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Officials: Istanbul Attack Bears Hallmark of ISIS; Witness Describes Istanbul Terror Attack; State Department/CIA Briefing on Istanbul Attack. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired June 29, 2016 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: This is such a secure airport. When you see what happened there, is there anything else that could have been done to prevent or minimize this attack?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yes, because I always go by the philosophy that if you lose 30-plus people in an attack like this, there is something to learn.

What I can tell from the pictures is essentially you had roving patrols, usual in terms of security. And the capabilities of at least three terrorists to get through. Do they need more manpower? Can they push a security line further? Let's be perfectly honest with each other. Airports are hard at the cockpit and the airplane. They get progressively softer as you get to the public arena. There is no way you can have a perfectly hardened airport at a capacity like this airport or any major airport in the U.S. We have to use to minimize the risk and increase security presence. You are always going to have a bottleneck. On the other side is an insecure space that can be taken advantage of.

KEILAR: Bob, CIA Director, John Brennan said, quote, "I'd be surprised if Daesh, ISIS, is not trying to carry out that kind of attack in the United States." What do you think about the likelihood of that?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE & SECURITY ANALYST: I would go beyond desperate and say it is apocalyptic. They believe end times are coming. And I think John Brennan is absolutely right. They are focused on us, whether it is Europe or in this country. This airport in Istanbul was one of the best-protected airports in the world. And if you look at, for instance, JFK, anybody can walk into the arrivals, pretty much anywhere after the hard line. You can't get through. But before that, you can get to a lot of people.

KEILAR: That is so discomforting, Juliette. It's on everyone's mind. Then they hear this assessment from Brennan that this could happen in the U.S.

KAYYEM: I think that's right. You want the CIA director to be thinking through the worst-case scenario in particular for the homeland, which is the priority of any administration. We have vulnerabilities in these mass transit systems, not just airports.

What I would like to remind people, because it is disturbing, is these are choices that we are making. We can't be paralyzed with, you know, oh, we need to put more security on this. The moment you create a huge security apparatus that ties up the movement of people, you are going to start hearing the complaints that we heard a month ago that people are missing their flights. So the challenge of sort of transportation security in particular in the homeland is that balance between flow and security. It is constantly being recalibrated. You are not going to get the risk to zero if you want a transportation system to move millions of people every single week.

KEILAR: When you are talking about TSA checkpoints and whatnot, security at airports, that's really the last step in defending against ISIS.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Of course.

KEILAR: Obviously, there are other things that the U.S. government and allies are trying to do. Where do they need to put in a little more work or change strategies in their effort to confront ISIS?

WARD: I think the one thing that everybody forgets about ISIS, and it really bears mentioning again, is that ISIS thrives on the continued existence of President Bashar al Assad in Syria and the Syrian civil war. Without Bashar al Assad continuing to drop barrel bombs on innocent civilians, they would lose their primary recruitment tool. The Sunni world, the Sunni Arab, Muslim world repulsed by ISIS, they feel very vulnerable. They feel the U.S. has thrown its full weight behind the Shiites and Iran and Iraq and they feel that nobody on some level is protecting them or defending them against people like Bashar al Assad. That gives ISIS this coveted spot where you may not be liked but you won't get the full effort of all Sunni Muslims to take care of them and deal with them until they feel very strongly that Bashar al Assad must be dealt with first.

KEILAR: We've seen this State Department memo where there is a recommendation about Assad. How real of a possibility is that?

WARD: At this point, there is no indication the administration is changing its thinking on Syria. A lot of diplomats have come out, I believe there were dozens on that memo, saying until Bashar al Assad goes, you will not have peace.

KEILAR: It is such a complex problem, Bob, as we talk about the geopolitical efforts here. We are talking about, obviously, what individuals can do. We're looking ahead here to a big travel weekend. What would you tell Americans to do?

[13:35:18] BAER: Well, I'll tell you what they told us in the CIA, stay out of crowded places on the Fourth of July. I know that doesn't sound reasonable. I think the chances of a major terrorist attack in this country is very, very difficult for the Islamic State. It is not enough to change your patterns. But if you are absolutely determined to avoid anything, do not go to crowded places, a subway, an airport or a Fourth of July parade.

KEILAR: Juliette, for you to button that up, people are not going to heed that.

KAYYEM: Bob and I agree on a lot. If you think that one day a white flag is going to be waved over the world and we can all party in the streets any time soon, it is not going to happen. So you cannot go to crowded events or you can embrace the world and accept that there is a level of vulnerability. And we like the parades and the concerts and everything else we are going to do this weekend. I don't like crowds generally but I will be at them this July 4th.

KEILAR: Juliette Kayyem, Bob Baer, Clarissa Ward, thank you all.

Coming up, we will talk to someone that walked through this airport in Istanbul moments after the attack. What he saw, what he heard right after a break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:41:07] KEILAR: The panic and fear among those near the shootings and the bombings soon spread throughout the airport. Many passengers whose planes had just landed stepped off of their flights and into the chaos.

Richard Kalnins is with us, live, from Istanbul. He was one of the arriving passengers.

Richard, tell us where you were in the airport at the time of the attacks. How close were you to them?

RICHARD KALNINS, WITNESS: At about 9:30 p.m. last night, we disembarked the plane and were heading towards the passport control. We were about 100 yards from the passport control when people started shouting, running toward us, yelling there had been a bomb, an explosion, yelling about gunfire, about a gunman. The crowd turned and started franticly running in the opposite direction. People hiding behind columns, hiding in the corners. A lot of panic. People falling on the ground. Not really sure what had gone on and what had happened.

KEILAR: What was your instinct as all of that was happening around you?

All right, I think we are having trouble with our connection with Richard. We'll try to reestablish that and bring his account to you.

But just ahead, conflicting reactions. Hillary Clinton calling for deeper international ties following the terror attack in Istanbul. Donald Trump calls for waterboarding. How the attack and the terror threat are affecting the presidential race in the U.S.

And we are waiting and watching for a briefing from the State Department, as well as comments from the CIA Director, John Brennan. If they make any comments about the attack in Istanbul, we will bring those to you live.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:46:41] KEILAR: We're back now with an eyewitness to the attack at Istanbul airport, Richard Kalnins.

You're outside the airport. Give us a sense. You had arrived on a flight. You saw all this chaos unfolding. People running and they are talking about a bomb and gunfire. What was your instinct?

KALNINS: As we were moving toward the passport control, people were yelling there had been a bomb, explosion, gunfire. The crowd turned and was franticly rushing backwards, running into a corridor that ending up being a dead end. Franticly trying to find a way out. It lasted a good hour or two before things settled down. People looking for information about what happened. There was talk about an explosion or gunfire. No one was sure. There was a constant threat of people coming around the corner and shooting. There were people cowering in the corners.

After a couple hours, things settled down. After about three hours of being stuck in the corridors, the airport personnel came through and let us know the situation had been cleared, everybody was safe, to move through passport control and out of the building. The police escorted us through the international arrivals area, 200 yards from where we had been.

It turned out that area was where the explosions had occurred. As we passed through the area, we saw lots of smashed glass and collapsed ceiling and blood on the floor, clothes and suitcases scattered about the floor. Dusty. Smoke still lingering the air. The police let us through and allowed us in the building.

As we exited the building, about 1:00 a.m. last night, a frantic scene outside. Ambulances lining the outside of the airport. People franticly waiting for their loved ones to exit the building. People who had been stuck inside. We ended up walking along this highway here for a couple miles into we could catch a ride into town to leave the scene and finally leave the airport.

KEILAR: Richard, it is a terrible scene that we have heard from other people as well, people looking for their loved ones.

Thank you so much for sharing your account with us.

I do want to get to the State Department. The briefing is actually under way there. Let's listen in.

MARK TONER, DEPUTY STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: Citizens should continue to check with local media and the social media sites and the website of the U.S. consulate for the latest updates.

I did want to mention, as you know, the secretary is in northern Ottawa accompanying President Obama at the North American Leaders Summit where he joined him with meetings of the Prime Minister Trudeau, of Canada, as well as President Pena Nieto, of Mexico. They discussed their vision for a more integrated North America that provides a prosperous and secure future for the citizens of all three countries and promotes North American leadership on global and regional challenges.

They did discuss concrete initiatives to promote peace, security, development, to enhance our competiveness in the global economy, and to expand opportunities for our citizens. They also announced an historic North American Climate, Clean Energy and Environment partnership that better harmonizes our countries' climate and energy strategies.

With that, over to you.

[13:50:25] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Let's start with Istanbul.

TONER: Of course.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Given what happened and the series of attacks now in Turkey this year, are you advising Americans to put off travel or reconsider any plans they might have to visit Turkey?

TONER: Sure. We saw yesterday, actually, partly incidentally, that we re-issue our travel warning, an updated travel warning, if you will. That was done in this case -- frankly, it was an update of an existing travel warning when an order departure in this case was approved, extended or changed for members of the embassy community. What happened was we extended the March 29th, 2016 ordered departure of Turkey of family members from our consulate and two provinces through July.

But --

(CROSSTALK)

TONER: Yes. I understand that. But I'm just saying -- I'm speaking to why the travel warning was extended and reissued yesterday.

But, look, I mean -- sorry.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- Monday night.

TONER: Monday night, yeah. You're right. But broadly speaking, and more in response to your question, we did note in this travel warning increased threats from terrorist groups to U.S. citizens, warning about the fact that extremists have targeted airports and transportation hubs throughout Europe, not just within Turkey, transportation systems, other vulnerable targets, if you will. And we have seen obviously a spate of ongoing terrorist incidents, terrorist attacks in Turkey.

But again, we're not saying Americans should not travel to Turkey. In any such instance, whether it was Brussels, whether it was Paris after the terrorist attacks there, we're simply reminding Americans, as if they need reminding, but certainly trying to remind them to be up to date on the current information, to bring with them their street smarts, if I could put it that way, and to just be situationally aware when they're on the ground, and to be aware of these threats.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hold on.

(CROSSTALK)

TONER: Of course.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You are not saying this is an Islamic State attack, is that right?

TONER: Nobody has confirmed that yet.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So you don't have information to believe that the Islamic State was responsible for this attack?

TONER: Again, I cannot confirm that. People have spoken to it, but what I'm going to say is let's let the Turkish investigation play itself out until we say who's responsible.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And then I just wanted to ask, we heard the secretary speak from Aspen on the attack.

TONER: Of course.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: There seems to be some dissonance between what he -- hear me out first.

TONER: Sure.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- from what he said about this shows the increased desperation of ISIS and what, for example, Mr. Brennan said on the Hill last week about there's been no reduction in the ISIS threat or their global reach to commit terrorism. So I just wanted to get your -- what exactly does the secretary mean when these terrorist attacks happen and he's saying that shows how they're getting weaker or more desperate.

TONER: Well, again, I'm not one to parse the secretary's words, but in this case, what I think he's clearly indicating -- we've spoken to this, John and myself have spoken to this before. As you increase pressure, as they losses territory and are under increased pressure on the battlefield in Iraq, in Syria -- we've seen that, they've lost territory, they're under increasing pressure, they've lost key footholds in Fallujah and elsewhere. And as they are under pressure -- or rather, let me rephrase that. They're under pressure. But that does not affect their ability to carry out terrorist attacks either in Europe or elsewhere in the world, in Turkey especially. But we've also seen in Baghdad and we've seen it in Iraq, they are still capable, and in their desperation, even perhaps more willing and liable to carry out these kind of attacks to continue to exert their will.

[13:55:21] UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What does that say then about the anti-ISIS campaign? As I recall, it was to fight their capability to inflict harm on the United States and not to retake villages in Syria or --

(CROSSTALK)

TONER: Sure. I don't mean to talk over you.

I think we have to do both. It is a multi-front effort. We've talked about this before. I think at the same time that you have to remove Daesh from the battlefield, from the territory that it has claimed in Iraq and Syria. At the same time, you have to be able to stop their ability to recruit, as well as stop their ability to create terrorist networks elsewhere. That's a real challenge. We've talked about that a lot. It is always easy for a couple of individuals with access to weaponry and access to explosives and the intent to kill themselves to carry out these kinds of brutal terrorist attacks. But that does not mean it is a challenge we can't eventually address. It just speaks to the complexity.

Please.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: On the travel warning --

TONER: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I saw the travel warning that came out on Monday night. And I compared the opening sentence on Monday night to the one that came out on March 29th. They're identical. The one that came out -- they both say, "The U.S. Department of State warns U.S. Citizens of increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey and to avoid travel to southeastern Turkey." And one of the challenges I think we all have in dealing with our travel warnings is that they're generally not -- it's not possible to know what's different except by looking at the previous one. So I went and I looked at the previous one and I saw that it basically said the same thing. I realize that there is a slight difference, one province was dropped off, and so on. But how is any American citizen who's thinking about going to Turkey supposed to understand that the increased threats that you're reporting on Monday are any different from the increased threats from terrorist groups that you reported on March 29th? I mean, so a couple of simple questions. Were there even more threats out prior to June 27th, Monday, that made you issue this, or not?

TONER: So I think what -- it is a fair question. Couple of points here. First of all is always check with travel.state.gov. Very easy website to remember for travelers to get the most up to date information specific to a given country. But I think in the case of this travel alert that was re-issued, it was certainly updated. But you're right, it is hard to distinguish. I think what I would just say is in this particular case, with a relatively few tweaks, the same threat level persisted. And so I understand your point that, why should a traveler take more heed or notice of that. I think that a traveler to Turkey, and frankly, to many parts of the world, has to simply be aware and cognizant of the fact that the threat remains in place and act accordingly.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But what I'm asking is kind of simpler. Real simple question.

TONER: Yeah, sure.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: One, did the U.S. government and did the issuance of the June 27th travel alert -- did the U.S. government have any reason be an attack on June 28th or upcoming?

TONER: No. That was the second part of my answer that if we had -- I realize there's a range of "products" that we put out on behalf or for the American traveler. A travel warning is a travel warning. If we had information, credible information, about an imminent threat or a developing situation, even if it wasn't a terrorist attack, but any -- natural disaster looming, what we'd use is an emergency message. And that is reserved for imminent events or threats that may require immediate action on behalf of U.S. citizens. That could be violent demonstrations, that could be, as I said, civil disturbances, national disasters. And we did after the attack issue an emergency message immediately once we had --

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: My question is even simpler.

TONER: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did you have --

TONER: No.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- any reason to expect --

TONER: I understand.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: -- and imminent threat in Turkey on Monday?