Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

France Gearing Up for Sunday's Unity March; Tracking Down Female Terror Suspect; Interview with Senator Bob Casey; Massive Unity Rally Planned for Sunday; Freedom of Speech vs. Terrorism

Aired January 10, 2015 - 13:00   ET

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

FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'd like to welcome our viewers in the U.S. and around the world.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

This hour, CNN's breaking news coverage continues. The woman French authorities believe to may have been involved in the Paris terror attacks may not be in France at this time. Now sources are telling CNN that Hayat Boumeddiene may be in Syria.

Plus, this hour, people are planning to gather in front of the kosher grocery store in Paris where four hostages were killed. They want to show their support for the hostages.

And here they are, as identified by JSS News, a well-known online Jewish publication in France. Yohan Cohen was 22 years old, Yoav Hattab was 21 years old, and we don't know much yet about Philippe Braham and Francois-Michel Saada.

Meanwhile, France is gearing up for Sunday's massive unity march. At least 1900 French troops will provide additional security. Thousands of people and several foreign dignitaries are expected to attend.

Now for more on the whereabouts of the suspect, Hayat Boumeddiene, CNN's Hala Gorani is with us live.

So, Hala, now the status of this young lady is changing in terms of when she traveled in relation to when these attacks took place over the last three days in Paris. Very complex.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is complex, but if indeed, according to this source, Hayat Boumeddiene, who's 26 years old, believed to be the girlfriend of the man Coulibaly, Amedy Coulibaly, who held up and took hostages in that kosher supermarket. If indeed this information is accurate and this one source, of course, told CNN this is very well connected to the investigation, then she would have left on January 1st or January 2nd of this year.

This Hayat Boumeddiene, which is before the attacks on "Charlie Hebdo," before the killing of the female police officer that is being blamed on Amedy Coulibaly, and before the hostage taking at the kosher supermarket. In other words, it would mean that she was not in country when all of this happened. Boumeddiene left for Turkey, quote, "Of course, to reach Syria,"

according to this source, at the beginning of the year, as I mentioned, January 1st or January 2nd.

So there you have it. This is a new twist there. This is a woman whose mug shot was issued on Thursday, after the shooting in Montrouge outside of Paris, that left one female police officer dead, as being part of a -- of a -- the couple of suspects shot by authorities. So we're going to have to wait and see when this is confirmed by authorities publicly if indeed she's left the country -- Fred.

And I understand we can go to Fred Pleitgen, who's outside that kosher supermarket where that dramatic standoff took place in Place de (INAUDIBLE) in east Paris.

Talk to us, first of all, more about what the significance of this potential new breaking news element might be for the investigation, the fact that this woman, Hayat Boumeddiene, might not even have been in France when this all went down -- Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's certainly significant, because one of the things that the French authorities were thinking is that she might have been an accomplice, for of all, in that killing that took place on Thursday, where apparently Amedy Coulibaly killed a police woman and then managed to escape. She was one of the people who believed to be an accomplice in all of that.

If in fact she was not in country, then that certainly would change things considerably for law enforcement officials here investigating all of that.

Also, the big question is, what sort of ties did Amedy Coulibaly then indeed have to potentially ISIS? Because remember that one of the things that he said on that telephone call that he had with that French publication was that he said that he had been sent by ISIS, which seemed to us just be quite strange. That the Kouachi brothers said that they were sent by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

However, apparently, Coulibaly said that he was very much in sync with the Kouachi brothers, at least as far as the operation that took place at the "Charlie Hebdo" headquarters took place. But I want to talk a little bit more about -- Hala, about what's going on right here because as you said we are in front of that kosher grocery store that got hit here by Amedy Coulibaly only yesterday.

And if we pan across a little bit here. Claudio (ph) is going to do that. You can see that literally hundreds of people have come here to pay their respects, it's that vigil that we were talking about. As you can see, the police has cordoned off large parts of the square to provide security. That's because there are going to be some VIP guests coming, some foreign dignitaries, as well, who are going to lay down flowers right -- sort of at the right corner of where that store is.

Judging right now, it's kind of difficult to judge here in the rain, because obviously many people are carrying umbrellas to judge the crowd size. I would say that it's almost a thousand people, maybe, that have come here. And again, we obviously have very bad weather, very averse weather, a lot of rain. Nevertheless, many people are coming out here. We've also seen many people from the Muslim community of Paris, who came out here to pay their respects.

One of them was the Imam of Drancy, and I think we were together at the "Charlie Hebdo" headquarters just a couple of days ago when he was one of the first ones to pay his respects there. Of course someone who's been fighting against extremism for a very long time. Calling on all communities to get together.

The real feeling that we have here is that this community here, Paris, France, of course, is healing, is reeling and healing, if you will, after the events that took place, as there is, I wouldn't say a rift, but certainly a new found distrust between the Jewish and the Muslim communities in this country.

Again, one of the things we have to keep in mind is that even before all of this took place, there were complaints of rising anti-Semitism here in this country, and this of course, this event is something that wouldn't have made the relations between these communities any better. And so right now, they're coming together, obviously, both sides shocked by what took place here, coming together and trying to heal the wounds that no doubt were created by the actions of Amedy Coulibaly -- Hala.

GORANI: All right. And there was that attack in Toulouse in 2012 against a Jewish school as well. A lot of tension there, a lot of grief still being felt by many.

Fred Pleitgen is outside that supermarket in eastern Paris. Thank you very much.

I'm joined once again by CNN terrorism analyst, Samuel Laurent.

Samuel, I just want to get your take once again on the possibility here that the girlfriend of Amedy Coulibaly possibly actually left France January 1st or 2nd. That means this was in place, this plan, for a while, quite premeditated.

SAMUEL LAURENT, CNN TERRORISM EXPERT: Exactly. And on top of that, far from -- far from removing her out of the case. Actually, I think it is -- it is a further prove of her involvement. She's been used, as we know, and as you reminded previously, that she's been used for communication between Amedy Coulibaly and the two brothers, you know, their respective husbands. So therefore I reckon that she had a lot of information, she was deeply involved, and she found a safe haven in Syria.

The most frightening thing in that is that Syria is a real base for this operation.

GORANI: Yes.

LAURENT: So that means that of the connections we already saw in Yemen extends to Syria.

GORANI: Let me ask you this, it's not believed that Amedy Coulibaly traveled to Syria, correct?

LAURENT: Correct.

GORANI: So there has to be some degree of organization and planning involved in getting the girlfriend to Syria. How does a network like that work if such is the case?

LAURENT: Yes, social networks are doing a lot. And besides, as we were mentioning previously, a lot of people are traveling nowadays from France so Syria and back from Syria to France. So all the channels are existing, with networks in Turkey, with networks in Tunisia and so on. So therefore, you know, this is a -- this is a huge network that we have from Europe to Syria and Iraq. And there is a lot of middle men, there are a lot of middle men, there are a lot of people that can basically provide the outsourcing and provide all the logistics necessary for traveling and communication. So --

GORANI: And -- and once in Syria, that's it?

LAURENT: Once in Syria --

GORANI: They're going to go looking for her there? Yes?

LAURENT: Syria's a black hole, and that's been, I would say, the original sin of our intelligence services. Nobody has been able to infiltrate Syria and the brigades over there. So once you join, for example, al Qaeda over there, like Jabhat al-Nusra, or once you join ISIS, then it's finished. We can't get anything from her anymore.

GORANI: Just to remind our viewers, this is one source telling CNN, one source close here to security services in France, that it is believed that this woman, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26-year-old girlfriend of the man who held up that kosher supermarket, is believed to have left France even before any of the attacks took place.

LAURENT: Exactly, and actually that's very coherent. If you look at it from the operational point of view, you've got three people designed to die, basically that's what, you know, planned to die, that was the attackers. But then you've got all the logisticians, I would say, that were not involved in the attack. And that needed basically to exit the country. A bit like in the Cold War era where you could seek refuge back in your own camp. And this is what we saw, this is what we witnessed.

GORANI: Yes.

LAURENT: This very valuable source of information exiting from hostile territory.

GORANI: And this complicates things for investigators because this is a woman. And women have taken part in terrorist operations, there are female suicide bombers, but they're very much the minority. But that means that there's going to have to be another component of some of these operations to try to track people before anything happens, that involves looking at the women. Because if indeed it is the case that 500 phone calls were made between the girlfriend and the wife of each, that's --

LAURENT: Well, yes, actually, you know, this shows again the lack of surveillance, the gap between what should have been needed and what have been done by the French intelligence. Those people, the men, the brothers and this Amedy Coulibaly, both have a link with other terrorists that were very well known. They haven't passed the background. So instead of checking them only, we would have checked the whole surroundings. And especially, you know, their wives and girlfriends and so on. So basically, yes, again, a big mistake made there.

GORANI: Samuel Laurent, thanks very much.

LAURENT: Thank you very much.

GORANI: Fredricka, back to you in Atlanta.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll check back with you momentarily. Thank you so much.

Very interesting between Samuel and Hala there.

Still ahead, how authorities are trying to track down this female terror suspect who is no longer, according to sources, in France.

And why do these terror attacks in Paris worry U.S. security experts so much? When we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Our breaking news coverage continues on the attacks in Paris. The woman French authorities believe to have been involved in the Paris terror attacks may not have even been in France at the time of the attacks. Now sources are telling CNN that Hayat Boumeddiene went to Syria around the first of the year. The three gunmen who carried out the attacks over the last three days were killed.

We're covering every angle. CNN's Hala Gorani is back with us from Paris. Joining me from New York, Jonathan Gilliam, he is a former Navy SEAL and a former FBI agent. And in Washington, CNN global affairs analyst, Kim Dozier, who is also a contributor for "The Daily Beast."

So, Jonathan, let me go to you first and your reaction to this news that this young lady may not have even been in France at the time of the attacks, but instead, was in Syria or left for Syria an entire week beforehand.

Do you still see that there may have been some direct involvement on her behalf to the planning stages of this attack before it happened?

JONATHAN GILLIAM, FORMER FBI AGENT: Well, I have to say from an investigative standpoint, the week that she fled a week before the attack is very peculiar to me. And I think that they should start looking into her movements, if possible. We definitely know that she agrees with what they did. Her rhetoric before shows that she was in agreement with it. And the fact that she fled to Syria is also very telling, as to the connections that she may have had. And I think that they -- you know, she's an incredible source of information. She's also very dangerous.

A human being, it doesn't matter if it's female or male, if they're bent on killing and going down this road, they're a dangerous creature. So I think they should continue to look for her for several reasons, one, because she's dangerous, and two, because they can really -- this is how investigations work. We had this piece of the pie. They needed to go in and fully develop that, and it will help develop the entire investigation.

WHITFIELD: And then, Kimberly, let me bring you in to this and the many sources that you've been talking about. What are they learning or really kind of trying to extrapolate from this attack, which now looks to be very unusual in its planning, in the way in which it was carried out, and this new information that this young lady may have left an entire week before the attack was carried out, but may still have been involved to some degree?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, the FBI warning about the attack is saying that this was sophisticated, different than the violence that we saw by a lone gunman in Ottawa and by one in Australia. These were, apparently, men operating in a cell. They hit two soft targets simultaneously. Was there coordination with that? But what we also have to inject here is, this wasn't a group of ninjas who were 10 feet tall.

They did make some tactical errors. They did have some firearms training and moved confidently. But there were also some mistakes made. So in letting the American public know what should you be vigilant for, you've got to tell them that public places, you should probably have your guard up. But you're still more likely to be injured by a drunk driver or a teen texting than you are by a terrorist attack.

WHITFIELD: And then, Hala, there in Paris, how concerned now are law enforcement authorities there, that there might be other individuals who may be following orders from al Qaeda, you know, the Arabian Peninsula, just like these people might have been following orders, but then they're choosing their own timing as to when they carry it out?

GORANI: Well, there are two types. We were speaking with Samuel Laurent, our expert there. There are two types, in his estimation, of attackers in western countries. Those who, for instance, are given director orders to go ahead and attack western targets, perhaps having been trained with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and those who have sort of overarching inspiration from groups like ISIS may not have traveled to Syria, but become self-radicalized on the Internet or in groups of individuals in their home countries. But it's extremely difficult for authorities to keep tabs on everyone.

And we know that these two brothers, the Kouachi brothers, one of them traveled to Yemen over the last several years, according to sources, and even though that was the case and it appears as though there had been some direct contact with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's top operatives, still managed to come back and surveillance on him and on the brothers was downgraded.

And a few months later, this attack took place. So you can imagine the resources are extremely stretched. It's difficult both on the surveillance side, but also on the policing side. "Charlie Hebdo" was a very obvious target. And despite that, the surveillance -- I should say, the protection of that facility was not as high as it should have been, according to some observers. And we know how that ended on Wednesday.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hala, Jonathan, and Kim, hold tight. We're going to continue this conversation. We're going to take a short break right now, though.

Much more of the NEWSROOM continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to our continuing coverage. The breaking story we're following is that 26-year-old Hayat Boumeddiene, who was named a suspect days ago in helping to carry out the attacks, the deadly attacks in Paris, France. Well, now officials are saying, she may have made her way to Syria one week before the three-day siege took place.

So now how can she be tracked and how involved may she have been with the other three terrorists who are now dead?

Al Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula also now claiming responsibility for this attack.

Back with us now, Jonathan Gilliam, a former Navy SEAL and former FBI agent, CNN global affairs analyst, Kim Dozier, also with us, a contributor for "The Daily Beast," and CNN's Hala Gorani.

So, Kim, let me go to you first because, you know, we've heard from one of our guests earlier, Samuel Laurent, who was talking to Hala, who says, Syria, now it's a black hole. Good luck on trying to track this young lady.

So what can authorities do to try to find her or find out if she, indeed, played a role in this three-day attack?

DOZIER: Well, they can hope that she hasn't gotten into Syria. That she's still somewhere in Turkey and you can imagine right now there's going to be this intelligence scramble to track her movements.

Was she carrying a cell phone that they have the number to? Can they follow the net of signals intelligence to see if she's reached Syria? But once over those borders, it's going to be very hard to figure out

where she's gone. What it shows you, that's one of the difficulties faced by intelligence analysts with Syria in general. It's a black hole.

WHITFIELD: Right. And Jonathan, how significant a role is it believed she may have played?

GILLIAM: I think that's still unknown. I think, though, you can tell by the relationship she had with her significant other and the pictures that portray her and the evolution of who she became, I think it's very telling, that -- and that, plus the fact that she fled, it's very telling that she had involvement. I still think it's kind of -- you know, they have to find out why, but let me just say this one thing from the last segment, that I think is a very important takeaway from this.

You're seeing an evolution in terrorism that we keep seeing these evolutions over and over again. You know, we're stuck on this homegrown, lone wolf mentality of these fighters. But the reality is, these were homegrown, but they worked together as a team and they got trained in another country. So what we're seeing now is really an evolution in expertise where they actually take people, train them, and send them back.

It's very similar with what happened with the Boston bombers here.

WHITFIELD: And you said, you know, worked together as a team.

And Hala, there in Paris, I wonder what the concern is, whether there are other team members, as part of this network of, you know, Amedy Coulibaly, who was the person who was the partner of Hayat Boumeddiene, and whether, indeed, there are other members that French authorities feel they have to now weed out.

GORANI: Of course, intelligence services here, the police, authorities, are all scrambling. It's a race against time to try to figure out if, indeed, there were more people associated with this group.

Now we know that Coulibaly, the hostage taker at the kosher supermarket's girlfriend, this is according to French authorities, was in touch with the wife of one of the Kouachi brothers. The Kouachi brothers are the two believed to be responsible for the massacre at "Charlie Hebdo." Why? Why were the two women in touch? Over 500 phone calls in 2014.

It's believed that because the men knew they were under surveillance or potentially under surveillance. So this was a way to communicate possibly through the women, which would mean that the involvement of the woman now believed to be in Turkey, possibly in Syria, Hayat Boumeddiene, the 26-year-old, would be certainly operational, because it would mean that at some point, logistics were planned through her.

WHITFIELD: And Hala, are those wives in France or are they elsewhere? Have authorities sought them out, talked to them, learned anything? GORANI: Well, we know there have been several arrests, over 12 to 13

arrests. Right now the number is unclear. It's been moving a little bit, connected with the investigation. Some, maybe friends. When I say arrests, I should say in France, there's a different sort of detention term used, which means essentially that they are detained and authorities have a certain number of hours to investigate the case and then either extend the detention or release them.

They're not officially charged. They're just being detained for a limited amount of time as part of the investigation. So we know there is a number of those cases in French police custody right now. And presumably, we'll get more information on that in the coming days.

WHITFIELD: All right, Hala Gorani, Jonathan Gilliam and Kim Dozier, thank you so much to all of you, appreciate it. And we'll be right back with much more from the NEWSROOM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Happening right now in the NEWSROOM, armed and dangerous. Right now, police are searching for this woman, a suspect in the planning, at least, of the deadly terror attacks in Paris.

And we're now learning that she may be in Syria. New video this morning as search crews now hoist the tail of AirAsia Flight 8501 from the Java Sea. Now investigators are trying to figure out if those flight data recorders are anywhere nearby.

And General David Petraeus is in hot water over alleged pillow talk and accusations that he shared classified information with his mistress. Justice Department prosecutors are now recommending he face felony charges.

Hello, again, everyone. And welcome. Thanks for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

This hour, CNN's breaking news coverage continues. The woman thought to be involved in the Paris terror attacks is on the run, but she may not be in France. In fact, sources are telling CNN that Hayat Boumeddiene is believed to have been in Syria and gone there a week before the attacks in Paris.

Joining me right now in Pennsylvania is Democratic Senator Bob Casey, the former chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee overseeing the Middle East.

Good to see you, Senator. So you've heard this latest --

SEN. BOB CASEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: You've heard this latest information that this young woman who may have been involved, at least in the planning stages of the attacks, fled France a week before the attacks even took place. And the three gunmen involved are all dead now.

What does this tell you about the so-called evolution of terrorism that it is taking form in a very different way, if this young lady was involved, but then left before the attack was carried out. How might U.S. intelligence officials take this information and use it to its advantage?

CASEY: Well, Fredricka, one thing it tells us is that the tactics and the nature of this kind of terrorism is changing all the time. And sometimes borders don't matter. So I think it puts a spotlight on the kind of information or intel sharing that taking place and maybe has to be even more amplified or intensified, because folks can move pretty readily, even between and among countries not only in Europe, but even beyond Europe. So it's a reminder of what we're up with against.

WHITFIELD: And does it concern you that the intelligence community, whether it be those in France or perhaps even either of course in the United States, can even stay ahead of a terrorist? Because, you know, when you look back, just in recent years, from 9/11 to Richard Reid, the shoe bomber, to the underwear bomber, to the Tsarnaev brothers, Boston marathon, all of the techniques and the way in which these terror attacks were carried out were all very different, fairly unpredictable.

How concerned are you that the U.S. intelligence community can keep up or stay ahead?

CASEY: Fredricka, no question that we have to be concerned and ever vigilant. I think we have the best resources in the world. We have the best homeland security strategies in the world. But I do think that one thing that we're learning in many of these incidents is it's not simply tracking these individuals, it's also making sure at the local level, kind of at the law enforcement local level, that you have the best strategies in place.

What we don't know yet, and I think it's a little too early to tell, as to what happened here in terms of the gap. Is it something the French intelligence agencies missed when this one individual at least went to Yemen and came back and had training? So we're going to learn a lot from this. But I think members of Congress should wait to hear from the security professionals.

WHITFIELD: All right. And some might argue there were a lot of messages being sent from this three-day attack in Paris. One being, you know, the real attack on the freedom of the press there. And then six months ago in this country, the Senate passed the World Press Freedom revolution, introduced by you and Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio.

Talk to me about the timing of that and what was the focus of that then and how may that have been modified now, as a result of what's happened in Paris?

CASEY: Well, I think the resolution, if we were to pass it every year, probably the elements of it wouldn't change much. It's really recognizing this as a value, meaning freedom of the press and freedom of expression, condemning acts that go against that, but also pushing governments around the world, and this is where we have a ways to go, to not just investigate these cases, but to bring them -- bring those perpetrators to justice.

I do believe, Fredricka, that we're seeing violence and intimidation against a press that we probably haven't seen in a long time, just in 2013 alone. Seventy-one journalists and by one estimate --

WHITFIELD: What do you think the reason is behind that?

CASEY: Well, I think it's obviously an effort made by terrorists to intimidate journalists. But then there are other places where governments who may not be involved obviously in terrorism, but you see governments in the Mideast and other places, where terrorists or where journalists are at least intimidated in some ways by being incarcerated or being subjected to other pressure.

WHITFIELD: And then this radicalization, you know, is on the upswing, whether you talk about it here in the United States or maybe even in France, but let's talk about the U.S. and how there is an uptick in that and it seems as though there's a greater vulnerability among certain communities, particularly young people of Middle Eastern or maybe even African-American decent, who seem to be easy prey.

What in your view can be done from a cultural standpoint in the United States, community standpoint, local, and even federal law enforcement, so that all of that works together, to create a better situation for a lot of these young people, who become easy recruits, because they feel isolated, because they don't feel like they can -- they are assimilating in a comfortable manner?

CASEY: Well, Fredricka, first of all, I think there are some individuals that no matter what kind of outreach, no matter what kind of efforts you undertake, they're committed to violence and they're evil people. I just have a belief about that.

But there are some folks that over time, in addition to the anti- terrorism strategies, law enforcement, intel sharing, and all the work that's done by the international community, that there are additional efforts that can be made to make sure that we're doing everything possible to provide opportunity to folks who may feel disenfranchised.

But there are some people that no matter how much there is by way of outreach, they are going to commit acts of violence and terrorism. We have to track -- hunt them down and get to them before they get to us.

WHITFIELD: All right. Senator Bob Casey, thanks for your time. Appreciate it.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back. We continue our coverage of the terror in Paris. And now new information we're learning about how Turkish authorities are also now trying to track the whereabouts of the 26-year-old woman, Hayat Boumeddiene, who was believed to have been at least involved perhaps in the planning of the terror attacks that took place. We have learned earlier today that security officials say that it was

their belief that she actually left France a week before the terror attacks were carried out, in France, and that perhaps she has made her way all the way to Syria, by way of Turkey. But now we're hearing from Turkish authorities that they are also trying to track her whereabouts. It's still not clear exactly where she is now. But that perhaps she may have entered Turkey on January 2nd, according to a Turkish prime ministry source.

And I'll read to you the information that we're receiving, that Turkish police are trying to track her whereabouts, her movements while in Turkey. A French source now, I'm reading this to you as I'm seeing it for the first time. A French source close to the nation's security services also saying that Boumeddiene is thought to no longer be in France, but that she left for Turkey to reach Syria, but again, now, still trying to get some clarity on whether she has, indeed, left Turkey, is indeed now in Syria.

Those details still being worked out. And then now just days after that horrible attack in Paris, now you're seeing new video that we're receiving. This is what it looked like involving the staff members of that "Charlie Hebdo" publication. That they found another place in which to carry on with their business and this is video of them carrying out or at least the beginning stages of their editorial meeting, just two days after the shooting that took place on Wednesday.

They are, indeed, working on the next issue of the magazine. You'll recall, shortly after that deadly shooting, they did say that they were going to carry on and stay in business and try to put out their latest publication, their latest publication should be out on Wednesday. And employees, as you see them shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries, they were escorted into this meeting by Paris police. They said, of course, it was still a very emotional meeting.

We'll have much more on this ongoing investigation, the ongoing search for the 26-year-old woman who may have been involved, at least in the planning stages, of that three-day attack in Paris.

We'll have much more, from the NEWSROOM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to our ongoing look of the terror in Paris. And now new information that that 26-year-old woman who was believed to have been in some capacity involved in this terror attack in Paris is actually no longer in France and that perhaps she fled France on January 1, making her way to Syria, and then by way of Turkey, and now Turkish authorities are saying, according to their records, it does appear as though she may have entered Turkey on January 2nd.

I want to bring in CNN's Hala Gorani, who is there in Paris, to talk more about the direction of the investigation now, and what is believed to have been her involvement in this attack, given she was also the partner of one of the shooters who was killed. But, Hala, this is very interesting information because while

authorities, some security authorities have told CNN that they believe that she may be in Syria right now, it's unclear whether she has actually left Turkey or how her whereabouts can or would be tracked at this juncture -- Hala.

GORANI: Right. And let's bring our viewers up to date on what this prime ministry source told CNN regarding the movements of Hayat Boumeddiene, that this terror suspect wanted in connection with the shooting on Thursday that left one female police officer dead and the hostage standoff at that kosher supermarket yesterday and we know that ended in the death of four of the customers of that supermarket, four of the hostages, we understand, according to that Turkish source, that Hayat Boumeddiene, 26 years old, entered Turkey on January 2nd.

Turkish police, according to this source, have a track of her movements, and earlier in the day, a French source told CNN that they believed, as well, that Hayat Boumeddiene had left France, either on January 1st or January 2nd. Given how long it takes to fly from Paris to any point in Turkey, she would have left Paris on January 2nd, if she entered Turkey on January 2nd, unless she made a connection somewhere, which isn't believed to be the case.

Now the source in France is saying that, quote, "Of course, it would be to make her way to Syria." We cannot confirm and no source has confirmed to us that she has made her way into Syria. So she's still in Turkey, and this source connected to the prime minister in Ankara is saying that they have a track of her movements, perhaps it is possible, and this would be the hope of investigators, that she will be found. And she will be taken into custody.

As we said, this woman, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26 years old, wanted here in France in connection with these two attacks on Thursday and on Friday in the capital, Paris -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And it is a very fascinating, a new direction of that investigation. All the while taking place now on the eve of huge planning taking place for the rally, this unity rally, to unfold throughout France from Paris to Marseilles to Lyon, and we heard the Interior minister earlier talk about the great lengths of security that will be taken.

So from your vantage point, what are you seeing and feeling from people there in Paris about how involved, how committed they are to being involved in this day of unity tomorrow?

GORANI: Well, people are going to come out in the hundreds of thousands across the country. The Interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, just a few hours ago, came out and tried to reassure the French people, saying, you know, everything -- maximum security will be in place. We're talking about more than 1,000 additional troops, police. We're talking also about an extension and a reinforcement of the anti-terror plan.

And keep in mind it's not just people coming out for this unity rally. It's also very important political leaders including the chancellor of Germany including, we understand, from Turkey as well, the prime minister of Turkey taking part tomorrow in Paris.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hala Gorani, thank you so much. We'll check back in with you.

And everyone may recall that the first attack happened at the "Charlie Hebdo" there where that massive attack of journalists unfolded on Wednesday. And then today many of those employees of "Charlie Hebdo" continued to commit that they will put out their next publication meeting under big police security at another location vowing to go on.

We'll, of course, going to be talking to another cartoonist here in the U.S. who is standing behind the work that they do committed to move forward, whether controversial or not.

Straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: One of the Paris terror suspects apparently told a French television network that they carried out the attack on "Charlie Hebdo" to, quote, "avenge the prophet." The magazine had been threatened and even fire bombed previously over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed and more recently four cartoons satirizing al Qaeda and other radical groups.

Joining me right now is Mike Luckovich, he is the political cartoonist for "The Atlanta Journal-Constitution." He has won several prizes for his work including the Pulitzer. And Joel Pett is cartoonist for "The Lexington Herald Leader" and is also Pulitzer Prize winner. He joins me from Kentucky via Skype.

Good to see both of you. And, you know, while we are not suggesting for any second that any act of violence against journalists is ever justified, this magazine, "Charlie Hebdo" did publish cartoonist that were possibly offensive to millions of Muslims around the world. They heard it directly in many cases.

And, you know, I guess the overarching question is, just because you have the freedom, whether it be in the U.S. or in France, to publish something like that, does it mean you should? How do you make that call, Mike? To you first since you're sitting right next to me.

How do you make a decision about whether you want to push the envelope?

MIKE LUCKOVICH, CARTOONIST, ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION: Yes.

WHITFIELD: You want to cross the line, so to speak, in terms of what some might find offensive?

LUCKOVICH: Right. Well, you know, people find different things offensive. And I will do cartoons thinking no one's going to react, and then it will cause a big storm of protests. So you can't be worried about what people -- how they're going to react. You just have to do what you think is right. And you know, "Charlie Hebdo," they were about skewering sacred cows. And it didn't -- it wasn't strictly Islam. It was Catholicism. It was a variety of religions and politics. That's what they do.

I think what I do is a little bit more message oriented. If I disagree with something, I try and make that my point and use humor or sarcasm, satire. And sometimes it's going to tick people off.

WHITFIELD: Right. And so, Joel, does what happened with "Charlie Hebdo" in any way change your motivation behind how you, you know, portray a current event? Will it be in the back of your mind in any way when you draw?

JOEL PETT, CARTOONIST, LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER: No, I don't think so. Very few of us in this country are inclined towards the kind of in- your-face cartooning that was the signature of "Charlie Hebdo." And in these free speech cases, just as very few of us would picket military funerals like the Reverend Phelps did, or even publish pornography like Larry Flynt who was responsible for the court case that defended satire, you would choose not to do that, but that doesn't mean that other people ought not to be free to do it.

So "Charlie Hebdo" can do as they please, and Mike and I will continue to work in the mainstream of American medium. And by the way, it's hard to imagine a chilling effect on American cartoonists that would be stronger than the fact that corporate media has laid off two-thirds of our cohorts over the last 15 years.

WHITFIELD: And Mike, what happened on Wednesday did influence your latest drawing.

LUCKOVICH: Right.

WHITFIELD: But not necessarily make you put the brakes but instead you did make a statement or, you know, through your drawing or your interpretation.

LUCKOVICH: I've done a couple of cartoons on this subject. The one that I did, the first cartoon that I did, you know, you sit all day and you try and come up with the best thing that you can do. And so right at the last minute, I did this cartoon. This is based on a famous De La Croix painting. I've just recently been to the Louvre and it seamless and so it sparked something.

And so I drew -- this is what -- this is my hope for France, that they will be able to soldier on from this and not do anything stupid because usually -- or sometimes when a country is attacked or hurt, they -- you know, they go out in a way that they shouldn't. So I'm hoping that they will soldier on.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And we saw some images that were shared with us today that the editorial board did move on or are moving on.

LUCKOVICH: Yes. I love that.

WHITFIELD: And they met in another location.

LUCKOVICH: Yes. WHITFIELD: Albeit, you know, Joel, there was a lot of police

security, but they did commit that they are going to continue on with their publication. They're hoping to come out with something on Wednesday.

What's your best guess, Joel, as to what kind of imagery will be coming from "Charlie Hebdo" post with deadly attack?

PETT: Well, I don't know about that but I will say they are terribly brave. We like to deride the French in the early part of this century about their failure to have signed on to the Iraq war, but they have -- their cartoonist at least and the publishers and editors have showed an incredible amount of bravery.

WHITFIELD: Mike, what are you hoping to see from them and their publication when it's released on Wednesday?

LUCKOVICH: You know, I hope that they -- and I'm pretty sure they will -- just continue the same kind of in-your-face provocative cartoons. I think that's the best thing that we all can do is just keep on keeping on doing what we do. And you know, the terrorists are ultimately very weak, and we just have to not react in a immature way to what they do.

WHITFIELD: All right. Mike Luckovich, Joel Pett, thanks to both of you, gentlemen.