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French Police Arrest 5 Men for Planning Terrorism; Michael Moore Says Snipers are Cowards; Bobby Jindal's Controversial Muslim Comments; Yemeni Nationals Charged for Conspiring to Kill Americans

Aired January 20, 2015 - 11:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: We do have breaking news. CNN just learned that two Yemeni nationals have been charged with conspiring to kill U.S. nationals abroad, planning to attack Americans overseas. One of these men, who was born in Yemen, appeared before a court in New York a couple days ago and another one of these men due to appear before a judge today. They were arrested in Saudi Arabia in this plot. The discussions they were having about attacking Americans happened between 2003 and 2009 and during that six-year period now, sometime ago, they are alleged to have met with senior al Qaeda leadership. Again, the news just in. Two Yemeni men charged in the United States with plotting to kill Americans overseas. We'll let you know when we get more information on that.

Meanwhile, happening right now, ISIS is threatening executions within 72 hours. The terrorist group says it will kill two Japanese hostages unless Japan hands over $200 million. That amount is important. The ransom is identical to what Japan pledged to countries fighting ISIS. The militant group is also being directly linked to a terror cell raided in Belgium last week. The suspected leader of that cell, a man connected to ISIS, believed to be an ISIS fighter, is right now on the loose. Authorities say his last known location was believed to be Greece. There is also an ISIS connection to anti-terror raids in Germany. Some 200 police launched a huge operation raiding 13 separate homes across Germany. Those subjected to raids have not been charged with crimes but they had been in contact with two suspected Islamist accused of providing logistical aid to ISIS.

To France, we're hearing reports that French police arrested five men for planning an act of terrorism. This is a new development.

Let's go to our senior international correspondent, Jim Bittermann, in Paris.

Jim, what are details?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, we don't know a lot of details. The prosecutor hasn't told us. The fact is they picked up five Russians of Chechnyan descent. There have been massive protests in Chechnya over publications of the "Charlie Hebdo" caricatures so there may be a connection there. One thing that should be added is that while prosecutors are

interviewing these gentlemen, it's not 100 percent sure that this is terrorist related because, in the past, Russians here have been involved in mafia activities in the south. Until we get clarification from a prosecutor, we won't know. They were found with explosives however.

BERMAN: So much of the fears over the last days and weeks, Jim, have been about homegrown terror in France. Along those lines, four suspects appeared in court today perhaps connected to those attacks two weeks ago?

BITTERMANN: These are friends of Amedy Coulibaly, who was killed in that shootout at the kosher supermarket, where he killed four people. In fact, there are nine people being held over the weekend for questioning. Five of them were released in the wee hours of this morning. And the four were brought into court this afternoon and they have been officially notified that they are under examination for participation in a criminal conspiracy, a terrorist conspiracy, to harm people. And at least one of these is a very good friend of Coulibaly's and is believed to have been the owner of a motorcycle, which was found at the scene and, in fact -- the keys were found on the scene and his DNA was found in Coulibaly's car, the car that took him to the kosher supermarket. So police have good reason to believe that he may be implicated in designing this terrorist act and planning this terrorist act -- John?

BERMAN: All right. Jim Bittermann, for us in France. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

Other news we're watching right now. More proof that Pope Francis is a different kind of pontiff. Apparently, he doesn't think you need to have a family the size of "The Brady Bunch" to be a good Catholic. The pope telling reporters that just because the church doesn't agree with artificial contraception that does not mean the flock needs to, in his words, "be like rabbits." He even said he admonished a woman during his trip to the Philippines for risking her life to have seven children calling it irresponsible.

The U.N. Security Council condemned the recent escalation attacks by Boko Haram, demanding the terror group cease all hostilities and human rights abuses. It comes a day after Boko Haram militants crossed the Nigeria border for the first time killing three and kidnapping 80 in Cameroon, including many children. Some escaped and others were freed after a gun fight with Boko Haram.

You can help the victims of those attacks there, especially the children, left orphaned in the one horrendous attack. School closings have prevented children from getting the education they deserve. You can donate money through our website. Go to CNN.com/impact. 90 percent of every dollar spent goes directly to assist the children there.

All right. Michael Moore is slammed for tweets. He calls snipers cowards. What does he mean? We'll discuss next.

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BERMAN: "Snipers are cowards." Explosive comments from Director Michael Moore that set off a controversy from Hollywood all of the way to the Pentagon. Moore is the provocative filmmaker behind "Fahrenheit 911." His comments about snipers in the form of a tweet comes as "American Sniper" sets January box office records and picks up all kinds of Oscar nominations. Michael Moore later said his comments were taken out of context. We'll discuss that. But what did he mean and what does the military think about that statement?

Want to bring in our senior media correspondent, Brian Stelter; Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr; and retired brigadier general, Mark Kimmitt.

General, let me start with you. You outrank us all.

When you hear a film director call snipers cowards, what's your reaction?

BRIG. GEN. MARK KIMMITT (RET.), U.S. ARMY: It's simply nonsense. Very few of our military are in direct firefight. Whether it's a sniper, whether it's a pilot in the air, whether it's a crewman on a ship, most will never be in that 300 meter battle. When Michael Moore says that unless you're in that 300 meter battle, you're a coward, I think he's impugning hundreds of soldiers, airmen and Marines who aren't in that direct firefight.

BERMAN: He also says snipers aren't heroes. That was his clarification. He said his uncle was killed in World War II by a sniper, which perhaps is what caused him to make these comments. The snipers he says will shoot you in the back.

Barbara, what's the reaction been in the Pentagon? Let me just say for the record here that during the invasion of Iraq I was driven around in the back of a truck with a bunch of Marine snipers and my sense was they weren't cowards, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, this is a very difficult thing. I've talked to in the last couple days to a number of Iraq veterans I know. And one of the things that really strikes me about all this is our criticism, a little bit unfocused here. Chris Kyle, without question, had a career of honor and valor. But this is one single servicemember who was put in a position of repeated tours in Iraq leading to over 100 -- over 100 -- we call it confirmed kills. Who back in those days, what commander thought it was a good idea to put that burden on one single military sniper? I would be astounded if it happened today. That's an extraordinary thing.

These people who talk about the glory of war and that some film -- criticizing the film because it glorifies war, my advice is go talk to John McCain, go talk to Chuck Hagel, and men and women who have stood in the middle of fire fights.

BERMAN: Yeah. STARR: Chris Kyle performed with extraordinary valor. This is about that courage, which means putting aside your fear when you are scared out of your mind in the middle of a firefight. These debates that are emerging out of Hollywood and all of these people, maybe these people should go stand in a firefight in Iraq and see what they think. That's my opinion.

BERMAN: Brian Stelter, I'll bring you in, in a minute.

General, Michael Moore is suggesting there's a good kind of killing in war and a bad kind of killing in war. And I think what Barbara is saying anyone in the middle of it, there's a lot of killing in war.

KIMMITT: That's a fact we have known for 10,000 years. Barbara is right. Chris Kyle served honorably and you try to maintain honor in war but at the end of the day, this is necessarily about killing your enemy to the point where he or she is defeated and the other nation no longer wants to fight. It's ugly. There is not a lot of glory. There is an old saying, "War is hell," and that hasn't changed in 10,000 years.

BERMAN: Brian settler, I want to bring you in here. There's a bigger context of how this is happening. These comments were made in the midst of the release of "American Sniper" but Michael Moore says he wasn't commenting about that film.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT & CNN HOST, RELIABLE SOURCES: Which is ridiculous.

BERMAN: I put up the tweet where he explains the context of what he was saying. His uncle being killed by a sniper in World War II. What do you make of this?

STELTER: This is the value of Hollywood. It's easy to mock Hollywood and make fun of celebrities in Hollywood, but Hollywood gets the conversation started. We just, as a country, stopped talking about the Iraq war. Now this movie re-ignites conversations about Iraq, whether it was worth it. But most importantly, what the soldiers there experienced.

BERMAN: Right.

STELTER: Clint Eastwood and Bradley Cooper have done something valuable by showing one soldier's experience, one soldier's point of view. I think it helps civilians relate to veterans more directly than otherwise they could.

BERMAN: It's interesting. I keep being told we have to stipulate Michael Moore said he was taken out of context and he never tweeted one word about "American Sniper."

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BERMAN: I'm not so sure why that matters. Why does criticism about snipers in general matter if it was directed at the film or people that serve in the military? KIMMITT: Also, in his follow-up comment, put up on Facebook, was

critical of the fact that in the movie Chris Kyle refers to Iraqis, some of whom he is killing, as savages. It's another example of re- litigating the war and reprocessing what it was about. That's the value of this movie is. The book that Chris Kyle wrote is back atop the bestseller list, for example. Those who didn't know of him his experience, other solders' experience, now have a new opportunity to look back.

BERMAN: No one is saying that war and Iraq war specifically was not controversial. I know the general was there. Barbara covered it for a long time.

Brian, this film though, it's going gangbusters. People love it.

STELTER: That's never been an Iraq war-themed movie that's done this well at the box office or any movie coming out in January to do this well. It made $100 million in the first weekend. Every other Iraq war movie, $10 million, $20 million. This movie is resonating with Americans like no other has. Maybe that's because it's a positive portrayal of Iraq after years of hearing almost nothing but negative messages.

BERMAN: Bradley Cooper guy is popular.

STELTER: By the way, Bradley Cooper -- it has all of the key elements for a popular movie. But it's bringing something close to home we haven't seen much of lately.

BERMAN: Brian Stelter, General Mark Kimmitt, Barbara Starr, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate the discussion. It's an important topic.

Coming up, have Muslims taken over parts of cities in Europe, making them unsafe for others? FOX News has apologized for saying just that. But now a man who seems to want to be president is saying it again and will not back down. Our reporter puts him to the test.

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BERMAN: A man who seems very much to want to be president is in the middle of a debate right now about terror and religion. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal says certain areas of London have become no-go zones for non-Muslims claiming that some neighborhoods are so controlled by Muslims that non-Muslims, Christians, just stay away. So what is the reality?

CNN's Max Foster lives there and he challenged the governor.

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BOBBY JINDAL, (R), GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA: There people here in London that will tell you there are neighborhoods where the women don't feel safe walking through neighborhoods without veils. There are neighborhoods where the police are less likely to go. That's a dangerous thing. FOSTER: You can't just make an accusation like that. You need to give me the area so we can look at it. I haven't heard of one.

JINDAL: Look, I think your viewers know there are places where police are less likely to go. They absolutely know their neighborhoods where they wouldn't feel comfortable or they wouldn't go out with their wives --

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FOSTER: High crime rates --

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FOSTER: -- it's not because there are too many Muslims there.

JINDAL: We're not saying -- look, this isn't a question. I know the left wants to do an attack on religion. That's not what this is. What we're saying is it's absolutely an issue for the U.K. and for America and other European and Western nations.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: So is it an issue for the U.K.?

Max Foster joins me now live via Skype.

Max, you've been talking to police there, you talked to Governor Jindal. What are the police saying about his comments?

FOSTER: Well, it's interesting. We've been about today and there's been a lot of talk about this because of the interview that took place on FOX as well. There's this concern that there's a real misunderstanding of the situation here in the U.K. And this is sort of reopening that whole debate as well. It was all fine with the governor. I don't have a particular view on it. I just wanted to get to the bottom of where he was making these points from, it was just basic journalism. And he didn't have any evidence and couldn't even cite to me who it was he was speaking to. So the concern is that he was making these points based on a very old newspaper article. So there is concern about that.

So a representative, Kevin Marsh (ph), someone who works for the Metropolitan Police Federation, he's with the union, effectively, that represents the police in London, today, he told us that this isn't something we recognize at all. We don't have areas in London that are no-go. We don't have areas where there are just Sharia Laws in place. We police all areas in London. Some are more sensitive than others. But there isn't a situation where there are no-go areas. So these cases -- and there have been cases where Sharia Law has been installed in certain areas, affects certain people in those areas but it doesn't affect the whole community and it doesn't mean people come from outside can't come in.

BERMAN: Seems like his overall implication of what he was saying perhaps upset people there, including the British prime minister, including the mayor of Paris, by the way. But there are some differences in neighborhoods, police say, from one area to another.

Max Foster, thank you for being with us. Appreciate it.

We have breaking news we told you about a short while ago. Two Yemeni nationals have been charged now with conspiring to kill Americans overseas. There are two men from Yemen. They were charged here in the United States in New York courts. One, two days ago, one is being charged today.

I want to bring in Pamela Brown, who has been covering the situation in Paris.

Pamela, what do we know about these men and what they were planning?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, according to these recently unsealed documents by the Department of Justice, these two Yemeni nationals were working for al Qaeda, basically, and they were directed, their mission was to go out and find Americans abroad and kill them, particularly U.S. military members. According to these documents, they engaged in attacks against the U.S. military during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And those attacks led to the death of one U.S. Army Ranger and wounded several others. According to the documents, they also provided material support to al Qaeda trying to recruit an American to join their ranks. So several different allegations here in these documents.

Apparently, they were charged actually several years ago, John, for the offenses they allegedly committed over the course of six years. They were incarcerated in Saudi Arabia and then expelled from Saudi Arabia. The FBI went over there, arrested them, and brought them back to the U.S. And as you said, they are facing a judge in a New York courtroom -- John?

BERMAN: One facing charges two days ago. One will see that judge today. These two men believed to have committed these acts between 2003 and 2009.

Pamela Brown doing that reporting for us from Paris. I really appreciate it. That's all for us today. There will be much more coming up on "Legal

View" with Ashleigh Banfield, which starts right after this.

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