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Trump: 'I Was 100% Right' with 9/11 Muslim Comment; Obama: 'Nothing Will Deter Us'; Planned parenthood Shooting Suspect Appearing in Court; McCain, Graham Call for More Troops in Syria & Iraq. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 30, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

HABERMAN: What that clip said was that officials detained and questioned a number of, quote unquote, people who were alleged to have been part of celebrations and tailgate-style parties on roofs. Not here are substantiated claims. It's they looked at claims.

[07:00:20] And then later, they said there was nothing to these claims. You have had the former Republican, by the way, attorney general in New Jersey say this was not true and it was looked at. But it doesn't matter, because Donald Trump supporters aren't bothered by this. They believe him. They think he's right. So he's going to keep saying it.

CAMEROTA: Exactly. Errol, we're at an impasse. The media keeps insisting on facts. And Donald Trump and his supporters say, "We know what we know."

LOUIS: Well, that's right. And look, it becomes something that I think anybody who has raised young children is familiar with. Right? Somebody is sort of caught up in a lie. They don't want to let go of the lie.

You know, if Donald Trump says that he rode to Jersey City on a unicorn and saw this with my own eyes, there are some people who would say, "I believe Donald Trump."

I think the rest of us mature, intelligent American voters are going to look at this and say, OK, let's just move on.

CAMEROTA: I mean, but some people do say that they did see people celebrating, not thousands, but they saw people celebrating. And that's enough for them and maybe for Trump. And that's why he won't let go of this.

LOUIS: Well, that's right. But look, Donald Trump has never renounced the birther claims. I mean, he has -- you know, he has allegiance to a number of falsehoods, that he has promoted nationally and internationally. It seems to work him for politically. That's too bad.

Our job is to tell the truth, help people see the truth; and the rest is really not our business.

CAMEROTA: We have to leave it there. Because we had all the breaking news out of Paris. Maggie, Errol, thank you so much. Great to see you, you guys.

We're following a lot of news this morning, so let's get right to it.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CUOMO: We're here in Paris. The president of the United States, Barack Obama, just addressed the COP-21 countries. Some 150 heads of state are here and he had a very powerful message about the promise of change, in effect changing the climate and the potential of global warming.

But he also said that just being here is an act of defiance. Remember, just two weeks ago, you had some of the worst attacks in French history here in and around Paris. Terror of a variety they had not seen. This today, we see French authorities out in a way that they've probably never been, certainly since World War II. There are over 100,000 police and military involved in keeping this summit safe.

So let's talk about the security environment here and what's going on, because it's the headline within the headline. This is about COP-21. But it's also about keeping people here safe with the terror threat.

So let's bring in CNN contributor Jean-Charles Brisard. He's also the chairman of a terror analysis company. We have French former commando and counterterrorism expert Fabrice Magnier. But we're going to talk to them about what's going on here.

But let's set the stage for what President Obama just said. We have senior correspondent Jim Acosta, who was following the president, obviously, here.

This is going to resonate not just here in Paris but around the world and specifically back home in the U.S., where climate change is still somewhat controversial, especially politically. Take us through it, Jim.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Chris.

President Obama just wrapped up his remarks here in Paris. He saluted the people of France for continuing on with this climate summit, despite what happened two weeks ago on the streets of Paris, when terrorists murdered dozens of people here.

The president said that he is here, that other world leaders are here to show their resolve, not only to confront the threat posed by ISIS but also to take on the challenge of climate change. And we heard the president in his remarks just a few moments ago, saying that the U.S. is here not only as the world's strongest economy but also the second largest emitter of carbon emissions. And that if the United States can do it, if countries like China can do it, and that is contained their carbon emissions, so can every other planet -- country on the planet.

But as you said, Chris, this was a somber start to this climate summit. Earlier this morning, for our viewers who missed it because they were sleeping, every world leader who was gathered here observed a moment of silence in honor of the victims of the Paris attacks.

And as soon as President Obama landed overnight, he was whisked over to the Bataclan Theater, where he laid a single white rose in memory of the people murdered by ISIS in this city.

And the French capital, Chris, is very much on the edge, as you might expect, in the aftermath of the attacks November 13. Protesters clashed with French authorities on Sunday over new rules that were set to clamp down on large-scale demonstrations.

If you want to have a large-scale demonstration in Paris, you can't do it because of the rules that were put in place after the Paris attacks.

There is also intense security in place all week long here in Paris to protect the more than 150 world leaders who are gathered here for these talks. Earlier this morning, President Obama and Chinese President Xi met to discuss this climate summit, as well as the would war on ISIS.

And these leaders, we should point out, are in pursuit of a large climate agreement that will commit nearly every country on earth to big reductions in carbon emissions over the next couple of decades.

[07:05:11] But Chris, climate scientists aren't sure it will be enough to avert the most severe effects of global warming. But as President Obama was saying just a few moments ago in his remarks, you have to start somewhere, and they're trying to start here in Paris -- Chris.

CUOMO: Well, and he's got an even tougher bar at home. Politically, there are a lot of people who are saying that they don't believe in climate change the way the scientists do. So there's a bigger challenge for the president than most. Jim Acosta, thank you very much. We'll check back in with you in a little bit.

So let's bring in Jean-Charles Brisard and Fabrice Magnier. Introduced you guys twice, because you're more important. Now, obviously, climate change is important about it. But President Obama says this is an act of defiance holding this summit.

A lot of people in the security community, Jean-Charles, say it's more than an act of defiance. It's a little risky and almost reckless, given the security environment in and around Paris right now. How do you think the situation stands?

JEAN-CHARLES BRISARD, CHAIRMAN, CENTER FOR ANALYSIS OF TERRORISM: Well, the French government has gone a lot and mobilized a lot of personnel for this event. I think the importance is to show unity against terrorism. It's a unique moment and a unique opportunity, not only to show unity and solidarity, but also probably to try to build up a coalition against ISIS in Syria, which President Hollande has been trying to build in the few previous weeks.

And so this is important, because we have all the head of state here in Paris. Together against a single threat of terrorism that we all face. CUOMO: Practical and political. You need this to be safe. You need

the French to be able to show that they can keep this summit safe. It will be a step forward for them in their battle. Is it true that, since World War II, you've never seen an enactment of security like this, some 120,000 military and police shutting the loop highway that goes around Paris to try and control movement in here. All the different aspects of operation. Is this unique?

BRISARD: Yes, this is unique in terms of, again, our forces that are mobilized for this event in terms of also not only those on the streets that we can see but also the intelligence services, the oldest security forces, the French security forces are mobilized to ensure that this event will be a success in terms of security. Of course, it's essential.

CUOMO: What's driving this, why they are so concerned, is because of what they have been learning about the amount and the depth of terror networks that they have in France. How big a challenge is it still, Fabrice?

FABRICE MAGNIER, COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: It's a big challenge. It's not over. We are just two weeks until the event; and everybody knows now that we have some difficulties to identify all those networks, the networks in France and also out of others.

So for sure we are still in a state of emergency, and we are continuing to chase those guys, because we have guys still on the run in France. We are looking at them. Maybe they are still there. We don't know. Maybe they are weaponing much more terrorist attack during COP-21. And so we have to maintain our police forces. And we've seen where 15,000 police officers, military guys in suits around Paris. We have 8,000 police officers to control our border. So it's big, big change (ph) for us to continue our enforcement and chase those guys. It's not over.

CUOMO: Some of those close to the investigation say the good -- the good news is, they're doing more operations. They're learning more all the time.

MAGNIER: Exactly.

CUOMO: The bad news is they're afraid that putting pressure on the networks and the bad guys, let's say, may force action sooner. Is that still a risk?

MAGNIER: It's a possibility because during even "Charlie Hebdo" attacks, even a few days after the SWAT team killed the guys, we stopped different terrorist attacks in that same week. So they were still going on. So maybe they will try to accelerate the effort to strike France. We don't know exactly, but for sure, you have to very aware about it.

CUOMO: You think the state of emergency, which is, again, unprecedented in recent French history, do you think it gets extended beyond the three months? BRISARD: Probably, because we see the effects of this state of

emergency. It's very important in terms of searches of places, including mosques, that were out of our scope until now. And it produces real results in terms of an investigation.

We'll know these results by the end of the period. Again, this is very important, especially because the threat remains. Because we know what was said when individuals are on the run. Networks exist. That's what testimonies have told us, that these networks exist, and they're ready to strike here or elsewhere in Europe.

[07:10:17] CUOMO: Mr. Brisard, Mr. Magnier, thank you very much.

We're dealing with new normal from a terrorist and a security standpoint. We're also dealing with a new normal in terms of why they came together for COP-21. There is a belief that this is the moment for progress and change on a global scale.

A big part of the belief is that it won't just be governments. It has to be private and public partnerships. Bill Gates, you know him, the former Microsoft founder. He's a huge philanthropist, and he has come up with an idea that he's going to announce with President Obama here at the COP-21 to put an infusion of money into technology and innovation, the likes of which we have never seen.

Bill Gates will be joining us on NEW DAY to have that conversation. For now, let's get back to Alisyn and Michaela in New York for the other news. Big news coming out of Paris.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely, Chris. We'll look forward to hearing from him.

Meanwhile, back here at home, the man suspected of gunning down three people at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood clinic expected to face a judge today as we learn more about his violent past.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is live in Colorado Spring with the latest -- Stephanie.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

We know that there were nine people that were injured in the shooting that happened on Friday and three people that lost their lives. We now know who those three people are.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM (voice-over): This morning, the two civilians killed in the brazen shooting at a Planned Parenthood in Colorado are now identified. Authorities say 29-year-old Iraq War veteran Ke'Arre Marcell Stewart and 36-year-old mother of two, Jennifer Markovsky, were shot and killed Friday, along with university officer Garrett Swayze, by 57-year-old Robert Dear.

Investigators are now trying to zero in on Dear's motive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shots! I'm under fire, shots! I'm hit! ELAM: After a bloody six-hour stand-off, leaving the three dead and nine more injured, Dear made remarks about, quote, "baby parts" after surrendering, according to a law enforcement official. The official also says the suspect expressed anti-abortion and anti-government views to officers. Neighbors say Dear once gave them anti-Obama flyers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Handed us some Obama flyers and this is like, "If you've got time to look at this later."

ELAM: It's still unclear whether these opinions may have motivated the deadly assault.

JOHN SUTHERS, MAYOR OF COLORADO SPRINGS: You can certainly infer what it may have been in terms of where it took place and the manner in which it took place.

ELAM: This shooting comes just a few months after a series of videos produced by anti-abortion activists were released.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I used to babysit her when she was small.

ELAM: Meanwhile, family members of victim Jennifer Markovsky remembered a devoted stay-at-home mother.

JOEY BAUTISTA, MARKOVSKY FAMILY FRIEND: You asked her for help, she helped.

NANCY KERRIGAN, OLYMPIC MEDALIST: David Swayze picked me up at school every day in high school and drove me to the ice rink.

ELAM: Former Olympian and figure skating legend Nancy Kerrigan grieves over the loss of Officer Swayze. The two skated together as children and were family friends.

KERRIGAN: You can't explain it. It's horrific and sad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: As far as Dear is concerned, the alleged shooter, he's expected to be arraigned today here at the El Paso County Criminal Justice Center. It is expected to be a video conference for his arraignment, not something that is too surprising in a case like this, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Stephanie. Thanks so much for that.

We should also mention later this hour, we will be joined by Planned Parenthood executive vice president Dawn Laguens about their plans, moving forward.

PEREIRA: Also breaking overnight, the University of Chicago has canceled classes today after an online threat of gun violence. The university president says he learned of the threat from FBI counterterrorism officials who say the individual mentioned a specific area and time, the campus quad at 10 a.m. Monday morning. Students in campus housing are being asked to stay indoors as much as possible today.

CAMEROTA: Also in Chicago, a judge expected to decide today whether Police Officer Jason Van Dyke should be granted bail. He's charged with first-degree murder in the death of that 17-year-old, Laquan McDonald, last year. Van Dyke is accused of shooting the black teenager 16 times. Saw that graphic dash cam video. It was just released last week, and it has sparked protests across the city. Van Dyke has been held without bond since his arrest.

PEREIRA: Also breaking overnight, a charter bus driver in Virginia has been charged with reckless driving after his bus overturned, injuring dozens of college students on board. State police say the driver lost control on an on ramp outside Richmond.

One passenger was seriously injured. Thirty-three others suffered bumps and bruises. That bus was packed with students heading back to Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia and Radford University.

CAMEROTA: The NSA ending the bulk collection of Americans' phone metadata this past weekend. Moving forward, the intelligence community must get a warrant or court order to access specific records. But the NSA has requested limited access to old data until the end of February. The shift comes more than two years after details of the controversial program were leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden.

[07:15:15] PEREIRA: Twenty-thousand U.S. troops to Iraq and Syria, that's what two Republicans on the Armed Services Committee think it will take to stop ISIS there and to keep the terror group from striking here. We're going to ask senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham about their strategy, live, next. There they are.

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CAMEROTA: As U.S. world leaders -- as world leaders, I should say, work to build a coalition to fight ISIS, two prominent Republican lawmakers are calling for the U.S. to deploy more ground troops to the region. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham join us from Iraq this morning. Senator Graham is also a Republican presidential candidate.

Gentlemen, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY all the way from Irbil, Iraq. It's great to see you.

Senator Graham, let me start with you. Tell us what -- we know that neither of you are fans of the current Obama administration strategy to fight ISIS.

Senator Graham, what have you seen on the ground in your past few days and what are you specifically calling for now?

[07:20:12] SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: OK. Some progress. I think Ramadi, which is in Anbar province, can be taken back from ISIL. And I want to congratulate General McFarland and the Iraqi security forces. But otherwise, Mosul, which is a very large city in Iraq is still in ISIL hands. There's no strategy regarding Syria. We had a major city in Libya, a city in Libya, the home of Khadafy fall into ISIS hands. It's all about Syria. There is no credible regional strategy. There's no ground component to destroy ISIL in Syria. If you don't destroy them in Syria where the caliphate is headquartered, you never fix Libya or Iraq.

So just a lack of strategy. American leadership and foreign policy is in freefall.

CAMEROTA: Senator McCain, I know that you agree with your colleague and friend, Senator Graham.

So President Obama would say that the strategy in Syria, the airstrikes, they say the airstrikes are working. But you both are calling for more ground troops. Am I right about the number 20,000 that you think would do the job of getting rid of ISIS in Syria and Iraq?

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: Well, the first thing we need is what's agreed by Hillary Clinton is a no-fly zone in Syria so we can protect the people from barrel bombing, have a place where the refugees could go and stop the slaughter that is driving so many millions of people into refugee status.

The second thing we need to do is probably have some kind of coalition of largely Arab countries to go to Syria and take out ISIS. Look, it's this simple. We're going to fight them there or we're going to fight them in Washington, D.C., or Phoenix, Arizona.

And they are metastasizing. Lindsey just mentioned Libya. They're metastasizing all over the Middle East. And we do not have a regional strategy.

We think some number of troops, along with this coalition, would be the way to take out ISIS. And to also make sure that Bashar al-Assad leaves power, as well, since he is the butcher that has killed 250,000 of his own people.

CAMEROTA: Senator Graham, I've read that you are proposing a 100,000- strong force, provided by Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. This weekend, former secretary of defense, Robert Gates, said that will not work. Let me play for you what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: You hear people talk about sending combat formations from Arab nations into Iraq to fight ISIS. That's just not going to happen. First, they are not going to send their troops, not willing to send their troops.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right.

GATES: But second, the Iraqis probably wouldn't allow them to come anyway. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So Secretary Graham, what makes you think that Egypt and Turkey and Saudi Arabia want to send 100,000 troops?

GRAHAM: Clearly, you're not listening to what I'm saying. I've never suggested we send an Arab army into Iraq. I'm suggesting we need 10,000 American troops to help the Iraqis destroy ISIL in Iraq.

CAMEROTA: OK.

GRAHAM: We have 3,500. At this pace, they'll still be -- ISIL will still be in Iraq. I'm suggesting that we create a regional army to go into Syria, because there's nobody left in Syria to destroy ISIL. If we don't destroy ISIL in Syria they're going to hit the American homeland.

And the Arabs feel threatened by ISIL as much as we do. And they don't want Assad in power, because he's a puppet of Iran, their mortal enemy. For two years, I've been saying that what we're doing is not working. You've got radical Islam running wild. The theocracy in Iran, which are religious Nazis -- the ayatollah's a religious Nazi -- is controlling four Arab capitals. At what point do we realize that this is not working? You better do something quick or we're going to get hit at home. That's my takeaway.

CAMEROTA: OK, but Senator Graham, let me just stick with you for a second because do you have some suggestion that Egypt and Turkey and Saudi Arabia would be willing to send a force like that into Syria?

GRAHAM: With American leadership, yes. We were talking to the now king of Saudi Arabia before he became king, and he told John McCain, who he admires greatly, "You can have our army. You've just got to deal with Assad."

The emir of Qatar said, "I'll pay for the operation." But they're not going to just fight ISIL and let Damascus fall into the hands of the Iranians. Assad has to go.

I mean, all I can tell the American people is we have two goals similar to the Arabs in Turkey: to destroy ISIL, which is a threat in common to all of us, and to weaken Iran, which is a grave threat to the region and, I think, the world.

[07:25:14] And this coalition could be formed with American leadership. Our foreign policy is in free fall. Nobody is going to follow us until we change our strategy.

CAMEROTA: OK. So Senator McCain, Secretary Gates is wrong, in other words? You have gotten an indication that those nations would be willing to send their troops?

MCCAIN: Wait, wait, wait.

GRAHAM: Iraq. MCCAIN: Secretary Gates obviously misunderstood, because he said -- he said Iraq. Secretary Gates has been one of the strongest critics of a lack of any coherent strategy anywhere in the Middle East, especially Iraq and Syria.

If America leads, others follow. Right now you see Saudi troops on the ground in Yemen because of the threat of the Iranian-backed people that have taken Yemen.

The Paris attacks should have awakened all of us. If our answer is not the correct one, then fine. We'd be glad to debate it with anybody. But to say that business as usual is working is deceptive and dangerous to the security of the United States of America.

CAMEROTA: OK. Senators McCain and Graham, always great to get your perspective. Thanks so much for joining us.

Let's get back out now to Chris in Paris.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn. We just heard President Obama speaking, addressing the COP-21 here, the Conference of Parties. This is the 21st annual U.N.-sanctioned discuss about the climate. He says, even though it's COP-21, this is really the last best chance to make the changes that are necessary.

Now, we didn't get you to play you his whole speech. You can watch it online. But we are going to give more time to this discussion. Because it won't just be governments. It has to be private and public. And a big part of the private investment here is going to come from a man named Bill Gates. We all know him, and now you'll get to see him on your screen. He's ready to do an interview with Christiane Amanpour and me.

We're going to be talking to him about what can it be achieved at a COP-21? What the real chances are for progress and what needs to happen to make climate change that some generation of Americans will look at in the rearview mirror.

So stay with us. We're going to talk to him, coming up on "NEW DAY."

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