the question. because there's like three of them, ben. >> we have to leave it there. for one, i can not pate waite to see the film "selma." thank you, gentlemen. back here at 7:00 eastern. in the meantime michael smerconish begins right now. good morning. i'm michael smerconish. breaking news this morning one week after the terror attacks in france thousands of police and soldiers are spread out across neighboring belgium garden government sites, school and synagogues. that high alert extend all over europe among the news terrorist attacks are planned across the continent. new information on suspects in those cells we'll get to with cnn's deborah feyerick. but first this map shows some of the country's americans to visit when they travel abroad but intelligence sources tell cnn these are the nation where is terror cells could be ready to strike. in france germany, belgium, and

the netherlands. there are as many as 20 sleeper cells and between 120 and 180 people said to be ready to attack. what does that mean at home? in an exclusive interview, cnn's fareed zakaria put that question to a man who would know former cia director leon panetta. >> it sounds like secretary panetta panetta, you are more worried based on what has happened in the past few weeks, particularly in paris and you feel that this could happen in new york this could happen in many many places in the world. >> i don't think there's any question. i think what we're seeing as i said is a much more gingrich chapter and a much more dangerous chapter in terms of the war on terrorism what has happened in paris, what happened in ottawa what has happened in

belgium is something we need to understand that these terrorists are now more engaged in a much more aggressive effort based on their recruiting based on what's happening in syria and iraq and yemen. they are engaged in a much more aggressive effort to conduct violence not only in europe but i think it's a matter of time before they direct it at the united states as well. >> we have the angles of this story covered by reporters all over the world. nick paton walsh in yemen where the french attacks were reportedly planned, deborah feyerick in new york with the latest on the investigation. let's start with ivan watson in brussels where soldiers are patrolling in front of the jewish museum scene of a deadly attack a year ago by a gunman suspected of having joined isis in syria. ivan what's the latest?

>> reporter: the belgians have deployed for the first time in years, decades perhaps, armed forces on the streets to belgium cities. brussels and an twerp guarding a number of installations including the u.s. embassy, protecting a number of jewish build, the synagogue in brussels the jewish museum atz you mentioned, and different places in the jewish district of an twerp. this is clearly in response to the raid that belgian police carried out thursday night where the suspects opened fire on the police as they carried to out their raid. it was an eastern town called verviers and two of the suspects were killed a third captured and the belgian authorities say they believe these men were planning to attack belgian police and even say they found police uniforms in the possession of the suspects as well as weapons and explosives to back those claims.

the belgian authorities on the lookout right now, they say this cell they managed to stop does not appear to have been linked to the attacker who is carried out that delgadoly assault on the french satirical magazine "charlie hebdo" in paris. michael? >> ivan you've spent many years covering turkey so i want to ask a follow-up about the claim the country is becoming a pathway for jihadists who are seeking to go back and forth between syria and europe. germany's head of domestic intelligence said recently 90% of the jihadists in his country travel through turkey. turkey is one of our strongest allyies thought to have strong anti-terror operation, but i guess my question is how good is their intelligence? >> reporter: there's no question turkey has been the main transit point for fighter who is want to

go to syria. it has a 900-mile border and isis controls a big chunk of that border. the turks say they cracked down over the course of the past year that they've been intercepting thousands of people trying to get into syria, some of them suspected wannabe jihadis, but it is clear it's still an important transit route. if you look back to the beginning of this month, the kind of partner or wife of one of the "charlie hebdo" attackers in paris hayat boumeddiene, traveled to istanbul on january 2nd and is believed to have since then traveled to syria. so even though the turks claim that they are cracking down they've showed me some of the measures they've taken along that border to make it less porous. there is no question that supporters and sympathizers of isis are still using it as a way to get in as are some of the enemy, some of the firefighters for militant groups that are

combatting against isis. and that's going to be a major challenge still for the turks to deal with. >> thanks ivan. now to yemen. headquarters of aqap. cnn is the only major news network that's made it into yemen. joining me from the capital of sanaa is our senior international correspondent nick paton walsh. i understand you have breaking news for us. >> reporter: well we've just heard in the last few minutes that two french citizens have been detained in yemen. they were detained on suspicion of offering logistical support to al qaeda in the arabian peninsula in the south. i should point out that this official says this detention occurred as they were trying to leave the country a few months ago, so we were talking about

something that way predated the paris attacks. that doesn't necessarily mean these individuals had no connection or no knowledge of what happened in paris but it doesn't mean this is a reaction to investigations happening inside paris. we are told these individuals were not there in a competent form. they were offering a discourse, of course. that could be anything from being a doctor to following money perhaps, and yemeni authorities are trying to work out what to do with them next whether they should be charged but clearly another sign that yemeni officials are desperate to point out that they're on their game they say, in intercepting foreigners trying to leave here, a known hotbed of al qaeda in the arabian peninsula and heading back toward the west. it isn't known where these two men were headed at this stage. michael? >> nick why does yemen seem to be the pre-9/11 afghanistan? why do all terror roads seem to go through that country? >> reporter: well, that and northern syria, obviously, for

obvious reasons. similar reasons in yemen. we are talking about a failing or failed state, economy on the edge of collapse, the government won't be able to pay meager salaries. it needs to pay and then of course there is the increasingly delgadoly and increasingly sectarian civil conflict that has plagued the country for years. complex but worth listening to. the tribe that have swept in in the past few months are close to the shia side. they've moved in and taken over the streets of this capital. you see their checkpoints in many areas. they are the enemies of al qaeda and sunni tribes some say. al qaeda have done quite well because many have rushed to join them because they're scared of the shia. this is so volatile this capital city this morning about 10:00 the chief of staff of the yemeni president was kidnapped in the city center itself. it isn't known precisely who did this. there are claims from supporters of the president's administration that armed men

close to the hue fis were behind that and there are suggestions the huffis this happened as a move the try and prevent a new constitution being put in place that they do not agree with. a messy situation, but you get is tense of what kind of a failing state this is. the second most powerful man in the administration get taken by men from his car in the city center. that's why al qaeda can find a home here michael. >> thanks for that exclusive report stay safe. now what we're learning from intelligence sources here. cnn's deborah feyerick has been working her sources to get new information on the terror cells in europe. what are you learning? >> reporter: we know u.s. authorities are very interested in finding a man by the name of bensalem. he is essentially identified as an executioner for isis a frenchman. now we are learning he does have ties to the suburbs where the two kouachi brothers grew up.

he's also tied to a man who was traveling with charsharif kouachi. this is something parter of a larger continuum. the kouachi men were try tied to a known al qaeda are e kreuter tasked by al qaeda central with a plot to blow up the u.s. embassy in paris. back in july of 2001 he was identified by the then cia director george tenet and the cia director then briefed the president at the time. so when you look at this and you hear leon panetta basically say that this is much more aggressive he's absolutely right. this is much more aggressive. >> did you just tell me that there's a two-line degree of separation between these horrific beheadings we're familiar with and the kouachi brothers? >> there's a frenchman that they want to find who is directly

connected to the suburb where they all grew up. this is a gang. this is a cell. this is an ideology that has extended over a period of time. and the reason that we see this level of aggression right now is because of the fact you have an ideology ideology in modern daytimes with osama bin laden who said look down the road, we're going to create a caliphate, a world of political islam. now the way it's happened especially with a man like anwar al awlaki this preacher this western cleric born in america, his message resonated so deeply with this young group of disenfranchised men that the caliphate is not decades or centuries in the future. the caliphate is now. and that is really established with what's going on in syria now with these young sort of thugs. >> one quick follow-up because that intrigues me. has the motivation changed? with bin laden, and i've read many of his writings it was all about the, quote, interventionalist foreign policy of the united states. today it seems as if it's about

economic despair among young muslim men. >> no question that is a huge motivator going on right now. but rather than go where else to fight the war, what they're now being told is go elsewhere, get a little bit of training doesn't take a lot to pick up a gun and fire it then come back and carry it out against the countries where you are living. so it is a very different kind of war. it is a ground war going on essentially in europe. >> deborah feyerick thanks as always for your report. intelligence agencies in europe the united states and other countries are working round the clock to track down connections to the paris attacks and belgian cells. it's a formidable job, a major manhunt to find and shut down terror networks. i want to drill down on just how you do it with an expert lieutenant colonel james reese, a counterterrorism expert and former member of the army's delta force. he joins me now from raleigh, north carolina. colonel, i understand that the other night there was an unprecedented telephone conversation call among fbi

field offices. what can you tell us? >> you're right. the field office had an all-hands video teleconferences to all of the joint terrorism task force throughout the u.s. all of the fbi offices throughout the u.s. and the intel fusion senters around the u.s. to make sure that even was on the same sheet of music everyone had the foundational logic and the after action of what happened in paris, what was going on, and so everyone is on the same sheet and that's great for us and it's interesting to see in 2015 that's the first time that we've done it but good news all around. >> i'm glad that we're all on the same sheet domestically. it begs the question who's calling the shot internationally? we put that map up a few moments ago so that cnn viewers could see the worldwide implications. are those efforts being directed from washington from somewhere else, and who's calling that

shot? >> off an interagency task force that works with interpol with the other countries' security services and we literally have fbi agents you'll have cia agents that are posted tho these paces here and so everything works to the national intel service back in d.c. and then links up with the different country where is we are right now in france and these joint terrorism task force. but there's not one place internationally that you would think that everyone comes back to in one place. it would be too difficult. but i will tell you this from my experiences working with these all through my years, these folks do this pretty well and they've worked it real hard. >> colonel, it would seem to me you've just answered my question from a law enforcement perspective. it would seem to me this also puts an increased burden on our diplomatic efforts. can you speak to the importance

of that? >> we look at things with the elements of national power, whether they're diplomatic information mall military intelligence and economic. right now what you really see, all our viewers are watching right now, they're seeing the intelligence and military or law enforcement security aspect or more the kinetic piece of this whole thing. i think what we're really missing right now is the diplomatic and whey eel call the informational or counterprop dpan da to what the islamic jihadists are doing. we see this but i just don't think it's in parallel and as much of the ga pedal going on the diplomatic and counterpropaganda. >> thanks for your report. >> thank you, michael. >> we'll take a short break and then come back with a radical islamic cleric. a chance to really understand what motivates muslim terror. you'll want to hear this guy.

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this week "charlie hebdo" published a defiant response to islamic radicals another prophet muhammad on the cover. cnn is not showing that cover because of security concerns a decision with which i disagree but i certainly respect. the cover shows a tearful prophet holding a sign that says "je see charlie." my next guest says publishing that cartoon is an act of war. he is a radical muslim cleric and he's been called despicable and appalling. amgen chowdhry joins me from london. i hope we can have a good conversation because i've watched a number of your

interviews and they quickly devolve into shout fests and that's not where i'm coming from. all right? >> okay. >> good. so you describe this as an act of war. an act of war to me is the murderous act of killing 12 people who make their lives with pens and pencils. explain. >> well, the french government together with your government and the british, as you know are engaged in a war in syria and iraq before that in afghanistan. and this war is not just being prosecuted by people on the ground. it has propaganda. i think this particular provocation is designed on the one hand to undermine the ideology of the perceived enemy. in other words, to say that your values are less than our value, that we will continue to insult the thing which you hold dearest you, which is the sanctity of the prophet muhammad. >> this is satire. this is taking kernels of truth, growing them in proportion and trying to make a serious

political point. and the serious political point is that people have been killing in the name of the prophet, something that they've exposed through those cartoons. >> well, you know things like satire and speech are euphemisms for something which is quite ugly which lurks underneath. if you actually have a look at what's being drawn and what they try to depict the prophet muhammad there's no one muslim on this planet who would not be outraged. people turn to violence for many things. for us to defend the honor of the prophet is a matter of life and death. this is something you may not understand but for us under the shia in an islamic state this would carry capital punishment. >> i'm trying to understand that but my colleague fareed zakaria reminded me on my program here a week ago that nowhere in the koran itself is this type of a depiction prohibited. is that true? >> actually no because the koran says whatever the prophet did, do it whatever the prophet forbade, forbid it. basically the prophet himself sent many people to assassinate

others. a famous example was one the prophet said has harmed me by dishonoring me and companions of the prophet kill him. >> i'm not talking about the ha detainee, i'm talking about the koran itself and i haven't heard the specific reference i've been seek bug you're saying the prophet muhammad would want those 12 individuals, those cartoonists, executed. >> well no. what i say to you is that, you know i'm not someone who's going to take the law into my own hands. i don't believe that, you know, you should execute these things without due process, and therefore i believe these people should be put before a court. if it is prove that i know drew those cartoons then of course i think they are dishonoring but it would be up to a judge to decide the punishment which is where i stand. >> will you condemn the murderous act against those who killed 12 people at "charlie hebdo"? >> well i think that the cause has an effect. if i need to condemn, i need to condemn the provocation which

led to that particular -- >> you made that clear. but now i'd like you to condemn the murderous act. you've condemned the cartoon and i've give youn ample opportunity to do it. now i'd like to hear if you'll condemn the murderers. >> i cannot condemn them because i believe they have an opinion cher following and there are examples of this throughout history where people have done this, even in the time of the prophet and the prophet praised them. i can not say i can condemn them. i differ with them. i wouldn't do it myself. i would advise them, you know differently, but i cannot condemn them. >> will you agree with me that the net effect of this attack is there will be more isolation, more discrimination against young arab males in particular? that'll be the net effect of what just transpired right? >> i think there's the bigger picture. you know the mistake that the french authorities and this magazine have made is that they think the muslims will be divided. the one thing that all of the muslims worldwide love is honor the prophet. i was at the mosque on friday

and people are outraged. people i've never met are coming up and saying how can they do this? the old, the young. i think what will happen is it will galvanize the whole community against them. we saw wit danish cartoons. i don't think it will have a detrimental effect on the muslims but it will on the -- >> i think the real intention here is to cause the economic depravation of muslims so as to foment more dissent where with the non-muslim world. >> well i think this is one of the, you know, results. i think that there will be, you know repercussions, many repercussions on many levels. but i think the wider picture as we saw with the cartoons is that the embassies and the foreign interests of countries like the french the british, and the others who are supporting them will become more isolated. they will have less connection with the muslim world. if you want to prosecute wars in muslim countries -- >> your prime minister david cameron was with our president on friday in washington.

by the way, why are you still in london? people wonder online and i wonder why haven't you joined the islamic state? >> well first of all, i was born in london and i'm almost 48 years old in a couple of days' time. my passport has been taken away from me. but even if i had a passport and i try to travel in this country, you are guilty until proven otherwise if you are muslim. >> david cameron talked about these being islamic extremism. which is right? david cameron or president in the state who is goes to great length as to not identify the religion behind some of these murderous acts? >> they both have an agenda to pursue, but i can tell you something, after the lee rigby

case the report that was published of which david cameron approved said that islamist extremism are those people who call for the sharia those people who believe british foreign policy is against muslims. for him i'm afraid all of the muslims feel the same way so we're all categorized as extremists. this is a stick with which the british government used to beat the muslim community. >> am i accurate if as a journalist i describe these actions as those of radical islam? >> there's nothing called radical islam. there's islam of the prophet, islam of the koran. >> but i don't believe the actions you and i are describing speak for the faith of 1.6 billion people. i refuse to accept that. this speak to the aberrant belief of a handful of individuals try ig think to paint with a broad brush for the entire faith. >> well the difference between you and me i guess is i've studied over 20 years and i can tell you something and have a juristic argument.

although i talk about security, the life and wealth of the muslims is protected and therefore they do not target the life and the wealth of the people where they live. this is not the only opinion. as you've seen in the video recently have a completely different idea based upon divine text i cannot condemn them because they have a difference of opinion. >> final question. do you yourself desire martyrdom martyrdom? >> you know, the best death is one of martyrdom. i would love to die defending, you know myself and my community. but of course, you know death is in the hands of god. you know our lives end when he decides. if i'm prevented from traveling abroad one day tay will bring the sharia to britain and the whole of europe as it was indeed therefore from hundreds of years in the heart of spain before and incidentally we can live together jews christian, and muslims side by side. >> would that include your participation in a "charlie hebdo"-like attack? >> no. as i said i don't believe that

this is something that i am permitted to partake in, but i understand the reasoning behind it pshgs but i can engage in a political and ideological struggle. i can expose the policies of the western regimes. i can support my brothers around the world and liberate our land because sometimes the propaganda in jihad is stronger than the jihad of the soul. >> annjem choudary thank you. >> thank you very much. you know i want to say something. i find this man's views and beliefs to be repugnant. but i think it's important to show you the viewers how he thinks and what he believes so that we can have a better understanding of what drives this irrational behavior. another very interesting conversation coming up. a muslim on the house intelligence committee privy to our country's greatest secrets. he says american muslims can be a big help in fighting terror. and i'm asking how. and he's back maybe. mitt romney gave an important

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skwa. welcome back to the program. when the news appeared online twitter erupted with protests complaints of exposing american secrets to a muslim. congressman carson joins me now from indianapolis. thank you for being here sir. i think you just watched my interview with this cleric annjem choudary. and i wonder what does it feel like as a muslim to watch someone who espouses such hatred and claims at the same time to be speaking for your faith? >> well i can say this -- as a muslim we are a monolith icic group -- we are not monolithic we are monotheistic. i can say this -- america, we won't win the war against terrorism without getting help from muslims. there are, as you know sir, many terrorist attacks, attempted attacks that are thwarted because of help from muslims and we'll never hear about them on television. and so i think it's critically important now that we are

working with the muslim community in a way that isn't transactional. i've met with law enforcement agencies quite recently and i think i'm the only member of congress who's ever served in an intelligence fusion center and now more than ever law enforcement agencies have to be very cooperative and share information. we have different views but we're not the same clearly. >> does it gall you when you're watching the monitor and he makes different references to the faith? and i think he was attempting to quote from the haditt not from the koran, but do you find yourself sitting there saying that's not true how could he say that? >> look there are many things that are said in the hadith. prophet muhammad said after one eats and relieves him or herself, he or she should wipe themselves with three smooth stones. that has a 7th context. if you did that and passed on charmin, that would be absurd.

but koran is the foundation and the hadith serves as commentary and not all hadith is validated. >> i know you just received your first briefing as a member of the intel committee. i also know you're not going to tell me what was said or maybe you'd have to kill me. >> sure. >> but i want to ask you question. were you alarmed by the report? did it exceed your expectations? >> well, i certainly want to thank leader erer nancy pelosi for her vote of confidence in appoint megato the committee. what i will say is this -- it is very clear that our country has a lot of misperceptions about muslims in this country. my father-in-law happens to be the first elected judge. there are many in our state councils and legislatures and they are making positive contributions to american society. i think me being on this society has caused a stir with some, but for the most part democrats and

republicans have been congratulatory and now that i'm looking at these reports and working with my colleagues on the other side it's time to get to work and keep the american people safe. >> congressman, our program today is largely dedicated to these alarming developments around the globe. should we americans take some solace in the fact that at least the reports are overseas and these events are not taking place here at home? or would you say don't accept a false sense of security? >> absolutely. we can never be secure. there are attacks from those who claim to be muslim but they misrepresent the religion very clearly. there are other attacks from racial supremacist groups that we have to be mindful of and particularly rural parts of our community, and other groups as well. but what we're saying to law enforcement is that let's create relationships built on trust, not a transactional relationship not a relationship where law enforcement shows up at the last minute wanting information, but a relationship where muslims sikhs, hindus

jewish catholics can attend citizens academies and feel a part of the law enforcement process in helping to report any suspicious or terrorist activities. >> final question sir -- did "charlie hebdo" go too far in publishing those cartoons? >> well i -- i support free speech no matter where it is. i think that even though we have free speech we have to make sure that our free speech or our display of free speech doesn't become distasteful or disrespectful, but i still support their right to express themselves quite freely. i don't think that muslims should -- should become other than who they are with -- with trying to attack people for expressing themselves. the best course of action is to remain a muslim in the true sense of the word and act like a civilized human being, because that is a form of da'wah and that is the best way to demonstrate that the faith is a faith of peace. >> congressman andre carson congratulations on your new position and thank you for being here. >> thank you, sir. thank you.

just ahead, the very surprising views of pope francis on the "charlie hebdo" attacks. and mitt romney is thinking about running for president in 2016. but many republicans are slow to jump on the wandthe bandwagon. major: here's our new trainer ensure active heart health. heart: i maximize good stuff like my potassium and phytosterols which may help lower cholesterol. new ensure active heart health supports your heart and body so you stay active and strong. ensure, take life in.

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philippines this morning. he was forced to put on a slicker to conduct an outdoor mass for hundreds of thousands who gathered saturday morning as a typhoon approached and he also stirred up some controversy on his way to the philippines. on the papal plane, he condemned the killings at "charlie hebdo" but then he went further. >> translator: one cannot provoke. one cannot insult peerm's faith. one cannot make fun of faith." >> let's be clear. the pontiff condemned violence against those who offend us but he hinted that there was a limit to free speech. >> translator: if a great friend says a swearword against my mother then a punch awaits him, but it's normal. it's normal. >> my next guest agrees with the pope. joining me now is bill donahue, the president of the catholic league. he was channeling you, because we had this conversation a week ago, the two of us.

i disagree with you. now i disagree with the pope because when you hear him say that if you curse my mother a punch is coming your way, you say, yes. no. that's battery. >> well finally somebody bailed me out after being beaten up for two weeks. ? a high authority, my gosh. >> can't get much better than that. look i think if we were to read the actual transcript it does make you kind of wince a little bit. if you see it though he's standing up he's got the mike in his hand, to his right is a doctor and he's saying, you know he's got that latin kind of -- the irish can identify witd, he's got that feistyiness to him saying listen not only insulting another religion if someone curses my mother look out for a punch. first of all, it's in jest. that's clear. second i think what he's saying is when people provehicleoke people in a serious matter don't act like a little virgin when people get

upset. >> now you're reminding me of saying the guy who died the publicist was a narcissist and too bad he didn't understand the role he played in his own death. sound like you're blaming the victim. >> the reason i call him a narcissist is he said mohammed is not sacred to me. i'm saying mohammed is not sacred to me either but i don't want to disrespect the prophet because that's unfair to muslims, most of whom are good people. i'm trying to make an explanation, an observation. the analogy i've been using the there's a guy selling apples across the street from "charlie hebdo" headquarters. he's still alive. why is that? how come they're dead and he's still asflooif. >> because he wasn't singled out by some lunatic -- >> because he didn't -- listen i provoke people in my own stuff and nobody takes me out. i've had nonviolent demonstrations in the street against what i consider to be anti-catholic art. so i am no way going to justify this at all. look at the context though. >> you first came on my radar screen and that of many people back in the late '90s on mayor

giuliani's watch. it was the brooklyn museum right? >> '99 and '98, corpus christi -- >> they desecrated that painting with the elephant dung and worse as you pointed out to me. people say it was the dung. >> there was pornography on it. >> is what's going on here with both yourself and the holy father, the catholics have gotten picked on and so, you know finally it's somebody else and you're saying, you know we know what that feels like. >> it's exactly right. i think it's wrong not to put the cartoons out there because most are inoffensive. however, some of them -- i call it toilet speak, a little abbreviation for the stuff that's really filthy and scatological. i'm not saying this because i'm on with you. i have more respect for jeff zucker here at cnn who says we're not going to put them up there because i don't want to endanger the lives of my own people than i do for the guys at "the new york times" saying we won't put them up there because we don't believe gratuitous religious insults. really really? "the new york times" did a great

job insulting my religion over the years. >> cnn has boots on the ground everywhere so i too, understand that although i've said to jeff zucker myself there would be strength in numbers if everyone were to follow a cnn lead. by the way, some of these things were god-awful. >> exactly right. >> some of these things i wouldn't want to put on television. >> that's what i'm objecting to. >> i worry if you don't give the public a little taste then they have no idea what we're talking about. and i don't want to yield to these guys. >> i think we can graphically describe it. i think people are adults they can understand what's going on. when you talk about scatological commentary i don't want to get too explicit, but that's the kind of stuff i think is unnecessary not just for muslims, for everybody. why do we have to do that? i don't think these people are creative and great jeffersonian champions of democracy. when you trash somebody's religion relentlessly you're not the statue of liberty. you're abusing freedom. i am not cheering them on. i am not "charlie hebdo." i'm proud to say it. >> pope has the big guy's

numbers. you must have the pope's number. >> thank god somebody likes me. >> bill donahue, thank you. >> thank you. coming up mitt romney makes a campaign speech to republican mooumps and shakers. he says he has the white house on his mind. alright, so this tylenol arthritis lasts 8 hours but aleve can last 12 hours. and aleve is proven to work better on pain than tylenol arthritis. so why am i still thinking about this? how are ya? good. aleve. proven better on pain. [prof. burke] it's easy to buy insurance and forget about it. but the more you learn about your coverage, the more gaps you might find.

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two-time presidential hopeful mitt romney spoke to the republican national committee in san diego.

despite losing twice in his bid for the white house, it sounds like romney is thinking very hard about 2016. >> i'm giving some serious consideration to the future. but this i know -- we can win in 2016 as a party in the house, in the senate and in the white house if we communicate a clear vision of where we're taking this country. >> ho to help us figure out for the third time's a charm or a curse for the gop, i'm joined by mark preston, cnn's executive editor for politics. he's with us from san diego. you know mark it sounds funny to say this was an important speech when it's only january of 2015. but for mitt romney i think this was an important speech because it seems as if his toe in the water has drawn feelings of ambivalence from the republicans. >> no question, michael. there's no such thing as a shermanesque statement. mitt romney soon after he lost in 2012 said he would never run again and just last night he indicated for the first time publicly that in fact he is thinking of doing so.

you know there's a lot of intrigue from republicans that he's actually made his decision to seriously consider it but as you said, there's a healthy dose of skepticism from a lot of republican who is think that, you know his time has passed they're looking for a fresh face and mitt romney for many people i don't think he is a fresh face. >> what just went on here? because for the last several months i've been looking at polls. there's a town hall survey that says before he was serious, that romney was at the top of the pack in iowa. republican leaders have been saying we hope mitt romney gets into it. the minute he says okay despite all of my denials in the past maybe i will take a shot it seems as if there was a sea change and people are saying hold on not so fast. >> yeah no doubt because obviously the critics are going to have the louder voices and that's what we're hearing right now. no surprise that mitt romney would be at the top of the polls because the field is so unshaken that the point. we're looking at, you know more than 12 republicans who are thinking of running for

president. what is really interesting is if mitt romney does decide to get in it shakes up a part of the field that seemed to be a little more solidified than the other part of the field. when i say that you have jeb bush, who would be the establishment candidate, chris christie potentially the establishment candidate as well, it would be a race between those two. mitt romney getting in shakes that up. meanwhile, on the other side of the political spectrum you have a big fight among social conservatives, several of them thinking of running. so the field right now looks like it's even going to be a little more confusing but certainly a lot more interesting, michael, if he does get into this race. >> very quick final question. give me a name. who are they buzzing about that's not getting the attention? who's the buzz in that room? >> great question. scott walker, the wisconsin governor spoke on thursday night to folks here. he gave a very strong speech and for him he talked about conservativism, talked about the need for republicans, michael, to look outside of washington and for republicans and specifically conservatives, it

was scott walker who took on the public sector unions. he beat back a recall challenge, michael, back in 2012 and he just won re-election. look for scott walker to really rise to the top. >> great insight. mark preston, thank you. we appreciate it. just ahead one of the top members of team romney in 2008 and in 2012. i'll ask him if mitt should run. con men at their own game when you think aarp, you don't know "aarp." the aarp fraud watch network helps everyone protect themselves and their families against scams and identity theft. find more real possibilities at aarp.org/possibilities. [container door opening] ♪ what makes it an suv is what you can get into it. ♪ [container door closing] what makes it an nx is what you can get out of it. ♪

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governor romney the is already getting pushback on a possible third run for the white house. i'm joined by romney's senior communications strategist in both 2008 and in 2012. kevin, the front page of "the times" today points out it's not only mitt who's had a change of heart. ann romney once was with one who said we are done done done. what's going on with her? >> well, you know she's very supportive of anything that mitt's done whether it's been the olympics where he wanted to run for governor in massachusetts or run for president the first two times. if governor romney believes it's the right thing to do ann is

usually right behind him. >> do you think it's the right thing to do? >> if you have the burning desire and passion, deep-seated passion and belief that you're the right person for the job then you should do it you should run for president. the great thing about campaigns, michael, is that ultimately the voters get to decide whether or notitis a good idea. so in that sense he ought to put himself up for the test. >> there's a suggestion this time around he will be more forthcoming about his mormon faith. i believed at the time of the last convention that the greatest mistake was there were tremor mon testimonials but they didn't run in prime time. instead we saw clint eastwood with the chair. do you think if he takes another shot at it he'll handle his faith differently. it was a legitimate criticism. in order for people to vote for you for president they have to get to know you and lot of personal stories would have gone a long way towards people getting to know who the real mitt romney was. i think you saw a glimpse of that last night. if there will be a campaign you'll see more personal stories. he talked in his brief remarks

last night about how he was a mormon pastor and worked with lower income and poor people inside his parish. and ann's introduction i think you'll see a lot more of her. she's someone who knows him the best what he really believes, the passion he has for this country. you'll see more of that the window into the real mitt romney that not enough people saw in 2012. >> hey, one other observation. he said in his speech last night this is not going to be a campaign about the obama record. as i was watching it i was thinking that's not how you fire up the base. the base wants to hear all about the horrific obama record. that's how you get those primary and caucus voters out to the polls. your thought? >> ultimately the base i think is already convinced that obama has not been a good president. and fundamentally, elections are, particularly presidential elections, they're contests for the future. i think the beth place for governor romney to go if there is a 2016 campaign is to tell people exactly what he would do to address some of the economic

anxieties that the middle class has, to address some of the opportunity issues that folks who are in lower income brackets. that's the type of campaign that he has to run, one that's much more future oriented one that's much more vision oriented. >> nice work kevin. thanks for being here. >> great to be with you. >> when we come back, a final thought. that would be my daughter -- hi dad. she's a dietitian. and back when i wasn't eating right, she got me drinking boost. it's got a great taste and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. all with a delicious taste. grandpa! [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost.

thanks for joining me. i will see you tuesday night as part of cnn's state of the union

coverage and then back here next saturday. and don't forget you can follow me on twitter if you can spell smerconish. see you next week. good evening. you're in the "cnn newsroom." i'm poppy harlow joining you live from new york. here is the scope of europe's terrorism investigation as we speak. these are countries that have suspects either in custody or linked to possibly the paris terrorism or suspected of being part of islamic extremist groups. security forces have suspects from france. they were reportedly asked before