>> i love that. thanks, michael. good to see you. and thank you, everyone, for watching. my colleague, wolf blitzer, takes over the helm right now. hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 1:00 p.m. here in washington. 4:00 p.m. in rio de janeiro. 8:00 p.m. in syria. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. up first, presidential politics here in the united states and the mad dash for votes in new hampshire. republican candidates, they're crisscrossing the state right now, just five days before the first of the nation primary. most of the candidates have multiple campaign events in new hampshire today. they're also sharpening their attacks on one another ahead of tuesday's primary. but texas senator ted cruz says he's taking the high road.

donald and others have tossed more than a few nasty personal attacks my way. i can't control what they do. but i can control how i respond. and i have not responded in kind, and i do not intend to respond. i don't think the people are interested in a food fight. but i think the most important decision for the men and women of new hampshire is who do you trust? >> the new jersey governor, chris christie, made no poll gees for taking on some of his republican rivals. >> so there is a real choice here. and yeah, i have spoken a lot about senator rubio the last two days, because i think it's an important choice you're making between senator rubio and me. or senator cruz and me. because those guys, while they're both good people, they are not ready to be president of the united states.

>> let's get some more now on how this presidential race is shaping up in new hampshire. paul steinhauser is former cnn political editor, also joining us now live from manchester. paul, thanks very much for joining us. i want you to give us a lay of the land. you spend all of your time in new hampshire these days. donald trump maintains a sizeable lead over ted cruz in new hampshire, at least according to some of the more recent polls. but cruz has at least some wind at his back, coming off his victory in iowa. what's the state of this race right now, your best estimate? >> it's still a race for second place here. wolf, donald trump has been the front runner, the clear front runner here in new hampshire for quite some time. right now it's between cruz and senator rubio, between the three governors who basically are concentrating here rather than iowa. former florida governor, jeb bush, ohio governor john kasich and chris christie who you just played that sound from. wolf, i've got to chuckle. you played that sound from ted cruz a moment ago. i talked to ted cruz an hour and a half ago on board his campaign

bus in portsmouth, and he had some choice comments about donald trump and marco rubio. so maybe in front of the audience he's playing nice. but when he talks to those of us in the media, he's not so shy, wolf. >> even yesterday, he was really going after donald trump, basically suggesting he's not qualified to be commander in chief, saying if he gets mad, he could nuke, what did he say, denmark, if he would. basically, said he's not ready. trump is really going after him, as well. repeatedly calling him the canadian-born ted cruz, saying basically he's a liar and a cheater, and that -- and he falsely won that contest in iowa. so it's getting ugly. but what's really intriguing, sort of beyond that, and you know this well, is this battle that's unfolding between chris christie and marco rubio. chris christie is making no -- he doesn't think rubio has done anything that sets the stage to make him qualified to be president. >> yep, chris christie has been criticizing marco rubio for quite some time. they have been going back and forth, and it's really been heating up in the last few days. it shows the expectations game here, and especially for rubio.

rubio maybe got a free pass in iowa and beat expectations. here now, he's considered one of the favorites to finish second. and he's to battle those three governors. he didn't have to worry about them in iowa. so the expectations are much higher here for rubio and he'll have to match them, i guess you could say. i talked to rubio on board his campaign bus a mile away from where cruz was. and he definitely was pushing back against both trump -- i'm sorry, against both cruz and christie. so, yeah, it gets heated. but that's what you would expect in the final days, wolf. >> it gets heated, indeed. but did he really lash out vociferously against cruz and christie? >> yes, he did. yes, he did. i was asking senator rubio about the comments that governor christie made in the last couple days, that rubio is the boy in the bubble, he doesn't want to answer reporter questions. and he basically told me when things aren't going well for some of my rivals, they lash out. and that's what you would expect. but rubio trying to remain positive. he said these aren't personal attacks, this is all policy for

him. >> paul steinhauser, we'll stay in close touch with you. thanks very much. good luck in these coming days. >> thank you, wolf. in cnn's very powerful town hall last night, former secretary of state hillary clinton and the vermont senator, bernie sanders, they spoke about what it means to be a progressive. they fielded questions from voters. both candidates got high marks for how they did last night. one topic that senator sanders keeps talking about, hillary clinton's vote in favor of the iraq war back at the end of 2002. here's how she answered a voter's question about her decision. >> i did make a mistake. and i admitted that i made a mistake. and in large measure, that mistake really arose from the -- the bush administration's approach to what they thought they could accomplish in iraq. the very explicit appeal that president bush made before announcing the invasion, that

getting that vote would be a strong piece of leverage in order to finish the inspections. >> all right. let's bring in cnn political commentator, ryan liza, cnn politics, and jonathan martin, national political correspondent for the "new york times." guys, thanks very much. according to our reality check team, then senator clinton, she voted against the amendment that would have put more emphasis on u.n. inspections. they rated her answer, though, as false. let me start with you, ryan liza. what do you think of how she handled that specific issue? >> well, i think i would disagree a little bit with that rating. i mean, look, there was a legitimate case of if you gave the bush administration -- and frankly, i can't believe we're still talking about this 12 years later. but if you gave the bush administration that vote, that it would strengthen their hand at the u.n. that was the argument. that turned out to be a

catastrophic mistake for most of the -- i think most republicans. and not just the democrats who supported it, but most republicans agree with that these days. the shocking thing is, 2008, obama hammered her with this, and this is the issue that he won that primary with. and all these years later, and it is still relevant. the fallout from that war is driving all of the issues in the middle east today. and she is still answering for it. and frankly, her answer is as complicated and nuanced and as difficult to explain as ever. >> but jonathan, she does make a good point when she says, yes, she made a mistake. that was a bad vote. but -- and it was a big issue as all of us remember in 2008, one of the reasons barack obama got the nomination. but she then goes on to say when he became president, he trusted her and asked her to be secretary of state. she served the secretary of state for four years. basically, she is saying get over it. what do you think of that reply from her? >> it's a pretty smart move on

her, basically using her tenure as secretary of state as a political tool to sort of help her push back against these questions about her liberal credentials. look, there are a group of progressives that are never going to get over the fact that she supported the war, to have larger issues about her i'd logically. but for those democrats that are going to be voting in the primary here and beyond, who are more gettable for her. the fact that she served president obama for four years is an important credential. and i think you're going to see that kind of pushback used, not just on questions about her vote for the iraq war, but about a host of issues. she will use president obama and her service in the administration as a political tool to challenge bernie, basically. >> what do you think, mark? >> i mean, look, jonathan is absolutely correct. she is trying to cloak herself, you know, under the obama administration, her tenure there. and just not on the iraq war.

bernie sanders last night we want went after her pretty hard not just on the iraq war. he talked about the environment, the keystone pipeline, the financial services industry. said that a real progressive wouldn't accept $15 million in super pac donations. what we're hearing from the folks, if bernie sanders wants to go head-to-head with her going into this primary from here in new hampshire on tuesday, and onward, then he has got to be basically attacking president barack obama, as well. and as we know, heading into south carolina, barack obama is pretty well-liked down there. >> among democrats in south carolina, to be sure. among democrats all over the country, for that matter. ryan, we did get a glimpse of senator sanders and the town hall last night. we don't often see. when he was asked about his jewish faith. listen to this. >> guiding principle in my life. absolutely, it is. everybody practices religion in a different way.

to me, i would not be here tonight. i would not be running for president of the united states. if i did not have very strong religious and spiritual feelings. my spirituality is that we are all in this together. and that when children go hmong re hungry, when veterans sleep on the street, it impacts me. >> ryan, what do you think? how did he handle that? >> first of all, that forum last night was one of the more interesting ones we've had this campaign. questions from the audience and from anderson were just terrific. and you've got a side of these candidates we just hadn't seen before. he is not a candidate that wears religion on his sleeve. right? imagine if ted cruz had been asked that question. or even -- you know, or similar to hillary clinton. candidates who can talk about their faith and how it's central to their lives. bernie sanders brings everything back to policy, right? so -- barely talked about

spirituality. he sort of moved it to a question about politics and how we're all in this together, which is sort of the foundation of his democratic socialism. i don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that may be the real sanders religion, rather than anything more -- any more formal faith. he's about politics and policy. >> and it's insight into both of them. and i want to go a little bit deeper on this. let me bring back jonathan. and get your response. hillary clinton, she fielded some deep introspective questions last night, as well. listen to how she responded when a rabbi there asked her about balancing ego and humility. >> regardless of how hard the days are, how difficult the decisions are, be grateful. be grateful for being a human being. being part of the universe. be grateful for your limitations. know that you have to reach out to have more people be with you to support you, to advise you.

listen to your critics. answer the questions. but at the end, be grateful. practice the discipline of gratitude. >> jonathan, she got pretty high marks for that answer, didn't she? >> she sure did. talking to some democrats last night, after the debate, including some who are close to her campaign, the relief was apparent on their faces that she had really done a good job at this, at this -- at this forum. and there was a sort of unspoken but clear wish -- you know, why can't we get this, hillary clinton, at every public event? this really shows a side of herself there that, you know, folks don't always see. when it comes to the clinton character. >> what did you think, mark? >> well, wolf, you know, i spoke to representatives of both campaigns afterwards, and they both walked away feeling really good about this. the reason being, we have

litigated over and over and over again the differences they have on policy positions. now when voters go to the polls, we all know that, yes, they are voting on policy, but they're voting on personality. and we're at this moment in time in the campaign right now, wolf, where you actually can lift a window up and get them to try to come out a little bit more and show us their personality and show us, quite frankly, their soul. and i think that's what we saw on the stage last night, wolf, which made it really enlightening. not only for voters here in new hampshire, but for votes all across the country that are going to see these candidates come into their states in the coming months. >> one final question for you, ryan. explain to our viewers here in the united states why both of these democratic candidates, they want to call themselves progressives, but they're reluctant to call themselves liberals. >> well, it's a very easy answer to that, wolf. the right, conservative movement want has done an effective job over the last few decades of turning the word "liberal" into

a bad word. and so frankly, the left got rid of the word liberal and started calling themselves progressives and that's the moniker they use now. >> it certainly is. all right, guys -- go ahead. do you want to weigh in, jonathan? >> i said full circle. because originally progressives were the name -- of the first liberals, wilson and tr. so it's sort of come full circle here in the last century. >> good point. i love it when you guys have that political history you can show off with. guys, thank you very much. of good discussion. >> thanks, wolf. next on the campaign trail with donald trump, as he changes strategy in an effort to close the deal in new hampshire, and beyond. also coming up, a health emergency now declared in florida over cases of zika. i'll speak with one of the government's top experts, dr. anthony fauci of nih. we'll get the latest on what's going on as far as the threat level is now concerned. let's get these dayquil liquid but these liquid gels are new. mucinex fast max.

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huge rallies with 12,000 people in little rock, arkansas last night. so is there some sort of change in the works right now? >> there certainly seems to be. feels that way. first of all, about the venue. yes, this is a small, historic building. it's the exeter town hall, been around since 1860 or so, even before that. but more importantly, it was the tone that donald trump took. it was really back to basics. he talked about the fact that he is not bought and sold by lobbyists. he talked about the fact that he, you know, wants to stop illegal immigration. that, you know, seems to be, okay, we know that's donald trump's message. but it has been interest first a lot with insults. with talking about polls. we heard none of that today. listen to a snippet of the kind of tone he took. >> i'm getting money from nobody, except for the small donor. so i'm self-funding, essentially. self-funding my campaign.

meaning when it comes time to negotiate the cost of drugs, we're going to negotiate like crazy, folks. so you talk right there, one item. one item. government waste. one item, 300 and maybe more than that -- $300 billion. i mean, can you imagine that? >> so not only, wolf, did trump keep this really focused on the kinds of things that he can bring that other lifelong or longer term politicians can, he also is changing up the kind of approach he's taking. he has not done very many -- i don't think any true retail stops that are generally, you know, the norm on the campaign trail, especially for a presidential candidate here in new hampshire. but he left here. he's going to meet with business leaders here in exeter. then he's going to a shift change at a police station. it shouldn't be an oh, wow moment, because it's what politicians and candidates do. but so far, donald trump hasn't.

and that's a change. >> he did last night at that big rally in little rock, he minced no words going after ted cruz, accusing him of stealing the iowa caucus' win. listen to him last night about a mailer sent out by the cruz campaign in iowa. listen to this. >> he's putting in houses voter violation, and he's giving people, you have an f because you haven't voted and b-b-b- down the line. i've never heard of anything like this. it is so dishonest. >> cruz has started firing back against those attacks, maybe not this morning, but yesterday, he certainly -- this war between cruz and trump has really escalated. >> that's right. you know, i just got through telling you, he didn't mention his opponents. he had one slight illusion to ted cruz, talking about an anchor baby in canada, but didn't mention his name. it was a very different scene and event, as you just played last night. ted cruz has been firing back, which is also kn new for him.

he had been trying to keep his responses at bay. but not any more. both last night and also this morning. listen to ted cruz. >> donald trump is very rattled right now. he told the entire world he was going to win iowa. and then he didn't win. and his reaction is, he got very angry. you know, he said, how stupid could the people of iowa be? i assume the next question he's going to ask is how stupid can the people of new hampshire be? you know, my view of it is, this is a job. and i don't think people are interested in temper tantrums. i don't think people are interested in insults and attacks. >> wolf, i'm not sure if you can hear me. i just lost you also. i'm just going to toss back to you, in case you can. >> we certainly can, dana.

thanks very much. we'll stay in close touch with you. by the way, donald trump is sitting down with anderson cooper in new hampshire today, for an interview about his campaign in new hampshire. his fight with ted cruz. you can watch the interview later tonight on "ac 360," 8:00 p.m. eastern only here on cnn. coming up, the nation's health experts issuing brand-new guidelines on the zika virus. the advice they now have for pregnant women. even if they have never been near the outbreak. plus, how the state of florida is now getting ready ahead of the virus. i use the payments app to accept credit cards... ...and everything autosyncs. those sales prove my sustainable designs are better for the environment and my bottom line. that's how i own it. don't even think about it. cough if you can hear me. i took mucinex dm for my phlegmy cough. yeah...but what about mike? it works on his cough too. cough! it works on his cough too. mucinex dm relieves wet and dry coughs for 12 hours.

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control and prevention is out with new advice for pregnant women as they monitor the spread of a dangerous mosquito-borne virus linked to a rare brain defect in babies. they're urging expecting mothers to be more careful in areas where the zika virus is circulating. governor scott is going to speak in moments, discussing the public health emergency declared in four counties, santa rosa, lee, hillsborough and miami dade counties. after learning -- he did so after learning that nine cases of the virus were brought to the state by international travelers. joining us to talk about this is the director of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases here in washington. dr. anthony fauci. dr. fauci, we had you on last week. we always have you on to talk about infectious diseases.

since last week, we learned that a case of this virus was sexually-transmitted in texas. some are saying that potentially is a game-changer. is it? >> well, i wouldn't go so far as to say it's a game-changer. but it does add a new dimension to how we have to address the adequate control of spread of this infection. the fact that there was a clearly very well-documented case of sexual transmission adds the dimension, as what the cdc is addressing with their new recommendations, that when men travel to the region where they could have been exposed to zika when they come back, if you have a wife that's pregnant or a girlfriend that's pregnant and you're going to have sex with her, that you clearly should use consistent and correct use of condoms. because if the -- theoretical and now reality of the possibility that you can transmit it sexually, you certainly would not want to infect your pregnant wife or your pregnant girlfriend with

zika, since the fact that you can have it in your seem en and spread is something to address. and the best way to do that is by being cautious in the sense of using the correct and consistent use of a condom. >> aside from the risks of pregnant women and the babies, obviously, is there any new evidence that this virus can cause serious conditions in other people? >> well, there is a report of what we call gee some bure, a neurological sim to him where you get peripheral neuropathy. you see it following certain bacterial and viral infections. there appears to be a connection of a uptick. how much that is unclear right now. but that is something that could be a complication in an otherwise healthy person.

but in general, we still feel, and the evidence really proves this, that in general, apart from pregnant women, and the possibility of a complication with the fetus, that zika is a generally mild disease, lasting a few days, fever, joint aches, red eye and a rash. tends to go away without any real serious sequela, except for maybe an unusual case of geom bare. >> the summer olympic games are scheduled at the center of the virus right now, the outbreak. is it time to reconsider, maybe, postpone or change the venue? >> well, certainly we want to leave that up to the brazilian officials. but what the brazilian officials are doing in anticipation of the olympics is they're mounting a very aggressive mosquito control campaign, killing mosquitoes by larva cide and insect cide and

breeding grounds for the mosquitoes. so the brazilian authorities will address that. hopefully, they will be successful. >> hopefully. that's the key word. thanks very much, dr. anthony fauci of nih, helping us better appreciate this virus. coming up, senator bernie sanders responds to questions about the veterans administration scandal. we're going to hear what the former senate veterans' affairs committee chairman had to say in the cnn town hall last night. stay with us. this is shaving. a blade. many blades. sharp blades. blades here, blades there. some more over there... whoa! that's not another blade. this is shielding. with lubrication here and here. the new gillette with proshield lubrication before and after the blades shields from irritation for a close, comfortable shave. the new proshield from gillette. the best a man can get. and one proshield refill gets you up to one month of shaves.

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senator bernie sanders coming close to an apology when addressing his role in the highly publicized scandal over the veterans administration. the scandal broke in 2014 when whistleblowers told cnn about

the terrible treatment, the long wait times at veteran hospitals across the united states. senator sanders was then the chairman of the senate veterans' affairs committee. here's what he said about the scandal at last night's town hall. >> you were on the veterans' affairs committee for eight years. you headed it for two years. there were 18 inspectors general reports talking about problems plaguing the v.a. judge why did it take so long for you to act? >> fair question. and i think the answer is that we have worked on many, many issues. and your point is fair that we should have acted sooner. we should have known what was going on in phoenix, those long, waiting lines and the lies that some administrators were telling us. >> joining us now, cnn senior investigative correspondent, drew griffin. drew, you were the lead on this story. you won all sorts of awards. this is a significant statement, i take it, from senator sanders. >> it is a significant statement from senator sanders, who has

been criticized for not only waiting too long, but actually ignoring the entire problem for much of the time he was head of the veterans' affairs committee in the senate, wolf. keep in mind that the reporting on this from us, from cnn, but also a bipartisan investigation at the house veterans' affairs committee had been going on extensively for a matter of almost a year-and-a-half before senator sanders finally acknowledged it. and even when we and others broke the story about the phoenix waiting lists and veterans dying, his first reaction was to challenge the actual reporting and accuracy of it. so while this is a step towards him admitting that there was a delay, it certainly kind of dismisses the fact that for a long time, he was simply ignoring it. >> i know senator sanders takes credit for helping to pass the huge v.a. reform bill, some $16 billion to try to fix the v.a.

the wait list, the issues, other problems. have those problems been solved at the v.a. right now? >> no, senator sanders does get credit. he did come along with the house democrats and republicans in passing that bill, signed by the president. but basically what congress has done, has thrown a bunch more money at an organization. the v.a. that demonstrably has wasted huge, huge amounts of taxpayer dollars, and not fixing the problem. the problem with this crisis is, it's still going on, and because congress gave the v.a. so much money, they can literally wash their hands of it and walk away saying we did our part. the leadership issues at the v.a. from the top all the way down through the system remain. the hearings continue to go on. and sanders, you know, is now off that senate veterans' affairs committee. >> drew griffin and cnn's investigative unit did an amazing job reporting all of this. helping us better appreciate it. drew, on behalf of all of us, especially our viewers, the veterans out there, thanks very

much. hopefully more progress will be made as a result of your reporting. joining us now is republican congressman, adam klinzinger of, illinois. you've been looking into this as well. it's outrageous. they've got billions of dollars and still not up to the job. >> you guys and drew have done a great job. one of the interesting things we did in the reform bill, we gave the administration the authority to fire people. i mean, imagine that incompetencies, you can be fired. the private sector would laugh because they fire people all of the time. only three people fired so far. some people shuffled around and whatever. this has to be fixed. and congress will have to take another bite at the apple, but from the top, the president. i'm a jeb bush supporter, and he's laid out real v.a. reform plans, including let's start firing some people. and let's get rid of the deep bureaucracy that exists above these fantastic care-givers, the doctors and nurses, they're fantastic care-givers.

the problem is the huge bureaucracy on top. >> i want to play from the town hall, the cnn town hall, hillary clinton talking about some foreign policy issues. let's listen. >> as a voter who is opposed to the united states being the world's policeman, can you assure me as president you would not expand our military involvement abroad? >> no, i can't, michael. i mean, i would like to be able to say i could. but here's what i can say. i have learned and have been u know, really in the crucible of making a lot of hard decisions over the last years. and military force must always be a last resort, not a first choice. that is one of the biggest differences between me and the republicans. >> what do you think of her answer? >> this idea -- again, it's a false choice that our first reaction is to go to war. that's ludicrous. i do agree with the first part, where she says, yeah, i can't promise you that we're not going to expand our involvement. either the united states is

writing the rules for the world or the russians or the chinese or chaos is. i would much rather it be us. you look at what's going on in the middle east. obviously, there is a role for the united states to play. but to turn and pitch that back to republicans and say we're all warmongers is offensive, and frankly, not true. none of us like to go to war. none of us like to send people there, but sometimes when it comes to isis, you can't negotiate isis away. you have to deprive them of territory and destroy them. >> you mentioned you're a jeb bush supporter. he's not doing that great in the polls. in new hampshire, he's got a long way to go. what are you hearing? >> look, we're actually excited about new hampshire. he's got a great ground game, i would say among the best out there. obviously, we would have liked iowa to go better. but we never expected to win there. but people are reacting very well to the optimistic message. and what i like about him, he doesn't just reflect people's anger back. he says, look, i understand your anger. and here's a way out. and too many of our candidates on our side just stir that anger and make people more upset. he's got great ideas. and new hampshire is the kind of

state that listens to great ideas and rewards people with their votes. >> cnn is releasing a new poll in new hampshire. the republican numbers will release 5:00 p.m. eastern and the democratic numbers for the presidential race will release 6:00 p.m. eastern. >> i'll be watching. >> you'll be anxious to see what the numbers are. thank you very much, adam can i see inger. joining us, the campaign blitz. donald trump, ted cruz, marco rubio, in a political fist fight right now over votes. the different strategies they're using. plus, what about the rest of the field? could any of them break through? our political panel is standing by.

after admitting that his ground game in iowa could have been better, donald trump is now taking new hampshire by storm in the run-up to tuesday's primary. trump is scheduled to hold just two events in the granite state today but he decided to hold additional stops including this meeting with local business leaders just moments ago. guys, thanks very much for joining us.

you think trump is a little nervous right now going into new hampshire? because polls show, and we have a new poll coming up at 5:00 p.m. eastern, but do you think he's worried as a result of coming in second in iowa? >> definitely. he found out in iowa the air war doesn't translate to winning the ground war. so that's why you see him launching these ridiculous attacks on ted cruz, which i like the response, he's throwing a trump-er-tantrum. they just announced they raised $10 million since the iowa caucus. that's a big deal. focus on consolidating report from rand paul. got to play up the positives and put trump away, move on to performing well in new hampshire and stopping on to south carolina. >> we have some polls from before iowa. we're going to show some new ones all taken after iowa. marco rubio, he's really getting smashed now by chris christie. he's not letting up at all. i want you to listen what chris

christie said this morning. >> marco rubio hasn't accomplished one thing in his entire career. the fact is, this is a guy who's only done one thing in the united states senate. that was write an amnesty bill for illegal immigrants and then to run away from it when the heat goal turned up. >> those are pretty strong words coming from chris christie blasting marco rubio. >> those are pretty strong words but if i'm marco rubio's camp, they should actually welcome this because this is the test they need. if they live through new hampshire and marco rubio's able to prove to people that he can take these punches, he will be a much stronger candidate going forward. otherwise, all these republican donors and insiders and establishment people who are looking for a horse to ride against trump or cruz, they're going to be looking for somebody else. if rubio can't take the punches. >> a lot of the pundits out there suggesting, amanda, that yes, ted cruz won iowa. the republican caucusgoers in iowa are very different from new hampshire. and is not going to do very well

in new hampshire. those who hate ted cruz say he's going to wind up like santorum who won iowa, and that ted cruz is going to fit right into that huckabee/santorum mix. >> i think all eyes are on rubio in new hampshire to see how he performs there. winning iowa the way he did was nothing like the way santorum and huckabee did. he got the largest amount of votes for a republican ever. he won through using a very data driven campaign that has the infrastructure to go the distance. which is why i think he needs to go back to focusing on that. reminding people he's a conservative who can win. this wasn't a fluke. it was intentional. they had a great turnout machine. they can replicate that in future states. that said, it's very interesting to me because i do think rubio does have to prove that he can consolidate the more moderate lane but he's not doing that. i don't understand his path to where he went. he's dead focused on ted cruz. i'm just not sure those voters

are gettable for marco rubio. >> jamal? >> the big issue for us, i watch this as a democrat, the things i wonder, what are republicans for this election cycle? the only two things they seem to talk about, they're against obamacare, they're against immigration at the border. they don't talk about low taxes as much as they used to. they don't talk about entrepreneurship for businesses as much as they used. if i'm sitting there as a voter, in new hampshire, where we know a lot of moderate voters are, what is in it for me and my family and why should i be for one of these candidates? >> you want to respond? >> i think they have a strong focus on national security and i do include immigration in that box of national security but also renewed focus on law and order, respect for the constitution. this is something that does play well to ted krutz portfolio in new hampshire particularly, you know, chris christie plays up a lot of the law and order stuff. so i think you're seeing the republican party come around to being the safe party of security that will make america safe again. >> very quickly who won that

democratic town hall last night? >> i think they both did really well. senator, secretary, first lady clinton, she's the one who i think established herself as variety of things.s ideas for a- and i think democrats are looking for somebody who can win and govern the country. they like bernie sanders a lot. i feel like it's a little bit of a gentleman's intermission. people know they're going to be with hillary at the end but they're taking a time-out. >> i do find bernie sanders critique of hillary clinton on foreign policy very compelling. i am stunned in the debate last night she still can't answer for her vote for the iraq war in a smooth way. she doesn't answer the question for why she took all this money from goldman sachs in a smooth way. she had to see these coming and she hasn't put it down yet. >> she has real vulnerabilities, she does. >> all right, guys, thanks very much. an important note to viewers. donald trump is sitting down with anderson cooper in new hampshire for an interview about his campaign in new hampshire,

his fight with ted cruz. you can watch that later today only here on cnn. coming up, cutting the isis money supply. cnn takes you inside syria to the oil fields isis used to make millions. the disturbing discovery we made there just below the surface. i'm gonna take mucinex sinus-max. enough pressure in here for ya? too late, we're about to take off. these dissolve fast. they're new liquid gels. and you're coming with me... you realize i have gold status? mucinex sinus-max liquid gels. dissolves fast to unleash max strength medicine. let's end this. toto the nation's capitalut to support an important cause that can change the way you live for years to come. how can you help? by giving a little more, to yourself. i am running for my future. people sometimes forget to help themselves. the cause is retirement,

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but what's next? for all binge watchers. movie geeks. sports freaks. x1 from xfinity will change the way you experience tv. american-led coalition air strikes hitting the isis war machine where it hurts, in the pocket. the terrorist group made $40 million a month selling oil but sustained bombings have taken a big bite out of them. cnn senior international correspondent clarissa ward traveled to a recently liberated oil field in northern syria to get a firsthand look. >> reporter: bubbling beneath this desolate landscape is the black gold that has funded the i isis war machine. he is a fighter with the syrian democratic forces who are

battling isis in this part of the country. he showed us around an oil field in rural hassakah that was seized from the militants two months ago. isis earned a lot of money from these fields, he tells us. people from all over this area came here to buy their fuel. you can still hear the hiss of gas but the pump is no longer operational. the u.s.-led coalition has been hammering isis' oil which at one time generated $40 million a month. air strikes have targeted refineries, pumping stations and lines of tankers waiting for gas. he says the militants learned to adapt. in each field, they put just one person as a cashier to sell the fuel and only one tanker could come at a time, he says. they used this tactic because the planes are looking for big groups, not individuals. but kurdish fighters and u.s. air strikes eventually forced isis into retreat.

all that remains now of their presence is some graffiti. the kurds and their arab allies are desperate to get the oil pumping again but they have two major problems. firstly, the front lines are still just a few miles away from here. and secondly, they don't have the money or the expertise that they would need to start repairing the damage that has been done. the trickle of oil will not become a flow for months or even longer. as isis fighters fled, they destroyed what they could. electric cables were cut. booby traps were laid. only one facility was left untouched. just behind the refinery, a row of tanks turned into an underground prison. each cell held up to 15 people, he tells us. among them, women and children. written on the walls of one, a harrowing message. i'm not afraid of dying, but i fear the tears of my loved ones.

shiro and his men are now starting to clear the wreckage left behind by isis but they can't erase the terror inflicted here. clarissa ward, cnn, hassakah province, syria. >> shocking. the news continues next on cnn. hi there, i'm brooke baldwin. it is thursday. you're watching cnn. thank you for being with me here. five days out now from the first in the nation primary in new hampshire. the only two democrats remaining in the race for the white house, they're battling it out over the ideological direction of their party's future. bernie sanders is trying to spark what he calls a political revolution. while hillary clinton is trying to convince voters she is the best candidate to lead the democrats in what will be a post obama era. they laid out their cases. faced excellent questions from