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Legal View with Ashleigh Banfield

Obama Makes Statement on National Security; Obama: "No Specific & Credible" Threat to U.S.; French Investigate Radicalized Transit Workers. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired November 25, 2015 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Like they've destroyed monuments, old archeological monuments in Syria and Iraq. Those specific threats have come forward.

Ashleigh, this is a very delicate line the president has to walk right now. On one hand, presumably, he'll make the case, as his secretary of homeland security, his FBI director have made in recent days, that there are no specific, credible threats to the United States. On the other hand, he wants to make sure that everyone is at a little bit heightened state of alert, go about, do what you need to do, spend the Thanksgiving holiday with your family, with your loved ones, enjoy, relax, watch football game, go to the Macy's Day Parade and all of that. But as you travel, if you see something, say something. Be on a little bit higher state of alert. I assume that's the kind of balanced message the president's going to want to share with the American people on this eve of Thanksgiving.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And with that in mind, Pamela Brown, perhaps you can weigh in on this notion through your sources that there is no credible threat, and yet, as they said in Paris, things, as you've mentioned before, can go from flash to bang in the blink of an eye, even when you don't have a credible threat.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And that is what the concern is among law enforcement. They're on heightened alert in the wake of Paris and the fact that this is a holiday weekend. And I can tell you, Ashleigh, my sources tell me, after the Paris attack, some of the people that the FBI has been monitoring here in the United States actually celebrated on social media what happened in Paris. So, of course, the concern is that some of these people, these homegrown violent extremists who may be inspired or directed by ISIS may wake up and say, today is the day that I'm going to launch an attack.

And it's simply impossible, Ashleigh, to have every single person, 900-something people, under 24/7 surveillance. And so law enforcement really needs the help of the public as well, though. They're boosting wiretap and monitoring surveillance of some priority people. People who they feel like poses the biggest threat, that they don't have probable cause yet to perhaps make an arrest. So they're boosting surveillance.

But then there's other people that may be middle or lower tier that they're concerned about, that they just don't have the resources. They have a finite number of resources. And so they asking the public to be aware, see something, say something, because they play a big role, too. In light of Paris, Ashleigh, the French officials had no idea, it seems, that these terrorists were doing surveillance on the targets, had even come back from Syria to fight.

BANFIELD: Yes.

BROWN: That just shows you the challenge that law enforcement faces and potential intelligence gaps as well.

BANFIELD: Just - I just want to let you know that the president is speaking live now. Let's listen in and we'll discuss on the other side.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Good morning, everybody.

I just had a chance to meet with my national security team, including my secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson; my FBI director, Jim Comey; and my attorney general, Loretta Lynch, for a regular update on our security posture post-Paris and going into the holiday season.

I think all of us recognize how horrific and heinous what took place in Paris was. And as I said yesterday, for many of us, the events there touched a deep chord, given the connection between the United States and France, the degree to which Americans see in Paris a way of life that's so familiar to us here in American cities.

And given the shocking images, I know that Americans have been asking each other where -- whether it's safe here, whether it's safe to fly or gather. I know that families have discussed their fears about the threat of terrorism around the dinner table, many for the first time since September 11th.

And it's understandable that people worry something similar could happen here. Watching the events in Paris made the threat feel closer to home. So as we go into Thanksgiving weekend, I want the American people to know is that we are taking every possible step to keep our homeland safe.

First, we're going after ISIL wherever it hides. That's been our strategy for more than a year. I'll speak about this in more detail in the coming weeks, but let me remind the American people of what our coalition of some 65 nations is doing to destroy these terrorists and defeat their ideology.

So far, our military and our partners have conducted more than 8,000 airstrikes on ISIL strongholds and equipment. Those airstrikes, along with the efforts of our partners on the ground, have taken out key leaders, have taken back territory from ISIL in both Iraq and Syria.

We continue to work to choke off their financing and their supply lines and counter their recruitment and their messaging. And even as America is already supporting French airstrikes in Syria -- yesterday, President Hollande and I agreed that our countries are going to step up that coordination even further and do more of that work together. [12:05:02] So we're stepping up the pressure on ISIL where it

lives. And we will not let up, adjusting our tactics where necessary, until they are beaten. That's our first goal.

Second, we continue to do everything possible to prevent attacks at home and abroad and to prevent foreign terrorist fighters from entering the United States or other nations. Since 9/11, we have taken extraordinary measures to strengthen our homeland security, in everything from aviation security to border security to information sharing. We have improved upon these actions over time. Anytime there is an event, we learn something from it. And we continue to refine it.

We continue to improve upon our approaches as we speak. Right now, we know of no specific and credible intelligence indicating a plot on the homeland, and that is based on the latest information I just received in the situation room. It is similar to the information -- the briefing that I received on Saturday before I left on my trip last week.

So as Americans travel this weekend to be with their loved ones, I want them to know that our counter terrorism, intelligence, homeland security, and law enforcement professionals at every level are working over time. They are continually monitoring threats at home and abroad. Continually evaluating our security posture.

They are constantly working to protect all of us. Their work has prevented attacks, their efforts have saved lives. They serve every hour of every day for the sake of our security. They did so before Paris and they do so now. Without fanfare or credit and without a break for the holidays.

So the bottom line is this, I want the American people to know entering the holidays that the combined resources of our military, our intelligence, and our homeland security agencies are on the case. They're vigilant, relentless and effective.

In the event of a specific, credible threat, the public will be informed. We do think it's useful for people as they're going about their business to be vigilant. If you see something suspicious, say something. That's always helpful. But otherwise, Americans should go about their usual Thanksgiving weekend activities. Spending time with family and friends, and celebrating our blessings. And while the threat of terrorism is a troubling reality of our age, we are both equipped to prevent attacks, and we are resilient in the face of those who would try to do us harm. And that's something we can all be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

BANFIELD: You can hear the press yelling every question in the book at that very high level national security team as they exit the room. That was one short, concise, compendious statement from the president of the United States. Effectively, go about your business on this heavy travel day, this Thanksgiving holiday. We have things under control. There is no credible threat here in America, having just emerged from a briefing in the situation room.

I want to bring back in our CNN anchor, Wolf Blitzer, as well as our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr and Pam Brown, who is our intelligence correspondent, justice correspondent, and Paul Cruickshank is also joining us, our CNN terrorism analyst.

First to you, Wolf Blitzer. To me that looks like a message to calm the nation in the wake of a very uncalm time. Is there anything more to it?

BLITZER: No, that's exactly right. The president wants everyone to go about and do their Thanksgiving activities as normal, try to be as responsive as possible. Once again, he said, if you see something, say something. But it was important, I think, Ashleigh, that he was backed up there by his FBI director, James Comey, secretary of homeland security, Jeh Johnson, his national security adviser, Susan Rice, was there, Lisa Monaco, his counterterrorism advisor, was there with him as well. They were all there to show that the best minds, as far as the Obama administration is concerned, on national security, on the counter - to deal with counter terrorism, to dealing with threats from ISIS and al Qaeda and other terror groups, they've been meeting, they've been convened in the White House situation room, and this was his message, a balanced message, go ahead and do your Thanksgiving activities. If we learn, he said, that there is a specific, credible threat, we will let you know.

[12:10:02] In the meantime, the U.S. has not learned that despite the slick propaganda videos that ISIS has put out making threats. They don't regard that as a specific, credible threat. And as a result, the president had what I think is a sober, but balanced message to the American people, enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

BANFIELD: I want to bring in Barbara Starr, if I can.

And, Barbara, this is not necessarily a military issue when you're talking about homeland security, but the president did bring up the fact that the combined intelligence between our military, our homeland security team, and our intelligence professionals means that, quote, we are equipped to keep you safe. Tell me a little bit about that side from the Pentagon and this stepped up effort to attack ISIS where they live.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, those words by the president, I think, Ashleigh, were very key, attacking ISIS where they live, overseas, mainly in Syria and Iraq. And, you know, it's been a long-standing sort of principle of American counterterrorism to strike terrorist networks where they live and that theoretically keeps them from coming to the homeland. He went through all the statistics about the air strikes and striking ISIS.

But I think that right now what a lot of people are also looking at is ISIS has moved far beyond those borders of Syria and Iraq. A week ago Friday, Paris, what has happened in Brussels with the lockdown, the downing of the Russian airliner over Sinai, the attacks in north Africa, in Tunis, in Mali. All of this shows us that, you know, ISIS, ISIS-inspired, ISIS affiliates, whatever you want to call them, moved - have moved far beyond the range of these daily U.S.-led coalition air strikes in Syria and Iraq. So that is one of the key underpinnings of concern. Where could to next attack come from outside of that area. The people that are inspired by ISIS, the lone wolf, still a very big worry.

BANFIELD: So, Pamela Brown, let me bring you into this conversation. When the president says there is no specific, credible threat on the radar here and that they would let the public know if there were one, those killers in Paris were using messaging apps that disappear and aren't traceable, which would mean no credible threat there either. How are we to actually know there's no credible threat when the killers are getting so stealthy?

BROWN: Exactly right. You know, I was just thinking, had you asked French officials before the attacks if there was any specific, credible - if there was any specific, credible threat, what would they have said? Likely no, because had they known that these people were going to launching the attacks in Paris, they would have moved in to make an arrest. So that is the quandary facing law enforcement right now, Ashleigh, that they have capabilities. And even if they can't see into communications, that can boost surveillance and use other investigative means.

But the problem is, Ashleigh, is that part of this is dark. And some of the people that they're watching here in the United States are using encryption, are communicating with ISIS in Syria. But I will tell you, Ashleigh, that the FBI in particular is being more aggressive with moving in and making arrests if they have concern and enough evidence to prove that someone has ties to terrorism, because they don't have the luxury to sit and wait that they used to have in the days of al Qaeda, when there was more planning, more time that they would use to perhaps launch an attack. They're going in to make arrests more quickly. We've seen more than 50 ISIS-related arrests here in the United States just this year, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Paul Cruickshank, it's intriguing to hear the president say, go about your Thanksgiving business. This is the busiest travel day of the year. There are hundreds of thousands of people heading to airports, heading to bus stations, taking to the highways. And they want to hear those words. But at the same time they want to know that things are a little bit different now. Yesterday we heard the report that there is increased radicalization among airport workers and transit workers in France. Why are we to think there is not anything different here in the United States and what are we not seeing that the government might be doing about it?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: That's right, Ashleigh. I know there has been concerns that there could be radicalization at U.S. airports. In fact there was a cleaner who worked at Minneapolis/St. Paul's airport who ended up going to fight with ISIS, was killed there in 2014. And Drew Griffin in CNN's Investigations Unit have been doing some really excellent reporting on this and have reported that when it comes to ground staff, baggage handlers, people with access to the tarmac and plane, very few airports do these people get screened every day through x-rays when they come into work. It's very, very different in Europe. But it seems there's a very significant vulnerability there at U.S. airports in terms of some of the insiders working at the airports. And I think that's something that a terrorist group like ISIS will look to exploit.

[12:15:01] BANFIELD: I want to bring in Joe Johns, who's standing by live at the White House.

Joe, you were present at the White House when this extraordinary news conference with a very big executive show of force effectively told the nation everything's OK, don't be worried, happy Thanksgiving. Give me a bit of the behind the scenes as to the decision to launch this news conference with those players.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: I think it's pretty clear that this is a message that has been coming out of the White House now at least three times over the last 24 hours. The president talked about some of it in his news conference with Francois Hollande just yesterday. Then the national security folks put out a press release last night indicating that there is no specific threat to the homeland from ISIS. And then today, the president coming out with his national security team.

So, they're trying to put a very public face on this and it's difficult for them because it's a dual-edged message. On the one hand they want to say there's no credible threat. But on the other hand they want to say to people, be vigilant. And then, perhaps, there's a third prong of that, that says, if you see something, say something, but otherwise go ahead and live your life on Thanksgiving. So they're trying to cover all their bases and let Americans know that the president and his security team are trying to take care of this.

Of course, who knows what happens over the next 72 hours. But it's important for them to put that public face out there and try to allay some concerns because there was, very recently, a CBS News poll that suggested the president's confidence from the public on the issue of handling terrorism has slipped quite a bit. And that's, of course, is a problem for him, too, and his legacy, Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Well, and as he wrapped up that news conference, Joe, he said there is no break over the holidays for those who are trying to keep us safe at this point. It's important to remember as well, in the wake of this, that terrorists' number one goal is terrorizing and making people afraid. So maybe that message will at least help to mitigate how people in America at least feel going into this weekend.

Joe Johns, thank you. Paul Cruickshank, Wolf Blitzer, Barbara Starr, Pamela Brown, thank you all. I do appreciate your insight on this breaking news.

And we just heard the president addressing the national security issue in the wake of the Paris attack. So what exactly is being done at all those airports? Maybe you're headed to one today. Coming up live, we're going to take you to one to see if anything looks for feels different, talk to some passengers and get the inside story on security in the wake of Paris.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [12:21:52] BANFIELD: Just heard President Obama live telling the nation that we are as safe as we possibly can be on this eve of Thanksgiving weekend.

Joining me now with more on the worldwide terror threat and the response from the civilized world, CNN intelligence and security analyst and former CIA operative Bob Baer is with us live. Aviation attorney and former military pilot Justin Green is here as well. And live at LaGuardia Airport in New York, CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll.

Jason, I want to go to you first, if I can. This is going to be one very busy place if it isn't already. Are you seeing things that are differently or is most of what might be different really behind the scenes?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, when you hear about TSA doubling down on the security in response to that worldwide travel alert, I have to say, we have seen more TSA officers out here. We have seen, for example, members of the National Guard, not where we are now, but just down on the left where I - in this area of the airport at LaGuardia over there. So we have seen an increased level of security out here.

I know passengers have noticed it as well. And, Ashleigh, in terms of talking to passengers about traveling during this period of time, I think one passenger said it best. He said, look, he said, are there concerns? Obviously, yes, there are. We're paying attention to what's going on in the world. But he said, you know, if we don't travel, if we don't go and see our loved ones, we're letting them win. And so that's why those are the people, many of those passengers who have come out here today who we've spoken to say, we're not going to let what's happening in the world change what we need to do. And I think that's very much in step with what the president was saying earlier. It's very clear from being out here today, even before the president gave his speech, a number of people had already decided they were going to go about with their plans.

Ashleigh.

BANFIELD: Yes, I expect that the scene behind you is going to get only more frenetic and maybe even longer lines as the day progresses. It's such a busy travel day.

Justin, I want to bring you in on the issue that we learned about in France.

JUSTIN GREEN, AVIATION ATTORNEY: Yes.

BANFIELD: Yesterday, the reporting coming out that there is an increased presence of radicalized workers in the transportation system in France. And that includes bus driver, train operators, metro operators and maybe the most fearsome of all of that, airport workers. That's France. What is the story in America when it comes to all those kinds of employees that we depend on, we assume will keep us safe? How are we watching them and how good a job are we doing? GREEN: Well, first of all, you have to identify who we're talking

about. Everyone knows the TSA. The TSA are government employees, very thorough background checks, long-term employees. I think people go to the TSA, stay at the TSA for their careers. But be beyond them, beyond the security you have people taking out the garbage, you've got people moving people from, you know, place to place.

BANFIELD: Selling you the coffee inside the secure part of the airport.

GREEN: You have - selling you - selling you the coffee. A lot of those job - baggage handlers - a lot of those jobs are very low-paying jobs. Much more turnover. The background checks are supposed to be done on these people. They're supposed to - and they - and they do go through security. But I think what you have to do, you know, security is only as good as the people doing security. A sterile area, the safe area at an airport's only as good as the people who are beyond the safe area.

[12:25:17] So I think that the TSA is continuing to look at who we trust, who we allow back there. They have identified some problems in the past. They have made steps to make sure that someone who has a tie to radical Islam or any sort of terror kind of, you know, problem would not be allowed back there, but we still have to be vigilant.

BANFIELD: Yes.

Bob Baer, jump in on that, if you would, just with your background knowledge of the security protocol right now post-9/11 and post every other terror attack that we've seen. We just had a plane crash over the Sinai and it was like a Lockerbie all over again. A bomb on board, more than likely by an airport worker who was able to sneak it through. In America, could that happen?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Ashleigh, I think absolutely. I mean the ground staff, baggage handlers are not as vetted as well as TSA, as - or government employees. They are low- paid. They are not being watched as they move around the airport. Security backgrounds may, you know, the FBI may approach a suspect and say, are you radicalized? No. But what can the FBI do about it?

In a place like Minneapolis, where you had the airport worker who had access to airplanes, picks up and leaves and goes to Syria and is killed in an attack. That was somebody who was radicalized and just as easily he could have slipped a bomb on an airplane.

I think our airplanes are vulnerable. And, you know, the FBI is doing a great job and so is TSA. But at the end of the day, how do you vet thousands and thousands of people because, as we always say, they just have to get lucky once to close our aviation down. And this is a real threat. And I think that's why the president is out today saying, reassuring Americans, we have no credible threat. But again, we know that the Islamic state can go dark, they can get off the Internet and - their followers will simply not - won't go up on the net admitting their allegiances. It's a threat.

BANFIELD: Yes, they can communicate via their game devices. They can communicate with these disappearing mobile apps as well, like Telegram, which was used in France.

I'm going to have to leave it there for now. Jason Carroll, Justin Green, and Bob Baer, thank you to all three of you.

Coming up next, back to Paris because the other Paris terrorist we've just found out about has ties to Syria. Maybe that's not a surprise. But the more we learn about the attack, the more surprising it getting and the more frightening it gets. And, p.s., have you seen this face? Belgian police are sharing these pictures everywhere. Killers before the killing. Killers on the loose.

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