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French Officials Say 80 Killed in Terror Attack. Aired Midnight-1a ET

Aired July 15, 2016 - 00:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:00:32] JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. Thanks for staying with us. I'm John Vause in Los Angeles.

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isha Sesay.

We're following breaking news out of Nice, France where officials say at least 80 people are dead, more than 100 wounded after a truck plowed into a crowd of people celebrating the national holiday, Bastille Day.

VAUSE: Local officials tell French TV the driver opened fire before slamming into the crowd. You can hear the gunshots in this amateur video.

[AMATEUR VIDEO OF TERROR ATTACK IN NICE, FRANCE]

VAUSE: Witnesses say the man drove for about two kilometers, more than a mile, running people down before he was shot and killed by police. The video of the attack is graphic and it is disturbing.

[VIDEO OF TERROR ATTACK IN NICE, FRANCE]

SESAY: Terrifying scenes there.

Authorities say the truck, riddled with bullet holes had firearms, grenades and explosives inside. Police are trying to determine if the identity card of the 31-year-old French-Tunisian man found in the truck's cab matches the body of the driver.

French president Francois Hollande says no one can deny this was a terror attack and he wants the country's state of emergency extended another three months.

VAUSE: In a statement a short time ago, Mr. Hollande appeared angry. He was cold and he was direct. He said France is stronger than terror.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): France has been struck on the day of her national holiday, the 14th of July, Bastille Day, the symbol of liberty because human rights are denied by fanatics. And France is quite clearly their target. I express on behalf of the nation that we show our solidarity toward the victims and their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, our own Becky Anderson joins us live from Paris. Becky bring us up -- bring us up to speed. What is the latest you're hearing?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What had been a day of celebration in France turning into a night of absolute carnage and while there has been no claim of responsibility as of yet, as you have been reporting, authorities here saying we are at war with terrorists.

Let's go over what we do know specifically at this point. There were thousands of people on the Promenade des Anglais which is the main route in Nice which is a southern French beach resort town. They were watching the fireworks. It was around 10:00 at night on what was Bastille Day when this white truck made its way down at around -- witnesses suggesting at about 20 to 25 kilometers an hour and drove for a mile and a bit, maybe two kilometers is what witnesses describe, on a road that was supposed to be cordoned off, so that people could enjoy these fireworks.

As you have pointed out, it drove slowly but people say swerving as a gunman shot from -- into the crowd from inside this truck and then it continued. And it mowed people down in front of it as it continued.

Eventually it was stopped by authorities and were police not to have acted as quickly as they did we are told that things could have been a whole lot worse. But as you rightly point out it is an awful situation. And as the sun comes up here in Paris and in Nice the evidence for all to see -- at least 80 dead, including children. At least 18 people in intensive care, we are told, if not more. It could be that hundreds are injured.

You've rightly reported that this truck was eventually stopped when police fired at the driver. The truck riddled with bullets. They found explosives, weapons and grenades in the back of this truck.

[00:04:56] Now, as far as the identity of the gunman is concerned there was an identity card found in the cab of this truck. It was a Tunisian-French, Nice -- resident of Nice. And what authorities are trying to do at the moment is match that identity card with the body of the driver that was pulled from this truck at this event.

But witnesses describing total and utter carnage -- they were absolutely terrified. People at first, we are told, believed that this truck had just been going very slowly and it knocked somebody over. And it was only when witnesses described it as accelerating that other people realized that this was an attack, a truck attack. And the context for this, of course, couldn't be worse.

18 months worth of tumultuous time in France starting with the Charlie Hebdo attacks back in January of 2015; the attacks on Paris 130 dead in the shooting in November of last year. And the state of emergency which was to have been lifted on July 22nd may now be extended until at least October.

That is certainly what the French president is asking for. And he made an address to the nation. And consider this that address to the nation was at around, if I remember rightly now, at around 3:30 in the morning -- quite remarkable. An address not to the nation clearly, but to the world at large.

It is now six minutes past six in the morning; this event now some eight hours in the making. But there will be those who are only now waking up in France who went to bed on Bastille Day having absolutely no idea that this is what they would wake up to on their television sets and in their newspapers this morning, guys.

VAUSE: Thank you. We'll get back to you later this hour. Thank you.

And we have more media from social -- more video, rather, from social media which shows the horror of this attack. It is graphic but it has been edited so we can show it to you now.

[VIDEO OF TERROR ATTACK IN NICE, FRANCE]

SESAY: Pure horror. Joining us now is American Paul Delane. He was a witness to the attack and he joins us by phone from Nice. Paul -- thank you so much for joining.

First of all, tell us where exactly you were as this attack unfolded and what you saw.

PAUL DELANE, EYEWITNESS (via telephone): Hi - I'm well. I was on the Promenade des Anglais and we had just finished watching the fireworks show and we were heading back to where I live, not on the Promenade des Anglais but in the direction of where the truck was.

We decided to stop for a minute or so, just to listen to the music because there was the festivities going on. And then suddenly there was screaming and people running literally for their lives. And I was shocked for a moment. I didn't know whether I should hide or if I should run with everybody. Thank God my partner was with me. Excuse me.

VAUSE: Paul -- are you ok, Paul?

DELANE: Yes. My partner was with me and thank God he grabbed my hand and he pulled me along and we just ran. And I just thank God that we're safe and I feel just horrible for all the lives lost and -- just to say that as well, we were about probably about 200 meters from where the truck had stopped.

We couldn't see too much because obviously everybody was running in the opposite direction and it was just more a case of not even looking back. You just had to run and you didn't -- people didn't really know what they were running from yet. Most people didn't know what they were even running from. They just knew something terrible had happened and we had to get the hell out of there as soon as possible. Excuse my language. VAUSE: Paul, it's been many hours now, about eight hours now since

all this happened. Clearly you are upset. How are you coping? How are you coping?

DELANE: I'm not coping very well. Because -- well I mean I haven't slept a wink since I got back to my place. I'm trying to contact my friends back in the states and my family to let them know that I'm fine.

SESAY: Paul, we are all grieving with you. And this is such a terrible moment for so many people.

[00:10:00] As you were running in that moment with your partner, what was going through your mind? What were you processing as you dashed away with the crowds?

DELANE: To tell you I was processing the fact, really, realizing how short life is and to value every moment that you have living, and to live and love for now. That's what I was thinking of is that everything could have finished for me right then and there. And it wasn't my time. And I feel very lucky. And I thank God for that.

VAUSE: You and your partner actually stopped at one to listen to some music otherwise you believe may have been hit by the truck?

DELANE: That is exactly it. That is precisely what I mean. I'm not a crowd person. I don't like going into crowds -- I rarely, rarely do. But because my partner was here, it was my birthday on the 13th of July, my 50th birthday. I thought we'll go down and I was even enjoying the music which I don't usually. And so we did.

We hung around for a couple more minutes and literally -- literally after those two minutes that we were standing there that we could have been walking in that direction is when everybody started running. So, yes -- I believe that like music saved our lives.

SESAY: Yes, it certainly did. Paul, how is your partner doing?

DELANE: He's coping in another way. He's been quite silent about it. He's processing it in his own way. He's a very strong man. So he's looking at this more, you know, with less emotion than I am, so to say. But I mean he's pretty shocked as well. He can't believe it happened and his family, our family are just -- the phone hasn't stopped ringing to reassure everybody that we're fine because they know that we were here.

And I just recently posted on Facebook even all of my photos of the fireworks. So it was a shock to people when they had discovered that we were in the middle of it.

VAUSE: Paul, do you remember the moment when you realize that this wasn't an accident. This wasn't a driver who lost control of the truck? That this was actually a premeditated attack to claim as many lives as possible?

DELANE: To tell you -- I was so really -- just so confused. I just -- I mean I had my phone in my hand because we were taking pictures even of the music in the background. I turned on my camera and I said, well, if this is an attack, then I'm going to record it while I'm running even as scared as I was. But yes, I realized -- yes, there was this realization that yes, I was in the middle of a terrorist attack and that's why I said I didn't know whether I should hide or run.

Because what if there was another crazy person again with another gun just shooting randomly -- what do you do? So, yes, I did realize it was a terrorist attack quite early into the moment.

SESAY: And Paul, as you talk about shots being fired did you hear the gunshots? Did you hear the gunshots that were exchanged? Did you see the police attempts to stop this truck?

DELANE: Well, the thing is that there was an awful lot of confusion because of the fact that, like I said, it was right in the center there where literally -- maybe not thousands but it seemed like thousands of people all around me. And the music was blasting and we were right near it.

So if there were gunshots -- there were obviously gunshots but the people that I was around where I was standing we couldn't hear gunshots. We heard the music that was playing far too loud that kind of covered it.

So it made people a little bit confused as well. They saw people running. They heard people screaming but they didn't necessarily hear gunshots but then we all just -- everybody just automatically started to run because when you see masses of people running like that, you -- I guess the natural reaction was just to run with them.

[00:15:08] But, no -- I wasn't -- I did not see any bodies on the ground. I did not see even actually the truck. There's a lot of palm trees on the Promenade des Anglais and if you are near the ocean your view is quite blocked as well with all these people running. I was looking in the way I was running, actually, trying to get away.

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: Where did you run to, Paul? Where did you end up?

DELANE: Well, I ran all the way home to the train -- near the train station. But I ran in the direction of the main street called (inaudible) and that's where everybody was running to. So that was the direction everybody was going to.

In any case there wasn't really much of a choice of a direction to run to actually. You could continue along the promenade which is along the seafront. Or you could go near to the left where it goes to another place called Place Masena (ph) and there is where you have one of the main streets of Nice where you can go all the way up to the trains -- walk all the way up to the train station and that's what we did.

We just walked and then there were waves of panic. We would stop running and we would walk. And then all of a sudden there would be screaming again and people would start running so we would run again with them.

And like I said eventually we found ourselves in front of our apartment and just went inside and turned on the news. Tried to relax and tried to calm down. And then digest everything that we had just experienced.

VAUSE: Paul, there are some reports that dozens of people just simply jumped into the sea to get away from the gunfire, from the truck. Do you know anything about that? Did you see that?

DELANE: Oh, I'm sure. I'm sure. There were people running in all directions. There were people running, trying to run into hotels. There were people running into tunnels and into where there was a parking area. People were just running for cover.

But like I said, I don't think even most of the people didn't even see, actually, what was happening but they knew that something was happening. They had to run and they had to hide. So it doesn't surprise me when you say that people were jumping into the sea.

I didn't see that. But yes, it's very much possible because really it was one of the largest crowds I've seen, I've ever been in the middle of. It was pure panic. It was just find a space and cover yourself. And parents -- that was the worst thing is watching couples and parents running with their children.

The terror -- just their fear, I felt their fear. I was scared for people as well as for myself. I just can't understand how people can -- how -- how people can behave like this and why there's so much hate in the world. Excuse me --

VAUSE: It's a good question and no one can really understand it right now, Paul.

SESAY: We just want to say that we -- we along with you, we're trying to process this and make sense of it.

And we are thankful that you are safe and your partner is safe and like you we grieve for all those who were injured in this. Do take care of yourself. And give yourself the time to make sense of all of this.

DELANE: Thank you very much.

SESAY: And thank you for speaking to us. We very much appreciate you sharing everything you saw on this terrible, terrible night.

DELANE: Ok.

VAUSE: Thank you.

DELANE: Thank you very much.

VAUSE: Paul Delane there, on the line there from Nice describing the chaos and the hysteria --

SESAY: And the fear.

VAUSE: -- absolute fear.

Moms and dads and kids and just everyone running in absolute chaos.

SESAY: Not knowing where you are running to but just knowing that there is something bad happening and you have to get away.

VAUSE: And obviously we heard that Paul clearly is going through a lot of stress right now, a lot of emotional turmoil for him. We wish him all the best.

We will take a short break.

When we come back happiness turning to horror in an instant for thousands celebrating Bastille Day. More witnesses to this latest terror attack when our breaking news coverage continues in a moment.

[00:19:53] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: If you're located across the central U.S. I hope you're prepared for summertime heat. Take a look at this. Hot and humid conditions already in place across the southeastern United States is going to combine with an area of high pressure that is going to ridge in across the central U.S. That means the heat will build for this particular location.

If you are looking for cool weather you have to travel to the extreme Pacific Northwest, the upper Great Lakes and the northern sections of New England. That where we have a little bit of heat relief.

So let's get into the specifics at least in terms of temperatures to start off the early weekend. A balmy 33 for Denver, 37 in Dallas, showers and thunderstorms could help cool the mercury and the thermometer by the afternoon and evening if you're located in Atlanta. The Big Apple 32, 23 degrees with showers and storms for Chicago.

Here's a look at our thunderstorm activity. Look up, a potential for severe weather exists across Kansas into parts of Oklahoma and points southward into Texas. The seven-day forecast for New York City, the temperatures in the lower 30s through the course of the weekend and start off the workweek next week.

Daytime highs throughout Central America middle 20s to lower 30s depending on where you're located. Kingston, Jamaica 32; Belize City 31; traveling for the south, 33 near Rio.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY GINAZAL, EYEWITNESS: I saw a big white truck going through the pedestrian designated area. The road was blocked so that cars wouldn't go through. And then, you know, more gunfire and more people were screaming and running in different directions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, that witness describing the horror and the pure chaos of the Bastille Day terror attack in Nice, France. A truck plowing through a crowd of people that had just watched fireworks killed at least 80 people including several children.

VAUSE: Authorities say the man drove two kilometers, more than a mile, on the sidewalk. He zigzagged before police killed him. Officers found explosives, firearms and grenades inside that truck.

SESAY: Yes. And they also discovered an ID card for a 31-year-old French-Tunisian man. They are checking to see if it belonged to the driver.

VAUSE: The French president says his country will be strong and resilient after being struck again.

SESAY: Francois Hollande says the attack in Nice was a terrorist act and that he is extending the state of emergency to increase security.

VAUSE: Other world leaders are reacting. The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Twitter "Canadians are shocked by tonight's attack in Nice. Our sympathy is with the victims and our solidarity with the French people.

[00:25:07] SESAY: And Boris Johnson, the new British foreign minister tweets this, "Shocked and saddened by the appalling events in Nice and the terrible loss of life."

VAUSE: U.S. President Barack Obama said this. "On behalf of the American people I condemn in the strongest terms what appears to be a horrific terrorist attack in Nice, France."

SESAY: He goes on to say, "On this Bastille Day, we are reminded of the extraordinary resilience and democratic values that have made France an inspiration to the entire world. And we know that the character of the French republic will endure long after this devastating and tragic loss of life."

The attack in Nice has drawn comments from the major U.S. presidential candidates. Presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump spoke to Fox News and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton spoke with CNN's Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS HOST: Would you go to Congress and ask for a declaration of war?

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I would. I would. This is war. If you look at it, this is war coming from all different parts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's clear we are at war with these terrorist groups and what they represent. It's a different kind of war. And we need to be smart about how we wage it and win it.

VAUSE: Let's bring in CNN military analyst Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. He joins us via Skype. We're also joined by CNN intelligence and security analyst, former CIA operative Bob Baer. He joins us from Telluride in Colorado.

And Rick, first to you, we heard from the French president a short time ago basically saying that he will now extend military strikes on targets in Iraq and Syria. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLLANDE: Nothing will lead us to give in to our will to fight against terrorism. And again we're going to strengthen and reinforce our actions in Syria and Iraq and continue to confront those who are attacking us on our very soil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So, Rick, what are Hollande's options here? Does he break with the U.S. now? Does he wage a hotter and a faster war than the one being led by the Obama administration?

LT. COL. RICK FRANCONA, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: No. I think he continues to participate as they have. You know, the French have been a great partner in this so far especially after the attacks in Paris earlier this year and last year.

The timing of this is very interesting because just earlier before the attacks he announced they were redeploying the French carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean to participate in increased air strikes. And so I don't think it had an impact on the timing here but, you know, the French have been involved. They're going to be involved. This will only strengthen their resolve.

So I think we're going to see continued French action. I don't think this changes their participation in the coalition at all.

SESAY: Bob, to you now. We know that ISIS back in 2014 and nobody has claimed this attack, no one has claimed responsibility, but of course many eyes on ISIS. So as we talk about the threat and try to assess it, you know, if Francois Hollande steps up his warfare, if you will, in Iraq and Syria against ISIS but really the threat is coming from homegrown individuals living in France, I mean how does he reap the reward of that domestically?

BOB BAER, CNN INTELLIGENCE AND SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Isha, I mean you are absolutely right. This is the enemy within, the attacks in Brussels and the attacks in Paris and the rest of them. This is a community in France, mostly North African of origin who are not making it in France. Bad economy, they're not getting jobs, there's prejudice, there's profiling. The French essentially have martial law.

So I think that yes, they will step up attacks -- I agree with Rick -- on Raqqa and eventually Mosul will fall. But I think we will see more of a backlash in Europe. I know that's not very optimistic but you'll see a lot of people in France identifying themselves with Islam rather than the French nation.

The French understand this very well but right they don't quite know what to do about it because these people have nowhere to go except France. And you know, this is really a mess for Europe. And there's no easy, fast way out.

VAUSE: Well, both Bob and Rick, stay with us. We'll have more from you in the coming hours.

But in the meantime we will take a short break.

SESAY: We will, indeed. A terror attack in the south of France claims at least 80 lives. We're going to show the panic along the beach during the Bastille Day celebrations. You are watching CNN.

[00:29:50]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:33:20] UNIDENTIFIED MALE ANNOUNCER: This is CNN "Breaking News."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we look out across, we see this white panel truck just plowing through people. Even now, I'm looking in front of our area and I see about ten covered bodies, unfortunately, just in the area in front of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: A witness there describing the carnage in Nice, France, where at least 80 people are dead after a truck plowed into a crowd of people in a beach-front promenade. We have video of that attack and a warning, it is disturbing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SCREAMING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ISHA SESAY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, police say the driver opened fire before he rammed into the crowd. He was shot and killed inside the truck. They found firearms, grenades and explosives. France's president says there is no denying the terrorist nature of the attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, PRESIDENT OF FRANCE (through translator): After Paris in January 2015, then in November of last year with St. Denis, Nice is, in turn, touched. France as a whole is under the threat of Islamism terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Becky Anderson joins us once more from Paris.

And, Becky, a third major terrorist attack in France in 18 months. A lot of pressure on the president there to now act.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He was using the term Islamist terrorism there. I'm not sure there is any evidence as of yet to suggest that, but what we do know is had the authorities, the police on the Promenade des Anglais last night not intervened as quickly as they did, the scene of carnage could have been much, much worse.

[00:35:20] We had just had the interior minister here in France speaking in Nice. Let me just provide you with a little bit of what he said, because this brings us up-to-date on the details as we understand them.

80 people have died in what was this brazen truck attack on people celebrating Bastille Day along the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, in southern France. 18 are in intensive care. And Interior Ministry said, and I quote him, "Numerous people have been wounded." He said, "Our thoughts go out once again to the families of all of these victims and clearly to those who are living in Nice as well."

Let's just remind ourselves of what we know at this point. Very briefly. A truck plowing into crowds celebrating Bastille Day. We know that there was an I.D. card found in this truck. An I.D. card of a 31-year-old French-Tunisian inhabitant of Nice. And at present, police are trying to link that card with the body of the driver that was pulled from the cab after that truck was shot up by authorities.

That is the very latest we have at this point.

VAUSE: Becky, thank you.

Many are speculating ISIS, the terror group, was behind the Nice truck attack. This comes after a senior ISIS leader called on followers to use vehicles as weapons against the West.

SESAY: And back in 2014, the group's spokesperson said this, "If you are not able to find an IED or a bullet, then single out the disbelieving American, Frenchman or any of its allies, smash his head with a rock or slaughter him with a knife, or run him over with your car or throw him down from a high place or choke him or poison him."

And another video now posted to social media that shows the truck just moments before it plowed into the crowd. We should warn you some viewers may find this very disturbing.

VAUSE: You can see it right here. The white truck driving down the promenade. The main street in Nice. People have crowded that beachfront area to watch the fireworks, a celebration of Bastille Day. Joining us now security expert Aaron Cohen who was with the Israelis Special Forces counterterrorism unit. Also, CNN law enforcement contributor former FBI agent Steve Moore.

Aaron, I want to start with you because the Israelis have dealt with vehicle attacks for the last couple of years. I think 48 in the last two years alone. That would be deadly minor compared to what happen in Nice.

But, clearly, is there anything which can be done, any response ahead of time to head off these kind of things?

AARON COHEN, FORMER MEMBER, ISRAELI SPECIAL FORCES: Yes, the reason -- just to add to your -- to add to this specific text that you gave me about the fact that the Israeli attacks weren't as severe as the attack we just saw here in Nice.

The reason why is the Israelis deploy a DDD system, which stands for Deter, Detect and Deny. That means that when you have a major event. In Israel, we have Yom Ha'atzmaut Independence Day. In France, you have your Bastille, which is their revolution or pre-revolution day, where they take in the prisons in the early 1400s, late 1300s. This is a big day in France.

Those triple layering of the deter, detect, deny needs to be applied for that type of event. The footage that you guys are just rolling, that B-roll, that truck was moving in slowly, which leads me to believe that that person was going to a specific place for a specific reason.

There was surveillance that was being conducted in order for that terrorist to be able to inflict the most damage. So in Israel, we would have looked at that Promenade, the (INAUDIBLE), pardon me for my French for not knowing the name of the actual street. They are everywhere.

That street would have been looked at as an actual layer, and the cars would have been limited to their access to the street. That's number one.

That selection phase. The deterrents were also involved heavier armed security personnel in France. And Bob Baer, a former CIA, a lot of respect for Bob called it. There is already a very heavy military feel to France. I don't know how much more you can get. The question is, take those assault weapon carrying police officers and put them in the places where you have these massive crowds. That's where the terrorists go.

And the final one would deny. The Israeli training. If you look at what happen recently in Turkey and in Istanbul. A Turkish police officer ended up firing at that terrorist who went in with an AK-47, who was firing openly, ended up shooting them in the center mass, the thoracic area. The terrorist went down.

What we did miss, though, was what we're training which is being able to teach our police that they have to fire around into the center of the head. And what that does, it's not personal. We are not trying to kill the terrorist. We're trying to keep his hands from moving.

How do you shot that terrorist in the head? That explosion we saw moments afterwards would have been able to happen because they wouldn't hit the button. So the training is that final denial phase. And that's anti-terror specific training which is conducive to the Israeli triple system.

[00:40:05] SESAY: So Steve, state of emergency measures in France right now. And to Aaron's point behind military presence, right? High security. And yet this individual was able to circumvent that. Take to me about how they were able to do that and inflict this mass carnage.

STEVE MOORE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTRIBUTOR: Obviously, I'm going to have to speculate here because I'm not there.

But when you put off something like the Promenade Des Anglais and set it aside just for pedestrians, you can't just put sawhorses at the end of it and expect it to stop vehicles.

When you are going to segregate this, you have to stand it up with officers there who can stop vehicles, bollards, whatever you have, you have to move vehicles, whatever, to block it. You can't just say don't come in.

I think what happened is once again, they changed tactics. Obviously, there were probably security people throughout the crowds. The French were probably very aggressive about that. But at the same time, it appears that they left the flank unguarded.

VAUSE: OK, let's take a look. We've got a map of the area where all this happened. The Boulevard des Anglais.

And what you can see is that where the truck first entered and first hit a lot of bodies. That's on the left-hand side of the screen. But then if you go all the way to the right, you can see that yellow box there. That is where they finally managed to stop the truck.

And so, Aaron, to your point, you say, you know, deny. And, you know, the Israeli tactics here. You have a 2,000 pound vehicle barrelling down, the windscreen or the windshield of this truck was reeled with bullet holes. So it's clearly stopping someone who is determined to mow down as many people as possible. It's not that simple.

COHEN: My Israeli answer?

VAUSE: Yes.

COHEN: Stop and check the truck. You've got AK47s in the truck. I'll tell you from Israel, what we've learned from El Al Airlines, which is protected by the Israeli FBI.

The body language of somebody who is about to commit an act of murder is just as red flagged as somebody who has just committed an act --

VAUSE: So you're saying this is an intelligence failure beforehand? COHEN: This is a security failure on a colossal level. To my friend from the FBI just pointed it out. It's a colossal failure on a basic security level for event planning.

There should have been some kind of a physical barrier where armed present, properly trained police -- heavily armed police officers were checking vehicles. There were grenades in the car. There was an AK- 47 in the car. That was somebody who was about to commit an act of murders. The palms start to sweat. The eyes begin to dilate.

We conduct these interviews regularly. We have FBI and this is the best trained agency in the world for investigations. FBI quality agents working as what we call selectors for every flight going into Israel, and that's the level of training that is needed to be able to detect behavior. Had we had some of that, with a proper physical barricade in place, I mean, someone try to barrel through, they would have been stopped.

VAUSE: Very quickly, copycats now, Steve?

MOORE: Well, yes. They've just proved the concept so this will happen again.

VAUSE: Again, we'll come back to you, guys.

(CROSSTALK)

SESAY: Gentlemen, thank you. The conversation will continue.

(CROSSTALK)

VAUSE: We appreciate you being with us.

SESAY: Thank you.

We're going to take a quick break now and we'll discuss the terrible attack in Nice, France with a European terrorism expert. Do stay with us.

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[00:46:22] SESAY: Welcome back, everyone. We are following devastating breaking news out of Nice, France. At least 80 people have been killed in a terrible terror attack during a French national holiday.

We need to warn you, the videos we are about to show you are deeply disturbing.

VAUSE: Authorities say the driver of this truck started by shooting into crowds, celebrating Bastille Day. The driver then plowed through busy promenade and drove about two kilometers, more than a mile.

Earlier, CNN spoke with one eyewitness to this attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE, EYEWITNESS TO THE ATTACK: At about that time, you started to see people running, screaming, rushing away from the waterfront where everything was happening. And it was, initially, it sounded like maybe it was -- there were kind of bangs coming from the truck. And initially thought perhaps that was, you know, gunfire but I think in retrospect, it was probably, you know, the sound of the truck actually hitting civilians that were out on the waterway.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SESAY: Well, police shot and killed the driver. And authorities found firearms, explosives and grenades in the truck. They also found an identity card of a 31-year-old French-Tunisian. Authorities are now trying to determine if that matches the identity of the driver.

VAUSE: Back now with our security expert. Aaron Cohen, who is with the Israeli Special Forces, the counterterrorism unit. Also, CNN law enforcement contributor former FBI agent Steve Moore.

Steve, I just want to point out the I.D. card that was found in the truck. What are the chances that that is real and not fake?

MOORE: The chances are very good that that's real and not fake. What would be their motive for throwing it off on someone else? Nobody commits a terrorist act like this and wants to throw credit to another agency. The fact that he had it on him was not an accident.

SESAY: Yes. And, Aaron, the timing of this attack, the timing, the choice of location says what to you?

COHEN: Terror. The reason why is because this is the historic Independence Day for the entire nation of France. This has an extremely heavy thumbprint in terms of its media reach. It creates the highest level of panic and fear.

I heard it in the voice of the gentleman you guys were talking to, who was running from the attack. Terror is designed to create fear. Whoever is more scared is losing. This becomes a win for this terror -- for this radicalized online terror. Fundamentalism that we are seeing growing. This recruitment, it's a win unfortunately, but it is a temporary win. And France is getting unfortunately comfortable with this level of violence. And I think that you're going to see some heavy offense shortly from France.

VAUSE: Steve, just back to you there. You have a theory that maybe this wasn't the original target.

MOORE: You know, when I was over in Pakistan and you've been there for so many years, the attacks we got, the bombs that we saw were almost always alternate targets. Plan "B."

And when you have somebody prepare for an event or a person arriving in a country, and then you can't do anything with it, you're going to expect an attack later on.

Last month on the 12th and the 17th, the 22nd and the 27th, there were games --

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VAUSE: The Euro 2016 in Nice --

MOORE: At the stadium, which is only three miles as the crow flies from where this goes. So that would explain to me my biggest question is, why were there grenades and explosives in there that they didn't really seem to want to use. It seems to me that this was a secondary target because security might have been too strong at Euro 2016. I could be wrong, but this is where I'd be going.

[00:50:00] SESAY: And, Aaron, to that very point, the question now is, was this someone who operating as an inspired by a terror group, or was it coordinated?

Looking at what we know, can you tell? What are you seeing?

COHEN: My intuition, and first of all, I completely agree with this gentleman right here. He is spot on. The 2016 games. There is no question that that individual came for war. There could have been a primary target that was deterred at that moment.

To be able to hit a juicier target, terrorists go to the path of least resistance. To answer your question, I believe that there had, to have been a network, I'll tell you what.

France is a no-gun country. There's no weapons in France. You don't just walk in with guns. They don't have Second Amendment rights. They don't have them in most of Europe. And it's not something -- and we were just talking about this earlier. You have to get guns. You have to get grenades. And you have to get training.

You can't just fire out of a car windshield and be able to work a fully automatic Kalashnikov rifle with 7.62x54 calibrated with big rounds.

There's planning in this. People helping them. And I think that there are networks of secrecy where these guys are going. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of this was coming out of Syria and Iraq.

SESAY: Steve, Aaron, we appreciate it.

VAUSE: We'll be back next hour.

SESAY: Yes, definitely. Thank you.

VAUSE: Thank you. We'll continue with our coverage here.

We've got more information. The very latest out of France. But in a moment, we'll take a look at the dozens of dead and the wounded, and also at the sheer panic there in Nice.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [00:55:23] VAUSE: Welcome back, everybody. More on our breaking news out of France. And these newspaper front covers are a snapshot of the carnage after a terror attack leaves at least 80 people dead in Nice. The death toll has risen since the "Daily Mirror" published this front-page a short time ago.

SESAY: French officials say the driver of a large truck plowed into a crowd of people on a beachfront promenade. They were there to watch fireworks, celebrating Bastille Day. Police shot and killed the truck driver. Now they are trying to determine if the identity card of a 31-year-old French-Tunisian man found in the truck's cab matches the body of the driver.

Well, thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay.

VAUSE: And I'm John Vause. Much more on the breaking news out of Nice, when we come back in a moment. You're watching CNN.

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