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Donald Trump Criticizes Ted Cruz; Possibility of Brokered Republican Convention Explored; Investigators Search Lake in San Bernardino for Items Linked to Terrorist Attack; International Vote to be Held on Regulations to Combat Climate Change; Mosque Set on Fire in California; Defense Rests in Freddie Gray Manslaughter Trial. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired December 12, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:00:14] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, so grateful for your company. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you.

And we're starting this morning with breaking news out of Switzerland. Police in Geneva have arrested two men of Syrian origin, they're telling us, after traces of explosives turned up in their car. Right now the city is on high alert after a tip-off from U.S. intelligence that terrorists were discussing plans to attack Geneva.

PAUL: CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is on us now. So Nic, what do we know about these arrests?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITORS: Well, they took place on Friday here in Switzerland. We also know from the federal authorities here in Switzerland that they are investigating these two men on suspicion of manufacturing, of transporting and of using explosives and chemical agents of toxic gases. So this, a major concern here.

I've spoken with Swiss officials, and they believe that not only the U.N. that's headquartered behind me here in high-profile meetings about Syria that were taking place yesterday were the target but they're also concerned it's the people of Geneva who may also have been the target. This weekend, a big celebration goes on in Geneva, downtown Geneva. There are people dressed in national costume, walking the streets, reenacting, if you would believe it, the last time Switzerland went to war, Geneva went to war in 1602. So this is a time of great concern for the Swiss authorities. They have so many additional people out on the streets, so many tourists in the run-up to Christmas. And now they have two men of Syrian origin arrested, the vehicle containing those traces of explosives and toxic gases.

PAUL: There was another reason it was on high alert. Authorities have been tracking a Belgian van that's believed to have briefly entered Switzerland on Tuesday. What have you heard about that situation?

ROBERTSON: Well, there were a number of concerns. There's been the chatter among ISIS passed on from U.S. intelligence officials to the Swiss about a plan to attack Geneva and Toronto and Chicago as well. That's one piece of the information.

The van, this is a van this was believed to have Belgian registered van that when the police investigated it more thoroughly after they discovered it passed into Switzerland, that they realized it was associated -- the owner was associated with one of the Paris attackers. So that was a very big cause for concern.

What we are learning at the moment, and we're beginning to get more details, this isn't something that's just centered here in Switzerland. There are elements of this that may lead the authorities across the border to France. Those details we're not fight clear on yet as well. But this is something we know the French authorities have now stepped in and are helping the Swiss authorities in investigating.

PAUL: All right, Nic Robertson, we so appreciate it. Thank you for the update.

We are t-minus three days until the next Republican debate, and now the gloves are off between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, or so it would seem.

BLACKWELL: The GOP frontrunner slamming Cruz for his ties to big oil. He's also questioning Cruz on his religion. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty live in South Carolina where Trump is set to speak again. She joins us now. Sunlen, what more can you tell us about these attacks that we're seeing?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, Donald Trump today saying that he was just having a little fun with Ted Cruz when he launched those attacks in Des Moines last night. But make no mistake about it. These were attacked that were pointed, were specific, in large part a response to two big factors, one that Ted Cruz is doing very well in Iowa right now, and also that Ted Cruz just did something in private that he hasn't done publicly, is to criticize Donald Trump directly. Cruz this week in a fundraiser in New York City mentioning that he doesn't think -- questioning whether Trump has the judgment to be commander in chief.

So Trump's response to that came last night very swiftly. And it was a specific response really meant to resonate in a specific audience of Iowa caucus-goers. So Trump went after Cruz's religion and also called him anti-Iowa because Cruz does not support ethanol subsidies. Here's more of what Donald Trump said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So I think we're going to do -- we're doing really well with evangelicals. And, by the way, and again, I do like Ted Cruz. But not a lot of evangelicals come out of Cuba, in all fairness. It's true. Not a lot come out. But I like him nevertheless.

[10:05:07] But with the ethanol, really, he's got to come a long way, because he's right now for the oil. But I understand it. Oil pays him a lot of money. He's got to be for oil, right? The oil companies give him a lot of money. But I'm with you. I'm with everybody. I'm with everybody. Look, I'm self-funding. I have no oil company. I have no special interest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SERFATY: Now, the Cruz campaign had no response to Trump's renewed attacks last night. It will be interesting to see how this comes up in the debate. Ted Cruz for his part, he has really been skittish, not wanting to alienate any Trump voters from criticizing Donald Trump directly. He said yesterday that he doesn't want to get involved in a cage match. But Christie and Victor, this will be fascinating to watch at the debate on Tuesday, whether these rumblings play out in full force on the debate stage.

PAUL: And what are we expecting from Trump today?

SERFATY: Well, he will have a rally shortly here in Aiken, South Carolina. And this is a smaller crowd than normal, typical Trump rallies. The attorney general here will ask a few questions of Donald Trump. It will be interesting to see if he takes questions from the audience. We don't know whether he will or will not. But we will, of course, be being close attention to any renewed, any additional attacks on Ted Cruz, especially going into Tuesday's debate. Christi?

PAUL: Sunlen Serfaty, we appreciate it. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: There are now two Republican presidential candidates who are hunting at a possible third party run, Ben Carson and Donald Trump. Here's what Trump told our Jake Tapper about a brokered convention and his pledge to stay within the party and not make that independent bid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What do you think about the idea of the brokered convention? When Dr. Ben Carson heard about it, he got very upset. He said it sounded like people in power, in the Republican establishment were trying to right the wheel of the voters.

TRUMP: You know, I watched what Ben said. I agreed with him 100 percent. I even wrote him a little note. I thought it was excellent. And frankly, he may be right. I haven't seen it yet. I've been hearing about it. I've been hearing about these closed door meetings. And I don't like that. That wasn't deal I made. I signed a pledge, but the pledge was a double deal. They were supposed to be honorable. So we're going to find out. If it's that way, they're going to have problems. But I hope it's not going to be that way. I hope it's not going to be that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BLACKWELL: Let's talk more about Ben Carson and that message that came after that closed door meeting by GOP leaders. He said in a statement, here's a quote, "If this was the beginning of a plan to subvert the will of the voters and replace it with the will of the political elite, I assure you Donald Trump will not be the only one leaving the party." So as the primaries get closer, the decision has to be made on a third party run.

Let's bring in our senior political analyst Ron Brownstein, editorial director at the "National Journal." Ron, good morning to you.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

BLACKWELL: How serious do you believe Trump is about this? And does he believe that he could win?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think Donald Trump's belief about what he can do is pretty boundless. So maybe he does think he can win. It's very difficult. Even Ross Perot, who won 19 percent of the popular vote in 1992, did not win a single state. That is the real challenge in a third party bid.

Donald Trump has an identifiable constituency. He could probably generate a significant share of the popular vote, particularly among blue collar whites, if he did run as an independent candidate. But accumulating that to a point where you can actually win states and compete in the Electoral College is something else. You have the challenge to finish second to Democrats in blue leaning states, second to Republicans in red leaning states. So it's very difficult to do.

But look, I think this threat is going to be out there for quite a while. Donald Trump like a lure on a line, he puts it out, he pulls it back. I think we're going to see that pattern go on for quite a while into 2016.

BLACKWELL: As it relates to Ben Carson, what has he earned from this implied threat of going third party? I'm sure anyone who leaves the party and takes even the smallest amount of the GOP vote with them concerns party leadership.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. I think it's much less plausible in Ben Carson's case. I don't think he has the organizational capacity to get on the ballot if he did become an independent candidate. I'm not even sure that's what he was suggesting.

It's really at the root of all of this is the unusual nature of this primary contest. If you go back, the modern primary era began in 1976 for the Republicans. And really in every race since then with only one exception, it has narrowed down to two candidates very quickly, and that leads you to a kind of definitive result that produces a first ballot victory in the convention.

This year, there is a plausible possibility you could see three candidates sustain viable campaigns all the way through June. You have Donald Trump with his strength among blue collar voters in particular but also spreading across the party. You have Ted Cruz eclipsing Ben Carson as the candidate of evangelical Christians.

[10:10:00] And then you have this broad audition for who is going to be the candidate of essentially center white, more secular white collar Republicans, Marco Rubio in the lead there, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, and Chris Christie. Those pools of support are distinct enough and the geographic strongholds that would allow you to win are distinct enough that more Republicans can imagine three candidates going all the way to June. And if that happens, that's when you get the possibility that no one will have enough delegates pledged to them to win the nomination on the first ballot and you would have a truly open convention, something we haven't seen. Probably it won't happen, but it could happen, especially if you have three candidates that can go the distance.

BLACKWELL: OK, three, but not 13. So when does the establishment start to nudge and start to suggest heavily that some of the single digit non-Trump candidates maybe pull out so everyone else can coalesce around one or, in your case, two here of the non-Trump candidates. When does that happen, before Iowa, before super Tuesday?

BROWNSTEIN: That is a great question and a critical question. I think it is difficult for it to happen before the New Hampshire results, actually. And because of that Donald Trump has a very reasonable chance of winning New Hampshire.

Essentially you have these four candidates who are the primary candidates for the establishment lane. Ted Cruz is in his own place. You have Rubio who is probably the strongest at this point move to third and second in many of the national polls. You have Kasich, Bush, and Christie, they are all more viable in New Hampshire, at least as viable in New Hampshire as they are nationally, and the risk is that they will divide and fragment that center right vote in a way that would allow Trump with -- even with a reasonably modest number of somewhere between 25 and 30 to win the state. If those four candidates, Christie, Rubio, Bush, and Kasich, all finish between say 10 and 18, you could imagine Trump winning.

And the real risk to the establishment is that they don't coalesce behind a single candidate fast enough to prevent the outsiders, in this case Trump and to a large extent Cruz, from establishing an insurmountable advantage. I still think it's likely the consolidation will happen, but it may not happen until after New Hampshire, and that could make things a lot rockier.

BLACKWELL: Well, with so many people in the field, their respective ceilings are lower than his floor at this point with so many people in.

BROWNSTEIN: Exactly right.

BLACKWELL: Ron Brownstein, always good to have you.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: and remember, there's that interview on "State of the Union." Jake Tapper sits down with Donald Trump ahead of the debate. And we're going to reveal the lineup for the debates. Remember, that's happening at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. And then the last Republican debate of the year is on Tuesday, 6:00 to 8:30 -- 6:00 and 8:30, I should say, eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: Breaking news in the San Bernardino case where investigators have been searching that lake for the past several days. Apparently they may have found something. We'll have a live report for you.

Also in the wake of a poll showing more Americans now than ever are really concerned about terrorism in this country, what officials are doing to keep track of possible ISIS sympathizers hiding here in the U.S.

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[10:16:22] This is CNN breaking news.

BLACKWELL: Breaking news in San Bernardino where investigators had been searching a lake for several days now. They've been hoping to find evidence left by the two killers who committed last week's terror attacks.

PAUL: CNN's Ana Cabrera joins us on the phone now. Ana, what are you learning today that may have possibly been found?

ANA CABRERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi and Victor, I spoke with an FBI spokesperson here who tells me they did indeed find items in the lake in their search over the last day and a half or so. But she isn't able to confirm at this time whether those items are actually related to this case. She cautioned that, you know, typically when divers search a public lake they find all kinds of different items. And they obviously would err on the side of caution of taking items out that could possibly be linked to the case. But it requires further investigation to determine if that is indeed the case.

So right now I can tell you investigators are back on scene this morning. And they are gearing up to go back into the water. We've seen them here since Thursday afternoon when they began the lake search and telling reporters that they had received a couple of tips that the shooters were in this area on the day of the shooting. And so that has led them to canvassing the neighborhood, canvassing the surrounding park, and now they are going through the lake bit by bit. They said they'll leave no stone unturned as they search for any kind of evidence that could be related to this investigation.

We know they are looking for that hard drive. That has been missing from the couple's computer, and that could be a key piece of evidence. But they're still trying to piece together who kind of con tacks or who their connections may be with from these killers or perhaps other terrorists here in the U.S. or overseas. They're trying to put that all together still as they continue with this very massive investigation, Christi and Victor.

BLACKWELL: Very complex in not only who they communicated with but when those communications were exchanged. Ana Cabrera there for us in San Bernardino. Ana, thank you so much. PAUL: Let's talk to CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen.

Peter, we know they were looking, as she mentioned, for that hard drive. We know that they have collected some items. How soon before they may make some of that information public?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I'm not certain because, obviously, if it's been at the bottom of the lake for some period of time, obviously whatever has been recovered, if it is related to the case, it's going to be quite damaged.

Now, that said, the FBI unit at Quantico that works on electronics and computers can really work miracles. An example of this was the Mumbai attacks of 2008 in which 166 people were killed, the attackers left a GPS on a boat that they were taking between Pakistan and India. And the FBI was able to find a ghost image to show that the boat originated in Karachi, Pakistan, and gone across the ocean to Mumbai, which obviously was a very important piece of the investigation.

So it's not clear how long it will take. But clearly the FBI has great capacity to find what's on those computers. Of course, Christi, the big questions are who was Syed Farook reaching out to? We know that he was attempting to reach Shabaab in Somalia, Nusra, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria. And what exactly were the nature of his relationship with a cell of four men in California who were attempting to join Al Qaeda and the Taliban in 2012? Those are two very big investigative questions that we don't know the answers to yet.

[10:20:00] PAUL: That the hard drive may answer.

BERGEN: Yes.

PAUL: OK. I want to bring in other breaking news here and get your opinion on this. Swiss police officers arrested two terror suspects in Geneva. You know, we've heard about the U.K. We've heard about France. We've heard about even Italy possibly being a target for ISIS. But what if there is a terror cell in Switzerland?

BERGEN: Well, certainly Switzerland has not been a hotbed of jihadist terrorism. But that said if you look at the big cases of either attacks or plots that have been inverted, all in Francophone countries. So for instance, France, we had the Paris attacks twice in the past year. In Belgium we had the big cell broken up in January. And now we have what looks like an ISIS cell in Geneva. The ISIS -- the public officials in Geneva said they are concerned about an ISIS cell. And Nic Robertson has just reported that these two men have been arrested with explosives traces in their car in Geneva, which of course is part of Francophone, Switzerland.

So you're seeing that France has the largest number of foreign fighters going to Syria, more than 1,000. And obviously these people are very comfortable in Francophone environments. We don't know exactly who these people who were arrested yet are, but my guess is that they are Francophone -- they are people who have gone to Syria or are related to Syria, and that are part of the ISIS cell that Geneva authorities have said publicly that they are concerned was planning to strike. PAUL: so the fact that a cell has possibly made it to Switzerland, is

that alarming to you in terms of how expansive ISIS may be at this point, more so than perhaps was ever estimated?

BERGEN: Christi, We know that 90 countries have seen members or citizens go to Syria to fight with jihadi groups. In some cases, in Finland, we're talking about a couple dozen people, whatever. So it differs in scale.

But the fact is there are Swiss nationals that have gone to Switzerland. And I think that, you know, the fact that I think the common link here is the ability to speak French and communicate in French, and it is not necessarily surprising that they were arrested in Geneva rather than say some other part of Switzerland which isn't a French speaking part of Switzerland.

BLACKWELL: Very good point. Peter Bergen, we so appreciate your insight, thank you for being here.

BERGEN: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Still to come, Americans are more fearful of a terrorist attack since any time since 9/11. What is the U.S. government doing to quell those fears? That's next.

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[10:26:23] PAUL: It's 26 minutes past the hour. The attacks in San Bernardino adding new urgency for U.S. officials to identify and track down potential terrorists in the U.S. Now, many analysts and counterterrorism officials tell us lone wolf style attackers are some of the hardest to identify. Polo Sandoval has more now on the hunt for these terrorists. Without obviously compromising any information, what are they telling you?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christi, we really have seen dozens of people arrested in the United States as part of ongoing terrorism investigations. Many of these individuals go online and quickly get the attention of law enforcement. But then you have those lone wolves you just mentioned. They're the ones that don't necessarily pop up on the radar until they become operational. And now this other concern that U.S. authorities have of this growing support for ISIS in the U.S., one report now saying that it has reached an unprecedented level.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: There is no telling how many ISIS-inspired operatives may currently be in the U.S. There are, however, the numbers. The FBI reporting it has some 900 active cases where they're looking at potential ISIS sympathizers. Pair that with figures published by George Washington University earlier this month. They show at least 300 Americans and/or U.S.-based sympathizers who actively support ISIS on social media and spread the terror group's propaganda.

And 71 people have been arrested by U.S. authorities for so-called ISIS related activities, 56 of them this year alone, the most terrorism related arrests since 9/11 according to the G.W. report. Ahmed Mohammed el Gammal is one of them. The Arizona man is charged with helping a New York college student get ISIS training in Syria, his case among dozens making their way through federal court systems across the country.

The figures reflect the cost and struggle for U.S. officials to track down extremists already in the country. The efforts were not enough to thwart last week's ISIS-inspired attack in San Bernardino, California. Investigators continue digging into Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik's past.

JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: We also believe they were inspired by foreign terrorist organizations. We're working very hard to understand exactly their association and they source of their inspiration.

SANDOVAL: The U.S. facing its greatest terrorism threat since 9/11, a sobering statement from the FBI.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And so who are the subjects of these roughly 900 investigations? This report noting that the typical ISIS recruit is roughly 26 years old and a male, Christi. But then you look at the shootings in San Bernardino, you look at Malik, and clearly, that does not apply, which means law enforcement really have to work hard to try to stay a step ahead.

PAUL: Very good point. Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: You bet.

PAUL: Still to come in the newsroom, faith threatened by flames. A California mosque torched as Muslims prayed inside and then forced to pray outside on the street. Now the FBI is investigating.

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[10:32:24] PAUL: Developing story out of California. Sheriff's deputies along with the FBI investigating a mosque fire near Palm Springs, and they believe, and I'm quoting here, an intentional act.

BLACKWELL: And deputies are questioning someone, but the person at this time is not considered a suspect. This apparent arson follows another attack at the same mosque a year ago.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: The security guard for the mosque says he saw the fire from miles away.

RAY BREWSTER, MOSQUE SECURITY GUARD: I pull up to the intersection, I turn left and there's a huge plume of smoke, mushroom cloud.

BLACKWELL: Witnesses and police said someone threw some incendiary device at the mosque around noon Friday. The fire burned the front doors and spread to the lobby before firefighters put it out. Everyone got out safely, and mosque members were forced to pray on the streets outside.

ABDULLA SALAAM, MEMBER, ISLAMIC CENTER OF THE COACHELLA VALLEY: You see the brothers praying on the outside. That's one of the obligations we do, we pray, we do our prayers. We had to do it over here on the dirt, not on the road, but that's what we do. We pray, give a positive message. Then we go back to work.

BLACKWELL: This attack comes a year after someone fired several shots into the mosque. That shooter was never caught.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you work a mosque, I'm sure you can imagine, or any church really, but a mosque, it's in the back of your mind.

BLACKWELL: The Riverside County supervisor compared the firebombing to what happened in San Bernardino last week an hour west of the mosque.

JOHN BENOIT, RIVERSIDE COUNTY SUPERVISOR: If in fact it appears that the potential act against this church for reasons because of their religion, I would think that was terrorism. And terrorism is terrorism, no matter whether it's like what we saw in San Bernardino or someone who reacts. They're both terrorists.

BLACKWELL: California Congressman Paul Ruiz called for the firebombing to be investigated as a hate crime.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Now, according to a report from the Council on American- Islamic Relations, this has been a record year for anti-Muslim acts with more than 60 cases of harassment or vandalism reported.

Let's now bring in Arsalan Iftikhar, senior editor of "Islamic Monthly" and international human rights lawyer. Arsalan, good to have you back.

ARSALAN IFTIKHAR, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE ISLAMIC MONTHLY": Always good to be with you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: So when you hear about this from CAIR, that this is a record year for anti-Muslim acts, what goes through your mind, and to what do you attribute what we're seeing?

IFTIKHAR: I can attribute it two words -- Donald Trump.

BLACKWELL: Are you blaming Donald Trump for what we say in Palm Springs?

IFTIKHAR: Yes. Yes.

BLACKWELL: There's no connection yet.

[10:35:00] IFTIKHAR: Yes, I am. Politically I am, Victor. What Donald Trump should know is if you're going to replace the word Muslims with Jews and sound like a Nazi, then you probably shouldn't say it. Governor Jeb Bush called him unhinged. Senator Lindsey Graham said that he could go to hell. Even Dick Cheney condemned Donald Trump for his rhetoric.

And you know, if we're trying to stay safe from is, we need to not vote for Donald Trump, because he is sadly disintegrating this gray zone of coexistence which is exactly what ISIS wants. And again, we have to understand that just like we didn't blame all Christians when the Planned Parenthood shooter, who was a self-proclaimed Christian extremist, committed those acts of terrorism, so too should we not blame the entire Muslim community for the acts of a fringe either.

BLACKWELL: But on the other side of that argument, all Muslims should not be blamed for the act of the fringe, but you're blaming Donald Trump for the acts that have not been connected to him.

IFTIKHAR: No, I'm saying that his rhetoric is leading to these sorts of acts, Victor. Again, if you replace Muslims with Jews or gays or Latinos or African-Americans, all of whom Donald Trump has defamed, and if we saw a spike in anti any of these hate crimes, then yes, the political rhetoric would directly tie to it. We saw flyers being passed around in Alabama from the Ku Klux Klan chapter in Alabama saying, you know, help them get rid of radical Islam, neo-Nazi websites, white supremacist website that have said we've seen an increase in traffic in membership because of Donald Trump.

So again, we have to stop treating Donald Trump like a sideshow and take him very seriously with the words that he says because it is going to have a real-life impact on people who are going to be impacted by it here innocently in the United States.

BLACKWELL: Arsalan, I want to get your reaction to something I read that kind of stood out to me. The leader of a Muslim group in Connecticut where there's a mosque that was shot at after the Paris attacks, he said this, "The person who fired at our mosque didn't know us well. We have to do a better job of reaching out to people." I wonder, is that part of the solution? I don't know of another example where a minority group that is facing violence says it is their job to change.

IFTIKHAR: You know, sadly, Victor, if you look at a lot of public opinion polls that have been conducted since September 11th, nearly 70 percent of Americans say they don't know a Muslim at all even though their doctor is probably a Muslim or their accountant is a Muslim or they don't know that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Mohammad Ali, Dave Chappelle, Ice Cube, Shaquille O'Neal, Dr. Oz, Fareed Zakaria from CNN, are all Muslims. And it's all about the humanizing aspect of it.

I tell people as a human rights lawyer that it's very hard to demonize people once they've been humanized. I think that that is what we have seen, for example, in the marriage equality debate. You can be opposed to marriage equality, but most people probably have a gay cousin somewhere that humanizes the issue to them. I always say I wish people had Muslim cousins so we could be humanized to average Americans as well. BLACKWELL: Arsalan Iftikhar, always good to have you.

IFTIKHAR: Likewise. Thanks, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Sure.

PAUL: Still to come on Newsroom --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: Applause from a short while ago. Negotiators after weeks of intense talks to carve out an agreement to save the earth from climate change. What exactly is in this potential deal?

But first, you don't want to miss the CNN quiz show, famous Americans edition. Here's a look at the teams.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to think of a motto for us. Second place is first loser.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a little bit country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a little bit rock 'n' roll.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we need a theme song.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm partial to fun.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I bet the others don't have a song.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They have no music in their life. They need Maria von Trapp to bring music to their life.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the dream team.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harvard grad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a new K.B. in town.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Back up, that's mine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I get to be CNN's new number one black guy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My god.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were hired for our looks and we brought our brains with us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not as dumb as we look.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: A lot of fun there. Check out the CNN quiz show, famous Americans edition. It's tomorrow night at 7:00 eastern right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: You're looking at the scene just moments ago in Paris. Representatives from 196 countries have been huddled there for weeks to hammer out an agreement to slow climate change. A large group of demonstrators you see there gathered outside where negotiators will soon vote on that deal to keep the earth from warming by more than a couple degrees.

A lot of competing interests here, though, many unresolved issues as well. But it's a milestone that they're voting on something after 20 years of debate and weeks of intense negotiations. CNN senior international correspondent Jim Bittermann is there in Paris as well. Jim, have you gotten any more clarity about what specifically is in this deal?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, sure. We know what's in the deal. But it's actually a couple -- there's a two part deal here, Christi. There's an adoption agreement and then there's also the agreement itself. And the difference between the two is the adoption agreement covers what is going to take place in about an hour from now, we think. It was supposed to have been an hour ago, but it didn't happen. It's been delayed until about an hour from now.

That adoption agreement has specific language in it, and as part of that there's a 10-page document called the Paris agreement. That agreement is going to go back to the various governments involved here, and they'll have to decide whether they're going to sign on or not. There will be an official signing ceremony next April to really put this thing into action.

But as it stands now, there's a number of things, for example, this idea that a target of 1.5 degrees global warming over the next century is what the world is going to try for. To get to that goal, it's going to be very difficult indeed. You'll have to move away from the carbon-based fuels almost entirely.

[10:45:10] And so it's very ambitious in its nature. There's a huge amount of money exchanging hands. The developed world is promising under this agreement, the adoption agreement anyway, $100 billion per year over the next five years, and continuing beyond that, there's a commitment to relook at this and keep the $100 billion a year coming after that. This is $100 billion in not only public funds but private funds going from the developed countries to the lesser developed nations. Christi?

PAUL: All righty, one quick question. James Hansen, a former NASA scientist credited with helping to sound the alarm on climate change initially, he's dismissive of this summit. He said as long as fossil fuels appear to be cheapest out there, they will continue to be burned. Has that been addressed there? BITTERMANN: Well, sure it has. For one of the things that was worked

on is this private initiative here that Bill Gates announced where billionaires are committing billions and billions of dollars to developing solar energy and making solar energy cheaper than it is now. There's also a geothermal group that's gotten together to make geothermal means of heating and generating electricity cheaper.

So yes, if it gets to the point where there's nothing cheaper than fossil fuels, it will be fossil fuels, probably, and the NASA scientist is probably right. But the whole point of this is to get other kinds of renewable energy at a cheaper market value that the carbon-based fuels. Christi?

PAUL: Jim Bittermann, we appreciate you walking us through it. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Still to come on Newsroom, after months of debate, the culpability of one of the officers involved in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, jurors will begin deliberations. This trial moved pretty quickly. They could start as soon as Monday. We'll hear the latest in this fast-moving trial after the break.

Also, they call it America's game for a reason. We'll show you why when we go live to Philadelphia, ahead of kickoff, the Army/Navy game.

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[10:51:26] BLACKWELL: Baltimore is ramping up security as the first of six Freddie Gray manslaughter trial ends pretty soon. They're expecting the beginning of deliberations on Monday. The police commissioner, even canceled leave next week, so close to Christmas, for all cops and scheduled them to work 12-hour shifts to ensure enough men and women are on duty ahead of the jury's ruling on the fate of Officer William Porter.

Now, on Friday, Porter's defense team rested after calling the suspect's mother to the stand in an attempt to paint him as a nice, honest man. The character witnesses, what you would expect. Attorneys also called on a police captain who testified that Porter wasn't the transporting officer, so he wasn't responsible for Freddie Gray or any of the suspects in that van. On Monday we expect to hear jury instructions and closing arguments.

PAUL: Defense attorney Kisha Hebbon joins us now. Kisha, thank you for being here.

KISHA HEBBON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Thank you for having me.

PAUL: What do you make of the last day, the final day of that the defense wrapped things up, especially with Mr. Porter's mother? What you see in your son obviously is a biased example of who he might be, some might say.

HEBBON: Well, right, all attorneys will put forth a character witness. And a character witness is usually a parent or friend, and they're very biased. They're going to get up there and say exactly what they're going to say. I'm not too concerned about the weight of that because jurors know that. It's common sense.

My thing with this particular defendant is I feel that he's the least culpable of all the six officers that are charged, because in order to convict him of the most serious offense, which is manslaughter, the prosecution would have to prove there was a gross departure from the normal procedure that would be followed by a reasonable officer in that situation. And I think that is going to be difficult to prove.

PAUL: So if you think he is the least culpable --

HEBBON: Yes.

PAUL: -- depending on what happened in this case, how might it affect the other cases? We know it's not supposed to. But when you have a jury sitting there and you've got outside people watching it, what happens here, could it somehow affect what happens in the future with the other cases?

HEBBON: It could. I look at this case as a finger pointing game, because of course he's saying I told the supervisor. And I wasn't the driver. So I think those particular defendants actually may be negatively affected if this particular officer is acquitted because it's basically shifting the blame to them. And I do think that that's what's going to happen. This officer, there's testimony that he did not witness the arrest. He wasn't the driving officer and that he did try to help Mr. Gray, and that he did report this to a supervisor.

PAUL: So what do you think has to be present in these closing argument for both sides?

HEBBON: I'm sorry, could you repeat that?

PAUL: What do you think has to be present, what will both sides in their closing arguments really hone in on?

HEBBON: Of course the prosecution is going to say that this officer or defendant did not adhere to the rules and procedure of the police department and as a result of that this victim died. Now, the defense is going to say, listen, what he did as far as not having him in a seat belt and not calling the paramedics was not necessarily criminal behavior. It may be negligence, but it did not rise to the level of a criminal act.

PAUL: Kisha Hebbon, appreciate your insight. Thank you so much for being with us.

HEBBON: Thank you for having me.

PAUL: Sure. We'll be right back.

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[10:58:34] COY WIRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for the 116th edition of the iconic Army/Navy game. It's a true American sports gem. The black knights, the mid-ship men, they're going to fight for inter-service bragging rights. These guys don't fight for NFL contracts but rather each other. And in celebration of our great nation and one of its most beloved traditions, dignitaries, veterans of our military and current service men and women are filing in around the stadium here in Philadelphia. And it's quite the scene.

Just as much as this event is more than just a game, Navy's quarterback, he's a record setter, and he's more than just a football player. This guy, we need to take a look at his course list. He's an absolute inspiration. Look at this course list -- politics of irregular warfare, national security decision-making in the cyber age, not your ordinary course load for a football player, guys. He's a disciplined and dedicated future leader of our nation. And I had the time to spend with Keenan. Listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEENAN REYNOLDS, NAVY'S ALL TIME RUSHING LEADER: It's big, you know, the courses that we take kind of priming us for what we need to be successful out in the fleet as leaders.

WIRE: When you hear about the things that happened in Paris and now in San Bernardino, California, does that move you?

REYNOLDS: It definitely kind of reminds you of why you're really here, the commitment, the bigger commitment you made to serving your country and the evil that we're out to protect. So I think it's kind of a centering thing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:00:06] WIRE: Now, Keenan and his teammates will be at the center of attention today.