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Suicide Bombers Attack Yemen Mosques; Heartbreak as Tunis Marks Independence Day; Significant Security Breach at TSA; Interview with Representative Bennie Thompson; Obama Delivers Message to Iranian People. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired March 20, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:08] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Brianna Keilar sitting in for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me and we're starting this hour with breaking news out of Yemen.

At least 77 people are dead. This happening in multiple suicide attacks at mosques across the capital city of Sana'a. Local medics tells CNN that at least 200 people are injured. Some of them very seriously.

Senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is following this story from Beirut.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, a staggering death toll as a series of explosions hit the Yemeni capital Sana'a during the busy time of Friday prayer in some key mosques. Now these mosques were -- the majority there people from the Houthi part of Yemeni society. Now they are Shia Muslims, Zaidi in fact, and these two blasts targeted two key mosques, the centers, really, of their region inside the capital of Sana'a.

The death toll, as I say, staggering at 77 with hundreds, 200 potentially injured. An appeal for blood across state television to be brought by donors to the hospital. Staggering scenes, really. The carnage shown on social media. Hard to watch and difficult for us to even show it to you here. But this comes at an extraordinarily volatile time in Yemen's already fractured and messy politics.

In the past few months, the Houthis, predominantly Shia, some say backed by Iran, have been very efficient in sweeping away the limited but recognized by the West government, President Hadi. They now predominantly control Sana'a and this attack has all the hallmarks of al Qaeda, themselves Sunni, and many fearing that what we're seeing here is a reprisal of sectarian violence now across the Middle East. Sunni against Shia.

And so we don't know who's claimed responsibility for this, although the tactics used have all the hallmarks of al Qaeda. These blasts to mosques followed up when rescuers rushed to the scene by a car bomb. And another suicide bomber outside. Both explosions capturing more people in those explosions here. Real concerns, too, we're seeing a further spiral towards sectarian conflict inside Yemen after months of its already very fractured government having seemed to collapse -- Brianna. KEILAR: Nick, thank you.

And I want to discuss this more with CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank.

So we're seeing these early reports indicating that -- Paul, that it's Houthis were targeted in this attack. So what does that tell us?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: It's almost certain this was Al Qaeda in Yemen that carried out this attack. They've carried out a string of attacks against Houthis over the last several months. They've conducted big suicide bombings against Houthis before in the capital of Sana'a. There was an attack last October near the central square which killed 40 Houthis who were demonstrating in the central square.

As Nick was saying, there's rising sectarian tension almost like a simmering civil war now between the Houthis who are basically Shia on the one side and Sunnis on the other. And Sunnis are really being driven towards al Qaeda. They're having extraordinary success at recruiting Sunni tribals right now. Powerful Sunni tribal factions are going over to the al Qaeda side.

That's what's allowing al Qaeda to expand its presence in the center of the country and the tribal areas of Yemen. This is the most active group in terms of plotting attacks against the United States particularly against U.S. aviation as we've seen over the past few years.

So all of this gives it more resources, more space to launch another plot against U.S. aviation. They have that very skilled bombmaker, Ibrahim al-Asiri still at large with a team of bombmakers making more and more sophisticated devices to try and get past airport security.

This is a real crisis for the United States. The United States counterterrorism strategy in Yemen is in tatters. Now that you have basically the Houthis that have taken over, it's difficult for the United States to work with them because the Houthis, one of their slogans is death to America. They're actually more pragmatic than a lot of people give them credit for and they also see al Qaeda as a -- as an enemy.

They want to go after al Qaeda but you have this worsening sectarian tension. Remember all the dynamics that saw the rise of ISIS in Iraq. The Sunnis being outraged by a sort of Shia government. We're seeing the same thing in Yemen right now.

KEILAR: So these alliance -- the alliance happening. And you really bring it home when you're talking about trying to get the resources and get the space to launch an attack on the U.S. perhaps, on a U.S. target, so this is something that stretches so far beyond Yemen. This is something we really need to pay attention to.

CRUICKSHANK: We need to pay attention to -- I mean, this is a real crisis for the United States. What's going on in Yemen right now is absolutely alarming. This is a group that showed the capacity in the past to go after U.S. aviation.

[10:05:00] We saw the underwear bombing attempt on Christmas Day in 2009. That came very close to blowing an airliner out of the sky. We've seen attempts since then most recently in 2012 with an even more sophisticated device being prepared. So I think, you know, everyone in Washington, D.C. is going to be across this. The trouble is United States does not have any diplomatic presence anymore in Yemen.

KEILAR: That's right. Very, very good point.

Paul Cruickshank, thanks so much.

And I want to go now to a chilling warning from ISIS in the wake of that -- we're talking about a different attack. The attack on a Tunisian museum. The terror group saying that the incident is, quote, just the start. It's claiming responsibility for that massacre that killed 23 people that left dozens of others injured. This morning some new details that we're getting about some of the suspects.

According to Tunisia security minister, two individuals linked to the attack traveled to Libya in December and received weapons training there. Officials believe that both suspects were activated by sleeper cells. That's how they're describing this. Meanwhile in the capital of Tunis, the sound of screaming and gunshots replaced now by celebrations as the country marks its independence day.

Let's bring in CNN's Phil Black now. He is on the ground now for us in Tunisia. Some celebrations there but certainly a lot, a lot of concern, Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Brianna. Here on the streets we have lots of people coming up to us today asking us to tell the world what they say Tunisia is really like and that is happy, stable, prosperous, hopeful for the future and they do not want the image of this country to be tarnished by the attack of this week.

But there's no doubt that that attack has changed the mood in this country and indeed the posture of the government and its attitude toward security here as well. There is a race security presence here on the streets that we've seen for ourselves. It's very noticeable. And indeed the authorities here are now very concerned with the ongoing investigation to try to determine just how this attack took place and to ensure that it doesn't happen again.

But that would seem to be a very difficult task. As you touched on, the government here has stated that the two gunmen are believed to have trained across the border in Libya. That -- what is effectively very close to a failing state, a fracturing lawless territory where Islamist and jihadist groups are thriving and prospering, then they cross back here after receiving training to carry out the attack itself.

The concern here obviously is that something like that could very easily happen again with the border between these two countries, well, pretty porous very difficult to secure. On top of that, there is the ongoing effort as well to repatriate the injured and the dead to their countries of origin across western Europe, across Asia as well. Twenty-three victims in all. Most of them international tourists who were here aboard those cruise ships.

We know the government's -- their consular services have been visiting the morgue, visiting the hospitals. Those that are able to travel have been moving back. There's been an extraordinary story of a Spanish couple who spent 24 hours in the museum. They were only discovered yesterday morning, many, many hours after that attack that finished that hid fearing not knowing what was going on outside. Their families back home in Spain really desperately worried about them. Take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): Christina had been missing for hours and we were very worried because we didn't know if she was dead or injured. Finally she called me this morning with a shaky voice telling me that a police officer had found them hidden in the cleaning supply room where they were hiding for 24 hours because during the shooting they saw people dying and they hid in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACK: The expectation is that that Spanish couple will return to Spain likely today but aboard a flight that will also be carrying countrymen who did not survive that attack -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Phil Black, thank you so much in the capital of Tunisia.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

KEILAR: We have some breaking news about those bomb attacks in Yemen. The death toll just ratcheting up here. We understand now that 120 people have been killed, 300 injured, and this is a number that could very well go up.

Let's bring in Nick Paton Walsh. He is monitoring the situation in the capital of Yemen from Beirut. Staggering numbers. Staggering numbers here, Nick.

WALSH: Brianna, absolutely. More than doubling in just the past hour or so as I think those in the Yemeni capital Sana'a try to come to terms with these blasts that hit two mosques in an area which is predominantly inhabited and frequented by the Houthis. And we'll get to them in a moment but these blasts, suicide bombers walking in to crowds of worshippers and then ask people around to help secondary devices detonating, to causing these huge numbers of dead and injured.

Three hundred injured including, it's fair to say, some senior leaders and politicians from the Houthi movement. Now they are vitally important because in the past months they have, some say with Iranian support, swept to power in the capital Sana'a, organized, disciplined, pushing aside the internationally recognized government of President Hadi of Yemen and taking control of the capital. Increasing tension between them and those loyal to the president and

those loyal to Sunni tribes in the country as well and many fearing that when you see in those blasts first and then second one so familiar to al Qaeda tactics in the region here. Many concerned that these blasts today mark a new chapter in which potentially Sunni extremists are targeting the Shia who are of course the majority there in the Houthi movement as well.

So a phenomenally complex picture but of course at the heart of it this tremendous loss of life in Sana'a today and a third blast in north of the country, too, which seems to have claimed less lives but show quite what the level of coordination there seems to have been behind these attacks -- Brianna.

KEILAR: How are we expecting these numbers to change in the coming hours, Nick?

WALSH: Well, medical care is hard, frankly. to come by to a high level in Sana'a. We've seen that ourselves. And hospitals are urgently appealing for blood donations that could impact the figures as we move forward. Of course these are coming from Houthi officials, to some degree they want to explain the level of casualties and trauma that their supporters are following as a result of these blasts.

But the key thing that America is watching here is quite how this impacts the level of instability in Yemen. It's already frankly a failed failing state. Deeply volatile, unstable, because of the loss of government and instability there right now. The U.S. has had to close its embassy in Sana'a and that has impacted the counterterrorism program. The use of drones, as al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, you have a base there inside Yemen.

Does this potential lurch toward sectarian violence, and that's what it looks like given how Shia worshipers were targeted at these mosques, we don't know who buy at this day yet but it has the hallmarks of Al Qaeda. Does that potentially bring another lightning rod of volatility and violence that's already deeply troubled country? So vital for interests for all nations across the region -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. Vital in a country that the Obama administration had held as a success today until somewhat recently which we can obviously see by the numbers today, it is not.

We'll have more on this breaking news. 120 people we are finding out killed now in Yemen in these bomb attacks. Almost 300 hurt. We'll have more breaking news in just a moment.

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[10:16:31] KEILAR: Well, this is pretty scary. A government watchdog group is reporting a, quote, "significant breach in aviation security," after it was revealed that the TSA let a convicted felon and the former member of a domestic terror group pass through a prescreened airport security check.

CNN aviation and government regulation correspondent Rene Marsh following this story.

It's sort of baffling, Rene. How did this happen?

RENE MARSH, CNN AVIATION AND GOVERNMENT REGULATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Absolutely. And I can tell you that this watchdog group isn't happy about this. The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General is sounding the alarm because they say this felon and former domestic terror group member was given expedited screening at a U.S. airport last summer.

Now pre-check, as you know, Brianna, it is a less stringent screening process usually reserved for low-risk passengers. You get to keep your shoes on, you keep your coat on. The laptop can stay in the bag. The report says that the traveler who was involved in numerous criminal activities, some of them involved explosives, also murder, this person was allowed that expedited screening.

So how did this happen? Well, you know, you can apply for pre-check or you're randomly picked for pre-check. In this particular case, he was randomly picked based on biographical information he provided to the airline and TSA also ran his name through data bases like the no- fly list. His name did not appear on those lists. But the TSA is being scolded here for essentially allowing a virtually unknown passenger through pre-check and unknown when you consider just how much information people who actually apply for the program have to provide like fingerprints and criminal background -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes. And I've done it. And you basically have an interview, too. I mean, it's a pretty stringent process you go through.

So how does the TSA address this? How do they make sure that this doesn't become a norm or that it isn't the norm?

MARSH: Well, the TSA is standing firm on the fact that this man's name was not on the no-fly list. They say if his name wasn't on the list that must mean that he was not an aviation security threat. The agency said in a statement that all passengers are essentially screened and they said there are multiple layers when it comes to security.

So they're standing firm here that because his name wasn't on the list, that is the list that they use to determine who is OK and who is not.

KEILAR: OK. Well, I don't find that --

(LAUGHTER)

I imagine many people don't find that particularly comforting.

Rene Marsh, thank you so much.

I want to get into this a little more with Congressman Benny Thompson. He's a Democrat from Mississippi and he's the ranking member of the Committee on Homeland Security for the House of Representatives. So, Congressman, I mean, you just heard this report. You know all

about this. How is this possible? I understand that he's not on the no-fly list. But he's a convicted murderer. He's a former member of a domestic terror group. How does -- how is he allowed to go through that TSA pre-check line?

REP. BENNIE THOMPSON (D), MISSISSIPPI: Well, first of all, he should not have been allowed to get into the pre-check list. He should have gone in the regular passenger line. He should not have been afforded the courtesy of being in pre-check.

KEILAR: Do you think that this is a failure on the part of the TSA?

[10:20:00] THOMPSON: There's no question it's a failure on part of the pre-check system. The problem is TSA is trying to defend what they did.

What I plan to do is offer legislation to make sure that this does not happen again. It was unfortunate that a whistleblower had to bring this to our attention and not our system. If this person had applied through regular pre-check, then he would have been turned down. He would not have been denied the right to fly on the plane. We would have known that this person had a history that was suspect. And we would take notice.

Now the other problem is even when the whistleblower saw this person, he had no authority to deny that person the right to get on the plane. And so that's a problem also.

KEILAR: And so you have this watchdog report and it's saying that the felon was spotted by an Eagle Eye agent but otherwise no one noticed. Do you think that this is just the one incident that we've seen and there may be other lapses like this?

THOMPSON: Well, there's no question that this Managed Inclusion Program needs to be fixed. And that's how he got into the pre-check line anyway. My legislation will do away with all of that, take the guessing out of it, requires science, require running data bases against those individuals. So that the only people who are in pre- check will be those individuals who have been vetted.

KEILAR: Yes.

THOMPSON: And not somebody who looks at somebody who is traveling and say get in the pre-check line. That's not security.

KEILAR: Yes. And I'll tell you, before I had TSA pre-check I would occasionally be allowed to go into the pre-check line. I loved it. It was great. But I sort of wondered what I was doing there. And we know that you're introducing this bill next week.

THOMPSON: Well, and -- and we plan to fix it.

KEILAR: Yes. All right. We'll be waiting to see this bill that you introduced.

Congressman Bennie Thompson, thank you so much.

And still to come, the U.S.-led nuclear talks with Iran slide into a recess. But officials say that they are going to pick back up next week. Is there still time to reach a deal? The clock is ticking. There's a March 31st deadline.

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[10:26:03] KEILAR: The U.S.-led talks with Iran over its nuclear program are now in a recess. Iranian officials say the negotiations will resume next Wednesday. Meanwhile, President Obama is delivering a message directly to the Iranian people in a video posted on YouTube. The president says this is the best opportunity in decades to forge a better relationship between the two countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The days and weeks ahead will be critical. Our negotiations have made progress but gaps remain. And there are people in both our countries and beyond who oppose a diplomatic resolution.

My message to you, the people of Iran, is that together we have to speak up for the future we seek.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: But Iran's Foreign minister shifts the burden back to Washington. In a tweet Javad Zarif says, quote, "Iranians have already made their choice. Engage with dignity. It's high time for the U.S. and its allies to choose pressure or agreement."

CNN's Michelle Kosinski is at the White House with the latest.

And I'm struck, Michelle, by -- it's like YouTube and then it's diplomacy by tweets.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes.

KEILAR: Social media hot potato going on.

KOSINSKI: I mean, we're seeing a lot of that lately and sometimes you'll see a tweet, say, from Russia delivering some kind of dig to the U.S. So that's been going on. And, you know, we often see the White House deliver a statement on another country or another culture's holidays but not quite like this. I mean, the administration clearly saw this as an opportunity to deliver a speech. Another chance to state the U.S.'s goals here clearly, list Iran's responsibilities according to how the administration sees it and emphasize what's at stake.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: Iran's leaders have a choice between two paths. If they cannot agree to a reasonable deal, they will keep Iran on a path it's on today. A path that has isolated Iran and the Iranian people from so much of the world, caused so much hardship for Iranian families and deprived so many young Iranians the jobs and opportunities they deserve.

On the other hand, if Iran's leaders can agree to a reasonable deal, it can lead to a better path. The path of greater opportunities for the Iranian people. More trade and ties with the world. More foreign investment and jobs including for young Iranians. More cultural exchanges and chances for Iranian students to travel abroad. More partnerships in areas like science and technology and innovation.

In other words, a nuclear deal now can help open the door to a brighter future for you, the Iranian people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOSINSKI: Yes, doesn't look like any of Iran's state news sites are mentioning this address in any form. And it's doubtful that the average Iranian would have much access to this so it looks like the real recipient of this message was the Iranian regime -- Brianna.

KEILAR: And it was received loud and clear.

Michelle Kosinski at the White House, thanks so much.

Still to come, a DOJ report forced a shake-up at the Ferguson Police Department. Now the city has a new chief of police. Why some state leaders say it's not enough.

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