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CNN NEWSROOM

Protest over New Year's Eve Sexual Assault; New Details Emerge of Drug Lord's Capture; Shooting of Philadelphia Police Officer; France Remembers Charlie Hebdo Victims One Year Later; North Korea: On "Brink Of War" With The South; Muslim Woman Kicked Out Of Trump Rally; Trump Uses Bill Clinton's Affairs Against Hillary; Ten Years, Two Filmmakers Document Steven Avery. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired January 9, 2016 - 11:00   ET

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

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Sources say the U.S. has been trying to get Havana to return that missile for more than a year --

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: -- which has a lot of people saying, why didn't I hear about this before now?

[11:00:00] BLACKWELL: Well, we got it now. We'll see what happens.

PAUL: We do now -- yes.

We are so grateful for your company. As always -- go make some great memories today.

BLACKWELL: And there's much more ahead in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM with Fredricka Whitfield.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. It is 11:00 on the East Coast. I am Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome.

We are following breaking news out of Germany. Thousands of demonstrators filling the streets of Cologne, police at one point firing tear gas and using water cannons to break up the rally after protesters threw beer bottles at police.

Protesters are furious over the New Year's Eve sex assaults that have rocked that country. Authorities saying out of the mob of 31 people identified in the attack, 18 of them are refugees.

CNN correspondent Atika Shubert is live for us right now in Cologne and CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander with me here in Atlanta.

So first to you, Atika, set the scene for us -- a lot of people there at dusk now in Cologne. But explain what is at issue and what has been taking place ever since.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, at issue is how Germany should react to these massive assaults that police say now appear to have been carried out at least in part if not in large part by those coming in from outside of the country, particularly asylum seekers. More than half of the suspects identified so far were asylum seekers or refugees.

And so you have competing groups out on the streets today, angry protesters from both the left and the right side of the political spectrum. There were quite a few tense moments earlier.

But today, now it is much more calm as you can see. Riot police have taken off their helmets. This is the train station entrance. And what they've done is they have pushed a lot of the protesters basically on to waiting trains and said, you know, it's time to go home. You have had your say but, you know, cool off at home and you can continue with your protest another day. But for now, try and think this over.

So what's happened is right wing protesters have now mostly departed. The left wing protesters as well are now dispersing. So it does seem to have calmed down significantly, which is good news. But still, very much a deep divide here in society, not just in Cologne but throughout the whole country -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And so Atika, how coordinated or highly publicized was what has turned out to be a huge protest prior to it actually happening? What kind of notice did law enforcement have or the community have in order to assemble to this magnitude?

SHUBERT: Well, they had several days notice. And in fact, what they tried to do was allow people to space to vent their anger while at the same time keeping these opposing groups separated. So while the left wing protesters were on that side of the train station over there, numbering somewhere about 1,300; the right wing protesters were kept on this side and they numbered in the hundreds, about 300 to 500 over here.

It basically allowed them to vent their frustrations but not clash with each other. Police were eventually able to disperse them. There were bottles thrown, no police were injured that we know of. There were fire crackers, you know, let off, but again no injuries that we know of so far.

They had to deploy water cannons to help disperse people. But eventually, people went home relatively peacefully. But as that happened, we actually saw a number of the right wing protesters get into scuffles with police, yelling at them. Things like, "Where were you on New Year's Eve when all those girls were attacked? Why didn't you protect them?"

So a lot of the anger is actually being vented on police themselves, onto why they were unable to stop these mass assaults from taking place. The police at this point are just trying to keep control of the streets and investigate to find out what exactly went on that night and bring those attackers to justice.

WHITFIELD: So then Atika, if I can ask about the politics of all this because German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been an advocate of welcoming refugees for a very long time. But even in light of the protests now, I don't know if I should say she's changing her tune but she is certainly saying that she now advocates stricter rules for asylum seekers.

So how is that helping to appease or even quiet some of the protesters?

SHUBERT: Well, she is under a tremendous amount of pressure now because she is the one that has championed an open door policy essentially saying refugees are welcome to come here. But they must follow the law. They must prove that they are from countries where they are facing either war or political persecution. If they come here, they must abide by the law or face deportation.

And she said that again today in addressing members of her own party. She said the assaults on New Year's Eve were disgusting and that there must be tougher law enforcement. But the emphasis is again, on maintaining law and order.

The right wing protesters that were out today, while they want law and order they also want an end to that policy on refugees. They don't want to see any more refugees coming in. In fact, they want to see more refugees deported.

[11:05:09] And this is where the big divide is here. On the right side of the spectrum, there are a lot of fears of exactly this kind of thing, of assaults that we saw on New Year's Eve, and of a crime wave. This is what they fear on many on the right side, and many in the general public as well.

On the left side of the political spectrum, people say those fears are unfounded. That they are being committed by a very small minority of those coming into the country and that refugees still have a right to seek asylum here.

All of this though is putting extra pressure on Angela Merkel and she is really feeling the strain as well as police forces, social services, health care here -- all of that is feeling the pressure with almost a million refugees coming into Germany this year alone.

WHITFIELD: And this tide of refugees seeking asylum, it is not just hitting Germany right now. We know even just today, in Turkey, there are a number of Syrian refugees who were held up at that border, because that country has been under a lot of pressure and is now changing certain requirements and asking visas of some of these refugees that are trying to gain entry.

But back to Germany right now. What have you noticed in terms of law enforcement, the changes of their behavior or perhaps even what they are equipped with as they try to quiet, if not just at least try to control these competing demonstrators?

SHUBERT: Well, it is very clear that the police were prepared for today. There is about 2,000 police officers on the street. You can see behind me a lot of them in riot gear armed with pepper spray and those sort of sticks that keep control. They have helmets on. There are also water cannons and forces being brought out as well to control the crowds. That's today however, when they had a lot of preparation. On New

Year's Eve, they had police out on the streets but simply not enough to deal with what was a completely chaotic situation at this very square with hundreds of young men out here with fireworks. Young women that were coming out of the station said that they had to run a gauntlet. They felt that they had young men grabbing at them everywhere.

And it was just dozens of reports of these mass assaults. It is clear that there were not enough police to keep control of the streets. And that is the challenge. It's not just a situation like today when you see opposing protests but every day situations when you have large crowds.

And Cologne is particularly concerned because it has the festival, a carnival coming up in just a few weeks' time. And it is wondering if police and residents are prepared for the possibility of something like this happening again.

WHITFIELD: Atika Shubert, thank you so much. Stay with us.

I want to bring in law enforcement analyst, Cedric Alexander. I think Atka has done an amazing job really setting the table for us, giving us an understanding, putting us there in Cologne, Germany. What's at stake and what has evolved over the last two days particularly?

So from a law enforcement perspective, as you look at this -- we don't necessarily need to talk about the politics of it all -- but talk to me about your impressions of how police seem to be handling this. She just described how they are wearing riot gear and there is a certain level of containment and response.

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, it is a big issue clearly in Germany as it is in and other parts of the country such as Turkey that you mentioned. But here, unfortunately, on New Year's Eve night when things really got out of control with the events that took place.

WHITFIELD: You mean like the assaults.

ALEXANDER: Yes, absolutely -- that took place. It was there it appears that Germany really were called at their lowest moment -- the police, that is.

So now, one of the most important things that they can do is come back, do these investigations and make sure that individuals that were involved in these assaults are brought to justice there in Germany.

But I think one point we need to make and we need to be very clear about as well too, the number of refugees they have coming into Europe, into that country, as we see around the globe, I certainly don't think you can take a few individuals and cast that shadow among everyone that is there too. But that is something for those countries to have to work through. There is a lot of politics in it.

But at the same time as well too, I think if the police department there in Germany find and locate those who are responsible for those assaults on New Year's Eve night, it is going to make a considerable difference in terms of how people coming into the country feel about themselves and the government as well too.

WHITFIELD: So it sounds like you are also saying that the police there have a role in that country just like you see in this country too. Not just response but also prevention --

ALEXANDER: Right.

[11:09:55] WHITFIELD: -- especially at this juncture where there is, as Atika described, a couple of days notice about the kind of protest that would evolve but not even police could ever know what could happen when --

ALEXANDER: No, you can't.

WHITFIELD: -- thousands of people get together.

ALEXANDER: No, you can't. You can't. And it's a very different time around the globe as we well know.

So when you have this large number of immigrants coming into any country, you have an event such as New Year's Eve. You have folks who are out there attempting to enjoy themselves to bring in the New Year and you have these individuals who are there for a very different reason, who have come into the country. It really makes it hard on everyone.

One of the best things here again that police in that country could do is to make sure they identify those that were involved in those assaults, bring them to justice.

Now, in terms of the rioting that we see that is going on today I think they are doing a great job in terms of keeping the left and the right separated, making very, from what it appears from your footage -- making very clear arrests, very specific to those who are going out of bounds.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. And that's a whole other dynamic, trying to keep these opposing protesters apart.

ALEXANDER: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: That is a whole another kind of law enforcement. I can't wait to talk to you more about that later on --

ALEXANDER: All right.

WHITFIELD: -- because there is a lot at hand, indeed.

ALEXANDER: There's a lot here.

WHITFIELD: All right. Cedric Alexander -- thank you so much. Appreciate that.

ALEXANDER: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Now, he is reportedly worth some $4 billion and says he is responsible for thousands of deaths.

This afternoon, Mexico is urgently deciding what to do with the drug kingpin known as El Chapo. He is once again behind bars back in the same high-security prison in Mexico where he broke out last July. I'm talking about Joaquin El Chapo Guzman here.

This is video taken just minutes after Guzman was nabbed by the Mexican navy following a deadly shootout and a frantic chase. CNN's Rafael Romo has more on El Chapo's dramatic capture.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: He was paraded in front of the media and forced to look straight into the cameras. Joaquin Guzman, known as El Chapo, one of the most wanted men in the world caught at last.

For the first time, authorities are disclosing details about the raid to capture him in Sinaloa State, his home turf. Officials say five of his associates died in the shootouts. Guzman and one of his lieutenants took advantage of the fire fight to flee through a manhole connecting to the sewer system.

"Navy personnel chased them through the sewer tunnels", Attorney- General Gomez said. "They came out through a manhole to the street level and fled in vehicles."

This picture of El Chapo was taken shortly after his capture on a highway outside Los Mochis. The soldiers took him and his aide to a motel where they waited for reinforcements. He was then led by Mexican soldiers into a military truck and later flown to Mexico City.

President Enrique Pena-Nieto broke the news on Twitter saying, "Mission accomplished."

The Mexican government is under great pressure to extradite the drug lord to the United States. He faces drug charges in several states.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: What you really have to establish is that there is an indictable offense that has been committed, that there is probable cause to believe that he committed that offense and that we would otherwise have jurisdiction over them.

ROMO: Mexicans reacted with a mix of surprise and disbelief.

"I, like all Mexicans hope the capture was real," this man says. "This case tells you a lot about corruption in Mexico."

What was the clue that finally led authorities to El Chapo? Attorney General Gomez says the couple got reckless. His associates started calling producers and actresses because El Chapo wanted a movie made about himself. Now, he is back in the same prison from where he escaped nearly six months ago while officials decide if he will be extradited to the United States.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Rafael Romo joining me, live now. This is a very significant capture really for Mexico, because it was embarrassing to Mexico that he has escaped twice. But also significant in a global way because of his influence on drug trafficking.

ROMO: Most definitely. The most wanted man in Mexico, definitely, the United States as well. But arguably, the most wanted man in the world because his vast criminal organization, the Sinaloa cartel, not only ships marijuana and cocaine to the United States by the ton but in recent years, it also ships drugs to Europe and as far away as Asia. So the fact that Mexico has been able to capture him 182 days after his escape on July 11 last year is very, very significant.

WHITFIELD: That is significant because I think people thought, especially the elaborate escape that was entailed, there was a feeling that he is going to be gone for a very long time if they can ever locate him. So just six months -- is that considered impressive?

[11:14:59] ROMO: Well, just to give you an idea. Forbes Magazine at one point estimated his fortune to be at $1 billion -- billion with a b. So that means that he has all of the resources in the world to hire people to dig tunnels for him --

WHITFIELD: To protect him -- right.

ROMO: -- to protect him, to build a sophisticated tunnel with a motorcycle fitted on tracks to escape. So it is, indeed, a very elusive guy and the fact that Mexico is keeping him in the very same prison from which he escaped is reason for concern for a lot of people.

WHITFIELD: Right. So the state of Sinaloa -- that would be the location that he would be found. I guess there is a little surprise there too because maybe the instinct was that he would go back there. And then, there was the psychology of, no, he would go to an unfamiliar territory.

But I guess when you have competing drug cartels, would it be off limits for him to try to leave a comfort zone?

ROMO: It is not only his home turf but that area in the states of Sinaloa and Durango, called "The Golden Triangle", essentially he is the governor of that part of Mexico. It is very rugged. We are talking about mountains. And people in this zone see him as a Robin Hood of sorts.

And so in previous occasions when people would see the Mexican navy coming after him, they would tip him off. They would help him escape. So, that's the reason why he decided probably to go back to Sinaloa and not to other country or somewhere else in Mexico because there, he was able to control just about everything.

But then again, he got reckless. He wanted to make a movie about himself.

WHITFIELD: Wanted some additional fame.

ROMO: And started making phone calls and then you know the rest of the story.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And I think we all suspected, there is going to be a movie made about him. But in this case, he wanted to be part of that movie-making and that makes it --

ROMO: That's right.

WHITFIELD: -- really entertaining in and of itself, doesn't it?

ROMO: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Very unusual.

All right. Thank you so much -- Rafael Romo.

ROMO: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it. Good to see you too.

All right. A police officer ambushed in the street right here in the U.S. of A., shot three times while in his patrol car. The gunman claims he did it for ISIS. Now, new details about that suspect and trips the FBI said he made to the Middle East.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:19:56] WHITFIELD: All right. We are learning new details about the man accused of trying to assassinate a Philadelphia police officer in an ambush style shooting while pledging allegiance to the Islamic state. The FBI now says 30-year-old Edward Archer made two trips to the Middle East in 2011 and 2012 and they are trying to figure out if he can be linked to any known terrorists.

Meanwhile Officer Jesse Hartnett is recovering in a Philadelphia hospital. He's facing multiple surgeries after being shot three times. His left elbow was shattered by one of the bullets.

Miguel Marquez is following the story, live for us now in Philadelphia -- Miguel.

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is amazing that this officer was not only able to survive but able to chase down his assailant as well.

All this starting on Thursday evening when Jesse Hartnett was on routine patrol in West Philadelphia. His window was down as per the custom on these patrols. And somebody flagged him down when he slowed down to a stop to see what was going on, that's when 30-year-old Edward Archer began to shoot, at least 11 times with a 9 millimeter semi gun. At one point his gun all the way in the window of that officer.

That's where the story gets very interesting because the officer rather than relenting and staying in his car and calling for help, got out of the car, chased him down and was able to shoot him once so that officers were able to pick him up later -- all while talking to the dispatcher over the radio.

Unbelievable job that this officer was able to do. His father spoke about hearing from police that his son was shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How was his spirit?

ROBERT HARTNETT, FATHER OF OFFICER HARTNETT: His spirit is positive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you get this call last night to come right here or how did that all happen?

HARTNETT: Yes, they knocked on my door and rang my phone and I woke up said, this is the Philadelphia police. They're excellent.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What did they say to you?

HARTNETT: There has been an incident. He is in the hospital. Then, they wouldn't give me much information until I got here. They were very thorough -- excellent response. Scared me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUEZ: Now, a long way for recovery for Officer Hartnett because his arm, three times in that left arm -- very, very badly wounded there.

As for Edward Archer, search warrants have been served on addresses in the Philadelphia area. There was a trip to Saudi Arabia in 2011, to Egypt in 2012 -- officials at the federal and local level looking into all of that trying to figure out if there was anything specific. Was he tied, was he speaking to, was he in contact with any groups, individuals here in the states or overseas. All of that still part of an investigation -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. It is a complicated case, indeed.

Miguel Marquez, thank you so much. We'll check back with you.

All right. GOP presidential candidate, Marco Rubio, is speaking out on that shooting of the Philadelphia police officer. This morning he told a South Carolina audience, it is terrorism -- plain and simple.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R-FL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There was a terrorist attack yesterday in the city of Philadelphia -- terrorist attack. And so the guy attacks a police officer. You may have seen the video? Did you see this video?

He walks up to the car and starts firing shots. They arrest him. He tells them -- he confesses, I did it in the name of ISIS. The police chief stands up and says this was a guy, we arrested him. He said he did it in the name of ISIS. Then, the mayor gets up and says this has nothing to do with Islam and radical Islam.

This is ridiculous. This is absurd. This is a person who is living in the United States who became radicalized. This is the new face of the war on terror and it is dangerous. And we need to confront it and defeat it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Rubio and other candidates are in South Carolina for a GOP panel discussion on fighting poverty.

All right. Still ahead, it's hard to believe but it has been a year since the Charlie Hebdo attacks. Coming up -- how the City of Lights is remembering the victims and how life has changed in Paris following the terrorist attacks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Emotions are indeed running high in France as the country remembers the lives lost during the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks a year ago. Today, French President Hollande unveiled a plaque at the site where Police Officer Clarissa Jean-Philippe was killed by a terror suspect.

The new cover of Charlie Hebdo this week showing a godlike figure with an assault weapon strapped to his back. The text on it says "One year on, the killer is still at-large".

I want to bring in Janine Di Giovanni. She is the Middle East editor for Newsweek and joining me now from Paris. Good to see you.

So since the Charlie Hebdo attacks --

JANINE DI GIOVANNI, NEWSWEEK: Good morning.

WHITFIELD: -- there, you know, where the Paris attacks not long ago that killed dozens more people. Are the French growing weary or is this resolve that you are seeing every day in that city right now?

DI GIOVANNI: Well, Fredricka, it has now been a year since the Charlie Hebdo attack. And last year 2015 really was a very trying one for Parisians and all of France, all of Europe in terms of terrorism.

I think that, you know, while we still have the state of emergency in all of France which is basically a law that comes from the late 1950s during the Algerian War of Independence, it hadn't been activated since 1961 when it was reactivated on November 13th after the last attacks here.

On the surface as someone who lives in Paris and has done for the last 10 years, you don't really notice more security. Occasionally in the metros or certain rail stations, you do see heavily armed security or airports. But personally I think November was a very trying month. December was a very anxious month. It seems to have calmed down a bit.

That does not mean that people aren't being vigilant and that the French security is still on high alert. So there is a sense -- people are very aware of what happened, particularly after November's attack in which more than 100 people were killed -- aware of the possibility of what could happen.

But things have calmed down considerably since the direct aftermath, the days and weeks after.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder, Janine, that state of emergency that you just spoke of, do you see its influence in the way Charlie Hebdo magazine continues to do its business? Has it changed the tone of its political statements at all in the past year?

DI GIOVANNI: Well, Charlie Hebdo was always known as a satirical magazine, even more satirical than say Britain's "Private Eye". It was very biting, very sarcastic. To be honest, it wasn't popular with everyone -- a lot of people found it cruel. And the jokes or the cartoons were often so biting, so sharp that many people didn't really like it.

Since the attacks, they've had a huge number of subscriptions of people that out of sympathy or out of solidarity decided that they wanted to become part of "Je suis Charlie", part of the solidarity.

[11:29:58] The state of emergency really affects people where they don't have to be search warrants. People can come under house arrest. There has been a lot of talk, especially in the weeks immediately after it, that it would impinge on freedom of speech, freedom of expression.

So far, as a journalist, living here, I don't see it. And as a matter of fact, Charlie Hebdo's cover this week is very controversial. There is a picture as you said of a bearded man saying the assassins are everywhere --

WHITFIELD: We were told it was a godlike -- I'm sorry to interrupt you, Janine, but since we are on that again, because I know we have been told it was like a godlike figure with this weapon on the back. What is the interpretation? Is that what the intent was? Who is that figure? What does that person really represent just so we know for real clarity?

GIOVANNI: I think -- right, I mean, I think what they are trying to say is that faith, religion, ideology is still out there. The assassins are still out there meaning religion being used as a weapon. That's my interpretation anyway.

As we know, you could take that either way. You could take it as ISIS, of course, is a religious and ideological terrorist movement. But then there are radical right-wing extremism that, which we have seen on the rise in France since the attacks. Which is very worrying to many of us that this reaction to what people

see as a lack of security has been a real push to the right wing politically so I think, you know, in true Charlie Hebdo fashion this could be interpreted however you take it, how I take it is that faith is out there as a potential assassin.

WHITFIELD: But again "Charlie Hebdo" magazine still pushing the envelope so to speak. Janine Di Giovanni --

GIOVANNI: Yes, they are.

WHITFIELD: All right, thank you so much --

GIOVANNI: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: -- from Paris, appreciate it.

All right, next, CNN getting an exclusive tour inside North Korea days after the country claimed it successfully tested a hydrogen bomb. See where our crew has taken coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:35:16]

WHITFIELD: A warning from North Korea today saying it is on the brink of war after this.

(VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: South Korea resumed its blasting of propaganda over the border after the North claimed it detonated a hydrogen bomb earlier this week.

CNN's Will Ripley, is the only U.S. reporter inside the North Korea capital city of Pyongyang where he just toured a science center.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the clock strikes midnight on Kim Jong-Un's birthday, an eerie melody reminding North Koreans of the sacrifices of their leaders.

Musical propaganda echoes through Pyongyang every day, every night, reinforcing a message of loyalty to the supreme leader. On the front page of North Korea's main state newspaper, Kim Jong-Un signing the order to test what the regime calls a hydrogen bomb.

Many outside observers question the claim. But there is no doubt among these students lined up outside Pyongyang's Science and Technology Center, the North Koreans say we are the first foreign media to visit the brand new building.

North Korean researcher, Lee Won, believes this week's nuclear test ensures peace even as much of the world calls it a dangerous, provocative act. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is only for the (inaudible).

RIPLEY (on camera): So do North Koreans want to be friends with Americans?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why not?

RIPLEY (voice-over): But the current political climate makes that impossible. Years of isolation began during the previous Kim regimes. Young future scientists, doctors, and other students have little or no access to the internet, only a state-controlled internet.

(on camera): You see a lot of students doing research here in the library and they are using North Korea's version of the iPad.

(voice-over): They study surrounded by photos of their leaders and models of North Korean weapons.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It means our nation is very powerful.

RIPLEY: Medical student, Lee Jue Sung sits beneath a replica of a rocket that launched a North Korean satellite into orbit.

LEE JUE SUNG, MEDICAL STUDENT: This is all for peaceful purpose. We don't want war.

RIPLEY: But outside experts accuse North Korea's space program of being a front for ballistic missile development, missiles that could someday carry nuclear warheads across the region or even the world. Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, let's get more on the developments out of North Korea, Jim Walsh is an international security analyst and a research associates on Security Studies at MIT. Good to see you.

All right, so let's talk first about North Korea saying it detonated this H-bomb. How much credibility is there that it actually has a hydrogen bomb?

JIM WALSH, MIT SECURITY STUDIES PROGRAM: I think it is highly unlikely that they have developed a hydrogen bomb in the sense that we use it here in the U.S. They may have sort of juiced their latest regular nuclear weapon by putting some hydrogen in it that accelerated it and make it more explosive.

But that's what we call a boost infusion weapon. That's not really breaking ground into the hydrogen weapon. But whether it is that or it's that, it's none of it is good.

It seems to me if you have the power to wipe out one city, that's probably good enough making the rubble bang after that isn't so important.

WHITFIELD: While there may be some doubt, let's talk about the psychology here. You see Will Ripley who is given this kind of access. The back drop is very modern and looks very advanced. Doesn't that help kind of push the notion that North Korea really can be that big thinking, that forward thinking and have that kind of advancement in technology?

WALSH: They definitely want to sell that message to their people and to the international community. You know, Fred, I have been to North Korea and I must say I was very struck by his reporting.

No one says anything to CNN by accident in North Korea. And the fact that one of the people he interviewed said, yes, why not have better relations between the U.S. and North Korea was a surprise to me and so that's another bit of evidence that we have to sort of put into the mix.

WHITFIELD: What about these reports of purges within the highest levels of government several times in the past year and that the leadership, you know, is strong arming its own people, sending a very significant message that, you know, he wants his place in this country and in the world?

WALSH: Yes, he definitely has purged a lot of folks, of course, most notably, his uncle, which was a major shock some time ago but that continued. We even had a senior person who died in an auto accident and everyone was sort of wondering, was it really an auto accident or was it something else?

[11:40:02]So I think if you work for a Kim Jong-Un, you are on pins and needles. You don't know if you're going to be next, and that as a security analyst that worries me because if Kim Jong-Un has a bad idea, who is going to raise their hand and say, dear leader, I think you are wrong about that. That is unlikely in a context in which you get shot for disagreeing.

WHITFIELD: North Korea very isolated and of course, we are seeing, you know, Iran in many ways becoming more isolated too with Saudi Arabia cutting its ties with that country and other countries in the Middle East threatening to do so. So do you see that potentially North Korea and Iran could force some sort of relationship as it pertains to advanced weaponry?

WALSH: Well, maybe. They have cooperated in past years on missiles, but allegations that they have cooperated on nuclear that have ever been confirmed by any authority, government or international authority?

I really think they are very different countries on very different paths. They have chosen different paths. I mean, North Korea has nuclear weapons. Iran doesn't. Iran signed this nuclear deal because it is going to expand its relations and come out of its isolation.

North Korea is headed into the opposite direction, trying to bully its way to respect. I think those are very different glide paths.

WHITFIELD: Jim Walsh, always good to see you. Happy New Year since this is the first time we have seen each other. WALSH: Happy New Year to you as well.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much.

WALSH: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, next, a Muslim woman escorted out of a Trump event after standing up in silent protest. Coming up, she tells us what people at the rally said to her as she was leaving.

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WHITFIELD: A cheering crowd at a Donald Trump rally in South Carolina turned ugly last night after a Muslim woman stood up in silent protest.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know the game. I know the game very well and these people will come in.

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[11:45:14]

WHITFIELD: So the ugly moment wasn't her standing up. The ugly moment was the response and then being escorted out. This disruption happened as Trump suggested that Syrian refugees are affiliated with ISIS.

Trump supporters started booing, chanting and jeering as she was escorted out, being taken up the stairs. Occasionally you see some people were saying something to her.

The woman wearing the hajab, her name is Rosa Hamid, and moments after getting kicked out, she spoke with CNN about why she was there and what people were actually saying to her along the way being escorted out there.

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ROSA HAMID, KICKED OUT OF TRUMP RALLY: I don't know if he really knows what Muslims stand for. I don't even think he believes in the rhetoric that he is spewing. I think he is just saying stuff to get attention and to get his numbers up.

My purpose for going there, as was mentioned, was that I have the sincere belief that if people get to know each other one-on-one, that they will stop being afraid of each other and we will be able to get rid of all this hate in the world literally.

So that was really my goal is to let people see that Muslims are not that scary. The people around me were lovely. There were people who were very nice, sharing their popcorn. It was very nice people all around me, the people I had conversations with. But then, what happened when the crowd got this hateful crowd mentality as I was being escorted. It was really quite telling and a vivid example of what happens when you start using this hateful rhetoric and how it can incite a crowd.

This one guy was saying, get out, get out. Do you have a bomb? I said, no, do you have a bomb? They were saying ugly things. One guy was saying, God is great.

And another said Jesus loves you and I said, yes, and Jesus loves you too. People don't know what they are saying. They just get riled up in the hatemongering. They don't even know what they are saying.

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WHITFIELD: The Council on American Islamic Relations, the nation's largest Muslim civil rights group, wants a public apology from Donald Trump.

All right, that's not the only controversy surrounding Trump. This week, he has been going after Hillary Clinton and bringing up her husband's infidelities.

CNN investigations correspondent, Chris Frates, is following that part of the race for the White House.

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LENA DUNHAM, CLINTON SUPPORTER: The way that she's been treated is just more evidence of the fact that our country has so much hatred towards successful women and inability to separate their accomplishments from that of powerful men.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIONS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lena Dunham, creator of the HBO "Showgirls" taking what sounds like a veiled swipe at Donald Trump who is relentlessly attacking Hillary Clinton for her husband's sex scandals, a strategy of guilt by association, on Instagram.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Women's rights are human rights, and human rights are women's rights once and for all! Let's keep fighting for opportunity and dignity.

FRATES: On the stump.

TRUMP: And she wants to accuse me of things and the husband's one of the great abusers of the world? Give me a break. Give me a break.

FRATES: And on Twitter. "I hope bill Clinton starts talking about women's issues so that voters can see what a hypocrite he is and how Hillary abused those women. The worst thing Hillary could do is have her husband campaign for her. Just watch."

A state Republican lawmaker even got it on the act heckling Clinton about her husband's sexual improprieties at a New Hampshire campaign event. CLINTON: You are very rude and I'm not going to ever call on you. Thank you.

FRATES: Bill Clinton says he won't fire back unless Trump becomes the GOP nominee.

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have no response. If he wins the Republican nomination, we'll have plenty of time to talk about it. I have no interest in getting involved in their politics. I have nothing except trying to help Hillary.

FRATES: Trump says he went on the offensive after Hillary Clinton called him sexist, but admitted that if his attacks start hurting him with women voters he'd back off.

TRUMP (via telephone): I hit him pretty hard and maybe they won't be attacking me anymore because I am somebody that has great respect for women, believe me, and I'll do a great job far better for women than Hillary will ever do for women. But I certainly can tone it down. There's no question about that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FRATES: So the attacks are good politics for Trump. He is trying to hobble Bill Clinton just as Clinton takes to the campaign trail to make his wife's case. Clinton bashing is very popular with Republican primary voters who deeply dislike the Clinton.

Now it's a much different story on the Democratic side where Clinton's rivals are largely avoiding the subject. In fact, on Friday in Iowa, Bernie Sanders told a town hall that the race should be focused on the issues, not what he called, Bill Clinton's disgraceful behavior -- Fred.

[11:50:07]WHITFIELD: All right, Chris Frates, thank you so much. The race heating up in a very different way. Boy, do we have quite a few months to go. We just lost that signal with Chris Frates to make sure he is OK.

All right, straight ahead, the documentary series, "Making A Murderer" is hugely popular on Netflix right now. Hear what the directors say on whether they think the main character is guilty or innocent next.

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WHITFIELD: The filmmakers of "Making A Murderer" are talking about their Netflix hit. The true crime saga follows Steven Avery, who was sent to prison for 18 years for rape before being exonerated by DNA.

Then after his release, Avery faces trouble with the law again, this time for a murder. Two young filmmakers spent ten years following Avery's story.

Joining me now is senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter. So Brian, you actually spoke with the filmmakers. What do they tell you? BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: This has been such a sensation, Fredricka. I think the bottom line for a story like this is you hear about a trial, you hear about a case, you hear about a conviction, you think you know the story.

But these filmmakers suggest you have no idea what really happened. They spent ten years documenting this and then they created a ten-hour series about it. If you watch the series, you come away pretty convinced that this man did not get a fair trial.

That he was convicted unfairly and maybe, maybe he's innocent. I asked them if they believe he's innocent. Here's what they said.

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LAURA RICCIARDI, "MAKING A MURDERER" DIRECTOR: We did not reach a conclusion. That was really of no consequence to us. We were not concerned with whether or not Steven Avery has committed this crime.

What we were there to do was to document the process and to really question whether Steven, when he was pulled back into the system was entering the same system that failed him in 1985 or stepping back into a system that had made meaningful progress over the intervening 20 years.

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STELTER: That's not a very satisfying answer to people who have seen this ten-hour series and who believe that now Steven Avery is innocent.

[11:55:06]There's so much debate going about this online, Fredricka, Reddit message boards, and Twitter, Facebook pages, all pouring over the evidence.

Some people suggesting there should be a new trial in this case. I think what it shows is this new genre of true crime. Whether it's the jinx on HBO last year or the podcast serial or Netflix series, it's exploring the criminal justice system more broadly.

It's making people think about whether the system is fair to people like Steven Avery. I think that's why these new shows have caught on so much.

WHITFIELD: It is fascinating and then I wonder what it speaks to in terms of like a Netflix, other outlets where people who are, you know, starving to get more information, starving for other options in being able to be entertained but at the same time thought-provoking stories that are eliciting incredible change and conversations.

STELTER: Yes, they're more than who done it stories. There's lots of that kind of programs and it has existed for a long time. But I think these current series, whether it's the jinx or serial or making a murderer, others like these, they go a step further and they are thought-provoking and while at the same time they are suspenseful. It's strange to talk about spoiler alerts when you're talking about a true crime, a true life story. But you know, that's the situation when you're watching something like this. It actually happened but it's presented in a whole new life.

People like Nancy Grace who I have on "RELIABLE SOURCES" tomorrow, they say Netflix has caused a miscarriage of justice here by presenting a biased tilted story. That's why it's nice to see so many people going online, doing more research, trying to find out more information after watching this series on Netflix.

But it does go to show how media is changing. When these filmmakers went to Wisconsin to do this in 2005, Netflix was just a DVD by mail business.

There was no such thing as online streaming video and there was no such thing as binge viewing, but the world has changed a whole lot in the last ten years.

WHITFIELD: Right, people are not looking for big production companies to back them anymore. They're finding other ways in which to get the message out or get the story out. Brian, thank you so much.

We'll be watching you tomorrow with more on this interview on "RELIABLE SOURCES" tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll be right back with more NEWSROOM after this.

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