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CNN NEWSROOM

U.S. State Department Issues Worldwide Travel Alert; The Search for the Eighth Attacker; Belgium on Highest Security Alert; Wave of Air Strikes on ISIS Targets; Political Debate Over Syrian Refugees; Pakistani Comedians Stand Up Against Terror. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired November 24, 2015 - 00:00   ET

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

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ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world I am Isha Sesay, NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now.

The heightened state of alert in Brussels load and until next Monday at the earliest, that's the latest from Belgium's Prime Minister. Until then, soldiers and heavily armed police will stay in force on the streets and people there are being urged to avoid large gatherings.

Security forces sealed those streets in the Paris as of Monday to investigate an apparent suicide vest found in a trash can. Authorities have not said whether the vests were related to the November 13th attacks. But CNN affiliate BFMTV reports that it contained the same kind of explosive used in the rampage.

Amidst to ongoing terror threats, the U.S. State Department issued an alert to Americans traveling abroad. He let calls on U.S citizens to be a vigilant, from possible attacks from ISIS, al-Qaeda, Boko Horam or terrorist acting alone.

A second bulletin, this one issued by the FBI calls on local U.S. Police Departments to be on the lookout of people surveying potential targets and warns them to review training on active shooter scenarios.

Well, French President Francois Hollande is pushing to form a multi- national force to fight ISIS. He welcomed British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday.

Next up, a meeting with U.S. President Obama on Tuesday, then he'll meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday.

CNN as Max Foster is in Paris for us and he joins us now live with the very latest. Good morning, Max. Multiple developments on this Monday, the FBI issuing a bulletin which provides some details of the planning that went into the Paris attacks. What are we learning?

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is interesting. It's all in relation to a cell phone that was found in a bin in one of the scenes of the attacks at the Bataclan. And on that cellphone was a map, also some encrypted data and also a text message. And this has been analyzed in great depth by intelligence agencies.

And effectively, it suggests that there was a plan and there had been some surveillance of the locations before the attack. If you combine that, with the intelligence from European intelligence agencies and security agencies, that some of the attackers had gone to Syria and they had guns.

The pictures that's being built up here is that this is a sophisticated military-style attack. They had training in how to use the weapons that we know that they have, and the suicide belts that we know that they had. And developing those suicide belts, but they also had a coordination method via the cellphones, and they had apparently scouted out the site.

So, U.S. law enforcement is being told to review its training when it comes to an active shooter and in particular, to look at the people that may be carrying out surveillance on soft targets. So it is affecting the way U.S. law enforcement prepares and tries to deter similar styles of attack, Isha.

SESAY: And max also on Monday, French authorities discovered an apparent suicide vest in a trash can, what more is emerging about what was found in critically, critically. Do we know whether it belongs to the suspected eighth attacker, Salah Abdeslam, that man who is still on the run?

[00:05:00] FOSTER: Well, the area around of that bin is cordoned off today and it's a secure area. It's a some sort of item found in bins, which are affiliate, the offense (ph) says, it contain bolts and explosive which the type of explosive that was used in an Paris attack and BFM and Lemond, those are the newspaper here, saying that Abdeslam's cellphone was tracked to the same area of that bin. So there seems to be some sort of connection there if you pull it altogether.

We're waiting for official confirmation on all of that. But it does contradict some of the information we've had from some drivers who took Abdeslam towards Brussels. But we've been hearing from them by their lawyers, is a rather complicated matter. But Martin Savidge is bringing together latest we have on Abdeslam's, who we believe is the eighth attacker on the run.

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MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Friday the 13th, carnage and chaos erupts in the darkness all over Paris. Police determine three teams of ISIS terrorists are responsible and count seven dead suspects. ISIS takes credit for the bloodbath, but its own words open a mystery, now at the center of the manhunt. The ISIS statement mentions "Eight brothers attacking both precisely chosen targets in Paris at 10th, 11th and 18th districts." Eight terrorist and there was no attack in the 18th district but an important puzzle piece appears to be missing for police.

The only thing police would eventually find in the 18th district is this rental car, hurriedly parked in the crosswalk. A source close to the investigation tells CNN it was rented by 26-year-old Salah Abdeslam, the brother of Ibrahim Abdeslam, one of the suicide bombers who died in the Paris attacks. And much to their embarrassment, French authorities know unlike Ibrahim, Salah was alive and well.

You see, hours after the attacks police record show that they stopped him and two other men in a car on this main highway not far from Belgium, where Abdeslam is from. But because he was not wanted at the time they let him go. Now, Salah Abdeslam is France's most wanted.

CNN's Erin Burnett spoke to Salah's family in Belgium.

ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST, "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT": Mohamed what would you say if Salah is watching this interview somewhere? What do you say to him?

MOHAMED ABDESLAM, SALAH'S BROTHER (through translator): I would tell him to surrender.

SAVIDGE: Belgium authorities have picked up the two men with him in the car when they were stopped near the border, charging them with complicity. And through their attorney they tell a very interesting tale.

The two men say a couple of hours after the attacks they received a phone call from Salah Abdeslam, and then he sounded very upset claiming that his car broken down and he needed to ride back to Belgium. So the two friends came here and picked him up in Paris. The attorney says they had no idea he had been involved in the attacks.

The attorney also says the men noticed he was carrying something.

"A big jacket and other things, maybe like an explosive belt or something like that."

It raises the question, is Salah Abdeslam a suspected terrorist on the run or did he simply change his mind and run away?

Martin Savidge, CNN Paris.

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FOSTER: Isha, as the investigation continues, President Hollande having your way towards the United States to have meetings with President Obama about forming a united coalition, which could include Russia, and then fight back begins when he describes as the war on ISIS.

SESAY: The meeting -- we'll be watched very closely Max Foster joining us there from Paris where it is approaching 10 past 6:00 in the morning on Tuesday. Max, thank you.

Well, Belgium authorities have charged a suspect in connection with the Paris attacks. Prosecutors also say 15 people who were detained have been released.

Meanwhile, Brussels will stay at the highest terror alert level until at least Monday. And Belgium's prime minister says Wednesday will be the early day schools and the metro will open in Brussels.

CNN Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen joins us out live from Brussels with the latest.

So, Fred, set the scene for us and for our viewers. Is Brussels the city completely shut down?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's not completely shut down but it's pretty much the closest thing, Isha, that you can get to being completely shut down without actually issuing a curfew to the complete population

We were going around yesterday. It was really full of soldiers. There were a lot of police officers. There were armored vehicles patrolling the streets. There were also forces, security forces patrolling this but they were very few people on the streets yesterday.

There were some who did come out. There were also a lot of shops that were not opened. It sort of was a scene in the morning hours you saw almost nothing happening, which is strange (inaudible) morning. But then towards the end of the day, a greater numbers that still was a lot less.

[00:10:00] We were speaking to one shop owner on the main square who said, "You'd never seen the square as abandon as it was on that day.

And as I'm looking around, this morning, with pretty much is exactly the same scene. We're sort of above one of the main metro stations here in Brussels. It's obviously, not working.

There's a few people walking around but I've seeing a lot of green and blue down there on the streets which indicate, it is soldiers and police officers that are going around, also military vehicles stationed on the entrance to the main square in Brussels. So, it really looks and so the people here are going to have to deal with all of this for at least an entire another day as you said.

The Brussels authorities are saying that, the highest terror alert level, level 4, is going to remain in place at least until next Monday. However, by Wednesday they want to start gradually opening the subway system again and opening schools, as well.

Speaking to some parents, and they say (ph) they're quite concerned also about the safety at schools. They are onboard with those measures even though, of course, it's another thing that really makes it difficult for them as, first of all, they don't have public transportation to get to work. Second of all, they don't know what to do with their children. So, really is something that is quite difficult for people here.

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SESAY: Fred, we appreciate the live report there from Brussels, thank you so much.

Now, France conducted its first, France conducted its first air strikes against ISIS in Syria from the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, Monday.

The carrier deployed to the Eastern Mediterranean after the Paris attacks. The French defense ministry says, four aircraft hit ISIS target in Ramadi and Mosul.

Ian Lee joining us now from Cairo with the latest. Ian, what can you tell us about these French strikes? Do we know what was targeted?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, what we're hearing, Isha, is that there are headquarters. There are recruiting facilities as well as training centers that are being targeted in these air strikes, the French forces trying to degrade ISIS' fighting capabilities.

Now, the arrival of the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the Eastern Mediterranean, almost triple the number of aircraft that the French can use in their arsenal to strike at ISIS. That brings it up to 38. And so they have been talking, they have been hitting these targets not only in Syria but also Iraq as well.

But the French, we have seen stepping up the number of air strikes as well, hitting dozens of targets. And at times, we're hearing they're hitting the same targets multiple times. That could mean because, it is a large target or also ISIS wanted target escape, goes back and try to reclaim it.

Now we're hearing from U.S. officials that this isn't some sort of linear process that targets come up and when they do they're assigned aircraft to bomb it. But they don't get a number of targets or they get their intelligence on the ground that produces these targets. And when that happens they will assign a plane to strike it.

SESAY: And Ian, what do we know of the level of coordination between these French air strikes and those ground troops there on the ground fighting ISIS?

LEE: Well, what we're hearing from the ground there in Syria is that the YPG fighters who are North of Raqqa, they have U.S. Special Forces that are with them. Now, they wouldn't indicate though, if they were -- where they were and what they are doing exactly. But we know that U.S. Special Forces have been on the ground with them.

There are also in coordination. We're hearing -- they're learning through just intercepts of communications and intelligence coming out of Raqqa. And this is been something that ISIS has been aware of. They've shut down internet cafes, they have restricted the use and access to the internet because they believe that intelligence that targets are being -- are being given to the coalition fighters so that they can strike them in Raqqa.

SESAY: Ian Lee joining us there from Cairo with the very latest on these French air strikes. Ian, we appreciate it, thank you.

Now, in the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iran's supreme leaders and U.S. policy in the Middle East with the threat to both countries. The two met on the sideline of a gas exporting summit in Tehran.

In the facts, (inaudible), Kremlin's spokesman and saying, "The leaders agreed international powers should not impose their political agendas on Syria. According to Iran state-run media, Mr. Putin will finalize a $40 billion economic agreement with Iran during this visit.

Well, top ISIS leaders are apparently on the run from the stronghold in Syria. We'll tell you what the U.S. intelligence is saying about the situation in Raqqa, next.

Plus, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N is calling out American officials to slams on brining refugees to the country.

[00:15:00] You're watching Newsroom L.A. So stay with us.

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SESAY: Hello, everyone. The recent wave of air strikes on ISIS targets in Syria may have ISIS leaders on the run.

According to U.S. intelligence, they are fleeing the terror group's self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa.

Barbara Starr, has more on that and what could be next in the fight against ISIS?

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BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi, is long believed to be hiding inside ISIS's Syria's stronghold of Raqqa. But the U.S. has intelligence showing some ISIS leaders are trying to get out of Raqqa.

CNN has learned, leaders moving their operations to safer locations outside the city.

MARK TONER, U.S. STATE DEPT. DEPUTY SPOKESMAN: Its shows the effect that out air strikes and the pressures that we're putting on ISIL is having.

STARR: The hunt is on for Baghdadi and at least six other senior ISIS officials including this key man, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, an ISIS commander. The U.S. believes may now be directing attacks outside Syria and Iraq.

[00:20:00] LT. GENERAL MARK HERTING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I think they have become more decentralized outside of Syria and Iraq because they know they are getting beat in those two countries. So they have given the word, conduct attacks on your local soil.

STARR: Attacks outside Syria and Iraq perhaps ordered or inspired by ISIS include Paris, Beirut, and possibly the downing of the Russian airliner in Sinai, U.S. officials say. The French sending their own response, the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle launched its air strikes against ISIS targets.

ISIS released a video showing what it says is damage inside Raqqa, CNN cannot independently verify the images. Defense secretary Ash Carter is to meet with his French counterpart Tuesday.

In the wake of the Paris attacks, the Pentagon is hoping allies will increase their efforts in Syria all in an effort to break ISIS' grip on Raqqa.

The U.S. will press for France and Britain to send Special Forces to join with U.S. commandos due to arrive in Northern Syria at any time. The U.S. also hopes Turkey will agree to let allies, not just the U.S., fly out of its (inaudible) air base to challenge ISIS' international networks.

The U.S. also stepping up attacks on ISIS' oil infrastructure inside Syria in the last few days, striking nearly 300 oil smuggling trucks in the eastern part of the country. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.

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SESAY: Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona joins us now, great to have you with us Colonel.

Rick Francona, how does having the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier there in the Eastern Mediterranean (inaudible) to fight against the ISIS?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, (RET), CNN MILITARY CORRESPONDENT: Well, it gives the French an added capability (ph), you know, originally they only had 10 aircraft there conducting their initial air strikes in Syria. But when they bring the Charles de Gaulle in, it gives them another 45 aircraft, almost 50 aircraft in the skies over Syria. They're also able to get into Iraq.

It gives them more ordinances on target. And the friendship showed a willingness to use those weapons. And I think they're being pretty effective so it does bring in added capability to the coalition.

SESAY: We're hearing that in recent days there has been heavy bombardment of Raqqa, ISIS' self declared capital. And according to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, sources are saying that this is where the leaders trying to get out of Raqqa pretty fast. If they're on the run, Rick Francona, what should be the next move of the U.S.-led coalition? FRANCONA: Well, I think it's important we continue the pressure on Raqqa because Raqqa is their self-proclaimed capital. Ans if it's true that the leadership is leaving that is a good sign.

You know, being under aerial bombardment consistently really is not just a physical event, it's a psychological event. And it really affects your ability to continue to carry on the fight and saps your will. So I really think this is a good sign. And with the Russians bombing, French bombing and with coalition bombing it really keeps that pressure on. And I think it's a good thing.

The fallout of that is that they're looking for other ways to attack. They feel frustrated that they can't do things against the air strikes, so they're looking for other ways to attack, and we're seeing that. We're seeing in Paris, we're seeing in Beirut, Akara and the Sinai Peninsula, and we can look forward in other places as well.

SESAY: But of course for the coalition an intensification of air bombardment also comes with the risk of civilian casualties.

FRANCONA: Yes, that is the problem. And up until now, the coalition has been very casualty-averse. Almost zero tolerance for collateral damage which is what we call civilian casualties. I think that's about the change. The Russian certainly are not using the same rules of engagement as we are and I don't believe the French are as well.

So I think there's discussion going on at the Pentagon to lighten the restrictions on the air crews. And let them actually strike the targets when they see them. Unfortunately, there will be collateral damage with that.

The rules of war are pretty specific. You have to take precautions against collateral damage but it doesn't mean that you can't bomb. So unfortunately, I think we can expect higher civilian casualties.