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New Photos Released of Female Shooter in San Bernardino; FBI Announces San Bernardino Shooting Being Investigated as Terrorist Attack; Donald Trump Increases Lead in Polls over GOP Rivals; President Obama Criticized for Handling of ISIS; CNN to Host Heroes Tribute Event. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired December 05, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:10] CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: We are getting our first look at Tashfeen Malik. The FBI says this woman, who was also a wife and mother, was one of the shooters in the San Bernardino massacre. New this morning, we are taking a look at her tie to terror.

Plus ISIS responding to the attack in California, calling the shooters supporters, not members of a terrorist operation, and saying it is praying to God that they are accepted as martyrs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are strong and resilient and we will not be terrorized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: But is America safe? The president says we are. With terrorists striking on our soil, though, have we grossly underestimated ISIS' reach all along?

We are always so grateful for your company. Thank you for sharing some time with us this morning. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Black well. Good morning, live here in San Bernardino, California. And we are starting now our coverage of the massacre here and now this terror investigation.

Let's begin with the new developments. We now know that that UPS package addressed to the two California shooters contained clothes. If you missed it, overnight, a UPS facility was evacuated after a driver discovered a box addressed to the two killers condo.

We also have a new picture of the attacker Tashfeen Malik. Take a look. She, as you know, pledged allegiance to ISIS on Facebook. And now ISIS is calling them, as Christi said, supporters and praying to God that they accept them as martyrs.

Also, a co-worker says she radicalized her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook. Fourteen people were killed in the mass shooting earlier this week. CNN is covering this story from every angle. Let's begin now with Polo Sandoval. He is live in Redlands which is nearby in front of the condo where the shooters live. Polo, let's start with this emergency at the UPS facility. What do we know about that package and how that all went down?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Victor. Ultimately, it did end up being a false alarm. But I think really the main take away from that story shows this heightened level of vigilance. You have a UPS driver that left the south California sorting facility out for his deliveries. And then he took a closer look at one of the packages there that showed 53 North Center Street, which is actually the address that you would see right behind me over that doorway. Automatically that red flag went up and this driver realized it was actually the home of Syed Farook.

He quickly returned to that sorting facility. The chief of police here in San Bernardino isolated that box until the bomb squad arrived to later determine it was simply clothes. Again, while the items in that box were of no threat, I think it really does highlight this level of vigilance. And this morning, now that the sun is up over this community, people are out walking their dogs and they're seeing the boarded up door and window behind me. It's a reminder that they have to be extra vigilant, and they hope this is something that happens across the country, especially with several potential ISIS ties in this case.

BLACKWELL: Polo, I was inside that apartment yesterday after the owner allowed media in. We saw what was left behind. But we also saw that there were four pages, this itemized list of items seized by the FBI. You have now looked through that list extensively. What was taken?

SANDOVAL: You have the physical evidence and you have the digital evidence that was removed. When it comes to the physical items, you have, for example, several different bomb-making materials as investigators refer to it as essentially components of a small bomb making factory at this property. You also have files and documents. And also some of the digital data as well. There was a hard drive, two smashed up, heavily damaged phones that were recovered nearby. Investigators hope that that could provide them with a key clue or at least several key clues that they need to try to finally establish that connection.

We found out yesterday this case will be treated as a terrorism investigation, which means they are going to have additional counter terrorism experts on board, more resources. Much of that evidence was actually put on a plane on Thursday and shipped to Quantico where federal agents are taking a closer look at it this morning.

BLACKWELL: Polo Sandoval for us there Redlands, Polo thank you so much.

Let's talk more now about Syed Rizwan Farook. He was described as a shy, quiet, devout in his faith man. But then something changed. Two men who attended the same mosque as Farook spoke to CNN's Don Lemon last night about the shooter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[10:05:06] GASSER SHEHATA, ATTENDED MOSQUE WITH SYED RIZWAN FAROOK: We are totally in shock. We don't understand it. We can't but the numbers together. If we have to guess, we think something happened in the last maybe month or two months, maximum. He stopped coming to the mosque about four weeks ago. We haven't seen him. Again, we are not surprised because he doesn't live in San Bernardino. He lives in Redlands. He used to go to Riverside. He only came to our mosque because of his work. He was in restaurant in San Bernardino, so whenever he had his lunch break he would come to pray with us. He would come about two to three times a week.

Now, what happened? I don't know. We are more inclined to believe that he had some argument or a fight with his work than to think this has anything to do with religion. I go to the mosque all the time. I'm really a regular. And I can tell you all of us are extremely kind. We care about everybody regardless of their religion. We actually learned the opposite of hatred. We learn our religion to love others and respect others. If you see someone in harm's way, we are believed is to go and help them and get them out of harm's way. So there is no radical organization in San Bernardino or any of my Muslim brothers who pray at same mosque. I know all of them, and none of them think like that.

RAHEMAAN ALI, ATTENDED MOSQUE WITH SYED RIZWAN FAROOK: If we were to know he was like this, we would be the first to report to the authorities about him.

SHEHATA: Absolutely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Let's get some analysis now. With me now, CNN military analyst, retired lieutenant colonel, Rick Francona. I want to start right there with what we heard from the fellow members of the mosque and what we also know from the FBI and local law enforcement. These two were completely under the radar, no suspicion surrounding them. Does the FBI, does the intelligence community need to, I guess, reconsider what raises people to that level of investigation, to the level of suspicion?

RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: This is a real problem. How do you do that legally? There are certain constraints that we have to operate on. You just can't randomly surveil American citizens. And when you have these people that fly under the radar, this is the gold standard for these terrorist groups. Al Qaeda tried to do it for years. It appears ISIS is now trying to do it by finding people with clean passports that have never come to the attention of the authorities, especially if they are willing to travel overseas and come back. These are the people they want because, as we see, it is almost undetectable and impossible to stop.

BLACKWELL: Polo there in front of the home where the FBI raid was conducted on Wednesday night, now have gone through the list of things seized. Several cell phones, we know two smashed cell phones have been recovered. Those could offer a lot of avenues of investigation.

FRANCONA: I think that's going to be the key to breaking down who these people were talking to, because, as we've been discussing all night, there had to be some training, some contact. Where did they get the explosives, where did they get the knowledge? Were they able to develop the stuff themselves? Why smash the cell phones? They were trying to hide communication. So they were talking to someone. We'll be able to get that out of the cell phones. The FBI is very good at this. Then they will be able to go to the phone companies and break down everybody they have ever talked to. They'll be able to network diagram. So pretty soon, we will know everything about who they talked to.

BLACKWELL: Despite those communications, from your perspective, this is still a case of self-radicalization?

FRANCONA: It appears to be. We have no knowledge that there was a direct tie to ISIS before. I think the first indication we have was the Facebook post by the female shooter declaring allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, which is very interesting when you think she would have the presence of mind to do that just before she goes in and murders 14 people.

BLACKWELL: Wow. And just this small element of the UPS package that was en route as this was happening, what do you gleam from that, if anything?

FRANCONA: I think it shows, as Polo said, the heightened sense of awareness in this community and now everybody, people are going to start looking at what's going on. But this is after the fact. We have to find some way to detect this before it happens.

BLACKWELL: All right, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, thanks so much.

FRANCONA: Sure.

BLACKWELL: Now, as we continue the conversation about the investigation that's developing, let's talk about Tashfeen Malik and the possible inspiration she derived from ISIS. Just ahead, what the U.S. need to do now to fight the war on terror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It is entirely possible that these two attackers were radicalized to commit this act of terror. If so, it would underscore a threat we have been focused on for years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: You hear there President Obama acknowledging the threat of ISIS supporters committing acts right here in America.

[10:10:03] But if the U.S. has known about this for years, how are some people flying under the radar? We'll get into the general picture and some specifics next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Welcome back to NEW DAY. I'm Victor Blackwell here in San Bernardino, California. And we now know of the shooters, apparently there was one who pledged allegiance to ISIS' leader, Tashfeen Malik. And now in his weekly radio address, President Obama says they have been preparing for a threat like this. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: It is entirely possible that these two attackers were radicalized to commit this act of terror, and if so it would underscore a threat we have been focused on for years, the danger of people succumbing to violent extremist ideologies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Well, you'll remember this attack came on the very day President Obama told CBS news that ISIS will not pose an existential threat to the U.S. CNN's Chris Frates is here to talk more about what the president said. And Chris, the timing there unfortunate, but there are people who are wondering if the U.S. has grossly underestimated ISIS. As we've seen, there has been evidence of that in the past.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Victor. That is exactly right. And this news that the attacks may have been inspired by ISIS, it is only fueling Republican criticism that President Obama's strategy to defeat the terrorist group has failed. Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, he says despite Obama's arguments to the contrary, ISIS is not under control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The threat we faced in California this week is the most dangerous terrorist threat we have ever faced. And here is why. Because the other individual, the husband, was a U.S. citizen, born in the United States, lived here his entire life, had never, ever, ever done anything radical or strange that caused anyone to be suspicious of him.

[10:15:08] And the next president of the United States better be someone that knows how to handle it because they understand exactly what it is made of. It begins by recognizing that, indeed, we are at war with radical jihadists.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: Now, for his part, Obama has worried publicly for years about the possibility of an attack by a lone wolf that was, in fact, self- radicalized, because, as law enforcement will tell you, Victor, it is incredibly difficult to track terrorists working in isolation. And on the day of the attacks but before the possible ISIS link was discovered, Obama again downplayed the threat ISIS poses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: ISIL is not going to pose an existential threat to us. They are a dangerous organization like Al Qaeda was. But we have hardened our defenses. Our homeland has never been more protected by more effective intelligence and law enforcement professionals at every level than they are now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRATES: But even before the massacre in California, Americans expressed doubts about Obama's strategy. A survey out last month found that more than half of those polled disapproved of how the president has handled the issue. That's not a good sign for the president as his administration comes to grips with what could be the biggest terrorist attack in American since 9/11. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Yes, similar to when we heard the president's statement that ISIS is contained hours before the attacks in Paris. Chris Frates, thanks so much.

Let's talk now with CNN military analyst, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. General Hertling, we talk about these statements we hear from the president that ISIS is not an existential threat to the U.S., that ISIS is contained, and now this week we're seeing the attack here. What is this gap that we're seeing between the intelligence, between the government, and what ISIS is able to do even through inspiration if not direct involvement?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Victor, I think we need to talk a little bit about wordplay here. I think the president did say in his interview that ISIS was a serious threat to international security. And then he followed up, because some of the presidential candidates have been saying it is an existential threat. If we define existential, that means that it is a threat to U.S. sovereignty, a threat to our constitution, and a threat to a gross number of American people.

So the president has admitted that this is a terrible organization. They do have an unbelievably bad ideology which has to be stamped out and prevented, but what he is saying is, I believe, not trying to interpret for the president, but what he is saying is we will certainly have security issues. And anyone that says we will not be attacked in the United States, just like Paris has not been tacked or other countries have not been attacked, that's never a good thing to do.

But to say an existential threat, meaning the entire nation is going to fall, that's an altogether different story. And I think that's the question he was addressing during the interview. Will we have continued attacks like this? My belief is, yes, we will, because this ideology is tough to stamp out. The security forces in our intelligence services are attempting to counter it, but they can't be 100 percent certain all the time that they have hit every target that they need to hit.

BLACKWELL: And let's talk about the strategy, the intelligence strategy, the military strategy. We know that the U.S. leading a coalition to take the fight to ISIS in Iraq, in Syria. But we have these home grown terrorists. We also have in Tashfeen Malik a woman who has connections to Pakistan and to Saudi Arabia. Give us some insight on to the fight that's being taken to radicals there, if at all, if the U.S. is involved in those two countries. HERTLING: When you talk about the military line of effort, if you

will, it has actually been advancing. We are seeing things in Iraq and Syria that seem to indicate we are getting after this organization. It is decreasing in size and decreasing in amount of territory.

We are actually getting after some of the financial networks, and we see indicators of that. A "New York Times" story said today that ISIS has decided to cut the pay of their fighters from $400 a month to $300 a month. There are indicators that the financial attacks against them have contributed to this.

We still have problems on the border with Turkey of having fighters cross that border and return to their homeland. The hardest part of this fight, Victor, and that's what we are talking about right now, is the spread of the ideology to some who just do not truly understand the Muslim religion and are attempting to bastardize it, to do things that are contrary to that religion. The ideological fight is going to be the hardest thing in defeating ISIS.

[10:20:03] BLACKWELL: All right, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, always good to have your insight.

Christi, as I toss it back to you, of course the specific investigation is going to be our focus this morning. But the larger question about how does the U.S., how does the coalition prevent this from happening in cities like San Bernardino and Paris and cities across the country, we are going to talk about that of course this morning and throughout coverage of what is now a changing world.

PAUL: All right, yes, we'll get back to you here in just a second. Victor, thank you so much.

Meanwhile, I want to tell you about this new report this morning about that police shooting of a teenager in Chicago. What we are finding out about the officer's report that doesn't match what's on his dash cam video.

Also, oil prices plummet. So what does that really mean?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: It's 24 minutes past the hour. We want to get you back to San Bernardino, California in a moment, but another bombshell report in the Laquan McDonald case to tell you about, this time from "The Chicago Sun Times." They say the video from the night the 17-years- old was shot, some of what you're seeing here, does not match what was written in police reports. The internal reports say the teen threatened police in a way not seen in the videos.

[10:25:00] Freddie Gray did not get the help he needed when he asked for it. And when he did, it was too late. That is the latest from prosecutors. In the first trial for a police officer involved in Gray's death, the 25-year-old died a broken neck in police custody earlier this year. Have you noticed what's happening at the pump? Oil prices took a dive

yesterday after OPEC failed to agree on an official quota, which is good news for drivers as oil prices continue to fall. They are bringing gas prices down with them. In fact the average gallon of gas in the U.S. now costs just a little more than $2.

And Oscar-nominated actor Robert Loggia has passed away. He is best nor for his roles in "Scarface," "Independence Day," and the movie "Big," remember, where he had that iconic scene playing piano alongside Tom Hanks. Loggia died after a five-year struggle with Alzheimer's disease. He was 85-years-old.

We do have some new information for you that is surfacing about the female shooter in the San Bernardino massacre. What we are learning about Tashfeen Malik and her possible terror ties. But if you would, let us take a moment so we can pause and remember the victims of that attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:30:09] BLACKWELL: Welcome back to NEW DAY. This morning, we have several new developments about the San Bernardino shooting. ISIS now speaking out about the attack, calling killers here, quote "supporters." Also we now know that the UPS package addressed to the two killers contained clothes. A UPS facility evacuated after a driver saw the box and it's address to their home.

And of course we are getting now new pictures of the female shooter, Tashfeen Malik, who pledged allegiance to the leader of ISIS Abu Bakr al Baghdadi on Facebook. And a co-worker says she thinks Malik was responsible for radicalizing her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook.

Now, a lot of the investigation into the shooting was focused on their home, their condo in Redlands. It's the home of the two suspects. They left it cluttered. You could see that there were baby items everywhere, half-eaten food, several signs of faith throughout the house. They left in a hurry and then went and killed 14 people, wounded 21 others.

I was there yesterday when the landlord allowed scores of reporters and photographers inside. Here is what we found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: As the door was pried open, a dramatic scene as a crush of reporters and camera crews were allowed inside the townhouse rented by Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik. They couple's landlord invites the media to look inside the home with no objection from the FBI. DAVID BOWDITCH, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, FBI, LOS ANGELES OFFICE: We

executed a search warrant on that apartment, and last night we turned that over, back to the residents. Once the residents have the apartment and we are not in it anymore, we don't control it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When were you able to come back in here?

DOYLE MILLER, LANDLORD: Last night, about 8:00, 9:00. This is unreal.

BLACKWELL: Around the apartment, signs of life familiar to families everywhere -- clutter in the kitchen, toys belonging to the couple's six-month-old daughter scattered on the floor. But it is here in the couple's bedroom closet where you find a sign of the intense investigation that took place as CNN's Stephanie Elam discovered during a tour of the home.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here you can see where they smashed up into the ceiling to take a look to see what was up there. It does appear, based on how much debris was on the ground, that there was an effort to get up there and make sure they checked every crevice of this back bedroom.

BLACKWELL: Personal identification and other documents belonging to Farook's mother were left scattered on the bed. Evidence of the couple's devout faith are also seen throughout the apartment, a prayer rug on the wall, various books on the subject of Islam, even prayer beads left on the edge of the bed. In a corner, the crib belonging to their six-month-old baby girl left to her grandmother on the day of her shooting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: All right, Brian Levin joins me now. He is from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State here in San Bernardino, specializes in analysis of terrorism and legal issues. Brian, good to have you back, because set aside the mess created during the FBI raid. But we saw this looked like a home someone left in a hurry. There has been this narrative there was an argument, some altercation at this holiday party that sent Farook back to his home to get his wife, and they returned then for this massacre. I want to listen to what we heard from the sheriff here in San Bernardino County, the chief of police about that narrative.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was there or was there not an argument at this holiday party with this killer?

CHIEF JARROD BURGUAN, SAN BERNARDINO POLICE: We don't know for sure. We had initial information about a witness or some witnesses that left the party and provided information that it appeared he left upset or under some form of duress. There is also indication from other people that he was there, there was nothing out of the ordinary, and then suddenly he was gone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: So nothing out of the ordinary. What was that first visit? What can we learn from this element of the story?

BRIAN LEVIN, CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF HATE AND EXTREMISM: Look, there is also other evidence that suggests that they were trying to erase their digital footprint in the day or days before. When you couple that with the arsenal, this was not merely, some like, gee, I'm going to come back to the office. This was pre-planned, ideological, jihadist terrorism.

Here what I think is interesting. Why did they choose the work place? I don't think it was necessarily anger. I think it was ease and familiarity. Perhaps he went there to case the place. Was there an argument? The witnesses seem to say no.

The bottom line is, a lot of time with violent defenders, they go with where they know. And as we can see, we have the junction of two interstates. They could have gone anywhere. But he knew this was a party. It was an enclosed place. He knew who was there, and he knew the configuration of the enclosure, making it something that he was familiar with.

[10:35:03] And we oftentimes see with unprofessional folks, right, they hit what they know. This was, in my opinion, not a case of people who were heavily trained by ISIS. I think they were self- radicalized, and they kind of came up with this on their own, because, I'll tell you, they could have killed a whole heck of a lot more people with the kind of weapons and arsenals that they had.

BLACKWELL: Let's talk about these two themes we're seeing, self- radicalization, which law enforcement is saying this is a case of, and also the smashed cell phones, the removed hard drive hiding some contact or context here. Marry those for us and give us a fuller picture. If they are hiding contacts, is this, indeed, self- radicalization?

LEVIN: Great question. Sometimes when us analysts speak, it is little ambiguous. Here's what I mean. People can be self-radicalized and still reach out somewhere. There is a link. And ISIS, or Daesh, want to do a couple things. They want to get foreign fighters in to get trained and then send them back home. If they can't do that, they are happy to inspire people, and there are some levels of communication. Nidal Hasan had communication with Anwar al-Awlaki, but he did not help him orchestrate the attack.

So, look, hit where you live, get weapons, here is some stuff on the Internet. There are a lot of ways that people mostly on their own can become operational through training manuals and speaking with folks on the Internet who might not be directly training an orchestrating. There is a spectrum here, a slope of how much help they are getting.

BLACKWELL: And a lot they can get on their own.

LEVIN: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Brian Levin, thank you so much for the insight, always appreciate it.

LEVIN: Thank you, Victor.

All right, still ahead, we will continue this conversation in San Bernardino and talk about one element that was I guess the center of the conversation before this turned to a terror investigation, that is gun control, the availability of these types of weapons in the U.S. A national newspaper now taking a position on its front page.

And, as we go to break, of course, we don't want to do this without mentioning and focusing on the victims of this tragedy -- 14 people lost their lives, 21 facing injuries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:41:26] BLACKWELL: All right, so this is happening for the first time in nearly 100 years. "The New York Times" printing an editorial on its front page demanding an end to the gun epidemic in America. Here's art of it. "It is a moral outrage and national disgrace that civilians can purchase weapons designed to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency."

Let's talk about this with, who else, senior media correspondent and host of "Reliable Sources" Brian Stelter joining us now. Brian, so this is not a fundamentally new position for "The Times." Why is it taking this position to put it on the front page? Why make that choice?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It is the boldest statement "The Times" has ever made about gun control by putting it on the front page. And I used to work at "The Times" so I know how valuable page one is. Every reporter wants to be on page one.

And usually page one is reserved for news. I know some people think that news and editorial are the same, but at the "New York Times," the people that write the editorials work like 10 floors above the newsroom. They are completely separate.

And that is why this is so controversial. Putting this editorial on the front page instead of a news story, putting an opinion piece there is a big move by "The Times." And they are going further then they have ever gone before about gun control. Yes, the paper has called for stricter regulation of guns. But now it is calling for a drastic reduction in the availability of guns. It does want some confiscation of some assault-type weapons. It's not going into too much detail here, but I think what we are hearing from "The Times" is a step much further than even the Democratic candidates for president. So by putting it on the front page, as you can see, they are clearly trying to stoke debate and also change the contours of the debate just for maybe background checks to something more sweeping like actually confiscating some weapons.

BLACKWELL: So this hasn't happened since 95 years ago, 1920. If nothing changes, if we talk about this today and we talk about it tomorrow, this editorial on the front panel, does that then dilute the impact of having done this?

STELTER: I think that's a really important point. You're right. When you put this on the front page, you are making a big statement. If people don't respond to it, if there is not really a reaction, then that is probably a disappointment for the publisher and for the editorial board writers.

There are already many critics of the times that are saying they are focusing on the wrong issue. The headline on the top of "The New York Times" and the headline here on CNN is about this possibility of terrorism, that the FBI is investigating as a case of terrorism. I think what "The Times" editorial writers would say is, yes, that's true, but guns play a role in terrorism, and that's what they are trying to address.

We've seen some other interesting covers recently, too. If we can show on screen a newspaper cover from Mississippi yesterday. This is from the "Clarion Ledger." And it's really striking because you see the Statue of Liberty holding up a rifle upside down in its hands here. This is for a news story. We have seen a number of other covers recently sa well. I think we can show the Amarillo, Texas paper, "The Globe News," asking what can be done, what should be done with the image of a gun there yesterday.

And of course The "New York Daily News" got a lot of attention earlier in the week for its covers about guns. It has been on a crusade against gun violence for some time. This cover of course, said, "God is not fixing this." What we are seeing is a digital age is that old- fashioned print newspapers can still make big statements.

BLACKWELL: Yes, still at the center of the national conversation. We will see what the impact will be of this front page editorial, again, the first time in 95 years for "The Times." Brian Stelter, thanks so much.

STELTER: Thanks.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's toss it back to Christie who is in Atlanta. I understand of course this is the center of the political conversation as well.

[10:45:01] PAUL: It certainly is. Thanks, Victor.

And you know, Donald Trump, speaking specifically about him, has seen some heavy criticism for recent comments he has made about what should happen to the families of terrorists and to Muslims in general. His lead, though, in the GOP presidential race, it is expanding by the day. We'll talk about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: Well, Donald Trump heads to the key primary state of Iowa today, and what a time to do so. A new national CNN/ORC poll shows him at the top of the pack among the GOP candidates. He has a double- digit lead, look at that, 20 points in fact, as he climbs the campaign trail here. CNN's politics reporter M. J. Lee with us now and on that trail with him, also CNN political commentators Ben Ferguson and Jeffrey Lord. M. J., I would like to begin with you, and thank you, gentlemen, for being with us. What is going on there today?

M. J. LEE, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Good morning, Christi. When Donald Trump comes here and campaign's in Iowa today, he should be in a pretty good mood. As you mentioned, a new CNN poll out this week showing him at 36 percent. That's a whopping 20-point lead over the second-place rival, who is Ted Cruz at 16 percent. Donald Trump continuing his first place streak for almost five months now.

[10:50:00] Now, when he takes the stage behind me a couple of hours from now, we are expecting him to address the shooting in California this week, especially after the FBI announced that they are now investigating this shooting as a possible act of terrorism. The 2016 campaign candidates have been talking about this issue more and more. Donald Trump discussed this issue in Raleigh, North Carolina, yesterday. Let's take a listen to what he said.

PAUL: OK, M. J., I apologize. I think that we are missing some sound there. We apologize for that. But I want to thank you so much. I know that you're going to be following him today and you are going to be on throughout the day. So we'll find out what is happening out there. But thank you, M. J.

Let's move here to Jeffrey and Ben now. Gentlemen, thanks for being with us. Jeffrey, I want to start with you. You are, Jeffrey, a Trump supporter, of course. No doubt, there has been some fierce criticism of some of his comments regarding terrorist families and Muslims. Let's hear from Trump himself here for a second.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I watched when the World Trade Center came tumbling down. And I watched in Jersey City, New Jersey, where thousands and thousands of people were cheering as that building was coming down.

There should be a lot of systems beyond databases. We should have a lot of systems. And today you can do it. But right now we have to have a border. We have to have strength. We have to have a wall, and we cannot let what's happening to this country happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you were in the White House, what would happen?

TRUMP: I would certainly implement it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you go to a mosque and sign these people up?

TRUMP: Different laces. You sign them up at different places. But it is all about management.

They are using human shields. But we are fighting a very politically correct war.

The other thing is with the terrorists, you have to take out their families. When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don't kid yourself. They say they don't care. You have to take out their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: So he is the king of the one-liners, there's no doubt about it. But some of what he is saying violates the Geneva Convention. It's not even legally possible. How is it that voters, do they think that he can actually make this happen if he does get into office knowing that?

JEFFREY LORD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATORS: Which of those?

PAUL: Make any of those happen.

LORD: I think what they are responding to is his no-nonsense, tough approach. I went back, Christi, and looked at what happened after the United States entered World War II. And very interestingly, I found that President Franklin Roosevelt put an immediate halt on the naturalization process on all German immigrants, all Italian immigrants, and all Japanese immigrants who were already in this country but had emigrated from their respective countries. And he put a stop to it on the spot. That's the kind of action that I think we are looking for here.

In the case of the wife here, who was involved, who came into this country on a Pakistani passport, the question has to be, I think, at some point, why are we letting people like this in the country? It is bad enough we have to deal with people that are native-born Americans. That's a different problem in a sense. It is part of the same problem, but it's a different problem. There is no question that we need to start to ask, why are we importing people here from countries where there is a significant terrorism problem and radical Islamic problems and letting them come into the country and do something like this. And 14 Americans are now dead this morning.

PAUL: There was no red flag on either one of these people for quite some time.

LORD: Correct.

PAUL: Ben, go ahead. Go ahead, Ben.

BEN FERGUSON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: The reason why Donald Trump is surging in the polls right now is very simple. He actually will admit that there is an enemy and there are people that want kill us, unlike the White House which is obsessed right now with smog, global warming, and then gun control and telling us that somehow is going to make us safe.

You have two totally different individuals here selling two totally different ideas. Donald Trump's idea most people can connect with because they understand, they believe that there are in fact Muslim extremist terrorists and homegrown Muslim extremists who are coming out of some of these mosques who are killing innocent Americans. Whereas you have a White House, regardless of the details of how he's going to do it, you have a White House that's saying we need to go after gun control. You have "The New York Times" saying this is a gun problem, not a jihadi Muslim extremist problem.

And so I think a lot of people may not look at what Donald Trump is saying on these issues that, honestly, you cannot do many of the things he is saying that he wants to do. But they will say, well, he understands the issue, he understands there is a threat, whereas the White House is not protecting us. They won't even say "Muslim extremism" anymore at the White House. You can't get the president to even say that in this country. And so when you have that difference, people I think are willing to overlook the details of what Donald Trump is saying, because I agree with you, most of what Donald Trump said he cannot do.

[10:55:07] PAUL: OK, it is a good conversation. And I am so sorry we are out of time already. Jeffrey Lord, Ben Ferguson, thank you so much.

LORD: Thanks.

PAUL: And I want to get you a program reminder, too. Watch the next CNN Republican debate. Wolf Blitzer moderating the last GOP debate of the year, all taking place Tuesday, December 15th, 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

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