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New Day

Brussels Observes Moment of Silence for Victims; Massive Manhunt for Brussels Terror Suspect; Cruz Wins Utah, Trump Takes Arizona; Interview with Ted Cruz. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired March 23, 2016 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This is a pivotal moment.

DONALD TRUMP, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Look, I think we have to change our law on the waterboarding thing.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R), TEXAS: We will utilize interrogation techniques that are effective.

HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The last thing we need, my friends, are leaders who incite more fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): This is CNN breaking news.

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Alisyn Camerota in Brussels. This is NEW DAY.

We are about to engage in a moment of silence. The people of Belgium remembering the victims of the attacks with this moment of silence right now.

Look at the scores and scores of people who have come out, come out in public to say that we will not be cowed by terror. Look at the sea of people who have come to the public squares, to their government buildings, to all of these beautiful, beautiful symbols in this lovely city of Brussels to say we stand together and we are showing solidarity against the terrorists trying to bring down our city.

And now applause, applause is ringing out across Brussels right now, again, for the strength and solidarity that the people here of Brussels are showing this morning, particularly here in this public square. What a beautiful moment when you see the memorial for all of the

victims. You see these beautiful chalk drawings and candlelight vigils, and again a rousing round of applause for the solidarity here in Brussels.

Here in Belgium this morning, we do have some major developments in the investigation into the terror attacks to tell you about. Belgian media is reporting an arrest in just the last hour in a Brussels suburb somehow connected to the terror attacks. We are waiting confirmation on that suspect's identity but we'll bring it to you as soon as we have it.

Belgian authorities also now identifying two brothers who they say were the suicide bombers who detonated the explosives inside the Brussels airport. There is a massive manhunt underway at this hour.

Just as you hear all the people coming out and trying to take back their city, there are still suspects on the loose and a manhunt underway. We are covering the Brussels terror attacks the way only CNN can. And we want to begin with our senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir with all the breaking details on the arrest as well as the brothers.

Where do we begin?

What have you learned in the --

(CROSSTALK)

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's start with the brothers, Khalid and Ibrahim el-Bakraoui. These are believed to be involved with the airport attacks. They're the ones who we see in that picture, standing next to the man in the light colored coat, who police are currently engaged in that massive manhunt.

I just want to have a moment to Have a listen to this.

CAMEROTA: It's really gotten -- it's reached a crescendo here. Everyone is applauding. It's hard for us to see exactly what is happening in the middle of the public square. But it appears that people are holding up flags, Belgian flags.

ELBAGIR: And you can see just right at the back there, there is a big sign, "United against hate." That's also (INAUDIBLE) as we were coming through yesterday evening, people were scrawling.

One lady wrote, "I am a Muslim but I stand with my country, not with hate." And it was just so emotional to see her write that. And that's what this is all about today, this moment of solidarity, both Muslim Belgians and non-Muslim Belgians, trying to come together to make a statement.

CAMEROTA: It is so beautiful. We've seen this in chalk drawings over there on the wall. It says, "Love is the tool that we'll use now."

But back to the investigation. You said you learned things about the brothers. Let's start there.

ELBAGIR: Let's just walk you through how this unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELBAGIR (voice-over): 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 --

[07:05:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- glass, ceiling coming down and smoke and everything.

ELBAGIR (voice-over): 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 Maelbeek metro station an hour later. That blast charring a subway car, survivors desperately fleeing in the dark.

BRIAN CARROLL, WITNESS: 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 (voice-over): The station just blocks away from a number of European Union landmarks, including the European parliament. ISIS 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 for 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 (voice-over): The world lighting up in Belgian colors, vowing never to let terrorism win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: So Nima, as always is the case with ongoing breaking news like this, there are often conflicting reports. In the past hour we did just hear of another report of someone arrested connected to the attacks here.

What have you learned?

ELBAGIR: Well, this is the arrest in Anderlecht that you actually broke on air. But we're getting a lot of conflicting reports about who has been arrested. Belgian media themselves seem to be unclear.

The name that is being bandied about is Najim Laachraoui, who was at the center of the manhunt prior to the attacks. He's been widely believed to be designated as the Paris attack bomb maker.

The apartment in Schaerbeek, they found his DNA. They found signatures that led then to believe that he was involved with the making of the bombs that detonated in Paris. But we do not have confirmation. This is just what Belgian media are reporting.

But he is, in addition to those linked to this attack, he is one of the most sought men in Belgium right now, extraordinarily dangerous man.

CAMEROTA: Let's hope they got him. And anytime you're not on the air, you're working your sources. So we will bring you back as soon as you have more information, Nima, thanks so much for all of that.

U.S. officials helping now in the Brussels investigation. CNN's justice reporter Evan Perez is live in Washington with more on that angle of the story.

Evan, what do you have?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Alisyn. Counterterrorism analysts here in the United States are helping Belgian investigators dig in to the background of multiple people believed to have a role in the Brussels attacks.

The 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.

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 to the Brussels attack but also to other terrorist plots, including the Paris massacre.

In the past few months since Paris, U.S. intelligence officials have told me that they were expecting a major attack in Europe. There is now even a State Department travel warning for Americans in the region.

Now the Belgian government have invited a group of investigators and bomb experts from the FBI-led joint terrorism task force, including officers from the New York Police Department. We expect that they will be arriving in Brussels later this morning to help with the investigation.

CAMEROTA: Evan, we know the authorities here will take all the help they can get.

We're watching now thousands of people who had come out to this public square to the Place de la Bourse for this moment of silence and then a rousing round of applause when they all stood in solidarity and unity to fight against terror. Now they are, the crowd is dissipating. People are going back it seems to their daily life. Lots of people going to work here.

They are trying to get back to life after the atrocity of what happened here yesterday. But we want to go back now to Michaela with more news in New York.

Hey, Mic.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN HOST: So glad we could witness that with you. Thanks for sharing that moment with us, an important moment.

Other big news happening here in the political world, Ted Cruz celebrating an impressive victory in the Utah Republican caucuses. Getting 69 percent of the vote and winning 100 percent of those delegates.

In just moments, the Texas senator will join us live right here on NEW DAY. We'll ask how he is feeling about that win. Obviously to the south of Utah, to Arizona, Donald Trump dominating there with 47 percent of the vote. He will take all 58 delegates. It is a winner- take-all state.

Moving down the line, let's take a look at the current numbers at this hour. Trump inching closer to the magic number, 1,237 --

[07:10:00]

PEREIRA: -- 741 delegates for him. Meanwhile, Cruz with 461. John Kasich not getting any new delegates at 145.

Turning to the Democrats, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders picking up two states, winning in Idaho by a massive margin. Look at that, 78 percent to Clinton's 21 percent.

He also took 79 percent of the vote in Utah to Clinton's nearly 20 percent. But Clinton managed to capture her biggest prize winning Arizona with nearly 58 percent of the vote.

It is worth noting that while Sanders won two out of three contests, they were both smaller states. They were states that had fewer delegates. None of them were winner-take-all states. So if we look at the grand total right now as it stands, the Democratic delegate count for Hillary Clinton, 1,711. For Bernie Sanders, 939. Again, in order to clinch that nomination they are looking for the magic number of 2,383.

We'll keep adjusting these numbers as we get the latest results -- Chris, over to you.

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, we're sitting here with a senator who has seen all he needs to see from last night. He feels it was a big success for him. Let's talk right now with Senator Ted Cruz --

(CROSSTALK)

CRUZ: Good morning, Chris.

CUOMO: -- good to see you here on NEW DAY, sir. We know that you also see the events in the world as pivotal to the election right now, specifically the terror attacks. But let's talk about the returns.

What do you believe your campaign showed last night?

CRUZ: Well, last night was a terrific victory. In Utah we were hoping very much to break 50 percent, get to 51 percent. We ended up with a massive, a landslide victory at 69 percent in the state of Utah. Picked up another 40 delegates.

And I think that's really reflective of what we are seeing across the country. Utah is now the 10th state where we have beaten Donald Trump. What we are seeing is Republicans uniting behind our campaign as the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump over and over again and that can beat Donald Trump.

It is very encouraging to see nearly 70 percent of the vote in Utah. It is a powerful affirmation of what's happening.

CUOMO: Obviously the Trump campaign points to Arizona. The criticism -- legitimate criticism is can Ted Cruz build a big enough coalition to get to 1,237 or to stop Donald Trump from 1,237?

Nobody can argue a case the way you do certain at this table. Make a case.

CRUZ: Well, look, Arizona, actually a lot of results were baked in the cake. They'd been early voting for a month. So much of Donald's win came from people who voted a month ago when the race was very, very different. What we are seeing all across the country is the momentum is with us.

One of the things that shows that is this morning Jeb Bush endorsed our campaign. And if you think about in the last 10 days we have been endorsed by Jeb Bush, Mitt Romney, Mike Lee and Mark Livin (ph). You want to talk about a broad coalition, ideologically diverse, that covers the entire spectrum of the Republican Party.

And what we are seeing is 65 percent to 70 percent of Republicans nationally recognize Donald Trump is not the right candidate to go up head-to-head with Hillary Clinton, that Donald loses to Hillary. Chris, there was an amazing poll last week that showed if Donald

were the nominee, Donald loses Utah to Hillary. Utah is as bright red conservative a state as there is in the country. And if the Republican nominee can't carry Utah as Donald Trump can't it means we get clobbered in a Walter Mondale-style landslide.

That's why so many Republicans are uniting behind our campaign because Donald loses to Hillary and we beat Hillary.

CUOMO: So you have trouble on both sides of you, though. You have Donald Trump there, who is the front-runner and you have Governor Kasich, who says he's not going anywhere. He believes he can build the broader coalition better than you can.

What do you say to Governor Kasich?

CRUZ: Facts are stubborn things. John Kasich is a good man, he is an honorable man. But he has no path to the nomination. It's mathematically impossible for John Kasich to become the Republican nominee. He needs more than 100 percent of the remaining delegates. And it's worth remembering Kasich went 0 for 27, lost 27 states in a row. Then he won his home state. And then last night he lost again overwhelmingly in both Utah and Arizona --

CUOMO: No delegates for the governor last night.

CRUZ: -- no delegates --

CUOMO: -- as we see them currently apportioned.

CRUZ: -- in two weeks, he's going to lose Wisconsin again and you can't lose every state and expect to be the nominee. Right now, Kasich's role is really being a spoiler. Kasich benefits Donald Trump. Indeed, Mitt Romney said just a couple of days ago that a vote for John Kasich is a vote for Donald Trump. And the reason is Trump has a hard ceiling of 35-40 percent. But he has real trouble crossing. And the head-to-head, we not only beat Donald, we beat him badly. We beat him by double digits.

What Kasich can do is pull enough votes away to let Trump win with a plurality and I'll give you an example. Last --

CUOMO: Have you tried to combine with Governor Kasich?

Have you had any thought of that, let alone conversation about it?

CRUZ: I think very highly of Kasich. I would certainly think he --

[07:15:00]

CRUZ: -- I would love to have his support. I think he would be a tremendous addition to an administration. But it's worth underscoring what's happening, a week ago in Illinois, Donald Trump got 38 percent in Illinois. I got 30 percent. Kasich was at 19 percent. If Kasich hadn't been in the race, we would have beaten Donald Trump in Illinois.

CUOMO: How do you know?

How do you know that Kasich's people go to Cruz?

CRUZ: Because the vast majority of them go to Cruz. We've seen that all across the country. That's what the polling numbers show is that the vast majority come to us. But what Kasich's being in the race did, is it let Donald win Illinois with 38 percent. We talked about his 40 percent ceiling. It let a plurality win.

Listen, I know John doesn't want to be a spoiler. At the end of the day, I believe he's going to put country first. And we have got to come together and unite. If you don't have a path to winning, it's time to come together now.

CUOMO: He thinks he's looking good at the convention, that the best hope for the party right now as you go to convention, you, with Kasich's help, depending on how you look at it, stop Donald Trump from getting to 1,237. You go there after the first vote, it's basically an open convention and he believes he has more friends than there you do.

CRUZ: Number one, it is mathematically impossible for him to get there.

CUOMO: To 1,237?

CRUZ: Yes. But number two, under the rules, he won't even be on the ballot. The RNC rules provide that to be on the ballot, you have to have won eight states. There are only two people who will meet that threshold, Donald Trump and me. We will be the only two names on the ballot. Kasich can not even be voted on in the convention. The only thing Kasich can do is what he is doing now, which is play the role of a spoiler and help Donald Trump.

At the end of the day, he lost badly last night. In Wisconsin, he's going to lose in two weeks. When you keep losing and losing, what happens in politics is your money dries up. You can't keep running a campaign --

CUOMO: Money is momentum, there is no question. And momentum is money. It goes both ways. No question about that.

One quick question on style and then I know we need to talk about terror. It matters too much.

You have made an adjustment quicker than Senator Marco Rubio did away from trying to out-Trump Trump in terms of going head to head. He is baiting you again with what he thought you were responsible for with the picture of his wife. I know it was the super PAC. But he blames you. You took the bait and responded and called him more of a coward than you thought.

Do you believe that that is taking you in the direction you need to be to beat Donald Trump? With any kind of broad-based coalition you're looking to build?

CRUZ: Well let's be clear, the tweet he was unhappy about was not even a super PAC supporting me. It is an independent group. I don't know them. I have never spoken to them. I have nothing to do with them.

But what Donald did last night -- and listen, you're in New York. You have seen this a lot. When Donald gets scared, when he gets angry, when he's threatened, he begins yelling, he begins screaming, he begins often cursing. And he begins trying to be a bully. So last night Donald threatened my wife. He went directly after my wife.

And I've got to tell you that, number one, Heidi, my wife, she is the daughter of missionaries in Africa. She is my best friend in the world. And if Donald wants to get in the character fight, he is better off sticking with me because Heidi is way out of his league.

But it is also -- it reveals a lot about character. It reveals a lot about class, that Donald's instinct is to try to attack my wife and sully her. And you know what, that should be beneath Donald. But Chris, the reason he's doing that is because he had a very bad night last night. He got clobbered in Utah. Remember, Donald campaigned in Utah. He tried to win Utah and he got blown out of the water.

And he is seeing Republicans uniting behind our campaign. Donald recognizes 65 percent to 70 percent of Republicans know that if we nominate Donald, we lose to Hillary. And he is very dismayed. So he wants to drag it into the gutter, he wants to drag it into personal attacks.

And at the end of the day, I have no interest in that. I'm going to stay focused on solving the problems facing this country, bringing back jobs and economic growth, raising wages, securing the borders, protecting our rights and protecting this country from radical Islamic terror.

CUOMO: The point is I'm only asking you about him because you responded. I know you get that. So let's move on to what matters more.

You believe that Brussels is a metaphor. Most people who are around these situations do.

What would you do that Donald Trump would not do?

What would you do differently to keep America safe from something like Brussels happening here, God forbid?

CRUZ: Let me say first of all that our prayers are with the families of those who were murdered, those who were injured, especially the three Americans, the Mormon missionaries who were over there who were wounded in this terror attack.

The terror attack in Brussels, it was not an isolated event. It was not a lone wolf. It is part of a broader pattern, a war that is being waged by radical Islamic terrorism that is being waged by ISIS against us. They have declared jihad.

[07:20:00]

CRUZ: Their intention to murder as many Europeans, as many Israelis, as many Americans as they can.

We have right now a president who refuses to acknowledge what is happening as a matter of political preference. Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and the entire Obama administration refuses even to utter the words "radical Islamic terrorism." We need a commander in chief who will identify the enemy and do everything necessary to defeat it.

And as president --

CUOMO: Their argument is you don't want to paint with too broad a brush and blame an entire faith for the acts of the worst among them. And that's why there is criticism about policing Muslim communities as if they were all an enemy.

CRUZ: Listen, nobody is blaming an entire faith. But radical Islamic terrorism, jihadism is a very discrete, it is a real threat. And this administration's in denial, following the Paris terror attacks, following San Bernardino, President Obama goes on national television, won't say radical Islamic terrorism, but lectures Americans on Islamophobia.

Enough is enough. Let's have a commander in chief who keeps us safe.

And you know, Chris, a lot of folks in the media say, well, gosh, what difference does it make what you call it? It makes a lot of difference because when you identify the enemy, you then target your efforts to defeating it and because Obama and Hillary refuse to identify the enemy, what happens is that they advocate policies.

For example, both Obama and Hillary advocate bringing tens of thousands of Syrian Muslim refugees to America, despite the fact that ISIS has said they want to infiltrate those refugees, send jihadists here to murder Americans.

Despite the fact that the head of the FBI, James Comey, who was appointed by Barack Obama, has told Congress the FBI cannot vet those refugees to ensure that they are not terrorists. We need a president whose first priority won't be political correctness, won't be satisfying partisan objectives but rather whose first priority will be as commander in chief keeping America safe. That's what I'll do as president.

CUOMO: They say call it radical Islamism then. Don't call it --

(CROSSTALK)

CUOMO: -- Islamism is something different. And it winds up painting again that faith with a brush. And that if you don't let in refugees, people who are desperate, you wind up feeding the problem and negating the perception of America as someone who's better than the norm.

CRUZ: Chris, you're exactly right that Islamism is different from Islam and Islamism is a political and theocratic view that commands its adherents to wage violent jihad against infidels, and they define infidels as everybody else on Earth, to either murder them or forcibly convert them to impose sharia law. And Islamism is our enemy. Islamism is what commands jihad. But President Obama will not say that. Hillary Clinton will not say that. They do not identify Islamism as the threat, as the problem.

And I'll give you another example of how political correctness is costing lives. The San Bernardino terrorists, the female terrorist posted publicly on social media -- they called a jihad. The Obama administration refused to look at social media because they didn't think it would be politically correct to look at social media.

We've got a threat --

CUOMO: There were some legal issues also, which I'm sure you understand.

CRUZ: There are no legal barriers to monitoring public social media displays, particularly overseas.

Now I would point out she also, on her visa application, put a fake address in Pakistan. The vetting didn't notice it was a fake address, let her in. And Americans were murdered.

It's been interesting in the last 24 hours when I called for proactive policing directed at radical Islamist terrorism, the reaction from Democrats -- Mayor di Blasio here in New York held a press conference, blasting me, attacking me. It's an example where Democrats are more concerned about political correctness than they are about keeping us safe.

That's why people are so fed up. We need a commander chief whose priority is keeping the American people safe and that's what I'll do. And you asked a minute ago about Donald Trump.

I'll note that just two days ago Donald Trump advocated essentially withdrawing from NATO. The next day the Brussels attack occurred. Brussels is where NATO is headquartered. Withdrawing from NATO would be a catastrophic mistake. It would hand Putin a massive victory. It would hand ISIS a massive victory.

And I think Donald Trump's foreign policy weakness, his isolationism and is frankly to his left of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, neither Obama nor Hillary advocate withdrawing from NATO.

CUOMO: Absolutely. They do not.

CRUZ: And Trump's views would make America more dangerous. It's just he said he wants to be neutral between Israel and the Palestinians. We need a president who isn't neutral, who recognizes that radical Islamic terrorists are a threat and we need to defeat them. CUOMO: Trump has said since then that he doesn't know that

neutrality is probable.

[07:25:00]

CUOMO: But your point is well made.

Senator Ted Cruz, thank you very much for joining us on NEW DAY. You're always welcome here throughout the election to discuss what matters.

CRUZ: I appreciate it.

CUOMO: I do as well.

Back to you, Alisyn, you have the latest developments. You're in the center of it all.

CAMEROTA: We sure are, Chris. We're at the Place de la Bourse. That is the public square here in Brussels. Moments ago we saw a moment of silence. That ended. But the people behind me have not left. They continue to stay here in the public square and wave the Belgian flag to show their strength here. So we'll talk to some of these folks.

And we also will tell you about a new arrest this morning. It is believed to be connected to the Brussels terror attacks. CNN is live at the scene of the arrest. We'll take you there right after this break.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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CAMEROTA: We have some breaking news right now in the Brussels terror investigation. A bombing suspect was just arrested in the last hour in the Anderlecht (ph) region of Brussels. CNN's senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is there at the scene.

Fred, what are you seeing?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. Well, we can certainly tell that this is very much an ongoing police operation. I'm going to get out of your way here for a second so you can see here at this door, you have the two police officers who are guarding the entrance to this residential building. They are of course wearing their ski masks so as not to be identified.

We have seen a lot of forensic teams going in and out of that building. They had paper bags which contained something or other, appeared to us to be evidence. They certainly were loading it into vehicles that were police vehicles and then taking it away.

And there was a lot of forensic people going in and out of that apartment building, taking things out. You can also tell that there's a bit of broken glass there on the door, which appears to have been where the police broke into that building earlier today.

We're told that this operation actually began very early in the morning. There is some talk from people around the area that someone was arrested here. And we have heard that apparently someone was arrested in connection to the Brussels attack. We're not sure who, what the identity of that person is, what exactly the relation is to that attack.

However, it does appear as though it could very well be that that person was arrested right here at this location. And again, the police still very much working up there. There's forensic teams; we're not sure which floor they're on of this apartment complex here. But they have been going in and out quite frequently.

Also those forensic teams in full body protective suits. So clearly they are taking no risks at all at this point in time as they conduct the searches in that area.

This is a fairly small residential street. We can take you for a little bit of a walk here in the area. As you can see, this small residential street in the Anderlecht district --