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Terrorist Possibly Escaped to Syria; ISIS Reissues Threat Urging Followers to Kill; U.S. a No-Show at Paris Unity March; AirAsia Flight Exploded After Hitting Water

Aired January 12, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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


CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Now, back in France, John Kerry will be there Thursday after much of the world stood with the French four days before that on Sunday. You're looking at leaders from just about every western democracy hand-in-hand. John Kerry, other U.S. big officials not there. But it was an extraordinary show of support, to be sure.

We have been covering this at CNN from all angles from the beginning. Right now, John Berman is live from Paris with the latest -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, Chris.

Just a short time ago, the prime minister of France, Manuel Valls, he said that Amedy Coulibaly, the man who staged that attack on the kosher supermarket, that he had an accomplice. So who was this accomplice? Was it his girlfriend, his partner, Hayat Boumeddiene? Well, we have reason to believe this morning that she may already be in Syria.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (voice-over): The most wanted woman by France this morning, 26-year-old Hayat Boumeddiene. Armed and dangerous, police say she is the girlfriend and suspected accomplice of Amedy Coulibaly, the terrorist who killed four people during the siege on the kosher market and is believed to be connected to the Koauchi brothers.

A Turkish news agency reports Boumeddiene arrived in Syria last Thursday. Clues to her whereabouts possibly found in Coulibaly's hideout on the outskirts of Paris.

RTL, a French radio station, reports investigators discovered ISIS flags, automatic weapons, detonators and cash in the apartment rented by the terrorists.

This as the investigation continues as to who, if anyone, supported and financed last week's three-day terror rampage that left 17 people dead.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The nature of that attack showed a degree of professionalism that no lone wolf could have carried out, we believe.

BERMAN: In this video, Coulibaly swears allegiance to ISIS. It was posted online before the attack on the kosher market.

Another chilling message was captured by a French reporter who called Coulibaly during the siege. He recorded the whole conversation, even after Coulibaly thought he had hung up the phone.

AMEDY COULIBALY, TOOK HOSTAGES IN KOSHER MARKET: (SPEAKING IN A FOREGIN LANGUAGE)

BERMAN: The U.S. is investigating whether the "Charlie Hebdo" attackers received orders from AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. U.S. and French officials say at least one of the brothers slipped off for terror training in Yemen.

ERIC HOLDER, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY GENERAL: AQAP remains the most dangerous of the al Qaeda cells, the al Qaeda organizations; and we are constantly focused on them.

BERMAN: But U.S. and French authorities say they do not have enough evidence to directly link AQAP or ISIS to any of the Paris attacks. Attacks that sent some 3.7 million people into the streets around France Sunday, marching with an overwhelming show of solidarity and defiance against terrorism. Heads of state and dignitaries from all over the world arm-in-arm, some with clear division: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas united on the front lines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (on camera): That video you saw of Amedy Coulibaly, did he have help filming it? Did someone post it online after he died? That's just one reason the French authorities now think it's possible that he did have an accomplice to carry this out.

One other key question they're looking into this morning: What about the rocket-propelled grenade launchers the Kouachi brothers had? What did they want to do with it? They didn't use it here behind me at "Charlie Hebdo." Did they have plans with it? Authorities asking right now. Maybe that's why they were headed to the airport. Maybe they intended to try to shoot down an airplane or at least stage some kind of -- some kind of spectacular event there -- Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, John, thanks so much for the update from the ground there.

Back at home, police in New York and other major U.S. cities urged to stay on alert after a repeated call from ISIS to kill officers, soldiers and civilians. The threat specifically targets the U.S., France, Australia and Canada. Our coverage continues with justice correspondent Pamela Brown. She's live in Washington.

What do we know about these threats, Pamela?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, it appears that this is a move by ISIS to seize on the momentum right after the Paris attacks, ISIS releasing another propaganda video over the weekend, once again calling on believers to target soldiers, law enforcement, intelligence officials and civilians, particularly in Europe, America, Australia and Canada.

And in light of this, the NYPD put out a city-wide notice to police. And the FBI sent out another bulletin reminding officers to stay vigilant against attacks.

This follows another warning from the FBI in the wake of the terrorist attacks, highlighting the fact it appears the suspects had formal training. So while AQAP has claimed responsibility for directing the attacks, as we heard in John Berman's piece there, U.S. officials, including Attorney General Eric Holder told CNN's Gloria Borger the U.S. government hasn't determined that.

Holder is in Paris meeting with top European officials -- he did that over the weekend -- on how to combat this problem better through information sharing. And the fact that these decentralized smaller scale and harder to detect operations like we saw in Paris are driven, in some measure, mainly by al Qaeda and ISIS, really is the face -- the new face of terrorism -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Pamela Brown, thanks so much for that update.

While the world went to Paris for an unprecedented show of solidarity, but the U.S. leaders were essentially no-shows at Sunday's unity march. The Obama administration now responding to criticism and dispatching Secretary of State John Kerry later this week and announcing a summit to address Islamic extremism next month.

CNN's Michelle Kosinski is live at the White House for us. Why didn't they send anyone, Michelle?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We asked that question, too. I mean, Secretary Kerry called it quibbling to question why no administration officials were there, even though there were dozens of world leaders at that march. He said he would have gone had he not previously scheduled important meetings in India.

But we asked this question to the White House repeatedly when we heard about the march last week: who is going and if no one from the White House is going, then why not? But they simply would not answer the question.

Finally, over the weekend, they did give some information, not really answering that question, but saying that there were embassy staff in attendance, that the president has been engaged fully with the French throughout this; and to keep in mind, there are serious security concerns when the president attends something like this.

And yes, there were similar questions surrounding this summit that was planned for back in October on countering violent extremism at home. It just kind of never happened. And over and over again, we asked the White House, whatever happened to that summit? Is it going to be planned sometime soon? And they just wouldn't say anything about it.

But now, over the weekend, suddenly, they did announce that they're going to hold this summit in mid-February, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Michelle, thanks so much for that update.

CUOMO: All right, now the situation in the U.S. sending someone there, that's fairly obvious. And it will be dealt with, for what it is. But there's a lot to understand here that is still unknown. So let's bring in CNN chief national correspondent Jim Sciutto and CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour.

Thanks to both of you.

CAMEROTA: Christiane, just to quickly wrap this up on the political -- on the political note, was this a huge faux pas that the U.S. did not send a top official to lock arms with other world leaders at this march?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's certainly becoming that because of the criticism and the complaints that have been leveled. And, look, we haven't heard any criticism or any upset from the French government themselves. But people are, mostly in the American press, talking about it. So, clearly the White House is having to respond to it.

I mean, the fact that Secretary Kerry is coming here Thursday certainly doesn't make up for nobody being here on Sunday. But many people were incredibly pleased on Wednesday of last week when this attack happened, the direct intervention by Secretary of State Kerry in French. That really did show, for them here, a sense of solidarity.

But clearly, this has become a political storm, and people have noticed it. It has been talked about. And now the White House is having to react.

CUOMO: Right. And look -- and nobody dedicated the resources to help the French during this situation the way the U.S. did, and the friendship is cemented. We know that. But it's just something that requires comment and criticism. Christiane, thanks for that point.

Now Jim, help me with something. There was a big point of curiosity and confusion when this was going on. "Charlie Hebdo," they thought there was a third person there. What's what happened with that? With the kosher grocery, there -- as you know, Jim, and you were reporting, a lot of people on the way out were saying he does have an accomplice in there. What happened with that? Because we know if there was somebody at "Charlie Hebdo," it wasn't that kosher grocer terrorist, because he said, himself, he wasn't there. Is there anything to that now?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, listen, as with so many parts of this investigation, it's still an open question. The French prime minister today opening an interesting possibility by saying they believe that the third gunman, Coulibaly, did have an accomplice but didn't specify if the accomplice -- he was talking about an accomplice on the day of the attack or an accomplice in preparation for the attack, which could then include his partner, wife, Hayat Boumeddiene, who we know left France for Turkey and then on to Syria January 2, long before the attack -- attacks happened. I remember looking at that video of the two Kouachi brothers, as they

left "Charlie Hebdo" in the attacks on Wednesday, with experts and noticing a point there where they appeared to signal a third person as they were leaving the scene. Hard to say for sure, but there were certainly signs then that it was possible they were working with someone else. There was even talk that there had been a lookout or someone who drove them to the scene.

So it's still an open question. But remember, these are questions that the French may not know an answer to at this point. Because when the standoff was going on at the kosher market, the second attack, taking place -- taking place on Friday, the police were saying they thought it was still possible that Hayat Boumeddiene was inside that store.

CUOMO: Right.

SCIUTTO: So, you know, it's hard to track these people. I think it's still maybe a question for the French authorities as they try to figure it out.

CAMEROTA: And Christiane, as you know, there's the manhunt for the female accomplice. But I would imagine that French authorities are more concerned with whether or not there are still small cells of terrorists in Paris and throughout France waiting to do future attacks.

AMANPOUR: Well, it's interesting to note who exactly they are looking for. We all think it's the female whose picture was put out. But we're not sure whether that is the fourth person, the accomplice that's still on the loose, as Prime Minister Valls said today. And I'm going to be interviewing the prime minister in a few hours from now, and I'll most certainly put that question to him.

You know, he has already ordered massive new security all over France, thousands and thousands of more police. And the defense ministry has ordered thousands of military on the streets, including some 5,000 who will just be tasked with protecting the 700-plus Jewish schools around this country.

So they're putting out a huge amount of security out, presumably also of the danger of somebody still on the lam.

But I did speak to the leader of the French Muslim community here, director of the grand mosque here. And he said in no uncertain terms that their next task and their urgent task must be for a massive reform of Islam. And it's, he said, to eradicate this mutation that has allowed people to grab it and commit horrendous crimes, as he said, in the name of Islam. So they're calling for a major reform to remove politics from religion.

CUOMO: Right. And look, Jewish people there have been calling for more security for a long time. Muslim people there have been calling for better security in many of the impoverished areas where they are. So now, that will hopefully be addressed. Jim, quickly, how much of the concern of more of these fighter attacks

through this loosely organized cell there is coming back to be a part of the paranoia of the U.S. intel community in terms of what may happen here?

SCIUTTO: Well, U.S. intelligence community, counterterror community watching this very closely. They have nothing specific or credible tying new warnings, new risks in the U.S. to attacks that took place here. It's more the M.O., Chris. The concerns counterterrorism officials in the U.S. -- they're worried about copycat attacks. That's a real phenomenon.

They're particularly interested in the ties to AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, because to this point their primary M.O. have been sneaking explosives onto airplanes. If this is a new attack, a new style of attack to carry out in the U.S., that's something they want to look at.

But to be clear to our viewers, there is no specific intelligence leading American authorities to think that there are similar attacks planned. Today it's more the general threat. Which is something they are very conscious of. But they don't have something specific and credible about new attacks planned.

CUOMO: Important distinction. Jim Sciutto, Christiane Amanpour, you have been on it from the beginning, driving our understanding. Thank you very much.

A lot of other news, as well. Let's get to Michaela, because we have some breaking news.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: We do, indeed, breaking news in the search for 8501 in the AirAsia flight investigation, an official telling CNN the plane exploded after hitting the water. We learned this hours after the plane's black boxes were found. One of them has already been retrieved.

Let's go straight to David Molko. He's in Jakarta, Indonesia. And I understand there's conflicting theories. Some officials are disputing this claim of the explosion.

David, what do you know?

DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Michaela. That official saying, of course, the plane may have exploded when it hit the water. Search and -- I'm sorry, transportation investigators, though, saying it is premature to determine exactly what happened to Flight 8501.

Michaela, the good news, they now have the key to unlocking this mystery. That black box, the flight data recorder, is now here in Jakarta. Investigators saying it is in great shape. You can see that from the pictures. It doesn't look like it suffered any damage from fire, water, the impact.

The data, they're saying, from that flight data recorder should take about two or three days to be downloaded. A little bit more time than that to begin to piece together the puzzle.

Out in the Java Sea, the search for the cockpit voice recorder continuing, officials saying that they have 100 percent certainty they know where it is, but the underwater current is making it too difficult for divers to get down there and take a look.

The other big priority right now: to find the fuselage of the Airbus A-320. It's believed more than 100 of the passengers and crew are with that debris, still trapped in their seats. The families here making a plea: do not forget about us. Indonesia's president saying that the search-and-rescue effort will continue until all on board are brought home to their families -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: The most important part thanks, absolutely. David Molko, thanks for that update. We appreciate it. We'll continue to watch that.

Meanwhile, back here at home, investigators have released this sketch of the man they believe may have detonated a bomb in front of the Colorado Springs NAACP office. Investigators say he was in the area at the time. He was seen carrying something down an alley just before Tuesday's explosion. They also say he later returned to his truck empty-handed. There is a $10,000 reward now for information leading to an arrest.

Well, the stars were aligned in Hollywood last night. The 72nd annual Golden Globes. The ladies were in fine form. Director Richard Linklater's ground-breaking film, "Boyhood," took home three trophies, including Best Motion Picture Drama. Julianne Moore won the award for Best Drama Actress for her role in "Still Alice."

As for TV, networks kind of had a silent night. Voters went for more online options. For example, Amazon among the big winners with its series "Transparent" -- excellent, if you haven't checked it out -- taking Best Comedy and Best Actor for the show's star, Jeffrey Tambor.

Other big winners include Kevin Spacey for that show we all love so much, Actor in a Drama for "House of Cards."

And of course, it would not be an awards show without some must-see moments. Hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler poking some fun at the massive Sony cyberattack. Comedienne Margaret Cho joined in on the fun, channeling a suspicious North Korean journalist.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMY POEHLER, COMEDIAN: Hi, are you having a nice time? Can we get you anything?

I see you have your -- you brought your magazine with you. Do you want somebody to take a picture with you with your magazine?

MARGARET CHO, COMEDIAN: OK.

POEHLER: OK. Who do you want to take a picture?

OK. All right. She'll do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Meryl Streep is so fantastic. They were awesome. Amy and Tina were fantastic. There you go.

And of course, this week, we have the Oscar nominations being announced. We will be all over that.

CAMEROTA: I love watching the outfits, of course. Did you see J. Lo's?

CUOMO: No.

PEREIRA: He's lying.

CUOMO: He is lying through his big teeth.

Two things: one, why do you think that we're seeing this rush of all the new outlets' content getting preference over the networks? Do you think it's just because it's new, or do you think they're doing something different?

PEREIRA: Because we know that everybody carries these things. And, you know, we spend so much time online. It makes absolute sense.

CUOMO: You think that's what it is?

CAMEROTA: Yes, I just think it's novelty.

CUOMO: So my wife is on the pony (ph) in her ability to see who's going to win these things.

CAMEROTA: Is that right?

PEREIRA: Weird.

CUOMO: I've got to find a way to make some money off that.

CAMEROTA: Do that. Monetize that.

CUOMO: Monetize.

PEREIRA: It might be illegal. I'm not sure.

CUOMO: Is it?

PEREIRA: Pretty sure.

CUOMO: Forget what I said.

CAMEROTA: Let us know your comments. You can find us all on Twitter.

Back to one of our top stories, because New York City police are on high alert after ISIS reissues an old threat. We're talking to the NYPD deputy commissioner about all this, next. CUOMO: So you know the question. Everybody is asking it. Not just

us. Why didn't President Obama, Vice President Biden, John Kerry, who speaks French, as everybody keeps reminding, why weren't they there? Was it because it was organized too quickly for security concerns? Is that what it is? John King is going to take a look for an answer on "Inside Politics."

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CUOMO: All right. Welcome back to your NEW DAY.

Law enforcement across the country on high alert this morning after a new threat from ISIS, the terror group urging followers to rise up and, quote, "kill intelligence officers, police officers, soldiers and civilians."

Meanwhile, the head of Britain's top intelligence agency also warned last week that al Qaeda militants in Syria are planning mass casualty attacks against the west.

So let's figure out what's going on specifically here in New York City. We have New York police commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism, John Miller; also former FBI and Los Angeles Police Department official.

John, thank you, for coming on this show, as always.

JOHN MILLER, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER FOR INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERTERRORISM: Good morning.

CUOMO: Let's give the good news first, which is, one, not only are you uniquely prepared here, but there is not any new threat that's been articulated specifically to the U.S. or any other city that we know about. Is there?

MILLER: No, the New York City Police Department isn't aware of any credible direct threat against New York City.

CUOMO: All right. So when we talk about what this larger concern is about what's going on, when you look at what happened in France, certainly, it's different than what we've seen on several levels. Which ones matter to you?

MILLER: Well, the problem with what's happening in France is, if you're a city that has gone through a 9-11, if you've stopped a number of complex plots through the JTTF and New York City Police Department involving truck bombs and terrorist organizations, what you see in the Paris attacks is low-tech, low-cost, high yield.

What you also see with this renewed threat that you just mentioned is a call for a wider audience, through their Twitter capabilities, through their Internet reach, through their videos, to say, "We want more people to engage in low-tech, low-cost high-yield attacks, with whatever they can put together.

CUOMO: Now, this isn't some jackass with a bomb strapped to their chest. These guys went and got trained. Does that make it easier to detect who this pool of potentials are? Or is it just simply too difficult to track everybody who goes to Yemen or some hot-bed zone?

MILLER: I think the challenge that they're tracking in France right now is that these people were on their radar on one level or another, particularly the older brother, and -- and had been the subject of terrorism cases and emerging again.

One of the things I feel for them is you can watch people all the time, but you can't watch all the people all the time who are on your suspect list. Nobody has that kind of surveillance resource.

And the second thing is just because you're suspicious of them doesn't mean you can detain them, arrest them or anything else, in some cases.

CUOMO: They have very rigorous personal liberty laws there, you know, even more so than here. Do you think that the United States, specifically New York, is better suited to deal with this threat than what we saw in Paris?

MILLER: I think New York City, based on what Commissioner Ray Kelly built before Commissioner Bratton was here, and based on what we've continued -- based upon what we've continued on top of, as a capability within the municipal police department that is singular in terms of band width.

We also have the joint terrorism task force with the FBI, which is the first and largest JTTF in the country. So it doesn't mean we don't run up against the same challenges. It means we have a few more layers to go against them.

CUOMO: And oI remember many years ago -- you may not even remember -- all of you should remember that John Miller interview, Osama bin Laden, when people were just trying to figure out who he was. I remember you saying to me, "You know what? When it comes to these terror groups, there's not one; there is many. But someday, there might wind up just being one."

That's proven to be prophetic, John, because we see that these groups are starting, one, to compete with each other. But that may wind up leading to some kind of unholy alliance, can it?

MILLER: Let's take a look at Paris. Because what you've just raised is perhaps the most complicated and maybe fascinating wrinkle of these tragic attacks.

You have two guys who apparently trained with Yemen and may have trained with AQAP, which is al Qaeda's top external operations arm, so that in and of itself is extraordinarily significant. It means it's an attack ordered by al Qaeda, if those facts pan out.

At the same time, you have a supporting element in the form of another individual who shoots a police officer, who then turns up the next day, having split police resources at a time of crisis, invades the supermarket, takes hostages. Guy is in a shootout. And he's saying on video and in a statement says he's with ISIL or the Islamic State in Syria.

So you have two competing terrorist organizations whose followers seem to morph together in a way that you've just described. And that's a very bad sign.

CUOMO: Something that hadn't been on the radar as much. Obviously, we're distracted be Paris. The machete attack, what do you make of that, when you look at that situation. Talk about low-tech, high yield.

MILLER: I think you have to look no further than New York City when you see, you know, those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.

And this message that ISIS or ISIL put out on Saturday is very similar to a message it put out in mid-September. Within a month of that message, we had an individual named Hadir attack the police in a police briefing in Australia. It was followed a few days later by an individual named Martin Rouleau, who drove a truck into soldiers in Canada.

Two days later, a man named Bibeau invaded the parliament there with a rifle. The next day here, in New York City, an individual named Zale Thompson attacked Police Officer Healey and his partners with a hatchet. He had made 270 visits to jihadist websites.

So you see that -- let me qualify this, and we don't have any direct evidence that Zale Thompson or anybody else read that ISIS message. What we do have, forensic evidence, is that they, in Thompson's case, had over 270 searches of those websites that would have led him to that message.

So we don't take these messages likely. It's more than propaganda. It's a call to arms, and some people are following.

CUOMO: We're seeing it. It's not just what happened just now in Paris, you know. In recent weeks and months, they had two different individuals drive into people, trying to kill them. They were both acting, they said, in the cause of jihad, and then they had just someone who was not in their right mind walk into a police station and try to stab as many people as they could.

So it's no surprise that the threat is out there. It's just trying to stay one step ahead. And that's why we're lucky we have you.

THOMPSON: We have our work cut out for us. Thanks for having me.

CUOMO: We certainly do. Thanks for being here.

Over to you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Chris, thanks so much.

Remember when Mitt Romney said he was definitely not running for president? Remember that? Well, apparently, Romney does not. John King will tell us what this means for the 2016 presidential race, "Inside Politics."

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