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CNN NEWSROOM
12 Dead After Terrorist Shooting in Paris
Aired January 7, 2015 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's continue on to the second hour.
Top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Assassins and cowards, that is what French President Francois Hollande has called these masked men who burst into the offices of a satirical magazine in Paris this morning and opened fire armed with what is believed to be submachine guns. They were heard, according to eyewitnesses, shouting, "We have avenged the prophet."
Bystanders filming the whole thing mostly from nearby rooftops. Watch. We now know a dozen people are dead, including the publication's editor and top cartoonist, who made a living, as we have been discussing, out of lampooning all religions. But it appears that this attack is in retaliation for cartoons about Islam.
Two police officers were also killed and this graphic video showing the moment one of them lying wounded -- we have blurred it for you on the bottom right of your screen -- was shot in the head. We also know 11 people are wounded, four of them critically. As for gunmen, they left, they sped off.
According to Paris prosecutor, they engaged in multiple shoot-outs with police. They then continued into another district of Paris, where they ditched their original car, got into another one and for now the manhunt for these terror suspects continues.
Joining me live from Paris, Atika Shubert, along with Frederik Pleitgen at the rally in Paris.
But, Atika, let me just begin with you. No one knows where these men are, two, possibly three. Do police have any leads?
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this point, they are asking for witnesses to come forward, anybody who was near the scene that might have seen something, not only at the site of the offices, which is just behind those buildings there.
This is the closest police will let us get to the scene of the attack, but also in the 19th arrondissement. That is where the gunmen took their getaway vehicle, that black Citroen you see in those videos, drove it the 19th arrondissement, and ditched it there and hijacked another vehicle. So police are asking anyone who might have seen this other vehicle
where it was going, trying to sort of follow the tracks of where these gunmen have gone. So far, however, they have not made any public announcements about any new developments of where they are or who these gunmen might be.
We have seen forensics teams coming through the site of the attack and of course in that vehicle they are looking for clues as to who these guys are and where they are going to -- Brooke.
BALDWIN: That's what we know so far.
Fred, let me just pivot to you, because we have just been stunned by these images coming out of Paris tonight, 9:00 your time. As we have seen now, thousands of people peacefully protesting with pens, symbols of freedom of speech.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. This is a very respectful protest, Brooke, and also one that I have to say is very remarkable.
As you said, this is a protest for freedom of speech and in support of that satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo." And what these people here behind me are screaming, they're screaming, "We are 'Charlie Hebdo.'"
As you said, there has been that hashtag that was created on Facebook and on Twitter saying "Je suis 'Charlie Hebdo.'" These are the kinds of things that these people here are screaming. One of the interesting things that they are doing as well is they holding these moments of silent where they hold pens into the air to show that the pen will not be silenced by the tragic events that happened here today.
There's a lot of talk here of liberty, a lot of people saying that liberty will not be infringed upon by these tragic events. And one of the things that I find very remarkable about the protest that is happening here right now that I would say has about 10,000 people here on the Place de la Republique is that there is no anti-Muslim sentiment whatsoever here.
You have a lot of people here from France's, from Paris' Muslim community who are demonstrating side by side with the folks here. And a lot of them actually have drawn that symbol, that "I am 'Charlie Hebdo'" symbol, that -- those letters in Arabic to show that they are also demonstrating that this is not happening in the name of Islam, but that in fact these people were acting well outside any sort of guidelines of that sort.
This is a very positive protest, considering that these tragic events really are only several hours away, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Incredibly compelling images cot out from Paris and even beyond there in France. Frederik Pleitgen, thank you. And my thanks to Atika Shubert there close to that scene as well.
Their jobs didn't involve weapons, but the satirists at "Charlie Hebdo" knew how dangerous their work was. They knew. Take a look at this wanted poster. This is from the pages of a March 2013 issue of al Qaeda's magazine, "Inspire," and the title -- as they have posted photographs of these different editors and cartoonists, the title, "Most Wanted Dead or Alive for Crimes Against Islam."
And center-right, this is Stephane Charbonnier. He's known as Charb, also the editor of this magazine. He along with three of his colleagues were killed in today's massacre.
Let me bring in our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, and CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank.
Christiane, first you. I know you have interviewed, you know some of these cartoonists. But actually off the top, I wanted to ask you about Francois Hollande, the president of France, because at the top of the last hour we heard him not mince words talking about continuing to defend this freedom of speech, of course, mentioning tomorrow is a national day of mourning there in France, but saying that peace and justice is under attack. What did you make of his message?
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He was clearly trying to galvanize a traumatized nation. This has been a huge shock. It's the worst terror attack in Europe in a decade. It's been a very, very big shock as you can imagine not just in Paris, but also around Western Europe and particularly, of course, in all the journalistic profession.
There's a real sense of solidarity. There's a real sense of -- as Bernard-Henri Levy put it to me, who is the French journalist, writer and public intellectual, that this wasn't a terror attack. This was an execution, that these people came to this newspaper because of what it had done in the past and called and singled people out and shot them execution-style.
We saw at least them do that to one of the police on the sidewalk, while we don't have video of what happened inside the building. This is a terrible, terrible moment. Charb, or Stephane Charbonnier, the editor and senior cartoonist, has been quoted in the past as saying, look, only those who want to be shocked will be shocked. He said I don't believe that I am endangering anybody with my pen. It's only the activists and way they react that is the danger and the deadly danger.
That was his position about that. I think this will potentially galvanize people to make sure that in some ways "Charlie" in some ways continues and this -- well, the marches and the presence in solidarity, as Frederik Pleitgen was just reporting, they are saying we are "Charlie" today.
BALDWIN: Right, trending hashtag #JeSuisCharlie.
Paul Cruickshank, you are looking at all of the videos and what we saw from eyewitnesses taken from rooftops near this magazine building this morning in Paris. And we're getting a little bit more of a sense of what happened just sort of almost on a superficial level. The single shots, the marksmanship from some of these gunmen, not just spraying with bullets, but single shots -- they spoke perfect French.
They wore masks, full top to bottom in black. What do all of those signs tell you? Anything?
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, there seems to be a certain amount of sophistication that they had, Kalashnikovs.
But it appears these two fighters didn't know where the offices of this newspaper were, that they had to go next door first. There's also some signs of some amateurishness here as well. It's not clear whether this is like an al Qaeda or ISIS A-team sent back or whether this is just a lone wolf terrorist attack inspired by ISIS or al Qaeda.
We don't really have enough information to point us any further yet, Brooke.
BALDWIN: Are you surprised, Paul, that no one has stepped forward and claimed responsibility yet?
CRUICKSHANK: It's very, very early. The attack just happened a few hours ago.
There have been various claims put out by various people on Twitter. I think we are being very cautious about those so far. There has been no formal claim of responsibility from al Qaeda or ISIS through their official spokesmen yet. If there are claims, they could come in the next hours or days. ISIS particularly are very quick on getting claims out.
And I think if it is them, there could be a lot of propaganda that they could put out. Remember, there are 400 French nationals fighting in Syria and Iraq right now; 200 have actually returned to France from fighting in Syria and Iraq. I think one of the concerns is, these gunmen could have perhaps learned how to kill people in Syria and Iraq, but too early to tell yet.
BALDWIN: OK.
Christiane, we also heard earlier in the day from President Hollande saying that authorities had indeed thwarted multiple attacks in recent weeks on this magazine and France is now on its highest alert. You talked a moment ago about the last time there was any kind of terror attack in France, but, truly, big picture, how unprecedented is this?
AMANPOUR: Well, it's very, very difficult to find an equivalent to what just happened.
It's the biggest terrorist attack in Europe, not just in France, since 2005, since the attack in Britain on the public services. Also, it is specifically different than that attack, because in the past, as we have been reporting, there have been attacks on military targets, for instance, or on public services, on civilians in countries that extremists blamed for joining the war against Iraq or whatever it might have been. This was very different. They went straight to a newspaper, a
satirical newspaper that is known over the last many, many years for taking this stance. And, again, as the newspaper said and as they said to me when I interviewed them about this, we don't intend to insult. That's not our job. We're doing is just poking fun of the absurd and the absurd exists on these fringes and in the extremes of these targets that we attack.
That's basically what's happened today. That's been very, very damaging, of course, to many members of the journalistic profession all around, because people are very worried about what happens next. How does one continue doing your job in this environment that's incredibly difficult to navigate right now?
BALDWIN: But to your point a few minutes ago, perhaps it will have this galvanizing effect.
AMANPOUR: Yes.
BALDWIN: Christiane Amanpour and Paul Cruickshank, thank you both.
Next, freedom of speech under attack not just in today's tragedy, but recent ones as well. We will discuss that. Plus, we're getting new information about that getaway car and that apparent signal, a wave of a hand that one of the gunmen gave during that escape.
Stay with me. This is CNN's special live coverage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.
Want to take you back to our breaking coverage here out of Paris, 9:16 local time there in Paris, 12 people killed in this office of this satirical magazine, 11 more wounded, we're told four in serious condition, and a manhunt under way at this hour for these three suspects.
If the attack was an attempt to intimidate the French, it was a spectacular failure, because let me show you these pictures tonight here. The nation may be mourning the victims here, but also rallying to the cause of free speech, holding "Je Suis Charlie," "I am Charlie," holding up pens, symbols of freedom of speech, showing they will not be bullied by these terrorists.
Massive crowds gathering there this evening in Paris and beyond. Many people carrying those signs, as we just showed you, all referencing this magazine where this massacre occurred, this cowardly, cowardly massacre, the word used both by the president of the United States and the president of France.
Let's have a bigger discussion now with our CNN political commentator and national security editor at TheBlaze.com Buck Sexton and CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor for Quartz Bobby Ghosh.
Welcome to both of you. Lots and lots to talk about. I think let's begin with the target.
Bobby, this was not a military target. This was an office that clearly had been targeted before. They were well aware they had targets essentially on their backs. There were wanted signs of them in "Inspire" magazine. What do you make of the soft target of a magazine office?
BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Look, this is not a statement about French foreign policy. This is not a protest or retaliation against French participation, let's say, in Afghanistan or in Mali more recently.
This is very clearly an attack on a soft target. They didn't pick a military target. They didn't pick a government target. Not only that. They didn't pick on this soft target when it used to be harder, when there were police guards around that office. They picked it because it was soft and especially vulnerable at this time.
They picked it on a Wednesday, the day the issue, one issue closes and the staff gathers to plan for the next issue. This is a small magazine. Most of its staff actually work from home. On any other day, there would be a much smaller turnout in the office. They picked this day. There's a lot of very careful planning, just based on circumstantial evidence. There's a lot of very careful planning that went into this.
BALDWIN: We know there were firebombs November 2011. Therefore, the police protection over the last couple years, we heard from the French president, President Hollande, saying today even attacks were thwarted in recent weeks.
You say, Buck Sexton, it was a matter of time.
BUCK SEXTON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's only a matter of time. This sort of attack was an inevitable.
What we have seen so far, because there's been a surge over the past year, into the new year, of attacks that were more lone wolf. It was an individual who radicalized on instructions from the Islamic State or from one of the al Qaeda affiliates or al Qaeda itself. And what we see now is the next level, which is essentially more of a Mumbai- style attack, going back to the horrific attack in Mumbai, where you had commandos who were trained, who had done at least some surveillance of this site beforehand.
They were familiar with some of the individuals inside. It was only a matter of time, because they said they were going to do this. They have been trying to recruit people specifically from Western countries like France. And they have been doing it successful, I might add, for the Islamic State, as well as for al Qaeda affiliates.
Now this -- I think what we're seeing here is what we could have expected, we should have expected this. And the problem is, it's very difficult to protect against this. As was pointed out, it's a soft target, not in response -- another important point -- not in response to anything the U.S. has done in the region or the West has done in the region. This was coming after the West on its home turf for cartoons.
BALDWIN: And this attack, just talking to an eyewitness a little while ago who was one of the first to go in the building and see the bodies and see blood, trying to move furniture and seeing even more bodies beneath that and knowing these people did this absolutely in cold blood.
When you think about the big question, where are they now, they were in one car. They ditched that car. They got in another car. They continued on. In Europe, it's very easy to pass borders, trains, buses, cars.
GHOSH: Yes, that's true. But there's also the other part of it.
If they are depending on local communities of other Muslims to protect them to hide in, well, then that's when they are most vulnerable, because European, particularly French and German law enforcement, have very strong ties to these communities. And they pride themselves. French intelligence in particular prides itself at its outreach and its ability to infiltrate fundamentalist groups.
These guys clearly slipped through that net. But now it's one thing to slip in, but to slip out again I suspect will be significantly harder, because now people are looking for them specifically.
SEXTON: I just want to say that the choice of target also sends two other messages.
One is that no matter how small -- this is not a well-known publication to the rest of the world. No matter how small you are, you could be a target of jihadist terrorism for exactly this, for insulting Islam or insulting the prophet. And on top of that, they have long memories.
They're doing this for what was done in the past, as well as what they think would be coming in the future. They want everyone to think that they're not safe under any circumstances.
BALDWIN: Buck Sexton and Bobby Ghosh, thank you both very much. Hope you're right. I hope they can find them.
American cities on alert right now as well, as police are beefing up security here at home. CNN just spoke with the chief of Homeland Security. You will hear what he says about fears of similar attacks in the United States.
Plus, as these three terrorists remain on the run, we have more on that getaway car and the forensics investigation. That piece of the puzzle is well under way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BALDWIN: Today's attack in Paris absolutely has resonated all around the world. And within minutes of those initial reports, President Barack Obama was getting briefed by his national security team. He said that the United States would absolutely give France any assistance it needs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have reached out to President Hollande of France and hope to have the opportunity to talk to him today.
But I thought it was appropriate for me to express my deepest sympathies to the people of Paris and the people of France for the terrible terrorist attack that took place earlier today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BALDWIN: We also know that President Obama has reached out to the French president regarding the tragedy.
CNN chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash joins me now from Capitol Hill.
And, Dana, I know you talked to Jeh Johnson, homeland security secretary, just a short time ago. What did he say?
DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It was very interesting, Brooke. He was here on Capitol Hill to meet with lawmakers more generally about the Homeland Security budget, which I will get to after I play what he said about this issue.
But he was very eager almost to talk about the fact that this incident, this attack in Paris, is really a wakeup call for those of us in the United States and around the world about the changing nature of threats. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEH JOHNSON, U.S. SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: It's becoming a more and more complex terrorist threat. It's evolving, in that there are more affiliates, adherents to core terrorists organizations and lone wolf actors, actors who may lurk within our society that could strike with little notice, commit an act of violence, because they have been inspired by things they see on the Internet, social media, in literature, without accepting a direct order from a command-and- command structure of a terrorist organization.
BASH: Mr. Secretary, are you considering raising the terror threat level in this country?
JOHNSON: We continually put out bulletins to state and local law enforcement. We continually put out information to state and local governments about what we are seeing in terms of homeland security threats.
That's something we do on a routine basis. And I'm sure we will be doing more of that in the short term in the coming days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Now, Brooke, I mentioned that he was here talking about the budget. That is something that's incredibly imperative to him.
He was talking about the changing threats. The Homeland Security Department is still operating on a budget that's several years old, because the until the end of last year, Congress has just been kicking the can down the road on all government agencies. They have passed a new bill that funds everything except for the Department of Homeland Security.
If you remember, it's because Republicans were kind of holding it in their back pocket to see if they wanted to use that funding to punish the president for his immigration executive action.
BALDWIN: Aha.
BASH: Well, this is actually coming due next month. And so the homeland security secretary said, look, we have got to get not just more funding, but new funding, because there are new priorities, given the nature of this threat and so many others that this department has to deal with.
BALDWIN: Dana Bash, thank you very much, our chief congressional correspondent in D.C.
We're, of course, following all of the latest developments out of Paris at this hour, the scene of the terror attack. We're also getting new information about some online chatter now from extremist sites. We will tell you what they're saying in the wake of this coming up.
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