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U.S. Travel Alert; U.S. Cities Ramp Up Security; Global Markets React to Belgium Attacks. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 23, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:33:52] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

A travel warning has been issued for Americans heading to Europe in the wake of the Belgium attacks. The State Department says terrorists may try to strike again in Europe in the near future. U.S. citizens are being told to be cautious in public places and while using mass transit.

In the meantime, here at home, some of the country's busiest airports are on heightened security alert. And so are train stations.

Congressman Mike Turner just got back from Brussels. He joins me live now.

Welcome, congressman.

REP. MIKE TURNER (R), RANKING MEMBER, ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: And I want to also mention that you're a member of the Armed Services and Intelligence Committees and you're also the chairman of the U.S. delegation to NATO. So you have a lot to say this morning and I'm glad you're here.

Belgian authorities - Belgian authorities seem to know some kind of terror plot was in the works and some say that they should have been able to stop what happened yesterday. Is that fair?

TURNER: Not really, because, obviously, you know, we can't be right all the time, even though we try to chase down every lead. However, the Belgians do have a particular difficult situation in that they have not been prepared for these types of attacks or these types of organization. Their security services are not coordinated. They - they are trying to play catch up, which is why, of course, they've been a site that's been chosen from which other attacks in Europe have been - have been coordinated. So they just - they need our assistance right now. They need the assistance of Europe to make certain that they can, you know, penetrate this network and take it down.

[09:35:19] COSTELLO: I want to talk a little bit about NATO. That's a military alliance that includes 28 countries, including Belgium. Donald Trump says we need to rethink NATO. Senator Cruz comes out and said that Donald Trump's idea is a bad one and here's why. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That is so hopelessly naive. And what Donald Trump is saying is that he would unilaterally surrender to Russia and Putin. Give Putin a massive foreign policy victory by breaking NATO and abandoning Europe. That's going backwards. You know what, do you know who would agree with that? Barack Obama.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, NATO troops are protecting Ukraine. So my question to you, congressman, is NATO vital to keep the world safe or should we rethink it?

TURNER: NATO is absolutely viable. It's - and essential. It is the most successful military alliance in history. And it isn't just directed at Russia. It really is the platform by which the United States coordinates our national and international security and brings together our allies. It's the strongest block voice in the United Nations to insure that our security interests are advanced. It's also the place in which we base troops from which we're able to forward deploy, to make sure that the United states can execute military initiatives. For example, the ones that are directed at ISIS trying to lessen the security threat to our country right now.

COSTELLO: Well, tell us how NATO is helping fight ISIS.

TURNER: Well, the bases that are there in Europe allow us, obviously, to - to coordinate the military operations that we take to the Middle East. But in addition it is intelligence operations, intelligence sharing, pulling together the pulled resources of all of our alliance so that, you know, we have their plane, their weapon, their assistance. It really is the coordinating place. It really is, if you would consider it, you know, the central operations for the United States off shore.

COSTELLO: Some people say that NATO should send ground troops to fight ISIS. Should it?

TURNER: Well, I think we need a much more coordinated and intensive battle against ISIS. I think people are beginning to see that ISIS sees itself at war with us and so we - we need to take the war to ISIS. The people that are effectuating these attacks in Europe are being trained in Syria and Iraq. We need to take down their logistics, their funding sources, their ability to train. We need to make sure that they cannot -

COSTELLO: Right, and should NATO ground forces do that?

TURNER: I think it takes -

COSTELLO: I mean it's an international fighting board (ph). Should it do that? TURNER: I think it takes everything. It takes both, you know, our air weapons, it takes certainly our special operations. But the real thing it takes is, and this is where the administration has been slow to act, is it needs a coordinated plan. You can't just take one piece of NATO, one piece of the United States and say it should take action. We need a coordinated plan to take down ISIS or they will continue to attack and the United States remains at risk from these type of attacks.

COSTELLO: So you're saying - you're saying that President Obama should engage NATO and urge - and urge it to send ground troops to the Middle East to fight ISIS?

TURNER: Well, Carol, as you know, I did not say that. I said that what he needs is a coordinated plan, which includes all elements. And the president hasn't don't that. He hasn't included NATO. He hasn't included really a - you know, all of our military advisors as to how to take this down, or we would. You know, mark my word, we could be successful at taking down ISIS. The fact that this has languished as a result of inaction on indecision on the part of the admission.

COSTELLO: All right, Representative Mike Turner, thanks for joining me this morning.

TURNER: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, stopping ISIS here in the United States. Why it's not just about beefing up security.

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[09:43:29] COSTELLO: As authorities ramp up security in the United States to try to prevent a Brussels-style attack here, the national security is taking center stage in the presidential campaign. Ted Cruz says police need to patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods. Donald Trump agrees. Hillary Clinton wants more surveillance on soft targets. But CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen rights this. Quote, "what is really needed instead are more credible voices pointing out that ISIS is not creating an Islamism utopia here on earth as so much of its English language propaganda claims, but rather a living hell." Peter Bergen joins me now.

Hi, Peter.

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

I also want to mention your book you authored, "United States of Jihad." Glad to have you here.

So you say, instead of going to those more extreme measures, maybe a simpler approach might work better.

BERGEN: Well, you know, Carol, we have lots of surveillance. And surveillance wouldn't have stopped the couple in San Bernardino, who carried out the most lethal terrorist attack in the United States, killing 14 people. They weren't making the kinds of phone calls that could be surveyed.

You know, patrols through Muslim neighborhoods would be subject to all serious - all sort of serious constitutional objections and also it wouldn't have stopped San Bernardino. So what we really need is people who have been in and joined ISIS, and there are American who've joined ISIS, who have defected, who can tell their story, who can explain publicly that this is really creating a hell here on earth, not the utopia that ISIS has presented.

[09:45:01] COSTELLO: And then who would coordinate that, because, you know, an alleged ISIS fighter, who's supposedly American, was just captured recently by Kurdish forces. So what should authorities make him do?

BERGEN: Well, the Department of Justice has an interesting question, Carol, here. They can throw the book at him. He could get up to 20 years in prison. By the way, that is a lot of leverage. You know, obviously, you want to hear everything from Muhammad Khweis who was from Alexandria, Virginia, who was recently arrested and was defected from ISIS. You would want to hear everything from him about -- that he knows about ISIS.

But you know, as part of a plea deal you could say, you know, he's already given interviews to Kurdish media saying, you know, ISIS is against Islam, ISIS is really ruling in a very, very despicable manner in the areas it controls. I mean, these kinds of messages are very powerful from somebody who actually joined ISIS. And I think that that is the kind of thing that will dissuade people who are on the fence thinking hey, maybe I should join ISIS, maybe I should not.

More surveillance -- We have plenty of surveillance. That doesn't necessarily stop people. What -- you know -- people's thoughts can't be surveyed. You know, that would be an unconstitutional and impractical.

So I think the more voices you have, credible voices, people who've joined ISIS who can go out there publicly and say, you know, this is very different from the way that ISIS has presented itself, that is the kind of thing that can persuade young men and women who may be contemplating, you know, should I go or should I not go to Syria to join the group.

COSTELLO: So the government, I know, has been trying to flood social media with its own kind of propaganda. So would people -- Even if the government did this and put these people out there, would -- believers out there -- would-be-believers believe these people were real?

BERGEN: Well that is a very good objection. You would have to -- I mean -- Muhammad Khweis who -- he, you know, of his own volition is already starting to give interviews to local media saying that ISIS is not the group that presents itself. And you know, obviously the government has a sort of kiss of death problem, meaning that anything the government is involved in in this area is -- would be viewed with skepticism. But I think at the end of the day the government needs to be thinking

a little bit more creatively about the opportunities a defector like this has, rather than just putting him in prison for 20 years, there is an opportunity here. Because, by the way, you know, a lot of things that the government has done in the past in this area haven't really worked. You mentioned, you know, kind of alternative messages the government's put out on social media. I don't think those have really worked very well.

And this we now have a concrete example of an American who -- you know, he's as American as anybody in the United States -- who's joined ISIS who defected because he objected to what they were doing. I think that is a powerful story.

COSTELLO: Definitely. Peter Bergen, thanks for stopping by.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, when terrorists attack, the world shudders. We'll look at some of the ripple effects of the tragedy, just ahead.

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[09:52:41] COSTELLO: Global markets were immediately shaken by news of the terror attacks in Belgium. The Dow closing slightly lower on Tuesday after a week of gains. But already today we're seeing European markets and travel stocks beginning to recover. Is it a sign terror attacks have become the new normal or are we just all so courageous?

Christine Romans joins me now with more. Good morning.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well until now the economy has been issue No. 1 for March primary voters, but you can bet terrorism and national security are now top of mind after the attacks in Brussels and the heartbreaking loss of life there.

Now the two issues are related, terrorism and the economy. It's a goal of terrorists to sew fear and disrupt the economy. In the past 30 hours international air travel has been disrupted, the U.S. State Department warning Americans traveling abroad, travel-related stocks initially fell sharply. But Carol, history shows countries can and do bounce back quickly, even if travel and tourism decline in the immediate aftermath and business and consumer confidence suffers a temporary knock.

The key word here is temporary. Tourism tends to be resilient because law enforcement and hotels, airlines and the like, they move quickly to accommodate travelers and encourage travelers and they have developed better crisis and communication systems.

Now despite the rash of terrorist attacks, last year in 2015 international tourism grew, Carol, by 4 percent. Nearly 1.2 billion people making journeys last year. Hotel arrivals in Paris fell 17 percent the month after the attacks there last fall, but it's expected to be back to normal levels within six months. The London two bombings in July 2005 had no discernible economic impact on tourism or the economy. None. Carol, after the attacks in Paris, terrorism briefly overtook the economy in polls as the top concern of American voters. But it wasn't long before personal economy, jobs and the economy were right back.

COSTELLO: I say good for us, right?

ROMANS: That resilience, I think is important to note at this time.

COSTELLO: Because as you said, Alisyn Camerota said people are out in cafes in Brussels.

ROMANS: Bringing their children. Bringing their children to cafes, walking the streets, business as usual. The heartbreaking loss of life, the emotional impact of this clearly is there. There are those scars. What is interesting and surprising, we've seen it again and again, is the resilience of those economies and tourism and travel in the wake of these things.

COSTELLO: All right. Christine Romans, thanks so much.

[09:54:54] The next hour of NEWSROOM after a break.

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COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Breaking news out of Belgium this morning. The federal prosecutor revealing new details in the investigation of the terror attacks. Authorities are now telling us they only know who one man is in this picture. They know the man in the middle, his name is Ibrahim el- Bakraoui. Bakraoui and the man on the left were the suicide bombers who died at the Brussels airport. They are not brothers, as we had previously been told. The third suspect, the man on the right in the hat with the light colored jacket on, he's still unidentified. He's believed to have left the airport and he's now on the run. Of course, a manhunt is underway.

Khalid el-Bakraoui, Ibrahim's brother shown here on the left, he actually carried out the suicide bombing at the train station an hour after the attacks at the airport.