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Coverage of Terrorist Attack Aftermath in Paris. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired November 14, 2015 - 22:00   ET

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

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: We want to warn you, it shows people trying to run for their lives, dragging friends away from gunfire.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

BROWN: That is exactly the kind of terror that held this entire city hostage last night. At least seven ISIS terrorists, each strapped with suicide belts and equipped with automatic weapons, assaulted six locations fanned across Paris. The attacks came one after the other in very quick succession. French investigators are almost certain they were coordinated to happen that way.

And listen to what it sounded like during one of the attacks inside France's national stadium where bombs went off.

(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)

BROWN: In total, 129 killed, including an American student, 352 others wounded, many of whom are in hospital fighting for their lives right now.

And let's go back to Erin Burnett in Paris.

Erin?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, Pamela, thank you very much.

And here in Paris, I'm with Jim Sciutto, our national security correspondent.

Jim, you know, just a moment, as we are here -- of course, it is 4:00 in the morning -- there are still people out here. There are people out. There are -- there are two memorials where we are, one to our left, one to our right. And just a moment ago -- I think it made everyone choke up -- a young woman came over to one of the memorials and exploded with grief...

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

BURNETT: ...was just -- was crying. And that is what we have seen all day.

SCIUTTO: No question. I've seen such a mix of people coming here. I've seen parents come with their children, bringing them, which is a funny thing to do -- just a parent, as well, to bring them to the site of something like this.

BURNETT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: But it reminds me of what happened with Charlie Hebdo, that people feel that this was assault on them, assault on their city, on their country on their way of life, and they feel connected -- almost an obligation to show respect for the sites here.

BURNETT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: And I will say something else. A lot of people talked about, you know, the city, the country shutting down. There is certainly a somber mood here, but I've seen people out. I've seen restaurants open.

BURNETT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: And I think that's something to be commended.

BURNETT: It is. And I was with a woman today who was in New York for 9/11.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BURNETT: And she was here last night. She now lives here in Paris.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BURNETT: And she said the feeling felt the same, just the shell- shocked feeling of emptiness and fear.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BURNETT: But yet, there is this desire to rally.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BURNETT: And her comment to me was I don't want to stop. I want to keep doing what I love.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I think it's...

BURNETT: And I thought that was a very poignant thing to say.

SCIUTTO: No question. And people are using here in France the term, "This is France's 9/11." You have that. And there's some defiance. You see that even in the symbols, right? That peace symbol you've seen...

BURNETT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: ...with the Eiffel Tower inside the peace symbol, things that remind me of the "Je suis Charlie" that happened after Charlie Hebdo.

And, in fact, I just noticed this. I was walking down here. There is a "Je suis Charlie" sticker on the lamp post right over here, which is a lamp post right by the scene of the next attack in this country still there.

BURNETT: Still left from earlier in the year.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BURNETT: And what is the latest that you are learning? I mean, it is -- they are struggling right now.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BURNETT: And they are working, racing against time.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BURNETT: The deputy mayor says that they don't believe or that they have no sense...

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BURNETT: ... that this is over.

SCIUTTO: Right.

BURNETT: They don't know that there are more attacks, but they certainly don't feel confident that it's over. And they are racing, they feel, against time to try to identify these attackers.

SCIUTTO: Right. To identify them, presume -- to prevent if there are any others out there from carrying...

BURNETT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: ...out other attacks.

So we had the first one identified. We have his name. He was a French person from South Paris. In fact, identified earlier in the day, I was told by sources, by fingerprints.

BURNETT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Ismael Mostefai was his name. Not sure of his age, 29, 30.

BURNETT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: But what's key about him is that he was known to police. He was known to have been radicalized -- not known to be involved in terror but known to be radicalized. And that gets to the larger point that you can't put everybody in jail. Right?

BURNETT: You can't -- well...

SCIUTTO: That has a connection to something like this.

BURNETT: And also, Jim, to your point, I just want to say, they're saying they have hundreds, if not thousands of people that they need to track...

SCIUTTO: Five thousand a year.

BURNETT: ...and they have to prioritize. And someone who they knew was radicalized who may have had an arrest record, may have had links...

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BURNETT: ...to other known terrorists, did not make the list shows you either that there were horrible...

SCIUTTO: Yes.

BURNETT: ...mistakes made, or that this list is simply way too large and unwieldy to actually track.

SCIUTTO: It's so long. And you can't put someone in jail for something they haven't done. Right?

BURNETT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: I mean, that's the thing in open societies.

So the state of the investigation, you have one of the seven attackers now identified. They had found a Syrian-Egyptian passport near some of the other attackers. There's some questions as to the authenticity of those passports, but one of them we know had been registered as crossing into Europe through Greece, one of the main entry points for some of the refugees. But again, we...

BURNETT: Right.

SCIUTTO: ...don't know that that was actually a refugee. Could have been a false passport.

BURNETT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: And then you have the outer circles. They've arrested someone who is connected to one of the cars --

BURNETT: Yes.

SCIUTTO: --rented the car in Belgium. There was an arrest in Germany a week before the attack, and you have raids under way in Belgium, also connected to these attacks. But as you say, great fear here, because they don't believe they have everyone.

BURNETT: All right. Jim Sciutto, thank you very much.

And as they are trying to race against time to try to track down anyone who may have been linked to these attacks to find out who was helping the attackers and whether there are perhaps more plots and more attackers, they have been -- there have been a series of raids going on today, including some in Belgium. And that's where our Nima Albagar is tonight. And Nima, what can you tell us about these raids?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, police have been following that trail of the black Volkswagen car that they saw at the scene of one of the attacks. This car was registered here in Belgium, and the man believed to have been driving it at the time of the attacks was picked up crossing between Belgium and France with two other Belgian (ph) nationals.

Now, this seems to have led police to the Molenbeek neighborhood of Belgium, which in and of itself, Erin, is not a neighborhood that is a stranger to these kind of sort of concerns about implications for terror threat. There were concerns that, perhaps, someone who was involved with arming the Charlie Hedbo attackers was from the Molenbeek neighborhood, so we saw there a heavily armed police presence going to at least three houses.

Eyewitness and local media -- eyewitnesses and local media are reporting that there has been at least one arrest. Belgian police say that they feel this incredibly strongly, Erin, and they want to be as involved with finding who was part of the broader network as things happen.

Erin?

BURNETT: All right. Nima Albagar, thank you very much.

Last night, absolute carnage unfolded at the Bataclan Theater, which is right behind me -- literally, as you can see, just a couple hundred feet away behind me now in dark next to the police then. Eighty-nine people were executed, and that is the right word to use from what we understand happened in that club last night.

That death toll will most certainly rise. Ninety-nine people are in critical condition tonight.

Earlier I spoke with Shane Thomas McMillan, an American freelance photographer and filmmaker, who was right here on that alleyway right behind the Bataclan club last night. WitnessED the chaos nad horror as survivors streamed out into the street.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: What did you see, Shane?

SHANE THOMAS MCMILLAN, DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHER: It was actually a building adjoined to the Bataclan. And we could really only hear everything. And after the shooting ended, we went downstairs and down onto street level and they were bringing people around the corner -- around that corner actually -- and placing the injured in the courtyards along Au Bacamp (ph), which is the street right behind Bataclan. And we walked down into that, into the scene of the medical personnel -- the rushing to sort of get everything stabilized and sorted for people who'd been injured in the attack.

BURNETT: Shane, you are someone who -- you are a professional at taking pictures and capturing images. You saw something last night that you never expected to see. As you saw that and decided to take those pictures, what went through your mind?

MCMILLAN: Actually, I almost didn't take any photos. People, for obvious reasons, were not in the mood to have a camera in their face, and I understood that and didn't actually feel like putting it there. And so I took a few photos in moments where I felt like it was appropriate, but in general, I tried to - I was doing some reporting for PRI and on the phone, helping a few people here and there with little things.

But it was an overwhelming -- it was just like visually completely overwhelming, and emotionally as well. It was a really tough situation. I was watching people's lives change right in front of my eyes. It was really, really humbling.

BURNETT: Shane, the building where you were staying, the apartment building was turned into a triage center. What did you see? Did you see people who were able to be saved there?

MCMILLAN: Yes, some people were. Other people weren't. And I wasn't -- I wasn't right there for all of it. Because of my camera, I had to leave the area. So I was there but not right in it for very long to be honest. I was more out on the street where people were being sort of put into the -- put into the courtyards or where a lot of people were actually looking for people who they'd lost. They were -- it was -- it was people in every sort of different state that you can imagine after something like this, pretty trying (ph).

BURNETT: What did -- what do you remember most? And I know it must be so hard to accept what you've seen. What do you remember most about what the survivors told you?

MCMILLAN: I don't really feel like going into detail, but just the things that happened inside of there. One young couple, after I'd come around and checked on them a few times, opened up and told me a little bit about what it happened inside. And, I mean, we've all heard what that is now. But to hear that from people who were in their physical condition was really just shocking -- just very, very shocking.

BURNETT: Shane, thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BURNETT: Talking to witnesses, talking to people inside has been so sobering. A father and a son who witnessed the horrors inside the theater, two of the lucky ones who got out of there, you will hear the next.

They spoke to CNN about what it was like inside. You'll hear that interview coming up. But the son, just 12 years old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: One of the things that's been so hard to understand about these attacks, even as they were happening, was exactly the scale. They were happening simultaneously all across this city. It took people inside Paris time to realize the horror that was happening and, of course, time around the world for everyone to realize exactly how this was going down.

I want to go to Pamela Brown, because Pamela, you have actually now been able to put it all together, how this all happened so quickly all in a row in such quick succession last night.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And officials I've been speaking to are alarmed by the planning, the coordination, the seemingly training that these officials -- these terrorists went through to spread horror across the city and launching attacks on these so called soft targets, as people were out in the city enjoying the evening at the theater, watching a band, at a soccer game or at a restaurant.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

BROWN: Three teams of terrorists armed with Kalashnikov rifles and matching explosive devices launched coordinated attacks at six locations, unleashing chaos across the streets of Paris.

It starts at 9:20 p.m., a soccer match between France and Germany is rocked by a thunderous explosion.

French officials say an apparent suicide bomber detonates, killing himself and an innocent bystander. France's president on-site to cheer on the national team, is whisked away to safety.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the ground shook. And I thought there's something wrong here.

BROWN: Five minutes later, the second attack at two Paris restaurants. Terrorists open fire, killing at least 15, seriously wounding at least 10 more.

French officials say the killers wore masks and arrived by car. Shell cases left behind indicate they fired more than 100 rounds.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard huge gunshots and lots of glass coming through the window. So we ducked on the floor with all of the other diners.

BROWN: 9:30, a second explosion outside the soccer stadium. Thousands of fans flee the scene. The body of a second suicide bomber is found.

9:32, a team of terrorists open fire outside a bar. Five people are killed, eight others wounded.

9:36, at least 19 people are shot and killed outside another restaurant.

9:40, another explosion on Boulevard Voltaire near the Bataclan concert hall. Inside, where the American band Eagles of Death Metal was playing, more explosions and gunfire.

Witnesses say the attackers came in firing, and at least one person said he heard yelling, "Allahu Akbar!"

The terrorists will be posted for several hours before police storm the hall, at least 89 killed, four attackers also dead, three wearing explosive belts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I saw a lot of dead bodies and blood, and some people I didn't (inaudible) and had to stay for several hours among dead corps. And they went out covered with blood.

BROWN: Then 9:53, a third explosion near the soccer stadium. Police later found the body of another suicide bomber. A siege of gunfire, explosions and bloodshed, leading to the deadliest terror attack in Europe in more than a decade.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: And officials I've been speaking with today in the U.S. say at this point it does not appear at this early stage in the investigation that there are any co-conspirators in the U.S. connected to the Paris attacks. But the concern is that there could be copycats, and as a result, the FBI is ramping up scrutiny on some of the subjects, 900 terrorism investigations here in the U.S. who are considered priorities.

Erin?

BURNETT: Pam, thank you very much. And, of course, fear in the United States and in other countries around the world and here in Europe. Here in France, though, they are desperately trying to stop the threat, the Paris deputy mayor telling CNN earlier tonight -- our Poppy Harlow -- that he thinks that there is still very much an ongoing threat from this particular ways of terror attacks.

And this comes as we are just starting to learn the names of those killed by these terrorists. It is just -- bit by bit, we are starting to learn a few names.

Elanie Brielle (ph), she was 23 years old. She was at the concert at Bataclan behind me with friends. Thomas Ayad was also at the Bataclan. Juan Alberto Gonzales Garrido, a Spanish citizen. Nick Alexander, a British Citizen. Valentin Ribet, a Parisian lawyer who studied at the London School of Economics.

These are just some of the names, and that's all they are. Their names, but behind them are lives and loved ones, who are grieving so deeply tonight. Life will never be the same for their families. Life will never be the same for the survivors of the slaughter.

Our Clarissa Ward spoke to a father and his 12-year-old son -- 12 years old -- who escaped the massacre.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP) JOHN LEADER, PARIS ATTACK SURVIVOR: We hard this bang, bang, bang, and like everybody else, we thought it was fireworks or part of the show.

And then I felt something go past my ear. I didn't know. Was it a bullet or something? I didn't know what it was. And then I realized something's coming out. You know, something's going towards the stage. And at that point, I think everybody understood. Everybody threw themselves on the ground.

As I stuck my head up from the desk to see what was going on, I saw the two shooters. One was changing his magazine, so he had a whole lot of magazines in front of him. He had a big vest on.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What did he look like?

J. LEADER: He looked like a young fellow, someone just -- nothing particular at all.

WARD: Did you hear him speak at all?

J. LEADER: I did. I heard him at one point, he said something about Syria. I think you heard it better, Oscar.

OSCAR LEADER, PARIS ATTACK SURVIVOR: Yes, he said, "You need to think about Syria," but in French like -- there wasn't any accent or anything.

J. LEADER: Yes, just.

O. LEADER: It was just like...

J. LEADER: ...obviously, a native French speaker.

I could see that, you know, with -- one of the guys was covering -- was doing crowd control, and the other guy was executing. So there was no chance -- there was a tallace (ph) incident some months ago here in Europe with a similar kind of scenario. There was no chance of anybody being of a hero, because these guys were organized. One was covering the crowd. The other was doing the shooting. And he wasn't...

WARD: That had to be one of the worst moments of your life, fearing that your son could have been had.

J. LEADER: Well, yes, because I thought -- I was screaming out his name, and I thought he couldn't be far away. So he should shout out "Dad!" or something or "Stop!" or something, and he wasn't there. Yes...

WARD: Have you ever seen a dead body before?

O. LEADER: No, it was my first time, and I was -- I was lying just next to one, which really was not a comfortable position at that moment. WARD: You must have been very, very frightened.

O. LEADER: Yes.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

BURNETT: And Paul Vercammen is in Long Beach, California tonight. That is a community now in mourning.

One student from a college there killed in last night's attack at the Bataclan behind me.

And Paul, what you know about this young woman's life? We are just starting to learn a little bit about what appears to have been such an energetic and passionate young woman.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you this, Erin. Absolutely loved by her family, adored on this campus. In fact, tonight was the homecoming basketball game for Long Beach State. And before tipoff, they observed a moment of silence for 23-year-old Nohemi Gonzalez. They sat there and thought about her. They've been talking about how tragic this is. She was a rising star on this campus.

And just across town, not a short while from here, is the family barbershop. And we spoke to a very close friend of Nohemi Gonzalez, and here's what she had to say about a young woman that she described as the apple of her mother's eye. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

ROSA YABARRA, FAMILY FRIEND OF NOHEMI GONZALEZ: She was beautiful. Beautiful person.

VERCAMMEN: Smart by all accounts. I mean, she was...

YBARRA: Always smart. Beautiful. I mean, she was a gift -- a gift of light. When we lost her...

VERCAMMEN: What would you for her to be remembered for?

YBARRA: For her spirit, life, fun, a joy.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

VERCAMMEN: Others on this campus also describing her as a joy, and mentor to younger students, somebody who was a leader and admired within the department, flourishing so much and design that she actually won a global competition -- or came in second, I should say.

It was about sustainable products, and she had designed this biodegradable bag that included fruits and nuts in it, and then the bag after it was done can be turned into a small planter. She and her colleagues, three of them, received a $3000 award for that from the biomimicry organization. And as I said, they all described her as among the best of the design

students, a shining star -- not just someone on the campus angling for a degree. Someone who was just esteemed in and out of Long Beach State's design program.

Erin?

BURNETT: Paul, thank you.

France's president is calling this country's battle with Islamic radicalization unprecedented. France, with the second largest population of Muslims in Europe.

So was last night's attack and Intelligence failure? New details on the investigation when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: I'll come back. We're live in Paris tonight. ISIS today claiming responsibility for the terror attacks here in Paris, calling the rampage the first of the "storm" an promising more carnage.

Going to show you some video of the chaos outside the Bataclan theater, which is right behind me. This is as survivors were trying to escape death. It was an execution style massacre happening inside the theater.

CNN justice reporter Evan Perez joins me now. And as in, what are you hearing about ISIS' involvement? Yes, they are claiming responsibility, but does that mean that they really were involved in terms of core ISIS directing this?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, that's exactly what the FBI and the U.S. Intelligence community is focused on just this weekend. Everybody I know came into work today, and they're going to come into work tomorrow, because that's the question, whether this was something that was controlled from Raqqa, from ISIS' home base or whether this was something that is the type that we've seen before, which is a more homegrown inspired attack.

And again, for the 129 people that are dead, really that makes no difference. But for U.S. officials, for counterterrorism officials, they really want to know this. This resembles all lot the Mumbai attacks. If you remember, in that case, you have someone in Pakistan actually giving instructions to the young men that were carrying out that attack that lasted for a couple of days if you remember.

In this case, we don't know. We don't -- they haven't been able to find any communications on the day of the attack, for instance, that might have indicated how they were able to coordinate and simultaneously launch this attack. The FBI suspects that they had to be communicating in some way. The question is how did that occur.

The other thing that they're looking at is the names -- the names of these people, who have been identified as the attackers. As we've reported, at least one of the attackers was in a French database. The question is would that -- was that person on U.S. databases as well. That's another thing that the FBI is trying to work on this weekend.

Erin?

BURNETT: Yes. And then, we know that France is known for having one of the best counterterror Intelligence units in the world. Of course, that is an incredibly sobering thing to say when you think about Charlie Hebdo and then you think about these attacks happening just 10 months apart.

The United States and France also are incredibly close when it comes to counterterrorism coordination. That is the U.S. right now fully in the loop? Are the U.S. and France communicating and sharing everything or not?

PEREZ: Well, that's a big question that I have right now, Erin, especially in light of the fact that as we reported, one of these -- one of these attackers was on some kind of watch list. The U.S. would normally get that kind of information from their French counterparts, and so that's the question that I've posed to officials as well.

As we reported in the last hour, none of the names so far -- nothing that has -- none of the names of been shared really were raising flags for U.S. officials. Again, this is an investigation that is really in its earliest stages, so there might be information that will come forward.

Another thing that really worries U.S. officials -- because as you mentioned, the French have a very large problem with a number of extremists that they are keeping an eye on -- the question is, you know, how do you stop those people from getting on airplanes.

France is one of the three dozen or so countries that have visa waiver rights for travel to the United States. So one of the things the Homeland Security Department has done in the last few months is to add additional requirements and additional information that is required for people who are traveling from Europe to make sure that no people who, for instance, went to travel to Syria to fight get on airplanes to come to United States.

BURNETT: Certainly very terrifying. You know, one of the leaders in the Middle East, I recently was with him and he was saying that they're trying to track all of these individuals, they are trying to screen them, but even with the best technology in the world, it is not possible to know every person...

PEREZ: So many.

BURNETT: ...who they are and what their intents are, who are coming out of Syria.

Well, the extent of the radicalization has overwhelmed French security services. It has overwhelmed countries in the Middle East that are the first gateway for people coming out of Syria. Even before these attacks, the French Prime Minister had called the terrorist threat facing France unprecedented.

Our Brian Todd now looks into this part of the story.

Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Erin, France's problem with Muslim extremists blew up last night, but it's been festering for decades. Inside the Muslim community in France, common criminals often come under the influence of hardline clerics or become radicalized in other ways. Case in point, one man who took part in the theater assault last night was known to police.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

TODD: Amid the carnage at the Bataclan theater, investigators pulled fingerprints from one of the terrorists. From that, according to the Paris prosecutor, they know they have at least one home-grown attacker, a 29-year-old man born in Corcoran in the southern suburbs of Paris. A common criminal the prosecutor says, who had been arrested eight times.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: An individual who was never put in prison and who in 2010 was identified as radicalized, but he was never involved in any kind of terrorism.

TODD: Petty criminals from poor Paris neighborhoods, who go on to launch devastating attacks. If this sounds familiar, the Kouachi brothers, who carried out the Charlie Hebdo attacks 10 months ago, were from a poor section of Paris. At least one spent time in prison. Both became radicalized.

But the problem not unique to France, analysts say, but it certainly seen on a larger scale there. France has one of the largest Muslim contingents in the West, almost 8 percent of the country's entire population. But there's a more startling statistic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Seventy percent of the prison population is Muslim in France. I mean, that is an extraordinary number, and it shows that. you know, this is a marginalized group. This is also a group that is sort of in a criminal sort of underclass.

TODD: Unemployment is staggering among France's Muslims, experts say, and they haven't assimilated with other French citizens. The French ban on some headwear, which applies to all religions, adds to their feelings of discrimination and isolation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ostensible religious symbols being denied, you know, marginalization, poverty, unemployment you know, high rates of arrest and police attention on minorities. So they feel already that there under siege.

TODD: And ripe for recruitment by radical clerics who appear in so many of their neighborhoods.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Extremists look for those openings where someone feels like you're not getting a fair shake and try to exploit them in order to draw more people into the cause. (END VIDEOCLIP)

TODD: And analysts say the French security services are simply overwhelmed. They cannot get their arms around this problem.

CNN is told French Intelligence have open surveillance files on about 5,000 Islamic extremists throughout the country, and they can't monitor all of them all the time. They have to figure out who they believe the most dangerous ones are and hope they're following the right people.

Erin?

BURNETT: That is a stunning number, 5,000. How can a group of terrorists organize such coordinated attacks? Even if they were being monitored, wouldn't Intelligence officials have picked up the coordination, the cell phone conversations or the in-person meetings or the online coordination? Somehow they missed it.

We'll talk to our experts next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BURNETT: Welcome back. You are watching our special coverage on CNN the Paris terror attacks, which French President Francois Hollande has described as an act of war. ISIS claiming responsibility for the deadly carnage that unfolded across the city just wait for hours ago.

Joining me now, our counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd, CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen and former CIA operative Bob Baer. Thanks to all three of you.

Phil, I want to start with you and the arrests that we know of. They have identified one of what officials say are seven attackers. Of course, they think there could possibly be more. They don't yet know.

They do think there are a lot of other people who were involved in making this happen. They have arrested three people in Belgium, one of whom, his name was on one of the rental cars that they used -- the attackers used here in Paris, and then two of -- and to others, who are related to one of the attackers.

What you think about these arrests? How many more are coming?

PHILIP MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: We've got the patient here, Erin. Step one of the investigation, we've seen in the past 24 hours. That is chaos and then the initial identification of the attackers. We have at least one identification. As soon as you get that name, that's going to mean an email, a cell phone number. The amount of information is going to blow up, so you can start picking up other people -- fathers, brothers, co-conspirators.

You don't know who those other people are yet, that you, as a counterterrorism investigator, are going to say we want to talk to anybody who has touched this individual in the recent past to find out anything they know. So were going to find in the coming days that a lot of people are picked up, a lot of people are questioned. Believe me, in the next week, a lot of people -- a lot of those people will be released, because right now we're in stage two where the information is coming in so rapidly you can't figure out what's back to what's fiction yet.

BURNETT: All right. And I would imagine you take anyone into custody that you think could even remotely...

MUDD: That's right.

BURNETT: ...be a risk until you know that that's not the right thing to do.

Bob Baer, the deputy mayor...

MUDD: Yes.

BURNETT: ...of Paris early tonight here on CNN says quote, "Nothing says this terror series is over yet." Do you think that that shows either that they have intelligence on further planned attacks or perhaps, equally as frightening, that they have no idea as to where to look and that they think that therefore, it's possible that there could be more attacks?

BAER: I think that they have no idea. The fact that they missed seven people, all willing to commit suicide, martyrdom, came as an enormous surprise to the French. I think every day there surprised by the depth of support to the Islamic state or whichever group was behind this. I think what also concerns about them rear bases in Brussels in the suburbs there. It's an easy place to buy arms.

They do not know the extent of the threat to France, and they're suspecting the worst, and they're telling the French people we have to really clamp down. And I think you're going to see some big changes in France, both politically and the way they view Schengen, the agreement to cross borders. It simply cannot -- Schengen will not sustain another one of these attacks. You're going to have to guard their borders.

BURNETT: And let me talk to you about that, Peter Bergen. Schengen, of course, the open borders. When you talk about the biggest example of open borders right now in Europe, it is the Syrian refugees that are coming in. France has taken fewer and other countries, only about 20,000.

But two of the attackers, we now understand, had Syrian passports. As to whether they were really their passports, that's not yet confirmed, but they may well have been. And these passports are from Syrians that they have traced to have just come through Greece with Syrian refugees who just came into Europe in just the past few weeks. That could potentially be very damning.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, as you say, it's not clear if they really are Syrians are not, but the fact is that you guide right-wing nationalist parties that are doing well in France where you are, they're doing well in Britain. Youv'e got a Hungarian Prime Minister who, you know, wants to build a wall in a sort of Donald Trump style in Hungary.

And, you know, all across Europe there is an anti-immigration kind of sentiment that is rising. At the same time, you have the worst refugee crisis since World War II, and, you know, some countries have stepped up to the plate, like the Germans are taking 160,000. The United States is taking, I think, a ridiculously small number so far, 700.

But the politics around this...

BURNETT: Yes.

BERGEN: ...are going to be -- you know, it's just going to be very hard to advocate, unfortunately, for all, you know, these refugees who were fleeing this appalling war and are doing it in unprecedented numbers.

BURNETT: And no one knows, of course, what will -- happen, Bob. But this does beg the question to Peter's point. The country that has the most Muslims stay in Europe is Germany, more Muslims than here in France. Germany has not had these sorts of attacks. Is that because errors that French Intelligence is making? Is that because France is a different sort of target? What you think?

BAER: French Intelligence is much better than Germany's. They're just not -- they've never been very good. They've got -- they're not very well unified, the intelligence services. The external service isn't very good.

And I think -- I think the point is that France is engaged in this war on terror against the Islamic state, and it does have this diseffective Muslim population. There's a deeper chasm between Muslims and Christians in France than there is in Germany, which is -- I can explain why, but they've always had less of a problem, and the Germans have stayed out of the Middle East by and large, and that's why they haven't been subject to attacks. But they're still a country of transit intemperate and into France.

BURNETT: Thanks very much to all three of you. And Paris, of course, is right now on high alert, as the deputy mayor has just said that this is not over. There is no evidence to suggest that the serious terror attacks is over.

Officials suspect at least on as the terrorists came directly from Syria. What do these attacks mean for the war? Does this change the war that France is fighting, that the United States is fighting? That's ahead.

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BURNETT: Welcome back. I'm Erin Burnett, and this is CNN special coverage live from Paris tonight.

129 killed across Paris in these deadly coordinated terrorist attacks, a number that is certain to rise, with 99 in critical condition tonight.

ISIS claiming responsibility. This is something that could potentially change the course of the U.S. led war on the terror group and the course of the war in the Middle East right now -- a broad, regional civil war starting in Syria.

I want to bring in our global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott. And Elise, you know, with the French president saying that this is -- this is now war, what are U.S. officials saying, if anything, about what that means for the United States, keeping in mind that the President of the United States said just yesterday, the day of these attacks, that ISIS was contained?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, he was saying that he meant on the battlefield but, you know, look, Erin, ISIS is already a global terror organization, if not one of the, then the preeminent global terror organization. I think that there's a recognition of this by U. S. officials and the coalition already.

You saw that they've been able to inspire attacks around the world. They have these affiliates popping up throughout the Middle East. ISIS in the Saini are believed to be responsible for the Russian -- for the downing of that Russian airliner.

So I think this is going to stiffen the resolve to go after ISIS, wherever it is, and that could be in Saini, it could be in Libya, it could be in Yemen. And you saw this yesterday, even before these attacks, the U.S. launch that airstrike to kill the leader of the affiliate in Libya.

And so I think right now, I think everybody's going to be meeting at the G-20 in Turkey tomorrow. There's going to be a lot of talk about how they expand this global coalition, not just to look at Iraq -- Syria and Iraq, but also some of these other affiliates. That means working with local partners on the ground trying to boost to their capability.

France is a NATO ally. I think you're going to see NATO involved, and I think a real urgency now to ends the civil war so the flow of refugees are not bringing terrorists along with them, Erin.

BURNETT: Elise, thank you. And I want to go straight now to our military analyst, Colonel Peter Mansoor. Of course, spent time in Iraq with General David Petraeus.

Colonel, let me -- let me ask you this fundamental question here about what the United States is going to do. Right? The president yesterday saying ISIS is contained, which is, of course, far short from the ultimate goal of the war on ISIS, which was to degrade ISIS. Yet he said contained. And now we have this happening to France. Does this change the American strategy? Fifty special operations forces are now on the ground in Syria, American boots on the ground. Does that number go up?

COL. PETER MANSOOR, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think that public opinion will force change in the strategy, if not here, among our NATO allies. Remember that the last time that Article 5 of the NATO charter was invoked was on 9/11 when the United States was attacked by terrorists, and now we have a major terrorist attack in Paris against the NATO ally. And I would not be surprised if the French go to Mons and they invoke Article 5 of the NATO charter, which would force us to do something much, much more than we've been doing to date in order to destroy ISIS in the territory in controls.

BURNETT: And to be clear, that would mean -- that would mean ground troops. I mean, it is certain that while airstrikes have had some effect, right? Just yesterday Jihadi John, the British man who was seen in so many of those beheading videos, was killed by an airstrike in the -- in the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. Airstrikes have not been working. They have not won this war. Right? They have not won this war.

So when you say a change, does that change really mean ground troops in a -- in a significant and meaningful way?

MANSOOR: You know, you can fly over a land forever, and you can bomb it into smithereens, but wars are won and lost on the ground. And at some point, I think NATO is going to come to the realization that it is going to have to inject ground forces into this conflict. Now, that does not mean getting involved in a 10-year occupation of Syria and Iraq. We can turn that over to the Arabs, to the Tribes, to the Kurds, others who are willing to do it. But we have got to be involved in destroying ISIS where it exists.

BURNETT: Yes. And Colonel, you know, today when I was -- I was thinking about this. You know, this -- in the past two weeks, right -- two weeks today, you had ISIS or ISIS affiliates taking down a commercial jet, the first time that Al-Qaeda, ISIS, any group like this has taken down a commercial jet since 9/11 -- 224 on board Metrojet.

You had the bombing in Beirut with scores killed. You have a bombing in Baghdad just this week. Now you have these attacks in Paris. It is an unprecedented string of terror attacks. This is something that the world will see more and more as a volunteer group. Does this change ISIS' power? Is ISIS now more coordinated and more centralized than we gave them credit for?

MANSOOR: Well, it absolutely does. ISIS is a brand on the rise. They -- if not directly coordinating these attacks, they certainly are inspiring them. And it is a much more decentralized organization than Al-Qaeda.

The only way you can stop the attacks is to ruin the brand, and the only way to do that is to destroy the territory it occupies. You can't just simply play defense and rely on your intelligence agencies and counterterrorism and expect a good outcome from that, because intelligence is not perfect. We've obviously seen that in the past few days.

BURNETT: Colonel Monsoor, thank you very much. Something for everyone to think about as to whether the world will now be committing more ground troops in a very significant way to Syria. I want to thank our viewers in the United States and around the world for joining me tonight. I'm Erin Burnett reporting from Paris.

Back to Wolf Blitzer in Washington after a quick break.

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