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New Day

Aftermath of Boko Haram Massacre; Who Funded Paris Terror Attack?; Republican Contenders Eyeing 2016; ISIS-Inspired Attack on U.S. Capitol Thwarted

Aired January 15, 2015 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. It's just 6:30 in the morning, and I know you're running around, but this is worth a moment.

We are seeing what Nigeria and frankly the world has failed to stop in Nigeria in the form of Boko Haram in their violence. Amnesty International published this satellite image. This shows a Nigerian town that's been wiped off the map. Thousands of homes, businesses, damaged or destroyed.

And, of course, the fate of the families in many cases is just too horrible to describe. Nigerian military officials report another Boko Haram attack has been thwarted. But clearly the situation is out of control.

Nic Robertson is in northern Nigeria for us.

Nic, what is the situation?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We've been talking to soldiers here, Chris, and what they tell us is a very, very worrying and troubling picture. They say they're being outgunned, outmanned, out-resourced by Boko Haram when they get on the battlefield. Boko Haram, they say, have big anti-aircraft guns on the backs of trucks. Weapons that are accurate up to three-quarters of a mile.

The soldiers say they only have small AK-47s, weapons that are only useful up to a few hundred yards. They only have 60 bullets when they go into battle. Boko Haram they say have many more bullets, they put down more firepower.

The soldiers for the most part are forced to withdraw. The soldiers even have to pay for their own uniforms. They don't have flak jackets and helmets in many cases. So, they are being beaten from the battlefield by Boko Haram. Their morale is low, and this is one of the reasons that Boko Haram is able to make the gains they're making and that the military successes are really rather few and far between, Chris.

CUOMO: I know it's a very dangerous situation on the ground, thank you for being there. You have the military. You also have the political. You have Goodluck Jonathan there who's talking about France, but not talking about what's happening in his own country and the international community says not asking for help in the way that maybe he should be.

Thank you for reporting. Stay safe.

All right. Let's get over to Mick.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Thirty-five past the hour.

Here's a look at your headlines:

An Ohio man is behind bars this morning, for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired attack on the U.S. Capitol. Officials say this man, Christopher Lee Cornell, was planning to detonate pipe bombs targeting lawmakers that he considered enemies. And then shoot people as they fled. The 20-year-old came to the FBI's attention several months ago for his alarming social media posts talking about violent jihad.

Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Paris today in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris. He wants, he says, to gig a big huff to all Parisians when he gets there. In addition to paying his respects, we're learning that Secretary Kerry may meet with Iran's foreign minister in Paris tomorrow for nuclear talks.

A "Washington Post" journalist detained in Iran for months has been indicted and will stand trial. Now, it's not clear what Jason Rezaian has been charged with. If Tehran moves ahead with the prosecution, it could complicate President Obama's efforts to forge a nuclear agreement with Iran.

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Josh McNary is facing a felony rape charge. A woman claims he sexually assaulted her after the two met in bar last month. The 26-year-old McNary is also charged with criminal confinement and misdemeanor battery resulting in bodily injury. The Colts meet the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game this weekend. The NFL says the matter clearly is under review.

Very concerning.

All right. Those are your headlines.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK. Well, they pulled off the worst terror attack that France has seen in decades, but where did the suspects get the money?

Our terror analyst follows the money trail, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEREIRA: As investigators in France begin to unravel the plot behind the terrible terror attack in Paris, questions remain about how the suspects were funded and why the Kouachi brothers chose to launch the attack three years after traveling to Yemen.

I want to bring in one of our guests that is great at analyzing these things, CNN terrorism analyst, Paul Cruickshank.

Good to see you.

Obviously, so much to this investigation, kind of -- it's mystifying, all of the areas when you see. But let's start here and talk about the fact that if we talk about the connection to Yemen, this has been such a focus. This young man is said to have traveled there, we know that he received some $20,000 from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, talk about this.

What more can we know and what can we glean from this information about getting this funding?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Yes, the U.S. believes that al Qaeda in Yemen, Anwar al-Awlaki specifically, gave this guy, Cherif Kouachi, $20,000 seed money for this terrorist plot against "Charlie Hebdo" magazine. He then travels back to France, and appears that the brothers eventually burn through that money, because they have to borrow money from Coulibaly. And Coulibaly reveals this in the video, had to give the brothers some money so they could finish buying their weapons.

PEREIRA: We'll get to Coulibaly in a second. One thing we know he gleaned, he traveled, Cherif traveled under his brother Said's passport. Significance there?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, he was under control in France, he had his passport confiscated. So, this was the only way he could get into Yemen. Get into these camps.

PEREIRA: All right. Let's talk about the brother, or not the brother, the accomplice, but then again, we want to know, accomplice, a known person to the brothers, Amedy Coulibaly, who you mentioned before, was borrowing his own money. Some $7,000 loan, which couldn't have been a flag in France, necessarily. But now, we find out there was this loan.

Talk about the significance here.

CRUICKSHANK: Yes, he went to a bank in northern France and applied for a 6,000 euro loan. Perhaps so that he could get money to give to the brothers so they could buy weapons. Perhaps to give it to his companion, Hayat Boumeddiene, so that she could travel to Syria. It's not clear at this point.

But we've seen these kind of fraudulent loans in a bunch of other terrorism cases before. You know, in New York, in 2009, there's Najibullah Zazi plot in the subways, he suspect got $50,000 for credit card loans which he used to travel to Pakistan where he got training. There's a track record of these guys using the Western financial system against itself.

PEREIRA: And let's talk about the tracking, because, you know, we put together this map of the characters and the suspects and the people involved in this plot. The two named -- the Kouachi brothers we know, obviously, they're going to be looking at all of their points of contacts.

And how do they determine? Somebody they knew, somebody they might have been very close to and somebody who was a contact they were close to or could have been an accomplice or involved somehow.

CRUICKSHANK: You know, that's absolutely right. It's a giant spider web of connections that they're looking into. And this is very clear to the viewers, this is a network. This is not like the Boston bombers, a couple of brothers working on their own, don't really have connections.

PEREIRA: A cell perhaps?

CRUICKSHANK: This is a network, a cell. A lot of these guys had connections dating back to 2005, when a lot of them wanted to fight in Iraq to kill American forces over there. One of these guys, Djamel Beghal, I mean, this guy is part of the al Qaeda setoff in pre-9/11 Afghanistan, he actually went to bin Laden's house in Afghanistan where a senior al Qaeda operative, Abu Zubaydah, tasked him with an operation to launch an attack against the U.S. embassy in Paris. So, some really interesting historical ties here.

PEREIRA: And, of course, we've seen the video of the two, Hayat Boumeddiene, who said to be the partner of Amedy Coulibaly. We saw video or a still image of her traveling with this man.

What do we know about this individual?

CRUICKSHANK: We know very little about him.

PEREIRA: The shadow figure at this point.

CRUICKSHANK: He's suspected of radicalism ties to this group. What we're seeing is a whole bunch of people getting out of dodge in the weeks before this attack. We've seen this guy Joachin, arrested --

PEREIRA: In Belgium.

CRUICKSHANK: In Bulgaria.

PEREIRA: Oh, Bulgaria, pardon me, that's right.

CRUICKSHANK: In Bulgaria, trying to get over into Turkey. You know, on his way to Syria. Some of these guys in Syria already, the groups over there, whether it's Nusra or ISIS, are going to roll out the red carpet for them.

PEREIRA: What's really interesting is that al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is said to have said, yes, we take full responsibility and we financed the Kouachi brother's activities in Paris. But they point to fact that Coulibaly was merely a coincidence, they said we congratulate him, but he was merely a coincidence.

What does that tell you?

CRUICKSHANK: It tells you, one of the hypothesis here is that al Qaeda in Yemen recruits these two brothers, and these two brothers recruit their friend, who they've known for the last five years into this plot. And so, there's this coalition on the ground, in France, between an ISIS sympathizer, and people who were recruited into al Qaeda in Yemen.

Back in the Middle East, ISIS and al Qaeda in Yemen, they can't stand each other right now. Think there's little chance that this was a formal joint operation between the two groups. But on the ground, these friends who have been connected in plots in the past, all of these three guys, were involved in a plot to break an Algerian terrorist from jail in 2010, they cooperated again. They clearly felt they could trust this guy. They could get money from this guy, because he was a hashish dealer. He was able to raise money that way as well.

PEREIRA: Paul Cruickshank, of course, the concern is who he then inspired, who is still around. And who they haven't made contact with.

All right, Paul Cruickshank, great to have you here. Thanks for walking us through this.

Chris?

CUOMO: Obviously, Mick, if we're talking about terrorism, you got to talk about politics, because they go hand in hand.

And the Republican presidential field already crowded for 2016. Is that a win for democracy? Or a sign that nobody is that strong?

We'll tell you who's in and out, and guess how much it will cost to be president.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The first two weeks of 2015 producing a flurry of potential 2016 presidential candidates. Preparatory steps being taken by Chris Christie, Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, even Mitt Romney is mobilizing his donors.

So, to help us sort through the crowded ring, we've called in the Hoovalon. Political analyst and editor in chief of "The Daily Beast," John Avlon, and CNN political commentator, Republican consultant and Sirius XM host, Margaret Hoover.

MARGARET HOOVER, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Good morning.

CUOMO: The Hoovalon.

What's the name of the show?

HOOVER: "Get It Right with Margaret Hoover".

CUOMO: There it is.

HOOVER: There you go. It's a little double entendre, get it right, because I'm from the right --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: Is there a nose in the middle of my face?

(LAUGHTER)

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the field that has gotten really ridiculously crowded in the past two weeks. You would think when one person gets in, other was drop out. But that's not happening this time around. In fact, CNN has put together a graphic.

Now, this is Democrats and Republicans lumped together. But look at the crowd. It's like a Who concert.

CUOMO: Who? Sergeant Pepper.

CAMEROTA: So, what's going on, Margaret, with the Republican side? How come we're seeing Jeb and Rand Paul and Mitt Romney and Chris Christie and everybody throwing their hat in?

HOOVER: The fact that we have a crowded primary is not necessarily news, the fact that it's this crowded early -- I mean, it's much earlier than anybody anticipated, because Jeb Bush threw his hat in the ring, that sped up everybody else's calendar.

Chris Christie had been thinking, well, he would make a decision by the spring. He would really start moving forward with a PAC in the spring, that timetable has moved up -- as well as all of these other candidates.

CUOMO: What does it mean that Jeb saying or initiating, whatever verb we're using this time, why didn't that make people not get in? What does it mean they're getting in even though he got in? Does that mean that they don't think he's strong?

JOHN AVLON, THE DAILY BEAST: No. Well, the reason that Jeb getting in moved the calendar, the rush for donors got serious. The candidates especially those on the center right said, you know what, I'm not going to let him --

CUOMO: Right. But you know the calculation. John's getting in, it's real? Let's back off. You know, that's usually the way the calculus goes here.

(CROSSTALK)

HOOVER: Other Republican candidates think that Jeb has vulnerabilities. Jeb is a Bush. Jeb has supported things that the Republican base have not supported. Common Core, immigration reform.

And so, I think the reason other candidates think that they would, are throwing their hats in the ring, because they think he has vulnerabilities, they would be better. That's why Mitt Romney has called all of his advisers and is revamping the engines. AVLON: And there's a Yolo quality to all of this right now. I mean,

you have a bunch of people running for president, it's like hey, you only live once, let's get in the pool. Let's see what happens. Maybe I'll end up veep. That's happening.

CUOMO: Where's the RNC in all of this, though, Alisyn? You know, when you think about it, like, party is all about control, OK, especially at the national level. Don't -- aren't they policing this?

HOOVER: Absolutely they're policing this. Well, so, Republicans' philosophy is more the merrier. Let's have a robust debate.

(CROSSTALK)

HOOVER: However, let's be very clear, Reince Priebus actually has been incredibly adept behind the scene at tightening the calendar and controlling this process. The debates are going to start in September, and they're only going to go for a few months, they've decided on how many they're going to be. They're going to be no others. There is not going to be --

AVLON: CNN broke the news yesterday that the convention is a month earlier. I mean, they're trying to control the parameters. It is not going to be a circus of 20 debates like you had last time where it just goes on and on and on. That's what the Republicans --

CUOMO: You said laugh time. That was good for Sirius XM.

AVLON: That was good.

CUOMO: Why not? Isn't that the victory for democracy, though, you know, having as many debates as possible? You get to vet your candidates? People know who you really are. You can't hide every time.

AVLON: Look, I 100 percent agree with you, but the Republican Party, too much scrutiny. Too much time spent debating. Look, they want to control the process as much as possible. Their biggest concern is it gets out of control. And that means more opportunities for candidates to screw up.

The more debates, the better as far as I'm concerned. But this is going to be one crowded stage and the range is going to be wide.

CAMEROTA: What about the second tier I guess if you call them, those candidates, Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, do any of them cancel each other out.

AVLON: I don't know that Mike Huckabee is second tier.

CAMEROTA: You're right. I agree that's wrong. I mean, people are not the Jeb Bush --

AVLON: George Elmer Pataki, Carly Fiorina, thinking if you lose a Senate seat, you can run for president. Things like that.

CAMEROTA: Do they cancel each other out?

AVLON: No, I don't know that they cancel each other out. But, again, you've got a lot of people who run for vice president. They're pretending they're running for president, but the consideration is to be for vice president, and that's a whole definitional second tier right there, and then you get the folks, it's just bucket list, it's not now, never.

CAMEROTA: The Nolo? Is that what you call them?

AVLON: No, the Yolo.

CUOMO: I think you're trying to put stink on the former governor of New York, by using his middle name, Elmer.

AVLON: That might have happened.

CUOMO: Pataki, he's got deep pockets. He ran a big state. Don't sleep on him. Don't sleep on him.

What do you think it's going to cost? I keep hearing these numbers, you know, that --

HOOVER: People keep saying it's $1 billion.

CUOMO: A billion dollars?

HOOVER: That's what they're saying now.

CAMEROTA: Because ads are so expensive.

HOOVER: Oh, God, we're trying so hard not to get into a money in politics conversation.

CUOMO: I think nothing matters more. I really do. I think nothing matters more now.

HOOVER: You know what? You're right, money is incredibly important. My husband and I absolutely disagree on the role of money in politics. I think if there's transparency and increasingly more and more transparency, that money is OK.

By the way, Democratic donors in the 2014 cycle far outspend Republicans on hard dollars.

AVLON: That's true. And they're definitely situation ethics in terms of the outrage, when it's a liberal billionaire, they don't mind so much.

That said there are 100 people in this country who basically drive elections and everyone who is running for president can't wait to sit down with them one-on-one this he don't give a damn about the guy at Denny's. They want his vote in the last money, but it's really about the money is running the timing of the cycle. Don't kid yourselves.

HOOVER: It is about the money, but the money doesn't make the decision. I mean, more and all the Mitt Romney had, all super PAC money that Mitt Romney had, didn't win him the election. Ultimately, democracy works, the voters dollars work, you can't buy elections.

AVLON: So, you feel vindicated by the loss of Mitt Romney last time? The integrity of America?

HOOVER: No, I feel -- the integrity of America is absolutely intact and the fact that we have very expensive elections doesn't undermine democracy.

CAMEROTA: There you go. That's the perfect note to end on.

Margaret Hoover, John Avlon, thanks so much.

CUOMO: Voter rate going down, money spent on elections, going up.

CAMEROTA: But you could win.

CUOMO: Explain that to me on the Sirius XM.

(CROSSTALK)

HOOVER: Come on anytime, Chris Cuomo.

CUOMO: Hey, I like it.

A lot of news this morning, we're following all of it. So, let's get to it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The terror threat in this country --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The 20-year-old Ohio man apparently inspired by ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Accused of planning an attack on the U.S. Capitol.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe he was coerced in a lot of ways.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deadly Paris attacks were planned for years with orders coming directly from al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You better believe that there's concern right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to shoot you. I will shoot you. Hands up!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Officer Grant Morrison sobbing after taking the life of an unarmed man during a traffic stop last April.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought he was going to pull a gun on me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira.

CAMEROTA: Good morning, everyone.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: We're just peeling back the curtain a little and watching how we send people off. Yes, like that. Thanks so much for joining us.

We want to tell but the breaking news, because an Ohio man is in jail this morning for plotting to carry out an ISIS-inspired attack on the U.S. Capitol. Federal authorities say his plan to surround the building with bombs and then shoot people as they ran for their lives. This 20-year-old was on the FBI's radar for months because of social media posts he made talking about violent jihad.

CUOMO: We've got the latest for you right now.

Let's get to Alexandra Field who is live in Cincinnati.

Alexandra, what do we know?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Chris.

Whatever he may have written online, Christopher Cornell's father says his son wasn't capable of pulling off an attack. He says his son barely left the house, he had only taken a recent interest in Islam and he had never even mentioned ISIS. But when Cornell turned up at this gun shop two miles from his house, authorities decided it was time to step in.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FIELD (voice-over): An Ohio man now in custody for allegedly plotting an ISIS-inspired attack at the U.S. Capitol. Officials say Christopher Lee Cornell was planning to detonate pipe bombs around the building and shoot people as they fled.

The 20-year-old came to the FBI's attention several months ago for alarming social media posts, talking about violent jihad.

In an undercover operation, the FBI said Cornell told an informant he had contacts overseas, he had aligned himself with ISIS and believed lawmakers were his enemy. A criminal complaint says Cornell did not think he would receive authorization to conduct a terrorist attack in the United States, but wanted to wage jihad on his own, writing, "I believe we should meet up and make our own group in alliance with the Islamic State here and plan operations ourselves." He researched the targeted government buildings and the construction of pipe bombs.

Wednesday, Cornell purchased two M-15s and 600 rounds of ammunition from this gun store in Cincinnati before FBI agents arrested him in the parking lot.

WKRC obtained this image of his arrest from a customer inside a nearby store. The gun store owner, who had been cooperating with authorities, described Cornell's demeanor.

JOHN DEAN, POINT BLANK GUN STORE OWNER: There wasn't really anything about him that would have suggested he was involved in something like this.

FIELD: His parents, devastated and in shock.

ANGELA CARMEN, MOTHER OF CHRISTOPHER LEE CORNELL: I'm just heartbroken. I want to give him a big hug and bring him home, because he ain't out to hurt nobody.