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Terrorists Storm Luxury Hotel in Mali; New Discovery in Paris Suburb Raid; Interview with Senator Bob Corker; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 20, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:01] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: After armed terrorists stormed a Radisson in Africa, in Mali, another act of terror just one week after the attacks in Paris.

Hello, everyone, I'm Carol Costello.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Anderson Cooper live in Paris. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and watching around the world right now.

A lot to get to. We continue with breaking news out of Mali in Africa. The rescue mission under way right now, we're told, in the capital city of Bamako. U.S. Special Forces helping to try to retake the Radisson Blu Hotel, and exactly what role they're playing, we're not quite sure. We have new video coming from inside that hotel. Armed security forces helping to usher out newly freed hostages. You see that there.

You can see people of all nationalities, Chinese, French, Indian nationals, and so many others were all staying at that hotel -- Carol.

COSTELLO: According to state TV, dozens of hostages have now been released. The State Department says American citizens may have been in the hotel as well.

COOPER: In addition to American special forces, the French armed forces tweeted out this photo of a 10-member elite tactical team en route to Bamako.

We begin our coverage with Robyn Kriel from Nairobi. Robyn, what's the latest?

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, some good news, as you said, Anderson, with several people being rescued coming as the news is filtering through, we understand Indians, Algerians, and Chinese rescued. These two Germans, according to the German Foreign Office, were able to get out as well.

As you said, special -- U.S. special operations on the ground and the U.S. State Department stating that they believed that there could be some Americans inside, but they're working to confirm that.

The very latest we understand is that Malian forces have gone inside alongside various international forces. As you said, an elite team of hostage rescuers coming from France. Whether they will be too late to help in the rescue or still if the hostage situation will be ongoing.

This -- a very similar incident, Anderson, played out a few months ago, in fact, in August in central Mali where Islamist militants stormed the hotel, 17 people were killed, including Westerners and Malian forces. That took about a day. It also happened very, very early in the morning, on a Friday. And according to Reuters, an affiliate of al Qaeda has claimed responsibility. They don't go on to say which affiliate. Experts do believe it could be one of two splinter groups from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. But if this does turn out to be true and it's not ISIS-related, then the question will be, why is this coming on the -- so soon on the backs of the Paris attacks?

And indeed, is this -- are we going to see more of these sorts of attacked linked with al Qaeda and indeed linked with ISIS? There were just a few attacks last week with Boko Haram in Nigeria, killing up to 40 people. And they are ISIS' largest affiliate in Nigeria.

COOPER: And Robyn, what have you learned about how these terrorists gained access to the hotel? And I don't think we do have an accurate number, but any updates on exactly how many terrorists were involved in this operation?

KRIEL: We're hearing anywhere between two and 10. But if they've taken so many hostages, from what we're hearing from experts, Anderson, is that it must be more than two because that is a large number of hostages. And of course with a hotel of this size, even though it's a nightmare for rescuers because there are going to be so many doors and places to hide and so much time to tip off the hostage- takers if a rescue mission is launched, there's also a lot of places for the people, the hostages to hide themselves.

So two people is a low number, if they've managed to keep 170 hostages or less. For this amount of time, it is quite low. What we're hearing about how they gained access, Anderson, very concerning because we're hearing that they used either a diplomatic vehicle or a vehicle with diplomatic plates. And how this plays out in a lot of countries, in Africa, is that vehicles with diplomatic plates are often left alone and not searched because they assume that the people in there are vetted in some way.

Now how these diplomatic plates got on to the vehicle, we're not sure. If it indeed was a diplomatic vehicle itself. It could have been stolen, perhaps. But it does -- it does raise a lot of concerns. And I know a number of large hotels -- of large hotels, of more things like that, don't bother searching diplomatic vehicles, so I think this could be both a sign of the sophistication of the attack and the planning and the execution, but also a wake-up call to a lot of security companies and governments around Africa.

COOPER: The president of Mali has said that the siege, in his words, is worrying but not desperate. Obviously, we're trying to get the latest information we can. It is a fast-moving situation.

Robyn Kriel from Nairobi, thank you very much. The -- as I mentioned, the president making that statement that we

just received. I want to go to Nick Tohoy (PH), he's in a hotel close to the Radisson Hotel in Bamako.

[10:05:04] First of all, Nick, are you, yourself, safe? And if so, if you can, set the scene for us, what you have heard, what you have seen.

NICK TOHOY, WITNESS: Yes. Anderson, thank you. I am safe. We're all safe. Our office is right next to the Radisson, so I left this morning, got my son to daycare and drove to the office as on a normal day when I was called by the security person who said that there was an attack going on at the Radisson and we should stay put and not move. And so instead of going to the office, I drove to a different hotel about a half mile away from the Radisson and picked up two colleagues there in from our headquarters in Baltimore and sat down there and started making phone calls to all of my colleagues to say, do not come to the office, stay put where you are. And if you are in the office, go to the top floor and hunker down.

I myself decided not to go to the office at all anymore. A security person, he went on foot to the office as security forces were really gathering toward the Radisson building. And my security person was able to reach the office and gather all the staff on the top floor and kind of hunkered down for about an hour as, you know, as they were listening to the gunfire and kind of the deluge of security forces in the parameter of the hotel. And then, you know, once we felt that the situation was safe enough to at least evacuate our staff from our own office building, we managed to get those remaining 25 people out of there.

COOPER: Nick, what can you tell me about the security at the Radisson. I assume you've been there many times. How extensive is the security?

TOHOY: Yes. I mean, I think the previous guest was talking about her similar experience with the (INAUDIBLE), there's a level of security, unfortunately, in a security incident like these. So, you know, obviously, I'm not a security expert so I cannot speak for their ability, but at least we now know that they are able to respond relatively quickly and, you know, like I said, the attack started around 7:00, 7:30 this morning. You know, by 9:15 the security in the area was so intense that we felt comfortable moving our staff at least out of the office and basically out of harm's way. I'm really sorry I can't comment at all on their response to --

(CROSSTALK)

COOPER: No -- yes. Nick, Nick, what -- Nick, what I'm actually asking is in regular times, I'm talking about before this assault, when you had visited the Radisson Hotel, are there metal detectors, are there -- if you're driving a vehicle into the hotel, does anybody search a vehicle?

TOHOY: Yes. The streets block off on both sides and then you have to get through that and they check vehicles. They check your trunk. There's a metal detector to get into the building. And you know, you check yourself and your bag or your purse is checked before you head. So I remember the protocol. And I also remember, I'm on my bike every once in a while, I remember that the security protocols have actually increased over the past, let's say, one year that I've been passing by there.

COOPER: Well, Nick, I'm glad that everybody on your staff is OK and that you're doing all right. I appreciate you talking with us.

I want to return to the Paris terror attacks. A new detail emerges from the ruins of Wednesday's deadly police raid. Police combing through the wreckage left by explosions and gunfire, discovered the body of a third person inside the wreckage.

Our Clarissa Ward is outside that building in Saint-Denis where the raid unfolded.

Clarissa, it really speaks to the level of damage inside that building that must exist if they have just now in recent hours found a third body.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Anderson. Two days later we're finding out that not just two, but three people were killed inside that apartment. You can see the apartment behind me just here. I'm going to ask our cameraman to just push in a little bit on it. You can probably see there, it's still very much an active scene. We've got a fire truck there. There's a policeman on top. They appear to be looking at the roof. We've seen forensics experts on the scene, continuing to work there throughout the day. And one can assume that it really is just an absolute mess inside.

I want to show you, I want to show our viewers, rather, some video that was obtained by ABC News just at the moment of the blast when it's believed that that female suicide bomber detonated her vest. It's pretty extraordinary stuff. Let's take a look.

[10:10:28] You saw there the windows blowing out. You saw flames coming out. You can imagine just what the scene inside that apartment looks like. And that's why, perhaps, we don't yet know who this third person killed who is inside the apartment was, Anderson. We know the first, of course, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the architect of Friday's attacks. We believe the second person, a woman, his cousin, 26-year- old, Hasna Aitboulahcen, but the third person we still don't know who it is, and meanwhile of course, Anderson, the search is still ongoing for that eighth attacker, Salah Abdelsam. So things still very much ongoing here -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yes. It's interesting in that video you can also see laser sights from rifles that are clearly pointed at that window itself.

Clarissa, we'll continue to check in with you.

A lot more coming up in this hour to tell you about. Hostages as we've said being escorted out of a Mali hotel that's been under attack. How many are left inside. We'll try to find out for you. We'll also give you all the latest developments coming up shortly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:15:34] COOPER: Welcome back. We are following the breaking news. One week after terror ripped through the streets of Paris, another terror attack. Rescue efforts now under way. This time at a hotel frequented by Westerners in the African country of Mali in the capital of Bamako. This just about a mile from the American embassy in that city. U.S. Special Forces are said to be assisting the rescue effort. The State Department says Americans may be trapped inside.

At least two dozen gunmen -- excuse me, at least two gunmen, we're not sure of the exact number, stormed the hotel armed with AK-47s. At least three people are dead, including a French citizen. Now this is still a very active and kinetic situation. We're trying to get as many details as we can. We're hoping to establish contact with a reporter on the ground shortly. But from what we know, it seems early reports indicate that the terrorists were able to gain access to the hotel, arriving in a vehicle or vehicles with diplomatic plates. Whether they were legitimate diplomatic plates or fake plates, we're not clear.

Security was said to be not all that extensive, surprisingly, at this hotel, considering the history of what's gone on in Mali over the last two years or so. There is a French tactical team, a commando team from the French Police, highly trained, that was en route there. Unclear if the operation will still be going on by the time they actually land. But we are monitoring developments and bring you the latest shortly.

Right now want to toss it back to Carol in New York -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Yes. We do have a little bit more, new information out of Mali, Anderson. Thank you so much.

We know U.S. Special Ops Forces are helping to secure the former hostages' safety after they were taken out of that hotel. U.S. Special Forces are escorting them to a safe place.

I also want to bring in Erin Burnett, she's managed to talk to someone who was inside that hotel, the Radisson Blu. What did you find out?

ERIN BURNETT, CNN ANCHOR, OUTFRONT: All right. So this is someone who works in the restaurant, Carol, who says that the attackers started during breakfast. So people were sitting down and having breakfast. The attackers stormed in. People then started running out of the restaurant. He said the attackers really came in through the main lobby entrance and started shooting at random in the lobby.

People then started running to the elevators. And you know, we do not know how many people at this time are injured, how many are dead, but he said people were congregating by the elevators, desperately trying to get inside. And while they were waiting for those elevators, they then were shooting all those people. So a horrific scene, as he describes it. They were not dressed in any sort of commando style. At least the

shooter, who he said shot at him, then he was able to get away. That shooter was wearing blue jeans, a checkered shirt and a hat, cap.

COSTELLO: Wow.

BURNETT: So not -- you know, not dressed in some sort of commando style, or covered in black, but blue jeans and a checkered shirt. And this is a very crucial question in terms of who's responsible. We don't know how many shooters there are. This is just the shooter that he saw. But the language they were speaking. This shooter was not speaking French. He was speaking a local Malian language. I'm going to try to figure out exactly what that might have been, it might have been Bambara, it might have been something more familiar in the (INAUDIBLE) region.

But it was not French and it was not English, which might have indicated perhaps some sort of Nigerian or Boko Haram element but it was a local Malian language.

COSTELLO: OK. So as far as we know, only three confirmed dead right at the moment. At one point there were 170 hostages inside that hotel. We know at least 30 or so have been freed and more are coming out of that hotel minute by minute because U.S. Special Ops Forces are there and they're escorting some of those former hostages to safety.

So just tell us about Mali itself. It's 95 percent Muslim, correct?

BURNETT: Yes. It's 95 percent Muslim, and it is an overwhelmingly a Muslim country. I will say, though, it is not the sort of style of Islam that many Americans and people around the world might expect. It is in most areas very African-inspired. There's singing and there's dancing. It is a very eccentric sort of Muslim. But it is mostly Muslim, there's no question about that. And obviously, some of these jihadist groups, these groups that have linked themselves in the past few years to al Qaeda, to perhaps Boko Haram in Nigeria, which has itself pledged allegiance to ISIS, or perhaps now we may even be seeing some sort of ISIS-inspired event, we're not sure.

These groups of course started to bring a much more conservative, obviously radical brand of Islam, particularly to northern Mali. Lots of people fled. I've been in refugee camps where these people are -- I was there three years ago. Some of them I talked to are still there. They have been permanently displaced. And the brand of Islam that some of these groups have tried to impose in northern Mali is not a brand of Islam that most Malians are familiar with whatsoever.

COSTELLO: And it's also important to note I think because this could be a reason why this is happening, the Malian government asked the French to help get rid of these jihadists, correct?

BURNETT: Yes.

COSTELLO: And France did that.

BURNETT: France did that. And you know, there were questions at that time, would the United States come in because these were al Qaeda- linked groups at the time. The French went in, the French went in with their special forces. They went in aggressively. They fought. But even since then we have seen the pace of attacks in recent months, this year, several attacks pick up against peacekeepers, against civilians, even at a bus depot in Bamako where this Radisson Blu is of course targeting civilians. So there's used to be a jihadist group in the north that was getting support and weapons from places like Libya, there have now been more and more attacks moving farther and farther south, of course now with this in the capital. Just --

COSTELLO: So just going back to the person that you contacted that was inside of the hotel when this attack went down.

BURNETT: Yes.

COSTELLO: He just saw two gunmen and that was it?

BURNETT: So my understanding, and I'm going to be speaking with him more, but at this point I know that he saw one of the gunmen. And the gunman as I said blue jeans, checkered shirt, cap, dressed very casually, speaking in a local language. As they went and sort of indiscriminately started shooting in the lobby.

COSTELLO: Well, I guess that fits because they supposedly pulled up in this car with diplomatic plates. Right? They were pretending to be diplomats.

BURNETT: Right, which is exactly who stays in this hotel. As I said, an international mining conference ended yesterday. There were people from around the world. The French military units stay in this hotel, airplane crews stay in this hotel, as we know, Air France, Turkish Air, saying they have crews that are there. They've accounted for them, that they're safe at this time. But this is -- would be the nicest international brand of hotel in the city of Bamako, the capital of the country.

COSTELLO: Erin Burnett, thanks for the great reporting. Appreciate it.

BURNETT: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: You can watch complete coverage of the terror attacks in Mali with Erin Burnett that's tonight on "OUTFRONT" at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, from Capitol Hill to the campaign trail, heated rhetoric over Syrian refugees. I'll talk to one lawmaker, a Democrat, who voted yes on a bill that would make it tougher for refugees to settle in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:26:28] COOPER: Welcome back. The Paris terror attacks of course sparking fear back on American soil. The FBI says even though there are no ties between the Paris attackers and people in the U.S., the agency is still monitoring dozens for possible copycat attacks. With me now, Republican Senator Bob Corker.

Thanks very much for being with me here. You've been meeting with French officials, U.S. officials here. What have you learned? What are you focusing on?

SEN. BOB CORKER (R), TENNESSEE: Well, obviously there's still concern about things that could happen here. A big part of my trip, I'm on my way to the Middle East but to focus on what we do in Syria. So I met with the minister of defense, I'm going to meet with their -- the equivalent of their national security adviser in just a few moments but it's both about the intel here, what's happening here in Paris and in France, but also what we're going to do about the situation in Syria, where the root of this is.

COOPER: How is cooperation between the U.S. and France on intelligence sharing and also cooperation within Europe itself?

CORKER: I met with our FBI officials here and other folks involved in intelligence gathering and the cooperation has been growing in a very good way. But it's especially taking off now. I think it's going to create a whole new relationship. And it's already been good but I think we're really going to build upon what's been occurring.

COOPER: The -- you know, the huge influx of refugees, of migrants that we have seen over the last year coming from Syria, until the situation in Syria itself is resolved, until progress is made, there's no end in sight to that.

CORKER: No question. I mean, France of all the European countries has more foreign fighters in Syria that obviously would come back to France at some time, some have as we've seen. So there's no question. I mean, as long as our strategy in Syria is containment, more and more and more of this is going to occur. And I think people are waking up to that and realizing that. I think, you know, obviously Hollande is going to the United States on Tuesday. I met -- just met with the minister of defense who's going to be there with him.

And, you know, I think everyone understands that collectively we've got to do something far more robust. As we sit here with them contained, again, they have the ability to train, to inspire people, because they have ground that they control so that's absolutely right.

COOPER: It's also a huge concern that, though the number -- we're told the number of foreign fighters trying to go to Syria has dropped, the FBI said yesterday that may not be such good news because they're actually now encouraging people to stay where they are and do whatever damage they can. If they have a car, they're being told, use that car to kill people.

CORKER: Well, you've seen the public relations material they put out is as good as published anywhere and that is exactly right. I mean, some people aren't able to make the trip and yet they have grievances against the countries they're in. They're inspired by what ISIL is doing. So that's exactly the threat. That's what I think is the biggest concern right now in the United States. COOPER: What do you -- what would you like to see happen in Syria?

It's obviously incredibly complex situation.

CORKER: Yes.

COOPER: There's a lot of --

(CROSSTALK)

CORKER: I hear politicians, and I'm one, you know, throw out all these numbers and things. I think the first decision that has to be made, is, are we as the United States going to take part, are we going to lead a coalition to actually end their existence or are we going to just deal with the containment that we've been doing? So it's really an executive decision first. And then I think once that decision is made, it is collecting from our, you know, great military leaders the best way to go about doing that. We as a nation really haven't made the decision yet in my opinion that we want to destroy them.