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Democratic Candidates Get Ready for Big Night; Kurdish Protesters Clash with Police in Turkey; Russian Airstrikes Bolster Assad Regime; Iran Approves Nuclear Deal; Airlines Warned of Russian Missile Risks; Multiple Stabbings in Jerusalem; "Playboy" to Eliminate Nudes from Magazine; The Rules of the Democratic Debate; Clinton Could Face National Security Questions; CNN Debate Moderators on Style; Assange Guard Changing Tactics; "The Washington Post" Journalist Convicted in Iran; Wildfire Forces Evacuation of Over 500 Homes; Photographer Takes Big Risks for Big Waves. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired October 13, 2015 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Countdown to the showdown. High expectations ahead of the first Democratic U.S. presidential debate.
ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): We are live in Moscow where officials say their airstrikes in Syria are aimed at ISIS targets.
BARNETT (voice-over): And covering up: "Playboy" magazine makes a bold decision in its redesign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Hello and welcome to viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: Good to be with you, Rosemary.
Hey, everyone, I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining us. We're here for the next two hours. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
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CHURCH: It is 11:00 pm in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the five presidential candidates are getting ready to make their cases to the American people in the CNN Democrats debate.
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CHURCH (voice-over): Time-lapsed footage shows work crews putting the finishing touches on the debate stage.
BARNETT (voice-over): People getting busy there. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee will all step behind their podiums Tuesday night. Our very own John Vause is live in Las Vegas with preview of their
strategies for the debate.
John, you can't head out to the Strip and enjoy yourself just yet. Give us a taste of what to expect tomorrow.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN HOST: Yes, we are here for the politics, not the gambling or the fun. But for many people, the politics is, in fact, a lot of fun. Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, she will fairly get that head-to-head contest with her biggest rival, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders.
But we should say these two people have very different objectives, very different styles for the big night.
A senior Clinton aide tells CNN her main goal will be to try and cut through all the politics and the controversy, she's going to try and turn the focus off the email scandal, back to the issues, back to her qualifications, try to restart the conversation, try to get the excitement back into her campaign that was there at the beginning.
Now Sanders' press secretary says he is hoping to convince voters that he is a serious candidate with mainstream views, that he's actually a viable presidential candidate, can be elected and that his policies will, in fact, help the middle class.
CNN's John Berman has more now on the Democratic contenders, including one who is still deciding if he will run or not.
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He comes buoyed by big enthusiastic crowds, this the most recent, 13,000 in Tucson.
She comes backed by big new poll numbers in key early states.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And our next president, Hillary Clinton.
BERMAN (voice-over): Tonight's CNN/ORC polls in Nevada and South Carolina show Hillary Clinton with sizable leads over Senator Bernie Sanders, a big difference from New Hampshire, where he has led since this summer.
High stakes as they prepare to take the stage for the very first Democratic debate of this campaign. High stakes but, today, Senator Sanders suggested keeping the dialogue on a higher plane.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VT.: Let's treat each other civilly, let's treat each other respectfully. And let's try not to demonize people, who may have disagreements with us.
BERMAN (voice-over): Civil, maybe; but sharp, definitely. The 74- year-old self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist has gone out of his way to draw contrasts with the front-runner, contrast being a loaded word that means, "vote for me, not her."
SANDERS: I know what I stand for. Hillary Clinton knows what she stands for. Let's have that debate.
BERMAN (voice-over): Sanders has yet to do a mock debate. But today, for the first time, he practiced hypothetical exchanges with the other candidates and moderator.
Hillary Clinton has been practicing with heavyweight Washington lawyer, Bob Barnett, playing the role of Bernie Sanders. She took a break to celebrate her 40th wedding anniversary and...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You never sweat. Like physically.
(LAUGHTER)
BERMAN (voice-over): -- have some fun with BuzzFeed podcasters.
CLINTON: You guys are the first to realize that I am really not even a human being.
(LAUGHTER)
CLINTON: I was constructed in a garage in Palo Alto.
BERMAN (voice-over): As for the man they all want to replace, President Obama gave his most complete answer yet on the lingering email questions surrounding his former secretary of state.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She made a mistake. She's acknowledged it. I do think that the way it has been ginned up is, in part, because of politics.
[02:05:00]
BERMAN (voice-over): And as for the elephant in the room, more specifically the vice president not in the room, Vice President Joe Biden consulted with family over the weekend but no leaks from the White House.
OBAMA: I'm going to let Joe make that decision. And I mean what I say. I think Joe will go down as one of the finest vice presidents in history.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: OK.
So, John, that does, of course, beg the question, does one of the, quote, "finest vice presidents in history" have a chance of becoming the next president of the United States?
VAUSE: Yes, there is no mistaking the admiration and the affection that President Obama has for Joe Biden. Joe Biden has made no secret he would like to be president. He has tried twice before.
But he's taking a closer look at his poll numbers. They're OK. They're not great. They're good enough to think about it, they're not bad enough to rule it out. He still has a few weeks to declare if he chooses to do so.
And earlier I spoke with senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein. He says this is a difficult decision.
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RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: The polling for Biden is really betwixt and between. It's not so weak that this looks hopeless. But you can see, even amid all of his discussions, his numbers are not soaring forward, either. I think it's a very difficult call for him.
Does he want to take the risk of ending his career, losing a third time for the presidency to Hillary Clinton, in this case?
On the other hand, there is an opening. There are doubts among Democrats, particularly on the issue that we talked about before.
Has she been compromised as general election nominee?
I think that's the implicit backdrop for anyone else to get seriously considered in this race.
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VAUSE (voice-over): CNN's live coverage of the first Democrat presidential debate starts tomorrow night, 5 o'clock here on the West Coast. That is 8:00 in the East. And for our international viewers, we'll be replaying the entire debate Wednesday night, 8 o'clock in London, 9:00 in Berlin. You will see it only here on CNN.
And, Rosie and Errol, we also should note that after the debate, CNN International will be doing its own post-game analysis; we'll be focusing on all the international issues which were brought up during this campaign.
CNN USA, of course, will be doing their own post-game analysis as well. But we will take a closer look at what comes up during this debate which affects our viewers all around the world.
CHURCH: All right, John Vause, reporting there from Las Vegas, we will of course come back to you a little later this hour and in the following hours as well. So don't go anywhere. No gambling for you.
We'll be back in a moment. Thank you.
BARNETT: Thanks, John.
Now on to some other big stories we are following for you.
Kurdish protesters clashed with police in Turkey Monday over the deadly bombings at a peace rally over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARNETT (voice-over): Police used water cannon and tear gas against the protesters. Some of the demonstrators hurled stones at the officers.
CHURCH (voice-over): Several people have been detained in connection with the blast. The government says two suicide bombers carried out the attack. No group has claimed responsibility. But officials are focusing on ISIS in their investigation.
AHMET DAVUTOGLU, FOREIGN MINISTER OF TURKEY (through translator): These three terrorist organizations are seen as potential suspects for this attack. But when we looked at how the attack happened and in the general tendency of the events, daish has become the primary suspect.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Meanwhile, Russia's military says it's launching airstrikes against ISIS in Syria.
CHURCH: But observer groups say the airstrikes are mostly meant to bolster Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad's regime. Our Barbara Starr has the details.
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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was all caught on camera: bombs killing at least 97 people and wounding nearly 250 at a peace rally in Ankara, Turkey.
The Turkish prime minister saying his government suspects ISIS is behind it, Russian president Vladimir Putin offering his condolences to the Turks and taking a swipe at the Obama administration.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): Let them name for us the specific places where terrorists are hiding, where their headquarters and warehouses with weapons and equipment are. Give us the targets.
STARR (voice-over): But Russian-backed attacks finding their own targets, mostly far from ISIS in the latest clashes in Northwest Syria. Anti-regime forces and civilians targeted with more than 500 missiles and hundreds of shells, according to an observer group. CNN could not independently verify the video.
President Obama adamant on CBS's "60 Minutes" that Putin's moves into Syria were closely watched.
OBAMA: We knew that he was planning to provide the military assistance that Assad was needing because they were nervous about a potential imminent collapse of the regime.
STARR (voice-over): Rebels may have been getting stronger with the help of anti-tank missiles like these, missiles, many reports say, were provided through the CIA.
[02:10:00] STARR (voice-over): U.S. airdrops of 50 tons of ammunition, a boost to the Pentagon's program to arm other anti-ISIS rebel groups and drones operated by the U.S. Special Operations Command, flying over Syria, looking for ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and top operatives.
The head of Special Operations, General Joe Votel, in an exclusive interview with CNN, said drones are just one crucial tool to get more intelligence about ISIS.
LT. GEN. JOSEPH VOTEL, HEAD OF JOINT SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND: We very carefully study what ISIS does, what they say about themselves, what they purport through their ideology. And I think that gives us a pretty good understanding of that organization.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: The Iraqi government announced this weekend it thought it had killed Baghdadi in a raid inside Iraq. But U.S. officials said later that did not appear to be the case -- Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
BARNETT: For more on Russia's role in the Syrian conflict we turn to Jill Dougherty. Longtime CNN viewers will know she is the former chief of our Moscow bureau and is currently with the International Center for Defense and Security. She joins us live now from the Russian capital.
Jill, great to see you. Thank you for joining us on CNN today.
President Putin, once again --
JILL DOUGHERTY, INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR DEFENSE AND SECURITY: Hey, Errol.
BARNETT: -- in a recent interview saying ISIS terrorists are the targets in Syria. But all the evidence we can see seems to suggest anti-government rebel strongholds are the ones being hit hard by these continual airstrikes.
How much of what the Russian president says about his forces in Syria can even be trusted, let alone verified?
DOUGHERTY: Well, you know, as you listen to what he is saying, I think what he is saying is the danger is that, if the Assad regime collapses, what comes next?
And President Putin would argue chaos. So therefore, in his understanding, in his strategy, is to make sure that that regime continues, maybe not even because they necessarily like it but what comes next could be worse. This is how the president would argue.
And so when he looks at ISIS, he would say, yes, I am hitting ISIS. But he also has referred to these groups and some terrorists as pretty much the guys with the Kalashnikovs, the guys with the rifles, so he is not making the fine distinctions that the West and the United States are making.
And he is hitting them to make sure that they're able, that the forces of Bashar al-Assad are able to push back as much as possible, keep it stabilized. And then, as President Putin said the other night, then move to some type of political solution to the problem.
But the problem is, the United States and the allies are saying, you are not concentrating only on ISIS, even though you seem to be saying that.
BARNETT: And President Putin has said that he is open to working with the United States on coordinating the air campaigns over Syria.
But what should we make of Putin's claim that Russian ground troops won't be deployed? He said that in this recent interview.
But if you look at these airstrikes and where they're taking place, they essentially would pave the way for ground forces to bolster the forces of Bashar al-Assad.
What should we make of that claim?
DOUGHERTY: Well, not necessarily though, Errol, because I think, you know, President Putin, again, taking him at his word, he is saying no ground troops.
Now why would he say that?
It would appear that Russia really doesn't have any appetite for sending its forces into the ground to be killed at a time where they're already involved in some fashion or another in Ukraine.
The economy has problems, et cetera. And the people who have been killed in Ukraine, the families have been very disturbed by that. This is not something that they want repeat -- that the Russians want repeated.
So I think the operation really is for the Russians to soften up, destroy as much as possible with these air attacks but then let these Syrian forces move in on the ground and get the job done. That appears to be the strategy.
BARNETT: Very interesting points there. And it appears to be the strategy because we can only wait and watch as all of this unfolds and changes really from week to week.
Great to hear from Jill Dougherty, getting our insight from her. She's currently with the International Center for Defense and Security, joining us from Moscow.
Jill, thanks.
CHURCH: And we turn to some new developments we are following. Iranian state media are reporting that Iran's parliament has passed a bill approving Tehran's nuclear deal with the U.S. and other Western powers.. BARNETT: This deal would substantially --
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BARNETT: -- limit Iran's nuclear weapons program; in exchange, various international sanctions on Iran would be loosened. The state news agency says the parliament insists that international inspectors would have only limited access to Iran's military sites.
CHURCH: We'll take a short break here on CNN NEWSROOM. But just ahead, rising violence and deadly clashes across Jerusalem and Gaza. The Israeli prime minister's plan to end the surge.
BARNETT: Plus international airlines have been warned about the risks posed by low-flying missiles over Iran and Iraq. We'll bring you more on that story when CNN NEWSROOM returns.
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CHURCH: Straight to this breaking news in to CNN, Israeli police reporting there has been a stabbing near Tel Aviv. Information is still coming in at this point. But police say the attacker has been, quote, "neutralized."
BARNETT: Now all of this comes on the heels of multiple stabbing incidents across Jerusalem on Monday. In at least one case, Israeli police say they shot and killed a Palestinian attacker.
CHURCH: Erin --
[02:20:00]
CHURCH: -- McLaughlin has been following the latest developments. She joins us live from Jerusalem.
So, Erin, talk to us about this latest information you are getting on this stabbing.
And is there a sense that there is some sort of coordination going on here with these stabbings?
ERIC MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary. This is according to ambulance services as well as eyewitnesses, that there has been a stabbing incident near Tel Aviv, one person lightly wounded as a result of this incident. And the attacker is being treated on the scene. As we get more information, we will bring that to you.
But this is fresh violence after some scathing remarks from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a speech before the Knesset last night. Take a listen to what he had to say about the wave of violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): It must be understood once and for all. Terror does not stem from frustration due to the lack of progress in the diplomatic process. Terror stems from a wish to destroy us.
This was the motive for the terror in the first days of Zionism and it is the motive nowadays.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MCLAUGHLIN: He also blamed Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and the Islamic movement in Israel for inciting violence and pushed forward new legislation that would give a three-year minimum prison sentence for people who throw stones and bottles.
Now, Palestinian officials reacting with strong words of their own. This morning CNN spoke to PLO Executive Committee Hanan -- an executive committee member, Hanan Ashrawi, saying that Israel is, quote, "acting like a military occupier," and she blamed Prime Minister Netanyahu's actions for escalating the situation.
Now all of this following what was a brutal day yesterday, four separate stabbing attacks in Jerusalem, leaving at least four Israelis wounded, one of the attackers, a 13-year-old boy.
So what we are seeing in many of these incidents so-called lone wolf attacks, people acting on their own initiative without organization. And Israeli authorities saying it's these kinds of attacks that are very difficult to prevent.
CHURCH: All right, Erin McLaughlin bringing us up to date on those developments, as we were telling everyone, another stabbing incident there. And we will keep people abreast of more developments as they come in to us.
Erin McLaughlin, many thanks to you.
The Dutch safety board will soon release its report on the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which killed 298 people last year.
BARNETT: An early draft indicates a Russian-made missile brought down the plane over Eastern Ukraine. But it does not say who fired it. Many of the victims were Dutch citizens.
Meantime, some airlines are making adjustments to their flight plans over Iran and Iraq after a warning from Europe's aviation safety agency. CNN's Rene Marsh has the details.
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RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Commercial airlines flying over the Middle East have been warned to beware of low flying missiles. The risk is in airspace over Iraq and Iran as Russia fires missiles from the Caspian Sea into Syria.
The European Aviation Safety Agency alerted all European carriers after missiles were fired from Russian warships earlier this month. Airlines like Air France said it would introduce temporary rules for flights over Iran and the Caspian Sea but wouldn't give details about those new measures.
And British Airways said it would adjust its flight plans based on advice from the British government.
Some airlines are shifting routes while others are continuing to fly over the region. The agency has not prohibited flights and says the missiles were launched well below airspace where commercial planes usually fly. But the potential danger still exists.
The airspace include busy routes connecting Europe to the Middle East and Asia and avoiding it altogether would be a logistical nightmare. It essentially force airlines to take a less direct route -- back to you.
BARNETT: Thank you for that reporting there.
Now to something completely different. "Playboy" magazine without naked images. Can this be true? Absolutely. The publisher is planning to drop fully nude pictures from its pages.
CHURCH: The move seems to be a reaction to what is happening online, where people can see pretty much anything -- and we mean anything -- any time they want to. But it's a pretty big change as CNN's Brian Stelter reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST: Hey there, you know the saying, "Sex sells." And it does. But maybe not as well as it used to. The magazine "Playboy," the iconic men's magazine announcing it will drop fully nude photographs starting next March as part of a broader redesign of the magazine. This was first reported by "The New York Times" --
[02:25:00]
STELTER: -- a couple hours ago and it shocked a lot of people in the magazine industry. Of course, "Playboy" is known for lots of things but nothing more than its centerfolds, its pictorial galleries of seminude or fully nude women.
Now the magazine's publisher says in the future they will still publish provocative photos but not fully nude. They believe it will appeal to a broader audience and a younger audience.
And more than anything else this is a sign of the times. You think about "Playboy," it's been on magazine newsstands for decades. But it still comes either hidden behind a cover or in this kind of plastic.
Well, the Internet has changed all the calculations when it comes to print magazines and that's true for "Playboy" as well. On the Internet there is, of course, unlimited access to any kind of nude imagery you want to see, all the kinds of pornography that have been imagined. And so the Internet has changed what it means to be a print magazine.
And that's what "Playboy" is acknowledging with this decision. In fact, they already removed fully nude imagery from their website a number of months ago and they found that traffic skyrocketed. They wanted the site to be seen as safe for work -- and now it is. So now the magazine will as well.
But a lot of people wonder what will "Playboy" be without those photos? It will be more like "Maxim" or "Esquire" or "GQ" and maybe that old adage that people only read "Playboy" for the articles, which is, let's be honest, usually a lie, well, maybe it will be more true someday soon.
We'll hear from "Playboy" perhaps in the coming days about what exactly it means to have provocative but not nude images. But for now, a big change in an iconic magazine -- back to you.
BARNETT: All right. Thanks to Brian Stelter for that.
You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Just ahead, we'll get back live to Las Vegas and our coverage of the Democratic presidential debate. We'll go over the ground rules and explain role social media might play.
CHURCH: Plus this record heat across the Western United States and it's leading to some dangerous conditions. More on that when CNN NEWSROOM continues.
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CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around world. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett. Let's update you on our top stories right now.
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BARNETT (voice-over): Iranian state media report that Iran's parliament has approved a bill to implement Tehran's nuclear deal with the U.S. and other Western powers.
The deal would limit Iran's nuclear powers, pro-nuclear weapons program in exchange for the loosening of sanctions. The state news agency says the parliament insists that international inspectors would have only limited access to Iran's military sites.
CHURCH (voice-over): And we are following breaking news for you out of Israel. Police say there has just been a stabbing incident, another stabbing incident, we should say, outside of Tel Aviv. And emergency services spokesperson tells us one person was wounded and taken to a hospital.
They also say the alleged attacker is being treated at the scene. Now this comes amid growing deadly violence between Palestinians and Israelis.
BARNETT (voice-over): Russia's defense ministry says it's launched more than 100 airstrikes against ISIS in Syria. Observer groups say the airstrikes are mostly meant to bolster Syrian leader Bashar al- Assad's regime. Meanwhile, the U.S. military airdropped 50 tons of ammunition and other supplies to Syrian rebels on Monday.
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BARNETT (voice-over): All right. In less than 24 hours from now, five candidates will take this stage in Las Vegas for the Democratic presidential debate.
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CHURCH: And CNN is hosting the historic first debate. Our John Vause is there in Las Vegas and joins us now with the preview.
So how is it all shaping up, John?
VAUSE: Well, you know, Rosemary, remember that debate they had last month at the Reagan Presidential Library with the Republican candidates? Apparently there are rules that go with these debates.
Who knew?
Because obviously no one followed them last time. But there are specific guidelines.
And Tom Foreman has the details on what will be the ground rules, the rules of the road, if you like, for the candidates in this debate on Tuesday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Five candidates are expected to be on the stage when the debate begins and they will be arrayed according to their strength in the polls right now, so Hillary Clinton with the biggest numbers will be in the middle, the others spread out on either side. Their strength in the polls will also determine their order in terms of opening and closing statements.
Candidates cannot bring anything like a phone or a tablet or notes or a prop onto stage of any sort. They will each have a pad of paper and a pen and they will have some water in case they need it.
What are they going to face?
It will be an all-CNN panel this time around. The moderator will be our own Anderson Cooper; Dana Bash and Juan Carlos Lopez will also be on stage with him. Don Lemon will be watching Facebook and Instagram, fielding questions there and presenting those to the candidates.
They will each have one minute to answer a direct question of any sort. And if they're brought up in somebody else's answer or accused of something, they will have 30 seconds for a rebuttal.
However, they will also get a warning from a light to tell them they're running out of time. And if Anderson feels like they should be allowed to go on a little bit further for clarity or for some other reason, he can let them do so.
And you can bet that these candidates out here on the fringes in particular will want every second they can get to try to make an impression, rise in the polls and be closer to the middle next time around.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And our thanks to Tom Foreman for explaining all of that.
Hillary Clinton, the front-runner, could face some tough question about national security in light of those controversies stemming from her time as secretary of state.
A little earlier I spoke with our national security commentator, Mike Rogers, about the grilling Clinton might receive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: If we look at the campaign so far, there hasn't been a lot of talk, at least on the Democratic side, about national security and foreign policy.
Expect it to come up during this debate?
Given Hillary Clinton's experience has she got a lock on it?
And if she does, what does that say about the rest of the field?
MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: Well, two different problems here for her. One is she has some of the legacy problems fro the Obama administration going into this debate. So the Russia reset question is going to plague her a little bit.
She voted for the Iraq war. That's a real contrary position in the Democratic primary. That is something that she will have to reclaim as her mantle on --
(CROSSTALK)
VAUSE: So you're saying she has got a lot of problems left over from her time as secretary of state?
ROGERS: I do. I think she does have some problems. She will have to get through those. And I think that her Democrat opponents, if you hear them on the campaign trail, think it is a weakness for her. And I think you will probably hear that tomorrow night.
VAUSE: But given her experience, a lot of people talk about her experience as secretary of state, a million miles she flew around the world. She was the most traveled secretary of state in the history of time.
[02:35:00]
VAUSE:
ROGERS: No. But they can find some policy differences. So you've heard Bernie Sanders talk about his opposition to the Iraq war. Hillary Clinton's position on the Iraq war, she supported it, she voted on it in the United States Senate, yes.
And so now she came back and changed her position. But those are issues she will have to overcome. Same with Russia. If you look at the Middle East right now and the dominant player right now in the Middle East isn't the United States. It's Russia. Remember her whole Russia reset question. I think you're going to hear some of that tomorrow night.
What did she miss when she was secretary of state? So what they will try to do, I believe, is make that strength, that national security strength that she walked into the election with, make that her Achilles heel. And that's an important thing in debates to try to do.
VAUSE: In debates, absolutely. One of the issues that's been dragging her down in the polls: Benghazi. Given what has happened over the last couple days, is that now -- is she now off the hook, at least politically, as far as Benghazi?
(CROSSTALK)
ROGERS: You know, here's what I think her big problem is. I used to be a former FBI agent as well. The FBI is investigating. If the FBI is investigation this and working at this and they're not going away on it, it's not necessarily the Benghazi piece of this that I think she should be worried, it's all of these emails that are coming out and the FBI investigation. There's this little drip about new things in these emails that are coming out, not related to Benghazi but causing her problems going forward. She will have to deal with that.
VAUSE: Absolutely. Trust me when the FBI is looking into your emails, right?
ROGERS: Well, that's a bad day. I'll have to tell you, as former FBI agent, they wouldn't take this case lightly. And they will not be influenced by outside folks. They will actually investigate this thing. It could either exonerate her at the end or cause her a real problem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: So just what makes for a good debate question?
Past and future CNN debate moderators share their insights. Take a look.
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ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: You know, I think what makes a good question is something that -- you know, elicits an honest response.
JOHN KING, CNN HOST: I think in crafting a question, simplicity and clarity matter most. It's their disagreements and their differences that you want aired out.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Remember what you are doing this for. You're doing this so the viewers out there can have a better understanding, a better appreciation of who these men and women are.
DANA BASH, CNN SR. U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's hard to say what makes a good and bad debate question because so much of the answer to that question is the answer that the candidate gives.
COOPER: Actually, this what is being said and pivoting off what somebody has just said or perhaps taking the conversation in different directions to another candidate can bring them in.
KING: So if you can get either the two candidates' words, to pit them against each other, sometimes you ask an open-ended question and they go where their mind takes them as opposed to where their talking points take them. So there's a value in that.
COOPER: You know, the worst thing in the world is to just be sitting there with a list of questions that you thought out in advance and then just waiting for the person to stop talking so you can just go on to the next question. Those -- you never want to do that.
BASH: A lot of the prep is kind of trying to game out what the candidate is or isn't potentially going to say.
KING: If a week later, nobody can remember the name of the moderator but they got information that helped them make their decision, then you did your job.
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(END VIDEOTAPE)
VAUSE: And if there is a question you hope they ask one or all of the candidates, then you can submit it via Facebook or Instagram. Remember to use the #demdebate.
CNN's Don Lemon will be asking the questions which you provide. And our live coverage of the first Democratic presidential debate starts tomorrow night at 5 o'clock here on the West Coast. That's 8:00 in the East.
And for our international viewers, we'll be replaying the entire debate Wednesday night, 8 o'clock in London, 9:00 in Berlin. And again, you'll see that only here on CNN.
A lot of excitement. We're counting down. It is dark right now, Rosie, you know, but, everyone, the Strip is still alive. They're all out.
CHURCH: There's still hope for you, John.
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CHURCH: All right. Thanks so much. Lovely, lovely live pictures we are looking at there, the lights of Las Vegas. Many thanks, John. Talk to you soon.
And a different kind of changing of the guard in London. Police say they will now deploy covert tactics -- their words -- to try to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The story next.
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BARNETT: Welcome back.
CHURCH: "The Washington Post" is denouncing Iran for what it calls the outrageous conviction of one of its reporters.
Iranian state media say a revolutionary court has found Jason Rezaian guilty but it's not completely clear for what offenses. It's also not clear if he has been sentenced.
"The Post" says it will appeal a conviction. Another journalist who spent four months in an Iranian prison told CNN Iran routinely views journalists with suspicion.
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MAZIAR BAHARI, JOURNALIST JAILED IN IRAN: It is a view that is widely held among the Iranian officials; as my interrogator told me, spies get information, sell information and that's the way they're making a living.
And journalists, they gather information, they sell information and that is the way that they are making a living.
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BARNETT: And there's this interesting note, this Iranian judge presided over Rezaian's trial and he is notorious for harsh penalties. He reportedly once ordered a man hanged for insulting the Biblical character Jonah. The E.U. has accused him of gross human rights violations.
CHURCH: All right. We turn to London now, where police are no longer guarding WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange 24 hours a day.
BARNETT: You'll remember Assange has been holed up in London's Ecuadorian embassy for more than three years, this to avoid extradition to Sweden. CNN's Nima Elbagir looks at why police are changing their tactics.
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NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After three years and an estimated 14 million pounds in policing costs, Metropolitan Police Service has announced that they are withdrawing their 'round-the-clock guard at the Ecuadoran embassy here, where Julian Assange sought refuge in 2012.
They acknowledge that perhaps their response wasn't exactly proportionate, as they called it, although this doesn't mean that they have given up on Mr. Assange. The Metropolitan Police Service says that they will continue to deploy what overt and covert tactics are necessary.
Julian Assange, of course, sought refuge here after claiming that he feared that Swedish authorities, who require his presence back in Sweden for questioning, might hand him over to the U.S., where he would be forced to stand trial for leaking secret U.S. documents. That also hasn't gone away.
For now, though, the British foreign service is hoping to rely on more diplomatic measures. They have called in the Ecuadorian ambassador to continue, they say, to express their frustration with the ongoing --
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ELBAGIR: -- situation here -- Nima Elbagir, CNN, London.
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BARNETT: And onto some other stories we are tracking for you.
A U.S. dentist will not be charged for killing Zimbabwe's most prized lion. The country's environment minister says Walter Palmer had the legal paperwork to hunt the lion known as Cecil.
CHURCH: Palmer shot Cecil with a bow and arrow in July during a hunting expedition. He insists he had no idea he was targeting a prized lion and says he was simply following his local guides.
BARNETT: All right. We want to tell you about this large wildfire outside Casper, Wyoming. It's forced the evacuation of more than 500 homes. A Forestry official says the fire began Saturday at a local landfill. He said unusually high temperatures coupled with strong winds in the region may have ignited this blaze.
CHURCH: And meteorologist Allison Chinchar is with us now to talk about the situation there.
Because it really did engulf but it looks fairly flat in that area. ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. And it was a combination of the dry air, the very strong winds that they had and the very hot temperatures. And it's not just there.
All of the Western United States has really been incredibly warm. The debate is coming up. And they're dealing with record high temperatures in Las Vegas. Same thing with Los Angeles. In fact, take a look at some of these temperatures.
These are the high temperatures expected later on today. 100 degrees, we're talking triple digits in Palm Springs. Vegas will top out at 96 degrees today. Death Valley, 105, again, these are incredible temperatures, well above the normal for this time of year.
Now we do have a system, it will begin to make its way out towards the West Coast as we get to the later portion of the week, finally bringing some of these areas some much needed rain. Even though places like Los Angeles won't necessarily get a lot of rain, the humidity will creep up. And that's going to help a lot of the areas that have ravaged by all of these wildfires.
Take a look at this, Las Vegas, the high temperature today expected to be 96. The record is 95. So they will be ever so close.
San Diego, high of 85, record 94; take a look at Yuma, 100 with a record 105. So again, it's expected to stay warm over several days. Even parts of the Northwestern United States are also dealing with the heat. Take a look, Eugene, a high temperature of 78 there, record is 79 degrees. And also up near Yakima, a high of 79. They'll clearly beat that record of 77 degrees.
But also into Europe, we're dealing with snowfall, they had about 10 centimeters in Poland, up to 9 centimeters in parts of Slovakia and as we go through the next couple of days we are still expecting to see some snowfall in other areas, especially the Alps and also Central Germany can expect to pick up about an additional 10 centimeters to 20 centimeters of snow.
BARNETT: OK. Snow on the way.
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CHURCH: You've got snow there, you've got all of that heat.
CHINCHAR: Winter is moving in.
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CHURCH: Thanks so much, Allison.
BARNETT: You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Coming up, one of my favorite stories of the day. One photographer doing whatever it takes for the perfect shot. We will find out how he captures these breathtaking images of ocean waves. Stay with us.
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BARNETT: Welcome back.
In a sign of warming relations between the U.S. and Cuba, the White House is hosting a Cuban musical act for the first time in half a century.
The Buena Vista Social Club will perform at a Hispanic Heritage Month reception on Thursday.
CHURCH: The band is in the middle of its farewell tour. The group gained fame in the late 1990s with a traditional Cuban big band sound that had not been heard in decades.
BARNETT: Very cool.
Now be prepared for emergencies. That's the advice from the U.S. Coast Guard after it rescued a man whose sailboat was damaged in a storm.
CHURCH: The boat had no satellite radio beacon, leaving the skipper, who was sailing alone, adrift for five days. He was rescued unharmed off Hawaii at the weekend.
All right, well our next guest has been described as a special kind of maniac for taking extraordinary photos like the ones you see behind us.
BARNETT: It's a beautiful madness, you could say. Australian photographer Russell Ord has traveled the globe to capture breathtaking images of ocean waves. His work has been featured on the covers of many surfing books and magazines.
CHURCH: But it is the incredible lengths that he goes to in order to get the perfect shot that makes his work so special. And he joins us now from Margaret River in Australia.
And, Russell Ord, it is a pleasure to talk with you. Your pictures are simply amazing. And what makes them all the more extraordinary is you swim out to capture these shots.
Why did you decide this was the way you wanted to capture that special moment?
How does it feel to be all the way out there in the ocean?
And do you ever worry about the dangers involved? RUSSELL ORD, PHOTOGRAPHER: How are you, guys?
No, the dangers we try to get around by doing some breath hold training and, I mean, you can't -- the shots and stuff, they're always there. So you can't do much about them. And it is just really just dotting the I's and crossing the T's and making sure you are doing everything right so when you do go out, it is super safe and you don't need to get rescued yourself.
BARNETT: But you've, Russell, actually been in some sticky situations before. As we say, you physically swim out to get these shots whereas other photographers would be in a boat or something. But you can really be hit hard by these waves and you have to consider what lies beneath, right, the coral and other things that could damage you or injury you.
Just talk about some of the scary situations that you have been in.
ORD: Well, the wave, I think, concentrating over here is just called the (INAUDIBLE) so it's like a deepwater slab, that the reef is about 8 meters deep. So it doesn't really come into play. This wave only breaks when it is huge. So the worst thing that can happen is really on holddowns and really violent holddowns.
So, you just got to work your way up to it. And I just look at what surfers do in the past and how they have evolved. And, you know, the training techniques have gone through. And some of the waves, they're there surfing and you just try to apply it to what I do.
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ORD: So I can increase my levels in the ocean.
CHURCH: Yes. And I was reading that you can actually hold your breath, what, for up to four minutes. Under what circumstances has that become useful while you have been taking the pictures?
ORD: Yes, the four minute thing, that's like a static breath hold. So that's when you are super, super relaxed. And that's not even really that great a time. There are other people, free divers, I think the world champ's around nine minutes. And I heard another free diver who has done 21 minutes. So that's in a really relaxed environment.
In the surf, it's high heart rate. Sometimes you can be anxious. It is kind of like holding your breath under really crazy circumstances and being relaxed in those situations. And you know, it's definitely not four minutes. So if you are getting held down for close to a minute in that kind of environment, that is super tough, really tough.
BARNETT: Well, you are a laid back guy.
But Russell Ord has amazing shots. Our viewers can see more of them at russellordphoto.com.
Thanks for joining us today and we appreciate the inside to these really cool images.
CHURCH: Thanks so much.
ORD: No, thanks for having me.
CHURCH: And you are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Next hour, we will take you back to Las Vegas for a preview of the first Democratic debate of the 2016 campaign.
BARNETT: And we're also live in Jerusalem to look at what is behind renewed tension between Israelis and Palestinians. Stay with CNN.
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