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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER

Fourth Suspect in French Terror Attacks Identified; Boko Haram's Deadliest Attack?; Plot To Poison Speaker John Boehner Uncovered; Ohio Man Arrested For U.S. Attack Plot

Aired January 14, 2015 - 16:30   ET

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


JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to "THE LEAD." We have some breaking news in our world "LEAD." "Le Parisien", a French newspaper citing unnamed French security services say there has now been a fourth suspect identified related to last week's terrorist attacks in Paris, France. Let's go live now to France to CNN's John Berman. John, what can you tell us about this report?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What this newspaper "Le Parisien" reports, Jake, is that inside the apartment of Amedy Coulibaly, officials found keys to a motorbike, a scooter. They traced these keys back to another person, not Coulibaly, and that man, the man who owns this motorbike they are looking at now, as a fourth suspect. Now, a person I spoke to close to the security situation here in France tells me the questions they're asking about this possible fourth man are this. Could this person have been the one who shot the jogger the day before these attacks started? There was a jogger who was shot, not killed. This jogger described her shooter as a white man wearing black clothing. Now, obviously Amedy Coulibaly was of African descent so investigators think it could not have been him, yet they traced the shell casings from that shooting back to his apartment, so could it have been this fourth suspect now that they have identified. I'm also told by security -- a security official that another question they have is who exactly drove Amedy Coulibaly to the kosher market. Could this have been the fourth man? Now, this accomplice that they're chasing, and I say they're chasing, they're looking for him because there is a suspicion according to "Le Parisien", that he is gone. He has already left the country. So this report gets to these issues of was there someone else involved. Officials all the way up to the prime minister of France say they believe there have to have been just for the financial and the operational support necessary to pull off these two separate attacks.

TAPPER: Right. And French authorities have said that they believe another sleeper cell was activated, and at least six others are being questioned. John, I want to talk to you about "Charlie Hebdo" which obviously published its first edition since the horrific terrorist attacks on their magazine one week ago today. Normally they publish about 60,000 copies. What happened today?

BERMAN: They put out three million and it wasn't enough, not even close, Jake. You know, we got up early this morning and were on the streets before dawn. Now, my sense is that Paris isn't exactly an early morning city. You walk the streets in the morning, there's no one there. Well, not the case this morning. Every newsstand you walked by was packed with people, waiting to get an issue of "Charlie Hebdo" and most of them left without a copy as far as I could tell, because these copies were sold out before they even opened to people who are regular customers and demanded several copies. So what "Charlie Hebdo" is doing now, Jake, is they are going to put out a million more copies a day, they say, until demand is met. Could be as many as five million copies by the time all is said and done. I suppose it could be even more if there is still the demand over the next few days.

TAPPER: And let me ask you the question that I'm being asked by e- mail and social media. Are there going to be any copies for sale in the United States other than the freakishly cost inflated ones that we see on eBay?

BERMAN: Yeah. Our senior media correspondent Brian Stelter broke this story a little while ago. We were talking about it. He reports there will be 300 and 300 only copies of "Charlie Hebdo" headed to the United States tomorrow night on an Air France flight. 300 copies arriving tomorrow night. They are going to go I guess to boutique locations. I was told, Brian, that mostly in New York and the like. But 300 copies in French right now. The reason is mostly because they want to keep all the copies here to meet this enormous demand.

TAPPER: All right. Jonathan Berman in Paris, France, merci beaucoup, mon ami.

We have some more breaking news just in to CNN. The federal officials, the government law enforcement have just arrested a man here in the United States who was vowing to kill U.S. government officials for ISIS. Let me just say that again. The federal government has just arrested an Ohio man because he was threatening to kill U.S. government officials and he claimed to be with the group ISIS. CNN justice correspondent Pamela Brown is here with the details. Pamela, I know this story is just unfolding, but what do you know, what can you tell us?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have learned this man in Cincinnati, Wolf, was on U.S. authority's radar several months ago. He was on the FBI's radar as well as DHS because of some alarming social media posts where he aligned with violent jihad, Jake, and so, of course, the FBI went in to look into this as they would, and they realized that he wanted - he had planned that he was trying to develop to set off pipe bombs at the U.S. Capitol, and then when people ran out, he would then fire at them. And so the FBI had an undercover agent that then contacted this person and the suspect in this case worked with the undercover agent to try to develop this plan further.

So, authorities charged him today with attempting to kill a U.S. government official. He was arrested in Cincinnati. Of course, this is alarming because he aligned with ISIS and al Qaeda, we are told, and in the wake of everything going on with the concern of foreign fighters and all the sympathizers, you know, this is alarming. But I'm told that there was no immediate serious imminent threat to law makers, to government employees. This man was in the very early stages, just sympathizing, and then of course, when he worked alongside this undercover operative, of course, he didn't know that he was someone with the FBI, he was trying to develop his plans. That gave them enough to be able to arrest him.

TAPPER: And again, this story is just rapidly developing, you might not know the answer to this question, but is there any evidence that he actually was working with al Qaeda or ISIS? Or does this appear to be somebody who was self-radicalized?

BROWN: From again, very early stages. From what we gather, this is someone who just was a sympathizer. He sympathized with ISIS, with al Qaeda, with violent jihad. And this really is the big concern as we have been talking about, Jake, time and time again of extremists, lone wolfs who are in the U.S. who see the social media posts from ISIS urging attacks on Westerners and then they are going to act on that. And so, of course, you know, that was the concern among the FBI and that is why they took these serious steps to have an undercover operative work with him to see if he was actually serious, if he actually wanted to carry out an attack and it appears to that it was serious enough where they arrested him.

TAPPER: Pamela Brown, thank you. I know you will have much more on this in the coming hours.

In other world news, another brutal terrorist group now praising the attacks in Paris. Boko Haram accused of killing thousands plus using girls as young as ten as suicide bombers, posting a video today from a man who appears to be the leader of the group, as new details come to light about Boko Haram's latest massacre. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to "THE LEAD." I'm Jake Tapper. In other world news today, the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram, probably most infamous for the mass kidnapping of more than 275 school girls in Nigeria that sparked the Bring Back Our Girls movement, today Boko Haram praised the terrorist attacks in Paris, intelligence analysts say. A new video appears to show Boko Haram's leader. It comes as others try to help - get help to Nigeria where Boko Haram has been engaged in a vicious campaign. Authorities say that the group has slaughtered up to 2,000 people while laying siege to at least ten, maybe more villages in northern Nigeria, where they want to establish a state ruled by strict Islamic law or Sharia. One of the attackers had explosives tied to her body, she was a girl thought to be around ten years old. Actress Angelina Jolie's special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees called for the United States and other nations to, quote, "Bring the perpetrators of these attacks to justice." Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us on the phone now from northern Nigeria. Nic, tell us about this new video.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake. While the rest of the world in a way debates how much they can expect to see the terrorist violence in Nigeria from Boko Haram to spill over, how much will it affect the rest of the world, you have the leader of Boko Haram now, Abubakar Shekau just himself making the connection between his radical organization and those attacks in Paris. We are truly happy about them, this is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABUBAKAR SHEKAU (speaking Arabic)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: We talked to government officials here and we talked to soldiers, we talked to religious leaders here, and they all say that Nigeria needs help, they say that this is an international problem as Abubakar Shekau tries to sort of justify a makeout that - this is an international problem that needs global military action. So the view from here, from the very leadership of the government down to soldiers on the frontlines who are facing off against the Boko Haram fighters, this is, they believe, time that the world sees that they have a problem here, steps in to help. Jake?

TAPPER: Nic, we saw a lot of international support go to Paris after those terrorist attacks. It's taken longer for this to take hold both with the media and with government. And international groups, but is that attention starting to come to the region to actually stop these massacres? Is anything happening?

ROBERTSON: You know, I think the feeling here is that it's not. I talked just a few minutes ago with a very influential religious figure here. He told me he praised the world coming together. He was happy to see the world leaders gathering there in Paris. But he said what about us? We have a problem. He said look at - you know, many of the fighters that the soldiers pick up in Nigeria, the Boko Haram fighters, they don't speak our language, he said, they're coming from outside of our borders. This is - we have an international problem and he said we really need to bring about the same kind of international unity that happened for the people of France. We need to bring it here to Nigeria at the time. The real sense here is that this country can't do it alone, that they absolutely need to get their own house in order. There are people who put their hands up and say yes, we need to.

But like this religious leader, stand up and also say now is the time the world should come and unite around us in Nigeria as well, because it's a problem that won't go away. It's a problem that's growing and it's a problem they say quite frankly that will ultimately reach our borders as well -- Jake.

TAPPER: Nic Robertson reporting for us in Nigeria. Nic, thank you. Please stay safe.

Coming up next, a bartender was arrested for his alleged plot to poison the speaker of the House. What exactly did he have against John Boehner? That's coming up next.

Plus another discovery in the search for Airasia Flight 8501 as investigators continue to scour the ocean floor. New details on that coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. In our politics lead, police uncover a bizarre alleged plot to poison the speaker of the House, John Boehner, by his bartender.

CNN's chief congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, is joining us live with the latest. It's such a bizarre story. How serious was this threat?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, serious enough for this man to actually be indicted. You know, when you read the specifics in this indictment, how disturbed this man appears to be, it seems as though he could have been capable of anything.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BASH (voice-over): It's like something out of a movie. A country club bartender threatens to poison the speaker of the House. But this indictment is very real charging Michael Robert Hoyt with threatening to murder John Boehner.

The disturbed Hoyt telling police he was Jesus Christ, even blaming Boehner for Ebola. That was Boehner's response when CNN asked about the threat, which he has known about since it happened last fall. Boehner and his wife, Debbie, knew Bartender Mike, as he was called, for years.

He even had Debbie Boehner's e-mail address and sent her this chilling note after he was fired from their Westchester, Ohio Country Club, writing if I had any intention of hurting Mr. Boehner, I could have poisoned his wine at Wetherington many, many times.

What is this about, Debbie Boehner responded? Hoyt's rambling answer in part, Mrs. Boehner, I was fired. I could not e-mail Mr. Boehner directly because of the zip code block on his e-mail. The next day, he placed an unintelligible call to 911.

UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Yes. This is Mike -- I messed up.

BASH: When police went to his home, Hoyt said he had heard the devil's voice telling him John Boehner was evil and he planned to shoot Boehner with an automatic weapon.

REPRESENTATIVE KEVIN MCCARTHY (R), MAJORITY LEADER: It's a sad situation. I think this individual needs a great deal of help. The speaker also needs to be protected.

BASH: Since 9/11, security at the capitol is stiff. This armored vehicle known as Bearcat sits outside. But when most lawmakers are home, they are on their own, a fact on deadly display four years ago when an assassin tried to kill then Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.

But capitol police do protect congressional leaders and the House speaker, second in line to the presidency, has more protection than any other. He does not make a move inside the capitol or out without security detail. But nothing is absolute.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There may be security at the table next to them, but they are a patron like any other customer.

BASH: Doug Haye was a top aide to former House Leader Eric Cantor when a bullet hole was found in his Virginia office.

(on camera): How common is this kind of thing?

DOUG HAYE, FORMER GOP DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF: Unfortunately, it's more common than anybody would expect. They all get angry letters every day from Republicans, from Democrats, from independents. Every once in a while, somebody steps over the line, says something they shouldn't do, makes an overt threat and every time the capitol police investigates it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BASH: There is an entire division of the capitol police department dedicated to investigating threats to lawmakers called the Threat Assessment Section. They are understandably reluctant to talk specifics, but they work with local police and the FBI when it's required.

You know, Jake, when tragedies like this happen, generally they happen at the hands of people who are disturbed, you say should have, would have, could have. In this case, thank goodness, it didn't get that far and local authorities at the beginning and ultimately the capitol police and others were able to look at the signs and stop this man.

TAPPER: Indeed. Dana Bash, thank you so much.

When we come back, we are getting new details on the man arrested today for plotting an ISIS-inspired attack on U.S. lawmakers, right here in Washington, D.C. That breaking news coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Let's go back to that breaking news story on the National Lead, that story we told you about earlier this hour. A Cincinnati, Ohio man apparently an ISIS sympathizer who alleged -- who allegedly plotted to attack American lawmakers at the U.S. capitol.

We continue to learn more about him and just what kind of destruction he was planning. The criminal complaint has just gone out. Pamela Brown joins us now with more details. So the man's name, Pamela, was Christopher Lee Cornell, but he had apparently changed his name to Rahil Mahur Obeda (ph). What else --

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. That was his alias. He was arrested, Jake, in Cincinnati for attempting to kill a U.S. government official and according to these court documents that we are looking through as we speak, Cornell was interacting with an undercover informant for the FBI.

He had made some alarming social media posts that put him on the radar of U.S. authorities, where he said that members of Congress were his enemies and through his social media interactions with the undercover informant, he said that he was in touch with persons overseas, that he aligned with ISIS.

But that he didn't think he would receive specific authorization to conduct a terrorist attack on the U.S. so he goes on to apparently allegedly tell this informant I believe that we should just wage Jihad under our own orders and plan attacks, everything in the name of ISIS.

So allegedly according to this complaint, he was planning with this undercover informant to plant pipe bombs around the U.S. capitol and open fire as people ran out of the U.S. capitol building. In fact, this week, according to the criminal complaint, he acquired semiautomatic rifles to use --

TAPPER: Two 15 semiautomatic rifles, 600 rounds of ammunition that he was going to use in this plot.

BROWN: That's right. He apparently had been researching the construction of pipe bombs, researching the government buildings in Washington, D.C. He wanted to target and also saving money to fund the attacks.

Now officials we have been speaking with say, though, that during the course of this investigation, he was never a threat to the public. I think that that is important to emphasize.

What he does reflect, Jake, is the concern among U.S. officials of sympathizers, ISIS sympathizers in the U.S., who will be spurred to launch a terrorist attack.

TAPPER: It's the fear that we heard so much from U.S. government officials, people who self-radicalize, see this material online and decide to carry out a plot even without any contact necessarily with ISIS or al Qaeda. Pamela Brown, I know you will have much more on this.

That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. I turn you over now to Wolf Blitzer. He is right next door in "THE SITUATION ROOM."