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The Situation Room
Blasts Rock Hotels In Jordan, Killing Many
Aired November 09, 2005 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: The Jordanian ambassador says he's simply shocked at the unexpected attack.
Here's what we know right now. The three blasts happened almost simultaneously at three hotels in Amman, Jordan, the Radisson hotel, the Days Inn and the Grand Hyatt. With so much chaos, it's difficult to say just how many people are dead, but the deputy prime minister has just told us here at CNN at least 53 people are now confirmed dead. At least 120 people are now confirmed injured. Those numbers will change.
We do not know if or how many of those are Americans or other foreigners. We do know that many of the dead were at a wedding reception at the Radisson hotel in Amman.
Officials think the bombings may have been carried out by suicide bombers, perhaps with bombs in suitcases or strapped to their bodies.
Let's go to CNN's Zain Verjee at the CNN Center in Atlanta. She's getting more details. Zain?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Wolf, the Jordanian speaker of the House said just moments ago on an interview with the Arab television channel Al-Jazeera that al Qaeda could be responsible for these attacks.
We've heard over and over again from terror experts saying that these attacks bear the hallmarks of al Qaeda. But the Jordanian deputy prime minister, Marwan Muasher, that just spoke to you moments ago, said that they don't know who is responsible. There has been no claim of responsibility.
What we are reporting, casualties-wise, is that at least 53 people have been confirmed dead. And at least 120 injured. Those numbers could rise.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Zain. We'll get back to you very soon.
Our State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel is monitoring what's going on. Andrea, what are you picking up?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, this is some information for any of our viewers who think that they have relatives or friends that may have been in Jordan, in Amman, at the time of the attacks. We can tell you that there is a State Department task force that is on standby in the eventuality that they need to get it up and running. But we have a couple of numbers for you that we're going to put up on the screen. One is for international calls. It's 1-888-407- 4747 -- I'm sorry, that's a domestic number. And then the overseas number that you can call is at 202-501-4444.
The assistant secretary for Near East Affairs, David Welch, has reached out to the Jordanian minister. State Department officials saying that he has -- he has offered whatever the U.S. can do to help. We've heard these claims also by other U.S. officials, the FBI and others.
Secretary Rice had some words to say. This was during a meeting with the U.N. General Assembly president. She said that the U.S. is watching the situation closely, clearly it is a great tragedy, and it shows people will take innocent life without any remorse, and it just shows the very difficult war that the U.S. is fighting.
Secretary Rice also highlighted the fact that Jordan has been an important ally in the war on terror. In fact, Wolf, the State Department Diplomatic Security Services has trained Jordanian security forces. This was before the millennium attack, back in 1999, and Jordanian officials credit the training that these forces received by the State Department's DSS as one of the reasons that they were able to thwart the millennium attacks.
Wolf.
BLITZER: Andrea, thank you very much.
CNN's Hala Gorani is in Amman. She's joining us now on the phone. Hala, where are you? What are you seeing?
HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm in Amman, Jordan. Minutes ago, I was in front of one of the hotels, the Grand Hyatt hotel, where witnesses were streaming out, some dazed and confused, saying they saw bodies and injured people in the lobby of the hotel.
What we've been able to confirm, the Jordanian deputy prime minister, Marwan Muasher, saying at least 53 people are killed. The country's king saying terrorists are behind the attack.
We now know that explosions have hit three hotels frequented by Westerners, and that these explosions happened within minutes of each other. So, in other words, the scenario that unfolded, apparently, is a scenario where near-simultaneous bomb attacks occurred in those three hotels in Amman. This is what we know so far.
Wolf.
BLITZER: What is the mood outside these hotels where you are? We spoke with one of your colleagues who suggested that people are relatively calm. Is that the sense you're getting?
GORANI: Yes, they are relatively calm. And these explosions happened now about two hours ago. And what's interesting is that the streets of Amman have emptied. It seems like Amman residents have gone home to watch what is unfolding on television.
Now, the military is also fanned out all across the city, blocking streets, guarding key interests and key positions such as Western hotels and government buildings. But shortly even after some of the explosions, people seemed pretty calm and collected and were just curious to see what had gone on.
The damage caused by the bombs was not visible from the outside. It didn't appear as though it was a massive bomb or a massive explosion that had occurred. And according to this Italian businessman, one of the witnesses we spoke to who was in his room on the 7th floor of the Grand Hyatt when the explosion went off, the damage was mainly located in the lobby area, and there was shattered glass and smoke but not fire.
So the explosion seemed to have been located inside. If there were bombs, they went off inside in the heart of the building
BLITZER: We spoke, Hala, with Marwan Muasher, the deputy prime minister of Jordan, who told us that they've now confirmed at least 53 dead, 120 people injured. But many of those casualties were at a wedding, I think he said at the Radisson hotel, where a suicide bomber, apparently either with bombs strapped to his body or carrying some sort of backpack or a suitcase, simply walked in and exploded.
Have you -- do you have any more information bout this wedding reception that was going on?
GORANI: Well, we were at the Radisson and we spoke to some witnesses. They did confirm to us that a wedding was going on at the Radisson and that that's where many of those injured and presumably killed were.
We weren't able to get near the hotel or to get inside the hotel to get information, because by the time we got there, security and police and the military were telling us to stay away. At that point, it was only about half an hour after the first explosion. They were fearful that other explosions might go off. They were telling us, for your own security, stay away. Because they were anticipating or perhaps fearing this scenario, several bombs going off either in separate locations or in the same location -- Wolf
BLITZER: And right now is the working assumption that these attacks are over with? Or is the city basically bracing for more?
GORANI: It seems like the working assumption is that the attacks are over. But as I said, the military and the security and police not taking any chances -- guarding all the entrances and exits of these key buildings, such as the Western hotels, Western interests, government buildings. But the first explosion went off about two hours and 10 minutes ago. So the assumption now is that this wave of attacks is over
BLITZER: All right. Hala, stand by for a moment. Hala Gorani is our reporter on the scene for us in Amman, Jordan.
Let's go over to the White House. I take it, Dana Bash, our correspondent there, there's a statement that's just been released?
DANA BASH, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Wolf, a statement from the White House press secretary saying that the president, of course, condemns the attacks in Jordan in the strongest possible terms. It says, "On behalf of the American people, the president expresses his condolences to King Abdullah and the people of Jordan. We hope for the recovery of those wounded in these attacks, and offer our prayers for the victims and their families."
And then it goes on to say that "Jordan is a close friend of United States. And we will offer every possible form of cooperation in investigating these attacks and assisting in efforts to bring these terrorists to justice."
And Wolf, the president was informed about this while he was actually in the White House residence. He was meeting with some members of Congress there, and the White House chief of staff, Andy Card, came to tell him about these bombings, as well as the deputy national security adviser, J.D. Crouch.
So the White House is monitoring this situation. We understand that the president has not yet spoken to King Abdullah, and unclear if he will do so this evening.
Wolf.
BLITZER: Are we expecting in a situation like this, Dana, for the president actually to come out before cameras and make some sort of statement?
BASH: I just asked that question. At this point, the answer is no, no plans for that at this time, and probably not tonight. But if that changes, we'll certainly let you know.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Dana. Thank you very much.
Our Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve is monitoring the situation as well Jeanne, what are you getting?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, an administration official tells me that there is no intelligence to indicate that there is any sort of domestic connection to what has happened in Amman. And so the federal government is not taking or recommending any protective measures at this point in time.
I spoke to an official of the New York City Police Department, however, who said they may or may not change the configuration of security around hotels in that city. They will be looking very carefully at reports coming back from Amman from an NYPD police sergeant who was on the scene of the bombings. He was stationed there just on November 1, part of a new agreement with the government of Jordan to put a detective there. He'll be giving his first-hand accounts of that investigation.
They have detectives in eight different cities around the world. They observed up close and personal the investigations in the Madrid and London train bombings. What they fed back to New York about the type of bomb, how it was made, where it was made, where it was hidden, factored into the NYPD's decisions on how to ramp up security around New York City transit. The same will be done in this case if they decide to take any protective measures.
Wolf.
BLITZER: So just to be precise on the beginning part of your report, Jeanne, basically what you're saying is that what has happened in Amman, Jordan, is not going to have any effect, at least on the short term, on security preparations here in the United States
MESERVE: That is what I am told by an administration official, yes
BLITZER: Thanks very much. Jeanne Meserve reporting for us here in Washington.
Brian Todd has been doing some reporting, and determining, trying to figure out why Jordan right now. Brian, what are you picking up?
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I've been speaking to a number of intelligence experts over the past hour, including a former national security agency director, a former security adviser to President Bush, and one top former U.S. military intelligence officer.
My central questions to them, as you mentioned, why Amman, Jordan, why now? Collectively, they say these Western-run hotels are attractive targets for a number of reasons.They are vulnerable soft hits, not as well secured as other targets in Jordan, like diplomatic or government compounds. One of them said for radical Islamist groups right now, it is open season on what they perceive as symbols of Western decadence
Now, they don't believe this is tied to any particular event, but they say it can be seen as a way to hurt the regime of King Abdullah for his close ties with the U.S. and his support of the Iraq war. Many radicals in the country also believe the king is corrupt.
And to allude to -- one of the Marine forces -- what former acting security -- CIA Director John McLaughlin told you just a moment ago, Wolf, that there is a significant segment of the Jordanian population that does not support King Abdullah -- part of it for his background. He's part British. He was educated in England. But a lot of that has to do with his close ties to the U.S.
Now, as for targeting the king at this point, obviously if they wanted to target King Abdullah more directly, they would have picked another target. But as for why now and the timing of these explosions, we are being cautioned, don't read too much into that. One of these former officials says, their business is to keep blowing things up. Another one saying, this might have just been the moment when the logistics all worked out and they got the orders to go.
BLITZER: Brian Todd reporting for us. Brian, thank you very much.
Pat D'Amuro is a CNN security analyst, former FBI assistant director, joining us now from New York. Pat, talk a little bit about how authorities in Jordan will go about the investigation, trying to determine what happened?
PAT D'AMURO, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Wolf, obviously, they're going to try to identify, if there were in fact suicide bombers, who these individuals were, because that will give them some idea, the connections possibly to other individuals in country there.
It's important to note that, again, the Hyatt and the Radisson were also targeted in the millennium. So there was an investigation conducted at that particular time frame, where the Jordanians, who have an outstanding service, recovered large amounts of explosive material. And they had individuals that were responsible that were arrested, that were picked up. They'll be looking to see what connection these suicide bombers have to potentially those individuals.
Zarqawi comes from an area of Zarka. Individuals from that part of Jordan have gone into Iraq to fight the jihad there and may have learned some of these techniques and brought them back into Jordan.
So there's a lot of different investigative activity that will need to take place in Jordan to determine if there are others in that country that are going to conduct additional attacks.
BLITZER: We got the statement, Pat, from Radisson hotels, saying that "The extent of the damage and the number of injuries cannot be confirmed at this time. The hotel is working closely with local authorities and emergency workers to provide aid to those who are injured. Guests have been evacuated, and the hotel is working to ensure their safety and security."
Radisson goes on to say, "We are saddened by this tragic incident and are mobilizing to clarify the facts and assist those who have been impacted."
Pat, how do you go about protecting these kinds of hotels in an environment as currently exists in the Middle East and elsewhere around the world?
D'AMURO: Well, it's not easy, Wolf. But the -- as I said, the Jordanians probably one of the most outstanding intelligence services globally. They're very good at collecting intelligence. They prevented a lot of previous attacks in their country.
This represents somewhat of a sea change for them. I cannot recall a suicide bombing in Jordan prior to this. There were bombings in the '80s that dealt with the theater district, but not suicide bombings. So there's a -- there's a change in how these attacks are going to take place. They definitely have their hands full. But it's a service that's been used to collect this type of intelligence. And this government, as well as others, have worked very closely with them, especially with respect to individuals affiliated with al Qaeda that have been going in and out of Afghanistan, that have been going in and out of Iraq.
So they -- they will work diligently now, I'm sure, and around the clock to try to determine if there's other individuals globally that may be trying to conduct additional attacks. We've seen another situation in Australia, a different group altogether, Jemaah Islamiya, but they do have an affiliation with al Qaeda. So things are heating up again.
BLITZER: All right, Pat. Stand by. We're going to get back to you. Pat D'Amuro is our CNN security analyst, former FBI assistant director.
Jack Cafferty is watching all this together with us. Jack, it's a horrible, horrible situation. And you think about this wedding, it's really impacting me personally. There was a wedding going on at the Radisson hotel in Amman, Jordan. A suicide bomber walks in either with a backpack or bomb strapped on to his body and simply blows the place up. And who knows how many people at that wedding died.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: It's just -- it's insanity. I mean, life has no value to these folks, I guess.
It's no surprise that all three hotels attacked in Amman today are American hotels. U.S. officials have no details yet on whether there were any American casualties. But the Radisson, the Grand Hyatt and the Days Inn hotel in downtown Amman all popular destinations for Westerners. And it becomes powerful and frightening symbolism when you think of all three of these hotels being struck simultaneously.
The question we're interested in this hour is, what message is being delivered by bombing American hotels overseas? The email address is CaffertyFile@CNN.com.
And one other footnote to all of this, Wolf, is today's date, which is November the 9th, or 11/9, which is the inverse of 9/11. And my guess that's not coincidental.
BLITZER: Well, I didn't think about that. All right, Jack. Thank you very much. Jack Cafferty. We'll get back with you soon.
We're going to take a quick break. We're gong to go back live to the streets of Amman, Jordan, right after this. We're watching what has happened. Three hotels targeted, at least 53 people are dead, at least 120 people are injured.
Our coverage on CNN and CNN International from THE SITUATION ROOM will resume right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to our continuing coverage. "Terror in Jordan" -- at least 53 people are dead. At least 120 people are injured.
Three suicide bombers attacking three separate hotels in the Jordanian capital of Amman within the past couple of hours, and including many casualties at a wedding that was going on at the Radisson hotel in Amman. The Hyatt, the Radisson, the Days Inn targeted by terrorists in the Jordanian capital.
Let's go to Amman. Hala Gorani is our correspondent there. Hala, as we look at this situation unfold, the Jordanians must be -- must be very startled, shocked by what has happened. We are going to show some new video just coming in, because the pictures show a lot of stunned Jordanians.
GORANI: Stunned, and the streets of Amman have emptied. And we can only assume that Jordanians and Amman residents have gone home to watch the pictures that the whole world is now seeing on their TV screens of the aftermath of the suicide bombs in three hotels that were frequented by Westerners.
I can add something to the level of security at some of these hotels. I was surprised myself when I got here a couple of days ago. There are no metal detectors. There's barely any security at the door. And I travel a lot around the Middle East. And you would at least normally go through a metal detector. And it's something that I noticed. So for somebody to walk in, if indeed it was a suicide bomber, or three suicide bombers in three locations, with a backpack or explosives somehow strapped to their bodies, it would be rather easy.
As for the reaction, it's a reaction of shock. But it's also a reaction from people saying, you know, Jordan is perceived as an ally of the United States. It's an Arab country at peace with Israel. It's also an easy target, because, as we said, very low security in some of these Western hotels, Western interests in key buildings.
So it's something that when you ask people, they say was bound to happen at some point.
Wolf
BLITZER: Hala, when you say that you just simply could walk into these hotels without being physically examined, no metal detectors, was that standard operating procedure always in Jordan or just on this most recent visit?
GORANI: I have to think back at the last time I was in Jordan, but I don't believe there was a metal detector in the hotel that I was in the last time I was in Jordan. But I can tell you that in countries like Egypt, that in the Gulf, that in other countries that are fearful potentially of attacks against targets that are associated with the West, normally there's a bit more security than what I was able to observe here in Jordan.
So it was a bit surprising. Obviously, things are going to change now as the country digests this wave of violence.
So far, we've had no claim of responsibility. But the assumption is that terrorists who feel that Jordan somehow is too closely allied to the West, that it's at peace with Israel, that it facilitated the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces, if they have a problem with that, then it would make sense for those terrorists to target a country like Jordan and to try to weaken and embarrass the king of Jordan
BLITZER: Hala, stand by. We're going to get back to you momentarily.
Peter Bergen is our CNN terrorism analyst. He's joining us on the phone. You look at all the evidence coming in, Peter. What goes through your mind? Who did this?
PETER BERGEN, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Well, I think there are two leading candidates. One is, of course, Zarqawi's group which goes by the name of Tawhid when it was based -- when he was based in Jordan. Tawhid is the word for the unity of god. And this group was very focused on overthrowing the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan, attacking Israeli and Jewish targets. They've been implicated in the -- in the assassination of the American diplomat, Lawrence Foley, who was assassinated in 2002 in Amman, Jordan.
Another possible suspect is the Abdallah Azzam Brigade. Abdallah Azzam is a Jordanian cleric who this group has sort of adopted as their -- as their inspiration. He was sort of a mentor to bin Laden. I talked to his son who lives actually in Amman, Jordan, and he said that his father would reject what this group is doing out of hand. But they've claimed that they were behind the attacks on the Hilton hotel in Egypt, you may remember, back in 2004. They also took responsibility for the attack in August of 2005 on the USS Ashland in Aqaba, Jordan, which killed one Jordanian soldier.
So these are the two leading suspects. If not those groups, certainly sort of an al Qaeda-influenced Sunni ideological group.
BLITZER: So you wouldn't necessary say Osama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leaders of al Qaeda? You would say a group influenced, in your words, by al Qaeda
BERGEN: Absolutely. And it's part of a pattern, Wolf. We've seen a lot of attacks now on Western hotels. And it's a two-for for these groups, because it's a Western brand name, it's a hotel likely to house a lot of Western tourists.
We saw that with an attack on a Sheraton hotel in Karachi, Pakistan, back in 2002 that killed 12 French defense contractors. We saw that also with the attack on the hotel in Egypt, the Hilton hotel back in 2004 that killed more than two dozen people.
And so I've been very concerned about particularly Western brand name hotels. We also saw an attack, by the way, on a JW Marriott in Jakarta, Indonesia, about two years back. So, if you're running a Western hotel in a country where you've got these kinds of groups, it's a problem. And I was in Amman just one -- two months ago, staying at a hotel I won't mention. But the security there seemed to me to be incredibly lax.
And I know you've been there many times. It doesn't seem that the hotels in that particular part of Jordan really had a very serious system to deal with this problem.
BLITZER: Peter, stand by. We're getting some more details.
Zain Verjee is joining us once again from the CNN Center. Zain, what are you picking up?
VERJEE: As we heard earlier, Wolf, Jordan's deputy prime minister, Marwan Muasher, said that of the three hotels, the Radisson hotel sustained the most damage. It suffered the biggest explosions -- explosion, and therefore the largest number of casualties.
And we've been talking about a wedding party that had been going on in the ballroom with people celebrating there, and most of the casualties seem to be Jordanian.
There was one American woman from New York, Dana Burde. She was in the lobby of the Radisson hotel when the blast actually happened. And she said she was nearby the banquet hall when there were celebrations going on for the wedding. And she said this, "We were just blown out of the room." "But," she said, "our group was fine." There was a lot of debris that she described. And she said that she did see people being killed.
She was attending a conference on refugee education in Amman. She also added that she was able to hear from where she was the explosion at the nearby Hyatt which -- which was a time lapse of about five minutes. All those three hotels are just a few minutes' distance from each other.
We had mentioned earlier, and Peter also said, that these are Western hotels and therefore clearly targets, but that it was likely that Westerners and foreigners would bear the brunt of the casualties.
Many journalists go to Amman to go in and out of Iraq, as well as tourists and Western contracts there as well. But it does seem Jordanians have bore much of the brunt of this attack
BLITZER: And unfortunately, Zain, we are now hearing from Marwan Muasher, the deputy prime minister of Jordan, that the number has gone up. Sixty-seven now confirmed dead in these three attacks on the Days Inn, the Radisson hotel and the Grand Hyatt hotel in Amman, Jordan.
These are pictures that we're just getting in from Jordanian television. Some of the injured very, very young, unfortunately. Some of the wounded being brought to Jordanian hospitals. These are new pictures that we're just getting in from Jordanian TV. We have our own CNN cameras on the scene as well. You can see Jordanian television reporting on what's going on. A heartbreaking, heartbreaking story to have to cover.
Richard Falkenrath is here, John McLaughlin is here in THE SITUATION ROOM.
The number keeps going up, as we suspected, Richard. It's now up to 67 dead, more than 120 injured. And I assume that number still will go up as casualties are brought in and unfortunately die in the hospitals.
RICHARD FALKENRATH, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: That's right. That's the pattern in these attacks. The number does go up as people who were initially casualties don't make it in medical care.
It's a very soft target. All hotels are inherently soft targets when they're packed with people celebrating a wedding or whatever it may be.
It is true that the hotels in Jordan are not like they are in the Gulf or in Pakistan or Iraq. But I think we need to withhold judgment a little bit on Jordanian security until we find out some more details on this. They don't want to live in a police state. They don't want to live in a garrison they way they have to in some other countries in the Middle East
BLITZER: You see the lobby of the hotel. These are new video, new pictures coming in from Jordanian television for us. And you see the destruction that was caused by -- you know, it's hard to believe if one individual, John McLaughlin, walks into a hotel with some -- some explosives strapped to his body, or carrying a backpack, that much damage can be done.
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: Well, this is the dilemma we face with modern terrorism. As they point out, we can be successful a hundred times. They just have to do this once to make their point. There's no concept of profit and loss here. And...
BLITZER: This is the Radisson hotel. You see the front of the Radisson hotel. Apparently, that's where most of the injuries occurred. That's where this wedding was taking place. And apparently, the suicide bomber simply walked in and blew himself up at this wedding. And this looks like the ballroom where this wedding was taking place. And you see this extensive, extensive destruction and damage that occurred there.
What's the answer, Richard? You just have to have metal detectors at every Western hotel everyplace around the world? Is that what this world is coming to?
FALKENRATH: Well, I really hope it's not the answer. You clearly need that at some places. Amman hasn't been one of those places.
What you need here is good intelligence work, good security services who penetrate these plots and stop as many of them as they can. They're never going to get 100 percent of them.
But Wolf, as bad as this is -- and this is heartbreaking watching this -- it could be a lot worse. I mean, it is possible to bring down a hotel completely with a sufficiently large explosive, to pancake every floor and kill everybody in it. And we should count our blessings that that didn't happen in this case. That is possible, and in fact something they try to do.
BLILTZER: Senator Barack Obama is joining us now. Senator Obama is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Senator, thanks very much for joining us on this -- on this horrible day. Give us your thoughts as you've been listening and watching what's going on from Amman, Jordan.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), SENATE FOREIGN RELATIONS COMMITTEE: Well, obviously it's heartbreaking, you know. I want to extend sympathies to the Jordanian people, as well as the families that have been affected.
You know, I think it underscores a point that was just made earlier, and that is that it's very difficult for us to be able to prevent 100 percent these kinds of suicide bombings. We can do better than we're doing, both in this country and in countries like Jordan. But ultimately, our strategy has to involve working with these nations to get sound intelligence, to try to prevent, you know, cells from being able to execute these kinds of horrendous attacks. And we've got to do a better job of public diplomacy so that you're not seeing the kinds of recruitment of these suicide bombers that has become all too commonplace.
BLITZER: The hotels that were targeted, the Days Inn, the Radisson, the Grand Hyatt, the Hyatt hotels, correct me if I'm wrong, Senator. I think they're based in your home state of Chicago. The Pritzker family created that hotel chain. This hits home to a lot of people in Illinois and Chicago specifically
OBAMA: Absolutely. I -- you know, we're going to be calling up the Hyatt organization. Obviously, there may have been staff that were affected. Certainly, the economic loss, although not as significant in the big picture as the -- you know, the personal losses, is -- is still something that they're going to have to grapple with.
But long term, part of what we have to recognize is that we are vulnerable to these same kind of attacks here in the United States. And I hope one of the lessons that we're learning is that, unless we do a better job of intelligence, unless we're working, not only in terms of big military strategies and -- and tanks and airships, but human intelligence on the ground and working in cooperation with other countries, that we're going to continue to have enormous vulnerabilities to these kind of attacks.
BLITZER: Well, what lessons, Senator, pop off -- you know, come -- come to mind, the lessons that we should be learning in the United States, based on what has just happened today in Amman, Jordan?
OBAMA: Well, I think it's too early to tell. We are going to have to evaluate how this happened. But, look, we live in an open society. And you know, unless we're willing to endure bag -- baggage checks going into malls and supermarkets and movie theaters, there's going to be a certain level of vulnerability. What we have to do is to improve our human intelligence capacity.
And one of the concerns that I have had, at least, is that the revamping of our intelligence operations, the coordination between FBI, CIA, the reorganization within the CIA, how that works with Homeland Security -- all of that is a little opaque right now. We haven't seen as much aggressive, sharp movement within our own government as I would like to see happen.
BLITZER: Senator Obama, thanks very much for spending a few moments with us. Appreciate it.
OBAMA: Absolutely.
BLITZER: Zain Verjee is at the CNN Center in Atlanta getting more details on what has happened in Amman, Jordan. Zain?
VERJEE: Wolf, I just want to update you on the numbers that we are receiving. The deputy prime minister of Jordan, Marwan Muasher, is now saying, 67 people have been confirmed dead at least, and 150 people wounded. He indicated earlier that the majority of casualties were not foreigners, but Jordanians, particularly at a wedding party celebration that was going on in a banquet hall in the Radisson Hotel.
As far as American casualties, the Washington spokesperson at the White House is saying that the U.S. knows of no American casualties, and they're trying to get as much information as possible about this. But, again, the latest numbers that we're receiving from the deputy prime minister of Jordan is that at least 67 people have been killed and at least 150 wounded.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Zain, thank you very much. Zain Verjee reporting for us -- the numbers going up and up.
And I want to just remind our viewers, as is so often the case in these kinds of situations, the information we are getting is preliminary and all subject to change, as new details come in.
But, based on this preliminary information, John McLaughlin, it -- it looks gruesome in Amman, Jordan.
Let me bring up a thought that was raised by Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, Democrat, member of the Foreign Relations Committee. He wants better human intelligence. That's the -- that's the key. So many people think that's the key in thwarting these kind of terror attacks. You ran the CIA for a while.
MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.
BLITZER: You are retired now. You were the deputy director, the acting director. Is it getting better, the human -- as they call it, the human intelligence?
MCLAUGHLIN: It's gradually getting better, Wolf. And I could reel off a list of places where we have prevented this sort of thing, places like our embassies in Yemen, Albania, Western Europe, and other spots, and the millennium period as well.
The problem is, we are rebuilding human intelligence, from a period of steep reductions in the 1990s. And we are probably still some years away from the point where we need to be, in terms of having the kind of coverage that would dramatically improve the situation.
Now, there's an important point here, though. We have to put a lot of emphasis on intelligence. But you also have to put, as they do in New York City, a lot of emphasis on preventive maintenance, if you will. We cannot wait until intelligence determines the specific time and place of an attack. We have to look at our soft targets and harden them, perhaps not in every city in the United States, but in places that are particularly vulnerable, place our bets, because it has to be a mixture of intelligence and intelligence.
BLITZER: All right. Hold on -- hold that thought for a minute.
Our Homeland Security correspondent, Jeanne Meserve, is picking up new information. Jeanne, what are you getting?
MESERVE: Well, New York officials are doing exactly that. An official with the New York Police Department tells me that the heavily armed Hercules and the high-visibility critical response teams of the New York City Police Department are going to be deployed around hotels in New York City. This is not, the official tells me, because of any specific intelligence about hotels in New York, but it is a reaction to what has happened in Amman, Jordan, exactly the sort of thing you were just talking about.
BLITZER: Let me just get Richard Falkenrath -- Falkenrath, our Homeland Security analyst, to weigh in on that. Separately, without any specific or credible intelligence, Jeanne is reporting they're beefing up security in New York City. I assume you believe that would be prudent?
FALKENRATH: Well, they're doing it to maintain public confidence, to reassure the people of New York. They don't have any specific reason to do this, but people are scared. They're watching the news. They're seeing this happen. And New York City, as -- as John suggested, proactively stepping up and taking a very visible protective measure at what are very soft targets.
But let's not have any illusions. These are really soft targets. And any place in America where people come together in large numbers, somebody could walk in with an explosive strapped to their body and kill dozens, maybe possibly more, people.
BLITZER: All right. Hold that thought as well. We are going to continue our special coverage, "Terror in Jordan" -- now 67 confirmed dead, more than 150 people injured, three hotels, the Radisson, the Grand Hyatt, the Days Inn in Amman, Jordan. Much more of our special coverage from here in THE SITUATION ROOM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: Welcome back to our continuing coverage. These are images we're getting from Amman, Jordan, over the past few hours -- three attacks, almost simultaneous attacks, on three U.S.-based hotels, the Days Inn, the Radisson and the Grand Hyatt -- at least 67 people now confirmed dead, more than 150 people injured.
David Ensor is our national security correspondent, picking up some more information. David, what are you getting? .
DAVID ENSOR, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, talking to U.S. intelligence officials, who are obviously monitoring this closely, they're now saying it is their very strong suspicion, as one official put it, we -- we believe this was probably the work of the Zarqawi network in Jordan, for several reasons.
First, he says the method, the method of attack, suicide operations, very much in the -- in the similar mode to those used by Zarqawi in Iraq in the past.
Second, the long-standing intent, stated intent, of Zarqawi. He has made it very clear, in endless statements, that Jordan is his target. It is, of course, also his home, original home.
And, thirdly, the history. You have the -- the assassination of American diplomat, Mr. Foley. You have the rocket attack in Aqaba. You have the unsuccessful attack on the Jordanian intelligence facility in April of 2004.
This is a man who wants to attack regime-associated or American- associated targets in Jordan, who has done so, and who says he wants to continue doing so. As one official quoted from Zarqawi's statement of April 2004 that was put on the Web at that point, "That which is coming is more vicious and bitter, God willing." Those are Zarqawi's words about his intentions towards Jordan.
Wolf.
BLITZER: David, thank you very much.
Nic Robertson is joining us on the phone right now. You have crossed into Jordan many times, Nic, over the years. You have been in Amman many times. What do you -- what do you sense is going on right now?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, I -- I have talked with sources in Jordan in the last few hours. And one analysis is a very interesting analysis at the moment. And that questions, why have the -- why has this attack been successful? The source I talked to said, look, there's been a shakeup in Jordanian intelligence in the -- over -- in the early part of this year. There is a new head of intelligence, a new deputy head of intelligence, many changes within the lineup of intelligence officials. And what the Jordanians have been very, very good at, their intelligence has been very good at, is staying out of sight and keeping on top of the suspects. Earlier this year, I was in the town of Zarqa, the hometown for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a very poor town. The feelings and the sentiments there are still very much -- from some people, very much anti-American, particularly those who would, perhaps privately, tell you that they would support Zarqawi and what's he's doing in Iraq.
These are the people that the Jordanian officials in the past have been so efficient at keeping -- keeping an eye on. But a line of thought that seems to be opening up in Jordan now is, has this change in intelligence -- the intelligence establishments in Jordan, has that allowed -- given a chink that has allowed these attackers to get through?
And another point that is being raised at the moment is, following that attack in Aqaba, which was traced to a sleeper cell, a man who was a member of the -- the Syrian branch of the Islamic Brotherhood, had been in Jordan in 18 years, whose sons were fighting in Iraq. He had contacted his sons, seeing an opportunity for an attack. The sons had brought missiles to Jordan for use in that attack in Aqaba. There was a lot of concern, if there was one sleeper cell that decided that it was able to activate itself, were there other sleeper cells?
So a number of concerns being raised, the recent issue of sleeper cells, and this concern that perhaps the changes that have been put into effect in the intelligence system in Jordan, perhaps -- and this is only a line of thought...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTSON: ... that is being pursued at the moment -- perhaps has given the -- the perpetrators of these attacks, perhaps giving them an opportunity they didn't have. And, perhaps, that led them to being able to -- being able to -- to perform the attacks tonight.
Wolf.
BLITZER: David -- Nic, stand by for a second. David Ensor is getting some more specific information. What are you getting, David?
ENSOR: Well, Nic, just -- excuse me - Wolf, talking to intelligence officials, they also raised the point that Nic just did about the turnover of the leadership of Jordanian intelligence recently, raising the question, at least, whether or not that opened up any opportunities for -- for terrorism in Jordan.
But another point that they also made, reinforcing why they believe Zarqawi has to be at the top of the suspect list, that is simply the -- the way this attack -- who this attack attacked. When -- when you have a -- a suicide bomber going into a wedding, a Jordanian wedding, and killing Jordanians in that manner, that -- that kind of brutality towards ordinary people at -- on what was supposed to be a joyous occasion, that's the kind of thing you have seen Zarqawi doing in Iraq.
And even some of the other terrorist groups around the world, that are quite vicious in their own ways, normally wouldn't do that. You will remember, the -- the letter from Ayman al-Zawahiri that the U.S. intelligence says it captured -- this was a letter addressed to Zarqawi -- warned him that he was going to be losing the PR war, the war for the hearts and minds of -- of Muslims around the world if he kept attacking innocent Muslims in Iraq.
Well, this attack -- again, this one intelligence official I was speaking to earlier, his point was, this is -- or this looks like Zarqawi because it's so brutal, and he doesn't seem to care what people think.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, David, thank you very much. Stand by.
Nic Robertson, please stand by as well.
Tom Foreman is here in THE SITUATION ROOM watching all of this. Once again, 67 people now confirmed dead, 150 wounded. Those numbers will change. Tom, show our viewers what is going on graphically.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A good thing to look at here -- we think we have border problems in this country. Look at this. This is where this country is located. You have got Israel over here, on the west side. You have got Lebanon and Syria up here. You have got Saudi Arabia here. But, right over here, if we just drift over a little bit, this is the border with Iraq right there, that little piece, which is actually not that little. And some of the worst problems in Iraq that have gone on for quite some time are right over here.
So, the truth is, to stage out of that, across that border, is not such a big trick. Sure, there are all the problems of moving around there. But this is what they have to deal with. So, if they are having these security problems, you have got a lot of borders to deal with, let alone people who may be moving through other areas.
Let's go downtown and look very quickly at Amman, because this is an important city in the world, one of the longest continuously occupied cities in the entire world. If you read the Old Testament, the Ammonites are from what is modern-day Amman. Philadelphia gets its name from Amman. It was briefly called that.
These are where the explosions were. If you look at this, the Hyatt was in this area, the Radisson right near it. These are both on Hussein Bin Ali Street -- and the Days Inn a little bit further away.
If we fly in, you can get a look at Hussein Bin Ali Street. This is right in the middle of the shopping area, where in the middle of where tourists come to see Roman ruins, prehistoric finds, things like that, all in this area. That's on Hussein Bin Ali Street -- the Radisson just down the way here, about a half-mile, a little bit more, to the Radisson. And if you go to the Days Inn, which is further up, but you could still connect to it, more or less, by following along these roads -- you get up to here, this is about a mile-and-a-quarter away. So, that's how close all of these blasts were to each other, all in the center of the city, all in the shopping areas.
BLITZER: And we had heard from the deputy prime minister here in the CNN SITUATION ROOM that the two attacks at the Hyatt and at the Radisson appeared to be suicide bombers, either carrying a suitcase, or wearing a backpack, or having bombs strapped to his body.
But the Radisson hotel, it seems like a vehicle was involved. A car carrying explosives tried to get in the Days Inn hotel, got to a barrier, and that's where it exploded.
These are images, these are pictures that we're getting -- at least 67 now confirmed dead, 150 people wounded.
Nic Robertson, are you still there with us? Nic? Nic is not there.
David Ensor is still with us. David, you're still with us, right? He's not with us either. But we will get both of them back.
If you take a look at the geography in Amman, which is a -- which is a bustling, active city, it's hard to imagine, Tom, how you can completely protect these so-called soft targets.
FOREMAN: I -- I don't know how you can. I mean, look at this. This -- again, let's look at where they're located. This is the Days Inn. You see, it's on a big corner there. You have got the Radisson, a major thoroughfare, people moving up and down all the time. And, remember, all of these are cities that are trying to get business. They want to have tourists. They want to have all the things that any city would want to -- so, the Radisson sitting here, with a big street wrapping around it -- same thing when you move down to the Hyatt.
It's a city that has a lot of people coming and going all the time from different parts of the world. Again, the question is raised that we can raise in any place in this country. You know, the old saying, if you protect everything, you protect nothing? That's the problem -- a lot of hotels in the town beyond these.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: And I want you to stick -- stick around, because I want to show the U.S. Embassy. Unlike these U.S.-based hotels, the American Embassy compound in Amman is -- is a fortress, basically, for good -- good reason. Why don't you just show that -- show that to us very briefly right now?
FOREMAN: Well, flying over to that, this is the U.S. Embassy. And you will find this at many U.S. embassies around the world.
BLITZER: Especially the Middle East.
FOREMAN: Oh, absolutely. They're much more fortified than you will imagine them to be.
But look at this. This is the embassy, big compound, a lot of separation there, with a -- a big fence all the way around it, a lot of security -- totally different than anything that you could do or probably that anybody would want to do at these hotels, which, as you can see, are not so terribly far away.
BLITZER: All right, Tom, thank you very much.
We're standing by to hear from the secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice. We're going to go to the State Department live. We expect her to be making a statement. There's what is called the Diplomatic Entrance at the State Department. We expect Secretary Rice to be walking out, making a statement. We will go there once she does.
We will take a quick break -- more of our coverage, "Terror in Jordan", from here in the CNN SITUATION ROOM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: "Terror in Jordan", we have been watching it all afternoon. Three U.S. based hotels in Amman, Jordan, the capital of the Hashemite kingdom, the Hyatt, the Radisson, the Days Inn, targeted. At least 150 people are wounded -- 67 now confirmed dead, that according to the deputy Jordanian prime minister, Marwan Muasher.
We're getting new images that we will show our viewers in the United States and around the world coming in from Jordan. These are images coming in from Amman.
Our security analyst, Ken Robinson, is joining us right now. Ken, it looks, at least according to David Ensor, based on what he is hearing from U.S. intelligence, the work Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist, terror -- terrorist number one now, based in Iraq. What do you sense?
KEN ROBINSON, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: I agree with David. His point was excellent. And that is that the pure brutality, and the decision to target a wedding, and the decision to split -- because, you know, weddings in -- in Jordan are cultural. They're tribal, and they're bringing families together. And what this does is, it creates instability. It creates a lack of confidence in the kingdom in the leadership.
BLITZER: So, is your sense, Ken, that there was information that there was a wedding, and they deliberately wanted to go after this wedding reception, this wedding party, or that they went to the Radisson hotel, not knowing what was going to be inside, and just happened to find a wedding?
ROBINSON: That may be more likely, Wolf. Many times that I have attend -- attended those hotels, there's weddings constantly going on. It's a -- it's -- it's a cultural thing, where they seek out these large hotels as the venues for their celebrations. It's extremely unfortunate, for the loss of life, but it's a prime, easy, soft target, easy to execute without a whole lot of planning, especially if the person delivering the device intends to kill himself.
BLITZER: All right. Ken, thank you very much.
Abbi Tatton is checking the situation online for us here in THE CNN SITUATION ROOM. What are you picking up, Abbi?
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Jordan not currently on the list of State Department travel warnings -- this is the State Department Web site, the travel section, where, currently, 27 countries are listed with country-specific travel warnings against them. Jordan is not on it. Neighboring Saudi Arabia is -- Iraq as well, also nearby Lebanon. But Jordan does not appear.
However, at the country's specific page, the consular information sheet -- there is one of these pages on every country -- what's interesting to note is the following passage that the State Department has listed here. In Jordan, sites frequented by Americans, including hotels, may be the target of terrorist groups. They have been urging high vigilance there for Americans, but no country-specific travel warning against Jordan had been currently issued.
Wolf.
BLITZER: Thank you very much, Abbi Tatton, with the situation online.
Let's head over to the State Department. Our correspondent there, Andrea Koppel, is picking up more information. Andrea, what are you getting?
KOPPEL: Wolf, we're expecting perhaps Secretary of State Rice to go downstairs in the building where I am right now here at the State Department, perhaps to make some comments on camera. She's already expressed her condolences. And a senior State Department official has already reached out to the foreign minister of Jordan.
We have some information for Americans who believe, perhaps, that they have a loved one, a friend, someone they know who may have been in Jordan. We have a couple of phone numbers to tell you about that we can put on the screen for you. Overseas, you can 202-501-4444. And, here in the states, you can call 888-407-4747.
So far, Wolf, still no American casualties, although State Department officials say they know that there are Americans staying in those hotels, Wolf. They have a task force at the ready here on standby in the eventuality that they need it. But at this point, they are saying, fortunately, no Americans were killed or injured in the attack.
Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Andrea, thank you very much.
Jack Cafferty has been going through your email this hour, our special coverage here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Let's go up to Jack. Jack? CAFFERTY: Before we get to the emails, Wolf, earlier, I was talking about today's date, November the 9th, or 11/9, which, if inverted, becomes 9/11.
Several viewers wrote and advised me that, in Europe and the Middle East, when they write the date on paper, they put the day first and then the month. So, today is not 11/9. Today, over there is 9/11. And that creeps me out more than just a little.
The question we are asking is, what message is being delivered by the bombing of American hotels overseas?
Toni in Myrtle Beach writes: "Message to Westerners: Stay away from where you don't belong. Clean your own houses. Mind your own business and stay out of everyone else's. The message seems loud and clear."
Lorraine in New York writes: "The history of the Middle East should tell us all the answers. How anyone could believe the USA could bring democracy to this area is delirious. America has had democracy for 200 years. The Middle East is thousands of years old. The last thing they want is America telling them how they should live."
Mike in Fruitland Park, Florida: "That terrorism is alive and well and our war with Iraq may not be as big a deterrent to terrorism as the Bush administration would have us believe. It may also be the very catalyst that increases terrorist acts throughout the world."
Adam in Midland, Michigan, writes: "The terrorists are finding it much more difficult to strike us at home. As with all terrorist attacks, these are acts of weakness and cowardice."
And Bob in Saint Clair Shores, Michigan, writes: "Nothing new, just more murder committed by ignorant religious nuts. As in the past, there will be little public condemnation of this cowardly act by those who share the Islamic faith of the bombers".
Wolf.
BLITZER: It's pretty scary, when you think about it, especially for Americans, who love to travel all over the world in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, to see these Western, these U.S.-owned hotel chains effectively targeted by these terrorists.
CAFFERTY: Well, you remember what the September 11 attacks did to the airline industry. I'm not suggesting that this will have the same size ramifications for the hotel industry overseas. But I will make you a bet that a number of American travelers, beginning tomorrow, will pick hotels that don't have obvious American names on the -- on the sign in which to stay when they're traveling abroad. And you can't blame them.
So, it's probably going to hurt overseas revenues for some of these American companies, which, of course, I'm sure was part of the plan all along. BLITZER: Well, you make that point. It's a good point, Jack, because so much of the -- the effort of al Qaeda and other terrorists has been to hit the -- the pocketbook, the economic interests of America, which they think are -- is so important.
CAFFERTY: The other interesting question going forward -- and I know we are almost out of time -- is how this is going to affect the relationship between the United States and Jordan.
Jordan has been one of our closest allies and is only one of two nations in the Middle East with official ties to Israel, the other one being Egypt. It will interesting to see how the Jordanian government reacts when it comes to dealing with the United States, particularly in light of our war that is going on in Iraq.
BLITZER: All right, Jack. Thank you very much.
And we will be back here in THE SITUATION ROOM in one hour, 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Much more coverage of this terror attack in Jordan. Among others, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Jay Rockefeller, will join us live.
Until then, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington.
LOU DOBBS TONIGHT starts right now. Lou is in New York, picking up our coverage. Lou?
LOU DOBBS, CNN ANCHOR: Thank you, Wolf.
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