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President Obama Gives Rare Oval Office Address; Republicans Declares Obama's Strategy Not Working; California Gunman's Father Speaks; Fleeing Raqqa; U2 Return to Paris with Special Tribute for Victims. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired December 07, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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

[00:00:11] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, a rare primetime speech by U.S. President Barack Obama trying to reassure a nervous nation that the growing terrorist threat can and will be beaten.

Fleeing Raqqa. An exclusive interview with the man who lived in the ISIS capital before and after the terrorist takeover. What life was like for him and his family and how he escaped and what he thinks it will take to defeat ISIS.

And a beautiful day in Paris as U2 plays tribute to victims of the November 13th attacks with a powerful performance.

Hello, everybody. Great to have you with us. We'd like to welcome our viewers all around the world. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.

U.S. President Barack Obama tried to reassure and rally Americans in a rare Oval Office address. Amid growing doubts about the administration's abilities to deal with terrorism at home and ISIS abroad, Mr. Obama laid out his strategy calling for tougher gun control and stronger cooperation with other countries. But he also warned against discrimination prompted by fear and pledged that the United States will destroy ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure. Well, here's what I want you to know. The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us.

Our success won't depend on tough talk or abandoning our values or giving into fear. That's what groups like ISIL are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every aspect of American power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Our latest patrolling shows there has been a remarkable shift in how Americans feel about committing troops to fight ISIS. According to a CNN-ORC polls, 68 percent say the U.S. is not aggressive enough, 26 percent say the response has been about right, 4 percent say it's too aggressive, which may explain why now a majority, 53 percent, are in favor of sending in ground troops to fight the terror group.

Well, for more now on the president's speech, CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein is with us now. He's also editorial director of the "National Journal."

Ron, thank you for being with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, John.

VAUSE: Good to talk with you. Let's first of all back up. Let's talk about this speech. Fifteen minutes on primetime on a Sunday night three weeks before Christmas. This is normally for big, big things, Cuban missile crisis, Nixon's resignation.

Did the president meet that standard in this speech?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, the predicate, the event was a big event. The kind of terrorist attack in San Bernardino bringing what many have feared to the U.S. itself was a big event. But no, I don't think the speech did. I mean, if you look at the polling, most Americans have lost faith in his ability to deal with the terrorist threat and don't feel that they are being aggressive enough. I don't think he had anything to say tonight that would significantly change the opinion of those who have lost faith in him.

VAUSE: Yes. And if you're tuning in to say something new, you said they didn't hear it.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

VAUSE: You know, the tone of the speech and the language, that was very, very different especially from what the president has -- the way he has talked in the past. Let's listen to some of the language here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Our success won't depend on tough talk or abandoning our values or giving into fear. That's what groups like ISIL are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every aspect of American power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: You know, what was interesting about that, the tough talk. It will not be resolved by tough talk because right now you cannot divorce what's happening with the -- you know, the war on terror, if you like.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. Right.

VAUSE: And the Republican presidential candidates. BROWNSTEIN: Right. Right. So essentially, you have, you know, the

entire Republican presidential field saying that they are going to be tougher, that they will -- Ted Cruz and Donald Trump and this kind of verbal competition, about who is going to promise to bomb more. But look, I mean, I think the big backdrop here is I think Americans do believe that Obama's approach to terror is not working, but they also overwhelmingly believe the previous approach, the Bush approach, also failed.

I mean, the velvet glove has failed and the iron fist has failed. So it's really unclear where we go next but -- I think the -- in the sense of kind of the public mood, but I do think that the drumbeat, the concerns that are growing about the vulnerability of the homeland is creating a political environment in which more is going to be required certainly of the next president and probably of this president before he leaves office.

VAUSE: 450 days left in Obama's term. So, you know, your feeling or your gut, if you're a betting man, you'd think there'll be some kind of big troop commitment before the end of Obama's term?

[00:05:00] BROWNSTEIN: I think there's going to be some more military commitment.

VAUSE: Why?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, because I think that, you know, each time we see the attacks on the U.S. and certainly -- and not only on the U.S. but on other, you know, Western places that people in the U.S. can kind of relate to more immediately, perhaps as some of the places in the Middle East that have been victimized. I think that the concern grows and the fear of leaving ISIS a position with safe havens to plan attack and of course this is different, these may have been people who are radicalized, rather than essentially directed.

But it seems too much like the pre-9/11 period in Afghanistan. And I think that analogy becomes I think very persuasive. You know, I was on a television show a few weeks ago with Fran Townsend, who was of course an adviser on terrorism under President Bush. She said, you know, anything that you would do after an attack, you should probably do before an attack. And I think that kind of logic is going to impel Obama to do more. We're already seeing him committing more in terms of special forces.

VAUSE: Yes. You know, at the same time we talk about this tough language that we heard from President Obama comparing terrorism to cancer. Maybe it was a rhetoric question.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Right.

VAUSE: It's a cancer without a cure. But there's also some really tough language there for the Muslim community.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, of course.

VAUSE: Saying there will be -- you must address the radicalization within your own ranks without excuse. Has he ever been this tough?

BROWNSTEIN: I don't think -- I don't think he has been this tough before. I mean, maybe they will find a quote somewhere from the White House.

VAUSE: Sure.

BROWNSTEIN: That's comparable. But this felt tougher. And again it is a -- it's just an indication this was a shattering event. This is kind of the wolf at the door that people have been fearing, a large scale, almost random kind of act. There's no way to defend the kind of target that this prove to be. And this was someone who was born in the U.S., who seemed to be living kind of, you know, the -- an American dream kind of life in many ways. And yet ultimately whether he was persuaded by interaction with, you know, ISIS propaganda or by the wife, either way ultimately was willing to participate in -- you know, in a massacre.

VAUSE: Very quickly, last question here, was it smart of the president to link gun control to national security, which is kind of what he did tonight?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I think it is not at the center of the way most people are thinking about this. The arguments are very reasonable. Are we making it too easy for people to do us harm to get assault weapons? I mean, this is -- you know, this is the debate we've been having since Bill Clinton passed the assault weapon ban in 1993. So I think it is -- they were reasonable arguments, but they were not the central arguments I think the people wanted to hear from the president tonight.

VAUSE: OK. Ron, thanks for being with us. Appreciate your insight.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Thank you.

Well, critics of the president were very quick to point out the strategy to deal with ISIS just is not working. In statement the Republican National Committee said, "The path laid out by President Obama and supported by Hillary Clinton has not worked and ISIS has only gained in strength. The attacks in San Bernardino should serve as wake up call for Obama and Clinton that the way to victory is not the status quo but refocusing our efforts to defeat ISIS."

CNN's intelligence and security analyst and former CIA operative Bob Bear is with us now to talk tactics and strategy against ISIS.

Bob, good to speak with you. Without getting into the politics of it all, do you believe the president's plan to deal with ISIS, is it working or we just stick with it long enough it's going to pay off or is it not working?

ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: It's not working. I mean, we continue to bomb first al Qaeda, now ISIS. And things get worse. It moves. You know, the governor of Aiden was killed today by ISIS. It moves to Libya. Bombing simply does not work. I mean, and you can't behead this organization and things are getting worse in the Middle East. There's a virus coursing through the Arabian Peninsula and of course hit us in San Bernardino.

VAUSE: Now during the speech, Bob, the president conceded that the terror threat has changed over the years. Let's listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: The terrorist threat has evolved into a new face. As we've become better at preventing complex, multi-facetted attacks like 9/11, terrorists turn to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are too common in our society.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, Bob, is the problem here that the U.S. tactics are just not evolving fast enough to keep up with groups like ISIS?

BAER: Well, I think there's a core problem in the Middle East and that is this fight between the Shias and the Sunni. And we've in effect taken side with the Shia in Baghdad and were affected with the ally of Bashar al-Assad in Damascus. And that just bound to stir things up. And then you have the war in Yemen. And none of these underlying problems are being addressed. And the female shooter, as we well know, was undoubtedly radicalized first in Saudi Arabia and was solidified in Pakistan.

There is a true, true deep anger against the United States. And you can get weapons easily. It's easy to get people in the country, she came in with a K visa. Those are (INAUDIBLE). You cannot screen them. There's no way to get the Pakistanis to tell you whether somebody is radicalized or not.

So, I mean, I was not impressed by the president's speech. And I don't think the Americans will. He's just saying more of the same. And that's it's going to be the Islamic State.

[00:10:06] Now I just don't think that's happening. I mean, I'm very supportive of this president otherwise but it's -- our strategy since October 2001 has failed utterly.

VAUSE: OK. So it -- but then is the president right when he says ISIS wants a ground war. They want to draw in Western troops, they want to create another Iraq?

BAER: He's absolutely right, that he wants American troops. He wants Western European troops. And -- but additionally they want to be bombed. And believe it or not, they want to look like they're being victimized because it draws recruits. And it increases the anger and increases the divide between Muslims and the rest of the world. And that's exactly what the Islamic State wants. We need to address the underlying political problems before you can even get near a solution.

VAUSE: So that's what you're saying. So the current plan isn't working. Ground troops will be a disaster. The plan C is the really complicated, difficult one that no one is actually even looking at which is basically the politics of the region?

BAER: Absolutely. I mean, you have to protect Sunni Arabs from their enemies which happen to be the Shia in Baghdad or the Shia in Damascus or the Russian or -- or the Turks now have entered Iraq. You have to protect them. You have to give them an alternative to the current situation. I mean, in a way, you can't -- you can't really blame them for lashing out. You can blame them for massacring the wrong people but, you know, they are lashing out and this is -- this is very predictable what's happening.

VAUSE: OK. Bob -- yes, OK. Thank you. Appreciate you being with us, Bob Baer, former CIA operative. Gained some impressive reality checking news, I guess. Thanks, Bob.

BAER: Thank you.

VAUSE: And we're learning more about the married couple that carried out that massacre in Southern California last week. Law enforcement officials says the husband Syed Farook had looked into contacting terrorist groups overseas, at the very least both attackers were inspired by ISIS. And as Kyung Lah reports, investigators are looking at possible hints the couple may have dropped as they grew more radical.

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Farook's father describes his son to reporters as a good kid, as a quiet kid, but growing more conservative and sharing an ideology with ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Sir, do you have a moment to speak with us for a minute?

(Voice-over): Syed Farook, father of gunman Syed Rizwan Farook driving away from his home this morning. He's been speaking to reporters on and off, earlier saying he and his son were divided on ideology.

SYED FAROOK, SYED RIZWAN FAROOK'S FATHER: All Pakistanis coming from the major cities are liberal people.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Understood.

FAROOK: OK. And he was going towards conservation.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He was going towards what?

FAROOK: Conservation. You know, his views were conservative. My views were liberal.

LAH: Farook explains more of their divide in an extensive interview with Italian newspaper "La Stampa." He says his son was shy, too conservative, and the father became angry when he once saw his son had bought a gun. The elder Farook saying about his son's beliefs, he said he shared the ideology of al-Baghdadi to create an Islamic State, and he was fixated on Israel.

A Pakistan-based relative of Farook's who had met him in the U.S. tells CNN the gunman started following a stricter interpretation of Islam three to four years ago, and the whole family was worried about the shift in his character. The relatives saying that change began before he met and married wife and fellow killer Tashfeen Malik.

They would meet first over the Internet, Farook seeking a religious woman. Friends say they eventually met in person in Saudi Arabia. Malik entered the U.S. last year on a fiancee visa. Investigators tell CNN Malik, under a different name, posted on Facebook a pledge of allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi just before the massacre began.

At the mosque where Malik and Farook were married in the U.S., members say they never saw her face. Farook's father tells "La Stampa" he also never met her. A couple whose beliefs are slowly coming into sharper focus. Unknown what sparked the mass murder in the first place.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Throughout the weekend, there was no official news conference from the authorities, expected to change tomorrow when the FBI holds their first news conference in three days,

Kyung Lah, CNN, San Bernardino.

VAUSE: British Police have named the suspect in Saturday's knife attack at a London Tube station. 29-year-old Muhaydin Mire is charged with attempted murder. Expected in court on Monday.

Police say Mire seriously wounded one man before being subdued with taser. Police are investigating Saturday's incident as an act of terror. Detectives searched a home in East London on Sunday and looking into reports that Mire yelled, "This is for Syria," during the attack.

[00:15:02] Live to Turkey now for more on the president's speech, and Sara Sidner live in Istanbul this hour.

So, Sara, what will be the reaction from the international community fighting ISIS in particular Turkey? Will they be looking for more from the president?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Perhaps yes. I mean, they've been asking for the last several years now for a safety zone along the Turkish border. The president also did mention helping secure the Turkish border. But Turkey wants more and essentially what they're asking for is -- would require a no-fly zone off of and several miles into Syria along that Turkish border to try and secure their own border making it so that any airstrikes wouldn't hit refugees who are along that border and try to come through, but who would stop, for example, you know, ISIS from being able to -- from being able to cross over the Syrian border. But ultimately really what Turkey wants is for the removal of

President Bashar al-Assad. That is the ultimate goal along with trying to combat ISIS and other militants aiming to do harm to the country and the surrounding country. You know, when you talk about Iraq, they want something different. They certainly do not want the United States to put combat troops on the ground. They have allowed special expeditionary targeting forces into the country and they're not opposed to that but they have come out and said they don't want to see boots on the ground from the United States when it comes to combat forces.

There are a lot of things at play here, of course, in the Middle East. A lot of different groups looking for assistance. Nobody is going to refuse more weapons, more money but ultimately it really is about the borders in trying to have each country secure its borders and they certainly would ask for help from the United States with that -- John.

VAUSE: Sara Sidner, live for us there in Turkey. Just gone quarter past 7:00 on a Monday morning.

Sara, thank you.

A short break here. When we come back, severe flood warnings in effect throughout the UK. It's being called one in 100-year flood event. We'll have the very latest on relief efforts when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:21:08] VAUSE: Now to breaking news from Venezuela. The opposition party has won a majority in the country's national assembly. Election officials say the opposition has taken 99 seats and just 40 seats for the ruling party.

This victory could have big implications for the current president, Nicolas Maduro The opposition can now limit his power with changes to the constitution. Mr. Maduro just announced on TV that he has accepted his party's loss.

And in France, the far right National Front Party is in the lead following the first round of regional elections on Sunday. According to exit polls and some early results the party is out front in six of 13 regions.

Marine Le Pen's anti-immigrant party is riding public sentiment to big results in the country's first election since the deadly terror attacks in Paris. Final results will not be determined until the second round of voting set for December 13th.

India says it's stepping up relief efforts after major flooding in and around the southern city of Chennai. The international airport there is being reopened but critics say the government has been slow to act. Soldiers and emergency workers are rushing in clean drinking water, medical supplies as well as food. And they're still working to rescue many who have been marooned on upper floors as well as rooftops.

And Britain's Emergency Response Committee met on Sunday to discuss how to handle severe flooding and storms in England and Scotland. A 90-year-old man was killed in London when strong winds blew him into the side on a moving bus.

Prime Minister David Cameron says the army has been mobilized to help those affected. There are dozens of severe flash flood warnings still in effect in northwest England. Some in Scotland as well as Wales.

Well, let's get more on the wild weather across parts of the UK. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with more on this.

So, Pedram, what's the forecast?

(WEATHER REPORT)

[00:25:06] VAUSE: And cold and wet and miserable, huh. OK, Pedram, thank you.

JAVAHERI: Yes.

VAUSE: OK. Still to come here on CNN, living in fear in the Syrian city of Raqqa. Up next a man who just made it out from the ISIS stronghold, talked about everyday life there, the horror of living in the grip of terrorists.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause with the headlines this hour.

U.S. President Barack Obama is calling for cooperation and resolve in the fight against ISIS. He delivered an Oval Office address meant to reassure Americans amid worries about terrorism at home and doubts about combating ISIS abroad. The father of San Bernardino gunman Syed Rizwan Farook says his son supported ISIS ideology and was, quote, "fixated on Israel." Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik massacred 14 people at a holiday party in California last Wednesday. The father revealed those new details in an interview with an Italian newspaper.

British police have named the suspect in Saturday's knife attack at a London Tube station. 29-year-old Muhaydin Mire is charged with attempted murder and is expected in court on Monday. Police say Mire seriously wounded one man before being subdued with taser. Investigators are treating the incident as an act of terror.

Well, some new frightening details about what life is like under ISIS rule in Syria from man who just escaped with his family. He tells us people are terrified and things are only getting worse as the terror group cracks down even harder.

Our Ian Lee has this exclusive report.

(BEING VIDEOTAPE)

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is the biggest target in the war against ISIS; the Syrian city of Raqqa, the capital of the so called Islamic State; despite constant bombardment it lures followers by painting its land as a paradise.

Suleiman, not his real man, he fled Raqqa in recent days with his young family.

SULEIMAN, RAQQAN REFUGEE, via translator: If it was a paradise, we wouldn't try to leave. Life is very difficult; most of the doctors have left. You can count the number of doctors on one hand, and they only service ISIS. Every day hundreds gather for free food handouts; it's not a lot. You stand there, being humiliated trying to get something to eat.

LEE: How would you describe the Islamic state?

SULEIMAN: Scary. It's a scary state by the literal meaning of the word. They came with their laws pretending to teach us honesty, but they taught us how to lie.

LEE: Have your kids gone to school in Raqqah?

SULEIMAN: They went for a week but then refused to go. There is no education. 5 to 11-year-old kids are in the same class. Teachers don't show up and older kids harass them.

LEE: Following French air strikes, is cracked down on internet usage, fearing their targets might be revealed; now, paranoia grips

Raqqah.

How has ISIS controlled the internet?

SULEIMAN: They are afraid that their members will try to communicate with foreign intelligence. We've seen a lot of people who have been beheaded and killed, accused of being spies.

LEE: Are the air strikes in Raqqah being effective?

SULEIMAN: Realistically, no. There's little impact because most areas are empty where ISIS evacuated before the strikes.

LEE: The U.S.-led coalition hopes Kurdish fighters and their allies, staging around Raqqah, will take the city, but Suleiman would not use the word liberate.

Would the locals in Raqqa choose ISIS or the Kurds?

SULEIMAN: I don't have an answer. It's difficult because the Kurds forced the Arabs to flee. That's a difficult question; I don't have an answer.

LEE: Do you see ISIS as being strong?

SULEIMAN: In reality, yes, they are strong. They have trained soldiers and aspiring suicide bombers. They have members who came just for the sake of being killed. They are strong.

SULEIMAN: ISIS's reign of terror is over but he's not out of danger. He'll join the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees trying to make the dangerous journey to Europe's shores.

Ian Lee, CNN, Gaziantep, Turkey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Still to come here on CNN, U2 returns to Paris with a special tribute for the victims of terror attack; more on that in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:35:17]

(U2 MUSIC PLAYING)

VAUSE: Well, there they were, the rock band, U2, returning to Paris a few hours ago to pay tribute to the victims of the attacks. Two of their concerts were postponed after the deadly shootings and bombings in the French capital. Frontman, Bono, told the crowd we're all Parisians during Sunday's concert.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONO, SINGER, U2: If you love liberty, then Paris is your hometown. We have few words to speak to the loss that you are feeling in this city tonight. Even if we think we know a little something about grief, I guess grief is like a wound that never fully closes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Well ahead of the concert U2's lead singer, Bono, and guitarist, Mr. Edge, sat down with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, for an exclusive interview. He asked them what was it like to be in Paris on the night of the terror attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONO: Yes, it was obviously awful and chaotic and you immediately think of who you know, your crew, who's out in the city, that kind of mentality. And of course we thought about our fellow troubadours, the "Eagles of Death Metal," and just what was happening there because they were still locked in at that time.

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": This was the band playing at the Bataclan where the largest number of people died?

BONO: Yes, and we tried to help them the next day with various things: we tried the find a plane for them to get out and things like that; turns out the best way we could help them was finding them phones because their phones had been left in the venue and the venue has been sealed off. They were the police station and back in the hotel room without communication. So it turns out that was the most useful thing we did, was find them some phones.

ZAKARIA: But in a way this was an attack on the kind of life that you guys represent, right?

BONO: Yes.

ZAKARIA: It was an attack on rock music, the single largest place where people died was a rock concert.

THE EDGE, GUITARIST, U2: It seems like the target was culture and every kind of expression of the best of humanity: great music; restaurants; French food; everything that was -- that we hold dear seemed to be the target. Of course, France is also it's the

birth of the Enlightenment movement, which gave birth to America. It's like the place where the modern western world was born. So I think the thing that we have to hold onto now, in the aftermath, is we are not wrong. The instinct to start doubting these values and these ideas is like, we're right. We're right, and that's why we're so determined to get back to Paris as soon as we can.

[00:40:09] ZAKARIA: Did you -- did you think about even playing the next day? Was it even possible?

BONO: We, of course, hoped we could play the next day, but then it dawned on us just how serious it was and we had to just give up on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Bono and The Edge there, speaking to Fareed Zakaria.

Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles; I'm John Vause. World sport is up next and I'll be back in 15 minutes with another hour of news from all around the world. You're watching CNN.

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