that's it for us tonight. i'll see you back here tomorrow night. "ac 360 starts now ".

good evening, john burman in for anderson. today, donald trump did what i can't remember any candidate doing ever. just six days before the iowa caucuses with so much at stake where any little thing could derail a campaign, donald trump did more than just any little thing. he did a lot and could say a lot about how he sees his strength as a candidate barely two nights before another big republican debate, this time on fox news, he stepped up to the microphones, blasted the network, blasted one of its anchors, blasted how the debate is being promoted and said he is planning to skip the whole thing. >> i'm not a fan of megyn kelly. i think she's a third-rate reporter. i think she, frankly, is not good at what she does and i think they could do a lot better than megyn kelly so i'm going to be making a decision with fox but i probably won't bother doing the debate. i see they picked me as number one by far. probably i won't be doing the debate. i'm going to have something else in iowa, we'll do something where we raise money for the veterans and wounded warriors. we're going to do something simultaneously with the debate. most likely i'm not going to do the debate. i didn't like the fact they sent out press releases toying, talking about putin and playing games. i don't know what games roger ailes is playing, but what's wrong over there? something's wrong. but when they sent out that press release talking about, i

said, why are these people playing games? most likely i won't be doing the debate. >> will you change your mind, mr. trump? >> see, the point is that with me, they're dealing with somebody that's a little bit different. they can't toy with me like they toy with everybody else. >> all right. that's not all he said, but that will do for now. his campaign manager just moments ago changed probably to definitely. he says his boss will definitely not attend that debate. joining us, cnn senior media correspondent, brian stelter, host of "reliable sources." cnn political commentator, ryan lizza, for "the new yorker." and chief national correspondent, john king, anchor of cnn's "inside politics." john, i want to start with you because donald trump made this decision after fox put out a statement this afternoon. let me read that statement to you. "we learned from a secret back channel that the ayatollah and putin both intend to treat

donald trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president. a nefarious source tells us trump has his own secret plan to replace the cabinet with his twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings." this follows trump blasting how megyn kelly handling the first debate. fox puts out this statement. do you think this is real? do you think trump's really not going thursday night? >> well, this whole thing feels like we're in some sort of fantasy land or parallel universe. for a news organization to put out a statement like this essentially taunting the front-runner for the republican party is something i've never heard of. as you noted donald trump pulling out of the debate is something we've never heard of, at a time his trajectory is good in iowa. he's going to give his rivals a chance to say, we told you so, he's unhinged, he's a narcissist, he's in a fight. i talked to six different strategists, a couple involved in the other campaigns, asked them to take their bias hat off. none could figure this out. except to say he's in a childish fight with megyn kelly and roger ailes, the chief of fox news. because everyone else thinks it's a bad idea, based on what he's done the last six months, he'll go up in the polls for

doing it. this is bizarre-o land. >> it's the political twilight zone for sure. brian, you got off the phone with fox news. what's the reaction? >> right now it's a big fat no comment. they're saying nothing. as said in the movie "anchorman," this escalated quickly today. fox said the reason they put out that very tongue in cheek statement is because donald trump went on instagram and started attacking megyn kelly. so it's been back and forth all day. we hear trump saying he won't show up at all. this is something we haven't seen before. it's 48 hours for trump to change his mind. is he bluffing or going to stick to his word on this? we heard his campaign manager say we are going to hold a different event, have a different event for wounded warriors. that will be against this debate possibly on thursday. >> how did fox say they'll handle it if he doesn't show up, put up an empty lectern on the stage? >> i believe the rules with the republican national committee, the agreements with the

campaigns state you can't show an empty podium. fox isn't commenting on that for sure. i believe that's typically the rules, you can't show an empty podium. i heard from sean spicer at the rnc, he says the rnc will not intervene on this. each campaign ultimately makes their own decision. >> jeff kauffman, let me go to you, chairman of the iowa republican party. you're hearing from the national committee they're not going to intervene. what would trump's absence at this debate in iowa days before the iowa caucuses, what would the significance be in your state? >> first of all, you got to love iowa in january. there's always a surprise. you know, we have a lot of venues for these candidates to introduce their ideas, themselves, and continue the dialogue with iowans. the debate is one of those. i have to agree with the

national party. the state party is going to be a part of a lot of these events but it's ultimately up to the campaigns and the ultimate arbiters of this are the people in iowa february 1st. there are a lot of unorthodox things about this campaign season and this caucus season. this is yet one of them and ultimately on february 1st, we're going to have some answers in terms of whether this was a good move or bad move. >> a heck of a move, that's for sure one way or the other. ryan lizza, let me bring you into this. how much of a risk do you think trump is taking? when you're winning, do no harm. it's like you're a doctor. do no harm should be the mantra. is this an unnecessary risk for him? >> i don't know. on the one hand, we're going to be talking about donald trump from now until the debate, we'll probably be watching donald trump not on fox, on other networks that don't obviously take the debates live when it's on another network. he obviously has some counter-programming plans. so he will dominate the news cycle on the eve of the caucuses and he won't be at the debate so he won't be under fire from the other candidates. on the other hand, there's no doubt that the fox debate is still going to get big ratings,

right, it's the number-one news source for republican voters. and he's going to give a platform to a marco rubio and ted cruz, ted cruz his primary rival in iowa, who are going to be allowed to say what they want about donald trump without trump responding. i would imagine the fox moderators will feel under no obligation to defend donald trump in any way or inject his opinions. it's obviously a risk. i will also say, just to step back a second, this guy is basically at war with every power center in the republican party. there was a rule in politics that you don't go to war with fox news and roger ailes because that network is too powerful and too influential on republican politics. and trump has been at war with them all season and he's winning. he is at war with the conservative intelligentsia from "national review" to every conservative columnist in opinion pages and he's winning. this is essentially a hostile takeover by trump and his fans of the republican party that we're watching in realtime.

>> john, the question here is this the alpha dog move? is it the alpha dog move to say i'm bigger than you, i'm bigger than this debate, i don't need you? is it the anti-alpha dog move by saying i don't want to face megyn kelly? >> your logic says this is an interesting and not productive move. logic has not applied to donald trump since the day he got into the race. when you said they're rapists and murderers, it would hurt him. when he first attacked megyn kelly, it would hurt him. donald trump decided i'm going to be the contrarian, so unorthodox i'm going to violate every rule of politics. guess what, so far he's violated every rule of politics and happens to be at the top of the republican pack. he's either a little ahead or in a dead heat in iowa. he's way ahead in new hampshire. he's way, way ahead in the national polls. look, he said the other day he thinks he could stand in the middle of 5th avenue and shoot somebody and not lose a vote. clearly he thinks he can skip a fox news debate days after the iowa caucuses and not hurt

himself. that's what he thinks. we're about to find out what the voters think. >> the ratings have been off the charts. maybe this is the moment that changes. trump is going to show that can change. the calculation might be he doesn't want to be on that stage, he believes ted cruz is the better debater as many believe, and it's better for him to step off for the night, skip it and prove the debates don't matter anymore. >> jeff, i have to ask you, looking from iowa, we heard from rick tyler who works with the cruz campaign who said this move from trump is childish, just as a viewer, as an iowa voter, do you think this looks petulant? >> well, you know, iowa is a very unique place. it's the first caucus state. a lot of people are doing the 99-county tour. ultimately in iowa, it's personal. it's personal between that candidate. sometimes it's personal in terms of one person and one person that shows up at an event. sometime it's a mass event. but everything that happens here from here all the way until

february 1st is going to be one-on-one. in some ways all of the other, the noise, if you will, what other people are saying, what commentators are saying, really nothing matters beyond that candidate and not just trump, but any of the 11 candidates and what happens to that electorate. and think about this with the iowa voter. we've been doing this for a very, very long time. i think the iowa voter is discerning enough and i think the iowa voter is going to be looking at these candidates in and of themselves. i don't think anything matters but them making up their minds and what they're hearing. i think at this point, it's going to be up to donald trump to make his case to the people as to whether this was a good move and whether he should have done this or not. >> ryan lizza, you're a very special kind of reporter. you're the kind of reporter who actually reads candidates' books. you have read "the art of the deal." you think there is some clues inside this trump bible into what he might be doing this week.

>> you don't even need to read "the art of the deal." one of his applause lines, one of his lines at least at his rallies is he talks about his trade negotiators, if he's president, they're going to regularly walk away from the table, right? in "the art of the deal" he talks about you have to know when to give up a negotiation, strong enough to blow up the whole thing and hope folks on the other side of the table come graveling back to you. i think in previous instances where he's threatened to boycott a debate, that's what he was doing. it looks like here he's not showing up. he did blow up the negotiation, it's over. >> fox is not coming back. megyn kelly is doing this debate period, right? >> roger ailes' father taught him a lesson, never pick a fight with a man who likes to fight. the problem here, trump likes to fight and so does roger ailes. >> all right. thanks for being with us. john king, stick around. as you mentioned, there is new polling to talk about that suggests that when donald trump does something like this, he's got a lot of republican support to count on.

plus, more breaking news. a new reward, nearly a quarter of a million dollars for these three inmates who staged a brazen jail break in california. new details on that and this manhunt ahead on "360." sir, could you step aside? "sir"? come on. you know who i am. progressive insurance? uh, i save people an average of over $500 when they switch? did you pack your own bags? oh! right -- the name your price tool. it shows people policy options to help fit their budget. [ scanner warbling ] crazy that a big shot like me would pack his own bags, right? [ chuckles ] so, do i have the right to remain handsome? [ chuckles ] wait. uh-oh. are you powered by protein? we are. milk has 8 grams to help give you energy to unleash your potential. start every day with milk's protein and milk life.

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so at the very moment donald trump took the podium and trashed the upcoming fox republican debate, at the very moment he says he's planning to skip that debate. we already had a good lead story. new polling that shows perhaps why he's in such a good position now to do things just like that. chief national correspondent john king joins us again breaking it down by the numbers. john, you know, god knows iowa monday night could change things. lord only knows how these stunts tonight will change things. but as of now, the national numbers, how strong is donald trump's hold of the front-runner status? >> very, john, which is why we thought just a couple hours ago we would be saying donald trump was debating from a position of strength. now we're saying he's skipping from a position of strength. we'll see what happens. here's our new national numbers. trump at 41%, the first time he's gone above 40% in cnn polling. ted cruz half that at 19%. marco rubio, ben carson, and jeb bush. the top five stayed the same for the last month. trump moving up a bit to 41%. remember when trump got in, everyone said, no way, this

won't last. got in in july, went up to 18%. a dip here. see november, december, right now, days before the iowa caucus. he's at 41% nationally. he's ahead or in a dead heat in iowa and he's way ahead in new hampshire. now he decides he's skipping a debate. he does from a position of great strength. we're about to see the impact. >> the destined to fade argument you've heard from insiders from the beginning, from june, every month. >> right. he was a one-note pony, right, he couldn't go very long, it was all about celebrity. look at this. 37% of republicans who say they're tea party supporters support donald trump, way above any other candidate. 45% of those who say they're too tea party neutral, so more moderates you would think. 45% support donald trump. nearly 40%, 39% of white evangelicals support donald trump. higher than anybody else in the field. crowded field. conservative support, moderate support, very conservative

social support. look at this. ask the republicans about the issue, by 48 points, donald trump beats his closest republican rival when republican voters are asked who's best to handle the economy? by 39 points he beats his closest republican rival on who's best to handle illegal immigration. he wins on foreign policy. this is what drives the cruz campaign nuts, john. nuts, stronger than that. leads by four points over ted cruz when republican voters are asked who do you trust to handle social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage? he, again, has a huge position of strength. a very broad coalition within the republican party. now we're going to see what happens in iowa and what happens this week at the debate. again, he comes into this in a huge position of strength and now he's rolling the dice. >> yeah, indeed. all right, john, we have two fascinating nomination battles going on here. both sides of the aisle. both about the same job. are the democratic and republican races really about the same issues? >> yes and no, there's a bit of a parallel universe. i was just in iowa, too, going to democratic events and republican events and you see the difference. look at these numbers. yeah, everybody thinks republicans and democrats alike think terrorism is extremely important or very important.

republicans think it's more important, a much bigger issue to republican voters. here's where there is agreement. 90% on both sides. 93% say the economy. income inequality, big issue in the democratic primary. 83% of democrats say that is extremely or very important. only 39% of republicans say that. a bit of a flip side, 74%. 3/4 of republicans say illegal immigration is extremely or very important. just over a majority of democrats. there's some agreement on economic issues but on other issues a big gap especially when it comes to income inequality and illegal immigration. >> john king, thanks so much. stick around with us now. we're going to talk about the polling more and also this bombshell from donald trump that he says he's not going to the debate thursday night at fox news. here to talk about it, republican strategist alex castellanos. cnn political commentator and trump supporter, jeffrey lord. conservative talk show host dana loesch, a cruz supporter who contributed to the remarkable edition of the "national review," nearly two dozen contributors weighing in flat-out against donald trump. alex, i want to start you,

you've been in this game a long time. skipping the debate, a good idea for donald trump? >> i think it's a very good idea for donald trump. i think trump is playing on a different level than the other candidates. this is not about whether he offended personally. i think what all voters are seeing is this man is willing to take risk even when he's in the lead that other smaller candidates aren't willing to take. and when we have a president that republicans think draws red lines that mean nothing and the world seems to be falling apart, republicans pant a president as big as our fears and strong as our adversaries. donald trump is showing them that now. imagine a set of scales. on one hand, you have a bunch of, 100 republican candidates on a debate stage and on the other side of the scale, it takes one donald trump to balance them. we'll see who gets the better ratings, but i think trump plays by his own rules and he wins. >> but as big as his

adversaries, alex, dana, does this make him seem smaller than megyn kelly and fox news? if you're not willing to go and face these people you have a problem with, you know, is that an issue? >> i think megyn kelly just cruised into first place there in the iowa caucuses. donald trump already came into this race with an advantage. i mean, he's a reality television star. he's a businessman. so he already had national name recognition, but what he doesn't have is national policy recognition. that's where he could actually and his audience could benefit from the debate. there are a lot of things that need to be clarified. i don't think he's skipping the debate. if there's the off chance he boycotts it, i think he's going to live tweet throughout the entire thing and allows ted cruz who's number two to be front and center and take all of the attention of the night. >> jeffrey, what about that? there are going to be these other people on stage, i guess seven other candidates on stage. won't they just be taking pot shots for two hours at donald trump and donald trump not giving any response?

>> they're, you know, pygmies here at this stage. i'll tell you, john, exactly what this reminds me of is when ronald reagan fired the air traffic controllers when everybody said he couldn't do it and secondly, when he walked away from the negotiating table with gorbachev at reykjavik and everybody said you can't do that, either. in other words, the message delivered in both cases was be bold, be strong, be unique, be different. that's donald trump's message there in a nutshell. if he continues with this, this is his message and he's living up to it. >> so, alex, if you are one of these other campaigns right now, how do you respond? >> well, i think the interesting thing would be for one of these candidates, maybe all, to show up at the last minute at the trump event and say, donald trump, you can't get away from me. and let's have a debate right now. that would be a demonstration of strength as well.

look, i hate to disagree with dana, but this is not about issues. if anybody thinks that, you know, a difference on this issue or that is going to determine the republican nomination, i think we're misinformed. this is about a country in crisis that has a very weak leader and is heading over the precipice here and we want strength to pull the country back. i haven't been a big trump fan, but you have to respect what he has accomplished here. >> john king, there are five days left, roughly, until they vote in iowa monday night. you know, if you're one of these other campaigns, how do you take back some of that real estate because donald trump it seems just seized the next two days to be sure. >> and he seized a couple of days just last week with the sarah palin endorsement. i don't know how many votes sarah palin will get him. he certainly took all the oxygen on cable television and social media and the conversation in iowa. this is part of trump's i'm going to call it brilliance. we've seen this throughout the

campaign. if he had a bad debate which he has had in the past, the day after he drops some kind of bombshell. we'll see how this works out. i get alex's point completely. i think the strategists from the other campaigns saying this is childish, shows he's not willing to stand up, if he blinks at roger ailes or megyn kelly, what is he going to do with the chinese or putin? both arguments make sense. the voters of iowa are going to get the first vote. >> john? >> go ahead, jeffrey. >> one last thought. if this were the first debate, maybe this would be a little different. frankly, we've both been to these debates. we've all been to these debates. i can't even tell you what number this is. at this point, these things are starting to fade a bit in importance and relevance, i think. >> well, look -- >> i want to jump in. i have to say it's kind of absurd to compare megyn kelly and fox news to gorbachev. i disagree civilly to that point. this election has become about

popularity over principles. >> millions of people are obviously still paying attention. dana, let me ask you quickly, we just learned ted cruz has challenged donald trump to a one-on-one debate. ted cruz apparently on the mark levin radio show saying he wants to do a 90-minute one-on-one debate with donald trump. you know, does this show in a way trump is now in cruz's head, dana? >> i don't know if it would be trump in cruz's head. i don't think cruz has been on twitter all day tweeting about donald trump. i think it might be just the opposite. he also said he changed up his tactics because cruz started rising up in the polls. i think it's a great idea. who benefits from that, john? i mean, all of us do. all of this watching this debate. we would benefit because we would learn a lot about these two candidates, more so than we think we know now. >> alex, last question here. debates about debates. i thought about when candidates argue about who gets on stage under what terms, they lose.

in this case you say no? >> i think it says trump is willing to take big risks and that demonstrates confidence and that's one thing that is just very important when you're competing for the most powerful job in the world. but i think cruz, that's a good move on his part to challenge trump to a one-on-one debate. of course, it won't happen. maybe it would be held in canada. >> all right. >> oh, come on. >> i think, oh, come on, is the response to that. alex castellanos, jeffrey lord, dana loesch. appreciate it. up next, donald trump unleashed, unplugged saying he's skipping the debate but said a whole lot more, too, when "360" continues.

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as if the effect of donald trump calling a news conference to go off on the next debate, go off on megyn kelly and roger ailes weren't enough, there was more. trump kept talking. it was safe to say unlike most media events, even some of his own. here's another collection of moments from it. >> i'm going to be making a decision with fox, but i

probably won't bother doing the debate. i see they picked me as number one. not only number one, number one by far. but probably i won't be doing the debate. i'm going to have something else in iowa. we'll do something where we raise money for the veterans and the wounded warriors. we're going to do something simultaneously with the debate, but most likely i'm not going to do the debate. i didn't like the fact that they sent out press releases toying, talking about putin and playing games. i don't know what games roger ailes is playing, but what's wrong over there, something's wrong. but when they sent out that press release talking about, i said, why are these people playing games? so most likely i won't be doing the debate. with me, they're dealing with somebody that's a little bit different. they can't toy with me like they toy with everybody else. so let them have their debate and let's see how they do with the ratings. when they sent out the wise-guy press releases a little while ago, i was all set to do the debate. i came here to do the debate. when they sent out the wise-guy

press releases a little while ago, done by some p.r. person along with roger ailes, i said, bye-bye. okay? go ahead. >> are you afraid to debate -- >> no, no, no, excuse me, just so you understand, i've done six debates. i've done six. according to every single poll, i've won every single debate and probably the last one more than any of them, so every single poll has me winning every single debate. i've done six of them. and now you say when does this stop? how many debates do you have do? megyn kelly is a lightweight. this is a lightweight. this is not a reporter. this, to me, is just a lightweight. megyn kelly shouldn't be in the debate. i don't care about megyn, when megyn kelly didn't ask me a question, she made a statement last time, i thought it was inappropriate. everybody said i won the debate. let's see how much money fox is going to make on the debate without me. okay? all right? let's see. >> mr. trump, the sound bite, the full sound bite from tim russert you said to him, i'm very pro-choice, i hate the concept of abortion. >> correct. by the way, why didn't you read that before?

>> i pulled it up -- >> why didn't you read that before? i hate the concept -- >> i'm reading it to you -- >> excuse me, excuse me. >> are you trustworthy -- >> very trustworthy, more so than you. you know what, you didn't read the question. see, when you quoted tim russert, you didn't read what you just said. read it again. >> i'll read it out. "i'm very pro-choice. i hate the concept of abortion -- " >> why didn't you say when you asked the question before that i hate the concept of abortion? >> the question from the pro-life groups, they say you cannot be trusted. >> you were quoting tim russert. >> i'm quoting you. i'm quoting you. >> you were quoting tim and quoting me. why didn't you read my quote the way i said it? >> sir, i tried to pull it up and didn't have wi-fi. >> you have to get wi-fi. don't ask me questions. you're not a very good reporter. do you have a question that's legitimate? do you apologize? >> do i apologize for reading your words? >> for not reading my words. do you apologize for not reading my words? >> i'm appreciative -- >> do you apologize --

>> i'm apologize if -- i'm glad i was able to correct the record. mr. trump, i corrected the record. >> i didn't ask that. excuse me. you quoted me and took out the main part of the quote. i'm just asking, do you apologize? >> even if you hate abortion, doesn't that -- >> okay. >> mr. trump, mr. trump? >> go ahead, sara. >> why do you think it's a cheap shot for people to bring up your past infidelities after you brought up monica lewinsky and bill clinton? >> it's not a cheap shot. i've had a very good life. i've been a very good person over my life. i'm a religious person. i'm a good person. i give money to charity. a lot of money to charity. i feel you can bring up whatever you have to bring up. >> all right. just to remind you, this is what set trump off. fox's taunting statement late today after trump raised the possibility moderator megyn kelly might treat him unfairly. the statement from fox reads, "we learned from a secret back channel the ayatollah and putin both intend to treat donald trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president.

nefarious source tells us trump has his own secret plan to replace the cabinet with his twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings." as you saw, donald trump's reaction came late tonight. as you heard, cnn political reporter sara murray was at that news conference, joins us now from marshalltown, iowa. sara, after trump said he probably most likely wouldn't go, you spoke to trump's campaign manager, corey lewandowski, who said even more, yes? >> reporter: that's right. that probably most likely seemed to solidify into a hard no. his campaign manager told us that trump definitely would not participate in the debate and he said, in fact, they would hold their own event in iowa. they would do something to raise money for wounded warriors and maybe even partner with another network in order to do that, job.

>> the rnc, what do they say about this so far? >> reporter: we've reached out to the rnc for comment. we have not heard anything back. when i was talking to the trump campaign manager earlier, he said that as far as he knew, trump had had no conversations ahead of this with reince priebus and now, of course, as you said, ted cruz is challenging donald trump to a one-on-one debate, threatening to move this to a different format as well. so this is certainly something that the rnc is going to have to work out and can't imagine they'll be very happy to see their number-one candidate not on the stage with everyone else running against them. >> no, not part of their plans, nor, by the way, would a one-on-one debate with ted cruz be in their plans. that would blow up the model they set up here. what about this possible event thursday night, dueling event for wounded warriors? >> reporter: this is something trump has held out in past debates saying he'd only participate if people gave money to wounded warriors. it's something he's mentioned before but it seems like they're taking it a step further this time saying they actually want to hold an event to raise money for wounded warriors. they're not giving a lot of details on that and also not giving details on whether there is, in fact, a network that has

agreed to partner with them on this. you have to imagine that's going to be sort of a sticky situation also with the rnc. of course, they've agreed to have fox as their debate partner. >> to say the least. sara, we heard you ask a question to donald trump about marital infidelities in his past. there's a senator from nebraska, ben sass, who's been trolling donald trump on twitter essentially asking him, you know, what about your past record? you asked him about it. what's going on there? >> reporter: that's right. he was asked previously in the press conference about sass and trump dismissed it saying it was a cheap shot, so i went back at him because donald trump for a couple of weeks there was bringing up a lot of questions about bill clinton's past, his past infidelities, monica lewinsky. and i asked him about it, he basically conceded that, look, his past infidelities are on the table, it's not a cheap shot. he said he believes iowa voters trust that he is a good man, they know he's a good person, that he's a christian, that he

gives money to charity. so it's sort of clear he's trying to push this part of his past aside and say, look, i am who i am now, i'm a family man, i have a wife, i have children, i give money to charity, and i'm the kind of person that iowa voters can trust. so we'll see if that message resonates with evangelical voters here in iowa from now through the caucus. >> sara murray, quite a moment tonight. you were right in the middle of it. up next, leading democrats. bernie sanders and hillary clinton trying to ride the momentum after last night's cnn town hall in iowa. the caucuses just days away, a look at what each are trying to do right now to get their votes out. that's when "360" continues. 99 ! the lines are blowing up! we've got deborah from poughkeepsie. flo: yeah, no, it's flo. you guys realize anyone can use the "name your price" tool for free on progressive.com, right? [ laughing nervously ] ♪ [ pickles whines ] i know, it's like they're always on television.

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more breaking news tonight. president obama and senator bernie sanders will meet privately tomorrow in the oval office. the white house says it will be an informal meeting with no formal agenda. right now, senator sanders holding a rally in st. paul, minnesota. expected any minute. these are live pictures you're looking at right now. earlier today he campaigned in des moines in iowa, fresh off last night's cnn democratic town hall. about an hour from now, hillary clinton will hold a rally in iowa. her third campaign stop in iowa today with just days to go until the caucuses and the race tightening, it is, indeed, crunch time. cnn's senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny joins me now from the sanders rally. jeff, let's start with this white house meeting tomorrow between senator sanders and the president. so fascinating coming just days after the gushing "politico" interview from president obama where he couldn't say enough nice things about hillary clinton. >> reporter: no question, john.

i mean, that was definitely interpreted as president obama putting his thumb on the scale for hillary clinton. so tomorrow, senator sanders will have 45 minutes in the oval office to talk one-on-one with the president. i'm told by aides on both sides this has been on the schedule for several days, was not a result of the "politico" interview, but it certainly has that impression. senator sanders, john, as you can see behind me here, a very large crowd in minnesota. you may ask what he's doing in minnesota, exactly, why isn't he in iowa? but minnesota, of course, is one of those super tuesday caucus states, and senator sanders has about 10,000 people in this room, i'm told, and an overflow room with about 5,000 people in it. so senator sanders clearly trying to send a message that he wants to try to do at least some of what barack obama did and go beyond iowa and win support in some of these liberal caucus states. >> hillary clinton is in iowa tonight, but she is headed back to the east coast tomorrow, so what's her campaign saying about that? >> reporter: she is, john. she'll be campaigning in iowa in the morning but then she has a

date in philadelphia with jon bon jovi. she'll be attending a fund-raiser there tomorrow night. it's one of the essential things, of course, she needs, money to keep her campaign afloat. it's clear that whatever happens in iowa, whatever happens in new hampshire, this campaign is going to continue longer than anyone on her campaign thought, so she needs to do fund-raising. john, one sign she wants to get back to iowa, she knows she needs to, she canceled fund-raisers in new york city on thursday and she'll be flying back to iowa to campaign. and it's not just her, bill clinton will be there throughout the weekend as well. i can tell you, john, neither of the clintons draw crowds like this. it is one of the biggest crowds bernie sanders has had and he's been doing that across the country. the question is, will all of these voters actually come out and support him on caucus night starting in iowa in just six days' time? john? >> a huge crowd behind you in minnesota, but minnesota is, not iowa. jeff zeleny, thank you so much. it's hard for election watchers not to hear echos of

president obama in 2008 in the sanders campaign in 2016 or by contrast, wonder whether bernie sanders is tapping into some of the same anti-establishment wellspring that donald trump is. no one is better to explore that than our senior political commentator, former senior obama adviser, david axelrod. i spoke to him just a short time ago. is bernie sanders tapping into the same type of anger, the same type of displeasure, that donald trump is in a way? >> well, i think he's tapping into great anxiety about what's going on in our economy and many in the democratic party and in the other party are feeling that. i think the democratic party is somewhat different than the republican party, however, because there is an incumbent president. he's affected a great deal of change. democrats are, therefore, less dissatisfied with that element of things than the republicans are. they're not trying to upend the government. they're trying to protect the progress that's been made and they want to build on it.

and that's really the distinction between clinton and sanders because what she's saying is i'm a tenacious fighter who will consolidate the gains we've made, and build on them and he's saying we need more. >> you know, you wrote in a column for "the new york times" that sort of touches on this subject the headline was "the obama theory of trump." i want to read some of what you wrote to jog your memory. you wrote, "open seat presidential elections are shaped by the perceptions of style and personalities of the outgoing incumbent. voters rarely seek the replica of what they have. they almost always seek the remedy, the candidate that has the personal qualities the party finds lacking in the departing executive." so on the republican side, do you think that is what is happening with donald trump? donald trump is a reaction to what aspect of the obama presidency? >> well, i think -- i wrote a memo to barack obama nine year ago when he was thinking of running for president, i

advanced the replica theory. people never choose the replica of what they have but the remedy. personal qualities, style of leadership than ideas. obama was the perfect counterpoint to push, to george w. bush who was seen as impulsive, not very reflective, who was, you know, seen as divisive at that time. and obama had, was more than any other democrat the counterpoint to that. when you think about today, and the complaints that particularly his opponents have about him, the fact that he's cool, maybe detached, not strong enough and robust enough, not confrontational enough, who is more of a counterpoint to barack obama than donald trump? and when you look at it through that lens, his success to date isn't all that surprising. he is sort of the antithesis of barack obama and in the republican party, in particular, that sells.

>> the democratic side, if you're talking about remedy versus replica, hillary clinton over the past week has done everything but just give barack obama a giant hug and a big sloppy wet kiss. i mean, on the stump, every time it's i love this white house, i love the president. but seriously, she's doing it. if you want a remedy, not a replica, does she run some risks there? >> well, no -- you know, i think, again, it goes to style and, you know, the complaint about obama, remember, 90% of democrats are favorable toward obama. he's very well liked in the democratic party. so the risk in these primaries is nil. but it's also true that hillary clinton has a different style than barack obama. they may agree on a whole bunch of issues, but she's far less, you know, she comes across as less nuanced. she's much more of a forceful presenter at times of her point of view. she's much more steeped in politics than he was when he became president.

she's a different personality than barack obama and i think for that reason, she -- this is actually a more favorable environment for her to run than it was in 2008. >> david axelrod, great to have you with us. thanks so much. >> thanks, john. up next, more breaking news. three escaped inmates each accused of gruesome crimes. the latest from california when "360" continues. thousands of hours of painstaking craftsmanship. and an infinite reserve of patience... ...to create a vehicle that looks, drives and thinks like nothing else on the road. the all-new glc. the suv the world has been waiting for. starting at $38,950.

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all right. breaking news. the manhunt for three escaped inmates in california intensifying. authorities now offering $200,000 for information leading to their capture. they escaped four days ago from a maximum security jail, as sophisticated as it was brazen. gary tuchman has the latest. >> reporter: three men accused of horrifying crimes. vietnamese gang member jonathan tieu charged with murder and attempted murder. bac duong also with vietnamese gang affiliations charged with attempted murder. and the likely ringleader of the trio, hossein nayeri, charged with torture and kidnapping allegedly blowtorching a marijuana dispensary owner and cutting off his genitals. the victim survived. all three are on the loose after escaping from the orange county jail in santa ana, california. >> the inmates cut through half-inch steel bars to facilitate their escape. information and evidence also suggests the inmates cut their way through the plumbing tunnels and ultimately gained access to

an unsecured area of the roof. the unsecured area of the roof is about 80 feet above the ground. see right now sheriff's deputies on the roof behind the barbed wire. that's the barbed wire the inmates cut right next to the building. they tethered bed sheets together and then repelled to the ground. and when they got here, they took off. authorities believe someone helped the inmates get access to the tools they used to cut through the steel bars and barbed wire. they do not know if that person or persons worked inside the jail. this grainy video captured by a camera on the roof of the jail showed flashlights they used as they were escaping sometime before dawn on friday. they were last seen during a 5:00 a.m. physical body count and weren't discovered missing until the next body count on friday night. sandra hutchens is the orange county sheriff. what it looks like is they had about a 16-hour head start. >> right. that's what it looks like today. >> reporter: and will that not be allowed to happen in the future, that you can go that long without spotting someone? >> that will not be allowed to

happen in the future, i can tell you that. >> reporter: but in the present, authorities have their work cut out for them, no sign of the inmates as of yet, and with the 16-hour head start, the inmates could be anywhere. in orange county, there is fear because authorities think the two vietnamese men could be hiding out here. have you ever seen these two guys in the community before? >> never. >> reporter: the authorities are saying these guys may be here in this community. does that scare you? >> yes. >> reporter: but authorities admit they don't have any solid leads where the men are hiding out. hossein nayeri is scheduled for trial next month in the brutal kidnapping and torture case. his lawyer says his client wasn't there when the attack happened and said he hasn't heard from nayeri since the escape. if he did reach out to you, what would you advise him? >> well, i think i would have to advise him to come in. i couldn't advise him to stay out there. it's just not -- it's too dangerous for him, it's dangerous for everybody else. >> reporter: so would you tell

him it's stupid what he did? because it is. >> well, it's against the law. i can't advise him to commit a crime. >> reporter: but you think this is stupid, right? >> you know, the odds of getting away totally are so remote that it probably is not a very smart move. >> reporter: if and when these inmates are caught, escape charges at the very least will be added to their rap sheets. sadly, at this hour, authorities still have no idea where these three inmates are. alerts have been given to police departments all over the united states. and the mexican border is only 100 miles away from here. so at this point, authorities are hoping that they get a tip that leads to these guys ending up back in this jail. john? >> all right, gary. thanks so much. just ahead, the stunning truth about a popular officer who had everyone fooled in the town, now struggling to make sense of it all. so no monkey business, no tomfoolery?

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coming up at the top of the hour a truly mind-bending cnn special report, "the secret life of g.i. joe." last september, investigators north of chicago were trying to figure out who killed a police officer known likely as g.i. joe gliniewicz. by october, they say they discovered thousands of erased texts revealing disturbing information about the man everyone had considered a hero. >> reporter: the messages that interest investigators the most are the ones that suggest fox

lake's hero law enforcement officer may have tried to arrange a hit on the new village administrator, a woman named anne marrin. >> when you read the text, saw he wanted to put a hit on the village administrator, what was your reaction to hat? >> holy crap. >> reporter: commander filenko is talking about a facebook message from early april 2015. in it gliniewicz writes to a woman, being forced to retire by new village administrator. work life has been a living hell the last two months. close to entertaining a meeting with a mutual acquaintance of ours with the word white in their nickname." investigators say white is code for a high ranking gang member. when they interview the woman gliniewicz was messaging, she says he wanted a gang member to make a hit on marrin. >> pamela brown joins me.

when did investigators speculate gliniewicz's death might be a suicide? >> the first week, john. fbi, others, started having doubts he was actually murdered by these three men that he radioed in about because of some inconsistencies at the crime scene. there were signs of a struggle because his equipment had been dropped, but yet his uniform was in perfect condition. his body didn't show signs of a struggle. in addition, phone records show that he was at the scene of where he died nearly 30 minutes before he actually radioed in to dispatchers. so they were wondering, what was he doing in that time? then they looked through his personnel file and there was several accusations where he had drinking problems, there was a sex assault lawsuit, but really the game changer here, john, for them to reach this decision of suicide, was when they looked at those deleted texts. they saw that he wanted to put a hit out on the village administrator, that he was stealing money from the explorer account, this is a group of teens he was training to be law enforcement officials. and that he'd set up a sham marriage for his son. clearly this is not the man that they thought he was.

>> yeah, i guess not. and clearly the investigation not over yet. pamela brown, thanks so much. cannot wait to see this special. that does it for us. a lot going on tonight. thank you so much for watching.