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Paris Attacker in Syria; Chicago Cop Bond; Arrest in Chicago Threat; Planned Parenthood Attack. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired November 30, 2015 - 14:00   ET

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


[14:00:00] WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: International viewers, "Amanpour" is coming up next. For our viewers in North America, "Newsroom" with Poppy Harlow starts right now.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow. Thank you so much for being with us.

We begin this hour with disturbing new developments in the Paris terror investigation. A series of coordinated massacres and suicide bombings we have now learned could have been even worse, even more deadly. That is exactly what sources are telling us here at CNN and apparently more attacks were, quote, "ready to go."

This as other sources tell CNN that a key suspect may have already escaped to the ISIS safe haven of Syria. You have seen his picture. We're talking about Salah Abdeslam, the eighth attacker, who is still on the run. In September of this year, sources say the Belgian born Frenchman was spotted in Paris ahead of the attack. As of today, a new piece in the puzzle. A source telling us that sometime in October he bought ten detonators from a fireworks shop north of Paris. And then in November, his movements get much more clear. November 11th, he is spotted on cameras at a gas station between Brussels and Paris, along with another fugitive, Mohamed Abrini.

November 13th, that is two days later, the day of the attack, he is believed to have driven that black Renault Clio that dropped off three suicide bombers right outside the Stade de France. And the following day, November the 14th, at 9:00 a.m., he is stopped by French authorities right near the French-Belgian boarder. Somehow, though, he is let go and he has been on the lam ever since. He escaped into Brussels. It is believed where - where he is picked up by a friend who says that they even stopped at a cafe. And the belief by now - by some now is that he's managed to make his way into Syria.

Let's go straight to Phil Black. He is live for us in Paris.

Just to be very clear here, there's one working theory from some intelligence experts that he may have gotten back into Syria. That's what they are saying. However, it's just a working theory. Belgium authorities have come out in the last two hours and they've said there's no indication right now that he is in Syria. Which is this? Because this is clearly conflicting intelligence.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What's clear, Poppy, is that no one knows where this man is and that's the concerning thing. Two weeks after the attack, as you say, he's been on the run for that length of time and simply hasn't been found beyond having returned to Belgium in the days after the attacks as you mentioned there.

So what we've heard from French sources is that this theory is something that French intelligence are working on. That is, the very likely possibility that he may well have returned to Syria, crossed the Syrian border into ISIS-controlled territory. Now, they're not saying it's true. As you say, a working theory. But if it is true, then what it means is that Europe's most wanted man, whose name and photo have been everywhere since the attacks, has somehow slipped the net here, traveled to a country bordering Syria, like Turkey or Iraq, and then crossed the border into ISIS-controlled territory. That sort of journey almost certainly you would think, within that time scale, would have involved some sort of international air travel.

So an extraordinary development, if true, a concerning one for European security officials. But you're right, as you say there, and Belgium authorities aren't entirely sure. They're the ones that have really been looking for this guy because he was last known to have been in Belgium. They say they have no concrete reason to believe that he has successfully traveled to Syria. But they've always been working on the assumption that that is a place he could very likely be trying to get to, Poppy.

HARLOW: Absolutely. And what we've also learned, incredibly disturbing, is that apparently he and the other alleged attackers not only planned to hit those cafes, the stadium, the concert hall, but they also wanted to hit other specific targets in the city. What do we know about now?

BLACK: So this is information that comes from, again, a French source close to the Paris attacks investigation who says they have information that suggests that group responsible for the attacks here had other plots and the phrase that has been used to us is "ready to go," targeting, we are told, perhaps Jewish areas, transportation networks and schools. We're told the information comes from a man who presented himself voluntarily to French police saying he had been in contact with a member of that group responsible for the attacks here. The woman who was part of that group, who was killed during that police raid on an apartment in Paris, in the area of Saint-Denis, in the days after the attack. This is on top of what we've already been told by the officials here, and that is they believe that that raid had been carried out just in time to prevent the group from launching a strike on the financial area of Paris known as La de France (ph). All of this suggests that the ambition of this group was very likely greater than just the attacks they did successfully carry out here, killing 130 people two weeks ago, Poppy.

[14:05:05] HARLOW: Phil Black live for us in Paris. Thank you very much, Phil.

Right now that city is certainly on high alert. That's because 150 leaders from around the world, the U.S. president, China's president, Xi Jinping, they are all there right now for this climate summit. You see them there. A little more than two weeks after the string of attacks. Today they are focusing, though, on global climate change. CNN has now learned that President Obama has today used the summit to

continue those sidelined talks with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, about ISIS and the crisis in Syria. Also speaking about Ukraine. A lot to talk about.

I want to bring in Foria Younis. She is a former FBI agent. She's also founder and CEO of the South Asia Middle East Consultants.

Thank you very much for being here.

I want your take first on just what we've learned that Phil just talked about, that these attacks, more attacks -

FORIA YOUNIS, FORMER FBI AGENT: Yes.

HARLOW: Were, according to someone who knew some of the attackers very well, quote, "ready to go" and that they were going to target schools, transportation, Jewish sites. I was in Paris outside of a Jewish school and there were armed guards in front, members of the French military, with assault rifles. They wouldn't let us film anywhere near the school.

YOUNIS: right.

HARLOW: This is a huge concern.

YOUNIS: Yes. And they're behaving like most terrorists do. Whether it was the old al Qaeda or the new ISIS, they like to do multiple attacks. They have their traditional targets that they like to go after. Religious organizations, especially Jewish organizations, have been always high on their list. Something new that we're seeing, though, are the schools. This has come back in the last few years they had that Kenya university attacker. So these schools are somewhat new. They had that old (INAUDIBLE) attack, but I feel like the schools, they feel like they can do more - hit the heart of the community by attacking the children.

HARLOW: When you look at this eighth attacker still on the lam, which is pretty incredible, the most wanted man in Europe, Salah Abdeslam.

YOUNIS: Yes.

HARLOW: One operating theory right now coming from a source in the intelligence community saying that he may have made it back to Syria or be on his way back to Syria. If that's the case, if he has somehow make it back to Syria, talk to me about what happens to him there where his role falls in ISIS now, having carried out these horrific attacks.

YOUNIS: So I do find it a little hard to believe that he's made it all the way to Syria. The amount of countries he would have had to go through, I mean unless he took an immediate flight. But I think if he was in Syria, we would have heard about it by now because he would have put out a propaganda video. He's a big hero now, going back to ISIS. He's pledged they can - they can use him as a big propaganda tool to say, look what we did. Here's a guy that survived. And just imagine, Poppy, all the knowledge that he's gained by carrying out this one attack. So he's learned, what were the mistakes that they made as a group, what were the successes. So he could take a lot of knowledge back to ISIS to plan future attacks.

HARLOW: If he is on the ground in Syria, which you say is hard to believe, or on his way there, because we know many have made it by foot or boat, et cetera, how on earth does U.S. intelligence, French intelligence find him because this has been the issue in Syria in fighting ISIS, we don't have eyes on the ground?

YOUNIS: Yes. So then we use our traditional technology advantages, which is what our biggest advantage is, is the technology. so what do we do? We obviously have cell phones and other tracking methods. Occasionally we have informants within the state, but generally it's the old fashioned wait until the person makes a mistake and mostly it's through his communications and we go through that.

The other thing is, Poppy, if he hasn't made it back to ISIS, there's a good chance he's smart enough to just hold up in a safe house location where someone's bringing him food. Not too many people know about this, so he's just waiting and he may have to wait there for months in like a single bedroom apartment or something like that.

HARLOW: But all you need is one person to crack, like this friend of one of the attackers did, coming to authorities, telling them about the other attacks that were planned.

YOUNIS: That's true.

HARLOW: Foria, thank you. So nice to have you on. I appreciate the expertise.

YOUNIS: Thank you.

HARLOW: Coming up next, minutes from now we will get a look at the suspect, you see him right there, in that Planned Parenthood clinic attack on Friday. He will make his first court appearance. Liberals and conservatives debating whether rhetoric inspired in any way this insane rampage. We will talk about that.

Also, the University of Chicago shutting down today over a direct threat to its campus. Breaking moments ago, an arrest has been made. We will tell you who has been arrested, next.

And Baltimore is on edge. The first trial of one of the officers accused in the death of Freddie Gray is now officially underway, but is finding an impartial jury a nearly impossible task? You'll hear what potential jurors are saying and hear from inside the courtroom. Back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:13:58] HARLOW: All right, breaking news out of Chicago. This involves the police officer who was charged with first-degree murder. Moments ago, bond set at $1.5 million for Officer Jason van Dyke. Dash camera video, you'll remember, it was just released last week of this 2014 shooting of the 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, shot 16 times in a matter of 15 seconds.

CNN's Rosa Flores just in the courtroom where this bond was announced.

Rosa, we know that he has been charged with first-degree murder. He hasn't entered a plea yet, has he?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me take you inside the courtroom, Poppy, because I just left the courtroom when the judge decided that bond was set at $1.5 million. Jason van Dyke entered the courtroom shackled by his hands and his feet and he faced a judge and, of course, the judge asked for the viewing of the graphic video that everybody has been talking about that has triggered protests here in Chicago. So after a little while, because there was some technical difficulties, and I was in the spillover room with some of the people there that are Laquan McDonald supporters, some of them say that they know the family. And so there was a lot of tense moments as everybody waited for the judge to actually view this video on a laptop. Soon thereafter, the state asked the judge to keep bond at no bond, like we had heard during the original, the initial bond hearing. And then the defense attorney for Jason Van Dyke said, you know what, judge, this defendant is not a flight risk. He said he will not be performing in his duty as a former police officer in Chicago. He says he does not have a criminal background. And in this country, he said, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. And that bond should not be punitive.

[14:15:54] Shortly thereafter, the judge decided that bond would be set at $1.5 million. Now, a lot of people in the crowd where I was, they didn't quite understand because the microphone muffled. So a lot of them didn't quite even know that bond was actually set. They thought that bond was not set. That bond was denied like in the original hearing.

I caught up with a few people once they realized that that, of course, made (INAUDIBLE) and upset. So we don't know exactly what's going to happen now, Poppy, because, as you know, protests were triggered because of the release of this video and now that this police officer could indeed post bail then he could be back out on the street.

Poppy.

HARLOW: Absolutely. We know he won't be working as an officer, but we will see if he does post that $1.5 million bond. Rosa Flores there with the latest for us from Chicago. Thank you very much, Rosa.

Also staying in Chicago for you because we have more breaking news. An arrest now made in the threat against the University of Chicago. The FBI first picked up the threat which promised a shooting on the campus university - of the University of Chicago, right in the quad, the main student area at 10:00 a.m. Students and non-essential staff were completely evacuated, told to stay away from campus.

Let's go straight to our Ryan Young, who is there on campus.

So, Ryan, they've made an arrest. Do we know who it is or how they tracked that person down? RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they did make an arrest. They're

telling us this is an off campus student who they've arrested. Look, we've been here since about 5:00 this morning knowing that the FBI was still working on this, that threat that was made online.

This is the quad right here, which would normally be packed around this time because there's a full week of classes left. We were expecting something to happen today, but we weren't sure what. But we do know that someone tracked down this student and all of a sudden we saw police officers leave this area about an hour ago. And since then, we've now learned that a student has been arrested who was living off campus.

We're not told yet when class will resume, but we did find out this information that that student's been arrested for these serious charges, obviously, of making that threat toward this campus. Not sure of the motivation just yet as we get this information, Poppy.

HARLOW: I think it's really interesting, Ryan. Obviously, you know, everyone's on heightened alert given the numerous mass shootings we've seen in this country, also the attacks in Paris, et cetera. The fact that they completely evacuated campus, told people not to come, et cetera, is that sort of standard protocol or is that a heightened - something stepped up that we're seeing?

YOUNG: You know, it felt heightened. And I would honestly have to say, look, we've all seen pranks like this before, but obviously people are taking this very seriously. We've seen officers both from the campus and from Chicago Police working this area all morning long.

But I think it also speaks to the fact that if you look around this campus, and we've done a couple drive arounds just as our last live shot, it is a ghost town. So everyone is taking this seriously. And I think with all the violence that's happened on campuses just this year, of course we went to Oregon after that shooting -

HARLOW: Right.

YOUNG: You've got to think that when people hear of these threats now, they are extra - they're on extra guard about this kind of information and that's what we're obviously seeing because, as you can see, I'm the only one standing in this entire quad area.

HARLOW: Yes. All right, Ryan Young, thank you very much. Appreciate it.

We'll bring you more on that as soon as we have it.

Coming up next, minutes from now, we will get a look at the suspect, the suspected gunman, you see him right there, in the Planned Parenthood attack. He will make his first court appearance. Liberals and conservatives debate over the rhetoric and all of this. We will talk about that. Stay with me.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [14:23:40] HARLOW: Next hour, the man accused of opening fire at a Colorado Planned Parenthood clinic on Friday and killing three people will stand before a judge. It will be Robert Dear's first court appearance since that deadly rampage on Friday that lasted nearly six hours in his standoff with police. Investigators have not said publicly what his motive may have been, but a law enforcement source tells CNN that Dear said something about, quote, "baby parts," after the shooting and that he expressed anti-abortion and anti-big government views.

We've also just learned the funeral will be this Friday for the University of Colorado police officer who was killed in the attack. Officer Garrett Swasey, 44 years old, was a married father of two.

We know two civilians died in the attack, 35-year-old stay at home mother Jennifer Markovsky and 29-year-old Iraq War veteran Ke'Arre Stewart. He also leaves behind a wife and his two children.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is live at the jail where Dear is being held without bond.

Do we know anything further in terms of what we might learn in court today, Stephanie?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we may learn some of the charges, Poppy. What we do know is that while he is being held here at this criminal justice complex, he's going to be arraigned via video link to the courthouse. And at the courthouse we understand that where the judge is, there will also be some of the victims that are in the courtroom as well. And what we may learn - or what are some of the charges he may face, whether there will be any bond available to him. But we know the district attorney's office does have 10 days to get their full charges put together and to charge Dear in this case.

[14:25:19] HARLOW: Stephanie, we've learned about the victims in terms of their names. This officer, also these two civilians. What more do we know about the injured? I believe at last check, last night, five were still in the hospital?

ELAM: Right and you're talking about a total of nine people that were injured. So that number going down to five. What we also understand is that everyone who was injured outside of the three people that lost their lives, that they are expected to recover and be OK. Not to say that they will be OK dealing with this.

And one other thing that we've learned about Ke'Arre Stewart, the Iraq War veteran, is that he actually had gone outside to use his cell phone because he didn't have a signal inside, that's when he was shot and that he made a call to 9/11 to help get some support there and to protect the other people that were at Planned Parenthood. So that's what his sister has told CNN about what police told her about his effort. So learning more about the courageous last moment of a couple of these people as they were facing their last moments of life and dealing with the fact that there was a gunman on the loose outside.

HARLOW: Wow, a hero always, Iraq War veteran and then doing this, trying to save others. Stephanie, thank you very much for that.

And as you know, Friday's attack on that Planned Parenthood clinic raising a lot of questions, a lot of political debate. People talking about whether political rhetoric contributed at all to what happened. Is it even fair to point to that or not? Republicans and Democrats, presidential candidates alike, condemning the attacks, with Republicans saying their criticism of Planned Parenthood is in no way linked to the rampage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARLY FIORINA (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What I would say to anyone who tries to link this terrible tragedy to anyone who opposes abortion or opposes the sale of body parts is, this is typical left wing tactics.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think he was a - probably a person ready to go. We don't even know the purpose. I mean he hasn't come out, to the best of my knowledge, with a statement as to why it happened to be at that location.

BEN CARSON (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The real problem is that we have become course and hateful toward each other. We've allowed the purveyors of division to put us in separate corners and have us hurl hand grenades at each other.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Regardless of why he did it, what he did is domestic terrorism and what he did is absolutely abominable, especially to those of us in the pro-life movement.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We should be supporting Planned Parenthood, not attacking it. And in Congress and on the campaign trail, Republicans who claim they just hate big government are only too happy to have government step in when it comes to women's bodies and health. It's wrong and we're not going to stand for it.

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I am running for president because in these difficult times, against vitriolic Republican rhetoric, we must protect a woman's right to choose. And we must defend Planned Parenthood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: I'm joined now by people on both sides of the abortion debate. Charmaine Yoest leads American United for Life. It is a pro-life group. She's also a former adviser to President Reagan, former advisor to GOP Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee. Laura Chapin (ph) is also with me. She is an abortion rights political consultant.

Ladies, thank you very much for being here. And I want to -

CHARMAINE YOEST, CEO, AMERICANS UNITED FOR LIFE: Thank you, Poppy.

HARLOW: Of course. I'm glad we're having this discussion. It is early days still in this investigation and we know that investigators are still trying to pinpoint an exact motive. You have Attorney General Loretta Lynch coming out and calling this an attack against women saying, quote, "this unconscionable attack was not only a crime against the Colorado Springs community, but a crime against women receiving health care services at Planned Parenthood."

Charmaine, to you first. What's your reaction to what the attorney general said?

YOEST: You know, Poppy, I'm really horrified and appalled to hear that our top law enforcement agent is making a sweeping statement like that when unless she has information that hasn't been released to the public, none of us actually know why he did what he did and what the target was. And I think that when we are facing the loss of life with someone who was a first responder, an Iraq War veteran, a mom, the loss of their precious lives, the grief of their families is what should be at the top of everyone's minds right now. And it's really kind of horrifying to me to see the amazing politicization, the rush to judgment that we're facing when all of this heated rhetoric and pointing fingers is coming out before anyone actually knows what happened in this situation.

[14:30:06] And I think it's really down right slanderous and I'm particularly appalled that Loretta Lynch would escalate the language around the situation so quickly and