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Hala Gorani Tonight
Officials: Istanbul Bombers Came From Raqqa; Memorial Held To Honor Airport Attack Victims; Turkey Reveals Nationalities Of Istanbul Attackers; Five Candidates In Running To Become Prime Minister; Corbyn Engulfed In Anti-Semitism Controversy; Officials: Airport Bombers Came From Raqqa; Death Toll In Airport Attack Rises To 44; Political Turmoil After U.K. Votes To Leave E.U.; Attack Survivors Describe Their "Worst Nightmare". Aired 3-4p ET
Aired June 30, 2016 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. You're watching CNN. We're live once again from Istanbul. This is THE
WORLD RIGHT NOW.
Let's bring you up to date this hour on some of the major developments in the investigation and the aftermath of the triple suicide bombing that
happened on Tuesday evening here at Ataturk International.
Now authorities are saying there is strong evidence that the attackers traveled from Raqqah, the ISIS stronghold inside Syria. Turkish officials
believe ISIS leadership, they say, was involved with planning the attack.
We're learning as well more about the attackers themselves from official sources here inside Turkey. One came from the Russian region of Dagestan.
The other two were from Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.
Also Thursday, we understand that authorities went on several raids, not just in Istanbul but in the coastal city of Ismir, and that 22 people in
all were detained in relation, we are told, to the attacks.
CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joins me now. You've been following this story from the beginning, first the investigation and the fact that these authorities
in Turkey are wasting no time going on these raids, detaining people. What is the significance of some of these attackers potentially having come from
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and those areas?
JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Of course, there's a lot of concern about that, Hala. As we know, the fighters that come from former Soviet
states, we know that some of them have a long history when it comes to jihadist groups. We know that some of these fighters have been fighting
alongside ISIS, so, of course, a lot of concern about that.
Authorities here, some officials are saying that they believe that these attackers traveled from Raqqah, as you mentioned, into Turkey about a month
ago. They rented an apartment here and according to some officials, they say that they found a passport of one of the attackers.
Now the Foreign Ministry of Kyrgyzstan -- there's conflicting reports coming. They are saying that it's not clear that it is one of their
citizens who was involved in this attack and that they were told by Turkish officials that they are still examining the identities of the attackers.
As you mentioned, Hala, the belief here among officials is that ISIS leadership was involved in the planning of this attack, which is quite
significant. The working theory has been this might be another ISIS- inspired attack, but if the leadership is involved, indeed very significant development.
GORANI: And if they've been here for a month that means it's been planned for quite a while as well. But at the heart of this is always the human
tragedy, of course, because the death toll has gone up to 43 people today. You went to a very touching memorial at the airport here in the building
right behind us. Tell us about that.
KARADSHEH: Well, you know, Hala, how operations have resumed at the airport, it looks like business as usual. For today, for about a half
hour's time, it kind of stopped, at the departures terminal, in the departure area, where they had a very somber and moving memorial for some
of the victims.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARADSHEH (voice-over): A moment of silence. A prayer for the dead. Fighting back tears, the imam of Ataturk Airport's mosque says, "For years
we were together, for years we were like siblings. I know every one of them. My God grant us patience. Bless them. Make heaven theirs."
You don't have to speak the language to feel the pain and grief. Two days after terrorists struck this airport, hundreds gathered for a memorial
service. So many overcome by emotion.
[15:05:11]The departures area at Ataturk International Airport came to a standstill for a few minutes.
(on camera): These are the faces of some of the victims of the terror attack. Their names and underneath it the message, "we won't forget."
(voice-over): Not everyone knew them. But on this day, passengers and employees here came together to honor the dead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: An extremely touching memorial there. You tweeted it. I saw the pictures. I thought it was extremely powerful to see people stop for a
moment and mourn their dead, their colleagues. By the way, my mistake, I said 43 people, but in the last half hour another person who was targeted
on Tuesday night died -- Jomana.
KARADSHEH: Yes, Hala, it was quite an emotional day in that airport today. As you mentioned, 43 people earlier killed, the 43rd person who died was a
young Palestinian girl. Her mother died yesterday and she died of her wounds today.
GORANI: Absolutely tragic. Thank you very much, Jomana Karadsheh, part of our coverage of these attacks at Istanbul, Ataturk.
Now the United States says it's offering any and all assistance to help investigate these terrorist attacks. We are joined now by Mark Toner. He
is a deputy spokesperson at the U.S. State Department. He joins me now in Washington.
Mark Toner, first of all, thanks for being with us. What kind of assistance are you offering to Turkey?
MARK TONER, DEPUTY SPOKESMAN, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: Well, first of all, I just heard that report about the memorial service and the rising death toll
from this terrible attack. And again, our hearts and condolences go out to the Turkish people who were affected by this terrorist attack. It's
unconscionable.
In speaking to your question about assistance, look, we continue to cooperate and have been cooperating quite closely with Turkey, sharing
intelligence, counterterrorism efforts and those efforts continue. Obviously, this is going to be a Turkish-led investigation.
But we're looking across the board at ways we can better coordinate on counterterrorism efforts as well as how we carry out more effectively the
fight against Daesh.
GORANI: Is it the belief of the United States that ISIS is increasing its attacks on Turkey because Turkey has allowed the U.S. to use its airbase,
has cooperated more on the military battle against ISIS targets in Syria?
TONER: Look, Turkey is a NATO ally. It's a strong U.S. partner. They see Turkey as a target, unfortunately, and we've seen before that they're going
to seek out -- you know, as they become more desperate, as they get more pressure, that they're going to try to strike out at the west, at places
like Turkey.
We've seen it in Brussels. We've seen this kind of actions before. We don't know definitively that this is ISIL and I want to caution folks
there. This investigation is not done yet, but it certainly bears the hallmarks of ISIL.
GORANI: So you have not come in the United States to the conclusion that this is an ISIS attack? I mean, Turkish officials are telling us, they
believed these men came directly from Raqqah. But you're saying the U.S. has not come to that definitive conclusion yet?
TONER: All I'm saying is they haven't come to that definitive conclusion yet, and we're letting the Turkish investigation play itself out. We
acknowledge that this bears all the hallmarks of Daesh or ISIL, and again, their ability or intent on trying to radicalize and send these people out
into the world to carry out these kind of senseless, bloody attacks, we've seen this playbook before. It certainly bears all the hallmarks of ISIL,
but let's let the investigation play itself out.
GORANI: There was some criticism coming mainly from western countries, it has to be said, that in the initial days of Syria's civil war, Turkey
pretty much turned a blind eye to all sorts of rebels and unsavory characters crossing its borders to fight against Bashar al-Assad.
And in a way, these are now revenge attacks that they allowed this problem to build and fester in Syria. Does the U.S. share that view at all?
TONER: Look, Turkey and we've worked closely with Turkey for the last 16, 18 months, at building better, closer coordination. And certainly Turkey
has really stepped up as a member of the anti-Daesh or anti-ISIL coalition.
Look, you know, these are all challenges we face. Turkey does have this 98 kilometer stretch border that they've had trouble closing and we're working
with them on how to effectively do that. They've had cross-flows of fighters.
Let's remember this, they've also accepted an enormous amount, millions of refugees fleeing the fighting in Syria. They've offered them shelter,
they've offered them assistance, and really asked for nothing in return.
[15:10:01]And so they have played a role here. I think what we're seeing here overall, if I could put it this way, is that ISIL wants to strike out
against the west, strike out against members of the anti-Daesh coalition.
We have to be vigilant. We have to be right all the time. They only have to be right 1 percent of the time in order to carry out a successful
attack. Look, we are going to keep up the pressure on them. We'll degrade and destroy them in Syria and Iraq and we'll go after the terrorist
networks.
GORANI: All right, thank you, Mark Toner, the deputy spokesperson at the State Department there, speaking to us there from Washington, D.C. We'll
be reporting as well on an air strike outside of Falluja targeting an ISIS convoy. We appreciate it.
That is the very latest from Istanbul. Now back to Richard Quest in London and some dramatic hours in British politics -- Richard.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hala, you are lucky you are not here to have to witness the political shenanigans that we've seen here in
the United Kingdom over the last 24 hours. If you thought it couldn't get any -- I was going to say worse, but more unexpected, it certainly did.
Boris Johnson, a prominent "leave" campaigner, who was considered to be the favorite as the next prime minister announced in a bombshell that he will
not run.
So his absence leaves five Conservatives in the Tory Party running to succeed David Cameron as party leader because they're in government as
prime minister. All in all, you really couldn't make it up. What a day. Luckily for us, Diana Magnay witnessed it all.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANA MAGNAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rousing cheers from his party's supporters at a speech where Boris Johnson was widely expected to
announce he would run for prime minister, but no.
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PARLIAMENT MEMBER, CONSERVATIVE PARTY: I must tell you, my friends, you who have waited faithfully for the punch line of this
speech, that having consulted colleagues and in view of the circumstances in parliament, I have concluded that person cannot be me.
MAGNAY: This after a major act of betrayal by the man who had campaigned by his side for Brexit, Justice Minister Michael Gove.
MICHAEL GOVE, BRITISH JUSTICE SECRETARY: I've realized in the last few days that Boris isn't capable of building that team and providing that
unity. So I came reluctantly but firmly to the conclusion that as someone who had argued from the beginning that we should leave the European Union
and as someone who wanted to ensure that a bold, positive vision for our future was implemented, that I had to stand for the Conservative Party.
MAGNAY: Johnson had added much of the luster to the leave campaign. His showmanship and charisma galvanizing support for Brexit. Critics in his
own party now outraged at what they call a dereliction of duty.
MICHAEL HESELTINE, FORMER BRITISH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (via telephone): He's like a general that led his army to the sound of guns and at the sight
of the battlefield, abandoned the field. I have never seen so contemptible and irresponsible a situation.
MAGNAY: The most unifying figure for now in a divided party is Home Secretary Theresa May. She campaigned for remain but is promising to make
Brexit work for Britain.
THERESA MAY, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: The task in front of us is no longer about deciding whether to leave or remain. The country has spoken and the
United Kingdom will leave the E.U. The job now is about uniting the party, uniting the country, securing the union, and negotiating the best possible
deal for Britain.
MAGNAY: A deal with historic implications for Britain's future place in the world. So tough to structure, it is perhaps a poisoned chalice for
whoever it is who ends up taking it on.
(on camera): So on this day of high political theatre here in Westminster, there are many now who question why Boris Johnson, who fought so hard for
Brexit, now won't fight to lead his country through one of the biggest political crises of its history. Diana Magnay, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUEST: Robin Oakley is here to make sense of the political posturing, CNN's political contributor. Well, Robin, first of all, did you expect him
to pull out?
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: No, I didn't. I regarded Boris Johnson as a man who spent most of his adult life probably, ever since he
got into long trousers, aiming to get into number 10, to lead his party and to be a prime minister.
QUEST: So Ettu Brutus, Michael Gove did him in overnight when Gove decided to run. Was that decision mendacious, Machiavellian, or was it genuinely
that he thought Johnson is not up to it?
[15:15:05]OAKLEY: I think it's a little bit of both because Michael Gove for years has been telling friends and colleagues, OK, I might make
Chancellor of the Exchequer, foreign secretary, but I'm not really leadership material.
Indeed he said at one stage, it could be written in blood (inaudible) and I think working with Boris Johnson, he enjoyed being the sort of brains of
the organization while Boris did the charisma.
But he realized that Boris had a fatal flaw, that he was too much the joker, and suddenly they were faced with a situation they had never
expected. They didn't expect to win the "leave" campaign. And so suddenly Boris needed to be a statesman and he couldn't do it.
QUEST: And what Gove said is that in those four days since the vote, he realized there was basically no gravitas to Boris.
OAKLEY: Absolutely it. And Theresa May, who now becomes the frontrunner in this campaign, had a very carefully prepared statement ready this
morning, and she obviously expecting to have Boris Johnson against her, she was careful to emphasize, some need to be told that what the government
does isn't a game. It's a serious business that has vital consequences for people's lives. That was aimed at Boris. She didn't need the ammunition
in the end.
QUEST: She's very similar in the sense of Margaret Thatcher, maybe not as hard. I mean, do you see any similarities?
OAKLEY: Not chummy, not laugh a minute, but like Margaret Thatcher, she's a workaholic. She works with a small team and she isn't frightened of
anybody.
QUEST: On that note, Robin Oakley, thank you.
Still as we discuss the extraordinary events, Jeremy Corbyn on the other side-facing a coup over his failed campaign to keep the U.K. in the
European Union. Now the Labour leader has managed to create an entire firestorm of his own making over Israel.
And we'll head to Istanbul, back to Istanbul. Hala has been following the ISIS fight. The U.S.-led coalition carried a massive air strike near
Falluja. THE WORLD RIGHT NOW continues.
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QUEST: Welcome back. THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, is under intense pressure to resign over the Brexit vote. He's
lost a no confidence of his own MPs in parliament by an absolutely staggering overwhelming majority margin.
Today, he managed to weigh deeper into the mud by appearing to compare Israel's government to ISIS. Here is what Jeremy Corbyn had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:20:00]JEREMY CORBYN, LABOUR PARTY LEADER: Our Jewish friends are no more responsible for the actions of Israel or the Netanyahu government than
our Muslim friends are for their various self-styled Islamic State --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Mr. Corbyn made the controversial mark at the launch of a new report on anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. Strong criticism has now come
from Britain and Israel, not surprisingly.
I'm joined by James Sorene, the chief executive of the Britain-Israel Communications and Research Center. When you heard Jeremy Corbyn's
comments, what was your initial gut reaction?
JAMES SORENE, CEO, BRITAIN ISRAEL COMMUNICATIONS AND RESEARCH CENTER: Well, I just thought this was inflammatory and it was offensive. And I
think somewhere in his world view is a sense that, you know, Israel is some kind of unique evil. I think that's what he was trying to do when he made
the statement.
QUEST: Right, because if you parse the words, strictly speaking, you know, you can divorce the two sides of the sentences, but it's the fact he used
Israel even in the same sentence as ISIS that you find difficult to stomach.
SORENE: Yes, I think it's also the context. You know, let's step back a bit. This was the launch of a report into anti-Semitism in the Labour
Party, and the whole scandal began because a Labour MP said that Israelis should be transferred to America and Ken Livingston said that Hitler was a
Zionist, which was deeply offensive.
So he was there to calm things down and to say that he was in charge and that the party was dealing with it. So he goes in there and makes an
inflammatory, offensive statement.
QUEST: Another generalization from me, but traditionally Labour has enjoyed, going back to Harold Wilson, good, strong support from the Jewish
community in the United Kingdom. Do you think the events of Jeremy Corbyn and his leadership have dramatically changed that?
SORENE: Well, I think there is a lot of statements that have come out of the Jewish community about whether the Labour Party can truly be a home for
them at the moment.
QUEST: The left wing has always been -- the right wing of the Labour Party has been, if you like, the friendly part for the Jewish community. The
left wing has always been difficult for the Jewish community.
SORENE: I'm not a spokesman for the Jewish community. But if you look at the left and you look at Labour, there is a long, strong tradition of
support for Israel. But also, you know, going back many, many, many years, there's also a problem with socialism and anti-Semitism going back many,
many years. If you look at the era under Stalin, and Stalin turned against Israel, he ripped up enormous amounts of anti-Israel propaganda.
QUEST: Do you believe that Jeremy Corbyn, because of what he said, is unfit to lead the Labour Party and thereby potentially be a prime minister?
SORENE: I don't necessarily want to weigh too much into his own particular problems. What I would say is that if you are launching a report into
anti-Semitism and you're there to try and reassure people and tell them there is a home in the party for you, there are a hundred things you could
do to make them feel better and to welcome them, but do not compare Israel to ISIS and offend them and inflame the entire situation.
QUEST: Good to see you, sir. Thank you.
SORENE: Thank you.
QUEST: That's the way the Brexit battle looks from London. Hala is in Istanbul.
GORANI: Richard, we were discussing earlier how authorities here, at least one official has told CNN that the belief is that the Istanbul airport
attackers came directly from Raqqah in Syria, that's self-declared stronghold of their so-called caliphate inside Syria.
It appears as though ISIS has been taking some pretty heavy losses in Iraq outside of Falluja. A White House spokesperson just gave an update on
coalition air strikes that targeted ISIS convoys that were supplying fleeing the city.
He said 200 vehicles were destroyed, another American official says as many as 250 ISIS fighters may have been killed in the strikes. So we'll have a
lot more on that.
This appears as though, as Iraqi security forces have secured pretty much the totality of Falluja, that city that was in the hands of ISIS, that
these fleeing convoys of ISIS fighters were targeted with the help of the U.S. air strikes.
We are going to hope to connect with our Ben Wedeman who has been following this story very closely, he will be live for us from Cairo soon.
After a quick break, we'll have a lot more on what has happened here in Istanbul, in particular this absolutely heartbreaking story, one man's
heart wrenching loss.
He says goodbye to four of his family members killed in the Istanbul terrorist attack, three of them his own daughters. We'll have that coming
up next. Stay with us on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:27:39]
GORANI: Welcome back, everybody. We continue to cover the aftermath of Tuesday's triple suicide bombing at Ataturk International Airport. We are
learning more about the suicide bombers, according to one Turkish official who spoke to CNN and perhaps who may have ordered their deadly mission.
Now, Turkish officials say that the three attackers came from Russia, the Russian region of Dagestan, also Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. A senior
Turkish government source tells CNN that the attack appeared to have been, quote, "extremely well planned," and this was not inspired by ISIS, but
probably more ordered by ISIS, because according to this official, ISIS leadership was involved.
Now meantime, since the attack Turkish security forces have raided several addresses in Istanbul, but also on the coastal city of Ismir. In total 22
people were arrested and detained on Thursday morning.
I also want to talk about some disturbing video that has come into CNN. Some of the images we're about to show you actually show one of the airport
attackers shooting an undercover police officer who approached him asking for identification. Take a look. This is surveillance video.
(VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: It shows the two men speaking briefly in a hallway before the attacker pulls out his gun and shoots. The police officer, as I mentioned,
asked the attacker for some I.D. just before he was shot. Some very sad video. It gives just one more piece of the puzzle of how this all unfolded
inside the airport.
By the way, more victims were laid to rest today, and the final death toll rose to 44 just in the last hour. It's hard to imagine the pain of the
loved ones who went through all of that. We'll discuss that in a moment.
First, let's talk more about the regional significance of all of this. Hugh Naylor is the Middle East correspondent for "The Washington Post."
He's based in Beirut normally, but you're covering this important story that has so many implications regionally.
Let's talk a little bit about Turkey as a target. In the last several years, Turkey has intensified its fight against ISIS. It wasn't doing that
in the beginning.
HUGH NAYLOR, MIDDLE EAST CORRESPONDENT, "THE WASHINGTON POST": No. Turkey's whole regional position has shifted. Of course, the Syrian civil
war, before the war it was ascendants, it was calling the shots, now it's sort of not. Russia is sort of in charge in Syria. President Bashar Al
Assad is in power, he's not going anywhere.
And now Syria is sort of having to change its strategy towards militants who are fighting the Syrian government and the Islamic State itself.
They've closed the border.
They're fighting a shadow war against the Islamic State. Operatives are attacking them. Behind the scenes there is a direct war. Turkey
supporting the U.S.-led coalition haphazardly and they are sort of --
GORANI: They're focusing a lot on Kurdish fighters. The accusation has been that they've been very focused on Kurdish militant elements because of
their connection to the PKK, the Kurdish separatist group, a little bit more, sometimes a lot more, than ISIS fighters. Is that likely to change?
Because this is really a strike in the heart of Turkey, isn't it?
NAYLOR: I mean, it's possible that Turkey could, you know, more thoroughly back certain rebels that the United States supports. But I think Turkey
has very different interests than the United States, in the conflict in Syria.
It's unclear to me whether they would support groups that are backed by the PKK. So I think it's still unclear at the moment what Turkey will do
within Syria. I think the crisis now is to focus inside of Turkey. That's what the Turks are really focused on.
GORANI: But I mean, if it is the case, according to one Turkish official, that these three men had been in Turkey for one month planning this whole
thing, that ISIS leadership was directly involved, it speaks to, still, a lot of strength from the group. Even though they're retreating in terms of
the territory they control.
NAYLOR: Sure. I mean, ISIS still has a lot of supporters within Syria and beyond. And they're still capable of communicating and coordinating with
each other. As ISIS loses territory in Syria and Iraq, its tactics and strategies are changing. And it's carrying out more attacks abroad to
scare people away from attacking within Syria and Iraq.
GORANI: But fundamentally, solving this problem needs to also I mean, start and end eventually with solving the Syrian civil war and denying ISIS
this territory that it controls. So it's a much longer term fundamental process.
NAYLOR: It is. I mean --
GORANI: But then conducting raids in Ismir and Istanbul, which helps as well perhaps but --
NAYLOR: Sure. I mean, I think that sort of will kind of produce the immediate threat. This is a long term threat. The Islamic State, even if
they lose territory, they present a threat in terms of an insurgency. We saw that in Iraq when U.S. soldiers are there.
You know, after the U.S., you know, keep them out of Sunni areas in Iraq, the insurgency persisted and I think that's a concern now. If you
eliminate Baghdadi, the leadership of ISIS, but the ideology is still there.
And the political problems that led to the rise of ISIS are still there, they're unresolved. So it's going to be a long term threat.
GORANI: Because you can deny ISIS its territory, but as you mentioned, those political problems, the Assad regime, some of the really massive
issues in terms of their response to the rebellion, will still be there. And there's no end in sight to that either.
NAYLOR: No.
GORANI: Which is problematic. Hugh Naylor, thank you very much. We really appreciate your time with us on the program. Thank you. Nice
meeting you in person.
By the way, we were mentioning that a Turkish official told CNN that the three attackers came from the Russian region of Dagestan as well as
Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.
Our Nic Robertson is in Brussels with more on the significance of that. Nic, what does that tell us about this attack in particular?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, it gets to the point of what Hugh was talking about there, that the core of the ISIS
problem is actually inside Syria, inside Raqqah, the ability of Baghdadi there to inspire other jihadists around the world is perhaps embodied in
this attack.
It was June last year when the radical Islamists in the caucuses of Russia, Dagestan, Chechnya, a few of other places in that area pledged allegiance
to Baghdadi. A couple of months later, the Islamic movement of Uzbekistan, the radical Islamist there that have fought with al Qaeda, Afghanistan, and
Pakistan for decades.
Many of them moved there with their families many, many years ago, last August they pledged allegiance to Baghdadi in Syria. If you go back a
couple of months to May, in (inaudible) the capital there, the authorities cracked down and arrested a man who was calling for support of ISIS and
calling for radical Islamists there to go to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS.
Hugh's point to getting to the core and neutralizing the core really speaks to their ability to inspire jihadists, radical Islamists, to come and join
the fight in Syria.
[15:35:02]To that point you had Abu Omar al-Shushami (ph), who was from the caucuses in Russia leading a whole brigade of Chechens, but Russians from
the caucuses and their ilk (ph) in the fight in Syria.
So it's certainly informative to know that these and if they were directed came from these three separate countries. It invest them and the aim would
be to inspire other Islamists in those countries to follow suit and join.
GORANI: Right. And what I find interesting is that if it is indeed the case that these three men had been in Istanbul for months, handling
explosives, not from Istanbul, obviously, not Turkish citizens, it reminds me a little bit of the Paris attack preparations, of the Brussels attack
preparations as well.
That some of these ISIS terrorists are able to hide in plain sight and carry out their business undetected. How do you even begin to protect
civilians against that type of threat?
ROBERTSON: It's very difficult and the reality is that in western capitals, in cities such as Istanbul and Ankara, there's a grim reality
that terrorism is a real threat, and it can happen, and life goes on. We've seen that exemplified by the Turkish authorities getting the airport
up and running again.
What the authorities will need to do is exert greater influence in those neighborhoods where they think Islamists would congregate in. The name of
this neighborhood was a neighborhood that came up when I was in Istanbul last summer when we were looking at this issue of ISIS and looking at where
ISIS had its support within Turkey, this neighborhood was one of those names that came up.
But we were told at the same time this was a neighborhood that it would be difficult for us to go in and ask questions, a neighborhood that was
difficult for the police to fully patrol and fully control.
So, you know, it's the existence of the networks that are underground, and let's not forget here, for the Turkish authorities, they see fighting the
PKK and the Kurdish terror threat as they see it, as a larger goal, almost, it certainly was last summer, than fighting ISIS.
So they've got many enemies, many threats, resources stretched in neighborhoods where they need to generate more information from, human
intelligence. It takes time. They've got to prioritize it if they want to beat it.
GORANI: Right. Nic Robertson, thanks very much. We appreciate it. I was talking to all of you about the personal losses here, the family tragedies.
Really, it all comes down to that, it all comes down to the human loss.
We can talk geo strategy for hours, but in the end, when you look in the eyes of a father who has lost three of his own daughters, you're reminded
of what these terrorists really did. Matt Rivers has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four caskets, inside, three sisters, Kerime Amiri 24, Zehra Amiri 16, Meryem Amiri 14, and their 8-
year-old niece, Huda. Her father, Muhammed, stood vigil at their coffin preparing to say goodbye at their funeral.
MUHAMMED AMIRI, DAUGHTERS KILLED IN ATTACK: She was really lovely. Very lovely. I loved her. She was lovely.
RIVERS: The three women and their young niece were all at the airport Tuesday, just arrived in Turkey to visit family. With them their Abdul
Mumin Amiri, their father and grandfather. I'm heartbroken, he says. We are so powerless and helpless against these terrorists.
He told us they were outside the terminal waiting for a taxi. He didn't see the explosion. Only its aftermath. I was 5 meters away from my girls,
he says, so I ran over. One was already dead. I took the other three to the hospital. They died too.
Two of his other daughters and his wife were injured but survived. His wife left the hospital only to help prepare her daughters and granddaughter
for burial, according to Islamic rituals. Scores came to a local mosque for the funeral under a bright Thursday sun.
(on camera): Funerals like this one have been happening across the city yesterday and today. It is the Muslim tradition to bury victims as soon as
possible. Of course, there are friends and family here, but the majority of people here are just locals, people who worship at this mosque, here to
pay their respects after an attack that hurt this whole city, the whole country.
(voice-over): A short drive away, some of those same people helped carry the four caskets to a cemetery gravesite. They'll be buried together,
their own family helping to lower them into the earth.
[15:40:06]There is so much sadness here, but there is anger too, at those who would steal such innocence. May God damn the terrorists, said the
girls' uncle. It's not one or two, three but four good young people. Why are they getting killed?
It's a question on the minds of most in this city, as they stand in rows, praying for peace and for those they've lost. Matt Rivers, CNN, Istanbul,
Turkey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: We'll have a lot more on CNN after a quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I'm pretty certain it was Harold Wilson who said a week is a long time in politics. This time last week the
British were going to the polls. That referendum sent shock waves around the world.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The total number of votes cast in favor of leave was 82,000.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Fifty two percent of people voted to leave the European Union. The markets were in a tailspin, $2 trillion has been wiped off values around
the world the next day. The political fallout was just as swift.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I will do everything I can as prime minister to steady the ship over the coming weeks and months. But I do not
think it would be right for me to try to be the captain that steers our country to its next destination.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: So the outgoing prime minister went to Brussels for his last summit, to smooth fears from European counterparts, whilst at home passions
were running high, very volatile, following the vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALASTAIR CAMPBELL, FORMER SPOKESMAN FOR TONY BLAIR: We had a referendum in one of the most ill-informed, lying debates that I can ever recall anywhere
in the world. This has been a joke, this referendum.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: A joke that wasn't terribly funny because the result also threw the other political parties into turmoil. The opposition leader, Jeremy
Corbyn, massively lost a confidence vote and even the prime minister piled on the pressure for him to resign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAMERON: It might be in my party's interest for him to sit there. It's not in the national interest. I would say, for heaven's sake, man, go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Who will lead the country now? This man could have been the one. He was the prominent leave campaigner, Boris Johnson, he was the
frontrunner. Even he threw sand into the works a few hours ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[15:45:06]BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER MAYOR OF LONDON: I must tell you, my friends, you who have waited faithfully for the punch line of this speech,
that having consulted colleagues, I have concluded that person cannot be me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUEST: Where on earth does the United Kingdom go from here? Vernon Bogdanor is a professor of Government at King's College London. Professor,
have you ever seen anything like this?
VERNON BOGDANOR, CONSTITUTIONAL EXPERT: No. It's a huge turmoil. It's thrown everything into the air, as you suggested. I think there's been no
such upheaval since the British people unexpectedly rejected Winston Churchill in 1945 after the war ended and elected a labor government.
QUEST: And with that in mind because Churchill came back shortly thereafter, a couple of years later.
BOGDANOR: Yes.
QUEST: But with that in mind, which of the machinations is the most serious? What's happening in the Labour Party? What the leadership in the
Conservative Party or the financial fallout that we're seeing in the markets?
BOGDANOR: We face a very difficult political problem, because as you know, the government advised Britain to stay in the European Union. So now we
have to have a prime minister who will take us out, and more important than that, three-quarters of MPs were in favor of staying in. So should we have
a general election to produce a more representative parliament? We need to settle our political situation before we can handle the economic
difficulties.
QUEST: The frontrunner now is Theresa May, the home secretary, she was a lukewarm remainor, and that she didn't put her head above the parapet. But
today she was absolutely firm, no E.U. through the backdoor, no second referendum. We are leaving -- the United Kingdom is leaving the E.U. Will
that be enough? You're smiling, sir.
BOGDANOR: Theresa May is absolutely right, but the referendum result have to be accepted. Her position is difficult as you implied because she
supported the "remain" camp and some people say if we are going to have Brexit, we need a Brexit prime minister. It's fair to say, though, that if
Theresa May was elected, she would have to veer even further in the Brexit direction to satisfy the Brexit supporters.
QUEST: But her natural tendency is one of I won't say ruthlessness, but robustness, and she is regarded as, pardon the phrase, a hard politician
and a hard minister.
BOGDANOR: She's been home secretary for six years. The Home Department is the most difficult one in Westminster. It's got the most snake pits on
issues such as immigration. Theresa May has handled those very well. She's lasted longer than any home secretary in a hundred years, but she
hasn't reduced the rate of immigration very significantly. That perhaps is important.
QUEST: On the other side, away from the U.K., look just briefly in Europe, how safe and secure do you think people like Jean-Claude Juncker are?
There's disquiet at the ways he's handled the British referendum and other matters like the migrant crisis.
BOGDANOR: Well, of course, Jean-Claude Juncker is not elected nor properly accountable in the way that we in Britain would like to see. I think his
position is in trouble. The greater danger in Europe is that the British decision gives force and weight to the demands of similar parties on the
continent like the Sweden Democrats.
QUEST: Is that realistic? Those parties are nowhere near in the position of power to call referenda as, say, for example, in the U.K. it was.
BOGDANOR: The party in France is the top party in the opinion polls. Were it to get into power, it would seek a referendum on the British model. The
Swedish Democrats and the Danish Peoples Party will be encouraged by the British result.
There is a real danger, which I personally hope can be avoided, of the disintegration of the European Union and a return to the nation of states,
which as Americans know led to two world wars in the 20th Century in which Americans were involved.
QUEST: Professor, thank you, sir. I appreciate it.
Coming up, back to Hala in Istanbul. She'll have the latest developments after the airport attack. This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:51:15]
GORANI: Terrible and sad scenes of mourning there, just a couple of days after those attacks at Ataturk International Airport. The death toll now
stands at 44, risen by one in the last hour or so.
CNN's Ivan Watson joins me now. He spent several years as our senior international correspondent in Istanbul. You spoke to a couple newly
married who got caught up in this tragedy. Tell us about that.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's a nightmare, you're on a honeymoon, perhaps one of the happiest times in your life, and
this couple was on a short layover in Istanbul, and then this awful thing happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Steven Nabil and Nameem Shores just got married.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was such a beautiful wedding, to be honors.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She deserves it.
WATSON: After a honeymoon in Greece and Italy, the couple was on a five- hour layover at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport Tuesday night, waiting for their flight back home to the U.S. that's when the terrorists attacked.
STEVEN NABIL, WITNESS: I literally ordered the salad and the pizza slice. When the guy turned to put the slice in the oven, I heard the gunshots.
WATSON (on camera): Did you recognize that those were gunshots?
NABIL: Yes, AK-47 automatic rifle.
WATSON: What goes through your head at that time?
NABIL: That she's hurt, my worst nightmare is haunting us now.
WATSON (voice-over): Steven says he saw a man with a gun shooting in the departures hall.
NABIL: I was in television, I'm not sure if he was the gunman or it was cops firing at him, but there was a gun and there were bullets coming from
him because I could see the echoes and all that from the gun.
WATSON: The terrified couple ran and hid in this little kitchen, which Steven filmed on his phone. Through the door, they heard chaos outside.
NAMEEM SHORES, WITNESS: We heard people yelling, stop, stop. I was like, this looks like somebody is killing somebody else.
NABIL: This is when the victims are wounded were screaming.
WATSON: Steven didn't know whether or not the gunmen were still in the airport on the hunt for more victims.
NABIL: At that point I said, I'm going to make a video to tell our story, because we're going to most likely die here.
(VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Speaking in his family's native Arabic, he tells them to pray for him.
SHORES: I remember I told him, this is our last seconds in our life and we're going to die right here.
NABIL: This is when I realized that this is the moment that I might lose my new family I just made. Everything I had dreamed for.
WATSON: But Steven says if a militant came through the door, he wasn't going to go down without a fight.
NABIL: I was going to kill him. This is it. I mean, this is my new life.
WATSON: Forty five minutes later, the terrified couple eventually emerged to bloody scenes in the airport.
NABIL: I want to thank all the Turkish first responders, the ambulances, the drivers, the cops. They were protecting us. They were doing their
best. A lot of them were bleeding. They fought it out.
WATSON: An ambulance rushed Nomeem to a hospital. She's recovering from bruises suffered after being trampled by panicked people fleeing the
gunmen. But dealing with the emotional trauma has barely begun.
SHORES: I want to go back to the states. I told him I don't want to come back to this country anymore. I don't want to come to the Middle East
anymore.
WATSON: This evening the couple rushed to catch a flight out from another Istanbul airport, hoping to leave this horrible chapter of their honeymoon
far behind.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[15:55:12]GORANI: Ivan, tell us more also about this couple, where they came from.
WATSON: Steven and Nameen were born in Iraq and lived in the U.S. state of California. They've just been to the family wedding in Iraqi Kurdistan and
had gone to Italy and Greece and then this terrible thing happened on this layover.
What's striking is Steven saying that when they were trapped in that little room, he looked for weapon to protect his bride and the only thing he could
find was a boiling pot of hot water for tea.
And he was fully prepared, he planned it out, that he would try to splash water in the attacker's face if somebody came in and then sacrifice his
life to save his bride's life.
GORANI: You hear these stories of individual courage, of sacrifice, of heroism, and sadly, as I was telling our viewers, the death toll is up by
one, to 44. You can tell us a little bit more about the 44th victim.
WATSON: So far we only know that his name is Yasin (inaudible). He's a Turkish citizen, 25 years old, and the latest victim. He was in the
hospital and succumbed to his injuries. Sadly, there may be more as more people come out of their medically induced comas.
And what this may have done to psychology in Turkey, which is already coping with a war against ethnic Kurdish militants, has already experienced
ISIS bombs in the past. But those were targeting foreign tourists.
They were targeting leftists and ethnic Kurds. As I said, there's very polarizing war under way, conflict there. This attack here is attacking a
target associated with the Turkish state and with Turkish society as a whole. And that's going to be a real psychological tipping point, I think,
for many Turks today.
GORANI: And like Tunisia and other countries, tourism is going to suffer a lot, which means people's livelihoods will suffer. It's also an attack on
that, on the Turkish way of life.
WATSON: The Turkish tourism industry was already crippled by the rupture in relations between Turkey and Russia, after Turkey shot down the Russian
jet. The Turkish president had just reestablished ties with Russia, and then this happened.
GORANI: Ivan Watson, thanks very much. We appreciate your reporting. That will do it for us for now. Coming to you live from Istanbul's Ataturk
Airport. We'll have a lot more coverage in the coming hours.
I'm Hala Gorani. Stay with CNN. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
END
