an increase in attacks. somalia across the continent, too, the radison blue attack in mali which killed 22 people in a

very similar style also on friday by the same group. we cannot independently verify it is this group however they claimed responsibility. >> al qaeda claim of responsibility as we sit here tonight. thank you so much. again, we are getting reports of u.s. military involvement, a presence on the ground. want to bring in barbara starr at the pentagon. what are you learning? >> good evening, john. we know that the french military has made a request to the pentagon, to the u.s. military for assistance and the u.s. military we are told will be sending surveillance assistance, it will be a u.s. military drone that will begin flying overhead, an unmanned drone to survey the area and provide intelligence what is happening to french and local authorities. now, there are about 75 u.s. troops in this country. 15 of them are assigned to the embassy but there are 60 that provide assistance, training,

advice to the french forces who are in the lead in that country as outside forces. those 60 forces, those u.s. troops are in a position tonight to additional assistance and advice to the french if it comes to that. we are also told by a u.s. defense official that right now what they can confirm is that there is one u.s. military member outside the hotel embedded, if you will, alongside the french forces already directly on scene working with them to coordinate and to provide assistance as robin said, the -- when she talked about the french, the u.s. is adamant. u.s. troops will not at this point certainly participate in any assault. they are in a backup role to provide that advice and assistance and fly that drone overhead to get some direct eyes on the situation. >> barbara starr, stand by a moment. you're looking at pictures now.

the situation is this, there is an on going terror assault at a hotel popular with westerners in the west africa nation. we heard reports of bodies on the ground outside. a u.s. military presence there. want to bring in cnn intelligence and security analyst bob bear. bob, the al qaeda affiliate claimed responsibility for the attack. tell me about this group and what they have been doing recently. >> well, john, you look at the map and you've got mali and they have extensive networks. very active and well-articled and as you saw, it was a synchronized attack, car bombs, plenty of people to take that hotel. this is clearly a group that knew what it was doing. and they are very active and i think this tact is long over

due. it's a fragile country. just had a coup. you see the french taking the lead in this. doesn't surprise me at all. the americans, yes, american troops there but they are not used to doing entrees i'm quite sure you wouldn't have that in place like this. the french do. but it's a big hotel hard to take back and there could be a lot of casualties before the day is over. >> bob, are we seeing a competition, an international competition between isis and al qaeda because yesterday we had an isis inspired attack or isis affiliated attack and today al qaeda and west africa, is this important for propaganda value for these groups? >> well, i think it's -- >> it's very important -- >> go ahead, bob. >> yeah, you know, for me the interesting thing is a couple days ago is talking to people in jihad circles and the tax in turkey that killed ten germans and say these attacks will continue and be wide ranging and they said do not put too much

value on the name of the organization whether it's al qaeda or the islamic state. there is an offensive going on against the west and, you know, whether it's coordinated between the islamic state and al qaeda as it was in paris, i simply don't know at this point, but it wouldn't surprise me and they are going after the vulnerable targets where these hotels are not well protected and the local security services are not particularly good. >> remind us what u.s. presence is there? a lot of people will be sul priced there are u.s. troops there and are they trained to handle this kind of assault? >> probably not equipped for it as bob just pointed out at this point. what we are seeing over the last couple years in africa is the u.s. has been sending u.s. troops to help with training advising and assisting. we've seen this in several countries. they also provide intelligence,

recognizance and fly drones and try and hope local african forces where they can but actually ready, equipped to jump in and conduct an assault in an urban environment on a building, probably not. the french to a large extent i think bob would agree have taken their military has very much taken that leading edge role, especially in western africa. >> bob, assuming this assault is on going, assuming there is still a hostage situation, how do you end it? >> that's very difficult because they are going to have to do a dynamic entry and have to do breaching. when you set off explosives in a hotel to get through a wall like this, you obviously don't want to kill the hostages and have to move floor by floor. very, very difficult. if you don't hit these people at the beginning and stop them and get in a hotel like that, all the guests are vulnerable and i can't tell you what the intentions of this group is but i fear the worst.

>> potentially dire situation. barbara starr, bob bear, hang on a moment. joined on the scene by telephone. marina, give us a chance what you are seeing now. what's the situation? >> caller: the situation is serious. now we have the numbers, we have number of casualties and apparently 20 casualties from the calf day that is number will probably rise over the next few hours. first injured people have been moved to a nearby hospital. meanwhile, the attack is clear and inside the hotel. gunfire could still be heard until recently and we know that

police forces are all around the hotel and also according to an eyewitness i spoke to on top of another hotel, the ebe hotel islamic hotel yet. quite hard to get update because the curfew is started at 11:00 p.m. and going on until 6:00 p.m. what we hope is that something will happen between now and army is going to happen over the next few hours. >> marina spironetti, thank you. she says 20 casualties so far. most from a cappuccino cafe next to or attached to this hotel. the assault on the hotel is still on going and believes

there are still three atatacker inside. she heard gunfire up until recently. the siege, any assault to take back the hotel marina does not believe has started yet. this still very much an active situation and active hostage situation at this western hotel in the capital. we're looking at pictures of the scene, that fire burning and reports of bomb blasts and gunfire and reports of bodies on the ground outside. again, on going situation and we'll bring you the latest as it comes in. barbara, bob, thanks to you. >> the cruz trump feud takes another turn and the scramble for support with just 17 days until the first real life actual votes are cast and later, a cnn exclusive on why the criminal case events against bill cosby could be doomed. new information just in tonight. when you've got a house

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the all-new audi q7 is here. ♪ just over two weeks until the first actual voting in the race for the white house, first prize the presidential nomination, second prize might as well be a set of steak knives. ted cruz rally in tigerville, south carolina, bill clinton is

at his third event of the day stopping for his wife in iowa. four events today for marco rubio and jeb bush in new hampshire in south carolina in the morning. donald trump hit iowa. trump is telling iowaens he's there so much they will be sick of him. he's also continuing to take ted cruz' remarks in the debate and runup about new york values. here is what he told the lead t est jake tapper. >> i thought that was disgraceful he brought it up. >> did you think he was going after something a dog whistle of sorts. >> probably you would have to ask him. i don't know what he was thinking about. he came across badl ll lbadly. some people gave him good reviews but i thought he came across not a nice person and people don't like that. >> late today senator cruz weighed back with a shot of his own. we'll bring that to you in a moment.

first, i want to go to jim accost to in des moines, iowa. the attacks we saw from trump in the debate last night, mainly aimed at ted cruz, did we see that in front of actual voters today? >> we did not, john. i thought that was interesting. what we heard from donald trump today was especially he was trying to get out the vote and encouraging caucus goers to get to the polls on february 1st and get the sense from inside the trump campaign that they are concerned about this conventional wisdom back in washington that yes, he is riding high in the polls and doing very well and getting good reviews for his debate performance last night but the concern is whether or not he can get these caucus goers out on caucus night on february 1st and saying things like play that south by sound byte, i'm going to be here so much you'll be sick of me. he didn't go after ted cruz and that was a departure in part of tactics but went after just about everything else in the sun. there was no big difference in

terms of that from his protective. >> you brought up trump's ground game in iowa and there is a lot of talk and speculation if it is, in fact, real. any evidence you've seen? >> well, i think we're going to see that very soon. you know, what we saw earlier today is unlike these big arena events that he has across the country, you know, he had a small scale event in an auditorium, held about 200 people and taking questions from the crowd. not just giving his stump speech where he goes through the usual one liners. he was taking questions 15, 20 questions from the audience and answering all of them. you know, at one point he was asked about being the angry voice in this campaign. he says i am the voice of the angry voter out there. he wasn't really denying that. and at the same time, john, you know, he was doing something we haven't seen from donald trump really at all and that was retail campaigning. he end up to a pizza ranch which is a iowa tradition every four

years, you see the candidates at local pizza ranches around iowa. he did that for several minutes. he did not actually sit down and eat the pizza we should point out but his campaign was quick to note there was slices waiting for donald trump on his plane as he was leaving the area. the other thing that he did here, he rented out a movie theater to show the film "13 hours" to supporters and at all of these events, there were campaign volunteers, campaign organizers saying remember, those are things you have to show up and do on caucus night because they have influx. they want to make sure they do what they have to do. >> jim accost to in iowa for us. thank you so much. senator cruz as we mentioned has a new take on the new york controversy. we are joined from colombia. ted cruz, he sort of apologized to new yorkers earlier today but it was sort of like a fake

apology, right? >> reporter: it was, john. ted cruz really making it very clear that he's not backing down at all for this. here in colombia, south carolina he was asked if he would apologize and seemed a almost have a little fun in a classic cruz sort of way as he continued to push this argue the farther down the field. here is how he responded. >> donald trump and hillary clinton and andrew coma and bill de blasio demanded an apology. i apologize to the millions of new yorkers let down by politicians in the state. i apologize to the hard working men and women of the state of new york who have been denied jobs because governor cuomo won't allow fracking even though there are high-paying jobs south of pennsylvania and new yorkers denied the ability to provide for families. i apologize to pro-life,

prosecond amendment new yorkers told by governor cuomo they have in place in new york because that's not who new yorkers are. >> so that was ted cruz here earlier today but also interesting is the cruz campaign is trying to fund raise and raise money off of this. heidi cruz, the wife of ted cruz sent an e-mail to supporters earlier tonight referencing the new york daily news cover that said drop dead ted to his values from the debate and previously this week in that e-mail to supporters, she said this is the lowest attack on ted. they think this will fire up a specific part of their base. >> i actually have a copy of that new york daily news here that i can hold up to see. it does in fact say drop dead ted and at the bottom it says hey cruz, if you don't like new york values, go back to canada. not very subtle there. not very subtle with the statute of liberty is doing with their hand right there.

that's the daily news, but the relationship between ted cruz and donald trump, it's clear those days of friendliness, the love affair they had on the stump even doing events together, that's over. >> reporter: yeah, long over and donald trump declared that last night and said bromance is over and ted cruz' posture and red rick he brought to the debate stage really signalled the same thing. he went after donald trump forcefully and specifically very clear that he planned outlines of attack against donald trump, something we have not seen him do in this campaign so far. he's flirted with the issue but really hasn't dove right into that sort of pool to criticize donald trump. cruz campaign telling me that they believe that this campaign is entering into a new stage, one where it is important to draw these clearer contrast in these policy distinctions. this is something we will continue to see from ted cruz and the campaign trail going forward. >> thanks so much for being with

us. joining us now is andy dean a trump supporter, former president of trump protections and waiting to hear from iowa congressman steve king, ted cruz supporter. andy, you're here with us now. let me start with you. we just heard -- >> did steve king not want to show up, by the way? >> no, no, no it's a simple television tick anything l problem. steve king decembsperate to app with you. >> i heard he's afraid but go ahead. okay. go ahead. >> he's not afraid. let me ask you about the comments we heard from ted cruz. not apologizing say donald trump has new york values and ex training what he thinks new york values are. pro-choice. progay marriage, different than a lot of people, especially republican voters in iowa may think. what do you make of that? >> i think this is a losing cause for ted cruz and the idea he thinks the people of iowa somehow pit the -- hate the people of new york and he wants to pit the people of iowa against the people of new york,

i think it's a losing proposition and it also sadly exposes ted cruz' hypocrisy and he rails against new yorkers and new york values, yet, he walked into a new york bank, goldman sachs and took out a $1 million loan which he didn't disclose on his senate papers. if anything, if i were ted cruz, i would in the want to talk about new york city because all it's going to remind people of is the $1 million loan he took out from gold man sacks and i think the people from iowa would have a bigger problem with goldman sachs than the people of new york. >> i believe behave congressman steve king in iowa with us, reporter. congressman, i don't know if you heard what he said there. do you think the people of iowa care more about that goldman sachs loan ted cruz did not disclose with the election commission or do you think they care more about what ted cruz continues to call new york values? >> iowaens are a stood and there are a lot of times there are

corrections made because of simple omissions and know it was a loan that was against shares that he had and it was either sell the shares or hold expecting they would depressuate in value and borrow against them. iowaens see through that and iowa values and new york values, it's donald trump that laid out new york values on october 24th of 1999 when he said he's very pro-choice. he'll allow for partial birth abortion and he supports same-sex marriage. i think that this is -- when donald trump described new york values, ted cruz referenced them i think is donald trump that has to explain that. >> hang on, andy. >> okay. >> congressman, i heard you say this morning you thought that donald trump gave a good answer to the idea of new york values in the debate last night. you thought when he was talking about september 11th, you thought that -- i heard it with my own ears this morning on cnn. >> no, well, no, you didn't hear that, actually, andy. what i said was donald trump turned that to the emotional, i was sorry it went that

direction. i would have been happier if it had not been brought up because it got turned into emotional list m of september 11th. as tragic as it was, it bound america together and we all paid a price for that although the worst price was paid by new york. i was there. i gazed into that smoking pile of rubble -- it hurt all of our hearts it did. we're 14, 15 years after that and new york's values and politics didn't change because of that. 84% of manhattan still went for barack obama. >> andy, let me put the other issue that went up, the issue of where ted cruz was born. ted cruz was born in canada. a lot of people watching the debate said ted cruz got the better end of that discussion with donald trump. is that your view, andy? do you think this is asked and answered, done as an issue? >> i think the fact we keep talking about it seven days in, ten days in now shows there is something here and a lawsuit filed this week against ted cruz in which this issue is going to

go potentially to the supreme court and there is a cloud hanging over ted cruz' head. look, the guy was born in calgary, canada and the idea this is subtle law is correct. we can go so far back to the 1975 naturalization act which i think the supreme court will look at to show ted cruz is not qualified to be president more over 25% of republican voters think this is a very serious issue which potentially disqualifies ted cruz, so i honestly just feel bad for steve king here who has put all of his hopes in ted cruz when this guy may not be -- >> not if i get time to rebut, you don't. >> you have that time, go for it. >> it's all really simple. i had an intern that was born under the same circumstances. she understood it. i interviewed her in the first minute i was introduced to her. here is the answer. there are only two ways that you can be an american citizen. you can be natural born or

naturalized. i haven't heard donald trump challenge the citizenship of ted cruz. he is a citizen of the united states of america. he's never been naturalized. that means natural born and just that simple and -- >> does go back. >> 1790. >> it's not posturing at all. >> answer the question -- >> andy -- >> i will. >> listen to the third one. >> let's be nice. >> have decorum here. maybe in washington there isn't, here on cnn there is. >> steve mentioned two. one is if your born on u.s. soil, born in queens and can run for president, there is category number two in which you're born overseas and not a citizen in which case you can't be president and ted cruz is in a third category, a category disputed. john mccain went through this despite. with john mccain and romney, they have a much better legal argument and john mccain born in

the panama canal zone, u.s. territory and of course, arizona became a state whereas canada as far as i'm aware is an independent country. cruz is in the third category of a u.s. citizen but natural born? that's a case for the judiciary to decide. do we want to elect a nominee with a 10 to 20% chance, a real chance he's not qualified according to the constitution to be president of the united states. >> congressman, i got to give you the last word here. >> andy, you made up a third category, that's the category of somebody that doesn't have claim to citizen ship. there are still only two. you're either natural born or naturalized. ted cruz was never naturalized. he didn't know he had a sign to him, canada citizen ship until a couple years ago. that was discovered by a reporter and he immediately went out and renounced -- >> how does he not know that? >> he just didn't have knowledge of that. they conferred upon.

>> they moved back to the united states. no, you either have to be natural bern or naturalized and i don't know a respectable legal scholar that rebuts that. i deal with them constantly. i said of the judiciary cop mitty, united states congress, i read back through this scholarship. you have some knowledge but c r characterized it and talking about it for seven days, we're doing that because donald trump brought it up and donald trump changed his mind. he said in september there is no problem. i accept this and understand it. now that he's got a political reason to raise this issue and bringing it. can we get to the issue? why is there not an answer why donald trump flipped on pro-choice on same-sex marriage. how can we think he's a social conservative that transformation seemed to take place for political reasons and then when he talks about the idea of putting a tax on products coming in from china, my iowa farmers are getting concerned about that, as well. >> congressman king, andy dean, we'll leave it there. i hope you come back because

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so here is what might happen if you give republican insiders truth serum. who would you rather see get the nomination? donald trump or ted cruz? just about everyone reporting their through answer would be neither. after last night's debate there is no doubt this is a trump cruz battle at the moment yet the republican establish the deeply

dislikes them both. their hope as chief national correspondent john king is reporting to get a small field and count on trump and cruz for a variety of reasons to start losing. is that a good bet? chief national correspondent john king breaking it down by the numbers joins us now. does it still look like that could happen? >> less and less so if you look at the numbers available now, add this caveat its really. new hampshire will shake up the race and south carolina will shake up the race but at the moment the republican establishment that thought that was a sure bet has to think again. look, no question, donald trump is the biggest dog in this race in a dead heat or leading in iowa, leading in new hampshire and the national front runner. ted cruz you have to put with donald trump because he's in the hunt in iowa he's a social conservative and tea party guy with deep support as the calendar moves on. these are four establishment guys and in true powerball mode get small balls at the moment. rubio, kasich.

what the establishment hopes is that iowa and new hampshire sends a couple of them home and one of two left and the race changes. will that happen? maybe. look at the data. there is no question, zero question donald trump nationally benefits from the crowded field. ten candidates here. this is the latest nbc news and wall street journal poll trump at 33, cruz at 20 and everybody else down in here. donald trump is benefitting because it's so many so let's have an experiment and cut it to five. if you take the top five candidates, what do you get? trump went up. cruz went up. rubio went up a bit. bush went up a bit. the theory of the establishment is you strengthen the field, they will hold firm or come down. not so fast. again, this is a national poll, not a state poll but let's take to the three. trump, cruise, rubio. rubio and bush from the five gets you rubio in the three but trump and cruz split the carson vote when you take him out so there again, a national poll but if you're the establishment and crunching the numbers, no means is this guarantee in a three-way

race like this and you can put bush, kasich, christie here and numbers would be about the same if you look deep in the polls. so what john if we went to a two-man race, let's say we're 18, 20 states in. we get down to two. nationally the numbers suggest ted cruz would have a chance at beating donald trump when nbc wall street journal had the race. the establishment says give us our guy one on one with donald trump we'll beat him. in the national polls now, rubio doesn't beat him. so a rather smug establishment several months ago saying don't worry, this will clear out. our guy will rally and we'll get a guy and consolidate. they cannot be so sure of that my friend. >> you were hearing so many people inside that establishment now that said it was never a possibility and john king stick around. republican strategists, newt gingrich secretary great to see you and cnn political report reporter nia mallika henderson.

that two-man race between trump and cruz or do you think an establishment guy can elbow in, maybe marco rubio? >> let me make two quick points, one, john king remembers this in 2008 barack obama won iowa with less than 38% of the vote. everybody thinks he sailed a victory. hillary clinton and jon edwards split the other 60% almost directly in half. the either one of them had not been in the race, you can't take votes and split them up evenly. it's likely hillary or edwards would have sailed to an easy victory because, john, people -- there is some understanding that people who are not trump voters are not going to split evenly. they are still not going to be trump voters. number two, it is in trump's interest to play nicely as he might say with these guys to prevent what john king was just

describing. what he wants to do is keep that establishment vote split even if they began to consolidate and none of it went to trump. but i think that -- i'm one of those people. i really admit i have no reputation to protect them because i've been wrong through the whole thing. >> nia, that establishment lane, there's game of chicken i imagine that will go on here. no one wants to be the one to drop out because they all think they can perhaps be the last man standing against trump and cruz, no? >> that's right. and so far you don't see sort of a establishment figures consolidated around anyone. very interesting today that lindsey graham came out for jeb bush. jeb bush sitting at about 5% nationally not doing so well in south carolina, either and lindsey graham dropped out and had less than 1% in national polls but took a shot at marco rubio as he was praising jeb bush. he said of marco rubio that one day he would be president but

that at 44 he just wasn't ready to be president. so this idea that somehow marco rubio was quite gifted and certainly on paper looks like the future of the republican party, he has had such a hard time, you know, really getting those elders in the party to consolidate around him. somebody is looking for the ted kennedy moment barack obama had in 2008 where he was really the torch was passed from one generation to the next and so far this just hasn't happened. everyone, i think, everybody thought there would be a strategy and so far they look like there are hopes and prayers at this point. >> john king, we were talking a moment ago about the establishment coming around to the notion donald trump is a real possibility now, just reading right now a new article on "the washington post" saying spencer is wick, the great mitt romney fundraiser saying that romney fundraisers, romney money men are trying to elbow their way in a little bit to the trump

world. they are looking at donald trump saying if this is going to be the guy we got to get some connecti connection. >> if your boat is floating, they want to get aboard. they said no way he'll run and said he may win a few states. now they are facing a fact trump is here to stay and there is something in the water in republican politics trying to make nice in case there is a possibility. there are many in the establishment that would prefer trump to cruise and others say they refer cruz because at least they understand cruz even if they don't like him. he's more predictable and plan around it where trump is a loose cannon. to that point about why some of the establishment comes around. which candidate would you not support? this is how much people have room to grow. 52% of republicans would not support john kasich and 45% said they would not support chris christie. 55% say that about jeb bush. this number used to be higher for donald trump, only a third of republicans say they could

not see themselves supporting him. that used to be higher. trump's numbers among republicans are getting better. cruz and rubio have more room to grow because part of the establishment saying we better start thinking about this because trump has room to grow. >> a little more than two weeks before human voters get to weigh in. thanks so much. >> thanks, john. >> unexpected drama in the democratic race. bernie sanders and hillary clinton tied in new hampshire. how worried should the clinton campaign be tonight? and clearer skin. this is my body of proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis with humira. humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. it's proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage and clear skin in many adults.

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17 days from tonight the first votes in election 2016 will be cast in iowa which explains why bill clinton is in iowa. third stop of the day. he hits the drill again tomorrow with three more stops. hillary clinton and bernie sanders pretty much running neck and neck in iowa. iowa's governor admittedly republican said he thinks the clinton forces are in panic mote. joining me now, democratic strategist and co-chair of a super pack and katrina editor and publisher of the nation celebrating the 150th anniversary this week, happy anniversary and bernie sanders will be on the cover of the february 8th edition. paul, i want to start with you. the governor of iowa, again, admittedly republicans says he sees the clinton campaign beginning to panic in that state and thinks bernie sanders has momentum there. at a minimum, do you think bernie sanders has momentum in

iowa now? >> he's running a great campaign. i say this, i'm not the co-chairman advisor to the super pact that supports hilary. even though i have an interest in hillary winning, my hat off to bernie and his campaign. he's doing terrific, so is hillary. my party is keeping it between the ditches. nobody is even attacking anybody else's mother. last night i watched the debate. ted cruz attacked donald trump's mother. your mother was born in scotland. yuck. hillary is talking about ideas. this can only be good for democrats. is hillary panicking? i can't coordinate so i don't know. i know i have a long belief there is two ways to run for office unopposed or squacared. they are putting every ounce of energy into the caucuses. >> paul, does she have more reason to be squared tonight than she did three weeks ago? the polls have really become much closer in iowa, a state where she was ten or more points ahead now two.

>> look, every day you get closer you're going to be more nervous. believe me, you call me up the day before the iowa caucuses if i was working for hillary, even though i'm a step removed i will be, like a porky pine in a balloon factory. i won't want to move in any direction. i'll be completely fearful. that's how you run. that's what makes this worthwhile. the consequences are so high. i have a high tolerance for attacks and these two have not attacked at all to the extent they disagreed, it's been unbelievably civil. this is the most high-class, high-tone issue oriented candidates i've seen. >> say the dream scenario happens. iowa and new hampshire don't look a lot like the primary calendar. there is a lot. can bernie sanders so far have not made a lot of in rows.

>> two states have changed and what is interesting in iowa is he has to a certain extent recreated the obama coalition. first-time voters, young people are going for bernie sanders 2-1 and speaks to the message. paul bis right. the democrats are engaged in ideas. bernie sanders coming into the race opened up to an economic direction. no one voted yet, john. i think success breeds momentum. i was with someone from south carolina connected to the church. bernie sanders hasn't gone down there to introduce himself. he's tentative at the need and understands he needs to wow african americans, the core constituencies but has a message. he's the champion and ally of movements that are animating this moment black lives matter,

climate activists, the fight for 2015 activists. there is momentum in his message. >> what about the coalition that bernie is establish income iowa right now because he is doing very well with young voters. he is doing very well with first-time caucus voters and doing very well with independently dents who might caucus and that's exactly what gave barack obama a victory in 2008. >> absolutely. absolutely. then barack obama was able to go to the rest of the country where the voters are far more diverse and put together a multi ethnic, multi racial coalition. i love iowa and probably been in all 99 counties of iowa but in 2008 when hillary ran against barack, 90% were white. in new hampshire 95% are white. hillary clinton's whole political dna got elected to the senate twice in new york. you can do that by putting together multi racial coalitions. bernie has a terrific record on

issues of community of color. no doubt but he doesn't have the background barack obama had coming out as a community organizer running in chicago. he just doesn't have the same background and a lot of ground to make up. a terrific record and i like the guy a lot but i don't think it's going to happen to him. >> part of what happened i think in the last year, which is so astonishing is that for too long a corporate media didn't pay attention to bernie sanders, lavished attention on donald trump and hillary was always there and brand name recognition. the policing of the parameters of the viable have been broken open. bernie sanders shown viable raising millions from small donors, $27. i think millions are going to meet him for the first time in his ideas and that is critical. i will say, paul, even though you said this is a civil campaign and it is so far, the moment is over. you'll see sharper distinctions drawn in sunday's debate and i

think hillary clinton's attack on bernie sanders medicare for all shows why bernie sanders unbought by the pharmaceutical cartels is able to launch bolder ideas. wall street ad is not a nasty attack and showing there are two versions how to regulate wall street and bernie wants to dismantle the too big to fail banks. >> we'll see in the next few days. >> wait a minute, they will go to charleston. charleston, south carolina. somebody is going to ask bernie sanders why the most anti corporate guy voted to protect gun manufacturers and lift them above the law. >> the moment is over, paul. >> two weeks until iowa -- >> about issues -- >> executive actions, et cetera -- >> we'll watch over the next two weeks until they vote in iowa. thank you so much. just ahead, could the criminal case against bill cosby fall apart before it even starts? new information tonight about a deal made a decade ago that could really hinter the

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itswhen you're engineeredct to literally to drive circles around the competition. a ccnn exclusive, you might remember two and a half weeks ago a district attorney made a big splash when he formally charged the comedian with sexual assault. but our michael learned it seen evidence that the charges against cosby could very well fall apart. the charges against cosby are involving a former temple university basketball coach in 2005 and 2006 and cosby gave a deposition in the case and cosby's lawyer says there was actually a deal made at the time that cosby would never be prosecuted criminally if he gave

that deposition. not only that, now an e-mail has come to light that helps bill cosby and that's what michael smerconish seen. michael, the agreement that led to cosby's testimony in the civil case, what more can you tell us? >> what is stunning is not only will cosby's lawyers say wait a minute, we had a deal that never could the testimony against him in the civil case be used in the criminal case but they will be supported in that regard by the d.a. at the time and john, i'm holding in my hands an e-mail sent from the former d.a. to his successor three months before cosby was charged saying hey, wait a minute, you remember we had a deal. we were not going to prosecute this guy because we didn't think we could meet our burden beyond a reasonable doubt. we wanted to open the door so he would give testimony in a civil case, we wanted to help the accuser benefit from a civil judgment. >> in this documentation, this e-mail you have seen literally

says the lda if he's forced to testify will say this deal exists. >> there is a hearing tentatively set for february 2nd. what i'm holding is what i expect the old d.a. will come in and swear to which is to say in the accuser's best interest back in 2005 we made a deal with bill cosby, we opened the door for him to testify in a civil case without the benefit of his fifth amendment right. >> the current d.a., not the same d.a. that wrote this e-mail, not the same d.a. that first made this agreement, is the new d.a. bound by this agreement? >> great question. the new d.a. is going to dispute this. we received word from the new d.a. that says you know how you go about granting immunity to someone and those protocols were not followed by the old d.a. it's a blood sport i can tell you in the suburbs of philadelphia because there is no love lost between the old d.a. and current d.a. but it will be stunning when the image takes

hold that the old d.a. is going to come in, the one that did not prosecute bill cosby and says i made a deal with this individual. i did it in the best interest of the claimment. to go after bill cosby in a criminal case and wanted to help in a civil case but eliminating the fifth amendment. >> is there a present to make a deal? >> that will be litigated. whether he had the authority and whether it's binding on his successo successors, they said yes and sited case law. i anticipate that next week the current d.a. will respond to all this but here is the take away, it's possible that this case will never go to trial against bill cosby because in pretrail activity, it will be thrown out of court. >> the judge has big decisions to make i imagine this news you're breaking here and much more tomorrow morning. >> i will. >> wildly controversial. michael smerconish, thank you.

michael is getting new information and will be up all night and report tomorrow on his program 9:00 a.m. and again at 6:00 p.m. tune in tomorrow here on cnn. we'll be right back. welcome. how you doin'? good how are you? so today you're gonna choose a mobile office. you can choose this chevy silverado which offers built in 4g lte wi-fi. or you can choose this ford f-150, which doesn't offer wi-fi. but to make up for it, we added a trailer, a satellite antenna, and dolores. hey fellas! (group laughter) what? so, which one do you want? i pick the chevy. definitely. or, get this dependable silverado all star edition with a total value of seven thousand two hundred and fifty dollars. find new roads at your local chevy dealer.

that's all for us. "cnn tonight with don lemon" starts now. >> you can say a lot of things about donald trump but you better not let him hear you talk trash about new york. this is "cnn tonight" i'm don lemon. trump not taking the slam on new york values lying down. listen to what he told our very own jake tapper. >> i thought it was very, very insulting and i immediately thought of the world trade center and the bravery of new yorkers and the genius of new yorkers to be able to take that whole section and rebuild after the tragedy, the worst thing that ever happened to our nation in terms of an attack. >> and cruz apologizes sort of in