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Deadly Terror Attack In Brussels; U.S. Hunting Terrorists Linked To Brussels Attack; Belgian Media: Arrest Made In Brussels Attacks; Trump Gets All 58 GOP Delegates In Arizona; Hillary Clinton Wins Arizona Primary; Sanders Wins Utah And Idaho Caucuses. Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired March 23, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

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[06:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everyone dropped to the ground. They were screaming.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A massive manhunt is under way at this hour for the prime suspect.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so scared. I feel like it's the end of the world.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm also very proud to have won Arizona tonight.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The status quo is not working.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The day after Donald Trump called for America weakening NATO, we see Brussels.

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If they can expand the laws I would do a lot more than water boarding.

CLINTON: What Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and others are suggesting, it's dangerous.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are watching NEW DAY. I'm Alisyn Camerota. I'm live in Brussels at the Place de la Bourse. This is where the public has come out to celebrate the memorial for the victims of yesterday's terror attacks. Chris and Michaela are in New York this morning. They'll have much more on the results of the U.S. elections in just a few minutes but we do want to begin with Belgian authorities now identifying the two suicide bombers who detonated those two powerful explosives inside the departures hall at the Brussels airport. A massive manhunt is under way at this hour for the elusive third suspect who was captured on security cameras, the suspect to the right of this picture in the lighter jacket. His bomb, they believe, failed to detonate. The U.S. State department is warning of quote, near-term attacks throughout Europe. Belgium is set to observe a moment of silence here one hour from now. We have this story covered the way only CNN can. Senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir joins me now with the latest. Nima, great to have you here. What have we learned about these brothers?

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui are believed to not only have been involved with the attack on the airport but it was their DNA that was found in that apartment in Forest that triggered all of this last week. They were found alongside a cache of weapons, but they're believed to have eluded capture from that premise. Let me just walk you through how this all unfolded. Take a look at this, Alisyn.

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ELBAGIR: This unidentified man, a key suspect, remains at large after coordinated terror attacks that rocked Brussels on Tuesday. Two of his accomplices captured on airport surveillance cameras are presumed dead. A senior Belgian security source tells CNN they are brothers known to police, suspected to have ties to the Paris attack. The pair, thought to be suicide bombers detonating two bombs inside the departure hall at the Brussels airport, the horrifying moments after the blast captured in this cell phone video.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw doors flying, glass, ceiling coming down and smoke and everything.

ELBAGIR: Officials say the man at large left behind a third bomb concealed in a suitcase that was later detonated by the bomb squad. Now investigators want to know if he then traveled just a few miles away to carry out the second attack at Maalbeek metro station an hour later. That blast charring a subway car, survivors desperately fleeing in the dark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I felt an explosion and the train stopped in its tracks. The lights went out, the power went out. Everyone dropped to the ground, they were screaming.

ELBAGIR: The station just blocks away from a number of European Union landmarks, including the European Parliament. ISIS is claiming responsibility for the attacks. The first victim to be identified, Adelma Marina Tapia Ruiz, killed during the attack at the airport. Originally from Peru, Tapia Ruiz had lived in Belgium six years. She was at the airport with her husband and twin 3-year-old daughters.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will do whatever is necessary to support our friend and ally Belgium in bringing to justice those who are responsible, and this is yet another reminder that the world must unite.

ELBAGIR: The world lighting up in Belgian colors, vowing never to let terrorism win.

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ELBAGIR: Of course, this is just what authorities believe they know now in the first 24 hours of the investigation, Alisyn. So much is still evolving and we are waiting to hear from the prosecutor later today.

CAMEROTA: OK, we will talk more about your reporting coming up in a second but first, the major break in this investigation came from a taxi driver who had actually picked these men up. He recognized them in the airport surveillance picture that was released. He says he took the trio to the airport and that alert led to this new raid in Belgium. That's where we find our CNN senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen. He is live in the Brussels suburb of Forest outside the bombers' apartment. Tell us the clues that were found in there, Fred.

[06:05:01] FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there were a lot of clues that were found here. There were weapons that were found inside here. The apartment that I'm at right now, Alisyn, is one that was raided by the police last Tuesday and in this apartment, what they thought they would find would be an empty apartment, but they did find was at least three people who were inside who immediately opened fire at them. Now the police say that when they came here, they weren't expecting anybody to be here. That's why they didn't take any sort of SWAT team. They didn't have many police officers, and that's why two of the people who were inside got away. It's now believed that the two people who were in the apartment may be the (ph) Bakraoui brothers who apparently conducted those attacks at the Brussels airport.

So the police were very close to cornering these two people. They had them cornered, however they managed to get away. Now what happened after the attack in Brussels at the airport was that this taxi driver called up the police and said listen, the three people that you're showing now on the TV, these are the people that I drove. They had suitcases and they refused to allow me to let them help them take the suitcases out of the taxi when they reached the airport. He also said that when they went towards the airport, when he picked them up at the location in Schaerbeek, that they had way too much luggage with them and that they had to leave some of it behind. So he notified the police. The police immediately went to that location, conducted a raid that lasted about seven hours. I was on hand for some of it. There were choppers in the air with snipers hanging out of the chopper taking aim at that apartment block, and then in the end, they went inside. They say that they found a nail bomb in there, they found chemicals in there, they also found an ISIS flag as well. So it appears to the authorities here that apparently that apartment that was raided last night may well have been the one that was used to make the explosives that were used in the attack at least for the airport, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Fred, thank you for all that. Stick around. We have more questions for you. U.S. officials meanwhile are lending a hand in the manhunt for that elusive suspect behind, they believe, the airport bombing, and any others who might be linked to these attacks. CNN's justice reporter Evan Perez is live in Washington with more. What have you learned, Evan?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Good morning, Alisyn. Well U.S. counterterrorism analysts are helping Belgian investigators dig into the backgrounds of multiple people believed to have a role in the attacks. Belgian authorities provided the names of people of interest in the past few hours and now those names are being run through databases of suspected extremists. Investigators want to know everything, including their past travel, their friends, and their associates, and today there is really a race against time to try to find as many members as possible believed to be part of a large network connected not only these Brussels attacks but to other terrorist plots including the Paris massacre. In the past few months since Paris, U.S. intelligence officials have repeatedly told me that they were expecting a major attack in Europe and there is even now a State Department travel warning for Americans in the region. A group of investigators and bomb experts from the FBI led joint terrorism task force including officers from the New York Police Department are arriving in Brussels this morning, Alisyn, to help with this investigation.

CAMEROTA: OK, Evan, thanks so much for that. Heightened security across the United States in the wake of the Brussels terror attack. From Los Angeles to New York, police are guarding high- profile targets today. CNN's Brynn Gingras is live at New York's Penn Station, one of the busiest transit hubs in the nation. Brynn, what do you see there?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly it is, Alisyn. We actually just had a candid conversation with a transit officer for Amtrak and he basically said, there are five agencies working in concert just here in this building alone at Penn Station, so that definitely gives you a show of force here in this building, but of course as you mentioned, heightened measures all across the country at this point. Transit hubs, airports, train stations, and maybe the most notable here of course in New York City where the NYPD briefed CNN on all the measures it's been taking not just since yesterday but certainly it bolstered its efforts after the attacks happened yesterday in Brussels, and of course that includes many counterterrorism teams, that they are working together to sort of make a show of force but also act as a deterrent to anything that could happen since New York City as such always has a target on its back. And basically those units are moving about the city, working together, heavily armed, and many times they have canine units that can sort of sniff out bombs that maybe people have left in certain areas that are vulnerable but also possibly even sensing out vapors as people move as we saw in the Brussels attack, but the big thing to note, Alisyn, is that there is no credible threat here in New York City at this point.

[06:09:53] CAMEROTA: OK, very good to know, Brynn, thank you for all of that. Let's get the latest now on the investigation and the search for the elusive suspect. We want to bring in CNN senior international correspondent, Nima Elbagir, also for Clarissa Ward and Fed Pleitgen. Clarissa, I want to start with you. So Fred is at the location where there was this raid on Tuesday where they found a cache of weapons and other clues. Then (ph) Abdel Falah was arrested on Friday. It felt like things were ratcheting up. Is it fair to say, as some have said, that the Belgian authorities missed something?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the question everyone will be asking is about these brothers, the Bakraoui brothers, who now appear to have had some kind of a central role in this attack. It's not clear exactly if they were the ones who blew themselves up in the airport or whether one of them then went on to be involved in the metro station, but what we do know is that both of them had extensive rap sheets, and we're talking about violent crimes. We're not just talking about petty criminality. So certainly, people will be wondering how it is that if these men were on the radar, so to speak, and police were familiar with them and knew who they were and one can only guess, were aware of their links to certain extremist elements, why they weren't being monitored more closely. But at this stage, it's too early to say exactly how they fell through the cracks or what the situation was, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Nima, I want to ask about the subway attack, because that one seems more mysterious. At least 15 people were killed there and yet we don't exactly know who we think was behind it. They say it might have been one of these brothers but those brothers might have blown themselves up at the airport. What do we know about what happened at the subway and who they're -- if they're looking for someone from that element of the attack?

ELBAGIR: Well part of that is that authorities haven't released any imagery from that in terms of the surveillance footage, where as we have seen that still of the surveillance image from the airport, so I think that's part of the reason why there's a sense of almost secrecy around this. But we know that post-Paris, authorities here believe that the information that they were putting out into the public domain was part of the reason Salah Abdeslam was able to evade capture for so long. So they're being very, very careful about what they're sharing, but there is also the reality of the fact that these are so many interlinking networks. I mean, the Bakraoui brothers are a perfect example of this. There is evidence, authorities believe, to link them to the Paris networks. They're also believed to be part of this new network that Salah Abdeslam was thought to be building around him when he was captured, to potentially launch attacks here in Brussels, so you have all this kind of this lattice work of extremist cells and extremist networks and unpicking them is just so for authorities when they are in a race against time.

CAMEROTA: Fred, it was interesting, yesterday the Belgian authorities asked the media not to disclose a lot of information about where the raids were happening and about their investigation. It reminded me that after Paris we watched live on television authorities raid an apartment. That's something we would never do in the United States. We would never have cameras trained on the raid. But there again, you are in front of the apartment that the bombers are believed to have rented and the clues that they found there appear to be the nexus between Paris and now Brussels.

PLEITGEN: Yes, they certainly are. You're absolutely right. It is one of the things that the Belgian authorities did yesterday, is they told the media to refrain from filming or being present in any of these raids, but also I have to say that compared to when we were in Paris and some of these raids were taking place that were really almost taking place in real-time on TV, here in Belgium, they were a lot more restricted. They created a large cordon yesterday around that raid area of where they found that apartment where allegedly the bombs were made that were at least used inside the airport, and you know I was on hand there for quite a while and they had a chopper overhead for a very long time. They had snipers in that chopper. But you really didn't see very much beyond that. The cordon, I would say, was about two and a half miles in diameter. It was around the main railway station there and we really didn't see the street that that apartment was in.

Now what the Belgian authorities do do is they do make that cordon a lot smaller very quickly because they wanted people to be able to go back into that area and so you could see some of the forensic work that was going on at that apartment. It was going on all night. They were bringing out bags of evidence. That was something that we certainly did see. But it has been a concern, as Nima said, throughout the investigation to the Paris attacks. Also, the search for Salah Abdeslam, that so much was appearing in the media, that they believe that it may have made it easier for some of these suspects to remain on the run for an extended period of time. If you look, for instance, at Salah Abdeslam, he was on the run for four months. There were about 100 raids that were conducted in some way, shape, or form connected to the terror attacks. Of course, also looking for him and in the end he was found literally one block from where he grew up with people that he had associated with since his youth. So it's been very difficult but certainly there are some who believe that a lot of the information that was made public made it easier for some of these people to evade capture.

CAMEROTA: Just so striking to hear where he was found after all of that search. Clarissa, we keep hearing in Brussels just how many extremists there might be, just how many people who may have been radicalized. What is the focus now of investigators?

[06:15:03] WARD: Well I think the main focus is the man in the white jacket with the hat and the glasses. We have seen his image now over and over in that freeze frame from the surveillance video at the airport. We know that he arrived. He appeared to have some kind of an explosive device. He left the scene, the device didn't detonate. We don't know exactly why it didn't detonate or why he fled the scene but he is certainly the primary focus, I would say, at this stage, of this manhunt, but there's a secondary focus as well and that is the so-called Paris attack's bomb maker known as Najim Laachraoui. He's also used a pseudonym in the past. He is considered to be very dangerous because he does have these bomb making skills, and it's not clear exactly how he might relate to this plot and the Belgian threat, but certainly, authorities are desperately trying to find him as well.

CAMEROTA: I'm getting new information. We do have some breaking news. It's just coming into my ear. They want you both to know that an arrest has been made of a man they believe is connected to the Brussels attack in the region of Anderlecht, the neighborhood of Anderlecht, but they're not saying who it is, exactly what the connection is, if this is the person that we see in the photo, I mean this just tells you, investigators have spread out this spider web of a drag net but -- every hour there is more information. What does this tell you?

ELBAGIR: Well, the prime minister has been very clear from the beginning, they are searching everywhere. And some of these searches will be fruitful and some won't. But it also reflects back to what we were just discussing about how tight they are trying to keep it. So they will acknowledge arrests because they will know that that's in the public domain and it's a very delicate balance between trying to keep people informed and keep them feeling calm, but at the same time trying to limit what is out there that other people can benefit from.

CAMEROTA: Nima, I want to talk about the victims for one second because here we are. This is the public memorial. In less than an hour there will be a moment of silence for all the lives that were lost and all of the people who were injured and this is where the vigil has happened overnight and you saw it. What were people doing here last night and what were some of the symbols they were leaving?

ELBAGIR: People just started drifting towards this and you saw the candle lights just illuminating as it got a little darker. Overnight, there were these two extraordinary ladies draped in the Belgian flag who sat just behind us there and watched, making sure that none of the candles would go out. When we spoke a little bit to them, they said people cared enough to come here. We don't know, maybe some of these people who lit these candles lost someone. And they almost felt it was a duty to keep those candles lit through the night. It was only after sun break came that they packed up, they took their flags, and they went home. And again, this is becoming a focal point for people here. So many of those we were speaking to felt like, in a way, almost, there's been a spectre cast over the city for all these months and then it happened. And so it's almost this -- finally, the worst you could imagine has happened and you're still standing. And the messages, they've been washed away now because it's been raining, but you can see when we came, multi-colored short messages, we love you, we're standing together. Please don't let this divide us. It was really heartbreaking to see.

CAMEROTA: Yes, and yet inspiring that everyone is out here and not cowered by the fear. Thank you very much. We'll check back in with you, obviously throughout the program. Chris, it is busy here at the square and it's not just here. Throughout Brussels, we've seen people getting back to normal life. We've seen people pushing, mothers pushing strollers. We've seen people taking their children to school, people are trying to get back to their normal lives here just one day after the attacks.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Alisyn. We'll be back with you in just a bit. We want an update on what happened in the election last night. Four of the final five candidates coming up winners on Western Tuesday depending on how you look at it. We're going to break down the results and what it all means for the campaign right ahead.

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[06:23:00] CUOMO: We have information coming in about an arrest in Belgium. We're going to give it to you as we develop the information, but let's turn to the elections here in U.S. An impressive evening for Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Both scoring major victories in Arizona. There were five important races in three western states. And a big part of the story, voter turnout. Lines, take a look on your screen -- stretching for a mile or more in some cases. One of the places actually ran out of ballots.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: Don't say folks aren't engaged. Look at that, impressive turnout. All right, let's break down the numbers. As you were mentioning, big night for Senator Ted Cruz, claiming all 40 delegates in Utah after taking 69 percent of the vote. Donald Trump coming in third place, just 14 percent of the vote. He will not receive any delegates in that state. South of Utah to Arizona, we see that Donald Trump dominated Arizona, 47 percent of the vote. He will take all 58 delegates there because it is a winner take all state. So totaling up to this hour, the Trump -- I'm calling him the Trump now. Donald Trump inching closer to the magic number of 1,237. He has 741 delegates. Cruz behind in 461. John Kasich, 145 delegates. He gained no new delegates.

Now if we turn to the Democrats. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders picked up two states, winning in Idaho. Look at this massive margin he won by. 78 percent to Clinton's 21. He also took 79 percent of the vote in Utah to Clinton's 20 percent. Clinton capturing the biggest prize in Arizona, 58 percent of the vote there. Now it is worth noting that while Sanders won two of three Democratic contests, they were both smaller states, they had far fewer delegates. None of them were winner take all. So the count for the Democrats' delegate count right now 1,711 for Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, 939. Again, that's the magic number they're looking to achieve, 2,383, in order to win the nomination, Chris.

[06:25:06] CUOMO: All right, Mich, important numbers. Also important news coming out of Brussels. We do have word of an arrest and we're working the details right now. As soon as we get them, we will give them to you. There's no question that the Brussels attacks did play into these western primaries in the presidential election so let's bring in CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic", Ron Brownstein, and CNN politics executive editor, Mark Preston. Who wants the GOP? Which one of you wants to do the analysis of the GOP? Quick, quick! Ron! Too slow, Preston, as usual. So what did you see last night? Ted Cruz is saying, this is what he needed to do, but Donald Trump came out with the big win in Arizona. What's the plus/minus?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well look, I think if you look at Arizona, you look at a state that has been at the epicenter of the backlash on illegal or undocumented immigration and Donald Trump did what he needed to do there. If you look so far in this race, Chris, (ph) public union strategies, polling farm, has put together a really interesting compilation of the exit polls from all of the states that have voted and they show that Donald Trump is winning about half of the voters who support his idea of deporting all 12 million undocumented immigrants. Only about a quarter of those who don't. Even though that first group is a minority in the party, his dominant support among them and particularly among those blue collar Republicans that we've talked about many times, have given him a base larger than any other candidate, and as the calendar moves forward, the idea of Ted Cruz as the principle opposition to Trump is tough because you're moving towards coastal states that are less evangelical, they are more college educated, which could mean that they could have some resistance to Trump, but it's questionable whether Cruz is the one who can consolidate that and John Kasich barely has a pulse at this point in the race even though we are moving towards states that should be more favorable to him. So all in all, Trump in the driver's seat, the only question is whether he gets over that first ballot majority or not.

CUOMO: All right. Let's do some political ping pong here, over to you Mr. Preston, and do the Democrats, of course, what Ron Brownstein was just telling us is on the heels of your reporting, that Jeb Bush, coming out now in addition to Mitt Romney for Ted Cruz. Will that broaden the base that he needed? We'll have to wait and see. What did you see on the Democratic side? Hillary Clinton's team was coming out saying, ah, we got the big win, we're doing what we need to do just like Donald Trump, but Bernie Sanders is saying, look at the turnout, that's all about me.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICS EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Correct, and listen, Bernie Sanders should be credited with keeping a campaign alive even though the math works against him at this point and he continues to get thousands and thousands of people to come out and see him and to hear his message and to back his message, but what Hillary Clinton's doing right now is that she's slowly amassing delegates right now. When you have Bernie Sanders go out and basically match you for delegates day to day at this point, or even fall behind a little bit, perhaps even win a few more delegates than her, that's a losing strategy right now for Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders needs to win the states forthcoming now. He needs to win the states by a 70 to 30 margin. He needs to start racking up delegates in order for him to have a shot at winning the Democratic nomination, otherwise it is Hillary Clinton's to walk away with.

BROWNSTEIN: Can I add one quick point? What Sanders has shown is the ability to win predominantly white states. New Hampshire, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, Idaho, Utah. The problem is, on the Democratic side, all of the big states, with the possible exceptions of Wisconsin and Washington, are diverse states, and Hillary Clinton has won all of the big states that have voted except for Michigan.

CUOMO: Hold on. While Ron's talking, put up the map of the upcoming states so people can put some stake into what Ron's saying. Keep going.

BROWNSTEIN: Look, Virginia, Georgia, Texas, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina, all of the big states that have voted, she has won with the exception of Michigan. As you look at what's coming forward, sure, she's going to trade. Whether he's going to be strong in West Virginia or some other small places or some of the caucuses that are coming up, in return for New York, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania -- all the big states on the Democratic side are diverse, and as I said, with the exception of Michigan, she has won all of them. So his challenge remains what it has always been. They are roughly splitting white voters evenly. If you look across the entire primary process, and she is winning African-American voters three or four to one and winning most Latino voters in most states. Certainly had to win them in Arizona last night even though we don't have an exit poll. So that is the basic math and it does not look very promising for Bernie Sanders even though he has done much better than he or even his staff probably expected at the beginning.

CUOMO: That said, the Sanders campaign is saying, look out for April 26. A lot of New England states. You've got Connecticut, you've got Delaware, you've got Rhode Island. On the other side, Ted Cruz's campaign, and Ted Cruz is going to join us this morning, he is saying, this situation in Brussels changes the game. It is all about terror now. This election has not been. So gentlemen, you will join me and listen to Senator Ted Cruz as we interview him on NEW DAY coming up as he makes the case to the American people. Now, as we said, there is breaking information about the investigation in Brussels. For that, let's get right back to Alisyn in the center of it all. Alisyn --