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Stabbing Attempt Foiled in Jerusalem; Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders Dominate First Showdown; Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 14, 2015 - 10:00   ET

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

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks for joining me. We are starting with breaking news this morning. It's a developing story out of Jerusalem. That's where there has been a failed attempt to stab a private bodyguard at the Damascus Gate Plaza. Officials say the attacker has been neutralized.

All of this as new security measures are put into place across Jerusalem. The Israeli Army is saying it will send in hundreds of troops to east Jerusalem, backing up police forces as surging violence across the region shows no signs of letting up.

CNN's Ben Wedeman is on the phone. He's on the scene. Tell us more, Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, what I can tell you is just moments ago, Israeli police and medical personnel carried away the body of this attacker who was shot at the Damascus Gate about half an hour ago after he tried to stab a private security guard who was accompanying a family into the Old City. So the body's been taken away. There's still a very heavy security presence in this area. They've also brought in riot police on horseback as well to try to keep the situation under control.

Significant, this is, today until now has been quiet. One of the first quiet days in quite some time here in Jerusalem. But this quiet shattered by this attack just outside the front gate of the Damascus Gate of the Old City where there was already a significant security presence.

COSTELLO: Tell us what's contained in the Old City, Ben.

WEDEMAN: I'm sorry, can you repeat the question, please?

COSTELLO: What's in the Old City? That's a place where most tourists go, correct?

WEDEMAN: Yes, the Old City is where you have the Wailing Wall or Western Wall holy to the Jews. You have the Aqsa mosque, holy to Muslims. You have the Temple Mount. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This is an area that is highly emotive for Christians, Muslims and Jews. And where there is -- there is always tension. Tension is high here, but particularly high at the moment.

COSTELLO: All right. Ben Wedeman, stand by. I know you're searching for more information as you talk on the phone with me, too.

Mickey Rosenfeld, the Israeli Police Foreign Press spokesperson, good morning. Thank you so much for being with me.

MICKEY ROSENFELD, ISRAELI POLICE FOREIGN PRESS SPOKESPERSON: Thank you.

COSTELLO: Can you tell me about this would-be attacker? Is he dead?

ROSENFELD: Well, I can confirm what took place is that the terrorist who attempted to stab a private security guard was spotted at the scene by police officers that were in the area. They've been in and around the old walls of the Old City and the Damascus Gate specifically all day. And they responded by identifying the terrorist with a knife in his hand. He was shot and killed at the scene, confirmed dead at the scene.

Heightened security is continuing across Jerusalem in the different areas. After yesterday evening's cabinet meeting, deciding to heighten security even further, including a further 300 soldiers that are working under the command of the Israeli National Police in order to boost up security once again and try and prevent and respond to any further terrorist attacks, as we did this afternoon.

COSTELLO: A private security guard, who was this private security guard, and was that guard escorting tourists?

ROSENFELD: No. First of all, there's hundreds of tourists on a regular day in Jerusalem in and around different areas. Earlier on in the day I was at Damascus Gate, and it was relatively calm and quiet. And then the security guards escort Jewish people that are walking through in and around the different areas of the Old City, being very tense at this moment in time after the wave of attacks that have taken place. Police officers located literally every 20 to 30 meters in the small area of the Old City in order to prevent attacks from taking place.

COSTELLO: Do you plan any added security because of this latest attack?

ROSENFELD: I'm speaking to you now from the entrance of the Jabel Mukaber neighborhood which is the area where the terrorist who unfortunately killed three Israelis yesterday, they left the neighborhood. At the moment, some roadblocks have been set up at the entrance of the neighborhood in order to make sure that we have more control of the movement of people coming in and out of the neighborhood.

But that is being implemented only to try and find those specific lone wolf terrorists that are carrying out those attacks. There's no orders that are given. Instead of coming into the Jerusalem and the different areas, they decide that they're going to work, they just decide to carry out a sporadic attack. So those are the potential terrorists that we have to try to find and get to, and the flood of response with the Israeli police units that are on the ground right now is quick and swift. [10:05:15] COSTELLO: Is there any move to close some of these holy

sites in the Old City?

ROSENFELD: No, absolutely not. The Old City was open today to hundreds of tourists. And the Temple Mount was open for Muslims to come and pray on. The -- there were no age limits whatsoever. But at the same time, due to the tension that there is and due to the fact that over the last 10 days since the 3rd of October, unfortunately seven Israelis have been killed, and more than 60 injured, it's therefore necessary for security measures to continue as long as necessary. They're carrying out security assessments on a day-to-day basis.

COSTELLO: All right. Mickey Rosenfeld, the chief inspector there in Jerusalem, thank you so much for joining me.

We have Ben Wedeman back on the phone, he has new information for us.

Ben, what can you tell us?

WEDEMAN: Well, what I can tell you now is that the situation has calmed down a bit. There's still a lot of security personnel here, as you can see. But there's also some, it appears -- this is in an area where many Palestinians live. So Palestinians have come to go -- come see what's going on. Oftentimes after these events, when they take place particularly in this part of town, there can be running clashes between the Israeli Security Forces, the police and local residents.

But it appears there's a police tape has been put across in front of the Damascus Gate. So obviously people are not passing through at the moment. But as I was saying before, this is the first attack of the day. And people here, they start the day every day hoping that it will be a quiet one. And until this happened, it's about 5:00 in the afternoon here, it looked like perhaps the city would be spared yet another attack. But it appears that that's not the case -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Let me ask you about the tourists there because there are hundreds of tourists from all over the world. So there was this private bodyguard. And the private bodyguard was escorting tourists to these holy sites?

WEDEMAN: Well, probably because this -- these tourists, this family had a private security guard with them, it's very likely that they were Jewish. There aren't a lot of tourists here at the moment at all, really. I think a lot of people, for perhaps good reason, are staying away. But oftentimes it is Jewish tourists or Israelis themselves, even residents of the Old City, when they move around the Old City, oftentimes they are accompanied by security guards. So I'm making a presumption here, but I think it's fairly likely they were a Jewish family.

COSTELLO: All right. Ben Wedeman reporting live from Jerusalem this morning.

Elise Labott is in Washington, D.C. I know Secretary of State John Kerry is either in Israel or on his way. Tell us about that. ELISE LABOTT, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPORTER: Well, Carol, a lot of

diplomatic activity over the last several days. I understand from officials that Secretary Kerry is trying to get together a meeting with -- separately but meet in the same location with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu or an Israeli -- and Palestinian President Abbas. Not clear where that could be. It could be in Jordan. It could be somewhere else.

But clearly the U.S. very concerned about the escalating violence, and particularly the statements now, Carol, coming out from leaders is very important. The U.S. really looking for Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas to tone down the incitement, to instruct everybody to remain calm. Really haven't seen that from either leader according to U.S. officials, and that's what Secretary Kerry has been talking about. He was talking through the weekend with both leaders and will continue to do so.

You know, Carol, since the U.S. failed peace efforts last year, there's been a real kind of lull in diplomatic activity. You know, the relationship between Israel and the United States also sour since this Iran deal. So in the recent months, Secretary Kerry has been wanting to, in fact, reinvigorate the peace process. In fact, quartet envoys, envoys from the international community including the U.S. were supposed to be in Israel today to meet with Israeli and Palestinian officials about any way they could really start to jumpstart this long-stalled peace process. Obviously, they are far away from that -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Obviously. Elise Labott reporting live for us from Washington, thank you.

I'll be right back.

[10:09:55]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COSTELLO: All right. I want to update you now on what's happening in Jerusalem. In Israel this morning, there was a -- there was an attack or a would-be attack right at the Damascus Gate leading into the Old City where a lot of holy shrines are located, a lot of tourists in that area. A private bodyguard was escorting a group of tourists inside. There was security at Damascus Gate.

Supposedly, according to authorities in Jerusalem, a man with a knife approached, and Israeli security shot and killed the suspect. His body now carried away. We understand now, though, that tourists are streaming out of the Old City. So let's head there live and check in with Ben Wedeman.

Ben, bring us up to date.

[10:15:01] WEDEMAN: Yes, Carol, this attack took place just over an hour ago. And it's the first attack of the day after yesterday when there were five attacks in Jerusalem and other parts of Israel. Now we understand that the young man who -- the attacker, the would-be attacker, apparently was wearing some sort of military style T-shirt which may have been why police who were in this area weren't immediately alerted to his possible intentions.

I'm just going to step out of the way so you can get a better scene. And when he actually did try to stab this private security guard, he came under fire because there are already -- there were already lots of police, lots of military here. And apparently he took well over a dozen rounds and died on the spot. I watched as they were bagging up his body in a black plastic bag. And they carried it up the steps on my right.

Now it appears normal passage has been resumed. People were being kept back while the scene was being cleared up. It's not just tourists because there's not really many tourists these days in Jerusalem, for obvious reasons. But there are lots of people, several hundred thousand people, actually live within the walls of the Old City. So that's what you're seeing now. Mostly residents of the Old City or people who have come here to go shopping.

But now, as is often the case in Israel, you'll have an attack, and within a few hours, and here just over an hour, the scene has been cleaned and cleared. And I don't want to say life is getting back to normal, but life goes on -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Life goes on. And tell us again because there are many important holy sites located within the Old City. That's of great concern to people around the world.

WEDEMAN: Yes. The holy city contains the Temple Mount where the Aqsa Mosque is located, the third holiest place for Muslims. The Western or Wailing Wall, the holiest site for Jews. And the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. So under normal circumstances, and these circumstances are far from normal, you would have thousands of tourists coming here, mixing with the residents of the Old City.

The Old City is divided into four quarters, the Christian, the Muslim, the Armenian and the Jewish. And so this is sort of where all the people of this land come together live in close proximity which also explains why you have had, over the last 12 days or so, so many attacks and incidents within the Old City itself or just on the outside, as is the case here, just outside Damascus Gate -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Ben Wedeman reporting live from Jerusalem.

On the phone with me right now is Aaron David Miller, he's a Middle East expert. Welcome, Aaron.

AARON DAVID MILLER, MIDDLE EAST EXPERT: Carol, a pleasure to be here, even under these terrible circumstances.

COSTELLO: It's just -- it's pretty unbelievable. Things have been quiet in Jerusalem over the past several days. And now this.

MILLER: Well, you know, I've watched, participated, helped to broker Israeli-Palestinian agreements over the course of 25 years. And I'm afraid that this is part and parcel of the natural but yet tragic ebb and flow of violence and confrontation that has characterized this conflict for a half a century or more.

This kind of violence, highly personalized, knives instead of guns driven by social media, ISIS and the notion of using knives, I think, figures prominently in this, is very difficult to control. This is not a first intifada which has sustained massive uprising. It's not a second intifada in which Palestinian groups organized. You had Israel's reoccupation of the entire West Bank.

This is much more highly personalized and difficult to control. And I think it's either going to play itself out, which it usually does, or alternatively it could escalate. And I think the good news is that neither the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both fear I think the situation getting out of control.

Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation is still ongoing, the real question is, though, what can each leader do to try to calm the situation and at least get beyond this cycle? But at the end of the day, I'm not a solutionist, but the reality is -- because I think the chances are pretty slim for a two-state solution -- this is going to play on until the underlying grievances and causes and needs of both sides are met.

COSTELLO: Yes. And I'm watching Israeli security there patting down people before they enter the Damascus Gate into the Old City. Secretary of State John Kerry is on his way. What can he do?

[10:20:09] MILLER: You know, I don't think a decision has yet been made, I've been following CNN reporting on this. The secretary, I think, said last night that he was considering going and might soon go to the region.

Look, I worked for half a dozen of his predecessors. One thing I know is that timing is everything. If he goes prematurely and cannot stop this, which is going to be extremely difficult for a third party to do, we're simply going to be perceived to have failed yet again. I think timing is everything. You know, Woody Allen said 90 percent of life is just showing up. It's really showing up at the right time.

And before Kerry launches, I think he has to have a much greater sense that both Abbas and Netanyahu are prepared to actually do things that might bring this latest phase to an end because if he doesn't, if he goes and he leaves and the violence and the escalatory cycle continues once again we're going to be perceived to be the emperor wearing no clothes. And frankly, when it comes to the Arab-Israeli issue, trying and failing -- the notion that you should try and fail and that's better than not having tried at all, that's OK for a college football team. It's not OK if you're the secretary of state of the most consequential nation on earth.

Netanyahu and Abbas need to be able to tell the secretary that they are in a position to actually take concrete steps. And what those steps would be right now are very uncertain to get a handle on this before the secretary of state just throws himself into this without much prospect of success.

COSTELLO: All right. Aaron David Miller, thanks so much for your insight. I'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:26:23] COSTELLO: Just a quick update what's happening in Israel right now. Israeli police shot and killed a young man who lunged at them with a knife. You can see it happened right here at the Damascus Gate. That's one of the entrances to the Old City.

Violence has been a problem in the Old City for the last several weeks. Israeli security have been trying to get a handle on it. They have not been able to. They're now searching everybody who enters the Old City right now for weapons and such.

The American Secretary of State John Kerry is said to be on his way at some time to help quell the violence. Of course, we'll keep you posted.

In other news this morning, American voters who tuned in to see a fight saw a debate instead. In their first showdown, the Democratic candidates played nice, at least compared to the bare-knuckled brawls of their Republican counterparts.

Hillary Clinton stayed on message. Bernie Sanders found a wider audience. And the three underdogs elbowed into the spotlight if only for a moment. But the big moment, the defining moment, was this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Let me say something that may not be great politics. But I think the secretary is right. And that is that the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you. Me too, me too.

(LAUGHTER)

SANDERS: You know, the middle class, Anderson, and let me say something about the media as well. I go around the country. Talk to a whole lot of people. Middle class of this country is collapsing. We have 27 million people living in poverty. We have massive wealth and income inequality. Our trade policies have cost us millions of decent jobs.

The American people want to know whether we're going to have a democracy or an oligarchy as a result of Citizens United.

Enough of the e-mails. Let's talk about the real issues facing America.

CLINTON: Thank you, Bernie. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: With me now to talk about this, CNN political director David Chalian.

So, David, what was it like in the room? I know you weren't exactly there but you were watching nearby. What was it like in the room when that exchange went down?

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, you could hear it right there, Carol, in what you just played. That roomful of Democrats loved that moment.

Bernie Sanders accomplished three things that was all very good for him in that moment. One, he endeared himself to Democrats by not going after Hillary Clinton on the e-mails, by embracing her on it. That was very good for him. It made him a much more likeable figure to the room. That's first of all. Second of all, he poked at the media. That's always a good thing for a politician to do when they take us on. That works well for them. And three, he pivoted to his core message on the e-mail answer.

He said what we need to be talking about is the economic fairness argument that he's been out there making on the campaign trail. To accomplish those three things in that one answer, even though it ended up being obviously a wonderful moment for Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders did himself a lot of good in that moment.

COSTELLO: All right. David Chalian, reporting live for us this morning, thank you.

A quick scan of this morning's headlines suggest hands down Hillary Clinton won last night's Democratic debate. "The New York Times" called Clinton a savvy seamstress who perfectly threaded the needle. CNN contributor Van Jones likened Clinton's performance to Beyonce's hit song, "Flawless." Even conservative columnists calling Clinton confident and aggressive.

But that narrative did not play out online where it was Bernie Sanders, not Clinton, who dominated the dialogue. Searches for Sanders spiked on Google throughout the debate, even outperforming Donald Trump. And Sanders topped Twitter, too, gaining 35,000 new followers.

And here's what voters told CNN's Randi Kaye.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How many of you think that Bernie Sanders won this debate tonight?

(END)