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 seven women initially sued

him for defamation. more than 40 women have accused him of sexual assault. he has not been charged with any crime. >> we are just hours away from the final u.s. presidential debate of the year. texas senator, ted cruz, is heading into the event with a bit more confidence. new momentum after making huge gains in several polls. >> gary tuchman spoke with a group of cruz supporters to find out why he's their candidate. >> reporter: nine people meeting us at cruz's head quarters, including the man holding a cruz fundraiser at his home tonight. you're all supporting cruz. how many of you have been supporting him since the beginning? seven of the nine of you have been with cruz from the beginning. you, hosting the fundraiser, who

did you support in the beginning? >> trump. >> reporter: what changed? >> he's basically saying the same things now that he said when he opened up make america great. a lot of things have to be done to make america great, and he's not saying what they are. >> reporter: you think cruz is? >> i think cruz is a man of conviction and has priorities, and he can make america change. >> reporter: there's much conversation about cruz's likability. >> he knows how to work with other people, but you're talking about the u.s. senate in this moment. a lot of those people you didn't want to get along with. >> reporter: does it trouble any of you that cruz, even a lot of republicans say they have a tough time getting along with him in. >> i think they're not getting along with his principals. he's not going to move what he calls the middle. >> reporter: do you think cruz can get along with democrats? >> yes. >> reporter: why? >> he's a good person. you want to get your point

across, get your current of convicti conviction. i'm not offended by him. >> i think cruz isn't worried about pleasing everyone, necessarily, and he would rather stick to his own values and what he believes in and push for conservative principals than have to go in the middle and compromise what he believes in to please everyone to get along with everyone. >> reporter: how do you feel about him in. >> i think bipartisanship is overrated. that's not what we send politicians to washington to do. >> reporter: how important are cruz's religious believes to you? >> very. >> reporter: is that one of the reasons you're supporting him in. >> no. >> no. >> no. >> it's part of the package. >> he does what he says and it's a proven package. >> reporter: you don't think he's just an evangelical candidate? >> no. >> i see him as a constitutional candidate. >> reporter: and they believe he's the toughest candidate and feel it's no coincidence his

poll numbers are going up in the days since san bernardino. when he talks about carpet bombing isis, do you think it will work? >> he also says he'll listen to his generals. >> reporter: we're in nevada. what do you think the odds are that he'll become president? >> 50/50. >> i'm going to say 50/50. >> too early to say. i think it's going to be strong. >> it's nevada. they put odds on everything right away. >> i think 100%. >> reporter: gary tuchman, cnn, las vegas. >> now, donald trump hasn't ruled out running as a third party candidate. >> in fact, top republican officials have discussed the potential of what's called a broken convention. it's almost a nightmare scenario for the republicans. tom foreman explains why that is. >> reporter: hold on tight because with this many candidates in the race, it could

get messy, and here's how. let's say you go into the early primaries and caucuses and nobody has a commanding lead anywhere, maybe candidate a wins over here and candidate b over there, and maybe candidate c over here. enough so that two or three or four candidates all think they still can keep playing this game, and then go state after state and it continues, and then you wind up at the convention, itself, with no one in a commanding lead. already you have what's called a contested convention. and then if you get through the first vote there, and nobody gets more than 50%, now you have a brokard convention. that means the delegates are no longer bound by how their state constituents voted. they get to wheel and deal. maybe one candidate says i can give you my voters if you'll

make concessions to me. or candidate c says i'll give them to candidate d if we can strike a deal. through that process, as soon as somebody reaches 50% plus, a little bit over 50%, then it's all over. doesn't matter that it was brokard or contested. that person is now the nominee. not sure if you heard, cnn will host the final debate of the year among the republican candidates. coverage begins tuesday, 3:00 p.m. pacific time. in london, coverage begins tuesday at 11:00 p.m. president obama marked the anniversary of the new town massacre on monday. a tragedy that reignited the national debate over gun control. 20 first dwraders along with six educators were gunned down at sandy hook elementary coschool

connecticut. >> mr. obama posted this on his facebook page. quote, three years on, how do we tell them that their congress hasn't done anything to prevent what happened to them from happening to other families? cnn spoke with tim murphy who believes mental health issues can sometimes lead to gun violence. >> we recognize although most people with mental illness are not violent, people with serious mental illness not in treatment are 15 times more likely to be violent than those who aren't in treatment. we have medicaid rules which say you can't see two doctors in the same day. in f a pediatrician says someone needs to see a psychiatrist, they can't, and there are rules that prevent hospitals from having more than 16 beds. our bill addresses all of those issues, because the key is make

sure treatment is more accessible by people who are professionals at what they do. we have a problem with those things in the united states. that's what my bill will turn around. >> and mental health screening and support is obviously a part of the solution. i want to ask you about gun control and something that president obama talked about. he said nothing has really changed. what has changed in terms of legislative action? what kind of federal gun laws have passed since sandy hook in. >> well, what i'm talking about is voices in people's heads, not what's in their hands. i mentioned to the white house a number of times, both the president and vice president, we need to work on mental health issues. i even mentioned it last monday. we'd love to have the white house's help. we have 47 democratic co-sponsors, and 170 plus co-sponsors overall. when it comes to things like the sandy hook tragedy, and the children were killed, and i keep the photos of them on my desk.

i see them every day. they were killed by someone with a serious mental illness that was untreated. when there are homicidal issues, some are by criminals. some are by terrorists, and some by the mentally -- that has to be addressed. >> i gree that is a part of the solution, but you also have to -- what's a big part of the solution many would say is gun control. when you look at what the world is saying when they look at america, they're wondering why this country stands alone when it comes to this kind of frequency of mass shootings. this is an exceptionally american problem, is it not? >> well, france has strong gun control issues, and it didn't work for them. england has problems too. the point is the united states is the access to mental health care is still a problem, and i am focussed on taking care of that, we're not talking about gun control in cancer, or gun control with diabetes. we're talking about mental illness. >> that's addressed in the

united states. do you think that will reloose significantly the number of mass shootings in the united states without stricter gun control laws? >> a person with serious mental illness who has been involuntarily committed to inpatient care are not allowed to purchase, transport or anything with a gun, but also look at the issues of sandy hook. part of the terrible tragedy, he broke every law in the book. he was not supposed to have access to anything with that gun. washington d.c. and chicago have strong gun rules and they're areas with a lot of gun issue. i'm tired of congress having a moment of silence and doing nothing on these issues about treating mental illness. this is a key issue we have to address. >> still to come for the second time in two months, the philippines is lashed by a major storm. we'll look at why typhoon melor

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at least one person has been killed as typhoon melor batters the central philippines. more than 730,000 people have been forced from their homes to find higher grounds. >> the storm got stronger tuesday morning with winds as strong as a category 4 hurricane. it's knocked out power and disrupted transportation. the last deadly storm to hit the philippines killed people in october. let's bring in pedram javaheri at the world weather center. yesterday when you were telling us about the storm, we knew it was gaining strength. it seemed to get even more powerful in the last few moments. >> it was an incredible storm to forecast. an unusual circumstance when you're talking about the

philippines. it has a lot of water around the renal that enables the storm to continue getting stronger even as it's making multiple land falls. currently the storm is centered over portions of northern mendora. i did the math on the water across portions of this sea in this region. it's about 60,000 square kilometers of water across this region. roughly the side of ireland. hundreds of ielands across this region. interacting with a large area the side of ireland when it comes to the area of water. this is why we think the storm got stronger. a historic ride. you take a look at what occurred from a tropical storm getting up the to a category 4 equivalent from an 18 hour period. for 36 hours it maintained category 3 to category 4

strength. incredible, if we only get away with one fatality as it moved over this region. here it is at this hour. again, working north of areas around the vic totoria region. population about 2.4 million people in the area it's moving through right now. the latest advisory now bringing the storm to 215 kilometers per hour. that's the same as 24 hours ago. a couple of hours ago from moving toward the south china sea and eventually pushing south. the big story left of this is the rainfall amounts, a quarter of a meter of rainfall, and it's really important to note, guys, that this time of year, even more here, it's a dry time of year. we're getting five times the amount of normal, and the flooding potential is dangerous. >> thank you for that. >> we'll take a short break. still to come, "star wars," the force awakens premiers in los

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"star wars," the force awakenings, and the fans and the storm troopers were out to see the big launch. >> the movie is a mix of old and new with stars from the original films joining fresh faces for a whole new adventure. we sat down with the series newest stars to talk about joining the "star wars" family. >> we all need to run. >> tell me about fen. >> fen is a storm trooper who doesn't feel like the path of the first order is his to take, so he escapes and meets ray, and bb 8. >> are we really doing this? >> and they all embark on a journey unwillingly together, and you get to see how they interact with the old generation, and how they play their part in the fight between good and evil. >> reporter: what can you tell us about ray? >> she goes on this adventure

couldn't have imagined. she's so open to meeting new people and hopeful to what might be, and sees incredible things and ends the film in a different place than she began. >> who are you? >> i'm the one. >> it's good to have a faith in your co-stars and to work closely with them, and it felt like an organic collaboration, especially between fen and hahn, their relationship is significa significant. >> we would have conversations and something would happen and we'll be like this feels right. it was just a progression the whole way through. >> reporter: what's going to surprise viewers when they watch this film? >> it takes risks. it's not a "star wars" movie that just plays to the tune of good versus evil. good wins, we can go home. it takes risks. >> i think i can handle myself.

>> that's why i'm giving it to you. >> i never aspired to be famous. that's something i never wanted. for me, if i could do this and have people not recognize. that would be ideal. >> reporter: you know that's out of the question? >> ultimately, i'm proud and pleased to be part of this thing, and if that means people know what i am, that's fine. and if people relate to ray, that's great, and if people relate to me, that's great. it's positive. >> do you have a handle on how much your life is going to change? how much are you thought about it, explored what lies ahead? >> for me, the way i see it, it's like being on a roller coaster and you're trying to figure out why did i get on? it's going to drop anyway. raise your hands up and have fun. >> i can't wait. my son is going to that on friday. >> cool. he's going to enjoy it. >> he will. the u.s. federal reserve is expected to raise rates on wednesday for the first time in

almost ten years. >> and with "star wars" mania in full effect. richard quest presents the fed awakens. >> a decade since the last "star wars" and nearly just as long, nine years since the fed last tinkered with interest rates. but now it's time for the fed to awaken. because after three episodes of quantitative easing, janet yellen must use her most powerful weapon to restore balance in the economy. she must bring out the light saber of rate hikes. and on wednesday, we're likely to see the first hike in a long, long time. the unprecedented era of low interest rates has given the fed major economic victories, but not so quickly, the dark economic forces out there may yet strike back.

so, for instance, the fed faces an increasingly powerful dollar across the globe. it is the dollar that remains mighty. and then related, of course, the storm troopers of labor and having to suffer weak wage growth. all of which is proving the hardest evil to vanquish, low inflation. as soon as the fed raises rates, attention will turn to the sequels. how many, how far, and how fast, and some warn that rapid hikes will damage this fragile recovery and put vulnerable markets under greater pressure. make no pobones about it. it may be the first move for nearly a decade, but when the fed awakens, janet yellen will show her true powers. richard quest, cnn, new york.

much clearer now, right? >> could have gotten a nicer picture of yellen. >> and thanks for watching "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. another hour of the world's biggest stories with us is next. music: "another sunny day" by belle and sebastian ♪ ♪ ♪ such a shame it's labeled a "getaway." life should always feel like this. hampton. we go together. always get the lowest price, only when you book direct at hampton.com oh no... (under his breath) hey man! hey peter. (unenthusiastic) oh... ha ha ha! joanne?

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vegas show down, republicans prepare to square off in their last presidential debate of the year as donald trump surges to his biggest lead in a new poll. >> nowhere to hide, barack obama says the u.s. is hitting isis militants harder than ever. >> and the force awakens, the first "star wars" movie in a decade makes its world premier in los angeles. a big welcome to our viewers in the united states and those of you watching around the world. i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. welcome as we kick off our second hour of "cnn newsroom." we begin in las vegas just hours from now the u.s. republican presidential candidates will face off in their final debate of the year. the questions are expected to

cover defense and security, and the candidates are ready to show their might. >> donald trump told supporters he expecting all the contenders to come after him dmchl he holds a commanding lead in the latest national polls. a survey shows support for trump topping 40%. >> donald trump is on top right now, but the field we hind him is shifting. >> cruz is gaining ground, and trump is fighting back. >> reporter: trump still on top, but tonight, a new pecking order in the republican race. in a new lineup on the debate stage. ted cruz gaining ground nationally and in iowa. even overtaking trump by 10 percentage points. the front runners will stand next to each other. the first time face to face since the personal attacks started. >> because i'm more capable,

because i have a much better temperament, because i actually get along with people much better than he does. >> reporter: he took it one step further. >> when you look at where he goes in the senate like a little bit of a maniac, you're never going to get things done that way. >> reporter: that generated a response from cruz with a 1980s flash back to flash dance. in honor of my friend donald trump, and good hearted maniacs everywhere. ♪ . so far cruz refuses to hit back publicly at trump, but behind closed doors he took the first swing. >> people are looking for who is prepared to be a commander in chief. it's a question of strength, but also a question of judgment. that's a question that's a challenging question. >> reporter: cruz may be the top target tomorrow night, and not just for trump. marco rubio is drawing attention to cruz's voting record, accusing him of being weak on

national security. >> each time he's had to choose between strong national defense and some of the isolationist tendencies. he seems to side with the isolationists. rubio hopes to convince voters he's more electable. >> reporter: hillary clinton crushes trump in a hypothetical matchup. 48 to 45 over cruz. a different story for rubio. he leads her 48 to 45 %. >> and that is the underlying question in this campaign. which republican is best positioned to beat hillary clinton or whichever democrat happens to win the nomination. that's what worries some republican leaders and the party establishment. the donald trump strong enough to take on clinton? that's one of the questions that may be answered at the debate on tuesday night. cnn, las vegas. >> joining me now is a

contributing editor for the atlantic. new polls show donald trump gaining ground nationally, but interestingly, ted cruz is now surging in iowa. what is behind his sudden surge, do you think? >> ted cruz has become the candidate of conservative evangelical christians who are a large part of the people who turn out in iowa. many of those people supported ben carson. since the attacks in paris and san bernardino, as national security has become a bigger issue, an issue on which carson really struggles, some of those voters frmoved to cruz, and they're the base of his support. >> what does it signal to you if cruz is surging in just iowa at this point, but trump is leading nationally. how might that balance change? >> well, i think it puts cruz in a very formidable position. cruz has raised a lot of money.

he's also in a very strong position in the southern states that will follow the first batch of prime areas. because he's from texas and because he has this strong conservative e van jell lal base. trump is ahead in new hampshire, the second state, but we really don't know what will happen in cruz defeats him in iowa nature what we know is the polls in new hampshire shift the minute iowa finishes. i would say right now the conventional wisdom is that cruz is essentially the front runner in this race. >> interesting. so trump, do you view him as vulnerable in iowa, or is it simply that cruz has just got ahead of him here? why is trump having trouble in iowa but seemingly nowhere else? >> well, trump's base is not among conservative e vvangelica

christians has much as noneducated older whites. in iowa, the electorate is strongly evangelical. people not in the early primary states aren't paying a lot of attention. for them, a lot of it is name recognition. we don't know, also, how many of the trump supporters will turn out the vote. many of them are people who have not voted in the past. i think that the conventional wisdom will be that we're looking at a two person race between trump and cruz or a three person between cruz, trump and rubio who is the establishment candidate. if trump loses in iowa, you could see the numbers of his plunge in other states quickly. >> and very quickly, would you expect trump to really go after cruz tuesday night at the republican debate and try to take him down? >> yes. i think that's already starting.

that's the danger for cruz. because cruz supporters like donald trump a lot. cruz has never said almost anything critical about trump. if trump starts to go after him, will that turn some of those people who are cruz supporters by like donald trump, will they rethink their support for cruz? >> we'll be watching closely. peter, thank you so much for joining us. appreciate it. >> thank you. zblrch cnn will host the final debate among the republican candidates. coverage begins tuesday at 3 p.m. pacific time for those of you las vegas, that's 6:00 p.m. on the east coast, and in london, tuesday at 11:00 p.m. since the terror attacks in paris and california, barack obama is under pressure to reassure americans his isis strategy is working. >> he met with military leaders at the pentagon on monday. senior white house correspondent has details. >> reporter: with the public

growing anxious about his plan to destroy isis, president obama stopped by the pentagon where he offered up an image with the wartime rhetoric to match. >> we're hitting isil leaders harder than ever. our message is simple, you're next. >> the president met with nearly every member of his national security campaign. so far mr. obama said the u.s. led coalition has delivered 9,000 air strikes against isis, targeting the oil infrastructure and forcing the terror army to give up 40 % of its territory. the president acknowledged progress isn't coming fast enough. >>. >> this continues to be a difficult fight, as i said before, isil is dug in, including in urban areas, and they hide behind civilians using defenseless women, men, and children as human shields. >> the president's focus on isis comes as white house candidates are slamming his approach as too

weak and advocating a bigger u.s. commitment on the ground. >> number one is put together a global coalition on the ground, made up primarily of arab sunnis. it will require embedding alongside them, international partners and special operations from the u.s. >> coming on the heels to the terror attack in san bernardino, the public is losing confidence in the president's strategy. the white house says they're formlating the plan. >> the president and his team are hard at work an a plan to destroy isil. >> reporter: part of that is tolerance. something preached on a conference call with religious leaders. a response in part to donald trump who has blasted the president for not condemning radical islamic extremists. >> you have to identify the problem. he's not doing that. he's wrong. >> the president will stay on the theme of tolerance.

he'll probably make more veiled jobs at drurch then and return to his pitch later on the week when he visits the nation's counterterrorism center. >> jim acosta there. john kerry is in moscow right now for what's shaping up to be a tough day of diplomacy in syria. >> they are expected to discuss their country's differences over syrian bashar al assad, and how to stop the civil war ravaging the country. >> for more on what's on the agenda, let's turn to jill dorty. on the issue of how to get rid of president bashar al assad, how might secretary kerry will able to convince the russians to transfer a position of power. that doesn't seem to be on the table for moscow right now. >> that's one of the sticking

points, and there are a lot. errol, when they sat down, that is kerry, and lavrov, they began, secretary kerry began with what everybody agrees with. he said we agree there will be no negotiations with isis, and then saying that they have attacked culture, history, all decency. we'll fight them and destroy them. that's what russia and the united states agree on, but when you get into the details, especially this political transition to solve the syrian war, which is the hope of everyone, that's where it gets complicated, and the fate of bashar al assad is one of the key issues. wants him to remain in power as the legitimately elected president of syria, russia would argue, but does he leave? when does he leave in this transition? would he be able to participant in the transition or not?

the united states has given some flexibility. maybe he could leave later, but that's -- you have to really define that, and then also, i think one of the biggest issues right now is who among the opposition can sit down and negotiate at the table, be at, i should say, at the table, so to the create this interim governing body, because russia has different views on the opposition. the united states does too. how does a cease fire work? how would elections work? there are a lot of difficult issues that have to be defined. >> so then where could the middle ground be? i mean, secretary kerry was where there was a u.s. led effort to identify which opposition and rebel groups would be considered legitimate voices in any transition. that excluded isis. but russia's response to that was that the meeting itself wasn't legitimate because it considered some of those opposition groups terrorists.

so where could the middle ground even be if they are to get to some kind of cease fire january 1st, which is the best case scenario? >> exactly. well, actually, the -- i think the sign of some type of opening is what russia is now saying about the free syrian army. you know, a while ago, russia was opposed to a lot of the opposition groups, calling them terrorists, et cetera. now russia is saying that the air strikes that moscow is carrying out in syria are actually meant to help the free syrian army. now, that does sound a little counter intuitive, but they do say that the free syrian army are fighting isis, number one. and have actually given them some targeting information. not a lot of detail on that, but you can see that russia now is looking at the fsa as a group that they can work with. that needs defining because i think you have to delve deeper

and say, okay, who are the fsa in your estimation. there might be some in the syrian army they feel could be part of it. perhaps bashar al assad could accept them too. could russia convince bashar al assad to accept it as well. >> jill, joining us from moscow this morning, a quarter last 11:00 there. jill, thanks. >> nearly three dozen islamic countries are banding together to fight terrorism. >> saudi arabia's defense minister made the announcement monday. he said 34 countries will make up the coalition to fight what he calls the disease of extremism. >> the group includes pakistan and yemen and will be based in the saudi capital. the saudi led coalitions a cease

fire will fine in the next hour. it coincides with the start of u.n.-backed peace talks in twitterland. >> the truce is expected to last seven days. houthi rebels have been battling government forces. new details say the attackers may have been getting orders from the master mind of the attack in paris standing a few blocks away. >> plus in the nightmare for the philippines. we'll get the latest from our international weather center after this. i have asthma... ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid.

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the u.s. army says sergeant beau bergdahl will chase charges. he could face a life sentence if found guilty. it's a much more serious punishment than the one recommended during the preliminary hearing when an army officer suggested no jail time. >> he disappeared from a post in 2009. he was held captive by the

taliban. six u.s. soldiers died trying to find him. bergdahl was freed in a controversial prisoner wa swap with the terror group in 2014. >> we're learning new details about the investigation into the terror talk in san bernardino. cell phones found at the attacker's home led fbi dive teams to search a lake. police said they didn't find anything related to the investigation. >> the female shooter advocated jihad on social media with a fake name, and she used 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, who could have connections to the paris attacks. >> it may have been directed from a few blocks away. brian todd as the new develop

developments. >> reporter: two men with syrian passports arrested. a european security source tells us traces of precursor chemicals which could be used to make home maid explosives were found inside their vehicle. u.s. authorities tipped off swiss authorities. >> any conversation that specifically identifies a target like that should raise an alarm, especially in a high profile city where you have premier banks institutions and united nations facilities. >> reporter: authorities are looking for two people with indirect links to people in the paris attacks. one of the prime paris suspects has become a ghost. the trail of sal la an dal islam has gone cold. and there's new information that his childhood friend, isis operative, abaaoud, 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 hall. the witness described seeing 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, but the witness later recognized abaaoud wen his picture was on the news. analysts say this is an am nous sign. >> isis is moving toward less of a static model of terrorism and more toward a dynamic, multihour rolling attack paradigm where you start an attack and you keep it going for as long as possible for maximum impact.

>> when expert says abaaoud could have been sending intention inside. >> to warn who's coming, there's a s.w.a.t. team entered from the roof, things like that. >> 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 they started blowing themselves up. brian todd, cnn, washington. at least one person has been killed as typhoon melor battered the central philippines. more than 730,000 people have been forced from their hopes. >> the this storm unexpectedly got stronger tuesday morning with winds as strong as a category 4 hurricane. >> melor is continuing its path across the philippines right now, and another storm may be on

its heels into this weekend. >> pedram javaheri joins us from the international weather center with more. why did this storm gain strength after it made made land fall. >> it's unusual. you typically take away the heat energy, but i think it has to do with the questionography, the islands across this region. you do the calculation on the amount of water area we're talking about, it's about 60,000 square kilometers of water, roughly the size of ireland, across this region. put a storm making land fall with hundreds of islands in the path, but still drawing in heat energy. i think that's why it's strengthened. here's the final path as the storm system exits the verd islands. certainly, it could be a catastrophic event.

a healthy category 3. it's exiting this region. that's what we're watching carefully with powerful winds and the threat is heavy rainfall associated with this storm system. it's the dry season in this part of the world. the storm pushes off into the south china sea and pushing farther south and the end will be somewhere around 200 to 250 millimeters over the next 24 to 36 hours. this time of year, 50 millimeters. we can get five times that over the next 24 hours. as melor exits, look what's going on, high probability of a formation south of guam. this is the latest indication that we have on the joint typhoon warning center. a little early to see the potential. thursday into friday, the storm goes south. sometime friday into saturday, again, another heavy rainmaker,

potentially the strong winds associated with the storm. as it pushes toward this region of the philippines, this shows you the warm sea surface temperatures off the portion of the sea. temperatures above average. that is a lot of energy, a lot of heat energy that is fueling these storms right now. >> thanks, pedram. a republican dmilemma. we'll ask which outsider is the biggest threat. >> fans camped out on hollywood boulevard for the premier of the new "star wars." we'll take you to the red carpet later this hour.

welcome back to those of you watching here in the states and all around the world. it's the last half hour with us y. i'm errol barnett. >> and i'm rosemary church. let's check the headlines for you. >> we're hours away from the last u.s. republican presidential debate of the year hosted by cnn. the top polling candidates will take the main stage in vegas. wolf blitzer says national security will be a focal point of the event. >> the u.s. secretary of state is in moscow to figure out how to establish peace in syria. he's meeting with the russian foreign minister and later with vladimir putin. the role of bashar al assad has been a sticking point between the two countries. >> nearly slee dozen islamic countries are banning together. they made the announcement on

monday. 34 countries will make up the coalition to fight what he calls the disease of extremism. the group includes pakistan and egypt and will be based in the saudi capital. all right. let's go back now to the cnn republican presidential debate. donald trump goes into tuesday night be w a strong lead in the national polls. >> he's facing a challenge from cruz. sara murray looks at what the accounts have in common. >> reporter: leading the field in iowa, a conundrum for establishment republicans. is the bigger threat the enemy you know? or the one you don't? >> i'm dealing with all these blootd blood sucker politicians. they'll make their deals and they'll be in the back room makes deals.

if i get the number of delegates, there's not a thing they can do. >> reporter: they've both made waves. cruz, suggesting a religious test for religious refugees. christians are facing prosecution by isis. they're being beheaded and crucified. and we ought to be working to provide a safe haven to the chris man refugees, but we shouldn't be bringing potential terrorists into america. >> wow. thank you. >> reporter: and trump calling for blocking muslims altogether. >> donald trump is calling for a total and complete shut down of muslims entering the united states until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. >> reporter: like trump -- >> when mexico sends it people, they're not sending their best. they're bringing drugs. they're bringing crime. >> reporter: cruz also has a

history of making jarring remarks, once saying that accepting obama care was akin to appeasing the nazis during world war ii. >> we saw in britain, they told the british people accept the nazis. and in america there were voices that listened to that. >> reporter: and taking a flip approach to a question about con stra sepg -- contraception. >> last i checked, we don't have a rubber shortage in america. >> reporter: neither of them are strangers to spars. it was clear no interest in sparring with cruz. he's far ahead in nationwide polls and called cruz a good guy. cnn, laug nevada. >> earlier i asked ben ferguson what he thinks of ted cruz's recent surge in the polls. >> it shows that there's obviously a large group in the republican party that does not

make the establishment gop type candidates or the establishment picking the front runner. and ted cruz is obviously, like you said, some say he's the most hated man in the republican party in the senate. that is a good thing if you're running for president right now. they don't want someone that it's the establishment guy. i think that's what's hurting rubio and holding him from breaking out in the campaign. it's held back jeb bush by being an establishment guy. cruz has been smart and underrated. >> what are we likely to see tomorrow at the debate, and how can marco rubio and jeb bush, these establishment favorites breakthrough? >> i think rubio does have a chance, because people do seem to like him. rubio has always done well in the debates, and he's actually always gone up after the debates. for marco rubio, keep doing what you're doing, and it may help and catch on.

if you're ted cruz, i think you to go after donald trump and say let me get this straight. you called me a main yan niac oy morning talk shows because i called someone a liar when he lied to us. that's who i thought you would be. i thought you were going to call out other politicians and now they're saying i'm a maniac. he has to have a distinction. i think to show the ridiculous of trump's rhetoric. as for jeb bush, i think his campaign, for all intents and purposes, when it comes to winning is over. he can stay in this thing, but i don't know if he can turn it back around. he admitted he's a weak debater. damage he'll have an amazing night be these other people on stage. >> can jeb bush -- our cnn hosts

the final debate of the year among the republican candidates. wolf blitzer moderates. coverage begins 3 p.m. in l.a. and video game. in london, it begins tuesday at 11:00 p.m. >> barack obama is facing criticism for his strategy to fight isis. so he is taking a more forceful approach to the group. >> mr. obama met with military leaders at the pentagon on monday in an effort to review and strengthen anti-isis efforts. he detailed the coalition's plan against the group which he refers to as isil. >> we hitting isil harder than ever. coalition aircraft, fighters, bombers and drones have been increasing the pace of air strikes, nearly 9,000 as of today. last month in november, we dropped more poms on soips targets in any other month since the campaign started. all this said, we recognize progress needs to keep coming

faster. >> former nato supreme allied commander joins me to talk more about the meeting with military leaders at the pentagon monday. thank you, sir, for joining us on the line. now, amid criticism that his isis strategy is not working, president obama made this rare visit to the pentagon for a meeting he said was part of an ongoing effort to review and constantly strengthen u.s. military plans against isis. what does that mean, exactly? is it just a case of creating the right optics here? or might we see a large scale shift in u.s. strategy to fight isis? >> i think it's always a good thing when the president comes to the pentagon and meets with the military chiefs. but in this case, what you're seeing is an intensification of the strategy but not altering. that is to say the ground fighting has to be done by our friends and allies in the region. it has to be a coalition. we'll put u.s. fire power and

other western, british, australian aircraft in the air to deliver fire power, but the boots on the ground, the kicking in the doors, the searching the homes, that has to be done by people in the region who speak arabic and can tell friend from foe. and who can govern the region once it's cleared of terrorists. >> and, general, president obama has been under intense pressure to try to reassure americans that his isis strategy is working, as his regional national address from the oval proved that doesn't appear to be working for him. what's it going to take to make americans feel safer and be safe, and do you think they would have been, perhaps, more reassured by what they heard monday. >> they should have been more reassured, but the truth is that the american public is allergic

to isis. and to the threats a come from isis, and so when any single i said dent occurs, it gets enormous attention. it magnifies the fear and the fear magnifies the pressure on the president. and what the president is trying to do is to avoid doing exactly what isis wants him to do, which is to commit u.s. ground troops, which would serve as a huge recruiting instant for isis. >> general, wesley clark, thank you for joining us. >> thank you. three years after the new town massacre, the issue of gun control is hotly debated. coming up, he'll hear from a congressman who says it's what's in a shooter's head, not their hand that can lead to these trat jis.

>> barack obama marked the anniversary of the newtown

massacre n a tragedy that reig nated the debate over gun control. 20 first graders, along with six educators were gunned down in newtown, connecticut three years ago. >> with the american political system paralyzed by what to do about gun violence, mr. obama posted this on his facebook page. three years on, how do we tell them their congress hasn't done anything to prevent what happened to them from happening to other families. >> cnn spoke with tim murphy who has authored a bill to deal with mental health issues he believes could trigger gun violence. >> when it comes to things like the sandy hook tragedy, where the children were killed, and i keep their photos on the desk in my office so i key them every day. they were killed by someone with a serious mental illness that was untreated. you can look at the tragedies

across america, and when there are homicide issues, some are by control criminals. some with r my terrorists, and some by mentally -- >> i agree with you. that's a part of the solution. but also a big part many would say is gun control info. when you look at america, they're wondering why that country stands alone when it comes to this kind of frequency of mass shootings. this is an exceptionally american problem, is it not? >> the point is the united states is the access to mental health care is still a problem. and i am focussed on taking care of that. we're not talking about gun control and cancer or with diabetes. we're talking about a brain illness called mental illness. >> you think if mental illness is addressed, that will reduce the mass shooting without

stricter gun control laws. >> a person with serious mental illness who has been involuntarily committed to inpatient care are not allowed to own, transport or anything with a gun. but also look at the issues with sandy hook. part of the tragedy, he broke every law in the book. washington d.c. and chicago have strong gun rules and they have a lot of shoots. i'm a psychologist, and this is i'm trained as a mention health professional. i'm tired of congress having a moment of silence and doing nothing about treating mental illness. >> tim murphy speaking with us. murphy told cnn he is -- he has personally lobbied president obama on his bill. >> while a group of u.s. mothers is taking a different approach. thousands of them have banded

together to form mom demands action for gun defense. you can read about their campaign on our website, cnn.com. bill cosby is counter suing seven women for defamation claiming they ruined his reputation when they accused him of sexual assault. he's seeking retractions. the seven women initially sued cosby for defamation. >> more than 40 women accused him of sexual assault over a 40 year period. he's not been charged with any crime. >> the stars were out in force for the new "star wars" movie premier. we'll take you to the red carpet. ght when you feel a cold, abreva can heal it in as few as two and a half days when used at the first sign. without it the virus spreads from cell to cell. only abreva penetrates deep and starts to work immediately

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"star wars," the force awakens hit the big screen in l.a. for the world premier on monday. the red carpet had more special effects and special makeup than your usual hollywood paerrty. >> old stars mixed with new stars trying to make their own

mark. >> the fans all but shut down hollywood boulevard before the premier. >> there has been so secrecy, the movie trailers have barely given away any of the plot. that has generated a unique level of excitement. an excitement that is shared by the film's stars. >> protection of the first order. ♪ . >> how much do you enjoy these things? >> i love it. i can't think of anything better to do. we sort of dress up and do this in my backyard on wednesdays. because wednesday is a special kind of day for this. come on. >> how are you feeling? the big night is finally here. >> i was feeling quite sick with nerves. now it's cool and great. >> i feel great. i feel fantastic, and i feel surprisingly relaxed. >> you have all these memories

going off, popping off in your head. the smell, the -- sitting in the cockpit, all of that. i mean, you know, it's like going back to your old school. >> the film is about to be shown to the world. how are you feeling? >> relief and excitement because finally the fans get to see the film. it belongs to them, after all. >> and i think that's what these films do, they stimulate our imaginations. they work their way into our dreeps and make us laugh and cry, but they give us hope. >> according to j.j. abrams, in addition excitement, there's also a little bit of nerves. >> this is the moment, though, that directors live for, the unveiling of the film, the sharing with the audience. does it come with any nerves? >> of course. there are nerves working with an editor. there are certainly nerves

showing the movie to 1,000 plus people tonight, but i feel like -- i feel very confident about the work that was done by the actors, so if nothing else, i know people will enjoy watching the performances. 6. >> reporter: all the stars headed in for their first glimt of "star wars" episode seven. the fans get their chance to see the movie this friday, and then they can be the judge as to weather the force is strong with j.j. abrams and this latest installment. and, of course, it's not enough for some "star wars" fans to watch this movies. for many, the franchise is a way of life. >> cnn went to a light saber fitness class to see how fans are mastering the moves of a jedi knight. >> the first rule, know how to handle your weapon.

>> why do you think i have my stripe at an angle. >> every thursday, "star wars" fans get to sweat it out in characters, practicing moves like the light saber battles from the movies. they're perhaps not quite to that level yet. today's instructor, a special education teacher has been doing this for eight years. >> where's the fun of just simply watching something? i mean, you look at a football fan, they're going to go in the backyard and throw the football around. it's the same thing. instead of a football, we have light sabers. it's a way of becoming part of something that we truly love. >> reporter: by day that can be anything from a legal assistant to a kitchen designer. by night, they're united by one thing. >> it's a visceral gut feeling that feels satisfying to pick up one of these and all of a sudden

you are a jedi knight. >> "star wars" has inspired a type of fan dom that goes beyond the love of watching the movies. they have to experience it. and to understand why, so do i. lucki luckily, i've been practicing. >> you're going to have a very bad feeling about this. >> i always do. that still doesn't stop me. >> reporter: whatever your still level, there's one core philosophy. >> once a jedi, always a jedi. >> i think i see the light. there's some one thing left to say. >> jedi, may the force be with you. >> cnn, in a galaxy somewhere in manhattan. >> that's a class i think you'd enjoy, right? >> i'm not sure. i prefer actual weights and things. >> there you go. finally this hour, donald trump is sharing his doctor's

assessment that his health is, quote, astonishingly excellent. surprise, surprise, his doctor has been his doctor for 25 years, and the doctor says if elected mr. trump, i can state, he'll be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency. as you might imagine, that drew the attention of late night tv. >> donald trump's doctor wrote a letter saying he will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency. that's true. when asked about trump's mental health, the doctor got very quiet. >> there you go. leave you laughing. thanks for joining us. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm errol barnett. remember to connect with us on social media any time. it's great to hear from you. early start is next for you in the u.s. >> for everyone else, stay tuned for "cnn newsroom." life. my

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in just hours, republicans running for president face-off on the cnn debate stage. will donald trump hold on to the frontrunner status or will those climbing get their break through? good morning. i'm christine romans in new york. >> and i'm john berman in the venetian theater. it is tuesday, december 15th. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. tonight is the night. behind me is the st