Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Five Belgian Nationals Face Terrorism Charges Over Foiled Plot To Attack Police; Belgium Request Extradition Of Suspect Detained In Greece; Israeli Strike Kills Son Of A Top Hezbollah Commander; Obama Pushes Agenda Pre-State Of The Union Address; Icy Roads In Northeast Have Caused More Than 420 Accidents

Aired January 18, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Again, Cosby and his lawyers denying the allegations. Now, it's important to note there have been about two dozen women who have spoken out alleging they are victims of Bill Cosby, the latest, in fact, coming just this past week. And despite all that, despite these protests, Bill Cosby's camp says the show must go on. And he plans to continue with his scheduled performances.

Ana Cabrera, CNN, Denver.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And we've got much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. And it all starts right now.

First up, Europe on edge as new details emerge on terror probes across the continent.

In Belgium, five nationals are now facing terrorism charges over a foiled plot to attack police. All of the suspects have been accused of participating in a terrorist organization. Belgium is now requesting the extradition of a person arrested in Greece on suspicion that they may also be part of the plot. Police remain on high alert across Europe. Troops patrolled the streets of major Belgian cities once again.

In Brussels, they are still standing guard outside embassies and the country's national Jewish museum which was attacked last year. There are fears that as many as 20 so-called sleeper cells may be activated to carry out terror plots.

We're also learning that French authorities have released three women who were detained. Nine other people remain in custody.

Let's get more on the arrests in Greece and let's turn to CNN's Phil Black joining me now from Brussels.

So what can you tell us about the arrests if Greece and why the Belgians want that suspect, at least one of them, extradited?

PHIL BLACK, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we knew that over the last 24 hours or so, Greek police were cooperating with Belgian authorities. And we have heard today that they made two arrests based on information provided by the Belgian authorities. Of those two, investigators here in Brussels have decided that one could be part of the plot that they disrupted on Thursday night. And they are seeking his extradition back to Belgium.

They are not stating who he is, what role he is believed to have played in the alleged plot so far. That's very much consistent with the nature of their investigation so far. Being very disciplined in the information they are making public.

But, wrapping all of that up, that now bring to eight, the total number of people that are being health or charged as a result of this plot the that was uncovered Thursday night. Most of them here, five of them here in Belgium, two more in France, this eighth person in Greece, all of them accused of being part of the plot to target police officers either on the streets or while they were working in their police stations -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And then Belgian authorities stepped up security around so many of the cities to the same degree or are they going to intensify the presence?

BLACK: Well, they started rolling out armed soldiers on to the streets of Brussels and the city of (INAUDIBLE). They're concerned about Jewish sites communities, government buildings and institutions relating to the European Union. They rolled out more than 150 over the weekend so far. They are talking about upping those over the course of the coming to around 300 or so. It is a striking sight to see the paratroopers on the streets of the Belgian capital. It's going to maintain this security posture for at least a week. And then it will be reviewed.

WHITFIELD: All right, Phil Black in Brussels. Thank you very much.

All right, let's talk more about the heightened security measures in Europe. Joining me by phone from the Netherlands, Rob Wainwright, director of Europol, the European law enforcement agency.

So Belgium has requested extradition of at least one suspect detained in Greece. Is there connection in your view to the Belgian terror cell that was disrupted about four days ago now?

ROB WAINWRIGHT, DIRECTOR, EUROPOL (via phone): Well, as you heard from the prosecutors involved, they're not in a position to make that information publicly known yet. They've been working with the Belgian and Greek authorities and, indeed, many other authorities around Europe trying to develop the intelligence around what we have seen in the last week or so. We're doing that rather urgently.

Also following up some other lines of inquiry because the police action that we're seeing, Fredricka, around Europe obviously reflects the extent to come security authorities in many European countries are concerned about the nature of the threat, the extent to which ISIS' believed the next attack could happen.

And therefore, this is a determine show by the police forces around Europe to try and scale up their activities, to try and protect our citizens.

WHITFIELD: What was it about the information that authorities felt they had that they felt the timing was right to try to disrupt the terror suspects a few days ago?

WAINWRIGHT: Yes, I think the impact in particular of the attacks in Paris and also the events in Belgium which showed that we were dealing with clearly quite a dangerous terrorist cell in that case showed us just how imminent the threat is in certain cases. As I said, how widespread it is across Europe, as well.

We have to remember that we are dealing with a large number, potentially thousands of people, who we know have been radicalized on the Internet by their conflict experience in Syria and Iraq. Many of whom have now returned to European societies with some perhaps with the intent and capability to carry out attacks.

So this is obviously a pressing threat. It is something that we have to respond to very urgently. And we're doing that in many different ways across the continent now with Europol. So an increasing the way it can help the police forces to share intelligence, track the illegal movement of firearms, and terrorist financing, for example. So pretty massive effort now by the police community in Europe to respond to what we've been seeing.

WHITFIELD: And is it your feeling now based on the thousands of radicalized people that you are able to watch for a period of time, especially after what happened in Paris that the participants may be sleeping, so to speak, for two to three years. Is the feeling now that the surveillance of any potential radicalized subjects will be watched for a longer period of time?

WAINWRIGHT: I think that's a likely conclusion that many national police authorities will be making now. Of course, as you said, the events in Paris were carried out by people that were thought to have been dormant or at least not come to the attention of the authorities for some time. So maybe a warning to us in the security authorities that this threat is more complex, more enduring than we thought.

And so yes, I think, Fredricka, we're in this for the long haul and showing that also we're determined for the long haul and determined, of course, to prevail against this terrorist threat, the same way as we've managed to do so against other terrorism in the past.

WHITFIELD: And then, Mr. Wainwright, isn't financing always a big obstacle? How can governments, how can police, the Intel community afford to watch thousands of people for a matter of years?

WAINWRIGHT: Well, I think there is a resource question, yes. But this is also about, you know, a smart policing response in the sense that we need to get better at monitoring, the activities of -- sorry, the activities of terrorists on the internet, particularly how they use encrypted communications on line.

We also need to share each other's resources across borders, as we said earlier, to exchange intelligence, to cooperate in tracking across border movement of firearms, for example. I think we can do that, if we can develop a more sophisticated, more coherent set of international cooperation measures, then we can be more effective against this terrorist threat without necessarily a huge increase in resource allocations.

WHITFIELD: And what is the outlook on the cooperation, particularly between European countries?

WAINWRIGHT: Well, as I said, the Europol is urgently developing, reviewing the ways in which it can provide a better service to national authorities. I'm speaking with senior officials this week about that. And indeed government ministers will be meeting in the near future to look at those proposals and many others. There's certainly a determined political response in the European Union that we should act together to keep our citizens safe.

WHITFIELD: Thank you very much, Europol director, Rob Wainwright.

And we'll have much more from the NEWSROOM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, this breaking news I want to bring to you. An Israeli strike killed the son of a top Hezbollah commander today. Let's go to Nick Paton Walsh who is in Sana'a, Yemen. But we also are customarily used to seeing you in Beirut. That's where you're based. So give us the latest on what this means.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this Israeli helicopter strike happened in an area called the al-Amal (ph) farms near the (INAUDIBLE). That's down in Golan Heights, actually inside Syria.

Now, we know from a statement from Hezbollah that six people they said were martyred. Part of what they referred to as a Hezbollah survey mission in that particular area. Now, we know Hezbollah have been active inside Syria fighting alongside the Syrian regime.

A source close to Hezbollah, though, has told us the key detail here, that amongst those six dead, there is a man called jihad Magnier. Now, he is the 20-something year old son, a son of Imam Magniers (ph), one of the more notorious members of Hezbollah, killed in 2008 in Damascus by a blast. The man considered responsible for a number of an acts, attacking Israeli in western targets during his (INAUDIBLE) career in Hezbollah. But the fact that his son, Jihad, was targeted in such way and the Israelis in fact knew where he was. We don't also know who else was targeted in that convoy suggests certainly the Israelis have good intelligence in Hezbollah movements.

And of course, now, we don't know how Hezbollah will respond. They are, of course, going to be deeply concerned by this. And whether or not we see some sort of military response is unclear. Many see Hezbollah are, of course, fighting on many different fronts at the moment. And the key question is what actually happens next.

Israel have been perhaps some say exploiting the facts, Hezbollah involved in so many places to occasionally launch strikes against them. A moment of opportunity, this seems to be one of those. And the Israelis so far have given no comment -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Nick Paton Walsh. Thanks so much for keeping us posted. Appreciate it.

All right, now to the ongoing debate over extremism and the intolerance around the world, which includes controversial actions from two close U.S. allies. A week ago, Saudi Arabia flogged a blogger for sparking a debate on line about extremism. And Pakistan recently sentenced a Christian for blasphemy.

On CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy was asked if there should be consequences for the actions taken by the U.S. allies. Here's his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D), CONNECTICUT: This is not a war between Christianity and Islam, between the east and west. And I think he was very right to point that out. But when you have these kinds of actions inside Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, it perpetuates this myth that that is indeed the fight that is going on.

And of course, we know that for years, for decades, the Saudis have been funneling money Wahabi (ph) clerical organizations that fund the very atrocities; that train Islamist jihadists. We certainly know in Pakistan that at the same time that they've been fighting radical elements, they've also been funding those radical elements or at least being permissive of them.

So we've got to have some hard conversations with our allies in the coming weeks and days. We've let it go on for far too long. And now that we've realized the reality, the danger, immediacy of the threat to the United States and into our allies, I think Republicans and Democrat can come together and say, listen, time is up. We need to see some progress, or especially with a country like Pakistan that's the recipient of major dollars from the United States, there's going to be some consequences.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk more about this. Let's bring in Dr. Qanta Ahmed. She wrote an opinion piece this week where she says that it's for Muslim time to take a stand to save Islam from Islamists.

Dr. Ahmed, good to see you.

DR. QANTA AHMED, CNN ANALYST: Hi, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: So what kind of standard are you talking about?

AHMED: I think one of the things that we're doing right now is a great place to start. And certainly the example of Pakistan which has imprisoned a Christian, a very poor woman on charges, fabricated charges of blasphemy and now facing a death sentence, that's the kind of action that is expressly Islamist, a political totalitarian ideology, profoundly un-Islamic that the Muslim Diaspora can take issue with. There are things that we can do to try to support the woman being released, just as we should be doing the same for the Saudi blogger. Let's bear in mind, Muslims are 1.62 billion will in population around

the world. Only 300 million of us are in the Middle East. That leave the vast majority outside that region that we can exercise pressure to release individuals who are imperiled by Islamism.

WHITFIELD: So what kind of pressure do you suppose? Because it sounds like you are in agreement with Senator Murphy who says there needs to be hard conversation with these allies. But you know, to what extent? What kind of leverage would the U.S. have on a situation like that?

AHMED: So, here's what I'd ask U.S. to do, and certainly, when we think about the United States we think of a remote administration that most of us don't have access to because we're not personally elected. So we are a huge population. Every viewer who cares about the values of democracy and who cares about those that are imperiled in places where there is no democracy should write to their representatives, should write to amnesty international, should write to human rights watch, and appeal for the United States to exercise diplomatic pressure to release both (INAUDIBLE), the Pakistani lady charged with blasphemy and the Saudi blogger, (INAUDIBLE).

Those are the kinds of things we at grassroots level can do. And hopefully our political leaders will respond to that kind of demand. People in Britain, I'm a British citizen, can also do the same.

WHITFIELD: You know, you've written that in many ways Islamists are winning. To what degree are they winning?

AHMED: So when I'm writing that in my arguments, I feel that they certainly control the voice and images that are ascribed to Islam. These atrocities that we saw in "Charlie Hebdo" are Islamist acts. That's not just a word to be polite about extremist or terrorist or this language that we have been struggling with. That prosecution of an idea that is considered blasphemy by the actors that executed the staff of "Charlie Hebdo" is an Islamist act. It's a violent act, and we recognize it as Muslims to have been an absolute unlawful act.

We can't execute people. This is not what we can do as believing Muslims. But it is also, it is very important to understand that action of murdering a cartoonists or murdering journalists is inspired by nonviolent political legislation that the OIC has been forwarding through the United Nations.

So they are utilizing an organization like the United Nations to sanction the concept of blasphemy. And that concept of blasphemy, which I as a Muslim recognize, cannot be judged by immortal. It is judged only -- judged by a mortal. It is judged only by the creator in his created model. That kind of restriction is penetrating our own democracy.

The idea of Islamism is choking freedom worldwide, including here in home of the free. I'm absolutely opposed to any profanity at all against any belief system. I'm appalled by the art that was mentioned in terms of the desecration of the Virgin Mary that was -- in Brooklyn here a few years ago, just as I would be appalled by the definition of Judaism in any concept.

But we cannot be censored because of that intimidation. That's giving Islamists a victory. It's not just images that are giving them a victory, but abandoning our ideas and not defending them to the last degree and then allowing our ideals to be completely disregarded by those we ally with. We have to do more.

WHITFIELD: Is there a feeling of powerlessness, though? Because it seems extremists are, you know, winning that battle to be very influential to say that if any way the image of the Prophet Muhammad is denigrated or, you know, if there's an insult that comes as a result of whether to depict him in a cartoon that the consequence and extremists say the Koran supports the notion that the consequence should be death. But most experts of the Koran, and I'm not one of them, but I have been doing a lot of reading on it, will say that the Koran doesn't state that. So how do you or anyone kind of overpower the message that is being sent by these extremists or Islamists that you talk of?

AHMED: So that's a sophisticated question. Thank you so much for that.

I think there is real powerlessness. The real powerlessness is actually exercised vastly on Muslim subjects and citizens who don't have liberty to even discuss this idea that we're discussing now.

But I think we are much more empowered in secular pluralistic democracies, in liberal democracies than we think we are. We are empowered because we can demand our governments, those individuals we have elected as the people to start pressing and defending our ideals. I'm a Muslim, I'm a British Muslim. But I enjoy all liberty of belief and expression in the United States because of the principles enshrined in the declaration of independence.

When President Jefferson was planning the declaration of independence, he used the idea of an imaginary Muslim. In those days that was such an unthinkable and exotic person to be in the United States. How could they enshrine the rights of an individual?

Our founders here in this country were thinking about protecting my rights. And we have to defend those rights in a way that has to be much more aggressive than we've been defending them.

WHITFIELD: Dr. Qanta Ahmed, pleasure having you. Thanks so much.

AHMED: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Coming up, the latest on those deadly accidents caused by icy roads across this country, particularly in the northeast. We'll check the forecast with our Karen Maginnis next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Icy roads in the northeast have caused more than 420 accidents to date, some of them deadly. Police say two people have died in accidents related to black ice in the Philadelphia area. And one of the victims was killed getting out of his car after he crashed into a large pileup on interstate 76. And in Maryland, police say at least one person has died on icy roads.

Our Karen Maginnis is in studio.

Good to you. But, my God, this is a nasty swath of bad weather. And it is really dangerous because you can't see it, but it is there, that black ice.

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No. It's better to have snow rather than to have ice because it gives you kind of an optical illusion. We do have some of that wet weather that is making its way across the mid-Atlantic into the northeast. And yes, it is rain. It switched over. At one point during the morning, 32 million people affected by the icy condition.

Here's Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. Right now it looks like it is a little bit quiet. But we'll see some light sprinkles. So, not an issue as far as ice is concerned.

New York City, some of those western and northern suburbs, all the way from Hudson Valley and into the West Chester area. You are looking at slippery conditions there.

We move further towards the north, this will be the big story tonight for tonight and then going into Monday, Vermont, New Hampshire, into Maine.

Icy weather conditions as our frontal system going to sweep through on the back side of that. You've got enough cold air, you'll see some snowfall. Generally speaking, between four and six inches perhaps in northern sections of Vermont and New Hampshire.

Want to show you some more pictures of the devastating road conditions because of the ice on the highways, this coming out of the Philadelphia area. Now, you see all of the cars and the SUVs as well as major trucks that were colliding across this region with this very hazardous road conditions. It doesn't take much ice for this kind of event to take place.

But Fredricka, because we are watching the temperatures warm up here, now we're seeing the rainfall. A couple of inches, but now that involves 20 million people. And it's going to be just as treacherous as some of the ice is because as you go through the evening hours, that rainfall is going to collect on those roads. And you can see quite a bit of pounding and some localized flooding across this region, all the way from New Jersey into Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, and into New York and in toward the northeast.

WHITFIELD: The Monday commute --

MAGINNIS: It's just been horrible all day.

WHITFIELD: And hopefully if you can, you'll just take the train or something. But then, of course, you've got to drive sometimes to the train station. MAGINNIS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: So that the tough part.

All right, folks have be very safe. Thanks for the warning. Appreciate it, Karen.

All right, the president now, unveiling a new tax plan this week. Tuesday night, in fact, at the state of the union address. Who pays? Who benefits?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT: I'm Erin McPike at the White House. Republicans are already calling this tax plan unserious. I'll tell you why after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Europe on edge as new details emerge on terror probes across the continent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll just say this. I think every country in the world today is probably looking back at the policies that they've got the on surveillance for known fighters and trying to determine is there a point where you just stay on them 24/7? (END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And Istanbul, Turkey, a key point on the war on terror with its poorest border into Syria and Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: Turkish authorities have also repeatedly told that CNN that they're quite frustrated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: How can authorities stop the revolving door of radicals moving back and forth in that country?

Plus in this country, President Obama already pushing his plans before the state of the union address, new taxes for the rich, tax breaks for others. What does it really mean for you?

Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

President Obama wants to give the middle class a tax break and get more revenue from the rich. That's part of his new tax plan he'll unveil Tuesday night during his sixth state of the union address. But for the first time since becoming president, all of Mr. Obama's changes would need to be approved by a GOP house and Senate.

CNN's Erin McPike is at the White House with for us. So with the GOP in control of Congress, how likely is that the

president will get what he wants and lays out during the state of the union address?

MCPIKE: Fred, frankly, not likely at all. And let's talk about why. First, the way he wants to pay for those tax breaks, the revenue and how he wants to raise it. Let's walk through that.

First, he wants to raise tax rates on capital gains. Currently that's 20 percent. He wants to raise that to 28 percent. That is anathema to Republicans. And then also he wants to oppose a new fee on large financial institutions. And the White House is estimating that with those two ways of raising revenue, they could raise about $320 billion that way.

But there was a lot of talk about this. On the Sunday morning shows today, Dan Pfeiffer was on NBC's "Meet The Press." He is a senior adviser to President Obama and then Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz was on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning. And you can see that these two are on very different pages. Listen here to their comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN PFEIFFER, WHITE HOUSE SENIOR ADVISOR: A simple proposition that now that the economy is in a stronger place than it's been in a very long time, we need to double down on our efforts to deal with wage stag nation and declining economic mobility. And so, the simple proposition that we should ask the wealthy to pay a little more and invest more in the middle class, give the middle class a raise --

REP. JASON CHAFFETZ (R), OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE: It's a non-starter. We're not just one good tax increase away from prosperity in this nation. This -- this nation had its all-time highest, the record number of receipts coming into the treasury. Are you going to grow the economy and jobs, are entrepreneurs going to be better off? Are small businessmen going to be better off with more taxes and more government? No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: But what President Obama wants to do here is to bolster the middle class. And so the two tax credits that we're talking about, one is a tax credit for dual income families for $500. And then the next thing is -- is tripling the child tax credit to $3,000. So those are the two things he wants to get done in some way. And keep in mind that what President Obama lays out in the state of the union really is a starting point.

Now Republicans and President Obama have said they think they can get something done on tax reform this year. But it's going to be a chess match. And we're going to see this play out over the next couple of months, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Erin McPike. Thanks so much at the White House. All right, don't forget to tune in to the president's speech Tuesday

night right here on CNN. Television's best political team will have every angle covered here on CNN. Our coverage starts at 7:00 p.m. eastern time.

All right, so a lot is at stake for President Barack Obama Tuesday night when he delivers this sixth "state of the union "speech. Unlike last year or any year he's been in office, he is facing a Republican- controlled Congress again. He will have to depend on to get the programs approved and paid for, et cetera.

Here to talk about it is CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein, who is editorial director at "the National Journal." Good to see you.

And Larry Sabado, director of the center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Good to you, as well.

All right, Ron, you first. The president could talk more about, you know, raising this $320 billion in tax revenue by way of dividend and capital gains taxes, helping people get 401(k) plans perhaps through their employers. But what is the tone likely as it appears this, you know, president will be spending or even receiving in those chambers?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well look, I think you really have to look at the kind of ideas the president puts forward through the rest of his tenure in two very different categories. Almost anything that requires legislative approval is his attempt to frame the debate for the remaining two years of his presidency and into 2016.

As Erin noted, given the priorities of this new Republican majority in both chambers, I don't think there's much that they are going to be able to agree on and ideas like universal community access to community college or paid family leave and much less tax ideas are very unlikely for this Republican Congress to embrace.

On the other hand, it is not all symbolic in these last few years because we are seeing the president move very aggressively and assertively through the use of unilateral executive power on a whole array of other issues like as immigration, normalization of relations with Cuba, the climate change regulations and the possibility of a climate deal with China and probably others that are coming.

So I think we are going to see two very different things. Framing the debate with legislative proposals and actually changing the landscape with unilateral executive action.

WHITFIELD: And then Larry, you know, according to Pricewaterhousecooper, you know, the U.S. economic growth in 2015 is believed to be the fastest since 2005. U.S. unemployment is below six percent right now. And the U.S. is expected to contribute around 23 percent of global GDP growth, the largest contribution in a single year since before the financial crisis.

So you know, that is a lot to boast about. Will the president do that? And you know, will this Republican Congress give him credit? LARRY SABADO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF

VIRGINIA: Well, there's a 100 percent chance the president will boast about it Tuesday evening. And there's a zero percent chance the Republicans are going to get credit for it.

WHITFIELD: I knew you were going to say that.

SABADO: So we can take care of that very easily. Ron is absolutely right. You are going to see the substance of the Obama administration, the two years remaining, be unilateral just as he said. The president's going to do it on his own.

Legislative proposals are more for the public relations of it. Some of these things are very popular. The president is proposing eliminating the trust tax provision that really effects only a few hundred Americans who can lead leave millions and millions to their kids and reduce their taxes.

You know, that's -- that's for the top one-tenth of one percent, not one percent, one-tenth of one percent. Obviously that will be popular. But he is really creating a platform for Hillary Clinton or another democratic nominee. He's building a bridge to 2106.

WHITFIELD: Even though potentially whoever that Democratic nominee is, at least from the field of (INAUDIBLE). A lot of them want to distance themselves from the president or might say they are changing their tune on that as result of, you know, all these accolades, all these real high points in the Obama administration, Ron?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, look, I think that the president is shaping the battlefield for both parties, particularly through these executive actions. I mean, you had Hillary Clinton endorse his unilateral action on immigration, on climate, on the climate deal with China, on moving to Cuba.

And in lock step, you've had almost all the Republicans feeling enormous pressure to oppose all of those things because he's done them. And so, I do think that these actions that he is taking on his own as well as somebody's proposals, it would not be surprising, for example, I don't think Larry would be surprised to see Hillary Clinton embrace the community college idea, universal access to community college as a presidential candidate in 2016.

He is having a big impact on framing that debate. And look, whether he does that or not, he's going to have a big impact because we know through polling that views of the outgoing president do cast a large shadow over the election to succeed him. And if Obama is in the stronger position as the economy seems to be bringing in forth, that will be a benefit for Democrats in 2016.

WHITFIELD: Potential real game changer.

All right, Ron Brownstein and Larry Sabado, thank you so much. Good to see both of you.

And we will be back right after this. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The Paris attacks and subsequent police crackdown across Brussels have many in the U.S. wondering about differences between Muslims living in the U.S. and Europe.

CNN's Sarah Ganim spoke to Muslims who say living in the U.S. today is a vastly different experience when compared to their time in Europe.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARAH GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Muhammad El Khaoua and Shiza Khan are both Muslims and living in New York. Muhammad is student studying from France. Shiza is a lawyer who grew up in London.

In your experience, what's the difference between being Muslim in Europe, London, and being Muslim in United States of America?

SHIZA KHAN, LAWYER: I felt like I was more a part of the community in America as opposed to the community in England. I was always very conscious of the fact that I was a person of color. When I walked into a courtroom and I was out in restaurants, I was very aware of that. In America, I don't feel that at all. I feel like I am part of the community.

MUHAMMAD EL KHAOUA, STUDENT: Being a French Muslim in the U.S., I felt that my presence was less of a problem.

GANIM: According to a Pew study, most American Muslims have assimilated into the middle class or mainstream America. Meanwhile, European Muslims maintain a lower socio-economic status.

HARIS TARIN, MUSLIM PUBLIC AFFAIRS COUNCIL: I think there's a lot of isolation in European countries when it comes to the Muslim populations.

GANIM: Haris Tarin, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington compares it to inner city communities in Chicago, L.A., or New York. In fact, another Pew study found that in France, for example, more than a third felt discriminate against because of their religion or ethnicity.

TARIN: American Muslims are quite well integrated soc socio- economically. They're engaged in higher education, educational levels, professional class. So that difference really helps in terms of their integration into society and feeling as if they are part of America even though challenges of anti-Muslim sentiment still exist here.

GANIM: Muhammad's parents were Algerian and Moroccan immigrants to France. The family found jobs but not acceptance.

EL KHAOUA: In France, my perception is that we are not recognized as equal citizens. We are always asked to choose between our Frenchness or our Islamity. And I think this is the integration issue. GANIM: Amnesty international calls Islamophobia one of Europe's

biggest challenges and Tarin says it leaves the Muslim population there more vulnerable to radicalization.

TARIN: When you have that marginalization, no sense of national identity, no sense of being a French Muslim or being a European Muslim, those sentiments can play into the fears and paranoias.

GANIM: You're going back. Are you looking forward to it?

EL KHAOUA: To be frank, not really. The climate in France is extremely tense.

GANIM: Shiza, who moved her permanently, says that after just five years here, she feels more American than she ever did European.

KHAN: I do feel like an American. I mean, other than when it comes to football, I do support England. But I do truly feel that I am an American. I feel like -- like the American dream, I feel like it's something that I can pursue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GANIM: Now Fred, those I talked to said there's no concept really in Europe of a hyphenated identity. So here in America, for example, African-American or Hispanic-American or Muslim-American, they say that doesn't always exist there.

In France, for example, Muhammad told me that he often feels pressure to choose between his identifying as French or identifying as Muslim. And he says that he's had people say to him, suggest to him that he couldn't possibly be French because French culture clashes, in their opinion, with his religion. This is even though he's a French citizen and he's lived there most of his life -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sarah Ganim. Thank you so much in New York. Appreciate it.

All right, still ahead, a focal point in the war on terror is the porous border between Turkey and Syria. It's where terror suspect Hayat Boumeddiene is thought to have slipped past the reach of western officials there. Are violent extremists using it, that country, as a point of entry to the west?

Our Arwa Damon has that story next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm impressed by the construction on the concrete on the curve. It's worked out very well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER (voice-over): Daniel Libeskind is an architect used to the pressure of high-profile projects. His eye- catching buildings include the Jewish museum in Berlin, the Denver art museum, and imperial war museum north in Manchester. Today is he's in Belgium overseeing work on a new conference center in

(INAUDIBLE), the city which will be a European capital of culture in 2015.

DANIEL LIBESKIND, ARCHITECT: It's large. By 2050, I think 75 percent of the world population will live in cities. So the cities cannot just build more, you know, more boxes and more of the same.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER: In lower Manhattan, Libeskind is dealing with one of the greatest challenges facing architects today to build sensitively in a high-density city. Libeskind is the master planner of the redevelopment of ground zero. The site devastated by the 9/11 attacks.

LIBESKIND: 70,000 people have moved to lower Manhattan since I started working on this project which means families, people, schools, housing has been built. So there's a complete rebirth of this area that was so devastated by the attacks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, catch more of this pretty compelling conversation at CNN.com/onestowatch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: As official in Europe combat the growing terrorist threat there, a key suspect tie to the Paris attack seems to have slipped right through their fingers. It's believe that Hayat Boumeddiene, wife of kosher market attacker Amedy Coulibaly crossed into Syria after traveling to Istanbul, Turkey. The porous border raises concerns about jihadists crossing back and forth between Syria and Europe.

CNN's Arwa Damon has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A Turkish authorities will continuously say that they are doing what they can. And yes, they have clamped down to a certain degree. They have tried to make it more difficult for people to cross from Turkey and into Syria and vice versa. But despite their best efforts, they quite simply cannot control the entire boarder.

We're talking about a border that's hundreds of kilometers long. We're talking about individuals who are willing to wait for that one little gap to open up, and they dart across into Syria. At that stage it becomes just about impossible to try to track them.

Turkish authorities have also repeatedly told that CNN that they're quite frustrated because they feel on some occasions, they are alerting various European countries that some of their nationals are leaving Turkey, whom the Turks believe could potential be a threat, and they feel as if their intelligence is not necessarily being acted on the way that it should be. Turkey has emerged, yes, as a key transit hub for just about anyone

who wants to go into Syria. The airport of Istanbul is massive, if they are picked up, if an individual is picked up at custom, the way Hayat Boumeddiene even was. That is Amedy Coulibaly, the third gunman's girlfriend.

Yes, the Turks had tracked her for a few days, but she just went about doing normal touristy things, and took surveillance off of her, and re-picked it up afterwards once the news of the Paris attack came out. And once she had been associated with that. So the Turks are doing what they can. But they cannot control the situation, especially not without a greater level of cooperation between them and European and other western nation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, for two weeks, they were on the run accused of car theft and robbery. But police finally tracked two teenagers down. Where they were found, next?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ever since the first subway system called the tube in London more than 100 years ago, commuters the world over have jostled their way underground. Now commuters of today come together and take a deep breath. Let your eyes feast to the light of a new era in mass transit.

JOHN COLE, CEO, SKYTRAN: We're talking about vehicles that can go upwards of 150 to 200 miles an hour.

QUEST: This is sky Tram. Driverless pods, using a network of elevated guide ways. Call for Skytran on your smart phone and a computer controlled magnetically levitating pod arrives in quick order. It will whisk you across the city to your destination.

COLE: Transportation will recede into the background of our lives. I just think about where I want to go, I tell a computer where I want to go, and it takes me there seamlessly.

QUEST: Skytran's first pilot project is going on right now in Tel Aviv, in Israel. There are plans to expand into cities across Europe and Asia.

JOE DIGNAN, SMART OFFICER EXPERT: I would certainly use it.

QUEST: Joe Dignan is a smart cities expert based in the UK. As he sees it, there is a rosy horizon for the automated personalized transit.

DIGNAN: I can see it very much useful for emerging economies particularly cities that are developing from scratch.

QUEST: Until then, we'll just like to the skies, waiting for the transformative transit system of tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Checking our top stories, Pope Francis made history today in the Philippines. A crowd estimated at six to seven million people celebrated mass with him in Manila, hearing a message of empathy and hope. The Vatican calls it the largest event in papal history. Today is the pope's final full day in the Philippines concluding his six-day tour of Asia.

And a bizarre incident involving Australian pro golfer Robert Allenby. Allenby was reportedly abducted from a local wine bar this weekend in Honolulu, thrown into a car and then driven six-and-a-half-mile away. Robbers allegedly took all of his money, his cell phone and then dumped him in a park. And there you see his injuries that he posted. Golf central in fact posted these photos of his injuries. Police are review surveillance video hoping to find potential suspects.

Overnight, police in Florida captured two Kentucky teens accused in a multistate crime spree. Police surged for 18-year-old Dalton Hayes and his 13-year-old girlfriend Cheyenne Phillips as they made their way through several southern states. They were finally arrested in Florida. They were accused of stealing cars.

Last hour, I spoke with Grayson County Kentucky sheriff Norman Chaffins who knows Hayes, and I asked the sheriff if the alleged crime spree was surprising given Dalton's history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF NORMAN CHAFFINS, GRAYSON COUNTY, KENTUCKY: It didn't surprise us that he would do something like that, but this is the best possible outcome we could have. And I will say that if it weren't for the U.S. marshals, and Grayson County sheriff's department and the Florida police, we would not have had this outcome. The ideal place, great location to take them into custody, and they left them no choice but to give up.

WHITFIELD: And in your view, what was so remarkable about this case? There are car wings (ph) all across the country and people going state to state allegedly stealing cars. What is it about this situation, these two teenagers and people call them the Bonnie and Clyde, but as far as we know, they didn't kill anyone. But what it is that made this case particularly compelling in your view?

CHAFFINS: You got to ask the media on that one. We -- I usually sent out news releases. But these are teenagers in our hometown. We just wanted to locate it (INAUDIBLE) the Kentucky State Police, I had some contacts that I reached out to, and it just got legs and kept running. We got the picture out there, and (INAUDIBLE) I think it was a lot to do with her being 13 and him being 18.

WHITFIELD: Cheyenne's mother also spoke to CNN this morning saying she disapproved of her daughter's relationship with the young man. The teens remain in Florida until now, and then could be relocated to Kentucky. We have much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM, and it all starts right now.