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Obama Criticized in Wake of Brussels Attack; John Kerry Heads to Belgium; State Department Issues Travel Warnings to Europe; Ad Targeting Melania Trump has Donald Trump Threatening to Spill Beans on Heidi Cruz; Trump: Use Enhanced Interrogations on Terrorists. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired March 23, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:34:53] WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: President Obama's come under some criticism here in the United States in the wake of the Brussels attack for not immediately coming back to Washington from Cuba and actually going to a baseball game in Havana. He responded today during a news conference in Argentina.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Their primary power, in addition to killing innocent lives, is to strike fear in our societies, to disrupt our societies, so that the effect cascades from an explosion or an attack by a semi-automatic rifle. And even as we are systematic and ruthless and focused in going after them, disrupting their networks, getting their leaders, rolling up their operations, it is very important for us to not respond with fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: President likened it to the Boston Marathon bombing, saying he was proud when the Boston Red Sox were back on the field days after the terror blast there.

The U.S. State Department has issued a warning about travel to Europe in the wake of the Brussels bombing.

Here to talk about that is Mark Toner. He's the deputy State Department spokesman.

Mark, thanks very much for joining us.

I want to get to that travel advisory in a moment.

But, first, all of a sudden, the State Department announces that Secretary of State John Kerry will head to Paris -- to Belgium, I guess, to show solidarity in the aftermath of these terror attacks. Why is he going to Brussels on Friday?

MARK TONER, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: First of all, one of the first calls he made yesterday morning was to his counterpart in Belgium to express solidarity and obviously to pass on our deepest condolences for those killed and injured in the terrible attack.

He's going to Belgium -- first of all, he's going to meet with E.U. leaders and Belgium leaders to talk about the situation, ongoing threat. You see this -- you were talking about this earlier on in the program, the threat that foreign fighters pose in radicalization. These kinds of recruitment cells that we all need to lift our game, we need to deepen our collaboration and cooperation in order to confront these threats.

BLITZER: There was a travel advisory that the State Department just released, and it's pretty chilling, about Americans traveling to Europe. Among other things, the advisory says, "Terrorist groups continue to plan near-term attacks throughout Europe, targeting sporting events, tourist sites, restaurants and transportations."

Mark, when I read this travel advisory, it basically said to me the State Department is telling all Americans, you know what, this is not a good time to go sightseeing, to do travel in Europe, stay away from Europe at least for the time being. Is that fair?

TONER: I don't think it is, Wolf. And here's why. It is our responsibility as a State Department to periodically issue what we consider our assessment of the security environment, whether it's Europe, Africa, wherever, worldwide. We issue worldwide cautions. It's partly our assessment, or our duty, rather, to the American citizens, the American traveling public. We're not in any way discouraging people or recommending people cancel their travel to Europe.

What we're saying is they need to stay plugged in. Enroll in the Safe Travelers Program. They need to stay connected to travel.state.gov to get the latest information. We all need to be vigilant in today's world. It's just a reality of the times we live in. The terrorist threat exists. In fact, this travel alert was teed up to be released even before the Brussels attacks. It's our assessment, again, given what's happened in Brussels, given what's happened in Ankara a few times in the past several months, American travelers need to not stay at home but, if they do travel, stay vigilant.

BLITZER: What do you mean by "near-term attacks"? Because the phrase "near-term," all of a sudden, within days, within weeks. Do you have specific information that ISIS is plotting more terror attacks, specifically going after, as you point out, sporting events, restaurants and transportation? Because if I'm an American tourist thinking of going to Europe right now, I'm getting worried reading what the State Department just told me?

TONER: So, if we did have specific information, and we're legally bound to do this, we would share that information with the public in whatever country that information pertained to. We do not have specific information about an impending plat or attack.

But that said, we see the pattern, and we recognize there's an ongoing threat of continues terrorist activity. These cells, small cells, networks that are hard to root out, we've seen Belgium struggle to do this. But, quite frankly, it's not exclusive to Belgium. We're all dealing with self-radicalized networks, small networks difficult to infiltrate and therefore difficult to disrupt. That's the concern.

Now, we assess the situation every couple of months and we'll continue to do that as we go forward.

[11:40:16] BLITZER: Travel alert you say expires June 20th.

TONER: That's right.

BLITZER: That's a long time from now.

TONER: It is.

BLITZER: It's a travel advisory for all of Europe, not just Belgium.

Let's get the final word on Americans who may still be missing as a result of terror attacks in Brussels. How many Americans remain unaccounted for as far as the State Department knows?

TONER: First of all, we've got a little over a dozen that have been reported injured in the attack. We're obviously provides consulate services to them as need. We still do not have a firm number. We do have some American citizens unaccounted for. We also have, frankly, mission personnel, U.S. government employees unaccounted for.

We're seeking to determine their whereabouts in what remains very fluid information. You just reported on the fact that now they're just starting to release names, the government releasing names of some of those wounded and some of those killed along with their nationalities. We're still trying to determine the extent of those Americans still missing. As we get new information, families called in, we have to add those to our whereabouts list. We continue to follow up on this. It's our job. We take it very seriously, but I don't have a firm number to give you at this point.

BLITZER: Are there any American fatalities?

TONER: Not at this time. But we're continuing to monitor that, obviously, very closely.

BLITZER: Approximately how many Americans are missing?

TONER: Again, I don't have a firm number. That number is changing all the time. We're trying to whittle down the list. We get new information from families, loved ones, asking about their whereabouts. It's just very fluid. So, we're trying to narrow it down to find out the whereabouts of these individuals.

BLITZER: When you say mission personnel, you mean diplomats and their families who may be missing?

TONER: That's right, that's right. Yeah, that's correct. It's a big mission. As you know, there's a bilateral mission, there's a mission to E.U., as well as a mission to NATO. So it's a big official American community.

BLITZER: Let's hope those missing people show up soon. Our hearts and prayers go out to all of them.

Thanks so much, Mark Toner, deputy spokesman for the State Department.

Coming up, the debate between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump escalating, only this time involving their wives. How a new ad targeting Melania Trump sparked a nasty back and forth, that includes Donald Trump making a wild threat to, quote, "spill the beans on Heidi Cruz."

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[13:46:44] BLITZER: In the race for the White House, Donald Trump takes another step towards the Republican nomination. He also gets into a Twitter fight with Ted Cruz involving their wives. The social media feud started with a Facebook ad by an anti--Trump group called Make America Awesome. It's a super PAC. We're not showing the ad. It's a photo of Mrs. Trump when she was a model before she was married. She's pictured nude on her stomach, wearing nothing but jewelry. The writing on the picture says, quote, "Meet Melania Trump, your next first lady. Or you could support Ted Cruz on Tuesday." That was released before the Iowa Republican caucus.

CNN correspondent, Phil Mattingly, joins us from a John Kasich event.

Phil, walk us through this. It's gotten nasty between Cruz and Trump.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No question about it, Wolf. Global terror threats, a handful of high-stakes primaries, and somehow, last night, the Republican race came about what is typically off limits, candidates' wives. It started with a Donald Trump tweet, tweeting out, "Lying Ted Cruz. Just used a picture of Melania from a 'G.Q.' shoot in his ad. Be careful, Lying Ted, or I will spill the beans on your wife." A little bit of a threat there.

Ted Cruz responding shortly after, "Pic of your wife not from us, Donald. If you try and attack Heidi, you're more the coward than I thought."

Donald Trump responding this morning, "Lying Ted Cruz denied he had anything to do with the 'G.Q." model photo post of Melania. That's why we call him Lying Ted."

A really unusual back and forth on Twitter, not something you'd expect from a presidential campaign.

But, Wolf, the interesting part about all of this, this was a super PAC not associated with Ted Cruz. Super PACs for candidates are not allowed to communicate or coordinate. So what Donald Trump is accusing Cruz of would be illegal. And Ted Cruz saying he had nothing to do with it and spending a lot of time defending his wife -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Ted Cruz's wife, Heidi, was just asked about it at a news conference. She was asked about Donald Trump's threat, quote, "to spill the beans." This is how she responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HEIDI CRUZ, WIFE OF TED CRUZ: You know, as I said, you probably know by now that most of the things Donald Trump says have no basis in reality. So we are not worried, our campaign, and we're going to continue.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Are spouses fair game in this election? Should they be --

(CROSSTALK)

HEIDI CRUZ: Like I said, we have run our campaign with the principles that Ted and I believe in. And a lot of the things that are done from time to time are not from our campaign. So I want you to focus on what our campaign puts out, which you'll find is a positive, hopeful, optimistic agenda for this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: As you know, Cruz did win the Utah caucuses very impressively. He got more than 50 percent of the vote. So he gets all of the delegates there. She's an impressive woman, Heidi Cruz. She's a graduate of Harvard. As Ted Cruz pointed out, she's a daughter of missionaries. She has a successful career at Goldman Sachs. She's on leave right now.

Are we going to see more of her right now to try to rebut what Donald Trump had to stay?

MATTINGLY: Wolf, you're going to see more of her. She's got multiple stops here in Wisconsin. The primary, April 5th. Her resume is outstanding. She was a rising star in the Bush administration before going on to private industry, before going to Goldman Sachs. She is considered a very positive aspect of Ted Cruz's campaign. They want her out more and more.

[13:50:15] Wolf, one of more interesting things we've seen today, Ted Cruz trying to quickly pivot away from what appeared to be a childish fight last night. For Ted Cruz, his campaign benefits when it's a campaign about serious issues, when he can talk about terrorism, about Supreme Court nominees, when his wife can represent the campaign. That didn't happen last night. They want to pivot back to that -- Wolf?

BLITZER: Donald Trump won impressively in Arizona. Cruz won impressively in Utah. It's a one-to-one match. We'll see what happens April 5th.

Thanks, Phil. Phil Mattingly reporting for us.

Coming up, I'm joined by one of Donald Trump's senior advisers. We'll get his take on what's going on.

Also, I want to talk about some controversial comments that Donald Trump made to me about waterboarding, torture, much more, when we come back.

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[13:55:17] BLITZER: Donald Trump says the terror attacks in Belgium underscore his call to use of waterboarding, other harsh interrogation tactics, including torture.

In an interview with me in "The Situation Room," he said waterboarding the Paris terror suspect arrested last week might have prevented the attacks in Brussels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE & CEO, TRUMP ORGANIZATION (voice-over): Look, I think we have to change our law on, you know, the waterboarding thing. He may be talking, but he'll talk a lot faster with the torture. If he would have talked, you might not have had to blow up, all these people dead, and all these people horribly wounded. He probably knew about it. I would be willing to bet that he knew about this bombing that took place today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Stephen Miller is a senior policy adviser to Donald Trump. He is here with me right now.

Does he want to revise his comments, not only supporting waterboarding but supporting torture, which goes against U.S. law right now, against international treaty obligation that the United States has.

STEPHEN MILLER, SENIOR POLICY ADVISOR, DONALD TRUMP PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: He has made clear whatever enhanced interrogation techniques you would use would be consistent with international treaties.

BLITZER: They ban torture.

MILLER: If we have to revise our treaty obligations or our laws, he would do that.

BLITZER: Revise the Geneva Conventions?

MILLER: Not the Geneva Conventions, but any agreements we're in or domestic law that we need to revise, he will. Remember, waterboarding is already considered an approved enhanced interrogation technique.

BLITZER: It has been outlawed now in the United States since it was used immediately after 9/11.

MILLER: But the point is enhanced interrogation techniques, like waterboarding, have been proven to work, have been proven legal, have been proven safe, and have been proven to save lives.

BLITZER: He would bring that back, if he were president. He would try at least to get Congress to authorize it?

MILLER: That's exactly what he is saying, yes. BLITZER: The president of the United States, he defended his strategy

for fighting ISIS earlier today at a news conference in Argentina. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: We are approaching this in a way that has a chance of working. And it will work. And we're not going to do thing that are counterproductive simply because it's political season. We're going to be steady. We're going to be resolute. And ultimately, we're going to be successful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want you to react on behalf of the Trump campaign to what the president said.

MILLER: The president's policy on terrorism has been fundamentally misguided because he refuses to acknowledge the threat as radical Islam. But secondly, he refuses to change our immigration policy to prevent the importation of the terrorism threat. One of the things that --

BLITZER: He has authorized more targeted killings of terrorists during his seven years than the Bush administration did during its eight years. He is still going after terrorists. And he is authorizing drones and pilot --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: -- planes with pilots, to go out there and kill people.

MILLER: He is launching some strikes in the Middle East while, at the same time, giving visas to terrorists to come right into our doorstep.

BLITZER: Visas to terrorists? What terrorist has been given a visa?

MILLER: I'll give you an example. We had the San Bernardino shooting. Tashfeen Malik was here on a visa.

BLITZER: She wasn't a terrorist when she came into the United States.

MILLER: That's the whole point. That is the whole point. Is that you have individuals -- and in her case, she was saying radical Islamic --

(CROSSTALK)

BLITZER: She was getting married to an American citizen.

BLITZER: -- to a child of Pakistani migrants. Syed Farook was the child of Pakistan immigrants. All here through the visa program. On the Immigration Subcommittee, we found dozens of examples, Wolf, in just the last year of individuals here on visas who are involved in terrorism. We've seen with the Chattanooga shooting in Tennessee a Kuwaiti migrant. We've seen Somali refugees joining ISIS in droves across the country.

BLITZER: There may be individuals who slipped through the process. But no one who is a known terrorist gets a visa to come to the United States. If anything, the president would authorize a targeted assassination of that terrorist.

MILLER: Again, with Tashfeen Malik, she had been radicalized before her entrance into the United States. But we find many individuals who support extremist ideology are getting visas by the thousands. And you have large numbers of people in the United States who subscribe to Sharia Law. And a subset is a high-risk population for radicalization.

The question we have to ask ourselves soberly, carefully, thoughtfully, is should we give visas to people who have anti-Semitic views, anti-Christian views, hatred towards moderates, hatred towards secular Muslims, and hatred towards the United States. How is that in our interests? And Mr. Trump says it's not.

BLITZER: He wants to have temporary ban on all Muslims coming into the United States.

MILLER: Until we can implement a security protocol --

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: -- that works.

BLITZER: Stephen Miller, we'll continue this conversation. I'm sure it's going to generate commotion out there.

Thanks very much --

MILLER: Thank you.

BLITZER: -- Stephen Miller, for joining us.

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

In the meantime, the news continues right now, right here on CNN.