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Officials On High Alert Across Europe; Russian-Backed Rebels And Ukrainian Government Forces Continue To Fight; Will Mitt Romney Throw His Hat Into The Presidential Ring For A Third Time?

Aired January 18, 2015 - 17:00   ET

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

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ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: After 90-minute mass of reverence and reflection, the crowd erupted again with Pope mania. As he said his final farewells, blessing the adoring public, the pontiff stopped the Pope mobile several times to kiss children. A demonstration of his love for the people whose unwavering devote they give in return.

Anna Cohen, CNN, Manila.

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FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: What an incredible site.

Thanks so much for joining me and spending part of the day with me. I'm Fredricka Whitefield. The next hour of the NEWSROOM begins right now with Poppy Harlow in New York.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow joining us live from New York this Sunday evening.

Across Europe today, officials are on high alert. And this question hangs where and when might terrorists strike next. Here is where the investigation stands right now.

Five Belgians citizens are charged with links to a terrorist organization, three of them remain in jail, two were released under what is being called strict conditions. This goes back to the police raid and shootout on Thursday, in which two suspects were killed.

Officials in Greece have arrested some suspects and they're still looking for potentially others. The Belgian government has requested the extradition of one person arrested in Greece. More on those in just a few moments in a live report.

One of the biggest fears in Europe right now is what nobody can see, those so-called sleeper cells, quiet terror groups who suddenly become operational. Western intelligent sources tell CNN there could be as many as 20 sleeper cells planning attacked.

A pair of U.S. senators also tell CNN today that it is time for America's allies outside of Europe to step up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: But are our allies doing enough as well? A country like Saudi Arabia has enormous influence, Pakistan as well against this sort of extremism. Are they doing their part or in fact are they making the problem worse?

SEN. RICHARD BURR (R), NORTH CAROLINA: Well, Jim, as you know, they've been a contributor to the funding since Al-Qaeda was created. A lot of the Middle Eastern countries have.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As we've let it go on for far too long. And now that we realize the reality, the dangers, the immediacy of this threat to the United States and in to our allies, I think Republicans and Democrats can come together and say, listen, time is up. We need to see some progress, or especially with a country like Pakistan, as recipient of major dollars from the United States, there's going to be some consequences.

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HARLOW: All right. Let me bring in CNN international correspondent Arwa Damon who joins us on the phone from southeastern Turkey.

Arwa, let me ask you this. We just heard from the two senators saying the U.S. needs to crack down on allies funding terrorism, essentially, saying look, the money is going through these conditions too easily. People are getting through these counties into Syria too easily.

When you talk about Turkey specifically, I know that Turkish officials are saying we're doing everything we can. We have a huge border with Syria that we have to deal with, but -- what is your sense from the officials in Turkey? Can they step it up at all?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): Well, Turkey is finding itself in a very tenuous situation at this junction, because if we go back to the era of at the revelation pre the emergence of ISIS, yes, Turkey was coming under a lot of scrutiny and a lot of accusations that it was being too lax with the borders that would then allowing some of these more fundamentalist Islamist individuals easy access into the Syrian battlefields.

But fast forward to the situation that Turkey is finding itself in today. It has a massive border with Syria, and do whatever it may, it quite simply cannot physically control this entire boarder. Those smugglers who are assisting individuals in going across, whether those individuals are fighting with ISIS or others. They know how to wait. They know how to make that careful calculation, look for an opening, and then allow people across.

Turkish authorities are also saying they're growing increasingly frustrated. While on the one hand they say they're doing everything they can. They do feel, and said this to CNN on a number of occasions, that at times when they're pacing on intelligence to western nations about individuals who are transiting through Turkey to the west to Europe, they don't feel as if that is being taken or acted on seriously enough. They feel as if they are doing all that these can, that the onus is also on these Europeans nations on the United States to try to act on the intelligence that Turkey says it's passing along, but also to prevent these individuals from even leaving their respective countries.

HARLOW: So Arwa, to that point, saying we're giving all this intelligence to the Europe, to the United States, they're not doing enough, I'm wondering what those European leaders are saying on that front? Are they agreeing and saying they're getting what they need from Turkey?

DAMON: Well, and this get into this very complex situation that Turkey is finding itself in. You know, all sides are saying that they're doing everything they can, but we have a magnitude of a problem that no nation is capable of dealing with. And arguably, even in all nations come together, because of the sheer volume of individuals who have that intent on traveling to Syrian or now have that intent of carrying out attacks in Europe and around the world, intelligence agencies are finding themselves stretched incredibly.

And let's just take the example of Hayat Boumeddiene, the girlfriend or wife of Amery Coulibaly, the third gunman in the Paris attacks. She came to Turkey on January 2nd. Turkish intelligence actually flagged her at the airport, for whatever reason, they're not disclosing, but they felt she was suspicious. They followed her for a few days. She stayed at a hotel in east Istanbul. Then they stop following her because they say she was just engaging in tourist activity.

Then after her name came out in this investigation with the current attacks, they have been shared that intelligence, that they have all doubted on her with the French. The French provided them with the phone number. They were able to track her to her last location which is (INAUDIBLE) along the Syrian-Turkey border.

But bar that, they have really been struggling to try to keep up with her movement presumably she's now crossed into Syria. That is the assumption everyone is working on. But what one also has to recognize is the chaos that exists in these border regions. They're dealing with a massive influx of refugees.

A number of those jihadist who has been fighting with ISIS that we have interviewed on various different occasions whether many of them having deflected from ISIS, crossed back from Syria into Turkey. They shaved their beards off and they blend in with the population. That these are people that have come from overseas, there is no actual necessary evidence, no stamp on their passport that says they have cross to Syria to fight alongside ISIS, to fight alongside various jihadi groups.

But when they come back across into Turkey and they do blend in to the population, they're incredibly difficult to track as one. That is just one aspect of the problem that Turkey is trying to deal with, because it is now a massive hub, a transit hub for anyone with the intention to go into Syria, and fight alongside groups like ISIS. But Turkey is also dealing with the other side of the problem and that is people on foreign passport in Turkey who might have gone into Syria, haven't necessarily been tracked and now may be going back home with the intent of carrying out attacks in Europe.

HARLOW: Right. And Turkey being so critical to the United States, to the west in this fight against terror.

Arwa Damon joining us on the phone from southeastern Turkey.

Arwa, thank you for that this evening.

And during this time of heightened alert for terrorist activity, the U.S. has quietly released this man, you are looking at the images right there, charged and jailed in the U.S. as an enemy combatant. They have returned him to Qatar. In 2009, he was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for providing material support to Al-Qaeda.

Let's talk about this case with our panel. Joining me now CNN global affairs analyst Bobby Ghosh, also CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen, also author of "Manhunt, the ten year search for bin Laden."

Guys, when we talk about, this is just one example, but it brings up this issue and we've been seeing the United States especially over the last month releasing more of these people to other nations in south America, to Qatar, for example, when you talk about enemy combatants who are released, Peter Bergen, to you first, there is a lot of concern over whether the countries they are released into are able to effectively monitor them.

PETER BERGEN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Well, we're a nation of laws, and this person who has been released al-Mari, has served his sentence. It was -- the 15 years sentenced was reduced because of the time he spent in the Navy brig, five years, where he was abused somewhat significantly.

So, you know, we are a nation of laws. We have send it back. Now Qatar is an enormously rich, very small country, where by the way we sent back five leaders of the Taliban in exchange for private Bowe Bergdahl, the U.S. army's private who was taken by the Taliban. Those five Taliban leaders have been there for about a year. They have done nothing. So it seems the Qataris are able to monitor people and basically it's a relatively safe place to send people back to.

HARLOW: Bobby Ghosh, I want you to weigh in on that, as well as some comments from David Cameron this morning, but first weigh in on what Peter said.

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, Qatar does have an extensive security network within the country. But it is worth remembering that this man, Ali al-Mari, a relative of his, we're not sure if it was a brother or cousin, was a prisoner at Guantanamo. (INAUDIBLE) was his name. He was released in 2008, and the Qataris promised up and down that they would keep an watch on him. That he would not be allowed to leave the country. 2009, he leaves the country, and he goes to Britain, travels all over Britain, gives speeches, and then the Brits pick him up on a second trip and then send him back to Qatar.

So, that tell us that even in a place like Qatar, very small, everybody knows everybody, and has a quite strong state apparatus, it's still possible for someone to slip through.

HARLOW: So let me get your take on David Cameron's comment this morning. He was on CBS' "FACE THE NATION," And he said -- he explained why he wouldn't use the word "war" as French president Hollande has in terms of fighting terror saying quote "we don't want to help them in their narrative by saying it is a war of us against them." You say that's irrelevant.

GHOSH: Well, that's a conversation we're having among ourselves. To these people, the people who are conducting these terror attacks, it doesn't matter a whole heck of a lot. It maybe a small -- If David Cameron were to use the word "war," that may yet be in their minds one more explanation.

But as far as they're concerned, they're already at war with us, one way or the other. And at some level, they're at war with us, because they even exist. Never mind what we say or do. And they're starting from that, there are any number of other reasons and rationales that include America's role, the west's role in the gulf, in Iraq more recently, drawn strikes, and places like Yemen and Pakistan.

There are any number of excuses, real, imagined, made up. And so David Cameron using the word "war" one way or another I don't think moves the needle.

HARLOW: Peter Bergen, I would like you to weigh in on this discussion that we've been having and that has got a lot more attention lately about ISIS and Al-Qaeda, and whether or not we're seeing a convergence of the two groups more working together rather than battling one another. A, do you think we are seeing that? B, do you think that it matters, frankly?

BERGEN: Well, if either group kills your brother, it doesn't really matter, does it? So, I mean, you know, (INAUDIBLE) talks about the narcissism of minor differences, and the fact that ISIS and Al-Qaeda with the leadership level are having a battle for leadership of the global jihadi movement is true. But we've seen in Syria that there have been cases where ISIS and Nusra, the Al-Qaeda affiliate there are cooperating in the last several weeks.

And so, you know, these groups at a local level cooperate together. It's not at all clear that the Paris was an example, the Paris attack was an example of ISIS and Al-Qaeda are cooperating together. It seems to be an Al-Qaeda in Yemen attack with a guy who just pledged to ISIS in his bedroom.

So, you know, I think it's a complex picture. But certainly at the leadership level these groups are battles each other.

HARLOW: And Bobby, very quickly, you've said that they don't care who they're pledging allegiance to, so when you look at the Kouachi brothers, for example, in Paris?

GHOSH: The foot soldiers don't care that much. They're responding to opportunities that come up in their immediate surroundings. What the leadership level right at the top says, that's an important rivalry, because they're competing for recruits. They are competing for resources for money. That's important. But as we have learned in Paris, at the foot soldier level, not so much.

HARLOW: Bobby Ghosh, Peter Bergen, thank you both. We appreciate it.

Coming up after a quick break, another growing threat back in the headlines, Ukraine. Hear why one senator says it is time for the U.S. to do a lot more on the ground.

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HARLOW: Well in the past few days Ukraine has become more violent in terms of the situation going on there on the ground. The most intense violence happening right around the airport, the Donetsk area. Just last week, about a dozen people were killed when a long range rocket hit a passenger bus at Ukrainian check point. The fighting has been going on there for months, one side Russian back rebels, on the other side the Ukrainian government forces.

Senator Chris Murphy, a member of the foreign relations committee says the United States should sent more military aid to support Ukraine's government. Listen.

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SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D), CONNECTICUT: I believe now that the United States needs to start sending more significant military assistance to the Ukrainians. That was not a position I held initially in this debate. Right now economic sanctions are not in the short run convincing Russia to pull back. I think the administration has to start working at more serious leaves of defensive armaments, I think that would help in a fight that we have to admit is not ending any time sign.

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HARLOW: All right, joins me now from the ground, Michael Bociurkiw. He is the spokesman for the organization securing cooperation in Europe. Thank you for joining us, sir.

I want to get to the conditions there in a moment. The numbers that you have sent are staggering. But listening to what the senator had to say, do you agree that that would do it, that that kind of support would do it, or do we need to see U.S. troops on the ground?

MICHAEL BOCIURKIW, OSCE SPOKESMAN: Well, Poppy, good to be back with you. On thought, really, is to monitor the situation and established the facts. So what we do on a day-to-day basis with that, we're coming up to 500 international monitors right now is documenting what is going on on the ground. And then it's really up to others to draw conclusions or take action. but one of the main things we've been doing, Poppy, is documenting also the very, very big impact on the civilian population.

In the setup piece, you mentioned the horrific attack on the bus (INAUDIBLE), 12 to 14 people dead, many injured. And it's just a reminder of how civilians, innocent civilians, are getting caught up in the conflict. So what we said just a few days ago, our chief monitor ambassador (INAUDIBLE), it's time for all sides to exercise maximum restraint, and also to withdraw, Poppy weaponry and that weapons need to be stopped fired.

HARLOW: Because there was this agreement in September and then another one pack in December, and they seem to have fallen apart. I mean, when you talk about a worsening humanitarian situation on the ground there, and your organization say five million people have been impacted, at least 4800 have died, over 10,000 wounded, a million displayed. It's staggering especially for something that frankly is just not in the headlines right now in the United States perhaps as much as it should be. What more can you guys do to help?

BOCIURKIW: Well, what we do to help, for example, Poppy, is we negotiate for example, temporary mini-cease-fires, which we did recently when, you know, along the front lines the villages are being very, very heavily shelled. So the temporary cease-fires allow repair crews to come in because, you know, many, many villages are without power, without heating and also for humanitarian aid to get in.

We now are seeing WFP, the world food program of the U.N. coming in with a program as well as UNDP. But the OSCE has once seen itself as kind of their early warning signal for this area. Because you are right, it does tend to fall out of the headlines. And the worst thing that could happen right now, Poppy, is for the international to community to avert its days from the conflict in the Ukraine. And that's one the reasons why we're increasing a number of monitors. We are going up to 500. And by the way, there is a little over 10 percent of those are Americans, and some of them, for example, are former detectives, law enforcement, military, and we're protecting them with things like armored vehicles, with flag jackets.

We are an unarmed civilian mission, the dangers are very real. But we will stay on the ground as long as possible to report exactly what's going on on the ground.

HARLOW: Yes, I mean, this has going on for months and months now, really, since that escalation in April. And you guys have been on the ground the entire time.

Thank you for the work that you, and all the other monitors, are doing and for joining us this evening, Michael, we appreciate it.

Well, the president releasing a new plan to raise taxes. Who pays, who benefits? We're talking about a big number here. We'll discuss, next.

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HARLOW: You know that sound when you hear it on CNN, right? It means we're going to talk about politics. The president is about to unveil his agenda for his final two years in office on Tuesday night in the state of the union address. And the White House has released some of the reforms that the president will be proposing. He is expected to push Congress to pass new laws bolstering

cybersecurity. On foreign policy, the president will likely promote plans to normalize U.S. relations with Cuba and press Congress to lift the embargo on that country.

Also expected is that he will push the $60 billion program to offer free community college for two years to anyone who has the administration has said is willing to work for it. Also in what could be the most sweeping changes, the president will unveil new tax proposals that would offer credits in the middle class, also new tax increases on the wealthy and more capital gains taxes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a president who now is sort of saying the battle for the middle class in this country has begun. And in some respects, this is the first shot in the battle of the 2016 presidential election, because there's a fight for what the next American agenda is going to be.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: All right, let met bring in CNN political commentator and Republican strategist Tara Setmayer and also CNN's politics.com senior correspondent Chris Moody.

Thank you both for being here. Nice to meet you, Chris, in person. I've seen you from a distance in Washington.

What do you make of what's been trickled out so far from the administration that we are going to here on Tuesday night?

CHRIS MOODY, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT, CNNPOLITICS.COM: Let's set the stage here, first of all, Republicans just took over the Senate and they bolstered their majority in the house. They set the agenda in both chambers of Congress. What President Obama has said or that his staff has said over the weekend are just proposals. These cannot become law until the Congress does something. And that cased on the reception we've seen from the Republicans, these are not going to go anywhere. These are just President Obama laying down his marker of what he would love to see, in the fantasy word, if he had all the power. And Congress is going to rebut it and not do very much to pass it.

HARLOW: It's interesting -- Tara, is smiling over there because I want her to weigh in on this. Because, so, the president's top adviser, Dan Pfeiffer on the Sunday morning shows being pressed, "State of the Nation" Bob Schieffer saying, I mean, is this real? Do you really think that something like this could pass?

Talking about just in terms of the amount of money it is going to cost to do these things. At the same time the president says we have ways to pay for it, here they are.

TARA SETMAYER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean Dan Pfeiffer was doing some political gymnastics there just to give an answer, but that's his job. He's a true believer. He is out there to push, though. Yes, of course, because he doesn't want to seem as though the president is putting out these pie in the sky policies that are never getting pass in the Republican -- in Republican Congress, but that's the truth.

None of these things are actual real serious proposals. I mean, Republicans have come in. As soon as they took over Congress, they said, listen. We can find common ground in a few things and tax reform was one of them. But these proposals that the president is putting forth are not serious tax.

HARLOW: Wait. What about the community college proposal? I mean, you would think if the numbers work out right, and that's a big question mark, though, that is something that you can get both parties behind.

MOODY: You have to pay for it, first of all.

SETMAYER: That's right.

MOODY: And President Obama is proposing taxing the rich in order to pay for it. You have hundreds of members of Congress who are Republicans that have signed pledges never raise taxes under any circumstances. And I checked with the group that does that pledge -- they are called Americans for Tax Reform led by Grover Norquist. They came out with a post today on the Web site just saying absolutely not, sending a very clear message to the members who passed -- or, who signed that agreement.

Now, if they go ahead and break that, you better believe that the grassroots on the right are going to come after them with ads in the next election cycle and say congressman so-and-so voted to raise taxes by so many billions and it will not fly with the state of the Republican Party right now.

HARLOW: Right. And people -- I just -- let me remind our viewers that you're looking at some of the proposals we know of thus far to come from the president that he will likely address in the state of the union address, taxing couples making $500,000 or more, each raising $320 billion over ten years and putting that money towards working families, middle class families, expanding those child care credits and also funding this college tuition program.

SETMAYER: Let me explain something about this. I mean, what people don't realize is because Obama has done a brilliant job of trying to convince everyone that what he's giving away is free. nothing is free when the government is doing it, when you expand the federal government into local thing, particularly like community college, that is a local issue.

This proposal, they're saying that the federal government will pay 75 percent of this tuition and then 25 percent is supposed to be from the state, what are we doing here? Community colleges is for, a, it's local, b, you already have Pell grants and things like that and financial aid for people to go to college, and c, community college in these results, they're questionable, too. I mean, you know, only 20 percent go on to four-year colleges, only a third actually graduate, so even the value of that is questionable. But none of this is for free. There's no tree on the west lawn of the capitol where there is just money that grows off of it. This all comes from you and I, the taxpayers.

HARLOW: I'm smiling, because we do have to go to break. We are going to come back with more later. But I do want you to consider this. When have we ever heard the president talking the state of the union address and lay out things that he knows that Congress is going to pass? I mean--

MOODY: Well, especially with the results of the election you think he might come forward and say, OK, time to work together as now, here is what we possibly can do, but we are not seeing that. But in fairness, Republicans do put out their own budget that's pie in the sky hopes as well that whomever get through the White House. So both sides do this.

HARLOW: All right, Tara, Chris, stick around. We are going to be back in a moment.

And we're getting new details also important to tell you about possible terror arrests in Greece, Belgium now seeking one of those suspects who was arrested yesterday seeking their extradition. Why they think he may be connected to a foiled terror plot. We'll have that for you straight ahead.

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HARLOW: All right. We're staying on top the multination antiterrorism investigation going on right now in Europe. And today, a confirmation that a number of suspects have been arrested in Greece. The Belgian government wants to get its hand on at least one of those suspects. Our Phil Black is joining us live from Brussels this evening.

Phil, what can you tell us? Who are the suspects? What's the connection? And why do they want this one suspect back?

PHIL BLACK, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Poppy, the Belgian authorities passed on information to police in Greece who said they were conducting an investigation on behalf of the Belgian authorities. They picked up two men, as you've said, of that, the Belgian authorities have determined that one of them could have been involved in the terror plot they disrupted here on Thursday night.

That was through a series of raids, properties across the country, one involves the shootout that included two suspects. The terror plot was supposedly was to attack police officers on the streets on in the station, while they were working.

It is very much been international in its scope, because in addition to the five people that have been charged here in connection with this, there are two more in France, that they want to bring back to Belgium as well, that are being picked up, and now this most recent arrest in Greece. Now, the authorities here have not revealed who this man is, what role

they believe he played, or just how they tracked him down to Greece. They've been very sparse on the detail that they have been prepared to make public. As this arrest, the most recent arrest shows, it's still very much an active investigation, Poppy.

HARLOW: Phil, do you get the sense, do we know if Belgium thinks they may have possibly busted open one of these sleeper cells?

BLACK: It believes that it busted open really an active terror organization, one that was preparing and ready to launch an attack. In the words of the authorities here, imminently, within hours, they believed. This attack against police officers in one or more locations across the country was due to take place. They believe this has been supported by the physical evidence that they uncovered during these raids during police officers and communication equipment. And because of the increase in the security posture, the presence of armed soldiers on the streets of this country, tonight and through the coming week, it's pretty clear they still believe. There is a substantial terror threat.

HARLOW: Phil Black lives for us in Brussels. Phil, thank you for the reporting.

When you talk about acts of terror, they can also, of course, take root online, and the subject of cybersecurity you can bet will come up in the state of the union address on Tuesday night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a state of the union next week, one of the things we'll be talking about is cybersecurity. With the Sony attacks that took place, with the twitter account that was hacked by Islamist jihadist sympathizers yesterday, it just goes to shows how much more work we need to do both public and private sector to strengthen our cybersecurity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Joining me again, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen, also joining us this evening, retired U.S. Marine Corps major general James Williams.

Thank you both for being here.

Let me begin with you, General. When you look at amping up cybersecurity and doing it in a coordinated way, working with law enforcement, how are laws enforcement efforts integrated with cybersecurity efforts? And do you think that there needs to be better collaboration?

MAJ. GEN. JAMES WILLIAMS, (RET.) U.S. MARINE CORPS: Well, absolutely. Here in North Texas we have a great organization called the north Texas crime commission, of which I'm the chairman of the cybercrime committee. And one of the things that we do, we have a complete collaboration to support law enforcement at the federal, state and local level. And that includes the prosecutors with the U.S. attorney or the local district attorneys in the area.

And it's important that you understand that in that type of collaboration, you have all the various agencies, plus the FBI, secret service, homeland security investigations, the U.S. attorney general's office of the northern districts or eastern districts of Texas that are integrated. Of course, they're integrated across the United States with their fellow organization out there, or their sister organizations across the country in all of the 16 major cities of the United States, as well as at the state level.

So we're pretty integrated. It's really important because one of the things you want to do is as you ensure you're chasing terrorists and you are looking at the cyber world, almost everything is one of our U.S. attorneys here Malcolm Bale has said, every component of what he prosecutes has a cyber-component to it. So it is very important.

HARLOW: So Peter Bergen, on that point and the president is saying cyber terror, the country's biggest threat. Does it seem to you like the U.S. is often plays catch-up? And I wonder if there has to be a bigger focus on recruiting seriously the best and the brightest to come work for the government on this front rather than going to private entities?

PETER BERGEN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. Well, I mean, there's an argument to be made, Poppy, West Point where all the army's officers are trained. And, of course, other services, the marines and have their own training at Quantico, you know, that cyber should a bigger a part of the training.

But you know, I would also argue the other side of this which is the fact that so many terrorists are posting on facebook and twitter is actually extremely useful to law enforcement. It's completely legal for law enforcement to monitor a twitter account or facebook account. They don't need a court order. And many of the cases we have seen of Americans who try to join ISIS or Al-Qaeda in this country of late, I think have been generated by the fact there's a certainly generation that are comfortable ad they are over sharing and they are over sharing on social media about their views.

HARLOW: That's a very good point.

I mean, look, to you, General, as someone that works in this realm, how helpful has it been, all that has been posted online through the social media accounts of different terror cells, and people looking to be jihadis? We hear so many times that arrests of people at the airport are on their way, and that is because law enforcement has tracked them through what they posted online.

WILLIAMS: Absolutely. Well, it is very helpful because ultimately it's an open system and you know, part of social media is about the sharing of information. And this is why many people obviously like it, because it's very cost-effective, it is cheap, it is very quick, and you can pass a lot of information whether it's good or bad.

And the challenge I think we have is, you know, the proliferation of that information is becoming larger and larger. And as Peter said, it requires more and more talent on the law enforcement side, but also on the corporate side. You know, many corporations who have had breaches recently may or may not have had their systems used in a way that could be used by terrorists, and then the question is, you know, if they meet the compliance standards that businesses are supposed to have, the question is are they capable of understanding what is going on in their systems. And I would tell you that I think based on my experience, I see a disconnect between what the chief information officer knows and what CEOs and chairmen of boards know.

HARLOW: That's a great point. Thank you both, general and Peter Bergen. I appreciate it.

Coming up after a quick break, Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, both considering a presidential run in 2016, could we see a deja vu? We are going to preview the widening field, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: A look now to 2016, Republicans' race for the White House. The question isn't just who will run. It's more like who isn't running? I mean, we're really early on here, but still we love to talk about this. And who can likely beat democratic likely opponent? Not asking anything here, Hillary Clinton.

Just this weekend, Mitt Romney indicated he may join the race for the White House for a third time. If so, he joins an ever grows list of would-be candidates.

Let's talk more about this. Joining us again Tara Setmayer, Republican strategist and one of our political commentators here also joining us, Chris Moody, correspondent with CNNpolitics.com who has graced his present up here in New York.

Thank you guys for being here.

Chris, let me ask you this. GOP retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania. I know were there armed with the big Hershey bar. But a lot of the written about it and the criticism has been, they really didn't agree on anything. And you have both members of that Senate and House, 250 of them together. Was it a bust?

MOODY: Well, this was the first time the House and Senate had got together for something like this in ten years. They decided to do it after taking over the Senate. Thought it would be a good idea to see where the party priorities were going forward. They talked about immigration. The budget and, there was, of course, some gossip about the 2016 chatter.

There was not much agreement on this. They all had panels. They let people say what they wanted to say about these issues. Oftentimes at the end of this, they come forward with a set of proposals --

HARLOW: Like here's what we want to do?

MOODY: There was no such thing this time around, which could suggest there's a little bit more division than we might have anticipated. But it doesn't seem clear that the conservatives on the far right and maybe the leadership are really in sync, which is not that much of a surprise. But you often see --

HARLOW: But you need them in sync on things like immigration, for example.

HARLOW: But as John Boehner said during the retreat, there are 535 people on Capitol Hill. It's hard to get them to agree especially on an issue with contentious as immigration.

HARLOW: So, I want to talk about Mitt Romney with Tara because I know she's so excited that he might run again?

SETMAYER: No, I'm not. And I'm not the only one who feels this way. Mitt Romney blew an opportunity in 2012 to come in and make a difference and turn this country around. He shied away from his economic record. She shied away from his record at binge capital, which is actually stellar. He was equipped to handle the issues that are affecting the economy and he had no convention on that. And that bothered a lot of people, because it -- he felt as though -- you never knew why he was running. He had no vision. And people need to feel that connection nowadays.

That's partially what got Barack Obama elected. He made people feel warm and fuzzy. And Mitt Romney didn't that despite the fact that he probably would have been a fantastic president. Certainly, we would have been better off that we are right now. So seeing Mitt Romney jump into this again, I don't think anybody really is clamoring for him to run.

HARLOW: There are people clamoring for him to run.

SETMAYER: Not really.

HARLOW: And we were talking about this before when you look at representative Jason Chaffetz talking about this. He said this morning on "State Of The Union," he said look, Romney checks three boxes. He's vetted. Chaffetz is a big Romney supporter saying he has proven to be right on issues like Russia in the war of terror. That being his opinion. And that he has the billion dollars necessarily to beat Hillary Clinton. What do you think?

MOODY: With all due respect to Mr. Chaffetz, you need more that Mr. Chaffetz to win the presidency. But what we saw with the reporters covering the RNC event in San Diego and in Hershey, Pennsylvania, you didn't have people shouting Romney's name from the rooftops. There's still a lot of uneasiness about him -- I mean, we have a primary for a reason.

HARLOW: You mean a lack of -- you also have some Republicans saying there's not that inspirational aspect.

MOODY: But you don't see is people saying he is our standard bearer. We are moving forward with him. They're saying I'm open to the primary.

HARLOW: All right, guys, getting the wrap. Got to go. Thank you for joining us.

Also, coming up, we turn our focus back to terrorism. Ahead, are people more likely to be radicalized in Europe than in America? Meet a group of people who say yes. They explain why, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Following the Paris terror attacks, President Obama said one of the greatest dangers Europe faces is Muslims who don't feel like they're part of the community, that don't feel assimilated there.

Sarah Ganim spoke to Muslims who have lived in Europe and in the United States for their take.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARAH GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Muhammad El Khaoua and Shiza Khan are both Muslims and living in New York. Muhammad is student studying from France. Shiza is a lawyer who grew up in London.

In your experience, what's the difference between being Muslim in Europe, London, and being Muslim in United States of America?

SHIZA KHAN, LAWYER: I felt like I was more a part of the community in America as opposed to the community in England. I was always very conscious of the fact that I was a person of color. When I walked into a courtroom and I was out in restaurants, I was very aware of that. In America, I don't feel that at all. I feel like I am part of the community.

MUHAMMAD EL KHAOUA, STUDENT: Being a French Muslim in the U.S., I felt that my presence was less of a problem.

GANIM: According to a Pew study, most American Muslims have assimilated into the middle class or mainstream America. Meanwhile, European Muslims maintain a lower socio-economic status.

HARIS TARIN, MUSLIM PUBLIC AFFAIRS COUNCIL: I think there's a lot of isolation in European countries when it comes to the Muslim populations.

GANIM: Haris Tarin, director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in Washington compares it to inner city communities in Chicago, L.A., or New York. In fact, another Pew study found that in France, for example, more than a third felt discriminate against because of their religion or ethnicity.

TARIN: American Muslims are quite well integrated soc socio- economically. They're engaged in higher education, educational levels, professional class. So that difference really helps in terms of their integration into society and feeling as if they are part of America even though challenges of anti-Muslim sentiment still exist here.

GANIM: Muhammad's parents were Algerian and Moroccan immigrants to France. The family found jobs but not acceptance.

EL KHAOUA: In France, my perception is that we are not recognized as equal citizens. We are always asked to choose between our Frenchness or our Islamity. And I think this is the integration issue.

GANIM: Amnesty international calls Islamophobia one of Europe's biggest challenges and Tarin says it leaves the Muslim population there more vulnerable to radicalization.

TARIN: When you have that marginalization, no sense of national identity, no sense of being a French Muslim or being a European Muslim, those sentiments can play into the fears and paranoias.

GANIM: You're going back. Are you looking forward to it?

EL KHAOUA: To be frank, not really. The climate in France is extremely tense.

GANIM: Shiza, who moved her permanently, says that after just five years here, she feels more American than she ever did European.

KHAN: I do feel like an American. I mean, other than when it comes to football, I do support England. But I do truly feel that I am an American. I feel like -- like the American dream, I feel like it's something that I can pursue.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: It's fascinating to hear and those are just a few of the many, many opinions of people, you know, Muslim-Americans and Muslims living in Europe, what do you think, Bobby, when you watch that and you get the sense for some of these people they're saying they don't feel as assimilated in Europe as they do, say, here in America. Muslim Americans, Hispanic-Americans, fair?

GHOSH: Well, yes. I think it is fair. There are several reasons to think of just one of them, in Europe a very large proportion of the Muslim population are those who fled countries in north Africa or in the Middle East got on boats and came over to Europe out of desperation, fleeing political repression or looking for economic opportunity.

In the U.S., it's a much longer distance to travel. You have to pay for a ticket and come this far. People who come here are usually coming for a higher education or coming with a pretty decent chance of getting a job. And then once they get here, there are no social safety nets on which they can lean. They have to get a job to survive and they have to force themselves to integrate, and then you have a society that is open to integration in large parts.

These are all -- this is all good news. The thing to be worried about and we're a long way from being France or Germany or Britain, even is that Islamophobia is creeping into this country and you see that in conversations over terrorism since 9/11, there's been a serious uptick in that. We saw that a few years ago when there was a proposal to build a Muslim community center on ground zero. So Islamophobia, although it's nowhere near the levels you see in

France is creeping up in this country and that's something to guard against and to fix.

HARLOW: Do you think it's a central factor in radicalization in Europe and if so, what is the solution?

GHOSH: It is a big factor that there is a sense of disconnect with the society around them. It leads -- you add to that, unemployment. Generally the economies of Europe are in trouble on top of which you are Muslim you are facing discrimination.

HARLOW: Which I think people aren't talking about enough is that the lack of opportunity allows for this.

GHOSH: Allows for anger and resentment. It is felt in a lot of communities only in some small pockets, you have radical clerics or radical groups that are willing to pounce on that dissatisfaction and sense of angst and turn that into rage and then turn that rage into action.

So, and then, on top of everything else and now you have Syria and Iraq. So, you can drive it pretty much through Europe and get into Syria and get into Iraq and train to be a jihadi.

HARLOW: So very, very quickly. Twenty seconds left. The number one thing that can be done in the short term.

GHOSH: Communications. There is a lot more communications. Between mainstream France, for instance and the Muslim population. There's got to be much, much more communication, much less sense of us and them and a much more greater acceptance that they're here, they're going to stay. They're part of our community.

HARLOW: Part of us.

GHOSH: Yes.

HARLOW: Good to have you on, Bobby Ghosh. Appreciate you joining me this evening. We are going to take a quick break. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Well, after the U.S. was criticized for not sending someone high-profile enough to last Sunday's unity march in Paris, enter secretary of state John Kerry who came to the city of lights to deliver a diplomatic hug and also a song, a very famous song.

More from our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: On Friday in France, secretary of state John Kerry went in for love, and then things got awkward. It was the American no-show seen round the world. Last Sunday the

leaders of 50 nations joined some 3.5 million members of the public at the Paris march. So when secretary of state John Kerry made something of an apology to in Paris this week, even dragging along singer James Taylor as secretary Kerry describe it, to give the nation a big hug, he got a little bit too close even by French standards.

Taylor's rendition of You've Got A Friend was the perfect soundtrack as French president Francois Hollande and the French nation endured an awkward embrace.

Awkward indeed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)