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Terrorist Attack on Istanbul's Airport; Brexit Architect Welcome with Loud Boos at the EU Parliament; Benghazi Terror Attack Investigation Wraps Up. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired June 29, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:07] AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Amara Walker in Los Angeles.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: I'm John Vause in London. You're watching CNN's breaking news coverage of the terror attack at the airport in Istanbul.

WALKER: Turkey's government says 36 people are dead, 147 people wounded. The video of the attack is graphic and some viewers will find it disturbing. A surveillance camera at the airport captured the moment one of the three bombs exploded. And you can see there people just running for their lives before the blast. Then debris falls from the ceiling as the area starts to fill with smoke.

Now, another camera captured what appears to be one of the attackers falling to the ground after he was apparently shot by police. You can see his gun slide away from him along the floor. The man then fumbles around for a bit before eventually detonating his suicide vest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bomb, bomb, bomb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: No one has claimed responsibility, but the prime minister says the signs point to ISIS. He says the three attackers arrived at the airport by taxi and started shooting before they blew themselves up.

VAUSE: CNN photojournalist Joe Duran arrived at the airport within an hour of the attack. He joins us now live from the scene. Joe, it is just going on 7:00 in the morning there. What is the scene right now?

JOE DURAN, CNN PHOTOJOURNALIST: John -- the scene much changed from last night. When I arrived last night, as you saw in those pictures, there was chaos, people running away from the terminal, from the airport. We are about 800 meters from that terminal where this happened.

And moments ago, I just walked the area. The terminal has been reopened. There are passengers going into the terminal. There is a lot of destruction. I don't know if you can see these pictures. Moments ago, I walked through the terminal and was able to see the devastation. And I can tell you, it is very, very bad.

VAUSE: Joe, officials have stepped up security there in recent years. Is there a sense that without that security perimeter, the death toll in all of this could have been much higher?

Joe: I'm sorry, John. I cannot hear you. Can you repeat?

VAUSE: Joe, in recent years, the government has increased security at the airport there. Is there a sense that without that security perimeter in place, the death toll could have been so much higher?

Joe: There's so much security at this airport. As you arrive at the terminal at the airport, this sign behind me is the first sign of security. There are always policemen, Turkish policemen with machine guns checking many of the cars that enter the airport. There are cameras all over this airport.

And at the moment, inside the terminal, there are crews cleaning up as quickly as they can all the debris, all the broken glass. But security is still quite high. And in fact, just as I was walking into the terminal, there was a scare and there was of course, as there always is, a rumor that there was another bomb but nothing.

VAUSE: And Joe, overnight the Turkish government called a crisis meeting. What is the likely response?

Joe: I'm having trouble hearing you, John.

VAUSE: Ok. I think we might leave it Joe. We appreciate you being with us, Joe Duran, CNN photojournalist on the scene there. Joe -- thank you.

Amara.

WALKER: Thanks so much, John.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called for a unified international fight against terrorism. He says "The attack which took place during the holy month of Ramadan shows that terrorism strikes with no regard for faith and values nor do terrorists distinguish between their victims. Make no mistake, for terrorist organizations there is no difference between Istanbul and London, Ankara and Berlin, Izmir and Chicago, or Antalya and Rome. Unless all government and the entire mankind join forces in the fight against terrorism, much worse things than what we fear to imagine today will come true."

Jared Malsin is the Middle East bureau chief for "Time Magazine". He's joining me now live from Istanbul.

[00:04:58] Jared -- good to have you. You're there in Istanbul. Just give us a sense of what the last few hours have been like, the atmosphere considering the fact that this is just one of many terror attacks that Turkey has seen just this year.

JARED MALSIN, TIME MAGAZINE: That's right. I just returned from the airport myself after spending most of the night there. It was an extremely harrowing scene. We're talking about one of the busiest airports in Europe and the Middle East and the whole world that was completely paralyzed by this attack. There were hundreds of passengers and airline workers stranded in the airport during the attack and in the immediate aftermath. And then crowds of people streaming out kind of bewildered trying to find their loved ones. And it's -- I think it's a watershed in terms of these kinds of attacks.

We've seen as you mentioned, both attacks from ISIS as well as Kurdish rebels based in the southeast of Turkey who are both separately staging campaigns against the government so --

WALKER: We know that Turkey has been facing a lot of security challenges not only from ISIS but also from the PKK which are Kurdish separatists.

Let's talk more about the ISIS threat because a lot of terror experts, officials in Turkey, officials in the United States are saying that this attack bears the hallmarks on an ISIS attack. If you just look at the target, it was an international target. Suicide bombers were used as opposed to typically what the PKK targets. It's more of a domestic target, correct?

MALSIN: Yes, that's absolutely right. This is obviously a civilian target, an international target. There's an eerie echo here of the attack on the airport in Brussels.

So and, of course, the Turkish prime minister has already said all the signs are pointing towards ISIS. Of course, there's been no claim of responsibility. But I mean this kind of indiscriminate attack on civilians you know, this is the kind of thing we've seen from ISIS before and in Turkey, including just even here in Istanbul, there was the attack on tourists in March, another one in January.

And you know really, you know, these kinds of indiscriminate killings of civilians just getting more and more devastating here in Turkey, which is getting drawn more and more into some of the violence from the civil war in Syria.

WALKER: Jared, how do you think Turkey is going to respond to this attack, especially if it turns out indeed it was ISIS that was behind this? Because every time we've seen Turkey, you know, react to ISIS, you know, crackdown on its porous borders so that foreign firefighters don't cross over into Syria or help in the U.S.-led coalition allowing the coalition to use its bases we see retaliation from ISIS.

How do you think the government is going to respond to this?

MALSIN: Well, as you say, they're already, the Turkish government is already at war with ISIS and we've already seen them stage a kind of course correction in terms of clamping down on the border, launching air strikes on ISIS positions in Syria.

Really the larger kind of law enforcement challenge for them is cracking down on existing ISIS networks that are operating inside Turkey. And there's been some research and investigation that's happened into those because it's now painfully obvious that they are, you know, that these attackers are able to operate and so that's really the big challenge facing Turkish law enforcement, and it's not going to be easy.

WALKER: Yes. It really, really is a difficult time for Turkey right now.

Jared Malsin with "Time Magazine", we appreciate your perspective. Thanks for that.

MALSIN: Thank you.

VAUSE: Turkey has seen a wave of terror attacks this year. In January at least 10 Germans were killed in a suicide bombing in Istanbul. February 17th 28 people killed, an explosion in Ankara, a Kurdish militant group claimed responsibility. Less than a month later a car bomb ripped through a busy square in Ankara leaving 37 dead. Days later, terrorists also bombed a tourist area in Istanbul. And just a few weeks ago an attack in Istanbul claimed 11 lives and wounded 36 people. The car bomb targeted a police bus during the morning rush hour.

Rafael Pantucci is the director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute. He joins us now on the line from Tbilisi in Georgia.

[00:10:04] Rafael -- there's a lot of suspicion ISIS carried out this attack. The theory being it does not fit the profile of the PKK and other militant groups Turkey is battling. Can you explain the thinking here?

RAFAEL PANTUCCI, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE (via telephone): Well, I mean think at this point, it's not entirely clear who has been responsible for this attack. We've got the government that seems to be claiming that this is some sort of ISIS-linked attack.

What we apparently seem to know at the moment is that we've had an incident involving a number of attackers who apparently had guns and detonated explosives that killed themselves and others. It suggests certainly a modus operandi that we would more closely associate with ISIS rather than a group like the PKK or some of the other terrorist groups that are active in Turkey.

VAUSE: So if it was ISIS, it would be their third suicide attack in Turkey this year. So clearly, Turkey has a growing security threat from ISIS. Would you say that the government has underestimated that threat?

PANTUCCI: Well, I think that the government has realized that it's facing a quite substantial threat at home for some time. This is one of a number of attacks if it is officially connected to ISIS that we've seen the group launch in the country against various soft targets. I think in some ways the fact that it was against the international airport which is a high profile target will attract a lot of attention and will unfortunately and absolutely have some sort of impact on the Turkish economy. I think that the Turkish government is very aware of the problems that it's dealing with but it's dealing with clearly quite a substantial threat and I think it's one that's probably only going to get more complicated and difficult as you see ISIS come under greater pressure on the battlefield. And as you see the group sort of having to reposition because of losses and things that are happening there in Iraq.

VAUSE: Right now, where is the biggest threat to Turkey? Is it coming from ISIS or is it coming from the PKK?

PANTUCCI: I think that's a very difficult call. I think certainly ISIS' attacks which tend to be against soft targets, tend to be against tourism targets, tend to be against not necessarily governmental ones, certainly ones that have been more terrifying and are far more dramatic in some ways to an international audience.

I think the PKK has a fairly solid track record of trying to attack government institutions, trying to attack the police, trying to attack the army, trying to attack Ankara. And we see that it's trying to bring attention to itself in a domestic context.

So I think for an international audience it's probably going to seem much more menacing, the ISIS threat. But I don't think that's diminished in scale and size of the PKK problem that the group is facing.

Those aren't, of course, the only groups that are active in the country. We have another group called the DKHCP which is a sort of extreme left wing organization. That has also launched a couple of attacks. It's gone sort of quiet at the moment but it's certainly one that has attempted in the past to launch attacks against the American embassy in Ankara.

So I think that, you know, Turkey is clearly in a difficult spot and facing a number of different threats. But I think to an international audience, certainly the one from ISIS is probably going to seem more menacing only because it's the one that's more likely to target international visitors to Turkey.

VAUSE: Ok. Rafael we'll leave it there. Rafael Pantucci on the line there from Tbilisi. Thank you -- sir.

WALKER: To continue our coverage on this, CNN's senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward joining us now from Washington.

So Clarissa -- you know, CNN has obtained some very dramatic security video of the events that happened inside Istanbul Airport. We're going to first start with that very disturbing graphic video of a person walking inside the airport, it looks like with a weapon and then detonates himself.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right -- Amara. And of course, it is pretty graphic video so our viewers should be warned. But essentially what we appear to be looking at is one of the attackers sort of stumbling into this hall. He falls to the ground. And drops what appears to be an AK-47 or some kind of semi-automatic weapon. He appears to be injured. And then you see coming up near to him again what appears to be some form of security personnel from the airport who appears to possibly shoot him again and then run for his life apparently.

It's not clear, was he able to see that the attacker was reaching to detonate a vest? There then appears to be one more shot. You see the attacker's body kind of convulse. And then he detonates. Again, not clear if he actually pulled the trigger himself or pushed the button himself, so to speak, or whether as a result of those shots that somehow the device went off but certainly very dramatic deeply disturbing video -- Amara.

WALKER: And Clarissa -- if you can just put all of this in perspective for us because, you know, over the last two years or so, we've seen Turkey be the target of several terror attacks from ISIS and terror attacks by the Kurdish separate group the PKK.

Can you talk about when and why Turkey has become such a vulnerable target.

[00:15:13] WARD: Well, Turkey has been hit many times in the last six months particularly, and they have targeted everything from tourists in the old city in Istanbul to peace rallies in the capital in Ankara. The two main culprits traditionally have been Kurdish separatist groups such as the PKK and also of course, ISIS.

Now, ISIS in recent months has really stepped up the number of attacks on Turkey. And that's been in direct reaction to the fact that the Turkish have really been cracking down on ISIS. They have really tried to seal that border between Turkey and Syria, a border that was once very porous that ISIS relied on heavily to move weapons, to move fighters back and forth.

We've seen the Turkish forces shelling ISIS targets, ISIS villages across the border. We've seen the Kurdish cooperating with coalition efforts and coalition bombing sorties which are going from a Turkish air base. So for many reasons now, ISIS actually perceives Turkey to be enemy number one or one of their top enemies.

WALKER: And is there a significance in the timing of all this considering the fact that ISIS just in recent days has been being weakened on the battlefield particularly in Fallujah? We know that I think two years ago to the day, right that -- it's been since ISIS declared its caliphate. It's also Ramadan. Can you just kind of bring that all together for us?

WARD: Right. So for a number of reasons, the timing of this is potentially symbolic. As you said it's Ramadan. It's the Muslim holy month. But not only that it's the last ten days of Ramadan which traditionally are the holiest and traditionally a time when we do see an uptick in attacks from groups like ISIS. We heard ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al Adnani coming out earlier in Ramadan and calling on everyone who supports ISIS who is part of ISIS, who is inspired by ISIS to launch these types of attacks.

Of course, finally as you pointed out, it's two years to the day since the declaration of the caliphate or the declaration of the Islamic state. And we have certainly seen as the pinch has gotten harder on ISIS, on their territory as the coalition has been bombing more, as Kurdish and sort of Syrian democratic forces backed by the coalition have been sort of nibbling away at the outskirts of their territory, we've seen a lot more spectacular attacks, targeting soft targets, targeting the west and targeting countries like Turkey that support the west -- Amara.

WALKER: Great to get your perspective. Clarissa Ward for us there -- thank you.

VAUSE: We'll take a short break here.

When we come back, much more on the Istanbul terror attack. If this was ISIS, could it mean a strategic shift for the terror group?

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[002206] VAUSE: Welcome back everybody. I'm John Vause live in London. Just 5:21 here on a Wednesday morning.

We're following breaking news on the terror attack in Istanbul. At least 36 people are dead, 147 wounded. Three suicide bombers who were also armed with guns attacked passengers at the Ataturk airport Tuesday. A Turkish official says two of the attackers were at the international terminal, a third in a nearby parking lot.

A surveillance camera captured the disturbing moments before one of the bombs exploded. It shows people running from the blast, debris falling from the ceiling. The area was filled with smoke.

Joining me now CNN's intelligence and security analyst Bob Baer and CNN military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Thank you both for being with us.

Rick, to you first. If this attack was carried out by ISIS, does it represent some kind of escalation by ISIS towards Turkey?

All right. I think we're having some audio problems there with Rick. We'll try and work those out. Meantime I'll put that question to you -- Bob. If this attack was in fact carried out by ISIS, is it an escalation in its war if you like with Turkey?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: I think it's an escalation, John, all through the region. I mean, two weeks ago, there was an attack in Jordan on a border post which has now been claimed by the Islamic state, attacks in Lebanon. Yesterday there was an attack in Yemen, a devastating attack. What you're seeing is that after the fall of Fallujah, the Islamic state is striking out, lashing out if you like, just to let us know they're there and they may lose ground but they're still a potent force.

VAUSE: Yes, in the past, ISIS has gone after soft targets, the nightclub in Paris, an airport in Brussels which did not have the same level of security that they had in Istanbul. What's to say that ISIS if it did actually carried out this attack on an airport which was apparently very well protected and a very well coordinated attack.

BAER: Well remember these people, John, are battle hardened. They've been fighting in Iraq. They've been fighting in Syria. They can make bombs go off. They can hit rather hard targets like that airport. Again, you cannot protect these airports 100 percent. You keep on moving out the security perimeter farther and farther. But wherever people are conglomerating or waiting in line, they're easy to hit and they can get high casualties like this. There's really nothing you can do about it especially in a place like Turkey where the Islamic state has cells everywhere.

VAUSE: Ok. And to Rick -- I understand you can hear us now. With ISIS losing ground in Iraq and Syria, are these attacks not sort of a strategic shift if you like for the terror group, an international offensive?

[00:25:01] LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, and we've seen this for some time. We saw this as they started to lose Ramadi and Tikrit and hit. And now that they've lost Fallujah they're reaching out, striking out in other directions. They know that their days in Iraq and Syria are probably numbered.

I think that's why you're seeing a lot of the focus shift to areas like Libya. They're looking for failed states. Failed states is where they can operate. Libya is a prime example, other areas in Africa. Somali would be a good place for them to go.

So we're seeing them looking toward the future. They know that eventually the weight of the Iraqi government supported by the U.S. coalition and eventually the Syrians and Russians are going to take their toll on their self-declared caliphate in that area. So they have to go somewhere else.

And I think we're starting to see that. And I think they realize Turkey is very vulnerable. I think they may be miscalculating how resolute the Turks might be. Going after that airport, I think may have been a tactical victory for a few days but the Turks may really clamp down on that border and on that airport going to cause ISIS a lot of problems.

VAUSE: And Rick, one U.S. official was quoted as saying our long summer of discontent has just begun. In other words, brace for a lot more attacks like these. Is he right?

FRANCONA: Yes, I think so. What we're seeing right now, this is the last ten days of Ramadan. And earlier on we heard calls and they said that Ramadan was going to be particularly bloody and they were urging people, not only ISIS people -- controlled by ISIS but people that were inspired by ISIS.

We may see other attacks around the world including in the United States during this time period. And as the summer continues we could see an uptick in operations as they become squeezed in Iraq and Syria, they're going to lash out in other areas. Bob's exactly right on that.

VAUSE: And Bob, at this point it appears there was very little chatter, very little indication that this attack was in the pipeline. Is that surprising? Is that a worry?

BAER: It's a big worry, John. The French have told me that some of the bombers there in Paris, they actually were listening to their telephones before the attack. They were able to cover their conversations and code it and the French had no idea they were getting ready to attack. They're using communications discipline like we've never seen.

So, you know, the National Security Agency may have picked up some chatter. There was a warning on Monday from the State Department. But those warnings are so abstract and without detail, there's not really much you can do to react to them. And the United States would, by the way, if they knew there was an attack on the airport, make that very public in advance if they in fact knew that.

VAUSE: And Rick, finally to you, the big picture here is all of this leads back to Syria until there is some kind of resolution to the conflict going on in Syria. These attacks will continue to be carried out.

FRANCONA: Yes, I think you're right. You know, I can see a solution in Iraq. But then no matter what happens, then you have to address the issue in Syria. And Syria is where the nexus of every problem there is in the Middle East comes to roost. And how we're going to -- we can defeat ISIS there but then what do we create -- a large failed state? Big, big problems down the road for Syria and Turkey is right next door. They know that and they're very, very concerned.

VAUSE: Colonel Francona and Bob Baer -- thanks to you both for being with us.

FRANCONA: Thank you.

VAUSE: We'll take a short break. When we come back, we'll have global reaction to the terror attack in Istanbul including what the U.S. presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have been saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIGEL FARAGE, U.K. INDEPENDENCE PARTY: Good morning, good morning.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And hard feelings on display in Brussels. An update on the Brexit political reverberations.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:32:20] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN "Breaking News."

VAUSE: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause in London. Just gone 5:30 on a Wednesday morning.

WALKER: And I'm Amara Walker in Los Angeles. You're watching CNN breaking news coverage of the terror attack at the airport in Istanbul.

Turkey's prime minister says he thinks ISIS is behind the suicide attacks, which killed 36 people and wounded nearly 150 others. But we should note no one has claimed responsibility so far.

Also, the video from the scene extremely disturbing. A surveillance camera shows crowds of people running for their lives just before one of the explosions. Turkish officials say the three attackers took a taxi to the airport and then opened fire before detonating their explosives.

Now, witnesses describe just pure chaos with blood everywhere. Officials say two of the bombers blew themselves up inside the international terminal, the third in a nearby parking lot.

VAUSE: Now to the political shock waves after the Brexit vote in the UK. Prime Minister David Cameron met with EU leaders in Brussels on Tuesday. He emphasized UK control over immigration was at the heart of the debate.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there would be no cherry picking exercised in the exit negotiations. And the Scottish First Minister Nicolas Sturgeon will meet with EU leaders on Wednesday. She's going to fight to keep Scotland in the EU since voters there were 62 percent in favor of remaining.

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn has lost a non-binding, no confidence vote within his party. He says he won't step down but a path is now cleared for a leadership challenge.

And London Mayor Sadiq Khan is calling for greater autonomy to protect the city's financial interests after the Brexit.

The most vocal Brexit architect Nigel Farage was welcomed with loud boos by the EU parliament on Tuesday. But the leader of the UK Independence Party didn't flinch, (INAUDIBLE) himself by insulting members of parliament.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIGEL FARAGE, BREXIT ARCHITECT: What I would like to see is a grown- up and sensible attitude to how we negotiate a different relationship. Now, I know -- I know that virtually none of you have ever done a proper job in your lives, or worked -- or worked in business, or worked in trade or indeed, ever created a job. But listen, just listen --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[00:35:15] VAUSE: Farage later brushed off his comments as a light- hearted joke. He's now urging his fellow members of the European parliament to stop the name calling and get to work. This is what he told our Richard Quest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FARAGE: Let's stop threatening. Let's stop being silly. You need us far more than we need you. Let's crack on. Have a sensible tariff- free trade deal and allows us to be free, to go off and pursue our global ambitions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Well, the Brexit vote wiped out a record $3 trillion from the global markets Friday and Monday. But there has been something of a rebound.

Andrew Stevens joins us now from Hong Kong with more on the numbers. And, Andrew, stocks and the pound seem to be coming back a little. A sign of optimism perhaps that policymakers will be able to limit the fallout from the Brexit vote?

ANDREW STEVENS, CNN ASIA PACIFIC EDITOR: Yes, you were just talking there, John, about the political shock. The financial shock, the echoes of that are stiffly starting to recede. We saw a big rally in Europe that was followed by Wall Street. And that's rolled through here into Asia. Not such a big rally across the Asian markets this day.

But, remember, this is the third day now that there has been some sort of positive response coming out of Asia after the last sort of the Friday, the really big falls on Friday.

So what we're seeing is an improved mood. Investors in this part of the world are looking at buying the beaten down stocks, particularly, and I'm talking also makers in Japan, number one here. They've taken an absolute hammering down sort of around between 8 and 10 percent, but they are up about 2, 2.5 percent today. So there has been some bottom fishing if you like with some of the big Japanese car manufacturers.

And as you say, the pound which has been the very sharpest end of the reaction of Brexit has stabilized at around 133 to the U.S. dollar. Still down about 10 percent, John, but stabilizing is a sign that things are starting to ease at least in the mood. Traders saying too early to say it's all over, but certainly we got this respite, its respite which has in Asia at least shown some legs. Wait and see what happens in Europe today because Europe does tend to lead this where they go. And remember, we still have so many questions, political questions still unanswered.

VAUSE: Yes, and with that in mind, Andrew, I guess the markets will continue to pay for sometime on Brexit news if it looks like there's going to be limited fallout, the markets go up. If it's looking bad, the markets will go down.

STEVENS: I think that's absolutely a fair assumption. As we always say, investors don't like that uncertainty. So they will react to news as it happens as they always do. They'll react to whispers as they happen. And you know, there are so many imponderables about this.

Obviously, Europe has made it clear they want the UK to trigger article 50, the formal release of the UK from the EU. The leadership of Britain is showing no inclination to push that button. That there's even talk now, some of the newspapers, "The Financial Times," talking today about a lot of senior Tory leaders want to stay in Europe. And I'm not talking about the people who actually wanted to stay like David Cameron, but other senior back benches are looking at ways to make it work so Britain doesn't have to leave, maybe a second referendum.

So those sorts of scenarios still have to play out. And they are all going to be highly, highly sensitive to investors.

VAUSE: Andrew, thank you. Andrew Stevens there with the very latest on the market reaction. Appreciate it.

A short break here. When we come back, the Istanbul airport bombings echoed on the U.S. campaign trail.

What Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump had to say? That's in a moment.

Also, a U.S. House Committee finally wraps its investigation into the Benghazi terror attack. After two years and millions spent, who the republican members fault for the 2012 terror attacks. That's coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:42:30] WALKER: Welcome back, everyone. We are following the deadly bomb attacks in Istanbul, Turkey. And the video we're about to show you is quite disturbing.

Three suicide bombers killed at least 36 people and then wounded 147 others, Tuesday at the airport there. Witnesses described the screams, the panic after the blast as people desperately tried to get to a safe place. So far, there is no claim of responsibility although ISIS is suspected.

Like many acts of terror, this one is also playing out on the U.S. presidential campaign trail.

Democrat Hillary Clinton saying today's attack in Istanbul only strengthens our resolve to defeat the forces of terrorism and radical Jihadism around the world. And it reminds us that the United States cannot retreat.

Here's Republican presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I wanted to talk to you about a few things. And then as you know, we had another suicide bombing, Istanbul, Turkey, many, many people killed. Many, many people injured.

Folks, there's something going on that's really, really bad. All right? It's bad. And 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: And for more on how this attack is impacting the political rhetoric here in the United States, I want to bring in Eric Bauman, the vice chairman of the California Democratic Party and John Phillips, the talk radio host, political columnist and Trump supporter.

Good to have you both on the program. Thanks for coming in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

WALKER: All right. So I want to first start with you, John, because we just heard Trump say that we've got get smart, we've got to get tough.

What exactly does he mean by that? How does he suggest the U.S. will get tough on terrorism?

JOHN PHILLIPS, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, you have to be able to identify the problem first and foremost. People do not feel safe. What happened in Istanbul happened in an international city. It's a hub for Turkish airlines. People fly there every day from the United States.

People don't feel safe at the Boston marathon. People don't feel safe at Christmas parties in San Bernardino. Just recently, ISIS threatened San Francisco and Las Vegas. And identifying where the threat is coming from is key to defeating it because if you bend over backwards to pretend like you don't know where the threat is coming from, then you're not moving forward to solving the problem.

WALKER: So when you say identifying where the threat is coming from, Trump -- you're talking about his immigration policy?

PHILLIPS: Radical Islamic terrorism, yes.

WALKER: OK. So you think that we'll hear more about immigration policy going forward.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely.

WALKER: You want to chime in?

[00:45:03] ERIC BAUMAN, CHAIRMAN, CALIFORNIA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: You know, somehow I think saying it's bad, it's really bad, it's so bad, that's not a policy for -- foreign policy for how to deal with this.

Here's what the reality is. You need somebody who's schooled in the international intelligence of our world. You need somebody who is thoughtful and careful, not somebody who is reckless and changes opinions three times in one day about what one attack is about.

And quite frankly, I think that's the reason why when you look at the latest poll numbers on who will protect America better for terrorism, you suddenly have seen Hillary Clinton's numbers jump up so much because they realize that this man is not in control and he's temper mentally unfit for this job.

WALKER: Eric, you talk about changing policies. And on that note, when it comes to immigration, I know that we are going to be hearing from Trump's campaign about changing his ban on Muslims to changing it to a ban on immigrants coming from countries that may have links to terrorism.

And we're also hearing Trump, you know, kind of walk back those comments about a mass deportation of the 11 million undocumented immigrants. I just want to get your take on Trump's changing immigration policies. And does it sound like he's trying to soften his tone a little bit?

BAUMAN: Look, I think from the very beginning, you've never been able to trust what he said from morning till night. It changes all the time. He shoots from the hip and shoots from the lip.

But having said that, here's the reality. We need steady leadership in America, especially as it relates to the fight against terrorism. Because there are so many threats to Americans, and you can't have somebody who one minute is talking about building walls and deporting 11 million people, and the next minute is suddenly saying we're going to send Muslims back out of American, and then the next minute saying, well, I only mean Muslims who come from certain countries. This is not the way you define a foreign policy.

WALKER: Donald Trump today also gave his economic policy speech. I want to play some sound from that where he's basically slamming trade deals, and talking about globalization, and how it works against the United States.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: She has it completely backwards. Hillary Clinton unleashed a trade war against the American worker when she supported one terrible deal after another. From NAFTA to China to South Korea, it doesn't matter. No matter where she went, the American worker was hurt. And you will be hurt worse than ever before if she becomes president of the United States. That I can tell you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Hillary Clinton also responded to this in a tweet and she said, "Trump's speaking about outsourcing right now. Here's one of his shirts made in Bangladesh."

So, John, to you, I mean, isn't there some hypocrisy here? Because we know Donald Trump benefits from globalization at least when it comes to his companies. He makes money from outsourcing his labor to other countries. He's got manufacturing deals in China and in Mexico, right?

PHILLIPS: Right. I think these attacks will be effective because it cuts right at the heart of Hillary's argument. When Hillary was campaigning in the primary, particularly in the coal states, places like Kentucky, she sent Bill on her behalf to campaign on those economic issues. And she kept saying I'm here to pull up the people who are left behind.

Well, the question that Donald Trump needs to answer is left behind by whom? President Obama has been president for eight years. She was part of that administration.

What happened to the coal workers in the last eight years? What happened to the truck drivers in the last eight years? What happen to all of the people who have lost their jobs, or seen their industries in decline?

And I think that that is going to be a serious problem for her in all those swing states. You look at Pennsylvania, you look at Ohio, you look at Iowa, you look at Wisconsin. Those states will decide the election.

WALKER: But when you listen to what Trump was saying, I mean, he was promising to tear existing trade deals. He was blaming globalization for hurting the middle class, yet he turns around and he's benefiting from globalization.

BAUMAN: Ultimately his level of hypocrisy is amazing. Because his ties come from China, his suits come from Mexico. His picture frames come from turkey. I mean, it's pure hypocrisy.

(CROSSTALK)

PHILLIPS: Well, look, he plays by the rules that are written by politicians in Washington, D.C. He plays by the rules that the Obama administration and Congress puts out. He's saying if he's elected, he's going to change those rules.

WALKER: All right. And, quickly, you know, we want to talk about Benghazi because after this two-year investigation, this 800-page final report came out, prepared by the House Republicans.

I want to first play Clinton's reaction to this final report and hear what she had to say about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: After more than two years and $7 million spent by the Benghazi committee out of taxpayer funds, it had to today, reported it had found nothing. I'll leave it to others to characterize this report. But I think it's pretty clear it's time to move on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: I mean this report didn't have new evidence of wrongdoing by Clinton. But, again, I mean, don't you think this underscores, Eric, that Clinton has a credibility problem that she needs to deal with.

(CROSSTALK)

BAUMAN: I think there are three numbers you need to know about this whole thing. There were eight investigations. There was $7 million spent. There was one 800-page report. And at the end of the day, all of the lies and distortions that they said about Hillary Clinton's responsibility for the deaths of four brave Americans were nothing but political fodder.

[00:50:00] WALKER: Quick last word, John.

PHILLIPS: Hillary's experiences in foreign policy, they misidentified the level of threat that was going on in Libya because it went against the administration's narrative that Libya was a success. And that's why in part why those people died.

WALKER: John Phillips, Eric Bauman, appreciate both of you coming in. We'll see you next hour. Thanks for that conversation.

We're going to head back to our top story after the break. Turkey, of course.

A look at the sights and sounds outside the airport following the terror attack at an Istanbul international airport.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN's "Breaking News" coverage of the terror attack at the airport in Istanbul. I'm John Vause reporting from London.

WALKER: And I'm Amara Walker in Los Angeles, where it is 9:54 in the evening.

The Ataturk Airport has reopened just hours after the deadly attack and CNN photojournalist Joe Duran took these pictures inside the airport just a short time ago.

Just take a look at that.

Wow.

[00:55:00] Three gunmen opened fire on passengers and then detonated suicide vests on Tuesday killing 36 people and wounding nearly 150 others. No one has claimed responsibility just yet, but the Turkish prime minister says the signs are pointing to ISIS.

VAUSE: Eyewitnesses described the scene as total panic as the bombs exploded. An airport worker says no one knew what was coming. Families and children were running for safety. And this is how it played out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SIREN BLARING)

(PEOPLE SHOUTING)

(SIREN BLARING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Thanks so much for watching. I'm Amara Walker live from Los Angeles.

VAUSE: I'm John Vause live in London. We'll be backing with another hour of news from around the world shortly after this break. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)