jim acosta is someone who is great at breaking through the white house din. the president is good at crafting a message, telling a story, his communications staff is also good. jim, the job of a reporter is not just taking what is said in retelling it. talk about that. jim acosta: that's right. i was thinking about this -- there are a couple of different episodes that bring to mind the spin machine that goes on at the white house. one of the most recent examples is when the president was going to the american university to deliver the speech on the iran nuclear deal. in the run-up to that speech, they had allowed us to draw the comparison between jfk in the 1960's. we're saying this is going to be like jfk going to an american university and say that we are willing to pay any price. what the president ended up doing was a very partisan speech. i remember the next day just thinking to myself, or even later that day, the spin they were putting out there that this was going to be like jfk, but when the president was going to deliver a partisan speech to rally the

cnn senior white house correspondent jim acosta with us.s the first time we'll see the two leaders together speaking since the horrific attacks in paris 11 days ago. for hollande, this is a tour, yesterday david cameron, today president obama, tomorrow russian president vladimir putin, later in the week german chancellor angela merkel. what is his goal? >> reporter: this meeting between president obama and president hollande comes at a critical time in the fight against isis. president hollande has been pressuring president obama to step up the campaign against isis. you've haefrd the president say, yes, there will ab an intensification on what the u.s.-led coalition is doing to take out that terrorist army. we heard from josh earnest yesterday say that he believes that the -- the white house believes the white house is doing more than its own weight, pulling more of its own weight. that's an indication that inside this white house they believe that the u.s. is doing es certainly all it can at this point. it is also a pushback if anybody is

senior white house correspondent jim acosta is in paris with the president.im, it is hard to concentrate on climate change knowing what that city has been through. >> reporter: that's right. we are expecting the world leaders to observe a moment of silence in the memory of the victims of the paris attacks. it was a somber start for president obama. as soon as the president landed in france, he was whisked to the bataclan theater to lay a white rose to remember those killed. protesters clashed with french police on sunday over new rules clamped down on large demonstrations. i was there when the president

senior white house correspondent jim acosta is in paris with the president. jim, it is hard to concentrate on climate change knowing what that city has been through. >> reporter: that's right. we are expecting the world leaders to observe a moment of silence in the memory of the victims of the paris attacks. it was a somber start for president obama. as soon as the president landed in france, he was whisked to the bataclan theater to lay a white rose to remember those killed. protesters clashed with french police on sunday over new rules clamped down on large demonstrations. i was there when the president visited the bataclan. this security is in place to protect the over 100 leaders gathered for the climate talks. president obama and president xi have already met to discuss the climate talks and president obama offered condolences to the chinese hostage killed by the isis terrorists and the leaders gathered here, alison, in pursuit of a climate agreement to commit nearly every country on earth to big reductions of emissions. this is not the most severe of eff

we have more from jim acosta. >> reporter: miguel, the president wants u.s. companies to start hiring former inmates and not hold past crimes against them. president obama visiting a halfway house in new jersey yesterday. the president is calling on congress to ban the boxes it described in federal hiring. eliminating the section on job applications that asks about criminal records. encouraging employers to seek that information later on. >> a lot of time that record disqualifies you from being a full participant in our society. even if you already paid your debt to society. it means millions of americans have difficulty getting their foot in the door to try to get a job. much less actually hang on to that job. that's bad for not only those individuals, but bad for our economy. >> reporter: the president says that second chance is crucial to thousands of federal prisoners released over the weekend after many had drug sentences reduced. alison and miguel. >> thank you, jim. one of the first changes of the house speaker paul ryan has made is removing a portrait

cnn's jim acosta has more on that from washington for us. >> it was a show of solidarity as president obama declared we are all french, embraced french president francois hollande and vowed to crush isis. >> it cannot be tolerated. it must be destroyed and we must do it together. >> reporter: for his part, hollande thanked americans for their emotional response to the terrorist attacks, but added that's not enough. we musting a, he said, but the mission just got more complicated after turkey shot down a russian fighter jet near the syrian border, a dang ter u.s. has warned moscow about for weeks. the u.s. said turkey had a right to defend the airspace. >> i do think this points to an ongoing problem with the russian operations in the sense that they are operating very close do a turkish border. they are going after moderate opposition supported by not only turkey but a wide range of countries. >> still mr. obama said after meeting with vladmir putin at the g-20, moscow is well dom to join the u.s. coalition. >> there is a potential convergence of interest between the various parties.

senior white house correspondent jim acosta joining me live from paris. m, the paris attacks obviously looming large over this conference we know leaders of many countries will be talking about it, how will they also tackle the climate change issues? >> well, they're determined to do it and president obama said before he left for paris he's on his way right now that this would be one way to show isis that the world can come together and tackle these big problems no matter what happened in paris a couple weeks ago and the white house is determined to see something come to fruition here. the president is bringing with him the secretary of state, secretary of interior, energy, epa administrator, so you name it, every relevant cabinet official will join the president for this but hanging over this summit will be a lot of tension. this will be a city on edge over the next few days as more than a hundred leaders from around the world descend on paris for these climate talks and we saw that tension on the streets of paris earlier today. as you said, there were 20

jim acosta, cnn, with the president in kuala lumpur, malaysia. >>> british prime minister david cameronavel to paris for talks with french president francois hollande. he'll present plans including launching sayre strikes in syria. he's expected to present his proposal to the british parliament as early as this week. back in the u.s., former secretary of defense chuck hagel discussed the strategy in syria and what he thinks the focus there should be. >> i don't think you're going to find a resolution to assad until you figure out how you're doing to deal with isis and you bring the different groups, element, countries, leaders together on some unification. we're going to have differences with iran for years and years weather russia for year, but you can't let those differences dictate or you can't become captive to the differences. let's center on the core threat, the common threat, build out from there. if you can build some platform of stability, that gettious to a point where you can start to maybe unravel some of this. >> let's discuss this further with lieutenant general mark hurdl

we get more now from cnn's jim acosta. >> reporter: the prisoners serving harsh sentences, the presidentts the government to not hold their past crimes against them. president obama shining a light on the program that transitions them back into society. the president wants to eliminate the section on job applications that asks about criminal records. encouraging employers to seek that information later on. >> a lot of time, that record disk disqualifies you from being a full participate in our society even if you already paid your debt to society. it means millions of americans have difficulty even getting their foot in the door to try to get a job. much less actually hang on to that job. that's bad for not only those individuals, but bad for our economy. >> reporter: the president says that second chance would be crucial to thousands of federal prisoners released over the weekend after many had drug sentences reduced. alison and miguel. >>> the keystone xl oil pipeline is officially in limbo. trans canada asking the government to suspend its application for permit beyond 2016 election.

jim acosta is at the g-20 site in turkey. n you tell us about the new information we're learning about the intelligence sharing, crucial and many senses unprecedented intelligence sharing between the united states and france? >> reporter: that's right. that's right, i'm told by a senior administration official in the last several minutes, that the u.s. was assisting with those french air strikes. we don't know the totality of what that assistance was. president obama will be holding a news conference tomorrow here at the g-20 summit and perhaps we'll hear more then. when the deputy national security adviser was on with jake tapper earlier today, he did say that france as a two star general involved in military coordination between u.s. and coalition partners going after isis. it stands to reason that the french when they decided to go ahead and conduct these air strikes had a pretty vast wealth of knowledge and intelligence to tap into once the occasion presented itself. this is something that -- this is a sneak preview of com

with we have the chief white house correspondent jim acosta standing by and the chief national correspondent john king and our chief national security correspondent jim sciutto, and our chief international correspondent christiane amanpour. and i will get to you in a moment, jim and john, but let's talk to christiane. it is the first time that a f-16 plane blocking turkey has shot down a russian warplane, and this is representing a serious problem. i want you to listen to what the president had to say urging everyone to avoid any escalation. >> turkey like every country has a right to defend its territory and air space. i think it is very important for us right now to make sure that both the russians and the turks are talking to each other to find out exactly what happened and take measures to discourage any kind of escalation. i do think that this points to a ongoing problem with the russian operations. in the sense that they are operating very close to the turkish border and they are going after the moderate opposition supported by not only turkey, but a wide range of countries. if russia

senior white house correspondent jim acosta joining me live from paris. jim, the paris attacks obviously looming very large over the conference. is it expected much business will get done as relates to climate change? >> i think so. the white house is determined to get that business done. president obama is determined to get that business done. he posted a message on facebook just before he left the white house and the u.s. for paris earlier today saying this is something that has to get done to protect the planet for future generations. but make no mistake, fredricka, patien paris is going to be a city on edge this week as they are under very tight security. we saw that tension play out on the streets of paris earlier today as we saw protesters clashing with police, those demonstrators were protesting these new rules that were set by french authorities to essentially bar large-scale demonstrations in the aftermath of the paris attacks. and the french president, francois hollande, after seeing the results of these protests earlier today, 1207800 some 200 w

cnn's chief white house correspondent jim acosta is in turkey for us at this g-20 summit. he's following all the developments. jim, what's the latest? >> reporter: wolf, the battle against isis appears to be entering a new phase with france retaliating against the terror group and president obama vowing to ramp up u.s. efforts and there's signs mr. obama could have a new partner in the war on isis, russia's president vladimir putin. it was a moment of silence before a rare display of unity on the world stage that now is the time to stamp out isis. >> the skies have been darkened by the horrific attacks that took place in paris. >> reporter: with his g-20 summit sounding more like a war couns council than an economic conference, president obama and others vowed to intense city the battle against the terrorist army. >> we will redouble our efforts working with other members of the coalition to bring about a peaceful transition in syria. >> reporter: the paris attacks may also be bringing together longtime adversaries. during an intense 35-minute meeting in front of the camera

our senior white house correspondent jim acosta is with the president. he joins us now. jim, the president just spoke out. he has new comments on the fight against isis. what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's right, don, the president is not having any second thoughts about his strategy for dealing with isis. you will recall that became under tough criticism for the president at that press conference on monday, earlier today here in manila during this trip in southeast asia, the president said the public has not served at all when the debate descends into fear and panic. he warned against that when it comes to dealing with this terrorist threat. he also offered some welcoming praise for vladmir putin, russia's involvement in conducting those airstrikes about isis targets in syria. he says he wants to see more of that. he wants to make sure those airstrikes are targeting isis and not those moderate syrian rebels in the effort to prop up syria's leader bashar al-assad. he also went after republicans on the refugee crisis. first, let's play a little of what the president

jake. >> jim acosta, thank you so much. how worried are u.s.fficials about this new isis threat to the united states? we'll ask the ranking member of the senate intelligence committee dianne feinstein, she's just been briefed. and she'll tell me what she knows next. hi i'm heather cox on location with the famous, big idaho potato truck. our truck? it's touring across america telling people about idaho potatoes. farmer: let's go boy. again this year the big idaho potato truck is traveling the country spreading the word about heart healthy idaho potatoes and making donations to local charities. excuse me miss, have you seen our truck? you just missed it. ahhh! aw man are you kiddin' me? big day? ah, the usual. moved some new cars. hauled a bunch of steel. kept the supermarket shelves stocked. made sure everyone got their latest gadgets. what's up for the next shift? ah, nothing much. just keeping the lights on. (laugh) nice. doing the big things that move an economy. see you tomorrow, mac. see you tomorrow, sam. just another day at norfolk southe

our senior white house correspondent, jim acosta, he is there in turkey. he joins us now live. manage the tenor of this meeting, not to mention the subject matter to discuss will be drastically different now. >> reporter: that's right, john. this g-20 summit is shaping up to be something of a war summit. because, obviously, what has happened in paris has really added a sense of urgency to this summit that few would have expected. and president obama, as you said, is expected to leave the white house any moment now, en route to turkey. he did have that national security council meeting that involved not only his top national security officials inside the white house, but cabinet secretaries, secretary of state john mccain who's overseas, but joined that meeting via a secure video conference. and so we'll have a readout of that shortly, i believe, in the meantime, though, getting back to the summit, the president, he has a whole slew of meetings, keep in mind, he's going to be meeting with turkish presidentered juan to talk about the stepped up presence in syria. but one leader t

jim acosta, cnn, with the president in kuala lumpur, malaysia. >>> next, the hunt for one of the mostth. an inside look at what police know about the paris terrorist that got away. can a business have a mind? a subconscious. a knack for predicting the future. reflexes faster than the speed of thought. can a business have a spirit? can a business have a soul? can a business be...alive? when i went on to ancestry, i just put in the name yes, we are twins. of my parents and my grandparents. i was getting all these leaves and i was going back generation after generation. you start to see documents and you see signatures of people that you've never met. i mean, you don't know these people, but you feel like you do. you get connected to them. i wish that i could get into a time machine and go back 100 years, 200 years and just meet these people. being on ancestry just made me feel like i belonged somewhere. discover your story. start searching for free now at ancestry.com. i found a better deal on prescriptions. we found lower co-pays... ...and a free wellness visit. new plan...same doctor.

cnn senior white house correspondent jim acosta joins me live from paris. jim, what did the president have to say to putin about the first item, avoiding any further military confrontation between russia and turkey after turkey downed that russian fighter jet? >> reporter: right, jake, president obama is taking out from this climate summit here in paris to play referee basically in a simmering dispute between russia and turkey over the downing of that russian warplane last week. earlier today as you said the president did meet with vladimir putin. mr. obama expressed his regret according to white house officials after turkey shot down that russian bomber, but putin is still furious. he is refusing to meet with turkey's president erdogan. president obama will meet with erdogan tomorrow to see if he can resolve this dispute, but the white house is pretty clear which side it's on. while the president said russia and turkey need to take steps to de-escalate the situation, deputy national security adviser ben rhodes said outside these climate talks here in paris

(laughter) and secondly, cnn's jim acosta, i'm glad you apologized for that potty mouth of yours.eah, i got to apologize for this, uh, bastards... whoa hoa! somebody's been hanging out with his older cousin! whoa! hey, guys, are we going to get these i.s.i.s. knuckleheads or what? come on! they're a bunch of jerk wads! i'm telling the birdbrains they'll know what's coming! we've got to give these i.s.i.s. shmucks the wing-a-ding-ding! who are you? the president responded as if the question was actually coming from an adult. >> we're going to continue to pursue the strategy that has the best chance of working even though it does not offer the satisfaction, i guess, of a neat headline or an immediate resolution. >> trevor: i'm sorry, president obama... this is non-immediate resolution stuff is just not going to cut it. these are americans you're talking to. the people who spend millions of dollars a year on diet pills that will make you lose 50 pounds in five days. these are the inventors of the tv dinner! americans won't even gram unless independents insta. i understand the impulse

our senior white house correspondent jim acosta is traveling with the president. jim, is there any sign putin is willing to work with the u.s. in this war against isis? >> reporter: not yet, wolf. today president obama and vertebra ya's vladimir putin appear to be looking right past each other as they met on the sidelines of this week's global climate summit in paris. the two leaders are still at odds, very much so over any kind of alliance to defeat isis. mr. obama he did express his regret to vladimir putin after turkey shot down that russian warplane last week. but putin is still furious. he is refusing to meet with turkey's president erdogan at the climate talks. so instead president obama will meet with erdogan tomorrow morning. now, the war on isis is looming large over these climate talks. as soon as he landed in france the president laid a single white rose outside the bataclan theater to remember the victims of the paris attacks. but the president made the case here that bringing the world together to battle climate change is yet another way to take the fi

>> that's cnn's jim acosta. this morning in malaysia, president obama took a slightly tougher tone. we're going to get it done, we're going to pursue it, but a lot of people were surprised tows white house correspondents as aggressive as they were with the president, because that handle always been the hallmark during this administration. >> and it was refreshing to see a bit of that. i think there's better ways to phrase some of these questions, and i think somehow they are trying to tweak hem a bit, so he reacts, but this again is the central question. >> but to say to the president, why can't we get these bastards? it was a question really to make the highlight reels? >> no, i think it's a question people are wondering. >> but that's not a question a quous correspondent shouldn't ask. >> so you're accusing jim a costa of showmanship, as if that's never happened before, but you're also saying the question was inappropriate or not specific? >> i think you should be more specific. if the policy is not working question it why. don't just ask a showboat questions. >> speaking of journ

jim acosta, cnn, with the president in malaysia. >>> the front-runners of the u.s.epublican presidential race are speaking bluntly about the plan to bring more syrian refugees to the country. that story is just ahead. >>> plus, more than a dozen people are injured when shooting breaks out in a new orleans park. details coming up. ♪ ♪ ♪ i can offer you no interest sittifor 24 months.oday thanks to the tools and help at experian.com, i know i have an 812 fico score, so i definitely qualify. so what else can you give me? same day delivery. the ottoman? thank you. fico scores are used in 90% of credit decisions. so get your credit swagger on. go to experian.com, become a member of experian credit tracker, and take charge of your score. two words: it heals.e different? and take charge of your score. how? with heat. unlike creams and rubs that mask the pain, thermacare has patented heat cells that penetrate deep to increase circulation and accelerate healing. let's review: heat, plus relief, plus healing, equals thermacare. the proof that it heals is you. ♪ ♪ the beautifu

we have jim acosta with the coverage at the paris climate change conference. jim, it is good to have you. the u.s. and china seen as we get ready to hear from the president in a few minutes. what do you know? >> those two leaders, president obama and president xi of china, trying to set the tone of this climate summit, showing the two biggest economies in the world, the two biggest carbon emitters can commit to carbon controls, so can everyone else. every world leader gathered here, observed a moment of silence this morning in honor of the victims of the paris attacks as soon as president obama landed in france overnight, he was whisked over to the bataclan theater where he laid a single white rose. the french capital is very much on edge in the aftermath of the attacks on november 13th. protesters clashed with french authorities sunday over new rules that were set to clamp down on large-scale demonstrations in this city. there is intense security in place throughout paris. i saw it myself when president obama visited the bataclan last night. that security in p

let's go to our senior white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, what does it mean that the president is now directly weighing in? >> well, wolf, the president is going much farther than what the white house has said, what the administration has said so far about this russian airliner. he said in an interview -- he did a series of radio interviews earlier today but with cbs station kiro, the president said as you mentioned a few moments ago it is possible that there was a bomb onboard that plane. here's more of what the president had to say. >> i think there is a possibility that there is a bomb onboard. and we're taking that very seriously. you know, we know that the procedures we have here in the united states are different than some of the procedures that existed for outbound and inbound flights there. and we're going to spend a lot of time just making sure that our own investigators, our own intelligence community figures out exactly what's going on before we make any definitive pronouncements. but it is certainly possible that there was a

. >> well, let's bring senior white house correspondent jim acosta in.ident obama. what's the white house's plan to counter the broader sentiment against accepting syrian and iraqi refugees in their states? >> well, right now, isha, they are really taking to social media. we've seen this over the last 24, to 48 hours. president obama sent out a flurry of tweets earlier in the day saying the focus of the u.s. initially in welcoming these syrian refugees will be on women, children, victims of torture, trying to lower expectations that people might have in the u.s. that they're going to be bringing in all sorts of 18-year-old men from syria. so that is one way they're trying to combat that narrative. the other way they're trying to do it is putting out that veto threat. they did that earlier today. that was issued against a house republican bill that would have made it a requirement for the fbi director, the director of national intelligence, the secretary of homeland security to all sign off, basically on every syrian refugee coming in on the koun fingerpr

away from the war on isis even if that fight will likely overshadow the rest of his trip, wolf. >> jim acostaeporting for us. thank you. we're back with democratic congresswoman tulsi gabbard of hawaii. she's a member of the house armed services and foreign affairs committee also an iraq war veteran. you say leave president bashar al assad in power right now. the u.s. has other more urgent business in fighting isis in syria. but listen to what the president said on that today. listen to this, congresswoman. >> and there are still disagreements between the parties including most critically over the fate of bashar assad, who we do not believe has a role in syria's future because of his brutal rule, his war against the syrian people is the primary root cause of this crisis. what is different this time and what gives us some degree of hope is that as i said for the first time all the major countries on all sides of the syrian conflict agree on a process that is needed to end this war. >> all right. congresswoman, has he convinced you that you got to get rid of bashar al assad? >> the cause of thi

jim acosta is traveling with president barack obama in manila.use is gearing up for a big fight with republicans over taking syrian refugees. what can you tell us? >> that's right, don, the white house is spending more time and energy this week around its position on the syrian refugee crisis than on its strategy for defeating isis. it is showing how quickly this test is becoming for president obama. the white house issued a detailed threat that would have required the fbi director, the director of national intelligence to sign off on all syrian refugees coming into the country. and the white house said that is not practical and they note the process for allowing refugees into the united states. and the administration's priority at this point is welcoming women and children and vice president joe biden got into the debate. here is how he sounded off on the issue earlier in dallas. >> one way to make sure that the terrorists win is for us to begin to chang our value system. that's number one. number two, we have a real vetting system for refugees

jim acosta reporting they spoke for about 30 minutes. what do we know about this meeting and what else went on at the g-20? >> reporter: rm this was a pretty startling image that the world got a glimpse of just a little while ago when president obama and russian president vladmir putin were huddling there. what's very interesting about this conversation, a couple of things. for weeks now the white house had been pretty putin insisting the russians would -- president obama noted that vladmir putin that the russians thad been taking strikes against isis in jar. not really making that accusation that russia is trying to prop up assad. the other thing coming out of white house is these two leaders, president obama and putin agreed on a syrian lead transition away from asad. that's notable as well because the white house has maintained for a long time and been sharply criminal that putin is in syria to help out his buddy assad. there's some diplomatic language that suggests maybe the president and putin may be putting aside some of their diff

jim acosta joins us with more.o in new jersey. >> reporter: that's right, just as the obama administration is speeding up the relief of federal prisoners serving harsh sentencing, the president wants companies to start hiring many of these former inmates and not hold their past crimes against them. >> it's an image of a president that's regardly seen, visiting a halfway house in new jersey, shine a light on program -- >> part of our goal here today is to highlight what is working. >> in the fourth quarter of his time in office, he's making criminal justice reform a top priority. >> there but for the grace of god. >> and it's personal. earlier this year at a federal prchblgs mr. obama candidly admitted he could have ended up behind bars after using drugs in his youth. >> these are young people who made mistakes that aren't that different than the mistakes i made. >> reporter: now the president wants to make it easy for ex-inmates. he's calling on congress to ban the box in federal hiring, as in eliminate that job, t

jim acosta. >> reporter: thank you very much, mr. president.to go back to something you said to margaret earlier when you said you have not underestimated isis's abilities. this is an organization that you once described as a jv team, that evolved into a now occupied territory in iraq and syria and is now able to use that safehaven to launch attacks in other parts of the world. how is that not underestimating their capabilities? and how is that contained, quite frankly? and i think a lot of americans have this frustration that they see that the united states has the greatest military in the world, it has the backing of nearly every other country in the world when it comes to taking on isis. i guess the question is, and if you'll forgive the language, is why can't we take out these -- >> jim, i just spent the last three questions answering that very question, so i don't know what more you want me to add. i think i've described very specifically what our strategy is. and i've described very specifically why we do not pursue some of the other stra

. >> i would like to introduce jim acostas. the was born a mile from fairfax county hospital in virginia. i'm a d.c. kid. area. up in the --ent to james mooed ad madison university. i started in radio. came toer that, i washington. my very first job was in phonesion answering the at channel five here in washington. april and i -- i'm sure you guys sam donaldson. sam donaldson's wife worked at channel five. was answer the phone, jan, jan smith. jan smith i speak to please? i would give people their coffee and meals. $4.25 an hour. i had no health benefits. out and go cover the drive-by shooting that happened. that was my first taste of tv news. was hooked. from there i worked my way into a job in knoxville, tennessee. went to dallas, texas; chicago, and i was might bed by news and later cnn. it's been a long strange road. got back to d.c. doing what i love, which is covering politics. covered the romney campaigns. typically it is whoever wins. not going to the white house. romney lost. go over why don't you there. you are pretty

he seemed to be on the defensive at times, particularly a question from jim acosta.ut the question about why he said what the contained meant, the white house pushed back saying on the ground in syria and iraq, but they're not increasing the amount of territory that they're holding. obviously, when you look at the increase in attacks, whether it be the downing of the russian jet in egypt or the attack here to syria, and examine other recent critics of the president, here is what some of president obama said earlier. >> you have a handful of people who don't mind dying. they can kill a lot of people. that's one of the challenges of terrorism. it's not their sophistication or the particular weapon that they possess, but it is the ideology that they carry with them and their willingness to die. and in those circumstances, tracking each individual, making sure that we are disrupting and preventing these attack sess a constant effort of vigilance and requires extraordinary determination. now, part of the reason why it is important is the narrative of what i saw developed

i want to check with jim acosta right now. president obama on his way to a big meeting. the g-20 right now. he had a meeting of the national security council before he left. jim accosta with us on the phone from turkey where the meeting will take place. jim, what do you know? >> reporter: they'll be holding a national security council meeting at the white house before he leaves for the g-20 summit. i'm in turkey and just arrived on the ground. security precautions are immense. took us a good 45 minutes just to make our way inside the secure perimeter where the summit will be taking place. it's fairly certain this will be something of a war sum for president obama, for the other -- war summit for president obama, for the other leaders gathered here. appears isis has taken their fight against the west that another level. the president had hoped to come into this summit are some victories, foreign policy victories against isis, the apparent killing of jihadi john, the operation that took place in sinjar where the u.s. was aiding kurdish forces there. all of that obviously is

jim acosta thank you very much. we'll have much more of our coverage live here from paris straight ahead. my constipation and belly pain... ...feel like a raging storm. i've tried laxatives... ... but my symptoms keep returning. my constipation... ...feels like a heavy weight... ...that keeps coming back. linzess can help. once-daily linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. linzess helps you proactively manage your symptoms. it may help you have more frequent and complete bowel movements that are... ... easier to pass and may relieve your belly pain. do not give linzess to children under 6, and it should not be given to children 6 to 17. it may harm them. don't take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you... ... develop unusual or... severe stomach pain... ...especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect... ... is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if it's severe, stop taking linzess and ... ...call your doctor right away. other side effects inc

acosta from cnn. he will share his personal story with us here. jim: you heard the expression, people who think like they're inside the beltway or from inside the beltway, i was born about a mile outside the beltway. i was born at fairfax county hospital in virginia. i grew up in northern virginia. i'm sort of a d.c. kid. i grew up in this area. i went to james madison university where i was the news director of my college radio station. so i started in radio. after that i came to washington. my very first job was in television answering the phones at channel 5 here in washington. april and i'm sure you guys remember sam donaldson. sam donaldson's wife worked at channel 5. jan, jan smith. hello, can i speak to jan smith, please? yes, mr. donaldson. i would get people their coffee and meals. i made $4.25 an hour, had no health benefits. they'd say, jim, go out and over this drive-by shooting. moreon berry would come up and give an impromptu news conference. that was my first taste of tv news and i was hooked. a rt of worked my way into job in nashville

we're also told our white house correspondent jim acosta has been told by a white house official that president obama has been briefed on the situation in paris by the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, lisa monica. so the president has been informed. and you just heard evan perez say u.s. counterterrorism officials have convened secure conference calls to find out precisely what's going on as well. brian todd, you're getting more information now on what's unfolding at that concert hall in paris. the bataclan where we're told an american band, rock band, was actually performing. >> that's right, wolf. a very dynamic situation still ongoing at the bataclan theater. this is in the eleventh district in paris. we're told not far from the other place where a shooting took place at a restaurant in the eleventh district. not too far away from that location. we're told by authorities in paris two to three gunmen opened up on law enforcement as they tried to enter the bataclan theater. clearly a very dangerous situation apparently ongoing there. we got repor

cnn's jim acosta asked him some pretty tough questions. >> reporter: and i think a lot of americans have this frustration they see that the united states has the greatest military in the world. it has the backing of nearly every other country in the world when it comes to taking on isis. i guess the question is, and if you'll forgive the language, is why can't we take out these bastards? >> this is not, as i said, a traditional military opponent. we can retake territory. and as long as we leave our troops there, we can hold it. but that does not solve the underlying problem of eliminating the dynamics that are producing these kinds of violent extremist groups. >> the president was very defensive, also very angry at the round of questioning which suggested he will not do enough or is not tough enough against the battle of isis. the president said, what i will not do is pose, he says, he simply does not have time for that. i want to bring in our clarissa ward here in paris for the latest on the investigation. clarissa, all sorts of leads being followed, not just here but in buelgium as wel

you had jim acosta from cnn, our own bill hemmer, bret baier had a conversation about the nature of thisthink part of reporting and what americans and i think the world wants to see is an honesty from the individual addressingd. it's been so long since we've seen that. and alan notes that he was them temperate. most people saw that at cold-blooded. he was this turkey, it was 72 hours after this massacre, and he started talking about global warming. he started that speech speaking about different issues, and he mentioned global warming first. and it was shocking to people, that this seemed to be like at the end, and then he went into fights here at home. but i think it was good. i think the conversations were good and the criticism was appropriate. jon: tone deaf, alan? >> no, not at all. he is exactly right and, again, do we want to start how many more middle east wars? how many -- do you want to put 40, 50,000 troops on the ground, bankrupt the country again? in terms of -- and getting very little media coverage was the fact that in the last two days prior to the paris attacks two top a

our senior white house correspondent jim acosta now confirmed they got it. >>> new hampshire is the place to be for the republican candidates. carly fiorina in concord just a short time ago. she's surrounded as she prepares to get her papers filed to get her name on the ballot for the first in the nation primary. always love watching that stuff. but more, i like to see them vote. marco rubio was filing today. jeb bush and chris christie and john kasich have events planned throughout the day. new hampshire voters head to the polls february 9th. and that is soon, believe it or not. coming up in just a few minutes, you're going to hear from presidential candidate, former senator rick santorum. plus, later on, jake tapper is going to interview ted cruz, at 4:00 p.m. eastern, right here on cnn. we're also keeping a live eye. i always say it is a moving target because you never know when the white house press briefings are going to happen but we are still waiting for that 12:30 press conference to happen. in the meantime, i'm going to turn the helm over to wolf blitzer. he's going to bring you

jim acosta is at the white house. what is the white house saying tonight? >> reporter: erin, we're not getting any push back on these reports. the white house is keeping a close eye on this stage of the investigation. but at this point, officials don't even want to say whether the president has been briefed on these reports that u.s. officials are saying a bomb may have brought down that russian airliner. the reason officials worry talk like that could impact the investigation, it's important to note that just before the white house press secretary came into the daily briefing today with reporters, josh earnest was getting an update on the suspicions about that bomb or the possibility of a bomb but all earnest would say is that the u.s. has been taking precautions for months to warn u.s. civilian aircraft about flying over the sinai peninsula and they would be risk and he's asking why the obama administration has been more cautious in the assessments of what has happened to this russian plane and the white house is just noting -- josh earnest was just notin

. >> jim acosta is at the white house, and long awaited announcement, and for year ss a political fightill hear it from the president, himself. >> that is right. i am told that the president will accept secretary of state john kerry's recommendation that the keystone pipeline project be rejected based on environmental concerns. the president has said for years now, because this question has come up time and again, what will you do with the keystone pipeline project, and he has said from time to time, it is going to depend upon whether he believes that the pipeline project which would carry oil from the tar sands of can ta to the gulf of mexico, and would that contribute to climate change, and the president has reached that conclusion through a lengthy process that went through the state department, and secretary of state john kerry is bringing that recommendation to the white house this morning, and the two were talking about this and the president is going to be coming out in moments to discuss this, but it is a political football as you know for a long time. the democrats have been co

jim acosta hkocosta has the lat us. >> reporter: president obama said at a news conference the u.s. will destroy the terror group, but he continued to make the case he has argued throughout this foreign trip that the world should not overreact the battle against terrorism. >> good afternoon, everybody. >> reporter: overseas for more than a week, but well aware of a fearful nation back home, president obama sounded more like a leader at war. >> our coal lirks wicoalition w relent. destroying isis is not only a realistic goal, we are going to get it done and we are going to pursue it with every aspect of american power and with all of the coalition partners that we have assembled. it's going to get done. >> reporter: at a news conference in malaysia, the president once again defended his strategy for defeating isis but instead of brushing off questions about his policy as he did last weeks, he acknowledged americans are deeply worried. >> we are not afraid. to not elevate, to somehow buy into their fantasy that they are doing something important. they are a bunch of killers, and we fi

jim acosta, cnn, antalya, turkey. >> german chancellor angela merkel will speak in about an hour andf from now. we will have it for you live when it happens. >>> earlier we spoke with josh rogan about the meeting on the sidelines between barack obama and his russian counterpart vladimir putin. rogan is a cnn political analyst and columnist for "bloomberg view." >> reporter: in the wake of the paris attacks there is a new pressure on all sides to push forward for a political agreement that can lead to a peace process to solve the syrian civil war. there is a recognition that unless something is done to move past the violence, there will always be enough strife that will get -- that will leave an opportunity for isis to recruit, to have a place to launch attacks, and to fill the vacuum left by the lack of a stable state. now, the day after the attacks, on saturday, secretary of state john kerry and lavrov led talks in vienna. syrian led transition process. that is exactly what presidents obama and putin were discussing today in turkey. the agreement amounts to an agreement over process

reporter jim acosta has more: 3 --reporter pkg-as follows-- overseas for more than a week but well aware of a fearful nation back home, president obama sounded more like a leader at war.(barack obama/u.s. president)"our coalition will not relent. destroying isil is not only a realistic goal, we're going get it done and we're going to pursue it with every aspect of american power and with all the coalition partners that we've assembled. it's going to get done."at a news conference in malaysia, the president once again defended his strategy for defeating isis, but instead of brushing off questions about his policy as he did last week, he acknowledged americans are deeply worried.(barack obama/u.s. president)"we're not afraid. to not elevate, to somehow buy into their fantasy that th're doing something important. they're a bunch of killers. and we fight them. president said he just may be able to join forces with russian president vladimir putin to wipe out the terror group after the attacks in paris and on the metrojet airliner.(barack obama/u.s. president)"i discussed with president putin

our own jim acosta has more. >> a news conference wrapping up, president obama says the war on isis hasntered a new more aggressive phase after the paris attacks and defended his strategy for me feeting the terror group, a battle plan that has once again come under withering criticism. on the defensive but staying the course. president obama responded to the attack on paris determined to keep and expand his plan to defeat ice isis. >> there are be an intensification of the strategy put forward but the strategy we are putting forward is the strategy that is going to ultimately work. but as i said from the start, it's going to take time. rrp preside >> reporter: president responded, arguing those detractors are proposing what he's already doing. >> folks want to pop off and have opinions about what they think they would do, present a specific plan. >> reporter: but mr. obama brushed off calls to pour thousands of u.s. troops into iraq and syria, saying that would only repeat past mistakes. the president was visibly annoyed that a strategy was even questioned. >> why can't we take out thes

jim acosta. >> thank you very much, mr. president. i want to go back to something that you said to margaret earlier when you said that you had not underestimated isis' abilities. this is an organization that you once described as a j.v. team that has now occupied forces in iraq and syria. how is that not underestimating their capabilities and how is that contained quite frankly? i think a lot of americans have a frustration that they see that the united states has the greatest military in the world, it has the backing of nearly every other country in the world when it comes to taking on isis. i guess the question is, and if you'll forgive the language, why can't we take out those bastards? >> jim, i just spent the last three questions answering that very question, so i don't know what more you want me to add. i think i've described very specifically what our strategy is and i've described very specifically why we do not pursue some of the other strategies that have been suggested. this is not, as i said, a traditional military opponen

jim acosta? >> thank you very much, mr. president.anted to go back to something you said to margaret earlier when you said you have not underestimated isis' abilities. this is an organization that you once described as a jv team, that evolved into a force that has now occupied territory in iraq and syria and is now able to use that safe haven to launch attacks in other parts of the world. how is that not underestimating their capabilities? how is that contained, quite frankly? i think a lot of americans have this frustration that they see the united states has the greatest military in the world, it has the backing of nearly every other country in the world when it comes to taking on isis. i guess the question is, if you'll forgive the language, why can't we take out these -- >> jim, i just spent the last three questions answering that very question. so, i don't know what more you want me to add. i think i've described specifically what our strategy is. i described specifically why we do not pursue some of the other strategies that hav