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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Political Climate Shifts in the Aftermath; Backlash against Syrian Refugees; Doctors Recall Night of Horror; Belgian Police Stage New Raids. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired November 19, 2015 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

HALA GORANI, CNN HOST: Welcome back. We are awaiting word on the fate of the suspected ringleader of the Paris terror attacks. Authorities are currently running DNA tests to find out if Abdelhamid Abaaoud was one of the two people killed when French police stormed an apartment building in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis yesterday morning.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN HOST: They say they got there just in time to prevent what could have been even more attacks. The violence of the raids and the response so devastating a floor fell through that apartment and they actually are testing body parts right now to try to connect them to Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

What we do know is that a woman apparently blew herself up with some kind of suicide belt at the beginning of the raid. Reports have identified her as Abaaoud's cousin.

GORANI: That is happening in Saint-Denis but in Paris, in the center, French lawmakers are debating right now.

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GORANI (voice-over): These are live images coming to us from the parliament, whether or not to extend the nationwide state of emergency to three months.

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BERMAN: We just read they have decided to extend the ban on demonstrations, public gatherings, for another period of weeks, which is extraordinary. People in this city, they like to come together. They like to demonstrate. But now they will not be able to for another period of time. They are trying, nevertheless, here to get back to a sense of normalcy. But you can see everywhere. You can see the aftereffects everywhere of the attacks here.

GORANI: So will it have a political impact?

One prominent example, the day after the attacks. Marine Le Pen, the president of the far right anti-immigration National Front Party demanded a crackdown on Islamists in France, declaring France and the French are no longer safe. I talked to Le Pen to find out what is behind her controversial comments.

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GORANI: You have asked for the immediate halt of migration and refugees, of Syrian refugees to France.

Are you not using this tragedy for political gain?

MARINE LE PEN, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL FRONT (through translator): No. I did not use the terrorist attempts to stop immigration and refugees, 1 million refugees in 2015, 3 million. I just think this is crazy. I have been saying it for a long time since 2011.

However, I had also warned the French and the authorities very clearly that there will be, in these immigrants, terrorists who will infiltrate into -- and this is exactly what has happened. So confronted with this reality of the threat, I think we have to make an urgent decision.

GORANI: But it has not been proven this is a Syrian man. It could have been a stolen passport. We don't have definitive proof of any of this.

So how can you jump to those conclusions?

LE PEN (through translator): But that passport --

[04:35:00]

LE PEN (through translator): -- whether it is real or false, came through Greece, came through Serbia and came to Paris. There is somebody who accompanied that passport and made that journey. So given this kind of huge threat and which is literally a declaration of war to France, we cannot take the risk.

It questions the safety and it challenges the safety of French and I am here to fight for the safety of the French.

GORANI: You talk of 3 million potential migrants over the next few years. France has only agreed to accept tens of thousands. Those numbers don't correspond to reality at all, do they?

LE PEN (through translator): Yes, but 3 million comes from the European Commission for the whole union, European Union. Yes, but you have to understand but there are no more frontiers exists. All national frontiers have gone.

But however, when Germany takes 800,000 people, it is incapable of looking after those refugees. The moment they have legal status, they can go anywhere in Europe.

So this idea of a few thousands that have come here, I am from Calais, that region, I can tell you it is a totally crazy situation. They are mad to say it is only that amount. Multiply that by 3 just for Calais. So there is a huge amount of immigration coming in and this is going to add to the high immigration. GORANI: This is the message of ISIS, "Be afraid of everyone." They want to terrorize the world. Are you not simply also repeating the same message?

LE PEN (through translator): It is the argument that was immediately developed by Mr. Obama and Madame Merkel and by the U.N. Yes. So it is an idea that they want to develop.

I will say once again, I am here to protect the safety of the French. I can see that the United States, certain some of them, believe now to receive Syrian refugees is to take a risk that's not acceptable.

There are other solutions that we have been suggesting for years, which means to put humanitarian centers where we can look after the population who are genuinely in danger, close as possible to their country, to their territories, instead of bringing them here.

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GORANI: Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far right, she is anti- immigration. She -- that has been her message all along. She made the point that she would have said this before.

However, there are important elections in three weeks in France. And politicians on all sides are making statements in the wake of the attacks.

BERMAN: And that is the same discussion and debate that's being had in the United States right now as they discuss what to do about the smaller number of Syrian refugees headed to that country.

There's a congressional measure coming up that the president has promised to veto, which would restrict some of that incoming immigration.

You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still to come for us, the attacks here in Paris triggering a backlash against Syrian and Iraqi refugees. As we said in the United States, we have some new information on the president's plans next.

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[04:40:00]

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GORANI: Like scenes from a war zone, doctors and nurses crammed into emergency wards on Friday night to treat the wounded.

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BERMAN (voice-over): We have this image, this dramatic picture was taken inside the Saint-Louis Hospital in Paris. You can see just how chaotic it was. These just some of the hundreds of medics in the city, working so hard after those attacks to try to save lives.

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GORANI: Let's speak to Dr. Bernard Jomier, the deputy mayor for health in Paris.

Thanks for being with us.

I spoke to one of the survivors of the Bataclan. He had really kind words to say about emergency officials, emergency forces, those ambulance drivers, the doctors, the nurses, who all worked, he said, in such a wonderful way together. It must have been an unbelievable challenge.

DR. BERNARD JOMIER, PARIS DEPUTY MAYOR FOR HEALTH: Yes, it was a very difficult situation, as you can imagine. What is incredible is that all of the health professionals spontaneously got to hospitals directly and to take care in charge many, many injured people. More than 400 people were shot by gun this night.

And it was incredible situation. They said like war medicine, like war medicine. We couldn't imagine in our imagination that this situation could happen in a part of Paris --

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BERMAN: -- nurses ran to the hospitals when they knew they would be needed. That was Friday; we're nearly a week later. Now there is still a health issue; it's mental health. I think it is fear that everyone in the city is dealing with right now.

Is this something that you are finding and you are having to cope with at the facilities around the city?

JOMIER: No, never. And you know, on one end, our population is scared of course. But on the other hand, they learn to resist. And psychologically, they are very strong. They want to show that terrorists cannot kill our way of life.

And Parisian people, of course, are anxious, are stressed. Of course, they wonder what is left of our city. But the psychology, at the same time, is very strong. As you can see, all around the city, in the city, people go to job and kids go to school and we go to restaurants and to bars. And we go to theaters. So to get to our life of Paris is going on and our way of life is going on.

GORANI: But there are still people injured and badly injured in hospitals today, a week later.

JOMIER: Yes, more than 400 people were badly injured. Today, this morning, still 195 people hospitalized.

BERMAN: Still.

JOMIER: And 29 of them in intensive united care and three of them are fighting against this. BERMAN: One of the things we learned yesterday after the raid in Saint-Denis, is that there were eight people taken into custody in Saint-Denis, including at least two who had been hospitalized, suspected of being connected to some kind of terrorist activities.

Do you have any update on their condition this morning?

JOMIER: This morning, I cannot tell you. This morning's institution, hospital is good. We take all of measure to be in good sanitary conditions. But we have no real problems this morning about this one.

[04:45:00]

GORANI: All right. I was wondering, treating bullet wounds. You are the doctor. You can tell me that it is not difficult but if you are not used to seeing that type of injury. Were there specific challenges that the doctors faced in having to treat such a large number of people hit by bullets?

JOMIER: That's the problem. It is not difficult if it's just one, two, 10 people. But the problem is when you receive more than 350 people shot by gun. You need many different surgeons, vascular surgeon, orthopedic surgeon, general surgeon. You need very good equipment, material. And it's big challenge to face in a short time, remember, all of these people were shot within only one hour and 15 minutes around. For example, in Saint-Louis Hospital, 27 victims joined the hospital within one hour. That means one each two minutes. That's war medicine. That's (INAUDIBLE), of course.

GORANI: Right. That is war medicine, like a war zone. Dr. Jomier, thanks very much for joining us, the deputy mayor in Paris for health. Thank you.

BERMAN: Another element of this tragedy right now is the refugee crisis, which has grown out of the violence in Syria. Some 4 million refugees by some estimates. President Obama is vowing to veto a measure in Congress that would keep or at least stall the flow, the limited flow of refugees from the conflict in Syria and Iraq to the United States.

GORANI: And 31 governors across the country are opposing plans to resettle the displaced people in their states. Republicans want to suspend the program until key national security agencies can certify --

BERMAN: Some Democrats as well, we should say, some Democrats as well.

GORANI: -- right. By the way, it is unclear, though, logistically, how do you control the flow of individuals from one state to the next? That is also a question.

BERMAN: It is. It is. There's no legal precedent for that. And there's no clear legal avenue for these governors to stop the flow of refugees. They can make it more difficult but that is a federal measure by all accounts. GORANI: Now the White House says the bill would only delay vital programs. So that is coming from the White House.

And Mr. Obama is in Manila right now for the APEC summit. And CNN's Asia Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, joins us now live with more.

Have we heard from the president yes on some of these questions, Andrew?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA PACIFIC EDITOR: We have been hearing from the president quite consistently on this issue, particularly about the refugees. In fact, I have just come out of a briefing with the White House.

And that question about Democrat governors as well also looking at the question of refugees. We were being told that, their concerns are what is the process, the vetting process for Syrian refugees. The White House has been coming back to this point that it is an average of 24 months to actually get a refugee status process if you are coming from Syria.

The tests are absolutely rigorous. And the president has been weighing in on this constantly. In fact, he tweeted from Manila here, at the APEC summit.

He tweeted just a few hours ago, "The slamming the door in the face of refugees would betray our deepest values," Hala. He has been holding a series of bilateral meetings. The latest was with the new Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau.

The topic came up there as well, Mr. Obama saying once again, making the point that you have a process which takes maybe 24 months to process Syrian refugees, how could they possibly be more dangerous than the tourists that get in on a tourist visa?

So he said it doesn't jive with reality. So the White House, Mr. Obama, very hard on pushing back on this refugee issue -- Hala.

BERMAN: All right. Andrew Stevens for us from Manila.

The White House staff did make it clear that President Obama still plans to come to Paris in a couple weeks for the climate summit there. So we will be here in this country.

GORANI: Now breaking news just in to CNN, we are hearing that raids are ongoing in Brussels, Belgium, in connection to the Paris attacks on Friday.

Do we have our Ivan Watson?

BERMAN: I think we will get Ivan up in a second. So there is new information about raids in Belgium connected to the attacks here. We will have more information just after this.

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[04:50:00]

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GORANI: Breaking news just in to CNN. Six police raids linked to the Paris attacks are underway in Belgium according to the Belgian prosecutor.

BERMAN: It is happening in districts right now surrounding Brussels, including Molenbeek, which seems to have been a hub of activity connected to the attacks here. Our Ivan Watson heading to the scene of some of these raids right now.

Ivan, what can you tell us?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, the federal prosecutor in Belgium has said that a lot of the target of at least half a dozen police raids right now are the family and entourage of Bilal Hafdi. He is one of the suicide bombers from the Paris attacks Friday night.

He was on the radar of Belgian authorities long before the Paris attacks. They believe that he had gone to Syria to be a volunteer firefighter. He was a resident of Brussels. What they did not know was he had gotten back into Europe. They did not discover that he was back in Europe until the attacks on Friday night.

So they say that that is part of the series of raids that are underway and the announcement that the raids were being undertaken came out, almost coincided with the speech by the Belgium prime minister in parliament, John and Hala, in which he called for allocating another 400 million euros to security forces, to recruiting more intelligence and security agents, to introducing new measures to try to control the large number of jihadis coming from within the Belgian population, people who are trying to get to Syria to fight and join --

[04:55:00]

WATSON: -- ISIS, measures such as stripping people of their Belgian citizenships, such as putting electronic bracelets on suspects. Those are measures that the Belgian government is saying it wants to adopt now in response to the deadly Paris attacks -- John and Hala.

BERMAN: All right. Our Ivan Watson in Belgium right now. You can see him in the back of the car. He is headed to the scene of one of these raids, at least six raids right now in Belgium, believed to be connected to the attacks here in Paris on Friday, directly connected to one of the attackers who died here.

GORANI: All right. We see him heading there. We'll connect with Ivan soon. You are watching CNN's special coverage of the Paris attacks. I'm Hala Gorani.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman. EARLY START continues in just a moment.

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. New raids related to the Paris terror attacks happening right now in Belgium. Investigators in France trying to figure out if the attacks' ringleader is dead.

Plus, as ISIS strikes again, new executions and new threats, this time a threat targeting New York City.

Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans here in New York.

BERMAN: And I'm John Berman in Paris. It is Thursday, November 19th. It is 5:00 am in the east. It is 11:00 am in Paris. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world.

The breaking news right now, we are just learning of six separate raids in six separate locations in Belgium, apparently connected to the attacks here on Friday, apparently connected to at least one of the attackers killed here on Friday. We'll have much more on that in just a moment.