media coverage that we would be able to discuss that before the media coverage started at the next hearing. okay. thank you, sir. >> anything from the district attorney? >> nothing at this time, your honor. >> all right. thank you. >> please rise. welcome to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. we begin today with our world lead, but before we get to that obviously we were just watching tape coming in from colorado from the beginning of the case against the shooter at the planned parenthood in colorado springs. we'll have much more on that later in the show. but let's start with the world lead. right now the desperate international manhunt for one of the world's most wanted isis terrorists, cnn has learned that

french intelligence officials are operating under the assumption that salah abdelsalam believed to be the sole surviving isis terrorist from the paris attacks has escaped to syria. this news coming as president obama is right now in paris. the city still on edge from those attacks. meeting with other world leaders including his russian counterpart talking about the heightened security threat. it also comes as the state department warns americans in afghanistan of an imminent terror attack in the coming days. i want to get right to cnn's chief national security correspondent jim sciutto who has all the late breaking details. jim, there are reports that the terrorists in paris had more plots in the works described as ready to go. what can you tell us about that? >> that's right. in fact isis calling those paris attacks on november 13th just in their words the beginning of the storm. that coming in the latest issue just out of its french language

magazi magazine. yes, isis has magazines. but that claim supported by what french investigators have been finding. they say the other attackers had other plots, quote, ready to go including on jewish targets as well. the street behind the bataclan concert hall, site of some of the worst bloodshed and most desperate escapes of the paris attacks, is now open again with bullet holes marking the walls. still, one of the chief architects of the carnage, alleged eighth attacker salah abdelsalam, remains on the loose. french investigators now looking to the possibility he escaped to syr syria, sources tell cnn. >> if he made it over land from france to turkey, it would have been very easy for him to get into syria. same he could have also done that via greece going by boat from greek island to syria. all of that is possible. and there's very little control over those borders. >> reporter: still, it would be an alarming escape by europe's most wanted man.

his last known whereabouts were in belgium where security officials have carried out dozens of raids in search of him and other suspected plotters. the chairman of the house homeland security committee says authorities are getting closer. >> i do think they're closing in on him. and that's a good news. there are many involved in this plot. very sophisticated plot. an external operation that we've seen from isis. >> reporter: investigators are now piecing together the terrorist movements before the november 13th attacks. french police say salah abdelsalam bought ten detonators and batteries from a fireworks shop on paris' northern outskirts. the store manager alerting authorities after police publicized his arrest warrant. >> basically what we're dealing with is a trail that's gone cold. and they're looking for any kind of clue of people he met, anybody who has possibly seen the suspect that is going to be the key to finding him. >> reporter: now, new information that the terrorists were planning even more bloodshed. the paris attackers, sources

tell cnn, had other targets, quote, ready to go. including transportation networks, schools and jewish targets. an echo of the january attack on a kosher market following the deadly shooting at the offices of "charlie hebdo." we heard just moments ago that the u.s. military has actually lifted its ban on travel to paris and brussels by u.s. military personnel. european command had introduced that band just following the paris attacks. not unprecedented but very rare in europe for them to say to u.s. military personnel don't go to an entire city because of the terror threat, but they are lifting that. >> jim sciutto, thanks so much. today president obama paid his respects to the 90 victims slaughtered at the bataclan theater in paris. mr. obama is among 150 world leaders attending a united nations climate change summit in france there on the sidelines he huddled with russian president vladimir putin with two major items on the agenda as far as we know. cnn senior white house

correspondent jim acosta joins me live from paris. jim, what did the president have to say to putin about the first item, avoiding any further military confrontation between russia and turkey after turkey downed that russian fighter jet? >> reporter: right, jake, president obama is taking out from this climate summit here in paris to play referee basically in a simmering dispute between russia and turkey over the downing of that russian warplane last week. earlier today as you said the president did meet with vladimir putin. mr. obama expressed his regret according to white house officials after turkey shot down that russian bomber, but putin is still furious. he is refusing to meet with turkey's president erdogan. president obama will meet with erdogan tomorrow to see if he can resolve this dispute, but the white house is pretty clear which side it's on. while the president said russia and turkey need to take steps to de-escalate the situation, deputy national security adviser ben rhodes said outside these climate talks here in paris that the u.s. still wants moscow to play a more productive role in the war on isis. they're not saying it's

unproductive, but they would like it to be more productive, jake. >> speaking of syria and the role against isis. the syrian observatory for human rights today, jim, announcing that russian air strikes in syria have killed roughly 1,000 fighters or terrorists with isis and the al qaeda affiliated al nusra front. but also killing 485 syrian civilians, 117 of them children. this is one of the many reasons the white house is so concerned about the role russia's playing in syria. >> reporter: that's absolutely right, jake. ben rhodes told reporters here in paris that russia has been intensifying its bombing of isis targe targets. they added once again rebelling against syria's bashar al assad. that's where the concern is inside the white house. we should point out the obama

administration is hopeful now that putin is supporting this diplomatic process that's underway for political transition in syria to give up on assad that's key sticking points in all of this, jake, until that happens both sides are going to be butting heads over this war in isis, jake. >> jim acosta in paris for us. thanks. now to afghanistan where u.s. officials are urging americans to exercise extreme caution due to, quote, credible reports of an imminent attack on the country's capital kabul over the next 4 hours. there are currently more than 10,000 u.s. troops and government personnel stationed across afghanistan. cnn's barbara starr is tracking this urgent threat and joins me live from the pentagon. barbara, what are your sources telling you about this imminent threat? >> well, jake, u.s. official telling me a short time ago they view this threat as significant, active and credible. that means reading between the lines they have information about an active plot. they're offering very little information about the details

however. other than this official telling me at this point they believe the plotters are tied to the al qaeda haqqani network in afghanistan. this is a longstanding group of extremely violent militant operatives that have operated for a long time in and around kabul, out into eastern afghanistan. their traditional tactic, suicide car bombs, multiple vicious deadly attacks, simultaneous attacks, so a lot of concern over the next 48 hours or so about kabul, jake. >> barbara starr live at the pentagon. barbara, thank you so much. joining me homeland security secretary jeh johnson. thanks for being with us. >> thanks for having me, jake. >> couple items about the reports we just had that i want to ask you about. yesterday on cnn "state of the union" congressman michael mccaul, the chairman of the house homeland security committee said he believed authorities were close to closing in on salah abdelsalam, the terrorist from the paris attacks. today cnn learned french intelligence believes salah

abdelsalam has escaped to syria. i talked with a u.s. official today who said he believes his information tracks closer to what we're reporting that french authorities are saying salah abdelsalam is in syria. are you -- do you have any information about where he may be? >> jake, i can't comment on ongoing efforts such as that one except to say that we are in close contact with french authorities, with belgium authorities. and across europe to monitor the situation, to support the european authorities in any way we can in the wake of the paris attacks. >> okay. a source telling cnn today that isis terrorists in paris had other attacks, quote, ready to go, in france. are you aware of any conspiracies, any terrorist plans that might have effected americans in paris in any way? >> as the president, the fbi director and i have said several times, we know at this time of no specific credible intelligence of a plot like the paris attack here in the united

states. we are, however, vigilant working overtime, americans this past thanksgiving week for example saw a lot of law enforcement, a lot of aviation security at airports, at parades, at public events. there was probably an unprecedented number of cops out at the macy's day parade this past week, which i attended myself. and so we're on the job. we're concerned about potential copycat attacks. the potential lone wolf actor. the terrorist inspired attack. and so we're very much on the job. there's heightened law enforcement presence, heightened aviation security presence at a number of airports. and we're continually evaluating whether more should be necessary. >> secretary johnson, stay right here. we have a lot more to talk about including the new steps that the obama administration is announcing that they're taking to track americans who have traveled to fight with isis in syria. stay with us.

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we run on quickbooks.that's how we own it. welcome back to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. national lead, porous borders allowing to travel unnoticed to authorities. back with secretary jeh johnson. secretary johnson, our visa waiver program, a lot of people don't know what this is, but if you're in europe you don't apply for a visa, you come to the united states with your passport and you can enter. that could allow in some ways europe's problem tracking foreign fighters with porous borders to become our problem. you're unveiling a new program to enhance security for this visa waiver program. what are you doing? >> jake, this is something we have been focused on, we are focused on and we should be focused on, the visa waiver program is a program that has 38 countries in it. it is a valuable program for lawful trade, commerce, travel,

but last year we identified some security enhancements that we thought were necessary. in august i added additional ones to get at the possibility that somebody who has some terrorist affiliation may come here. they have to go through a vetting process even though novin no visa is required. it is something that congress can help us with. a lot of people in congress led by dianne feinstein, senator jeff flake have been thinking about this, and we want to work with them to see if we can put some legislative teeth into these security enhancements. >> as you know there are a lot of people on the hill who are very concerned about europe's problem becoming our problem. you i believe in these enhanced security measures for the visa waiver program, you would penalize countries in the visa waiver program that don't live up to their agreements and share as much counterterrorism, counter and intelligence information as they're obligated to do under agreements.

congresswoman candice miller of michigan, she has a bill it wouldn't penalize countries that don't live up to their obligations, it would suspend the visa waiver program. if this is a life and death issue and we need these countries to share intelligence with you, why not dangle the threat of suspension? why just a penalty? >> suspension is an available remedy if we feel it's justified. but it's important to remember the overall picture. a lot of these countries are in this program because it is valuable to promote lafl trade and travel. but we do want to identify places where countries need to step up and do better and resort to a number of different remedies that we can have and we should have available to us to get them to focus on these issues. >> so if i may be so bold, let me tell you one country that perhaps is one of these countries, spain. in august a terrorist, you know

better than i, tried to attack passengers aboard a train from amsterdam to paris. americans who happened to be there thankfully these three heroes stopped the attack, or maybe there were more, but three of them were american. but this man's dna was on file with spanish authorities. there had been signs he had links to an isis group. government officials in the u.s. government tell me that european intelligence had not told the u.s. about kazani and yet theoretically could he not have come over on the visa waiver program and tried to pull that attack on an american train? >> well, two things. first of all, even if no visa's required, there's still a vetting process one has to go through. it's called esta, which we beefed up recently. the other point i'll make is part of our security enhancements are not just enhancing what we know about people who travel here. it is strongly encouraging countries to do a better job themselves in collecting information about people who come in to their borders and

come into their countries. and so we've identified the visa waiver program which is something countries really care about and want to get into and stay in as a place where we can focus or efforts and get countries to enhance their own security. and i think we are making good progress. and with the help of congress i think we can do more. >> isn't the basic problem that there is this border between syria and turkey that foreign fighters just fly to turkey and somehow get across the border and then come back. and that the security and the border checks in europe are -- i don't want to call them a joke, but they're certainly not taken as seriously as they would be for instance if you were put in charge of the european border checks. and because of that, because of that very porous border, people like abaaoud who is a known wanted terrorist is able to get into france to stage these attacks. >> jake, this is something that we talked about at the u.n. i sat in for the u.s. at a u.n.

security council session in may to talk about this exact issue. it is something that is reflected in u.n. security council resolution 2178. and i'm going to europe, i'm going to the uk next week to talk about this issue. so it's something we're continuing to focus on. but the visa waiver program is a valuable avenue for improving security both with respect to travel here and with respect to security within europe in member countries in the visa waiver program. >> do you think it's not just a question of if but when that we'll see a mumbai or paris style attack in the united states? >> jake, i choose not to look at it that way. i think all americans realize that in a free and open society that we have we cannot erase all risk to public safety. i actually believe the american people understand that. but what we can do and what we

should do is buy down as much of that risk as possible while preserving american values, freedom to travel, freedom to associate. and that's what we're doing. that's what we're doing over time. >> well, i know we all wish you the best of luck with what is a very difficult job. secretary jeh johnson, thanks so much for being here. coming up, man accused of killing three at a planned parenthood in court minutes ago. we're learning more about his past and what he said during the horrific attack. and donald trump adamantly denying he was mocking a reporter's disability. so what exactly was he doing? a top trump adviser will weigh in coming up. when your cold makes you wish... ...you could stay... ...in bed all day... ...you need the power of... new theraflu expressmax. new theraflu expressmax. the power to feel better.

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welcome back to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. national lead, just moments ago in a colorado courtroom we saw the man accused of shooting up a planned parenthood clinic killing three innocent people. he appeared with his lawyer briefly answering questions from the judge. and he acknowledged his legal rights. authorities have yet to state the motive behind friday's standoff in colorado springs, twisted as it must have been. but investigators say the suspect made a comment about, quote, no more baby parts, when he was arrested. a possible reference to questions about the organization providing fetal tissue for medical research. in addition to the nine people wounded, the fatalities include officer garrett swasey, a husband and father of two children, active in his church and former figure skater, jennifer, a 35-year-old mother of two. and kier stuart, a decorated army veteran surviving war only to be killed by a crazed gunman

near a strip mall in colorado. stuart also leaving behind two children. cnn's dan simon joining me live from colorado springs. dan, what happened today when the suspect appeared in court? >> well hey, jake. this was a relatively short court appearance, routine as these things go. routine except for the suspect and of course the heinous crime. the suspect 57-year-old robert dear was charged with first-degree murder. he was appointed a public defender. he was advised of his rights in the process going forward. he looked to be perfectly honest hi looked to be somewhat out of it. he was slowly blinking his eyes almost sedated in a way. he was also wearing a protective vest. but keep in mind this was a video feed, so he's here at the detention center. so he wouldn't have access -- or the public wouldn't have any access to him. dear of course is accused of killing three people and wounding nine others. >> there are three people hiding in the bathroom at planned

parenthood where they think they hear a suspect. they say somebody's knocking. >> reporter: dramatic audio captured over police scanners during a six-hour standoff with a gunman following a shooting rampage that left three people dead and nine wounded at a colorado springs planned parenthood. while a motive remains unclear, a law enforcement official told cnn that after surrendering to police the suspect, robert lewis dear, made remarks about, quote, baby parts, and spoke of his antiabortion and antigovernment views with investigators. propane tanks found near dear's car in the clinic's parking lot led authorities believe he intended to cause even more harm by shooting them to trigger an explosion. what is known about dear's life indicates the 57-year-old lived a hermit's existence for many years on the east coast. eventually living in a cabin with no electricity or running water in the north carolina mountains. although he lived in solitude, dear was no stranger to police having had several run-ins with the law. in 1997 his then-wife accused him of domestic assault.

in 2002 charged with being a peeping tom. those counts were dismissed. in 2003 he was arrested and charged with two counts of animal cruelty but was found not guilty. within the past year dear purchased property in colorado, a small community 65 miles west of the planned parenthood facility for $6,000. neighbors say what interaction they had with dear was friendly but limited. >> really nice guy. gave us some anti-obama flyers. i didn't even really read them. i think i used them to start the campfire in our fire that night. that's about all i've run into him. >> reporter: well, police say after nearly six hours at that planned parenthood the suspect just gave up. he put down his gun and surrendered. he apparently felt like he was cornered and had no more options. his next court appearance, jake, is going to be on wednesday. and today the judge said that if he is convicted he could face life in prison or the death

penalty, jake. >> dan simon from colorado springs, thanks so much. more on our national lead. $1.5 million, that's the bond a judge set for the chicago police officer accused of murdering a teenager last year, shackled and handcuffed. jason van dyke appeared in court in his brown prison uniform today. the judge decided on bail after viewing this chilling dashcam video in court. laquan mcdonald was shot 16 times within 15 seconds. the officer claims he feared for his life. today's decision could bring more protests and unrest to chicago because activists demanded that van dyke be held without bond. protesters are also calling for the resignation of the city's top officials including mayor ra rahm emanuel and the city's police chief alleging a year-long cover-up of that dash cam video. in our politics lead, he's bragged about his support from african-americans, even announcing he would be endorsed by 100 black religious leaders today. but republican front-runner donald trump suddenly canceled the public event. why? a top member of trump's campaign

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welcome back to "the lead." i'm jake tapper. time now for our politics lead. donald trump wanted to kick off the post-thanksgiving dash to voting season with a bang. 100 african-american pastors standing behind the republican front-runner in political solidarity. but what the campaign initially advertised as a public endorsement of trump's presidential hopes was quickly downgrade sbod into just a priv meeting and a trial of sorts for mr. trump as many of the pastors who made the trek to trump tower have said trump does not represent their views much less deserve their endorsement. . cnn political reporter sara murray is in macon, georgia. what happened with this endorsement? it was supposed to be a big deal. >> jake, you're absolutely right. and the trump campaign blasted it out to reporters as a major endorsement. even though there was a very scaled back version of that today, donald trump still declared it a big success.

trump's splashy endorsement from 100 black pastors quickly fizzling today into a closed door meeting. >> i was told it was an endorsement, and that's fine. whether it is or not that's fine. i think having a meeting is a good thing any way. >> reporter: that's after a number of pastors invited said they had no intention of backing the gop front-runner or even attending the meet and greet. >> if you talk down to women, if you talk down to documented immigrants, calling them rapists and then black lives, get them out of here. no, you can't represent me. so i don't even need to hear your platform. >> reporter: said he came to talk with trump, nothing more. >> it's really incumbent upon me to take advantage of the opportunity to query him about exactly the types of things we should expect from a potential trump administration. i'm not here to endorse mr. trump, i'm here to have dialogue. >> reporter: passion and outright criticism comes as trump faces scrutiny for retweeting a racially charged

message. and suggesting a black lives matter protester deserved to be roughed up at a trump campaign rally. others attending today's meeting said they would attempt to convince their colleagues to support trump. >> anybody that knows donald trump personally knows that he's not a racist. he's provided more jobs for minorities, for mexicans, for african-americans, he's exactly whatnot only the african-american community needs but what america needs. >> reporter: trump's campaign originally promoted the meeting as an endorsement event, only to walk that back. today, trump said he saw love in the room and walked away with a few endorsements. >> we actually didn't think we were going to be having a press conference. but we all thought it was such a good meeting we would do that. and we have many, many endorsements that came out of the meeting. >> reporter: trump's also facing scrutiny for repeatedly insisting he saw large crowds of people celebrating in new jersey on 9/11. >> i've had hundreds and hundreds of calls and tweets of people that saw it. and plenty of people saw it.

>> reporter: now, you can see there trump continuing to repeat this long debunked story. there is no proof that there were crowds of people celebrating in new jersey when the twin towers fell. but you can see even it lacks substance why trump continues to say it it's certainly something that riles up his supporters. jake. >> sara murray, thanks so much. let's talk about mr. trump's bid for the republican nomination with the executive vice president of the trump organization, michael cohen, good to see you. >> happy thanksgiving. >> just to clear this up, not the hugest deal in the world but the campaign did describe the meeting as an endorsement. >> you certainly are right about that. it's not the -- >> absolutely. why the confusion? >> well, as pastor daryl scott who is one of the organizers said today, there was a misstatement, there was a confusion between his group and the trump campaign. in putting out the endorsement. what ended up happening was exactly what we were hoping was going to happen, many people endorsed mr. trump.

others left the meeting with a great feeling of love and a great feeling of mutual respect between the parties. and they are now going back to their respective churches to pray upon their decision. >> all right. fair enough. i want to ask you about this claim mr. trump saying he saw thousands and thousands of muslims in new jersey cheering as the twin towers came down on 9/11. now, media organization left, right and center have searched for any footage of this. no one has produced even a still photo. the former new jersey attorney general john farmer who was on the 9/11 commission says his office heard the same rumor at the time, they investigated it. they found nothing. farmer says -- >> how come i'm under the impression that the fbi had detained quite a large number of people. and even over the weekend at a function i was attending i had a significant number of people turn around and say it wasn't just taking place in jersey city. it also took place on atlantic avenue in brooklyn. >> i just want to ask you,

detaining people and terrorist suspects or whatever happened with the fbi -- >> well, people don't -- jake, people don't normally get detained because they're sitting and having an ice cream at their local ice cream shop. they were clearly doing something which gave enough cause to the fbi within which to detain people. >> it's a separate issue, sir. but the basic question is this. how do you explain that there's no evidence, no video evidence for what mr. trump claims he saw on television? how do you explain that? >> i'm not so sure that's true. i've worked for mr. trump now for a long time. and i can tell you that mr. trump's memory is fantastic. i've never come across a situation where mr. trump said something that's not accurate. >> there are -- seriously? >> yeah, seriously. >> all right. well, there is no video of this is all i'm saying. there's no video of this. and you would think by now somebody would have come forward and said -- i mean, you have a lot of supporters out there. the republican front runner -- >> you have a lot of people on mr. trump's social media saying

i saw it. i saw it with my own eyes. then again, look, here's the problem. the problem is that the accusers, meaning the mainstream media, no matter what donald trump says they're going to try to refute to the best of their ability. and it's just not working. that's really the problem. >> you don't think that there are conservative media outlets out there who want donald trump to win, who want donald trump to be the next president who would desperately love to put this up on -- this video up on their website? >> and they put up other things that corroborate mr. trump's statement. >> nobody's produced a photograph. >> at the end of the day we're talking about christians getting their heads chopped off, there was a photo of a christian woman who was killed by having a cross basically rammed through her head. we have our president off somewhere talking about climate change. we have a very serious issue in the united states according to the fbi that there are islamic terrorist groups, isis-linked

groups in every single state in this country. and we want to talk about whether or not that there were 1,000 people or 2,000 people that were sitting there and cheering, right? >> or any. >> you have thousands of people on mr. trump's social media that attest to it. >> all right. >> are you calling all of them liars? >> i don't know who you're talking about. you're talking about people on twitter. let me move on because obviously i have gotten as far as i can with this line of questioning. i do want to ask -- >> and at the end of the day this line of questioning is really silly. and i mean sara murray with even her previous statements. sara murray is exactly one of those accusers that no matter what donald trump says, you guys are going to go ahead and take a look at and try to figure out a way how to diminish and demean mr. trump. >> no, it's the scrutiny that comes with being a front-runner -- >> i don't see any other scrutiny being thrown at anybody to the extent that you're throwing it against donald trump. >> well, a -- >> let's move on. >> he is the front-runner.

i do want to ask you because i have not asked you yet. in defending his remarks about 9/11 and muslims in new jersey, trump cited this report from 2001 in "the washington post" from serge kovaleski, serge is a reporter that suffers from a condition limits movement in his arms. this is trump at a rally talking about this reporter. >> talk about northern new jersey draws the prober's eye written by a nice reporter, now the poor guy, you got to see this guy. i don't know what i said. i don't remember. he's going like i don't remember. maybe that's what i said. >> all right. let's put up. there's a still photo of donald trump from the event, and mr. trump insists he was not making fun of kovaleski and says he doesn't even remember meeting -- >> how many people have covered donald trump in the past? thousands upon thousands. >> with that disability i would guess one. >> do you really think mr. trump

remembers this specific reporter? the answer is mr. trump himself said he does not remember -- >> you said he has a fantastic memory. >> he most certainly does. he sees thousands and thousands of reporters a year. >> but he said -- >> now, let me say one more thing to you. >> michael, he said it was written by a nice reporter. you got to see this guy. >> he was talking about the article until he ended up pulling it back, which he did for whatever the reason that he did. but let me say -- >> he said you got to see this guy and then he mimics his injury. >> mr. trump donates millions and millions of dollars each and every year in order to combat disabilities, in order to combat cancer, whether it's children, he donates millions of dollars a year. mr. trump is not the type of individual that's going to make fun of somebody's disability. he wouldn't know this guy prior to this entire nonsense. >> but we just saw him do it. we just saw him make fun of his disability. >> he was not making fun. he was being gesticulate.

showing a reporter pulling back on a story, exasperation and basically saying something like, oh, now i don't remember, now i don't remember. had nothing to do with his disability. >> and it just so happened -- first of all, he said. he's a nice guy. then you got to see this guy. and then he twists his arms to mimic the disability. >> he wasn't twisting his arm to mimic anything. going back to the guy from the black lives matter, the guy was so far away from the group mr. trump had no idea if it was a male, if it was female though from the voice. he probably could tell, but he was so far away with lights in his eyes, he had no idea the guy was african-american. he had no idea -- >> i'm not even talking about that issue. >> it's the same issue. it's the accusers will continue to accuse mr. trump and not give him a fair chance. >> michael, no matter -- let me just ask you a question. >> i disagree with you. >> mr. trump would never ever make fun of somebody's disability. >> okay. >> end of story. >> let me ask you this question.

do you ever have a conversation with him and say, you know, you really actually could be president. you're the front-runner, you could get the republican nomination, you actually could win, now is maybe a time to be a little bit more of a statesman and not attack people on twitter, and not make fun of whatever? do you guys ever have that conversation? >> well, we definitely talk about mr. trump being the front runner. and we definitely talk about mr. trump winning the presidential bid in this upcoming election. and i will tell you that at this meeting that we had today with the pastors i will tell you that the topic did come up. that many of the pastors said we are taking a tremendous amount of heat as a result of some of these comments. despite the fact that they are inaccurate. that the media loves to portray mr. trump in a negative light. >> i'm just airing video of him, michael. i'm not portraying him in a negative light. we just aired video. >> you also aired video of mr.

trump when he turned around and said mexico is sending in, you know, all different types of people. he never said that they're hispanic, never said that they're mexican. the whole world knows there's 2,000 miles of open border that people are sifting through. he was bringing that up. he's not scripted. this is something that we understand. >> sure. >> mr. trump is not your prototypical politician. >> absolutely. agreed. >> he is an entrepreneur extraordinaire. he's insanely bright. >> but my question is -- >> he is a doer. what he will do is his mantra, he will make america great again. and this is the takeaway that these pastors who came to see him today. >> michael, what's your message to the disabled little boy or little girl who see that video and say it sure looks as though the republican front-runner is making fun of a physical disability. and even though he says he's not, it sure looks as though he is. and what's the message to that little boy and little girl? >> the message is that donald trump would never, not today,

not yesterday, not ever, would never make fun of another person's disability. ever. end of story. >> let me ask you a question. donald trump continues to lead both in the national polls and almost all of the early state polls, you could argue with iowa. but there are a lot of insiders in the republican party who attribute that to the republican base being angry. that's what they say. their words, not mine. >> and rightfully so. >> 32% of republicans describing themselves as angry. only 12% of democrats describe themselves as angry. if mr. trump wins the republican presidential nomination, how will voters who may not be feeling angry, how will he appeal to them? how will they respond to his message? >> who are we referring to with this question? >> well, like independent voters, the persuadables, the voters in the middle. not the necessarily like republicans who might switch tickets, democrats who might switch tickets, independent voters.

>> donald trump is going to t n transcend the republican party. he beats hillary in a head-to-head today and he will if in fact it becomes a trump versus clinton election. donald trump is a uniter. what he plans on doing is he plans on reaching out to all of the minority communities. and basically donald trump provides inspiration, hope. they know him to be a doer. this country is in terrible shape both as a country domestic as well as internationally. we have horrible things going on across this globe. we have refugee situation that, you know, is really out of control. and what donald trump is going to do like he does in his own business put things back on track and make this country great very much like he did his own company. >> michael cohen, we thank you. as always you and mr. trump, you take the questions. you answer them. appreciate it. thank you so much. >> good to see you, jake.

>> good to see you, michael. it may have been the best day of chris christie's campaign. on sunday he earned the coveted endorsement of an influential new hampshire newspaper, the new hampshire union leader. it gave him a boost one could argue in his new hampshire or bust strategy. and we just spoke with governor christie about the race including rare criticism from christie about his friend, donald trump. >> does this make you the comeback kid? >> we'll see. you know, that will be determined on february 9th when we see how votes come in. but i think what it shows is that the work we've been putting in here in new hampshire, the plans we've laid out that people are taking them seriously and taking them to heart. and we're thrilled to have the endorsement. >> apparently this endorsement is enough to worry your friend donald trump. up to now he has steered clear of criticizing you, for the most part. but first thing this morning he was on twitter. how is chris christie running the state of new jersey, which

is deeply troubled, when he is spending all of his time in new hampshire? new jerseyans not happy. you say? >> i'm just so glad to be noticed by donald. isn't that nice? it's great. and i'm happy to take whatever input he wants to give me in 140 characters or less, which is apparently the way he communicates best. so fine. >> is this a compliment that he's now taking a punch at you? >> who knows. you know, it's like i think i'm not going to play into the business of spending the precious time you and i have together talking about donald trump. >> oh, yes, we are. >> he's just one of the number of candidates for us to talk about and chew over. >> right. but he is the front-runner. you have avoided criticizing him. but he has gotten more outrageous by the day. he insists he's now double down and triple down that he saw

thousands of muslims celebrating after 9/11 in jersey city. then he says from four miles away in his office he could see people jumping from the world trade center. do you believe that either of those things happened? >> no. all i know are the facts. you know, what went on that day in new jersey was not anything like what he said. and there's no film or video of it to prove it. he says he saw it on tv. it didn't happen. >> but the first time you were asked about it you said you didn't think it was true, but you didn't recall it. and as a former prosecutor you know when a witness says i don't recall that, it sounds as if they don't want to answer the question. >> no, it's an honest answer. what i said -- you have to read the whole answer. what i said was, i don't recall that happening. then i qualified by saying it was a very emotional day for me. i was not focused on everything else that was going on in new jersey that day.

my wife and my brother were both trapped in lower manhattan. i didn't know if they were dead or alive. so i said i don't think it happened, but i have to put that qualifier in there because i was not completely focused on what happened. >> did it happen? >> no. >> absolutely not? >> no. >> so why don't you call donald trump out on this? he's doubled down. he's tripled down. >> what's the use? everybody knows it didn't happen. so what's the use? join the cacophony? i'm about distinguishing myself and making myself different from everybody else in a 14-person field. not the same. and so, you know, to just pile on, i don't see that as being useful. listen, jamie, i'm trying to win this race. >> yes or no, is it outrageous that donald trump keeps saying these things? >> it's wrong. it's just wrong. it's factually wrong. everybody else can determine what they think is outrageous or not outrageous. in the context of donald, outrageous is a high bar. >> his latest controversy is

that he is mocking a "new york times" reporter who has a physical disability. he now claims that he didn't know that the reporter had a physical disability. but if you watch the video, it's pretty hard -- >> i saw the video. >> do you think that he knew what he was doing? >> appears that way, but you know, he's got to answer for himself. i mean, i think part of the folly of all this is that we're answering for him. he said what he said. now the people who vote will judge him. >> our thanks to jamie for that interview. we can now show you the powerful force that made cars appear to lev at a time in china. the surveillance video is floating all over social media. at least three cars seem to just lift in the air. but let's look at it again. two vans and a car look as though someone took control of them with puppet strings. why do some cars lift up yet others travel normally?

i will show you. it turns out the force was the street sweeper on the right, its brush snagged a cable on the other side of the road. and that's what lifted the vehicles and flipped that minivan. thankfully no one was hurt. coming up next, americans on high alert after credible reports of an imminent attack. what the state department is saying about the threat coming up. is never easy. doing your own thing, making your own way can be pretty, well, bold. rickie fowler is redefining what it means to be a golfer. quicken loans is doing the same for mortgages. quicken loans. home buy. refi. power. official mortgage sponsor of the pga tour.

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we're doing everything we can to give you the best experience possible. because we should fit into your life. not the other way around. happening now, breaking news 48-hour warning. an american embassy warning of an imminent attack. the threat deemed significant, active and credible. u.s. citizens urged to use extreme caution. which terror group is plotting to strike and where? on the run, one of the fugitive paris terrorists now believed to possibly be back in syria. has he rejoined isis ranks to plot new attacks? face-to-face, as russia steps up air strikes and deploys more weapons to syria, president obama and vladimir putin meet in person to talk about the isis threat. is putin ready to work with the

u.s.-led coalition to fight the terrorists? new isis ambition. terrorist forces creating a new stronghold on another continent. now bringing their depraved brutality to libya with its self-proclaimed capital in syria under increasing assault, is isis looking for a place to regroup? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news. >> we're following the breaking news. the u.s. embassy in kabul, afghanistan, taking dramatic action warning of a possible attack in the next 48 hours. americans in the afghan capital being urged right now to use extreme caution as officials deem the threat, quote, very significant, active and credible. also breaking this hour, sources telling cnn that investigators are now looking into whether the eighth