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Police Foil a Terror Plot in Berlin, Germany; France Investigating Airport Personnel with Radical Ties; Russian Strikes Aimed at Rebels Who Targeted Ejecting Air Crew; Further War of Words with Donald Trump. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 27, 2015 - 03:00   ET

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

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NATALIE ALLEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL NEWSROOM HOST: -- prepares to mourn victims of terrorism, police in Berlin arrest two men accused of plotting a new attack. Plus, in a CNN interview, Turkey's President says he will not apologize for the downing of a Russian war plane.

And Pope Francis gets a roaring welcome at a stadium in Kenya before leaving for Uganda. All ahead here this hour, welcome to our viewers from around the world. This is CNN Newsroom live from Atlanta. Thank you for joining us. I am Natalie Allen. I'll be with you for another hour.

It is 9:00 a.m. in Berlin where police say they have foiled plans for a significant attack. Two men, age 28 and 46 are under arrest. German media say one is from Syria, the other from Tunisia. Police say they found a suspected dangerous object in their vehicle. The arrests come after authorities searched an Islamic cultural center in western Berlin.

Well, in Paris, French investigators are stepping up their investigation of airport workers with ties to radical Islam. A counter terrorism source tells CNN more than 100 French public transit workers have traveled to Syria since 2012. CNN's Max Foster is again with us live from Paris and he has more, Max, on the investigation into these workers. Let's start there. Hello.

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, very interesting, going back to 2004, there have been concerns about radicalization among transport workers in Paris. Just since January, workers at the Charles De Gaulle Airport, 50 of them, we're told, have been denied access to secure areas, and that's due to suspicions that may have been radicalized, so huge amounts of concern about the transport system, although no one has actually been fired because of it. So there hasn't been concerned to that level. But, obviously, it's very widespread from what we can see, but it does seem as though the security services -- they are monitoring it, as least.

A couple of examples of the sort of things that they've been worried about, so you've had the unions complaining that some bus drivers refuse to acknowledge women, and they've also been found praying inside the hospital in areas in which weren't cleared for prayers. So those are the sorts of concerns that have been raised, and it does show the level of the investigation that is following these Paris attacks as well. They're trying to track everything right back to work out what happened in this particular case. But also how to prevent attacks in future, Natalie.

ALLEN: And that's inside France and, of course, outside the President Hollande has been trying to galvanize more support from other countries. David Cameron, Great Britain address, parliament in quite a long session to make -- against ISIS. Tell us about his speech and what he wants Britain to do.

FOSTER: Well, effectively, he's responding to a parliamentary report. He said he would respond personally to that and explain all of the reasons why he thinks Britain should join the war against ISIS and Syria. They're already operating air strikes in Iraq. So it was a very personal piece, a small moment from what, as you described, was a very long session.

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DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: My first responsibility as Prime Minister and our first job in this house is to keep the British people safe. We have the assets to do that, and we can significantly extend the capabilities of the international coalition forces. That is one reason why members of the international coalition, including President Obama and President Hollande have made it clear to me that they want Britain to stand with them in joining air strikes in Syria as well as Iraq. These are our closest allies and they want our help.

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FOSTER: The question, Natalie, is can he get the support of parliamentarians to get this vote through parliament. Well, he seems to have enough support on his side, but he also needs some support from the other side, the opposition labor party. There, the leader has said he absolutely will not support David Cameron's proposal on this. But within this party, there's a bit of a breakdown forming and they talked about a war within the labor party. Plenty want to go support David Cameron, whether or not they go ahead with that and to find whether or not David Cameron was going to win the vote. He feels ultimately if there is a vote next week, he would get it through, so we'll watch very closely.

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ALLEN: Well, the sun has risen there in Paris, and this will be a solemn day for many there, Max, as they plan to mourn the victims. What can you tell us about the events today?

FOSTER: Yes, a memorial, a national memorial will be televised across the country as well, so we do think it's going to be a moment where everyone gathers together and try to make sense of those Paris attacks and try to make sense of those who died. CNN International Correspondent Jim Bittermann is actually at the War Museum where the memorial service is taking place. How is France feeling going into this memorial, Jim?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think there are a number of things going on here, Max. President Hollande asked everybody to be very patriotic and to put flags in their windows. There are places around Paris you can see flags in the windows, they're selling out of their flags, there's been a great demand ever since he said that. Here at the war memorial, it's not only a war memorial, but it's the burial place of napoleon and used for this ceremony. It's quite an exceptional mourning. Things are supposed to start taking place here in about an hour and a half.

We expect about a thousand people here. This is the first time that the -- has been used for a civilian ceremony like this. Usually, it is to honor military. For the 130 victims killed, their relatives will be here, they've been invited, as well as the 350 people who were injured and their relatives. There's an honor guard, the entire political class of the country is going to be here on both sides of the political aisle, both from President Hollande's party and all the rest of the parties here.

They've been invited to this, so it's going to be quite a big ceremony. I wanted to show you a little bit of what is happening here in the newspapers this morning after President Hollande's appeal. One of the papers came out with red, white, and blue just as Hollande said. But some of the papers have chosen to do this, which is to say list the names of the victims with the names of the 130 victims who were killed, Max.

FOSTER: But, Jim, not all the families are attending, are they? We'll wait to see what happens with that service. There are some of those who don't want to attend the ceremony, because they feel as though France isn't protecting them. They don't feel as if they're -- you know the victims necessarily should have died if France had responded as effectively as they had hoped after Charlie Hebdo. But obviously, emotions running very high and there will be many people fully behind the President today as he speaks on behalf of the nation.

ALLEN: All right. We thank you, Jim Bittermann and Max Foster for us. We want to go back to Jim, all right. We continue.

Well, the Presidents of Russia and France say they disagree on what should be done about Bashar Al Assad in Syria, but they will work together to defeat ISIS in that country. Vladimir Putin and Francois Hollande vow to exchange war information and intelligence. Mr. Putin also said Russia is ready to cooperate with the U.S.-led coalition battling ISIS. This comes after Turkey shot down one of Russia's war planes, claiming it violated Turkish air space.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: It did not even come into our minds that we could have been struck by a party that we consider to be our ally. Our plane was about five or six kilometers, it was absolutely undefended, unprotected, and if it had come into our minds about such a possibility, first of all, we would have set up such a system a long time ago to protect our fighters. FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT: It is essential in this zone, in

this time, to avoid any risk and any new incidents and to prevent any escalation. The only objective that we all must have is the fight against Daesh and the neutralization of the terrorists.

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ALLEN: Russia is responding by moving new artillery to a military base in Syria. Part of its hard line response to Turkey. Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance has more for us on that from Moscow.

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MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Suddenly, Russia's war claims in Syria look much less vulnerable, this, the first battery of highly sophisticated S-400 missiles already being deployed to the combat zone. These weapons could give Russia significant control of the skies, and are just part of Moscow's hard line response to the shoot down by Turkey of one of its planes. There's been a hard line response to this, too.

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Images of rebels shooting the Russian air crew after they ejected over Syria, killing the pilot, drawing the Kremlin's fury, defense officials say an intensive air bombardment coupled with Syrian artillery has now killed all the terrorists operating in the area. ISIS and other rebel groups say the Russians were targeted. In Moscow, the French President, Francois Hollande, continued his efforts to forge an international front against ISIS. And Vladimir Putin agreed to share intelligence and coordinate air strikes. But the loss of the Russian plane at the hands of Turkey has complicated a deal, leaving the Kremlin feeling angry and betrayed.

PUTIN: It did not even enter our minds that we could have been struck by a party that we considered to be our ally.

CHANCE: And amid signs that Russia is now preparing economic sanctions against Turkey for this, progress towards a grand anti-ISIS coalition may have been dealt a serious blow, Matthew Chance, CNN Moscow.

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ALLEN: And Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan insists Russia was in the wrong. Our Becky Anderson -- his armed were doing jobs when they shot down the warplane.

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BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Was it a mistake? And will you apologize?

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN, TURKISH PRESIDENT: Well, I think if there's a party that needs to apologize, it's not us. Those who violated our air space are the ones who need to apologize.

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ALLEN: We'll have more of Becky's interview in less than 30 minutes from now. Meantime, Iran's official news agency says the country's Special Forces commander was behind the rescue of the surviving pilot behind enemy lines in Syria. This is video of the pilot talking with reporters. CNN has not been able to independently confirm the story, though. Russia has maintained the jet, of course, was not in Turkish air space. The other pilot was shot and killed as he parachuted down to the ground.

Let's go to Ian Lee. He's following developments for us in Istanbul, and it is sounding like Turkey is trying to ease the tensions, but certainly we just heard from Vladimir Putin. We just heard from Mr. Erdogan. They've still got some healing to do here over what has transpired with this, Ian.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Natalie. Neither side wants to concede that they're in the wrong. Both sides saying that the other needs to apologize, although we have heard a bit more of a consolatory tone from the Turks, we heard from President Erdogan saying he's ready to shake hands with Putin and move on. Erdogan really wants to make this a very isolated incident, but the Russians aren't having it. We're hearing that they are going to look into other measures that they are going to take, we're hearing that there are chances for the two leaders of Turkey and Russia to get together and talk at the end of this month in Paris.

There will be the climate talks. Turks are hoping to meet with Putin. Also Erdogan is going to Russia on December 15th. Well, at least for now. That trip has not been canceled. They're hoping to smooth ruffled feathers. Then it's interesting to point out also that Erdogan tried to call Putin on the day of the attack when it happened to talk to him, although Putin didn't answer. He just wasn't in the mood to talk, Natalie.

ALLEN: I can understand that. He's trying to sort this out. He seems absolutely shocked that an ally shot down a war plane. One would assume have any Russian war planes been seen anywhere in the region since?

LEE: Actually, there has been a lot of activity in the area where the plane went down. Russia has carried out over a dozen air strikes since the incident in the area, targeting these Turkmen rebels. These are the rebels that Turkey has a close kinship with. This has been a point, a very sensitive point for the Turkish government, and we've also seen a new offensive by the Syrian army in the area, as well, pounding it with artillery and mortars. It could be seen as Russia going after Turkish interests in that part and, really, in Syria, Natalie.

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FOSTER: All right, Ian lee for us live there in Turkey for us. We'll continue to follow developments with you from there. Thank you, Ian. Right now, Pope Francis is in Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, Kenya. He

received a huge welcome from the cheering crowds inside. Next we'll take you there live as he gets ready to speak.

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ALLEN: All right. This is live from Nairobi, Kenya. That is Pope Francis speaking before a huge crowd gathered there. His message is to the youth of Kenya. Robyn Kriel is there and she is covering this, and certainly, Robyn, this crowd went from ruckus and wild waiting for him to arrive to quiet now as they listen to what he has to say.

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Natalie. It's very quiet. You can almost hear a pin drop in this stadium right now as Pope Francis addresses this enormous crowd. We heard just a few moments ago from a few young people here in Kenya, some young leaders, who spoke about the issue of corruption and leadership.

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Now, Pope Francis, since he's arrived here in Kenya, has ignited a bit of a firestorm because he's behaving in such a humble manner. He drove from the airport on his arrival to his first event in a four- door Honda. Not a Presidential limousine, not a Range Rover, and not a lot of people were commenting on that. And he carries his own bag and the fact that he's been so outspoken for the poor. He just visited a slum a short while ago, Natalie, where he did lash out at the corruption of the elite in Kenya. He said to see the signs of good living that increased daily, no way entails a disregard to the dreadful injustices of social exclusion. Pope Francis has always been a huge advocate for the poor. He met and spoke with a number of people, one of a particular person Sister Mary Colleen who has been working for the Catholic Church inside the slums of Kenya for the past 40 years.

She did not mince her words. She spoke about corruption, about the land grabbing that occurs, she watches her own people that she's worked with have their land taken by greedy, wealthy people, who simply take the land without asking for any form of compensation. And some other issues that these young people address, the issues of tribalism. You will remember Kenya was the scene of post election violence in 2007, 2008, and they spoke to the Pope saying that the people of Kenya should rise above tribalism or any form of divisions and remember to always believe in God.

She said the corruption, the gap between the rich and the poor continues to rise. She spoke about moral choices, school, school versus God, and school versus other choices. You need to keep up your education, but at the same time remain committed to Jesus Christ. She also had some funny words to say about social media, saying that people should spend -- people, especially young Kenyans, should spend more time chatting with God than chatting on Facebook. Kenya does have an incredibly vibrant social scene, especially on Twitter. She also mentioned the effects of the Twitter account which she says they follow avidly. ALLEN: So he speaks about corruption. Of course, he talks about more

service and support for the poor. But he also took a moment to talk about his other top, top issue, and that is the environment. What did he have to say there in Africa about that?

KRIEL: Incredibly outspoken about the environment and really, really calling on leaders, almost a challenge, really, to reach decisions before the Climate Change Conference in Paris, which is just in a few weeks. Some really, really outspoken words there, the speaking of the cuff at some point which is really when you get sort of the best of sound bites from the Pope. He spoke about elephant poaching and a number of issues planting a tree, and Nairobi is actually at the home of the United Nations in the environmental program. It's been named the environmental capital of the world. Pope Francis decided to make this one of his major themes.

ALLEN: All right, Robyn Kriel, covering his trip. He will go next to Uganda. Robyn thanks very much.

Well, the Miss World competition is under way in China, but one contestant isn't there. Miss World Canada, Anastasia Lin, that's her, was stopped in Hong Kong on Thursday and denied permission to board the flight where the pageant is being held. Lin says China is punishing her for speaking out repeatedly against human rights abuses in the country.

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ANASTASIA LYN, MISS WORLD CANADA 2015: I asked the Chinese government, why is it afraid to let in a beauty queen? Asked them why what kind of precedent this would set for future international events that they want to host. Ask them whether they would bar Olympic athletes from participating in the Winter Olympics games just because they have different views that a communist party don't agree with. What if they're of Tibetan origin? What if they support democracy in China?

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FOSTER: China's foreign ministry spokesman would not comment on this case. Lin, a Chinese-born Canadian, has shared her views on Chinese religious policies and is a follower of -- a spiritual group outlawed by China.

The New York Times and Donald Trump are demanding apologies from each other after the Republican Presidential candidate was accused of mocking a disabled journalist.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Right after a couple of good paragraphs, they're talking about northern New Jersey draws the proposal, written by a nice reporter. Now you see this guy, oh, I don't know what I said. He's going, I don't remember. I don't remember. Maybe that's what I said. This was 14 years ago. He's still -- they didn't do a retraction.

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ALLEN: Well, Serge Kovaleski, that's him on the left, has limited movement of his arms. He and Trump now disagree about whether an article Kovaleski wrote in 2001 supported Trump's claim that thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the 9/11 attacks. Trump denied mocking the journalists, saying in a statement, "If Mr. Kovaleski is handicapped, I would not know because I do not know what he looks like. If I did know, I would definitely not say anything about his appearance."

An emotional day ahead for France, as the country prepares to honor the victims of the Paris attacks. We will take you back live to the French capital, coming up in the next 30 minutes.

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ALLEN: And welcome back to our viewers around the world. You're watching CNN Newsroom live. I am Natalie Allen.

French President Francois Hollande will lead a ceremony in just about one hour to remember the victims of the Paris attacks. CNN's Max Foster joins us live from our Paris bureau to tell us more about it, and the mood there in France two weeks on since the attacks, Max.

FOSTER: Just looking around from our space here, I can see flags going up around. President Hollande has asked people to fly the French flags. Outside their windows, outside their homes and they seem to be responding. We know a flag makers sold many flags in the last couple of days.

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And this is really a sign of how the country is rallying around this moment as they remember the deaths of two weeks ago now in those horrific attacks, but also really what it means for France and how they move on for this. It's a challenge. The international affairs editor, France 24, how does he do that? How do you express this feeling that the country has got?

MELISSA BEIL, INTERANTIONAL AFFAIRS EDITOR FRANCE 24: It's going to be difficult to find the right words. He's going to, for a start, read out the names of 130 people who died, and not necessarily on the 13th of November since there were, of course, those who died as a result of their injuries afterwards. But he will read out the names of all the victims trying to choose, of course, the right words. He has done a remarkably good job over the course of the last two weeks, his popularity ratings have jumped by 10 basis points, 94 percent of people are behind the tough action he's taken by extending the state of emergency for three months, the new legislation he's putting through.

He has got tremendous cross party and popular support for everything that he's done and the way he's handled it. In these times, he does tend to shine, which is not always the case for Francois Hollande. For a start, this ceremony is extremely unusual, and never before has there been a ceremony for civilians. Normally, it's reserved for people, for soldiers who have fallen in the line of duty or for men of state who brought contribution to the republic. A ceremony has never been held before.

FOSTER: Is that seen as victims of war?

BEIL: It's a strong statement, and he clearly wanted this to be a highly symbolic ceremony. It was announced by Saturday this was already in place. He's chosen to make a very strong statement, a symbolic event to suggest the idea that these are people falling for France, really. This is what's behind the message of holding it in this particular form. If you think back to the first hours and days of this, he was very clear. France is at war and this is a message that he's been hammering home for, really, the last two weeks and it's going to continue today.

FOSTER: It's interesting seeing the flags going up around Paris, sometimes difficult relationships with the flag, this is often associated with the far right. But it feels as though the country is reclaiming it. This is what I have heard.

BEIL: This is something very new. In fact, you mentioned the makers of the -- main company that makes the French flag. They doubled their sales over the course of the last two weeks. This is not something that the French put out in front of their houses or pull out at particular events. As a result, it has been taken over, it's a symbol of the far right. It's only for the French society that uses the French flag terribly much. Even sporting events, you would not really see that many flags flying around. So this is something quite new.

He's called on French people all over the country in order to take part in this ceremony, to put these flags on the outsides of their house. What we realize is because the French haven't done it before, there are not that many flags to go around. So people have been reminding people that people took sheets and dipped them in dye and whether it goes that far will be interesting to see.

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FOSTER: Thank you very much indeed, Melissa Beil, we'll be -- that service in just under an hour, Natalie.

ALLEN: All right, Max Foster for us, and we'll of course, be bringing part of it to our viewers, thank you.

Turkey says it will not apologize for downing a Russian war plane which it claims violated Turkish air space. The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says his forced were simply doing their jobs. Mr. Erdogan spoke with our Beck Anderson in his first interview since the plane was shot down.

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ERDOGAN: Of course, we are saddened by what happened. We are disturbed by what happened, because we have a strategic partnership with the Russian federation, a partnership of great importance. Despite our differences, we wouldn't have wanted this incident to take place.

ANDERSON: Was it a mistake? And will you apologize?

ERDOGAN: Well, I think if there's a party that needs to apologize, it's not us. Those who violated our air space are the ones who need to apologize. Our pilots in our armed forces, they simply fulfilled their duties, which consisted of responding to a violation of the rules of engagement. I think this is the essence.

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ANDERSON: Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, has called this planned provocation, and Putin has accused you of driving relations between your two countries to a stand still, your response?

ERDOGAN: There is no deliberate effort from our side to bring the relationship to a stand still. I think these are emotional attitudes to the issue. I don't think it's the right thing to say. We have never had this kind of intention to bring the relationship to this kind of a point.

ANDERSON: They do keep coming, Putin has accused you of effectively stabbing him in the back, I think, is the line he used, and as being -- Turkey as being an accomplice of terror. This is pretty fiery stuff, isn't it?

ERDOGAN: Well, the expression accomplices of terror, I don't know if he used it or not. If Mr. Putin is saying that we are cooperating with Daesh, that we are accomplices, I think that will be a huge mistake because we are doing the exact opposite. And Russia is not engaged in a fight against Daesh in Syria. On the contrary, they are actually targeting moderate opposition. Turkey is a country that fights against terrorism. So calling Turkey an accomplice of terrorists would be the worst thing to do.