warren on the rise. elizabeth warren is sweeping ahead in one of the most sought after u.s. states in the presidential election. also, joe biden striking back against allegations involving him and his son. he says it's all a smear campaign by the president. >> also. >> are we on the threshold of a military response do you believe? >> we don't want war. the u.s. doesn't want war. it is really up to the iranians. >> and one-on-one with a top saudi arabian diplomat. he tensions and

what might come next. i'm coming to you live from atlanta. this is cnn "newsroom". i'm natalie allen. our top story, new cnn polling and a new name a top of the list of presidential hopefuls in a key state. the cnn des moines register poll shows senator elizabeth warren running ahead of the pack, just edging out former vice president joe biden. keep in mind the poll is just for the state of iowa and it is within the margin of error. but iowa is a crucial step toward getting the democrat's nomination and taking on president donald trump. cnn political director david

chalian gives us directive. >> reporter: there is a new state of the race in the first critical kickoff contest in iowa. a brand-new exclusive cnn/des moines register poll shows the new state of the race. elizabeth warren has surged in iowa. she is at 22% now among likely iowa democratic caucusgoers. joe biden at 20%. bernie sanders at 11%, pete buttigieg at 9%, kamala harris at 6 wers a% and booker and klo at 3%. it is important to note that there is no clear leader in this race. the margin of error in the poll is plus or minus 4%. obviously, there's only a two-point difference here. there is no clear leader, but there are clear trend lines. they are that warren is on the

rise as biden has faded over time, though still clearly in a competitive contest. take a look compared to june. warren is at 22% now. she was 15% then. she's up 7. joe biden down 3 from june. he was at 23. now at 20. bernie sanders down 5. another score that we look at is we ask voters your first choice or who is your second choice or who are you active live considering? we put all that together. elizabeth warren out in front here. 71% of likely democratic caucusgoers in iowa say warren is first, second or they are actively considering her. that's up 10 points since june. whereas everyone else holds relative steady. buttigieg and harris, three

points each. sanders down six. biden holds steady. but it is warren who is making gains. >> while campaigning in iowa, biden is defending his family and slamming president trump. the presidential candidate says he wants an investigation after reports mr. trump asked the leader of ukraine to dig up dirt on biden and his son hunter. >> he knows i'll beat him like a drum. and he is using abuse of power and every element of the presidency to try to do something to smear me. he abuses power everywhere he can, and he sees -- he sees any threat to his staying in power, he will do whatever he has to do. but this crosses the line. >> the trump team has suggested biden used his position as vice president to shield his son from an investigation involving a ukrainian energy company. but to be clear, there is no

evidence of that, and the allegations have been discredited. those reports that the white house tried to press ukraine on the bidens stepped from a whistle-blower complaint. the inspector general for the united states intelligence community deemed it credible and urgent. but president trump is trying to dismiss it as a partisan witch-hunt. cnn's jeremy diamond has details from the white house. >> reporter: well, president donald trump is striking out at this whistle-blower complaint that he is now facing. and the president is turning to a very familiar playbook, the same one he used when faced with the investigation by special counsel robert mueller. that investigation the president referred to as the russia witch-hunt. now, as he faces this whistle-blower complaint, he's calling it the ukraine witch-hunt, insisting it is being fueled by the media, being fueled by democrats. and he is also going after the credibility of the complainants. he said he doesn't know the

identity of the complainant, he is insisting this is a political hack job calling the whistle brother partisan, even though he has no evidence to back that clam up. it flies in the face that the inspector general, who was appointed by the president, confirmed by the senate, has given credibility to these allegations by disagreeing directly with the acting director of national intelligence's decision not to share that complaint with congress, writing in a letter to congressional leaders that he does feel this complaint matches that urgent notification threshold. this issue, though, is sure not to go away this week. the acting director of national intelligence is set to testify on capitol hill later this week. and the president himself will be meeting with the eye creukra president on the sidelines of the general assembly. at the white house, jeremy diamond, cnn.

awe crain's foreign minister is defending mr. trump's call with the ukrainian president, but he isn't saying it didn't involve the bidens. here he was saturday. >> translator: the president has the right to talk to another president. this conversation remains confidential. someone believes that our president is being put under pressure, they have to prove it. i know what the conversation was about, and i think there was no pressure. conversations are different. leaders have the right to discuss any problems that exist. this conversation was long, friendly, and it touched on a lot of questions, including those requiring serious answers. >> that was ukraine's foreign minister there. ukrainian president zellen sky is set to meet with president trump at the u.n. general assembly next week. let's talk about these developments with the professor of international politics at city university of london. good to see you.

>> reporter: good morning. >> good morning to you. >> reporter: good to see you. >> thank you. is mr. trump in a sense accusing joe biden of doing what mr. trump reportedly did with the ukrainian president, so says the whistle-blower? >> reporter: i think that's exactly right. i think each of the two leaders, president trump and vice president biden basically were carrying out various kinds of actions which included possibly their families as well. but at the higher level, it is the kind of force or coercion of a foreign leader to do something they don't otherwise want to do. there is a whiff of empire trying to whip an ally into place as well. so i would say they are toing and froing is going to carry on. it seems to be that it will damage each of them in different ways.

it will probably damage american politics much more and turn people off politics. that may be the precise reason why president trump is focusing on vice president biden at that particular time. i think he wants to divert some attention. but he played that card with hillary clinton in 2016. and i think his aim is to slice a few people away to make them stay at home in 2020 and thereby undermine the democratic candidate. >> the president is calling this issue another witch-hunt. the question is, will we find out? when the whistle-blower's complaint be investigated? if the white house continues to hold it from congress, we are back to a fight over the release of information. >> absolutely. if congress plays the old game, which they have been playing the last two or three years, which is waiting on an investigation or for information from the executive, i think they are not going to get too far.

what some people are saying within the legal community in the united states, is congress needs to nurture witnesses. not just the whistle-blower but witnesses who are willing to collaborate with congress to try to bring more information to bear. that may be the way to break the deadlock. because this administration has shown they are not too concerned with constitutional process or procedure. they don't want to really give up any information which may be damaging. and they are controlling it when they do release it in a drip-drip fashion. this i think is going to carry on. congress has to play much more clever game to try to nurture witnesses on its own. and thereby gain more information. and i think that would be the step towards really seeing what was going on and then perhaps this abuse of power, if it is that, could then lead to actual credible impeachment processes. >> yes. and you mentioned how this issue

could effect the united states globally with its integrity. with reports that the u.s. withheld military aid to ukraine, how serious is this if he manipulated policy to force another country to take action on a presidential candidate. >> that is impeachment offense. if true, it's an impeachable offense. first, he is trying to coerce a foreign leader to do something they would not otherwise do. abuse of power. second, they are trying to get a foreign power to release dirt on a political rival. second problem. and the third problem is it affects the civil liberties of an american citizen, hunter biden. that is an impeachable offense. is congress going to play a game which is -- play their cards in such a manner as to be effective as opposed to making a great deal of noise. that is the problem. they need to get a lot more

smart. in the end, this is abuse of power. to withhold $250 million of military aid i think is a big problem for president trump. as we know, natalie, his support base is so solid, it is almost a cult-like character to it pwufplt the behavior of the american president is the behavior of some sort of a godfather rather than an american president necessarily. >> well, as this story develops, we will likely talk with you again about it. thank you. >> thank you very much. saudi arabia blames iran for strikes on its oil facilities. and if they are proven right, they say it would have been an act of war. our interview with a top saudi diplomat. that's next. and believe in passionately. it's the idea that if our mothers were diagnosed with cancer, how would we want them to be treated? that's exactly how we care for you.

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hundreds of protesters are crammed inside a hong kong shopping mall right now. they are causing disruptions for shops they believe are pro-beijing. it has been a largely peaceful demonstration on the 16th straight week of pro-democracy protests.

however, moments ago, we saw a crowd dragging a chinese flag on the floor, possibly spraying paint on it, before dragging it around some more. but it follows a night of violent clashes after a lawful march into chaos. riot police shot tear gas and rubber bullets at demonstrators armed with rocks, bottles, and gas bombs. saudi arabia has a new message for iran as it continues to blame the country for an attack on its oil facilities. the saudi minister of state for foreign affairs tells cnn the kingdom would consider the strikes an act of war if an international investigation finds they were launched from iranian soil. >> we want iran to behave like a normal nation. we want iran to stop interfering in the affairs of other countries and supporting terrorist groups. and we want them to stop providing ballistic missiles to

terrorist groups. and we want them to make sure they are never in a position to acquire a nuclear weapon. we want to have good relations. we want to trade with them. but we can't do this is if all we get is death and destruction. >> president rouhani, foreign minister zarif will be new york. what value do they have if they don't represent the country? >> i think the iranians need to hear a firm message from the international community that this behavior is not acceptable and this behavior must stop. >> they have heard that message before? they have heard that very loudly? >> they need to hear it before. there needs to be action. for example, trying to set up a parallel financial payment system is appeasement. trying to give them a line of credit is appeasement. it just 'em boldens them.

they have to know there will be consequences to their actions. >> the united states pulling out of the jcpoa, joint nuclear deal, to try to get a better deal, try to get a control of ballistic missiles, to try to get a timeline. has that blown up and backfired? what we have seen is the hard liners are on the rise and more aggressive behavior. and you're suffering for it. >> iran is feeling the pressure of the sanctions, no doubt. >> but you're feeling the heat of that pressure. this attack on your country, if you're right, that iran did this, you're feeling the heat of that pressure. >> yeah. but we do not engage in appeasement. we will do whatever it takes to protect our country and our citizens and our residents and our facilities. and we will work with our allies to ensure that this happens. >> are we on the threshold of a military response, do you believe? >> we don't want war. the u.s. doesn't war. but it is really up to the iranians if they keep continuing along this path, then they risk the possibility of military

action. but nobody wants war. everybody wants to resolve this peacefully. and the end result has to be an end to iran's aggressive policies. >> i don't see the difference at the moment, if you don't mind me saying, of iran producing these weapons. and then waiting for an investigation to find out where they were fired from. it all amounts to the same thing, you will come to the same point. are you playing for time by saying we are investigating right now when you perhaps have a very strong inclination? >> we hold iran responsible because the miss skpeuiles and that were fired were from yemen where iranian built, iranian-delivered missile. so we hold them responsible. to launch an tack from your territory if that is a case puts us in a different category. >> what's the different category? >> this would be considered an act of war. . >> more from nic robertson later

in the program. iran is pushing back against u.s. pressure after washington said it would send troops to saudi arabia to help defend the kingdom. iran president rouhani said tehran will not allow anyone to violate its borders. he was speaking at a ceremony in iran. he warned against the presence of foreign forces in the region. >> translator: the security of the persian gulf is int intraregional. the strait of more amuse is int intraregional. they can cause insecurity for our people and for our region. >> mr. rouhani is set to take part in the u.n. general assembly this week in new york. he said iran would inform the assembly of a plan for securing the gulf with the help of other nations. let's talk more with our guest bobby ghosh, editorial board member on the bloomberg news,

live from london. thank you for being with us. >> first up, do you get a sense of a drum beat of war? we just heard from saudi arabia. we heard from iran. but do you get a accepts of any drum beat of war between these countries over this attack in saudi arabia? >> most of the noise about war is coming from the iranians. we just heard the saudi foreign minister trying to make sort of -- almost making excuses not to go to war. from the american side, we have heard the trump administration say repeatedly that they don't want a war from the iranian side you are seeing missiles. they refused to rule out the possibility of war. a couple of months ago it was rising to the level we saw

before. but now it seems that the u.s. especially and the saudis to some degree are being far more cautious in their response to the attacks, whereas iran is becoming more provocative from that side. >> so how does the increase in military might by the u.s. affect the situation? does it ratchet up the threat or prevent it? do you expect at any point a military response by saudi arabia, if they do conclude this attack came from an iranian base? . >> well, i would be quite surprised if the saudis launched a military strike on iran. that would be a level of aggression that would inflame the entire region. it is tricky because it is certainly not popular with iranians or ordinary saudis.

it is a balance the u.s. has to strike. at the same time we have seen that the saudis have failed their own oil installations. we have to remember this is not just an attack on saudi arabia. this is an attack on the global economic system. 6% of the global oil is offline. at a higher altitude, this is something that affects the whole of the world. the united states apparently is taking the position that it has interest in protecting the saudi oil facility, economic as well as political interest. that's why it is trying to help

the saudis protect the facilities from these kinds of attacks. >> house speaker nancy pelosi calls the arm sales and troop deployments outrageous. she said americans are weary of war and have no interest in entering another middle east conflict, particularly on behalf of saudi arabia. how would this look for president trump if something were to happen here? >> it is a very fine balance he's walking. he came into the white house promising no more wars, promising to withdraw american troops, to reduce america's footprint in the middle east. here he is finding himself increasing that footprint, raising the number of american troops that are in that region. so this is not necessarily going to be very popular with his base. this is a president who first and foremost seems to care about his base. this will be quite tricky for him. on the one hand, he needs to send iranians a signal that that

behavior will not be tolerated. it is a fine balance that everybody is walking. . >> well, he did send a signal via new sanctions. we appreciate your insights on this, bobby ghosh for us from bloomberg. thank you very much. >> any time, natalie. next here, an overheating world. activists all fired up to do something about it. but the leader of the free world, that would be president trump, is taking a pass on the u.n.'s climate summit. we take a closer look at that next. they can do all sorts of things in your name. criminals can use ransomware, spyware, or malware to gain access to information like your name, your birthday, and even your social security number. - [announcer] that's why norton and lifelock are now part of one company, providing an all in one membership for your cyber safety that gives you identify theft protection, device security, a vpn for online privacy, and more. and if you have an identity theft problem, we'll work to fix it

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welcome back to our viewers here in the u.s. and around the

world. you're watching cnn "newsroom". i'm natalie allen with our headlines though hour. joe biden is slamming u.s. president trump over reports he pressured ukraine to investigate biden's son hunter. the former vice president and democratic presidential candidate says mr. trump should be investigated. he accuses the president of abusing his power and trying to smear biden's campaign. u.s. senator elizabeth warren is challenging joe biden's dominance in the latest cnn poll. according to the poll, 22% of iowa caucusgoers plan to back warren, compared to 20% for biden. the iowa caucuses are a key stop in the candidate's road to the general election. >> saudi arabia says it would consider the attack on its oil facilities last week an act of war if an international investigation finds the strikes were launched from iran. a saudi diplomat tells cnn iran's behavior has become more

aggressive. tehran denies it was behind the attack. iran's president says his nation will not allow anyone to violate its borders after the united states said it would send troops to saudi arabia to help defend the kingdom. at a ceremony marks the start of iran's war with iran, hassan rouhani said foreign forces in the gulf can create insecurity in the region. a mother risked everything to escape the poverty of north korea dreaming on of a better life in the south. but earlier this year, she and her young son were found dead. reportedly they starved to death. paula hancocks has our story. >> reporter: they are believed to have starved to death in a land of plenty. a defector and 6-year-old son are remembered by hundreds who never met them. on saturday in seoul, they

demanded an apology from the government. eventually violence erupted. they fled the brutality of north korea in 2007. years later, she left her husband looking for sanctuary with her son in seoul, but they never found it. they found them in their home with no food in the house. last year she called him to ask for his help in securing monthly financial support from the government. >> translator: she went to the welfare office but was denied help because she didn't have her divorce papers. >> reporter: he said her ex-husband would never help her get her papers. he thought of his decision to rescue her. >> translator: why did i bring her here from her farm? even in rural china you don't die of starvation.

>> reporter: she knew her story because it could just have easily been her story. she fled the north. she was sold to a chinese farmer, eventually escaping to the south to raise her son alone. >> translator: -- i couldn't go to child interviews with a child on my back. the welfare office said if i sent my child to day care, the welfare support would be cut off the same day. the welfare office told cnn there's no record of her speaking welfare support, though they do have a record of her visit last year. they admit there are blind spots in the defector welfare system, which they are working on. for this mother and child, it's too late. paula hancocks, cnn, seoul >> a romantic american proposal

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the climate crisis will be at the top of the agenda when the u.n. general assembly's new session kicks off this week. it brings together leaders from across the world to try to fix some of the world's toughest problems. the u.n. already got the climate ball rolling with the weekend of events with young activists who have been driving the call to address our overheating earth. some 60 cups are expected to make new commitments at a high-level summit on climate change with the leader of the world's biggest economy won't be there. u.s. president trump. he's skipping the climate gathering to lead a session on religious persecution. while world leaders are gathering at the u.n., violent clashes broke out during a climate crisis march in paris saturday. a rally by activists in the champ de elysee was overtaken by protesters. green piece asked demonstrators

to leave when the violence started. >> let's talk with amanda mckenzie joining us live from skype in melbourne. thanks so much, amanda, for being with us. first up, millions of young people took to the streets friday all over the world to demand leaders take action. the u.n. holds a summit this week. they seem to be listening. do you think the student strike will force global action on this? >> well, i think the strikes have been absolutely amazing. here in melbourne, we had 100,000 people on the streets and 300,000 people across australia. and it shows here and globally just how concerned people are. it is important that young people are leading it, given that it is their future. that pressure will be felt my world leaders. i think it has already been felt. this is only the start of an

even bigger push worldwide. >> how will that big push look next, do you think? >> i have been working on this issue 15 years. it feels like there is a drop worldwide. people are realizes governments haven't done enough. in my country of australia, local governments have been taking action. 2,500 businesses said they will go to this rally on friday. it seems like all parts of the economy there is a push upwards to national governments. >> that is encouraging. but at the same time china, u.s. are the biggest smog polluters. president trump will skip the climate summit this week at the u.n. he worked to block california from cleaning up its air, reducing emissions. so he is fighting clean air in the united states and rolling back all kinds of environmental

protections without the united states government: this be achieved that we can make real gains in holding off the world's heating? >> i think everyone around the world is looking to america with horror saying donald trump's lack of action or blocking action. you mentioned california. california is one of the biggest states obviously in america but one of the biggest economies in the word. they have been showing a lot of leadership on this issue. you know, can we do it, can we not do it? we actually don't know. we have to do as much we can, every jurisdiction around the world. donald trump has been delaying action in america. but a lot of u.s. states and a lot of u.s. provincial governments are progressing action. and that's happening all around the world. there is a grassroots change. so i think even though donald trump may try to obstruct

action, i think there is still a huge push in the community. everyone around the world keeps having to do their best because time is limited. . >> yes. and it comes down to burning fossil fuels. there is much talk of a 12-year deadline for the world to reverse climate change. that's due to last fall's scientific report, that in order to limit warming to 2.7 degrees ferron teeth or 1.5 cells us kw, they will have to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2030. that is a high calling. do you think that is possible? . >> well, it's absolutely possible. i think it's a good analogy to look at landing a man on the moon, which the united states obviously pioneered. it wasn't all clear how to do it. but in contrast to that, we have all the technology at our fin r fingertips. renewable energy is cheaper than the cost of fossil fuels now.

we have dropping costs of ev. there is technology there. it's just a question of the political will. >> yes, it certainly is. that's been holding it back. it seems like there has been a turning point in this youth strike around the world was an indicator of that. because quite frankly, people who have been skeptical are now seeing what's happening. you know, we have been talking about it. we are saying it's coming. oftentimes until people feel it and see it, there's not action. . >> well, that's right. in australia, we had bush fires in queensland that were devastating. the first ever catastrophic conditions declared in queensland in winter. now they are having terrible fires in winter. we to share resourfire seasons

california. we used to have them opposite times so we could share resources. that is harder and harder to do. the cost of the escalating climate crisis upon us now will only get worse if there is not dedicated action worldwide. what worries me is that change that's happening at a local level and state level that's now pushing governments around the world and obviously the youth strikes have been really important. young people that would prefer to be at school but they're getting out there saying we'll take leadership if we are not seeing leadership by the adults. for adults, it poets tuts the o us. . >> yes. all the signs they held up, they made their point. we appreciate your insights. amanda mckenzie. >> thanks for having me. . >> sure thing. as we have been reporting, saudi arabia said it would consider

the attack on its oil facilities an act of war if an international investigation finds the strikes were fired from iran. that comes from the saudi minister of state for foreign affairs. and he spokes about it with cnn's nic robertson. here's more of nic's interview. >> the united states is sending a few hundred troops here, missile batteries. is that really enough to guarantee 100% protection for vulnerable sites? >> the united states and saudi arabia are close allies when it comes to a defense relationship. and i believe the united states sending equipment now. and the details of this are with our minister of defense. but i believe that the situation will be assessed on a continual basis and adjustments made when needed. >> iran seems to detect that saudi arabia is in a weak position. zarif said in effect that saudi arabia was willing to fight iran down to the last u.s. soldier. but he thinks you can't stand up

to them -- >> no. it confirms he said many outrageous things and laughable things. saudi arabia and the united states have been allies for 80 years. we have spilled blood your blood and our blood together. they always carry their weight. saudi arabia and the united states are not reckless when it comes to wars. it is the iranians who are reckless in engaging in such behavior. >> zarif says iran isn't responsible for the attack, that he is willing to talk to saudi arabia. what do you say to him? . >> he and other iranian officials have said a lot of things that are frankly not correct, if not outright lies. to say they are not responsible for this or didn't do it is outrageous. >> but if they are they are saying that, potentially they could do this again. what happens then? >> with regard to what they're saying, either mr. zarif is not telling the truth or he's not aware of what his deposit is doing.

the other side of his deposit is doing tkpwhrfplt what do you think? do you think they are split? >> we know there is part of the iranian government that projects an image of wanting to talk to the world, but they don't seem to have influence. and there is another part of the deposit that wants to expand the revolution and take over the region. they don't want to talk. it is like a two faces of the same coin. from our perspective -- >> yeah. from your assessment, who is winning that at the moment in iran? >> i can't establish this for a fact. but what we have seen is that iran's aggressive behavior has increased, not decreased. iran's energy supplies have increased not decreased. >> hard line is on the rise? >> it appears so. >> nic robertson there in that interview. >> another kennedy could take a seat in the u.s. seat, but first he will have to beat another powerful democratic. can he do it?

it is important to make friends on the campaign trail even if they are swimmery, crying infants.

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the u.s. senate may have another member of the kennedy family serving in it soon. joe kennedy iii announced he is running for senate. despite his famous last name, he will have to beat a famous congressman who has been in office for four decades. >> reporter: congressman's run sets up a fight between two political powerhouses. ed markey has been in since 1976, longer than kennedy has been alive. and then you have the grandson of bobby kennedy in a city and state that showed a lot of love for the kennedys over the years. while some expect this to be around a generational argument since both candidates largely agree on major issues, congressman kennedy argues it will be more about that. he has now ideas, new approach. he said democrats need to do more in 2020 than defeat president trump.

and he is talking about big structural changes to what he calls a broken system. >> do you disagree? >> i disagree on a number of areas. one, structural reform. i have rejected that. i believe that you need to call for term limits to lower the temperatures. and get the president that this country votes for and wants. i look forward to seeing the senator's view on more than that. i have laid out a whole wide variety of plans that i think with we need to engage in to make our economic system more fair. yes, there will be areas where we overlap. he has been a strong leader on climate. i hold my climate record against anybody's >> reporter: he made his announcement in east boston.

his father's parents first arrived from ireland in 1848. and he highlighted his family's long history of public service in his remarks. and i should note, as i mentioned before, there is a lot of love for kennedys in this state. the latest poll from the "boston globe" and suffolk university that came out just after labor day shows kennedy way ahead, 14 points ahead in a head-to-head matchup. and nine points in the rest of the field, the other primary challengers when you look at the whole field. >> athena jones reporting for us there. as the u.s. presidential candidates can tell you, it is not easy to be on the campaign trail, especially when you have to compete against crying babies for attention. jeanne moos has our story. >> reporter: when candidates interact with babies, it usually makes you say, ahh. but sometimes in instead of inspiring ahh, they inspire

irritation. >> if we could keep that down a little bit. okay, thanks. >> babies don't take orders, even from potential presidents. >> this one kept fussing. babies are born with immunity to dirty looks. one day bernie sanders is kid friendly. >> oh, my goodness! >> reporter: the next day he is literally waving them off. trevor noah once tried to imagine bernie as a baby. >> has bernie looked like this his entire life? i bet when he was born the doctor was like tkpwraeugscongr mrs. sanders it's a beautiful, healthy old man. >> if we could keep that down a little bit. >> reporter: but he was almost nurturing compared to a certain someone. >> you can get the baby out of here. >> reporter: the baby's mom was already headed out since then candidate trump had called attention to the crying a minute or two earlier. >> don't worry about that baby. i love babies. i love babies. >> reporter: trump has gone so

far as to sign a baby. >> oh, give me that baby. >> reporter: sometimes a crying baby can be a political asset. back in 2012. >> i don't blame that baby for crying. she just realized what it means if romney gets elected. >> pregnancy is no longer a pre-existing condition. >> reporter: dad popped up for a selfie. even when they grow up, the kid desperately wanted to hug the president. he flexed his hugging muscles, went in for the kill, but pulled back and fained nonchalance. politicians are hoping some of that cuteness rubs off on them. jeanne moos, cnn. >> oh, he's just charming me. >> reporter: new york. >> thanks for watching this hour. i'm natalie allen. cnn "newsroom" continues right after this with our top stories.

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ahead this hour, the race for the democratic party nomination tightens. also the whistle-blower mystery. joe biden reacts, slamming president trump and calling allegations against his family a smear campaign. israel's political stalemate. the president holds talks with top political leaders today. live to jerusalem with the latest on that. from cnn world headquarters in atlanta, welcome to our viewers in the u.s. and around the world. i'm natalie allen, and this is