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4 Arrested in Protests Over Cop's Killing of Teen; Trump Issues Statement On Mocking Reporter; White House on Lockdown, Fence Jumper Caught. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired November 26, 2015 - 14:30   ET

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

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And then they walk along the protesters to make sure that everything is well and that people are safe.

[14:30:06] Now, we definitely should add that overnight, there were a few instances when one protester grabbed the Christmas lights of a tree that's just up the street and also tried to pull a bike from one of the police officers. Other than that, that's the only instances we've seen of any sort of tussle with either property or with police property.

But tomorrow is Black Friday. And you know that there are hundreds of stores here in the magnificent mile and thousands upon thousands of shoppers are expected to descend on this area to shop.

Now, Brooke, I've talked to a lot of these activists. They want to have an economic impact post-Laquan McDonald release of that video. And so, that's why they want to protest again here tomorrow -- Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Rosa Flores in Chicago -- thank you so much.

Next, hear from the band who was playing in Paris two nights ago at the Bataclan concert hall when the attacks occurred. The Eagles of Death Metal speaking out now about the horror of that night.

Also just in, Donald Trump publishing a brand new response to criticism over his mocking of a reporter with a disability. It is five paragraphs. He doesn't apologize. In fact, he references this quote all time greatest memory.

Please stay here. I'll read part of it for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:55] BALDWIN: Just past the bottom of the hour. You're watching CNN on this Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to you. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

We are now hearing for the first time from all these members of the band, Eagles of Death Metal. They're talking since the tragic night of November 13th in Paris. That was the band on stage in that Parisian concert hall when those attackers, murderers entered the Bataclan and opened fire on the crowd, leaving 89 people dead.

It was an emotional conversation with "Vice's" Shane Smith. The band talks about wanting to play that venue again, reliving those moments when the gunmen stormed and started shooting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAWN LONDON, SOUND ENGINEER, EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: I heard these firecrackers, it sounded like, behind me.

VICE: So they were behind you?

LONDON: Correct. So, they came in the door, instantly walk in and just started blasting. There was two of them.

VICE: Random?

LONDON: Random. And that's -- instantly, people started dropping to the ground, injuries, death, you know? And also running -- there's nowhere to go. So, they basically ran into me, towards me and jumped down below my console. I was still standing up and I can see the gunman and he looked right at me and he shot at me and he missed.

JESSE HUGHES, VOCALIST, EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: I cannot wait to get back to Paris. I want play. I want to come back. I want to be the first band to play in the Bataclan when it opens back up.

VICE: Why?

HUGHES: Because I was there when it went silent for a minute.

Our friends went there to see rock 'n' roll and died. I'm going to go back there and live.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: The band plans to finish its tour. Members say they are grateful for their fans and for all the love and support they have been getting.

A warplane, as you well know, shot down. And in an instant, the war playing out in the skies over Syria takes another turn here. Today, Turkey's president refusing to back down, not at all apologizing for taking down that Russian warplane, telling CNN's Becky Anderson in this exclusive CNN interview that Russia should apologize for violating Turkey's air space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKEY (through translator): Well, I think if there's a party that needs to apologize, it's not us. Those who violated our air space are the ones who need to apologize. Our pilots and our armed services, they simply fulfilled their duties, which consisted of responding to a violation of the rules of engagement. I think this is the essence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: One of the big questions now: will Vladimir Putin join with coalition forces in the war against ISIS, or will they continue to go alone with airstrikes in Syria?

Joining me now, Fawaz Gerges, author of "ISIS: A History".

Sorry I missed in Paris, but thank you so much for spending this Thursday afternoon with me here. Nice to see you here, sir.

As we're awaiting this news conference with Hollande and Putin, my number one question is: how might this downing of this plane derail this coalition between Russia and the West?

FAWAZ GERGES, AUTHOR, "ISIS: A HISTORY": I think you put really your finger, Brooke, on the pulse of the problem. The downing of the Russian plane has exposed major fault lines among regional powers and global powers. You have clashing interests.

Russia and Turkey basically are fighting on opposite sides. Russia is supporting the Syrian president while Turkey is supporting the Syrian opposition and naturally does not want to have the Kurds to have an autonomous entity.

So, in this particular sense, no wonder why that ISIS has been able to exploit the cleavages and the divisions among the regional powers and the global powers. And the United States, Brooke, insists that Russia cannot join the global coalition against ISIS without giving up an Assad. The United States wants Assad basically to accept the departure of the Syrian president, while the Russian president, Putin, insists that Assad should not be a priority, that the fight should be on ISIS and other militant groups in Syria.

[14:40:10] So, I don't think you're going to have a comprehensive, broadly based coalition to take war to ISIS in Syria.

BALDWIN: What about bigger picture? We know this meeting, Hollande, going to Putin, happened before the shooting down of this Russian warplane.

And talking to Becky Anderson and just talk to Turkey's Erdogan, he's saying, you know, to her, essentially, saying, if anyone needs to apologize, it's certainly not us. He's saying, yes, I would talk to Putin but Putin is not returning my phone calls. And here we have, you know, these world leaders and it feels a little juvenile.

Was that the word?

GERGES: Yes, I think so. You're talking about Erdogan and Putin, two strong-headed leaders, two sides of the same coin, egos bigger than life and authoritarian. They're just juvenile.

But more importantly here, they're basically positioning themselves for their domestic audience. Remember, I mean, what happened, the downing of the Russian planes with a major slap in the face for Putin. It is humiliating, in terms of leadership.

For Erdogan, he has to basically play the big guy for his own audience, that somehow Russia allegedly violated Turkish sovereignty. The challenge here, regardless what -- I mean, the fact is that you have two strong-headed leaders. There's a real danger for escalation.

You asked me about the likelihood of a broad coalition against ISIS. I would go further and say there is a real danger of escalation between Turkey, which is a fully fledged member of NATO, and Putin.

And make no doubts about it: Putin will most likely retaliate. He will choose time and space, and most likely he will retaliate against Turkish interests inside Syria, because Turkey has vast interests inside Syria. And in the days and weeks coming will show that Putin will basically have his day.

BALDWIN: All excellent points, Fawaz. Thank you. We know Erdogan asked Hollande to talk to Putin. We watch and we wait to hear from Vladimir Putin after he's spoken now with the French president. So much at stake. Thank you so much, sir, from London.

GERGES: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next, Donald Trump just releasing a brand new response to backlash after he mocked a reporter with a disability. How the Republican front-runner is responding to his critics on this holiday full of love and family and kindness.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:47:16] BALDWIN: "The New York Times" is calling it outrageous, comments that Donald Trump made ridiculing the disability of one of its own reporters. While campaigning in South Carolina, Donald Trump claimed he saw thousands of Muslim celebrating in New Jersey on 9/11 and took aim at journalist Serge Kovaleski.

Kovaleski is the one who wrote a story a week after the attacks back in 2001 that included a reference of a number of people who were questioned in Jersey City for allegedly celebrating the Twin Towers coming down.

So, later, this reporter said he could not recall talking to any witnesses who saw those large celebrations. Here is what Trump said, apparently imitating Kovaleski's disability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Written by a nice reporter. Now the poor guy -- you've got to see this guy. I don't know what I said. I don't remember. He's going, like, I don't remember. Maybe that's what I said.

This is 14 years ago. He still -- they didn't do a retraction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Kovaleski has a disability which limits the mobility of his arms. "New York Times" told CNN -- and I'm quoting them now -- "We find it is outrageous he would ridicule the appearance of one of our reporters."

So, let's chat about this with two people who have been covering the Trump campaign in great detail. I have Jeremy Diamond in New York and M.J. Lee here with me on set.

So, before I get to both of you, I have this response. I'm sure you both read this. This is one, two, three, four, five graphs from Donald Trump. This is the statement on all of what's happened, if I may.

Let me read the first two graphs. Quote, "I have no idea who this reporter Serge Kovaleski is, what he looks like, or his level of intelligence. I don't know if he is J.J. Watt, or Muhammad Ali in his prime or somebody of less athletic or physical ability. I know nothing about him other than I have great respect for the way he wrote the story on September 18th, 2001. And in particular," he writes, "the paragraph talking about Muslims and tailgate parties taking place in New Jersey."

He continues, "Somebody at the financially failing and totally biased 'New York Times' said that over the years, I have met Mr. Kovaleski. Despite having one of the all-time great memories, I certainly do not remember him. What I do know is that after 14 years and no retraction, this reporter tried to pull away from the tailgate party paragraph he wrote many years ago for 'The Washington Post'."

M.J., reaction?

MJ LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: This is classic Donald Trump, which is to deny, deny, deny. We've seen him do this before, where he has made questionable or potentially offensive comments and his statement afterwards is, look, that's not what I meant. We saw him do this after he made comments about Carly Fiorina and her looks. When he makes comments about FOX News host Megyn Kelly, questionable comments that I prefer not to repeat again.

[14:50:04] He has done this before, and I think our viewers can decide on their own whether or not he was mocking the physical disability of this "New York Times" reporter, who has covered Trump over the years before. So, when Trump says, "I have never heard of this reporter before, I was certainly not mocking his disability," I think people can watch this video and decide on their own.

And I think it's also important to point out that Trump has a pattern of going after people for their physical looks. As I mentioned, he has done this with Carly Fiorina, when a protester was led out of his campaign event just this week, I was there, he made fun of him for being overweight.

This is an attack line that Trump likes to use. And he has gone there before. So, I think it's important to make it clear to viewers.

BALDWIN: This is what in graph three, Jeremy, this is what Mr. Trump says. "If Mr. Kovaleski is handicapped, I would not know because I do not know what he looks like. If I did know, I would definitely not say anything about his appearance."

Your response?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, I think MJ kind of hit it on the nail. It's true that he has talked about people's appearances in the past. You know, when you watch the tape of him talking about Kovaleski, it certainly appears that he is mocking his disability.

Now, maybe he wasn't. Maybe that was just his way of talking -- mocking somebody in general without remembering.

But clearly, he did know this reporter at some point, because he covered him for almost five years at "The New York Daily News". And so, that's what he's going to do. He's going to deny this and he's going to say that he did not, you know, know that this reporter had a disability.

But I will say that it is notable he put out such an extensive statement on something like this. It shows that he sees it as a potential vulnerability. It's rare when we see these kind of long statements from Donald Trump, especially on something where it looks like, you know, he could play it off as the mainstream media trying to go after him.

BALDWIN: Jeremy, I'm going to stay with you. For people at home who are reading and watching all these different political threat each and every day, who has never actually been to a Donald Trump rally, to see Mr. Trump up there, to see the crowds and hear the protesters, take us inside one. What is it like?

DIAMOND: Yes, there's certainly tremendous energy in the room. His supporters are hanging on his every word. But, of course, there can be a danger to that as well, especially when Trump kind of consistently, in the way that he talks about protesters at his events, is certainly, you know, diminishing of them and sometimes insulting of them.

And he can see that sometimes this turns into violence, you know. Donald Trump has a lot of heated rhetoric on the trail, when he talks about immigration, for example. And we've seen that devolve in some ways at these events.

You know, I've been a rally in Virginia a month ago, there was some anti -- some protesters against his illegal immigration policies and one of those protesters was spit at by a Trump supporter, you know? This weekend when I was in Birmingham, Alabama, I was the reporter on the ground when this Black Lives Matter protester was punched and kicked and shoved by several white attendees at this rally.

And so, it certainly raises questions about what the role of Trump's rhetoric has in the way that his supporters react and in the way that they act toward protesters or towards other people and in the way that didn't conform with their views.

BALDWIN: Talked to that protester friend who was there and saw the whole thing.

Let's just end with this -- on this Thanksgiving, I appreciate both of you for coming in and working and let's be nice and play nice, shall we, and be grateful on this Thursday?

MJ and Jeremy, thank you both very much.

LEE: Thanks.

BALDWIN: We are also just getting breaking news here. The White House on lockdown after someone just tried jumping the fence. The details are coming in. They are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:58:13] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BALDWIN: All right. Breaking news on this Thanksgiving here. I'm Brooke Baldwin. You're watching CNN.

Let's get to it. The White House is on lockdown after someone tried jumping that White House fence.

I have Athena Jones. She is standing live for me in Washington.

Athena, what do we know?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke. Information is still coming into us that Secret Service apprehended a man who jumped the White House fence on the north side of the White House. It's the side we're looking at right now. So, the fence in front of the north portico there, the front door.

He was almost immediately apprehended by Secret Service officers and detained. The first family is in the residence, celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday.

We're still awaiting more information from Secret Service. The White House itself is still on lockdown. But we know that this man has been detained and so the situation is not ongoing.

But, you know, Brooke, this is not the first time we've talked about a fence jumper at the White House. This has happened, unfortunately, more times than Secret Service would like. There was a fence jumper in September of 2014, in October of 2014, in March of this year, and again in April. That was a 54-year-old man who was carrying a suspicious package that turned out to be harmless in the end.

But you'll remember another time a jumper made it all the way into the White House. So, this is the kind of thing that secret service takes very, very seriously.

BALDWIN: Yes. No, it is serious. I don't mean to roll my eyes. Just the notion of somebody thinking they can jump the fence at the White House and not get caught has another thing coming.

Tom Fuentes, let me bring you in here as well. I know you jumped on the line, former assistant director of the FBI.

So -- all right, so, someone has this idea to hop the fence of the White House on Thanksgiving. We know the first family is home.