Return to Transcripts main page

Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Terror Arrests Across Europe; Pakistan Blast Kills At Least 69; Syrian Government Takes Back Ancient City from ISIS; Sanders Wins 3 Western States; Cruz and Trump Feud Gets Personal; New Video Showed Terrorist Brothers Partying in Brussels Nightclub. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired March 28, 2016 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:51] ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Terror crackdown across Europe. New raids and arrests linked to the Brussels attacks. What investigators are now revealing as protests erupt in the city gears over terror rising. We are live breaking it all down.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Dozens killed, hundreds wounded as terrorists target Christians at a crowded park. We are live with who is behind the Easter bomb blast and what comes next.

KOSIK: ISIS pushed out of a key historic Syrian city. Is the terror caliphate losing valuable ground? We are live with what this loss means on the war on ISIS.

Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik.

ROMANS: Nice to see you this Monday morning.

KOSIK: Good morning.

ROMANS: I'm Christine Romans. It's 31 minutes past the hour.

This morning new terror arrests across Europe, many of them connected to the Brussels and Paris attacks suggesting the ISIS terror network is much bigger, more widespread and in more cities than we knew.

The manhunt expanding for two Brussels bombing suspects. They are still on the run. And tension rising in Belgium. Far-right protesters storming the memorial site for the Brussels victims, clashing with riot police who pushed them back with water cannons.

And we're learning more about the four Americans killed in the Brussels attacks, including Justin and Stephanie Shults. Their families received condolence calls from President Obama Sunday.

CNN's Michael Holmes is in Brussels for us with the very latest on the investigation with who was arrested and what cities, and what led authorities to them.

Good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hi, Christine. Yes, you've got terror -- counterterror agencies all across Europe on high alert. And they're busy as well. Just here in Brussels on Sunday alone, there were 13 new raids. There were more people taken into custody. All of this part of the investigations into the brutal attacks here nearly a week ago. Also, after a tip-off from French investigators, we saw the arrests of a 32-year-old French citizen in the Netherlands on Sunday. Holland, in Rotterdam, in fact.

Now that arrest is tied to the arrest of another man we've reported on before, Reda Kriket, who was picked up last week in France and was described as being in the advanced stages of planning another terror attack in France. And then you've got the Algerian who was picked up in Italy over the weekend. Accused of making false documents. And he was wanted even before the Brussels attacks.

Now this all shows the breadth, the complexity of this web of ISIS operatives and sympathizers and all across Europe. Now you mentioned Sunday those ugly scenes, those nationalist right-wing extremists, if you like, at the memorial here in the Place de la Bourse. Now the group was touting things like, this is our home. They were confronting Muslim women in the crowds. Women who were wearing head scarf. You saw the very ugly side of some of them making Nazi salutes.

The interesting thing is, they were expected. They came in from out of town. And the police even sort of escorted them here to the square. It was all free speech situation for them. But then riot police turned up, water cannons used at point to get them back out again. It was diffused. Despite the tension there was some pushing and shoving. But the thing is, it's also emblematic of what we have seen rising throughout Europe, and that is the right-wing. Socially, politically. Those who oppose the refugee populations in their own communities -- Christine.

ROMANS: Really an ugly, ugly moment there.

Let's talk a little bit about the two suspects in the Brussels attacks. Still on the run. What can you tell us about that manhunt?

HOLMES: Yes, it continues. You know, there's been all sorts of speculation in the Belgian press and elsewhere about that man number three at the airport. Still looking for him. And then at the metro attack, the second bombing that took place, there was another man there other than the primary bomber. Police have said that they've been looking for him as well. They actually don't even know if maybe he was blown up as well in the bombing. And so those attacks continue.

But I can tell you that there's at least a dozen suspects out there that intelligence organizations in Europe are looking for, specific people that they want to catch up with and talk to about not just Brussels, but also the attacks in Paris last year.

[04:35:11] So at last you might be starting to see some cooperation and coordination between these groups. You've got Europe, of course, this one continent, one Europe, the European community, and these extraordinary scenes of not talking to each other. The intelligence, counterterrorism groups. And then in Brussels, in Paris, you've got groups within Paris. security groups within Paris not talking to each other. All that is going to have to change. There's going to be some fundamental structural reforms particularly here in Belgium -- Christine.

ROMANS: And sooner rather than later we would hope.

All right, Michael Holmes, thank you so much for that. Michael in Brussels for us this morning.

You know CNN takes you inside the inner circle of Paris attacks suspects Salah Abdeslam and his suicide bomber brother Brahim. Look at that new video., it shows them partying in a Brussels nightclub just months before the attack. What their friends are telling CNN. We've got that for you in about 20 minutes.

KOSIK: A splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban claiming responsibility for a suicide blast that killed at least 69 people. Many of them women and children. A spokesman for the group says it intentionally targeted Christians in a park in the city of Lahore gathered there to celebrate Easter.

Let's get the latest on this and bring in CNN's Ravi Agrawal. He's live for us from New Delhi.

Ravi, was there any indication, any warning because I know that Pakistani security forces, they've stepped up their campaign over the past two years against the extremist groups.

RAVI AGRAWAL, CNN INDIA BUREAU CHIEF: Alison, no, there was no warning for this attack. And there was very little security at the park in Lahore where this attack took place. So by all accounts it took everyone there unaware. It was Easter Sunday, we're told that many of the people who were at that park were Christians. But of course many were Muslims as well. That perhaps most appalling in all of this is that it was right near a playground. It was also right near an amusement park. And many of the victims are children and women. And that death toll of 69 could rise further. The number of wounded is upwards to 300 as well.

The latest that we have this morning is that Pakistan's army says it is looking into operations against this particular group, Jamat-ul- Ahrar, and it is also saying that it has closed all parks in the city of Lahore for today as it continues to monitor the situation.

This is not the first time that this particular group has attacked in Pakistan. It's not the first time that it's attacked in the city of Lahore or even Christians because one year ago it attacked churches in the same city. So this is a group that has a history of attacking churches, Christians and people in Lahore. And clearly it's not letting up, Alison.

KOSIK: Ravi, how is the government expected to react to this latest attack?

AGRAWAL: Well, the government's had sort of an ongoing campaign against the Taliban for many years now. The problem is that there are many factions of the Taliban and this is just one of them. And this particular faction seems like a more extremist faction within the spectrum of sort of extremist groups, and that it has no qualms in attacking children and women and minority groups in any part of any city. And that's particularly worrying for the Pakistani establishment. They have been going after them mostly in the mountainous regions of the northwest. But this is -- it's much tougher to go after groups like this in the big cities and cities like Lahore. And that's why the Pakistani government really has a tough task ahead of it now.

KOSIK: All right. What a horrific attack on such a holy holiday. Ravi Agrawal, reporting live from New Delhi, thanks very much.

ROMANS: The ancient city of Palmyra is back under the control of the Syria government. ISIS occupied Palmyra and its priceless ruins for most of the past year, but government troops say the extremists have now been driven out. It's a strategic triumph for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The U.N. praising the liberation of Palmyra while calling on Assad to preserve and restore it.

CNN's Arwa Damon tracking the very latest developments live from Istanbul.

And I guess the question is, how tenuous is the Syrian government's grip again on this ancient city?

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, as long as they have the Russians backing them, it seems like the Syrian regime should be able to keep control of Palmyra and they are making no qualms about trying to hide the reality that it is because of these Russian strikes that they were even able to be able to retake it. Hundreds of them reportedly taking place with Russian strikes in the days leading up to the Syrian government forces along with the militias that supported being able to move in and recapture the city and of course the ruins of Palmyra, UNESCO heritage sites. Some of which have been destroyed and damaged by ISIS.

This is very much both a strategic gain for the regime, although not one that is necessarily going to lead to the imminent defeat of ISIS. They still control plenty of territory both in Syria and Iraq.

[04:40:06] This is also a very highly symbolic one. One that is sure to boost the morale of regime forces and also one that is allowing Bashar al-Assad to continue to put forward this notion that Russia is a much better battle field ally than the United States. And it is in fact because of these Russian airstrikes that the Syrian regime has been able to make significant gains not just when it comes to Palmyra, but in other parts of the country as well.

And that being said, though, it is important again to emphasize that while strategic, yes, because it is located along the route between the province of Homs, as well as the ISIS stronghold of Deir ez-Zor, this does not necessarily mean that ISIS is on its back foot. And to make that assumption would potentially be very dangerous.

ROMANS: All right, Arwa Damon for us in Istanbul this morning with that report. Thank you, Arwa. KOSIK: Syrian militia groups, some armed by the Pentagon and others

armed by the CIA are now fighting each other. And critics say that highlights how little control U.S. intelligence officials have over the factions they are financing and training. According to the "L.A. Times" the fighting between the U.S.-backed groups has intensified over the past few months in northern Aleppo.

This as the Pentagon announces a top ISIS commander has been killed in an airstrike in eastern Syria by U.S. Special Operations Forces. Abd al-Rahman Mustafa al-Qaduli was considered the terror group's top financier.

ROMANS: All right, 41 minutes past the hour. The race for president in the U.S. getting uglier as GOP frontrunners Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, they blame each other for a salacious tabloid story. More on that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:46:03] KOSIK: Welcome back. New in the race for president. Democratic contender Bernie Sanders challenging frontrunner Hillary Clinton to a debate in New York before the state's primary on April 19th. Sanders saying he's a little bit concerned Clinton won't debate him because she's far ahead in the race for delegates. This despite Sanders' sweep of western caucuses over the weekend.

Today Hillary Clinton begins a two-day push in Wisconsin. The next state to hold a primary on April 5th. Sanders campaigns there tomorrow.

Meantime, the mudslinging in the Republican race, it's getting dirtier as if it couldn't get dirtier than it is already.

CNN's Chris Frates has the latest.

CHRIS FRATES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning, Alison and Christine. Bernie Sanders swept Hillary Clinton by wide margins on Saturday, beating the Democratic frontrunner in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska. And those were really must-win states for Sanders. And it gives him enough momentum and delegates to keep him in the hunt for president. But remember, those delegates are awarded proportionately. So despite losing, Clinton still was able to put points on the board.

So to figure out where things stand now, let's go to the numbers. Going into Saturday's contests, Sanders trail Clinton by about 300 pledged delegates. And even with these sweeping wins yesterday, Sanders still lags Clinton by about 240 delegates. So he was only able to make up about 60 delegates with his wins on Saturday.

Now there are still some unaccounted for delegates that will likely go into Sanders' column. But he won't make any huge gains so going forward, Sanders will need to continue to put up really big wins. He has to win 75 percent of the delegates left to clinch the nomination. 75 percent is a really high bar. Clinton, for her part, she needs to win just 35 percent of the delegates remaining to become the nominee. Now this weekend on the GOP side, the race is largely quiet because

candidates were taking a break from campaigning for Easter. But the feud between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, well. that's gotten increasingly personal with the candidates' wives being dragged into the fight. And Ted Cruz has been blaming Donald Trump for planting a supermarket tabloid story about him. And that's a Trump -- that's a charge that Trump has denied.

Alison, Christine, back to you, guys.

ROMANS: All right, Chris Frates. Thanks, Chris.

You know, Trump is not condemning that "National Enquirer" story or saying whether he believes it's true. He calls Cruz's suggestion that the story was planted by the Trump campaign disgraceful. But the Texas senator is not backing down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, this story is garbage. It is tabloid smear. And it came from Donald Trump and his henchmen. You know, the only person quoted on the record there is Roger Stone, the chief political adviser to Donald Trump, and this is the kind of lie and sleaze --

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: They did have a parting of ways. They did have a parting of ways. So we don't know exactly what the relationship is. But yes, he has been linked with Mr. Trump.

CRUZ: But, Shannon, they haven't had a parting of ways. Roger Stone remains the henchman, the hatchet man, the enforcer for Donald Trump. He's pushing these attacks and by the way he's been pushing them for many, many months online. These are complete made-up lies. They're garbage.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don't care. I mean, really I don't care. "The National Enquirer" did a story. It was their story. It wasn't my story. It was about Ted Cruz. I have no idea whether it was right or not. They actually have a very good record of being right. But I have absolutely no idea. Frankly I said I hope it's not right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: Trump is also threatening to sue over the delegate distribution from the Louisiana primary, tweeting this, "Just to show you how unfair Republican primary politics can be, I won the state of Louisiana and get less delegates than Cruz. Lawsuit coming."

The Republican frontrunner is also welcoming a new grandchild this morning. Donald Trump, Jr. tweeting this photo of his sister Ivanka congratulating her on the birth of her third child. A little boy named Theodore. It is Donald Trump's, I think, eighth grandchild.

On Tuesday night, the final three Republican candidates will be in Milwaukee for a CNN town hall moderated by Anderson Cooper. That's live at 8:00 p.m. Eastern only on CNN.

[04:50:06] Fifty minutes past the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning.

California could become the first state with a $15 minimum wage. Reports say state lawmakers and union officials reached a tentative deal over the weekend to raise the rate to $10.50 next year. Workers would then see several increase over the next six years bringing the minimum wage to $15 an hour in California by the year 2022. Businesses with fewer than 25 employees would be given an extra year to comply with each hike.

Future of minimum wage increases would be linked to inflation. The governor's office tells CNN it has no comment on these reports that a deal has been struck but expected to announce the deal later today. Stay tuned.

The wage increase was set to become a ballot initiative in November. This deal would end that. However, some lawmakers are concerned about how small businesses would deal with those increases.

KOSIK: The president's Supreme Court nominee Judge Merrick Garland is attempting to break through the ice surrounding his confirmation process by meeting with five more senators on Capitol Hill this week. The group includes Mark Kirk of Illinois. The first Republican to sit down with the nominee. Kirk is breaking ranks with GOP leadership which is vowing the block the nomination saying the vacancy on the high court should be filled by the next president.

ROMANS: Activists suing to stop North Carolina from enforcing a law to prevent cities from passing their own anti-discrimination rules for gays, lesbians and transgender people. The ACLU Land, Illegal and Equality NC, they plan to announce this lawsuit today. They argue this law discriminates by restricting public restroom access based on the sex on people's birth certificates, not necessarily the one they identify with.

More than a dozen states have introduced bills limiting transgender bathroom use. This year alone North Carolina the first one to actually go all the way through. They are calling it the -- you know, the bathroom battles. And it seems to be a new front from conservative activists who feel as though their religious rights have been trampled.

KOSIK: Very controversial.

ROMANS: You're going to hear more about that. Absolutely.

KOSIK: Did you go to the movies this weekend?

ROMANS: I did not. Did you?

KOSIK: I didn't. But investors were in a bad mood -- I wasn't able to go to the movies, we'll go to that later. Some were in bad mood last week with the long holiday weekend. Will it change that? We're going to get an EARLY START on your money next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:56:33] KOSIK: An exclusive look now into the lives of suspected terrorists implicated in the Paris terror attacks. CNN has obtained video of the extremists partying at a Brussels nightclub. Actually Brussels nightclubs. Eight months before executing their deadly plot.

Let's go live to Brussels and bring in CNN's Nina Dos Santos.

Nina, just so everybody understand, this is video that you've got showing the bombers partying it up before they killed over 100 people.

NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Yes. This is really interesting, Alison, because what it shows us is an exclusive insight into the kind of lives that these young men had before they fell into the clutches of ISIS.

What you're seeing here is a video of Brahim Abdeslam and his brother, Salah Abdeslam. Remember Brahim was one of the suicide bombers who blew himself up outside of Paris cafe in November 13th. Salah Abdeslam became the only surviving member of that particular Paris attacks cell that we know of so far and remains in custody.

These pictures were taken a mere eight months before they were to go on to commit those attacks. And the people who gave these pictures to me basically described under assumed identities, I must point out, we had to cover their identities. They described the picture basically of normal young youths, people who liked to party, who liked to drink, who liked to smoke, they liked to flirt and party with girls. Completely different figures from the kind of radicals that they said they would expect to have engaged in these kind of attacks.

But here's the worrying bit, Alison. These individuals who I spoke to didn't just know the Abdeslam brothers. They also knew four more people who have been implicated in these attacks, including one person who's on the run and another suicide bomber who took part in those Paris attacks. And the really concerning bit that raised a lot of questions this morning is that Belgian authorities, despite knowing these two individuals because they have been in and out of prison and in and out of arrests have not questioned them about what they knew about the Abdeslam brothers and how quickly they became radicalized.

KOSIK: So many missed opportunities for authorities. Nina Dos Santos, live from Brussels, thanks very much.

ROMANS: All right, 58 minutes past the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money this Monday morning. Dow futures are higher. Oil prices back up near $40 a barrel. Stock markets in Asia closing mixed overnight. Most markets -- stock markets in Europe are closed today in observance of Easter Monday.

The stock market snapped a five-week winning streak Thursday. That turned the S&P 500 negative for the year. The Dow still up on the year. Nasdaq is down more than 4 percent this year. That's your progress report on stocks. More companies are now pressuring Georgia's governor urging him to

veto a religious freedom bill. The latest 21st Century FOX and the Weinstein Company say they will take their business out of Georgia if the governor signs this bill. Tech companies like Apple and Salescore, a whole bunch of tech companies call it discrimination. The NFL says signing this law jeopardizes Atlanta's chance to host a Super Bowl. Disney, Sony, AMC also say productions are -- threatening to move productions out of Georgia if the bill becomes a law.

So the very Hollywood businesses Georgia has wooed are threatening to stop filming there. 248 production shoots last year. $1.7 billion in direct spending in Georgia's economy. Tax breaks can cover up to about 30 percent of production expenses.

What is this law? It's called the Free Exercise Protection Act designed to give faith based organizations the option of denying services to gay people by claiming doing so would infringe on their religious freedom.

I will tell you, conservative groups are inundating the governor's office saying sign it. These big companies, who have been wooed by Georgia to come and do business, the Hollywood of the south, are saying don't sign it. A lot of pressure on the governor.