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ISIS May Have Brought Down Russian Airliner over Egypt; Police Officer's Mysterious Death Now Called Ultimate Betrayal; Travel Chaos in Bali. Aired 3-4a ET.
Aired November 05, 2015 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[03:00:00] ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Intelligence intercepts suggest it might have been bombed. Growing concerns ISIS may have brought down a Russian airliner over Egypt.
Also ahead, pornography, lies, and suicide. A police officer's mysterious death now called the ultimate betrayal.
Plus, another day of travel chaos in Bali. An angry volcano forces hundreds of flight cancellations.
Hello. And welcome to viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church.
MAX FOSTER, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: And I'm Max Foster in London. This is CNN Newsroom.
It's 10 a.m. in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, where the latest theory is that it was an ISIS bomb that brought down the Russian MetroJet airliner 9268. Now we just had this in the last few hours, new video coming in to CNN, which is at the moment just after the crash.
A U.S. official says intelligence suggests that someone at the Sharm el-Sheikh Airport may have helped get an explosive device on that plane.
Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr reports.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. intelligence community now scrutinizing airport security at Sharm el-Sheikh Airport. The latest U.S. intelligence suggests that the crash of the Russian passenger jet was most likely caused by an explosive device on the plane planted by ISIS or an ISIS affiliate according to a U.S. Official.
The official, who is familiar with the latest information regarding the U.S. intelligence analysis of the crash, tells CNN there is a definite feeling it was an explosive device planted in the luggage or somewhere on the plane. A British aviation team is traveling to the airport to look at the security there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PATRICK MCLOUGHLIN, UK TRANSPORT SECRETARY: We cannot categorically say why the Russian jet crashed, but we have become concerned that the plane may well have been brought down as a result of an explosive device.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: British Prime Minister David Cameron telephoned Egyptian President el-Sisi and then announced all flights between the U.K. and Sharm el-Sheikh are suspended until security measures can be assured. Ireland doing the same. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo has told the U.S. employees not to travel to the Sinai Peninsula.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LES ABEND, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: This could be an inside operation, somebody that is, or some people that are familiar with how the baggage process works. And let's not just limit it to the cargo hold. Catering could be involved with this, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: ISIS has put out two statements claiming responsibility for bringing down the plane, but they have not given any details. The U.S. official says the administration has not come to a firm conclusion, but the belief it's a bomb is based, in part, on monitoring of internal ISIS messages separate from the group's public claims of responsibility.
The U.S. did not know of the bomb plot in advance, but had seen militant activity in Sinai in recent weeks that had caused concern. The Egyptian government says the airport is safe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NASSER KAMEL, EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.K.: The Egypt, as destination, is as safe as ever and all statistics are pointing to the fact that Sharm el-sheikh is one of the safest destinations in the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
CHURCH: CNN international correspondent, Ben Wedeman is following developments from Cairo, and he joins us now live. So, Ben, what are Egyptian officials saying about the possibility of a bomb?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very little at this point, Rosemary. As a matter of fact, this is the front page of Al-Ahram, the Egyptian paper of note in Cairo, and it's not even on the plane crash, let alone the bomb, isn't even on the front page.
Egyptian officials have been playing down consistently the possibility that this plane may have been brought down by some terror-related event. And what we saw yesterday, a very brief statement put out by the Egyptian civil aviation authority which is spearheading this investigation.
It did acknowledge that the cockpit voice recorder was damaged in the crash, but it said that as far as further information on the investigation, it will be made available in due course.
And the Egyptian aviation minister is quoted as saying in this newspaper, Al-Ahram, that he's giving "no timetable" for the publication of the results of any investigation.
[03:05:05] So, until now, sort of mum's the word when it comes to these American and British suggestions that there may have been a bomb on board the MetroJet plane.
CHURCH: And of course, Ben, those suggestions have triggered the suspension of flights, certainly for the British tourists leaving thousands of them stranded there.
So, what does this mean in terms of security now at the airport?
WEDEMAN: Well, Egyptian officials have said that security has been ramped up at Sharm el-Sheikh International Airport. A team of British security experts did visit the facility yesterday.
But in a sense, the horse has already left the barn. The bad news is out, of the crash of this Russian airplane. In a sense, it's going to be difficult for Egypt, at least for the time being, to attract any more tourists, given what has happened. Rosemary.
CHURCH: And for what you've been saying, Ben, there's an avoidance of the topic there, certainly in the media, but at some point, Egypt is going to have to confront this and talk about this.
When might we hear something about the investigation, given so many people now are talking about the possibility of a bomb?
WEDEMAN: Well, we're hoping to hear some sort of reaction, some sort of comment from Egyptian officials to these suggestions by the Americans and the British. But I can tell you, having covered the October 31st 1999 crash of Egypt Air flight 990, which went down off the Coast of New York; it took the Egyptians a very long time to come out with any sort of solid information about the incident.
They did cooperate with the National Transportation Safety Board of the United States in the investigation. But in the end, when the NTSB suggested that the plane was brought down by the co-pilot, the Egyptians rejected that conclusion absolutely.
And so, there's no way to predict how they're going to comment and when they're going to comment, or when we will see the results of their investigation. They have, apparently, begun to study the contents of the voice cockpit, voice recorder, and the flight data recorder as well. But no indication what those contents are up until now.
CHURCH: And of course, Ben, the other part of this story is the impact this is likely to have on tourism for Egypt. What's being said about that?
WEDEMAN: Well, this, I think this explains why Egyptian officials are hesitant to comment on the possibility that terrorism had a role to play in the crash of the MetroJet plane.
They are well aware that tourism is a mainstay of the Egyptian economy. Tourism has limped along really since 2011, when the regime of Hosni Bubarak was overthrown; 2010 saw 14.7 million tourists coming to Egypt and the numbers have never recovered.
And obviously, given this crash of the MetroJet airplane, 300 kilometers North of Sharm el-Sheikh, it's not going to do terrorism any good.
CHURCH: All right. CNN international correspondent, Ben Wedeman joining us there live there from Cairo. Thanks to you as always.
Back to Max Foster now.
FOSTER: We're going to bring -- yes, we're going to bring in Rosemary now. Raffaello Pantucci, he's from the Royal United Services Institute, he is director of International Security Studies there. An expert in counterterrorism. Thank you for joining us, Raffaello.
RAFFAELLO PANTUCCI, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE DIRECTOR: Thank you.
FOSTER: A dramatic move by the British last night. The late information coming in, late intelligence, effectively suggesting that that airport just isn't safe for British tourists. It's not based on the investigation, as far as we know, they haven't had access to that.
What sort of intelligence could have led to this decision?
PANTUCCI: Well, we don't know the exact nature of this intelligence and it would be surprising if it leaked out. But quite clearly, some very specific information reached the British authorities that suggested to them that this airport was in some way compromised.
And therefore, one, that they should be -- and this was information that was potentially dangerous to life and dangerous to British lives in particular, who are tourists out in Sharm el-Sheikh, or going to tour as -- you know, be tourists out in Sharm el-Sheikh, so clearly they had to act.
So, I think clearly, what we are seeing something is very specifically connected to this particular airport and the particular threat they saw there.
The overall threat picture the foreign office has towards Egypt has remained the same. So, it seems like it was something very specific that they were looking at here.
FOSTER: Specifically about the airport, isn't it, because the resort isn't out of bounds as far as the foreign office is concerned, it's just that airport. [03:09:59] And the security measures there, are we -- I mean, from the
sense we're getting and the sort of action around the airport with U.K. officials, it suggests that it's entirely linked to the security processes within the airport and the screening.
PANTUCCI: Well, clearly, the current British calculation of some sort of an explosive has got on board this plane or something happened on board this plane, and it was due to something that happened on the ground they managed to get onto it.
And they sort of clearly decided that that is a very dangerous threat and one that is a gap that continues to exist.
FOSTER: In terms of what happens from here, the foreign offices haven't suggested that tourists in Sharm el-Sheikh cancel their flights, their future flights, which does suggest there is a way out of this.
They're working with Egyptian authorities, but they haven't gone far enough.
Do you think this is likely to be something that could be resolved if the Egyptians move in the right direction from what you know of the information we have right now?
PANTUCCI: I mean, like it seems like a very specific response to a very specific threat and presumably that means that's one it could be potentially mitigated.
I mean, the fact that they sort of flagging it up like this, means that they are clearly very concerned about it, but it's clearly something that they feel that can be acted on.
If they didn't think that it was something that they acted on, then you would expect them to raise the general threat picture to Egypt and Sharm el-Sheikh, which has not been done.
If we think back to the incident back in Suez, earlier in the year in Tunisia and the prior attack before that in Bardo, you know, in the wake of those incidents, we saw the threat picture to the entire country be raised and people say that clear -- you know, security services in the United Kingdom say that, you know, this is a dangerous place that British nationals should be aware of potential dangers before they go.
And it's not necessarily a risk that can be mitigated entirely by the local authorities. The fact that here they've done this very specific response to a very specific apparent threat emanating from particular airport, suggests that there is a sense that this is a sort of a piece of intelligence which needed to be acted upon quickly, but is one that could be resolved.
FOSTER: Do you think it was a specific threat against British nationals, based on the information you have?
PANTUCCI: I don't -- I don't think we know whether it was a specific threat against British nationals. I don't think that we necessarily know that it was specifically targeting a Russian plane at the moment.
I mean, the timing of it, with the suggestion that ISIS or Daesh appeared to be claiming this attack, and this sort of coming in the wake of the increased Russian presence in Syria, which suggests a potential correlation but we really don't know.
It's possible that those are just sort of a gap in the airport security that terrorists were able to spot them were able to act upon and it happened to be a Russian plane that they were targeting.
We have to remember that there are a lot of British tourists that use this resort. I think the numbers I was hearing this morning was somewhere between 15 to 20,000 British nationals may be out there, which is quite a specific and substantial British -- number of nationals for the British government to be concerned about.
So, I don't think we necessarily know that it's the Britain who are being targeted, but clearly, it's a very big body of Brits there and that got to be the British government sort of primary concern.
FOSTER: And they're stranded there at the moment. Raffaello Pantucci, thank you very much indeed.
Those flights are suspended again today, we understand. We haven't heard yet from the Egyptian president on this and his reaction, we might get that first reaction here in London because that's where he is, he is due to meeting the Prime Minister, David Cameron a little later on this morning, possibly around lunch time, they can have a meeting and no doubt they are going to be discussing this crash investigation.
And particularly, Britain's response to it. Ahead of their meeting, hundreds of people in London gathered on Wednesday to protest against el-Sisi's visit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: David Cameron needs to show that he's got what it takes to stand up to oppressive leaders, not just give them a handshake and a grand tour of number 10. That means raising serious human rights concerns, including the oppressive laws that are putting peaceful protesters behind bars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why on earth should -- should this prime minister, who needs a democratic country that promotes values of freedom and human rights, why on earth should he welcome that man, in this current age? Where we are here enjoy the values that we have here and promote them. What sort of messages is he giving to the Egyptians?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: We've heard from the intelligence communities in the U.S. and the U.K., but of course, we haven't yet heard from Russia.
Coming up next, we'll go live to St. Petersburg to find out why they're not talking. CHURCH: Plus, the results of what was once a U.S. police lieutenant's
homicide investigation, why they called his actions the ultimate betrayal.
[03:15:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KATE RILEY, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: I'm Kate Riley with your CNN World Sport headlines.
It was a thrilling day in Champions League action on Wednesday. No surprises, but the spotlight has been on Jose Mourinho and Chelsea as they took on Dynamo Kiev. Well, Chelsea jumped out in front, thanks to an own goal by the visitors to Stamford Bridge.
The Ukrainian side leveled in the match late, but Willian will play savior for Mourinho and the home side after scoring his fifth goal in all competitions. The Blues win, 2 to 1.
So, two groups F1, Chelsea's London rival Arsenal were visiting Bayern Munich, the five time tournament champion, Bayern still wounded after losing two weeks ago at Arsenal. But Barbarians were in complete control as they go on to defeat the Gunners, 5-1.
This was only the second time Arsenal have given up five goals in European competition. Lewandowski got the home side on board early. Thomas Miller will get a break.
So, track and field world governing body, the IAAF has confirmed that French police raided its Monaco headquarters early on Wednesday, it was part of an inquiry into corruption and doping.
A statement by the IAAF did not comment on reports from Reuters News Agency that the former President Lamine Diack has been placed under formal investigation.
And that's a look at all your sports lead lines. I'm Kate Riley.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Rosemary Church.
FOSTER: And I'm Max Foster in London. We're going to update you now on our top story.
And that is the MetroJet Russian crash over Egypt, of course. Russia has deployed satellite monitoring and drones to help search efforts at the crash site over there in Egypt.
So, this comes as U.S. intelligence officials suggest an ISIS bomb brought down the Russian plane, killing all 224 people on board.
CHURCH: The British Prime Minister's Office says it's concerned the plane may well have been brought down by an explosive device. Earlier, our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour spoke to the Egyptian Foreign Minister. And I want you to listen to his reaction about the British Prime Minister's assessment. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMEH SHOUKRY, EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: What I'm -- somewhat surprised. The president -- Prime Minister spoke by phone yesterday, they fully discussed the issue. We can appreciate of course, the sense of responsibility and desire to provide every protection to U.K. citizens.
This is a desire that we equally share. But I think it is somewhat premature to make declarations related to what might or might not have happened to the aircraft before the investigation is completed, and before there is a definitive cause for this crash.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[03:20:01] CHURCH: Meanwhile, the remains of the victims are being DNA tested. Russian state media reports, 58 remains have been positively identified.
CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson has more from St. Petersburg, including why Russia is not commenting on the new intelligence reports.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, the source I'm talking to in the Middle East who's briefed on intelligence matters says, it does appear that a bomb was put on board that aircraft. There are regional concerns, he says, about the growing lack of security in the Sinai, and also concerns about security at Sharm el-Sheikh Airport.
Here in Russia, the foreign ministry here, since these reports about the possibility of a bomb being on board the aircraft have surfaced, the foreign ministry here, the spokeswoman there says that Egypt is in charge of the investigation.
They have investigators on the ground. The investigations are ongoing and we should wait to hear what they say. Interestingly, Russia's top aviation body here, has said that legally Russia cannot speak about the investigation ahead of Egyptian authorities.
Why? Because the plane went down in Egypt. Egypt has responsibility for the investigation, and Egypt has to speak first on this issue, or give the Russian -- or give the Russian authorities the right to speak about it.
So, certainly, it does seem to give Russia here the ability to push the main question here now onto the Egyptians to get the Egyptians to answer it. What are we seeing here in St. Petersburg? Well, government, forensic teams helping in the identification bodies at a morgue not far from here.
And we've heard from a St. Petersburg newspaper, the oldest in the city, the most reputable here, they say that they are learning that there is evidence among some of the bodies, on people on board that aircraft in the rear of the aircraft, that they show explosive trauma, that there are pieces of metal inside their bodies. Nic Robertson, CNN, St. Petersburg, Russia.
CHURCH: And we're going to have much more on the crash of flight 9268, in just a few minutes, but we do want to check some other news for you.
Taiwan's President, Ma Ying-jeou says this Saturday's meeting in Singapore with the Chinese President, Xi Jin-Ping is the first step toward normalizing relations between the two sides.
Reuters reports, President Ma also said the dispute over the South China Sea will not be a topic for discussion.
Romania's Prime Minister has stepped down over last week's nightclub fire that killed 32 people. But his resignation was not enough to stop thousands from protesting
government corruption for a second night.
In September, Victor Ponta went on trial for corruption charges that precede his time in office. He denies the allegations.
All right. We do want to turn now to U.S. news.
And a man is dead and four people are recovering after they were attacked on a college campus in California.
Police say a male student stabbed two students, a contract worker, and a staff member, with a hunting knife, Wednesday morning. Campus police shot and killed him. It happened on the University of California Merced Campus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOROTHY LELAND, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA MERCED CHANCELLOR: As of now, the campus remains on precautionary lockdown, as this incident is investigated and will continue to be closed through tomorrow, Thursday. The campus expects to return to normal operations on Friday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: The chancellor says the victims' injuries appear to be non- life-threatening. The Merced County Sheriff said the attacker was a California resident living on campus. Authorities have not released a motive.
FOSTER: In Illinois, after a two-month investigation into what they thought was a murder, authorities say a police lieutenant staged his own suicide.
According to the authorities, they also say Joe Gliniewicz had been stealing money from a youth mentor program for the past seven years.
Here's Pamela Brown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS RUDD, LAKE COUNTY CORONER: This was a carefully staged suicide. This officer killed himself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAMELA BROWN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Tonight, the stunning truth finally comes out. Investigators in Fox Lake, Illinois, revealed Lieutenant Joe Gliniewicz staged his own elaborate death because he was about to be ousted as a thief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDD: Thousands of dollars were used by Gliniewicz for personal purchases, travel expenses, mortgage payments, personal gym memberships, adult web sites, facilitating personal loans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Officials say that money came from a youth program for aspiring police officers that Gliniewicz helped lead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[03:25:03] RUDD: Gliniewicz committed the ultimate betrayal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Thousands of text messages from the officer's cell phone, many of which he deleted before his death were recovered by investigators. They helped reveal the scheme.
He use the explorer account for the flight, $624.79, he texted an unnamed person. "You'll have to start dumping money into that account or you will be visiting me in jail."
Two months ago, the officer was found shot to death in a remote area outside Chicago, after radioing dispatchers, he was chasing three men.
Minutes later, the first officers arrived and found Gliniewicz dead and at confounding scene.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDD: Analysts determined the trail of equipment, consisting of pepper spray, a baton, and his personal glasses, was an attempt to mislead first responders.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Police launch an intense manhunt for the suspected cop killers. Federal law enforcement agencies swarmed in to help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDD: They murdered a police officer, so they're capable of doing anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: A vigil was held in the officer's honor, a hero's funeral. But
behind the scenes, there was a red flag. Gliniewicz never gave police a specific description of the men he claimed to be chasing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARTHUR RODERICK, FORMER U.S. MARSHAL: Just after a couple days, you had some of the Federal law enforcement agencies pulling out of the command post, so I think the word was getting around that there are no suspects.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Gliniewicz had been shot twice, once in his bulletproof vest and the fatal shot to his torso. The bullets came from his own weapon, which was found less than three feet from his head. Today, Fox Lake investigators admitted there were no signs of a struggle at the scene and are now left defending themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDD: Our intention was never to mislead the public. We completely believed from day one that this was a homicide.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
Pamela Brown, CNN, Atlanta.
CHURCH: Elsewhere in the U.S., a boy who was reported missing in Alabama 13 years ago, has been found safe. Julian Hernandez was 5 years old when he disappeared in 2002. His mother had legal custody of him.
But police believe his father abducted him and took him to live in Ohio, where they were reportedly using different names. Julian, who is now 18, was found when he was applying to college. His father, Bobby Hernandez is now under arrest and facing charges in that abduction.
FOSTER: We'll have more on the MetroJet crash just ahead. Including a look at what flight data from the plane's final moments in the air revealed.
CHURCH: And he'll go for laughs on this week's Saturday Night Live, but not everyone finds Donald Trump's hosting gig funny. You are watching CNN Newsroom.
[03:30:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Welcome back to our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. This is CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church. We do want to check the headlines for you.
New video shows the moments after the crash of MetroJet flight 9268 in Egypt. U.S. intelligence now suggests a bomb planted by ISIS or its affiliates brought down that plane.
British authorities are suspending flights out of Sharm el-Sheikh while they review safety procedures at the airport.
Mexico's high court just opened the door to nationwide marijuana legalization. The Supreme Court ruling allows a small group to legally plant, transport, and smoke recreational marijuana.
Mexico recently decriminalizes the possession of small amounts of marijuana and cocaine, but production and distribution are still illegal.
U.S. officials say an Illinois police lieutenant staged his suicide to make it look like he was murdered. Joe Gliniewicz died two months ago. Authorities say he had been stealing money from a youth mental program to fund things like vacations and adult web sites.
FOSTER: Well, U.S. intelligence officials believe that someone at Sharm el-Sheikh Airport in Egypt helped get a bomb on board MetroJet flight 9268.
Miguel Marquez now has more now on the investigation.
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The final seconds of MetroJet flight 9268 captured in data from the plane itself, shows a sudden and disastrous event or events, putting the Airbus 321 in a steep and unrecoverable descent.
From the time it took off, the plane appeared to be operating normally, climbing toward its cruising altitude of 32,000 feet. As the jet ascended through 31,000 feet, something catastrophic happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABEND: This airplane looked like it broke up, for whatever reason, and came to a complete stop and became a brick.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: Twenty three minutes into flight the plane is climbing at a seemingly normal rate, according to flight radar 24 information, 576 feet per minute, nearing 31,000 feet. Then the vertical speed, the speed at which the plane is ascending, changes dramatically.
Within a second, the rate the plane is falling jumps ten-fold. Twenty three seconds later, the plane appears out of control, plummeting 26,000 feet per minute. That is 300 miles an hour toward the earth.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: But as a pilot, this must look like a nightmare to you, this is a plane that's completely out of control.
ABEND: Well, this is somebody -- this is a pilot that's trying to get a hold of his aircraft, this is a pilot that is trying to recover the airplane. If this airplane had broken apart at this point, these pilots were not conscious.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARQUEZ: With the U.S. officials suggesting a bomb may have been placed on the doomed Airbus investigators are searching for definitive physical evidence of an explosive device.
There are potential clues some bodies of passengers near the rear of the plane reportedly have metal pieces in them, possibly consistent with an explosion, but not a confirmation of a terrorist attack.
We also know the plane broke apart, the tail section found a long way, three miles from the rest of the wreckage. More pressure than ever on the investigators finding out how a bomb could have got on the plane. A critical question in the midst of a horrible disaster.
Miguel Marquez, CNN, New York.
CHURCH: And while the U.S. and U.K. agree a bomb may have brought down the jet, there are no concrete answers just yet.
[03:35:03] A short time ago, I spoke with CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, and I asked him what the intelligence community might know that we don't.
RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: To utter the word explosive device or bomb, they have to have some indication that that's actually true. They're really going out on a limb here. So, they must have intelligence that indicates that this really was an explosive device. Both the British and the Americans would be very, very reticent to do that without some sort of indication.
So, I could tell you what happens after one of these events. It's just like a crime scene. Everybody goes back for the surveillance tapes. That's exactly what the intelligence community will do.
They will go back and review the intercept, any available imagery, talk to anybody that might have had any insight and see what they can come up with. So, there's something there that they're not telling us.
CHURCH: And, Rick, ISIS did claim responsibility for the plane crash. But that was dismissed initially. Now it's being given serious consideration. Does ISIS have the capability to do this, and if they did, how did they pull it off?
FRANCONA: Yes, OK. Second part first. They probably pulled it off by recruiting someone at the airport to do this. And that wouldn't be hard to do in Egypt. Because if you look at the ISIS affiliate in Egypt, these aren't people that came from Syria or Iraq to become ISIS.
These are Egyptians, members of the Muslim brotherhood that came to the Sinai after the coup in 2013. Other groups, there's an Al Qaeda affiliate that's now defected to ISIS. The Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, these people are Egyptians. They know how to work the system. They live there. And there's been -- you know, the Sinai has just been a real hotbed
for Islamic fundamentalism. So, for them to recruit someone in Sharm el-Sheikh is not out of the question.
FOSTER: Well, the using on bombs planes -- bombs on planes, unfortunately is nothing new. There have been at least a dozen well- known bomb attacks or attempted bomb attacks if you go back to 1933.
Randi Kaye now looks back at some of the more recent foiled plots.
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: December 22nd, 2001, just two months after the 9/11 attacks. American airlines flight 63, with 197 passengers and crew suddenly in trouble. Passenger Richard Reed was attempting to detonate a plastic explosive called PETN. He'd concealed inside his shoes. Passengers pounced and the flight, headed from Paris to Miami, was safely escorted by fighter jets to Boston's Logan Airport.
Reed is a British citizen who converted to Islam. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Richard Reed is an Al Qaeda-trained, Islamic extremist, while on a murderer mission engage an acts of international terrorism that were motivated by his hate of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Nearly five years later, in August, 2006, 24 men were arrested by British authorities, charged with plotting to blow up as many as 10 flights over the Atlantic simultaneously. Their weapon of choice, explosive liquid smuggled aboard in soda bottles.
After that, liquids were limited to no more than 3.4 ounces on board an aircraft. By then, passengers were already facing tighter security from the 9/11 attacks. Shoes had to be removed, laptops taken out. Box cutters and lighters were forbidden. But the terrorists were getting more creative.
Christmas Day, 2009, another failed attempt using the deadly explosive PETN. Northwest Airlines flight 253, was on its way from Amsterdam to Detroit when a passenger tried to set off explosives sewn into his underwear.
The so-called underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was sentenced to life in prison. Turns out he'd been in contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, a senior Al Qaeda recruiter, later killed in a U.S. drone strike.
A year later in 2010, a suspect tries again to use PETN as a bomb. On two cargo planes bound for Chicago. The devices were disguised as ink cartridges, discovered after a tip. This bomb expert recreated what may have happened.
The prime suspect was a Saudi bomb-maker named Ibrahim Hassan al- Asiri, believed to be a member of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no doubt about this. This is an ingenious way of doing it. If that had been part of an airplane's fuselage, and heaven help the airplane.
KAYE: Whoever built that bomb likely thought it would pass through an x-ray machine with the PETN disguised as printer toner powder.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
FOSTER: Now he is still the republican front-runner, but his margin is thinning. Up next, how Donald Trump is responding to his challengers.
[03:40:03] CHURCH: A California pride is sporting a one of a kind engagement ring. How her fiancee's proposal gave her a toothy grin. That's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster.
CHURCH: And I'm Rosemary Church.
Well, in the 2016 U.S. presidential race, the field remains large, but positions are shifting within the republican field of candidates.
A new poll shows Donald Trump and Ben Carson in a virtual tie for the top spot among republican voters. One time front-runner, Jeb Bush has dropped to just 4 percent supports.
On the democratic side, Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders by nearly 20 points. The poll shows 9 percent of voters are undecided at this point.
FOSTER: Well, Trump did have a sizeable lead, of course over the other candidates. Though, his confidence is pretty unshaken, he is now directly challenging the other candidates who are gaining a bit.
Here's Dana Bash with our campaign reports from New Hampshire.
DANA BASH, CNN'S CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Wherever Donald Trump goes it is an event.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: What do you say to him?
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't know, does he register in the polls?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BASH: Especially when he comes to the New Hampshire State Capitol, the first major GOP candidate to officially file for the first in the nation primary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: This may be a very, very important signature.
BASH: Whether it's voting aged adults.
TRUMP: Are you all hardworking?
BASH: Or kids on a school trip excited to see a celebrity.
TRUMP: Who's the best student?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Me!
BASH: Trump supporters here are quite enthusiastic. Trump is still on top in New Hampshire, but other candidates are gaining traction. A fresh poll has Marco Rubio now in third place. Five times the support he had just two months ago.
[03:45:03] There's a brand new poll here that shows Marco Rubio doing much, much better. What do you say to that?
TRUMP: All I know is, I'm number one. That's all I know.
BASH: Despite the bravado, Trump's stepped up attacks on Rubio reveal concern.
TRUMP: Marco Rubio has a disaster on his finances. He has a disaster on his credit cards.
BASH: Trump is seizing on new Florida newspaper reports about Rubio's use of a Republican Party credit card for personal charges when in the State House. Rubio insists he paid personal charges back.
MARCO RUBIO, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Every month I would go through the bills and if there was something on there that was personal, I paid it directly to American Express. And if there was the party, the party paid for it.
BASH: But Rubio is only one Trump threat. Ben Carson is practically tied with him in a new national poll and here in New Hampshire.
BEN CARSON, (R) U.S. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It doesn't particularly surprise me. Given the kind of people that the two of us are.
BASH: Yet, Trump says the neurosurgeon doesn't have the aptitude to be president.
You were questioning Ben Carson's aptitude to be president, what do you mean by that?
TRUMP: Well, he has no aptitude to do any of the deals that you have to do. Ben doesn't have that. It's not for him. I mean, and if you think it is, you're just kidding yourself. BASH: Jeb Bush is in the Granite State, too, a three-day bus tour
trying to reboot his campaign, as he's now slipped behind Chris Christie here. And Trump can't resist taking shots at Bush.
TRUMP: I'm not an entertainer. He goes, I'm not a good talker, I don't speak well. I don't debate well. I don't do anything well. But you should vote for me. That's Jeb Bush.
Dana Bash, CNN, Nashua, New Hampshire.
CHURCH: And among Donald Trump's next stops is an appearance as host on Saturday Night Live. But its sparking controversy in a spot promoting the show, Trump doesn't miss a chance to take a shot at his closest rival.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CECILY STRONG, SNL CO-STAR: Donald Trump is hosting Saturday Night Live this week with musical guests Sia, and because of equal time rules for television, Mr. Trump can only speak for four seconds in this promo.
TRUMP: So, let me just say this. Ben Carson is a complete and total loser.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: Well, Ben Carson isn't laughing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CARSON: I discovered when I was in grade school that those tactics really are for grade school, and I've gone far beyond that now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHURCH: And protesters gathered outside NBC for a dump Trump rally. Reports say an immigration reform group delivered a petition with more than half a million signatures demanding Trump be taken off the show.
FOSTER: Coming up, thousands of tourists stranded -- stranded hundreds of flights canceled. An erupting volcano causes travel headaches. We'll tell you where next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good day. I'm CNN meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, with a quick look at your weather watch.
Quite a sharp contrast in our temperatures across the intermountain West of the United States and the eastern half of the U.S.
Look at Chicago, Atlanta, to New York, lower and middle 20's expected on Thursday, of a temperatures cool enough, especially in the higher elevations, just outside of Denver. And some of the precipitation that has fallen across that region will
fall in the form of snowfall. Great news for the ski resorts expected across Utah, into Colorado, as well as parts of New Mexico, and Arizona.
The Pacific Northwest also appears to be rather wet this Thursday, Seattle to Portland, expect rain showers for your Thursday afternoon.
[03:50:02] Few thunderstorms anticipated across Central America. Nassau, however, expecting a daytime high of 29, with only a few clouds overhead. So, beautiful throughout the Bahamas.
We have an active weather pattern stretching from the Southern and Western sections of Brazil through Ecuador and parts of Colombia and even into Venezuela. Showers and thunderstorms anticipated.
But as we travel a little further to the south, you'll see that the weather clears up quite nicely and we enjoy springtime temperatures near Santiago, 26 degrees and sunny.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHURCH: Take a look at this massive plume of smoke from a volcano in Indonesia. Mt. Rinjani has awakened and its ashes have drifted towards the popular resort Island of Bali.
Tourists are stranded, as nearly 700 flights were canceled Wednesday. Officials say three airports have been closed.
We do want to get more on this story now. Now meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri joins us from the International Weather Center. Pedram, I can think of worst places to be stranded than Bali.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I was thinking that as well. I was thinking that as well. But, you know, this was a pretty, pretty active area of the world. We know as far as volcanic activity, you think about this region of the world. Certainly, the archipelago itself consists of 13,000 islands.
You stretch it across you're talking about an area that's comparable to the continental of U.S. That's how long the Islands of Indonesia are set up. And within these islands, we have over 150 volcanoes and the density of the volcanoes is among the highest volcanoes in the world, when you consider this literally every 20 miles on average, every 32 kilometers is how many volcanoes are lined up across this region, across the entire archipelago.
You go down for a closer perspective, there's Rinjani right here, you can clearly see the smoke associated with it as it moves towards Denpasar, the city where volcanic ash certainly has disrupted. Some of the air traffic across that region.
But I want to show you why this is such a serious concern. Because when you think about aircraft and aviation industry in general, of course we've seen this back several years ago, with the occurrence across parts of Europe. But that volcanic ash is certainly a dangerous scenario that sets up
with this because it contains and it consists of rock and also glass that gets drawn into the combustion portion of the engine.
It is super-heated quite rapidly, as this happens, it, of course, melts down and becomes molten glass, it then exits out towards the back side of the engine here, where you have the turbine that solidifies and cools every rapidly.
When this happens, you have the turbines really be disrupted, the air flows -- flow is disrupted, then you lose thrust, you lose lift, you lose the ability to continue flying, it becomes a disastrous scenario.
So, when you have this sort of a pattern with the winds that we've had in recent days out of Rinjani towards Bali, certainly puts the smoke right in the prime location there and the ash and prime location to make it a dangerous scenario for aircraft and the aviation industry in general.
If you take a look, here we go again, you noticed the winds have shifted a little bit. Some of the smoke as we saw earlier is now pushing offshore. But it's expected that the airport is back up and operational inside the next few hours as we're seeing the wind forecast change and become more North westerly, taking it away from Denpasar which is the area of concern.
So, at least some good news with regards to that, Rosemary, and it looks like the forecast is going to improve at least send the ash farther away from any population centers there.
CHURCH: Oh, I love it when you end on some good news there.
JAVAHERI: Yes.
CHURCH: Thanks, Pedram.
JAVAHERI: Thank you.
CHURCH: Always a pleasure.
FOSTER: Rosemary, we're going to talk about that engagement ring, we have to then we board the end of the show.
CHURCH: Yes.
FOSTER: A California bride, jaw-dropping, you have to agree?
CHURCH: Yes. And you can forget about the diamonds, too, as CNN's Jeanne Moos tells us, the groom to be gave her a pearly white.
JEANNE MOOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Usually engagement rings are slipped on a finger or come out of an open box, but how about an open mouth?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CARLEE LEIFKES, FIANCEE PROPOSED WITH WISDOM TOOTH RING: Oh, yes. We
definitely right off the bat, have been excited telling people it's his wisdom tooth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: In movies they go to Tiffany's and say.
[03:55:02] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pick one.
MOOS: But this one was extracted - extracted from Lucas Unger's mouth when he was 17. Now at 23, he's given it to Carlee Leifkes as an engagement ring.
LEIFKES: We're into oddities, the more different the better.
MOOS: This was no surprise, the couple discussed the idea and took Lucas' wisdom tooth to a jeweler who had never mounted a tooth in a ring before, but was happy to do it. Carlee loves the concept.
LEIFKES: He actually grew this in his body.
MOOS: It was sort of a piece of him?
LEIFKES: Yes. And I'm happy I get to wear that every day.
MOOS: For those who say 'yuck' the tooth has already been professionally cleaned and coated.
Lucas proposed on Halloween. Later this month, the couple will get married in Las Vegas by an Elvis impersonator, her tattooed broken leg will be in a camouflage cast, and the wisdom tooth will serve as engagement and wedding ring.
Would you brush this tooth?
LEIFKES: No, I wouldn't brush it.
MOOS: She can always take it to the dentist for its annual check-up. Actually that's no joke. One commenter noted she has a similar wisdom tooth ring. I chipped it recently when I went to get a cavity filled. My dentist fixed my ring for me, too.
No matter what. Marilyn Monroe says...
MARILYN MONROE, SINGER: The diamonds are a girl's best friend.
LEIFKES: And I say diamonds are not girl's best friend. They are not friend. My fiance is.
MOOS: The wisdom from that tooth is already rubbing off.
Jeanne Moos, CNN.
LEIFKES: There it is.
MOOS: New York.
BOLTON: I don't think that will catch on.
All right, we have this just in to CNN. All of MetroJet's Airbus A321 fleet has been grounded while additional safety checks are being conducted. And that is according to Russia's air safety watchdog.
All right. We'll have more of this, of course, after the break.
FOSTER: We will indeed. I'm Max Foster in London. Thank you for watching.
BOLTON: And I'm Rosemary Church. Early Start is next for our viewers here in the U.S., to everyone else, stay tuned for CNN Newsroom.
[04:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
