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Al Qaeda Claims It Planned Paris Attack; France Snaps Up Charlie Hebdo's Record Printing;; Report: Boehner's Bartender Planned to Poison Him

Aired January 14, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: NEWSROOM starts now.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We start this morning with breaking news.

The terror group Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, now says that it was, indeed, behind the attack on the "Charlie Hebdo" offices that left 12 people dead. And the plot was years in the making.

In a new video al Qaeda's top commander in Yemen said, quote, "We clarified to the Islamic world that al Qaeda chose the target, laid the plan, financed the operation, and appointed the premiere."

The top al Qaeda commander, pictured here, you're going to see him in a minute, goes on to call the Kouachi brothers, quote, "heroes," and that the attack was mastered by the late Anwar al-Awlaki before his death in 2011. That would mean the attacks were at least three years in the making.

This message from al Qaeda comes as the latest issue of "Charlie Hebdo" hits newsstands with lines snaking through the streets of Paris as thousands lined up to snap up the satirical magazine's first publication since the staff was gunned down.

Barbara Starr joins us now with more on these claims by al Qaeda.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. But first we have new information here at CNN. A U.S. official tells me they now believe, their assessment, if you will, is that when Cherif Kouachi, the younger brother, left Yemen in 2011, he left with a pile of cash.

It may have been as much as $20,000 given to him by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to help finance future attacks. They're trying to nail down the specifics. But that's where they are this morning, that he left Yemen in 2011 after a short trip there with a pile of cash.

This all goes to the point of what was al Qaeda's role in either directing this attack all the way back to 2011 or at least inspiring the brothers to carry it out. Now Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the most dangerous al Qaeda

affiliate right now. The one of biggest concern to the United States because they have the technical ability to make bombs that potentially can get past airport screening. Anybody that could potentially put a bomb on an aircraft obviously a top concern.

What they're trying to figure out right now with this latest claim by Al Qaeda, that it directed the attack, that it picked out the targets. You know, is it really true? Is it a claim of responsibility to get more attention in the world or is it true? Does this really date all the way back to 2011 when Kouachi went to Yemen, got weapons training, may have met directly with Awlaki before he was killed in the U.S. drone strikes and this whole plot was basically fermenting for a couple of years?

Or did they go home, stew about things, have these jihadist tendencies and then look for a target to attack? All of this still to be really sorted out, but make no mistake, the claim this morning by Al Qaeda in Yemen, a very serious concern to the U.S. -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr reporting live from the Pentagon this morning. Thank you.

As you might have noticed, the investigation is quite complicated. Al Qaeda in Yemen claims it's responsible, but we also know that one of the other terrorists, Amedy Coulibaly, pledged allegiance to ISIS. Actually that's not him but we have this video. You can see him speaking alongside an ISIS flag.

So let's talk about this. I'm joined by my partner in Paris again today, Jim Sciutto. He's our chief national security correspondent, and Paul Cruickshank, CNN's terror analyst and author of "Agent Storm," the story of a spy inside Al Qaeda in Yemen who led the CIA to Anwar al-Awlaki.

Jim, I'd like to start with you. Al Qaeda in Yemen claims the attack on "Charlie Hebdo" was assigned, accepted, financed and successful. The plan was at least three years in the making, we think. So how did French authorities miss this?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's one of many signals that they missed. Keep in mind, because, remember, they did have these brothers for years in fact, three years in fact, after they return from Yemen under surveillance. And it was only six months before the attack, and remember it was a week ago today when the gunmen stormed the offices of "Charlie Hebdo" just behind me here.

It was a week ago today but last June, June 2014, they took the Kouachi brothers off surveillance making a judgment at that time that they were no longer a priority. So it adds to the list of missed signals here.

And I think as well, from an American perspective, AQAP to this point has been viewed principally as a threat for getting -- concealing weapons and getting them on to airplanes, like the underwear bomber at Christmas in 2009, a very serious threat. They have their master bomb maker Ibrahim al-Asiri. To have them behind this attack, assuming it's substantiated over time, adds to their M.O.

It effectively expands the threat from AQAP to inspiring and possibly directing gun attacks like this, if you want to call them Mumbai style or maybe we call them Paris style attacks now. But it expands their M.O. This raises the level of concern for the U.S. with AQAP, which has already, Carol, as we know, very high.

COSTELLO: Right. So, Paul, do you believe that Al Qaeda in Yemen was behind the attack in Paris?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, all the indications now as if they were behind this attack. They're certainly claiming -- this is a senior military strategist who's claiming that's one of their key spokesman. They're not offering proof yet, though, that they've carried out this attack. There's no video of one of the brothers or two of the brothers that yet -- that has yet emerged. But it normally takes them a few months to put that kind of video out.

But certainly all the indications pointing to Al Qaeda in Yemen, as Barbara was pointing out, U.S. now believes he may have come back from Yemen with $20,000 in cash to finance this operation. All the pointers towards the idea that one of the brothers meets with Anwar al-Awlaki, this American terrorist cleric in Yemen, and al-Awlaki recruits him into this plot.

Now we know from this double agent I did the book on, who led to CIA to al-Awlaki, was close to al-Awlaki that al-Awlaki was telling these recruits, camouflage your radicalism when you go back to the West. And we also note that that seems to be what the Kouachi brothers did when they got back to the West.

The French slapped on surveillance after they got a tip off from the Americans that they believe they've attended a training camp in Yemen or one of the brothers attended a camp. But in June 2014 they take off that surveillance because they think the Kouachi brothers are no longer dangerous. Clearly they were still radical it appears. They were pretending not to be radical anymore.

COSTELLO: The other part of this that's confusing, Jim, Al Qaeda in Yemen on that same video that we showed folks, said the attack on the kosher grocery store was an added blessing from Allah, which means it was not part of the plot. The man who carried out that attack pledged allegiance to ISIS.

So does that mean al Qaeda and ISIS are working together or we just can't determine that right now?

SCIUTTO: Not necessarily. There are overlapping motivations here and the groups frankly have common motivations. So several analysts, terror analysts have made the point that we can draw walls and lines between these groups that are too definitive and there are cases where people might be working for one or pledging allegiance to one who also get support from another.

And this plot is a fantastic example of that. Because think of the other folks who have been involved. So you have an ISIS pledge of allegiance from Amedy Coulibaly, who carried out the kosher market attack. You have an AQAP claimed responsibility for this "Charlie Hebdo" shooting behind me.

Remember, Hayat Boumeddiene, who is the partner of the kosher market attacker, she was fleeing France via Turkey. She's seen with a gentleman who's now been identified as someone attached to a Pakistani Afghan terror cell here so yet another group, and the Kouachi brothers were tied to another man who was seen as al Qaeda's main recruiter in Europe, not AQAP but core al Qaeda's main recruiter in Europe.

So just in that one list there you have four different cells, different organizations somehow involved or connected which shows that these terror groups, they have similar motivations, they have common goals and their recruits have overlapping friendships, relationships, et cetera. It may be a mistake to imagine that just one group was responsible or involved in these attacks in Paris.

COSTELLO: But, Paul, isn't it possible that all of these players could have met in France and it wasn't coordinated in the Middle East?

CRUICKSHANK: That's absolutely right. I think it's extremely unlikely that ISIS and Al Qaeda in Yemen at the leadership level coordinated this. These were friends. They've known each other for five years. Two of the brothers or one of the brothers had a connection with AQAP and perhaps met some of the top leadership. And I think what probably then happened is they recruited Coulibaly, who was the guy who had good feelings for ISIS, into that plot.

And that's actually what Al Qaeda in Yemen is saying today. They're saying that Coulibaly was not part of their organization, was not recruited into their plot, but the brothers recruited him at the local level.

Coulibaly we don't think has traveled to Syria or Iraq. So he's not had that interaction with the group itself. But he clearly was somebody who had a lot of affection for ISIS and wanted it to be seen that he was carrying it out in their name, Carol.

COSTELLO: I wanted to ask you this, too, Jim, because the new "Charlie Hebdo" issue came out today. And now we hear from Al Qaeda in Yemen. Is that just a coincidence?

SCIUTTO: It's possible. You know, remember these groups like AQAP and others, they are very good at maximizing attention, not only in their brutality, the nature of the targets that they choose, the methods they use, the brutality they use, but on picking days to maximize that message. It's very possible they're connected.

And just another note about that magazine, Carol, as we talk about it. We noticed earlier, and here you'll remember, is the memorial to the "Charlie Hebdo" victims behind me, which has been growing every day.

Placed among the candles and the pencils and the crayons that have been part of it from the beginning as well as the personal notes, we're seeing copies of that magazine, too, laid out there. The cover, et cetera. Another sign of support that the people of Paris, the people of France are showing as they continue to remember those events a week ago.

COSTELLO: All right. Jim Sciutto, Paul Cruickshank, thanks as always. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: One week after terrorists burst into the office's of a French magazine, the nation rallies in support of "Charlie Hebdo" and its refusal to cower.

Jim Sciutto is with me again this morning. He's in front of the magazine's Paris office -- Jim.

SCIUTTO: Well, Carol, as you know, the satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo" not only refuses to be silenced, the voice may be even louder than even just across the city of Paris.

French citizens have scrambled at newsstands and corner stores to snap up the latest edition put together sadly by a skeletal staff devastated by this attack but still determined.

The magazine knew France would rally around it. The normal printing ballooned 50 fold from a typical 60,000 copies a week to three million.

And signs are now going up announcing that newsstands have sold out. France's newspaper say the print run is going to be extended again to a jaw-dropping total of five million. Nearly 100 times the normal print run. In fact some sellers have begun posting copies on eBay asking for as much as $1700 per copy.

Well, the release of the magazine comes as a terrorist group in Yemen, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP claims responsibility for the attack in a video. The group says it gave the men their orders and their target three years ago and U.S. officials now telling CNN may have given them as much as $20,000 to finance the attack.

I want to bring in CNN international anchor Hala Gorani.

As this is something happening, as the police crackdown across the country, an enormous show of force, thousands of officers and soldiers, there's a crackdown now, isn't there, on support, vocal support for terrorism? What are we seeing today?

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes, indeed. We're seeing and according to authorities here in Paris that there have been over 50 arrests for something called apology for terrorism. Roughly translated in English, it would be essentially defending terrorism, not incitement exactly but saying terrorism is something you support.

So, more than 50 arrests including one very well known comedian in this country whose name is (INAUDIBLE) tweeted out "Je Suis Charlie Coulibaly", so, Charlie, the name of the magazine, Coulibaly, of course, the last name of the man authority say committed that act of terror on the kosher supermarket. He is one of more than 50 detained in this country. It's a very

interesting debate, Jim, because it's really a question surrounding the freedom of expression. So, some people will say absolutely not, incitement to terrorism is not covered by free speech. This is something that is criminalized, that is against the law in this country and many other countries.

So, if you tweet out or use social media to say that you support the acts that were committed by the terrorists at "Charlie Hebdo", that indeed you should be arrested and charged with a crime. Others are saying tweeting out "Je Suis Charlie Coulibaly" is tasteless, it's not funny, it's obnoxious, but in light of what so many people marched for in this country, it should be covered by free speech. That it is not what you would call incitement or violence to terrorism.

So, it's been a very interesting debate. One week on after that massacre at "Charlie Hebdo" as what people should say. Even though people might consider those statements terribly tasteless, whether or not they should be allowed to do so in public, Jim.

SCIUTTO: No question, Hala.

You know, Carol, this gets to the difficulty of establishing what's offensive. One person's satire is another person's deep offense. And it's something that France has struggled with for some time. A number of years ago they banned the wearing of Muslim head scarves here saying that was an affront to a national French identity. Of course, to many here they saw that as an affront to their religion.

It is a constant battle here, a constant battle balancing act that's frankly very difficult for countries to get right, Carol.

COSTELLO: The other interesting thing that I wanted to tell our viewers is how fast this magazine is selling. They're selling like the proverbial hot cakes, right? I mean, there are issues of "Charlie Hebdo" on eBay going for $600 an issue.

All right. I lost Jim Sciutto sadly, but we'll get him back later, never fear.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: an Ohio man facing charges of plotting to kill House Speaker John Boehner. Why the suspect was targeting the Iowa Republican, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A bizarre plot to kill House Speaker John Boehner and it involves his former bartender. Authorities say this man, 44-year-old Michael Hoyt, who worked at a country club where Boehner was a member wanted to kill the Ohio Republican for several reasons, including his belief that the Ohio Republican was responsible for the Ebola outbreak. But the story doesn't end there.

Zach Wolf is managing editor for CNN Digital Politics. He joins me now from Washington with more.

Good morning, Zach.

ZACH WOLF, CNN MANAGING EDITOR, DIGITAL POLITICS: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, tell me more about this plot and how police discovered it.

WOLF: Well, it's really kind of amazing. They discovered it because the man, Michael Hoyt, this 44-year-old bartender had worked for the country club where John Boehner goes in Ohio.

He called 911 essentially on himself and said he was thinking about doing this and that he had a loaded gun and, of course, the local police went to his house and found the gun and took it away from him. He told them that he thought John Boehner was responsible for the Ebola and out to get him.

It got even a little stranger from there. It turned out this guy had been e-mailing with Boehner's wife asking for a meeting with the House speaker to talk about Ebola and other things. He's currently in a mental hospital.

All of this happened back in October but the federal authorities indicted him just last week on threatening a federal official.

COSTELLO: And this bartender has known John Boehner for a lengthy period of time, right?

WOLF: That's right. Like five years he was the bartender.

And what apparently caused this frustration in the guy's life is he was fired from that country club where John Boehner goes. What's kind of interesting about this, you know, bars go at the whole -- John Boehner's whole identity. He talks about being raised in the bar. He's also a good golfer. He's one of the best golfers in Washington.

So, a lot of stuff in John Boehner's life circling around this story.

COSTELLO: All right. Zach Wolf, many thanks to you.

Check out the story at CNN.com/politics if you want to know more.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM: one week after the brutal attack, "Charlie Hebdo" is out with a new edition of the satirical magazine. But good luck trying to get your hands on it. We'll talk about that, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

One week to the day after terrorists slaughtered cartoonists and police at the "Charlie Hebdo" offices in Paris, al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula says the attack was years in the making. Investigators are trying to piece together exactly who came into contact with Said and Cherif Kouachi in the run up to these killings.

A 29-year-old French man is now under arrest in Bulgaria. Prosecutors say he belonged to an Islamist cell that was plotting acts of terror.

Deborah Feyerick joins us to parse out this very complicated investigation.

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And it really is.

But the reason that investigators believe that the Kouachis were part of a larger cell is because at least two, possibly three connected to the brothers left France the week before the deadly attacks. It appears their route was to get to Turkey and into Syria.

And one of them, the man you mentioned, is 29-year-old Fritz-Joly Joachin. He was picked in Bulgaria on the Turkish border on January 1st. It's a full week before the attacks. He has since been charged with belonging to a prosecutor's call an organized crime group intending acts of terror.

Now, Joachin was in touch with one of the Kouachi, we believe it's Cherif Kouachi multiple times before he left France. He was taking his young son with him. His wife is reported saying that Joachin had recently become radicalized. He was stopped because he was traveling with the child but in affect he was ultimately charged with those terror crimes.

COSTELLO: Yes, even the chart is kind of complicated. So, bear us here.

I want to ask you about the man traveling with Hayat Boumeddiene.

FEYERICK: Yes. And she is the fugitive. She is Amedy Coulibaly's either wife or girlfriend. It's a little bit unclear still because some people say they were married in a religious ceremony, not the civil ceremony.

But according to "Le Monde", the man that she is with there, French authorities believe he's part of a Pakistani/Afghan terror cell. One of the reasons the Turkish authorities believe that Boumeddiene crossed into Syria because when the two of them arrived at the airport in Turkey, they were actually flagged by Turkey's risk assessment center. And investigators from that center actually were able to track them to the Syrian border with Turkey and there they disappeared.

So, now, you've got three people, all of whom were trying to make their way into Turkey to get over to Syria. That's why investigators believe that this is part of a much larger cell.

COSTELLO: So, investigators in France arrested seven other people, too, right? Who were they?

FEYERICK: That's exactly right. That's what we're trying to get information on. The Kouachi brothers were part of this group known as the 19th. That's because they were all from the 19th small, that's the area that they lived.

One western intelligence source says it was nicknamed the Iraqi 19 because they had ties to jihad or wannabe jihadists. Again, they want to see who they were talking to or who they were meeting with, because you have to keep in mind that the Kouachis were under surveillance for a while.

And so, whether those surveillance photos or even transcripts will yield any additional information is crucial at this point in the investigation to see just how large this all goes.

COSTELLO: OK, I'll let you get back to it.

FEYERICK: You bet.

COSTELLO: Digging up some good information. Deborah Feyerick, many thanks to you.