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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

New Charlie Hebdo Released; Police Seek Paris Terror Suspects; Al Qaeda Claims Responsibility for Paris Attacks

Aired January 14, 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: New terror threats and heightened security across France as the new controversial issue of "Charlie Hebdo" hits newsstands. This morning, fears of a new attack as investigators try to track down the terror network that may have helped the gunmen in last week's massacre. We are live in Paris with all of the latest developments.

Good morning. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Berman. Good to see you. It is Wednesday, January 4th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East. It is 11:00 a.m. here in Paris.

There is defiance this morning by the surviving members of "Charlie Hebdo," and there are new threats of violence and response. The new issue of that magazine hits the streets in Paris this morning. We have seen some people walking with it. We've seen more people waiting, unable to get their hands on one because there's so much interest.

The cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad is on the cover. And, of course, that picture is considered to be offensive by many Muslims. Some jihadist Web sites are already calling for more attacks in response to this.

Police this morning are still seeking suspects that they believe are connected to the attacks here last week, the one behind me at "Charlie Hebdo", and also at the kosher supermarket. There was -- we learned that one man -- we learned yesterday that one man had been arrested in Bulgaria on the border with Turkey. He was picked up on January 1st. He was arrested now, believed to have some kind of connection to a terror group. And there are reports that he had contacts with at least one of the Kouachi brothers before the attacks here.

There is other new evidence coming into public view. New video of the chilling moments immediately after the attacks on "Charlie Hebdo." You can see the Kouachi brothers, Cherif and Said, declaring vengeance in the name of Muhammad. They get out of their car so calmly, eerie calculated calm and then they confront police with automatics weapons fire.

All of this is happening, all this new information, the release of the magazine happening as there has been a spike in violence against French Muslims. A prominent French Muslim group says there have been more than 50 violent anti-Muslim acts since the attacks one week ago.

I want to bring in our senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen to talk about all this.

And, Fred, we've been talking. We've been out in the streets today. More security this morning by far.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: More security this morning by far. You can obviously see the soldiers in the street. You can see more police officers on the street.

But law enforcement, of course, is only one side of all this. On the other hand, you also have the intelligence community, which is considerably upped its efforts. And One of the things we have to know about French intelligence and generally the police intelligence as well is they've been trying to keep a tap on the Islamists in this country for a very long time. It's a big effort that's been out there a long time and they've ramped up that effort especially looking forward to today because, of course, there have been these threats of attacks by terrorist organizations.

And at the same time, right now, the intelligence services in this country, they're not sure how good their information really was, because they thought they had had taps on everybody. They were pretty much in control of the situation. And then this happened.

And it turns out it wasn't a lone wolf attack. There were actually apparently networks behind all of this. The Kouachi brothers had contact with Amedy Coulibaly. The wives have contacts with each other.

So, right now, you can tell that they're scrambling to try and get a hold of the situation. And then on a day like today, it's obviously very important for them to get by this day without anything major happening. You can bet they are super vigilant in the intelligence community today. They're super vigilant as we've seen on the streets as well.

We've seen soldiers patrolling the streets. We've seen the police officers really looking a lot more closely than they do on other days even though this country generally is on a heightened alert.

BERMAN: Sources tell me that one of the reasons they've boosted the military and police presence is the fear that there are still accomplices out there, is the fear that there could still be members of some cell that want to go out and stage another attack and soon.

PLEITGEN: Yes, and we've seen that. We've seen them tell police officers to themselves be more vigilant because they know that the police themselves are targets also. They've said erase your social media accounts, carry your weapons with you at all times. We've heard that they're possibly looking for another six accomplices that could still very well be out there. So, yes. I mean, they don't know what's been activated. They don't

know if -- or they believe that sleeper cells might have been activated. So, that's certainly something that's a cause of great concern. Greater concern on a day like today when it would be a gigantic coup if there were some sort of successful large attack on a day like today because everybody is expecting some sort of backlash on a day like today.

BERMAN: Because of the release of the magazine.

PLEITGEN: Because of the release of the new magazine. So, it's a very, very pivotal day for this country.

BERMAN: Fred Pleitgen, great to have you here with us. Really appreciate it.

There's the intelligence angle. There's the investigation angle. Investigators have been working very, very hard to try to connect all the dots in the attacks here last week, to try to find out if there was anyone else involved.

The question is, who are these people? Where are they? Police are still seeking Hayat Boumeddiene. She's the partner of Amedy Coulibaly, the man who carried out the attack on the kosher supermarket.

She was reportedly seen near Turkey's border with Syria. We've seen pictures of her at an Istanbul airport. She's now believed to be in Syria.

They're also looking for her companion in the surveillance video that I was just talking about at a Turkish airport. That man in the video is now identified as Mehdi Belhoucine.

Another suspect. We learned -- we learned yesterday that a suspect was arrested on January 1st on the border between Bulgaria and Turkey. Officials say Fritz-Joly Joachin, this man, could face terror charges. Bulgarian officials tell the French press agency, AFP, that Joachin had been in contact with one of the Kouachi brothers. Security sources tell me that they believe this man was headed to Syria.

Investigators are now tracing the weapons, trying to, and the money that funded the attacks here in Paris last week. Officials are saying that a substantial stockpile of weapons and the money to buy them came 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 officials tell CNN that Cherif Kouachi used Said's passport to travel to Yemen himself.

A lot of new threats to talk about this morning. Let's bring in CNN's Isa Soares who's been following the investigation.

Good morning, Isa.

ISA SOARES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Like you said, police are working extremely hard with so many questions remain unanswered. We are getting a picture of basically how wide this terror cell is. Pieces of the puzzle are slowly coming together as one by one come together, you start to get a very complex picture that takes you from Yemen to Turkey, all the way from Africa and obviously here in Paris. So, that is really what Paris, what French authorities have to deal with.

Let me break it down for you. If you're joining us, let me tell you what we know as of this hour.

Cherif Kouachi, he is the younger brother of the Kouachi brothers, he's 32 years of age. He -- sources tell CNN that he used his brother's passport, said Kouachi's passport, to travel to Yemen. That is back in 2011.

He's likely to have trained with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, if you remember. They've also always said they pledged allegiance to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. They said Cherif was telling BFM TV, our CNN affiliate, they were trained in Yemen by AQAP, also financed by AQAP. Those were his words.

Now, why did he take his brother's passport? Well, his brother, as you know, he was -- we're talking Cherif Kouachi, Cherif Kouachi was actually -- his passport was revoked back in 2008 because basically he had a conviction. He spent three years in prison for being part of a jihadist recruitment ring.

So, that is one piece of the puzzle we are learning. Obviously, many people asking, they did not -- the Kouachi brothers did not have full- time jobs, going to that question where did they get the weapons, where did they get the money, where did the funding come from? Exactly what you were just talking with our Fred Pleitgen. You know, two Kalashnikovs cost you probably around $3,000.

So, many questions being asked about where the money came from. We heard from the prime minister, Manuel Valls, recently. He thinks there's more people behind it. Not necessarily a trigger person but perhaps someone who could help organize, help fund this side of the operation.

So, that side takes you from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. And there is a new face to add to this ever so complex puzzle. And this man, you said, Fritz-Joly Joachin, he is a 29-year-old French national, we are told of Haitian origin. This is according to Agence French Presse.

This is what they're reporting. Fritz-Joly Joachin arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria, on the 30th of December. He was arrested on the 1st. On the 30th of December, if you do the math, that's about a week, just a week before the killing at "Charlie Hebdo." We're being told that apparently they had some sort of connection. He knows one of the Kouachi brothers.

In terms of the arrest warrant, initially, John, there was an arrest warrant for him. European arrest warrant that was placed by France, allegations by his wife that he basically kidnapped his 3-year-old son. Now, French authorities telling CNN there's a second arrest warrant also issued by France, and that is for charges of terrorism.

So, you start to see a picture, a very complex picture. We're also being told that he converted to Islam about 15 years ago, but he's been radicalized.

So, this picture is getting ever, ever so wider, more and more complex. And I think the question now for France authorities is, you know, where did that funding come from? Where did that money came from? Did it come from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula? Did it come from ISIS?

Of course, any one of those two organizations would want to take credit for that. But the question is, are -- is this just an umbrella movement? Are they hiding under this umbrella? Or, you know, just been inspired by it?

So, lots of questions remain. And I'm sure in the days and hours ahead, we will hear of more suspects coming to the forefront -- John.

BERMAN: It is interesting. We have someone under arrest in Bulgaria right now. We have a girlfriend believed to be in Syria. We have traveled to Yemen. And now we have a new connection perhaps to an Islamist group out of Pakistan and Afghanistan. It just gives you a sense of the scope of the web here now that's now the focus of this investigation.

Isa Soares, thank you so much.

While that's going on, this morning here in Paris, huge crowds at newsstands. Why? Well, the new issue of "Charlie Hebdo" hit the stands this morning. Some 3 million copies were published. That's 50 times the normal press run.

The surviving staffers, some of them are being criticized because of what they put on the cover. Once again, an image of Prophet Muhammad. CNN is not showing the cover.

It shows a picture of Muhammad weeping. He's holding a sign that says "Je Suis Charlie," "I am Charlie." There's also a caption that says "Tout est pardonne", all is forgiven.

I went to an emotional news conference yesterday and the man who drew the cover, Renald Luzier, a man known as Luz, he defended it. He said it just felt right.

Our Phil Black is at a newsstand here in Paris. One of the crowded newsstands I think with a lot of unhappy customers because Phil, most of the issues have been sold out.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right. A lot of disappointment, John. The crowds are building before the newsstands opened here in the darkness, the early hours. The shutters came up. The man behind the counter has said one a lot this morning, it is "no." The numbers -- the copies of "Charlie Hebdo" are limited. The men

operating the newsstands are telling us that they received only dozens, less than 100 in most cases, copies of this particular edition. And most of those have gone to people who reserved them in advance.

So, there are many people coming up and they are still coming, asking for a copy. They are being told it's not possible today, but they're telling us they're going to keep coming back. They're determined to do so because they see this particular edition as a very important symbol.

It's likely they'll be able to get a copy eventually. Such is the size of the print run. More deliveries will be coming every day.

It is a reflection of the appreciation, I think, for the effort that has gone into getting this publication onto the streets this morning by the remaining staff of "Charlie Hebdo." Enormous effort under very difficult, emotional, logistically challenging circumstances to make this happen in makeshift offices at a friendly publication.

And, of course, there was the big challenge in coming up with a suitable cover image. It is that image that you've described of the weeping Prophet Muhammad. The staff have described just what an emotional process it was creating that image. Take a listen.

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RENALD "LUZ" LUZIER, CHARLIE HEBDO CARTOONIST (through translator): Then there was nothing else but that, this idea of drawing Muhammad, I am Charlie. And I looked at him, he was crying. And over it I wrote, "All is forgiven." And I cried. And it was the front page.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: That image is potentially offensive to Muslims because some believe that any depiction of the Prophet Muhammad is offensive and wrong and blasphemous.

Speaking to people here in Paris this morning, they overwhelmingly believe that the tone of the image is right. They say it is touching. It is defiant. It is irreverent. It is, they say, French. It is very much in the spirit of "Charlie Hebdo", John.

BERMAN: All right. Phil Black for us at the newsstands here in Paris -- thank you so much.

We do have some breaking news on this story that I want to bring you up to speed on just now. A top leader for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, that is mostly out of Yemen, AQAP is now claiming responsibility for the attacks here in Paris, at least the attack behind me at "Charlie Hebdo" here. They say it was an attack they were behind.

Let me read you of part of the translation being provided by the "Associated Press". This leader Nasr al-Ansi says more tragedies and terror could be to come. He says that Yemen's al Qaeda branch shows the target, laid out the plan and financed the operation.

There have been a lot of questions since this attack one week ago about why there had been no direct claim of responsibility from AQAP, particularly since the brothers who staged the attack right behind me pledged their allegiance to this group particularly because we knew they had traveled to Yemen, and they said this attack was on behalf of AQAP. Well, now this group is claiming responsibility.

Let's bring in Nick Paton Walsh who has seen the video and give us a sense of what is on it.

Good morning, Nick.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, this is the clearest indication we've had from the very mixed signals coming out of Yemen that the group normally known as AQAP are behind this. Now, they don't specifically say they financed the operation, but they do talk about how the heroes, that's their reference to the Kouachi brothers, were assigned the task, accepted it and fulfilled it.

It's an 11-minute long video, mostly dominated by the spokesman giving a lengthy diatribe at times, multiple references to Osama bin Laden whose image appears early on in the video -- a reference, too, to a key figure perhaps familiar to some U.S. audiences, certainly familiar to U.S. officials, a sort of sheikh in the terminology of al Qaeda known as Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who was in Yemen for some time, killed by a drone strike in 2011.

It is said that the arrangement for this operation were made by him. That's key because that's something we've been hearing from various officials, U.S. officials have intimated that, French have intimated towards it in various media reports and to our reporters as well.

But this is clearly by al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in the failing failed state of Yemen to stamp their mark on this. And it does suggest, too, this was an operation with some lengthy planning. Certainly, if al-Awlaki died in 2011 and is said to have masterminded this in some way according to this video message, and we have no doubts, no reason at this point to necessarily doubt its authenticity. It seems to come from the correct channels. But that this may have been something that was -- that lay dormant for three years or so.

They go on to talk about as well how France had committed crimes in Mali. Remember, there was a substantial French intervention there against Islamist extremists. And it also talks about how this is, quote, "a turning point in history here."

Bear in mind, too, the broader context. Al Qaeda has not been put on a back burner so much but had so much less prominence in the global jihadist movement since ISIS have been dominating northern Syria and northern Iraq as well and the U.S. and other coalition members moved with their airstrikes against them there.

Certainly, this operation will now perhaps put al Qaeda back in towards the spotlight of those who may seek to join jihad, obviously a very chilling and disreputable means of those attacks inside Paris. But this is also something which is repeatedly referred to in the video as the blessed battle of Paris -- certainly a bid for this to enter some sort of role of jihadist mythology to put Paris in the spotlight in those terms and a lengthy message here of justification and claiming of credit, John.

BERMAN: The blessed battle of Paris. What diabolical terminology that is, Nick.

Nick, as we said, we have known that the Kouachi brothers traveled to Yemen years ago while Anwar al-Awlaki was still alive in 2011. Al- Awlaki was killed by U.S. drones that year. So, you did raise the key question here, could this plot have been hatched in 2011 with the level of specificity in which it was carried out? Or was it more inspired by al-Awlaki? That is one of the questions here.

We talked to terror experts who raise the possibility that al-Awlaki has become just this very symbolic, enormous figure in jihadi circles for inspiring people all over the world, including the non-Arabic- speaking world to carry out these attacks, Nick.

WALSH: Well, I mean, certainly, you know, the model as it were for jihadist attacks has changed enormously in the last decade. Back when this started, people used to think there was direct command and control by bin Laden, but it was almost like French operations sprung out in the last decade. This seems more familiar to that rather than the kind of third anomaly from that which is the lone wolf operations, people simply autonomously deciding to do things in the name of various radical groups.

This message makes it sound like al Qaeda had some sort of desire to operationally push this through. Very hard to really glue that together, but there are increasing bits of information from Yemeni, U.S., French officials suggesting a network emanating out of Yemen.

Now, we know from one eyewitness who says he spoke to Said Kouachi in Sana'a, that Said may have gone there as early as 2009 to initially begin his studies. That would have been when it is alleged he shared a room with the underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who tried to blow himself up on a plane towards Detroit in 2009 around Christmas Day. And that potentially dates the first arrival of Said, the older brother, in Yemen then.

It's said that he came and went, spent protracted times there as well. And then we get into the murky, more complex issue of Cherif, the younger brother, much more on the radar of French authorities, potentially lacking passports for a period of time as well.

As told to our Pamela Brown yesterday by two Western intelligence officials, they believe potentially Cherif used Said's passport in 2011 to travel into Yemen. And there are suggestions, too, the flight, in fact, may have been France to Oman and then into a legal crossing into Yemen.

Now, Yemeni officials corroborate parts of this. They don't think they had to necessarily traveled through Oman. They believe the Kouachi brothers flew in legally much of the time.

As I say, the reason why all these al Qaeda-affiliated activities can occur in Yemen is because it's a failed or failing state. So, the information you get is going to be patchy and incoherent at times. But now this al Qaeda message, I think, the notion of doubt potentially begins to evaporate and we have a much clearer sign here that the majority of the logistics behind the Kouachi brothers, and I should point out this message does not claim that Amedy Coulibaly, the grocery store gunman, was, in fact, related to this.

They simply refer to how his operation happened at the same time, and that was good fortune. It does suggest the Kouachi brothers are now being claimed as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operation, potentially masterminded by one of the key figures, Anwar al Awlaki -- John.

BERMAN: Nick Paton Walsh with the breaking news. That breaking news, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the attacks here in Paris. One week ago, the attacks on the offices of "Charlie Hebdo", the satirical newspaper just behind me, 12 people died in this attack.

And now, we have video with the top official from AQAP, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, claiming responsibility. A major development this morning.

Christine?

ROMANS: It certainly is, John. And you hear on that video over and over again the blessed battle of Paris. One has to wonder what AQAP, what terrorists will do now, John, to try to maximize the public relations value of the Paris attacks.

BERMAN: Well, you know, I can tell you what they're doing in France in response to the attacks already, just a much greater security presence out here, 10,000 troops, 8,000 police. Much more visible this morning, Christine, than they had been up until this point specifically of what you said, the notion perhaps some people in France, accomplices could still be on the run, on the loose, and planning some kind of attack for PR value or perhaps, Christine, much, much worse.

ROMANS: Yes. And the fact that this has been if you believe this statement from AQAP, if you believe it, if it is true, what it tells you is this could have been three years in the works. Law enforcement, intelligence officials have to be working very, very hard to find out what else could be out there.

John Berman in Paris, thank you.

We're going to be following the latest on the Paris terror attacks all morning long.

But, first, new developments in the search for AirAsia Airlines Flight 8501. Investigators have downloaded audio from the plane's cockpit voice recorder. They are listening to that audio, to those last moments of this flight. We're live after the break.

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ROMANS: ISIS fighters have reportedly gained more crucial ground in their deadly trail of terror. Afghan officials say Islamic extremists, they are now inside Southern Afghanistan. ISIS now fighting the Taliban there. An afghan military official told the "Associated Press", ISIS is recruiting new members in Afghanistan. More than a dozen have already been killed in fighting between the Taliban and ISIS.

An Illinois teenager pleading guilty to charges he tried to support ISIS terrorists. Officials say 19-year-old Mohamed Hamzah Khan invited his family in his plans to travel to the Middle East to join ISIS. He was arrested at Chicago O'Hare airport in October.

Khan's mother condemning the terror group, saying it brainwashes Muslim youth.

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ZARINE KHAN, MOTHER OF DEFENDANT: He condemned the brainwashing and ruining of children through the use of social media and the Internet, and we have a message for ISIS, Mr. Baghdadi and his fellow social media recruiters -- leave our children alone.

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ROMANS: Khan faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Attorneys for accused Boston marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are asking a judge to suspend jury selection in his trial for at least a month in light of the terror attacks in Paris. Defense lawyers argued that right now, it would be all but impossible to seat an impartial jury there in Boston. The judge has twice rejected defense efforts to move that trial out of Boston or to delay its start. Tsarnaev is charged in the 2013 marathon bombing attack that killed three and injured more than 260 others.

Breaking news this morning, al Qaeda in Yemen now claiming responsibility for those Paris terror attacks, calling it the "blessed battle of Paris" in a lengthy videotape claiming responsibility. We're live with this new information, next.

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