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Terror Attacks In Brussels, At Least 26 Dead; Paris On Alert Following Brussels Attacks; President Obama Briefed On Brussels Terror Attacks; Royal Palace Outside Brussels Evacuated; Eyewitness Speaks Out About Airport Attack. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired March 22, 2016 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00] MICHAEL WEISS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: One Israeli citizen with, I think, dual American nationality, trailed him to a populous area inside the cosmopolitan, essentially European city, and then detonated his device on CCTV. This is their MO, as I've said earlier. They look to bring the war that is being waged in the Middle East to our capitals and to our cities, and it doesn't have to be very sophisticated.

Yes, this looks like something that was professionally planned and coordinated. But remember, Abu Mohammad al-Adnani, the spokesman of ISIS -- really the guy who runs their entire Syria apparatus -- said you don't need to use a bomb or even a gun. If you find a rock, pick up the rock and smash the head of the Kufar.

So, this is a global casting call for any and all willing agents of the Kalif. And, again, they don't even have to have gone to Syria or Iraq to be trained up. They've kind of been radicalized or recruited on European soil.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR Well, Michael, as we well know, you don't have to be that intelligent or well-trained to strap a bomb to yourself, walk into an airport, and explode it. So, we're not dealing with the most sophisticated strategists all the time, but their intentions are universally deadly.

Let's bring in Peter Bergen. We're waiting, Peter, to hear from French Prime Minister Francois Hollande. We know that French authorities have been on a very high level for a very long time. President Hollande, obviously -- not the prime minister there. He has been trying to stay ahead of a threat, and we know, Peter, that the French authorities are very quick to look at Belgium for how well things are coordinated, how well it's been done, seeing it as a shortcoming.

President Hollande is speaking now. Let's pick it up.

FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): Also, in the light of what's happened in Brussels, alas, attacks have been perpetrated leading to numerous deaths and several dozens of wounded. Here, I would like to express my solidarity, my friendship, to the Belgian people who are going through a hardship, and to say to the families who are concerned, all my thoughts are pain which is shared. Terrorism has struck Belgium. It was Europe that was aimed at and the

whole world which is concerned. We have to bear in the mind the extent and the gravity of the terrorist threat. These attacks come following others. Paris was -- a particular target of Paris last year in January -- in November. Other continents have been affected. I'm thinking of Africa, but we are faced with a global threat which requires us to respond globally. France and Belgium are unitedby the horror, once again, that we have shared.

Iensure the Belgium government that my support will be essential to bring about the necessary means. But the war against terrorism has to be led in the whole of Europe and with means that are necessary, in particular in terms of intelligence. And, again, we have to ensure that our decisions are effectively established -- put in place. We have to act on the international scale. That is what France is doing the framework of the coalition in the Middle East, in Syria, and Iraq, and that is what France is doing in Africa.

But, that is what each one of the most aware countries must do on an international scale. We have to lead this war against terrorism with all the necessary vigilance. That is the reason why today the French government has taken measures to reinforce the provisions of border security and the presence of police and our military in the transport infrastructures -- stations, airports, ports.

But this war against terrorism has to be carried out with a cool head, with rascality, with determination, because it will be long and we have to make the essential means available -- what we have been doing in France for several years with legislative provisions that must be both effective and efficient and respect freedoms at the same time.

[07:35:00] And finally, we have to ensure more than ever of our unity and speaking about the unity on a European level. I could also speak about world unity for countries who want to act against terrorism, and the most essential unity is on an international scale. Everybody must be aware that during this period we have to be united in cohesion and also in solidarity.

Today, it is with Belgium. Yesterday is was with France. We have to express our solidarity as they expressed theirs. We're all aware, we're all concerned at the beginning of this meeting. That's what I want to say. Thinking about the investments for our own country, for Europe, that we must be with you.

But, on that subject, also, because there won't be any economic development. There won't be any sustainable development is there is no security first, and the element of security is also an element of the attractiveness it poses. And, therefore, we have to ensure that all means are taken here in France, but more broadly in Europe.

I'm expressing myself on behalf of France that you can invest with the greatest clarity in France, but with all security. Thank you. I'm now going to refer to the questions that concern us. There are about 30 companies here of different geographical regions and we wanted to meet at this council of attractiveness. This, which has only been going on for two years, and every six months we meet. We meet to evaluate what we've been able to do, our commitments, the French government, you, as investors, and also to be able to hear a certain number of your proposals and suggestions which could further improve our attractiveness.

I want to show you that since we've been listening to you there have been a number of important measures that have been taken, in particular concerning tax of companies of individuals. The regimes of the expatriate which have been clarified research -- tax and research -- which was been approved and also the responsibility packed with the reductions in tax and charges that the company has been waiting for, for a long time, in order to be able to reduce those charges without having an impact on the employees' salaries, themselves.

Also, as far as our procedures are concerned, we've referred to the level of liquidation of the VAT, and this had very encouraging results. And since 2013, the number of foreign investments in France has increased in a continual way. In 2015, there were more than 1,000 foreign projects that were carried out in France. Thirty-four thousand jobs were, therefore, created. That's a 30 percent more than last year. Certain investments and projects, including China -- $3.5 billion in France --

CUOMO: All right, on your screen right now you're listening to the French president, Francois Hollande. Also, on your screen right now you see the latest information from authorities about what has happened in Brussels. They are now placing the number of people who lost their lives -- 26 people murdered in what are being called terror attacks -- suicide attacks -- coordinated both at the Brussels airport and then at a Metro station about an hour later.

The first attacks coming at about 8:00 a.m. local time. Obviously, a big time for transportation -- certainly rush hour on the subway. They're hearing that the attackers went into the ticket counter before the security stations of any type of screening, and that's when the explosions happened at the airport.

Peter Bergen, we were talking before we picked Francois Hollande -- even more relevant now. The president expressing unity, and compassion, and sympathy, but also saying this is an international effort. Tell us about what has been a mounting tension between the French and Belgian authorities about how to deal with this threat.

[07:40:00] I've been getting information this morning -- I'm sure you, as well. They say Belgium is a rat's nest of terror networks. That this is about catching up to the threat, not always being behind. What are the realities?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Chris, you know, according to the U.S. Intelligence community, 69 Westerners have gone to fight in Syria and Iraq. Almost all of them huge numbers from France and Belgium, and Germany and Britain. The French say that it takes 25 people to follow one person who returns, and if you do the math and you think that many, many, many, many hundreds have returned to a number of European countries, that gets to be a very large number.

So, yes, of course, there's problems with intelligence sharing. Belgium, itself, has -- there's two different languages that are spoken in the country which add to the problems that they have. In fairness, this is a problem which these security services are simply not equipped to deal with, with the number -- with the volumes of people that they have to follow. And not only the people who are returning, but also the people who are in situ who are radicalized by returning foreign fighters.

So, the problem is going to be persistent in Europe. It's a high- level threat. Unfortunately, the war in Syria is likely to go on for many years. There's no end in sight. There have been efforts to reduce the foreign fighter flow. Interpol now has 5,000 names that mostly Western countries have proffered. And a number of countries have made it illegal to travel to Iraq and Syria to train with a militant organization.

These laws were not necessarily on the books a year or so ago, so there has been an effort, and clearly the effort is not enough.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Peter Bergen, we'll leave it there with you.

We want to turn to Havana and our Jim Acosta who is there. He's been along with the president, who we understand, Jim, has been briefed. We also know there are foreign casualties that have been killed or injured in the attack in Belgium, but at this point we don't know if any U.S. members or casualties are among them.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and I suspect, Michaela, we'll get that information out as the day goes on. You're right, the president has been apprised of what's happening in Brussels right now. According to a White House official, U.S. officials are in touch with their counterparts in Belgium and that's going to continue throughout the day.

We should mention, though, that the president is expected to deliver his speech and go on with the speech that he was preparing to give to the Cuban people today. In just a couple of hours from now that speech, I expect, will be revised. That he will address the situation in Brussels at the top of that speech to the Cuban people.

And so we'll hear from the President of the United States on all of this in just a couple of hours from now. I'm not getting any sense, at this point, that the rest of his travel schedule is going to be interrupted in any way. He's supposed to meet with Cuban dissidents later today, take in a baseball game, and then go on to Argentina to continue this foreign trip.

But, yes, as you know, this is a constant concern over at the White House. These foreign fighters that travel back and forth between Syria, Iraq, and Western Europe, as everybody else has been saying this morning -- it's not a major concern or at the same level of concern in the United States as it is back in Europe. But, as you can already see this morning from listening to my

colleagues, the U.S. is ratcheting up, getting up on a higher state of alert and even preparing people at the U.S. Embassy in Belgium to shelter in place, mainly because this is such a huge, huge concern for this administration. And we'll hear from the president on that in just a couple of hours from now, Alisyn.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: OK, Jim, thank you very much for that.

We want to get back now to Nima Elbagir. She's outside the airport in Belgium where she has been for several hours. That's where at least 11 of the 26 people who have been killed in today's terror attacks lost their lives. Nima, what's happening at this hour there?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the death toll has now risen to 11, as you just said. It was 10. Belgian media now reporting it's gone up to 11 and the expectation is that it could continue to rise because amongst that 55 number injured at the Maalbeak train station, a number of them are believed to be in critical condition. So, there is concern that we will continue to see throughout the day a rise in that death toll.

We're also hearing from Belgian state media that the royal palace has been evacuated in response to this terror threat. The king and the queen -- the royal family -- have been evacuated. The palace is just on the outskirts of Brussels, but they felt that the terror threat level being now at its highest, that that required for the safety of the royal family that the palace needed to be evacuated.

[07:45:00] CAMEROTA: Nima, of the 11 people who were killed behind you at that airport, have they released the nationalities of them yet?

ELBAGIR: Not yet. The prime minister has made clear that there are multiple nationalities amongst the dead and he said that his government is working with the relevant embassies, they're working through the hospitals, and they're trying to get through the identification process because, of course, they also have to identify and place the injured and the dead Belgians. There are about 120 injured in addition to the fatalities, and with some of those in critical condition. That number is one that they're monitoring very closely. They're also going to various hospitals and clinics. It is a very difficult situation for them right now.

They're managing so many different threads of this and they have set up hotlines that allow people to call in and check on their loved ones. So if there is anyone out there who is concerned about a friend or a family member who is here in Brussels, then going onto the relevant Belgian government Websites will give them that number and they can call in and try and find out what's going on.

CAMEROTA: Nima, I want to ask you about that development that you just reported -- the evacuation of the royal palace that's outside of Brussels. Was that a precaution? Was that because of a threat? What precipitated that?

ELBAGIR: Well, Belgian state media are reporting that it was in response to a threat. They're not giving a lot of details as of now, but that this was in response to a threat. I think they're all very aware of what this looks like. You have a capital city in lockdown and now you have a royal palace evacuated, and at a time when they're trying very hard to reinforce that message for calm amongst the populous. If this was not warranted, then the sense that we're getting from speaking to people is that they wouldn't have taken these kind of measures if they didn't feel it was necessary.

CAMEROTA: All right. Nima, thank you for all the developments. Stand by, we'll get back to you very shortly. We want to go now to Chris.

CUOMO: All right, there are a lot of layers to this story, obviously, but we want to stick as close as we can to what actually happened in Brussels and at the Metro station. And we have somebody else who bore witness to the tragedy there.

Let's bring in Taa Wongbe. He's on the phone. He was there at the airport -- stuck now at the Belgium airport hours after the attack. Taa, how are you, and where were you traveling, and what's the situation now?

TAA WONGBE, WITNESS TO BRUSSELS TERROR ATTACK (via telephone): Thanks for having me, Chris. I was actually traveling to Liberia from New York. About 7:30 this morning my plane landed, and I passed through security and actually saw some of the disaster happen. But I didn't know, and then it was -- we were traveling and walking together -- I didn't know it was actually a bomb blast.

I thought it was actual construction happening until I saw the police officer with a uniform and some military folks with guns. And they started to ask to move -- go back and go back -- and we didn't know at the time it was an actual explosion.

CUOMO: OK, we're hearing lots of reports about what happened. Let's stay with you for a second. How are you feeling and coping right now? How are the others who are still in the airport with you?

WONGBE: I'm fine. We're all contained right now in the area where they maintain the planes. So, it's a maintenance area. We're all sitting here. They're distributing blankets, water, food, as much as they can. Our food -- I see a lady right now who is being taken on a stretcher. I don't know what's going on, but she's being taken out here. I see some medics taking her out.

So, some people do comfortably trying to keep their head down. Some people are a little bit tense. But, we have no information as to when we're going to leave the airport. They have not provided us any facts about this being a terrorist situation. They simply have said we don't have any information currently.

CUOMO: Well, as we know from the authorities themselves, they're still trying to get their hands around the situation in terms of dealing with triage of the injured there. As you know, a lot of people were affected in it. The authorities do believe this is a terror attack and they're going along those lines with it. But, you're saying that they're keeping you in place right now for your own safety and there is no word about --

WONGBE: Yes.

CUOMO: -- whether you'll be moving on and when, or when you can leave the airport. Is that right?

WONGBE: Yes, exactly, and they have actually said that some people who want to leave and go outside airport can leave if they want to. There are buses to take them outside the airport. But, coordinators here on the ground have not shared any information regarding the security situation. Yes, they simply have said they don't have any information and they will continue to support any way they can in terms of us feeling as comfortable as we can at this airport.

I've been through situations like this before -- what you said there. A bombing in New York. Obviously, I was raised in Liberia so I've seen situations like this, but it's just that people are trying to ensure that they're comfortable. They're traveling. Many people are from different countries. So, there's other people here who simply want to get home.

[07:50:00] CUOMO: Well, that's very understandable. And even with all the unfortunate connections you've had to bad situations, it's obviously different when you're living it yourself in real time. But, it's good to hear that you're OK and that you're holding up well and patiently as you wait to be able to get out of there. Please check in with us and let us know when you're able to move on, and thank you, Taa, for telling us about what's going on in there right now.

WONGBE: Thanks, Chris.

CUOMO: Thank you.

WONGBE: Bye.

CUOMO: All right, so Taa Wongbe there, telling us what's going on inside the Brussels airport. We're going to have a lot more news for you as we cover this breaking situation -- what the authorities in Belgium are calling a terror attack -- coordinated suicide attacks. Two different locations. We'll have more for you on CNN right after the break. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:56:00] CAMEROTA: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. We do have breaking news about terror attacks in Belgium. As series of deadly explosions rocking Brussels. There were two blasts at the airport and another in the city's subway system. At least 26 people have been killed and another 130 are injured. All flights are canceled inbound and planes are also being diverted there -- Chris.

CUOMO: Also, remember, in this fluid situation numbers are going to change. There's no question that they are still doing triage on a lot of people who are fighting for their lives. Belgium, in response, raising its terror threat to its highest level. The attacks now coming just four days after the main suspect in the Paris November attacks was captured in Belgium.

The media there reporting the royal palace was evacuated in response to what happened at the airport and the Metro, so let's being our coverage.

We have CNN's Nima Elbagir. She is live at the Brussels airport. Nima, you've been on this from the beginning. This happened at about 8:00 in the morning local time -- an hour after that at the Metro. What do we know now?

ELBAGIR: Well, we have a little more detail about the evacuation of the royal palace. State media reporting that it was in response to the discovery of suspicious packages. Now, as you've said, this is a very fluid situation and they're responding as best they can, so these packages could ultimately not be a threat. But, of course, they're not taking any chances. The royal family has now been evacuated.

We've also been speaking to sources here that they are really concerned about the potential for that death toll to continue to climb. The sense is that there are a number of seriously injured people within those some 120 people that have been injured within these attacks. Already, just within the half hour we were speaking, the number went from 10 to 11. They're asking for any support that they can if people want to help, if they want to give blood, then please, please to do so, Chris.

CUOMO: As horrible as those pictures are at the airport behind you, there's a lot of light there. It's an open area. It's easier for them to assess and to access. The subway, very different. We're going to show some of the video that we got from there early on. The obstacles to entry there, obvious. Dark, between stations, on the tracks, open power and voltage issues.

We do know that military and authority's first responders got there quickly, but they have a lot of challenges to stabilizing that situation. What are you hearing?

ELBAGIR: Well, exactly as you've described it. That's the sense we've been getting from those attempting to respond to this. That they're going through the dark, coming through, obviously trying to remain aware and cautious of any potential for further risk, while at the same time really trying to localize the fears and the panic of people.

One eyewitness told us that the blast was so substantial that he felt it inside the European Commission building. And, of course, throughout this when they hit a target as high profile -- and in a way, it's day-to-day. It's really so much a part of so many people's lives as the subway system. Then the panic becomes so entrenched.

I've been receiving messages from friends and colleagues and contacts here saying to me, I walk pass this. That's where my daughter's school is nearby. And the schools -- the evacuation of those schools has been a key part of this emergency response, trying to get the children out safely without causing further panic, Chris. CUOMO: And, obviously, we're going slow on the numbers because this triage is very active there. We heard from the prime minister earlier saying this is what we were worried about. This blind attack that they just got hit with, but the threat is very real. As you know, intelligence officials in France refer to what's going in Belgium as a rat's nest of terror. What are you hearing from people there about the inevitability of something like this and what may follow, and what this well mean?

ELBAGIR: Well, intelligence agencies across Europe have always been concerned about the Belgian ability to really penetrate the communities in which these networks are so entrenched within. And, for the Belgian prime minister to say he was blindsided after his foreign minister said on Sunday that they were concerned about the potential for attacks, and that they believed the Salah Abdeslam had built up a new network around him with the specific purpose of carrying out attacks.

People are being -- are treading very carefully about criticizing the Belgian authorities at such a sensitive time.