hello. i'm wolf blitzer. the 11:00 a.m. in denver, colorado. 1:00 p.m. here in washington, d.c. 8:00 p.m. in moscow. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. up first -- the battle for the battleground states. election less than 14 days away. making a case to voters. hillary clinton and donald trump and surrogates fan ago cross the country targeting all-important swing states. trump has events in north carolina while clinton campaigns in florida. look at this. got live pictures from tampa right now. that's the site of hillary clinton's next event.

donald trump took time away from the campaign trail today to attend a business-related event right here in washington. our correspondent is covering the trump campaign. phil mattingly following the clinton campaign for us. sunlen, we heard trump strike a different tone this morning. how would you characterize his bottom line message? >> reporter: right. a much different tone, wolf. used much more soaring rhetoric than we typically hear from donald trump. seemed he tried to go out of his way to bring a more optimistic message talking about hope. he talked about dreaming big. at one point he asked americans to dream bold with him. something we typically don't hear from donald trump out on the campaign trail, and one thing that struck a lot of us, at one point he said point blank, america is great. its people are great. that, of course, notable, because that is hillary clinton's retort to her criticism of donald trump's campaign slogan when he says he wants to make america great

again. here's more of that optimistic tone he brought here today. >> let's close the history books on the failures in washington, and let's open a new chapter of success and prosperity for all of our people. we have a divided nation. a seriously divided nation. all of our people. that is how we will truly make america great again. >> reporter: now, at times his speech did delve into some familiar campaign trail rhetoric. of course, although this was billed as not a campaign event but a business event opening his hotel here in washington, d.c. trump talked about how washington's broken and notably went after his opponent hillary clinton by name here at this non-campaign event. mentioning her involvement in obama care and, of course, the news this week that those premiums will jump up. wolf? >> sunlen, a new bloomberg poll

looks at the presidential race in florida, critically important battleground state. 29 electoral votes showing trump with a two-point lead over hillary clinton. do trump folks see that as a sign, blitz across the state is starting to pay off? >> reporter: they do. talking to trump advisers today, they say this is a sign of strength, and they believe it will get better. notably, they also believe that this poll not only is good for them, but they say it's concerted signs for hillary clinton the way independents broke the poll, won by a seven-point marge and believe especially the news on obama care and premiums going up next year, they believe that gives them a little chance to gain more voters, wooey we'll see donald trump as he did here today, as he likely will later today in all of his stops in florida bring this up from the stump. wolf? >> all right. stand by a moment, sunlen.

phil, hillary clinton is zeroing in on swing states herself. what's her strategy and her message with 13 days to go? >> yeah. none more so than the state of florida, wolf. you mentioned, 29 electoral votes. the clinton campaign wins florida, donald trump has no pathway to 270. no opportunity to win. two events here today coming back this weekend as well. the message is this, wolf, vote and vote now. that sounds simplistic, banking early votes, this weekend being the first early voting period in person in this state. it's huge for democrats as they try and position themselves to win on november 8th, but hillary clinton in that first event today, not pulling punches from donald trump as well. listen to this jab. >> and listening to donald trump's campaign, i truly doubt that he has ever read the constitution. or if he did, back in school, he certainly doesn't remember it, and he doesn't understand it is

the most important founding document for the longest lasting, greatest democracy in the history of the world! >> reporter: wolf, talk battlegrounds. county by county through the state and think where things are important? possibly none more so than hillsborough. where we are, will hillary clinton will be in a short period of time. a place that went twice for george w. bush and twice for barack obama. leans democratic, they go for the winner. a lot of people from the clinton campaign here now and throughout the state of florida. wolf? >> phil, thanks. sunlen, thank to you as well. bringing in a representative of the trump campaign right now. sarah huckabee sanders, senior adviser to donald trump. thanks very much for joining us. >> you bet. good to be here. >> start with a snapshot where the race stands nationally right

now. hillary clinton has a seven-point lead in the latest cnn poll of polls. an average of the five most recent national surveys. can donald trump close that gap with less than two weeks left in the campaign? >> absolutely. and at the same time, there are several other polls just in the last couple of days that show donald trump either ahead or tied. look, i think this is an extremely close race and what it comes down to is that 70% of americans want change in this race, and in this election cycle, and there is nobody that represents change greater than donald trump. and nobody that represents the status quo stronger than hillary clinton. if people want to go in, shake up washington, and make things different than the way they are right now, one choice in the race. that's to vote for donald trump. >> why was he spending these last few hours here in washington, d.c. today, because clearly the district of columbia is not a battleground state with only 13 days to go. does it make it look like he's

putting his business interests ahead of running for president? >> not at all pop i think what he's doing, pointing to a record of success. he actually has won in contrast hillary clinton doesn't. he was able to go and show what he's done as a businessman. he's created jobs. he's taken an old building dilapidated and turned it into something incredible. exactly what he wants to come in and do, and i don't think there's any greater place than to do that than washington. you have somebody coming in, showing how they can completely transform something that has been a total mess and disaster. you've got to bring somebody in from the outside to change the system that we have. hillary clinton has been part of the problem for the last 30 years. she has no record of success. donald trump is actually kraepted jkraept created jobs and a great opportunity to contrast what hillary clinton who created no job maybe outside of the fbi. a great move and a great way to show his success story, and contrast that to hillary's record of failure.

>> during his remarks, sarah, at the hotel here in washington today, he said this about the united states government. listen to this -- >> this is what i want to do for our country, and this is what we're working so hard to do. right now just about everything our government touches is broken or they break it. it's always over budget, behind schedule, and simply nothing works. >> so he's saying basically, he said, simply put, everything our government touches is broken or they break it. here's the question. that's not true. the united states military works. the social security administration works. the national institutes of health, the centers for disease control and prevention. there are major parts of the federal government that do incredibly important and successful work for the american people. i assume you agree? >> absolutely.

i think the bigger point he's trying to make is that everything hillary clinton and the obama administration have done and i think obama care is a perfect example. a complete and utter failure, and eastern this week we're seeing now that premiums are going to increase by 25%. it's going to bankrupt our country. it's hurting small businesses. it's hurting families. and for them to ignore that that's a real problem and that some of the biggest policies that they've implemented have been total and utter failures is just -- they just can't do that. they can't just ignore the fact that this is a total failure and that's the point he's making. washington is full of failures, particularly when it comes to hillary and obama's policies. >> let me interrupt. sarah, he said specifically, just about everything our government touches is broken or they break it. that's not true. is it? >> look -- wolf, i think you're kind of diving in and making a bigger statement out of that than what he's trying to point to, and a lot of what our

government does touch we break. frankly, what makes america great is not our government. it's our people, and when we get government out of the way and we let people do what they do best, that's create jobs, that's build businesses, that's run their families, that's making education more local, less federalized, we do much better. the point he's making is that, and a really good and strong point, particularly on the hills of one. greatest failures that we've seen from the obama and clinton administration and that is obama care. >> i'm just sensitive to the point that a lot of federal employees, whether military or civilian, they're always very sensitive when they hear politicians and donald trump is now a politician, blast them as being corrupt or inefficient or broken or whatever. they work really hard for the american people, doing their best as you well know and when they get slammed like that, it's a very sensitive issue. >> i want to be clear, wolf,

he's not slamming the military. no greater advocate in this campaign cycle than donald trump for our military, for our veterans and frankly one. reasons he's running, because those people haven't been treated right. our government completely failed to take care of our veterans. to say they haven't is wrong. that's the point he's making. these are people that work hard, that deserve our best and haven't gotten it, because obama and clinton have completely failed and we've got to have somebody come in and fix that. >> sarah, you make fair points. no doubt about that, but i want them to be precise, and not say just about everything our government touches is broken, because that is simply not true. a lot of what the u.s. government does on the military level, the civilian level, is critically important. one final question before i let you go. today for the first time i heard him say "america is great." he also said we're going to make america great again but he did say america is great. is this a new line that he's putting forward right now,

because it comes in contrast to what he's been saying over the past several 3months? >> i think donald trump always believes our country is great, he believes in our people, traveled all over, from coast to coast, and had the opportunity to meet with millions of americans and seen the greatness in our country. but, again, it's not in our government. it's no our people. he's already recognized that. but we need to make some major changes, some major shifts, and we have to break up that washington to wall street access of power. we haven't been focused on protecting america but focusing on protecting special interests. that has to change, and that's one of the things he wants to do in making america great again. but never lost hope and faith in our country and certainly not in its people. >> so america is great right now. right? >> look, i think certainly there are great parts of america but things we have to do better. again, we have to go back to where our focus is putting america first. we haven't done that. we've had an administration that's frankly apologized for america's successes instead of

celebrating them. we have to go back to a place where that is our mind-set, putting our national security first, putting our economy first and haven't done that over the last eight years and certainly wouldn't do it with hillary clinton. why we need somebody like donald trump who will come in and make that change, shake up washington, and put our focus on building america up. >> sarah huckabee, thanks for joining us. >> you bet. coming up inside the mind of donald trump. new revelations about the billionaire in just released audiotapes. what he said about his love for any type of fight. plus, swing states showdown in the path to 270 electoral votes has both campaigns look at every scenario. we break it down with our political panel. that's next.

we've got breaking news prp donald trump speaking to cnn's dana bash a few moment ago at a business event opening his hotel officially here in washington, d.c. dana joining us now. what did he say? >> reporter: well, it was a brief one-on-one discussion with him about why he is here, and

not on the campaign trail and how he could potentially take advantage of some of the polls looking better for him especially in the key state of florida. take a listen. >> reporter: first i want to ask you about your event here. there's new audiotape of you talking about the fact that you really have relied on your popularity and the fact that people come to your events and that helps you with free advertising. is that what this was about? >> no. not at all. this was just under budget, ahead of schedule. what this is. under budget, ahead of schedule. we built a hotel that is going to be one of the great hotels of the world. just opened today. it officially opens today, and we built it for less money than was anticipated and we built it ahead of schedule by over a year and if the country would do that, we would have a country that would be in much better shape than -- they build highways for double and triple the costs, build hospitals.

>> reporter: for people who say you're taking time out of swing states to go do this, say -- >> i say the following. you have been covering me for the last, a long time. i did yesterday eight stops and three major speeches, and i've been doing this for weeks straight. i left there for an hour and a half. i'm going to north carolina right now and then to florida then up to new hampshire. for you to ask me that question is actually very insulting, because hillary clinton does one stop and then goes home and sleeps yet you'll ask me that question. i think it's a very rude question, to be hon e6r79 with you, what i do, i want to back my children. my children work very hard, ivanka in particular and at the opens of a hotel i want to back my children. very important to me. we had a ribbon cutting, very quick, and i stopped in d.c. the real key to this is i want the american people to understand that this is irnd budget, ahead of schedule and we need that for the united states. >> reporter: just so you know, i've been reporting on the fact you're going to north carolina

for a couple of stops straight from here. my next question, a new poll in florida has you up a couple of points. other swing states have you really in the hunt. given that, are you prepared to write a check to help yourself get over the finish line and if so, how big? and i'm talking about advertising. >> let me just tell you that we have, i'll have over $100 million in the campaign. hillary clinton has no in the campaign. all special interests, donors, they give her the money then she'll do whatever they tell her to do, but i will have over $ 00 million in the campaign and am prepared to go much more than that $100 million. here's 9 questi here's the questions, doing great in north carolina, great in pennsylvania. great all over. doing really well in new hampshire. ohio, you know, and iowa doing fantastically well. i'm telling you, cnn doesn't say it, but i think we're going to win. >> reporter: so but to do that, you have a pretty big bank account. you can -- and time is running

out. the clock's ticking. where you write a check? >> already done that. already wrote a number of them. >> reporter: particularly to get up on the air and -- >> sure. in florida, 50-1 against me. you were the one that reported that. >> reporter: you have the means to kboot that? >> sure, meantime, 50-1 i'm leading. old days you get credit, spending less money and have victory. a good thing. today they want you to spend money. i'll have over $100 million and willing to spend much more if i have to. seeing great signs. one of the other things we're seeing in florida and other places, the lines going into voting booths, going into voting areas are unbelievable. i mean in florida yesterday we passed four of them. the lines were three and four blocks long. those are not her voters, because her voters have no enthusiasm -- >> reporter: be specific? how much are you willing to put down in order -- >> no. i will have over $100 million in and willing to invest more.

>> reporter: like, how much? >> don't -- just, let's go for your next question, dana. >> reporter: last question, getting the hook over here, is, in this speech here, you talked about the fact that this is the second best piece of real estate on pennsylvania avenue. in 14 days, are you hoping that you're going to be spending after that more time here or down the street? >> look, i just hope that -- i built a great company. truly a great company with some of the great assets of the world not only in our country but in other countries, and i predicted brexit. you were one of the people that asked me about brexit. i said it's gogsz to happen. i'm not saying this is brexit but i think the result will be the same if not more so. we are going to have, i think, a tremendous victory. people don't want four more years of obama. they don't want hillary with all of the corruption and all of the problems and you see all of these wikileaks coming out and they're a disaster, and when you see john podesta who is terrible the way he speaks about her, has

bad instincts. the person he works for has bad instincts? terrible. so many other things about their honesty and dishonesty. i think we're going to have a tremendous victory, if i didn't think it i wouldn't say it, we'll be fighting hard, i'd say. we are fighting hard and i actually think we're winning. not a question we're going to try and win. start looking at polls, what's happening. more importantly, start looking at all the people going to vote. and sending in their ballots. we're way ahead on virtually every state, every area, and i think we're going to have a great vick trit. >> reporter: thank you, mr. trump. thank you for your time. i appreciate it. thank you. >> now, wolf, one of the reasons i was press him on the question of money is because what i'm hearing from some republicans, particularly those who are working with the party, is that they had hoped that mr. trump who obviously has had a very unconventional fund-raising apparatus, because a self-funder in the primaries and then in the

general election was raising money in conjunction with the party, whether he would at least now at the very end especially as i said in states where he does seem to be doing better, take out his checkbook and fund his campaign advertising in order to combat the ads we have seen on the air, and he talks about and complains about from hillary clinton, and so that was that line of questioning. >> i'm sure he was happy with that new bloomberg poll in florida, which shows him now up by two points in that key battleground state. desperately needs to win florida if he has any chance of becoming president of the united states, but keeps talking polls were brong in britain with brexit and in the end we know what happened with brexit. he thinks the polls are wrong here as well. and he's going to stun the world by winning the presidency on november 8th. is that what eyre hei'm hearings interview you did with him? >> that's what he was

suggesting, feels confident he'll win despite the polls. when polls are great for him he talks about them extensively, like the poll just discussed this morning in florida. when polls are bad he says, they're going to beat the polls because the polls aren't worth looking at. so it is the absolute glass half full, glass half empty scenario when talking about donald trump in the polls. the takeaway you mentioned is key, which is, he sounds and seems more upbeat. he's trying to convey that and trying to convey that he's going to surprise people. and at this point, he understands that given the narrative of how this campaign is going it would be a very big surprise, if he pulls it out in the end. >> dana, great work grabbing hill. first time i think he's spoke ton cnn in quite a while. we'll have full analysis of what we just heard, all of the other breaking political news today. dana, stay with us. our political panel is with us as well.

we'll take a quick break. we'll be right back.

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just moments ago here in washington, d.c., the former presidential candidate mitt romney hinting that he may have some regrets for not jumping in the race this time around. listen to this. >> i get asked on a regular basis, boy, why aren't you running this year? i asked myself that now and then, too. >> i want to bring in our panel. with us gloria borger, and mark

preston, executive eder of krp krn politics and ryan lizza and political commentator for the "new yorker" gloria, just there at this event, this luncheon event where he spoke. what emerged, bottom line, from what he had to say? >> not much. honestly, wolf. he was trying not to make news. they did an elaborate decoy, couldn't even grab him afterwards. interesting to me was that you've got these two ultimate universes here about a mile apart in washington. you have mitt romney talking to the chamber of commerce, which is not pro--trump. mitt romney being the original never trumper, extolling the virtue of american business and down the road at his own business at his new hotel at the post office you have donald trump talking about his business and himself and couldn't be two more different guys. before romney went onstage, about 15 or 20 minutes before he

went onstage, he tweeted, be sure to head to the polls for republican senate and house and state houses. to advantage constitution conservati conservatism. he didn't say that on the stage to the house of commerce, what he is talking about today to republicans. okay, you don't have to vote for donald trump but make sure you keep republican state and houses. >> donald trump formally opened up his new hotel and the spoke a little bit more somber dialogue today, and he did make the point, america is great. >> yes. interesting, because he gave that address at gettysburg and in many ways that speech, i mean, like a pitisberg speech, sounded like settles scores. today sounded optimistic. talking about america being

great right now and stealing some of hillary clinton's lines, she said is that, too, america is great because it's good, and he seemed more subdued than he has in previous speeches. we'll see if that homicide. doubtful, based on what we know about donald trump. he has a few different approaches. mainly erratic and angry approach. we'll see what he comes out with. interesting that he said he's given his campaign $100 million. none. reports suggest he's given that. i think republicans certainly want limb to write checks to his campaign. apparently $10 billion but doesn't want to get off of that much in the campaign. only given about $60 million, looks like. >> when dana asked why he's here opening up this hotel instead of being in north carolina or another important state. defensive and at one point said the question was insulting. look, been all over the place.

hillary clinton does one of these and goes and takes a napa fa he has been very active on the campaign trail. >> he's held a lot of events. he needs. he needs to win florida. the problem for trump he often mud manies his message by for instance coming here opening up a hotel two weeks out before the presidential election to be the leader of the free world. to be the leader of democracy. globally. so he actually steps on his message oftentimes. we've seen this time and time again. you talk about the petisberg address. clever. in many ways his closing argument yet he stepped on it talking how to settle scores an the election. not very smart. >> bloomberg, ahead in florida, potentially significant. >> absolutely. has holds harks to win florida, pennsylvania, ohio and probably has to win north carolina. this, to be able to pull this

off. most other polling out of florida shows a two to three-point advantage for hillary clinton. the bloomberg pom a little outlier. see if it keeps out when other polls come out. i take his point, he's doing other events today and not just this hotel event, but where are the two candidates today? pence is in utah. right? a state that hasn't voted for a democrat, i think, since the goldwater in '64, and -- >> for the gold rush. >> noticeably, mitt romney from utah no in utah here talking to the chamber. the vice presidential candidate in utah trying to hold that state and trump talking about his hotel. i mean, talking -- the presentation they were talking about the railings and wallpaper. unusual. imagine if hillary clinton was up at the clinton foundation. people would be scratching their head. i do take his point he has other

issues, other events today, but he has to know it's going to drive the news, this kind of event. >> but gloria, makes the point, what's wrong with me spending a couple hours supporting my kids? ivanka and her brothers, very, very involvaled in this hotel. i want to show my love to are my children. that's one of the reasons i'm here. >> good. and of course get maximum publicity because it's two weeks before the election, and he gets to showcase his hotel, and he gets to tell the story about how i took something that was old and broken down, and i fixed it, and to the point you were discussing before, which is why he's so subdued today, it's because this was a business event, and he didn't want, i'm sure he was told, do not make this overly partisan, because that could hurt us. >> yeah. >> and our business. it has hurt them in their business. you see this subdued trump. see what we see later in the day. i think it's odd, but for donald

trump who was advertising his stakes and his water after primaries, i don't think it's -- i don't think it's out of character in the least. i don't think so. >> a little out of character for him to, though, say after all the times he said we're going to make america great again, for him to say america is great. >> america is great, because his building and his hotel is great. >> all right. stay with us. don't go too far. coming up, colorado governor and hillary clinton supporter will join us live. talk about the campaign, talk about hillary clinton's efforts to pick up red states. there you see him. the governor of colorado and me, when we come back. cno artificial flavors.. philadelphia® garden vegetable. rich, creamy... ...and delicious nothing else tastes like philadelphia®.

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until the election here in the unite, every state counts in this race, including, of course, colorado. for the first time in 32 years more registered democrats than republicans there. talk about the shift. bring in colorado's governor john hickenlooper. governor, thanks very much for joining us. >> you bet, wolf. >> so is colorado now a blue state as opposed to a red state, are you convinced of that? >> no. i think -- i mean, it's nice to see it there's a change more democrats registering than republican s but it's still a very small majority. by any traditional measure, like we didn't used to be a red state when we had a few more republicans. now more a blue state. we're still solidly purple. >> look at the election across other states. you're a democrat of course supporting hillary clinton. wipe do you think thit's a tigh

rate in other states, for example, like florida right now? >> and so, a., the polling is hard to predict. in other words, i'm not sure how accurate any of the polling is, and certainly florida seems to have tightened up, but you know, i'm not convinced that hillary's not going to come around and do quite well there. a lot of this will depend on turnout and who really feels motivated to get out and vote. my guess is, in many parts of the country, democrats are going to feel a greater necessity, that they have to vote this time and i think a lot of republicans are frustrated by their, you know, just the divisions within the party at the presidential candidate level. >> in the last quinnipiac university poll in colorado, your state, the libertarian party candidate gary johnson got 10% of the vote. do you think his stance on marijuana, legalizing marijuana which is legal in colorado, is helping him and that his support could actually increase and take away votes from hillary clinton?

>> well, it's hard to say. we have a lot of millennials here. right? we've been one of the top destinations for ma len yammiil the last decade. certainly taking some votes from hillary clinton but also a lot of republican votes as well. my guess, the polls i've looked at, put him in or take him out, it only affects the difference by one or two points, and hillary still has a comfortable lead here in colorado. >> so you think it's a done deal for her in your state? >> no. no, no. not a done deal. i think that secretary clinton has a good lead, but i think, you know, getting the vote out, making sure that everybody who is registered does vote and people can register up to the last day. a big effort by both sides to register voters. >> how big of an issue is marijuana in colorado right now?

neither of the, neither trump nor hillary clinton wants to legalize it. right? >> right. neither of them came out in favor of recreational legalization. my guess is not that big an issue in the presidential election. it's still, you know, anytime you go anywhere around colorado, it's hotly debated. >> are you looking ahead? there's been -- one of the names mentioned often as a possiblevice presidential running mate. are youing whoing forward, if she's elected president to maybe moving here to washington, d.c.? >> well, first, let's get her elected, and i think there are a lot of list with a lot of people's names. i have about the best job in the world. right? i have to go around one of the most beautiful states in america and help you know, people solve their challenges. it would be -- it would be a hard sacrifice to go to washington. not saying if she came and said

here's why you need to be here, i would certainly listen, but i'm not going out and lobby for it, making phone calls, hey, put in a good word for me. i have the greatest job in the world, or one of the greatest jobs in the world. >> well, i can second that, because i've spent a lot of quality time in colorado. it's a beautiful state indeed, and you're lucky and blessed to be the governor of that wonderful state. governor, thanks very much for joining us. >> you bet, wolf. anytime. >> thank you. coming up, the last stand for mosul. isis fighters streaming in armed with suicide belts and boobytraps, and the battle for the city reaches a critical point. so what's the future of iraq? the state department spokesman john keshi kirby is standing by. . oh no, that looks gross what is that? you gotta try it, it's terrible. i don't wanna try it if it's terrible. it's like mango chutney and burnt hair.

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woman: how do we protect them from $4 billion in new cuts to california schools? man: vote yes on proposition 55. woman: prop 55 doesn't raise taxes on anyone. man: not on working californians, not small businesses. no one. woman: instead, prop 55 simply maintains the current tax rate on the wealthiest californians. man: so those who can most afford it continue paying their fair share... woman: ...to prevent new education cuts... man: ...and keep improving california's schools. woman: vote yes on prop 55 to help our children thrive. . as iraqi kurdish and other coalition forces close in, isis' reign of terror in mosul could be coming to an end. they captured the city more than two years ago and will not leave

without putting up a bloody fight. witnesses tell cnn suicide squads are poring into mosul from raqqah and neighboring syria. let's get a better understanding of what's at stake in mosul, the war going on right now. i'm joined by state department spokesman john kirby. john, thanks for joining us. >> great to be with you, -- wolf, thank you. >> mosul is the second-largest city in iraq. a million people are still there. it's been an isis stronghold for more than two years, it's a hard battle under way right now. everything you're hearing at the state department you're getting diplomatic reports, how is the military offensive going. >> they are making good progress on the ground in and around mosul, no question about that and we're seeing terrific coordination between the peshmerga forces and iraqi security forces so that is moving in the right direction, trend lines are going well, that said -- and i think you eluded to it a few seconds ago, this is going to be a tough fight. nobody is saying it's over by any stretch of the imagination.

this has been a stronghold for isil now for two years, there is the whole battle began and i don't think anybody expects them to give it up without a struggle. so what's going on right now is they're working on the outskirts of the city, they're applying pressure to isil inside the city and i think you're going to continue to see that squeeze play continue and then eventually obviously they'll mount more aggressive operations inside the city itself. >> i think mosul will be a hard battle as well and presumably a dangerous one for the civilians caught in the middle. what about raqqah? the syrian stronghold. ash carter said a military offensive for raqqah might begin in a matter of weeks. is it realistic for the u.s. to do -- to be involved in both of these military operations at the same time?

>> well, we have the capacity to do that from a military perspective, no question about it. i would point out that we have already been active in terms of assisting and helping from the air in numerous operations inside iraq how many hmosul has everybody's attention but don't forget all the great work the isf has done. so we can support more than one operation at a time but you're right when you say this is -- these are fights for local indigenous forces to take on. the iraqi security forces are mounting the campaign against mosul. this is their strategy, their plan, we're assisting it but it's their thing to execute. the same will happen in rack car, i don't want to get into operations that haven't happened yet. the secretary of defense spoke to the urgency in raqqah but we will do our part to support those efforts on the ground as they go after raqqah. >> as you say, it's encouraging, the iraqi force, the kurdish forces, the peshmerga, they're working so far together.

that's very encouraging. >> it is. >> we always associate isis with what's going on in iraq and syria but now there's some growing concern about the isis presence in afghanistan as well following the kidnapping and killing of about 30 people. how concerned is the u.s. -- how concerned is the state department that isis is now trying to establish some sort of caliphate in afghanistan? >> this is a long standing concern. we've been talking to leaders about this for more than a year. if you listen to president ghani, he has talked about his growing concerns over the last year to 18 months about isil advancing inside his country. we've seen these reports, they're difficult to determine the veracity of them all but the idea that isil is trying to grow a presence in afghanistan is not a new idea and the idea that afghan national security forces would be mounting increasing operations against them is not new. our commanders in afghanistan

have spoken to this. this is a group that has tried to and will continue to try to metastasize outside iraq and syria as they get pressured inside iraq and syria and afghanistan is one of those locations that we've been watching closely. >> does isis have a significant presence in libya as well? >> well, they have a present in libya, i'm loathe to give out intelligence estimates of the number but they have had a presence there in libya, it has grown in some scope over the last year or so. that said, i will also tell you that they're feeling the pinch in libya, too, and you've been covering the operations and some of the strikes that have happened there. what i can tell you without getting into too much detail is they are feeling pressure inside libya. >> john kirby is the state department spokesman. john, thanks very much for joining us. we'll stay in close touch with you. >> thanks, wolf, good to be with you. >> thank you. that's it for me. i'll be back 5:00 p.m. east american the situation room. for international viewers

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here we go. you're watching cnn, i'm brooke baldwin. very soon hillary clinton and donald trump will be holding rallies in battleground states. we are 13 days away from election day and here is a little taste of the headlines right now. we have today new audiotapes, trump talks life, talks new e-mails. hillary clinton aides talk cleanup. and a new spat involving megyn kelly over sex and, oh, yeah, mitt romney is back. but we must start with donald trump's first one-on-one interview with cnn in a month. mr. trump just spoke with our chief political correspondent dana bash after his grand