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22 Raids, 16 Arrests in Belgium; American Band Recalls Concert Hall Massacre; Trump, Carson on Top of GOP Field in New Poll. Aired 7- 8p ET

Aired November 22, 2015 - 19:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:19] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our continuing breaking news coverage from Paris. I'm Poppy Harlow, live for you this evening. It is 1:00 in the morning in Paris. 7:00 p.m. on the East Coast.

After 22 police raids today in and around Belgium, we know 16 people are now under arrest there. But the key man that they were looking for, the most wanted man in Europe, is still on the lam. Today's raids in Brussels not ending the international manhunt for the eighth attacker, Salah Abdeslam; he was last seen nine days ago on the road headed towards Brussels a few hours after the horrific attacks here in Paris.

Shots were fired in one of the raids. We are told a vehicle did escape temporarily in Brussels. Police, though, say they were able to track down that vehicle and they found one injured man. Again, they did not find Salah Abdeslam. They also say no firearms or explosives were found in today's raids.

Also new this hour, due to the high threat level within Brussels, the section of the U.S. embassy -- that will be completely closed in Brussels tomorrow except for emergency situations for Americans, we are told.

French police have also released this photo of one of the suicide bombers who blew himself up outside the Stade de France. They do not know who he is and they are urging the public to come forward with any information they may have on him.

Let's go straight to Brussels, the senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir is there. Two nights of a city in a major European hub on lockdown and now these raids still not turning up the most wanted man in Europe -- how on edge are people in Brussels?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's definitely a sense that the tension here is rising, Poppy, especially given that even with these 22 raids, 16 arrests until the judge overseeing this investigation gets in tomorrow we won't even have a sense how many of those 16 are even relevant to the broader fears that the prime minister has reiterated twice now about this serious and imminent threat that he says his capital city is facing. The prosecutor says that the operations and investigations are continuing. And we are seeing it here, even at 1:00 a.m., soldiers and police are

patrolling in that plaza down below us here, Poppy, right in the center of town. There is a real sense here that they are preparing themselves really for anything.

HARLOW: Absolutely, but Nima, I mean the workweek starts tomorrow -- I know that the metro there, the subway is closed. The schools are closed. How long is this city -- can remain pretty much shuttered?

ELBAGIR: Well, even just this weekend, the sense that businesses are hemorrhaging cash. The hotel that we're staying at is almost empty apart from us and maybe perhaps a few journalist colleagues. This is the conference hub of Europe. This is where the European parliament sits. This is where the European Commission is.

Belgium is so central to the smooth running of Europe even just as an institution. To have this come to a complete halt, it really -- and this is a huge worry for a lot of those diplomatic intelligence sources I've been speaking to, hands such a propaganda victory to the ISIS machinery.

But, at the same time, almost in the same breath, those we have been speaking to, immediately admit that the alternative is so unthinkable to not, if there is indeed a serious and imminent threat, to not take these kind of precautions is just absolutely unacceptable.

Yes, absolutely. Understood, especially following what happened here in Paris. Nima, thank you very much. Stay with us. I want to I talk it over now with my colleague Martin Savage. He's here in Paris with me. They do not, interestingly, in Brussels and Belgium have a state of emergency yet, which have given the police so much more power for these raids, but we do know Marty that one of these raids tonight was in Molenbeek. Just talk to us about the significance of that that suburb.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Molenbeek is -- well, in the Paris attacks, proven to be crucial and it's also the breeding ground of where most of these attackers came from that came to Paris. It is an area that has been focused on in the past as far as concern about radical Islam there, but now as a result of what happened in the city, it clearly has become central. And many believe that this is a community in Belgium, rather, that is now the focus of the investigation. And could it be key to finding out what comes next.

HARLOW: It's also where Salah Abdeslam is from, the eighth attacker.

SAVIDGE: A number of the attackers.

HARLOW: A number of them.

[19:05:01] But when you look more broadly at Belgium, it is also key because it has proved to per capita have the most citizens that have left to go fight in Syria and Iraq with ISIS.

SAVIDGE: But I still think that to many people it has come as a shock. It was felt that in many ways perhaps the real seed to all of this was in France. But it didn't happen that way.

HARLOW: Right.

SAVIDGE: They came from Belgium, they came here. And that, I think, has been a surprise both to the investigators and certainly to the people here and to much of the world. Belgium now is being looked upon as this kind of breeding ground. Certainly it's the central focus of where these attackers came from.

HARLOW: And to be fair, when I put that statistic out there, it's important to qualify it with the fact that it's per capita. We are talking about what analysts say is about 500 citizens who have left Belgium to go join the jihad. Paris -- 11 million people, much larger when you're talking about a threat.

SAVIDGE: The other thing that's come forward in this that we've learned from talking to people and learning from investigators is that the people that allegedly took part in this attack did not seem, up until very recently, the kind of really radical mindset.

HARLOW: And a lot of them weren't on the radar.

SAVIDGE: No. And even friends said you know what -- they had actually been out drinking, they'd been out partying, they were known in the past --

HARLOW: One of them owned a bar --

SAVIDGE: Exactly. They didn't seem to fit the model. And that's what all of the investigators have been seeing. The key past indicators here that might have tipped you off, you were having some kind of problem -- they weren't there.

HARLOW: Yes.

SAVIDGE: And that these people apparently became radicalized so quickly, in some cases they say maybe in about a week -- that's terrifying.

HARLOW: In about a week -- that is a terrifying thought. Martin, thank you very much. Stay close.

I want to continue to talk over this right now with former assistant secretary of homeland security, Juliette Kayyem and CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes.

Juliette, you say this is a no-win tonight for the authorities in Brussels.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, FORMER ASST. SEC. HOMELAND SECURITY: Yes, just looking at the numbers. I mean 22 raids -- that's 22 different locations, less than 20 arrests. You didn't find the person that you were looking for. The -- so this was inconclusive at best.

Maybe it was done to disrupt or scare the community so that there would be movement and then through the movement then you might find the people that you're looking for. So it is hard to second-guess at this stage.

I'm not sure what the end game is, though, for Brussels in terms of the state of emergency and the lockdown that they have imposed on their country. It is unsustainable for economic reasons as we were discussion. The U.S. embassy or consulate's decision is linked to the fact that they don't want people moving from their homes to come to the embassy. So they don't want their employees to be at risk or to violate the lockdown order. So that's essentially what has to happen next is what are going to be the standards or criteria to reopen up the city that absolutely has to be open. We cannot close down cities every time that there's an increased threat.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Stay with me, Juliette. I also have French journal Stefan De Vries (ph) here with me and Tom Fuentes former FBI assistant director.

Tom, do you think that Salah Abdeslam is still alive at this point?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: You know, I have no idea, Poppy. And I think the unfortunate thing is the authorities have no idea. So right now as Juliette mentioned, you know, they have had all of these raids tonight which were predominantly unsuccessful since they didn't find any really new terrorist or weapons or the bomb factory or any more really actionable intelligence.

HARLOW: We are not sure about who they -- we are not sure who they have arrested, Tom. I mean, we don't know who they have arrested.

FUENTES: Well, ok. But it doesn't appear that any of those locations were what they were hoping for. I'll put it that way. And I think that, you know, the fact that he's still on the loose and they don't know for sure where he's at, he could be in Syria, he could still be in Paris or Belgium, we don't know.

HARLOW: Absolutely.

Stefan, to you, you have said interestingly there's an issue you believe with coordination among the major intelligence branches, if you will, when it comes to here in France and also in Belgium. What do you mean?

STEFAN DEVRIES, FRENCH JOURNALIST: Well, there's a huge problem with the exchange of information and the analysis of the data that's being gathered.

To give you an example, in Paris or in France, there are a couple of different intelligence services. And these are competitors, basically. They are rivals. Some of them come from the police background, the others from the military background. And the culture is completely different, so they don't really like to exchange information.

And that means that there's a lot of information that the intelligence services are gathering but they don't basically talk to each other. Information stays in one desk and doesn't go to another desk. [191006] This has changed a little bit since Charlie Hebdo collaboration has been stepped up. But still the cultural differences are very, very important and it means that well, many mistakes can be made. And, well, we have seen the very sad results of the attacks ten days ago, eight days ago.

HARLOW: Do you know if the French authorities here are helping in Belgium right now? Because, you know, we heard one of the lead prosecutors in Belgium saying earlier this week we don't have a handle on the terrorists here. We don't have a handle on those who have gone away, been radicalized and come home.

DE VRIES: I do think there's an intense collaboration this week. I've seen -- I was on the Gare du Nord Friday which is the large train station, and there were a lot of Belgian police, heavily armed and that was the first time --

HARLOW: Here in Paris.

DE VRIES: -- here in Paris, absolutely. So that means that there's also -- already collaboration between the forces. And I do think the French are also present in Belgium because they cannot afford another mistake.

HARLOW: We know, Juliette, that the FBI has sent, I believe four or five officers over here to help in the investigation. And because an American citizen, Nohemi Gonzalez, the California University student who was killed in this, the FBI does have some jurisdiction here now in the wake of the Paris attacks.

What could they be doing to help and do you think we'll see more aid coming from the United States on the intelligence front?

KAYYEM: Well, the FBI already has a presence throughout Europe in Paris and Belgium with NATO. So the additional five, it seems like a small number, it's just supplemental to who is already there. And those people -- the FBI agents in Europe are accessing all the information that they can from Europe and sending it to the United States and vice versa. So I'm not sure if the number matters as much as insuring that what we know is shared with the Europeans and that what the Europeans know about who is on their list is shared with the United States as we confront concerns about various programs and travel programs. So that number may sound to the audience like we are not doing much. There is an entire apparatus of U.S. intelligence, law enforcement, diplomatic members who are already in Europe because they are our allies.

HARLOW: Right.

KAYYEM: So that's essentially how it's working.

HARLOW: Tom, when you were with the FBI, how was the coordination between -- Tom, if you can hear me, when you were with the FBI -- go ahead.

FUENTES: I was going to say when I was with the FBI my last five years, I ran the international program. I was in charge of the FBI offices in Paris, in Brussels, in Berlin, in London. The Paris office is a large office. The Brussels office is also large because of the EU being headquartered there and NATO being headquartered there.

And what happens is that you don't know that it's five people because other legal attache offices throughout the region, throughout the 13 offices in Western Europe would also send additional agents and maybe five more from the U.S. with particular specialties such as bomb technicians or experts that would try to look at the suicide vests, how were they assembled, what kind of explosive material are they using?

So, you know, there's probably many more agents working and technicians working on these cases than appears just from more than just five.

HARLOW: Yes, that's a great point -- exactly what I was going to ask you. How was the collaboration when you were there running things? Tom Fuentes -- thank you so much. Juliette Kayyem -- thank you. Go ahead.

FUENTES: I was just going to add, the cooperation is great. But what we're seeing here is it's not an issue of intelligence sharing. It's an issue of intelligence possession. They are sharing what they have but they don't have enough. And the fact that you can have terror cells of six to eight people do the first attack and they weren't on anybody's radar, nobody notified the authorities and then when they do the raid during the middle of the week last week, they find another cell with six to eight people and think there's an additional cell of at least six to eight people on the loose. And they don't know.

And nobody -- you know, that's been the failure of ISIS and other terror groups in the U.S. to carry out a big attack because as soon as more than two or three people are involved and start to recruit, somebody notifies the police or the FBI and it's broken up.

And I think what we're seeing here is the lack of ability, the lack of outreach on the part of the authorities to have cooperation in the community where when six or eight people get together, somebody report that to the authorities.

HARLOW: Tom Fuentes -- thank you. Juliet -- thank you. Stefan -- thank you. Appreciate it. Quick break, we are back live from Paris. There's more -- next.

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[19:17:27] HARLOW: Welcome back to our continuing live coverage tonight from Paris where it is just past 1:00 in the morning.

And tonight a poignant photograph of the moments right before three gunman stormed the Bataclan Concert Hall in Paris killing 89 people. Look at it. It shows a smiling crowd, some fans raising their hands and their glasses. Just enjoying the music, enjoying their Friday night unaware that carnage would come. Performing that night, the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal. And they just sat down for a new interview with Vice. Two of the band members spoke about the tragic events of that night, what they experienced. Our Fredricka Whitfield reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSE HUGH, EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: Several people hid in our dressing room.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Eagles of Death Metal lead singer Jesse Hugh speaking out for the first time remembering that terrible night.

HUGH: The killers were able to get in and killed every one of them, except for a kid that was hiding under my leather jacket.

WHITFIELD: The band at the Bataclan Theater, the deadliest cite of the Paris attacks. This photo a snapshot in time just moments before the first shots rang out senselessly cutting short the lives of 89 people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The killers got in your dressing room?

HUGH: Yes, people were playing dead and they were so scared.

A great reason why so many were killed is because so many people wouldn't leave their friends. And so -- so many people put themselves in front of people.

WHITFIELD: The band clearly traumatized and frozen with disbelief putting out this statement. "While the band is now home safe, we are horrified and still trying to come to terms with what happened in France."

Among the 89 killed in the attack, the band's merchandise manager Nick Alexander and three people from their records label -- Thomas Ayat (ph), Marie Moser (ph) and Manu Perez (ph).

Fredricka Whitfield, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Fredricka -- thank you very much for that.

Again, the first time we heard from the band that was playing that night at the Bataclan when this horrifying tragedy broke out.

We're going to take a quick break. I'll have much more live from here in Paris in just a minute.

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[19:22:53] HARLOW: To American politics now, Donald Trump now in a double-digit lead over his closest competitor, Ben Carson, in the Republican presidential nomination process. The new poll out today from the Washington Post and ABC News shows Donald Trump at 32 percent, Ben Carson at 22 percent followed by Marco Rubio at 11 percent.

The rest of the field still in single digits.

My colleague Chris Frates is in Washington with more.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good evening, Poppy. A new ABC/Washington Post poll out today shows that Donald Trump continues to lead the GOP field and he has a double-digit lead with 32 percent support; Ben Carson running a close second with 22 percent. And the only other Republican with double-digit support here is Marco Rubio, he's coming in at 11 percent.

Now this poll comes after a week of really heated rhetoric on the campaign trail over whether to allow 10,000 Syrian refugees into the United States amid fears that ISIS terrorists could be among them.

Carson compared some refugees to rabid dogs and Trump said he considers shutting down mosques and endorse tracking U.S. Muslims in a database. An idea he doubled down on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I want a database for the refugees that if they come into the country, we have no idea who these people are. When the Syrian refugees are going to start pouring in to this country, we don't know if they're righteous, we don't know if (inaudible) -- and I definitely want a database and other checks and balances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: The controversial comments haven't seemed to hurt Trump or Carson's standing. In fact, more than half of those surveyed oppose taking in refugees from Syria.

And despite the Paris attacks, the economy still tops the list of issues most important to voters followed closely by terrorism. And among Republicans polled the most important attribute they want in a candidate is someone who can change Washington and that's a measure where Trump dominates.

At a Trump rally in Alabama on Sunday, at least a half dozen white attendees shoved, tackled, punched and kicked a black protester who disrupted Trump's speech. On Sunday Trump suggested the violence was justified.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[19:25:06] FRATES: Police told CNN that three people were asked to leave the event. No arrests were made. And the protester did not require medical attention -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Chris Frates reporting for us from Washington this evening, thank you very much -- Chris. We appreciate it.

And as the race for the White House heats up, do not miss the Republican debate of the year is coming up right here on CNN, December 15th. It is moderated by our very own Wolf Blitzer, December 15th, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, only right here on CNN.

A quick break and we are back live with more from Paris and the arrests in Belgium, next.

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HARLOW: Breaking news. I'm Poppy Harlow this evening in Paris.

After more than 20 police raids in and around Brussels this evening, the ringleader of the attacks here in Paris is still on the run. 16 people are under arrest at this hour, but Salah Abdeslam, the man who left after the attacks here, drove and was stopped by police but not taken into custody. Well, he's still on the run.

Police not releasing the names of those they arrested or any information on evidence that they may have found. What we know is that Brussels has already extended its maximum terror level alert from yesterday through today. Schools closed tomorrow, subways closed tomorrow, the prime minister there in Belgium telling residents to remain vigilant to avoid any crowded areas including shopping centers or the airports.

Our Nima Elbagir CNN senior international correspondent is live in Brussels. It's extraordinary to see a major European hub basically shuttered, Nima, now that people in Brussels know that there have been these 20-odd raids, 16 arrests but the key man they're looking for is still on the run.

What are they saying?

[19:30:00] ELBAGIR: There is really a sense of baited breath. And this has been going on now for over a week. We have had eight days of raids since the threats in the Paris investigation first began here. You had those raids last Saturday in Molenbeek overnight into last Saturday. And throughout that, there has been a sense of concern, of tension, but also the sense of disbelief that again Belgium finds itself at the heart of an ongoing terror investigation, because this, of course, isn't the first time, the "Charlie Hebdo" attack in Paris led back to Molenbeek and it led back to Brussels.

And I think that's why we are seeing such bluntness from the Belgian authorities about the imminent threat as they are calling it, and also about the sense that Belgium has been this weak link in the war on terror. Because, of course, this isn't the first time and you're seeing a sense of scrutiny in terms of what the officials are under and a fatigue, I would call it from a lot of those who have been speaking here in Belgium that really, it is time that the Belgian authorities found a way to bring this to some kind of a close. POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Can you talk a little bit about the

significance, Nima, of Molenbeek, that suburb of Brussels where Salah Abdeslam is from, which also has become very clear in the last few days that it has become a hotbed for the terrorists to organize and execute attacks like we saw here in Paris?

ELBAGIR: Molenbeek has for a while been seen as one of the main stops on the jihadi pipeline in terms of fighters heading between Europe and Syria. But, really, what seems to differentiate Molenbeek from many of this other places where we've seen this exodus of young men to join ISIS' ranks is that Molenbeek has this extraordinarily toxic mix of petty crime, organized crime and very disaffected marginalized young men who seem to be very easy preyed for this kind of radicalized ideology.

And you bring it all together, these young men have access to forged documents, to illegal weapons and the authorities are very open about the fact that if the petty criminality there is making it so difficult to contain, not just the radicalization. But then there are so many politicians who critique the federal government saying there are very simple ways that Molenbeek could have been contained, mainly just something like an international alert, Poppy. I know it sounds extraordinary, but having international alerts against the names of those that you know have gone to fight in Syria, that hasn't been implemented on a nationwide basis here in Belgium.

HARLOW: Right. Wow.

ELBAGIR: That's why you see the ease of traffic back and forth.

I know, it's absolutely extraordinary. The first time I was told this I was shocked, but you see a sense of ease with the traffic back and forth. They come back radicalized and boast about it. That's what the ringleader Abaaoud did, the ringleader in the Paris attack, he posted a video online saying I was inside Belgium and I knew that they were looking for me and yet I managed to come back out to Syria.

And all of these things are going to have consequences for the Belgian authorities.

HARLOW: No question. I mean, that is astonishing to hear, Nima, and the fact that the ringleader Abaaoud then freely traveled here to Paris, was riding the subway here in Paris the night of the attacks when they coordinated and attacked six different locations.

Nima, thank you very much.

Let's talk more about this manhunt for the accused eighth Paris attacker. CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director Tom Fuentes is with me. Also, CNN law enforcement analyst Jonathan Gilliam is in New York.

Tom, used to run the FBI's European offices, so the office here in Paris and other headquarters across Europe. Can -- I'm having a hard time stomaching what Nima just said, that in Belgium, even if people had traveled to Syria and thought to be radicalized, there was no international alert that went out about them. How can that be?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, the reason, and actually, Poppy, I ran all of the FBI offices outside the United States, and throughout the world, there was a huge difference in what agencies put out about a suspect or about a fugitive. But typically, the European countries that were under the Gestapo after World War II, at the end of World War II neutered their police.

They held back. Their privacy laws are incredible compared to anywhere else in the world. They don't even put out Amber alerts because it's prejudicial against the person who kidnapped the child. So, that's the kind of data protection or privacy protection they have and that's why they have so little intelligence. They don't operate in sources, informants, confidential sources like we do.

[19:35:02] They don't do community outreach like we do to try to get people, parents and imams and others in the Muslim communities to come forward. And that's why in the U.S., we have been so successful at thwarting attacks, because as soon as one or two people decide to get three or four more involved, somebody notifies the police or the FBI, or a parent or an imam or a teacher or somebody, and you are seeing that in these communities now, we have several cells of half a dozen or more people that no one had a clue they existed or where they existed, or what kind of materials or explosives, firearms they had.

And the reason for the shut down of Brussels is they fear there's another group of six or eight people on the loose that will do an attack. When I said earlier that the searches tonight were unsuccessful, only because if they were successful and knew they had that group in tow, they could call off closing down Brussels. The fact that they have not and are extending having the city shut down tells you they have not been successful in finding out the information they're looking for.

HARLOW: Tom, thank you.

Jonathan, to you, what we know are Pamela Brown and Evan Perez breaking the news this weekend that the U.S. national security officials have told CNN, look, at least one of the eight Paris attackers would have been conceivably able to travel to the United States under the visa waiver program that allows people from 38 European countries to get on planes and come to the U.S. without a visa. There's also growing concern that if perhaps as many as three of them could have slipped through the United States' watch list and screening system.

How do we change that?

JONATHAN GILLIAM, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, I tell you, Poppy, that's I think an excellent and important question because now you're seeing in Belgium right now what happens when you don't forward think these things. And one of the things you can primarily do is put -- at least take the advice of people who've been trained as an attacker in unconventional warfare that come from our military. I'm a former Navy SEAL. People who understand how unconventional warfare works and try to -- if you're going to build policies, at least take these things into account before you build a policy so that you're not in the position that Brussels is in right now.

Unfortunately, for now, where they are at, they need to start thinking outside the box. Money talks and they need to start looking for sources. But unfortunately, as Tom was talking about a minute ago, if you don't have sources, confidential informants, once something happens, you're now behind the gun trying to develop these informants and they need to start thinking of unconventional ways, whether it'd be talking to people who are in jail and offering them reduced sentences or money or people on the street -- you know, anything they can do to try to get information out of these people. They have to start doing that so they can get real actionable intelligence.

We don't want to get in the position so when it comes to policies we need to forward-think ourselves before we start to develop in these things.

HARLOW: And, by the way, a lot of the radicalization that has happened here in Paris as our Clarissa Ward has reported on ostensibly has happened in French jails.

Jonathan Gilliam, Tom Fuentes, thank you, gentlemen, as always.

And to all of you watching, do not miss the CNN exclusive, perhaps the biggest target of the -- well, we know it's the biggest target of the recent Russian and U.S. and French airstrikes as ISIS' self-declared capital of Raqqa, Syria. We have a special report with our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. He gets extraordinarily close to ISIS headquarters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Airstrikes can repeatedly pound Raqqa, but it's here that any ground offensive by the Kurds towards the capital of ISIS, the self-declared caliphate, would have to begin.

And still, a sense of stalemate. The ultimate goal of Raqqa, visible on a good day, and the far distance and the space of times in the past few days hit by ISIS mortars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Do not miss Nick's full exclusive report from inside Syria. That is tomorrow morning, Monday morning on NEW DAY, starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.

A quick break, much more from Paris next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: So many innocent lives were lost. So many families were ripped apart. Tonight, we are hearing from a mother whose son was among those murdered inside of the Bataclan here in Paris. For days, she didn't know where he was, she tried desperately to find him, posting his photo on social media, Twitter and Facebook until finally, finally she got the awful dreaded news. She sat down with us to share her story.

(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 the love of his life, Marianne Labanane, 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 Marianne saving her life. But word of Gilles condition eluded the family for three days.

(on camera): 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: We always hoped during the last three days.

HARLOW: You always had hoped in the last three days.

(voice-over): The 32-year-old florist and adventurer died that night in the attack on the Bataclan.

(on camera): Tell me about the love between Gilles and Marianne.

LECLERC: They were very, very -- they were two beings that were very compatible.

HARLOW (voice-over): Nellie says her son and Marianne were soul mates, two loves who have found each other and 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: I would tell him, he doesn't even deserve that we consider him a human being. It's not a human being. It's not possible. He isn't part of humanity. It's not possible for 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 also pure beauty.

(on camera): Tell me about those flowers.

ALEXANDRA LE TRIONNAIRE, BROTHER DIED IN BATACLAN TERROR ATTACK (through translator): It was something that he was planning on doing for her before this all happened.

HARLOW (voice-over): Gilles sister Alexandra tells me about the 200 roses her brother ordered for his girlfriend on their anniversary.

[19:45:02] They were delivered just days after he died.

LE TRIONNAIRE: It was to share his love for her. Unfortunately, he did not have the time to give it to her himself because he died before then. We were the messengers for Gilles in his last gift. Marianne said, even when he's not there, he still managed to surprise me.

HARLOW (on camera): What do you want the world to know about, to "Le Monde", about your brother?

LE TRIONNAIRE: My brother is a very special boy.

(through translator): He did things but not out of self-interest. He did it naturally because he liked to and because it made him happy to help people or to share. He was always there for everyone.

HARLOW (voice-over): She tells me she will write a letter for him, to tell him everything that she didn't have a chance to say.

(on camera): What is in your heart?

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

HARLOW (voice-over): Nelly still can't believe she won't hold her son again.

(on camera): He was your baby.

LECLERC: That's my baby.

HARLOW: It is not just. It is not just. It's unbelievable.

LECLERC: Right.

HARLOW: And this week, the people of Paris will try as Monday morning comes and the sun rises here, they will try to begin living a new normal. As we wrap up our coverage this weekend, it's important to take a moment to reflect.

Our Atika Shubert spoke to a musician who has found his own way to help Paris heal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is a man in Paris who cycles the streets with a piano in tow. His name is David Martello (ph).

He doesn't say much. He doesn't have to. He just parks his piano and begins to play.

(PLAYING PIANO)

SHUBERT: For the victims, for the families, for Paris.

His venue, the memorial at the area where 11 people were gunned down.

Some cries as they listen. Others are moved to sing with him.

He receives a warm embrace. Then he silently packs up and cycles to the next memorial site. Just one of the ways Paris has found ways to grieve.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Atika, thank you so much. Just one of the extraordinary people that we have met in Paris this week.

We'll be back live from Paris in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:51:43] HARLOW: Coming up next on CNN, the premier of "The Hunting Ground." This film is an inspiring look at how two college students, both survivors of sexual assault, joint together to challenge universities to better protect their students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LISAK, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: We've known for probably 25 years now that the problem of sexual assault on college campuses is enormous.

DANIELLE DIRKS, AUTHOR, "CONFRONTING CAMPUS RAPE": On college campuses, it is not the person jumping out of the bushes or in the parking lot who is going to rape or sexually assault you. It's the person whom you know, the person you may have classes with, the person you see at a party. You think about, you know, it's the people that we don't know that we should be worried about. But it's really the people that you do know that you should be worried about.

PROF. JOHN FOUBERT, OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY: I think a lot of parents think, well, we'll drop our daughter off, she'll have a great college experience, and everything will be fine because the college has a reputation for being a safe place. It's not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: In the ten months since that film's debut, "The Hunting Ground" has grown from a film to a national movement for change.

Our Alisyn Camerota shows us how that happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY "THE HUNTING GROUND")

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got pulled outside and banged my head against a wall and was raped.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR, NEW DAY (voice-over): Since its Sundance film festival premier, "The Hunting Ground" has been screened at more than 700 campuses and venues nationwide, including the White House.

Adding to that, President Obama launched the "It's On Us" campaign.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're here to say it's not on you. This is not your fight alone. This is on all of us -- every one of us, to fight campus sexual assault.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's consent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because sex without it isn't sex.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Isn't sex.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's rape.

CAMEROTA: And based on numerous studies, it's still happening, at an alarming rate.

A recent survey involving 27 universities shows 23 percent of women on college campuses, that's nearly one in four, experiences sexual assault or misconduct. Published in September, it's touted as one of the largest studies of its kind, with more than 150,000 students participating.

But critics question the findings based on a low response rate, just around 19 percent. Also, the survey relied on voluntary responses, not mandatory, so the sample was not scientific.

(on camera): What do you think of the findings of that survey?

KIMBERLY LAU, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I have a lot of problems with the way that they defined certain terms.

CAMEROTA: Such as?

LAU: They include conduct such as unwanted repeated dinner date requests or telling an offensive sexual joke.

CAMEROTA (voice-over): Attorney Kimberly Lau has handled nearly 50 cases of sexual assault on college campuses, defending mostly men. She says her clients are victims of overzealous college administrators.

LAU: The pendulum has swung way too far in the other direction. What I'm seeing from the male perspective is that the cards are stacked against them.

[19:55:03] The second they walk in the door, they feel like they're being treated as guilty.

LYNN ROSENTHAL, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISER ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: Look, for decades schools refused to investigate these cases at all. Survivors know the difference between the time that they maybe weren't crazy about a relationship they were in and when somebody has sexually assaulted or sexually abused them.

CAMEROTA: The governors of California and New York recently signed laws requiring colleges in their states to enforce affirmative consent, meaning everything other than yes means no.

ROSENTHAL: I think there will be a day that I won't be alive for it, but people will look back and say, how did we ever accept and tolerate that level of sexual violence?

CAMEROTA: Celebrities like Lena Dunham are also working towards that goal. Dunham urging her 3 million Twitter followers to see the film. While Lady Gaga, who recently described herself as a victim of sexual assault, was so moved, she lent her voice to "The Hunting Ground."

The song for the film has more than 19 million views and counting.

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: And stay with CNN tonight, because immediately following the film, CNN's Alisyn Camerota is hosting a special conversation to explore all sides of the issue in the film with a number of experts and critics. All of that begins in just three minutes.

I'm Poppy Harlow. Thank you for being with us tonight. Good night from Paris.