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Massive Rally in Paris, France; A Little Girl Used as a Suicide Bomber in Nigeria

Aired January 11, 2015 - 17:00   ET

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

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage from Paris. I'm Jim Sciutto.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: I'm Brianna Keilar in New York.

SCIUTTO: Right now something remarkable has happened here in France. What was already expected to be a massive rally in Paris to show the world's resolve and unity against terrorism exceeded everyone's expectations.

World leaders from all other Europe, the Arab world, the Middle East, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Russia, they linked arms and marched along with an estimated 3.7 million people, not just here in Paris but in cities and towns all across France.

The French government says this public showing, this enormous turnout of people and world leaders all with a single purpose and focus is the largest mobilization of people in their country's history.

Like I said Israel's prime minister is also in Paris for the events marking the victims of last week's violent Islamic extremism. And one of the places where the terrorists took hostages and killed some of them was a kosher grocery store in eastern Paris.

The president of France joined Benjamin Netanyahu at the Grande Synagogue in Paris just a short time ago. CNN's Arwa Damon was there earlier today.

Arwa, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke inside that synagogue this evening. He got a roaring, resounding welcome. What was his message to Jews and others gathered there?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, t was both a message of unity and it was at the same time a message of resilience. He was also talking about the fact that as he put it at least Israel had been facing a terrorist threat for decades, he was reiterating the message that Israel would welcome any French Jew that was perhaps considering moving there. This is something he has extended in the past as well.

However, the French government very keen to try to reassure its Jewish minority that at this stage they are so essential to this makeup of what makes France what it is today with its various different ethnicities and religions. Interestingly, Jim, as people were leaving the synagogue. We did have

an opportunity to speak with a number of them. And many of them feeling as if this stage feeling as if this next space is very vital. What is going to happen next. Will they actually feel secure enough to be able to stay in this country? They don't want to leave. They don't want to have to lea leave. They don't want to be forced into that position. But as one woman was saying, today is an amazing day. An amazing show of unity, yes, but at the same time, it has to go beyond the show. IT has to go beyond the rhetoric. Actions really need to be taken. This country needs to look deep within itself so that this type of unity does not just take place when such tragedy has happened, but that it takes place on a regular basis that the nation can begin to mend and build itself.

SCIUTTO: No question. It's all in the follow through with similar moment in the U.S. a few months ago with the demonstrations in Ferguson. But many said there they want this conversation to go somewhere and that, of course, we'll only find out over the course of time. We saw many interesting juxtapositions in the march today was the Israeli prime minister walking arm in arm with world leaders, just a few people away from the Palestinian president and other Arab leaders at a time when really there is no hope in the negotiations for peace, the peace process there.

Was there any sense this spirit of unity that we saw here on the streets of Paris would translate back to the Middle East where, well as we know, the divisions blowing up in so much violence?

DAMON: Very difficult, despite fact that we did see that phenomenal flood of humanity out there today. And Netanyahu did talk about Israel, he did talk about the terrorist in the Israel is facing as he was addressing worshipers in the synagogue vowing that Israel would remain resilient. But at the same time, continuing to face that threat from extremists Islam as he was describing it.

Of course, the view for Muslims when it comes to the Palestinian Israeli conflict. And so, fundamentally different. I think the sense amongst the most optimistic that were on the crowd was that perhaps this is a beginning towards something. At the very least, the show of unity is better that nothing.

But the realities of the world as it stands today is that it is effectively more violent, more extreme in many ways that it has been in recent history. The notion that what is happening here perhaps translate into some sort of resolution, concrete resolution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. It is not something that many people can actually hedge their bets (ph) on. At the very least, people were saying that they hope that there could be some lessons to be taken away from the course (ph) that we saw happening here in France.

But at the same time, what has to look as the Muslims' perspective in all of this. Yes, it was Muslim extremists that carried out these attacks, but everyone had been clear to emphasis this. This is not Islam. Mainstream Muslims are just as horrified by what has happened as everybody else. When there is a concern, not just amongst the Jewish community here, but also amongst the Muslim come in with that could face some sort of backlash because of violence that was happening in the name of Islam supposedly, but one that could potentially tarnish them, tarnish their future as Muslims in France.

SCIUTTO: And you make a good point because there have been a number of reprisal attacks in the last few days following the shooting here in Paris and others. Real division at every end of the spectrum here in France. The hope that some of that physical demonstrations of just humanity today will have some power and strength to begin to overcome that.

Brianna, I tell you. It was an amazing thing to witness here today, 3.7 million people across the country. Here in Paris, the 1.3 to 1.5 million different estimates figure, even in the crowd that celebrated France's liberation following World War II.

KEILAR: Yes. It sends quite a signal, Jim. And while those massive rallies fill those public spaces across France, we heard more international reaction to the violent events last week in Paris.

The fundamentalist Islamic group Hamas issued a statement today that condemn the attack in Paris that killed 12 people at that magazine office. The statement reads in part that the quote "difference of opinions and thought cannot justify murder." The Hamas statement did not specifically condemn the attack on the Jewish supermarket that left four people dead. And that's very important to note.

And the U.S., of course, the European Union as well considers Hamas a terror organization.

Meantime, United States officials are involved in the investigation there. A spokesman for the director of national intelligence says they are looking at a video that shows one of the now dead attackers pledging loyalty to ISIS. They are trying to work out whether or not this video is genuine.

Amedy Coulibaly was the one suspected of shooting a Paris police officer to death and also taking hostages of that grocery store, that kosher grocery store on Friday. Coulibaly was killed in that store. Jim, back to you.

SCIUTTO: I want to bring in U.S. congressman Adam Schiff to the conversation. HE is California Democrat, a new ranking member on the House intelligence committee.

Congressman Schiff, thank you very much for joining us. I want to ask you because there was a lot of comment very dear in France. People noticed that the American president, nor the American vice president did not join the group of 50 world leaders who were here today from Europe, from the Middle East, from Africa. Do you think the Obama administration missed an opportunity here? There was, of course, U.S. representation that in the U.S. ambassador to France, but do you think the U.S. -- the administration missed an opportunity to not send someone more senior?

REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D), CALIFORNIA: Well, I think it's always desirable when you have a (INAUDIBLE) event like this to have the president or vice president or secretary of state who I know is away in India. We did have the attorney general in Paris, as well as the deputy secretary of home land security there to confer the show our support. They were not part of the march, I don't think. But they were there meeting with French officials. Of course, the president called President Hollande as well as visited the French embassy. And you know, I think we certainly have shown solidarity, would it have been desirable, absolutely, but I think in many other ways, the United States has shown its close connection and deep sympathy for what France is going through.

SCIUTTO: It seems in moments like this that a physical presence does make a difference, just that image of those leaders often and louder heads on other issues. For instance, the Israeli prime minister, the Palestinian president locking arms so close to each other walking down the streets. Are you saying that it would have been desirable here to have, for instance, the American president or vice president, do you think the administration made a mistake?

SCHIFF: Look. I think it's always desirable. It's not always practical given the nature of the president's responsibility and the difficulty in trying to meet those all at the same time. Jim, I'm sure you could have said the same in terms of a personal visit to Ottawa or to Sydney. Regrettably, we are seeing a proliferation of these attacks around the world.

So desirable, yes. Is it necessary to show U.S. solidarity? I think the French understand that we stand shoulder to shoulder with them.

SCIUTTO: Let's talk about the threat to the U.S. Because you and I have talked about the concern about the U.S. intelligence and counter terror officials about lone wolf attacks in the U.S. as well as the continuing desire from groups such as the -- such as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula which have a tie to the attackers here, having a desire to attack Americans and Americans on U.S. soil. Based on what you see and hear in your briefings, what is the level of concern about such attack in the U.S. today?

SCHIFF: Well, I think there's a lot of concern about potential attacks in the U.S. and there has been for some time. We understand that we are vulnerable not only to lone wolves or those who may become radicalized overseas but to precisely the kind of armed assault that we saw in Paris.

We've been very fortunate not to have endured something like that, before, although of course this does harken back to the Boston marathon bombing. There you had two brothers, just like in France that has -- one at least traveled overseas and become radicalized and through very simple devices, these were pressure cooker bombs. They were able to devastate Boston and shut the city down during a massive manhunt.

So some eerie similarities and similar to, Jim, the fact that these Tsarnaev brothers in Boston were known to our authorities just as the brothers in France were known to French authorities.

The challenge is that there just aren't the resources to keep everyone under watch, that is of deep concern. An those that left the surveillance of these two brothers in France, undoubtedly went to surveil others that we of greater concern. So that's the challenge that we and the French and indeed many of our allies around the world face.

SCIUTTO: Did we learn something about the threat to the U.S. from these attacks that took place here in Paris? One thing that struck me is you had the Kouachi brothers, those are the ones who carried out the attack on "Charlie Hebdo," the magazine, talking about ties to the Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. They said that to reporters and others.

You have Amedy Coulibaly who took the kosher market, the people in the kosher market hostage who apparently recorded a video claiming allegiance to ISIS.

Do, you know, do we draw lines between these groups and who is influencing who and who is directing who more so than there are actually line. Is it that young men like this might be radicalized by a number of groups and act on their own?

SCHIFF: I think that's exactly right, Jim. They are very hard to categorize or pigeon hole. And if you look at the broader context of what has happened in Ottawa recently and in Australia and London before that, you see that there are a variety of affiliations some with AQAP, some with ISIS potentially come fear homegrown, some that may have acted on instructions, others that may just been inspired to do so by online propaganda.

And you know, you see this, you know, broad spectrum of potential vulnerabilities. And we have to try to address them all. That's an enormous challenge. And as you know doubt have seen, the president can be holding another summit on this topic in terms of our focus on our homeland to try to bring about a greater collaborative effort to protect the country, to work with community leaders and religious leaders. These are some of the steps in addition to having intelligence capabilities that are necessary to protect the country.

SCIUTTO: Well, certainly a great deal of nervousness here and as well as the U.S. as well.

Representative Adam Schiff, thanks very much for joining us. I know we'll continue this conversation going forward.

SCHIFF: Thanks, Jim.

SCIUTTO: We're going to talk more about the terror investigation and the potential threat to the U.S. with our experts later in the hour. But first, the historic rally of unity here in France. Nearly four million strong across the country. So what happens next? That conversation when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: An estimated 1.5 million people converged in the heart of Paris with world leaders today. And they came to show unity, to show strength in the wake of last week's terror attacks. But most of all, this gathering demonstrates that no matter how frightened they might be by what happened, they refused to give into fear.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Islam is peace, Islam is fraternity, not terrorism and war.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nationalities don't matter, religions don't matter, either. Serve united to fight against terrorism, to show the world we are fighting against this and we will never give up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our religion is the religion of love (INAUDIBLE). Our rely I don't think loves Jews, our religion loves Muslims, our religion loves Christians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because I'm French. It's very significant for us to actually be here and share towards also Muslim people who are victims of it, all the Jewish people who are victim of it. Basically one nation under one flag is very important to me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Some marchers carried signs that said to the whole world "we are all cops, we are all Muslims, we are all French" all summed up in one phrase "I am Charlie," "Je Suis Charlie." I'm sure you saw a lot of that, Jim. And also we saw even there in that piece, a lot of pencils. People really talking about certainly this is the right for journalists to express themselves and freedom of speech.

SCIUTTO: That's right, Brianna, many memorials around town you'll see flowers, you will see notes, you will see signs "Je Suis Charlie." "I am Charlie." But you also see pens, pencils, crowns, a tribute to the cartoonists in Charlie Hebdo.

It is really an incredible thing to witness today, Brianna, one thing I can tell just from taking part in social media is that so many people from around the world, even if they weren't physically here, they were watching, they were sending their signs, their voices of support. What we're hearing now that in all some 3.7 million people rallied across just the France.

But looking ahead, what does that unity rally today mean long term? We want to ask this with our CNN global affairs analyst Bobbie Ghosh who is also managing editor of Quarts, political commentator Buck Sexton, he is also a former CIA counterterrorism analyst and joining me in Paris right next to me, Boston college professor of political science Jonathan Lawrence, he's author of "the emancipation of Europe's Muslims."

Jonathan, with your knowledge of Europe's Muslim community, but also just a broader sixth sense of the public feeling right now about this, the simplest question I can ask you, does this rally like this matter?

JONATHAN LAWRENCE, AUTHOR, THE EMANCIPATION OF EUROPE'S MUSLIMS: Well, it matters in the short term a great amount because this is one of the largest rallies on record in French history. That's saying something. Because the French have a real history of -- they basically invented the barricades back in 1848. The French revolution, et cetera. So this is a monumental day. The question is how long can the unity last?

One very encouraging sign which is really unprecedented in French rallies is that the police were applauded every time that a column of cars passed by. We're used to that after 9/11 but here they're not.

SCIUTTO: Right. There was one moment during the rally when some of the people in the crowd on the street saw the snipers that were on the roof of building and they are cheering the snipers, you know, who obviously want to sort to stay any behind the scenes. They don't want to visible, but here was a very public expression of that.

Bobby, I wonder if I can ask you, part of this is about winning hearts and mind among Muslims to show a unified opposition to this kind of extremist thought. My question to you is how powerful is that physical expression of support not just for European leaders but to see Mahmoud Abbas there alongside Netanyahu and also even to hear from Hezbollah, from Hamas over the weekend saying that these attacks went too far. They were not justified. How powerful is that in this debate that going on within Islam about the roots of this extremists.

BOBBIE GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, it's a very powerful, just the fact of that rally, the scale it is very powerful, Muslim or not Muslim. You can't watch those images and not be moved by that. And perhaps the most remarkable thing is about what was not said and what did not happen at the rally.

There was no chanting "death to this person" or "death to that person." There was no chanting of slogans of anger, although you might reasonably expect people to be angry at this time, the fact that they weren't giving voice to their anger in that way is very powerful. And you know, across the Arab world in particular I've been in any number of rallies and protests. It very often involves calls for the death of somebody, the burning of someone's flag or somebody's image. That did not happen.

This was a peace rally and it sort of exuded optimism and exuded the sort of desire for peace. That's very powerful.

Now, some political leaders who are there, their own personal track record on the matter of free speech in their own countries is a little questionable. And Hassan Nasrulla of Hezbollah saying that this is one act of violence, too much. You know, people in the Middle East will recognize that that is incredibly hypocritical of him. But that doesn't matter. The political leaders are not important. Ordinary French people of all races of all religions coming out in peace is the more important message.

SCIUTTO: Well, you make a great point. It's not just the hypocrisy of Hamas or Hezbollah, but to see, for instance Egyptian leaders here in light of the crackdown in Egypt on press freedom, similar in Turkey. There's a great deal of hypocrisy out in the question. SCIUTTO: Buck, I wonder if I can ask you this question. When you

think of the folks who are actually carrying out these terror attacks do they see a demonstration of defiance like this? And is there any chance it changes their mind or raises a question in their mind or are those folks, the recruit, the jihadis, are they already lost?

BUCK SEXTON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I think they're already lost. I think that anyone who's reached the point of full on radicalization and is considering or has perhaps already engaged in some direct terrorist action or support. They're going see this rally and in fact view it as essentially another slap in the face, the idea that this many people would gather together and say what is being done from Charlie Hebdo is acceptable. They'll use this as, quite honestly, propaganda for follow on attacks.

But to the rest of the world, to the rest of the Muslim world, this does shows a coming together and I think it also restores some faith in humanity for many of us. But I have to say the best you can hope for this is that it creates some kind of momentum here for not just one but numerous dialogues that have to happen abroad in Europe and here at home. The future of immigration policy within the EU, the future of quite honestly free speech laws in the EU.

As you pointed out, there's hypocrisy throughout the Muslim world with many states that actually ban blasphemy. But there are all sorts of hate speech laws on the books across Europe. And, in fact, there are some here at home in the U.S. that people may be looking at differently.

So there's a lot of discussions on dialogue on top of all. Of course, you have the possibility of follow-on attacks. And just a national security threat that come out of this. So, it's a good day and a good start and some healing, but it doesn't have the answers yet.

SCIUTTO: You are right. There's a very powerful political party here with success who thrive on some of this division as well.

Bobby Ghosh, Mr. Sexton, Jonathan, thanks very much for joining us.

Anti-Semitic violence has soared in the last year in France. We'll discuss possible reasons why and what can be done about it. That would right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: There's been a staggering increase in anti-Semitic violence in France just over the last year. An official within affiliate of the European Jewish Congress tells CNN that violence against Jews rose 91 percent from 2013 to 2014.

Officials also say twice as many French Jewish people moved to Israel to escape that anti-Semitism and a climate of intolerance in the same time period. The chief rabbi of Paris says Jewish people need to stay in France, though, where they can be happy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need security. The first thing is we need security and after we need to fight against terror and to fight against terror is very easy, we have to just being together. It's to be safe, of course, but to be together. It's really a dream of France and we need to dream again about France.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: I want to bring in Noam Meghira. He is vice president of the French union of Jewish students as well as CNN global affairs analyst Bobbie Ghosh.

Noam, I'll begin with you. The Israeli prime minister today and yesterday since this attack has issued a bit of a welcome to French Jews saying that Israel is your home. Do you think that is the response that you would like that see from French Jews? To leave France? Or do you want them to stay here a thousand year history in France, right?

NOAM MEGHIRA, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH UNION OF JEWISH STUDENTS: So, hi. Thanks for asking me. Yes, I heard that there is a lot of Jewish French people who got mad and make it earlier. That the number increased this year. But I think that today the issue is that we have to preoccupy about French Jews that we will stay in France. Because there's a lot of Jews that will stay here and we think that the issue is to preoccupy about them. Some people want to leave. This is their choice. But this is a minority. The majority of French-Jewish in France and they want to live in France. They love this country and they want to stay here.

SCIUTTO: Right. And we saw an enormous today in today's rally among the French-Jewish community.

Bobbie, I wonder if I could ask you, are you aware of anything specific that has happened that has caused this really remarkable upswing in violence against French Jews even before these attacks this week, just over the course of the last year?

GHOSH: Well, the two things that are taking place simultaneously, that sort of inform, certainly there's the rise of the extreme right and the party of Marine Le Pen which is sort of openly xenophobic and has frequently been accused of being anti-Semitic. And on the other side you also see as we've learned from the events of this week the rise of Islamic radicalism. There's also a strong strain of anti- semi-schism there.

And so you've got this coming from two different sides of the political and religious spectrum. So the question is, what is mainstream France doing to make young Jewish people or Jewish people in general feel protected and to prevent this kind of an exodus? And I wonder if Noam has a thought on that. I mean, how does he feel caught between these two extremisms? Does he feel the French state is doing enough?

SCIUTTO: It's a good question for you. Are you getting the protection that you feel the French community, Jewish community needs? MEGHIRA: Yes. So, we met the French president Francois Hollande this

morning. He said that he will make more security for Jewish people but there is a lot of security for Jewish people. For our event, there's the French protection movement in France, there is police, there is the -- what.

SCIUTTO: No, go ahead, please.

MEGHIRA: And we have a lot of protection. So now I think that this protection will be increased because there is one, against terrorism. There is a lot of danger, the danger of the far right and the danger of jihadists. I think that there is a lot of danger for Jews but for French people, too, because not -- we have saw that, it's very, very sad but not only the Jewish were targets by these jihadists. There are Charlie Hebdo, there are policemen. This is France that was the target.

SCIUTTO: Right, it's France that's a target. Not just Jews, Muslims, et cetera. Noam, thanks very much. It was good to hear that expression of confidence and commitment staying in French. Good to have you on, Noam, Bobbie Ghosh, great to have you as well.

There is new information about the hideout of one of the Paris terrorists and what police found inside it.

Plus, possible threats to the United States. That's when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: ISIS flags, automatic weapons, detonators and cash, all stashed in a terrorist hideout in a Paris suburbs. France's RTO radio reports police are also scouring Amedy Coulibaly's hideout for any clues that his terror suspect girlfriend on the run, Hayat Boumeddiene might have stayed there at some point. Coulibaly pledged allegiance to is on video warning the west that attacks on ISIS would result in violent payback. Perhaps our most detail viewed of Coulibaly comes from this next tape. He explained his motive to hostages inside of the Kosher grocery before police killed him. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMEDY COULIBALY, SUSPECT IN THE KOSHER GROCERY HOSTAGE TAKING: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Despite a global manhunt, his girlfriend has disappeared last spotted in Turkey near the Syrian border.

I want to bring in our panels to discuss the very latest here. Joining me now, we have global affairs analyst Bobbie Ghosh. We have former CIA counterterrorism analyst Buck Sexton, terrorism expert Samuel Laurent in Paris and we have former CIA operative Bob Baer as well as retired dell a force lieutenant colonel James Reese.

Bob, to you first. We don't know exactly where this girlfriend is. Do you think ISIS could be taking care of her at this point?

ROBERT BAER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I think absolutely, they would welcome here with open arms. Is has embraced these attacks in Paris and she could end up in either Syria or Iraq. And they will protect her and there's virtually no way that the French can get a- hold of her now if f she's, indeed, crossed the border from Turkey into Syria.

KEILAR: Colonel Reese, is that what you expect?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE (RET.), FORMER SPECIAL FORCES COMMANDER: Brianna, yes, I agree with Bob. I mean, that's a possibility. But you also have the Khorasan group which is, you know, dependent on where they think the Turks saw her on the last trip that she could cross into Syria and that's where the Khorasan group. You know, we have been targeting as right up there in the northwest corner. So any of the radical Islamic groups would welcome her with open arms.

KEILAR: Yes. And obviously, she appears to have been going for safe haven there and that makes sense.

Samuel, we've been talking about some of these sleeper cells that have been activated. Cells -- what kind of cells is the question. Are we talking about sleeper cells from Al Qaeda or these sleeper cells from ISIS in France or both, do you think?

SAMUEL LAURENT, CNN TERROR ANALYST: Well, actually, the pattern has been as following. It's replicated what happened in Middle East throughout the region. We had initial groups on a much larger scale. Would it be in Egypt, would it be in Syria, Middle East, Iraq, and even (INAUDIBLE) in which we saw some groups that were loyal to Al- Qaeda and that later on split or entirely pledged allegiance to the ISIS because ISIS is gradually gaining the upper hand in global jihad.

So what we saw basically in France are during the massacre, the slaughter of this week was exactly the same thing on a smaller scale. You see a cell that was initially formed of people close or belonging to Al-Qaeda, channeling foreign fighters into Iraq far before the emergence of the caliphate that gradually drifting in the case of some of its members like Coulibaly towards the ideology of ISIS.

Again, ideologies is roughly the same. But because we have now two organizations that are competing, that are rivals, but that at the end of the day, (INAUDIBLE) exactly the same ideology.

KEILAR: I want to turn the conversation now to talk to my guests who are here in studio with me in New York about a noticeable absence today. You saw a number of world leaders linking arms. You see Netanyahu, Angela Merkel, David Cameron is there and yet President Obama wasn't there. We didn't see vice president Joe Biden.

We've heard differing things. Some people in France are wondering why he didn't come. Others are saying, you know, it's not a big deal. And yet I think a lot of Americans are wondering if this may have been a mistake. Do you think the president should have gone, Bobbie? GHOSH: I think the United States should have been represented by a

high official, whether the president himself or the vice president. This is what vice presidents do. And you know, this is 101, vice presidency 101. And Joe Biden is very popular. Almost every one of those people you see on this film right now, almost every one of them knows Joe Biden personal.

KEILAR: He was on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He knows them.

GHOSH: He's great at this sort of thing. France is America's oldest ally, America's first ally. It feels wrong.

KEILAR: It feels wrong.

SEXTON: There were many ways the administration could have shown solidarity on this issue in a stronger way. I think it fits into a couple narratives that critics of the administration have had not just recently but for years. You know, the president seems to take a kind of soft line on some of these issues. And quite honestly, has priorities that are more important to the administration than foreign policy.

This seems like a moment to really make your stand on an issue. And for the White House to have missed this, they're aware of what's going on. It does send a message and it's the wrong message.

KEILAR: Defenders for the president will say, look, you can't really even imagine the security footprint that it takes to get him somewhere.

SEXTON: But it didn't have to be the president as you were saying.

KEILAR: It didn't have to be the president. But I would also say that we've watched other high-risk I think you could say visits he's made. This wasn't high risk enough to deter a number of world leaders from going. He went to Nelson Mandela's funeral. We even saw security issues there. He, you know, went to visit the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan. Does that security argument stand as a reason not to do go?

SEXTON: No, it's troubling I think if they make that argument because aren't we supposed to believe the French authorities have the situation now under control and that we will not be cowed in the face of terror. I mean, the president of the United States, as was pointed out by Bobbie, we're talking about our oldest ally here in France, a country that does have a good handle generally speaking on its extremist population at home. And I think that the idea that the president can't go there, what does that mean for the French people? What does that mean for those who are gathering today in solidarity and showing some courage. This was a missed opportunity.

KEILAR: There's a lot of cooperation between the French government and American government in this information. But certainly, I think this was a very important symbol to have people just show up to have world leaders show up. So we'll continue to look and see what happens there.

All right, Buck, Bobbie, thank you so much as well. Thank you to Bob, thank you to Samuel and thank you to Colonel Reese.

Well, U.S. intelligence uncovering is a video message by ISIS. It calls for followers to kill everyone, from soldiers to civilians in the United States. The threat serious enough to prompt a security bulletin. We'll discuss that terror threat here in the U.S. next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Welcome back. I am Jim Sciutto in Paris. A new ISIS video has prompted the FBI and homeland security to furbish the issue a new security bulletin. Video is making the rounds online. In it, a spokesman for ISIS calls for all Mujahadeen to rise up and kill soldiers, government employees, members of the media and civilians, specifically, targeted the U.S, the UK, and here in France.

Our terrorism experts are back, Samuel Laurent here in Paris, Bobbie Ghosh and Buck Sexton back in the U.S.

Buck, I wonder if I can begin with you. Your background in counter- terror for the CIA. I think one thing that our viewers must have trouble with is that every couple of weeks it seems there is another warning issues by DHS or the FBI. Sometimes in response to new attacks, sometimes in response to new intelligence and it's just hard for them as it is frankly hard for me and I read these all the time to distinguish what is the actual change.

This latest threat responding to an ISIS threat, how serious a step forward is this in terms of the imminence of attacks in the U.S.?

SEXTON: You know, it's very difficult to tell without seeing the specific intelligence you're talking about here because it falls under duty to warn. So even if there's some kind of a credible or realistic threat within the intelligence community, the policy is going to be to ratchet things up and to try to actually do what you can to address the threat preemptively.

But if you're looking for what actually could create a more imminent threat here just based upon recent events you could have cells that decide you have to a pile on effect which is certainly the concern in France, but it could be the concern here at home as well. There could be a copycat style attack.

You also have ISIS, for example, tweeting this out trying to capitalize on it and hoping that people will radicalize or rather will go beyond radicalization to the actual attack phase. So there's going to be chatter when this happens. And that is what part of this, maybe. They're picking up chatter from jihadists message boards, from other places. And that sometimes can be a precursor to an attack. But it's difficult to get the signal from the noise sometimes and this is one of those situations where they're going to have to take additional precautions and hope security services we have here and our relations abroad will keep us safe in this period.

SCIUTTO: Well, the copycat phenomenon is a real one for sure.

Bobbie Ghosh, how much is competition a factor here? Because we know these groups are competing for recruits, for attention. When they see one attack, do they say I have to show my relevance here and they try to spark their own terrorist violence?

GHOSH: Well, there is competition at a high level and there is competition for recruitment for money. That's a very significant aspect of that competition. But at the ground level, at the foot soldier level, at the level of people like that Kouachis and Coulibaly, the distinction between ISIS and Al-Qaeda in Yemen, for instance, are not that great. It's important to remember that Al- Qaeda in Yemen, I know of at least two instances when it congratulated ISIS or sort of recognized ISIS, the ISIS leaders claim to being the caliph of Islam.

So relationships are fuzzy. They may compete on some aspects. But the ideology is almost identical and for people in Europe or here in the U.S. who might be attracted by the ideology, which group they choose to claim allegiance to, is almost academic.

SCIUTTO: Ideology and the MO, Samuel Laurent, we spoke yesterday about a warning going out to French police about the possibility of sleeper cells activated for more attacks on police around France. Have we learned anything more about that?

LAURENT: Not yet, actually. Nothing official came out, so most likely either the cells have been neutralized or either they vanished for what -- you have to understand that now, that cells are very difficult to quantify. You know, cells can be ten people, can be 20 people.

SCIUTTO: Can be one person.

LAURENT: Can be one. Exactly. Everybody. You can now be a cell. As it was explained by your guest previously, you know, as soon as you pledge allegiance, that means that you have to obey the caliph. And the caliph has order, had already ordered many sanction to strike (INAUDIBLE) and westerners.

So, therefore, the risk is everywhere. And nowadays, yes, those threats especially among U.S. and against U.S. and French should be taking very seriously.

SCIUTTO: Attacks like this can spark spontaneous recruits who in effect to people which is to carry out attacks on their own.

LAURENT: Getting hard (INAUDIBLE).

SCIUTTO: Samuel Laurent, thanks very much. Bobbie Ghosh, Buck Sexton, appreciate your thoughts.

Well, a deadly new lull. A little girl used as a suicide bomber. An update from the terror front in Nigeria. That's right after this break.

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KEILAR: With the eyes of the world focused on the terror attacks in France, counterterrorism officials look for ways to keep Al-Qaeda and ISIS at bay.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, a group as brutal as either of those groups is pretty much having its way. Boko Haram, that's what we're talking about, is the same group accused of kidnapping more than 200 schoolgirls in April. It's now accused of new hideous acts of brutality.

First came the killings of up to possibly 2,000 people in a fishing down, then came the bombing on Saturday at a market using a little girl with a bomb strapped around her waist.

Nic Robertson joins us live now from Abuja, Nigeria. Nic, tell us, how old was this little girl?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, this story only gets worse. There have been another two similar suicide bombings using young girls in another nearby town at a market today.

The estimates are that the girl -- the young girl suicide bomber yesterday could be as young as 10, other say perhaps she was 17 or 18. One of the young girls involved in the suicide bombings today believed to be about 15 years old.

What is similar in all of these attacks is that they believe that these girls had their suicide vests strapped on to them and that somebody else detonated the explosives, that they were forced into this, didn't know what was happening. Twenty people killed yesterday. Another three killed in the suicide bombings today.

Now, this does mark a new departure for Boko Haram. We're hearing also this town of close to the border with Chad, a fishing village, important agricultural town, Saturday morning the 3rd of January, people reported hearing early in the morning gunfire explosions. Thought it was the army training then saw the army on the run. Boko Haram fighters arriving in the town in their hundreds. They tried to fight them. They were beaten back. They hid out. One man describes hiding out for three days.

And the story that he tells is absolutely incredible. He says that he thinks he saw about 3,000 bodies of people who were killed. That he was stepping around them and on them when he tried to flee the town three days after the fighting when Boko Haram moved on elsewhere.

Boko Haram essentially build the town, razed the town, 30,000 people forced out, some of them over the border to Chad. Again, for Boko Haram, trying to sort of raze this town, destroy the nearby army post. A very significant tactic in this keyboarder town --Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, the reign of terror, horrific. Nic Robertson for us there in Nigeria. Thanks for your report. And up next, we are live from Paris with new developments on the rally

and terror investigation, and where was the U.S.? We'll talk about why the president, or perhaps vice president Joe Biden, or secretary of state John Kerry, did not attend on this historic day.

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