republican debate of the year, and donald trump support is reaching new heights. plus -- >> the point is isil leaders can't hide and our next message is simple. you're next. president obama meets with his generals and sends a new warning to isis leaders. >> and later, parts of the philippines start to clean up after a deadly typhoon, but the worst may not be over. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. thanks for joining us. "cnn newsroom" starts now. >> in just a matter of hours, the u.s. republican presidential candidates will face off in las vegas. it is their fifth debate, and their last one of the year. >> with 48 days until the iowa cau

caucus, donald trump leads the pack, but cruz is closing the gap. trump told supporters he's ready for a fight. >> i think it's going to be big. oh, oh, and they're all coming after me. i heard today, i'm watching and saying man, this is, like, crazy. who's going to attack trump first? will it be the this one? you know, he's taken down seven so far. if you look, so far everyone that's attacked me has gone down the tubes. john berman has more on trump's rise to the top and his strategy to stay there. >> reporter: in a campaign like no other with a front-runner like no other, a new poll like no other. for the first time, donald trump breaks 40% in a national poll. 27 points ahead of his closest rival. it's also the first poll wholly

taken since this proposal. >> a total and complete shut down of muslims entering the united states. >> reporter: a notion that will be tested in the last republican debate of the year. the first debate since the terror attacks in paris and san bernardino. >> how crazy are we, allowing ourselves to be subject to this kind of terror? >> reporter: trump finds himself center stage at the cnn debate with a new next door neighbor, cruz, who surged into second place in national polling and is running close in iowa. >> god bless the great state of iowa. >> reporter: until now trump and cruz have remained almost campaign comrades. in 24 hours, that could come to an end. >> i like him. he's been so nice to me. i could say anything and he said i agree, i agree. but i think the time will come to an end pretty soon, it sounds like. >> reporter: trump is ve viewing a possible line of attack compared to senator cruz, he

says, he is mr. agreeable. why should voters go for you over ted cruz? >> because i'm more capable. pau because i have a much better temperament and get 'long with people better than he does. >> reporter: trump accused cruz of being a maniac in the senate. cruz tweeted in honor of my good friend donald trump, and good hearted maniacs everywhere, he tweeted a video of flash dance. trump will not be the only challenge for cruz. marco rubio already calling him weak on national security. >> each time he's had to choose between strong national defense, he seems to side with the isolationists. john berman, cnn, las vegas. >> and for more on the upcoming debate, let's go to john vause who joins us from las vegas.

john, it is the last debate of the year. there's a lot riding on this for all the candidates as we see cruz surge in iowa. what should we be watching for tuesday evening? >> well, there's a couple things, and a couple of unknowns in here as well. the focus is now a lot more on national security and foreign policy, especially after the isis attacks in paris and the isis-inspired attack in san bernardino, california. the question will be will the candidates get up there, and where do they stand when it comes to donald trump's very controversial call for a temporary travel ban on all muslims entering the united states? how far do they go along with donald trump when it comes to that proposal, which is popular among republicans but not essentially popular among the majority of american voters. so that's one issue that we have to look out for. also, where do the accounts stand? do they do after donald trump,

or does this debate then become a scrap, if you like, between marco rubio and ted cruz? a lot of people saying that is probably more likely because ted cruz has had a bromance over the last couple of months with donald trump, and even though donald trump has made some criticisms of ted cruz in the last couple of days calling him a maniac. ted cruz is not really engaging with donald trump, at least not with the trash talk. it's unlikely he'll throw the first punch. one of the reasons trump is going after cruz is because of the poll in iowa. it's a poll that has cruz out in front there in iowa. but this is the big but. because of his base of support, even if ted cruz does, in fact, win, that iowa vote next -- at the beginning of next year, it actually may not be a deal breaker for donald trump, and i asked our senior political analyst, ron brownstein to explain why. >> reporter: cruz is rising in

iowa. he's con sol drating christians there who are about 60% of the vote. they could not advance far enough beyond that to make a run at the nomination. in 2012, rick santorum, exit polls in 20 states, he won evangelicals in many states. for cruz to go further than huckabee or santorum, he has to show he can reach a broader coalition. >> that's why a lot of people are looking at rubio as being a unifying candidate who can bring the republican party together, because there's been a civil war in the republican party for the last couple of months. tomorrow there will be the two debates. the undercard debate and then the grownup debate. what's emerging among the draw card, the top debate is another tier emerging, and that is

donald trump, ted cruz, and marco rubio. >> yeah. it is interesting. it will be interesting to see who survives after this debate into the new year, see if they pare down the number of candidates standing on the stage. john vause from las vegas, thanks. >> one thing is for sure, donald trump is holding onto his lead in national polls. this is despite his proposed ban on muslims entering the u.s. take a look at this survey taken after his controversial statement. it shows there, support for trump topping 40%. >> a new abc news washington post poll shows a majority of republicans supporting trump's proposal while americans reject it overall. republicans support it 59% to 38%. 58% of independent voters think it's wrong compared to 38% who back it. i hope you're with me on this. and on a whole, 60% of americans

oppose it. ben duriferguson joins us f new york. donald trump still leads the pack. as we just saw, it's something independents overwhelmingly disagree with, and that's a key voting block for a key republican win. how could trump win the election with rhetoric like that? >> he's going to have to do a better job explaining his plan. he said he'd be willing to talk about having it from certain countries where there are terrorism hot beds. that's not what he said at the beginning. those are the things that can get you in trouble when you're running for the presidency. that's his biggest vulnerability for tomorrow night. he's going to have to answer that question of hey, why did you say a religious group should be banned and if he tries to

step off of it too much, people will call him out for saying that's not what you said at all. i think it could hurt him in the general. >> the race is tightening up a bit. cruz is moving ahead of trump among early primary voters in iowa. he is not a favorite of the gop candidate. what do you make of his rise? >> it shows there's obviously a large group in the republican party that does not like the establishment gop type candidates or the establishment picking the front runner. and the ted cruz is, obviously, like you said, some say he's the most hated republican man in the senate. that's a good thing if you're running for president because they don't want someone that's an establishment guy. i think that's what's holding rubio from really being able to break out in this campaign. it's held back jeb bush by being an establishment guy, and i think ted cruz has been very smart and also underrated.

>> what are we likely to see when cruz and trump go head to head tomorrow, and then how can rubio and bush, these establishment favorites finally breakthrough? >> i think rubio has a chance because people seem to like him. rubio has always done well in the debates and has gone up after the debates. for marco rubio, keep doing what you're doing, and it may help you. if you're ted cruz and you go into this debate, i think you have to go after donald trump and say, you called me a maniac on sunday morning on the sunday morning talk shows and said that i was crazy because i called the establishment gop leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell a liar when he did lie. i thought you were going to washington to be the guy that was going to call out other politicians, and now you're saying i'm a maniac for doing it? he has to have a distinction between the two of them, and i think to show the ridiculousness

of trump's rhetoric. for bush, i think his campaign when it comes to winning is over. he can stay in this thing, but i don't know if there's anything he'll be able to do to turn it around. he's admitted he's a weak debater. i can't imagine somehow he'll have an amazing night with these other people on stage. >> and there's so many people on stage. i don't know if they'll spend more time fighting each other or hillary clinton, the presumptive nominee for the democrats. ben, our cnn political commentator. >> thanks. and cnn will host the final debate of the year among the republican candidates. our wolf blitzer will moderate. coverage starts tuesday, 3:00 p.m. pacific time in las vegas. that's 6:00 p.m. on the east coast. and in london, that coverage begins tuesday at 11:00 p.m. to another big story.

we're learning new details about the investigation into the terror attack in san bernardino, california. cell phones found at the attacker's home led dive teams to search a nearby lake, but police say they didn't find anything related to the investigation. >> the female shooter, malik, had advocated jihad on social media, but she used a fake name and privacy settings that only allowed a small group of people to see her comments. in europe intelligence agencies are hunting for several suspects in and around geneva switzerland, suspects that could have connections to the paris attacks. >> we have new dropmenevelopmenm washington. >> two men arrested. a european security source says traces of precursor chemicals were found inside their vehicle. u.s. intelligence tipped off

swiss authorities that terrorists, possibly from isis were potentially planning an attack in geneva. >> any conversation that specifically identifies a target like that should raise an alarm j especially in a city like that where there's premier banking facilities. >> authorities are looking for at least two people with indirect links to suspects in the paris terror attacks. one of the prime paris suspects, meanwhile, has become a ghost. the trail has gone completely cold according to a european counterterrorism official. and there's new information that his childhood friend, an isis operative, the master mind of the paris attacks, may have been directing the slaughter at the concert hall as it was happening. french terrorism expert interviewed a witness who was just a couple of blocks away from the concert after the assault. the witness described a man

standing in the doorway of a building. >> the witness described that a man was shouting and yelling over the phone for all an hour, very agitated. >> reporter: the witness whose account is published said the head was shaved and he was wearing loose layers of clothing. the witness later recognized him when his picture was splashed on the news. analysts say this is an ominous sign, a new isis tactic. >> isis is moving toward less of a static model of terrorism and more towards a dynamic, multihour, rolling attack paradigm where you start an attack and you keep it going for as long as possible for maximum impact. >> reporter: one expert says he could have been sending intelligence to the attacker inside the concert hall. >> to warn there's an armored vehicle coming, there's a s.w.a.t. team entering from the roof, things like that. >> reporter: and it appears he was pulling most of the

terrorist strings on the streets of paris that night. the paris prosecutor says according to his phone records, abaaoud was communicating with one of the stadium bombers until the moment those attackers starting blowing themselves up. brian todd, cnn, washington. all right. we want to take you to live pictures right now. you see the u.s. secretary of state in moscow to discuss the peace process in syria. now, he is set to meet the russian foreign minister right now, and then he will meet with russia's president, vladimir putin in just a few hours. they'll try reach a compromise on how to end syria's civil war. we'll keep you informed on this and have analysis in the hours ahead. still to come, three years after the massacre at sandy hook elementary school, president obama has harsh words for u.s. lawmakers over their inaction on gun reform.

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leaders at the pentagon monday to talk about his administration's strategies to defeat the terrorist. he laid out how the campaign is succeeding. and he delivered a powerful message to the militants who he refers to as isil. >> today the united states, we are hitting isil harder than ever. coalition aircraft, our fighters, and drones have been increasing the pace of air strikes. nearly 9,000 as of today. last month, we dropped more bombs on isil targets in any other month since the campaign started. we're taking out isil leaders, commanders and killers one by one. they can't hide, and the message is simple, you're next. >> mr. obama has been under pressure to reassure americans his isis strategy is working. and this comes after the terror attacks in paris and california. >> a short time ago we brought you pictures of john kerry in moscow to figure out how to get

the peace process moving in syria. >> he is meeting with the russian foreign minister right now, and later with president putin. you see the two diplomats shaking hands. they're expected to discuss their differences over bashar al assad and who should be involved in any peace talks in syria. >> all right. a lot to tackle there. for more on these talks, let's bring in jill dorty. what can we expect out of these high level talks to try to kind a compromise to try to end syria's civil war? >> reporter: well, rosemary, at least from the american side, they're saying they want to narrow the gap. what are the gaps? the gaps would be a real definition, very specifically, of what happens during that transition, political transition period in syria that everybody agrees they want to happen.

now, that would be transition period leading to rewriting the constitution, then elections, et cetera, but the devil, as they say, is in the details, and one of the key ones would be what happens to the existing president, president asaad, as you know, of course, the russians have been supporting asaad remaining in power at least for this time. until something next takes place. but when you really look at that, what does that mean? who are the opposition that would sit down at the table? how would there be a cease fire? how would that work, and i was looking at the video. secretary kerry and the foreign minister know extremely well. they meet, it seems like almost every week. they actually have met seriously, about 20 times this year, but the big picture will be now speaking directly to president putin, because he's the man here in russia who really defines things. that will happen later on today

in moscow. and that is extremely important, because it's very hard to judge unless you are here, meeting face to face, what exactly mr. putin wants, what he plans, and where is he going in this strategy? >> and jill, certainly the role of president bashar al assad, is really the main stumbling block, but the other issue is whether russia is targeting moderate rebels or the isis militants. how might discussions on that issue go down? >> reporter: you know, that's a very complicated issue, actually. it's become more complicated in the last couple of weeks. here's how. russia, for a long time was saying we're hitting isil. and that's it. we are hitting the terrorists. now, the united states has said, you are not hitting isis as much as you are hitting opposition

forces. and low and behold, recently russia has started saying our air strikes are meant to help the free syrian army, fsa, which is opposition. so i think that's a place where they have to really drill down and say, who are the fsa people that you are helping? because theoretically, the free syrian army is fighting president asaad, so you can see how this is all very complicated, and it's all connected. so the idea is sit down, try to bat out these gaps, try to understand them, and then the whole thing is moving as one official said, a u.s. official said, this would be a weigh station on the way to a meeting on friday in new york that the united states wants where they will really sit down with the syrian support group and start to really try to define things. it's an important meeting here, and friday will be important as well. >> many thanks to jill,

providing some analysis as we take the live pictures from moscow, the u.s. secretary of state there to meet with russia's foreign minister, and also too with the president of russia, vladimir putin. we'll see what comes from that as they try to work through some sort of solution there to the civil war in syria. we'll keep you posted on what happens. now, i believe we can take a quick live look at the debate stage in las vegas. half an hour to midnight, still to come, more on the final republican debate of the year, hosted by cnn. ♪ it's the final countdown! ♪ ♪ the final countdown! if you're the band europe, you love a final countdown. it's what you do.

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a warm welcome back to our viewers here in the states and those of you watching from all around the world. i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. we want to update you on the main stories this hour. the u.s. republican presidential candidates are gearing up for their final debate of the year. it happens tuesday night in las vegas. front runner, donald trump, is going in with his highest number yet in a national survey, 41% in the latest poll. >> nearly three dozen islamic countries are banning together to fight terrorism. saudi arabia's defense minister made the announcement. they will fight the disease of extremism. the group includes pakistan and egypt and will be based in the saudi capital. >> bill cosby is counter suing seven of the women who sued him. the