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New Details on Istanbul Attackers; Witness Describes U.S.-Led Airstrikes against ISIS. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired June 30, 2016 - 14:30   ET

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


[14:30:00] DAVID KATZ, FORMER SENIOR SPECIAL AGENT, DEA AGENT: There's no hindrance. God knows -- who knows where else they are. Are they in Europe? Are they among the refugee flood? Have they been able to get these or additional suicide bombers in other countries right now, today, waiting for the instructions to carry out an attack elsewhere.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: Again, learning these vests, explosive devices, came outside of Turkey. And also learning these attackers lived here in a suburb not far from where I am standing for this past month.

We have more on the investigation and what we know coming up.

David Katz, thank you so much for that insight into what's happened.

Coming up next, we have new details about these attackers involved in the terror attack here at the airport, where they were from, and we were talking about this apartment where they holed themselves up the last month. A passport was left behind. Was it on purpose? Was it a mistake? We'll talk about that significance and where this plan was originally hatched.

Also ahead, major airstrikes against massive convoys of ISIS fighters trying to flee the city of Fallujah. We'll talk with someone who is on the ground in Iraq and witnessed what happened firsthand.

Keep it right here. This is CNN's special live coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:39] BALDWIN: Here we go, getting some new information as far as where these suicide bombers are from, those who murdered 43 people two nights ago here at the airport. We know that they are from Russia and the former Soviet republics. A senior government source telling CNN today the three attackers we from Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Dagestan. The bomber from Dagestan left his passport in the apartment in Istanbul.

Let's bring in Mathew Chance in Moscow, covering the Russian angle.

Can you put in perspective what you make of the fact of where these three were from and also maybe Russia's relations with Turkey?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So far I think we have to say the Kremlin and the Russian foreign ministry who we've been speaking to aren't confirming there was any Russian national involved in this. That's something that's come from the Turks only. Not something that's been confirmed by any of those three countries, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Russia.

But it does say a lot about the problem the former Soviet Union has, including Russia, with militancy. The Russians say their own estimate say there are some 2,500 Russian nationals who have left the country and joined the fight of ISIS. There is a big problem in this region of militants, young men going off and joining ISIS and fighting in Syria and Iraq. That's one issue.

The other issue is the allegation which has been voiced again by the Russian foreign ministry that the Turks have been harboring, if not actually encouraging Islamic militants over the years, similarly, ISIS militants, but also militants that predate that as well. A statement issued by the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson a couple of hours ago saying that one of these individuals accused of orchestrating the attacks is "well known," in her words, to the Turkish authorities. You get the sense when you speak to Russian officials, off the record, the suggestion they're trying to put across is that in the past Turkey has played safe haven to these militants, now it's being bitten on the nose as a result of that.

BALDWIN: I think it is an important distinction. Ivan Watson made the same point, it is Turkey saying where these three were from.

Matthew Chance, thank you very much in Moscow.

As far as the investigation goes, we know investigators there are scouring Istanbul and really beyond today for any clues these suicide bombers may have left behind. A senior Turkish official tells CNN authorities detained 22 people with possibly links to the attack. We know that they went to some 16 different addresses in the Istanbul area detaining some 13 people, nine others in a western coastal area here of Turkey. Three of those detained, we're told today, are foreign nationals.

I have Jared Malsin, "Time" magazine's Middle East bureau chief with me.

Jared, thank you for joining me.

You wrote about -- you called it eerie similarities. Right? Immediately when something horrendous like this happens we think back to the last one and the time before that. We go to Brussels, we go to Paris. What about those? How do you tie some of those together?

JARED MALSIN, MIDDLE EAST BUREAU CHIEF, TIME MAGAZINE: This was a complex attack where we've had multiple attackers using both assault weapons and suicide vests. In that sense there is an eerily similarity to the Paris attacks and the Brussels airport.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: -- that concert hall in Paris. MALSIN: That's right. Then apart from that, it's the same game plan where you have multiple gunmen attacking a civilian target, perhaps not as soft a target as a concert hall but certainly indiscriminately attacking civilians regardless of their nationality or who they are.

BALDWIN: Talk to me about why you think Istanbul or why the airport.

MALSIN: Turkey right now is reaping some of the chaos from Syria.

(CROSSTALK)

BALDWIN: We are next door to Syria.

[14:39:54] MALSIN: This is one of the largest countries neighboring Syria. This is what somebody said to me yesterday, this is the tyranny geography. Turkey has this vast kind of border with Syria and there is an existing network of ISIS people. It is now painfully clear they're in Turkey. Is has been using Turkey over the last several years to transit foreign fighters to battlefields in Syria and Iraq for smuggling. We know that ISIS fighters use Turkish cell phones.

BALDWIN: Passports when their bodies are found in battlefields, Turkish SIM cards. But beyond that, I guess, we've been asking then why is it when you put all the other Islamic attacks, they say, yes, we did it. They don't do that in Turkey.

MALSIN: That's a tough question to answer, a satisfying answer. For now, the only good answer is, well, that's how whoever is in charge of ISIS in Turkey has decided to do it. Conventional wisdom well is if they want it both ways with the Turkish authorities, they want to carry out attacks here at the same time and at the same time not alienate the authorities too much so they can still operate here somehow. At the same time, saying that it doesn't make a whole lot of sense when they attack the main airport in Istanbul which is a city far from Syria and wreaking all kinds of carnage here.

BALDWIN: Last night, it goes from seeing shattered glass and a lot of blood to just 24 hours later and they have fixed the glass, the blood is gone. This is Turkey, Istanbul, saying to the world, we're moving forward.

Jared Malsin, thank you so much.

MALSIN: Thank you.

BALDWIN: Coming up next here on CNN, in Iraq U.S.-led airstrikes hit ISIS convoys near Fallujah killing hundreds of militants. We'll talk to someone from an aid organization who was close by and actually saw the strike with his own eyes. Do not miss this.

Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:46:18] BALDWIN: Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin, live at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, where we now have an update on the death toll. It is up by one now standing at 44 people. Getting new information from a senior Turkish official here that these three bombers were directed by ISIS leaders.

Just in to CNN also, Iraqi military saying it destroyed more than 700 ISIS vehicles and killed hundreds of fighters in airstrikes over the past couple of days. Keep in mind, that's in addition to more than 170 vehicles destroyed by coalition airstrikes. They were carrying as many as 250 ISIS militants.

For that, let's go to CNN's senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman.

Ben, this all comes just after what? Just days after -- actually, we're going to go to Jeremy Courtney.

We going to Jeremy Courtney right now?

Jeremy Courtney is with a humanitarian group. We'll get you to Ben in a second. We have Jeremy here on Skype. He's with a humanitarian group, was right there near Fallujah as missiles were flying over their heads. Barely missed those airstrikes aimed at ISIS. Take a look.

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(EXPLOSIONS)

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BALDWIN: That is video from the group Preemptive Love Coalition. As the airstrikes were happening, they got caught in the middle of this fighting between these coalition forces and ISIS.

Mentioned Jeremy Courtney, he is the CEO of this humanitarian group. He joins me from Iraq tonight.

Jeremy, my goodness, I am so glad you and your team is OK. Can you talk to me about exactly what happened or what you saw?

JEREMY COURTNEY, CEO PREEMPTIVE LOVE COALITION: Yeah, thanks, Brooke. So our team was taking 100,000 pounds of food out to some of the 86,000 people from Fallujah who have been stranded out in these desert camps. On the way out to take our food to them, two of our huge trucks broke down. We were stranded in the desert overnight. Our team did. In the middle of the night an ISIS convoy rolled up on our team. Our team was laying low, flat in the dirt, undressed in their underwear to blend in, hoping to blend in and not be spotted by ISIS. Close enough to hear these ISIS guys talking on their phones. Thankfully, ISIS ended up moving on. Airstrikes started pursuing them, blowing them up. Many eventually, the footage that you've seen. But half of our team was in a different location and those airstrikes ended up hitting our team, hitting the car, causing damage to the car and laying some of our guys flat onto the ground. Everyone survived but it was a very harrowing nightmarish night. BALDWIN: Take me back to part of your team. That is unthinkable. On

the ground, in their underwear, trying to blend in with the soil. They're hearing these ISIS militants before they move on. How long were they laying there?

COURTNEY: Hours. Throughout the night they were hiding out because we knew that there was this ISIS convoy in the region. And eventually when the ISIS cars started coming down the road at our position where these huge trucks were, they stopped at our huge two semi-trucks, got out and formed a bit of a meeting point. Our team overheard them talking on the phone and said we're here at the trucks. If you see the trucks, that's where we are. They may not have known they had stumbled across 100,000 pounds of food meant for Fallujah survivors. Or they may just have had bigger concerns on their minds running away from these airstrikes that were in hot pursuit.

[14:50:11] BALDWIN: Jeremy, tell me why you and your team are there. You're risking your lives to help these people. What are you doing?

COURTNEY: Well, Brooke, when I was with you a couple of years ago after this ISIS crisis broke out the first time, we talked about this whole concept of going to the hard places, going to the places that no one else will go, to love the people that no one else will love. We talked about even loving our enemies. That's really what's driven up here and keeps us here. But it's not to say everyone here is our enemy. These 86,000 people, men, women and children and elderly who are starving in the desert, they're not our enemies. We're out here trying to get them the food, water and shelter that they desperately need. The same things you and I would want if we were driven from our homes and forced to live in these nightmarish situations.

BALDWIN: It is extraordinary. And an extraordinarily close call for your team.

Jeremy Courtney, thank you so much, from a location there in Iraq tonight. I appreciate you and your time.

Let's go back to Ben Wedeman.

Ben, we have you know. Talk to me about we know about the strike.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are airstrikes in two separate convoys between Tuesday and Wednesday, Brooke. We just got a statement from the Iraqi government. The numbers are quite fantastic. They say that the Iraqi armed forces were able to destroy 507 ISIS vehicles in these two strikes, killing tens of ISIS fighters. They go on to say that coalition aircraft destroyed 177 ISIS vehicles, killing 349 militants. Now it's impossible to verify these numbers, but clearly there was a large number of ISIS vehicles with militants trying to leave the vicinity of Fallujah. We understand, having covered that battle for the five weeks that it went on, that in the final stages, the leadership of ISIS fled the city and essentially abandoned the rank and file to the battle. And therefore, there was a lot of unhappiness, a lot of resentment against them. It's understood that it is possibly that the leadership -- and possibly these convoys as well -- were heading west towards Syria, or perhaps to Raqqa, to get as far away as possible, because it was clear, even when we were in Fallujah, that it was only a matter of time before the city would come completely under the control of the government. What we also saw was the government forces don't have a lot of mercy for ISIS -- Brooke?

BALDWIN: Ben mentioned Raqqa, the unofficial capitol of ISIS.

Bringing it back here to Istanbul, how this is all interconnected, where they were apparently from.

Ben Wedeman, thank you for that. At least two strikes here.

But back here in Turkey, we are telling the stories of those who managed to survive in this massive attack at the Ataturk Airport. A couple on their honeymoon, trapped inside the airport in the midst of the attack, and lived to tell their emotional story. We will hear exactly what they saw, what happened to them, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:57:50] BALDWIN: Back to the breaking news from Istanbul here in just a moment.

First, here's our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, with this week's "Turning Points."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NYLE DIMARCO, DEAF MAN WINS DANCING WITH THE STARS: I had doubts in myself to join "Dancing with the Stars." I just felt like if I went ahead and just failed in the first week, that means people would view deaf people as people that can't dance.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): But he didn't fail. He won.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(CHEERING)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEMARCO: I'm Nyle DiMarco. I'm a model, an actor and an activist. I was raised in a family that was completely deaf, two brothers, parents, grandparents, great grandparents. It is genetic, so I really consider myself very fortunate. My whole family knows sign language.

I went to the only university in the whole world for the deaf. My goal was to become a math teacher.

GUPTA: But then Hollywood came calling.

DIMARCO: "Switched at Birth" and "America's Next Top Model" both found me on social media. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

GUPTA: But being on a reality show wasn't easy.

DIMARCO: I had to live with the models. I couldn't really communicate with anybody. I just remained optimistic. I was like, I'm going to win this show.

GUPTA: And he did. DiMarco's next goal, to help other deaf people gain access to American sign language.

DIMARCO: There are 70 million deaf people in this world and only 2 percent of them have access to sign language. The deaf kids should always find the ability in a disability. If you do, then you'll do great things in life. (END VIDEOTAPE)

[14:59:32] BALDWIN: We continue on here. Top of the hour. I'm Brooke Baldwin.

It is just past 10:00 here this evening in Istanbul, Turkey. We are live outside the Ataturk Airport that still bears the scars of a coordinated series of horrific and deadly bombings, the terror attacks on the airport that was likely directed by ISIS leaders, as we are now learning from a Turkish source. And the number of those killed has just risen again to 44 victims. This, as we are seeing chilling new video of what happened before those bombers detonated their suicide vests.

To warn you as we play it for you, it is extremely graphic to watch. But it tells the story of a piece of what happened two nights ago. You can see a man, reportedly an undercover officer.