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CNN NEWSROOM

Iran Hacking Probe; Manhunt for Terror Suspects in Belgium; Senator Ted Cruz Receives Criticism; Several Americans Missing After Brussels Attacks. Aired 10:30-11a

Aired March 24, 2016 - 10:30   ET

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


[10:30:00]

LORETTA LYNCH, ATTORNEY GENERAL: We do this so that they know that they cannot hide. A large part of successful cyber security attack in the perpetrator's mind is, in fact, getting in and out without anyone knowing who is involved. This cloak is being repeatedly pulled away.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: All right. We're going to step away. Specifically what the attorney general was talking about back in 2013 and 2014 Iranian hackers targeted financial institutions and she's talking about how the government can better protect themselves with these new programs that are being brought online.

Evan Perez is monitoring that part of the story. He'll bring us more as he gets more information.

Yesterday Donald Trump told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that torturing terrorist suspects might have prevented the Brussels attacks. I recently sat down with U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter to get his take.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: In talking about intelligence, some suggest that we should revisit the subject of torture to get information faster. Is that a good idea?

ASHTON CARTER, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: All of our military and intelligence leaders have spoken on this, and we in the Department of Defense follow the Army Field Manual. It does not allow torture. And America conducts itself in accordance with its values...

COSTELLO: Does torture work?

CARTER: ... that's important.

The experts there who have laid down our policy in that area have agreed for both effectiveness reasons and for reasons of reflecting our own values that we're not going to do that sort of thing. And, of course, we don't have any -- we occasionally assist the Iraqis in capturing people and so forth from the battle field and the -- they remain in Iraqi custody, but it's not the American practice or policy to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: OK. So with torture out of the question, I asked Secretary Carter about the U.S. role in destroying ISIS and about how to prevent more people in Europe from joining the terrorist group.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: How can the United States Armed Services prevent something like that from happening, though? Can it as far as the people like in Iraq and in Syria?

CARTER: Well, we make a necessary contribution.

It's not sufficient, Carol. It's not the whole thing but it's a necessary contribution. And that contribution is to enable, provide the critical capabilities that allow in Iraq, the Iraqi government to take back territory and to reseize control of their country, and then govern it and keep security in it.

And in Syria, to assist Syrian forces which we work with to particularly collapse ISIL's control of what they call their capital, which is Raqqah, a city in Syria. We'll do that. That will remove the parent tumor, but it won't of this cancer called ISIL. It's not going to remove all the metastasis. There will be Libya. There will be Afghanistan. And yes, there will be these people in Europe and lone wolves everywhere, and so forth, and we'll need to combat them not just in a military dimension but law enforcement and homeland security.

Now, I'm confident we will and we can, but we have do that, and that's why the Brussels attacks are not a reminder for us because we didn't need one that we need to accelerate the defeat of ISIL. But for anybody who is doubting in Europe, it's a reminder that we have got to accelerate our effort.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And he includes Europe in that. Europe has to accelerate its efforts to defeat ISIS or terrorists not only within Europe but also on the battle field.

With me now to talk more about this, Bob Baer, former CIA operative and a CNN intelligence and security analyst. Welcome, sir.

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Thank you, Carol.

COSTELLO: Hi, Bob.

Secretary Carter made a point of saying Europe's own citizens are carrying out terror attacks. And Europe has to take away the cause. Is it doing that?

BAER: Carol, no. Europe is failing utterly. You look at Belgium. The North African descendents that live there that are citizens, these are not people that can be expelled or sent home. The schools are terrible. They can't get jobs. Youth unemployment is 40 percent. They live in effectively ghettos.

As we've seen over the last couple weeks, they don't cooperate with the police. They look out at outside authority as hostile to them. You know, these people wouldn't have gotten away for so long if they weren't getting support in the community.

So you know, there's a huge, huge problem in Belgium which will take years to fix. And right now they don't have a solution. Yes, they will roll up eventually the Paris network of 13November but in the long term, they have no plans.

[10:35:00]

It's just like in the long term we have no plans for Syria or Iraq.

COSTELLO: OK. Well, let's talk about plans for Syria and Iraq because al Baghdadi, the ISIS leader, is hiding somewhere within Syria or Iraq. We don't know. What we do know is that his troops, for lack of a better term, are providing training for bomb makers. They're inspiring acts of terror in Europe and sometimes in the United States.

Secretary Carter told me sometimes we see the communication between, you know, ISIS terrorists in the field of battle and, you know, terrorists in training, I guess, who are living in Europe and want to get inspiration or training from al Baghdadi.

So how tapped in are we when it comes to intelligence in this area?

BAER: I don't think we're very good, Carol, because they've learned -- they've read Snowden. And even going back to 2004, 2005, they watched how the military and the CIA crushed Zarqawi AQI, al Qaeda in Iraq. They learned from defeats and they changed their tactics.

The same people that were fighting in Iraq moved to Syria and they are now in the Islamic state. They know what they're doing. They can stay off the air. We're not going to get a heads up for the next attack in Europe.

They know how to use encryption. They have this app like telegram that the messages disappear. They're getting much better, and of course they're getting much better at combat in terrorism as we saw in the Paris attacks. Tactically, that was a sound attack. And you could only learn that on the battle fields of Syria or Iraq.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Bob Baer, thanks for joining me this morning.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, President Obama and Hillary Clinton slamming Ted Cruz over his plan to patrol Muslim neighborhoods.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:41:42]

COSTELLO: The Brussels terror attacks having a ripple affect along the 2016 campaign trail.

Donald Trump says he wants to bring back waterboarding, but it's Ted Cruz's call to patrol Muslim neighborhoods that's sparking sharp criticism from the man Cruz wants to replace in the White House along with the Democratic rival.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: As far as the notion of having surveillance of neighborhoods where Muslims are present, I just left a country that engages in that kind of neighborhood surveillance which, by the way, the father of Senator Cruz escaped for America, the land of the free. The notion that we would start down that slippery slope makes absolutely no sense.

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So when Republican candidates like Ted Cruz call for treating American Muslims like criminals and for racially profiling predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, it's wrong. It's counterproductive. It's dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: At a forum in Wisconsin, Ted Cruz fired back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have to say I'm so sorry to be dismaying Barack Obama. I was attacked by Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio which suggests maybe I'm doing something right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: And the New York City police commissioner attacked Ted Cruz's idea as well.

With me now, Ron Brownstein, CNN's senior political analyst and senior editor for the "Atlantic." Welcome, Ron.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Good morning.

COSTELLO: So despite the criticism though Cruz's favorability rating is 60 percent according to the most recent CNN/ORC poll. Donald Trump's is 63 percent. So I guess Cruz's message is resonating.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, they're very similar messages and it is indicative of the some of the challenges that Republicans face.

And also why this is an unstable area of public venue -- first of all it is important to note that Ted Cruz who has made these very incendiary proposals has emerged as pretty much the last hope of the Republican establishment to stop Donald Trump which is an indication of how worried they are of what Trump might mean for the party. But the larger construct here is that Republican voters by and large have majority support for pretty much the most extreme proposals that have come out on trying to deal with the terror threat by increasing surveillance or resisting immigration of Muslims. On the other hand, those ideas do not have majority support in the public. And that is the fundamental conundrum that Republicans face that they have an electorate that is willing to consider ideas that are well beyond what that the public isn't (ph) willing to consider.

COSTELLO: It's funny you mention that because I have more numbers from that same CNN/ORC poll.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COSTELLO: Because when you look at all registered voters, Senator Cruz's approval rating drops to 34 percent.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

COSTELLO: So that could get him in trouble if he faces like -- well, Hillary Clinton's approval ratings aren't so high either.

BROWNSTEIN: Right. Well, the Trump numbers in particular -- I mean, right this is again, this is the challenge Republicans face. They are left with two candidates that most people -- most strategists in the parties have viewed as their least electable out of the cast of thousands that they started with.

[10:45:05]

Donald Trump in that CNN poll in particular is looking at unfavorable ratings that I think are unprecedented for a front-runner at this point in the race. I mean, a disapproval rating -- unfavorable rating of over 80 percent among minority voters, nearly 80 percent among college graduates, nearly three-fourths among women. I mean, these are truly extraordinary numbers. And Cruz as you point out is not far behind.

Hillary Clinton is weak too, but not nearly as weak. And that's why you have so many Republicans who are frustrated that an election that seems within reach for them, they are now left with their -- the two candidates who, as I said, when they started many of them viewed as the least electable.

COSTELLO: So why are so many establishment Republicans who do not like Donald Trump rallying around Ted Cruz? It doesn't make any sense.

BROWNSTEIN: Well, it does in this sense.

I think they view Cruz as a short term risk, and Donald Trump is a long term risk. I mean, right now you can't look at either of them and say that they are a strong general election bet. But if Cruz is the nominee runs and loses, he runs and loses. If Donald Trump is the nominee there is the risk that he rebrands the Republican Party in a lasting way particularly to millennials and minorities as a party of white backlash.

And I think Republicans are more concerned about what Donald Trump would mean long term, even though he would be more competitive in the immediate general election than Ted Cruz might. Look, they are looking at difficult choices here in the sense that if you somehow stop Donald Trump you face the likelihood of a fissure with his supporters, frustrated and leaving the party. If you nominate him you face the likelihood of a fissure with many mainstream Republican saying they can't support him.

So there are a lot of tough choices ahead for Republicans but right now Cruz is pretty much the last horse they have in this effort to stop Trump, even as when we're moving into states where Cruz could face enormous difficult, Carol, because there are very few -- the evangelical voters that he has been relying on once he gets past Wisconsin.

COSTELLO: All right. I have to leave it there. Ron Brownstein, many thanks to you.

I'll be right back.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:57]

COSTELLO: The Obama administration today publicly accused hackers associated with the Iranian government of being behind cyber attacks on U.S. banks and a dam starting back in 2011. U.S. attorney general, Loretta Lynch, and the FBI director, James Comey, spelled out the criminal complaint at a news briefing moments ago including a cyber attack on a dam north of New York City.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNCH: One of the defendants is also charged with illegally obtaining access to the supervisory control and data acquisition system of the Bowman dam in Rye, New York.

At the time of this alleged intrusion, the dam was undergoing maintenance and actually had been disconnected from the system. But for that fact, that access would have given this defendant the ability to control water levels, to control flow rates, an outcome that clearly could have posed a clear and present danger to the public health and safety of Americans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: CNN justice reporter, Evan Perez, is following the story for us.

So who is the defendant and where is he or she?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN JUSTICE REPORTER: Well, Carol, these are defendants that are still in Iran. The charges that were announced today were against seven Iranian hackers in two companies. And the attorney general says that they were working for the Iranian government and that they were behind a series of cyber attacks on dozens of the nation's biggest banks and an intrusion at the small dam, the Bowman Avenue dam, in Rye Brook, New York. It's outside New York City.

This wanted poster that you're showing is what the FBI has issued for these hackers. They're still in Iran. And we're talking about some of the biggest names in finance that were attacked including Bank of America and Wells Fargo. These were denial of service attacks and they were designed to shut down online access to these banks. They caused millions of dollars in damage according to the U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

And the attack on the dam in Rye Brook, New York didn't cause any physical damage, but the intruders managed to get into control systems that would have been able to manage water levels. Something (ph) -- is a very scary proposition for U.S. officials. It was certainly a wakeup call about possible cyber attacks on U.S. utilities. Carol.

COSTELLO: All right. Evan Perez reporting live from Washington this morning. Thank you.

Still to come in the NEWSROOM, several days after the Brussels terror attacks, scores of people remain missing. Now their family and friends are watching and waiting for any news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:57:39]

COSTELLO: In the wake of the Belgium terror attacks, the country is coming together with people around the world to pay tribute to the lives lost and show solidarity to those who survived. But for loved ones of those who are missing, an agonizing wait continues.

CNN's Michaela Pereira share some of their stories.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's horrible beyond imagination.

MICHAELA PEREIRA, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Family members and friends of the missing in the Brussels terror attacks still holding onto hope that their loved ones will be found.

Alexander Pinczowski and his sister Sascha were on the phone with their mother while checking in for their Delta flight to JFK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The phone sounded like it underwater and then went dead.

PEREIRA: Twenty-one year old, Bart Migom, was set to fly to see his girlfriend in Georgia while waiting for a text message from him she decided to call. No one answered.

EMILY EISENMAN, BOYFRIEND MISSING IN BELGIUM ATTACK: It's been the worst days of my life. I just -- I guess I didn't know how much one person can love another until you just don't know where they're at.

Andre Adam, also at the airport. He was with his wife, Danielle, waiting for a flight to Miami. Danielle was found injured but her husband is still missing. Their daughter's angst captured in this Facebook post she says, each ring makes us hope for information.

This missing couple from Tennessee, Stephanie and Justin Shults were walking back from the security gate after dropping off Stephanie's mother when the bombs went off. On Wednesday there was hope that the couple had been found. Justin's brother said his family was contacted by the state department and told the couple was on the injured list, but later a Belgian social worker called his mother saying that information was incorrect. The brother tweeting he was disgusted by the mistake and to keep praying as their family hopes they're found alive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: That was Michaela Pereira reporting. Thanks for that story, Michaela.

For ways you can help the victims of the terror attack in Brussels, go to CNN.com/impact.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello.

"AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now.