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France: ISIS Attack "Act of War", 129 Dead, 350+ Hurt; At Least 128 Dead in Paris Attacks; More Attacks Could be at Large. Aired 7-8p ET
Aired November 14, 2015 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[19:00:36] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening, everyone. It is 1:00 a.m. here in Paris, 7:00 p.m. Eastern in New York. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you live from Paris, right in front of the Bataclan concert hall where 89 people were brutally murdered last night.
I want to welcome our viewers both here in the United States and, of course, around the world. We have special coverage of the horrific attacks on France ahead.
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Take a look at this. These are French police officers who are shooting with terrorists last night, terrorists who are now claiming to be ISIS militants. This video taken right outside the concert hall, provided to us by a French publication, "Paris Match". It is one of several deadly attacks that rolled across this city in a wave last night.
What turned out to be six coordinated attacks, shootings and bombings that have gripped this city and its people with fear. One hundred twenty-nine souls murdered. More than 350 others wounded, 99 in critical condition at this hour.
At least seven terrorists went on these killing sprees at six different sites. The deadliest massacre at the concert hall where we are standing right in front of. Audience members, we are told, some of them lined up and executed at random, some of them at point-blank range.
The search for any accomplices has spread far beyond France into Belgium and the suburbs of Brussels. Authorities want to know, how far does this terrorist web spread? They have made several arrests, we are told, in Belgium alone.
Reaction pouring in from around the world. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry calling the terrorists the embodiment of evil. Pope Francis saying the attacks were part of the Third World War. We have President Obama calling it outrageous. And president of France, Francois Hollande, saying France's reaction to this act of war will be, quote, "ruthless."
Joining me now, the deputy mayor of Paris, Patrick Klugman.
Thank you for being with me, sir. I am terribly sorry as we all are that the devastation your city has endured over the last 24 hours.
What are your words to the people of Paris tonight?
PATRICK KLUGMAN, PARIS DEPUTY MAYOR: Well, it is a very sad situation and development. At the moment is, first is for emergency measures. We are still counting our deaths. We are still counting casualties. There are many, many wounded persons.
So, a lot of people around the city is looking for relatives, family, friends. And this is the moment we are going through. First emergency measures, blocking some spaces, closing some festivities, and looking for the missing persons, the dead persons, the wounded persons. So, the city is abnormally quiet and truly sad for a Saturday in Paris.
HARLOW: It is extraordinarily sad. There are no words, especially the fact that this comes 10 months after the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks. I'd like to know, sir, have there been more raids today? Have there been more raids and any new arrests today?
KLUGMAN: I'm sorry. I can hardly hear you. Can you repeat?
HARLOW: Of course. Have there been more raids and more arrests today?
KLUGMAN: Well, we know one person who has been identified. But we have very few information so far on the arrest and on who were the terrorists and accomplices. So, one person has been identified. Some -- I would say evidence of other persons. We know that there were three teams that operated last night. There were very tightly coordinated. But we don't have the names.
[19:05:00] And there is very few information on the inquiry going on.
HARLOW: One French official has said in the last few hours they are now concerned that there may be more terrorists and potential attackers out there in Paris tonight. Are you concerned about the same thing? Have you heard that there may be more in this web of terrorists that are out there in Paris?
KLUGMAN: Of course. We are very concerned. The threat is still going on. The risk is very high. And nothing says that this sequence, this terror sequence is over yet.
So, of course, we are very concerned. And all the day and all the evening, we have some information stating that there may be explosions. Of course, most of this is false information. But the threat is still very high.
And, again, we are ready to face anything now that we have learned what happened yesterday.
HARLOW: I know that 1,500 soldiers really, 1,500 troops have been placed around France, and particularly in Paris today. Can you tell me where you are concentrating your military forces here right now?
KLUGMAN: Well, there is a huge effort that has been made on transportation places such as railroad stations, airports. This is really -- and, of course, frontiers have been blocked and controlled since yesterday. So, this is where the efforts is bring, frontiers, borders, transportation places, and -- because all of the places today were shut down. So all the supplementary troops that have now come into Paris are to look after all of these strategic plates and transportation and to avoid that anybody could flee or come in France to perpetrate another attack.
HARLOW: What, sir, do you need from the international community right now? What help does France need from anyone else out there, the United States, the United Kingdom, elsewhere, to help track down any potential other terrorists that may be involved in this web, et cetera? What is needed?
KLUGMAN: Well, we do need support. We do need and appreciate the huge solidarity. As you know, President Obama was one of the first to make a very deep and wonderful speech. And we need intelligence services from England, from United States, to work in common with our intelligence.
I mean, this is a common work. This is not only happening in France or in Paris. Of course, we have been hit. But the worries are coming. We need all forces to join until victory.
HARLOW: Paris Deputy Mayor Patrick Klugman -- again, my condolences to you and your city. Thank you very much for your time. We wish you all the best.
KLUGMAN: Thank you.
HARLOW: Thank you.
Joining me now here, right here in front of the Bataclan concert hall, CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto. Also with us here on Paris, CNN senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward.
Jim, as you listen to what he says, we need as much help as we can from intelligence. So, what does mean? What will we see in terms of a stepped up coordinated effort? I think John Kerry made it very clear in his comments today we are more motivated now than ever before. We will do more.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: But the fact is they were already pretty motivated.
HARLOW: Sure.
SCIUTTO: I mean, that's the thing. I mean, not only the French authorities but U.S. intelligent, counter terror authorities helping them. There is an enormous amount of sharing in terms of intercepted communications, terror watch lists. That was already happening. So, you know, it is ratcheting it up beyond a very high level. HARLOW: But we also hear it is a resource issue. When you say you've
got 5,000 suspected jihadists on the street here, and you need 50,000 to monitor them.
SCIUTTO: You cannot possibly survey all of them.
The thing that struck me from the mayor's comments, he said in no uncertain terms, there is nothing to indicate this terror threat is over.
HARLOW: Right.
SCIUTTO: That doesn't seem like in abundance of caution we have to cover our base. It sounds like they are very concerned that they haven't contained this. And that's a real concern.
We already know it does extend beyond here because there are direct ties to Belgium. You have much the raids taking place in Belgium they say tied to these attacks. You had one of the cars registered -- it had been rented in Belgium.
[19:10:00] So, you know the web extends beyond here.
HARLOW: When you talked to your sources and you discuss how this has expanded far beyond Paris to Brussels, et cetera, are they giving you any indication how much further they think it goes? I mean, I know it was a rental car right around here that led them to Brussels.
SCIUTTO: That's one tie to Brussels. We see arrests taking place there. We have seen past situations where Brussels is a hotbed of jihadism in Europe. Belgium is big pipeline from there to Syria and back. There is that.
We have other indicators. We have an arrest in Germany a week before these attacks, which they believe is tied to this. And then you have beyond that the stories we have been talking about in recent days. Where we know ISIS has a further extent to project power through terrorism, what is expected to be a suspected attack in the Sinai crash, and the bombings in Beirut just 24 hours ago. That was the story, remember, just 24 hours.
HARLOW: What does that tell you -- I mean, as an expert in this, what does that tell you about the changing nature of ISIS or whether it is one centralized group directing these or a number of terror groups carrying them out and then pledging their allegiance to ISIS.
SCIUTTO: It's the worst most dangerous of both. And President Hollande said you had local elements in this attack and you have possible organization direction from abroad. Why is that bad? Because they can operate independently if need be. But they also have a connection here in terms of resources and expertise, et cetera.
That's difficult. Because you have to snuff out both, right?
HARLOW: Sure.
SCIUTTO: I mean, you can decapitate in Syria, but you still have players out here who can act on their own.
HARLOW: And President Obama saying this week they haven't decapitated ISIS in Syria but they have contained them now. This is a whole other side that clearly has not and cannot to this point be contained.
SCIUTTO: Contained in Iraq and Syria, but we have seen that it extends far beyond.
HARLOW: Jim Sciutto, thank you very much.
I want to go to CNN senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward.
Clarissa, not only do you have extensive experience on the ground here reporting on the radicalization process of young, disenfranchised men here in Paris, but also you spoke with two people who lived through this last night.
CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Poppy. We spoke to a very brave father and son, Australian citizen John Leader (ph) and his 12-year-old son Oscar who were able to get close, who were unfortunately very close to the attackers in that theater last night. They actually lived to tell the tale.
And they told me three things that I thought were particularly interesting. Firstly -
(SPEAKING FOREING LANGUAGE)
They said, first of all, the men spoke fluent French. They spoke without an accent. They were undoubtedly, they believed French nationals. That's interesting detail. We know that French authorities have said that at least one of the attackers was certainly a French national, possibly more of them French nationals.
They also talked about Syria. According to these men, the father and son who witnessed the attack, they said something to the effect of this is what you get for what you are doing in Syria.
Thirdly, the father, John Leader, observed that the attackers appeared to be well trained. One of them was providing cover for the other, looking out for potential heroes in the crowd who might try to tackle the gunman. And I think really, Poppy, that all of these observations raised one key question, which is were these men trained in Syria? Were these French nationals in Syria, spending time with is, with jihadists, learning how to operate heavy machinery, learning how to build bombs.
And if so, given that we know this French national who has been identified as one of the attackers had an extensive criminal record, then why on earth weren't French authorities following him more closely? As Jim rightly points out, this is a very difficult thing. There are so many would-be jihadists here in Paris.
But if they went to Syria and they had an extensive rap sheet, certainly questions how this could happen so soon after "Charlie Hebdo" -- Poppy. HARLOW: Right. And how could they follow through the cracks as we saw happened in the attackers in "Charlie Hebdo" just 10 months ago?
Clarissa Ward, thank you very much for your reporting.
Stay with us. I have to get a quick break here. We will be right back with continuing live coverage of the terror attacks in Paris, right after this.
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[19:17:12] HARLOW: I'm Poppy Harlow. Live in Paris tonight. Welcome to our continuing coverage of the tragedy that rocked this city last night.
We now know the identity of the some 129 people brutally murdered on the streets of Paris. We also know, one of the dead is an American, a 23-year-old. U.S. law enforcement is certainly working overtime right now on two fronts. The FBI now helping France investigate last night's attacks, try to see how big this terror web may be, also assessing any potential threat to the United States.
Major cities like New York certainly beefing up security in places like Times Square. Extra police have been deployed, targeting potential targets. Potentially Times Square and the Statue of Liberty.
I do want to emphasize, though, there are no, no indications of any imminent threat to the United States or any other major city across the globe at this hour.
Joining us now from Washington, CNN chief justice correspondent Evan Perez.
And, Evan, when you look at how the United States and other -- the U.K., Germany, may be involved in this investigation, I just spoke with the deputy mayor of France who said we need help from intelligence around the globe. It is clear that they were not able to track the one French national involved in this. We saw the same thing in the wake of "Charlie Hebdo".
So, what's the FBI to go?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN CHIEF JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, that's exactly what the FBI is trying to help them with? They are trying to see if there is any kind of communication, any kind of intelligence that they have, that U.S. intelligence agencies collected in the last few months, particularly that might be helpful to explain what happened here, what was missed really, because this -- these attackers to have this many attackers just plan a coordinated attack without tripping any wires, without arousing any suspicion from French intelligence is exactly what the FBI is very concerned about.
One of the things they're doing this weekend, I'm told, is that FBI agents around the country are reviewing ongoing cases of suspected ISIS supporters here in this country. This is something they did after the Garland attacks in Garland, Texas. This is an attack by two men against a Prophet Mohammad drawing contest, if you remember. And that was foiled simply because they didn't know what they were doing.
This attack was successful. The FBI is concerned there are people who perhaps are on this radar that perhaps might be more dangerous than anyone has noticed. So, that's what they are doing this weekend.
We also know, Poppy, that the FBI have been training with police departments around the country. The concern is that something like this could happen here. So, the FBI produced a film called "Coming Storm."
HARLOW: Right.
[19:20:00] PEREZ: We have a little clip from it I think that we can show that they shared with police departments around the country, 10,000 copies were handed out about two weeks ago in Chicago at this conference of police chiefs. And the FBI really wants police departments around the country to be ready because this could happen here.
HARLOW: Evan Perez reporting for us from Washington, D.C. tonight. Evan, thank you very much for that. You will, of course, keep working your sources. Keep us posted on the latest.
We will have much more ahead live from Paris as our special continuing coverage continues tonight.
We are, though, before we go to break, learning more about the identities of some of these victims. We know an American college student, Nohemi Gonzalez, was 23 years old. He was a senior at California State University in Long Beach. He was attending a semester abroad, the State College of Design in Paris.
Also, our Jim Sciutto spoke with on of her classmate who describes her as someone who, quote, "always made anyone and everyone feel welcome." She was among 17 Cal State-Long Beach University students who were studying here. The rest of the students we are told are safe.
We'll be right back.
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HARLOW: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow live for you in Paris tonight. It is after 1:00 in the morning here.
The streets of Paris are pretty barren, obviously. The government telling people to stay inside -- the deputy mayor of Paris telling me earlier this hour that there is no sign that all the potential attackers have been contained at this hour. They are still on the hunt from here in France all the way to the outskirts of Brussels.
Just hours before these coordinated attacks in Paris last night, the Pentagon now telling us that a U.S. airstrike killed a senior ISIS leader in Libya. [19:25:00] This is significant. Authorities say Abu Nabil was
establishing an Islamic State base in Libya. He may have been responsible for mass executions.
The fact is we have seen terrorists targeted and killed in Libya, but never before such a senior ISIS leader.
Joining me now, former CIA operative Bob Baer, CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier is with me.
When you look at all of this, Kimberly, it just seems sort of unbelievable to see so many attacks claimed by ISIS in three weeks from the Russian jetliner being down in Egypt, to the Beirut bombings killing 43, to now what we saw, six separate attacks in Paris last night.
Do you believe that there is a centralized force directing this, or this is a number of different terrorist groups that are then proclaiming allegiance to ISIS?
KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, it certainly does seem like ISIS's senior command has decided to move out on several fronts. And maybe they have communicated with these different cells through encrypted communications, things that the U.S. can't penetrate.
Or you could have a group of attackers who are following the overall charge of stay where you are and attack in place. Officials I've been speaking to have said what scares them is this mixture of complexity plus simplicity. The complexity is getting these attackers with military training to Paris and making sure that they were communicating in a way that didn't arouse the French intelligence suspicions.
The simple part was the tactics and the targets in that they chose an evening where, as one official put it to me, what you could do is just say everybody hit a target at 9:30. Go to these general areas, find something populated, open fire. That simple.
HARLOW: You know, it is terrifying in terms of, you're right, it could be that simple. It is so complex at the same time, and so coordinated in the fact that it flew under the radar of the French authorities.
Bob Baer, to you. You know, call it bad timing. Call it what you like. But the fact that this comes on the heels, a day after President Obama says ISIS in Syria and Iraq on the battlefield is contained.
What does this show you what happened in Paris, on the streets here last night, about ISIS now and fighting ISIS effectively now?
BOB BAER, FORMER CIA OPERATIVE: Well, Poppy, I mean, you know, we were talking about al Qaeda being contained in Pakistan and being contained in Yemen. And this thing morphs into something completely different overnight. And this is a group that, yes, is contained in the Kurdish areas of
Iraq. The Kurds are on the offensive. They are beating groups of ISIS guerrillas. But they are retreating.
And, ultimately, they don't care what they want to do. This is an apocalyptic movement. You slaughter as many in the West as they can. And I think what comes as a surprise to everybody, the Russians, the Lebanese and now the French is how the capabilities of this group across -- around the world.
I mean, it's even surprised me. I knew they wanted to move out and conduct international terrorism. But with this extensive network taking down airplanes and doing a military style assault in Paris, we have a brand-new threat here.
HARLOW: A brand-new threat.
And, guys, I do want to show you both this map. Let's pull up this map on the screen. I want to describe to you what we are looking at here. It is how ISIS expands far beyond its base in Iraq and in Syria. You've got ISIS conducting regulatory military operations in the countries in orange. You've got ISIS declaring province in parts of the map that are yellow. And we have also marked the areas, including those in the United States, Canada, Australia where attacks have been linked to or inspired by ISIS.
Kimberly, when you look at this, was ISIS underestimated?
DOZIER: Well, not by the counter terrorist community that has been watching it grow for a while. But the scope and scale and speed that it spread with has surprised people.
The other question they have is, all right, so what do we do? If you increase military attacks inside Syria against ISIS targets, first of all, does Russia, for instance, even have the wherewithal to do that? U.S. officials I speak to right now say they are pretty much at the limit of what they can target in the number of sorties they are running every day.
And if the U.S., for instance, moves in with more advisers and trainers physically on the ground in Syrian space, that could serve as only further inspiration to keep that spread of ISIS from country to country going. It would be a recruiting call.
[19:30:00]
HARLOW: Absolutely. Bob Baer, Kimberly Dozier, thank you as always for that.
We will have much more live from Paris. Straight ahead, our continuing of the terror attack in Paris continues after a very short break.
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HARLOW: Welcome back to our continuing live coverage from Paris. It is just past 1:30 in the morning here. I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you live, right outside of the Bataclan Music Hall where 89 people lost their lives in the massacre last night claimed by ISIS.
Parisians struggle to go come to grips with a horrifying series of attacks that the president of France Francois Hollande called an act of war. ISIS says this is merely "the first of the storm." French officials now put the death toll at 129. We know that one American has been killed, a 23-year-old college student. We also know that more than 350 others are injured. Ninety nine of them in critical condition at this hour.
This comes after that series of coordinated explosions and shootings. One of them outside of that stadium where that soccer match was going on, one of them inside of the concert hall, just behind me. Several of them at cafes and restaurants where people were just enjoying their Friday night.
Our Nic Robertson has more on how it all unfolded.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The first attack came at 9:20 p.m. local time. An explosion at the Stade de France, north of Paris, during a soccer friendly between the French and German teams. The match continues amid confusion. Five minutes later, gunman opened fire at Le Petit Cambodge, a Cambodian restaurant at the corner of (INAUDIBLE) in the 10th district of the French capital.
[19:35:05]
CHARLOTTE BREHEUT, EYEWITNESS: We heard huge gunshots and lots of glass coming through the window. So we ducked onto the floor with all of the other diners.
ROBERTSON: At least 14 people were killed at the restaurant. Atapproximately 9:30 p.m., more shooting, this time at a pizza restaurant near Avenue de la Republic, four more people are killed.
At about the same time, a second blast goes off at the stadium. President Francois Hollande is among those in the crowd. He was quickly evacuated. A chaotic scene follows as thousands of fans flee the stadium. Just before 9:40, another shooting at a bar called (INAUDIBLE) on Rue de Charonne, in the 11th distric, at least 19 people were killed.
Minutes later, an explosion at 253 Boulevard Volatire near the Bataclan Concert Hall. Then at 9:49, shots are reported at Bataclan. An American rock band Eagles of Death Metal were on stage when the attacks started. A witness tells Radio France attackers fired pumped rifles into the crowd shouting "allahu Akbar." Some were able to flee the concert hall. Others were trapped inside.
DENNIS PLAUD, WITNESS: The feeling was like a bloody mess. Like there was blood everywhere. Even people alive were covered with blood. ROBERTSOn: The siege lasted several hours before police stormed the
building in a rescue operation. Dozens of people were killed at the Bataclan. Four attackers also dead. Three of them were wearing explosive belts.
(on camera): At 9:53, a third explosion outside the stadium here. Four people are killed in the area around the stadium. At least one of the attackers believed to be a suicide bomber. And now there is blood and pieces of flesh stuck on the wall here in what is now being called the worst terror attack in Europe in 10 years.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Paris.
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HARLOW: Nic, thank you very much for the reporting. In the past few months, we have received stunning video of a gun battle that broke out between French police and the terrorists at the theatre right behind me, last night. Take a look at this video, before you do, I want to warn you it is very disturbing. All right.
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HARLOW: With me again, CNN national security correspondent Jim Sciutto, also with me Lt. Col. Rick Francona and CNN national security analyst, former CIA operative Bob Baer.
Jim, to you, the deputy mayor of Paris, Paul Krugman, at the top of this hour, telling us that the threat is still going on, the risk is very high. Nothing says this terror sequence is over. To you as an expert in national security, what do those words tell you?
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Those were fairly alarming words. Because it didn't sound like he was saying we're trying to keep our bases covered here, an abundance of caution.
HARLOW: Right.
SCIUTTO: That could certainly be a portion of this. But it sounds like at least indications there may be something there or at least they are not confident that they have contained the terror group that was behind this attack.
And we know for a fact that that terror group extended beyond, at least based on the comments of the president of France, extended beyond the seven attackers who took part. Because he talked about there being help outside of France in Europe and outside of Europe back in Syria as well.
HARLOW: Bob Baer, to you, as we have been speaking throughout the evening, you are not hopeful that there is a lot that can be done to change the situation. But considering the fact that 10 months ago the "Charlie Hebdo" attack broke out. And now this. For the people of France, they can't sit with that answer. They need to know what their government can do. Is there anything that can improve the situation? ROBERT BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Yes. It is
unpalatable, Poppy and that is preventive detention. A lot of these people are being recruited in prisons in France. The French prison authorities know it. But they haven't committed a crime. And they get out and they make contact in the Middle East. And they are espousing this jihadist theory but they can't arrest them.
[19:40:05]
What the French's problem was they can't watch all of them. If there's tens and thousands of them, it would take a million French policemen, you know, between audio and surveillance on them. It is very hard to do. And you would have to change French laws. Or you would consider the worst unthinkable possibility, which is deportation, which I don't see happening either. So they are between a rock and a hard place.
HARLOW: Well, there is a lot of talk about what's going to happen in the next elections and if we will see France go more to the right and what the impact of this everything politically. Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, as you look at ISIS, clearly multipronged, the ability to operate, train, influence and, you know, radicalize those who come to Syria and Iraq to the battle field. But also their ability to do it to French citizens, young, disenfranchised men often times that never leave the streets of Paris. How do you counter that militarily?
LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), FORMER U.S. MILITARY ATTACHE IN SYRIA: Well, you have to go to the source. And right now the source is in Syria and Iraq. I think we are we're starting to do that. We really need to ramp up what we're doing. I talked to the military officers who are conducting this campaign. They feel hampered by this command and control structure that is very, very obstructive on what they are trying to do. Many of the pilots return to base carrying the ordinance they took off with because they can't find the targets or they see the targets but can't get permission to engage them.
So we have to look at that and fix that. If we can start taking out ISIS in Syria and Iraq, it will have a trickle-down effect. Right now, we're seeing all these people come to Syria and Iraq, to combat training and the skills necessary to conduct these kinds of attacks.
If you read some of the reports and listen to some of the eyewitness accounts of what happened in that theater, these guys have had some training. You know, short bursts covering each other when they reload. One guy watching the other guy shooting.
HARLOW: Right.
FRANCONA: This is not something you learn on the internet.
HARLOW: Yes. That's a very good point. One of the survivors of the attack telling our Clarissa Ward that there were no room for heroes. These guys knew what they were doing. Col. Rick Francona, thank you, Bob Baer, thank you, Jim Sciutto, as always. Thank you.
We're going to get a quick break in here. We will have much more live from Paris ahead. The city is still recovering from an unimaginable tragedy. Barely 24 hours old. The number of dead, the death toll, appalling. But it is the names that tonight we are finally learning. The names, the stories, the faces behind all of the numbers of the victims.
One of them I want to bring to you now what we know a Parisian man, a lawyer named Valentin Rebay (ph) he was killed inside the theater just behind me. He was an alumni at the school. The London School of Economics, the Paris bar tweeting out, "our heartfelt thoughts to the relatives of Valentin Rebay (ph), a talented young lawyer murdered yesterday. We will be right back.
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[19:46:13]
HARLOW: We are keeping a very close eye on the aftermath of the attacks here in Paris last night. We are learning just in the last few moments the United States, the FBI specifically, may assist more in this investigation. I want to go straight to CNN Justice correspondent Pamela Brown in Washington. I know, Pamela, you have been working your sources at the FBI. What are they telling you tonight?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Poppy, we're learning that the FBI is sending a team of four agents over to Paris to help assist with the investigation, provide support to the FBI agents already based in Paris. Important to note the French have not formally asked for assistance. But the FBI is sending these agents over in anticipation the French need help given the scope of this investigation and the concern that there could be other cells out there, that this situation is not contained.
Also, these agents have forensics skills and political skills, investigative skills. They will be going through cell phones, the computers of the terrorists, sending back information to FBI agents here in the United States to help see if there were any links between U.S. citizens and any of the terrorists.
But, again, the French have not formally asked for these agents. They have been on stand by since last night in anticipation of going over. Now we are learning that they are indeed heading to Paris to provide support as needed.
HARLOW: I want to turn now to U.S. politics and how this tragedy in Paris is impacting the conversation in America. The democratic candidates for president will take the debate stage in just a couple of hours. I want to bring in CNN senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar. She joins us live from Des Moines, Iowa.
Brianna, you had some reporting that Bernie Sanders's camp is not too happy about the changes to tonight's debate plan. Tell us about that.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No. That's exactly right, Pamela. CBS News, the debate team was actually in rehearsals yesterday when the Paris attacks happened. And they had to rethink exactly how they were going to approach this debate. They decided that they were going to front load it with more of an emphasis on national security, on terrorism and foreign policy.
This orning, when they held a conference call with the campaign to talk to them about some of the changes and adjustments they were making, according to one call participant, a top aide to Bernie Sanders, Mark Langabaugh, lost it, threw a fit. This is what the source told me when CBS was discussing these changes.
I was told by the source that he went off for several minutes. He said this was not the debate that what was agreed upon. Basically, this isn't part of the deal. You're changing the terms of this. Talking to the Bernie Sanders' campaign, talking to Jeff Weaver, his campaign manager, he says he disputes certainly some of the details of this and says that CBS told the campaigns that they were going to shorten the introductory statements, which for someone like Bernie Sanders, Martin O'Malley, who is maybe less known or trying to make more of a moment than Hillary Clinton, who right now overall is that front-runner. That is an important introductory statement, a chance to really make an impression.
Jeff Weaver said that the Sanders' campaign pushed back and he said that they prevailed. So you can see there is sort of a discrepancy in what happened. Certainly the Sanders' campaign not thrilled about some of the changes in this debate. And Weaver actually saying that even what happened in Paris, the attacks, that it doesn't temper the tone of the debate and that Sanders is going to go ahead and try to have the debate performance he was already planning to have, Pamela.
But of course, this is a huge event. So it is very difficult to see how this wouldn't change the tone especially with some of the formatting changes that are definitely happening here tonight.
BROWN: No doubt about it. I mean every candidate, I'm sure, had their own strategy going into this. But of course, in line of what happened, that's going to change things, so how did the other candidates react to the new line of questioning here?
[19:50:03]
KEILAR: I'm told that the O'Malley and the Clinton campaigns were fine with the changes that CBS proposed. That's what I heard from a call participant. The Clinton campaign is not commenting on the call, but I have spoken with some sources in the campaign who feel that this is a chance for her to talk about something she's very comfortable with, about foreign policy. So I think in terms of their comfort level with the changes, the Clinton campaign, they're really not concerned about it.
BROWN: All right. Brianna Keilar, thank you so much.
And our live coverage of the terrorist attacks in Paris continues right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARLOW: Broken hearts, bullet holes and shattered glass, just some of what remains of the tragic terror attack across this city last night. I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you live from Paris.
Our special continuing coverage goes on. CNN's Atika Shubert spoke with the people that are reeling in this city right now the wake of the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sound of Paris has been reduced to a murmur of mourning, as Parisians come to this tiny corner of the city to see the aftermath of Le Petit Cambodge (INAUDIBLE).
Alexandra Demian was supposed to meet her friends here last night.
ALEXANDRA DEMIAN, FRIENDS DIED IN THE ATTACK: Maybe I catch you later, guys, and I never catch them, they died. She was my friend. And I didn't say to my family - I said to my family, I go to (INAUDIBLE) and i didn't say I change my plans, so my mom came to the hospital to see if she find me body.
[19:55:00]
SHUBERT: They stare at the bullet holes and look in disbelief at the sidewalks covered in sawdust and sand to absorb the blood. They come with their dogs and bicycles. They hold their children. The police allow people to linger close to the crime scene to share an intimate grief.
(on camera): You can still see here the measuring tape used by the forensic team to measure the bullet holes here. This is just how raw the emotion is. People have been coming here throughout the day, dazed and shocked, trying to understand why a place like this would become the target of a terror attack.
(voice-over): Mother and daughter, Vivian and Caroline live around the corner.
(on camera): Do you think this will change Paris?
We're scared, says Caroline. I'm worried for my neighbours. This will change our daily lives, but we are stronger than this, she says.
Noah Neiman from San Jose, California was enjoying a glass of wine outside a bistro when he heard shots ring out.
NOAH NEIMAN, VISITING PARIS FROM THE UNITED STATES: Well, we heard lots of gunshots, and I stood up to sort of peek around where I was sitting in the sidewalk and I saw terrified people running at me.
SHUBERT: In this neighborhood, everyone is a local. Alexandra says they struck at the city's warm heart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just fell down on the street. They touch my heart. It's like missing something.
SHUBERT: The heart of a city that still beats with life, even as it grieves for its dead.
Atika Shubert, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARLOW: It absolutely does. Atika, thank you very much.
I'm Poppy Harlow, live in Paris. Thank you for joining us tonight. Our live coverage continues. Up next with my colleague Erin Burnett in Paris and Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
