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Search for Accomplices in Paris Terror Attacks; White House Apologizes or Paris No-Show; U.S. Military Social Media Accounts Hacked

Aired January 13, 2015 - 07:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The search continues for the one confirmed suspect, the girlfriend of kosher grocery store attacker, Amedy Coulibaly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The surveillance footage showing Hayat Boumediene entering Turkey from Madrid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If she has gone to Syria, it will be virtually impossible for any sort of intelligence service to get hold of her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think eventually she'll die out there. She will not come home.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Leaders from 40 countries marched with French president, Francois Hollande. Notably, President Obama.

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I think it's fair to say we should have sent someone with a higher profile.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We asked them to stand with us time after time when we think we've been threatened, we have to stand with them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Divers recovering the second black box from AirAsia Flight 8501. And also, there's new word that the plane's fuselage has been found.

RICHARD QUEST, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: I would be astonished that they did not, as a result of this information, get chapter and verse on what happened on that plane.

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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to NEW DAY. Alisyn Camerota, Chris Cuomo, Michaela Pereira all here.

Did they have help? French police trying to find six people with blood on their hands, they say. Suspected accomplices in the Paris terror attacks. According to the Associated Press, they are members of a sleeper cell who may have helped plan the slaughter.

We're also learning more about the close sinister ties shared by terrorists who pulled off this massacre. This, as Turkish officials release video showing the most wanted woman in the world at the airport in Istanbul days before the attacks, crossing into Syria.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: And we have more proof of the sick competition among terror groups. Now an al Qaeda offshoot in North Africa is threatening France. Concerns also reaching the U.S. as the Department of Homeland Security is stepping up security at federal buildings and airports.

Now it does bear repeating: the attacks were obviously cowardly, but the response has been so brave. "Charlie Hebdo" is not dead. The next copy of the magazine hits newsstands tomorrow. Editors and cartoonists scrambling, getting help from their competition, all to put finishing touches on the highly anticipated historic edition, obviously. On the cover, the Prophet Mohammed once again.

CNN has all the latest developments for you. Let's begin with John Berman live in Paris. John, what do we know?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Chris, we know that French officials, the French government all the way up to the highest level, including the prime minister, say they do believe that there were accomplices in these three days of terror that affected this city and this country last week. At least at the financial, at least at the operational level.

And a source close to security officials tells me that is one of the reasons why they have boosted security with these 10,000 troops, with these 8,000 additional police officers around the country. Because they just cannot be sure at this point that there were not other attacks planned.

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BERMAN (voice-over): France on its highest alert this morning amid new terror threats. Al Qaeda's North Africa branch, AQIM, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, released a statement on a jihadist website overnight, reading in part, "As long as its lame media continues to undermine our Prophet Mohammed, France will expose itself to the worst and more."

On the ground, a continuous show of force. Ten thousand French soldiers and 8,000 police on patrol across the country. This while the "Associated Press" reports up to six terror suspects involved in last week's terror rampage may still be at large.

Spokesmen for both the Paris prosecutor's office and the French national police expressed surprise at this report that cites unnamed French police.

FABRICE MAGNIER, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: All our security forces and intelligence agencies are now focused to track those guys, and now it's a race against the clock.

BERMAN: The search continues for the one confirmed suspect, the girlfriend of kosher grocery store attacker, Amedy Coulibaly. Coulibaly was on a U.S. terrorist database.

New surveillance video captures Hayat Boumediene with an unknown man at Turkish passport control after arriving at Istanbul's airport from Madrid five days before the Paris attacks. Unconfirmed tweets from jihadist groups say Boumediene is now in ISIS-controlled territories in Syria.

Meanwhile, as survivors heal, tales of heroism emerge from the three days of terror that left 17 people dead.

This man, a store clerk, hid hostages, including a 2-year-old child, in the freezer during the siege on the kosher market, possibly saving their lives.

And the magazine "Charlie Hebdo," its surviving cartoonists undeterred, will publish at least one million copies of a brand-new issue, hitting stands a week after their editorial meeting was so viciously attacked.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: And of course, three million copies, we now understand, of the new "Charlie Hebdo" issue expected to hit the stands tomorrow morning, being shipped to newsstands at this very moment. They couldn't put it together in the office behind me that was attacked last week. So what they did is they went to basically a competitor's office. They used donated computers. And the surviving members of the magazine with contributions from really everywhere, they put it together; and everyone gets a chance to read it tomorrow -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: The message of the cover and the story behind it, that you just shared, they're both so poignant. John, thanks so much for that reporting.

Well, a rare admission from the White House. Administration officials acknowledging now that a high-ranking official from the U.S. should have been sent to Paris for Sunday's anti-terrorist solidarity march.

Michelle Kosinski is tracking the latest developments for us from the White House. What are they saying, Michelle?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wow, this was a surprise. I mean, you go into the briefing room expecting an explanation, even if you're not sure what that explanation could possibly be.

But this time the press secretary stated clearly at the outset, yes, we the White House, should have sent someone to that march, of a higher profile than the U.S. ambassador.

He did say, though, that with 36 hours to plan, getting the president's security apparatus in place would have been extremely difficult, would have likely impacted citizens there, maybe even their ability to attend.

But he didn't explain everything. I mean, he kept saying he didn't want to unpack fully the logistics and planning that go into this. He did say that the responsibility for not sending someone lies with the White House, not with Eric Holder, who was in town, but didn't attend; and not with the president.

So he didn't say, well, if the president wanted to attend the march, why the president didn't just say, "OK, let's do this." And the press secretary would not say how the president spent his day, instead of going there -- Chris.

CUOMO: All right, Michelle, thank you very much. The question is: how did this happen? Social media accounts belonging to the military hacked by ISIS sympathizers, CENTCOM's social media accounts. How does this happen?

They actually took control of the Twitter and the YouTube accounts and posted threatening messages and propaganda videos in place of whatever else people want to do. The accounts were quickly taken offline. But the Defense Department had to come out and say no classified information was compromised -- dot, dot, dot -- this time.

CNN's Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon.

You know, we've been having a rolling dialogue about this, Barbara, that it seems like that these types of hacks aren't taken seriously enough. Now CENTCOM?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Central Command obviously very sensitive, the Central Command being the part of the military that oversees operations in the Middle East and is conducting those airstrikes against Iraq and Syria against ISIS.

But keep in mind a couple of things. The Twitter and YouTube accounts are hosted on commercial servers. They are not part of the military's online computerized systems.

So the question of getting hacked is one question. Those perhaps not the most secure social media accounts, were all warned about keeping careful about what we put online.

The documents, U.S. officials say, were not classified, had appeared -- some of them had appeared elsewhere online. But it does become very concerning, one of the documents having some personal information: names, phone numbers, room numbers, office numbers of top military officials. So it just underscores the concern about how quickly some of this material can get online and be seen -- Chris.

CUOMO: Barbara, fair point. These social media accounts are under different servers, different ISPs, than classified material that the government is holding close, but still, as you say, it does raise the concern about what gets out there and how it can be protected.

Barbara Starr, thank you very much.

Alisyn, over to you.

CAMEROTA: All right. Joining with us more context on all of these Washington stories is CNN senior political commentator and former White House press secretary, Jay Carney.

Hi, Jay, good morning.

JAY CARNEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Jay, can you take us behind the scenes in the White House and just explain to us how the decision is made not to send the president or the vice president, or some sort of high-ranking official to this solidarity march in Paris, with all sorts of world leaders locking arms?

CARNEY: Well, Alisyn, as you saw yesterday, my successor, Josh Earnest did something that you don't often see happen in the White House, for a lot of good reasons. Which is you saw the press secretary concede that the White House, the administration had made a mistake by not sending a higher profile official to that march.

Now, I think a series of factors converged to result in the decision not to send someone. The fact that the march, from its inception to its occurrence, you know, only allowed a 36-hour period for planning. That creates huge logistical challenges for the movement of a president or even a vice president of the United States. Not insurmountable, but you know, it becomes a reason not to do it.

You also had this happening on a weekend, obviously, when officials like the vice president, were out of town. And secretary of state, of course, John Kerry, was in India.

And then I think it was simply a missed opportunity. That it wasn't seen early enough within the White House, as an opportunity to demonstrate our close alliance with France. And the symbolism of missing it, was I think an unnecessary, you know, distraction from the main purpose here, which is to show that we have no closer ally than we -- certainly no older ally than we have in France and we share with them now the pain of being victims of, you know, a mass atrocity on our soil as they had on their soil.

CAMEROTA: and in fact, the French president was the first one to come here and express sympathy after 9/11. So you think that this was just an oversight? I mean, it sounds like what you're saying is that this wasn't actually a decision in as much as somebody dropped the ball.

CARNEY: I think that's what happened here. Best I can tell, and obviously, you know, I know some folks who work in that building. I don't think it was a proactive failure. I think it was a failure of inaction. And -- but I think it's also a missed opportunity more than it is something that causes lasting harm here.

I think France's reaction, the French government's reaction, the country's reaction to this has been quite different. From what we've seen here in the United States, especially in the American media. You know, they're focused on the substance of things that their allies can do, the demonstrations of support that President Obama has already made, including his, you know, pretty unusual visit to the French embassy in Washington to sign the condolence book.

So I think -- I think this will pass. It's more a missed opportunity than it is, you know, something that's damaging in the long-term.

CAMEROTA: Look, of course, this is not about international relations; this is not an international incident. It doesn't rise to that level. What it speaks to more is the impression that the president is disengaged and that the president is a little tone-deaf on these matters of sort of emotion.

I mean, it harkens back to him going golfing after announcing, you know, the death of the American, James Foley, having been beheaded by ISIS. There's a sort of emotional tone-deafness that should be automatic by six years in.

CARNEY: Well, I think that you have to separate the two. I think that there that is -- there is not detachment. I know from working for him that he is intensely engaged in these issues. But he is not a classic politician. He's not someone who knows from years and years of experience when the -- the public performance aspect of the job is front and center, necessarily. And sometimes he has -- and it's part of who he is -- resisted in engaging in those kinds of demonstrations. Not on matters like this, which are so important to our relationship with France. But you know, more superficial matters. And that's -- that's been part of his appeal.

Remember when he ran in 2007, he ran as sort of the anti-Washington candidate. You know, the person who didn't have years of experience in Washington, who wasn't part of that culture that had disappointed so many Americans. Now, there are upsides to that. But there are downsides to that. And in this case, I think we've seen one.

CAMEROTA: Quickly, Jay, how much of a bummer was it for Josh Earnest to have to come out and say, "We made a mistake"? You guys hate to admit that.

CARNEY: Well, you know, I think it was probably something he was glad to do. Because I think what we've seen, even though we're still talking about it now, is some recognition by the press corps that this was unusual and it was refreshing.

Now, you know, I think that there are risks associated with saying, "We made a mistake here; we made a mistake there." You create fodder for sort of political gamesmanship. But in this case, I think it was the right thing to do, and I bet Josh felt pretty good about it.

CAMEROTA: Jay, always great to see you. Thanks for your candor. Thanks for being on NEW DAY.

CARNEY: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Let's go over to Michaela.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's look at your headlines at 13 minutes past the hour. Reports say the fuselage, the main body of the plane from Flight 8501, appears to have been found after crews spent weeks searching the murky floor of the Java Sea. In the meantime, the second black box, the cockpit recorders, have now been pulled from the water. This should hold key clues as to why that plane crashed.

President Obama will face Republican leadership from the House and Senate today. He is hosting congressional leaders from both parties at the White House. A wide range of issues are on the agenda, including the economy, national security. This meeting comes a day after the president threatened to veto several pieces of legislation the GOP hopes to pass.

One woman is dead; two other people are in critical condition after smoke filled one of D.C.'s busiest subway stations. Hundreds were evacuated from the L'Enfant Plaza Station. Some were trapped for more than an hour, coughing, choking, even vomiting, their faces covered in soot. The NTSB says an electrical malfunction caused the problem, with trackside power cables causing that tunnel to fill with smoke.

How frightening. We're hearing and seeing some of the images from that. I'm sure those people won't forget that for a long time.

CAMEROTA: Michaela, thanks so much.

Well, authorities in France hunting for other members of the terror cell involved in the Paris attacks. Could another attack be imminent? We're talking to our terrorism experts, next.

CUOMO: And wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall at the White House today? Congressional leaders gathering for the first meeting with the president since Republicans took control of Congress, of course. John King will give us a preview, "Inside Politics."

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CUOMO: Welcome back. There is a report from the Associated Press saying French police are now looking for as many as six members of a sleeper cell who may have been involved in the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks.

All right. Let's try and get to the bottom of what the real case is. We have Fabrice Magnier, CNN terrorism analyst and former French navy SEAL. And Mr. Paul Cruickshank, CNN terrorism analyst.

Fabrice, let me start with you. We respect A.P., of course, but sometimes police can get out in front of their skis, as we say here in the U.S. The number six, checking with your sources, does this sound right, this report? Or is this just about the unknown and figuring out who else could have been involved?

FABRICE MAGNIER, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Hi, Chris.

I think actually we will have very difficult -- it's very difficult for us to know exactly the number of those terror cell, of this group. Because, you know, as the police department we're not saying anything about that. Because you know, actually, they are chasing those guys; and they try to keep secret as soon as they can that information, because it's very -- so important for us to catch those guys. They don't want to give any information to help them to escape or just to know they're in our sights, you know? So I think we have to be careful what we say about that. Six could be

a good number. Because I don't think this group is much more large -- much more bigger than six or eight people, you know.

CUOMO: When you see all of the increased military presence, Fabrice, the extra police, according to your sources, is that about a specific threat? Or is that just about showing the people in France that they are safe?

MAGNIER: Say it again for me, Chris?

CUOMO: All of the extra military -- all of the extra military and police, Fabrice, is that because there is a specific threat? Or is that just to show the French they are safe?

MAGNIER: Oh. You know, we -- we think that maybe those guys, I mean the rest of this group would like to avenge their brother who died in the -- during the assault last week, you know. So we have to take care about this. And that's why you know, such a situation -- first of all, we protect -- of course, we chase the bad guys, but we have to also to protect. And the time we understand what's going on.

That's why we deploy so many soldiers all around, especially in schools, Jewish centers, train stations, airports, like we did in the past. We just reached the highest alert, homeland security 11 (ph) now. And that would take maybe weeks or months, but not more.

CUOMO: OK. So you heard Fabrice, Paul, that authorities are concerned there may be an avenging going on by whatever remaining the remnants are of this terror cell, and they are at the highest terror level. So obviously, they're on edge because of the unknown.

Fabrice also said something else, which is that finding the rest of the cell is the easy part, in a way. Because how does France deal with this threat going forward? They have unique challenges there. What else needs to be done? They are not where the U.S. is, for example.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, that's right. The immediate challenge will be to find the rest of the cell. There's concern that this is part of a wider conspiracy. Unlike the Boston attackers, these guys had wide contacts in the local Islamic extremists. And they're very much part of a network. So they'll be looking at that.

But you're absolutely right: there are huge challenges in France. They have 5,000 people that they've opened security surveillance files on for suspected ties to Islamic extremism. They can't hope to watch all of those people all at once. There are 400 French nationals now fighting in Syria and Iraq. Two hundred who want to go, 200 are on their way, 200 already back in France. That all creates very, very big challenges. Because some of the people back in France, they're trained killers, and we've seen French ISIS veterans involved previously in plots and attacks like that Jewish museum attack in Brussels last year and also another plot in Cannes where a guy was found with a kilogram of high explosive. CUOMO: Fabrice had also made the point France doesn't have something

like the Patriot Act that they have in the U.S. Controversial as it is, but obviously helpful in staying a step ahead.

And yet, Paul, let's end on this. This threat: people going abroad, coming back, they're on a list, but not enough to have constant surveillance; you can't detain them. The U.S., anyone, are they equipped to deal and stop these things in advance on a regular basis?

CRUICKSHANK: It's a challenge for every country. The thing the United States has got going for it, the radicalization in the Muslim community here, nothing like in France. They don't have to watch as many people, Chris.

CUOMO: Right. They have a -- we have a much smaller population in the U.S. And frankly, it's a more open exchange than they're having in France right now. That's one of the things that has to change, for sure.

Fabrice Magnier, thank you very much for the insight and reporting.

Paul Cruickshank, as always -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: All right, Chris.

President Obama meeting with Republican congressional leaders at the White House this morning. What issues are top on the agenda? Will they talk about the solidarity march? John King is going to give us a preview of all of it on "Inside Politics."

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PEREIRA: Almost half past the hour, here's a look at some headlines.

Four Jewish men killed at the hands of an Islamic terrorist in Paris, they were laid to rest today. Thousands of people attended the joint funerals in Jerusalem. The state ceremony included speeches from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel's president, meanwhile, called on European leaders to take steps to wipe out anti-Semitism, which has been on the rise.

Back here at home, the House giving unanimous approval to a bill aimed at lowering the staggering suicide rate among veterans. It would require independent reviews of the military's suicide prevention programs and make information about mental health services more readily available to veterans. House lawmakers approved a virtually identical bill in December, but it was blocked by the outgoing Senate. Twenty-two military veterans are said to commit suicide every day.

We end with a wonderful love story, 20 years in the making, out of Minnesota. Meet Briggs and Britney Fussy. It wasn't the newlyweds' first walked down the aisle. No, back in 1995 -- look at them -- they were the ring-bearer and flower girl at his godmother's wedding. They reunited in high school, and Britney recalled Briggs' unique name. They became a couple a few years later, and of course, the rest is history. Now, the ring bearer and the flower girl at their wedding -- they are related, so history will not be repeating itself.

Isn't that a great story?

CAMEROTA: That's possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen.

PEREIRA: I know! Love it.

CAMEROTA: It's great. Thanks so much, Michaela.

All right. Let's get right now to "Inside Politics" on NEW DAY with John King. Good morning, John.

PEREIRA: No need for a segue there, John.

JOHN KING, CNN HOST, "INSIDE POLITICS": Yes.

CUOMO: Just amore. Just amore.

KING: The art of the segue. You guys stay up all night to try to figure this one out.

Good morning. A very busy day. Let's go "Inside Politics." And with me this morning to share their reporting and their insights, Tamara Keith of NPR, Ed O'Keefe of the "Washington Post."

A big meeting at the White House today. This is the new Washington, right? The president's going to have the congressional leadership down. He'll be sitting around the table with a Republican Senate majority leader; a House speaker, a Republican, who has more votes. Imitation is the best form of flattery. In your piece this morning on NP, you recalled this from the president back in 2010.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This week I'll be meet -- addressing a meeting of the House Republicans. I'd like to begin monthly meetings with both Democratic and Republican leadership. I know you can't wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KING: A bit of humor there. It didn't happen. The monthly meetings didn't happen. They haven't come anywhere close in the last several years.

But at this meeting, what strikes me is I was waiting, when you have the new Washington, for at least a temporary cease-fire; not peace, but just a cease-fire. But veto threats from the president on the day the Republicans were being sworn in and taking new power. Sniping back and forth between the staffs never stopped. Is there any expectation that something and productive is going to come out of these meetings?

TAMARA KEITH, NPR: New Washington, just like the old Washington. Not a lot of high expectations here. Even Josh Earnest yesterday asked about the meetings, said well, don't want to expect some big announcement to come out of this. This is a meeting with something like 18 people, if you don't count the staff, maybe more than that, and not a lot happens in meetings that big.