>> awesome. thank you so much for joining me today. i'm carol costello. "at this hour with berman and bolduan" starts right now. hello, everyone. i'm kate bbolduan. >> i'm john gberman. today the entire country in mourning over the murder of two young journalists shot and killed while on the air. wdbj's morning show paused for a moment of silence for their colleagues the very minute that alison parker and adam ward's lives were taken yesterday. >> as we approach that moment, we want to pause and reflect and we want to share with you once again what made these two so special not just to us but all of our hometowns that wdbj 7 serves. please join us now in a moment of silence. >> and you see the words right there, "in memory" and that is

where the focus will remain. but today we are also learning more about the killinger here, a former employee of that very same tv station with a very troubling history, being fired from two jobs for his behavior. the station's general manager -- the jeng manager of wdbj said this morning that that man was off his rocker. about two hours after killing alison parker and adam ward and injuring vicki gardner, he faxed a 23-page suicide rant to abc news. it's full of ramblings about racism and what he perceived as discrimination that he faced being a gay black man. it doesn't even come close to explaining the tragedy, but it does show that he meticulously planned it out. >> he says, quote, my anger has been building steadily. i have been a human powder keg for a while. just waiting to go boom at any moment. he says he put down a deposit for a gun two days after the charleston church massacre. >> this morning alison parker's

father spoke out about his daughter's short but beautiful and happy life. she had just turned 24 last week. already had a very full and successful career, a reporter in roanoke, virginia, covering important stories and feature pieces for wdbj. andy parker, he spoke about making sure what happened to his daughter does not happen to others calling for what he said is sensible gun control laws. listen here to his interview with our colleague chris cuomo. >> yesterday i really didn't think i would be making the news around circuit and just had no intention of doing so, and then as i reflected during the day, i realized that, you know, alison was a journalist. she does what you guys did -- did what you guys did, and she would want me to do this. so that's why i'm here, but i have gone through, you know, the usual emotions of being numb and

then, you know, uncontrolled grief and sobbing all day long, and then, you know, anger, but my soul has been crushed. >> reporter: and one of your statements yesterday, you said something that i hope you're feeling as well as saying which is the measure of solace you get from knowing that while your daughter had such a young life at 24 years of age, she touched so many people and she made so much of the time that she had. is that helping? >> it is. the outpouring from the community and, you know, i think the nation at large, obviously this is a big story nationally, and, you know, that has been a comfort, but she was. she was such a special person. you know, she loved everybody that -- you know, she was loved by everyone and, you know, it was -- and she touched a lot of lives, and obviously it shows in

the tributes that have come her way, and i got to tell you, i've not watched any television. you know, i didn't see any of the recounts. i didn't want to, but after the fact i'm hearing just, you know, how much she has been loved and, you know, i certainly -- it doesn't surprise me. >> part of how you want your daughter to be remembered is that you want something to come out of this situation. you were very strong last night when you were talking about how you think we need to be better after a situation like this. what do you want now? >> well, you know, her life was cut short. she had so much potential, and, you know, it's senseless that her life and adam's life were taken by a crazy person with a gun, and, you know, if i have to

be the john walsh of gun control and -- look, i'm for the second amendment, but there has to be a way to force politicians that are cowards and in the pockets of the nra to come to grips and make sense -- have sensible laws so that crazy people can't get guns. it can't be that hard, and yet politicians from the local level to the state level to the national level, they side step the issue. they kick the can down the road. this can't happen anymore. because alison was one of you guys. this has got to hit home for journalists, and if journalists -- you know, if journalists are targets, and we're not talking about, you know, someone going to syria and being in the crosshairs of isil, we're talking about two kids

that were two young people that were doing a benign story about a marina opening or celebration, and someone -- and a crazy person with gun shoots them and i know then ra their position is going to be -- i can hear it now. they're going to say, oh, well, gee, if they were carrying, this never would have happened. i have news for you, if alison or adam had been carrying an ak-47 strapped around their waist, it wouldn't have made any difference. they couldn't have seen this thing coming. so, you know, i don't want to hear that argument from the nra and you know that's going to happen and i'm going to take it on. i got a call from governor mcauliffe yesterday and i told him exactly what my plan was. if i have to be a crusader on this, i'm not going to rest until i see something happen, and he said, andy, he said, you go for it. i'm right there with you. we've got to have our legislators and our congressmen

step up to the plate and stop being cowards about this. >> but, andy, you know what you're going to hear, and obviously you're very emotional right now and it's motivating you, and you have to put emotion where you can right now to help you in this situation. we wish you well with that, but we just had donald trump on. he's leading in the polls and he says these are tough issues and i'm for the second amendment and i don't think that you should take away more guns. that doesn't seem to be the answer. and mental illness is tough and we should do more and those things sound great to people. we hear them from politicians all the time. and yet nothing changes because the two sides are very rooted. the law is what it is, and change is hard. what do you say to those issues? >> of course, and i'm not -- you know, i'm not saying let's take away guns. i'm just saying let's make it harder for people with mental issues or people like this guy

that killed alison and adam, you know, to make it difficult for them to purchase guns. there's got to be a mechanism that gets put in place for that, and i don't think that's unreasonable to do, but steps -- how many newtowns are we going to have, how many sandy hooks? how many alisons are going is this going to happen to before we stop it? and it is -- i'm challenging you, the media, because, again, this is one of your own, and i know how the business works. this is going -- it's a great story for a couple days, and then it goes to the back burner and nothing happens. but i can promise you and i can promise the american people i'm not going to rest until i see something get done here. >> you're being motivated obviously by the loss of your daughter. you know there's been a great outpouring of support for her and the eyes of the country are

on this story. what do you want them to know about your daughter? >> that she was kind and she was sweet and she touched everybody and that, you know, i'm standing here now and, you know, i got to see her in action in doing stories like this with a camera setup. she loved us and we loved her, and i talked to her every single day. every single day i talked to her and right now she would be texting me right now saying, dad, what did you think of my story? you know, what did you think of it? and i'm never going to hear that again. she was so loved by all, and i know my heart is broken, but i want to try and do something that will change that and make

her life -- will do something meaningful for her life so that of this doesn't happen to someone else again, but she was a special young lady and i think people across the country and certainly around here realize that. >> often maybe the best thing that comes out of a situation like this, andy, is that people get a respect for the victims who were involved and what is lost when somebody decides to take out their anger the way that this madman did, and your daughter in her own way is becoming the best example of how precious life is, and you got to see it even in her boyfriend chris who you know so well, the love he had for your daughter and the love she had for him. that is one way that your daughter will live on in the hearts of the people who loved her. >> it is, and, you know, we can at least take solace in the fact that she lived -- you know, she was only 24.

she just turned 24 last week, and she had -- she packed in a great life in 24 years. she did a lot of things, and she was -- most of all she was happy with what she was going. she loved what she was doing. she loved her family. she loved chris very much, and at least we know from law enforcement officials, she didn't suffer. and, you know, she led a happy life, but i just wish i could touch her soul right now. >> it's a discussion that no parent should ever have to have and far too many are. just amazing to hear his strength. >> yeah. >> and his love for his daughter. >> we often say it but i don't think i've ever felt it as much as you can absolutely feel this man's pain. >> chris cuomo is with us now. he joins us from roanoke. first of all, chris, that was a remarkable interview.

i think in some ways as sad as it is, wonderful to hear the words from a father who loved a daughter so much, so good to give him the chance to express that love to the world so we all understand what he's going through. you're standing in front of wdbj right now a station going through its own healing process, if they're even there yet, in front of the memorials that are out there. give us a sense of what's happening down there today. >> reporter: well, the local community, john and kate, have been calling this their news family, wdbj. under the mimosa tree behind us, you see there's a memorial. the two black ribbons for those lives that were lost, alison and adam, and then you see the balloons and the flowers that usually accumulate, but there's been something bigger here that you can't see. the community has come out to put its embrace around this station and the people and, frankly, one another. because as you both witnessed first hand too many times, in the face of this type of

darkness, there needs to be a recoiling of love and of empathy, and that's what gives a community resilience, and we've seen that here in a very special way. the problem is that we've seen it too many times. the question is whether or not americans can come together in a time of crisis. it's what do they do after that crisis point, and that is what takes us to alison's father. his determination to put purpose to his pain, as difficult as it is for him, winds up making his message even that much more worthy of people's attention. >> and also i think i definitely saw it even starting with the tragedy yesterday, and i want to get your take being there, chris. i have been really struck by the strength, by the composure of alison parker and adam ward's colleagues, their news team. that station has carried on in the middle of an unfolding

tragedy. >> no question about it. it's unusual for those who cover the news to become the news, and their station manager probably said it best. he said that the way we honor them is by doing the news, by doing our job as well as we can do it, and that has certainly galvanized these people but they're hurting. you see them coming out, and this is an intimate group. local news teams are often that way and this one is no different, maybe even more so, and yet for all their pain and all of what you're seeing that is beautiful and uniting them, there is a sense of concern of what will it lead to for them. this is just starting for them. this is just day one of this, and the question is all these big questions that come up in these situations, will they find a different end than they have in the past? and if not, what will that mean to these people? >> what will it lead to? chris cuomo thank you so much for being there for us. really appreciate it. we do have new details about the killer, his twisted history,

including a plan that began weeks ago. >> and also some of the other big news that we're following, this morning leading the pack. brand new polls show that donald trump is gaining even more steam. can the other candidates in the gop field do anything to turn the summer of trump around? and a dark secret at one of america's most elite prep schools. the so-called senior salute. student accused of rape on trial right now. his startling testimony and the closing arguments underwab as we speak. that's ahead. r wab as we speak. that's ahead. w wab as we speak. that's ahead. a wab as we speak. that's ahead. wab as we speak. that's ahead. wab as we speak. that's ahead. wab as we speak. that's ahead. wab as we speak. that's ahead. a wab as we speak. that's ahead. y wab as we speak. that's ahead. as we speak. that's ahead. i'm ready to crack like nobody's watching.

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officials say he planned the attack meticulously. >> even prepped his twitter account days before the killing with videos and then used it to post a video of the shooting. let's bring in cnn's senior media correspondent, host of "reliable sources," brian stelter. >> we know he also sent a fax to abc news, 23 pages of somewhat deranged content. we can show some of it to you and talk about what he shared. he revealed he had been a teen model many years ago, also a male escort he says. then becoming a television news reporter at multiple stations, never lasting very long. he described the hardships he said of being a black man and a gay man. he described being bullied, harassed, suffering injustices is one way he put it. he expressed praise for other killers, for the columbine killers, for the virginia tech massacre gunman. he explicitly refers to dying. he says what sent me over the

top was the church shooting, talking about charleston in june. he says my hollow point pullets have the victims' initials on them. he said it should be noted the shooting took place on june 17th and he put a deposit on his gun two days lighter. there's a racial component. as a black man wanting to get revenge on dylann roof but then why attack two of his former colleagues? >> and it can't go without saying that he also lays out in there that he talks about in his own words that he's tis bush di. >> surprisingly self aware. he went on to say, my anger has been building steadily. i have been a human powder keg for a while just waiting to go boom. look at all the exclamation points afterwards. he talked about that tension that had been building up. we saw that confrontation in video over the summer with his car. he says that's an example of the anger that had been building and eventually got to yesterday. >> one of the key questions is,

is there a clinical diagnosed history of mental illness here, something that people actually saw and recorded? unknown as of now. >> no evidence of it yet at least. >> brian stelter, thank you so much. coming up for us, a brand new poll shows donald trump with his biggest lead yet, but the headline might be who isn't in second place. by a lot. and the teenager accused of raping a younger student at a prestigious new hampshire prep school. he takes the stand. what owen lab rie said and whether the jury was swayed. closing arguments, that's happening right now.

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any minute now donald trump will take the stage before an adoring crowd in greenville, south carolina. you're looking at live pictures right there of the event. these events are as unpredictable and impulsive as they are immodest. this morning trump has a new reason for bluster, a new quinnipiac poll shows him with his biggest lead yet. he's at 28%, up 8 points for him since last month. and his nearest competitor, it's ben carson, all the way back at 12%. >> and jeb bush, take a look right there, he sinks to third place and it's not just a drop for jeb. he's at 7% compared to trump's 28%. trump spoke out earlier on cnn about these new poll numbers. listen. >> i see the response that i get, chris, and, you know, i'm honored by the polls but i'm not that surprised to see it. i also see my competition.

i see people like jeb bush who is a nice man but he's not bringing you to the promised land. >> and today as john mentioned, donald trump is taking his message to south carolina. that's where our sara murray is for us. trump is leading in the polls in that state, in that state specifically as well but the senator of that state from south carolina, lindsey graham, he went after trump in talking to me about his home state. just a reminder of what he said. listen. >> come to south carolina and i'll beat his brains out. i know my state. this is a silly season in politics. >> so there you have it, sara. what do folks there want to hear from trump today? >> reporter: you know, i got to tell you, kate, when i'm talking to these voters who are waiting in line to see trump, not a lot of them are mentioning senator lindsey graham's name. this is a little different than the normal trump events. it's not a huge rally, it's a chamber of commerce event. a number of people said they want to see him for the same

reason everyone else does. they think he's a blunt talker, he tells it like it is, and also they're just plain curious. one woman i talked to said she's waiting to see the big implode. she says it's donald trump. it's inevitable, it's going to happen eventually but for now i want to see it up close and personally. that's what we're hearing from those folks. >> the big implode but that's why people listen so closely because they want to be there when the next big thing happens and they don't know what it will be. sara murray, thank you so much. i want to bring in doug high. doug, i think jeb bush is waiting for the big implode also. it's not happening. the big takeaway from this new quinnipiac poll for me is that jeb bush has fallen to third place, all the way down at 7%. in that poll they do a fascinating thing. they do word association. they say what's the first word that comes to mind when you think of "x." when they asked donald trump when the first thing that comes to mind, the answer for voters

was arrogant and blow hard. the third was idiot. that sounds bad. but look at what the answer was for jeb bush. what are the first words you would use to describe bush. bush. family, and third is honest which is the nicest word anyone had to say about anybody but the first word that comes to mind is bush. it's as if they're saying i don't think about him at all. all i'm thinking about him is the name. >> sure. you look at how they've positioned the campaign. it's jeb with an exclamation mark. they're emphasizing jeb because everybody knows bush. everybody knows his brother, his father. they don't know jeb and this is why you're seeing them continue on this really a tortoise strategy. i don't think -- from the folks i've talked to at the campaign, they're not worked up about a particular poll. they want to keep moving forward, trying to move the ball forward as much as they can as opposed to being the news of the day or the news of the week or the month or the year with everything we hear with donald trump. >> i definitely want to play word association with you later, dog, because it would be interesting and probably not for

tv. >> i would say hair. >> just for full disclosure, hillary clinton also facing some problems with the word association. liar and dishonest were the two that popped up for her. we'll discuss that later. on the trump train since he's going to be in south carolina today, there's something interesting we saw in the polls. not only is he the top choice among republicans, when you ask the question, when quinnipiac asked the question about who is your no way candidate, i'll never vote for you candidate, trump also tops that list at 26%. jeb bush comes in second at 18%. what's going on with republican voters right now? >> well, i think they're seeing a really broad, diverse field and trying to figure out where everyone is. meanwhile, the challenge they face is what do they hear about all day every day? it's always donald trump and it's always in the conversation that donald trump wants to have. kate, i'd mention your interview with senator lindsey graham yesterday. i'm a big lindsey graham fan but if you want to go after donald trump, instead of calling him names, challenging him to a fight, look at the specifics.

look at what donald trump has offered as plans. look how he can or can't answer questions about specific plans. look at where there are any specifics or no specifics. if you drill down on issues with donald trump, look what the voters said in south carolina to sara murray. there were no specifics on issues. and that's really the soft underbelly of donald trump's campaign. with a sustained attack from republican candidates you will start to see donald trump fall. it just takes a sustained attack and not name calling. >> you will start to see him fall because jeb bush has been trying that and ever since he's been trying jeb has gone down and trump has gone up. >> if one candidate says something and donald trump criticizes a reporter, what do we talk about all day? we talk about trump and the particular reporter whether they're at fox, whether they're at univision. god knows if he goes after kate i'll go after donald trump personally. >> that's right. >> but we need to focus on issues. that's why donald trump is doing well. he's having the conversation with voters that he wants to have. >> he is doing well. interestingly enough, i'll leave everyone with this point. he might not even get on the

ballot in south carolina because the south carolina republican party is now making it a requirement that any candidate who wants to be on the ballot in the primary has to promise to not run as a third-party candidate. you have to love south carolina politics. >> doug, thank you so much. >> great to see you, doug. a reminder to everyone, if a few minutes donald trump will be speaking to voters in the great state of south carolina. we're going to bring those remarks to you live right here on cnn. and what about the democratic side? joe biden speaking words out loud that have a lot of people wondering maybe he's not going to run. he wonders does he have the emotional fuel for a race? and is his heart and soul in it? he says they're pretty banged up right now. also, alison parker, she was supposed to be in a dance competition in a few weeks. she was supposed to have a rehearsal yesterday afternoon. her tango partner didn't know she had been killed. he joins us next.

alison parker and adam ward, they were called the "a" team by their co-workers. adam was 27 years old and engabled to one of the station's morning show producers. you can see obviously that moment right there in that photo. friends and colleagues call him funny, driven, and someone always ready to talk about his virginia tech hokies. listen. >> adam was a goal setter, and whether it was playing for the salem high school football team or going to virginia tech or

pursuing his career in sports broadcasting, he had the goals and he achieved them with relentless work effort and a whole lot of just effusive joy and what's especially tragic is not only was he robbed of his life, this world was robbed of the future goals that he would have achieved. >> now, alison parker, she had just turned 24. a co-worker told me last night she was the type of person you heard before you saw because her energy burst into the room before she did. and we've heard about her love of reporting, and this morning her boyfriend talked about another of her loves, dancing. >> she was a brilliant dancer. she was a brilliant dancer, and we have a charity dancing competition here she was going to be a part of and she was going to do the tango because her instructor said, alison, you're so sexy, you need to do the tango with me and she loved it but i couldn't see it until the night of the performance. and it's supposed to be later on this fall, and he will do it by himself in her honor. so i won't get to see that.

>> alison's dance partner, the friend she was supposed to dance with at the contest this fall is pedro soli. he joins us now. pedro, thank you so much for being with us. we're so sorry for your loss. i wonder if you can just tell us first off your impressions of alison. what was she like to dance with? >> alison, she was like, you know, a very spiky girl. every time line up in the studio when she comes to rehearsal after working all morning and she comes with a big smile like everybody knows her on the tv. that's the way she was in real life, too. >> her joy of life is something that we have heard over and over again and also her love of dance and all of the other things in her life. >> we matched together to dance together was the love we had for dance because that's the beautiful way to express ourselves. that's the reason i'll be

performing the piece in honor of her because she will say it to me in front of me, the show must go on. >> you were scheduled to have rehearsal yesterday when all of this happened. how did you find out, pedro? >> i find out because i was teaching a class, and my pianist told me about the news, and she had no idea i know alison, and i say what did you say to me? yes, she was my partner. so that's really -- and i finished my class and i went to my car and she drive home and stopped for a second because really hit me there very big time but, you know, the love and the caring from people and it's incredible, but the love i have for the parker family and for chris, it's more than, you know, it's big time.

>> i understand you had just dyed her dancing shoes for the competition to get ready. how do you want alison to be remembered? how do you want to remember alison? >> alison always will be remembered like a spiky little girl and beautiful smile and honest and very simple person who wants to achieve a lot of dreams and very humbled. she was very humble. she helped a lot of people, and dancing with her, we help a lot from each other. you know, after she's coming from work and me teaching all day and we laughed and we shared beautiful moments together and she always talk about chris, the love of her life and the life they're going to have together. i say you can do it, make it happen, and, you know, that's how i want to remember about her, the way she wants to do her

life, you know, to achieve everything. >> pedro, chris actually said this morning that this dance that you were going to be performing with her in the fall was one of many moments that have now been stolen from him and from all of you to have with her. how -- i'm sure the performance is probably the furthest thing from your mind at this very moment, but how do you want to honor her? how do you plan to honor her when this performance comes up in the fall? >> keep sharing the beautiful love of dance with everybody, what i'm doing as a teacher, as a mentor, as a coach, as artistic director here in the valley and in the world because that's the way we want to express ourself and i think that's what she would love for everybody to do, dance and enjoy and smile and to share the love with the dance with everybody. >> to celebrate her in dance. i think that is a lovely, lovely tribute.

and pedro, your words about your friend also simply lovely. pedro, thank you so much for being with us. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. a new poll giving joe biden a new reason perhaps to run for president, but is it in his heart? what he told insiders that now has people thinking, well, maybe not. and also next for us, the dramatic testimony from the teenager accused of raping a younger stay tuned at their prep school. why he says he lied and whether at this point that helps or hurts his case. much more on that ahead. if you qualify for a sittingham's card today i can offer you no interest for 24 months. thanks to the tools and help at experian.com, i know i have an 812 fico score, so i definitely qualify. so what else can you give me? same day delivery. the ottoman? thank you. fico scores are used in 90% of credit decisions. so get your credit swagger on. go to experian.com,

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happening now, closing arguments under way at a rape trial involving students of a prestigious new hampshire prep school. now 19-year-old owen labrie is accused of raping an underage classmate. this is part of a tradition there that apparently is called the senior salute or an alleged tradition where senior boys compete to have sex with as many younger students as possible. >> now, labrie, he's pleading not guilty. he said on the stand he did not have sex with this girl because in his words it didn't feel like the right move. here is a little more from his key testimony. >> you know, my face was next to hers and she said something like, i don't know, like owen.

sort of something you would say to someone while you're kissing them. that sort of thing. and, you know, she was a little more of the same. we paused for a second, she's smile or giggle and we'd continue. >> let's bring in cnn correspondent jean casarez with more on this. you've been watching this closely. closing arguments under way but the key moment cement to be labrie's testimony on the stand. how much impact do you believe it's having? >> first of all, that was the defense's only witness. he took the stand, this young man that had been admitted to harvard and obviously his life is on the line. with the direct testimony with his own attorney, very strong. really step by step and his testimony of what happened when the two of them really corroborates with the forensic evidence because there is not dna to show that there was sexual intercourse there and that forensics is not the ultimate but it's important.

on cross-examination the prosecutor just tried to dirty him up. that there had been e-mails all year of this list of girls they wanted. of course, he said, you know, it was kissing that we wanted. it was not the ultimate the entire time, and she is on that list in capital letters. so the mindset he had an intent to do it, but the statute says that there has to be sexual intercourse, and it's a he said/she said because she said on the stand, i said no three times and he didn't stop. >> and now we have these closing arguments. so the two cases boil down now at the end to what? >> a life is on the line, first of all. there are nine counts at this point. one being as simplistic i can say as a computer, soliciting someone over a computer for the senior salute. they're amounting that to be a crime. endangering the life of a minor. those possibly could be convicted. >> there are some off-ramps here short of rape for the jury if they wanted to go that way. >> most serious aggravated sexual assault. >> also, it can't be forgotten

this was very emotional for this girl who was sitting in the courtroom when he was making this testimony. >> isn't it something? >> and at one point, she got up and ran out crying. the jury sees that. >> and she cried on the stand that it was so emotional for her. i think an important bit of testimony or e-mail exchange is right after the encounter occurred where he calls her an angel. that she's a wonderful person. she responded immediately, you're an angel, too. you're just a great guy. so that state of mind right after it happened i think is going to be important for the jury, too, to see was this consensual, was it not, was it the ultimate act? >> very prestigious prep school and two lives hanging in the balance. >> and the defense started their closing saying the issue here is the school because they're the parents for these children that are boarded there, and they allowed this to happen by just giving a wink and a nod to the senior salute. >> puts the school on trial at the end. interesting. >> thank you so much. coming up for us, is he in

or is he out? joe biden talks about emotional fuel before democrats eager to know whether he's joining the campaign trail or not. a new poll just out. it might just give him some more incentive to jump in. and then just minutes away from donald trump speaking in greenville, south carolina, a state now where he leads in the poll. a new poll has him out nationally by more than ever. what will he say when he takes the stage? we're back in a moment. ♪ we stop arthritis pain, so you don't have to stop. because you believe in go. onward. today's the day. carpe diem. tylenol® 8hr arthritis pain has two layers of pain relief. the first is fast. the second lasts all day. we give you your day back. what you do with it is up to you. tylenol®.

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right now a large crowd is gathering in south carolina, and they're getting ready to hear from the republican front-runner, donald trump. we'll bring that event to you live when it happens. but also now turning to the democrats in the race, or not yet in the race, where new poll numbers could mean a new incentive this morning for vice president joe biden to do just that -- get in the race. according to a new quinnipiac poll he fared slightly better right now against the republican candidates in a general election matchup than the democratic front rupper, hillary clinton. biden and clinton are beating out candidates like bush and rubio. >> the speculation about a biden run. we're hearing from biden himself. he told dnc officials he still isn't sure he has the emotional

fuel to run. >> if i were to announce to run, i have to be able to commit to all of you that i would be able to give it my whole heart and my whole soul, and right now both are pretty well banged up. i've been giving this a lot of thought and dealing internally in the family about how we do this. >> it sounds like maybe he's not into it, all these meetings he's having make it sound like he is. cnn's white house correspondent michelle kosinski. that was the first we've heard in a while from joe biden on the subject. today he's meeting with the head of the afl-cio which has tongues wagging. >> and while he was giving that statement, he was on a call pushing for the iran deal with members of the democratic national committee. also, not a bad thing if you're somebody who is going to be running for president. i thought that was incredibly honest, though. listening to it, some are saying that doesn't sound all that positive.

and if you're talking to the dnc, don't you want to be boosting yourself up if you're considering a run. i thought it just sounded honest. it sounded like he hadn't made a decision and he didn't want to try to lean it one way or the other. but what those close to him are telling cnn is is that, yeah, he's still thinking about it but is leaning towards a run and, sure, when you look at the numbers of the latest poll, the latest poll is fascinating because it gets to all those questions that we all have out there. because we all know that he has plenty of support, decades of experience, he's beloved among many democrats, but the question is ultimately going to be how is he going to measure up against hillary clinton? and she has huge numbers among democrats. 45% support. however, that support has dropped ten percentage points in a month, and then you look at biden who has 18%. however, you then have to remind yourself he's not even in the

race yet. so that's going to affect how people respond to this. then when you match him up with republican contenders ves us how hillary clinton stacks up, he's actually polling better versus those republicans than she is. a lot of interesting numbers and favorability. hillary clinton now according to this poll has a negative favorability rating meaning more people view her unfavorably but biden is positive. he has plenty of signs that tell him if he does this, he'll have a shot. >> michelle kosinski with the big mission. thank you, michelle. >> and thank you for joining us at this hour. why should over two hundred years of citi history matter to you? well, because it tells us something powerful about progress: that whether times are good or bad, people and their ideas will continue to move the world forward. as long as they have someone to believe in them. citi financed the transatlantic cable that connected continents.

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the man leading the pack for the republican presidential nomination takes the podium in just a few moments. it is donald trump and his audience today greenville, south carolina. it's the home state of one of trump's gop rivals. senator lindsey graham. trump is outpacing the senator at this stage of the race and the two men are pretty much nonstop sniping at one another on twitter and anywhere else they can find a mike. stay with cnn because we are