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THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER
Interview With Senior Presidential Adviser Valerie Jarrett; ISIS Holding Japanese Hostages; Terror Crackdown; AirAsia Jet Climbed "Too Fast" Before Crash
Aired January 20, 2015 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Live from Capitol Hill tonight, showdown at the State of the Union.
I'm Jake Tapper. This is THE LEAD.
The world lead. A scene absolutely no one wanted to see again, Jihadi John, ISIS' hooded messenger, back on camera put being his knife to the throat of two Japanese hostages and putting a price on their lives.
Plus, Europe continues to crack down on terror, more arrests, more police hunting for terrorists in the shadows, while a key U.S. ally and a breeding ground for al Qaeda descends further into chaos.
Plus, it takes weeks to prepare, months even, countless draft, a fridge full of Red Bulls, perhaps snifter of single malt scotch to write. But with the world seemingly coming unhinged, is the White House rewriting tonight's prepared text for the State of the Union?
Welcome to THE LEAD, everyone. I'm Jake Tapper, live today from Capitol Hill.
We're just steps away from Statutory Hall, where -- which the entire Congress and Cabinet and even a few members of the Supreme Court will parade through tonight for the president's State of the Union address. Much, much more on the speech later in the hour and throughout the night.
But today we begin with our world lead and two very fast-developing stories around the globe with possible, possible, if not probable consequences right here at home.
First, Yemen, a terrorist hot spot where al Qaeda has been planning to strike the U.S. again, today set aflame by a coup, while al Qaeda's last successful target, Europe, they remain on edge over the looming threat of another terrorism attack.
Today in Paris, where the "Charlie Hebdo" slaughter thrust police into overdrive, five more arrests were made. A group of Chechens were allegedly building bombs when police moved in. That's according to a French prosecutor.
Also today in neighboring Germany, 13 raids across that country, targeting suspected jihadis, men officials say had connections to two radicals accused of supporting the terrorist group ISIS. It's unclear how many police arrested or if the suspects detained in Germany were plotting attacks at all. But maybe the most intense search today still ongoing, the hunt for this man, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.
He's a Moroccan who Belgian security sources says is the ringleader and the link between a terror network in Belgium, the one that was minutes away, according to authorities, from putting a deadly plan into motion last week, and senior ISIS leader in Iraq and Syria.
The big questions here, could any of these cases be linked? Where is the evidence against these people? What exactly are their connections to ISIS or to the terrorists who carried out the Paris attacks?
CNN's Pamela Brown is in France. She's tracking all of this.
Pamela, what are you learning?
PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, a growing cast of characters related to the Belgian plot, as well as the Paris attacks has authorities really across Europe working overtime.
Now we have obtained exclusive video of one of the Paris suspects and his wife, which is providing new clues in the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN (voice-over): This exclusive surveillance video obtained by CNN shows Amedy Coulibaly and his partner, Hayat Boumeddiene, last summer outside a Jewish institution in Paris. Sources tell CNN the duo was trying to blend in and scope out potential Jewish targets months before Coulibaly eventually launched a siege on a kosher grocery store where he killed four people.
Today in France, authorities charged four in connection with the Paris attacks, the first since the "Charlie Hebdo" massacre shocked the city. One of the suspect's DNA was allegedly found on a car used to transport Coulibaly to the kosher grocery store, this as we learned Bulgaria will extradite this Frenchman who was friends with the Kouachi brothers.
The mayor of Paris tells Christiane Amanpour the city is still on heightened alert. "We have to be very vigilant," she said, "because for several months now, we have known that jihadist teams have been setting up in Europe and France."
Overnight in Germany, 200 police officers raided 13 properties of a group tied to Islamic extremists.
JEAN-CHARLES BRISARD, TERRORISM ANALYST: We're dealing with very complex networks. We need to be very cautious of what we're doing, especially in our analysis of what is going on, whether these individuals have been inspired or directed by any of these groups.
BROWN: In Belgium, counterterrorism sources says ISIS directed a plot that may have included attempts to murder police officers. Several suspects are in custody, but a manhunt is still under way for one of the cell's suspected ringleaders, Belgian ISIS operative Abdelhamid Abaaoud.
Authorities believe he may have been in touch with ISIS leadership from Greece.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BROWN: And today in Holland, police there raided the home of one of the suspects allegedly associated with that Belgian terror cell. They confiscated his computer and cell phones.
Jake, it's clear that the investigation there in Belgium and here in Paris still very active.
TAPPER: Pamela Brown live in Paris, thanks so much. Chilling video.
Today, the U.S. government condemned a new threat from the terrorist group ISIS. The terrorist group is demanding $200 million in exchange for the lives of two Japanese men.
CNN is only showing images and not the actual video. But just like in the past, we see hostages in orange jumpsuits helpless on their knees. Also, just like in the past, we could hear the demands from the same man seen in the other gruesome videos, just like this one, a terrorist leader dubbed Jihadi John.
CNN senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns watched the video.
Joe, what other similarities did you observe?
JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, this video is chilling. It's also familiar. It appears to be in the same or a similar place as other videos were shot. And the man issuing the threat appears similar in many respects to Jihadi John, giving the government of Japan a 72-hour ultimatum.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS (voice-over): In the latest ISIS hostage video, the voice, the British accent, the eyes, it looks and sounds like an encore appearance of arguably the world's most wanted man widely known as Jihadi John.
There were reports Jihadi John was injured in an allied bombing attack. But the video would suggest, if it's really him, that he's alive and well enough to make a death threat accompanied by a demand for money, calling for Japan to ray ransom of $200, equaling the amount Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently offered in humanitarian aid to countries affected by ISIS.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just as how your government has made the foolish decision to pay $200 million to fight Islamic State, you now have 72 hours to pressure your government in making a wise decision by paying the 4200 million to save the lives of your citizens.
JOHNS: All of the ISIS videos are propaganda, used by the organization to raise money and recruit followers. This video seeks to project strength while extorting money.
PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: It shows them resilient, that they're able to film this video with these Japanese hostages outside in broad daylight somewhere presumably in Syria.
JOHNS: It's anybody's guess what Japan, which has no military involvement with ISIS, will do about the hostages, military contractor Haruna Yukawa and journalist Kenji Goto, though immense international pressure is expected to prevent them from paying a ransom that could fund more ISIS terror.
Meanwhile, intelligence analysts along with allied military and law enforcement officials, continue their so far futile effort to locate, capture or kill a man who has become the face of evil, Jihadi John.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), U.S. AIR FORCE: ISIS operates in what we call denied territory. And that means by definition, that it's very hard for our folks to get in there, it's very hard for them to actually lay eyes on target.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
JOHNS: Japan's prime minister has said the lives of the hostages are a priority, and a government spokesman did not rule out a ransom payment. The man issuing the threat on the video said the cost for each hostage was $100 million apiece -- Jake.
TAPPER: Joe Johns, thanks so much.
The other major breaking story this hour out of Yemen, where that country's information minister tells CNN that the government has lost control. Shiite insurgents, Houthis, stormed the presidential palace today, threatening to turn Yemen, one of the main fronts into the U.S. war on terror, into a failed state.
Yemen has been one of the most important U.S. allies in the fight against terrorism. It's a country that has also been a staging ground for terrorist plots; the USS Cole bombing, which killed 17 American sailors in 2000, that happened in Yemen. The underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Yemeni. Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born cleric and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operational chief until his death by U.S. drone in 2011, he was headquartered in Yemen.
CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is the on the ground in Sanaa, Yemen. He's the only Western journalist in that country right now.
Nick, much of today's fighting concentrated around the presidential palace, but now we're hearing that key airports, roads are all being shut down. What's happening there right now?
NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's quiet in the capital now. It seems as though the Houthi rebels, who moved in today to take over the president's administration that had been fought over the day before, they appeared to have made their point and their leader has appeared on television here and asked for changes be made to the new constitution, really, I think laying out a kind of broad program of increased desire to have his hands on the levers of power without necessarily having any titles to go with that.
He still calls the president the president, President Hadi. President Hadi was in his residence today and there was intense gunfire in the streets outside. He is safe, we understand, but I think many of his cabinet members aren't quite sure if they need to turn up to work tomorrow.
It's a state really with a huge vacuum at the top. We don't know if the Houthis want Hadi to stay. We do know they appear to be still calling him the president. We do know that certain areas in the south of the country are still loyal and are talking about potentially closing roads there.
Then there's the potential for a rift in the nation. And I think the major fear, though, is because the Houthis have proven their power on the streets in the last day or so, we have to wait and see whether that translates into a desire to take over the government or whether they want to keep Hadi in place as a figurehead and allow themselves to basically explain to everybody, don't do what we like, we will remind you how powerful we can be -- Jake.
TAPPER: Nick, the U.S., we're told, is mobilizing warships, helicopters, preparing to evacuate the U.S. Embassy there if need be. Senator Dianne Feinstein today, she's on the Senate Intelligence Committee, she said that the U.S. needs to get out now. Any update on if or when that might happen?
WALSH: It doesn't look imminent, in all honesty.
Yes, one of their vehicles was shot up on the way back in to the embassy it seemed last night. That was an armored vehicle, and it was clear quite from the statement I got from the U.S. Embassy they believe there was intent by the government to kill or injure those inside.
But the U.S. diplomats in that vehicle escaped unhurt. This is a very volatile situation, but you must be weighing off surely if you're in the State Department whether or not you lose too much by simply pulling all your staff at this sign of instability and lose the ability to negotiate or try and talk to the new figures of power here as this huge change seems to be under way vs. the post-Benghazi desire to do the absolute maximum possible to be sure that no harm comes to any U.S. diplomat.
The embassy here is already at a heightened security posture. It's Yemen. They have a drone program here. There are many people who do not like them at all. I think today's events have certainly made many in Washington wonder quite when the moment of evacuation would be. But it doesn't seem to be imminent at all, Jake.
TAPPER: Nick Paton Walsh in Sanaa, Yemen, I know I don't need to tell you to stay safe, but please stay safe.
The president of the United States is undoubtedly still poring over his State of the Union speech for tonight. But with additional terror arrests, a new ISIS hostage video, Yemen's presidential palace taken over by militants, how will President Obama address these critical world events? His senior adviser and close personal friend Valerie Jarrett will join me when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD. We're live from Capitol Hill with our politics lead today.
Just a few hours from now in the building you're just looking at, President Obama will speak directly to the American people in his State of the Union Address. The economy will no doubt be most of his message, with a side of immigration, climate change, and foreign policy. Given everything that's happening in the world, the president will also be expected to serve up a healthy portion of strategies to combat terrorism, the country's mission to degrade and destroy the dangerous terrorist network ISIS, for instance, a mission that's so far has not been completely successful to say the least.
Joining me now is Valerie Jarrett. She's a senior adviser to President Obama. She also oversees the offices of public engagement and intergovernmental affairs.
Mrs. Jarrett, this is your first appearance on THE LEAD. We had the president before we had you. You're tougher to book. So, thank you so much for joining us.
VALERIE JARRETT, PRESIDENT OBAMA'S SENIOR ADVISOR: Good evening, Jake. It's a pleasure to be with you.
TAPPER: So, let's start with the terrorist threat facing our country. We'll get to the State of the Union in a sec. ISIS has been directly linked to a terrorist plot in Belgium, targeting police officers. There's a new video today of ISIS fighters threatening to kill two Japanese hostages if they don't get $200 million ransom.
Even with the airstrikes being carried out by the U.S. coalition, this group doesn't seem to be degraded or destroyed much at all. Is it possibly time for a shift in strategy?
JARRETT: Well, Jake, first of all, I want to say there's nothing more important to the president than the safety and security of the American people. And he will -- he will implement whatever strategy he thinks best will affect that.
We are constantly in touch with our colleagues around the world, specifically in Yemen. Obviously, the State Department is in close touch with the folks at the embassy there, monitoring the situation. The president is receiving regular updates on world events and this is a top priority for his. We do think our strategy is working and he's constantly reevaluating it and determining what he thinks serves that purpose of keeping us safe the best.
TAPPER: After the attacks on "Charlie Hebdo" magazine in Paris, as well as the policewoman who was killed, and the four Jewish Frenchmen killed at the supermarket, we heard comments from former Obama administration officials, specifically U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and former CIA acting director, Mike Morell, warning that the same kind of attack could happen here, that same kind ISIS-inspired attack. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS)
MICHAEL MORELL, FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR, CIA: We had the Ft. Hood shootings. We had the Boston bombings. So, we've had radicalized Americans conduct these attacks. I expect more. I think we're going to see a Paris-style attack here. We need to be prepared for that.
LEON PANETTA, FORMER DIRECTOR, CIA: They are engaged in a much more aggressive effort to conduct violence not only in Europe but I think it's a matter of time before they direct it at the United States as well.
(END VIDEO CLIPS)
TAPPER: Valerie, is there any information indicating that the threat to the U.S. homeland is worse now than it was a year or two ago? These are two former CIA directors who seem to be saying, be prepared for what happened in Europe to happen here.
JARRETT: Well, I think the point that's an important one is that we have to be vigilant. We have to be prepared. When I say "we," I mean, certainly, the president and his team are going to do everything within our power, but also the American people. We encourage them to have a watchful eye, pay attention to what's going on around you. Everyone should be vigilant.
I don't have a crystal ball. I don't have any specific threats to comment on at this time, but we certainly realize that the world is a dangerous place and we should all be as vigilant as possible. And I go back to what I said at the beginning, keeping America safe is a top priority to the president. He devotes an enormous amount of his personal time and energy to developing strategies, closely monitoring them, change when necessary to ensure that safety.
TAPPER: Let's talk about the president's plans to lay out this evening. It's a pretty progressive agenda, tax cuts and credits for the middle class, some tax hikes for more affluent Americans, two free years of community college for people who qualify. Republicans who now control the House and Senate, vowed not to raise taxes.
So, I guess the question is, can President Obama find spending cuts to pay for these plans as opposed to tax hikes?
JARRETT: Look, I think what the president will do this evening is set forth what he thinks is the best way of accomplishing our goal of growing the middle class, building opportunities for people to move into the middle class, making sure that wages are stretched as far as possible, creating jobs, making sure that our workers are trained for those high paying jobs of the future. And I don't consider that a partisan agenda. I consider that an agenda about strengthening the middle class and strengthening the economy of our country. We have now had 58 straight months of private sector job growth, 11.2
million jobs. But we still know that wages need to go up more. That's why the president has set forth a series of policies that he thinks will help those folks who are sitting around their kitchen table trying to figure out how to make ends meet. And he's invited some guests that will join the first lady tonight and help tell their stories.
Rebecca from Minnesota, for example, who wanted to work. Her husband was in the construction business right when the housing market fell apart. Here they are struggling, and they couldn't afford child care.
And so, yes, it makes sense to have a $3,000 tax credit for child care so people don't have to choose between working and providing child care -- affordable child care for their families. And so, very pragmatic steps that he will outline tonight that he thinks will strengthen the economy.
We now have a six-year track record that demonstrates that the president's policies and programs have worked. And we need to continue those efforts.
TAPPER: Valerie Jarrett, thank you so much. Appreciate your time.
Be sure to tune in to CNN's live coverage of the State of the Union beginning at 7:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
Coming up, was it a last-ditch effort to save the doomed plane? New details on the final seconds of AirAsia Flight 8501 and the risky move pilots made just before it crash.
Plus, he surfs, he downhill skis, he just got his pilot's license. All this after losing both his legs on the battlefield in Afghanistan. Where does this former soldier who will be the first lady's guest tonight get his unbreakable spirit? We'll talk to him, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: Welcome back to THE LEAD.
So far, the few things we do know about its final moments do not provide any clue as to how or why AirAsia Flight 8501 dropped out of the sky killing all the passengers and crew on board. But now, today, for the first time, investigators are on to something that could help explain the mystery behind this crash that claimed 162 lives.
CNN national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux has all the latest.
Suzanne, what can you tell us?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have new information, Jake, today into what might have caused AirAsia Flight 8501 to crash. Investigators are now looking into the moments just before the plane went down, telling us now that the aircraft climbed so fast that it wouldn't have been able to keep flying.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Indonesia's transportation minister says AirAsia Flight 8501 was climbing at 6,000 feet per minute just seconds before it stalled and crashed into the Java Sea.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Right away, there would have been warnings going off. There would have been overspeed warnings, there would have been engine warnings, there have been altitude and pitch alert.
MALVEAUX: A big problem because commercial aircraft like the Airbus 320 are designed to climb 1,000 to 2,000 feet per minute, less than half the speed the doomed aircraft was apparently ascending. When a plane goes up so dramatically, it can loose lift and come crashing back to the ground.
SCHIAVO: The way to recover is to put the nose down or, in the case of an Airbus flying on autopilot, to let the autopilot take over, but I suspect that was not an option here because there was so much going on.
MALVEAUX: Investigators have been pouring over the cockpit voice and flight voice recorders which collect information on the plane's speed and altitude. Indonesian records said the recorders did not pick up sound of gunfire or an explosion, for the moment, ruling out the most sinister scenario.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The voice from the cockpit does not show any sign of a terrorist attack. It is only the pilot sounding very busy.
MALVEAUX: The pilot had asked permission to increase his altitude, to try to avoid severe thunderstorms. Meanwhile, the painstaking search for remains continues, only 53 of the 162 on board have been recovered. The largest piece of the wreckage, the fuselage, remains at the bottom of the ocean where investigators suspect many of the bodies could be. The head of Indonesia's national search and rescue agency says the search for victims will not stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): After we close, we will continue our daily search and rescue effort. We will fulfill their hopes with all our best effort.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: The problem has been the current, which has prevented divers from reaching the bottom. And, at this point, sadly, those remains are decomposing. Now, as for the investigation, we're told that the transcript of the pilots' conversation is about halfway complete. That's going to be used, along with the data, from those recorders to come up with a preliminary report, and that we expect is going to be released within just days, Jake.
TAPPER: Suzanne Malveaux, thank you so much.
