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Belgium Charges Three New Terror Suspects; Easter Sunday Attack in Pakistan; World Leaders Shocked by GOP Race?; Sanders: We Will Win Nomination And Election; Trump Threatens Lawsuit Over GOP Delegates; ISIS Retreats As Syrian Troops Reclaim Palmyra. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired March 28, 2016 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:01] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN: Healthy 8 pounds 3 ounces. Born on the 26th. Congratulations and welcome to the "NEW DAY" family.

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MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN: Gorgeous, Regina.

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Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. Hey, Carol.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: It is a cute little burger.

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COSTELLO: I shall. Have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now.

PEREIRA: All week. All week.

COSTELLO: NEWSROOM starts now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Happening now in the NEWSROOM, who is this man? New video of the suspect in the white coat moments before the bombs went off at the Brussels airport.

Also, life before ISIS.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): Salah took care of himself. He's very neat. Someone who was funny, who you could have a laugh with.

COSTELLO: Friends of Salah Abdeslam say they knew a different man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (Through Translator): A bit of a ladies' man.

COSTELLO: High end nightclubs, parties, drinking. What changed?

Plus, if you want our help, pay up. Donald Trump unleashes a foreign policy smack down.

Let's talk, live in the CNN NEWSROOM. (END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. New leads and new arrests over the Brussels terror attacks. Police now releasing this surveillance video of the third suspected airport bomber. This is the first time we have seen video of the man authorities say helped carry out those attacks. What we don't know whether he is alive or dead. Officials are now hunting a second man they believe is tied to the subway bombing. This as Belgium files charges against three new terror suspects.

Over the weekend authorities launched more than a dozen new terror raids. In the meantime the death toll continues to rise. At least 35 people now confirmed dead including this couple from Nashville, Tennessee.

Let's get right to our CNN senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward and CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank.

Clarissa, let's start with you. Hi.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Well, we don't know exactly why Belgian officials have released this video that shows the third airport bomber. This is the first time we have seen moving images. Of course before we had seen that still photograph. But it seems to indicate that possibly they have yet to identify him and nobody knows as you said, is he still on the loose? Is he potentially dead? But certainly he does not appear to be in police custody.

Now over the weekend there were 13 raids here in Brussels alone. Nine people arrested, five of them subsequently released. But three men are now being charged with participation in terrorist activities.

And we also learned over the weekend of the arrest of a man who Belgians are only identifying as Faycal C. He is being charged with terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder, and participation in terrorist activities all of which would seem to indicate that he played a major role in these attacks. But as of yet we don't know the details as to which attack. Was he involved in the airport? Was he involved in the metro bombing. So still a lot of questions here, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Clarissa Ward reporting live for us this morning. Now let's turn to Paul Cruickshank.

And Paul, you say they're looking for eight new suspects?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: That's right. CNN is being briefed about a security bulletin that went out the day after the Brussels attacks, March 23, on that security bulletin there are the names of eight individuals wanted in connection with the attacks in Paris and the attacks in Brussels. We can report the identities of two of those individuals on that bulletin. One of them being an individual named Naim Al Hamed, supposedly a Syrian or at least have a Syrian fake identity card. He is believed to have come through into Europe and was picked up by Salah Abdeslam in Ohm, Germany just a few weeks before the Paris attacks.

He is believed to have been operationally involved in the Brussels attacks, considered armed and dangerous. There is a picture of him up on the screen at the moment.

Another individual identified as Yoni Patric Mayne. He's a Brussels resident who travelled to Syria in January 2014 with Abdelhamid Abaaoud who is the ringleader of the Paris attacks. ISIS tweeted out some pictures of him supposedly dead in Syria just a few months later but now authorities think he may have faked his own death possibly to return to Europe more easily. But he's urgently as well, in connection with the Brussels and Paris attacks.

And we've also just got hold of an urgent security notice which was put out on January 15th for Reda Kriket, that man who was arrested in Argenteuil, Paris on Thursday night.

[09:05:12] The Interior minister of France saying that he was suspected of planning an imminent attack on Paris. Now his arrest on Thursday led to other arrests in Europe notably in Belgium on Friday, two arrests linked to him in Belgium on Friday including that man shot in the leg by the tram stop. And on Sunday, just yesterday, an arrest of an individual connected to Reda Kriket in Rotterdam also, according to the Dutch, suspected to be involved in terrorist planning.

COSTELLO: So --

CRUICKSHANK: This spreads right through Europe right now.

COSTELLO: I was just going to ask you that. So this begs the question, why didn't they arrest these guys before or look for them before?

CRUICKSHANK: It was a fast moving investigation. We understand that when they went into Reda Kriket's apartment in Argenteuil on Thursday, this is being reported by "Le Monde's," other French media, they found documentation and evidence which then allowed them to roll up other members of his network in Europe.

Reda Kriket, another associate of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, this Belgian ringleader behind the Paris attacks, and we know from the interrogation of French ISIS recruits who were arrested on their way back from Syria that Abdelhamid Abaaoud was trying to launch a string of attacks against Europe. He was providing hands-on training to these recruits in Raqqa. Syria, in public parks and apartment buildings, and he was also instructing them how to communicate with each other securely and communicate back to ISIS' Raqqa HQ security as well through encryption apps and also through sharing these encrypted messages on password protected sites which only they knew the password of.

COSTELLO: Certainly frightening. Paul Cruickshank, thanks so much.

Nearly 70 people dead in Pakistan after an Easter bombing targets Christians in a crowded park. The blast hitting as families celebrated the holy holiday. More than 300 others recovering from injuries this morning.

CNN producer Sophia Saifi is in Islamabad with more on this. Hi, Sophia.

SOPHIA SAIFI, CNN PRODUCER: Hi, Carol. Well, it's almost 6:00 here in Pakistan which is about 24 hours since this horrible tragedy took place in a park in the city of Lahore. We do have a death toll nearing 70. It was one of the holiest days of the Christian calendar and it was near an amusement park where this attack -- where a suicide attacker actually detonated his bombs.

We are being told by officials that he had around 15 to 20 kilograms of explosives strapped on to him. There were families, there were children on rides, and there was complete chaos. We've been told by eyewitnesses that they saw a huge flash of light and then they opened their eyes, they were on the ground, there were bodies everywhere. And everywhere they looked there were just flames, there were just fire and death all around.

A militant group has claimed responsibility for this attack. It's called Jamat-ul-Ahrar, and it's a faction of the Pakistani Taliban. They were also behind the last major attack that took place in the country just a little over a couple of weeks ago. The government has reacted strongly. There have been lots of meetings. The military has actually enforced -- there's been a military operation -- a paramilitary operation overnight in the city -- in major cities in the province of Punjab which is unusual because that has not happened before in that province.

We have seen operations in the north of Pakistan as well as in the city of Karachi, but this sort of reaction by the military is unique -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Sophia Saifi, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

So Christians targeted in the Middle East, Europe on edge and the United States always considered the reliable safe hand appears to be suffering on the world stage. Thanks to the nasty election year politics that we're experiencing right now.

Secretary of State John Kerry says world leaders are shocked by the GOP race including Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: Everywhere I go, every leader I meet, they ask about what is happening in America. They cannot believe it. I think it is fair to say that they're shocked. They don't know where it is taking the United States of America. It upsets people's sense of equilibrium about our steadiness, about our reliability. And to some degree, I must say to you, some of the questions the way they are posed to me, it's clear to me that what's happening is an embarrassment to our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP) [09:10:01] COSTELLO: Mr. Trump isn't trying to please world leaders, he's promising to make America first. And as "New York Times" put it make everyone else pay.

With me now CNN counterterrorism analyst and former CIA counterterrorism official Phil Mudd. Hi, Phil.

PHIL MUDD, CNN COUNTERTERRORISM ANALYST: Hey, good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning. So I don't know, I don't want you to wade into politics but I am curious. Is our nasty election season affecting the world?

MUDD: I'd say not yet. My friends have said to me -- I have friends around the world, the same thing you're hearing from Secretary Kerry. But I think the proof is going to be in what any president does. If you look around the world, in Asia people will be looking at whether we'll continue to pivot military forces to face a rising China. In Europe people are worried about Vladimir Putin and what kind of commitment we'll make for the next incursion to a place like Ukraine. We've seen warming in Cuba.

People will be looking in November after an election about whether somebody continues that investment, for example, a shift into China. I think they are appalled at what they are seeing in America now. I think there is a lot of amusement. But I don't think they're going to make their choices until they see where somebody actually invest when they win the presidency in November.

COSTELLO: I'd like you to listen to what Donald Trump told ABC News over the weekend about Americans' safety. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't think America is a safe place for Americans if you want to know the truth. We are allowing thousands of people to come in here. Nobody knows where they are from. Nobody knows who they are and they are coming in here by the thousands. And let me tell you something, we are going to have problems.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: So, Phil, are Americans safe in America?

MUDD: Sure. I do numbers. I do statistics. I don't do campaign rhetoric. Let's look at a couple of statistics that Americans should be concerned about. Number one, the incidents of violent extremism in this country. There are 330 million Americans and we will have fewer than a few dozen Americans killed by terrorism this year. That's one per two states. I'm just making an estimate. That's not a lot of violence.

If you look at a more significant issue, in my view, that is urban violent crime, drugs and gangs. Violent crime in American cities is dropping dramatically over the past decade or two. So if you want to talk about threat to Americans my first question is, what's your metric? What are judging? My metric is dead people. And there are fewer dead people here than there were 10 years ago as a result of violent crime and extremism.

COSTELLO: Well, let's be more specific on that because I think Donald Trump is saying that so many people are pouring over the border.

MUDD: Yes.

COSTELLO: Terrorists are coming with them and Americans are unsafe. Are terrorists, extremists, radicalized people pouring over the border into the United States?

MUDD: Pouring over the border, no way. If you're looking at numbers you're talking about tens or hundreds of thousands of immigrants every year. If you want to tell me that not a couple of them are terrorists I'd say that's crazy. If you want to say 1,000 of them are terrorists, I'd say that's crazy.

Any time you have immigration whether it's Mexicans, maybe there are a few cartel members, El Salvadorian, maybe they're MS-13 gang members. If you have people coming in from the Middle East maybe there are a few ISIS members. It's about risk management. Any stream you have is going to have risk. I don't think the risk is tremendously high but I think it's there.

COSTELLO: So when you compare the United States' problem with terrorism, you know, in the homeland.

MUDD: Yes.

COSTELLO: With Europe's terrorism problem in their homeland can you compare it at all? Is it similar at all?

MUDD: No, I don't think it's similar for a few reasons. When I talk to my friends in Europe, we face an incidence of extremism that's far lower. The FBI has far fewer cases per capita than the Europeans do for a couple of simple reasons. Number one we don't have geographic proximity. You can't get to Syria with a car in the United States. You've got to get on a plane. That's significant.

Number two, we don't have the pockets of disenfranchised immigrants that you see in Europe. Europe has concentrated neighborhoods that we've talked about frequently in places like Paris and Belgium. We don't see that in the United States. We have a wide variety of immigrants who were geographically dispersed across the country and they have more opportunity than they do in Europe. So I don't think -- not I don't think. I know we don't have the same level of threat in the United States as my European friends do.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Phil Mudd, thanks for your insight.

MUDD: Thank you.

COSTELLO: I appreciate it. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, talk about a family feud. The clash

between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz not letting up any time soon.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Fresh off a clean sweep in three caucus states, Bernie Sanders has a clear message to supporters and to those who think he should drop out of the race.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Don't let anybody tell you we can't win the nomination or win the general election. We are going to do both of those things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Sanders says momentum is on his side even if the delegate map is not. Now the Vermont senator wants to debate Hillary Clinton ahead of an April 19th primary in her home state of New York.

CNN's Brianna Keilar tracking the Democrat. She's live in Washington. Hi, Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, there, Carol. This was a really big weekend for Bernie Sanders. These three wins on Saturday in such a lopsided fashion. He is really hitting his stride here in a stretch of states that favor him more than Hillary Clinton.

He still trails Hillary Clinton, as you mentioned, in the delegate map considerably by more than 200 pledged delegates. When you add in those super delegates who are elected officials, for instance, who are able to operate independently of what voters say they want, then he is behind by several hundred.

But Bernie Sanders outlining his plan to really ride this wave of momentum and to shift the math when it comes to those pledged delegates and even those super delegates. Listen to what he says.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: I think the momentum is with us. A lot of these super delegates may rethink their position with Secretary Clinton. A lot have not yet declared. Then you got super delegates in states where we win by 40 or 50 points. I think their own constituents will say, hey, why don't you support the people of our state? Vote for Sanders.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:20:09]KEILAR: And Carol, the next big focus is going to be on Wisconsin next week. It's a key state when it comes to the general election and we are also hearing even from those in Hillary Clinton's corner that they think it could go for Bernie Sanders.

They are trying to manage expectations so that he doesn't win and it sort of repeats that Michigan upset that we saw a few weeks ago. COSTELLO: All right, Brianna Keilar, reporting live from Washington, thank you.

The nasty feud between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz could wind up in court. After days of trading jabs over their wives, the latest flash point between the two rivals is the awarding of delegates from the Louisiana primary.

Both candidates ended up with 18 delegates each, but now Trump who won the primary on March 5th is threatening to sue Cruz if he ends up getting an extra ten delegates that are now up for grabs. Confusing I know.

CNN's Phil Mattingly joins us live from Wisconsin. Good morning.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Like the Democrats, Republicans should be focused on Wisconsin, right here, but instead the focus again is on personal attacks, Donald Trump's foreign policy and a lawsuit threat.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE (via telephone): I don't think America is a safe place for Americans. You want to know the truth.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): Donald Trump claiming Americans are unsafe, a day after laying out his controversial foreign policy world view in a lengthy interview with the "New York Times." He calls into question traditional U.S. alliances including NATO describing his approach as, quote, "not isolationist, but America first."

He says if elected he might stop buying Saudi oil unless they commit ground troops to fight ISIS and opening the door to the notion of Japan and South Korea developing nuclear arms of their own.

TRUMP: He started it. I didn't I start it.

SENATOR TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Attacking spouses and children is off limits. It has no place in politics.

MATTINGLY: This as he and rival, Ted Cruz, ramp up the war of words over their wives. Cruz slamming Trump for hitting below the belt.

CRUZ: He sends tweets attacking my wife, attacking Heidi. It is inappropriate, wrong and frankly disgusting.

MATTINGLY: The frontrunner accusing Cruz of knowing about a super PAC ad targeting his wife, Melania, first.

TRUMP: Don't forget, I call him Lying Ted. I call him that because nobody I have known, I've known a lot tougher people over the years in business. But I have never known anybody that lied like Ted Cruz.

MATTINGLY: Trump threatening on Twitter to, quote, "spill the beans on Cruz's wife, Heidi," and again on Sunday. TRUMP: There are things about Heidi that I don't want to talk about. But I'm not going to talk about them.

MATTINGLY: Cruz calling Trump's actions a deliberate distraction, coming down hard on a salacious story in the tabloid "National Inquirer," which earlier this month endorsed Trump.

CRUZ: He is pushing these attacks and by the way, he's been pushing them for many, many months online. These are complete made up lies. They are garbage.

MATTINGLY: Trump also blasting Cruz for courting additional delegates in Louisiana's March 5th primary issuing this threat on Twitter, quote, "Just to show how unfair Republican primary politics can be, I won the state of Louisiana and get less delegates than Cruz. Lawsuit coming."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Carol, I have been talking to a number of Republican operatives over the last couple of hours, and all of them say that they don't see basis whatsoever for a Trump lawsuit here.

But what it does under score is this, not only the state by state fight, but there is also a very, very serious fight for delegates behind the scenes as we look at the potential for open convention in Cleveland in just a couple of months here.

That those fights, the ones that Ted Cruz is at least winning in Louisiana are fights to keep a very close eye on -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And we will. Phil Mattingly reporting live from West Salem, Wisconsin this morning.

Tomorrow night the final three Republican candidates will be in Milwaukee for a CNN town hall. It will be moderated by Anderson Cooper starts at 8 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, just months before the Paris terror attacks, why friends of the suspects say they were leading very different lives.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:28:32]

COSTELLO: ISIS suffers another military setback in Syria. The Syrian military says it has regained control of the ancient city of Palmyra in Central Syria. Syria credits Russian airstrikes for helping drive the militants out of that city.

ISIS fighters have been in control of Palmyra since last May. During that time they under took a campaign to destroy the area's cultural relics.

CNN senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, is in Istanbul with more. Hi, Arwa.

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Perhaps the most iconic of all that was destroyed was the entrance to the ancient city of Palmyra itself, the Arc of Triumph. That along with millennia old temples as well as centuries old other installations that made up Palmyra all destroyed by ISIS.

Now the exact extent of the damage at this point in time is unclear. Regime forces according to state television only just recently in the last day or so regaining control of the city and of the ancient UNESCO heritage site.

This was because as you mentioned there, Russian support, pounding various different ISIS locations and fighting positions over the last few days with hundreds of air strikes, which then allow the Syrian government forces along with the militias that support them to move in and regain control.

This is strategic on the one hand, yes, because of where Palmyra is located on the main road between the western province of (inaudible) and the eastern ISIS stronghold of (inaudible). But also very --