hello, i'm wolf blitzer. it's 10:00 a.m. in salem, oregon. wherever you're watching from around the world, thank you very much for joining us. it's primary day in kentucky and oregon. the states are the next step in the democratic battle between hillary clinton and senator bernie sanders. they're both hoping to get the lion's share of kentucky's 55

delegates. hillary clinton made 11 campaign stops in the state over the past few days. in oregon, there are 61 democratic delegates up for grabs. bernie sanders is looking to win his third and fourth straight contest today. republican votes are also being cast in oregon today. there are 28 delegates at stake there. donald trump is expected to add those delegates to his total of 1,157 as he inches closer and closer to the number needed for a nomination. he's just right now 80 delegates away from the magic number of 1,237. let's bring in brynn jingras. only democrats vote there today. do either have an advantage or voters excited to get their chance to weigh in on this presidential race? >> reporter: well, yeah. there's really a mixed bag here, wolf. we're hearing from voters who basically have walked through the doors here at this particular location in louisville saying i don't know who i'm going to vote for and

then make their decision primary for the people we've talked to leaning towards hillary clinton but there are bernie sanders supporters and i want to bring in one of them. 18-year-old henry. ferus time voters, so congratulations on that. >> thank you. >> reporter: family parents voted for clinton. you for sanders, why? >> i like bernie sanders. i like what he supports. i think he's done a fantastic job at getting, improving the amount of political awareness among young people, especially the voter turnout. i have a ton of friends just come out today for the first time. they never voted or paid attention to anything like political before and that's a huge step. i think it's a step we all need. >> reporter: it's good to hear but not exactly a burst to hillary clinton. you like her but have a message saying that to bernie sanders. maybe to support her as well. >> i do. i mean, i think it's dangerous. we should be scared about if we really sort of want to shoot down this other person that is probably going to be our nominee, in the end, really only defeating our own party. we're all trying to take on a

common enemy here and if we knock down one person that's close to us and a lot of people are voting us that have similar ideas, we're really only harming ourselves. >> thank you. congratulations. first time voter. i'm glad you put thought into this. wolf, 20% is what the secretary of state is predicting as far as turnout is concern across the state but at this particular location, we've seen a steady stream of about 100 voters coming every single hour. we'll see how it fares out across the state. wolf? >> we certainly will. brynn, thank you. donald trump may be alone but he's not done campaigning. still needs to get rankin to file behind him including ohio governor john kasich non-committal when asked about an endorsement by our anderson cooper. >> i'm for uniting and i have to see him move to uniting. if he doesn't, i'm undecided here at this point. >> do you think ohio is hillary clinton's state or donald

trump's state? >> i think if you're not a unifier, you have a big problem. if you're going to double down on negative, it isn't going to work. >> doesn't work in ohio. >> i don't believe it does, no. you cannot come in to here with a glass half empty and polarize people and think you're going to win ohio. >> joining us from dallas is katrina pierson, the national spokeswoman for the trump campaign. thank you very much for joining us. what's your reaction to what we just heard from governor kasich saying he's not ready to endorse? >> i think this is a common thread, wolf, of some of the republicans that mr. trump has beat in the primary, particularly, when he was expected to not do well at all and to drop out early, but at the same time, we are talking about, again, tone. as mr. trump would say, we can't get stuck on tone. we have to look around at the economy. we have to look at national security. and sometimes, you just can't be nice when it comes to politics and if anybody knows that, it's been the republican grassroots.

>> he's been a twice elected governor in ohio. no republican has ever been elected president without carrying ohio. did you need his endorsement to win ohio? >> mr. trump would welcome governor kasich's endorsement but i think would also do well in ohio and states like ohio simply because mr. trump's message is the prevailing message, particularly on the republican side and as he continues to campaign moving forward on a concept of putting americans and their families first when making decisions when it comes to trade, when it comes to immigration and foreign policy, at the end of the day, that's the message that's going to win. >> a pro clinton super pac put out a new ad. i want to get your reaction. let me play a little clip from it. listen to this. >> girls come 5'1". >> if ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps i'd be daytonindaytoting her. >> a girl flat chested is hard to be a 10. >> you can go tell them to go

[ bleep ] themselves. >> donald trump blasted it on twitter calling it unfair because the swearing at the end is about china and not about women. but doesn't this ad sort of highlight tone trump has taken with women? could his own words in a general election campaign come back to haunt him? >> no. i don't think so. but i do know this is the narrative that the left and the media will continue to try to push, but the facts are that women aren't emotional voters. and i think it's an insult, particularly, for hillary clinton's campaign to try to push a narrative somehow thinking that women just aren't going to care about illegal immigration or that isis is expanding and did under hillary's watch and not going to care about jobs and the economy just because the hillary clinton campaign is placating to emotions. i think that's insane. women know donald trump is a very successful business person. he's raised a wonderful family. his own wife endorsed him for president. so this is a narrative that they've overreached on and

ultimately will fail. >> throughout the primaries, the caucuses, donald trump said he had no pollsters, didn't need pollsters, just wanted to be authentic and himself but now going into a general election campaign, he has now hired a very prominent republican pollst pollster. why? >> well, because this is his effort to continue to help unite the party. a lot of people feel more comfortable when they have polling. that is your older political paradigm. mr. trump is looking to continue to put forth his message without being pushed around by polls. but i do think it makes a lot of those other individuals happy that there is poll going on and that there will be poll going on, particularly when he's going to be helping other candidates down ballot. it's very important. this is a joint effort between donald trump and the rnc to unite the party and continue to maintain control in congress. >> he's no longer self-funding. he didn't need anyone else's money. he could fund his own campaign but now that's changed, he's going to try to raise what a

billion dollars in the general election campaign, is that right? >> yes, so far. and i think that's a great decision for mr. trump simply because there are so many people in this country that do want to invest in the success of this campaign, and he welcomes that. he has really proven a point. he has done something no one else could have done. he's making history right now with his primary run of self-funding his campaign and still committed to that and voters know no matter what, no one is going to boss mr. trump around when it comes to special interests because his message and goal is putting americans first. >> hillary clinton took direct aim at donald trump during a stop in kentucky yesterday. listen to this. she made fun of him. listen. >> let's just imagine i'm on a debate stage with donald trump. now, personally, i am really looking forward to it. so let's suppose, here's the question, what is your plan to create jobs?

his answer is, i'm going to create 'em, they're going to be great, i know how to do it, but i'm not telling you what it is i'm going to do. >> will donald trump become more specific with all of his initiatives, his proposals? >> well, yes. and he actually has been specific. and we're looking forward to that day on the debate stage so he can talk about things like nafta which is supported by hillary and bill clinton and immigration that suppresses jobs and economy that has little to none and we welcome the debate with hillary clinton. >> one final question before i let you go. are you sticking by the denial of the pr person named john miller or john barron, wasn't really donald trump? >> yes, wolf. mr. trump heard a clip. he said it wasn't him. so it wasn't him. >> katrina pierson. thank you very much for joining

us. >> good to be here. good to see you. governor kasich has a bone to pick with the national committee and exclusive interview. he said reince priebus was premature in naming donald trump. he made a tweet after the indiana primary he won. >> when indiana happened and you had the chairman of the republican party endorse trump, which i thought was completely inappropriate, my -- >> inappropriate because? >> i'm still there. he just wanted to get this thing over. i'm not happy about it. >> cnn political commentator, cnn politics editor mark preston. ryan, why is this still a very sore spot for john kasich? >> i think because he believes that reince priebus jumped the gun that trump did not have in hand the 1,237 delegates and

despite the fact that kasich really had no chance of hitting that number either, kasich believed that it was still possible if he was one on one with trump that he could have, trump could have fell short of the magic number and he could have gone into an open convention. i think that's the issue that he believes the rnc should have stayed out of it until trump got those final, final delegates. and i think that's a fair, you know, i think that's a fair argument despite the very unlikely possibility that kasich had a path here. >> mark, senator rubio went on a twitter tirade last night attacking reporting by "the washington post" saying he's unsure about his political future. people who want to to sound like they're in the know. just accepted. a word of advice, people often

claim he said he claimed to know more than they do because they enjoy status of being perceived as "in the know" what do you make of the latest developments? he's making fun of that story that he may be uncertain of his political future. >> certainly, he's uncertain about his political future and i think what we're seeing from marco rubio there is that he's a little thin skinned but take a step back. marco rubio is correct that people in washington and certainly in politics like to feel like they are close to the episent over whatcenter and wil reporters with the idea that they're actually close to the principle and understand what the principle is thinking. i will say something about that, "washington post" reporter, who i've known for a long time and i know that "washington post" reporter is very plugged in. so when i read that, i had no question to believe that that "washington post" reporter,

chris cillizza. i think that marco rubio didn't like somebody else talking about him on twitter or rather in these stories. >> mark preston and ryan liza, guys, angry bernie sanders. some threatening the life of one democratic party official in nevada. we have details. plus, it's one of the most difficult and significant decisions a presidential candidate can make picking a vice presidential running mate. who's on the short list and will they help or hurt the ticket? and remember, you can watch wolf anytime at cnn.com/go. my belly pain and constipation?

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>> a formal campaign blamed for chaos at the bernie sanders campaign. sanders supporters and campaign staff actively incited disruption and violence after failing to organize their supporters and being outnumbered in the state convention by hillary clinton's delegates. threats to the chair of the nevada state democratic party

are ongoing at time of this writing as sanders activists posted cell phone and home address online and have bombarded her with threats to her life and the safety of her family. cnn obtained one of the messages on her voice mail. listen. >> hi. this is a citizen of united states of america and i just wanted to let you know that i think people like you should be hung and let the world know we won't stand this sort of corruption. i don't know how you sleep at night. you're a sick, twisted piece of [ bleep ] and i hope you burn for this, you cowardless [ bleep ]. >> wow. the only u.s. senator to endorse bernie sanders. thank you very much for joining us. i know you agree that voice mail message is very disturbing. what's your response to that and the overall complaint by nevada

democrats not only against bernie sanders supporters but bernie sanders' campaign staff? >> well, this type of threat is completely out of bounds. it's inappropriate. the individuals who are engaged in that should stop immediately. i know that bernie sanders would say exactly the same thing. we're in this to have a conversation about ideas and where america is going. bernie is completely immersed in the big issues facing america and how we can put america back on track and there should be no threats of violence or physical threats or so forth. this is an important conversation. let's not get distracted into this. let's leave that to the republicans who have been doing so well at this over the last year. >> the democrats say, they fear this, it could be a preview of what to expect at the party's national convention in philadelphia in july. senator sanders, as you know, vowed to take his fight to the nomination for the nomination

all the way to the convention. how concerned are you, senator, about the possibility of violence breaking out in philadelphia? >> i expect, after the california primary on june 7th, and of course, that's also when new jersey and the dakotas are voting, we're going to see the lay of the land. we need to go into the convention shoulder to shoulder and we need to focus, really, on the fact that donald trump is a self-promoting huckster who never fought for working americans, never fought for americans of modest means, has no depth to his proposals, and that would be a disaster to having him as president. i expect to see coming together and unity. that is going to be what is going to characterize the democratic convention. >> so i just want to be precise, senator. hillary clinton has that magic number. 2383 delegates. whether pledge delegates if you add the super delegates, if she

has that number and you see what she has right now just 2343. almost there to the magic number. would you expect bernie sanders to concede and work to unite the party? >> let's set the super delegates aside. if they weighed in, one of the candidates has a majority of the people who voted, a majority of the pledge delegates, then i think that's a very strong case to start the conversation about coming together in a united front. >> a week after california, by the way, district of columbia has their democratic contest. that's the final one of the season. so what i hear you saying is that hillary clinton has the pledge delegates, she has enough pledge delegates to guarantee she gets the nomination, you would want, say, after dc votes, you would want bernie sanders to drop out. >> i would want to see this

conversation similar to what happened eight years previously with then senator barack obama and with senator clinton for the conversation to how do we bring these two sides together? there is substantial policy overlap and we're blessed with two very capable candidates and i know from the very beginning because i had conversations with senator sanders about this more than a year ago. the last thing he wants is to see something similar to what happened when bush came in on the back of ralph nader. we're going to see our leader in this, in the bernie camp, bernie sanders, working very, very hard. if he is not the nominee, he's going to be working very hard for the democratic nominee. >> senator merkley, what's going to happen in oregon tonight? >> well, it's very exciting. oregon gets to weigh in at a time when everyone feels a lot of passion. we have virtually no polling. i know of two polls that have

had different sides on the outcome tonight. i know from my town halls, the grassroots energy is certainly with bernie sanders. on the other hand, it shows that the seniors who tend to vote more regularly lean towards secretary clinton. so it's a nation. stay tuned. oregon will weigh in less than ten hours and i'm excited to see the outcome and of course, rooting for bernie sanders to take the state. >> we'll have extensive live coverage. senator merkley, thank you very much for joining us. >> you're very welcome. thank you. we've got live pictures up at capitol hill. donald trump and paul ryan meet this week for another round of unity talks. will they succeed? and we ask a former cruz supporter, congressman steve king, what does he need to hear from donald trump in order to endorse him? >>that is until one of you clips a food truck, ruining your perfect record. >>yup... now, you would think your insurance company would cut you some slack, right?

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donald trump may be the presumptive nominee for the republicans but still struggling to solidify his support among some of the more conservative members. his campaign team is holding more meetings this week with staffers and house speaker paul ryan as they look for some common ground. joining us from capitol hill, congressman steve king, a republican from iowa, a member of the house judiciary committee. congressman, thank you very much for joining us. i know you were a major supporter of senator ted cruz. you co-chaired his campaign in iowa but now that trump is the presumptive nominee, are you finally ready to endorse him as the republican candidate? >> i'm not ready to do that. i am ready to work things in

that direction. but wolf, i'm hopeful we'll be able to identify and solidify, especially the conservatives in the republican party which are well more than a majority to identify where donald trump is and some of these issues solidify those kind and issue by issue, heal this by the time we get to clooeeveland but it does happen overnight. it was a shock when ted cruz ended his campaign and the adjustment process taking place for many conservatives across the country. >> what do you need to hear from donald trump to convince you he's the guy? >> well, i think part of it is a process. but we don't hear him speak about the moral issues, the constitutional issues, life and marriage, what the moral foundation for a free society doesn't seem to come from donald trump's lips, at least not very often. and i would suggest this, that he should give a nationwide highly publicized speech that

focuses on the core of our culture, the soul of america and what he expects america to look like and be like under a trump presidency and with that, then, he can plug in some of the pieces along the way, such as what his intentions would be on appointments to the federal bench and i would suggest he would bring into his council some of the solid, especially constitutional conservatives here in congress as john mccain offered to do that. >> he said he opposes abortion rights except for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. is that good enough? >> well, no. and it's not good enough because you get into the definition, then when those kind of things are reported, we have a bill that came to the floor of the house sometime within the last year that would address that and i would like to know specifically where he stands but basically, what's the constitution mean to donald trump, how closely would he be

constrained by it, what is his respect for the separation of powers and barack obama has significantly disrespected and within that is the discussion about rape, incest, life of the mother and the abortion. but when you're asking judges, vetting judges for the bench, a lot is outside of the perception skill sets of a presidential candidate and i would want to put that in the hands of the solid conservatives here but i'm confident with my own judgment but i would recommend people like mike lee, ted cruz, and chuck grassley and on the house side, people like franks, smith, and others that have been leading on these issues to vet these justices and i'd like to suggest that donald trump bring that kind of a committee together and seek their council on appointments. what does a trump presidency look like? there's a level of unease but

they could make for a lot of concerns. >> on the issue of lgbt rights, you want to call a hearing on president obama's new guidelines for public schools to allow students to use the bathroom corresponding to their gender. i want to play something for you, one of your republican colleagues refer to congresswoman ileana. you know her well and what she said, she has a transgender child. listen to this. >> republicans and democrats, let's forget about the party labels and move ahead in the political dialogue and accept people for who they are and what qualities they bring to their job rather than artificial barriers like gender identity. >> that's her transgender son standing behind her. what do you say to congresswoman ileana ross? >> she is my neighbor, just across the hall in the rayburn building and a terrific friend and i would be very reticent to

say anything that might sound critical. she's a terrific lady and i would be willing to have that private conversation with her, but generally speaking, as i said, we've gotten along fine with boys or girls on the label on the restrooms for a couple hundred years now. and i didn't see the urgency for that to change. i don't believe the president of the united states has that authority or that power to do so. i think it's an overexuberant president trying to put his mark on society before he leaves office and i expect there'll be many other things in this fashion but this is just not the bathroom, it's the showers, it's the entire united states of america, our civilization and culture and are we willing to let a president on his way out the door change the labels on all of that and change the social order that has evolved throughout millennia? that's what's really at stake here and the president has overreached and i expect we will have testimony on that topic next week on tuesday at our hearing on the executive overreach before the task force that i chair. >> congressman steve king,

thanks for joining us. >> thank you, wolf. i appreciate i have the. trump and clinton campaigns narrow down with a number two on their tickets, beginning to look seriously at various candidates but will their choice help them win in november? stand by. ♪ [female narrator] you listen when your body says: "i'm tired." or, "i'm hungry." what if your body said something else might be wrong? gynecologic cancers - cervical, ovarian and uterine cancers - have symptoms. so pay attention. if your body says something may be wrong.... please listen

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that can camp out in between our teeth, if we'll let it. use gum® brand. soft-picks®. proxabrush® cleaners. flossers and dental floss. gum® brand. voting under way today in oregon and kentucky. these are live pictures from louisville, kentucky, where hillary clinton and bernie sanders are locked in a tight race. we bring the winners as they are called. that's right here on cnn. republican presidential rivals marco rubio and john kasich are the latest to address vice presidential rumors. governor kasich telling our anderson cooper he's not

interested in the job while senator rubio took to twitter to call out a "washington post" article about possible vp choices for trump and also said he's not interested in becoming trump's number two. speculating about a vice presidential pick as part of the political theater, of course, but does the choice actually make a significant difference at the ballot box? ron brownstein is in washington, he's a cnn senior political analyst, senior editor at "the atlantic." doug, give us some context here. when has a vice presidential pick actually helped a presidential candidate get elected? >> many, many times. i think about john f. kennedy in 1960 having to pick lyndon johnson even though he didn't like him at all but wanted to make sure as a massachusetts catholic, he kept the solid democratic south and johnson was a protestant and meant all the difference in the world. that's just one of many.

>> when does it hurt? >> it hurts, i think, when you pick somebody like dan quayle hurt george herber walker bush. there was a feeling you got to dump him and gore seemed smarter. i think that was a mistake. obviously, john mccain picking sarah palin was a disaster. she wasn't vetted and john kerry picking john edwards. if he picked john glen, kerry could have been president. that may have tilted in ohio his way and history would have been different. >> let's talk about the vice presidential picks, potentially, for hillary clinton. what are you hearing? what might be a good fit for her? >> i think the fundamental choice she has to make is whether she does the conventional political pick in which case i think there's a clear front-runner or feels she has to be more conventional to energize the party and shore up the weaknesses displayed by her performance in the primaries. if you're going by conventional

electoral college kind of standards, i think tim cain, the former governor of virginia is a strong choice. if you can add virginia to what i call the blue wall, the states they've won in every election since '92 plus nevada and new mexico, you are right on the brink of the electoral college majority and i think that's a strong argument for him. on the other hand, there's an argument that she needs to energize the party more and perhaps a cain pick might do like sherrod brown and elizabeth warren, perhaps, corey booker of new jersey and others pointed out in each case, all of those states have republican governors. so if you picked a democratic senator from that state, you would lose a seat in the senate at a time when the senate could be close to 50/50 after this election and the last group, wolf, the two hispanics in the cabinet. both getting a lot of conversation as well. >> what about donald trump? who would be a good fit for him and who would bring him some bagga baggage? >> i think donald trump has one

overriding need in the pick that ground him in governing. if he can't find a plausible current elected official to run with him, i think it sends a damaging signal to the electorate that even his own party is ambivalent about whether he's a plausible president. if he has to go back to a former like a newt gingrich, i think that's the wrong way but who would take it. john kasich might be the best choice of all as a former house committee chair and governor of a swing state. he doesn't want it. marco rubio doesn't want it. i could see him looking at younger senators with one foot in like tim from arkansas or jo joni ernst but she's criticized language towards women. it may be turned around a bit. who would ground himself as he himself in governing? >> how important, doug, would it be for donald trump to pick a

woman given some of the issues that have come up? >> it would be great if he could find the right one. it's difficult. many women in the republican party don't want to be seen on a ticket with him. i think the key thing is not to pick anybody until after the fourth of july and if you're donald trump, you may want to get a speier agnew. maybe a newt gingrich working with trump just hammering away at the clinton's legacy and personalities might end up working, but i wouldn't do anything in june. i'd wait until july. >> you think timing is important making an announcement? why? >> i think it's everything. because right now, we talk about it for a week and you would get lower conventions and cleveland and hillary doesn't have the luxury. she's got to beat bernie sanders tonight in oregon and kentucky and still has a way to go until mid june with her primaries. >> go ahead. >> real quick, we mention al

gore in '92 and he was a different kind of pick. he opened a new era in thinking about the vice presidency. he was balancing geographically and al gore was reinforcing. it was a bruised public image and al gore kind of reinforced of two baby boomers on the ticket of a new generation taking over and for both trump and clinton, i think that's a fundamental divide here. do they take someone who balances their weaknesses or amplifie amplifie amplifies their strength? he wants to go the amplify route, you could imagine rick scott, kind of a similar outsider business guy profiler and may decide he wants to balance and the same thing with hillary clinton. does she find someone kind of similar in strength or someone who offsets where she's weak and i think that's in inspiring younger democrats with the enormous deficit faced among

millennials, maybe needs someone to excite the party rather than be electoral college focus pick. >> and donald trump said he'll make his announcement at the convention in cleveland in july. that's when he wants to do it. doug brinkley and ron brownstein, thank you very much. coming up, isis now claiming responsibility for a series of yet more terror attacks in iraq, days after declaring a state of emergency for losing territory in syria. does this signal a new strategy? we're going live to baghdad. that's coming up. mmmm. incredible. looks tasty. you don't have heartburn. new alka-seltzer heartburn relief gummies. enjoy the relief.

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triple terror attacks in baghdad kill at least 46 people today. isis claimed responsibility for the explosions at a market in northern baghdad. soon after, another bomb detonated this time in a market in the southern part of the iraqi capital. and then in the sadr city area of baghdad a car bomb ripped through the area. but police did manage to diffuse another bomb in a booby trapped car nearby. correspondent arwa damon is joining us right now from istanbul. isis claimed responsibility for the first attack and a frightening trend. last week, suicide bombings claimed the lives of at least 100 people in baghdad.

injuring hundreds more. why the increase, these terror attacks on these so-called soft targets? >> reporter: well, there could be a number of factors involved here, wolf. now, the u.s. military will tend to say that this is because isis is coming under pressure in other parts of the country and, yes, isis has lost chunks of territory that it used to control in iraq but maintains control over key strategic areas like the border crossing, fallujah and iraq's second largest city mosul. what isis could be attempting to do is try to draw iraqi security forces away from the various different front lines going after the soft targets. it also could be trying to ignite iraq sectarian tensions. the vast majority if not all of the targets within the predominantly shia parts of the capital, baghdad. also going after infrastructure, the attack on sunday was against

a gas power station in taji. so it's sending multiple messages here to the iraqi public as well in that the iraqi government and security forces are not capable necessarily of protecting them, not even in the capital baghdad that is among the most fortified of all of these cities, most heavily protected one would expect from the types of attacks that isis is attempting to launch. one must not forget in all of this, wolf, that isis is an entity that reinvents itself at every single stage when anyone claims that it has been defeated. it is an organization that has changed and thrived and grown from as far back as 2004 when its roots really began to be established in iraq, wolf. >> ar ra damon reporting for us, thank you very much. let's discuss what's happening, the awful situation of baghdad right now. my next guest is colonel steve warren.

contr colonel, thank you for joining us. what more can you tell us about today's suicide attacks? >> wolf, this was another example of some terrible attacks. there are more than 50 killed and that many at least wounded. those numbers are probably going to go up. there were several car bombs, all targeted at civilian populations. these were attacks in the center of baghdad. that were really targeting innocent civilians who are trying to go about leading their daily lives. >> are these sunni terrorists simply trying to kill shiites? >> well, these are isis terrorists who are trying to sew discord throughout iraq. you know? they have lost every face to face confrontation they have had with the iraqi army over the last several months. they haven't won a single battle, not a skirmish, nothing. they have had to adapt, they have had to establish a new tactic that they can use to keep fighting. and we all wish that they would

simply roll over and die when they get beat but that's not the case here. they want to keep fighting. >> are these isis terrorists changing their tactics now? because we have seen these horrific suicide bombings over the past week. >> they are changing their tactics. they're changing their tactics to something that they can have at least some degree of success in. when they meet the iraqi army that's been trained and equipped we the u.s.-led coalition, they find defeat waiting for them. they have lost in every city they have battled for now in the last several months so they have had to adjust their tactics and what they have done is now target the civilians who live in baghdad. and this is for several reasons. right? it will create panic. it will cause strain on the government. and it will cause the government to have to make some difficult decisions about how much pressure to keep on isis in the

field. >> at the pentagon briefing the spokesman peter cook, a man you know, said the u.s. top commander in iraq has not yet requested any extra troops with the uptick in the terror attacks, the violence, especially in the so-called green zone where there are literally thousands of americans, civilians, diplomats, military personnel. is that now being reassessed? >> you're right, wolf. we have not not asked for additional forces. we believe that the security around the americans here in baghdad and in the green zone is adequate to the threat that we face. and keeping in mind that our mission here really is focused on training the iraqi security forces, the iraqi army, who are out battling isis. so, we think we have enough security now to keep us safe. the iraqi counterterrorist service helps us stay safe here in the green zone and so the focus really remains on training the iraqi army to fight isis out

in the field. once we have defeated them there then many of these problems will go away. >> one final question. when's the latest assessment? will the iraqi military liberate mosul? the second largest city in iraq. this year. >> we believe that liberation of mosul is inevitable. but putting a time line on it is tricky. this enemy changed the tactics as you said. this enemy dug in and fighting hard and we are coming up against the slow period here in iraq where the temperatures will break 120 degrees. ram dan is right around the corner and environmental factors to slow us down. the answer to your question, it's impossible to know but we are certainly working towards that goal. >> stay safe over there, colonel. colonel steve warren in baghdad for us. thank you very much. >> thank you, sir. coming up, chaos in nevada's democratic state convention pitting democrats against each other.

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hi there. i'm brooke baldwin. thank you so much for being with me. you're watching cnn. we are witnessing a pivotal moment in the race for the white house. in the head to head fight of hillary clinton and donald trump it seems women are turning into the weapons and the prize. here's the deal today. two superpac ads just released by hillary clinton's allies skewering donald trump for his treatment of women and using his own words against him. >> you know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her -- wherever. does she have a good