Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Investigators Working to Identify Remains of Two Suspected Terrorists; Whereabouts of Abaaoud Unknown; Women Kill in Name of Religion, Ideology Not Uncommon; Common for Family Members to Commit Attacks Together; Russia Hits ISIS Oil Tankers; Activists Smuggle Video Out of ISIS Capital. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired November 19, 2015 - 01:00   ET

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


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:00] JOHN VAUSE, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Thanks for staying with us, everybody. You're watching CNN's continuing coverage of the terror attacks in Paris.

I'm John Vause in Los Angeles, where it's just around 10 o'clock on a Wednesday night.

ISHA SESAY, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW CO-HOST: And I'm Isha Sesay.

Investigators are working to identify the remains of two suspected terrorists who died during the massive in the Paris -- of St-Denis. They were targeting the alleged planner of Friday's attacks in Paris, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. But his whereabouts remain unknown.

VAUSE: Dramatic image of video from early Wednesday giving a sense of the overwhelming force police used in that pre-dawn raid. Eight people were arrested. Authorities say they moved in just in time to keep the suspects from launching yet another attack.

SESAY: Well, ISIS is now threatening New York City as well. The group released a video showing Times Square, and someone zipping a jacket over what looks look a suicide belt. Law enforcement officials tell CNN the footage is old and nothing more than propaganda. And the mayor has just reiterated publicly that there is no specific threat to the city.

VAUSE: There are officials who say five Syrian nationals traveling on passports stolen in Greece are being investigated on charges of falsifying documents.

SESAY: The men were detained after traveling from Syria to Honduras through five other countries. Police have not confirmed it, but say the men may be trying to reach the United States.

So far, police have not linked them to terrorism. And ISIS claimed it has killed two more hostages, one from China, the other from Norway. The Chinese President Xi Jinping condemned the killing and offered condolences to the victim's families. VAUSE: OK. Let's bring in now our senior international correspondent

Frederik Pleitgen here live again in Paris. It is just around 7 in the morning there.

So, Fred, we are learning more about that raid, a massive amount of fire power which French authorities used as they try to apprehend these suspects, leaving two dead, eight arrested.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. There is a huge amount of fire power that went on. Also of course, the raid did take a very long time. The police themselves for hours were stationed in front of those apartments and we could see the Special Forces are called the BRI, obviously in full gear.

Also some of them having shields in front of them, apparently in an attempt to make sure that no one gets shot as they are in front of that apartment. And many people wondered why it was able for the authorities to find these terrorists in those apartments so quickly.

Remember, the police telling us that they only had the apartment under observation for about 24 hours when they decided to make their move. Now it appears as though, it was key intelligence that led police to the scene of Wednesday morning's raid in that suburb of St-Denis.

Our own Nic Robertson has that part of the story.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Police sources tell CNN the raid in St-Denis was right on time because the suspects were ready to strike, according to French authorities.

Police zeroed in on the apartment after they picked up telephone communications from a wiretap late Tuesday. The Belgium counterterrorism official tells CNN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: They intercepted communication of wiretap indicating that a relative of Abdelhamid Abaaoud was in this location. So, the thought was, well, perhaps he could be there as there. Because the French had also developed separately strong information suggesting that he was in Paris.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Belgian officials say a woman blew herself up during Wednesday's raid. Investigators are now using DNA to analyze body parts found in the building to determine whether Abaaoud was there and if he was killed.

Police are also looking at cell phones believed to belonged to the attackers and found at the scenes of Friday's attacks. French authorities say one of the phones was found in a garbage can near the Bataclan hall.

According to officials it contained a message sent before the attacks began to the effect of "OK, we're ready." Investigators say this may have been the coordination message that launched Friday night's attacks. French authorities say clues found on the phones helped lead them to St-Denis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We have evidence collected over phones, surveillance video footage, and witness testimony that suggests Abaaoud was present in a conspirator's apartment in St-Denis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:05:01] ROBERTSON: Intelligence officials tell CNN they found encrypted apps on the phones, which appear to have left no electronic trace of any messages, or any indication of who would have been receiving them. All small pieces of a larger puzzle.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Paris.

PLEITGEN: Of course, as we're speaking here, the forensic work is still going on after that raid in that apartment. Of course, we know that two people were killed. At this point, it's unclear whether one of them was that ringleader, Abdelhamid -- Abdelhamid Abaaoud, whether or not he was present in that apartment.

It's not clear when are we're going to get the results of that DNA testing. The authorities at this point say, they simply do not know whether he was there or not.

However, they do know that a relative of his was there inside the apartment. That, of course, was also, as Nic just reported, one of the reasons why they decided to start that raid, hoping that he might be there as well.

SESAY: Fred, Isha here, we're also hearing that there was a connection between Abdelhamid Abaaoud and the other Paris attack suspect, Salah Abdeslam. What more can you tell us about that.

PLEITGEN: You know what, some people almost call all of this something like a family affair. Because you have some families involved in all of this. First of all, the Abdelhamid Abaaoud and Salah Abdeslam, they were friends. They were friends, apparently going back to the time they were youths.

They also spent some jail time together. So, these were people who knew each other very well. And then you have these family connections. You have Abaaoud and you have his cousin. One of them of course the ringleader, the other one present at that apartment in St-Denis.

And then you have the three Abdeslam brothers all of them apparently implicated in this plot as well. And then you have the connection between Abdeslam and Abaaoud that shows that there was apparently an intricate web.

And it does also show that these people have some very strong bonds which seemed to indicate that they felt that they could trust each other to a point where they were conducting all of this together. So, it's certainly is something where the authorities are looking into

these ties that these people had with each other and it really is a remarkable fact how close these ties actually were, Isha.

SESAY: Remarkable indeed. Very much an intricate web. Our Fred Pleitgen joining us there from Paris. Fred, I appreciate it. Thank you.

VAUSE: ISIS has gone public. A photo claims is a homemade bomb that took down a Russian passenger jet last month.

SESAY: CNN's Rene Marsh talks to explosives experts to see if the claim could be legitimate.

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: This is the bomb ISIS claims they used to bring down the Russian passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula. The picture posted in an ISIS propaganda magazine shows what appears to be explosive material concealed in a soda can, along with wires and a detonator with an on and off switch.

CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the photo. The article says ISIS, quote, "Discovered a way to compromise the security at the Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport where Metro Jet departed." And a quote, "Bomb was smuggled on to the airplane."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT: We will search for them everywhere, wherever they're hiding.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: The news comes one day after Russia's President, Vladimir Putin said nearly two pounds of explosive material blew the passenger plane out of the sky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY MAY, RETIRED ATF EXPLOSIVES ENFORCEMENT OFFICER: There is doubt as to whether or not it's the device that was used to bring down the Russian aircraft.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: This retired ATF agent says the on and off switch on the detonator means a suicide bomber had to be in the cabin of the plane ready to flip the switch. Raising questions about how someone could get on the plane with a device that could easily be detected by screening machines.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAY: With this type of device that has a very high metal signature from the soda can to the battery to the switch to the wires, a completely assembled device like this would be difficult to circumvent normal security. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: U.S. officials have run the names on the passenger manifest list and found no red flags for anyone on board. ISIS previously claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 224 people. But if this is the bomb, it would be the first piece of evidence the group has put forward.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAY: The soda can has some Arabic writing that puts it in the region. The detonator or blasting cap is a commercially manufactured cap that we have seen in that region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: Well, more skeptical bomb experts question why the explosive material wasn't shown in that picture and why ISIS didn't produce video proof of them making a bomb.

As millions of Americans prepare to travel for the holiday, they should expect longer wait times at U.S. airports as CSA spends time inspecting passengers and luggage.

[01:09:56] Also more random swabbing for explosive residue and even if you have pre-checked, you could also be asked to remove shoes and laptops.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

SESAY: Well, Steve Moore is a retired special agent for the FBI, he joins us now. Once again, Steve, always good to have you with us.

As you know, there's growing -- there is growing concern about admitting Sunni refugees to the United States. Some governors saying they don't -- they won't accept them in their state. They won't allow them to resettle there.

I want you to take a listen to Chris Christie and some comments he made on the subject. And let's talk on the other side about the screening of refugees.

STEVE MOORE, RETIRED FBI SUPERVISORY SPECIAL AGENT: Sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CHRISTIE, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The president is the person who created this entire situation. He didn't keep his word when he drew a red line in Syria. He allowed the situation in Syria to happen. He hasn't set up a no-fly zone which could create a safe haven for these refugees to live safely in their own country, rather than having to scatter all across the world.

And he's the one who is casting dispersions, it's a joke. And he's a joke on this issue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Again, that's the New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, also happens to be a republican candidate for president. So, there is obviously a politics if you just heard there...

MOORE: Sure.

VAUSE: ... involved in this issue.

MOORE: Right.

VAUSE: But these governors are a majority of states who said they are concerned about the security for the people who live in their states. Do they have a point when it comes of the possibility of a terrorist sneaking into the U.S. disguised as a refugee?

MOORE: Absolutely. They have whether or not they have a point on what's morally and ethically right.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: There is a security concern.

MOORE: There is an immense security concern. Because ISIS will take this opportunity to put some of their people who are less known by authorities, or unknown by authorities, they will put them into the refugee stream. It's going to happen. It's not an 'if.' It's they are going to do it.

SESAY: That begs the question, what is the vetting process like right now.

MOORE: I have no idea what vetting process they have. But I do know that we vetted a major who went down and shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood. I know that -- I investigated a school shooting by a man who had a top secret government clearance.

So, it's not a guarantee. Could we catch some? Yes. But if you're talking about somebody who grew up in the Raqqah area, has no background of problems with the legal system, yet they're radicalized, we're not going to catch that.

VAUSE: Again, but with like 10,000 refugees here. So, we see there's an issue of scale when you're looking at that many people who are trying to come into the country, which is really a drop in the ocean compared to what countries like Germany and Canada have taken in.

Canada has also taken in another 25,000 refugees. The U.S. says 10,000. Does it now then warrant the question that surely the six- month long process that these refugees are going through, isn't there a way to ensure that you are getting the people who should be here and making sure the ones that aren't are not here. Isn't that the sort of the moral responsibility now?

MOORE: It would be the moral responsibility, but let me tell you, to get top security clearance for the U.S. government takes a year. So, how are they going to do -- I'm not saying put them through the same thing as a top secret.

But how are you now going to have enough investigators to go out within six months and do 10,000 background investigations, almost all of which are overseas. I mean, we are going to be depending upon Syria and those people to tell us, are these people dangerous?

SESAY: Steve, another issue that came to our attention today, five Syrians picked up in Honduras on fake passports, with Greek passports. Your thoughts on that and the danger, the threat of, you know, fake passports being used and as an entry point to the United States.

MOORE: Listen, we had -- I can tell you stories of going into places and seizing stacks of fake passports this tall, already stamped, already signed justice waiting for a photograph to be embossed on it. Fake passports are a big business. It's out there and they're not hard to get.

VAUSE: Who had this all worked out. Police in Honduras are tipped off by Greek officials. If they hadn't been stopped when they reached Honduras, was there another stopping point along the way or were they have entry into the U.S. through the Mexican border?

MOORE: I would have to look at the case to understand, but absent some type of information where they -- whey they said, where someone called it -- called it to light. It seems like there was nothing -- nothing on the surface that would cause somebody to question those passports.

VAUSE: OK. Steve, we appreciate your insights. Steve Moore.

SESAY: Thank you, Steve.

MOORE: Thanks.

VAUSE: Retired special agent with the FBI joining with us.

MOORE: Always a pleasure.

SESAY: Next on CNN Newsroom, war planes are pounding to ISIS strong hold of Raqqah. We'll explain why it's a major target and take a rare look inside the city.

VAUSE: Plus, we'll hear from a couple who survived the deadliest attack in Paris by pretending to be dead themselves. In our exclusive interview that tells us why even after all the horror of that night, they have no hate in their hearts.

[01:15:05] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: Hello, everyone. Our live coverage of the Paris terror attacks and the investigation continues. Friday's deadliest attack was at the Bataclan concert hall, 89 people were killed there.

Officials say they found a cell phone from an attacker just outside the venue. The text message read "The attack was about to begin." Officials are now trying to determine to whom that message was sent. VAUSE: And on Wednesday, residents of Paris continue to bring flowers

to this make-shift memorial outside the concert hall. Their message is liberty is indestructible.

Plus, we heard from a young couple who survived the concert hall attack.

SESAY: They described how they pretended to be dead. Here's our Anderson Cooper with part two of that CNN exclusive interview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, AC360 SHOW HOST: Did you think about trying to run?

ISOBEL BOWDERY, PARIS ATTACKS SURVIVOR: Yes, the first 10 minutes you think of all your options. You think how to survive what you can do and it's why the men who tried to protect me really saved my life because your reaction is to run, to fight.

[01:20:05] And he just said stay. He just said stay. And from that moment on, I didn't -- I didn't dispute my actions.

COOPER: You thought about fighting.

BOWDERY: You think about doing something. But I'm here because I didn't run. I'm here because I stayed.

COOPER: Which one thing to think about these people who did this as coming from another place. But to think that they most of them it seems came from here. They grew up here. They once listened to music, too. They once -- they grew up in this society. And yet they -- does it -- does it make any sense to you? I mean, does it...

BOWDERY: For me, and I feel very strongly about this is that those men were psychopaths. They're were -- they're not worth time talking about. To talk about them is to take away attention from the victims of this, and that's all I care about.

There are -- there are horrible excuses for humans in this world. But there are so many more great ones. And I do not want to talk about those men. They're not worth my time.

COOPER: And that's what you think about. That's what you moving forward want to remember, the people who, the man who saved you, the man -- the people who reached out to help other people, complete strangers.

BOWDERY: The survivors, the people who went through this, the people who helped me. Friends, family. People from around the world who have sent the most incredible messages of support who have warmed my heart, who have made me able to sleep at night.

So, yes, I want to remember the great -- the great acts of kind and lovely people. And that's all I'm going to take away from this.

COOPER: It is extraordinary how in the darkest of times, and the most horrific of moments, people reach out to each other and -- and save -- save people.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Many, many people (FOREIGN LANGUAGE) Many people today are looking for people they crossed paths with during the killings. It's something where truly you can't stand with your arms crossed when people are dying around you.

BOWDERY: The tragedy here is that so many people our age were killed in that attack. So many people won't get to live their lives that were just really started. And that is what we are -- we're going to do, is that we're going to live for them.

We're going to be inspired by them. We're going to be better, carry on with our lives, continue to listen to rock 'n roll, to love, to go out, to go out, to dance, to fight this horrible, horrible fear with love.

(FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's also because of this that we wrote. It's because we have a lot of friends who asked us what it was like, who maybe did not dare to ask, but at heart wanted to know.

So, I told the story once or twice, several times, but I needed, we needed, as in any testimony, to exercise ourselves from it, to put it to sleep in a text that we posted on Facebook, so that whoever wanted to know could take a look, and not ask any questions.

COOPER: Do you feel hate?

BOWDERY: None. That's what they want. They want us to fear, they want to hate. But it's so important to remember how many more great people there are than bad.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have an American friend who asked me if I wanted to arm myself. No, because it's absurd. I feel secure in Paris. It's absurd, but not really. The police did incredible work. No, it would be more dangerous to have everyone armed than not.

[01:25:00] COOPER: It's interesting when you said to fight this with love. That's important to you?

BOWDERY: It's imperative. It's imperative that we take this horrific story and learn from it, to appreciate life, to realize that the victims of this tragedy don't get their lives. So, we live, we get to live and we are incredibly lucky.

COOPER: Thank you.

BOWDERY: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: They don't stop holding hands. Did you see them clinging to each other?

SESAY: Yes, absolutely. VAUSE: Obviously they've gone through a horrific ordeal.

SESAY: Next on CNN Newsroom, it is a family affair. Look at why the use of the term brother among extremists is often quite literal.

VAUSE: Also, police raided that building in search of the Paris terrorist, the woman inside blew herself up. It's shocking, but is it unusual? We'll investigate when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: You're watching CNN's continuing live coverage of the terror attacks in Paris.

I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. Let's go live now to Plaza de La Republic there in Paris, where it's 7:30 in the morning on Thursday. And as we've seen the sun is coming up. And that is the makeshift memorial there with the flowers and the candles. As you see many people there now in the area.

[01:30:03] Some people have actually arrived there to look at this memorial. Others are getting on with their daily life. But as you can see, the memorial has been growing since this terrorist attack occurred on Friday.

SESAY: People paying their respects and saying they won't be divided, the country will be strong in the face of Friday's terror attacks.

VAUSE: And French police have yet to identify either of the two people who died in a raid in a Saint-Denis apartment. The target was Abdelhamid Abaaoud, suspected or organizing Friday's terror attacks. Right now his whereabouts are unknown.

SESAY: You see cell phones left behind the scene of Friday's attack led them to the suspects. Eight people were arrested.

VAUSE: Let's go to Paris, and senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, standing by.

Fred, the whereabouts of Abaaoud is unknown but they are saying there are DNA tests on what is left of the body parts and we're now waiting to see if one of the dead was in fact the ring leader.

FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right. One of the reasons why they're doing those DNA tests is because there were so many explosions in that apartment that there really is very little left over of those who were still inside. It was a very violent and intense raid.

One of the most dangerous moments of that raid that happened just a few minutes before the operation was, as French police and military stormed the building, a female suicide bomber blew herself up.

The fact that a woman would blow herself up is a shock to people. But as CNN's own Deborah Feyerick tells us, women who kill in the name of religion or ideology aren't that uncommon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(EXPLOSION)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It appears she was ready to die for ISIS --

(EXPLOSION)

FEYERICK: A female suicide bomber in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis, detonating explosives, killing herself in a police raid that killed one other.

(EXPLOSION)

FEYERICK: The woman, to be identified by DNA, was believed to be the cousin of the Paris attack ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

Though far fewer in number, female suicide bombers are no less lethal in their quest for martyrdom.

UNIDENTIFIED ALE: It could be that the organization sees them as a very useful tool because of their femininity.

FEYERICK: In January 2002, a Palestinian refugee detonated a 22-pound backpack in the center of Jerusalem, killing one and injuring 140.

One of the known suicide bombers, also a Palestinian refugee, was an 18-year-old girl who strapped on a suicide belt, pushed past a security guard and blew herself up inside a Jerusalem supermarket, killing the guard and an Israeli teenage girl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We often think about female suicide bombers, we think of Black Widows, the widows of Chechnyan fighters.

FEYERICK: In Russia, Chechnyan women have blown themselves up to avenge their husband's deaths. Among the most prominent attacks, the 2002, a Moscow theater in which female attackers wore, but did not detonate suicide belts.

Authorities believe several dozen Western women from Europe and the U.S. have attempted or succeeded in reaching ISIS in Syria or Iraq. Perhaps the most famous, the girlfriend of Paris gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, the person who attacked a Jewish market in Paris. After Coulibaly was killed by French commanders, she traveled to Turkey before crossing into Syria to join the terror group.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PLEITGEN: Concerning twists as the investigation goes forward, of course, one thing that they are going to be looking at, at that apartment site, is whether or not the explosive that's were used in that suicide vest that was detonated by the female bomber, whether those were the same as the ones used in the Paris attacks here last Friday. That, of course, would also be a clue that it could be a wider ring that was operating here with each other -- John and Isha?

VAUSE: OK.

SESAY: Fred, we appreciate the reporting. Thank you so much.

Now as we've been reporting, an international manhunt is underway for Salah Abdeslam, believed to be involved in the Paris terror attacks. His brother, Ibrahim, was reportedly one of the suicide bombers.

As CNN's Kyung Lah reports, it is not the first time we've seen family members commit terror attacks together.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(EXPLOSION)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the Saint-Denis raid, the woman who blew herself up as police approach, believed to be the cousin of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the ringleader in the Paris attacks. Family tied in terror.

Also seem where the Abdeslam brothers. French newspaper, "Le Monde," reporting that Ibrahim Abdeslam rented this car, then detonated his suicide bomb outside this cafe in Paris during Friday's attacks. As he died, his brother, Salah Abdeslam, fled, now Europe's most-wanted man. They share a family name, a life history and radical beliefs.

[01:35:14] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot, a lot of our cases revolved around family members working together.

LAH: Just look at recent history.

(GUNFIRE)

LAH: Earlier this year, in the "Charles Hebdo" attack, the brothers Said and Charif Kouachi spearheaded the massacre. The Boston Marathon bombing, homegrown terrorists and brothers, Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev.

(EXPLOSION)

(SHOUTING)

LAH: The 9/11 hijackers, out of 19, there were three sets of brothers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They'll support each other sometimes even when they're not ideologically sold on what you're believing in. They're following you, not an ideology.

LAH: In 2013, Ahmed Halani (ph) left his family in England to join ISIS. One year later his twin sisters, Zelma (ph) and Zara (ph), once popular high-achieving twins, followed and became jihadi brides. Last fall, then 19-year-old Mohammad Hanza Khan (ph) packed his bags and headed to Chicago's O'Hare to join ISIS in Syria. Traveling with him, his 17-year-old and 15-year-old brother and sister. U.S. Customs stopped them at the gate. His mother made this impassioned plea.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have a message for ISIS and the social recruiters, leave our children alone.

LAH: But blood isn't necessarily thicker than beliefs. Police have been questioning the brother of Salah Abdeslam, Mohamed Abdeslam, who says he wasn't radicalized, telling Erin Burnett, why.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, OUTFRONT: You live in the same house. Did they ever approach you?

MOHAMED ABDESLAM, BROTHER OF SALAH ABDESLAM: No. They know who I am. It is difficult to get close to me. Nobody can radicalize me. I have my own ideas.

LAH: Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: A short break here on CNN. When we come back, Syria's president said his country is not responsibility for creating ISIS. We'll tell you who the Syrian dictator says deserves the blame.

VAUSE: Plus, a once-thriving city now trapped in the grip of ISIS. We'll introduce you to the activists trying to save the city of Raqqa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:40:31] VAUSE: Syrian President Bashar al Assad said his country is not the breeding ground for ISIS.

SESAY: His comment came in an interview with Italian media on Wednesday. Assad said the West should instead be blamed for the creation of the terror group, which began in Iraq and Afghanistan.

While Assad blames the west, Russia has its sights on Syria. In another show of force, Russia's military claims it used air strike to destroy tanker trucks in Syria. Russia says these trucks were being used by terrorist groups to transport oil.

VAUSE: It's unclear where or when the air strikes happen. This news comes a day after Russia bombed ISIS sites in Syria, including the self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa.

Let's go to our senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance, live this hour in Moscow.

Matthew, you have word that Russia and the French military set to work together in going after ISIS. What is the timetable on that? What do those operations look like?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in a briefing yesterday with the Russian president and his security chiefs, he instructed the head of the Russian naval group in the Mediterranean to work with the French as allies when their naval unit joins the battle against ISIS in the Mediterranean Sea. It is not a formal alliance at this point. Clearly, the attacks in Paris, the confirmation a few days ago that the MetroJet liner carrying 224 people downed in the Sinai Peninsula by a bomb, that has forced both Russia and France to set their previous disagreements to one side and to work together for that common aim in attacking ISIS. So it could be the start of a new alliance against that rebel group.

VAUSE: And, Matthew, quickly, the Russians have been hitting ISIS, its oil supply, and basically, its revenue supply as well. How effective has that strategy been so far?

CHANCE: It's not clear how effective it has been in terms of cutting off the money supply to ISIS. They a lot of the cash from oil exports. The Russians have been out front identifying these oil convoys of tankers in the Syrian deserts. They've been striking them. They say 500 oil tankers have been destroyed by Russian war planes over the last several days. They've also been attacking other oil production installations in Islamic State-held territory as well. So that's one side of the military equation.

What they've also been doing is deploying for the first time, strategic long-range bombers, which is flew in the Syrian conflict. And they haven't been deploying in combat before from Russia before, to fire cruise missiles at various targets inside the Islamic State territory as well as across other areas in Syria, targeting other rebel groups as well, we have to say. The Russians are really upping the anti, really upping their military campaign in Syria in the aftermath of the confirmation that it was a bomb that down that had airliner in Sinai.

VAUSE: Matthew, thank you. Matthew Chance live this hour in Moscow.

SESAY: Jets from Russia and France have been pounding Raqqa with air strikes this week but it is suddenly a challenge. The Pentagon says ISIS can change positions and rebuild quickly, which means the targets are always moving.

VAUSE: 200,000 civilians once called Raqqa home.

Elise Labott has a rare look at live inside the ISIS stronghold.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A toddler dressed as a jihadi with the ISIS flag behind him is encouraged to behead his teddy bear. The disturbing scenes spread through social media, exposing the indoctrination inside the ISIS capital of Raqqa, Syria. Boys as young as 5 years old in an ISIS camp training for the group's signature executions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In this camp, they try to teach them the ideology of ISIS. They sent them to bomb themselves. They use them to carry weapons, medical stuff in the clashes. So it is so horrible for the children.

LABOTT (on camera): Basically, they're raising little jihadis from a small age.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Yes.

LABOTT (voice-over): Videos smuggled out of the ISIS stronghold and used by media outlets like CNN are the only way to see what life is like under extremist rule. ISIS has banned journalists, replacing them with slick propaganda, glamorizing life in the so-called Islamic State.

But a dozen activists are pulling back the horrors of ISIS rule in their small city, once among Syria's most liberal. They call themselves "Raqqa is being slaughtered silently."

[01:45:11] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS started to kill in Iraq and no one did anything for the city, no one even heard about it. So we did our campaign trying to put the attention on our city, to maybe someone will do something to the city.

LABOTT: The photos and images they smuggle out, a lifeline to the outside world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't do anything in Raqqa. You can't do anything. No shops, university, no schools, nothing to do. And everything is expensive.

LABOTT (on camera): It sounds like hell.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

LABOTT (voice-over): One woman snuck a camera under her veil, risking her life to film this video depicting ISIS' brutal treatment of women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They can't go outside alone. If she wants to, she should go with her husband, father, brother, whatever. And she should cover all herself. The woman in Raqqa, in ISIS areas are nothing. They use them only to do sex, to buy and sell the Yazidi girls.

LABOTT (on camera): Basically, they're making them prostitutes?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.

LABOTT (voice-over): This man was covering clashes between ISIS and the Free Syria Army and ISIS stormed his house. He managed to escape the country and now manages the group's social media.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS arrested one of our reporters. They checked his laptop and they found our campaign logo. After three week, they executed him in a public square.

LABOTT: Last month, one of the members working in Turkey was beheaded.

(on camera): Why are you journalists showing what's going on in Raqqa instead of being fighters killing ISIS fighters?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you will defeat ISIS and you didn't defeat the ideology of ISIS, maybe after two months or years, you will find a new ISIS.

LABOTT: The group has been declared an enemy of God by ISIS. The members say they don't know who will be killed next but they are prepared to pay with their lives to get their message out. This weekend, the members of Raqqa is being slaughtered silently, but will be honored by the Committee to Protect Journalists the International Press Freedom award for their work.

Elise Labott, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: Tremendous work that they're doing. A life line showing us what's happening.

VAUSE: We should note that ISIS has killed more Muslims than any other religious group.

SESAY: Yeah, an award much deserved.

Next, on CNN NEWSROOM, we'll hear from a widower from Friday's Paris attack. Why he says he will not give the killers the gift of hate.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[01:49:28] PEDRAM JAVAHERI, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good day to you. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri for CNN "Weather Watch."

(WEATHER REPORT)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SESAY: "You will not have my hatred," that is the message from the man who lost his wife in Friday's concert hall attack in Paris.

VAUSE: That's incredible. He says to hate is to succumb to the killers.

And he tells Hala Gorani that he will raise his 17-month-old son happy and free.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last two days, I spent the road on the road with my brother to see every hospital in Paris and in the suburbs. And I learned of her death Saturday when the medical examiner's office called me to tell me. HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: You learned on Saturday but still you had to wait until Monday. And you felt bad about that because you weren't close to her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. That was not the point. I just want to be with her.

GORANI: Then you wrote this post on Facebook, which is the reason we are speaking. It has been shared more than 120 or 130,000 times. The headline of it is, "I will not succumb to hate. Friday night, you stole an exceptional life, the love of my life, the mother of my son. But I will not succumb to hate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GORANI: What made you write that?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

GORANI: The other thing that you said is (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE). "We are only two, my son and me but we are stronger than all the armies of the world," which I thought was so beautiful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We stand free. We stand with the test of life. We play games with my son. And then, no, they don't win. No. No. We stand.

GORANI: Your son is only 17 months.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

GORANI: So still he doesn't understand.

[01:55:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we share everything. We know everything. We talked about it. And then he cried. He was crying about, because his mother, he misses his mother. So I took my phone and put some music that he was listening with his mother. And we looked at photos. He showed me, this is my mother. "Mama, mama." And then he cries. And we cry together. We don't pretend that we are not sad or devastated. No. We are. But we stand.

Since Friday night, life died for me. Day after day, I will see.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SESAY: So much pain. So many devastated families.

VAUSE: There is going to be a hard life ahead.

SESAY: Thanks for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. Christiane Amanpour is up next, live from Paris.

Stay with us. You're watching CNN. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:00:06] CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN ANCHOR: It is 8:00 in the morning here in Paris where we are learning even more about Wednesday's dramatic pre-dawn raid.