paul cruickshank, let me bring you in, our terrorism analyst. also graham wood is joining us, editor at the atlantic. so paul, correct me, but this would be the first deadly isis inspired attack. >> it would be the first inspired attack on u.s. soil since 9/11. just the last few minutes, the intelligence group reporting that isis, the isis news agency has commented on these attacks. and they are saying that they were carried out by two -- the language is important here, two supporters of the islamic state. not two fighters, but two supporters of the islamic state. so they themselves are saying they were not directly responsible, but two sympathizers carried this out. their claim with the details they provide closely track what has been provided by the media and follow cnn breaking this it news earlier today about this pledge to isis suggesting that they were not aware of the this attack was necessarily in the works. they also comment on the paris attacks in this new claim. they say that those were carried out by fighters of the islamic state. a d

explains -- (paul cruickshank, cnn terrorism analyst) this is a very significant moment. isis is going to take ownership of this i believe in a big way they'll use it to try to inspire other attacks. isis are instigating these kinds of attacks over social media, reaching out to people directly in the west, to encourage this form of violence. today the landlord allowed the media into the couple's home, with no objection from police. a look into the life of a couple that law enforcement sours say was self-radicalized, though, neither malik nor farookokad ever been in trouble with the law and they were not on any watch lists. their family also says they had no idea and farook's sister says she's not sure if she can forgive her brother (reporter) do you think your brother deserves to be (saira khan, sister of syed farook) that's a hard question. i don't even know if i would forgive him. just because of what he did. in san bernardino, i'm paul vercammen jenna: hillary clinton held her third campaign event in sioux city this morning with close to 300 people gathering at the sio

jim, appreciate the late breaking details, and i will go to the panel, paul cruickshank and cnn contributor michael weiss who co-wrote a book about eye circumstances and anthony may, a former as tf explosives expert. and paul, starting with you, the latest information that the wife had pledged loyalty to al baghdadi, it is a clear link that leads us to the terrorism angle, and what do you make of it? >> yes, and it leaves perhaps or arrives at the terrorist angle with that. this is looking like an isis-inspired terrorist attack which we aith that is the first deadly are islamist deadly attack on u.s. soil since 9/11, so it is a significant moment unfortunately. isis would take ownership of this i would believe in a big way and use it to inspire other attacks. i think that they are going to be concerned with over 900 investigations in the united states of isis-inspired radicals that some of those with what they saw playing out in paris, with what they saw play out in california, they will now be inspired to move forward. these are worrying days the united states now faces, because of this is

let's bring back in paul cruickshank and continue this. what is the importance in that distinction, though, for our viewers. isis-inspired versus isis-directed? regardless, 14 people died. >> the distinction has become a little muddied over time as isis is in touch with them from syria and iraq, the so-called caliphate, to the united states. there's a little muddying of the waters about this distinction which used to exist more between a directed terrorist talk and an inspired terrorist attack. inspired terrorist attack means they haven't gone oversaes to syria or iraq, or places like libya to meet with senior isis figures who have given them training. and i think the nature of this attack, guns and pretty primitive bombs is consistent with more isis-inspired attacks. people who haven't got that training overseas because when they do, we see things like paris where you have more than 150 people killed. >> this is not just. as kate said, isis wants these to spring up organically all over the world. they have called for just such thing. >> t

paul cruickshank joins me now with the latest.s intelligence about isis targeting the uk? >> this comes from a senior european counterterrorism official. intelligence indicates that isis is aiming to hit uk next. and all of this coming a day after that vote in the house of commons, yesterday, authorizing british air strikes in syria. that has compounded concerns about this potential plotting from isis. and all this coming a month after a british operative linked to jihadi john was arrested in istanbul. and he was on the way back to europe with attack marching orders from isis. there is significant concern now about the threat to the uk with over 700 british extremists having gone to syria and iraq to fight and half that number coming back. >> any idea of a time line, how imminent these may be or specific locations? >> there is -- not a sense of clarity on the degree to which this is imminent or the location in the united kingdom. but clearly a lot of concern about this threat stream tonight, anderson. >> i want to ask you about th

paul cruickshank, phil mudd, mary ellen o'toole thanks to all of you for your insight.id the killers plot their attack? a member of the house intelligence committee will join us next. he'll tell us what he has learned about the two shooters and their possible links to a specific terrorist group. that story 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? if yand you're talking toevere rheumyour rheumatologiste me, about a biologic... this is humira. this is humira helping to relieve my pain and protect my joints from further damage. this is humira giving me new perspective. doctors have been prescribing humira for ten years. humira works for many adults. it targets and helps to block a specifi

this is going to be a tough fight. >> paul cruickshank, to you.d talk about it. we now have this photo. our panel getting if from the sources at the chicago o'hare airport as recently as july of this it year. and the fbi saying that both. of them were radicalized and for some time. whether that's months or years. but a lot of people have been talking about whether tashfeen malik came over and radicalized her husband. now it sounds like they were both radicalized. the question is where, by whom, was it on the internet? speak to this and whether we know they were potentiallied a call liezed at this point. >> well, we have known for some time that they were radicalized at a certain point. she was deeply fundamentistic in her approach to islam for many years stretching back to her time in saudi arabia, pakistan and sort of was approach that can make you receptive to what isis is saying. we also know he was radicalized from his father because his father was saying he was a supporter of the caliphate project deeply anti-israeli. i think they probably ra

standing by we have paul cruickshank. also my friend and colleague poppy harlow is live for us near the scene. we'll talk to beth of them. first, let's go to our justice correspondent evan perez who has more on what sources are saying about the gunman's possible ties to terror. evan, what do you know? >> we do know that law enforcement officials do believe that there are indications that syed rizwan farook was ral call liez ed -- cad call liezed. that doesn't explain everything. they still believe there might be some indication of a workplace motive. some kind of workplace beef that may have triggered or played a role in what happened yesterday. some kind of hybrid explanation. we know that officials have found indications that he was in touch with and had communications with at least one terrorism suspect, somebody who was being looked at by the fbi and the fbi was already investigating and there was communications over the phone and social media that are being analyzed to try to figure out whether or not that play ed a

statement was made under a different name and that the attacks may have been inspired by isis(paul cruickshank, cnn terrorism analyst) "isis are instigating these kinds of attacks over social media, reaching out to people directly in the west, to encourage this form of violence."today the landlord allowed the media into the couple's home, with no objection from police. a look into the life of a couple that law enforcement sources say was self-radicalized, though, neither malik nor farook had ever been in trouble with the law and they were not on any watch lists.their family also says they had no idea and farook's sister says she's not sure if she can forgive her think your brother deserves to be forgiven?"(saira khan, sister of syed farook) "that's a hard question. i don't even know if i would forgive him. just because of what he did." 3 with the terror attacks in paris... and now in san bernardino... the muslim faith is being tied to terrorism by some people.as mary mckenzie reports from our sister station in baltimore... there is a sect of islam that's teaching peace... and has never had a m

and joining us is paul cruickshank, and paul, the attacker shouted allegiance to syria and what is goingn in syria, and said this is for syria, and apparently had images on the cell phone. >> and he had images and content on his cell phone which is consistent with being an isis supporter and isis propaganda and he had images related to the paris attacks and content and religious information about attacks in san bernardino, and tho is a copycat attack inspired by what he saw play out in california last week. there is a lot of concern now in the united states that you could also see copycat attacks from the extremists in the united states that 900 of them being investigated by the fbi now, and of course, some out there that are not on the fbi radar screen just like that koum last week, joh john. >> yes, and paul, different from the other attacks, this man has been captured and captured alive. what do you think, and what are the intelligence services, and police and investigators looking to get from him in the fact that he was maybe just inspire and he is a lone wolf and maybe he doesn't ha

joining me is cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank.he ring lead there got killed is said to have more attacks. >> this comes from french media and from reuters that the ringleader had actually tossed his female cousin hasn hasna aitboulahcen to buy shoes in preparation for a follow up attack at a shopping district, commercial district, lots of shopping malls over there. this coming out in a confidential witness statement but someone in touch with abaaoud's cousin. the idea they would go and buy really expensive suits, get the female cousin to buy them and blend in in the up scale district of paris for maximum surprise before the attacks. and actually, if you look back at a plot that abaaoud was organizing in january in belgium in that plot, this isis cell members bought police uniforms to gain access to sensitive sites potentially. you have isis plotters dressing the part for terrorism for maximum surprise. of you obviously that would be very, very traumatic for somebody in business attire blew themselves up. >> french and belgium auth

cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank is tracking these developments from london for us. what about these suspects the police are searching for? >> we know a number, they're looking for five people in the geneva area. we know there's specific concerns. that they pose a specific threat in geneva, and we know there's a specific link to one of the attackers in paris. one of those who blew himself up at the bataclan. he was recruited by an individual called murad faraz. and this very same murad faraz, believed to be linked to these five people they're looking for in geneva. so one step removed from the attacks. not a direct link but one step removed. they're clearly very concerned about this. they're ramping up security at the airports and u.n. and international organizations there. there was a key meeting between the russians and americans that was going to take place in geneva tomorrow. local media saying that is now being moved to another location. they're not revealing where that location is going to be. they clearly don't have that much of a handle over where these peopl

let's bring in cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank. also with me cnn intelligence and security analyst bob baer of course a former cia operative. thanks for joining me. paul, let me start with you. now there seem to be links to this 2012 terror ring. we know that the neighbor, muslim convert enrique marquez gave rizwan farook these two weapons. do you suspect a wider ring of people may have been involved in the san bernardino attack? >> well, it certainly would appear as some kind of wider group of radicals in that general area. several of the followers back in that 2012 case were living in riverside, which is a 15-minute drive away from san bernardino. and evan perez and others on cnn have been reporting farook was part of the same social circle which was a very radicalized social circle we understand from all the court documents in that case in 2012. this was a group that were basically superfans of the american terrorist cleric anwar al awlaki. they settled going to afghanistan to join with terrorist groups there and fighting against

. >> let's bring in paul cruickshank. what more are you learning about this guy?on, authorities telling us they found disturbing stuff on his cell phone after the attack including a lot of isis propaganda and flag images and content relating to the paris attack and images and content relating to the san bern dee know shootings last week. this may have been a copy cat style. it appears to have had some isis inspiration but his brother telling him he had mental health issues and alerted police of that. there seems to be some blend between mental health challenges and also radicalization. we've seen that before obviously in the united states and canada and other places, other attacks, anderson. >> there is knife attacks in england before, a british soldier, i believe his last anytime is rigby was beheaded outside his military base. there is no evidence this was an isis-directed attack, correct? inspired by it would seem but as of now, it's not clear whether it was actually directed, correct? >> no evidence at all it was an isis directed attack which would require him

statement was made under a different name and that the attacks may have been inspired by isis(paul cruickshank, cnn terrorism analyst) "isis are instigating these kinds of attacks over social media, reaching out to people directly in the west, to encourage this form of violence."today the landlord allowed the media into the objection from police. a look into the life of a couple that law enforcement sources say was self-radicalized, though, neither malik nor farook had ever been in trouble with the law and they were not on any watch lists.their family also says they had no idea and farook's sister says she's not sure if she can forgive her brother(reporter) "do you think your brother deserves to be forgiven?"(saira khan, sister of syed farook) "that's a hard question. i don't even know if i would forgive him. just because of what he did." 3 with the terror attacks in paris... and now in san bernardino... the muslim faith is being tied to terrorism by some people.as mary mckenzie reports from our sister station in baltimore... there is a sect of islam that's teaching peace... and has never had

paul cruickshank is a political analyst, and editor at the ctc sentinel, where they broke the story.tside of this concert hall? >> carol, this is stunning new information, that the ringleader in the attacks, abdelhamid abaaoud, standing outside the concert hall, the bataclan, during the attack, according to a witness. he was speaking agitatedly on the cell phone, on a hands free cell phone, for about an hour during those attacks. as if he was giving orders to the people inside. the idea here is of him stage managing the attacks by phone while they're happening. earlier in the evening, and we know this from the paris prosecutor, he'd be in phone touch, as well, with the stadium attackers. one of the stadium attackers right until the point where the stadium attackers started blowing themselves up. it would appear that on the ground that night, he was really orchestrating this entire operation. these new details just being published in the journal ctc sentinel. article by a french terrorism expert, carol. >> silly question, of course he can't, unless he could see with his cell phone ins

joining me is paul cruickshank. nice to see you, sir. tell me more about this man. >> hey, brooke.his suspect is a french isis fighter, 27 years old, he traveled a couple years ago from france to syria. he was killed in this strike the day before christmas day. and french sources close to the investigation to the paris attacks telling us that he was in touch with the paris plotters in the days before the attacks. the anti-isis coalition has said that he was in touch at a certain point with abdelhamid abaaoud, the ringleader behind t the plot. during the siege. at the theater, there were some of the survivors who overheard two of the attackers talking about possibly phoning up somebody during the actual attack. and he also is connected to one of the bataclan attackers. so lots of ties between him and the paris attacks but what they are trying to figure out is whether he had some kind of command and direct role from syria or perhaps he didn't have any role at all and just happened to be in touch. they are still not sure of that completely, the french investigators, right now. >> so t

so let's get right to paul cruickshank. paul, let me ask you about, when we hear specific or precise threat what does that mean? >> well, in this case the specific part of it, brooke, is that there are five individuals that they are looking for in geneva and the surrounding area around geneva, very worried about -- worried that they could be a threat within geneva, a threat potentially to international organizations, the u.n., they are ramping up security there. also at the airports, there seems to be some concern according to local media a u.n. meeting tomorrow between the americans and the brits and others related to syria could be some kind of target. a lot of this is not clear yet at this point. but we're learning at cnn that this group of five individuals believed to be linked to a recruiter for the syrian jihad who is the guy what recruited one of the attackers at the bataclan in paris. that's the connection to paris, the recruiter being somebody called farez who is in jail in france right now but recruited a lot of pe

let's get over to cnn's terror analyst, paul cruickshank. paul, give us more detail of what you're picking up here. your sources aren't going as far yet to say that abaaoud also came through posing as a refugee. >> that's right. this comes from a source close to the investigation that they believe the paris attack ringleader abdelhamid abaaoud was in leros at some point before the paris attacks. the idea is he would have traveled from syria where he was believed to be in the months leading up to the attack to europe via the greek island of leros. what they're still investigating is whether he exploited the refugee processing system in order to gain entrance back into europe. remember, at this time he was one of the most wanted men already in europe because he was the ringleader of another isis plot against belgium back in january. so it would have been difficult for him to come in on his own passport. they're trying to piece all of that together. whether he perhaps came in with these two stadium attackers or whether maybe he was in leros to w

. >> cnn terrorism analyst and editor in chief paul cruickshank joins me now live on the phone.k about perhaps abdelhamid abaaoud's path through europe, with regard to refugees, the fact that a lot of folks back here at home have been up in arms over bringing in refugees because terrorists like this man could sneak in and crack the system. >> well clearly there's been concern about this, especially in the wake of the paris attacks. we know at least two of the attackers came in through the greek island of leros. they had fake syrian passports and posed as refugees exploiting the syrian refugee processing system to get into europe. also the possibility now that the ringleader in the plot was also in leros and also exploiting that refugee processing system. what we hear from our sources is that the french have a firm belief now that he was in leros in the weeks before the paris attacks. what they are investigating right now is whether he indeed entered the european union exploiting this refugee processing system. so they are investigating both those possibilities. clearly there has

joining me is paul cruickshank and michael weiss. paul, i want to start with you.ou have breaking news tonight about isis in europe. what your sources telling you? >> this comes from a senior european counterterrorism official and security agencies have received intelligence that indicates that isis is aiming to hit the united kingdom next, that british isis operatives in syria and iraq have been tasked by the terrorist organization to return home to the uk to launch attacks. all of this concern compounded by that vote in the house of commons in the uk yesterday where britain was authorities to launch air strikes against isis in syria. and it also follows on from the arrest last month of a british isis operative in istanbul. and officials telling cnn he was on the way back to europe with attack orders from isis. a lot of concern tonight about the terrorist threat to the uk given all those british extremists who have gone to syria and iraq, more than 700 and more than 350 returned back to europe at this point. >> now we have turned to this in san bernardino. but i h

i want to bring in cnn terror analyst paul cruickshank. so far, this couple had bomb-making lab in their garage, destroyed hard drive and cell phones from their drive, wore military, fatigue tooip clothes, had their faces covered, and now this pledge to al baghdadi. what do you make of this, paul? >> the scenario we may be looking at now, the couple may have been planning something. some form of terrorist attack in the united states on behalf of isis. but something that happened at that holiday party, we're hearing perhaps an argument over religion, may have brought forward those plans and brought forward those plans perhaps dramatically. and they, perhaps, just decided to go straight out and do what they could then at the holiday party. they didn't bring all the bombs they had. there were 12 pipe bombs left in their gaj. maybe they brought forward their plans. we don't know yet whether that was the case. the fact we're hearing this was this altercation, an argument over religion, suggests that type of scenario. the fbi going to do a lot m

to james bond in this book "agent storm: my life inside al qaeda and the cia," co-authored by paul cruickshank and tim lister, both cnn contributors. coming up, how storm goes from boxer to holy warrior. >> i was invited by osama bin laden to join up with him in the training camp in afghanistan. so get this, at&t and directv are now one. which means you can watch live sports on the go. live from the edge of your seat. or that seat. or her seat. or his seat. right? careful on that seat, guys. and that's not even a seat. that is cameron. get the best of both worlds. directv at home and 2 wireless lines. from directv and at&t. ♪ deck the halls with barks from rudy ♪ (rudy barks) well, it's more like "fa la la la la la la la la" but you're in the same vein. say happy holidays with milk-bone! this holiday season, gi see you brought a friend? i wanna see, i wanna see. longing. serendipity. what are the... chances. and good tidings to all. hang onto your antlers. it's the event you don't want to miss. it's the season of audi sales event. get up to a $2,500 bonus for highly qualified lessees on select

paul cruickshank broke this news. tell us more. >> good morning, carol.tigator telling us french authorities now believe the paris attack ringleader abdelhamid abaaoud crossed through the greek island of liros on his way to france from syria to organize those paris attacks in november. they firmly believe this now. authorities had previously disclosed two of the stadium attackers they haven't yet identified transported through liros on october 3 and used fake syrian passports to process themselves as asylum seekers to get back to europe. what's not clear from french investigators is whether abdelhamid abaaoud also posed as a refugee to try and get back into europe, but they're investigating that possibility right now. not clear when he came back through the greek island, but in order for him to get back to europe, he presumably would have had to do that illegally in some kind of fashion because he was one of the most wanted men in europe because of his suspected role in that plot back in belgium in january to launch a major gun and bomb attack in the coun

i want to go to our terrorism analyst paul cruickshank.ew information about another isis plot in europe. what are you learning? >> wolf, this comes from a senior terrorism official that tells me there is specific intelligence obtained by european security agencies that isis, isis in syria and iraq is aiming to hit the united kingdom next. the intelligence suggesting that british isis operatives in syria and iraq have been tasked to return to the u.k. to launch an attack against the united kingdom and these concerns have been compounded by the vote yet in the british house of commons authorizing british air strikes for the first time against isis in syria. they are treating this very, very seriously, indeed. not clear how imminent this threat is, but it comes after the fact that in mid november a british isis fighter ian davis was arrested in turkey and the turks and cnn confirmed the turks believe he was on the way back to europe with attack plans from the isis leadership in syria and iraq. incidentally, davis being an associate of jihadi

according to cnn's paul cruickshank, who did a very good report, witnesses during the massacre recount a gunman take a cell phone and calling souliman an alias. the pentagon said he was a high ranking or senior official. i'm skeptical of that claim. number one, his age 27, is a tender year to be that high up in the echelons of isis. two nationality. if he's french chances of him having a he ranking position within the isis sort of constellation is slim. they tend to be iraq c.s who run the show there. i don't know. i'm waiting to see what more information and news reports come out about him. also i put this in the back of your mind, when we say that he was behind or had a role in the paris attacks, that can mean anything. the fact that he was in touch with the master mine of the attacks doesn't mean he had any kind of command and control or was the money guy or the weapons, you know, sort of acquisition person behind any of it. it could mean that they were fellow travelers, they were part of the same network in syria. >> so, still definitely questions that you're raising there. phil, t

reveals his journey in this book "agent storm: my life inside al qaeda and the cia" co-authored by paul cruickshank and tim lister, both cnn contributors. coming up, how storm goes from boxer to holy warrior. >> i was invited by osama bin laden to join up with him in the training camp in afghanistan. discover card. hooh, you're real?? you know i'm real! at discover, we're always here to talk. good, 'cause i don't have time for machines. some companies just don't appreciate the power of conversation! you know, i like you! i like you too! at discover, we treat you like you'd treat you. get the it card and talk to a real person. i'i like to think of myself as more of a control... enthusiast. mmm, a perfect 177-degrees. and that's why this road warrior rents from national. i can bypass the counter and go straight to my car. and i don't have to talk to any humans, unless i want to. and i don't. and national lets me choose any car in the aisle. control. it's so, what's the word?... sexy. go national. go like a pro. the uncertainties i don't wantof hep c.with or wonder... ...whether i should seek treatmen

let's discuss with paul cruickshank and phil mud. the new information that there were two trips to saudi arabia. that sources say there is a concern he may have been radicalized because of who he was contacting. the cell phones found smashed at the scene. the computer missing a hard drive. where does this lead you? >> doesn't lead me too far. we are quick to blur the line between what we know and what we think. i'd ath add another fact in there. on the other side, why do you pick a target that has no political significance? if you want to commit an act of terror you pick a target anywhere from a social -- a cultural target in paris. that is a cafe where people are drinking alcohol to a economic target in new york, the twin towers that indicates you have a political agenda against the government. so we have some implications, for example, contact with radicals that was found on electronic media that lead you to one path. another indication, an attack on a target that suggests you a lead down another. don't lose the distinction between

about the emerging strategist with former required terrorism analyst general mark hertling and paul cruickshank. so general hertling, the bases could join some u.s. special operation forces, and is it going to be making a difference? >> yes, i won't put a number on it, but it is the plan as we have said from the beginning a year ago as the rebel and the iraqi forces stood up, we would continue to contribute more and more to their capability. that is what is happening right now. when you have task organizing which the army does, and the military does it really well, and the special operations at the next high level than the rest of the military. you are putting a group on the ground with task-oriented to accomplish specific tasks tha. that is what is occurring right now, a group of individuals to act very, very quickly, and contribute to the fight on the ground, and help the indigenous forces that they might not have had before. >> and it sounds like they have had boots on the ground which the president has request ed ovr the past several years. and so, the president had a news conference in par

paul cruickshank, terrorism expert, said that one of the isis gunmen in bataclan had referred to one of the attack s attackersers as sulaiman, and that is one of the aliases as this guy. the way it works with these terrorist operatives abroad, they tend to provide them with the money, and some low yist cal capability, but once you get to europe and the west, you are on your own in terms of scouting the targets, and surveillancing them, an all of the rest of it. it does not sound to me like this guy was, you know, high ranking. to give you an idea, the guy essentially responsible for setting up the atk in libya, he was an older operative and was a policeman in saddam hussein's regime. and the fact that he was a french national leads me to believe that he was part of the cad ri, but the rumor had been that one of the guys that chickened out at the end might have fled and gone back to el raqqah, and so i am waiting to see what the coalition really knows or what they are putting out here in the days late arer. keep in mind, this is a new pentagon push to sell the quote narrative, and yes

. >>> "outfront" now, former counterterrorism official, phil mudd, paul cruickshank and seth jones, director of security. salah abdeslam, one of the world sz most wanted men in the world, on the run for two weeks. we know he was in belgium the night of the attacks. now they are saying he may have escaped to syria. how is it possible that he could have done that without anyone noticing when you have more resources dedicated to finding this guy than anyone else in the world? >> well, erin, this would not be the first time that this has happened this year. one of the attackers in the "charlie hebdo" attacks did the same thing. they are using better communication security tactics, using encrypted cell phones, cell phones that the numbers haven't been used and s.i.m. cards that haven't been used. they are using pipelines that the islamic state has developed in europe. they are able to use a range of techniques and information aspects that terrorists maybe haven't used in the past, certainly not this well. >> and phil, you've been concerned about this for the past week or so. you're saying it's po

joining me is paul cruickshank the co-author of agent storm, my life inside al qaeda and the cia. >> the attacks were being planned. what have you learned? >> what we learned from a european security source briefed on the intelligence is that there are three factors which led to the alert in geneva. the first is an intercepted stream of communications by the united states of suspected isis to europe discussing the idea of launching a plan of attacks in various cities including ja kge and toronto and chicago. the belief or aspirational plans to attack these cities, the second factor is the recently the vehicle, a van crossed the swiss border and they ran the number plates and found that that van had a link back to an associate of salah abdeslam, the so-called eighth attacker still at large linked to the paris attack. footage picked up the vehicle coming through and when they ran the plates, they are obviously concerned given that an associate of salah abdeslam could have come in to switzerland. they found the van but they did not find the driver of the van and there was a third factor

. >> and, shawn, there seems to be this question of was it terrorism, workplace violence, paul cruickshank has noted there have been several instances of both where somebody has committed terrorist attacks, isis inspired against their co-workers in september 2014. moore, oklahoma, a suspect beheaded one woman, attacked another. and that was considered terrorist. in june 2015, leon france, somebody else hung and then i think beheaded his boss. and then i believe he took a picture and sent it to isis. so it can be a combination. >> you know, jake, we've talked about this before. what makes somebody move from being aspirational to being operational where they're actually taking action, acquiring weapons and then asserting an act. is there something that happened in the workplace where this person possibly could have been inspired, radicalized. and there's something that happened in the workplace that caused him to take their action out there as opposed to some random place, they're motivated by a particular act or particular person in the workplace. >> although, phil, we also know that he ren

joining me is paul cruickshank. the attacks are being planned. what have you learned? >> what we have learned from a european security source is that there are three factors which led to this alert in geneva, the first is an intercepted stream of communications by the united states of suspected isis returnees to europe discussing the idea of launching a plan of attacks in various cities, including geneva but also including toronto and chicago. the belief is there are aspirational attacks in these cities. and a vehicle, a van, crossed the swiss border. they ran the number plates and they found that that van had a link back to salah abdeslam. the vehicle was picked up coming through and when they ran the plates they are concerned given the fact that an associate of abdeslam -- they found the van but not the driver of the van. and a third factor in just the last day, the french authorities have identified the third attacker at the bataclan theater, and he was recruited by a french extremist from the g i geneva area. and a wanted man who travelled to syria may be back in e

. >>> "outfront" now, the former fbi special agent jim clemente and paul cruickshank.e so perplexed and in other cases of lone wolf or isis-inspired terror in the united states, the trail to radicalization became very apparent after an attack. it was the questions that we were asking were, how did they not see it? and military recruitment center attack in tennessee, everybody at the mosque said they noticed a change. in the case of the boston bombers. but in this case, no one seems to have seen very much. right before the attacks she posted on facebook, i pledge allegiance to isis. that's all they've got. is that shocking? >> it's very surprising in some ways for everybody. that they wouldn't be on the radar screen. of course. but it seems that they were on the very edge of the radar screen for a sort of fbi point of view. they've clearly gone back and they've looked through all of the contacts and they've established that there are some sort of interesting contacts to extremists that were, erin, on their radar screen. you've got to remember that the sheer scale of thi

i'm joined by bob baer and paul cruickshank. when we spoke last night while we were covering this breaking story, you said today we'll hear more about terrorism and have. what do you make of the piece of the puzzle that have come to light so far? >> we heard some. when you look at past terrorism attacks, at this point in time we would know what is going on. were they radicalized? >> they would have more of a trail. >> this is very strange. this whole case has been strange from the beginning and we're even still to this point talking about possible workplace violence, which to me doesn't seem even possible. >> that's particularly strange, it's strange as a pure terrorism case and seems very strange as a workplace violence case. i don't know of many workplace violence incidents or school shootings except for columbine where you had two shooters. >> high-powered weapons, plan to actually do the attack and get away, i mean, this has all the classic signs of terrorists events that we've seen around the world. >> and to get away with

and cnn's paul cruickshank. let's start broad and get specific. paul, when you look at them arranging a marriage to help ingress into the country and hatch a plot. all of these different tentacles growing off of this, what do you make of the situation? >> well, with your information, really, they were radicalized before. when they were dating they were talking about jihad and martyrdom. i've seen that before in my reporting with couples looking to marry each other who have become radicalized. there's a litmus test for this. but that doesn't necessarily mean they were getting married for the primary of launching some kind of terrorist attack on its face. i don't think the evidence is suggesting that yet at this point. but certainly very new information coming to light in just the last 24 hours. >> what do you think, it was just a box they checked in mutual interests, jihad as one of them? let me you can something, phil mudd, when we're looking at this, what did we miss, this fiancee visa not being asked about interests in extreme tendencies. how do

paul cruickshank, thank you very much.brisard, a pat on the back to you for excellent reporting. appreciate it. alisyn? >> ted cruz surging in the polls back here at home. and jumping ahead of donald trump. many pundits think cruz will win the whole enchilada of the primary. john avalon brings a history lesson to our magic wall to show what might happen to ted cruz. ♪ deck the halls with barks from rudy ♪ (rudy barks) well, it's more like "fa la la la la la la la la" but you're in the same vein. say happy holidays with milk-bone! >>> all right. you see the clock there to my left. right. the final countdown under way for tomorrow night's big republican debate, live right here on cnn. donald trump will be in the center. he will be flanked by ben carson and ted cruz. cruz narrowing the gap in national polls with trump and even leading in new polling out of iowa. cruz and trump engaging in a war of words on twitter. trump calling cruz, a little bit of a maniac. nine candidates will compete in the prime time debate with chris c

paul cruickshank is cnn analyst as well.also the co-author of "agent storm, myç life inside al qaed and the cia." phil mudd is saying why didn't you say the name of my book? >> have you ever written a book? >> i have. here's the answer. arguably they did not get what they wanted. is it an unreasonable expectation? >> what the president is sitting back and saying with this wasn't a policy speech. isis has lost ground since we were concerned about their gains toward baghdad in 2014. >> seems they're more of them and more present and more attacks than ever. >> you candice putt, again, what to do about it. you can't dispute the facts. the flow of recruits in the united states according to the fbi director is flowing. the border is tightening. you can say we had a tragedy in the united states. if you want to transfer that to the united states, therefore, the battle against isis is losing, i'd say give me some facts. i don't see it yet. >> paul cruickshank, you know what the facts are. we're hearing these concerns from people not

so cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank is joining many me with more on this.banese security officials described the release of husband ex-wife as this high value catch. so why release her like that? >> well, it's not clear how high value she is because she was married to him only briefly and six years ago just before he took the top job within isis he was r already involved in a senior position in isis when they were married. it was quite some time ago. so not clear what kind of role she may have played. isis has basically had their women play roles a as wives and mothers rather than operationally. some of them have played roles as couriers or transporting money around, but by and large, it's a pate yar call group. so not clear how big a role she was playing. these days her family allegiances are more towards al qaeda, which organized this prisoner swap and wanted her to be free. her brother is a senior member of al qaeda in syria. and her current new husband also believed to be involve d with a group according to a lebanese security source. and so the allegia

paul cruickshank in london. evan, thank you very much as well for your great reporting on this. >>> raising concerns across europe in terms of security. officials say that the number of people entering by land and sea, entering europe, will reach one million by the end of this year. this comes as investigators look into whether the ring leader in the paris attacks took advantage of the refugee process to cross into europe. investigators firmly believe abdel -- was on the greek island of. live from lesbos another island there where a number of refugees are coming through every single day. i think sarah you have been so right to point out that although the focus is on laros right now because of abaaoud's travels, still you are looking at every day hundreds of refugees pour in looking for safety. >> that's right. every day, five boats yesterday afternoon, filled with refugee, women, children, men, families all coming here to be able to move on hopefully to europe to a better place. we're seeing a lot of people with

let's bring in our terrorism analyst paul cruickshank and security analyst bob baer and michael weissthe "daily beast" and tom fuentes. tom, they are searching this lake in san bernardino and they may be serging for this hard drive from the computer discovered in the killers', the couple's townhouse. if they find the hard drive assuming it's been under water, will they be able to find useful information? >> i think they are confident the technicians can reestablish the search history and other things. it will have to be dried out and take care but usually they can get it. >> we also know the two made efforts that he came out shooting, doesn't this feel like they acted without outside help or had outside help? >> wolf, you know, looking at the search in the lake right now, they are clearly looking for a wider network, whether it wasn't whiting.the attack was - i don't think these people acted alone. they were talking to people. they were recruited a long time ago, possibly in riverside based on the communications and now the fbi is desperate to get into this hard drive and tom is absol

the former fbi assistant director and analyst tom fuentes and bob baer and terrorism analyst paul cruickshankou can't really fight the spread of isis without defeating them significantly on the battle field in both iraq and syria. how significantly does isis need to be diminished on the ground for that to work? >> oh, i think it has to be absolutely we just simply can't bomb them. we have to look at the support they are getting around the gulf, saudi arabia and pakistan as long as this movement is being funded it will exist. the only way to end this thing is bring the conflict from the middle east to a conclusion and that should be our main concern. the bombing again will not do it alone. >> if the u.s. and its allies, paul, eventually do beat them on the battle field, does that also destroy and defeat the ideology? >> short answer no but i think it will significantly degrade the power of the ideology, wolf, because isis' appeal is based on the idea of winning, of victory and holding territory as a big part of that. makes supporters around the world believe god is on their side and gives isis

paul cruickshank, mr. fuentes, thank you. >>> cnn's wolf blitzer will have live coverage of president obama's year-end news conference, beginning at 1:40 p.m. eastern. >> sure to be a subject there. >>> two young americans charged with trying to help islamic terror groups. jalil aziz indicted for attempting to support isis. he shared extremist propaganda on 57 twitter accounts and called for attacks on military members. and 22-year-old adam shaffi was arrested, he was attempting to travel to turkey. >>> the democratic national committee suspending the sander's campaigns access to the party's voter data base after improperly searching confidential data from hillary clinton's campaign this week. athena jones live in washington with the breaking details and the fallout, athena. >> this is a major blow to sanders. his campaign has been suspended, discipline by the democratic national committee after snooping into rival hillary clinton's data. the campaign has been suspended from using the dnc's data system. th

let's bring in cnn's paul cruickshank, terrorism analyst and editor in chief of ctc sentinel.i understand you have new reporting on this. what do you know? >> reporter: that's right, don. just being told by a senior belgian counterterrorism official that they believe that this plot was inspired by isis but not directed by isis. so the inspiration coming from the terrorist group in syria and iraq. but they've not seen the travel flows back to syria and iraq that they saw in the paris plot. this is more like a san bernardino-type plot where the inspiration comes from isis. but the plot which they have uncovered and which they have thwarted was to attack a new year day celebrations here in brussels, iconic sites in brussels, tourist attractions in brussels. belgian media also now reporting that a police headquarters just off the central square, the grand place was also going to be a target. not clear how far advanced this plot was. the police did not find weapons or explosives. that suggests that they hadn't got to the final stages of planning, don. >> i want to the ask you this.

paul cruickshank and cnn counterterrorism analyst and former cia counterterrorism official mr.l mudd. mr. cruickshank, i start with you. please excuse the sirens hear. just part of daily life in paris. what does it mean that there is somewhat of a disconnect between the french theory that this eighth attacker may have made it to syria and the belgian intelligence officials who say they have no reason to believe that. >> there's a short answer, they just don't know where he is. he could have got to syria. that's one theory that the french have but he could equally still be somey in brussels hiding out in a basement. his last known location was the saturday after the attack when he was transported by a friend to the brussels district of skarbik. there are places he could hide out if he has a sympathizer that the police don't know about. the police just don't know where he is. which is unfortunate because this is a guy that could be armed and dangerous. >> true. mr. mudd, wrap your head around this. if this guy did make it back to syria, what kind of welcome do you get there when