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Continuing Coverage Of Terror Attacks In France

Aired January 10, 2015 - 18:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brianna Keilar in New York.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Sciutto in Paris. Welcome to our coverage of events in Paris, the follow-up to the attacks here this week. But also many developments tonight.

Right now, terror sleeper cells may be on the move here inside France. A French police source telling CNN, sleeper cells were activated inside France, just over the last 24 hours. Police officers here have been told to erase their social media accounts, and to keep their guns close at all times. This new warning comes as Paris prepares for tomorrow's massive unity rally, featuring dignitaries and leaders from around the world.

We know that Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu will be here, the king of Jordan as well. And we just learned that the Palestinian authority president Mahmud Abbas will attend, along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, as well as the Jordanian king.

Meanwhile, the hunt is on for a woman personally connected to all three terrorists who launched attacks in Paris this week and around Paris this week. Just into CNN, a Turkish official tells us that Hayat Boumeddiene entered Turkey on January 2nd on a flight from Madrid to Istanbul with a man who that official could identify only the initial M. Boumeddiene was then tracked and this is crucial, by Turkish authorities, to a location near the Turkish-Syrian border. It was the expectation she was traveling to turkey to eventually go on to Syria.

Meantime, Hezbollah's leader is condemning the terrorists who slaughtered 12 people at "Charlie Hebdo's" satirical magazine. He says Islamist terrorists have done more harm to Islam and the prophet Mohammed than anyone who drew a cartoon or wrote a book.

Let's get back to the big concern, though, tonight, and that is those terror sleeper cells activated in France, just as world leaders prepare to travel here to Paris.

My panel is here to discuss. Terrorism analyst Samuel Laurent, he is with me here in Paris as well as national security analyst Bob Baer, terrorism analyst for CNN Paul Cruickshank.

Bob, let's start with you, if we can. Security risks for tomorrow's rally in light of this new warning of terror cells, perhaps activated here in France, targeting police in particular. How can Paris prepare for such an event, a crowd of some million members of the public, world leaders, in light of that terror threat?

ROBERT BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, let me -- Jim, let me take that apart and say the world leaders, I think, will be safe. There will be considerable back-up. There won't be any cars near them. Suicide bombers getting close to any of those leaders is virtually impossible.

The police are at risk, very much at risk. It's clear that these people have guns and it would be very easy to walk up and assassinate one. That's -- and I think of the French are very right to be concerned about that. And as for the crowd, there's just absolutely nothing you can do about it. A suicide bomber with a vest, things are easily made. These people know how to make it, can do major damage and kill a lot of people and do major damage to France. Whether that's in the offing, who knows.

SCIUTTO: That's one of the ironies of this threat, right, that you have more police in the streets who respond to the threat. But in light of the nature of this threat, targeting police in particular, that would give, in effect, the sleeper cells more targets, sadly.

Samuel, you were the first to report this new warning going out to police in Paris. There was something interesting in the warning. One, keep your guns close. That makes sense to protect yourself. The other part was to erase their social media profiles. Do French police have specific information that terrorists here are using social media to find their targets?

SAMUEL LAURENT, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, definitely. Social media now is part of the war. And we can even say there are three front lines. One in Syria, one in Iraq, the other one actually in the streets of Paris, as we saw with "Charlie Hebdo," and the third on the web.

And basically, social media has been exploding in the jihadi community. And it's a recruitment too, but it's also serving to targets, some precise, especially journalists, which has been threatened and which are now, for example, talking about French journalists, one of them is under police protection for being too active on the web, and being targeting too many French in Syria.

And therefore, yes, the web is getting very sensitive. And so therefore they are looking for police officers to be targeted randomly. Obviously, somebody signaling is belonging to the police force, would become easier prey.

SCIUTTO: Well, it's interesting, because in the U.S. and Canada, following lone Wolf attacks in Canada on the military there, the Canadian military, advise members of the military, to, one, take off their uniforms in public, but also be careful in social media and a similar warning has gone out to some American military. To be careful about their media postings so they don't make themselves obvious targets for lone wolf attackers or others in the U.S.

Going back to our panel in the U.S., Paul Cruickshank, if I could ask you, the other major development today, in addition to the word of this additional threat to police, is new information about Hayat Boumeddiene. She was the partner, possibly the wife, Amedy Coulibaly, who took the Kosher market hostage killed those four hostages sadly yesterday, connection to him.

Now, we are learning from a Turkish source she made it not only all the way to Turkey, but to the border of Syria. Is that a surprise at all or should that be expected that is where she would be going if she fled France?

PAUL CRUIKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I think the working assumption would be that she maybe would have had some full knowledge of this attack. And that's why she skipped out of France, boarding a flight from Madrid to Istanbul on the 2nd of January, and then flipping across into Syria on the 8th of January, the very same day her companion killed a French female police officer -- one officer on the streets of southern Paris.

So it may be it's because she had some foreknowledge, but didn't want to be part of the plan and she wanted to go to Syria, where she couldn't be arrested by Western security services.

SCIUTTO: And just a reminder to our viewers, the French prosecutor revealed yesterday there were some 500 phone calls between Hayat Boumeddiene and the wife of one of the kouachi brothers who carried out the attack on the "Charlie Hebdo" magazine. So, just a sign of the broader network involved here.

Paul Cruickshank and Bob Baer, thank you. And to you, Samuel Laurent here in Paris.

I want to go to our Fred Pleitgen. He spent the day out at the scene of the attack, the hostage taking at that kosher restaurant, has been following the developments in the hunt for Hayat Boumeddiene.

Fred, what else have we learned today?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have learned a wide array of things. I mean, this new information that we've gotten now is, of course, one that is very significant. And remember that the French authorities still, we're hoping to get their hands on Hayat Boumeddiene even if she wasn't here during the time the events played out over the past couple of days. Simply because she is such a key figure in this entire plot.

Simply because she could give them some sort of light or shed some sort of light as to what groups might be behind this. Whether it was really Al-Qaeda and the Arabian Peninsula, whether or not there were some sort of ties to ISIS. And whether or not the fact that now the French authorities are saying that apparently some sleeper cells have been activated, what exactly might be behind that.

So she is still very much a prominent figure, very much an important figure, and the French authorities most probably are still going to try and find out where she is at this point in time.

The other things that have come to light today, we have gotten more information as to what actually happened here in the siege of this kosher store, and there were some harrowing accounts of people who were inside that store. They say that Amedy Coulibaly who is of course the husband of Hayat Boumeddiene came in here literally, all guns blazing, told people he wasn't afraid to die. People there who spoke to French media said that they absolutely were aware of the fact and knew he knew this would be his last day and that made him more dangerous.

But there is also some very heroic stories, especially of one man who was actually meant to by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who apparently tried to grab the gun from Coulibaly, didn't manage to do so and was then shot and died 45 minutes later.

And also, another, Muslim employee of the shop who actually hidden some people who are there in a refrigeration unit, in a freezer and refrigeration unit, turned that unit off button and those people stayed there for several hours.

So there are more details that come to light all of the time, Jim. But certainly the hunt for Hayat Boumeddiene is certainly at this point still the highest priority, even though at this point she might now be out of reach. Who knows whether or not she is still in Turkey or may have gone across the Syrian border.

SCIUTTO: Is t seems the French police have been struggling not just to track her movements in recent days buts are also the degree to which she was operationally involved. Why did police, just from the very first point, think she was involved, not only in the shooting that took place, the female police officer killed on Thursday, but also in that hostage-taking yesterday? What gave them that indication beyond her relationship with Amedy Coulibaly.

PLEITGEN: Well, certainly, the fact that she was in that relationship with him, but also that she seemed to also be part of the radicalization that he went -- underwent as well. It appears as though Coulibaly and here visited one of the main ISIS recruiters in Europe on at least one occasion. There's photos of her and Coulibaly in an area in France, seemingly practicing something that looks like crossbow training. She was wearing a niqab. And so, it seems as though she underwent that radicalization along with him. And so, therefore, it may have been the case that she was part of the plot, as well.

And then, of course, the same thing you mentioned before. That she apparently had a lot of contact with the wife of one of the kouachi brothers. That, of course, is also something that seems to indicate all these plots were at least in some way, shape or form, synchronized and that's of course what makes her a very, very important piece of the entire puzzle, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Thanks, Fred Pleitgen.

The French police scrambling, looking backwards, investigating the violence that took place here this week, but also scrambling, looking ahead, trying to prevent more attacks in light of a new warning going out tonight. Brianna Keilar, some real tension here. But I have to say, just as an

American walking the streets here, I'm so impressed by how the French people are responding. They are out living their lives as normal as they can, despite this threat.

KEILAR: And that hundreds of thousands of them are expected out tomorrow for a unity march, as well.

Jim Sciutto in Paris, thank you.

And we are just learning that despite his background, police stopped watching Cherif Kouachi, the man believed to be behind the attacks in France. Why is that? We'll discuss, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Both French and American investigators are looking at evidence that ties the Kouachi brothers to Al-Qaeda's Yemen affiliate, as well as to ISIS. One of them, Said Kouachi, was reportedly once a roommate in Yemen of the so-called underwear bomber who tried to bring down an airliner over Detroit in 2009.

In the meantime, we're learning new information about terror suspect Cherif Kouachi and how he was able to fly under the radar of French authorities despite his known association with jihadists.

CNN's Drew Griffin has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In 2005, Cherif Kouachi was caught by French authorities just as he was trying to travel to Syria in an effort to join the fight against American soldiers in Iraq. In his own words, from a deposition in this 400- page court report, Kouachi describes how his perceived injustices in Iraq drive his hatred and willingness to die.

I was ready to go and die in battle. I got this idea when I saw the injustices shown by television on what was going on over there in Iraq. I am speaking about the torture that the Americans have inflicted on the Iraqis.

Kouachi is one of several men radicalized and recruited at this now demolished Paris mosque. Now incarcerated radical cleric preached hatred here and told young Muslim men they had a religious duty to kill.

According to court records, Cherif committed himself to this idea during Ramadan in 2004. He told his friends he was going to Syria to fight. Cherif says he came to the idea for jihad through (INAUDIBLE), the well-known spiritual leader who has been long associated in France with supporting jihad and terrorism.

The documents say when police interviewed his accomplices they stated Kouachi said he was ready to fire bomb and destroy Jewish shops in Paris. When officials confronted kouachi documents say he told police something else.

That's not exactly what he said. I don't hide, having proposed anti- Semitic ideas, but I would note that I never really would have done that.

The documents said Cherif said the wise leaders in Islam called upon him and his friends and if they die as martyrs in jihad, they would go to heaven. Under a section called motivations of influence, the prosecuting documents say for him, Kouachi, any place on earth where there is such an injustice is justification for jihad. What was going on in Iraq was, in his eyes, such an injustice.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: And Drew Griffin joining me now live to talk more about this.

Drew, we're finding out just tonight that French authorities had monitored the Kouachi brothers for about three years. And then they stopped several months ago. Why would they do that? Are we able to figure that out at this point?

GRIFFIN: I think once the dust settles there in France, there is going to be an overhaul and a very strong look back at the intelligence. Because keep in mind, this case we're talking about, 2005 through 2008, was the first case. Three years later, two years later, this -- the fellow Kouachi is involved again, arrested again, this time implicated in a plot to have a prison break for another terrorist. And with him arrested is Coulibaly, the person who died in the store there.

So there is a long history there. We know that this man may have gone to Yemen. We know he has link to hatred and we know the French authorities were monitoring him. He was on the no fly list. They're looking at him up until about six months ago and then they just stopped. The question I have is, why?

KEILAR: Yes. Great question. There is this paper trail, and why was that at a certain point deemed to be innocuous or innocuous enough to stop the monitoring after years of doing so.

Drew Griffin, great report. Thank you so much.

And we'll be asking that question, do the recent attacks in France and also elsewhere show gaping flaws in how authorities monitor and track potential extremists. We'll discuss that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The Boston marathon bombing, the siege in Sydney, Australia, and now the shootings and standoffs in France. Three recent attacks where each of the so-called masterminds carried out a killing spree, despite being monitored by federal authorities or law enforcement. Have these and other attacks exposed a gap in our counterterrorism measures and monitoring programs?

Joining us now to discuss, we have former CIA operative, Bob Baer. We have retired Delta Force officer, lieutenant colonel James Reese and former NYPD detective, Harry Houck.

To you first, Colonel, is this a coincidence or do you think it's time that we really rethink how we flag and monitor possible extremists?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, (RET.) DELTA FORCE OFFICER: Good evening, Brianna.

Yes, I do. I believe right now there is -- you know, right now, what you have is, you've got a lot -- you know, we started this years ago, we had a smaller number of people, and we had a lot of people that could do it. Now, I was listening before. We have over a million people on the watch list, and it really just turns out to be how many assets we have. And we have to be able to fund our law enforcement and our intelligence services to be able to track these people around the world, and we can't do that under things like continuing resolutions and continue to argue about it.

KEILAR: Yes. Continuing resolution being just let's do the budget we had before, and not really I guess prioritizing money for certain things. And obviously, this should be a priority.

You know, Bob, when I wonder if when you have individuals who have inclinations towards extremism, and they're being monitored, are they aware they're being monitored? Do they take steps to avoid that?

ROBERT BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Absolutely, Brianna. They have read everything that was leaked by Edward Snowden. They understand that Skype is not safe. These chat rooms are not safe. They understand we have algorithms that run through their communications and the metadata and the rest of it.

A lot of these people are very sophisticated, and just as our police have gotten better, they have gotten a lot better as well. So what it comes down to is the really smart ones just go off the air completely and deliver messages face-to-face. And that means that the police have to have a penetration inside these groups, which is very, very difficult, because these people are generally true believers and are prepared for martyrdom and not about to accept money to become a source.

KEILAR: Yes, and you're talking about informants. And that's a lot harder than monitoring someone's email account or what they're doing on social media.

I wonder, Harry, we're looking at what appear to be a number of recent events. And it's alarming. I think people wonder about in the U.S. if this is something, despite the fact the terror level has not gone up, if there are more things going on behind the scenes here, and if people should be really concerned about that.

HARRY HOUCK, FORMER NYPD DETECTIVE: Well, I certainly hope so. Because if there are a lot of things going on, we should know about them. And our homeland security people should know about it. I'm sure they're going over all of their old intelligence for the last couple weeks, maybe months, to see if they missed anything. Although the -- there is no specific threat against the United States right now. I'm sure they're taking little extra steps to make sure that in the event some information, intelligence information comes in, they make sure they go over to correctly and to the T. And, you know, hopefully stop an attack happening here in the United States.

KEILAR: And, Bob, should Americans, and not just Americans, Westerners, people all over the world, should they be more concerned about the likelihood of an attack?

BAER: I think we should be concerned. I think there's going to be an attack of some sort. I think we all agree, it's almost inevitable. Somebody is going to slip through the net. What we can't do is overreact. I mean, we can simply can't go after the first amendment at that point, or start expelling people willy-nilly or, you know, have mass arrests.

I think it's, you know, this terrorism, as long as we are involve in the Middle East, we will always be a threat. And we should accept there is going to be some tragic losses.

KEILAR: Colonel, talk about that. Because we've had these discussions. And it's depressing. It's the reality that you can't catch every terrorist. That you can't eliminate every threat. But there has to be something that can be done to try to minimize these threats as much as possible.

REESE: Brianna, I agree with you. And I think there's two things to look at. One is financing for systems, for our law enforcement and our intelligence agencies. For big data aggregation. That's number one.

Number two, something we can do around the world with, you know -- whether it's NATO or the coalition fighting ISIS right now, is take away the safe havens that allow these folks to go training. And literally, right now, you can pick about five or six places around the world that are still considered safe havens, that people who want -- who are extremists who want to get some training in this can to come back and start up a cell they go to. If we shut those areas down, that would help -- I believe help this issue some.

KEILAR: Attack those safe havens. Certainly a number of things that folks are trying to do around the world. But it's definitely an uphill battle.

Gentlemen, thank you so much for chatting with me. Really appreciate it. Bob Baer, Lieutenant Colonel Reese and Harry Houck with me in New York. Thank you, guys.

Coming up, we're going to be talking about Hezbollah. The U.S. calls it a terrorist organization, and yet Hezbollah is saying that in this case, this extremism is actually doing more to hurt Islam than these cartoonists. Interesting reaction from this organization. We're going to dissect that after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto, updating you now on developments in and around Paris this evening.

The people behind the magazine "Charlie Hebdo" are promising to put out a publication Wednesday despite the killing of their editor and several colleagues this past Wednesday. The magazine hailed a staff get-together Friday, putting a sad but defiant face on their operation.

One "Charlie Hebdo" columnist says his co-workers who died would not want them to stay quiet. They're planning to publish more copies than normal of their first edition back, some one million copies, in fact.

In other news, the leader of Hezbollah says Muslim extremists do more damage to Islam than any books, cartoons or newspapers could. (INAUDIBLE), the head of the Lebanese Shiite group that the U.S. and European Union consider terrorists. He spoke late Friday in Beirut. (INAUDIBLE) did not specifically mention the deadly attack on a Paris magazine office or the hostage standoff, but said beheadings and massacres in the name of Islam are more offensive to the Muslim nation faith than to drawings of the prophet Muhammad.

SCIUTTO: I want to bring in Brianna Keilar, also with me today in New York City.

Brianna, what's the news there?

KEILAR: Jim, thanks so much.

We'll be right back to you in Paris in just a moment. But the president of France urging people there not to lash out against Muslims, insisting the "Charlie Hebdo" killers and Friday's hostage- takers do not represent Islam.

And from around the world this weekend, observant Muslims are making their voices heard online with anger and disgust and heartbreak that such violence was committed in the name of their faith. One ireporter who lives in Virginia shared her feelings in a CNN video message.

Zunera Mazhar is conflicted about how to explain what happened in Paris to her young daughter. And she says she is, quote, "just livid."

And I want to bring her in now. She is joining me live. This is CNN ireporter (INAUDIBLE). The message, Zunera, that you sent us, we posted it online. It is very powerful. It is very personal. Why did these incidents in Paris affect you so deeply? ZUNERA MAZHAR, IREPORTER: Well, they affect me so much, because being

a Muslim, I think it is so important that we represent a faith that is there to bring peace and harmony in the world. And not these extremists who are using this as their own propaganda to fulfill their own fantasies that, you know, something will happen or they'll end up getting something better.

It is important as a modern Muslim and for other modern Muslims to come out and really stand against this kind of extremism. Because all you hear about when you hear about Muslims is this extreme people, extremism. If there is someone who is speaking against them, they are usually killed or threatened.

I think it is high time for Muslim community to stand up against these threats and say no matter what you do, we're not going to stop, and we are going to speak out against these horrible crimes.

KEILAR: So you want to create this conversation. Certainly we're doing this by having you on right now. But how do you do that? As you're saying that other Muslims need to go out. They need to talk to people. They need to start these conversations, and really sort of explain themselves so that people understand this religion better, how do you think they should do that?

MAZHAR: OK. So I think there is always a lot of conversation about the political system or changing the political system. There is not enough conversation going on about the grass roots movement. You know, what can we do, what can the communities do by looking inwards?

Not just through, you know, community building or conversations with maybe other government agencies, but within the community. And say take measures to make sure that the communities are secure and if there is something or someone who is trying to harm that we notify the proper agency, proper authority.

A lot of times, I've seen in my own community that there is a lot of dialogue, maybe sometimes that, you know, is this right or is this wrong. But then there is no movement afterwards. I think a lot of grass roots movement needs to get started. A lot of conversations do need to happen online.

I have so many friends and family that are always against these kinds of things. They will talk about their fear sometimes that, you know, they don't go out because they are scared what will happen. Me and my husband had this conversation before I came on that, you know, we have a 6-year-old daughter. Should I be going out and speaking these things?

And, you know, we came to the conclusion that at this point, we absolutely have to. We have to stand up and we have to say that this kind of extremism does not represent us, does not represent our faith.

KEILAR: We certainly appreciate you coming on, Zunera, and telling us your opinion on this. You were very touched by what you saw happening in France all the way in Virginia where you were from. Thanks for being with us.

MAZHAR: Thank you.

KEILAR: Zunera Mazhar with us there.

And you know, one of the things investigators are now looking into when it comes to the suspects in Paris, their past. They're trying to figure out which groups they may have been affiliated with, and not just how they kept off the radar, but really how they fell off the radar that they were once on. We'll have that, ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto in Paris.

French investigators tonight are hammering in on the terror connections of the Kouachi brothers and Amedy Coulibaly. The three men claim they were part of either Al-Qaeda or ISIS.

Joining me to discuss the men's ties are former CIA operative and CNN national security analyst, Bob Baer. And here with me in Paris, CNN terror analyst, Samuel Laurent.

Bob, if I could begin with you, we talk a lot about not only the divisions between Isis and Al-Qaeda and the Arabian Peninsula and other groups, but also the competition between them. When we look at attackers like we have seen here in Paris in recent days, are there sharp divisions between those groups and their loyalties to those groups?

BAER: Well, the loyalties are one thing. But let me get into divisions.

AQAP is externally focused attacking the West, attacking airliners. ISIS at this point is more concerned with defending its capital, Mosul, establishing an Islamic state. They don't really have a lot of resources to launch a large campaign against Europe and the United States.

So I think there are divisions. But ideologically, for my liking, they're the same. They're jihadists, they go back to a philosophy, 11th century, Syrian ideologue, Islam Ideologue, and right up. And you know, using violence is the main tenet of their faith to establish Islam.

So if we see going back and forth people joining ISIS and then going to AQAP, it wouldn't surprise me at all. And I think this is happening as we speak, and will continue to happen.

SCIUTTO: If I could bring you in, Samuel Laurent, as well. Bob makes the point that, listen, both these groups, even though they have some competition, divisions, different leaderships, different home bases, they have both encouraged their members to carry out attacks abroad, against Western targets.

From the French perspective, do they consider either AQAP or is a bigger threat or do they look at them as really part of the same threat?

LAURENT: Well, actually, obviously, part of the same threat. But I would say that nowadays, France is considering ISIS a much bigger one for a very simple reason. The jihadis nowadays are popping up, literally speaking, every day, and they are flocking into Syria, because the Turkish border does not require even a passport for French citizens to travel there.

So we have hundreds and hundreds of French, which are basically traveling there, getting battle hard and coming back. And obviously, targeting some individual assaults, individual terror attacks, like we saw in December against Christmas market, with the stabbing of a policeman.

Basically, same procedure that we saw in Australia and Canada, for example. So obviously, the threat was more immediate. But definitely the old style -- I would say structure of either cells, are representing a threat that is bloodily coming back.

SCIUTTO: A reminder to our viewers, the attacks this week certainly not the first in France as Samuel was saying. There were other attacks in recent weeks and months.

Bob, I received briefing from the CIA almost a year ago now. And they made the point that the new terror threat is much more dispersed. You have a greater number of groups, perhaps smaller than core Al-Qaeda responsible for 9/11, more diverse, more spread around, possibly with less ambitious plans, but a broader plan and therefore more difficult to track. Are we seeing the expression of that now in these attacks this week, and this new threat against police officers in France?

BAER: I think so. I think the CIA was right. It's the strength of weak links. You don't want to centralize command. You don't want to go to Mosul to ask for permission. You simply get the training and you tell them generally what the attacks are, but you don't have to particular policeman or I guess the magazine was an obvious target for them, but it didn't need to be coordinated every day. And so you get to stay off phones and the rest of it. They understand this.

And it makes it much more difficult if the commander, the leadership, is dispersed to go after. I mean, groups that are difficult to comprehend like the Khorasan group in Syria. Who do you align with? You got Al-Qaeda there. You got the Islamic state. I agree with Laurent, that the Islamic state is a real threat because it is magnet for people to go that part of the world. And again, to get that training and come back and make isolated attacks, which can undermine our security and our liberties.

SCIUTTO: And good that you mentioned the Khorasan group. We don't speak about it as often recently as AQAP and ISIS, but when the U.S. attacks started in Syria, you may remember, American officials said the Khorasan group had plans in the final stages against targets on U.S. soil. So yet another threat to face here for the U.S. and for the West.

Bob Baer in New York, thanks very much for joining us. Samuel Laurent, great to have you on, as well.

As France faces these threats, synagogues are closing around the country, including the main synagogue here in Paris. The French- Jewish community on high alert tonight and going forward. We'll have more on that threat after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto in Paris.

And a new sign of the widespread impact of the terrorist attacks here in the French capital. A landmark synagogue shut its doors today for the first time since World War II. The grand synagogue of Paris closed because of fears it could be the next target of Islamic extremists. A Rabbi of another synagogue in the city calls that a mistake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) that we can give to this kind of attack is to continue and show that we are not afraid of this kind of terror.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: In what French President Francois Hollande calls an act of anti-Semitism, a gunman killed four hostages at a kosher grocery store east of Paris yesterday. Police liked the gunman investigators say he was linked to the terrorist in the "Charlie Hebdo" massacre.

President Hollande also expressed solidarity with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who wants France to beef up security at its Jewish institutions. Netanyahu is, in fact, on his way to Paris to participate in a unity march here tomorrow.

Joining me now is Jonathan Lawrence. He is author of "the Emancipation of Europe's Muslims. He is with me here in Paris, National security analyst Bob Baer and former NYPD detective, Harry Houck.

Jonathan, if I can begin with you tonight because you have in effect a dual threat right now. You have a clear terror threat to Jewish targets in the city and around the country as we saw yesterday and the attack on the kosher market. But you have also had a number of reprisal attacks against Islamic institutions. Synagogues, some kabob shops, that kind of thing. It's coming from both sides. How does a society counteract that invariable human emotion of revenge on one side but also the terror threat on the other?

JONATHAN LAWRENCE, AUTHOR, EMANCIPATION OF EUROPE'S MUSLIMS: Well, it's something we're familiar with, I think, from the aftermath of 9/11, when we too had to come together as a country in the face of what was really a divisive, polarizing act. And that's what the trick is here. To call for national unity, the politicians have done that. They want to it get the mainstream parties together. Right now they have for tomorrow's march. But not all parties will participate. Some of them have decided to hold their own rallies, and that is not a great sign, frankly.

SCIUTTO: Have leaders done, of course, I remember the moment after 9/11 when George Bush, President George W. Bush at the time, very quickly went to a mosque in Washington to demonstrate, you know, this is not -- does not represent the Islamic faith. We are not against Islam as we fight this war on terrorism. Have French leaders made similar gestures?

LAWRENCE: Yes. The good news is that for the last 12, 15 years, since 9/11, French leaders have been reaching out to Muslim community leaders. They have created a forum called the French council for the Muslim faith. And so, they're very familiar with one another. And immediately after the attack, you saw leaders from the French Muslim community go directly to the "Charlie Hebdo" site to pay their respects, and that is something that is continuing today.

SCIUTTO: Tremendously important. We'll see a similar diversity in that march tomorrow.

Bob, speaking to counter terror officials in the U.S., one thing you hear from them frequently in recent months is about reaching out to Muslim communities in the U.S., not only to show solidarity and openness, but also to ask for help in identifying potential recruits for extremism. How important is that in the battle to keep, well, the U.S. safe and other countries safe?

BAER: Jim, I think it's crucial. I mean, we have to identify in a jihadist clerics in this country. I don't think there are many, but if there are, we need to -- like al-Awlaki, the American-Yemen who was assassinated with a drone.

We need to identify those people what they are saying. And they have to focus on them and whether they're getting a following. But keep in mind, let's not forget that France was attacked by Frenchmen and in 9/11, we were attacked by foreigners. There is a difference. It is a huge difference. We are able to assimilate Muslims much better than the French. The five million or so French-Muslims are in -- I've lived there for years. I wouldn't call them isolated but they're not as integrated as American-Muslims are. And so, the French have a very different problem and it's a much more difficult problem than we have locally.

SCIUTTO: It's a criticism I've heard. Having spent a lot of time in the U.K., as well. A more insular Muslim community there.

Harry, I wonder if I can speak with you. You say that France has an exaggerated tolerance of radical Islam here. Can you explain that?

HOUCK: Right. Well, basically, what I meant is the fact that they've created -- the French government has created an environment in these certain neighborhoods where they don't allow local law enforcement to come in. All right? And by doing that, alright, not only do they follow some of their own Shria law in these locations, these no-go zones in France.

So what happens is, if we can't get local law enforcement in there and they have their own law they follow, then we could wind up having anarchy in France. I mean, I think it's totally insane, alright, that the government of France allows two different sets of laws for two different sets of people, alright. And so when they created this environment, alright, so now this extremism could grow in that environment. Why would anybody anyway leave a Muslim country to come and live in France and live under sharia law? It doesn't make any sense to me.

SCIUTTO: Well, Jonathan, France has taken other steps, including banning the wearing of the niqab, a Muslim woman's headdress that covers their faces which was a step at the time, that was very controversial, because France wanted to show its common values, did it not?

LAWRENCE: Yes, absolutely. In 2010, 2011, the country held what was called a national debate on national identity. And one of the main concrete outcomes was a ban on burka. The thing is, not many French women wore a burka. There were probably around 1,500 total. That was never really a problem.

But the issue of radicalization is serious and something the French anti-terrorism squads have been following closely. French intelligence is really -- is well-known for its case work on this. And it's something the U.S. relies on heavily.

SCIUTTO: No question. And as we know, intelligence services are constantly learning, because this is a relatively new process, this outreach to Muslim communities, in particular, to help identify and prevent recruiting for extremism and extremists. Constant adjustment and strategy over time.

Bob Baer, Harry Houck, thanks very much for joining us in the U.S. Jonathan from good old Boston College here, thanks for joining me in Paris, as well.

So who is Hayat Boumeddiene and was she in even France during the attacks to terrorize this country? We're going to get into the developments we learned today and more after this break.

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SCIUTTO: Even as hunt for the Paris attack suspects was still under way, social media was already buzzing with pictures and words of support for the "Charlie Hebdo" victims. Many changed their facebook profile pictures to this image, Je Suis Charlie or "I am Charlie."

Isa Soares show up the many ways people around the world are turning to social media to express their support for the magazine.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISA SOARES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People around the world have been expressing their shock and horror over what happened. They have also been showing their solidarity. The hashtag that has been used and which has become really a rallying call around the world is "Je Suis Charlie." We have also started to see the hashtag "Nous soal Charlie (ph), we are Charlie" being tweeted and being printed in French newspapers.

Also being tweeted along with that hashtag are cartoons from very well-known cartoonist right from Australia to Chile, all the way to New York and Barcelona who cartoonist who have decided to put pen to paper and a tribute to those who were killed in Paris.

Cartoonist David Pope was among the first to tweet his cartoon as a show of solidarity. This was shared 67,000 times. We asked him whether he thought "Charlie Hebdo" went too far with their satire.

DAVID POPE, CARTOONIST: Nothing justifies the killing of innocents, the sort of arms we saw last night. I have a particular view on the cartoon, to focus on those in power, and those who would accede to power, like the extremists we saw last night. And as a matter of fact, on social solidarity.

SOARES: Well, others too have been inspired by the bravery of the cartoonist at "Charlie Hebdo." Many have been very moving. Many others defiant. Others have been political in their tone.

All, however, have carried the same message. And it's one that "Marie Claire" magazine captured very simply in their cartoon when it depicts the strength of the pencil versus the gun.

Freedom of expression cannot be silenced many are saying online.

While these are images that have inspired CNN ireporters, many of whom have been sending their drawings, their cartoons, as a tribute to those who died.

And I leave you with one of the most re-tweeted and liked pictures on Instagram, and it is this heartbreaking one. This was posted by Elsa Wilinski (ph). She is the daughter of George Wilinski (ph) who was killed on Wednesday. The photo as you can see shows an empty desk where he used to draw and it reads, (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) which translates in English as Dad is gone, they are not Wilinski (ph).

Poignant words, they are inspiring so many right across the world.

Isa Soares, CNN, London.

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