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Terror Web; Paris Suing FOX News?; AirAsia Investigation

Aired January 20, 2015 - 15:00   ET

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


BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's continue on, shall we? You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin, top of the hour.

We're following this widening web of suspected terror cells all across Europe. Look at a map and you can see. We're talking about police in Belgium, Greece, Germany, France, and the Netherlands, raiding these terror cells, capturing suspected jihadis. Today, 13 properties in total were raided in Germany.

At the same time in France, four suspected terrorists were in court, now being kept behind bars as investigators are probing their links to the attacks in Paris. But despite all of these arrests, for people in Europe, the hunt is just beginning. Two prime suspects, they are still on the run. You have this man, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, believed to be the ringleader of the ISIS-linked Belgian terror cell.

And then there's the world's most wanted woman, the widow of that Paris kosher market gunman, Hayat Boumeddiene. CNN is now tracking how Boumeddiene may have actually now escaped into Syria. These men believed to have helped smuggle her out of Turkey.

Let's go now first to Paris, where there have been some huge, huge developments there today.

Joining me now, CNN's Pamela Brown.

Pamela, these four men were in court today over the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks. They're linked to the kosher store gunman. Tell me about these four men. Have they been officially charged?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, those charges are still being prepared, Brooke. But, as you mentioned, the four men went before a judge here in Paris today.

They were basically indicted on terrorism-related offenses in connection to the Paris attacks, the first indictments we have seen since the "Charlie Hebdo" massacre. According to sources, one of the men's DNA was found on the car that was used to transport Amedy Coulibaly to the grocery store. Another man's DNA was found on the glove that Coulibaly wore during the attack at that kosher grocery market.

That's what we have learned at this stage. Of course, we know, Brooke, that authorities are on the hunt for other suspects who may have been in their network. But the problem is, it's believed that a lot of them have actually made it to Syria, which is going to be very tough for authorities to get to them there, including Hayat Boumeddiene, who you just mentioned -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: That's where I want to continue with. Pamela Brown, thank you.

This hunt for Hayat Boumeddiene not letting up at all for a second. At the moment, though, it looks as though this widow of this Paris supermarket gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, has escaped into the relative safety of Syria. How hard is it to get into that country?

CNN's senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, actually sat down with two smugglers, one of whom may have taken her across the border for less than $50.

Here's Arwa's exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hayat Boumeddiene, today among Europe's most wanted women. But on January 2, before her name was internationally known, Boumeddiene and a male companion cleared customs with ease at Istanbul's secondary airport.

Yet, something raised a red flag with Turkish authorities and the two were placed under surveillance. They checked into this hotel on the Asian side of Istanbul, were monitored for a couple days, but after engaging in what was described as touristic activities, the surveillance stopped. All this happened in the days leading up to the Paris attacks.

(on camera): Following the Paris attacks, the Turks alerted French that they had already, in fact, gathered some intelligence on Hayat Boumeddiene. The French then provided the Turks with phone numbers that they were able to use to further track her movements. Hayat Boumeddiene's last known location, Sanliurfa, along the Turkey/Syria border.

(voice-over): Sanliurfa has become a key hub for transit into Syria. The touristic city saw its population swell due to the refugee influx. And just about anyone can blend into the chaotic streets. And from here, there are plenty of routes to the next leg of their journey.

We meet these two men in a town close to the border. They are both professional smugglers. "For the last few months, the soldiers have really cracked down," one says. "But there are always security breaches and alternate routes to be exploited."

The other tells us that a woman in all black paid him around two to three times the going rate right around when Turkish shorts believe Boumeddiene disappeared into Syria.

"She said, 'I will give you 100 lira just to get me to Syria,'" he recalls. "She was entirely covered in black, like I am now." It's the first time since the war in Syria began that either of them have taken a woman across on her own. The smuggler says she was of medium build and guesses her age to be, like Boumeddiene, in her mid- 20s. She spoke classical Arabic and did not have a Syrian accent. That, he claims, is all he knows.

"I saw the 100 lira and I did not ask anything," he tells us. On the back of a motorcycle, they headed down this border road, dotted with potential illegal crossing points.

(on camera): The Turkish military stopped us before we could get to the area where this woman crossed into Syria, but it is further down the road in a similar sort of landscape.

(voice-over): There is no way of knowing if it was Boumeddiene. But within an hour of speaking to the smuggler, the woman covered in black was in Syria.

Arwa Damon, CNN, on the Turkey/Syria border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Arwa Damon, thank you.

Let's talk about Japan now, now less than 72 hours to come up with this $200 million for the return of those two Japanese hostages, the executioner known as Jihadi John back on camera today with another chilling hostage video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To the prime minister of Japan, although you are more than 8,500 kilometers away from the Islamic State, you willingly have volunteered to take part in this crusade.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: I know you have seen so many of these videos before, but this is different. And this is why. Until now, ISIS has never publicly demanded cash ransom for a hostage's life. And you just heard him, this $200 million ransom. This wasn't chosen at random.

This is the precise dollar amount that Japan had pledged in help for regions affected by the war on ISIS.

Meantime, the United States just announced the results of its very own terror crackdown. The Department of Justice has charged these two suspected members of al Qaeda for allegedly plotting to kill U.S. military overseas. Officials say the offenses happened between 2003 and 2009. The men are citizens of Yemen.

This is a nation well known as a breeding ground for jihadis bent on attacking America. And at this very moment, Yemen appears to have no functioning government, after rebels took over the presidential palace today. A Yemeni minister saying -- quote -- "The president has no control." The palace just about a 20-minute drive from the U.S. Embassy, and CNN has learned that two U.S. Navy ships are now in new positions in the Red Sea in case the embassy needs to be evacuated.

So let's go to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. He is the only broadcast journalist from the West in Yemen.

Nick, let's begin with these rebels that took over the presidential palace. Who are they, and where is the president of Yemen right now?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The president of Yemen, as far as we understand, is still in his residence. But that had the streets outside of it subjected to gunfire today.

At the same time, we understand from the minister of information and two Interior Ministry officials there were a number of Houthi rebel gunmen who stormed into the presidential administration and indeed surrounding it for quite some time. We saw them in place earlier on this morning.

Whoever controls that building, most accept, controls the country. The Houthi rebels, predominantly Shia from north of the capital, have had a lot of success moving across the country, politicized, tribal in times, consider themselves to be marginalized by the government, came into the capital months ago, put up checkpoints all over it, introduced a degree of calm, but then found themselves clashing with al Qaeda and now politically obviously with the government too.

We have just heard from their leader, Abdel Malik Al-Houthi. He's given a lengthy speech. He blames the government for trying to take a lot of influence from the West and made four key demands at the end, which effectively asked for changes to the constitution that were supposed to be introduced, more say in how the country is run.

But the key thing here, Brooke, is he's taken, it seems, the key building here and left the president pretty much stuck in his home with gunfire on the streets outside. But he hasn't declared himself in charge. In fact, he still calls the president the president. Many, I'm sure, ministers or government officials wondering if they have jobs tomorrow, but a sense perhaps really that the Houthis want to explain to people that they are in charge, but not actually taking the title -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Back to that key building, that presidential palace, as we mentioned a in ago, just about a 20-minute drive from the U.S. Embassy.

Our CNN political analyst Josh Rogin is reporting that Senator Dianne Feinstein believes the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa should be evacuated. Have you been in touch with any of the U.S. Embassy staffers? What are they saying?

WALSH: Well, I spoke to them this morning to discuss the attack on that vehicle at a checkpoint nearby, armored vehicles. They're pretty easy to distinguish here in town, black armored SUVs. They did say they were quite clear they were literally shot at in the

air and then host at directly. There probably was an intent to kill them there. But, frankly, given the prevalence of al Qaeda in Yemen and what the embassy is involved in, too, a covert drone program to assassinate al Qaeda leadership, they have always had a heightened security level here.

It's a very secure facility. They don't seem particularly nervous inside that compound. They don't leave the compound that often as well. So, yes, I'm sure there's a lot of nervousness after Benghazi that the ultimate precautions should be taken, but I think possibly they also will be balancing in the State Department the disruption to the U.S. relationship with an important counterterror ally like Yemen if they simply pull everybody out, although the instability now is certainly deeply troubling -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right, Nick, thank you, Nick Paton Walsh.

Just ahead, he's credited with the most sniper kills in American history, but as everyone debates the movie about the movie about his life, we will talk about the veteran himself accused of killing Chris Kyle right here on U.S. soil.

Plus, the mayor of Paris telling CNN the city will sue FOX News for reports about Muslim no-go zones. Do they have a case?

And more than two years after that shooting inside the movie theater during the "Dark Knight" screening, jury selection for the accused gunman James Holmes is now under way, and not only facing a huge logistical challenge, but a fight over the definition of insanity. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: The life of former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who is proclaimed as the most lethal sniper in U.S. history, is currently playing out in the Oscar-nominated film "American Sniper."

The war memoir documents Kyle's life as a military sniper in Iraq and it also gives an intimate look at the struggles that he faced when he returned home and tells the story of his death, allegedly at the hands of this man, this Iraq war veteran Eddie Ray Routh. Routh is a Marine who is charged with killing Kyle at a Texas gun range in 2013. His murder trial is scheduled to begin next month.

His family says he suffered from PTSD.

CNN Ed Lavandera has been following this murder case and joins me with an update on the trial -- Ed.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Brooke.

This trial is just a short way -- or just a few days away from starting. So it's ironic that nearly two years after Chris Kyle was murdered on a gun range south of Fort Worth, in a rural gun range, as he was trying -- by all accounts, trying to help and reach out to Eddie Ray Routh, the suspect and the accused in this case, that all of this happens about the same time that the "American Sniper" movie is hitting theaters across the country and garnering so much attention.

But we have spoken within the attorney of Eddie Ray Routh. He says he is concerned about whether or not his client will be able to get a fair trial throughout all of this.

BALDWIN: He is concerned?

(CROSSTALK)

LAVANDERA: Yes, he is concerned. The trial will be held in a small town called Stephenville, Texas, which is several hours away, south of Fort Worth. So there is concern about all of that.

There's been a gag order that was put in place shortly after the shootings took place. So many of the principal players have not been able to give interviews or talk about that. But as the attorney for Eddie Ray Routh has pointed out, Chris Kyle's widow has been doing a lot of talking in recent weeks, promoting the film, and being out there with Bradley Cooper and that sort of thing. He says that's a concern for them.

BALDWIN: So if the Routh attorneys are concerned about this movie, then add the other layer, which is the fact that prosecutors said -- they would not seek the death penalty. Do you think that might change at all because of this film?

LAVANDERA: It's hard to say, especially since, you know, prosecutors aren't talking and there's very little that anybody can say at this point.

But we do know that Eddie Ray Routh has pled not guilty by reason of insanity. So there will be a lot of focus on Eddie Ray Routh's mental state in the days and the months leading up to that incident with Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield, who was the other person who was with Chris Kyle and was murdered that day.

So, this will obviously be -- when you get into these mental issues in these murder trials, it becomes very complex and very deep and serious issues that will be discussed in that testimony.

BALDWIN: It is incredible, the timing with the film and the trial. Ed Lavandera, thank you very much.

Ed mentioned that Chris Kyle's widow has been out, she's been speaking ahead of this film. She spoke here at CNN. She said she fully supports the theatrical release of this movie "American Sniper" and while she hasn't publicly commented on this whole debate that has thus ensued by filmmaker Michael Moore's comments about snipers being cowards, she previously told CNN that she did not think there's a political slant to the film. Here she was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAYA KYLE, WIDOW: Yes, it's just a real thing. And the biggest blessing from the book and the movie is that military couples are saying they identify, they have had the same conversations, and sometimes stepping outside of yourself and seeing somebody else have the conversation is eye-opening.

And I hope that it continues to help that dialogue between couples because we all go through it at some point. There's just a universal experience. And my feeling is it doesn't matter what country you're from and it doesn't matter what decade you're from. If you're a human being and you're going to fight for your country and you have somebody who loves you, some of this experience is going to be relatable.

It's just -- it's sort of a picture of humanity and what we go through when we fight for something we believe in and are affected by it and then have to fight to find our way back to each other.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: "The Minneapolis Star-Tribune" is reporting that she has scaled back her media appearances in the aftermath of the film's controversy, including one the paper says she was scheduled to conduct with one of its own reporters.

Just ahead here on CNN, the man accused in the shooting at the "Dark Knight" premiere in Colorado is about to stand trial, and there could be 9,000 potential jurors here. Why they need that many people, that's coming up.

Plus, the mayor of Paris says FOX News insulted her city over these reports of these Muslim no-go zones. And now she wants to sue. But is it enough for a lawsuit? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Have you heard? The mayor of Paris plans to sue FOX News. You heard me right. This whole thing started when FOX News started talking about those "no-gone zones" for non-Muslims, essentially suggesting there are sections, there are parts of Europe and specifically Paris where Islamic law is practiced and where police are hesitant to go, no go.

The reports were met with outrage and the network backtracked.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We apologize for the error.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We apologize for that error.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We deeply regret the errors and apologize to any and all who may have taken offense, including the people of France and England.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We deeply regret these errors and apologize to the people of Birmingham, our viewers and all who have been offended.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: It seems the mayor of Paris is not buying those apologies, telling CNN just a short time ago she plans to take legal action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANNE HIDALGO, MAYOR OF PARIS (through translator): When we're insulted and we have an image, then I think we will have to sue. I think we will have to go to court in order to have these words removed. The image of Paris has been prejudiced and the honor of Paris has been prejudiced. And I think the great discussion of truth, everyone has to play a role.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Joining me now, CNN senior media correspondent, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" Mr. Brian Stelter and our CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.

Both of you have been wanting to chew on this, so here we go.

Toobin, to you first. To hear that a mayor of a great, great European country is suing a cable news channel, does this have muster?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: No, you cannot -- they cannot sue in an American court or, as far as I understand it, in a French court for libel, for defamation.

The thing about this is, the system has worked as it's supposed to work. The marketplace of ideas has succeeded. FOX News has been embarrassed, humiliated, is a joke in France. They have apologized. The courts don't need to get involved here. The system worked. Let's keep the courts out of it.

BALDWIN: We will get to the joke in Paris in a minute. We have some video that we will share.

But to you, is this a cable news channel that apologizes very often?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: It might say it does, but I think there are a lot of times when the network chooses not to speak out or pull back when it's had something said on air that seems wrong.

I think other channels more frequently apologize. That's why this was so notable, to see four in a row on Saturday. And maybe that's because this was such -- this so far beyond the pale. There's really just no evidence to back up what they were talking about. If there was, their reporters could go out and find it and then show it to the audience.

This might have been a case where they were relying too much on talking heads they were bringing in from the outside and not enough on their own reporters.

BALDWIN: Listen, this isn't just FOX News Channel. We heard from Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, talking to Wolf Blitzer about this just yesterday talking about these no-go zones. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: You had a police chief here in London today say to "The Daily Mail" there are absolutely neighborhoods, I'm not talking about entire cities, as others have tried to suggest -- I'm saying there are neighborhoods where the police say they don't go as frequently.

There are neighborhoods where women do not feel comfortable walking without veils. And you're right, no, we don't see that in America. We wouldn't tolerate that in America. But, in America, if we continue to allow folks to come in without insisting on assimilation, on integration, this is what lies in our future.

What I worry about in America, it's become politically correct to say, well, that's just a religious difference. This is not a religious difference. We need Muslim leaders to stand up and denounce these radical Islamists and say that not only condemning the violence, condemning these individuals and saying these are not martyrs.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So, I just want to be precise, Governor. You're not backing at all away from your comments about there being various so-called no-go zones in the United Kingdom?

JINDAL: Not at all, and I'm also making a bigger, maybe even more controversial point that radical Islam is a grave threat. We need Muslim leaders to denounce the individuals, not just the acts of violence, and also that it is absolutely correct to insist on assimilation, insist that people coming into our society, into our country adopt our values.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So tell the people what you were just saying while you were watching that.

STELTER: When people worry about conservatives choosing their own news and liberals choosing their only news and only believing what they want to believe, this might be what they're talking about.

I don't want to be presumptive about where he's getting the information, but it's right-wing media outlets that have pushed this narrative about no-go zones, which really exist to depict Muslims as the other. More objective news sources have been pretty clear that this doesn't have a lot of merit.

(CROSSTALK)

TOOBIN: You're being way too nice here.

Look, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the great senator, used to say everyone is entitled to your own opinion, but no one -- but you're not entitled to your own facts. There are not no-go zones in Paris. There are not places where the police don't go. You know, some things are true. Some things are not true. You notice that Jindal was sort of -- he said there are areas where

police are hesitant to go.

BALDWIN: So he was a little bit more nebulous.

TOOBIN: Police are always hesitant to go where it's dangerous.

BALDWIN: Could he get into trouble? Could he get into trouble for making those remarks?

TOOBIN: No. He could make a fool of himself, which is what he did. But he can't be sued. He can't be arrested. He's just looking ridiculous.

BALDWIN: On that note, can we just -- I want to end with the video that we have of the "Petit Journal." This is the French fake news show. This is a thing.

STELTER: It's like a "Daily Show" there.

BALDWIN: It's like a "Daily Show" there.

And so they made fun of FOX on Friday. They had these correspondents, stand by for this, running down the streets of Paris calling every stranger a dangerous Islamist and periodically screaming, "Paris is the most dangerous city in the world."

Brian Stelter.

STELTER: This is the best solution to bad journalism, like what we saw on FOX. And this, it speaks for itself.

By the way, CNN was once sued by a small town in Brazil, but CNN won that case. There may be precedent for this sort of behavior from a city or a town, but it's never succeeded.

BALDWIN: Final thoughts, Jeffrey Toobin?

TOOBIN: See? The system works. People respond in the appropriate way. The courts don't need to be involved.

BALDWIN: Brian Stelter and Jeffrey Toobin, don't go too far. I want to keep you for the next segment, because coming up next, at this very moment, jury selection is under way for the "Dark Knight" movie theater massacre, as this alleged gunman is sitting right there in court. But there's this whole battle here potentially over the definition of insanity as it pertains to James Holmes.

Plus, a major development, as investigators close in on what happened during the AirAsia flight's final moments. One official is now comparing the plane's final speeds to that of a fighter jet.

Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)