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A Million March Against Terror; Demonstration on Place de la Republique

Aired January 11, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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


CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: It was journalists doing an honest day's work who were slaughtered in cold blood on Wednesday midday here in France. And on Friday the gunmen turned their sights on the Jewish community at the Hyper Cacher market in the Port de Vincennes and five people were killed.

The prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, said to Jews here in France, we are your refuge. Israel is your home as well. The prime minister of France has said that actually there is no France without Jews -- Jake.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: And actually there's actually word from Israel that the four Jewish men who were killed at that kosher supermarket have been invited to -- their families have been invited to bury them in the state of Israel, the Jewish state.

It's been inspiring -- Christiane and I have been here for hours now. And it's been inspiring to see the crowd go from dozens to hundreds to thousands to tens of thousands. All holding signs, saying, we are Charlie, a reference to the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo." Christiane was just referring to. "Je suis Juif." "I am a Jew." "Je suis Ahmed." The name of the Muslim police officer who was killed on Wednesday.

The names of all 17 innocent victims killed by the barbaric terrorists on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday in this town. The worst terrorist attack here in a generation.

AMANPOUR: And it is extraordinary because this unity rally was called and hours and hours before the official start people were already here jam packing this square.

TAPPER: Yes.

AMANPOUR: The Place de la Republique. On that square which you can see right there in the middle of your picture, three statues of mythical women. They are the women of Liberte, Egalite and Fraternite. And that is what this country and the world is standing together to defend. People are saying we will not surrender. People are saying not afraid.

And as Jake mentioned, it's not just French flags that are being waved here. It is Turkish flags, Algerian flags, Tunisian flags, African flags and Norwegian flags there. And so many other people who have come together. TAPPER: The state flag of California for people waking up in

California right now and watching this coverage. You are represented. Somebody here waving the California flag. Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, obviously standing for liberty, equality, brotherhood.

And we're really seeing such a wonderful demonstration of that here today. It has been raining, it has been cold, it has been windy, and not one person has left. They keep coming and coming. They're going to march from here, Place de la Republique all the way north to Place de la National. And that is where the world leaders that we've seen in the pictures are leading that procession.

AMANPOUR: And, incredibly, Jake, the Place de la Nation is where all those world leaders are going but guess what, they are not going to be making speeches.

TAPPER: That's incredible.

(LAUGHTER)

AMANPOUR: They are not going to be making speeches.

TAPPER: Just demonstrating -- just demonstrating solidarity, not looking for really for any attention. I was amazed to hear that, that the leaders aren't speaking, including Francois Hollande who quite frankly could stand a political boost in this country. Not taking the opportunity to speak to this incredible either. Just standing there being there, showing support. That's enough.

AMANPOUR: Linking arms, and now we're going to go to Fred Pleitgen who is inside this crowd and has been talking to a lot of the people who have come here throughout the day.

Fred, what are people saying to you now?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, first of all, I think that the words that you used, Christiane, this is a human tidal wave is absolutely correct. Because if you look around, I'm absolutely surrounded people on Place de la Republique. And in fact right now this human tidal wave is so big that it can't move forward. This march can't move forward at this point in time towards the Place de la Nation because it's simply so many people and it's so jam packed.

But of course, people here are chanting for freedom of the press. They're saying that we're not afraid and many of them, of course, grasped the moment and how important it is for them to come here. Now I have one gentleman right here.

What's your name, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Jerry (ph).

PLEITGEN: Good to meet you, sir. You're from Paris?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was born in (INAUDIBLE). But I am half French, half Indian actually.

PLEITGEN: So why was it so important for you to come out here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, it's important to -- that everyone is here today, all the races, all the religious and everything. It's a big unity and for me personally, I lived 20 years in China. I felt really the oppression of not having freedom. I really felt it in my day-to-day life there. But today we're all fighting for this, for our freedom, and it's very, very important. We're ready to go all the way for this.

PLEITGEN: How important is it that you have members of all communities here, the Jewish community, the Muslim community, the Christian community, because there is somewhat friction here at this point, isn't there?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think it's fundamental. You know, France is a diverse country, and every day we are having more people taking power like in the ministries that are of Arab origin and different origins so, you know, we must all stand together. Otherwise, you know, it's going to be terrible.

PLEITGEN: How badly did the events that happened over the past three days shake this nation, and how many questions, what kind of questions did it raise?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone is shaken, but you know, I think the most important thing is that it reminds us what are the fundamental values that bring us together, and it's really this liberty -- I mean, just look around and you'll see everyone is together on this.

PLEITGEN: And I think that's very important, Christiane, is what you're seeing here, is that you're seeing French civil society come out and say that they want to be together, they want to be united rather than be divided.

I know that you guys were talking about the fact that none of these world leaders here, who are coming here and also that the French president have not spoken or will not speak at this rally. That's something that's certainly very important is that the message that's being sent today is one that's not coming from political leaders. It is one that's coming from society.

It's one that's coming from the people who are saying that in response to all of this, to all the horrible events, the tragic events that have been happening over the past couple of days, their answer to all of that is not going to be division. It's going to be unity and, of course, again, I can't say it often enough, the important thing is that you do have members of all the communities here in France together.

I have seen members of the Jewish community, the Muslim community coming together to show their unity and also to fight for things like freedom of the press, freedom of speech. I think that's a very important message that's being sent today here -- Christiane.

TAPPER: Frederik Pleitgen, thank you so much.

I want to show a sign here that's being held by some of the people behind us. Kobani, Charlie -- my French is not as good as Christiane's, but I believe it's referring to Kobani, the town in Syria that's been under siege from the terrorists of ISIS saying basically Kobani, Charlie, same war. This is the same war against Islamic extremism. One of the themes we're hearing. We're seeing a lot of different signs, there's a lot in favor of the pluralistic and yet secular society of France.

Naming all of the victims and also people taking a stand against Islamic extremism which obviously reared its head in a very ugly and vicious way last week here in Paris, France.

AMANPOUR: And incredibly importantly to be reminded at this moment about Syria because this was the nightmare of American, European, all sorts of security and law enforcement officials and government, that this terrible vacuum that's been left, this terrible rise of ISIS in Syria would cause this violent blowback in our own countries and that is what we're seeing.

TAPPER: Right. In fact, one of the terrorists, the -- Amedy Coulibaly today, a video was released of him. Thankfully he is dead, he was killed by French police on Friday after killing four innocent Frenchmen in that kosher supermarket but it was a video of him expressing allegiance to the head of Islamic State, to al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS, and basically saying -- and the video describing him as a soldier of the caliphate, this Islamic extremist group, seeking to seize huge swaths of territory for their vicious and warped interpretation of Islam.

AMANPOUR: And I think what's so interesting about the fact that it was released today, it's not an accident. ISIS has shown a remarkable sophistication using the power of the image, and yet the images that they try to send out on that will no way counter this mass, mass image that we're seeing right now.

TAPPER: That's a great point.

AMANPOUR: So many people.

TAPPER: That's a great point. Look at this. I mean, look at these world leaders arm-in-arm. You have Mahmoud Abbas and Benjamin Netanyahu in the same line, in the same line of people, and what is the ISIS video? Some idiot with a gun standing in some pathetic apartment by himself. Yes, he did some incredibly vicious things but as you say that image can't compete with what the people of France, indeed the people of the world are communicating today.

AMANPOUR: This march, which is coming towards to the Place de la Nation right now is about unity. It's about trying to get all aspects of French society on board as well. They've got the former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, who's the conservative opponent obviously of President Francois Hollande, the socialist president. Marine Le Pen is the leader of the far right National Frontier. And this attack has happened in an environment where far right

Islamaphobic groups, anti-Semitic groups have flourished and are doing very, very well. And even though this has been a unity rally, Marine Le Pen was not specifically invited. She was told she can come if she wants. She is not here. She and her National Front colleagues are marching in other parts, they say other parts of France.

But this is also a very, very sensitive moment in French domestic politics. Also across Europe. In Germany, they've been having weekly, monthly anti-Islamic demonstrations. So this is going to be something that everybody is going to be looking at going forward as well.

TAPPER: Yes. One other symbol is I think appropriate. I was discussing this with a leader of the Jewish community here earlier today. Two of the heroes of the supermarket attack, the kosher supermarket, one of the -- one of the Jewish men who was killed who had tried to wrestle away the gun, he is a hero. Also the young Muslim employee from Mali who tried to rescue people and successfully hid 15 of them.

I want to go to Hala Golani right now. She is at the end of the route. We're at the beginning spot.

Hala, what are you seeing there?

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an extremely dense crowd, Jake and Christiane. This is the end point as I was saying just minutes ago, but it looks very much like it's in full swing. I mean, if we're going to get any more people than this, I don't know how this Place de la Nation is going to be able to absorb everybody because it is really just cheek-to-cheek for people pretty much.

I'm seeing all sorts of signs. I'm seeing all sorts of flags. There are three Lebanese flags floating in the crowd there, for instance. Those just made their appearance. But then there are extremely touching signs of people essentially using that #jesuisCharlie that went viral after the attack against the satirical magazine on Wednesday, to say all sorts of things, to send all sorts of unifying messages.

"Je suis Juif." I am Jewish. "Je suis Muslim." I am Muslim. I am Charlie. We are France. That's one of the ones I'm able to read from here. And I'm going to let our viewers listen in a little, but people are just breaking out in spontaneous applause.

Why are you applauding? Because? OK. So it's a way of just essentially showing respect, showing respect for the victims of the attacks, but also as a way to say after the minute of silence this is how we acknowledge that we are not just going through a moment of reflection but a moment of defiance as well, a day of defiance, to show all of those who want to trample over the values of the republic of France that we are still very much defiant.

So this is the scene here from the Place de la Nation. I'm seeing a French flag and just minutes ago, Jake and Christiane, there was a spontaneous sort of eruption, a rendition of the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise", and after that applause once again.

That's the scene from where we are right now. Back to you guys.

AMANPOUR: Hala, thank you.

And we've also had spontaneous renditions of the national anthem here.

TAPPER: At least three times. Yes.

AMANPOUR: And people clapping. I'm about to fall off the box. And actually there was a huge applause when it looked like the crowd here could start marching. There's obviously so many people on the march route that this lot have not really been able to start marching out towards where you are.

But I'm actually going to just turn around and ask this lady -- to borrow her newspaper. This is "Liberacion." And on the front of this iconic French newspaper it says "Je Suis Charlie." And the reason I'm holding this up is obviously this is all about "Charlie."

"Liberacion" has given its offices to the remaining staff members of "Charlie" magazine to put out their next Wednesday edition. In about three or four days from now this edition will some out. There are very few people left as we see these world leaders continuing their slow progress towards the Place de la Nation. They are going to put out one million copies of this satirical magazine and they're hard at work at it right now.

Again, as I said, their own quarters were destroyed obviously. They're going to "Liberation". "Le Monde" has offered computers. Google has offered money. Other parts of the French government has offered money. So the whole rallying together of the French journalistic establishment as well to make sure that the show goes on.

TAPPER: Yes. They're talking about printing up to a million copies of "Charlie Hebdo" on Wednesday. Obviously that is not their normal circulation.

It's interesting, I was speaking with a contractor to "Charlie Hebdo," a former contributor, yesterday outside the offices, and she brought with her a copy of the 2006 edition which was very controversial and prompted a lot of protests. And there's a lot been said about the offensive and outrageous cartoons of "Charlie Hebdo." And I'm not going to dispute that many of them were.

But this was supposedly a picture of Mohammed, the cover, covering his face, saying like -- cursing the fact that so many of his followers were for, want of a better word on international television, jerks. It wasn't a sign against extremism. It wasn't a cartoon mocking Islam per se as much as it was a cartoon of God saying why are so many of my followers extremists?

AMANPOUR: So "Charlie Hebdo" has followed a very long and venerable French tradition of mocking everything, all authority, all religions, all politicians, all celebrities. And I spoke to Luz, who was one of the cartoonists, and in fact he's here at the march, he was greeted by President Hollande. One of the main cartoonists from "Charlie Hebdo," and he said to me our aim was never to insult. It's so poke fun of.

It's to continue our tradition of poking fun of the absurd extremes of the environment in which we find ourselves. And I think that's really, really important. And poor Stephane Charbonnier, before he was killed, he's the editor obviously of the magazine, he said, you know, my pen doesn't kill anybody, my drawings don't hurt anybody. Only those who want to be shocked will be shocked. And the people who react violently, they are the ones who are the evil and who are, you know, the extremists in this situation.

We want to go back to Fred Pleitgen.

TAPPER: Yes.

AMANPOUR: Who's in the middle of the crowd -- Fred.

PLEITGEN: All right, Christiane. Yes, the crowd keeps growing bigger and bigger. Right now actually there is some movement here because people are actually able to go into the direction of the Place de la Nation, but yet it is still very, very full here. As you can see those people with various sort of signs. They're chanting a lot. Right now they're clapping and yelling "Charlie, Charlie" I think they are.

I have someone with me right here. What's your name, sir?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Pierre (ph). Nice to meet you.

PLEITGEN: Pierre, good to meet you. You are from Paris, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From Paris. I'm here to show that I care about freedom of speech and all those liberties that I think have been a little bit hurt these two days in Paris.

PLEITGEN: How big -- I wouldn't say how big an issue, but how bad has the last couple of days been for the unity in this nation? Because I mean there's a reason why so many people are coming out and saying now we have to demonstrate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see that everybody has been touched by this horror. Like people from all skin colors, religion, countries. Everybody is gathering here today to show that everybody care about this. This is not a simple issue. This is very important for us.

PLEITGEN: I want to talk about what sort of thinking has been set in motion because do you believe that in the run-up to this maybe the silent majority in France, the majority of people were maybe a little too silent? Maybe they took a lot of things for granted. Because on the one hand, you had the rise of the political right, with people who are politically very active and on the other hand -- I mean, I won't say -- obviously we know it's only a tiny fraction of Muslims who are radical but they -- those seem to be the ones who were defining the debate. Do you think that France has been too silent recently?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that we are used to this freedom of speech for a long time now and maybe we didn't care too much about it, and to see all these people here, it's the country. We know people are -- they don't agree with the silence anymore and people want to speak out loud. I can say that I want to talk about the majority of Muslim people in this country that are absolutely not what we see in the news or maybe what we see in some media or what --

PLEITGEN: Not this media. Of course.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Not this media, of course, and what the far right party in France are saying, and I do believe that the majority of Muslim in this country are here and support all this movement and all this protest.

PLEITGEN: In the aftermath, how do you feel about the reaction of your nation? Because it has been quite remarkable that the debate now is being shaped by people who want reconciliation and not people who want division.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exactly. The word today is fraternity. I really want to emphasize on national TV, and yes, that's what I want to say.

PLEITGEN: Yes. Thank you very much.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much.

PLEITGEN: Have a good day. I hope the march manages to go in the right direction, Christiane.

As you can see a very positive vibe that's coming here from this protest, from this march that's going on. People who want to learn from this experience, people who want to draw the right conclusions. People who want France to move in the right direction after all of this, who don't want further divisions, who don't want the fringe parties, who don't want those in the radical fringes to be the ones who are shaping this debate. To be the ones who are leading the political debate that happens afterwards.

This is really civil society coming out and I think you used that word absolutely correctly. It's a tidal wave of humanity that's moving into the -- through the streets of Paris right now obviously in these very, very important places -- Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Fred, thank you.

We understand Francois Hollande has left the march now at the Place de la Nation. We were told there were some reports, and we're waiting to get that confirmed, that he might go to the Hyper Cacher market, we don't know for sure. And also reports that maybe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would go there as well.

TAPPER: Very intense security. A lot of worries. A lot of concerns anytime you have this many people and this many world leaders, especially controversial world leaders. The head of the Palestinian Authority, the prime minister of Israel, leaders from Jordan, Russia, Turkey. There are a lot of security concerns and the French law enforcement authorities have certainly beefed up all of their security. We're told about snipers, plainclothesmen, detectives. All sorts of added measures.

We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to tell you all the latest about developments overnight into the terrorist attacks, what was behind them, and who they were working with when we come back after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

AMANPOUR: So welcome back to our special coverage of "Standing with France." I'm Christiane Amanpour along with Jake Tapper here in Paris for this unity rally. And we welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world, of course.

TAPPER: We're standing here at the Place de la Republique where the unity rally began. Christiane and I have been here for hours. And it is -- the crowd has gone from dozens, to hundreds, to thousands, to tens of thousands now. Crows estimates are that maybe up to a million people are here.

People are enthusiastic. They're excited. It has been rainy, it has been cold, it is windy, and yet it has not dissuaded any of them. You see people with lots of different messages here. People saying Kobani, that's the fight in Syria. "Charlie" combat same war. A Muslim gentleman over here holding a sign saying not in my name. People standing together saying defiantly to the terrorists, you're not defeating us.

AMANPOUR: And flags from everywhere, not just the French tricolor, but all sorts of flags maybe. And remember, especially for our viewers in the United States, France is America's oldest ally as President Obama said when he gave his condolences and condemned the attack here that happened on Wednesday.

And we say that because the values that this nation has given to all of us, the values of freedom, of democracy, of free speech, and that value, the freedom to speak, was so viciously assaulted, so for many of our colleagues here, Jake, this is personal today.

TAPPER: Yes.

AMANPOUR: This is personal what happened three or four days ago, and this is a sense that it's a story unlike any other that we've been covering.

TAPPER: And there was a father and son holding a sign out here not long ago saying, I disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it. I believe that's Voltaire, although I'm not entirely certainly. But the sentiment is one saying if you disagree with the cartoons, in the satiric magazine "Charlie Hebdo," even if you find them offensive, they have the right to say them and the reaction -- appropriate reaction is not terrorism. I want to bring you up to speed with some news breaking this morning,

Christiane, and viewers in the United States and around the world.

RTL Radio, a French radio, is reporting that they have discovered an apartment that was rented by Amedy Coulibaly, that is the terrorist who was killed on Friday after killing a French policewoman Thursday and killing four innocent people at a kosher supermarket holding hostages on Friday, and the stash included automatic weapons, detonators, cash, the flag of ISIS.

We saw that video he released earlier today or someone released on his behalf earlier today in which he's pledging allegiance, declaring himself a soldier of the caliphate, to ISIS, to al Baghdadi.

Right now law enforcement, according to this RTL Radio report, testing to see if they can find any forensic evidence that Hayat Boumeddiene, his girlfriend, the woman who is wanted, now thought to be in Syria, whether she was at the location -- at that apartment anytime recently.

AMANPOUR: And that of course was such a confusing situation on Friday.

TAPPER: Yes.

AMANPOUR: Everybody thought that there were four people involved, the two Kouachi brothers and this woman and this man at the Hyper Cacher market, the kosher market. I spoke to a criminologist here, an anti- criminal investigator here, who believes now that it is Amedy Coulibaly who was the ring leader. Not the Kouachi brothers.

But let's go now to Bernard-Henri Levy, who joins us from our studio here in Paris. A philosopher, a writer, a journalist, a public intellectual.

Bernard, we spoke to you on Wednesday after this terrible attack on our colleagues. How does today strike you as a response?

BERNARD-HENRI LEVY, AUTHOR, " LEFT IN DARK TIMES: A STAND AGAINST THE NEW BARBARISM": I would say that today France is back. The West is back. Democracy is back. This day is a day of historical defeat for all those who attacked the democracy and who want to kill liberal values. It's a historical defeat for them.

Paris today is, because of a terrible tragedy, a terrorist tragedy, the center or the capital of the freedom. All chiefs of state, like United Nations, gathering in a demonstration. Even people who are not expected to be here like the Emir the Qatar, like the representative of (INAUDIBLE), they all want to say anything today even if it is contrary to what they believed before, and even opposed to what they acted.

They want to say stop to terror. For this the day today is a historical day. It's a huge moment.

TAPPER: And Mr. Levy, tell us if you will.

LEVY: Yes.

TAPPER: Obviously it is significant that so many world leaders are here but when you consider the attack, when you consider the cartoons of "Charlie Hebdo," it seems extremely important and moving that you have the leaders of the Palestinian territory, the leaders of Turkey, the leaders of Jordan here, all standing saying not in my name. You don't represent me. You don't represent Islam.

LEVY: We were expecting this moment since so long. We were expecting -- I was expecting and a lot of people were expecting President Mahmoud Abbas saying in a strong voice, not in my name. I may have some political targets, I may have a political agenda, but not assassination. Not murder of civilians. Not fascism.

So this is a great day, and to see the same demonstration Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas, to see people of the West and of the non-West together marching, saying to say no to fascism, this is a completely unexpected event and it's a great day. It will not be the same after and before. For France, it's very important. This is like a self- esteem, which is coming back, self-esteem of France by France itself. For the world, it's also a great gesture.

You know, I heard the other day John - State Secretary John Kerry expressing in French support to French cartoonists. John Kerry saying je suis Charlie. Do you know when an American president made a speech in France for the last time? The last time an American president did it? It is President Roosevelt, November 8TH, 1942, on the radio of General De Gaulle in London. President Roosevelt making a speech in French, State Secretary Kerry making a statement in French. Some things here says a lot of the moment we are living.

AMANPOUR: Indeed, so many people told us how touched they were that Secretary of State Kerry made that very lengthy and passionate statement of support and solidarity in French. Bernard, what do you think is going to happen to the already frightened Jewish community here in France?

LEVY: There was two events which are completely related. We know that the killer of Charlie, and the killer of the Jew - of the Jewish shop were coordinated. It was a program. It was a coordinated program killing. Heroes of freedom of speech and killing average people having committed the only crime of being a Jew. You have here the two targets related. Heroes of freedom of speech, brave guy, courageous heroes on one side. And people just guilty to be born.

I remember after Second World War there was a great discussion in Europe and in America about the difference of situation of those who died like as heroes with weapon in their hands and those who died just because they were Jews, and there was a discussion asking, wondering which was the most terrible? And people, the great people like Francois Moriac, like Elie Wiesel, said that it was the same. It was two ways of dying under fascism. Today we are facing the same situation. Average Jews, Mr. Hattab (ph), Mr. Saada (ph), Mr. Cohen, Mr. Braham (ph) unknown, anonymous Jews killed just because they were Jews. And heroes like Charles (ph) Wolinski, and Charb killed because there were war reporters. War reporters on this special war, which is a war against Jihad. They died in a way ...

TAPPER: And Monsieur Henry Levy ...

LEVY: Within three days.

TAPPER: Monsieur Henri Levy, I just want to get your reaction to some breaking news we have now, which is - It's just been announced that the French President Francois Hollande will be going to Paris' Grand Synagogue along with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. As you know, the Grand Synagogue did not hold Sabbath services on Friday night for the first time since World War II, since the Holocaust, since this continent was emblazoned with a war. Obviously, a very symbolically sad moment on Friday. But now we have this moment where Netanyahu and Hollande who have clearly butted heads before on political issues coming to the Grand Synagogue together. I'm wondering what your reaction is to that news.

BERNARD-HENRI LEVY, FRENCH PHILOSOPHER: Congratulations to President Hollande. Congratulations to Prime Minister Netanyahu because this moment is beyond all political division, all rules, even all ritual rules. The fact is that in Paris we had the two crimes. Crimes against Charlie, crimes against Jews. There has been immediately an immense, a huge movement of solidarity with Charlie. Je suis Charlie was the most widespread hashtag since maybe the beginning of Twitter. I would like, I hope, and I know that President Hollande feels like me, that I am a Charlie Jew. I'm Pierre Kosher (ph). This should be a hashtag as popular as the hashtag about Charlie. We have the two twin targets of this unique fascism, Islamic fascism. So it's great. This going to synagogue is the great gesture and, again, a great symbol. It is a day today of a succession of symbols, of accumulation of symbols. This is one more.

TAPPER: All right. Monsieur Bernard-Henri Levy, merci beaucoup, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it. And Christiane, he's right. I mean the assault on the kosher supermarket and on the satirical newspaper, really, it is a double pronged assault on liberty and on - on religious freedom.

AMANPOUR: Precisely. And that's why all the political leaders here are saying and we said over and over again, we are Charlie, we are the police, we are Jews, we are all French today. It's very, very profound, and when you see that Amedy Coulibaly on this tape as being put out, you know, nonchalant, he is saying that yes, we discussed this and the Kouachi brothers were going to take out the journalists and I was going to do the police and the Jews. I mean it is truly an appalling thing. And I think when Bernard-Henri Levy talks about symbols, and he talks - you know, the symbolism of the Secretary of State talking French, for instance ...

TAPPER: Right.

AMANPOUR: And the last time it was President Roosevelt, you know, I just go back to hearing the bells of Notre Dame this week. They told at the end of World War I, at the end of the World War II, at the end to remember 9/11, and to remember the victims this last week. It is only the four times they've tolled for minutes on end, and it's very, very profound.

TAPPER: It is profound. Let's go now to CNN's anchor Fareed Zakaria. Fareed, you're watching the images. You're hearing of the incredible outpouring of emotion, people, maybe a million people on the streets of Paris, France, today holding up signs "Je suis Charlie." Look - I just want to show you, this one sign, Fareed, if you can see this. On one side it says "We are Charlie" and on the other side, it lists all of the victims, all of the innocent people who have been killed in the last week by terrorists. Really quite an amazing display, an amazing show of solidarity by the French people.

FAREED ZAKARIA, HOST CNN'S "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": You know, Jake, what strikes me is that in some sense this is France's 9/11. This has been the way that France has responded to really the most brutal terror attack, very similar in a sense to what happened in 9/11. Obviously the number is very different but the symbolism and the idea that this could come from within makes it particularly horrific. But notice the response. The response here has been a much more unifying response, and perhaps a little bit less, you know, of shock and fear and anger, less of a sense of, you know, about getting ready to wage war and more really one of unity.

What was the most striking and Christiane and you have both mentioned this, is that you have many leaders of Muslim countries. The king and queen of Jordan, the king of Jordan, you know, praises his ancestry as the direct descendent of the Prophet Muhammad, the prime minister of Turkey, one of the most important Muslim countries in the world. The head of the government in Mali. The idea- the head of the Palestinian authority, of course.

The idea that all these people would come out. This is finally, perhaps, Jake, the moment at which moderate Muslims are, in fact, condemning these acts of Islamic extremism, are beginning to recognize that this is an issue on which they cannot stay silent, that they have to make clear publicly on television, not in quiet statements issued perhaps under the pressure of the American State Department, that they have to be part of this as well. This may be, let's hope, the turning point where you are beginning to see moderate Muslims and the leaders of Muslim nations come out and say not in my name. That's what's different about this from frankly all the other terror attacks that have taken place in the last decade.

TAPPER: Alan, the streets here are filled with people identifying publicly as Muslims holding signs condemning the actions of the terrorists. There was a gentleman right near us, not in my name, his sign says as a Muslim. A proud Muslim standing here walking down the streets of Paris. I do want to ask you, Fareed, Christiane made I thought a brilliant point not long ago which is the pictures of Coulibaly, the terrorist who was killed on Friday after killing four innocent people at the kosher supermarket, and the police woman, the French police woman the day before, images of him released today, him professing his support, his allegiance to al Baghdadi, the head of the terrorist group, ISIS. Those images are nothing, they are rather pathetic, Christiane and I were discussing, compared to the images that his evil actions prompted. The images of this million-plus people in the streets of France walking hand in hand. Jew, Christian, Muslim, secularist. The leaders of various nations arm in arm. Hollande and Merkel arm in arm. A procession, a line of people with Netanyahu and Abbas in the same line. Those images so much more strong than the pathetic terrorism that we've seen of these thugs, these terrorists from last week.

ZAKARIA: Do you know it makes one recognize, Jake, that the forces of civilization, the forces of integration, the forces of democracy and liberalism are in fact so much bigger, vaster, and more powerful than the forces of these small bands of pathetic extremists who have mostly by the way killed Muslims in their rampages over the Middle East and elsewhere. We sometimes forget this because I think democrats and liberals, I mean liberals with a small "l," and people who believe in the values of universal values and particularly Western values tend to be somewhat quiet. They don't - they're not noisy.

They're not, you know, obstreperous in quite the same way, but when pushed they have come together in this magnificent way in this magnificent city, a city that is, you know, riddled with symbols of liberty and democracy and I think about the Place de la Republique. It is - this Paris is a place that's given the world so many of these values, and for it to all be happening here symbolically reminds us just of the incredible strength and power of the forces of civilization. It makes you realize as long as we believe in ourselves, it seems very unlikely that these small band of extremists will be able to defeat us.

TAPPER: And, in fact, let me just hold up the sign here, we were talking about this earlier. It says Kobani, Charlie -- it's basically saying Kobani, which is -- that's the town in Syria besieged by ISIS, Charlie, "Charlie Hebdo," the French satirical magazine, same war. This gentleman here, from Kobani, a Muslim, a moderate Muslim, standing here saying these people do not represent me.

AMANPOUR: Exactly. And actually very important to pause and remember the geostrategic mess that we live in and that this attack came in. The very fact that Syria has been allowed to fester in the way that it has, that hundreds of thousands of people are being killed, that millions of poor Syrians are refugees. That does radicalize and galvanize people. Some in charitable ways and some in very violent and vicious ways.

TAPPER: Indeed. Fareed Zakaria, thank you so much. Christiane and I are going to take a very quick break. When we come back more live from this incredible unity rally here on the streets of Paris, France. Back after this.

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AMANPOUR: Welcome back to Paris and this massive march with hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of French people expected here and have already gathered to say no to the kind of vicious attack that we saw here on Wednesday and on Thursday and on Friday. And obviously the world leaders who have been marching but also in the marches are the relatives, the families, the wives, the parents, the children, the husbands of those "Charlie Hebdo" cartoonists who were killed on Wednesday, Jake.

TAPPER: Yeah, there really has been an incredible display of solidarity, of sympathy, of compassion. This is in case anybody was wondering what language it is, it's Lingala, a language from Congo. That's right, sir. One of the many languages being employed to say in solidarity with these victims of the terrorist attack at "Charlie Hebdo". We are with you, we stand with you. And, of course, one of the things that's very important in moments like this for -- especially for critics of Islam in general is where are the moderate Muslims? We hear that all the time.

And we've seen a whole bunch of moderate Muslims here coming up saying this has not been done in my name. Let's go to Frederik Pleitgen who's out there in the crowd. And I believe he's with an imam who's demonstrating alongside this hundreds of thousands, if not millions more saying this is not in our name. We are Charlie. Je suis Charlie. Fred?

PLEITGEN: Yeah, Jake I can barely hear what you are saying, but you're absolutely right. It is very important for the Muslim community to show their solidarity with the folks at Charlie Hebdo and also, of course, with the Jewish community. You have some folks from the Muslim community. What is your name, Madam?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Amina.

PLEITGEN: And I hear - I see that you from the Muslim community have also the sign that says Je suis Juife. Why is that important for you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In fact, it is very important for me because as you can see, Jews and Muslim shouldn't be enemies and they refuse to be enemies even if Jews, Muslims and all religions refuse what they did, they are not allowed with the fact that they kill him. It was not something that religion asks us to do. So it's very important today to hear that it is not great what they did and we are -- we disagree - disagree with that fact. That is what's important.

PLEITGEN: There is many Muslims who came out today, isn't there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, many Muslims, in fact, and I have with me the imam, as you can see. So he came to prove again that there weren't a Muslim force. It was not a Muslim - it was not a Muslim act.

PLEITGEN: So, I know you don't speak very much English. But you have a short message in English.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In English I say Islam is the peace. Islam is the love. Yes. Terrorism is - Comme on t'a dit? Voila.

PLEITGEN: He said terrorism disgraces our religion, it's what he said. So, that's your - you want a message of peace today, is that correct?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to say we must do - comme on a dit? Cohabiter - ensemble.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He wants us to live together and without any problem, without any war between us. That's what he wants to say.

PLEITGEN: What was your feeling when you heard of what happened here? When you heard of these radical Islamists who did this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was ashamed. I was ashamed because here in France that is very, very, very difficult to live when you are Muslim in France because they always think that we are terrorists and when I heard that again Muslims killed people because they were not OK with what they say, I was totally ashamed. I was ashamed and I was totally sad for them. I cried when I heard that a lot of people have been killed. It's not great, and I'm not OK with that fact even if I'm Muslim. They are not Muslim for us again.

PLEITGEN: Thank you. So you're Muslim as well? What is your name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Mohammed Habib.

PLEITGEN: Good to meet you, sir. So, what is your message today? Why is you ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My message is that, our religion is the religion of love. Our religion is the religion of pardon. Our religion is the religion of comprehension. Our religion is the religion of love each other. Our religion love Jews. Our religion love Muslims. Our religion love Christians. Our religion the greatest prophet that we love in our religion was (INAUDIBLE) Isa (ph). The son of Mary. We recognize the naissance, the holiness of Naib Issa (ph) as Jesus Christ. That is what our religion is about. So the terrorists, we are not terrorists. They have to understand and know that the Muslim religion is religion of comprehension, of knowing each other, of loving each other. This is my message today.

PLEITGEN: There's one question that we need to ask. Because there are some people from the Muslim community who do get radicalized. It does happen ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pardon?

PLEITGEN: There are some people from the Muslim community who do get radicalized, it's only a very few.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

PLEITGEN: Why do you think that happens? And what do you think can be done about it? What can we do?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The promise that there is not what they call education about it. They have to make an education not about only Muslim, they have to make education who are Muslim, what is the religion, what is the meaning of Muslim. Muslim means a submission of - this is the meaning of Muslim. We are Muslim. Islamic religion means the Islam. People that believe on Islamic religion. Muslim does not mean Islam. Islam means the submission of a great man who is the only creator. So this is what is all about Muslim. We all are Muslim so this is why we should not make what become amalgam on this religion. So, people have to make what they call - we have to have a pedagogie (ph) of what they call ...

PLEITGEN: Education--

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of education.

PLEITGEN: Of education. What do you think? I mean the people who did this - the Kouachi brothers, the two guys who did this, they're our age, they are in their early 30s. They are in the early 30s. Why do you think people who are French who live in this society would become radicalized and do something like that? What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Honestly, I couldn't explain it. I just know that sometimes some young teenagers as we can see, because as you said, they were very young, become repressed and closed into their own and after that it becomes very, very dangerous, but I do not know why they do that. Actually looking for the answer, the exact answer I couldn't answer it today for you guys.

PLEITGEN: But it's great that you folks came out here. And if we just pan across we can see there's many people who came out here from the Muslim community and it's something that we've been saying again and again is that it's people of all faiths who are coming out here who are denouncing the acts that happened and who are participating in this march where again we've been saying it again and again, it's one where the theme is unity and certainly unity is something that these people are showing right now.

TAPPER: That's a very, very moving, Frederik, thank you so much. And Christiane, we were talking earlier, obviously, radical Islam is a problem in this world, and we see these terrorist attacks happening in Australia and Canada, here in France, but talk about combatting the image of the terrorist standing in a room pledging his allegiance to ISIS. A young woman, French, Muslim, holding a sign saying I am a Jew.

AMANPOUR: I don't think I have ever seen that before.

TAPPER: That is a really stunning and moving and wonderful thing to see.

AMANPOUR: It actually really is. And I think that we also have to say, of course, Jews - rather, Muslims will come out and say not in my name. But the fact of the matter is, that what has to be addressed is that for some reason radical Islam is the vehicle for this rage that certain Muslims feel towards the world, and they're using their religion. So you can say not in my name for as much and as long and as loudly as possible. It is being used for that reason. And that's going to be something very, very important to combat.

TAPPER: And I know that you know this and have covered this, but it was on January 1st of this year that President Sisi of Egypt called the clerics of Egypt and said that radical Islam needs to be expunged from the religion. So it is not just these wonderful young Muslims in the streets of Paris. It is already the leader of one of the most important Arab and Muslim countries in the world, General Sisi saying this is a problem, something needs to happen.

AMANPOUR: Indeed. Let's go now for more on "Charlie Hebdo" to Natalie Nougayrede, who is the former editor of "Le Monde," very important newspaper here in France, and is now a columnist and writer for "The Guardian" newspaper. Natalie, tell us how and why so many of the French journalistic establishment are really going to be helping "Charlie Hebdo" put out its next edition.

NATALIE NOUGAYREDE: Hi, Christiane, yes, there is very strong mobilization to basically try to save "Charlie Hebdo" to make sure that next week when it is due out it will continue to exist, it will continue to produce incredible cartoons and incredibly thought- provoking comment. So there is money that has been collected among French media, but not only also in Europe. "The Guardian" has provided a lot of money. Different organizations are backing up "Charlie Hebdo." It is seen as a symbol that the free speech that "Charlie Hebdo" represented must survive so that this traumatic aggression does not end up reaching its goal.

TAPPER: Natalie, it's Jake Tapper here. I wonder if you could -- I know you didn't make the decision for the headline, but there was a banner headline in "Le Monde" on Friday (speaking French) meaning this is France's September 11TH. Obviously, 17 innocent victims numerically can't compare with the almost 3,000 Americans killed on September 11TH, but it is a moment that feels very much like a demarcation here in France where things are different now than they were on January 6TH, the day before these terrorist attacks. Explain for our viewers in the United States and around the world if you would, why, why this feels like the September 11TH of France.

NOUGAYREDE: This is -- this certainly is -- you cannot underestimate -- exaggerate, sorry, the shock that these events have represented for French people. There's a reason why people are coming out, have come out with their children today. I know many people who have come out with their children, because they feel that it is important to make this a moment that their children will remember throughout their lives. There were three targets during these attacks. The first target were people who were basically making use of the freedom to express themselves and also the freedom to do blasphemy and make fun of religion, and this is a very important thing in French historical context. Blasphemy stopped being a crime in France at the time of the French Revolution.

This has very deep roots. The second target were policemen, people whose job it is to uphold the law and the rule of law. They were killed just for being policemen. And the third target are Jewish citizens on French territory who were killed because they are Jewish, and I think it is the triple scandal of these crimes that has brought people out in a very strong way.

It is also earth shattering because this is a country that up until this event was actually a pretty fragmented country. France has huge social, economic, political tensions and people have come together in a moment of reckoning the peace tensions and these problems that exist in French society.