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At This Hour

Nine Arrested in Connection with Tunisian Terror Attack; Arrest in Japan Related to Phoned Threats; Bloody Arrest of Unarmed Black Student Sparks Protest. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired March 19, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:13] KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Nine people are arrested in connection with a museum massacre in Tunisia that left 23 people dead. The big questions now: who are they? And is there a link to ISIS?

A violent arrest caught on camera. A college campus up in arms. Students hitting the streets in protest. Did police go too far?

And real estate heir Robert Durst is under arrest, but authorities, they aren't done. The FBI is looking into their cold case files going back five decades to look for any connections and new details on what police found when Durst was arrested.

Hello, good morning, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. John Berman is off today.

Let's get right it though. Right now, there are more terror fears in Tunisia after yesterday's attack on foreign tourists at a museum in the capital there. Take a look at this video, this video we're going to show you, taken just outside the museum. Blood on the sidewalk and on the walls, crime tape, armed security forces, graphic evidence of what happened there yesterday.

The country's president is sending the army to guard major cities as both the number of arrests and the number of victims are climbing. Authorities say they've arrested nine people, four directly linked to the raid on the museum. The death toll now stands at 23, most of those tourists from Europe. And we're learning something really amazing -- that two Spanish tourists who have been missing since this all happened -- they hid overnight in the museum, not sure if it was safe enough to come out. They did finally.

Our Atika Shubert is following the developments for us from London. So Atika, what is the very latest specifically on the manhunt? Are they still searching for more suspects AT THIS HOUR?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think they're still looking for associates of the gunman involved, but what we understand is of course you have the two gunmen who carried out the attack. They were killed by police shortly after. But also, four people who are directly linked to the attack have been arrested and another five associates. So that's nine arrests in all. Now we don't know exactly from Tunisian authorities how exactly they

helped in the attack. We're hoping the get more details from the Interior Minister soon, but we also now have the names of the attackers. And this was released by the prime minister, that Yassine Labidi and Saber Khachnaoui. These are the two men who carried out the attack.

But again, even though we have individual names, we don't have any specific organization they were associated with. We know from Tunisian officials that they had been monitored by security authorities but they didn't stand out in any way as a specific threat. So still a lot of investigation to be done as to who they were carrying this attack out for and how they planned it, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely, Atika Shubert on top of it for us from London. Atika, thank you so much.

We are also following some breaking news. AT THIS HOUR, an arrest has been made in the death threats against U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, something we've been following closely. There's been a lot of questions, so let's get straight to CNN's Anna Coren. She is live for us in Tokyo. So, Anna, what are you learning now?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate, we've had confirmation from police that a 52-year-old man from Okinawa has been arrested after admitting to police that he made three phone calls to the U.S. embassy threatening to blow it up, as well as Camp Schwab, which is a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa where about 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed.

Now, as far as these calls are made, they were made this month. The death threats against Caroline Kennedy were made last month. And we understand, through local media reports, people still refusing to confirm that 30 calls have been made to the U.S. embassy specifically against Caroline Kennedy, the U.S. Ambassador to Japan who's been on the job for 16 months. She is widely respected and admired. And security, as you can imagine, at an all-time high since these threats have come to light.

Obviously, more so after the attack on the U.S. Ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, a few weeks ago, in which a crazed man wielding a knife slashed his face and arm. The ambassador sustaining injuries that required 80 stitches. In light of that, security at an all-time high for Caroline Kennedy. But you wouldn't know it, Kate. She went about daily business; she's been accompanying U.S. First Lady, Michelle Obama, who's currently here in Japan. And she spoke today to the media, not about her safety concerns, but in relation to the three Japanese citizens who were killed in the terror attacks in Tunisia, Kate.

[11:05:05] BOLDUAN: So Anna, let's be clear about the arrest. What we know right now, clearly a lot more questions need to be answered. But the arrest of this man, these are for calls that were made, as I understand you're reporting, between March 5th and the 14th to the U.S. embassy. The death threats, correct me if I'm wrong, that were made about Caroline Kennedy, that happened last month. So are they saying that this man is in no way connected to those death threats then?

COREN: Well, that is something that the police are looking into, whether there is a connection between this 52-year-old man and those 30 calls that were made to the U.S. embassy last month, specifically against Caroline Kennedy. And it's those calls that are really of great concern. 30 calls it seems an extraordinary amount and against the U.S. ambassador. So as I say, security at an all-time high for Caroline Kennedy.

BOLDUAN: Understandably so. And, yes, and it should be taken just as seriously him been making three calls with a bomb threat on the U.S. embassy in any city, to be sure. The big question, of course, is in addition to all of those, is why. Have they given you any indication of what this man's motivation was making this bomb threat?

COREN: No, Kate. Police here in Tokyo remaining extremely tight- lipped about the circumstances behind those phone calls. But as you say, he said in English, "I want to bomb the U.S. embassy", "I want to bomb Camp Schwab." So he made his intentions certainly very clear. But the U.S. State Department, we heard from them earlier, saying they're working very closely with the Japanese authorities to ensure the safety of U.S. diplomts. Kate.

BOLDUAN: Anna is all over it for us in Tokyo, late night for you, Anna. Thank you so much. We'll get back to you because obviously this is developing as we speak. Thank you so much.

We're also looking at a new flash point over racial tensions right now. Right now, an unarmed black student at the University of Virginia bloodied -- just look at this image -- bloodied during an off-campus arrests. The images sparking new protesters and accusations of excessive force by police. Virginia Alcohol Control agents say 20-year-old Martese Johnson was drunk and resisted arrest outside of a pub. Some of the incident was captured on cell phone video. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, his head is bleeding! Yo, his head is bleeding. Yo, his head is bleeding.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I go to UVA! I go to UVA! I go to UVA (EXPLETIVE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're racist. What the (EXPLETIVE). How does this happen? How does this happen, you racist? How did this happen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were just like, yo. Your ID.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does this happen? How does this happen, you (EXPLETIVE) racists. You (EXPLETIVE) racist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yo, was that necessary, y'all?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Wow, Rosa Flores has been following this story for us. So Rosa, what more are we learning this mooring about this?

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know he now has a hearing a week from today; we're also learning more about Johnson as well. His attorney saying that he's 20 years old, third year at UVA. That he's a double major, a leader in this college. And we're also learning more, Kate, about what led up to this video.

BOLDUAN: Because that wasn't caught on video, right?

FLORES: Correct. And so there's this gap of information from when agents -- and you see them there -- when they decide to pursue this arrest and when he's pinned on the ground, you see the bloody video. You see pictures that where his face very bloody.

So that's the gap. What happened? Well, we do know from the authorities is that it's St. Patrick's Day. Of course there's agents out looking to see what's going on. In this particular case, they see that this -- that Johnson is not allowed into a bar. His attorney making it very clear, however, that Johnson did not present a fake ID. Of course, this is another gap of information. So what really happened. But we do know they approached and they tried to arrest and then we see this information.

At the end of the day, he was charged and we have the booking information now. Obstruction of justice without force, which is interesting, and public swearing and intoxication. He of course was sent to the hospital, he gets 10 stitches and then he's released.

BOLDUAN: The one thing we do know, while there's a lot of information to come out about the circumstances surrounding this incident, one thing we do know is that students are up in arms. And the university does not seem happy with how this played out either.

FLORES: Absolutely. The president of the university coming forward saying we need more information. We know that this was a public event. If you have a picture? Video? Testimony? Please let us know.

And also coming forward is Martese Johnson himself during a rally and here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTESE JOHNSON, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA STUDENT: I want the remainder of the students up here to be able to share their opinions and share their feelings. So I beg for you guys, regardless of your personal opinions and the way you feel about subjects, to please respect everyone here.

[11:10:02] We're all part of one community.

(CHEERS)

And we deserve to respect each other, especially in times like this. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Wow.

FLORES: Now the agents are on administrative leave and the governor also coming forward saying that he would like an investigation.

BOLDUAN: Quite something to hear from the man while he still has a gash and you can see the wound on his head calling for calm and calling for respect. That sure says something.

Rosa, thank you so much. We'll be following that.

Also following this. Authorities in Arizona, they're searching for a motive after a man goes on a shooting spree, killing one person, wounding five others. Police have identified the shooter as Ryan Elliot Giroux. The 41-year-old is a convicted felon. He was out on probation. They also point out he has tattoos on his body that are typical of a white supremacist, though a police spokesman describes one of the victims as being white of Hispanic descent and the other victims as being white. Still, it's not known then if any affiliations or any of his affiliations or beliefs had anything to do with the shooting. Charges are expected to be filed against him later today.

AT THIS HOUR, Secretary of State John Kerry is in Switzerland where Iran nuclear negotiations are back underway. Last night, leaders from Iran, the United States, and the European Union, they met to continue the discussions.

At the conclusion of the meeting, CNN's Nic Robertson was able to speak very briefly with the Iranian Foreign Minister, trying to get an update.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: How do you make progress, sir?

JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We are making progress, but there are issues that need to be resolved.

ROBERTSON: Which issues, sir?

ZARIF: Even more progress is needed.

ROBERTSON: Which issues need progress, sir?

ZARIF: All of them. No, some of them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The deadline for hammering out a framework is the end of this month. If they can pull that off, and that remains a big if, then they have until the beginning of July to finalize details.

At this point, the White House is still putting the odds of reaching an agreement at 50/50.

Staying overseas, North Korea's dictator is planning to take a rare trip aboard. A Russian official tells CNN that Kim Jong-Un will visit Moscow in May. He'll take part in Russia's annual World War II Victory Day celebrations. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Allied defeat of Nazi Germany. It would be the first official foreign trip of Kim Jong-Un as the leader of that reclusive nation.

Ahead for us AT THIS HOUR, nine people arrested in connection with the Tunisian museum massacre. One person in custody had been already known to authorities. Who are these - who are they? And what are their ties? We're going to take a look at that next.

And also this: an admission from the head of the Secret Service as one lawmaker says something doesn't smell right. The latest on the investigation into agent misconduct coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:16:06] BOLDUAN: AT THIS HOUR, Tunisian authorities say nine people have been arrested so far in yesterday -- in this week's deadly attack on a museum in Tunis. Almost two dozen people were killed. Amazing how those numbers have gone up. Most of them tourists visiting from Europe. Tunisia's president says he is sending the military to protect the nation's major cities now, but against whom? So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Although the prime minister has said that one suspect had been flagged and monitored by their services.

Let's discuss this with military analyst, retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona.

So Colonel, I want to get your take on how this has all played out right now. The most important question is who are these people, what group are they affiliated with, if any? You've got one person that they say has been flagged and monitored, but at this point said that none of them are necessarily linked to any terror group. What do you make of it?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yeah, this is a little surprising that they haven't been able to identify at least the two that they've killed, what group are they affiliated with. As we've talked about before, Tunisia is the biggest source of foreign fighters for ISIS and some of these other organizations. So they've sent thousands off to the battlefield and hundreds have returned. So I think it was only a matter of time before we saw this internal violence. It's amazing that the security services in Tunisia don't have a better handle on who these returnees are. I'm surprised they don't have a better idea who it is or maybe they do and they're holding that back right now as they continue their investigation. But these nine arrests are positive, so they're going to start whittling this down.

BOLDUAN: That was actually one of the questions I had for you. How strong are the Tunisian intelligence services, do you think, in trying to weed this out, can conduct this investigation? FRANCONA: Well, the Tunisians have a good internal security service

who would be handling this. Their overseas intelligence service, we work very closely with them, but their internal service is pretty good. If you notice, there hasn't been a whole lot of violence in Tunisia despite the presence of a lot of these groups. And you look at where they are, this is a tough neighborhood. They've got Libya to the east with Ansar al-Sharia, now an ISIS affiliate, Algeria has been a problem. They've had border clashes. So I think it was - They've done a good job so far, but yesterday was -- you know, the terrorists only have to be right one time.

BOLDUAN: That's absolutely right. And you kind of alluded to it, but with Tunisia being the country that the most foreign fighters have come from, the number standing at like 3,000 that have gone to join ISIS. In your view, is this unfortunately inevitable that this was going to happen, is those fighters, some of them returned back to their home country?

FRANCONA: I think it was only a matter of time. We've seen the calls from ISIS to conduct these lone wolf attacks, these attacks in the countries of origin. This is one of the fears we have that might happen in the United States, as some of those fighters return here. This is exactly what I think happened in Tunisia. These are committed fighters, and as you said, the numbers are overwhelming, for a small country, the numbers of people who have gone and volunteered to fight for ISIS and al Qaeda.

BOLDUAN: What are the chances that this is no link to ISIS? That this was, if you want to call it a ragtag group of fighters coming together to commit a terrorist attack?

FRANCONA: Well, ISIS is only one of the usual suspects, I'll call them. You could have Ansar al-Sharia, you could al Qaeda and Islamic Maghreb, which is very active but to the west. It could be any of these Islamic groups. I think the President of Tunisia just referred to them as Islamic extremists. They haven't really identified the group yet, but they will. It's just a matter of time. I think we need to give the Tunisians the time to find out who did this.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

[11:20:00] Colonel, stay with us.

Let's bring in CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank.

Paul, I know you've been burning up the phones and this is your area of expertise. The colonel and I have been talking about the fact that he says it's a little surprising that they haven't found links to any group. They said the one guy has been monitored and flagged. What are you hearing now?

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: In the last few minutes, there's been a claim of responsibility in a 3 minute audiotape put out by ISIS on Twitter. CNN are working to confirm this, but the SITE Intelligence Group found this posting which has just been put out there by ISIS claiming responsibility for this attack in Tunisia. They didn't offer any proof --

BOLDUAN: This is a big deal. SITE, this is a group that we often look to. They flag these things quite often. CNN, as Paul points out, is going through the vetting process to try to confirm its authenticity, to look into this claim. But you all along have suspected that there would be a link to ISIS on this.

CRUICKSHANK: Yes. I think a lot of us thought that ISIS could be responsible because so many Tunisians have gone to join ISIS; up to 3,000 traveling to Syria and Iraq. Up to 500 trained killers who have returned to Tunisia from there. So the thought was that there could be an ISIS link here. ISIS are now claiming this for themselves. But in this audio recording, they do not offer any proof that they were responsible. This could be kind of an opportunistic claim of responsibility. It doesn't necessarily mean that ISIS was behind this, but they're now attaching their name to this. They want to claim credit for this. They think it's going to work to their advantage for propaganda purposes. This is a really major development here. ISIS, it would appear on Twitter through official portals, claiming responsibility. The SITE Intelligence Group located this claim. They're very good at locating these kind of claims, generally.

BOLDUAN: They are very good at this. This is something, one of their strong points. Paul, stick with me.

Colonel, as you and I were talking, and Paul has now brought this big news, what does this change? If this claim is authenticated, what does this change?

FRANCONA: I think it just underscores ISIS' reach and its expansion. You know, despite the pounding they're taking in Iraq and Syria, they're still able to conduct operations in Iraq, in Syria. We see them active now in several different countries and this is just another country. More expansion. And it's this coalescing and jelling of many of these disparate Islamic groups into one thing they can all feel a part of. I think it's a very dangerous precedent and as Paul said, many of us have thought this and I don't recall ISIS making very many claims that they haven't backed up. So I think we'll see more proof, but I think this fits the pattern that we've expected.

BOLDUAN: Paul, from your perspective - and yesterday, we were talking about Ansar al-Sharia and other groups that are very prevalent within Tunisia. This is something that Tunisia has been fighting, these extreme elements. Do you see this as these groups pledging allegiance to ISIS or specifically ISIS agents from outside coming in? What would your guess be?

CRUICKSHANK: Well, that remains to be seen but somebody with these kind of gun handling skills, I mean, the suspicion would be that they would be trained, perhaps, in Syria or Iraq. But don't discount the possibility that these gunmen were trained in Libya, because we know that ISIS in the eastern part of Libya has been training Tunisians in a number of training camps in the Green Mountains between Derna and Benghazi. It's quite possible that they could have been trained in Libya. Of course, possible that these gunmen didn't travel to either front. But ISIS now clearly claiming responsibility, but Ansar al- Sharia and other potential suspects here, up to 40,000 followers inside Tunisia. A group with affiliations to the same name group in Libya, which carried out that attack on the U.S. consular in Benghazi in September 2012, just a few days after that, the same group carried out a mob attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tunis. There's also a north African al Qaeda affiliate, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, that has a presence in the mountainous region along the Algerian border. They have around 60 fighters or so. They've been really active, the most active terrorist group inside Tunisian and late last year, they said that they were going to bring their campaign of terrorism to Tunis. But I think, you know, now clearly ISIS are saying, "We were responsible." They haven't offered a shred of proof so far. Is this just an opportunistic claim or were they really behind this? A lot of questions.

BOLDUAN: A lot of questions but is developing as we speak. As Paul has been bringing it to us, there's been a claim of responsibility by ISIS on Twitter. Something that is being vetted. No proof they have provided, but something that obviously we are all looking into right now.

Paul Cruickshank, great to see you, thank you so much. Colonel Francona, thank you, as always.

[11:25:00] Coming up for us AT THIS HOUR, hundreds of students are saying officers went too far in the violent arrest of a classmate that was caught on video and now Virginia's governor is demanding an investigation into whether the officers crossed the line. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A young unarmed black student violently arrested by white officers. Protesters demanding answers. Officials there are calling for an investigation. This all happening at the University of Virginia. The incident involves 20-year-old Martese Johnson, a third year student at the University of Virginia. Blood coming from a gash in his forehead, you can see, during an arrest outside a pub near campus. His head injury required ten stitches. Virginia's Alcohol Control agents, they say that Johnson is charged with public intoxication and obstruction of justice. Some of the incident was captured on cell phone video. Take a look here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARTESE JOHNSON, VICTIM: I go to UVA! I go to UVA you (EXPLETIVE DELETED)! I go to UVA you (EXPLETIVE DELETED)!

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNSON: (EXPLETIVE DELETED). You racist! You (EXPLETIVE DELETED) racist! What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED). How does this happen? How does this happen, you racist? How does this happen?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yo, those (EXPLETIVE DELETED). They were just like yo, let us check your ID.

JOHNSON: How does this happen? How does this happen, you (EXPLETIVE DELETED) racist?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Let's bring in the University of Virginia's Vice President of Diversity and Equity, Dr. Marcus Martin, as well as our legal analyst, Paul Callan. Paul, stick with me.

Dr. Martin, thank you so much for jumping on with us. You wrote a letter to the university, essentially, to students, faculty and staff, and I just want to read it a little bit to our viewers to get your take.

[11:30:01]