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6 Detained In Terror Raids As Manhunt Intensifies; U.S. Intel: Multiple Isis Plots At Different Stages; Dozens Of Known And Possible ISIS Agents In Europe; New Anti-Terror Raids In Brussels; Minister: "May Have Missed" Chance To Stop Attacker; Cruz To Trump: Leave My Wife "The Hell Alone"; Secretary Kerry Addresses Belgium. Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired March 25, 2016 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:00] ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: -- suspects in connection with Tuesday's bombings. Also, those two unidentified attackers, the search for them is intensifying this morning as the threat of more attacks hangs heavy over this city. The Justice Minister also admitting that they made major mistakes in terms of intelligence gathering. And we're also learning that a man arrested overnight by French police for an advanced stage terror plot is now linked to the Paris attacks. All of this as secretary of state John Kerry arrives in Brussels today. We will hear from him in just moments, but we have this covered the way only CNN can. Let's begin with our senior international correspondent, Nima Elbagir. Nima, thanks so much for being here. Tell us about what's happened overnight with the arrests.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, raids right into the early hours of this morning. The search within those apartments continuing. We are starting to see a real pattern here emerging in terms of how these raids play out. So we want to give our viewers a glimpse into one of those overnight raids. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELBAGIR: Overnight, a series of anti-terror raids in several Belgian neighborhoods, all in connection with the Brussels terror attacks. In the early morning hours, investigators sealing off streets, teams in hazmat gear storming this building in Schaerbeek. Forensics experts appearing to concentrate on the third floor apartment. In a large-scale operation, police arresting at least six people, prosecutors say. Three taken into custody right outside of the prosecutor's office. In Paris, authorities say they foiled an advanced stage terror attack, police arresting a high-level operative in the plot. This as U.S. intelligence warns of the potential for further terror attacks across Europe. U.S. investigators saying they're aware of multiple ISIS plots in various planning stages. Fears of more extremism swirling as two unidentified suspects in the Brussels bombings remain on the loose. Belgian state media reporting surveillance video shows a second unidentified man at the Maalbeek metro station. This witness believes he may have spotted one of them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was very nervous. You saw sweat that he was very nervous. And he was back and forth in the metro hall. Back and forth, back and forth.

ELBAGIR: Belgian authorities under fire after admitting they had the opportunity to stop one of the airport suicide bombers. Ibrahim el-Bakraoui arrested in Turkey last June

TRANSLATOR: I think it is justified that people ask how it is possible that someone was released early and we missed the chance when he was in Turkey to detain him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ELBAGIR: So even though the threat level here has come down from the highest to three, in spite of that, which would have meant that they believe that the threat is no longer imminent, it's only possible, we are still seeing these operations, these raids, and that's casting a lot of questions about Belgium's thought process through all this, really.

CAMEROTA: Yes, it does seem peculiar that they lowered the threat level given everything that's going on. But we'll have is a lot more questions for you, Nima, so stand by. As Nima has been reporting, six people detained in this series last night of new terror raids across Brussels. So authorities still scrambling to find those other two suspects, unidentified, who are still at large. CNN's senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, is live in the Schaerbeek neighborhood where one of those raids took place. Fred, what happened there?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Alisyn. Yes, well this was the place that a large raid took place and forensics experts were on the scene here for several hours cordoning off a large part of this neighborhood. It's not clear if anyone was arrested in this specific location right here. However, we have just gotten new information and that apparently there was another anti- terror raid that happened in the early morning hours of today. It happened in the Forest neighborhood which is one that has been significant over the past two weeks. Last Tuesday, there was a police raid also in the Forest neighborhood that discovered what then turned out to be a terrorist safe house. Now the police, at this stage, are telling us in this newest raid that happened this morning, several people were also detained. It's unclear whether those people will remain in detention, whether or not they will be charged with anything, however as Nima said, all the raids that have been going on in the past couple of hours have been in relation to the plots on the metro and on the airport as well. The latest that we're getting, the breakdown of people arrested, is that three people were detained in front of the federal prosecutor's office. It's unclear what's going to happen to them and also, two people were detained in a raid in the Jette neighborhood of Brussels that also happened overnight. So as you can see, a flurry of activity, a lot of activity here in Schaerbeek, which is a place, of course, that we have been reporting on over the past couple of days, where that weapons lab was for the attacks on the airport and on the metro. So the Belgian police really stepping up their efforts to try and find those two people who are at large and possibly uncover the larger web that is also behind all of this, Alisyn.

[06:05:13] CAMEROTA: OK, Fred, we will stand by for more developments from you as you get them. Meanwhile, French police arresting a man for allegedly plotting what they called an advanced stage terror attack near Paris. CNN has just learned that the suspect is linked to the Paris attack ringleader. CNN's Erin McLaughlin is live in Paris with all those breaking details. Erin, what have you learned?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Alisyn, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation, yesterday they arrested a 34-year-old French national by the name of Reda Kriket. And Kriket was a wanted man, convicted in 2015 in Belgium, a court room in Belgium, in absentia, being involved in a jihadist recruitment network, sending fighters to Syria and Iraq. He was convicted alongside a suspected Paris ringleader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. They were both sentenced to ten years in prison and fine 5,000 euros. Neither, of course, were present for that trial. Now following Kriket's arrest, authorities last night moved in on an apartment building in a suburb to the west of Paris. They evacuated the building and sent in the bomb squad. And according to French media reports, they found a number of weapons as well as a small amount of explosives inside that building. Now at this hour, it's unclear how that apartment is connected to Kriket, authorities also not divulging details as to the nature of the terrorist plot they say they foiled in the advanced stages, though we are expecting to get more information from the French prosecutor later today. Alisyn --

CAMEROTA: OK Erin, bring up that when you have it. Here's what is so nerve-racking for the people of Brussels and throughout Europe, is that investigators say that they are aware of more ISIS plots in Europe in various stages of planning, possibly also linked to the Paris and Brussels terror cells. So CNN justice reporter, Evan Perez, is live in Washington with more on that angle. Evan, what do you have?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: That's right, Alisyn. U.S. officials say that intelligence sources, including electronic intercepts and informants, show that additional attacks apparently linked to the Paris and Brussels attackers are still in the works. During a raid of one apartment in recent days, authorities found in Brussels that there were maps indicating possible targets that were being refined, however officials say there's not enough specific information about the possible plots, which is why you see more general warnings about travel in Europe. ISIS is known to give its operatives wide leeway in choosing targets of opportunity. The concern now is that there's at least dozens of ISIS operatives who are trained in Syria and Iraq and who are now in Europe and some of those operatives are believed to overlap with attackers in Paris and Belgium. The hope is that these dozens of raids that are now being carried out in Brussels and in France will disrupt these plans. Yesterday, Belgium lowered its terror warning saying that it believes the danger is high but not imminent. I've got to tell you, that surprised U.S. officials. They say they still have major concerns about the risk for additional attacks. Alisyn --

CAMEROTA: Yes, that is surprising, Evan. Thank you very much for that reporting. OK, we want to bring back Nima Elbagir as well as Fred Pleitgen. We also want to bring in now CNN's senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward. Clarissa, let me start with you. Let's talk about this admission from the Interior Minister who said, yes, basically for the first time, we made major mistakes. There were omissions in our intelligence gathering.

CLARISSA WARD, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We saw him yesterday offering his resignation, the Prime Minister saying respectfully, we'll decline that, because obviously it is important to have unity and a sense that the government is functioning right now. We also saw him, Nima and I were just discussing, getting taken to task by a local anchor on a news TV program here. There is a sense that people want some accountability. It is very clear that many things slipped through the cracks. We now heard last night from the family of Najim Laachraoui, he was one of the airport bombers. His family said, we told authorities that he went to Syria. We told them that we were worried about him being radicalized, and now I know you've heard this again and again talking to people. People have communicated that their sons and their brothers have been radicalized, that they traveled to Syria. Now we are learning this raid in France, Reda Kriket, he also traveled to Syria. What is going wrong with the system? Why is it that once we know these men have gone to Syria, that intelligence sharing operations throughout Europe are not better able to communicate when these men are returning home? Because quite clearly, Alisyn, they pose a major threat.

CAMEROTA: Nima, it's so maddening. It's so maddening to know that there might have been flags that were raised and maybe they could have done something, but as you have learned, it's systemic here in Belgium.

[06:09:58] ELBAGIR: Yes, absolutely. And can you imagine being a mother, being so desperate that you are willing to turn in your own son? And at the same time, the broader country still points the fingers at the parents and says, you should have known. What did you do wrong? And now we are hearing from Laachraoui's family, we did everything we should have done and could have done. This is really shaking Belgium right the way, too, while all the time we have this specter of the potential for new raids. And the reality is, people here don't trust this government to keep them safe.

CAMEROTA: Fred, one of the really eyebrow-raising things we learned yesterday from our local experts was that there had been this rule here in Belgium that the authorities could not conduct overnight raids. After 9:00 p.m., raids were off limits. Clearly they've changed that since where you are, last night, they conducted many raids.

PLEITGEN: Yes, they certainly did. They conducted a lot of raids here overnight, but you're absolutely right. For the longest time, that simply wasn't possible where after 9:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. in the morning, they weren't allowed to enter houses to conduct raids there because they obviously had gotten a lot of complaints from people, and then at some point, the law was changed to banning those overnight raids and it was a real problem, also in the run up to the Paris attack. And of course, there is a lot of information out there and sometimes that information is actionable information and the authorities simply weren't able to go and move forward. Now they are able to do so. But the problem still remains and it's something that we hear from people again and again. It's not only that families are coming with this information to the police. The big problem is also the sharing of that information between the different services, between the police and the intelligence services, between the police and the federal police, it is a real problem getting that information to where the authorities will actually act on it and that's clearly something that's been lagging not only in the run up to the Paris attacks and these attacks but generally also, for instance, in the hunt for Salah Abdeslam, where clearly there was at least one raid that the police went on where they went into that house in the Forest district where they were clearly not prepared to meet any sort of resistance there. Sot it is a big problem, the sharing, the intelligence services speaking to each other, and that's just in this country. You then have to widen that to a European level, Alisyn, where the intelligence services are clearly also not speaking to each other the way that they need to share this information to make themselves more effective.

CAMEROTA: Clarissa, we have learned about even some of the byzantine information sharing here in Brussels, that there are like six different municipalities. Some speak different languages.

WARD: Well this is the thing, the more you look into it, the more you understand the root of the dysfunction. In Brussels alone, you have 19 different mayors. You have six different police districts. You have two official languages. Beyond that, we were talking to go people in Molenbeek yesterday. They were telling us that there are very few police who actually speak Arabic. If you walk around Molenbeek, Alisyn, the language you are going to hear on the streets predominantly is Arabic. How is it possible that you don't have -- and I think a lot of this does come back to good old-fashioned police work because all of these men started out as criminals, not jihadis.

CAMEROTA: That's such a great point, because the three of us have been to Molenbeek and we have gone and talked to the people there and we had heard before going there that it's a hotbed of extremism, and maybe there are elements of that. There are also people trying to live their lives, they're trying to do the right thing. They say that police do come in -- it's not a no-go-zone as people had heard. Police do go in, but they can't always communicate, they can't always explain what information they do learn, once there, you don't know what they do with that intelligence. It's really frustrating.

ELBAGIR: Well, what is the biggest indicator of the police failings is that Molenbeek is also a hub for organized crime, so we're not just talking about radicalism. You're also talking about this potentially lethal combination. Now the recruitment networks are targeting young men who've shown a propensity for violence. They come up through those criminal gangs and they have the know-how, they have the networks, right next door to them in Molenbeek. So if the police were unable to stop basic criminality, how are they going to stop radicalism when they don't even speak the fundamental language?

CAMEROTA: Fred, can you give us a sense, in terms of the raids last night and the six people who were arrested, do we know how high up these people were? Do we know what their connection is, who they are?

PLEITGEN: Absolutely unclear at this point in time. We've been trying to get information as to who these people are and so far, the police say they can't tell us anything as to -- they do say that the raids were definitely connected to the attacks on the airport and on the metro. But they don't say specifically who the people are that they have arrested and what sort of connection these people have had and especially, of course also, how high up these people are in the ranking order, if you will. Now of course, at this point in time, we know that the main thing that the police services here are trying to do is capture those two people who are still unaccounted for at the airport as well as at the metro.

[06:14:59] But at the same time, they said from the very beginning that they believe that there are many more people who could very well have been involved in this as well and that many of those people could very well be linked to the Brussels attack and the Paris attack. But the specific people who were arrested here overnight and this morning, we are still awaiting information as to who they are, how significant they could be, and also whether they will remain in custody because over the past couple of days, many people have also been detained who have then been released because the police simply didn't have anything against them.

CAMEROTA: Clarissa, very quickly, the U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, has arrived in Brussels. What's he doing here today?

WARD: I think obviously this is a very important symbolic gesture. The U.S. wants to show Belgium and all the people of Europe, we're with you. We feel your pain. We sympathize. But I also think there will be some very serious conversations about, how can we improve information sharing, intelligence sharing? What can the U.S. bring to the table with its advanced technology, its advanced signal intelligence, that we can cooperate together working as sort of western communities that are particularly vulnerable to these terrorist attacks in the light of the intelligence that we're hearing recently from U.S. officials? And so essentially wanting to improve the communication, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Clarissa, Nima, Fred, stand by. We will be checking back with you, particularly as Secretary Kerry begins speaking. We will have more from Brussels ahead but we want to go back now to Michaela and John in New York.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Alisyn. And of course, when Secretary Kerry speaks, we will dip into that and take a listen to what he has to say there from Belgium. Some headlines now. Tensions escalating between Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. The Texas senator ripping into the GOP front- runner for re-tweeting this unflattering picture of his wife.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not easy to tick me off. I don't get angry often. But you mess with my wife, you mess with my kids, that will do it every time. Donald, you're a sniveling coward. Leave Heidi the hell alone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: Trump says he didn't start the feud with the man he calls "Lyin' Ted". He claims Cruz knew an anti-Trump Super PAC was using a nude photo of his wife, Melania Trump, in a campaign ad.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: An overwhelming majority of Americans believe the senate should hold hearings for President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Merrick Garland. A brand-new CNN/ORC poll. Those favoring a confirmation hearing outnumber those who oppose it by more than two to one, and a majority, 52 percent, believe that the hearing should result in Judge Garland's confirmation.

PEREIRA: Many, and of course, the comedy world mourning the sudden death of Gary Shandling. He was best known for his HBO classic, "The Larry Sanders Show". He died of an apparent and sudden attack in Los Angeles. Channeling sharp wit was on full display as recently as January during what's believed to have been his final appearance on good friend Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JERRY SEINFELD: Would you ever go into a tanning salon?

GARY SHANDLING: Not without sun block on.

SEINFELD: If they open a store, I feel like I should go in. I think, oh, Burger Land. I should go there and get a burger. They've gone through all the trouble of opening that place up.

SHANDLING: I find you incredibly intelligent except for that idea because you'd be busy all day. You would have nothing left in your life, if we stopped everywhere, we would have no show.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREIRA: So great. In an eerie twist, though, the men talked in that episode about death, including the death of fellow funny man Robin Williams. Gary Shandling was just 66 years old. All right. Let us head back to Belgium and Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, Michaela. We are standing by. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Brussels this morning. He will be speaking at any moment. In fact, we understand he has come out now. Let's listen to Secretary of State Kerry.

CHARLES MICHEL, PRIME MINISTER, BELGIUM: -- today in Brussels. It is very important for both of us. We are facing, in Belgium and in Europe, very difficult moments with these terrorist attacks. A few days ago, I had the opportunity to talk with President Obama. We have arrested Salah Abdeslam, and a few days later, we are facing this terrible, this tragedy, these terrorist attacks in the airport of Brussels in the center of Brussels in the subway. We have had the opportunity this morning with John Kerry to discuss the fight against terrorism. How it is possible to do better? How is it possible to work together in order to be more efficient? Also important to look at this issue on the European level.

[06:19:45] My country, Belgium, is trying to do our best efforts in order to play a positive role in order to have a stronger Europe in the fight against terrorism, in the fight against radicalism. (speaking in a foreign language)

MICHEL (via translator): Tell you that we are convinced that we need to accept that we need to improve the fight against terrorism in Europe and in Belgium and we need to look at it from a political point of view, from an international point of view, and how we can be effective together with the United States in our fight against terrorism. As you know, last year, Belgium approved a plan -- an investment of 9.2 million so as to ensure that we would remain a reliable partner in this fight with the United States. We will also resume the production of our F-16 and we are going to discuss whether we can extend the purchase of the F-16s. The challenge that we need to meet at security level is also one that involves defending our values. Our values, that is to say Europe's and the United States', we share our principles about the freedom of expression, tolerance, and tolerance. And we were able to affirm that we maintain these.

CAMEROTA: We're listening to the Belgium Prime Minister, Charles Michel, right now speaking about their take on fighting terror. We will go back as soon as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry speaks but I do want to bring in Clarissa is and Nima now. So he was saying, talking about the investment that they have made in fighting terrorism. What has that done?

WARD: He was talking about the investment but he was also talking about this tension between core European liberal values. He talked about freedom of expression, he talked about tolerance, and trying to balance those core European liberal values with the very real needs of the security situation in this day and age. Wanting to do -- he said, how is it possible to do better? How is it possible to work together? What is the tension between trying to do that while preserving these core liberal values? Because essentially, let's be clear about what this is. When ISIS attacks European cities like this, it is attacking those core liberal values. It's trying to say to Muslim communities living here in Europe, you can't live in these lands with the nonbelievers. You basically have a choice between being persecuted here or coming to live with us in Syria and Iraq.

CAMEROTA: That's exactly the conflict that we've seen here in Belgium and across Europe, is how far do they go on cracking down if they have intelligence? What do they do with it? And does that violate what they hold true?

ELBAGIR: And that goes to the heart of the investment issue because their investment is has been invisible policing. It's been in putting more soldiers on the streets when they need to, more police on the streets, but the questions that have been raised is, where is the prevention? Where is the investment into that? And again, going to the heart of those values that he's talking about, we found it incredibly easy to find some really dangerous extremist literature. One of the books that we were able to order online was found by the body of Samir Bouzid and (ph) Mehmed Melhai, one of the key conspirators in Paris. This is a central plank of the recruitment process. We put that to the interior minister and he said, it is very hard to juggle our values of freedom of expression with effective policing. And this really -- the reason he is putting this so up high is that this goes to the core of the struggle. What I find really noteworthy is that he started off getting closer by saying, we are the weak link in this fight.

CAMEROTA: One of the interesting things about having Secretary Kerry here is that the U.S. knows how to do this. The U.S. does know how to investigate crime. It's not perfect, they don't always get it right, but they often get it right. And the U.S. knows how to get a tip and how to pursue it. Let's listen to what Secretary of State John Kerry says about this.

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: -- Prime Minister Michel for his remarks, and especially for his leadership in this challenging moment. And I'm pleased to be here also with my friend and counterpart, the Didier Reynders, the Foreign Minister of Belgium.

[06:24:51] On behalf of President Obama and all of the American people, I offer our deepest condolences to the people of Belgium and all the families, all those individuals who have suffered an inconceivable loss in the last few days. The United States, I want you to know, is praying and grieving with you for the loved ones of those who have been very cruelly taken from us, including Americans, and for the many who were injured in these despicable attacks. As I told Foreign Minister Reynders on Tuesday when we talked by telephone, the United States stands firmly behind Belgium and with the nations of Europe in the face of this tragedy. We join you in thanking the very brave first responders who rushed to the scene on a moment's notice in order to care for the wounded and to save lives. And we will continue to provide any assistance necessary in investigating these heinous acts of terrorism and bringing those responsible to justice.

In America, we remember very clearly how, in the days after 9/11, Belgians and other Europeans came together around, in this city, around the events of the World Trade Center and you showed your solidarity with us, with the victims in New York and Washington and Pennsylvania. And then voices all across Europe declared, (speaking foreign language). So now we declare, (speaking foreign language). Those whose lives were torn apart this week were not combatants in any kind of conflict. They pose no threat. They wish no one any harm. They were simply going about their lives. Airport and subway workers. A Peruvian mother of twins who was training to be a chef. An American personal trainer flying home for Easter. An Indian employee of a high-tech firm. Mormon missionaries. Public servants, teachers, tourists. Contrast these good people, innocent people, with the twisted killers who planted the bombs. Terrorists whose sole aim was to kill and maim and sow fear. There, in the sharpest relief possible, we see in that the difference between life and death, between decency and evil, and between civilization and those who revel in destruction. We, all of us, representing countless nationalities, have a message for those who inspired or carried out the attacks here or in Paris or in Ankara, in Tunis, San Bernardino, or elsewhere. We will not be intimidated. We will not be deterred. And we will come back with greater resolve, with greater strength, and we will not rest until we have eliminated your nihilistic believes and cowardice from the face of this earth.

Daesh has claimed responsibilities for these attacks, but there is not a government on earth that supports the terrorists of Daesh. Not one. In fact, a coalition of 66 nations, including Belgium, stands united against them. And the very reason that Daesh is resorting to actions outside of the Middle East is that its fantasy of a caliphate is collapsing before their eyes. Its territory is shrinking every day. Its leaders are being decimated. Its revenue sources are dwindling. And its fighters are fleeing. So, as we have said many times, President Obama, myself, and others -- our mission to defeat and destroy Daesh is not going to be accomplished overnight. It's going to take some time and patience and persistence. It will require resources and commitment and cooperation across many cultures and beliefs and the recognition that this is in fact truly a global challenge. But I am absolutely confident that we will be successful and there are so many measurable ways in which we have already been rising to meet this particular challenge. It's also important that we respond to the killers in humanity by underscoring our own --