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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Soldiers Guard Jewish Schools in France; Bomb Scare at Newspaper in Belgium; Boko Haram Goes on Killing Spree

Aired January 12, 2015 - 12:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Jake Tapper in Paris, checking some new development in the investigation into the worst terrorist attack in France in decades.

Right now, at least 10,000 troops and 8,000 police officers are being deployed across the country of France, many of them assigned to guard Jewish schools and synagogues. The French government's national security alert system is at its highest level.

At the same time, police are intensifying their search for the only surviving terrorist suspects wanted in the attacks. It is believed that Hyatt Boumediene has left France. She was last spotted near Turkey's border with Syria. She's the partner of the terrorist who killed four hostages at that kosher supermarket during Friday standoff.

The (inaudible) intelligence service, MI5 has issued a warning that Al Qaeda is plotting a large scale massacre of civilians in Britain and other western countries and then the New York City police department is telling its officers to be on alert.

Ever watchful, too, a group of cartoonists, not even the carnage that the terrorist left behind at that French magazine where I'm standing, "Charlie Hebdo", is keeping it from publishing the staff at "Charlie Hebdo" is working in secret. They're concerned for their own safety but they are going to press a numbers never imagined before the attack, promising to French one million copies that usually bring about 60,000. It would be eight pages long, one page per each staffer murdered by the terrorist.

The spokesman for "Charlie Hebdo" said, "What we have to say, we'll say it in eight pages. The strength and the heart we have left, we'll put in those eight pages. "Charlie Hebdo" moves on, but it moves on in a very threatening atmosphere.

Here, a newspaper in Belgium, one which shows solidarity with "Charlie Hebdo", had to be evacuated because of a bomb scare. I want to bring in right now Kianoush Ramezani. He's a contemporary of those cartoonists at "Charlie Hebdo".

He knew many of them, he was friends with and he joins me now. Thanks so much for being here,

KIANOUSH RAMEZANI, POLITICAL CARTOONIST: You're welcome.

TAPPER: I have to say, I'm a failed cartoonist, as my viewers know. And I remember a couple of times in college, some people who didn't like my cartoons, threatening to beat me up. I can't even imagine -- I mean that was scary. I can't even imagine going forward in this type of situation where literally you're killed for your work. Is it going to affect your work?

RAMEZANI: We all know what is cartoon is about. It's art to die for. But, we have two options, to cancel our job to find another one or to continue to accept the risk and to hope that we will survive the next day and to continue.

TAPPER: So you're going to accept the risk? Do you think that you'll hold your fire at all? Do you think that you will be reluctant to do cartoons, to draw cartoons and (inaudible) at certain topics perhaps radical Islam, given what we've seen here, just being away from we're standing?

RAMEZANI: Well, my taste was bit -- or is a bit different from the guys of the "Charlie Hebdo". I never drew the Muhammad, I mean, the prophet of Islam I've never did that.

TAPPER: Not your style, OK.

RAMEZANI: Yeah, it's not my style. But I provoked a lot of the Islamist (inaudible). And also my regime and I was there so that's why I'm in exile, but ...

TAPPER: Just tell our viewers where you're from.

RAMEZANI: Yeah, I'm from Iran.

TAPPER: From Iran?

RAMEZANI: Yeah, I'm from...

TAPPER: And you fled Iran?

RAMEZANI: Yeah. I came to France in 2009, yeah. And when I came here, I realize how much freedom is important here and I realize the real definition of freedom here. And then I started to really appreciate it and I learned a lot about my colleagues, which some of them have been killed for (inaudible).

TAPPER: What do want to see in this issue of "Charlie Hebdo"? What, I've heard lots of different theories about what they're going to do. One theory is you're just going to offend everybody just like they always have and always will.

RAMEZANI: I believe that they won't change their style. They will speak on their own style and concept as it famous as being Charlie. But for us, for cartoonist, something change. We became much united and after 7th of January we feel much more support, we feel much more secured by the people and then I can see in France that I feel much more secured by the security system by this day, too. There is a huge solidarity right now among us. Right now, I can tell you that I receive more than 100 cartoons directly in my inbox from my colleagues, French, German, American, Japanese, Turkish, and Muslims. And that's very beautiful, I can appreciate that. A lot of Muslim cartoonists, they show their solidarity by supporting "Charlie Hebdo".

TAPPER: Yeah, one -- I mean, one of staffers was Muslim that was killed.

RAMEZANI: Yeah. And also I would like to appreciate the young French police, Muslim police who -- He is my hero, actually.

TAPPER: Yeah.

RAMEZANI: Ahmed Merabet. I Appreciate that.

TAPPER: Yeah, absolutely our hero. And we -- I look forward to following your work. If you have Twitter or computer, if you go Jake Tapper on Twitter I just linked to his Twitter feed and to his website. Jake Tapper might be easier for people to pick up and go to kianoushs.com.

RAMEZANI: Yeah.

TAPPER: But in any case I hope to follow your work. I know I will. Thank you so much for being here.

RAMEZANI: Thank you very much.

TAPPER: Really, really appreciate it.

RAMEZANI: Yeah, thank you.

TAPPER: The latest terrorist threat from ISIS, the U.S., Canada, and other countries are on the hit list. But how concern should we be? We're live from Paris. We're going to come back after this quick break. Stay with us.

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TAPPER: Welcome back. I'm Jake Tapper, live in Paris. I'm outside the offices of "Charlie Hebdo", the French satirical magazine that was so brutally attacked last Wednesday. I just want to give you an idea of what's been going on here for not just hours but days, people coming by and leaving flowers, lighting candles, people drawing cartoons, some of them professional cartoonist, some of them amateurs, some of them children, all of them with the same message, the same resounding message.

As you see the Je Suis Charlie, I am Charlie, people standing up for the people who died here both the policemen, the security, professional, and the cartoonist, the magazine is expected to publish on Wednesday, its biggest circulated edition yet with one million copies.

So that's exactly what we're standing in the middle. And to be quite honest, it's rather moving to be reporting from here this afternoon. But let's move on.

In light of the terror attacks in Paris, law enforcement agencies not just in Europe but across the United States are on alert. And in United States, there was a joint warning from the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. The notice was issued Sunday at (inaudible) constant vigilance.

Meanwhile, the head of Britain's top intelligence agency, the MI5, also warned last week that Al Qaeda militants in Syria are planning mass casualty attacks against the West. Let's bring in CNN's Justice Correspondent, Pamela Brown and CNN Military Analyst General Spider Marks to talk about the security situation.

Pamela, there are critics you are saying that this warning specifically the FBI, DHS warning, is so vague and so broad as to be essentially meaningless. Do we know if there are any actual new threats sparing this warning?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well Jake, I'm being told and my other colleagues here are being told that at this point there is no specific threats that spurred this warning. It's essentially coming from the fact that ISIS is trying to capitalize the Paris attack and so ISIS tweeted out this video that was actually made earlier before the Paris attacks with one of the leaders calling on believers to attack intelligence officials, military personnel, government officials, civilians, members of the media from the U.S., from Australia, from Canada and elsewhere, and basically launching attacks on these people.

So this warning is basically yet another precaution sent out by the FBI, by DHS to tell people across the country to say vigilant. I think the sense is, it can't hurt to remind them, listen this is a threat that's out there. You need to be aware of it and stay vigilant.

PATTER: Spider, we saw a lone gunman in Ottawa, a lone gunman in Australia, obviously, these attacks here are little different but that does seem to be an increase number of attacks over the past few months, attacks on the West that is. Is this that you normally think?

MAJOR GENERAL JAMES MARKS, RETIRED U.S. ARMY: Jake, I think it is. So, in the tsunami of -- you know, following up on the tsunami of this violence that we saw in Paris and the incidence that you just mentioned as well, certainly there is an appropriate sense of caution that needs to be voiced that says, "Look, we're in new conditions, we're in a new circumstance where these kinds of activities truly are barbarous, they're vicious, they're mad, but they can occur -- and guess what? They are occurring. So it's important that we all kind of remind ourselves of this.

And in light of what just happened in Paris, I think it makes perfect sense to say we need to stay vigilant but I think this intelligence might be a recycling of what came out a few months ago, again, in light of what occurred this is OK.

TAPPER: All right. Major General Spider Marks and Pamela Brown, thank you so much. Coming up, they were hidden away in a freezer out of sight of the terrorist. How a Muslim man working at that kosher grocery store helped to protect the hostages during that deadly standoff in Paris.

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TAPPER: You know, there's so much tragedy, so much sadness, when it comes to telling the story of these terrorist attacks in Paris. But there have been some remarkable tales. One of the most unforgettable stories of heroism to come out of all this madness came when police storm to that kosher market freeing the terrified hostages, killing the terrorist gunman. They had no idea that a worker, a Muslim, had hidden seven hostages in a freezer likely saving their lives.

These are the first images of those hostages, cold, afraid, and not daring to make a sound, hiding for their lives. Among them a woman (inaudible) her 11-month-old daughter and that woman's friend talked about the ordeal with CNN affiliate WSBM.

VANESSA CORDON, FRIEND OF PARIS HOSTAGE: I cannot imagine because the French television said that they was found dead when the -- when he getting the shot he kill for people and we didn't know who was killed. We have to wait a long time to be sure that she was dead.

TAPPER: Here on the clock and he's following all the developments in this amazing story, she joins me now. So what has this hero had to say about this episode, this dramatic rescue?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We'll his name is Lassana Bathily. He's 24 years old. He's Muslim born in the African country of Mali. And at the time of the bloody attack on the market, he was an employee, and what he'd managed to do, he says that he managed to take a group of costumers down to a freezer that he knew about.

He turned off the electricity, he turned off the light, and then he decided he was going to try to find help, to go get help. So he emerged from the market and then he walked outside. According to French media reports, the police officers actually thought he was a suspect and they apprehended him.

And he said -- he explained the situation and guided them to the freezer to save the hostages, and many here credit him with saving their lives.

TAPPER: Really amazing story. I know I'm not alone among journalists wanting to interview him, wanting to tell his story. I'm sure you've been trying so harder than me. Journalists around the world want to tell his story but he's gone radio silent. Is he afraid for his safety?

MCLAUGHLIN: Oh, it's unclear this time. I guess we have to wait for when he decides to come out and actually speak to the media about what's going on. But what I think is important about his stories of what really does illustrate is this sentiment among Muslim peer in France that this does not represent them. This isn't a representative of the community as a whole and it is a sentiment that I think we saw yesterday in the march (inaudible).

TAPPER: Oh yeah.

MCLAUGHLIN: Marching side by side with rabbis, it really just an incredible show of solidarity.

TAPPER: And one of the heroes of the shooting here in "Charlie Hebdo", the police officers also Muslim and his brother, very strongly said these people do not speak for me or my family. Erin McLaughlin, thank you so much. Great reporting.

Our special coverage from Paris continues at the top of the hour. I'll be back at 4:00 p.m. Eastern with the lead.

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BROWN: Well, as the world reels from the terror attacks in Paris, the Muslim extremist group, Boko Haram, has gone on a heinous killing spree in Nigeria using despicable tactics. Police say the Muslim extremist strapped explosives to a girl, possibly as young as 10 years old, and then detonated the bomb in this busy market right here. At least 20 people were killed and they have carried out other attacks as group Boko Haram reportedly (inaudible) up to 2,000 people in the border town near Chad.

Senior International Correspondent, Nic Robertson, joins us live in Abuja, Nigera. Nic, it's just hard to wrap your head around this horrific attack. What can you tell us about it?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pam, and anyone who thinks this is kind of loned type of event where they strapped explosives to a 10-year-old girl, really needs to think again because Boko Haram, the following day put explosives on another two young girls and sent them into a different market in a nearby town, detonating the explosives on them, killing three people, wounding 43 others.

But it is that big and significant attack on the strategic and important town of Baga, where as many -- according to some of the eyewitnesses we talked as many as 3,000 people killed when hundreds of Boko Haram showed up in trucks, big automatic weapons on the backs of their trucks, overrunning the army base, forcing the army out, forcing 30,000 people to flee. Eyewitness telling us, he hid out for three days until it was safe to move.

When he did walk out, he saw a body after body after body. This is a town that's on the border with Chad, right on the lake. It gives Boko Haram easy access now to Chad. It gives him freedom of movement in Nigeria because the military base there has now been overrun the army has forced out.

If you think about ISIS in Iraq and Syria, how they get -- tried to have this freedom of movement across the border, how Al-Qaeda does that in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is what Boko Haram is doing in Nigeria. Areas where they're free to move, and there's easy access across the border, so that's why this attack is depravity is terrible, the killings of these girls absolutely awful beyond comprehension. And now they're trying to take these big chunks of territory on the border as well, Pam.

BROWN: So what is the solution here? Is Nigeria defenseless to this militant group?

ROBERTSON: The armies having a hard time standing up. On the border area, they were working as a multinational force with troops from Niger to the north, with Chad there to the west, and Cameroon to the south, all face the Boko Haram problem. Those countries pulled their troops out of that area.

The army alone...

BROWN: OK.

ROBERTSON: ... has a huge problems, can't retake Baga at the moment.

BROWN: Thank you so much for that reporting, Nic Robertson, so disturbing. And thank you for watching. Wolf, starts now.