Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Fredricka Whitfield 2

CNNW CNN Newsroom With Fredricka Whitfield November 15, 2015

Carefully and painstakingly planned, infiltrating refugees, getting the papers they need to come here and act as terrorists and send their fighters here. Our Senior International correspondent arwa damon is in greece where that terrorist landed and then made his way through europe to here. Arwa, what can you tell us about what the greeks are saying about how this guy slipped through their hands . Well, christiane, were on leros, and this is one of the many islands that the refugees do end up at, not as crowded as some of the other ones. What the greek authorities are saying is this individual basically went through the standard procedures here, and that is coming in, showing some sort of identification, bearing in mind, though, that those refugees and migrants when they arrive, a lot come without identification, so thats not eve an requirement, and then got fingerprinted and but processed into the system. But because there was no prior record of this individuals existence, nothing was flagged at this stage. And this has been something that, yes, has been of concern for counterterrorism analysts, for a lot of people watching whats been happening, that these people who are affiliated with isis or sympathizers would be trying to infiltrate these waves of migrants and refugees coming across. But weve been speaking with a couple of them here tonight. A number of them actually just getting ready to board a ferry that will take them on to the mainland in athens. You can see some of them coming through right now. Some have heard of what happened in paris. Some have heard, yes, that one of the attackers it appears was possibly syrian or at least there was syrian documentation that was found on the scene. And they are worried because this is a very difficult journey for them. One father i was speaking to said, look, what choice do i have . I cant live in turkey because i cant afford rent and no one will rent to me anyways. Another person hes going to sweden with his family. People are actually in a fairly good mood. They havent quite registered potentially what this is going to mean for them. But as i was saying, one father who i was talking to did say, you know, look, i cant afford to live in turkey anymore, the turks wont rent to me, my house in syria, aleppo, has been destroyed. People are hostile to syrians everywhere. Those are hi words. We feel this growing sense of hostility so the thinking is let us go to europe where we have a chance. The greatgreat issue is if what happened in paris is allowed to reflect on the refugee population, if there is a backlash toward the refugee population, that is going to create an even bigger divide and that is potentially dangerously going to play into isis hands. Ar washgs let me a, let me a on the island of lesbos, hand that island had seen a huge influx of afghans and syrians and others in the last months. The beach i was on for an hour and a half, probably 250 to 300 people arrived in the space of an hour on this little stretch of beach. At this point it was 4,000 to 5,000 people arriving every single day. On the island of leros, where we know this terrorist came ashore on european soil for the first time, what sort of checks are there . On lesbos, theres no border control, no officials to meet them, to find out who they are, to search their bags. They do get processed elsewhere on the island, but it is very quick, and if you are believed to be syrian, and many claim to be even who are not, they get expedited even faster, they end up on a ferry as you said heading towards athens and continue on through the corridor to europe. So on leros, are there many checks of whos actually coming ashore . Reporter well, the actual system thats in place is very similar across all of these islands when it comes to the registration and vetting process. This is where it is very difficult for the authorities because if an individual shows up without identification, they have to try to question them through people who are experts who have syrian backgrounds and try to determine whether or not they are genuinely syrian. You talked about lesbos. We were there two, throe days ago. The numbers are enormous. The beaches are very chaotic and people sort of splinter off and try to head to the two camps because by now everyone knows they need to register. In terms of getting here, people are coming in much smaller numbers because its a much more difficult journey. They actually end up going to a small we are told military greek island thats about 45 minutes to an hour off of the turkish coast, and then they are brought here and that registration process happens. One father waited for three days and then he was registered and frinlted. He happened to have syrian identification with him. Hes traveling with his children and now hell be boarding a ferry to move onto the mainland. When we look at the sheer scale of the numbers coming through here, especially if it comes to someone who hasnt been through the system anyways, it is very difficult at this stage to pinpoint what a persons intentions may or may not be and whether or not their travel documents are authentc. Thats one of the many reasons why the greeks have been constantly and consistently asking for more aid and assistance. You can see more and more people trailing through, hoping to catch that ferry to move on tonight. But one man who i was speaking to was saying, you know, look, people need to understand that those attackers that carried out that violence in paris, thats the kind of violence that we were running away from. It does not reflect us. It does not reflect our religion, and we really hope that the rest of the world will be able to understand this and be able to get past the pain of what theyve lost and at the very least not reflect that on us, because were coming to europe looking for that better life. Arwa reporting from leros, thank you. That of course the island where it is now known one of these terrorists actually first landed on european soil for the first time coming across in a boat of is so many as hundreds of thousands of others have who are fleeing the war in syria and other wars and also looking for a better life. Joining us now to talk about this is righthand cnn anchor john berman who joins us. That is the concern, certainly on those who are supportive of admitting refugees into european countries, who are legitimately fleeing war, what kind of ramifications is this going to have for the hundreds of thousands of others who have come . And is that part of isis intention . You have two clashing political imperatives here, the need to fight isis both in iraq and syria, not to mention here as well, and you have the need to deal with this refugee problem. The problem now is that they seem to be for some people at odds. And youre seeing this political debate play out in every country in europe and in the United States as well to the point where marie la pen, who runs the National Front in paris, has local elections coming up next month, shektd do well because she says todays immigrant is tomorrows terrorist. And of course the french president , whos been meeting with all the political leader, is now meeting with plen and hes brought them all in to talk about this and her big thing is finish, close the borders. And this is, you know, being an increasing sort of clarion call from a lot of extreme rightwing groups of which she is one of the leaders. And france is not one of the nations in europe that has been particularly accommodating to the floold of refugees. Its been germany, sweelden. Theyve bp coming up through the balkans. Here theyve let in not only 10,000 over the last year or so. Compared to germany some 800,000, and the numbers continue to grow. And in the United States where theres been only about 1,000 over the last four years, its a huge political debate raging where donald trump says its a trojan horse. Letting Syrian Refugees in would be a trojan horse. You let them in and they would attack the United States from within. The president has promised to take in at least 10,000 Syrian Refugees over the next year, but thats very controversial. One of the things that all the intelligence people have been telling us for years and even from isis, the blowback from syria, not dealing with the syrian war and all these people going over the fight with isis and others, the blowback to all our capitals was something they were expecting, particularly since many of them can come back with their own national passports. They dont actually need to fake it anymore. They dont need the al qaeda 9 11 attackers to try to get visas to trick and fake and all the rest of it. They can come here and do this. And this has been everybodys nightmare. You have european officials saying i talked to the mayor of salzberg a couple weeks ago, dealing with the refugee crisis, he said he he wasnt concerned about security. He didnt think that isis needed to send people with the refugees because theres enough homegrown people here who are ready to take up the cause. You may see both at play right now. And of course isis knows this. You talk to u. S. Security officials, youre nigh wave to think that isis doesnt know it sews discord all over europe and the United States by staging this kind of attack. All right, john. So taking advantage of the crisis, our panel on terrorism and Security Experts will weigh in on why the terrorists are going undetected. And we will be back after a break not too long from now. You stay up. You listen. You laugh. You worry. You do whatever it takes to take care of your family. And when its time to plan for your familys future, were here for you. Were legalzoom, and for over 10 years weve helped families just like yours with wills and living trusts. So when youre ready, start with us. Doing the right thing has never been easier. Legalzoom. Legal help is here. Where our next arrival is. Red carpet whoa toenail fungus . Fight it with jublia. Jublia is a prescription medicine used to treat toenail fungus. Use jublia as instructed by your doctor. Are you getting this . most common side effects include ingrown toenail, application site redness, itching, swelling, burning or stinging, blisters, and pain. Oh, epic moves, big j fight it getting ready for your closeup . Ask your doctor if jublia is right for you. Visit our website for savings on larger size. Good. Very good. You see something moving off the shelves and your first thought is to investigate the company. You are type e. Yes, Investment Opportunities can be anywhere. Or not. But you know the difference. E trades bar code scanner. Shorten the distance between intuition and action. E trade opportunity is everywhere. Im Anderson Cooper with Christiane Amanpour. There are so many different aspects of this investigation ongoing which well cover over the next two hours. Right now we want to introduce you someone who lost two friends and shes also an attorney representing a family who left syria. She joins us here in paris. It seems like everybody we talk to knew somebody there. You did. Yes. Tonight we all have Close Friends die. I personally have two very Close Friends die yesterday. What were their names . Patrick and stefan. Can anybody even understand this so soon after Charlie Hebdo and just attacking civilians randomly in this city . You know, i still have on mind what mohamed maiya, he said we love we love death as much as you love life. When we say this, we are scared today and as the president said today, we are in war. In war. Yes. We are in war. And we were attacked and it is very huge war. Were not scared. Were ready to fight. Every single french people are ready to fight, how to fight, to keep stand up and to say no to this terrorism because terrorism can come inside by different way. You know, one of the mother, defending her, her lawyer, she tell us who is your client. The mother of . The mother of one of the minors used to sue the french government because this boy was only 16 old and he was allowed to go to syria, to turkey without any single the boarder ask him why are you alone, why dont have luggage . Why do you have oneway ticket . And get all the way to turkey to get to syria. Since the last 8 of october, finally changed, the law. But before, any minor can leave france without authorization. And i sued the french government because this mother, who by the way was christian, and she called me, i dont know why my son stopped checking in my hand. Thats why i sue the french government, not to sue the french government or the French Police but to make people aware about that. About having to stand up and stop these young people going over. Of course. We cannot leave our children going to syria like that because they wash their brain. This mother told me i clowe ecll the door. I made very good education to my son. Son. I closed all the door. And the virus, the fundamentalism came through the computer. That is so everybodys telling us, even intelligence are telling us that particularly when you hear it from the head of intelligence like in england, Andrew Parker of mi5, who says publicly that this virus is coming through the computers so fast, faster than the intelligence ability to disrupt i want and to get in the way and stop it, and thats their biggest fear right now. As samir says, the mother sees her son brainwashed, a christian, and he stopped eating handle. Op holding his mothers the minor was converted suddenly and she didnt even see anything. She told me, im taking care of my son. Is she still there . Of course hes still there. In syria. And he may come back and who knows. Who knows. But theres nothing to do especially not only because our president said were going to close the border. Its not enough. Its not enough. He also said were in a state of war. To be honest with you, that is something we have to explore. What does that mean when your elected leaders say war has been declared on us, we are at war, it obviously begs a response. Samir, thank you so much for telling us your story. Im so sorry for the loss of your friends. Oh my goodness, yes, indeed. Well be back after a break. Marie callender knows that any occasion feel more special. Thats why she make her golden, flaky crust from scratch, tosses in handfuls of fresh fuji apples and sprinkles on just the right amount of brown sugar streusel. So that you can spend more time making special moments with your family. Marie callenders. Its time to savor. Other wireless carriers make families share data. Some way to say happy holidays. Switch to tmobile now and get 4 lines with up to 6gb each, and no sharing. Just 30 bucks a line at tmobile. There are no medals won for earning a living. Its just what you do for family. But its hard to build a future if you cant see past today. Thats why walmart is investing in the most important part of our company our people. Because a raise in pay, raises us all. Some neighbors are Energy Saving superstars. How do you become a superstar . With pg es free Online Home Energy checkup. In just under 5 minutes you can see how you use energy and get quick and easy tips on how to keep your monthly bill down and your Energy Savings up. Dont let your neighbor enjoy all the savings. Take the Free Home Energy checkup. Honey, we need a new refrigerator. Visit pge. Com checkup and get started today. Welcome back to our continuing coverage of the aftermath of the paris terror attacks. An International Arrest warrant has been issued for one of three brothers authorities are looking for. Of the three, hes the only one unaccounted for. One was one of the suicide bombers kill on friday night after an attack. Another brother has been apprehended. This brother is still on the loose. That is one focus of the investigation, but there are many arms to this investigation. There are, and really, the people of paris for sure are really on tendrnt hootenterhook. People want to come out and help but the police have told them to stay in. We saw a mass panic an hour and a half ago. This whole square suddenly emptied and also around one of the restaurants hit friday night. Thats where we find Clarissa Ward. Clarissa, tell us what you saw as you were outside the restaurant just a few hours ago. Reporter it was a couple hours ago, the mood was somber, a couple hundred people here, have a few thoughts, memorializing the dead and all of a sudden there was just a complete blind panic, christiane. Ive never seen anything quite like it here in europe. People just started running for their lives. And you should be seeing now some pictures that our cameramen scotty mcwindy managed to get as he started running towards the source of the panic. Policemen began to materialize from all over. They were heavily armed. They were shouting at the crowd to get back. We saw women pushing strollers with small babies, shrieking, clutching their children. People crying. No one seemed to know exactly what the source of the panic was, and what was interesting to see as well was just how nervous authorities seemed to be. We saw plain Clothes Police men suddenly materialize, one carrying a sawedoff shotgun. They were looking at us and shouting at us, telling us to get back. I was trying to ask them whats the matter, whats going on, whats the problem here. They werent able to give us a clear answer because they themselves didnt know. They were quickly trying to clear the streets, push the crowds into the safety of nearby apartment buildings. And it was such a juxtaposition from conversations i had earlier with parisians who said, you know what, on friday night we cried, on saturday we stayed at home, but today we came out, today we are defiant, today we show our anger. We will not be cowed. We will not be fearful. And for all that indig nance and that defiance it was so quickly punctured. In a matter of moments. There werent even gunshots but the abject terror that we saw on these peoples faces, christiane, was really just shocking and very telling. As much as people here want to move on, want to be defiant, want to embrace the daily rituals of french life, the reality here is that life has changed. And there was a very real sense of that as we saw these people fleeing in absolute panic. And whats interesting about it, clarissa, there is justifiable fear on the one hand not only given what has occurred here friday night but also the fact at the very least there are french authorities believe there are others out there who were involved in the planning if not the actual execution of these

© 2025 Vimarsana