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New Day

Jihadist Ready to Strike Europe; Backlash Begins for Romney 2016; Where is Hillary Clinton?

Aired January 16, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We're following breaking news this morning: European investigators say they've uncovered at least 20 sleeper cells involving as many as 180 terrorists. Authorities say they were poised to attack France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Let's get the latest from Fred Pleitgen. He is live in Brussels -- Fred.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And, Alisyn, absolutely, this country is totally on edge. Most violent of those raids that took place here in Belgium happened in the town of Verviers, where two terrorists were killed. Apparently, when the police moved in, the terrorists immediately opened fire, both automatic weapons fire, as well as semiautomatic weapons fire. That firefight lasted for several minutes. It also involved several stun grenades that the police used.

However, there were raids throughout this country, throughout Belgium, here in Brussels, several people were arrested the Belgian authorities came out today and said the plot of the jihadists was to kill police officers in Belgium and to kill as many as possible, both in public places, as well as at police stations. They found AK-47s, they found handguns, they found communications equipment and most importantly, they also found police uniforms they believe that the terrorists might have tried to disguise themselves as policemen.

The threat is being described as imminent. There are law enforcement officials who came out and said it might have only been a matter of hours for these people to strike. They think that it was people who were returning from Syria who then wanted to carry out these attacks. Of course, this country now is in a state of alert. The terrorism alert has been heightened from level two to level three. And also Jewish schools here in this country have been closed for today -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Hours away from an attack. Fred, that's incredible. Thanks for the reporting.

Let's get up to Michaela for some more headlines.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, here we go. A 20-year-old from Ohio arrested by the FBI for plotting to bomb the U.S. Capitol, will appear in court today.

Christopher Lee Cornell's parents, meanwhile are, speaking out about their son's arrest. His father says his son is not a terrorist. And that he was set up by the FBI. Officials say Cornell planned to detonate pipe bombs at the U.S. Capitol and open fire on lawmakers that he considered enemies.

President Obama will reportedly ask Congress for a nearly 7 percent increase in spending when he submits his budget proposal in February. Now that's a $68 billion more than the current budget limits. This comes at a time when the Republican-controlled Congress appears eager to make deep cuts in spending, setting you up yet another battle on Capitol Hill.

Muhammad Ali is back in the hospital for a second time in the last month. A family spokesman says this is for follow-up care related to a severe urinary tract infection. Ali was hospitalized last month with what doctors thought was a case of pneumonia. The legendary boxer turned 73 on Saturday. He has battled Parkinson's disease for decades now.

Well, the flu is spreading fast, and to make matters worse, the Centers for Disease Control say this year's vaccine is only 23 percent effective. Schools in Oklahoma and Philadelphia have been forced to close after too many children called in sick. In Nevada, hospitals are filled with flu patients.

This year's strain apparently mutated after the vaccine was manufactured. Making it much less effective and there wasn't time to manufacture a new version. But they say still get it if you haven't got it, it will lessen the severe symptoms.

CUOMO: I'll play the common man. The common man says, I'm not going to get the vaccine, you saw it's 23 percent less effective. What's the counter?

CAMEROTA: I don't have a counter. I don't blame you.

PEREIRA: The counter is it will lessen the severity of the symptoms if you do get it.

CUOMO: Think it's a no-brainer. You should get it even if it made you 1 percent less likely to get it, why wouldn't you get the shot.

CAMEROTA: It seems like an exercise in futility marching to the doctor to get your flu shot.

CUOMO: Guess what I'm going to say -- what do you think? Tweet us, go to Facebook and let us know.

You thought I was going to take a shot at you. You were wrong.

(LAUGHTER)

CUOMO: When we come back after the break, our Muslim ally, Saudi Arabia, as we told and we're going to tell you again because it matters, they're about to beat a blogger with a stick again today for the crime there of insulting Islam. How does Saudi Arabia condemn the Paris attacks, and then do this? And what should the U.S. and the West do about Saudi Arabia?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Welcome back to NEW DAY.

We have breaking news. We have just received word that "Reuters" is reporting that Saudi Arabia is postponing the public flogging today of a blogger on medical grounds. Again, this just in to "Reuters", they're reporting that the public flogging that was scheduled for today to receive 50 lashes has been postponed due to medical grounds, or on medical grounds.

Raif Badawi was found guilty of insulting Islam last year for material that he had written about, freedom of expression and secularism.

The Saudi ambassador to France joined world leaders however at the unity rally in Paris last week celebrating free speech. All the while, while inside his country, it is a punishable crime.

Joining us now to react to this news that the flogging has been postponed is a friend of his, the friend of the blogger, Ali Rizvi. He's a friend of Raif Badawi, as well as a writer and secular activist. He joins us now from Toronto, Canada.

I want to get your reaction to this news that this has been postponed. What are you learning?

ALI RIZVI, PAKISTANI-CANADIAN WRITER & SECULAR ARTIST: I actually heard from Insaf, Rarif's wife, earlier this morning, the same thing, that the lashing has been postponed, It's been cancelled for today on medical grounds. It's definitely encouraging, it's by no means, none of us are completely satisfied.

Obviously, this is a Saudi regime. You know, we don't know what's going to happen from here on. But it's definitely a small step in the right direction.

PEREIRA: We know his wife has been concerned about him being able to withstand the beatings, he was scheduled to have 50 more lashes today. And then 50 lashes every Friday subsequently for some five months. She was concerned about his ability to withstand that. What is his medical condition?

RIZVI: According to her, she has said and you know, other people have been in touch with them, I haven't been in touch with them recently at all, you know, they've said that he is not in very good medical condition, especially after the flogging last week. So I mean, the way this happens is you have the wounds and the next week you have the wounds and on top of that you get lashed again, this happens every week. So, it's obviously as anybody can imagine, that's not an easy thing to go through.

PEREIRA: Not at all and I think it's hard for Western minds to wrap our minds around this, especially given the fact of what we just saw in France, the Saudi ambassador, marching alongside the other world leaders and 4 million people in support of free speech, when inside Saudi Arabia this kind of offense is punishable in this fashion. That's really difficult for Western minds to get their minds around.

RIZVI: Yes. It is, I mean this has been, this is the sort of two- faced policy that you know Saudi Arabia has always taken to human rights, human rights around the world. We've seen this over and over again. I mean last August, when James Foley was beheaded by ISIS, the same month there were 19 people in Saudi Arabia that were beheaded publicly for crimes ranging from smuggling cannabis to sorcery. They're still executing people in public for sorcery.

So, it's just a very archaic legal code that manages to survive. I mean, unfortunately, with a lot of western support and as well, the attitude of people over there. Unfortunately, there are large numbers of people in the Middle East and across the Muslim world that actually support these kinds of corporal punishments.

So, it's very difficult situation. Unless you have change from within, there's very little that people on the outside can do. And Raif is one of the people who is making that change. So he is somebody that we should all get behind.

PEREIRA: I want to read just for context, Ali, what he wrote, because this is an important thing to understand the words that were taken offense to. He wrote -- in August of 2010, just a portion, "As soon as a thinker starts to reveal his ideas, you will find hundreds of fatwas that accuse him of being an infidel, just because he had the courage to discuss some sacred topics, I'm worried that Arab thinkers will migrate in search of fresh air and to escape the sword of the religious authorities."

He likely knew the risks, he likely knew it would require courage on his part to speak up and then face the consequences, did he ever speak to you about that?

RIZVI: We didn't talk about the risk. It was kind of understood. I mean, the reason this is personal for me is because I -- like Raif, both Raif and I are writers, both of us are secular, we're advocates for secularism and reform in the Muslim world. And both of us grew up in Saudi Arabia.

The only difference is that you know, I'm over here, I can write freely, I regard it as a fundamental right to be able to express what I want to say. On the other hand, when I see what he's going through, you know he's going through, he's doing exactly what I get to do here every day. But he's being flogged. He's in prison for ten years. And so that is actually, that's the kind of thing that hits me very personally about it.

So, I mean, we know -- he knew the risks, but he decided to go ahead and do it, anyway, because he cared enough about his society and transforming it. And he believes in it strongly enough to stand up for it. PEREIRA: You reference the fact that the support from people of the

Saudi -- you know, the Saudi nation. We were talking about the fact that there's no outrage about this, in fact, there's been videos on YouTube of people cheering his first flogging.

RIZVI: Yes. I mean after the flogging ends, for those who don't know, if you see the online video, right after, the entire crowd erupts into cheers and applause, they start chanting "Allahu Akbar", and this unfortunately surprising. The public thinks he's guilty of blasphemy.

According to a Pew Research poll in 2013, 88 percent of Muslims in Egypt, 62 percent of Muslims in Pakistan and the majority in other regions like Jordan, Palestine, like Malaysia, they actually support the death penalty for leaving Islam.

So, this is not just a matter -- yes, you know, we did have Bush holding hands with King Abdullah and strolling through his Crawford ranch and we had President Obama who is criticized for bow together Saudi king and we're all involved in it, too. You know we every time we fill our cars up with gas, we're all bowing to the Saudi king.

But that helps maintain the status quo. The status quo isn't because of U.S. actions or Western support. But it is definitely something that comes from within that society. And that's something that needs to change and that's what Raif is working for.

PEREIRA: Well, we are glad to hear that this has been delayed. But as you mention, this is not over yet. We're going to keep on top of the story.

Ali Rizvi joining us from Canada, talking about Raif Badawi, who is under a ten-year prison sentence in Saudi Arabia for his writings. Thanks for joining us today.

RIZVI: Thank you very much.

CAMEROTA: Thank you.

So interesting to hear from his friend, Michaela.

Let's talk a little politics -- Mitt Romney not feeling the love from his own party as he considers another run for the White House. Meanwhile, where's Hillary Clinton? We have our political roundtable, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: We have presidential political news for you, mitt Romney says he's coming back. The Republican establishment must be pumped, right?

Take a look at reactions, "Wall Street Journal" editorial calls Romney recycled and not in that go green kind of way. Former Republican governor of Oklahoma, Frank Keating says he had his chance and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker says Americans quote don't want a warn-out, tired views of the past. Harsh? Or is this what's coming out of that side of the party?

Political analyst and editor in chief of the "The Daily Beast," John Avlon, here to discuss and CNN political commentator, takes a breath, Republican consultant and Sirius XM host, Margaret Hoover -- what's the name of the show again?

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: "Get It Right with Margaret Hoover."

JOHN AVLON, THE DAILY BEAST: Oh, very kind.

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: So let's get back to the criticism, recycled? No thank you? Tired views of the past? Ouch.

So, they are not -- the Republican establishment, the RNC committee members are not excited, John.

AVLON: Look, politics is a bean bag, if Romney gets back in you're going to get a lot of people saying, we saw this movie and it didn't end too well. Why do I want a triquel (ph). Is that a word?

But, you know, it's not surprising. Look, Scott Walker probably wants to run for president, he won't be given a lot of love. "Journal" editorial page, never been a big fan of Mitt Romney, going back to health care days, but he's going to be running into serious wind shear.

I don't think anyone in the camp is naive enough to think this would be a walk in the park. It's going to be a tough, tough fight. And probably a plurality of voters will become against him or at --

CAMEROTA: Yes, sorry, Chris, let me jump in for a second, there's a poll, a new Iowa poll, this was, of Iowa GOP registered voters, and it shows that he is in the -- at the top of the heap by a significant margin, 21 percent, undecided gets 18 percent, Jeb Bush, seven points down at 14 percent, followed by Scott Walker, Mike Huckabee, Rand Paul. So, voters still like him.

HOOVER: Who spent the most time in Iowa most recently? I mean, Mitt Romney four years ago. He led the, he basically won the caucuses, we found out a week later that Rick Santorum, a story my husband broke, we want to make sure he gets credit for that.

(CROSSTALK)

HOOVER: You're welcome, no problem, America.

But Mitt Romney is going to have to run on something other than restoring his reputation. That's not a rationale for president.

And he has to, remember the CNN polls exit polls when we left the election day, said that he won in every single category in terms of confidence, except this man can connect with people like me. He's going to have to convince the donor class, the activist class, all the folks, that he would run a different campaign and that he could be as a Romney 3.0, is credible.

He has started to talk about what it would look like. It would look like a Mitt Romney who has a real anti-poverty plan. That would be a real turn in messaging from a guy who said 47 percent of people I don't care about.

So, I think that would be a real constructive contribution to the conversation from the Republican side. I think we need more Republicans talk about anti-poverty plans, talking about --

(CROSSTALK)

HOOVER: What Paul Ryan, and so is Rand Paul.

CUOMO: Here's how this goes sour for the other party. Is that yes, you have this melee going on. On the right side and they're all going to have to fight it out. That is withering, it drains resources, people can take hits, candidate can come out of that, not as strong as they would have been otherwise.

But on the other side, you're looking at a very single purpose, right? On the Democrat side. Hillary Clinton, and so what you're getting on the right side is the percolation of ideas, who do we want to be. What works best for us? That will wind up coming out of that.

You don't have that on your side.

AVLON: No, you don't.

CUOMO: I'm giving that side by proxy. Don't get the yips.

(CROSSTALK)

AVLON: But no, look, the Democrats are in an unusual place, historically it has been a Democratic scrum. They go for the hot hand, not the next guy in line. Here you have a situation where Hillary Clinton is almost running an incumbent campaign, she's towering six times over the nearest competitor in the field. There's a danger that it is kind of a stolid debate. That it ends up being a --

CUOMO: No one else need apply sign outside of the party, also.

AVLON: Yes, she'll be a better candidate if there's at least a spirited debate of ideas. Right now you got Jim Webb in there, you've got Bernie Sanders, which gets an asterisk. And possibly a Martin O'Malley or something like that.

But that becomes a challenge. As how someone from the outside runs effectively as an incumbent and still invigorates her party and puts forward new ideas.

CAMEROTA: Margaret, where is Hillary Clinton, we haven't seen her the past few weeks, particularly around the Paris attacks.

HOOVER: It's the holidays, she hasn't made any public appearances, I think Hillary Clinton's largest vulnerability is that she is a known entity and has been a fixture of Washington for the last 25 years. That she hasn't had a story in a month, you know, may be unprecedented. But it's probably good for her not to be in the headlines right now.

CUOMO: The media frothing around here, I want to ask you something seeing we have a good quorum for the discussion. Remember how in the early stages with now President Obama, there was this discussion of him as Black Jesus. That you know like this is, it is time --

AVLON: I did not Black Jesus to come up.

CUOMO: It is time for the African-Americans, this is the right guy, this is their person. You're hearing the same thing about Hillary for women.

I had a big-shot Democrat consultant say to me the other day, she's female Jesus, this is our person, it's time for a woman to be president.

Does that appeal, do you think to women in general? Do you think that's enough?

HOOVER: I think that if you have a very evenly matched campaign going into the final stretch, most Americans when they wake up two weeks before. Because most Americans don't vote every two years, they vote every four years, they tune in ten days to two weeks before the election is over. My biggest fear of Jeb Bush as the nomination. Women will come to the polls, huge voting bloc, Hillary Clinton really appeals to them.

They see the third Bush and the first woman. And historically where can they make a difference? Truly as a Republican woman, my biggest fear about Republicans not winning back the White House in 2016.

AVLON: Margaret is speaking to also the larger point, which is it gives Hillary Clinton even though she's someone who has been in public life for 20 years, the ability to stand for something larger than herself. And that's ultimately what all really successful campaigns need to be. They can't be about the candidate. They they'd to be a crusade for a larger idea. That will become a powerful point in her campaign.

Now she's putting together a campaign apparatus. That's inherently --

CUOMO: Do you think that's where she is right now?

AVLON: We know that's true. A lot of people actually aren't from the original Hillary camp, they're actually Obama folks from '08 and '12, which is interesting in terms of uniting the party.

But the longer she's sort of tries to do a Rose Garden strategy in effect from outside the White House, the more the vacuum, keeps quiet, the more the vacuum will be filled with negative stories, with the RNC already beginning attacks against her. I mean, totally preemptive. And other candidates will be able to get in the cycle. So, it becomes a risky game itself even with a lead like that.

CAMEROTA: John, Margaret, great to see you, have a great weekend.

AVLON: You too.

HOOVER: Thanks, guys.

CUOMO: Of course, what the do you think, no the to ignore the men, but the women out there, is Hillary being a woman so strong a pull that could be enough for her to get your vote?

CAMEROTA: Men can write us as well.

CUOMO: They can. You get what I'm saying.

CAMEROTA: I do.

CUOMO: All right, that's lot of news this morning. We're following it for you so let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terror threat across Europe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There could be up to 20 terror cells active across the continent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twelve detentions overnight of people in France.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Anti-terror raids in a number of cities across Belgium.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw just a big orange flash.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A prolonged gunfight.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two suspects on the property were killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The jihadists were targeting the police.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The group was connected to ISIS, they're recruited by ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The threat is real, we can't just sit back and wait and then react.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a illogical for people that subscribe to many of the ideas, it's profound, it's global.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to NEW DAY. We want to welcome our viewers in the U.S. and, of course, around the world. We begin with major developments on the terror front this morning.

There's fear gripping Europe as we learn there's an investigation into 20 sleeper cells, with as many as 180 jihadists that are poised to strike in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. And an imminent threat in at least two of those countries we're told.

CUOMO: Remember, all of this is emanating from France. And there we have news of more arrests for alleged accomplices of the terrorists in Paris. This, as several mainstream media Web sites in France are knocked offline this morning by hackers.

So, let's begin with Fred Pleitgen. He's live in Brussels.

Fred, what do we know?

PLEITGEN: Yes, Chris. And, of course, Belgium is one of those countries where there was probably still is that imminent threat. There were raids that went on in many Belgian towns, including here in Brussels. The most violent one happened in a town of Verviers, about 40 kilometers or 40 miles outside of Brussels. There it was an anti- terror operation by the police.

They said that extremists opened fire on the police officers almost immediately. After they tried to enter a building, that firefight went on for several minutes. Two of the extremists were left dead. Another one was left wounded.

Now, again, these raids went on in towns across Belgium. And what we learned this morning from the Belgian prosecutor's office is that he says that this was part of a larger plot and the aim of the plot was to kill cops here in Belgium. Both on the streets as well as inside police departments, that's where they wanted to kill the police officers.

And there are several reasons why they think that is because during these raids, they found a lot of weapons, they found AK-47s, they found handguns, they also found a lot of communications equipment. But they also found police uniforms. The prosecutors here believe the terrorists wanted to dress up possibly as police officers and kill cops, again, both on the streets and other places.