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New Day

Belgium Raids Target Terrorists; French Media Sites Hacked; Secretary Kerry Visits France; Did Paris Attackers Meet al-Awlaki?; U.S. to Deploy 400 Troops to Train Syrian Rebels

Aired January 16, 2015 - 06:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terror threat across Europe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The threat involves as many as 20 sleeper cells.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There have been other arrests, and not just in Belgium.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tracking this whole investigation is linking France, to Belgium, to Syria

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I head two big detonations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two suspects in that property were killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This group was connected to ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a radical ideology out there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a very real threat.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're at a relatively early stage, I think, in dealing with it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I do worry that, you know, it could come to the United States of America.

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ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Friday, January 16 th, 6:00 in the East now almost. At least 20 sleeper cells ready to strike in Europe. Up to 180 jihadists poised to launch attacks in France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. In at least two of the countries, this is being called an imminent threat.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And we also have major developments in France. More arrests in Paris connected to last week's terror attacks. Several media websites in France this morning are dark, they've been taken offline by hackers. All of this as chilling new video emerges of three suspected ISIS militants calling for a fresh round of carnage. All of this is stoking fears all over Europe and here at home.

We have every angle of this story covered for you the way only CNN can, so let's begin with Fred Pleitgen, he is in Brussels for us. Fred, give us the latest on this massive raid that happened in Belgium.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a massive raid. Part of it was really violent, Alisyn. There was one raid in the town of Verviers, which is about 40 miles outside of Brussels. Two people killed in the raid. There was a massive minute-long shootout that happened there, with automatic and semiautomatic weapons fired.

However, there were raids all across Belgium. And Belgium is one of those countries where the authorities just said half an hour ago, that the threat was and is indeed imminent.

They said that there was a big jihadist cell consisting mostly of people who had returned or were returning from Syria. And that their aim was to kill police officers, both on the streets, as well as in police departments all across the country.

They said that they've recovered AK-4s. They've recovered handguns. They've recovered knives. They've recovered communications equipment. And most importantly, they've also recovered police uniforms out of many of the places that they raided. And that, of course, shows them that these people most probably wanted to dress up as police officers and then kill as many cops as possible.

So the country here certainly is on edge. There's a heightened alert. The terror alert has been set up. And out of precaution, the Jewish schools all over this country, like in some other countries, by the way, as well, have been closed for the day -- Chris.

CUOMO: Fred, that use of uniforms, you and I have seen that with green-on-blue attacks that have happened in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thank you for the reporting. We'll be back to you.

Let's go to France now. That's where all this recent activity started. And in Paris we have new and troubling developments. Twelve people now in custody, suspected of helping in the recent attacks. And just this morning, a new attack: many of France's media sites hacked, taken offline.

Let's get to John Berman. He is live in Paris -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Good morning, Chris.

Yes, 12 suspects in custody. These 12 individuals, officials tell us, are linked to Amedy Coulibaly, the man who attacked the kosher market, killing four French Jews. This is some kind of logistical network, a support group that perhaps helped him plan, fund, carry out this attack. These suspects now in custody.

A security source here in France tells me that number 12 makes sense. That could be the size of a cell, the right size to plan this type of attack. And that information comes, Chris, as you mentioned. We're learning

that most of the major media French websites are down this morning. Now a lot of these sources do share one server. That server, the company that runs it tells CNN they are investigating what caused this crash.

But it comes as news of some 19,000 cyber hacks in France over just the last week. This is a greater number than this country has ever seen. An enormous amount of concern that it's not just the physical that is being targeted here in France right now. But remember, terror is an attack on ideas, as well. And when you go after media companies, when you go after publications, you are making an attack against thought and ideas, as well. That is being investigated as we speak.

And of course, the U.S. secretary of state, John Kerry, he is in France today, meeting with French leader, Francois Hollande and the foreign minister here. He came to the site just a few moments ago behind me, about an hour and a half ago, laid a wreath at the memorial for those killed in the offices of "Charlie Hebdo." And we expect to hear from the secretary of state within the hour -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, John, thanks for all that background.

And Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claiming responsibility for the attack on the "Charlie Hebdo" offices in Paris. They say that this attack was years in planning. But still, one big unknown: Did the Kouachi brothers actually meet the terror group's leader in Yemen? Was al-Awlaki the mastermind of that massacre?

CNN is the only TV Western TV network in Yemen. Let's get right to our Nick Paton Walsh on the ground. What's the latest, Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, I just say, it is absolutely key to work out whether or not Awlaki was involved in meeting these brothers. And of course, after his death at the hands of a U.S. drone in 2011, shortly afterwards, they're said by U.S. intelligence to have left Yemen, potentially carrying tens of thousands of dollars to assist operations in Europe.

Did after that moment al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula continue contact with them? That's key. They're hunting jihad cells right now. Do those jihad cells lead back here to Yemen?

So now very quiet right now. Friday prayer under way. But real fears of protests on the street. Anger against the cartoons that appeared again in "Charlie Hebdo" magazine. A satirical image to the Prophet Mohammed, so offensive to so many here. And also, an angry government, too, who said, perhaps in a bid to try and divert attention away from other issues involving western presence around the world and blame Yemen for this.

But I have to say, this is a failed or failing state. So much trouble here, so much window for al Qaeda to have a presence. An awful lot of questions that need answers here in Yemen.

Back to you, Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thanks so much for that, Nick.

Also breaking overnight, the Pentagon confirming now that the U.S. will send 400 troops to train and equip moderate Syrian rebels in that ongoing fight against ISIS. Barbara Starr joins us this morning live from the Pentagon.

Barbara, good morning.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Michaela. Of course, Syria ground zero for the ISIS threat, and the question has been how to get to it.

So now the next step, about 400 U.S. troops and potentially hundreds of additional military personnel will deploy to Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to help train vetted moderate Syrian rebels; train and equip them.

This has been the next step in the program. The U.S. needs boots on the ground inside Syria. Not American boots, but moderate Syrian rebels that will be able to fight ISIS.

Big problem: How do you know these people will really do it? How do you know you're just handing them a weapon and they go back in and join some militant group? So this has been very slow going.

But now the next step being taken, they want to train some 5,000 moderate Syrian rebels. And if it all works, if it does, it will give the United States for the first time eyes and ears on the ground inside Syria. Give them more intelligence about what is going on, where ISIS is, how it's moving around; its leadership, its communications and how to fight it -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Barbara, thank you so much for that reporting.

Let's bring in now CNN's national security analyst, Juliette Kayyem; as well as law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes.

So much to get to this morning. There are developing stories, it seems, across Europe.

Tom, I want to start with you. Let's talk about the Belgium raid and what it produced. They found police uniforms when they went to the lair of these terrorists. Do we know what they were planning, Tom?

TOM FUENTES, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, they haven't announced what they're planning. Maybe the authorities know. We don't know that yet.

But the thing about the police uniforms is that's been done, particularly in Iraq over the years, where they used police uniforms. It wasn't necessarily bad police officers or radicalized police officers but people imitating -- impersonating police officers to do an attack, which enables them to get very close to an academy.

And one of the things about that, you know, we're seeing in France, we're seeing in other European countries, a large deployment of military and police to guard facilities. That means there's a lot of police officers that won't know each other.

So if they see another officer in uniform that they don't recognize, it won't be that unusual. Because there will be so many that will be coming from different parts of the country. So, you know, that's also a difficult thing to try to defeat.

CAMEROTA: That's chilling, Juliette. That you have to work with people. You don't know them. They could be terrorists disguised as police officers. We're calling the -- authorities are calling the attack that they broke -- the plot that they broke up in Belgium, imminent. Do we know any details about that?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: No, we don't know yet. Imminent, it could mean they were ready to go underground into hiding and then attack, even a month or two months or three months. But what imminent means in this instance is that the moment that it could have been disruption, the window was closing.

And so you go in as law enforcement, as counterterrorism officials, and you shut it down. And what was amazing about last night is how simultaneous the attacks were in different places. That takes a lot of coordination.

CAMEROTA: The raids were.

KAYYEM: Yes, how the raids were just consistent and at the same time. Because if they had been missed, if things had been off-key, or off- timing, one of the cells, two of the cells, you know, ten people could have gone into hiding. And so this is good news.

And look, there's people who were involved with these attacks who are missing now. And so, not everything is perfect yet. I mean, there is going to be continuing -- I think I saw numbers of about 100 or 200 people that -- that were involved.

CAMEROTA: What you're referring to is the developing story this morning, that investigators say that there could be this new wave of attacks across Europe. Because they believe that there are these 20 sleeper cells that involve 120 to 180 people.

Now Tom, help us understand this. By definition, sleeper cells are these shadowy groups that live among us and pretend to be sort of part of the community until they're activated. How could investigators know that there are 20 sleeper cells?

FUENTES: Well, I think it's a misuse of terminology here. Because the cell that was investigated where the shootout occurred was not sleeping. It was not a sleeper cell. It was an active, getting ready to go operational cell. As evidenced by as soon as the police showed up, they opened fire with large-caliber weapons, had explosives on hand, had all of the equipment on hand, ready to go. So the Belgium police were -- excuse me -- already looking at that

group. That group wasn't asleep. And I think these other cells, many them would have already been under alert.

Also in these type of investigations, while you're investigating a group and you're trying to identify all of the other members, the structure and scope of the enterprise, you also have contingency plans that, if something bad happens, you can take it down right now, start rounding up everybody immediately. So this is not something that would have been spur of the moment. It might have been a spur-of-the- moment decision to execute the plan, but not spur-of-the-moment plan itself.

CAMEROTA: Meaning investigators knew that they -- had been keeping an eye on all them.

KAYYEM: Right, that's -- Tom's exactly right. This kind of raid does not happen when you wake up one morning. I mean, these guys have been followed. They had been followed for several months. The French attack the week before had given them more evidence. So it was -- it seemed like OK, well, we're going to go in and get them. But this is a long investigation. And it will continue.

People shouldn't think that, oh, we got these guys; it's all done. There's just going to be the circles of activity that occur in different cells and different terrorist organizations will continue.

And that's the challenge for European countries. It's kind of like whack-a-mole. You know, you get a group here, and then another group is going to appear here and in a different country.

CAMEROTA: Yes, it is like whack-a-mole. But somehow, Tom, today feels different. It feels as though things are cropping up. Ever since the Paris terror attacks. Is this just the media, our antenna is now up and more sensitive? Or are things happening in Europe at a much quicker, more frightening pace?

FUENTES: Well, I think both. You know, you have more media attention, obviously, especially after the attack in Paris. But these cells have been active and particularly in Belgium.

You know, we go back to before 2001, and original al Qaeda, before there was AQAP in Yemen, before there was ISIS in Syria and in Iraq. This goes back to bin Laden days where they were planning the attack in Paris, September of 2001, to attack our embassy and NATO facilities in Belgium and then a couple of other European facilities.

And I think that's why Brussels is such a key city, because it's also the headquarters of the European Union. And the E.U. is seen as an enemy of ISIS and al Qaeda. And NATO, which is the principal alliance of the U.S. and all European military partners.

CAMEROTA: Juliette, very quickly, what do you make of the cyberattacks now on some media outlets in Paris?

KAYYEM: Disruption of services, attempts at disruptions at services are happening all the time. This number, or the attempt to bring down the French Internet is much larger. And it is -- it's -- in the atmosphere that we're in right now, it's very disconcerting. It is another form that people, whether they're related to ISIS or al Qaeda, or it's some other organization, they give people, citizens of France and Europe, a sense of unease. And that's essentially what's going on, right? I mean, it may not be terror, but it is just the sense that things aren't right in 2015. And that's sort of how we've been living since the year began.

CAMEROTA: Yes. People are feeling it across Europe this morning. Tom Fuentes, Juliette Kayyem, thank you so much for being here.

Let's go over to Michaela.

FUENTES: Thank you.

PEREIRA: All right. Thanks so much.

Two people have been reportedly injured in Pakistan, clashing with police at an anti-"Charlie Hebdo" demonstration in Karachi. A Reuters journalist reports protesters hurled stones at police and fired shots after security forces broke out water cannons and tear gas. The protesters are holding rallies against the depiction of the Prophet Mohammed by the French magazine.

CUOMO: Cuba will see new rules easing travel and trade restrictions, and they go into effect today. For the first time in decades, U.S. airlines can now fly scheduled routes to the island. Americans will be able to travel there, as long as it's for religious, educational or some other approved purpose. And more money will be allowed into Cuba, up to $8,000 a year to any Cuban national.

CAMEROTA: A developing story in the world of sports. Josh McNary, the Indianapolis Colts player accused of rape is out of Sunday's AFC championship game against the Patriots. He's been placed on the NFL commissioner's exempt list while the league investigates the allegations. McNary is facing charges of felony rape, battery and criminal confinement, stemming from an alleged incident with a woman he met at a bar in November.

PEREIRA: January thaw -- and I use that word lightly-- is moving in just in time for the weekend. Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers, keeping track of the latest forecast for us.

And Chad, this is not of tropical proportions?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, I'm glad you said briefly, because it is going to be a small warm-up. But 42 in the city, 45 or 46 in D.C., is going to feel like spring. Compared to where we've been and where we're going, this is going to be pretty decent.

Now it's still cold today, and it's still cool tomorrow. But above- normal air moves in, above normal temperatures move in before the next storm system moves in that will spread more snow to the Poconos, the Alleghenys, the Catskills; probably brings rain, though, for New York City. But this is now a changing in the forecast where we've been below normal. For a few days we go above normal.

And then the next outlook -- this is the next 14 days-- all below normal in the east, above normal in the west. Big trough in the Jet Stream right through there. Expect the chances of snow to go up in the city. And even the chances of snow in the south to go up, as well.

Watch out if you're driving around the Deep South today. There's a lot of ice on the roadways, lots of crashes around Atlanta right now and the roadways around the area, too.

So enjoy the brief warm-up, guys. It will be 48 hours and then back to the cold.

PEREIRA: A lovely 48.

CUOMO: Chad Everett, I find your colors deceptive. I think that the purple and whatever other color that is that exceeds my man palette there, going to the below normal, it doesn't read cold. I think you're trying to do a faky (ph).

MYERS: It's Roy G. Biv. You know? You know, it's the red, orange, yellow, all that. Roy G. Biv.

CAMEROTA: There's a method to your madness. We knew that. Thanks so much, Chad.

PEREIRA: Hash tag #RoyGBiv.

CUOMO: Roy G. Biv, that was strong. Chad wins.

CAMEROTA: All right. Meanwhile, there are thousands of fighters from all over the world training with ISIS and then allegedly planning attacks back in their homelands. Can anything be done to stop these cold-blooded killers?

CUOMO: So Saudi Arabia condemned the French attacks of "Charlie Hebdo." But today, they will publicly flog a blogger for the second time. The crime? Insulting Islam. And by flog, I mean beat him with a stick. Wait until you hear his friend describe his situation.

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CUOMO: At least 20 sleeper cells uncovered, ready to strike across Europe. This as a major terror plot has been thwarted in Belgium, proving that thousands of fighters from all over the world are traveling to Syria to train; and they are ready to unleash attacks back when they get home.

Joining us to discuss this, CNN global affairs analyst, retired commando, Lieutenant Colonel, James Reese; and Bobby Ghosh, CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor of "Quartz." Gentlemen, thank you.

Let's get to the map. Let's look at the hotbed areas on the ground. You have the obvious. You have Iraq. You have Syria. Militarily, why do we need to be there? Because what's the criticism with these cells popping up everywhere? Are we focused in the wrong places? Do we need to be here?

LT. COL. JAMES REESE, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: We do, Chris, because this is where -- this is a safe haven right now for insurgents and everyone to come in and they go back to Europe and strike against Europe.

CUOMO: So you need to be there. However, what are we seeing as a growing commentary, Bobby? That, well, you're distracted by ISIS, and that's why al Qaeda in Yemen is the one. The AQAP, the Arabian Peninsula, they're taking credit for this. The U.S., the west, you messed up. Is that fair?

BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: It's a little unfair. It's not like we're not in Yemen. We are, usually with drone strikes and cruise missiles. We are present there, and we're working with the -- what remains of the Yemeni government.

The trouble is that the so-called rivalry between these two groups, the rivalry is political, and it's taking place at a very high altitude between the top leaders. But the biggest lesson from Paris is what? It is that at the foot soldier level, that rivalry doesn't matter. Coulibaly is ISIS. The Kouachi brothers are AQAP. They're able to work together.

So for law enforcement, having these two different sources of inspiration, of money, of training, is a problem. But for the guys who are carrying out these terrorist attacks, they don't care.

CUOMO: All right. Now we're going to break down the numbers of who's going where and why in just a second. But let's close the circle on this, LTC. A little bit of this maybe media stink, that it's about our focus shifts very quickly. But it doesn't mean that the coalition is shifting its focus. Fair point?

REESE: That's a very fair point. And the coalition. Again, right, the problem is we never really hear what the coalition focuses back here. We're always focused on the U.S. systems.

CUOMO: All right. So there's probably more than meets the eye. But now let's look at what we're seeing as this emerging problem, which is people leaving these European countries, and maybe the United States and others, and going into those hotbed areas, getting the training like these killer brothers and the guy who targeted Jews and the kosher grocery, coming back home.

So there are your numbers. France, 700, the biggest, OK. The numbers are all obvious for you. Now it's how many do we believe have gone back home to do exactly what we just saw in Paris. Show those.

Now first of all, we said that you're retired, but you are so active in this area. You're in theater all the time. Do those numbers sound right? Is it something you think we can accurately calculate?

REESE: I think it is, especially because of all the movements in Europe here. There's -- the only way you're coming out of Syria is two ways. You can either drive back across into Turkey. Or you can take a boat out of Latakia or Tartus, back up through the Turkish border and then move back through Europe.

So there is a way to start handling these things, and people are picking it up. We've been talking about this for several days. That's the problem I see, is the Turks aren't doing anything about the going in or the going out.

CUOMO: So let's go to that. You've got President Erdogan. He says, "I stand with France." He says, "I'm ready to help the coalition. We believe." We saw in that little village there of Kobani on his border, how not ready the Turks seemed to be to take full aggression. Can he be taken at his word or is this talk?

GHOSH: Well, I'm -- I'd like to cut the Turk a little bit of slack, because they are taking in a lot of refugees. It's not like they're not participating. They're reluctant to get involved militarily. But they are taking in a lot of -- hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria, in particular, that are now in Turkey.

CUOMO: But that doesn't stop the threat, does it? Or does it because if those refugees may become vulnerable to radicalization if they're forced to stay where they are.

GHOSH: If they're forced to stay where they are.

Now, the problem is among these refugees, are possibly elements of al Qaeda and elements of ISIS who are using the large refugee flows as -- basically, as Trojan horses, to get into, to Turkey. And then within Turkey, there's a lot of radicalization. You can go to Istanbul, and you can go to a store and buy ISIS T-shirts in the open. And you have demonstrations, pro-ISIS demonstrations taking place in other towns around Turkey.

So there's a strong radical streak within Turkey itself. And the Turkish government is -- their inaction is in part informed by this. Because they don't want to inflame sentiment within their own country. But they should realize, if they take a lesson from France, is that if you ignore the problems at your border, those problems are going to come into your country and bite you where you're most vulnerable.

CUOMO: LTC, you're moving your head a little bit. You agree with all that?

REESE: Well, I do a little bit. And Bobby's right. They're starting to see some issues from the border crossings into Turkey. But you know, what you really have in Europe is it's the path of least resistance, because if you go down south to Jordan, Jordan's populace, because of refugees, has increased 10 percent. Two million people in their populace right now are refugees.

CUOMO: Heavy strain. Heavy strain. Understood.

But let me ask you something: a little bit of a silver lining in Paris. First of all, that's impossible, right? It was an unmitigated tragedy. But, if they hadn't discovered those brothers, and the guy who targeted the kosher market, they would not have started connecting these links that took them to these groups, right?

REESE: Right.

CUOMO: So that's what this means. It's not that, oh, no, they're all against us, all of a sudden. There have been discovered because of what just happened. Fair analysis?

REESE: From tragedy, there's always goodness, because now we can start to develop a link and hopefully -- and I think what will happen is we'll be able to take the network down because of this single tragedy in Paris.

CUOMO: Also, Bobby, as we perceive the imminence of the threat, that is just as likely because of the terrorists' timings as the authorities catching them, right? They may have forced up their timetable, because they saw what happened in Paris, how those guys got shut down so quickly afterwards.

GHOST: That's certainly what we're hearing from Belgium. Although the investigation had been going on for weeks before Paris happened, that cell was operating independently. The investigation speeded up after Paris happened. Because there was a fear that Paris may inspire these guys to bring up their calendar and move earlier.

And yes, we're -- they're -- and presumably there's much, much greater collaboration now between all these European law enforcement agencies, because they're in a race. They're in a race to find these cells, 20 of them that we're told, and shut them down before the next attack takes place.

CUOMO: And as Bobby and Lieutenant Colonel warn me all the time, just because it's going over there, doesn't mean it won't have reach back here in the United States. That's part of the developing story, as well.

Gentlemen, thank you very much, as always. Have good weekends -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris.

Well, Europe is in high alert this morning as investigators say terrorists are gearing up for more deadly attacks. We'll discuss that.

PEREIRA: He is accused of insulting Islam and is now paying the price. We're going to speak to a friend of a Saudi blogger who's been sentenced to ten years and 1,000 lashes.

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