muslims special i.d. cards listing their religion and potentially creating a database to track all muslims living in the u.s. [ inaudible ] there should be a lot of systems beyond databases. we should have a lot of systems. today, you can do it. but right now, we have to have a border. we have to have strength, we have to have a wall, and we cannot let what s happening to this country happen. reporter: the gop front-runner today tweeting he didn t suggest a database, but still not dismissing the idea as some of trump s rivals have done. we don t need division in america. we need to be united. you talk about closing mosques, you talk about registering people, that s just wrong. reporter: even ted krouz, in a rare break with trump the first amendment protects religious liberty and i ve spent
all right, since the terror attacks in paris one week ago, the fight against isis has become a major election issue in the u.s., but it s what some of the candidates are saying that is fueling a debate about the fight on terror and how the u.s. should deal with refugees. our sunlen serfati is following that story. very simply, we can t take them, folks. we can t take them. reporter: it s a debate roiling in the republican party. how to handle the resettlement of syrian refugees in the wake of the paris attacks. donald trump drawing a hard line, refusing to take any option off the table to protect the u.s., including closing some mosques in the u.s., issuing muslims special i.d. cards, listing their religion, and potentially creating a database to register and track all muslims living in the u.s.
joining me now, colonel lawrence wilkerson, former chief of staff for the state department under general colin powell. a distinguished professor of government and public policy at the college of william and mary. colonel, your reaction to the kind of rhetoric that we re hearing from the gop field. trump talking about, well, not ruling out data bases or special i.d. cards as comparison to rabid dogs, talking about only letting christian refugees in. what s your response to all that? it doesn t surprise me, chris, especially coming from the more or less right-wing palaver of the republican party and the people who are speaking to that wing. but it does disturb me. it s very dangerous talk. it s the kind of talk that surrounded the internment of the japanese, who were loyal to a fault to this country at the beginning of our participation in world war ii. we put them in concentration camps essentially. it s the kind of talk that s extremely dangerous. it s the kind of talk that plays r
websites and social media sites they say encourage terrorism. also the power to immediately place people under house arrest if they are considered by the state a sufficient risk. also provisions not yet activated to ensure control of the press and radio. as the french political system processes the attacks and france takes a notably hard line on security back home in the u.s. the combination of the attacks and the gop campaign has ratcheted up the rhetoric to new levels. the candidate who s been the most vocal in his fear-based rhetoric, donald trump, seems to have benefited the most. trump is now up by 19 points over his nearest rival ben carson in a national tracking poll. widening his lead by four points since a week ago. trump leads in the two latest new hampshire polls. the candidate today was asked by a reporter a variety of ideas, from closing mosques to special i.d. cards for muslims, which trump would not rule out. we re going to have to we re going to have to look at a lot
religious test for syrian refugees. and gop front-runners today wouldn t rule out i.d. cards for muslims in the u.s., special i.d. cards. the mood in the country as many people have been noting in terms of the political discussion, the media coverage, is strikingly similar to the years after 9/11. the years that gave us a war on terror and brought us into the iraq war. joining me now, former congressman, cnbc contributor barney frank, who voted against the resolution authorizing military force against iraq in 2002. congressman frank, the reason i wanted to talk to you is because i am struck by the fact that i have not heard the american sort of political rhetoric sounding like this in 13 years. how does it strike you? oh, it s much worse than it was back then, chris. there is a degree of racism and viciousness. give george bush credit. you and i were not his supporters. but he, right after 9/11, said this is not all muslims. he spoke out in defense of mosques. this is far worse.