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Obama Speech Meant to Reassure, Stiffen Americans against Terrorism; New Details on California Attackers; Life under ISIS Rule in Syria; Obama Talking Tough about ISIS Threat; Obama Assures Americans U.S. Working With Allies to Defeat ISIS; Israel Keeping Eye on Israel/Syrian Border; Migrants Stranded at Greek/Macedonian Border; United Kingdom Bracing for More, Rain, Wind Floods. Aired 2-3a ET
Aired December 07, 2015 - 02:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[02:00:39] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
ERROL BARNETT, CNN ANCHOR: Good to be back with you, Rosemary.
Hey, everyone. I'm Errol Barnett. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.
It was a speech meant to both reassure and stiffen Americans' resolve. President Barack Obama gave an address from the Oval Office outlining his strategy for handling terrorism at home and ISIS abroad.
CHURCH: He called for tighter gun control and more cooperation from Congress. He also called for a relentless campaign against ISIS and promised that the United States will prevail.
(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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: A short time, I talked with CNN political analyst, Josh Rogin, and I put it to him that President Obama had not really delivered anything new.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: President Obama had a tough task tonight in his speech to the nation from the Oval Office. He wanted to reassure Americans that U.S. government is on top of the problem of the threat of lone wolf attacks inspired by terrorist groups on the homeland like the attacks we saw in San Bernardino last week. That was a very difficult thing to do because he didn't really have any new policy measures to announce. So he went through a litany of things the U.S. government is already doing to fight against the Islamic State. He called on Congress to do a number of things to increase the security of the homeland, and then he called for an overall American resilience, vigilance and then he called on the Muslim community to be self-aware and the U.S. populous to be cognizant that Muslims are not the core problem.
CHURCH: So you say his aim was to reassure the public. Would he have achieved that?
ROGIN: The problem is that by setting an Oval Office speech in primetime, he set expectations for the speech very high. As we see by the reactions already by members of Congress and presidential candidates alike, he doesn't seem to have met those expectations. So there's a call amongst the people and the poll numbers reflect this for the president to do more, both in the fight against ISIS and in the drive to keep the homeland safe. Because he didn't deliver actual plans to do more, his speech fell short of expectations.
CHURCH: Let's just listen for a moment to what Mr. Obama did say about what Congress needs to do. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If Congress believes, as I, do that we are at war with ISIL, it should go ahead and vote to authorize the continued Use of Military Force against these terrorists. For over a year, I have ordered our military to take thousands of air strikes against ISIL targets. I think it's time for Congress to vote to demonstrate that the American people are united and committed to this fight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: So, Josh, how will Congress likely respond to that call?
ROGIN: Well, what President Obama is doing here is he's spreading the responsibility and, therefore, sharing the blame. There have been, long been calls from both parties in Congress for an authorization of the use of military force in the fight against ISIL. The administration has, at times, worked with Congress to achieve that. But none of that is likely to happen any time soon.
And the bottom line here is that there is no call, really, in the administration for this authorization because they've also argued, although not tonight, that they have all the authorities they need to fight the war the way they wish. This is part of the political argument. There definitely would be support for an authorization if one could be crafted that could please Democrats and Republicans alike. Overall, the threats and the effort to build resilience into the U.S. system does not depend on this. Nevertheless, it may be a good step to show unity on a political level.
CHURCH: What about Mr. Obama's call for tougher gun control in the wake of the California shooting? How likely is it that there will be any changes to the current system? There doesn't seem to be any politician willing to take on that fight. [02:05:13] ROGIN: The president has called for gun control
legislation. Now he's given it a slightly new twist. He's calling for a ban on gun sales to people on the no-fly list. These are thousands of Americans deemed without a real adjudication to be suspected of some ties to terrorism. That seems to be the lowest common denominator. Even so, Congress is not likely to pass any legislation to achieve that. So we can put this again in the category of things the president thinks would be helpful but in the end will not get done and do not solve the overall problem, which is how do we defeat the Islamic State and, therefore, stop the problem before it gets to America's shores.
CHURCH: Josh Rogin, thanks for sharing your perspective with us. We appreciate it.
ROGIN: Any time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Republicans were quick to respond to Obama's speech. Presidential candidate, Donald Trump, asking on Twitter, "Is that's all there is," and proclaiming the need for a new president. Trump went on to criticize Obama for what he didn't say in his address, the phrase "radical Islamic terrorists."
BARNETT: And the Republican National Committee released this statement, quote, "The path laid out by President Obama and supported by Hillary Clinton has not worked, and ISIS has only gained in strength." It goes on, "The attacks in San Bernardino should serve as a wake-up call for Obama and Clinton that the way to victory is not through the status quo but refocusing our efforts to defeat ISIS."
Almost every other Republican presidential candidate released their own statements.
CHURCH: Not surprisingly, they shared many of the same talking points that Obama hasn't done enough to combat ISIS, and that they, as president, would. There has been no response yet from Hillary Clinton or any of the other Democratic candidates.
BARNETT: And we're finding out more about the married couple that carried out Wednesday's shooting in southern California. A senior law enforcement official 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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.
Sir, do you have a moment to speak with us? LAH (voice-over): Syed Farook, father of Syed Rezwan Farook driving
away from his home. He's been speaking to reporters on and off saying he and his son were divided on ideology.
SYED FAROOK, FATHER OF SYED REZWAN FAROOK: All Pakistanis coming from the major cities are liberal people. And he was going towards conservation.
LAH (on camera): Towards what?
FAROOK: He was real conservative. Mine's liberal.
LAH (voice-over): Farook explains more of the 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 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 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 relative 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.
(CHANTING)
LAH: 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.
(on camera): 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.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[02:09:49] CHURCH: Our latest polling shows a remarkable shift in how Americans feel about committing troops to fight ISIS. According to the CNN/ORC poll, which was taken before the massacre in California last week, 68 percent say the U.S. is not aggressive enough in its response to ISIS. 26 percent say the response is about right. Just 4 percent say it's been too aggressive. That may explain why now a majority 53 percent are in favor of sending in ground troops to fight ISIS.
BARNETT: We'll have more on President Obama's speech addressing the threat of ISIS coming up.
Plus, how the fight against ISIS in Syria may have led to this incident in London.
CHURCH: Plus, Israel is on a mission to protect its Sinai border from ISIS. We'll show you what they are doing to keep the terror group at bay.
BARNETT: Also coming up, living in fear in Raqqa, Syria. You'll meet a man who just made it out from the ISIS stronghold. He describes the everyday horror of living in the grips of terrorists.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(SPORTS)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:14:57]CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. U.S. President Barack Obama tried to bolster the resolve of the American public in a rare Oval Office address.
BARNETT: During his 13-minute speech, Mr. Obama spoke about how he planned to keep America safe at home and defeat ISIS in Iraq and in Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: Our success won't depend on tough talk or abandoning our values or giving into fear. That's what's 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)
BARNETT: Mr. Obama's message was, of course, directed to Americans, but many people in Syria are living under ISIS control. We're learning some frightening new details about what life is like under ISIS rule from a man who just escaped with his family.
CHURCH: 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.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the biggest target in the war against ISIS, the Syrian city of Raqqa, the capital of the so- called Islamic State. Despite constant bombardment, is lures followers by painting its land as a paradise. Suleman, not his real name, fled Raqqa in recent days with his young
family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): 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 is. 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 (on camera): How would you describe the Islamic State?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): 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 Raqqa?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): 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 (voice-over): Following French air strikes, ISIS cracked down on Internet usage fearing their targets might be revealed. Now paranoia grips Raqqa.
(on camera): How has ISIS controlled the Internet?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): They afraid 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 Raqqa being effective?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Realistically, no. There's little impact because most areas are empty where ISIS evacuated before the strikes.
LEE (voice-over): The U.S.-led coalition hopes Kurdish fighters and its allies staging around Raqqa will take the city. But Suleman would not use the word "liberate."
(on camera): Would the locals in Raqqa choose ISIS or the Kurds?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): 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?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): 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. LEE (voice-over): ISIS's reign of terror is over for Suleman but he's
not out of danger. He'll now join the hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees trying to make the dangerous journey to Europe's shores.
Ian Lee, CNN, Turkey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BARNETT: Fascinating story there.
Israeli Defense Forces are patrolling the Sinai border by land and sea to eliminate any possible threats. We'll bring you details on their urgent campaign next.
CHURCH: Plus, a man accused of stabbing two people at a London tube station is due in court Monday. We'll have the latest on the investigation.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:22:44] BARNETT: U.S. President Barack Obama sought to reassure and rally Americans in a speech from the Oval Office.
CHURCH: In his address Sunday night, Mr. Obama called for tighter gun laws and a relentless campaign against ISIS abroad. He also warned against discrimination at home and said the U.S. needs to seek cooperation from Muslim countries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: If we're to succeed in defeating terrorism, we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies rather than push them away through suspicion and hate. That does not mean denying the fact that an extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities. There's a real problem that Muslims must confront without excuse.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, the U.K. is also fighting terrorism on their home front. Police have named the suspect in Saturday's knife attack at a London tube station.
BARNETT: 29-year-old Muhaydin Mire is charged with attempted murder and is expected in court Monday. The attack was an act of terror, and they are looking into witness reports the attacker mentioned Syria during his arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED WITNESS: Told me as soon as I got there this guy has just slit the other guy's throat. I see a guy huddled on the floor behind the barriers and a guy brandishing a knife. It was a small blade, about three inches long. He's screaming, run, run. When I got back to the station, the police had already arrived, put him in handcuffs, and then they took him out of the station. As they walk him past everyone, he's within an arm's reach of me, I just hear him say, "This is for Syria."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: Now the one small silver lining here is the attack is causing one particular hash tag to really go viral on social media.
First, listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SHOUTING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop it. Drop it, you fool.
(SHOUTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: OK, you might not have heard that. But a shocked bystander was yelling there saying, "You ain't no Muslim bruv," or brother, at the suspect. What he said is receiving a big outpouring of support online. People have been tweeting the #youain'tnoMuslimbruv to condemn the attacker and attempt to spread violence and fear, an underlying he does not represent the Muslim faith.
[02:25:19] BARNETT: And it really resonates at a time there is so much Islamophobia in the wake of many of these attacks.
We want to show you a sampling of the tweets under that hash tag. One saying, "If you are a terrorist, you aren't a Muslim, a Christian, a Hindu or Buddhist. No religion promotes violence." That's something more universal. Another person here writing, "Stop embarrassing Islam with your disgusting acts, because #youain'tnoMuslimbruv." And that one added another hash tag, united against extremism. And here another one, quote, "I love this #youain'tnoMuslimbruv. It shows that people are finally understanding that Islam and terrorism do not go hand in hand."
CHURCH: It's a message we're going to hear more of in the days ahead and we'll see that continue to go viral. And more people will be reporting on this, and there will be more of a reaction out there in the community to say enough is enough.
BARNETT: And the point something goes viral, it's resonating with people and it's something they want to share and continue to re-tweet.
CHURCH: Exactly.
Let's take a very short break here. Still to come, Israel is keeping a close watch on its Sinai border. We'll take you on patrol with the country's defense forces to see how they're preparing for possible threats.
BARNETT: And take a look at this. U2 returns to Paris after the deadly terror attacks. Their tribute to the victims, after this short break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:30:13] BARNETT: A warm welcome back to our viewers in the states and those of you watching from around the world. We're 30 minutes into our two-hour block. I'm Errol Barnett.
CHURCH: I'm Rosemary Church.
(HEADLINES)
BARNETT: As we've been mentioning, U.S. President Obama is talking tough about the ISIS threat.
CHURCH: In a rare Oval Office speech Sunday night, he vowed to destroy the terror group. It was his strongest public condemnation yet on the threat posed by the militants.
BARNETT: Mr. Obama said he'll be relentless in his efforts.
Lieutenant General Mark Hertling joins us now from Orlando to speak about the president's speech. He's a CNN military analyst and joins us now.
General, thanks for your time.
We're hearing a new tone in the president's message. Let's listen to how the president described it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The terrorist threat has evolved into a new phase. As we've become better at preventing complex multi-faceted attacks like 9/11 terrorists turn to less complex events like the mass shootings all too common in our society. It's this type of attack we saw at Ft. Hoot in 2009, in Chattanooga earlier this year, and now in San Bernardino. As groups like ISIS grew stronger amidst the war in Iraq and Syria, and as the Internet erases the distance between countries, we see growing efforts between terrorists to poison the minds of people like the Boston Marathon bombers and the San Bernardino killers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BARNETT: General, how can you stop any terror network from poisoning minds? That almost sounds impossible.
LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: It is, Errol. This has been the key from the very beginning in this fight against this dastardly organization. It has to do with ideology of a very select few. And it's extremely challenging. I was glad to hear the president say that. As a military guy, truthfully, we always look for how the enemy is adapting. And that's been obvious over the last several years. In fact, ISIS is adapting. It's taken from a fight in Syria and Iraq into these kinds of overseas and international attacks trying to generate more support from other organizations which were freelancers prior to this, as well as the home-grown terrorist and the individual who is just inspired via online communication.
BARNETT: Jim Acosta tells us the president will be hosting a summit December 17th aimed at dismantling the financial networks that support ISIS. Already many of its oil fields have been hit by air strikes. What else can be done? What else can be accomplished at this summit?
HERTLING: In my fight against terrorists in the past, that's a critical factor. And it was interesting to me to read an article in "The New York Times" just the other day indicating that ISIS was paying their fighters $300 a month versus $400 a month which they had paid previously. They are getting a great deal of challenge with running a government, which is what they are attempting to do, paying their fighters, generating taxes, finding some kind of financial outlet.
So that's the critical piece. If you take away the money from these organizations, they not only don't have the ability to fund their fighters but buy the weapons, do the Internet sweeps you're talking about with buying airline tickets and different types of explosive devices and different weapons. A critical piece. It's one of the elements of this strategy that the president outlined, and affecting their financial network is probably, in my view, the most important element of this other than changing the ideology of those who might become believers.
[02:35:06] BARNETT: So perhaps we're starting to see that aspect of this having an impact. What's the status of the U.S. training of forces in Iraq when compared to the minimal effort in Syria? Both have been criticized. They're not equal to each other. Where does that stand today?
HERTLING: Watching that very closely, Errol, and what I'd suggest is if you look deeply into the train and equip mission that's going on decisions inside of Iraq, it's producing some results. Several thousand fighters have been contributed to the force. They are, in fact, conducting operations in Anbar Province. You'll see some of those fighters in brigade-size forces, large forces, helping to take over some of the areas that ISIS controlled in Anbar Province in and around Ramadi.
So that is having an effect. The same things going on with some of the smaller forces going north toward Shirkot (ph). In Iraq, the train and equip mission is, in fact, making a difference. Certainly very different in Syria. It's not having quite the effect that the government would like it to have that Mr. Obama as part of his strategy hopes to see. There's even been some successes there to generate the intelligence will which allow more fighting for intelligence, more targeting and more strikes against some of the key operational targets in that country.
BARNETT: As you mentioned at the beginning, the enemy is adapting, so the strategy against it must adapt as well.
Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. Thanks for your insight, joining us from Orlando.
HERTLING: It's a pleasure, Errol. Thank you.
CHURCH: President Obama assured Americans that the U.S. is working with its international allies to stop ISIS. And he mentioned Turkey specifically.
We want to bring in CNN's Sara Sidner live from Istanbul right now.
Sarah, let's get a gauge on international reaction so far to the U.S. president's speech, particularly there in Turkey. What's being said?
SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There hasn't been much reaction at all to the speech. However, what Turkey has been saying for a very long time, and we noticed that President Obama did mention the Syrian/Turkish border and trying to secure the border in Turkey. The Turks have been asking for a very long time to have what they call a safety zone along their border with Syria.
And really what that would entail is having a no-fly zone inside of Turkey beyond the Turkish, just beyond the Turkish border with Syria. They've been asking for that for the past four years now really wanting to have that firepower there to stop militants from being able to get close enough to even try to attempt to come into this country and wreak havoc. That has already happened in October. More than 100 people were killed in the capital. Two suicide bombers that's Turkey has says were ISIS militants. And then, of course, along the border, earlier this year, there was an incident that ended up leaving 30 people dead from a suicide bomber. There's a huge concern, as you might imagine, about ISIS itself and any other jihadists that happen to be roaming around in Syria looking to do damage to Turkey and beyond.
So there is a great deal of desire for less talk and more action, but when you look at Iraq, Iraq has said, look. We appreciate the help. We do and we are OK with having exploratory troops in the area, Special Forces, for example.
But they do not want U.S. combat forces. They do not want boots on the ground in Iraq saying that we don't need that. You're going to get differing views from differing countries depending on what their situation is and what government is leading that. But certainly Turkey wants help securing its borders and having a border with Syria and so many refugees coming over. They don't want to hurt the refugees. They want to keep the jihadists out.
CHURCH: Give us an idea on how they think that safety zone might work. We know they're on the same page with the U.S. and coalition when it comes to seeing an end or removal of President Bashar al Assad. But the safety zone that you mention, how do they see that working?
SIDNER: It's interesting because the details of that have not been revealed to the public really. Exactly how that would work, certainly it would require a no-fly zone, which does not exist at this point in time. How will that work? How far from the border are they talking or how close to the border are they talking? Those details have not been revealed but they've been asking for that and I'm sure having conversations with the United States about what it is willing to do and what the coalition might be willing to do. And as you mention, Turkey is also very clear that any solution in Syria needs to deal with President Bashar al Assad, whether he's part of a government, and then removed eventually, as a transition happens, but certainly they do not want him to stay in Syria as the leader there -- Rosemary?
[02:40:25] CHURCH: Indeed.
All right. Sara Sidner reporting live from Istanbul in Turkey and watching for reaction there in the hours ahead. Many thanks to you.
BARNETT: Border regions are certainly important. Israel's Sinai border stretches about 200 kilometers. Most of it is under possible threat from ISIS.
CHURCH: CNN's Oren Liebermann took to the sea and traveled into the desert to see how forces are keeping an eye on this territory.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(SIREN)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The siren blares overhead.
(SIREN)
LIEBERMANN: The patrol boat swings around. The target on this training exercise in sight.
(SHOUTING)
LIEBERMANN (on camera): We're here intercepting a fast moving boat. Our target, behind us and to our right, also moving fast on the water. That's the threats they're training to deal with here.
(voice-over): In the narrow waters, the Israeli navy gives itself less than one minute to find --
(SHOUTING)
(GUNFIRE)
LIEBERMANN: -- and stop an incoming threat. Nearby, the "USS San Antonio," a reminder of the global strategic importance of the Red Sea.
(on camera): Part of the reason the area is so sensitive is because there are four countries within just a few miles of each other. There's Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia essentially behind me to my right. Here behind me, to my left, Egypt.
(voice-over): In one exercise, two jet skis reach the shore, police ready to make the arrest, coordinating the stop, the double threat of smuggling and terrorism. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today, it's ISIS, our biggest threat. So we're
doing drills like that once a week, sometimes twice, sometimes in a day, sometimes in night to make all soldiers be ready.
LIEBERMANN: The threat of ISIS stretching from a lot where boats patrol the port of Akuba (ph) to the Sinai border more than 125 miles long.
(on camera): This road here, gives a good sense of it here, gives you an idea of the terrain of Sinai and of the Negev Desert, hills and valleys among these rocks and sand here.
(voice-over): Regular army patrols run along the barbed wire fence, Egypt's border road and their security stations less than a mile away. The area sparsely populated on both sides.
We drive up to a lookout peering over the barren desert across Egypt and Israel.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we see in front of us over there is that new fence.
LIEBERMANN: The border fence at first built to keep out migrants is now meant to hold back smugglers and a terrorist threat, most recently ISIS Sinai.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know what's out there and we have to guard against it.
LIEBERMANN: Egypt has been struggling to suppress the ISIS-led insurgency in Sinai. But they've succeed in destroying nearly all the smuggling terminals between Sinai and Gaza, forcing the smugglers to look further south. Sinai has become more lucrative and more dangerous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've seen an increase in these very violent attempts to cross into the Israeli border.
LIEBERMANN: As the threat evolves along the Sinai border, so does Israel's military, keeping watch against an enemy that remains, for the most part, unseen.
In the Negev Desert, Oren Liebermann, CNN, southern Israel.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHURCH: Stranded in the cold, migrants are being forced to wait at the Greek/Macedonian border.
BARNETT: We'll tell you why some aren't being allowed to cross, in a live report after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(WEATHER)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[02:47:58] CHURCH: Prayers from Pope Francis as the international climate summit continues for a second week in Paris. The pontiff prayed for its success on Sunday and said every effort should be made to minimize the impact of climate change. Pope Francis says he continues to follow the work of the conference very closely.
BARNETT: From the Vatican, the pope remotely took part in the lighting of the Christmas tree and nativity scene at the St. Francis Basilica. Both are being dedicated to migrants and refugees.
CHURCH: Thousands of those migrants and refugees were stranded at the Greek/Macedonian border over the weekend in miserable weather conditions after protests blocked crossings. The border has since reopened, but the selective entry process has left dozens trapped in the wintry cold.
BARNETT: For more on this, we're joined by senior international correspondent, Atika Shubert, on the Greek side of the border. She's on the phone with us.
Atika, these heightened tensions on Friday stopped the flow of people into Macedonia from Greece. Fewer migrants and refugees are making it through. Tell us what's happening there?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're actually driving along the Greek/Macedonian border. The situation has calmed down quite a bit. The border is open but only to those who can prove they are coming from Iraq, Syria or Afghanistan, so hundreds of those refugees are getting through. What you are finding is 100 more asylum seekers, mostly from morocco, Iran and Pakistan, are finding themselves stranded on the other side of the border.
What Greek authorities are trying to do is convince a lot of those who remain behind to come back to Athens or other towns in Greece where they can be put up in refugee shelters while their claims are being processed. But as you can imagine, a lot of those who are left behind here don't want to move. They insist they want to be able to cross the border. Some of them are still camped out here waiting. But those numbers are starting to diminish.
Some people are saying it's not worth it for me to camp out here in the cold. I'm either going to take my chances going another route or back to Athens. Even some have said they are willing to go back home. So what we're seeing here at the moment is that while some are able to get through, others are either going to find alternative routes or are even making a U-turn and going back altogether.
[02:50:34] BARNETT: For years, Greece has been struggling with its own financial struggles. This year's 600,000 migrants and refugees crossing into the country have only strained the government further. I'm wondering how far the E.U. is willing to go to help Greece handle this.
SHUBERT: The E.U. has promised extra funds, millions of Euros and extra funding to help facilities, what they call hot spots, the sort of reception centers for refugees coming across, particularly from Syria to Turkey and landing in Greece. But that's really only just started. And it's difficult to assess how well that's working at this point. The other thing that they've been doing is promising more of border patrols. Frontex, the E.U. border organization, is now -- not only along the coastline of Greece, but Frontex has been here inland at the border between Greece and Macedonia to try to convince a lot of those stranded here to go back to Athens or to find another way to process their application.
So these are some of the measures. The fact is the numbers we're seeing, for example, in Greece, up to 5,000 or more people a day coming in, the numbers are just tremendous. They've declined slightly because of the weather now in winter. It's a much more dangerous journey. But nobody is expecting the refugees to stop coming completely. So this is an issue the E.U., Greece and all the member states are going to have to face.
BARNETT: Atika Shubert reporting as she drives along the Greek side of the Greek/Macedonian border. She'll be filing a report on this throughout the day.
Atika, thanks.
CHURCH: The United Kingdom is bracing for even more rain and strong winds after severe flooding inundated the region over the weekend. The British prime minister is holding an emergency meeting next hour to coordinate the response to the flooding caused by Storm Desmond. At least 40,000 homes were left without power in Britain's Cambria region.
BARNETT: An incredible storm. One elderly man was killed and the British army has been deployed to help those in need. There are dozens of severe flood warnings in effect in northwest England and Wales.
CHURCH: There could be more weather trouble ahead.
Our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now with details on this.
Extraordinary in that part of the world.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is. It's being described as a one in 100-year event. This same area was hit about six years ago, so certainly, happening more frequently as far as heavy rainfall coming down.
You look at the numbers, storm totals just south of Carlisle, well above what is considered normal. An entire month's and some worth of rainfall coming down in some of these areas. Any time you get above seven meters, you are talking about record values. This particular one coming out of an area near Sheepmont (ph). 7.5 meters of water level accumulations over this region from the river gauge observation. The conditions are improving over the next few days.
About 50 flood warnings in place right now. Over 92 allowed to be expired. Certainly good news when it comes to improving conditions. Still some wet weather coming over this region in the next couple of days associated with this moisture, an atmospheric weather pattern. Similar pattern set up for Hurricane Joaquin that came in over the United States. When you look at this, this is a 7,000-kilometer stretch of moisture from the Caribbean to the United Kingdom.
On the Western side of it, it's raining in parts of the Caribbean into southern parts of the United States. In Miami, a frontal boundary stuck in place. Rainfall totals staggering over this region. Shows the connection of weather from one part of the world to another part of the world. In Miami, in particular, almost nine inches came down. In December, over one foot of rainfall in the first several days. You can make that connection worldwide from a disturbance trailing moisture out of the Caribbean into the U.K. right now.
BARNETT: It's all linked.
All right, Pedram, thanks very much.
JAVAHERI: Thanks, guys.
[02:54:57] BARNETT: The show goes on for U2 nearly a month after the terror attacks in Paris.
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(SINGING)
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BARNETT: Sunday night, the band played one of two concerts postponed after the deadly bombings and shootings in the French capital.
CHURCH: They also paid tribute to the victims who died in the coordinated attacks. Ahead of the show, lead singer, Bono, and guitarist, The Edge, talked to CNN.
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THE EDGE, GUITARIST, US: We think of music as the sound of freedom. We think rock 'n' roll has a part to play. And so going back to Paris to us is not just symbolic. I think we're actually starting the process of resistance, as it were, and defiance against this movement.
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BARNETT: U2 has another show in Paris Monday. The Eagles of Death Metal could make an appearance. They were the group playing at the Bataclan when gunmen opened fire.
CHURCH: Defiance is what we're seeing in Paris, we're seeing it across the globe and in all areas, people saying enough is enough. We're going to stand up. We're not going to be terrorized.
Remember, you can always follow us on social media any time.
More CNN NEWSROOM after a very quick break. I'm Rosemary Church.
BARNETT: And I'm Errol Barnett.
Stay with us to hear the entire address from President Obama and catch up with all the top stories from around the world.
We're back in a moment.
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