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Don Lemon Tonight

Al Qaeda Recruiting for Attacks in Europe; Is Islam to Blamce for Terror Attacks?; One Suspect Surrenders, Two Others Sought in Paris Attacks

Aired January 07, 2015 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Anderson, thank you very much. Stand by. We're going to get back to you.

Our breaking news tonight, the surrender of one suspect and the manhunt for two more in the terror attack in Paris.

A deadly attack on the office of "Charlie Hebdo" was captured on camera from a nearby rooftop. Perhaps the most chilling thing about it you can hear the gunshots as the attacks begin.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

LEMON: I want to get right to CNN's Atika Shubert. She's on the phone. She joins us from Reims.

What do you know about the surrender or capture of one of the suspects?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We know that he surrendered himself peacefully apparently after seeing the police put out (INAUDIBLE) the 18-year-old named Hamyd Mourad. (INAUDIBLE) his connection and role he's had (INAUDIBLE). But we do know that he had a connection with the area that I am now (INAUDIBLE). And here I can actually see a number of armed police outside an apartment building.

And a few hours -- it's quite calm right now. But a few hours ago they want in very heavily armed. There were sharpshooters in the area. They were clearly expecting at least the possibility of violence. They went into a first floor apartment for about 15 minutes. Came out about (INAUDIBLE) forensics team were here.

Now we know that part of the investigation of the attack but we don't know exactly what they were looking for or who the apartment belongs to so we still have to get more details on that. That could be part of the youngest suspect who appears to have turned himself in.

LEMON: Atika, also French Police have released the information, the photograph, and the names of the other men they believe involved. What do you know about that?

SHUBERT: That's right. They put out the names and the photos of Cherif Kouachi and his brother Said Kouachi 33 and 32 years old. Now look, essentially they're asking for any information about them, anyone who had seen them. And they should be considered armed and dangerous.

We don't know that much about Said Kouachi, but we do know that Cherif Kouachi has had several run-ins with the laws, specifically between 2005 and 2008. He was actually convicted of recruiting young men to go to fight in Iraq. And he was actually sentenced to some in jail. Not very long, I believe. But he's somebody who's been in and out of the country. This is (INAUDIBLE) known to French police and been part of extremist Islamic circle here in France.

But we don't know how much of the high priority target he was, whether or not, for example, if was seen actively monitored. This is something --

LEMON: OK.

SHUBERT: What could be France police in the (INAUDIBLE) will tell us more in the next hours. But clearly he was somebody who was on their radar and they knew about this (INAUDIBLE) attack happened.

LEMON: All right, Atika Shubert, stand by with our breaking new.

Want to get back now to Anderson Cooper and Frederik Pleitgen with more on the investigation.

Anderson, first to you. You spoke to the filmmaker. We showed that video at the top of the show of this attack being caught on tape. What did he tell you about this?

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, AC360. Yes, Martin Dubros, a journalist who works in the same building basically was -- heard the shots, ran up to -- saw two of the gunmen or one person in his office saw two of the gunmen. They ran up to the roof of their building. That's when the video starts. And he was able to capture the sights and the sounds of it.

Obviously this video has been very important. Not just to media covering it and for people who are interested in what happened but to law enforcement as well. To really getting a glimpse of the gunmen. Getting a glimpse of their tactics, of their capabilities. It's something that law enforcement intelligence communities have been looking at very carefully over the last 14 hours or so.

He also -- Martin Dubros, after the gunmen fled, he and some others actually went into the offices of the magazine, and said, the scene was obviously just one of horror. Bodies strewn throughout the newsroom. There had been a meeting of the news staff, a weekly meeting, so whether or not the gunmen knew precisely that the meeting was taking play at the time or not, they could not have picked a worse time to actually -- to attack or perhaps from their perspective a better time to attack because so many people were gathered together.

Just a horrific scene inside these offices.

LEMON: One can only imagine.

Fred, you were at one of the demonstrations tonight where Parisians gathered to show solidarity for those killed this morning. Describe to us the scene, will you?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was -- it was very interesting, Don. It was really well over 10,000 people that came there to that square. And the interesting thing was on the one hand the people were defiant. They said freedom of the press is not going to be silenced in this country. It was also for freedom of speech. Of course liberty which is something that's very important here in France.

But at the same time people were telling me that they felt very heavy hearted. There was one gentleman who came up to me, said he used to be a journalist himself. And he said the last time he felt this way was on September 11th, 2001. And he was very quick to say of course he doesn't want to equate the two because of course 9/11 was so much worse than what happened here today but he said it's that same very heavy, sinking feeling that he had as though almost part of this country had died.

But at the same time, people were very positive. People were saying that they were going to continue with their lives. That they would not allow terrorism to dictate the way that they live their lives.

And what I found really important at this demonstration is that these were impromptu demonstrations. They were called in very, very quickly. There was absolutely no anti-Islamic or anti-Muslim sentiment at these demonstrations. So that's something very important because you had people here from the Arab community, from the Muslim community.

Also European French people here who said they were going to stand together and not allow extremism from either side, right-wing extremism from one side or Islamic extremism take hold of their lives and define their lives -- Don.

LEMON: Frederik Pleitgen, Anderson Cooper, thank you very much.

Joining me now on the phone is Stefan de Vries. He is a journalist in Paris and he knew one of the victims and ran to the scene.

Thank you for joining us. You work nearby. You arrived about 15 minutes after the attack. I want you to describe to us the scene in those initial moments.

STEFAN DE VRIES, JOURNALIST: Well, when I arrived there was a big -- the situation was chaotic. There was a lot of police arriving. The emergency services were arriving as well. But it was not very clear what actually happened.

LEMON: You knew Charb, the editor of "Charlie Hebdo."

DE VRIES: Yes.

LEMON: And some of the editorial staff killed this morning.

What can you tell also bout them? DE VRIES: Well, the magazine, it has a very -- well, little

circulation. But it's very well known in France. And they basically respect no one and nothing. They make jokes about every religion, about politicians, about the police. You can name it. But they always -- you know, they are like that. That's their character. Of course they were under threats over four years already since they published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.

LEMON: And maybe it was because of the threats but Charb usually had two bodyguards protecting him, is that right?

DE VRIES: Yes, that's correct. He was always accompanied by one or two Secret Service officers. Everywhere we went, for the last four years. At day and at night. So he was protected. And his bodyguard today was killed as well in action.

LEMON: Do you found it a bit odd that Charb had two bodyguards with him?

DE VRIES: Yes, I used to participate in a debate shown on French TV now and then on French TV so I met him regularly. And I think six months ago I saw him again and he was with two bodyguards, two policemen. And I found that a little bit odd because we were amongst journalists in a TV studio. There was no danger at all.

But with hindsight it was very naive of me to think like that. And unfortunately, even if he had -- protection all the time, it wasn't enough to prevent the events that happened today.

LEMON: Yes. As we know now. So describe the shock that France is feeling right now.

DE VRIES: Well, the shock is huge. I think not only in France, but I have seen reactions of compassion in the whole world today. On social media. On television. And of course journalists die when they're doing their job in war zones. We read about that every day. But when 10 journalists are killed in the center of Paris, that's no longer a terrorist attack, that's an attack on the freedom of expression. It's an attack on democracy.

LEMON: You know, we know in Germany, for example, they have been dealing with a great deal of Islamphobia recently.

DE VRIES: Yes.

LEMON: Are people expressing anger towards Muslims after this attack?

DE VRIES: Well, France has the largest Muslim population in Europe. That's six million people, which is 10 percent of the population. Of course when there are tensions in the Middle East, you see tensions in French society. But this has been going on for many years. But I -- it's true that there is a couple of -- actually, about a year with the events in Iraq and Syria. The positions are becoming harder.

There is much more security in the streets of Paris. People do speak out against immigration, against Muslims. And yes, that's a very worrying situation.

LEMON: You said that it's an attack on freedom of expression and journalism. Should "Charlie Hebdo" continue doing what they do?

DE VRIES: Of course. We should never cede to extremists, to cowards who want to kill any form of freedom of expression. It's -- it's a tough job, but, you know, we should not -- should not surrender to these kinds of threats. And we should not be afraid.

Of course, "Charlie Hebdo" have the right to publish everything they want. It's a free country. Freedom of speech. Nobody should die for that. And that's something we should fight for every day.

LEMON: Stefan de Vries, thank you.

DE VRIES: You're welcome.

LEMON: More breaking news now. I want to bring in CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

Barbara, you have some new information on the suspects at large. What can you tell us?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good evening, Don. French officials apparently had made the identity of one of the attackers known to the United States. U.S. law enforcement sources telling our own Evan Perez that the U.S. was aware -- some time ago of the identity of who turned out to be one of the perpetrators today, one of the alleged perpetrators.

The U.S. became aware of this person through French authorities. They had the person under surveillance. And so it's raising the question if he was a known entity how could he have pulled off this attack. What the indications are is while he was under surveillance, not a tier one target if you will, not a top terrorist threat. So perhaps very difficult to maintain constant surveillance over this person very manpower intensive.

But nonetheless, now what we are seeing for the last 14 hours or so is U.S. intelligence services, French security and intelligence services, sharing all the information on the suspects. Combing through everything they have. E-mails, telephone intercepts, social media, any communication, any imagery, any messages. Every scrap of material they have to see if they can put together -- essentially think of it as a pattern of life.

The communications trail, the interactions that these suspects may have had with other people and other places. The big questions out there to where did they get their training, where did they get their weapons, what kind of planning and organization went into this attack. So they wanted not just catch these guys, and that is urgent, they want to find out everything they can about them, where they went, who they knew -- Don.

LEMON: Barbara, the president of the United States, Barack Obama offered any assistance to French authorities that we could do here in the United States. To do -- a lot of this is very manpower intensive.

Does the U.S. have any role in this?

STARR: Well, it's that cooperation. There is very close cooperation between U.S. intelligence services and the French. Particularly on the counterterrorism and homeland security front. This is something that the U.S. and the French have been cooperating on in recent months particularly because of the concern of foreign fighters going to Iraq and Syria, and then coming back to the West, coming back to Europe, potentially to France, potentially on to the United States.

A lot of effort to keep track of these people, coordinate, and try and track where they are and how they are moving. So we've seen this cooperation extend in recent months and very safe to say that cooperation is around the clock now as they try and find these attackers.

LEMON: Thank you very much, Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr.

We've got a whole lot to get to when it comes to our breaking news tonight. Two suspects have been named. One is in custody reportedly turning himself in.

Plus, heightened security in New York City and around the world tonight because of this. We're going to talk to New York's top cops coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Back now with our breaking news. One of the three suspects in the deadly attack in Paris has turned himself in to police. AFP is reporting he is 18 years old. And in a statement posted on their Web site, French National Police are asking for information on two more suspects, Cherif Kouachi and Said Kouachi, warning that both are potentially armed and dangerous.

I want to get to CNN senior international correspondent, Frederik Pleitgen, live for us again in Paris with the very latest on this.

Also, Frederik, we are seeing an increased presence of police in Paris tonight.

PLEITGEN: Yes, you're absolutely right. It's one of the things that you've seen on the streets here. I was roaming out here as you said. I was in some of the demonstrations that took place in support of this magazine from which these people were killed. And you could see out on the streets here there was more police than usual. If you are in Paris frequently, you do see a lot of police on the street but you don't see them as heavily armed as they were today.

It was very interesting to see, for instance, on the main boulevard here in Paris, in the Champs-Elysees, you saw these cops walking around. And all of them had high powered rifles with them because it seems as though one of the things that might have happened during that incident, there was police on the ground when those two attackers were there, at least for part of that. There was a shootout with police. It seems as though the police was actually overpowered by the assault

weapons that these two or three attackers had, that they did have those high powered assault rifles, whereas as the police only apparently had pistols at the time. So you did see more police on the ground, Don. You saw also police that was more heavily armed. Clearly bracing for something, fearing that other attacks might happen. Of course in the aftermath of the ones that happened on that magazine.

So certainly I wouldn't say that there is an air of fear here in Paris. But there certainly is concern. And there certainly is a bigger presence of law enforcement on the ground and they are more heavily armed.

LEMON: Frederik Pleitgen, thank you.

So joining me now are William Bratton, police commissioner of New York City, and John Miller, deputy commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism.

So, Commissioner Bratton, you have taken some terrorism steps here in New York City. What are they? You've increased presence?

WILLIAM BRATTON, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: That's correct. Literally almost immediately upon hearing of the events in Paris, we benefit by the fact that we have a detective that's assigned there full time. So throughout the day we've been getting information from him. He is very close working relationships with the French police services.

But almost immediately that we activated plans that we have already in place for these types of incidents in which we have what we call CRV, critical response vehicles, that are pre-stationed in Manhattan, that can be moved around anywhere in the city very quickly to provide extra security at various critical locations.

So working with information about this attack in Paris, we quickly put that into place. We also have our Hercules teams which many in New York are very familiar with seeing around the city frequently. Those are the heavily armed officers that we utilize to help secure critical sites. So it was a multilayered response that went into effect all most immediately upon learning of this event in Paris.

LEMON: What's your concern of a copycat?

BRATTON: Well, it's just that concern. The copycat or the incidents involving terrorists in the past is that oftentimes they like to try multiple events. So there's always that concern. So until we really get an understanding of what's happening in this case in Paris, and even now, many hours, as the events, it's still not quite clear exactly what happened, who is involved, that we'll always err on the side of caution.

The benefit in New York is we have such a large police force and so many capabilities and resources to put into play that we are able to move fairly quickly and fairly comprehensively to secure multiple sites. And also benefit by a huge intelligence operation that Commissioner Miller directs that almost 1,000 people focused entirely on intelligence and terrorist activities here in the city.

LEMON: I can imagine the video that was taken by someone on the scene is going to be very helpful in the investigation.

What struck you about this video, the video of these gunmen today. They hid their faces. They had a getaway plan. What does that suggest if anything to you?

JOHN MILLER, COMMISSIONER MILLER, NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERTERRORISM: I think what was most striking from the video, from both an intelligence standpoint and from a tactics standpoint is when you look at the two individuals they have come prepared with -- with their tactical clothing, and they have come with tactical gear including the magazine holders, the weaponry, but the most striking thing is the level of calm and purpose through which they move through this entire event.

You witness the execution of a police officer. You see them in their escape having already killed a number of people in the newspaper office. And what you don't see is panic on the part of the gunmen.

These are strong indicators that this is not the first time they've handled weapons, not the first time they've been around gunfire. So as the officials in France go through the background of these individuals, as we look at the background of these individuals, within the U.S. intelligence community, what we're looking for is, where have they traveled? Where have they trained? Where have they fought? We will gather those facts.

But I would suggest in absence of those facts, it's going to be fairly unlikely that this was the first time they handled firearms or shot at people before.

LEMON: And French police put their names out there on a Web site asking for information and their pictures.

Commissioner Bratton, the fact that they knew who these individuals were so early on, does that tell you anything about the investigation or their affiliation?

BRATTON: One of the things we know about the French Police Service is they are very good. We liaison them -- liaison with them quite closely. We have a detective assigned full time in Paris who has been there for a number of years. So we are well aware of their capabilities, which are very significant. So I think the fact that they're as good as they are, and the ability to work with any leads very quickly that they might be given, it's a reflection of the capabilities and qualities of the police intelligence and counterterrorism services.

LEMON: Is your detective assisting in the investigation?

MILLER: Our detective from the Intelligence Bureau is certainly available to the French. And this has always been clear to the French prefecture of police. To -- and that's what his job is as a liaison post that is to be the broker between the NYPD and the French prefecture of police in Paris commissioner. If they need information and we can supply it, that we have it, and that the same goes both ways.

The idea that our detective was on the scene today, that was later at the hospital, had access to the people in the investigation and was able to feed information as he got it in real time back to the Intelligence Bureau so that we could do the proper deployments, understand the threat picture, and have the latest information as it was coming in was invaluable.

At the same time, we were getting information through the FBI and their legal attache, through the joint terrorism task force, but all of this -- all of this communication was nearly seamless today. And in a city with a target environment like New York City that's critical.

LEMON: Commissioner Bratton, Deputy Commissioner Miller, thank you very much for your time.

BRATTON: Thanks, Don.

MILLER: Good to be with you.

LEMON: Thank you.

Our breaking news tonight, one suspect surrenders. Two are still on the run after the terror attack in the heart of Paris.

But if the terrorists hope the people of France would cower inside their homes, they certainly got it wrong. Thousand took to the streets across the country in solidarity with the murder victims.

How France is fighting back. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Our breaking news tonight. One suspect has surrendered and two are still on the run after the deadly terror attack on the office of "Charlie Hebdo," a magazine. Tomorrow is a national day of mourning in France and flags will fly at half staff for three days.

Thousands took to the streets in solidarity with the victims. Many holding signs. Bearing the words "Je Suis Charlie." "I am Charlie." Others brought candles and flowers to a small memorial outside the magazine's offices.

I want to bring now Rula Jebreal, the foreign policy analyst and the author of "Miral," and also Nicholas Kristof is a columnist for "The New York Times."

Thank you. Good to see you.

RULA JEBREAL, PALESTINIAN AUTHOR AND POLITICAL ANALYST: Thank you for having us. LEMON: Yes. It's good to be with you because there's been a lot of

talk obviously around this. I mean, around Islam. But I want to ask you, this is the worst terror attack in Europe in a decade.

What is your read on what happened today, Rula?

JEBREAL: I think extremists, they have a political agenda. I mean, it's beyond free speech if you think of it. And their agenda, and especially al Qaeda's agenda is to try to recruit more and attack more in Europe. And it's clear. What they will do is they will try to shake the ground. They will do what they did in Iraq and Afghanistan. They will go and do attacks, multiple attacks. Now, we have many jihadists that came from Europe. They will come back. They will attack. And they will take any excuse to attack. And bottom line if the French society would react a in a tough way against the Muslim community, they have 5 million -- 5 million Muslims living in France. So they will oppress them and repress them and isolate them. It will be easier...

(CROSSTALK)

DON LEMON, CNN TONIGHT ANCHOR: You mean -- the French Muslims you mean?

JEBREAL: French Muslims. It would be easier than for Al-Qaeda to recruit. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, this is what he did, start attacking Shiites and then when the Shiites attacks the Sunnis then he starts recruiting more among Sunnis. This is what he did in Afghanistan. If you think Tajiks versus Pashtuns, this is what they always do. They have a political agenda (ph).

LEMON: OK. Understood. Do you think we're going to see more attacks like this in France you said because of the population that there is more of a possibility just because of the number of people there are extremists among them?

JEBREAL: I think you would see -- unfortunately, you will see multiple attacks in Europe and it's not only in Europe. We know that many Brits went to Syria, to Iraq today, many Dutch, many Germans. We know that a lot of people that feel disenfranchised and they have crisis identity or feel excluded, whatever reasons, because also today it is easier for Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and other groups to recruit on Internet. Many went and start fighting with ISIS in Iraq or other places. But to create a political identity in the west, it will be easier for Al-Qaeda and for these groups if the Muslim community is felt or they feel that they are fit (ph) columnist, if we oppress them, if we isolate them, then it is easier than to break into them.

LEMON: OK. You know when you write something like what you wrote you're playing with fire, right? You have -- because this is a hot button issue.

NICHOLAS KRISTOF, NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED COLUMNIST: I know.

LEMON: But you wrote today about the attacks and you posted a question. You said, is the Islam to blame for the shooting at Charlie Hebdo in Paris? And here is what you said, "The great divide is not between faith rather it is terrorists and moderates, between those who are tolerant and those who otherwise -- who otherwise -- is that the end of it? Yeah?

KRISTOF: Yes. Who otherize.

LEMON: Who otherize -- otherize.

(CROSSTALK)

KRISTOF: To the focus on Islam.

LEMON: I need the stronger (ph) glasses. Yes. So what do you -- explain, what did you mean by that?

KRISTOF: Well, you know, I think we have a deep-seated tendency to perceive people by different skin color, different ethnicity and different religion and then construct the narrative about how different they are. And I have traveled around the Middle East and so often I've talked to radical jihadists who have constructed these remarkable narratives about the oppressive west and how Zionists in the west are out to destroy Muslims. And I think one of my theories is that we, in the aftermath of this kind of brutal attack, will otherize people ourselves. We'll fall prey to the same kind of very human tendency. And you know -- I mean the basic question I think so many people are asking is, is Islam to blame. And I think we need to acknowledge that there are real problems with intolerance and violence and extremism in Islam, but they are not representative of a faith with 1.6 billion adherents.

LEMON: And you said -- before we start profiling people, you said that, "We should stand with Charlie Hebdo for the global outpouring of support that's been inspiring. Let's denounce, oppression, misogyny in the Islamic world and everywhere, but let's not -- let's be careful not to respond to terrorist intolerance with our own."

KRISTOF: Yeah. Exactly. I mean -- I think -- I think Australia provided a great example in the aftermath of that horrific hostage taking in Sydney last month that people on the one hand denounce the brutality of that attack and of those murders, but they also started an "I'll ride with you" campaign to stand with Australian Muslims and making it clear that ordinary Australian Muslims are not being blamed for the act of a crazy, violent criminal.

LEMON: You were raised as a Muslim? Your dad -- your father is an imam, right? Is this the Islam you know?

JEBREAL: Absolutely not. Look, I am an Israeli citizen, ethnically Palestinian. I am a Muslim. I have a Jewish husband and I have a Catholic daughter. These are -- I couldn't be the way I am today and make the choices if I wasn't raised bay a tolerant father who was Sufi. But if you -- I mean your question, Kris (ph), is very important. What Islam these people come from? What ideology? I mean look at Saudi Arabia. After September 11th, our response vengeance went towards the wrong place. I mean we went and we invaded Iraq because we felt that somehow Al-Qaeda is connected with weapons of mass destruction. We didn't find anything. We actually invaded a country that was a secular country, ruled by a dictator. It was a secular country. Today, the ideology, the faith, and the face (ph) for these people is Wahhabism. and that's Saudi Arabia, but we didn't do much about it. We don't do much about it. Another country that is producing -- mass producing extremists is Egypt and we don't do much about it because these are our allies. It's fine actually to address these contradictions are producing more extremists.

LEMON: Do you think allies should be doing more to stop extremism? Is that (inaudible)

(CROSSTALK)

JEBREAL: We should press these allies. It's not -- they will not do it by their own.

LEMON: Many -- many allies are saying Muslims should be doing more on their own as well. It's not just...

JEBREAL: They can do on their own. But when you have Saudi Arabia exporting more Wahhabism than oil and we don't -- we don't stop them, then there is a responsibility of also our government to stop them.

LEMON: I have to ask -- before we go, I just have to ask, this is a satirical magazine. They poke fun at the pope and world leaders. Is there a red line you should not cross?

KRISTOF: I think there are -- I think we in journalism should try to avoid offense but some of us will give offense and where we give offense then obviously the reaction should not be what happened today. You know, I'm accustomed to losing journalists and colleagues in Iraq or in Afghanistan. I'm not accustomed to losing colleagues drawing cartoons in their offices.

LEMON: Make yourself relatable (ph). Thank you. I appreciate both of you.

JEBREAL: Thank you for having us.

LEMON: The gunmen systematically executed their victims, reportedly calling them by name. Are they likely part of a larger terror group? Up next, we're going to talk to the experts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Breaking news. An 18-year-old suspect has surrendered and two more are on the run after the attack on the Paris office of Charlie Hebdo magazine that killed 12 people. All the important clues right there on the video. It was caught -- the attack was caught on tape. Joining me is Peter Beinart, CNN political commentator and columnist for Haaretz, and also Juliette Kayyem, CNN National Security Analyst, Philip Mudd, a counterterrorism analyst who is a former CIA, and Mubin Shaikh, a former jihadist and author of "Undercover Jihadi." So Juliette, one of the suspects turned himself in, but you're skeptical of him. Why is that? JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I am not skeptical. It's just all way that first reports are always iffy. We've learned this time and time again. At least European press is reporting that a school -- say his friend in school are saying he was at school today. So one of the reasons why we should just say he turned himself in. We don't know what he knows. Police have gotten things wrong before. And he did -- he turned himself in voluntarily because of all of the news and because they released his name. So let's just reserve judgment about whether he is the one. Time and time again as we saw with the Boston bombing and Columbine and everything, you know, these first reports -- it's tricky. Facts are tricky in the middle of a crisis, in the middle of an emergency with such horror and response.

LEMON: Right.

KAYYEM: And so I, just always instinctively as I've said to your producers, is let's just wait.

LEMON: OK. All right. Point taken, but I want you guys to analyze this video. Let's play this amateur video and then we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNFIRE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPOKEN IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Phil Mudd, what immediately stands out to you about the perpetrators and about the weapons they used?

PHILIP MUDD, COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: What stand out to me is, you know, starting at about 2008 when I was at the FBI, we saw a transition. That transition was from what we called Al-Qaeda core, the people who conducted the organized 911 attacks to what we called home groans, people who -- in cities like Miami or Atlanta who said, "I want to be part of the movement, but I'm just going to go do something, you know, sort of off the wall, something that I'm inspired to do yesterday a week ago." This was different. This was people -- what I -- they're different from what I saw at the bureau '08, '09, '10, even earlier this year in Ottawa and New York. This are people got together, three of them. Clearly -- I'm guessing, surveilled the target. Obviously, they knew who they wanted to shoot. This was more organized than what I expected to see.

LEMON: So how the -- how do you get weapons like that in France?

MUDD: I'm not sure how they got the weapons. I think that is an interesting story. I think over the next 24 hours the other eight or ten pieces I'd be worried about though will become more interesting and more significant. Let me run through them. Once you got the names, you can check travel databases. Within hours, you're going to know whether these guys went to Turkey, which is the have now to get into a place like Syria or Iraq. You're going to know weapons licenses. You're going to know if they got a credit card, whether they ever bought explosives. You will know from Facebook, from e-mail, from phones who they talked to, whether they had associates. The amount of data -- not only weapons, but the amount of data in the coming hours since we have identified names is going to explode. And when we're talking tomorrow I would predict that this picture is much clearer than it is today. Even 24 hours will be decisive.

LEMON: Peter, an attack against the nation or is this attack an attack against individuals?

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, that's what makes this so interesting. In the past, what you have generally seen is attacks that were kind of random civilian targets as a way of expressing opposition to government policy from a European government let's say that was involved with America fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan. This was not really a response to French government policy. It appears it was rinse to the policy of a particular magazine. And so what I think makes this different is the idea that we now have, you know, magazines that are combatants in this kind of thing that we called the war on terror as oppose to governments. And for magazines and journalists, individuals, you know, in some ways it's a little bit like the Sony dynamic where you also had a government attacking an entertainment company. It raises a lot of questions about how private institution is supposed to -- does not normally thinking of itself as representative of a nation at war response.

LEMON: Mubin, you know, we know that this office was fire bombed in 2011. We know that they were Al-Qaeda's most -- on Al-Qaeda's most wanted list and Inspire magazine as well. Should that magazine have censored itself more? Should they have been more care careful?

MUBIN SHAIKH, FORMER JIHADIST AND AUTHOR OF UNDERCOVER JIHADI: Well, you know, you're -- this is a non-Muslim country. The rules off Islam don't apply in non-Muslim countries. So, I really can't -- I don't like the cartoons, but I'm not going to go and kill people over it. You know, I have the right to be offended, but people have the right in this kind of society to do that. If I could quickly pop off on the video. You know, there has been a lot of talk about them being professional and trained. In fact, they're not really professional. There is a little bit more organization to it. We're kind of used to the lone wolf or the amateurs. They were a little more prepared. But you know, there is a risk of cross fire between the two of them. You can see by the way that they're holding the weapon. That's not a way a professional operates. So they're probably very likely have some kind of combat experience or combat training, but being professional I think is a leap.

LEMON: All right. Thanks, everyone. Coming up. Most of us have never heard of Charlie Hebdo until today. But it has been on the radar of Islamic terrorists for years. More on that, next.

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LEMON: The terror attack in the heart of Paris targeted the satirical cartoonist on the magazine Charlie Hebdo where the name is an homage to one of the most benign endearing figures in pop culture and that's Charlie Brown. This image, depicting how Charlie Brown might have reacted to today's event was circulating online. And Matt Davies is here. He is an editorial cartoonist with Newsday. That was a re- release, right? From the Charlie Brown cartoon?

MATT DAVIES, EDITORIAL CARTOONIST NEWSDAY: I believe so. I don't actually know.

LEMON: What did you think when you heard the news as a cartoonist?

DAVIES: What did I think? It was -- it was -- well, a shock of course, but it's just really sad, you know, that something -- you know, we get -- cartoonists -- editorial cartoonists get threats all the time. We get death threats. And you know, I have been sued and I had death threats. But you don't expect anything to come of it, you know, it just kind of goes with the territory.

LEMON: Are you always aware of it? Does it somehow influence what you sketch?

DAVIES: No.

LEMON: Or your message?

DAVIES: No. Mostly, as a cartoonist, you're just trying to do the best cartoon you can. You know, cartooning is -- you know, this is a form of sort of silent protest. So you're trying to find -- you know, you're just trying to find something to not just satirize but something to hit.

LEMON: Let's put yours up on the screen and -- there you go. What are you saying there?

DAVIES: Well, it really just depicts the -- just the clash of cultures, and you know, complete misunderstanding between the guy holding the pencil and what we do with the pencil.

LEMON: You call this the Newtown for cartoonists?

DAVIES: Well, it was -- yeah. That's how I felt this morning when I was driving into work and I heard -- I had to just come over. I just -- it was a gut punch. I felt really, really sick. You know, the notion that you can, you know, just moving your pencil around on a piece of paper and putting it out there that that can get you killed. That's what I do everyday, and you know, I expect -- like I said I expect some blowback but nothing like that. So, yeah it was really tough.

LEMON: You know, in 2011, Charlie Hebdo was fire bombed. They had several incidents, threats people, you know, their editors and the cartoonists had security there. Do you -- I am sure I know how you are going to answer this. Should they have been more careful?

DAVIES: I don't see how -- I mean I don't know how you're going -- I cannot (inaudible). They had an armed guard.

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LEMON: (Inaudible) blaming the victims.

DAVIES: Right. Exactly. And they had an armed guard. And you know, I don't know what he had but, you know, when you have a bunch of guys show up who are armed for war, you -- I mean what do you have -- I just don't know how (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Just more careful in what they put out?

DAVIES: More careful in what they put out? No. No. No. I mean cartoons are supposed to be offensive sometimes and that's -- you got people -- like people roll with it. You know, you look at a cartoon and you're, "Oh, that's offensive." And you know, you'll write a letter to the editor, or you know, you'll throw -- you can throw it away. That's really kind of the extent of it. You know, it's really difficult for me to -- you know, I have my own set of values and judgments that I, that I bring to bear mine own cartoons. But I -- yeah, I mean I -- you know, they were doing -- they believe in what they were doing and they had the right to do it.

LEMON: I want to show you that your fellow cartoonists around the world responded very swiftly. We'll put it up. Are you feeling a strong sense of solidarity with the Charlie Hebdo in place? Does this make you think twice? Does this inspire you to be even more satiric?

DAVIES: Does it -- solidarity, yeah, absolutely. You know, it's a pretty tight-knit small community. There aren't too many political cartoonists. And I -- yes, I don't think there is anything that could actually make any of us feel like being less satirical. This is a moment of pause, you know, and -- you know, sometimes political cartoons are funny. Sometimes they are pointed. You know, in this case, everybody kind of -- it seems like sort of did images that were very sort of poignant.

LEMON: Yes. Thank you.

DAVIES: Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you. I appreciate you coming on. Matt Davies. When we come right back, heightened security in New York in response to the Paris terror attack. We're going to talk with two of New York's top cops. And to find out how you can show support for those impacted by today's attack, go to cnn.com/impact.

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