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New Day

Parisians on Edge as Manhunt Continues; Cartoonists Mourn After Paris Attack

Aired January 08, 2015 - 07:30   ET

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

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Atika, thank you very much. There's a big caution of unknown here right now. They know for sure according to the witness at the gas station, the men appeared heavily armed when they saw them.

They know they could still be carrying some of the weapons from yesterday. But the larger question and the concern is who is around them? Who is supporting them? Are there more involved? Do they have a connection to a larger group? Are they truly home-grown?

That's a little bit of a curious suspicion, given how they acted during their massacre, their execution, their murders, because of how they shot. The tight shot patterns on the windshields that they used. The way they moved, the way they interacted.

It seemed to suggest some kind of sophistication and training that they wouldn't just get off the internet. That leads to larger questions of who may be supporting them and facilitating their attempt to escape and that complicates efforts to find them. But we will give you the latest on it as we get it.

We've been reporting this morning that there was another shooting in Southern Paris, there's no known connection to the events here at "Charlie Hebdo." But there's more than enough to deal with for the French and Parisian communities already.

There was a moment of silence this morning. People were gathered here. They were applauding. They were applauding the idea of what "Charlie Hebdo" does, its unique brand of political satire, their memorial set up here. People are grieving.

This is a national day of mourning in France. There's also resolve here. We went to the memorials and we talked to people about what this means, why this happened and what will they do now. Take a little look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO (voice-over): This is where a police officer was executed during the attack on "Charlie Hebdo." The memorial here a rallying point for Parisians, who say terrorists will never defeat freedom.

(On camera): What do you make of the criticism that when you publish things that are offensive to Muslims, you are provoking an attack, is that fair? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. As far as I know, since the French revolution everybody is always on the how to say in English, criticize, politician, businessman, peoples, religions, everybody is kind of a tradition for us to be allow to be criticized.

CUOMO (voice-over): People stopping here on their way to work or on purpose, remembering the senseless attack, showing support for "Charlie Hebdo."

(on camera): Do you think "Charlie Hebdo" should come back?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope so. I hope so. Definitely.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sure "Charlie Hebdo" will survive, definitely. We have to.

CUOMO: We have to, why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because we cannot leave some bad guy tell us what we have to read to see, to think about life. So we are very attached to this freedom.

CUOMO (voice-over): Terror attacks aimed to inspire fear and attacking this magazine to discourage free speech. But taking these lives may have drawn new blood to the cause of satire and freedom. This young man came to show support saying he will now make satirical cartoons and calls on others to do the same.

(on camera): You believe in the freedom of your ideas in saying what you want to say?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, exactly.

CUOMO: And you support "Charlie Hebdo"?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I support all, all action for the freedom. All action to say what we want to say.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: There are a lot of young people here this morning rallying around the purpose of freedom. Make no mistake, it's an unusual attack. To have two people coordinated with apparent military training. It's unusual. We're used to suicide bombers, mad men, and with some form of derangement latch onto the idea of jihad.

This may be very different. However, what they were attacking goes to what the core of this fight is all about as give it back to you in New York. What people who want to control what those people can think, what they can say, who they can be.

What they're afraid of the most is the kind of freedom that you see at "Charlie Hebdo," the ability to express your ideas no matter how provocative or offensive to some. This is the foundation, the ground zero, of what this battle is all about between freedom and oppression.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: It's fascinating to hear Parisians respond to your questions, too, Chris.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: And powerful.

CAMEROTA: Yes, absolutely, very poignant today. Chris, stand by, we'll get to our headlines here and then get back to you.

Crews are trying to free the tail section of Airasia Flight 8501, from the depths of the Java Sea, but today's efforts still unsuccessful. The tail is upside-down and partially buried in the muddy sea bed.

Divers attempting to raise it, but bad weather have forced them out of the water. Wednesday's find is considered vital. This section of the tail might contain the plane's black boxes.

PEREIRA: If you're watching from your bed, you might want to stay there or bundle up extra because most of us waking up to bone-chilling cold. The national weather service says 90 percent of the countries will see below freezing temperatures this morning.

Whiteout conditions blamed for this deadly 18-vehicle crash on a Pennsylvania interstate that involved nine tractor-trailers, we know two people were killed.

CAMEROTA: President Obama heading to Phoenix today as part of his three-day tour touting his economic agenda. He's expected to talk about lowering mortgage rates for first-time homeowners. The president was in Michigan, Wednesday, speaking about the resurgence of the auto industry.

PEREIRA: Comedian Bill Cosby back on stage last night. Even though more than a dozen protesters shouted shame on you at ticket holders as they entered Cosby's comedy show in Ontario, Canada. The audience inside gave Cosby a standing ovation. The comedian's former co-star, Felicia Rashad blasting the media, claiming they are treating Cosby unfairly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PHYLICIA RASHAD, FORMER "COSBY SHOW" ACTRESS: He's a genius. He is generous. He's kind, he's inclusive. What has happened is -- declaration in the media of guilt without proof.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Three more women have come forward accusing the comedian of drugging and sexually assaulting them in the 1980s and the 1990s. Certainly this is not going away.

CAMEROTA: All right. We continue to talk about the repercussions of the Paris terror attack. How will it affect journalists? And how publications tackle sensitive topic likes religion? We look at the potentially chilling effect that pushed the envelope.

The attack sparked reaction across Europe and the U.S., defending freedom of expression, we'll speak to two prominent cartoonists about what they do, how they change, or do they, and the possible risks. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: Welcome back to NEW DAY. Authorities in France are trying to find two suspects in Wednesday's massacre in Paris. Without of course inviting a massacre on themselves, the suspects shot and killed 12 people at point-blank range.

The manhunt brings up interesting questions about how culture and journalism approach the threat of terror and free speech. Is it ever okay to joke about religion? Should precautions be taken? What about all of these controversial cartoons?

Let's bring in Fareed Zakaria, he has a lot of thoughts on all of this, he's the host of "Fareed Zakaria GPS" and he has covered terrorism extensively. Fareed, thanks for being here in station.

I know one of the things that you're looking for today are the voices of the leaders of Muslim countries. Where are they?

FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS": That's right. We've heard Obama, we've seen him. We've seen Francois Hollande. We've seen David Cameron and Angela Merkel. You don't see as much the president of Pakistan. You know, the president of Egypt.

CAMEROTA: Have they said anything?

ZAKARIA: To the extent that some of the governments have and some have, they've issued statements, but as you know, this is a very emotional issue and politicians choose when they're going to go out on television and publicly and forcefully say something.

You haven't quite seen, at least not enough for me, because I think that it's very important that it be clear that this is something that a vast majority of people, particularly elected leaders like Erdogan in Turkey, or the president of Indonesia, would reject.

They would be saying look, I speak for millions, tens upon millions of Muslims and I am telling you, that is un-Islamic, this is evil. You've had some of it. I don't want to de-emphasize that. It's very important, the great Islamic learning center in Cairo.

one of the great Islamic centers of learning in the world has denounced it you've had imams do it but it would be nice to see a much, much more forceful effort particularly publicly on TV from elected leaders of Muslim majority countries.

ZAKARIA: There have been imams here locally here and in Paris, Canada to talk about how abhorrent this is why wouldn't Muslim leaders speak out against this? They don't want an attack like this in their country. Why not circle the wagons all together in.

It's partly the issue you raised earlier. Everybody has a complicated relationship on the issue of blasphemy, they don't want to seem to be saying it's OK to blaspheme and I put that in quotation marks, blaspheme the prophet or ridicule him. Because satire particularly this kind of satire, that the magazine tended to do, is something quite alien to the culture of a place like Pakistan or Indonesia, I would suspect a lot of people would find it abhorrent. They would not -- they would not endorse violence against it. But so the leaders are trying to play this dance.

It's wrong of course, they should denounce it and they have to come to grips with the fact that satire is free speech and there's no two ways around it. You cannot say I believe in free speech, I believe in universal values of freedom of expression, but if you draw a cartoon, that's going too far.

CAMEROTA: Chris has been covering the breaking news in Paris and he has a question for you -- Chris.

CUOMO: Hi, Fareed, how are you? One of the things we're dealing as here as I listen to your conversation with Alisyn, is the Muslim community should come out. They should say things, but that's very tricky as we know, somewhat of a tacit endorsement that these extremists are somehow part of a religious faction, when many religious people would argue there's nothing religious about what they do.

However, the sovereign leaders of countries in the Middle East, in the Arab regions, that they should be more vocal because so much of the terrorism is state-sponsored and that they should be speaking out. They should be rejecting this on more of a nationalistic level. What do you think of that idea?

ZAKARIA: I think you're absolutely, right, Chris. There's a broader issue. So of course they will all when pushed denounce these terrorist attacks and the violence, but what about the whole culture and legal system of blasphemy, blasphemy laws that exist in many of these countries?

In Pakistan, I believe there are 19 people on death row on charges of blasphemy. Often the most flimsy of charges. The owner of Pakistan's largest television stations, Geo, has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for, because one of his stations broadcast a devotional song while showing a wedding, which was seen as disrespectful. I'm not even sure why.

But it's those kinds of laws, exist in Indonesia. Exist in Malaysia, exist in Pakistan. What about getting at those? Aren't they tacitly endorsing the idea that you can through very small actions, blaspheme a religion.

One other thought, the word blasphemy appears nowhere in the Koran, this is largely an invention of leaders and politician who is have decided to make this an issue.

CAMEROTA: Fareed, it's always great to get your insight. Thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. We'll talk to you again.

PEREIRA: Did satirical cartoons trigger the violent attack to two prominent cartoonist? We're remembering their colleagues and they are defending their right of expression, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: Parisians are on edge this morning as police look for two men they say perpetrated Wednesday's horrific terror attack on the "Charlie Hebdo". French police, a forensic team are searching a gas station in Northern France after local media reported the suspects were spotted in a gas station.

"Charlie Hebdo" has published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad for several times in recent years knowing they could likely anger some Muslims by doing so. Today many cartoonists around the nation, around world are publishing drawings to show their support of those who were killed.

I want to bring in two incredible guests with us, Bob Mankott, he is the cartoon editor for the "New Yorker." Felipe Galindo is a cartoonist and was a friend of George Wolinski who was killed in the attack.

Gentlemen, it's with heavy hearts that we greet you and welcome you to the show. Felipe, let's start with you. Tell us about your friend, Wolinski as he's known.

FELIPE GALINDO, CARTOONIST: I had the pleasure to meet him in Portugal. I won an award, he was one of the jurors and handed me the award and diploma. He was a very kind man, very smart, down-to-earth and really a gracious soul. He was really good. It's very different from I had work, provocative.

PEREIRA: Do you find that's the case with many cartoonists that the work differs from the person they are?

GALINDON: Yes, it's funny because you try to see somebody related to the work and sometimes it's not.

PEREIRA: We were talking about the fact that you go by figo, which is sort of a jamming up of your names. Bob, you're saying that's a tradition for a long time.

BOB MANKOTT, CARTON EDITOR, "THE NEW YORKER": Cartoonists were disguised names because cartoons often caused outrage and resentment and also people wanted retribution so if you had a name that wasn't your actual name it made it difficult.

PEREIRA: A level of protection.

MANKOTT: Yes. One of the things that has been coming up a lot about is freedom of expression and cartoons are evocative and offensive. I'm not a huge fan of "Charlie Hebdo"s cartoons. Freedom of expression is for expression we don't like. We never publish the cartoons in "The New Yorker." It's supporting humor that you don't like and that's why I think everybody's united.

PEREIRA: So how do you make that decision at "The New Yorker" then? You have a line, right? You have a line as the editor. You make a decision about where you won't go.

MANKOTT: "The New Yorker" they threaten to cancel their subscription because we made fun of someone who was gluten free. It's not the same type of deal for the most part.

PEREIRA: How does that decision --

MANKOTT: Generally also, we -- "Charlie Hebdo" makes its living, and its cartoons are an archaic, they are offensive. It's important there's an area where that occurs. That's not our wheelhouse. We're making fun more of ourselves than that and we are, so online we'll show cartoons, we'll address this issue.

PEREIRA: And I want to show some of those right now. In fact, can we show the one that did you?

GALINDO: Sure.

PEREIRA: As a friend, you probably have been moved the way the rest of us have been by this tremendous outpouring from political cartoonists and satirists around the world. Tell us what you wanted to say here.

GALINDO: Well, basically that the blood that was shed from the cartoonists is going to field more work that is going to continue in the "Charlie Hebdo" tradition or more, a different kind of humor, but that it goes to the point of criticizing and basically making awareness of people. The French have the tradition of always being the reference since the times of need. Many other cartoonists were imprisoned.

PEREIRA: We have known there have been other attacks there. There have been other acts of violence. They knew the risks. Did Wolinski ever talk to you about that? Did he ever express fear?

GALINDON: No, but when I met him at their offices already, from a bomb attack the year before, I guess they knew they were a target. They were always concerned about it, but they didn't care. They really wanted to voice their opinions no matter what, and they basically lived and died for that.

PEREIRA: Bob, do you feel, do you worry about the notion that it will change what editors in newsrooms around the globe --

MANKOTT: The reality is it's going to chill some people and warm others. That's life. You know whey mean? Everyone's going to react. Quote from Oscar Wilde, if you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh or else they'll kill you. It turns out that's no longer a protection. I don't think it gets a pass because you can't criticize it. You should criticize it.

The best way to criticize is with humor. You can argue, you can pick it, you it k do all those things, but, and religion doesn't get a pass either. I applaud -- I mean look, here's a benign "New Yorker" cartoon I did. Guy comes out of church, he says to the priest, he says "I know he works in mysterious ways, but if I work that mysteriously, I'd get fired." somehow God is getting this pass, if Obama, there's a spokesman for Obama said why he did it, because he worked in mysterious ways, so I think religion is subject to criticism.

PEREIRA: And the fact is, "Charlie Hebdo" has been known for skewering and lambasting every religion under the sun. We're mourning what happened to the ten journalists and what is happening to journalism and what the effect will have and obviously what has happened to our world. Gentlemen, thank you so much for joining me.

Tweet us @newday or go to our Facebook page, you can send it on facebook.com/newday -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela, we're covering all of the breaking developments out of Paris. The two prime suspects are still on the loose at this hour. Chris Cuomo is live on the scene, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The deadliest terror attack in France in decades.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stairways were full of blood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bodies on the floor, people were crying out for help.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Freedom of expression is something that can't be silenced.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We stand squarely for free speech and democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel so many mixed emotions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This house, this country stands united with the French people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They will not be able to succeed by killing us.

CUOMO: I want you to hear the applause here from everyone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is no right or left. There is French people saying no to terror.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CUOMO: I'm Chris Cuomo here. We are live in Paris, France, just outside the offices of "Charlie Hebdo", of course, that's the French satirical magazine, the victim of a horrible terrorist massacre yesterday.