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New Video Released; Man Arrested in Bulgaria; TSA Screenings Changed; Black Boxes Recovered

Aired January 13, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: You are watching CNN. Hi there. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

My colleague, John Berman, standing by live at this hour with CNN's special live coverage on the manhunt for terrorists in France.

But let me begin with something we have just turned around. You have to keep your eyes to the screen because we have this new video just into CNN. This was video that was taken in the moments after those Kouachi brothers, Said and Cherif Kouachi, opened fire in the magazine offices of "Charlie Hebdo," calmly returning to their getaway car. You've seen that part, of course, after murdering staff at the satirical magazine, but this is another look. Here you go.

(VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: There's a lot we need to talk about, about what you just saw, not just these gunmen and what they were shouting and this gesture, but also, as we played the whole thing out, you see these gunmen firing on this police car that's backing out of that street right as they're making their escape in that small black car.

Now I want you to look at something else. A Frenchman, who has just been arrested in Bulgaria, all in connection with his ties to one of these Kouachi brothers. And as French authorities are scrambling to try to track down these accomplices, all part of this greater group, you know, connections, co-conspirators, they also identified this man, a radical named Djamel Beghal, once known as al Qaeda's premier European recruiter. He was convicted of conspiring to attack the U.S. embassy in Paris. And now we know he was also the mentor to one of these Kouachi brothers, as well as a mentor to the gunman at that kosher grocery store in Paris. All of this as al Qaeda's North African branch is vowing to hit France again.

So joining me from Paris is CNN's Hala Gorani and sitting next to me here in New York, Paul Cruickshank, CNN terrorism analyst.

And, Paul, let me just turn to you first. I mean beginning with what these gunmen were shouting, to this gesture, what was that?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, they were shouting, this is to avenge the Prophet Muhammad, that they had just attacked these cartoonists, to avenge the honor of the Prophet Muhammad. And then this hand gesture with the raised index finger, this has been a signal of jihadis for many years. It's been popularized by ISIS recently and it's very, very popular now amongst all these jihadis, both in the Arab world, but also in the west. And it means victory. But it also means the oneness of God. And there's only one ideology which is legitimate and all others have to be destroyed.

BALDWIN: Hala Gorani, you're watching as well and I know you also speak French and just -- I'm also mindful of these people who are taking this video and seeing all of this play out right in front of their very eyes. Tell me what you saw.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL: All right, well, the amateur video there shows us these two gunmen, one of them clearly yelling out to no one in particular really in that small side street, this is to avenge the Prophet Muhammad. We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad. We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad several times, with that finger pointed up in the air.

But I think the most striking is really their demeanor. It's their behavior. It's how calm they are as they sort of rearrange their weaponry, reload, get back in the car and then come face to face with that police vehicle.

You hear some single shots that presumably come from pistols. Police officers carry pistols in this country most often, not fully automatic assault rifles. And that's what we believe the killers had. And so, therefore, they were clearly outgunned when they came face to face. We saw video in the immediate aftermath of the attack on "Charlie Hebdo," Brooke, of a bullet-riddled windshield of that police vehicle. So clearly they were aiming straight for that car, and the cops took no risks and backed out.

But here's what's interesting. We were talking about the behavior. This is after, in the timeline, after these two individuals murdered 11 people in a complete blood bath and carnage at "Charlie Hebdo," and that's how calm they were. This just goes to show you that their state of mind, yes, that their state of mind was extremely collected. And it's quite chilling.

And after all of this went down, Brooke, that's when they killed the police officer on the much wider boulevard, Richard Lenoir, which is outside of "Charlie Hebdo" offices, a side street away. So there you have it, 11 people killed in that shootout, then another murder.

BALDWIN: The calm, the order, the control. I remember when all this was breaking and we kept watching one of those gunmen taking the time to grab that sneaker, to put it back in the getaway car before leaving down that street.

Hala Gorani, thank you.

Paul Cruickshank, stay with me, because, you know, we've -- I know I've talked about Djamel Beghal before and there are so many pieces of the story, right. It's the bigger picture and the affiliation with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and the inspiration of perhaps even meeting of Anwar al Awlaki before he was killed in that drone strike that very year, down to these other members who are at large of this 19th district group out of France. But Djamel Beghal, what more do we know about him? How did they meet him? Where is he now?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, Beghal was part of an al Qaeda setup in pre-9/11 Afghanistan. And that plot that he was recruited into, to attack the U.S. embassy in Paris, they -- he was recruited to do that in bin Laden's house in Afghanistan. So his ties went right the way back to al Qaeda in Afghanistan in the lead-up to 9/11. His mission is to go and attack the U.S. embassy in Paris. He was trying to recruit people for that.

He meets Kouachi, one of the Kouachi brothers, Cherif Kouachi, and Coulibaly in jail and he becomes a mentor to them. He even introduces them to one another. So he seems to have had a deep impact on at least two or perhaps three of these gunmen. And they were all involved in 2010 in a plot to try and break free an Algerian terrorist from jail. So they go way back to 2010.

BALDWIN: Way back.

CRUICKSHANK: But Beghal, since then, he's been in jail. So probably unlikely that he had any organizational role in this attack.

BALDWIN: It is stunning to me, as you learn more and more, the -- not only where these people are meeting and training, but also the hardening of this radicalization behind bars.

Paul Cruickshank, thank you very much.

You know, before they were killed in the spray of police bullets, the Kouachi brothers invaded a printing business near Paris. They quickly let one hostage go, but now we're learning of a second hostage who managed to survive and even fed key information to police. He was hiding out for more than eight hours, crouched under a sink. And now he is recounting that entire frightening ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): So you were huddled under a sink that wasn't very big?

LILLAN LAPERE, FRANCE TERROR ATTACK HOSTAGE (through translator): It wasn't big. You should imagine something like 70 centimeters by 90 centimeters and about 50 centimeters deep. He was about 50 centimeters away. Kitchen cabinets, 50 centimeters away. He could have started opening the doors where I was.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That moment, did you say to yourself, I'm done?

LAPERE: Yes, I thought he would look in all the furniture. If he's looking for something, for food supplies. So he went towards the fridge and came back towards the place where I was hiding, and he drank some water. He was drinking just above me. I could hear the water flowing because I was right next to the wash basin. I saw his shadow through the door opening. I moved a bit because my back was stuck against a pipe that was leaking. I felt the water flowing. A surreal moment, completely surreal. And I said to myself, this is like a film.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So moving to hear those tales of heroism for those who lived through those savage moments at the kosher market. Of course, I'm standing not far from "Charlie Hebdo." It's just behind me. You saw that video at the top of the show, a new view of the attack that took place right back there. And it is eerie to see it, the video playing out in front of me as I'm standing just a few feet from where it happened.

All of this is emerging as the manhunt intensifies for anyone, anyone who might have ties to these terrorists.

Joining me now is Jean-Pierre Filiu, he's a professor of Middle Eastern studies at the Paris School of International Affairs. He's a special on French-Islamic terror cells.

And, sir, I want to ask you about this new information we just received today about a French man who was arrested in Bulgaria. A security source tells me they suspect he was on his way to Syria. He has his three-year-old son with him, and the idea was to join the jihadi struggle there. What do you make of this arrest now in Bulgaria, of this man who may have ties to the Kouachi brothers?

PROF. JEAN-PIERRE FILIU, PARIS SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS: I hear a lot of noise.

BERMAN: All right, Professor Filiu, we're having a hard time establishing communication with you. We're going to take a quick break and hopefully on the other end we'll talk to you about this new arrest, a man detained in Bulgaria who may have ties to these terror attacks. Stay with us.

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BERMAN: All right, John Berman live in Paris right now.

A major new development potentially in the investigation into the days of terror in this city. In Bulgaria, a French man was arrested. We learned that just today. A man that authorities say could have ties to terror groups. A man that authorities say did seem to have some contact with one of the Kouachi brothers before the attacks here in this city. A security source tells me that this French man arrested in Bulgaria seemed to be on his way to Syria. And one of the key questions now is, was he involved somehow in the planning of what ended up happening here? Again, he was arrested January 1st in Bulgaria, a full week before the actual attacks.

Joining me now to discuss this, John-Pierre Filiu. He's a professor of Middle East studies at the Paris School of International Affairs, a specialist on French Islamic terror cells.

Let's start first with the geography. Bulgaria, this man arrested in Bulgaria, trying to cross the border to Turkey. Turkey is a gateway to Syria. Of course, so much of the fighting has been going on in Syria. Why do people head that way?

JEAN-PIERRE FILIU, SPECIALIST ON FRENCH ISLAMIC TERROR CELLS: Well, it has been now nearly a year that I've been warning against some kind of European 9/11 because the French one and I think the commanding center for the terror operation is in northern Syria with ISIS, (INAUDIBLE), and that very probably this French jihadi was going this way until the sanctuary in Syria, the same way Coulibaly partner has already taken shelter in ISIS controlled territory in northern Syria.

BERMAN: You hit on one of the things that jumped out on me. We have the girlfriend of Amedy Coulibaly, who we believe is in Syria right now. Now we have this man arrested in Bulgaria, who knew the Kouachi brothers, on his way apparently to Syria. All happening in the days before the attacks here. Could that just be a coincidence, or does that point to something to you that leads to the idea that it was some coordinated plan?

FILIU: No, I think it was a plan. And I think the key man, I cannot prove it, but I think we will soon have very important information about that, is Bubaca (ph) al Hakim (ph) was already the key man of the 19th district network back in 2004, 2005 when he was transitioning to Syria with the help of Bashar al Assad police (ph), to go and fight the American troops in Iraq. And this guy now is a close associate to Abu Bakr and Baghdadi, the self-proclaimed caliphate of ISIS. And he has been claiming already terror attack that's happened in Tunisia. I'm afraid this could be a coordinated campaign against European continent on one side and Arab democratic transition on the other because jihadis and dictators are working hand in hand.

BERMAN: You mentioned the idea of an ongoing campaign. Security sources I speak with here say one of the reasons that they added new troops to secure key locations, added new police is because they do believe that there were accomplices in these attacks and they can't rule out the possibility that these people left behind could still be planning something else. Based on your expertise about French terror cells, would that be how they operate? Would the surviving members be looking to stage an attack now, or do you suspect they would lay low?

FILIU: I think the problem is not only a French one. It's a European one. What are the terrorist trying to achieve with such a massacre as the ones that took place in Paris last week? They want to create sectarian strife, to take Muslims in Europe as hostages, to trigger provocations, racist retaliation against them. So they could strike maybe tomorrow, but I don't believe in France. Or they could choose maybe Germany, where the environment is pretty ripe for anti-Muslim retaliation in the case that I hope will never happen of terror attacks in our neighboring country.

BERMAN: Professor Jean-Pierre Filiu, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate discussing how they are pressing ahead with the investigation here in France.

And, of course, while that's happening all around us here, in the United States, new security measures announced at airports. And it's all being linked to an article in "Inspire." That is the magazine put out by AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. And this new article features instructions on how to make homemade bombs using common household products.

I'm joined now by Karen Greenberg. She's the director of the Center for National Security at Fordham University Law School.

Karen, we have these new measures. The Department of Homeland Security said they'll be doing searching of passengers and luggage, even for passengers who have already gone through a security check point. First, let's talk the mechanics of this. What can those secondary searches catch?

KAREN GREENBERG, DIR., CTR. FOR NATL. SECURITY AT FORDHAM UNIV.: You know, I think that there are two things. First, the primary search is a very important one. And I think TSA and the government relies on them and thinks that they're very effective.

A secondary search can turn up smaller items. It can turn up liquids that they might have missed. It can turn up a variety of things. And it depends on exactly how they go about it. And they haven't told us. Whether they'll be looking for explosive materials, et cetera. But it's more that extra layer of protection. And you have to know that the United States has been preparing for this day for a long time. These are the kind of measures they've had in place increasingly since after 9/11. And so, I mean, I'm -- the primary security check is the important one. And I think we place a lot of trust in it.

BERMAN: It struck me that they're putting these measures in place after the attacks here in Paris that may have a link to AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. This particular branch of al Qaeda seems almost obsessed with attacks on airliners. There was the underwear bomber who had been through Yemen. There was all this hard drive efforts they were trying to make to get some kind of explosive hard drive on a plane. There seems to be an obsession with nonmetallic explosive devices. Is this new focus, are these new measures in place specifically because of concerns about this branch of al Qaeda?

GREENBERG: No, because al Qaeda and planes and using planes for terrorism, whether as a bomb or to hijack them, have been in place since before 9/11. And so it wasn't just the attack of 9/11. It was -- there have been other attacks that have been planned through airlines. We know about the one from London many years ago. So I don't think it's new. It's more of same, and we're paying attention to it perhaps in a heightened way right now. But planes have always been tied to al Qaeda. No more so to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. And it's something authorities have been ever vigilant about.

BERMAN: You brought up a good point, too, Karen, they haven't told us exactly what they're going to do and I don't suspect they will because they don't want to tip people off to what these secondary versions of the screening are.

Karen Greenberg, I appreciate you being with us. Key insight to these new measures that fliers all over the United States will soon be facing.

Brooke, back to you.

BALDWIN: Berman, thank you. We'll check back in with you momentary.

Meantime, another big story we're covering today, investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder from that missing AirAsia flight and may have found the fuselage. So the big question, how soon will we know what happened in those final moments before the plane crashed? We'll talk to Richard Quest coming up.

And new video of the Paris terrorists who killed those journalists inside of the "Charlie Hebdo" headquarters. More video showing them calmly reloading their weapons, shouting something, making some kind of hand signal. What is all of this telling investigators, counterterrorism officials? We'll walk you through this coming up. You're watching CNN's special coverage. We'll be right back.

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BALDWIN: You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

Sixteen days after AirAsia Flight 8501 vanished from radar, investigators are now finally getting closer to figuring out what happened, what brought down this plane and the 162 people on board. According to an official, search teams may have found the fuselage. That's the body of the plane. And they have now finally recovered both of those black boxes.

And this is huge because, as officials say, the flight data recorder will likely tell us what happened, and the voice recorder may tell us why. Aviation correspondent Richard Quest is with me now.

So they found these two boxes, which is huge, and then ultimately, hopefully, this fuselage. What -- when will the world know what happened?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, this depends very much on what the flight data and the cockpit voice recorder actually tell us. And here we have, of course, or we did a second ago, have the various recorders.

BALDWIN: Here we go.

QUEST: Right. Now, once they get inside, they download and they start to analyze. The first thing they're going to be working out is the general picture. But if they find something immediately, if they find something that's so serious about the aircraft, the engines, the way the system's operated, that it needs to be dealt with now, you would have an operator's emergency directive. You would have some sort of directive telling airlines we've learned this, now just be prepared. Something more is coming. This is how you need to deal with it.

I don't - I think that's very unlikely in the emergency sense. Much more likely is that the investigation will work out what happened and then we'll start to see recommendations for how to avoid it in the future.

BALDWIN: Do we know - because there have been theories out there as far as how the plane hit the water. We don't know yet the catalyst that brought the plane down. But do we know more about what happened?

QUEST: We're starting to get a pretty good picture, that it hit the water horizontally.

BALDWIN: OK. OK.

QUEST: Like that. And that was the same in Air France 447. You could tell - you don't need the data recorders for that.

BALDWIN: The data recorders.

QUEST: You need the wreckage. The wreckage shows -- the wreckage gives away its secrets of how the plane disintegrated. And now we know, or it seems very likely, that the fuselage -- that the tail plane, the empanage (ph), is in one part and the fuselage is in another. Again, the plane broke up when it hit the water.

BALDWIN: But, again, if you fuselage, if you picture a plane, the fuselage is really the body, the middle section of the plane, right?

QUEST: Yes.

BALDWIN: As you were drawing for me in commercial break, that is where the majority of those passengers, where those bodies would be.

QUEST: Yes, and I'm afraid to say I suspect that what you're going to find when they get in - when they go into the fuselage, we won't see pictures, thank God, what you're going to find is that the majority of passengers, bearing in mind this was 40 odd minutes into the flight, were probably still strapped into their seats.

BALDWIN: OK. Richard Quest, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

And want to take you back to Paris, to my colleague, John Berman.

John.

BERMAN: Thanks so much, Brooke.

You know, coming up for us next, there is dramatic new footage. A new view of the attacks that happened just behind me, showing the aftermath. What does this new video tell us about the two men who pulled off this attack, how they were equipped, how they were trained? We'll speak to an expert who can break it all down.

And then, female jihadists. Females, women connected to terror. We know that the girlfriend of one of the attackers here in Paris is on the run, could be in Syria. She is not the first woman to be involved with terrorist organizations. We'll talk about that as well.

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