Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Russian strikes in Syria; Paris Suspects Lives Revealed; Protesters Storm Memorial; Trump Threatens Lawsuit; March Madness Final Four Set. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired March 28, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00] ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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 Hoh (ph) and the eastern ISIS stronghold of Darazur (ph). But also very symbolic for the regime forces most certainly to give them a moral boost, but also, as the Syrian president put it, this is clear evidence that their ambitious strategy is working when it comes to combatting terrorism versus that of the U.S. coalition.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Arwa Damon reporting live from Istanbul, Turkey. Thank you.

And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me.

Dancing in night clubs, gambling and smoking pot. CNN has exclusive information about what the Abdeslam brothers did in the months before the Paris terror attacks. In short, they were not acting like devout Muslims. Salah Abdeslam was captured on March 18th and Brahim killed himself with a suicide vest during the cafe blast in Paris. But this is what friends say the brothers were doing just months before those attacks. As you can see, they have video to prove it. Nina Dos Santos has our exclusive report.

Hi, Nina.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Carol.

Well, this is a story of radicalization at lightning speed and it also speaks to the pervasive nature of ISIS' tentacles inside just one small group of friends in the Molenbeek district of Brussels, a city where I am today. These friends say that they're still trying to come to terms with how so many of their pals, classmates and also friends from this particular bar could have changed from carefree views (ph) one minute to killers the next.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DO SANTOS (voice-over): This was life before ISIS. Salah Abdeslam and his brother Brahim partying at a high end night club in Brussels. It's February the 8th, 2015. Just eight months later, Brahim would blow himself up at a Paris cafe, Salah becomes Europe's most wanted man. Two of their friends shot the video in the club. They talked to CNN on the condition we hide their identities. "KARIM," FRIEND OF PARIS TERROR SUSPECTS (through translator): Salah

took care of himself. He was very neat. Someone who was funny, that you could have a laugh with. A bit of a ladies man. It wasn't unusual for him to have a drink or two, but he -- but he didn't go out and get drunk.

"RACHID," FRIEND OF PARIS TERROR SUSPECTS (through translator): Brahim was a lot more intelligent. He was also better behaved.

DOS SANTOS (on camera): Karim and Rashid, speaking under assumed names, say that they first began hanging out with the Abdeslam brothers in 2011 when they took on the lease to this bar, Les Beguines, which is now shut following a police raid. They say they came here to drink, to play cards, to smoke marijuana and also to watch the brothers' favorite football team, Real Madrid, play on the TV.

DOS SANTOS (voice-over): Things could get boisterous. Here, Brahim cheers on some drunken antics.

KARIM: I used to go there after work to have a drink, have a laugh with friends, play cards, anything that involves betting with money really.

RASHID: Basically you felt at home among family.

DOS SANTOS: Also among that family, Hansa Atoo (ph) and Mohamed Amri (ph), seen here in Rashid's photos. They were detained after driving Salah back from Paris following the attacks and remain in custody. The friends say they were duped.

KARIM: I was with Hansa Atoo and around 10:30 or 11:00 p.m. he received a phone call from Salah asking him to come and pick him up in France because his car had broken down.

DOS SANTOS: Not long after this party they stopped drinking and became more religious.

RASHID: They prayed more at the mosque, maybe only on Fridays, otherwise it was praying at home.

DOS SANTOS: Praying and plotting. No one, even their closest friends, knows why the Abdeslam brothers changed so much so quickly.

KARIM: Brahim got along with everyone. He didn't have any problems with black or white from whatever race or religion.

DOS SANTOS: He didn't until this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DOS SANTOS: So, Carol, this story also offers a number of important clues probably for investigators who are trying to trace the links between the Paris and Brussels attacks because what it does is it shows how many people seem to have been involved in this particular cell that seems to have gathered, or at least friends who ended up being involved in the cell who were gathering at this particular bar Les Beguines in Molenbeek when it was owned by the Abdeslam brothers.

Now, not to understate things, six particular Paris suspects, including one person who's still a fugitive at large and two suicide bombers were friends of these two individuals I was talking to and as yet, despite the fact that these individuals have had their own brushes with the law, they have not been interrogated by police yet.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: Nina Dos Santos, thanks so much.

So there is confusion and fear about how to root out terrorists everywhere in the world, but especially in Brussels. Police barricading off the streets as hundreds of right wing protesters stormed a memorial service. The protesters chanting anti-immigrant slogans and raising their arms in Nazi salutes. Police had to use water cannons to disperse the group. And there is a growing anti- immigrant feeling here in the United States, too.

[09:35:30] So let's talk about that. Lorenzo Vidino is the director of the George Washington program on extremism. I should say George Washington University.

Welcome, sir. Thanks for being with me again. I appreciate it.

LORENZO VIDINO, DIRECTOR, GEORGE WASHINGTON PROGRAM ON EXTREMISM: Sure. Good morning.

COSTELLO: Let's just talk first about what happened in Brussels with those right wing protesters. Those protesters blamed the immigrants coming into Europe. Is it right for them to place blame on the immigrants?

VIDINO: No. I mean, obviously, these are -- we're talking about a fringe group of people. These are soccer hooligans. As most Europe countries, the soccer hooliganism scenes dominated by small right wing groups. And these are people who create havoc every weekend in the stadiums. And, obviously, they -- they took advantage of the situation in Belgium as they were, in a way, gatherings, which are very peaceful and sending a positive message, they hijacked what was happened over the weekend in Brussels and to make their political point. But it speaks to a larger sentiment of what does exist in Europe. I mean it is not limited in the fringe of people that are linking the terrorism threat as we see Europe growing with influx of refugees. And that's an argent that a lot of parties are obtaining growing consensus, 10,20, 25 percent in certain countries, are using, in times of fear like this, there's a lot of populism going around.

COSTELLO: But -- but there is a fear that these large -- this, I mean, you know, what, Europe's gotten a million immigrants, right, from Syria and Iraq and there's fear that these immigrants aren't assimilating into European cultural and that's helping bring along this rising tide of fanaticism within Europe.

VIDINO: But it's not to deny the problem. You're absolutely right. I think first we have two problems here. The first is strictly linked to security and terrorism. There's no denying as the Paris and Brussels attack have shown, that among some of the refugees that are coming, there are a few individuals that are linked to ISIS, that are up to no good. Some of them are citizens of European countries, but nonetheless come back under assumed identities as pretend refugees and some of them are refugees. And we have seen cases throughout Europe of people who came in as asylum seekers and were engaged in terrorism. Small numbers, but the problem does exist and European security forces are struggling there to contain that flow. The second part is indeed a problem of assimilation, which I think is something that Europeans have been discussing for a long time. It's a problem that effects all European societies. And I think since 9/11 particularly we've been discussing that and the issue of integration of parts of Muslim communities in European society is an open wound. There is no denying that.

COSTELLO: OK. Just on the subject of why young men and young women turn to terrorism and become radicalized, is there any one thing that does that, that can help authorities focus on that individual person and say, oh, those are the warning signs and we've got to keep an eye on that person?

VIDINO: Really, unfortunately, there's no single profile. The backgrounds are so diverse. The radicalization trajectory are so diverse that I think we earlier talked about how quick it was for some of the Brussels attackers, in other cases much slower. You have people that are drifters and petty criminals. You have people with PhDs and very well educated and well integrated. We talk a lot about integration, how integration or lack thereof is one of the causes of radicalization. But we see many cases of people who are seemingly well integrated. In some European countries, 20, 30 percent of people who join ISIS are converts. So it's not really a matter of integration there.

Authorities are struggling to find what drives people to buy into the ISIS narrative and what -- what are the indicators that point to the people making the leap from embracing extremist ideas to violence. The reality is that that's almost an impossible task and there's really no common denominator.

COSTELLO: Oh, it's a frightening thought. Lorenzo Vidino from George Washington University, thanks so much for being with me this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Louisiana lawsuit? Weeks after Republicans faced off there, a new fight is brewing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:43:41] COSTELLO: The Louisiana primary took place more than three weeks ago, but for Donald Trump a battle over the results may have only just begun. The GOP frontrunner tweeting Sunday, quote, "just to show you how unfair Republican primary politics can be, I won the state of Louisiana and get less delegates than Cruz. Lawsuit coming."

First, let's review what led up to Mr. Trump's threat. After the March 5th Louisiana primary, Trump and Cruz were each awarded 18 delegates. But now ten more delegates are up for grabs. Five who were awarded to Marco Rubio, who is now, as you know, out of the race, plus another five who are unpledged. And according to "The Wall Street Journal," those ten delegates will likely back Ted Cruz. All of this sparked by Louisiana's GOP party rules which distribute delegates proportionally. And that prompted this response to Trump from one of Cruz's spokesmen. Quote, "maybe your time is better spent reading rules than sending hate tweets."

Let's talk. Larry Sabato is the director at the University of Virginia Center for Politics, Errol Louis is a political anchor for New York One News.

Welcome to both of you.

ERROL LOUIS, POLITICAL ANCHOR, NEW YORK ONE NEWS: Good morning.

LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA CENTER FOR POLITICS: Thanks, Carol.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So, Larry, the chairman of the Louisiana GOP says Trump is just wrong, that the delegates were awarded correctly and that the unbounded, unpledged delegates are, quote, "out of our control."

[09:45:02] So, is this all bluster on Trump's part?

SABATO: Well, it may be bluster in the case of Louisiana. As far as I can see they did follow the rules and the rules were actually written long before there was a Trump candidacy. So, I think probably Louisiana is okay.

And by the way, lawsuits involving party rules almost always fail. The judiciary stays away from that kind of thing. Now having said that, Trump is on to something. I think he's finally grasping just how much the party establishment, not just office holders in the Republican party, but the party establishment is against him. And they are going to try to do everything humanly possible to make sure he is not the Republican nominee.

COSTELLO: Okay, so with that in mind, Errol, Trump has said previously there will be riots if he isn't given the nomination. Is he trying to build a case with threats like these, you know, threats of a lawsuit?

LOUIS: Well, certainly. I mean, look, he's - he's talking in a common sense language I think a lot of people would understand. He says, hey, look, I won Louisiana. Yes, well, he won by 3.6 percent, right? It was virtually a dead heat. He, as Larry points out properly, didn't pay attention to the rules, didn't use his famous negotiating skills to maybe strike a deal with Marco Rubio who he insulted at every turn.

And so yes, he doesn't get those five delegates, right? And this is going to be repeated in state after state, I think, some version of this same question. And I think Donald Trump did not properly prepare for the hostile takeover of the Republican party that is essential to his candidacy. He is taking over an apparatus that he doesn't fully understand.

COSTELLO: Okay, so there is fear in Cleveland because, you know, if there is a contested convention there, there might be problems. And Larry, in the separate development, nearly 50,000 people have signed a change.org petition to openly carry guns at the Republican convention. And I throw that out there because I'm certain that the Cleveland police would not welcome that, Larry.

SABATO: Well, not just the Cleveland police, Carol. You know, somehow, this is just a guess, but I don't think the Secret Service is going to approve that, having the loads and loads of delegates with firearms inside the arena with presidential candidates appearing on stage. Just a guess. Now having said that, you know, I've gone to every convention since 1976. If this petition actually is passed and holds for the convention, I think I may watch this one on TV.

COSTELLO: Oh, my gosh. Okay, let's switch to the Democratic side because that's getting a little crazy, too. Bernie Sanders, Errol says the momentum is on his side and, you know, he swept the Western caucuses on Saturday. He says he might be able - his camp might be able to convince some super delegates to support him, Bernie Sanders. Could Bernie Sanders win over Clinton?

LOUIS: He is going to need a lot of support. He's going to need a lot of really lucky breaks. I mean, Carol, we're going into a phase of the campaign where there really aren't anymore caucuses. There's Wyoming, there's Guam and there's one other territory, you know, Virgin Islands I believe, and that's it. And caucuses are where Bernie Sanders has been able to shine. That's pretty much what he did over this last weekend.

The rest are primaries, they're not by any means favorable states to him. And because of the proportional delegate allocation rules, which we can thank Jesse Jackson for, these are rules that went into effect after his 1988 run, Bernie Sanders will always keep picking up delegates, but to close the gap is mathematically very, very difficult. He's going to need blowout wins in almost every single state from here going forward.

COSTELLO: But Larry, what if Bernie Sanders wins Wisconsin?

SABATO: Well, he'll manage to close the gap a little bit but Errol is absolutely right. Look, yu have to give Bernie Sanders credit. He does have momentum coming out of those giant wins in those three caucuses. He doesn't win primaries very often but wins caucuses, but they were impressive. He has momentum. Goodness knows he has the money. People are throwing small contributions at him.

What he doesn't have is the basic mathematics. You can't do anything about the math of this particular convention. And know the super delegates are not by and large going to convert to Bernie Sanders from Hillary Clinton.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Errol Louis, Larry Sabato, thanks to both of you. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, in moments the governor of Georgia set

to speak. We don't know exactly about what he'll talk about, but we have an idea. It could be about that back lash over Georgia's controversial religious liberty bill.

[09:50:00] We'll keep you posted.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: Coy, why don't you just take it away because I'm going to watch Jason Heyward get stung by bees.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Great video, great video. I love it. Carol, March Madness has been awesome. Syracuse, a microcosm of that madness we've come to love in March. Incredible comeback versus number one seed Virginia last night.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

WIRE (voice-over): Jim Borhheim and Syracuse looked like they stuck a fork in them. They looked done against Virginia. London Perrantes nails five three-pointers in the first all by himself for the Cavaliers. UVA ahead by 16 points at one point in the second half, but Syracuse says don't call it a comeback. They turn up the heat defensively for six turnovers in the second half and go on a 29 to 8 run over the last 9 and a half minutes.

[09:55:00] Malachi Richardson said don't look, here we come. He led with a career high 23 points. Down by three, Virginia does have a chance to tie it with 12 seconds left, but no, Syracuse wins the shocker 68-62, becoming the first ten seed to ever make the final four. They're going to take on North Carolina who beats Notre Dame to remain the only number one seed to make it to the final four.

It was close at half, but Carolina, they were up by just five at the half, but Brice Johnson and the Tar Heels were just too much. Johnson, the senior, leading the way with 25 points, 12 rebounds. The Tar Heels go one to win 88-74 and advance to the final four for an NCAA record, 19th time.

It's all set, the final four Saturday night, all of it on our sister channel, TBS. The first matchup, a pair of two seeds, Villanova, Oklahoma, each of whom knocked off the number ones in their regions to make it. Then Syracuse, can they do the unthinkable, beat North Carolina? They played them twice this season, Carolina didn't get her done.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

WIRE (on camera): But Carol, I'm glad we're that out of time so we can't show our brackets. You and I...

COSTELLO: No.

WIRE: ... woeful at best. COSTELLO: Yes, we're tied for 17th. And you know, I didn't mean to dis the basketball players, but I was upset at my brackets so that's why I was watching Jason Heyward.

WIRE: That's right.

COSTELLO: Coy Wire, many thanks.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)