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President Obama's National Address on Terrorism; Republicans Declare Obama's Strategy Not Working; International Reaction Obama's Address on Terrorism. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired December 7, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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


[01:00:11] JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This is CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles.

Ahead this hour, U.S. President Barack Obama calls ISIS thugs and killers, and vows the terror group will be destroyed.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has some surprising news in his fight against brain cancer.

Also ahead, the rock group U2 returns to Paris, paying tribute to the victims of the terror attacks.

Hello, everybody. Great to have you with us. We'd like to welcome our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts now.

U.S. President Barack Obama gave a rare Oval Office address a few hours ago, seen part pep talk, part lecture. He tried to reassure Americans about their safety at home and bolstered their faith in the fight against ISIS. Mr. Obama called for stronger gun control and more cooperation from Congress. He also detailed the current U.S. strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: First, our military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary. Second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so that we take away their safe havens. Third, we're working with friends and allies to stop ISIL's operations to disrupt plots, cut off their financing and prevent them from recruiting more fighters. Fourth, with American leadership, the international community has begun to establish a process and timeline to pursue ceasefires and a political resolution to the Syrian war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, for more on the president's speech, our senior political analyst Ron Brownstein joins me now. Ron is also the editorial director of the "National Journal."

Ron, thanks for being with us.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, John.

VAUSE: If you're sitting at home and you tuned into that national address, that you couldn't miss, and you were hoping to hear something new about what the U.S. is planning to do to fight ISIS, you didn't hear it.

BROWNSTEIN: No, you didn't.

VAUSE: So why was it critical for Mr. Obama to make this address from the Oval Office.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, first of all, I mean, the events in San Bernardino were very -- you know, very disturbing and required, I think, a presidential response. And also this being an Oval Office address gave him the biggest concentrated audience, the biggest audience he had to make the case for what he is doing. And he said a lot of things that I think most Americans will find reasonable about playing into ISIS' hands by, for example, demonizing American-Muslims or a full scale ground assault.

The problem is, the underlying premise of the speech was that what we are doing is working. And I think most Americans do not believe that. I think most experts do not believe that. And so it lacked, I think, the sense of urgency that many people tuning in would have been looking for.

VAUSE: Yes, in terms of a presidential address, the only bigger thing really is the State of the Union.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: The next thing up from an Oval Office address.

BROWNSTEIN: Right.

VAUSE: Do most Americans get that when they see the president talking from the Oval Office, they realize, hey, this is important?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I don't think they realize it's important. I don't think they quite see it perhaps as (INAUDIBLE) the people in the White House do.

VAUSE: Right.

BROWNSTEIN: But as I said, I mean, after an event of this magnitude, the shootings in San Bernardino, which is really kind of the wolf at the door moment that many Americans have been fearing of someone radicalized in attacking a target really is impossible to defend in any kind of open society. I think it does require the president to come forward and say, look, we do recognize we have a challenge here. We have a threat here. And we have a plan to meet it.

That is the case that he wants to make. But again, I think people may be looking -- are clearly looking for more than he's offered.

VAUSE: You mentioned the issue of tolerance towards Muslims. And also there seemed to be some very noticeable concern from the president about what is being said on the Republican side of politics.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

VAUSE: Let's listen to some of what the president had to say about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want. ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death. And they account for a tiny fraction of a more than a billion Muslims around the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: This really to me was tolerance, tolerance, tolerance.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Now look, this is a deeply, deeply complicated problem. Because on the one hand, you have to say the president is almost certainly right. That if -- that repression breeds radicalization, which could compound the problem that you are attempting to resolve. On the other hand, you have to be cognizant of the fact of where the problem is springing from. And the case in San Bernardino of someone who is an American-born, Muslim-American, who -- whether he was radicalized by the wife or his own, ultimately was willing to pick up an assault weapon and go into a party of people that he worked with.

So the challenge of being, you know, clear-eyed about what the danger is without overreacting in a way that expands and multiplies the danger is a very difficult thing to do in practice. That was probably one of the most effective parts of his speech talking about it is not that simple.

[01:05:12] VAUSE: And it's not that simple because we heard -- on the other side of the equation, we heard from the president, it is also very tough on the Muslim community as well. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: If we're to succeed in defeating terrorism, we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies. Rather than push them away through suspicion and hate. That does not mean denying the fact that an extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities. This is a real problem that Muslims must confront without excuse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: A real problem that they must confront without excuse.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. And that was stronger language that I at least have heard from him and I think -- I think many people will feel that it was going strong.

VAUSE: Why did he go there?

BROWNSTEIN: Because I think of what we saw in San Bernardino. I mean, I think that kind of crystallized the challenge and you cannot look away from it at the same time even as you acknowledge that, you know, overreacting or painting with too broad a brush could, again, expand and multiply the problem that you're attempting to combat.

VAUSE: One of the issues, too, that we saw in the president's speech, he did raise the issue of gun control. I'm just wondering how smart that was I'm just wondering if the critics of the president are going to roll their eyes and say, well, here we go. He uses this as an excuse to take away the guns.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, look, the gun issue is a stalemate in America. It's not going -- the points he made were entirely reasonable but I think for many people it's going to seem a little beside the point. I think the bigger challenge --

VAUSE: (INAUDIBLE) perhaps.

BROWNSTEIN: No, I think relevant.

VAUSE: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: I think it's relevant. Look, the bigger challenge here is that most Americans, as we have said, believe that the Obama approach has failed to combating the terrorist threat. But they also believe by the end of 2008 that the George W. Bush approach had failed, that the iron fist had failed, now the velvet glove has failed, and I think most Americans are uncertain that our leaders have a calibrated answer or whether indeed anyone in the Western world has an answer to what has been a spreading and more consistent threat.

VAUSE: Yes, here's the thing. The counter strategy isn't working, the military, the boots on the ground strategy is not working the way we want. That's the issue.

BROWNSTEIN: That's the challenge.

VAUSE: Absolutely. We'll have more on military tactics in a moment. But, Ron, thank you for being with us. We appreciate your insights.

Let's turn now to CNN's military analyst Rick Francona. He has more on this. He joins us via Skype from La Quinta, in California.

Colonel Francona, thank you for being with us. Just talk about this response here that we've had from the Republicans. I don't wish you to get into the politics of it all, but this is what the Republicans and the critics have been saying. They point out that the current strategy has not been working. They said, in part, "We will defeat ISIS but we cannot do so by continuing the current approach. The path laid out by President Obama and supported by Hillary Clinton," there's the politics, "has not worked and ISIS has only gained in strength."

So, Colonel, my question for you is, is the current strategy working, and ISIS is getting stronger? Which is it? LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I don't think the

current strategy is working. ISIS continues to get stronger. One only has to look at where they have expanded. They're not contained. We may have contained them a little bit in Syria and Iraq, but you look at the -- the provinces that they're setting up, all over the region, and as far away as North Africa, we see them in Sub-Saharan Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Chechnya, so clearly we are not containing this organization and it continues to gain strength.

Although we've killed thousands of them, their recruiting efforts continue. And as long as they appear to be successful and as long as we appear to be on the losing side, they will continue to attract the recruits they need to fill their ranks. So I don't think that the president addressed that particular issue. He said we're going to defeat them but he didn't tell us how. Somebody at some time is going to have to put boots on the ground.

VAUSE: Right.

FRANCONA: I understand it's not going to be us but we need to be dealing with that.

VAUSE: One thing which I heard the other day was from a former general who made the point that air power alone which essentially is what's happening to fight ISIS. Air power alone is like casual sex, it's gratifying but there's no commitment.

FRANCONA: Yes, that was General Hayden, I used to work for him. Yes.

VAUSE: Yes. Is he right?

FRANCONA: The air power is not going to do this alone. But you certainly cannot do this without air power. And in the meantime it serves as some containment of ISIS. We can at least try and cause and make it very expensive for them to continue their operations. We can attack their financing. We can try and cut off their supply lines. But in the end, it's going to require someone to go in there and defeat them on the ground, take the fight to them. They want it to be a Western European or an American group that can go in there and cause the war that they want. This apocalyptic vision of what they think the future should be.

We can't let that happen. This is a Sunni-Arab problem. There has to be a Sunni-Arab solution.

VAUSE: And with that in mind, the president did call out and mention the fact that there is greater support now from the French, British and German government. He did not talk about any greater support from one single Arab nation. And the reason for that is?

[01:10:12] FRANCONA: Because the Arabs do not want to get involved in this. And if we're going to do it, they'll just sit back and let us do it. And you know, I have applaud the British and the French and the Germans for getting more involved but their role is more symbolic because the problem isn't more air power. The problem isn't more bombs. We have all the reconnaissance we need. And we're hitting the targets that we can find.

The problem is the restrictive rules of engagement. But again, John, we've got to get the Sunni-Arabs involved. You know, the Sunni-Arabs, Gulf allies, the Jordanians, the Egyptians were very supportive at the beginning, where are they now? They've all pulled back.

VAUSE: Yes. Yes, absolutely. Where are they now? In fact they've pulled right back. They're not involved it seemed in any way.

Colonel Francona, good to speak to you. Thank you, sir.

FRANCONA: Sure thing, John.

VAUSE: President Obama assured Americans that the U.S. is working with its international allies to stop ISIS. Let's go to Sara Sidner now. She's live this hour in Istanbul for the very latest on the reaction.

So, Sara, I just wonder if a country like Turkey on the front lines of this battle against ISIS, did they -- were they being pleased with what the president said? Is that what they were looking for or were they looking for more?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think it's really less about words now, John, and more about actions. I mean, Turkey finds itself in a difficult position as you might imagine, a neighbor with Syria. They have experienced their own terrible bouts with ISIS just in October. A hundred people killed. The government said that ISIS are responsible, two suicide bombers there of course along the border which is what started Turkey's move into attacking Syria. 30 people killed from a suicide bomber on the border.

And, you know, really what they have been asking for, for many years now, from the United States is what they're calling a safety zone along the border, keeping militants from being able to cross into Turkey. And by that they really mean that they would require a no-fly zone inside of Syria not far from the Syrian-Turkey border. And of course they have seen that in the way that they would like to see it. And so they've been asking for that, for quite some time, for the last at least three years now as this war has continued on.

But one thing that Turkey is very clear about, John, is that any solution needs to address Bashar al-Assad. Needs to deal with the fact that he is still in the country, still acting as the president there, which Turkey sees as a mistake, as do many Syrians. And they believe that without his dealing with Assad himself that Syria and ISIS and the situation there is never going to change, never going to get better -- John.

VAUSE: And very quickly, so what is the very latest on the security threat there to the U.S. consulate and Istanbul?

SIDNER: We're expecting the U.S. consulate to open today with normal business hours but over the weekend there was this warning and they had some information that there was a security threat against the consulate. They warned Americans to stay away from the consulate. It is normally closed on the weekends anyway. But we did notice increased security outside of the U.S. consulate here in Istanbul.

There was an attack this year back, I think in July where two women, they were from a far leftist group here in Turkey, started shooting at the consulate. No one was injured in that attack. But they've certainly gotten some kind of information to make them put out this warning notice telling Americans to be more vigilant and also to increase their own personal security. Some notes there. But they're not saying exactly what the threat is, who the threat may have come, we're going to wait and see this morning to see if the embassy or excuse me, the consulate reopens here in Istanbul this morning as scheduled -- John.

VAUSE: OK. Sara Sidner, coming up to 8:15 on a Monday morning there. Thank you for being with us, Sara.

And we have one quick note here in case you did miss it earlier. We will be replaying Mr. Obama's entire Oval Office statement at the bottom of the hour about 15 minutes from now.

A candlelight vigil for one of the victims of the massacre in California. Mourners remembered Robert Adams, 40 years old, who was an environmental health specialist but better known as the dad of a 20-month-old daughter, a loving husband. He was one of 14 people killed in last week's shooting rampage.

And we are finding out more about the married couple that did carry out the shooting. A senior law enforcement official says the husband Syed Farook had looked into contacting terrorist groups overseas. At the very least both attackers were inspired by ISIS.

[01:20:01] And as Kyung Lah reports, investigators are looking at possible hints the couple may have dropped as they became more radical.

KYUNG LAH, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Farook's father describes his son to reporters as a good kid, as a quiet kid, but growing more conservative and sharing an ideology with ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Sir, do you have a moment to speak with us for a minute?

(Voice-over): Syed Farook, father of gunman Syed Rizwan Farook driving away from his home this morning. He's been speaking to reporters on and off, earlier saying he and his son were divided on ideology.

SYED FAROOK, SYED RIZWAN FAROOK'S FATHER: All Pakistanis coming from the major cities are liberal people.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Understood.

FAROOK: OK. And he was going towards conservation.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He was going towards what?

FAROOK: Conservation. You know, his views were conservative. My views were liberal.

LAH: Farook explains more of their divide in an extensive interview with Italian newspaper "La Stampa." He says his son was shy, too conservative, and the father became angry when he once saw his son had bought a gun. The elder Farook saying about his son's beliefs, he said he shared the ideology of al-Baghdadi to create an Islamic State, and he was fixated on Israel.

A Pakistan-based relative of Farook's who had met him in the U.S. tells CNN the gunman started following a stricter interpretation of Islam three to four years ago, and the whole family was worried about the shift in his character. The relatives saying that change began before he met and married wife and fellow killer Tashfeen Malik.

They would meet first over the Internet, Farook seeking a religious woman. Friends say they eventually met in person in Saudi Arabia. Malik entered the U.S. last year on a fiancee visa. Investigators tell CNN Malik, under a different name, posted on Facebook a pledge of allegiance to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi just before the massacre began.

At the mosque where Malik and Farook were married in the U.S., members say they never saw her face. Farook's father tells "La Stampa" he also never met her. A couple whose beliefs are slowly coming into sharper focus. Unknown what sparked the mass murder in the first place.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAH: Throughout the weekend, there was no official news conference from the authorities, expected to change tomorrow when the FBI holds their first news conference in three days,

Kyung Lah, CNN, San Bernardino.

VAUSE: To England now, a man accused of stabbing two people at a London Tube station in an act of terror is due in court Monday. 29- year-old Muhaydin Mire is charged with attempted murder. Police say Mire seriously wounded one man before being subdued with a taser. Detectives searched a home in East London on Sunday and they're looking into reports Mire yelled, "This is for Syria," during the attack.

Well, still to come, a year after one of its officers shot and killed a teenager, the Chicago Police Department is about to be investigated by the U.S. government. The latest details when we come back.

Also, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter makes a very big announcement about his health. Those details also ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

[01:22:05] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. The U.S. Justice Department is set to announce an investigation into the Chicago Police Department. The probe will focus on Chicago police practices to determine if anyone's rights have been violated. It's an expansion of an ongoing civil rights investigation into the death of Laquan McDonald. The teenager who was shot 16 times by a Chicago police officer.

CNN obtained newly-released police reports from the incident which contain dramatic discrepancies between the officer's accounts and what the dash cam actually shows.

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter says his cancer is gone. This comes four months after the 91-year-old revealed that his skin cancer had spread.

We get details now from Nick Valencia.

NICK VALENCIA, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Jimmy Carter says he is cancer free. The former U.S. president made this stunning announcement at the start of Sunday school church service in his hometown of Plains, Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY CARTER, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I went for an MRI of my brain. The four spots were still there, but they were responding to the treatment. And when I went this week, they didn't find any cancer at all. So I have good news.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VALENCIA: After the hearing the news, parishioners in attendance erupted into applause, the unexpected announcement by the 91-year-old. It was just this summer that President Carter announced that he was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo a procedure in August to remove a small mass from his liver. The doctors did say that the cancer was also found in his brain. That melanoma included four spots about two millimeters in diameter.

President Carter did start to undergo radiation treatment as well as an experimental drug called pembrolizumab. He mentioned that drug in a statement he released to the media, which said, "My most recent MRI brain scan did not reveal any signs of the original cancer spots nor any new ones. I will continue to receive regular three-week immunotherapy treatments of pembrolizumab."

We did speak to one of the leaders of the church who said that they had been praying for this announcement but didn't expect it to come. They called it a miracle -- John.

VAUSE: A miracle indeed. Nick, thank you.

Well, still to come here, President Obama spoke out on terror and domestic safety on Sunday night from the Oval Office. In case you missed it, we'll replay the president's speech entirely. Next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: Our success won't depend on tough talk nor abandoning our values or giving into fear. That's what groups like ISIL are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every aspect of American power.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:28:21] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

President Obama's speech a few hours ago was short but he used much more forceful language than he has in the past. And here it is now, the entire speech from the president.

[01:30:00] BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our nation has been at war with terrorists since al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11. In the process we have hardened our defenses from airports to financial centers to other critical infrastructure. Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have disrupted countless plots here and overseas and worked around the clock to keep us safe. Our military and counterterrorism professionals have relentlessly pursued terrorist networks overseas disrupting safe havens in several different countries, killing Osama bin Laden and decimating al Qaeda's leadership. Over the last few years, however, the terrorist threat has evolved into a new phase. As we've become better at preventing complex multi-faceted attacks like 9/11, terrorists turned to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our society. It is this type of attack that we saw at Ft. Hood in 2009, in Chattanooga earlier this year and now in San Bernardino. And as groups like ISIL grew stronger amidst the chaos of war in Iraq and then Syria, and as the Internet erases the distance between countries, we see growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds of people like the Boston Marathon bombers and the San Bernardino killers.

For seven years, I've confronted this evolving threat each and every morning in my intelligence briefing. And since the day I took this office, I have authorized U.S. forces to take out terrorists abroad precisely because I know how real the danger is. As commander-in- chief I have no greater responsibility than the security of the American people. As a father to two young daughters, who are the most precious part of my life, I know that we see ourselves with friends and coworkers at a holiday party like the one in San Bernardino. I know we see our kids in the faces of the young people killed in Paris. And I know that after so much war many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure.

Well, here's what I want you to know. The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us. Our success won't depend on tough talk or abandoning our values or giving into fear. That's what groups like ISIL are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every aspect of American power. Here's how. First, our military will continue to hunt down terrorist

plotters in any country where it is necessary. In Iraq and Syria, air strikes are taking out ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, infrastructure. And since the attacks in Paris, our closest allies, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have ramped up their contributions to our military campaign, which will help us accelerate our effort to destroy ISIL. Second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so that we take away their safe havens. In both countries we're deploying Special Operations forces who can accelerate that offensive. We have stepped up this effort since the attacks in Paris and will continue to invest more in approaches that are working on the ground. Third, we're working with friends and allies to stop ISIL's operations, to disrupt plots, cut off their financing and recruit them from more fighters. We're working with Turkey to seal its border with Syria. And we are cooperating with Muslim majority countries. And with our Muslim communities here at home to counter the vicious ideology that ISIL promotes online. Fourth, with American leadership, the international community has begun to establish a process and timeline to pursue cease-fires and a political resolution to the Syrian war. Doing so will allow the Syrian people and every country, including our allies, but also countries like Russia, to focus on the common goal of destroying ISIL, a group that threatens us all.

This is our strategy to destroy ISIL. It is designed and supported by our military commanders and counterterrorism experts together with 65 countries that is have joined the American-led coalition. And we constantly examine our strategy to determine when additional steps are needed to get the job done. That's why I've ordered the departments of State and Homeland Security to reveal the visa waiver program under which the female terrorist in San Bernardino originally came to this country. And that's why I will urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.

[01:35:17] Now, here at home we have to work together to address the challenge. There are several steps that Congress should take right away. To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no- fully list is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terror suspect to buy a semiautomatic weapon? This is a matter of national security. We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons like the ones that were used in San Bernardino. I know there are some who reject any gun safety measures. But the fact is that our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, no matter how effective they are, cannot identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that individual is motivated by ISIL or other hateful ideology. What we can do and must do is make it harder for them to kill. Next, we should put in place stronger screening for those who come to America without a visa so that we can take a hard look at whether they have traveled to war zones. And we're working with members of both parties in Congress to do exactly that. Finally, if Congress believes, as I do, that we are at war with ISIL, it should go ahead and vote to authorize the continued Use of Military Force against these terrorists. For over a year I have ordered our military to take thousands of air strikes against ISIL targets. I think it is time for Congress to vote to demonstrate that the American people are united and committed to this fight.

My fellow Americans, these are the steps that we can take together to defeat the terrorist threat.

Let me now say a word about what we should not do. We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq or Syria. That's what groups like ISIL want. They know they can't defeat us on the battlefield. ISIL fighters were part of the insurgency we faced in Iraq. But they also know if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years killing thousands of our troops and draining our resources and using our presence to draw new recruits. The strategy that we are using now, air strikes, Special Forces and working with local forces who are fighting to regain control of their own country, that is how we'll achieve a more sustainable victory and it won't require us sending a new generation of Americans overseas to fight and die for another decade on foreign soil.

Here's what else we cannot do. We cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That, too, is what groups like ISIL want. ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death. And they account for a tiny fraction of a more than a billion Muslims around the world, including many of patriotic Muslim-Americans who reject their ideology. More of the terrorist victims around the world are Muslim. If we're to succeed in defeating terrorism, we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies rather than push them away through suspicion and hate. That does not mean denying the fact that an extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities. This is a real problem that Muslims must confront without an excuse. Muslims here and around the globe have to continue to work with us to decisively and unequivocally reject groups that ISIL promote, to speak out not just against acts of violence but the interpretations of Islam incompatible with values of religious tolerance, mutual respect and human dignity.

But just as it is the responsibility of Muslims around the world to root out misguided ideas that lead to radicalization, it is the responsibility of all Americans, of everything, to reject discrimination. It is our responsibility to reject religious tests on who we admit to this country. It is our responsibility to reject proposals that Muslim-Americans should somehow be treated differently. Because when we travel down that road, we lose. That kind of divisiveness, the betrayal of our values plays into the hands of groups like ISIL. Muslim-Americans are our friends and our neighbors, our coworkers, our sports heroes. And, yes, they are men and women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country. We have to remember that.

[01:40:27] My fellow Americans, I am confident we will succeed in this mission because we are on the right side of history. We were founded upon a belief in human dignity, that no matter who you are or what you look like or what religion you practice, you are equal in the eyes of God and equal in the eyes of the law. Even in this political season, even as we properly debate what steps I and future presidents must take to keep our country safe, let's make sure we never forget what makes us exceptional. Let's not forget that freedom is more important than fear. And we have always met challenges, whether war or depression, national disasters or terrorist attacks, by coming together around our common ideals as one nation and one people. So long as we stay true to that tradition, I have no doubt that America will prevail.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. president there delivering his third national address from the Oval Office. And we will have reaction to Mr. Obama's speech from our chief U.S. correspondent, John King, after a short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[01:44:57] OBAMA: Many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by cancer that has no immediate cure. Well, here's what I want you to know. The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The president there during his televised address to the nation from the Oval Office.

And for more on that speech, CNN's chief national correspondent, John King, joins us now from Washington.

John, it was remarkable to hear the president talk about the terrorism threat as being like being a cancer with no immediate cure. I know it was a rhetorical question, but this is such an incredible shift of tone compared to what he said in the past.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is. John, the president of the United States clearly realizing this is a critical moment in the war against ISIS but also a critical moment for him as the president of the United States and as the commander-in-chief. If you look at the polling even before the San Bernardino shooting, two- thirds don't think the president has a clear plan or efficient strategy to defeat ISIS. So the president was saying, I know you're worried about this, it's the first night of Hanukkah, Christmas is 19 days away, these people were mowed down at a Christmas party, I know you're worried, and some of you might be worried that it is a cancer with no cure. He tried to convince the American people, John, that he has a plan to deal with this. The instance criticism afterwards but we didn't get a lot new from the president of the United States. And it will be fascinating to see if he can rally the support of the American people because he certainly did not rally any Republican critics.

VAUSE: And all this happening during a presidential campaign and Republicans who are running for president have been very outspoken about not just how they would deal with members of the Muslim community within the United States, but also very controversial in how they would deal with ISIS. And really the president saying, that kind of tough talk just isn't going to work.

KING: And the president actually saying at one point that he thought that some of the tough talk could actually help ISIS. That if you blame Islam, if you divide Muslims in the United States from other Americans that you might actually help ISIS. But I think you touch on an important point. The president is not just doing this in the wake of the terror attacks but in a key moment in his presidency. He's a second-term president with about a year left in office. Go back and look at George W. Bush in the last year of his administration when the unpopular Iraq war was so high, George W. Bush could not convince the American people to rally and come to his side. I think we have a question on whether President Obama can do the same thing. Can he convince the American people to rally with him or will they say, no, it's time to turn the page. We are already in the election for a new president.

And think just for a moment, the president is trying to strike a delicate balance saying, yes, there's no denying here in the Muslim communities in the United States there are some people who are radicalizing, and the Muslim community, their family members, their imams must turn them in. But the president was also saying but we can't cast dispersions on everybody. Contrast that to what we hear in the presidential campaign from a Donald Trump who says I would round up the Syrian refugees and throw them out, we need a database to track Muslims and we have to monitor the mosques. So the president is trying to make a very balanced argument at a time many Americans are hearing much more stark and alarming rhetoric from politicians.

VAUSE: And with that in mind, John, how concerned is the White House right now about the backlash and retribution toward the Muslim community? In many ways, we did hear the president talk very much tougher than he has in the past when it comes to the responsibilities within the Muslim community as well.

KING: He did. That was very significant. His rhetoric was you cannot deny that there are elements within the Muslim community. But then he tried to say but we can't make that a blanket indictment of the entire Muslim community. Again, that's the difficult challenge. What the FBI sources or intelligence sources will tell you is how desperate, and San Bernardino is a glowing example how desperate they are, especially in a free society, especially when a lot of the social media conversations can be encrypted or hidden, or the American, even the aggressive American surveillance program is not enough to detect them, that you need help within the community. If you have more discrimination or a backlash and resentment in the Muslim community, will you get the cooperation law enforcement is so desperately looking for. The president was tougher without a doubt, but he was always trying to have some balance. The question is can he sell that to the American people in a very heated environment and in an environment where, frankly, a lot of the American people are scared and worried and don't think that their government is doing enough, and the president tells then, "trust me." I think it's a defining question.

VAUSE: We'll find out in the coming days and weeks what impact the president's speech had.

Good to speak to you, as always, John.

KING: Thank you, John.

[01:49:40]VAUSE: The show goes on for the rock band U2. After the Paris attacks, their tribute to the victims is just ahead.

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PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: For CNN "Weather Watch," Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri with you.

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VAUSE: Band U2 is back in Paris to play their concert canceled after the terror attacks.

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VAUSE: Sunday night, the band paid tribute to those who died in the coordinated shootings and bombings in the French capital. And during the concert, lead singer, Bono, told the crowd we are all Parisians.

BONO, LEAD SINGER, U2: If you love liberty, then Paris is your hometown.

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BONO: We have a few words to speak to the loss that you are feeling in this city tonight. Even if we think we know a little something about grief, I guess grief is like a wound that never fully closes.

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VAUSE: Now before the show lead singer, Bono, and guitarist, The Edge, talked to CNN in an exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BONO: We are very determined to get back there as quick as we can. Paris is a very romantic city. And, you know, the essence of romance is defiance. And defiant joy we think is the mark of our band and of rock and roll. They are a death cult. We are a life cult.

THE EDGE, LEAD GUITARIST, U2: We think of music as the sound of freedom. We think that rock and roll has a part to play. And so going back to Paris to us is not just symbolic. I think we are actually starting the process of resistance as it were and defiance against this movement.

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[01:55:26] VAUSE: U2 has a second show in Paris on Monday and Eagles of Death Metal could make an appearance. That's the band which was playing at the Bataclan concert hall when gunmen opening fire.

You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause.

After a short break, we'll head over to Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

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[02:00:09] OBAMA: Many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure.

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