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Two Paris Massacre Suspects on the Run; U.S. Heightens Security after France Terror Attack; How to Stop a Similar Attack in the U.S.

Aired January 08, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Chris Cuomo live here in Paris, just outside the offices of the French satirical magazine, "Charlie Hebdo," where of course, there was a horrible terrorist-driven massacre just yesterday.

Right now French authorities are involved in a very heavy-duty manhunt. There are French reports that the two suspects were sighted by a gas station attendant in the Bacardi region of France. And there is a developing manhunt there right now. There's been a second shooting in south Paris. We do not know if it's related. But that's what's going on here right now. To you in New York.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Chris, I'm Alisyn Camerota along with Michaela Pereira here in New York. We will have the latest in the Paris attack. We have it covered from all angles back here. We'll examine how the U.S. is reacting and whether an attack like the one that we saw at "Charlie Hebdo" could be replicated on American soil.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Security has been ramped up nationwide as questions now swirl about what authorities knew about those suspects. That are now being pursued as Chris tells us through the streets of France, the northern part of that country. We'll have more on all of that this morning.

But first, let's head straight back to Chris with more on the terror attack there in the beautiful country of France.

CUOMO: It is beautiful, but today literally the skies are weeping as they're dealing with what happened here, this massacre at the offices of the satirical magazine. Today we observed a beautiful moment of silence. It is a national day of mourning. But there is a red-hot manhunt going on as authorities are hopefully closing in.

There's a second shooting that happened in southern Paris. There's no known connection to that, but it's being investigated because of some similar circumstances. Let's remind you how we got to where we are right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (voice-over): The most wanted men in France: terrorist brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, armed and dangerous, still at large this morning, France raising the terror alert, military aircrafts flying troops into Paris, as the authorities ramp up security around the clock.

A massive manhunt under way, leading police here overnight to the northeastern city of Hants. Members of France's elite anti-terror unit converge on an apartment building, the gunmen, gone. But forensic police officers search for evidence inside.

Both brothers were known to security services in France. Thirty-two- year-old Cherif served more than a year in prison for recruiting people to fight alongside extremists in Iraq.

The youngest suspect, 18-year-old Hamyd Mourad, surrendered to police late Wednesday, according to AFP, after seeing his name circulate on social media and denying any involvement.

Seven others have been detained by authorities since the shooting.

The horrific attack at the offices of "Charlie Hebdo" took place just around 11:30 a.m. in Paris Wednesday, 12 people killed, 11 wounded. Witnesses say the gunmen yelled, "We have avenged the prophet." Also yelling "God is great" during their brutal rampage, reportedly speaking fluent French.

MARTIN BOUDOT, REPORTER/DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER: It was a slaughter. It was, like, a massacre.

CUOMO: This video shows the attackers moments after the slaughter. These two masked men just killed the magazine's editor and three prominent cartoonists.

Police caught a major break when one of the suspects left his I.D. in the "Charlie Hebdo" offices, a justice consultant calling it, quote, "their only mistake."

The killers seemed to show purpose but not haste. Here, they execute in cold blood an already-wounded policeman, one of them pausing a second to retrieve a shoe dropped from the waiting car. And then seconds later, they make their escape.

Sources say investigators are paying close attention to this moment, when a gunman appears to raise his finger in the air, possibly signaling other accomplices.

JOHN MILLER, NYPD, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER OF INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERTERRORISM: What you don't see is panic on the part of the gunmen. These are strong indicators that this is not the first time they've handled weapons.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (voice-over): We have facts and developments to discuss with the deputy mayor here in Paris, Patrick Klugman. Thank you very much for joining us. There's a lot of information to get to, but first, there's the human aspect of the situation.

You knew people who worked at this magazine. They were friends of yours. The families involved were people you now had to deal with and to help cope. How has this been?

PATRICK KLUGMAN, DEPUTY MAYOR, PARIS: It was awful. We arrived here yesterday 45 minutes after the shooting. We were the first to arrive with the minister of interior. A few minutes before President Hollande. And we saw the wounded and the vacated (ph). At the first moment we didn't have the names. Then the -- Patrick Salub (ph), a doctor who is also a member of the team, ran out and crying, in the arms of the president, saying they killed Chab (ph), the editor.

CUOMO: He was so well-known here and so revered.

KLUGMAN: Yes, they were all so well known. For 40 years, they were the most famous caricaturists in France. So typical among the France -- French drawing, the French way of free thinking.

And then the president (ph) came and families came over to know where their husbands, where are their brothers. And so there was kind of a -- thing that set up yesterday to welcome the families with the firemen, it was a very, very tough moment.

CUOMO: Very hard on just a human level. Now you have the significance of bringing justice to who did it.

KLUGMAN: Yes.

CUOMO: What do you know about the latest in the investigation? These reports about the gas station attendant in the Bacardi region who thinks he identified the two terrorists.

KLUGMAN: Yes. First, as you may know, there are two individuals who are highly suspected to be the responsible of this gang. There may be located in the north of France. And there's man hunting at the moment. I can't comment on this, because it's police information. And I don't have the information.

As you mentioned before, there is no connection established yet between the shooting that occurred this morning and the attack on "Charlie Hebdo" yesterday. So we don't have this information.

But it's morning in Paris. A few minutes ago we had a silent moment in front of the city hall. And yesterday, there was a very big gathering with the Paris population, at the Place de la Republique, tens of thousands of people.

CUOMO: All came out. We are not afraid.

KLUGMAN: We are not afraid. And there will be a bigger, bigger, bigger demonstration on Sunday. I think with every political party, journalist, everybody, everybody involved will be again at the Place de la Republique on Sunday.

And we, as a city, call for exceptional city council tomorrow morning. It's the first time we make an exceptional city council. And "Charlie Hebdo" as a newspaper will be citizen of honor of the city of Paris.

CUOMO: So "Charlie Hebdo" will be the citizen of honor of Paris? KLUGMAN: Yes. With the team and the survivors of the team and the families that will there be tomorrow at the city hall at 9 a.m. tomorrow.

CUOMO: Will they be encouraged and helped to get "Charlie Hebdo" up and running again?

KLUGMAN: Yes, of course. We will -- as a city we will help them. This place where they are, because they already have been in the past, this is city places that the city gave to the newspaper. And we will go on and we will make an exhibition at the city hall with all the most famous news covers they made in the past. So we will keep on fighting, with this newspaper as a free city, helping the free- thinking people and journalists.

CUOMO: One of the best things you can do, the biggest message will be, of course, to catch the people involved.

KLUGMAN: They will be caught.

CUOMO: They were known to police. One of them had done time in jail. The obvious question is whether or not this man was being watched closely enough. How was he able to plan and execute an attack like this if he was under surveillance?

KLUGMAN: This is questions I can share with you, but I cannot give you answers that I don't have and that we don't have at the moment. So of course, it's a question running around. And we've already had similar questions with the mayor attack in Toulouse two years ago. So of course, the question of the people will raise up.

Now is a time of mourning and of action, of gathering, and it's a time where we all need to feel together. And, you know, in the states we are kind of family since 9/11 and now, unfortunately, the family came closer. Because we have terrible moments we're facing.

CUOMO: Do you think this is a wake-up call for the French authorities in terms of what the nature of the threat is and the nature of awareness you need to have?

KLUGMAN: To be very clear, on the level of French leaders (ph), it's not a wake-up call. We are in the war against terror, with the United States and many places around the world. But maybe for the population it's a wake-up call.

CUOMO: You have in recent weeks thwarted other attacks.

KLUGMAN: Yes.

CUOMO: Do you think that this is a new wave of threat that you're seeing? Maybe from foreign fighters coming back home, which is the big fear in the U.S. and in western Europe.

KLUGMAN: We may be facing a new wave. It's probably not the end of a terror attack. We are ready to face it. We will fight. And fighting is aiming (ph) these people, getting them to jail. But also keeping our values up. And this is very important for the city of Paris and for the French republic.

CUOMO: Do you think "Charlie Hebdo" will come out with this publication that they had for this month?

KLUGMAN: They will come out. I don't know with who. I don't know how, but they will, and we will help -- we will help them, too.

CUOMO: France is not afraid.

KLUGMAN: France will not be afraid.

CUOMO: Mr. Mayor, thank you so much. Deputy Mayor Patrick Klugman, thank you. And any information you get, please feel free to pass it along.

KLUGMAN: Thank you.

CUOMO: All right.

That's what we have from here right now. Alisyn, let me get back to you in New York.

CAMEROTA: OK, Chris. Thanks so much.

We'll update everyone with what's happening at home. Because law enforcement agencies across the country are responding to the Paris attack with increased security and surveillance today. They are on high alert for potential copycat attacks and lone-wolf terrorists.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has the latest.

What do we know, Deb?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, based on the early analysis of the shooting, the NYPD deployed officers to the French consulate and other sensitive sites.

The NYPD intelligence and counterterrorism bureaus determined that it was necessary to basically reconfigure deployment plans. You see those heavily armed Hercules teams there outside the consulate. Deployed much the same way they were after the shooting in Australia just a couple of weeks ago.

They did not raise the threat level. And the threat level has not been raised anywhere in the country. However, here in New York the NYPD is reviewing the latest intelligence, and they're making the necessary adjustments.

Now the great fear yesterday before the gunmen's identities were known, is that the attack in Paris could signal a new kind of terror cell, these small groups of well-trained fighters, hard to infiltrate, even harder to stop and possibly with direct links to terror groups. And authorities say that the men appeared battle-hardened, which suggested that they may have been these foreign fighters returning to France, their effort also to conceal their identity and then make a getaway, also suggested that the men intended to slip away and then perhaps remain operational.

The hand gesture also is very concerning, because experts believe that perhaps these two gunmen were signaling to others who were in the area. There was great concern, because they didn't understand the scope of the plot or the extent of the conspiracy. But all of that right now under investigation, everybody in the United States paying very close attention to see what is discovered -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Yes. It makes everyone on edge.

Thank you so much, Deb.

PEREIRA: Let's take a look at some of the headlines right now, 11 minutes past the hour. And we begin with the ongoing search for 8501. Crews scrambling to free the tail section of that Airbus A-320 from the depths of the Java Sea. Thursday their efforts were thwarted. Officials say the tail is upside-down and it is partially buried in the muddy sea bed there in the Java Sea. Divers attempted to ready the tail for raising today, but bad weather forced them once again out of the water. Wednesday's find is considered to be vital, if this section proves to contain the plane's black boxes.

CAMEROTA: Most of the U.S. waking up to bone-chilling cold. And the National Weather Service says close to 90 percent of the country will see below-freezing temperatures this morning. White-out conditions being blamed for this deadly 18-vehicle crash on a Pennsylvania interstate that involved nine tractor-trailers. At least two people were killed.

PEREIRA: President Obama today will be in Phoenix as part of his three-day tour, touting his 2015 economic agenda. He is expected to talk housing and a new initiative on lowering mortgage rates for first-time home owners. The president was in Michigan Wednesday, where he hailed the resurgence of the auto industry. Friday he will head to Knoxville to address making college more affordable.

Comedian Bill Cosby back onstage last night, even though more than a dozen protesters shouted "Shame on you" at ticketholders as they entered Cosby's comedy show in Ontario, Canada. The audience, though, gave Cosby a standing ovation. And the comedian's former co-star, Phylicia Rashad, blasting the media, claiming they're treating Cosby unfairly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHYLICIA RASHAD, ACTRESS: He's a genius. He is generous. He is kind. He's inclusive. What has happened is declaration in the media of guilt. Without proof.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Three more women coming forward, accusing the comedian of drugging and sexually assaulting them in the 1980s and '90s.

CAMEROTA: Well, the Paris terror attack is ramping up security in this country, as we just heard from Deb Feyerick. So we're going to have a terrorism panel weigh in on what we can do to prevent an attack like this.

PEREIRA: And in the aftermath, some are weighing whether the satire of "Charlie Hebdo" went too far. There are new questions about how sensitive topics like religion should be handled and joked about. We'll explore.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: French officials hunting at this hour for two suspects responsible for Wednesday's deadly attack on "Charlie Hebdo" magazine. Brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi escaped onto the streets of Paris after allegedly killing 12 people and injuring 11 more. "USA Today" reporting that the pair returned from Syria over the summer.

Now, law enforcement in the U.S. on high alert. So what can be done to stop an attack like this in the U.S.?

Here to weigh in is CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank; and Fran Townsend, CNN security analyst and former homeland security and counterterrorism advisor for the Bush administration. Nice to see both of you.

I read your notes, and they sent a shiver down my spine. Because you describe an attack like this in the U.S. as, quote, "inevitable."

FRAN TOWNSEND, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: I think you have to understand it is almost. Now let's back up a little bit. When I said that, we didn't realize that these were foreign fighters. The fact -- if in fact these guys returned from Syria and are foreign fighters, that's...

CAMEROTA: They were French natives.

TOWNSEND: That's right. But they went to fight in the Syria/Iraq region. They were affiliated with a known terrorist group, and then they came back. All of those are opportunities and clues to intelligence and law enforcement that allows them to better keep track of them.

The problem is in a large country, in an open and democratic society, it is difficult to keep day-to-day track of every single one of these guys that comes back. It's the highest priority for U.S. law enforcement. But IO think the attack in Paris demonstrates you don't so much need a failure as you do it's a hard problem to solve for.

CAMEROTA: And of course, Paul, we have had an attack that seems to be eerily similar to this, not exactly, but the Boston Marathon attack. Two brothers from, at least, descended from an extremist hot spot. They were from Kyrgyzstan, the Tsarnaev brothers, and they, too, went somewhere else for training and then perpetrated an attack on a major city.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, Alisyn, with the Boston attacks, the belief of U.S. counterterrorism agencies at the moment is that they did not receive training overseas. That they learned to build a device over the Internet, but we have seen attacks and attempted attacks in the U.S. where people did get training overseas. The Times Square attempted bombing in 2010, Faisal Shahzad. A whole series of other plots, as well.

But I think the threat is probably less in the United States than it is in France. There are 200 French nationals who have fought in Syria, who are now back on French soil. It's virtually impossible to monitor all but a fraction of these 24/7.

By contrast the United States, perhaps around a dozen Americans who have fought in Syria back on U.S. soil. Much easier to monitor and keep track of them, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Is that the distinction, Fran, that where you receive training is what makes it different in terms of the magnitude of an attack?

TOWNSEND: No. I don't think so.

Look, there are two -- I've often said there are two different types of threats. There's the foreign fighter, which it appears that this Paris attack was perpetrated by. One who is the guy battle-hardened, comes back and perpetrates and attack.

And then there's the sort of self-radicalized lone wolf. That's the one, when I say it's almost inevitable, if these individuals are able to get access to this information and be radicalized on the Internet; get access to bomb-making or attack planning on the Internet, it's very difficult to identify them pre-an attack.

And particularly, you know, when you look at this cell -- we're talking about this group, this Paris attack -- you've got the two brothers. Once you're inside a family, these guys don't need to call each other. They don't need to communicate over the Internet. That's what becomes virtually impossible to disrupt that. Unless there are more involved. And, of course, that's what French authorities are looking at now. We pointed to the videotape where he comes out and raises his hand.

CAMEROTA: What do you see when he raises his hand?

TOWNSEND: Well, you worry very much that there's another car involved. They had a getaway plan.

The other interesting thing, I'd say, Alisyn, these guys didn't plan to die, which is not typical in an Islamic extremist group, and that does suggest that they planned to continue to be operational. And so it makes the manhunt even more urgent.

CAMEROTA: Absolutely, Paul, that is an interesting distinction, because they had their heads, their faces covered, which means they planned to live to fight another day, and only because they made a mistake of dropping one of their I.D.s at the scene were authorities able to figure out so quickly who they were.

CRUICKSHANK: That's absolutely right. Very big concern that they could want to launch more attacks. And I think there is a parallel with the Boston bombings here, because those brothers in the Boston attacks, after they launched the bombings there, they wanted to carry on another attack in Times Square, in New York. Fortunately, they were arrested before they were able to carry out that attack.

But A lot of concern in France that these brothers or people connected with them in the hours ahead could push more attacks in France. Or there could be copycat attacks in France by people inspired by what they've seen occur yesterday and today in Paris, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: So Fran, given your perspective that this is so easy, given they can be trained on the Internet. They don't even have to go to an extremist hot spot. Where does that leave us?

TOWNSEND: Well, look, the tracking of foreign fighters and getting information, sharing intelligence with our foreign intelligence allies, is the No. 1 priority, frankly. You've heard the director Jim Comey of the FBI talk about it, John Brennan, the director of the CIA. This is what they do.

The harder problem to solve for is the self-radicalized lone wolf. That's about working with communities. It's about community policing and state and local law enforcement. But I think we have to accept. This is the kind of -- the wave of the future when we're talking about terror attacks. We're thinking less -- I think the community thinks less about the big spectacular. You still worry about that. But the more likely are these sorts of attacks.

CAMEROTA: And Paul, quickly, these two brothers were Paris were known to authorities. They did have a track record of terrorist connections. Authorities knew about them, and it still didn't prevent it.

CRUICKSHANK: Well, they absolutely did know about them. They knew about one of the brothers right back from 2005 when he was arrested. He was recruited by a cell in Paris that was recruiting people to go to Iraq and join al Qaeda in Iraq.

There are a number of reports in 2005 he was considering launching attacks on targets, perhaps Jewish targets in France. But he was persuaded instead to travel to Iraq. Now, he was arrested before traveling to Iraq. He spent some --some time in jail. It's not absolutely clear at this point whether the brothers then traveled to Syria. That's not yet been confirmed by the French interior ministry.

But there have been a number of reports suggesting that is the case. If they did travel to Syria, it's likely that's where they learned how to become trained killers, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Paul Cruickshank, Fran Townsend, thanks so much for the perspective. It was nice to see you both.

Let's go over to Michaela for more.

PEREIRA: All right, Alisyn. Great conversation there. And intense manhunt for those two suspects still at large in the Paris terror attack that left 12 people dead. As many as seven people have been detained overnight. We'll have the very latest for you on the investigation next.

Today is a national day of mourning in France. But in this dark time, the city of light is showing tremendous resilience. We'll head back live to Paris next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CUOMO: We're live in Paris outside the offices of the French satirical magazine, "Charlie Hebdo." And of course, this is the site of this horrible terror attack yesterday: 12 people killed, 11 injured, many of them seriously wounded.

There is a massive manhunt afoot right now. Large numbers of French military, police and intelligence resources, have been flooding in and around Paris. To help out with this.

The United States is coordinating information. They know who their two main suspects are. We'll put the pictures up for you. They were known to police before all of this. One of them served time in prison for trafficking people into jihadi areas. And he was supposedly under surveillance. So there are big security questions here. But the urgency is about finding them right now.

The latest information is that they may have been spotted by a gas station attendant. Let's show you a map of Paris where we are here at the offices of "Charlie Hebdo." Up north is where they believe the two men were most recently spotted. That's where we have Atika Shubert.

Atika, what do we know?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Chris, this is the gas station where they were reportedly last sighted at around 10:30 this morning, just a few hours ago.

What we understand from French media reports, and I'm saying that because French police have not confirmed any details at this point. But what we understand from local media is that they arrived at this gas station armed. They threatened the attendant, stole gas and food, and then headed off in the direction of Paris. Now the gas attendant recognized them and called it in to police as soon as -- as soon as he could.

So that's where it stands at the moment. We are hoping to get further details from police, but as you can see, there's still a number of police here. Some of them have, are armed with pistols and the white van over there is a forensics vehicle. So possibly they're still in there gathering evidence, hoping to figure out any clues as to where these two are headed next.

CUOMO: All right, Atika, thank you very much.

There's a big quotient of unknown here.