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NEW DAY

Search for Accomplices in Paris Terror Attacks; U.S. Military Social Accounts Taken Over; Report: AirAsia Flight 8501 Fuselage Found; Woman Dies after Smoke Fills D.C. Train & Station

Aired January 13, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: France its highest alert this morning amid new terror threats.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As many as six suspects may be on the run.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The threat is accelerating quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to go after them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, the buddies of the four victims of the attack on the kosher grocery store are now in Israel.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": The U.S. military central command has been hijacked.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cyber is the new domain of warfare.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we're going to be connected, then we need to be protected.

ROMANS: Divers have located the main body of Airasia Flight 8501.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The pieces of this puzzle continuing to come together.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: I would be astonished if they did not get chapter and verse on what happened in that plane.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, January 13th, 6:00 in the east, Alisyn Camerota, Michaela Pereira and Chris Cuomo, all here for you. The headline from Paris this morning -- there may be more.

An intensifying search for additional members of the terror cell that carried out the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks, an "AP" report has French police saying they're looking for as many as six additional accomplices. That number is probably off, but here's the reality, much is still unknown and they know there are more involved.

And one other thing they know is what you're looking at right now. This video from Turkish officials shows the most wanted woman in the world at the airport in Istanbul before crossing into the badlands of Syria. And there's another "before" involved. Key info. This is from days before the attacks. So that ends speculation about her being at the kosher market or at the shooing of two police officers before it. But officials say she is still key to information about the terror cell there.

CAMEROTA: And now an al Qaeda offshoot in North Africa warning France that it will, quote, "pay the cost of its violence on Muslim countries."

Back here at home, the Department of Homeland Security stepping up security at federal buildings and enhancing screenings at airports.

Meanwhile, survivors of "Charlie Hebdo" magazine publishing their first issue just days after the massacre at their offices. On the cover, you see a weeping cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed, with the words "All is forgiven" and "je suis Charlie." Three million copies will hit newsstands tomorrow.

Let's begin our coverage with John Berman. He is live for us in Paris.

John, what's the latest.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course, Alisyn, I'm standing outside the offices of "Charlie Hebdo." They didn't put that magazine together here this time, because they can't get in those offices. So they used donations from other publications. They used office space from sort of the competitor to put this together.

And the trucks are rolling right now with those magazines. We should see them tonight, but certainly tomorrow morning they will hit the newsstand.

That comes with the word that French government believes there were accomplices. The prime minister told our Christiane Amanpour that they are on the hunt right now for people, at a minimum, involved with the operational planning and the finance of this pair of terror attacks in this country, amid concern that there could still be more plotting on the way.

And this comes with this unprecedented level of security across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (voice-over): France on its highest alert this morning amid new terror threats. Al Qaeda's North Africa branch, AQIM, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, released a statement on a jihadist website overnight, reading in part, "As long as its lame media continues to undermine our Prophet Mohammed, France will expose itself to the worst and more."

On the ground, a continuous show of force. Ten thousand French soldiers and 8,000 police on patrol across the country. This while the "Associated Press" reports up to six terror suspects involved in last week's terror rampage may still be at large.

Spokesmen for both the Paris prosecutor's office and the French national police expressed surprise at this report that cites unnamed French police.

FABRICE MAGNIER, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: All our security forces and intelligence agencies are now focused to track those guys, and now it's a race against the clock.

BERMAN: The search continues for the one confirmed suspect, the girlfriend of kosher grocery store attacker, Amedy Coulibaly. Coulibaly was on a U.S. terrorist database.

New surveillance video captures Hayat Boumeddiene with an unknown man at Turkish passport control after arriving at Istanbul's airport from Madrid five days before the Paris attacks. Unconfirmed tweets from jihadist groups say Boumeddiene is now in ISIS-controlled territories in Syria.

Meanwhile, as survivors heal, tales of heroism emerge from the three days of terror that left 17 people dead.

This man, a store clerk, hid hostages, including a 2-year-old child, in the freezer during the siege on the kosher market, possibly saving their lives.

And the magazine "Charlie Hebdo," its surviving cartoonists undeterred, will publish at least one million copies of a brand-new issue, hitting stands a week after their editorial meeting was so viciously attacked.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN (on camera): And just a few moments ago here in Paris, there was a very poignant memorial service for the three police officers, the men and women who were killed in the days of terror here in Paris. French leader Francois Hollande, he attended this service. It was very, very somber and, like I said, deeply moving in some ways. The French president said of these police officers, they died so that we may all live in freedom -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, John. Thank you very much for the report. You've got Jim Bitterman next to you. That will be helpful also.

Let's check off some of these big open questions. This A.P. report that some French police said they're looking for six, John. Our sources are saying the numbers probably a little bit getting out over the skis, but is the reality that they know these guys couldn't have done it alone? The question is who else is out there?

JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. I think what they're looking for is support troops. You know, how did these terrorists get their weapons? How did they get their money? How did they live? And who were they communicating with?

And, you know, as we saw in that still photo you showed at the very beginning of the program of Hayat Boumeddiene going through the immigration control in Turkey, there's somebody with her. So who is that person?

And so I think that there's a sort of a large net being thrown out there to sort of see who they can figure out who had connections with these people. They're looking at phone contacts. They're looking at the sort of travel records and that sort of thing, trying to figure out who might be involved in this.

And President Hollande in that speech, just a few moments ago at the ceremony for the three police officers who were killed, also said, just like the prime minister said, that the threat is very real and that it's still out there.

CUOMO: Thank you for that, Jim.

John, a couple of quick things for you. First, let's just put this U.S. no-show story to rest. The White House came out and said probably should have had somebody more high-profile there. You're standing at the crossroads of French reaction right now. I was literally standing in your footprints. What are you hearing there? Is that enough for the people there?

BERMAN: You know, the French people who come to this memorial and walk the streets, when you ask them directly about the fact that the president was not here, they essentially say, "Look, we've got more to worry about than you right now." It's not at the forefront of their mind.

But as you bring it up more and as you discuss it more and as you talk to higher level officials, they say, yes. Yes, it's too bad he didn't come. But I don't think it's something that's overwhelming the population here.

You know, I spoke to the ambassador, the U.S. ambassador to France, Jane Hartley. I know you spoke to her yesterday, Chris. She came here a few moments ago. She laid a wreath right behind me this morning. She was the one U.S. representative, by the way, who took part in the unity rally.

I asked her if she had been sent to convey this new message of regret that a higher-level official did not attend the rally. She said no. She said the issue, as far as she's concerned, is over and done with.

CUOMO: All right. Fine. John, you also said there are unprecedented big numbers of military and police out on the streets and around sensitive areas. Is that in response to any specific information of a threat? Or is this a show of force?

BERMAN: Well, that's really the key question. And we're not exactly sure, Chris, whether or not they're protecting -- some 4,000 police going to protect the 700 Jewish schools and synagogues around the country. Is that because someone issued a direct threat to the synagogues?

It may not even be that they even need a direct threat, given the fact that the kosher supermarket was attacked, given the fact that there are many people who think that Amedy Coulibaly was actually headed to a Jewish school to stage his attack last Thursday when he killed that police officer. There's ongoing concerns that these areas still could be targeted. So this uptick in security could be to ease tensions and just be prudent, given the environment here.

CUOMO: Jim Bitterman, is that the reaction it's having? Because now that it's very clear that that kosher grocery was targeted, and we are hearing about this being a window into what has been increased anxiety among French Jewish people, and we all have heard the numbers now, about the disproportionate amount of Jewish people leaving there, what has the increase in security, what have the days since the attack done to ease or not ease anxiety among that population?

BITTERMAN: I would say not ease, probably, Chris. The fact is that we've done stories on this before, even before the attacks last week. In 2014, there were twice as many Jewish families leaving France than in 2013.

There's been a large -- a large anxiety here, big anxiety here about the fact that anti-Semitism seems to be on the rise. And sometimes it's just minor things. It's comments and it's snide remarks, and that sort of thing. Other times it's more violent and attacks that threaten people.

And so there have been a large number -- numbers of the Jewish community have gone off to Israel and have moved to Israel permanently. And I think it's continued, and this of course, is just going to, I think, probably increase that number as people look around them and say, "Wait a second. You know, maybe we'd be safer in Israel than we would be here."

CUOMO: Funerals going on there for the bodies of people killed in the attacks, returned to Israel. Very sad notes being played on those ceremonies, as well.

John, let's end on this. The resolve of the French people is being seen in what "Charlie Hebdo" did next after the attacks. The new cover is out. It has the Prophet Mohammed. It's saying "all is forgiven." Obviously a very clever use of satire there. Are you seeing copies of it? Are people carrying it around? Is it showing up behind you at the memorial? What's the take?

BERMAN: We're not seeing paper copies out yet, Chris. I haven't seen a one. But the image of the cover is everywhere. I mean, it is everywhere on French television. It's in French papers. You know, it's on Twitter feeds all over the world, not just France. I know it's on newspaper covers in the United States, as well. So everyone knows what's on the cover.

We don't know yet what's inside. Could there be even more satirical cartoons? We actually do know that they will publish some of the work of the people who were killed right behind me at these offices last Wednesday, Chris.

CUOMO: John Berman, Jim Bitterman, information and perspective, thank you.

Alisyn, also important to note, that magazine is coming out, "Charlie Hebdo," in part with the help of competitors.

CAMEROTA: Wow. That is important. And also I just find that cover, "All is forgiven," so powerful. I mean, with the tear, that's just -- the message that it sends, on so many different levels is really special.

Meanwhile, to tell you about another top story that we're following, the FBI investigating a cyberattack on the U.S. military's Central Command, apparently by ISIS sympathizers. The attackers took control of CentCom's Twitter and YouTube accounts, posting a threat to American servicemen and women. Those accounts were suspended immediately after the takeover.

CNN's Barbara Starr is following developments for us live at the Pentagon. What do we know about this, Barbara?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn.

Well, of course, these social media accounts are hosted on commercial servers, not classified military servers. So the security there is quite different. But it is raising again concerns about how quickly sensitive information can appear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): "ISIS is already here. We are in your PCs, in each military base," the hijacked Central Command account reads. "The CyberCaliphate continues its CyberJihad," the posts continue.

But is this group, the CyberCaliphate really ISIS?

MARK RASCH, CYBER AND PRIVACY EXPERT: The goal here is to cause fear and overreaction. We need to react appropriately to it, but not overreact to it.

STARR; The tweets threaten U.S. troops and their families, including posting a document with names and addresses of U.S. military officials and documents related to North Korea and China.

"American soldiers, we are coming. Watch your back. We know everything about you. Your wives, your children," the hackers warn.

The cyberattack comes as ISIS has rereleased a video calling for attacks on U.S. targets, including the military. The Pentagon says so far it does not appear anything classified was posted, and one U.S. military official said some of the information has already appeared online elsewhere.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I can tell you this is something that we're obviously looking into and something that we take seriously. However, just a note of caution to folks as they're covering this story. There's a pretty significant difference between what is a large data breach and the hacking of a Twitter account. STARR: The FBI is assisting the military with the investigation of

the hacking of both its Twitter and YouTube accounts.

And all of this comes as ISIS, in the wake of the Paris attacks, is also finding itself targeted online. The hacker group Anonymous says it's targeting ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's more concerning is not what they actually stole and posted. It's what they might have stolen and what they might be able to steal in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Now these attacks come just as President Obama yesterday was pushing for more cybersecurity on his own Twitter account, saying that if we are going to be connected, we need to be protected. It may be cyber vandalism in the eyes of the Pentagon, but still quite concerning -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely, Barbara. Thanks so much for that background.

CUOMO: Also breaking overnight, reports that the rest of AirAsia Flight 8501 has been located, and listen to this: it's been located about two miles from where the tail was found in the Java Sea.

The possible discovery came just hours after the second black box recorder was pulled from the water. As you know, that device is key to helping investigators figure out what brought the plane down.

Let's get to David Molko, live on the ground in Jakarta. David, what do we know?

DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, the pieces of this puzzle starting to come together even more than they have over the past couple of days. We had the flight data recorder, the cockpit voice recorder confirmed pulled out of the water on its way back to Jakarta right now.

The crucial piece missing, that fuselage. Officials believe they have found it. We had a senior official, an operations director who's been at the forefront of this search, come out and tell CNN, "Look, divers have been down there, and they have seen it with their own eyes." He has walked that back somewhat and is now saying a search ship has picked it up. So certainly, mixed information from some of these officials.

Why that is so sensitive right now, Chris, is because the families of those on board, the 162 people on board, are watching this so closely. You know, the body count is grim, the numbers; 48 recovered. That has not risen in the past few days. It is believed that more than 100 people's remains are with that wreckage.

Currently the CVR, the cockpit voice recorder, flight data recorder, just to mention those, are here coming into Jakarta. The flight data recorder in really good shape, according to the lead investigator. The data, we believe, has already been downloaded off or is in the process of that. The pieces of the puzzle, Chris, could come together in just a matter of weeks -- Chris.

CUOMO: And obviously it's all about finding out what happened. Thank you very much for the reporting on the scene. We'll be back to you soon in the show.

Mick, over to you.

PEREIRA: All right. Here's a look at your headlines. Good morning once again, everyone.

Funeral services are under way for the four people killed in the kosher supermarket siege in Paris. We'll show you some live pictures of the somber ceremony there. The bodies arrived in Israel at dawn ahead of a joint funeral in Jerusalem. Top Israeli officials are in attendance. All four were killed during the siege on the supermarket Friday before police stormed the building, killing the gunman.

Big scare for evening commuters in Washington, D.C. One woman is dead, hundreds others had to be evacuated after thick, dark smoke filled one of D.C.'s busiest subway stations, L'Enfant Plaza Station. People on a train and in the station coughing, choking, vomiting, their faces covered in soot.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They say we've got to leave.

PEREIRA (voice-over): Panic erupts as smoke pours into this central D.C. subway station, causing a train packed with passengers to stop in its tracks. Riders describe the chaos underground to CNN affiliate WJLA.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was no oxygen. People start panicking, and people started hitting the floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had the stocking cap, breathing through it. And other people were breathing through their jackets.

PEREIRA: Emergency crews rushed to evacuate people from the L'Enfant Plaza metro station, one of D.C.'s busiest metro stations, located near the National Mall.

ALEC DUBOIT, WITNESS: Once we got in the station, we just sprinted for our lives out of there, because we had no idea what was happening. We were all so scared.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There were a lot of people vomiting, sick. I feel sick. We don't know what it was. Nobody is saying what it was.

PEREIRA: The NTSB says the cause of the incident was an electrical malfunction, with trackside power cables causing the tunnel to fill with smoke. Eighty-three people were hurt; one woman was killed, making this the first deadly accident on the D.C. Metro since the 2009 collision that killed nine people.

(END VIDEOTAPE) PEREIRA: In other news, the University of Virginia has reinstated a campus fraternity that was implicated in an alleged gang rape detailed in a "Rolling Stone" magazine article last year. Charlottesville police cleared the fraternity after their investigation found no basis to believe that a rape occurred in the Phi Kappa Phi house. Just last week, the university lifted a month-long freeze on campus Greek life.

Ohio State, the king of college football, at least this year. The Buckeyes running all over Oregon to win 42-20 in the first-ever national championship playoff. Runningback Ezekiel Elliott rushing for 246 yards, scored four touchdowns. This is Ohio State's eighth national title. Celebrations around campus in Columbus, however -- look at this -- got out of hand. Police had to use pepper spray to control rowdy crowds and fans who set garbage cans on fire. Come on, Ohio, let's just celebrate. No need to set things on fire.

CUOMO: Could have been worse.

PEREIRA: It could have been.

CUOMO: We've seen in the past. I mean, it's a sad, sad commentary on humans old and young. But you know what? That's why they play the game, guys. Forget about the crazy kids afterwards.

PEREIRA: Right.

CUOMO: A big underdog and the kid, just a sophomore, the runningback, he just destroyed him. I thought he was going to die of exhaustion last night, that kid. Nobody could touch him. Amazing game. And the wonder boy, Mariota, the quarterback, he looked pretty good, too. I'm getting nothing.

PEREIRA: I know. You're looking at us. Please, I've got nothing.

CAMEROTA: Is this about sports what we're talking about?

CUOMO: Nothing? Just like, just grunt. Give me a little grunt.

CAMEROTA: OK. I like it. I'm nodding. I like it; it does sound like a great game.

CUOMO: Whatever. Yes. Hit 'em.

CAMEROTA: We'll do that next hour.

All right. Meanwhile, we have some big news to tell you about, because investigators appear to have located the fuselage from AirAsia Flight 8501. What will it reveal about the cause of that crash? We'll take a look.

CUOMO: You hear the story about this former NFL star? A nine-mile swim to shore, jellyfish stinging him, sharks circling around. Sounds like a movie. Not a movie. Wait until you hear what motivated that man, Rob Konrad, to make it home alive. Nine miles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CAMEROTA: Major breakthroughs into the investigation of the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501 to tell you about. Reports that search crews have located the plane's fuselage, where more than 100 victims' bodies are believed to be trapped. Teams have retrieved the second black box, the plane's cockpit voice recorder.

Let's bring in CNN aviation analyst and PBS science correspondent, Miles O'Brien; and CNN safety analyst and former FAA safety inspector David Soucie. He's also the author of the upcoming book, "Malaysia Airlines Flight 370: Why it Disappeared and Why It's only a Matter of Time Before This Happens Again." Gentlemen, great to see you.

David, let me start with you. So both the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder have now been found. Which one is more important to investigators?

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: They're equally important in my estimation. What is most important, though, is the information you get by synchronizing the two together. So that you can see exactly, not only physically, what was happening with the aircraft, but the decision-making behind what the two pilots were communicating with -- between each other. It's going to be very, very revealing when we start to analyze the two together.

CAMEROTA: Miles, we have a version of the flight recorder here on set. And I'm always struck by how heavy it is. It's really heavy to lift. On the side it says here that it's 29 pounds. What's the process of beginning to get information out of here, and how long will it take?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, you want to move deliberately. You want to make sure you don't do any harm to the data, of course. There are some -- there is some expertise on site. The Australians have sent an expert who is familiar with recovering this sort of data.

If the boxes are not damaged at all -- and believe it or not, they -- this -- we would expect them not to be damaged, despite what has happened to them -- it's actually kind of trivial to recover the data.

And what you would expect the team to do is, first and foremost, just sit down, no notes, just take a listen of that cockpit voice recorder. That -- if I had to pick a box, that's the box I think is the most important one in this case.

CAMEROTA: David, what is the story behind the reports that we've heard that perhaps the plane exploded?

SOUCIE: Well, I think that that may have lost something in translation. Honestly, the word "exploded," there's no evidence from who I've talked to on site that there's any kind of, you know, explosion as in a bomb or anything like that.

What I think they're referring to is just the result of the impact of the body of the aircraft against the water. But again, that's not conclusive. If you look at the evidence that we've seen so far brought up out of the water, the tail section, it could possibly be that the wrinkles in the skin going outward could have been caused from the retrieval of the aircraft. If you see how they've actually lifted it out of the water, if it comes up too fast, it can actually cause damage.

So part of the investigation is distinguishing what happened at the accident site or what happened afterwards when they are recovering the pieces.

CAMEROTA: And yet, Miles, we have reports this morning, new reporting that the fuselage was found 1.7 miles away in the Java Sea from the tail section. How do you explain that?

O'BRIEN: Well, I think there's a lot of misinformation coming out here, including this word "explosion." You have to consider the source on that one, by the way. That was the head of the search-and- rescue team, not an aircraft investigator who said that.

So let's put that aside for a moment. Assume for a moment that the fuselage and the tail section are separated by that kind of distance, and what you have is some -- very likely some kind of break-up in flight.

Did that vertical stabilizer, did that tail section come off in the latter stages of this flight before it hit the water? That's an awful long distance for that tail to move by current. So -- but again, there seems to be some conflicting information as to whether they really have, in fact -- divers have actually seen the main body of the fuselage.

CAMEROTA: So David, given all of your sources on the ground and everything you know about airplane crashes, what's your latest thinking on what happened here?

SOUCIE: Well, I'm a little bit torn, to be honest with you. As Miles said, 1.7 miles is quite a distance, if that aircraft actually impacted and had kind of a rupture response. So I don't -- it's difficult for me to believe that this aircraft somehow skipped across the water a mile and a half or more than a mile and a half. So I'm a little torn at this point, between whether or not it broke up in the air or whether it was on the ground.

So I'm very excited to see what happens with the flight data recorder. Because from that we'll be able to rebuild what the impact angle was and how fast it hit the water.

CAMEROTA: Yes. We all anticipate getting information out of here as fast as possible. David Soucie, Miles O'Brien, thanks so much for all the information.

SOUCIE: You're welcome.

CAMEROTA: Let's go back to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn. And the White House should have sent a big-shot to the Paris march.

Not that is not us, the media, saying it. That's coming from the White House, now admitting a mistake.

There's still one last part to this story, though. It was such an obvious move to go to the march. The question is now, who decided not to? And why?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)