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Anti-Gay Church Gets Protest OK; U.S. Troops Fired on in Germany; Gadhafi: 'Thousands Will Die'; Why Huckabee Thinks President Obama is Liberal

Aired March 02, 2011 - 11:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: There is a lot going on right now. I want to catch you up here.

Also, we have confirmed that there is a shooting now at Frankfurt International Airport in Germany. The airport spokesman tells CNN that the shooting involved a U.S. Military shuttle bus.

Someone got on the bus and started shooting. Now, two people are confirmed dead. We believe that those are two U.S. Military personnel, two soldiers. One person has been taken into custody.

Again, we know that two people were killed. It has been reported that those are two U.S. soldiers, Americans.

The incident is now over. The airport is operating as usual. This is happening out of Frankfurt.

We have our Fred Pleitgen. He is in Germany -- Berlin, Germany. He is getting more information. As soon as we get more details, we're going to go directly to him out of Berlin.

The U.S. Supreme Court is reaffirming the First Amendment right to free speech, even if it is painful and ugly. In an 8-1 decision this morning, justices say a Kansas church can push its anti-gay message outside military funerals.

Let's get some perspective on the Supreme Court ruling. Our senior legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, he is on the phone with us.

Jeff, let's just start off here -- I mean, is this a surprise to you, the court's decision? Because this is a case that everybody's been watching, and it is a very painful case for a lot of people.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: It's a painful, awful case, and the Westboro Baptist Church is an insult to the name of religion everywhere. But frankly, the result is not a surprise, based on the history of the First Amendment, based on what we heard at oral argument.

These statements, in this context, non-disruptive statements about politics, are at the heart of what the First Amendment is all about, even if it's a distasteful, awful situation. And the result is not at all a surprise.

MALVEAUX: And Jeff, we're going to get back to you in just a moment.

I want to dip into our own Frederik Pleitgen. He is in Berlin, Germany. He's giving an update on that shooting that took place against U.S. soldiers targeted there.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: -- deploy "down range." It's not exactly sure where they were deploying, but they were going to fly or were coming from a commercial flight that was going in or out of Frankfurt Airport. One person, Jim, the U.S. -- the German -- the police tell me is in custody at this point, the apparent shooter. And the U.S. Military says it appears to be a young man of Kosovo nationality -- Jim.

JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: This young Kosovo -- obviously, no details about him. But what is known, from your own experience, security at that airport.

PLEITGEN: Well, security at that airport has been considerably tightened up over the past couple of months because there have been a range of terror threats that the German authorities took very, very seriously against installations here in this country. Of course, airports were among those that had the highest security. So there would have been, in that area, a lot of German federal police walking around there, a lot of German police with light automatic rifles armed, and that certainly seems to be the indication, that this shooter at least was stopped very, very quickly, if indeed he made it onto that bus with the U.S. service members.

So, yes, security has been really tightened over the past couple of months. But also, that airport, Jim, is one that is very frequently used by U.S. service members to get back home from deployments, also, of course, to get to deployments.

There are, of course, also a lot of U.S. service members who are stationed in Germany. So it is quite a frequent sight to see American military personnel go in and out of that airport. Whether or not the shooter knew that, whether or not the shooter was looking for that, of course, at this stage is still very much unclear -- Jim.

CLANCY: As our sister network, CNN USA, has joined us, Americans concerned certainly for their service members in Germany right now. There is quite a number of them that use the air base that is right there.

And Fred, if you can, recap what --

MALVEAUX: You've been listening to CNN International, our own Frederik Pleitgen, who is in Berlin.

I want to go to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr.

To give us a sense, Barbara, if you will, the significance of this. I mean, Frankfurt International Airport, we were watching, we saw some live pictures just moments ago. This is a very busy, busy place for a lot of Americans, but particularly American military and the presence of Ramstein, which is fairly close.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It is, Suzanne. I've traveled through that airport to cover some military events and been given rides back and forth from Ramstein to Frankfurt by the U.S. Military. They run regular shuttle buses, regular transportation, between Ramstein Air Base and Frankfurt, between that airfield and the commercial hub which is Frankfurt Airport.

This is a major transit facility for U.S. Military forces moving all over Europe and forces moving in and out of the war zone, if you will, on to the Middle East. We are getting some initial indications from military sources they believe that the troops involved, the victims of this shooting, were U.S. Air Force personnel, in fact, that were headed, as they say, down range, into the war zone region, into the Middle East. They were security forces, apparently, from the Air Force that were headed off to that war zone area on deployment.

You know, the question that is going to come to mind, I'm sure, is whether or not the alleged shooter knew they were military troops. I have seen military forces in American military uniforms in Frankfurt Airport, and also very often they change into civilian clothes, simply because that's basic security practice. So they keep a much lower profile overseas.

So that may be one of the key questions here. Were they in uniform? Did the shooter know that they were U.S. Military personnel? Were they specifically targeted?

A major investigation of course now under way by German authorities into all of this -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Barbara, in being familiar with how the military travels, when they talk about a shuttle bus that are carrying U.S. soldiers, does it typically have something on the outside of the bus that identifies them as U.S. Military personnel, or could it have been simply any other kind of vehicle that this suspect had boarded and was not aware that they were actually targeting U.S. soldiers?

STARR: Well, I have to tell you, in recent years, in all of the military shuttles that I have taken, at least, around the world, back and forth to airports, they are absolutely unmarked. And I will tell you that there are places in the Middle East where military shuttle buses run from military bases to commercial airports, carrying troops back home on leave, that sort of thing, with very extraordinary security procedures so they are not noticed, so they are very low profile.

It was my experience in Germany, unmarked. Our driver was in civilian clothes.

That said, if somebody really wanted to conduct some sort of attack, often it can be figured out who these people are. If you see a vehicle pull up, and a lot of young American men get off with big backpacks and short haircuts, sadly, you might determine if you're an attacker that they are U.S. Military personnel. There's enough of a routine, very often, to these kinds of transportation arrangements. But the military does go to some lengths to try and provide some security and to try and encourage troops to keep a very low profile as they travel overseas. It's not often, but do you sometimes see them in U.S. Military uniforms.

And I have to tell you, when I have seen that in airports, my reaction is, huh? Why didn't you change into civilian clothes? That's one of the very standard practices so they don't stand out too much -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK, Barbara. We're going to get back to you in a moment.

I want to bring in Jeff Beatty -- he's a security consultant -- to join our conversation here over the phone.

And Jeff, if you would -- Barbara brings up a very good point, which is really what we don't know. We don't know whether or not those two U.S. soldiers were targeted. We don't know whether or not this shuttle bus actually had markings on the outside identifying them as U.S. Military.

What do you make of this situation? Is there evidence that in fact the military, U.S. Americans, that they were targeted, or is it something that we just can't determine yet?

JEFFREY BEATTY, SR. ADVISER, TOTAL SECURITY SVCS. INTERNATIONAL: Well, Suzanne, I think you're right to say let's be cautious about too many assumptions. However, some inferences I think are safe to draw.

The inferences that weapons are not as prevalent in Germany as they are in the United States, and that for someone to be carrying a firearm, you have got to believe that they intend to use it. And I believe that as events continue to unfold, we will probably see that some sort of casing of the American routine had preceded this attack, and that the individual -- I understand we have one person in custody at this point -- that that person had been involved in the casing activity and knew exactly who they were going to go ahead and target.

And the first information I had was that they actually got onto the bus, and we'll have to see if that proves to be true or not. But normally in a situation like this, you know, in Germany in particular, where firearms are not as prevalent, it points towards somebody who carefully planned the operation and then went out and implemented the operation, which, in the Frankfurt Airport area, the Ramstein military base adjacent, historically, out there, there have been other attacks out there by terrorists going back years.

MALVEAUX: And Jeff, tell us -- explain, what is the security situation in the Frankfurt Airport?

BEATTY: Well, Frankfurt has an outstanding security situation in the airport. And I've been involved in other programs here domestically that try to anticipate these types of attacks and prevent them from happening.

One of them is called First Observer. And we train shuttle drivers to be alert for potential terrorist activities and take corrective action and report casing activities.

But in the case of Frankfurt, Suzanne, they have great security inside the airport -- inside the airport. Even in our airports, you know, once you get past the airport in the security, it's good. But the problem is, in those softer target areas, which are at the curb, before the security begins.

And so, clearly, thought was given to this. They didn't try to attack people in the terminal, where German security forces are strong. They patrol with sub-machineguns in there, with dogs. But there is a weak point at the airport location, and that is when you're arriving at the curb. And that seems to be where this was exploited.

MALVEAUX: All right. Jeff Beatty, thank you for joining us.

Just to recap here, two U.S. Military personnel killed there at the Frankfurt International Airport. Still a lot of unanswered questions about what has taken place, but we know that two have been killed, and that there is a man from Kosovo that has been taken into custody.

Another story, Congress now looking ready to head off a government shutdown on Friday. Now, the Senate is set to follow the House lead at this very hour and is voting right now on funding the government through March 18th. Republicans get $4 billion in cuts that they demanded.

We want to go to our "Talk Back" next with our Carol Costello about obviously what is taking place, that vote, that critical vote.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That critical -- we're also going to talk about Mike Huckabee, because many are wondering if his big gaffe yesterday was a calculated slip, or was it just a mistake?

And political gamesmanship, it can be vicious, it can be unfair and misleading. Take Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, the Fox News personality, and potential 2012 presidential contender. During an appearance on "The Steve Malzberg Show," Huckabee falsely said President Obama grew up in Kenya.

Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), FMR. ARKANSAS GOVERNOR: I would love to know more, but what I know is troubling enough. And one thing that I do know is having grown up in Kenya, his view of the Brits, for example, very different than the average American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Yes. We're sorry for that burning video there. I don't know what that was, but you heard what Mike Huckabee said.

Huckabee's spokesperson later told CNN Huckabee misspoke, he meant to say Indonesia. That's where President Obama lived from 6 to 10 years old. And then he left for his native Hawaii. OK. Huckabee admits the president was born in the United States, but what funny ideas did the young Mr. Obama pick up overseas during elementary school?

His spokesman told CNN the governor -- and I'm quoting here -- "The governor would, however, like to know more about where President Obama's liberal policies come from and what else the president plans to do in this country, as do most Americans."

It makes you wonder if Thomas Jefferson changed his politics when he lived in France for five years, or Herbert Hoover, when he lived in China as a boy. Hoover was even fluent in Chinese.

So "Talk Back" today: Why does Huckabee imply living abroad made President Obama more liberal?

Facebook.com/CarolCNN. We'll have your answers later in the hour.

MALVEAUX: Yes, a lot of people talking about this one, as well, why these misstatements keep coming up about President Obama and whether or not that's intentional or it's a mistake, it's a political strategy behind it all.

COSTELLO: Well, it makes you wonder because you know about this poll last summer --

MALVEAUX: Absolutely.

COSTELLO: -- where 41 percent of Republicans aren't really sure if the president was born in this country.

MALVEAUX: And they hear something like Huckabee's statement, and sometimes people believe that.

COSTELLO: Right, and it's wrong.

MALVEAUX: So we'll see. We'll see what the viewers have to say about that. Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Sure.

MALVEAUX: Also developing now, tennis great Serena Williams has emergency surgery in Los Angeles. A spokeswoman is telling "People" magazine that Williams developed a blood clot in the lung which was treated last week, but Monday she was diagnosed with a hematoma. That is when blood leaks from a blood vessel and collects in the tissue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Libya's Moammar Gadhafi warns that thousands will die if the U.S. or NATO I intervene in the battle to get rid of him. His latest rambling speech to supporters lasted about two-and-a-half hours.

Our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson, he was in the room when Gadhafi gave that speech, and he now joins us live from Tripoli.

And Nic, you saw it. You witnessed it. You were up close. Tell us about his demeanor. What was that like?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You know, when he came into the room, he was immediately surrounded by sort of his loyalist supporters just gathering around him, chanting. And he stood there at the front of this room of several hundred people, government ministers, other local officials, teachers, all his royalists in this room. And he stood there for 10 minutes with his hands in the air taking all the support, having people cheer him.

When he sat down in this speech that just went on and on and on -- it chopped from one subject to another subject, back to another, to another -- international, domestic, international -- just all over the place, at times stopping so people could remind him of specific dates that he couldn't remember, specific -- the name of a union that he couldn't remember that he was referring to. But even as he was speaking in that room, there were attacks going on in the east of the country against rebels, yet he was sitting there saying there is still time for the rebels to hand in their guns, they won't be -- they won't face criminal charges, they can leave the country if they want to.

So it was sort of flying in the face of everything that was going on in the rest of the country. And he was very clear on one thing. He was very clear that the United States -- and he accused the rebels here of trying to invite the United States and Europeans into the country re-colonize the country, still, he had a very clear warning to the United States.

This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOAMMAR GADHAFI, LIBYAN LEADER (through translator): We will not accept this. We will -- thousands of people will be -- thousands and thousands of people will be killed if America or the Atlantic pact intervene in our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: Well, he had plenty of other warnings as well, and he said, ultimately, the international community, the West in particular, who has pulled out their oil workers, they will be the ones to lose in Libya -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Nic, thank you very much. Appreciate that.

I want to go to our own Ben Wedeman. He has just left the area of Brega.

Where I understand you have some developments, some news of a possible bomb or explosion. What can you tell us, Ben?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It wasn't a possible bomb or explosion. It was a bomb that fell about, I'd say, 100 feet from where we are. And that was the second bomb to fall nearby us today, dropped by Libyan aircraft.

We were -- the second bomb fell when we were just outside of Brega, which is now -- appears to be under the control of anti-Gadhafi forces after a day-long battle between Libyan army soldiers and essentially the militia of the opposition. We were at a hospital where they were pretty steadily bringing in more wounded. According to the hospital there, at least four people dead, 23 wounded. And of course that's only one hospital in the area. Other wounded are being taken further up the road.

But, clearly, Moammar Gadhafi is not sitting tight in Tripoli. He is trying to reassert his control over the reset of the country -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Ben, this may be difficult to answer at this point, but based on where this bomb, this explosion, happened, do you believe that Gadhafi was targeting citizens?

WEDEMAN: Well, I think they were targeting was a large group of people in both cases today. We were among well over 100 people from this area, some of them armed, some of them not. But, clearly, the air force saw this as a target, and therefore dropped those bombs.

MALVEAUX: And the people who were hit, those civilians, were these demonstrators, were these protesters, were these people who were actually armed or just people walking around? Can you describe for us what that scene was?

WEDEMAN: Well, the second scene, we were at the edge of Brega, where there was a sign that had some pictures of Gadhafi on it. People were ripping them down, trying to set it on fire. And so there was a large number of people.

Many of them, of course, armed. Others, just local residents out celebrating what they see as a victory over Gadhafi forces.

And we're surmising that the Libyans may have received intelligence that there were a large number of opponents of the regime in that area. Now, the first bomb that occurred, nobody was hurt. The second bomb, I suspect people were injured, but we left the area very quickly out of fear that another bomb would fall. But we did see ambulances going in that direction -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: What was the response of the people there when they realized what was taking place?

WEDEMAN: First, panic, and then anger. Everybody who had a gun started shooting in the direction of the airplane.

In fact, I saw one man throw his box of juice up in the air in the direction of the plane. People, very angry, screaming and shouting, cursing Gadhafi for this kind of attack, because obviously, Suzanne, everybody was aware of this very long speech Moammar Gadhafi made in Tripoli today about how the people love him, about how he's not attacking the people of Libya. And they said look at this, this is clear proof that, as one man told me, he's a liar -- Suzanne. MALVEAUX: When you say you left the area, you were trying to get out of there as quickly as possible, were there other people who were joining you? Did the crowd disperse? Were they all headed to another direction?

WEDEMAN: Yes, you don't want to stick around when airplanes are flying overhead and dropping bombs. Everybody, in a great panic, jumped into their cars and ran away. We almost had an accident as we were trying to escape the scene because it was pandemonium. You don't want one of those bombs to fall anywhere near you if you can avoid it -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Ben, finally, was there any sense when these people were panicking, they were running, they were jumping in their vehicles, did they know where to go? Did they feel like there was some place that was safe for them, or not?

WEDEMAN: Well, the safest place is somewhere else. Everybody was going somewhere else.

There is nowhere to hide. This is open desert. Your only protection is the terrain.

If there's a low spot, you get in it and you hug the ground. But when they were driving away, they were just driving away because I think people understand that any large collection of people in cars is an obvious target for any plane flying overhead -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Ben Wedeman, just out of Brega there.

We thank you very much. Please be safe.

We're following this story. Ben Wedeman reporting now that Libyan forces looks to be throwing -- unleashing bombs on people on the ground there, those -- some armed and unarmed protesters who are asking and demanding that Moammar Gadhafi leave his position, that he no longer be in power.

This comes amid a very strong statement from Gadhafi again today before his people and the world that he's not going anywhere. This, after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Following a number of breaking news stories at this hour.

We want to take you to the Frankfurt International Airport. That is one of the stories we're following. We have heard from several people on the ground there, as well as our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, all weighing in on this story.

What we know so far is that two U.S. Military personnel were killed when a suspect boarded a bus that was transporting those military personnel at the Frankfurt Airport. And there is one person that we know is in custody, someone who has been identified as a young suspect from Kosovo. Want to bring in a spokesperson for the Frankfurt Airport who is on the phone joining us now.

Sir, if you can give us an update on what we know at this time.

DIETER HULICK, SPOKESMAN, FRANKFURT AIRPORT: Well, so far all we know is we have an incident in front of terminal two at Frankfurt Airport here. And just as you said, two dead, two injured.

It was a U.S. Military bus, a transport bus. And so far, all the information we get is from the police. And we know that somebody obviously either entered the bus, or whatever happened, and then shot.

The police is at the site right now investigating, and a spokesman for the police is at the site, as well, giving information. So all the information we are getting currently is from the police.

As far as the airport is concerned, air traffic is normal. Everything is back to normal. But obviously the lane, the bus lane, is closed at the moment in front of the terminal.

MALVEAUX: Give us a sense of -- you said the bus lane. How was this vehicle entering the airport? Is this a place where people come and go? Was this a private entrance or specifically for military?

HULICK: No, it's a regular -- Terminal 2, our second terminal. And it's a public -- anybody can enter it.

And there's a bus lane which you can enter, and you have transfer buses shuttling people from one terminal to the other terminal, or other buses that take people downtown. Plus, you have certain areas where hotel buses will stop. And obviously there was -- you know, sometimes you have pickup buses.

And I assume, but I cannot confirm that, that that would be a pickup bus from the U.S. Military. But that is something you'd have to reconfirm with either the police or the U.S. Military. But it's a public lane.

MALVEAUX: Do the police know how the suspect got into that particular area in that terminal? Do they know, was he on foot, was he in a vehicle, as well?

HULICK: That is information I don't have. And you'd have to ask the police or, you know, we can refer you to the police and give you the spokesperson. But we don't know at this point.

MALVEAUX: Do we know if this one person who's been taken into custody -- do we know if that's the only person that they are looking for in terms of being involved in this incident? Is there anybody else that they're looking for?

HULICK: That's the information that we have at this point.

MALVEAUX: And what is the --

HULICK: But again -- yes --

MALVEAUX: Sure. What is the condition of the suspect who's in custody now?

HULICK: We don't know at this point.

MALVEAUX: Do we know if he was shot at all? Or he was just taken peacefully into custody?

HULICK: You'd have to refer those questions to the police because we don't have that information yet. We're in the same position as you are. We're waiting for information on that.

MALVEAUX: OK. Peter Hulick, we appreciate the information you're able to give us at this time. Obviously if you have more details, we would appreciate another conversation.

HULICK: Sure.

MALVEAUX: I want to, as well, go to our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're following another breaking news story, this one out of Washington. We have just watched the Senate pass the budget bill. Now, this is an extension to fund the government -- the federal government, for another two weeks to keep the government operating and running as the Congress --members of Congress continue the debate over what kinds of cuts need to be made to move forward.

But as of now, they are kicking the can forward, a two week extension on the budget until they can figure out more serious issues in terms of long-term budget cuts that need to be made that will pass the House and the Senate. That just happening in Washington.

Another story, as well, this, a shooting that took place at Frankfurt International Airport out of Germany. We now know that two U.S. Military personnel have been killed, two have been injured. And we know that there is a man from Kosovo who has been taken into custody.

Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us with more details.

Barbara, what have you learned?

STARR: Well, Suzanne, what we do know, two killed, two wounded apparently. The Military personnel, we're told, are U.S. Air Force personnel, security specialists who were actually transiting, if you will, from their post in the United Kingdom in Britain, on to Germany, and then on to the war zone for deployment. That is the initial information that we have.

This will be a matter of some concern to U.S. Military forces and commanders in Germany. They always look at these security incidents. They're going to want to figure out if, in fact, the alleged suspect had any type of relationship with the U.S. Military, had had any interaction with U.S. Military forces in Germany. We don't know the answer to that.

But that said, a lot of the security personnel that work at U.S. Military bases in Germany are civilians. Many of them are immigrants in to Germany, not German nationals. I can tell you that there have been incidents in the past of security concern where they run background checks on people and they're just not suitable for this base security work. That is something we've been told directly by U.S. Military personnel. In the past they have had these issues.

So they're certainly going to look at this suspect and see if he had any interactions at all, whether he worked on a base, had tried to get a job on a base, whether he had encountered U.S. Military personnel or had any reason to understand that this bus -- that this shuttle bus was carrying U.S. troops.

So what that is likely to be significant part of the investigation. And whatever they learn will be something that will be of concern to all transportation arrangements for U.S. personnel in Europe and around the world. They try and keep a very low profile when the U.S. Military move through some of the non-U.S. airports. It's always a concern and today, of course, tragedy struck -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And Barbara, we've been looking at some pictures, some maps, actually showing Germany and then the Frankfurt Airport and then Terminal 2 where this took place.

Is there any reason to be concerned -- U.S. officials to be concerned about the suspect being from Kosovo? Can you can give us a sense for our viewers what the meaning is, if there is any meaning behind that?

STARR: Well, I'm not sure that we really know yet. You know, very early on in this incident and details still coming to light.

But it is going to be an issue, I can say, from direct knowledge we have from sources we've talked to in the past about some of these people that work on U.S. Military bases. They run very tight security checks on them and in the past they have had some of the nationals that have proven to be unsuitable and they have been removed from their jobs. We know this directly from military security personnel that we have spoken to in recent months in Germany.

Now that's not to cast anything bad on the immigrant community. There are so many people that serve in these jobs very honorably with distinction and there are no problems. But they do have security checks that they must run.

So there will be a concern, did this person try and get a job? Did he interact with the U.S. Military personnel?

MALVEAUX: Right.

STARR: Why would he have gone after them?

Clearly I think it's the case that they are going to suspect he knew exactly who he was attacking. He perhaps -- perhaps -- did not just wander up to some bus at the curb in Frankfurt and start shooting. He may well have known who he was going after and that will, in fact, be part of the investigation.

MALVEAUX: And Barbara, you've traveled many times with the military, you've been there to the Frankfurt International Airport.

What is that like? What kind of precautions are they taking? What is the security situation this on the ground?

STARR: Well, I think one of your previous guests perhaps articulated it best. Inside Frankfurt Airport, very significant security procedures as we see in all major airports around the world these days.

At the curb, you know, that is just like you and I would pull up to an airport curb in a shuttle bus and get out to proceed on to our gate and get on our flight.

For U.S. Military personnel, they do try and keep that low profile. Most of the time, I have to tell you, not all the time, but most of the time, they travel in civilian clothes, in unmarked vehicles or buses. They try and keep a low profile. It's just good practice these days.

There are airports in the Middle East, I can tell you having recently traveled through that U.S. rooms regularly go through as they come back and forth between home and the war zone. They very have significant security procedures in place to ensure they have a very low profile. They have emergency procedures if troops run into trouble, they know exactly where to go in that airport to get help. These are things that we don't openly discuss because it's for their security of U.S. troops as they move.

But all of these kinds of arrangements are in place. But at the curb, somehow somebody knew today that these men, these personnel would be there and went after them. It's hard to believe at this point that the alleged shooter did not know that these were U.S. Military personnel, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: OK. Barbara Starr, from the Pentagon. Thank you for your perspective. Obviously we're going to bring more details as this story warrants after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: We're following several breaking news stories, this one out of Brega, Libya. Our own Ben Wedeman reporting that there were several explosions that Libyan officials, military, dropping bombs in that area, in that town of Brega.

And several of them, reporting now, Ben Wedeman saying that the crowd disbursed, that there was panic and chaos on the ground that these were people who were protesters, some armed, some not armed, who saw from the sky what they identified as Libyan military personnel dropping bombs on those people in Brega on the ground.

Obviously a situation that is escalating out of Libya as many opposition leaders and folks on the ground calling for Gadhafi to step down.

Another story we are following out of Frankfurt International Airport, an attack on U.S. personnel Military personnel at that airport. Officials now reporting on the ground as well as our own correspondents that two U.S. Military -- two soldiers have been killed, two have been wounded, that there is someone in custody now simply identified as someone from Kosovo.

I want to bring in our Tom Fuentes, who is a security analyst and also former FBI official who's on the phone now.

When you hear this story about this military shuttle bus coming into Terminal 2, a place where many people pull up to the curb, as our own Barbara Starr explained, does it sound like this person in custody was specifically targeting American, knew those were American soldiers on the ground on that bus when he hit?

TOM FUENTES, FORMER FBI ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (via telephone): Hi, Suzanne.

Yes, you make that assumption based on the fact that of all the thousands of vehicles that pull up to the curb each other or each day, to pick one out that happens to have U.S. soldiers on board and start shooting, seems like he had an attempt to do it. It's a little too soon to do all that right now.

I would like to say that FBI agents are on the scene right now. They're working with the German federal police, the BKA, and the Frankfurt local piece. And they're trying to piece together what occurred and then, obviously, what the motivation was for the shooter.

MALVEAUX: Sure. And Tom --

FUENTES: The person in custody is a 21-year-old Kosovo national. And they're going to go forward with that investigation and find out what his connections were, whether he was the German equivalent of a lone wolf or was this part of others that inspired him or assisted him in doing the shooting.

MALVEAUX: And Tom, you say, obviously FBI personnel are on the ground there working with airport officials.

What are they specifically looking for?

FUENTES: Well, they're obviously looking for -- first of all, they'll be gathering the evidence along with the Germans, because this is a violation of U.S. federal law. So this shooter could be prosecuted in Germany, he could also be prosecuted in the United States for killing Americans overseas. So they'll be conducting the normal investigation in cooperation and conjunction with the German authorities and they'll determine later where, in fact, that prosecution will occur.

So, they're gathering evidence as if that shooting occurred here in the United States with, of course, the permission and operation of the Germans. The FBI has a very close work relationship with the German authorities at the federal level, BKA and each of their state and major city police departments.

MALVEAUX: Can you tell us, when you talk about evidence, what are you talking about, physical evidence? What are they specifically searching for, either on the ground, are they doing interviews?

Can you kind of paint a picture for us here what they might be going through?

FUENTES: Well, the first physical evidence would be bullet casings and then later the ballistic examinations, trying to determine the shooter, the gun that the shooter used is actually the one that was used to shoot the bullets into the victims. They'll be getting eyewitness accounts. They'll be tracing the route of the bus from the airport, trying to determine whether it was followed or whether he was already in waiting at the airport.

This particular airport, there are literally probably hundreds if not more U.S. soldiers coming and going from there on commercial flights every day being deployed throughout. Frankfurt is the major hub of central Europe and, you know, so it's the gateway to the Middle East in most cases, or even to Africa on connecting flights.

So there's a lot of American soldiers that go through that airport. It would not be a long wait if someone was waiting there for one to come through or a bus from a military base to come in there.

MALVEAUX: And Tom, would there have been a checkpoint, would there have been any point before they pulled up to the terminal and got off the vehicle where people, security would be checking for weapons, for explosives? Or is this the kind of place where they have not yet gone through security yet and it is an open area?

FUENTES: They've upgraded security at Frankfurt. It's similar to U.S. airports that if you -- if this particular shooter took a different bus and was dropped off there or parked in garage and walked over to the sidewalk away, probably has not gone through any security check point. Most airports are wide open, pretty much, until you get either inside the airport or actually go through ticketing and you're on your way to the gates.

So -- he probably had not gone through any security at that point.

MALVEAUX: Do you see that as a security hole in some ways? So you see that as something that needs to be connected? Or is this just one of those scenarios where at some point as you approach the airport you're going to have people who are vulnerable?

FUENTES: I don't know. That's a different story as far as trying to plug that hole because that's a hole that exists in U.S. airports. We don't stop every vehicle and every car pulling up to drop people off at the curb who are either being picked up or departing. We don't stop people that have parked their car in the garage and walked over to the terminal area.

So we don't do it here in the United States. Very few countries actually do it. I know Narita, in Tokyo, they will board a bus there and check you before you get in to the airport compound. But most airports in the world do not do any of that kind of checking as you're approaching an airport.

MALVEAUX: OK. Tom Fuentes, thank you so much for your time.

We're going to have more details about this breaking news story after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: The Senate just voted to temporarily fund the government.

Ed Henry, part of the Best Political Team on Television is live from the White House.

Ed, we know this was part of a deal with the Republicans. Some major cuts. What can you tell us?

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, about $4 billion in cuts, Suzanne. What's interesting is it passed overwhelmingly at 91-9 in the Senate. Very rare to see such an overwhelming majority.

What that tells us is there are a lot of senators in both parties that do not want to see a government shut down now. A lot of finger pointing and polling going on. Which party would take the blame if there was a government shutdown. It's clear neither party right now has an appetite for the government to be shut down.

But the key is, is that the House passed this on Tuesday. So now this will go to the President's desk for his signature. He's going to sign that either later today or tomorrow we would expect, make sure the government stays open, but just for two weeks.

We're picking up from Democratic sources the White House privately wanted this to be a 30 day extension, maybe for a month instead of two weeks. And the reason being that there are a lot of lawmakers who do not like this -- do this continuing resolution by two weeks, two weeks. They want to see a bigger, broader deal to keep the government open for a longer term.

And so there's some fear here at the White House that this is just kicking the can down the road for two weeks and we could be right in the same boat again with people fearing a government shutdown.

Bottom line is that our colleague Dana Bash is not reporting on the Hill that she is picking up from Senate Democrats that Vice President Biden is heading up the Hill, probably in the next 24 hours because the White House wants to bring all sides together, get the negotiations going. We've got two weeks of breathing space now. They want to try to hammer out a longer term deal in those two weeks to make sure we're not doing this constantly up against the possibility of a government shutdown, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Kind of in a piecemeal fashion as oppose to just taking care of it straight away. HENRY: Exactly.

MALVEAUX: OK. Ed, thank you so much.

HENRY: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: Good to see you.

For the latest political news, you know where to go, CNNPolitics.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Well now is your chance to Talk Back about on one of the stories is that is making headlines. Questions are swirling around Mike Huckabee's statement made about President Obama. The possible Republican president candidate, he said that Obama is influenced by where he grew up. Well, some people would think harmless enough. But the only problem is, is that he went on to name the wrong country.

Our Carol Costello is where with us. A lot of confusion over Huckabee's statements and some folks say, hey, didn't he know better?

COSTELLO: Exactly. Does it ever -- I mean, how many books have been written about President Obama's background? About 150?

MALVEAUX: Including Obama writing a couple of his own.

COSTELLO: Yes, but he probably thinks that's a bunch of lies. I don't know. First, Huckabee -- Mike Huckabee said the president was raised in Kenya, and then he said he was raised in Indonesia, never mind it was Hawaii. But the implication is, it was bad because it influenced the president's politics.

So, Talk Back. Why does Huckabee imply living abroad made President Obama more liberal?

This from Joann. "He implies it because it is a political tactic to continue rallying the support of the birthers for the GOP. It is a downright childish, false and manipulative move.

This from Logan. "I might agree with the thought that some people abroad can be more liberal, however only in certain parts of the world. Huckabee is now a FOX media person and I believe this statement is more for his FOX viewers."

This from Eddie. "He is either ignorant or is pretending to be ignorant to drum up support for a presidential run."

And this from Cesar. "I was going to travel the world to broaden my horizons a little bit. But Huckabee is right. It's a bad thing and it might make me too liberal. Thanks, Mike, for setting me straight."

Continue the conversation facebook.com/CarolCNN. And I'll be back in about 10 minutes.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Carol. COSTELLO: Sure.