for example, that allah was not spelled with a capital a.would be incredible to think that any jihadiist would not spell allah with a capital a. >> so how do you know if a threat is real or fake? were whether to act or not. former new york city mayor rudy giuliani goes "on the record." good evening, sir. >> good evening, greta. >> mayor, how do you know when to act whether something is real, not real, credible, incredible? it comes from a great deal of experience and comes from a tremendous amount of knowledge and bill bratton has it. but it's always a gamble, right? bill could have been wrong. he was right. so whenever i got these threats and after september 11th i would get about 150 a day for about six weeks i would turn it over to my police department and they would analyze it in great detail and they would give me a recommendation we should protect this building, we should evacuate this building or we shouldn't. and the fact is i hate to sound terribly parochial but the new york city police department is just ahead of everybody else in

the language that was used does not lend itself to a jihadist initiative as allah is not spell ed with a capital a, according to the commissioner of police there in new york. he is working with the joint terrorism task force and the los angeles police on this threat. they are using this as an opportunity to work together to generate as much information in a quick, as quick of a time period as possible given the closure of the l.a. school district. i want to play for you now something that the new york mayor bill de blasio said a short time ago. have a listen. >> the immediate assessment by the intelligence division, again in consultation with the fbi is that there is nothing credible about the threat. it was so e je eer innic, so outlandish, and so posed to numerous school systems simultaneously that, plus the additional information that the commissioner noted that there were wording choices and other i indicators that the suggested a hoax and not anything that we could associate with the jihadis activi activity. so the assumptions were exactly the same from the school district and the

>> he's one third of the trio "allah made me funny". >> look at this stage master allah. this is a lot of room for a palestinian, you know? >> the group uses humor to combat islamophobia and

me, and my 138 comrades will die tomorrow in the name of allah, with a lower-case "a," at least in the new york version. >> it would be incredible to think that njie had any jihadist would not spell allah with a capital "a." >> reporter: los angeles got a similar message, with the sender saying he would personally lead the attacks. >> one person can't lead an attack in both cities. so they realized right then and there that it didn't have credibility. >> reporter: cut-and-paste job? >> definitely. >> reporter: but with the pain of the san bernardino attacks still fresh in california, there was broad support for the decision made by los angeles schools to play it safe today. >> and brian ross is with us. this is so tricky, because what do you do? close down every school now and if you leave it open, you have the other concern for parents. >> reporter: that's right, david. while police here called the hoax, e-mails comically inept, for the people involved, there was nothing funny about the threat. under federal law, a conviction for the two bomb threats, if hoaxes, could mean up to 20 ye

commissioner william bratto that would be incredible to think that any jihadist would not spell allah with a capital a. matt tag whoever did this could face 20 years in jail ? " jessica rae: all ieyes will be on the federal reserve board this afternoon that's because the board will anounce whether it will be raising the key intere rate for the first time in nearly 10 years. most analysts expect it will happen. rates have been near zero since december of 2008, when the u-s housing market collapsed. such a move would suggest the federal regulators are feeling confident about the economy. jessica rae: last night in las vegas nevada, big stakes, as the rebpublican candidates took the stage going head to head i ithe last g-o-p debate, addressing the big g sues making headlines this campai cycle. here are some of the more higlights of the debate "ted you support legalizing people who are in this country illegally "lindsey graham:isil would be dancing in the streets, but they dont e in dancing" "rand paul: trump says we ought to close thatt thing" "ben carson: it's actually ml if you go and

and muhammad is the messenger of allah." alison: a montgomery county student accused of bringing brownies laced with marijuana to school. the 18-year-old student brought them to the high school in silver spring. two students ate the brineies and got sick. he is accused of distributing a drug on property. leon: this started with "7 on your side." questions about crumb rubber on the children soccer field. now a group of parents are standing up. police -- >> i'm dug hill. coming up the latest on the outdoor drive of the display. steve rudin's forecast coming up. robert: i'm robert burton. coming up, how the bills could throw shade on the redskins on sunday. how and why? we hear when abc7 news alison: "7 on your side" with concerns over using crumb rubber on school athletic field. some are upset about using it on a field at west gate elementary school. this comes after "7 on your side" reported on the possible long-term health risks associated with the exposure to crumb rubber. >> the story is that 550 children in west gate elem

abc news learning the letter invoked allah and threatened attacks with bombers, automatic weapons and grenades in schools. new york city, got an almost identical note. >> we do not see that as a credible terrorist threat and we are investigating it as a hoax. >> reporter: making the opposite decision, choosing not to cancel classes. in los angeles this afternoon the lapd and sheriff's office suspicious objects. >> they have to take into consideration for the children of los angeles. i think it's irresponsible, to base on facts that have yet to be determined, to criticize that decision at this point. >> reporter: the cancellations wreaking havoc. parents taking the threat seriously. so, you made the decision to pull him from school? >> his day care is not necessarily closed, but i decided to just keep him out. >> so worrisome for the parents. matt gutman with us live. and they are still searching the schools at this hour? >> reporter: that's right, david. even though investigators are telling me they are leaning towards this being a hoax, they are searching and clearing all the schools

>> he's one third of the trio "allah made me funny". >> look at this stage master allah. this is a lot of room for a palestinian, you know? >> the group uses humor to combat islamophobia and

"allah made me funny". >> look at this stage master allah. this is a lot of room for a palestinian, you know? >> the group uses humor to combat islamophobia and challenge misconceptions about muslims. amer is a palestinian, born and raised in kuwait. his family fled the country in the lead-up to the persian gulf war. >> we lost everything overnight, banks were shut down - everything gone... and that's when we discovered that my mom has been saving money for many years. you know, that's when i found out my mother's a gangster. >> the family then settled in houston, texas where he picked up another language. >> which is really great because i'm brown and i speak spanish, so if anything breaks out i can camouflage at any moment in time. i mean every arab needs an exit strategy now-a-days. >> he's toured the world, traveling for a long time without a u.s. passport. amer performed for u.s. troops, pre and post 9/11, but it took him 20 years to become an american citizen. >> 20 years is a mighty long time! >> his biography is the basis for many of

allah. you so, i learned something today. they bleep 35 seconds of their show. >> south park criticizes everybody. >> right. >> they are grossly offensive about everybody. but they made the mildest pathetic, panist mohammed and they yanked it. >> norris wanted to start a draw mohammed day to protest the censorship. >> she's disappeared. >> her liberal newspaper. the way they put it in the way she was gone and ceased to exist. there is no more molly. >> there is so more molly. >> she vanished. no one knows if she is alive or dead. >> the only people who writes right wing nut job. why don't the liberals care. >> what will happen to molly norris will happen to you or you. >> cair said it is legal to draw the cartoon but you shouldn't out of respect. >> in a happy world people would not draw cartoons of mohammed or make jokes about catholicism. but when only one religion kills people, it becomes necessary to stand up and argue for the right to do that. >> stein stamp're -- stands up. >> the host was shot. and the artist is in hid

and mohamed is the mess accept yes, sir of allah. >> is that how you pronounce it? >> there is no god, but allah and mohamed is is the mess sen yes, sir of al llah. >> it is like a harry potter film. >> parents were not happy about this and some even accused school of trying to convert their kids to islam. they start #e -- started to receive calls and e-mails they decided to close all schools on friday. school officials say it was only meant to show them caligraphy. >> donny i think this -- bonnie i think this teacher was doing trolling. what does she look like? >> probably one the dumb white girls join isis. the white girls that join isis try dating a black. >> you have t.o. go to the next level. >> they only end up hurt hemses. -- hurting themselves. >> that caw lig bra fee is -- caw lig graw fee is famous. >> bring up the flag. it is everywhere and it is different phrases. if you are teaching a caligrapny class and it is perfect trolling. there is a legitimate argument to have the students do that. but thing is, it is on the -- i mean it is on the flag. >> the wh

>> he's one third of the trio "allah made me funny". >> look at this stage master allah. this is a lot of room for a palestinian, you know? >> the group uses humor to combat islamophobia and challenge misconceptions about muslims. amer is a palestinian, born and raised iwa

it does use the word, allah, several times. in one case, not capitalizing the word allah. so you would expect that an extremist muslim or devout muslim would make that -- would be careful as they type the word allah. perhaps the most telling thing is that it's from a particular address and that address includes a pornographic reference to a body part. again, not consistent with devout or extremist islam. that being said, this e-mail is more specific than the one sent to new york and there are reasons for the l.a. school board to have acted one way and new york to have acted another way. >> oh, good. help me understand what those reasons are, thank you. >> and, you know, it may not be major but at least it's an element, and that is there's a correct reference to the l.a. unified school district in this e-mail. i'm told that the new york e-mail misdescribes the school system there. so the person who wrote this e-mail at least has some passing familiarity with how schools are organized in los angeles. >> i see. congressman sherman in new york, as i'm sure you've read, authori

"allah made me funny". >> look at this stage master allah. this is a lot of room for a palestinian, you know? >> the group uses humor to combat islamophobia and challenge misconceptions about muslims. amer is a palestinian, born and raised in kuwait.

is the messagenermessen ger of allah. school official say they cancelled school events after concerns about the tone of the complaints. >>> "people" reports on a lawsuit against the man lost at sea for more than a year, accusing him of cannibalism. the fisherman who drifted at sea for 14 months is being sued for $1 million by the family of his crew mate who accused him of eating the corpse. the fisherman's lawyer denies the accusation. >>> up next, a pharmaceutical executive is arrested on federal fraud charges. heartbreak as they try to score tickets for her north american shows. tickets for her north american shows. back and joint pain. the medicine in advil is their #1 choe. nothing is stronger on tough pain than advil. relief doesn't get any better than this. vener meven ger. ..>>> here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. >>> adele fans are facing disappointment this morning! tickets for her north american tour dates immediately sold out on thursday. social media sites filled with complaint

. >> translation: in the name of allah, the passionate, dear brothers, ladies and gentlemens, members of gcc council. it is my pleasure at the end of our participation with our brothers, the leaders of the gcc council, to say that this council within the works of the 36 session of the supreme council to express our great thanks and appreciation to the custodian to the two holy mosques, the king of saudi arabia and to his government and to the brotherly saudi people for all hospitality we've got and received in this country, hospitality that reflects the brother relations, the sin veer brotherly relativess between us, and expresses the great relations between the gcc member states. also we express our appreciation to the wise can you say towed i don't know-- custodians of the two holy mosques during the summit. they helped a lot in the outcome of the summit and the results of the summit that are very positive and that's for the sake of developing our path in the gulf and will also help boost our relations and our common interests. dear brothers, your magesties, in my name and in the na

he has started using language like well maybe this is allah's revenge on turkey, maybe allah has made turkey lose its mind. he's talked about more measures against turkey. we don't know what these are going to be yet. there may be some people who could take heart from the fact that vladimir putin said he wasn't interested in saber rattling. perhaps what we're going to see are more economic measures and in fact on thursday, the russian energy minister did announce that the negotiations for the turkish stream pipeline project, huge infrastructure project that would have piped billions of cubic meters of gas across the black sea from russia to turkey, negotiations for that are being suspended. that effectively for the moment at least is dead in the water. >> putin's been calling for a broader coalition to combat isil. here is what he was saying on that. >> we need to create one powerful fist, a united anti terror front which will act within the international law and other u.n. mandate. every civilized country should contribute to the defeat of terrorists and to confirm it's solidarity no

allah, not spelled with a capital a. bratton says his department's decision is held with the task force and fbi. bratton says los angeles made its decision locally, something l.a. authorities did not dispute when they held their own press conference, a bit on the defensive. >> i made the decision to close the schools. that was after talking to the chief deputy superintendent, the chief of police of the school police, and after they reviewed with me the information that had been shared with them. >> the decision to close the schools is not mine to make, but it is mine to support as mayor of the city of los angeles. it is also very easy to criticize a decision when you have no responsibility for the outcome of that decision. >> now, a similarly worded e-mails were written by someone claiming to be a senior and was bullied, and radical muslim. bully and radical muslim, not capitalizing allah, the e-mails specify both bombs and firearms. according to justice correspondent pete williams, new york authorities felt it was phony

for example, that allah was not spelled with a capital "a." that would be incredible to think that any jihadist would not spell allah with a capital "a." i think the initiator or instigator of the threat may be a homeland fan basically watching homeland episodes that mirrors a lot of recent episodes on "homeland." >>> let's turn to business where stocks jumped along with the price of crude oil which rallied for a second day as investors await the fed's decision on interest rate hikes. cnbc's louisa bojesen joins us live from london with more. good morning, louisa. i'd like to know the general consensus on wall street. >> i can hardly contain myself. hardly contain myself this morning, louis. i've got some nine hours to know before we know what's going on with the fed. we've been waiting for this. this is probably the most important fomc meeting of the entire year because, of course, they flagged up that they could be moving away from this zero percent interest rate policy that they've had in line since for more than a decade now we've been see

that would be incredible to think that any jihadist would not spell allah with a capital "a." it is not something that we are concerned with. what we would be concerned with is over-reacting to it. >> reporter: los angeles police chief charlie beck defended l.a.'s decision to close the schools. >> i think it's irresponsible, based on facts that have yet to be determined, to criticize that decision at this point. all of us make tough choices. all of us have the same goal in mind-- we want to keep our kids safe. >> reporter: since the attacks in paris and san bernardino, police are on edge and intelligence officials say it is harder than ever to separate a credible threat from a hoax, especially with online propaganda from a variety of terror groups. experts say isis in particular sends anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 tweets a day. mike morrell say former deputy director of the c.i.a. is a cbs news consultant. so in the age of isis, does getting specific or credible threat information mean what it used to mean? >> i think it's probably a little harder because there are so many m

for example, that, um, allah was not spelled with a capital a. that would be incredible to think that any jihadist would not spell allah with a capital a. >> since the attacks in paris and san bernardino police are on edge. intelligence officials say it's harder know you to discern which threats are credible, especially because of offline propaganda from terror groups. experts say isis sends anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 tweets a day. >>> investigators are still looking for the person who sent the emails. they were routed through a server in germany. the owner of the server is cooperating with law enforcement. >>> the republican presidential candidates squared off in las vegas in their last debate until the new year. much of last night's forum focused on concerns about national security and terrorism. front-runner donald trump was criticized for his call to ban muslims temporarily from entering the u.s. he said he would extend that ban to refugees already here. >> if obama has brought some to this country, they are leaving. they are going. they

commissioner william bratton: that would be incredible to think that any jihadist would not spell allah with a capital a. elias: still to come on local 5 news midday... (weather) sam has the details in central iowa's "now, we are iowa's forecast with meteorologist sam schreier. certified by weatherrate the independent weather experts" sam today should be very similar to yesterday with very overcast and chilly temperatures throughout the day. we are starting the day off warmer than we will finish it, with temps in the 40s during the morning and 30s by the end of the day. it will be very windy today so wind chills will be much colder than the actual temps during the whole day and night. lows will fall into the mid 20s this evening but with the strong winds sticking around it will feel like we're in the teens. thursday is going to be partly sunny with more cold mid 30s. friday we will finally see a pretty good chunk of sunshine, but it will still be very cold with highs in the low 30s. we start to warm up into the 40s by the end of the weekend, and we will likely stay that way throughout m

. >> reporter: abc news learning the note invoked allah and directly referenced the terrorist attack in san bernardino. it also threatened attacks on several schools with suicide bombers, automatic weapons, and grenades. new york city got an almost identical note. >> we are investigating this as a hoax. >> reporter: in los angeles the lapd and sheriff's office combing every single school for suspicious objects. >> they have to take into account the safety of the children of los angeles. determined to criticize that decision at this point. >> reporter: that threat nearly paralyzing the nation's second biggest city. now, investigators tell me they believe that threat to have been a hoax. still, they've done their due diligence, clearing every single this morning they will be open. matt gutman, abc news, language. >> and you heard reference there to the threat against new york city schools in matt's piece. the big apple schools remained open. despite the school superintendent receiving almost the exact same e-mail that was sent to the l.a. school. that also was declared a hoax. new york

for example, that allah was not spelled with a capital "a."t would be incredible to think any jihadist would not spell allah with a capital "a." >> this matches what a congressman told us on live television in the past hour, that there were omissions, there were figures of speech, perhaps spelling and capitalization errors in this threat that led many public officials to doubt the veracity of it. as i said right now on local news radio in los angeles, they are interviewing their counterpart on local news radio in new york and this is what they are discussing. they are saying in effect wait a minute, this was the same threat that was received in new york but you considered it a hoax, you shot holes in its veracity, why then did l.a. unified act to keep everybody at home today? for those just joining us, in about a half an hour, we are expecting the next news briefing from, among others, the superintendent of schools in l.a. unified. let's put the graphic back up to show you exactly what we mean when we say los angeles unified school district. a