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Terror Attacks in France, Tunisia and Kuwait; Obama Briefed on French Terror Attack; At Least 27 Dead in Tunisia Terror Attack; Obama to Eulogize Pinckney as Thousands Mourn. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired June 26, 2015 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:07] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We do begin -- we do begin this morning with breaking news with a string of terror attacks across the world.

Here are the sites of this morning's strikes -- Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa. In Tunisia -- in Tunisia, in Northern Africa, gunmen storm a beach front hotel and kill at least 27 people. In Kuwait ISIS claims responsibility for the suicide bombing of a mosque. Dozens are believed dead and wounded.

And another terrorist attack unfolded in southeastern France near Lyon in a hot bed of radical Islam. The target, an American company. Now the details are chilling. France's president says a severed head was found, seemingly on display and delivering a message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRANCE (Through Translator): It is a terrorist attack. There is no doubt about it. The body was decapitated with a message written on it. As far as we know, as I am talking to you, there is one dead. The Ministry of the Interior went to the site together with the public prosecutor. The individual of this terror attack is arrested.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Of course we're covering all angles of this story. Our Jim Bittermann is in Paris. Alison Kosik is in New York with word from this American company, but I want to start with you, Jim. I know you've been working your sources. What are they telling you?

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in fact, Carol, we've been watching this develop all day long. We don't yet have an official identity on the person who was killed in this attack. The president said there were two people injured. And the person who has been arrested has been identified by the Interior minister. A man named (INAUDIBLE).

And he was apparently under investigation for two years -- or under surveillance anyway for two years by security forces here from 2006 to 2008 because he was suspected to be someone who was being radicalized. After 2008, though, he dropped off the radar because I guess officials decided that he no longer was worthy of surveillance. But clearly, if he is the man responsible, they should have been watching him more closely. And those kinds of questions will definitely be asked.

Now in just about a half hour, President Hollande who was up in Brussels at the time is now back in Paris. He's going to convene his Defense committee, he's got the Interior minister, Defense minister and others. They're going to be talking about what they should do from here on. And I think one of the things they're going to have to do is reassure the French public because this after the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks in January clearly indicates how vulnerable this country is to these kinds of attacks -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So, Jim, just a little more -- bit more about the attack. This was an American company, correct? And there was a decapitated body with messages scrawled on it? There was some kind of flag? Can you tell us those details?

BITTERMANN: Well, we only have what reports are in and they come from police sources down in the south. But in fact, yes, it was a decapitated head that was attached to the fence outside the plant with a black and white flag, perhaps an ISIS flag, but that hasn't been clearly identified yet. And another flag with Arabic writing on it. And that's what's coming out of reports from down there. I think we'll probably hear more about that.

We're not clear on who the victim was or how it is that he was killed. But clearly this was something that was meant to terrorize and in fact has. I think the idea that this would have happened and particularly at this particular site which is way off in the countryside, 25 miles from Lyon, it's in a very small town. And it's a kind of place that would have been protected maybe but not so much as all the sites around Paris here or other big cities in France.

The idea that an attack could place out in a rural area like this I think is going to have a very chilling message to a lot of French.

COSTELLO: All right. Jim Bittermann, I'll let you get back to your reporting. Thanks so much.

I want to turn to Alison Kosik now. You contacted that American company that owns that plant.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right.

COSTELLO: Near Lyon, France. What are they telling you?

KOSIK: So this company is Air Products and I want to show you the statement that they gave us. And it's as follows from a spokeswoman at Air Products saying, "Our priority at this stage is to take care of our employees who have been evacuated from the site and all accounted for." She said, "The site is secure. Our crisis and emergency response teams have been activated and are working closely with all relevant authorities."

Air Products, Carol, is a company that was founded 75 years ago, headquartered actually in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It has operations, though, in 50 countries. One of those countries France. This is the company whose main business is to sell specialty chemicals and gas to a range of companies for industrial uses. You know, one interesting thing that I found about this company that it has actually a relationship with NASA for many years. It's supplied liquid nitrogen for every space shuttle launch and the Mercury and Apollo missions.

I found that interesting about the company. This is a large cap company worth about $31 billion. It has about 21,000 employees. Obviously the company very concerned about those employees at this hour.

[09:05:10] COSTELLO: Do Americans work at this plant in France?

KOSIK: That I'm not sure. But this is a company that does business around the world. This is a global company. Business anywhere from Texas to Japan. It's got employees obviously here and overseas.

COSTELLO: All right, Alison Kosik, many thanks. I appreciate it.

Now to Tunisia where a terrorist attack on a beach front hotel has left at least 27 people dead. Tunisian officials telling state news that security forces exchanged gunfire with the attackers and that the operation is still underway. This is in North Africa.

CNN's Robyn Kriel has more for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBYN KRIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. The number keeps rising. First it was seven, then 19. Now Reuters News Agency reporting that 27 what would indeed seem like holiday makers murdered on a beach in Sousse, which is a resort beach town in Tunisia.

Tunisia is very close to Europe. It's a very popular place to travel, very cheap for Europeans to visit, beautiful beaches, white sands. And we're seeing a lot of photos on social media of people lying in pools of blood on the sand in their swimsuits. We're also hearing eyewitness reports coming from various news agencies saying that people were barricading themselves inside their bathrooms, inside their hotel rooms. They're hearing rapid exchanges of gunfire.

It's still a fluid evolving situation. It would be an incredibly tenuous scene really for the police to try to contain because there would be so many civilians running around in absolute terror. We do also understand that the Ministry of the Interior, that would be over the police, is reporting one gunman was killed in this firefight since the firefight ensued with police.

And also that a number of civilians, 27 at the moment, but of course that could rise a much, much higher given that it was the middle of the day, it is the middle of the day here on the African continent. So there would have been a number of people out on the beach at that time.

(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: All right. Robyn Kriel -- I think she can join us live now, is that correct? Robyn Kriel is live. The operation is still underway there. Tell us the latest.

KRIEL: Well, we just got off the phone with an eyewitness. She is from Wales. She reported about 30 seconds of gunfire. She was staying that a neighboring hotel to where this attack unfolded, and she did -- she has seen bodies, at least two bodies, in the ground, blood on the sand. She also reported when the gunfire initially started ringing out that people were trying to flee from these gunmen. They were jumping over the hotel fences, falling down. People in her own hotel began to put mattresses up on -- against the doors in case these gunmen tried to infiltrate the hotel.

Tunisia's Ministry of the Interior saying one of these gunmen has been killed. It's unclear how many gunmen there were. It's believed that they were firing AK-47s and that Tunisia is, I understand, the largest foreign contributor -- the largest contributor, rather, of foreign fighters to the Islamic State. So if this does indeed turn out to be an ISIS attack, if they claim responsibility for it, this will be a coupe for them.

It's not the first time that they've attacked -- that they've attacked Tunisia. They attacked the Bardo Museum in March, also focusing on killing foreign tourists, also focusing on really damaging the economy by hitting these soft targets with the most people killed possible and with very slow reaction, we understand, from security forces in some instances.

This particular resort is incredibly popular with British holiday makers as well as other European holiday makers. Tunisia is just a two and a half hour flight from Paris.

COSTELLO: All right. Robyn Kriel reporting. Thanks so much.

Now I'd like to talk with Peter Bergen. He's CNN's national security analyst.

Welcome, Peter.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: These attacks, one in the Middle East, one in North Africa, one in France, they don't appear to be connected, correct?

BERGEN: No. But, you know, it's interesting in several hours we've seen attacks that say a lot about the state of the kind of global jihad in terms of terror and tactics. You know, in France we have what appears from what we know now to be a homegrown type attack, perhaps inspired by ISIS with limited casualties. In Kuwait we've seen an attack with multiple casualties directed at the Shia, similar to attacks that we've seen recently -- in recent weeks in Saudi Arabia with a suicide attacker.

And in Tunisia we have what looks like a fedayeen attack, which is more than one gunman willing to sacrifice themselves, an attack that will take several hours or even days, similar to the kinds of attacks we saw, Carol, in Mumbai, on the hotels in Mumbai where the hotel goers and tourists were targeted in a deadly attack.

[09:10:20] So these attacks demonstrate the kind of range of targets, the range of tactics that people inspired by jihadist ideas or trained in some cases are able to commit.

COSTELLO: Right. Right. Peter, I want to center now on that attack in France, on that American company because it is especially gruesome. A decapitated body covered in graffiti, a head with a message attached. What do you make of that?

BERGEN: Well, I mean, you know, we know that there's a black and white flag that was found at the -- at the site. And that black and white flag very well may be an ISIS flag or it might be an al Qaeda flag. I mean, the flags are fairly similar. They say the same things. There's a message from the Quran. And then the severed head, obviously, seems to be something out of the ISIS playbook. So we don't know if this suspect traveled abroad.

So far there have been absolutely no reports that he has. In which case he could be like Mr. Khoubali who was the ISIS inspired Frenchman who killed four people at a Jewish supermarket in Paris in January. We've seen -- you know, France has the largest contingent of people who have gone to Syria to fight in the -- of the European countries, something like 1500 have gone. And even if people don't go, they're also inspired by ISIS. And you know, that's what -- right now that's what this looks like with the limited facts that we have in hand right now.

COSTELLO: All right, Peter Bergen, thanks so much for your insight. I appreciate it.

More on this string of terror attacks right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:16:10] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: President Obama preparing to head to Charleston. But before he leaves, he's once again faced with the threat of global terrorism. Three attacks already today on three different continents, and we know Mr. Obama has received at least one briefing on the attack on that American owned gas factory in France.

Sunlen Serfaty live at the White House to tell us more.

And good morning.

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

That's right. President Obama was briefed here at the White House early this morning by his national security team. And that briefing took place hours before his regular presidential daily briefing that he receives each and every morning.

So, clearly, Carol, his team thinking that this news out of France today rose to the level to alert him to this ahead of time, especially because this is an American company in France. Now, it was just this week, just two days ago before this attack, of course, that President Obama spoke on the phone with President Hollande. They were then speaking about these NSA spying allegations. But during that phone call, it should be noted that the White House says that the two presidents did talk about shared threats, including international terrorism -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Sunlen Serfaty, reporting live from the White House -- thanks.

At least 27 are dead in Tunisia, in one of those three terror attacks. North Africa considered a hot bed of terror activity.

Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon with that side of the story.

Good morning, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

If it is shown that this attack in Tunisia was the work of ISIS or an ISIS affiliate or related organizations in North Africa, sadly, it is not going to come as a surprise to the Pentagon or the intelligence community.

Sources have been telling us for the last many days that, you know, now they really do see ISIS trying to expand across North Africa, essentially Libya next door to Tunisia where this all happened being a third front in the ISIS attempts to invoke terror. ISIS' third major area after their efforts in Syria and Iraq.

And so, we know there have been attacks in Tunisia before. In Libya, ISIS is said to have training areas to bring in fighters. It is recruiting fighters. Libya is a country that has really no strong central government, if a government at all.

Many of these militia movements, many of these ISIS related affiliates thrive there. And so, the fact that some of these elements may have migrated to Tunisia where we have seen attacks before, not a surprise to the intelligence community. They've been paying a lot of attention to it. And sources are saying expect to see the U.S. pay even more attention to it in the coming weeks and months -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Barbara Starr, reporting live for us -- thanks so much.

In just a few hours, the president and the first lady will touch down in Charleston, South Carolina. President Obama is in the holy city to deliver the eulogy for Emanuel AME's Reverend Clementa Pinckney who, as you know, was killed last week in that racist attack.

Mourners are already gathering, trying to get a seat at the TD Arena which will host tomorrow's services. Along with the president and his wife, the Bidens will be attending, along with the bipartisan delegation of lawmakers. As well as Hillary Clinton who canceled a campaign event to attend. President Obama is scheduled to speak at 3:00 p.m. Eastern. We'll take you live to Charleston right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:23:45] COSTELLO: An emotional touching service about to get underway in Charleston. Hundreds of people ling up early this morning to honor and remember Pastor Clementa Pinckney. President Obama will arrive later this afternoon to deliver the eulogy.

But while this somber ceremony gets underway, more ugliness exposed and apologies issued. South Carolina's former lieutenant governor, Glenn McConnell, now supporting removing the Confederate flag from the statehouse where Pastor Pinckney's body was on public view earlier this week. That is a significant move since back in 2010, McConnell posed for pictures wearing a Confederate army uniform with two black people dressed as slaves. We can only assume McConnell regrets these pictures as well.

But today is all about honoring Pastor Pinckney.

Victor Blackwell live in Charleston to cover the proceedings today.

Good morning, Victor.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.

Let me set the scene for you. Now, thousands of people are filing into TD Arena. Here's the line. It goes as you can see, as far as you can see.

And imagine the sectors that are converging here. Let's take a look at the other direction. I mean, imagine, you've got the president, the first lady, the vice president, Speaker of the House John Boehner leading a congressional delegation. You've got the state legislators, the leaders of the AME church, and those who were not only touched by the horrific nature of this crime but personally touched by the work done by Clementa Pinckney and are here.

[09:25:13] A capacity crowd here from what we know is about 5,000, and we are expecting there will be an overflow crowd. So many people trying to get in for this service that starts at 11:00 a.m. -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Certainly, not surprised, Victor. We're also learning more about Dylann Roof, the man who killed the pastor and eight others. And we're also learning about -- I guess Roof had a plan that could have killed many more people. Tell us about that.

BLACKWELL: Well, we know according to a police report he wanted a more powerful gun. There was a police report released by the Columbia, South Carolina, Police Department dated March 13th in which an officer searched his car while he was sitting alone wearing all black in his car, found six of those crescent shaped 40-round magazines and part of an AR-15, a semiautomatic rifle we've heard a lot about, considering the mass shootings over the last couple of years. When asked, he said he wanted to buy an AR-15 but did not have enough money. We wanted to take it to a shooting range. But consider the damage he did last week with a .45 caliber Glock handgun. There is a former attorney who put it best to a reporter, who said, we should all be thankful he did not get his hands on that AR-15 -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Victor Blackwell, reporting live from Charleston this morning -- thank you.

Let's bring the focus back to the Reverend Clementa Pinckney. The tribute to the late state senator will begin in less than two hours. And as we said, as you saw, thousands will attend his funeral.

I want to bring in one of his fellow South Carolina Senate colleagues, State Senator Marlon Kimpson.

Welcome, sir.

STATE SEN. MARLON KIMPSON (D), SOUTH CAROLINA: Thank you for having me, Ms. Costello.

COSTELLO: Thank you for being with me. I so appreciate it.

When you see all of these people waiting to pay respects to your friend and colleague, what goes through your mind?

KIMPSON: Well, the gravity of the world is in Charleston, South Carolina. And I think my colleague would want us after paying respect to his family and the families of the other eight people who were murdered in this church behind me, would want us to use this opportunity as a transformative moment to heal, to bring people together and to move forward with an agenda on improving race relations in this country.

COSTELLO: President Obama will deliver the eulogy later. What does he need to say? What does the nation need to hear from Mr. Obama?

KIMPSON: Well, these eight, these nine families, these were pillars in this community. We've lost -- we've had a tremendous loss. But the state and the country is better off because they lived.

And I think what the president needs to say is that we will end -- he will use the resources and the powers vested in him to highlight these issues as he's so eloquently done in the past. But we need to come away with a real agenda.

The president -- we want to join him in his call for ending racial division and symbols that divide us. But really move forward with a substantive agenda for economic empowerment. In Charleston, we have multibillion dollar investments. We are proud of those. But there are people that are being left behind, not just African-Americans, but people of all color, including our white citizens who are low to moderate income.

We want to talk about health care for all. A third of this state's population are poor, living below the poverty guidelines and do not have health care. What we want to do in the general assembly -- and we're going to move forward without delay, is really embrace the fundamental issues that not only divide us in terms of symbols, but also the substantive policies to provide people with equal access to affordable education and health care and economic development.

And so, these nine families we're going to grieve -- attended two funerals yesterday, impactful, powerful, attended by thousands. Not just my colleague Reverend Pinckney, but all of the funerals. And we intend to show up and be heard that we're going to stand behind these families even after the cameras go away.