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CNN NEWSROOM

Colorado Springs Shooting Hero Profiled; Planned Parenthood Responds to Colorado Springs Shooting; Donald Trump Initiates Controversy with Black Pastors; Paris Protests Banned; Trials in Death of Freddie Gray Begin; Pope Francis Visits Central African Republic; Terrorist in Paris Attack Identified

Aired November 29, 2015 - 17:00   ET

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


[17:00:00]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: -- which really is blank in large part there too. Alright, Derek van Dam, good to see you. Thank you so much.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Nice to see you.

WHITFIELD: Alright that's going to do it for me. Thanks so much for being with me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Poppy Harlow has much more in the Newsroom, starting right now.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, in the Newsroom, heroes first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He not only courageously went into that building and back to other officers, he gave his life.

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HARLOW: Colorado Springs police officer Garrett Swasey.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Garrett is, or was, the most selfless person I knew.

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HARLOW: As new details emerge about the suspected gunman.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He seems to be sort of all over the place, sort of a loner I'm sure. You know, they said he's kind of off the grid.

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HARLOW: Agents tonight swarming his home searching for clues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He gave us some anti-Obama flyers, little pamphlets.

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HARLOW: This hour, Planned Parenthood talks to CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(INAUDIBLE)

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HARLOW: Paris on edge.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we've watched through the afternoon have been the police trying to drive people out of this square.

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HARLOW: Hundreds detained. Protests at the climate meeting. Tear gas flying through the air.

Trump, the pastors, and the Monday meeting.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe Mr. Trump, his motive, and his intention really is to provide leadership.

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HARLOW: African-American pastors, the non-endorsement, and the reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Donald Trump is representing right now, the insults, the degrading is not what we're all about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Let's talk. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

Good evening everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Thank you so much for being with me. First of all, we want to focus on honoring the heroes. This show is committed to honoring and shining a light on the best of this nation, even, even at the worst of times.

There are a number of new developments coming out of Colorado Springs this evening.

Before I get to that, I want to make sure that you know all about Officer Garrett Swasey. He is a fallen hero. He is 44 years old. He was a church elder, a devoted husband, a father of two children, and a former skating champion. He was nowhere near the clinic when gunfire erupted Friday. He was 10 miles away at his campus post within the University of Colorado. He could have stayed there. Instead, he picked up, and he ran to the clinic to help fellow officers who were dodging bullets. That is where he was killed.

Now, we are hearing from his widow, Rachel Swasey, for the first time. She writes, "Our loss cannot be expressed in words. While the nation now knows Garrett as a hero who gave his life for others, he was also a devoted husband of 17 years and a wonderful father. We will cherish his memory, especially those times he spent those times he spent tossing the football to his son and snuggling with his daughter on the couch."

For all of you watching, if you want to help Swasey's widow and children, you can donate to a special memorial fund that has been set up at youcaring.com. I'm also going to put that link on my Facebook page. You can go there as well.

Swasey was childhood friends with U.S. figure skating icon Nancy Kerrigan. The two shared a close bond on and off the rink.

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NANCY KERRIGAN: He was two years younger than me but became literally one of my very best friends and like a little brother. We did a lot of teasing back and forth. Very loyal and loving, caring person. Good listener. He was sort of passionate about everything. Everything was done with a great big, giant smile, and he had fun in life. It's so sad. He's got two young kids. They literally run to him every time he comes in the door.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: We've also learned that two civilians were killed in that shooting rampage. CNN can now identify one of those civilians as Ke'Arre Stewart. At least nine others were injured, including five police officers, four civilians. The latest update we can give you is that four of those injured have been released from the hospital. Five patients, though, are still being treated.

And now to the suspected gunman. A law enforcement official tells CNN that the suspect did mention "baby parts" to investigators after the shooting. In later interviews, he expressed views, they said, opposing abortion and big government. Authorities say it is too soon to determine the motive. They note the suspect's views might not be the reason why he allegedly opened fire.

Law enforcement found propane tanks near his car. They believe that he was trying to shoot at those tanks and trying to spark an explosion.

Also today, Colorado's governor made an emotional plea on the state of the union.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D), COLORADO: The frequency is unacceptable. I'm not willing to say, "We'll just have to sit back and accept this as a cost of freedom." I think we have to really look at how do we address, how do we make sure people who are unstable, who have violent histories, if somehow a level of domestic violence made it much more difficult to get a weapon.

[17:05:15]

Maybe we'd not only keep our communities safer but also cut down on domestic violence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Governor John Hickenlooper there. The Justice Department right now investigating the clinic shooting. They will evaluate whether it will officially be deemed a case of domestic terrorism.

I want to bring in Dawn Laguens right now. She's the Executive Vice President, the Chief Experience Officer for Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Thank you very much for being with me --

DAWN LAGUENS, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF OFFICER FOR PLANNED PARENTHOOD FEDERATION OF AMERICA: Hi Poppy. Good to see you.

HARLOW: Thank you for joining us. It's a complete tragedy, and I'd like to first hear from you on whether or not you've learned anything on whether or not the suspected gunman may have been targeting the clinic from the beginning or not. What do we know?

LAGUENS: Poppy, I just have to start by saying our hearts go out to the Swasey family, to all of the families of those who were lost and all of those who were injured. And our great thanks from Planned Parenthood for the first responders and the law enforcement who were so important to making this less of a tragedy than it could have been.

What we know is a lot of what you all know. The gunman did express some anti-abortion sentiment, and we are certainly concerned by that. The health and safety of our patients is our number one concern. And so the heated rhetoric that we have seen of late, you know, greatly concerns us.

HARLOW: Let me read part of a statement for our viewers that you just released this afternoon. There have been a number of different statements from different branches of Planned Parenthood, but this is from you directly, nationally. Here's part of it.

You wrote, "It is offensive and outrageous that some politicians are now claiming this tragedy has nothing to do with the toxic environment they helped create. Can you name what politicians, Dawn, you're talking about?

LAGUENS: Well, I think we have heard quite a bit from the Republican candidates for President who have been criticizing Planned Parenthood, often not with the facts that have been out there. They have been discredited for those kind of attacks. And you have someone like Senator Cruz, who today denounced the violence but within the same week accepted the endorsement of anti-abortion extremists who'd spent time in prison for violent acts.

HARLOW: I do want to be very careful here because it is important when you look at this. You can't generalize all the candidates in either party either way on this. I mean, we had Ben Carson coming on out on CBS Face the Nation this morning and saying, "I think the rhetoric needs to be toned down on both sides."

I do want to play for you what GOP Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee said today.

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MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FORMER ARKANSAS GOVERNOR, GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What he did is domestic terrorism, and what he did is absolutely abominable, especially to those of us in the pro-life movement because there's nothing about any of us that would condone or in any way look the other way at something like this. There is no legitimizing, there is no rationalizing. It was mass murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Do you agree with him? He called it domestic terrorism.

LAGUENS: I think that whether or not we call it terrorism, we can definitely call it terrorizing, and that's what often happens to women who are seeking medical care, reproductive health care. Whether it's protestors that are encouraged by groups and organizations and sometimes candidates to be out and be intimidating toward women or someone who acts in this extreme way and creates a violent environment where people are trying to seek healthcare.

At the same time, we have 700 health centers in Planned Parenthood, most of which were open yesterday, again today. Thousands of people being seen. Almost all of our health centers operate without any protestors or any violence, and again that's our number one priority.

HARLOW: I do want to get your take as well, just on whether or not Planned Parenthood as a whole, because you speak for the organization at a national level, does deem this domestic terrorism, because one of the first statements that came out within hours of the beginning of the shooting on Friday came from Vicki Cowart, your colleague who wrote, "We share the concerns of many Americans that extremists are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism in this country."

Is that how you would qualify it?

LAGUENS: Yes, I think Vicki's statement was quite accurate. You've heard law enforcement. You've heard the mayor of Colorado Springs. You've heard the governor of Colorado. You've heard Mike Huckabee.

So I think there is a lot of belief that this qualifies as a form of domestic terrorism. And we know that a lot of incendiary rhetoric here and around the world contributes to terrorism. [17:10:10]

HARLOW: But there is clearly a difference between rhetoric and very opinionated people on both sides and crazy people. And look, we don't know the mental history of this gunman, but to see something like this happen is unimaginable. Despite how to one side, your views are on either side. I do want you to listen to, because you brought up some of the GOP candidates, I'd like you to listen to what Carly Fiorina said this morning on Fox News Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA, GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I would say to anyone who tries to link this terrible tragedy to anyone who opposes abortion or opposes the sale of body parts is this is typical left-wing tactics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Dawn, your response to that.

LAGUENS: I thought it was pretty amazing that she tried to, in the midst of this moment, bring in things that she has been thoroughly discredited around in terms of charges against Planned Parenthood. And of course the gunman is now quoted as having said almost exactly something similar to what Carly Fiorina just said, and so, I do think you have to go back to your statement, Poppy, where you said "both sides." I don't know anybody who supports women's health or safe, legal abortion who goes and protests to prevent other people from getting healthcare that they want.

So I think it is again disingenuous to say we all need to step back. We're not the people who are out there telling other people what to do. We're not out there protesting as they tried to receive healthcare, and we're not saying things that are being quoted by the people who perpetrate this kind of violence. I am not saying that they endorse this violence.

I just believe that this kind of rhetoric can in fact create a climate where that is more likely and that taking the endorsement of people who spent time in jail for plotting to do violence to abortion and other healthcare providing centers says something about where you fall.

HARLOW: Whose endorsement are you talking about?

LAGUENS: Operation Rescue endorsed and Troy Newman endorsed Senator Cruz this week.

HARLOW: Before I let you go Dawn, I do want to talk about the victims. Obviously, that is the most important part in all this, and we learned more about the officer killed today. You still have five people in the hospital. Can you tell us anything about their condition? Anything else that people should know about these individuals?

LAGUENS: The reports coming out, thankfully, are that all of the people who remain in the hospital are in good condition and are expected to make a full recovery. I cannot speak to anyone's individual case.

HARLOW: That is very good to hear, Dawn. I think that's the first time we're hearing that, so thank you very much. I appreciate your time.

LAGUENS: Thank you, Poppy. Appreciate it.

HARLOW: Still to come, tonight on the program. Tale of the tape, new enhanced video in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. What could new clues from the video, what could they lead to?

Also, closing in. Investigators hot on the trail of the Paris bomber.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a new ISIS, a new chapter for them to be able to conduct three external operations in just recent times.

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HARLOW: The latest from Paris straight ahead. Also, I will take you to Los Angeles and introduce you to Father Greg Boyle, who is helping gang members find hope and a new path through Homeboy Industries. This Jesuit priest tells me he has never met a monster.

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FATHER GREG BOYLE: I've seen folks who are completely despondent and can't conjure up an image of what tomorrow's going to look like.

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HARLOW: A tale of infusing hope on this Thanksgiving weekend. We are back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Protestors in Paris tonight throwing bottles and shoes at police. This just a day before a huge summit on climate change set to begin in Paris. Officials there ban a major climate march that was scheduled for today. That's what precipitated this.

They did that because Paris is still under an official state of emergency after those terror attacks, and that bans all major protests for the next three months. We know more than 200 people were arrested. All of this while more than 150 world leaders arrive for what has become called the COP21 Meeting.

CNN Senior International Correspondent Jim Bittermann joining me live from Paris. When you look at this, Jim, obviously, you know, I spent days and days in Paris with you. We saw how they were restricting these large demonstrations. What are they doing to make sure that they don't have hundreds of arrests again tomorrow when you have the leaders of China, the United States, all around the world descending on Paris? JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well they moved in pretty quickly today. I must say they were ready for the demonstrators who wanted to cause trouble today. One of the things they've done is they've picked up 24 environmental leaders who they thought were perhaps bent on trouble, which is kind of unusual. They put them under house arrest. Something that's unusual for a socialist government, which got elected on the basis of the environmental vote.

So kind of a draconian measure but they've taken others, for example, they've sealed off the roads to and from the airports, and basically to get to the actual conference site, which is at Le Bourget Airport, you can only go by public transit.

You've got to take public transport of some sort to get out there, and they can keep control over that in a little better fashion than what we saw this afternoon when the scuffles broke out with police, Poppy.

HARLOW: What about security, Jim? I mean, when we were there together, obviously they deployed 1500 additional French troops. You saw them with automatic weapons on the corners all over Paris.

But now leading up to this conference in the wake, just two and a half weeks, after the terror attacks, and you've got 150 world leaders all coming descending on Paris. What are they telling you about security measures during the summit?

BITTERMANN: They are going to do their utmost to protect these world leaders. One of the things is the window that the world leaders will be here is only about two days long. Most will be gone by Tuesday night.

There will be others here. For example, John Kerry is going to stay here throughout the conference, so there will be some who stay on, but the major heads of state and heads of government will be leaving so it's really only this two-day window that they've got to worry about.

And for those two days, they are going to have the site ringed with several thousand security agents, as well as security agents on the street.

[17:20:03]

Now, the protests in Paris are a long way away from the conference site, probably seven or eight miles away from the conference site, so it's not too much of a problem. But they just don't want to have that overshadowing what's going on at the conference.

HARLOW: Absolutely not. This has been a long time in the making, and they have some very lofty goals to try to achieve there on climate change. Jim Bittermann, live for us in Paris tonight. Jim, thank you.

Donald Trump not backing down from his claim that thousands of Muslim Americans when the Twin Towers fell on 9/11, and that is despite pushback from city leaders, police officials, many, many, all news organizations that have fact checked that and say it's not the case. They say those public celebrations never happened. Trump addressed the controversy this morning on NBC's Meet the Press, insisting he is correct. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I've had hundreds of people call in and tweet in on Twitter saying that they saw it and I was 100 percent right. Now, The Washington Post also wrote about tailgate parties.

We're looking for other articles, and we're looking for other clips, and I wouldn't be surprised if we found them, Chuck, but for some reason they're not that easy to come by. I saw it. So many people saw it, Chuck. So why would I take it back? I'm not going to take it back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: One thing that he has not addressed yet is that several black pastors invited to meet with him here in New York on Monday are now denying what his campaign had previously said that those pastors were planning to endorse Trump at the event. Our national correspondent, Sunlen Serfaty, joins me now from Washington.

You know, some of those pastors who were invited to this event right at Trump Tower say now they're not going to attend, and we're hearing that the campaign, although they're still going to have the meeting, has cancelled the press conference for tomorrow. Is that right?

SUNLEN SURFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy, the meeting is still on as planned, according to the Trump campaign, but today, they did announce that they are cancelling the press conference. Keep in mind, this is a press conference that was originally billed as one were where Trump would appear with many of those religious leaders for their endorsement afterward.

So certainly this move, this change comes after, as you referenced, there's been this fierce and vocal criticism and pushback from many of the invitees that they did not believe that this meeting was sort of equal to an endorsement. Many of those invitees saying that they thought it was just a chance to talk to him, open a dialogue but did not necessarily potentially lead to an endorsement. And one of those invitees spoke to CNN earlier today about why now he will not attend this meeting.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Donald Trump is representing right now, the insults, the degrading, is not what we're all about. So for me to endorse somebody like that, where you have no respect for people, with the women, I think that was a disgrace. The disabled reporter, that is unbelievable, even the way they pulled the man out, black lives matter, it's like a bully in the 21st century.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SURFATY: Now meanwhile, another one of those invitees also announcing why she cannot attend this meeting with Donald Trump, saying in a posting, "Trump is an insult and embarrassment, but he represents the country. We have become zero experience." So certainly, Poppy, this is a growing controversy. It dusts up, of course, coming just a few days after a Black Lives Matter activist was physically roughed up during one of Trump's events in Alabama, so certainly an interesting dust up after that, Poppy.

HARLOW: Right, well, we'll be watching, but that meeting still on. Taking place here tomorrow in New York City. We'll of course have coverage of that, see what comes of it. Sunlen, thank you very much. Stay with us, our political panel weighs in next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. Before the break, Sunlen Surfaty reported on some of those prominent black religious leaders making it very clear that even though they are sitting down with Donald Trump tomorrow for a meeting here in New York, that meeting is not an endorsement. Some of them expressing surprise that the Trump campaign would suggest otherwise. I want to bring in our CNN political commentator, Tara Setmayer, and also Morehouse College professor Marc Lamont Hill.

Thank you guys for being here. Just to be clear that the Trump camp has amended their statement and initially saying that this is an endorsement, now saying that they expect some of the leaders to come out after the meeting and endorse Donald Trump tomorrow. We will see if that happens. But Tara, to you first. The Trump campaign hasn't really explained why in the first place they said that this was going to be an endorsement. And I'm just interested in your take on all of this, if it really matters in the large, big picture in terms of the African-American vote.

CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR TARA SETMAYER: Well, you know, this is typical of what the Trump campaign does, right, I mean, the whole Trump campaign, has been about being grandiose, exaggeration, inaccuracy, and then turning it around and telling everyone else that we're crazy because we misinterpreted what they said or what he said, and I mean this is another one -

HARLOW: They did say that this time, they didn't say --

SETMAYER: No, I know, but I am just saying that this is something again, like they knew that this wasn't an endorsement meeting per se. They knew that. When you run a presidential campaign, nothing you do is deliberate unless you are completely incompetent. And I don't think that Trump's folks are completely incompetent. I think they are conniving. I think there's an agenda, and it would have been a big deal if it Trump had 100 legitimate religious black leaders in the community come out and endorse him. That would have been eyebrow- raising as something that could have potentially given some credibility for him.

HARLOW: And to be clear here, you're a, Tara's a conservative.

SETMAYER: Yes, I am. And I'm not a Trump supporter.

HARLOW: On the other side, let's go to Marc. I want to show you this, news of this meeting happening tomorrow with Trump and some of the African-American religious leaders led to an op-ed in Ebony Magazine. And here's part of that op-ed. "Trump's racially inaccurate, insensitive, and incendiary rhetoric should give those charged with the care of the spirits and souls of black people great pause."

Putting aside that you personally are not a Trump supporter or a conservative, Marc, do you believe that he can garner a meaningful amount of the African-American vote?

[17:30:10]

MARC LEMONT HILL, MOREHOUSE COLLEGE PROFESSOR: No, I don't. It's not just because he is conservative. There are black conservatives who will support Ben Carson. There are moderates and independents who may support Marco Rubio or Jeb Bush or even Ted Cruz, perhaps.

I think Donald Trump though doesn't resonate with black voters because of the things that he says and the things that he does, and I think that when it comes time to go into that booth whether it's in Iowa, whether it's South Carolina, or whether it's in Ohio or Pennsylvania, I think people won't support Donald Trump because of what he said about immigration, because how he talks about "the blacks," and because of the sort of weird positions on other issues. I think black people are open to candidates. I just don't think they're open to Donald Trump.

And I think we need to have room to critique Donald Trump as the ministers should, but also, we also need to be critical of some of these black ministers who aren't going in there to be prophets, they're not going in there to offer stern critiques of Trump's policies. They're going in there because they want to be in the room. And unfortunately, that desire for power can corrupt and it's what led to many black ministers siding with conservatives against their own interests.

HARLOW: Alright, I want you guys to weigh in on this. This is a fascinating turn of events, when you look at this new Quinnipiac poll showing Ted Cruz closing the gap with Donald Trump in Iowa, that critical early voting state just two points behind. That is within the margin of error.

You look at what it was just a few weeks ago, and it was Ben Carson within just a few points because he resonates so well or was resonating so well with evangelicals in Iowa. Tara and Marc, what do you make of this? Is it all about the evangelical vote in Iowa?

SETMAYER: Well, yes, the evangelical vote in Iowa is very strong, it's very important. But I want to address something that Marc said. I don't agree necessarily that Donald Trump can't garner a percentage of the black vote. You know, early on there were a lot of black voters who looked at what Donald Trump had to say, particularly on immigration because illegal immigration hurts the lower income brackets of the black community more than a lot of other people.

And they looked at that and said, "Yeah, that's right." They were agreeing with what Donald Trump had to say. So on the aspect of business and creating jobs, I think that there is an element in the black community that may look and turn to Donald Trump and say, "You know what, that's our guy."

Now, more so than any other Republican candidate? I'm not quite sure, but I would not completely discount the fact that Donald Trump could potentially garner some of the black vote because of his position on immigration.

HARLOW: What about Iowa, specifically? This poll, Marc, and Ted Cruz closing the gap there.

LEMONT HILL: To that point, I think that Ted Cruz is in a very interesting position. He strategically decided that he wasn't going to criticize Donald Trump. Instead, he would sort of be Donald Trump's bestie and hope that if Donald Trump drops out of the race or makes a huge gap, he would inherit all of those votes. Trump hasn't made a huge gap, at least not one that's cost him a race yet. But he is certainly beginning to get some of the trickle-down effect of Donald Trump. So it seems to me that Ted Cruz could be the surprise person. We saw this happen with Huckabee before. We saw this happen with Rick Santorum before in the last two Iowa caucuses. It would not shock me if Ted Cruz came in first or second.

HARLOW: And let's remember, Ted Cruz has not been criticizing Donald Trump at all.

SETMAYER: That's true.

LEMONT HILL: That's my point, yes.

SETMAYER: It's all strategic. Strategic.

HARLOW: I'm out of time. Marc, thank you, Tara, thank you. Great to have you on, as always. Don't forget, the next Republican presidential debate right here only on CNN, Tuesday, December 15, hosted by our very own Wolf Blitzer, nine PM Eastern. Stay with us, we're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: The Cuyahoga, Ohio prosecutor's office has released an enhanced version of videotape showing the fatal shooting of 12-year- old Tamir Rice. A Cleveland police officer shot the 12-year-old boy just over a year ago now. This new video enhancement shows, we're told, shows 326 still frames. It includes two additional camera angles along with the timeline of events, and it will be presented to a grand jury for evaluation.

Rice's family, after seeing this video, released a statement, in part saying, "The enhancement definitively disproves Prosecutor McGinty's expert claims that Tamir was reaching into his waistband and lifting up his jacket. The video continues to reveal police officers rushing upon 12-year-old Tamir without assessing the situation." The family also criticized the prosecutor for releasing the tape to the media without giving them a copy and questioned the fairness in handling this case.

Jury selection begins tomorrow in the trial of Baltimore police officer William Porter. Officer Porter is the first of six officers to go on trial for the death of Freddie Gray back in April. Prosecutors say he died of injuries suffered while he was in police custody which we now to Sara Ganim, who has been following this from the beginning.

When you look at this officer, six officers charged with a number of different charges, facing from 30 years to 10 years in prison. However, this is the first officer to be tried, and they'll all be tried separately.

CNN CORRESPONDENT SARA GANIM: That's right. This is Officer William Porter. His jury selection begins tomorrow. He's charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office, and reckless endangerment. Prosecutors say he ignored Freddie Gray's pleas for medical help when Freddie Gray was in the back of that police transport vehicle. Porter's trial is the first, Poppy, because he may later testify against his fellow officers in the trials that follow, including the officer who is charged with murder.

Now, The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Porter actually told investigators that he and his fellow officers weren't sure if Freddie Gray's complaints about pain and injuries were real or fake. The state's attorney, Marilyn Mosby, said it was the 45 minute rough ride in the back of the police van that caused Gray's death.

Now, rough ride is a term that's used to describe this form of police brutality when police drive erratically with prisoners in the back of the transport van, often causing them to get roughed up. Prosecutors say Gray, who had been picked up on a weapons charge, suffered a severe spinal cord injury in that van. That's what led to his death.

Now, the interesting thing about William Porter, this officer, is he's 25 years old, same age as Gray. His life paralleled Gray's in many ways. In a Washington Post profile that came out recently, Porter talked about growing up in the same neighborhood as Gray, dealing with the same hardships, saying this, "If I had made different choices, I would have been Freddie Gray. If he had made different choices, he could have been an Officer Porter."

Now, Poppy, we saw seven months ago, the riots, the unrest in Baltimore, and this is where the case for justice for Freddie Gray moves to the courtroom.

HARLOW: Right and everyone remembers when Marilyn Mosby got up there and said these are the charges. We'll be watching. Of course, we'll have live coverage in Baltimore tomorrow for all of it. Thank you very much, Sara. Appreciate it.

I want to go to Joey Jackson, CNN Legal Analyst, criminal defense attorney, joining me on the phone. When you talk about the charges that he is facing, I am interested how high the bar is here for the prosecution.

[17:40:01]

You've got these charges of one count of involuntary manslaughter, second-degree assault, misconduct in office, reckless endangerment. What's the penalty if found guilty? How high is the bar?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Poppy, good to be joining you this evening. Well, the prosecutors of course, as we know, have to establish the case beyond a reasonable doubt. We know that bar in itself is significant, in that, you know, obviously it's beyond probability beyond a reasonable doubt. And so therefore the prosecutors have their job to do.

In terms of what they have to prove, when you look at involuntary manslaughter, for example, what you're looking at is not something that was on purpose, but it's an unintentional act, and the actions that the prosecution claims is not that there was any meaning to kill Freddie Gray, but as a result of certainly negligence is going to be the argument or consciously disregarding the risk that if you ignore his medical attention, he could die if that's how this occurred.

And of course the allegation against Porter is that although he was on notice by Freddie Gray himself, Poppy, that he needed medical attention, he thought he was feigning or faking it, and as a result didn't provide it, and as we know, he subsequently a week later died. So they'll be looking at that, and you know, it goes along the lines of the other charges too in terms of misconduct in office and reckless endangering him.

All of that will be the argument that the prosecutor will be making will be that the result of their failure to act when you have a legal duty as a police officer to act, this is what occurred. And so the prosecution's theory will be moving forward. Obviously, the defense will have much to say about that.

HARLOW: Absolutely. And this the first of what will be six separate trials for these officers in Baltimore. Thank you very much, Joey Jackson.

Still to come here tonight, we have new information just breaking about the Paris terror suspect on the run. You see him there, Salah Abdeslam. What are sources now telling us he purchased? What did he buy in Paris before the terror attack? Wait until you hear this next.

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HARLOW: Alright checking top stories for you, a man has been arrested following the shooting death of a Pennsylvania police officer. Lloyd Reed was killed while responding to a domestic abuse dispute east of Pittsburgh. Investigators say 31-year-old Ray Shetler, Junior shot Reed and then ran. Shetler was captured six hours later.

Deadly winter weather slamming parts of the south central United States on this very busy post-Thanksgiving travel day. Right now, some 11 million people currently under flood warning, eight million more under winter storm warning. At least 10 weather reported deaths have been reported alone in Texas and Kansas.

Colorado shooting suspect, Robert Deer, due in court tomorrow. He allegedly shot and killed three people, injured nine more, and killed a police officer at that Colorado clinic on Friday night in a bloody standoff with police that lasted nearly six hours.

Pope Francis making his first visit to a war zone. He met with refugees at a camp in the Central African Republic. Thousands of people have been killed and displaced in that country's war there. The Christian president was ousted by a predominantly Muslim coalition of rebels two years ago. The Central African Republic may be the most dangerous place a modern pope has ever visited. CNN Vatican Correspondent Delia Gallagher, traveling with the Pope this evening. Delia?

DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: On the first day of Pope Francis's trip to the Central African republic, he visited those most affected by the decades-long civil war and armed conflict in this country, the children of the Saint Sauveur refugee camp. They are only some of the one million people who have been displaced or fled, creating one of the largest humanitarian crises in the world.

"My wish for you and for all Central Africans is peace," the Pope told them. It was a message he took to the leaders too, meeting the Imam of Bengui, the capital city, along with Protestant and Catholic leaders. Security has been very tight here with UN and French peacekeeping troops and reinforced Vatican secret services, but it hasn't stopped the Pope from riding in an open Popemobile and mixing with the crowds.

And, in a symbolic gesture, the Pope opened the doors of the Bengui's Catholic cathedral. This gesture is connected to the Pope's call for a special jubilee year, and he made an appeal that all people waging war here and around the world put down their instruments of death. Delia Gallagher, CNN, Bengui, Central African Republic.

HARLOW: Delia Gallagher with us tonight, traveling with the Pope, thank you very much. Quick break, we're back on the other side.

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HARLOW: Those images out of Paris. In the meantime, the investigation continues in the wake of this horrific attacks. CNN has learned from a source close to the investigation that the fugitives suspected of being part of the terrorist cell that carried out those attacks in Paris bought detonators in France before the attacks. We're talking about Salah Abdeslam, the eighth attacker on the run. French newspaper, Le Parisien, also reports that he made the purchase from a fireworks store in a town just north of Paris. The paper adds, the manager of the store alerted security services about that purchase after Abdeslam's name and photograph were released to the public in this wanted poster.

With me now from Washington, CNN counterterrorism analyst, former CIA counterterrorism official, Philip Mudd. When you talk about buying these at a fireworks store, who can buy these things? Is there any tracking done, any background checks, like when you are buying guns?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST, FORMER CIA COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: I think this would be difficult to track. What we're learning, Poppy, is how informal in some ways the orchestration of this attack was. It looks like ISIS is taking one step toward the sophistication of Al Qaeda a decade ago, but not a full step toward an operation that was entirely controlled and directed from Syria. Look at some of what we've seen, and you had just mentioned purchases of detonators from a fireworks store. It does not look like Abdeslam had an exit plan. They chose targets that you would not characterize as iconic. So you have ISIS starting to step up its game by saying, "We want to stage attacks in Europe," but not getting to the level of that kind of preparation we saw from its predecessor Al Qaeda 10 years ago, 15 years ago.

HARLOW: Yes, that's true, but then, you do see the coordination. The fact that six coordinated attacks totally flying completely under the radar of intelligence. Phil, I want you to take a listen to what Representative Mike McCaul said earlier today on CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Chairman, do you know anything about whether investigators may be closer to finding Abdeslam? Do you think that they have a sense of whether he's still in Europe or if instead he may have made his way to Syria?

REP. MIKE MCCAUL, (R-TX), CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Well, I can't get into that level of specificity.

[17:55:00]

I don't want to compromise our investigation. I do think they are closing in on him, and that's the good news. There are many involved in this plot. It is a very sophisticated plot, an external operation that we've seen from ISIS. You mentioned the bombing of the Russian airliner. This is a new ISIS, a new chapter for them to be able to conduct three external operations in just recent times.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Of course, he is the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and when you listen to him and he said the new ISIS, Philip Mudd, what does that look like given the description you just gave us, partly sophisticated, partly thrown off the cuff.

MUDD: Yes, you've got to think of where we were, Poppy, just a month or two ago, when we had ISIS passively supporting its followers, saying, look wherever you are in place, you don't have to come to Syria. You can conduct an operation. We might not train you, we might not fund you, but we support what you do.

Then we learned over the past month to six months, going back to the operations we have seen in Belgium and France earlier this year, that ISIS has developed an internal self, not only to passively support operations in a place like Europe or the United States, but to train people in Syria to conduct those operations.

Let me give you one bottom line on this. When a terror group dedicates an internal cell including leadership to conduct operations like this by training people from overseas, that is typically all they do, so we can anticipate that the cell that trained these guys in support of these guys for Paris are sitting back now saying, for us in Syria, that was a tremendous success. How do we build on that by running a next operation? They will not stop with this operation.

HARLOW: Phil Mudd, thank you so much for joining us. Pretty scary reality, he bought a detonator in a fireworks store in Paris. Thank you very much, Phil Mudd, I appreciate it.

Still to come in the Newsroom, her son murdered at a gas station in 2012. You know the trial, it was called "The Loud Music Trial." The murderer sentenced to life in prison. It is now the subject of a new documentary. Ahead in the next hour, we will speak with the mother, Lucia McBath for the first time since her son, Jordan Davis, killed at just 17 years old. Stay with me for that.

Also ahead, it is called Homeboy Industries. I traveled to Los Angeles to meet this guy, a Jesuit priest, who is literally turning miracles, pulling gang members out of the life that they are living into jobs and new reality. That story, this Thanksgiving weekend, something to be hopeful for, ahead.