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Hala Gorani Tonight

Joint News Conference By French and Russian Presidents; White House Reportedly On Lockdown; Turkish President Says His Country Will Not Apologize to Russia Over Downed Jet; France and Russia Pledge To Coordinate Air Strikes Against ISIS. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired November 26, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:00]

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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: (As translated) -- acceptable to our partners. A coalition which has been set up but an instance of the death of

our pilot and such an incident that's taken place and died in the arms of his comrade is absolutely not acceptable.

And we start from the premise that that will not be repeated and such mutual action won't -- is not need with any coalition and any partner, and

that was the reason for our negotiations with France. We have agreed to how we're going to work together in the near future including with the

coalition overall including ISIS territory where we can strike, where we need to restrain ourselves in the strikes, exchanging of information and

other questions and the coordination of actions on the battlefield as far as oil is concerned.

And in fact it is apparently being destroyed on the territory of Turkey. Turkey and Ankara have shown photographs, and have already spoken about

this publicly. 5,000 kilometers - (inaudible) where our pilots were. Caught cars carrying oil which appear to be a living oil pipeline about -- of an

industrial scale of the supply of oil, captured from Syria, seized from the terrorists. And it is from that territory and not any other territory and

we see from the oil where these cars are traveling -- these vehicles are traveling day and night. They're going to Turkey.

So we have to - it's -- and so -- are we to suppose that the Turkish leadership knows nothing about it, it's hard to believe although in theory

it's possible. But nevertheless, this means that the Turkish authorities must not ignore such things. We have to direct our actions that the special

resolution of the United - to the United Nations, about against buying oil from terrorists.

There is the blood of our citizens' money buying oil, weapons, equipment and then there are bloody actions from our plane in Paris and other cities

of the world. And so if they are developing oil and then destroying, this is on an industrial scale. As I repeat we need special whole enterprises

for this, which is not happening.

If we look at the higher political leadership, so that they should find out that there can be elements of corporate corruption and we need to sort this

out. But the fact is this oil is going to Turkey, we have no doubts. We see this. Constantly, we see its empty and then we see these vehicles going

from the territory, it is seized from the territory -- from the terrorists. We see this and now as far every day -- as far about this situation with

the President of Turkey. This is a matter for the Turkish people. We have never intervened. We are not planning to intervene, but we really regret

that this unprecedented level of our relations between our states -- with Turkey, compared to the last few years, last decade, this is a very high

and therefore not just neighbors, but friendly relations. We are -- we have been allies. It is very sad that this has been violated in such a crude

way.

FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT: Mr. President, I'm going to reply to the question that was asked from the French point of view. There is a

coalition that already exists. It has existed for several months. France participates in it and its field of action is Iraq.

[15:05:00]

HOLLANDE: And together with the Iraqi government, it is very important to be able to bring about the necessary support to fight against the

organization Daesh and the terrorists that are in Iraq. This coalition is then geographically broadened itself towards Syria. France is intervening

in Syria, in connection with this coalition decided in September with flights and now strikes.

A legitimate force which has been well established because we know that the terrorists who have struck Paris and the city of Saint-Denis were trained

and alas prepared to carry out their sinister attacks from Raqqa. That is to say from Syria.

We now want to set up a coordination. It really is necessary, it is essential in order to avoid incidents, but first of all to be effective and

efficient to strike Daesh, the terrorists. This coordination must be a cooperation of exchange of information of intelligence choice of targets

and this makes it possible to act. And the United Nations through this resolution of the Security Council have called for this engagement. This

commitment. And the European countries have also undertaken their responsibility.

If we want to be efficient and that's the second point I want to emphasize, we have to strike Daesh where their training centers are. The organization,

this terrorist army, but we also need to strike with this supply, in particular oil. And if there's a point in which we need to coordinate

ourselves it is to strike where these lorries in large numbers are supplying themselves with oil which people then buy and giving sources to

Daesh.

So as far as this information is concerned, we are going to continue to strike these vehicles and these places of exploitation of oil sources,

which serve Daesh as a form of finance.

Finally, I also have affirmed that we have to support the groups who locally can allow for the reconquering and France together with the

countries of the coalition we are going to favor these groups so that they can act against Daesh. It's still the same objective to act against Daesh

and to destroy this terrorist organization.

As far as our planes which supposedly was not recognized by the Turkish air force, that is not possible. They have signs of recognition. They know what

our planes look like, first of all. Secondly, I want to say again we have agreements with the American side. We gave them information about where our

aircraft will be working, in which places. We start from the premise that this Turkey is a member of this coalition, and must know that the Russians

are working there. That is what - what if they had known this American plane was going to strike, what would they have done? And so these - I'm

very sorry, a great regret, and instead of seriously dealing with this we have to ensure that this never happens. And yet, there's some -- we don't

have explanations for what the reason for this. That was not our choice. That is the Turkish side.

Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HALA GORANI, CNN HOST: All right. I'm Hala Gorani. We are live in Paris. We have been following this joint news conference by the French and Russian

Presidents. Of course a crucial time for both countries as the fight against ISIS ramps up, both in Iraq and Syria as well.

Now did the French President get the level of cooperation he wanted from Russia? Has he been able to convince Vladimir Putin that Russia should work

with the United States against ISIS.

[15:10:06]

Matthew Chance is live in the Russian capital for more on this news conference in Moscow by Vladimir Putin and Francois Hollande.

So what should we take away from what Putin had to say today, Matthew?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORREPONDENT: Well, it was interesting because they're obviously both talking the same language in

terms of the need to tackle ISIS and the need to destroy that group.

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CHANCE: But the way in which that's going to happen still, you know, is a little unclear. If we're to - if we're to read between the lines of what

that news conference was saying.

Basically, Vladimir Putin at the beginning of the session said look, you know, the President of France and I have considered a broad -- considered a

broad anti-terrorism front under the auspices of the United Nations. But Putin said not all countries are accepting of this.

And so Vladimir Putin expressing some frustration that, you know, a U.N. mandated mission to bring together all the various air forces currently

striking ISIS and other rebel groups together is not something presumably the United States and some of its other allies would be agreeable to.

But they did agree to do a number of things. Interestingly, Francois Hollande saying that they have agreed the Russian and the French

leaderships to exchange intelligence on ISIS and to coordinate strikes against that terrorist group as well.

And so I think as a result of this meeting, at least, there will be you know, at least the idea that Russia and the countries in the NATO alliance

including France will be able to coordinate -- continue to coordinate I should say in the skies over Syria, despite the fact that this is a massive

complication that's been introduced to the whole equation. The fact that Turkey has shot down a Russian plane. And Vladimir Putin again clearly

absolutely furious about that. Saying it will never be allowed to happen again.

He talked about the deployments of those very sophisticated surface-to-air missiles that we have seen pictures in the past hour or so of the missiles

arriving in Syria and being deployed near the Latakia air base.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHANCE: Previously Vladimir Putin said we didn't feel there was a need to deploy missiles like that. We had no idea a country that we regarded as an

ally would strike us in this way. I'm paraphrasing him a little bit, but that's essentially what he had to say.

So some interesting stuff coming out of this late night press conference between the French and Russian Presidents, Hala.

GORANI: But I suppose from France's perspective, they really want the U.S. and Russia, the two main actors in these bombing campaigns, two separate

bombing campaigns in Syria to work together, rather than to work in parallel. Is there a possibility based on what we have heard that Vladimir

Putin may be moving in that direction at all?

CHANCE: Well, not from what I heard. In fact, if anything I was sensing Vladimir Putin moving in the opposite direction. I mean, he again sort of

accused the United States of some kind of involvement in the shooting down of that Russian plane and that's what's really driving Putin right now, the

aftermath of that shooting down.

Saying, that you know, we always tell the United States where our pilots are working. We assume that they're passing on that information to the

allies as well, so either they knew about it and didn't act, or they can't control their allies is what Vladimir Putin said.

And so there were some pretty hard words -- harsh words for the United States as well. So you know in short, no, it doesn't look like the

relationship is becoming more trusting. It looks like it's becoming less trusting.

GORANI: All right, Matthew Chance, our senior international correspondent, live in Moscow with more on the French President's visit to the Russian

capital and that joint news conference with Vladimir Putin.

All right, we've got some breaking news to report. The Secret Service in Washington has detained a man who tried to jump the fence at the White

House.

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GORANI: Now, these are tense times of course around the world after the Paris attacks and The First Family was in fact inside celebrating the

Thanksgiving holiday at the time. The White House is now reportedly on lockdown. We are following this story, we will bring you more information

as it becomes available. But as I mentioned, a man jumped the fence at the White House, the secret service immediately detained him. And of course

lots of precaution here being taken with this lockdown they instituted at the White House in Washington, D.C.

Now, we heard from the Russian President, in fact he was accusing Turkey basically of buying oil from terrorists, i.e. ISIS.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: So really no love lost between Vladimir Putin and the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He said his country will not apologize to

Russia over the downed fighter jet that it shot out of the sky. He spoke exclusively with Becky Anderson sounding defiant at times. Take a listen.

[15:15:13]

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RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT: (As translated) Well, I think if there's a party that needs to apologize it's not us. Those who violated our

air space are the ones who need to apologize. Our pilots and our armed forces they simply fulfilled their duties which consisted of responding to

a violation to the Rules of Engagement. I think this is the essence.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sergey Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, has called this planned provocation and Putin has accused

you of deliberately driving relations between your two countries to a standstill. Your response?

ERDOGAN: (As translated) Well, first of all, there is no deliberate effort from our side to bring the relationship to a standstill. I think these are

emotional attitudes to the issue. I don't think it's the right thing to say. We have never had this kind of an intention to bring the relationship

to this kind of a point.

ANDERSON: Can you confirm that you'll meet and talk with President Putin in Paris?

ERDOGAN: (As translated) We have made such a request and there has been no response to my request yet. But our ministers of foreign affairs had

contact yesterday and President Hollande is going to talk to President Putin today and then he said that he, you know, would give me -- or share

some information with me. And the day the incident happened, I actually called the president.

ANDERSON: Did he take your call that day -- President Putin out of interest?

ERDOGAN: (As translated) No, no, we did not talk. We could not talk. They - - you know, then called us back, but that talk didn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: That was the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Bernard Kouchner, the Former Foreign Minister of France joins me now with more.

Very complicated times.

BERNARD KOUCHNER, FORMER FOREIGN MINISTER OF FRANCE: Yes.

GORANI: In the Middle East. We heard from the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, we heard from the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the

French President wants this grand coalition against the terrorist ISIS. But it doesn't seem like he's going to get his wish.

KOUCHNER: Well, it seems to be the beginning of the (inaudible) of coordination. Of course, it was certainly a good approach after President

Obama, President Putin, Madame Merkel, et cetera.

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KOUCHNER: But it takes time. They are fighting each other. Not militarily fighting but they are against each other. And the real - I mean not of all

the stories, this is what about Bashar al Assad?

So the Russians are still in favor of Bashar and bombing the people -- fighting against Bashar. And he said, Putin, President Putin, tonight

that, well, he would target only he said the terrorists. What does that mean?

GORANI: But it does sound like -- you mentioned Bashar al Assad and we've heard from leaders including the French President Hollande today saying

Bashar al Assad cannot be part of the future of Syria.

KOUCHNER: Yes, he said so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: But there is a softening on another level, which is the idea perhaps he could be tolerated in a transition.

KOUCHNER: He would be tolerated until the transition. But the transition -- What is the transition? Elections? It's impossible to organize elections in

such a country, completely broken. Not only broken, but I mean it take months and months to organize that.

But yes, I believe that even with the Americans it will be accepted, when I don't know exactly, to talk about the transition. And meanwhile, to hit the

terrorists with Daesh, but Putin said, President Putin, that he will not target, he will not bomb not kill the other group against Bashar. He said

terrorists.

GORANI: But he has been - he has been.

KOUCHNER: He has been today.

GORANI: But then he calls the moderate opposition terrorists as well so he says he won't target, you know, rebels but only terrorists.

KOUCHNER: This is the beginning of the negotiation. step by step, second after second, month after month, I don't know, we'll certainly organize a

sort of coalition, not coalition, but coordination in between - the American, the French, the Europe, and Putin.

GORANI: Will it be too late for Syria? Some people are saying it's already too late for Syria.

KOUCHNER: Exactly.

GORANI: Action should have been taken years ago before the country was broken.

KOUCHNER: But action, is action - bombing is an action. Are you ready? I mean the American, are we ready, the French? to send ground troops, no,

we are not. Special forces yes.

[15:20:10]

KOUCHNER: And certainly we should all the American, the French -- I don't know about the Russians, support and really back the Kurdish people. The

Kurdish people took over a town, Sinjar, alone. Only the Syrian Kurds, and the Iraqi Kurds. So what it was a real progress and the ground troops are

there.

GORANI: Yes, let me ask you about what in France here on November 13th. Bombing Daesh, ISIS, is that going to have any impact really on radicalized

young men who go fight abroad and come back here and kill their open citizens?

KOUCHNER: Well I can't say no. Yes, I hope so, but I mean, it's a deep -- very important problem among the youth, not only in France, but certainly

all over coming from the rest of Europe. By thousand or by hundred, they are joining the Daesh in fact.

So this is a very important problem of (inaudible). With no (inaudible) in fact, just fighting against the civilization, this is not only unacceptable

but it should be punished.

GORANI: But at the same time, the French response needs to make sense. Does it make sense to bomb from the air a group in Syria when the problem is

probably more --

KOUCHNER: Oh yes, you're talking only about the French --

GORANI: No, I mean because the attacks -

KOUCHNER: You're doing self - you're doing (inaudible).

GORANI: Because the attacks happened here and the intensification of the aerial campaign followed immediately after these terrorist attacks.

KOUCHNER: I don't want to say that. It is the whole answer, but this is part of the answer. We cannot support these people, I mean, plotting from

Syria against the French (inaudible) cities is impossible, but (inaudible) right. This is a very difficult problem of generation without goals,

targets, ideals. That's important.

GORANI: Bernard Kouchner, the former French Foreign Minister, thanks very much. Always a pleasure having your take and your analysis on the important

developments.

A lot more ahead. More on the breaking news from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

As the Secret Service detains a White House jumper. A live report from our correspondent coming up.

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[15:25:25]

GORANI: Let's bring you more on that breaking story from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: The White House is on lockdown right now after a man tried to jump the fence on the north side while the First Family was inside.

Let's get more from CNN Athena Jones, she's in the U.S. capital with more. What happened and do we know who this man is?

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're still getting details in right now, so we don't yet have the identity of the jumper. But I can tell you the

White House is on lockdown. The Secret Service has apprehended this man, so it's not an ongoing situation. But the residence is still on lockdown. The

First Family is at the residence, celebrating Thanksgiving.

So, this is a very serious scenario. We know that the Secret Service apprehended the man after he jumped over the northside - the fence on the

northside of the White House. That's the front of the White House, the view that we're used to seeing. And he was almost immediately apprehended by

Secret Service.

I have gotten a few more details from our folks there at the White House. Cameraman Khalil Abdellah, he says the man was wearing a blue shirt, white

pants and was wrapped in a flag.

He jumped over the first temporary barricade that's set up in front of the White House fence, jumped over the bike racks and then he proceed to jump

the White House fence itself.

Secret Service agents on the ground started to yell at him to get on the ground with their guns drawn. He did get on the ground at this point with

his hands up. He was holding we're told a white envelope in one of his hands, as he put them up. And so that is the information we have coming in.

We know that Secret Service agents responded with their K-9 dogs as you would expect.

But you know this is not the first time you've had someone breaching that fence. This has happened over and over again. And in fact over the summer,

seven inch steel spikes were added to the top of that White House fence as a temporary measure to try to deter just this sort of thing.

There are longer term plans in the works for buttressing that barrier and to make sure that absolutely no fence jumpers can get over. But you can

tell the seven inches. That additional seven inch spikes didn't seem to do the job.

You'll remember one of most infamous breaches was in September of 2014 when a man jumped the White House Fence and made it all the way in to the

residence. So this is a matter the Secret Service is taking very, very seriously. Hala?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: All right, absolutely. The Thanksgiving Fence Jumper apprehended though but the White House still on lockdown. And Athena we will reconnect

with you for more details when they emerge.

GORANI: Now, new information emerging about the Paris attacks from the band that was on stage at the Bataclan concert venue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: 89 people were murdered there. An Eagles of Death Metal member told Vice News they literally stared death in the face.

SHAWN LONDON, SOUND ENGINEER, EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: People started dropping to the ground, injuries, death, you know? Then also running --

there's nowhere to go. So they basically ran into me, towards me and jumped down below my console. And I was still standing up and I could see the

gunman. And he looked right at me. And he shot at me and he missed. And he hit my console. And buttons went flying everywhere. Like the console got

shot. That's when I went instantly down to the ground and we all just huddled.

And I think he thought I probably got hit because I went down so quickly and everybody else around was injured. This was blood all over. He stayed

there and continued to shoot and shoot and slaughter and just scream at the top of his lungs Allahu Akbar. And that's when I instantly knew what was

going on.

JESSE HUGES, EAGLES OF DEATH CO-FOUNDER: I want to thank everyone for everything they have done for us. I don't think really i could have, -- I

don't think any of us could have handled it without the bizarre really unique support especially from our French the kids that were there. I feel

like we are in it together, especially now. And I really am grateful for that.

REPORTER: Julian?

JULIAN DORIO, DRUMMER, EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: Our relationship with our fans and it shows is very much reciprocated and we really appreciate that

and love that. And look forward to seeing them again.

[15:30:02]

MATT MCJUNKINS, EAGLES OF DEATH METAL: Music is what we do. It's our lives. And there's no way we're not going to keep doing it. But hearing from

people and hearing their stories, we don't -- we don't want that to stop. Anybody who wants to reach out to us, they -- they are welcome any time and

playing every night and seeing -- seeing those smiling faces out in the crowd that's what keeps us going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Well, that was the band Eagles of Death Metal speaking to Vice News. We'll be right back.

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GORANI: Welcome back, a look at our top stories. France and Russia are pledging to coordinate air strikes against ISIS calling the terrorist a

common enemy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: President Francois Hollande, and Vladimir Putin met late into the night in Moscow. They agreed to share intelligence on ISIS and similar

militant groups in Syria to improve the effectiveness of their bombing campaign.

Also among out top stories this hour the Secret Service has detained a man who tried to jump a fence at the White House, just minutes ago. The First

Family was inside, they were celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, at the time. The White House is now reportedly still on lockdown. We're following

this story and we'll bring you more information when we have it.

Also, Belgium has reduced the terror alert in Brussels nearly a week after it was raised to the highest level. The restrictions had seen schools and

the metro closed for a time, but the city is still on edge. The security scare at the Brussels Grand Mosque turned out to be a false alarm.

[16:35:05]

GORANI: Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to see Pope Francis celebrate mass on the second day of his tour in Africa. He also made a

speech at the U.N. office in Nairobi where there was a stern environmental warning ahead of the environmental warning ahead of big climate conference

in Paris.

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(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: The British Prime Minister is pushing for air strikes in Syria. He told lawmakers in London that Britain cannot "outsource its security to its

allies." But the U.K's opposition leader was more skeptical and has since come out to say that he will not support strikes on Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: My first responsibility as Prime Minister and our first job in this house is to keep the British people

safe. We have the assets to do that. And we can significantly extend the capabilities of the international coalition forces.

That is one reason why members of the international coalition including President Obama and President Hollande have made it clear to me that they

want Britain to stand with them in joining air strikes in Syria as well as Iraq. These are our closest allies and they want our help.

JEREMY CORBYN, BRITISH OPPOSITION LEADER: In the light of the record of the western military intervention in recent years, including Iraq, Afghanistan,

and Libya, does the Prime Minister accept that the U.K. bombing of Syria could risk more of what President Obama called unintended consequences? And

the lasting defeat of ISIL can only be secured by Syrians and their forces within the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Gerald Howarth is a former British Defense Minister, and a Member of Parliament, he's called the Paris attacks a wake-up call. He joins me

now live from London.

Sir, thanks for being with us. First of all you are in support of extending British strikes to Syria, correct?

GERALD HOWARTH, FORMER BRITISH DEFENSE MINISTER: I am indeed, Hala, yes.

GORANI: OK. Why do you think this would be effective when over a year and a half of strikes by the United States, several months of strikes from

France, Russia as well, have not really achieved the results that these countries had all hoped for?

HOWARTH: Well, the United Kingdom is already involved. We have Royal Air Force tornado aircraft who have carried out about 1,300 missions, 360

strikes in Iraq against ISIL. And what we are debating now is whether the United Kingdom should extend its military operations beyond Iraq and into

eastern Syria.

That is what the Prime Minister is seeking support from parliamentarians to secure and he spelled out in the House of Commons today why partly because

our allies have asked for our support in doing this.

Partly it does not make sense to hold the aircraft at the Iraqi/Syrian border because we know that ISIL is operating -- indeed has its

headquarters in Raqqa so it makes sense for those missions to extend beyond the Syrian border.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARTH: And thirdly, because the United Kingdom's aircraft have some serious capability which the other allies do not have, And one of those is

the dual mode brimstone missile which is one of the most precise weapons in the world. And that is very important to politicians because it's able to

inflict damage, it is able to attack moving targets and it is so precise that you can limit if not eliminate civilian casualties. And that's very

important.

GORANI: And the biggest question of course is given the limited success of the aerial campaign in Syria from other allies is how can - and this was

brought up as well by the leader of the opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, how can you guarantee it will end at an aerial bombing campaign and that at some

point British ground troops will not have to become involved?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Can the Prime Minister guarantee this?

HOWARTH: No, he certainly can't and nor can any of us. And we're all absolutely crystal clear that you cannot win this war against ISIL from the

air alone. And what the Prime Minister told us today that we have it on the -- he has it on the best authority of the intelligence services that there

are something like 70,000 free Syrian forces who would be able to provide some of the boots on the ground.

There was some skepticism in the House of Commons about the veracity of that assessment. I think what we need to do at Vienna, we need to get

everybody around the table. We have this international Syrian support group which has been meeting in Vienna, it's got all the key players there

including Russia, extremely important we engage with the Russia. We've got Iran there, the Saudi Arabians, the French, Turks, the United States and

ourselves.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[16:40:07]

HOWARTH: And I think it's very important that that we try to assess just what is the capability of getting boots on the ground from regional

participants rather than from western countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and France.

GORANI: I have got to - I have got to ask you one last question. Beyond this bombing campaign, beyond Vienna, what is the ultimate strategy here as

far as Britain is concerned with regards to Syria right now? I mean, if you go beyond this particular military effort here?

HOWARTH: Well, the ultimate strategy is quite clear. It's to try to end the civil war in Syria. That is causing immense human suffering. It is

affecting Europe very, very deeply indeed because we're seeing mass movements of people fleeing from the violence in Syria. They are migrating

to the European Union. To the continent of Europe and indeed to the United Kingdom. And we know of course there's hostility in America by some states

to taking refugees there. There's hostility here in the United Kingdom.

We've got to try and solve this problem and at the same time of course Syria is the home to ISIL, which is inflicting the most barbaric medieval

practices of beheading people and executing them, crucifying them and all the rest of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOWARTH: All that is being inflicted not only on Christians, Yazidis, but fellow Muslims as well. And we have got to stop that spreading across the

region. So we have a very clear operation which is to eliminate ISIL as far as we possibly can and to restore order to the Syrians -- to Syria. But

ultimately of course it has to be the Syrian people who decide on the form of their government.

And I think it's very important that we engage with President Putin of Russia because he has the ear of President Assad and President Assad has

the ear of President Putin.

GORANI: Sir Gerald Howarth, thanks very much for joining us from London, we appreciate your time this evening on CNN.

We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.

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[15:45:23]

GORANI: Back now to our breaking news. The White House is on lockdown this hour after a man tried to jump the fence on the north lawn.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: The first family was inside, celebrating the thanksgiving holiday at the time. We understand the man was wearing a blue shirt, white

trousers, and was wrapped in an American flag as he jumped the first temporary barricade.

Now, the Secret Service had their guns drawn and the man got on the ground, he was told to do so. There you have it. That's a still image of him

basically in mid-air, jumping the fence.

He was apparently carrying a white envelope but it's not clear what was inside. Fence jumping has been a big problem at the White House. In

September 2014, a fence jumper made it all the way up to the building itself.

Now, the -- as you can see there, this is causing a problem and this extra set of spikes that were installed on the gate have not deterred at least

this particular fence jumper.

I was mentioning that incident in September of 2014. Of course that particular individual made it inside the building. And there you have some

of the latest images coming to us from the White House, including some moving images on the right-hand side of your screen, highlighting how far

this individual made it on to the lawn before he was quickly apprehended and neutralized by police. Neutralized in his movements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: Now back to Europe. The unprecedented level of security on the streets of Brussels has shown the light on the problem Belgium faces with

Jihadism.

One man trying to come to terms with the Paris attacks and its aftermath is a Belgian football captain, Vincent Kompani. He is from Brussels and owns a

football club there. He sat down for an exclusive interview with Amanda Davies.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VINCENT KOMPANY, BELGIAN FOOTBALL CAPTAIN: It's very upsetting. I mean I didn't sleep for three days. After probably the attacks, but as well as

information came through that it was related to my city. You know, for me, it was - it was hurtful. I love my city, I love the people that live there

and like most of the people I think I was shocked.

AMANDA DAVIES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: As somebody from Brussels, from very close to Molenbeek, to see it described as a hot bed of Jihadist

activity, a Jihadi heaven, a crucible of terror, how does that make you feel?

KOMPANY: You know, I mean there's a sentiment of revolt towards those kind of -- you know, allegations. I think quite clearly something's gone wrong.

Terribly wrong. I think that most of it has happened without a lot of us making the right analysis.

If you look towards Brussels, it's a city with a lot of job -- with a lot of youth unemployment. I think over 30% in general, but it's a very wealthy

city. A lot of people that live in this wealthy city are actually the poor ones. And then to say that it's a hot bed of terrorism, I think it goes

further than this.

Politically a lot of mistakes have happened over the years. I think the way the way that the entire city structure is favorable for a lot of people to

-- you know, fall out of the system very simply. I mean, we have a city of a million people, divided in 19 boroughs with 19 mayors and six police

zones. Those people who perpetrated those attacks, people who have been able to fall off the grid, that have not come into contact with anything

else, but the people that have been able to indoctrinate them. And that has been allowed by the mistakes that we have made in the way we have

structured our cities.

DAVIES: Did you ever get the sense when you were growing up there, given the large immigrant community, given the unemployment, given the

social/economic problems you've talked about, was what has happened inevitable?

KOMPANY: Yes. There's a sense to me that really believes that it was predictable. I have seen more anger towards a system that was not

inclusive. And I have been really lucky in football that I was probably blessed with time but with a desire as well to succeed in football. But

mainly as well thanks to my parents.

They were well educated although we lived in a difficult area, they were well educate and they gave all of us - all of their children an opportunity

to succeed in life.

But when the parents have not got this level of education, that's when the local systems become so important. And I think it was inevitable because,

you know, I only used to see politicians in our neighborhoods once every six years when they needed to come for votes.

[15:50:14]

And then every now and then something would pop up - pop up out of the ground and someone would cut the red ribbon to say, we have done this for

the community, but really I have struggled to see a real concern -- a genuine desire to be a part of making those neighborhoods, those places

evolve.

And this is what I like about football sometimes. Is that you've got all the colors and all the cultures in one team. But ultimately, whether you

wear blue or red is what -- that was going to decide who you're going to support. If a black guy on a red team is bullying someone on your team

that's white or any other color of the world, you'll defend the guy on your team. It's as simple as that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: There you have it. We'll be right back on CNN. Stay with us.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Right after a couple of good paragraphs, and talking about northern New Jersey draws the probers

eye written by a nice reporter now the poor guy, you've got to see this guy, I don't know what I said, I don't remember. He's going like I don't

remember or Maybe that's what I said. This is 14 years ago, they didn't do a retraction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: All right. U.S. Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump lashing out at the media once again and this time "The New York Times"

wants an apology.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: During a rally in South Carolina, Trump impersonated a long time reporter, Serge Kovaleski, who has a disability that limits the movement of

his arms and the New York Times believes Trump there was mocking him.

This is just the latest in a long line of offensive comments from the business mogul. CNN Political Analyst, and Bloomberg View Columnist Josh

Rogin joins me now via Skype from Philadelphia.

[15:55:13]

Tell us about the reaction to this latest Trump incident here and offensive language and in this case an offensive impersonation?

JOSH ROGIN, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well there has been outrage both amongst the media but also amongst the community of people representing those with

disabilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGIN: And also disbelief when Trump today issued on twitter a blatant denial and a statement saying that he didn't remember ever meeting this

reporter and therefore couldn't be mocking him.

GORANI: All right. Let me tell you by the way, we have just received a response from the Trump camp. Mr. Trump stated "Serge Kovaleski must think

a lot of himself if he thinks I remember him from decades ago. If I ever met him at all, which I doubt I did, he should stop using his disability to

grandstand and get back to reporting for a paper that is rapidly going down the tubes." He doesn't disappoint Donald Trump, even in his response is

basically attacking the reporter.

ROGIN: He's so thin skinned and he feels the need to escalate and he's so averse to admitting that he's wrong that he cannot ever concede any point.

So he's attacking the reporter, accusing him of grandstanding, doubling down on his insult, and that is sure to only further escalate the today

between him, the reporter, "The New York Times" and the disabled community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GORANI: All right, Josh, we have to leave it there. Unfortunately we have reached the end of the hour. Trump still leading by the way in a crucial

Iowa poll, the latest one. Interesting that. And we'll be following the rest of the world's news of course after the break.

I'm Hala Gorani. Quest Means Business is next.

END