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Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto Assassinated; Violence Breaks Out in Pakistan

Aired December 27, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: She was an outspoken voice for reform and a fierce critic of her country's U.S.-backed government. Today that voice has been silenced.
Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is dead. This still image from photographer John Moore of Getty Images captured her final moments waving to supporters from atop her armored vehicle.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: She was killed right after a political rally, struck down by gunfire just before a suicide bomber attacked her motorcade. Bhutto's main political rival, President Pervez Musharraf, is blaming terrorists

LEMON: And word of Bhutto's death brought chaos to the streets. Vandalism, fires and attacks on police. And we're going to talk to someone who is witnessing that as we speak.

Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta

KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, sitting in for Kyra Phillips.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

From President Bush, a strong condemnation of Benazir Bhutto's assassination. Mr. Bush just got off the phone with Pakistani president Musharraf, and CNN's Kathleen Koch is joining us now from the White House.

Hi, Kathleen. What have you learned?

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, we are told by Deputy Press Secretary Scott Stanzel that that phone call between the two leaders took place at about 1:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Stanzel would not characterize the call, only to say that it was though a brief conversation.

Now, certainly the White House right now is grappling with the immense policy implications of this brutal assassination, watching with great concern these images of unrest in the streets of Pakistan. The U.S. certainly does not want to see a chief ally in the war on terror, an ally possessing nuclear weapons, spiral out of control.

Now, to that end, Stanzel, in a briefing with reporters earlier, urged calm in the streets of Pakistan. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke to Bhutto's husband offering the United States condolences. And then the president himself went before cameras in Crawford, Texas, this morning saying that the U.S. "stands with the people of Pakistan in their struggle against the forces of terror and extremism."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States strongly condemns this cowardly act by murderous extremists who are trying to undermine Pakistan's democracy. Those who committed this crime must be brought to justice.

Mrs. Bhutto served her nation twice as prime minister and she knew that her return to Pakistan earlier this year put her life at risk and. Yet she refused to allow assassins to dictate the course of her country

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOCH: And to that end, Mr. Bush suggested that it would be a fitting way to honor Bhutto's memory to continue the democratic process. Reporters peppered Stanzel with questions about whether or not the elections which are less than two weeks away should be delayed. Stanzel replied only that that's a matter for the people of Pakistan to decide and "What they believe is right in terms of advancing democracy is what we would support."

Brianna.

KEILAR: Kathleen Koch with reaction from the Bush administration.

Thanks, Kathleen

KOCH: You bet.

LEMON: We've been talking about the violence that has erupted throughout the country following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto. And joining us now by telephone is Todd Baer. He's on the phone. He's in Lahore.

Where you are seeing some violence breaking out there. Talk to us about that.

TODD BAER, JOURNALIST: Well, Don, we are getting reports of three or four buses, a handful of buses, overturned and set on fire, some minor unrest here. No reports on any injuries at the moment.

Lahore is widely considered Pakistan's most secure and calmest big city, so no surprise there, but we're still waiting to try to gauge how this is all going to unfold. I mean, this is still very new news here in Pakistan, as it is in the rest of the world.

Meanwhile, in the south of the country, in Karachi, the nation's biggest city, we are seeing images on many of the private television channels here of fires breaking out into the streets and people openly weeping in the streets. Near riot conditions in bigger cities like Karachi and Islamabad. LEMON: All right.

You say you're seeing some buses on fire, also overturned. Out on the streets, describe to us what you're seeing as far as security or police. Are you seeing police and security forces out trying to combat this?

BAER: Yes. I mean, the police are out in the streets and trying to do their best to control this. I mean, up here in Lahore.

It is relatively calm all over the country. They are doing their level best to control the crowds that have taken into the streets, many of them Benazir Bhutto supporters that are setting these vehicles on fire and protesting in the streets.

Back here in Lahore, we have heard some gunfire into the air. That is not uncommon here, sometimes it's for celebration. But clearly on this occasion we know why it is, over the assassination over Benazir Bhutto

LEMON: You've covered this and you've seen these types of situations before. The violence there can quickly escalate, and what I want to ask you is what -- what sort of pressure does this put on Pervez Musharraf to get security forces out in the streets and to combat this?

BAER: Well, the pressure on President Pervez Musharraf is enormous now. It was -- it was a little less than enormous before today, but now it is as high as it can be. He has a lot of pressure to try to get some of the order back into this country.

Now, it wasn't long ago, a month ago that -- a month and a half ago, rather, that he put the military into the streets. No word on if he will take that measure again, but, you know, he's done it before and it may call for that this time around, because as you said, the violence can very easily and quickly spin out of control, and it is on the verge of doing that right now

LEMON: All right. Todd Baer, thank you so much for that report by telephone.

Of course we are keeping a close eye on this. As he said, the violence can escalate there, and that is really what the world is watching. The administration here concerned about security there, but also security worldwide as it affects the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

KEILAR: Pakistan is one of the world's nuclear powers, and the country's military is now on alert. Let's go now to CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr with more on this aspect of the story.

Hi, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Hello to you, Brianna. I must tell you that in the last several hours, U.S. officials from several government agencies here in Washington are telling us that they are hearing the Pakistani military has indeed now gone on what they call in Pakistan red alert. The U.S. is scrambling to figure out exactly what that means, clearly a higher state of alert for Pakistani security forces.

"Red alert" is a term that they use in Pakistan, perhaps, not directly applicable to the U.S. military, so they are looking at this hour to try and determine what exactly that means. Of course, as we see these pictures of violence breaking out across the cities of Pakistan on the streets, a good deal of concern, as everyone has been saying that this violence does not become such a factor of instability that the country there unravels. That is a massive concern to the Bush administration, to the Pentagon, to the intelligence community at this hour.

As far as the nuclear weapons of Pakistan go, U.S. officials are telling us that they have no reason to believe, in their words, that the nuclear weapons are any less secure than the U.S. has understood them to be in the last several weeks, especially since this security emergency. No one is able to tell us whether President Bush and President Musharraf actually spoke about that, whether the Pakistani government or President Musharraf have in the last hours given the U.S. updated reassurances about the nuclear weapons, but the U.S. view at moment is there's no reason to believe they are not secure.

All of that being said, Brianna, clearly for the U.S. administration, for the Pentagon, for the U.S. government, the issue is instability. If this situation in Pakistan, if President Musharraf and his security forces cannot bring this under control as soon as possible, it is a matter of grave concern for the U.S. Why? Because the U.S. has long believed that al Qaeda, al Qaeda sympathizers, are finding a growing safe haven in Pakistan.

As this situation continues, that safe haven grows. That's something the U.S. does not want to see -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, great perspective there. Thanks, Barbara.

Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon.

LEMON: Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan in October, but her husband and her children, they stayed in Dubai. And that's where CNN's Wilf Dinnick spoke with Bhutto's husband as the family left to catch a plane for Pakistan. And Wilf joins us now from Dubai.

Tell us about that conversation you had with her husband, Wilf.

WILF DINNICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The team spoke to him twice. In fact, two very short conversations.

They were so short because he hung up the phone absolutely devastated. He could not carry on the conversation, but his sentiments were there.

He was grieving. He said it was just the beginning of his mourning and he wasn't sure where it was going to go from there.

We were outside his house, which is in a very wealthy neighborhood just outside the city of Dubai. They just moved there recently. We're told for more security. It has a big villa with a lot of walls around it.

Now, tonight, the scene, there were several reporters around, the army, different police officers and security protecting the family there. But as you said, they are on their way to Karachi now.

The son is 19 years old, and apparently he was stricken with grief, inconsolable on his journey back to see his mother's body, or to the grave, or at least to mourn her with extended family and supporters. There's two other daughters, 14 and 11.

But, yes, that conversation with Benazir Bhutto's husband was a tough one. He was grief-stricken, his voice crackling on several occasions -- Don.

LEMON: Yes. Well, I can only imagine.

Did he speak to you about security issues beyond what's happening there in Dubai? Because she wrote to us at CNN.com not long ago about the problems that she had with security, and she felt that she was not being -- she was not secure enough, there weren't enough security forces around her, and that Pervez Musharraf may in some way have been preventing that.

DINNICK: He didn't speak to that. I mean, at this time he really just wanted to get to Karachi to be with the mourners, and, as I said, the extended family. He didn't say too much about the safety issues. But, yes, it was something that everyone knew, and she even spoke about it, as we've seen here on CNN, about how she knew she was taking risks, even though she was a mother of three.

And, in fact, we spoke to several neighbors, people around her, and they said that she would freely walk the street here in Dubai. Of course, very different than it is in Pakistan. But she would walk the streets, chat with neighbors, often invite them into tea, to have tea with her. Very friendly, very family-oriented, and a very different picture than the one we see obviously in Pakistan -- Don.

LEMON: Obviously.

Wilf Dinnick, thank you very much.

And obviously very trusting, as we saw from that photograph from Getty Images not long ago of her standing in the sunroof of that vehicle. There it is, that vehicle, that SUV, right there.

Again, this is courtesy of Getty Images. It is believed to be the shot taken, the photograph taken just before Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, her standing in the roof of this car. And there's some concern about this.

Some wonder why she may have done this after, Brianna, in October there was an assassination attempt on her when her motorcade -- and chaos ensued from there and people ended up dying. And if this photograph was taken just moments before she was assassinated, some may wonder why she was standing up.

KEILAR: That's right. More than 120 bystanders -- or her supporters were killed back in October, but she had said she wasn't going to let people -- she wasn't going to let militants or terrorists dictate her course.

LEMON: Right. Yes.

KEILAR: And obviously until the end she held true to that.

And if the instability in Pakistan makes Americans nervous, consider India, Pakistan's neighbor and longtime nuclear rival. We're going to go live to New Delhi for reaction to the slaying of Benazir Bhutto.

LEMON: And also in other news, remember that tiger we've been talking about? How did it escape its pen at the San Francisco Zoo? We have new details about the deadly attack and the condition of the two survivors.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: "Washington Post" correspondent Griff Witte has covered Benazir Bhutto since her return in October. He's been at the hospital in Rawalpindi throughout the day, and he's joining us now on the phone.

Thanks so much for being with us.

First question for you, can you just describe the scene at the hospital?

GRIFF WITTE, "WASHINGTON POST": Well, it was an incredibly chaotic scene. IT started with a couple of dozen of her supporters showing up at the hospital. And at beginning there were just reports that she had been injured, but it wasn't clear how severely.

And about half an hour after that, the report came out that she had indeed died. And at that point, there was just a tremendous outpouring of grief and also anger.

It started with about several dozen, as I mentioned, but it quickly swelled to a crowd of hundreds and then several thousand people who gathered at the hospital to really (INAUDIBLE) in sadness, and also to chant anti-Musharraf slogans. There was a strong sense among those who were there that Musharraf should be held responsible for this attack.

KEILAR: Tell us what this means for the political situation in Pakistan, for stability. I mean, obviously there's a sense even though she hadn't been elected or reelected, that there could be some sort of leadership void, because before it was Benazir Bhutto as one of the major political players, as well as President Musharraf, and, of course, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

What is the situation now?

WITTE: Well, her death is a major political void. She had led the largest party in the country, a party that was expected to do relatively well in next month's elections. And had it done well, she would have been in prime position to win her old job back, to become prime minister for a third time. And this was certainly something that the United States had been hoping for that -- they had been hoping that the moderate forces in Pakistan, which the U.S. was defining as Benazir Bhutto and President Musharraf, that they could somehow get together and form a coalition government and find a way, despite a history of animosity between the two, to work together to combat extremist forces in the country.

KEILAR: And aside from any sort of leadership void, just tell us, what does this do to the national psyche? How will Pakistanis as a whole respond to this, do you think?

WITTE: Well, it's a crushing blow, and it's a crushing blow that comes in a year of really remarkable turmoil for the country. She had come back just two months ago to the country after eight years of exile and welcomed by two suicide attackers who killed 140 people. Beyond that, we had a declaration of emergency in Pakistan just a little over a month ago, and we've had various -- we've had a very large surge of suicide attacks over the last six months or so.

So it's a country that is really in great turmoil right now, and it's expected that this attack today will only add to that turmoil. Already we've seen her supporters take to the streets in anger, torching buses, torching police cars, and I imagine that we will probably see more of that in the coming days.

KEILAR: And Griff, you know, this has been a possibility. This obviously wasn't the first attempt on Bhutto's life. As a journalist who has covered her since her return in mid-October, how much of a reality was this for you? Obviously you considered this to be a possibility, that you could be covering the story that you're covering today?

WITTE: Well, I think everyone knew that this was possible, but no one had expected it. I know that at the hospital today people were really quite shocked.

They were not shocked that there had been an attempt on her life, because everyone knew that was a possibility. But shocked that the attacker had succeeded, that this woman who had survived so much over the last 30 years of being in public life, who has survived assassination attempts before, plots before, she had survived long periods of incarceration under military regimes, there was a real surprise and shock and real profound grief that the fact that she is now gone.

KEILAR: And Griff, of course she was throwing her hat in the ring for the January 8th parliamentary elections. Those elections seen as possibly bringing certainty after President Musharraf had declared emergency rule in November.

What is it now going to mean for that, for those elections? There's speculation that they aren't going to go on, especially with another major figure, Nawaz Sharif, saying he's boycotting them.

WITTE: That's right. Benazir Bhutto had been a major advocate for going ahead with these elections. She felt that they were necessary for Pakistan's transition to democracy. Nawaz Sharif had very reluctantly agreed to go along with Bhutto's plan, with her strategy of participating in the elections and forming something of a united front against Musharraf.

Now that she is gone, Nawaz Sharif has said that he will not be participating in the elections, his party will not be participating in the elections. And it's really unclear whether the elections can go forward. They were scheduled to be just under two weeks from now, and obviously with the country in this amount of turmoil and this amount of despair, it would be tough to imagine no elections. But anti- Musharraf forces say that that is exactly what he wants, that he is hoping to just postpone it.

KEILAR: All right. Well, I'm afraid we're losing you a bit there, so we're going to say good-bye. But thanks so much for giving us perspective here.

That's "Washington Post" correspondent Griff Witte joining us on the phone there from Pakistan.

LEMON: We're going to continue to follow that story, of course, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, but we're also working on other stories for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: 1953 to 2007, Benazir Bhutto. We are following that developing story, the assassination of the former prime minister. And we're use our worldwide resources.

You're looking at pictures now from Al-Jazeera; from GEO TV, an independent Pakistani television station; Pakistani TV, which is a state-run television station; and ARY TV, which is based in Dubai. It is opposition television. Also, we're monitoring IBN in India, which we're going to talk to an anchor and reporter there very shortly about the situation facing India, which borders Pakistan.

Pakistan and India are political and military rivals. We know that again and again, they have gone to war over the Kashmir region along their shared borders.

Now, let's get the Indian reaction to Benazir Bhutto's death. Suhasini Haidar, from our sister network, CNN-IBN, she is standing by for us in New Delhi. Thank you so much for joining us today.

I want to get to the crux of this though, because this whole idea of nuclear proliferation which the U.S. is concerned about, especially when it concerns Benazir Bhutto, this all started as a response to nuclear tests conducted by India in the 1990s.

SUHASINI HAIDAR, CNN-IBN: Well, certainly, Don, tensions between India and Pakistan at that time were very high, and the nuclear weaponry on both sides has been of concern to the entire world. However, those concerns have now passed, particularly because India and Pakistan have much better relations.

In fact, the reaction to Benazir Bhutto's death in India has been across the board, across the political spectrum. We've seen from the prime minister to members of every party coming up and saying she was a brave and courageous lady. She took India and Pakistan ties forward in every visit she made.

In fact, Benazir spent quite a lot of visits -- quite a lot of visits to India during her time in exile from Pakistan as well. And as recently when I spoke to her about a month ago over the telephone, she was talking about how she wanted to put India and Pakistan relations back on track as soon as -- as soon as she could -- Don.

LEMON: Right. And Suhasini, let's talk about this, because people may not -- as we look at this map -- and I'm glad you guys put this up -- because we've got Iran, we've got Afghanistan, we've got China and India and Pakistan, all bordering each other, a very volatile region. And India certainly plays a big role in that.

Explain to our viewers here in the U.S. about just how volatile that region is, and if there is instability in Pakistan, how this might affect this entire region and the rest of the world.

HAIDAR: In fact, Don, Pakistan is right there in the middle of it all, so of course it affects all the region around. Let me tell you, within practically minutes of news coming in that Benazir Bhutto had been killed, the Indian government put forces on high alert, put a special red alert across the India/Pakistan border, because this is, of course, a very porous border.

India constantly talking about militants that come across the border to carry out attacks -- to carry out attacks in India. So, yes, India very concerned about the possibility of instability there in Pakistan.

It affects not just us. It affects Afghanistan. In fact, President Hamid Karzai was one of the last people to meet Benazir Bhutto when he made his trip to Pakistan to talk about how to resolve this issue of terror. And as you pointed out, on the other border there is Iran. So really, not just a volatile country, but all that volatility affecting all the countries close to it.

LEMON: And as far as the way you're covering it there in India with IBN, CNN-IBN, which is, again, our sister network in India, number one, you haven't seen any violence in India? And if there is something you can pinpoint on in your coverage in India to get us to understand exactly what you're doing, how this affects you as we leave here, can you talk to us about that?

HAIDAR: Right. Well, Don, it isn't just the fact that Benazir was a big subcontinental leader that makes such a chord with Indians across the country. We've seen people writing in, we've seen people here telling us -- in fact, on the streets as well, telling us that they are quite shocked by her death.

One of the reasons also is Benazir belongs to a tragic dynasty. She's the fourth member of that dynasty to die an unnatural death, very like the Gandhis in India. Three of them have died, too, to assassin bullets, one to a plane crash. So there is that common chord between these two dynasties and between the two people of Indian and Pakistan as a result.

LEMON: OK. Suhasini Haidar, thank you so much. It's good to talk to you again. Wish it was under different circumstances.

Take care.

KEILAR: How will Benazir Bhutto's assassination affect Pakistan and the world? We'll ask an expert in international security.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We are following the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto it happened earlier today. And, we're looking at ramifications not just for Pakistan, but for relations between Pakistan and the United States and for other nations around the world. Let's go now to Jim Walsh, an International Security Analyst and terrorism expert at MIT. He's joining us from Newton, Massachusetts. Thanks for being with us

JIM WALSH, INTL. SECURITY ANALYST, MIT: Good to be with you, Brianna.

KEILAR: And I want to ask you first about -- there's so many questions to be answered in terms of security, but let's start with Pakistan. What does this mean for the security of that country? We've seen already at least near riot conditions if not all-out rioting

WALSH: Well, that's the right question to ask, what people are concerned about today is stability in Pakistan. Will this somehow trigger events that will have broader repercussions. I think what we are going to see is we'll see violence in the next coming days, but at the end of the day we will see the army, the military reassert control.

Over the past decade of Pakistani's troubled past the military has been the central political and social institution. It will no doubt attempt to reassert control. There will be sporadic violence, but we're probably not going to have elections. We're going to probably have a state of emergency. But, whether there's elections or not since the other candidate is boycotting the elections, President Musharraf's party will hold power and the military will attempt to assert itself. So, things should be okay, the question here -- the big but is there are so many fires going on; sectarian violence, political violence, Islamist violence. Can they hold it all together? And you just don't know ...

KEILAR: Let's talk about that. If Musharraf again declares emergency rule as he did in November, that meant suspending the constitution, at least ousting the supreme court, big measures that, of course, the United States government frowned upon saying that it didn't promote democracy at all. What is this going to mean for U.S./Pakistani relations?

WALSH: Well, I think it means they're going to be like the couple that was going to divorce, but then had to get back together even though they don't like each other very much. Remember, it was the U.S. who was really bringing (ph) Benazir Bhutto, encouraging her to come back to Pakistan. Now, this has gone very, very badly and the U.S. is left with really Musharraf because they have to have stability.

They have to be able to calm the situation down, and so I think the U.S. will continue to provide aid to Pakistan. It will continue to support the army and General Musharraf, who is no longer a general I guess. But, at the end of the day, they're are going to have qualms about the lack of democracy but they are going to go for security first.

KEILAR: Let's talk now about what this means, two subjects we want to cover quickly. What does this mean for the fight against terrorism? Obviously al Qaeda experiencing a resurgence, some people would say it's thriving along the border region with Afghanistan. What will this mean?

WALSH: Well, Brianna that's the question. What will happen for Pakistan? Because most of the insurgents, that are going into Pakistan and killing U.S. troops and European troops and the government, they are coming from -- into Afghanistan or coming from Pakistan. That's what my Afghan friends tell me, so that's where it will real be felt.

Maybe there will be a crackdown because of this and there will be less of it, or maybe there will be a call to action that will draw more jihadist. Hard to say, but that's the point where the rubber will meet road.

KELAR: And of course, Jim, Pakistan, a nuclear nation as well as its rival and neighbor India, also a nuclear nation. We've heard from some experts who have said it's not really a concern that the nuclear weapons are not secure. Is this something you would be concerned about?

WALSH: Well, I would agree with most of those experts in so far as what is happening on the ground is sort of removed from what is happening in terms of control and custody of the nuclear weapons, but if things continue to unravel, or if the military is unable to maintain control, or if something flares up in the frontier regions, if the state, the control of the state is called into question then, yes, it would be a problem, but people do not think it's going to happen in the near term.

But it's out there. It's in the mix of possibilities. That's what you worry about

KEILAR: Of course, a concern for India, a concern for the U.S. we'll be keeping our eye on that. Jim Walsh, an International Security Analyst and terrorism expert at MIT. Thanks, Jim.

WALSH: Thank you, Brianna.

LEMON: Brianna, we're getting new information by the minute. News from Pakistan and reaction from around the world. Want to check in now with two of our resources at CNN, Josh Levs he's monitoring the news online, and at the international desk right here in the newsroom is CNN's Isha Sesay. Isha, we will begin with you. What are you finding?

ISHA SESAY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don as you would expect with a news story of this magnitude we're monitoring all outlets from Pakistan and in the region. We're monitoring three different TV networks that we want to just keep our viewers abreast of. The independent network GEO TV, the government run station, Pakistan TV, and ARY TV, that's an opposition network run out of Dubai.

Now, we're getting fresh word out of Pakistan, we're hearing that Benazir Bhutto's husband and their three children have now arrived in Pakistan. Now, Don conflicting reports as to what actually caused the deaths of Benazir Bhutto. Was she killed by shrapnel. Was it a bullet wound?

According to a doctor that's being quoted by the Associated Press, this is a doctor reportedly at that hospital in Rawalpindi where her body was taken. He was saying that she died of a gunshot wound. That is what we're hearing. Everyone here on the international desk is working right now to confirm that news.

You're seeing that video of Benazir Bhutto's casket being carried by a huge crowd of mourners in Rawalpindi. ARY TV is reporting that Bhutto will be buried by tomorrow evening in the same small town where her father and two brothers are laid to rest. We're also hearing that Bhutto's casket is being taken to a nearby airport right now, and her body will be flown by helicopter to her final resting place.

Her husband and three children will accompany her body. Her grave is now being prepared. As I said a short time ago, we understand her husband and her three children have now arrived in Pakistan. They made the journey from Dubai to Pakistan.

Now -- just a cruel twist of irony today's assassination of Benazir Bhutto happened in Rawalpindi Park which is named after Pakistan's first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan he was assassinated, Don, in that same location where Benazir Bhutto was attacked. And another thing to bring up for our viewers, Bhutto's father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, former president and prime minister of Pakistan, he was executed in a spot close to where Bhutto was attacked earlier on Thursday.

I want to throw it now to Josh

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Isha, and thank you. Thanks for that. You know, when something awful like this happens, this kind of tragedy, part of what it is about really is what this person has symbolized to people all over the world in Pakistan -- but also what she has been as a symbol to people all over the world.

Well, 2007, almost 2008 -- one of the best ways to find that out is to take a look at what people are telling us right here at cnn.com. Minutes after the news broke we started hearing from people all over the world. What I want to do is show you right here, we've got cnn.com up. There's a section on the main story where anyone is able to send in responses, your thoughts, your feelings.

And, I'm going to give you a couple of examples right now. We heard from Fattin who tells us, our beloved Benazir, you died fighting our cause. We will carry this flag for you. I wept when I met you and I weep now. We also heard from Kevin. This woman was one of the most powerful in the Middle East and could've changed the course of human events. This act was that of a coward, a third-rate punk, and an infidel of humanity.

Now, we're also taking a look right now at some of the blogs inside Pakistan, and I want you to see one in particular that we found it's getting a lot of hits. It's one of the most popular blogs in Pakistan from what we understand it's called Metroblogging Mumbai.

And here is what we can tell you about it, this is a sad day for Pakistan. Bhutto was not perfect, but at least she was for a Democratic process. Democracy once again dies with her. Our condolences to the people of Pakistan from Metroblogging Mumbai. And I did check, it's Mumbai in the (ph) name, but indeed it's a lot of bloggers inside Pakistan and they are hearing from people inside Pakistan.

And guess who else we heard from? We -- here at cnn.com at the dotcom desk, we received a video today from a relative of Benazir Bhutto. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FAISAL BHUTTO, COUSIN: It's just sad that a country with such potential, such talent, such great resources is held back every time there is something good is about to happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: So clearly, he's sharing his thoughts. We're going to be doing is throughout today we're going to bring you more of what he has to say, as well as what people are writing to us at cnn.com, and what people in the region are writing on blogs. Obviously we're keeping a close eye on that trying to show what we can.

And we're showing you right now an image of cnn.com. And one of the easiest ways to send us your videos, your thoughts, your responses. Just go to cnn.com, click on the i-report logo, it's almost impossible to miss. That's your way of sharing your videos with us. You can send us sound, you can send us a story, what did she symbolize to you. We'd love to hear from you.

So Don, Brianna, we're at the dot.com desk, we're going to keep following that throughout the afternoon.

LEMON: Absolutely. Josh Levs, and also Isha Sesay joining us from the international desk. We appreciate your team coverage on this issue. Thank you very much, and we'll see how the markets are reacting to the assassination news.

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LEMON: Well, oil prices are trading near record highs following the death of Benazir Bhutto. Our Susan Lisovicz is at the New York Stock Exchange with that and the rest of the market reaction.

Hi, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.

Well, Bhutto's death was felt on Wall Street immediately after the news was announced about an hour before the opening bell. Stocks were deteriorating, at least stock's futures were deteriorating. We're seeing a selloff right now, that's accelerating while oil and gold are moving in the other direction, which is common when there is high instability in the world.

Traders I spoke to say the effect on oil prices is more psychological than substantive. Whenever there's a terrorist attack, it makes people nervous. It's as simple as that. Pakistan is not an oil producer but it borders Iran, which is.

And Pakistan, of course, is a major ally in the War Against Terror, as well as a nuclear power. But that's not the only factor sending oil prices sharply higher today. A government report that came out after the market opened showed larger than expected declines in crude and heating oil supplies last week. Now oil is trading near record highs, just below $97 per barrel. Put it all together, we're look at a sharp selloff for stocks.

Right now the Dow Industrials close to session lows, down 158 points at 13,393. All 30 Dow stocks, by the way, are in the red. The NASDAQ Composite, meanwhile, is down 31 points or also one percent. But this is coming on a day where we're seeing extremely light volume because so many people are just simply not participating. It is Christmas week and we're going to expect that volume to continue, that light volume continue tomorrow as well -- Don.

LEMON: You never know, Susan. We expected it to be a light...

LISOVICZ: News day...

LEMON: ...week in terms of news. Yes, so you never know. There's always something happening in the world.

LISOVICZ: That's for sure.

LEMON: We'll check back with you. Thank you very much.

LISOVICZ: You're welcome.

KEILAR: Several presidential candidates are reacting to Benazir Bhutto's assassination. Let's go now to CNN's Suzanne Malveaux. She is with the Clinton campaign in Denison, Iowa.

And Suzanne, you know, following this assassination we saw just a flood of responses from candidates. What are you hearing from the Clinton campaign?

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brianna, really just days away from the Iowa caucuses, anything can change the political landscape, including the assassination of this key U.S. ally, Benazir Bhutto. And really, some campaigns were subtle, some not so subtle, over the opportunity here to present a showdown, a debate over who's got the foreign policy chops to make sure that that region, that part of the world, does not implode. We heard from many different candidates.

Earlier today we heard from Senator Barack Obama. Let's take a quick listen to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She was a respected and resilient advocate for democracy and for the people of Pakistan. We mourn her loss. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family and her supporters. And we want to make clear that we stand with the people of Pakistan in their quest for democracy and against the terrorists who threaten the common security of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: But Senator Clinton has really been trying to distinguish herself from Senator Obama, one of her chief rivals, when it comes to her experience, what she calls her experience in foreign policy. And this is what she added earlier today.

What she said, I'm sorry, we don't have that sound, but Brianna, what she was saying was that she has known Benazir Bhutto for some dozen years. It was back in 1995 when she was the first lady that she went to visit her in a tour. She took her daughter Chelsea, it was a tour that focused on women and children so obviously making the point that she has the experience and the relationships here, to deal with that volatile part in the world. Senator John Edwards also weighed in as well saying that he had close ties with Bhutto as well as Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, in a statement he released, saying at this critical moment America must convey both strength and principle. We should do everything in our power to help bring the perpetrators of that heinous act to justice and to ensure that Bhutto's movement toward democracy continues.

Not to be outdone, Brianna, we heard from Governor Bill Richardson, former Governor Bill Richardson, who claimed that he believes that Musharraf should step aside, that he should resign. This person, as you know, has a lot of foreign policy experience being a former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. We also heard from Senator Biden as well, on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, saying that he lamented that two letters he sent to Musharraf basically were rebuffed. That was essentially asking for more security for Benazir Bhutto.

So you can see what's happening here. All the candidates weighing in, expressing their condolences, but also making the case that they have the experience that is necessary to deal with that part of the world -- Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Suzanne Malveaux for us there with the Clinton campaign in Iowa. Thanks, Suzanne.

LEMON: It's time now to see what's clicking with all you cnn.comers. Our ongoing coverage of the assassination of Pakistan's Former Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto. From President Bush condemning the attack as cowardly, to our video of the scene just moments before the explosion. People are turning to CNN for the very latest.

A tiger's mysterious and deadly escape at the San Francisco Zoo, our second most popular story. Police are examining new evidence today that could answer whether the 300-pound cat was provoked.

And in Washington state, a man and woman in custody expected to soon face charges in the Christmas eve mass-murder that left six people dead. One of the suspects is related to the victims.

All these stories and much, much more on cnn.com.

KEILAR: We will speak to the man who took this photo, the last moments of Benazir Bhutto's life. The news keeps coming and we'll keep bringing it to you. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

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KEILAR: We are following the assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto. She was assassinated earlier today following a political rally.

Let's get now to John Moore, a photographer for Getty Images. He joins us now on the phone from Islamabad, Pakistan, and he took a photograph that's now believed to be the last one taken, certainly the moments right before Benazir Bhutto was killed. So John, I know you saw the assassination. Can you tell us what happened because there has been some confusion at this point as we understand it to be -- Bhutto died of a gunshot wound to the neck. An attacker fired shots and then blew himself up. Can you straighten some of this out for us?

VOICE OF JOHN MOORE, WITNESSED ATTACK ON BHUTTO: Well, Brianna, you know the vehicle was moving very slowly because the crowd was all around and it was pushing through. She clearly wanted to get close to her people and I was very surprised. She was coming out of the sun roof of this car and considering what happened in Karachi a while back.

And I'd been photographing her pushing through the crowd and the vehicle sort of surged forward and I got out of the way and moved a little bit ahead of it and suddenly, well, I turned around and heard three shots go off and saw her go down, fall down through the sun roof, down into the car.

And just at that moment, I raised my camera and started photographing with the high speed motor drive and that's how I was able to capture some of the explosion when I went off and in the aftermath.

Now, as far as where she was shot, how many times was she shot, was it the same person who blew himself up, this I cannot really say. There is some speculation that it was possibly a sniper as well as a suicide bomber, but this I cannot say.

KEILAR: So, give us a sense -- if we can get back to the photograph, here we are -- of the moments right before the assassination, you were obviously in front of the vehicle. Do you have a sense of where the shots were fired from? We're looking at that photo that you took, is this coming from the right of the car, the left of the car, do you know?

MOORE: I suspect that it was coming from the right-hand side of the photograph, because the left -- the left was the grounds, the park where she had been having her campaign rally which was a secure area, so it either must have come from behind or probably to the right-hand side, and I heard, I think two or three shots. There may have been more. Obviously, there was a lot of chaos.

As you can see, the photo is a little bit blurry because I was being shoved around. The crowd was pushing. They were very emotional and it was a bit chaotic even before the blast went off.

KEILAR: And how far away from the car were you when you heard the shots, and also, how far away were you from the explosion when it went off?

MOORE: Well, the shots were immediately followed by the explosion, and I was probably about 20 yards away from the car at that point. I'd moved a little bit ahead of the car just because it was surging forward and I didn't want to get hit, so, but I must have been about 20 yards away. KEILAR: And describe the aftermath. Obviously, we can see -- we're seeing a photo now of a wounded man being carried away. We saw a photo just a short time ago of someone obviously wailing. Just describe the different reactions people were having.

MOORE: Well, of course, people were scattered all about. People were in different states of medical crisis. Some could still walk. Others were burned a bit and others were maimed and just crying out for help. There was one man who really just lost control of all of his emotions and he wandered amidst the wounded and the dead for five or 10 minutes crying and raising his arms to the sky. And he just couldn't believe it. And it was just a horrible scene, the carnage was just everywhere.

KEILAR: And before we let you go, John, because I know you're there in Islamabad, we heard from someone else that Islamabad as well as Karachi now experiencing near riot conditions. What are you seeing on the streets there?

MOORE: I have not been out myself this evening. However, I've heard a lot of the same things. I'm heading down to Karachi tomorrow morning myself. Her funeral will be held in her hometown of Larkana, which is some drive from Karachi and so, a number of journalists will be heading down and covering the next step of the story which, unfortunately, carries on and it's a tragedy.

KEILAR: All right, John Moore, Getty Images photographer there in Islamabad, Pakistan. Please stay safe. Thank you so much for joining us.

LEMON: Well, as Pakistan mourns, so do Pakistan-born residents. Right here in the U.S., we'll hear from some of them in the next hour. The news keeps coming and we'll keep bringing it to you.

You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM.

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