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Brussels Metro Partly Reopens Under Tight Security; Officials Link Abdeslam to Brussels Attacks. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired March 23, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

[10:00:01] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Of course a manhunt is under way. Khalid Bakraoui, Ibahim's brother, shown on the left, he actually carried out the suicide bombing at the train station an hour after the attacks at the airport. Police say both brothers had ties to the Paris terror attacks so they are all linked now.

Authorities also updated the death toll last hour, it rises to 31 and the number of wounded jumps to 270.

Extensive security checks are under way as people in Brussels begin returning to day-to-day life. There's a big memorial going on right now outside of the Belgium embassy. Let's go to that now because the Vice President Joe Biden is on his way into the embassy there in Brussels to sign the condolence books. Let's watch.

All right. I apologize. It's kind of hard to hear. But you hear Joe Biden -- see Joe Biden and his wife Jill inside the embassy there in Brussels, Belgium. He's getting ready to sign the condolence book. Outside literally -- I'm sorry, this is in Washington, D.C. I apologize for that, but Joe Biden and his wife will soon sign that condolence book. But we just wanted to show you the picture.

All right. Let's go back to Belgium now because as I've said authorities there are guarding the train stations. They're really keeping a close eye on things for obvious reasons.

Phil Black is at the train station right now. He joins us live. Hi, Phil.

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Carol. Yes, so we are standing in the center of Brussels, very close to the European Union's leading institutions. Just to my right here is the European Commission, the executive body of the European Union. And it's really only just around the corner was Metro station targeted in yesterday's attack, well, that's where you'll find police still forensically going over that devastating scene on the ground.

What we've heard from authorities today for the first time is who they specifically believe was responsible for that suicide bombing. Now you mentioned two brothers took part in the overall operation. One was involved -- one was a suicide bomber at the airport. The other one was a suicide bomber here at the Metro station.

The brother's names, Ibrahim and Khalid el-Bakraoui. These are two brothers who were apparently, according to reports here, were known to authorities through their criminal activities, links to organized crimes, we're told. Not through any links to terrorism itself. But yesterday, yesterday morning, they split up, went their separate ways. Ibrahim to the airport with two other people to conduct that terrorist strike, and Khalid here to the Metro station where his body was by far the deadlier of the two.

At least 20 people died underground here in Central, Brussels. As I say, in this area, so close, such an international area, so close to these European institutions. It is why one of the reasons that many people -- European leaders in particular are saying this isn't just an attack against Brussels but an attack against all of Europe and all that Europe stands for.

Today, the city is starting to get back to normal. There are more people on the streets, buses are running and the Metro system is only partially reopened. Two lines, a handful of stations but there is enormous security, both on the streets and underground on those Metro lines as well -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Phil Black reporting live from Brussels, Belgium. Thanks so much.

Overnight, police raids wrapped up -- police raids wrapped up in the neighborhood where the suspects hired a taxi to take them to the airport. Among the findings, explosives.

Fred Pleitgen outside Brussels where those explosives were found earlier. Tell us more, Fred.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol, it seems as though this location that I'm at right here, the Schaerbeek district, and specifically the house that you see behind me appeared to have been a makeshift weapons lab for the people who conducted those attacks at the Metro and also at the Brussels airport as well.

And we were on hand yesterday as the raids were going on in this district. I just want to step out of your way here, Carol, and then maybe we can pan up to this building. As you can see the apartment on the top floor of this building. That appears to be the one that the searches were focused on. Last night, there was a lot of forensic workers in there. They kept bringing out bags of what appeared to us to be some form of evidence and brought them to some of their vehicles. The other thing that was on hand pretty much the entire time was explosive ordinance disposal squads.

[10:05:03] And of course we learned later today what the reason for that was is that they found some 15 kilograms of TATP explosives inside the apartment where those people stayed. They also found screws, an ISIS flag as well. And that certainly explains why the raid that we watched unfold here last night happened the way it did. With police snipers, with police helicopters hovering overhead. With snipers in them as well. And all of those specialists from the EOD squads then later combing through the department.

The other interesting thing that was found as well, Carol, was a laptop that apparently had the last will of one of the bombers on them. A man saying that he felt that he was under threat, that he was being followed by the police, and that he felt he needed to act fast, otherwise he would be arrested -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Something came out of the press conference early this morning and maybe you can expound on this. One of the Bakraoui brothers left a sort of will or suicide note on a laptop.

PLEITGEN: Yes.

COSTELLO: What can you tell us about that?

PLEITGEN: Yes. Well, from the information that we're gathering is that it appears as though he might have written down his thoughts on that laptop and then dumped that laptop in a garbage can apparently the police said outside of the building here. And if we pan a little bit again, you can see that actually in front of this building there is a garbage can right in front of it which is incidentally also the area where these men were apparently picked up by the taxi that brought them to the airport.

Now of course later it was the taxi driver who said that he saw the mug shots of these people on TV and then notified the police and that's how they were able to find this apartment as fast as they could. He also said that they had a lot of luggage on them and that they refused to allow them to handle their luggage which seemed to indicate that there was something very volatile inside.

So certainly the police here is saying that, yes, they found this laptop and, yes, it appears as though at least one of these men felt like he was very close to being captured and, therefore, felt they needed to rush this operation as fast as possible. Of course they did manage to get those bombs going, as we saw, and they had still some explosives also that were left over inside the apartment that you see behind me, Carol.

COSTELLO: And, Frederik, there is some theory why one of these suicide attackers felt that -- you know, that he was about to be arrested. Why was that?

PLEITGEN: Well -- well, I mean, they were implicated in the larger web, if you will, of the people who were behind the Paris attacks and now, of course, the Brussels attacks as well. These two brothers, one of them, rented an apartment where -- which was raided by police last Tuesday and where the DNA of Salah Abdeslam was found. He was of course the man who was still being searched for in conjunction with the Paris attacks. He had been on the run for four months, he was then apprehended four days later or two days later and it was then that apparently these men felt that the police were on to them.

COSTELLO: Frederik --

PLEITGEN: That they were on the run, that they were close to being captured.

COSTELLO: All right, Frederik Pleitgen, reporting live from Belgium. I'm sort of keeping a close eye on Joe Biden in Washington, D.C., at

the Belgian embassy. He's speaking -- I don't know if we can hear him, though. So let's try.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Their capability to begin to crack down on and eventually eliminate these terror cells. They will prevail. They will prevail. And you know, all you have to do is remember the incredible courage of Belgian people during World War II, the incredible stamina, and nothing has changed. Nothing has changed. But on behalf of the president I can say that we are prepared to provide any and all information capability, technology, anything we have that can be value-added to their fight and they will prevail. You got to them, I tell you what, backbones like grandmas -- they are going to school, they are not letting terrorism win. And what they really want to do is change the way we live and you are not going to let that happen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much, Mr. Vice President.

BIDEN: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all very much.

COSTELLO: All right. Vice President Joe Biden talking with the Belgian ambassador at the embassy in Washington, D.C.

Let's head out to Brussels, the memorial there, because it is huge. And Joe Biden was right, Clarissa Ward, people are out and about and they are living their lives.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Carol. It's actually been quite surprising, I have to say, given that there are still a number of men on the loose. Police have warned that these men are armed, that they are dangerous potentially. But earlier today, we saw a large group of at least one or 2,000 people gathering behind me. You can see some of them are still there. We're right in the center of town in the Place de la Bourse.

They held a moment of silence. And then at the end of the silence, Carol, there was this eruption of applause and cheering.

[10:10:05] A sort of -- a mixture of resilience and defiance. Clearly people here want to sent a message that they're going to go about their daily lives, that they won't be cowed by these acts of terrorism. But at the same time, Carol, I think it's fair to say that people here are on edge, there is anxiety and that's precisely, because as we heard from Belgian's prosecutor early today, there are still a number of men who are on the loose. Most prominently that third man that we've seen now in the surveillance video. He's wearing that light-colored jacket, he's wearing a cap and glasses.

Police do not know who he is or if they do, they certainly haven't shared it with us. But they have warned that he's out there, that he's dangerous. Police are also looking for the believed bomb maker in the Paris attacks, Najim Laachraoui, who appears maybe also connected with this web. So essentially a lot of people still potentially loose on the streets. And authorities here, Carol, are being very tight-lipped. They don't want to give away any information. They've asked the media to please stop tweeting and covering these searches and raids in real time because they're concerned that it could tip off people involved in these terrorist networks themselves, Carol.

And they are very keen to try to get investigators out on the ground and bring in these suspects before they can do any more damage, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Clarissa Ward reporting live from Brussels, Belgium, thank you.

And as that manhunt intensifies, authorities are combing through evidence in a place many say is hotbed for terrorism. Michael Weiss, co-author of "ISIS: Inside the Army of Terror," writes this on the "Daily Beast" this morning, quote, "U.S. counterterrorism officials are frustrated and angry at Belgium's inability to tackle ISIS terror cells that are successfully plotting murderous attacks on the West from inside the country's tiny capital city."

Michael joins us now. Welcome, Michael. So expound on that for us.

MICHAEL WEISS, CO-AUTHOR, "ISIS: INSIDE THE ARMY OF TERROR": Well, so we wanted to find out what U.S. counterterrorism officials, U.S. intelligence officers who have been dealing with, first, the al Qaeda threat and now ISIS for, you know, almost a decade and a half have to say about their European counterparts. We cleared a number of officials, one in particular, a CIA officer, a veteran of the agency for a very long time, pulled no punches, described not just the Belgian Security Forces but said this is kind of a pandemic across the European Union.

The word that was used was they're like children. When we go over there and try to liaise and share intelligence with them. And there's a sense of disappointment and sort of frustration because Europe has been dealing with the infiltration of not just jihadist operatives but the jihadist ideology, the sort of moral and intellectual milieu in which, you know, these kids essentially self-radicalized or are radicalized by older generations. And they've been dealing with this for decades, whereas in the United States really 9/11 was the wake-up call.

COSTELLO: So, Michael, Michael, why --

WEISS: So the Europeans should be -- yes.

COSTELLO: Michael, why aren't they up to speed?

WEISS: Well, this is the $6 million question. And it's either a form of denial. They're so frightened and paralyzed and they don't know, you know, when the next attack is coming, they don't want to rock the boat or do anything that might really offend social and political policy that goes back even beyond the terror threat of the last 20, 30 years. You have policies at state multiculturalism which suggests that the proper way forward, when dealing with large immigrant communities, is to create a kind of ethnic salad in the country as opposed to the famous U.S. melting pot where assimilation is sort of the norm. And this is the reason that you have this proliferation of

essentially, you know, urban ghettos that are pockets of -- I mean, it's one thing to have ethnic or racially limited communities, it's another when they become essentially outposts of very dangerous parts of the third world where, as I say, you know, actors who are looking to do harm to the society that is hosting them in which they even were born and grew up, are allowed to just kind of preach hatred and violence.

I mean, to give you an example, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the Paris mastermind, he went to prison. This is all -- and by the way, this all comes out of central casting. Every time we deal with a terror attack and you look at the suspects or the perpetrators, I mean, it almost writes itself with a crayon. Well-educated, came from a fairly Bourjois background, was born in the European country, and in that case, Belgium, went to a fairly good school, dropped out of school, devolved into a kind of life of crime, petty gangsterism, you know, tenth rate burglary, that kind of thing, goes to jail, meets, you know, the brothers in prison, who give him their version of a Wahabi- Salafi jihadi ideology, gets out of prison, and then links up with veterans of this movement.

[10:15:03] In Abaaoud's case, it was a veteran of the Soviet Afghan jihad. A guy who was nicknamed Papa Noel or basically Santa Claus. Why? Because he was giving out, you know, 3500 euro cash disbursals to anybody who wanted to go to Syria and join ISIS, and this was all taking place, you know, in broad daylight in a major cosmopolitan city in the center of Europe. This is why the Americans are so upset.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Michael Weiss, thanks for joining us.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the frontrunner scored big victories in the western Tuesday -- in the western Tuesday states, I should say. So why does Ted Cruz say Trump is so scared?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. Fast-moving developments out of Brussels, Belgium and the terror attacks that went down yesterday. Paul Cruickshank is here, he has new information to share.

What is it, Paul?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Carol, this is critical, new information coming from a senior Belgian counterterrorism official. And that is that Salah Abdeslam, the Paris terrorist attacker who was arrested last Friday, was slated by this Brussels cell to be part of an attack being planned on Brussels.

[10:20:14] An attack which was accelerated by the cell when Salah Abdeslam's hiding place was discovered by Belgian Security Services last week and after Salah Abdeslam was brought into custody. They suspect Salah Abdeslam was slated to be part of that attack team.

Now you'll recall that at his safe house, Belgian police found Kalashnikov detonators and an ISIS flag, suggesting that an attack was in the works, an attack linked to Salah Abdeslam, it was in the works. And so they believe he was going to be part of this. And so quite extraordinary that he -- when he was arrested didn't reveal any of this to Belgian interrogators. It was said that he was cooperating, well, clearly he wasn't cooperating fully because he did not reveal these plans.

Now this also suggests that the attack that was carried out yesterday in Brussels that was accelerated, that the plan was going to be much larger than that because the Belgian Security Services managed to neutralize at least one half of this network in Brussels when they raided that safe house. They killed a senior Algerian operative, Mohamed Belkaid, in that attack. They believe that Belkaid was likely the overall commander of this Brussels cell and also the overall commander of the Paris attacks.

During the night of the Paris attacks Mohamed Belkaid, the terrorist killed in that gun battle last week, was providing orders and coordination for the attackers in Paris. So this very same cell that carried out the Paris attacks also then carried out these Brussels attacks but it could have been much larger indeed. And now all of this fits together because, as HLN, a Belgian media outlet was reporting yesterday, when the taxi driver came to pick up the three Brussels airport attackers at the airport, they had so many suitcases filled with so much explosives that they could not fit all of them inside that taxi cab they had to leave some behind.

That was the explosive that was subsequently found by Belgian counterterrorism officials at the safe house in Schaerbeek. And including 15 kilograms of TATP, acetone, oxygenated water, all sorts of bomb-making materials found. They had so much explosives, they could not fit it all into one taxi. And that suggests that they prepared this explosive for a much larger attack team. If the Belgians had not discovered Salah Abdeslam's safe house last week, this could have been massively worse, this terrorist attack in Belgium than occurred yesterday, tragically occurred yesterday.

The Belgian Security Services appeared to have thwarted at least half of the plot, Carol.

COSTELLO: Interesting.

CRUICKSHANK: One more note here. One more note here. At large, still being searched for is a potential bomb maker in both the Paris and Brussels terrorist attacks, Najim Laachraoui. They found his DNA in the bomb factory for the Paris attacks but they have not definitively yet established that he was the bomb maker in those attacks.

This is a fast-moving investigation. These are critical new details we're now reporting first on CNN.

COSTELLO: And, Paul, another question, do you have -- is there any way to know how large this cell is and who is directing it?

CRUICKSHANK: Yes. I mean, they suspect that the director of this cell, of the Paris and Brussels cell, was Mohamed Belkaid, an Algerian, he used to work in a sweet shop but was radicalized and came back from ISIS and Syria recently. He was, as I said, killed in that shootout on -- last week, last Tuesday, when the Belgians went in to that address that they had intelligence suggesting was linked to the Paris attacks.

They weren't expecting to find anybody inside that residence. But Belkaid, that night of the Paris attacks had been in touch over the phone with the various attack teams in Paris. He is now dead. He's gone. How many other attack teams are out there? Well, they just don't know. I mean, it is possible there could be other members of this network still primed to launch attacks in Brussels and Europe. Very concerning times indeed, Carol.

COSTELLO: Paul Cruickshank, thanks for the information. I'll be right back.

[10:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: A split decision for Democrats and Republicans in western Tuesday. Bernie Sanders crushing Hillary Clinton in the Idaho and Utah caucuses while Clinton cruised a victory in Arizona. But even with those wins, the math is still a challenge for Bernie Sanders. He trails Clinton by nearly 800 delegates in the bid to the next Democratic nominee.

On the Republican side, Ted Cruz's big win in Utah earned the Texas senator all of that state's delegates but Donald Trump had his own winner-take-all moment after downing his rivals in Arizona. Those 58 delegates solidifying Trump's spot atop the GOP field.