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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Officials: Terror Cell Still Active; Main Body of Flight 8501 Found; Hackers Take Over U.S. Military Accounts; Ohio State Wins National Championship

Aired January 13, 2015 - 05:00   ET

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

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CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Terror alert in France. Overnight, new threats from al Qaeda. The country not taking any chances, deploying thousands of troops to protect Jewish schools and institutions. Investigators hunting for terrorists on the run. This happening as the world mourns and says good-bye to several victims of last week's deadly attacks. We are live with the development this morning.

Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Berman live in Paris this morning. It is Tuesday, January 3rd. It is 5:00 in the East in the United States, it's 11:00 a.m. here in Paris.

This morning, France is at its highest terror alert level. At least 10,000 soldiers, 8,000 police officers and including 4,000 just to protect Jewish institutions, synagogues and schools. They have been deployed across the country. They are determined to stop another attack like the three that overtook the city and left 17 people dead last week.

There are concerns reportedly this morning that the French police say there could be an active terror cell. "The Associated Press" says there are several members here that the police are concerned about still at large.

Overnight, there was a new threat against France from Al Qaeda's North Africa branch. They posted on the internet, "Today, France pays the cost." The post mentions French participation in the coalition fighting ISIS. It also specifically mention France's what they call "lame media undermining our prophet."

The terrorists' initial target, "Charlie Hebdo" has not been stopped. The surviving members of the publication, they have a new issue ready to go this morning. Once again, the Prophet Muhammad is on the cover.

Just moments ago, at the location where I'm standing, which has become this organic growing memorial to those killed at "Charlie Hebdo", they had a visit from the U.S. ambassador to France. She came to pay her respects to lay her wreath.

I had a chance to ask her about the controversy that's been brewing in the United States and here, about the fact the United States did not send a higher level official to attend that unity rally. She discussed it with me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMB. JANE HARTLEY, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE: Well, you know, I marched and I spoke to President Hollande right before the march and he was so positive about the U.S. and about our president going over to the French embassy and thanked us for everything that we had done. I had been in contact with Elysee through these days. I think they know our support.

So, to be honest with you, I did not get into the logistics. But I did march right behind him. It was very, very moving, the French government march arm in arm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: The White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, of course, now says the White House regrets not sending a higher level official. The ambassador told me she has not been asked to convey that new message of regret. She says she's going to leave it as is.

Joining me to talk about all of the details and investigative developments, our senior European correspondent Jim Bittermann.

Jim, I talked to the ambassador here. You actually noticed something very interesting, not about what she said, but about what she was surrounded by.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT: What was going on around her. In fact, before she arrived, the police visibly tensed up. They put on their bulletproof vests. These are the thick vests that can stop Kalashnikov bullets and other things, pull out their assault rifles and really came to attention.

And then she came in her armored covered -- pretty normal that she travels in a covered-protected vehicle. She arrived. Again, security everywhere. Obviously, they are worried about something happening.

BERMAN: Of course, there is a somber ceremony going on right now here in Paris, remembering the three police officers killed over the three days of terror.

BITTERMANN: Exactly. President Hollande traveling to the central police headquarters here in Paris, three killed, two of them here at "Charlie Hebdo". The other, the young police woman, 26-year-old, shot dead by Coulibaly early in the morning on Thursday. And that ceremony is going on right now, as the prime minister, Manuel Valls, who is with the president there. And they are going to present to the three police officers posthumously the Legion Honor, which is the highest honor that France can accord.

BERMAN: Even as they are honoring, even as they're remembering the officers killed, the men and women, the police here in France being asked to do more really than they have ever been asked to do before to battle terror.

BITTERMANN: One of the things is and I talked to some of them, they really feel like targets now, because with al Qaeda and the Yemen cells. They have said specifically to attack agents and police, agents of authority.

And as a consequence, the police are worried about this. They have been asking. We have heard them locally asking for more and better weapons and modern weapons, different kinds of weapons and much more intelligence. They are asking for much more in the way of investigative powers, including phone tapping, Internet research and that sort of thing. We want to try to head off any further attacks and what's some of their number may die.

BERMAN: And there are genuine questions among some in the security apparatus here, including the police themselves, about whether they are prepared to be targets, and whether they are prepared to be on the frontlines against terror.

BITTERMANN: Just behind the president there, you saw the interior minister who is the man, he's the point man. It is all falling on his shoulders. He has been out front of this over the last few days, but he's going to have a lot of responsibility here because if there is any further attacks, it's going to fall on his shoulders.

BERMAN: All right. Again, that ceremony going on just now. French President Hollande honoring I think the entire police force it's safe to say, given the situation here, but specifically the three members who were killed last week in the three days of terror here. A beautiful, moving ceremony that we're seeing right now.

Jim Bittermann, thank you so much.

And even as this moment to honor is ongoing before our very eyes this morning, there are new questions about the investigation and about the people who carried out the attacks and the specific question about whether more people were involved.

Three of the terrorists behind last week's attacks, the Kouachi brothers and Amedy Coulibaly, they are dead. One of Coulibaly's partners, one more, the suspect, Hayat Boumeddiene, she is on the run. She is believed to be in Syria right now.

But the French prime minister said the terrorists could not have done all of this without help. Officials believe there could be more people here in France still operating -- people who aided these terrorists at the operational level, perhaps even at the financial level. And there's information in to CNN now that at least two of the men, Coulibaly and the Kouachi -- one of the Kouachi brothers actually met with a man who was a key al Qaeda recruiter in Europe. A man who had been in and out of French prisons and a man who frankly, they don't know where he is right now.

Let's bring in CNN's Erin McLaughlin. She joins us now live from Paris bureau here.

Erin, good morning.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, John.

That's right. Authorities here in France say they are looking for accomplices. The French Prime Minister Manuel Valls saying they are doing everything they can to dismantle what appears to be a larger network. He said they made arrests last week. And there may be more in the future.

Meanwhile, there's this new surveillance footage out of Turkey from the Istanbul airport dated January 2nd, five days before the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks, which shows 26-year-old fugitive Hayat Boumeddiene, the girlfriend of the kosher market attacker, passing through the airport in a company of a man at the time. Authorities unbeknownst -- without any information from the French, they flagged her for surveillance and tracked her all the way to the Turkish Syrian border. It is believed she passed through the border last week. It's unknown her whereabouts now, but some speculation she may be with ISIS. And if that's s the case, it's going to difficult to bring her to justice. And there are concerns about her potential propaganda value as well.

But, you know, the focus here in France very much on determining any connections these perpetrators may have to larger terror networks. We know that the Kouachi brothers, at least one of the Kouachi brothers trained with an al Qaeda affiliate Yemen not too long ago, about 2011. We also saw the video from the grave of Amedy Coulibaly, the kosher market attacker, pledging allegiance to ISIS.

So, really, a priority for authorities here in France right now is getting to the bottom of any of those affiliations -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Erin McLaughlin following the investigation for us.

Agence France Press, by the way, is reporting a French citizen has been arrested in Bulgaria today, perhaps connected to some kind of terror operation as well. We will follow-up any leads on that.

Happening right now, the bodies of four French Jews, the four French Jews killed in the attacks here of the Paris kosher supermarket, they are in Jerusalem. They are set to be buried in a joint funeral that has now just begun.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed to a request to the victims families they agreed to be buried there in the holy city.

CNN's Atika Shubert joins us now live where this ceremony has just begun.

Good morning, Atika.

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

The bodies of those victims have now been brought to the funeral. You can see them laid out in front there. The ceremony has just begun. We have heard from the chief rabbi here, you know, excuse me -- and he said a small prayer from the Book of Psalms. That's rabbi Yitzhak Yosef.

And we also expect to see now as part of the ceremony, a rending of clothes. This is a Jewish tradition off mourning, to show the mourning by ripping a part of the clothing. It is part of the funeral ceremony as we see it today. And after this, we will also see the family members lighting a candle for each of the victims.

And so, you can probably see there are four torches. Those will be lit by a member of the families. We also expect to hear from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli President Reuven Rivlin.

This is a state funeral for civilians, very unusual. We will hear the national anthem at the end of the funeral and then the families will then proceed to the site where the victims will be buried. Again, this is unusual to see a state funeral like this for civilians, but it was something that was granted by the prime minister at the request of the families.

BERMAN: A moving ceremony, Atika, in Jerusalem, even us here in Paris, we've been seeing a moving ceremony, just finishing up right now, honoring the three police officers killed in this attack -- truly an international period to remember those lost in this city.

Christine, let's go back to you in New York.

ROMANS: All right. Thanks, John, for that.

"Charlie Hebdo" is ready to put out a new issue tomorrow. Editors released the cover overnight. It shows the cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad with the sign with the words "Je Suis Charlie." The illustration also includes the words "all is forgiven".

CNN and others have chosen not to show any of "Charlie Hebdo" cartoons with prophet, but the magazine is clearly not backing down from controversy following last week's attack. The new issue on sale tomorrow, will be only eight pages, half the usual 16 pages. Its circulation will be huge, though, about 3 million copies. The magazine was able to publish the issue with the help of rival publications and donations.

We are covering the latest on the terror attacks all morning long for you, but first, breaking news this morning in the search for AirAsia Flight 8501. Both black boxes found. They're now out of the water. This as the divers find the main wreckage of the plane. We are live with the very latest.

Plus, one person killed and dozens more hospitalized as smoke fills a D.C. subway. That terrifying story, next.

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ROMANS: Happening now, France remains on edge this morning at its highest level of alert following last week's terror that left 17 dead, 10,000 troops and 8,000 police on the streets across the country. This morning, just moments ago, the U.S. ambassador to France came to the offices of "Charlie Hebdo" to lay a wreath. Investigations underway, trying to connect last week's terror attackers to terror cells French officials believe are still active. And this morning, the new issue of the magazine the attackers tried to stop, the magazine "Charlie Hebdo" is on the way to news stands across France with a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad on its cover with the words "all is forgiven".

Turning now to breaking news, from the bottom of the Java Sea. Divers recovering the second black box from AirAsia Flight 8501. The cockpit voice recorder found buried beneath a mangled wing and, also, there is new word the plane's fuselage has been found, but not by divers.

David Molko tracking new information, live from Jakarta, Indonesia.

What's new here this morning, David?

DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christine, some brand new information coming in to us. We have been talking about the past couple of hours an Indonesian search and rescue official, fairly senior, having been in front of the camera, at the helm of the search and recovery efforts on Borneo, on the other side of the Java Sea, where all the planes and ships are based.

He is now walking back some of what he told us earlier. Initially, he said initially divers found the fuselage, the main wreckage on location northeast of the tail. This gentleman, Mr. Cipriati (ph), with search and rescue, now saying, it is a ship that has found the main body through scanning, but the ship has not reported to me the latest progress such as reports that divers went down to the sea.

So, now, he is walking it back saying it is not divers, but the scan of a ship. He cannot confirm that he has seen anything with his own eyes either.

Christine, we are trying to be as up front about the information we are getting from officials here. Extreme sensitivity around the fuselage because that is where the bodies of those on board the flight, more than 100, expected to be still with that wreckage.

Families, of course, still asking and saying do not forget us. Search and rescue officials promised they will continue the effort until everybody on board is brought home and returned to families. Certainly, Christine, though, the headline here, the search and rescue official who said divers spotted the fuselage, walking that back and saying, actually, it may have been a ship that picked up that fuselage.

We will follow-up with him and other officials, see if we can get clarification on this very important development here -- Christine.

ROMANS: Absolutely. For those families, they're hanging on this information, no question. No question, both black boxes have been, so we'll be able to start putting together the pieces of just what happened in that plane and what was going on in the cockpit. David, thank you for that update.

About 18 minutes past the hour.

ISIS is claiming responsibility for a troubling cyber attack that took over the Twitter and YouTube accounts of the U.S. Military Central Command. Defense officials immediately suspended both sites. They're now scrambling to determine exactly who is behind this breach.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more.

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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Christine, the Pentagon is making the point whoever conducted the hack attack against the Central Command's Twitter and YouTube sites have no access to classified information by doing that attack. Those accounts reside on commercial servers and that the Pentagon's classified systems remain highly secure -- or at least the Pentagon hopes so.

But the messages were disturbing. Many of them aimed right at U.S. military troops. One of them saying, "American soldiers, we are coming. Watch your back. We know everything about you. Your wives, your children." Another round of threats from people who claim to be associated with ISIS.

There were also documents posted online. None marked classified. One marked official use only. But still, it had information about the locations, the addresses, the phone numbers of key military personnel.

So, it's a concern. What officials say the bottom line is right now in today's world, once again, warning the troops just like the rest of us to be very careful about what they post online -- Christine.

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ROMANS: All right. Barbara Starr, thank you for that.

A Chicago area teenager faces arraignment this morning for allegedly trying to travel overseas to join ISIS. Nineteen-year-old Mohammed Hamzah Khan was arrested at O'Hare Airport in October. He was about to leave for Vienna en route to Turkey. Federal agents say he was preparing to meet with an ISIS operative who would then transport him to Syria.

As accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev begins to stand trial, a friend of his and his late brother is now expected to plead guilty to charges of deleting information from his computer and lying to the FBI. A lawyer for Khairullozhon Matanov filed a motion with federal prosecutors Monday asking to reschedule a hearing, but he would not say if the deal involved testifying against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

The FBI and safety officials investigating a deadly smoke scare in the Washington, D.C. subway. Hundreds of people were evacuated when the smoke filled the six-car train at the metro station. One person died, more than 80 others were taken to area hospitals. Two are said to be in critical condition. Passengers say the situation was pure chaos.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are a lot of people vomiting, sick, I feel sick. We don't know what it was.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was no oxygen. People start panicking and people hitting the floor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had the stocking cap breathing through it. Other people were breathing through their jackets.

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ROMANS: Passengers said there wasn't a lot of information. A lot of people waiting on the train. No idea how to get out. There are still now word on exactly what caused all the smoke.

Time for an early start on your money.

Oil prices plunging again this morning. Crude oil trading at just $44 a barrel, the lowest since February 2009. That was the depths of the global recession. Prices fell more than 5 percent yesterday. They plunged almost 60 percent since June. This is one of the fastest drops of oil in history.

One of the things that drove it lower overnight, the UAE oil ministers said OPEC will stick to its plan. It will keep output study. He said producers outside the group should adjust their out output instead. That's a subtle dig at the United States.

So, the oil market game of chicken continues with OPEC holding its ground and America production still growing. Analysts slashed price forecasts again yesterday. Warning the supply glut will keep prices falling well into this year. It's good for drivers, but a little bit destabilizing for energy companies and some of these countries that rely on energy revenue to balance their books.

All right. Twenty-one minutes past the hour.

College football has the first playoff national champion. Ohio State and Oregon tangling in Texas. It wasn't even close. Andy Scholes has the "Bleacher Report", next.

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ROMANS: The Ohio State Buckeyes capped off an improbable run last night, beating the Oregon Ducks to win the first ever college football playoffs, and our Andy Scholes was at the games and has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report" from Texas.

Hey there.

ANDY SCHOLES, BLEACHER REPORT: Hey there, Christine.

Yes, what a game last night here at AT&T Stadium. What a way to start the new college football playoff. Here's the front page of "The Columbus Dispatch" this morning. It says historic victory, and it certainly was a historic for the buckeyes. They just proved why the playoff is awesome, winning as the fourth seed in the first year.

Ohio native and big time Buckeye fan LeBron James on hand for last night's game to watch Ohio State make history. No one gave this Ohio State team a chance after they lost not one, but two quarterbacks. Third stringer Cardale Jones, he just continues to silence the doubters. He was great again last night, making big play after big play. He will now forever be a legend in the state of Ohio.

As will running back Ezekiel Elliott. He run for 246 yards and four touchdowns. He was the MVP of the game, as the Buckeyes overcame four turnovers to beat Oregon 42-20.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EZEKIEL ELLIOTT, NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP OFFENSIVE MVP: The way the o- line was playing, I know that we were going to be unstoppable. They came out with the Oregon front seven.

RACHEL NICHOLS, CNN SPORTS: You may have had something to do with it, too, though. I just want to throw that in there.

ELLIOTT: I give credit to my boys. You know, they made the holes and I run through them.

CARDALE JONES, OSU QUARTERBACK: We never give up. You know, when times get tough, we get better. We buckle down back to our fundamentals and we just play the game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: With the win, Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer is now the second coach ever to lead two schools to the national title. Nick Sabin is the other. Meyer, of course, won two BCS titles while coaching at Florida. And he has a date with a tattoo artist in his future. Meyer promised his team he would get an Ohio State "O" tattoo if they won it all. That will be awesome when he does eventually get that.

The only party as big as the one out here going on for Buckeyes fans was the one back in Columbus, Ohio. Bunch of dumpsters and few couches were set on fire. Police had to use tear gas to disperse some of the crowds. The celebration was relatively peaceful.

Christine, classes actually started at Ohio State for the spring semester yesterday. I'm not sure how many students are actually going to make it to class this morning considering the celebration.

ROMANS: What timing is that? Wow.

All right. Andy Scholes, thanks a lot.

Twenty-seven minutes past the hour. New terror threats overnight from al Qaeda, targeting France. New threats in France overnight as the country steps up security following last week's deadly attacks. We are live in Paris, next.

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