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First Democratic Debate On Tuesday; Hillary Clinton Still Tops The Latest Poll; Jason Rezaian Remains Imprisoned in Iran; More Bloodshed Today as Israelis and Palestinians continue To Clash. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired October 11, 2015 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[14:00:13] JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: Hello. Welcome to Las Vegas, Nevada, site of the very first Democratic presidential debate right here on CNN. I'm John Berman out in front of the Wynn Las Vegas.

In just two days the five Democratic presidential hopefuls will face off for the very first time again right here on CNN. Just a short time ago, we unveiled the lectern set up inside the hall, Hillary Clinton on top of the polls. She will be center stage. To her right Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, the leader in the key state of New Hampshire. On her left, former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, former Virginia Senator Jim Webb and former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee. They will book end the stage.

There is a brand-new poll out today, Hillary Clinton on top in the CBS poll. She is 19 points ahead of Bernie Sanders. Now, if, if vice president Joe Biden enters the race, he would be in third with the other candidates far, far behind.

But a Biden candidacy is still a big if. There has been no word from the vice president who has been meeting all weekend with friends and family to discuss a potential run up in Delaware. No white smoke, no black smoke from that house. We simply do not know what's going on there.

Let's begin here, though, with CNN's senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta, who is inside the debate hall right behind me at the Wynn Las Vegas.

Jim, tell me what the candidates are doing to prepare today.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, you are not going to see them anywhere near the Wynn hotel where we are inside right now checking out the debate preps that are underway. Our CNN staff, they are all over the inside of this ballroom getting it set for Tuesday night's debate, the first Democratic debate of this season.

And as you said, those elect turns behind me, there they are. The one in the middle there; that is where Hillary Clinton will be standing Tuesday night. She's the front-runner, obviously. And as you said to her right Bernie Sanders and then the other candidates, Martin O'Malley, Lincoln Chafee and Jim Webb. But just to give you a sense of the scope here, John. I want our

photographer, Chris, pan out over the area here. This is where the audience will be sitting down and watching the debate unfold. Across the room, you see this big screen over here. Don lemon, one of the hosts of the debate, he will be standing under that fielding questions from Facebook users. And then right is where Anderson Cooper will be standing as he moderates this debate. And on the far table is where you'll see Dana Bash and Juan Carlos Lopez. They'll be joining in on the questions.

And you know, John, this is going to be a big chance not only for Bernie Sanders, who is looking for a way to make a moment on Tuesday night, but some of the candidates are really struggling to show up in the polls, people like Maryland governor Martin O'Malley. He was on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" earlier this morning talking about what lit take to sort of have one of those make-or-break moments during Tuesday night's debate. And here is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTIN O'MALLEY (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Fifteen years of executive experience which I alone will have on that stage of actually accomplishing progressive things. It's not about the words, it is about the actions. Things we did in Maryland to pull together new consensus after new consensus, to pass a living wage, to pass comprehensive gun safety legislation, pass the dream act and marriage equality. It's about the doing, not saying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, the big battle that everyone will be watching will be between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders has got to be one of the big stories of this campaign cycle so far. He has come out of nowhere. The independent senator from Vermont, the self- described socialist really giving Hillary Clinton a run for her money in some of the polls out there. And over the last 48 hours, he has started talking about his Iraq war vote back in 2002. He voted against the war, Hillary Clinton voted in favor of the war. Those are echoes of that battle Royale between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama back in 2008. President Obama used that dividing line as a way to sort of exploit the differences between himself and Hillary Clinton on that issue of the war. And Bernie Sanders, he was on one of the Sunday talk shows earlier this morning talking about how he might try to differentiate himself from the former secretary of state. And here is what he had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think what ended up happening is the president, because he happens to be a very decent guy, actually thought that he could sit down with Republican leadership and work out some fair compromises. The truth is, one, they never had any intention to compromise. But number two, more importantly, you have to be prepared to mobilize people to take on these big money interests. But you're right. I think we can do it, and I think that's what the bully pulpit is about and what organizing effort is about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: So Senator Sanders talking about how he's trying to go even a step beyond Barack Obama. He has been packing in the crowd. So he had a crowd of over 9,000 people over the weekend, John. It's been sort of unbelievable to watch the rise of the independent senator from Vermont. But he has a big challenge ahead of him on Tuesday night. He really has to show that he can own that stage with Hillary Clinton. It was something that Barack Obama was able to do at times during that 2008 campaign, worked to his advantage. The question is whether Bernie Sanders can do the same thing.

And let's not forget one presence that is looming over everything right now, John, and that is of course vice president Joe Biden. As you said, he's up in Delaware this weekend. I would say, John, I've been looking at this stage all morning long. There is plenty of space if the vice president would like to join us on Tuesday evening, hint- hint. I even saw a spare podium off stage in case he wants to join us.

I can see a situation, John, where he pulls in in that yellow corvette with the aviators on and just says, "let's do this thing." It would be fun to watch and fascinating political television if the vice president decides to join in, John.

[14:05:50] BERMAN: That would be a heck of an entrance right there, Jim. The elephant not in the room, at least not yet. Jim Acosta for us inside the debate hall. Thanks so much.

And we have some news this afternoon that all of the candidates to know that are watching very closely, word from Iran of the verdict of- in the case of a "Washington Post" journalist imprisoned there since July of 2014 apparently on espionage charges.

Jason Rezaian remains imprisoned despite the international outcry for his release.

CNN's chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto joins me now by phone with the latest.

Jim, you've been covering this story for years now. What are we learning? What do we really know about this verdict?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (on the phone): John, we don't know anything about what the verdict is. And his family and other observers on this case will take this announcement with the slightest of skepticism because a few weeks ago the judiciary -- a spokesperson for the judiciary said that they were close to a decision then. By the end of that week, this is about a month and a half ago, and it never happened. So you have to take with a little bit of skepticism.

This time it seems more definitive. But the whole process has been so opaque because they kept him in prison for a number of months before they even named the charges and came out saying espionage was one of them. So it's been opaque from the beginning. You can sense the frustration from the family. I've been in touch with the family repeatedly.

Here's what his brother Ali Rezaian said this morning. He said, the Iranian government has never provided any proof of the trumped-up espionage and other charges against Jason. So today's vague statement on a purported verdict, while certainly disappointing to our family, is not surprising.

They have been on the other hand, expecting at some point the court, John, to come through with a decision. They just have to. They kind of have to come to some sort of conclusion here. But they have very little confidence in the system. I can tell you that much.

BERMAN: Now, Jim, we know that Jason Rezaian, case to case of other Americans being held in Iran, not central to the negotiations of the Iran nuclear deal though was discussed on the sidelines there. And lately, there's been word from Arabian officials, publicly and privately, they're open to the idea of some kind of prisoner swap involving Rezaian.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Not central negotiations, in fact, excluded from them. The U.S. said that they would not make it will status of the prisoners part of the negotiations, although you certainly heard critics from the outside saying they should be part of them. You can't make a deal with Iran while they're holding these four Americans or at least three Americans because the fate of Robert Levinson is not known. So that was a constant tension throughout.

This idea of a swap is interesting. It's been out there raised by folks who are not parties to either government as a possibility, but now you have in an interview with Christiane Amanpour and others the Iranian president bringing it up as a possibility. So who would be on the other side in there are a handful of Iranian nationals in U.S. prisons, some of them charged with transferring nuclear technology and of course relative to the nuclear deal. Others charged with arms smuggling. So you do have potential candidates. Of course there are some involved in this who would say well, that's you know, here you have Jason Rezaian, who's a journalist by all accounts, at least on this side of the ocean to the idea of switching him out for someone like that. That says the Iranians claim some of the Iranians in U.S. prisons are there for political reasons as opposed to actual, you know, for actual crimes.

But you know, I think all sides are open to anything here. If at the end of it would mean freedom for Jason Rezaian and (INAUDIBLE) who is a former U.S. (INAUDIBLE) two others who have been held in Iraq.

BERMAN: Of course the big problem right now as you point out, the process there, the furthest thing imaginable from transparent. So even if there is a 20-day appeal process as we've been told, nothing that we will see very little that will be known to the west to be sure.

Jim Sciutto, thanks for being with us.

SCIUTTO: Thanks.

[14:09:58] BERMAN: Coming up now, the Jason Rezaian case just one of the foreign policy issues certain to come up at the CNN Democratic debate. Right behind me, already candidates going out of their way to stake out big differences with Hillary Clinton. How far will they go on that debate stage? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:13:32] BERMAN: All right. This is Las Vegas, Nevada. This is the Wynn Las Vegas hotel, and this is where for the first time in this entire presidential campaign, the Democratic candidates will face off in a debate. Five on stage in the CNN Facebook contest Tuesday night right here. And there are all kinds of gambling metaphors you could make. And certainly, one we are here right now, there is a big bet being placed on foreign policy.

Joining me to discuss, CNN's political director David Chalian and CNN senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson.

Mr. Chalian, Bernie Sanders this weekend shows this weekend of all the weekends in the year.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Timing is everything.

BERMAN: To publish his speech in 2002 where he came out against the Iraq war, the invasion of Iraq. That was a vote that Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton supported. So we can expect that this is a contrast that will be made on this stage.

CHALIAN: No doubt about it. They're making that very clear. And John, what's interesting is he hasn't made that contrast the big deal that it was in 2008, obviously. It was de-contrast with Barack Obama.

Bernie Sanders hasn't gone down that route this campaign with Hillary Clinton very much. So on the eve of the debate, he clearly is looking at where he can draw sharp lines with her because there is a lot they agree on, maybe not in the foreign policy realm as much. But there is a lot that these two candidates agree on. He wanted to set down a marker and say, beware, nobody's forgotten that vote, Hillary.

BERMAN: Now, she did not have an answer for that in 2008 or at least she tried to hedge during that entire campaign with Barack Obama and John Edwards and other candidates. She has an answer now. In her book, "Hard Choices," she came out, David, and said it was the wrong vote.

[14:15:09] CHALIAN: She did. She said it was a mistake. And it took her a while to get there. And during the book tour she said that she didn't want to call it a mistake and say it was wrong out of respect to all those who served in the war. That was sort her reason for the delay. But every other Democrat on the national stage that had voted for the war had moved there.

Now, vice president Biden also voted for that war, so if he were part of his conversation going forward, he, too, would have that war vote to defend. He disavowed it in his 2008 --

BERMAN: Yes. He will not be there physically we think but his presence will be felt all the same. It's not just Bernie Sanders getting in the game. Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland, on "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning staked out space and I hadn't heard it quite this stark before, trying to create space between himself and Hillary Clinton on the issue of Syria and the possibility of no-fly zones. Let's listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

O'MALLEY: Secretary Clinton is always quick for the military intervention. I believe that a no-fly zone right now is not advisable, and this is why --

No-fly zone sound attractive but no-fly zone also have to be enforced. And given the fact that the Russian air force is in the air space over Syria, this could lead to an escalation of cold war proportions because of an accident. And I don't think that's in the best interest of the United States. There are many fights in this world, not every fight is our fight. We have to stay engaged there. We have to push back against ISIS. We have to push up the diplomatic pressure to get Russia to focus on ISIS. But I don't believe the no-fly zone is advisable.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Now, it is interesting. Without getting the specifics of what's happening in Syria, the very first phrase he started out with there was Hillary Clinton is always quick for military intervention.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes. And it was sort of a throw-away line, right, the way he sort of squeezed it in there. But it was sort of the most important line he said. And certainly hesitant to get some distance there between him and Hillary Clinton on foreign policy.

It might be, though, if you're Martin O'Malley and you're one percent, that you might want to go after Bernie Sanders instead that he wants to be in that progressive lane more so than trying to go after Hillary Clinton. But I think we're going to see all of these candidates on the subject of foreign policy try to paint Hillary Clinton has a hawk.

What's interesting here is that Hillary Clinton is sort of embracing this idea of herself as a hawk, right. She is saying that she will be tougher in terms of foreign policy than Barack Obama. You're going to have others including Lincoln Chafee, right, come out and talk about this Iraq war vote and be on the side of Obama when it comes to the not-fly zone.

CHALIAN: It is so interesting because in so much of what we've seen from Hillary Clinton, it has been a move to left on policy after policy except foreign policy. That's why she still doesn't go to the right of where the president is right now. This has been the story of her tenure inside the administration. BERMAN: And in fact, in her book "Hard Choices," she went out of her

way to talked about Syria to say that I am to the right of president Obama and Syria. She would have liked to have seen greater intervention inside Syria from the beginning. I suppose the question is what do democratic voters think about that? Is this a risk she's taking in the primary?

HENDERSON: Yes, I think it is in some ways at risk. But if you look for instance at the Iran nuclear deal, there is quite a bit of difference in terms of how people feel. It's basically a split decision in terms of how the American public feels on that. Now, she has said about that deal that she agrees with it with caveats, of course caveats, you know, gives her a lot of room there. But so far this is -- you're right. She's saying true to that 2008 version of Hillary Clinton and she is wrapping her tenure at the state department around being the voice, the sort of hawkish voice in the administration.

BERMAN: You talked about Bernie Sanders a little bit. This is the first time a lot of the country, despite the fact he's been running very well in the polls in New Hampshire and Iowa. A lot of people will be looking at him for the first time. And today, he reminded Americans that he is not a Democrat per se, big "D." You know, he is a registered independent. He calls himself a socialist. Listen to what he said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK TODD, NBC HOST, MEET THE PRESS: Are you a capitalist?

SANDERS: No. I'm a Democratic socialist. But what I mean is I've been elected as an independent throughout my political career. I am running now in the Democratic nomination process and will support -- I hope to win, expect to win -

TODD: But just support the Democratic nominee.

SANDERS: I will.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: David, he's never hidden the fact that he's -- still I think the s-word is something that most Americans watching debates on TV aren't used to hearing.

CHALIAN: John, it's the least likely attribute to attract voters. Gallup had a poll out saying 50 percent of Americans would be turned off if their president was a socialist. So like he already would start with half the country saying they don't like him.

HENDERSON: Yes. I know his people are very aware of this, the whole electability question and how that's tied to the socialism tag. They see this debate as a chance to introduce himself and also to argue for his electability.

It's interesting because, sure, he's a Democratic socialist, but he's starting to do big "D" Democratic things including speaking in front of the DNC and putting lines in his speech about gun control and also immigration reform.

[14:20:12] BERMAN: That's a whole other issue. I want to talk about gun control in the coming hours, guys.

But thanks for being with me right now. So exciting what's happening behind us, all the setup. I just walked through a short time ago. The very first Democratic presidential debate. It is right here on CNN. It's Tuesday night, just two days from now. 8:30 p.m. eastern time.

When we come back, we are going to take a look at some of the other news making news today.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:24:20] MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More bloodshed today as Israelis and Palestinians continue to clash. The Palestinian ministry of health says a 13-year-old Palestinian boy died from injuries. He sustained after getting shot by a rubber-coated bullet during clashes with Israeli forces in the west bank.

In Gaza city, the fire department says the strikes caused a house to collapse on a pregnant Palestinian woman and a 3-year-old child, killing them both.

Ben Wedeman is in Jerusalem.

Ben, so far at least nine Palestinians have died this weekend alone. Is there any indication this violence could somehow stop?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not at this point, Martin. I mean, for instance, this evening, there was an incident north of Tel Aviv where an Arab-Israeli man stopped his car by the side of Route 65, got out and stabbed four Israelis including a teenager and a female soldier. So no indication that it's going to stop.

This, of course, is a crisis that's been going on for quite some time. I was speaking to a veteran Israeli analyst who's been watching this situation in Jerusalem for 40 years. He said that this will probably peter off at some point, but it will come up again as it does almost every year. And therefore the feeling is that until there's a final resolution of this problem, that cyclical outbreaks of violence are in a sense inevitable - Martin.

[14:25:47] MARTIN: Benjamin Netanyahu says he is beefing up police presence in Jerusalem. I'm wondering, what's the reaction to the way he's been handling the situation so far?

WEDEMAN: Well, he has been a very busy man over the weekend. He has ordered the deployment of around 1,600 additional border policemen in Jerusalem and around the country. He had a four-hour meeting with his security cabinet this weekend. But nonetheless, Israelis don't seem to be happy with his actions so far. Many of feeling he is simply been too soft in dealing with the situation.

According to an opinion poll published in Israeli papers today, 73 percent are either dissatisfied or strongly dissatisfied with his handling of the crisis and they want somebody stronger to deal with it - Martin.

MARTIN: Interesting. Ben Wedeman, thank you very much reporting from Jerusalem.

Strong accusations from a former Republican staff member of the Benghazi committee. He says the panel is conducting a partisan investigation and Hillary Clinton is the target. We'll have that reaction coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:30:07] BERMAN: Welcome to Las Vegas, Nevada, site of the very first

democratic presidential debate right here on CNN. It takes place Tuesday night just two days from now. The five current democratic presidential candidates on stage for the first time together. What will happen there? Thanks so much for being with us.

I'm John Berman live in front of the Wynn Las Vegas where that debate will take place.

Two days ahead of that debate new allegations about the House Select Committee on Benghazi. Bradley Podliska was hired as an investigator to uncover the facts and determine what went wrong on the night in Benghazi back in 2012 when terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Libya killing four Americans.

The former Air Force major, a lifelong Republican, I say current Air Force officer, spoke to our Jake Tapper in an exclusive television interview about what he alleges are improper motivations by some Republicans on that committee. He says the mission for truth turned into a mission to smear the former secretary of state.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST, "THE LEAD" (voice-over): It was a terrorist attack overseas that caught the nation off guard. September 11th, 2012, militants stormed the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya in a nearby CIA annex killing four Americans including Ambassador Chris Stephens.

REPRESENTATIVE TREY GOWDY, CHAIRMAN, HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE ON BENGHAZI: The House of Representatives constituted this committee and they did so for us to find all of the facts and I intend to do that.

TAPPER: Republicans determined to investigate established a new House Select Committee to focus on how it all happened and what happened after, the Select Committee on Benghazi.

But this man says that committee's mission has changed and is now focused solely on how to put blame on former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which the committee's Republican chairman, Trey Gowdy, has repeatedly denied.

BRAD PODLISKA, FIRED BENGHAZI COMMITTEE STAFFER: I'm scared. I'm going up against powerful people in Washington. I was fired for trying to conduct an objective, thorough investigation.

TAPPER: Major Bradley Podliska was an investigator on the committee for almost nine months before being fired in June. The Air Force Reserve intelligence officer is planning a lawsuit against the committee.

He says he was dismissed in part because of the time commitment required by his duty as a major in the Air Force Reserves but also, he says, for resisting pressure to focus his investigation on Hillary Clinton and her State Department.

PODLISKA: This has become a partisan investigation. I do not know the reason for the hyper focus on Hillary Clinton.

TAPPER: Podliska is a conservative Republican who even once interned for the conservative Media Research Center.

PODLISKA: I would just like to state that I am going to vote for the Republican nominee in 2016. I do not support Hillary Clinton for president.

TAPPER: He believes that Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, has much to answer for.

(on camera): Republicans are going to listen to you and think, this is some liberal trying to get Hillary Clinton off the hook. Liberals are going to hear you and say, look, see? He's exonerating Hillary Clinton. This committee is all political and Hillary has nothing to explain. What's your message to these partisans?

PODLISKA: I'm trying to be objective. Hillary Clinton has a lot of explaining to do. We however did not need to shift resources to hyperfocus on Hillary Clinton. We didn't need to de-emphasize and in some cases drop the investigation on different agencies, different organizations, and different individuals.

TAPPER (voice-over): Clinton of course has faced intense questioning from Congress on the State Department in Benghazi.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As I have said many times I take responsibility.

TAPPER: Republicans have accused her State Department of denying requests for additional security at the U.S. mission before the attack and for being slow to acknowledge it was a terrorist attack.

CLINTON: The fact is we had four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest or because of guys out for a walk one night who decided to kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?

TAPPER: The committee has called a string of Clinton's former State Department aides to testify. Several investigations have detailed the many failures of the Obama administration in protecting Americans in Libya and in their explanations after the fact.

The Democrats are now calling for the House committee to be disbanded after Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy touted the committee's role in hurting Clinton's poll numbers.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), MAJORITY LEADER: Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a Select Committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping.

TAPPER (on camera): Did he accidentally tell the truth about the committee, that in recent months its focus has been on trying to bring Hillary Clinton's poll numbers down?

PODLISKA: Yes, I think it was a slip of the tongue. As I explained earlier, his reasoning is wrong. I honestly do not believe this investigation was set up to go after Hillary. I believe it shifted that way.

TAPPER (voice-over): Podliska says his problems began in March of this year when he told his boss on the committee that he needed to take some time off to serve in the Air Force Reserves.

[14:35:09] PODLISKA: I said I'm obligated to serve the Air Force Reserve for 39 days this year. My active duty supervisor wants me to report for an exercise in March for two weeks so I'll be going on that exercise. And also in May, they need me to report for some people.

TAPPER (on camera): And what was the response of the committee staff director when you told them that you had to go honor this obligation to the Air Force Reserve?

PODLISKA: His response was one word, and that word was wow, lower case, no punctuation, nothing. And honestly, I was horrified by it. I knew he was upset.

TAPPER (voice-over): In a statement to CNN the House committee said it, quote, "vigorously denies" all of his allegations. Podliska, the committee says, quote, "Was terminated in part because he himself manifested improper partiality and animus in his investigative work."

The committee went on to say that Podliska, quote, "has continued to imagine a variety of new outlandish never previously mentioned allegations since his departure" including that his supervisors somehow manifested an anti-military animus toward him.

Podliska dismisses those accusations and says the reasons for his termination were clear. The House committee on Benghazi did not want someone with Air Force Reserve obligations.

And they did not want someone focusing attention for the tragedy of Benghazi on the CIA, the Pentagon, the White House, or anywhere else except for Hillary Clinton and her State Department.

(on camera): Do you think that the results of the committee based on what you saw will be fair, comprehensive, thorough, professional, honest?

PODLISKA: No. It's not possible. The victims' families are not going to get the truth and that's the most unfortunate thing about this. And I know this because the nine months of research I had done is now lost.

I have no idea where it is. And I know that I could give those victims' families an explanation, a pretty thorough explanation, of why they were told that this attack was due to a video.

TAPPER (voice-over): Jake Tapper, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: Notable new allegations just two days before Hillary Clinton take the stage behind me Tuesday night in the first democratic debate on CNN. What impact will the new allegations have?

Joining me now to discuss is CNN political analyst, Ana Navarro, and Patti Solis Doyle. Ana is a Republican, who currently supports Jeb Bush. Patti is a Democrat who used to work for Hillary Clinton.

Ana, you can imagine what Democrats are saying about this already, essentially told you so. This is a statement from the Clinton campaign.

Let me read it to you, "These are explosive allegations. This Republican whistle-blower's account from inside the Benghazi committee may provide the most definitive proof to date that this taxpayer funded investigation has been a partisan sham from the start."

This is ammunition handed to the Democrats and Hillary Clinton to counter all these allegations about Benghazi, is it not?

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. I think it's the smart thing for her to do, to try to play it up as much as possible, and it is ammunition for her. Now, the bottom line is we don't know who this gentleman is.

We don't know if he's a cook or a true whistle-blower who was saying the truth. I think this is all going to work itself out. My hope as a Republican and American is that this committee is doing its work legitimately.

That it will come up with some recommendations and figure out what went wrong that night. We owe it to the people who put their lives at risk and the people who lost their lives that night.

I hope it's not a political witch-hunt. I think Trey Gowdy is taking this job seriously. He is a former prosecutor and a serious guy, and he's a smart guy, too.

And he knows that a political witch-hunt would achieve what Hillary Clinton hasn't been able to achieve for herself in years, which is make her a sympathetic figure. BERMAN: So, Patti, the committee has come out and said essentially this guy, he never said anything about Hillary Clinton to us before he got fired, this is all news to us. Aren't there still legitimate questions to be answered on the issue of Benghazi? Isn't there still work to be done?

PATTI SOLIS DOYLE, FORMER HILLARY CLINTON PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I don't think so. There have been eight investigations thus far, millions and millions of dollars spent, taxpayer dollars spent on finding answers.

The State Department came up with their own independent review, and the State Department took all of their recommendations to heart.

So I think it does the families of the four Americans who died a real disservice to taint their death with a political witch-hunt. I think it's time for the Benghazi committee to pack up and go home at this point.

BERMAN: In a normal debate, a normal first debate of an election which we'll have here two nights from now, you would have other candidates bring something like this up to Hillary Clinton.

You would have Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, perhaps shine a spotlight on what's been going on with Benghazi or with the emails.

[14:40:05] This isn't normal, though, for the most part, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, they haven't gone after Hillary Clinton on these issues. Do you think this makes it more or less likely that it will come up Tuesday night?

DOYLE: I don't think Bernie Sanders or Martin O'Malley will go after her on this specific issue. I think they'll go after her on substance, on the differences between their issues, their policies they've put forth.

I think Martin O'Malley is in a different predicament. I think he needs to make some noise on Tuesday night. I think the best way for him to do that is go after Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner.

NAVARRO: It's easy to forget that there is another guy on that stage, Jim Webb, who might bring it up because he has a lot of armed services experience. He is a former vet and he has been to the right of Hillary Clinton on some of these issues.

Bernie Sanders, of course, has been to the left. And Jim Webb, frankly, needs to, you know, light himself on fire, go nuclear up there on that stage, because we're talking about this debate on Tuesday and nobody's even mentioning the fact there are two other guys, Lincoln Chafee and -- what's his name?

DOYLE: Jim Webb.

NAVARRO: Or as I call it 50 shades of white.

BERMAN: On Benghazi, though, you have Kevin McCarthy's statements over the last two weeks, which probably contributed to him not becoming the next speaker of the House. You have this whistle-blower or "whistle-blower" in quotation marks coming out talking about this.

A lot that has changed I think in terms of the discussion about the investigation into Benghazi. How do Republicans turn it around and do they need to?

NAVARRO: First of all, I think, you know, Kevin McCarthy has made the biggest faux pas, the biggest mistake of 2016 yet, and he ain't even running. He's not even a candidate. And it did contribute to him not getting that championship ring so he has paid a big price for his foot-and-mouth disease.

And I think what it does is that it puts more weight on Trey Gowdy to make sure that he is -- the chairman of the committee to make sure he is running a fair, transparent professional process. I think he's capable of that.

We're going to see the testimony of Secretary Clinton, former Secretary Clinton in a couple weeks, and we'll see where it all goes. Let's also remember there's an entirely different thing going on, which is the e-mail investigation, which is not the Benghazi thing, and that's not going away.

BERMAN: The FBI is looking into that.

NAVARRO: It's what's contributed more than anything else to her numbers as being untrustworthy and not credible.

BERMAN: Untrustworthy, not credible, but she still leads the Democratic field in the latest CBS News poll. We'll see how it plays out two nights behind us at the Wynn Las Vegas.

NAVARRO: It should be exciting. What was the last time you got flanked by two women?

BERMAN: My counsel says not to answer that question. Thank you very much for being with us.

All right, the first Democratic president debate is here on CNN this Tuesday, 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Don't you dare miss it.

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[14:45:54]

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: A verdict has been issued in the espionage trial of Jason Rezaian, "The Washington Post" journalist who's been jailed in Iran since July of 2014.

News of the verdict and the sentence were reported today by the Iranian students' news agency citing a judiciary spokesperson but no specifics were revealed.

CNN's Brian Stelter got reaction on the major development from the "Washington Post" foreign editor. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DOUGLAS JEHL, FOREIGN EDITOR, "THE WASHINGTON POST": This remains a mystery us to, but I think it does underscore that what we're seeing unfolding here is a sham. For Iran to say that there's been a verdict, but that it's not final simply suggests that this is not a matter for the courts, it's a matter that's being decided in the political spheres in Iran.

STELTER: People have suggested, many people, that he is a geopolitical pawn between Iran, the U.S., and other world powers. Have you been able to speak to any family members of Rezaian this morning?

JEHL: No, we have not.

STELTER: And what has the situation been over the months between "The Post" and the U.S. government and the Iranian government? Have you received enough support from the State Department, for example?

JEHL: We've been pleased with the efforts the U.S. government has made to raise attention to Jason's case throughout. On the other hand, we do believe there's much, much more the U.S. government could be doing at the very highest levels to work with Jason's family and "The Post" to bring Jason home.

STELTER: What's an example that you'd like to see the government doing today?

JEHL: I think it's important that this case remain very much in the public sphere. We believe it's important that the president, the secretary of state, and others repeat and put in the public sphere the fact that Jason has been held unconscionably long, longer as you said in your introduction than the U.S. hostages were held during the hostage crisis in 1979.

STELTER: We are talking about the U.S. government. What about the Iranian government? I understand from Marty Baer and the executive editor of "The Post" you've been trying for months to receive permission to have an editor come to Tehran perhaps to see Jason but all requests have been denied?

LEHL: I visited Jason in June of 2014 about six weeks before he was detained. I've tried ever since to persuade the Iranian government to grant me a visa that would allow me to go raise his case at the highest levels, provide support to his family, and those requests have been ignored.

There doesn't seem to be any indication that they're going to tell Jason or Jason's lawyer what this supposed verdict is. For them to say there's a verdict but that it's not final does suggest that ultimately this is a matter for the government to decide.

And we heard President Rouhani say last month he was willing to work toward the release of Jason and two other Americans if the U.S. government also took some steps. This suggests once again that Jason is not really a prisoner. He's a bargaining chip being used by the Iranian government to extract some concessions from the U.S.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: And as pointed out Rezaian has now been detained 447 days, longer than the Americans, who were held during the Iranian hostage crisis.

Expect delays if you're flying on Southwest Airlines today. We'll tell you what's causing the backup and when it could be fixed. That's up next.

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[11:54:20]

SAVIDGE: Southwest Airlines warning customers, well, to get to the airport early because of, quote/unquote, "technical issues," and they're causing some major delays. A spokesperson says that as of this morning about 100 Southwest flights have been delayed and the airline has 3,600 flights scheduled today.

Our Sara Ganim is in New York following this story. Sara, nice to see you. I'm wondering what's causing the backup. Software update maybe didn't go quite right or hacking, what?

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Great question, Martin. All we know at this point is there are technology issues and Southwest is having to manually issue tickets to people coming to the airport to board flights so this is causing major delays. You can see pictures of the lines.

[14:55:05] I should clarify that, Martin. It's not major delays. It's major lines at the airports. Las Vegas Airport, you can see pictures of lines, Baltimore, Nashville, Los Angeles, in all of these areas people are getting to the airport and literally they're writing out their tickets.

This is what Southwest had to say about this incident. They said, quote, "We're experiencing technology issues today, which are requiring us to process customers manually as they arrive at the airports for travel. We're asking customers to arrive at least two hours prior to their scheduled departures to help minimize delays."

I should note as of 10:00 a.m., Martin, only about 100 flights were actually delayed because of this. This is out of about 3,600 scheduled flights. But this may seem a little bit like deja vu to travellers.

You remember back in July United had a problem like this. American in September and aviation experts have told me throughout the day that a lot of this technology is outdated, some of it antiquated.

And as we are doing more modern things with flying and merging with other airlines, more flights up in the air, this is what happens. You have issues and it can lead to these kinds of problems -- Martin. SAVIDGE: Yes, it can, you know, 100 flights delayed don't sound that bad, but how many passengers missed the plane because of these delays? We'll have to see. Hopefully they'll do better tomorrow. Thank you very much, Sara. We'll be right back.

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