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Sanders Camp Filed Lawsuit Against DNC; GOP Front-runner Trump Is in Iowa Today; Russian President Vladimir Putin Says He Is Ready to Step Up His Country's Military Presence in Syria if Needed. Aired 3- 4p ET

Aired December 19, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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


[15:00:17] POPPY HARLOW, CNN HOST: Top of the hour. 3:00 p.m. eastern. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Thank you so much for joining us.

We begin with the data dust-up setting off a political powder keg right before tonight's democratic presidential debate. First, the players, Bernie Sanders in a battle against a Democratic National Committee and against Hillary Clinton. At issue, a massive data breach that helps campaigns understand why voters vote the way they do. It is critical information. And now, here is what has happened. It may make your head spin a little bit.

Clinton's campaign accused Sanders camp of stealing files with their turnout projections for early voting states, like Iowa and New Hampshire. That led the DNC to revoke Sanders' access to the entire database. So Sanders camp in turn last night file a lawsuit against the DNC. And after several tense hours, a deal finally reached, so the Sanders camp could access their data again.

CNN's Athena Jones is live in Manchester, New Hampshire.

Well, I know they have been a little bit worried about getting enough eyeballs on this debate. There's certainly enough attention around it right now, Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. I mean, this is of course, on a Saturday night. It's up against football game. And there has been a lot of complaints by some in the Democratic Party who wanted to see more debates, not only more debates but debates during the week. But this dust-up has certainly brought some attention to this debate tonight. And as you mentioned, the Sanders campaign and the DNC have different explanations for what went down and how the deal was reached.

Let me go ahead and read for you a statement from the Sanders campaign. They said, we are extremely pleased that the DNC has reversed its outrageous decision to take senator Sanders' data. Clearly, they were very concerned about their prospects in court. Now, what we need to restore confidence in the DNC's ability to secure data is an independent audit that encompasses the DNC's record this entire campaign.

Now as you know, there is actually an audit that is going on now. An independent audit that will be done to determine just what happened in this security breach incident and how to avoid it in the future. But I also want to play for you what the Democratic National Committee chairwoman had to say about all of this, Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Go ahead and play that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, CHAIRWOMAN, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: And unfortunately, when the Sanders campaign, after this window opened through a glitch from our vendor, their staff took advantage of it in a sense, you know, went into the unlocked door of the house and rummaged around, took things that didn't belong to them. And then actually accused the homeowner of violating the terms of an agreement when they had unauthorized access to the house and took things that didn't belong to them. It was pretty outrageous. But, like I said, I'm glad that we were able to reach an agreement.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: Now, I've got to tell you that the Sanders campaign said, look, no modelling lists were exported, no voter contact lists were exported. This material is not in the campaign's possession. And the one person who has been fired, the national data director told CNN that he was only accessing this data to try to figure out how much of the Sanders' campaign's data was exposed by the security breach. He said the campaign reached no material gain from those actions - Poppy.

HARLOW: But Athena, can you walk us through what they did access? Because didn't that Sanders staffer search things like voters that have a 60 or higher, meaning they are more likely to be committed to Hillary Clinton?

JONES: Exactly. So we -- my colleague at CNN Jeff Zeleny spoke with two sources, two senior Democrats who were familiar with the program, with this whole data program and with the investigation. And they say that several Sanders campaign staffers may have been able to access based on the searches they can tell were conducted turnout projections in key voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Also, information in other voting states like Nevada, South Carolina, and about ten other states that voted in March. March, of course, being an important month for primaries. Those states included Florida and Colorado.

And you mentioned that voter enthusiasm and voter support. The Clinton campaign scores the voters that come into contact with. Whether through phone banking or door knocking to try to determine which of them are really likely to come out in caucus for Secretary Clinton on caucus night or cast a primary ballot for her. What are the ones who supported the little loser, they may be more persuadable. These two Democratic sources told us that these staffers did searches that included that data. So it's the kind of information that could potentially be helpful. Again, the Sanders campaign said they don't have this information in their possession - Poppy.

[15:05:19] HARLOW: Yes. And an amazing reminder to all of us, how much information they know about each and every voter already.

Athena, thank you very much.

The Clinton campaign, meanwhile, is on the attack following the data breach. Her campaign secretary, press secretary, Brian Fallon, calling for a swift investigation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN FALLON, HILLARY CLINTON'S PRESS SECRETARY: It was an egregious breach of violation of the rules. And for someone like senators Sanders who said he was going to run a different type of campaign, this is as below the belt as it goes. He should come clean. He should discipline these other staffers beyond the one that they fired today and that we can resolve this and we can move forward and we can have fairly-waged campaign. Until that happens, I don't understand what all these distractions are about lawsuits.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Fallon also tweeted this. They definitely knew what they were doing, talking about the Sanders camp. They were trying to get an unfair upper hand against our Iowa ground game.

Joining me now to talk about that and a lot more ahead of the debate tonight, Sanders' national press secretary Symone Sanders.

Thank you for being with me. I appreciate it.

SYMONE SANDERS, NATIONAL PRESS SECRETARY, BERNIE 2016: No problem. Thank you for having me, Poppy.

HARLOW: Nice to have you on the program. What's your reaction to what Brian Fallon just said? He said, look, you guys knowingly did this. You wanted an upper hand in Iowa. It's egregious. And you say?

SANDERS: I say what's egregious is the DNC's grotesque over reaction by taking our access to our data files. Look, we have been very clear, what our staffer did in viewing that data from the Clinton campaign was wrong and that's why we took swift action internally to terminate that staffer. We immediately wiped his hard drive. So we have -- we did due diligence to make sure we did our part. We are currently investigating other staffers from the reports that had came out. Our campaign manager yesterday was very clear and noted there were folks that had information that they did not want have. So while the DNC (INAUDIBLE) was sharing information yesterday with everyone but us, we weren't able to effectively investigate anything. But we are investigating other staffers. And we will take disciplinary action if necessary.

But I think what's important to note here is that the -- again, the grotesque overreach by the DNC by taking our access to our voter files. Files that folks from South Carolina to New Hampshire to Iowa and all across this country have worked to compile was wrong. And we are so happy that the DNC has restored our access. After we gave them information that we, frankly, we gave them Thursday night - so Thursday afternoon. So there's nothing new that we gave the DNC that caused them to give us our access back this morning, yesterday, come to an agreement yesterday. So there's nothing new.

HARLOW: Let me ask you this. And you have the access back now. So everyone sort of back on an even playing field, if you will. There are critics who say they believe the DNC is quote-unquote "rigging this election process in favor of Hillary Clinton." You had an op-ed by Frank Grunin (ph) in the "New York Times" this week saying look, the Democratic debates are almost hidden on a Saturday night and they wanted to sort of protect Hillary Clinton. Do you buy into that?

SANDERS: You know, I think what I do buy into is that, again, by taking a level playing field was not shutting down our access to our voter file data base while every other Democratic campaign had access to theirs. The level playing field sounds like no one gets voter access to their files.

HARLOW: So do you agree that the DNC is rigging this?

SANDERS: What's going on?

HARLOW: Do you agree the - I mean, do you agree with those critics?

SANDERS: I think, I think there are lots of critics out there. And I do think that, you know, the pattern shows that the establishment is not leaning in senator Sanders' favor. But despite the fact that the establishment tried to cripple our campaign yesterday, we fought back, were successful and we won.

Poppy, 550,000 people across America stood up and stood with senator Sanders yesterday. They signed petitions asking the DNC, demanding that the DNC give us our access back. We won. We are happy to have our access back to our voter file data base. It's very important to our campaign. Today, folks across the country were knocking on doors, making phone calls. The political revolution has not stopped. Tonight, we are looking forward to the senator.

HARLOW: I want to move ahead --

SANDERS: Looking forward to be able to go past this tonight.

HARLOW: So let's talk about tonight. Big night tonight, the democratic debate. When you look at this, I think it's fascinating according to this new Monmouth poll. It shows that unlike Republican primary voters, Democrats did not pick terrorism as their top concern. They picked the economy and jobs. And that is what your candidate has been hammering on. It has been all about income inequality for him. All about bashing Wall Street, frankly, and the big banks. How does he play that up tonight?

[15:10:18] SANDERS: Well, tonight, this is a great opportunity for senator Sanders to go out there and make his case to the people of New Hampshire and the American people as to why he is the best candidate to take on this rigged economy that's kept in place by a system of corrupt campaign finance. The American people know that while we are in times of extreme wealth, that there are people that just have not seen this wealth. The middle class is disappearing. And for communities of color, particularly black communities across the country, the middle class is non-existent.

So tonight, Senator Sanders is going to go up there and he is going to let the American people know his platform. He is going to talk about how he differs from Secretary Clinton. How he differs taking on Wall Street and the big banks. How he would address the most egregious global, one of the most egregious global threats we have, climate change. He's going to talk about how he believes that we need to eradicate ISIS. So he is going to hit on these issues. He is definitely going to talk about things like raising the minimum wage, which is good for hardworking middle class families across America. So we're looking forward to senator Sanders going out there and making us proud because we know he has got this.

HARLOW: So Symone, let's talk about some the places where you point out that he does differ from Secretary Clinton. You bring up ISIS. Americans are scared right now. You got the majority of them, 60 percent do not agree with how President Obama is handling the terror threat. You've got Secretary Clinton with her vast foreign policy background especially in the Middle East. How much is it going to hurt your candidate Sanders that he doesn't have that background tonight? How does he push back on that front?

SANDERS: You know what senator Sanders does have, Poppy? Senator Sanders has when the time came to make a decision when it was time to vote for the Iraq vote. He stood on the right side of the issue and he voted no. He did not swiftly take us into war. He evaluated the situation. So that's what senator Sanders has to stand on. He has spoken broadly about his views on ISIS and he is prepared to speak about those tonight.

HARLOW: Symone, we will be watching. I really appreciate you coming on the show. Thank you very much.

SANDERS: My pleasure, Poppy, anytime.

HARLOW: Coming up next, the other side in the showdown for the Democratic nomination, one of Hillary Clinton's top supporters joins me to answer critic who is say is this race rigged for her? Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:48] HARLOW: Tonight, it is the Democrats in the spotlight as they take the stage in New Hampshire for their third presidential debate.

Joining me now, Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan, now senior adviser and surrogate of the pro-Clinton group correct the record. Thank you for being with me.

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, FORMER GOVERNOR OF MICHIGAN: Poppy, so glad to be on. Wish you were here in Manchester.

HARLOW: So do I, actually. So do I. It should be an exciting night.

Let's talk about this. A lot to get through. First of all, there have been accusations that the DNC has skewed the debate process so that it favors your candidate, Hillary Clinton. I know you read the Frank Bruni piece in the "New York Times" this week. Let's read part of it. It says talking about tonight's debate it is on a Saturday night when a political debate ranks between dialysis and a Millie Vanilli tribute concert as a desirable way to unwind. When the Democratic debates were set up, party leaders assumed Hillary Clinton would be their best candidate, put their chips on and sought to make sure that some upstart didn't upset their plans. What do you say?

GRANHOLM: You know, I was not in on any of those, but I do know this. That Hillary Clinton debates really well. In fact, at the end of all of these debates that she has been in, and we all go, why don't we do a lot more of these? Because she does so well. She knows the issues. She's very substantive. So, it's not her that is dictating any of the debate schedule. She would be willing, I'm sure, to do more debates.

HARLOW: Well, that has been a point of criticism from some saying, look, why aren't there more than the Dem debates that have already been scheduled? I suppose that's neither here nor there, not your decision nor mine. But let's talk about this. According to New Franklin Pierce University/"Boston Herald" poll, what it shows is that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are locked very tightly in a battle in New Hampshire. You see Sanders slightly leading at 48 percent. Clinton at 46 percent.

What happened, Jennifer, if Sanders pulls out a win in New Hampshire? What does that do to Clinton's momentum going ahead throughout the primary calendar?

GRANHOLM: Well, as we know, she's ahead in Iowa. This is going to be a battle all the way through, right? We knew that New Hampshire was going to be very tight because it's next door to Vermont and he's got that home field advantage.

But going into the next states, like South Carolina and Nevada, she has an overwhelming lead. And, you know, Bernie Sanders, she's got very favorable numbers with respect to minority communities, in particular, and more diverse states favor her. So I think it's going to be -- I mean, we knew that New Hampshire would be close. We're glad to be here. I mean, I'd say that we -- I'm not with the campaign. I'm with correct the record. But nonetheless, supporting her effort. We know that the calendar is very favorable to her going forward. But that doesn't mean anything in terms of her lessening her willingness to fight. She's got to fight every single day for every single vote.

HARLOW: What we will see tonight, I have no doubt is her play of her foreign policy record experience, et cetera. But she could come under scrutiny when it comes to ISIS. Given she was secretary of state during the rise of ISIS, 2010, 2011 when al-Baghdadi became the head of the terror organization. What does she say to those who look at her and say how are you going to be different on ISIS in fighting terror? GRANHOLM: Yes, she wrote about this in her book "Hard Choices." And

she described how she was very much in favor of arming the Syrian rebels. It is the absence of a strong Syrian rebellion force that has allowed that vacuum to have the rise of ISIS. She also, you know, we know that President Obama inherited an agreement that President Bush did about what the -- what the pullout of American troops would be in Iraq. Obama adhered to that same time line. Unfortunately, the leader in Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki (ph) decimated the Iraqi troops. And that too, that vacuum caused the rise of ISIS.

So she is going to have a very, very comprehensive plan on how to deal with ISIS going forward. She has already given three very detailed speeches about this, having a 360 degrees strategy to defeat ISIS over there, here at home and online. And I'm sure you're going to hear about that tonight.

It will be interesting to hear what the other candidates say about this, as well. She is obviously got a bit of an advantage as you noted because of her foreign policy experience of secretary of state. No doubt all of this subject will be high on the list of moderator questions.

[15:20:31] HARLOW: It would also be viewed as a disadvantage because some could point out that there has been this rise of ISIS, part of which happened while she was secretary of state. Can you tell me something specifically that she has pointed out that she would do differently than the current administration on this front?

GRANHOLM: Yes. I mean, really, it's the arming of the Syrian rebels. Having an armed force that would counter the rise of ISIS and go against Assad. That's really what she has said. She got a little bit of pushback on that from some for differing with the president on it. She made her case internally. You know, the administration decided to go a different way. But that arming of the rebels, I think, is a very important point that she would, you know, that she would've favored.

HARLOW: So let's take a look at some of these hypothetical general election match-ups. Because, you know, that's what we do in the media. Some hypothetical mash-ups. Even a little bit far out, but let's look at them because I think they are telling.

What this CNN/ORC poll shows from this month is when you pair Clinton against the five top Republican contenders, the margins are three points or less in each case. You have got Clinton, 49, Trump 46 percent. You've got, take a look at Cruz. Cruz at 47 percent, Clinton at 50 percent. You've got Rubio where she actually is down a point from Rubio. He's at 49 percent, she's at 48 percent.

When you talk about this in a -- when primaries are still going on, how much do you think this is going to be an uphill battle if she is the nominee against the candidate with the Republican base behind them?

GRANHOLM: Bring it on. That's what I say. I'm so excited to see the contrast in the general election because it will be stark. All of those candidates that you talk about, whether it's Rubio or Trump or Cruz or any of them. They're all anti - they are certainly anti- Muslim. They're anti-immigration, they're anti-science. They're anti-choice. Anti-LGBT. They have whittled and whittled and whittled their party and who they are appealing to such a narrow core. That truly, the Democrats will have a big tent. And we'll have an opportunity, as well, to say to the moderate Republicans and the independents, especially the Republicans who feel like their party has left them, you have -- you're welcome here, as well. So I think she's -- she will build a broad coalition. They are defining a very narrow party. And I look forward. We all look forward to a great contrast in a general election.

HARLOW: All right. We'll be watching. We're not there yet. Another big debate tonight for the Democrats.

Jennifer Granholm, thank you very much.

GRANHOLM: Thanks so much, Poppy.

HARLOW: All right. You can catch all the post-debate coverage tonight. CNN's democratic Debate special. 10:30 p.m. eastern only right here.

And the Republican presidential candidates out in full force on the campaign trail today. You're looking at live pictures from Donald Trump rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We are not very far away from the caucuses. So it is a critical state. What will be the latest in the war of words between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump? I'm sure you'll hear something about that. We will take you to Iowa next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:27:03] HARLOW: GOP front-runner Donald Trump is in Iowa today. He is holding a rally in Cedar Rapids. He will take the stage any moment. We will bring those comments to you live when he starts.

Just days ago, he was locking horns with the other candidates in the CNN Republican debate on Tuesday night. A new FOX poll is out. Here's what it shows. Shows Trump as the top choice for president at 39 percent, more than double his nearest rival Ted Cruz. Jeb Bush once presumed by many to be the eventual candidate barely registering at three percent.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond covering the rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Trump, Bush, war of words, what did we hear today from Jeb Bush?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, exactly. The fight is back, it seems, between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush. This week, they have been kind of exchanging fire after Jeb Bush really went after Donald Trump in the CNN debate on Tuesday.

It's been an interesting week. Yesterday, we had Donald Trump going on a twitter tirade of sorts against Jeb Bush. And today, Jeb Bush with comments calling Donald Trump a jerk. And he also had this to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEB BUSH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The notion that you're banning all Muslims sends a really bad signal to people that we cooperate with economically, diplomatically across the board. We need to have -- in a connected world, we need to have relationships that are important. It also means that the Kurds. I don't think Donald Trump knows that Kurdish people are Muslims, you know. That wouldn't be like one of the things that naturally comes to him. He doesn't have much intellectual curiosity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And, there you can see Jeb Bush there making a reference to Donald trump's plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States, temporarily, at least. But it's interesting, Jeb Bush there is trying to, you know, oppose that plan. But, of course, we've seen in recent polls, including the FOX News poll out yesterday, that the Muslim ban does seem to be a relatively popular idea. About half of voters, general voters are in support of that plan. And among Republican voters, the support numbers are even higher.

HARLOW: But you know what I thought was so fascinating, Jeremy, from that FOX poll is the fact that two-thirds of Republicans that were polled now see Trump as a serious candidate. We are talking about 65 percent. That is a reversal from June when 64 percent saw him as a side show. How did he change their minds?

DIAMOND: Absolutely. You know, it was interesting. This was the story at the beginning of the campaign when a lot of political analysts were pointing to the fact that they have never seen a candidate kind of flip their unfavorable numbers in the same way that Donald Trump has.

HARLOW: Yes.

DIAMOND: He has really gone from being a widely unpopular figure in the Republican Party to now the leader, four in ten Republicans supporting him and perhaps even more willing or at least willing to consider supporting him. So we have seen Donald Trump certainly completely flip those numbers and all of that amid what most people deem to be very, very controversial comments and policy proposals.

[15:30:08] HARLOW: Yes. But despite the comments, he goes up and up and up. I think Trump might be coming out to the stage shortly, Jeremy. We see people cheering behind you. We will keep monitoring that. And bring it to you live as soon as it happens.

Jeremy Diamond in Cedar Rapids for us tonight.

And there we have him, the GOP front runner Donald Trump. Let's take a moment. Let's listen in to what he has to say when he approaches the podium coming off another strong poll. FOX News has Donald trump at 39 percent.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you very much. So -- thank you. It's a hell of a crowd. This is great. I just traveled three-and-a-half hours on a big fat beautiful plane to get here. I had to be here. And this is an amazing group of people. And I thank you for the support. But you know -- I love you, too. I love you. I do. Thank you.

So you know what I'm going to say to start off? Merry Christmas, right? And happy holiday. Happy holiday. But merry Christmas. You don't hear it anymore. We don't hear it. So this is all about Christmas and having a good holiday and that's what it's all about.

You haven't notice, you don't hear that anymore. It is very sad. Go to the stores and they don't put they say something, they put whatever they put up, but they don't say Merry Christmas. They'll start saying merry Christmas, again, folks. Believe me. Believe me.

So you probably saw what happened yesterday with FOX, right? Did everybody see? So we had the debate. I had one guy come at me with sound bites from his pollster. It was so sad to watch him. So sad -- Bush. No, it was just sad. I mean, it was like -- close to incompetent. You look at that. It was terrible. And then he does an ad where it's his piece but he doesn't show my piece. Because my piece is what killed him. But his piece and then they cut it. I said, where's my piece? No, yes, he's a tough guy. Right? He's tough.

And then they're accusing me -- Putin called him brilliant. That's not good. Well, you know, isn't it sort of nice if like countries we're always fighting with maybe we get along and let them do -- right? You know, look, we're all tough guys. But wouldn't it be nice if, like, Russia and us could knock out an enemy together. Not us bear the full cost sometimes like -- you know, we're always fighting, but I've had some guys say, oh, Russia. How about one of our other people that say I wouldn't talk to them. I wouldn't discuss to anything. What do they want to do? They want to have a World War III. OK. World war III. For what? For what?

And they have problems. We all have problems. Russia's got plenty of problems. But I'll tell you what, if Putin likes me and if he thinks I'm a good, smart person, which I hope he believes I am. Actually, he's right. I am brilliant. You know that, right? But you know what, if he says something positive, that's a good thing. That's not a bad thing. They try to turn it around. And it's not to be turned around. This is good. This would be a great start if you think about it. The money we spend on fighting everybody.

And we have to rebuild our country. It's so important, it's so vital. We have to rebuild our hospitals and our -- everything. Our roads, our airports. Our country's a mess, our bridges. Did you see the report? Sixty-one percent of them are in trouble. What does it mean? You're driving across and it collapses. And that's been happening, you know. Yes. He's been very nice to me, so I won't repeat your remark. He's been one of the ones very nice.

Actually, I've had a number very nice to me. But every once in a while they have to get aggressive because they have to pick up ratings. So FOX, we all respect FOX and they came out with a big poll last night. And they have Trump at 39 percent, up -- HARLOW: All right. There you have it. Donald Trump touting the

recent polls that have him continuing as the GOP front-runner. We will keep monitoring his comments in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Interesting to hear him defend his relationship with Vladimir Putin, saying wouldn't it be good if the United States and Russia were to work together to knock out enemies? We'll monitor that for you.

Take a quick break. Much more information on the other side on the terror threat.

Newly released court documents detailing frightening allegations. People, young people, inside the United States accused of trying to help terror groups carry out attacks on American soil. The latest is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:37:46] HARLOW: A sinister turn in the war against terror. Federal authorities are uncovering more and more people inside this country who have allegedly been radicalized.

Our Polo Sandoval has been looking at the frightening details, including one young man who authorities say was preparing to carry out a terror attack at home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have to remain vigilant here at home.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Newly unsealed court documents paints a clearer picture of the government's efforts to catch potential terrorists before they strike.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm literally shocked.

SANDOVAL: People in Fremont, California, are stunned over allegations made against Adam Shafi. The 22-year-old man was stopped by the feds as he tried boarding a flight from San Francisco to Turkey last summer. Wiretaps revealed Shafi believed America is the enemy and he said to a friend, I am content to die with them, referring to the terror group, Al-Nusra front.

The FBI believes he was headed to join the organization when he was stopped. Shafi's legal team denies those allegations saying their client was simply on a humanitarian mission. In a statement, his attorney says Adam is innocent and he sought to assist Syrian refugees.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty crazy. You know, when it's right here at home, it's a different story.

SANDOVAL: People in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, are reacting to the arrest of their 19-year-old neighbor Jahil Aziz, believed to have spread ISIS rhetoric on social media using at least 57 individual twitter accounts. Prosecutors allege the young man also shared the names and addresses of U.S. service members calling for violence against them. High capacity magazines, ammunition, and a survival kit were found in Aziz's home last month. Investigators say it's all evidence he planned to launch an attack in the U.S.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were quiet. You never would've known.

SANDOVAL: About an hour from the nation's capital, Mohammad el- Shanawi is believed to have received almost $9,000 to finance a terror attack on U.S. soil. The 30-year-old Maryland man reportedly took to social media pledging his allegiance to ISIS. He allegedly told a childhood friend he was a soldier of the state.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARLOW: Polo Sandoval joins me now for more.

Look, we've known the FBI has had these open ISIS investigations in all 50 states. This just keeps adding on and on and on. Do they think these men in particular were acting alone? Or part of a greater terror web?

[15:40:08] SANDOVAL: You know, it's a key question, too, Poppy, because that fear of these lone wolf attackers has been something that has been heavy on the mind of authorities. And at this point, if you look at these cases, at least -- really, at least these three are examples that authorities were able to pick up some online chatter. Perhaps some wiretaps that essentially sent up a couple of red flags and allow them to follow up on these individuals. It's the lone wolfs that you mention that really are the top concern here. I mean, how do you look for an individual that you don't know exists?

HARLOW: Right. And that's what President Obama essentially said yesterday in that end of the year press conference.

Thank you very much. Appreciate the reporting.

Coming up. Wait until you see this, Russia's military dropping bombs and targets in Syria. But just who, exactly, are they going after?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let me ask you that question. That question about who you are targeting. Is it is? Or are you supporting Assad?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: The critical question only our Matthew Chance there on the base talking to Russian military leaders about a rare access to that Russian military base inside Syria next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:44:24] HARLOW: Russian president Vladimir Putin says he is ready to step up his country's military presence in Syria if need. He made those comments today at a reception at the Kremlin. But what exactly is Putin and Russia hoping to accomplish with this campaign?

Our Matthew Chance had rare access to Russian military base inside Syria. And he asked that exact question. He has more for us from Moscow.

Hi, Matthew.

CHANCE: Hey, Poppy. Well, you know, the Kremlin keeps saying there can't be any military solution to the conflict in Syria. It has to be a political one. But at the same time, Russia has poured its powerful military into the country, bolstering its Syrian government ally and making sure that in any future peace deal, Russian interests in Syria will be paramount. I spent the last week with Russian forces in Syria. And it's all firsthand how Moscow is aggressively intervening in that civil war.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[15:45:22] CHANCE (voice-over): This is how the Kremlin supports Syrian allies and the battle its enemies. We gained rare access to the Syrian base, Latakia, now the military hub of Russia's air war.

This really does feel like the center of a massive Russian military operation. The air is filled with the smell of jet fuel. And the ground shutters with the roar of those war planes returning from their bombing missions.

Russia's defense ministry says more than 200 targets have been struck in just 24 hours, 320 militants killed, it says, from ISIS and other rebel groups fighting the Syrian government and its president, Bashar al-Assad.

So I'm joined by general (INAUDIBLE). He is the chief military spokesman for the Russian government, for Russian defense ministry.

(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE). Thank you for the trip.

He is escorting here on this trip of the Latakia military base. Let me ask you that question. That question about who you are targeting. Is it ISIS or are you supporting Assad?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I can answer the question with our actions. Every day we show you how Russia aviation is fighting international terrorism, destroying their infrastructure in Syria.

CHANCE: On our tour of the base, we were shown how Russia carefully arms its bombers with high-tech precision weaponry. We also saw unguided or dumb bombs being loaded. Human rights groups accuse Russia of killing civilians from the air, a charge the Kremlin strenuously denies.

All right, well, there's another plane coming in now just touching down. So, that's two planes before. That it's going to be very noisy. It was just carried out an airstrike somewhere in Syria against rebel targets either ISIS or some other opposition. Russia says it is stopping is in its tracks, striking their assets and

shrinking the territory they and other rebel groups control. And after more than 4,000 Saudis over Syria, this Kremlin air war shows no sign of winding down.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHANCE: No. Well, in fact, it is, in fact, if anything stepping up its presence in Syria, deploying sophisticated air defenses that give Russia the ability to control the skies over Syria. And, again, to help ensure that its vision for the country as a pro-Russian state is realized.

Poppy, back to you.

HARLOW: Matthew Chance. Thank you very much. Fascinating report.

Up next, President Obama and the first family on the ground in Hawaii, making an emotional stop before their Christmas vacation began, though. They went to the California community shattered by massacre just a few weeks ago. We will have details live from Honolulu next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:53] HARLOW: The first family arrived in Hawaii today. They will begin their Christmas vacation. It was just a few hours after the president and the first lady made a stop in southern California, privately met with people who survived the San Bernardino massacre and also with the families of those who were murdered.

CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski is traveling with the president.

And I know that they spent about three hours with the families last night there. And the president said these are the families who represent what is good in this country.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Yes, he used some moving words to describe this meeting. You can just imagine how emotional this was. And some of the attendees afterwards said that, you know, they hadn't felt that emotion in a few weeks. Just the intensity of meeting with the president and the first lady. So we're talking about family members, some of the 14 people who were killed in that attack, others who were injured.

Also, first responders who were on the scene. And the president, obviously, want to make this happen even though it was sort of a strange fit into the schedule. I mean, the first family is now officially on vacation. They arrived here early this morning. But it was the middle of the night local time. And by the time they left San Bernardino last night, it was about 11:00 on the west coast at night.

So, you know, it was difficult for them to take the time to do this before they had to leave. But obviously it was something the president wanted to do. And he said what made this so emotional, as he put it, moving, was these people represented America. He said they came from all backgrounds and all faiths. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I met some of these folks. Despite the pain and the heartache they're feeling, they could not have been more inspiring and more proud of their loved ones and more insistent that something good comes out of this tragedy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I felt more emotion in there waiting for them then I have felt in a while. But it was nice. It was reassurance that I feel like those two at least have our back and they said to me, you know, I got you and they're not going to let Shannon's virtues disappear any time soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: And remember, this just happened two weeks ago. So you can imagine how raw much of that emotion still is. And the president said they represent what is good in America. The good that is still out there in the world. And that they really showed their pride, strength and unity -- Poppy.

HARLOW: Absolutely. Michelle Kosinski, live for us in Honolulu, where the president and his family are on vacation.

Thank you very much, Michelle.

Coming up, Donald Trump. We know he is right now speaking at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. As we just heard, he is fired up and he is hitting hard against his competitor Jeb Bush. Moments ago, Jeb Bush hit back from the campaign trail in New Hampshire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BUSH: I'm the only guy who has calling him out for his lack of seriousness that he's -- just doesn't have a serious idea about anything and we're living in serious times. And for us to win, Donald trump can't be the nominee. He's never going to beat Hillary Clinton. It's just not possible.

I'm the only guy that's speaking out about the lack of seriousness of Donald Trump. Not being able to answer the question about the role of the nuclear triad. I mean, the answer that he gave was just like -- it made no sense at all. If people can't see that, they're fearful of him, fine. I like the lane I'm in. Where I'm respectfully pointing out that this guy doesn't have serious claims. That he thought ISIS was not a threat two months ago. That he thought the Russians should go in and take out ISIS and ISIS should take out Assad and now he wants to bomb the bleep out of them. I mean this is not a serious man and we're under attack and I believe we need someone as a steady hand as commander in chief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[15:55:55] HARLOW: All right. There you have, the latest from Jeb Bush in the campaign trail. Up next, Jeb Bush versus Trump, Cruz versus Rubio, Clinton versus

Sanders, action packed Saturday of politics next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:59:25] HARLOW: Top of the hour. 4:00 p.m. eastern. And I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. Thank you for being with me. We begin this hour with a new controversy. Jolting the Democratic presidential race right before a key debate tonight. The party is in an uproar after the Bernie Sanders campaign filed a lawsuit against the DNC for blocking their access to critical voter data. It happened after Sanders' camp, a specific staffer on the team, who has now been fired, admitted to downloading files from Hillary Clinton's campaign that they were not supposed to have access to. All sides wrecks in 11th hour deal last night avoiding a lawsuit, allowing the Sanders camps to regain their access to the database. All very confusing, all very important ahead of these primaries.