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Suspects in Paris Terror Attack Have Been Killed; One Suspect Remains at Large

Aired January 09, 2015 - 15:30   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Peter Bergen, to you. I really want to hone in on these two Kouachi brothers, because there are so many questions -- one of the questions, though, the process of radicalization. I have been reading a lot about this group out of the 19th district of Paris and an individual that younger Kouachi brother met. And then also others who helped maybe galvanize this jihadi, you know, violence while they were waiting to be sentenced. Talk to me a little bit about that.

PETER BERGEN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Well, I mean, the Kouachi brothers seem to have had a process of radicalization that stretched back at least a decade. I mean, if you are already prepared to go to fight in Iraq as one of the brothers was in 2005 and hook up with (INAUDIBLE), the notorious leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq. He was arrested before he could do that. You know, you are well down the path of radicalization and these guys come out of projects in the following year in France which are not really like American suburbs. They really like American projects. They had, you know, little job opportunities. At least one of them worked as a pizza delivery guy and had dreams of becoming a rapper. And that fizzled out.

Unlike a lot of these guys, what you know, they don't have much going on in their lives and they want to be heroes in their own story and how better to be a hero in your own story to go to the battlefield or go out in a blaze of glory as the security their intention from the get-go here. There was a lot of discussion about why aren't these guys committing suicide earlier in these days. And it was quite obvious that they just into bomb attackers went in planning to die, but they wanted to sustain the media coverage for as long as possible. It's quite obvious that this was what these guys were doing. And you know, they made statements about martyrdom years ago in a French documentary that made new statements about modern cause of this.

And interestingly, now we have this, I think, quite reliable report that they met with the Anwar al-Awlaki, the American leader of Al- Qaeda in Yemen and he charged them to do this attack. It isn't the first time, by the way, Brooke, that Al-Qaeda in Yemen, which has repeatedly tried to attack the west, has pulled something off. This is an obviously in a spectacular manner. And it was directed by an American citizen, which I think a lot of people don't understand that this is a group that was really led by an American.

BALDWIN: And just final question with you, Peter Bergen. With this inspiration and perhaps even financing from Anwar al-Awlaki, and now you have this whole thing being pulled off in Paris, that the bigger question is how big is this group even within France, within Paris, of people with the mobilized cell with others who I'm sure would like to stage similar attacks?

BERGEN: You know, I think it's interesting. Because, you know, Al- Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is not a (INAUDIBLE) group like Al- Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. I don't think they have a huge number of French recruits. But that said, they were able to pull this off which is the biggest terror attack in Europe since the July 7th, 2005 attack in London. So clearly, they have some kind of infrastructure. It would be interesting to see how large that infrastructure is. It will be interesting scene what this female that has escaped, what her role in all this and what her travel patterns were.

BALDWIN: Peter Bergen, I appreciate it. Mr. Sage, thank you so much as well.

Coming up next, we'll check in with my colleague, Chris Cuomo in Paris. Stay right here, much more to talk about out of France. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: You're watching special coverage here on CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin in New York. Chris Cuomo is live in Paris.

Chris, do me a favor and just -- as we cover all of the hostage situations and the ramifications here of the radicalization process, let's just focus in on where you are right now because this is really where it all began Wednesday before noon there in Paris. I see people behind you still paying their respects for all of those journalists lives lost.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So much has happened over the last few days. To think, Brooke, that you know, just feet from us are offices of "Charlie Hedbo," the French satirical magazine, a massacre there, 12 people killed, 11 injured, many seriously and still battling for life perpetrated by two brothers, terrorists. And now they went from creating that massacre to killing police officers, to being on the run, being chased through the woods, winding up in an industrial building where they would wind up basically taking their own lives by rushing police and being taken out quickly.

A man who was hiding inside in a box who is presumed to be a hostage had wind up making it out alive. At the same time, after we learned about the horrible massacre, there was, of course, the shooting of two police officers, a female who was unarmed losing her life.

The third terrorist involved in that, his accomplice, his girlfriend, a female obviously, they were announced by French police. Soon after that we learned that they had taken hostages inside of a kosher supermarket. And that they were saying if you didn't release the brothers, the hostages would be sacrificed. And indeed they did kill hostages and others were injured.

And eventually there would be a police assault on that market. Terrorists would be killed. His girlfriend still at large and she is now key and critical to the investigation. That market was much more complex and much more difficult for authorities to deal with and the toll, of course, there much higher. For that story, here's Isa Soares.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brazened, cold blooded and an (INAUDIBLE) demeanor apparently trained. This amateur video taken of the "Charlie Hedbo" attackers as they fled shortly before noon on Wednesday was among the starting point of what become an unprecedented manhunt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eighty thousand people will be mobilized of which 9,800 in the isle of France.

SOARES: Within hours, police had a lead on the suspects. One of them had left his I.D. in the abandoned getaway car.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a mistake, a single mistake.

SOARES: The search was on for brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, French citizens who are both on U.S. terrorist watch lists. Later Wednesday night, police who have done Rems (ph), one place Said Kouachi had lived.

Around the same time, a third suspect, 18 year old Hamyd Mourad turned himself into authorities. In all, police detained at least nine people that first day. The two remaining gunmen, though, still at large.

Then on Thursday, more terror as a policewoman was shot dead in a Paris suburb of Montrouge. It would later emerge her killer was connected to the "Charlie Hedbo" suspects.

A short time after the second shooting, the Kouachi brothers were reportedly seen at a gas station in (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There was a man who told me apparently they left their car and went through the forest. Don't go through the forest. Don't go around the forest to avoid running into them.

SOARES: Air and ground searches were concentrated around the woods until 10:00 Friday morning when the hunt became a siege at an industrial state in Dammartin-en-Goele. The two suspects holed up in a printing workshop with a hostage.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We were standing in front of the door to the factory. I shook the hand Michelle, the owner and the terrorist. He introduced himself as a policeman. I then got into my car and left. And Michelle the owner let the man into the factory.

SOARES: Heavily armed police place the town Charles de Gaulle airport in lockdown as heavily armed police surrounded the scene and began negotiating with the brothers who told them they wanted to die as martyrs. Then three hours later, a second siege unfolded in eastern Paris.

Hayat Boumeddiene and Amadi Coulibaly who were named as the suspects in the killing of the policewoman who were reportedly holding hostages in a supermarket.

After more than three days of terror on French streets, police had all of the key suspects surrounded. Three hours later, explosions and smoke, simultaneous confrontations left two brothers responsible for the "Charlie Hedbo" attack dead. Coulibaly was also killed when police raided the supermarket.

Isa Soares, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: Our thanks to Isa for that.

The situation is over. But really now, for the French population, the eyes are just beginning to open to the war against terror that is taking place right in their own neighborhoods.

French president Hollande took to the airways to address his people today. He saw that attack at the market as an anti-semantic attack. And he wanted the French people to know that this is just the beginning. That they are at war here, at home. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): I express all my solidarity to the families of the victims of the wounded but France to face action because when she overcomes a hardship, a tragedy for the nation and this is an obligation for us to face up to it.

The killers have been out, put out of the state to be on to harm, both two operations won in the matter, the other in (INAUDIBLE) in the kosher shop. I want to congratulate the courage, the bravery of the (INAUDIBLE), of the police officers of all those who participated in these operations. I want to say to them that we are proud, proud of them because order has been given and they carried out the assault with the same result. They did this to save human lives, those of the hostages. They did this to neutralize the terrorists. Those who had killed.

But France, even if she is aware that she's overcome, that she can together with the security forces bring men and women who are capable. France has not finished with this threat. And so, I want to call on you for vigilance, unity and mobilization. I call on you also to unity because I expressed myself, the French people. This is our best weapon. Unity that we must demonstrate our determination to fight against anything that can divide us, and first of all, to be impeccable, to be totally against any racism and anti-Semitism because there was anti-Semitic attack, a terrible anti-Semitic attack that was committed today in the kosher shop not to be divided means that we must not make any confusion and to make it easy to remove any out trumping concerning these terrorists, these fanatics, who have nothing to do with the Muslim religion. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CUOMO: That the French president, of course, and as traumatic as these events have been, we've seen signs literally physical signs and signs in the behavior of the French people from the very beginning that they would not be intimidated and point of terrorism to scare them and terrorize would not find its mark. That they are not afraid. And we see in the (INAUDIBLE) homes tonight, it says Paris is Charlie referring obviously to Charlie Hedbo that they have become unified by this and of course all of this horror began here at the offices of the magazine.

This is a memorial that's been set up to it. It's been growing by the hour. You see there are flowers, their notes. They are reminders of what the magazine has done before. The French culture so rich with the feel of satire.

And nothing is beyond the line of acceptability in terms of critique. Any religion whether it was the Pope, whether it is Judaism or Islam, that they have all been treated equally by the pens at the magazine.

People have left reminders and candles. The smoke in the air is because someone had brought a Christmas tree here as a reminder and it caught fire from one of the candles. The police came and put it out. So one trauma that was averted here today.

And as we walk along here, be careful, Joe, as we walk along so we don't step on anything. Excuse me. I'm sorry. So we come through candles. You see flowers, the notes of support, some of them for the cartoonists who were lost and other staff members, the police whose lives were taken and promises of solidarity. Promises that "Charlie Hedbo" would not be forgotten as the terrorists screamed out that they had killed "Charlie Hedbo," the French respond that that couldn't be farther from the truth.

Joe, let's hold right here. And you can see all along the fence more of it. And we've seen these before. The French flag with people writing on them that we will survive. We will endure through this. We've seen memorials like this before. We saw it at 9/1. We saw it after Boston.

And it means every bit as much here. This wasn't just a magazine. It was something that was elemental, not just to the freedom of expressions but something that is fundamental to French culture that they believe in as something as what they are. And that's what was attacked and it reminded people to come together and that their strength is obviously in their unity. And that's what Je Suis Charlie means. My French is terrible, but the sentiment is beautiful. It's that everybody here is what was attacked. And that they resolve not to be afraid.

This is just one set of reminders that's been growing by the hour. And in the days and weeks ahead, this culture and these people are going to have to come together because they now are painfully aware of the threat that they face. We're going to take a break right now. When we come back, there is

more reporting to be done. One of the accomplices still at large. She is now critical to this investigation. She is the last living member of the team as far as we know and authorities need to speak to her very desperately. So stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: We're live in Paris. I'm joined by Fabrice Magnier. Fabrice is a former French Navy SEAL. He is a security expert and he is intimately familiar with the French tactics used in investigating and fighting against the terror assaults we have seen since the massacre here at the office of the French satirical magazine "Charlie Hedbo."

Fabrice, thank you for joining us and thank you for the help that you've been this week.

Now, you said to me early on as this was still unfolding, these men think that they are soldiers. This is the threat that the French people face. This is a wake-up call. What do you mean?

FABRICE MAGNIER, FORMER FRENCH NAVY SEAL: I think now French people, not only French people, from some people in Europe and the world, understand that in our country, we have French guys, French people who are at war against our system. All what we have seen during the last two days demonstrates those guys were clearly prepare to strike everything which represent a threat to Islam.

CUOMO: They weren't just madmen. They believe that they had a focus and an ideology?

MAGNIER: Exactly. They weren't madmen. They wanted to target first these men because they represent an entity which is against Islam from their point of view.

CUOMO: The enemy from their point of view?

MAGNIER: Yes. From their point of view, yes of course.

CUOMO: And that's why they were also careful as you told me to say, we don't want to kill women, innocents --

MAGNIER: Yes.

CUOMO: As hypocritical as that is because they were killing innocent people by killing the cartoonists, in their mind, they think that they're soldiers carrying out a mission?

MAGNIER: Exactly. For them, the journalists are like soldier at war against Islamic world. They do not hesitate to kill this police officer in the street as an enemy, as a soldier, too. They didn't kill the guy from the gas station. They didn't kill the people that drove the car, you know what I mean.

CUOMO: It doesn't make them good. It just it informs what is going on in their head, what their perversion is in their own mind as to what right and wrong is. But what do you make of the Muslim issue because everybody is talking about that here. You said to me early on, it doesn't matter that they're Muslim, that they're being found and targeted because they're susceptible to this type of brainwashing but that you don't have to be Muslim to be someone who falls prey to being a soldier for the wrong cause.

MAGNIER: Of course. I think those guys are misinformed. But, I mean, the majority of Muslims in the world are not terrorists.

CUOMO: Right, of course.

MAGNIER: Do not want to do that. You know what I mean. Those guys were a little bit lost some were younger. They spent time in jail. They became much more radical in jail. They change or got information to some imam in jail. That's why they progressively became sure about the actions they wanted to do against enemy of Islam from their point of view.

CUOMO: And you're worried that if the cultural reaction in France is to see the Muslims as a potential problem, it only makes this situation worse, it only creates more likely.

MAGNIER: Of course. This is the main issue. People in France have to understand, we cannot mix (INAUDIBLE) who are getting that story. I have many friends, Muslim guys. They are completely crying. They don't understand. They feel in daily basis like people are looking at them strangely and now they have some fear that people now want to target them --

CUOMO: And that's exactly what the extremists want.

MAGNIER: Exactly.

CUOMO: They want moderates to be seen as part of the problem because then that helps their own narrative that the west is against them?

MAGNIER: Yes. And our politics now have to deliver a very clear message to the French population in order to explain to them we are the bad guys and we make everything possible to stop them. There is no comparison to others in France. They have to demonstrate to that point of view in order to note make people against each of them.

CUOMO: Muslims are as French as anyone else. It's the extremists that are the problem. But let me ask you about accountability.

MAGNIER: French is French.

CUOMO: French is French no matter your faith.

MAGNIER: We have French who are Muslim. We have French who are Jewish. We have French who are Christians. No problem.

CUOMO: Accountability. They knew these guys. They have them in the criminal justice system. They have them on a watch list. The U.S. had them on a no-fly list. How do you have someone who seems like they should have been a priority wind up being so free to do something like this? Where is that failure?

MAGNIER: You know, we cannot have surveillance on everybody. I think there are plenty of guys like this who are always playing with the limits of our system. So if they have surveillance for a certain number of weeks, months, sometimes they go in jail. And as soon as they get out of jail --

CUOMO: But he went to jail for trafficking for jihad. Supposedly went to Yemen himself and people knew --

MAGNIER: Yes.

CUOMO: I mean, that's a lot of connection to the bad guys.

MAGNIER: Of course. There is a question about that. What do we do with this? Do we have to wait for the sentences? Do we have stronger sentences? Do we have a program to make assumption about these guys as soon as they get out of jail because 18 months is one thing that maybe after ten years, they will get out of jail, what do we do with this? We have to have surveillance about that. So, it changed a little bit the philosophy of what we do actually. And I want you to understand now is thy have to adapt our laws. We have good laws to stop that. That's also our secret system, our security forces, what we want to put on the table to be able to manage this.

CUOMO: It is a wakeup call for the French people in term of the threat being here, but also for authorities to figure out on what they have to do the tools they need.

Fabrice Magnier, thank you so much for the insight. I appreciate it.

MAGNIER: Thank you.

CUOMO: Back to you in New York, Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right, Chris Cuomo, thank you so much, in Paris.

Just quickly, I want to show you a picture just published by (INAUDIBLE). This is the primary newspaper out of Paris. And so, this is the woman. This is the woman who is still on the run. This is the girlfriend of one of the hostage-taker who was ultimately killed today in that kosher grocery store hostage siege. This was taken, according to the newspaper, right around 2010. Just other images we're showing as we know French investigators and law enforcement are trying to find this woman and trying to find her alive because she really holds the clue to a lot of the bigger questions many, many people have as far as how these individuals were radicalized, how this began, how far back it goes? And here's her -- apparently her boyfriend who was part of this hostage siege at the grocery store outside of Paris.

Now, three terrorists are dead, including the man you see on your screen, after these standoffs today. Now the FBI is issuing a new warning to law enforcement in the United States.

Let me go to Washington to our justice correspondent Pamela Brown who is speaking with sources, department of homeland security, FBI, they have issued a bulletin in the wake of what happened in Paris.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brooke.

It's clear that U.S. officials are alarmed by what happened in Paris. And in light of that, the FBI and DHS, as you said, issued this bulletin this afternoon to law enforcement across the country discussing the seriousness of the Paris attack earlier this week. And although we've seen unfold today and also the sophistication of the tactics we saw.

This is according to a law enforcement source who actually read the report. And the bulletin talks about the attacks that the demonstrator degree of sophistication and training traditionally not seen in recent small armed attacks, according to sources described in that bulletin. And the notice also discusses the manner in which the shooters handled, Brooke, with familiarity and competency, suggesting formal training.

Of course, there have been these reports that one of the attackers traveled to Yemen in 2011 and this alert sent out suggests the claim by one of the attackers is he is associated with AQAP corroborates the seriousness of that terror groups urging to go after political cartoonists ho have offended them with depiction of Islam.

But I want to make clear here. There's no specific information according to sources anything is happening here in the U.S. But of course, this morning also reminds law enforcement officials that Al- Qaeda and its affiliates are focused on attacking aviation, mass transit in certain cities in addition to government personnel, military personnel here in the United States, Brooke.

BALDWIN: Pamela Brown, thank you so much. And to just reiterate your connections, your plan about Al-Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula, again, part of the reporting that CNN has done today is that apparently this younger -- one of the Kouachi brothers did spent time perhaps just a few months in Yemen back in 2011. This was prior to when the American Anwar al-Awlaki, that leader was killed in that drone strike. And so, that is when apparently he was trained before coming back to France. And again, that was several years ago.

Stay with us here at CNN. Of course, we're all over this breaking coverage out of Paris for our viewers in the United States.

"The LEAD" with Jake Tapper is next. To our viewers around the world, Hala Gorani is live in Paris.

I'm Brooke Baldwin here in New York. Thank you so much for being with me. Our special coverage continues right now.