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Is Visa Waiver Program U.S. Achilles Heel; White House Admits Mistake of Not Sending High-Level Officials to Paris Rally; Why Pay Attention to Paris, Not Nigerian Attacks?
Aired January 12, 2015 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: John Berman, we'll send it back to you in Paris.
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks so much, Brooke.
Just a few moments ago, you saw it here on CNN, the White House press secretary made a startling admission and says the White House regrets not sending a higher level official here to Paris for the unity rally yesterday. I'm going to speak to someone that used to work inside the State Department that called the decision a mistake, and perhaps can explain how and why it happened.
CNN special live coverage continues right after this.
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BERMAN: I'm John Berman, live in Paris.
This is CNN's live coverage in the aftermath of the terror attacks and the investigation of how it happened.
Now this does not happen often in any White House or among any politicians, but moments ago, the Obama administration publicly admitted a mistake. The White House spokesman acknowledged a higher profile official should have come here to the huge unity march in Paris yesterday. More than 1.5 million people marched on the streets, more than 40 world leaders attended, but not a high level U.S. leader, just the ambassador to France.
BERMAN: Here's what Josh had to say about this last hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Some have asked whether or not the United States should have sent someone with a higher profile than ambassador to France. I think it's fair to say we should have sent someone with a higher profile to be there. That said, there is no doubt that the American people and this administration stands four square behind our allies in France.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: It was a mistake, so says White House press secretary, Josh Earnest. How did it happen?
Let's bring in Aaron David Miller, a former advisory to six secretaries of state. He's a scholar with the Woodrow Wilson International Center.
Aaron, you were critical of the decision not to send a higher level official from the United States. Now the White House agrees with you. How did it happen? I should say you work with both parties here. Let's talk about how it happened. In your vast experience, in many administrations, is an affirmative decision made not to come here or is it just a lack of appreciation of the significance of the event?
AARON DAVID MILLER, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: Well, John, I'm glad you pointed that out. It's not a question of Democrat, Republican, left or right, liberal or conservative. It's a question of dumb on one hand and smart and effective on the other. Yesterday, when I heard about this, I searched my mind to try to come up with justification or pretext as to why the White House would not send -- Eric Holder was away on business. Why the White House or Department of State or Congress could have sent a delegation or someone to mark this historic event. I cannot imagine. Either it wasn't thought through carefully or it wasn't thought through at all. It's a rare moment in the history and the life of a nation when millions of people, more than gathered since the end of the Second World War, come together in display of extraordinary unity on an issue that's incredibly important, not just to France, Europe, and the international community but to the United States.
As a victim of the worst terrorist attack in the last almost 15 years, it seems to me the White House was tone deaf. I would have loved to have seen President Obama there. Who knows why he couldn't attend, the vice president, Mrs. Obama? John Kerry was in India prepping for the president's trip. I know it's a pain and no one likes to fly on an airplane, but he has a track record of doing so. He will circle back this week. A moment was lost, John. I think few things in politics are fatal. This is not fatal certainly, but it was certainly a lost and missed opportunity to demonstrate solidarity not only counter-terrorism but the values we and French stand for.
BERMAN: It was a remarkable picture to see those leaders lined up there together arm and arm. It is a picture President Obama will never be in that is cast at this point. There was a suggestion by the White House press secretary. He said security would have been an issue had the president come. There wasn't any way for the president to come here without compromising you know, the freedom of march for other people. When you have 40 world leaders, how is the security situation different for them than it would have been for the president of the United States?
MILLER: Any time you put together a presidential trip, secret service has demands and requirements which probably go above and beyond given the size and consequential nature of the visit. They could have walked the streets of Paris had they wanted to. It does raise the issue of the way -- I don't want to be overly critical, because when this president chooses to engage and be on stage, he can be extremely effective. Great presidents are characters in chief, literally. They present themselves to the country, to the world, as if they were actors on a stage. The good ones, the great ones, for sure, look for moments that have meaning which resonates broadly.
Again, if the president couldn't have come, Joe Biden is extremely good at these things. Michelle Obama is wonderful when it comes to make presentations. They could have reached not across the aisle necessarily but to Bill Clinton, who's extremely popular and very effective when it comes to conveying a sense of bonding and solidarity and empathy. Any number of these bodies could have gone. It will pass, but certainly, again, a missed opportunity to present on a historic stage at a historic moment.
BERMAN: Aaron David Miller, thank you for that.
Secretary of State John Kerry will be here on Thursday. He speaks fluent French. You can imagine he will now have perhaps even more to say in the fluent French he speaks.
Brooke, back to you.
BALDWIN: I know when the secretary spoke last week in fluent French, Christiane Amanpour saying it really resonated with people there.
BERMAN: It did.
BALDWIN: We have to continue talking about attacks in Paris. But we have to talk about something else. As many as 2,000 people murdered in this bloody rampage by the terror group Boko Haram. Some critics are asking, why is the world paying attention to Paris but not Nigeria? We'll discuss that right here. You're watching CNN.
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BALDWIN: With all eyes on the terror attacks in Paris, Nigeria continues to be ravaged by the terror group Boko Haram. Since the New Year, CNN officials are told there's been several violent attacks, including suicide bombers, one including a girl as young as 10. Young boys have been kidnapped in the latest attack. This deadly rampage nine days ago, through the village, as many as 2,000 people -- let me repeat -- 2,000 people were reportedly shot and killed, burned alive, fire bombed. Amnesty International describing this as Boko Haram's deadliest act. All of this, as the 200-plus girls kidnapped last spring remain missing.
And now, many are asking, where is the international help? One Nigerian archbishop asked this publicly for the same kind of international support now flooding into Paris. The Nigerian government has been accused of not doing a thing to stop Boko Haram.
Joining me now counter-terrorism expert, Daveed Gartenstein-Ross.
When you read about this and the bodies still in the Bushes because it's still not safe enough to get the bodies to bury them, and the people who swam to this island in Chad to try to survive, why is the world not talking about this more? DAVEED GARTENSTEIN-ROSS, COUNTER-TERRORISM EXPERT: That's an
excellent question. I think part of it is the fact you don't have news agencies there covering it. Part is it's in Africa. People are much more in tune to major tragedies in the West. Some may be some latent racism in terms of coverage. But all of these is why our coverage has been away of this.
Over the course of the past year, no jihadist group in the world other than ISIS has been more active than Boko Haram. They've killed thousands of people. They control a territory in Borno State the same size as what ISIS controls in the Middle East.
BALDWIN: What is Boko Haram -- I've read it's Arabic for western education is a sin. What is the motivation of this particular group?
GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: Boko Haram has been around for a while. The name is actually -- it doesn't call itself Boko Haram. That's the name that's been given to it based -- it's actually Housa (ph) opposed to Arabic.
BALDWIN: Got it.
GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: The statement is based on their view that western education is corrupting. They like ISIS and al Qaeda have an interpretation of Islam that they recite to be the earliest form of practice. They also have a lot of interwoven with Nigerian Islam, history within Nigeria including clashes between Muslims and Christians. This is one reason over the course of the past few years they've so frequently targeted church services, something upsetting to the Christian community, and caused violence, one of the goals behind this specifically and targeted attacks.
BALDWIN: So the obviously question, the frustrating question, is what is the Nigerian government doing to stop this? I talked to correspondents on the ground in Nigeria saying the government has said they'll do X, Y, Z, and haven't done any of that. Goodluck has done nothing.
GARTENSTEIN-ROSS: The military has occasionally taken offenses in Borno State. Much less so than a government that's serious about counter insurgency would do. There's corruption in the Nigerian state in addition to basically now governing, something which creates much more of a space for Boko Haram to operate. That's one thing that really all these states that have had jihadist groups take over significant territory have in common. The government is failing in some real way and lacks capacity, thus allowing other groups to come in and, at least at first, out-compete the government in terms of offering services, offering things to people.
A large part of that is brutality as well. Boko Haram is some of the most disgusting videos from any jihadist group, including showing amputations, stonings, with a crowd scripted and is out there being forced to cheer for these very brutal spectacles.
BALDWIN: 2,000 people. Again echoing this archbishop, please give them international support to tackle Boko Haram.
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, thank you.
Coming up next, the search for possible sleeper cells. The brothers who murdered French cartoonists in Paris were allegedly affiliated with al Qaeda in Yemen. One of the men even mentioned Anwar al Awlaki has having financed one of the visits to the country. Awlaki was killed that year in the U.S. drone strike. Who else did he inspire? We have the bigger picture for you.
Stay right here. This is CNN's special live coverage.
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BALDWIN: College football fans, tonight is the night. First ever college football championship game. Oregon Ducks against Ohio State Buckeyes. Winter takes all. Again, this is the first time the title has been decided by playoffs. Ducks ranked number one. OSU ranked fourth. A huge story line, Oregon star, Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Marcus Marioto (ph), while the Buckeyes have Jones. They're each looking to win their first national title.
Coming up here at CNN, at the top of the hour, Twitter and YouTube accounts for United States Central Command, CENTCOM, hacked by someone claiming to be affiliated with the terror group ISIS. I'm talking documents and addresses, other sensitive information posted online for anyone to see. How could something like this happen?
Stay right here.
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