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Turkey Indicates Wanted Terrorist Suspect Not in France; Interview with Flemming Rose; Growing Role of Women in Islamic Terrorist Activity Examined; General David Petraeus May Face Charges of Providing Classified Documents to Former Mistress

Aired January 10, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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


MIKE LUCKOVICH, CARTOONIST, "ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION": -- 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 an immature way to what they do.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR Mike Luckovich, Joel Pett, thanks to both of you gentlemen, appreciate it.

LUCKOVICH: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And we much more straight ahead in the Newsroom, and it all starts right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: Thanks again for joining me. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. I'd like to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. It is 2:00 p.m. on the east coast, 8:00 in Paris. That's where our CNN's Hala Gorani is. She's joining us from Paris right now. And Hala, give me more on this breaking news involving this 26- year-old woman and really the changing status of whether she is a suspect in the planning stages and her whereabouts in the world now.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, well, this hour CNN's breaking news coverage continues, as you mentioned, Fredericka. CNN has now learned that the woman French authorities believe to have been involved in the Paris terrorist attacks entered Turkey on January 2nd, according to a Turkish official who says Turkey is tracking the movements of Hayat Boumediene.

The victims of the kosher hostage situation have been identified this hour by a well-known Jewish publication in French which is online now. Here are their names, Johan Cohen, Yoav Hattab, Phillipe Barham, Francois-Michel Saada.

Also, we have new video this hour of the "Charlie Hedbo" editorial staff holding their first meeting since the attack. It must be a very emotional day for them. They are working on the issue that will be published on Wednesday. They're meeting in the editorial newsroom, the editorial meeting space, of "Liberation," the French daily newspaper here in France.

So those are all the new breaking strands this hour. But as we were mentioning there, this complicates the investigation for French authorities if, according to these Turkish officials who spoke to CNN, Hayat Boumediene, the terror suspect who's being sought by authorities, is, in fact, in Turkey and may have made her way to Syria.

Now, let's go to Fred Pleitgen. Fred, you are outside that kosher supermarket where the men believed to have been the boyfriend or the partner of Boumediene is suspected of having killed four hostages in a hostage crisis on Friday, yesterday, that ended in his death. How does this change the situation for investigators, the fact that this woman they thought may have been involved operationally during the events may not even be in the country?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly changes a lot of things for investigators because remember at the beginning they believed that she might have been involved in the killing of that police officer, that female police officer, here in Paris on Thursday, that she might have been an accomplice in that. Remember that also there was speculation that possibly she might have been inside that kosher grocery store that was hit here just across the street from here and that she might have escaped in the commotion when the police went in there.

So certainly it changes a lot of things for the law enforcement officials as a person where an operation was ongoing to try and find her because obviously they were looking to question her because she's the only one they believe of the four members of these various attacks that have taken place here in Paris over the past couple of days whom they still believe to be alive. So certainly if she was never in France during any of this time it does change things considerably.

Nevertheless, they will still want to get ahold of her if they can in some way, shape, or form if she ever decides to come out of Syria again or wherever she may be because, of course, she does have a lot of information possibly of the relations between the Kouachis and Coulibaly and to see what exactly their relations were, how close they were, and how in sync they might actually have been.

However, Hala, one of the things that we need to talk about here, as you can see I'm standing within a lot of people here. There's a vigil here for those who were killed and for those who were hostages in that siege that happened here at that kosher grocery store yesterday. And I would call this a vigil and also a demonstration against any sort of harassment of the press but also against anti-Semitism here in France. There's a lot of people here from the Jewish community who, of course, are very worried about the situation, who are angry at what happened here yesterday, something that, of course, the president of this nation called an anti-Semitic attack.

And many Jews here in this country have been warning for a long time of a rise in anti-Semitism here in France. There have been various times when people of Jewish faith were attacked by people who, of course, in an anti-Semitic nature. And there are people who are actually going out of France, Jews who are leaving France because they feel anti-Semitism is on the rise here. So what you're seeing here is a lot of those people were protesting

against what happened yesterday, they're screaming things, of course their solidarity with the people of "Charlie Hebdo" and of course with the people who were in harm's way here yesterday, and simply also making a statement saying that France does have a serious anti- Semitism problem and that politicians are going to have to look this problem in the eye as they deal with the events that happened here yesterday.

Of course, it's only one of many aspects of the attack on "Charlie Hebdo," but it is certainly something that the French authorities and the French politicians will have to look very long and hard at as they move along with the lessons that they'll have to learn from the events that took place over the past couple of days, Hala.

GORANI: Yes, and in fact an interesting statistic, Fred, 7,000 French Jews left France last year in 2014, twice the number of 2013. Many people feeling, especially after that attack in Toulouse my Mohamed Merah against a Jewish school, a little bit uneasy about what's going on in this country. But it looks as though there are some very sort of, you know, energetic conversations going on behind you. I mean, what's the mood? Is it somber? It is a mood of reflection? Or is it more of a mood of trying to figure out what the way forward is here?

PLEITGEN: Yes, absolutely. You're right, there is a lot of -- there are a lot of conversations going on here between folks. There's a conversation about how the relations between Muslims and Jews could be furthered here in this country, as to what exactly also these attacks here yesterday meant. Were they an attack on Judaism in this country? Were they simply people who were abusing the Muslim faith to carry out these attacks? And so there are a lot of debates here and there is a lot of looking towards the future.

And certainly there are a lot of people very critical of French politics and of the way that the French government has been handling the situation here. Of course, one of the big issues that France has is that it is the country in Europe that has the most people who have gone to fight in Syria and Iraq. So they do have a serious problem with Islamic extremism.

At the same time, of course, the people here are very well aware of the fact that it's by no means a majority or even a small fraction of the Muslims in this country who are actually radicalized. In fact, it's a tiny fraction. Nevertheless, it's a tiny fraction that can be very dangerous. And most of these people are very unhappy with the way their government has dealt with it. Also they're very unhappy with the way many members of the Muslim community here in this country have dealt with it as well.

They are calling for additional dialogue between Muslims, Jews, and Christians in this country. It's something that started today when Muslim leaders and Jewish leaders walked to a synagogue together today. So it is certainly something where you can tell that the folks here, that this nation is, indeed, in an area where they realize that they need a new sort of dialogue between the faiths. They need a new mode of operation between the faiths to stop also extremists from all sides of the equation from getting more strong.

I mean, one of the things that's going on, on the one hand, you do have a rise in Islamic extremism in France. Even though it is still a tiny fraction, it's a growing fraction. At the same time, you also have a rise of rightwing politicians in this country, the party that's been so successful in many elections recently. So it is something where it is still a vast minority only here in this country, but it is one that is growing and it is something that really makes people concerned about the social fabric of this city and indeed of this country, Hala.

GORANI: All right, Fred Pleitgen there outside that kosher supermarket where the hostage-taking took place.

Francois Hollande, the president of France, is going to meet Jewish community leaders at the Elysee palace, by the way, tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. before that big unity rally.

Few people know the wrath of extremists as much as Flemming Rose. He's on their most-wanted poster, just as the editor of "Charlie Hebdo" was before he was killed, along with many of the cartoonists killed in Paris. Rose is a foreign editor at the Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad five years ago and that, by the way, caused -- set off some of these protests in some parts of the Muslim world.

Flemming Rose joins me now on the phone. First of all, let me ask for your thoughts. Your publication put out these cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that angered many in the Muslim world. After what happened at "Charlie Hebdo," what's going through your mind?

FLEMMING ROSE, CULTURE EDITOR, "JYLLANDS POSTEN": I'm terrified and I'm grieving. And it's very, very sad. It's a nightmare come true for everybody. And I'm shocked, but, unfortunately, I'm not surprised. This should not come as a surprise to anyone who has been following events over the past, you know, nine-ten years. And if you take my own newspaper, I mean, we had been a target for the past nine years and several terrorist attacks have been foiled. In fact, one of them started out in Chicago, David Headley, who was the intelligence mind behind the Mumbai bombings in 2008, wanted to go after New Mexico as the next target. And Kurt Westergaard who made this famous cartoon of the prophet was almost killed on New Year's Eve 2010 when an offended Muslim broke into his house and wanted to kill him with an ax.

So this is -- this is a very familiar situation, but it's the first time, you know, with such a tragic outcome. So my thoughts go to everybody at "Charlie Hebdo." I knew some of these people personally. I was a witness in a court case in 2007 when "Charlie Hebdo" was being taken to court by some Muslim organizations. They were acquitted. So it's been, I would say, the most terrible week of my professional life.

GORANI: Yes. What is your life like now? And you must be more concerned for your own safety after this "Charlie Hebdo" massacre, is that correct? ROSE: No, I'm not concerned. I mean, we have been more concerned.

We have been in this situation for the past nine years, and I don't think that this tragic event in Paris changes, you know, anything in essence. It's very clear that we have been the target. But, of course, on a psychological level, it's very tough. And, of course, everybody at my newspaper perfectly well know that we -- that, you know, it goes through your mind that we could have been in that situation.

But I don't think in terms of the situation, I'm not an expert on this and so I will not comment on this, but personally I don't feel, you know, more or less secure after these events because it's been a permanent condition for several years.

GORANI: Knowing what you know now, would you do it again? I mean, if you were, you know, at the paper all these years ago, knowing what you know now, would you go ahead and publish those cartoons?

ROSE: I mean, it's a hypothetical question, and usually I don't answer them. But, you know, if I said that I would not do it again, I would send, I think, a very unfortunate message to those who have intimidated, threatened, and now killed people, and tell them if you threaten and intimidate enough, we will do exactly as you please. And I think that's very unfortunate.

On the other hand, I'm not crazy. And so you know, either way, it's a dilemma. And as you may know, we didn't republish "Charlie Hebdo's" cartoons after the massacre in Paris. I understand it very well, and we didn't do it because of security concerns for our employees. So we --

GORANI: Lastly, I want to show you some --

ROSE: But we and "Charlie Hebdo" have been the prime targets of these people for a long time.

GORANI: Lastly, Flemming, I want to show you some pictures of what is the first editorial team meeting at "Charlie Hebdo." They were meeting at a French Daily newspaper called "Liberation," at their offices on Friday, escorted by police, of course. And I don't know if you have the ability to see what's on CNN right now --

ROSE: No, I don't.

GORANI: They're just basically getting back together -- they're getting back together, and I'll just describe them to you, planning the next issue of the magazine next Wednesday. What is your reaction to the fact that they've gotten together today and are planning the next magazine for next week, Wednesday?

ROSE: No, I think it's -- it's fantastic. And they have my full support. I have been in touch with some of them during, you know, the past couple of days. And, you know, we have to focus on our job and try to do it as best as we can no matter what happened. I think that is the only answer you can come up with as a columnist or writer. You have to try to focus and not let those who have now killed, intimidated, and threatened to get their way.

But, but it takes more people who stand up and support "Charlie Hebdo." The reason why, at least part of the reason why this happened is because, in fact, very few newspapers have been like "Charlie Hebdo." They have been the only paper in Europe since 2008 who in an uncompromising way that has pursued this editorial line. Nobody else did it, and that's why, I think, they became an easy target. If tens, thousands, hundreds, and millions of other outfits would have -- would not have felt intimidated, things may have turned out differently.

GORANI: Flemming Rose, journalist and foreign editor at the Danish newspaper, that paper published those very controversial drawings of the Prophet Muhammad several years ago that angered many in the Muslim world and made you and your paper and your colleagues a target. Thank you very much for joining us on CNN this evening.

For our viewers in the United States and around the world, a lot more ahead. U.S. law enforcement officials have issued new bulletins in the wake of the Paris attacks. But one former top lawman wonders, should we be surprised, and when will we wake up? That's a question he's been asking. We'll be right back with a lot more. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: The terrorist acts that happened in Paris won't stop there. That's the warning from the United States, the State Department in particular. It is now urging Americans at home and abroad to pay attention to what's going on around them. It's a very broad warning.

I want to bring in CNN's Erin McPike, and she joins us from the White House. So let's talk about that statement, what it says, and practically how it can be utilized, because it really covers many, many areas and public spaces, right?

ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, that's right, it's a very serious, stark warning. And I want to read a big chunk of it to you. It says "Extremists may elect to use conventional or nonconventional weapons and target both official and private interests. Examples of such targets include high-profile sporting events, residential areas, business offices, hotels, clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools, public areas, shopping malls, and other tourist destinations both in the United States and abroad where U.S. citizens gather in large numbers, including during holidays.

U.S. citizens are reminded that the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. Extremists have targeted and attempted attacks on subway and rail systems, aviation, and maritime services."

So obviously, Hala, that means basically anywhere you can go outside of your home where you're gathering with other people, what the State Department is urging is just exercise caution wherever you go. What we are hearing from U.S. officials is that they have expected attacks like the one that happened in Paris. And another U.S. official told us this is in perpetuity what we're dealing with. It's like the war on drugs. This isn't going to stop. So obviously, very scary, and the big message is exercise caution wherever you go.

GORANI: All right, it is so broad as to perhaps even be, I mean, not useless, because, of course, you have to be vigilant, but it does cover truly everywhere you can possibly be outside of your own home. But there is a concern, it seems, from U.S. officials, intelligence officials, and the highest levels of government that this Paris-style attack might be something that terrorists might want to replicate in the United States. Why are they saying that?

MCPIKE: Well, that's exactly right. And one thing that we are hearing from law enforcement officials is that they are going back through her databases, scrubbing for any potential suspected terrorists. There are a small percentage of Americans who have traveled abroad to Syria who they're tracking and thinking about contacting directly who they are afraid could replicate this style of attack in the U.S. so U.S. officials are being vigilant themselves and are trying really hard to prevent these kinds of attacks. But obviously in some instances they are very hard to prevent.

GORANI: All right, Erin McPike at the White House. Thanks very much. Fredericka, from Paris, back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll check back in with you, Hala Gorani. Thanks so much in Paris.

So some U.S. officials say we have no reason to be surprised by the France terror attacks this week. Listen to Mike Rogers, former chairman of the House permanent select committee on intelligence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROGERS, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY COMMENTATOR: I've been concerned when I was chairman. I'm still concerned today that the sheer volume of those possibilities are just one plane ticket away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Joining me right now, Bernard Kerik who was New York City police commissioner during the 9/11 attacks. Good to see you.

BERNARD KERIK, FORMER NEW YORK POLICE COMMISSIONER: Thank you, Fredericka.

WHITFIELD: And so ever since, it is very glaring that the attacks have changed in method, in execution ever since, particularly on U.S. soil. What is most notable about what took place in Paris as to what the intelligence or law enforcement community can learn about how these attacks are being carried out by a very small number of people and how, with great training, they are being executed very successfully?

KERIK: Well, I think you have to look at the history of what happened before the attack in Paris where one or both of the brothers went to Yemen and trained with Al Qaeda and came back to Paris to carry out this attack. We now have, depending on who you talk to, between 100 and 1,000 U.S. citizens and far more Brits and Europeans that have gone into Syria and Iraq to train with Al Qaeda, train with ISIS and these other radical groups. Well, eventually they're going to come back to this country. And that's why you hear the warnings by the FBI and by the U.S. State Department talking about the possibility of attacks in this country.

I testified before the 9/11 Commission back in 2004, and ever since then I have written a series of articles basically saying and predicting these things will happen. We've had 13 or 14 different attempts on New York City alone and others around the country. This enemy is not going away. It's not cowering. They have enormous patience. They're going to wait us out. And eventually something like Paris will happen here. We just have to realize that it's coming. It's coming. And that's why you now hear the warnings for the FBI -- from the FBI and State Department. And I have to be honest. There isn't anyone in this country that should be surprised by those warnings. And they should recognize those warnings and adhere to them for decades to come.

WHITFIELD: So, then, that really underscores the concern because you talk about the 1,000 Americans who may be going overseas and training. We've heard numbers between 400 and 1,500 French nationals who have made their way to either Syria or Yemen for similar kinds of training. And when you say "it's coming," then what can law enforcement do if not to be able to prevent or get ahead of the attacks, but what can law enforcement do to, in some way, you know, impact those who are getting the training to carry out these attacks?

KERIK: Well, Fredericka, you have to realize, we're in far, far greater shape today in the intelligence networks that we have and our global reach of intelligence than we were on September 10th of 2011.

WHITFIELD: In what way? What do you mean by that?

KERIK: There's a lot more coordination. There's a lot more intelligence gathering. There's a lot more communication between local, state, and federal authorities. And there's an enormous amount of coordination between the United States and abroad that we didn't have prior to September 11th, 2001.

That being said, I think we're in better shape to collect intelligence and go after some of these people, identify them. But more importantly, I think we have to look at our legislators and go after these people that are going there to train and possibly coming back to carry out these attacks. We have to ask our legislators, do we have the laws to go after them as they're going? Do we have the right to pick them up and have them locked up for fighting against us in a foreign country or possessing arms for a foreign nation? I think those are the things that we have to be extremely preemptive and proactive at doing right now.

WHITFIELD: And as it pertains to that training that you speak of, is it your view that there is a greater sophistication in the training and that's why you have so many, whether it be lone wolves or even small groups able to carry out such attacks?

KERIK: Well, there's more sophistication in the training abroad. They have a lot more resources. Is has enormous resources overseas where they are training the people that are going over there. And the barbarity of attacks in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan is beyond anything we have ever seen. And as you watched that video in Paris, you realize these guys carried out that attack with strategic moves, cover and concealment, quite military. They weren't scattered. They weren't excited. That's what's going on abroad, and that's what went on in Paris and we could see here. And if you add four of those attacks on the same day at the same time in this country, the economic backlash, the assault on our tourism, on our schools, economic freedoms, it would be pretty horrible.

WHITFIELD: Bernard Kerik, thanks so much, appreciate it, from New York.

KERIK: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredericka Whitfield.

GORANI: And I'm Hala Gorani in Paris. Let's bring you up to speed there with breaking news this hour. We understand from our terror analyst who was given this information by a police source that police officers in France have been told to remove all identifiers on social media profiles like Twitter or Facebook that they are members of the armed forces in this country. And also this police source saying that they believe that sleeper cells may have been activated in the last 24 hours in France, and so therefore, police officers and security services are being asked to be very vigilant, especially considering the fact that there's a big unity march taking place in the French capital tomorrow with tens of thousands of people expected to converge on some key areas in Paris to show solidarity with the murdered "Charlie Hebdo" and those surrounding that area where the massacre took place.

Also to update you on another piece of breaking news to all our viewers, Fredericka, the girlfriend, the woman believed to be the girlfriend of the man who took months damages at the kosher supermarket yesterday, Hayat Boumediene, according to a Turkish prime ministry official that she entered Turkey on January 2nd, a full week before any of the attacks that took place Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday starting with that massacre at "Charlie Hebdo."

So two big breaking news items here on CNN, bringing those to you. The whereabouts of that woman who is the subject of a big manhunt in the country. She may not even be in France anymore, possibly making her way to Syria. And also a lot of vigilance on the part of police officers and security services, asking law enforcement not to identify themselves online as being members of the police services and police forces in this country, and also that some of these sleeper cells -- and that is a big concern, as you know, Fredericka -- may have been activated in the last 24 hours. We'll stay on top of all this for you. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: All right, and Hala, very interesting, too, while intelligence officials are willing to say that she indeed, this 26- year-old, may have left France at the beginning of the year, certainly there's documentation that she arrived into Turkey, it's still unclear from these intelligence sources whether they are confident whether she has left Turkey. We know that she was bound for Syria according to these officials. But are we getting any real clarity as to whether there's any documentation or tracking yet that says definitively she left Turkey?

GORANI: No, we don't have that. We don't have sources confirming that to us. We have the prime ministry source in Turkey, very reliable, though, telling us she did enter Turkey on January 2nd, and that police services there have a track on her. Now, do they have a track on her inside of Turkey? Were they able to observe that she crossed the border into Syria? That's unclear. However, they are saying to CNN, this one particular source, that they do have an idea, it seems, on the whereabouts of Hayat Boumediene. And this will be very precious information to security and intelligence services in this country, in France, because they would like to get ahold of this woman in order to get more on exactly how these operations took place. She, after all, is believed to be the girlfriend of one of the attackers who killed a female police officer on Thursday and took all these people hostage in that kosher supermarket.

WHITFIELD: OK. And then, we understand, Hala, from your vantage point, we're on the eve of what is going to be a very sizeable unity rally throughout the country tomorrow. The interior minister saying earlier, 700,000 people, citizens, would be taking part from Paris to the many Parisian suburbs as well. And we understand there are heads of state from Germany, Great Britain, who will be there, Turkey as well. And now we understand that Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is also going to be among those making their way there tomorrow. Give us a sense as to what kind of preparations are under way to secure Paris and beyond, Marseilles, Lyons, among the cities that will also be recognizing this unity rally.

GORANI: Well, it's complicated enough, at the best of times, to have heads of state of that caliber all converge on the same place. So you can imagine that just a few days after essentially what was a mass murder operation against the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" gunmen on the loose throughout Paris and beyond and the suburbs of the French capital, you can imagine what police officials, military officials, the interior ministry, the mayor's office, the French government is having to go through in terms of preparation to make sure everybody is safe.

The interior minister just a few hours ago, and we took it on our air, Fredericka, was trying to reassure ordinary French citizens telling them, look, we're doing our best. It's maximum security. We have thousands of troops fanned out across the capital and other major cities. Don't worry. We're doing our best. But there has to be some level of nervousness so close to the "Charlie Hebdo" massacre, you know, as authorities prepare for these important VIP visits and these big rallies. WHITFIELD: Indeed. All right, Hala Gorani from Paris, thank you so

much.

Let's talk more now of Hayat Boumediene's possible connection to the Paris killings, highlighting a very disturbing trend in global terror -- women taking to the front lines of jihad, and not just as suicide bombers but as prominent, full-fledged soldiers fighting for Islamist militant groups. Here's CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look closely. That jihadist behind the veil is a mother of two. Her name used to be Sally Jones. But after she converted to Islam, she reportedly changed it to Sakina Hussein. This photo with the AK-47 is a far cry from this one from 2004 published in the "Daily Mail." it shows her celebrating the birth of her new baby. Now she's believed to be an ISIS fighter in Syria. She moved there from the U.K. after meeting a hacker-turned-militant online.

She told "The London Times" that her youngest child is with her, too, and that he's taken the Muslim name Hamza. She was widely quoted online saying "My son and I love life with the beheaders."

This jihadist is also from Britain. She's reportedly a 21-year-old medical student who goes by the name Mujahidah bint Usama. On Twitter she posted this disturbing image, a woman in a white doctor's coat and black burqa holding a human head. The posting read "Dream job, a terrorist doc," and included a smiley face and love hearts. In other postings she reportedly praised Yemeni cleric Anwar al Awlaki and shared images of the execution by ISIS of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff.

In September, terror analysts estimated that as many as 15 percent of ISIS's foreign recruits could be female with up to 200 women from at least 14 different countries. Experts say the women are motivated by the idea of meeting a jihadist husband. They're hoping for the prestige that comes with husbands who die as martyrs.

Long before ISIS the Israeli-Palestinian conflict also gave rise to female terrorists, including this grandmother. She tried to blow up Israeli soldiers in Gaza in 2006 but died after detonating explosives in her belt. Her family reportedly said she wanted to become a martyr.

And what about this woman, Colleen LaRose who goes by the name Jihad Jane after converting to Islam online? She traveled to Europe in 2009, part of a plot to shoot and kill Swedish artist Lars Vilks after he depicted the head of the Muslim Prophet Muhammad on a dog. She was arrested after returning to Philadelphia. LaRose was sentenced last January to 10 years in prison.

All women looking to make a name for themselves in martyrdom, and the list is growing.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And we'll be right back with more from the Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GORANI: Welcome back to our live coverage of the terror attacks in Paris. This week terrorists targeted the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" which has skewered everyone from a French icon like Charles de Gaulle to the Pope. But when it went after Muhammad, this was the result -- violence and death. The terrorists saying the attack was in retaliation for defaming Muhammad.

Joining me now is Arsalan Iftikhar, an international human rights lawyer. He's in Washington. And from London, Fawaz Gerges, a professor of international relation at the London School of Economics. First to you, Arsalan, and of course you're also the senior editor of "The Islamic Monthly" founder and we follow you on Twitter as well. What do you say to people who say, you know, "Charlie Hebdo" drew pictures mocking the Pope, you didn't have Catholics massacring its journalists? Why are these caricatures, these cartoons that, after all, are only drawings, creating a situation where terrorists feel it is their duty to conduct these mass killings?

ARSALAN IFTIKHAR, SENIOR EDITOR, "THE ISLAMIC MONTHLY": Well, Hala, I think the first thing that is important to keep in mind is that these cartoons were actually published five years ago. You know, this wasn't, like, last week and this was some sort of instant retribution. You know, we all remember the 2005 Danish cartoon controversy when they published 12 incendiary cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. So that context needs to be put in place.

At the end of the day, when you have three lone wolves who decide to take matters into their own hands, you know, that shouldn't be indicative or representative of, you know, the 1.7 billion Muslims worldwide who are in horror and absolutely condemn the attacks that happened in Paris.

GORANI: Right, but, Arsalan, I'm not actually suggesting that. I'm asking you why even a tiny minority of Muslims -- and by the way, in the case of the Danish cartoons, it was big, big demonstrations. It wasn't just a few people. Why is this type of reaction, among some Muslims, but not, for instance, among followers of other faiths whose prophets or whose leaders are also lampooned?

IFTIKHAR: Well, I think if you look at, I guess, theologically it would be because in Islam any sort of depiction of not only the Prophet Muhammad but any prophet or any god is not all allowed. And so, you know, you don't have that sort of, you know, theological teaching in other traditions. And again, that does not justify at all what happened. But, you know, in terms of the theological underpinnings that would probably be the reason.

GORANI: Fawaz Gerges, when you heard of this attack, what was your first thought when you heard that this had happened, this thing that people feared the most, this homegrown terror-type attack happened, what did you think?

FAWAZ GERGES, AUTHOR, "THE NEW MIDDLE EAST": Well, I mean, first of all, on the human and moral level, it is a catastrophe. I mean, in the heart of Europe not only you have 12 people who were killed, innocent people, but also the implications, the civilizational, cultural and societal implications for the Arab and Muslim community in the heart of Europe even though none of the Arab nor the Muslim community is responsible for the deeds of few people.

Secondly, I was not surprised. Truly, Hala, and I'm not exaggerating. I'm not surprised because you're talking about a very insidious ideology. The ideology of militant -- let's call it Islamism even though it's a very inaccurate term. An ideology, Hala, that tries to hijack Islamic identity, an ideology that views the world in terms of us and them, an ideology that basically tries to exact vengeance against imagined and real enemies, an ideology that does not really believe in any kind of tolerance, coexistence, diversity, open society. This is an ideology -- it's an absolutist ideology.

And these people belong, regardless of whether they received direct orders, Hala, from the so-called Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen or not, they subscribe to this ideology, an ideology that views the world in black and white. In this particular sense, what surprised me is that their ability to carry out the attack in the heart of France and get away with it.

GORANI: All right, Arsalan, I want to give you the last word on this one. Over the last 72 hours, I've heard some people say why do moderate Muslims and Muslim community leaders not come out and say very firmly we disavow these attacks, we repudiate the attackers and this ideology? What do you respond to that when you hear that question being asked by some?

IFTIKHAR: Well, you know, Hala, that's why, you know, public intellectuals, Muslim leaders, scholars continue to make the rounds, you know, condemning these acts of terrorism. It's important to keep in mind that there is literally no minority demographic group in western societies today that is placed with more collective guilt than Muslims. You know, when Anders Brevik killed 77 teenagers in Norway and tried to bomb the prime minister of Norway's office leaving behind a 1,500-page manifesto calling him a soldier of Christianity, we didn't expect the Pope and priests and pastors around the world to condemn these acts because we knew they were not indicative of Christian teachings. But sadly, there is a double standard in place where when some crazy Muslim commits an act of murder, all Muslims are somehow, you know, perceived as guilty.

GORANI: All right, Arsalan, the senior editor of "The Islamic Monthly" founder, thanks very much, and Fawaz Gerges, thanks as well for being with us, and we'll certainly be talking to both of you again I'm sure very soon.

Thanks to both of you for being on CNN. I'm Hala Gorani. Thanks for being with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Welcome back. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. We've learned that U.S. Justice Department prosecutors want felony charges filed against the former head of the CIA. Back in 2012 retired army general David Petraeus resigned from the CIA after an FBI investigation revealed he had an extramarital affair with author Paula Broadwell. Well, now a federal law enforcement official tells CNN the FBI has presented the Justice Department with evidence to charge Petraeus with providing classified documents to his former mistress.

Joining me right now is CNN military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. So in 2012 Petraeus told CNN that he never passed classified information to Broadwell, and now prosecutors don't believe that and say they have the evidence to prove that. What kind of information would we be talking about?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, when you write these books you provide information that you believe is not classified. If the general provided classified information to help her write this book, then, of course, he's breaking the law.

I guess I'd have to know how the actual information was passed because, remember, Paula Broadwell was an Army Reserve officer, military intelligence. She had access to this information on her own. Why it was in her computer at home is another question.

But for General Petraeus, who was the director of the CIA, would provide classified information to someone writing a book is inconceivable to me. But if the Justice Department has brought these charges, they must have something that makes that direct link. I was shocked when I read this. It's just inconceivable to me that a general officer with four stars and that background now running an intelligence agency would make that kind of mistake.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, that's what's so extraordinary, too. If it, you know -- yes, a mistake in one form of thought. But then the other is would it also mean that perhaps she may have participated a little bit more or provided a bit more information to prosecutors unbeknownst to him that helps enhance this potential set of charges that could come against him?

FRANCONA: I think that's a real possibility because if you look at what the evidence is and some of the charges and you read between the lines there, she's in trouble as well. Right now they're talking about bringing charges against him. I didn't see anything about bringing charges against her. So she may be cooperating with this investigation. She may be providing evidence against General Petraeus in order to save herself. I mean, I don't know if that's the case, but there's a lot more here that needs to be brought forward.

And as we've seen in "The New York Times," the general has said he's not interested in a plea deal, which leads me to believe that there might not be anything there on the Petraeus providing the information side. But somebody provided her these documents that were in her computer.

WHITFIELD: Right. Multi-star general, underscoring your point, but what does this do to his legacy? Does it essentially erase it?

FRANCONA: It will if there's any evidence behind these charges. And if they file charges, then he'll have to defend himself. He'll have his day in court. But that will forever tar his legacy. It's going to be very dangerous. And this is a shame because, you know, he was -- he's an iconic figure of this century. He was responsible for what many perceived was the surge, the success of the surge in Iraq. So for him to have this hanging over his head, this needs to be resolved for his legacy. But if he's found guilty, this will be the fall of someone from the very top.

WHITFIELD: Right.

FRANCONA: It's just beyond.

WHITFIELD: And quickly, in your view, military trial or civilian court primarily or both?

FRANCONA: This looks like it's going to be a civilian trial because they're doing it in federal court. I doubt if the army will go after him because the federal thing is probably more serious. And this will be tried because he was in the role of director of Central Intelligence Agency when this alleged action took place. So I don't think the army's going to have anything to do with this.

WHITFIELD: What a tough fall indeed. All right, Colonel Francona, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The terrorists who carried out the attacks in France are linked to Al Qaeda's top European recruiter. CNN's Deborah Feyerick sorts out the terrorist ties.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They were not only friends -- they were not only friends, they were associates and members of the same jihadi terror cells, says a western intelligence source. Cherif Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly, both 32 years old, both connected to his man, Jamal Beghal, a known Al Qaeda recruiter in Europe with connections in Belgium, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Beghal who traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan was convicted of 2005 of plotting to attack the U.S. embassy in Paris. French authorities have 45,000 pages of wiretapped transcripts and surveillance images of Beghal, says the source. They include this 2010 meeting with Cherif Kouachi wearing the white sweatshirt. Beghal is in the tan pants.

Cherif's friend Amedy and now fugitive Hayat Boumediene visited Beghal that same year at his home in France, according to the source. Like the Kouachi brothers Beghal is French Algerian. So, too, is the man convicted of the 1995 Paris metro bombing. Cherif and Amedy was arrested in 2010 in a failed plot to free that imprisoned bomber. Amedy was arrested with 240 rounds of Kalashnikov ammunition and was convicted. The source says there is not enough evidence to bring Cherif to trial.

Cherif Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly now both dead in a police response to a terror attack that has authorities searching for a larger cell.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And our coverage of the France terror attack continues right now. I'm Fredericka Whitfield. Jim Sciutto is in Paris. Jim?