Transcripts For CNNW CNN Newsroom With Carol Costello 201503

CNNW CNN Newsroom With Carol Costello March 20, 2015

Part. These blasts targeted the two mosques, the center of their region inside the capital of sanaa. Death tell staggering at 77 with 200 potentially injured. An appeal for blood across state television to be brought by donors to the hospital. Staggering scenes. Carnage shown on social media hard to watch and difficult for us to show to you here. This comes at an extraordinarily volatile time in yemens already fractured and messy politics. In the past few months houthies some backed by iran they say, are efficient at sweeping away the government. They now control sanaa and this attack has all of the hallmarks of al qaeda and many fearing that what were seeing here is a reprisal of sectarian violence across the middle east. Sunni against shia. We dont know who has claimed responsibility for this but the tactics have the hallmarks of al qaeda. The blasts followed up whenres rescuers rushed to the scene with a car bomb. There were months of a very fractured government having seemed to collapse. Nick thank you. I want to discuss this more with cnn terrorism analyst paul cruickshank. Were seeing these early reports indicating that that houthies were targeted in this attack. What does that tell us . Its almost certain this was al qaeda in yemen that carried out this attack. They carried out a string of attacks against houthies over the last several months. Theyve conducted big a suicide bombings against houthies before in the capital of sanaa. There was an attack last october near the Central Square which killed 40 houthies who were demonstrating in the Central Square. As nick was saying theres rising sectarian tension almost like a civic war between houthies who are shia on one side and sunnis on the other. And sunnis are really being driven toward al qaeda. Theyre having extraordinary success at recruiting sunni tribals right now. Powerful sunni tribal factions that are going over to the al qaeda side. Thats allowing al qaeda to expand its presence in the center of the country and the tribal areas of yemen. This is the most active group in terms of plotting attacks against the United States particularly against u. S. Aviation as weve seen over the past few years. So all of this gives it more resources and more space to launch another plot against u. S. Aviation. They have that skilled bombmaker at large with a team of bombmakers making more sophisticated devices to try to get past Airport Security. This is a real crisis for the United States. The counterterrorism strategy in yemen is in tatters. Now that you have basically the houthies that have taken over its difficult for the United States to work with them because houthies slogan is death to america. They also see al qaeda as an enemy and they want to go after al qaeda but you have this worsening sectarian tension. Remember the dynamics that saw rise of isis in iraq. They are outraged by a shia government. Were seeing the same thing in yemen right now. You really bring it home when you talk about trying to get the resources and guest the space to launch an attack on the u. S. Perhaps, 0en a u. S. On a u. S. Target this stretches beyond yemen and we need to Pay Attention to it. Absolute need to Pay Attention to it a real crisis for the United States. Whats going on in yemen is alarming. This group showed capacity in the past to go after u. S. Aviation. We saw the underwear bombing attempt on Christmas Day in 2009. That came close to blowing an airliner out of the sky. Weve seen attempts since then most recently in 2012 with more sophisticated device being prepared. I think everybody watching in d. C. Has to be across this. The trouble is United States does not have diplomatic presence anymore in yemen. Very good point. Paul cruickshank, thanks so much. I want to go to a chilling warning from isis in the wake of that were talking about a different attack. The attack on a tunisian museum. The terror group saying the incident is just the start. Its claiming responsibility for that massacre that killed 23 people that left dozens of others injured. This morning some new details that were getting about some of the suspects. According to Tunisia Security minister two individuals linked to the attack traveled to libya in december and received weapons training there. Officials believe that both suspects were activated by sleeper cells. Thats how theyre crying ingdescribing this. In tunis, the sound of screaming and gunshots replaced by celebrations as the country marks its independence day. Lets bring in cnns phil black now. Hes on the ground now for us in tunisia. Some celebrations there but certainly a lot of concern, phil. Reporter thats right. Here on the streets lots of people coming up to us today asking us to tell the world what they say tunisia is really like and that is happy, stable prosperous hopeful for the future and they dont want the image of this country to be tarnished by the attack of this week. There is no doubt that that attack has changed the mood in this country and indeed the posture of the government and its attitude toward security here as well. Theres a security presence here on the streets that weve seen for ourselves. Its very noticeable. And indeed the authorities here are now very concerned with the Ongoing Investigation to try to determine just how this attack took place and to ensure that it doesnt happen again. That would seem to be a very difficult task. The government here has stated that the two gunmen are believed to have trained across the border in libya. What is effectively very close to a failing state, fracturing lawless territory where islam and jihadist groups are thriving and prospering and then cross back here to carry out the attack itself. The concern here obviously is that Something Like that could happen again with the border between these two countries very difficult to secure. On top of that there is the ongoing effort as well to repatriate the injured and the dead to their countries of origin across western europe across asia as well. 23 victims in all. Most of them International Tourists who were here aboard those cruise ships. We know the governments have been visiting the morgue and hospitals. Those that are able to travel have been moving back. Theres been that extraordinary story of a Spanish Group that spent 24 hours in the museum discovered yesterday morning many hours after the attack that finished that hid fearing not knowing what was going on outside. Their families back home in spain really desperately worried about them. Take a listen to this. Translator christina had been missing for hours and we were very worried. We didnt know if she was dead or injured. Finally she called me this morning with shaky voice telling me that a Police Officer had found them hidden in the cleaning supply room where they were hiding for 24 hours because during the shooting they saw people dying and they hid in there. Reporter the expectation is that that spanish couple will return to spain likely today but aboard a flight that will also be carrying countrymen who did not survive that attack. Brianna . All right. Phil black, thank you so much in the capital of tunisia. We have some breaking news about those bomb attacks in yemen. The death toll just ratcheting up here. We understand now that 120 people have been killed. 300 injured and this is a number that could very well go up. Lets bring in Nick Paton Walsh. Hes monitoring the situation in the capital of yemen from beirut. Staggering numbers. Staggering numbers here nick. Reporter absolutely. More than doubling in just the past hour or so as i think those in the yemeni capital try to come to terms with these blasts that hit two mosques in an area which is predominantly occupied by the houthies. Suicide bombers walking into crowds of worshippers and people around to have secondary devices causing huge numbers of dead and injured. 300 injured including its fair to say some Senior Leaders and politicians from the Houthi Movement. They are vitally important because in the past months theyve some say with iranian support swept to power in the capital sanaa pushing aside the internationally recognized government of the president of yemen and taking control of the capital. Increasing tension between them and those loyal to the president and those loyal to sunni tribes in the country really and many fearing that when you see in those blasts first and then second one so familiar to al qaeda tactics in the region here. Many concerned that these blasts today mark a new chapter in which potentially sunni extremists are targeting shia who are the majority there in the Houthi Movement as well. A complex picture but of course at the heart of it this tremendous loss of life in sanaa today and a third blast in north of the country which seems to have claimed less lives but shows the level of coordination behind these attacks. How are we expecting these numbers to change in the coming hours, nick . Reporter medical care is hard to come by to a high level in sanaa. Hospitals are appealing for blood donations that could impact figures as we move forward. Of course these are coming from houthi officials so to some degree they want to explain the level of casualties and trauma that their supporters are following as a result of these blasts. The key thing that america is watching here is quite how this impacts the level of instability in yemen. Its already frankly a failed failing state. Deeply volatile because of the loss of government and instability there and u. S. Had to close its embassy in sanaa and that has impacted the counterterrorism program. The use of drones and a base there inside yemen. Does this potential surge toward sectarian violence which is how it looks like with the mosques being targeted. The hallmarks of al qaeda. Does that bring another lightning rod of volatility and violence thats already deeply troubled country. So vital for interests for all nations across the region. Brianna . Vital in a country that the Obama Administration had held as a Success Story until somewhat recently which we can obviously see by the numbers today its not. Well have more on this breaking news. 120 people were finding out killed now in yemen in these bomb attacks. Almost 300 hurt. Well have more breaking news in just a moment. Of all the places in your house, this ones the busiest. So you want it to be the cleanest. Thats why you need lysol. Because when you use bleach, some stains are left behind. As this dye reveals. Lysol toilet bowl cleaner does more. It removes the tough stains that bleach doesnt and it also disinfects. So why just bleach . With lysol you can do more. Thats healthing. And get max cleaning and freshness with every flush. Try lysol no mess max. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 million people. [ alex ] transamerica helped provide a lifetime of retirement income. So i can focus on what matters most. 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Its helping to keep us young. vo visit your local retailer and feel the tempurpedic difference for yourself. This is scary. A Government Watchdog Group is reporting a significant breach in Aviation Security after revealed that the tsa let a convicted felon and former member of a Domestic Terror Group pass through a prescreened Airport Security check. Cnn aviation and government regulation correspondent rene marsh following this story. It sort of is baffling. How did this happen . Reporter absolutely. I can tell you that this Watchdog Group isnt happy about this. The department of Homeland Security office of Inspector General is sounding the alarm because they say this felon and former Domestic Terror Group member was given expedited screening at a u. S. Airport last summer. Its a less stringent screening process usually reserved for lowrisk passengers. You get to keep your shoes on and your coat on. Laptop can stay in the bag. The report says that the traveler who was involved in numerous criminal activistties some involved explosives and murder this person was allowed that expedited screening. How did this happen . You can apply for precheck or youre randomly picked for precheck. In this particular case he was randomly picked based on biographical information he provided to the airline and tsa also ran his name through data bases like the nofly list. His name did not appear on those lists. The tsa is being scolded here for allowing an unknown passenger through precheck and unknown when you consider how much information who actually apply for the program have to provide like fingerprints and criminal background. Ive done it. You basically have an interview. Its a pretty stringent process you go through. How does the tsa address this . How do they make sure that this doesnt become a norm or that it isnt the norm . Reporter the tsa is Standing Firm on the fact this mans name was not on the nofly list. They say if his name wasnt on the list that must mean that he was not an Aviation Security threat. The agency said in a statement that all passengers are essentially screened and there are multiple layers when it comes to security. So theyre Standing Firm here that because his name wasnt on the list that is the list that they use to determine who is okay and who is not. I imagine many people dont find that particularly comforting. Rene marsh, thank you very much. I want to get into this more with congressman benny thompson. A democrat from mississippi and Ranking Member of the committee on Homeland Security for the house of representatives. Congressman, you just heard this report. You know all about this. How is this possible . I understand that hes not on the nofly list. Hes a convicted murderer. Hes a former member of a Domestic Terror Group. How is he allowed to go through that tsa precheck line . First of all, he should not have been allowed to get into the precheck list. He should have gone into the regular passenger line. He should not have been afforded the courtesy of being in precheck. Do you think this is a failure on the part of the tsa . Theres no question its a failure on part of the precheck system. The problem is tsa is trying to defend what they did. What i plan to do is offer legislation to make sure that this does not happen again. It was unfortunate that a whistleblower had to bring this to our attention and not our system. If this person had applied through regular precheck, he would have been turned down. He would not have been denied the right to fly on a plane. We would have known that this person had a history that was suspect. And we would take notice. Now, the other problem is even when the whistleblower saw this person he had no authority to deny that person the right to get on the plane. And so thats a problem also. So you have this watchdog report and its saying that the felon was spotted by an eagle eyed agent but otherwise no one noticed. Do you think that this is just the one incident that weve seen and there may be other lapses like this . Well theres no question that this Inclusion Program needs to be fixed. Thats how he got into the pre precheck line anyway. My legislation would take the guessing out of it and requires science and running data bases against those individuals. So that the only people who are in precheck will be those individuals who have been vetted. Not somebody who looks at somebody who is traveling and say get in the precheck line. Thats not security. I will tell you, before i had tsa precheck i would occasionally be allowed to go into the precheck line. I loved it. It was great. I wondered what i was doing there. We know youre introducing this bill next week. We plan to fix it. Well be waiting to see this bill that you introduced. Thank you so much. And still to come the u. S. Led Nuclear Talks with iran slide into a recess. Officials say theyll pick back up next week. Is there still time to reach a deal . The clock is ticking. Theres a march 31st deadline. When it comes to good nutrition. Im no expert. That would be my daughter hi dad. Shes a dietitian. And back when i wasnt eating right, she got me drinking boost. Its got a great taste and it helps give me the nutrition i was missing. Helping me stay more like me. [ female announcer ] boost complete nutritional drink has 26 essential vitamins and minerals, including calcium and vitamin d to support strong bones and 10 grams of protein to help maintain muscle. All with a delicious taste. Grandpa [ female announcer ] stay strong, stay active with boost. Theres nothing more romantic than a spontaneous moment. So why pause to take a pill . And why stop what youre doing to find a bathroom . With cialis

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