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Suspect Arrested in Connection to Brussels Terror Attacks; Investigation in Brussels Terror Attacks Continue; Bernie Sanders Expected to Perform Well in Upcoming Democratic Caucuses; Interview with Libertarian Presidential Candidate Gary Johnson. Aired 10-11a ET

Aired March 26, 2016 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:07] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

CHRISTI PAUL, CNN ANCHOR: Always so grateful for your company. Welcome, everybody. I'm Christi Paul.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Victor Blackwell. It's 10:00 here on the east coast. Welcome in to CNN Newsroom. And we're going to start with this breaking news this morning.

PAUL: A suspect has been arrested in connection with the Brussels terror attacks this morning. Faycal C. is what he is being called. He's being formally charged with participation in terrorist activities.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in CNN contributor Tim Lister and CNN international correspondent Michael Holmes. Tim, let me start with you. What else do we know about Faycal C and potentially others who were arrested?

TIM LISTER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Altogether, Victor, there were nine arrested over a 24-hour period, of whom several have been released -- four have been released. Now, Faycal C. has now been charged with a variety of offenses, including terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder, and participation in a terrorist group. So amongst those charged, his is the most, shall we say, substantial rap sheet. He was arrested Thursday sitting in a car outside the prosecutor's office, charged late yesterday, and the prosecutor's office made the announcement today, Victor.

BLACKWELL: We know there are still questions about direct involvement, but do we know yet at all how Faycal C. fits into this puzzle?

LISTER: No, we don't. We only know that the charges are in connection with the attacks in Brussels at the airport and the metro. His precise role, whether he was present at either scene, as yet unknown, and hopefully the prosecutor's office or other legal sources in Belgium will provide that sort of detail going forward.

BLACKWELL: Of course, we'll be working our sources to get as much as we can. Let's bring in Michael Holmes there in Brussels. Four days now after the attacks, Michael, raids continuing as we had the breaking news this morning, arrests and charges moving forward. What's the mood there?

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, I'd say there's a mood of apprehension in a way. A lot of people -- I had an American woman, actually, come up to me earlier, about an hour ago with her Italian husband. They live here. And I asked them exactly that, and they said they're stunned. They're still stunned about what has happened here. But as the names and the photographs of the victims, the local Belgian victims of these attacks start to come out, there's going to be growing anger -- there already is growing anger and frustration at the counterterrorism system here, how the various police and security services have not talked to each other within this country and how they've ignored warnings that were given from countries like Turkey when one of these bombers was sent back after being collected in Turkey. The Belgians were told about it. Nothing was done in terms of keeping tabs on this guy.

So there's been a lot of yawning gaps in how the counterterrorism operations here are run. And even we're told police departments in this city. There's 16 major districts. They all have their own police departments. How they don't talk to each other. Then there's a lot of disconnect here that is going to have to be addressed, and the prime minister is going to be addressing it. There's a parliamentary inquiry under way, and I think you can expect a bottom- up reorganization of the security services from the street-level police up to the national counterterrorism organizations and how they can deal with other European countries and deal with each other in this country, Victor.

BLACKWELL: There have been several admissions of mistakes. There have been offers to resign, which have been rejected there by the prime minister. Let me ask you about this security alert that was dropped one notch in the last 48 hours. This weekend, Belgium is on a lower, I guess, security alert footing than it would have been 48 hours ago. Do people there feel on edge? Do they believe, as some experts believe, that another attack is likely?

HOLMES: Well, I spoke with a terror expert who is based here and works for a group here, and said that he thinks Europe-wide another terror attack, in his words, is likely imminent, as in it could happen at any time. So there is a lot of concern about that.

And what people here will tell you is, OK, Tim went through those people who have been arrested, the charges that have been laid, and that's great. And you've got those who took part who are dead, but you've still got the third man from the airport. You've got the second man from the metro bombing. They're unaccounted for. Plus you had the prosecutor's office a couple of days ago saying they think there are several people out there who, in their words, pose a risk.

So there's still people out there. What their capabilities are is the question. I had somebody com, up to me the other day, the place where we are now and the memorial that continues behind us, there's 200 or 300 people here. I've had people come up and say, I hope the terrorists don't have any more explosives, because right behind us is a target. So, yes, there's a lot of concern. There's apprehension I think is a good word. And there's still a sort of feeling of stunned as people are stunned that this happened at all in their city, Victor?

[08:05:14] BLACKWELL: All right, Michael Holmes for us there in Brussels. Thanks also to Tim Lister with the details of the breaking news at the top of the show. Thank you both.

PAUL: Let's bring in Peter Bergen, CNN national security analyst and author of "The United States of Jihad, Investigating America's Homegrown Terrorists." Peter, so good to have you with us, as always.

When we look at the big picture here, since Tuesday we have the ISIS finance minister who was killed by U.S. forces. They just announced that yesterday. We have a Moroccan man who was arrested in Germany. And now we're getting word of this Faycal C. who has been arrested there in Belgium and charged with terrorist murder. As Victor mentioned, there were some admitted mistakes on the part of Belgian security. Do you think that we're seeing this swift action now and that there could be some real permanent change in terms of security in Belgium when it comes to terrorist activity?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, there's going to have to be, Christi, I think. There's a very interesting story in the "Washington Post" today, which is Abdeslam, the suspect in the Paris attack who was arrested four days before the Brussels attacks, wasn't asked by Belgian prosecutors about anything that he might know about future attacks, by their own account. He was asked simply about his role in the Paris attacks. To me, that is just unbelievable. I mean, when you capture somebody like, you know, somebody who's had a prominent role in a serious terrorist attack, the first question is, what else is being planned? Now, he may or may not respond, but the fact that they didn't even ask these questions I think is an astonishing dereliction of their duties as investigators.

PAUL: The chairman of the joint chiefs, General Joseph Dunford, said "The secretary," meaning Ash Carter, "and I both believe there will be an increase to U.S. forces in Iraq in the coming weeks," when they're talking about is. In what capacity do you think those forces might be expanded?

BERGEN: What you have there, Christi, right now, is a combination of U.S. special forces embedded with Iraq's military units, training them, and also the 82nd airborne. So the kinds of forces that are likely to go are not conventional, you know, just the really conventional army forces. They're likely to be special forces, special operations forces, or supporters of those like the 82nd airborne or the rangers. I mean, that's the kind of -- so more on the elite end.

And also we're not looking at large numbers. Right now there are 3,500-plus American troops in Iraq. You know, the administration has talked about going up to 4,500. But, so, we're not seeing a substantial presence.

The other issue, Christi, of course, is what's the rules of engagement? You could have 100,000 troops in Iraq, but if all they can do is stay on the bases, you know, that isn't necessarily what you really want. What you really want is the embedded advisers going forward to the front lines in places like Mosul and other cities, because at the end of the day that's what special forces are trained to do. They want to be with the troops that they've trained. They want to go into the field. So it's not just about the numbers. It's also about the rules of engagement.

PAUL: Peter Bergen, we appreciate your insight today. Thank you for being with us.

BERGEN: Thank you.

PAUL: Of course.

And coming up on CNN --

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NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm holding two very volatile bombs in my hands. This one has three components to it. This one has two components to it. Three, two, one. Fire in the hole!

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PAUL: An obviously curious and brave Nick Valencia there talking about the power of homemade bombs. He went along with law enforcement agencies from around the world as they got hands-on training in lethal explosives.

BLACKWELL: Are we just a few hours ahead of a Sanders sweep in the three western states voting today? Senator Bernie Sanders expected to do very well in the contest, but will it make a real dent in his delegate deficit?

PAUL: And voters not sold on frontrunners Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump may be looking for a third option. One third-party candidate says he's their man, and he's going to join us later to make his case.

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[10:12:45] BLACKWELL: On Wednesday, Belgian officials discovered 33 pounds of TATP explosives at the house apparently used by the suspected Brussels airport attackers. Now, TATP, I'm sure you've heard this by now, is nicknamed the "mother of Satan," because this white crystal powder can easily be set off by excessive heat.

PAUL: And what's particularly alarming is how easily terrorist can acquire the bomb-making materials. Nick Valencia went to Alabama for a law enforcement explosives training course. And you were really surprised, weren't you?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, and terrified. It was sobering just to see how simple it was to make a bomb. I knew nothing about making bombs, obviously, before going into this assignment, but even I was able to make three explosives in a matter of 45 minutes. And as Christi was talking about, what is perhaps the most frightening is how easy it is to get your hands on these products.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fire in the hole!

VALENCIA: Here in rural Alabama, elite members of law enforcement agencies from around the world prepare for the worst-case scenario. It's state-of-the-art training, against global terrorism.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's all about saving lives.

VALENCIA: For this man, this all hits close to home. He's a Brussels police officer and canine handler, ironically sent to the U.S. for training as his city was hit. Had he been in Belgium, he says, he would have likely been guarding the subway during the attacks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the knowledge we have here, we can share that with the rest of the world who also wants to make it a better world, I think that's one step in a good direction.

RYAN MORRIS, FOUNDER, TRIPWIRE OPERATIONS GROUP: This is what we know that they're using all over the world.

VALENCIA: Ryan Morris founded the training company Tripwire in 2005. He says the lessons he teaches are critical in the fight against ISIS and beyond.

MORRIS: Personally, the conventional explosives side, like deck cords and dynamites and c-4 and things of that nature, that doesn't bother me. The things that bother me are the stuff that you can make in your house, you can make in a garage, you can make it anywhere.

VALENCIA: And we found out firsthand what he meant.

MORRIS: So go ahead. Grab some ammonia nitrate.

VALENCIA: How much, this whole cup here?

Morris shows us how in a matter of minutes, anyone can make this kind of explosive.

MORRIS: I'm holding two very volatile bombs in my hands. This one has three components to it. This one has two components to it.

[10:15:02] VALENCIA: We're just going put it on the ground just so you can see what that does. Three, two, one, fire in the hole!

VALENCIA: What I found just absolutely terrifying about this entire experience is just how simple and easy it is to make an explosive using ordinary household products, products capable of inflicting massive casualties.

It's these explosives training courses that are crucial to stopping those who want to inflict chaos. For Morris and the team around him, their success is a matter of life and death.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VALENCIA: Now, as powerful as those explosives were, they were just nearly half the magnitude of the explosives used in the Brussels attacks. Also, those bombs, guys, involved nails, and you can really magnify just how powerful they are, ball bearings, nails added to these terrorist bombs.

BLACKWELL: I think it's important to say, because I can hear the Twitter thumbs going right now --

PAUL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: That in this story, you did not give anyone a recipe.

VALENCIA: No, not at all.

BLACKWELL: You didn't give anyone any specifics to make this easier for people who have nefarious intent.

VALENCIA: And I'm glad you brought that up, because we specifically left out some of the elements and the details, the logistics of how to make it. It was just a point of making just how easy and simple it was. In a matter of minutes, I made a bomb that was equivalent, that took down the world trade center in 1993, two other explosives that were used against our servicemen and women abroad. These things are really easy to make, guys.

BLACKWELL: Yes. All right, point made.

PAUL: Nick Valencia. Thank you so much.

VALENCIA: Thanks, guys.

PAUL: Thanks, Nick.

So still to come here on Newsroom, Democrats caucusing in three states today. A lot of people wondering if Bernie Sanders can pick up enough delegates to really make a dent in the race.

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[10:20:19] BERNIE SANDERS, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This little bird doesn't know it.

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PAUL: Who knew a little bird was going to steal the show? At a Bernie Sanders rally, this was yesterday in Portland. Senator Sanders expected to do quite well, in fact, in all three states today, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii. And that's video there from that event. He had about 15,000 people. And wins in those states could help Sanders cut into Hillary Clinton's strong delegate lead, a lot of people are thinking. A combined 41 delegates are up for grabs in Hawaii and Alaska, but Washington is the grand prize there with 101 delegates. Sara Sidner is live for us from Seattle, Washington. And Bernie Sanders, obviously, as we said, hoping to sweep all three states today. What are the conversations you're hearing today, Sara?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, we're outside. We're just sort of waiting for this to happen. We're in the shadow of the space needle. This is the Seattle center armory. The lines will sort of snake around here. And there's all sorts of events also going on here. So this is all volunteer.

So, I'm going to take you into the room where the caucusing will happen. And this is a true caucus. People will be kind of hashing things out. Initially, they'll come through these doors. They will have their ballots with them or they'll be able to get a ballot if they were not able to print theirs out.

I do want to tell you this. Tor the very first time, Washington decided to let people go ahead and have their ballots preregistered. So, they have preregistered. And how many people have Preregistered? It's 119,000 people, giving you some indication of just how interested folks are in this particular election with Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton's and the delegates for those two candidates up for grabs.

They will come to these tables. You're getting a look here at the actual sign-in sheet here at the precinct where they give their name. But really what will happen is, initially, they'll bring those ballots, everybody will sign them, fill them out, and then they will count those, and that is when the caucusing starts, right? People start to argue -- look, you should come over to our side. We want Hillary, or we want Bernie. And that is how this will go for a while. Then they will do a second count, and then counts will happen all over. There are 500 places where people are caucusing. So, this is going to be, expected to be very, very, very busy across this state. And like you said, there's 101 delegates that are up for grabs here. That's the biggest number in these three states that will be caucusing today.

PAUL: All right, Sara, appreciate the quiet that is around you now, before it all starts.

SIDNER: Yes.

PAUL: Sara Sidner, thank you so much.

BLACKWELL: Let's discuss now and bring in politics editor for TheRoot.com, Jason Johnson. Jason, let's start with first the numbers. I know that there are going to be a lot of people there who are going to caucus in Washington. We saw big numbers in Idaho. But in large part, the excitement has been on the Republican side.

JASON JOHNSON, PROFESSOR, POLITICS SCIENCE: Right.

BLACKWELL: Why?

JOHNSON: Because they've got more candidates. BLACKWELL: OK.

JOHNSON: I mean, honestly, Victor, you had 17 people running. You had 17 people running initially. And a lot of those folks, even if you liked Huckabee or you liked Rick Santorum or you actually liked Bobby Jindal, those people still want to participate. So that's one of the reasons why the Republican side has always had more enthusiasm. And then you've got Donald Trump.

BLACKWELL: Yes, you've got Donald Trump there, but is that a concern for whoever comes out of the race on the Democratic side, that the excitement has been with the Republicans for so long?

JOHNSON: Well, if you ask the Clinton campaign, they'll say no, because they'll say that Hillary has actually gotten like 5 million overall votes, so she's had more people vote for her even in less enthusiastic primaries. Honestly, I don't think it makes that much of a difference. At the end of the day you have a lot of people who don't tend to vote in primaries, especially Democrats in general. And those people are probably more likely to turn out in a general election.

BLACKWELL: OK, so, we're calling this western Saturday, which to me sounds like a really bad breakfast.

JOHNSON: Yes.

BLACKWELL: But we're calling it western Saturday. If Bernie Sanders sweeps western Saturday, Washington, Hawaii, Alaska, does that really mean anything, or does the Clinton campaign look over their shoulder and say, OK?

JOHNSON: Well, I think, honestly, Victor, Hillary's been looking over her shoulder the whole time.

BLACKWELL: OK.

JOHNSON: But I don't think -- look, even if Bernie does great and he polls, you know, 120 out of the 140 or so that are going to be available, he's still downy several hundred delegates and then several hundred super-delegates. So, he is still behind. But it is something that he can tell his supporters, hey, look, we're still in this. There's no reason to quit, even though we didn't do all that well on super Tuesday. So, again, I've always felt that Sanders is going to fight this out until June. He's not about to go away.

[10:25:03] BLACKWELL: Fight this out until June. Do you see a path to a day when Bernie Sanders has more pledged delegates than Hillary Clinton?

JOHNSON: I mean, he would have to win in places like California and New York. He would have to win in locations --

BLACKWELL: And win big.

JOHNSON: Yes, and win big. He would have to win in locations where I just don't think it is very likely. It is mathematically possible. Like, he's not out of the playoffs yet, but he would have to have some amazing victories. He's at this point, he would have to win like I think 65 to 70 percent of the remaining delegates, if not more, pledged delegates, in order to beat Hillary Clinton.

BLACKWELL: So we saw, and I asked a supporter of Bernie Sanders, what are we going to hear Bernie Sanders address, his speech on national security, on ISIS specifically? Because we saw that from Hillary Clinton this week at Stanford.

JOHNSON: Right. I don't think it's going to happen any time soon.

BLACKWELL: But people have those questions about his ability to handle it.

JOHNSON: Because it's not clear that he does. It's not clear in most of the debates that Bernie Sanders is particularly comfortable in that area. And so he has been winning enough by simply talking about domestic policy, economics, the one percent, Hillary Clinton, Wall Street, whether or not she gave speeches to Goldman Sachs. I think that if Bernie Sanders go out and give a foreign policy speech, Hillary Clinton would slam him for it. Analysts would slam him for it. It wouldn't help him. So he's trying to stay in his lane because if he goes out into that area it's not going to help him.

BLACKWELL: But the present lane is what we're talking about in Brussels and Europe, across the U.S. and the fear of terrorism. We saw what that did to some candidates on the Republican side. It swept Dr. Carson right off the table there. And we'll see what happens today, if there's any change in the numbers or trajectory for Bernie Sanders in the wake of Brussels. Jason Johnson, always good to have you.

JOHNSON: Thanks, Victor.

BLACKWELL: CNN will host the three remaining Republican candidates Tuesday for a town hall in Milwaukee. Primetime event will be moderated by CNN's Anderson Cooper. That's Tuesday, 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN.

PAUL: And we want to share with you some of the breaking news we're following this morning. A new suspect arrested in connection with the Brussels terror attacks. And also, the man widely described as the number two top ISIS leader killed in a raid by U.S. special forces, what that means for the future of ISIS.

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[10:30:16] PAUL: You're looking at live pictures out of Brussels this hour, where people are obviously the victims of the terror attacks there. You can see the memorial that has built up there on top of the stairs. This morning we're learning a suspect has been arrested in connection with those attacks. The suspect is being called Faycal C., being formally charged with participation in terrorist activity. We want to bring in CNN international correspondent Phil Black. Phil, you're obviously there in Brussels. First of all, what are people saying about the investigation itself?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we know, Christi, is over the last few days, there's been a lot of dynamic police work, a number of raids, a number of arrests, at least nine people. Some of those people have been released after interrogation. What we're hearing this morning is that a number have been charged. And you're right, one of them is a significant charge.

This person that you mentioned there, identified by the authorities as Faycal C., as in the letter "C." So, they're not revealing his full name just yet. He's been charged with a number of terrorism-related charges, including terrorist murder and attempted terrorist murder. These I think are the most significant charges we've seen so far.

What the authorities here are not saying just yet is what they believe his role in the attacks were. They are saying it was connected to the attacks at the metro station here in Brussels, at Brussels airport. They're not saying specifically what, but it would seem to indicate, those specific, significant charges, that he was directly involved in the attacks, the bombings that took place that morning.

We don't know if he is one of the people they've been hunting specifically. Remember, there is that security camera image of the man in white jacket seen at the airport that hasn't been seen since. We don't know his identity. We don't know if it's that person. We also don't know if it's a similar person the authorities have been looking for at the metro station who also played a role there as well. But still, this is a pretty significant development, we think.

A number of other charges, interestingly, someone who was detained in I think very dramatic -- a very dramatic way yesterday, at a tram stop. He was shot in the leg. He is still in custody. His detention has been extended as he undergoes medical treatment but also further interrogation as well, Christi.

PAUL: So, Phil, do we know when we talk about terrorist murder, is Faycal C., they think, only linked to the Brussels attack? Are they looking at perhaps a link to the Paris attack as well? And when might they release some more information about him, a picture, perhaps?

BLACK: It's unclear. What they have said so far, specifically, is that it is in relation to last week's attacks in Brussels. That said, we have -- the authorities have established direct links between the groups that carried out these attacks and the groups, and the individuals that carried out attacks, some of them, anyway, back in Paris in November, killing 130 people on that occasion. We don't know specifically if this person is connected to that.

So far as when the police, the authorities here may reveal more, they say they are deliberately being tight-lipped throughout this ongoing investigation because they say in their own words, they're chasing more terrorists. They know they're out there and they don't want to tip them off until they have been found and detained.

So it very much depends upon the progress of the investigation, but there's no doubt that in recent days we have seen progress. In the words of the French president, Francois Hollande, he says the cell that was responsible for both the attacks in Brussels and in Paris, that cell is being wiped out by the police and the investigators as they do their work.

PAUL: All right, Phil Black, we appreciate all the updates this morning. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: The U.S. says coalition forces have killed another major is leader in Syria. They say Abd al Rahman Mustafa al Qaduli, believed by many to be the terror group's second in command, is dead.

PAUL: Secretary of Defense Ash Carter says ISIS' minister of war was also killed.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring in Sajjan Gohel, international security director for the Asia Pacific Foundation. And Sajjan, I want to start with the breaking news and the details we just heard from Phil Black before we get to al Qaduli. This arrest of Faycal C., we know that there was the arrest of Reda Kriket in France. There's the arrest of the man at the metro station. If we take that into the context of what happened on Tuesday in Brussels, we know that one of the Bakraoui brothers, they were concerned that the arrest of Salah Abdeslam would lead police to them, so that expedited their planning for their attack. Do you think these arrests we're seeing as the raids continue will hasten a planned attack and make it more likely that it will happen sooner than scheduled?

SAJJAN GOHEL, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY DIRECTOR, ASIA PACIFIC FOUNDATION: Well, Victor, there is a race against time, because some of those individuals behind the Brussels attacks are still at large.

[10:30:04] There has been some progress. The authorities are reluctant to share too much information publicly because they are concerned that it could result in terrorists taking matters into their own hands.

And there was a lot of speculation following of Abdeslam's arrest, that names were coming out in the media. And the suspicion was that it did prompt the bombers to bring forward their attack. There is a belief that they were planning to do it this weekend, Easter weekend, a very busy period in parts of Europe, especially in Belgium. A lot of people would be traveling. It's a public holiday period. And there is this ongoing concern that elements of the cell are still out there and potentially would want to carry out follow-up attacks rather than be caught by the authorities.

BLACKWELL: So, if the expectation was that this attack was intended for this weekend, Easter weekend, and we saw the shot there with Phil Black, so many people behind him there in Brussels, why drop the security alert level across Belgium?

GOHEL: It's a very good question, and it is illustrative of the problems that are existing inside the Belgian security infrastructure. The intelligence agencies don't always cooperate with each other, nor do the different police agencies. There are some 19 suburbs of Brussels, and each of them have their own mayors, their own police chiefs. Sometimes there's a language difference between Flemish and French. They don't always communicate.

And this has been the biggest problem, is the bureaucracy that takes place inside Belgium actually hurts counterterrorism efforts, and it only ends up assisting the terrorists. We know that there is a huge trust deficit between members of the immigrant community and the police. All these factors combined, it makes it a very confusing situation. I certainly am surprised that the security level has been dropped.

BLACKWELL: Let's turn to al Qaduli, this second in command killed, ISIS's financier, reportedly. What is the impact of this killing? Is this a situation where it is a major blow to senior leadership, or is this like shark's teeth, one falls out and another one just moves up to take its place?

GOHEL: Well, al Qaduli's elimination is important. It is significant. It's always important to systematically dismantle the ISIS leadership. But for every terrorist that is captured or killed, there are potentially another five coming along the assembly line. He will be replaced, the group will continue to exist.

And we need to remember how ISIS operates, that attacks like Brussels illustrate that they're a terrorist group. Inside Iraq and Syria, they operate effectively as a paramilitary force very much modeled on Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen. They have many different aspects to them. So this is an ongoing challenge for the U.S. and coalition partners. They need to keep dismantling ISIS's infrastructure on the ground and to stop the cesspool of extremism from existing, because then that has a direct impact on Europe, North America, plots being planned like Brussels, like France. So, it is important that terrorist leaders are captured and killed, but this is an ongoing effort, and I'm afraid there's a lot more to go before we can say we are making real progress against is.

BLACKWELL: Sajjan Gohel, international security director for the Asia Pacific Foundation. Sajjan, always good to have you.

GOHEL: Pleasure.

PAUL: Still to come, an American who survived the Boston Marathon bombing and was in France during the Paris attacks talks to CNN about his latest brush with death. What a remarkable story of survival and how gracious of him to share it with us, what he witnessed in the Brussels attack.

BLACKWELL: Plus, we're going to turn toward politics. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton now in a race with another presidential hopeful. Details on why libertarian Gary Johnson is surging in the polls.

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[10:42:258] PAUL: As Republicans brace for a brokered convention, there may be another choice on the ballot calling conservative voters, former New Mexico governor and libertarian candidate for president, Gary Johnson. We want to tell you about a recent poll by Monmouth. It found Johnson came in behind Clinton and Trump, but he did so with a surprising 11 percent of the vote. I know, you think 11 percent doesn't sound like much, but he's up to double digits, which is unconventional, let's say. Here to discuss, presidential candidate Gary Johnson is with us. Thank you so much, Mr. Johnson, for being here.

GARY JOHNSON, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE, LIBERTARIAN PARTY: Oh, great to be with you. Thank you.

PAUL: Sure. So, what's significant here, I understand, is the fact that you were even included in this poll, correct?

JOHNSON: Yes. And there's no way that a third party wins the presidency without being in the presidential debates. So we're suing the Presidential Debate Commission. We think that the presidential debate commission, made up of Democrats and Republicans, really works together to exclude everyone else from having a voice in this.

But outside of that lawsuit, the Presidential Debate Commission has said that if you're at 15 percent in the polls, that you can be in the presidential debate. So, this is pretty exciting, you know, the opportunity to offer another viewpoint. And that other viewpoint, speaking with a broad brush stroke, is being fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I think most people in America fall in that category. I think most people in America are libertarian, they just don't know it.

PAUL: What do you attribute to the rise in your numbers?

JOHNSON: Well, more than anything, just being in the poll to begin with. And attribute the numbers? I think that Hillary and Trump are going to be the nominees. I think at the end of the day they solidly represent 30 percent of the American electorate, which leaves the vast majority of the American electorates really looking for something else. And more than anything it's just being the third name in that poll. But I'll take it. I mean, it's attention that I think grows. It doesn't diminish.

PAUL: So, if you -- I don't know what the status is of your suit to get on that debate stage, but if you do make it on to that stage with those two specifically, or with any of the candidates who may be there, what would your prime goal be to get across to the American people that they had not heard from you thus far?

[10:45:04] JOHNSON: Well, I think the biggest problem facing this country is that government is too big. It spends too much. I think that the debt that we have in this country, the fact that we continue to spend more money than what we take in, I think that that's going to have really dire consequences at some point in the future.

And then there is personal liberty and personal freedom and responsibility, and that's really what we all live for is the ability to make our own choices in our own lives, as long as those choices don't adversely affect others.

And then there also is a very real Islamic terrorist threat. Is it best addressed by boots on the ground, dropping bombs, flying drone strikes that kill thousands of innocents? I think our military actions are making things worse, not better.

PAUL: So do you think the U.S. has to scale back in the military efforts, are you saying, in Iraq and Syria?

JOHNSON: I wouldn't call it scaling back so much as just focusing on what really is important and how do we address that, and that's containing what's happening over there. That's cutting off the funding to terrorism. It's working with our partners in the area to get at the heart of this, and the heart of this is not -- like I say, what we've done hasn't worked. What we've done, although it's well intentioned, at best it's the same. Most of the time, it makes things worse.

PAUL: You had said earlier, I read in one of the articles about you, you had said, "If this is not an opportunity for the libertarian nominee there will never be an opportunity, in my opinion." Why is 2016 going into 2017 the opportunity?

JOHNSON: Well, I think Trump goes -- first of all, I've been in New Hampshire, I've been in the Midwest. When it comes to -- I've seen that 30 percent of Republicans believe the scourge of the earth is Mexican immigration. It was my voice in 2012 that said, you know what, that's bunk. Look, immigration is really a good thing. We should make it as easy as possible for somebody that wants to come across and work in this country to be able to get a work visa, not a green card, not citizenship, but a work visa that would entail a background check, and a Social Security card that you could work. Building a fence across the border, I think that's just -- that's just crazy. So, that's on the Trump side.

On the Hillary side, I think it continues that promises are being made to everyone and there's a cost to those promises. And we realize that we can't continue down that path, either. So, there's this broad middle, which, like I say, from a philosophical standpoint, I think most people in America are fiscally responsible and socially liberal. Let you and I make the decisions in our life that only you and I should be making, as long as the decisions don't harm others.

PAUL: Former New Mexico governor and 2012 presidential candidate, I should point out, who received more than a million votes at this time, Gary Johnson. We appreciate it very much. Thanks for taking the time.

JOHNSON: Christi, thank you very much for having me on. Hopefully, this will be the first of a few of these. We'll see.

PAUL: We'll see if we see you on the debate stage, certainly!

JOHNSON: Well, that would help. That would be a biggie.

PAUL: All right, well, we'll see. Thank you.

BLACKWELL: And coming up, we're going to take you to Belgium for an emotional reunion. An American missionary sees his family for the first time since being injured in the Brussels airport attack. You're going to hear his incredible story. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:520:31] PAUL: Well, we are hearing more from survivors of the Brussels attacks as they recover in the hospital.

BLACKWELL: Mason Wells is a 19-year-old Mormon missionary from Utah. He was at the airport ticket area when two bombs seemed to explode out of nowhere. He tells CNN what happened next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASON WELLS: A large part of the right side my body got really hot and then really cold. And I was covered in a lot of fluids, a lot of blood. And a lot of that blood wasn't mine. I saw fire in front of my face and around my body. Fire literally almost engulfed the four of us. I feel bad for those who were injured. I feel so bad for -- because I was so lucky. I was so lucky.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: That was not his first stroke of luck, by the way. He was just a couple blocks away from the Boston Marathon bombings three years ago and was in France during the Paris attacks as well. He wasn't hurt, obviously, in those attacks, but for him and his family, it's a delicate time to share that information.

BLACKWELL: OK, for information on how you can help victims of the Brussels terror attack, go to our website, CNN.com/impact.

PAUL: We have some breaking news we need to get to you right now, as we are just getting word that the former Belgian ambassador to the United States, Andre Adam, died in the Brussels attacks on Tuesday. This is coming from Belgian's ministry of foreign affairs spokesman, confirming to CNN, again, the former Belgian ambassador to the United States died in those Brussels attacks. We don't know if he died that day --

BLACKWELL: Or we don't know if it was at the airport, or if it was on the train --

PAUL: We don't know if he went to the hospital and just died hours ago. We just know, as we're saying, the former Belgian ambassador to the U.S., Andre Adam, is now one of those victims in the Brussels attacks on Tuesday.

BLACKWELL: All right, still to come on CNN Newsroom, a Georgia teacher has been arrested after being caught doing this on camera, knocking over a student with special needs, knocking that child to the floor. Question is, was this intentional?

PAUL: You know, here at CNN, we're marking the tenth year of recognizing everyday people who are doing their part to really make a difference. We call them CNN Heroes, and as Anderson Cooper explains, we're asking you to help us find them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [10:55:04] ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Just go to CNNheroes.com on your laptop, your tablet, or your smartphone, click "nominate," fill in the form, and tell us what makes your hero extraordinary. And be selective. Those honored as CNN heroes are truly dedicating their lives to serving others. When you're finished, click "submit." You'll see this message that confirms received it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL: You know, we receive thousands of nominations. How can you make yours stand out from the rest, you might wonder? Well, there are helpful tips along with the nomination form at CNNheroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAUL: We always appreciate you keeping us company in the mornings, and we hope that that you go out and make some good memories today.

BLACKWELL: Newsroom continues now with Fredricka Whitfield.

GEORGE WILL, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: Thank you so much. You guys have had a very busy morning.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

PAUL: You've got a very busy afternoon ahead of you.

WHITFIELD: I know. Hopefully, you can recover this afternoon until we see you again in the morning.

All right, it is 11:00 on the east coast. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome. Newsroom starts right now.

All right, we begin with this breaking news. Belgian police have announced their first charges in connection with this week's terror attacks in Brussels. A man only identified as Faycal C. has been charged with terrorist murder. Two others are facing charges of participating in a terrorist group.