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Solidarity in Paris; New Threat from ISIS; Kouachi Brothers Radicalized by Spiritual Leader; France's Jewish Community on Edge

Aired January 11, 2015 - 16:00   ET

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


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UNIDENTIFIED MALE REPORTER: As many as a million people, look at them here. Hundreds of thousands have collected already, expected to take part and they want to send a message. Terrorists who grip this country in fear for three long days will never win.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: World leaders are here ranging from Benjamin Netanyahu to prime minister of Israel to Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian authority, to British prime minister David Cameron and German chancellor Angela Merkel.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think we are in an all out situation, France has declared war.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the square which you can see right there in the middle of your picture, three status 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.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: What they're obviously showing is in the aftermath of what happened here over the past couple of days is that France as a nation is not going to allow itself to be divided. They want to show unity and that's what this rally is about.

UNIDENTIFED MALE: I was born as a Muslim. I have traveled to show solidarity. I may disagree with you but I would die defending your right to say it.

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FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: A poignant synopsis of the day of unity in Paris.

Hello, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. We begin with breaking news.

A new terror threat from ISIS against America. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security have issued a joint bulletin after ISIS calls for attacks on American soldiers, government employees, media and civilians. Sara Ganim is following the story for us. So Sara, what more do you have about this which is, indeed, a continuation of the attacks in Paris?

SARA GANIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Fred. The FBI issuing this bulletin overnight to law enforcement across the country after a new video threat was released by ISIS. This according to a law enforcement source and this information coming from our Justice reporter Evan Perez.

Now, this bulletin states in part that ISIS called for attacks against government employees, against media, civilians and the new video threat specifically targets the United States, France, Canada, and Australia. Now, in response, the NYPD put out a memo to officers warning them to be extra vigilant and exercise "tactical considerations in light of the attacks in Paris."

The NYPD's deputy commissioner for intelligence and counter-terrorism spoke this morning on CBS's "Face the Nation" and he talked about this. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

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JOHN MILLER, NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER FOR COUNTER-TERRORISM: What we're seeing is they are using the momentum from the Paris attacks in part of their messaging strategy to see who we can get to follow this. It also specifically mentions as targets, civilians, police officers, intelligence officials and military.

So it is something of concern. We've put out a city wide notice to police officers last night advising them of the message and reminding them to take extra care and be extra vigilant.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GANIM: Now, Fred, just in addition after the attacks in Paris we checked in with several major U.S. cities and none have yet raised their terror level threat in response to those attacks in Paris, although here in New York and also in Boston heavily armed officers were placed in strategic places like the French consulate. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And so these threats are considered, indeed, credible and being taken seriously.

GANIM: Well, what we're hearing from people here is that these are very similar to threats that we've heard in the past, video threats made by ISIS, they're very similar rhetoric. But as you heard John Miller say, what it appears they're doing is adding on to what happened in Paris and hoping to gain some momentum and reach out to these independent lone wolf type cases which is really scary to a lot of people because they're hard to track for law enforcement.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sara Ganim, thank you so much.

Let's talk more about this terror threat, this bulletin. Fawaz Gerges, he is the author of "The New Middle East, Protest and Revolution in the Arab World" and chair contemporary Middle East Studies at London School of Economics. It's always good to see you.

FAWAZ GERGES, AUTHOR "THE NEW MIDDLE EAST": Thank you. Same here.

WHITFIELD: Thanks for joining us.

So how do you interpret this? We know that there would naturally be an ominous threat as a result of a terror attack that took place on the scale in which it took place in Paris but now this appears, at least according to this bulletin, to be very specific, very broad and somewhat sophisticated.

GERGES: Well, first of all, for your viewers, this is not the first time that the so-called Islamic State or ISIS has threatened to attack the United States. The leader, the chief of ISIS Abu Bakr al Baghdadi ini his most recent video has called on his followers, has called on anyone who believes in the ideology of the so-called Islamic State to attack all western targets, including American targets.

Again, for your viewers, it's all out war between not just the so- called ISIS or the Islamic State or ISIS or Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in Yemen but with America, the United States, it is waging all out war against both various components of jihad.

The question is not whether ISIS has released a new call, the question is, is there any specific information pointing towards a particular operation? My humble knowledge tells me that this is more of a motivational speech, they're hoping to capitalize on the attacks in Paris to call on freelancers, on copycats to attack American targets because they realize these attacks have worked. These attacks have basically triggered fear and they're celebrating this particular attack in France as a major victory for them.

WHITFIELD: While, of course, it's all being taken seriously, is it also jargon that kind of exemplifies a fight for bragging rights, so to speak? Meaning Al Qaeda is the one that claimed responsibility for the three-day attacks in Paris and now ISIS follows suit with this bulletin? Is it ISIS and Al Qaeda, you know, fighting for the most attention?

GERGES: You're absolutely correct. As you well know, there is a civil war taking place within the jihadist family between ISIS on the one hand and the parent organization Al Qaeda. Even Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Yemen does not see eye to eye with ISIS. Yet after the attacks in Paris we are seeing basically followers and basically militants of both sides saying, look, we have the same target. It's the same enemy, we should unify and unite against the far enemy, meaning the United States and Europe.

And the reality is, in fact, ISIS is now would like to basically show that its followers and supporters can basically - would be able to carry out an attack against the Americans in the same way that Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is part of the Al Qaeda parent organization, Ahe Ayman al Zawahiri has been able either directly or indirectly to motivate and trigger the Paris attacks.

WHITFIELD: Is it your concern or worry that this reach of terror is growing even more so following what took place in Paris and now with this bulletin that that serves as a great tool of recruiting that perhaps it becomes even more appealing to those who feel disenfranchised or who are particularly vulnerable who are easy prey and this really serves ISIS or Al Qaeda well?

GERGES: Again, really, it's a very, very important question because the third wave, the Syrian wave now, the Syrian and the Iraqi wave. Because the first wave was the Afghanistan wave, after the fallout of the Soviet forces. The second wave was when the United States invaded Iraq. Now we are seeing a third wave. And the reason why this is a very serious threat is because you have more than 15,000 foreign fighters who have basically traveled to Syria and Iraq to fight the Syrian and the Iraqi government. You have almost 2,500, 3,000 western fighters or militants who are basically fighting in Syria and Iraq, including almost 150 Americans and the reality is this particular utopian ideology, this murderous, distractive ideology is finally resonated among not only Middle Eastern men but some western men who feel, as you said, this advantage who basically have grievances who fall under the sway of militant clerics.

So multiple factors are really basically escalating and intensifying the nature of the threat and these copy attacks whether in Australia or the UK or in France, again, add momentum and basically I would argue that both ISIS and the various Al Qaeda groups, the parent organization, would like to keep the momentum in particular the fear because think of how much we have discussed the Paris attacks. Think of how much time and effort and energy and the pain in their eyes they're celebrating the attacks in Paris. I mean, the conspirators as heroes in the words of ISIS. They called them heroes. That is the heroes that bloodied the nose of their far enemy the French at this particular moment.

WHITFIELD: Fawaz Gerges from London. Thank you so much, always a pleasure talking to you. Appreciate your expertise.

GERGES: Pleasure.

WHITFIELD: So many of those foreign fighters that have made their way to Syria to get trained with these terror groups, many of them hailing from France which brings us to the present concern in Paris.

My colleague Hala Gorani is in Paris. While this was a day of unity, now, I mean there are hardly any people behind you whereas we saw earlier in the millions or at least in the thousands.

It's believed that could have been as many as a million if not more in Paris alone and people coming out in great solidarity speaking in a unified voice that they want to get to the bottom of terrorism. They want to make sure that the freedoms in France are protected and that there will be a more concerted effort to reach out to those French who have proven to be very vulnerable who have made the commitment to join these extremist groups. Is there a sort of renewed sense of hope that that France will feel like it can better communicate, better work with its resources of intelligence and law enforcement to get to the bottom of what is a very big problem right now? HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, think there is hope. I don't

know if it's a better sense of hope but there is the hope out there that perhaps these horrific attacks, the one on the satirical magazine, the attack that left one female police officer dead, that kosher supermarket hostage standoff that ended in the deaths of four individuals and then left this country reeling, trying to figure out just how French-born citizens can end up so radicalized that they travel abroad to receive training which appears to have been the case for at least two of the three to come back to their homeland and then essentially murder innocent people in the name of some sort of ideology.

That is going to have to be the question. And it is a multipronged solution. If it were simple it would be a quick and easy plan to implement, but it is not. It involves, of course, policing. It involves surveillance. It also involves outreach. It involves a big national debate about how to better integrate some of the members of communities that may feel disenfranchised.

Now, just to set the scene here as the end point of this big rally and it's now basically over as you can see behind me, traffic, in fact, is flowing again and we saw police officers, they are sort of taking down some of the barricades and pushed people off the streets and now we're on the sidewalk and the ordinary flow of traffic for Sunday evening in this part of Paris is taking place behind me.

As far as what happened at the Grand Synagogue in Paris, we had a representation of a show of unity there as well. We had representatives from the Muslim community. We had the cardinal of Paris there as well and the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. He addressed those attending that service at the synagogue as well and you're seeing images coming to us from there.

Just a little bit earlier, that service is now over and Arwa Damon, our senior international correspondent, was there when it was all unfolding and she - I understand she is not there, we've lost contact with her but we'll try to get back to her as soon as we can. But there you have it. That's the latest from Paris for now where this march has ended and people on this Sunday evening presumably are going about their business and as you mentioned Fred, tomorrow the questions will have to be asked and the debates and the answers hopefully will be fourth comes as this country continues to take stock and tries to find answers as to what happened, try to find solutions to the problems that are confronting the nation. Back to you.

WHITFIELD: And you know, Hala, I think anticipation was great of what a show of unity it would be to see the leaders of Germany, France, Israel, Jordan and Mali and there were others and it was another thing to see it unfold today. How do you suppose that resonated in the crowd there? Many, of course, were not able to see it with their own eyes because there were so many hundreds of thousands there. But knowing that these leaders were locked in arms walking together in solidarity, did you hear from any of those demonstrators today? Those who participated today as to how important it was for them that these country leaders come together like this? GORANI: Right, well, I think many people were very, very happy. Not only that the world leaders came out but that the showing was so huge. You mentioned one million as the potential estimate as to how many people came out today. I'm hearing possibly two million. Some people are saying across the country perhaps the greatest march in modern French history. We're going to have to wait for the definitive figures but it certainly was absolutely huge. I'm hearing there from our producer Morgan that some of the estimates are that over three million people came out and demonstrated.

They wanted to demonstrate their solidarity with the families of the victims, those who died so horrendously and country wide as well. We had Lyon, we had Marseilles, we had other big cities in France with their own rallies for unity. So, yes, there was that realization in the crowd today. There was a lot of emotion as well. People holding up signs saying "I am Muslim." People who aren't Muslim. They're just saying "I am Muslim." "I am Jewish." People who aren't Jewish holding up those signs, essentially sending the message, which was very touching to somebody in this crowd like us, even us hardened journalists.

A very touching message out there of unity. There are other days to be cynical, I think that we're going to have and skeptical of some of the messages and perhaps deconstruct some of the - maybe some of the political plays that were made in some of the visits but today is not the day.

Today is the day to accept that this was an absolutely unique event with people demonstrating together, rallying together in ways that I don't think this country has ever seen before.

WHITFIELD: Yes, it was quite the extraordinary show today indeed and, of course, the focus now is going to be what comes of this next. You know, Hala, there are very already some discussions just by virtue of the omission of some of the leaders, including that of the United States, the president of the United States was not there, Australia's prime minister was not there, Canada's prime minister was not there and now with new information from our Justice correspondent Evan Perez that a bulletin has gone out and that it makes it very clear that ISIS has created or disseminated warnings to military, police, journalists in France, in the U.S., in Australia, in Canada it will now be part of the discussion as to why, perhaps, some of these countries decided not to send their presidents and their prime ministers maybe by virtue of that warning that was already sent out as early as last night from ISIS.

Do you think that conversation will be picked up there in France if not - if it hasn't happened already, it would seem like perhaps a natural next step in that conversation.

GORANI: Right. I didn't really hear many complaints that the U.S. didn't send very high-level representation when Germany sent Angela Merkel, for instance, or David Cameron, the prime minister of the United Kingdom came. I didn't really hear that. There were some raised eyebrows that the highest level - highest U.S. representation came from the ambassador here in Paris but I think you have to put in the context. It is one event.

President Obama did call Francois Hollande, there was some communication there. Eric Holder is here, OK, albeit for another event. But I didn't hear anything from ordinary Parisians saying really they could have sent someone higher level. I didn't hear that. But it's one of those conversations that was circulating today. Some surprise there. But it wasn't a big issue in the comments that I was able to glean today, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Hala Gorani there in Paris. Thank you so much. We'll check back in with you momentarily and when we come back we'll be checking with political analyst David Gergen talking a little bit more about the political posturing of this event and what it means that certain country leaders including that of Australia and the United States were not present in this crowd of hundreds of thousands in Paris. We'll be right back.

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WHITFIELD: Welcome back as we continue our worldwide view of all that's taken place in and around Paris. Upwards of 3.7 million people may have come out throughout the country to show a sense of solidarity and in Paris alone more than a million people, and led by countries' leaders such as France, Israel, Great Britain, Jordan and even Mali.

But by great omission there was no sign of leaders from the United States, in terms of the president of the United States, but the U.S. ambassador to France was there. No prime minister from Australia or even Canada present. But we also have learned that there has been a joint intelligence bulletin issued overnight to law enforcement across the U.S. and involving other nations, including that of the UK and France and possibly Australia as well stating that ISIS has issued a new call for all mujahadeen to rise up and kill soldiers, government employees, media and civilians.

This just days after that three day siege that led to the deaths of 17 people in and around Paris. Let's talk now more about this bulletin and the political implications that come with all that's transpired. CNN's senior political analyst David Gergen joining me on the phone from Cape Cod.

And, so, David, while many were quick to talk about the omission of the president of the United States from this demonstration of unity in Paris, the White House was quick to say that attorney general Eric Holder was already in Paris and the U.S. ambassador to France was there and it was enough. In your view, what were the discussions in the White House to determine that it was not the time or place or perhaps security was not in place for the president of the United States to be there?

DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, I presumed that there were meetings with the national security council staff and probably conversations with Secretary Kerry who was in India, of course. About whether the president should go or someone else should go. In my judgment it was very unfortunate that we didn't have someone directly from Washington to come over. Jane Hartley, our ambassador, is first class but I think it would have been helpful to have someone else. I'm mystified, Fredricka. I understand why Secretary Kerry had previously promised the new head of India that he would be there today. I'm mystified why the vice president was not sent.

Typically the vice president is there for something like this and I'm just - it's mystifying why (INAUDIBLE) representative, of course. And the reason why this is important is not just the symbolism but is rather the fact that in this war on terrorism, in this renewed war on terrorism the United States has been at the forefront in trying to round up other countries to show unity and to stand together against ISIS, against extreme radical Muslims.

So if you're going to be the leader, as we have been in trying to round up other countries, you need to be there when they're in trouble, to show solidarity with them.

WHITFIELD: Sorry, to interrupt. Do you think this complicates the relationship between the U.S., Germany, even France as it pertains to the ongoing commitment of a global counter-terrorism?

GERGEN: No, I do not.

WHITFIELD: Or do you think it will be a level of understanding on their part.

GERGEN: Yes, there's a level of understanding in our history and it's important to note that the administration has called and we learned about it today a "summit" on counterterrorism to be held in Washington in February, I think it is. And that is an opportunity for us to rally others but I think if you remember back to 9/11, the French rallied behind us in massive numbers. "Le Monde" had a big headline "we're all Americans now." And importantly the first international visitor to the White House after 9/11 was the president of France, Jacques Chirac. He had previously scheduled a visit and within a week after he was there. He didn't hold back because there were more terrorism threats. He came. And that's what's important sometimes at moments when your friends are in trouble.

WHITFIELD: So though while publicly there may be an expression of understanding, do you think behind closed doors there are some bruises that have resulted from this decision by the White House?

GERGEN: Hard to say exactly. AS we heard from your previous correspondent, you know, people in the crowd, the massive crowd were not particularly bothered by it. They were there in solidarity of their own but it's one of those issues that it does matter and it especially matters as it comes to - as the United States will in the future, be called upon, we will repeatedly ask France and others to stand with us when they're attacked we need to stand with them.

WHITFIELD: David Gergen, thank you so much.

GERGEN: Thanks to you, Fredricka. WHITFIELD: So this deadly attack in Paris may have shown us the new face of terror, so to speak. Why are so many heading to Syria to join ISIS, particularly from France? We'll talk with an expert.

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GORANI: Welcome back, everybody. We continue to report on the aftermath of that huge unity rally across France and in Paris as well. We're hearing numbers upward of potentially three million people across the country. And Paris Police Department has told CNN there have been no major incidents throughout the day.

So one can imagine they are breathing a huge sigh of relief this hour because of the tense environment and because also of some security scares. All right. Let's get to Samuel Laurent, our terrorism expert, with more on the developments in the investigation.

Samuel, thanks once again for being with us. We're seeing that ISIS is now issuing threats once again against the United States. What do you make of the timing?

SAMUEL LAURENT, CNN TERRORISM EXPERT: Well, obviously the timing is very accurate. We know that ISIS is an expert in propaganda, especially an expert on the Net and on very, I would say, immediate tools of propaganda so, therefore, yes, I would say that from now on we're talking about -- we're talking about people that want to capitalize and that want to benefit further more from what happened in France and that will issue more warnings.

Later this week, actually I think it was on Friday we got a tweet from somebody very well known in the French jihadi community that participated in the beheading of 12 Syrian soldiers and who was warning of two new terror attacks and actually therefore we will see a wave of frightening and of threats that might be serious but obviously we have no confirmation for now. But obviously this is the high time for them to raise the propaganda flag.

GORANI: And Samuel, what do you make of the fact that French authorities may have missed some really vital clues here in trying to prevent these attackers from carrying out their plans, the attack against "Charlie Hebdo," the supermarket attack as well, that kosher supermarket attack, and the fact that the presumed girlfriend of the man who attacked the supermarket, Amedy Coulibaly, may now be all the way in Syria. Where was the intelligence failure here?

LAURENT: Well, actually I would even go further, you know, the intelligence services date back for many years. We got an attack to -- you know, in 2012 that a man that killed militaries and killed Jewish schoolboys and schoolgirls. And actually here we spoke about a large intelligence failure in which was needed to revamp the whole system, then we got (INAUDIBLE), a signal to the French authority last year able to hide for months and finally to strike Jewish again in a museum of Brussels.

And now, again, a major and perhaps probably the most significant one with no progress made over the last years in which, first of all, all those people were very known and very basically noticed from the intelligence community, they were even highly noticed from the U.S. which put them on a no-fly list. And unfortunately the French at the same time were releasing the -- were releasing or lowering the surveillance on them, thinking they were too insignificant and not bringing enough information.

Actually, those people were using, basically running under the radar, understanding very well the way French intelligence is working.

GORANI: Yes.

LAURENT: Perhaps because some -- because some elements are much too public in France and that might be a problem. And basically they were waiting for the right time.

GORANI: Yes.

LAURENT: Using some proxy people like that girlfriend you mentioned, Hala, that was taking care of the logistics, the communications and probably also the finance. And this girl has disappeared in Syria with all the secrets that would have been so valuable in order to trace and to track and neutralize the cells that are probably still existing now in France and in Europe.

GORANI: All right, Samuel Laurent, thanks very much. And if, indeed, this girlfriend is in Syria, I do wonder if she'll pop up in some sort of propaganda video in the coming days or weeks. It will be interesting to see that.

Thanks very much, Samuel Laurent in Paris.

We'll be right back after a quick break. Stay with CNN.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

WHITFIELD: Hello, everyone. I'm Fredericka Whitfield in Atlanta. We'll get back to my colleague Hala Gorani and terror expert Samuel Laurent in Paris in a moment but first this new information we're learning.

CNN is learning from sources that a little bit more information about Cherif Kouachi, he was one of the brothers involved in the attack on the "Charlie Hebdo" magazine publication, and then carrying on terrorism there in Paris leading to 17 deaths. So now we understand that this brother, Cherif Kouachi may have been radicalized by a former radical spiritual leader who also turned out to be a nurse intern at a hospital in Paris.

It's believed that this spiritual leader is the one who may have helped lead to the training that Cherif Kouachi may have received overseas, the older of the two brothers, and we hope to learn more information as to how these two became acquainted. And how Cherif Kouachi became that vulnerable person in order to invite this radicalized spiritual mentor into his life. We're just learning this information, trying to get a bit more but it

paints a maybe perhaps a more clear picture of this Kouachi brother and how he may have been brought in to the world of the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Of course we also have heard now that the third terrorist in this attack in Paris, Amedy Coulibaly, showed his pledge an allegiance toward ISIS but it's Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula that has claimed responsibility of this terror attack in Paris.

This on a day when more than a million people have descended on the city of Paris and possibly upwards of three million people throughout the country of France to show solidarity.

Back with us now overseas from Paris is Hala Gorani, my colleague at CNN, and then she has also been carrying on a conversation with Samuel Laurent, a terrorism expert.

So this information just coming into CNN, I wonder, to you, Hala and Samuel, if this sounds like there's any real credence to and the possibility of this nurse intern who turns out to have also been a spiritual -- a former radical spiritual leader and that in some way he may have reached Cherif Kouachi.

Hala, to you first.

(CROSSTALK)

GORANI: I'm just --

LAURENT: OK.

GORANI: I was going to say-- Fredricka, I just want to start out. Samuel, I'll just get you in a moment. I just want to also start out with the fact that according to our sources that this individual, the 33-year-old Benyettou who may have been the, quote, "spiritual leader," who radicalized the brothers, was working in the hospital until Friday and was removed from that hospital's schedule and that the hospital was aware that he'd been previously convicted and jailed in relation to terrorist activities.

And I wanted to ask Samuel, this is something that the hospital was aware of and at some point they made the decision to remove this individual from the schedule of the hospital because some of the people who were injured in that "Charlie Hebdo" attack may have been taken to that very medical facility. Is that what you're hearing as well?

LAURENT: Exactly. Exactly. This has been confirmed. This is most tragic coincidence is that basically it took this terror attack and the fact that wounded people were flocking to that hospital which is called Pitie-Salpetriere, at the emergency room where Benyettou was working to remove him from his planning, and actually, yes, of course, the one again of the very striking thing about monitoring terror suspects, people involved in terror plots as was Benyettou was, we can come back on later, is that to become a nurse in France. Law requires no criminal record. Actually, this is something he never

provide and this proves again that basically the security and the monitoring around him was extremely light.

GORANI: All right. So is it possible, then, that the hospital was not aware that this man had a criminal record? Is that a possibility that he did not share it with the hospital before he signed up for this nursing internship?

LAURENT: Well, actually, the responsibility lies somewhere. It might be at the hospital, it might be at the health department. To be honest with you, the procedure might depend from one to the other but actually this is an obligation to be provided by for becoming as you say starting a nurse internship and this has been -- and this has been asked today to the health department and the health department didn't answer the question and say that the hospital was responsible.

But by any way the responsibility lies somewhere between the hospital and between the Health Ministry. Actually, what's very troubling is that this man was not only a member of the cell that was basically channeling French jihadi into Iraq between 2005 and 2008, he was the boss of this cell. He was the emir of this cell. So basically he was the emir of the Kouachi brothers and this man was able to basically travel around absolutely free.

And despite the fact that he had such large and heavy background in terror he was released and he was able even to gain jobs in the public administration.

WHITFIELD: So, Hala --

GORANI: And do we know his whereabouts? He's not under arrest. Yes. I was just -- I was just, Fredricka --

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Go ahead and ask that question and then I have a question for you as well.

GORANI: But it is surprising that he -- right. Absolutely. He was removed from the schedule of this hospital, but do we know his whereabouts? Because he's not under arrest, he's not charged. He served his prison time, correct?

LAURENT: Exactly. Exactly. Actually, he's not in prison based on the information I have. Is not in prison and it happened that basically it was like a coincidence that he was working on this hospital.

The whereabouts right now we just know that this planning has been changed according to one doctor of the hospital and we do not know whether he's appearing back in the hospital or whether, for obvious reasons of decency, then they will try to allocate him another post or maybe change him to another location. But even for his own safety, I believe.

GORANI: All right.

WHITFIELD: And Samuel and Hala, I guess what's interesting here, too, is that the hospital is confirming that while it knew that Farid Benyettou had a record, had been convicted, had been previously jailed, that didn't preclude him from being able to be a nurse intern.

This is information we're all kind of learning all at once but perhaps, Hala, you'd be able to glean light on whether this seems unusual, an unusual practice in a French hospital, or does it seem, you know, fairly customary that, sure, anybody would be given a second chance or it wouldn't necessarily matter or if the hospital even knew to what extent his conviction and jail time was resulted to.

GORANI: Well, Fredricka, I'm unclear whether or not the hospital knew before hiring him or after it took him off the schedule. Maybe Samuel has more on that. I don't have any more information on that.

WHITFIELD: Samuel?

LAURENT: Well, according to one doctor this morning which has been -- which has been interviewed by the press, actually, they did -- he did not produce it during this first year of internship. He didn't (INAUDIBLE) his criminal record and that was, I would say, tolerated and the issue was skipped.

Later on probably he was about to -- he was about to explain himself, explain his case, and as Hala was saying, you know, it's pretty fair to have a second chance but actually the lack of monitoring in a job in which you basically need where it's required to have a clear criminal record and the ability to have it for somebody that was traced on the terrorist act, it's something -- it's something that is revealing basically the mess in which the monitoring of those people is currently going in France.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. If I could ask you all to just hold it right there. We're going to continue this conversation, of course, the natural conversation will go in the direction of where and how might Farid Benyettou be tracked because that's of great and great concern right now.

Samuel and Hala, thanks so much.

We'll be right back with much more on this conversation and more news right after this.

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WHITFIELD: All right. New information now that we're learning about one of the brothers who led that deadly attack on the magazine in Paris "Charlie Hebdo." We understand that Cherif Kouachi may have been mentored by a radical -- a former radical spiritual mentor who also happened to be a nurse intern at a hospital in Paris. And that nurse intern, once his background had been uncovered by the hospital, he left on Friday. And now he is nowhere to be found.

And so this information very ominous, very curious, leading this entire conversation about who these young men were who carried out this deadly attack which ultimately led to the deaths of 17 people in Paris is now taking a very interesting direction.

So back with me now Hala Gorani in Paris, and Samuel Laurent, a terror expert also in Paris. And now joining us is Jyett Klausen, author of "The Cartoons That Shook the World."

All right, so, Jyett, if I could get your point of view on this, more is being uncovered and discovered about who these players were and particularly about Cherif Kouachi, that perhaps he was mentored by this radical extremist who under the guise of others was doing something else even though he did have a criminal record. The hospital is now saying it only learned it of recent and now he is no longer working there.

Give us an idea of what law enforcement is likely doing with this kind of information and how this influences I guess the scope of the investigation.

JYTTE KLAUSEN, AUTHOR, "THE CARTOONS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD": Well, it's hard to imagine that it was news. Everybody knows who Farid Benyettou was. It was a very famous case. He was a very inventive preacher in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.

And he brought in a whole group of young people, including the Kouachi brothers, with him and indeed he was running a recruitment cell that was known as Brothers for Iraq, and was sending many people, 50 -- as many as 50 people he is believed to have sent them Iraq until he was arrested. He was arrested in 2005, which was also when the Kouachi brothers were arrested spent six years in prison.

WHITFIELD: So now --

KLAUSEN: He's out --

WHITFIELD: Yes. So you're painting the picture he's so well known that how is it that he could go unnoticed as this nurse intern? Is it more likely that perhaps he used an alias and it's only been brought to the attention of hospital authorities that this is, you know, Farid Benyettou?

KLAUSEN: I cannot imagine that anybody in Paris do not know who this man is since he's certainly -- he's very well known to myself and my team of researchers. That whole Brothers for Iraq recruitment thing, about 20 arrests in connection with it. The case did not go to court -- in, I think 2008, and most of the people were released. But we know that the Kouachi brothers, while in prison, made other contacts that in many regards were far more dangerous.

It is known also that they met up with Jamaal Begal who was the bomb maker and involved in the -- actually Belkacem was another person from the 1995 Metro bombings. And Begal was somebody who was an agent for al Qaeda in London for several years.

WHITFIELD: So then -- so then, Samuel, can I bring you into this? Because this is astounding to hear this, especially since it appears to be common knowledge there.

LAURENT: Yes, I can hear you.

WHITFIELD: But it is news to many of us who are outside of Paris. So does this only underscore even larger, more gaping holes in security or even intelligence there?

LAURENT: Well, you know, actually, the -- this person is not among the -- I would say the people targeted by police. I'm sorry, but I have an echo and --

WHITFIELD: OK.

LAURENT: I have a real problem on the line.

WHITFIELD: All right, then we're going to try and work that out because that's pretty difficult to be able to, you know, continue with that kind of distraction.

LAURENT: Sorry. Hello?

WHITFIELD: So, Hala, I imagine at least in that hospital and perhaps even through security measure there is going to be a reexamination of how this could be an oversight, how this could be overlooked that this is someone who has a record, who with extremist training, and that he could go unnoticed in a hospital.

GORANI: I think we're going to have to wait and see how this pans out. As Jyett Klausen was saying this is a well known name anybody who has studied these networks will be familiar with it. There is a definite possibility that tabs were being kept on him and that he was able to sign up for this nursing course because he was not deemed a risk.

This is of course something that we don't know now.

WHITFIELD: Right.

GORANI: We just heard from the hospital spokeswoman that he was employed there. Not exactly sure how there was some sort of link with the brothers that was in any way operational, though.

WHITFIELD: All right. Certainly lots more questions than answers.

Hala Gorani, Samuel Laurent and Jyett Klausen, thanks to all of you.

We're going to take a short break right now. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to our continuing coverage.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, one of several world leaders in today's massive anti-terror rally in Paris. And he spoke just last hour at Paris' Grande Synagogue.

The wave of terror still has many in France on edge especially the Jewish community. Shaken by the attack on a kosher grocery store.

Here's CNN's Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN CHIEF WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We now know the names of the four hostages murdered by alleged terrorists Amedy Coulibaly during his attack on a kosher grocery store -- Yohan Cohen, Yoav Hattab, Philippe Braham, Francois-Michel Saada.

During the standoff, Coulibaly spoke to a French television journalist and said he went to the kosher market for a specific reason.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): He then explains why he targeted the kosher market. He says it's because his target was Jewish people.

TAPPER: That kind of anti-Semitism has France's Jewish community on edge. This weekend, Paris' landmark Grande Synagogue closed its doors for the first time since World War II.

RABBI JONAS JACQUELIN: I was really afraid when I heard about hostage in the kosher shop in the east of Paris, and I know a lot of people going there. And, of course, all the time when something is happening in the Jewish community, every Jewish person is feeling concerned as if it is a part of himself, a part of his family.

TAPPER: But last night at least 1,000 people braved the cold and rain to show solidarity with France's Jewish community, gathering outside the market that was the scene of the ugly hostage standoff.

ROGER CUKIERMAN, PRESIDENT, COUNCIL OF JEWISH INSTITUTIONS IN FRANCE: We are not going to stop going to kosher restaurants or to kosher groceries. We are going to maintain our Jewishness and all the freedom and we are not giving up to violence. Of course, some people may decide to leave France, as some have already done, which is understandable.

TAPPER: Roger Cukierman is a leader of the Jewish community here in France and has spoken with some of the hostages who survived.

CUKIERMAN: Well, I've spoken to some of the survivors, yes. And of course they are traumatized. It's a very tense situation they have gone through. But it's even worse for the family of the four men who died.

TAPPER: Anti-Semitism has been on the rise across Europe and is keenly felt here in France. Last year, an unprecedented number of Jews left France and moved to Israel.

Those who remained mourn alongside all of France, trying to come together during this tragedy born from division.

Jake Tapper, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: All right, that's our coverage this afternoon. Thanks so much for being with me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Much more straight ahead from Paris with Jim Sciutto.