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tv   France 24  LINKTV  November 18, 2015 2:30pm-3:01pm PST

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sohor: first, let's recap for the evidence of this wednesday. at least teed of people killed and eight others arrested, including one woman -- at least two people killed and eight others arrested, including one woman. five police officers were injured in the raid. police say the cell was injured -- set up to carry out further attacks. the identities of those killed and injured have not been released. there is concern that abdelhamid abaaoud was not among those arrested.
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extending the state of emergency for another three months. the 129 victims of friday's attacks have now been identified. earlier, the french aircraft , wentr, charles de gaulle on its way to join the campaign against the islamic state group. paris drewcow and even closer together to coordinate the military campaign against the jihadists. a french police prosecutor gave a press conference that ended over an hour ago. let's take a listen to what he had to say. >> the raid was an extremely difficult operation. we used almost 5000 bullets. an explosion was heard next, which turned out to be a suicide blast. initial investigations and evidence have indicated that the andt was caused by a woman the destination of her explosive jacket. -- eight, a person -- peopl
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people are currently in custody, seven men and one woman. the identity of those involved in the raid have not been established. studio,joining in the he has been following the investigation, mark thompson. let's run through what we do know at this point. mark: in francois hollande's own words, he said they "neutralized a terrorist cell." what we've heard through the course of the day is a better picture of what took place during this rate. -- raid. he said the police found what he called "a total war arsenal." he said they were prepared to further attack. we don't know whether this terror cell is explicitly connected to the attack on friday, but, he says, this was
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proof of people ready to carry out further violence. it is not clear whether abdelhamid abaaoud or salah abdeslam were among those -- we know they weren't arrested, but we don't know if they were killed. ofdon't know the identities any of those involved. when the officers went on the raid, they followed -- found a reinforced door. that is what started the firefight. it gave those within the apartment the opportunity to prepare fo the advance. we ended up with a huge firefight between those in the apartment, snipers, assault rifles, grenades, 5000 rounds fired by the police. anchor: that's an extraordinary amount. mark: it really is. anchor: that's something you find in a war zone. mark: that's what we've been hearing from eyewitnesses. this was at 4:30 in the morning,
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people woken up by this incredible sound. a war zone,ed it as so much so that the building itself is starting to collapse. that has caused investigators to slow down and have to retrieve -- retreat from the building because it is too dangerous to go in and find out exactly what was going on in this apartment. they were attracted to this apartment via witnesses who be inhat abaaoud might paris at this address. they trailed him to this apartment. , we don't, abaaoud know if he was there or what his connection to it is. the police sources, which we can't independently confirm, the gunman has sent -- had sent a text saying "we're starting."
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that is another deal that has come -- detail that has come out from francois hollande. -- the information comes from a phone found in a trashcan outside of the bataclan. "we're starting" -- we don't know who this text was sent to. and we don't know who the phone belonged to, but this was the phone that helped lead investigators to this apartment today. chris: could you -- anchor: could you draw a bit of a portrait of the area? it's not that far out of central paris, just across the road from city ring road. a lot of people when they head into paris, the charlotte de --lle -- charles de gaulle is only two kilometers from the
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-- this is only two kilometers from the stade de france. -- mark:s not hard it's not hard to get you. you can see why it would be a direct route for any potential attackers. we know that the people who carried out friday's attacks that have numerous state houses they rented out in the paris suburbs. and it appears that this was one of those areas where they hide out. anchor: what are the outstanding questions that remain from the investigation? rk: the press conference did give us some details, but it did not answer a lot of questions. who were these people arrested or killed during this morning's raid? did they haverole
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in friday's attacks? also, were they planning further attacks? we know they have the ability to. there were kalashnikovs. there was clearly a lot of firepower in that apartment. a woman detonated a suicide vest at that location, so it's clear that they were pretty prepared. among the other questions that are still to be answered -- where are these two men? chrisanchor: that's the biggest question. mark: it's the question everyone on the street is asking and the police are asking. and salah abaaoud abdeslam. we have had reports that french authorities send out a bulletin aoking for a citroen vehicle, abdeslambelieved salah might be driving in. we don't have any independent confirmation of that, but that's
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what we've been hearing from the associated press and spanish -- that theyg for are looking for a vehicle which salah abdeslam might be in. anchor: thank you very much, mark thompson, keeping a close eye on that. a small apartment in northern paris is the location of that seven-hour operation by police to track down the alleged mastermind of friday's attacks. two people were killed and eight others were injured. prosecutors are trying to figure out whether the man suspected of orchestrating friday's attacks was among them. reporter: the end of a violent operation in saint-denis. >> it's impossible right now to give you the identity of the people who have been arrested. they are still being identified. everything will be done to
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determine who is who on the basis of forensic examinations. we will tell you what consequence that will have on investigations. reporter: it started with gunfire at about 4:30 on wednesday morning. this footage was filmed by a resident from a near apartment. a long exchange of gunfire can be heard, between distinctly different weapons. by dawn, the area around the report -- apartment had been filled with police. antiterrorist forces closed in, and thought their target was abdelhamid abaaoud, the presumed mastermind of the attacks in paris on friday. police met with inhabitants, a group of people who turned out to be heavily armed. other residents of the building were evacuated, some stray from their beds, and given -- some straight from their beds, and given protective blankets. up to4:25, we were woken
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the sound of gunfire, like -- [mimicking gunfire] it woke me up and i jumped out of bed. i got up. he said, "no, close it, get inside." i saw firemen and police. there was smoke everywhere, helicopters. terrorists were shooting at police. it lasted about 30 minutes. emergency reporter: vehicles gathered on the nearby square. authorities have told residents to stay inside. >> i have very important advice. reporter: following the initial of soldiersumns moved into patrol the local area.
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projectiles and grenades were launched by police. one person activated a suicide belt at the moment of the attack. seven people were then arrested in and around the apartment. a number of police were injured during the raid. one by one, they were helped nearby ambulances. then, the arrested men were brought out with a heavy police escort. the final stage of a dramatic morning. anchor: and when french officials carried out their raid --s morning, it was with covering their faces. reporter: you won't ever see their faces. they belong to a french national police special operation tactical unit. france's primary defense against terrorism and hostage situations.
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research, assistance, intervention, and deterrence. the unit has around 180 combat officers, all under the age of 40. the supermarket in paris' eastern supermarket in january, when hostages were being held. there, like in many instances, they worked alongside france's elite anti-gang brigade. they also raided the home three years ago of a jihadist gunman, who had shot dead three soldiers before killing three children and a teacher at a jewish school. after long negotiations, a siege,le and a 32 hour the suspect was killed. set up in 1985, the counterterrorism unit operates nationwide and has exclusive jurisdiction over the 21 districts closest to paris.
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it has been france's frontline in the battle against basques and islamist terrorism. >> for us, our raids feel no more dangerous than to any police officer going on -- into a domestic dispute. but it's true we are the last resort. reporter: they became known in 1993, when they rescued 21 primary schoolchildren taken hostage west of paris. since then, the tactics have not changed much -- a mix of negotiations and intimidation, with weapons used only as a last resort. achor: joining in the studio, former french naval seal commander. thank you so much for coming in. first of all, what has changed since those attacks last january? >> we have three major changes. the first, the targets.
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the targets have changed. "charlie hebdo," journalists and police forces were targeted. today, normal cities are targeted. women, children. people in the concert hall. people in the street. so, that changed. the fear -- the global understanding of the situation. we feel insecure in our streets. the launch of six simultaneous attacks at the same time means we don't have the time to react. that means our soldiers are very well courtney did. anchor: -- well coordinated. anchor: it is the worst nightmare, when you have correlated attacks in six
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simultaneous locations -- have coordinated attacks in six simultaneous locations. >> and our soldiers are prepared for this. we have swat teams everywhere in france. but it is very difficult -- say we have a few group of people with kalashnikovs rushing in front of a restaurant, five minutes, 10 minutes, it's done. it's a very easy tactic. it's very easy to do it. it's very difficult to counter this type of action. anchor: what can you do to type -- counter those types of actions? we have the first time suicide vests on our soil. that changes how we protect against this and also how to assault people during a raid. so, how can we be protected? it is a huge, huge question.
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first, we have to increase the people involved in intelligence, because we have decreased the number of specialists. was very low. today, that changed. escalation of the threat coming from syria, coming from middle east, and we are not prepared for this. we do not have enough to counter this. anchor: and the other new development about this is the fact that many of these people are french nationals or belgian nationals. they are homegrown terrorists. so, trying to decipher who is a good guy versus a bad guy becomes all the more difficult for security officials, doesn't it? >> true. and we have these sleeping cells.
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roots like out their bamboo. when we show up, it is the same tactics. it is difficult to know who is a bad guy and who is a good guy today. the coordination between european forces is going to be better, but it is not efficient yet. we have to reinforce the connection between all parties to be able to have instinctive, i will say, exchange of information, to be able to trust information, and to be able to react quickly. anchor: we have to leave it there. thank you so much for coming in. 27-year-old belgian national who has been on the run and suspected of orchestrating friday's paris attacks. abdelhamid abaaoud, a belgian aqqa, one ofrn in r the official faces of belgian --
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network. islamist , aorter: abdelhamid abaaoud belgian national, reported to have lived in syria, one of the faces of the islamic state group, listed in several investigations in france and belgium. >> he is a very well-known figure of jihad in belgium and even here in europe. abdelhamid abaaoud is known as - - from belgium. he was very present on social media since 2013. reporter: he is here in a belgian neighborhood that has become a hotbed for islamist terrorism. earlier this year, a belgian court sentenced him to 20 years in prison after trying him in absentia. he had also been accused of indoctrinating his younger brother, who traveled to syria in january, 2014.
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french investigators have linked him to the foiled paris train attacks this summer and a plot to kill belgian police officers. the french government says all 129 victims have now been identified. at least 350 people were also injured during those attacks. moving on, president francois hollande is using the occasion of a french news conference to reiterate that, once again, our country was at war. hollande: these actions confirm once again that we are at war. a war against terrorism. warrrorism that has waged against us. it is the terrorist islamic
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state organization that has an , financial resources, oil, that piece of territory, has collusion in europe and in our own country with young, radicalized islamists. they commit massacres over there and they want to kill here, and they have done. anchor: a political analyst -- -- our guest,eech a political analyst, heard that speech by president hollande. the president saying we are very much at war. >> francois hollande has insisted again in today's speech that we were at war against islamic state organization.
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-- ably, at the same time, they are calling for national unity. during the congress, the speech he has given -- today, he announced a round of measures ranging from searches to arming of forces. the left is not really at ease with that. necessitates national unity. anchor: there are concerned people on the far left that the french could be similarly -- facing a similar situation in to thee of -- situation americans in the wake of the 9/11 attack. >> yes, some people are calling for --
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it was already the case in january. manuel valls indicated that [indiscernible] when you look carefully at the set of measurements the government has announced -- of measures the government has announced since friday evening, it is not really a patriot act, in that direction in terms of security. it is not patriot act, but it stands to look a little bit like this. anchor: the other key element in all of this is constitutional reform. when was the last time that the french constitution was amended? >> yes, actually, what francois hollande is explaining his we need to adopt the french isstitution -- explaining we need to adapt the french constitution. it only deals with when the country is in a crisis, when the
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president can halt the power, including the legislatures -- and have all the power, including the legislative ones. has beenh constitution elaborated in 1958, at the time of general de gaulle. strong executive power. and he was a general. what is extremely surprising is, normally, someone which is a hollandefrancois should not be very comfortable and at ease in reinforcing the [indiscernible] normally, the left is in favor more -- to make the french constitution more democratic. it is not at all what francois hollande is announcing. anchor: and that combined with a very hawkish foreign policy --
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this is a socialist president. >> it is a socialist president. the left is not going to be fully ok with what hollande is announcing. it could be temporary. but to put that in the constitution, maybe it will deteriorate in a few days when the national unity is over. anchor: we have to leave it there. as we were just referring to, there was a rather noisy question time in the french parliament earlier today as members of the opposition questioned the government's handling of friday's attacks. this is what they had to say. angry aboutople are what happened and about what hasn't been done since january. rolet is the opposition's to speak out and asked the
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government for accountability for its actions. >> yesterday, we discussed about the proposals of the president of the republic, and it was normal that the opposition asked the questions they asked. there were a certain number of answers which were very aggressive, and this was, of course, not what the french wanted to see. anchor: the french aircraft is onr charles de gaulle the way to join the campaign against the islamic state group. britain says one of the royal navy's most advanced warships is also going to support the carrier. bill upton has more. gaullehe charles de moved slowly through the harbor in the mediterranean town of toulon. the aircraft carrier is the centerpiece of france's air and navy operations. it will soon be cruising the waters alongside syria.
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the orders to set sail came on monday. on deck, marine aircraft being prepared. there are 18 being -- 18 on board.
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11/18/15 11/18/15 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy now! >> when individuals say we should have a religious test and that only christians -- proven christians should be admitted, that is offensive and contrary to american values. more potentnk of a recruitment tool fry's sale -- for isil

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