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Istanbul Airport Attack; Presidential Candidates Speak on Terror Attack; Brexit Fallout. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 29, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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


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[09:30:20] CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Investigators are working to determine the identities of three suicide bombers who attacked Turkey's busiest airport, killing 41 people. I want to warn you, the video you're about to see is disturbing.

This is surveillance video from inside the terminal. Passengers see police clash with one of the attackers and start to run in the other direction. And that's when the attacker's suicide vest explodes. We now know there were three bombers who hit inside the terminal, the other striking a nearby parking lot. Witnesses trapped inside the airport say they hid, not knowing if the terrorists were still alive and looking for more victims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS KEMPER, WITNESS: It's a very scary and frightening, terrifying moment. So - so I was there in the kitchen with somebody who - probably Chinese, we couldn't understand each other, we didn't have no - no language, but we were there hiding and other people were trying to break the glass, trying to get out of the lounge and hiding in other places. And it went on for at least 30, 45 minutes, until some staff came and calmed us down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Officials say the attack has all the hallmarks of an ISIS plot, but so far no group has claimed responsibility. For more on this story, we'll go live to Istanbul and CNN's Alexandra Field.

Hi, Alexandra.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Carol.

If you look right behind me, this is the main entrance to Ataturk Airport. This is where taxis and pedestrian cars are returning to the international terminal where this coordinated attack took place. Officials have said that the three attackers came in a taxi. There are still questions about how they would have managed to get past security and get into that terminal that was so full of people.

I was in the terminal earlier today. It is an eerie place to be. You have seen the video of the moment of that explosion. You have seen people running for their lives, the wounded falling to the floor, the blood that's been spilled. But it is remarkable to see how much has been cleaned up in such a very short period of time. This airport now opened again, passengers coming and leaving from that very same terminal.

At the same time, the death toll now standing at 41. We know that 13 of the people killed were foreign nationals, three of them holding dual citizenship with Turkey. Another 100 people are still hospitalized, and that is the scene of really inconsolable grief this morning. There are family members who are outside the hospital hoping for good news about their loved ones, praying for the best. Thirty- seven of the 41 who were killed in these attacks have now been identified. It means more families are waiting for the awful news, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Alexandra Field reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

From Brexit to the terror in Turkey, events abroad are profoundly affecting the U.S. presidential race. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both responding swiftly to the deadly attack on Istanbul's airport, but in decidedly different ways. All of that as the rivals battle to earn voters' trust on another key issue, the U.S. economy. CNN's Phil Mattingly joins me now with more on that.

Good morning, Phil.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

When it comes to terror, it is kind of the ever presents element in this campaign, even though the economy is always something voters are focused on, poll after poll now showing it's national security. And yesterday we got a window into how Hillary Clinton wants to respond and how Donald Trump has to respond. On one hand, a steady hand, knowledge of the issue. On the other, strength.

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DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: We had another suicide bombing, Istanbul, Turkey. Many, many people killed.

MATTINGLY (voice-over): The airport attack in Istanbul leading presidential candidates to once again address terrorism on the campaign trail.

TRUMP: We better get smart, and we better get tough, or we're not going to have much of a country left, OK? It's bad.

MATTINGLY: Hillary Clinton refraining from any mention of the terror attack during a town hall in Los Angeles Tuesday night. Instead, releasing a statement, pledging that the "attack in Istanbul only strengthens our resolve to defeat the forces of terrorism and radical jihadism around the world." Contrast that with Trump, who is again arguing to using torture in the fight against terror. TRUMP: So we can't do waterboarding, but they can do chopping off

heads. We have to be so strong. We have to fight so viscously and violently because we're dealing with violent people.

MATTINGLY: The presumptive GOP nominee coming under fire once again for his rhetoric.

TRUMP: The Trans Pacific Partnership is another disaster, done and pushed by special interests who want to rape our country.

MATTINGLY: Trump, provocatively vowing to rip up international trade deals, spending most of Tuesday laying out his economic plans, and arguing that Americans need to take their country back.

[09:35:11] TRUMP: Globalization has made the financial elite who donate to politicians very, very wealthy. I used to be one of them. It's left millions of our workers with nothing but poverty and heartache.

MATTINGLY: Clinton, saying she's sympathetic to people drawn to Trump's message.

CLINTON: They have lost faith in their government, in the economy, certainly in politics, and most other institutions. I am not sympathetic to the xenophobia, the misogamy, the homophobia, the Islamaphobia and all of the other, you know, sort of dog whistles that Trump uses.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: And, Carol, make no mistake about it, that speech by Donald Trump yesterday was essentially bucking decades of Republican orthodox. One of the most fascinating elements of that speech, of the entire time he was talking, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce was running a rapid response operation attacking what Trump was saying. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce that is a well-known supporter of most Republican causes. Now, they don't' get involved in presidential elections, but the fact that they are attacking the Republican nominee really shows you how far Donald Trump is from traditional Republican policy.

Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Phil Mattingly reporting live for us this morning. Thank you.

So let's talk about that. Basil Smikle is the executive director of the New York state Democratic Party. He's also a Hillary Clinton supporter. And Joseph Borelli is co-chair of the Donald Trump New York campaign. He's also councilman for the 51st district here in New York City.

Welcome to both of you.

BASIL SMIKLE, CLINTON SUPPORTER: Thanks. Good to be here.

COSTELLO: Joseph, we have to talk about the backdrop. JOSEPH BORELLI, CO-CHAIR, DONALD TRUMP NEW YORK CAMPAIGN: Sure.

COSTELLO: Mr. Trump was standing in front of shredded aluminum steel, but he was doing that for a purpose. What was it?

BORELLI: Look, he's talking about some of the manufacturing jobs that have been brought - rather, shifted overseas over the last, you know, two decades from both Republican and Democratic presidents. Trade deals like NAFTA have resulted in 50,000 manufacturers going out of business in this country. That's manufacturers. We're not talking about jobs. Each one of those companies employ between 100,000 perhaps even people.

The interesting thing is to compare the speech between Donald Trump and Hillary is in that, you know, Hillary's in the right place. She's in Ohio. She's tied there. She might be losing there. But she's talking about job killing proposals, like taxing corporations out of business, and advancing more environmental regulations. In Ohio and even Pennsylvania, where Trump was, you have the, you know, the use of natural gas. Some of these things that the Democrats have been advocating against are what's somewhat saving these states.

SMIKLE: Well -

COSTELLO: Actually - actually, Mr. Trump's speech sounded like a Bernie Sanders speech, right?

SMIKLE: Yes.

COSTELLO: It really did, because they're both against these trade deals, right? They say they hurt the Americans workers. So Mr. Trump may be tapping into the Bernie bros, right, and -

SMIKLE: Well, he's also sounding like Hillary Clinton at times.

Look, I think Donald Trump's economic policy is at times inconsistent and incoherent for all of the tough talk he has around trade. He sends everything from his suits and his picture frames to be manufactured in other countries. So you never really know where Donald Trump is coming from. And experts have said, his economic proposals will cost this economy - it will put - it will put us $30 trillion in debt, cost about 3.5 million jobs. And he's talking about isolationism. I think Hillary Clinton is talking about just being tough on trade. And I think that's the way forward. And I think that's what sound economic minds will look for.

COSTELLO: Well, there are other things that I think that both candidates - like my father was a steelworker. I was a reporter in northeast Ohio when the steel industry left. It was a very painful time. NAFTA was just coming into being. But it wasn't just NAFTA. It was automation that cost jobs. And it was also companies moving south, right, because, you know, you could - you didn't have to have a union in the south. It was cheaper to do business there. Those were big problems for northeast Ohio and for where I grew up and for my father.

BORELLI: Right. Well, it - COSTELLO: So why aren't those things being talked about as well?

BORELLI: Trump mentioned specifically the steel industry. Here in New York City, we couldn't find enough American made steel to replace the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which is something absurd. But for all -

COSTELLO: How are you going to convince business people to make more expensive products? They're not going to do it.

BORELLI: I'm not saying there's not challenges, but let's talk about Donald Trump's opponent (ph). He's been attacking TPP from day one. And if he -

COSTELLO: Besides trade deals, what?

BORELLI: Wait, but he's been so wrong -

COSTELLO: Besides trade deals, what?

BORELLI: If he's been so wrong about the TPP, why is Hillary Clinton, who called this the gold standard, suddenly now adopting Trump's policy on trade?

COSTELLO: I'm not disagreeing.

SMIKLE: Oh, I don't think - I don't think she's adopting Trump's policy at all.

COSTELLO: I'm not dis - no, no, I'm -

BORELLI: She did say it was the gold standard.

COSTELLO: I'm just talking about those other things, like automation, right, because it's still a problem for the American worker. Shouldn't - shouldn't somebody, including Hillary Clinton, being talking about vocational education so that we can train workers to become skilled workers so they can get jobs that are available in the United States.

SMIKLE: I tell you what, what's interesting, we used to talk about vocational education. We moved away from that. I think we're going to - we're talking about that again. She's talking about debt free education. She's talking about the fight for 15, raising the minimum wage, so you can increase the wages for a lot of these workers. Paid family leave. All of these things actually help to make a strong economy. And if you look at what's happening in New York, even, you know, under Governor Cuomo, we are - they're building a new (INAUDIBLE) Bridge. So all of these - all of this infrastructure, I think, helps - helps jobs.

[09:40:19] COSTELLO: But none of that is helping the displaced worker in middle America.

SMIKLE: I think - I think it - I think it does (ph).

BORELLI: In New York we've had tons of workers moving into Pennsylvania. I mentioned natural gas just in passing earlier. But you look at states like Ohio, like Pennsylvania, who despite Democratic opposition, have been able to tap into the resource, something that, again, the Democratic Party doesn't want.

COSTELLO: Well, I will say, the oil boom has gone bust in Ohio right at the moment.

BORELLI: But not the natural gas boom. The natural gas boom is continuing to develop. Right here in New York City, right, tons of people are getting their homes heated by natural gas, which they don't want even fracked here in New York. It's fracked elsewhere. This is an industry that's only growing and the Democratic Party would like to stop it.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Basil Smikle - you want to add something?

SMIKLE: Well, I was going to say, listen, I will just say that when you look at Hillary Clinton's economic proposals, I mean she is talking about supporting the middle class in ways that Donald Trump has not, and never has. She acknowledges that the angst, the economic angst that's there, that Donald Trump - to the supporters that Donald Trump has is real and she's talking to them, but not in the ways that - that I think Donald Trump - she's not going to do it in a way that Donald Trump has even talked about it. Not an isolationist and not scapegoating immigrants either.

COSTELLO: Basil, Joseph, thanks for stopping by.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, in the wake of those deadly attacks in Turkey, Donald Trump bringing the issue of waterboarding front and center again. What he and Hillary Clinton had to say about the attacks, and who has the better policy. We'll talk about that, next.

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[09:45:47] COSTELLO: No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on Turkey's airport, but a U.S. official says it bears the hallmark of ISIS. Crews were busy cleaning up the damage at the airport this morning, as Turkey announced it had launched 15 attacks on ISIS targets in Syria.

With me now to talk about this and more is Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. He served 27 years in the U.S. Air Force, mostly in the Middle East.

Welcome, sir, and thanks for being here.

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: I want to first talk about something the CIA director, John Brennan, said to Yahoo!. He gave an interview to Yahoo! this morning and I'm just going to read you a quote. He gave extensive - he gave an extensive interview to Yahoo! but this is part of it. Quote, this is John Brennan, "it's not that difficult to actually construct and fabricate a suicide vest. So if you have determined enemy, and individuals who are not concerned about escape, that they are going to into it and with the sense they are going to die, that really does complicate your strategy in terms of preventing attacks." He added this. "I'd be surprised if Daesh," which is ISIS, "is not trying to carry out that kind of attack in the United States."

So, that's pretty scary, Colonel.

FRANCONA: It is. And I think that that's where - that's where we're headed. I think that's our future because these suicide vests, which use to be fairly hard to do, there were only a very few people that could actually put them together effectively, now you can go on the Internet and download the manual on how to do it. And I've gone through these several times. I'm not - I'm not an explosive expert, but it is so simple that even I could probably come up with something that would work. And as the director said, if people are willing to die, it's very, very difficult to stop them.

COSTELLO: Well, it's interesting, because in the United States, if you look at the resent terror attacks, some of these terrorists said they had a suicide vest on, said they had explosives, but it turned out they didn't.

FRANCONA: Right. Well, and - and -

COSTELLO: So I don't know what that's - if that's leading to anything or not. That's just kind of strange.

FRANCONA: Well, no, they're trying to maximize their, you know, the effect that they have on people, the chaos, the fear that they create. But if someone was - was bent on developing or making a suicide vest, it is not out of the realm of possibility. And we - you know, we've talked about this before, you know, the primary explosive used in - now by ISIS and some of these other organizations can be made in a kitchen. You can buy the supplies at a hardware store. And, unfortunately, most bomb detectors now will not detect what this triacetone, triperoxide, TATP, and it doesn't give off nitrogen. So all of our bomb detection technology is rendered useless.

COSTELLO: OK, so let's talk about how we can - we can stop this. Donald Trump mentioned that we should employ the same vicious tactics that ISIS does in stopping these kind of terror attacks. For example, waterboarding, or perhaps something worst. Would that stop these suicide attacks?

FRANCONA: No. Waterboards is something you use in interrogation after you've captured somebody. It's very difficult to capture these guys, especially since we're using a lot of drone strikes, a lot of air strikes. We're finding our capability to actually interrogate them very, very difficult because we're doing actually very few operations on the ground where we capture ISIS fighters. ISIS fighters don't generally get captured. They usually go down fighting. So the use of waterboarding is -

COSTELLO: So - so I just want to clarify that. So, in other words, I could ask you the question, who would we waterboard, and you would say, what? FRANCONA: Well - well, if you could capture someone from ISIS, you

could waterboard them, but why would you do that? They probably don't know that much. The people you're going to capture are problem going to be low-level fighters that don't have the kind of information you need.

If you were able to snatch, and we've tried this, snatch one of these high-level leaders and get them into an interrogation cell somewhere, that's when you would - that's when you might consider waterboarding.

But, you know, waterboarding can only be effective in very, very certain, very limited circumstances. And I just don't see us using waterboarding anymore. You remember when the Obama administration came into power, one of the first things they did was review our enhanced interrogation techniques, outlawed most of them and then started criminal investigations into some of the CIA officers who were using waterboarding. And I just don't see anybody at the agency, any of the people I worked with, would sign up to do any waterboarding because you just don't believe you have legal cover.

[09:50:09] COSTELLO: All right, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, thanks for joining me this morning.

FRANCONA: Sure.

COSTELLO: Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Brexit worries easing up. Right now, stocks are up. More on major meetings in Europe today, though.

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COSTELLO: It is day two of Brexit talks for E.U. leaders. Here you see German Chancellor Angela Merkel, she's arriving. Notably absent, though, Britain's soon to be former prime minister, David Cameron. But Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, is there, fighting to keep Scotland in the E.U. This as European leaders deliver their strongest blow yet to Britain.

[09:55:08] CNN's Nic Robertson live in Brussels with more.

Hi, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, hi, Carol.

Twenty-seven European leaders met today. Their message to Britain, you cannot get access to Europe's single market without taking Europe citizens to come and work in Britain. The battle lines are now drawn because David Cameron, in his last speech before he left here last night said, Britain's big issue was immigration. Any deal that Britain's going to make with the European Union in the future has to deal with immigration, i.e., all those E.U. citizens coming to Britain. But Britain still wants access. Access to that single market. So the battle lines drawn there.

Nicola Sturgeon very keen to keep Scotland inside the European Union. Why? Not only did 62 percent of Scotland vote for that, which has always wanted an independent Scotland if she can achieve this, getting Scotland into the European Union, remain part of the European Union. Then she has a good chance of calling another referendum in Scotland for the European Union. So Britain out of the E.U. Scotland remains Scotland out of Britain. It's quite a breakup going on here, Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Nic Robertson reporting live from Brussels. Thank you.

The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break.

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