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American Morning
Filmmaker's Murder May Connect to Terrorism
Aired November 11, 2004 - 08:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The murder of controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh last week set off a chain of violence overseas.
This morning, we follow "Terror's Trail" to the Netherlands. That's where three suspects are in custody after a grenade attack on Dutch police during a 15-hour standoff.
Terrorism expert Sajjan Gohel, of the Asia Pacific Foundation is my guest now, live in London.
We welcome you back here to AMERICAN MORNING.
There was this raid on Wednesday in The Hague. You have this investigation of the murder of Theo van Gogh. Sources are saying there's a connection between the two. Do we know what that connection is?
SAJJAN GOHEL, TERRORISM EXPERT: Well, what we have to understand, Bill, is that Holland has become a big problem now regarding terrorism. The fact that Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered, stabbed and shot to death, a note that was attached to it and pinned on his body.
We're dealing with, now, a transnational terrorist group that is now linked to the terror cells that were behind Casablanca and Madrid bombings. And certainly, as investigations continue, there looks like a far more murky path ahead.
HEMMER: The lead suspect has dual citizenship between the Netherlands and also Morocco. Why are Moroccans the focus in this investigation?
GOHEL: The Moroccan community in Holland is very big, and a lot of them have been recruited to join the GICM, the Moroccan Group for Islamic Combat, which is a terrorist group that is closely tied to al Qaeda. And many of its individuals have been responsible for carrying out a number of attacks.
Let's not forget that the two individuals that killed Ahmed Shah Masoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance, two days before 9/11, got their passports from Holland from Moroccan -- from Moroccans themselves. So there's been a strong connection with terrorism and al Qaeda and Holland for a long time.
HEMMER: Is that the only connection with al Qaeda? Is -- does the relationship go in other areas? GOHEL: What we're dealing with is the fact that Europe has long been seen as the playground for terrorists. It's now become the battleground. It's now no longer just a staging area but a place where terrorist attacks will continue. We saw that in Madrid, where attacks took place in the heart of Europe.
And certainly, what we have to understand is that European Muslims are being recruited, vast numbers, to join various terrorist groups, many linked to al Qaeda, many separate from al Qaeda.
HEMMER: I'll tell you, when you think about Holland, you think about the Netherlands, you do not think about international terrorism. Do they have much history in that country in dealing with dangerous extremists, in the Netherlands?
GOHEL: What's been going on over the last few years, particularly since September the 11th, is that European countries have been having to improve their counterterrorism, their intelligence.
What we're discovering is that there are various terrorist cells that are planning operations throughout Europe that are not -- that are not just interested in attacking European countries but even attacking the U.S.
And what we're now witnessing is there's no such thing as a safe country, that terrorists are invisible. They cannot be identified by uniform. They're dispersed within society and have the means and capabilities of carrying out attacks throughout the world. And Holland is just an example. We should never assume that one country is safe from, or immune from terrorism, because transnational terrorism has altered that ever since 9/11.
HEMMER: And the way Theo van Gogh was killed, just absolutely brutal. Does that suggest an uptick or some sort of raising of the stakes when it comes to terrorism, or to -- to violence in Holland?
GOHEL: Very much so. It was cold, brutal, calculating and very chilling. And he was brutally murdered. It also shows a new type of strategy by the terrorists. They seem to have taken an example from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian Palestinian terrorist who beheads people in Iraq.
When you kill an individual, when you brutally behead -- kill them, you're -- you're targeting one person, a well-known individual, that speaks volumes. It has more significance than, say, a mass casualty attack, which just has statistics.
HEMMER: Sajjan Gohel, our guest from London, thanks for sharing with us today. That's our segment on "Terror's Trail."
GOHEL: Thank you.
HEMMER: Now Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, pay now but buy later. One company's plan to help you finance a car now that you won't even begin shopping for for years. We'll explain just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAFFERTY: All right. Welcome back. Time to get a preview of the markets.
And General Motors wants you to lock and roll. Actually, a very clever idea. Andy Serwer's here, "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you. Let's talk about the markets yesterday.
Hey, the Fed raised interest rates yesterday. The markets yawned. Let's take a look here. Nary a peep. NASDAQ down a little bit more, not happy with Cisco's earnings. That stock dropped about six percent.
And listen to this, Jack. Futures are up this morning. Why? Because Wall Street seems to think with the passing of Yasser Arafat, the prospects of peace in the Middle East are greater. That's what we're hearing this morning.
CAFFERTY: They're probably going to be worse.
SERWER: Very interesting, I think.
Speaking about GM, interesting that they have this new financing deal they're announcing today. Listen to this. You buy a car before the end of the month and you get one of their financing programs, say zero percent for 36 months, 2.9 percent for 48 months, and you'll be able to buy another car at the same terms over the next five years.
CAFFERTY: Wow.
SERWER: In other words, anticipating that rates are going to go up, you're able to lock in at the low financing rates here. Of course, they want you to buy another General Motors car. Kind of get that.
CAFFERTY: That's kind of a clever incentive, though.
SERWER: It is actually kind of interesting and kind of an arbitrageur. And listen who's pitching this. Susie Orman (ph) is pitching this for General Motors.
CAFFERTY: I just take back what I said.
SERWER: Thank you very -- come on. Susie, don't listen to him.
Anyway, another car story this morning, NASCAR. First of all, let me -- a couple things that don't go together: oil and vinegar, Jack Cafferty and poppycock, and drinking and driving. Drinking and driving, they don't go together. Well, NASCAR is announcing that they're lifting the ban on liquor as in liquor sponsorship. They already have beer and malt beverage, but now they're going to allow the hard stuff. A British company, Diaggio (ph), is going to have the Crown Royal car next year.
And they said they're doing responsible stuff, but you know, a lot of drunk driving done by young males who watch...
CAFFERTY: Exactly.
SERWER: ... NASCAR and all the rest of these.
CAFFERTY: The audience is right there, the young males who go to NASCAR.
SERWER: NASCAR dads.
CAFFERTY: Boy, what are you thinking about?
All right, thanks Andy.
Veterans Day. Eighteen ABC affiliates around the country refusing to air the network's broadcasting of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" because of concerns about penalties from the FCC. These gutless affiliates say the movie's violence and language could cause the FCC to fine them.
Now, ABC broadcast the same movie, uncut, unedited, in 2001 and 2002, no problems. Said it's proud to do it again.
FCC spokeswoman said yesterday they don't monitor broadcasts, but they do respond to complaints. A complaint was -- this is "Saving Private Ryan." I mean, come on, get a grip.
Next. Go to the next one. It's too long.
Here's my idea, bound to cut into American productivity. Twentieth Century Fox pioneering a new realm of entertainment for cell phones. These are called "mobisodes." "Mobisodes." The studio's developing the popular series "24" for mobile phones, therefore, the name "mobisodes."
SERWER: "Mobisodes."
CAFFERTY: The one minute -- one-minute "mobisodes" will be introduced by Vodaphone in Britain in January and on Verizon Wireless next year in the U.S. Twenty-four "mobisodes" of the series "24" will be shown in all.
And finally, a judge in Romania has resigned because it was discovered that she is a triple-X porn star.
HEMMER: Oh, that.
CAFFERTY: Simona Lungu originally denied the allegations that she had starred in a film, "Secrets of Seduction," and called for an investigation by an official forensic panel. Unfortunately for her, the forensic experts concluded it was she in that movie, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Here comes the judge."
SERWER: Ow! Yes.
HEMMER: You could probably Google that and get that answer, right? Check my resume!
CAFFERTY: That's all I have at this time.
SERWER: Come on. That was very conservative (ph).
O'BRIEN: In a moment, today's top stories. Moving on, because I have nothing to add to that. The death of Yasser Arafat, of course, our top story.
Palestinian officials moving quickly to fill a post that he once held. But who eventually will fill his shoes? A look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 11, 2004 - 08:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The murder of controversial filmmaker Theo van Gogh last week set off a chain of violence overseas.
This morning, we follow "Terror's Trail" to the Netherlands. That's where three suspects are in custody after a grenade attack on Dutch police during a 15-hour standoff.
Terrorism expert Sajjan Gohel, of the Asia Pacific Foundation is my guest now, live in London.
We welcome you back here to AMERICAN MORNING.
There was this raid on Wednesday in The Hague. You have this investigation of the murder of Theo van Gogh. Sources are saying there's a connection between the two. Do we know what that connection is?
SAJJAN GOHEL, TERRORISM EXPERT: Well, what we have to understand, Bill, is that Holland has become a big problem now regarding terrorism. The fact that Theo van Gogh was brutally murdered, stabbed and shot to death, a note that was attached to it and pinned on his body.
We're dealing with, now, a transnational terrorist group that is now linked to the terror cells that were behind Casablanca and Madrid bombings. And certainly, as investigations continue, there looks like a far more murky path ahead.
HEMMER: The lead suspect has dual citizenship between the Netherlands and also Morocco. Why are Moroccans the focus in this investigation?
GOHEL: The Moroccan community in Holland is very big, and a lot of them have been recruited to join the GICM, the Moroccan Group for Islamic Combat, which is a terrorist group that is closely tied to al Qaeda. And many of its individuals have been responsible for carrying out a number of attacks.
Let's not forget that the two individuals that killed Ahmed Shah Masoud, the leader of the Northern Alliance, two days before 9/11, got their passports from Holland from Moroccan -- from Moroccans themselves. So there's been a strong connection with terrorism and al Qaeda and Holland for a long time.
HEMMER: Is that the only connection with al Qaeda? Is -- does the relationship go in other areas? GOHEL: What we're dealing with is the fact that Europe has long been seen as the playground for terrorists. It's now become the battleground. It's now no longer just a staging area but a place where terrorist attacks will continue. We saw that in Madrid, where attacks took place in the heart of Europe.
And certainly, what we have to understand is that European Muslims are being recruited, vast numbers, to join various terrorist groups, many linked to al Qaeda, many separate from al Qaeda.
HEMMER: I'll tell you, when you think about Holland, you think about the Netherlands, you do not think about international terrorism. Do they have much history in that country in dealing with dangerous extremists, in the Netherlands?
GOHEL: What's been going on over the last few years, particularly since September the 11th, is that European countries have been having to improve their counterterrorism, their intelligence.
What we're discovering is that there are various terrorist cells that are planning operations throughout Europe that are not -- that are not just interested in attacking European countries but even attacking the U.S.
And what we're now witnessing is there's no such thing as a safe country, that terrorists are invisible. They cannot be identified by uniform. They're dispersed within society and have the means and capabilities of carrying out attacks throughout the world. And Holland is just an example. We should never assume that one country is safe from, or immune from terrorism, because transnational terrorism has altered that ever since 9/11.
HEMMER: And the way Theo van Gogh was killed, just absolutely brutal. Does that suggest an uptick or some sort of raising of the stakes when it comes to terrorism, or to -- to violence in Holland?
GOHEL: Very much so. It was cold, brutal, calculating and very chilling. And he was brutally murdered. It also shows a new type of strategy by the terrorists. They seem to have taken an example from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian Palestinian terrorist who beheads people in Iraq.
When you kill an individual, when you brutally behead -- kill them, you're -- you're targeting one person, a well-known individual, that speaks volumes. It has more significance than, say, a mass casualty attack, which just has statistics.
HEMMER: Sajjan Gohel, our guest from London, thanks for sharing with us today. That's our segment on "Terror's Trail."
GOHEL: Thank you.
HEMMER: Now Soledad.
O'BRIEN: Still to come this morning, pay now but buy later. One company's plan to help you finance a car now that you won't even begin shopping for for years. We'll explain just ahead as AMERICAN MORNING continues after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CAFFERTY: All right. Welcome back. Time to get a preview of the markets.
And General Motors wants you to lock and roll. Actually, a very clever idea. Andy Serwer's here, "Minding Your Business."
Good morning.
ANDY SERWER, "FORTUNE" MAGAZINE: Good morning to you. Let's talk about the markets yesterday.
Hey, the Fed raised interest rates yesterday. The markets yawned. Let's take a look here. Nary a peep. NASDAQ down a little bit more, not happy with Cisco's earnings. That stock dropped about six percent.
And listen to this, Jack. Futures are up this morning. Why? Because Wall Street seems to think with the passing of Yasser Arafat, the prospects of peace in the Middle East are greater. That's what we're hearing this morning.
CAFFERTY: They're probably going to be worse.
SERWER: Very interesting, I think.
Speaking about GM, interesting that they have this new financing deal they're announcing today. Listen to this. You buy a car before the end of the month and you get one of their financing programs, say zero percent for 36 months, 2.9 percent for 48 months, and you'll be able to buy another car at the same terms over the next five years.
CAFFERTY: Wow.
SERWER: In other words, anticipating that rates are going to go up, you're able to lock in at the low financing rates here. Of course, they want you to buy another General Motors car. Kind of get that.
CAFFERTY: That's kind of a clever incentive, though.
SERWER: It is actually kind of interesting and kind of an arbitrageur. And listen who's pitching this. Susie Orman (ph) is pitching this for General Motors.
CAFFERTY: I just take back what I said.
SERWER: Thank you very -- come on. Susie, don't listen to him.
Anyway, another car story this morning, NASCAR. First of all, let me -- a couple things that don't go together: oil and vinegar, Jack Cafferty and poppycock, and drinking and driving. Drinking and driving, they don't go together. Well, NASCAR is announcing that they're lifting the ban on liquor as in liquor sponsorship. They already have beer and malt beverage, but now they're going to allow the hard stuff. A British company, Diaggio (ph), is going to have the Crown Royal car next year.
And they said they're doing responsible stuff, but you know, a lot of drunk driving done by young males who watch...
CAFFERTY: Exactly.
SERWER: ... NASCAR and all the rest of these.
CAFFERTY: The audience is right there, the young males who go to NASCAR.
SERWER: NASCAR dads.
CAFFERTY: Boy, what are you thinking about?
All right, thanks Andy.
Veterans Day. Eighteen ABC affiliates around the country refusing to air the network's broadcasting of the movie "Saving Private Ryan" because of concerns about penalties from the FCC. These gutless affiliates say the movie's violence and language could cause the FCC to fine them.
Now, ABC broadcast the same movie, uncut, unedited, in 2001 and 2002, no problems. Said it's proud to do it again.
FCC spokeswoman said yesterday they don't monitor broadcasts, but they do respond to complaints. A complaint was -- this is "Saving Private Ryan." I mean, come on, get a grip.
Next. Go to the next one. It's too long.
Here's my idea, bound to cut into American productivity. Twentieth Century Fox pioneering a new realm of entertainment for cell phones. These are called "mobisodes." "Mobisodes." The studio's developing the popular series "24" for mobile phones, therefore, the name "mobisodes."
SERWER: "Mobisodes."
CAFFERTY: The one minute -- one-minute "mobisodes" will be introduced by Vodaphone in Britain in January and on Verizon Wireless next year in the U.S. Twenty-four "mobisodes" of the series "24" will be shown in all.
And finally, a judge in Romania has resigned because it was discovered that she is a triple-X porn star.
HEMMER: Oh, that.
CAFFERTY: Simona Lungu originally denied the allegations that she had starred in a film, "Secrets of Seduction," and called for an investigation by an official forensic panel. Unfortunately for her, the forensic experts concluded it was she in that movie, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase, "Here comes the judge."
SERWER: Ow! Yes.
HEMMER: You could probably Google that and get that answer, right? Check my resume!
CAFFERTY: That's all I have at this time.
SERWER: Come on. That was very conservative (ph).
O'BRIEN: In a moment, today's top stories. Moving on, because I have nothing to add to that. The death of Yasser Arafat, of course, our top story.
Palestinian officials moving quickly to fill a post that he once held. But who eventually will fill his shoes? A look at that ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
