chris cuomo and jim acosta are in paris. jim sciutto and gloria borger here in washington and barbara starr at the pentagon. chris, will the president's words surrounding president putin resonate with the president of france? >> that's a really good question. i mean, there's no doubt that president hollande is asking for a very ambitious move of progress in terms of the coalition. as president obama laid out, the russian president just isn't there. he said in no really vague way he didn't expect any quick change vis-a-vis russian support of the syrian regime. if that is the case, it will not be a possibility for russia to join the coalition in a full way. the question is can you find strategic common points? that's been complicated of what just happened with turkey and now word that russia has put the surface-to-air missiles in place. obviously president hollande is reflecting the domestic situation here. this is very much a place on edge, a lot of work yet to be done in terms of understanding the attacks of a couple weeks ag

let's get the latest from senior correspondent jim acosta. >> reporter: john and christine, no major policy proposals in ate addre address. the president described the attack in california as a terrorist attack. here is more of what the president had to say. >> we cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined by america and islam. that, too, is what groups like isil wants. isil does not speak for islam. they are thugs and killers. part of a cult of death. they account for a tiny fraction of a more than a billion muslims around the world. including millions of muslim-americans who reject their hateful ideology. the terrorist victims around the world are muslim. we must enlist muslim community as our allies rather than push them way through suspension. >> reporter: the president said the violence in california underlines a threat from terrorists who draw their inspiration from isis. the president is recommending that law enforcement work together to be on the lookout for extremists. as for possible congressional action, the president asked lawmakers to give him autho

jim acosta, thank you, and we will tap into whatever else you can come up with. and now i want to the take you to the san bernardino story. >>> so far, one person has been charged in the terror-inspired attack. he is the man who bought the actual guns, the rifles used by the killers to shoot dead 14 people. the charges were made for mall just yesterday. the person enrique marquez, and there he is on the right, and unusual photograph to show for somebody who is involved in materiel support to terror, and straw purchasing of guns, but mark says that he has a introduction to islam from the man on the left, the former neighbor, one of the murderers, syed rizwan farook. they prayed and talked about becoming more radical together, and allegedly made plans to bomb, and shoot and kill people. they did it together from the time they were teenagers in fact. the charges against enrique marquez support terrorists basically. they are about materiel support and lying about getting the hands on the guns, and also, immigration fraud and a marriage that was a sham. and in an odd

let's bring in jim acosta with the latest. jim. >> reporter: alison and boris, it was one more attempted show of strength from president obama as he vowed to keep the nation safe from the terrorist and lone wolf terrorists. there is no current or specific threat to the homeland and he urged americans to remain calm. under the discretion, the high tech menace of terrorists with the encrypted messages. >> when terrorists pull off a despicable act like san bernardino, it tears at our hearts, but it also stiffens our resolve. >> reporter: later today, the president will visit the families of the victims in san bernardino en route to his family vacation in hawaii, an annual trip interrupted by threats to homeland before. the president will have one more chance in efforts to defeating isis and protecting americans at home at the end of the year news conference later today. alison. >> jim, thanks for that. >>> vladimir putin and donald trump coming together. calling him a talented leader. at the annual state of the union conference, t

jim acosta. we'll want to hear what president obama thinks the process was here and against the war in isis as well. russia's moving surface-to-air missiles to a base near the turkish border. u.s. officials say this move could put american combat aircraft at risk. putin reportedly ordering the missiles to syria after turkey shot down one of its airplanes. barbara starr alive from tis li pentagon. >> reporter: this missile system now active, up and running according to u.s. defense officials. this is the russian s-400, a massive anti-air missile system that can target and potentially shoot down aircraft all the way into turkey. this is causing a good deal of concern. just yesterday, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general joe dunford had his first telephone call with his russian counterpart. they won't say what the two men talked about. it's clear all of this on the top of the agenda right now because it puts the pentagon in the position of trying to figure out what to do next. they don

we get more from cnn's white house correspondent jim acosta. >> reporter: christine, with the public growing anxious about the plan to destroy isis, president obama offered up a commander in chief image with war time rhetoric to match. he met with every member of the national security team for a deep dive into the campaign to defeat isis. so far, mr. obama said the u.s. coalition delivered 9,000 air strikes against isis and targeting the oil and forcing them to give up 40% of the territory. he acknowledged progress is not coming fast enough. he is warning leaders of the group of isis they will be destroyed. here is what he had to say. >> we are hitting isil harder than ever. our next message to them is you are next. >> reporter: tolerance is something religious leaders have expressed after donald trump condemned the extremists. he will return to the sales pitch on isis later in the week when he visits the council terrorism center on wednesday. >>> thank you, jim. a man arrested by the fbi to take thousands from the isis groups to fund a terror attack in the u.s. the 30-year-old recei

let's get right to cnn's senior white house correspondent, jim acosta, in paris. jim, the president said, at this point, we shouldn't dill lewd ourselves into thinking that russia is targeting isis but clearly propping up the syrian dictator bashar al assad. >> reporter: that's right, jake. president obama was very candid today, that he hasn't made much headway in convincing vladimir putin to change his tactics in syria that shift could take months as isis grows stronger. >> reporter: they've met face-to-face twice the last month. but they still don't see eye to eye. president obama told reporters at a climate summit in paris, expect russia's vladimir putin to continue to go his own way in the war on isis. at least for now. >> mr. putin, i don't expect that you're going to see a 180 turn on their strategy over the next several weeks. >> reporter: that means the u.s. and russia will keep on bombing different targets, with washington taking aim at isis, moscow hitting u.s.-backed forces fighting putin's man in syria, al assad. >> i don't think we should be under illu

our senior white house correspondent jim acosta is "outfront" live in washington. jim, the president reportedly admitting in an off-the-record meeting with columnists that his messaging on isis wasn't strong enough, that he had wished he had been more forceful and more quick. but today it didn't sound like he said anything different. >> reporter: that's right, erin. you heard the president say once again today that the u.s.-led coalition will continue to hit isis harder than ever. we'll continue to go after its leaders and conduct air strikes. there was no offering of a new strategy today. you're not going to hear that from this president because they are convinced they have the right approach. it is not an invade first and ask questions later approach. it's one that they think is smarter and more risk averse, quite frankly. but as for whether the president has been tough enough on his messaging, as you said, erin, this is really about the optics and message coming out of this white house after the paris and san bernardino attacks. and i have talked privately with a

let's bring in jim acosta for the latest. >> reporter: it was one more attempted show of strength from president obama as he vowed to keep the nation safe from isis terrorists and lone wolf followers. after a rare briefing, the president said there is no credible threat to the homeland. with that, he urged americans to remain calm. under the discussion, the growing high tech menace of terrorists concealing messages with encrypted smartphones. >> when terrorists pull off what happened at san bernardino, it tears at our hearts, but stiffens our resolve. >> reporter: later today, the president will pay visits to the families of the victims of the terror attack en route to the family vacation in hawaii. the president will have one more chance to defend u.s. efforts for defeating isis and protecting americans at home at the annual news conference later today. >>> thank you, jim. the feuds we saw at the republican debate are intensifying. rubio and cruz with another around. and jeb bush attacks donald trump as entertaining and not serious after a love fest breaks out with trump and vladimir

we get more from cnn's jim acosta. >> reporter: christine, with the public growing anxious about the plan to destroy isis, president obama stopped by the pentagon where he offered the commander in chief image with war time rhetoric. he met with the national security team for a deep dive into the campaign to defeat isis. so far, the president said t tth the coalition delivered 9,000 air strikes against isis. the progress is not coming fast enough, but he sharpened his message warning leaders of the group they will be destroyed. here is what he had to say. >> we are hitting isil harder than ever. the point is isil leaders cannot hide and our next message to them is simple. you are next. >> reporter: the next part is tolerance. something advisers preached on the conference consult with other religious leaders. in response to donald trump who blasted the president for not condemning extremists. the president will talk about tolerance with the ceremony later today in washington, d.c. he will return on the sales pitch to isis when he visited the counter terrorism center on thursday. >>> ji

the latest from jim acosta. >> reporter: john and christine, there were no policy issues, this was more about reassuring the american people that president obama has the correct strategy for dealing with isis. the president describiresident attack as a terrorist attack. >> we cannot turn against one another by letting this fight be defined as a war between america and islam. that, too, is what isil want. isil does not speak for islam. they are thugs and killers. part of a cult of death. they account for a tiny fraction of a more than a billion muslims around the world. including millions of patriot muslim-americans who reject their ideology. the terrorist victims around the world are muslim. if we are to succeed if defeating terrorism, we must enlist muslim communities as some of our strongest allies rather than push them away. >> reporter: president obama said the violence in california says the terrorists draw their inspiration from isis. he is asking for social media companies and police to work together to find the terrorists. and the president asked lawmakers to give him the author

jim acosta, live in honolulu, thank you very much.ext, we're going to talk with peter about this fight and the way that the president fundamentally views isis as a terror organization and their threat to this country. that's ahead. a penguin loaded a toy car onto a racetrack. zoom! it took off... ...going faster and faster, and twisting and turning, until finally, it stopped... ...right in our driveway. but dad, penguins live in the south pole. the lexus december to remember sales event is going on now, with some of the most magical deals of the year. this is the pursuit of perfection. some of these experimentse're notmay not work.il. but a few might shape the future. like turning algae into biofuel... ...new technology for capturing co2 emissions... ...and cars twice as efficient as the average car today. ideas exxonmobil scientists are working on to make energy go further... ...no matter how many tries it takes. energy lives here. players celebrate with rings, teams celebrate with trophies, and now you can celebrate with the bud lig

let's get right to senior white house correspondent jim acosta. jim, listening to the president today, first of all he made clear there's no current credible threat against the u.s. homeland. his message seemed to be largely one of reassurance, didn't it? >> absolutely, jim the with the holiday season president obama received the usual end of the year update from counterterrorism officials with homeland officials. the president traveled to one of the nation's intelligence nerve centers to find out if americans are truly safe. it was one more attempt at show of strength from president obama as he vowed to keep the nation safe from isis terrorists and their so-called lone wolf followers during the holidays. >> -- when terrorists pull off a despicable act like what happened in san bernardino, it tears at our hearts. but it also stiffens our resolve. >> reporter: after a rare briefing at the national counterterrorism center, the president said there is no current specific or credible threat to the u.s. homeland. with that intelligence in hand he urged

jim acosta has more... as russia continues its airstrikes inside syria...complicating the u-s fight against isis today president obama and russia's vladimir putin appeared to be looking right past each other... in this kremlin photo... snapped at this paris. the two leaders are still at odds over any kind of alliance to defeat isis. mr. obama expressed his regret to putin after turkey shot down a russian war plane last week. but putin is still furious... refusing to meet with turkey's president at the climate talks. "the president reiterated that this is an area where we all need to work together."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 remember the victims of the paris attacks. shoutingpolice clashed with ban on large demonstrations.. part of the intense security measures in the french capital. our resolve."but in paris, the president made the case that bringing the world together to battle climate change is yet anoth

our senior white house correspondent jim acosta traveling with the president in hawaii. morning or late evening or whatever it is there in hawaii. jim, some news from the white house. >> reporter: that's right, john. president obama is expected to announce in the coming days a new executive action aimed at expanding background checks on gun sales according to people who are familiar with white house planning. now, this is described as imminent. these executive actions would fulfill a promise by the president to take unilateral steps. the white house says could curb gun deaths in the wake of these mass shootings we've seen across the country over the last year. the president has said over the last several months he wanted to political size those mass shootings. he said that with some controversy. and the cullpy nation of that is this executive action or package of executive actions we're expecting to see next week. planning for this action is not yet complete and the people we're talking to or familiar with this process warn this could get delayed. but they are expecting

jim acosta, cnn, traveling with the president in paris. >> and he certainly has more than one challenge on his plate that the point in time as he tries to ease the tensions between russia and turkey at the same time as we've just seen there taking heat at home for even going to this summit here president at the same time then, of course, his main focal point another this point in time as he tries to lead. as the president himself said on trying to get an agreement to curb climate change going right here in paris at this very important conference. isha. >> yeah, indeed, fred pleitgen joining us there with the latest. always appreciate it, fred. thank you. >>> u.s. presidential candidate donald trump met with more than 100 black pastor osen monday. although there was some controversy and confusion surrounding the meeting, trump not surprisingly called it a big success. our sarah murray has the details on the closed door meeting. >> i saw love in that room. i see love everywhere i go. >> reporter: despite walking back with his campaign had originally promoted as an endorsement events with

immediately to our white house senior correspondent jim acosta. the second in a series of discussions by the president in this war on terror. earlier in the week, at the pentagon. he'll head out to san bernardino, california, tomorrow. the president on the eve of christmas and new years wants to reassure the american public that this administration is on top of this terror threat. >> that's right, wolf. i think the theme all week at the white house has been very quickly we got this. you know, from the days after the san bernardino attacks, the president had that oval office attacks. now at the national counterterrorism center. they're trying to say to the american people there are people working around the clock. and, wolf, you know, the problem with what the president is facing at this point is he's facing some major doubts within the public. there's a new "washington post"/abc poll that showed only 22% of americans are confident that the u.s. government can prevent a lone wolf attack on the u.s. homeland security. that's what the president's bee

cnn's senior white house correspondent jim acosta traveling with the president in hawaii. jim, the public is divided over whether president obama has delivered on his promise for change, either positive or negative change. how is the white house responding? >> reporter: yeah. clearly, looking at this poll, jim, not feeling the aloha spirit about what is taking place in washington. president obama is heading into his final year in office, facing a an angry public. given the heated campaign rhetoric interest the cam taj trail, that's what the white house thinks this is about, americans are outraged with the way america is being run in washington. 69% say they are either very angry or somewhat angry with the direction of the country and despite the president's hope, as a candidate back in 2008 to heal the bitter political divide in washington, americans are split on what mr. obama has achieved in the oval office. look at this, 37% say that change has been for the better while the exact same number, 37%, say that change has been for the worst. now, poll did find one area where

cnn white house correspondent jim acosta is traveling with the president in hawaii. he's joining me now live from honolulu. i'm also joined by cnn legal analyst paul callan. first to you, jim, on this. this executive action, something that the white house and congress have really failed to be able to achieve at this point. >> that's right, brianna. president obama is expected to announce in the coming days new executive action aimed at expanding background checks on gun sales. this is according to sources familiar with white house planning. the set of executive actions is described as imminent, and follows months of preparation by white house officials who are working on these unilateral steps to help curb gun deaths. in response to this rising number of mass shootings across the country. gun control advocates are expecting the new actions to be revealed next week ahead of the president's state of the union address on january 12th. sources familiar with white house planning say the focus remains on the so-called gun show loophole. people have been talking about this f

jim acosta in hawaii, thanks for your insights.> and we are now going to turn back to the united states to texas. governor abbott speaking now. >> and their lives turned upside down. and i want you to know that texas is doing everything we can to help you piece your lives back together, to help you better deal with the challenges that you are facing right now. as an example, the division -- texas division of emergency management is actively engaged in responding to these challenges that includes active participation by the texas department of public safety, texas task force one, texas task force two, the national guard, the state guard, and agencies across the entire state of texas. the reason for this is because we are still today dealing with storm challenges from the western portions of the state to the eastern portions of the state in almost the entire state north of i-10. and the western portions and especially in the northwest up in the panhandle, there are ongoing challenges because of snow, because of ice, because of freezi

let's get right to cnn's jim acosta. he's live at the white house. jim, president obama doing his best today to reaffirm to the american people that there's no credible threat to the u.s. but he acknowledged that lone wolf attacks are incredibly difficult to stop. >> he did, jake. president obama tried to take a victory lap today pointing to what he considers his biggest accomplishments of the year. but the president also acknowledged americans are likely looking past issues like climate change and policy toward cuba and are just wondering what's being done to protect the homeland. just before leaving the white house for the holidays in hawaii, president obama had a spring in his step and a record he wanted to tout. even as he tried to deliver a reassuring message on the war on isis. >> our air campaign will continue to hit isil harder than ever taking out their leaders, their commanders and their forces. we're stepping up our support for prart nartners on the groun they push isil back. >> reporter: the president again insisted the nation's law enforc

we go to gloria borger and jim acosta at the white house. what do you believe that the president is going to try to get across? >> well, it is another way of him assuring the american people that he is on top of it in securing the homeland and taking the fight to isis, and you have heard it in several settings, the oval office, the pentagon, and at the national counter terrorism center yesterday. and this is a unique opportunity for the president to talk about what he feel s ths that the accomplishments were over the last year, and they want to talk about the climate deal inked in pari paris, and they want to talk about the iran nuclear deal, and the diplomatic relations opened up with cuba and tim -- the improving economy, but it is against that backdrop that the president has to address the climate of fear and concern out there in the american public about what is happening with the fight against isis, and there not a lot of confidence of the president's strategy for taking out the terror army, and growing concern whether or not the govern

jim acosta in paris where the president has met with world leaders including putin. >> any progress in breaking the u.s./russian stalemate. >> reporter: not much. president obama offer ed not mae much progress, convincing vladimir putin to change course in syria. the shift, if it ever comes, could take months, as isis grows stronger. that essentially means u.s. and russia will keep on bombing different targets, washington taking aim at isis, moscow hitting u.s.-backed forces fighting al assad. still, based on their conversations, the president is convinced putin may be shifting his calculation in syria away from supporting assad, but mr. obama cautioned, during a news conference today, that may not happen any time soon. here's what he had to say -- >> mr. putin, i don't expect that you're going to see a 180-turn on their strategy over the next several weeks. they have invested four years in keeping assad in power. predicated on propping him up. and so that's going to take some time for them to change how they think about the issue. >> reporter: also complicating the president's militar

>> jim acosta in honolulu, thanks, jim. several european cities on high alert after being tipped off about possible terrorist attacks. there's no word on which cities might be targeted but this warning comes from the police in vienna. it indicates terrorists could strike anytime between now and new year's eve. cnn's robyn kriel live in london. clearly, all of europe on heightened alert after the paris terror attacks. what is new in this vienna warning? >> i think what's new, christine, is the fact that it was issued by vienna. we have seen this mirrored across european cities. we do not know, so much is not known about this alert, although they have fight a bit of information. they said they did name specific individuals in this alert. so those individuals are being investigated by the vienna, the austrian police. a number of other things, such as the dateline of which these possible attacks could happen between christmas and new year, incredibly busy time given the holiday season. we also understand this has caused heighte

celebrated news conference in which he was challenged, really quite wonderfully in my view, by cnn's jim acosta who said, mr. president, isis has done this, they've done that, this, now done this, they're here. many americans are feeling frustration and thinking, why can't we get the bastards? that was just an honest, straight -- you don't get blunter as a question than that. and the president, to my unhappiness, seemed in response to that to be sort of intellectually weary and frustrated that people don't understand the fabulousness of his strategy, which he keeps explaining, and don't you get it? he was defensive. he was not someone who could explain to you -- there's a great absence when it comes to obama and isis, and it is an absence of how he thinks about isis. not just what to do about it. what your little strategy supposedly is but how should we think about it? how should we view it? what kind of threat is it? how should we be preparing to meet that threat? what are the possibilities?

let's go now to cnn senior white house correspondent jim acosta. ell us what we know about the plan. >> jim, during his vacation here in hawaii president obama has been working with his top aides on his upcoming state of the union address. the speech is expected to set an ambitious tone for what will be a very busy year for the president, his eighth in eight years in office and right at the top of the agenda is gun control. for president obama the final round is about to begin. >> in 2016 i'm going to leave it out all on the field. >> reporter: up first on the president's eighth and last year in office mr. obama's long promised response to mass shootings in the u.s. sources familiar with the plan say it will be a package of executive actions on gun control. expected before the january 12th state of the union and aimed at the gun show loophole which allows some firearms sellers to avoid conducting background checks on their customers. >> and so the beginning of this year -- >> i think that'd be fair, yes. >> reporter: the white house argues the presi

reporter jim acosta has more. "natsot: fighting in ramadi with the u-s led coalition at war with isis..half a world away... president obama just got a fresh reminder in hawaii... americans terrorists are winning the fight. ramadi shows americans have lost confidence in the obama administration's ability to prevent another attack and defeat isis. sixty four percent disapprove of the president's handling of isis. and just 51 percent of americans believe the government can protect against a terrorist attack... down sharply from 65 percent in 2010. that deep pessimism has frustrated the (obama on npr/no name font): "i'm confident that we're going to prevail." but mr. obama wants americans to feel that confidence. cnn has learned the white house has asked top officials across the government to do a better job of selling the isis plan. (obama on npr/non name font): "i think that there is a legitimate criticism of what i've been doing and our administration has been doing, in the sense that we haven't, on a regular basis

let's go to jim acosta. y once again very high on president obama's agenda today. >> reporter: absolutely, wolf. with the holiday season here, president obama received his usual end of the year update from his top counter-terrorism officials on security threats facing the u.s. homeland. the president travelled this year to one of the nation's intelligence nerve centers to find out if americans are truly safe. it was one more attempted show of strength from president obama as he vowed to keep the nation safe from isis terrorists and there so-called lone wolf followers during the holidays. >> when terrorists pull off an act like what happened in san bernardino, it tears at our hearts, but it also stiffens our resolve. >> reporter: after a rare briefing at the national counter-terrorism center, the president said there is no current specific or credible threat to the u.s. homeland. with that intelligence in hand he urged americans to remain calm. >> anyone trying to harm americans need to know, they need to know

jim acosta in hawaii. new year as you celebrate in a beautiful, beautiful place. >>> let's get back to the lovely political panel to talk about this. ron, what do you see going on where the president is taking this executive action on an issue that congress has been and he -- they have been unable to do anything on but americans are so in favor of this? >> right. it really is the converging of two important strains in his party and his party and presidency. the first is his increasing relying on executive action on number of issues, immigration held up in the courts, climate, health care bill. he pushed the boundaries of executive power and congress and especially the courts to stop him. the other big change is in the democratic attitude toward gun control. after 2000 when al gore lost, gun control was deemed radio active in a point where they needed a lot of blue collar whites, rural whites, counting on the states like west virginia, tennessee, arkansas, the democratic coalition has evolved. those voters

jim acosta, cnn, paris. >> a jury is expected to be chosen for the freddie gray case. he was put in a police van without a seat belt after his arrest. the first of six police officers will be on trial in the case. he has pleaded not guilty. >>> chicago mayor rahm emanuel zd his police superintendent to resign. mccarthy's dismissal happened after a white officer was shown shooting and killing a black teenager. that led to days of protests. the officer is now charged with first degree murder. he was released on bail monday. >> superintendent gary mccarthy has been an excellent leader of our police department over the past 4 1/2 years. his community policing strategy has led to the lowest overall crime rate on effort and his efforts to remove guns from the street have yielded significant progress. >> but we know a police officer is only as effective when he has the trust of those he serves. after this weekend, after effectively handling both the protests that followed the release of the mcdonald video last week and the arrest of deshaun's killer, we began a discuss about

celebrated news conference in which he was challenged really quite wonderfully in my view by cnn's jim acosta, mr. president, isis has done this, they've done this, they are here, many americans are feeling frustration and thinking, why can't we get the bastards. that was just an honest -- you don't get blunter as a question than that. and the president, to my unhappiness, seemed in response to that to be sort of

our senior white house correspondent jim acosta asked josh earnest about the debate during the whitehouse briefing a few moments ago and listen to this. >> there is no deny manage the context of the debate that we heard a lot of bluster, but not a lot of good ideas to keep the country safe. and, look, in the context of the presidential election, you would anticipate that there would be a robust and vigorous debate about our priorities, even when it come t comes to the foreign policy and national security. >>> last night's republican debate featured a wide variety of questions and answers on national security, terrorism, and with us are our senior law enforcement analyst, and former fbi assistant tom fuentes, and also, former foreign affairs adviser for previous presidents. >> and now, according to the candidates, they had widely different views of how the handle putin as well as establishing and establishing a no-fly zone to protect civilian s there, and let's listen in. >> the president of the united states now is not the time to talk reagan walked away at rake avic. there is a time

celebrated news conference in which he was challenged really quite wonderfully in my view by cnn's jim acosta, mr. president, isis has done this, they've done this, they are here, many americans are feeling frustration and thinking, why can't we get the bastards. that was just an honest -- you don't get blunter as a question than that. and the president, to my unhappiness, seemed in response to that to be sort of intellectually weary and frustrated that people don't understand the fabulousness in his strategy, don't you get it, he was defensive, he was not -- he was not someone who could explain to you. there's a great absence when it comes to obama and isis and it is an absence of how he thinks about isis, not just what to do about it, what your strategy supposedly is but how should we think about it, how should we view it, what kind of threat is it, how should we be prepare to go meet that threat, what are the possibilities, he doesn't speak about any of those things, which makes you wonder, my god, is he not speak because he doesn't want to actually share his thoughts which makes everybody

that is not saying much, jim acosta. thank you, jim. y y . >>> the family of tamir rice after a grand jury decides not to indict in the shooting death of the 12-year-old. prosecutors said it was a perfect storm of human error, mistakes in communications by all involved and there was no criminal conduct by police. >> meanwhile, the chicago police officer charged with the murder of 17-year-old laquan mcdonald will be in court later this morning for his arraignment. jason van dyke is expected to plead not guilty. in the meantime, the father of a 19-year-old shot and killed saturday by chicago police has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city. mayor rahm emanuel is cutting his vacation in cuba short to deal with all of this. he is expected back today. >>> puerto rico's governor declared three days of mourning on the island after three officers were shot and killed at a police headquarters in the city of ponce. the suspect is one of their own colleagues. he is in custody. investigators say an argument preceded those shootings. >>> w

. >> let's bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acosta over at the white house right now. jim, was the speech that the president delivered from the oval office, was it what you expected based on your briefings going into the speech? >> reporter: absolutely. this was a war speech. this was a commander in chief speech delivered for effect from the oval office. a setting the president does not choose very off. as expected and as you were saying, there were no major policy proposals in this speech. this was about reassuring the american people the president has the strategy for dealing with isis. he described what happened in san bernardino as a terrorist attack. we the rint attack in california, he said the u.s. has not been able to pinpoint a link between those killers and isis commanders overseas but says it's a major threat facing the country and one he described as being a new threat, new era on the war on terrorism, that is self-radicalized terrorists who draw their inspiration from isis. the president is recommending -- i thought this was a key part of the speech. i th

. >> jim acosta there.ow 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 h

acosta, cnn, white house. >> steve moore, a former special agent for the fbi. you heard jim cite an abc news/washington post poll says only 22% of the americans are confident the government can keep them safe from a lone wolf attack. with that in mind, what do you make of the president's attempts to reassure the american public? >> i don't think thaf ear very successful. this is the third one in a month. and right after the last one, we had the attack on san bernadino. i think people are seeing his statements you're safe and you're fine, and then a week later, you have an attack as really undermining everything he he's saying. >> if you look at what the president has been saying is that there's no intelligence that an attack is imminent. and that is essentially true. because what we're looking at is the intelligence of any kind of wide scale attack like a 9/11 or something of that sort. what they don't have intelligence of, and what is really impossible to try and pin down are these lone wolf attacks like what we saw in san bernadino. it was a couple, but still a lone wolf a

. >> let's bring in our senior white house correspondent jim acos acosta. what are you hearing from sources over at the white house about what we can expect to hear from the president? >> reporter: wolf, we don't expect president to unveil any big policy proposals or announce a major strip in strategy for the war on isis. this rare primetime address in the oval office is about reassuring the american people the president is doing what it takes to destroy this terrorist army and the public is worried about the events in france and california. he'll pledge to use every tool at his disposal to keep the american people safe. i think we'll also hear what the white house knows about the recent terror attack in san bernardino and the connection, if any, between the two killers in that assault and isis commanders overseas. the president will also talk about the steps he's taken since the paris attacks. the intensified air campaign, plus the recent addition of the british to the air strikes on isis in syria. but, wolf, you know, i've been talking to senior administr

our senior white house correspondent jim acosta was there. jim, we heard some tough talk on isis. >> we did, wolf. just before leaving the white house for the holidays in hawaii the president is due to do that any moment now, he tried to deliver a reassuring message on the war on isis. the president offered no reworking of his strategy for destroying the terror army, but on the diplomatic front for defeating isis there was some news. while the president said he will still insist on the departure of syria's embattled leader bashar al assad, he hinted allies of assad could remain. that's a shift from his earlier demands that assad must go. and it's one that could pave the way to u.s.-russian partnership to go after isis. the president again said earlier today emphatically that isis will be eliminated. here's more of what he had to say. >> we're going to defeat isis. we're going to do so by systemically squeezing them, cutting off their supply lines, cutting off their financing, taking out their leadership, taking out their forces, taking out the

. >> jim acosta tells us the president will be hosting a summit december 17th aimed at dismantling therks that support isis. many of its oil fields have been hit by air strikes. what can be done, what can be come mrirnd, exactly, at this summit? >> in my fight against terrorists in the past, that's a critical factor. and it was interesting to me to read an article in the "new york times" just the other day indicating that isis is paying their fighters $300 a month versus $400 a month which they had previously. that tells me that they are having a great deal of challenge with run ago government, which is what they're attempting to do. paying their fighters, generating taxes, finding some kind of financial outlet. so that is the critical piece. if you take away the money from these organizations, they not only don't have the ability to fund their fighters, but they don't have the ability to buy weapons, do the interpret sweeps, do the kinds of things you're talking about with buying airline tickets and different types of explosive devices and different weapons. a critical piece, it's one

we'll have more coming up from jim acosta who's with the president in hawaii. >>> new images from thatc flooding in missouri. the flooding so massive, so historic, it's hard to put into perspective how devastating and long-term the damage will be. major interstates shut down this morning around st. louis, including a 24-hour stretch of i-44. you can see it there in red. rivers are cresting many feet above the all-time record levels. they're breaking those records. today officially the benchmark for future floodings and what we're seeing. we learned a second wastewater treatment plant has breached, releasing untreated waste into those floodwaters, complicating the potential and future clean-up. we'll have the forecast in a moment. first, we want to go to martin savidge in the city of arnold. it just seems poor folks cannot get a break. >> reporter: they can't. it's not just arnold, it's many communities in this year. you can see the water and the meremec river. the roads had to be shut down. this river has inundated cars, homes. basements are flooded. the water is continuing to rise her

and here with some new polls as well is jim acosta, live in honolulu, hawaii, traveling while the presidents on holiday. so welcome to both of you. jim, let me begin with you. americans with the polls, changing their views on the war on isis and the war on terror. what do the numbers tell you? >> reporter: that's right, first of all, we should point out that the president according to a a white house official has been updated on this progress in ramadi talking to senior administration officials here on the ground in hawaii who are cautiously optimistic about what's taking place in iraq right now with the war on isis. but getting back to the new poll, which was conducted in the recent success in ramadi it shows that americans are nervous about the possibility of another terrorist attack after what happened in paris and san bernardino. and the public according to this poll is simply losing confidence in the administration's ability to stop a terrorist attack and defeat isis. our latest cnn poll finds 18% of americans believe that the u.s. is winning the war on isis while 40% believe the terro

i want to go to correspondent jim acosta. no changes afoot here, jim.more about reassuring americans who are very worried. >> reporter: that's right, brianna. this week was billed by the white house as a time for president obama to review his strategy for defeating isis, but today it sounded like the president was still selling his existing isis plan to a skeptical public as he warned isis leaders they can not hide. with the public growing anxious about his plan to destroy isis president obama stopped by thing with where he offered up a commander in chief image with the anti-wafrpt rhetoric to match. we're hitting isil targets and their leaders can not hide. >> reporter: president met with every member of his national security team for a deep type into the military campaign to defeat isis. so far, mr. obama said, the u.s. coalition has delivered 9,000 air strikes against isis, targeting its oil infrastructure and forcing the terror army to give up 40% of its territory, but president acknowledged progress isn't coming naft enough. this continues to be a

here's senior white house correspondent jim acosta. >> reporter: just before leaving the white houseor the holidays and hawaii, president obama had a spring in his step and a record he wanted to out to. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: even as he tried to deliver a reassuring message on the war on isis. >> our air campaign will continue to hit isil harder than ever, taking out their leaders, their commanders, and their forces. we're stepping up our support for partners on the ground as they push isil back. >> reporter: the president again insisted the law enforcement community is doing all it can to prevent so-called lone wolf terror attacks in the u.s. like the one in san bernardino including the monitoring of messages on social media. >> our law enforcement and intelligence professionals are constantly monitoring public posts. and that is part of the visa review process. >> reporter: on isis, the president said he will still insist on the departure of syria's embattled leader, bashar al assad. he hinted that allies of assad could remain. a potential shift from his earlier demands that assa

ads jim acosta reports, many americans are losing faith in the president's strategy. [ gunfire ] >> reportercoalition at war with isis half a world away, president obama just got a fresh reminder during his vacation in hawaii, americans are worried the terrorists are winning the fight. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: a new cnn/orc poll shows americans have lost confidence in the obama administration's ability to defeat isis and prevent another terrorist attack. 64% disapprove of the president's handling of isis. and 51% of americans believe the government can protect against a terrorist attack. down sharply from 65% in 2010. that deep pessimism has frustrated the president. >> i'm confident that we're going to prevail. >> reporter: mr. obama wants americans to feel that confidence. cnn has learned the white house has asked top officials across the government to do a better job of selling the isis plan. >> i think that there is a legitimate criticism of what i've been doing and our administration has been doing in the sense that we haven't on a regular basis described all the work that we've done do

cnn senior white house correspondent tim acosta joining us with a previous of the president it's address. jim, you've been working your sources, finding out what we might learn from the president tonight. >> reporter: that's right, poppy. this is an effort to show the president has commander in chief, reassuring americans about the fears that they're experiencing right now, in the heart of the holiday season. and i did talk to a senior administration official earlier today who said the president will use this oval office address tonight. as you said, poppy, it's a rare form for the president, to pledge to use any tool possible to keep america safe and destroy isis. he sees this as an opportunity to speak directly to the american people. obviously all those people watching football games this afternoon and this evening, that's a huge television audience. and the president wants talk about a moment, this official said, that is understandably upsetting for nearly every american. after paris and california, the address is about giving president time in front of a big audience to convey what he re