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Three Dead, Suspect Held in Planned Parenthood Shooting; Turkey versus Russia. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired November 28, 2015 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[11:00:00] VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Let's turn it over now to Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Good to see you guys. Well, this definitely feels like a Thanksgiving weekend -- right. You have your green. I have my brown. We have our turkey thing going on -- turkey theme.

You had a good holiday?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Yes, you too.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN HOST: Yes, it is still going.

With kids it always does. It is going to go to the end of the year.

WHITFIELD: That's right. That's right. Keep it going.

All right. You guys, have a good one.

BLACKWELL: Sure. Thank you very much.

PAUL: You too.

WHITFIELD: All right. It is the 11:00 Eastern hour. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. NEWSROOM starts right now.

And we begin with new developments in that deadly shooting in Colorado Springs, Colorado where a gunman killed three people and wounded nine others at a local Planned Parenthood clinic. Police say 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear first opened fire in the parking lot wearing a trench coat and carrying an assault rifle. He caused a neighboring shopping center and hospital to go on lockdown for nearly six hours.

He surrendered to police and is now in custody. Although he motive is still under investigation the mayor of Colorado Springs just told CNN that he believes, this could have happened anywhere.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR JOHN SUTHERS, COLORADO SPRINGS: This could happen in any big city any in America. It happened in ours this time. It will happen in other communities the next time. But we, as a community want to make sure that our officers and our first responders are prepared, for instance, like this.

Yesterday indicated they were, being in the command center yesterday and seeing the performance of the first responders particularly, the Colorado Springs Police Department. The calm and professional communication between those in the command center and those in the Planned Parenthood center -- I'm absolutely convinced that lives were saved as a result of the skill that the police brought to this terrible tragedy.

I don't think that information has been released in terms of the investigation that we're at a point where we can say exactly what the motive was. You can certainly infer what it may have been in terms of where it took place and the manner in which it took place. But we don't have any confirmation from any of the investigation yet as to what the precise motive was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Investigators are still processing that crime scene at the Planned Parenthood clinic.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is live for us nearby. So Stephanie -- tell us about that extremely delicate process of extracting the gunman without injuring any of the hostages.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is amazing that there weren't more casualties involved with this -- Fred. If you take a look behind me, you can see in the distance where that Planned Parenthood building is. And as you heard the mayor say, the question of motive is still up there specially since this shooting began in the parking lot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just took fire through the window. One of the SO guys got hit in the leg. He's code 4 and we're going to extract.

Once they extract, you might be able to get a sniper shot through this open window.

He's just shooting indiscriminately through the walls and that's how we got hit.

ELAM: Tense moments at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs as two civilians and a police officer are killed in a nearly six-hour standoff. It ended when the gunman finally gave up.

LT. CATHERINE BUCKLEY, COLORADO SPRINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT: We did get officers inside of the building at the Planned Parenthood and the officers were able to shout to the suspect and make communication with him. At that point, they were able to get him to surrender and he was taken into custody.

ELAM: One of the dead, 44-year-old Officer Garrett Swasey, worked for the University of Colorado. He apparently rushed to the scene from the campus ten miles away. Two more victims have not been identified. Five police officers and four other civilians were injured in the attack, including one man who was waiting in a parked car.

OZY LICANO, SHOT BY GUNMAN: He was aiming at me. And I just hit the gas. He started shooting. I was looking at his face. Then, the shots came through the glass. And then I started bleeding.

ELAM: A law enforcement official confirms to CNN that the suspected gunman is 59-year-old Robert Lewis Dear. Bomb experts are making sure he didn't leave behind any explosive devices inside or outside the clinic.

BUCKLEY: Once the suspect was taken out of the building, our process is to go through and clear the building, room by room and then we turn it into a crime scene.

ELAM: As the investigation into his motive goes on, police are being credited with saving lives by using security cameras to keep track of the gunman and those trapped inside.

SUTHERS: The officers were monitoring movement within the building on security cameras and communicating to the officers who were in the building and it was the most incredible work on behalf of officers trying to minimize the number of fatalities.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ELAM: Now, what we do know about the nine people that survived this, we know that they are in the hospital and that they are said to be in good condition and are expected to live, which is the good news. But still, very, very tragic here in Colorado Springs that there were three lives lost here -- Fred.

[11:05:10] WHITFIELD: All right -- Stephanie. And President Obama just released a statement about the shooting. What do you know that he said?

ELAM: It's interesting. Through the years, we have heard President Obama get more and more direct about how he feels about these kind of shootings. And the same tone, you can see it is amped up a bit in his tone. I am going to read for you part of what he says. He says, quote, "This is not normal. We can't let it become normal. If we truly care about this -- if we are going to offer up our thoughts and prayers again for God knows how many times with a truly clean conscience, we have to do something about the easy accessibility of weapons of war on our streets to people who have no business wielding them -- period. Enough is enough."

Then he goes on to say that May God bless Officer Garrett Swasey who lost his life and the Americans he tried to save and may he also grant us the courage to do what he tried to do for others in this circumstance."

But Fred, when you listen to the tone, it's definitely way more direct, more tense, more terse. It sounded like President Obama, more fed up with the gun violence here in the country.

WHITFIELD: And then Stephanie what about the people who work at that clinic? What about their resolve or their, you know, renewed fear about doing their work?

ELAM: Well, you know, you have seen it all over. We've seen it on Twitter, we've seen it on social media where people have come to the support of Planned Parenthood almost immediately while the shooting was still happening. Well, it was unclear whether or not this was actually a targeting of Planned Parenthood. And that's something we still don't know.

A lot of people in this community affected by the 12 people who, you know, have been shot or lost their lives. So, people rallying around and saying they will not be scared.

But, you know, it's the day after Thanksgiving. And people don't expect this to happen in their Town. They don't expect that to happen in Colorado Springs. So a lot of shock here still.

WHITFIELD: All right. Stephanie Elam, thank you so much.

In the meantime, we are also hearing the dramatic police scanner audio showing the drama that unfolded as police talked about the best way to take out that gunman without hurting anyone else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are three people hiding in the bathroom at Planned Parenthood where they seemed to hear the suspect and say somebody's knocking.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anybody in the safe room?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are in contact with the party, one of the three hiding in Planned Parenthood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are going to hide in the back closet until this is over. We have people hunkered down in the northwest corner of the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To confirm we have people still inside Planned Parenthood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are trying to find the victims at the back. We're kind of exposed. We're seeing -- how many doors are we going to check here. We haven't found them yet.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is at least one, maybe two (inaudible) outside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I need a barrel over here on the street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're making our way over.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that safe to do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. We'll send a bearcat. I don't want anybody else hurt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you need to drive that through any of the doors that's fine.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do we have a second sighting. Get a suspect description from the shooter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The guy that came through first was at Planned Parenthood and got shot. He saw the suspect. Has a similar hat with the fuzzy stuff on the side, a tan jacket. He's a white male about six-feet tall and a white beard as well.

And this gentleman has seen another person shot at Planned Parenthood who went down as well. He is describing boots for the footwear and he's describing like a hunting outfit.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can actually come in on the south side of King' Super. We can open up the back door and they can actually access it that way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Again, the victim at Planned Parenthood, one of the parties just heard another shot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We should take him in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- any location within the building.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right. We need to (inaudible). We need to clear the channel of the outside traffic and emergency traffic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're working on trying to get the gear before we can get the medical team in, say about one minute. I mean the medical team stays on the south side by the (inaudible) hall. We're going to get there set up and then we'll clear for them to come in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are about to roll the target right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are just going to have you ram in front of that building when I tell you to. Where's my medical team.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are going right now. In fact, front door.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Now, as we go to break, we want to take time to remember the victims of the clinic shooting, two civilians and one police officer with the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs were killed. And while we tried to identify the civilians, we do know more about the 44-year-old officer, Garrett Swasey -- who was a husband, a father of two and was once a champion ice skater.

Our Christi Paul spoke earlier this morning to Eric Singer, a reporter for the Colorado Springs Gazette. They talked about Officer Swasey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC SINGER, COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE: Well, as you can emergency, watching officers salute their fallen comrade, it is certainly an emotional moment and learning a little bit more about Officer Swasey. He grew up in Massachusetts. He competed with his partner, Rachel Myer, with the skating club of Boston in the eastern sectional championships.

[11:10:04] He and (inaudible) a Baltimore native, living in the Springs in the early 90s won the junior dance competition by winning both the original and pre-dance programs. He and Hillary Tompkins finished 13th in the 1995 U.S. figure skating championship and later performed in ice shows in northern Maine.

He was a man of faith. He was an elder in a Hope Chapel which is a northeast Colorado Springs church overseeing its three care groups and participating in its teaching team and playing guitar as part of its worship team.

And as you both were saying just a few moments ago, he is survived by his wife Rachel and a young son, Elijah, and a young daughter, Faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A strong warning from Turkey's foreign ministry today telling its citizens not to travel to Russia unless absolutely necessary. Just yesterday, Russia said it would start requiring visas for all Turks traveling there. This is all fallout from the downing of Russian military jet by Turkey which claimed Russia violated Turkish air space.

Let's bring in General Wesley Clark. He's a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander and now a senior fellow at UCLA Berkeley Center for International Relations. Good to see you.

Turkey has been striking a more conciliatory tone with Russia suggesting that the leaders of the two countries actually meet this week at the climate summit in Paris. But so far, Russia is giving up the cold shoulder.

So what will happen to relations or how -- better question -- how might this impact relations between Russia and Turkey.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Well, I think it is going to continue to be a burr under the saddle, so to speak. I don't think it is going to result in a large escalation of the conflict at this stage.

[11:15:05] But I think it indicates that Russia and Turkey have opposing objectives, opposing policies, opposing outcomes they are seeking in this conflict and Russia has weighed in by striking these villages and these civilians in the north part of Syria or southern part of Turkey. Depending on how you draw that border and threatening the Turkish grip on the northern part of Syria and Turkey has responded by shooting down a Russian aircraft.

Now Russia has put in a stronger anti-aircraft system there in northern Syria. So it's a standoff militarily. It's a standoff politically and at this point, neither side wants to escalate the rhetoric or the fracture because both sides are playing very complex, nuanced games.

WHITFIELD: So a standoff for now. But is this a prelude to something else? Yes, you underscore Russia and its air strikes there in northern Syria just on the Turkish border. But do you see retaliation by Russia on Turkey proper in any way?

CLARK: Well, not yet. Not military retaliation. But what you can see is that there is economic retaliation. There's diplomatic retaliation. And this, of course, is embarrassing to Turkish president. On the other hand, Turkey has received strong support from President Obama and NATO but no one wants this to escalate. Instead, Turkey and the United States would like to see Russia join in the attacks on ISIS.

Russia, of course, is not prepared to escalate attacks on is, despite rhetoric. It wants to clear out the resistance fighters, who are near the Syrian occupation, occupied areas of northwestern Syria and around the Russian military bases. So we have got conflicting policy objectives, conflicting military activities. And it's a stalemate right now as both sides jockey for leadership and greater influence.

WHITFIELD: Turkey is a NATO member. What is the relationship between NATO and Russia?

CLARK: Well, it's strained at this point because NATO has seen what Russia has done in Eastern Europe. Of course, Russia seized Crimea and put its military forces in there. Russia supported the fighting in Eastern Ukraine with large number of troops and equipment and leadership over the last almost two years now. And NATO has supported the European Union's sanctions, economic sanctions against Russia for these activities.

So NATO is on alert. NATO-member countries in Eastern Europe know that what happened in Eastern Ukraine could foretell some trouble for them with their minorities and with Russian influence. So NATO is not about to roll over and say to Vladimir Putin, you are our savior in Syria.

But, of course, this is what Putin would like. What he would like to do is get control of the refugee situation and remind the Europeans that the Europeans rely on him militarily and then come back to him and say, let's get rid of these sanctions on Russia.

This, of course, would also fracture NATO and so this is also something that Putin would be really happy to see. He has a lot of cards on the table. He doesn't want to start a war with Turkey but he wants to put Turkey, so-called, perhaps you could its place.

WHITFIELD: Right -- on notice.

CLARK: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. General Wesley Clark, always good to see you. Thank you so much. Appreciate your time.

All right. A Republican presidential candidate is overseas on a, quote, "fact-finding mission to two Syrian refugee camps". CNN's Oren Liebermann is there in Jordan -- Oren.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carson is making this a very secretive and a bit of a surprise visit announcing it at the last second here for just over 24 hours. What does he expect to learn and what does he expect to gain? We'll have that coming up for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:23:05] WHITFIELD: Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson is in northern Jordan visiting Syrian refugees. The goal of his visit reportedly is to better understand the refugee crisis stemming from Syria's civil war. It also comes as the race for the White House turns to a renewed focus on foreign policy.

CNN correspondent Orin Liebermann joins me now from Jordan's capital of Amman. So Oren, this visit has been secretive in large part even though the Jordanian government has known about it, the U.S. embassy there has known about it. But why does this seem to be so under wraps?

LIEBERMANN: Difficult to say at this point. Of course, we have our ideas. This came together from our perspective very quickly. It was announced only very recently. It wasn't even announced so much as it was discovered and reported and then Carson went into one of the refugee camps here, the Azraq Refugee Camp in northern Jordan.

He was there for about three hours. He came out. We were not allowed into that refugee camp while he was there. In fact the only video we had of him was this (inaudible) from the refugee camp. We know what he was reportedly there to do. He was there to meet with Syrian refugees, to talk to them and more importantly to hear what they had to say to him as well as to view the facilities there.

Dr. Carson as well as all the other Republican presidential candidates are opposed to bringing in Syrian refugees to the U.S. Carson was even caught comparing Syrian refugees to rabid dogs.

So this may have been Carson not only attempting to boost his foreign policy credentials to learn more about foreign policy but also in a secretive way to control the media coming out of this. We wanted to go in and ask him questions and see what he'd learned, see if his ideas, his understanding of Syrian refugees and the refugee crisis had evolved. But Carson's camp made that impossible by not allowing us to interview him, to talk to him or allowing us into the refugee camp while he was there -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: [11:25:00] But it is true, right, that his camp is saying that there were two journalists that are accompanying him who are actually videotaping his trip. Do we know to what extent, what is happening when he is at the camps? I mean what kind of interaction? Is there anything from his medical expertise that is being shared there at the camps? LIEBERMANN: At this point, we simply don't know. We know he went in.

We know he came out. We were hoping there would be some sort of statement or some sort of media photos, pictures, video put out from his visit to the refugee camp. He reportedly went to a second refugee camp in Jordan as well, the Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan, which is actually much bigger and has at least four times as many people.

But in terms of what he did while he was there, the Carson camp hasn't put out any of that information. What he said about these meetings, and of course, as you mentioned the debate for president and the big topic has switched to foreign policy. This is seen as one of Carson's weak points. So this trip is very much viewed as an attempt to boost those credentials.

If so, nothing has been publicized after this trip about what he did while he was visiting those refugee camps and meeting with those refugees.

WHITFIELD: All right. Oren Liebermann, thanks so much from Amman, Jordan.

When we come back: a new terror arrest in Belgium. Plus, details on the results of new security measures in France after the Paris attacks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Good morning, again. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We are following new developments in the deadly shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, here's what we know right now. The gunman has been identified by police as 57-year-old Robert Lewis Dear. Right now investigators are trying to find out his alleged motive.

One of the victims has also been named, a veteran police officer, 44- year-old University of Colorado police officer Garrett Swasey died along with two others who yet to be identified.

Earlier this morning a procession took the body of officer Swasey away from the scene. His colleagues pausing to salute as he went by. Last night, a witness known as Judy called into KKTV from her car to describe the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: I heard what I thought were gunshots. I kept thinking, is that gunshots? I was walking over to the Planned Parenthood area. I've seen a car. I saw somebody leave and somebody going inside with the bag.

I didn't think a whole lot of it. I watched this car, kind of like a van car in my head. They -- it kind of drifted from the driveway over at Planned Parenthood, between that and the next building and it kind of went up a little hill and kind of drifted back.

I knew from watching it, there was nobody steering that car. So it came to a stop. As it rolled backwards, it stopped. A guy got out and actually fell on the ground where you could see all the gun shots.

My god, it terrified me. I pulled at the back of the parking lot and tried to call 911. I couldn't get through. Pulled up to this building and tried to get out and go inside. They came out and said, get back in your car, we want you safe. Get back in your car.

I have been here ever since. All I have heard the whole time I have been here is gunshots. It varies at different times. The last I heard was like a machine gun. It has been very scary. I'm not sitting up. I'm kind of down in the seat where nobody could see me if they was to look this way.

I'm telling you, I don't know I guess I'm as safe as I can be without being inside because these cops in front of me have actually came out and used one of the pillars here to actually hold guns up. I don't know who they were pointing at, because I haven't got it up.

I don't know, 10, 15 minutes ago, four of the cops came out and kind of was in the front of my car. A couple of them were by the pillar. One knelt down and went between my car and the car next to me. That really scared me.

I'm thinking, how close is this guy? Then, they all went back in the building. Since then, a couple of times, they have pointed a gun out the door. That's it. I don't know what's going on. All I know is I'm pretty scared.

Unless the guy that I've seen walking in there with that bag on his shoulder was the gunman, I have no idea. It was like he had lost control. It was like he lost control and would no longer have control of the vehicle. It was kind of rolling on its own.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So you know that person has died or did you see that person get transferred?

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: I don't know. All I know is he got out of that car and he fell to the ground full of what I know was bullet shots, because there was blood at different areas on him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What a horrible thing to witness, Judy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So we are learning more today about the officer killed in this shooting, Garrett Swayse was 44 years old, married with two children. He is described by those that know him as a courageous man and loving father who drew strength and inspiration from his Christian faith.

Sara Ganim joins me now with more about his life and who he was -- Sara. SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Fred. Officer Garrett Swasey was a father of two. He was a former championship ice skater and an elder at his church. He leaves behind his wife, Rachel, his young 6-year-old daughter, faith and his son, Elijah, who is going to turn 11 in just a few days.

His family is mourning today and also remembering his life. He was an officer at the nearby University of Colorado, Colorado Springs campus. When he heard yesterday while he was on duty, the report of shots fire, he went over to assist. He rushed to the scene to help.

He was a six-year veteran of the force joining law enforcement after a career as a figure skater. In 1992, he and his couple's partner won the junior championship in Orlando.

It was after that that he moved his family from the Melrose, Boston area where he was a graduate of Melrose High School over to Colorado Springs so he could train at the Olympic training center.

After retiring from his career as an ice dancer, he became a law enforcement officer. He was an elder at his church and played guitar there. His family was very active in the community.

[11:35:04]Take a listen to what his co-pastor said this morning about who he was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KURT ARCHELE, FRIEND OF OFFICER GARRETT SWASEY: I have known him for about ten years. Throughout that entire time, watched him faithfully serve others and place others before himself in nearly every situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GANIM: The co-pastor also talking about the horror of having to help Officer Swasey's wife to inform their children that their father was not going to come home again. Today, the University of Colorado will participate in several moments of silence at every sporting event in his honor -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Sara Ganim, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It has stopped nearly 1,000 people were entering the country since the Paris attacks. This morning, the French Interior minister says the people who were turned away were deemed, quote, "security risks to public order."

He also said there are 15,000 officers currently stationed along France's borders. CNN's Martin Savidge joins me now live from Paris with the very latest on this. Martin, so we are also learning about a new arrest in connection with the attacks, right?

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This took place in Belgium, another person who had contact with Salah Abdelsalam.

[11:40:01]He is believed to be the sole surviving terrorist from the ISIS attack that occurred on Friday the 13th. Authorities know he survived because they detained him for a short while at a checkpoint just before he drove into Belgium.

At that time, authorities didn't know that he was connected to the terrorist attack and, thereby, they let him go. There have been a total of three people in Belgium that apparently at some point had contact with him in the first 24 hours after the attack.

So authorities have naturally been pulling them in to see if they can tell him any more about where Abdelsalam may be now. The point here is that he hasn't been seen for over two weeks. The fact that he has been able to get away and remained out of reach of law enforcement would imply, Fredricka, he has had help in some way at this time -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Then, of course, the Climate Summit begins Monday in Paris. President Obama and other world leaders are expected to be there. How have the Paris attacks changed the dynamic of that meeting and security surrounding it?

SAVIDGE: Yes, in a lot of ways actually. First of all, security, of course, had to be tightened and the concerns are that in some way, this event could be a target that's always a concern, but probably ratcheted up more because of what happened.

As a result of those security concerns, there was a large public dimension that was going to be part of this, very large demonstration, so people were going to be a part of. They have been canceled or greatly scaled back.

They haven't gotten the manpower to look over those events or guard the 147 world leaders that will be here starting on Monday so security primary concern there.

Some wonder as to whether the leaders that will be gathered here will be focused as much on the environment as more so on terror and whether the funding that they plan to contribute to try to cut back carbon emissions will now go to fighting terror.

So there is a whole shift that is feared that people's mind- sets won't be focused on what it was all originally about, which was the environment -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Martin Savidge in Paris, thanks so much.

All right, coming up, Republican presidential candidate, Ben Carson said his trip to visit refugees in Jordan is strictly a learning opportunity. We will take a look at how the optics could play out here at home. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:46:28] WHITFIELD: Republican presidential candidate, Ben Carson, is in Northern Jordan, visiting Syrian refugees and he told the "New York Times," quote, "I find when you have firsthand knowledge of things as opposed to secondhand, it makes a strong impression," end quote.

The trip comes after the neurosurgeon has faced growing scrutiny of his grasp of foreign policy. He was criticized for claiming the Chinese were fighting in Syria, which his campaign office later clarify to mean there were Chinese weapons being used in Syria.

Carson was also unable to answer that country that he would call first to build a coalition to fight ISIS during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."

All right, so let's bring in CNN senior political reporter, Stephen Collinson. Good to see you, Stephen. So is this trip all about optics?

STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, in a way, you know, we spend a lot of time as journalists criticizing presidential candidates. So the fact that one has actually decided to go over to Jordan and see what is a very grave refugee situation for himself, I guess, should get him some political credit.

But there is also clearly a political motivation for this. As you mentioned, Dr. Carson has struggled on foreign policy questions in his campaign. He's particularly struggle on the Syrian civil war.

So I think this is also a way of getting him something to talk about on Syria where he can feel on solid ground. There is a debate coming up on CNN among Republican candidates in a couple of weeks.

This trip could, therefore, be a fallback situation for him to talk about the refugee situation to say, look, I have been over there. I've seen the results of this civil war. It is a political way of him perhaps getting out of a difficult spot that he has found himself in on foreign policy.

WHITFIELD: It is quite the tight rope, though, isn't it? Because on one hand, isn't it admirable to see, you know, someone who wants to assess, see for themselves, or is there a great risk that there is this appearance that you are not looking contrite and using a horrible situation to benefit yourself?

COLLINSON: That's always a danger. I think perhaps that's one of the reasons why there has not been a lot of media coverage so far in this trip. I believe he is going to issue a statement, some photographs later on.

We have seen Republican presidential candidates in this election cycle and previous election cycles, Mitt Romney, for example, go abroad and on foreign policy listening tours that are supposed to enhance their credentials as statesmen.

And they end up making gaffes and missteps and it becomes a detrimental to their campaign. I think the Carson campaign is probably from a political point of view wise to keep this fairly constrained and not let political reporters get in there and ask him all sorts of difficult questions along the lines you just mentioned.

WHITFIELD: Because, in large part, it might backfire? I mean, we have seen other candidates, whether it be in this political season or others, you know, who have gone overseas, Christie going overseas.

Romney going overseas and maybe the right things were not necessarily said or the dynamics were criticized later which really could harm a candidate more than it does serve them well?

COLLINSON: That's right. Let's not forget. This is a very difficult situation, not just for Dr. Carson. No Americans or western politician has really come up with a good answer about how you fix this situation, how you end the civil war, how you stop these refugee flows. It is going to be very interesting if Dr. Carson perhaps moderates his language on refugees.

He's been quite outspoken about the need to keep more refugees than the 10,000 that the United States is expecting to let in from Syria next year, to keep them out of the United States.

[11:50:02]I would expect he would probably say it's up to the countries around Syria, countries like Jordan, Lebanon, the Arab states to do more to look after these refugees. It's not really the west's problem.

The problem with that is that a lot of these countries are already overwhelmed. There are more than a million refugees estimated by the UNHCR from Syria, in Jordan, many more in Lebanon.

These are fragile countries and these are countries that don't want these destabilizing refugee flows coming into their nation. It's a very difficult situation and I don't know how Dr. Carson can come up with an answer just during this trip.

WHITFIELD: So I'm wondering, what's the picture, because every campaign has to envision the outcome, right, or the consequence of any action? So what's the picture do you suppose this candidate or this camp wants to see as a result of the refugee, you know, camp visiting? Is it interaction with people? Is it talking to the medical team? What is that picture that would serve him well?

COLLINSON: That's a very good yes. I imagine, you know, given Dr. Carson's background as a pediatric neurosurgeon, he has a very good and developed bedside manner. You've seen that on the debate stage, you know, his whole political style as a politician is that of a surgeon, of a gentleman, perhaps putting him in a scenario with some children.

Perhaps talking to a medical team, as you said, would be the good picture that would come out of this for them. And it would, you know, help turn what has been a bit of a liability for his campaign, so far, some of his statements on Syria, into a much more positive image, for, you know, for the public to digest and to consider as they consider his candidacy, as we come up with the first votes in this campaign.

WHITFIELD: All right, Stephen Collinson, always good to see you, thanks so much.

COLLINSON: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead, her brother was one of the terrorists at the Bataclan Theater in Paris.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was screaming in despair and sadness and when I gathered my thoughts, I thought this information was wrong, that there was a mistake.

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WHITFIELD: One of the Paris terrorists sits down with CNN to talk about her brother's childhood and when he became radicalized. That's next.

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WHITFIELD: As investigators dig into the background of the Paris attackers, some people who knew the assailants are coming forward and providing information on their past.

CNN's Hala Gorani spoke to Samy Amimour's sister in her first international television interview. His sister spoke to Hala in French and asked CNN to disguise her voice and hide her face.

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HALA GORANI, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He was one of the terrorists responsible for the worst attack in France in half a century, one of three shooters at the Bataclan Concert Hall on November 13th. His name revealed days later, Samy Amimour. For the first time on international television, his sister is speaking out.

(on camera): At what point did you learn that your younger brother was one of the attackers?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first, I was shocked. I was screaming in despair and sadness. And when I gathered my thoughts, I thought this information was wrong, that there was a mistake that it was impossible.

GORANI (voice-over): A man who grew up to be a mass murderer, but whose life, according to his sister, started very differently. She shared personal pictures of her brother with us.

(on camera): The Samy, you knew, you're saying was a nice guy? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Exactly. He was a nice person, a sensitive person, a bit shy. Somebody you can rely on, a generous person, someone nice who loved to laugh and joke.

GORANI (voice-over): But then that man disappeared, she says, literally, traveling to Syria to join ISIS. His father reportedly went after his son to try to convince him to come home to no avail. Amimour's family actually stayed in touch with him while he was in Syria. The last message from him was sent in August of this year.

(on camera): In your last contact with him, was it just an ordinary conversation?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

GORANI: With absolutely no sign that anything like this could happen?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. No sign, totally normal conversation. I asked him how he was and he told me, listen, I am very well. I have a lot of things to deal with at the moment so I will call you very soon. Send kisses to everyone and to my cat.

GORANI: How do you reconcile the -- your brother, who says, kiss the parents, kiss the cat, you know, I'll call you soon, the little boy you grew up with, with the man who so coldly murdered dozens of helpless people in a concert hall?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To me, there is no link. It's almost like it's not him. There's no chance. I know it's real, but --

GORANI: So what happened to a man who worked as a bus driver, led a seemingly normal life in the northern Paris suburb of Draci that turned him into a mass killer and suicide bomber?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It started with the internet. He visited websites that were sort of controversial. Then it continued with videos and then it stayed that way. Then, beyond the world of the internet, there was also the real world. People came to talk to him.

GORANI: Where? Where?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the area, here, below the house. They came to talk to him more and more and told him that he should attend the sermon at the mosque more regularly. That he should be more devoted to his practice of Islam. Then they led him towards mosques that were more radical.

GORANI (voice-over): These are some of the pictures of Amimour's victims, some of the 89 people ruthlessly killed that night. Does his family feel any responsibility for Amimour's actions?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course, there's part of us that says, maybe it's our fault. Maybe we could have done something different. Maybe, just, maybe.

GORANI (on camera): If you had an opportunity to speak to the family of one of the victims, what would you say to them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry for your loss. We are sorry because we didn't want all of this. We understand the pain they feel and we know that nothing will bring their families back whatever we may say. So we just hope that they can mourn their dead --