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New Day

European Officials Meet to Talk Terror; Police Search for Possible Coulibaly Accomplice; AQAP May Benefit from Yemen Battle; Black Ice Causes Havoc in Northeast

Aired January 19, 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: 20 people were arrested in anti-terror raids in Belgium, France, and in Germany.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is an international phenomenon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What these terrorists represent is the perversion of a major religion and we have to take them on with everything we have.

UNIDENTFIED MALE: Hundreds gathered for a rally Saturday in the capital of Chad, denouncing Boko Haram.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boko Haram unchecked is a threat, not just to the region, but the entire world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time for the international community to step in and help Nigeria.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A JetBlue flight cleared for takeoff was barreling down the runway at full speed when the pilot suddenly hit the breaks. Another plane crossed over the runway.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, he's got smoke.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A pilot on another plane reported smoke coming from the Delta flight landing gear.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, January 19th, 6:00 in the East, and Europe is on high alert. More terror cells exposed, heavily armed guards visible all over Brussels, five Belgian nationals now in custody, charged with participating in a terrorist organization, plotting to target police officer specifically. Two other suspects detained by the French.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: And investigators on the hunt for two potential accomplices of the Paris terrorists whose DNA has been linked to the belongings of that kosher grocery gunmen. This, as European foreign ministers gather today to talk terrorism. So, we begin our coverage with CNN's Phil Black. He is live for us in Brussels. What's the latest there, Phil?

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, Belgium authorities requested the help of Greek police in tracking down a lead related to the terror plot they disrupted last Thursday.

And the Greeks have arrested a 33-year-old Algerian man that Belgium now wants to be expedited back here. The Belgian authorities have not revealed precisely what role he is believed to have played in this plot just yet, but this is now in addition to the five people who have been charged in Belgium. Two more Belgium nationals who have been charged in France and will be extradited here, as well. All of them accused of involvement in a terror plot that was said to be targeting police officers, on the streets or in police stations.

This investigation is still very much ongoing. This country's threat level remains elevated. The proof of that: the Belgium paratroopers on patrol here on the streets of the capital, Brussels. Outside key institutions and Jewish sites -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Phil Black. Thanks so much for the latest.

Meanwhile, in France, authorities said to be hunting two more suspects whose DNA links them to the alleged kosher market gunman, Amedy Coulibaly. Meanwhile, police have released three women who were detained in connection with the terror attacks. Nine others do, however, remain in custody this morning.

CNN's Nic Robertson is following all of these developments for us out of Paris -- Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, these leads for -- relating to DNA found in -- potentially people close to Amedy Coulibaly, very important for the police. One of those DNA samples found on a magazine clip containing bullets for one of his weapons in his apartment. The implication for police, therefore, that this person would have known about Coulibaly's weapons, may even be at large with other weapons. And so that an immediate concern.

Also, the other DNA found in a vehicle believed to have been used by Coulibaly when he went to that kosher supermarket Friday a week ago for that hostage taking and killing there.

So the implication, again, that person very close to the operation, important for the police to discover.

Ten thousand troops still on the streets here in Paris. The question: how do people here view how well the government is tackling this. The answer, an affirmative yes. The polls show that the president here has taken a 21-point boost in his popularity rating. The prime minister also up 17 points -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: All right, Nic, thank you so much.

Ceasefire talks in jeopardy now as the battle for power intensifies in Yemen. That country's prime minister now in hiding after coming under heavy fire as he left a meeting with Yemen's president and a Houthi political group. Fighting between government forces and Houthi Shiite rebels, it has been raging near the Yemen's presidential palace.

But there may be a larger looming threat. Concerns that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula may benefit from all of this chaos. Senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is the only western TV journalist in Yemen, joining us live now -- Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't know if you can see behind me, but we've been seeing intensive shelling in the past few minutes or so, smoke on the hills around the presidential administration.

All this violence started in the early hours of the morning. The presidential administration concerned that it might see, after the abduction in his chief of staff by the rebel Houthi militia and tribesmen. They might see more key officials abducted. They implemented a security plan; road blocks around key buildings. Houthi militia didn't like that. They said they wanted to open the roads for the people. Somehow clashes broke out. Both sides blame each other. And now we are seeing an artillery duel around the presidential administration.

Civilians terrified, caught (ph) in as the shells land in residential areas. Every word I speak almost punctuated here by the sound of a thud of an artillery shell behind me.

And why does this matter? Well, the more that this country slips into chaos, the more the foot hold, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the one group who say they want, more than nothing else, than to attack the west in America, get a foothold and find it easier to operate here.

Now, there was a cease-fire talk potentially under way. The problem is that both sides, as they left that meeting, came under fire. The prime minister's convoy attacked. The Houthi convoy, when they went to that meeting, also attacked on the way out. Everyone blaming a mysterious third party, perhaps, for this. But what we're seeing behind me is an escalation in the violence, and that violence means more chaos in Yemen, and that means more danger of attacks from al Qaeda in Yemen against the west -- Michaela.

CAMEROTA: Nick -- I'll take it. Nick, thanks so much for all of that.

So much breaking news, so let's get context on all of this and bring in Juliette Kayyem. She's CNN's national security analyst. And Bobby Ghosh, CNN global affairs analyst and managing editor of "Quartz." Nice to see both of you this morning.

Everything that we are seeing right now, Bobby -- two raids in Brussels, arrests made; four arrests in Athens, Greece; two arrests in Germany; nine suspects still behind bars in France -- is all of this connected to the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks? BOBBY GHOSH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: No, no. Some of them. The

Belgian investigations, remember, began long before the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks. And so the plot that they foiled there was underway even before. They accelerated the investigation once "Charlie Hebdo" happened. They think there may be some connection between the two. But that has not yet been clearly established.

But there are plenty of, we are learning now, terrorist cells across Europe that are -- that now need to be turned over. There's an anxiety that, once "Charlie Hebdo" happened, some of these cells may feel pressured to act quickly, to bring forward their own plans for terrorist attacks.

CAMEROTA: That may have been a trigger?

GHOSH: Maybe.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: And it didn't come from above, right? Because we don't -- they're not -- terrorist groups aren't as hierarchical as they were before. But that something was triggered by, you know, the beginning of the year with "Charlie Hebdo," and then everyone starts reacting.

And people should also remember, a lot of these arrests are going to be over-inclusive and over-broad, that there are going to be big sweeps. Some people are going to be guilty. Some people are going to be swept up into it. So if it seems like there's a lot of activity right now, that generally happens after major attacks, is that there's -- they're sort of larger than they might need to be if authorities had had more time.

CAMEROTA: That's great context, because it does feels as though there's this global sweep happening right now. It feels as though, Bobby, Europe is under siege from jihadists. But that can't be right.

GHOSH: The -- various security agencies have been saying for a while now that there are terrorist cells around. And they have been monitoring some of these cells. They've known about them. And some, of course, they don't know exactly where they are and what they're up to.

Right now it seems, as Juliette said, that they are just doing a full- court press, just grabbing everybody that is on their radar. They've already released a few people as you reported at the top of your hour, that they have released a few people. That might continue to happen. As the investigation proceeds, some people will be eliminated from the investigation and be let go.

But they're also sending a signal across Europe. They're sending a signal to the people of Europe: we're here, we are alert. Don't panic.

CAMEROTA: The investigators.

GHOSH: The investigators, the authorities are. Don't panic. We're on on top of this. We're making arrests. There's a certain reassurance that comes from that.

CAMEROTA: In addition to just cracking down on the so-called sleeper cells, is there any discussion in Europe happening about policy, changing the policy and trying to find a way to, before they turn into sleeper cells, assimilate, perhaps, different communities better?

KAYYEM: That's exactly right. And it's not just going to work in the assimilation sort of lane, because you're going to have all the European principals meeting to discuss immigration and to discuss how to merge and not alienate such big proportions of their population.

But there's going to be sort of a not-so-good side to this, which is despite all the support for leadership right now, there is an undercurrent of sort of anti-immigrant sentiment, anti-Semitism, that is going to show itself politically. That the rise of these right- wing political groups throughout Belgium, France and other countries is probably going to be a reaction over the course of the year, as well. So you're going to see them in both lanes.

CAMEROTA: That's fascinating. Because it's impossibly hard to have the conversation about better melding communities in that atmosphere that you have just described.

GHOSH: That's exactly right. In some cases, politicians are already calling for tougher actions, for harsher legal regimes against hate speech. And that seems to run contrary to what we heard in the first 48 hours after the "Charlie Hebdo" attack when so much of the conversation was "We have to protect free speech."

Well, now people in the Muslim community are saying, "Well, how come when we say stuff, that's not covered under free speech, but when you say stuff, it's under free speech?" So that debate is far from over. We're just beginning.

There are right-wing politicians across Europe that have already been experiencing a political revival. And this is -- this is catnip for them. This is exactly what they need to stir up the -- their political base, which is all about fear and hatred.

CAMEROTA: So what do you predict is about to happen, Juliette?

KAYYEM: Well, I don't think it happens in a single day. I think if you look at the trajectory of the year, you're probably going to see more laws being passed that are more stringent, probably less democratic.

CAMEROTA: And what does that look like? What are more stringent laws?

KAYYEM: Under surveillance, information sharing, possibly detention. Remember, Britain has already proposed a strong attention, taking up the passport rules. And then you are going to see the rise in reaction to this of these right-wing extremist groups. And just like what Bobby said, it's not so much a right. They're already there. And now it is exactly what he said: catnip. I mean, this is just the kind of thing that, over the course of 2015 and 2016, as we see these election, it's going to be in response to the terrorist attacks.

CAMEROTA: This is complicated. Thanks so much for helping to explain it to us. Juliette Kayyem, Bobby Ghosh, nice to see you.

Let's go over to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Alisyn, a different kind of problem going on. Flash freeze. That's the worst kind of freeze. That's what Chad Myers told me. The Northeast all but paralyzed by it. Black ice doing what it does: massive pileups, traffic nightmares, just for millions out there.

So let's get to Chad right now with what happens today, my friend.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's better today. There are still some spots out there this morning, though, that the National Weather Service out of New York City is saying, "Hey, be careful." I know it says 35 on your car thermometer, but the ground may be 32. So if it looks wet, it could be white. Yesterday, certainly, got ugly.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS (voice-over): Sleet, rain, and ice, wreaking havoc on roadways throughout the Northeast on Sunday.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Real icy. A sheet of ice.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything is slippery. There's so many accidents.

MYERS: Treacherous black ice causing hundreds of accidents and leading to major pileups in several states, stranding passengers and closing highways across the region.

In Pennsylvania, multiple interstates shut down across the Philadelphia area, leaving traffic at a standstill, and claiming at least four lives across the state.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I started pumping my brakes and just hoping I would stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We feel very fortunate that we weren't involved in it. It's just pure luck.

MYERS: This 60-vehicle pileup on Interstate 76 killed at least one person and injured 30 more. In New York, there were so many accidents, authorities had to call in additional units to handle the backlog of emergency calls.

Roads as slick as ice-skating rinks, this car skidding out of control down a residential street before crashing into a building. The New Jersey Turnpike looked more like a parking lot, drivers sitting motionless for hours, with more than 450 accidents reported.

It was the same story in Connecticut, where police responded to over 200 crashes, including one fatality. The transit authority closing bridges...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How in the hell am I supposed to get home?

MYERS: ... while train and bus service suspensions and delays halted commuting travel for hours.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MYERS: I guess the only good story about that, if there really is any good light on that, is it was a Sunday and not a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or a Friday, because it really could have got ugly. You had people trying to get everywhere and no chance of that.

Thirty-seven right now in the city, 33 in the Poconos. Still, the icy spots around slick spots. Not widespread like we had yesterday, but if you see something that doesn't look quite right, slow down before you get there.

Guys, it was ugly yesterday. Philadelphia was literally paralyzed for hours until the temperatures warmed up just a little bit.

CUOMO: All right. Thank you very much for that, Chad.

MYERS: Sure.

CUOMO: Keep us in the loop with anything that you see out there this morning. Appreciate it, buddy.

PEREIRA: Well, so far there is, in the crash of AirAsia Flight 8501, it has not been linked to terrorism, Indonesian investigators telling Reuters they found no threats on those cockpit voice recordings. The jet vanished from radar screen in December; 162 people were aboard. Still no word yet on what caused that crash.

CAMEROTA: And so far we have some new information to tell you about, because it reveals that the NSA may have known of North Korea's cyber hacking abilities before the massive breach at Sony Pictures. According to "The New York Times," the NSA had already penetrated North Korea's secure computer network. This was back in 2010. And that report raises questions about what the NSA learned from doing that and what they knew and why Sony was not warned. The evidence gathered by the NSA is a major reason the White House accuses North Korea of pulling off the Sony hack.

CUOMO: A different type of movie news that we have, as well. First, it landed six nominations. Then Clint Eastwood's film, "American Sniper," took out the box office. The film's $90.2 million take, the largest opening ever for the month of January. So what do you think it is? Is it the Oscar buzz or the country's attraction to the American soldier's story at its center? Especially right now? Whatever it is, three days in, the $100 million mark already in the sniper's sites.

So I open it to you two wise people. What do you think, such a big burst of this movie? Just acting, typical movie things or more at play? PEREIRA: Good question. I was going to say, you know, one of the

things that I think made me want to watch movies was the fact that the Oscar nominations came out on Thursday. Weather was bad. It drove me to the theater already.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PEREIRA: Why this film, specifically? Maybe because we need a good guy. We need somebody in a white hat.

CAMEROTA: I totally agree with you. I think it's the perfect storm of all those things. There was bad weather and that Bradley Cooper is so appealing and the story is so special. I mean, you do want to learn about Chris Kyle and what made him tick. So there was just a perfect combination that made it -- drove it to these historic numbers.

CUOMO: And his accuracy as a sniper will be the least impressive thing you think about him, as you go on. And that's saying something, if you see the movie, which you should.

CAMEROTA: Yes. All right. Well, now the hunt is on for sleeper cells across Europe, as we've been telling you this morning. Nine suspected connected to last week's foiled terror plot in Belgium. They are still at large. So we will dig deeper with our global affairs analyst.

CUOMO: And take a look at this, my friends. That is smoke coming from a Delta jet, forced to dump fuel and return to Atlanta. What happened next? We're going to tell you, live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Dozens of arrests across Europe this weekend, counterterrorism officials zeroing in on as many as 20 sleeper cells in Belgium. They're still looking for up to nine suspects believed to have been part of a terror plot that was foiled last week.

Joining me here on the giant map, Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, CNN global affairs analyst and former U.S. Delta Force commander.

You're the man to talk to about all of this. All of these arrests over the weekend. In fact, we're standing on the map. Let's look at all those companies that are involved. The United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, Greece. To a schmoe like me, it might seem surprising, but to someone like you in the know, it is not at all.

LT. COL. JAMES REESE (RET.), CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, you know, Europe has literally been known for years as just kind of this safe haven or bed for -- for terrorism. I mean, throughout the years, whether it was Abu Nadal or Black September, Europe is a place, because people can move freely, and they know how to travel, and they can move throughout these countries very quickly. And now, today, you've got Interpol and all these organizations that really know how to start looking for these people. PEREIRA: Drilling down on the numbers, let's bring up those. Two

people detained in a tunnel between Belgium and France. One young woman arrested in an airport in the U.K., 14 arrests in France, 13 in Belgium. What does this tell you? Because to somebody like me, it seems like this is happening all at once, but there is strategy to that point.

REESE: There is. And remember, you know, we talked about this last week. They had Paris; the Paris attacks happened. So all the other countries literally started looking for, "OK, what about us? What's the after-action review? What do we have to look at to make sure this doesn't happen to us?"

And so now all the security services start working together. They start looking at these link analysis. And then, as we saw in Belgium, you have an operational cell that goes into effect. So that made the authorities go, "Hey, we have to go now."

PEREIRA: And it's sort of you do tactical strikes efficiently and quickly, because otherwise, these guys scatter and go underground.

REESE: It really becomes an intelligence and operations joint fusion operation. So as the intel is coming in, the operations are going on near simultaneously. Because what it becomes is a snowball effect. And there's a snowball. If you don't make it, the snowball gets bigger and bigger...

PEREIRA: Bigger and bigger.

REESE: ... and bigger. And if you don't stop it now...

PEREIRA: You've got an avalanche.

REESE: Absolutely.

PEREIRA: We even saw some of them on the run: one arrest, somebody near an airport in the U.K. It shows you how close they're coming.

Give us some context. We've been talking an awful lot about Belgium. Belgium, why? Why Belgium? We understand, per capita, the most suspected jihadists per capita; and it's such a small country.

REESE: Well, you know, it is. Belgium per capita, very small. They have a large Muslim population.

PEREIRA: So does France.

REESE: They do. But again, it's the size, but you also have to look at what is happening now in the terror aspects. It's families and friends. That's what's happening. They're not recruiting internationally. They've got friends; they've got buddies. They're all Facebooking, and so they come together. They go to Syria; they train. Now they all come back. And it's right there in the heart of Belgium, right in Europe, and just spreads just like the heart, the heart of Europe.

PEREIRA: The sinister side of social media.

OK. Let's move to the Middle East, because it's important to talk about this. We've seen so much about Syria. We'll get to Yemen in a second, because that's a hotbed today.

How come it is so easy to get in and out of Syria? We hear about fighters going there, returning to their homeland, going back to Syria. How is that possible?

REESE: Well, let me put that...

PEREIRA: I don't understand that.

REESE: Let me put it into context. Think about the Canadian-U.S. border.

PEREIRA: Yes, sure.

REESE: Very similar. But Turkey that's very long and Turkey goes into -- all the way over to the east, to the west, drops down to the Mediterranean. You have boats that can go in and everything. But right now, that border is very porous. So people come throughout Europe. They land...

PEREIRA: We've seen a lot of refugees flee across.

REESE: That's right. They land in Istanbul. They get handlers who take them down, and they cross the border. And the Turkish -- the Turkish government, I don't think is doing a very good job of stopping those people from coming in and especially coming back out.

PEREIRA: What is their -- what's their dog in the fight? In terms of Turkey?

REESE: Well, they have a lot. They've got a lot of land. There's Turks that literally live across the border there. They have the PKK, which they have been fighting for years, their own internal terrorist organization that has used elements of Syria as their safe haven. So it's this big web.

PEREIRA: Another web, we talk about Yemen. We see Somalia and Yemen on the map, as well. Today, we hear an attempt on the prime minister's life. We understand the unrest that's going on there, it is considered, widely considered a failed state, as well. This is significant. That's a significant threat.

REESE: It is. The failed states right now are giving safe havens to these folks to go to. So you have Somalia. You have Libya. You have Yemen, three. And then other place you've got to think about is what about Afghanistan, the northwest frontier? You know, Pakistan, Afghanistan, that whole area. So there's little hotbeds of failed states that these folks can go to, train, come back, and wreak havoc.

PEREIRA: Thanks for walking us through this map. We really appreciate it.

REESE: Thanks for doing it.

PEREIRA: We should give you an important programming note. CNN is going to take an in-depth look at the battle against terrorism tonight. Two prime-time special reports. At 9 Eastern, we go "Inside the Paris Attacks." At 9:30 Eastern, Chris and Alisyn are going to bring you "The War Within Islam." That's an in-depth look at violent extremism and how to stop it.

Lieutenant Colonel James Reese, always a pleasure. Thanks for being here today.

REESE: Thanks.

PEREIRA: All right -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Mick. Another thing we want to draw people's attention to. Take a look at this. What a scary thing to see. That's smoke pouring from a packed Delta passenger jet. We'll tell you what happened. We have a live report right ahead.

CAMEROTA: Plus, the Seahawks are back in the Super Bowl. Highlights from the heart-pounding finish coming up in "The Bleacher Report." Even I was excited.

CUOMO: What? OK, that's called an on-side kick.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: This morning the FAA investigating two very close calls over the weekend. First, a near-disaster on the runway at New York's JFK Airport. Then a Delta flight from Atlanta to Japan forced to dump fuel and return to the airport after smoke was detected coming from its landing gear.

CNN's Rene Marsh joins us live from Washington with more. This is scary, Rene.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Alisyn, two passenger jets, they were about a mile -- about a half a mile away from disaster on the runway at JFK Airport.

Now the pilot of a JetBlue flight forced to stop short, aborting takeoff. That's when a Caribbean Airlines flight crossed the runway. Listen to air traffic controllers as they avert what could have been a deadly collision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: JetBlue 1295, cleared for takeoff.

Five twenty-six, can you hold short of 22 right? Five twenty-six, stop. JetBlue 1295, abort takeoff. Caribbean 526? Caribbean 526?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: All right. Well, no injuries reported. But now the FAA is investigating how did this happen? Was this pilot error? Was this controller error? It is unclear at this time.

Meantime, take a look at this amateur video. A Delta Airlines flight with 308 people on board took off from Atlanta, bound for Tokyo. Just a few minutes into the flight, the pilot declares an emergency after a pilot from another plane noticed smoke coming from the landing gear. The aircraft flew at about 7,000 feet to burn off fuel before returning to the airport. It was in the air for less than 20 minutes. We should say it did land safely -- Michaela.

PEREIRA: What a fright for those folks on board. Glad to know everybody is OK. Thanks so much, Rene.

A few other headlines for you now. Heavily armed guards on the ground in Brussels searching for terrorist sleeper cells. Five Belgian nationals taken into custody, charged with being part of a terrorist organization plotting to target police. Two other suspects are in French custody. Security now being ramped up all across Belgium as European ministers gather today in Brussels to discuss anti-terror strategy.

Back here at home, the Secret Service and the FBI are trying to determine who fired multiple gunshots from a car outside the secure perimeter around Vice President Joe Biden's home in Delaware over the weekend.