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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Brussels Terror Attacks. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired March 22, 2016 - 12:00   ET

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


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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) that terrorism has struck Belgium.

CHRIS CUOMO, ANCHOR, CNN'S "NEW DAY": At the airport, two explosions, which authorities believe were coordinated suicide attacks.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hearing explosions. Now the (INAUDIBLE) is going down. Then the second explosion went. And then everything is black.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Immediately there was panic. Some people were shouting and running around. People were on the floor. People were injured.

ANDERSON COOPER, ANCHOR, CNN'S "AC 360": An hour later, and a few miles away, another explosion, this inside a busy metro.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was a lot of smoke. We heard and we saw the blast.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The metro immediately stopped. Power turned off. Lights turned off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've lifted that terror threat level to four. This only the second time since the second world war that this has happened. The first was in the immediate aftermath of the Paris terror attacks.

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Our breaking news on LEGAL VIEW comes to us today overseas. This is LEGAL VIEW, but hours after devastating explosions in the defacto capital of Europe, ISIS now making a very bold claim that they are, in fact, responsible for what has happened and has played out on television sets all over the world. In an online statement just claiming that several Islamic state fighters carried out suicide attacks at the main international airport in Brussels and a subway station near the headquarters of the European Union. Belgian authorities now put the death toll at 28, with almost 200 others hurt, among them, three Mormon missionaries from Utah. Before we get into all the latest developments, I want to take you

inside that smoke-filled departure hall at Zaveentem Airport and a pitch black train tunnel at Maelbeek station just moments after those bombs went off.

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BANFIELD: Before this claim by ISIS, investigators said at least one of the two near simultaneous explosions at the airport was in fact the work of a suicide bomber, but that the other bomb, the second bomb, may have in fact been hidden in a suitcase. Belgian media reports that a Kalashnikov rifle was also found at the scene at that airport. And hours later, security forces blew up what they said was a suspicious package at that airport.

Brussels itself is on virtual lockdown with its terror alert level raised to the maximum and police conducting raids in search of suspects and evidence of further plots. It was just last Friday, you'll remember, these pictures when that raid was underway in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek. It netted the most wanted fugitive in Europe, Salah Abdeslam, a suspect in the Paris attacks, which happened last fall.

Security is being increased visibly and otherwise across Western Europe and across this country, as well. We've also learned that two Belgian nuclear power plants have been evacuated of all but what are called the essential staff and personnel.

For his part, President Obama, who is in the middle of a visit to Cuba, he got his briefing here, this morning, from his national security advisor Susan Rice and Homeland Security Adviser Lisa Monaco. After, he addressed the attacks in a speech on U.S.-Cuban relations.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The thoughts and the prayers of the American people are with the people of Belgium. We stand in solidarity with them in condemning these outrageous attacks against innocent people. 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. We must be together, regardless of nationality, or race, or faith, in fighting against the scourge of terrorism.

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BANFIELD: I sadly have this update. No sooner had I reported the death toll, it has gone up. We're now learning from the Belgian government the death toll is 30. And those who were injured in these twin attacks, 230. And I can break that out for you this way. At the airport, ten people lost their lives. In the metro station, 20 people lost their lives. Of course these numbers may end up changing, but you can see from the map, the distance between those two terror sites, the time simply about one hour.

As always, CNN covering this global story like no one else. Our senior international correspondent, Nima Elbagir, joins us live from that Brussels airport, our justice correspondent Evan Perez is live in Washington, D.C., and here in New York, our CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank is here live as well working his sources. He grew up in Brussels.

Nima, I want to go right to you at the location. We've heard so many developments have been happening, from raids around that city, patrols and also transit stations closed and nuclear plants evacuated. Take me there and just give me the very latest.

NIMA ELBAGIR, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this heavy traffic that you see behind me, Ashleigh, those are people who have been rerouted by police officers around the airport. These are commuters who are trying to get home and stay home as the Belgian prime minister has asked all of the residents in this city. He said, if you are somewhere safe, stay there. If you are moving, than please do not leave your home. Allow for the deployment of soldiers on to the streets. They're also shutting down schools. They've evacuated shopping centers today.

And I just want to really bring you up to date. As you said, sadly, because of the real critical state of some of these injuries, that death toll is changing almost moment by moment. The toll here at the airport isn't 10, Ashleigh, any longer. It is 14. The expectation is that that could continue to climb. The Red Cross has asked any of those who can come forward to give blood to please do so. This is a city that is really still reeling.

And throughout this the operation to try and tighten the noose around the people who carried out this attack is ongoing. House raids, investigations. Belgian security sources we just spoke to, Ashleigh, say that at the moment their working assumption is that this is part of the same broader network that carried out the Paris attacks. They are searching for very familiar names, some of the same people for the same conspiracy (ph) that they've been searching for throughout these last few months. But I just want to caution that it's still very early on in this investigation and that that network is extraordinarily broad, not only that it carried out the Paris attacks, but they also believe here that it was intending to carry out fresh attacks. So you can only imagine the scope of the challenge that's ahead of authorities here today.

BANFIELD: Nima, I'm just looking at the numbers that you recount from your location, 14 dead at the airport. Obviously there's still a lot of communications gaps.

I want to welcome our viewers from around the world who are also joining our network broadcast.

But the government originally updating the figures to 10 dead at the airport, 20 at the metro station. Nima Elbagir is at the airport now and saying that the death toll at the airport, 14. It's a fluid situation. We're going to keep up as best we can on the death and injured and those tolls.

In the meantime, there has been a robust American response so far domestically speaking. I want to bring in Evan Perez for that.

Evan, I'm just looking at the number of alerts that have come out about Amtrak screenings, about airport security changes and also cities all around this country beefing up their various different security presence at all of these high-traffic areas, depending on whether they're tourism or whether they're airports or whether they're transit. But walk me through the government response from the nation's capital.

[12:10:02] EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Let me tell you, Ashleigh, one of the things that's really on the mind of officials all across this country is simply the fact that the targets that were - that were - that were targeted in Belgium today are the softest of targets. We're talking about public transportation, the airport, and the metro. These are - these are - these are assets that are almost impossible for authorities to secure. And so that's one of the reasons why you're seeing an increased presence because least perhaps if they can - if they can secure this, if they can show an increased presence, it might discourage any type of copycat attacks.

Again, the copycat attack is foremost on the minds of U.S. counterterrorism and intelligence officials. There's no indication, there's no intelligence indicating that there's any plots here in the United States, but one of the first things that happened early this morning was conference calls among counterterrorism and FBI officials to try to make sure that - that they check in on some of the high- profile targets that they have. People who are there monitoring, known extremists on their list who might be motivated to carry out a copycat attack, or something simply because of what happened in Belgium.

And so that's also going on behind the scenes. We have seen increased checks at train terminals, such as Penn Station, here at Union Station in Washington. The metro is doing additional security screenings. We've seen increased police presence at prominent locations in New York City and in cities across the country.

Again, there's no indication, no intelligence of any possible plots here in the United States, but because these are the softest of targets, very difficult to secure, officials want to make sure they increase their vigilance.

BANFIELD: All right, and as you say that, I also want to let people to know that New York City, no stranger to one of the worst terror attacks in this country of all time, also beefing up not only with its counterterrorism response command, but also the strategic response group, the Hercules team, they are all dispatched and there will be a heavy presence of security seen - visually seen, to send a message through crowded areas, transit locations all around New York City.

All of this, as we said before, ISIS has put out its claim of responsibility. Perhaps no surprise, the political candidates were already talking about Islamic terror before any claim of responsibility. We'll get to that later in the program.

But, Paul Cruickshank, there is this working assumption with Belgium security officials at this time that this may be the same cell that was operating in those Paris attacks last fall.

PAUL CRUICKSHANK, CNN TERRORISM ANALYST: Right. And rewind it exactly a week ago. Belgian security forces went into an apartment in the Farro (ph) district of Brussels there expecting the property to be empty. But inside were three ISIS gunmen who were part of that Paris attacks cell. One of those gunmen was Salah Abdeslam. Abdeslam eventually got away and was eventually arrested. But inside that apartment they found an ISIS flag, they found a Kalashnikov, they found ammunition and they found detonators, all suggesting that there was an active plot in the works by the very same cell that carried out the Paris attacks.

One of the ISIS terrorists killed in that raid a week ago in Brussels is believed to have been the coordinator of the Paris attacks, communicating with the attack teams in real time from Brussels during the Paris attacks. This discovery of weapons and explosives suggest there was a new plot in the works. Obviously they were able to recover those weapons, those explosives. But the worry all along was there was other teams of terrorists elsewhere in Brussels ready potentially to strike.

And one of those is an individual by the name of Najim Laachraoui. Why is he important? He was also communicating in real time with the Paris attackers, coordinating the attack on November 13th. His DNA was found in the bomb factory used in the Paris attacks, suggesting he could possibly have been the bomb maker, somebody able to put together these suicide vests, which may well have been used in these attacks.

BANFIELD: All right, Paul, and just as you were talking, we have some other breaking news that we're receiving here, and that is that the U.S. European Command, a designation within the American military forces, has put out a statement saying that one U.S. service member and his family were, and I'm going to quote them, "caught up in this tragedy." We are not being told yet the circumstances of this U.S. service member, whether that service member and the family members were at the airport or at the metro station. Those two sites of this twin bombing this morning in Brussels, Belgium. But at least we are now getting confirmation that a U.S. service member and his family, or her family, we're not clear either one, also caught up in this tragedy. We'll continue to follow that.

[12:15:03] By the way, the FBI in this country has boosted its surveillance of current members that are suspicious in this country, who have been under surveillance up until now. They have boosted that surveillance of suspected extremist. So, clearly, a lot of frenetic activity in the United States following the pictures that you're seeing on your screen, what happened earlier this morning in Brussels, Belgium.

Both the airport and a metro station, as we mentioned, were bombed, the metro station in the heart of Brussels. Perhaps a signifying message from ISIS because there is a very important, strategic building close by. And that is the European Union.

We're also, after the break, going to speak to the secretary general of NATO. The member nations of NATO themselves all belong to a coalition fighting ISIS. NATO itself as an entity does not. I will ask the secretary general if anything is about to change after these horrifying images graced the screens across the world this morning.

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BANFIELD: We want to continue to welcome our viewers around the world as we cover this breaking news with an updated death toll. Thirty killed, and 230 wounded in twin terror attacks in Brussels at both the airport and a metro station. Each of these attacks about one hour apart. And you can see the distance also between the airport and the Maelbeek subway station where that attack in the heart of Brussels proper took place.

And I can tell you this as well, Belgian authorities are telling CNN that they have provided U.S. officials with the joint terror task force surveillance photographs. Surveillance photographs from the airport. And those photographs, which we are working to clear and bring you right away, are possibly of the suspect involved.

[12:20:05] There are three people pictured in the photograph thought to be involved. They are pushing very heavy luggage carts in the airport. Investigation clearly ongoing, but the notion that there is this sharing of information between the Belgian authorities than the Joint Terror Task Force officials here in the United States critical to this worldwide investigation of what is increasingly a worldwide problem.

I want to bring in NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg, who joins me now live from Brussels.

Sir, thank you for being with us today.

First and foremost, I want to make sure you and your family members and your colleagues are all safe, because I understand a lot of these offices are very close to that Maelbeek metro station that was attacked. Is everyone OK in your general vicinity?

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO SECURITY GENERAL: Yes. Everyone in NATO headquarters are OK. And the NATO headquarters is very close to the airport. And we have been very focused today to make sure that all the staff here at the headquarters are safe and they, of course, use the airport very often and they also use the metro system often. So the thousands of people working here at the NATO headquarters are, of course, very much affected but - by what happened in Brussels today.

BANFIELD: You are the former prime minister also of Norway. So you know full well what it is like for each of these countries, I'm sure, the European Union and those in proximity as well of Belgium, what every nation is going through, the politics, the logistics, the security and all of that. But, Mr. Prime minister, if I can ask you from your NATO position, the 28-member nations themselves are all a part of the global coalition fighting ISIS, but NATO itself is an entity is not. Is there - is there anything that might change that and is there a need to change that?

STOLTENBERG: The attacks in Brussels today, it reminds us of how important it is that we stand together in the fight against terror across nations, ethnic groups, religions. And all NATO allies are part of the coalition fighting ISIL. But in addition, NATO has alliances also playing a key role. We have to remember that, for instance, our biggest military operation ever in Afghanistan was a valid (ph) response against the terrorist attacks in 9/11 in - against the United States. And we're also working with countries like, for instance, Iraq, Jordan, and other countries to enable them to fight terror and will start training of Iraqi officers this month to step up our efforts in the fight against terror.

BANFIELD: Mr. Prime Minister, does today's attack in Brussels change anything in terms of the robust nature of NATO's commitment to fighting ISIS? Might there be more pressure on member nations of NATO to step up their commitments, be them personnel, be them military equipment, be it money. Is there anything that might change right now because of what's happened in Brussels?

STOLTENBERG: So we're constantly assessing how we can fight terror in the most effective way. Regrettably, this is not the first terrorist attack we have seen over the last years. We have seen several. So we have done a lot and we will continue to mobilize in the fight against terror.

NATO allies work very closely together. It's about using military means, as we do when we fight ISIL and other terrorist organizations, but it is also about exchanging intelligence, (INAUDIBLE) cooperation, police and also the ideological fight against the message, the values of the terrorist organizations and ISIL. So we have to do many different things at the same time.

And in addition, NATO is, of course, also working closely with our ally Turkey. We have (INAUDIBLE) surveillance planes and other assets along the Turkish-Syrian border to help protect and help to augment them in their efforts to fight terrorism.

BANFIELD: And, again, Mr. Prime Minister, if I'm not mistaken, you had some high-level meetings I think just last month with the United States Secretary of defense Ash Carter. I'm not entirely clear what was on your entire agenda, but did you discuss the possibility of further attacks within the European borders, and what NATO's commitments might be or how they might change?

[12:25:05] STOLTENBERG: So we had a defense ministerial meeting with also the Secretary of Defense Ash Carter here in Brussels in - some weeks ago. And there, of course, we did discuss how we can work together fighting terrorism and also increasing our cooperation with NATO allies, between NATO allies, but also with partner nations. And that's partly about helping countries in the region, like, for instance, Iraq, to enable them to fight terrorism themselves. That's the reason why we are stepping up our training of Iraqi forces this month.

But it is also about how we can do more when it comes to exchanging information, intelligence, so we are better able to defend ourselves against terrorist attacks in Europe. And the fight against terrorism is going to take time. It's going to cost - it go - it has to - it will require a lot of efforts of all of us. But as long as we're able to stand together, as long as we're able to work together, we will win because this is not only an attack on innocent people, but it's also an attack on the core values of our open, free societies, and we have to stand together in defending our open, free societies.

BANFIELD: And so many world leaders are weighing in with exactly those same sentiments. I thank you so much, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway as well. Thank you, Mr. Prime Minister. We appreciate it.

Some of the pictures that you're seeing on your screen right now, if you look very closely, you'll see children and mothers huddling together amid strewn about luggage carts and even closer baby carriages - baby carriages. This is what witnesses were seeing. The witnesses who were involved, and in their own words, coming up next, you will hear their accounts of the carnage and the chaos. Two separate locations, so many wounded, so many dead. That's coming up.

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