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At This Hour

ISIS Claims Yemen Mosque Attacks; U.S.-Israeli Relations Strained Further?; Examining Netanyahu's Statements on Two-State Solution; Secret Service Scandal Latest; Terrorists Attack Yemen, Killing Dozens. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired March 20, 2015 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:10] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'm Kate Bolduan.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm John Berman. And we do begin with breaking news. 120 people are dead after deadly blasts ripped through two mosques in Yemen's capital Sanaa. This is a country that seems to be spiraling out of control. A country that is a crucial front in a U.S. war on terror and according to Reuters, ISIS has claimed responsibility for this attack.

BOLDUAN: The mosques served as Shia Muslim group that recently took control of the capital city and forced Yemen's president to flee the country.

Let's get to more on this. Senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is following all of this for us.

So, Nick, the number of dead just seems to keep on climbing. But now this claim of responsibility that we're hearing from Reuters, what more are you hearing?

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we've seen the same statement that purports to be from ISIS, the Islamic State as they would call themselves, and it does emanate from a Web site which previously have released statements from ISIS in the past.

Now I should point out the fact that this statement says ISIS is behind it doesn't mean that they are. But it's already circulating on social media. I have to also point out many analyst observers of the other potential suspects from behind a multiple blast like this, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, many observes of their activities say they haven't in the past targeted mosques, Shia mosques, in this particular instance in such a way.

So many are scratching their heads, I think, in Yemen to try and work out who could be behind this horrifying new departure. The sectarian nature of which is so chilling for a country already falling apart like Yemen.

Let me explain again. These are Houthis being targeted. Now they're said to be backed by Iran. There are movements that's been successful in sweeping across the country ousting the government of President Hardy who's now fled to another city in the country, not the country itself, and they are also Shia.

There are mosques targeted during busy Friday prayer. Horrific pictures of the damage shown on social media. Those inside are torn apart. Hospitals appealing for blood and it's the nature of the attack that has many wondering what kind of extremist would be behind it. It's very redolent of al Qaeda. One blast, a suicide bomber hits the worshippers inside the building then people rush in to help. Another blast targets them.

There is also reports of a third blast in north of the country, in another Houthi stronghold, too. But if that Sunni extremist nature of these tactics that has many worrying that this could a departure of Yemen into Sunni-Shia sectarian violence like we're seeing across the Middle East now -- Iraq, Syria, even some say in other parts of the region, too.

So real fears about this being a new chapter in Yemen's decline and now ISIS trying to get into the game here. We don't know if this statement is 100 percent genuine. Have to provide evidence, you might imagine, to explain how they in a country where they are not known to have much of a presence or capability have managed to mount an attack like this. Al Qaeda have a lot of presence around there, too. But it's a very horrifying day for those in Yemen and observing it and it's geopolitical importance as well -- Brianna.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Nick, I'll take it. It would be a huge development if this ISIS claim did pan out. That's for sure. But regardless, the death toll itself just a horrific day in what has been a very difficult, difficult many months of chaos in Yemen already.

Nick Paton Walsh for us. Thanks so much, Nick.

Also some new information this morning about the terror attack in Tunisia. The massacre that left 23 people dead. Most of them foreign tourists. Libyan officials now say two of the suspects in the attack received weapons training at camps in Libya activated from sleeper cells inside Tunisia. That's according to the country's security minister.

BERMAN: In a new audio message, ISIS claims responsibility for this attack and calls it just the start of things to come. Now CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the message. Nevertheless it is troubling.

Want to go now straight to Phil Black in Tunis.

Phil, what do we now know about these suspects?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you touched on there, John and Kate, is that yes, the Tunisian government believes that they were people who belong to some sort of jihadist cell here in Tunisia before crossing into Libya undergoing training they say in the east of the country around Benghazi before then ultimately crossing back and carrying out this attack. They haven't revealed how they have traced these movements, why they believe or who ultimately they met, who they conducted the training with and so forth.

That is a part of the country where ISIS affiliated groups operate training camps that we understand. So it is drawing closer perhaps to that link there. Following on from that claim of responsibility by ISIS through an online audio recording. Now that online audio recording didn't go into a great deal of detail either. Didn't explain just how or what evidence or provide any degree of detail that would suggest that these particular gunmen were in direct contact with ISIS leadership in Syria and Iraq. [11:05:15] That points to a possible scenario where what's been

described as an ISIS franchise now perhaps exists here in Tunisia. The latest ISIS franchise where individuals, perhaps a local group, act out of inspiration from ISIS following its goals and messages to the degree to which they are prepared to -- to conduct an operation like this.

BERMAN: And perhaps ISIS promising a sign of things to come.

Phil Black, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

New strains in U.S.-Israeli relations and House Speaker John Boehner right in the middle of it again. The Republican leader getting set to visit Israel within the next two weeks. Some people say this is a victory lap after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's surprisingly strong win on the heels of his visit to the U.S. Congress. That visit did come at the invitation of Speaker Boehner and against really the wishes of the White House.

BOLDUAN: Now President Obama for his part, well, he's now put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on notice saying in a phone call with the prime minister that the U.S. is reassessing aspects of the relationship with Israel following Netanyahu's provocative declaration just days before his election that he no longer supported a two-state solution. He then walked that back quite a bit after winning election.

Let's go to the White House. Michelle Kosinski is there.

So, Michelle, what are they saying at the White House this morning following this really serious warning?

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right. They have had a lot to say. It's really been stunning to see the level of criticism by the White House towards what Netanyahu said leading up to his election. I mean, the White House has called this divisive, cynical, saying that it erodes the foundation of the relationship between the U.S. and Israel. And the president made it very clear as well as the press secretary that this is a re-evaluation now because of what he said of the position going forward.

I mean, the press secretary in briefing yesterday said 19 times that this is a new look at basically the relationship and how the U.S. sets policy. Also making it clear that that includes the U.S.' constant backing up of Israel in the U.N. and that's serious.

BERMAN: And of course one of the discussion points, one of the hot points between the U.S. and Israel right now are the nuclear negotiations with Iran. On that front, the president sent a message to the people of Iran overnight.

KOSINSKI: Yes, I mean, this is unusual. It was a sort of statement of happy holidays basically but included what was this video message with it that was pretty lengthy and said that Iran's people -- their leaders have a choice. It was directed toward the people of Iran but saying the leadership could either choose the path of peace and prosperity in agreement to keep a peaceful nuclear program or the path of further isolation and sanctions that just keeps the people more out of the -- you know, it cuts down on their opportunities and keeps them out of dialogue with the rest of the world basically.

We had a question, well, how many average Iranians are really going to see this YouTube video by the president. We got a response from the National Security Council saying that the White House has taken pains to try to really get this out here, saying that we've subtitled it in Farci and shared it widely online through the White House Web site, YouTube, the State Department's Virtual Embassy Tehran platform.

Based on feedback we've received we know that people inside of Iran are seeing the message. They also said they put it out on Voice of America in Farci, radio and television. And the NSC also states that our experience has been that Iranians are tech savvy and have ways of circumventing Iranian government attempts to limit the freedom of information.

But you know, when you look at the state Web sites, there is absolutely no mention anywhere in any form of the president's address to the people-- John and Kate.

BOLDUAN: Michelle Kosinski at the White House for us. Michelle, thank you so much.

Also have this. New efforts under way to try and calm the anger that really erupted following that bloody arrest of Martese Johnson. He's that University of Virginia. Officials from the state's Alcohol Control Agency and local police, they're going to be meeting with UVA students about two hours from now for a question-and-answer session about it all.

BERMAN: Video of the violent takedown of the 20-year-old has triggered new accusations about excessive use of force. Officers say -- officers say the incident started when Johnson was denied entry into a bar. We heard Johnson's account for the first time through his attorney. He says agents were questioning his client about having a fake I.D. even though he had presented a valid identification card and that the arresting officer struck Johnson's head on the pavement. That caused a gash you're looking at right there. They claim it required 10 stitches.

Johnson's mother is also speaking out.

[11:10:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DYCHEA JOHNSON, MARTESE JOHNSON'S MOTHER: I think he was treated like an animal with his face pushed into the ground and to hear him screaming with nobody there to help him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: We have more on this later this hour. We're going to be joined by the president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement executives.

BOLDUAN: Ahead for us also AT THIS HOUR, more on that phone call between President Obama and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu. The warning, the response and what it means for the already strained relationship between the U.S. and Israel.

BERMAN: And then the madness, the pressure, the anxiety of getting into a top college. A new book says it's setting the wrong priorities and producing the wrong kind of student.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: President Obama says he's reassessing aspects of the U.S. relationship with Israel. That was a message that he sends -- that he offered up to Benjamin Netanyahu during a congratulatory phone call to the prime minister following his election victory.

BERMAN: Netanyahu seems to be backtracking on comments he made late in his campaign where he said he was opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

Joining us now to talk about this, CNN political commentator and senior columnist for the Israeli newspaper " Haaretz," Peter Beinart, thanks so much for being with us.

PETER BEINART, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Sure.

BERMAN: Peter, look, when you say you're going to reassess your relationship with Israel as an American president, that is a radical departure from past policy. And you have your press secretary get up to the podium and say we are rethinking our actions here.

BOLDUAN: Nineteen times or something.

BERMAN: It's a radical departure from where we were before.

You've been doing some reporting on this. What is the White House say that Israel needs to do? Could Benjamin Netanyahu say anything about these comments to fix it?

BEINART: Well, the White House has a problem. They're not reassessing the security relationship. But remember the Palestinians have been going to the U.N. The Palestinians have been saying we want to pursue statehood through the U.N. and other international fora.

The Obama administration has been working very, very hard behind the scenes for -- in several years now, pushing back on that on that, saying no, negotiations are the only way towards creating a Palestinian state so when Benjamin Netanyahu comes along and says, I don't support a Palestinian state, it basically completely cuts them off at the knees and so they genuinely have a real problem in terms of how to hold of this Palestinian pressure. They would need -- they'd need much from Netanyahu than this.

[11:15:04] They would need him to actually commit in some tangible ways, maybe some kind of settlement freeze, some statement about what the perimeters of this Palestinian state that he's for one day because he's never laid out those perimeters.

[11:15:10] BOLDUAN: First off, on the most basic level, which Netanyahu do you believe? Do you believe Netanyahu pre-election, a couple days before, 2009, or now?

BEINART: There's a video of Benjamin Netanyahu from 1978 when he was a young man talking about how adamantly opposed he was to a Palestinian state.

BOLDUAN: People evolve from 1978.

BEINART: That's right. But remember, when he was elected in 2009, he was against a Palestinian state. The only reason he came out in 2009 and endorsed it was because he was under enormous international pressure. And even then, he never asked his government to formally endorse it --

BOLDUAN: The pressure is still there though.

BEINART: Well, that's right, except that I think what Netanyahu wants is to do just enough to keep the pressure at bay while also - Remember, everyone in his party is against the two-state solution. Every member of (inaudible) from his party is basically against the two-state solution. Everyone in his government who matters will be against the two-state solution. The politics at home, even if he really wanted to be for it, on the right in Israel there's no constituency for it.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And he just won. Make no mistake about it. He just won reelection handily -

BEINART: After saying he was against the two-state solution.

BERMAN: Exactly.

BEINART: He has a mandate for that.

BERMAN: Let me say this. What will it take for him to change his policy from the international perspective? Will the U.S. -- if the U.S. keeps this up, how much does Benjamin Netanyahu care?

BEINART: I think the threat is probably less from the U.S. and more from Europe. Israel is more economically tied to Europe than it is to the United States. The Europeans are more critical than the United States. And if there's no peace process for long enough, the European economic relationship with Israel may start to really suffer and I think that could change things.

BOLDUAN: What then do you make, finally, of what the president is saying and what the press secretary is saying? The fact they're saying reassess. What do you really think that means?

BEINART: I really think that Barack Obama wants some kind of legacy on this issue. He now knows that that legacy -

BOLDUAN: (Laughing). Which is every president (inaudible).

BEINART: Right. And I think they think that perhaps their legacy could be a U.N. Security Council which laid out the perimeters of a deal. They don't think Benjamin Netanyahu will negotiate it and not sure Mahmoud Abbas (inaudible), but they would put it out there for it to be the benchmark for someone in the future.

BERMAN: His legacy would be to go against the wishes of Israel, is essentially what you're saying, and the wishes of the Israeli Prime Minister?

BEINART: I think he genuinely believes that the wishes of this Israeli Prime Minister are leading Israel into a very dark place.

BERMAN: Peter Beinart, fascinating discussion. Thank you so much.

BOLDUAN: Thanks, Peter. Great to see you.

BERMAN: Ahead for US AT THIS HOUR, there was no crash. The head of the Secret Service says reports of agents running into a White House gate were not true. But why was video of that incident taped over and why doesn't the Secret Service keep surveillance video for more than just three days?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:19] BERMAN: "Exaggerated, overblown, but unacceptable." That is how the Secret Service Director describes the agency's latest scandal, for lack of a better word. Joseph Clancy told a Senate panel that two top agents who are now under investigation did not crash into a White House barricade earlier this month, allegedly after a night of drinking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSEPH CLANCY, SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR: There was no crash. The video shows a vehicle entering the White House complex at a speed of approximately 1 to 2 miles an hour and pushing aside a plastic barrel. There was no damage to the vehicle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Now, Clancy says he still is unhappy that he didn't find out about this whole thing no matter if it was overblown or not until five days later. That surveillance video of the incident might have been lost because it was only saved for 72 hours. He confirmed at a meeting yesterday that it was lost, they believe, that it was erased per that 72-hour policy.

Let's discuss this and much more with Jonathan Wackrow. He served with the Secret Service from 2009 until last year, obviously under President Obama. Great to see you. Thanks for coming in.

JONATHAN WACKROW, FORMER SECRET SERVICE AGENT: Thanks for having me.

BOLDUAN: From outside looking in, some of this might not surprise you but from outside looking in, the 72-hour policy seems a bit of a surprise. I mean, when it's confirmed by Director Clancy yesterday that the video was lost and that it was erased and then you hear from the chairman of the Oversight Committee calling it a flat-out dumb policy, do you agree?

WACKROW: I think that's something that Joe Clancy will have to look back at and he's going to look back at the administrative policies of the video capture and how long do we maintain that video. There are a lot of videotapes around the White House. It's one of the most secure buildings in the world. It's under constant surveillance by the Secret Service. So how long do you maintain that administratively? You have to take a look at the facts. Joe Clancy didn't know about this incident for a few days.

BERMAN: That's a big fact.

WACKROW: So actually if you look at the timeline, he didn't really know about it until more than 72 hours. So I have confidence that if Joe Clancy was notified that this incident had occurred in a timely manner, then they would have been able to preserve the integrity of those tapes for that incident.

BERMAN: That's the other problem here that Joe Clancy wasn't notified of this until five days later. He says he's very angry about that and wants to fix that. How does that happen? You've been there. What are the different layers there. Someone had to affirmatively make the decision we're not telling the boss.

WACKROW: Well, I think that's one of the big things that's going on right now is Joe Clancy has a lot of issues that he has to deal with throughout his organization. He's brand new. He's only been there about a month, month and a half. He has to restructure the entire management process of the Secret Service . This won't happen overnight. Joe Clancy needs the support of everyone to overhaul.

BOLDUAN: You know these guys that were involved.

WACKROW: Absolutely.

BOLDUAN: Do you think that this incident was overblown?

WACKROW: Absolutely. I think this incident was --

BOLDUAN: But still, does it make it okay?

WACKROW: No. It doesn't. So there's two different things there. Having an incident overblown and making it all right, drastically different.

BERMAN: Differentiate. What was overblown and where did they violate what you consider to be the right way of doing things?

WACKROW: Here is what was overblown. Unfortunately, rumor got ahead of the facts. For many days, you know, rumor just perpetuated in the media and there are a lot of different media outlets reporting that they careened into a barricade and that they ran over packages. We now know a lot of that was untrue. So that's where things got overblown. It's going to take Joe Clancy and the Department of Homeland Security a little bit of time to weed out the facts. Remember, there were two incidents that night. One was the unattended package. First and foremost, we need to look at that investigation because that has the direct impact on whether or not there's a violation of security protocol. Secondarily, we have to look at this incident. Were any rules and regulations violated? Were these individuals drinking? Were they drinking in a government car? Those facts have not come out yet. We need to allow --

BOLDUAN: You talked to these guys. Do you think there will be disciplinary action?

WACKROW: Yes. Absolutely. This is Joe Clancy's first litmus test as director. If he does not get ahead of this, if disciplinary action is warranted, he'll take it and he'll ensure that proper protocols were followed.

BOLDUAN: Can I ask you a separate issue? This has just become a thorn in my side. It's Secret Service related, but not exactly on this incident. When all of these questions were coming at the director, he was at an appropriations committee hearing.

[11:25:00] At the appropriations committee hearing, he asked, in the midst of all of this that the Secret Service needs $8 million to build a replica of the White House for training purposes. $8 million in the scope of government funding, not a lot. $8 million to you, me and everyone else is a lot. It was described as my producer in a very smart way, they're asking for an $8 million dollhouse to train in. Do they need it?

WACKROW: Absolutely. Absolutely. You have to look at the way that the Secret Service has been funded in the past and what we've done with training. One of the biggest problems with the Secret Service is that we have not had adequate training year over year. I applaud Joe Clancy and the senior management of the service. At this point in time, to get ahead of that we need proper funding for technology, we need proper funding for our people and for training and that $8 million replica is going to be -- it will pay dividends for years to come.

BERMAN: Great to have you here.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: We'll talk about this.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: I'll take your perspective, but you need to prove that you've earned 8 million bucks while not driving while drinking in a government vehicle. Maybe. We'll talk about it later. Thank you so much for being with us.

Ahead AT THIS HOUR for us, the death toll sky rockets in Yemen after suicide bombers attack two mosques. Why were they targeted and who is behind it? Much more on this horrible death toll coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: AT THIS HOUR, the death toll in Yemen is rising after two suicide attacks in the capital city there.

BERMAN: This is what we know right now. 120 people killed. That number seems to be rising. 300 more injured and Reuters is reporting that ISIS is now claiming responsibility.