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At This Hour

Obama, Cameron Vow to Protect "Our Way of Life"; 400 U.S. Troops to Train Syrian Opposition; Can Nations Stop Citizens from Joining ISIS?; U.S. Capitol Bomb Suspect In Court Today; Can Regional Militaries Defeat Boko Haram?

Aired January 16, 2015 - 11:30   ET

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

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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: What will the American role be in this new battle against terror here in Europe? What specific measures is the White House prepared to take? Well, we could learn soon. President Obama holding a highly anticipated news conference along with the British Prime Minister David Cameron. David Cameron visiting the United States. He's been meeting with the president all morning. They expect to come to cameras sometime within the next hour to take questions from reporters.

Again, what they had to say, highly anticipated. You can see a picture of them right there. As I said, they have been meeting. Today, they were wearing exactly the same thing. This picture from yesterday. President meeting with a big smile on his face with the British prime minister. Working out of the same closet at least. What will they say today about the situation here in Europe?

Let's bring in Michelle Kosinski at the White House.

Michelle, what are you hearing?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: We expect, coming from the British side, this is what's been announced already, the U.S. and Britain will take part in these war games involving cyberterror, simulated attacks on things like Wall Street, the Bank of England, possibly infrastructure. This will be simulated and they want to check out what the communication would be between the two countries, how they share information, taking a look at the response afterwards. So cyberterrorism is a big deal. We all know that. We'll see two countries share more in how they plan and try to prevent it.

Also, other topics are on the agenda, everything from Britain wanting the U.S. to release one of its citizens from Guantanamo Bay Detention Center. And Ebola is another topic. Of course, the war on terror and its various forms is really going to be the focus -- John?

BERMAN: With so many arrests happening now not just in France but also in Belgium with people moving around from Madrid to Bulgaria to Turkey, this entire continent where I am, Michelle, is certainly watching this news conference very, very closely. Do you get a sense that the president is communicating on a regular basis with the leaders of these countries? Today we saw Secretary of State John Kerry finally come here to Paris meeting with the French leader, Francois Hollande.

KOSINSKI: Officials have told us they are constantly in touch with their counterparts overseas when anything happens. They may not get into specifics each time. For example, the White House hasn't put out a response today on the raids in Belgium overnight but we know that officials are talking, that they are in communication about what information surfaces.

What's going to be interesting when we see this press conference happen is the questions that are going to result from Britain's David Cameron talking over the last couple days about the role the Internet plays in terror and wanting American entities, like Facebook and Snapchat, to share information more with British investigators. And to stop encryption. That's been a problem for U.S. authorities too. That's a battle that goes on here in the U.S. Unlikely that David Cameron is going to spark a big change in this privacy versus investigation debate. But it's possible that there will be cooperation maybe on a case by case basis in the future. That's something we expect them to take questions on. And hopefully, we'll hear more detail, even on the White House's stance on this issue. The White House hasn't wanted to take a side and they haven't wanted to say publicly whether they think it's a good idea that these companies share information with British investigators. We're waiting to hear on that -- John?

BERMAN: Michelle Kosinski at the White House.

Again, a news conference with President Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron set about one hour from now. Stay with CNN for that.

Meanwhile, new plans by the Pentagon for the U.S. military to help train moderate Syrian opposition groups to help fight ISIS. This is a new step in the wider U.S. effort to fight extremism. That's the battle against ISIS. But what to do about al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. That's the group that's claimed responsibility for the attack behind me at the "Charlie Hebdo" offices. How do you take the battle to them? That issue much more complicated.

Our Barbara Starr has the detail about what the United States has planned.

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(SHOUTING)

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq, air strikes by drones or fighter jets can only do so much to suppress the threat of terrorism.

GEN. MARK WELSH, AIR FORCE CHIEF OF STAFF: The DOD approach is not to defeat ISIS from the air. The intent is to inhibit ISIS, to slow ISIS down, to give a ground force time to be trained because a ground force will be required.

(GUNFIRE) STARR: In Syria, where ISIS still controls vast swaths of territory, it could take years to get Syrian opposition forces on the ground fully trained and committed to the fight. But the Obama administration has said any ground forces won't come from the U.S.

(GUNFIRE)

STARR: So the answer for now is air strikes that punish the enemy but fail to land a knockout punch.

WELSH: You can't control territory. You can't influence people. You can't maintain lines of control after you've established them. That will take a ground force.

STARR: Even before al Qaeda in Yemen claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks, the Pentagon was quietly trying to figure out new ways to thwart al Qaeda's most dangerous affiliate. But a frustrating answer came back. No new military options are really out there. The major military tool against al Qaeda in Yemen remains unchanged, drone attacks using Hellfire missiles.

Drones have killed nearly 1,000 militants in Yemen during the Obama administration, according to the New America Foundation. The biggest success, September 2011, when American-born cleric, Anwar al Awlaki, was killed.

COL. PETER MANSOOR, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: If you look at all these places, there's a common thread and that's governance. If you have good governance, a government that can control its territory, then extremist groups have a difficult time operating. You can't get it with drone strikes. Drone strikes are equivalent to mowing the grass. You can kill some extremists that way. You can keep perhaps a lid on their capabilities but you cannot eliminate the groups.

STARR (on camera): There may be one bright spot in all of this and that is Iraq. U.S. officials say they believe they are stalling ISIS' progress in Iraq and that's because they are able to work with Iraqi and Peshmerga forces there and gain an advantage from the intelligence that those groups have.

Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

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BERMAN: Our thanks to Barbara for that.

We do have new information just into CNN. Two more arrests connected to these raids overnight in Belgium. Two suspected terrorists killed there. Now we believe there have been 17 arrests total. Two more individuals arrested trying to get from France to Italy. And now the Belgians have requested from France that they be sent back to Belgium. It just gives you a sense of the international nature right now of what's going on in Europe, this battle against terror and how big and how widespread these operations are now. The Belgians announcing two men were arrested in connection with raids there. Two men trying to get from France to Italy. Total number of arrests, Michaela, in this Belgium operation now to 17.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And it grows.

All right, John, thank you for that.

Ahead, we'll look at the lure and appeal of jihad. We're also going to ask, did the Islamic State give go-order to cells popping up in Europe and being uncovered. And more importantly perhaps, how can countries stop their citizens from joining the terror group?

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BERMAN: Both France and Belgium increasing their terror alert levels. Why? This video gives you a sense. A man claiming to be an ISIS terrorist is speaking in French and promising new attacks in France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland. More than 3,000 Europeans have left to fight in Syria in recent years. 3,000. You heard our Paul Cruickshank say that some individuals could be here to carry out attacks.

Let's bring in CNN global affairs analyst, Kimberly Dozier.

Hindsight is 20/20. In hindsight, if there are 500 people fighting inside Syria and now returned here to Europe, did these nations need to do more to keep them out or to monitor them?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: The problem is that rules that are in place, the laws under the European Union, were put in place to facilitate open trade and open travel of European citizens to jobs where they might be need. This was never designed with terrorism in mind. So it's going to take a while for the laws to catch up with the reality on the ground, to put in place perhaps their own form of a Patriot Act.

I've spoken to U.S. counterterrorism officials who say the other thing that has to be looked at are individual privacy laws in Europe. What can happen is the CIA contracts someone from Yemen or Afghanistan all of the way across the Middle East and then lose them in a European country because of their privacy laws. Not because the intelligence service in that European country doesn't want to help but because they have a higher burden of proof to even be able to watch these people.

BERMAN: That's interesting, Kimberly. Lose them here because of privacy laws, and if they get to somewhere, like Spain, for an individual to get from Spain to Germany to Italy to the Netherlands, would be nothing because there are no borders here.

DOZIER: Exactly. And the upside of this could be -- you heard U.S. lawmakers in the past week or so express concern over what's called the Visa Waiver Program where citizens from places like France or other parts of Europe can travel to the United States with a much lower burden of checks on their background and pass before allowing entry into the U.S. So what this could do is get the European Union to reform its rules such that it's harder to travel in and out and ultimately that could make it safer for the U.S. And U.S. Citizens back at home. John? BERMAN: Quickly, Kimberly, what can be learned from what happened in

Belgium? The Belgians clearly identified threats, identified specific threats in individuals coming back from Syria. They were able to track them and launch these raids. What can be learned from what there that could instruct others, maybe even the United States?

DOZIER: I think the most reassuring thing about the Belgium case is authorities say these men were already under surveillance. The FBI says they have U.S. citizens who traveled to Syria under surveillance here. So there may be a little bit of a better handle on tracking some of these people than we fear at this time.

BERMAN: All right. Kimberly Dozier for us, global affairs analyst. Thank you for being with us. I appreciate it.

Michaela, back to you in New York.

PEREIRA: Coming up, we'll look at terror threats at home. A young man allegedly wanted to attack the U.S. capitol. He's making his first appearance in court today. We'll talk about that ahead @THISHOUR.

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PEREIRA: In less than two hours' time, the young man accused of plotting to attack the U.S. Capitol, Christopher Lee Cornell, making his first appearance in court, a 20-year-old from Ohio. He had been reportedly on the FBI's radar for months. Agents say he was writing posts on social media supporting Muslim terrorists. Wednesday, after buying two semiautomatic rifles and 600 rounds of ammunition, he was arrested.

I want to talk with former CIA officer, Peter Brookes, about this.

Good to see you, Peter. Good to see you. I wish we were talking about something better.

PETER BROOKES, FORMER CIA OFFICER: Yeah.

But this is something -- it needs urgency. We have to explore this. We understand House Speaker John Boehner credits surveillance programs here in the U.S. for thwarting this plot. Something you can get behind?

BROOKES: Yeah, absolutely. We should use all the appropriate and lawful tools to prevent terrorist attacks here. What's interesting about that, I believe the FISA authorization is coming up for another look at Congress to be reauthorized for use. So very, very important. Intelligence is our first line of defense, whether you're talking about the Middle East or Europe or here at home. And you use that intelligence information to bring in law enforcement to deal with what happened in Ohio.

PEREIRA: He doesn't necessarily fit the profile of what we've been seeing over in Europe. This is not a foreign fighter returned home. He's essentially a self-radicalized young man. No previous ties to Islam or that part of the world. A so-called momma's boy. And then this happened. A bit of a different profile.

BROOKES: Of course. That's why we have to be careful about profiling individuals, certain races, certain genders, anything else. We have to look widely. Luckily, this individual decided to talk about this on social media, which is probably how he was radicalized, interestingly, and we picked up on that and were able to trace it down and to stop this plot.

Michaela, I'm worried about us becoming complacent about this. Europe focuses on this. But we've had more than 60 plots here or successful terrorist attacks -- I use the word successful in quotes -- since 9/11. So more than 60. We had New York in December, we had Ottawa, we had Sydney. This is the new normal unfortunately. It's something we have to get our arms around, and we have to look at best practices and what we can do to prevent these sort of attacks here at home.

PEREIRA: We've confirmed at CNN that Cornell was not in touch with is. But does that matter? If he had been "successful," the end result would have been horrific, no matter if he was involved with ISIS.

BROOKES: I'm betting we'll find out that he may not have been in touch with them but I'm guessing he viewed their social media. ISIS, the Islamic State, is a social media superpower. That's how they're recruiting people to their cause. You don't have to go over there for training. You can watch it on the video, be self-radicalized, home- grown, learn how to pull off these sorts of plots. This is a real problem because the Internet transcends national boundaries.

PEREIRA: Certainly does.

Thank you, Peter Brookes, on this Friday.

BROOKES: Thanks for having me.

Ahead here, their goal, to overthrow a government and create an Islamic State in Nigeria. Boko Haram has killed thousands. The latest on their murderous march, next.

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PEREIRA: Islamist terrorists who have killed and kidnapped thousands in Nigerian could soon face resistance from regional forces. The Central African nation of Chad now committing troops to help neighboring Cameroon fight these Boko Haram militants. The terrorists' recent scorched-earth campaign in Nigeria has intensified the crisis.

Our Diana Magnay has details.

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DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, Cameroon's president says that Chad has agreed to contribute a large contingent of troops to help Cameroon in its fight against Boko Haram on its territory. The terror group has conducted numerous cross-border raids into Cameroon and threatened to unleash the same kind of violence in that country as it has in northeastern Nigeria. It is an indication of some degree of regional cooperation. Clearly, more needs to be done. The U.S. special representative of West African has called on all the regional powers to put aside their differences and to coordinate better in the fight against Boko Haram, which is firmly entrenched in the border areas where these companies meet, Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad.

Now, the president of Nigeria, Goodluck Jonathan, has made an appearance in the capitol of Borno where he met with wounded soldiers in Boko Haram attacks and also talked to the thousands who have been displaced as a result of the massacre in Baga. He says the nation was traumatized by Boko Haram's excesses.

GOODLUCK JONATHAN, PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA: As a president, I feel traumatized whenever I hear about this. Let me assure all Nigerians and displaced persons, the government is working very hard to make sure you don't stay in these camps for too long.

MAGNAY: Nigeria has said it has and will not cede any territory to Boko Haram. But that is hard to believe seeing as security forces still haven't been able to get anywhere near Baga to assess the extent of the massacre.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says that he is talking to partners, to Britain and others, about how best to co-pool their efforts to better help Nigeria and its efforts against Boko Haram -- Michaela?

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PEREIRA: Diana Magnay, our thanks.

If you would like to help the child victims of the violence in Nigeria, head to CNN.com/impact.

Well, as I leave you today, you may have heard that I am signing off @THISHOUR. But my role on "New Day" has increased or, frankly, something had to give. Can't do it all.

(LAUGHTER)

It's really been a gigantic delight to work with this amazing team on our show here and in Atlanta.

Especially one of my most favorite people in the world.

J.B., you the man. And I wish you the best always.

BERMAN: You know how much I love you, Michaela Pereira, because we've had to have the conversations with human resources. But this is not good-bye. It's, I'll see you Monday, because we work in the same building. I'll bring you a crepe, and I'm pretty sure it won't go bad.

PEREIRA: I'm pretty sure. That's not enough reassurance for me. It really has been a delight. Stay right here. @THISHOUR at 11:00 with John Berman continues on Monday.

But right now, "LEGAL VIEW" with Ashleigh Banfield starts now.