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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Terror Alert in France: New Charlie Hebdo Released; Police Trace French Terror Networks; U.S. Airport Security Tightened; Cockpit Voice Recorder to Be Downloaded; Boko Haram Massacre

Aired January 14, 2015 - 04:30   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: Happening now: new terror threats and new controversy in France as the new edition of Charlie Hebdo hits newsstands this morning. The country on heightened alert as investigators search now for more terrorist who may have been involved in last week's attacks. We are live in Paris tracking all of the latest developments.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans in New York.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Berman live in Paris this morning. About 30 minutes past the hour.

We do want to welcome all our viewers in the United States and around the world. This morning, there is defiance, also new threats of violence in response. That as the new issue of Charlie Hebdo hit the streets in Paris this morning and around this country. On the cover is a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad, which is considered to be offensive by many Muslims. Jihadist Web sites have been calling for more terror attacks in response.

Police, investigators, officials in this country and beyond still seeking suspects that they believe could be connected to the massacres last week here at "Charlie Hebdo" behind me and also at the kosher supermarket. There was one man arrested we learned of one man yesterday in Bulgaria. He was actually picked up on January 1st along the border with Turkey. He is expected to be charged with a terror- related offense.

What is not known is could he be connected to the attacks. There are reports that he did have contact with the Kouachi brothers before he left for Bulgaria.

There is new evidence coming into public view, new video of the moments that followed the attack here at "Charlie Hebdo", with Cherif and Said Kouachi declaring vengeance in the name of the prophet. You can see them with almost eerie calculated calm reloading their weapons, getting into their car. Then they confront police with automatic weapons fire.

In all this is happening, all this new evidence, the investigation, the release of Charlie Hebdo happening as attacks against French Muslims seemed to be on the rise. A prominent group says there's been more than 50 violent anti-Muslim acts since the terror attacks one week ago.

I want to bring in CNN senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen. He joins me here in Paris.

And, Fred, this morning, out in the streets, it really does seem like there's significantly more security out there today than before, perhaps because of the release of the new "Charlie Hebdo".

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, that's one of the reasons and it's one of the things that the prime minister of this country said is that the terror alert is on the highest level at this point in time. It's been like that the past couple days, but this obviously brings it to a whole new level because this is something that could spark a lot of anger.

We heard some of the threats that came in before the magazine was published. And you're right, I mean, when you go out on the streets, you go out in the Champs-Elysee, the main sort of boulevard here, you not only see the police officers that you always see there. There's always been heightened alert in those areas, but you see a lot of soldiers. It's not one or two soldiers walking around there, it's groups of tens, it's entire formations walking around as they would in a battlefield. I mean, they have assault rifles with them.

This morning, I was going along the river here, and there was a lot of police boats just scooting down there with cops standing in had them ready at all times. So, you can see the heightened alert, and you can see tensions, and the French government has said they are in a war on terrorism now, which isn't new to us from America, but to them, this is a whole new concept for them to be in this sort of perpetual battle that they are now going into.

And, of course, today is a really pivotal day. The authorities here will be very happy if they make it through today without any sort of incidents happening.

BERMAN: It's key. You know, if there was a law enforcement officer who before carried a handgun, now, he's carrying a rifle. If there was a traffic cop, now there's a traffic cop wearing a bullet proof vest, something you would have never seen before.

PLEITGEN: That, and the police feels that it's under threat as well. Remember that all the police officers have been ordered to take social media accounts down. They have been ordered to carry weapons at all times even when they're off-duty, because they believe that terror cells, sleeper cells might have been activated. So, it's a force that fields under threat. For the first time in a long time against a lot more public support than it did in the past.

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BERMAN: It's not widely supported here. PLEITGEN: Yes, there was quite a lot of tension between the people and the police in this country. And it was interesting, in the past couple days, you've heard them say, we love police. I was at a funeral yesterday for the Muslim police officer who was killed on the attack right here. And people were cheering on the police. That's something new.

But at the same time, sure, they are under threat. They feel because of the release of the magazine, there's a huge threat. It's something where this is gone from being something that's abstract here in France to being a very, very real thing for these people, to take a lot more seriously than they did before.

BERMAN: Three officers killed in the attacks here last week.

Frederik Pleitgen, great to have you with us. Thanks so much.

We'll talk about the investigation. They are hot on the trail, they think. They are racing to find perhaps more accomplices that could have been involved with the attacks here. Officials do say all the way up to the prime minister, officials say they do believe there are still people out there. The question is, how many, where are they?

Police are still seeking Hayat Boumeddiene. He is the partner of one of the terrorists killed, last week, Amedy Coulibaly. She was reportedly last seen near Turkey's border with Syria. She's believed to be in Syria right now.

Authorities also looking for her companion in this surveillance picture taken at the Turkish airport. That man has now been identified. His name is Mahdi Belhoucine.

Another suspect was arrested Tuesday on the border between -- no, that's no true. We learned yesterday that a suspect was arrested on January 1st on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. Officials say that Fritz-Joly Joachin could face terror charges. He's wanted in connection perhaps to some kind of terror organization. He is said to have had contacts with one of the Kouachi brothers in the weeks before he was detained in Bulgaria.

Investigators now also tracing the weapons and money used for last week's attack. Officials say a substantial stockpile of weapons and the money to buy them could have come from abroad. CBS News reports that Said Kouachi returned from Yemen in 2011 with $20,000 from the al Qaeda affiliate there. That same year, intelligence sources tell CNN that Cherif Kouachi used his brother Said's passport to travel to Yemen himself. You get a sense of the web here.

We want to turn to CNN's Isa Soares now. She is in our Paris bureau. She's been following the investigation.

Good morning, Isa.

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Yes, the pieces of this jigsaw are coming together. As they come together, painting a very complex picture that takes you all the way from Yemen to turkey. Some reports of Syria and also Africa. So, it just goes to show how far this web of terror reaches, how much work the police here have still ahead.

Let me, if you're just joining us, let me break it down for you -- let me tell you what we've know -- what we've learned. In the last five or six hours, CNN sources have found out that the younger of the two brothers, Cherif Kouachi, he is 32 years of age. He used his brother's passport to travel to Yemen back in 2011.

Of course, both the brothers had previously said they pledged allegiance to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Now, we're hearing that he trained with al Qaeda in the Iranian Peninsula there. Now, why did he take his brother's passport, well, Cherif used the passport because he had a conviction back in 2008 where his passport was revoked. He spent three years in prison for jihadist recruitment ring, really. That's what we know.

Many people are saying and what we're reading and heard from one of our affiliates BFM TV, is that Cherif has said he trained in Yemen with AQAP, and also had met with Anwar al Awlaki who was the face of the AQAP if you remember before he was killed in a U.S. drone attack.

So, that is one piece of the puzzle. The second piece of the puzzle, it has a new face to it. The man that we know who was arrested in Bulgaria goes by the name of Fritz-Joly Joachin. He's 29 years of age. He's a French citizen of reportedly Haitian origin. This is according to the Agence France Presse. He was arrested in Bulgaria. He arrived in Bulgaria on the 30th of December. That is a week before these terrorist attacks were carried out here.

There was an arrest warrant for him, the European arrest warrant that was issued by France because allegations by his wife that he kidnapped his 3-year-old son. Now there's a second arrest warrant for him on charges of terrorism. We've also learned recently that he converted to Islam 15 years ago, but recently being radicalized.

And also, the other pieces of the puzzle that takes us to turkey, which is the second demand that was with Hayat Boumeddiene. If you remember, she's now believed to be in Syria. She boarded a flight from Madrid to Turkey.

Officials kept an eye on her while she was there. She did a lot of tourist sites that they didn't see as a threat. She had a flight due back on January 9th, but she never boarded that flight because by then, we are told she was already in Syria.

The man we're hearing that was reportedly with her and this is from a report from "Le Monde", a very well-known paper here. They said the man is 24-year-old man from Paris. You are looking at him there in your screen. He grew up on the outskirts of Paris. He went to a famous engineer school here in Toulouse. And police believe he may be connected to a separate jihadist cell of Pakistani Afghan jihadist cell.

Reports that his brother actually met Coulibaly in jail. Coulibaly, if you remember, he was the terrorist behind the attack on the kosher store. His brother was sentenced in July to two years in prison for sending fighters to Pakistan to fight jihad. The man himself Mehdi Belhoucine that you're looking at your screen, he apparently posted jihadist propaganda on social media.

So, all you're seeing right now, every piece of the puzzle coming together, really far reaching with so many questions remaining unanswered. In particular, where did the funding come from? Where did the planning come from? One says from ISIS, one says from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

So, that is all -- we don't know if that's just them. They have an interest in them or whether, in fact, there was funding behind them. These are questions that still remain unanswered but it really goes to paint a picture of this web of terror that France is on high alert, John.

BERMAN: Isa Soares for us in the Paris bureau.

And, you can expect the number of people in focus to only grow in the coming days as they trace all the contacts of these terrorists in the weeks and months before the attacks here. Today here in France, a new issue of Charlie Hebdo is on the stands this morning. Some 3 million copies, 50 times the normal press run of 60,000. The surviving staffers, many of them are being criticized for putting an image of a Prophet Mohammed on the cover. CNN is not showing the cover, but it does show Mohammed with a tear in his eye. He has a shirt that says "Je Suis Charlie." And above him is the caption, "All is Forgiven".

There was an emotional news conference I went to yesterday at the offices where the surviving staffers of "Charlie Hebdo" were working. The cartoonist Renald Luzier known as "Luz", he defended the cover. He said it simply felt right.

CNN's Phil Black is at a newsstand here in Paris this morning.

And, Phil, these newsstands, we've been at some of them. They've been packed and they've been sold out for the most part.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, John.

Just behind me the newsstand here, the guy who's operating it pulled down the shutter. He's taking a break. You can't blame him because for hours now, he has dealt with a wave of people coming in asking for a copy of Charlie Hebdo. And he's had to say no to pretty much all of them because the limited number of copies that he's received somewhere around 60 or so this morning, well, they were put aside in reserve by people who were forward thinking enough to request that.

The people have been coming in asking for copies over the counter -- they have been disappointed. But they say they will keep coming back until they do get a copy because they believe it's important to do so. They say that this publication, particularly this week's edition, has become a symbol for French society and its belief in freedom of expression. This from people that have been telling us they don't normally read

the magazine, don't necessarily like it, support it, don't even find the jokes funny, they say, but they think it's important to get a copy this week because it now means so very much to them.

Obviously, it means a great deal to the staff that have been toiling for days now under extraordinary circumstances, emotionally, logistically, in a makeshift office to put it together and get it on to the streets, get it ready. They said they wanted to get together in addition that is just like any other -- not special necessarily, but featuring the work of all of the staff, including those who were killed last week. That was their goal. And, of course, the great challenge was coming up with a suitable cover.

As you described, they believe they have done so with the image of the Prophet Muhammad showing, holding a placard that says "Je Suis Charlie" underneath the headline of "All is Forgiven."

The staff described it as an image of a good man crying. Speaking to people on the streets today, they believe that the staff at Charlie Hebdo have got the tone just right. They say it is touching, it is defiant, it is irreverent, and very much in the spirit of Charlie Hebdo -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Phil Black for us on the streets of this crowded newsstands -- thanks so much to you.

I was at the news conference yesterday. Luz, the cartoonist who drew the cover, Christine Romans, he's only alive today because he slept in one week ago. He showed up late to work at these offices behind me.

So, he is one of the survivors who was able to work on that new issue -- Christine.

ROMANS: Really unbelievable, tragic, you can't imagine what they are going through trying to get back to work in honor of their friends who are gone.

John, thanks for that.

Forty-five minutes past the hour.

The Department of Homeland Security announcing it has stepped up security at some U.S. airports adding more random passenger and luggage searches. This announcement came this week, but these measures, we're told, are not related to Paris. Instead they were ruled out three weeks ago in response to a disturbing new article in the al Qaeda magazine "Inspire." That article contains detailed instructions on how to build a home made bomb with commonly available materials, nonmetallic, meaning, of course, it could get through airport security.

We'll be following the latest on the Paris terror attacks all morning long.

But, first, new developments this morning, figuring out why AirAsia flight 8501 crashed into the sea. Investigators have downloaded audio from the voice recorder. They are listening to it this hour. We're live with what comes next, after the break.

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ROMANS: Now to breaking news in the investigation into doomed AirAsia Flight 8501. Indonesian transportation safety officials have now successfully downloaded the cockpit voice recorder. The flight data recorder was downloaded Tuesday. Both of these are key, key to solving the mystery of what brought this plane down. All this as families of more than 100 passengers wait for word on recovery of their loved ones.

David Molko joins us live from Jakarta with the very latest.

Good morning, David.

DAVID MOLKO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Christine.

A lot of headway here in Jakarta just in the past couple hours. That cockpit voice recorder, of course, investigators saying they are taking a listen to. A couple of investigators who are actually trained pilots going through the full recording and making their assessment. It will be listened to again and again and again. Eventually, a transcript will be made.

A very sensitive process because they know, in fact, that the recording does end. What matters, of course, is how it ends, what happens in those final minutes and what that can tell us about what happened on Flight 8501. That coupled with the other black box, the flight data recorder means investigators have most of what they need to begin to solve this mystery. What they do not have, Christine, is the fuselage.

I want to bring up some new video we've had in from the Java Sea. This is from underwater. This is one of the divers with the Indonesian navy.

It gives you a better idea of what conditions are like down there. The video you're looking at showing a diver with one of the black boxes, either the flight data recorder or cockpit voice recorder. You see it's a little murky, grainy, the sandy bottom. Search officials have been talking about, that's pretty clear. You also see some pieces of wreckage around, a lot of jagged edges. It's not really -- you can't really make out exactly what the pieces are.

We do know the two black boxes were found about, you know, 60 feet apart, one of them underneath part of the wing. The search for the fuselage continuing at this hour. We talked about conflicting reports.

But as of yet, it has not officially been found. The reason that's so important, of course, is so many families still waiting for answers, more than 100.

I was looking for a tweet from the CEO of AirAsia earlier, Tony Fernandes. He wrote, "We hope all the black boxes have been found and all efforts are being put into finding all our guests for the families." He ends it with saying, "Really, really pray." And that is exactly what officials and families continue to do. Pray for any news of their loved ones -- Christine.

ROMANS: All right. David Molko, thank you for that, David.

Here in the U.S., an Ohio man is in custody in psychiatric care, after threatening to kill House Speaker John Boehner by poisoning his drink. Forty-four-year-old Michael Robert Hoyt served Boehner while working as a bartender at the speakers Ohio country club for more than five years. Now, police say he blamed Boehner for getting him fired back in October. Hoyt also claimed he was Jesus Christ and that Boehner was the devil and responsible for Ebola. He's now facing federal charges for this alleged murder plot.

Time for an early start on your money this morning.

A rough day for markets around the world so far, folks. European and Asian stocks down. So, are U.S. stock futures.

What is rattling the markets? Oil -- again, crude oil tumbling again this morning, near six-year lows. Prices have been slashed more than in half since the summer.

That slide is causing concerns for the health of the global economy. The World Bank just cut its global growth forecast for this year.

Plus, there's a supply glut, thanks to the shale boom in the U.S. that keeps driving prices lower. Very good for drivers, very unsettling overall for the economy.

Boko Haram gaining strength and gaining ground. New information about the terrorist latest massacre. We got that live after the break.

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ROMANS: The Islamic militant group Boko Haram gaining even more ground than previously thought. A five-year gun battle Monday sent thousands fleeing for their lives. This as the group's leader issues threatening messages.

I want to get right to Diana Magnay in Johannesburg with the very latest.

Diana, we're hearing word of a new attack this morning.

DIANA MAGNAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, I've been speaking to journalists on the ground there who himself has been talking to local residents in a town called Biu that is a major town in southern Borno state. Borno state is the region in northwestern Nigeria hardest hit by Boko Haram.

Apparently, there is fighting going on, in the outskirts of the town. The locales, the young boys, the vigilantes in the town are gathering themselves together to fight Boko Haram. We have no word on casualties. We do know that there's a large military base in that town.

This is quite far away from Baga, which was attacked last week by Boko Haram. It shows you the scale that Boko Haram is operating in across huge swathes of the north of country.

The Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan seems to be more interested or prioritized the battle for the presidency than the battle to beat Boko Haram, adopting a head in the sand approach really. He hasn't addressed the recent carnage in the north. He has instead sent his condolences to those in Paris for the attacks there and said nothing about the issues in his own country -- Christine.

ROMANS: That is certainly, certainly very troubling as this gets worse almost by the day.

Diana Magnay, thank you for that.

Fifty-six minutes past the hour.

New terror threats and a heightened alert in France as the new issue of Charlie Hebdo hits newsstands.

EARLY START continues right after a quick break.

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