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Wolf

"Politico" Questions Carson's West Point Story; Russia Suspends all Flights to Egypt; Worries Over Security at World's Airports. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired November 06, 2015 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] ARMSTRONG WILLIAMS, BUSINESS MANAGER & PERSONAL FRIEND OF DR. BEN CARSON (VO): Yes, and it is clearly in the book, and clearly his recollection, and obviously, you know, sometimes people like to print headlines to get people to read. As I said earlier, if you read the article in its entirety, there is clearly a contradiction from what "Politico" is alleging from the campaign to what Dr. Carson's campaign manager, Barry Bennett, actually said there. Is no fabrication, and he made it clear that it happened and while you cannot recall the details, and I as a long time friend have been hearing the stories, and you tell the stories so often it is different variations of the story, and the story changes, and you tell the story as a kid, and you will tell it differently and sometimes you cannot recognize the details of the story, but I know that Dr. Carson told the story and a pivotal point in his life in terms of trying to recall all of the details that I can tell you that for a fact. Dr. Carson has always been clear that he never applied. He gracefully had to let them know that his calling was medicine, and he had every intention of pursuing it.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: In the article, which you have read, Armstrong, Bennett said that he, referring to Carson, "He was introduced to folks from West Point by his ROTC supervisors and told him he could get an appointment based on the grades." That's the contradiction you're suggesting is in the article, where Bennett says he never sought admission.

WILLIAMS: Yes. It is clear in the article that the "Politico" writer, what he was trying to gain with the headlines was not substantiated by Mr. Bennett's comments in the article.

BLITZER: So the bottom line is that either someone in the ROTC program or General Westmoreland or someone at the dinner honoring warriors if you will when he was only 17 years old said that maybe you should go to West Point and he thought about it, and flattered and honored, but decided to be a doctor, physician and not a military officer and as result never applied and never sought admission to West Point. Is that right?

WILLIAMS: That is absolutely correct.

BLITZER: Well, let's talk a little bit, Armstrong, on the CNN story. One of the interesting thins following Alyson Camerata's interview this morning, Michael Smerconish, one of the contributors, suggested that maybe some of the individuals on background without releasing their identity, and without make it known if they want the privacy known or honor the privacy, maybe they should speak to privately some of the reporters to confirm the stories that Dr. Carson told in the autobiography, and what do you make of that idea?

WILLIAMS: Well, I think that Dr. Carson addressed it with Alyson Camerata on the air this morning with CNN that my of the people, he protected their names if they wanted to come forward, he would do nothing to come stand in their way, but it would be their decision to come forward. He was forthright with that, but it has to be something that they want to do, because obviously Dr. Carson says he does not understand that the media onslaught is not going to stop with CNN's investigative reporters investigating their living, and if they want to come forward to be transparent with the issues Dr. Carson spoke to some of the people, and I spoke to them also, and it is clear with my conversation with this person yesterday afternoon, clearly, they were frightened and did not want to be a part of it. And so, Dr. Carson just came to the conclusion, I am just going to leave it alone. If they decide that is what they want to do, let it be their decision, and their decision alone.

BLITZER: And I will end the interview, Armstrong, by saying that we would certainly protect the privacy of this individual, if they wanted to speak to us. You know, and just we wouldn't release that person, and we do it all of the time as you know, and we would be more than pleased to protect the privacy of this individual, the individual that you spoke with yesterday, and the individual that the Dr. Carson spoke with yesterday, and think about it, and if you want do that, we will do that and move on from this story for once and for all.

And anything else, Armstrong, before I let you go, Armstrong.

WILLIAMS: If I may say this.

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: Yes, please.

WILLIAMS: And Dr. Carson had every reason not to come on with Alyson this morning, and he feels important to address it with transparency. And while it seemed combative, there were issues like Syria and the issues that the American people care about and he understands when you are a candidate for the president of the United States, and you are the top tier candidate and while he may feel it is unfair to the ask these types of questions, he has to continue to understand that it is part of the process and these questions are going to be asked, and this is the price you pay as a frontrunner when you decide to put your name in the hat. He doesn't have problems with the issues being vetted. I think that it is the process of being vetted. All he is saying is, yes, I don't have a problem of them coming forward. And, Wolf, but let it be their decisions. And we are not saying behind the scenes, do come forward or not, and we would welcome them to come forward to do what you said, but again, it has to be their decision and not through our encouragement.

[13:35:35] BLITZER: That is a fair point. And, Armstrong, thank you very much. And I think you are absolutely right, he did not have to spend a half hour speaking with Alyson Kamarhati, and he did it. And when you are going to run for president, you have to go through every aspect of your life when you run for candidacy, and especially the frontrunner, and he and Donald Trump are the front runners the Republican Party.

Thank you, Armstrong.

WILLIAMS: Thank you.

BLITZER: So right now, we will continue our analysis of the race for the White House.

Let's take a quick break. Much more when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:40:33] BLITZER: Now to the breaking news on that MetroJet plane crash over the Sinai. Flights from Russia to Egypt are now being suspended. That is all flights, and not just to resorts of Sharm el Sheikh, in Sinai, where the ill-fated flight departed, but all flights. The Russian President Vladimir Putin agreeing to the recommendation from the National Antiterrorist Committee to halt the flights until it is clear what brought down the passenger jet. Recently, the Russian and Egyptian authorities have been discounting the British and other investigator's reports that it was a bomb that brought down the plane. They say that security experts say that someone with access to the cargo department placed an explosive in or on top of the luggage right before departure.

And now, over to Sharm el Sheikh we go, to our international correspondent, Nima Elbagir; and also joined in Moscow by our senior international correspondent, Matthew Chance.

And, Matthew, walk us through this Russian decision to suspend all flights all right from Egypt for now.

MATHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, yesterday, the Russians said they would not make a move until the investigation had been completed. Yesterday, there was a tersely- worded statement that said they were shocked when the United States and the United Kingdom had a bomb that could have caused the jet's demise, they were quite upset that it had not been passed on. And then the successor to the KGB agency appearing on TV to advising the Russian president to suspend all flights and not just to Sinai Peninsula, but to Egypt in general. And then the Russian president acknowledging that and accepting it, and imposing the ban. So it is a dramatic U-turn for the Russians. They have also got a lot of people in country, in Egypt, and particularly in the Sinai Peninsula which is a favored destination for tourists from Russia at this time of the year to catch a little bit of the winter is sun at the start of the Russian winter. Estimates from the Russian travel agency authority are that there are some 50,000 Russian citizens in Egypt right now, and they obviously have to be evacuated back to Russia before this suspension of flights can be really set out in force. BLITZER: And, Nima, you are there at Sharm el Sheikh at the airport.

What can you tell us about the BBC reports suggesting that someone at the airport may have put this explosive device in the cargo hold just before take off?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the fact that many British carriers are now saying that they will not allow any luggage into the hold of their planes is really giving a lot of people here pause for thought. It is definitely a sense that there is credence to the BBC report that the head of the ports and airports here in the Sinai Peninsula told CNN that they are giving the British personnel on the ground the access to all of the planes. They are allowing them to go through what they need to go through and whatever they need to go through to feel comfortable, but in spite of that, they are not going to be allowing hold luggage. You have a sense that the officials are reeling, and first the BBC report and then a statement from Putin and the FSB, and none of that, the Egyptians say, was communicated to them bilaterally before it was announced.

There is a real worry that you feel storm cloud gathering in the country of a country seen as a real partner in terms of the security cooperation and the broader issue of terror around the world is blind sided in its own backyard and the backdrop of all of this is the confusion amongst the tourists. If they could not handle the tense of thousands of Brits and Europeans that should have been out here nowadays, how do they handle the tens of thousands of Russians on top of it. People are worried and they are starting to feel quite scared.

BLITZER: They were supposed to have today, Nima, a dozen flights to take citizens home from Sharm el Sheikh, and only a few of the flights took the off. What happened?

[11:45:01] ELBAGIR: Well, it was supposed to be 29, and two left. Some of the flights were returned after they had left British air space and on the way here. We absolutely don't know. We are not getting any answers. But more importantly, it is not just us who are not getting the answers, the passengers themselves, they are not getting answers. We have seen busload after busload of British tourists brought here and then taken back. That is worrying, because when you speak to the Brits they say that are Egyptians are not blocking the plane, and the Egyptians say they expect the planes to leave, but they are just not leaving -- Wolf?

BLITZER: And you know, Nima Elbagir and Matthew Chance, standby and we will have much more on this.

We will talk more about the decision to stop the all flights to Egypt from the Russians do, and this is amid new threats in Egypt. Do the Russians have new intelligence about the crash and new intelligence they are not sharing publicly? And remember, 224 people die d in that crash.

Much more when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [13:50:31] BLITZER: Let's get back to the breaking news on the MetroJet plane crash mystery. If the intelligence on flight 9268 is true that a bomb may have brought down the airliner with 224 people on board, this would be one of the worst terror attacks since 9/11, and raises serious questions about security in airports in the U.S. and around the world.

Joining us is our CNN terrorism analyst, Paul Cruickshank; and aviation analyst, Peter Goelz.

Paul, you have been closely following the case. Is there new information about the investigation?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: There's all this chatter of intercepted communications that they were picking up in the aftermath of this crash. Those related to ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula. They appear to be bragging about the crash to a certain degree, the most significant terrorist attack since 9/11. It's all fed into intelligence that it might be ISIS that they might have got inside the airport to put a bomb inside the r cargo hold potentially of the aircraft.

BLITZER: At the top of the hour, Peter, the U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, issued a statement that the U.S. will now boost security for all commercial flights bound for the United States from certain airports in the region. So what does this mean specifically on travelers around the world?

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: They are going to be facing more delays in getting on their flights. You can't blame Secretary Johnson. There was a massive amount of schism prior to 9/11 about not connecting the dots. We're never not going to connect the dots when they are staring right at us, so he's taking the right steps.

BLITZER: Paul, the Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a recommendation for his intelligence services to suspend traffic until the cause of the crash can be determined. This reverses what we were getting from the Russians only the day before. This represents a significant move of Russia towards what the U.K. and the U.S. have apparently concluded.

CRUICKSHANK: I think it does represent a significant move. This may be more than just an abundance of caution. This may be something to do with the analysis of the black boxes. This may be something to do with the forensics on the ground testing for explosives and that kind of thing. I think we're going to hear more answers as this day progresses. It's very, very fast moving right now.

BLITZER: There's always been suspicion that one of the weak links at airports not necessarily the passengers going on board or even their luggage for that matter, but an insider at an airport who could smuggle a bomb on a plane whether in the cargo hold or through the catering. That's always been seen as a weak link, right?

GOELZ: There's no question about it, seen as a weak link here in the U.S. as well. Many of the jobs inside the security perimeter of the United States airports are minimum wage r or slightly above minimum wage. There are high turnovers. And the kinds of background checks that you would want with people with access to secure areas simply aren't done because there's not enough time.

BLITZER: As you know, President Obama came out with a strong statement that there is certainly a possibility that the bomb was on board even as the investigation continues. But a president of the United States or prime minister of Britain wouldn't be making these kinds of statements unless they had hard intelligence pointing in that direction.

CRUICKSHANK: I absolutely agree with you, Wolf. There does seem to be significant intelligence pointing towards the idea that is in Sinai carried out this attack, this potent, aggressive affiliate in Sinai. This is a group, Wolf, that's had a track record of recruiting insiders inside the Egyptian police inside the Egyptian military. A senior police colonel helped them with an attack in January of 2014 against the security airport in Cairo. So they could have recruited an insider, a bagger handler, some kind of worker and then they would just need explosives and put it on board the plane. That's been the Holy Grail for all these terrorist organizations. Perhaps it's this ISIS affiliate that's finally achieve canned it.

[13:55:23] BLITZER: And I assume you agree with me, Peter, that when Jeh Johnson, the secretary of Homeland Security, said this is time these enhanced securities are intended only for certain foreign airports in the region. One of those airports would be Cairo.

GOELZ: I would guess there's no question about that. And they are going to look very carefully at airports in the Middle East to make sure that they have a strong presence on the security front going forward.

BLITZER: Guys, thanks very much.

We're going to stay on top of this story.

But that's it for me it this hour. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. eastern in "The Situation Room."

The news continues next after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)