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Anti-Terror Raids Underway in Belgium; ISIS Threatens Attack on New York City in New Video; French Lawmakers Debate Extending State of Emergency; Police, Protesters Clash in Minneapolis; Video Captures Moment of Attack on Paris Cafe. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 19, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

[00:07:04]

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're looking for DNA, Chris.

They want to try to find out was Abdelhamid Abaaoud ever in that apartment?

Was he one of those possibly killed in that apartment? And of course was that alleged eighth attacker, Salah Abdeslam, also in that apartment? So this is an active manhunt and people here very much on edge -- Chris.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: You can only imagine having a neighborhood that's a little tough in terms of crime and drugs is one thing. Seeing what looked like a war zone yesterday, very different. We'll check back with you in a little bit, Clarissa.

The investigation is not just about one neighborhood, one city or even one country, we have breaking news out of Belgium. There's been a shift back there in intensity. At least six raids carried out overnight in connection with one of the terrorists believed to still be at large after the Paris attacks. Let's get right to CNN senior international correspondent Ivan Watson live in Brussels -- Ivan.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Chris, Belgian investigators say that they launched at least half a dozen raids across the Belgian capital and they were targeting the family and entourage of one of the Paris attackers, a man named Bilal Hafdi, who is believed to have blown himself up outside of the soccer stadium.

And they detained one person for questioning as a result of these raids. Now you also have the Belgium prime minister stepping out in front of parliament, saying that there must be a determined fight against ISIS and ISIS must be eradicated.

So he was proposing a whole series of new measures, including budgeting an additional 400 million euros to recruiting extra security agents, to beefing up additional legislative measures to allow more monitoring of communications to perhaps adopt new measures like stripping people of their citizenship if they go try to join ISIS in Syria, as so many hundreds of Belgians have done. These are some of the measures that the Belgians are trying to adopt. After they've come under a lot of scrutiny for the fact that at least

three of the Paris suspects and attackers were already on the radar of Belgian security services months before the attacks happened. And yet, they were not stopped ahead of time -- Chris.

CUOMO: Belgian officials making big moves in an apparent game of catch-up there. Ivan Watson, thank you very much.

More breaking news, ISIS taking responsibility for executing two hostages, one from China, one from Norway. Images of the victims appearing in the militants' online magazine, Norway's prime minister condemning the killings while Beijing vowing to punish those responsible.

What form will that take?

ISIS, for their part, are saying they made ransom demands, they were refused.

Also news out of Honduras, where five Syrian nationals are now being held. Authorities say they intended to make it to the U.S. with stolen Greek passports. We have CNN's Alina Machado live in Miami with details.

This story hits all the buzzwords, Alina, Syria, refugees, the U.S., fake passports.

What's the latest?

United States. We have Alina Machado following all developments for us live from Miami -- Alina.

ALINA MACHADO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Chris, the five men were intercepted in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, after authorities there say they had traveled through five countries including Lebanon, Turkey and Brazil. The men were stopped for using fake Greek passports. Greek authorities and Interpol were involved in tracking the men but we still don't know why these men were being tracked.

Now authorities in Honduras believe the men were headed to the United States, likely planning to travel by land through Guatemala and Mexico before crossing into border through into the U.S.

Earlier this week, three other Syrians were also detained, this time in the Caribbean island of St. Maarten. They, too, are accused of traveling with fake Greek passports.

These arrests come after concerns that one terrorist in the Paris attacks may have used the refugee crisis as a cover for his travel. But so far, neither of these incidents has been linked to terrorism. And it is important to remember that many migrants with no ties to terrorism travel with false documents around the world every single day. We should learn more. We're hoping to learn more today when the five men in Honduras face a judge -- Chris.

CUOMO: Not uncommon. But in the current context, still obviously concerning, Alina Machado. Thank you very much.

Now to any. The NYPD mobilizing more members of its anti-terror unit after ISIS posted a new video threatening an impeding attack on New York City. CNN correspondent Boris Sanchez live in Times Square with the latest -- Boris.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, that threat coming from that ISIS video, an implied threat against New York City. We're not going to show you the video, just some stills to give you an idea of what's on it. In the first portion, you see someone prepping what appears to be a car bomb.

[00:07:05]

SANCHEZ: Then someone kind of loading an assault rifle, something that appears to be a sniper rifle. And then, more importantly, someone clearly placing what looks like a bomb inside a coat and then zipping it up. That's interspersed with video of Times Square, of New York City.

Obviously the inclination that there might be an attack here, we can tell you that New York City police officers -- I should say the police commissioner -- has come out and said this is nothing new, that attacks against New York City are something that are very common. And the video itself is not something that's new. It's actually recycled footage from old ISIS videos threatening other places.

Here's New York City commissioner Bill Bratton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL BRATTON, NEW YORK CITY POLICE COMMISSIONER: There was nothing knew about that video. That video, on review of it, it looks like it's been hastily produced. It's a mishmash of previously produced video.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Now, as you know, Times Square is obviously a target; if you recall, back in 2010, that attempted car bombing here, that Nissan Pathfinder where a detonation had begun and then fizzled out before there was an explosion.

Right now there's not a tremendous police presence here. Not more than usual. But I can tell you on side streets I've seen more cruisers than usual with police inside. I also saw a K-9 walking around here, obviously a bomb sniffing dog. So while there isn't an extreme police presence, officers are obviously vigilant -- Chris.

CUOMO: Heightened alert. No question about it. Boris Sanchez, thank you very much.

Let's discuss these headlines this morning with counterterrorism expert and former French commando, Fabrice Magnier. We have CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto. And

CNN military analyst and former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Cedric Leighton.

Gentlemen, thank you very much.

Jim, let's start with the intel. You told us and got us to the point of why they did these operations yesterday. Now it's, well, who was there?

What's the best understanding of whether or not this alleged planner of the Friday attacks here in Paris is among the remains in that shot-up apartment?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It's not clear that investigators know that. You read the accounts of just how brutal that firefight was in there, we're talking about 40 grenades, 5,000 rounds, a suicide vest that collapsed the floor. There are literally bodies in pieces. You have to do DNA testing and you would need then DNA to test those remains against. And it's not clear that they have that on file. So it's still under investigation.

You heard that from the Paris prosecutor yesterday, he said we don't even know if there are two or three dead. That just gives you a sense of the horrible scene inside.

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: -- take them out.

But how big of a deal is it?

And how infrequent is it to hear that someone who planned an attack was actually right outside the city where it happened?

SCIUTTO: It's a big deal. It's unprecedented. Imagine Osama bin Laden in New York on 9/11, right? Or Anwar al-Awlaki in the States at the sites of any of the attacks that he plotted. It is different. And I don't want to aggrandize the guy, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. He's not Osama bin Laden but he is believed to be a ringleader connected to many attacks.

So to have him here, one, is unusual; two, it's worrisome because he has proven his ability to move back and forth from Syria into France as have six of these attackers. They fought in Syria, despite all of the resources being allocated to stop that flow, they were able to do it almost with impunity. And that's a worrisome sign. It's one reason why they have a state of emergency now.

CUOMO: Fabrice?

FABRICE MAGNIER, FORMER FRENCH COMMANDO: Yes, these guys who minded these attacks, we think it was involving president attack we stopped at the last moment. So we can imagine, yes, he got some pressure from the Islamic State to be much more efficient now. So to be there and to coordinate a future attack. So that's why maybe he is there. CUOMO: Not to do just one but to do several?

MAGNIER: Yes.

CUOMO: That's a new model maybe of being onsite, being closer to what they do?

MAGNIER: Yes, because as a leader, he needs to have results. And he didn't going to the result they wanted maybe. So that's why maybe he was there.

CUOMO: Now let's have that take a breath moment, Cedric. You're often very helpful with this.

Right now, you got Ash Carter, who is out there saying the U.S. is at war. This is not new, the idea that the world is at war against ISIS.

What do you see here as new?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, FORMER MEMBER, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: I think what's new here is the more tactical engagement of ISIS. As Fabrice mentioned, there's this idea of an on-scene commander. So this sounds to me like this guy was the on-scene commander and was executing the tactical portion of this operation.

It also shows me, Chris, that there is in essence a command and control link to ISIS in Syria. What that also means is that we, as a collective intelligence community, failed, whether it was the French or the Americans or everybody else, we actually failed to connect those dots and to bring that to the forefront.

That command and control link, that would have given us perhaps an indication of what this attack was going to be about.

CUOMO: Very often, you guys talk about the link between possible and probable. Anything is possible. But as you have intel and better work on the ground, you get to probabilities of stopping it. Can you stop attacks like this with any high degree of probability?

LEIGHTON: Only if you know in advance. And it has to be sufficiently in advance that something like this is going to happen.

[00:07:10]

LEIGHTON: You have to have indications almost from inside the cell. And the intelligence sources and methods that do something like that are going to be the most sensitive that any country can put on the ground.

CUOMO: Jim, you were flattering, of saying let's give good police work where it's due. In the last 48 hours, they wound up finding a cell phone, doing surveillance and stopping what they say, just in the nick of time, what could have been another attack of, I guess, Friday's proportions.

So how much of it is luck? How much it is being on the best intel routes all the time?

SCIUTTO: Luck is certainly part of it. And you hear the old saw, which is they only have to be successful once. And we don't hear about all the plots that they've stopped here or in the U.S.

But what's different now is that they're not taking any chances, right?

In the past, you might have waited to connect the dots. But the urgency is such that it's really and literally arrest first, ask questions later. That's really in effect the powers they're being granted by the state of emergency. They're not going to wait for it to develop.

CUOMO: How big of a deal is that?

If -- we just had the national assembly here say yes. They voted almost unanimously to extend this state of emergency that President Francois Hollande wants. It was supposed to be 12 days, three months now. They voted right away. Tomorrow is the senate. How important are these new powers for stopping attacks in Paris, in France?

MAGNIER: That viewpoint is very important for us. This has been demonstrated the last few days, imagine, in two days we arranged 300 arrests. So that enabled us to stop those guys yesterday morning.

So we will continue this to strike any places we have doubts now, any places in connection with all of those guys, this network. And we have more and more information, more and more possibility to identify all of those networks. Not only in France but Belgium, because I think in Belgium, they're doing the same thing. Maybe in Germany. And also in Italy.

So the state of emergency is, I would say, (INAUDIBLE) a few days ago but it's a great opportunity to now -- to also move forward, to be much more efficient. And also to shock them a little bit the beginning of justice, which was quite paralyzing part of the police process to go quickly.

CUOMO: Do you think you could have more teams ready to go of the size and capability of what they took down yesterday?

MAGNIER: You mean, about --

CUOMO: Could there have been more teams like that, six, seven, eight men and/or women, big, long guns, explosive vests?

How many teams like that could be at play at once?

MAGNIER: I think a number of six or eight is a good team because it's like a commando team. So we can't imagine we can have different teams like that, you know. More, I'm not sure because it's much more complicated to organize, especially about the communication all together. It's much more traffic with the telecommunications. So much more -- CUOMO: So you want to keep the teams smaller?

Is it a coincidence that six to eight, that is a commando size team, but it does seem to mimic the military, the good guys' side of the equation.

LEIGHTON: This is exactly what they're doing. They're copying what they can of the good guys' side of it. And they're making it their own. They're using a lot of techniques that they -- that some of them even learned from either Western commandos or other commando forces, even Russian commando forces in the past, so they're taking those techniques and they're incorporating them, making them their own and adapting them to the environment that they're in.

So I would think that there are going to be maybe two or three more cells like this, at least a likelihood either in France and possibly in Belgium. And that's what you have to -- the police have to look at that. And they have to be on the lookout for those kinds of leads that indicate that these kinds of people are in those teams and they are going to do these kinds of things.

SCIUTTO: You know, one thing we don't mention often enough, ISIS is a terrorist organization and it is also a military operation. And senior in the leadership of ISIS are former Iraqi military commanders. They're essential to this in that sort of organization. You see that in the way they fight the battles on the ground and the way they've organized the states. And I think you can see a legacy of this in the way they're organizing these teams.

CUOMO: Yes, with this is that, yes, they have these big military types with that kind of experience. They also have just punk thugs like this guy who's the alleged planner.

In 2011, he got picked up for a petty robbery with one of the other guys who was involved in Friday's attacks. They did a month in jail together. Now four years later, he's orchestrating this level of assaults on humanity. It's just amazing to think.

But anyway, Jimmy Sciutto, Cedric, thank you very much.

Fabrice, stay with us because we'll have more to discuss.

Let's get back to Mic and Alisyn in New York; a lot of other news this morning -- guys.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN HOST: Certainly there is, Chris. We're back to you in a moment.

More ISIS-inspired violence in France. Three young men on scooters, one of them wearing an ISIS T-shirt, stabbed a Jewish school teacher in Marseilles. The victim is expected to survive. It's unclear if those suspects are connected to last week's Paris attacks. They fled the scene after their attack was interrupted by an arriving car.

[00:07:15] CAMEROTA: Here in the U.S., racial tensions spiking overnight in Minneapolis. Police clashing with protesters angry over the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man.

The police used a chemical spray to disperse the crowd outside of a local precinct. Protesters used a similar chemical on police. Jamar Clark was shot in the head as officers tried to arrest him following a domestic disturbance last weekend. The FBI is investigating.

PEREIRA: An ISIS video contains a veiled threat against the city of New York.

How real is the threat of an ISIS terror attack here at home?

Our expert will weigh in on NEW DAY next.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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CAMEROTA: ISIS releases new video threatening an impending attack on New York City. The New York City police department say, they, too, have a new plan.

Let's bring in James Waters, he's the New York City's police department's counterterrorism chief.

Chief, thanks so much for being here. Let's talk about your new plan. You have developed a new elite squad.

Who are they?

What are they doing differently than what you were doing, say, last week?

JAMES WATERS, NYPD COUNTERTERRORISM CHIEF: So the critical response command is a counterterrorism program taken from the CRV, the critical response vehicle program, that we have been doing since 2004, where we get --

[00:07:20]

WATERS: -- police cars and officers from around the city, to come in and get an assignment and be deployed for the day.

Now we've made it a permanent command. We've taken hand-selected people from around the department. We've provided them with gold standard training in counterterrorism.

On this past Monday, the mayor and the police commissioner turned out the 3rd Platoon, the 4:00 to 12:00 shift, for their first shift of duty. The day squad is in training now. They will be deployed in about another week and a half. And the overnight shift will be coming on and will be at full strength before New Year's Eve.

CAMEROTA: OK, so this new elite squad has just, for the first time, hit the streets this past Monday.

So what's different?

What will they be doing differently than what the NYPD is doing?

WATERS: They have additional training in explosive trace detection, hostile surveillance, radiological detection and they're familiar and trained with the equipment that goes along with that.

CAMEROTA: So when you hear that ISIS has put out a new video, even though it looks recycled of some of their greatest hits, what changes with the NYPD?

How seriously do you put stock in that?

WATERS: We looked at that video when it first came out and we realized that it was some recycled information. We also operate -- our operating premise is that we are, here in New York City, in Times Square, we are the target. We are the terrorists' target. So we factor that into the analysis every day.

We informed the officers and briefed them as part of the program and then we deploy them.

CAMEROTA: Our city leaders here have told New Yorkers to go about their daily business, not to change anything. Of course, in theory, that is the right answer.

But in practice, how can New Yorkers not feel nervous about going to a music club or to a stadium today?

WATERS: We tell people to channel that nervousness into something effective, something productive. So, go out and be aware. And if they see something, say something, call up and alert us to that.

CAMEROTA: Wasn't it a hot dog vendor who stopped a potential Times Square bombing?

WATERS: Faisal Shahzad, yes, ma'am.

CAMEROTA: So, in other words, he saw something that just struck him as unusual --

WATERS: He alerted the police. And there was a police response. And the vehicle was mitigated.

CAMEROTA: We have also heard, even this morning, from former NYPD counterterrorism officials, that some officers feel that their hands are tied, particularly with trying to peer into encrypted communications between the terrorists.

Do the laws need to change?

How can our best and brightest, our elite squad, better get access into how they're communicating with each other?

WATERS: Well, the whole encryption issue or going dark as the director of the FBI, Mr. Comey, and the police commissioner, Commissioner Bratton, have discussed, this is something that's going to require some legislation.

It's going to require assistance and cooperation from the manufacturers that make these items so that it gives us the ability to, with court orders and legal process, able to get in and see those communications.

CAMEROTA: But is that what you're calling for?

Are you calling for our lawmakers to do something different today as a result of how the terrorists have ramped up their communications?

WATERS: We'll need their assistance. And we'll need the assistance of all of those manufacturers, yes.

CAMEROTA: So, Chief, how do you feel safe?

How do you sleep at night knowing everything that you know about what's been going on behind the scenes?

WATERS: Over the past 14 years we've learned an awful lot about counter terrorism and protecting the city. We've put programs into place here. The critical response command is just one example of what we were looking at over the last two year since Commissioner Bratton and Commissioner Miller came back.

This was something that was needed to further change. We needed to continue to change and evolve and get stronger and better.

CAMEROTA: The most nerve-wracking thing for the rest of us is to think of what we saw in Paris and what is stopping seven guys in New York City from saying, OK, at 7:30 on a Friday night, you go to a music club. I'll take the cafes. You go to the stadiums. We'll bring our AK-47s and there you go?

WATERS: Well, it's about intelligence. It's about cooperation with the federal government and the intelligence community. And the intelligence bureau of the police department has a robust confidential informant base, an undercover base. We are in the neighborhoods. We are in places. We are listening to people. We are talking to people, all under the guidelines, legal guidelines to do so. We feel we have a real good strong understanding of the pulse of what's going on here in New York.

CAMEROTA: That's really comforting to hear. It is always comforting to hear how you have tentacles everywhere, particularly hearing about this new elite counterterrorism squad. Chief James Waters, thank you so much for coming in and talking about the information. Great to have you -- Michaela.