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ISIS Claims Responsibility for Terrorist Attack on Museum in Tunis; White House Reportedly Reconsidering Policy Options Regarding Israeli Alliance; Loretta Lynch Standoff Takes Racial Turn; Obama to Reassess U.S.-Israel Relationship. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired March 20, 2015 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:12] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The audio claim from ISIS that they were, indeed, behind the attack.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ISIS just conducted something they consider a major success.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to see these low level attacks, but high impact attacks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Obama speaking out directly to the people of Iran.

BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Together we have to speak up for the future we seek. Iran's leaders have a choice between two paths.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Netanyahu, he now supports a two-state solution.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's concerning to see this immediate reversal or flip-flop.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: I haven't changed my policy. What has changed is the reality.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira.

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MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Spring what?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Look at what's going on in Washington D.C. on the first day of spring. Wow, somebody did not get that memo. Good morning, everybody. Welcome back to your NEW DAY. It's Friday, March 20th, 8:00 in the east. Chris Cuomo is off. John Berman is with us. Great to have had you all week. New details this morning about the two gunmen killed while

carrying out the terror attack on the National Museum in Tunis. Officials say they were activated by sleeper cells in Tunisia and trained at a jihadist camp in Libya. Nine other suspects in custody.

PEREIRA: And 23 people were killed in that museum attack, many of them western tourists. ISIS is claiming responsibility for the slaughter, but are they really behind it? CNN's Phil black begins our coverage. He's live in Tunis. Phil?

PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Michaela, Tunis' security minister has said the gunmen were members of an existing jihadi cell. They traveled across the border into neighboring Libya where they were trained before crossing back to carry out the attack. It's a concern because Libya is a country where ISIS affiliated groups have developed a strong foothold. This as ISIS claims responsibility for the attack with an audio recording that also carries an ominous warning.

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BLACK: "This is just the start," says ISIS in an unverified message, the brutal militant group claiming responsibility for the deadliest attack on tourists in the Middle East in over a decade. ISIS claiming the attack targeted crusaders and apostates. When gunmen opened fire inside a museum in Tunisia's capital Wednesday, the gunmen killing 23 people, injuring dozens more, many international visitors.

DAVID CAMERON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: This is the latest example of extremist terror, and we have to fight it with everything we have.

BLACK: Nine people have already been arrested according to Tunisian authorities, four directly linked to the attacks. The prime minister identified two suspects by name saying on French radio station RTL one had been known to security services. The two gunmen killed, recruited at a Tunisian mosque in September and trained at a jihadist camp in Libya according to Tunisian interior official who spoke to Reuters. Those attackers were carrying terrible explosives. Tunisia's president Beji Caid Essebsi told French broadcaster TFI the security forces worked quickly, killing them before detonation. President Obama called Essebsi Thursday offering continued U.S. support in the investigation.

LT. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: You're going to see these low level attacks, but high impact attacks. This will not be long before this comes to the United States because it is so easy for ISIS, Al Qaeda, any other of these groups to do.

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BLACK: Crowds marking Tunisia's independence day are gathering in the center of Tunis. It's always a big event for this country, but many hope this year the rallies will be a symbolic gesture of defiance against those they now believe are threatening this country's very existence.

CAMEROTA: OK, Phil. To help us understand all of this let's bring in a member of the Tunisian constituent assembly Mabrouka M'Barek. She served as a member of Tunisia's parliament following the Arab spring.

Also joining us Michael Weiss. He's is a "Foreign Policy" columnist and co-author of "ISIS, Inside the Army of Terror." Great to have you both in the studio. Let's talk about the breaking news this morning. We just heard Phil Black talk about Tunisia believes that two of the attackers were trained in Libya. And just yesterday Libya's army chief seemed to issue a cry for help. He said this, "ISIS will spread in even the European countries if the west doesn't offer real help to the Libyan people, especially the Libyan army. We want weapons and ammunition only. We have the men. The army is increasing in number every day." I believe by the army he means what ISIS, what's happening with ISIS in Libya. He puts that number at now between 7,000 and 7,500 in Libya. Is the answer giving more money to the Libyan army?

MICHAEL WEISS, CO-AUTHOR, "ISIS, INSIDE THE ARMY OF TERROR": It's a good question, actually, because I consider Libya to be teetering on the brink of failed statehood. The question is, if you give it to the army, does ISIS then, if they overtake army check points or raid these weapons depots, are they then able to confiscate the weaponry?

[08:05:09] Look, we intervened in Libya and then we got out very quickly and the country sort of collapsed. Recently you had the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, the air forces of those countries bombing targets, Islamist militias in Libya. ISIS is thriving in this vacuum, in this chaos. And the number that the general gave, 7,000 ISIS members, let's put it this way, the city of Mosul, Iraq's second most populous city, is held by about 2,000 is militants, that's the estimate that the U.S. has given. And 7,000 in Libya means that this is going to spread like a cancer through North Africa.

CAMEROTA: So troubling. Mabrouka, I want to talk to you about Tunisia. It was no accident that terrorists picked Tunisia. That was seen as a bright light in the Middle East, as some budding democracy, and, of course, a mecca for tourism. How can this do anything but hurt that economy and tourism there now?

MABROUKA M'BAREK, MEMBER, TUNISIAN CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY: Absolutely. And first of all, I want to say really my heart goes with all the people, the guests of our country who really lost their lives. It is very terrible what is happening. We expected these attacks because we received many threats. This attack is not only on Tunisian people and Tunisia, it's really on the region and on the hope that this revolution will really yield successes.

Of course, this tragedy will have consequence on the economy, but let's put the economy on the side. You know, I heard some M.P.s right away talking about the tourist season. I think that's not the priority right now. We really need to think about the situation.

In all these crisis Tunisia had been resilient. That's kind of the good thing. So we're seeing more unity, and we really hope now more than ever they will be united nationally and regionally to not let terrorism stop the transition which has been so far very successful. As you know, Tunisia has held two elections, free and transparent, has the most liberal constitution in the Arab world. Of course, it was targeted for its success.

CAMEROTA: And, in fact, today they are having a unity rally in Tunis to show that they will not be coward by all of this. There were 12 passengers from one cruise ship that were killed in the museum in this attack. And just yesterday two cruise ships, big cruise lines, suspended their operations in and out of the port of Tunis indefinitely. In fact, one of the heads of one of the cruise ships puts out this statement. "Sadly, the murderous actions of the people behind this devastating attack will have far reaching and profoundly damaging effects on democratic Tunisia and its faltering economy. Tunisia can little afford to be considered a no-go zone at this time, but regrettably, that is how tourists will see it." Michael, what is the future for Tunisia now?

WEISS: Look, to attack the west you don't have to do it in the west. This is the point. They hit a popular tourist target, a museum. They killed over 20 people, many of them from western European countries, Japanese tourists. This is the goal, to strike fear into the hearts of everyone and tell people that we can get you anywhere.

In terms of what it's going to do to Tunisia's tourist industry, would ISIS love to bring that economy down, would it love to bring Tunisia to a state of collapse like in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa? Of course, because that chaos and that vacuum would then allow ISIS to proliferate.

CAMEROTA: Mabrouka, you put out a tweet after the attack and you used the hash-tag that has sort of taken hold #IwillcometoTunisia. What's the message that you want to send?

M'BAREK: Actually, I was just pointing out a campaign that started. I don't even know who started it, but that was incredible. People all around the world were showing support and saying we're not afraid and we will help you, mostly from the diaspora. You know, 10 percent of the Tunisian population lives abroad. So they said, you know, as a commitment I will help my country and I will come back to Tunisia this summer to help the economy. That was a great solidarity.

I just wanted to point out in this whole crisis and the fact that Tunisia is resilient some of the political contexts is really important for the viewer to understand. Tunisia has been under tests now since the revolution. The big test today is how the new people who are coming after the revolution can work with the old people, the old regime who are back to work together on a common fight. So this is a big test. And, again, we have to make sure we don't, you know, use this, the old technique, and we have to make sure we guarantee human rights at the same time. So that's a fine balance that's going to be very challenging ahead of us.

CAMEROTA: Such a challenge. Thanks so much for explaining it to all of us. Mabrouka M'Barek, Michael Weiss, thank you so much for your context, we appreciate it. Let's head over to Michaela.

[08:10:01] PEREIRA: All right, Alisyn, new overnight, President Obama reaching out to the Iranian people in a new YouTube video urging them to pressure their leaders to accept a nuclear deal with the west. This as nuclear talks hit a stumbling block as that deadline quickly nears. Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is live in Switzerland with more for us. Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Michaela. There's been reaction here already to what President Obama said. Really what he has been said to the Iranians is you have a choice. It's a tough choice, but you need to do that to get this negotiated deal. This is what he told the Iranian people.

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BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Iran's leaders have a choice between two paths. If they cannot agree to a reasonable deal they will keep Iran on the path it's on today, a path that has isolated Iran and the Iranian people from so much of the world. If Iran's leaders can agree to a reasonable deal, it can lead to a better path, the path of greater opportunities for the Iranian people.

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ROBERTSON: Now, I asked the Iranian foreign minister here, Mr. Zarif, this morning what he thought about President Obama's message. He told me that he had already decided what his response was and that he'd put that out in a tweet. And he said, as part of that tweet he said "It is high time that the United States and its allies choose between pressure or agreement," a clear pushback against President Obama's message and against the negotiating team here with Secretary Kerry, clearly saying you're putting too much pressure on us. If you want an agreement, back off.

And there have been other interesting developments here today. Two very short meetings this morning between Secretary Kerry and some of the Iranian delegation offering not only a message for the new year of good will, good wishes to the Iranian team, but also sympathy for the Iranian president whose mother has died, which has meant that the Iranian president's brother, who's part of the negotiating team, has already left for Tehran. And this opens the door to the possibility that more members of the Iranian team may also need to follow suit and go back to Tehran. It is a big -- obviously a big thing that's happened in Iran, the death of the president's mother.

So how that affects the talks, well, for the first time in the last couple of minutes we've seen secretary Kerry leave the hotel, not for a bike ride, but to go and have lunch off campus if you will. It seems to show that the meeting's short. Secretary Kerry's got a little time on his hands right here now. John?

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Nic, thanks so much. It took two days but he finally did it. President Obama called

Benjamin Netanyahu to congratulate him on his re-election in Israel. What happened next, an indication that U.S.-Israeli relations really at rock bottom. The president warned the prime minister that the U.S. is reassessing its relationship with one of its strongest allies. Covering every angle of this, let's bring in CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. Good morning, Michelle.

MICHELLE KOSINSKI, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, John. It really seems to get worse by the day. It's been pretty stunning to hear this level of criticism from the White House of those things that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in the lead up to his re- election, which were equally jaw dropping, I mean, that there would never be a two-state solution with Palestine while he's prime minister, urging his supporters to go out and try to counteract all the Arabs heading to the polls.

The White House has called that cynical, divisive, saying that it erodes the shared values between the U.S. and Israel. And even though Netanyahu now has been trying to walk back virtually everything he said, saying, oh, no, no, no, I didn't mean it that way. The president raised these issues in the phone call. And the press secretary mentioned no fewer than 19 times in the same briefing that the U.S. is now reevaluating its position.

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JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Now the prime minister of Israel says earlier this week, days before an election, that this is a principle that he no longer subscribes to and that his nation no longer subscribes to. That means the United States needs to rethink our approach, that this -- that steps that -- that this principle has been the foundation of a number of policy decisions that have been made here, and now that that foundation has been eroded, it means that our policy decisions need to be reconsidered.

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KOSINSKI: And the White House has made it very clear that part of that reconsideration is the way that the U.S. repeatedly in a big way stands up for Israel at the U.N. Back to you guys.

CAMEROTA: OK, Michelle, thanks so much for that.

We do have an update now on our breaking news out of Yemen. Several suicide bombers attacked two mosques in the capital of Sana'a, the death toll climbing to at least 40, nearly 100 people injured. Those mosques used mainly by supporters of the Shiite Houthi group that forced the president from power. We're told a prominent cleric is among those seriously hurt.

BERMAN: The standoff over Loretta Lynch's confirmation vote getting more heated, the latest exchange of blows between Democrats and Republicans bringing race into the discussion four months after Lynch was nominated as attorney general.

[08:15:04] CNN's Athena Jones has the latest on the exchange live now from Washington -- Athena.

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. You're right. It's getting more heated by the day. Loretta Lynch has been waiting to get confirmed for longer than all five previous attorney general nominees combined. It's the longest delay, I should say, in three decades.

And now, the number two Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin, has said Republicans are asking lynch to sit in the back of the bus when it comes to the Senate calendar. Now, Republican Senator John McCain was furious about those comments, calling them inflammatory and demanding an apology, which he did not get.

Now, more House Democrats are piling on. Listen to what we heard yesterday from Congresswoman Corrine Brown and Sheila Jackson Lee.

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REP. CORRINE BROWN (D), FLORIDA: If it looked like a duck, walked like a duck and quacked like a duck, it's a duck. And it is clear to me that there is hidden racism rampant in the House and the Senate.

REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D), TEXAS: One of the issues of the question of race or racism in the United States is being discounted, being silenced. The category that they have Ms. Lynch in now is where she is silenced.

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JONES: So, very strong words we're hearing from Democrats.

And, Michaela, with the way things are going right now, Lynch may not get a vote until April.

PEREIRA: Well, Athena, from that story to this story. This is an interesting -- and I don't mean to segue in such a brutal fashion. But I want to tell you about what's happening in Austin, Texas.

The mayor there expressing outrage over these stickers. You can sort of see them. They're being posted on local businesses, six local businesses. They say exclusively for white people. The stickers also contain the city's logo. It kind of gives off the impression that they're official.

The mayor says, though, these are not produced or knowingly placed by the businesses and is calling this an appalling display of ignorance. An investigation obviously is underway to find out exactly who's behind this sticker and the prank, but it has certainly gotten people riled and upset in Austin, Texas, beyond.

CAMEROTA: Yes. I mean, the problem is, when you first see it, it looks like one of those and then you read it and you do a double take and the mayor has had to issue that strong warning and talk about an investigation.

All right. Meanwhile, how will Benjamin Netanyahu's shifting position on a two-state solution change U.S./Israeli relations? Where does the relationship go from here?

PEREIRA: All right. Attention parents of high schoolers, there's far more to life than where you go to college. "New York Times" columnist Frank Bruni is here. He makes that case in a new book. We'll talk to him about that.

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[08:21:18] PEREIRA: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backtracking, rather, from a pre-election pledge that if elected, he would oppose the creation of a Palestinian state. President Obama warning him the U.S. needs to, quote, "reassess" the relationship, may even scale back its support for Israel at the U.N.

We've got to turn to Michael Smerconish, a CNN political commentator, host of CNN's "SMERCONISH".

We saw you last Friday.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Was it last Friday? I thought it was yesterday.

PEREIRA: It's such a long time ago.

Remember what we were talking about leading up to the elections and all of these bold statements from this prime minister trying to get re-elected. He gets elected --

SMERCONISH: After making some bold statements.

PEREIRA: -- after making some bold statements.

SMERCONISH: Right.

PEREIRA: And then, this -- I want to read you part of it from an interview. This was just recently in the last 24 hours. This is what he said in an interview, "America has no greater ally than Israel and Israel has no greater ally than the United States. We'll work together. We have to."

Is the White House onboard with this? Has he cleared that with them?

SMERCONISH: I think the words no longer matter. I think given what he said in anticipation of the election, in the final 48 hours, that people are no longer accepting at face value whatever Prime Minister Netanyahu may say about a two-state solution. Of course, now, he's walked back that which he said on the eve of the election.

My observation is to say it's one thing to talk about him, he's a politician, what did he mean, what didn't he mean? How about the fact that the strategy worked? How about the fact that when he backed away from a two-state solution, he was successful in an election where he was an underdog?

I think that's a troublesome sign with regard to where Israeli voters stand on the peace question if it involves a two-state solution.

BERMAN: What do you think that means for American politicians though? Look, there was a vote in the House where the two-state solution had unanimous support.

SMERCONISH: Right.

BERMAN: Now, you have this leader. You can't unsay it to a certain extent when you say you're no longer in favor of a two-state solution. What do American politicians now have to do?

SMERCONISH: I think there will be more debate. I think we will no longer be so monolithic in our approach and support for Israel.

You point out that there was a unanimous vote on the two-state solution. I'm mindful of the fact that it was just last summer when those events were taking place with regard to Gaza, all those rockets being launched in Israel, and when funding for the Iron Dome came up, my recollection is it was unanimous in the Senate and nearly unanimous in the House.

Perhaps those days of unanimity are over. I think there will be more debate, more stepping out, more of a willingness of politicians here domestically to be critical of Israel in a way that they weren't previously. I'm interested in seeing what Secretary Clinton has to say going forward. She's been silent thus far after the election result.

BERMAN: When your president says he's going to re-assess the U.S. relationship with Israel, those words would be almost unthinkable a decade or two ago.

SMERCONISH: They would have been. Not almost. I think they would have absolutely have been unthinkable.

I look at debate fostered by an organization such as JPAC which is on the cusp where the conversation used to be completely monopolized by AIPAC. So, I think that J Street will see this as an opportunity and there will be debate taking place where they're having a conference.

CAMEROTA: It's strange hearing you say the unanimity of Congress may go away since we have --

SMERCONISH: It's the only issue.

CAMEROTA: It's the only issue on which they're bipartisan.

SMERCONISH: Right.

CAMEROTA: So, the idea that now this would plead is really stunning. There also appears to be this allegiance between John Boehner and Benjamin Netanyahu. Boehner has announced that he is going to Israel within the next two weeks after Benjamin Netanyahu accepted his controversial invitation to come here. So, maybe the alignment is shifting whereby some Republicans in Congress wouldn't support a two-state solution.

[08:25:03] SMERCONISH: Oh, I definitely think that Republicans, allow me to be a cynic for just a moment, I think they see opportunity in this. We could say ideologically they line up with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and this is on the merits. But I think as we approach 2016, the GOP sees opportunity and Jewish voters here in the United States being up for grabs perhaps in a way that they have not previously.

PEREIRA: So interesting. Overall while you were talking about all of that, each of these countries dealing with all of these struggles, whether it's Iran, whether it's Israel, whether it's United States, you have these domestic battles, domestic politics, and how they're playing into the geopolitical struggles and interactions. It's profound.

SMERCONISH: Well, and, Michaela, more to come on the horizon. So, it's not as if the situation is static and we should say, OK, so what will now happen? Remember, the Iranian negotiations are now, we're led to believe, in the 11th hour.

PEREIRA: Right.

SMERCONISH: So, whatever the net effect might be of those negotiations will determine what Netanyahu does and what we do in return. Remember, at the end of that speech that he made to the Congress, he made very clear his willingness to go it alone and he said that the days of Israeli passivity are over.

Does that mean if he doesn't get a deal he's looking for, that there could be a first strike? We're going to find that out.

You also have the Palestinian Authority wishing to join the world court at The Hague. What will happen in that regard?

So, much more is about to unfold.

PEREIRA: Luckily you can tune in to "SMERCONISH", Saturdays at 9:00 a.m. Eastern on CNN, and you can hear him on weekdays, on Sirius XM, also at 9:00 a.m. Eastern, and get more of this kind of conversation.

Thanks so much, Michael.

SMERCONISH: Thank you, guys. Have a great weekend.

BERMAN: A number of big companies raising their salaries. Why did they act before a new federal minimum wage was adopted? We have exclusive answers from the Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. That's coming up next.

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