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Investigation into the New York Bombing; Minnesota Mall Attack; Clinton to Address Bombings; Trump Talks Profiling. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired September 19, 2016 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:31:36] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And we are following breaking news this morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me.

Investigators believe a terror cell is behind the New York City bombing, the explosion in Seaside Park and the bag of explosives found in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Authorities searching for this man. His name is Ahmad Khan Rahami. He was born in Afghanistan. He's 28-years-old. His last known residence, New Jersey. He is a naturalized American citizen. Rahami is believed to be the man seen in surveillance videos at the bombing on 23rd Street and 6th Avenue in Chelsea, New York, and on 27th Street, where that pressure cooker was found undetonated.

Now, this man is wanted for questioning in connection to the New York City explosion, and the FBI is asking if you have any information please call them. 1-800-577-TIPS is the number to call. If you have any information, please do call.

The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, is calling the bombing in New York an act of terrorism. This a investigators believe a terror cell could be behind both the bombing in New York City and the blast at a marine race in Seaside Park, New Jersey, on Saturday.

So let's talk about all of this with Lorenzo Vidino, who's the director of the George Washington University's program on extremism, and joining us again CNN's senior law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes.

Thanks to both of you.

Tom, I just want to start with you with this manhunt. We're finding out a little bit more information about this suspect. He's a naturalized citizen. He was born in Afghanistan. We don't know how long he's lived in the United States. But police seem to have a beat on him and seem to be hot on the trail perhaps?

TOM FUENTES, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, perhaps, Carol. And I think the -- the joint terrorism task forces in New York City, as well as in New Jersey, I'm sure are working very closely together on this. And they may have already had reason to be looking at him before all this started. You know, we don't know. And we'll find that out at a later date. So we don't know how much information they have about him, but I would presume it's a lot. By this time they've done neighborhood searches, talked to friend, neighbors, checked social media, any phone calls, computers, e-mails, anything they can find on him, other associates.

So there's a good possibility they know a great deal more than we know, obviously, and that their big -- right now their big concern is the rest of the group. Not just him, but are more attacks in the works. Is that possible? And this is what we saw in Europe, where, you know, you kept having this repeat of attacks back and forth between France and Belgium because parts of the cell were still out there and still working. Even when they had suicide bombers, they still had parts of the cells out there and continuing to do attacks. So that's the main concern right now for everybody in this investigation, is to wrap up everybody if they can before they do something else.

COSTELLO: And, of course, there's always concern that suspects change their appearance, right? So the New Jersey Police just released on Twitter these alternate pictures of this suspect and there they are. You see him without hair. He looks quite different in each picture, Tom. So -- so this won't be so easy.

FUENTES: No, none of this is easy. It takes a great deal of work, great deal of expertise to do this. You know, people talk about facial recognition software. But facial hair and how much facial hair, and sunglasses, and if they're wearing caps all makes it that much more difficult. So there's a -- there's a lot that just has to come from old-fashioned shoe leather and going out and talking to as many people as possible that know this individual or have worked with him, or students with him, or any other association to learn as much as possible about not just him, but who does he associate with, who is he affiliated with, who are his friends?

[09:35:32] COSTELLO: And, Lorenzo, it is curious that no one's claimed responsibility for this. For example, in Minnesota, there was the mall stabbing, right, and ISIS jumped right on the bandwagon and said, yes, it was one of our recruits. It was one of our soldiers operating within the United States. But that didn't happen with the bombing in New York City, or the bombs found in New Jersey. Why do you think that is?

LORENZO VIDINO, DIRECTOR, PROGRAM ON EXTREMISM AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY: It's difficult to say at this point. I think it's a bit early to say. I think what we have seen also from some dynamics in Europe is that ISIS claims responsibility for attacks which are carried out by people who have no formal affiliation to it when that individual sends a message to ISIS. That has happened in France several times for example. Somebody has no prior connection to ISIS, but a few hours and not a few minutes before carrying out an attack sends a message to ISIS saying I'm about to carry out an attack and pledging allegiance, and then ISIS then claims responsibility. Or they have claimed responsibility for attacks in which no set connection was made, but when it was clear that it was somebody that embraced ISIS ideology.

In this case, probably they were basically in the dark as much as we were for a long time about who exactly was behind this. I mean it's difficult to know. I wouldn't be surprised if they were to come out in the next few hours or few days claiming responsibility for this as well as they have done in the past where they claim responsibility for attacks that took place weeks prior to their communiques.

COSTELLO: And here's why it may be -- it's just so difficult to really figure these out. So, so the -- for example, the pressure cooker bombs that were the one that was unexploded that was found in New York City, police found Christmas lights, flip phones in that presser cooker. And, of course, it was very similar to Boston. But the Boston attacks didn't really have anything to do with ISIS. But Christmas lights and flip phones were also found in the San Bernardino shooter's home, but he was connected to ISIS.

VIDINO: I think the reality of it, when it comes to a lot of these individuals at the grassroots level, whether in the states or in Europe, but particularly in the states, they really don't care that much about whether it's al Qaeda or ISIS. They embrace the general what are called jihadist ideology. They hate the west. They hate America. They, as much as al Qaeda and ISIS, are fighting each other on the ground in the Middle East. To some degree to homegrown radicalized individuals. Somebody who has no connection to organized group. Those petty squabbles between ISIS and al Qaeda matter only to some agree, if not to no degree whatsoever. So they might pick up instructions from "Inspire," which is the al Qaeda magazine, and then also sympathize with ISIS. To them it's about a general ideology and a general hatred for the west.

COSTELLO: All right, Tom Fuentes, Lorenzo Vidino, thanks to both of you.

And we're just getting more information in. And apparently investigators are linking this suspect, this naturalized citizen that we've been showing you, to the Seaside Park. You know they found explosives there. And they're also connecting him to the bombings in Chelsea, but not Elizabeth, New Jersey. We don't know quite why. We're -- we don't know quite why we're still investigating that. And, of course, if we get any new information on that, we'll pass it along to you.

All right, still to come, we are learning more about the man who stabbed nine people at that Minnesota mall and also about the man who heroically stopped him.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:42:56] COSTELLO: All right, Hillary Clinton is set to address the media at any moment now. We're going to take you out live to White Plains, where Clinton is set to step before the cameras before leaving for Philadelphia where she will give a speech aimed at millennials. We will monitor this speech and, of course, bring you any live updates. We do suspect she may talk about what's been happening in the New York, New Jersey, Minnesota area, as well. We'll keep you posted.

Also New Jersey State Police releasing these four pictures of somebody they desperately want to find. This man's name is Ahmad Khan Rahami. He is suspected in the Seaside bombing and also in the Chelsea bombings. They want this man for questioning. If you have any information about him, if you know him, if you know anybody who knows him, please call 1-800-577-TIPS. That's the FBI line. Please give them any information that you can. These pictures of the very same man. I know it's tough, but please help.

We -- and we also know now who went on a stabbing spree at the Crossroads Center Shopping Mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota, over the weekend. The attacker now identified as 22-year-old Dahir Adan. He attended college locally in St. Cloud and worked as a private -- and worked at a private security firm. Adan stabbed nine people before an off duty police officer named Jason Falconer (ph) shot him to death. Falconer is a former police chief in Albany. He now works in the nearby town of Avon. "The Minneapolis Star Tribune" says this officer is a medal winning marksman. He's a firearms trainer. St. Cloud's mayor says Falconer was in the right place at the right time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR DAVE KLEIS, ST. CLOUD, MINNESOTA: He clearly prevented additional injuries, and potentially loss of life. His heroic actions are exemplary in having witnessed what he did. As the suspect was lunging at him with the knife, not only did he fire, the suspect went down, he came back up, on three different occasions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[09:45:01] COSTELLO: After an ISIS-linked news agency called Adan, the suspect here, a soldier of the Islamic State, members of the Muslim community started fearing a backlash, especially against Somali Muslims. Joining me now to talk about that is Abdirizak Bihi, a Somali community leader in Minnesota.

Welcome, Bihi.

ABDIRIZAK BIHI, SOMALI COMMUNITY LEADER: Thank you for having me.

COSTELLO: Thank you for being here.

Do you know this suspect?

BIHI: I do not know him personally.

COSTELLO: Do you know of him?

BIHI: Well, yes, I know him through the community, what I'm hearing from the community leaders, neighbors from the city of St. Cloud. A lot of neighbors knew him as a quiet person who really waved at them and didn't have any -- any problems at all.

COSTELLO: And I ask you these questions because we often hear, you know, in regards to many different kinds of crimes, crimes committed by many different kinds of people, that people knew of the suspect, but they never really thought anything was wrong, and -- and they were surprised by his actions. Are you surprised?

BIHI: I'm very surprised. And especially when you know someone through other people that that person had no trouble communicating with neighbors. He was very nice person, as they said. I know that he knew of him as -- of -- of a so-called bad person. So through that, yes, I am surprised. Also, there are some rumors now in our community of some people who knew him are saying probably he might have some sort of a mental health issue. All kind of things are flying around about his identity.

COSTELLO: Community leaders say they fear backlash. Can you tell me about that?

BIHI: Yes. Really, there is a big concern of a backlash. We often find ourselves in this kind of situation, in a position where we are, as a community, generalized as a bad people. And this is not the first time. You know, I'm saying this. I myself being a person who has been vocal against radicalization in my community, I work with the community on a daily basis and I feel -- and I receive a lot of calls.

COSTELLO: Do I still have you, Bihi?

Oh, we've lost him.

BIHI: Yes, I'm here. Can you hear me?

COSTELLO: Oh -- oh, you're here. Yes. Yes. And I just wanted to ask you about your community efforts, because I know that your state was at the center of a federal investigation into the recruitment of fighters for ISIS. This has been a big concern in your community. And I'd like you to tell people what your community is doing to -- to try to stop the radicalization of young men and women within your community.

BIHI: I started this work back in 2008, in November, when I -- we found our -- my nephew missing along with several other young men from this community. And later on we learned that there was a big recruitment happening to our young, vulnerable men. And that for the last eight years we've been engaged in our community. And the biggest support of fighting radicalization in my community came from the Somali American community. Those who were paid for it, support it, and were concerned and afraid of their kids. And the reason being is, this community is very fond of their new home of America, and they are really very busy of chasing their American dream. And they're trying hard to raise their kids with success.

Also, they have a background where they fled from al Shabaab and warlords and violence. Sometimes they find themselves in a position where they can't understand why someone would generalize all of them as a bad people who are fond of terrorism while they are victims of terrorism themselves.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. Abdirizak Bihi, thank you so much for being with me this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Hillary Clinton set to speak to reporters any moment now from tarmac at White Plains. You see her plane there. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:53:48] COSTELLO: All right, I want to take you out to White Plains, New York, to the airport there. Hillary Clinton is expected to speak before boarding her campaign plane. MJ Lee is out there.

Set the scene for us, MJ.

MJ LEE, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Hi, Carol.

We are expecting Hillary Clinton to hold a press conference here on the tarmac at Westchester County Airport. We do expect her to address the incidents over the weekend in Minnesota, New Jersey and New York. What that means, Carol, is that exactly one week before the first debate, the politics of terror will be taking center stage once again. And over the weekend we saw both Clinton and Trump responding to the incident in New York in contrasting styles. Trump, of course, was very quick to call it a bombing. He said that a bomb had gone off in New York before he had much information about what had actually happened. Clinton, in the meanwhile, she says that she wanted to wait for more information before drawing any conclusions.

Now given the new information that we've gotten over the weekend, we'll see how much further she goes than in the statement that she released yesterday where she did actually call the incidents apparent terrorist attacks. And no doubt about it, Carol, she will be trying to draw a contrast between herself and Donald Trump on the issue of terrorism and foreign policy.

Carol.

[09:55:03] COSTELLO: All right, MJ Lee, we'll get back to you when Hillary Clinton begins speaking. Thank so much.

Mr. Trump, on his part, he spoke about it over the weekend, as did Hillary Clinton, but Mr. Trump appeared on "Fox & Friends" this morning and he did comment on the bombings over the weekend. He slammed President Obama and Hillary Clinton's terror efforts overseas in part for the bombings here in New York City and in New Jersey and he suggested that local police get tough and dispense with being politically correct. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: Our local police, they know who a lot of these people are. They're afraid to do anything about it because they don't want to be accused of profiling and they don't want to be accused of all sorts of things. You know, in Israel, they profile. They've done an unbelievable job, as good as you can do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.

TRUMP: But Israel has done an unbelievable job and they'll profile. They profile. They see somebody that's suspicious, they will profile, they will take that person in, they'll check out. Do we have a choice? Look what's going on. Do we really have a choice? We're trying to be so politically correct in our country, and this is only going to get worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: All right. So that's what he said on "Fox & Friends" this morning.

Here now to discuss, CNN's senior political reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson, and "U.S. News & World Report" senior politics writer David Catanese.

Welcome to you both.

DAVID CATANESE, SENIOR POLITICS WRITER, "U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT": Good morning.

COSTELLO: Good morning.

So, David, what was Mr. Trump suggesting there?

CATANESE: You know, I don't know. I think that needs more probing. He is, you know, basically, I -- you know, I know he has suggested doing this in the past, but if he is outlining a position of profiling, I think more questions have to be asked of him. How exactly would he profile? What standards would he use? And I think in the light of the incidents over the weekend, he is certainly going to be asked exactly what he means by those comments. And I -- and I can't imagine Secretary Clinton agreeing with that.

COSTELLO: Yes. And, Nia-Malika, I ask about profiling because it wasn't so long ago that New York City Police settled two lawsuits with the Muslim community in New York City for profiling. They had to pay out millions of dollars.

NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER: That's right. And most local police folks, particularly in New York, talk about the need to work with the different Muslim communities in their cities and towns to address the problem of terrorism. I mean one of the things that's extraordinary about what Trump said there is he's essentially saying that local police aren't doing their job. Their job is to protect people. And he's saying they aren't doing that because they're afraid of whatever consequences and being called out for being politically correct or some -- politically incorrect. So, I mean, that's a really extraordinary claim and I don't expect that he has much evidence to suggest that local police aren't doing their jobs to the fullest that they can within the bounds of the law. So, yes, I mean here we go talking about terrorism again. I think the conventional wisdom has always been that terrorism, when an incident like this happens, that it benefits Donald Trump. I don't think there's much evidence that that's actually true. He does lead on terrorism in terms of you ask people who's going to be tougher on it, terrorism and ISIS. I think Hillary Clinton leads in terms of handling of foreign policy more broadly. So we'll see what Hillary Clinton says today in the press conference.

COSTELLO: But -- but -- but, again -- right, but, again, David, it's this big, bold statement. He comes out and he says something. And Hillary Clinton is going to be much more nuanced in her comments. I mean you can probably guess that already before she even speaks, right? And in voters' minds, doesn't that big, bold talk resonate when things like this happen in our country? CATANESE: Look, it usually does because people get scared. They see

these headlines come out. They see the pictures. I mean if you're -- if you're a person that is out and about in New York City on a Saturday night, this is absolutely frightening that this could happen on a sidewalk or a street corner at any given point in time.

But, look, look at the rolling information we got over the weekend. The other problem with these events is we never have as much information as we require politicians to have when they make these statements. I mean originally they didn't have any connection. You had politicians coming out and officials saying there wasn't a connection to the events in New Jersey and New York. Then it was unclear. You still get -- you're still getting some mixed signals about this from the state of New York and Mayor de Blasio about whether this was terrorism, whether it was intentional. It changed throughout the weekend. Even over the last 24 hours the information on this. And then we require our presidential candidate to come out with statements on what they would do. And, frankly, they're not getting this information much quicker than we all are.

And, you know, Trump is impulsive. He is going to be the tough guy. He is going to be the one to slam down hard on the perpetrators, on the terrorists. Hillary Clinton, this is -- she is inherently more cautious and I think we will see that again today. And I think she wants that contrast with Donald Trump because she thinks, even if it doesn't benefit her in the short-term where people, you know, want a more emphatic reaction, they trust her more in the long term. I think that is -- that is her bet.