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French Authorities Conduct 150 Anti-Terror Raids Overnight; French Interior Minister: We Are At War; Manhunt Underway for Eighth Terror Suspect. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired November 16, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are watching a special edition of NEW DAY and we have a new reality here in France. There's news of new bombings in Iraq and Syria by the French, new anti-terror raids, some 150 of them here and around Paris, revealing shocking discoveries. There's also more information about who the attackers were killed in that deadly set of violence here in Paris, but also who was involved outside of Paris.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: This as the European manhunt intensifies for a Brussels-born French national.

[05:00:00] Salah Abdeslam is one of three brothers believed to have carried out these attacks. France's prime minister now saying the Paris massacre was planned in Syria, and that new attacks are being planned. The French retaliating against ISIS, launching a massive air strike campaign against ISIS targets in the Syrian town of Raqqa with the help of U.S. intelligence.

We have got this story covered the way only CNN can, with correspondents on the ground in Paris, Brussels, and in the Middle East. Let's get there and bring in Clarissa Ward. Clarissa.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. Well, as you said, France's prime minister has now come out and he said that he believes these attacks were, quote, "organized, conceived and planned from Syria" where we now know at least three of the attackers spent time. We also know four of these attackers were French nationals and a manhunt is now under way to try to find that eighth attacker. You'll remember in ISIS's claim of responsibility, they said there were eight attackers. French authorities had said seven attackers were killed. So the focus now very much on trying to find that eighth attacker.

As you mentioned, an arrest warrant is out for one of those three brothers -- Salah Abdeslam. It is not known where he is at the moment. He was briefly detained after the attacks as he was trying to make his way to Belgium. At this stage, it's not clear if he was directly involved in the attacks or whether he is just part of a larger network that is somehow supporting these attacks.

But certainly the news here on the ground that four of these attackers were French nationals, and that three spent time in Syria, will be very alarming to many people. Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Absolutely. But, at the same time, Clarissa, it confirms what had been suspected from the beginning, which is that this was about more than just the seven men who exploded themselves trying to kill others here in Paris, and of course accented by this huge discovery yesterday that authorities had who had been identified as an eighth attacker, even by ISIS, had been identified eight people on the ground here -- had him, let him go.

So that takes the shift not just in France, but also to Belgium. That's where we have Ivan Watson. There have been a lot of raids there, discoveries. One of the identities of the attacker -- Brussels born. So, Ivan, what is the latest there?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, Belgium state broadcaster now reporting that the police are conducting some raid in a neighborhood of Brussels known as Molenbeek. Now we can't confirm just yet whether or not this is linked to the Paris attacks, but we do know that over the course of the weekend the Belgium authorities went into that same neighborhood and detained these seven people. We also know that at least two of the attackers in Paris are French citizens who are believed to have lived in that very neighborhood.

And we also know that that manhunt for the Belgium born French citizen, the 26-year-old Salah Abdeslam, he is one of three brothers, one of whom was killed in the Paris attacks. He is believed to have been one of the attackers. And another one of his brothers was also detained here in Paris over the course of the weekend.

So French and Belgian authorities saying there does appear to have been a group of suspected militants operating out of Brussels, and of that particular neighborhood, were organizing some kinds of logistics. For example, at least two cars believed to have been used in Paris rented here in Brussels over the course of the last week. Another vehicle driven by the renter of those vehicles ended up in that neighborhood of Molenbeek. And we're now waiting for an update from the Belgian authorities what they have discovered since those arrests over the course of the weekend. Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Ivan, thank you for all of that. France responding with military might to the Paris attacks, the French Air Force carrying out multiple strikes on the ISIS stronghold in Raqqa, Syria. This comes with the help of U.S. intelligence information.

So let's get to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. He's live in Erbil, Iraq, with the latest. Nick?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, a total of 20 bombs dropped in a very short period of time according to activists on the ground who first reported what they said was 30 loud explosions that they heard. But the targets themselves, under names which don't necessarily signify the jobs they do anymore, the stadium, the museum, the political headquarters, basically buildings that ISIS have taken over and now use often as headquarters -- or in the case of the museum, as was said to be a secret jail. Now, it is not quite clear why these targets were chosen in such a

large number or suddenly became available. Remember, the U.S. has had drones and aircraft over that area for a long period of time. This is the definitely the French who dispatched a total of 12 aircraft, 10 of which did the bombing. The French making it absolutely clear that they have a harsh military response.

[05:05:00] We will have to wait and see what the battle damage assessment, as they say in the military, is on the ground, who they hit, whether any civilians were caught in that too. At this stage, we understand that ISIS fighters have been trying to keep off the streets to some degree. We know, in the past, they have actually put awnings over streets to mask their movements inside there. But this is potentially the beginning; we don't know if there are further French strikes ahead. They launched out of Jordan and the UAE. And the U.S. just announced they hit 116 ISIS oil trucks in Eastern Syria, disrupting the oil infrastructure.

Back to you, Chris.

CUOMO: All right. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much. Stay safe. We'll check back with you in a little bit.

Let's bring in now CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. We see new actions, specifically of the military variety. Overseas, we see new action here. The motivation for it just as important -- one part vengeance, but also there is regret and frustration going on. What is the dynamic now?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, they had to take action. If you listen to French officials talking today about this wave of bombings in Syria, they had to show that they were serious immediately after this attack on the homeland. So about 12 flights, 20 bombs, the biggest attack that certainly the French have ever taken part in. They're moving their huge aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, into the Persian Gulf and they're saying that more will come.

But what they're also saying is that, while we do this, we also have to have, as we have seen the highly specialized police as you know and security force, raids, 150 around this country alone. Plus they're saying this ISIS threat will not be eliminated without a ground force. So they're saying the Russians and the United States now need to get together with a joint strategy for Syria. There are two strategies at least -- Russian, U.S., and any number of other strategies on the ground. So there needs to be a joint strategy. They need to upgrade their ground forces like Peshmerga or others. So that's what they're saying.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the raids that have been going on around France. They found some incredible things. A rocket launcher has been reported to have been found. Why 150 after the fact? Why aren't they doing this routinely before an attack?

AMANPOUR: Well, look, there is so much complication in this regard. And you've been talking to special forces and other people who really know, for instance, there are places that they don't go. Some of the (INAUDIBLE) and some of the neighborhoods they just don't go.

These raids today, the French authorities are saying, are not directly linked to this investigation, but they are on people who are so-called "known to the authorities". And they have found arsenals, the like of which shouldn't be in ordinary civilians' houses. So there's an issue.

CUOMO: The disposition is very interesting. I mean, Christiane's been hearing a lot of the same things I am, which is 150 raids. True. Have they done that many before? Yes, they have. But in the same locations, the same level of penetration, the same level of coordination? No. Why? It's not about their understanding and perception of the threat. A lot of it is political might and capability here. There is a lot of resistance to doing what is common in the United States and other places, and that they said the reaction of finding a rocket launcher in an apartment was, well, of course, we'd find them. We never really look. Why wouldn't they be there?

AMANPOUR: (INAUDIBLE) people will be shocked. That's what the authorities are hoping right now. The president --

CUOMO: French people specifically.

AMANPOUR: That's right. That's what I mean. The political dynamic may shift. The French president is holding an extraordinary session -- we would call it a joint session -- of Congress in Versailles. He is expected to tell the parliamentarians in both houses that this nation is at war. The prime minister again said the same thing today. He's now at a school, as schools are opening as usual on Monday, with the education minister. And he's saying we have to be vigilant. A whole new ball game.

And he's also saying, and this is crucial for the French people, that, you know, this could happen again. We know they are planning more attacks. And even the prime minister of Britain, David Cameron, from Turkey, said it could have happened to us. We thwarted seven terrorist attempts in the last several days and months --

CUOMO: Absolutely. Often it's political hyperbole, you know, we are at war. It's not. It's the reality. It's also very operative language here legally. Because this state of emergency that's been put in place isn't just about boundaries, it's about police powers. It's about the ability to go in and detain without this typical levels of arrest that you have in ordinary policing. A big question here right now is how long will the state of emergency go?

AMANPOUR: At least three months we were told last night. The senator who has been with us for a while has said that the French people have the right to a safe and secure Christmas, and that we need the extraordinary powers to make sure that they are safe.

CAMEROTA: And yet, as you were saying, school is back in session today. This is the first business day. I believe we've just been told museums will be open. If you didn't know what happened here on Friday, and you just landed here in Paris, you wouldn't necessarily know that something was amiss. AMANPOUR: Except that there's a massive police presence.

Anecdotally, all our colleagues have -- and we have come from wherever we've come from to come here, through a lot of police checkpoints.

[05:10:04] There are a lot around the, you know, various sort of strategic parts of this city. There will be a moment of silence across this nation and it will probably be observed in many sympathetic nations around Europe today.

CAMEROTA: I mean, just walking around here for the first time, walking around this site where you see all these flowers strewn and you see pictures and you see lots of messages, most in French, but you can see the world "Liberty" everywhere.

AMANPOUR: And less than 12 hours ago last night, when we were all here, there was a moment of unparalleled panic. Everybody left. They thought something was up.

CAMEROTA: Yes.

AMANPOUR: And it just showed how panic-stricken the French still are, as you can imagine.

CAMEROTA: It was almost a stampede. It was just terrible.

CUOMO: It is to be understood. It's expected in the post-trauma effect of what happened here. The question is how long will the urgency last in terms of --?

AMANPOUR: One attacker is still at large.

CUOMO: Absolutely. At least -- at least one person heavily involved. The investigation very robust. We'll go from here in Paris back to New York, Michaela, for the headlines that are going on. And of course we'll continue our coverage throughout the morning.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Chris, Alisyn, and Christiane, thank you for that. Hundreds of mourners turned out in California to remember California college student who was among the 129 people killed in Paris. Friends, family, faculty, and community leaders filled the student union building at Cal State Long Beach to honor Nohemi Gonzalez. A candlelight vigil was held outside after the ceremony.

Gonzalez was a senior design student spending a semester abroad in France. She was killed in one of the attacks at the restaurant. Another vigil will be held tomorrow at Whittier High School in California; that's where Gonzalez graduated from in 2010.

And if you happen to be watching football yesterday, you likely saw some of the tributes to France and the victims of the attacks. Moments of silence, French flags on Jumbotrons, fans holding signs -- just some of the expressions of solidarity from the NFL. One of the most moving tributes perhaps came from Baltimore. Morgan Cox of the Ravens ran out onto the field carrying a French flag.

We'll send it back to Paris to Chris and Alisyn.

CUOMO: All right, Michaela, thank you very much. There's a lot of moving parts going on here with this investigation. Right now, the French interior minister is giving a briefing. He said that over 140 people, French natives, are under house arrest right now, a reflection of the new reality here under the state of emergency where they can take steps they have not taken before.

CAMEROTA: And let's not forget, there is a manhunt under way for the eighth suspect in the Paris terror attacks. This is in full force here. So multiple countries are coming together to try to find this man as new details of the planning of the attack emerge.

NEW DAY returns in a moment with all of those in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:17:01] CUOMO: All right, welcome back to a special edition of NEW DAY. We do have breaking news from the French interior minister. Right now, there are 23 people in custody. There have been additional weapons and equipment found in these raids overnight., some 150 of them. 104 -- there are a lot of numbers but they matter -- 104 people under house arrest right now.

The most important thing that he has said so far is this iteration of "We are at war. War has been declared on France." This is not political hyperbole; this is operative language to allow this increased state of emergency. It's very important. His quote was, "They will not destroy the republic. The republic will destroy them."

So we're seeing extraordinary measures in the reflection of extraordinary violence as we are al too well aware of around the world.

Now, let's go to CNN international correspondent Clarissa Ward. Now all of this information, Clarissa, comes after this discovery that an eighth attacker had been interviewed and let go during the aftermath of the initial violence.

WARD: That's right, Chris. I think we're really seeing here is French authority security officials struggling to catch up, struggling to keep pace with developments on the ground. It was clear from the beginning ISIS has claimed there were eight attackers involved in this operation. French officials had said seven attackers were killed. So it was obvious from the beginning that one attacker was unaccounted for. Now we seem to know that this attacker may have been directly, in fact the brother of one of the attackers who blew himself up.

But I want to give our viewers also a sense, Chris, of what French authorities are dealing with in terms of the scale of this problem here in France. We know that hundreds of French nationals have gone to Syria and Iraq to fight. And of those, we know that roughly 185 jihadis have come back to France. That is 185 men that French officials need to monitor day in and day out there. And there will be a lot of questions right now as to why those men were not being followed more closely, why security officials were not aware of what they were planning. We know that three of the attackers spent time in Syria, that four are French nationals. At least one of them had a criminal record. Chris, these are men that French authorities should have known about. And people here definitely will be wanting to have a better sense that the authorities and security officials are on top of this situation.

I think it's very interesting that the number that we're hearing in terms of those house arrests is about 100. Of the 185 jihadis who have returned to Syria, 85 are in jail. That means 100 are at loose. So it certainly does seem to correlate that we're seeing now all of these house arrests as French officials really desperately trying to play catch up and contain this situation.

CUOMO: Right, one more piece of information for all of you that builds on Clarissa's point.

[05:20:01] Two of them men who have been identified as attackers, who died here in Paris, were on watch lists. Which means they were known to French authorities. So does that show a lapse? They say no, the French authorities.

Here's why. There are so many. The threat is so big and unique to France that they say they are overwhelmed by capacity. They say it takes 30 men to surveil one full-time.

CAMEROTA: Which is just incredible. I mean, it's exactly what you were talking about, Clarissa. The resources involved in having to monitor those 185 people, suspects, associates, that you were talking about. And that's why it's interesting to hear that this 104 number are on house arrest. I mean, that makes it a little bit easier to monitor them than to have to, you know, I guess have them be loose around. But that is why -- I mean, that's an unusual expression, to hear that they're on house arrest. That is not how we handle it in the U.S.

Clarissa.

WARD: Right, and it's clearly not a sustainable situation, Alisyn. I mean, putting 104 people under house arrest is a temporary measure as police and officials desperately scramble to work out to try to work who legitimately was actually involved in the attack and who just happens to be someone that could provide information.

But, you know, there's really a lot of red flags here during these raids that have taken place -- 150 raids taking place this morning and there's a sense that not all of these raids are even about people who are connected to the attacks. But French officials are just so desperate now to try to contain this situation, to try to find anyone with information, to try to find anyone with weapons. I mean, among the weapons that were confiscated in these raids this morning, a rocket launcher.

This is Europe, Alisyn. We don't have, you know, guns and weapons readily available in the same way that we do in the U.S. So many people will wonder how on earth are men building explosive vests, getting a hold of heavy weaponry, rocket launchers. A lot of questions. And also important for our viewers to remember that this comes after Charlie Hebdo. This is not the first time that French officials are confronting this type of threat. They have had ten months to try to follow-up on the lessons learned from Charlie Hebdo. And understandably there are issues when it comes to resources, but still very serious questions -- hHow anybody returning from Syria with a criminal record is not being monitoring day in and day out.

CUOMO: Clarissa is making the right points. There lot of critical questions going on here. What are you hearing from the other side?

From French military, you hear we are aware of the threat. France is uniquely situated in Europe. It's a set of constraints that the U.S. doesn't have to deal with. It has given a heightened priority by ISIS, and they said it again yesterday that France is at the top of their threat list. And they have a different political situation here that is different. And even after Charlie Hebdo there was more money, there were more resources. But it takes time to build up an intelligence network and a set of policing capabilities.

The biggest problem they have right now though is something that is uniquely French, which is this respect for personal freedom and integrity from the intrusion of government. They believe that this may have been a wake-up call.

CAMEROTA: Look, I mean, as I was just saying to Christiane, when you walk around here and you see all of the signs and all of the mementos, the word that pops out the most is liberty. That is what is so important to French people. They wanted to come back out to show that liberty still exists.

CUOMO: But security is also part of it shibboleth.

CAMEROTA: Of course.

CUOMO: And you cannot be free if you are not safe. And that's going to be the balance they have to strike.

CAMEROTA: All right. So coming up, we're going to be talking about how the refugee crisis complicates all of this, particularly when some of the suspects had refugee status.

So stick around. NEW DAY, a special one from Paris. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:28:24] CAMEROTA: According to a French official, one of the bombers who blew himself up outside of a stadium during the Friday terror attack made it to Paris amid the flood of refugees. He was carrying a fake or a doctored Syrian passport, which of course begs the question -- can the terrorists be stopped from infiltrating the West using the humanitarian crisis for cover?

Senior international correspondent Arwa Damon has been tracking that angle for us from Leros, Greece. Arwa. ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning,

Alisyn. And very, very difficult to try to prevent that from happening, especially if an individual's fingerprints are not in the system, if red flags are not raised, as was the case with it is believed one of these Paris attackers, coming through here, through Leros, one of the many islands that has seen a fairly significant influx of migrants and refugees.

The process once they arrive here, is if they have documentation, they do use that to try to prove their identity to a certain degree, but it is easy to buy a fake or doctored Syrian passport. In Turkey, for example, they are sold for $600 all the way up to $1,000. The registration process means that their identification is taken off of them temporarily. They are fingerprinted, and then whatever background check that can be done, are done. But again, if an individual has not been flagged in the past, there is no way for them to already be inside the system.

So when it speaks to relativity of it, fairly easy to actually exploit this route that so many, tens of thousands of desperate migrants and refugees, have been taking.

[05:30:02] And in speaking to them over the last 24 to 48 hours, people here are appalled by what happened in Paris. It is that very same violence that drove them from their homes.