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Think, that hole is so deep now. if he's really double digits back at this point in a race, we've never had anybody come from that far back at this stage. hubert humphrey was 13 points back in september of 1968 and almost caught richard nixon. he came within a point. but that was a long, hard slog to get there. and he had a lot more time. >> and it's 11 points tonight, mark, with this poll which, again, post-tape, pre-debate. >> yeah, 11 points. at this point, you need to continue to adding to your coalition as does hillary clinton, okay? they're in the same position, except hillary clinton ha...

Look, i agree with tucker, she's going to beat bernie sanders, but it might be a long, hard slog. she might have to grind it out if she loses iowa or new hampshire to this guy who is a cleatly unelectable socialist. >> have you softened on trump and cruz? they're the two front-runners. >> i'm an admirer of ted cruz. >> you wrote a good column about him. >> he's run in this year when we say all the rules are different, he's run an utterly unconventional campaign in iowa. he's gone there done the work on the ground, he's motivated evangelicals and base voters. if i had to predict he'd win iowa b...

But it might be a long, hard slog. she might have to grind it out if she loses iowa or new hampshire to this guy who is a completely unelectable socialist. >> have you softened on trump and cruz? they're the two front-runners. >> i'm an admirer of ted cruz. >> you wrote a good column about him. >> he's run in this year when we say all the rules are different, he's run an utterly conventional campaign in iowa. he's gone there done the work on the ground, he's motivated evangelicals and base voters. and that's why i think today if i had to predict, i think he'll win iowa by eight or ten points u...

Administration's strategy. is there a sense that in some ways the pentagon or even the administration were caught off guard by isis and how quickly its reach expanded? >> reporter: in terms of the pentagon and u.s. military leadership, i would say it's just the opposite. u.s. military leaders were the first ones to sound the alarm that this was going to be a very long, hard slog. the then chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general martin dempsey, shortly after isis invaded iraq, warned this would be a generational fight. other military leaders here at the pentagon have warned that this cou...

Counterterrorism forces into that fight. there are some 350 estimated isis fighters that remain in the city. and overnight, b-1 bombers dropped 500 bombs taking out scores of fighting positions, some machine gunnists, mortar positions and killing ab90 enemy forces. but because those isis forces are so well dug in and the area is so populated, this is going to be a long, hard slog. still american officials are confident that those iraqi forces will, with the u.s. assistance, eventually take over ramadi. take it back from isis. >> jim miklaszewski at the pentagon, thank you sir. want to bring in...