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Brussels Terror Attacks; Muslim Youths Donate Blood for Brussels Victims; Belgium and ISIS; World Leaders Express Condolences to Belgians; Trump and Clinton Win in Arizona; Impromptu Tributes ot Brussels Victims on Twitter and Facebook. Aired Midnight-1a ET

Aired March 23, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:08] WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're also standing by for the results of three other contests: in Idaho, where Democrats are caucusing tonight; and in Utah, where both Democrats and Republicans are caucusing. We hope to make major projections soon.

I want to go listen to Hillary Clinton right now. She's in Seattle, Washington, speaking to her supporters.

HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, via satellite: I want to thank Attorney General Bob Ferguson, King County Executive Dow Constantine, State Senator Kevin Rankor. I want to thank Pam Cipriona, who is the President of the American Nurses Association and Jan Buscert, President of Washington State Nurses Association for endorsing me today. I am so proud to be endorsed by the nurses of America.

{Cheering]

CLINTON: And I want to thank all of the elected officials who are here with us, and I particularly want to pay tribute to this great high school a great, great high school.

[Cheering]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Screams of horror inside Brussels Airport. Terrified travelers engulfed in smoke as suicide bombers blow themselves up. Just a few kilometers away, a metro train car, packed with morning commuters, ripped to shreds by another bomb. The city of Brussels under attack. I'm Max Foster in Brussels. This is CNN's special coverage of the terror attacks here in Belgium.

At least 30 people are dead, hundreds more wounded in a terror attack claimed now by ISIS. The first two bombs exploded just about 8:00 a.m. in the departure hall of the Brussels Airport, less than 24 hours ago. About an hour later another bomb tore through a crowded metro station. Surveillance footage from the airport shows the three men police say are behind the attack. You can see the two men are wearing gloves on their left hands which authorities say could be containing detonators.

JAN JAMBON, BELGIAN INTERIOR MINISTER: We showed a photograph where these three people are on the photograph, two of them killed themselves with suicide bombers and the third left a bomb in the airport, but it didn't explode, and we are now looking for this guy.

FOSTER: Well, the taxi driver who drove the men to the airport told police he picked them up in Schaerbeek neighborhood. So police raided the residence, where they found a nail bomb, chemicals and an ISIS flag.

Now Belgian security forces tell CNN they believe the Brussels bombings are tied to the same network that was behind the Paris attacks. CNN's Anderson Cooper has more now on how things unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 8:00 a.m. local time, busy hour, Brussels airport. The attacks begin. An explosion near the ticket check-in area. Moments later, another explosion.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then the second explosion went and then everything is black. And I see -- when I go out I see a lot of people with blood and I just go, just run out of the airport. I feel like it's the end of the world.

COOPER: At least ten are killed and 100 wounded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw doors flying, glass ceiling coming down and smoke on everything.

COOPER: But it could have been even worse, a third device undetonated and left at the scene was later set off by authorities. This image was soon released: three men believed responsible for the deadly airport attack. The two on the left, most likely killed in the explosions. The one on the right, on the one and now one of the most wanted man in Europe.

The scene of chaos and carnage the terrorist wrought, just the beginning. Within the hour, another explosion, this time in the heart of the city at the Molenbeek metro station; the blast turning this subway car into a twisted mass of charred metal.

PIERRE MAYS, SPOKESMAN, BRUSSELS FIRE BRIGADE: It looked like war. I saw many injuries. I saw people dead. I saw everything broken. It's -- it's [00:10:02] just terrible.

COOPER: At least 20 killed here and 130 wounded. Those fortunate enough to evacuate on foot were forced to brave terror underground in the dark. Later in the day ISIS claims responsibility for both attacks. Brussels, not just a symbol of the West as a European capital, but also a hub for the European Union and the Headquarters of NATO.

As night falls a police helicopter, with a sniper inside, hovers over a Brussels neighborhood while raids are conducted below in connection to the investigation. In one house, investigators find a nail bomb, chemical products and an ISIS flag, according to Belgium's federal prosecutor.

Senior U.S. officials telling CNN they believe today's attacks are tied to the same network as the deadly Paris attacks in November last year. And, like Paris, another European city is now shaken to its core, its people defiant in the face of terror while a manhunt continues.

Anderson Cooper, CNN.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: With me is CNN's Senior International Correspondent, Nima Elbagir. She's been in Brussels now for a week as this all unfolded. It's still not over. What's the latest with this man on the run?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand that it is an intensifying manhunt. The Belgian Prime Minister has made it very clear that homes and houses across this country are being searched, but Schaerbeek, that was the initial location, a very heavy man hunt operation; police special forces going in, helicopters, snipers, they have already, we understand, removed what Belgian prosecutors have already announced that they have found chemicals that they believe were involved in the making of a bomb device, an ISIS flag and a nail bomb.

FOSTER: And in terms of what happens from here, they're obviously trying to search from him, but they're trying to backtrack, presumably, on the journey that these bombers took to get here?

ELBAGIR: You have two very pressing priorities: you have the immediate investigation that needs to be unraveled in order to understand who else was involved with this network; and then you also have a very dangerous individual on the run. This man is believed to have left behind the third device, which very fortunately police were able to detonate in a controlled explosion at the airport yesterday; but he is extraordinarily dangerous. He was part of the immediate attack group of three, but luckily for authorities, already their release of that photograph into the public domain, that's what led to the tip-off that led them to the Schaerbeek neighborhood.

FOSTER: And in terms of the European authorities working together, they are criticized heavily after the Paris attacks, weren't they? Are you getting the sense that they are working together in trying to find this man because perhaps people slipped through the net last time?

ELBAGIR: Well there is going to be an immediate issue of resourcing, which is that the Belgian authorities are on the ground. They're the ones who are out there. They're out there quicker. We have a seen a lot of cooperation between Belgian and French police. In fact, the raid that led to Salah Abdeslam initially going on the run after so many months of a cold trail, that was a joint Belgian/French operation. But there is the reality that the immediate resources deployable are going to be Belgians; and this is a race against time.

The European authorities are also, obviously, concerned with deploying within their own countries, keeping their own country secure. The French have deployed 1600 additional officers on the ground. So it really is kind of a ranking of priorities right now, but Europe is very aware that they need to be sharing intelligence effectively and that also if they don't, who knows where this network could strike next.

FOSTER: Lots of speculation that there is a link to Abdeslam here and perhaps he might speak while in custody or somehow this operation was brought forward because of the arrest; does that make sense to you?

ELBAGIR: Well even before this attack, the Belgian authorities were saying that this was their fear, that essentially they had shaken the hornets' nest and that what we know of these kind of networks is that these things can get accelerated. Anybody within this immediate network would have been worried, what's he saying? Is he leading them directly to me? So from Sunday, the Belgian Foreign Minister was warning about this. Unfortunately, the warning wasn't enough to fend this off.

So our understanding from Belgian security sources is their working assumption now is that that new network, there's almost a lattice work of these radical jihadi cells. So you have the original Paris attack conspiracy. You then have a new network that they believe built up around Salah Abdeslam and the it is that that they are concerned was part of this attack.

FOSTER: Nima, thank you very much indeed. We're getting new information all the time. We'll bring it to you as we do.

We're going to turn now to journalist Chris Burns though. He's a former CNN correspondent, of course. He lives near the Molenbeek Metro Station. He joins us right now. Sorry, there's balloons popping. Just to keep you fully informed.

Chris, just describe the atmosphere there today because we now have a fuller [00:10:02] picture of what unfolded there.

CHRIS BURNS, JOURNALIST: Well, Max, quite an atmosphere of sadness, a very, very quiet situation here overnight. There will be three days of mourning across Belgium to - in respect of those who died and who are wounded. Just down the street, about three blocks down this way, is the metro station where the bomb went off, during rush hour, with hundreds of people coming out of the train at the time. They were heading toward the European Institutions, the Parliament, the Council, the European Commission, and -- and the bomb went off at that very time. It was a horrible situation.

I talked to the head of the firefighters of the -- the spokesman for the firefighters who was there during the rescue operation. He said that in the decades that he had worked, this was the worst scene he had ever seen he told me, tearfully. It was a horrible scene to him. He saw a lot of -- heard a lot of screams and saw a lot of wounded people and -- and once that was all cleared out, once everyone was evacuated, the forensics teams went in. And just - and overnight we watched another team go in, overnight.

So they've been really picking through what is left of those explosions -- of that explosion to try to find clues to track down the plotters and to widen this dragnet that they are waging and casting across this city to try to find those who committed that - that heinous act. So that -- that effort goes on overnight and probably through today as well. Max?

FOSTER: Chris, thank you; and as we walk through the city this morning you can see streets cordoned off. You can see police everywhere and the memorial, of course, taking shape behind me.

Steve Moore is a retired supervisory special agent for the FBI and a CNN Law Enforcement Contributor. He's live for us, from Los Angeles. So much concern today about potential attackers still on the run. How are the agencies working together on this, from what you understand?

STEVEN MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I think at this point Belgium is going to be opening their books on what they have on these different groups. They've involved the FBI. They've involved all the American intelligence services. They obviously have some information. They don't know whether they're looking at one cell or a series of cells and so now it's time to get all around, at the same table, and exchange information and start to pick up the pieces.

FOSTER: Have lessons been learned since Paris, do you think, with so much lack of coordination? A lot of comparisons made with the U.S. after 9/11, when the agencies did start working better together, but this is Europe. There are different jurisdictions, different security agencies. They're never going to be getting - you're never going to get them to work in the same way. They're always going to be holding back some information, aren't they?

MOORE: Well, that's always going to be a challenge, but if you can get them all to use the same currency, I cannot believe you can't get them to share intelligence. Right now it is crucial to find out what type of explosives they used. They're going to try and rebuild the bombs that went off and compare them to the bomb that was found in the raid. They have to stop this quickly because in my opinion, there's a strong likelihood that these raids were the kind of what they call "compromise authority." If something happens to me, you know, run the attacks right up front, right now. Don't wait. And so there could be more and more. This could be the opening barrage.

FOSTER: That's the concern, isn't it? People now across Europe, in the security agencies, looking at these -- these sort of military style operations, aren't they, where you have multiple targets and trained attackers, as well; and that's quite a recent change, something we learned from Paris?

MOORE: Yes, and Belgium has a bigger problem with this than the other countries because they have greater amount, their highest per capita rate of people going to Syria, learning small unit tactics, military tactics and bringing it back. I mean, this isn't the standard lone wolf terrorists. These people have gotten the training. They are professionals. That's why you had three guys there. You had one to protect the other two and then to set a third bomb that could be remotely, I think, remotely detonated. It was [00:15:01} a very professional attack and that's what you're dealing with now, especially in Belgium.

FOSTER: Okay, Steve; thank you very much. Indeed, a highly complex investigation at this point, and still ongoing.

Joining us now is Asad Majeed, an imam who lives next to the targeted Molenbeek station. Your area's still under lockdown, isn't it?

ASAD MAJEED, IMAN: Yes.

FOSTER: What's the atmosphere like?

MAJEED: First of all I would like to condemn, on behalf of the Islamic community, (inaudible) these very coward attacks because, indeed, the atmosphere over there is very terrible. Everyone is shocked and no one was expecting this to be happening. We were expecting it to be happening, but not yesterday. So the atmosphere is very terrible. Everyone is shocked and the roads are really -- there are nobody in the roads.

FOSTER: No, and just the metro station over there is cordoned off, your metro station is cordoned off, isn't it?

MAJEED: Yes.

FOSTER: As you say, we're expecting something to happen, but probably on the transport system, but as part of the everyday life here isn't it? so it really becomes real the day after.

MAJEED: Yes, it is. You know, after the Paris attack, we're living in an atmosphere of fear here in Brussels. We're expecting this but you don't know whenever it happens, then you feel the real shocking -- the real shock and the real sadness. So this is what we are feeling as a whole Muslim community. We are really sad and we are as much as in pain as the families of the victims.

FOSTER: Of course; and many Muslims living in the area where these attackers came from. It's actually shocking to everyone, isn't it?

But you talk about the Muslim community that your part of, how have you been helping? I know you've been gathering younger members to the community and going out to the hospitals?

MAJEED: Yes, since yesterday and even before that, after the Paris attack, and every day, every month we gather the youths and we try to do community work; and especially yesterday when we heard this, we heard on TV channels that the Belgian government are in need of blood. So we gathered the youth, with the president of the youth here in Brussels, gathered a big community of youth and we went to the hospitals and then we went to also to the Red Cross to give blood. So this is what real Muslim -- the Muslim who understand the real teaching of Islam, the peaceful teaching Islam, they are giving blood instead of taking blood.

FSTER: And we felt any tension since the attacks against community?

MAJEED: Yes; we have seen in the past, when things like that happens Islamophobia and the anti-Muslim sentiment increase and of course we will also feel it. We felt it after the Paris attack, but we will also feel it here. But we should remember that we should be unified because these people are not Muslim, are not Christian or not Jews. These people are criminals. They are terrorists. So we should be unified, unite to take this challenge and to defend our society against these terrorists.

FOSTER: Of course, and the news just sinking in for many people; isn't it. Thank you very much indeed.

MAJEED: Thank you very much.

FOSTER: Up next I'll be speaking to a woman who witnessed one of the explosions. She's here with an anti-extremism program. We'll be right back with more on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:21:24] FOSTER: It's just on 6:20 a.m. here in Brussels. This is CNN's special coverage of the terror attacks here just yesterday. This is what we know at this point: Belgian authorities released this image of three suspects in Tuesday's attack at the airport. They are looking for the man in the light jacket and the hat, and the other two they believe to be the suicide bombers. That attack killed at least ten people. One of the bombs went off outside the security check points. An hour later, terrorist exploded a bomb at a busy subway stations in the heart of the city. The bombing killed at least 20 people there and ISIS has claimed responsibility.

Now, Edit Slather is with me. She witnessed one of those attacks from her hotel. You're also involved in various parts of (Inaudible community here; aren't you? But, first of all, what happened yesterday at 8:00 a.m. in your life?

EDIT SCHLAFFER, FOUNDER, WOMEN WITHOUT BORDERS: In the morning we checked out from the Hotel Routan, which is exactly at the entrance of the metro and we were about to leave to meet the mothers. We are running mothers against extremism, which is a preventative model to support the mother who is are concerned and to bring them together with mother who are affected, who have lost children in Syria, to talk about the early warning signs of radicalization. This is so crucial at this time.

FOSTER: We'll talk about that in just a moment, but just in terms of your experience of the metro, what did you see and hear?

SCHLAFFER: Well, we were checking out. We heard that there was a kind of noise. We felt something was totally wrong; and we started hearing voices and it became very loud and there was a smell, you know, of explosives in the air and we --

FOSTERE: Describe that smell. What does that even smell like?

SCHLAFFER: You don't really -- you just sense there's something terribly wrong and there's something in the air and people came into the lobby because they looked for refuge and when we ran out we saw that there were bodies on the pavement and we -- the instinct was just to get out of the situation; just to run.

FOSTER: Did you think it was a bomb straight away? What did you think it was?

SCHLAFFER: I felt it was something like that and maybe because we were there to prevent something like that.

FOSTER: Okay, talk about that work because now that has to pick up today, doesn't it? You need to work with mothers of young people who may turn into extremists. So how are we identifying them today and what are those sorts of people telling you today?

SCHLAFFER: What we usually do, we go to the suburbs of the urban cities. We work openly now in many countries, but the program has brought us to Europe. We go and meet with the young people, we talk to them and the conversations are very insightful. I think this is the work that needs to be done to address the societal imbalance; and it starts with the individual at home. The mothers, the families, the fathers, they are at the front lines, you know, on a daily basis they deal with the anger.

FOSTER: So they need to recognize that something's going wrong here?

SCHLAFFER: And they need to recognize, not only recognize the early warning signs, they need to learn how to respond, how to deal with it because just pushing it away and saying don't do this and don't do this, that will not help. They need to express empathy and listen to your children, accept it.

FOSTER: Security services are now looking at people who were coming over, who were trained abroad and are coming over to attack here, in Europe. So they weren't necessarily be related to the people that you're working with, [00:25:02] but the people you're working with may have some sort of connection with them, ultimately; right? So their children may come into contact with these people. Is this a new way of working for you? Is this something relatively new?

SCHLAFFER: I think it is a new way, but it is a way to find the new allies in the security world. Security cannot start from top down. Security is a bottom up process. We have to look for the people, what are their concerns? We are there. Where are they? Address it. Inequality now in society --

FOSTER: Very quickly, the Belgian authorities have been accused of not being in touch with the community enough and being to aloof and allowing these sorts of communities to emerge in our midst; do you agree with that?

SCHLAFFER: I'm not sure, but the law enforcement has to be in touch with these people. I think we need to be in touch with them. We really have to relate with them and we have to address the feeling of exclusion. I think that's the most important thing. Talking to the youth is a starting point, and listening to the families will lead us further.

FOSTER: Thank you so much. I know you have a lot of work to do today and you're still in shock from yesterday. So thanks for sharing your time.

SCHLAFFER: Thank you.

FOSTER: We are starting to learn more about the victims of Tuesday's attacks meanwhile. According to Peruvian state news agency Andina, 36-year-old Adelma Marina Tapia Ruiz, a Peruvian living in Brussels for six years was killed in the attack on the airport. She was there with her Belgian husband and their three-year-old twin daughters. The family was traveling to the U.S. to celebrate the Easter holiday with family there. Her husband and children left the boarding area moments before the blast, and survived.

When we come back, how the U.S. presidential hopefuls are reacting to the Brussels attacks. It's been a big talking point, of course, and we'll have the latest for you on those comments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: I'm Max Foster in Brussels. You're watching CNN's special coverage of the terror attacks on the airport, on the metro station here, in the Belgian capital.

A massive manhunt is underway, at this hour, for those behind the deadly bombings.

[00:30:03] Authorities say this airport surveillance picture shows the two suicide bombers dressed in black. They suspect the other man planted a bomb in the airport and then left. About an hour later another bomb tore through a crowded metro station. In all, at least 30 people are dead; hundreds more are wounded.

Let's bring in our CNN Senior International Correspondent, Nima Elbagir. She joins me here in Brussels. You are already reporting on the investigation off the back of Abdeslam; right? They found him here in Brussels and they had a massive manhunt underway for another person involved in the Paris attacks. So this is all linked up. How are they coping?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I would imagine they're extraordinarily stretched, and you saw that really on the face of the Belgian Prime Minister. It was a really heartbroken press statement that he was giving in the immediate aftermath of those attacks.

They, as we understand it, were already dealing with over 200 active investigations; one of them was a key -- one of a man believed to be one of the key conspirators in the Paris attacks, Najim Laachraoui. They knew him very early on as (inaudible). They had only just, after capturing Abdeslam, managed to figure out his real identity. There is an intensive manhunt for that. Now you have another manhunt. So you have two men, at least, believed to be armed, believed to be dangerous. We know them to be on the run, and you have this manhunt being carried out across the country; while at the same the Prime Minister is trying to calm the fears of the nation.

We're standing here, at the site of the vigil overnight. People have remained. Candles have been burning. This really is a nation reeling; and authorities dealing with the reality that there were so many signs leading up to this day. One eyewitness we spoke to, his voice was cracking. He said we were worried. We thought this was going to happen and now it's happened here, in Belgium.

FOSTER: It's an extraordinary idea that they've always going to attack their transport infrastructure, if you look to all of the planning, and that's exactly what they did here: the underground system, and the airport, yet it still happened. But the airport was interesting, wasn't it, from a security point of view, because they actually carried out the attack before they went through security?

ELBAGIR: They -- the softer parameter of the airport, even though we were told by those that were tracking it, that they had noticed when they arrived that there was actually a little bit more of security presence, obviously a ramification of that ongoing manhunt; but it still didn't change the fact that as you walked in, with your bags, there was no security check.

So they knew. Everyone we've been speaking to has essentially called this a crime of opportunity. They knew that they were free and clear up until they went through that security check-in, post check-in to the flight, and that's what they were banking on. These are the questions that are being asked right now. Knowing what they knew, knowing how blindsided they had been by these networks, by Salah Abdeslam's presence inside his childhood

neighborhood, hiding there, supported there, why wasn't more done?

FOSTER: ISIS has claimed it. What can we read into the statement that they issued around it?

ELBAGIR: Well it was a real statement of jubilation. We know that ISIS is under enormous pressure, in Syria and Iraq, even back in December, when we were in Iraq reporting from the retaking of Ramadi. That's what we were hearing from the coalition there, that as they come under pressure here in Syria and Iraq, that they are going to look to try to cause attacks with more impact because you have here, even if you have a network 30, 40 people, it's still not as many as you need to retake any territory in Syrian and Iraq, but it has more impact when it's here in the European mainland.

FOSTER: Does it look like what we're expecting, as in someone trained in Syria and/or Iraq and sent over or does it look like someone who is homegrown here?

ELBAGIR: The sense is it's a combination. You have these networks that were already almost self-contained. You have these pipelines, this ability to go back and forth to Syria and Iraq. Belgium has grown infamous for the reality that it has sent more, per capita, fighters to ISIS than any other country in Western Europe. So these were always the concern that intelligence agencies here had.

FOSTER: Okay, Nima, thank you very much indeed. We are following every development in this ongoing investigation. (Inaudible) here, Isha and John. There's a man on the run and everything is still closed. The city's still in lockdown and there's not much information about what people could possibly expect next. It's a frightening situation. JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely. Max, we'll get back to you in a moment for more coverage from the scene there in Brussels; but we want to have some more reaction to this terrorist attack there. World leaders are offering their condolences in the wake of the explosions.

French President, Francois Hollande, writes, "I express my entire solidarity with the Belgian people through Brussels attacks. The whole of Europe has been hit."

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras writes, "We can't allow fear, religious hatred and racism to prevail in Europe." And [00:35:01] Spain's Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, defiantly writes, "The unity of the European Union, democrats is, and always will be, greater than barbarity and senselessness."

VAUSE: The U.K. Prime Minister, David Cameron, wrote, he was "shocked and concerned by the events in Brussels", adding, "we will do everything we can to help." And, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, called the attacks barbaric and said "the fight against this evil demands the highest level of international cooperation."

SESAY: Well the U.S. presidential candidates had very, very different reaction to the Brussels attacks. The republican contenders took the opportunity to slam President Obama's foreign policy.

VAUSE: Meanwhile, the Democratic rivals are calling for stronger preventive measures. Here's CNN's Sunlen Serfaty.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUNLEN SERFATY: Tonight, a new commander-in-chief test for the 2016 Candidates.

BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT) DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We stand today with the people of Brussels.

JOHN KASICH (R-OH) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Today is, of course, a sad day for the entire civilized world.

SERFATY: Many of the presidential hopefuls expressing sympathy for the victims and their families, but varying in their responses to how to confront the threat from ISIS and other terrorist groups. Democrat Hillary Clinton calling for an increased surveillance in the U.S. in an interview with Wolf.

CLINTON: We also have to toughen, as you say, soft targets with, you know, greater police presence. There is no getting around that.

SERFATY: Her rival, Bernie Sanders, also talking up the idea of bolstering intelligence gathering.

SANDERS: We need to have significantly improved intelligence and that intelligence cannot just be done within the United States.

SERFATY: Donald Trump offering a typically blunt assessment. DONALD TRUMP (R) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, via telephone: Brussels is a disaster. They have areas of Brussels that cops won't even, that police won't even go into those areas they're so dangerous and so radicalized.

SERFATY: Ted Cruz repeating his calls for the U.S. to stop accepting Syrian refugees, even going so far as to say police need more power to "patrol and secure Muslim neighborhoods before they become radicalized."

TED CRUZ (R-TX) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to immediately halt the President's ill-advised plan to bring in tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees.

SERFATY: And Trump is doubling down on his proposal to temporarily ban Muslims from entering the country.

TRUMP: We have no choice, and you're going to make exceptions on heads of state and certain people, and I'm not saying you don't do that; but we have a real problem and people don't have any idea what's going on.

SERFATY: Clinton today rejecting that approach, raising questions about Trump's temperament.

CLINTON: We need steady, strong, smart minds and hands in the White House.

SERFATY: Trump's GOP rivals are also looking to draw contrast. Cruz and John Kasich both drawing stronger ties with NATO, after Trump said Monday the U.S. should rethink its involvement with the Alliance.

CRUZ: The day after Donald Trump called for American weakening NATO, withdrawing from NATO, we see Brussels.

KASICH: I would make every effort I could to strengthen the NATO alliance.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: That was Sunlen Serfaty reporting there. Let's bring in CNN Political Analyst Josh Rogen now. He joins us live from Washington. Josh, good to have you with us.

As Sunlen was just saying there, the candidates are, you know, trying to outdo each other, in terms of their posture as commander-in-chief, but how much will events in Brussels be on the minds of voters on this Tuesday?

JOSH ROGEN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, the threat of terrorism and the threat of ISIS reaching western audiences with its attacks is on the minds of voters. What's not clear is whether Republican voters will embrace Donald Trump's call for a continued ban on refugees and increased ban on Muslims in the United States and public calls for increased use of torture. These are statements that are not only out of the norm with American law and policy, but also, as you pointed out, counter to many of his republican colleagues. So there is a concern. There is a fear. There's no consensus on either side of the aisle about what it is that the U.S. government should do about it.

VAUSE: Josh, there was a lot of criticism from the republican candidates of President Obama, who is in Cuba. He went to a baseball game. They said he should have returned immediately to Washington. Talked to the allies, coordinated with them, that kind of stuff. In a practical sense, does it really matter where the president is at a moment like this? Can he do what he has to do wherever he was in the world?

ROGEN: No; the President has the full ability to conduct diplomacy from abroad and, unfortunately, U.S. Intelligence and law enforcement services are well practiced in aiding in the investigations in these kinds of attacks. So no; there's no substantive value to the criticism. At the same time, the [00:40:02] optics of President Obama giving an interview about the Belgian attacks, while at a baseball game to ESPN, are less than ideal and he opened himself for this criticism and the Republican candidates, especially, took advantage of that opening to politicize what otherwise should have been a tragedy that should have brought unity amongst Western --

VAUSE: Very -- so Josh, very quickly, what about the argument the White House made that, you know, we all have to go about our daily lives as usual; we don't want to be impacted by this because then, if we change the way we live, the terrorists win, which is why the President went to the baseball game?

ROGEN: Well, in the broad sense that's, of course, true; but in an immediate sense that has to be balanced with that realization that today not a normal day for most Europeans, and even for some Americans who are affected by this tragedy.

You know, we can't let the terrorists change our lifestyles. At the same time, we can't downplay the effect that the expanding attacks are having on the ability of western countries and societies to go about their daily lives. I mean, this was an attack that will change the western, and even American, view of how to deal with terrorism and a sober realization of that can be used, perhaps should have been used by the President, to balance his other message which was one of long- term hope.

SESAY: CNN Political Analyst, Josh Rogen, joining us there from Washington. Josh, always appreciated; thanks so much.

ROGEN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Thank you. Short break here. When we come back, high stakes high turnout. Long lines of voters waiting to cast their ballots in the Western U.S. Up next, the latest on the race for the White House.

SESAY: Plus, more on investigation into Tuesday's deadly terror attacks in Brussels. What police found in a raid, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FOSTER: Well, welcome back to CNN's special coverage of the Brussels terror attacks, which killed at least 30 people on Tuesday, 20 of them at this busy metro station at the end of the morning rush hour. An hour earlier two explosions hit the departure lounge at the International Airport, killing at least ten people there. Belgian authorities have released this image of three suspects. They believe two of them were suicide attackers and are trying to find the man in the light-colored jacket today.

Police are also searching homes. In one investigators found a nail bomb, chemical products and an ISIS flag. They're trying to find out what they were for.

Now to the U.S. race for the White House. Voters across three states are casting their ballots; and Isha and John have (inaudible) that for us.

[00:45:01] SESAY: Thank you, Max. Yes, we are taking a close look at the results that are slowly trickling in on this election Tuesday.

VAUSE: It is taking a little longer than -

SESAY: It is.

VAUSE: -- a lot of people actually thought it might because there are incredibly long lines, --

SESAY: Incredible turnout.

VAUSE: -- especially in Arizona and Utah, especially on the Republican side. Let's take a look at the Republican side.

Okay, so let's take a look at some of the numbers.

SESAY: Yes, indeed. Let's take a look at the Republican side of things. CNN is projecting a big win for Donald Trump in Arizona, picking up the biggest prize of Western Tuesday, as it's known, and moving closer to the Party's nomination. Now, this is a winner-take- all state with 58 delegates up for grabs, and you see Donald Trump out there with the victory there in Arizona.

VAUSE: Let's move on to Utah now. We can do that. This is a winner- take-all so if he can get more than 50 -- this is not a winner-takes- all, actually. Donald Trump needs to get over 50-percent of the vote. 40 delegates are at stake. If he doesn't reach that 50-percent number, then it goes on a proportionate system. Ted Cruz needs to get over 15-percent so he can share in some of those delegates. One to watch here; actually, so this is for Ted Cruz. He's got to get over 50-percent I should say. John Kasich should do okay. Donald Trump is going to do very badly there; sorry, my bad.

Okay, now, to win the republican nomination a candidate has to gather 1237 delegates nationwide. There is still plenty of states which are yet to vote, but so far, let's take a look at the delegates, at the tally. Donald Trump has 741; Ted Cruz 421; and John Kasich there, on 145. SESAY: All right, let's send it over to the democrats there and see how things look there. CNN projecting a win for Hillary Clinton in Arizona. 75 delegates are at stake there. A big win for Hillary Clinton there.

VAUSE: We should add, this is proportional. So even though it was a big win, Bernie Sanders will still get some candidates at the end of the day.

SESAY: He still will, but the point is -

VAUSE: She still far enough -

SESAY: Exactly; she can just move forward. In Utah there are 33 delegates at stake and here's what we know right now.

VAUSE: There's no projection.

[Laughter]

SESAY: That's pretty safe to say. No projection there, and in Idaho's caucus, there are 23 delegates at stake. Let's see what it looks like there.

VAUSE: This could be a big one for Bernie Sanders.

SESAY: It could be.

VAUSE: HE needs to do well here.

SESAY: The Clinton campaign giving up -

VAUSE: No projection, let's go with that.

SESAY: Okay.

VAUSE: Okay; to win the Democratic nomination, a candidate for the Democrats has to gain 2,383 delegates nationwide. So far Hillary Clinton has 1691. Bernie Sanders has 895.

SESAY: Okay. Let's take a closer look at the results and we're joined now by Dave Jacobson, a democratic strategist and the campaign consultant with Shallman Communications. John Thomas is with us as well. He's a republican consultant and Founder and President of Thomas Partners Strategies. Thank you two both for joining us. By now they should know your bios.

JOHN THOMAS, FOUNDER & PRESIDENT, THOMAS PARTNERS STRATEGIS: I do hope so, yes.

SESAY: So what do you make of it? Let's talk about the results we do have in, for now, which is Arizona.

VAUSE: Arizona.

SESAY: Your thoughts? THOMAS: A big win for Trump, although that makes sense. Arizona is a state where immigration is really a hot issue. Trump needed a big win tonight. He got it. What was interesting was a lot of people were saying Rubio was going to be a spoiler because he was on the ballot -

VAUSE: Yes.

THOMAS: -- and they had a large early voting -

SESAY: That's right.

THOMAS: -- block and a lot of people said those people, more than half vote for Rubio. He only got 16-percent, and it wouldn't have changed the outcome.

SESAY: So given the trend with Rubio -

VAUSE: This is good for Donald Trump because Arizona is a lot like California, in its demographic makeup.

THOMAS: That's right.

VAUSE: Okay.

THOMAS: It's very good, and in California, Donald Trump, in recent field polls is up by almost 20 points.

SESAY: Okay, Dave, to bring you in to talk about the Democrats. A win for Clinton, but it's a proportional win.

DAVE JACOBSON, CAMPAIGN CONSULTANT, SHALLMAN COMMUNICATIONS: Right; look, no surprises. She's been beating Bernie Sanders in the state by double digits. It's right next door to Nevada, where she had a decisive win just weeks ago. That was sort of the turning point in that race, where prior to Nevada she had lost by a whopping 22 points in New Hampshire. So she sort of needed that big win in Nevada. She won decisively by six points there. So, you know, there's no surprise that she picked up a big win tonight in Arizona; particularly, also, because of the Latino population where she has generated an enormous support from this constituency.

Bernie Sanders, on the other hand, hasn't been able to breakthrough with minority voters.

VAUSE: And yet Bernie keeps getting big crowds, he keeps getting a lot of money. He does everything except for win.

THOMAS: That's a problem for him.

SESAY: He did state tonight though that he's won ten races and basically making the point he is going to stay in the fight.

THOMAS: Yes, but math is what you have to focus on. You can win ten races but it's the delegate game, as you guys just showed, and it looks like there is not a path for Bernie Sanders.

VAUSE: Let's go to Utah because this is going to go Ted Cruz, but the question is can he get over 50-percent?

THOMAS: Right.

VAUSE: Will John Kasich be the spoiler here and stop him from reaching that 50-percent mark because if you get over 50-percent you get all the delegates?

THOMAS: This is a classic prisoner's dilemma, right; because if Kasich dropped out it is possible those voters go to Cruz and Cruz has the best chance of probably stopping Donald Trump. But Kasich is probably going to be the spoiler. We'll see if he gets 50-percent.

There was a little bit of a fracture in Utah with some of the Republicans. Romney said a vote for Kasich is a vote for Trump. We'll see what happens tonight. If Cruz breaks 50-percent, I think it just adds pressure to Kasich to drop out.

JACOBSON: And I think it underscores the importance of Cruz performing well [00:50:01] tonight in Utah because I think something, like, over the next 27 days in the Republican side, I think Wisconsin the is the only election -

SESAY: Yes.

JACOBSON: -- they actually have for many, many weeks. So Cruz really needs some momentum to sort of propel his campaign moving forward because he's going to have a significant gap, in terms of elections.

VAUSE: Let's talk Utah, very quickly, because there are -- if you thought this campaign could not get any worse, it now has, because in Utah a Super PAC for Ted Cruz used a photograph of Melania Trump, Donald Trump's wife, she's posing naked -

SESAY: For a magazine shoot.

VAUSE: -- for a magazine cover, many years ago and the caption was "Meet your next first lady" and beneath it said, "Unless, of course, you vote for Ted Cruz." Donald Trump, a few hours ago, tweeted out, "Lying Ted Cruz just used a picture of Melania from a GQ shoot in his ad. Be careful Lying Ted or I will spill the beans on your wife." Ted Cruz responded, "Pic of your wife not from us. Donald, if you try to attack Heidi, you're more of a coward than I thought. #classless"

I mean, this does beg the question, they said they wanted to do this ad in Utah, which is a very conservative state, but Trump is so far behind in Utah, what were they hoping to gain, unless there's something else going on here?

THOMAS: That's assuming that Super PAC's are rational. They are not rational often times. They might have just thought this is a way to make headlines and maybe raise more money for the Super PAC. We don't really know what their motivation was. Strategically it doesn't seem to make sense.

And for Donald Trump, look, it's a good thing for him. If they're picking on his wife, he can then go after - he can get the sympathy vote.

SESAY: No, but, and Dave I want you to respond to this, the point is being made is that, effective, they're slot-shaming, to use a term that's commonly used. They're trying to embarrass his wife, and using that as a point to capitalize on, which is a really distasteful move.

JACOBSON: Right, well, look, I think, first of all, if you're running a Super PAC, or an independent expenditure, priority number one is to do no harm; and I think this could potentially backfire. I mean, it's one thing to go after a candidate. It's another thing to stoop to a different level, to go after a candidate's wife. I think it really highlights the fact that the gloves are off. This is bare knuckles politics, schoolyard politics, and the Ted Cruz campaign and their allies, who are running their Super PACS, are getting desperate because they see Donald Trump having these enormous leads in all these states that we haven't yet, moving forward, in New York and California.

They've got to do something different to sort of shake up this race if they want to prevent Trump from getting that 1237 delegate number.

THOMAS: But it's a slippery slope because it can have ramifications beyond -

SESAY: Agreed.

VAUSE: It makes you wonder where it will all end.

SESAY: We'll be talking about it tomorrow; I know we will.

VAUSE: Exactly.

SESAY: Thank you. Thank you, guys.

VAUSE: And when we return, we'll head back to Brussels with some touching tributes for the victims of Tuesday's deadly terror attacks. We'll also take a look at how the attacks are playing out on social media. Please stay with us.

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[00:55:03] FOSTER: I'm Max Foster in Brussels, recapping CNN's special coverage of the terror attacks on this European capital city.

A huge manhunt underway for suspects in the bombings in Brussels Airport and in a metro station that killed at 30 people. Officials believe two suspected suicide bombers, shown here in black, died in the explosion at the airport. Authorities believe the third man, though, the man in white, planted a bomb and then left. He's on the run. A taxi driver recognized the men from surveillance video and gave investigators the address where he picked them up. A raid there turned up a nail block, chemical products and an ISIS flag.

Information on the suspects in the metro station attack wasn't immediately available, but we're following every detail for you and bring it to you as we get it. Now, Twitter is being flooded with cartoons, meanwhile; and memos in support of Belgium. You're seeing a lot of it here as well, at the memorial, with the ground covered in chalk markings as people pay their tributes. This cartoon, by Jean Plateau, of the French Newspaper La Monde, shows two people draped respectively in French and Belgian flags, weeping. We'll bring

that up for you in a moment for you. And this image of a hand holding a cone of French fries, like the Statue of Liberty's torch is also trending. I'm able to bring you the images but they're very powerful when you see them online, there you go. Some says that French fries originated in Belgium. The caption reads, "I am Brussels".

The image of the famous cartoon character Tin Tin, shedding black, yellow and red tears, is also one of many being posted and reposted in support of Belgium, an image that many people here do associate with, and they grew up with it.

I'm Max Foster in Brussels. Our special coverage of the Belgium terror attacks continues after this short break; you're with CNN.

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