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Highest terror alert level has been extended in Brussels; President Obama sits down for a face-to-face meeting with the French president Francois Hollande; The head of U.S. homeland security says there are no credible terror threats against the United States at this time; Series of major raids going on right now in Brussels; "Washington Post" journalist Jason Rezaian has officially been sentenced to prison time; Aired 5-6p ET

Aired November 22, 2015 - 17:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:00:32] POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Good evening, everyone. I want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you live from Paris where it is 11:00 in the evening.

We begin this evening in Brussels where the highest terror alert level has been extended because of the threat of coordinated multiple attacks just like we saw take place here in Paris. The Belgian prime minister announcing earlier today that possible targets include malls, shops, and public transportation. Tomorrow, schools and the subway will remain closed as the security in the capital remains boosted.

Also new this evening, French police releasing this photo of one of the suicide bombers, the suspected ones who attacked the Paris soccer stadium with a plea for information about who the man may be. What we do know is that he was dropped off at the stadium by this man, now the most wanted man in all of Europe. His name, Salah Abdeslam, and he remains on the lamb. We are getting a clearer picture, though, of how he made his escape during the chaos getting sued in Paris.

Sources telling us here at CNN that after he dropped off the bombers, he ditched his car three miles away in the middle of a cross walk. His brother now telling Belgian television he believes that Abdeslam changed his mind last minute, decided not to go through with the attack and fled.

Much more now from our very own Tim Lister, who has been tracking every move we have been able to track down.

Tim, thank you for being with me. This has been extraordinary, the fact that the best intelligence in the world can't find this man nine days in. Given what his brother just told Belgian television in the last few hours, he pleaded with his brother to turn himself in, go to jail. What else did he say in?

TIM LISTER, CNN PRODUCER: Well, he also said that he thought his brother had had a last-minute change of mind. That he felt that he was an intelligent person and saw the futility of what he was meant to do and therefore he decided not go through with the operation and that he decided to try to get home, basically.

HARLOW: What we also know is that, you know, you wrote an extensive piece on this on CNN.com called the mystery of France's most wanted man. And you say that we have been able day by day to learn a little bit more. What do you think the biggest clue is that has come out thus far about his movements?

LISTER: I think the biggest clue, one of the guys who drove him back to Belgium, that Saturday morning, said, according to his attorney, said that when they picked up Abdeslam in Paris at about probably 5:00 in the morning on Saturday, he was very, very agitated and ready to blow himself up. Those were the words of this guy who helped drive him home to Brussels. And he was also wearing a really big coat and carrying something really heavy which suggests that he maybe still had a suicide belt with him, that perhaps he was meant to go through with an operation did not.

But another mystery. For four hours between the end of the attacks when he essentially dumped his car and he was picked up, just off the radar. Disappears all together. He is wandering around Paris.

HARLOW: It is extraordinary. And you pose this question at the end of your piece. You say, was he supposed to do it, meaning blow himself up, and didn't have the courage to, which it appears more likely now, this is of what his brother we just don't know. How confident are the authorities here in France, Belgium, that they can track him down? Because it seems pretty amazing that someone could evade all of these countries looking for him.

LISTER: I think it is amazing, seems to be no trace of him after about a week. He arrived back in Belgium on a Saturday morning. A week later, nobody knows where he is.

HARLOW: Nothing.

LISTER: There is nothing. Now, some speculate that he may have even taken his own life. He was in a very agitated state. He didn't know where to turn. Others, very, very poor sourcing on this say he maybe was spotted indirect to other places. So that's why this intense Belgian operation continues because they feel he is still out there and that he may finally carry out this act of martyrdom that he was perhaps meant to carry out in Paris a week ago.

HARLOW: And what other lives might he take if he does indeed decide to do that.

LISTER: Exactly.

HARLOW: Tim Lister, thank you very much.

You can go to CNN.com, read Tim's fascinating piece step by step, the mystery of France's most wanted man.

Also, we know that in less than 48 hours, President Obama will sit down for a face-to-face meeting with the French president Francois Hollande. The two leaders will focus on the global response to the deadly attack here on Paris. President Obama slamming ISIS and the terror group's ideology when he spoke today on his trip to Malaysia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[17:05:20] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They are a bunch of killers with good social media. The Americans who are building things and making things and teaching and saving lives as firefighters and police officers, they are stronger. Our way of life is stronger. All of which is to say that our coalition will not relent. We will not accept the idea that terrorist assaults on restaurants, theaters and hotels are the new normal or that we are powerless to stop them. After all, that's precisely what terrorists like ISIL want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let's talk this over with CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier and CNN military analyst and lieutenant general Mark Hertling.

Kimberly, to you first. What we know, that major French aircraft carrier (INAUDIBLE) is now in the Eastern Mediterranean. We are told it will be operational Monday morning for those airstrikes with close proximity to Syria. Then you have got Hollande meeting with president Obama. Then he goes to Russia to meet with president Putin. Do you read this as a sign that he is trying to bridge any gaps, make a strong coalition between the United States, France, and Russia?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Bridge the gaps. And you've got to wonder if he might not also be lobbying behind closed doors to get President Obama to step up the number of strikes as well as to step up the transparency in terms of how much intelligence they share with France. I understand it's much better than it was, but it could be better still.

And in Russia, you know, Russians have been targeting some ISIS areas, but the majority of their attacks still have been on rebels who are against the Syrian regime. So the U.S. and France would like to see them switch that fire power and move towards ISIS-held areas and really step up the bombing campaign.

The other thing that they have been doing is ratcheting up bombing and it doesn't look like the Russians can sustain what they haves with 34 jets on the ground so far. So, again, maybe France could be the bridge between the U.S. operations and coalition operations in Russia to start putting the pressure on the troops together.

HARLOW: And they certainly the impetus to do that now following these horrific attacks.

General Hertling, I want you to listen to what Chuck Hagel told our Jake Tapper this morning in a fascinating exclusive interview. Let's roll it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK HAGEL, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: We needed to more clearly define our political strategy along with our military strategy because it's my opinion, it certainly was the opinion of the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marty Dempsey. He can speak for himself. But it was our opinion there is no military solution to this. We are up against an ideology, we are up against a reality of a set of dynamics we have never seen before, sophistication in social media. The military paralysis, the tactical strategic prowess that ISIS possesses, the funding. So we should more clearly define what is our political strategy? What are our priorities? Who is the enemy here? Is Assad the enemy or is ISIS the enemy?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: I'm wondering your take on that, general. Is there no military solution to fighting ISIS because this is an ideology that has spread so rampantly?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: We have said for a very long time, Poppy, that this will not be solved militarily. I have said that several times on CNN. I thought the former secretary's interview this morning was fascinating because it outlines some things which message the fact that -- well, let's put it this way. There has been a strategy from the very beginning. There are seven lines of operation to this strategy, two of which are military. The other ones have not received as much attention from the general public or even from the Congress. So the focus on those other lines of operations, stopping the transport of fighters, influencing the economics of this terrorist and criminal organization, attempting to counter the messaging and the ideology and many other things are all part of the overarching strategy that has not received the attention that bombing Syria has received.

And I think what we are seeing now is several other nations, France, later this week you're going to see prime minister Cameron go to the parliament after he's won over some votes from both parties and present his strategy which is going to mirror, I believe you'll see, President Obama's strategy over the last year of continuing to take the fight to this criminal organization.

I think the good thing is that you are seeing a lot of other countries coming together which was one of -- by the way, one of the lines of efforts of the strategy build a viable coalition. You're seeing those countries come together because they see the threat. And all of those countries are going to start influencing, as Kimberly says, they are going to start influencing Russia in a very positive way to counter ISIS, to perhaps do some power sharing agreements with Mr. Assad and eliminate some of the causes of this entire insurgency.

[17:10:48] HARLOW: All right. And let me read this for both of you before you go and we'll talk about it later in the hour. But this is what Mike Vickers, the former undersecretary for intelligence under Hagel said to "Politico." Quote, "by any measure, our strategy in Iraq and Syria is not succeeding or is not succeeding fast enough. We are playing a long game when a more rapid and disruptive strategy is required." So consider that. We will talk about that a little bit later in the hour.

Kim Dozier, General Mark Hertling, thank you very much. I appreciate it.

And perhaps the biggest target of the recent airstrikes has been ISIS' self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria. What I want to show you now is a CNN exclusive. Our CNN Senior international correspondent Nick Payton Walsh gets extraordinarily close to the ISIS headquarters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Air strikes can repeatedly pound Raqqa, but it's here that any ground offensive would have to begin. And still, a sense of stalemate. Their ultimate goal of Raqqa, visible on a good day in the far distance. This base at times hit by ISIS mortars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: You do not want to miss Nick's full exclusive report from Raqqa -- I shouldn't say -- from Syria, that is Monday morning on "NEW DAY," 6:00 a.m. eastern time. Getting very close as I said, to Raqqa, the de facto capital there. Quick break. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:15:22] HARLOW: Welcome back to our continuing live coverage from Paris. The head of U.S. homeland security says there are no credible terror threats against the United States at this time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEH JOHNSON, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: As long as terrorist organizations are calling for attacks in the homeland, we have got to all be vigilant and work overtime, evaluate, re-evaluate, encourage the public to be vigilant and aware, but again, also encourage the public to continue to travel, associate, celebrate the holidays, be with their families and that law enforcement and homeland security is on the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Jeh Johnson also says the TSA security at U.S. airports has quote "double the down on security" there following the Metro Jet bombing in Egypt and also the Paris attacks. His comments come as estimated 36.1 million people in the United States planning to be at airports across the world on thanksgiving.

In the United States, AAA says flyers will account for eight percent of holiday travel. A planestuff.com says that translates into 1.7 million flyers just over the thanksgiving holiday. Johnson was in New York for a three-hour active shooter drill at a lower Manhattan subway station with police and the fire department there in New York. I should note, this drill had been planned for over a year. Modifications, of course, were made in the wake of the Paris attacks.

With me now from New York, CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Gilliam. Thank you for being with me. I think it is so important to talk about

this. I am someone who rides the subway every day in New York City where I live. But at the same time I don't want to alarm people. We have heard from Jeh Johnson and other officials that there is no greater threat to the United States right now in the wake of what happened in Paris. Do you agree with that?

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER FBI SPECIAL AGENT: Well, you know, Poppy, I think in this circumstance, even though I've been in law enforcement and I'm an analyst, I think you staying - you are standing in Paris where an attack just happened, how do you feel? See, that's the way people should start realizing. Right now, there's no known credible threat to Paris. But an attack just happened. So you yourself, I know you are probably aware of what's going on around you, you are a little bit heightened as far as your awareness goes, but you're still doing your job. And that's the way people should be, exactly the way you are right now. It doesn't mean that you're living every single second in fear, but you're awareness is heightened. And I think that is the people should be.

I don't hear that type of an explanation coming from homeland security. That's what I'd like to hear because my problem is when you say no credible or no known threats, people tend to drop their guard. And I think even if there wasn't anything going on in Paris, during the holiday season, when groups gather, any time there's a soft target which we have talked about n your program, people just -- they need to be aware.

HARLOW: It's a very good point. I mean, I'm certainly very aware. I do feel safe here in Paris. But I look around me. If I ever see a bag without someone right next to it, you ask. I see that all around from people in New York as well. You've got the busiest travel day of the year this week around thanksgiving. And earlier this morning, there was a damning report from HDS, Homeland Security, that came out about the TSA. And what it found in part was that TSA failed to identify 73 active aviation workers with links to terrorism. They also lack what they are calling effective active controls to keep perspective employees from getting a job at airports in the United States. What does TSA have to do to ratchet it up?

GILLIAM: They need to stop relying solely on one bottlenecked area for security. That is the first thing. Spread the security out a little bit. Start doing, you know, checks where people pull up with their cars. Another part is a huge problem with the TSA is where people are exiting. When you get off a fight, there is 200 people in one area that are massively vulnerable to attack in an area where there's no security.

I just think TSA needs to start doing the same thing, think outside the box a little bit and just increase your awareness. And I think, you know, TSA does this job every single day. So they're more likely to drop the ball just because of complacency not because people are inept. You have to realize, when it's not a credible or known threat. That's when majority of attacks happen.

[17:20:14] HARLOW: Jonathan Gilliam, thank you very much. Stay with us. You will be with us a little bit later in the program.

We have much more of our live coverage from Paris.

Ahead right after this, a support swells around the globe. I want to direct you to CNN.com/impact. That's where you can go to help the support the victims, those lives who were lost, their families. Go to CNN impact.com. We will be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:24:38] HARLOW: Welcome back to our continuing live coverage this Sunday evening from Paris where it is just past 11:00 in the evening.

In a strongly worded CNN.com op-ed, a leading expert dismisses any notion that the fight against ISIS will end soon. He writes quote "anyone hoping that the Paris attacks will somehow transform the fight against global jihad and produce a quick and definitive defeat for the bad guys and victory for the good ought to take a deep breath."

Joining me now is that man, Aaron David Miller. He is former advisor to six secretaries of the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Thank you for being with me. You argue that we need to quote "start describing accurately the nature of the challenge we face. So how should it be worded? How should it be described?

[17:25:21] AARON DAVID MILLER, VICE PRESIDENT, WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER: Well, it's controversial and perhaps a little politically incorrect. The administration's gone to great lengths to describe it as extremism, violence, heinous acts of terrorists. And it's certainly all of that. But the reality if, and I do believe the solution lies in an honest and accurate description of the problem.

What we faces essentially, however atomized and decentralized, you face a global jihad. You face a movement largely by Muslims who draw on actual and perverted texts of Islam, seek to do violence to create a vision of their particular future and (INAUDIBLE) catastrophe and pain and death on more Muslims so far than not. And I think we have to be aware of the threat that we face.

HARLOW: You also write, let me read, you write this. It is a long war because key Arab states are melting down. You point to Egypt bringing, you know, the jetliner that was brought down in Egypt and the instability politically there. How do you get, Aaron, the stability to return to the region? Is that possible in the foreseeable, you know, five-year future?

MILLER: You know, I spent 25 years in government and measured my life in four to eight-year increments. But think about it this way, Poppy. We are 14 years after 9/11, 14 years. A decade and a half. And while we dismantled Al-Qaeda central, it is essential evolved. It's jumped its borders. It's spawned (INAUDIBLE) in Maghreb, ISIS' roots lay in Iraq and an anti-American insurgency in the early 2000s.

So the reality is that military force alone as vital and necessary and as focused as it must be right now can't secure the sustainable end goals that ultimately will stabilize this region. That's going to depend in large part on a combination of western efforts, but largely a process owned by Iraqis, Syrians. We have to help them, but we cannot do this for them. And that's why I argue that this is really going to take much longer than many people would hope or want to believe. It took six years to defeat the axis powers (ph) and we are already double that now into a war against Al-Qaeda and its affiliates. So I think we have to be real even while we focus and bring more muscle and smarts to the fight.

HARLOW: Yes, that's a really mirrors what former defense secretary Chuck Hagel said this morning to Jake Tapper, the -- increasing discussion, certainly. I want you to listen also, Aaron, to what conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt said today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HUGH HEWITT, CONSERVATIVE RADIO HOST: Republican rhetoric, five words now define this administration. Leading from behind, JVs, contained. And the problem is that those five words add up to failure. So nobody trusts the president to process the refugees.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: OK. He is talking about the Republican stance with the conservative radio host. But look, you have the president saying an unfortunate word choice if you will the day of the attack, a day before the attack that ISIS is contained. Politically, what are people looking for from the next president in terms of language on this fight?

MILLER: You know, I voted for Rs and Ds. I work for Rs and Ds. My own view is that the dividing line for American foreign policy shouldn't be between left and right liberal conservative or even Republican and Democrats. It ought to be between dumb on one hand and smart on the other. And we need to be on the smart side. If anybody really believes that the next R or D in 2017 or the next he or she is fundamentally going to be able to fix this problem, I think they are wrong.

It's clear the president has in large part through rhetoric that has been misplaced created an easy hammer to give Republicans to hammer him. He's been risk averse, not risk ready on this. And I think it is coming back to haunt him. The really question, though, if there were a Republican or another Democrat in the White House right now, how in fact would the fight against ISIS change. Would we deploy 50 to 70 to 100,000 ground forces, would we create no-fly zones in the southern and northern part of the country (INAUDIBLE)? I'm not at all sure.

You are emerging, Poppy, from the two longest wars in American history where the still ongoing, where the standard victory was never could we win but when could we leave. And you have a risk averse public and frankly despite much rhetoric, a risk averse Congress as well. We need to be smart and tough and prepare for the long war.

[17:30:13] HARLOW: Aaron David Miller, appreciate the perspective. Quick break. We are back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:33:28] HARLOW: All right. We have some breaking news just into us here at CNN. I can tell you that at this moment, there is a series of major raids going on right now in Brussels. They are going on in Brussels, Belgium. They are also going on in other locals including (INAUDIBLE), also another town in Belgium. What we know is that the Belgian federal prosecutor is set to give a press conference in the next hour. Again, the breaking news, a major series of raids across Belgium right now.

This is so important because you'll remember that the attack here in Paris nine days ago was partly orchestrated in Belgium. You will also remember that Salah Abdeslam, the eighth attacker on the run, was last seen and stopped by police nine days ago on the road from Paris to Brussels.

Let's talk about this with CNN global affairs analyst, Kimberly Dozier. She is with us. Also with me here is Stefan de Vries, a French journalist, one of the first to arrive on the scene after the "Charlie Hebdo" attack.

Kimberly Dozier, to you first. Your take on this, the fact that we have now a city for two nights, Brussels has been on lockdown. Now, major raid across Belgium we will hear in less than an hour's time from the federal prosecutor.

DOZIER: Well, you know, that in this interim, they have been scanning every bit of technical communications out there, watching for movement, and trying to see who reaches out to who under this pressure cooker of surveillance. So the other problem is, they can't keep extending and extending this high state of alert and having every one stay indoors before the workweek kicks off. So this is their opportunity to sweep as many suspects up as possible, hopefully disrupt some raids. At this point, they must have had good intelligence to put this level of alert in place. So you got to hope that they have some pretty good leads as to who to round up.

HARLOW: Do you know, Stefan, if we have -- there are French authorities there in Belgium helping them with these raids in?

STEFAN DE VRIES, JOURNALIST: Well, it's most likely. And I don't have this information. But it's of course very likely that they exchange information and also personnel. This week, I've seen Belgium police patrolling the large train station in Paris. So I assume the French police is there as well.

HARLOW: Also let's talk about the fact that, you know, you have had the agreement here in Europe for more than 25 years now, and the borders are porous, so open. They are able to, as we saw with the ring leader Abaaoud able go back and forth from Belgium to Paris, Belgium to Paris. That ability still exists.

DE VRIES: Absolutely. But you should see this as one of the pillars of the European Union. You can compare it to traveling from Washington, D.C., to L.A. There is no borders at all. So that is the same thing in Europe. And that is one of the things that, well, the big problem is the exterior borders. So the borders when you come into the European Union. Those are not being checked properly. That's one of the topics the French authorities have been discussing this weekend with the other European --.

HARLOW: Coming into the EU.

DE VRIES: Exactly. So the outer borders will be controlled far more seriously than has been the case so far.

HARLOW: Kimberly Dozier, what is realistic to have a major hub city in Europe like Brussels on lockdown, where the schools are closed, the metro system is closed. I mean, you know, the last time we saw that in New York City really was barring a natural disaster like Sandy was after 9/11, you know, when we had the subway shut down for a short time. How long could a city like Brussels sustain this?

DOZIER: Well, with every day that it does keep everything shut down, that's a major economic cost and it's also a public relations coup for ISIS that they managed to disrupt daily life just out of fear. So they did have to do something to move this forward. The problem is if there is even one attacker who launches something tomorrow, you know, the police will -- the police will be in a certain amount of PR trouble. But you still -- it's one of these things, sending a message of strength through action is what they're doing right now.

HARLOW: All right. Kimberly Dozier, thank you very much. Stefan, thank you. They will both be with us throughout the evening.

But I do want to reiterate the breaking news we have, Belgian media reporting that there is a major series of raids going on right now across Belgium, focused on Brussels, focus on the city of (INAUDIBLE) and other locations. We will hear from the federal prosecutor there in less than an hour's time. We will update when we have more.

Much more live coverage from Paris next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:42:23] HARLOW: Welcome back to continuing live coverage from Paris. Breaking news I want to update you on. There is a series of major raids Belgian media is reporting at this hour going on across Belgium focusing on Brussels right now, the city of Shalwa (ph), and other locations. Major raids. We are expecting to hear from the federal prosecutor there in less than an hour's time.

Our Tim Lister with me. He has been following this incredibly closely from the beginning, especially the man hunt for Salah Abdeslam, the eighth attacker on the run last seen going to Belgium.

LISTER: last seen going to Belgium. And the Belgium authorities have been worried all week about another attack in Belgium, and a large one as well, an ambitious one. They are worried about malls. They were worried about all sorts of civilian infrastructure, railways and stations and so forth. So they have been taking a very aggressive stunts because I think this would not just be one person and one gun, but something multiple. So tonight, they have moved series of raids in multiple locations, (INAUDIBLE), suburbs of Brussels. This is exactly what they did back in January when they swept in and interrupted a cell that was (INAUDIBLE). And that same night, they hit about seven or eight locations.

HARLOW: And prevented potential future attacks.

LISTER: They did.

HARLOW: So let's talk about why Belgium is so important in this. That it is because, a, it's a major center for arms trafficking on the black market. And also, you have per capita, the biggest number of citizens who have left to join the jihad.

LISTER: That's true. And the Belgian prosecutor told us this week, we cannot cope with the influx that's coming back. We don't have the resources to follow these people. We don't know who has come back, we don't know who is still out there, we don't even know who is planning to go out there. I mean, up to a point they do, but they are not confident that they got everything tamped down, that they know who is there, who is plotting, who is intending to bring carnage to their home country. Then you've got this nexus of Belgium and France.

The terrorists can move across the border in a way that natural peace forces come. They have an actual advantage. So that is a big problem as well for the Belgians. But they acknowledge the severity of the threat. They acknowledge that they have limited resources because they say as do the French, for everyone person we need to keep under 27/7 surveillance, we need 25 officers.

(CROSSTALK)

HARLOW: Tim Lister, thank you get back to our reporting on that. We'll bring you more on the breaking news and what you hear from the federal prosecutor as soon as he takes the podium.

Also, I want to update you on a very important story. There are new report today out of Iran that the jailed "Washington Post" journalist Jason Rezaian has officially been sentenced to prison time. We are trying to get more information about the situation. But this does seem to confirm what the Post reported last month saying that Jason had been found guilty on espionage charges. Charges his attorneys, his family, the paper vehemently deny.

Brian Stelter, the host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" has been following this incredibly closely and has more - Brian.

[17:45:21] BRIAN STELTER CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Poppy. You and I have talked about this case before. It always seems like new developments in Jason Rezaian's case are bad developments for Jason and his family. And today is the latest example of that. We are hearing from Iranian judicial spokesman that Rezaian has been sentenced to prison for an undetermined length of time. Now, this comes about a month after initial reports that he been found guilty for espionage related crime.

Now, there has been no evidence to back up those claims, to back up those allegations. In fact, they've been vigorously denied by Jason, by his family and the "Washington Post." Nevertheless, he remains behind bars. He has been there for almost a year and a half at this point, unable to do his job as the Tehran correspondent for "the Washington Post."

I've checked in with the Post today. They say they have no new information. They are reiterating that they want him to be released as soon as possible. People at the Post, like many others, view him as sort of pawn in a geopolitical faceoff between Iran, the U.S. and other world powers.

Let me also show you what the state department is saying today. Here's a statement that they issued a few hours ago. They say, we have seen the reports of a sentence in the case, but cannot confirm the details ourselves at this time. If true, we call on the Iranian authorities to vacate the sentence and immediately free Jason so that he can be returned to his family."

So that's a statement from the U.S. state department today also echoed by the "Washington Post" and frankly echoed by journalists all around the world. There's been widespread condemnation of the treatment of this journalist. But for now, no movement by the Iranian authorities.

Poppy, back to you.

HARLOW: All right, Brian, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Much more from Paris next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:50:42] HARLOW: Tonight, we are hearing from a mother whose son was among the 89 killed during the attack at the Bataclan Theater here in Paris. For days, she didn't know what happened to him. She spread word on social media, twitter and Facebook with his photo hoping to find him until finally the awful news came. We sat down with her to hear more about her son, Gilles.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW (voice-over): Nelly Leclerc weeps as she recalls her son, Gilles, as a touching, caring, sensitive man, always ready to help his family.

He was magnificent, she tells me. He and his love of his life, (INAUDIBLE), went out for an evening of fun on that Friday night. Taking this selfie inside the theater, waiting for the band to play. It would be their last picture together. Gilles threw his body over (INAUDIBLE) saving her life. But word of Gilles's condition eluted the family for three days.

You looked for your son for three days?

NELLY LECLERC, SON DIED IN BATACLAN TERROR ATTACK (through translator): we always had hope until the very last minute. Even until we went to go see him. And then it was over. It was very hard.

HARLOW: You can't believe it's over?

LECLERC (through translator): We always hoped during the last three days.

HARLOW: You always had hope in those three days?

The 32-year-old florist and adventurer died that night on the attack of the Bataclan.

Tell me about the love between Gilles and (INAUDIBLE).

LECLERC (through translator): They were very, very -- they were two beings that were very compatible.

HARLOW: Nelly says her son and (INAUDIBLE) were soul mates, two loves who had found each other that never shared a harsh word.

If you were to look the person in the eye who killed your son, what would you say to them?

LECLERC (through translator): I would tell him that he doesn't even deserve that we consider him a human being. It is not a human being. It is not possible. He is not part of humanity. It is not possible, people like this. Even animals don't do this between themselves. It's not possible. It's a monster.

HARLOW: But in the face of evil, there is always pure beauty. Tell me about those flowers.

LECLERC (through translator): It was something that he was planning on doing for her before it all happened.

HARLOW: Gilles' sister Alexandra tells us about the 200 roses her brother orders for girlfriend on their anniversary. They were delivered just days after he died.

ALEXANDRA LE TRIONNAIRE, BROTHER DIED IN BATACLAN TERROR ATTACK (through translator): It was to show his love for her. Unfortunately, he didn't have time to give it to her himself because he died before that. We were messengers for Gilles in his last gift. (INAUDIBLE) said, even when he's not there, he still manages to surprise me.

HARLOW: What do you want people to know about your brother?

LE TRIONNAIRE (through translator): My brother is a very special boy. He did things but not out of self-interest. He did it naturally because he liked to and it made it happy to help people or to share. He was always there for everyone.

HARLOW: She tells me she will write a letter for him to say what she didn't have a chance to say: what is in your heart?

LECLERC (through translator): At the bottom of my heart, that I'll never be able to touch him again.

HARLOW: Nelly still can't believe she won't hold her son again. He was your baby? It's not just. It's not just. It's unbelievable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:58:26] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE REPORTER (voice-over): Italy's top chef, (INAUDIBLE) returned to his home town after a journey to the U.K. capital. The (INAUDIBLE) are a far cry from the city streets of London descent. But (INAUDIBLE) travels have provided him with an inspiration to create a new dish. He leaves his colony companion to the historic market to pick the ingredients. Starting with the all- important meat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are in the heart of the market. The market is the place in which you understand the culture of people. Look at this. It's amazing. Let's open the refrigerator and see what we have. This is where we can work on tongues, the ears. We have the lamb. It is pig or lamb. You see how beautiful and clear, the liver, you know, the kidneys, you know. It's just amazing the way everything can be used.

The market is our place. Most of them, they are farmers. They are bringing their vegetables, their roots, all of the stuff from the locals and the seasonal into the market. We have to move these guys and push them to get the right products and they do it. They listen.

(END VIDEOTAPE)