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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Manhunt for Belgium Terror Suspect; The Race for President: New Election Results. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired March 23, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

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[04:32:05] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening right now: an intense manhunt for the surviving Brussels airport bomber. But the breaking news just in this morning, we now have the identity of two terrorists, these two men who blew themselves up at the airport. Part of the attacks on Brussels along with the subway that killed at least 30 people, injured hundreds.

We'll tell you what investigators are locating at raids around that city.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: And breaking news in the race for president, new election results are in. And the candidates are clashing over how to handle the Brussels bombings.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans.

BERMAN: I'm John Berman. Nice to see you. Thirty-two minutes after the hour right now.

I want to welcome viewers here in the United States and all around the world. We do begin with the breaking news from Brussels.

Yes, there is a surviving suspect in the terror bombings at the airport and metro station, but the news just in this morning, we now have the identities of the two suicide bombers believed to have died in that airport attack. As I just said, police across the continent are still searching for the man who was beside them in the surveillance images. The man in the white jacket and hat, he is believed to be still alive. The two on the left are believe to have been suicide bombers.

A senior Belgian security source tells CNN that the men are brothers, Khalid and Brahim El Bakraoui. But investigators say the man in the gray, again, the one on the right, he put a bomb down, he left the airport alive. A cab driver who drove them all to the airport gave police the address where he picked them up.

That led to a series of raids that uncovered a bomb factory. Investigators found a nail bomb, chemicals and ISIS flag. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack which killed at least 20 people at the Maalbeek station. At least ten people died at the airport, 230 injured in the joint attacks.

We are all over this story. Let's start with CNN senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir. She is in Brussels, near the memorial of the victims.

Nima, what do we know this morning about these two brothers?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In the aftermath of the capture of Salah Abdeslam, John, authorities here were warning that he was found with a cache of heavy weaponry. There were detonators in that flat with where he was believed to have stayed after the Paris attacks. They believe he was forming a new network around him with plans to launch a new series of attacks.

Well, Khalid and Brahim el Bakraoui are part of that network. In fact, a senior Belgian security source tells us that Khalid el Bakraoui rented the premise where that raid that happened, it was the tip off that led ultimately to the capture of Salah Abdeslam. So, while they're unraveling who these brothers are, in order to learn who else they knew, who else could have been involved.

[04:35:01] They are also searching, intensifying the manhunt for the man you mentioned, the third suspect at airport, the man who is currently still on the run.

They are also, we understand, searching for a suspect in the train attack, many the metro bombing. Raids and house searches are going on across the country. In fact, the Belgian prime minister said there are homes in every corner, in every region of this country currently being searched. And already, they unearthed that cache of chemicals, the nail bomb and the ISIS flag through their raids is Schaerbeek.

But raids are continuing this morning, John. We're hoping to hear more. The prosecutor saying he could possibly be speaking in the next few hours.

BERMAN: Nima, before I let you, what's the latest situation in Brussels in general? Still on lockdown? The airport still closed? Transportation down?

ELBAGIR: The airport is still closed. Some of the transportation, some of the train stations have reopened. But they're very chaotic. They are allowing children back in schools today.

But the lockdown in that sense has slightly loosened. But in the early hours of the morning when we were here and speaking to people, some people had overnighted here at this memorial. People are torn between the obvious fears, the worries, but at the same time this need to get back out there, this need to prove that they're undefeated. That life here goes on.

BERMAN: It's nice to see behind you even as that country certainly mourns.

Nima Elbagir in Brussels, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Again, the breaking news this morning, we are learning the identity of the two suicide bombers, the el Bakraoui brothers.

CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is live for us right now and he is in front of the flat, the apartment where these two others were renting -- an apartment that was raided last week.

You know, weave this thread for us about these two brothers, this flat, and that big arrest on Friday.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, it's interesting how this thread keeps coming together, how things keep going around, at the same time you always come back to the same set of suspects.

The house that I'm at now was rented by one of the el Bakraoui brothers, also the place that was raided Tuesday ago. Where one suspect was killed, also someone implicated in the Paris attacks and was apparently in contact with the Paris attacker while they were conducting the attacks at the Bataclan and in the other areas as well.

Two people escaped from that raid. It was unclear in the beginning who those two people were. Now, the authorities believe it might be the people who now blew themselves up, the Bakraoui brothers. When police went into the flat, though, they found the DNA and fingerprints of Salah Abdeslam that was something that tipped them off to the Maalbeek area where they captured him.

So, it seems to be becoming more and more clear that there is a link between Salah Abdeslam and the people who now blow themselves two el Bakraoui brothers. But again, there's been a lot of raids going on here in the Brussels area the past couple of days. I was at a place called Schaerbeek yesterday, a raid went on there for seven hours, with a chopper hovering overhead with snipers taking aim out of the chopper with some sort of building.

It was later cleared. This was a place where apparently where some of the bombs for the airport attack were made. The police went back there, found that nail bomb. The forensic work was going on there throughout the night with forensic workers that we saw coming out, taking out bags of evidence and bringing it to vehicles.

There was an explosive ordinance squad that was on hand there the entire time. So, this house right here that I'm standing in front of, very much significant. We always seem to come back to the same set of suspects who were being implicated in these attacks and also in the Paris attacks. So, certainly the investigators here making a lot of headway in the past 24 hours.

ROMANS: But, Fred, I mean, bottom line, that apartment, that house behind you, authorities were very, very close to getting those guys.

PLEITGEN: Yes, you're absolutely right. They were close to getting these guys.

The problem that they had when they went into the apartment here last Tuesday is they went in thinking that the apartment would be empty. They raided this apartment and they didn't have their full-on riot gear on because they thought they were checking on an address with an empty apartment.

When they got here, they were immediately met by automatic weapons fire. One of the people who fired at them with an AK-47 was killed. That man was later identified to be a senior member of the cell that conducted the Paris attacks, but two -- at least two suspects got away. They believe it could have been the el Bakraoui brothers and then they lost the trace of these people afterwards.

[04:40:00] But, yes, you're absolutely right. They were very, very close to apprehending these people. They didn't have enough forces on hand when they raided the apartment because they were preparing for something very different and it turned that it's highly likely that the two people who now blew themselves up at the airport may have been here.

ROMANS: All right. Frederik Pleitgen this morning in the neighborhood of Bourse, thank you so much.

BERMAN: You can see how close those connections are between what happened in Brussels and what happened in Paris months ago.

All right. The Brussels attack had a chilling effect across Europe which was already on pins and needles. An alert issued by the United States State Department now is warning America of potential risks traveling to Europe, saying terrorist groups are planning near- term attacks in Europe.

Let's get more from CNN's Jim Bittermann live in Paris.

Jim, as we were saying, I mean, the connections between what's going on in Brussels and what happened in Paris months ago, it's not loosely connected, it's directly connected.

JIM BITTERMANN, CNN SENIOR EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely directly connected. There was immediate reaction yesterday when the attacks took place in Brussels. They ordered 1,600 more security out on the streets and security measures.

But it's the kind of thing officials here have been warning about. The education minister here came out this morning and said all school trips towards Brussels or through Brussels will be canceled.

The prime minister was on French radio this morning saying they have never faced this kind of a threat before. Europe has never faced this kind of threat before. He's off to Brussels this morning. He will meet with his counterpart, Charles Michel, the prime minister of Belgium, and also, Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission. Security will be at the top of the list.

One of the things the French have suggested, and they've been suggesting for years is that Europe install this passenger name recognition system that has already existed in the United States, where every passenger flying, their names, their destination, their passport details and so on are recorded. This doesn't exist in Europe as it does in the United States. It's been in the United States since after 9/11.

So, it's the kind of thing that Europeans could do better to tighten security operation. That's one of the questions after the attacks yesterday.

BERMAN: See if this spurs changes. Change, is that appear necessary to say the least.

Jim Bittermann for us in Paris, thanks so much.

ROMANS: All right. Lots of breaking developments this morning about the Paris -- the Brussels terror attack and how ISIS manages to create these cells around the world in Paris, in Brussels and elsewhere. How can they be fought?

BERMAN: Plus, we have breaking news in the race for president here in the United States. Primaries in the West, four separate winners in states, what does it mean for the race ahead? That's next.

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[04:46:56] ROMANS: Happening now, the manhunt for a suspect in Tuesday's terror bombings in an airport, a metro station in Brussels, Belgium that killed at least 30 people and injured 200 more, the manhunt for that man is underway.

And breaking this morning, we know who these two men are, these suicide bombers are. They have been identified as two brothers, Khalid and Brahim el Bakraoui. Now, ISIS has claimed responsibility for the blast, once again proving itself capable of carrying out attacks anywhere, infiltrating Europe and inspiring attacks around the world.

BERMAN: All right. What do these attacks tell us about the capabilities, the counterterrorism capabilities in Europe and here in the U.S.

Joining us, CNN military analyst, Cedric Leighton, former deputy director of the joint chiefs of staff, and CNN contributor and author, Tim Lister, who spent so much time in Syria, written intensively on the fight against terrorists, spent time in Paris and Belgium, you know, dealing with the terror attacks there, too, because that very much now a front for ISIS.

Cedric, I want to start with you -- the identity of these two brothers is now known, Khalid and Brahim el Bakraoui. They are believed to have been connected to Salah Abdeslam. They may have fled the apartment on Friday when there was a raid. Two brothers who have been to law enforcement for some time.

And it just begs the question, if these guys were known, if there are connections to the most wanted terror suspect in Europe over the last four months, how were they able to pull off this attack?

CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: John, it's very troubling is what you're seeing here is the inability to act on the intelligence that the Belgian authorities apparently had.

Now, part of it also is that they probably did not have the complete picture. And because they didn't have that complete picture, they were probably reluctant to act and get the el Bakraoui brothers when they could have prevented the attack. So, there's a significant issue of not only getting the information but also acting on that information in a timely fashion.

ROMANS: One of these, Tim Lister, one of these brothers had fired on police officers. They were both known to police for organized crime, for carjacking, for violent offenses, but not, police and authorities say, terrorism.

But the fact they have been so close to police, the fact they were in an apartment that was raided by police a week ago, incredibly frustrating that they could not have been prevented.

TIM LISTER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Very frustrating indeed, Christine. And I think the problem you have is that these networks have been formed very often in jails, in prisons and they are very widespread, they're very deep, and keeping an eye on and apprehending all those who might and might not be involved with these jihadist networks who might have known Abdeslam, who might have known Abdelhamid Abaaoud.

A lot of these people have spent time in jail together. Jails across Europe have become incubators for extremism. So, those that emerged from jail, maybe they go to Syria, maybe they come back, simply impossible to keep in touch with all these people.

[04:50:02] This one town in Belgium (INAUDIBLE) that sent more people to Syria and Iraq as jihadists than any other town in Europe. The scale of the problem is just enormous, Christine.

ROMANS: Tim, do we know if these guys had been to the foreign battlefields? If they had been to Syria and Iraq, Tim, and had come back? Or they were homegrown?

LISTER: It looks at this point as if they were homegrown. We don't know.

But one them did start a jail sentence back in 2010 for nine years supposedly. He was clearly let out early. But whether he had time to go to Syria and come back is not clear yet.

But, of course, plenty of others, including almost all the Paris attackers, did go to be trained in Syria. And were able to come back using forged documents.

And there was a point made earlier on about why isn't there a common passenger list for airline passengers? Most of these people came over land. They didn't use airplanes. This is the scale of the problem.

BERMAN: Cedric, you know, in addition now to having the two names of these brothers believed to be the suicide attackers at the airport, they also, the Belgian officials still have Salah Abdeslam, they still have the man, the remaining terror attacker from Paris in November in custody right now. What might they be doing with him at this moment?

LEIGHTON: Well, John, obviously, they're going to be interrogating him. They're going to be looking at basically him giving them an idea of what the pattern of life is. That's the technical term used to describe what these people do, how these people actually operate.

So, what they're going to try to find out from him is exactly what he did in the run-up to the Paris attacks and also what happened now with the Brussels attacks, and find out what the connections are, what that network really looks like. And it's going to be interesting to see how much he actually will tell the Belgian authorities, because that will be the key to understanding how this ISIS network operates within Europe, and especially within Belgium.

ROMANS: Cedric, you also make a point that this plays into the Apple versus FBI encryption fight. Here's why: because if you have the resource problems that you have in following all of these foreign fighters, many people have said that Belgium is a hotbed, it is ground zero for this traffic back and forth of foreign fighters, that you need better surveillance. Explain why.

LEIGHTON: Sure, Christine. Well, what you're looking at here is we're entering the era of big data, and intelligence agencies just like businesses need big data to keep up with the terrorists, and the only way you can get big data is to have access to information that is on the web, in the cloud, and on the devices that people use as their cell phones and their tablets as an example.

So, what you're seeing here is with the debate that Apple and the FBI are having about encryption, and the access to devices that are encrypted, what you're seeing a ground swell within Europe and the United States to try to get access, at least in limited cases, to these devices. I think terrorist attacks like this are going to have a significant impact on all the legal battles that are out there.

BERMAN: All right. Guys, stand by. I want to come back to you as we get more information on the two brothers identified as the suicide attackers at the airport in Brussels.

Meanwhile, there is also breaking news in the race for president, four separate candidates win states on western Tuesday. What does that mean for the election? That's next.

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[04:57:42] BERMAN: All right. More continuing coverage of the terror attacks in Brussels including the identity of two suicide bombers at the airport and their ties to the Paris attacks.

But we have some breaking news in politics as well. Four separate winners in the western primaries. The front-runners, they did OK. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, they each won in Arizona. Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders there. She got just under 60 percent of the vote.

Donald trump topped Ted Cruz and John Kasich there as well. Arizona is a winner-take-all state, which means that he wins all of the 58 delegates there.

Now, in the state of Utah, Ted Cruz won there, and because he won more than 50 percent of the vote there, he wins all the delegates in Utah. So big nights for both Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

The delegate count now as it stands on the Republican side, Donald Trump at 741. You can see Ted Cruz at 461. John Kasich won exactly zero delegates last night. One thousand two hundred thirty- seven is the number it takes to nominate at the Republican convention.

On the Democratic side, there were also two caucus races. Bernie Sanders won Utah. He also won Idaho. He won them both big. I mean, I'm talking huge. Over 75 percent of the vote in both states. His best states besides his home state of Vermont.

But he didn't make too much of a dent in Hillary Clinton's delegate lead. You can see right there, she's at 1229 to his 912. That is the pledged delegates, if you add in super delegates, her lead is much bigger, 2,383 need to nominate there.

Later this morning, Ted Cruz, Republican senator from Texas, presidential candidate, he will be on "NEW DAY" at the 7:00 hour.

ROMANS: All right. Time for an early start on your money quickly. Global stock markets cautiously moving higher now.

We did not see major moves yesterday following that Even the European stock markets are higher now. That's right, European stock markets are higher including a nice gain in Belgium.

Dow futures are up slightly. Shares in Asia finished lower. The Dow's seven-day winning streak ended, it lost 41 points yesterday. But that's not much.

You can see over the span, the gains have been pretty modest. Oil's recent climb is the main driver behind these gains.

Let's talk, though, about where we did see reaction from what happened in Brussels. Travel related stocks posted some of the biggest declines yesterday. Booking site trip adviser fell 2.54 percent.