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President Obama Makes Rare Address From Oval Office; Obama: The War Against Terrorist Extremism Will be Won; Republicans Respond to Address; Investigation Continues into Terror Suspects; Man Accused of Stabbing Two People in London Tube Station; Massive Floods in Chennai, India. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired December 07, 2015 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN HOST: Four days after the San Bernardino massacre, the U.S. President tries to reassure Americans that the war against terrorist extremism will be won.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN HOST: This hour we'll bring you Barack Obama's primetime address to the nation and its entirety.

CHURCH: And we'll get expert analysis on whether his words and his actions can persuade an increasingly skeptical public.

BARNETT: A big welcome to our viewers here in the states and those of you watching from all around the world. I am Errol Barnett.

CHURCH: And I am Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

CHURCH: The U.S. President made a call for action and an appeal for resolve.

BARNETT: In a rare Oval Office address Sunday night, Mr. Obama addressed growing doubts among Americans, questions about security following the massacre in California, and the ongoing fight against ISIS.

CHURCH: The President acknowledged those worries but pledged that the United States will ultimately prevail at home and abroad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: 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 in to 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)

CHURCH: And a short time ago, I talked with CNN Political Analyst Josh Rogan, and I put it to him that President Obama hadn't really delivered anything new.

JOSH ROGAN, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Obama had a tough task tonight in his speech to the nation from the Oval Office. He wanted to reassure Americans that the 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 that 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. populace to be cognizant that Muslims are not the core problem.

CHURCH: Ok, so you say his aim was to reassure the public. Would he have achieved that?

ROGAN: Well, the problem is that by setting an Oval Office speech in primetime, he set expectations for the speech very high, and 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 the drive to keep the homeland safe. And because he didn't deliver actual plans to do more, his speech fell short of expectations.

CHURCH: So 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 to vote and authorize the use of continued 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?

ROGAN: Well, what President Obama is doing here is he's spreading the responsibility and therefore sharing the blame. There have 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 anytime 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.

[03:05:01]

So 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. But 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: And just finally, what about Mr. Obama's call for tougher gulf control, in the wake of the California shooting? How likely is it that they'll be any changes to the current system? There doesn't seem to be any politician who's willing to take on that fight.

ROGAN: Well, the President has repeatedly 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 who are on the no-fly list. These are thousands of Americans who've been 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 that the President thinks would be helpful, but in the end will not get done and do not solve the overall problem, which is in the minds of his critics how do we defeat the Islamic state and therefore stop the problem before it gets to America's shores.

CHURCH: Josh Rogan thanks for sharing your perspective with us. We appreciate it.

ROGAN: Anytime.

CHURCH: Well, Republicans were quick to respond to Obama's speech, Presidential candidate Donald Trump asking on Twitter, is that all there is, and proclaiming the need for a new President. Trump went on to rip Obama for what he didn't say in his address, the phrase radical Islamic terrorists.

BARNETT: The Republican National Committee meantime, released the following statement, "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 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." Other Republican Presidential hopefuls released their own statements.

CHURCH: They all shared many of the same talking points that Obama has not 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: 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 now. She joins us live from Istanbul this morning. Sara, Turkey itself has suffered from multiple attacks from ISIS militants, killing large numbers of people. So what does it want in order to prevent that in the weeks and years ahead?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, you know really what it wants is to have its borders secured. President Obama did talk about the Turkish-Syrian border and helping Turkey secure that border. But Turkey wants more. Basically, what Turkey wants is what they call a safety zone between the Syrian and Turkish border. We don't know exactly how big that would be, but a zone where it is safe, for example, for refugees but not for Jihadists, which is a very difficult thing to determine. But that would require essentially a no-fly zone inside of Syria. Inside of Syria, don't know how far that would be from the Turkish border, but that is what Turkey has been asking for quite some time now, several years now.

And they haven't seen the result of that yet. The United States talking about the fact that it's helping secure Syria's borders is very different from it doing something like a no-fly zone with the coalition. But that is what Turkey wants. The details have not been revealed. How exactly that would work, where exactly that no-fly zone would be other than it would be on the Syrian side of the border has not been given out that information to the public. And so it's a bit murky as to exactly what the details would be of that. But Turkey certainly suffering more than most when it comes to dealing with what is happening in Syria from to the number of refugees that are coming, and from attacks from Jihadists.

The last two attacks happening in October in the capital. They have linked those attacks to ISIS, two suicide bombers killing more than 100 people, Errol?

BARNETT: And Sara, what's the latest on the U.S. Consulate there in Istanbul and the apparent security threat that it was and I understand is facing?

SIDNER: Yeah, you know over the weekend there was a message sent out to Americans on the Consulate's website, saying that they should stay away from the Consulate compound here in Istanbul, the most populous city in Turkey. And basically, what they had told Americans to do is to also be vigilant and to beef up their own personal security. There was also more security outside of the conflict this weekend. We noticed that there were gates put up across the road that you couldn't really access the compound.

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There were also several police vehicles that were sitting there that aren't normally there. But the Consulate is always closed on the weekends. So that is a bit of an odd decision to say stay away from the Consulate when normally people would not be going. But as we know right now, the Consulate is expected to open today with business hours as normal, and we're checking on that situation as you speak, Errol?

BARNETT: All right. Sara Sidner, live for us in Istanbul, 10 minutes past 10:00 in the morning there. Sara, thank you.

Now, we are learning more about the married couple that carried out Wednesday's shooting in southern California.

CHURCH: Our 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.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN 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.

Will you speak with us for a minute?

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 major cities are liberal people. And he was going towards conservation.

LAH: He was going towards what?

FAROOK: Conservation. His views were conservative. My views were liberal.

LAH: Farook explains more of their divide in an extensive interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa. He says his son was shy, too conservative, and his 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 fiance 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. 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 VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And the United Kingdom is also fighting terrorism on their home front. A man accused of stabbing two people at a London tube station in an act of terror is due in court Monday.

BARNETT: Twenty nine year old Muhadin Meyer is charged with attempted murder. Police say Meyer seriously wounded one man before being subdued with a Taser.

CHURCH: Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen is live in London with the very latest on the investigation. So Fred, what more are we learning about this attacker and what perhaps inspired him?

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What inspired him is really the big question at this point in time. As you just said, the police here are treating this as a terrorism-related incident. However, the charge that Meyer faces, he's 29 years old, is going to be that of attempted murder. Now, there was one person who was seriously wounded in this attack. There was another person who was lightly wounded in the attack. One woman also apparently was threatened by him on the video that we have been seeing from the incident that of course was taken by many people with cell phone cameras.

The big question that the authorities here are now asking is was there some sort of wider network behind all this or was this someone who was simply acting all this on his own. Was this a spur of the moment attack that happened? That of course, is something that the authorities are going to try and find out. And of course, this indictment is going to be -- and his appearance in the court is going to be one first step in that process that no doubt is going to take a fair amount of time.

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But it certainly was -- I can tell you, an incident that did shock quite a few people. I was actually traveling on that same subway line during the time that that incident happened, and it certainly shut down large parts of that line and led to long waiting hours as people waited to see what had actually happened. And then of course, the news slowly started trickling in, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Interesting there. And Fred, let's just listen in quickly for a moment to what a bystander had to say to the attacker in London, this is another part of this same story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop it! Drop it, you fool.

(END VIDEO CLIP) CHURCH: A little difficult to hear. But for those of you who perhaps

didn't catch it, he actually said, you ain't any Muslim, brother. And that statement has become a hashtag on Twitter, clearly resonating with so many people across the globe. So Fred, let's talk about the reaction to those words and the sentiment. Basically, he's not representing the Muslim faith.

PLEITGEN: Well, there's two elements to it, I think, Rosemary. On the one hand, of course it's saying you don't represent the Muslim faith. And that bystander actually said this several times, you ain't any Muslim, broth. And this hashtag has also gone viral. For a second reason I think as well. And that is it shows the Londoners basically standing up to terror and also keeping calm and carrying on in the best sort of London and British manner. And certainly if you look at the city here, people have not gotten out of their regular -- people are continuing with their daily lives.

People are not letting this affect them in the way some might fear that it would. It certainly is something where this hashtag shows the spirit of the city as they stand up to terrorism after this attack. And we have to keep in mind also, Rosemary, that at this point in time the government is on fairly high alert. The terror level is on severe. It has been since 2014, which means that a terrorist attack on the city is highly likely. There have been terrorist attacks on the city in the past. This country has just expanded its bombing campaign in Syria to attack Islamist state targets there.

So certainly, it comes at a time of heightened tensions but this hashtag in so many ways shows that Londoners will not be brought out of their trots by this attack that happened.

CHURCH: We're seeing that defiance not only in London. We're seeing it in Paris. We're sewing it across the globe. People saying no, we're not going to stand for it. Fred Pleitgen, reporting there live from London. Appreciate it.

BARNETT: President Obama took on a more forceful tone than usual in his Oval Office address.

CHURCH: Coming up, you will see his complete speech.

BARNETT: Plus, historic flooding in the U.K. is prompting an emergency government meeting in Britain. We'll bring you the latest on relief efforts under way.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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CHURCH: A massive relief effort is under way in southern India after severe floods ravaged much of the city of Chennai. Soldiers and emergency workers are rushing in clean drinking water, medical supplies, and food, and they are still working to rescue many who have been stranded on upper floors and rooftops. Critics say the government has been slow to take action. BARNETT: And severe flooding also inundated parts of the U.K. over

the weekend. British Prime Minister's holding an emergency meeting this 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. An elderly man was killed, and the British army has now been deployed to help those in need. There were dozens of severe flood warnings still in effect in northwest England and in Wales.

We want to get the latest on this start to a wet December.

CHURCH: And our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us from the International Weather Center with the details. And it is tough for Britain, because it's not used to dealing with this sort of weather.

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: They see plenty of wet weather but now we're talking about 200 percent of normal just in the first six to seven days of the month, so pretty incredible rainfall amounts coming in. Really slice the U.K. in half, the northern tier of the country here gets in on some of the flooding that is in place, the warnings, the watches. It is in place for actually 50 places, 50 specific flood warnings in place, 92 of them have been allowed to expire. Look at the forecast. It's an improving one because the high risk zone drops. The medium risk zone exits the picture come Monday afternoon, evening, and then you're talking about Tuesday with limited areas of flooding potential in place.

But still some rainfall to tell you about, as we have another storm system cruising right on in here. Certainly, nothing compared to what we saw in the past several days, and in places like Keswick where we had rainfall totals of upwards of 200-plus millimeters. If we measured this as far as the land area for that town, that equates the more than 500 billion liters of water that came down over this community, and that's why you see the river gages that reached historic values getting up over 7 meters in just a matter of 24 to 36 hours. The pattern we call an atmospheric river pattern, moisture stretches out of the Caribbean, some 7,000 kilometers on into parts of the U.K., that's where we saw some of the flooding of course, take place even across southern Florida.

In the United States we saw significant flooding take place as well. And guys, we'll leave you quickly with this. We're getting some information coming out of the USGS with a 7.2 quake that occurred just moments ago outside of Tajikistan. I am being told right now it is not a significant event. Of course, a large quake but you go in for a closer look it is very sparsely populated. Shaking felt as far away as Delhi but about 500 or so kilometers north of Kabul is where the epicenter of the quake is, but again, very mountainous -- where the mountains absorb much of the shaking energy, which is always good news, guys.

BARNETT: All right. We appreciate you keeping an eye on that, Pedram. Thanks very much.

President Obama spoke out on terror and domestic safety Sunday night from the Oval Office. In case you missed it, we will replay the President's speech in its entirety, next. CHURCH: And we'll hear from a CNN intelligence and security analyst

who says all those air strikes in Syria and Iraq are not getting rid of the ISIS threat.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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CHURCH: And a warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I am Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I am Errol Barnett. President Obama's speech Sunday night was short, but he used more forceful language than he has in the past.

CHURCH: Yeah. And we want to run that address for you now in its entirety. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Good evening. On Wednesday, 14 Americans were killed as they came together to celebrate the holidays. They were taken from family and friends who loved them deeply. They were white and black, Latino and Asian, immigrants and American born, moms and dads, daughters and sons. Each of them served their fellow citizens, and all of them were part of our American family. Tonight, I want to talk with you about this tragedy, the broader threat of terrorism, and how we can keep our country safe. The FBI is still gathering the facts about what happened in San Bernardino, but here's what we know. The victims were brutally murdered and injured by one of their co-workers and his wife.

So far, we have no evidence that the killers were directed by a terrorist organization overseas or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home. But it is clear that the two of them had gone down the dark path of radicalization, embracing a perverted interpretation of Islam that calls for war against America and the west. They had stockpiled assault weapons, ammunition, and pipe bombs. So this was an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people. Our nation has been at war with terrorists since Al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11.

In the process, we've hardened our defenses from airports, to financial centers, to other critical infrastructure. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have disrupted countless plots here and overseas, and worked around the clock to keep us safe. Our military and counterterrorism professionals have relentlessly pursued terrorist networks overseas, disrupting safe havens in several different countries, killing Osama Bin Laden, and decimating Al Qaeda's leadership. Over the last few years, however, the terrorist threat has evolved into a new phase. As we've become better at preventing complex, multifaceted attacks like 9/11, terrorists turn to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our society.

It is this type of attack that we saw at Fort Hood in 2009, in Chattanooga earlier this year, and now in San Bernardino. And as groups like ISIL grew stronger amidst the chaos of war in Iraq and Syria, and as the internet erases the distance between countries, we see growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds of people like the Boston marathon bombers and the San Bernardino killers. For seven years, I have confronted this evolving threat each and every morning in my intelligence briefing, and since the day I took this office I have authorized U.S. forces to take out terrorists abroad precisely because I know how real the danger is.

As Commander In Chief, I have no greater responsibility than the security of the American people. As a father to two young daughters who are the most precious part of my life. I know that we see ourselves with friends and co-workers at a holiday party like the one in San Bernardino. I know we see our kids in the faces of the young people killed in Paris. And I know that after so much war, 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 in to 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.

[03:35:01]

Here's how. First, our military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary. In Iraq and Syria, air strikes are taking out ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, and infrastructure. And since the attacks in Paris, our closest allies, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have ramped up their contributions to our military campaign, which will help us accelerate our effort to destroy ISIL. Second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground, so that we take away their safe havens. In both countries, we're deploying special operations forces that can accelerate that offensive.

We've stepped up this effort since the attacks in Paris and will continue to invest more in approaches that are working on the ground. Third, we're working with friends and allies to stop ISIL's operations, to disrupt plots, cut off their financing, and prevent them from recruiting more fighters. Since the attacks in Paris, we've surged intelligence-sharing with our European allies. We're working with Turkey to seal its border with Syria, and we are cooperating with Muslim majority countries and with our Muslim communities here at home to counter the vicious ideology that ISIL promotes online.

Fourth, with American leadership, the international community has begun to establish a process and timeline to pursue ceasefires and a political resolution to the Syrian war. Doing so will allow the Syrian people and every country, including our allies but also countries like Russia, to focus on the common goal of destroying ISIL, a group that threatens us all. This is our strategy to destroy ISIL. It is designed and supported by our military commanders and counterterrorism experts, together with 65 countries that have joined an American-led coalition.

And we constantly examine our strategy to determine when additional steps are needed to get the job done. That's why I have ordered the departments of state and Homeland Security to review the Visa Waiver Program, under which the female terrorist in San Bernardino originally came to this country. And that's why I will urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice. Now here at home, we have to work together to address the challenge. There are several steps that Congress should take right away. To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun.

What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semiautomatic weapon? This is a matter of national security. We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons, like the ones that were used in San Bernardino. I know there are some who reject any gun safety measures, but the fact is that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, no matter how effective they are, cannot identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that individual was motivated by ISIL or some other hateful ideology. What we can do and must do is make it harder for them to kill.

Next, we should put in place stronger screening for those who come to America without a visa so that we can take a hard look at whether they've traveled to war zones. And we're working with members of both parties in Congress to do exactly that. Finally, 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.

My fellow Americans, these are the steps that we can take together to defeat the terrorist threat. Let me now say a word about what we should not do. We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq or Syria. That's what groups like ISIL want. They know they can't defeat us on the battlefield. ISIL fighters were part of the insurgency that we faced in Iraq, but they also know that if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of our troops and draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits.

[03:40:01]

The strategy that we are using now, air strikes, Special Forces, and working with local forces, which are fighting to regain control of their own country, that is how we'll achieve a more sustainable victory, and it won't require us sending a new generation of Americans overseas to fight and die for another decade on foreign soil. Here's what else we cannot do. We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want. ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death. And they account for a tiny fraction of a more than a billion Muslims around the world, including millions of patriotic Muslim-Americans who reject their hateful ideology.

Moreover, the vast majority of terrorist victims around the world are Muslim. 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. It's a real problem that Muslims must confront without excuse. Muslim leaders here and around the globe have to continue working with us to decisively and unequivocally reject the hateful ideology that groups like ISIL and Al Qaeda promote.

To speak out against not just acts of violence, but also those interpretations of Islam that are incompatible with the values of religious tolerance, mutual respect, and human dignity. But just as it is the responsibility of Muslims around the world to root out misguided ideas that lead to radicalization, it is the responsibility of all Americans, of every faith, to reject discrimination. It is our responsibility to reject religious tests on who we admit into this country. It's our responsibility to reject proposals that Muslim- Americans should somehow be treated differently. Because when we travel down that road, we lose. That kind of divisiveness, that betrayal of our values plays into the hands of groups like ISIL.

Muslim-Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our co-workers, our sports heroes, and yes, they are our men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country. We have to remember that. My fellow Americans, I am confident we will succeed in this mission because we are on the right side of history. We were founded upon a belief in human dignity, that no matter whom you are or where you come from or what you look like or what religion you practice, you are equal in the eyes of God and equal in the eyes of the law. Even in this political season, even as we properly debate what steps I and future Presidents must take to keep our country safe. Let's make sure we never forget what makes us exceptional.

Let's not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear. That we have always met challenges, whether war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks, by coming together around our common ideals as one nation and one people. So long as we stay true to that tradition, I have no doubt that America will prevail. Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BARNETT: President Obama speaking earlier there. Now, Mr. Obama's taking a hard line against ISIS, but a key question is does he have the strategy to back it up?

CHURCH: You've heard the speech. Up next, some expert analysis on whether the campaign to crush the terror group will work. We're back in a moment with that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:48:01]

BARNETT: Welcome back. 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. But what exactly is his strategy, and will it work? CNN National Security Analyst Bob Baer joins us now to talk more about the military ramifications of President Obama's speech. He's also a former CIA operative. Bob thanks for being with us. Now, in his speech, Mr. Obama reiterated that a ground war against ISIS was not the answer and instead he would continue with the current strategy of air strikes, Special Forces, and using local fighters to achieve victory over ISIS. Will that work?

BOB BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: No, it's not going to work. I agree with him ground forces are inadvisable, we cannot get in another war in the Middle East, it's already messy enough. More foreign troops are not going to help anything. But on the other hand, we have been bombing Al Qaeda and now ISIS today since October 2001, and it hasn't seemed to make any difference at all. First of all, the bombing is indiscriminate. Of the drone strikes, and I put them in the same category, 90 out of 100 victims have nothing to do with terrorist groups. I just don't see where we're -- you know, continuing along this line -- first of all, it's not going to be reassuring for the American people, and secondly it won't get us anywhere.

CHURCH: So what is the answer? What is the solution? How do you do -- he's saying that we will destroy ISIS. How will that be done? Is it possible?

BAER: One of the problems is no one's looked at the fact that this female shooter, where she was radicalized. It's clear it was in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. I mean, every piece of evidence we have to date tells us that the educational system in those two countries, the mosques, whether it's the red mosque or the school system in Saudi Arabia, is radicalizing a whole new generation. I mean, this woman may have nothing to do with the Islamic state, Al-Nusra or any of these groups, but the point is she believes Islam is at war with the west, and you know if people start watching the bombing and signing off on this ideology we're going to have more terrorism.

CHURCH: As you mentioned, Mr. Obama's reason for delivering this rare speech from the Oval Office was to reassure the public. But that doesn't appear to have been achieved here. So what can be done to keep people safe from this new wave of lone wolf attacks? Is there a solution to that? Is there anything that you can say to the American people and to people right across the globe you're going to be ok?

BAER: Well, I don't think we're going to be ok. He's made huge mistakes calling the Islamic state the J.V. of terrorism, and on the day Paris was attacked he said it was contained. And last week he said that there's no credible threat. Well, you know, he hit the nail on the head. Yes, there was no credible threat, but this homegrown terrorism, these people -- this self-conversion or wherever they get their ideology visiting the Middle East, he didn't come up with a solution for it. And that scares Americans. And the people who don't understand the Middle East are talking about acquiring, you know, automatic weapons and weapons to defend themselves, which is not a good state in the United States.

And as you know as well as I do, this is not going to help anything, more guns. But the point is Americans are scared. They think this is spreading. They think that their neighbors could kill them. And I really do worry about, you know, the United States turning against Muslims in this country. That would be an absolute catastrophe, as the President said it would be. But I am not sure exactly how you stop it. But all I can say is we cannot continue to do what we're doing now. We have to come to a political solution in the Middle East which would involve, among other things, changing the borders in Syria and Iraq. We simply cannot bomb Sunni Arabs indefinitely and not expect them to hit us in return.

And Bob, you mentioned there about the accessibility of guns. Again, I mean, that in America, even though we heard from Mr. Obama that something has to be done about restricting access to guns, that's not going to happen, is it?

[03:53:01]

BAER: Plus -- of course, the guns are going make no difference. If you'd been in that auditorium and had pulled out your sidearm, you would have been the first to be shot. These people were clearly prepared to kill anybody who resisted. I mean, they'll kill them first. It would do no good at all. But it's just a symptom of how scared Americans are. They don't understand the conflicts in the Middle East. And the whole idea of them arming themselves -- and I was approached by the police in San Bernardino saying what do we do? I said if you go to war you need to change your vests. You need ceramic plates. You can't have the stuff they wear now. That's the kind of mentality that is coursing through the American body politic, which scares me.

And I don't think the President's speech will have reassured Americans.

CHURCH: It is chilling. Bob Baer joining us there with his perspective on this, we do appreciate it always. Thank you.

BAER: Thank you.

BARNETT: Still to come, rock band U2 goes back to Paris after the deadly attacks that forced them to cancel their shows. See how they paid tribute to the victims, next.

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[03:58:01]

CHURCH: Rock band U2 has returned to Paris to honor the victims of the terror attacks.

BARNETT: Two of their concerts were postponed following the deadly shootings and bombings in the French capital. During Sunday's concert, Lead Singer Bono told the crowd, we are all Parisians.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONO, U2 LEAD SINGER: 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)

CHURCH: Incredible message there, and of course, talked also about the defiance of the Parisians. And we're seeing that throughout the world.

BARNETT: And that really being the point -- he also projected images of the victims. He did the same thing as well after the 9/11 attacks performing at Madison Square Garden, an important moment.

CHURCH: And thanks for watching CNN. That's it for us. But remember to connect with us on social media anytime. We want to hear from you. I am Rosemary Church.

BARNETT: And I am Errol Barnett. We'll see you here tomorrow. Next is Early Start for those of you in the states. For folks elsewhere, it's CNN NEWSROOM.

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