you're from alberta? >> i lived there for two years. >> nominate her. >> ten finalists. we just included michaela. >> the finalists this friday. we'll tell you who won. >> you're right, he's much better than me. he's much better. >> lobar. >> even that sound byte. there is a lot of news going on now. back to the serious. let's get you to the "newsroom" with carol costello. we have news, carol, according to reuters of new arrests there southern paris. what's going on. >> we'll tell our viewers about it shortly. have a great day. "newsroom" starts now. and good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. this morning rising fears of terrorism seize the attention of world leaders from asia to europe. overnight in germany, 200 police officers fanned out across berlin and the region charging into 13 separate homes. the sprawling anti-terror sweep

targeted associates of two men arrested last week. they're suspected of belonging to a jihadist terror cell. a similar story in belgium. they're hunting for this man. more importantly he's considered a key link between the terror cell in belgium and isis operatives in syria. isis issues a new blood chilling ransom demand telling japan to pay $200 million or two of its citizens will be slaughtered. the ransom amount identical to what japan just pledged countries now fighting isis. let's begin with this latest isis ransom demand. cnn's will ripley has more for you in beijing. hi will. >> reporter: carol, this news is really hitting hard for the people in japan. it is a passivist country as you know. its military does not engage in combat missions overseas.

unlike the americans and british citizens who were killed by isis in retaliation for their country's military action in this case these two japanese citizens kenji goto and harouna are being put on the ground forced to kneel with an isis executioner standing in front of them because their country has pledged aid, assistance to help the refugees of isis the people whose lives are in turmoil as a result of this group's brutality. now jihadi john known around the world for his distinctive british accent threatening to take two innocent japanese lives if the country does not pay isis the same amount that it has pledged to help the coalition against isis. the reaction understandably from the japanese prime minister shinzo abe, outrage. >> oh, i thought we were going to hear from the japanese prime minister but he did express

outrage and he intimated that japan would not be paying the ransom. is that what you understand will? >> reporter: yes. you know he called -- shinzo abe called these actions unforgivable and he again stressed one, we're going to actually have the sound ready for you now, carol. listen to what the prime minister said. he stressed that this money was intended to help people not to engage in the battle against isis. >> translator: it is an unacceptable act to threaten us in exchange for human lives and i feel angry about it. i strongly urge them to immediately release the hostages without harming them. the pledged aid is very important to the refugees in need and has nothing to do with the islamic communities or the radical militants. >> so carol we're choosing to show these two men, kenji goto and harouma.

kenji is a freelance journalist covering war zones. he was last heard of october 23rd. that was the last time he tweeted from his twitter account where he was covering the crisis in the middle east covering the fight against isis. he disappeared shortly after that. and harouma ukawa, a 42-year-old suffered a personal loss. his wife died of lung cancer. his business went under, the result of japan's stagnant economy, so he went to the middle east. his friends and family say looking for himself. he started a private security company, but now these two japanese men are finding themselves in the hands of isis and perhaps facing just hours before isis is prepared to do to them what they did to so many other people brutally just because their government pledged to help people. carol. >> all right. thanks so much. will ripley reporting live for us this morning. now let's head to belgium and its central role in europe's fight against terrorism. the reason is simple.

the small nation is thought to have the highest percentage of people who are radicalize the. senior international correspondent ivan watson is in brussels with more. hi ivan. >> reporter: hi carol. you know, as senior belgium official has identified a man that belgian authorities believe is the ring leader master mind of an alleged jihadi plot that police swooped down on last week in belgium arresting at least five people and that raid resulted in two suspects dying in a gun battle against belgian police. the man in question is named abu hamid abou. he's a very notorious figure here in belgium. he hales from brussels the capital of brussels and the capital of europe for that matter. he's believed to be of

moroccan descent. he's notorious because he traveled to syria, joined isis. he's believed to be filmed laughing driving a pickup truck dragging at least a half dozen corpses through a field in syria. he's also famous because he's believed to have brought his teenage younger brother, a 13-year-old named yuis to those bloody battle fields in syria to join isis. the boy is believed to have been photographed alongside older fighters and has been described in the belgian press as the youngest fighter in isis the youngest jihadi there. so the belgian authorities are on the lookout for this man. they last tracked him to greece but so far we do not have any information that he has been caught. instead, another man was caught in greece over the weekend by greek police. belgian authorities waiting to

extra diet him. extradite him. they are home grown suspected jihadis. as you mentioned, belgium has had more of its citizens per capita than any other country in europe travel from here to join isis to join other militant groups in syria and the big challenge this country is dealing with is what to do with those who decide to come home and what to do about that potential threat that they pose to this society. carol. >> all right. ivan watson reporting live from belgium this morning. as the trail heats up for the ring leader of that belgian terror cell we're learning more about the trip hayat boumeddiene may have taken to disappear in syria. the domestic partner of amedy coulibaly is desperately wanted to shed light on the attack and the shooting of a french policewoman days before. she was last seen january 8th moving from turkey to syria. she may have been smuggled in by

professionals for the equivalent of $42. in a cnn exclusive, arwa damon spoke to the smugglers. >> reporter: highayat boumeddiene a among the most wanted. boumeddiene and a male companion cleared customs at istanbul's secondary airport. yet, something raised a red flag with turkish authorities and the two were placed under surveillance. they checked into this hotel on the asian side of istanbul were monitored for a couple of days but after engaging in what was described as tourist stick activities the surveillance stopped. all of this happened in the days leading up to the paris attacks. following the paris attacks the turkoglus turks alerted the french that they had gathered some intelligence on hayat boumeddiene. they provided the turks with phone numbers that they were able to use to further track her

movements. hayat boumeddiene's last known area was sanliurfa. the tourist stick city saw its population swell due to the refugee influx. just about anyone can blend into the chaotic streets, and from here there are plenty of routes to the next leg of their journey. we meet these two men in a town close to the border. they are both professional smugglers. for the last few months the soldiers have really cracked down one says but there are always security breaches and alternate routes to be exploited. the other tells us that a woman in all black paid him around two to three times the going rate right around when turkish authorities believe boumeddiene disappeared into syria. she said i will give you 100 lyra just to get me to syria, he recalls. she was entirely covered in black like i am now. it's the first time since the

war in syria began that either of them have taken a woman across on her own. the smuggler says she was of medium build and guesses her age to be like boumeddiene, in her mid 20s. she spoke classical arabic and did not have a syrian accent. that he claims is all he knows. i saw the 100 lyra and i did not ask anything he tells us. on the back of a motorcycle they headed down this border road dotted with potential illegal crossing points. the turkish military stopped us before we could get to the area where this woman crossed into syria, but it is further down the road in a similar sort of landscape. there is no way of knowing if it was boumeddiene, but within an hour of speaking to the smuggler the woman covered in black was in syria. arwa damon, cnn, on the turkey/syria border. it was his split-second decision that saved lives.

today a muslim will become a french citizen. he is the malian national who hept hostages to safety during the supermarket siege in paris. his efforts inspired 380,000 people to sign a petition to let him get a french passport. bathily hid people in a storage room. >> translator: before i left i asked if they wanted to leave with me. they didn't want to. they said, no it wasn't a good idea. they thought if they came up they could make a noise. perhaps he could be waiting for us. i didn't want them to find them so i turned off the light shut the fridge and shut the door. he was given french nationality by france's interior minister. still to come in the "newsroom," shots fired at a u.s. embassy vehicle in yemen as the bloody battle for the failing country rages on. cnn international correspondent

nick paton walsh is the only western journalist on the ground in yemen. nick? >> reporter: it's clear, says the u.s. embassy, that that vehicle was targeted with some shots at some point. we don't quite know who the gunmen were but a very tense capital now, carol.

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fears this morning that a bloody power struggle in yemen could erupt into chaos. the u.s. military has upped its alert level but they say there's little they can do but watch and wait. yemen is crucial to america's and europe's war on terror. the failing nation isn't just a breeding ground for terrorists it's home to the al qaeda network that claims responsibility for the "charlie hebdo" massacre. a cease fire is in place technically, but shots were fired hours ago at a u.s. embassy vehicle and yemen's information manager tells christiana amanpour that the government isn't in control anymore. >> reporter: tell me how bad it is right now. what is the state of control of the government?

>> almost nonexistent. >> reporter: are you telling me the government is not in control? >> yes. shocking huh? >> cnn senior international correspondent nick paton walsh is the only western journalist on the ground in yemen. he's live in the capital. tell us more nick. >> reporter: well carol, as you join me we are hearing and it's hard to ascertain what this means, we are hearing sporadic gunfire from different parts of the city. that coincides with some reports suggesting that the cease fire may be crumbling in some areas. i'm hesitant to declare it over because that would be a seismic moment for yemen's struggle but we are hearing those occasional klatts of gunfire. it seems as though the political talks are going on longer than many had hoped. the houthi rebels who were around the presidential

administration yesterday are meeting with president hardy. he's going to go back to his administration because the houthis we saw this morning there are a lot of republican guards in a different part of it. they're loyal to the president. the question is when does the political clock run out of time? when do those gunmen on the streets say, right, we've had enough. we're trying to resolve this by force. there are fears this could potentially be happening as we speak. as you mention, carol, the u.s. embassy now very much in the spotlight. real concerns that after that vehicle was targeted near the embassy last night it's an armored suv quite distinguishable by people in the city here. you know that's going to be containing u.s. diplomats as it was in that case. nobody injured here but the embassy clear that while shots were fired in the air at first, they were then fired at the vehicle directly. i quote the embassy who said these were not warning shots. there was intent there. we understand that the vehicle then drove on into the embassy away from that particular scene, but that will certainly raise

concerns. the security of the embassy here we say -- we've heard they're always at a heightened posture. they haven't changed operations today as a result. of course, many in washington will be concerned. >> nick paton walsh reporting from yemen. still to come president obama's latest state of the union. how will his policy resonate with a republican-controlled congress? talk about that next. when heartburn comes creeping up on you... fight back with relief so smooth... ...it's fast. tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue ...and neutralizes stomach acid at the source. ♪ tum, tum tum tum...♪ smoothies! only from tums.

amid positive signs in the economy, president obama heads into tonight's state of the union with his highest approval rating in nearly two years. that's according to a new washington post abc news poll which shows 50% of americans approve of how the president is doing his job, but mr. obama also faces a congress that is now firmly in the hands of republicans for the first time since he entered the white house and has planned to focus on the middle class issues in his speech may not do much to bridge the political gap. joining me is michelle kosinski and chief presidential correspondent dana bash. welcome to you both. >> nice to see you carol. >> nice to see you. michelle i want to start with you. give us a preview of the speech. >> reporter: they put it into three words, middle class economics. a lot of this has been laid out over the last couple of weeks. big proposals like two years of free college education, these

tax reforms. yeah, as you put it, many republicans will oppose. so we don't know exactly what the surprises are going to be tonight. the white house has said that they still have more to come that stay tuned, they're going to have something more to lay out there, but they've sort of set this up in an interesting way because they say a lot of their proposals are actually republican ideas, ideas that many republicans have supported in the past things like expanding education tax credits, for example. so they've in some ways put republicans on the spot that are republicans going to support these? unlikely. are they going to oppose them? if they do oppose them then what are they going to propose that is also going to court the middle class? this is not only about president obama's legacy and what he wants to do whatever the likelihood is of it getting done but it's also looking ahead to 2016 and this fight for the middle class, you know what's going to benefit it most and who's going to have the better ideas,

democrats or republicans carol. >> and, dana we've heard many republicans come out and talk about lifting people out of poverty. they may not agree with all of president obama's ideas, but as michelle said, maybe some. so, will there be a little give and take? >> reporter: well we should all be optomists and hope that, like michelle said republicans do feel that they have to prove that they can govern there will ultimately be but the big problem from the republican perspective isn't so much what these policies are, it's how the president is proposing to pay for it and that is to increase taxes on the wealthy. it not only serves broadly with trust funds but also by raising the capital gains tax rate. that is something that is a non-starter for republicans because they want to go forward with tax reform by doing the opposite. they want to lower the tax rate for capital gains and also for businesses. so what you have are two very

different philosophies in how to keep the economy going and how to keep you know, the good news that we are seeing in the economy, to not halt it. so that's the big problem here. but there is going to be some also problems with democrats, carol, because the president is going to be talking about free trade, for example. he's got a lot of problems on the left flank of his party, people who don't want him to do that. that is maybe the one big area where the president can work with republicans. he's got to convince his fellow democrats. >> okay. so michelle, the voters might be a little confused as to why president obama's laying out these initiatives now when republicans control both houses of congress when there was a day not long ago when he actually could have gotten some of these ideas past congress because democrats were in control. >> >> reporter: right. that has been the question. why wasn't this done before? republicans have countered some of these proposals, something similar has been out there

passed by the house but they stalled in the democratic controlled senate before. so what the white house is saying well, they've been trying to do various things over the course of years. they've been working on pressing issues the economy was in a bad place. now that the economy is improving, they say that that's a testament to what they have been doing for the middle class. now they're wanting to take that several steps further. so they say, okay sure. it might not work. it might not make it through congress such as this tax proposal but they said they're still going to put it out there. this is starting a debate and it's starting a conversation and republicans, you know the onus is on them now to come up with something better, says the white house. >> reporter: sounds like the same -- >> that is such a great point because let's just be real here. the reason the white house didn't get more aggressive on proposing tax increases is because they couldn't do that to their fellow democrats who in november were on the ballot many in red states who didn't

want to come close to taking a vote on increasing taxes. it turned out it didn't matter because most lost anyway. what you're seeing when you see the president come into the chamber is a very different kind of president. he's almost unshackled ironically because he doesn't have to protect the democrats in control of congress because they're no longer in control of congress. it is the first time he's going to be speaking to a completely gop controlled congress. >> reporter: maybe he should start it off by saying the bear is loose. thanks as always. our special live coverage of the state of the union starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern, but how did president obama fare on his 2014 promises? tom foreman takes a look. president obama has long argued that a higher minimum wage will be good for everyone and he pushed on that front during his last state of the union. >> you'll get business as customers with more money to

spend. it does not involve any new bureaucratic program, so join the rest of the country. say yes. give america a raise. >> in november voters in alaska arkansas nebraska, and south dakota all voted for more money at the bottom end of the pay scale. as of january 1st this year 29 states have a higher minimum wage than the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour but all of that is happening at the local level. the president did issue an executive order to raise the minimum wage for new federal contractors, but overall the effort to raise the federal minimum wage is stalled. ameriprise asked people a simple question: in retirement, will you have enough money to live life on your terms? i sure hope so. with healthcare costs, who knows. umm... everyone has retirement

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for a free quote today at see car insurance in a whole new light. liberty mutual insurance. and good morning. i'm carol costello. thank you so much for joining me. isis terrorists have released another video. it shows two japanese hostages kneeling behind a knife wielding

jihadi john. we're into the going to show you the video because it gives isis what they want. one is a freelance journalist the other is a security consultant who is believed to have been traveling with rebel fighters when he was captured. while we won't show you the isis video, we will talk about it because it's a little different from the other videos we've seen. the terrorist in this video asked the japanese government for a $200 million ransom so what does that mean? is isis using this opportunity for cash or is it cash strapped? joe rafini joins me. thanks for being here. >> it's a pleasure. >> joe, what do you make of this? why is isis asking for ransom? >> you know it can be one of two reasons. either they're trying to play the game a little bit differently. i don't think isis is cash strapped but this may be an opportunity for them to make a

little cash. and, you know they're very flexible. they're very asymmetric in their tactics. they're going to switch it up. certainly nothing to be surprised about. they're going to change their tactics and approaches from time to time. it's very important for us to remember that what they want to project is the psychological effect that any kind of beheading or threatened beheading has on really the global population at large. >> that's why we're not showing the isis video, frankly. the reason i ask you that money question is because recently isis released 200 elderly yeah yazidis, they believe they released them because they couldn't afford to feed them. >> that could very well be the case. to be perfectly monhonest with you, we're not there. we're not on the ground. it's hard to see what their

motivation is. they're a threat and it's not going to go away any time soon. >> the terrible irony, japan donated hundreds of millions of dollars not to fight isis militarily but to help the refugees. isis accuses japan of killing our women and children. that's so ridiculous it's hard to talk about. >> they're going to make claims like this. any of the jihadist groups are going to make claims like this. if you look at the social media if you look at how they recruit on the internet if you look at what they do to motivate young men to become self-radicalized they're preaching lies. they're preaching hatred. they are using the religion of islam to kind of wave the religious banner and recruit very young men around the world and in the united states, and they're going to make absolutely ridiculous claims that would seem absolutely untrue to most everyday young men and women. they'll continue to do this. it's part of the tactics. it's a game that they play. >> let's talk about the game

that they play. as they pull in more countries in this terrible way, at some point don't they realize that the world will just harden against them it will join together it will ban together? >> that's a good point, and one would think they would take a lesson from al qaeda around 2007 2008. osama bin laden's popularity dropped in eight out of the nine predominantly muslim nations. support for suicide bombing dropped and overall support for al qaeda dropped. the main reason was is that muslims around the world like everyone else were tired of seeing muslims be killed by al qaeda in the attacks. i don't understand why isis doesn't realize that if they don't choose their tactics and their victims carefully, this is going to fall back on them also. there's a lesson to be learned here and they're not learning it. >> yeah, well, let's hope they never learn it. joe ruffini, thank you for your insight.

i appreciate it. "american sniper," the movie, i'll talk to the man who trained the man on the film to get his thoughts on the film and the controversy surrounding it. >> do you ever think that you might have seen things or done some things over there that you wish you hadn't? >> oh, that's not me, no. on you... fight back with relief so smooth... ...it's fast. tums smoothies starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue ...and neutralizes stomach acid at the source. ♪ tum, tum tum tum...♪ smoothies! only from tums.

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it is the best selling memoir that has turned into a box office bonanza. "american sniper" the oscar-nominated story of former navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle lured movie goers in droves. it's sparking some controversy, i'm sure you've heard, after some top names in hollywood criticized the film. cnn's george howell has more. >> reporter: americans are packing into theaters to see "american sniper" the real life story of the man known as america's deadliest sniper navy s.e.a.l. chris kyle played by actor bradley cooper. the film is breaking box office records this debut weekend earning 105 million in weekend ticket sales and six academy award nominations.

>> i loved it. i loved it. >> it was a very emotionally stressful movie, i thought. >> pretty good. very compelling. >> very good. excellent. >> reporter: not so excellent, however, in the minds of some in hollywood. actor seth rogin, "american sniper" reminds me of "inglorious bastards." my uncle killed by sniper in world war ii. we're told snipers are cowards. will shoot you in the back. snipers aren't heroes and invaders are worse. five hours later quoted, but if you're on your roof defending it from invaders who have come you're not a sniper you are brave, you are a neighbor. moore's comment about cowards getting a push back. >> for somebody who has spent their entire career on freedom of speech and freedom of expression to be criticizing an

individual like chris kyle who exemplifies the very best, that's biting the hand that feeds you. >> reporter: the movie goers took issue with perceived criticism. >> i think he was fighting for this country, doing what he thought was right. >> none of us who don't serve or can't serve have no idea what our soldiers are going through. >> reporter: whether moore was actually talking about the film "american sniper" is now sort of a gray area tweeting quote, h'm, i never tweeted one word about "american sniper" chris kyle. i said my uncle killed by sniper in world war ii. only cowards would do that to him and others. he goes on to say, quote, so people want me to tweet something about "american sniper." great acting. powerful message. saddeneding. there. then sending people to his facebook page for further clarification. regardless one thing seems crystal clear on the streets among the masses who saw "american sniper." >> it's not a coward.

it's a matter of doing what he was told to do and what he was trained to do. >> i'm ready. >> reporter: george howell, cnn, chicago. >> oh, my god! okay. so this controversy lives on. brandon webb is joining me. he's a former navy s.e.a.l. who not only trained chris kyle but was also his friend. he's also "the new york times" best selling author of "among heroes." brandon, good morning. >> good morning, carol. >> thank you for being here. i want to read part of a letter that was posted online. it was written by green beret brian sykes and it was meant for michael moore. i'm going to read you the last paragraph. brian sykes writes to michael moore, so tender foot, i leave you with this final thought. what have you found yourself in some sort of hostage situation where you were held by knife point by some crazed person and they were dead set on making an example of you by bleeding you out on hollywood boulevard in front of the world and the only way out was with the precision

amtd fire of a sniper. would you want that coward to take the shot? because knowing how you feel about snipers such as myself and your hatred of firearms, i'd probably drop the mag, roll the bolt and go get a jack and coke before helping you out. does that resonate with you? >> i mean, it does resonate a bit. i think michael moore to me was clearly trying to, you know, get a piece of my dead friend's spotlight in the media, and it just shows how naive he is about service. would he have served his country as a police officer, first responder or volunteer for the military i think it shows how naive he is about the way the world works. and, again, i'm a big proponent of freedom of speech and what i do for a living today. i think that you know the conversation should be you know include different perspectives and "american sniper" provides that. the movie provides that as zblel have you ever heard that

accusation before, that snipers were cowards? >> no. i haven't heard it and it was a ridiculous comment to me. you know snipers are some of the most highly trained individuals on the battlefield. talk about a tool in a commander's war chest that is able to be used with very little collateral damage. look at the drone strikes that both presidents have launched that have come with a massive amount of civilian collateral damage and casualties as opposed to a sniper like chris kyle being very effective to support troops overseas and save lives on the ground. >> i think what most bogless my mind is the total absence of any kind of empathy because you're a human being and by all accounts chris kyle was a wonderful human being, but he's sent to the battlefield to do this terrible task for his country, and then someone calls him a coward. >> yeah. i think it's tragic and, again,

in very poor taste. seth roggen comments in poor taste, michael moore's comments. here you're making comments like this about a person that's no longer here to defend himself. chris was a great human being. he was an american hero and him and i had conversations about warfare. anyone that's seen combat myself included doesn't think it's a -- you know war is a great thing. war is terrible and it's an unfortunate and necessary thing that we still need people that are going to volunteer to go overseas and defend this country and freedom and what we care about in america. >> that said i know that you saw the movie, and i want to talk a little bit about that because so many people have gone to see it and it's left them in you know emotionally exhausted. in fact, when the credits roll at the end of the movie people stay there and watch the credits roll because they are so emotionally exhausted. when you saw it how did you react?

>> you know first i thought bradley cooper did an amazing job portraying chris. the end of the movie, you know really hit me hard. i was there in dallas at the cowboys stadium and then the next day at the private funeral and seeing those images and thinking about, you know, all the friends i've lost besides chris kyle since 9/11 that are heroes and what inspired me to write my book "among heroes" to tell their stories, it hit me. i was in the theater five minutes from the ending because it hits you. >> it does. yet you also say that there are inaccuracies in the movie. what are they? >> yes. you know you have to realize i'm extremely biased. i used to run one of the best sniper programs in the military and, you know i just saw some of the training scenes as a little bit corney and could have been better. i just have extremely high expectations. you know i love chris and i love the s.e.a.l. community and

just to see some of the military inaccuracies that are so easy to fix and get right, see some of those things but, again you know this movie is about chris kyle you know the husband, father human being and american hero and i think clint eastwood and bradley cooper and the rest of the cast really did capture that. >> what would chris think of bradley cooper portraying him in a movie and what would he have thought of the movie, do you think? >> i think chris would have been extremely happy with bradley cooper's performance. there was times where, you know he -- i could -- could not tell the difference so definitely from someone who knew chris and worked with him in the s.e.a.l. community, i think bradley did an amazing job. i think chris would have been happy with what the movie portrayed and how people in america who are seeing it and how it's delivering a message

that i think chris would have been happy with the movie. >> thank you so much brandon webb. i appreciate your insight. thank you so much for being with me. >> you bet. thanks for having me. >> you're welcome. i'll be right back. sir, we're loaded and getting ready to go... ...we're going to need you on the runway. (vo) don't let a severe cold hold you back. sir? (vo) theraflu starts to get to work in your body in just 5 minutes. (vo) theraflu breaks you free from your worst cold and flu symptoms. (vo) theraflu. serious power. meet the world's newest energy superpower. surprised? in fact, america is now the world's number one natural gas producer... and we could soon become number one

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i must say pope francis is the gift that keeps on giving. the pontiff has a way with words that well can be kind of shocking to a catholic myself. pope francis said get ready for it pope francis said catholics must not breed like rabbits. really? because my catholic faith taught me to have as many children as possible and no birth control except for the rhythm method and we all know how well that works. while the pope was in the philippines, he met children abandoned because their parents could not afford to care for them. in fact he met a woman who was expecting her eighth child and called her irresponsible. and then on the plane ride open the pope sounded off on birth control in quite an un-popelike way. >> translator: something that in order to be good catholics we

have to be like rabbits. no. responsible paternity, that is clear. >> father edward beck a cnn religion analyst. welcome, father. can't wait to talk to you about this. >> me too. >> so "i know what the pope means, i think. contraception and family planning are fine but the subliminal messages are, a, that catholics have a reputation for breeding like rabbits, and b, birth control is okay." >> the church has always taught that birth control is okay. they've always said responsible parenthood. >> wait. go back to birth control is okay thing. >> it can't be artificial. it has to be natural. family planning. rhythm. people don't understand this. a woman can only become pregnant six days every month.

so if she charts that through body temperature, secretions and she has regular menustration that means 24 days of the month sexual intercourse is fine. >> coming from an italian family who have had many children and are committed catholics, the rhythm method isn't really effective. >> they don't chart it. they don't take their temperature. they don't monitor it. when they actually do it they find it better than artificial because they're not putting foreign substances into their body. they're not in some way prohibiting something unnaturally and the relationship with the spouse can be much more natural. a lot of people like it. >> i'll be honest with you because you are a father and i have to be honest with you. i don't agree. i hear you. i do. i hear you. is that what the pope was saying or was he sending some subliminal message? remember what he said about gay people. who am i to judge? was he doing the same thing with

comments on birth control? >> say natural family planning doesn't work for somebody. someone comes to me at confession saying i've had eight kids. i can't have another one. it's a health risk. pastorally the pope said this you deal with that woman in that situation. you say for you, this church teaching doesn't work. you have to do something else. the teaching is for the norm. there are always exceptions to the norm. that's why you deal pastorally with people. he said to his priest in confession in a counseling room you deal with the person as an individual pastorally. so the church has always gave leeway for those situations where the rule cannot apply. contraception is a perfect example of that. many people it doesn't work for. so you have to deal with them in a pastoral way. >> let's go back to the part where catholics breed like rabbits and have many, many children. when i was growing up it was my duty to get married, have children.

that was my duty. >> it's not so much duty. you can't delink sex from procreation. it hasn't just be about pleasure and intimacy. it says this is how a species prop prop propegates. it's not have eight kids. it's be open to the possibility of life. that's responsible sexuality. that links it together. that's what the church taught. you don't separate it. >> the remarks of the pope are nothing new? >> nothing new except that he's opened the door to say be responsible with parenthood. don't think the church is saying you have to have eight kids. it's saying how you limit those eight kids is what is important and priests, be pastoral with those people for whom those new orleans and guidelines cannot apply and give them another out. >> father beck thanks so much.

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today jury selection begins outside denver for the man

accused of one of the deadly mass shootings in u.s. history. it's been two years since james holmes entered an aurora colorado movie theater and opened fire. 12 people were killed. dozens more hurt and a jury of 12 men and women must decide if holmes was insane when he started shooting. hln legal analyst joey jackson joins me with more on this. good morning. >> good morning, carol. >> i can't imagine how difficult it will be to seat a jury in this case. >> it will be very difficult. it's unprecedented what they're doing here. they have 9,000 prospective jurors. you have to have 12. even though jury selection is beginning now, they don't even anticipate the trial to begin until sometime in june and then of course when it does begin it could be up to a half year so you need those extra 12 in the event one of the jurors gets sick or otherwise can't participate. >> when they say jury selection will take months they mean it. >> yes, they do.

>> so the d.a. talked to 60 victims before deciding there will be no plea deal. i don't understand why they couldn't arrive at a plea deal in this case. >> it's a tough decision to make. remember the mass destruction that he engaged in. you're talking about lives that were lost there not only the 12 lives lost but look at all of the others that were injured. when you look at that and victims and you look at the impact it had on them what they have to say is meaningful. although the d.a. is elected and ultimately determines what's the appropriate punishment and what they do, do you it with input from your victims and victims feel he needs to be held accountable by way of going to trial and being sentenced if convicted, to death. >> i understand. just to refresh. holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. he underwent two psychological evaluations. his parents wrote an op-ed last month. they said their son is not a monster but someone suffering from severe mental illness.

"we realize treatment in an institution would be best for our son. we love our son. we have always loved him and we do not want him to be executed. we also decry the need for a trial. a lengthy trial requires everyone to relive those horrible moments in time causing additional trauma." >> it's a fair point. many would beg to differ. who he is will be on display at the trial. the defense is putting his mental health at issue. was he insane? did he understand right from wrong or was he undergoing a psychotic episode wherein he didn't know what he was doing? i think whether he's a monster or not, i think many will disagree with that assertion. certainly the prosecution does. and in the event that he did know and could adequately distinguish between right from wrong, the feeling is by the families that he should be held accountable as a person who is sane. >> there really is no doubt. he allegedly planned this. meticulously planned this. >> absolutely. that's something the prosecution is going to show by way of mental state. in the event you are insane how

is it that you can plot and plan and otherwise prepare and that signals premeditation. which is far from insanity. >> it's clear to some that he's mentally ill. >> the act itself steamseems to be off. doesn't seem to be. it is. you mentioned psychological health evaluations. they are under seal at this time. throughout the course of the trial we'll see what evaluators had to say about his mental state and whether or not he was engaged in this fantasy. that remains to be seen as the trial begins again in june with jury selection beginning right now. >> joey jackson, thanks as always. appreciate it. the next hour of "cnn newsroom" starts now. happening now in the "newsroom," terror in europe. the hunt under way right now for this man, the suspected link between belgium and a terror cell as germany