Transcripts For CNNW The Situation Room 20150109 : compareme

Sieges that he was condemned three years, including 18 months of imprisonment [ inaudible ] as well as the earlier matter which he had avoided following the information in the suburbs and information that we had against him. Also need to say that the terrorist jihadist individuals were trained and we knew that theyd been in syria and yemen. Research was information was issued about the two brothers Cherif Kouachi was put into Police Custody given criminal infringements which he had carried out, large numbers of investigations investigations, telephone inquiries, police raids took place throughout the evening and the night in order to find the kouachi brothers anywhere where they could be accommodated. Thus with this operation, different members were questioned about the kouachi brothers and were detained. With a view to planning preparing acts of terror against other people the first testimonies came from two or three the first was a witness about the events of Charlie Hebdo. Cherif kouachis brother. The investigators were looking to find these persons who had to present themselves at the Police Station on thursday and was also detained in 23 hours. The identification of the brothers which were found by the media and led to the ending of it was decided around 3 00 in the morning the two kouachi brothers the following morning around 2 26 a. M. Were found seen at a petrol station where they attacked the owner, saying the two individuals had gone and that these two individuals were werewere threatening. There was then high surveillance which confirmed this. Id like to come back to what happened on thursday morning. A Traffic Accident took place between two vehicles in montrouge. The police intervened around 7 20 a. M. At 8 00 the police intervened at the scene of the accident having heard gunshots being fired and there were some injuries. A 9millimeter caliber weapon was found on the road and the first testimonies appeared about a man who was armed with a clashnikov rifle. There was a victim, a Police Officer and someone else who was not wounded. These were the testimonies that were gathered and appears to have shot and attacked and wounded a jean dam. The perpetrator of these facts then attacked the driver for escapeing and was then discovered near the station. These are the facts, bearing in mind everything that happened and the antiterrorist actions of the Public Prosecutors Office of paris. The perpetrator was described as someone dressed in dark clothes with a clashnikov and carrying an arm. The witness who saw the perpetrator from close by managed to help draw a descriptive picture of the criminal was then seen near the scene of the crime and then similarities which existed from these different testimonies, we know this today. But this was not about the same crime. In this context, given the events the threats which existed on the territory and these different jihadist terrorist threats and attacks and the characteristic in which this tragic event aiming at the forces of law and order, the police decided to intervene at the scene of these killings given all these infringements of the law that have taken place. This inquiry was part of the first file of the Judicial Police of paris under the direct antiterrorist management of Judicial Police as well as the director general. The paris prosecutor speaking out. Well continue to monitor what hes saying. Happening now, breaking news on the run, three terrorists are dead in two violent shootouts with police. But a female suspect apparently escapes and a new hunt begins. Day of horror a siege of a kosher market leaves a gunman and four hostages dead and the two brothers who massacred a dozen people on the attack on a magazine are killed in a final standoff. In a chilling last phone call one of the gunmen says he was trained and sent by the terror group. And the u. S. On alert. The fbi warning tonight in events in paris raise serious new concerns about the Terror Threat in this country as well. Im wolf blitzer. Youre in the situation room. The breaking news amid shattering explosions and gunfire, three terrorists are dead tonight, one suspect is on the run after bloody standoffs with French Police. In a Paris Suburb Police kill the two gunmen who slaughtered a dozen people on wednesdays attack on a satirical magazine. And they stormed a Kosher Grocery store. The gunman was killed but so were four hostages. And a female suspect apparently escaped. Were learning much more about how the terrorists were linked in a stunning revelation. One of them spoke by phone with a cnn affiliate saying he was working for al qaeda in yemen. And first on cnn, the fbi and Homeland Security have sent out a nationwide bulletin warning that the paris attacks may have grave implications for the United States. The Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman richard burr is standing by live along with our analysts reporters and guests. Chris cuomo is on the scene for us with the very latest. Chris . Reporter wolf all of this would have been unimaginable just a week ago. But now theres a painful reality here in paris about the threat that is posed and the potential for impact. And even though we have seen these two dramatic standoffs come to a conclusion, the situation is far from over. After a day of chaos, explosions and death, tonight an allout manhunt across europe for this woman, believed to be the lone terrorist to survive these simultaneous assaults by police on the two locations where hostages were being held. Early friday morning, police close in on the two brothers holed up in a print shop near Charles De Gaulle airport. We were standing in front of the door to the factory. I shook the hand of the owner and the terrorist. He introduced himself as a policeman. Reporter a french journal resist called the building and talked with a man identified as the older brother who pledged his allegiance to an island leader. Translator we are the defender rs of the prophet muhammad. I was sent me Cherif Kouachi, and Anwar Al Awlaki financed my trip. Reporter the brothers reportedly said they wanted to die as martyrs. At 5 00 p. M. Local time they moved out of the building and began shooting at police. As police stormed the building it was a dramatic scene of explosions and gunfire. At the same time a Second Police assault was launched on a kosher supermarket in paris where a close associate of the brothers had taken hostages. Translator the individual immediately entered the shop and fired his weapon. Seems he may be the same one who yesterday killed our colleague in cold blood. Reporter police say that terrorist killed a policewoman on thursday. But as scores of police moved in and many hostages were being freed, his accomplice a 26yearold female may have escaped among them. Tonight frances president says the risks the country faces from fanaticism are far from over. Translator france is not finished with this threat and so i want to call on you for individual lancevigilance vigilance, mobilization and uni unity unity. Reporter the implications are obvious from this situation. But there are so many questions, questions about what this means for the Muslim Community here for the Jewish Community here for how they treat Terror Threats here. A lot of questions have been raised as eyes have been opened to what is the painful new reality that the war on terror isnt just being fought abroad as the president said it is being fought right here at home. The president of france Francois Hollande as you know chris, called the attack on that kosher supermarket on act of antisemitism antisemitism. Do we know the identities do we know the four People Killed by this terrorist inside that supermarket . Reporter we dont. But we know a lot of other things that provided some con contextual value. He could have picked other stores in that area but he didnt. We dont know the identity of the hostages who lost their lives. We do know that he admitted to killing them before this assault to a journalist even though during the phone call with the journalist he stayed away from saying why he targeted that grocery. Many believe that the reason is clear. As you well know wolf the idea of antisemitism being generated out of the muslim Extremist Community even here in paris is not new. Its been on the rise. Weve seen an unusual, woman would say unprecedented number of jews leaving here and going back to israel. The problem is real and palpable. And many believe it was demonstrated by what was done today. The irony of course wolf, is that that store may be kosher but it is also used by many muslims using to fill their religious dietary needs. Just a complete shame by everyones account. A lot of jews and muslims share one thing, they dont eat pork. Thats why so many muslims go to Kosher Grocery stores not only in france but all over the world. Quick question about this terrorist, 26yearold amedi coulibaly, any explanation why he would murder these four individuals, these four people in the Grocery Store before he even had any hostage rescue operation was under way . Reporter several theories have been offered by those close to the investigation, wolf. One is anger and spite. He did not explain it as an extension of his mission. He said that was just about the police but thats one explanation offered. A second one might have been logistical for lack of a better word that when he entered, people tried to flee and he wound up shooting them. Those are the two main ones. A third one offered is that he became startled once he was inside people tried to escape after along the way and he did it or it could have been a lie. The problem with it being a lie is that it turns out that four people did lose their lives. The names, again, though not known at this point. Other hostages were wounded as were some of the s. W. A. T. Team personnel who entered there to save their lives. Chris cuomo doing amazing work for us. Chris, thank you very much. Lets stay in paris. Our chief National Security correspondent jim sciutto is on the scene also doing amazing work for all of our viewers. You were at the scene, you were there at that Kosher Grocery store, the standoff continued for hours. Give us some perspective on what was going on. Reporter wolf ill tell you, until a short time ago, this entire neighborhood was on lockdown. In several blocks in each direction, that Kosher Grocery store just down behind me here. The tension throughout the day was palpable. In the hours leading up to this raid you had dozens of Tactical Police surrounding this Kosher Grocery store. There was a sense that something was going to happen but there would be no warning. And then indeed with no warning, we heard those explosions we heard those gunshots. And i have to say, having been to afghanistan, iraq many times, it was reminiscent for me of sights and sounds ive heard and scene and witnessed there many times. But today i was witnessing right here in the middle of paris on an otherwise beautiful winter day. Here was the moment on our air when we heard those explosions when that raid began. Now im hearing gunfire. Multiple shots, automatic fire. Im going to stop speaking so you can hear it as well as i am. Its continuing. Another explosion. This all happening about 300 yards from where we are at this kosher market. We now have this incredible video, as you know wolf. A tight shot in effect, of the moment when those Tactical Police entered the Grocery Store. Ive covered a lot of terror attacks. Ive never seen quite a video account like this where you see it so well. Those first images where you see some of the dead bodies on the floor of the hostages and then later you see the moment when it appears that the attacker charges the police and you see that moment we wont show it on the air. But you see right before that moment when that attacker is taken down. One thing to take away from that video, we often have the impression that these operations while they are the most trained groups this french antiterror group is the delta force equivalent here in france. Theyre very experienced at these sorts of operations. But we have the false impression that everything is so organized, everything goes according to plan. But you could see in any raid like this that there is a measure of chaos there. No one knows whats going to happen until it happens. As they say, the best plans disappear the first moment of contact. We saw that there. Another thing i might mention, the human cost, the human tension throughout this. One consequence of this neighborhood being on lockdown during and before this raid was that many parents were separated from their children. All the schools in this area were on lockdown. And i saw many parents in the hours before the raid who were pleading with police saying my child is inside the cordon. But the police would not let them inside the cordon. It was only about an hour after the raid when finally those children were let out of school. We were there. We saw them being reunited with their parents. This was a moment of relief. But ill tell you as well we heard it from the police chief, from the french president on national tv earlier, this is still a city on alert. You have that female suspect on the loose and you have warnings about further attacks. The sad fact is this becoming a fact of life here not only in france but elsewhere in europe and sadly as weve heard, its this kind of attack that theyre very concerned about happening on u. S. Soil as well. Three terrorists dead. But that female suspect still very much on the loose right now. Hayat boumedien. How did she get away . Was she inside the Grocery Store, not inside the Grocery Store . Did she run out when some of the other hostages ran out . Do we know how she managed to escape . Reporter to the best of our knowledge, to the best of the Police Information now, they believe she was inside the store and she escaped in the chaos. Some looked at the video of the hostages that survived saying maybe one of those is the woman. She went in the other direction. Some went this way. But it hasnt been confirmed. Just too much confusion at this point. I think we have to have an element of doubt here because, remember on that first day, there was talk of three attackers. The third attacker who turned himself in youll remember he has an al libi friends of his what says they were with him at the time. So questions about the third attacker is there someone else the police dont have records on. So there are still questions as to who is at large and where they were as these raids took place, wolf. Jim sciutto, well get back to you. Jims in paris for us. We just heard part of that chilling phone call in which one of the gunmen behind the magazine massacre said he was sent by al qaedas yemen affiliate, raising serious new concerns in this country. It may pave the way for more action in yemen by the United States, military and the cia. Our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, is joining us now. What are you learning . Reporter the younger brother, Cherif Kouachi, said today hed went to yemen. But thats not the brother the u. S. Is focusing on. Theyre focusing on the older brother, said. The u. S. Believes he went to yemen in 2011 received weapons training but not just weapons training. He came to the attention of Anwar Al Awlaki the americanborn cleric who is the leader of al qaeda external operations back in 2011 there before he was killed. He might have even met al qaedas master bombmaker in europe, al aseery. What skills did he learn . When he came back to paris, he went underground essentially. People lost track of him. What was he doing between 2011 and this week when this attack was launched . Right now, the u. S. Is looking at that claim that al qaeda in yemen ordered the attack. But what were the kouachi brothers doing between 2011 and now, wolf . And the assumption is they were involved with al qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in yemen, not necessarily with isis right . Reporter thats the working theory at the moment. The u. S. Is well aware of all the rumors that were involved with isis. But u. S. Officials tell me they cant confirm it. Barbara, thank you. Lets bring in the new chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee, republican senator richard burr of north carolina. Senator, thanks very much for joining us. Let me get right to some of the specifics. A. P. Is reporting a member of al qaeda in yemen has now said that they did, in fact direct this attack that theyre claiming credit, responsibility for it. What are you hearing . Wolf i think its too early to know. We hear the same reports and its pretty tough to run down whether theres validity in it. You know a group was going to come out and claim credit. What we do know today is we had two terrorist events we now know were linked. Thats an incredible thing. We also know that all of the participants seemed to have traveled and were in a country that trained them financed them to some degree but more importantly today we learned they were directed at what they did. These are incredible things. And its really going to set the Global Intelligence community on their ear to try to search out and find whats next. Do you know what happened to this female