Return to Transcripts main page

CNN NEWSROOM

Police Suspect Syrian Man in Brussels, Paris Attacks; Bombings at Airport and Metro Station Killed 31; Cruz and Trump Go to War over Their Wives; Brussels Works to Recover from Terror Attacks; Missionaries Injured in Brussels Speak to CNN; Latvia Beefing Up Border Controls; Radicalization Taints Belgium's Muslim Community. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired March 26, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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


[04:00:00]

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes, coming to you live in Brussels with our continuing special coverage of the terror attacks.

And we begin with the manhunt right now for one of the most wanted men in Europe, a source telling CNN that European security agencies believe he was involved in Tuesday's devastating terror attacks here in the Belgian capital.

Now CNN obtained a French police bulletin photo of this man, Naim Al Hamed. Now authorities warn that the 28-year-old Syrian is, quote, "very dangerous and probably armed," unquote.

According to France's "Le Monde" newspaper, his DNA was found at the apartment where the three Brussels airport bombers were picked up by taxi on the day of the attacks, an important lead.

Now the police presence has been heavy in the Brussels district, where that apartment is been located. There have been raids, there have been arrests and detentions as authorities try to root out and stop terrorists from striking again.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): Friday afternoon, three days on from the attacks, a major police investigation in the Brussels district of Schaerbeek results in a wounded suspect being arrested, say Belgian police.

Here on this platform, a police bomb robot approaches the man who is holding a large bag. More raids were carried out late Thursday night and Friday morning.

At this operation, again in Schaerbeek, police sealed off streets for several blocks, masked teams wearing hazmat gear. Arrests, too, in France and Germany as Europe tries to crack down on active terror cells. New pictures of this, the inside of the apartment that authorities

describe as a bomb-making factory, used by the Belgium attackers. Police say this is where they found some 15 kilograms, almost 40 pounds, of the explosive TATP, also chemicals, screws and an ISIS flag on Tuesday.

The raid on the Schaerbeek property followed a tip-off by the taxi driver, who picked up the airport bombers, Najim Laachraoui and Ibrahim El Bakraoui; a third man remains on the run.

A U.S. official says they believe, however, they know who he is. There have been daily raids as police learn more about the five men they now believe committed the atrocities on Tuesday and the wider terror network in which they were embroiled.

Questions, meanwhile, continue over claims of Belgian intelligence failings after Turkey revealed it had raised a red flag about the threat posed by Ibrahim El Bakraoui when it deported him to the Netherlands back in July.

But Dutch authorities say they received an e-mail from Turkish officials almost a half-hour before El Bakraoui's flight but it never mentioned Turkey's concerns.

El Bakraoui's smiling face in police custody in Turkey, revealing little of the heartache to come. Three days since the blast, loved ones are still waiting as the identities of the injured and the dead from 40 nationalities start to emerge.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry showing his support in Brussels.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (voice-over): Today, three Dutch, including siblings Alexander and Sascha Pinczowski, two Americans, and one Briton, David Dixon, are confirmed among the 31 dead.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, some more details now on Salah Abdeslam. He is, of course, the only surviving suspect from November's Paris attacks. And he apparently told police that he only played a minor role in that operation.

Now this information is coming from several French media outlets, citing interrogation transcripts. He allegedly points to his brother, who blew himself up in Paris as a major figure in that operation. Now Belgian police captured Abdeslam last week during an anti-terror raid in the Molenbeek neighborhood here in Brussels. All right. Let's get more on the manhunt for Naim Al Hamed, the young

Syrian man who could prove to be a critical figure in both the Brussels and Paris terror attacks. CNN contributor Tim Lister joining us now from London.

I know, Tim, you've been looking into this man, Al Hamed.

[04:05:00]

HOLMES: Tell us about him, a young man in his 20s and apparently came across as a refugee?

TIM LISTER, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, he did, Mike, according to bulletin that we obtained in subsequent contacts with sources across Europe, Naim Al Hamed came through Leros back in September. Now that's the Greek island, where at least two of the Paris attackers also entered and then traveled through Europe.

And also at about the same time as Abdelhamid Abaaoud was on Leros and he became the ringleader of the Paris plots. He then traveled overland, ends up in the German city of Ulm at a refugee center.

And that's where his links with Salah Abdeslam become much more firm, if you like, because Abdeslam was there in Ulm on the night of October the 2nd-3rd and was arrested -- or at least fingerprinted by German police, not so much arrested, stopped and fingerprinted -- along with the same man with whom he was at court on that Friday in Brussels just over a week ago.

So you see this sort of web coming together. It is known that a man went missing from that refugee center at the same time. So Naim Al Hamed, according to the French authorities, very much on their radar at the moment. That particular bulletin went out just about five or six hours after the Brussels attacks.

He's thought to be associated not just with the Belgium attacks but perhaps with the attacks in Paris as well -- Mike.

HOLMES: Yes, and when it comes to Salah Abdeslam as well, this new information coming from a French media as well, has him downplaying his role in the Paris attacks and saying nothing about Brussels. That's when he clammed up and said he was going to say no more and not cooperate.

But what do you make of those new details, really fingering his brother as a more prominent player in those attacks?

LISTER: Well, I think your first reaction is, well, why wouldn't he?

He's going to downplay his role. There are certain things that he said that are inconsistent with the record, one being that he'd only ever seen Abdelhamid Abaaoud once in his life. Well, they were both convicted together in a robbery trial and sentenced in 2010. So that doesn't quite wash.

Part of the testimony seemed plausible to the fact that he dropped these guys off at the Stade de France and then drove randomly. His movements that night in Paris do suggest that his behavior was somewhat erratic.

I think the most interesting thing to me is that when he came back to Brussels, he went immediately to the apartment of a known suspect or terrorist, someone was thought to have been involved in radical circles, someone called Mohammed Belkaid, who was eventually himself shot dead by Belgian police in that raid in the forest (ph) apartment just before the Brussels attack.

Now Belkaid, typically enough, had come back into Belgium undetected via Sweden after some time in Syria. At 35 years old, he seems to have been a senior member of this plotting team. But apparently, Abdeslam felt safe enough that he could go and hide out at Belkaid's place.

And Belkaid, although apparently was not pleased to see him, didn't kick him out. So either they were naively optimistic that they could get away with it or they had a very poor opinion of the Belgian police and thought that they would be safe, really staying with each other as opposed to staying as far away as possible -- Mike.

HOLMES: Yes, and Tim, finally, I want to ask you, just listening to what you're saying there, what we are learning says a lot about the ability of these men to travel, to get around. And says a lot about their resources as well.

LISTER: It's really stunning as you look at some of the documents that investigators are using as their sort of base for further research. The amount of travel is quite extraordinary, people on the move the whole time. Sometimes in the air but very often driving and, indeed, the resources involved with properties and forged documents as well.

Another thing that comes out is just the number of aliases these people have. It's almost impossible to keep up with who is who because they are running under three or four names. But sometimes technology and travel does work both ways.

One reason we found out that Saleh Abdeslam was detected, his movements were detected across Europe, is that the rental cars he had, had GPS systems. And those GPS systems have been, if you like, reconstructed or reviewed by investigators. And they have now a really good picture of exactly where he went and when, which is why we know he was in Ulm and where he went from there and who he might have picked up while he was there.

HOLMES: Fascinating. Tim, thanks so much as always.

Tim Lister there in London.

Well, American officials say a U.S. military operation has killed ISIS' finance minister, as he is being described by the U.S. Defense Department.

[04:10:00] HOLMES: Military officials say they wanted to capture him alive but the operation didn't go as planned. Analysts believe he was next in line to lead the group's daily operations.

I want to bring in now Ryan Heath, senior E.U. correspondent, associate editor for "Politico," to talk more about all of this.

Let's talk now about plugging those intelligence gaps, the counterintelligence failures, European cooperation.

How do you see that evolve?

RYAN HEATH, SENIOR E.U. CORRESPONDENT, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, "POLITICO": Very slowly, if the past track record is anything to go by.

You got to start with the very basics. Let's take the example of that man stopped on the platform in Germany yesterday; discovered the text message on his phone, that he was linked to the bombers back here in Brussels at the Maelbeek metro station.

Now we have to wonder, would that stop-and-search have even occurred in Belgium?

In the Belgium system, the police didn't even pass on information of one of Salah Abdeslam's cousins, potentially being in contact with him as soon after the Paris attacks as December. We didn't get that information until yesterday.

So the basics aren't happening just in terms of neighbors talking to each other. And then at a much deeper level, you don't have the Europol database plugging in to all the national databases and then you have people, these brothers, sitting on an American database. But the two sides aren't talking to each other.

So I think the cooperation problem goes beyond Europe and it goes from the very basics up to the big database-to-database relationship.

HOLMES: To the person probably sitting at home and listening to this, this is absolutely stunning. You would think, Europe, no borders; everybody is meant to be part of one great union. And they're not talking to each other about things that involve national and continent-wide security.

HEATH: Absolutely. So as with so many things in the E.U., the idea is absolutely brilliant. The first half of the execution, pretty good; the back end doesn't happen, where everybody loves to travel around in Europe. I'd hate to lose my freedom to just pop across the borders on a train, to zip over for a weekend somewhere quite quickly, no border check.

But that doesn't work if nobody believes the border is secured. It doesn't work if you can just transport terrorists as easily as you can transport your family on a weekend holiday.

HOLMES: And there has been a lot of discussion about that, they'd be like the borders, the Schengen arrangement as it's known. But it may be under threat.

Do you think that is a realistic possibility?

HEATH: It is certainly under threat. I think that Schengen will probably survive in some form. But it won't look or feel like it did last year and as it was developing. People value it too much. The E.U. is very durable in somehow shaping its achievements. But you can't go on like this. You have to absolutely secure that border externally.

HOLMES: I wanted to get your thoughts on Naim Al Hamed, this new name that's come out, this 28-year-old Syrian, quite apparently came across as a refugee.

Your thoughts on him and his possible involvement?

HEATH: Well, for me, it's less the fact that he came as a refugee but more what it tells us about this hydra-headed beast, this set of networks of terror that we are dealing with now.

If he is popping up on the scene now, very probably linked to the Paris attacks as well as to the Brussels ones. Well, it's sounding a little bit like Salah Abdeslam did when he came onto the scene and we first started to learn his name.

And who are the next Naims and the next Salahs that we are going to learn about in the coming weeks?

I don't think we're at the end of this rabbit hole yet.

HOLMES: Yes, unraveling, but not yet done.

Ryan Heath, thanks so much as always, with "Politico" there, joining us with some good context there.

All right. Well, honoring those who lost their lives at the Maelbeek metro stations, still ahead, a very powerful story of a community trying to stay united despite their fear. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(HEADLINES)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: And welcome back, everyone, to CNN's special coverage of the Brussels terror attacks. I'm Michael Holmes.

Now most of the deaths in Tuesday's bombings were at a metro station, not far from where I am right now. Many here struggling with disbelief and trying to stay strong after what's happened. CNN's Saima Mohsin shares some of their stories. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SAIMA MOHSIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Reaching out for reassurance in the center of the city, a quiet moment for just two people of so many who have been touched by this tragedy. Local residents who use this station every day, tears in their eyes, struggling to absorb why they're under attack.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is our city and we didn't ask for nothing. We are just -- we are struck by that but it's not our business. We are not -- we don't have anything to do with that. If they go and fight a war, I understand and we respect that. But not in our city.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are very, very sad that all these things are happening all over the world, not only in Brussels.

MOHSIN (voice-over): Workmen opened the shutters to reveal the empty ticket hall, seen here through smashed glass.

In an exclusive look, these are the first pictures of the scene underground since the attack. Reminders of the violence and carnage remain. A gutted-out station, once the very artery of life in this city.

MOHSIN: This makeshift monument at the entrance to the metro. People have been leaving flowers. Some people coming, like these ladies, to light candles and a number of messages and prayers left as well. Children, too.

I want to show you this. A lot of them writing tributes, messages of peace.

"Everybody together," this says in French.

And this letter really, really struck me. It's a young girl who lives nearby and she says that, "I normally take the metro all the time. But that particular day, I didn't. And I keep thinking," it says, "what would have happened to me if I was on board that metro train? I'm really scared to take the metro."

These children are from a nearby school. Only five of them from the entire class came to school for the first few days after the attacks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Today we are 21 of 30 in the class. The rest of --

[04:20:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- them is not -- didn't dare to come or was afraid to come.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of our children, they live where the terror and the terrorists came from. They live in the streets are like that. So for Schaerbeek or Molenbeek. It's very important to see like we are Muslim but that's -- we are not the same, you know. MOHSIN (voice-over): A community trying hard to stay united in the face of fear and terror. For now, though, there's only confusion and emptiness -- Saima Mohsin, CNN, Maelbeek metro station, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And we will continue our reporting on the terror attacks in Brussels in just a few minutes. But right now, let's go to George Howell in the CNN Center in Atlanta for the day's other news.

Hey, George.

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Michael, thank you.

And other news that we are following around the world, in American politics and the war of words between two Republican rivals running for president, it is growing even more personal now. Ted Cruz, he is furious after a salacious tabloid article was published about him. And he is blaming Donald Trump for planting that story. Our Sunlen Serfaty has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ted Cruz breathing fire at Donald Trump.

CRUZ: Donald Trump may be a rat, but I have no desire to copulate with him. And this garbage does not belong in politics.

SERFATY (voice-over): The Texas Senator bringing in up unprovoked a tabloid story about him accusing Donald Trump of being behind it but not offering any proof to back up his assertion.

CRUZ: This "National Enquirer" story is garbage. It is complete and utter lies. It is a tabloid smear. And it is a smear that has come from Donald Trump and his henchman. It's not surprising that Donald Trump's tweet occurs the day before the attack comes out.

SERFATY (voice-over): Trump today responding in a statement saying, "I had absolutely nothing to do with it. Did not know about it and have not, as yet, read it." Adding, "Unlike Lying Ted Cruz, I do not surround myself with political hacks and henchman and then pretend total innocence."

Cruz today evading the question whether he could still support Trump if he were the GOP nominee.

CRUZ: I don't make a habit out of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my family.

SERFATY (voice-over): This comes as the GOP rivals have been sparring and sharply personal attacks involving their spouses.

CRUZ: And to Heidi, isn't she going to make an amazing first lady?

SERFATY (voice-over): Campaigning side by side with his wife today, Cruz calling out Donald Trump directly to the crowd.

CRUZ: You know, in the last few days, Donald Trump has taken to attacking Heidi.

SERFATY (voice-over): Part of Trump's attacks, a tweet threatening to spill the beans on Heidi Cruz and a retweet of a split screen image of his wife Melania and Heidi Cruz with the caption, the images are worth a thousand words. Cruz looking to frame this as a pattern for Trump.

CRUZ: Donald does seem to have an issue with woman. Donald doesn't like strong women. Strong women scare Donald.

SERFATY (voice-over): This isn't the first time Trump has stirred up controversy with his comments about women, including Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly.

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You can see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.

SERFATY (voice-over): Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

TRUMP: And Hillary who's become very shrill. You know the word shrill? She's become a shrill.

SERFATY (voice-over): The latest CNN/ORC poll shows that while 59 percent of Republican women have a favorable view of Trump, 39 percent have an unfavorable view. And his unfavorable mark jumps to 73 percent among registered women voters nationwide, revealing how much of an uphill climb he could face in a general election if he emerges as the nominee.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: Our thanks to Sunlen Serfaty for that report.

For Democrats, there are three contests on Saturday: in the states of Alaska, Hawaii and the state of Washington. Be sure to tune in all day for CNN's complete coverage of the Democratic caucuses only here on CNN.

Switching now to weather, winter has not given up on the western part of the United States. And our meteorologist Karen Maginnis is at the World Weather Center to tell us all about that -- Karen.

(WEATHER REPORT)

[04:25:00]

KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Also for the Middle East we're looking at unsettled weather. So much, so, George, we have areas across Turkey that could see potential for flooding. Back to you.

HOWELL: Karen, thank you very much.

You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell at the CNN Center in Atlanta. Ahead, we take you back to Brussels and our continuing coverage of the

deadly terror attacks there with my colleague, Michael Holmes, on the ground, as the world mourns those who lost their lives. Survivors recall the horror of that day. Their stories are ahead next.

Plus this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EMMANUEL DOMENACH, BATACLAN SURVIVOR: Even we don't have weapon, even we don't have a bomb, we are citizen. We are democrats and we are better than them.

HOWELL (voice-over): A survivor of the Paris terror attacks has a message for the people of Brussels, who are now working to recover from a similar tragedy. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone, to CNN's special coverage of the attacks here in Belgium. I'm Michael Holmes in Brussels.

French investigators are circulating a photograph of a man who could be one of the attack suspects. They say he is 28-year-old Naim Al Hamed from Syria. His involvement at the moment: unclear. But authorities think he may be a critical figure in the bombings here and the violence in Paris.

French media reports that police found his DNA at the apartment that the airport bombers used here.

Now I am joined by the Flemish minister of culture, Sven Gatz, to talk a little bit more about this.

First of all, talk about the city and the impact of all of this on the city of Brussels.

SVEN GATZ, FLEMISH MINISTER OF CULTURE: Well, it's still changing because we started with grief, with all the people coming here right behind me to show their empathy and to mourn.

Now of course, we're getting to the realistic phase, what do we do now?

How do we organize ourselves to protect ourselves better?

In the meantime, keep that strong feeling that was here yesterday and the day before, with many Brusselers, who, maybe for the first time, were as united as never before.

And so this is a very delicate balance, to be hard enough and strong enough to cope with these events and still keep in touch with the common feelings that we have.

HOLMES: As you were speaking, three or four, actually, Belgian soldiers walked behind you, armed to the teeth.

Did you ever think you'd see that day here?

GATZ: No, I must say I am almost 50 years old now. And I've seen my city change for the last three months in a way that I could never have imagined.

But no, it's OK. We have to deal with it. And I think we have to go further now than just the soldiers. They are there. They are there to protect us. That's a good thing but we have to be able prevent such attacks better in the future, even if you can never rule them out, of course.

HOLMES: You're in the government.

I mean, do you, as a member of the government, accept that there have been some terrible strategic and structural failures in how counterterrorism has been run in this country?

The gaps in many cases have been yawning, things have been missed that should never have been.

GATZ: Yes, we started with these inquiries on the responsibilities. You are fully aware of the fact that two ministers wanted to resign but the prime minister said this is not the time to do so.

So, in a way, they showed their accountability. But, of course, by doing this in a political way, we don't know yet what really happens. But I want to stress the fact that, even if we have to organize better to prevent these types of events, we can never rule them out.

So we are a small country. The French, the Dutch, others, sometimes the Americans also like to pick on us because we are not organized. We are organized. Maybe we should better work together in the European context. And it's now the next step to the European central intelligence service.

That is what we should do now. That is a real lesson.

HOLMES: Do you think when it comes to structural reforms, that, obviously, that sort of thing is a great idea, in a European intelligence service. But within Brussels, I have been told since I have been here, that there are more than a dozen different districts and that the department in those different districts sometimes speak different languages. They don't communicate with each other.

Sometimes they don't even cooperate with each other. They will meet and one policeman will speak French. The other one will speak Flemish back to him even though they do understand each other.

You have departments here, even at the street level, who literally don't speak the same language, figuratively and literally.

GATZ: Yes. But I would not overaccentuate that. There is a language issue in this country but people communicate.

HOLMES: It's more an attitude than --

(CROSSTALK)

GATZ: -- I think are you right there. And I think we have to evolve towards a more central administration, central police. So the six zones that are now -- they are cooperating. There is a central headquarters not far from here. But maybe we can do better than that.

And that's right. It's not about the language; it's about the attitude.

HOLMES: And then you address, of course, the root causes of all of this, which is places like Molenbeek, where you have a large Muslim population that does feel disenfranchised; 40 percent unemployment amongst youth, nothing else to do than go to mosques and perhaps meet with the people who will lead them down the wrong path.

What needs to happen there on the social level to avoid that disenfranchisement?

GATZ: I was raised in Molenbeek. So I know the community quite well. And I live not far from it now. They are not making mistake, saying all --

[04:35:00]

GATZ: -- the unemployed or young people, who have social problems, that they are potential terrorists. So that's very important to stress that.

Of course, it doesn't mean that we don't have to do anything for them. And so as a minister of culture, of youth, I am very aware of the fact that we should do more to give these people a perspective, because what we don't see is that a lot of people stay in Molenbeek for the rest of their lives but more people, they walk out of Molenbeek. It's an arrival city. And they come here by migration and then they go elsewhere by social mobility, which is a good thing.

And we should increase these mechanisms. And I am ready to do so. Of course, with my colleagues, French speaking here now and the attitude, but we work together now for a year. Before that it wasn't the case. There was everyone in its own little politics, view or culture apart.

Now we work together. And so I think, even with the situation now, we can do much better and we have come with our little country into a federal state, where we now have to make a decision, what are we going to do?

I'm not a partisan of the independence aplomb (ph), (INAUDIBLE) Brussels or (INAUDIBLE), no, it's now time to counterbalance and to work more together.

HOLMES: And that's a very important point that you make, that you have a large Muslim community in Molenbeek. And they don't want to painted with the same brush --

(CROSSTALK)

GATZ: That is very important.

HOLMES: -- that the terrorists have laid down that road. And that is very important for it.

We've got to leave it there. Sven Gatz, thanks very much. We appreciate your coming by.

Minister of culture here. And some very important points there on the root causes and what does need to be done with intelligence failures.

Moving on, and as their conditions stabilize, CNN spoke to two Mormon missionaries, who were in the airport when the bomb went off. Here is what they experienced during Tuesday's deadly attack.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MASON WELLS, BRUSSELS TERROR ATTACK SURVIVOR: I'd actually pulled out my iPad to look at something as part of my responsibilities in the mission. And I was starting to look that up. I was looking at my iPad when the first blast went off.

It was really loud. It really came out of nowhere. The -- I wasn't expecting it. I was looking down and all of a sudden a huge blast came from my right. I think my body was actually picked up off the ground for a moment.

And my iPad that was in my hands, I don't know what happened. It just disappeared. I think it might have actually hit me in the head when it got blasted out of my hands.

So my watch on my left hand just disappeared. My left shoe just was blown off and a large part of the right side of my body got really hot and then really cold and -- I was covered in a lot of -- a lot of fluids, a lot of blood. And a lot of -- a lot of that blood wasn't mine.

FANNY CLAIN, WOUNDED MISSIONARY (from captions): And then I turned my head BAKER: and I was starting to talk to something and it was a black boom and I was laying down on the ground. It was all ashes all around. It was all gray. It was really stinking because of the burn and I was all brown, on my coat it was like a sticky brown thing. And my hands was burned and my head also. So I quickly then I realized it was -- I realized it was a bomb. Then I was laying down. Then opened my eyes and woke up and go away. So I walked as fast I can, crying.

PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As you lie there, a couple of days later, I guess, what are the thoughts and the feelings about what you've experienced?

WELLS: I just -- I feel love for those who were injured. I feel so bad for -- I was so lucky. I was so lucky, being how close I was. And I saw a lot of people that were injured worse. I heard a lot of people that were injured badly and -- no, my only thoughts, my own feelings are just for the people that are out there. I hope that they're doing OK. I've just wanted to pray for them. I've been praying for them since it happened. That's the only feeling

I have is, I hope they're OK, because --

[04:40:00]

WELLS: -- I'm very lucky and I know that there were maybe some that were not as lucky as I was.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, from Paris to Brussels, there are mutual feelings of sorrow, and also defiance. People who survived last November's attack in Paris know very well what the people of Tuesday's bombings are going through. Erin McLaughlin spoke with a man now reliving the horror.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMMANUEL DOMENACH, BATACLAN SURVIVOR: Nothing has changed.

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Emmanuel Domenach survived the attack at the Bataclan theater. He remembers the night in vivid detail, the confusion, the gunfire, the sound of the terrorists' voices, how he pretended to be dead to stay alive.

DOMENACH: I put my blood on my head and my arm and I was then dead, like this maybe.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Four months later, he's reliving that horror. He sees the attacks in Brussels as a second November 13th. His message to the victims in Belgium.

DOMENACH: They have to continue and fight and show to the terrorists that we are not weak and even we don't have weapon, even we don't have a bomb, we are citizen. We are democrats and we are better than them.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Message of strength from one of the hundreds whose life will never be the same.

In France, the Association for the Victims of Terrorism is now helping those traumatized in Belgium. The head of the association tells me it's important to let victims know they are not alone but recovery is not easy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You have to be able to accept that your former life is dead, that you are starting a new life. You're going to be still a victim all your life but you're not going to feel yourself as a victim but as a survivor. But it's not immediate. It has to be done by steps.

MCLAUGHLIN (voice-over): Steps that John Luc Perez says he's taking. He was closing his hair salon on that fateful Friday in November when the terrorists arrived, changing his normal forever. They killed 18 people at the cafe across the street.

The attack caught on camera, published by dailymail.com. Bullets flying. Innocent people fleeing the onslaught, seeking cover wherever they could.

He says the militants opened fire as he stood in his salon, paralyzed with fear. He remembers trying to save the lives of the cafe's patrons, his friends.

His message to the victims in Belgium, "Stay strong. Don't give up," he says. "Continue to live. Appreciate life. Don't let the bad guys win." -- Erin McLaughlin, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, ISIS claiming responsibility for another deadly attack, this time in Iraq. We are going to show you what appears to be the moment of the explosion and why the militant group is now on the defensive in that country, Iraq.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:45:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM, I'm George Howell in Atlanta. We will have more from Michael Holmes in Brussels ahead, but first, more on a suicide bombing in Iraq, claimed by ISIS. The U.N. is condemning the attack as an abhorrent act by evildoers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES (voice-over): The video there appears to show the moment of the explosion at a football stadium. At least 25 people were killed there. The blast happened as trophies were being handed out after a tournament.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: ISIS has been losing territory lately in Iraq and the U.S. has played a key role in helping Iraqi forces fight the militants. Now the Pentagon wants to send in more troops. It is believed that they would help Iraq to retake the key city of Mosul.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. JOSEPH DUNFORD, CHAIRMAN, U.S. JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: We have a series of recommendations that we will be discussing with the president in the coming weeks to further enable our support for the Iraqi security forces.

So again the secretary and I both believe that there will be an increase to the U.S. forces in Iraq in the coming weeks but that decision hasn't been made.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And then in Syria, the Syrian army says that it has taken from ISIS an important landmark in the history of human civilization.

The Palmyra castle and areas around it are now said to be under Syrian control. Last year, ISIS destroyed many of the temples in the ancient strategic city of Palmyra in what the U.N. called a war crime.

Now to Greece, and the government there is urging migrants who've made camps in that country to move to official reception areas. But most of them say they're not budging.

The makeshift border camp at Idomeni is beginning to overflow after Macedonia sealed its border. On Friday, 20 buses showed up at the camp. Only four left with migrants, who reluctantly boarded them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Even if it is like heaven, there in the new camps, we won't go.

Why should we?

We want to go to Europe. We risked our lives and our children's lives. We spent a lot of money and we escaped the war, not to stay here. Either they open the border or we will die here.

HOLMES (voice-over): Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, are tightening controls to keep refugees out. Latvia plans to beef up its border guard and to build a fence at its border with Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Ahead, we take you back to Brussels this hour. CNN's Max Foster went to the first Friday prayers since the attacks and asked Muslims how they are feeling about the growth of radicalization. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(SPORTS)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:50:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

HOLMES: Sounds of mourning and tribute in Brussels. We were here yesterday when that happened. The city's Philharmonic Orchestra paying tribute to the victims of Tuesday's terror attacks, as thousands gathered around the memorial site here, four days after the bombings.

It was an extraordinary scene, a very moving moment when that orchestra played here.

Now frustration, sadness, all being felt right across Belgium and especially at the country's Islamic cultural center. Our Max Foster went to the Great Mosque of Brussels for the first Friday prayers since Tuesday's attacks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MAX FOSTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Friday prayers in a week that scarred the minds of all Belgians. Religious leaders left to make sense of the horror that unfolded in Brussels.

The same questions a growing number of terror victims all over the world are asking.

One of the imams of this mosque strongly condemning the attacks the week, calling the perpetrators "barbarians."

There is no evidence that anybody here is implicated in any crime. But the Muslim community as a whole feels implicated. The terrorists may be Muslims. But that doesn't mean that Muslims are terrorists.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are all affected by this, we are all affected by this, as a Belgian, as a Muslim or as a human being. It's very sad. It's a sect that is striking everywhere.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The problem is, is that there are a number of young people who are weak and who are lost, socially and economically, and who are easily indoctrinated.

FOSTER (voice-over): So how does Belgium move forward?

How does it neutralize a threat that's emerging from its own communities?

Leaders here accept joint but not complete responsibility. The solution in large part is economic and comes from the government, they say, claiming the youth most vulnerable to radicalization are those who are out of work --

[04:55:00]

FOSTER (voice-over): -- and out of things to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one of the solutions for this problem, to find chances or activities or sport activities or physical activities or financial activities to keep him busy with useful things, not with bad things.

FOSTER (voice-over): For his part, Dr. Momenah (ph) says he sees himself as the eyes and ears of the Muslim community, on permanent lookout for signs of radicalization.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had the depression or he has psychological problem. We send him to the clinic.

FOSTER: What have you got here?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's sick with the doctor and speak to him about his problem. He tried to solve his problem, taking care of him.

FOSTER (voice-over): A resident psychologist, sitting beneath the mosque. A sign, perhaps, of Europe's new reality, psychologists sitting beside imams -- Max Foster, CNN, Brussels.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes, live in Brussels. I will be back with the CNN's special coverage of the Belgian terror attacks. Stay with us.