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Paris Attacks Suspect Arrested in Belgium; Crash of Flydubai. Aired 2-2:30a ET

Aired March 20, 2016 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:11] LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Charged with terrorist murder Salah Abdeslam reveals how he intended to blow himself up during the Paris terror attacks.

Also ahead Greece prepares to implement the deal that will send migrants back to Turkey even if refugee arrivals show no sign of slowing.

And U.S. president Barack Obama gets ready for a very Cuban welcome in a landmark visit to Havana.

Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM.

The only surviving suspect of the deadly terror attack in Paris has made a confession. Salah Abdeslam admitted that he played a key logistical role in the November attack then backed out of plans to blow himself up with a suicide bomb. Police arrested Abdeslam in Brussels during a raid on Friday. It may take up to three months to extradite him to France and prosecutors there hope the suspect will reveal more about the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCOIS MOLLINS, FRENCH PROSECUTOR (Through Translator): Salah Abdeslam, during questioning by Belgian investigators, affirmed that, and I quote, "He wanted to blow himself up at the Stade de France," that he had backed down. His first statements which we must take with precaution leave unanswered a series of questions on which Salah Abdeslam will have to explain. In particular, a presence in the 18th District of Paris on November 13th after dropping off a group at the Stade de France in his car, as well as the factors that led him to abandon his explosives belt in Montrouge.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Meanwhile, Salah Abdeslam sits in a prison in Belgium. And people in the community near Brussels where police arrested him are reacting to the terrorist -- the alleged terrorist, who was living in their midst.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A day after the operation that brought Salah Abdeslam into custody, most of the aftermath has been cleared away. However, the house here that he was hiding in is still boarded up. And of course the police is also still on the scene. Now in that operation, Salah Abdeslam was wounded. However, those wounds were only light and he has since been discharged from the hospital.

The authorities here say that he has already been questioned under a Belgian and under a European arrest warrant. People here of course heard and saw what happened when the raid took place. And many that we have been speaking to say they are concerned about the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): The weapons scare me. They could have just opened their window and shot someone. It is dangerous. Life is complicated here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (Through Translator): At first, we were scared when we were walking on the streets or on the Metro. And we worried for our kids in school. And every day we heard new reports and worried. But yesterday I was relieved and happy. They arrested him and we feel more at ease. Thank God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Salah Abdeslam was on the run for about four months and there was speculation that he might have tried to go to Syria. There was speculation that he might have fled to other European countries but in the end he was found here, only a short distance from the area where he actually grew up. Now he has been questioned by the authorities. And what they're trying to find out, is more about the Paris attacks, the logistics behind the Paris attacks. How they were plotted, how they were planned. But also people who might have helped him to hide in those four months.

Now he was hiding here in this area. And the mayor of this district, of the Molenbeek district, says yes, this district has a problem with extremism and it's something we need to fight in the future.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCOISE SCHEPMANS, MOLENBEEK, BELGIUM MAYOR (Through Translator): I think it's good that we have a lot of operation who happened here Molenbeek but also in other districts of Brussels and in the country because we fight against radicalism. It's very important. And we know, we know the problem.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: Interpol is concerned that people who might have tried to help Salah Abdeslam might now try to escape from Europe. And they've issued an advisory to their member states saying, keep a lookout in the coming days, in the coming weeks, for people trying to get away.

Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Brussels, Belgium.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: In Istanbul a suicide attack has killed at least four people in a busy tourist area. Including two Israeli American citizens and an Iranian. 36 people were wounded. It's the third deadly bombing in Turkey this month. So far no one has claimed responsibility.

Preparations are under way on the great island of Lesbos to send thousands of refugees back to Turkey. It's part of a controversial new arrangement between the EU and Turkey to curb the flow of migrants into Europe. More than 4,000 migrants are now on the Greek island of Lesbos.

[02:05:03] Greece is of course a major stopping point for refugees fleeing war-torn Syria. Aid workers say returning them to Turkey is simply unethical.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LUCY CARRIGAN, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: From the International Rescue Committee's perspective, the deal is only going to lead to more disorder and more lack of dignity, more chaos for the people who are already here in Greece. And the idea that you can base resettlements on conditions that people are returned from Greece to Turkey is unethical and will only -- will only ensure that desperate people will -- and it will only ensure that desperate people will only seek more desperate ways to come to Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Even as Greece prepares to send back some migrants, they do keep arriving. On Friday, almost 1500 arrived in Greece from neighboring Turkey.

The U.S. and the United Arab Emirates is sending investigators to Russia to help figure out what caused the fiery crash of a Flydubai passenger jet. All 62 people on board the Boeing 737 died when the aircraft went down during a second landing attempt at the airport in Rostov-on-Don. Investigators will be focusing on three possible factors in the crash, the bad weather, technical issues and human error.

CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more on the weather at the time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: At the time of the crash, weather conditions were very poor. We had very strong winds. Very low visibility. And this storm system making its way through, bringing snow showers and rain showers to the area near the airport.

Here's a look at the flight path. And this is very important to notice because you could see it's all over the place. And the reason for this was, they tried to make not one, but two separate landing attempts. And in between, they had to circle around for almost two hours before they could make that second landing approach. Here's a more detailed look at how those landing approaches worked

out. Once you can see, we'll kind of zoom it down on to the side here. Here are the green lines that you're looking at, are the two landing attempts. Let's make it a little bit more of a bold color so that you can see. This right here was the first attempt at landing. Right about here something did not work out so they had to go back up into the air, circle around for about two hours, hoping the weather conditions would improve before they tried to make the second landing attempt, which was right here.

They made it a little farther down before something went wrong. And they had to adjust very abruptly. And again, this is where the plane went down. Notice the location of where the plane went down was just off of where the actual runway was located. So unfortunately, something went wrong during that second landing attempt. Now again, it could be many different options. One of those is weather-related.

Here's a look at the winds. At the time of the crash, they were around 60 to 90 kilometers per hour. And again, they're not expected to improve that much because we have another system coming back through. And unfortunately that may pose some problems for the recovery efforts as they try to clean up the damage.

Here's also a look at our next system that's coming back through. Bringing more rain and snow showers, which again, unfortunately, may damper a lot of the recovery efforts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Allison Chinchar reporting there.

Well, now to weather conditions in the U.S. and an aptly named March nor'easter is on track to bring snow, rain and gusty winds to the northeast and the mid-Atlantic starting this weekend.

Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now.

And Derek, it's going to be a bit chilly, is it?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm frustrated because I looked at the calendar and it reminded me that today is the first day of spring.

KINKADE: Yes.

VAN DAM: Across the United States and the northern hemisphere. And it's going to look more like winter across many locations. But as we all know, with this late season snowstorms, timing is everything. And the exact track of the low pressure systems are also very, very crucial.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[02:10:47] VAN DAM: The National Cherry Festival from March 20th through April 17th. And look at this. I'll end on a good note. That's the magnolias in Washington, D.C., looking beautiful. Several of those in Atlanta, too, right? KINKADE: Yes. They are -- that's quite a few over the last couple of

days.

VAN DAM: Got some in my backyard.

KINKADE: I took a few photos.

VAN DAM: Me too.

KINKADE: I love spring. So hopefully it warms up.

VAN DAM: I know. I agree.

KINKADE: Thanks, Derek. Good to have you with us.

The last time a sitting U.S. president visited Cuba was in 1928. That was the year penicillin was discovered. And on Sunday, President Barack Obama will arrive in Havana after re-establishing U.S. relations with the island. Mr. Obama is expected to meet Cuban president Raul Castro, attend a baseball game and talk to anti- government activists.

The U.S. has lifted some trade and travel restrictions. But Cubans are hurting under the ongoing economic embargo. The White House is hoping the concessions could lead to stronger human rights in Cuba.

And for the first time since -- since the 1959 Cuban Revolution, a U.S. hotel company signed a deal there. Starwood Hotels and Resorts worldwide will operate the hotel in this video under their luxury brand. The company will also run another hotel as a full-point by Sheridan. The company will receive special permission from the U.S. to negotiate the multimillion-dollar deal.

And of course you can join CNN for our special coverage of the U.S. president's trip to Cuba. Our Robyn Curnow will bring you an hour long preview of the visit Sunday from 3:00 p.m. London Time.

Thanks for joining us for this short edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Lynda Kinkade. "CNN MARKETPLACE AFRICA" is up next.

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