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FBI Searches for Suspect in NYC, New Jersey Bombings; ISIS Claims Responsibility for Minnesota Stabbing. Aired 10:30-11a ET.

Aired September 19, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00] JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But there are huge problems there, because at the end of the day, if you're reaching out to companies in Silicon Valley and trying to tell them what to do from Washington, they're not always going to align themselves with you. They're very difficult to get them in the tent(ph) when they have to protect not only their shares their bottom lines, but also the people who are their customers who say they have a right to privacy. So there's a constant conflict there. The conflict has always been security versus personal liberty, and you see it playing out with these companies.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: David, when all is said and done, you know, we're at this uneasy time at this moment, right? People are afraid. Anxiety is high, security is at high in New Jersey and in New York, and I'm sure they're not feeling so great in Minnesota, and then you have two candidates who are, for lack of a better term, playing politics with this. It's not drawing the country together to work together, it's putting them in different camps. Isn't there a danger in that?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, I don't know because we're also at a time for choosing, Carol. This is 50 days before the election, this is a week before the first presidential debate, and I think you're seeing both candidates put forward their styles, their - you could say playing politics, but I think more what is happening here is they are grappling with these breaking news events and trying to five the voters a sense of how they would react in these real-time situations as president. I think providing that contrast is key for voters to make their decision. Clearly, they realize this is an opportunity to put those credentials, those responses on display for voters to make their choices.

COSTELLO: All right, I have to leave it there. David Chalian, Nia- Melika Henderson, Joe Johns, Karen Greenberg, Joe Giacalone, thanks to all of you. Coming up next in THE NEWSROOM, I'll talk with the mayor of Seaside Park, New Jersey, where the very first explosion took place.

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[10:35:00] COSTELLO: All right. A lot of breaking news we're following this morning. We understand there will be a big news conference at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time here in New York City. Taking part in that news conference is the FBI, the New York City mayor, the police commissioner, and also the U.S. Attorney. Again, that press conference is at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time. Hopefully, they will release some more new information. We have been getting new information all morning long. Take a look at this man. His name is Ahmad Khan Rahami.

He's wanted for questioning in the New York City and New Jersey explosions. He's 28 years old. He was born in Afghanistan. He's a naturalized American citizen. His last known residence was in New Jersey. Authorities are now urging the public to contact the FBI with any tips. The number to call, hopefully it will be on your screen soon, is 1-800-577-TIPS. 1-800-577-TIPS. Now, police say this man, Ahmad Khan Rahami, is believed to be the man seen in separate surveillance videos at both Chelsea locations and New York City on Saturday night. CNN's Jessica Schneider live in Chelsea with more on that. Good morning.

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. You know a flurry of activity overnight that has now led the New York State Police, the NYPD, the FBI, and also the New Jersey State Police to move their manhunt to a plea to the public. They have widely disseminated the photos of Ahmad Khan Rahami, and they're now asking for the public's help. They've disseminated these photos online, also on their Twitter pages, and they say that Ahmad Khan Rahami is 28 years old and his last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Now they've gotten significant clues and significant help from video surveillance right here in Manhattan. They say that Rahami was seen in two different locations; the location right here at West 23rd Street when that explosion went off on Saturday night and just four blocks north of here on West 27th where that pressure cooker was found.

They say that the videos show Rahami with a black duffle back that was on wheels at this location and then also at the West 27th Street location. They say they also found video evidence of two other men, who were somehow associated with that duffle bag, though we haven't heard the identities of those men at this time. So for now, the intense focus is on that 28-year-old. A little bit more about Rahami: He was born in Afghanistan. He is a naturalized citizen right here in the United States. Again, the last known address was in Elizabeth, New Jersey, so now he is the subject of this intense and widespread manhunt, while the investigation right here at the scene of that explosion continues. Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jessica Schneider reporting live for us this morning. Joining me now on the phone is the mayor of Seaside Park, New Jersey. His name is Robert Mathies. Welcome, Sir.

MAYOR ROBERT MATHIES, SEASIDE PARK, NEW JERSEY,: Good morning, how are you, Carol?

COSTELLO: I'm good, Mr. Mayor. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with me this morning. With all of the breaking developments this morning, what's going through your mind?

MATHIES: Well, I've got tremendous confidence in the resources in the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I am not surprised that they are now identifying a perpetrator. Whether that perpetrator is the same one that was here in Seaside Park, I don't know, but all the resources from the local to the county to state, and of course the federal office, are very sophisticated, very thorough in their investigation. So I'm not surprised at all.

[10:40:09] COSTELLO: Does it surprise you that sources are telling us that the Seaside Park explosion is now connected to the explosion in Chelsea?

MATHIES: I don't know that. I wouldn't be surprised, but it could be a single event and I wouldn't be surprised about that also. Right now, I'm concerned about Seaside Park and the - my neighbors and constituents, and of course the local authorities that are on patrol and doing their best job to make sure that they're vigilant and that if there is anything that is out of the ordinary that they immediately take care of that.

COSTELLO: Is there fear that there may be more explosive devices out there somewhere?

MATHIES: Well, of course there's a fear. That's - that's why you step up your observation, your vigilance, and so on. There's always a chance that there could have been something else, but we don't know that and I don't know if the FBI is tracking that way(ph). I'm sure the possibility is there.

COSTELLO: Mr. Trump said on "Fox and Friends" this morning that the police's hands are tied by political correctness. Do you agree with that?

MATHIES: Say that again? What is tried by political correctness?

COSTELLO: The police's hands.

MATHIES: No. I don't. I think we support those that we have in those positions and we move forward with them. As far as tying their hands, I know there are many, many policies and practices and things that need to be observed, I understand that. But just like in any other profession, those are the rules of the road, you move forward, you're doing the best job you possibly can.

COSTELLO: Sources are also telling us that there's the possibility that some sort of terror cell may be at work here, not just lone wolves, but a group of people who are coordinated in their efforts. Your thoughts on that.

MATHIES: We found that after 9/11, that there were these cells around and I believe that some of them were in the vicinity of Seaside Park and in Ocean County, so these are possible. I mean, these are certainly possible. The world is a much smaller place that it ever was. To think that something like this happening here is connected globally into a subversive group somewhere else is hard to fathom.

COSTELLO: All right, Mayor Robert Mathies, Seaside Park, New Jersey, thanks for being with me this morning. I'll be right back.

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[10:45:00] COSTELLO: All right, breaking news this morning. I want to put up this man's picture one more time, because the FBI and local law enforcement officials are looking for them. I'm sure they're quite organized. This man's name is Ahmad Khan Rahami. He's wanted in connection with the bombings in Seaside Park, New Jersey and also in Chelsea, New York, in Manhattan. So if you see this man, if you know anything about this man, please call the FBI. The number to call is 1-800-577-TIPS. An operator is standing by, so please. It's important. We also know the name of the man who officials say went on a stabbing rampage over the weekend at a Minnesota mall. Federal law enforcement officials say he is 22-year-old, Dahir Adan. They say he stabbed nine people before an off-duty police officer shot him to death. An ISIS-linked news agency is now calling Adan a soldier of the Islamic State. The FBI is investigating the attack as a potential act of terrorism. Rosa Flores, live in Saint Cloud with more. Hi, Rosa.

ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. A lot of developments here. Let me start with the latest from police. They, of course, have been investigating this stabbing spree over the weekend on Saturday. Just imagine: Police say that a man dressed in a private security firm uniform entered into the mall and made some sort of reverence to Allah, asked several people if they were Muslims, and then started attacking people at that mall with a knife. Now police are not identifying him just yet, but however, community leaders her in Minnesota who are in contact with the family had released his name. And, as Carol mentioned, his name is Dahir Adan, 22 years old. He went to school in this community. He worked in this community for a private security firm. But we have to add this, that authorities believe that this situation would have been so much worse if it wasn't for a hero that was on site, a police officer that they are identifying as Jason Falconer, from a nearby town who happened to be at the mall, who responded quickly. Now according to the surveillance video, officials say - officials who watched that surveillance video say that he reacted very quickly, even when the attacker was lunging at him, he went ahead and took out his weapon, fired it a shot, and killed the suspect. Carol.

10:49:59] COSTELLO: All right, Rosa Flores, reporting live from Saint Cloud, Minnesota this morning, thanks so much. I want to bring back in my panel. With me now is Karen Greenberg, Director of the Center on National Security at Fordham University Law School and a terrorism analyst, and Joseph Giacalone, a law enforcement trainer and former NYPD sergeant, welcome back. So, Karen, I want to start with you and this man in Minnesota. We don't know too much about him, but the Somali community in Minnesota knows of the family. The family is well known.

KAREN GREENBERG, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER ON NATIONAL SECURITY AT FORDHAM UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL AND TERRORISM ANALYST: Yes, this is the first attack in the United States that a Somali American has been involved in. There was a plot years ago, but this is the first one. So I think that's also a threshold. The Somali community - Somali American community that's been attracted to ISIS has largely wanted to go abroad to fight either with Al-Shabaab or in Syria. So, you know. But let me tell you about just in terms of who these individuals are compared to - there are 110 cases of ISIS individuals in the United States right now over the past two years. Most of them are 20, for the most part, when they're apprehended and arrested. But those who carry out attacks tend to be older, like the individual that they're looking for in New York right now. They tend to be in their late 20s. Also interesting are the countries that they come from. The San Bernardino attack, the Orlando attack, a number of the serious threats to New York City were from people whose background was in Afghanistan. So that really brings in the larger picture of what actually are the dislocating elements here. And finally, there's often some personal trauma that precedes these attacks. Who knows what it'll be. We hear that the individual they're looking for was evicted - in New Jersey was evicted.

COSTELLO: But the thing is with the attack in Minnesota, ISIS claimed responsibility for that.

GREENBERG: ISIS claimed responsibility after they heard that the name of the person was Muslim. Who knows what it means to call responsibility for it. We don't know. And they may end up claiming responsibility for this, but the ...

COSTELLO: So that doesn't necessarily mean that they ordered it from one of these other countries?

GREENBERG: Of course not. And we haven't found, with the exception of some internet cases that have called for things over the internet that haven't been realized, we haven't seen that kind of direct connection that we saw, as I said before, with Al Qaida. What it means to be inspired by ISIS, in some ways, is more unsettling. It's - if you're really feeling that you're mistreated, that you aren't as successful as other individuals, here's what you can do anywhere, anytime. But is that a direct mission or direct message? I don't think so.

COSTELLO: So, Joe - and we're separating out the Minnesota attack because they're not connecting that to the bombings here on the East Coast, Right? So is it really a terror cell or is it these groups of disenfranchised young men who are getting together to cause trouble?

JOSEPH GIACALONE, LAW ENFORCEMENT TRAINER: Well, apparently it seems to be groups of individuals that have just, you know, have a hatred for the United States, have a hatred for our way of life, and that they are going to take it to us with these bombs and different types of devices that they're going to use. I mean, we used a knife up in Minnesota, we had the pressure cookers here, you know, no guns involved in this which is kind of, you know, unusual when you take a look at it. But, you know, law enforcement has a tough job ahead if it because, you know, we want to gain the intelligence but we have to do it within the boundaries of the Constitution. And this is where that whole, you know, mixture(ph) that we have a problem with. Because sometimes as a democracy it's very difficult to fight terrorism because you have to infringe rights sometimes, and that's what the problem is.

COSTELLO: So can you two help us put this into perspective? Because it is, I mean, it causes one to freak out to know that there was an attack in Minnesota, right? There was an attack in Seaside, New Jersey. There were bombs found in Elizabeth, New Jersey, right? And then in Chelsea, there were those two pressure cooker bombs. So is it this wave of terrorism rolling over the country? Like, put it in perspective for me.

GREENBERG: It's the week of 9/11. If you were - this is the week after 9/11 that these attacks occurred in. If there were going to be a sense of "let's do something that people will pay attention to, let's destabilize people," that's what you would pick. To say a wave of terrorism, the way we've understood terrorism in the past, would be, you know, expanding that. Let's understand, people did not die in these attacks, that the ability of these individuals to carry out attacks in a sophisticated, coordinated, effective way has been minimized. I think that's because of our law enforcement efforts and our intelligence efforts, which are vast, which have become extremely adept at sort of understanding what the threat is. That doesn't mean we can't do better, but I don't think it's just a question of civil liberties(ph) issue. I think that it's morphing, that the terrorism - and so we may not be using the word terrorism for this, you know, years down the road.

COSTELLO: All Right. I have to leave it there. Karen, Joe, thanks so much for sticking around. I do appreciate it. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan after a break.

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